Byeways in Palestine Part 18

On my present journey I pa.s.sed round the outer line of Tell Kaimoon, having Kishon on the right. In so doing we crossed various tributary streams--the first one, in quarter of an hour from 'Ain Kaimoon, was in _Wadi el Kasab_, (valley of reeds or canes)--the stream was bordered by reeds and a profusion of tall oleander in gorgeous pink flower.

In this neighbourhood, the Turkomans had commenced reaping their grain.

They are a race of people not to be mistaken for Arabs, men of strong build, and with a smiling expression on their clear, ruddy countenances.

Besides Arabic, they speak their own coa.r.s.e dialect of Turkish--several of them came running to us with handfuls of wheat from their harvest.

They possess large herds of oxen with good horses.

In another half hour we were at _'Ain el Sufsafeh_, (the "fountain of the willow-tree,") where the water issues from a rock, and in its bed are two willow-trees; upon the bank were plenty of blackberry bushes.

Just before this we had by the roadside a common looking Arab burial-place, named _Shaikh Sad_; probably from some Mohammedan devotee of that name interred there; and among the stones about the graves is a fragment of an ancient cornice, deeply sculptured in the pattern here shown.

[Picture: Fragment of Sculpture at Shaikh Sad]

In a quarter of an hour further we pa.s.sed _Wadi Keereh_, with its full stream of water, and plenty of oleander for adornment.

Thence in about half an hour we arrived at _Wadi Mel'hh_ ("Salt valley,") with its rivulet and wild holly-oaks, in which is a great highway leading southwards. This separates the Samaria ridge and Kaimoon from the extremity of the long Mount Carmel.

Having thus pa.s.sed from one end to the other along the side of the hill of Kaimoon, we turned aside from the road, for taking refreshment under a large oak halfway up that hill, where wild holly-oaks were springing from the ground to mingle with the sombre yet s.h.i.+ning boughs of the tree.

This was at the sudden contraction of the country into a narrow neck leading to the Plain of Acre. This strait is bounded on one side by Carmel, and on the other by the Galilean hills, both sides clothed with abundance of growing timber; and through its midst is the channel of the Kishon, deeply cut into soft alluvial soil, and this channel also is bordered with oleander and trees that were enlivened with doves, thrushes, linnets, and gold-finches. The modern name of the river is the _Mokatta_ (the ford,) and that of the valley _El Kasab_, derived from the spring and valley before-mentioned.

At the narrowest part of this "Kasab" stands a hill, forming a serious impediment to the progress of armies, named _Tell el Kasees_ (Hill of the Priest,) which name may be a traditional remembrance of Elijah, slaying the priests of Baal; but inasmuch as the word "Kasees" is in the singular number, the appellation may be more likely derived from some hermit residing there in a later age. At any rate, this Tell lies immediately below the site of that memorable sacrifice, and at the point where the Kishon sweeps round to the foot of the mountain a path descends from the "Mohhrakah," _i.e._, the place of the burnt-offering, to the river. It must therefore, have been the spot where the priests of Baal were slain, whether the hill be named from the fact or not; and nothing can be more exact than the words of the Bible in 1 Kings xviii. 40.

We were preparing to remount for continuing the journey when our guide espied four wild-looking Arabs walking with long strides up the hill, so as to pa.s.s behind and above us; they were well armed, and made no reply to our challenge. As our horses and the guide's spear would have benefited us little on the steep hill-side, but on the contrary were tempting prizes, and as our fire-arms were not so numerous as theirs, we thought fit to pace away before they should obtain any further advantage of situation over us.

In another quarter of an hour we left the straight road to Caiffa, and struck out northwards, crossing the Kishon at a fort opposite a village on a hill called _El Hharatheeyeh_, just before we should otherwise have come to a low hill covered with a ripe crop of barley, which, from its formation and other circ.u.mstances, bore the appearance of an ancient fortified place. This hill was named _'Asfi_, as I wrote it from p.r.o.nunciation. This, with the _Hharatheeyeh_, one a.s.sisting the other, would prove a good military defence at this end of the valley, as Kaimoon and the Kasees were at the other.

