The Itinerary Of Benjamin Of Tudela Part 11

[Footnote 83: Pillars of salt are to be met with elsewhere, for instance at Hammam Meskutim in Algeria. They are caused by spouts of water, in which so great a quant.i.ty of salt is contained as at times to stop up the aperture of the spring.

The latter, however, is again unsealed through cattle licking off the salt near the aperture, and the same process of filling up and unstopping goes on continually. Cf. Talmud Berachot, 54 a.]

[Footnote 84: See Baedeker's _Palestine and Syria_, pp. 233, 236; also Schwartz, _Palestine_, 1852, p. 230 and Dr.

Robinson's _Palestine_, I, p. 516.]

[Footnote 85: Edrisi in 1154 writes: "The tomb is covered by twelve stones, and above it is a dome vaulted over with stones."]

[Footnote 86: Compare R. Pethachia's account of his visit (_Travels of Rabbi Petachia_: translated by Dr. A. Benisch; London, Trubner & Co., 1856, p. 63). See papers by Professors Goldziher and Guthe (_Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins_, XVII, pp. 115 and 238) for an account of the opening of the tombs at Hebron in 1119, as given in a presumably contemporaneous MS. found by Count Riant. Fifteen earthenware vessels filled with bones, perhaps those referred to by Benjamin, were found. It is doubtful whether the actual tombs of the Patriarchs were disturbed, but it is stated that the Abbot of St. Gallen paid in 1180 ten marks of gold (equal to about 5,240 sterling) for relics taken from the altar of the church at Hebron. The MS. of Count Riant further mentions that before the occupation of Hebron by the Arabs, the Greeks had blocked up and concealed the entrance to the caves. The Jews subsequently disclosed the place of the entrance to the Moslems, receiving as recompense permission to build a synagogue close by. This was no doubt the Jewish place of worship referred to by Benjamin. Shortly after Benjamin's visit in 1167 the Crusaders established a bishopric and erected a church in the southern part of the Haram. See also Conder's account of the visit of His Majesty the King, when Prince of Wales, to the Haram at Hebron. (_Palestine Exploration Fund's Quarterly Statement_, 1882.)]

[Footnote 87: Beit Jibrin was fortified by King Fulk in 1134. See Baedeker's _Palestine and Syria_, p. 309; Rapoport's _Erech Milin_, p. 54; also a preliminary notice on the Necropolis of Maresha in _P.E.F.Q.S._, Oct., 1902, p.

393. The text has [Hebrew:], but it should be [Hebrew:].

Inscriptions on tombs near Beit Jibrin show that the town, to which those buried belonged, was called Mariseh. The pa.s.sage in A and all printed editions as to Shunem and Toron de Los Caballeros is corrupt. Shunem was a small place in Galilee, and is not likely to have had 300 Jews at the time of the Crusaders, still less so Toron the present Latrun.]

[Footnote 88: Shiloh, at the time of the Crusaders, was considered to occupy the site of Mizpeh, the highest mountain near Jerusalem, where the national a.s.semblies were held at the time of the Judges. The present mosque is dilapidated, but the substructure, which dates from the Frank period, is beautifully jointed. The apse is raised.

The reputed tomb of Samuel is on the western side of the church. It is still called Nebi Samwil, venerated alike by Jew and Moslem.]

[Footnote 89: This and Mahomerie-le-grand, already mentioned, are Crusaders' churches. See Rey, _Les Colonies franques de Syrie aux XII'e et XIII'e siecles_, p. 387; also Conder, _The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem_.]

[Footnote 90: Beit-Nuba near Ramleh has been identified without proof with n.o.b. Richard Coeur-de-Lion encamped here some twenty-five years after Benjamin's visit. He with the army of the Crusaders pa.s.sed through Ibelin on his way to Askelon. Cf. Vinsauf's _Itinerarium Regis Ricardi_.]

[Footnote 91: See an interesting Paper, "Der Pa.s.s von Michmas," by Prof. D.G. Dalman, _Z.D.P.V._, 1904, vol.

XXVII, p. 161.]

[Footnote 92: Asher renders [Hebrew:] Ramleh, for which there is some justification. Ramleh did not exist in Bible times--it was founded in 716. It prospered to such an extent that it became as large as Jerusalem. It was a good deal damaged by an earthquake in 1033. Ramleh had a large Moslem population, and the Jews there remained comparatively unmolested by the Crusaders. This latter fact accounts for the somewhat large number of Jews residing there. Asher's reading, and that of all the printed editions, is "about three Jews dwell there." This is obviously wrong. Probably the copyist is to blame in taking [Hebrew:] to be an abbreviation for [Hebrew:] The reports of contemporary Arabic authors will be found in Guy Le Strange's _Palestine_, pp. 303-8.]

