Tent Work in Palestine. A record of Discovery and Adventure by C. R. Conder ... With illustrations by J. W. Whymper

Front matter

■ TABOR. ,, ,. . Frontispiece, Tent Work in Palestine. 3i fltcoib of Siscoticnj ano BY CLAUDE REIGNIER CONDER,_JiE., OFFICER IN COMMAND OF THE SURVEY EXPEDITION. •Pnhlisluu for the Committc-: of the -Palestine (E.vnloratioit <J;unb. With Illustrations sy J. W. Whymper. flcto (Eoition LONDON : RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, Publishers in ©rotrmrn to g«r tlte Queen. 1880. [All Rights Reserved.} TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES "Shis eElorlt is gebicateo, WITH HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS' GRACIOUS PERMISSION, BY THE AUTHOR.

Preface

. The Survey of Western Palestine was commenced under Captain Stewart, R.E., in January, 1872. Ill-health obliged that officer to return almost immediately. Lieutenant Conder, R.E., was ap pointed to the command, and arrived in Palestine in the summer of the same year. The work meantime had been conducted under the charge of the late Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. Lieutenant Conder returned to England in October, 1875, having surveyed 4700 square miles. The remaining 1300 square miles of the Survey were finished by Lieutenant Kitchener in 1877. The present volume contains Lieutenant Conder's personal history of his work, without specially entering on the scientific results. These will be published with the great map in the form of memoirs, twenty-six in number, one to every sheet. Lieutenant Conder's conclusions and proposed identifications are, it will be understood, his own. The Committee do not, col lectively, adopt the conclusions of any of their officers. CONTENTS. CHAPTER -.__

PREFACE.

------.. v

Introduction

- - - . - . - xi I. THE ROAD TO JERUSALEM - - - - . -I II. SHECHEM AND THE SAMARITANS - - - - - 15 III. THE SURVEY OF SAMARIA- - - - - - 41 IV. THE GREAT PLAIN OF ESDRAELON - - - - 58 V. THE NAZARETH HILLS - -■ - - - - 71 VI. CARMEL AND ACRE - - - - . - 88 VII. SHARON ........ IO~ VIII. DAMASCUS, BAALBEK AND HERMON - - - - 121 ix. samson's country ...... ,-,g X. BETHLEHEM AND MAR SABA ..... I4j XI. JERUSALEM -----... i_0 XII. THE TEMPLE AND CALVARY - - - - - 182 XIII. JERICHO - - - - - - - " 199 XIV. THE JORDAN VALLEY - - - 214 XV. HEBRON AND BEERSHEBA ------ 236 XVI. THE LAND OF BENJAMIN - - - - - - 25 1 XVII. THE DESERT OF JUDAH ------ 260 XVIII. THE SHEPHELAH AND PHILISTIA - .... 2-~ XIX. GALILEE ..--.-.. 2S9 XX. THE ORIGIN OF THE FELLAHiN ----- 298 XXI. LIFE AND HABITS OF THE FELLAHIN . - - - 315 XXII.

THE BEDAWiN --.-... 336 XXIII. JEWS, RUSSIANS, AND GERMANS ----- 350 XXIV. THE FERTILITY OF PALESTINE ----- 364 XXV. THE FUTURE OF PALESTINE ..... LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE TABOR — Frontispiece. From the summit of Jebel Duhy. From a water-colour sketch by the Author. TITLE-PAGE. From a sketch by the Author. A theodolite-party at work. Jacob's well - - ...... 15 From a sketch made by the Author in the vault over the well ; looking south. TOMB of PHINEHAS - - - 41 From a sketch by the Author ; looking south-west. HEROD'S COLONNADE AT SAMARIA - - - - - 43 From a photograph ; looking east. GUEST HOUSE - - - - - - - - 52 From a sketch by the Author made in the village of Kuriet-Jit. VIEW FROM JENIN - - - - - - - 5S From a water-colour sketch by the Author ; looking north. CHURCH OF ST. ANNE, AT SEFFURIEH - - - - - /I From a photograph by Lieut. Kitchener, R.E. ; looking east.