Dr Thomson, in his "Land and the Book," chap. x.x.xi., considers this site to be that of "Harosheth of the Gentiles," (Judges iv. 13,) and I have no doubt that his supposition is correct; the topography agrees, and the etymology in both Hebrew and Arabic is one, viz., "ploughed land." This author, however, makes no mention of _'Asfi_ though he speaks of "the double Tell."

Whether 'Asfi was an aboriginal home of the people in the modern _Esfia_ on the summit of Carmel, I have no means of knowing; but that a population, when emigrating to a new settlement, sometimes carried their name with them, appears in Scripture in the instance of Luz, (Judges i.

26,) and of Dan in the 19th chapter.

Previous to this day's journey I had no adequate idea of the quant.i.ty of water that could be poured into the Kishon channel by the affluents above-mentioned, (since our pa.s.sing the Lejjoon stream which runs in an opposite direction,) namely, the Menzel el Basha, the 'Ain Sufsafeh, Wadi Keereh, and Wadi Mel'hh, all these on the Carmel side of the river, and omitting the more important spring called _Sa'adeh_, near _Beled esh Shaikh_, on the way to Caiffa.

Still portions of the channel are liable to be dried up in that direction, although the bed extending to Jeneen if not to Gilboa contains springs from the ground at intervals, but the level character of the country and the softness of the ground are unfavourable to the existence of a free river course. There was but little water at Hharatheeyeh when we crossed in the month of May. The 'Ain Sa'adeh, however, which I did not then visit, never fails, and in full season, the Kishon near the sea becomes a formidable river, as I have more than once found.

To return to the valley "El Kasab," we were a.s.sured that in winter time the whole breadth is sometimes inundated, and even after this has subsided, the alluvial soil is dangerous for attempting to travel in, it becomes a bog for animals of burden. Thus it is quite conceivable that at the occurrence of a mighty storm, divinely and specially commissioned to destroy, the host of Sisera and his chariots would be irretrievably discomfited.

Where the scene opened upon the plain of Acre there was extensive cultivation visible, and the town of Caiffa appeared with the grove of palm-trees in its vicinity.

The view hence of the Caiffa bay reminds us of the prophetic blessing p.r.o.nounced by the patriarch Jacob. "Zebulon shall dwell at the _haven_ of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of s.h.i.+ps." I am convinced that this Hebrew root [Hebrew text] (English _haven_ and the German _hafen_) is perpetuated not only in those words but in the modern appellation, Caiffa, or as it may be more properly written _Hhaifa_. The Arabic letter [Arabic letter] is the real equivalent for [Hebrew letter] in Hebrew; by grammatical permutation the letter [Hebrew letter] rightly becomes [Arabic letter] in Arabic, and this we have

[Picture: Arabic word]

Hhaifa which Europeans turn into Caiffa.

We then reached a low natural mound on which are ruined walls of great thickness, the levelled surface on the summit had been probably all occupied by one castle with its outworks, but we saw it yellow with a ripe crop of barley. This place is _Hurbaj_, and the neighbourhood abounds with destroyed villages, the natural consequence of being so near to Acre, and being the _paloestra_ or wrestling ground of great nations in successive ages.

We arrived at Acre in exactly twelve hours from Jeneen, and pitched the tents outside upon a bank between two trenches of the fortification, commanding extensive views in every direction, and were fanned by sea breezes from the bay.

In conclusion, I may observe that the plain called by the Greeks _Esdraelon_, as a corruption of Jezreel, is that named "Megiddo" in Old Testament Scripture. In the New Testament it bears the prefix of the Hebrew word _Har_ (mountain) minus the aspirate, being written in Greek, and so becomes "Armageddon" in the book of Revelation.

