Early Travels in Palestine Part 37

_April 7._-The next morning we set out again, in order to see the sanctuaries and other visitable places upon Mount Olivet. We went out at St. Stephen's Gate, and, crossing the Valley of Jehoshaphat, began immediately to ascend the mountains. Being got about two-thirds of the way up, we came to certain grottos cut with intricate windings and caverns under ground; these are called the sepulchres of the prophets. A little higher up are twelve arched vaults under ground, standing side by side; these were built in memory of the twelve apostles, who are said to have compiled their creed in this place. Sixty paces higher you come to the place where they say Christ uttered his prophecy concerning the final destruction of Jerusalem[601]. And a little on the right hand of this is the place where they say he dictated a second time the Pater Noster to his disciples[602]. Somewhat higher is the cave of St.

Pelagia; and as much more above that, a pillar, signifying the place where an angel gave the blessed Virgin three days' warning of her death.

At the top of the hill you come to the place of our blessed Lord's ascension. Here was anciently a large church, built in honour of that glorious triumph, but all that now remains of it is only an octagonal cupola, about eight yards in diameter, standing, as they say, over the very place where were set the last footsteps of the Son of G.o.d here on earth. Within the cupola there is seen, in a hard stone, as they tell you, the print of one of his feet. Here was also that of the other foot some time since, but it has been removed from hence by the Turks into the great mosque upon Mount Moria. This chapel of the Ascension the Turks have the custody of, and use it for a mosque. There are many other holy places about Jerusalem, which the Turks pretend to have a veneration for, equally with the Christians, and under that pretence they take them into their own hands. But whether they do this out of real devotion, or for lucre's sake, and to the end that they may exact money from the Christians for admission into them, I will not determine.

About two furlongs from this place, northward, is the highest part of Mount Olivet; and upon that was anciently erected a high tower, in memory of that apparition of the two angels to the apostles after our blessed Lord's ascension[603], from which the tower itself had the name given it of Viri Galilaei! This ancient monument remained till about two years since, when it was demolished by a Turk, who had bought the field in which it stood; but nevertheless you have still, from the natural height of the place, a large prospect of Jerusalem and the adjacent country, and of the Dead Sea, &c.

From this place we descended the mount again by another road. At about the midway down they show you the place where Christ beheld the city and wept over it[604]. Near the bottom of the hill is a great stone, upon which you are told the blessed Virgin let fall her girdle after her a.s.sumption, in order to convince St. Thomas, who, they say, was troubled with a fit of his old incredulity upon this occasion. There is still to be seen a small winding channel upon the stone, which they will have to be the impression made by the girdle when it fell, and to be left for the conviction of all such as shall suspect the truth of their story of the a.s.sumption.

About twenty yards lower they show you Gethsemane, an even plot of ground not above fifty-seven yards square, lying between the foot of Mount Olivet and the brook Cedron. It is well planted with olive trees, and those of so old a growth, that they are believed to be the same that stood here in our blessed Saviour's time, in virtue of which persuasion the olives, and olive stones, and oil, which they produce, became an excellent commodity in Spain; but that these trees cannot be so ancient as is pretended is evident from what Josephus testifies[605], viz. that t.i.tus, in his siege of Jerusalem, cut down all the trees within about one hundred furlongs of Jerusalem; and that the soldiers were forced to fetch wood so far for making their mounts when they a.s.saulted the temple.

At the upper corner of the garden is a flat, naked ledge of rock, reputed to be the place on which the apostles, Peter, James, and John, fell asleep during the agony of our Lord; and a few paces from hence is a grotto, said to be the place in which Christ underwent that bitter part of his pa.s.sion.

About eight paces from the place where the apostles slept is a small shred of ground, twelve yards long and one broad, supposed to be the very path on which the traitor Judas walked up to Christ, saying "Hail Master, and kissed him." This narrow path is separated by a wall out of the midst of the garden, as a terra d.a.m.nata, a work the more remarkable as being done by the Turks, who, as well as Christians, detest the very ground on which was acted such an infamous treachery.

From hence we crossed the brook Cedron, close by the reputed sepulchre of the blessed Virgin, and, entering at St. Stephen's Gate, returned again to the convent.

_April 8._-We went to see the palace of Pilate, I mean the place where they say it stood; for now an ordinary Turkish house possesses its room.

