Byeways in Palestine Part 10

Next day, across the plain of Esdraelon to _Jeneen_ and _Sanoor_, where we slept. Then by a new road, untraversed by Europeans. After _Jeba'_, we got into the plain of Sharon, through the large olive plantations of _Fendecomia_, (_pente_, five, and _comai_, villages--in Greek,) between _Yaero_, (a ruin,) _Adjah_, _Rameeen_, and _Attarah_, with other villages in good condition. Saw Cuf'r Ra'i very distinctly at a distance in the West, and numerous villages besides.

From an eminence we looked down upon an extensive prospect of shaded unoccupied hills, with the wide plain beyond and the Mediterranean Sea; then descended into a valley, the road winding about through immense olive groves; the travelling was easy, and all the district bore the appearance of prosperity, such as could hardly be expected where we know that factious warfare so frequently exists. Pa.s.sed _Cuf'r Ruman_. As far as _'Annabeh_ the course had been for a long time westwards; but there, at the opening of the great plain, we turned due southwards. This was four hours from _Sanoor_, at a good pace. Pa.s.sed between _'Annabeh_ and _Tool el Ker'm_ in changing our course. Near _Irtahh_ we pa.s.sed a camel-party going down to Egypt with bales of soap and tobacco for sale.

We were upon the established route of trade between Damascus and Egypt, and not very far distant from Dothan, where the Midianite or Ishmaelite caravan bought Joseph from his brethren; but we had pa.s.sed this on our left hand in the morning.

Soon pa.s.sed _Farra'an_ on our left, with a weli and a cistern below it, by the roadside. _Kalinsawa_ in sight, but far away to the right; _Ferdisia_ and _Zenabeh_ on the left. The day very hot, and the peasantry observed to be, as usual in all the Philistine country, cleaner in their garments than those of the mountains.

Coasted along, parallel to the line of hills, as far as _Kalkeeleh_, where we began to turn inwards, across the fields, towards the place of our destination, namely, _Mejdal Yaba_, which was conspicuous on an eminence before us. This was at six and a half hours from _Sanoor_.

In a field we arrived at a well, where the water must have been very low down, being late in the year; for it was only obtained by jars or skins drawn up at the end of a very long rope, worked by a long line of women walking across the field, and singing at their work, while the men sat looking on and smoking.

We pa.s.sed the remains of some old considerable town, where, among the fallen building stones and the lines of foundations, there was a cistern, and an ancient sarcophagus by its side; also a deep square well filled up with rubbish, and remains of quarrying work in the solid rock,--besides an unroofed building, with a semicircular arch to the doorway. Surely this must have been of Roman construction.

Arrived at _Mejdal Yaba_ in nine hours from Sanoor,--a hot and tiring journey. At a short distance below us was the site of _Ras el 'Ain_; and farther westwards, but within sight, the tall white tower of _Ramlah_.

Time--sunset.

I had a special object in coming off the common high-roads to this place, but little known, at that time not at all known, to Europeans,--namely, to visit Shaikh Sadek, the responsible ruler of the district, and regarded by the peasantry with especial deference, out of traditional obedience to his ancient family.

We found the village and the castle in a very dilapidated condition, and the great shaikh not at home. Some of his relatives, however, received us; but both they and the peasantry were surprised, if not alarmed, at our coming. To them it seemed as if we were suddenly dropped upon them from the sky. Perhaps they had never seen Europeans before; or they might have thought us spies sent by the Turkish Government. There were plenty of idle fellows lounging about; but their supplies of food from the village were scanty, and of inferior quality.

The Sadek family apologised for apparent want of hospitality,--explaining that the only unbroken part of the castle was but just sufficient to contain the _hareem_ of the women, and there was not a single room to give me. So I was glad to have my bedding and other paraphernalia spread upon a _mustabah_, or raised stone divan, just within the gate. A narrow vaulting covered my head; but it was open at the side to the square court, into which the horses, a.s.ses, cows, and sheep were driven for the night.

