Palestine, or, the Holy Land Part 9

Josephus indeed a.s.serts that Vespasian, in order to ascertain the fact now mentioned, commanded a number of his slaves to be bound hand and foot and thrown into the deepest part of the lake; and that, so far from any of them sinking, they all maintained their place on the surface until it pleased the emperor to have them taken out. But this anecdote, although perfectly consistent with truth, does not justify all the inferences which have been drawn from it. "Being willing to make an experiment," says Maundrell, "I went into it, and found that it bore up my body in swimming with an uncommon force; but as for that relation of some authors, that men wading into it were buoyed up to the top as soon as they got as deep as the middle, I found it, upon trial, not true."[114]

The water of this sea has been frequently a.n.a.lyzed both in France and England. The specific gravity of it, according to Malte Brun, is 1.211, that of fresh water being 1.000. It is perfectly transparent. The applications of tests, or reagents, prove that it contains the muriatic and sulphuric acids. There is no alumina in it, nor does it appear that it is saturated with marine salt or muriate of soda. It holds in solution the following substances, and in the proportions here stated:

Muriate of lime 3.920 Magnesia 10.246 Soda 10.360 Sulphate of lime .054

We need not add that such a liquid must be equally salt and bitter. As might be expected, too, it is found to deposit its salts in copious incrustations, and to prove a ready agent in all processes of petrifaction. Clothes, boots, and hats, if dipped in the lake, or accidentally wetted with its water, are found, when dried, to be covered with a thick coating of these minerals. Hence, we cannot be surprised to hear that the Lake Asphalt.i.tes does not present any variety of fish.

Mariti a.s.serts that it produces none, and even that those which are carried into it by the rapidity of the Jordan perish almost immediately upon being immerged in its acrid waves. A few sh.e.l.l-snails const.i.tute the sole tenants of its dreary sh.o.r.es, unmixed either with the helix or the muscle.

It was formerly believed that the approach to Asphalt.i.tes was fatal to birds, and that, like another lake of antiquity, it had the power of drawing them down from the wing into its poisonous waters. This dream, propagated by certain visionary travellers, is now completely discredited.

Flocks of swallows may be seen skimming along its surface with the utmost impunity, while the absence of all other species is easily explained by a glance at the naked hills and barren plains, which supply no vegetable food.

The historian Josephus, who measured the Dead Sea, found that in length it extended about five hundred and eighty stadia, and in breadth one hundred and fifty,--according to our standard, somewhat more than seventy miles by nineteen. A recent traveller, to whose unpublished journal we have repeatedly alluded, remarks that the lake, when he visited it, was sunk or hollow, and that the banks had been recently under water, being still very miry and difficult to pa.s.s. The sh.o.r.es were covered with dry wood, some of it good timber, which they say is brought by the Jordan from the country of the Druses. "The water is pungently salt, like oxymuriate of soda. It is incredibly buoyant. G---- bathed in it, and when he lay still on his back or belly, he floated with one-fourth at least of his whole body above the water. He described the sensation as extraordinary, and more like lying on a feather-bed than floating on water. On the other hand, he found the greatest resistance in attempting to move through it: it smarted his eyes excessively. I put a piece of stick in: it required a good deal of pressure to make it sink, and when let go it bounded out again like a blown bladder. The water was clear, and of a yellowish tinge, which might be from the colour of the stones at bottom, or from the hazy atmosphere.

There were green shrubs down to the water's edge in one place, and nothing to give an idea of any thing blasting in the neighbourhood of the sea; the desert character of the soil extending far beyond the possibility of being affected by its influence."[115]

The bitumen supplied by this singular basin affords the means of a comfortable livelihood to a considerable number of Arabs who frequent its sh.o.r.es. The Pasha of Damascus, who finds it a valuable article of commerce, purchases at a small price the fruit of their labours, or supplies them with food, clothing, and a few ornaments in return for it.