CARMEL - - - - - - - - - S8 From a water-colour sketch by the Author ; looking west from near the village of Mujeidil. CONSTANTINE'S BASILICA AT BETHLEHEM . . - - 145 From a photograph by Lieut. Kitchener, R.E. ; looking east. MAR SABA - - - - - - - - - 157 From a photograph ; looking north-east. THE DOME OF THE ROCK ....-- 160 From a photograph ; looking north. THE TEMPLE WALL ..----- 1S2 From a sketch made by the Author in a chamber outside the west wall, near the north corner. GILGAL - - - - - - - " " 199 From a sketch made by the Author on the spot ; the view is north-west, over the Plain of Jericho. DEBIR .--.----- 236 From a sketch by the Author ; looking south-west. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. X PAGE THE VALLEY OF MICHMASH ..... to face 256 From a photograph by Lieut. Kitchener, R.E. ; looking cast.

ENGEDI ......... 260 From a sketch by the Author ; looking south. GATH - - - - - - - - - 273 From a sketch by the Author ; looking south-east. COLUMBARIA, NEAR BEIT JIBR1N ------ 275 From a photograph by Lieut. Kitchener, R.E. THE SEA OF GALILEE .-.---. 289 From a water-colour sketch by the Author ; looking north from Kaukab el Hawa. A DERWlSH ........ 298 From a sketch by the Author. COSTUMES OF MOSLEM PEASANTRY NEAR SHECHEM - - - 315 From a sketch by the Author. MALE DANCERS .--.-..- 325 From a sketch by the Author. A BEDAWI WOMAN -....-. 335 From a coloured sketch by the Author. HAIFA - - - - - - - - .364 From a water-colour drawing by the Author. View from the shore west of the German Colony ; looking east.

INTRODUCTION.

. The Survey of Palestine was actually commenced at the end of the year 1871. Preliminary reconnaissances of parts of Palestine had been previously made by Captain Anderson, R.E., and Cap tain Warren, R.E., and the Ordnance Survey of the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, with the line of levels from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea, and from Jerusalem to Solomon's Pools, had been executed by Major Wilson, R.E. It was by the advice of these experienced explorers that the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund undertook the Survey of Western Palestine, to the scale of one inch to the mile, the object being the complete examination of the whole country, with an amount of accuracy approaching that of Ordnance work. The officer to whom this great work was entrusted was Captain Stewart, R.E., and his staff consisted of Sergeant Black and Corporal Armstrong, R.E. ; Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake was also appointed as linguist and archæologist to the expedition.

The work met with a most serious check at its commencement. Captain Stewart, arriving in the most unhealthy time of the year, and engaged in a most unhealthy part of the country, while measuring the base line, was struck down with fever and invalided home. The Committee then honoured me with the offer of the command, as his successor, and I was instructed to proceed as soon as possible to Palestine.

INTRODUCTION.

. In the meantime the little party, under the care of Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, pursued its labours, and carried the Survey up the country to Jerusalem, and thence to Nablus, accomplishing in the first half of 1872 about 500 square miles. This work has since, under my direction, been re-examined, and the excellent character of this part of the map reflects the highest credit on the zeal and care of the two surveyors, who, though ignorant of the language and unaccustomed to the style of work required, yet succeeded in recovering everything of value in the district ; nor does it less reflect credit on the tact and judgment of my lamented friend Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, on whom devolved the arduous task of organising and managing the infant expedition. I reached Palestine on the 8th of July, 1872, and from that date, until the 1st October, 1875, the work was pushed on with scarcely any interruption, except during my absence for four months in 1874, when I returned to England to recruit my health, which was seriously impaired by the hardships encountered in the Jordan Valley.

After the attack on the party at Safed in 1875, the work was suspended for a year. When I left Palestine four-fifths of the Survey was completed ; and the remaining fifth was happily carried out during the year 1877 under the command of Lieutenant Kitchener, and the great map now extends over 6000 square miles, from Dan to Beersheba, and from Jordan to the Mediter ranean Sea. Palestine is thus brought home to England, and the student may travel, in his study, over its weary roads and rugged hills without an ache, and may ford its dangerous streams, and pass through its malarious plains without discomfort. This work was thus carried out by a party never stronger than five in number as regards Europeans, and was completed in little over five years in the field. The account given of the country will, I hope, be more complete than anything of the kind yet attempted for any Eastern land. The results of the Survey are published as follows : First, a map in twenty-six sheets to the scale of one inch to the statute mile.

