Modern Palestine; or, The Need of a New Crusade ... With ... illustrations

Chapter I Page

Jaffa to Jerusalem ..... 23 Arrival at Jaffa — The Open Roadstead — The Market-place — Simon the Tanner's House — The Orange Groves — The New Railway — The Sheep and the Goats — Jerusalem.

Chapter II

Bethlehem and Mar-Saba . . . -35 The Eastern Dragoman — Rachel's Tomb — Solomon's Pools — Bethlehem — The Church of the Nativity — The Cell of Jerome — The Monastery of Mar-Saba — The Story of St Saba — Our Tents in the Wilderness.

Chapter III

The Dead Sea and the Jordan . . -49 A Syrian Sunrise — A Bedouin Sheikh — The Valley of Fire — View of the Dead Sea — The Camel of the Desert — First Glimpse of the Jordan — The Jordan Hotel — Native Types — An Oriental Garden.

Chapter IV

From Jericho to Jerusalem . . . .64 Elisha's Fountain — The Ruins of Jericho — The Gorge of Cherith — The Inn ofthe Good Samaritan — An Episode — The Apostle's Fountain — Watering the Flocks — Bethany— The Hill of Olivet — First View of Jerusalem — Gethsemane.

Chapter V

Alone in Jerusalem ..... 8i The Interior of the City — Mosque of Omar — The CONTENTS PAGE Mosque of El-Aksa — The Foundations of the Ancient Temple — The Pool of Bethesda — The Via Dolorosa.

Chapter VI

The New Calvary , ■ • • • 93 New Testament Evidence — Sir Walter Besant's Testimony — Lieut.-Col. Conder's View — Miss Hope's Devotion.

Chapter VII

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre . . ioo St Helena — The Legend of the Invention of the Cross — The Holy Sepulchre — The Easter Fire — The Chapel of Golgotha— The Tomb of Adam and Eve — Other Superstitions — Memorial Service for the Czar.

Chapter VIII

The Jews in Jerusalem . . . .no The Wailing Place — The Liturgy — The Love of "Backsheesh" — Should Britain Govern Palestine? — The Tombs of the Kings — Mount Olivet — A Leper.

Chapter IX

Jerusalem to Shechem . . . .119 Last View of Jerusalem — Ramullah — Beeroth — Bethel — Shiloh — Syrian Ploughing — The Valley of Mukhna — Jacob's Well — Mount Gerezim and Mount Ebal.

Chapter X

The Vale of Shechem and Ancient Samaria . 134 Nablous — The Samaritans — Conder's Theory as to the Lost Ten Tribes — The Samaritan Codex — Mr L. Leicester — Ancient Samaria — The Valley of the " Gentle Slope" — Dothan and Joseph's Pit — Jenin — The Plain of Esdraelon. CONTENTS 9

Chapter XI Page

Jenin to Nazareth ..... 149 An Unexpected Arrest — In the Presence of the Turkish Governor — Jezreel — The Threshing Floor — Mountains of Gilboa — Death of Saul and Jonathan — Shunam— The Little Hermon — Mount Tabor — First View of Nazareth.

Chapter XII

Life in Nazareth . . . . .160 Eastern Inns — A Feud of Blood — Modern Nazareth — The Fountain — The Latin Church of the Annunciation — The Casa Santa — The Synagogue from which Christ was cast forth — View from the Neby Sim'an — A Marriage Festival.

Chapter XIII

Nazareth to Tiberias . . . . 175 Mount Tabor — The Scene of the Transfiguration — Route to Tiberias — First View of Galilee — A Russian Pilgrimage.

Chapter XIV

The Sea of Galilee . . . . .185 Tiberias — Indifference to Sanitary Laws — Fever Endemic — A Syrian House — The Free Church Mission — Description of the Lake — The Seed-plot of Christianity — Capernaum — Moonlight Effects on Galilee.

Chapter XV

Tiberias to Nazareth . . . . .201 A Jewish Legend — The Westward trend of Christianity — The Horns of Hattin— The Battlefield of Hattin — Cana of Galilee — The Women grinding at the Mill — An Arab Interior. CONTENTS 10

Zimmerain to Jaffa . . . . .231 A Thunderstorm — The Zerka — Cæsarea — The Plain of Sharon — An Incident — Crusaders' Ruins — The Nahr-el-'Aujeh — Jaffa.

Chapter XX

A Plea for Palestine ..... 243 On board the Cironde — The Regeneration of the East — Evil Effects of the Turkish Government — Testimony of Dr Thompson — Testimony of Lieut.-Col. Conder, R.E. — The Excessive Taxation — A European Protectorate — Missionary Operations — Educational Influence of a Tour in Palestine. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Jerusalem ..... Frontispiece PAGE Sketch Map of Route . . . .22 The Jaffa Market . . . .27 The Dead Sea ••'••■ 55 Plan of Jerusalem . . . .76 The Mosque of Omar . . . .85 The Jews' Wailing Place . . .113 Jacob's Well . . . . . 129 Nazareth . . . . . . 161 Tiberias ...... 181 A Syrian House . . . . .188 The Sea of Galilee . . . .191 Ruins of Capernaum .... 197 Horns of Hattin .... 204 The Mill . . . . . .208 Outline Map of Palestine . . . 238

Preface

When I had returned from my long holiday tour, I delivered to my congregation a series of lectures on Palestine. The subject greAv upon me, and I was glad to find that a corresponding interest was awakened in the minds of many of my hearers. I have, in the leisure hours allotted to a country minister, changed these lectures into a narrative of my experiences in the Holy Land. This may account for the somewhat hortatory character of several of the chapters. The subject has been fre quently treated by a more graphic pen than mine, but even in Palestine there is something new as the years are multiplied, and upon these more recent developments I have ventured to dwell at some length. In visiting the various towns and "holy places" I made copious notes, which form the basis of this volume, but I ought to express my obligations to Lieut.-Col. C. R. Conder, R.E., and more especially to his " Tent Work in Palestine," a book that ought to be far more widely circulated. I have also been indebted

PREFACE.

14 to Professor George Adam Smith's "Historical Geography" — the most authoritative book on Palestine that has been issued in recent years by any Scottish writer. Dr Fergus Ferguson's "Sacred Scenes" I carried with me, and found it at once to be an accurate record, and remark ably complete in its details. The illustrations are from photographs by Bonfils of Beyrout, and my friend Mr Lionel Leicester, who accompanied me in my travels. The maps and plans have been draAvn by Mr Wilfred H. Ferguson, the esteemed organist of Skelmorlie Parish Church, whose ready pencil has been of much service to me in the work of teaching the Bible Class as well as in the preparation of this volume. J. L.