In ancient times it found a ready market in Egypt, where it was used in large quant.i.ties for embalming the dead: it was also occasionally employed as a subst.i.tute for stone, and appeared in the walls of houses and even of temples.

a.s.sociated with the Dead Sea, every reader has heard of the apples of Sodom, a species of fruit which, extremely beautiful to the eye, is bitter to the taste, and full of dust. Tacitus, in the fifth book of his history, alludes to this singular fact, but, as usual, in language so brief and ambiguous, that no light can be derived from his description, _atra et inania velut in cinerem vanesc.u.n.t_. Some travellers, unable to discover this singular production, have considered it merely as a figure of speech, depicting the deceitful nature of all vicious enjoyments. Ha.s.selquist regards it as the production of a small plant called _Solanum melongena_, a species of nightshade, which is to be found abundantly in the neighbourhood of Jericho. He admits that the apples are sometimes full of dust; but this, he maintains, appears only when the fruit is attacked by a certain insect, which converts the whole of the inside into a kind of powder, leaving the rind wholly entire, and in possession of its beautiful colour.

M. Seetzen, again, holds the novel opinion, that this mysterious apple contains a sort of cotton resembling silk; and, having no pulp or flesh in the inside, might naturally enough, when sought for as food, be denounced by the hungry Bedouin as pleasing to the eye and deceitful to the palate.

Chateaubriand has fixed on a shrub different from any of the others. It grows two or three leagues from the mouth of the Jordan, and is of a th.o.r.n.y appearance, with small tapering leaves. Its fruit is exactly like that of the Egyptian lemon, both in size and colour. Before it is ripe it is filled with a corrosive and saline juice; when dried, it yields a blackish seed that may be compared to ashes, and which in taste resembles bitter pepper. There can be little doubt that this is the true apple of Sodom, which flatters the sight while it mocks the appet.i.te.[116]

In ascending the western sh.o.r.e, the traveller at length reaches the point where the Jordan mixes its muddy waters with those of the lake.

Ha.s.selquist, the only modern author who describes the mouth of that celebrated river, tells us that the plain which extends from thence to Jericho, a distance of more than three leagues, is, generally speaking, level, but uncultivated and barren. The soil is a grayish sandy clay, so loose that the horses often sank up to the knees in it. The whole surface of the earth is covered with salt in the same manner as on the banks of the Nile, and would, it is probable, prove no less fruitful were it irrigated with equal care. The stones on the beach, it is added, were all quartz, but of various colours; some specimens of which, having a slaty structure, emitted, when exposed to fire, a strong smell of bitumen, thereby denoting, perhaps, its volcanic origin.

There is a great want of unanimity among authors in respect to the width of the Jordan. The Swede whom we have just quoted relates, that opposite to Jericho it was eight paces over, the banks perpendicular, six feet in height, the water deep, muddy, warm rather than cold, and much inferior in quality to that of the Nile. Chateaubriand, again, who measured it in several places, reports that it was about fifty feet in breadth, and six feet deep close to the sh.o.r.e,--a discrepancy which must arise from the period of the year when it was seen by these distinguished writers.[117]

The Old Testament abounds with allusions to the swellings of Jordan; but at present, whether the current has deepened its channel, or whether the climate is less moist than in former days, this occurrence is seldom witnessed,--the river has forgotten its ancient greatness. Maundrell could discern no sign or probability of such overflowings; for although he was there on the 30th of March,--the proper season of the inundation,--the river was running two yards at least under the level of its banks. The margin of the stream, however, continues as of old to be closely covered with a natural forest of tamarisk, willows, oleanders, and similar trees, and to afford a retreat to several species of wild beasts. Hence the fine metaphor of the prophet Jeremiah, who a.s.similates an enraged enemy to a lion coming up "from the swellings of Jordan," driven from his lair by the annual flood, and compelled to seek shelter in the surrounding desert.

Jericho, which is at present a miserable village inhabited by half-naked Arabs, derives all its importance from history. It was the first city which the Israelites reduced upon entering the Holy Land. Five hundred and thirty years afterward it was rebuilt by Heliel of Bethel, who succeeded in restoring its population, its splendour, and its commerce; in which flourishing condition it appears to have continued during several centuries. Mark Antony, in the pride of power, presented to Cleopatra the whole territory of Jericho. Vespasian, in the course of the sanguinary war which he prosecuted in Judea, sacked its walls, and put its inhabitants to the sword. Re-established by Adrian in the 138th year of our faith, it was doomed at no distant era to experience new disasters. It was again repaired by the Christians, who made it the seat of a bishop; but in the twelfth century it was overthrown by the infidels, and has not since emerged from its ruins. Of all its magnificent buildings there remain only the part of one tower, supposed to be the dwelling of Zaccheus the publican, and a quant.i.ty of rubbish, which is understood to mark the line of its ancient walls.

