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¥ <) DAMASCUS

IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
WITH NOTEBOOK AND CAMERA

The writer of these pages, the Rev. Archibald Forder,
was interned in Damascus. According to The Times
corresponde7it, Mr. Forder was treated as a common
-felon Jor two years^ and was then sent to Damascus
on parole. These pages were already in type when
our troops entered Damascus and found Mr. Forder
ill in hospital. For many years he has lived in
Jerusalem., making that city his headquarters and
starting-point for journeys throughout Palestine and
Syria, and the northern portion of Arabia. In these
papers he has fixed the impressions made on his keen
mind and on the se7zsitive plates in his camera.
Of course, starting on his many journeys from
mie place necessitated occasionally goin^ over the same
ground more than once ; yet where repetition occurs
in these ¦bages it will be found that the writer has
always something fresh to describe, some new feature
of historical interest that had not Previously come to
his notice.

BELFRY OF AX EARLY CHRISTIAN CHORCH AT
HARAX, 125 FEET HIGH. (CHAPTER VII)

A WOMAN OF SINAI. (CHAPTER VHl)

I' [ \'r i. ;, \- M I "I '

IN AND ABOUT
PALESTINE WITH NOTEBOOK AND CAMERA
BY
ARCHIBALD FORDER
THIRD IMPRESSION

This urn crowns the summit of a rock-heivn temple at Petra, and
is part of the same rock.

R.T.S., 4 Bouverie Street, London, E.G. 4
1919

Tale DIvimty Llbrs^
New Haven, Conn.

V

ANCIENT MASSIVE PILLAR UNDER THE MOSQUE-EL-AKSA IN
JERUSALEM. (CHAPTER III)

CONTENTS

FOREWORD . CHAPTER I
ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM CHAPTER n
INNER JERUSALEM .

::hapter V

^-^

PAGE 2

19

chapter hi
the temple area . . 29
chapter IV
JERUSALEM TO GALILEE AND BACK . . 37

51

chapter VI
.'* ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND . . . -63

chapter VII
,3 AT THE CRADLE OF THE PATRIARCHS 79

4 CONTENTS
chapter VIII
PAGE
A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI . . -9^
chapter IX
THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM TO PETRA . . I08

CHAPTER X

¦ 147

CHAPTER XI
THE REMAINS OF GIANT BASHAN . . . 186

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

A WOMAN OF SINAI

Frontispiece

BELFRY OF AN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT HARAN
ANCIENT MASSIVE PILLAR UNDER THE MOSQUE-EL-AKSA
ABSALOM'S PILLAR IN THE VALLEY OF THE KEDRON
A CORNER IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE
JERUSALEM AS SEEN FROM THE BETHANY ROAD
THE POOL OF HEZEKIAH
THE HALL OF CAIAPHAS
SOUTH WALL OF JERUSALEM
DAVID'S GATE .

FACING PAGE 2

THE ROOM IN WHICH TRAD
LAST SUPPER

TION

SAYS CHRIST ATE THE

THE POOL OF SILOAM .
ST. Stephen's gate .
MARKET-DAY IN JERUSALEM
ONE OF THE OLD STREET FOUNTAINS IN JERUSALEM
DRAWING SHOWING EXISTING REMAINS OF JERUSALEM AS
IT WAS IN THE TIME OF CHRIST
TOWER OF DAVID, THE STRONGHOLD OF JERUSALEM
THE MOSQUE OF AKSA,. ....
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TEMPLE AREA
OLD COVERED STREET LEADING TO THE TEMPLE AREA
THE HOLY ROCK .....

3
lO10
IIII
1414
1414
15
15
22
22
232330
30
3136

6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
INTERIOR OF THE GOLDEN GATE . . . -36
CORRIDORS IN SOLOMON'S STABLES UNDER THE TEMPLE
AREA . . . . . . -37
NAZARETH . . . . . . -SO
STREET OF COLUMNS, SAMARIA . . -5°
DUNG-HEAPS OUTSIDE JEZREEL . . . 50
PINE FOREST, BEIRUT ... -SI
A VILLAGE IN THE LEBANON . . . .51
SCENE ON THE DAMASCUS-BEIRUT RAILWAY . 60
CEDARS OF LEBANON .... . 60
RACHEL'S TOMB ON THE BETHLEHEM ROADSIDE . . 61
SOLOMON'S POOL AND OLD CASTLE . . . . 61
WATCH-TOWER IN THE VINEYARDS . . . 61
ABRAHAM'S OAK IN THE PLAIN OF MAMRE . . 72
WATERSKINS CURING IN THE SUN . . . ¦ 7-
COLUMBARIUM . . . . . . .72
DRAWING WATER, BEERSHEBA . . . -73
FORBIDDEN STEPS AT HEBRON MOSQUE . . -73
OLD WELL MOUTH, BEERSHEBA . . 73
ENTRANCE TO MOSQUE, HEBRON . . -73
BEEHIVE VILLAGE . . -78
A BOY MESSENGER OF BEIRUT . . -78
A SEATLESS CARRIAGE IN THE LEBANON . . -78
WATER-WHKEL USED FOR IRRIGATION . . -79
ENTRANCE TO THE OLD CASTLE AT ALEPPO . . 79
DOVECOTES MADE WITH OLD WATER-JARS . . .90
THE SBYAL-TREE . . . . . .90
THRESHING-MACHINE USED IN SINAI PENINSULA . . 90
ASCENT OF MOUNT SINAI . . . . gi
MOUNT SINAI AS SEEN FROM THE CAMPING-GROUND OF
THE ISRAELITES . . . . . -91

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 7
FACING PAGE
MOUNT NEBO FROM THE NORTH , . .102

THE HILL OF MACH^RUS
INTERIOR OF AN ARAB HOUSE
ARAB ENCAMPMENT
WATERFALL OF BOILING SULPHUR WATER
OLD MOSQUE ON THE OPEN PLAINS OF MOAB
ONE OF THE OLD ENTRANCES TO THE CITY OF KERAK
GROUP OF GUARDS AT PETRA
SECTION OF THE LONG GORGE LEADING INTO PETRA
SHOWING THE GRAIN IN THE ROCK .
PHARAOH'S TREASURY ....
THE STATUE TOMB, PETRA ....
THEATRE AT PETRA, SEATING 5,000 .
ONLY TOMB OF ITS KIND, Vk^ITH CARVED LIONS EACH SIDE
OF DOOR .....
DWELLING-HOUSE, WITH TOMB AT REAR
AN "IMAGE" ON THE MOUNTAIN-TOP AT PETRA
THE TWO ALTARS AT PLACE OF WORSHIP, PETRA
THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE, PETRA
RESERVOIR AT PETRA .
EXTERIOR OF AARON'S TOMB
CENOTAPH OVER AARON'S TOMB
TYPICAL ARAB GIRLS .
EXCAVATION THAT SERVED AS A MERCHANT'S STORE
ONE OF PETRA's PUBLIC HALLS
ENTRANCE TO THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS
METHOD OF DRAWING WATER FROM DEEP WELLS .
OLD BAPTISMAL FONT UNEARTHED AT BEERSHEBA
THE SPRINGS WERE BESIEGED WITH MEN AND CAMELS
GREAT RAVINE LEADING TO PETRA .
LARGE CHAMBER AT EL-BAITHA

102
103 103
108 109
109 114"5 "S 122123123 128128128
129 129129144 144
145150151151154154 15s 158 159

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

GRAIN PITS AT BEERSHEBA .
OLD MOABITE CASTLE AT KERAK
BOZRAH IN EDOM ....
OASIS OF KADESH-BARNEA
OPENING UP OF A NEW WELL AT BEERSHEBA
ONE OF THE MANY WELLS FOUND IN THE LAND
PATRIARCHS
BRIDGE OVER THE VALLEY, KUNAWAT
OLD CASTLE AT SULKHUD
BATTLEMENTS OF SULKHUD
STONE DOORS AT EL-GHUSM
A CARVED STONE WINDOW
JTONE DOORS AT LYSON
BRIDGE AT KUNAWAT .
STREET OF COLUMNS AT BOZRAH
OLD WATERCOURSE NEAR KUNAWAT
A DOUBLE ARCH
WATCH-TOWER AT ELDERAD .

FACINC PACE
. 164
. 164
. 164
. I6S
. 180
OF THE . 180
. 181
. l8l
. 188
188
. 188
. 188
1 88
. 189
. 189
. 189
. 189

IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE

ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM
"Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact
together." — Psalm cxxii. 3.
" V^^alk about Zion, and go round about her ; tell the
towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, consider
her palaces." — Psalm xlviii. 12, 13.
PROBABLY no city in Bible-lands is
built SO compactly as is Jerusalem,
and to encompass it is an easy matter,
provided you are willing for a walk of about
two miles. Keeping close under the walls of
the city, that would be about the distance
traversed. For those unable to visit the City of Cities,
this paper will tell what it is to " walk about
Zion " or "go round about her." In the walls
are seven gates open day and night — " Thy
gates shall be open continually " (Isa. Ix, 11)
— from any of which a start can be made.
9

10 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
For this trip let us start from the exit on the
south side, known as David's Gate, because of
its nearness to the tomb of David. This is
the only gate of importance on this side of the
city. According to an inscription it was built
about 1540 A.D. From the top of the wall
over the gateway a fine view of the mountains
of Moab is obtainable.
Before turning to the left, two places claim
attention, which might easily be passed, so
completely are they out of sight. Nearly
opposite the gate is a high wall, which encloses
an Armenian monastery. In this tradition has
located the house of Caiaphas, the high priest,
in the courtyard of which Peter denied the
Lord. The monks in charge are always ready
to show visitors the courtyard, which is kept
scrupulously clean and shaded by a very old
grape-vine. Behind the monastery, and now
surrounded by modern buildings, is the tomb
of David, and in the same building what is of
more interest, viz. the room in which Christ
ate the last supper with His disciples. The
room as now seen is divided into two parts by
colurtins in the middle. Half pillars with quaint
capitals are built into the walls, and the ceiling
consists of pointed vaulting. The room is
no doubt a part of a Christian church of about

ABSALOM'S PILLAR IN
THE VALLEY OF THE
KEDRON.

A CORNER IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE.

JERUSALEM AS SEEN FROM THE BETHANY ROAD.
THE PCOI OF HEZEKIAH.

ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM

11

the thirteenth century. If, as some believe,
the city wall at the time of Christ extended
beyond the present one to the spur of Zion,

PLAN OF JERUSALEM.

this chamber in some ways meets the require
ments of the Gospels, for it is "a large upper
room," and would have been " in the city."
Whether the actual room or not, it serves a

12 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
good purpose, and keeps before the minds of
all Christians the fact that hereabouts our
Lord instituted a feast that has been faithfully
observed for nearly two thousand years.
From David's tomb we return to the wall,
and for some distance follow it until a smaU
portal, believed to be the Dung Gate, is reached.
This exit is small, and is only used by pedes
trians, as no animal larger than a donkey can
pass through it. We now leave the city wall
for a time and descend a valley, which soon
brings us to the Pool of Siloam, a place con
nected with one of our Saviour's miracles.
The pool is evidently ancient, and at some
time was probably arched over. The water
that supplies the pool comes from a spring
some distance away, being conducted through
a channel cut in the rock. The water of Siloam
is believed by the natives to possess wonderful
curative powers, and people come or send
from long distances for it. Fevers and eye
diseases are supposed to become healed through
treatment with water obtained from Siloam's
Pool. Water-carriers take hundreds of skins
of water up to the city and sell them at good
prices. The gardens in the valley below are
irrigated and watered from the overflow of the
spring.

ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM 18
A stiff climb for about twenty minutes
brings us again to the city wall, which at this
part is of unusual interest. Here may be
distinctly seen two styles of building, repre
senting two periods in the occupation of
Jerusalem. At the bottom are several courses
of large, roughly hewn stones, put together
without mortar or cement. These probably
form a part of the wall of the time of Christ,
and the sight of them, and others like them,
caused the disciples to say, " Master, see what
manner of stones are here."
Above these old stones are those of a more
recent date, without doubt of Crusading times.
These are carefully shaped and fitted, also
much smaller, and laid in mortar of lime. This
style of building continues until the south-east
comer of the city. From this point a beautiful
view of the entire length of OUvet is obtained,
and one cannot fail to observe the thousands
of flat stones that cover the slopes of the
mountain. These mark the last resting-place
of Jews who have been fortunate to die in
and be buried near their beloved city. In the
bed of the vaUey beneath are some prominent
tombs hewn in the rock ; they are of so little
importance that they are let severely alone.
One isolated monolith, however, must not be

14 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
overlooked, as it perpetuates the memory of
Absalom, who, having turned his father, David,
out of the city, set himself up as king.
Absalom had no son, and as we gaze upon
this isolated, massive memorial, we are reminded
again of the words in 2 Sam. xviii. i8: "Now
Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared
up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's
dale ; for he said, I have no son to keep my
name in remembrance, and he called the pillar
after his own name ; and it is called Absalom's
monument unto this day " (R.V.). In this and
other ways, as one walks about Jerusalem,
the Old and New Testaments seem to revive
in interest, with these visible remains of men
and things so intimately connected with
Scripture history.
Not far from the memorial of the rebellious
son is the enclosure known as the Garden of
Gethsemane, a place so often written about
that it seems useless to repeat what it appears
every one already knows. It is impossible
to say definitely if these walls enclose the very
garden in which our Saviour was arrested, but
the cupiditv of the Eastern Church has for a
long time decided upon this place as the spot.
It is safe to conclude, however, that it was not
far from this place that the Lord agonized,

HALL OF CAIAPHAS.

DAVID'S GATE.

SOUTH WALL OF JERUSALEM. THE ROOM '^If"'';" ™*''™°^^
SAYS CHRIST ATE THE LAST SUPPtK-,

THE POOL OF SILOAM.
ST. STEPHEN'S GATE.'

ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM 15
and " sweat as it were great drops of blood,"
and because of this the locality seems invested
with more than a usual interest. It is good to
turn aside for a short time, and in the seclusion
of the garden ponder over what the redemption of
man cost. From the garden the city wall in the
near distance is plainly outlined on the horizon.
Higher up the Mount, and plainly seen from
the path under the eastern wall, is a very plain
building, the Church of the Paternoster. It
is supposed to stand on the place where the
disciples were taught what is commonly called
the Lord's Prayer. Attached to the church
is a sisterhood of nuns who, after their entrance
into the convent, are never allowed to see the
face of man. In the courtyard of the church
it is interesting to find the Lord's Prayer
printed on enamelled tiles and fixed into the
walls. Thirty-three nations could read that
prayer in their own language in the corridors
of that garden. The Princess Latour d'Au-
vergne, a relative of Napoleon III, had this
church built in 1868, and the inscribed tablets
put in the walls. On the south side is a hfe-
size effigy of the princess, and in a niche
in the wall her heart is deposited in a red
granite urn.
Coming down from the Mount and passing

16 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
the silent garden, a bit of steep road leads
up to St. Stephen's Gate, the only exit on the
east side of the city. Through this gate our
Lord entered the city after His arrest in
Gethsemane, and later, Stephen was stoned
outside it, thus giving it its name. The
masonry as now seen is Crusading, evidenced
by the lions in relief on either side of the
gate-posts. From St. Stephen's Gate to the north-east
corner of the wall there is a wide deep moat,
now partly filled in by the debris and rubbish
that has been deposited there for centuries.
The surface is cultivated, cabbage and cauli
flower being grown on it. When the peasant
who rents this scrap of d6bris from the Govern
ment goes out with his plough to prepare the
soil for sowing, we are again forcibly reminded
of Scripture when it says, " Zion shall be
plowed like a field " (Jer. xxvi. i8).
Turning due west, and following the carriage-
road which runs directly along under the north
wall, we soon reach the mound known as
Gordon's Calvary. It is now walled in, and
access is very difficult. For want of a better
place, this hill meets all the requirements of
the Gospel record. It is in deed and in truth
" nigh to the city," and " without the gate,"

ROUND ABOUT JERUSALEM 17
and, looked at from certain standpoints, in
shape like a skull. Under the hill is a very
large cave in which, tradition says, Jeremiah
wrote the Lamentations. If the reader could
chmb the mound, he would see quite near,
almost joining it, a garden, and in the garden
a rock-hewn tomb. Being under the shadow
of the now-accepted Calvary, many think that
this rock-hewn sepulchre is the one in which
the Saviour lay, and from which He arose.
Be it so or not, it is preserved from destruction
by being in the hands of an English committee,
and until another tomb is discovered will hold
its own in the minds of thousands as the actual
grave of our Lord. It is to be regretted that
no stone, rolling or otherwise, was found at the
tomb just mentioned, as by these means all
entrance to ancient tombs was barred. How
ever, within a short distance of the city walls
a fine rolling-stone may yet be seen at the
series of rock-hewn chambers called the Tombs
of the Kings. These tombs are entered through
a low passage cut in the rocks. Before this, in
a groove, is a large stone, about three feet six
inches in diameter and fifteen inches thick.
It requires the combined strength of two men
to roll this heavy weight across the front or
entrance to the chambers. It is impossible to
?

18 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
say whose tomb it guarded, but most interesting
to find it so many centuries after being placed
in position.
A return to the city wall brings us to the
Damascus Gate, and if followed westward to
the Jaffa Gate. Here most parties separate,
and here, too, we stop our circuit of Jerusalem,
which, without hurrying, and our many turnings
aside, has occupied about three hours. Time
is not wasted in thus going " round about
Jerusalem," for every few minutes something
is to be seen that recalls the past and, I trust,
helps in a special manner to substantiate the
truth of Holy Scripture.

II
INNER JERUSALEM
I NOW propose to mention and show a
few of the things that claim attention
within the walls of the Holy City, for
Inner Jerusalem has a charm not equalled
in any city of Bible-lands. The narrow streets,
some arched, others a series of stairs, are unique,
whilst the tiny shops, with their medley of
eatables and other things all on view, seem
strange to the casual visitor from the Occident.
A general view of the city from within the
gates is obtainable from many standpoints.
Probably the best view is that from the roof
just inside the Jaffa Gate. Before you may be
seen things ancient and modern, domes and
red-tiled roofs, old churches and modern syna
gogues, whUst out of all rises the tall square
tower of the German church, conspicuous by
reason of its whiteness and none too elegant
gtyle of architecture. But to see Innef Jerij-

20 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
salem we must come down from the flat roof,
with its iron railings, and traverse the narrow
maze of streets that seem to lead nowhere in
particular. The ever-changing crowds in the
streets always interest both resident and tourist.
The babel of tongues, variety of costumes, the
shrill voices of vendors, and intermingling of
man and beast, make up a picture not easily
forgotten when once seen.
In Inner Jerusalem one does not seem to
mind being run down by a donkey, or having
one's suit rubbed by the greasy hide of a camel ;
somehow it seems to be a part of the conditions
of street life in the city. If space permitted,
the street cries and vendors might be detailed
with interest, but, for the present, larger things
will claim attention.
The Temple area, with its many attractions,
is the first and foremost sight of Inner Jeru
salem, but that is to have a chapter to itself.
It is not out of place here to speak of the many
old fountains to be seen on the streets, many
of them long since dry, and only of interest by
reason of the elegant workmanship put into
them. One of the finest of these is to be seen
at the gate of the Temple area, known as Bab
Silsilea. The inscription, which is well pre
served, tells us that it wa? erected about eight

INNER JERUSALEM 21
hundred years ago, and for centuries, as at the
present time, it has been fed with water brought
in pipes from Solomon's Pool, nine miles away.
Strange to relate, no charge is made for water
from this fountain, Jews and Gentiles ahke
sharing the privilege granted them by the
Turkish Government.
Whilst writing about water it might be well
to mention another of the sights inside the
city, altogether different in construction from
the one just named. The Pool of Hezekiah,
hidden away and shut in by houses and shops
in the north-west portion of the city, is not
the only one of its kind within the walls, but
is the only one capable of storing water in these
days. It is about eighty yards long and forty-
eight yards wide, and the bottom, which is
rocky, hes ten feet below the level of the street,
that runs quite near it. The water, which
is surface, is used in some public baths near
by. In summer it is stagnant, and makes an
excellent breeding-place for mosquitoes. The
construction of the pool is ascribed to King
Hezekiah, but it is difficult to ascertain whether
there is any foundation for the tradition.
Josephus mentions it in his writings as the
" tower-pool," no doubt because of its nearness
to the Tower of David.

22 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
To those entering the city by the Jaffa Gate,
or looking down on it from some elevation
the massive solid towers on which flew the
Turkish flag cannot fail to claim attention.
For many centuries this has formed the strong
hold of the city of Jerusalem. This mass of
solid masonry is probably the place spoken of
in 2 Sam. v. 6, 7, in which the Jebusites had
entrenched themselves when David attacked
the city : " Nevertheless David took the strong
hold of Zion, the same is the city of Da'vid."
David's Tower of to-day makes excellent
barracks for the troops stationed in that
part of the city. The moat that still exists
on two sides of it, and the steep battlements
on the west side, make it difficult of access,
and visitors are only granted entrance as a
special favour by the military officer on duty.
It was from the tower on the right side of the
picture that Mr. Sankey sang " Hold the Fort,"
when he visited Jerusalem. The stones used
in the construction of these strongholds were
very roughly hewn, and many of the courses
visible even now must be of great antiquity.
Many a man and woman has lingered long
gazing at the massive blocks in the waUs, and
wondered how such unwieldy dead weights were
raised to such a height and put into position.

MARKET-DAY IN JERUSALEM.
ONE OF THE OLD STREET FOUNTAINS IN JERUSALEM.

DRAWING SHOWING EXISTING REMAINS OF JERUSALEM AS IT WAS IN
THE TIME OF CHRIST.

THE TOWER OF DAVID, THE STRONGHOLD OF JERUSALEM.

INNER JERUSALEM 23
These facts we are ignorant of, but count our
selves fortunate in being able to look upon the
work of those whose duty it was to make a firm
stronghold in the defence of Zion and Jerusalem.
Inside the city, churches both ancient and
modern abound, some of them of interest,
others not worth even a side glance. The
Roman Catholic churches are the most gaudy,
and on their interior decoration great sums have
been spent. The latest addition to the many
Cathohc churches of the city is one near the
new gate on the north side. It is known as
the Chapelle de Marie Reparatrice, and was
built entirely from the money given by one
Itahan gentleman, who stipulated that when
the edifice was finished an order of nuns should
be formed, whose sole duty should be that of
always kneeling before the altar in the church,
offering prayers for the salvation of Jerusalem.
These devout, misguided women kneel in pairs
for two hours at a time, repeating their petitions
on behalf of the Holy City. It need hardly
be said that the desire of the priests is that
Jerusalem may be converted to Roman Catholi
cism. This unusual sight of continuous prayer,
day and night, causes many a one to turn aside
and watch for a while these women whose
whole life is given to this object.

24 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Another of the sights of Inner Jerusalem is
that part of the outer wall of the Temple Area
to which the Jews resort to lament the state
of their nation, and the overrunning of their
beloved city by the Gentiles. This place has
so often been written about, that it seems
superfluous to describe it here. Suffice to
say that whereas it was only on Fridays that
the Jews in any numbers went there, since
the massacres in Russia and elsewhere, the
Hebrews have gone every day to the Wailing-
Place to implore God to have mercy on their
brethren. The old wall, with its worn stones, and blocks
inscribed in Hebrew characters, is indeed one
of the most genuine and interesting attractions
of Inner Jerusalem, and it is indeed pitiful and
touching to see both women and men kissing and
rubbing the stones whilst they drawl out their
lamentations for the condition of their people.
An old Rabbi informed the writer that on
and off for eight hundred years the Jews had
resorted to this place to weep, also that the
Government called for no recompense for
allowing them to do this ; on the other hand,
if any help or protection was needed at feast
times or on unusual occasions, it was always
readily granted.