It is not far from the gate of St. Stephen, and borders upon the area of the temple on the north side. From the terrace of this house you have a fair prospect of all the place where the temple stood; indeed the only good prospect that is allowed you of it; for there is no going within the borders of it without forfeiting your life, or, which is worse, your religion. A fitter place for an august building could not be found in the whole world than this area. It lies upon the top of Mount Moriah, over against Mount Olivet, the valley of Jehoshaphat lying between both mountains. It is, as far as I could compute by walking round it without, five hundred and seventy of my paces in length, and three hundred and seventy in breadth; and one may still discern marks of the great labour that it cost to cut away the hard rock, and to level such a s.p.a.cious area upon so strong a mountain. In the middle of the area stands, at present, a mosque, of an octagonal figure, supposed to be built upon the same ground where anciently stood the sanctum sanctorum. It is neither eminent for its largeness nor its structure; and yet it makes a very stately figure by the sole advantage of its situation.

In this pretended house of Pilate is shown the room in which Christ was mocked with the ensigns of royalty and buffeted by the soldiers. At the coming out of the house is a descent, where was anciently the scala sancta. On the other side of the street (which was anciently part of the palace also) is the room where they say our Lord was scourged. It was once used for a stable by the son of a certain pasha of Jerusalem; but presently, for this profanation, they say there came such a mortality amongst his horses as forced him to resign the place; by which means it was redeemed from that sordid use; but, nevertheless, when we were there, it was no better than a weaver's shop. In our return from Pilate's palace we pa.s.sed along the Dolorous Way, in which walk we were shown in order, first, the place where Pilate brought our Lord forth, to present to the people, with this mystic saying, "Behold the Man!"

secondly, where Christ fainted thrice under the weight of his cross; thirdly, where the blessed Virgin swooned away at so tragical a spectacle; fourthly, where St. Veronica presented to him the handkerchief to wipe his bleeding brows; fifthly, where the soldiers compelled Simon the Cyrenian to bear his cross; all which places I need only to name.

_April 9._-We went to take a view of that which they call the pool of Bethesda. It is one hundred and twenty paces long, and forty broad, and at least eight deep, but void of water. At its west end it discovers some old arches, now dammed up. These some will have to be the five porches in which sat that mult.i.tude of lame, halt, and blind[606]; but the mischief is, instead of five, there are but three of them. The pool is contiguous on one side to St. Stephen's Gate, on the other to the area of the temple.

From hence we went to the convent or nunnery of St. Anne. The church here is large and entire, and so are part of the lodgings; but both are desolate and neglected. In a grotto under the church is shown the place where they say the blessed Virgin was born. Near this church they show the Pharisee's house, where Mary Magdalen exhibited those admirable evidences of a penitent affection towards our Saviour, "was.h.i.+ng his feet with her tears, and wiping them with her hair."[607] This place also has been anciently dignified with holy buildings, but they are now neglected.

This was our morning's work. In the afternoon we went to see Mount Gihon, and the pool of the same name. It lies about two furlongs without Bethlehem Gate, westward. It is a stately pool, one hundred and sixty paces long and sixty-seven broad, and lined with wall and plaster, and was, when we were there, well stored with water.

_April 10._-We went to take our leaves of the holy sepulchre, this being the last time it was to be opened this festival.

Upon this finis.h.i.+ng day, and the night following, the Turks allow free admittance for all people, without demanding any fee for entrance as at other times, calling it a day of charity. By this promiscuous licence they let in not only the poor, but, as I was told, the lewd and vicious also, who come thither to get convenient opportunity for prost.i.tution, profaning the holy places in such manner (as it is said) that they were not worse defiled even when the heathens here celebrated their aphrodisia.

_Sunday, April 11._-Now began the Turks' Byram, that is the feast which they celebrate after their Lent, called by them Ramadan. This being a time of great libertinism among the rabble, we thought it prudent to confine ourselves to our lodgings for some time, to the end that we might avoid such insolences as are usual in such times of public festivity. Our confinement was the less incommodious, because there was hardly any thing, either within or about the city, which we had not already visited.

_April 12, 13._-We kept close to our quarters, but, however, not in idleness; the time being now come when we were to contrive and provide things in order for our departure. We had a bad account, from all hands, of the country's being more and more embroiled by the Arabs, which made us somewhat unresolved what way and method to take for our return; but during our suspense it was told us that the mosolem was likewise upon his return to his master, the pasha of Tripoli, upon which intelligence we resolved, if possible, to join ourselves to his company.

_April 14._-We went, with a small present in our hands, to wait upon the mosolem, in order to inquire the time of his departure and acquaint him with our desire to go under his protection. He a.s.sured us of his setting out the next morning; so we immediately took our leaves in order to prepare ourselves for accompanying him.