Mr. Buckingham saw reason to believe that the true site of Jericho, as described by Josephus, was at a greater distance from the river than the village of Rahhah, commonly supposed to represent the City of Palms.

Descending from the mountains which bound the valley on the western side, he observed the ruins of a large settlement, covering at least a square mile, whence, as well as from the remains of aqueducts and fountains, he was led to conclude that it must have been a place of considerable consequence. Some of the more striking objects among the wrecks of this ancient city were large tumuli, evidently the work of art, and resembling those of the Greek and Trojan heroes on the plains of Ilium. There were, besides, portions of ruined buildings, shafts of columns, and a capital of the Corinthian order; tokens not at all ambiguous of former grandeur and of civilized life.

Josephus fixes the position of Jericho at the distance of one hundred and fifty furlongs from Jerusalem, and sixty from the river Jordan; stating that the country, as far as the capital, is desert and hilly, while to the sh.o.r.es of the Lake Asphalt.i.tes it is low, though equally waste and unfruitful. Nothing can apply more accurately, in all its particulars, than this description does to the ruins just mentioned. The spot lies at the very foot of the sterile mountains of Judea, which may be said literally to overhang it on the west; and these ridges are still as barren, as rugged, and as dest.i.tute of inhabitants as formerly, throughout their whole extent, from the Lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea. The distance, by the computation in time, amounted to six hours, or nearly twenty miles, from Jerusalem; the s.p.a.ce between the supposed city and the river being little more than one-third of that amount, the precise proportion indicated by the Jewish historian.

The soil round Jericho was long celebrated for a precious balsam, which used to be sold for double its weight of silver. The historian Justin relates, that the trees from which it exudes bear a resemblance to firs, though they are lower, and are cultivated after the manner of vines. He adds, that the wealth of the Jewish nation arises from their produce, as they grow in no other part of Syria. At present, however, there is not a tree of any description, either palm or balsam, to be seen near the site of this deserted town; but it is admitted, that the complete desolation with which its ruins are invested ought to be attributed to the cessation of industry rather than to any perceptible change either in the climate or the soil.

Rahhah stands about four miles nearer the river, or about half-way between the a.s.sumed position of Jericho and the bank of the current. It consists of about fifty dwellings, all very mean in their appearance, and every one fenced in front with th.o.r.n.y bushes; one of the most effectual defences that could be raised against the incursions of the Bedouins, whose horses will not approach these formidable thickets. The inhabitants, without exception, are professed believers in the creed of Islamism. Their habits are those of shepherds rather than of cultivators of the soil; this last duty, indeed, when performed at all, being done chiefly by the women and children, as the men roam the plain on horseback, and derive the princ.i.p.al means of subsistence from robbery and plunder. They are governed by a sheik, whose influence among them is more like the authority of a father over his children than that of a magistrate; and who is, moreover, checked in the exercise of his power, by the knowledge that he would instantly be deprived of life and station were he to exceed the bounds which, in all rude countries, are opposed even to the caprices of despotism. It is remarkable that the name of this village corresponds to Rahab, the name of the hostess who received into her house the Hebrew spies, and signifies odour or perfume; the slight change on the form of the Arabic term implying no difference in the import of the root whence they are both originally derived.

The mountains on the eastern side of the Jordan are more lofty than those which skirt the Vale of Jericho, being not less than 2000 feet in height.

From the summit of a towering peak, which the traveller still delights to recognise, Moses was permitted to behold the promised inheritance, stretching towards the west, the south, and the north,--"All the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Mana.s.seh, and all the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, this is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there, in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."[118]

The road from Jericho to Jerusalem presents some historical reminiscences of the most interesting nature. When entering the mountains which protect the western side of the plain, the attention of the traveller is invited to the Fountain of Elisha, the waters of which were sweetened by the power of the prophet. The men of Jericho represented to him that though the situation of the town was pleasant, "the water was naught, and the ground barren. And he said, bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein: and they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, thus with the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake."[119]

Its waters are at present received in a basin about nine or ten paces long, and five or six broad; and from thence, issuing out in good plenty, divide themselves into several small streams, dispersing their refreshment to all the land as far as Jericho, and rendering it exceedingly fruitful.