INNER JERUSALEM 25
The synagogues of Inner Jerusalem are, as
may be expected, numerous and well attended.
The three principal places of worship are very
fine erections, and well worth a visit. Looking
down on the city, the domes of these synagogues
stand out in contrast to the other domes. In
appearance the interiors are all alike. In the
middle of each is a circular platform about
three feet high, which is enclosed by a fine
iron grating, which makes it look like a huge
bird-cage. At service time the Rabbis and
Scribes gather in this cage and read from the
scroll the portion and prayers appointed for
the day. In front of the cage is a recess care
fully guarded by a velvet curtain, elaborately
embroidered, in which the scrolls are kept
when not in use. Wooden benches provide
sitting accommodation for the old men, and
the women are all relegated to a gallery. This
synagogue, which has been often pictured, is
that of the Ashkenazim Jews (German Jews),
and is one of the best inside the walls. It may
not be known to every reader that Jews worship
with their heads covered, it being considered
unseemly and a shame for a male to appear
bareheaded. Mention can only be made of one more place
of interest in Inner Jerusalem, and so closely

26 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
is it connected with our Saviour's experiences,
that it claims a visit from every follower of
the Man of Gahlee. The Place of the Pave
ment, or Pilate's Judgment-Hall, has of recent
years been unearthed, and is now a part of
the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Excavation
has exposed streets and pavements, courtyards
and chambers, that for centuries have been
buried under the dirt and debris of the city,
until at last we have the privilege of looking
on a bit of Jerusalem as it was in Christ's
time. The picture shows the Ecce-Homo
Arch, and the pavement as it would appear
if all uncovered. Here, then, is without doubt
the judgment-seat and pavement where Jesus
and Pilate met and conversed. Under the
present street and convent this pavement
remains, and a part of an old arch spans
the narrow street, on which it is beheved
Jesus was presented to the Jews, with the
words, " Behold your king." The illustration
shows —
I. The Roman street, grooved, to make it
easy for animals to climb the hill.
2. A triple arch with a dotted line, 3, fixing
the present street level.
4. Stairs leading down to a covered way by
which, in case of disturbance in the Temple

INNER JERUSALEM 27
Courts, troops could be sent to quiet the people
(Acts xxi. 27-32).
5. Marks cut in the stones for games which
the Roman soldiers played.
6. In the corner is the pedestal or prophet's
stone from which Pilate probably addressed
and argued with the excited Jews.
7. Upright dotted lines showing the section
of the arches now built into the convent
chapel. These ancient and well-preserved remains
show a part of the city which without doubt
was the scene of Christ's final rejection by
the Hebrews, and His condemnation by the
Roman powers.
Enough has been written and shown to
convince the reader that Inner Jerusalem is
not without its attractions, which compensate
in a very large measure for the smells and
filth that are met at every turn of its narrow
streets. As long as the human race exists there will
be those who wiU be interested in this City of
Cities. It could only be wished that thousands
even now had such a love for the city, that,
like Isaiah of old, they would say, " For Zion's
sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jeru
salem's sake I will not rest, until her righteous-

28 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
ness go forth as brightness, and her salvation
as a lamp that burneth " (Isa. Ixii. i, R.V.).
..." Ye that are the Lord's remembrancers
take ye no rest, and keep not silence, till He
establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise
in the earth " (Isa. Ixii. 6, 7, R.V.).

Ill
THE TEMPLE AREA
OF the many sights in the Holy City,
none is of more interest than the
enclosure that for centuries witnessed
the worship and ceremonial connected with
God's ancient people. Whatever else is omitted,
going o'ver the mosque must not be, and a poor
opinion is formed of any one who does not
care to do so, or having done so, says, " I did
not think much of it." Some " do it " in twenty
minutes, others in an hour, but to see the Temple
area properly requires about three hours.
Exclusive of any BibHcal or secular historic
interest attached to the place, there is sufficient
in the manner of the buildings, the massive
masonry, and elegant decoration to charm even
the most disinterested of travellers ; but when
connected with all its wonderful history, no
enclosure is more worthy of a ¦visit.
The photographs reproduced in the illustra
tions will give some idea of what may be seen

30 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
both above and underground in the place which
is most sacred to Mohammedans, Jews, and
Christians alike.
The Temple area, called by the Moslems
El Haram Eshereef, i.e. " the honourable
sacred place," occupies the south-eastern corner
of the city, and covers an area of about thirty-
six acres, just about one-sixth of the entire
space bounded by the walls of the city.
Jews will not enter the place for fear of
treading under foot the law, which they beheve
is buried somewhere beneath the surface ;
Christians are only allowed inside when escorted
by a kawass from the Consulate of the nation
they represent, and a Turkish soldier, both of
whom may be had for a small fee.^ Nine gates
afford entrance into the courts, but nearly aH
visitors enter by the covered way known as
the Cotton Gate. As will be seen by the illus
tration, this miniature street is roofed in and
has every appearance of antiquity. On either
side are small square recesses which once served
as shops, but are now filled with debris and
rubbish. As this is the only covered way into
the Temple Courts, it has been suggested that
it was probably here that Christ turned out
those that bought and sold, aad it may also
These pages vy^fe written before tlie war,

THE MOSQUE OF AKSA.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE TEMPLE AREA.

OLD COVERED STREET LEADING TO THE TEMPLE AREA AND CALLED
BAB-EL-KETTAN.

THE TEMPLE AREA 31
be " the street of the house of God," in which
Ezra gathered the people " because of the
great rain " (Ezra x. 9). The large and much-
worn blocks of stone, also many of the bevels
on them, prove conclusively that the place
was erected centuries ago.
On entering the gate the great octagonal
building commonly called the Mosque of Omar
looms up before us. The proper name of, this
building is the Dome of the Rock, because it
covers the rock believed to be the top of Mount
Moriah. Turning to the left, a flight of steps
lead up to the platform on which this elegant
building stands. Scattered about the lower
platform are numerous fountains, tombs, and
praying-places, each associated with some
celebrity or tradition of Mohammedan lore.
The Dome of the Rock is a large and handsome
octagon. Each side is about sixty-six feet in
length, and is covered as far as the window-sills
with variegated porcelain tiles, and lower down
with marble slabs. Four gates lead into the
sacred edifice, and visitors always enter by
the East Gate ; before doing so they must
remove their boots, or put on overalls, for fear
of polluting the holy place.
On entering, there is at first a slight feeling
of disappointpient, bi;t as the eyes become

32 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
accustomed to the soft, dull light, the beauty
and unrivalled splendour of the place is gradu
ally realized. The delicate and intricate mosaics
that adorn the roof, intermixed with designs
in gold and bright colours, make a mixture
not easily described. Marble columns and slabs
of many hues and grains support the dome, and
it is not unreasonable to suppose that some of
these beautiful pillars and slabs were in the
temples of Herod and even Solomon. The
centre of attraction is the bare rock under the
dome, enclosed and guarded by two screens,
the outer of wrought iron, erected by the
Crusaders at the end of the twelfth century,
and the inner one of coloured wood, with space
enough between the two to walk in.
The Holy Rock is fifty-eight feet long, and
forty-four feet wide, and rises about six feet
above the level of the floor.
Here tradition locates the place where
Abraham offered up Isaac, and the threshing-
floor of Araunah the Jebusite, which was bought
by David on which to build an altar unto the
Lord. It may also be believed that on this
spot stood the Temple of Solomon, and later
the more elaborate one erected by Herod, and
the probability is that the great sacrificial altar
stood here, up to which the people came from

THE TEMPLE AREA, JERUSALEM 33
all parts of the land, bringing their sacrifices
with them to be offered by the priests.
What history is here, and what stories that
rock could tell if only it could speak 1 Its
silence and its rugged face impresses one as
little else in all the land. The few Moslem
things sho'wn seem frivolous compared with
that silent stone and its connexions with great
men and ceremonies.
Exit by the south door leads past an old
stone basin, sometimes filled with water from
the Pools of Solomon. In front is the Mosque
of Aksa, once a Christian church, erected by
the Emperor Justinian in honour of the Virgin.
The present building was erected in 1236, but
has been ofttimes restored. Not including the
annexes, it is eighty-eight yards long and sixty
yards wide. The whole building impresses one
more by its solidity than by any elegance of
design. A pulpit of cedar wood inlaid 'with
ivory and mother-of-pearl is one of the very
few attractions of the building.
Leaving the Mosque of Aksa, we now go
underground and first visit the vaults under
the building just vacated. Two underground
passages lead to the old Double Gate in the
south wall of the Temple area. A massive
raonoHthic column supporting four arches cannot
3

34 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
fail to attract attention, and is probably one
of the oldest stones in all the buildings. The
rude palm-leaves carved in the stones savour
of the Byzantine period. Returning from these
vaults, we now make our way to the underground
chambers kno'WTi as Solomon's stables.
A flight of forty-seven steps lead down to
these spacious substructures, the piers of which
are composed of very ancient drafted stone.
Eighty-eight columns support the roof, over
which is the platform that forms part of the
lower court of the Temple. In these vaults
the Jews sought refuge during their struggle
against the Romans, and in the Middle Ages
the horses of the Frank kings and Templars
were stabled here, and the holes through the
corners of the pillars by which they tethered
their steeds may still be seen. It may safely
be concluded that some of the building seen in
these vaults was done in the time of Solomon ;
many of the immense blocks of stone bear the
Jewish bevel, and the marks of the tools are
still discernible. On the west side of these
underground chambers, and separated from
them by a wide wall, there are two long passages
which probably led up to the Temple, coming
in through the triple gate in the south wall.
No doubt, if excavations were allowed to be

THE TEMPLE AREA, JERUSALEM 35
made, it would be fo-und that these two passages
terminated in front of the sacred edifice to
which the tribes " went up."
After doing the stables, a walk to the Golden
Gate is the usual thing. This portal is of
universal interest, as it is the only entrance to
the Temple area on the east side. For many
centuries it has been built up with soHd masonry,
and latterly strengthened from the inside,
probably in fulfilment of the prophecy in
Ezek. xliv. 1-3. No doubt Christ entered the
Temple through this portal when He rode
triumphantly in from Bethany accompanied
by the exultant crowds Few ever see the
interior of this gateway, •with its exquisite
friezes and massive pillars. A special favour
granted to the 'vvriter enabled him to secure
a photograph of the place, which is reproduced
in these pages.
From the Golden Gate the visitor is escorted
across the uncared-for outer court towards the
exit, called " Bab-el-Habis," i.e. the Prison
Gate, because the main prison of the district
is near by.
On the right, in the corner of the Temple
enclosure, rises a lofty minaret built on the
soUd rock.
The probability is that on this spot or near

36 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
it stood the Tower of Antonia. From the
gallery of the minaret a complete and perfect
view of the whole Temple area may be had,
and fortunate indeed is the one who can
induce the man in charge to accept a present —
not backsheesh — for the privilege of ascending
the lofty tower. Of the few that try few
succeed , as it is forbidden to grant the favour
to unbelievers. But in spite of these restric
tions and petty formaHties the sights of the
Temple area are worth any time and energy
spent in seeing them, and the visitor to
Jerusalem is well repaid for coming so far
by being allowed to visit a place so full of
both sacred and secular associations.
To those unable to go and see for themselves,
the accompanying illustrations will convey a
good idea of many parts of the Temple area
and its buildings as seen through the lens of
an ordinary half-plate camera, and many no
doubt will agree with the writer that the words
of the Psalmist may still be used in regard to
that part of the Holy City, which he designated
the "perfection of beauty," and that the
modern name is no misnomer, for indeed the
Temple area is an "honourable sacred place."

THE HOLY ROCK, MOUNT MORIAH.
INTERIOR OF THE GOLDEN GATE.

CORRIDORS IN SOLOMON'S STABLES UNDER THE TEMPLE AREA,

IV

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE AND
BACK
OVER UNFREQUENTED TRACKS
IT came about in this way. I was detained
in the Holy City, and knew that the delay
meant a fortnight's idleness unless
something was done to while away the time.
Fortunately about this time a fellow-visitor
mentioned that he was desirous of going to
Galilee and back again, but, said he, " I would
prefer to go on some unusual route, and see
sites and scenes not generally visited by the
ordinary tourist."
Inquiry proved that such a trip was possible,
so, lea'ving behind heavy luggage and un
necessary impedimenta, we set forth with the
result to be described in the following pages.
A guide-book was our only companion and
proved a very helpful and useful one.
3T

38 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Leaving Jerusalem early one morning we
crossed the ridge of Scopus on the north-east
side, and, descending into a deep valley, made
our way in about an hour to the village of
Anata, the ancient Anathoth, the birthplace
of Jeremiah. There is nothing of interest to
be seen in the place to-day. So, inquiring our
way, we go on over a rocky path, and in about
one hour reach Jeba, a small village perched
on a rocky eminence, with a precipitous bluff
on the north-east side. It was up this rocky
cliff that Jonathan and his armour-bearer
climbed upon their hands and feet and surprised
the garrison of the PhiUstines, causing them to
flee. A little farther on across a deep ravine is
Michmash, which we soon reached, and where
fallen columns and huge blocks of stone tell
of antiquity. We were interested in finding
that these villages of Benjamin still retain
their names as recorded in Scripture. Viewed
and studied, Bible in hand, they meet exactly
the requirements of sacred history, a good
substantiation to the truth of Old Testament
writ. About two hours north of Michmash, we
reached, after a weary and rough climb, the
hamlet of Rimmon perched on a rocky hill

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE 39
and notable in Scripture as a stronghold that
sheltered six hundred men for four months
against the attacks of Israel (Judges xx. 45-47).
As we looked about this ruined fortress we were
impressed by the large number of rock-hewn
cisterns for the storage of water, and could
understand how those defending themselves
against a foe could hold out for so long a time.
These cisterns bear traces of antiquity, and
to-day are used by the Rimmonites. Each
well mouth is blocked by a heavy stone rolled
or dropped into it, and this can only be removed
by the united efforts of those who come to
draw water, another instance of Scripture
lore as recorded in Genesis xxix. 2, 3, 8.
The old citadel here is built of very ancient
material, and is a motley mixture of column,
capitals, hewn and rough stones. As we passed
the guest-room of the place, the head man came
and gave us a hearty invitation to turn in and
spend the night with them, which we refused
with thanks. Ahead of us on the slopes of a
high hill was the large village of Ophrah, the
town of Gideon, and we were anxious to spend
the night there, hoping to gather from some of
the vUlagers tidings and traces of old wine
presses in the near vicinity of the place.
About an hour before sunset we reached

40 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Ophrah, and were fortunate in getting the
native schoolmaster to put us up for the night.
Ophrah, like other places we had passed, bears
many traces of antiquity ; rock-hewn cisterns
and tombs abound, but wine and olive presses
are few. However, one wine-press rewarded
us for our trouble, and we were interested in
seeing it. Its dimensions are about nine feet
by five, and its depth about two feet. It is
hewn in the rock, and its sloping bottom is quite
smooth ; as this is the only press 'visible near
Ophrah, it might possibly be the one in which
Gideon was at work threshing com. This
ancient village is one of the most prosperous
and attractive places in Southern Palestine.
Early next day we bade farewell to our kind
host, and for several hours made slow progress
over one of the roughest tracks in the land —
sufficient evidence to us that we were indeed
and in truth off the usual route of tourists.
Towards afternoon we struck the new carriage
road being made from Jerusalem to Nablous
(ancient Shechem).
Near Nablous we came to Jacob's well,
where Jesus met the woman of Samaria.
Grieved we were to find that the Greek
Church had covered the well in and had made
a little chapel on the spot. Near by, we visited

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE 41
the supposed tomb of Joseph, but came away
more disgusted than pleased with what we
had seen.
Sunset found us stowed away in a dirty
room that we rented for fourpence from a
caravanserai keeper, our only objection to
this accommodation being numerous small
company that robbed us of our night's rest ;
they served one purpose, however, and that
was forcing us to an early start in the morning.
At daybreak we rode out of Nablous, the home
of fanatical Moslems and fierce barking dogs.
We were now bound for Samaria, once the
pride and capital of these parts. Rain had
fallen in the night, making the morning cool and
pleasant. Over hills and through valleys we
went for about two hours, when from a ridge
that we had reached we looked down on what
was once Samaria. Its position is magnificent,
being on the spur of a hill, the top of which
must have been levelled.
Samaria, once the capital of Israel and famous
through all Biblical history, is now, in fulfilment
of prophecy " ploughed as a field." An old
church, now used as a mosque, is in the midst
of a few rude houses of mud and stone ; but
more ancient than this are the many columns
still standing in their original position to bear

42 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
their silent testimony to a once glorious city.
As near as can be traced, the colonnade of
Samaria was about twenty yards wide and over
i,8oo yards in length ; nearly two hundred
columns are standing at the present time, about
sixteen feet above ground, and all minus their
capitals. If any place in Palestine would yield
interesting results to the excavator surely
Samaria would, if only some exploration society
would undertake the task.
After an interesting hour among the ruins
of Israel's ruined capital we resumed our
journey, and after about three hours' ride
came to the supposed site of Dothan. A few
ruins only are to be seen near an oak-tree close
to which is a fine spring. This, like many
another place, still retains its old name, being
known as Dotan by the natives in the sur
rounding villages.
We were now leaving behind us the moun
tains and hill country of Samaria and should
soon be on the wide level plain of Esdraelon,
but the setting sun told us that it was time
we sought a shelter for the night unless we
wished to spend it in the open. A large ohve-
grove near by encouraged us to think a 'village
might be on its farther side, as it proved to be.
At the entrance, on our asking for the pubhc

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE 43
guest-chamber, we were told that some lady
missionaries hved in the village.
A smart lad kindly led the way to their simple
home, and these isolated workers gave us a
hearty welcome and insisted on our occupying
their guest-room for the night. It was a mutual
pleasure to meet thus in such an out-of-the-way
place, and to see for ourselves the efforts of
these lady workers among the villagers of
Samaria. A night spent between clean sheets
was a good preparation for the morrow, which
was to prove one of the most interesting days
of our trip.
By earHest dawn we left the village, and by
sunrise had reached the plain below us.
This plain of Esdraelon, with its centuries
of history, should have at least a week given
to it for a study. Dozens of villages and
hamlets, all connected with Scripture lore, are
to be seen only short distances apart. Our
intention was to take in only a few of the most
interesting, as our time was limited. On
reaching the plain we had to choose between
five or six beaten tracks, all leading off in dif
ferent directions. By means of guide-book
and compass we decided on one that proved
to be the one we wanted, because it led to Zerin,
the ancient Jezreel. A ride of about two hours

44 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
brought us in sight of this once important
centre, and as we rode over the level plain we
could imagine the Israelites and Philistines
chasing each other in battle.
Jezreel of to-day is a good-sized place, with
an old tower in the middle, probably built on
the site of a much older one in use in the days
of Saul and David. We were forcibly reminded
of the words of Scripture in 2 Kings ix. 37 :
" And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as the
dung upon the face of the field in the portion
of Jezreel," by seeing the heaps of dung and
manure piled up to dry just outside the village.
When dry this is stored away to be used as
fuel in the cold and wet season of the year.
This collecting and piling up of dung is peculiar
to Galilee, and is evidently a very old custom
with the people.
About twenty minutes east of Jezreel is one
of the best, if not the best, spring in all Galilee,
and is known as Gideon's fountain, and it was
here his forces were put to the test by the way
they drank water. The clear, cool liquid comes
out of a cave in the hillside, and forms a pool
quite fifty feet wide and from one to three feet
deep ; this water is used for irrigation, as well
as to turn some mills.
We were loath to leave so charming a spot.

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE 45
so reluctantly turned our backs on it and made
toward Shunem, famous as a place of resort of
Elisha, and also the home of the woman whose
dead child was restored to life.
Shunem is a medley of dilapidated mud huts,
surrounded by gardens kept green and fresh by
a copious spring that rises in the centre of the
dusty hamlet. As we were leaving Shunem a
horseman overtook us, who kindly offered to
show us a short cut to Nain, whither we were
now bound. So accepting his kind services, we
followed him, and in about an hour were at the
entrance of the now tiny village that still bears
its Scriptural name, where Jesus met the funeral
procession of the widow's only son. As we
neared the place we saw on our right several
rock-hewn tombs, evidently ancient, and the
possibility is that in one of these the widow's
son might have been laid but for the timely
appearance of the Saviour.
Nain of the present is a restored ruin on the
side of a hill, and has a mixed company of
Moslems and Christians livkig side by side.
With the exception of a small church of quite
recent date, Nain has nothing of attraction about
it ; the story of the Gospel alone makes it of
any interest.
A ride of about two hours across a level plain.

46 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
and a steep climb up the hillside, brought us
within sight of Nazareth, where we intended
to spend the coming Sunday. We soon found
clean and comfortable quarters in a native hotel,
and then went out into the town to purchase
supplies for the day before us. As it was
sunset, most of the shops were shut, but we
secured sufficient bread, fruit, eggs, etc., to
tide us over.
On Sunday morning we joined the natives
in the Protestant church, and, although not
understanding the language, were able to be
with them in spirit. In the afternoon a short
but agreeable visit was made to the orphanage
on the hillside, but we were disappointed to
find that the opening of the autumn session
had been delayed by unavoidable circumstances.
During our short stay in the to-wn of Jesus'
boyhood we frequently passed the fine spring
known as Mary's fountain. Without doubt the
Saviour as a boy ofttimes accompanied His
mother to this spot when she went to draw
water. This being the only water supply of the
town, a constant stream of women and children
may be seen going and coming from moming
until evening.
We did not care to spend our time visiting
the numerous supposed sites connected with

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE 47
our Saviour's early days ; it was enough for
us that we were privileged to pass a Sunday
in the town, about the site of which there can
be no doubt.
Our Sunday rest put us in good form for an
early start on Monday morning, and by sunrise
we were at Cana of Gahlee, where the water
was turned into wine. We had intended to
enter the Greek church there and see the only
one of the six waterpots that remains. But
some careless person had mislaid or lost the
key of the church, so that entrance was im
possible to us for sight-seeing, and to the
natives for prayer and worship. The priest,
taking occasion of the loss, was indulging in
a longer sleep than usual, so we could not
see him.
A ride of four hours, taking us past a flourish
ing Jewish colony, brought us within sight of
Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, the latter one
of the few places unspoilt or unaltered by man's
invention. What a sight it was : the still,
blue waters of the sea 'with its bare, barren hills
on the eastern side, and the plain of Gennesaret
on the north-west, and the compact town of
Tiberias at our feet on the edge of the lake.
A few little fishing-boats on the water with
their white sails fuU of wind, gave the finishing

48 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
touch to the picture. No other such may be
looked upon in all the land, and none so thrills
the soul with emotion.
Here the Saviour did many of His miracles,
over these waters He sailed, and around these
shores He walked, doing good as He went ;
but the unbelief and hardness of heart of the
people is manifest to-day in ruined Capernaum,
Bethsaida, Magdala, and many such once-
flourishing places.
What is of interest in Tiberias can soon be
seen, and 'with reluctant hearts we turned our
backs on so beautiful a place and set our faces
homeward. To traverse the same route was not our
intention ; so taking a more southern road,
about noon we reached the mount called
Tabor. Its apple-pudding shape makes it a
prominent object among the hUls of Galilee,
and many would have us believe that this is
the Mount of Transfiguration. That, like
much else connected with the Holy Land, is
a matter of pure speculation.
A quick and easy ride across another section
of the plain of Esdraelon brought us again into
the hill country of Samaria. For two days
nothing of interest claimed attention until
we struck the well-preserved Roman road from

JERUSALEM TO GALILEE 49
Jerusalem to Csesarea over which, 'without
doubt, Paul rode when sent in charge of
soldiers. In the distance on a prominent hill we saw
what appeared to be a large building, but as
we got nearer we could see that it was a fine
ruined castle, and, as it turned out afterwards,
none other than that of Antipatris (Acts xxiii. 31),
where Paul was lodged on that eventful journey.
Interesting it was to find two thousand years
afterward this fine old ruin still bearing its silent
testimony to the New Testament story of the
Apostle. The forty-two miles to Jerusalem was a weary
ride over rough, rocky paths that lay through
valleys and across hills. Everywhere the
natives were beating the oHve-trees in Old
Testament style (Deut. xxiv. 20), a demonstra
tion to us how slow the people are to change
their customs for more modern ones. Our last
day's ride led us by the portion given to Joshua
for an inheritance, and the simple yet solid
sepulchre that still bears his name. There is
much to lead us to believe that this is the
actual place. Both name, location, and tradi
tion, agree with the sacred record. Having
examined the spot and compared it 'with what
our Bibles told us, we pressed on. Late in the
4

50 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
afternoon we reached the Holy City once more
well pleased that ten days had been passed in
going to such interesting places over unfre
quented paths, although many of the paths
were not worthy of such a designation because
of their roughness. Once would suffice for such
a trip both for man and beast.