I was willing, before our departure, to measure the circuit of the city; so, taking one of the friars with me, I went out in the afternoon in order to pace the walls round. We went out at Bethlehem Gate; and, proceeding on the right hand, came about to the same gate again. I found the whole city 4630 paces in circ.u.mference, which I computed thus:-

Paces.

From Bethlehem Gate to the corner on the right hand 400 From that corner to Damascus Grate 680 From Damascus Gate to Herod's 380 From Herod's Gate to Jeremiah's prison 150 From Jeremiah's prison to the corner next the valley of Jehoshaphat 225 From that corner to St. Stephen's Gate 385 From St. Stephen's Gate to the Golden Gate 240 From the Golden Gate to the corner of the wall 380 From that corner to the Dung Gate 470 From the Dung Gate to Sion Gate 605 From Sion Gate to the corner of the wall 215 From that corner to Bethlehem Gate 500 ---- In all, paces 4630

The reduction of my paces to yards is by casting away a tenth part, ten of my paces making nine yards; by which reckoning the 4630 paces amount to 4167 yards, which make just two miles and a half.

_April 15._-This morning our diplomata were presented us by the father guardian, to certify our having visited all the holy places; and we presented the convent fifty dollars a man as a gratuity for their trouble; which offices having pa.s.sed betwixt us, we took our leaves.

We set out together with the mosolem, and, proceeding in the same road by which we came, lodged the first night at Khan Leban; but the mosolem left us here, and continued his stage as far as Naplosa; so we saw him no more. The country people were now every where at plough in the fields, in order to sow cotton. It was observable that, in ploughing, they used goads of an extraordinary size. Upon measuring of several, I found them about eight feet long, and at the bigger end six inches in circ.u.mference. They were armed at the lesser end with a sharp p.r.i.c.kle for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a small spade or paddle of iron, strong and ma.s.sy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that enc.u.mbers it in working. May we not from hence conjecture that it was with such a goad as one of these that Shamgar made that prodigious slaughter related of him[608]? I am confident that whoever should see one of these instruments would judge it to be a weapon not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for such an execution. Goads of this sort I saw always used hereabouts, and also in Syria; and the reason is, because the same single person both drives the oxen, and also holds and manages the plough, which makes it necessary to use such a goad as is above described to avoid the enc.u.mbrance of two instruments.

_April 16._-Leaving Khan Leban, we proceeded still in our former road, and, pa.s.sing by Naplosa and Samaria, we came to the fountain Selee, and there took up our lodging this night.

_April 17._-The next morning we continued on in the same road that we travelled when outward bound, till we came to Caphar Arab. At this place we left our former way, and, instead of turning off on the left hand to go to Acra, we kept our course strait forwards, resolving to cross directly athwart the plain of Esdraelon, and to visit Nazareth.

Proceeding in this course from Caphar Arab, we came in about half an hour to Jeneen. This is a large old town, on the skirts of Esdraelon. It has in it an old castle and two mosques, and is the chief residence of the emir Chibly. Here we were accosted with a command from the emir not to advance any farther, till he should come in person to receive of us his caphars. This was very unwelcome news to us, who had met with a trial of his civility before. But, however, we had no remedy, and therefore thought it best to comply as contentedly as we could. Having been kept thus in suspense from two in the morning till sun-set, we then received an order from the prince to pay the caphar to an officer, whom he sent to receive it and dismiss us.

Having received this licence, we made all the haste we could to despatch the caphar, and to get clear of these Arabs. But, notwithstanding all our diligence, it was near midnight before we could finish. After which we departed, and, entering immediately into the plain of Esdraelon, travelled over it all night, and in seven hours reached its other side.

Here we had a very steep and rocky ascent; but, however, in half an hour we mastered it, and arrived at Nazareth.

_Sunday, April 18._-Nazareth is at present only an inconsiderable village, situated in a kind of round concave valley, on the top of a high hill. We were entertained at the convent built over the place of the Annunciation. At this place are, as it were, immured, seven or eight Latin fathers, who live a life truly mortified, being perpetually in fear of the Arabs, who are absolute lords of the country.

We went in the afternoon to visit the sanctuary of this place. The church of Nazareth stands in a cave supposed to be the place where the blessed Virgin received that joyful message of the angel, "Hail thou that art highly favoured,"[609] &c. It resembles the figure of a cross.

That part of it that stands for the tree of the cross is fourteen paces long and six over, and runs directly into the grotto, having no other arch over it at top but that of the natural rock. The traverse part of the cross is nine paces long and four broad, and is built athwart the mouth of the grotto. Just at the section of the cross are erected two granite pillars, each two feet and one inch diameter, and about three feet distant from each other. They are supposed to stand on the very places, one where the angel, the other where the blessed Virgin stood, at the time of the Annunciation. Of these pillars, the innermost, being that of the blessed Virgin, has been broke away by the Turks, in expectation of finding treasure under it, so that eighteen inches length of it is clean gone, between the pillar and its pedestal. Nevertheless it remains erect, though by what art it is sustained I could not discern. It touches the roof above, and is probably hung upon that; unless you had rather take the friars' account of it, viz. that it is supported by a miracle.