[Footnote 93: Ali of Herat, Benjamin's contemporary, writes: "Askelon is a fine and beautiful city. There is near here the well of Abraham, which they say he dug with his own hand." Bohadin, in his _Life of Saladin_, gives a detailed account of the demolition of the city in 1192, after the conclusion of peace between King Richard I and Saladin. Ibn Batutah in 1355 found the town in ruins, but gives a detailed account of the well. (Guy Le Strange, pp. 402-3; cf. Dr. H. Hildesheimer, _Beitrage zur Geographie Palastinas_.)]

[Footnote 94: The cathedral at Lydda with the tomb of St.

George was destroyed when Saladin captured the place in 1191. It was rebuilt by a King of England in the seventeenth century.]

[Footnote 95: A.M. Lunez in his Year-book for 1881, pp.

71-165, gives a complete list of the reputed Jewish tombs in Palestine. There are many records of the graves of Jewish worthies in our literature, but it is not easy to reconcile the different versions. See Jacob ben Nethanel's Itinerary given in Lunez's _Jerusalem_, 1906, VII, p. 87.]

[Footnote 96: Both BM. and R have [Hebrew:], whilst E and A have the faulty reading [Hebrew:]. The Seder Hadoroth has the same reading as E and A. Jehuda Halevi died about thirty years before Benjamin's visit, and the question of the burial-place of our great national poet is thus finally settled.]

[Footnote 97: The common belief is that Simon the Just was buried near Jerusalem, on the road to Nablous, about a mile from the Damascus Gate.]

[Footnote 98: Cf. Schechter's _Saadyana_, p. 89.]

[Footnote 99: The pa.s.sage referring to the Arnon is evidently out of place.]

[Footnote 100: See Deut. xi. 24.]

[Footnote 101: For a description of the city and its great mosque, see Baedeker, also Guy Le Strange, _Palestine under the Moslems_, chap. vi. The most eastern dome of the mosque is to this day called Kubbet-es-Saa, the Dome of Hours.

Mukaddasi gives an elaborate description of the mosaics and other features of this mosque.]

[Footnote 102: Cf. _Midrash Raba_, chap, xiv: [Hebrew:]; also Josephus, _Ant_. I, vii, 2 who quotes Nicolaus of Damascus in the words "_In Damasco regnarit Abramus._"]

[Footnote 103: Pethachia estimates the Jewish population at 19,000. This confirms the opinion already given (p. 26) that Benjamin refers to heads of families.]

[Footnote 104: Dr. W. Bacher with justice observes that, at the time of the Crusades, the traditions of the Palestinian Gaonate seem to have survived at Damascus. See _J. Q.R._, XV, pp. 79-96.]

[Footnote 105: Galid as a city cannot be identified. Salchah is in the Eastern Hauran, half a day's journey from Bosra, and is spoken of in Scripture as a frontier city of Bashan.

(Deut. iii. 10; Joshua xii. 5.) It lies a long way to the south of Damascus, whilst Baalbec lies to the north.]

[Footnote 106: Tarmod is Tadmor or Palmyra.]

[Footnote 107: The important city Emesa, now called Homs, is here probably indicated. In scripture, Gen. x. 18, the Zemarite and the Hamathite are grouped together among the Canaanite families. In this district is the intermittent spring of Fuwar ed-Der, the Sabbatio River of antiquity, which t.i.tus visited after the destruction of Jerusalem.

Josephus (_Wars of the Jews_, Book VII, sec. 5) describes it as follows: "Its current is strong and has plenty of water; after which its springs fail for six days together and leave its channels dry, as any one may see; after which days it runs on the seventh day as it did before, and as though it had undergone no change at all: it has also been observed to keep this order perpetually and exactly." The intermittent action is readily accounted for by the stream having hollowed out an underground duct, which acts as a syphon.]

[Footnote 108: Hamath is often mentioned in Scripture, situated at no great distance from the Orontes. In the troublous time after the first crusade it was taken by the Ismailians or a.s.sa.s.sins. The earthquake of 1157 caused great damage. Twenty years later the place was captured by Saladin.]

[Footnote 109: Robinson and Conder identify Hazor with a site near Kedesh Naftali, but Sheiza is doubtless Sheizar, the ancient Larissa. Having regard to the readings of the other MSS., there is no doubt that Latmin, the next stage on the way to Aleppo, is the correct name of the place. See M.

Hartmann's articles, "Beitrage zur Kenntuis der Syrischen Steppe," _Z.D.P.V._, vols. XXII and XXIII, 1900 I. Cf. the article on the Boundaries of Palestine and Syria by M.

Friedmann, Luncz's _Jerusalem_, vol. II.]

[Footnote 110: Edrisi writes that there was abundance of water at Aleppo, but there is no discrepancy between Benjamin's and Edrisi's statements, as Asher supposes. The old waterworks were restored by Malek about the year 1200, some thirty years after Benjamin's visit.]

[Footnote 111: Edrisi and Abulfeda speak of Balis and Kalat Jabar. See Guy Le Strange, p. 417. Zengy the Atabeg was slain at Kalat Jabar.]

[Footnote 112: Rakka is on the left bank of the Euphrates.