For topographical reasons it is very likely that the city of Megiddo was at Lejjoon. There is a village of _Mujaidel_ on the north side of the plain, not far from Nazareth, but this is a diminutive of the Arabic _Mejdal_, so common in Palestine as a variation from the Hebrew Migdol.

Besides the above journey I made an excursion in 1859 on the summit of Carmel itself.

Leaving the Convent, which is at the western termination of the mountain, we proceeded along the top of its main ridge to the opposite extremity, the _Mohhrakah_, undoubtedly the locality of Elijah's miraculous sacrifice in presence of King Ahab with the priests of Baal and of the groves; thence we returned to encamp for a time at the cleanly Druse village of _'Esfia_; after which a few hours' ride westwards led us by the village of _Daliet el Carmel_, {238} also inhabited by Druses, to the romantic _'Ain ez Zera'ah_ and over the sites of ruined places, _Doomeen_, _Shelaleh_, and _Lubieh_, where the hewn stones lying scattered over the ground were indications of much better buildings than those of modern villages.

Then down the long and wearisome descent to _Teeri_ on the sea-coast south of Caiffa.

For topographical purposes chiefly, let me give an outline of a few other journeys made about the same neighbourhood.

1. FROM SAFED TO CARMEL.

_Sept._ 1846.

Going in the direction of the sea, that is, from Naphtali downwards into Zebulon, we crossed westwards the _Jebel Rama_, a long hilly range ending in the south at Rama, and richly wooded, but to our surprise there were numerous fires left by the people to consume trees and large shrubs at discretion, for the making of charcoal. Fortunately for us there was no wind blowing, but several times as the fiery ashes had been drifted upon the road, our horses had no choice but to step into them. On that eminence I picked up specimens of Geodes which abound there, being lumps resembling fruits outside, but when broken found to be a crust of bright spar, and hollow in the centre; some of these were remarkably large. The hills were fragrant with wild herbs, and the views from them delightful.

After _Semwan_ we strayed from the right road and got to _Shemuata_, where we procured a guide to conduct us in the direction of Carmel; he undertook to conduct us as far as _Abu 'Atabeh_, from which Carmel would be visible, and the distance equal either to Acre or to Caiffa. From the heights we descended to _Ekwikat_, and there found ourselves too tired to get further that night.

In the morning we pa.s.sed the _Bahhjah_, which had been the luxurious summer residence of Abdallah Pasha, but was in a ruinous condition, and came to _Abu 'Atabeh_, which is not a village but a collection of a few houses, perhaps formerly some outlying dwellings belonging to the Bahhjah. Here was a fountain, and a small aqueduct for conveying water to gardens.

Crossed the _Naaman_ river, anciently named the _Belus_, on the banks of which, according to Pliny, the primitive idea of gla.s.s-making was discovered by accident. Along the beach we came to the Mokatta' or Kishon, found it deep for fording, but got over to Caiffa, and mounted to the Convent of Carmel.

2. NAZARETH TOWARDS ACRE.

_Oct._ 1849.

Pa.s.sing _Sefoorieh_, (the Sepphoris so often mentioned in Josephus) with a distant view of Carmel on the left, like a huge rampart of dark blue, we came to the ruined Khan with a fountain called the _'Ain el Bedaweeyeh_, then through delightful wooded glades, on issuing from which we saw _Shefa 'Amer_, a handsome-looking place, with which I made better acquaintance in after years.

On the plain of Acre I picked up a cannon ball, probably a twelve pounder.

(This journey was repeated in March 1852, and in March 1859.)

3. FROM TIBERIAS TO ACRE.

_March_ 1850.

From _Hhatteen_ to _'Eilaboon_, a quiet and pretty village, after which we had a long stretch of "merrie greenwood" with furze in golden blossom, birds singing, and the clucking of partridges. At one place where the old trees echoed the shouts of country children at their sports, there rose above the summits a bold round tower, which on nearer approach we found to be an outwork of the fortification of a venerable convent called _Dair Hhanna_, which in comparatively recent times had been converted into a castle, but convent, castle, and tower are now become a picturesque ruin.