INTRODUCTION.

. XIII Secondly, a reduced map engraved on copper to the scale of 660 yards to the inch. The one-inch sheets are each accompanied by a memoir con taining all the information collected by the Survey Party. Section A gives a geographical and topographical account of the country included in the sheet. Section B is an archæological description of the ruined sites. Section C includes the ethnographical notes and the local traditions of the district. The text of this memoir, with exception of Sections A and B, for sheets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, has been my work, under the editorship of Mr. G. Grove and Colonel C. W. Wilson, R.E. The nomenclature of the Survey, including about 9000 Arabic names, has been arranged in in dexes for each sheet, and edited by Professor E. H. Palmer. The memoir will contain information which I have at various times carefully abstracted from more than fifty standard works, including Egyptian, Samaritan, and Talmudic writings, the early Christian Itineraries, and the mediæval chronicles, besides the Bible narrative, and the works of Josephus and other classical authorities.

It is evident that so great a work requires some general resume, to bring it within the reach of the general public, who might not read the memoir, or would fail to obtain from it any very vivid idea of Palestine, or of the discoveries made there during the execution of the Survey. The present volume is intended to supply this want, and to form a popular introduction to the work of the Survey Part)*. The main object of the Survey of Palestine may be said to have been to collect materials in illustration ofthe Bible. Few stronger confirmations ofthe historic and authentic character of the Sacred Volume can be imagined than that furnished by a comparison of the Land and the Book, which shows clearly that they tally in every respect. Mistaken ideas and preconceived notions may be cor rected ; but the truth of the Bible is certainly established, on a firm basis, by the criticisms of those who, familiar with the people and the country, are able to read it, not as a dead record of a former world or of an extinct race, but as a living picture of man-

INTRODUCTION.

. XIV ners and of a land, which can still be studied by any who will devote themselves to the task. The study is threefold. It includes the minute investigation of the detailed topography of the Bible. Former explorers have done much in this respect ; but it may be claimed for the Survey that the new discoveries are almost as numerous as all those of former travellers put together. The second branch is that of archæology. The Survey includes a complete examination of the ancient condition of the country. The old cultivation is traced by the wine-presses, olive-presses, ruined terraces, and rude garden watch-towers. The ancient sites are recognised by their tombs, cisterns, and rocky scarps. Thus we are entitled to draw conclusions as to the ancient cultivation, climate, and water-supply of Palestine, in Bible times.

The third branch is the study of the people. To this I offer a contribution in the chapters devoted to the peasantry and to other inhabitants of Palestine. I trust they may serve to show how rich a field of inquiry is opened to the student among the ancient indi genous population of the Holy Land. In concluding these remarks, I would say a few words on the subject of identification. What is an identification ? It is the recovery of an ancient historic site, still known to the natives under its original name, or a modification of that name, though unknown to Europeans. It is evident that the requisites for a satisfactory identification are — first, the suitability of the position to all the known accounts of the place ; second, the preservation of all the radical parts of the name ; third, in the case of the loss of the name, we require definite indications — such as measured distances, or some connection with existing buildings, or relative position to known sites.

The site must show traces of antiquity, and the name must be placed beyond the suspicion of being of recent or spurious origin ; the correspondence of the modern and ancient titles must, also, not be merely apparent, but must be radically exact. Failing these requirements, no identification will stand the criticism which is now brought to bear on newly -proposed discoveries.

INTRODUCTION.