NAZARETH.
STREET OF COLUMNS, SAMARIA.
DUNG-HEAPS OUTSIDE JEZREEL.

PINE FOREST, BEIRUT.
A VILLAGE IN THE LEBANON.

ACROSS LEBANON ON A DONKEY
I HAPPENED to be in Damascus— to
thousands known as the Pearl of the
Desert — and wanting to reach Beirout.
I had the choice of two routes, the shorter in
eight hours by the railway, or the longer and
most picturesque across the mountains, valleys,
and plains of the Lebanon, and not being pressed
for time I chose the latter. I rode a donkey in
preference to a horse, because with the latter
there is the temptation to push on and do a
Httle more, and ofttimes things that are interest
ing are passed because of weariness or haste,
but with the humble donkey short stages must
be made, and progress is necessarily slow.
Damascus was left about seven one July
morning, and following the Abana for a time
the road entered the deep ravine through which
Naaman's competitor with Jordan approaches
Damascus. The vaUey, which is full of vegetation
51

52 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
and silver poplars, is beautified by numerous
tiny cascades falling over rocks, green with
moss and maidenhair fern, and this veritable
fairyland continues until a bridge is crossed
that spans the river at Doummar.
This is one of the summer resorts of the
better-class Damascenes, who dehght to sit
near the waterfall and smoke their narghelies
and sip their coffee ; the spot is a charming one,
and fascinates all who visit it.
Soon we left the river and fertile valley for
the steep and barren hills that are such a striking
contrast to the verdure below, but again and
again the barrenness was relieved by the sudden
appearance of some oasis of apricot, walnut,
fig, or apple-trees, all flourishing and fruitful
in happy confusion.
Four hours out from Damascus we reached
Ain Fijeh, the main source of the Abana, one
of the strongest and most beautiful springs in
Palestine or Syria, rivalling even those at
Banias or Dan. With tremendous force the
clear, cold water rushes from beneath huge
boulders of rock, and goes tumbling and roaring
away into a dense forest of fruit and other trees
down in the valley below. It is no wonder
that the ancients erected a shrine to the river
god there, and midst the music of the water

ACROSS LEBANON ON A DONKEY 53
and singing of the birds held their festivals and
ceremonies. I would fain have lingered a day at so charming
a spot, but had to go on, and soon the power
house for the electric cars and lighting in
Damascus came into sight, the machinery
being turned by a strong flow of water coming
from the anti-Lebanon. A ride of quite three
hours brought us to a large but prosperous
village called Zebadanee, and here the first
night was to be spent.
Arriving early in the afternoon gave me a
good opportunity to go about the place and see
something of the life of the people. The thing
that interested me most was the stuffing of the
sheep, not dead ones, but aUve and healthy.
Every house has one or two of such animals,
which, from lambhood, are persistently made
to eat, by having green food stuffed down their
throats, imtil, after months of such treatment,
the creatures can hardly stand by reason of
their weight and excess of fat. Before winter
sets in the sheep are killed, the lean partly
cooked and chopped into small pieces, then
mixed with the melted fat to be used with rice
or cooked wheat during the cold weather and
spring. At the door or in the court of every

54 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
house, women were to be seen patiently stuffing
the already satisfied sheep, which is kept
scrupulously clean by constant washings at
the spring.
I wondered if there was any lingering trace
here of the "fatted calf " of Scripture, for I
learned that on a very special occasion the
fatted sheep might be killed before its time, but
it would be unusual.
I was also surprised to see quantities of
potatoes being cultivated, the jdeld being very
abundant and the quality excellent, but there
was no market for them because of expense of
transportation and taxes imposed by a Govern
ment adverse to improvement and progress.
The second day was a trying one — at least
for six hours — because our route very largely
followed the railway track, which in many
places is very narrow and runs around the sides
of high hills. Twice we were surprised by
trains, and had only just time enough to dis
mount and scuttle away do'wn the steep banks
out of the way of the iron horse. Riding for
hours under such conditions, not knowing any
minute when a train might appear round a curve,
was anything but pleasant, and 'with feelings
of rehef and lighter hearts we gladly left the
rails for a stiff climb over the hills to Baalbek.

ACROSS LEBANON ON A DONKEY 55
This pleasant town with its stupendous
ruins, situated so beautifully between the two
Lebanons, was reached early in the afternoon,
thus allowing ample time to visit the sights.
So much has been 'written about the wonders
of Baalbek that to repeat it would be foolish.
Several years before I had visited the place,
but was glad to see it again, especially after
the excavations by the Germans.
There is Mttle new to see ; the large altar is
attractive to some, but I was attracted by the
huge blocks of stone, elegantly carved, that once
ornamented the entablature of the once famous
Temple of Bacchus or the Sun. How such
blocks, several tons in weight, were raised
seventy or eighty feet in the air and put in
position is still a puzzle that needs solving.
Many such carved blocks lie scattered about,
showing what a quantity of them there must
have been.
Simday's rest fitted donkey and rider for
the next stage in the journey, which was to
wards the cedars. A weary ride across the
great plain of Baalbek, which was covered with
harvesters, brought us to the hills that lead
to the great Lebanon range. In a small village
inhabited by Maronites we found shelter for
the night, but were glad to get away in the

56 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
morning from the women of the house, who
begged for all they set eyes on of what belonged
to us, besides extolling their great poverty,
which was questionable.
Daybreak saw us at the foot of the great
ridge that reared its rugged head nearly 8,000
feet above us, and three hours more saw us on
the summit, after a climb that 'will not soon be
forgotten. Although it was the middle of
July, and under the scorching sun of the Orient,
snow quite twenty feet deep was in abundance,
and we crossed the ridge of the range on snow
as hard as stone.
From this elevation, 7,700 feet above the
sea, a most wonderful panorama was before,
behind, and on all sides of us. The great
plain of Baalbek, with its army of harvesters
and, to vary the ccdour of the earth, freshly
ploughed patches of red and brown soil, w^as
behind us ; below us the shining, quiet waters
of the Lake Yammuneh, which the natives
declare is infested with spirits and is fathomless.
On the right and left were the rugged and
treeless peaks, ridges, and valleys of the Lebanon,
and before us the cedars ; beyond, the fertile
hillside of the mountains that seemed to lose
themselves in the air and sea, with TripoU in
full view, although quite forty miles distant.

ACROSS LEBANON ON A DONKEY 57
Few such sights as these may be seen in Palestine
or Syria, and the cHmber is well repaid for the
time and exertion spent in reaching such a
delightful standpoint.
It took quite an hour and a half to scramble
do'wn the rough, loose path which eventually
landed us at the cedars. Some one has ventured
to put in writing the fact that most who visit
the cedars are sadly disappointed, but personally
I was delighted as I wandered among these
giants of the mountains which reared their
lofty heads and spreading branches quite a
hundred feet in the air. This group of cedars,
which is the largest in Lebanon, contains about
four hundred trees, quite a few of them very
ancient and having circumferences varying from
forty to fifty feet. One of the two cedars
shown in the illustration is hollow, and for many
years served as a prison, the offender being
lowered into its hollow interior through a hole
high up in the side of the tree. The group
of trees is encircled by a wall, and in the
middle is a small chapel of the Maronites, to
which they gather once a year to celebrate the
feast of the Transfiguration.
Two gendarmes were on duty to prevent
any one breaking off branches, or otherwise
damaging the trees, as much harm and destruc-

58 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
tion have resulted from visitors anxious to carry
away souvenirs in the shape of walking-sticks
and cone-bearing branches.
A sinking sun told us that the shade of the
cedar-grove must be left and the shelter of the
village near by sought, so, reluctantly, we
turned our faces west, and were soon housed
for the night in a tiny room put at our disposal
by a kind-hearted native.
From the flourishing state of the country
around us, it was very evident that we had
entered that district of the Lebanon under
French protection, and great and striking was
the difference from that under Turkish jurisdic
tion through which we had been riding. Ter
raced hills, irrigated plains, fertile vales, and
vine-covered mountains all spoke plainly about
the blessings of Christian influence, a good
government, and the administration of justice
and fair taxation — this, in contrast to the
blighting influence and maladministration of
the Mohammedan authorities, all too apparent
on the eastern side of the snow-crowned ridge
behind us.
A pleasing feature of the French protected
Lebanon is the large number of villages that
are scattered over the hills, each clean and
neat in the midst of its garden plot and orchard

ACROSS LEBANON ON A DONKEY 59
of fruit-trees. The inhabitants of these
mountain homes are all Christians, adherents
of either the Greek, Latin, or Maronite Churches,
¦with here and there a small community of
Protestants. Most of the roofs of the houses
are slightly sloped, so as to shed the water,
which other-wise would soak though the mud
coating that forms the surface. Here and there
the red French tUe enlivens the duU brown,
and makes a pleasant rehef and contrast.
All through this region we noticed thousands
of stunted mulberry-trees cultivated, and
constantly cut back so as to produce small
leaves only, on which the silkworms are fed,
which forms so large a part of the work of the
Lebanon natives. Every home rears hundreds
of silkworms, and the cocoons are sold for a
good price to some merchant, who has them
unwound and exported to France. One such
merchant showed us cocoons worth £20,000, and
told us they would keep fifty girls employed for
a year un'winding them, which we saw them
doing in a most skilful manner. But space
forbids any explanation on so interesting a
subject ; some day perhaps I will write on the
silk industry of the Lebanon.
Very noticeable was the scarcity of young
men ; this is accounted for by the desire to

60 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
emigrate to America in order to make money.
Hundreds of young people, males especially,
have left their homes in the Orient to seek
wealth in the Occident, which, when gained,
is not always a blessing to them. Some return
to take the whole family back to the land of
opportunity, others return to squander their
earnings, and some never return at all, but
taking to themselves a wife from the motley
crowd of emigrants that swarms in American
cities, settle down as pedlars or shopkeepers.
The Land of the Stars and Stripes is robbing
the choicest part of Lebanon of most of its
young blood and robust energy, which in years
to come will be sadly missed and needed.
But I have strayed from the path and forsaken
the saddle, •with these remarks on the Hfe of
the people, so let us hie back to the donkey
track and the sights that come in our way.
For a time after leaving the cedars we enjoyed
the comfort of a good carriage road, well graded
up and around the hills, and in an excellent
condition. Our way at last led us off the main
road, and by a rough path across the mountains,
until we came almost suddenly upon the cas
cades and waterfalls of Afka, a spot visited by
few in these days, but once frequented by the
ancients, for here stood a famous temple of

SCENE ON THE DAMASCUS-BEIRUT RAILWAY.

CEDARS OF LEBXNON.
(One js hollow and was used as a prison.)

RACHEL'S TOMB ON THE BETHLEHEM ROADSIDE.
SOLOMON'S POOL AND OLD CASTLE.
A WATCH-TOWER IN THE VINEYARDS.

ACROSS LEBANON ON A DONKEY 61
Venus, and here too are the chief sources of
the River Adonis ; hence the Greek myth of
Venus and Adonis was connected with this spot
Out from a dark cavern rushes the clear,
cold water that goes tumbling, roaring, and
splashing down over the rocks into the valley
below, the sparkling fluid, rugged boulders,
and luxurious abundance of vegetation forming
a picture such as only Nature could design.
The abundance of water in Northern Palestine
and Lower Syria impressed us, and made us
wonder why the Creator had been so lavish in
a part thialy populated, and so sparing in a
land that was, and is, thickly peopled.
After leaving the fascinations of Afka we
began the descent to the seashore, and rapidly
descended hundreds of feet. Village after
village was passed, and many a well-built
monastery noted as it was perched on some
lofty eminence or rugged ledge of rock, and
we often remarked — ^how do these people away
up there pass their time, or what do they find
to do?
At last the beautiful Bay of Juneh was
reached, almost equalUng the Bay of Naples
in size and beauty. On the seashore we saw
dozens of men hard at work with the most
piimitive tools, making quite large sailing-

62 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
boats, which were to ply between Egypt, Cyprus,
and the different ports on the Syrian coast. It
was interesting to find these modem Phoenicians
still engaged in the calHng of their ancestors,
and to learn that the modem craft of the Syrian
coast are durable, seaworthy, and much sought
after by those " that go do-wn to the sea in ships,
that do business in great waters."
Presently Beirut, the goal of my mountain
trip, came into sight, but ere it was reached
I had to make my way slowly along one of
the heavy sand roads, many of which lead
through the extensive pine-forest which is
such a favourite resort of the people resident
in the near-by city. These thousands of pines
were planted as a protection against the en
croachment of the sand from the south, and
are serving their purpose well.
Soon shops begin to appear, then residences,
later the ciowded streets, and in due time the
hotel, and in place of the simple, easy-going.
Oriental hfe of the mountains, we find the rush,
fashion, and elegance of the Continent. I was
glad to stretch myself between the sheets of a
good bed, and to lull myself to sleep thinking
of the variety of scenes I had looked upon
whilst trundling across Lebanon on a donkey.

VI
ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND
LOCALITIES and sites connected with
the early patriarchs of the Old Testa
ment must always be of interest to
the student and careful reader. Anything
connected with Abraham is of an unusual
interest, especially so as the more prominent
places mentioned in connexion with him are
without doubt to be looked upon to-day,
although four thousand years have passed
away. To Christians, Jews, and Moslems,
the haunts and districts ascribed to Abraham,
who has been called " the chief of the
patriarchs," are much revered and almost
worshipped, but comparatively few of any of
the above religious sects are favoured by being
able to •visit these interesting localities and
scenes. Three things combine to make a visit
to these places difficult, viz. the obstruction
of the Turkish Government, the fanaticism of
63

64 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
the Mohammedans, in whose hands the sacred
places are, and the lawlessness of and danger
from the Bedouins who abound in some of the
districts. Yet, in spite of drawbacks, some do
get to visit these interesting spots, and it was
lately the good fortune of the writer to visit
and photograph most of the visible things
relating to Abraham, the " father of the
faithful." Two places stand out prominently in the hfe
of the patriarch, viz., Hebron and Beersheba.
The former is one of the oldest to'wns in existence,
and has had an unbroken record. It is about
twenty-two miles from the city of Jerusalem,
and can be reached by carriage or horseback.
The latter way gives better opportunity of
studying the country and the interesting places
that must be passed as you go along.
Leaving Jerusalem at the Jaffa Gate we follow
for a time the Bethlehem road. If the start
is made in the morning, you will see the train
leaving the station for Jaffa, the railway being
for a short distance near the carriage road.
Soon we come on to the plain of Rephaun, a
place once the favourite camping-ground of
the Philistines, and also noted as being the place
where David heard " the sound of a going in
the top of the mulberry-trees."

ON PATRLA.RCHAL GROUND 65
In about a quarter of an hour the clean town
of Bethlehem comes into view perched up on
a hill away to our left, and a Uttle farther on
we reach the undoubted tomb of Rachel.
At the time of the writer's -visit this interesting
shrine was open and being visited by hundreds
of Jews, who go there to bewail the loss of so
valuable a member of their race, or, as they
style her, " the mother of their nation." There
is httle doubt that the large erection by the
roadside near Bethlehem covers the place
where Rachel was buried, for we read in
Gen. XXXV. 19, " And Rachel died, and was
buried in the way to Ephrath, which is
Bethlehem, and Jacob set a pillar upon her
grave : that is the pillar of Rachel's grave
unto this day."
For a few nules the road hes between vine
yards and gardens, from which a good quantity
of fruit is gathered and sent to the Jerusalem
market. Here in these vineyards may be seen
the " lodges and watch-towers " of the Bible,
as necessary to-day as ever they were, for
unless the -vines and trees were watched during
the time of fruit, much damage and loss would
be caused by -wild animals and human beings.
The "little foxes that spoil the vines" (The
Song of Solomon, ii. 15) are numerous, and the
5

66 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
watchman from his exalted position has to keep
a sharp lookout for intruders. Presently the
Pools of Solomon come into sight on our right
hand (Eccles. ii. 6), and would well repay a
visit, but at the same time cause a delay of an
hour or more. From here the way hes across
open country that is cultivated, and from which
fairly good crops of wheat, barley, or millet
are gathered.
At about two-thirds of the distance a number
of rock-hewn tombs are seen, some of them
very handsome and of fine proportions ; these
are of some interest, but of far greater interest
is a fine columbarium hidden away in a cave
up on the hillside. These places are so called
because in appearance they are hke a dovecote.
but instead of being a resting-place for doves,
the scores of niches here seen in the rocky sides
of the cave were used as receptacles for the
urns of ashes of cremated persons, or the skulls
of those who had been long buried, these being
modes of sepulture used by the Romans and
others. Two or three miles more bring us to
a fountain of cool, clear water that flows out
of a hole in the rock into a large stone basin
Tradition would have us believe that this is
the place where Philip baptized the eunuch
when he was on his way to Gaza.

ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND 67
As we go on toward Hebron the tomb of
Jonah is seen, and nearer the town, a place
supposed by the Jews as that where Abraham
received the angels. Then come the extensive
and delightful vineyards of Hebron, that spread
for quite a mile round the ancient city, thus
enclosing the old place in a wide circle of green
The only things against Hebron are its dirty,
rough, narrow streets, and its fanatical inhabi
tants. These latter, however, are improving
as they come more into contact with Western
ideas and life, due in some measure to the
presence for many years of a few Protestant
missionaries, including a kind and energetic
doctor. Before proceeding to the special sights of
Hebron, let us visit the more modern sights
that are of interest, the first of these being
the large tanneries for the preparation and finish
ing off of the water-skins so much in use through
out the East. It is a remarkable thing that this
work is done in only two places in Palestine
or SjTria, these being Hebron and Nablous.
Here in the city of Abraham thousands of these
skins are treated and sent away to far-distant
lands for use where buckets and jars are un
known. The men in one of these yards told
me the average time to complete one skin and

68 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
make it ready for use was four months, and its
value about ten shillings. These skins present
a strange sight when laid out in rows, so that
the warm sun may do its part in curing them.
In appearance they look exactly like pigs that
have had their heads and legs taken off.
Another interesting industry confined to
Hebron is the making of glass bracelets, also
a variety of bottles, vases, and globes; but as
this work is only done at a certain season of the
year, it is not every one that sees this primitive
and fascinating work. Last, but none the less
interesting, is the potter at his rude wheel,
turning clay into aU kinds of vessels for use
in the homes of the people. These potters
generally work hidden away in a dark comer
out of sight, but their nearness is indicated
by the presence of a variety of freshly turned
vessels put out on the path to harden in the sun
before being carried away to the baking kiln.
Now let us away to other sights directly
connected with the centuries long past. First
in order, according to the record, is the place
where Abraham received his angelic visitors.
Tradition and Scripture (Gen. xviii. 8) both
lead us to believe that it was under an oak-tree
in the plain of Mamre that the patriarch enter
tained his guests, and to substantiate it there

ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND 69
has been preserved and revered the fine old
tree that bears the name of Abraham's Oak.
This fine tree measures about thirty-two feet
in circumference at its base, and although
apparently dying, has yet a lot of hfe in it.
Latterly it has been railed in to protect it from
being damaged and carried away in chips by
thoughtless and over-zealous curio-hunters.
Leaving the suburbs of the city and going
to its southern extremity, the next item of
interest is the series of large reservoirs known
as the Pools of David, because of his supposed
connexion with them. The largest of these
is square, each side being more than forty yards
long, and it is constructed of hewn stone that
from its appearance is without doubt ancient.
There is every reason to believe that these
pools were in existence and use in the days of
David, for in 2 Sam. iv. 12, we read, " And
David commanded his young men, and they
slew them {i.e. the murderers of Ishbosheth),
and cut off their hands and their feet, and
hanged them up over the pool in Hebion."
The boys and men of the city amuse themselves
by bathing in the waters of these pools, which,
it may be said, is not used for drinking purposes.
Not far from the pools, and just inside the
city, is the place of greatest interest to all who

70 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
find their way to this ancient town, viz., the
cave of Machpelah, which Abraham bought,
and where he, Isaac, and Jacob, with their wives,
have without doubt lain these long centuries
undisturbed by the inquisitive peerer into the
past, or the pick and shovel of the excavator.
This, too, is one of the now few places that the
Mohammedans have up to the present kept
closed to outsiders.
Machpelah was the only piece of land that
Abraham ever possessed in his own right. A
visit even to the exterior of this place is made
more or less unpleasant by the presence of the
Mohammedan fanatics who abound there, all
eager and ready to prevent any unbeliever
making an attempt to enter a place so sacred to
them, that it may not be defiled by any outside
the rehgion of Islam. Only t'wice, I think,
during the last century did Christians enter this
place, and then only the mosque over the cave,
having special permits from the Sultan. These
were King Edward VII., when Piince of Wales,
and, later, the American ambassador from
Constantinople. The original cave purchased by Abraham
cannot be seen, it being under the large mosque
that has been built over it. No one, not even
a Mohammedan, is allowed to enter the cave.

ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND 71
although a grating in the floor of the mosque
allows of a portion of it being seen, and that
faintly, as only one small oil lamp let down
from above is permitted. The mosque is
entered on the south side by two flights of steps,
access to the western entrance being strictly
forbidden, and the visitor is only allowed to
ascend seven steps of the eastern flight, that
being a very special privilege granted to enable
the Jews more particularly to reach a hole in
the wall in which they drop petitions to Abraham
asking special favours of him. Beyond these
seven steps it is not wise or safe to go, as
fanatical, murderous eyes and hands are leady
and waiting to prevent by force the farther
entrance of the infidel.
In the mosque itself stand six cenotaphs
which are said by the Mohammedans to stand
exactly over the spots where Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, with their wives, Sarah, Rebecca,
and Leah, were buried. These erections are
built of stone and are covered with green cloth
embroidered with gold and silver In another
part of the mosque is a similar memorial, erected
over the spot beneath which is supposed to
contain the remains or mummy of Joseph, for,
although Scripture tells us that he was buried
in Shechem (Josh. xxiv. 32), Mohammedan

72 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
history assures us that about five hundred years
ago the remains of Joseph, the son of Jacob,
were transferred from Shechem to Hebron and
deposited in the cave of Machpelah.
The best view of the so-called cave of Mach
pelah, that is, the mosque, is obtained from
the north side on the hill that rises directly
above the building. From this point a full
view of the size of the mosque is to be had,
together with its minarets, battlements, and
buttresses, sixteen on each side and eight at
each end. The photograph of the mosque from
which the illustration is reproduced was taken
by the writer in a moment when the watchful
fanatics were off their guard. The special
camera with which this picture was taken gives
a unique and splendid view of this sacred and
intensely interesting shrine.
With an outward view of this ancient structure,
with its undoubted certainty, we have at present
to be content, and console ourselves with the
hope that at some time in the near future some
one 'with respect for the dead may be permitted
to enter the long-closed cavetomb and find out
what and whose remains are deposited there;
for, although the bodies of Abraham, Isaac,
Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah have long since
turned into dust, it is not unreasonable to

ABRAHAM'S OAK IN THE PLAIN OF MAMRE.
WATERSKINS CURING IN THE SUN.
COLUMBARIUM, OR ANCIENT RECEPTACLE FOR REMAINS OF THE DEAD.

OLD WELL MOUTH, BEERSHEBA.

DRAWING WATER, BEERSHEBA. ENTRANCE TO THE MOSQUE,
HEBRON.
FORBIDDEN STEPS, HEBRON MOSQUE.

ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND 73
expect that the mummies of Jacob and Joseph
are still there in a good state of preservation.
The other place of interest connected with
the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac is Beersheba.
a place that, after the possession of the land
by the children of Israel, became its southern
most boundary. It is about forty miles south
west of Hebron, away ui the wilderness, and is
only reached after a somewhat fatiguing ride
of ten hours. It is very interesting to note
that the, name of the place is the same to-day
as it always was, and also that the name, like
many Scriptural designations, means just what
the place bearing it is, viz. seven wells, " beer "
meaning well, and " sheba " or " suba " seven.^
Here, then, far away from city or town, we find
the cause that led Abraham and Isaac to be so
much in these parts. Their numerous flocks,
herds, and attendants needed a constant supply
of water, and here it was, and here it is,
serving the same purpose, viz. that of quenching
the thirst of thousands of cattle and human
beings. ' -We have allowed the vrriter's explanation of Beer
sheba to stand. But we think it right to say that The
Student's Hebrew Dictionary and many other authorities
give the meaning as " well of the oath or covenant."
It is true, however, that the Hebrew word for oath is
derived from the word for "seven." — Ed.