Advancing into the savage country through which the usual road to the capital is formed, the tourist soon finds himself at the foot of the mountain called Quarantina, from being the supposed scene of the temptation and fast of forty days endured by our Saviour, who,

--"looking round on every aide, beheld A pathless desert dusk with horrid shades: The way he came not having marked, return Was difficult, by human steps untrod; And he still on was led, but with such thoughts Accompanied of things past and to come Lodg'd in his breast, as well might recommend Such solitude before choicest society."[120]

The neighbourhood of this lofty eminence is, according to Mr. Maundrell, a dry, miserable, barren place, consisting of high rocky mountains, so torn and disordered, "as if the earth had here suffered some great convulsion, in which its very bowels had been turned outward." In a deep valley are seen the ruins of small cells and cottages, thought to be the remains of those sequestered habitations to which hermits were wont to retire for the uses of penance and mortification; and it is remarked that, in the whole earth, a more comfortless and desert place could not have been selected for so pious a purpose. From these hills of desolation, however, there is obtained a magnificent prospect of the Plain of Jericho, the Dead Sea, and of the distant summits of Arabia; for which reason the highest of the group has been a.s.signed by tradition as the very spot whence all the kingdoms of the world were seen in a moment of time. It is, as St. Matthew styles it, an exceeding high mountain, and in its ascent not only difficult but dangerous. It has a small chapel at the top, and another about half-way down, founded upon a projecting part of the rock. Near the latter are observed several caves and holes, excavated by the solitaries, who thought it the most suitable place for undergoing the austerities of Lent,--a practice which has not even at the present day fallen altogether into disuse. Ha.s.selquist describes the path as "dangerous beyond imagination. I went as far up on this terrible mountain of Temptation as prudence would admit, but ventured not to go to the top; whither I sent my servant to bring what natural curiosities he could find, while I gathered what plants and insects I could find below."[121]

Mariti, whose religious zeal was fanned into a temporary flame, ascended the formidable steep as far as the grottoes, which he delineates with much minuteness. He p.r.o.nounces the chapel inaccessible from the side on which he stood, and is very doubtful whether it could now be approached on any quarter, the ancient road being so much neglected. But it should seem that most travellers are smitten with the feeling which seized the breast of Maundrell, although they all have not the candour to acknowledge it.

Alluding to the Arabs, who demanded a sum of money for liberty to ascend, he says, "we departed without further trouble, not a little glad to have so good an excuse for not climbing so dangerous a precipice."[122]

The imagination of Milton has thrown a captivating splendour around this scene, which, at the same time, he appears to have transferred to the mountain-range beyond the Jordan in the country of the Moabites.

"Thus wore out night; and now the herald lark Left his ground-nest, high towering to descry The morn's approach, and greet her with his song, As lightly from his gra.s.sy couch up rose Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream; Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.

Up to a hill anon his steps he reared, From whose high top to ken the prospect round, If cottage were in view, sheepcote, or herd; But cottage, herd, or sheepcote, none he saw; Only in a bottom saw a pleasant grove, With chant of tuneful birds resounding loud; Thither he bent his way; determined there To rest at noon, and entered soon the shade High roofed, and walks beneath, and alleys brown, That opened in the midst a woody scene."[123]

Leaving the Quarantina with its dreary scenes and solemn recollections, the pilgrim returning from the Jordan finds himself off a beaten path which, since the days of Moses, it is probable has connected the rocks of Salem with the banks of the sacred river. Chateaubriand informs us that it is broad, and in some parts paved; having undergone, as he conjectures, several improvements while the country was in possession of the Romans. On the top of a mountain there is the appearance of a castle, which, we may conclude, was meant to protect and command the road; and at a little distance, in the bottom of a deep gloomy valley is the Place of Blood, called in the Hebrew tongue Abdomim, where once stood a small town belonging to the tribe of Judah, and where the good Samaritan is imagined to have succoured the wounded traveller who had fallen into the hands of thieves. That sombre dell is still ent.i.tled to its horrible distinction; it is still the place of blood, of robbery, and of murder; the most dangerous pa.s.s for him who undertakes to go down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