. XV A second question is intimately connected with this subject — namely, the authority of Christian tradition. We should not under rate this valuable means of tracing ancient and sacred sites, which has, we may hope, handed down to us the positions of such holy places as the Gr.otto of Bethlehem, and Jacob's well at Shechem ; nor lay aside tradition because it is tradition, disregarding one of the few ways of settling the locality of places which were quite as sacred in the fourth century as they are now. On the other hand, a careful and minute inspection of the fourth century writings cannot but lead to one conclusion : that Christian tradition can be taken only as an indication, not as an authority. Unsupported by other evidence, the tradition is not, in itself, sufficient to fix any site as authentic ; yet most valuable hints may often be obtained by a study of these early descriptions of the land.

We may take as an example the famous Onomasticon of Eusebius and Jerome. We are now able to point out, on the map, almost every place, the position of which is clearly defined in the Onomas ticon by measurement, or by reference to neighbouring places ; for in almost every case the name still exists, and these places number about 200 in all. There is thus no question that the land was thoroughly well known to Jerome and Eusebius ; but when we turn from their facts to their theories, we find that the confusion is hopeless • the places proposed as identical with those noticed in the Bible are quite as often impossibly guessed as correctly fixed. In fact, the early fathers too often jumped at conclusions, and, in the fourth century, there were no critics to contradict them. This view may be supported by any number of instances.

In the cases of Shiloh and Bethhoron, the sites mentioned are those now accepted. In those of Nob and Ajalon, Jerome's identifications are not in any way capable of being reconciled with the Scripture narrative. Thus it is only as regards personal acquaintance with ancient Palestine fifteen centuries ago, that the Onomasticon has any real value. The observations which apply to this work — the earliest and

INTRODUCTION.

. XVI r ablest of the Christian descriptions of Palestine — apply with equal force to all succeeding accounts ; and few writers would attempt to justify the wild theories of the mediæval chroniclers, whose identifications, in many cases, contradict alike the Biblical accounts, and the views of the earlier Byzantine pilgrims. With a single exception, Christian tradition regarding sacred places cannot be traced back earlier than the fourth century the exception is the Grotto of Bethlehem. But Christian sites appear often to be fixed by Jewish tradition : and when such is the case, their reliability is evidently increased, their history being carried back to an earlier source. This latter really reliable class of traditions is distinguished by the fact that the Jewish or Samaritan, and gene rally the Moslem traditions point, in such cases, to the same spots venerated by the Christians.

The sites of the Temple, and of Jacob's well, with Joseph's tomb, the sepulchres of the Patriarchs, and of Joshua, Phinehas, and Eleazar, are pointed out at the same spots by Jew, Christian, and Moslem ; and there is ever}* reason to suppose these to be authentic traditions. It is, therefore, by con sent of ei'idence that the true and indigenous origin of a tradition may be tested. Where this consent does not exist, it is to the Jewish and indigenous, rather than to the later Christian tradition, that we should turn, as the latter must evidently be in such cases of foreign origin. This distinction will be carefully observed in the following pages ; and, by pointing out the cases in which there is a general consent of the Jewish, Moslem, and Christian traditions, it is hoped that everything of real value preserved by tradition will be finally selected. C. R. C Christmas, 1877.

Chapter I. The Road To Jerusalem

The morning of Monday the 8th of July, 1872, brought us in sight of the coast of Palestine, near Jaffa. The town rose from the shore on a brown hillock ; the dark, flat-roofed houses climbing the hill one above another, but no prominent building breaking the sky outline. The yellow gleaming beach, with its low cliffs and sand-dunes, stretched away north and south, and in the distance the dim blue Judean hills were visible in shadow. Jaffa is called the Port of Jerusalem, but has no proper harbour at present. In ancient times the " Moon Pool," south of the town, now silted up, was perhaps the landing-place for Hiram's. rafts of cedar-wood ; but the traveller passes through a narrow opening in a dangerous reef running parallel with the shore, or, if the weather is bad, he is obliged to make a long detour round the northern end of the same reef.

