Byeways in Palestine Part 16

We rode up the street of Remmoon, and found the shaikh and princ.i.p.al men of the town lazily smoking in the shadow of a house.

My object was of course to inquire for a cavern that might be capable of containing six hundred men during four months. The people all denied the existence of such a cavern, but after some parley I was conducted to two separate caverns on the west side of the hill, then to two others on the eastern side which are larger, and to each of which we had to arrive through a house built at its opening. They told me of two others upon the hill, but of much inferior size. Those that I entered were not remarkable for dimensions above the many that are to be found over the country. It is probable that the whole of the refugees might sleep in these several places, if there were no village there at the time, which seems probable; but it was merely my own preconceived notion that they all lived in one vast cavern. The text of Judg. xx. 47 does not say so.

The village is in good condition, and the cultivation excellent in every direction around it. On leaving it for the return to Jerusalem I proceeded due southwards. In the fields the people were industriously clearing away stones--a sure symptom of peace, and consequent improvement.

Crossed a valley named _Ma'kook_, and arrived at _Mukhinas_ (Michmash) in less than two hours from Remmoon. Rested in the fine grove of olive-trees in the valley on the north of the town for an hour. The birds were singing delightfully, though the time was high noon, and our horses enjoyed some respite from the sanguinary green flies which had plagued them all the way from Remmoon; their bellies and fetlocks were red with bleeding. In this matter I particularly admired the benevolence of the slave Suliman. Yesterday, after a sharp run across a field, perhaps in the vain hope of escaping the tormentors, he dismounted, and the mare followed him, walking like a lamb. He then sat down to switch away the flies, and rub her legs inwards and outwards. To-day he had taken off his Bedawi kefieh, or bright-coloured small shawl, from around his head, and suspended it between her legs, then, as he rode along, was continually switching between her ears with a long bunch of the wild mustard-plant.

On leaving Mukhmas in the hottest part of the day, we had to cross the Wadi _Suaineet_, along which to our left appeared the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. At a short distance down the valley there are remarkable precipices on each side, which must be the Bozez and Seneh, {207} renowned for the bold adventure of Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and near these projections are some large old karoobah-trees.

Emerging upwards from this wadi one comes to _Jeba'_, (the Gibeah of Saul, so often mentioned,) upon a table-land extending due east, in which direction I visited, five years before, an ancient ruin, which the people of Jeba' call _El Kharjeh_; it consisted of one princ.i.p.al building of contiguous chambers, built of nicely squared stones, put together without cement, like several of the remains at Bethel.

These stones are gray with weather stains, but seldom more than three courses in height remain in their places, though in one place five.

From this site, as well as from Jeba', there is a very striking view of the northern extremity of the Dead Sea.

The guide told us of a vast cavern in the Wadi Suaineet capable of holding many hundred men, near to the above-mentioned karoobah-trees, and therefore just the suitable refuge for the Israelites, (I Sam. xiv. 11,) besides the Bozez and Seneh; and he told us that half-way down the precipice there is a course of water running towards the Ghor.

Few incidents in the Bible are so real to the eye and feelings as the narrative of Jonathan and his office-bearers when read upon the spot of the occurrence, or near it at Jeba'.

We pa.s.sed _Jeba'_ at about a quarter of a mile to our right, and in another quarter of an hour were at the strange old stone parallelograms under _Hhizmeh_, which had been often before visited in afternoon rides from Jerusalem.

These are piles of large squared stones of great antiquity, carefully built into long parallel forms, and now deeply weather-eaten. No use of them can be imagined. I have visited them at all seasons of the year, and at different hours of the day, but they still remain unintelligible.

They are disposed in different directions, as will be seen in the following drawing of them, carefully taken by measurement in my presence, and given me by a friend now in England, the Rev. G. W. Dalton of Wolverhampton.

[Picture: Stone constructions under Hhizmeh]

On one face of No. 4 is a kind of entrance, and on the top surface a round hole about two feet in depth, but they lead to nothing, and are probably the work of modern peasantry, removing stones from the entire block; in the former case for the mere object of shade from the sun, and the latter for the charitable purpose common among Moslems, who often cut basins into solid rocks, to collect rain or dew for birds of the air or beasts of the field.

Corroded monuments like these, in so pure and dry an atmosphere, bespeak a far more h.o.a.ry antiquity than the same amount of decay would do in an English climate.