74 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Having seen all that claimed attention in
Hebron, I set out for Beersheba mounted on a
donkey, with a smart native boy as guide and
driver. About two hours out, at the foot of
some hills, we came to the upper and the nether
springs (about half a mile apart) that Caleb gave
to Achsah, his daughter. Our way then lay
through a long valley, the sides of which were
thickly covered with stunted ash-trees, the green
foliage of which was a pleasant relief to the eyes
from the yellow, rocky hills behind and before.
In about two hours we reached a large village
known now by the name Dahariyeh, but
probably the Kirjath-sepher, the taking of
which was to be rewarded by the gift of
Caleb's daughter. Fortunately, we found a
Bedouin tent outside the village, and, making
for it, were warmly welcomed by the owner.
Here we were treated in patriarchal style.
Our host set about getting us supper, which
consisted of several dishes, some savoury, others
not, •with an unlimited supply of unleavened
bread. Truly it was a hasty meal and reminded
me much of the hurried repast Abraham
prepared for his guests. We got a few hours'
rest in spite of howling jackals, barking dogs,
and braying donkeys, not to mention numerous
smaller creatures that made a closer acquaint-

ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND 75
ance of us than we cared for, and at daybreak
were on the move toward Beersheba.
This part of the journey meant crossing a
large portion of the wilderness that takes its
name from the place we were bound for. Five
weary hours passed without sign of life, when
over a hill in front of us came two donkeys and
a camel laden with large jars of water slung
across their backs in nets made of palm fibre.
This assured me that we must be nearing the
place, and soon, in a depression ahead of us,
I saw hundreds of sheep, camels, goats, and
donkeys, aU waiting their turn to be watered.
In a short time I was in the midst of this busy
desert scene, gazing with a joyful interest on
somewhat similar a sight as Abraham and
others did centuries ago. I was anxious to
find out and see for myself if seven wells really
existed or if it were only a fabrication. Walking
about I saw that the flocks and herds were
being watered from five wells, and then, getting
into conversation with one of the shepherds,
asked him if these were all. His answer was,
" Come, and I will show you the place where
two more are, but they are choked with earth
and stones." I followed him, and near by, in
opposite directions, he showed me depressions
in the ground that he said were the other two

76 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
wells, thus making the required number. He
told me they intended clearing out these
stopped wells, so as to obtain a larger supply
of water. He proved to me the presence of
the wells by scraping away some of the earth
and reveahng the old stones in position at the
top of the shaft.
Four of the working welts have erections
over them that are called " sageeyah." These
are in the form of an arch over the mouth of the
well, and through a hole in the centre a rope
works on a pulley. To this rope are fastened
dozens of jars, tins, or wooden boxes that go
down bottom side up and, passing through the
water, come up filled with water. On reaching
the top these receptacles empty themselves
into a pool as they turn over on the wheel
attached to the pulley.
This primitive machinery is kept going by
a camel hitched on to a rude windlass and
then set going round in a circle, being blind
folded to keep it' from getting giddy. Another
way is to let down a large skin into the well,
and when fuU raise it to the surface by hitching
a camel on to the end of the rope and making
it walk away from the well, and so pull up the
heavy skin of water, which is emptied into a
trough below. Instinctively the camel turns

ON PATRIARCHAL GROUND 77
and walks back to the starting-point, the end of
the rope being held by a man on the return
journey.
The fifth well, being smaller in circumference.
has no " sageeyah " over it, the water stUl
being raised hand over hand. It was intensely
interesting to note as a proof of the antiquity
of these wells, that deep grooves had been worn
in the hard stones that formed the mouth.
I measured several of these grooves and found
they varied from four to seven inches in depth.
The average depth of the five wells is about
one hundred feet, and circumference ten feet.
The Arabs told me the water never fails,
and they were loud in the praises of him who
dug the wells, a work they would never under
take, and plentiful were the blessings they
asked of Allah (God) on Abraham, the one they
affirm provided and drank from these life-
preserving places in so dry, barren, and thirsty
a spot. I would fain have lingered longer in
so fascinating a place, with all its patriarchal
and Scriptural associations, but I was reminded
of the tens of thousands of Abraham's descen
dants through Ishmael who are without the
knowledge of Him Who said : " Whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst," and, " He that believeth on Me

78 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
shall never thirst." I reluctantly mounted
my beast and bade farewell for a time to ground
and scenes that must have been famihar to Him
whose name is known and revered by miUions
and who is held in respectful remembrance
by many who have never read about Abraham ;
all they know, and that fairly accurately,
has been handed down from generation to
generation. In these out-of-the-way places the
patriarchs stiU live, although httle known by
those living in the West.

A BOY MESSENGER OF BEIRUT.
A SEATLESS CARRIAGE IN COMMON USE BEYOND THE LEBANON.

ONE OF THE HUGE WATER-WHEELS USED FOR IRRIGATION ON THE
ORONTES. WOMEN WASHING CLOTHES.

ENTRANCE TO THE OLD CASTLE AT ALEPPO.

VII
AT THE CRADLE OF THE
PATRIARCHS
A WEEK IN ABRAHAM'S COUNTRY
NEITHER the name " Kurdistan " nor
" Aleppo," if met with in an atlas or
a newspaper, would convey much to
the average intelligence or to the imagination.
The most that they would suggest would be
vaguely defined areas in Asiatic Turkey. But
it would be very different if in some way the
comparatively modern nomenclature could
inform us that about here was the ancestral
home of Abraham, before he went forth into
the land of Canaan ; that it was to a well in
this country that Rebekah came with her pitcher
on her shoulder ; and that this was the country
where in due time Rebekah's favourite son
came to sue and serve for the hand of Rachel.
If all that adventure and romance which belongs
to the time when the world was young could

80 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
be expressed in a geographical term, the land
would possess an interest for us second only
to that possessed by Palestine itself.
Recently I have made an expedition to the
borders of Kurdistan. My plans had been to
go on a Scripture-selling tour in Moab, that
ancient kingdom east of the Dead Sea, named
after the sons of Lot. Indeed, the books had
already been sent on in advance in charge of
a trusty Arab. But while preparing for this
journey, there came a request for me to ac
company some girls from the English blind
school in Jerusalem to the American mission
at Orfah, far away to the north of Syria.
In spite of the great historical interest which
such a tour must possess to any one fascinated
with the story of the patriarchs, it was a responsi
bility not to be Hghtly undertaken to pilot three
blind girls through a journey so long, with means
of travel so tedious and uncomfortable, and
with so many changes involved en route. But
the request was not to be refused, and let it be
said to the credit of the Oriental that aU along
the way there were plenty of willing hands to
help with my protegees, and thus the undertaking
was made easier. The Orientals are noted for
their sympathy with afficted people.
The first part of the journey was by sea

THE CRADLE OF THE PATRIARCHS 81
from Jaffa, the BibUcal Joppa, where Jonah
embarked on his journey to Tarshish. Nothing
more adventurous occurred to us on this voyage
than a delay owing to the shipping of several
hundreds of sheep, rather barbarously " helped "
on board. Then we made our way along the
coastline of old Samaria and Galilee, and
Phoenicia, past the ports of Tyre and Sidon,
now rejoicing in less euphonious modern names,
and early on the morning after our embarkation
we dropped anchor in the harbour of Beirut,
the Mediterranean seaport under the shadow
of the Lebanons.
In Beirut our bundles were carried for us
by one of the many small boys who are really
the handy-men of this Syrian Liverpool, and
with huge baskets on their backs, are available
at every corner. For quite a smaU coin they
wiU carry one's bundles to any part of the town,
and are never happier than when thus employed.
For the rest of the way, from Beirut to
Kurdistan, it might almost be said that we
went by railway train, and later by less modern
and less comfortable conveyances, through the
pages of the Pentateuch. We took the railway
which crosses the summit of the Lebanon —
though it was summer this ride was cold — and
we remembered how Moses prayed God that he
6

82 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
might see these mountains. One interesting
stopping-place was Hama, which was the prin
cipal city of Upper Syria from the time of
the Exodus onwards, and which marked the
northern border of the land to be occupied by
the Israehtes. Harvesting was in fuU swing,
and men, women, and children were busily
gathering in the abundant crops. It may well
have been along these fertile plains of Coele
Syria, between the Lebanon and the Anti-
Lebanon, that Abraham and Lot made their
fateful way to Sichem ; that Rebekah, obeying
the promptings of her heart, mounted her camel
behind Abraham's servant, and took her long
pilgrimage to meet Isaac ; and that Laban
pursued the fleeing Jacob.
This journey from Beuut to Aleppo, scarcely
longer in point of mileage than from London
to Manchester, took us nineteen hours. A good-
natured Turkish officer shared the compartment,
and helped to enliven the way, as well as to
keep undesirables from travelling with us.
Beyond Hama, on the River Orontes, we could
see several of the high water-wheels which
are used to raise water from the river to the
high ground on either side. These naura,
as they are called, are of huge dimensions,
some of them nearly seventy feet in diameter.

THE CRADLE OF THE PATRIARCHS 83
As the wheel passes through the water, small
boxes are filled •with the fluid, and when they
reach the top they empty their contents into
a trough, from which the water is directed into
the necessary channels. Night and day these
wheels turn, and are only to be stopped by
diverting the force of the water below into
another course. Altogether, it is a curious
example of Sjnrian engineering, and the creaking
of the wheels, together with the blowing of the
wind through the spokes, makes queer music,
which rings in the ears for long after the train
has left this wonderful river behind.
According to Egyptian monuments the town
of Aleppo was in existence in the time of
Abraham. In antiquity, therefore, it must
almost rival Damascus, and it is all the more
strange that it appears to have no connection
whatever •with Old Testament history. From
the middle of the town rises the ruin of an
immense castle which serves as barracks for
the Turkish troops. This castle has only one
entrance, spanning the moat surrounding the
citadel, and neither visitors nor residents are
allowed inside the keep.
Beyond the castle and the native bazaars
which are extensive and fairly clean, there is
little to claim attention in this Sjrrian town.

84 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
It was, however, touched by the hot wind of
industrial dispute while we were there, and it
was curious to find in the impassive East so
modern and Western a thing as a strike in
progress — a transport strike too, which delayed
our journey.
We were taken from Aleppo almost to the
bank of the Euphrates by the railway which
the Germans are now buildings right across
Asiatic Turkey as far as Bagdad, the city
which scintillates in the Arabian Nights. Surely
there is nothing so romantic in the whole
history of railway enterprise as the iron rail
which •will hnk up Constantinople and the ruins
of Babylon, wliich will touch two of the four
rivers of Eden, the Euphrates and the Tigris,
and which wiU enable one to go from the
Tarsus of the apostle to the Padan-Aram of
the patriarch. Already a trestle bridge allows
the train to pass over that river upon which
the sixth angel of the Apocalypse poured out
his vial. The track is laid also for many
miles on the eastern side towards Mesopotamia,
but is not yet open for pubhc traffic.
Beyond the Euphrates we enter what may
well be caUed the cradle of the patriarchs,
perhaps even the nursery of the human race.
' Written in 1913.

THE CRADLE OF THE PATRIARCHS 85
It is a wild country, far removed now from the
civihzations the springs of which it nourished.
Three hundred miles away to the north-east is
Mount Ararat, raising one of its peaks, perhaps
the one on which the Ark rested, into eternal
snow. Through this land, in which dwelt the sons of
Shem, we went in a seatless carriage, which
seems to be the custom east of the Euphrates.
Unprovided as we were with rugs and bedding
and cushions, and making our way over a
country -without roads, the experience was by
no means pleasant, and it was -with great relief
that we entered the to'wn of Orfah, attended
by a gaping and not too obliging crowd.
Is it possible that this now considerable town
of Orfah was that Ur of the Chaldees of which
we hear so faintly in the Book of Genesis ?
There are two places which bear the name of
Ur, one of them being hundreds of miles away
in ancient Chaldaea, nor far from the mouth
of the Euphrates in the Persian Gulf. The
other is the Orfah or the Urfa of our visit.
The weight of scholarly opinion is on the side
of the southern Ur, but it is said to be the
" universal " opinion of the Jews, not to mention
the local belief, that Ur is the modem Orfah,
and an additional plausibiUty is given to the

86 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
theory because of the fact that what is generally
recognized to be the original Haran, which was
the first sojourning-place of Abraham's family
on the way from Ur to Canaan, is also nestling
in the Mesopotamian valley, less than thirty
miles away. The term " of the Chaldees " is
certainly rather against this view, for the other
Ur is actually in Chaldzea, far away to the south.
But those who believe that Ur of the Chaldees
is in northern Mesopotamia are equal to this
objection, and urge that in former days, with the
extension of Chaldsean power, the name travelled
northwards and attached itself to this ancient
city. However it be, the town of Orfah to-day
is of considerable size and importance, and
jealously guards the Abrahamic tradition. The
town, now inhabited by Armenians and Kurds,
lies as it were in the bend of the elbow of the
upper Euphrates, and the sister river, the Tigris,
is not a hundred miles away. Whatever its
connection with the story of the patriarchs,
there is no doubt that Orfah, then known by
the Greek name of Edessa, for which Urfa is
the Turkish equivalent, had a stormy history
during the Middle Ages. Crusading steel flashed
here, and Christian and Moslem waged war as
it only could be waged in times mediaeval.

THE CRADLE OF THE PATRIARCHS 87
From the point of view of Christian origins,
too, the town and the whole country are interest
ing. Christianity is said to have begun in the
Jewish colony in Orfah as far back as the second
century ; and, indeed, on the mountains of
Kurdistan are still to be found the remains of
what was once the greatest missionary church
in the world, that of the Nestorians, whose
spiritual and temporal head is known, even at
this late day, as the Catholicos of the East.
On arrival at Orfah, after a good deal of
talking and inquiring we were piloted by one
youth to what is the spiritual lighthouse of
this ancient Mesopotamian town, namely, the
American mission, and it should be set down
to his credit that he failed to claim payment
or demand backsheesh for his services. We
were kindly received by those in charge, the
girls being consigned to their quarters with
others similarly afflicted, whUe I was put up
temporarily in a " prophet's chamber."
One of the interesting features of this mission
is its industrial work, which helps to bring cheer
and comfort into many a home wrecked by the
massacres of the Armenians which took place
in this town seventeen years ago. In one
department, that of the handkerchief industry,
considerably more than a thousand women

88 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
are employed, and to these, as they gather in
companies, the simple truths of the Gospel are
unfolded. There are also educational and
technical departments connected with the mission.
I had the opportunity of getting some idea
of the spiritual side of the work on addressing
the Sunday congregation, at service at seven
o'clock in the morning. Four hundred people
were present, the men and women being divided
from each other by a barrier, and all being seated
on rugs on the floor.
But what of Terah and his three sons and
his two daughters-in-law ? And what of that
cavalcade which once issued from this town —
if it was this town — with faces set towards the
land of Canaan ? Well, there is the great
mosque of Abraham in the proudest position
of the town, and occupjdng the site of a Christian
church, which church was reckoned by early
Mohammedan writers to have been one of the
wonders of the world. And there is also the
sacred pool of Abraham, " the lake of Abraham
the Beloved," with its abounding fish, a kind
of carp, which are punctiliously fed as a tradi
tional duty, and are never caught, except
perhaps secretly for some officer's supper.
Yet somehow, in spite of all this, one scarcely
gets the traditional atmosphere in Orfah. A

THE CRADLE OF THE PATRL^^RCHS 89
site supposedly sacred is not made convincing
by any number of carefully preserved rehcs ;
its sacredness is rather a matter of feeling, and
atmosphere, and landscape. On this ground
the neighbouring Haran, where Terah died,
and Abraham certainly dwelt, is much more
satisfactory. A visit to Haran, when one was
so near to it as Orfah, was something not to be
missed. A few members of the staff of the
mission accompanied me on the six hours'
drive across the fertile plams, scattered with
dozens of villages, looking — such is the archi
tecture of the houses — like clusters of beehives.
In the olden days Haran doubtless had a great
importance, as it was on the line of commerce
between Central and Western Asia, and in the
Christian era it was important enough to figure
largely in the Crusades. But the Haran I saw
was peopled only by the families of wandering
Arabs and a sprinkhng of Turkish soldiery.
It is a place of ruin. It suggests that its
story is finished. And thereby it is all the
more appropriate to the Old Testament feeling.
In a city which echoes continually to the tramp
of feet, it is so difficult to get the historical or
traditional sense. One needs ruin, desolation,
melancholy, thorns in the palaces, brambles
in the fortresses, the walls a nest for owls, the

90 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
courts a lair for jackals. There are, indeed, a
few score beehive huts in Haran, all the roofs
being built of small bricks which have been
taken from the ruins. But those ruins are the
dominating thing. Much of them is Roman ;
they date back to before the time when the
Roman army was defeated by the Parthians
on these Mesopotamian plains. The irregular
masses stretch for half a mile or so. Evidently
it was a fighting city. The remains of a citadel
are well preserved at the south-eastern corner,
and there are indications that the town once
had a wall, high and strong, with a gate on each
side. A pathetic picture in Haran is the ruin of
what was once a large and sohdly built Christian
church, which, like that at Orfah, gave way to
a Moslem mosque. Both church and mosque
have gone, but the crosses cut in the stones have
outlived the symbols of Islam. The gateway
of the church remains, and a portion of the
eastern wall, and one massive arch. Evi
dently the floor of the church must have
covered several hundreds of square yards.
The belfry remains also, a hundred and twenty
feet high even in its ruin. When did the bells
ring last ? And what sort of worshippers
gathered here ? And what is the story these

DOVECOTES MADE OF OLD WATER-JARS SET IN MUD.
THE SEYAL-TREE — SUPPOSED TO BE THE SHITTIM-TREE.
THRESHING-MACHINE USED IN SINAI PENINSULA.

PART OF THE STEEP ASCENT TO THE TOP OF MOUNT SINAI
MOUNT SINAI AS SEEN FROM THE CAMPING-GROUND OF THE ISRAELITES.

THE CRADLE OF THE PATRIARCHS 91
broken stones could tell, of earthquake and war
and sacrilege ?
There is no answer, but all is not desolate
and dumb, even in Haran. The camels and
the sheep are there to carry back to the mind
the flocks and herds of Genesis. And another
living thing is there, that is, the water. Fifteen
minutes' walk from Haran is Rebekah's well.
It is still called after the daughter of Bethuel,
and the well to which the damsel came was,
as this must have been, outside the city. They
may very hkely have been the same. Four
thousand years have gone by, and we have had
a glorious company of novehsts and poets,
painters and dramatists. Yet has one of them
produced a love story more simple and touching
and idyUic than that of Rebekah and Isaac,
the first chapter of which was written here, in
real hfe, at the foot of these very hills ?
And they Sciid, 'We will call the damsel, and inquire
at her mouth.
And they called Rebekah, and said unto her. Wilt
thou go with this man ? And she said, I will go.
And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her
nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.
And they blessed Rebekah.
Here is the well to which the fair Shemite
came down. The water is abundant still.

VIII
A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI
THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LAW IN ITS
LONELY GRANDEUR TO-DAY
" A ND Mount Sinai was altogether on a
/% quake, because the Lord descended
JL a. upon it in fire."
There was no trace of smoke or fire when
I made the ascent of Mount Sinai. There were
no thunders and hghtnings, no quaking rock,
no awful voice calling from the barren summit,
no bounds set about the mount, no great en
campment before it.
The first objects I saw on actually reaching
the top were the two chapels, one Christian,
the other Moslem. Into their separate shrines
my two companions — an Arab and a monk
from the monastery at the foot of Sinai —
hurried to pay their devotions. It is wonderful
how in moments of sublime experience anything
in the nature of a falling off instantly fixes itself
92

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 93
on the mind, and one of my recollections of the
first few minutes spent on the top of Sinai
concerns the monk, who had made the greatest
show and noise over his prayers. Having
finished, I noticed that he took a hearty draught
of native-made gin, which he had secreted in
his bosom !
Yet there is something compelling about
Mount Sinai. Even were it not invested with
the memories of the Exodus, even if it did not
stand for a great spiritual idea as well as for
a geographical fact, it would still be wonderfully
impressive. The marvellous panorama that
unrolls itself before the vision alone would make
it so. On every side of us were rugged peaks
of red granite, the mountains intersected with
many a gorge and rift. Below were valleys
with their beds filled 'with sand, and beyond,
filling in the picture, as an unescapable back
ground, not only to all that one saw but to all
one felt, was the barren desert glistening in
the sun.
But the overwhelming impression was that
of the silence — tense, unbroken silence. One
might almost have imagined that the upheaval
of three thousand years ago had left the rock
petrified in an everlasting silence and stillness,
so that not a bird twittered, nor was there a

94 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
blade of grass, or herb, or bush to stir in the
breeze. It comes almost with a sense of surprise that
Sinai should still be identifiable. In reahty, of
course, it is not surprising at all, for mountains,
unhke cities, are unchanged by a thousand
years. But the element of surprise is due to
the fact that in the mind's eye Sinai is not a
mountain at all. It is an idea. When we think
of the old dispensation we think of it in the
terms of Sinai. We recall how the Lord of might,
to use the words of a very old Latin hymn.
. . . On Sinai's height.
In ancient times didst give the law.
In cloud, and majesty, and awe.
Rejoice, rejoice: Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
There is another reason why Sinai has such
vague and indistinct outlines in the popular
imagination. It is out of the beaten track of
the tripper. There are few personally con
ducted tours to Sinai. Jerusalem is quite
familiar to Western visitors, and in Damascus
nowadays the sightseer snaps his camera 'V'vithout
much discretion. But with Sinai it is different.
The Mount of the Law has few visitors, and they
are those who have not travelled thither in a
luxurious coach such as is available in Egypt

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 95
and even in Syria, but have been content to
rough it and to call up their reserves of patience
and endurance in order to reach this lone and
austere but truly holy place.
According to the map, it ought to be possible
to see Sinai from the steamer going to India or
elsewhere by the Suez Canal and Red Sea route.
How many of the coimtless thousands who have
undertaken that voyage have known that they
have been skirting the fringe of the history
of Israel from the death of Joseph to the erection
of the Tabernacle in the wUdemess ? The Suez
Canal itself borders the land of Goshen, which
Joseph procured for his father and brethren to
settle in. On the traveller's left hand as he
goes down towards the Red Sea is Etham,
from whence the Lord went before His people
in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire
by night. All the way do'wn the gulf as far
as Tur, which is one hundred and twenty mUes
from Suez itself, are the scenes of Israehtish
encampments — Marah, Elim, Paran, from which
last, says Habbakuk, came the Holy One.
And the traveller bids goodbye to the Bible
story at the point where, if maps are to be taken
at their face value, Sinai ought to be visible to
the voyager. For the mountain stands over
8,000 feet above sea-level, which is more than

96 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
twice as high as Snowdon, and not very much
less than twice as high as Ben Ne'vis Moreover,
it is only some forty miles inland from the coast.
But although a good many expectant eyes have
been turned to the rugged peaks which encircle
it and a good many glasses have been levelled
from the decks as the steamer has passed along
this historic coast, Sinai does not reveal itself
thus cheaply to the casual sightseer.
It was this route from Suez down to Tur
that I took when, my calling as an itinerant
missionary having led me to the Sinai peninsula,
I determuied to make the ascent of this wonderful
mountain. The journey into this region was
not only so fascinating, but so helpful and en
couraging from the missionary point of 'view
that a second will probably be made.
Sinai lies to the south of the peninsula which
bears its name, making a sort of triangle, in
Scriptural geography, with the land of Goshen,
from which the Israelites went forth, and the
land of Canaan, which was given to them for
an inheritance On the one side is Egypt
with its corn, and on the other Arabia with its
spices. Neither corn nor spices, however,
suggest themselves in the land of which Sinai
is the centre, and one remembers the Monte
negrin fable of the angel at the Creation, who