After considerable delay, a rude supper was produced,--of which, however, I could not persuade the family to partake till after ourselves. They then ate up the remainder in company with my servants. They were very solemn and slow in conversation; indeed, I could not but suspect that they had some hostile schemes in preparation, which they did not wish to have ascertained or communicated to their neighbours.

Troubling myself very little about their local politics, I was soon on my bed, and looking up at the brilliant stars. Sleep did not come very soon, as the men kept up firing guns, and the women trilling their songs, to a late hour. They said it was on account of a wedding.

Daybreak found me up, and in full enjoyment of the exquisite luxury of open air, in a clear and pure Oriental climate, before sunrise.

[Picture: Remains of old Christian church]

The servants were all busied in various occupations, and the peasantry driving out the cattle, while I was surveying the considerable remains of an old Christian church, which now forms one side of the shaikh's mansion, and is used for a stable and a store of fodder. This vignette represents its entrance, in a corner now darkened by the arcade in which I had slept. The workmanship is ma.s.sive and very rude, and the Greek of the inscription upon the lintel not less barbarous, signifying "Martyr Memorial Church of the Holy Herald,"--_i.e._, John the Baptist.

This discovery interested me deeply, in that region so remote from any body of Christians at the present day, and among a population very like savages dwelling amid stern hill-scenery.

Not less touching was the special designation of the saint so commemorated. I believe that the Easterns pay more respect than Europeans do to the memory of him whom the Saviour himself p.r.o.nounced to be greater than all the Old Testament prophets. And while we are accustomed to ascribe to him only one of his official characters,--that of the Baptizer,--they take pleasure in recalling his other scriptural offices; as, for instance, this of the _Herald_, or Preacher {131a} of righteousness, and that of the _Forerunner_. {131b} Indeed, individuals are not unfrequently named after him in baptism by this latter appellation, without the name John.

This building appears to have been at all times heavy and coa.r.s.e in construction; indeed, one may fairly suppose that part of the frontal has at some time been taken down, and strangely put together again.

This church is the only object of curiosity that I had found along the recent novel route.

On leaving _Mejdal_, I descended to inspect once more the site so interesting to me of _Ras el 'Ain_, at half an hour's distance,--which I unhesitatingly believe to be _Antipatris_, as I conceived it to be on my first seeing the place the preceding year. I had then pa.s.sed it rather late in the evening, and upon the other side.

_Cuf'r Saba_, to which I was then going, is a wretched village, of unburnt bricks, on the wide open plain, with no other water near it than the deposit of rain-water in an adjoining square tank of clay. Yet travelling authors have constantly p.r.o.nounced this to be the locality of Antipatris. Not one of them, however, has visited the place.

What does Josephus say (Antiq. xvi. 5, 2, in Whiston)?--"After this solemnity and these festivals were over, Herod erected another city in the plain called Caphar Saba, where he chose out a fit place, both for plenty of water and goodness of soil, and proper for the production of what was there planted; where a river encompa.s.sed the city itself, and a grove of the best trees for magnitude was round about. This he named Antipatris, from his father Antipater." [Greek text]. No words can be more distinctly descriptive; yet Robinson, who had not visited that district, in his positive manner lays down that the village of Cuf'r Saba is the site of Antipatris; and "doubtless" all that is said about "well watered," and "a river encompa.s.sing the city," means that some wadi or watercourse came down from the hills in that direction, and made the place watery in the winter season.

Now, what are the facts remaining at the present day? Upon the same plain with Cuf'r Saba, and within sight of it, at hardly six miles'

distance, is a large mound capable of containing a small town, with foundations of ancient buildings, bits of marble, Roman bricks, and tesserae scattered about,--but especially a large strong castle of Saracenic work, the lower courses of the walls of real Roman construction; and at the foot of the mound rises the river _Aujeh_ out of the earth in several copious streams, crowded with willows, tall wild canes, and bulrushes,--the resort of numerous flocks, and of large herds of horned cattle brought from a distance, and (as I have seen there) counted by the Government inspector of the district, for the levying of agricultural taxes upon them. {133} This is our Ras el 'Ain.