After this we went to see the house of Joseph, being the same, as they tell you, in which the Son of G.o.d lived for near thirty years, in subjection to man[610]. Not far distant from hence they show you the synagogue where our blessed Lord preached that sermon[611] by which he so exasperated his countrymen. Both these places lie north-west from the convent, and were anciently dignified each with a handsome church, but these monuments of queen Helena's piety are now in ruins.

_April 19._-This day we destined for visiting Mount Tabor, standing by itself in the plain of Esdraelon, about two or three furlongs within the plain.

Its being situated in such a separate manner, has induced most authors to conclude that this must needs be that holy mountain, as St.

Peter styles it[612], which was the place of our blessed Lord's Transfiguration[613]. You read that Christ "took with him Peter, James, and John, into a mountain apart," from which description they infer that the mountain there spoken of can be no other than Tabor. The conclusions may possibly be true, but the argument used to prove it seems incompetent; because the term ?at' ?d.a?, or apart, most likely relates to the withdrawing and retirement of the persons there spoken of, and not the situation of the mountain.

After a very laborious ascent, which took up near an hour, we reached the highest part of the mountain. It has a plain area at top, most fertile and delicious, of an oval figure, extending about one furlong in breadth, and two in length. This area is inclosed with trees on all parts, except toward the south. It was anciently environed with walls and trenches, and other fortifications, of which it exhibits many remains at this day.

In this area there are in several places cisterns of good water; but those which are most devoutly visited are three contiguous grottos, made to represent the three tabernacles which St. Peter proposed to erect, in the astonishment that possessed him at the glory of the Transfiguration.

"Lord," says he, "it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for thee," &c.

I cannot forbear to mention, in this place, an observation which is very obvious to all that visit the Holy Land, viz. that almost all pa.s.sages and histories related in the Gospel are represented by them that undertake to show where every thing was done, as having been done most of them in grottos, and that even in such cases where the condition and the circ.u.mstances of the actions themselves seem to require places of another nature. Thus, if you would see the place where St. Anne was delivered of the blessed Virgin, you are carried to a grotto; if the place of the Annunciation, it is also a grotto; if the place where the blessed Virgin saluted Elizabeth; if that of the Baptist's, or that of our blessed Saviour's Nativity; if that of the Agony, or that of St.

Peter's repentance, or that where the Apostles made the Creed, or this of the Transfiguration, all these places are also grottos; and, in a word, wherever you go, you find almost every thing is represented as done under ground. Certainly grottos were anciently held in great esteem, or else they could never have been a.s.signed, in spite of all probability, for the places in which were done so many various actions.

Perhaps it was the hermits' way of living in grottos from the fifth or sixth century downward, that has brought them ever since to be in so great reputation.

From the top of Tabor you have a prospect which, if nothing else, well rewards the labour of ascending it. It is impossible for man's eyes to behold a higher gratification of this nature. On the north-west, you discern at a distance the Mediterranean; and all around you have the s.p.a.cious and beautiful plains of Esdraelon and Galilee, which present you with the view of so many places memorable for the resort and miracles of the Son of G.o.d. At the bottom of Tabor westward stands Daberah, a small village, supposed by some to take its name from Deborah, that famous judge and deliverer of Israel. Near this valley is the fountain of Kishon. Not many leagues distant eastward, you see Mount Hermon, at the foot of which is seated Nain, famous for our Lord's raising the widow's son there[614]; and Endor, the place where dwelt the witch consulted by Saul. Turning a little southward, you have in view the high mountains of Gilboa, fatal to Saul and his sons. Due east, you discover the Sea of Tiberias, distant about one day's journey, and close by that sea they show a steep mountain, down which the swine ran, and perished in the waters[615]. A few points towards the north appears that which they call the Mount of the Beat.i.tudes; a small rising, from which our blessed Saviour delivered his sermon in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of St. Matthew. Not far from this little hill is the city of Saphet, supposed to be the ancient Bethulia. It stands upon a very eminent and conspicuous mountain, and is seen far and near. May we not suppose that Christ alludes to this city in those words of his sermon, 'A city set on a hill cannot be hid[616]?' A conjecture which seems the more probable, because our Lord, in several places, affects to ill.u.s.trate his discourse by comparisons taken from objects that were then present before the eyes of his auditors; as when he bids them "Behold the fowls of the air,"[617] "and the lilies of the field."[618]

From Mount Tabor you have likewise the sight of a place which they will tell you was Dotham, where Joseph was sold by his brethren; and of the field where our blessed Saviour fed the mult.i.tude with a few loaves and fewer fishes. But whether it was the place where he divided the five loaves and two fishes amongst the five thousand[619], or the seven loaves amongst the four thousand[620], I left them to agree among themselves.