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 97
spilt the bag of stones he was carrying while
passing over Europe, and the point where all
the stones and rocks fell down was Montenegro.
The same fable might with as much or more
justice be applied to the land of Sinai, where
the terrific granite groups resemble a suddenly
frozen sea. As to which of the forbidding
peaks is the actual Scriptural Sinai, there has
been a good deal of speculation. Scholars
have never agreed and never will, but it is
enough for our purpose that the bulk of opinion
identifies Sinai with the mount now known as
Jebel Musa.
I should have hked to have approached
Sinai by way of Edom and Akabar — that is
to say, in the exactly opposite direction to
the Suez route, or, again to speak in terms
of Scriptural geography, to have retraced the
steps of the Israehtes as recorded in the Book
of Deuteronomy, instead of following in those
steps as recorded in the Book of Exodus.
Pohtical events in recent years, however, have
made this route inadvisable. There is something
of the Esau spirit in the Edomites still, and
the fierce inhabitants of this region still say, in
effect, to the venturesome stranger within their
gates, as of old they said to the children of
Israel, " Thou shalt not pass by me."
7

98 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
For some days I had to wait at Suez, both
for a steamer and for the permit which is neces
sary if the monastery at the foot of Sinai is
to be entered. It was not waste of time, how
ever, for I explored several of the villages and
made the acquaintance of the friendly natives,
among whom a dish of ripe dates in the season
has much the same hospitable significance as
a cup of tea at home. In every settlement I
saw the threshing-machine of the Egyptian
peasant, which still separates the gram from
the ear and chops the straw into chaff as it did
in the days of the Pharaohs. Agricultural
science is not exactly up to date in this part of
Egypt. The nor eg, as this instrument is called,
consists simply of a large box of rough, heavy
boards, mounted on a number of wheels made
of thin sheet-iron sharpened at the edge. This
is pulled over the sheaves as they are scattered
on the threshing-floor, and is probably another
form of the sharp threshing instrument having
teeth 'with which the men of Israel were pro
mised in Isaiah that they should thresh the
mountains and make the hills as chaff.
On another day I saw a queer erection of
gigantic shafts, which turned out, on a closer
'view, to be made up of hundreds of broken
water- jars set in mud, each jar terming a small

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 99
receptacle for a bird. The purpose of the whole
thing was a dovecot on a huge scale in order
to breed birds for the Egyptian market. And
again it seemed as though a striking Bible
passage had come out from the printed page and
taken a concrete form : " Though ye have
hen among the pots, yet shall ye be as the
wings of a dove covered with silver, and her
feathers with yellow gold." Here certainly
was sunshine enough to make the little feathered
tenant of the dirty pots a starthngly beautiful
object against the blue sky.
But onward to Sinai.
It took us nineteen hours to go from Suez
to Tur, a poor village of fifty hovels, and,
once ashore, I went to the Greek monastery
with my introductions. Here I spent a night
while the priest prepared me a camel, and
next day, ha-ving been provided with bread
for the journey, we made our way across the
barren stretch of desert on our slouching
camels, meeting no living thing except a donkey
here and there searching for something to
bite among the rocks, and an occasional com
pany of Arabs. The same programme was
gone through on the following day, and it was
not until the third morning that my Arab pointed
out Mount Sinai in front of us. Even then

100 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
we had another two hours' journey to its furthest
side in order to reach the monastery, entering
at the tiny door, and being received by the
hospitable monks who five always at the foot
of the mount.
This square, fortress-hke monastery, sixty
feet high, belongs to the Greek Church. It
enfolds within its walls a curious assortment
of the old and the new. The most incon
gruous object in such surroundings is the church
of corrugated iron, painted blue. Corrugated
iron is not very pleasing anywhere ; it is posi
tively irritating at the foot of Mount Sinai. The
interior of the church is fitted for Greek worship,
of course, with pictures of the saints on the
walls and elaborate lamps suspended from the
ceiling. In the apse is a magnificent mosaic,
representing the Transfiguration, and behind
this a small chapel covering what is said to be
the remainder of the bush which was burned
with fire and not consumed. The reader -will
remember that it was at Horeb, which is another
name for Sinai, that Moses turned aside to see
this great sight, and, hke him, those who approach
the relic, which is still green, do so barefooted.
At the top of Sinai, as I have said already,
there are two chapels, one Christian and the
other Moslem. The same jealous division

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 101
obtains at the foot. A few yards from each
other in this monastery are a Christian belfry
and a Moslem minaret. Nowhere else in the
world are they such near neighbours. The
story of the Sinai monastery is very largely
one of pillage by the followers of the Arabian
prophet, but now peace has been secured, and
the Arabs have a tiny mosque actually within
the monastery, so that in the same enclosure
the Christian bells and the Mohammedan
muezzin call to prayer.
Of the rest of the monastery the refectory
calls for most attention. Here the monks,
who numbered twenty-five at the time of my
visit, though there is room for a hundred,
gather twice daily for meals. A remarkable
feature of this large hall is the great number
of coats of arms which are cut into the stones
of the arches supporting the roof. There is
also a spacious library with hundreds of manu
scripts, mainly Greek. The literary treasures
are now guarded with jealous care, for in the
past this library has been cruelly robbed. Our
attention must not linger over the other things
in the monastery — the bakehouse, the flour
mill, the wine-press, the ohve-crusher — for the
mighty Sinai looms above us, and it is this,
after all, we have come out for to see.

102 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
We made the ascent early one morning —
up the three thousand rough, high, shaky
steps which lead to the summit. All one's
physical and mental alertness is required, in
view of the character of the ascent. At various
points the way up is broken by tiny, tumble
down chapels variously dedicated — one of them
to Ehjah, who was forty days and forty nights
at Horeb, the Mount of God. A sohtary
cypress-tree and a broken chapel mark the
place of Elijah's refuge. A little plain just
before the last bit of ascent is entered by an
archway on which are inscribed some characters
in Greek, badly worn by the elements and by
time. Then on to the summit.
Is this really the Mount Sinai of the Bible ?
Did Moses hold converse with Jehovah on this
consecrated spot ? Was it here, so far from
any great human habitation, that the Law was
given which was to shape civihzed society ? I
read in my pocket Bible on the summit the
story of the Exodus, and the moment was a
sacramental one, like few moments in one's
life. And, after all, what did it matter whether
this was the true Sinai, or whether the Mount
of the Law was Serbal, further west ? One
feels as Dean Stanley felt. " Nor can I say
that the degree of uncertainty which must

MOUNT NEBO FROM THE NORTH.

THE HILL OF MACH^RUS, ON WHICH STOOD THE CASTLE IN IWHICH
JOHN THE BAPTIST WAS IMPRISONED AND EXECUTED.

INTERIOR OF AN ARAB HOUSE, WITH FIREPLACE IN CENTRE.

AN ARAB ENCAMPMENT.

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 108
hang over it," he wrote after his visit,
materially diminished my enjoyment of it.
In fact, it is a great safeguard for the
real reverence due to the place as the first
great revelation of God to man. As it is,
you may rest on your general conviction and
be thankful."
Before we come down from the summit we
remember that Sinai has not only its associations
with Moses and Elijah, but also with Paul.
Almost certainly the apostle stood on these
rocks. That he went into Arabia we know
from what he says in the Epistle to the Galatians,
and as he speaks in the same epistle of Mount
Sinai, giving to the reference what scholars
think to be a personal touch, one may conclude
that he, too, felt the sublime emotion which
every man of spiritual sensitiveness must feel
when standing on the Mount of the Law.
Several 'visits to the camps and dweUings of
the Arabs gave an additional interest to my
'visit to Sinai. The Arabs are extremely poor,
as they have no arable lands on which to grow
grain, no pastures upon which flocks of any
considerable extent can feed, no cities to en
courage commerce, and no education to inspire
enterprise. Many of them live in black tents
of goat's hair, a,nd six or eight tents form an

104 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
encampment. During the cold, wet season
they hve in caves.
The Arab women are veiled, and their shyness
is only equalled by their superstition. They
are rendered particularly unattractive by the
way in which they wear their hair. It is pulled
forward over the forehead, twisted into form,
stiffened by some kind of varnish, and is as
little of an adornment as possible. Upon this
heavy forelock the veil is draped, and covers
the face and chest.
One pleasant characteristic of these Arab
people, however, is the absence of thieving
among them. Although sacred shrines are
dotted about the valleys and plains around
Sinai, and to each shrine is attached a room
furnished with necessaries for the pilgrim,
including mats, water-jars, cooking-pots, coffee-
cups, and even coffee, yet none of these things
are stolen. They are left unsecured in the
desert, and it never occurs to the Arab in this
country to rob a rest-house or anything else.
My return journey from Sinai was not taken
by steamer, but overland from the monastery
to Suez on camel-back. The journey occupies
t Tht days, and is wholly in the seemingly
inl>^ minable desert. The first part lay across
the Wady Raha. The word " Wady " is here

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 105
used to describe a hollow between the hills, and
roughly approximates to our word " valley."
The Wady Raha is probably the scene of the
giving of the Law, and the likelihood is the
greater because of the brook which may truly
be said to " come down out of the mount,"
like that into which Moses strewed the powder
of the fragments of the idol. The plain has
ample accommodation for a huge camp, and
here, we may fairly imagine, the Israehtes
dwelt while they tarried about the mount.
Many details of the great plain coincide
with the scene at the worship of the golden
calf, and it is rather interesting to find that
in this place it would be quite possible for any
one coming down towards it through the
oblique gullies to hear the sounds borne from
the plain without seeing the plain itself. And
are we not told how Moses, coming down from
the mount, with the two tables of testimony
in his hand, heard the shout of the people
before he saw the calf and the dancing ?
Day after day we continued our journey
through the valleys and across the plains,
by the side of temples and pyramids not made
with hands, the panorama before us sometimes
wild and fascinating, and at others duU and
wearisome. But always there was the subhme

106 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
thought that we were retracing the great stream
of history called the Exodus, which emerged
from Egypt, whither we were facing, and had
its destiny far beyond Mount Sinai, on the
slopes of Calvary and Ohvet. For Sinai was
never the goal of the Israehtish pilgrimage.
The current of Bible thought, hke the joumey-
ings of the ancient people themselves, is always
away from the desert " unto the land that I
will show thee." " Ye have dwelt long enough
in this mount," said the Lord to Israel. But
the sohtary mount, as it stands to-day, derives
all the greater pathos from the fact that its
spiritual glory has always been in the past tense.
Occasionally we encountered a company of
Arabs returning from Suez, their camels laden
with grain, either for their famihes or for the
monks. And we passed numbers of seyal-
trees, a species of acacia, standing sohtary and
forbidding on the barren soil. It was a matter
of surprise that the Israehtish carpenters could
have handled wood so thorny and hard when
they used it in the tabernacle, for the seyal of
the desert is the shittim wood with which
Bezaleel made the ark, and the staves, and
the table, and altar of burnt offering.
A pleasant break in the journey came as
we rode the length of Wady Feiran, an oasis

A VISIT TO MOUNT SINAI 107
of date palms, and the largest and best-watered
plantation in the Sinai peninsula. With its
palm-grove and its brook, it marks out the first
long halting-place of Israel, and some have
thought that Feiran was Rephidim.
In the last stage of all, until the eastern
shore of the Suez Canal completed my dreary
ride, the country became more barren, more
desolate, more deserted, until it was difficult
to find even in a large area enough of any sort
of fuel to boU my tiny kettle. But always it
will be a wonderful recollection, this journey
through the desolate land which Moses and his
people had preferred to the green valleys of
the Nile, that-
Separate from the world, his breast
Might duly take and strongly keep
The print of God, to be exprest
Ere long on Sion's steep.

IX

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM TO
PETRA
MANY go west and north from the Holy
City ; it is the usual thing to do
and in so doing they see and visit
many places connected •with New Testament
records and the life of the Saviour, but few
hardly ever turn for a journey in the opposite
direction, not because there are no places of
interest to visit or interesting sights to see,
but because it is unusual to cross the Jordan
and travel in the lands beyond. Much is said
about the fatigue that must be endured, or the
danger from semi;civilized Bedouin who are
lying in wait to plunder and even kill any who
fall into their clutches. It may be the desert
that is supposed to be beyond the Moab moun
tains is advanced as a reason why those desirous
to travel in those parts should not do so. But
after the journey that will be described in
108

WATERFALL OF BOILING SULPHUR WATER.

OLD MOSQUE ON THE OPEN PLAINS OF MOAB.
ONE OF THE ENTRANCES TO THE CITY OF KERAK.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 109
these pages the writer has concluded that the
above reasons are merely excuses that are
made by unwilling guides, who themselves
prefer the more civilized life on the west side
of the Jordan and the comforts that of late
years have been introduced into even backward
and slow-to-move Palestine.
I had often ¦wished to look upon some of the
Old Testament ruins and sites, and now an
opportunity came in the offer to accompany
one who had travelled over nearly all the world
that was open to him, and was prepared to
go as far as the ruined yet wonderful rock-hewn
city of Petra, the Sela of the Old Testament,
and on the journey down to turn aside and
see what was to be seen. We arranged with
an Arab to provide horses for us and to accom
pany us down and back, and having put together
a few things necessary for a twenty days'
absence from our temporary home, we turned
our faces south and south-east from the city
of Jerusalem.
The road from the Holy City down to Jericho
is called by the natives " the snake," because
of its many twists and turns, for only in two
or three places can the rider see more than
half a mile ahead. The village of Bethany was
reached in about an hour, and a few minutes'

no IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
delay, in order to turn aside and visit the tomb
of Lazarus, which if not for certain the real
place exactly meets the requirements of the
accounts given by John. As we stood at the
top of the steps that led down into the cave
at the bottom, we could picture everything
connected with that event in our Lord's doings.
After Bethany we made a steep descent and
got on to the level road to Jericho. A short
stop at the " Good Samaritan " Inn for lunch
gave us a welcome rest as well as a brief shelter
from the heat of even a January sun.
Two hours later we passed the wild and bare
gorge known as Wady Kelt, through which for
some months of the year the brook Cherith
flows, and where Elijah found shelter and sus
tenance for some time. With the setting sun
we entered Jericho, glad that the ride was
over, and thankful for the comfort and rest
that the simple hotel there pro'vided for us.
Early next morning we started over the level
sandy plain of the Jordan, and in an hour and
a half were on the banks of the historical river.
We did not ford the river, preferring to cross
high and dry by the bridge that spans the
swiftly flowing water that soon loses itself in
the Dead Sea not far below. The ride for the
next three hours was uninteresting, as it was

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 111
over the hot and level plain that only ended
at the foot of the Moab Mountains.
As we commenced the steep chmb we soon
saw standing out prominently before us a bold
spur in the hUls that we felt sure must be Mount
Nebo, on which Moses stood and viewed the
Promised Land, and on which he died, and as
much of our way would be over the track of
the children of Israel, we decided to ascend
Mount Nebo, and almost begin our journey
where Moses finished his.
After some two hours' climbing a path led
off in the direction of the mount that was on
our right hand ; so, follo^wing it through fields
of wheat and barley, it at last landed us in
the bed of a deep valley which also ended with
the path. We were weU repaid for the diver
sion, for before us was a scene not often looked
upon in Bible-lands, a mass of green made up
of oleanders, •wild fig and willow-trees, and
above them all and leaping out from among
the rocks, a beautiful waterfall, which in the
sunlight and with its background of green made
a picture never to be obliterated from our mind's
eye. This was " Moses' Fountain," so named
because of its nearness to the mount so closely
connected ¦with the first leader of the children
of Israel.

112 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
A shepherd-boy undertook to put us in the
right path so that we might soon reach the
summit of the mountain, but it was farther
away than we thought and took us quite an
hour before the top was reached. Every few
yards we mounted gave us a larger view of
the fine landscape that spread out away to
our backs, and when at last we stood on the
top of the memorable mount the view we looked
down on was indeed a magnificent one.
Below and in front of us was the vidde level
plain of the Jordan, and it was easy to trace
the river's course by the line of green made
by the trees that flourish on either bank of
the river. To our left was the Dead Sea with
its seeming stiU waters. Down in its deep
bed thirteen hundred feet below sea-level its
waters lay blue and beautiful, with its setting
of rugged bare hills that terminated in the
mountain range of Judea, including the ridge
that guards Jerusalem on the east. We could
plainly see the tall out-of-place tower that
rises on the Mount of Olives, looking to us
more like a needle than the great stone land
mark that it is. To the north were the hills
of Galilee and beyond them the faint outhne
of Lebanon. It was to us a grand sight, but
to Moses it must have been grander. The

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 113
clouds and mist obscured our view, but we
may rest assured God made it all appear plain
and clear to him who might have a view of
the Land that he was not permitted to enter.
Turning from the landscape, we gave a short
time to the mountain-top with its interesting
ruins. From the appearance of the stones
and columns they were very old, and probably
belonged to a church or monastery that once
existed there. We could clearly make out the
shape of a good-sized building, which from the
columns and capitals that were strewn aboht
possibly composed a church. We read together
the last chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy,
and as we read we asked each other questions
that were more real than ever they had been
before, because now we were standing on the
very spot where Moses stood and " viewed
the landscape o'er."
As our day's journey was not finished we
were compelled to leave so interesting a place,
whose silence is rarely broken into by traveUers
from the Western world. Descending the
mountain on the opposite side to that by which
we had ascended, we found a path that led away
in the direction of the place that was to shelter
us for the night. A ride of about half an hour
brought us on to the wide and fertile plain?

114 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
of Moab, and on mounting a slight eminence,
over which the road led, we saw before us the
town of Medaba, one of the oldest places in
Moab, and passed by Israel on their way to
Canaan. We found a lodging in the house of
a native Christian belonging to the Greek
Church. We were glad of the warm tea and
the charcoal fire he set in front of us, but better
pleased when supper appeared, as we were
very hungry.
The next two days turned out very fine, and
we were able to the best advantage to see
all that came in our way connecting places
spoken of and recorded in both the Old and
New Testaments.
Heavy roads, caused by the recent rain,
made travelling slow and wearying, and we
were glad after some two hours of splashing
and slipping about on the muddy track to
strike a hard road that led us along the side of
a wide and deep valley, the bed of which was
filled with fine oleanders, and through which
flowed unseen a fine stream of water. For
four hours we kept along the vaUey side and
then came out on to a small plain, for I must
say we had left the highlands of Moab in order
to visit the hot springs of Callirhoe and the
old citadel of Machaerus.

, « . . . * . It

THESE MEN FORMED OUR PARTY DURING OUR STAY IN THE ROCKY
RUINS OF PETRA.

SHOWING THE GRAIN IN THE ROCK OUT OF
WHICH THE WONDERS OF PETRA ARE HEWN.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 115
From the plain we descended into a deep
gorge, the path down which was very rough
and steep. At the bottom we could see palm-
trees and shrubs that only flourish in semi-
tropical climates. Arrived at the bottom, we
found a strong current of water rushing over
the rocky bed of the valley, and were soon
conscious of the amount of sulphur in the water
by the strong smell that came from it. From
off the water rose clouds of steam, which assured
us that there must be something unusual about
the place. As we went up and down the
banks we found more than twenty springs that
were sending out strong sulphur water, not far
from boiling-point, all of which found its way
down to the stream in the bed of the valley.
One very strong stream burst out of the
rocks quite a hundred feet above us, and as
it came tumbling over the rocks made a very
pretty waterfall. Here, then, were the famous
hot springs of Callirhoe whither Herod the
Great came hoping to find relief, or a cure, from
the loathsome disease that had fastened itself on
him, and since then many have sought healing
and ease from these strange waters. In these
days of medical and surgical skill the people of
Palestine and Syria still seek the hot springs,
g,rid in them find partial or complete relief

116 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
from the ailments, diseases, and wounds from
which they suffer.
A bath in the hot stream made us as red as
lobsters, and after donning our clothes we set
out on the steep climb that was to terminate
at Machaerus, the ruined site of Herod's castle
that contained the dungeon which for a time
held John the Baptist captive, and from which
he was released by the fall of the executioner's
axe. We were very fortunate to find pitched
near the extensive ruins an Arab encampment.
Here we knew we could get shelter and hos
pitality during the night wliich was fast coming
on, and we were not disappointed, for the
simple, open-hearted people set a tent at our
disposal and gave us of their best, which,
however, was poor.
Early in the moming we set out from the
camp to explore the ruins. Away in front of
us stood the mound on which at one time stood
the castle of the wicked Idumaean who, to
please the lords and captains of his kingdom,
had called in the daughter of his unlawful
vrife to dance before them, and then at her
request commanded the execution of the Fore
runner of the Messiah. But nothing remains
to-day of the castle, save the foundations deeply
embedded in the earth. Around and ne^r the

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 117
mound is the ruined city in which the Roman
citizens lived and died.
Here on this lonely elevation, overlooking
the blue and hfeless waters of the Dead Sea,
the Baptist spent the last months of his hfe,
and there in the lonely prison he ended his
days. This prominent mound in its natural
simphcity, and the elaborate man-made tomb
in Damascus, are the only existing -visible
remains of so fearless and great a character.
There appears no possible doubt about the
certainty of this place ; Josephus and others
name the spot and locality as the one where
the Baptist and Herod kept each other isolated
company, and the name of the mound and
ruined city is only slightly changed after these
many centuries. We felt that we were privi
leged beyond many others in being able to
look upon and stand on such interesting places,
thus making the words and records of Scripture
more real than ever before.
Noon found us bidding farewell to our kind
hosts, so leaving the tents of Kedar to the
quiet and sohtude of Machaerus, we turned SE.
and put in a few hours' good riding. Just
before evening we reached a wayside military
station, in charge of one soldier who put at
our disposal such accommodation as he could.

118 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
but before long others came seeking shelter,
until eleven of us were sharing the space afforded
by a room about ten feet square.
We were glad to move away early next
morning, especially as we had a ten hours'
ride to do that day if we would reach the place
that we had set our minds on, and sleep in the
ancient and modern capital of Moab. We set
out in a very heavy shower of rain that wetted
us very considerably, but the sun at last shone
out and dried our soaking garments. That day
our road lay across more level plains, miles of
which were green with the new growth of
wheat and barley.
Presently we reached on our right the extensive
ruins of Dibhan, once an important city of
Moab and frequently mentioned in the books
of the Old Testament. It was here among this
mass of fallen palaces, temples, and dweUings
that the famous Moabite stone was found,
with its lengthy and well-preserved inscription
in the Phoenician character, relating almost
word for word the account given in the third
chapter of the Second Book of Kings. The
finding of this ancient monument was as
important as it was interesting, being another
silent witness to the authenticity of the
Scriptures.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 119
We had no time to turn aside, so pushing
on we soon stood on the edge of the great and
grand gorge of Mojib. If a bridge had spanned
the gulf we could in half an hour have been
on the far side, but " God made the valley, so
let it remain," said our man, and so we began
the descent. It was rough, winding, and weari
some, and by the time we reached the bed of
the valley we were again below sea-level. The
clear, cool stream swarming with fish was none
other than the Arnon of which Moses sang
when reciting the deliverances of the children
of Israel. We were not long in finding the
ford and crossing the stream, probably at the
same place that the Hebrews crossed many
centuries ago.
Then came the weary ascent, which took us
nearly two hours and which tired not only our
animals but ourselves as well. Arrived at the
top, we rested and ate our lunch and then set
out on the last six hours' ride of the most
trying day of all the trip. The sun and wind
of the previous day had dried the path, so we
were able to make good progress. We passed
extensive ruins that perhaps formed the city
of Sihon King of the Amorites, and farther on
came to a fine ruined temple by the wayside.
One hour nearer our destination we rode through

120 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
the well-preserved and widespread ruins of
Ar of Moab, once the civil capital, and a place
that would jield a rich harvest to excavators.
The sun was fast sinking in the west, and we
were yet some distance away from our goal,
but at length we looked down upon the large
and imposing city of Kerak.
One hour after we rode in, but darkness
covered our arrival, and making our way to
the house of the head of the Greek community
there we asked the hospitality of their home.
The head man was absent, but his son and
wife very kindly put their apartment at our
disposal. The name Kerak is not far removed from
the Bible name, which is Kir, and means
" stronghold," and many have been the attempts
to subdue the inhabitants and scale the once
strong bulwarks and battlements that sur
rounded the city. Here probably came Naomi
with her sons, and from here Ruth went to
Bethlehem. It was to this place also that
David brought his parents that they might be
protected from the cruel designs of Saul. On
the walls of the city the King of Moab, in his
desperation of extremity, took his eldest son
and offered him for a burnt offering (see 2 Kings
iii. 26, 27). Here, too, the Crusaders shed their

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 121
blood and reared fresh defences, and in later
days the Arabs have fought and contended
over the right to reign and rule there. It was
to such a place that we had come, and with
eagemess we anticipated the morrow.
A good night's rest and an early breakfast
of warm bread, hard-boiled eggs, and sweet
tea put us in good trim for the day that dawned
clear and calm, and that was made warm and
bright by the welcome sun. Our host took
upon himself to show us round. He first took
us to the north-west corner of the city and
from there we looked down on the Dead Sea,
some twenty miles away. Beyond we could
see the hUls of Judea and the walls of Jerusalem
about a hundred miles distant. Nearer, and
coming up to the city, the wide and great valley
of Kerak. With this scene before us it was
easy to imagine 2 Kings iii. 16-20, for we were
looking at the same view as did these Moabites.
Following the old waU, we came to the massive
remains of a shell tower, and from the carved
lions on the walls knew it for Crusading work.
Near by we came to one of the old entrances
into the city, of which there were four, all cut
through the rock and each having a small yet
strong gateway at the outer end. Two of these
tunnel-entrances are in use to-day, and could

122 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
be easUy defended by a few men. We went
through the cutting, and making our way to
the top of the city, reported ourselves and
our intentions to the authorities, and then
went to the citadel.
This stronghold is the only remains of
Moabitish energy and ingenuity, and as such
should be preserved. But, alas ! Turkish
laziness and devastation are demohshing the
old castle. It is isolated from the city and
the surrounding hiUs by a wide and deep
moat, now bridged over on the city side,
the slanting walls on each side stUl showing
that battlements once made access to the
place impossible. The Ulustration of the east
side of the castle wUl give some idea of the
size and appearance of this old Moab fortress,
which had within its massive waUs everything
needful to stand a long siege.
On the east side of the city we saw the fine
large reservoirs that once stored quantities of
water, but now going to ruin, also another of
the old tunnel-entrances already mentioned.
A visit to the boys' and girls' school in connection
with the Greek Church, which appeared to be
in good hands, brought us back to our temporary
home, where we found a substantial dinner
awaiting us

THIS BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE IS A RELIC OF ANCIENT HEATHENDOM IN EDOM.
IT IS SOMETIMES CALLED ''PHARAOH'S TREASURY."