For a considerable extent there is capital riding-ground of green gra.s.s, so rare in Palestine. Let any one familiar with that country answer, Could Herod have selected a better spot for a military station, (as Antipatris was,) just on the border, descending from the hill-country upon the plain? With this description in view, we understand all the more vividly the narrative of Felix sending St Paul to Caesarea. To elude the machinations of the conspiracy, the military party travelled by night over the hilly region; and on reaching the castle of Antipatris, the spearmen and other soldiers left him to continue the journey with cavalry upon the plain to Caesarea, about three hours farther, (Acts xxiii. 23, and 31, 32.)

It seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that this is the true site of Antipatris; and as for Josephus calling that neighbourhood "the plain of Cuf'r Saba," that must be for the same reason as another part of the same vast extent was called the Plain of Sharon,--or as it is now very much the custom for modern travellers to call the whole Philistine plain by that name.

As for the statement that a river encompa.s.sed the city itself; I imagine that the town was not upon the elevated mound,--this was probably occupied by military works and a temple,--but upon the level of the water, among the serpentine separate streams, which soon combine into one river, the Aujeh, with its water-mills, and which was navigable for some distance inland to the north of Jaffa. In the course of ages some of these streams may have somewhat changed their direction. The mound has still a dry trench around it, which must have anciently had its current of water through it.

It cannot be that the deep trench dug by Alexander from Antipatris to the sea (Antiq. xiii. 15, I, Whiston) can have begun at this village of Cuf'r Saba, where no water rises, and which is far away from the hills in an open plain. Although the words are distinctly, "from Capharzaba," the trench must have originated at the river head, _i.e._, Antipatris, where there was a fortified castle, and pa.s.sed round the nearest town, viz., that of Cuf'r Saba.

I should observe, that not only Herod did well in selecting this spot for a castle, because of its situation on the verge of the mountains, commanding the road from Jerusalem to either Caesarea or Joppa; but because it lies also upon the direct caravan track between Damascus and Egypt, nearly at right angles with the other road.

The ruined Saracenic khan which now stands on the foundations of the Roman castle, is of large size, and has a broken mosque in the centre of the enclosure.

We rested and breakfasted, from our own resources, (without taxing the Arab hospitality of Shaikh Sadek's family at Mejdal,) at the springs of the Aujeh,--the water bubbling up warm from the ground, among stones, with aquatic birds flying over us, and the morning breeze sighing among the gigantic reeds and the willows.

We engaged a guide for what seemed likely to be a short day's journey to _Ras Kerker_, the _cursi_, or metropolis, of another dominant family--that of _Ibn Simhhan_--within the mountains; but it proved far longer than was expected.

We were conducted due south, yet so far away from the line of hills that we missed the Roman temple of _M'zeera'a_, which I do not know that, to this day, any European but myself has seen. {136}

To _Nebi Sari_, which is a pretty weli, two hour only from Jaffa. To _Runtieh_, which is a poor place. Then south-eastwards to _Teereh_; near which we started a gazelle across the fields.

In that part of the country the population has so greatly increased of late years that there was a scarcity of land for cultivation; and at the end of autumn the villages contest the right of ploughing there by fights of fire-arms.

Suddenly we turned into a valley, at an acute angle with our previous road. This is named _Wadi el Kharnoob_--probably from some conspicuous karoobah-tree. In ascending the hill, I looked back, and had a beautiful prospect of Jaffa, and a white ship sailing on the sea.

We continued ascending higher and higher. Before us was a large building on a single hill, which they called _Dair Musha'al_. Pa.s.sed the ruined village, _Hhanoonah_. On our right hand, among trees, was _Desrah_.