Having received great satisfaction in the sight of this mountain, we returned to the convent the same way that we came. After dinner we made another small excursion, in order to see that which they call the Mountain of the Precipitation; that is, the brow of the hill from which the Nazarites would have thrown down our blessed Saviour, being incensed at his sermon preached to them[621]. This precipice is at least half a league distant from Nazareth southward. In going to it, you cross first over the valley in which Nazareth stands, and then, going down two or three furlongs in a narrow cleft between the rocks, you there clamber up a short but difficult way on the right hand, at the top of which you find a great stone standing on the brink of a precipice, which is said to be the very place where our Lord was destined to be thrown down by his enraged neighbours, had he not made a miraculous escape out of their hands[622]. There are in the stone several little holes, resembling the prints of fingers thrust into it. These, if the friars say truth, are the impresses of Christ's fingers, made in the hard stone, while he resisted the violence that was offered to him. At this place are seen two or three cisterns for saving water, and a few ruins, which are all that now remains of a religious building founded here by the empress Helena.

_April 20._-The next morning we took our leave of Nazareth, presenting the guardian five a-piece for his trouble and charge in entertaining us.

We directed our course for Acra, in order to which, going at first northward, we crossed the hills that encompa.s.sed the vale of Nazareth on that side; after which we turned to the westward, and pa.s.sed in view of Cana of Galilee, the place signalized with the beginning of Christ's miracles[623]. In an hour and a half more we came to Sepharia, a place reverenced for being the reputed habitation of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the blessed Virgin. It had once the name of Diocesaria, and was a place of good repute; but at present it is reduced to a poor village, showing only here and there a few ruins to testify its ancient better condition. On the west side of the town stands good part of a large church, built on the same place where they say stood the house of Joachim and Anna; it is fifty paces long, and in breadth proportionable.

At Sephira begins the delicious plain of Zebulon. We were an hour and a half in crossing it, and in an hour and a half more pa.s.sed by a desolate village on the right hand, by name Satyra. In half an hour more we entered the plains of Acra, and in one hour and a half more arrived at that place. Our stage, this day, was somewhat less than seven hours. It lay about west and by north, and through a country very delightful, and fertile beyond imagination.

_April 21._-At Acra we were very courteously treated by the French consul and merchants, as we had been when outward-bound. Having staid only one night, we took our leave, and, returning by the same way of the coast that I have described before, came the first night to our old lodgings at Solomon's cisterns, and the second to Sidon.

_April 22._-Three hours distant from Sidon, we were carried by the French consul to see a place which we had pa.s.sed by unregarded in our journey outward, though it very well deserves a traveller's observation.

At about the distance of a mile from the sea, there runs along a high rocky mountain, in the side of which are hewn a mult.i.tude of grottos, all very little differing from each other. They have entrances of about two feet square. On the inside you find in most, or all of them, a room of about four yards square, on the one side of which is the door, on the other there are as many little cells, elevated about two feet above the floor. There are of these subterraneous caverns, as I was informed by those who had counted them, two hundred in number. They go by the name of the grottos of.... The great doubt concerning them is, whether they were made for the dead or the living. That which makes me doubt of this is, because, though all the ancient sepulchres in this country very much resemble these grottos, yet they have something peculiar in them, which entices one to believe they might be designed for the reception of the living; for several of the cells within were of a figure not fit for having corpses deposited in them, being some a yard square, some more, and some less, and seeming to be made for family uses. Over the door of every cell there was a channel cut to convey the water away, that it might not annoy the rooms within. And because the cells were cut above each other, some higher, some lower, in the side of the rock, there were convenient stairs cut for the easier communication betwixt the upper and lower regions. At the bottom of the rock were also several old cisterns for storing up water. From all which arguments it may, with probability at least, be concluded, that these places were contrived for the use of the living, and not of the dead. But what sort of people they were that inhabited this subterraneous city, or how long ago they lived, I am not able to resolve. True it is, Strabo describes the habitations of the Troglodyte to have been somewhat of this kind.

_April 23._-We continued this day at Sidon, being treated by our friends of the French nation with great generosity.