THE "STATUE TOMB," PETRA.
THEATRE AT PETRA, HEWN OUT OF THE SOLID ROCK AND SEATING 5,000.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 123
As our time was limited we had decided to
leave Kerak and get some few hours on the
road, so as to make the following day easy,
as otherwise it would of necessity be a very
long one.
We were now going into more lonely regions
and had to engage another muleteer to carry
the extra food and fodder that must be taken
with us. Our little party was also increased
by the addition of a Turkish horse-soldier.
whose duty it was to defend us from an attack
by mischief-meaning Arabs ; his bravery, how
ever, was not put to the test, much to his and
our satisfaction.
¦ We left Kerak about one o'clock, well pleased
with our treatment there and aU we had seen,
and after four hours' ride came to a small
hamlet of mud and stone houses that had sprung
up round an old mosque enclosing the shrine
of one highly revered by the Arabs and famous
in Mohammedan history. We asked for a
place in which to spend the night, and were
shown a chamber the walls and dome of which
were so shaken that air and light entered
without any effort.
The earth floor was very damp, but otherwise
clean, and as some sacks and carpets were
brought us we were not badly off ; the people

124 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
too brought us water and firewood -with which
we were able to get some supper. The wind
blew and whistled through the holes and cracks
in the walls and dome, and at midnight my
companion called me and exclaimed that he
was about frozen. I made a fire, heated some
water, and by these means got him warm, and
then pUing all my rugs on him and a heavy
carpet he kept warm and was soon asleep again.
The morning showed us that there had been
a severe frost, sufficient to make a thick coat
of ice on the water in the pools, a thing quite
unusual in the Land of Moab. With the sunrise
we left our draughty shelter and setting out
over the plain steered our course SSE. It
was bitter cold, and we were glad to get
the shelter of a long narrow valley that we
entered and which, after about two hours,
brought us to the Brook Zered (Deut. ii. 13)
that divides Moab from Edom. This ever-
flowing stream is a hfe-giver and a weleome
retreat to both man and beast, flowing as it
does for many mUes through a waterless and
thirsty region. We were glad to drink of its
waters, fill up our bottles and skins and press
forward. The next few hours were passed in climbing
hiUs and descending vaUeys until late in the

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 125
afternoon, when we entered a good-sized town
buUt on the slopes of a hiU caUed Tufileh, but
which was originally Tophel (Deut. i. i).
Having a letter to the local official here,
we presented it, and were graciously and kindly
received by him, and soon told that a room
would be prepared for us and that he would
entertain us ; which he did in right good style.
He was an intelligent young Turk of twenty-five
years, and was interested in European matters,
having hved for some time in Constantinople.
It must suffice to say that he was most kind
to us and would hear of no recompense.
A good room, with fire, light, and clean beds
was prepared for us, and as the coming day
was Sunday we congratulated ourselves for
being in such good quarters. We hsd a few
walks in the to-wn and saw much of the home-
hfe of the natives, a description of which would
be out of place in these papers, but none the
les.~ interesting.
Simday was wet, with a rain that rejoiced
the hearts of the people, and made the gardens
of ohve, fig, almond and pomegranate-trees
look clean and fresh in their many varied hues
of green. Next day was fine, so, getting our
httle company together, we set out again, both
man and beast all the better for the rest of

126 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
the Sunday and better able for the journey
before us. But the fine morning disappeared,
and when we emerged from the valleys that
surrounded Tufileh and came on to the barren,
sandy stretch that lay before us we became
enveloped in thick mist that hung about us
aU day. The country was covered with tracks
that crossed and recrossed each other, and the
day was not far spent before we found that
we had left the right road and were going in
the opposite direction to that which we should
be going. We turned, and by carefuUy heeding
the compass we came at last to the main road.
Sticking to the telegraph vrires we soon made
up the two hours we had lost.
Presently the road divided, and we left the
wire and descended into a deep and long vaUey
that eventually landed us under the fortress of
Shobek, perched high on a rocky cone. Iii
Crusading and Arab history this place has
played an important part, but the few inhabi
tants there now have not sufficient energy to
close at night the only gateway that gives
entrance to the place. A few soldiers represent
the Government, and they appeared glad to
welcome some one from beyond their little
world, and did their best to make us comfortable.
We were now ?ix hours' ride away from the

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 127
wonders of Petra, and were eager to reach it
before more rain fell, so we rose before the
dawn, had our breakfast, and were away just
after daybreak. The ride was uninteresting
untu we reached a finely wooded valley in
which were some very fine oak-trees, the acorns
off which gave sustenance to the wild boar
that abound there, and a few of which we
disturbed at their morning meal. For some
distance we rode along a plateau that was
more than 5,000 feet above the sea, and
from it we looked ahead and down on the
many-coloured peaks of Petra, with the range
of Mount Seir standing out dark and clear
against the blue and cloudless sky. We soon
began the descent over a rough winding road,
untu at length we reached the small -village
that is a httle away from the ruins.
We had made up our minds that we would
stay in one of the many excavations in the
ruins ; so after choosing and settling about
wages with two men of the place to be with
us and supply what we needed, we made our
way down toward the mighty wall of rocks and
mountains that appeared to put a stop to
any progress in that direction. As we went
on, the way opened, although the valley nar
rowed, and we no longer wondered why the

128 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Psalmist exclaimed : " Who wUl bring me into
the strong city ? who wiU lead me into Edom ? "
for surely without a guide no one would find
an entrance through the rocky barrier ahead
of us. But we did, and a remarkable one it
was, though not to be compared with what
lay beyond it.
After clambering over a few rocks and riding
through a miniature forest of giant oleanders
we came to a narrow cleft in the rocky barrier,
into which we turned. It was not more than
three yards wide, and progress was slow because
of the large boulders and stones beneath the
horses' feet, many of them hidden under the
rushing stream of water that flowed through
the chasm. As we got farther in, the waUs
of rock rose higher and higher above our heads,
sometimes excluding the dayUght. The many
turnings in this unearthly passage kept reveal
ing something fresh to our eyes : it may be the
waU would be covered with wUd ivy or maiden
hair fern, and in another place the variegated
rock looked as if some artist had made a palette
of it, and had left it uncleaned. Out of the
banks on the sides rose a wUd profusion of
fig, bleander, •wUlow, and tamarisk-trees, ofttimes
making progress difficult. This chasm or gorge
was about a mile long, with an average breadth

ONLY TOMB OF ITS KIND, WITH CARVED LIONS EACH SIDE OF DOOR.
DWELLING-HOUSE, WITH TO.MB AT THE REAR.
ONE OF THE "IMAGES" ON THE MOUNTAIN-TOP AT PETRA,

££.^1.*

THE TWO ALTARS AT PLACE OF WORSHIP.
THE ALTAR OF SACRIFICE AT PLACE OF WORSHIP.
RESERVOIR. TO COLLECT WATER FOR USE AT PLACE OF WORSHIP.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 129
of four yards, and as we rode through it words
refused to come to express our thoughts on
the awful sUence and feeling of awe that took
hold of us. At last the passage narrowed and
we came out into a smaU opening shut in on
every side by lofty chffs, and in front of us
appeared the exquisite carving in the rock
known as the " Khuznee," or " treasury," and
reproduced in one of the Ulustrations.
The rock out of which this temple was carved
is of a salmon-pink colour, and the dehcate
parts of the ornamentation so sheltered from the
elements that they appear as though they had
been finished only a few days before instead of
at least two thousand years. As we gazed on
this beautifal temple or tomb, be it which it
may, we both said almost together, " This
is worth aU the long ride to see," and advancing
towards it we decided to make it our tempoiary
home whilst we stayed in those parts. We
found that it contained three large rooms, the
centre one about thirty feet square, and the
two side ones that led off from the vestibule
each about twenty-five feet square. The height
of this fine temple is about eighty-five feet,
the pUlars, each of which is a part of the same
rock, being about thirty feet high.
Our belongings were put in the large

130 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
hall, and one of the side-rooms served as
stable. Having got so far settled we spent the re
mainder of the day in looking at our immediate
surroundings. As I have already said, high
cliffs rose on every hand, and, vrith the exception
of the rift in the rocks that we had emerged
from, there was only one other outlet. This
led away to the ruined tombs and palaces
beyond, which we should see on the morrow.
Having wood and water in abundance we got
an early supper and were soon asleep, lea'ving
the men to take turns as watchmen, a duty
they are quite used to.
Next morning we set out in company, •with
one of the local men, to see Petra. Every
few steps revealed some new thing in the shape
of tomb, temple, or dwelling, and in less than
fifteen minutes we were standing before the
monster theatre, with its thirty and more tiers
of seats capable of seating about five thousand
persons, every bit of it cut in the solid rock.
On our right hand and on our left the vaUey
broadened, and the lofty chffs were everywhere
honeycombed with various-sized excavations.
I have already mentioned that the rocky
waUs of the chasm through which we entered
Petra were of many colours. This pecuharity

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 131
increased as we went on, and we could not help
noticing the fine graining of the rock. EspeciaUy
was this the case on the exterior of a large
tomb over which is a damaged inscription in
Latin, and which for the time being was occu
pied by several famUies of Arabs ; and admirable
winter quarters these rock-hewn places make
for the natives of the district and their flocks.
On each side and away in front of us as we
looked upon these deserted, lofty dwellings,
alone in their isolation and desolation, the
warnings and prophecies of both Jeremiah and
Obadiah came to our minds. We stood and
looked with amazement on the literal fulfilment
of those passages. " Thou that dweUest in
the clefts of the rocks, whose habitation is
high. Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle,
and though thou set thy nest among the stars,
thence wUl I bring thee down, saith the Lord "
(Obadiah 4). "Edom shaU be a desolation:
every one that goeth by it shall be astonished "
(Jer. xhx. 17) . How literally fulfiUed : and we
are permitted to see it.
Our guide took us up a lateral valley to show
us more tombs quite unlike any we had so far
seen. One of these, carved in cream-coloured
rock, was very imposing. It is seen in the
Ulustration and named the " Statue Tomb."

132 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Between the massive columns are niches in
which are placed three very weU-preserved
figures, probably of those to whom the tomb
belonged and who were buried there, for the
interior contains three shafts cut in the rock
in which bodies could be placed. Opposite this
was another interesting excavation of quite
a different design and nature. A large portal,
supported by side and centre columns, admitted
to a chamber about twenty feet square in which
were niches and shelves for the reception of
bodies, and a small altar on which offerings
were presented. Beyond this, and entered
through a narrow passage, were rooms that
probably served as apartments in which the
family hved, so that they were always near
when the time of sacrifice and worship for the
dead came round. A few steps on one corner
of a platform in front of the tomb led up to
the entrance.
In another side valley we came across a tomb
the fa9ade of which was quite unhke anything
we had so far seen, nor did we see another
like it ; this we designated the " hon tomb,"
because of the two bas-rehef representations of
the king of the forest that appears on each
side of the doorway, the upper wall of which
has fallen away in a curious manner. At each

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 133
end of the carved lintel are two well-preserved
faces which have escaped the vandalism and
destructiveness of the figure-hating Arab.
These faces may represent the two persons
whose bodies weie buried inside, or they may
be those of some of the many deities worshipped
by the Petraons.
We now made a long and hard climb up
through a rugged and grand ravine. So long
and wearying was it that we were often tempted
to give it up and return, but the guide told us
that a fine temple was at the top that we must
see. The remains of a carefully made stairway
led us over part of the way and encouraged us
to believe that there must be something at the
top to which these weU-worn steps once led.
The higher we got the grander the view. The
mighty mass of rocks, above, around and below
us, with their intermingled colouring and
numerous excavations, was, indeed, a remarkable
sight and one difficult to describe.
At last we came out on to a level platform on
the top of the mountain we had climbed, and
on our right saw the object of our long and
weary ascent. It was a monster temple about
one hundred and sixty feet long, and about
one hundred and twenty feet high, the doorway
was thirty feet high, and the eight great columns

134 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
that adorned the front fourteen feet in circum
ference, the whole being hewn out of the rock,
which was yellow. Both the lower and upper
stories contained alcoves in which at one time
stood images. The interior and only hall was
about thirty-four feet square, and in the waU
opposite the doorway was a large recess in
which were the visible remains of an altar that
was approached on either side by six steps.
In the absence of any inscription it can only
be supposed that this was a heathen temple,
but why hidden away in the mountains thus
we fail to comprehend.
The descent was easier and quicker than
the ascent, and we were glad to find our steeds
waiting for us at the bottom. Our guide had
anticipated our fatigue and told his companion
to bring the horses. On our way back through
the main valley we saw a partly finished work
that enabled us to understand how the people
of Petra set about the work of carving these
elaborate and large fa9ades. We noted that
the face of the cliff had been smoothed off and
the plan of the front marked out. The work
of carving and cutting away the rock was
commenced at the top, and the illustration shows
the partial completion of the cornice and four
capitals that had been intended as part of the

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 135
fagade. The workmen would cut away the
rock on which they were standing and thus
gradually reach the ground; in this way
scaffolding was unnecessary.
We were glad to reach our temple-home and
were quite ready for the meal our men had
prepared, and we needed no coaxing to go to
our beds, which we did quite early in the evening,
more than delighted vrith what we had seen
of the faUen beauty of the once famous capital
of Edom, and looking forward to the morrow
for sights equally interesting but oi quite a
different nature and construction.
The moming of our second day at Petra
found us ready by sunrise for another day's
outing among the fascinating ruins of the
rock-hewn city, so, taking •with us our guide
of the previous day, we set out. We made off
do'wn towards the centre of the vaUey, passing
the great theatre on our left, and then our
guide turned a sharp corner and climbed over
some large boulders, calling us to foUow him.
He showed us a narrow yet seemingly impassable
gorge right in front of us, and told us our way
was up there. It was grand to look upon,
but sufficient to deter any but experts in
mountain-climbing from attempting to ascend
such a break-neck place. My companion re-

136 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
mmded me that we had only one life to lose
and could only die once, and speaking for
himself he was not anxious to end his days in
that gorge. The patient guide told us that
the ascent was easy, that steps cut in the
rock were to be found in the most difficult
parts. Let me explain to the reader why our leader
had brought us to this ra-vine, and why he
said our way led up through it. The day before
we had noticed away up among the crags of
a big pUe of rocks a solitary p3n-amid raising
its lofty peak above aU around it, and curiosity
had set up a desire in our minds to investigate
this isolated erection. At our request the
guide had taken us to one of the two ways
that led up to it.
We decided to make the attempt, and started,
making sure that every stone we trod on was
firm, and every rock we clambered over capable
of being well gripped by our boots. The iUus-
tration shows this gorge, and wUl convey some
idea of the place we had to ascend, and when,
after more than half an hour, we reached the
top, panting and hot, we were thankful to
quench our thirst and bathe our faces •with a
little rain-water we found in a smaU basin in
the rocks.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 137
After a rest under the shade of a tree we
left the gorge, and crossing a sandy bit of
ground came up to the place on which not one
pyramid stood but two. It was a large arti
ficially levelled locky platform, about one
hundred feet square, and in two comers stood
these queer monuments, not stone erections,
but themselves a part of the rock, from which
they had been separated when the platform
was leveUed. One of them was about twenty
five feet high and the other about twenty, and
were neither of them quite square. We were
standing on one of the oldest yet simplest
places of worship kno-wn to exist, and looking
upon two of the " images " in which the spirit
that was worshipped here was supposed to
dweU. These columns are kno^wn to students of
early Semitic religions as " muzzebahs," and
are believed to be the " images " of the heathen
nations that dwelt in those parts about the
time of the exodus. The chUdren of Israel
were commanded not to set up " images " in
any shape or form, because it savoured of the
doings and practices of the heathen. Very
few of these ancient " images " are left, and
these two at Petra have only escaped demolition
by their isolation.

138 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
We thought this was all we were to see to
reward us for our weary chmb, but as we
looked about us we saw a little distance away
a solitary ruin perched high on a rock, so we
made towards it and decided that it was the
remains of a guard-house, watch-tower, or
store-room. But what was there to guard or store in such
a place ? The " muzzebahs " below needed no
guarding or any stores, so to clear up matters
we climbed over a heap of stones to a high
crest beyond the exalted ruin, and to our joy
and surprise struck a larger and more complete
place of worship of a later period than the
one we had just left. It was evident that the
worshippers that came here had different ideas
from those who had worshipped below. The
absence of " images " led us to the conclusion
that very hkely Baal was worshipped here, on
the top of one of the highest peaks of the
whole region. So rare is it to see one of
these old " high places of worship," that the
reader wiU be interested to know what the place
was hke.
The top of the crest had been levelled for
about a hundred yards, and in the middle of
this was a court about eighteen inches deep,
in length about forty-five feet, and breadth about

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 139
twenty-five. To carry off any water that would
accumulate here from the rain a deep drain
had been cut through the levelled platform
which aUowed the water to drip into the gorge
below. The court sloped shghtly towards the
comer in which the drain was, so the place
was always dry.
In the centre of the couit a section of the
rock, about three feet by two, had been left
to form a small platform about eight inches
high. We concluded that on this the priest
stood either to conduct the worship or to receive
the sacrifices and offerings of the worshippers,
especiaUy as it was immediately in front of
the two altars. These latter were on the
western side of the court and were also a part
of the hving rock. They were separated from
each other by a passage about three feet wide.
The one on the south side was larger than the
other and of a different construction. Three
steps on the side led up to the top, which was
flat. In the centre was a circular basin with a
smaUer one inside of that, both of course hol
lowed out of the rock. From off the centre
and smaller basin a small drain was cut that
went into a hole beneath. On the court side
of this altar a long receptacle like a bin had
been cut, and the grooves round it showed that

140 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
they were for a cover to fit in. This, then,
was the altar on which the sacrifices were slain ;
the smaU drain was to carry away the blood of
the victim and the box-like bin to contain the
accessaries of the altars. The next altar was
approached by three steps that went up from
the court, and it was cut off from the rock
around it, so that free access could be had to
it from all sides. The top of this altar was
flat, and cut in it was a long, deep hole about
twelve inches wide, on either side of which we
could see small notches in which at one time
iron bars rested. This then was the altar of
burnt sacrifice, the hole beneath being for the
fire, and the iron bars to support the sacrifice.
Both altars were in a good state of preservation
in spite of their long exposure to the elements.
The court was approached on the west side by
steps cut in the rock, and this seemed to be
the only way from that side. We noticed
that the altars faced the east, and the object
of the steps leading up from the west side was
probably that the worshippers should approach
the holy place •with their faces towards the
rising sun.
A few yards to the south of the lower court
we saw cut deep in the rock a reservoir for the
storing of water, from one comer of which a

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 141
few steps were cut leading down into the
cemented receptacle. It was partly filled with
clean water that had run into it during the last
rains. We could not but conclude that this
was the laver of purification which was a neces
sary adjunct to every high place of worship,
so that these ancient worshippers, whether of
Baal or some other false god, had a complete
place for worship and sacrifice in the rocky
recesses of Edom, and the ruin near by was
probably part of the home that sheltered the
priests that officiated at the ser^vices.
We had hngered long over this most interesting
place, and at last turned and made our way
down another way that led us into other parts
of the great ruined city that we had not seen.
I shall have something to say about these when
describing some later visits in Chapter X. The
noon saw us back at our base, and having had
our lunch we set off on the last visit we could
make, and that was to be to the lonely tomb
of Aaron, the high priest of Israel, which was
perched on the highest peak of Mount Hor,
some two hours away from us.
We were now to go and cUmb one of the
most prominent peaks in Edom and stand upon
the very spot where Aaron died and was buried.
We had stood on Nebo where Moses, his brother.

142 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
passed away, and now we were to scale the
mount made memorable by the one and only
event recorded that ever took place there. Jews
and Moslems venerate the place, and make
pilgrimages from long distances to it, but the
Christians that visit it are few, and we con
sidered ourselves very fortunate in being able
to visit so interesting a place.
Mount Hor is the highest peak that rises out
of Mount Seir, the latter being a range of rugged
and lofty peaks that he on the west coast of
Edom. Looked at from a distance it seemed
impossible ever to reach the top of such a pUe
of rocks, but the thousands of pUgrims that
have visited the shrine have made it possible
by having worn a fairly good path up and
round the mountain. There is httle doubt
about the accuracy of the name, local tradition
as well as the geographical situation practicaUy
settles the point, and in absence of any other
place claiming the honour we may be assured
that this is the Mount Hor of the Scriptures.
We were glad to be told that we could have
the benefit of our horses and could ride all the
way up the mountain.
We started about two o'clock and had to
ride through and round the back part of the
ruined city. At last we left the rocks and

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 143
came out on to the plain and had a fuU and
fine view of the mountain range ahead of
us. We passed several heaps of stones pUed
up one on the other, and our man told us
they were " witnesses " to the fact that
those who had pUed them up had come seeking
the assistance of Aaron, but because of old
age or some infirmity were unable to scale
the mount. We soon reached the foot of
the pile of rocks and slowly climbed the zigzag
path that led to the top. At some places we
had to get off and walk, for our own comfort
as weU as to ease our horses. The nearer the
top the rougher the path, but at length the
loose stones and the rude steps were aU
past and we reached a good-sized piece of
land that had been converted into a cemetery,
those having the honour of being buried there
so near the revered saint being doubly certain
of a good time in Paradise. Away in the cleft
of the rock we saw a stout beam used for sus
pending the sheep or goats after they have
been offered as sacrifices to Aaron, there too
was a large pot in which to cook the carcass,
a large cistern near by supplied the water, and
wood was plentiful. Here we tied up our
animals as the rest of the climb had to be done
on foot, but the way was comparatively easy, as

144 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
steps had been cut in the rocks over which we
had to go to reach the summit.
After ten minutes we reached the top and
stood outside the buUding that covers the actual
tomb. It is a good large erection about twenty-
five feet square, with a flat roof, on one corner
of which is a small dome. The buUding is
made up of a medley of material both ancient
and modern, and is cemented aU roimd to
a height of about three feet. On two sides
the cliff faUs away leaving just enough room
for any one with a clear head to encircle the
erection. The door is on the west side, and
through a large hole in it we could see the
interior. A fine view of the whole cormtry was had
from this exalted position ; on the north we
could see the waters of the Dead Sea ghttering
in the sunshine, before us to the west we
looked away into the desert of Beersheba, and
immediately below us was the dry, barren
depression of the Araba. To the south were
pUes of mountains, peaks and ravines bright
and striking in their many hues and shapes,
and away in the near east we looked down
upon the deserted honeycombed rocks of the
once famous city, even now fascinating, impres
sive, and awful in its sUence, isolation, and

EXTERIOR OF AARON S TOMB.
CENOTAPH OVER THE TOMB OF AARON.