Pa.s.sed through _Shukbeh_. How different is the mountain air from that of the plain, so light and so pure!

Descended a little to _Shibtain_, where there was a great ancient well; and being surrounded by hills, the place was very hot. Then for some time over very dangerous paths, mounting upwards, till we reached the region of a cool breeze, such as I once heard a peasant say was "worth a thousand purses" on a summer's day.

Saw _Ras Kerker_, the place of our destination, high above, in a very remarkable situation; but how to get at it was a puzzle which patient perseverance alone could solve.

We rode round and round one hill after another, till we reached _Dair 'Ammar_. Then opened upon us one of those few prospects which in a lifetime impress themselves indelibly on the mind. This was not lovely, but stern, consisting chiefly of a wild, dark alternation of lower hills, with the valleys between them.

The villages hereabouts bear an appearance of prosperity--perhaps because Turkish officials are never seen there; but the people of _Dair 'Ammar_ behaved rudely. Down, deep deep down we went, leading our horses, in order to rise afterwards to a higher elevation. At length we reached a petty spring of water, where there were some dirty, but otherwise good-looking women, who pointed out our path towards the castle at the top of the hill.

The _Ibn Simhhan_ people (being the great rivals of _Abu Gosh_) had often invited me to visit them at this castle,--describing with ardour the abundance and excellence of its springs of water, and the salubrity of its atmosphere.

On arriving at the "_Ras_," after a tedious and very wearisome journey,--difficult as the place is of access,--I found it to fall far below those promises. There are no springs near it. The only water is brought up by the women from the one which we had pa.s.sed far below. Only within the castle (which was begun while building forty-four years before) some old wells, with good masonry stones, were discovered. These are now put into good order, and kept full, probably in readiness at any time against a siege by the faction of Abu Gosh. Many battles and sieges take place in these remote places that the Pasha of Jerusalem never hears of.

Although of modern origin, much of the earliest part of the castle is already falling to decay--such as gates, steps, etc. It was a melancholy spectacle to walk about the place, reminding one of some small middle-aged castles that I have seen in Scotland, burnt or destroyed during old times of civil warfare; or resembling my recollection, after many long years, of Scott's description of the Baron Bradwardine's castle in its later period. And the same melancholy a.s.sociations recurred yesterday at Mejdal Yaba.

The people a.s.sured us that the tortuous and rocky road that we had taken from Ras el 'Ain was the best and nearest that we could have taken.

We were received by a couple of relatives of Ibn Simhhan, who is now Governor of Lydd; but they conducted us to the next village, _Janiah_, to be entertained there by the rest of the family. On our descent to the village, we met our hosts coming to meet us.

_Janiah_ is a poor place; and we had glimpses of curious groups and scenes within the best one of the wretched houses. We were received in a large room, to which the access was by a steep and broken set of steps outside of the house. In the street below was a circle of the elders of the village; and at the time of sunset, one of them mounted on the corner of a garden wall to proclaim the _Adan_, or Moslem call to prayers. I did not observe that he was at all attended to.

A good number of the leading people came to visit us; and one old man quoted and recited heaps of Arabic poetry for our entertainment while awaiting the supper.

Then 'Abdu'l Lateef Ibn Simhhan, joined by another, (a humbler adherent of the family,) gave us a vivid relation of the famous battle of _Nezib_ in 1838, and of his desertion from the Egyptian army to the Turkish with a hundred of his mountaineers, well armed, during the night; of how the Turkish Pasha refused to receive him or notice him till he had washed himself in a golden basin, and anointed his beard from vessels of gold; how the Turkish army was disgracefully routed; how he ('Abdu'l Lateef) was appointed to guard the Pasha's harem during the flight, etc., etc.

This narrative was occasionally attested as true by a negro slave in the room, who had been with my host on that expedition.