I know of a spot on the side of a wild hill upon the way between Ai (as I believe the place called the _Tell_ to be) and Mukhmas, where there are several huge slabs of stone, rather exceeding human size, laid upon the ground side by side exactly parallel. These can be nothing else than gravestones of early Israelitish period, but of which the memorial is now gone for ever.

Crossing the torrent-bed from the parallelogram, and mounting the next hill, we were at Hhizmeh; then leaving 'Anata on the left, we traversed the Scopus near the Mount of Olives, and reached Jerusalem in four hours and a half of easy riding from Remmoon.

One ought not to quit the mention of this land of Benjamin by omitting the _Wadi Farah_.

This is a most delightsome valley, with a good stream of water, at a distance of rather more than two hours from Jerusalem to the N.E.

The way to it is through 'Anata, already described, from which most of the stones were quarried for the English church in the Holy City, and then alongside the hill on which stands the ruins with the double name of 'Alman and 'Almeet, discovered by me as above-described.

Once, in the autumn season, a party of us went to Wadi Farah, and arriving on its precipitous brink found the descent too difficult for the horses; these, therefore, were left in charge of the servants, while we skipped or slid from rock to rock, carrying the luncheon with us.

The copious stream was much choked near its source, which rises from the ground, by a thick growth of reeds, oleanders in blossom, and gigantic peppermint with strong smell. There were small fish in the stream, which was flowing rapidly; wild pigeons were numerous, and a shepherd boy playing his reed pipe, brought his flock to the water. Need it be said, how refreshing all this was to us all after the long summer of Jerusalem.

There were remains of a bridge and considerable fragments of old aqueducts, _i.e._, good-sized tubes of pottery encased in masonry, but now so broken as to be quite useless; these lead from the spring-head towards the Jordan at different levels, one above another. There was also a cistern of masonry, with indications of water-machinery having been at one time employed there; but all these evidences of population and industry are abandoned to savages and the action of the elements.

Dr James Barclay of Virginia, author of "The City of the Great King,"

believes this site to be that of "AEnon, near to Salim," where John was baptizing, "because there was much water there," (John iii. 23.)

There can scarcely be a doubt that it is the _Parah_, belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, in Josh. xviii. 23, and that therefore it was a settled and cultivated place before the children of Israel took possession of the land.

The district around,--indeed, all eastwards of 'Anata,--is now unappropriated; parts of it, however, are sown--not always the same patches in successive years--by the people of the nearest villages in a compulsory partnership with the petty Arabs of the Jordan plain. The peasantry are forced to find the seed and the labour, and yet are often defrauded of their share of the produce by the so-called partners bringing up friends and auxiliaries from the plain, just as the grain is ripening, and carrying off the produce by night, or setting fire to whatever they cannot seize in this hasty operation; and this takes place about two hours from the citadel and garrison of Jerusalem. Do not ask where is the Turkish government!

The people are driven to sow the grain upon these conditions, under risk of having their own crops destroyed or devastated near their homesteads, and in no case dare they offer any resistance.

I was once unwillingly present at a grievous scene near Elisha's fountain. Nas'r Abu' N'sair, shaikh of the Ehteimat, one of the parties at all times in the above-described partnerships, was seated smoking his chibook beneath an old neb'k tree when some Christian peasants from _Tayibeh_ approached him with deep humility, begging permission to sow grain upon that marvellously fertile plain of Jericho. For some reason which did not appear, it suited him to refuse the favour. In vain the suppliants raised their bidding of the proportion to be given him from the proceeds; they then endeavoured to get me to intercede in their behalf, frequently making the sign of the cross upon themselves, thereby invoking my sympathy as a fellow-Christian on their side; but on several accounts it seemed most prudent for me to leave the parties to their own negotiations, only speaking on their behalf afterwards by sending a kawwas to recommend kindness in general to the Christian villages. It may be that this step met with success, but I could not but be sincerely desirous to have such Arab vermin as these mongrel tribes swept off the land.

VI. SEBUSTIEH TO CAIFFA.

In October, 1848, I found myself at Sebustieh, the ancient Samaria, having come thither from Jerusalem by the common route through Nabloos, _i.e._, Shechem. Since that time I have often been there, but never without a feeling of very deep interest, not only in the beauty of its site, worthy of a royal city, or in the Roman remains still subsisting, but also in the remarkable fulfilments of Biblical prophecy which the place exhibits. The stones of the ancient buildings are literally poured down into the valley, and the foundations thereof discovered, (Micah i.

6.)