THROUGH MOAB AND EDOM 145
ruinous condition. Such a scene is rarely
looked upon, and we could easUy picture to
ourselves the camp of the Israelites in the
plains below, and also the little company that
made their way up the rugged path to the
place on which we were standing — the brothers
to say fareweU to each other for ever, and the
son to be invested with the garments and office
of his father. We read the Bible account of it
on the spot, and the place vriU never pass out
of our minds. We had not expected to get
inside, but our guide produced a key, and
asking pardon from God for opening the place
to Christians, he turned the lock, pushed open
the door and bade us enter.
In accordance with Eastern custom, when
entering any sacred place, we put off our boots
and then entered. Just inside the door was
the cenotaph, covered by a heavy green pall,
which we ventured to lift, so that we might
see what was under it. The erection was com
posed of marble slabs and pUlars, the latter
being covered with Hebrew characters, the
whole worn smooth with the kissing of the
thousands of pUgrims who have been there
since its erection. A copy of the Koran and a
few greasy lamps and a curious lot of paltry
trinkets were on an old pillar at the foot of the
10

146 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
tomb. Some ostrich eggs hung down from the
roof, and the protective power that these are
believed to possess would shield the long-deceased
saint from all evil, even that of a visit from
Christians. We observed in one corner of the
buUding some steps that led down into dense
darkness beneath, and our guide, having ht
one of the greasy lamps, led the way down.
About eleven steps brought us to a thick and
moth-eaten curtain that covered the low
entrance into a smaUer room than the one
above. Pushing aside the veU we went in
and passed two heavy iron frames that hung
from the roof, and then we came to what
probably was the original burying-place of
Aaron, now covered with oaken beams and
large hewn stones, the whole plastered over
with thick lime.
We had now seen all, and the fast setting
sun told us we must hurry and get away down
before the darkness of night set in. So we
bade farewell to the lonely tomb and made a
hurried descent.
Next moming we packed up, paid our two
faithful and obliging attendants, and turned
our faces towards Palestine, well pleased with
all we had seen and learnt.

X
KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA
THE Negeb and the Araba are regions
which most people know only by name
and bad repute ; hence it was with some
doubts and fears that we set out to revisit
Kadesh-Barnea and Petra. I say we, because
I was accompanied, or vice versa, by Professor
G. L. Robinson, of McCormick Seminary,
Chicago, whose lifelong study in Old Testa
ment places and sites made him desire to see
for himself many of the ruins, mountains,
plains, and valleys that figure so frequently
in Bible history. We had both at different
times visited the two places under which these
lines are designated, and it was the wish for a
fuUer investigation, and a confirmation of notes,
measurements, and dra'vrings, that led us to
leave the comforts of civihzation and face
the hardships of the wUderness and the un
merciful heat of the Eastern sun for thirty days.
147

148 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Our tour reaUy commenced at Hebron, to
which place our small camp had gone ahead
of us, we following in a carriage.
About ten o'clock one Thursday morning
we left the city of the patriarchs and headed
for Beit Jebrin, one of the most interesting
and extensive remains of troglodyte times
and life.
Our arrival and setting up of camp caused
a general assembly of the male population.
They sat around in groups discussing our
coming, and soon decided among themselves
that we should not be permitted to see any
of the caves. We kept quiet for the time
being, and the men talked on, not thinking
that we understood aU they were saying or
planning. Toward evening my companion and
I moved off in the direction of the caves,
followed by the most rowdy of the crowd,
who were led on and encouraged by the Moslem
priest of the vUlage, a very fanatical and most
ignorant fellow.
Arrived in the vicinity of the caves, I turned
to our followers, and, to their great surprise,
spoke to them in Arabic, asking one of them
to guide us to the caves and underground
excavations. The priest, with his murderous eyes but

ICADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 149
suave manner, said there were no caves to see,
and without a special permit from the governor
at Hebron no one could see them, for they were
all fastened up and the keys in the keeping
of the local chief, who was absent. The fellow
was so vociferous that he did not consider that
every few words he spoke contradicted each
other, and only made his case worse and ours
better. After letting him talk on for some
ten minutes, during which time he had defied
local dignitaries. Government officials, and all
and every one else, I approached him, and
taking from my pocket a note-book, I wrote
down his name, at the same time telling him
that I should not faU to acquaint the Govern
ment representative at Hebron with all that
he had said and done, and that he, the priest,
might expect to spend the rest of his days in
prison for daring to obstmct us and defy those
in authority.
The effect of my action was remarkable ;
the boaster changed to a petitioner, the defier
to a beggar, and the har to a truth-teUer. He
was ready to show us everything, to be our
guide, to protect us from interference, if only
I would erase his name from my book. His
change of attitude towards us gave me an
opportunity of telling him what we thought

150 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
of him, and we probably gave him as straight
and humUiating a talk as he had ever hstened
to. The men around wondered that we dared
speak as we did to their religious leader, who
always kept them in fear and trembling, but
who now craved mercy and some escape from
what he evidently feared would befaU him.
At last two men came forward and volunteered
to show us the sights on condition that I would
erase that name from my book. We told them
it all depended on how they treated us, and
from that time we had no more annoyance,
neither did we again see the priest, who
slunk away, no doubt glad to be free from
people with the like of whom he rarely came
in contact.
Our guides faithfully led us to the largest
and most interesting of the caves. Some were
cut far into the hUlsides and entered through
a smaU hole. Inside, with the hght of candles,
we saw dweUing-rooms, shops, cisterns, spiral
stairways, benches, and massive columns that
had been left to support the roof. Others were
tombs, carefuUy and skUfuUy worked, one
being elaborately decorated in colours with
representations of beasts, birds, flowers, and
fruits. Space forbids a detaUed account of
all •we saw that evening ; others have described

THIS EXCAVATION PROBABLY SERVED AS A MERCHANT'S STORE DURlxb
THE DAYS OF PETRA'S CO.VIMERCIAL PROSPERITY.

ONE OF PKTRA'S PUBLIC HALLS, HIDDEN AWAY IN THE HILLS.

THE ENTRANCE TO THE VALLEY OF SHADOWS, PETRA.

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 151
these wonderful underground chambers hi detail,
which the reader can look up for himself. A
rising moon told us it was time to return to
camp, which we did, our guides assuring us
that they would be ready at daybreak to show
us more, to which they added a request on
behalf of their frightened priest.
Next morning we visited the large caves on
the north-east side of the village. The illus
tration gives a fair idea of what they are like,
but for what purposes these were used it is
difficult to determine, probably for public
worship or large assemblies on feast-days or
hoUdays. Before leaving this interesting region we
visited the ruins of Merash, the Mareshah or
Moreshethgath of the Old Testament, and
birthplace of the prophet Micah. Here, amid
the mass of fallen walls, we discovered an
ancient wine-press, which testified to the once
fruitful condition of this now deserted hiUtop.
Reluctantly we turned our faces south-west,
but encouraged with the hope that before sunset
other places of mterest would compensate us
for so brief a stay at Beit Jebrin.
After riding across fertUe plains covered with
wheat and barley, ripe unto harvest, we saw
in the distance, after about four hours, a

152 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
huge and striking mound lising out of the
landscape. We hardly needed the information given by
one of our men that it was Tell Hesy, the site
of Lachish, which sure enough it was. We
therefore urged our steeds forward, and soon
found our camp pitched under the shadow of
the mound. Leaving our horses we set out
to examine this once important and formidable
frontier fortress. Alas for former glory, aU
is gone ; nothing but the site remams, a hUl
or mound about one hundred feet high and
which we encompassed in fifteen minutes.
Where once stood battlements, castles, and
dwellings, lentils were gro'wing, and the only
striking thing about the place is the great
indentation made by the excavators of the
Palestine Exploration Fund several years ago.
From Lachish we made a detour to the site
of Eglon, which was about three mUes distant.
I need hardly remind the reader that in the
time of Joshua Eglon was an important Amorite
city, and judging from existing remains much
more extensive than its exalted neighbour.
The situation of Eglon was . magnificent, for
it covered about half a square mUe of rising
ground in the great plain of the Shepelah, and
had an outlook across the surrounding country

I^DESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 153
not to be equaUed in aU Palestme. All that
represents this once famous Amorite city is
a modern wUly or Moslem shrine of some now
unknown sheik or religious follower of the
Arabian prophet. To this insignificant erection
come men and women to pray, believing that
prayers offered there wiU avail more than any
offered in their tents or houses. Near the
shrine I met a son of the wUderness, whose
zeal for his religion impressed me.
Seeing me photograph the shrine he asked
me why I did so, and followed up his inquiry
with a request that I would not turn the camera
on him He said, " You wUl never enter
Paradise, for you transgress the Word, and
picture aU you see ; it is forbidden. I keep
my religion and its commands, and if you
would enter Paradise you must accept our
behefs, bear witness to the Prophet, and forsake
forbidden things." After such genuine earnest
ness I had not heart enough to snap the button
on him, much as I should have liked to show
him to my readers. Such witness-bearing to
a religion, although a false one, puts many to
shame who allow opportunities to pass of
speaking a word to those to whom it might
be helpful.
Our next point was Beersheba, but how to

154 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
reach it we knew not. We were not anxious
to go round by Gaza, and our desire was to
spend Sunday at the watering-place of the
patriarchs. On our return to camp we met a youth who
requested from us the equivalent of a penny
wherewith to buy tobacco from the tent of
a trader near by. We granted his request,
at the same time making a bargain 'with him
to guide us across a trackless country and put
us in sight of Beersheba ; but he would not
enter the place, lest the Government should
seize him for a soldier, or some one take his
camel from him.
Next morning at daybreak he was on hand,
mounted on a saddleless camel, and armed 'with
an old flint-lock gun, minus ammunition.
For five hours he led us over hiUs and plains
void of paths or even tracks, but always in
a southerly direction. Just before noon we
halted at a Bedouin tent and were regaled mth
lebn, i.e. thick sour milk, served in a lordly
dish, viz. a large white enameUed bowl, probably
a product of England or Germany, and the
only trace of Western civihzation in all that
region. After the tent we came across Arabs watering
their flocks of goats and herds of camels at a

ONE METHOD OF
DRAWING WATER
FROM DEEP
WELLS.

OLD BAPTISM.AL FONT UXEARTHED AT BEERSHEBA.

THE SPRINGS WERE BESIEGED WITH MEN WATERING THEIR CAMELS.

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 155
weU, cut deep through the solid rock, and
whUst our thirsty animals were slaking their
thirst from the cool, clear water, my companion
and self set off to investigate some caves which
tempted us with the hope of some undiscovered
inscriptions, or antiquities of some other nature.
Eagerly we dived into the chambers cut in the
hUlside, but more eagerly did we make our
exit, for in a few moments we were hterally
attacked by myriads of fleas, who evidently
from long enforced fasting were waiting our
coming. Up to our waists we were covered
with the pests, so that for the next fifteen
minutes we were fully occupied in ridding
ourselves of this unexpected and unwelcome
attention. Late in the afternoon our guide pointed out
the buUdings of Beersheba, and with graceful
and profuse salutations and thanks left us
to go our way, whilst he was quite contented
and happy to retire into the wUderness, un
disturbed by the affairs of the busy world
outside. Just before sunset we pitched our tent almost
exactly on the spot where we had camped
seven years before, but we were not long in
discoverhig that the Beersheba then was not
the Beersheba of now, in point of interest

156 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
and visible antiquity. We were out, however,
to revisit such places, and were not disappointed
in being for a second time at the haunts of
the patriarchs.
A messenger from the local governor assured
us of any needed help or protection, and later
a brief but most pleasant visit to the official
himself assured us that we were in the hands
of one who would help rather than hinder us
on our way through the Negeb.
We found Beersheba very much altered —
in fact, I may say, spoUed. Seven years ago
it was the haunt of Arabs, who camped around
the wells, and from the abundant water supply
watered their numerous cattle. Now a modern
town has sprung up, vrith mosque, barracks,
residences, shops, and gardens, also telegraphic
communication vrith the outside world.
Formerly we saw traces of seven weUs, some
blocked up, others m working order ; now
there are eleven, three new ones ha-ving
been sunk quite recently, and an old one
opened up.
We found also, to our sorrow, that aU the
old stones at the mouths of the wells had either
been removed, or so covered by masonry as
to be quite obliterated — in fact, any one visiting
Beersheba for the first time, and ignorant of

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 157
its history, would conclude that all he saw was
quite modern.
The old-fashioned method of drawing up
the water in a huge skin bucket, pulled
to the surface by a camel walking the length
of the rope, was replaced by a modern way,
that of numerous little boxes on ropes which
formed a continuous chain, the windlass round
which it worked being turned by a horse or
donkey. Beersheba, unlike many other and more
important places in Palestine, has water laid
on to the houses, being pumped up from one
of the smallest wells, and conducted to the
houses through iron pipes ; we noticed that
stand-taps and watering-troughs were scattered
about on the streets, so that man and beast
could drink at all times. A 9-h.p. petroleum
engine by Hornsby & Sons, Grantham, was
doing good service in the pumping line. The
growth and improvements at Beersheba are
entirely due to the energy of the governor, a
young Turk who has travelled extensively in
Europe, and who can read and speak Turkish,
Arabic, French, and English quite weU. Would
that aU Turkish officials were as go-ahead.
During recent excavations at Beersheba, a
very mteresting trophy of Christian times was

158 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
unearthed and is being protected from
destruction. It consists of a large baptismal font hewn
from one stone. It is 2 feet 8 inches thick,
5 feet 2 inches in diameter, and on two sides
has steps, and on the other sides two seats,
these latter probably for the priests during
the ceremony. As Beersheba was once the
seat of a Christian bishopric, it is not surprising
that such a fine remnant of the Christian religion
should be discovered there.
We left Beersheba on Monday morning, and
during the day visited the site of Moladah,
the Malatha of the Greeks and El MUh of the
Arabs. It contains several weUs of never-
failing water, from which thousands of cattle
and human beings drink. From there we went
to and camped at the ruins of Ararah, among
which I picked up a well-shaped basalt arrow
head. For the next two days the way was tiring,
as it lay over plains of heavy sand and rough
mountains, but at last our spirits re'vived by
having pointed out to us one of the things that
had induced us to face the dangers and fatigues
of the Negeb. This was Jebel Mothera, on
which some Bible students insist Aaron died
and was buried.

THE WEST END OF THE GREAT R.WINE THAT LEADS INTO PETRA.
At the top tlie rocks almost touch at the height of 200 feet.

5 "

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 159
I should have said that, on our leaving
Beersheba, the governor kindly put at our
service as guide and protector a soldier mounted
on a camel ; he knew the country well, and
served us faithfuUy.
It will be necessary here for me to make
a break in my story, and explain why
we were so anxious to see Jebel, or Mount
Mothera. If the passages that record Aaron's death
and burial are carefully read they seem to
contradict themselves as to the actual site of
that event in the history of Israel. I will not
contend for one place or the other ; it matters
little ; but the subject is one that interests
many, hence my reason for introducing it.
Here are the Scripture accounts.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in Mount
Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, . . .
Take Aaron and Eleazer his son, and bring them up
imto Mount Hor. . . . And Aaron . . . shall die there.
And Moses did as the Lord commanded . . . and
Aaron died there in the top of the mount (Num.
XX. 23-28).
And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in
Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. And
Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor . . . and died
there (Num. xxxiii. 37, 38).
Get thee up into this mountain . . . and be gathered
unto thy people ; as Aaron thy brother died in Mount
Hor (Deut. xxxii. 49, 50),

160 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Here, then, are three definite statements as
to the mount and location on which Aaron died,
but against them is the follo^wing : —
And the children of Israel took their journey from
Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera [or
Mothera] ; there Aaron died, and there he was buried
(Deut. X. 6).
The reader wiU now understand how eager
we were to investigate and try and settle, for
ourselves at least, this long-disputed point.
We had seen and climbed Mount Hor, by the
coast of Edom, so we pushed on as fast as we
could to its competitor.
I may say that the meaning of the word
Mothera (and I use local pronunciation) in
Hebrew is chastisement or punishment, and
this idea is perpetuated by an Arab tradition
connected with this mountain. It runs thus :
A people once dwelt around its base, to whom
there came one day some traveUers seeking
hospitahty, but the people of Mothera treated
them badly, adding to their treatment vUe
ai^d cruel deeds, whereupon AUah (God) in
His anger rained down stones upon them
and destroyed them from off the face of the
earth. Quantities of round stones on the east side
of the mountain are shown to substantiate the

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 161
above story, which is evidently a remmiscence
of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or
the fate that befell Korah and his followers
as recorded in Num. xvi.
From a distance Mothera presents a most
striking appearance. It rises out of a barren
plain, and is composed of a mixture of hme-
stone and sand, which easUy crumbles under
slight pressure. The white, flour-like appear
ance of the mountain is very trying, in fact
almost blinding to the eyes, and the heat about
the base is awful.
We had intended climbing the mount, as
we thought if it could be scaled it would be
much in its favour as competitor to Mount
Hor, but from the side we approached, the
north-west, we found it impossible, and after
vain attempts we reluctantly gave it up,
sought the welcome but scanty shelter of a
rock, and enjoyed what we thought a weU-
earned lunch. The whole region for four hours
round is waterless, and a more barren, scorch
ing, arid, vegetationless country I have never
seen. As our camp was to pitch quite four hours
away, by a spring known as Ain Hash, we
had to hurry to reach it by sundown. The
ride through barren valleys, and the heat
11

162 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
reflected from the stones, mostly flint, were
wearying to us, but more so was the last hour
of that ride, for on arriving at the appointed
place not a trace of camp or caravan was
visible, and we were beginning to wonder
what it meant, when my eye caught sight of
a thin stick standing upright in the earth,
on which was skewered a scrap of paper with
the foUowing message in Arabic : " We are gone
to a spring east," so finding the footprints
of their animals we followed them, and reached
our destination tired, thirsty, and hungry,
but satisfied with the day's doings and aU we
had seen. A huge tree shaded us from a full
moon, and from a spring that bubbled up
through the sand we drew water, and but for
the mosquitoes a better camping-place could
not be desired.
We were anticipating the next day's journey,
for it was to bring us to Ain-el-Weibeh, the
springs or location that some have thought
should be known as Kadesh-Bamea. Very
few, however, reach this out-of-the-way place,
and after our stay and investigation we felt
that the idea was rather far-fetched. That
there are springs, it is true, three in number,
but each with a very poor supply of sulphury
tepid water, barely sufficient to water our

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 163
animals, to say nothing about the hosts oi
Israel, if ever they encamped in these parts.
Ain-el-Weibeh is situated on the west side
of the Araba and is only one hundred feet
above sea-level.
After leaving Weibeh our way continued
across sandy plains until our camp was reached,
at a place where good water was plentiful,
and known as El-Ghumr. For three days
we had not seen a h-ving creature, and we began
to wonder what had befaUen the Arabs of
those parts. We had not long to wait, for
next moming at daybreak the springs near
where we were camped were hterally besieged
with men bringing their camels to water. A
wUd-looking feUow was soon engaged to lead
us across the great wilderness of the Araba,
with its many paths, and for the next four
and a half hours we endured the heat and
glare as our faithful beasts carried us across
that barren and scorching depression.
Welcome was an overhanging rock, under
whose shadow we lunched and rested until
the cool of the afternoon, after which we com
menced the long and steep ascent that stood
between us and the fascinating rock-he-wn
city of Petra.
That night we camped amid the variegated

164 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
and rugged mountains that defend Edom on
the west. In the clear light of a fuU moon
every peak and crag stood out sharp against
the sky ; it was a night never to be forgotten,
for the sUence was unbroken, not even the voice
of the owl or the jackal's cry was to be heard.
Next morning we chmbed to a height of
3,800 feet, each few yards reveahng some new
feature in the rocky panorama that was about
us. Suddenly Mount Hor came in view, and
as we saw it that moming it certainly was
most impressive, as it reared its head, 4,425 feet
high, above all the other peaks in the neigh
bourhood. An hour later we dismounted amid
the ruins and grandeur of Petra, thankful
that our way had been prospered and our
journey so far accomplished to our entire
satisfaction. As we looked about us and
contemplated a week's stay amid such surround
ings, we felt in sympathy with Dean Burgon
when he wrote about Petra :
How changed, how fallen, all her glory fled.
The widowed city mourns her many dead,
Like some fond heart which gaunt disease hath left.
Of all it lived for — all it loved — bereft ;
Mute in its anguish, struck with pangs too deep
For words to utter, or for tears to weep.
At Petra our camp was pitched under the
shadow of what is known as the Citadel Rock,

grain pits AT BEERSHEBA.
OLD MOABITE CASTLE AT KERAK.
BOZRAH IN EDOM.

.•'O. 4-

'-.-C

'"¦^ ^^

^*.i "¦ ^"',;- —

THE OASIS OF KADESH-BARNEA.

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 165
a magnificent pUe of variegated rock rising
high amid the belt of mountains that encloses
Petra on the west. At one time in the history
of this rock-hevra city, a castle, probably a
lookout, was buUt on the summit of the pile,
the remains of which are well preserved. A
series of stairways led to the buUding, some
of which were hewn in the stone and others
built. Only daring climbers and foohsh amateurs
would attempt the ascent of what has only
recently been designated the Citadel Rock,
for one false step would mean a fall over sharp
crags into an unmerciful abyss beneath.
Although I had been six times to Petra I
found there was much that I had not seen
before, and the probabihty is that another
visit would reveal something new. Any readers
who are interested in ancient Semitic worship
wUl know that Petra has of late years become
famous because of the high places of worship
that have been discovered there, and which
have led not a few to make the journey thither
in hopes of gaining fresh light on the religion
and worship of the ancients.
We too were intent on high places, and were
rewarded for some amount of hard climbing
in finding and seeing six that were unknown

166 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
to us. We found that they were all constructed
on the same principle, and consisted of altars,
courts, reservoirs for water, and beU- shaped
niches cut in the rock, which some think
represent the obehsks that are found at the
great high place, which was the first we
discovered (see page 137).
We concluded ere we left Petra that each
quarter of the city had one or more of these
resorts for worship, and that at given times
aU would go to the great sanctuary to sacrifice
and worship.
As we crossed and recrossed the mounds of
debris and fallen buildings, we would come
across large blocks of stone on which were
carved the figures of men and beasts. These,
no doubt, were parts of some temple or palace,
and the figures representions of gods or warriors.
The iUustration shows some of this old-time
carving, representing a winged hon on either
side of a diminutive human being also ha-ving
wings. No doubt excavation would reveal many
such things, and probably inscriptions also,
which would prove of immense value in throwing
light on this long-sUent and fascinating metro-
pohs of Edom.
The Roman occupation of Petra could not

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 167
be overlooked, for a few hand-miUs had been
discovered and were lying about on the surface,
no one having any use for them.
They are cut from basalt, as are the hand-
mUls of the present day, but are different in
shape and considerably larger. From their
shape and construction we concluded that they
were turned by handles stuck into holes on
the sides, not on top as in modem hand-mUls,
the under part being raised considerably. The
weight of the upper stone would make it im
possible for an ordinary man or woman to
revolve it, hence the reason for the two handles.
The durabihty of black basalt is very apparent
in these Roman mUls, for after years of use
and centuries of exposure, they are very well
preserved. So far we have been mo-ving in the bed of
the vaUey, vnth its wealth of interest to the
geologist, botanist, archaeologist, naturalist, or
most common everyday student of things ;
but the mountains are also fuU of interest,
and thither we wUl go.
As we climb up zigzag stairs hewn in the
rock, or walk slowly up weU-graded roads cut
through the stone, we wonder at the great
amount of labour and energy put forth by the
Petreans to reach the hUl and mountain-tops.

