Early Travels in Palestine Part 11

[156] This prince first resided with the emperor Johannes Porphyrogenitus, with whom he was a great favourite; but on his death, and the succession of Manuel Comnenus to the throne, Thoros left Constantinople, disguised as a merchant, and proceeded by water to Antioch, from whence he went to Cilicia, and with the a.s.sistance of the priests and n.o.bles found himself at the head of a formidable army, and soon established himself on the throne of his ancestors. When these news reached Constantinople, Manuel became highly incensed; and, raising a numerous force, he sent Andronicus Caesar into Cilicia with the command to extirpate all Armenians; but the imperial general was defeated, and Thoros was subsequently reconciled with the emperor. He died in 1167.

[157] Malmistras is the ancient Mopsuestia, on the Pyramus, at present Messis on the Jeihan. Under the former name it appears in William of Tyre and his contemporaries.

[158] Boemond III., prince of Antioch, surnamed le Baube (or the Stammerer), succeeded his mother in the princ.i.p.ality of Antioch in 1163, and died in 1200.

[159] Kharmath was a famous impostor, founder of a sect called Carmathians, very similar to that of the a.s.sa.s.sins. One of the tenets of this sect was, that the soul of the founder transmigrates into the body of his successor, and that the person who held the office of chief among them was the personification of the original founder of the sect.

[160] Kadmus is enumerated by Burckhardt in a list of old castles, on the mountains of Szaffyta, in the territory of the Anzeiry.

[161] Joshua, xiii. 5. 1 Kings, v. 32.

[162] This pa.s.sage was entirely misunderstood by the earlier translators. The family of the Embriaci was one of the most ancient of the patricians of Genoa; and one of its members, Guillelmus Embriacus, was named commander of the fleet which was sent to aid the Christian princes of Syria, and which, in 1109, took Byblus, of which he became the feudal lord. The jealousy of the other patrician families was subsequently roused, but the family of the Embriaci succeeded in retaining their feudal tenure. The supreme government of the city, however, at this time, appears to have been vested in a committee of seven persons, six of whom were delegated by the republic, the place of president being always filled by one of the Embriaci. William of Tyre (xi. 9) relates the conquest of Byblus by the Genoese, and informs us that the Christian name of the Embriacus who governed when he wrote (about 1180) was Hugo, "a grandson of the Hugo who conquered it;" but all other historians call the conqueror Guillelmus, and Mr. Asher thinks that we ought to read, in Benjamin's text, [Hebrew: ???????], which stands for William, instead of Julia.n.u.s.

[163] Joshua, xviii. 25.

[164] It is well known from other sources that Tyre was celebrated in the middle ages for the manufacture of gla.s.s.

[165] Isaiah, xxiii. 8.

[166] The modern Nahr-el-Mukattua. See Judges, v. 21.

[167] Joshua, xix. 13. Modern writers identify Kaiffa with the ancient Ephah, and not with Gath.

[168] Kings, xviii. 30.

[169] Joshua, xv. 44.

[170] Judges, i. 26.

[171] Deut. xi. 29.

[172] To which place, according to the tenets of the Talmudic Jews, the offerings are confined, and since the destruction of which they have been discontinued.

[173] Joshua, xxiv. 32.

[174] Modern critics and travellers appear to confirm this statement relating to the peculiar p.r.o.nunciation of the three letters by the Samaritans.

[175] At present Yalo.

[176] The knights templars.

[177] Jesus is thus called in the Talmud.

[178] 1 Kings, iv. 26.

[179] 2 Sam. xviii. 18.

[180] 2 Kings, xv. 1-7.

[181] After the slaughter of the Jews of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the few that were saved from destruction were dispersed in all directions.

Those persons who mourned over these unhappy circ.u.mstances were called "mourners of Jerusalem," and are mentioned under that t.i.tle more than once by Benjamin. We find these mourners even among the Caraites about 1147. We read in several ancient Jewish writers of the danger incurred by the Jews who visited Jerusalem while it remained in the power of the Christians. Pethachia found only one Jew at Jerusalem, whereas Benjamin speaks of 200. A numerous congregation was again to be met with there about 1190; but about 1216 great discord prevailed among them in consequence of the pretensions of the different congregations.