As a proof of this, we may shortly mention an a.s.sault which was made upon Sir F. Henniker, who a few years ago resolved to accomplish that perilous journey. "The route is over hills, rocky, barren, and uninteresting. We arrived at a fountain, and here my two attendants paused to refresh themselves; the day was so hot that I was anxious to finish the journey and hasten forwards. A ruined building, situated on the summit of a hill, was now within sight, and I urged my horse towards it; the janizary galloped by me, and making signs for me not to precede him, he himself rode into and round the building, and then motioned me to advance. We next came to a hill, through the very apex of which has been cut a pa.s.sage, the rocks overhanging it on either side. I was in the act of pa.s.sing through this ditch when a bullet whizzed by close to my head. I saw no one, and had scarcely time to think when another was fired, some short distance in advance. I could yet see no one, the janizary was beneath the brow of the hill in his descent. I looked back, but my servant was not yet within sight. I looked up, and within a few inches of my head were three muskets, and three men taking aim at me. Escape or resistance was alike impossible.

I got off my horse. Eight men jumped down from the rocks and commenced a scramble for me.--As he (the janizary) pa.s.sed, I caught at a rope hanging from his saddle; I had hoped to leap upon his horse, but found myself unable; my feet were dreadfully lacerated by the honeycombed rocks; nature would support me no longer; I fell, but still clung to the rope; in this manner I was drawn some few yards, till, bleeding from my ankle to my shoulder, I resigned myself to my fate. As soon as I stood up one of my pursuers took aim at me; but the other, casually advancing between us, prevented his firing. He then ran up, and with his sword aimed such a blow as would not have required a second: his companion prevented its full effect, so that it merely cut my ear in halves, and laid open one aide of my face: they then stripped me naked."[124]

It is impossible not to suspect that the depraved government at Jerusalem connives at such instances of violence in order to give some value to the protection which they sell at a very dear rate to Christian travellers.

The administration of Mohammed Ali would be a blessing to Palestine, inasmuch as it would soon render the intercourse between the capital and the Dead Sea as safe as that between Alexandria and Grand Cairo.

Refreshing himself at the fountain where our Lord and his apostles, according to a venerable tradition, were wont to rest on their journey to the holy city, the tourist sets his heart on revisiting the sacred remains of that decayed metropolis. When at the summit of the Mount of Olives, he is again struck with the mixture of magnificence and ruin which marks the queen of nations in her widowed estate. Owing to the clear atmosphere and the absence of smoke, the view is so distinct that one might count the separate houses. The streets are tolerably regular, straight, and well paved; but they are narrow and dull, and almost all on a declivity. The fronts of the houses, which are generally two or three stories high, are quite plain, simply constructed of stone, without the least ornament; so that in walking past them a stranger might fancy himself in the galleries of a vast prison. The windows are very few and extremely small; and, by a singular whim, the doors are so low that it is commonly requisite to bend the body nearly double in order to enter them. Some families have gardens of moderate dimensions; but, upon the whole, the ground within the walls is fully occupied with buildings, if we except the vast enclosures in which are placed the mosques and churches.

There is not observed at Jerusalem any square, properly so called; the shops and markets are universally opened in the public streets. Provisions are said to be abundant and cheap, including excellent meat, vegetables, and fruit. Water is supplied by the atmosphere; and preserved in capacious cisterns; nor is it necessary, except when a long drought has exhausted the usual stock, that the inhabitants should have recourse to the spring near the brook Kedron. Rice is much used for food; but as the country is quite unsuited to the production of that aquatic grain, it is imported from Egypt in return for oil, the staple of Palestine.

There is a great diversity of costume, everybody adopting that which he likes best, whether Arab, Syrian, or Turk; but the lower order of people generally wear a shirt fastened round the waist with a girdle, after the example of their neighbours in the desert. Ali Bey remarks, that he saw very few handsome females in the metropolis; on the contrary, they had in general that bilious appearance so common in the East,--a pale citron colour, or a dead yellow, like paper or plaster, and, wearing a white fillet round the circ.u.mference of their faces, they have not unfrequently the appearance of walking corpses. The children, however, are much healthier and prettier than those of Arabia and Egypt.

The Christians and Jews wear, as a mark of distinction, a blue turban. The villagers and shepherds use white ones, or striped like those of the Moslem. The Christian women appear in public with their faces uncovered, as they do in Europe.