It was an important city of Upper Mesopotamia, commanding the Syrian frontier. Salchah is in the Hauran. See p. 30, note 5. On the right bank of the Euphrates, nearly opposite to Rakka, was Thapsacus. Here Cyrus forded the river, and here Alexander crossed in pursuit of Darius.]

[Footnote 113: Harr[=a]n, the city of Nahor, is twenty-four miles SSE. of Edessa on the Balikh. Mustawfi tells us of Abraham's Shrine.]

[Footnote 114: Ras-el-Ain, probably Rhesaina. The river Khabur--the Araxes of Xenophon--flows from the Kurdistan mountains southwards, and runs into the Euphrates.]

[Footnote 115: The Gozan river cannot be, as tacitly a.s.sumed by Asher, the Kizil Uzun (also known as the Araxes). The Kizil Uzun is on the right of the watershed of the mountains of Kurdistan, and falls into the Caspian Sea. The Khabur above referred to flows through Mesopotamia, not through Media. The misconception arises probably from the author being too mindful of the pa.s.sage occurring repeatedly in Scripture, e. g. 2 Kings xvii. 6: "... and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes."]

[Footnote 116: All the MSS. except BM. have here: "Thence it is two days to the city of Nisibis (Nasibin). This is a great city with rivulets of water, and contains about 1,000 Jews."]

[Footnote 117: Josephus (_Antiquities_, I, 3) mentions that Noah's Ark still existed in his day. Rabbi Pethachia, who travelled through Armenia within twenty years after Benjamin, speaks of four mountain peaks, between which the Ark became fixed and from which it could not get free. Arab writers tell us that Jabal Judi (Koran, ch. xi, ver. 46) with the Mosque of Noah on the summit, could be seen from Geziret. See also _Marco Polo_, Bk. I. ch. 3.]

[Footnote 118: See Lebrecht's Essay "On the State of the Caliphate at Bagdad." Sin-ed-din, otherwise known as Seif-ed-din, died 1149, some twenty years before Benjamin's visit, and Graetz (vol. VI, note 10) suggests that the appointment of Astronomer Royal must have been made by Nur-ed-din's nephew. None of the MSS. have this reading, nor is such a correction needed. R. Joseph may have been appointed by Nur-ed-din's brother, and would naturally retain the office during the reign of his successor.]

[Footnote 119: Irbil, or Arbela, is two days' journey from Mosul. See Saadyana, _J. Q.R._, vol. XIV, p. 503, and W.

Bacher's note, p. 741.]

[Footnote 120: For a full account of Mosul and other places here referred to, see Mr. Guy Le Strange's _The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate_, 1905, also Layard's _Nineveh and its Remains_ and _Nineveh and Babylon_. Layard carefully examined Nebbi Junus, which is held in great veneration by the Mussulmans, and came to the conclusion that the tradition which places Jonah's tomb on this spot is a mere fable (p. 596). It will be seen that Benjamin speaks of the Shrine as a _Synagogue_. At Alkush near Mosul the tomb of Nahum is pointed out, and the Arabs say that after Jonah had fulfilled his mission to the people of Nineveh they relapsed into idolatry. Then Nahum denounced the city and was slain by the populace, who proclaimed him and Jonah to be false prophets, since the doom the latter foretold does not come to pa.s.s, See Schwarz, _Das Heilige Land_, 1852, p. 259, identifying Kefar Tanchum near Tiberias with Nahum's burialplace]

[Footnote 121: As to Jewish seats of learning in Babylon refer to Dr. Krauss's Article "Babylonia" in the _Jewish Encyclopaedia_; see also Guy Le Strange, p. 74, who suggests that Pumbedita means "mouth of the Badat ca.n.a.l." Cf. _J. Q.

R._, XVII, p. 756.]

[Footnote 122: Hadara goes under the name Alhathr or Hatra.

There must exist great doubt as to whether Benjamin had personally satisfied himself as to the Jewish population he gives for this and the other places he tells of, till he comes to Egypt. Up to this point the Traveller has always appeared to under-estimate the Jewish population. Henceforth it will be found that he gives apparently exaggerated figures,--and this lends colour to the view that Benjamin did not proceed beyond Ispahan, but found his way thence direct to Egypt. The statements concerning the intervening places must therefore be taken to have been based upon hearsay information. Pethachia's remarks are significant: "In the land of Cush and Babel are more than sixty myriads of Jews; as many are in the land of Persia. But in Persia the Jews are subject to hard bondage and suffering.

Therefore Rabbi Pethachia visited only one city in Persia."

(Dr. Benisch's edition, p. 19.)]

[Footnote 123: The Caliphs of the Abbaside Dynasty traced their descent from Mohammed. Benjamin here refers to the Caliph El Mostanshed. The Caliph is aptly compared to the Pope. In addition to his temporal authority at Bagdad, he exercised as Leader of the Faithful--Emir al-Muminin--religious authority over all Mohammedans from Spain to India. At a later time the vizier arrogated all authority to himself, and the Caliph spent his time either in the mosque or in the seraglio.]