We left the hill and its miserable village by the usual track through a gateway at its eastern side. Down in the valley lay fragments of large mouldings of public buildings, and the lid of a sarcophagus reversed, measuring eight feet in length.

At first we took the common road northwards, and ascending the hill above _Burka_, from the summit had a glorious prospect of the sea on one side, and of the populous village country, well cultivated, stretched before us; we left the common road to _Sanoor_ and _Jeneen_, turning aside under _Seeleh_, a double village nearest to us, with _Atara_ further west.

The muleteers had preceded us during our survey of Sebustieh, on the way to 'Arabeh, and we could see nothing of them before us--the road was unknown to us, and no population could be seen, all keeping out of sight of us and of each other on account of the alarm of cholera then raging in the country.

At Nabloos that morning, two hours before noon, we had been told of twenty having been already buried that day, and we saw some funerals taking place. At Sebustieh, the people had refused for any money to be our guides; one youth said, "he was afraid of the death that there was in the world."

So my companion and I, with a kawwas, paced on till arriving near sunset at a deserted village standing on a precipice which rose above a tolerably high hill, and which from a distance we had been incorrectly told was 'Arabeh; at that distance it had not the appearance of being depopulated, as we found it to be on reaching it. Numerous villages were in view, but no people visible to tell us their names. The district was utterly unknown to maps, as it lies out of the common travellers' route.

This village, we afterwards learned, is _Rami_, and antique stones and wells are found there. Though our horses were much fatigued, it was necessary to go on in search of our people and property, for the sun was falling rapidly.

Observing a good looking village far before us to the N.W., and a path leading in that direction, we followed it through a wood of low shrubs, and arrived at the village, a place strong by nature for military defence, and its name is _Cuf'r Ra'i_. There was a view of the sea and the sun setting grandly into it.

For high pay, we obtained a youth to guide us to 'Arabeh; shouldering his gun, he preceded us. "Do you know," said he, "why we are called Cuf'r Ra'i?--It is because the word Cuf'r means blaspheming infidels, and so we are--we care for nothing." Of course, his derivation was grammatically wrong; for the word, which is common enough out of the Jerusalem district and the south, is the Hebrew word for a village, still traditionally in use, and this place is literally, "the shepherd's village."

We pa.s.sed an ancient sepulchre cut in the rock by our wayside, with small niches in it to the right and left; the material was coa.r.s.e, and so was the workmanship, compared to ours about Jerusalem.

The moon rose--a jackal crossed a field within a few yards of us. We pa.s.sed through a large village called _Fahh'mah_, _i.e._, charcoal, with fragments of old buildings and one palm-tree. Forwards over wild green hills, along precipices that required extreme caution. The villages around were discernible by their lights in the houses. At length 'Arabeh appeared, with numerous and large lights, and we could hear the ring of blacksmiths' hammers and anvils--we seemed almost to be approaching a manufacturing town in "the black country of England." {217}

Arrived on a smooth meadow at the foot of the long hill on which the place is built, I fired pistols as a signal to our people should they be there to hear it, and one was fired in answer. To that spot we went, and found the tents and our people, but neither tents set up nor preparations for supper. Village people stood around, but refused to give or sell us anything, and using defiant language to all the consuls and pashas in the world.

Till that moment I had not been aware that this was the citadel of the 'Abdu'l Hadi's factions, and a semi-fortification. [Since that time, I have had opportunities of seeing much more of the people and the place.]

Sending a kawwas to the castle, with my compliments to the Bek, I requested guards for the night, and loading my pistols afresh, stood with them in my hand, as did my second kawwas with his gun, and we commenced erecting the tents.

Down came the kawwas in haste to announce that the Bek was coming himself to us, attended by his sons and a large train.

First came his nephew from his part, to announce the advent; then a deputation of twenty; and then himself, robed in scarlet and sable fur, on a splendid black horse of high breed. I invited him to sit with me on my bed within the tent, widely open. The twenty squatted in a circle around us, and others stood behind them; and a present was laid before me of a fine water-melon and a dozen of pomegranates.

Never was a friendship got up on shorter notice. We talked politics and history, which I would rather have adjourned to another time, being very tired and very hungry.

He a.s.sured me that when my pistols were heard at the arrival, between 700 and 800 men rushed to arms, supposing there was an invasion of their foes, the Tokan and Jerrar, or perhaps an a.s.sault by the Pasha's regulars from Jerusalem, under the pretext of cholera quarantine--in either case they got themselves ready.