[182] Gen. x.x.xv. 19, 20.

[183] It may be observed that most of the richer stuffs, the siclatons, &c., used in the west of Europe during the middle ages, came from the east, which accounts for the number of dyers mentioned by the traveller.

[184] Gen. xxiii. 19.

[185] The "House of Abraham" is still shown to travellers, about an hour's ride from Hebron, the site being occupied by the ruins of a small convent.

[186] Joshua, xv. 44. It is the Bethogabris of the Greek and Latin writers, and supposed to be the Eleutheropolis of the early Christian fathers.

[187] Joshua, xix. 18.

[188] 1 Sam. i. 1.

[189] The rocks of Jonathan, mentioned (1 Sam. xiv. 5) as being between Gibeah and Michmash, and which formed a narrow path between the two places, were also seen by Robinson and Smith. "Directly between Jeba and Mukhmas are two conical hills, not very high, which are probably the scene of Jonathan's romantic adventure against the Philistines, recorded in 1 Sam. xiv."

[190] 2 Chron. xxvi. 6.

[191] The Azotus of the ancient geographers.

[192] The Esdraela of the Greeks, called by the historians of the crusades Gerinum and Zarain.

[193] Now called Sephoury.

[194] Numbers, x.x.xiv. 11.

[195] Deut. iii. 17.

[196] During the middle ages Jews were not unfrequently employed as astrologers by the Arabian princes. R. Isaac, the son of Baruch (A.D.

1080), appears, among others, to have rendered services of this kind to Almohammad. King Alphonso of Castile also entertained Jews who were proficients in astrology. The surname [Hebrew: ????], astrologer, was borne by Abraham in Tiberias. Eliezer, author of an astrological book of chances, lived in 1559. We also find mention of Joseph, astrologer of Seifeddin, sultan of Mosul; R. Isaac, an astronomer of the twelfth century in France; and Salomon, an astronomer in Nineveh.

[197] Jochanan, son of Zakhai, was a celebrated teacher of the Mishna in the time of Vespasian; later catalogues mention his sepulchre in Tiberias. The Jews have a legend relating to him full of extraordinary fables. Some persons have supposed him to be the "John" mentioned in Acts iv. 6.

[198] This identification is evidently an error, as Thimnatha was in Judea, far to the south of Tiberias, and could not be Tebnin. Benjamin falls into another error in placing here the sepulchre of Samuel, who was buried in Ramah. Mr. Asher proposes to read Simeon.

[199] Meirn is still a place of pilgrimage to the Jews of the vicinity, who resort thither on certain days to say prayers on the sepulchres of some rabbis; and this corroborates our text, according to which Hillel and Shamai, the two most celebrated teachers of the Talmud, who flourished before the birth of our Saviour, are interred in a cave near Mern. This legend must have been very prevalent at our author's time, as it is also reported by Pethachia, who adds that a large stone vase, situated in the cave of the sepulchre, filled itself spontaneously with water whenever a worthy man entered it for the purpose of devotion, but remained empty if the visitor was a man of doubtful character. The two other persons whose sepulchres are mentioned here were celebrated teachers of the law, who flourished in the third and second centuries; but Jewish writers appear to differ as to the places of their burial.

The second of them is said to have traced his descent from one of the skeletons restored to life by the prophet Ezekiel.

[200] All the persons mentioned here were celebrated rabbis of the first century before, and the three centuries after Christ, except Barak, who is well known by the fourth chapter of the book of Judges.

[201] This is Paneas, or Baneas, the ancient Caesarea Philippi.

[202] This identification is not quite correct, the ancient Dan having been situated on another small rivulet, still called Dan, and distant about four Roman miles west of Paneas on the way to Tyre. William of Tyre also identifies Dan with Caesarea. The apparent source of the Jordan flows from under a cave at the foot of a precipice, in the sides of which are several niches with Greek inscriptions, which Benjamin has mistaken for the altar of Micha.

[203] This is a mistake of rabbi Benjamin, as this term, used in Deut.

xi. 24, means the Mediterranean.