168 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
largely in the interest of worship and rehgion.
As I stood upon a rocky promontory looking
around and below, I saw what appeared to be
an altar hidden away in the cleft of a rock.
We were not long finding our way to it, and
were delighted to discover a large altar in a
perfect state of preservation. Its dimensions
may be of interest to some readers, so I vrill
give them, according to our measurements :
height 5 feet 8 inches, -width 2 feet 3 inches,
depth or thickness 22| inches, top 2 feet across,
base 3 feet i inch.
As wUl be seen from the illustration, it was
not detached from the rock, as are many altars,
neither did we find any trace of inscriptions
on it to tell to whom or what deity it was
dedicated. We were also much surprised and
interested in noting that the altar stood due
north and south, whereas every other altar
that we saw at Petra was placed east and west.
We could not but conclude that it belonged
to a people and time foreign to the Petreans,
else why these very noticeable differences ?
Not far removed from this rehc of ancient
worship, we found something else of interest,
although of quite a different nature. Partly
hidden by the foliage of a very old karub-tree,
and hewn into and out of a large rock, was

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 169
what appeared to us to be the remains of a
hall of statuary or a hall of assembly. Its
complete dimensions could not be determined,
as one end had suffered considerably from the
elements and had faUen away. What remains
is about 40 feet long by 20 feet broad. Cut in
the waUs on either side are niches, each capable
of holding a life-size statue ; these were about
sixteen in number. There was every appearance
that at some time the place was roofed in, for
on either side were rests cut in the rocky wall,
on which arches could be sprung, whUst at the
end the height and dimensions of the arch are
plainly seen, as it apparently fitted into a
groove cut in the end wall. The photograph
reproduced plainly shows these details of
what was once a place of importance at
Petra. On another of our rambles of exploration
we came across a very fine excavation which
at one time must have had a very striking
appearance. The grain in the rock over the
doorway was very marked, and gave an added
beauty to the cornice and carving that graced
the exterior of what we eventually caUed the
magazine. The interior, which is about twenty-
five feet square, was quite plain, but the waUs
had recesses cut in them which we concluded

170 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
were for the storage of grain or merchandize,
for at one time Petra was a great centre of
commercial enterprise, and store-rooms were a
necessity. This chamber is used during the
rainy season to shelter the flocks from the
winds and storms, and is usuaUy occupied by
a Bedouin famUy during the summer.
We made several visits to the great temple
known as the Deir, which is located in the
western mountains, but which is only reached
after a most fatiguing climb of about one hour.
We did not rest untU we stood underneath
the massive urn that crowns this monstrous
rock-hewn sanctuary, and which indeed in
aU its wonderful workings is a part of the same
rock. The platform from which this great urn
rises is 129 feet in circumference, whUst the
urn itself rises to a height of about thirty feet.
When it is remembered that this urn is a part
of the same rock as the great temple beneath,
and is so carved as not to have one crack in
it, we cannot but wonder at and admire the
enterprise and ingenuity of these rock- workers
of twenty centuries ago. What people now
adays would attack a mountain to get a church
out of it ?
Some part of our time at Petra was given
to the grand ravine known as the Sik. It is

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 171
the fascinating, awe-inspiring gorge that gives
access to the city from the east, and which at
one time formed an almost impassable barrier
to the rock-hewn capital. This ravine is about
a mUe long, and has some very impressive bits
of scenery in it, but none so charming as the
last hundred yards at the west end, with its
variety of colour and grain in the rock, and
the outhnes of the exquisitely-carved Khuznee,
Petra's masterpiece, beyond.
WhUst the western end of the Sik fascinates
one with its dehcate charms and exquisite
car'vings, the eastern end is equaUy attractive
with its sohdity and white, sponge-hke, dome-
shaped rocks rising one above the other. Here,
too, is hidden away the most stupendous work
the early inhabitants of Petra ever undertook
and carried through. So completely is it out
of sight that the traveller in his eagerness to
reach the city beyond has no idea of turning
aside to investigate in so uninviting a part.
This new item among the wonders of Petra
consists of a tunnel, 300 feet long, 18 to 20 feet
¦wide, and about 23 feet high, cut through a
rock and leading out into an almost impassable
valley beyond. But why such a cutting, some
wiU ask ? After studying the situation we
concluded that this work was done to make

172 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
a way of escape for the torrents that must
have come rushing down the vaUeys and moun
tain-sides after heavy rains, and which if aUowed
to enter Petra would have done considerable
damage to the city, but by being turned into
this valley through the tunnel, the over
flow found its way down into the Araba, and
probably into the Dead Sea.
We were much interested in the local name
of this tunnel and valley as given us by the
tv/o youths who accompanied us on aU our
trips about Petra. They called it Wady
Muthlum — which means, the Valley of Shadows ;
and vrith such a designation how real the words
of Psalm xxiii. seemed — " Though I walk
through the Valley of the Shadow of Death."
Truly one has to live in Bible lands to reahze
the fuU meaning of Bible language.
Whilst at Petra we went over to Maan, some
twenty-five miles east. It has been thought
by some that Teman was located 'where Maan
now stands.
One of our objects in going was to request
from the governor there permission to visit
the shrine of Aaron on the summit of Mount
Hot, a privUege only granted by the authorities
in whose district the place is. The ignorant
fanaticism of the Arabs makes them obstruct

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 173
the Christian visiting the shrine, but with a
Government permit all goes easy. The governor
of the district readily gave us the permission
in writing, which, however, we did not use,
although we visited the shrine. The translation
of this important document, written in Arabic,
and bearing the seal of the Khimakan of
Maan, is given here for the benefit of those
who read these lines.
It as follows : —
¦Written to the chiefs and people of Wady Musa, i.e
Petra. The bearers of this permit are going to "Wady
Musa, wanting to ascend Mount Aaron, on whom be
peace. Let no one hinder them, and if any man inter
feres with them he will fall under punishment
Armed with this document we returned to
Petra and visited the prophet, to use a local
and hteral phrase. Aaron's tomb and Mount
Hor were fully described on page 144 in an
account of a previous visit. One experience
was new to me, and that was getting into the
sacred cistern, from which water was dra'vm
to use with the sacrifices slain at the shrine.
To my surprise I found only a few inches of
water in it, although the old caretaker had
said there was plenty, so much that I could
not possibly get into the cistern for fear of
drowning.

174 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
The reservoir is evidently old, as shown by
its construction, ¦viz. arches about two feet
apart on which rested slabs of stone to form
the roof. The cistern was hewn in the rock,
in which were rests from which the numerous
arches were sprung. I brought away one
negative of the interior of the cistern which
wiU give some idea of its aspect as we saw it
when nearly empty.
We had been ten days amid the fascinations
of Petra, and as our time was hmited were
obliged to leave. We had seen many new things,
some of which I have tried to picture, I trust not
in vain. As we took a last look at the rock-
encircled city with its variety of colour, car^vings,
and excavations, we remembered how appropriate
was Burgon's poem on Petra when he said :
it seems no work of man's creative hand.
By labour virought as wavering fancy planned.
But from the rock, as if by magic grown.
Eternal, silent, beautiful, alone.
Not virgin-white like that old Doric shrine
Where erst Athena held her rites divine.
Not saintly grey, like many a minster fane.
That crowns the hill, and consecrates the plain ;
But rosy red, as if the blush of dawn
That first beheld them were not yet withdrawn.
The hues of youth upon a brow of woe, |
¦Which man deemed old two thousand years ago;
Match me such marvel save in Eastern clime,
A rose-red city half as old as Time.

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 175
From Petra we started north, taking in on
our way towards the steep chmb to the high
lands the Horite excavations at El-Baitha,
which bear every trace of being much older
than those at Petra.
The style of the work in the vaUey of El-
Baitha is simpler than that of its neighbour,
and some who have examined them inchne to
the idea that the large chambers, void of
decoration, were used as stores or inns, and were
frequented by the traders and caravans who
for business purposes were not permitted to
enter the city near by. The rock here is almost
entirely grey, and from a distance has the
appearance of pumice-stone.
For two hours we chmbed slowly up toward
the plains of Edom, on our way passing some
wUd-looking feUows watering sheep at a spring
of cool, clear water that came gushing out of
a rock. On reaching the top of the hUl we
suddenly entered a forest of oak-trees, the shade
of which was most welcome after the heat and
glare of the vaUey beneath.
After riding for three hours across plains of
wheat and barley, the finest we had seen during
our trip, we reached the httle town of Shobek,
perched high on the hUl that makes it a miniature
fortress. Shobek has a fine supply of water.

176 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
which is responsible for the luxurious gardens
in the valley below. In the middle of the little
town is a depression from which more than
three hundred steps, roughly cut in the rock,
lead down to a spring of ice-cold water. It
was from this that the people of Shobek drew
water, when a few years ago they withstood
the attack of Turkish troops for over two
months From Shobek we went to the highest point
we reached in our joumeyings, a spur in the
mountains above the vUlage of Dana, and our
barometers told us that we were 5,200 feet
above sea-level. Here we pitched our camp
at about noon.
Not far away was Bozrah, a town memorial
ized by its mention by the prophet Isaiah in
chapter Ixiii., " Who is this that cometh from
Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? "
This connexion with the Old Testament
made us desirous of visiting the place and see
ing for ourselves how the prophecies concern
ing the town had been fulfUled, for Jeremiah,
as the mouthpiece of the Lord, said, " that
Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach,
a waste, a curse, and all the cities thereof shall
be perpetual wastes "
How fuUy aU had come to pass ! Even we

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 177
saw, in some measure, the fulfilment of the
above prediction.
On asking some men if we could buy barley
in the town, they replied, " No, anywhere
but in Bozrah ; they are a lazy lot and only
sow enough for themselves." A reproach.
As we neared the town and traversed its
crooked streets, we saw nothing but tumble
down waUs and apologies for houses. There
was nothing that indicated energy, industry,
or trade. In fact, as we saw it, Bozrah was
indeed a desolation.
The state of the few inhabitants was pitiful.
I went up to an open door and asked for a drink
of water. The reply came from a poor woman
lying on the mud floor, partly covered by a
dirty torn quUt, " We have no water ; no one
here is able to go to the spring, for we are aU
Ul and no one comes to help us." As I entered
and looked about I saw the husband, a grand
mother, and four children lying about, aU
evidently very iU and in need, but from where
was help to come, for nearly aU the villagers
were down with what appeared to me typhoid
fever ? Bozrah seemed to have become indeed
and in truth a curse.
We left the stricken town, feeling sad because
no medical help was avaUable for the people
12

178 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
and wondering how it was that among aU the
societies for evangelizing and helping needy
Christless nations, not one had sent its agents
to bring hope, relief, and cheer to the helpless
thousands of Edom. The appeal to us was a
strong one, and we 'wished that we could have
done something. When the Church of Christ
is faithful to her Lord's commission, such cases,
even in Moslem lands, so sadly neglected, wUl
not remain long without Christian sympathy
and help.
Having purchased barley for five days, we
started on another stage of 'wUdemess
journeying. We turned due west and commenced the
descent through the Edom range down into
the Araba again, for a second visit to Jebel
Mothera. A fresh investigation of Kadesh-
Bamea had been decided on.
After two hours of slow travelhng over a
good path that led round the sides of the hUls,
we suddenly came upon a large encampment
in which the Arabs were busy mUking their
goats, before sending them out to pasture for
the day.
We made a brief halt before one of the
tents, into which we were in-vited to enter
and have breakfast, which we refused vrith aU

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 179
the thanks and compliments that we could
command. MeanwhUe our muleteers had made the most
of the opportunity to imbibe aU the lebn and
buttennUk that they were able to. From the
women we bought freshly churned butter for
use on our journey.
In this camp I saw a woman chuming in a
style entirely new to me. Instead of havuig
the skin of mUk suspended on a tripod, she
had it over her knee, and by rocking it back
wards and forwards she eventuaUy obtained
butter. This would be hard work for a
woman of the Occident, but these daughters
of the wUderness are quite at home doing
such work, having been accustomed to it from
girlhood. Five hours more brought us to the edge
of the great depression that di'vides Palestine
from Arabia, viz., the Araba. We had come
down over five thousand feet, and had ridden
over what appeared to us to have been at
one time a broad, weU-graded road, and so
imperceptible was the decline that we hardly
reahzed what a drop we had made in so
short a time.
After looking at maps and thinking the
matter out, we decided that probably we had

180 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
traversed the king's highway mentioned in
connexion with the journeyings of the Israelites
(Num. XX. 17, and Deut. u. 27). For there is
no doubt that at one time the main road between
Egypt and Arabia, via Edom, led through these
valleys and around these hiUs, and the chUdren
of Israel, knowing of this highway to the up
lands of Edom, desired to traverse it and so
get mto Canaan.
Four hours brought us to our old camping-
ground at Ain Hash, and four hours next
morning brought us to the south side of Jebel
Mothera, which from our new standpoint
presented quite a different appearance, and gave
us fresh hopes of standing on its summit.
We sent our baggage animals ahead to await
us at a spring, whUst my companion, our guide
and guard, and myself made for the mountain.
We were able to ride right up to its base, and
found the formation at the west end quite
different from that of the east end. We judged
the mountain to be fuUy half a mUe long, and
at each end on top was quite a plain, the space
between these having either faUen away or been
washed away by the lains of centuries, lea-ving
a narrow rugged ridge between the two platforms.
The heat, in the shade, was awful — our
thermometer stood at 103* Fahr. — and the

"^Pl^.u

ONE OF THE MANY WELLS FOUND IN THE LAND OF THE PATRIARCHS.
OPENING UP A NEW WELL AT BEERSHEBA.

_<^^^

— ^^

BRIDGE OVER THE VALLEY, KUNAWAT.
THE OLD CASTLE AT SULKHID.

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 181
desolation and silence appalhng. We sat down
to lunch, which was quickly partaken of in
our anxiety to climb the mountain that, with
its fascination, had made us return to it a second
time. I said to our soldier-guide, " There are three
of us, one Arab, one American, and one English
man ; who wiU be the most clever and reach
the mountain-top first ? " During lunch he
disappeared, and twenty minutes later came
back saying, " Impossible, you cannot ascend
the mountain ; the sides are like flour, and
every stone you tread on uncertain."
However, we set out, the writer leading the
way. Our soldier's words were true, and the
climb was hard and dangerous ; but much is
accomplished by enthusiasts, and soon I was
standing on the summit, caUing to my American
friend to foUow me, which he did, in spite
of a narrow ridge along which he had to
crawl, and a smaU abyss which had to be
jumped. The mountain, if such it can be caUed in
English, is only 700 feet high, has precipitous
sides of fine sand and marl, among which I
found some sulphur and saltpetre, and the top
on which we stood was entirely bare of vegeta
tion. AU we found on top was a circle of

182 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
smaU stones about fifteen feet in diameter.
The descent was more difficult and treacherous
than the ascent, but patience, care, and self-
control at last landed us by our faithful steeds,
who although standing were perspiring freely
by reason of the great heat.
Our second visit had satisfied us in one thing,
and that was the fact that Jebel Mothera could
be climbed, and it was with much satisfaction
that we started for the four hours' nde that was
to close an interesting but fatiguing day. In
my o^wn mind I decided, untU more definite
and weighty evidence is forthcoming in favour
of Jebel Mothera as the death and burial-place
of Aaron, that the traditional mountain on the
coast of Edom known as Jebel Hauran or Mount
Hor must continue to hold its o'wn, and per
petuate the last scene in the hfe and history of
Israel's first high- priest.
Our next point of interest was Kadesh-
Bamea, a place so closely connected with the
wanderings of the Israelites. The first modem
traveller to visit and locate this watering-place
was the Rev. J. Rowlands, about 1845. Then
it remained unnoticed untU revisited and
revived by H. C. TrumbuU, late editor of the
American Sunday-school Times, in 1883. Since
then few have been the visitors to this oasis in

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 183
the wUdemess of Zin. We are probably the
only Europeans that have re-visited Kadesh-
Barnea, and we coimted it no small pri-vUege
to see again and re-establish what we had seen
several years before.
At Kadesh-Barnea there are twelve springs
of clear, cool water rising at the east end of
wady Kadees, which is about two mUes long
The water from some of the springs flows do'wn
the bed of the valley, causing a green bed of
grass on either side of the stream, also giving
life and fertihty to numerous fig-trees, the
fruit of which is eaten by the shepherds who
frequent the spot with their flocks of sheep
and goats.
This plentiful water supply appealed to us
strongly as being more probably the site of
Kadesh-Barnea than Ain-el-Weibeh on the
edge of the barren Araba, and with this
settled in our minds we set out to see some
of the ruined cities of the Negeb or south
country During the next two days we visited many
ruined sites of cities and towns that had
played important parts in Bible history. One
of these was Ziglag, now famous for its
six ancient weUs, three of which are in
use.

184 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
Everywhere we went the people were hard
at work gathering in their scanty harvest of
wheat and barley. The grain, after being
pulled up by the roots, was loaded on camels
and sent off to the threshing-floor in charge of
a small boy or girl. Later this would be trodden
out by camels or oxen, and after the grain had
been separated from the chaff both would be
carried away in huge sacks to be stored until
the autumn and 'winter.
The absence of all buUdings as store-houses
made us wonder where such quantities of grain
were deposited. The difficulty was solved on
coming across the store pits of a tribe through
whose territory we were passing. Deep holes
in the earth, shaped like a bottle and plastered
with mud, made very good places in which to
deposit the grain. As we looked at these we
thought it not unlikely that into some such pit
Joseph was put by his brethren, the long neck
shape would make it almost impossible for any
one to escape without assistance. On the
surface these pits are built up with mud clods
or stones and then covered with earth, thus
making them rainproof.
Twenty-seven days in the wUdemess had
gone by all too quickly, and we were obliged
to make for Jerusalem. We frequently came

KADESH-BARNEA AND PETRA 185
across parties of Arab men and women
draviing water from the many weUs south
of Beersheba. We would fain have lingered
longer in so primitive a land, but could
not

XI
THE REMAINS OF GIANT BASHAN
WE can't go ; it's forbidden." How
many times these unwelcome
words have faUen on the ears
of expectant traveUers bent on going to
the country south-east of Damascus known
as Jebel Druze, to see the ruins of what
are known as the Giant Cities of Bashan.
Whether they were buUt by giants, or got
such a name because of the solid work done,
it is difficult to decide. Certainly the amount
of labour and strength required and put forth
to erect such houses and castles of sohd stone
is worthy of a race of giants, as the reader •wiU
gather from the descriptions and photographs
in this chapter.
To fix the period during which this country
was in its prosperity is difficult ; one thing is
certain, that the language of the time was Greek,
evident from the numerous inscriptions, aU in
186

THE REMAINS OF GIANT BASHAN 187
Greek, that can be seen lying about in aU
directions, waiting for some one to decipher
them. The ancient dweUings of the Jebel Druze form
its chief attraction. First among them are the
numerous troglodyte dweUings, which certainly
belong to hoar antiquity. All the ruins and
present-day -vUlages consist of stone houses,
weU-he^wn and admirably fitted. Wood was
nowhere used. Each 'viUage was pro'vided with
one or more towers, most hkely used by the
people to keep a lookout for the approach of
marauding bands of Arabs. All the doors and
windows were of stone which turned on their
own sockets. I saw some of these still in use.
One was 9 feet 8 inches high by 6 feet 4 inches
wide and 7^ inches thick ; it took three men to
open or close it, and when hit it rang clear hke
a beU. Some of these doors were finely carved
and paneUed, and are yet in use. The ceUings
consist of long stone slabs, hewn smooth and
closely fitted, resting on arches from ten to
fifteen feet across.
In the principal towns, such as Swadia, Kuna-
wat, Shobbah and Bozrah, numerous temples
and public buUdings are to be found, also
arches of triumph. The open reservoirs, stUl
used for coUecting the rain-water, are triumphs

188 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
of the stonemason, and worthy of those who
undertook such massive tasks. Everywhere
beautifuUy carved and ornamented sarcophagi
abound, in many cases bearing the names of
those whose remains they once contained. This,
then, is a short description of the forbidden
district : why forbidden the Turkish Govern
ment only knows, for the people of the land
are most hospitable and open to outsiders, as
the writer has many times proved.
Now for a few descriptions of some of the
prhicipal sights of the place of which I have
secured pictures. Beginning at Bozrah, one is
surrounded with the remams of triumphal
arches, temples, baths, and streets of columns
all in fairly good preservation. The fine old
castle has been turned into a barracks, and is
occupied by Turkish soldiery. This probably
belongs to the thirteenth century. But we
cannot hnger here, but pass on east to Sulkhud,
some five hours' ride across rough, stony country,
supposed by some to be the same place as
mentioned in Deut. in. lo. Ridhig through
the town we notice fragments of columns, orna
mented lintels and finely chased windows all
around. But the traveUer wUl steer straight for the fine
old castle standing out so prominently against

P^^J^-^lp.

s

I

BATTLEMENTS OF SULKHUD.
STONE DOORS AT EL-GHUSM.

CARVED STONE WINDOW.
STONE DOORS AT LYSON.
BRIDGE AT KUNAWAT.

STREET OF COLUMNS AT BOSRAH. A DOUBLE ARCH.
WATERCOURSE NEAR KUNAWAT. OLD WATCH-TOWER AT ELDERAD.

THE REMAINS OF GIANT BASHAN 189
the sky. After some amount of scrambling
and puffing we reach what seems at a distance
its base, but find that a deep moat has to be
crossed ere the castle is reached. The fact is
it is buUt in the mouth of an extinct crater.
The waUs of the castle are from eighty to one
hundred feet high. The interior is a perfect
labyrinth of halls, galleries and vaults, now in
a confused and ruined state. Near the gate
are two colossal lions, facing each other, and
between them a rude representation of a tree.
This castle has been thought to belong to the
sixth century at about a.d. 560. The fine
remaining battlements testify to the strength
of the place when complete. A curious old
tower claims attention, buUt of white and black
stone in alternate layers, some of the white
sections bearing inscriptions in the Cufic
characters. From the top of this tower a fine
view of the surrounding country is to be had.
Towards the west can be seen the old Roman
road in a straight line as far as Bozrah.
Looking east, one peers into the deserts of
golden sand. But we must away to Kunawat.
This is a long day's ride. En route we pass
numerous ruined towers, buUt of fine-cut stone
and well erected, and placed about a quarter
of a mUe apart from each other.

190 IN AND ABOUT PALESTINE
But we are nearing Kunawat — the largest
and finest of the ruined cities. See this old
waterway, made to bring water from a distance
of twelve mUes, and to-day as good as when
the ancients left off their work. It would take
a long time to describe aU that is to be seen
here. Ruined temples, palaces, churches,
theatres and houses all around. A deep vaUey
separates the to'wn, but an old bridge still spans
the breach and enables the present hihabitants
to cross dry-shod, for in winter a strong torrent
flows under this substantial structure. The
finely carved doors caU for special attention.
How such work was done makes one marvel.
Certainly labour and trouble must have been
little thought of in those days. Old water-
mUls still testify to the ingenuity of the giants
of Bashan. The streets are stUl weU paved
at places with large slabs of stone. Very
noticeable is a ruined church, the vestibule
of which was borne by eighteen columns. A
beautiful and most elaborately executed central
portal, with a cross, leads into the church,
which is about twenty-seven yards long. Kuna
wat might be Kenath of Num. xxxii. 42.
A visit to Shobbah well repays the traveUer,
if only to gaze on the fine baths almost intact
in which the Bashanites used to revel, the water

THE REMAINS OF GIANT BASHAN 191
being brought from a great distance by means
of an aqueduct the arches of which are stiU
standmg at a height of about thirty feet above
ground. Here as elsewhere finely chased capitals
teU of magnificent temples and palaces in past
times. I have only mentioned some of the
principal towns in the district, all inhabited.
The whole country abounds in ruins, all of which
are worth exploring. Here one sees houses of
two and three stories high, the upper chambers
reached by means of long stones let into the
outer waU, thus forming a staircase.
But enough has been said to show the reader
that at some time Bashan must have been a
thickly populated land, and the Bashanites
housed in substantial dweUings, making use
as they did of the only material to hand, and
that hard black basalt. The mterpretation of
the numerous inscriptions woiUd, no doubt,
throw much light on the time and buUders of
the ruins.

PrMed fa Gnat Britain by
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED
WOKING AND LONDON

3 9002 03224 1250

T r.

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