The arts are cultivated to a certain extent, but the sciences have entirely disappeared. There existed formerly large schools belonging to the harem; but there are hardly any traces of them left, if their place be not supplied by a few small seminaries where children of every form of worship learn to read and write the code of their respective religion. The grossest ignorance prevails even among persons of high rank, who, on the first interview, appear to have received a liberal education.[125]

The Arabic language is generally spoken at Jerusalem, though the Turkish is much used among the better cla.s.s. The inhabitants are composed of people of different nations and different religions, who inwardly despise one another on account of their varying opinions; but as the Christians are very numerous, there reigns among the whole no small degree of complaisance, as well as an unrestrained intercourse in matters of business, amus.e.m.e.nt, and even of religion.[126]

It is well remarked by Chateaubriand, who had travelled among the native tribes of North America as extensively as among the Arabs of the Syrian wilderness, that amid the rudeness of the latter you still perceive a certain degree of delicacy in their manners; you see that they are natives of that East which is the cradle of all the arts, all the sciences, all the religions. Buried at the extremity of the West, the Canadian inhabits valleys shaded by eternal forests and watered by immense rivers; the Arab, cast, as it were, upon the high road of the world between Africa and Asia, roves in the brilliant regions of Aurora over a soil without trees and without water.

The Jews--the children of the kingdom--have been cast out, and many have come from the east and the west to occupy their place in the desolate land promised to their fathers. They usually take up their abode in the narrow s.p.a.ce between the Temple and the foot of Mount Zion, defended from the tyranny of their Turkish masters by their indigence and misery. Here they appear covered with rags, and sitting in the dust, with their eyes fixed on the ruins of their ancient sanctuary. It has been observed that those descendants of Abraham who come from foreign countries to fix their residence at Jerusalem live but a short time; while such as are natives of Palestine are so wretchedly poor as to be obliged to send every year to raise contributions among their brethren of Egypt and Barbary.[127]

The picture given by Dr. Richardson is much more flattering. He a.s.sures his readers that many of the Jews are rich and in comfortable circ.u.mstances; but that they are careful to conceal their wealth, and even their comfort, from the jealous eye of their rulers, lest, by awakening their cupidity, some plot of robbery or murder should be devised. The whole population has been estimated by different travellers as amounting to from fifteen to thirty thousand, consisting of Mohammedans, Jews, and the various sects of Christians.

CHAPTER VII.

_Description of the Country Northward of Jerusalem_.

Grotto of Jeremiah; Sepulchres of the Kings; Singular Doors; Village of Leban; Jacob's Well; Valley of Shechem; Nablous; Samaritans; Sebaste; Jennin; Gilead; Geraza, or Djerash; Description of Ruins; Gergasha of the Hebrews; Rich Scenery of Gilead; River Jabbok; Souf; Ruins of Gamala; Magnificent Theatre; Gadara; Capernaum, or Talhewm; Sea of Galilee; Bethsaida and Chorazin; Tarrachea; Sumuk; Tiberias; Description of modern Town; House of Peter; Baths; University; Mount Tor, or Tabor; Description by Poc.o.c.ke, Maundrell, Burckhardt, and Doubdan; View from the Top; Great Plain; Nazareth; Church of Annunciation; Workshop of Joseph; Mount of Precipitation; Table of Christ; Cana, or Kefer Kenna; Waterpots of Stone; Saphet, or Szaffad; University; French; Sidney Smith; Dan; Sepphoris; Church of St. Anne; Description by Dr. Clarke; Vale of Zabulon; Vicinity of Acre.

Upon leaving the northern gate of Jerusalem, on the road which leads to Damascus, there is seen a large grotto much venerated by Christians, Turks, and Jews, said to have been for some time the residence, or rather the prison, of the prophet Jeremiah. The bed of the holy man is shown, in the form of a rocky shelf, about eight feet from the ground; and the spot is likewise pointed out on which he is understood to have written his book of Lamentations. In the days of Maundrell, this excavation was occupied by a college of dervises.

We have already alluded to the Sepulchres of the Kings as very singular remains of ancient architecture, and standing at a little distance from the city. There still prevails some obscurity in regard to the origin and intention of these places of burial, occasioned chiefly by the fact recorded in Holy Scripture, that the tombs of the kings of Judah were on Mount Zion. Poc.o.c.ke held the opinion, that they derived their name from Helena, the queen of Adiabene, whose body was deposited in a cave outside the northern wall of Jerusalem; a conclusion which derives some countenance from the language of Josephus, and has been adopted by Dr.