By ten in the morning the land breeze rises, and a considerable swell is therefore always to be expected. The entrance through the reef is only sufficient for one boat, and thus every year boats are wrecked on the rocks and lives lost. It is said also that each year at least one person is killed by the sharks close to land. The little Russian steamer was anchored about two miles from shore, and rolled considerably. The decks were crowded with a motley assemblage, specimens of every Levantine nationality. Each deck passenger had his bedding with him, and the general effect was that of a great rag-heap, with human faces — black, brown and white — legs, arms, and umbrellas, sticking out of the rags in unexpected places. Apart from the rest sat a group of swarthy Bedawin, with their huge head-shawls, not unlike a coal-scuttle in effect, bound with a white cord round the brow.

They wore their best dresses, the black hair cloak, with red slippers. The rugged dark faces with white beards and sun-scorched eyes wore a curious mixed expression of assumed dignity and badly concealed curiosity concerning the wonders of civilisation surrounding them. The colouring of these various groups would have been a treat to an artist. The dull rich tints were lit up here and there by patches of red leather and yellow silk. Like all oriental colour, it was saved from any gaudiness of effect by the large masses of dull brown or indigo which predominated. The steamer was soon besieged by a fleet of long flat boats with sturdy rowers, and into these the passengers were precipitated, and their luggage dropped in after them. . The swell was so great that we were in constant danger of being capsized under the accom modation-ladder.

As we rowed off, and sank in' the trough ofthe waves, the shore and town disappeared, and only the nearest boats were visible high up on the crest of the rollers. The exciting moment of reaching the reef came next * the women closed their eyes, the rowers got into a regular swing, chanting a rude rhyme ; and waiting for the wave we were suddenly carried past the ugly black rocks into smooth water close to the wharf. The landing at Jaffa has been from time immemorial an ex citing scene. We have the terrible and graphic account of the old pilgrim (Sæwulf) who, " from his sins or from the badness of the ship," was almost wrecked, and who witnessed from the shore the death of his companions, helpless in a great storm in the offing. We have the account of Richard Lion-Heart springing, fully-armed, into the surf and fighting his way on shore.

The little port, made by the reef, has been long the only place south of Acre where landing was possible; but the storms which have covered the beach with modern wrecks were equally fatal to the Genoese galleys and Crusading war-ships. The town of Jaffa contains little of interest, though it is suf ficiently striking to a new comer. The broad effects of light and shadow are perhaps enhanced here by the numerous arched streets and the flights of steps which climb from the sea-level to the higher part of the town. The glory of Jaffa consists in its beauti ful gardens, which stretch inland about a mile and a half, and extend north and south over a length of two miles. Oranges, lemons, palms, bananas, pomegranates, and other fruits grow in thick groves surrounded by old cactus hedges having narrow lanes between them deep in sand.

Sweet water is found in abundance at a moderate depth. The scent of the oranges is said to be at times perceptible some miles from land, to approaching ships. Still more curious is the fact that the beautiful little sun-bird, peculiar to the Jordan valley, is also to be found in these gardens. How this African wanderer can have made its way across districts entirely unfitted for its abode, to spots separated by the great mountain chain, it is not easy to explain. Outside the town on the north-east is the little German colony, the neat white houses of which were built originally by an American society which was almost exterminated by fever, and finally broken up by internal differences, caused, I understand, by some resemblance in the views of the chief to those of Brigham Young. The land and buildings were bought by the thrifty German settlers, members of the Temple Society, with the views and history of which sect I became further acquainted during the following winter.

The soil of the Jaffa plain is naturally of great fertility. Even the negligent tillage of the peasantry produces fine harvests. The Germans ploughed deeper, and were rewarded by a crop of thistles, which to a good farmer would have been a subject of satisfaction as proving the existence of virgin soil, only requiring to be scoured by other crops for a year or two in order to yield fine harvests of corn. At this time of year, the barley had been gathered in, and only the dry stubble was left. Our first ride was not a long one, as we only intended to reach Ramleh that night, and we arrived before sundown in sight of the town, which is first visible from a rise of ground on the road. The long olive-groves here formed a dark oasis in the treeless plain, and above them rose the beautiful tower of the " Forty," belonging to the fine old ruined building called the "White Mosque," built in the fourteenth century by the son of Kalawun. 1 — The Forty were, according to the Moslems, companions of the Prophet ; according to the later Christian tradition, forty martyrs of Cappadocia.

A second mosque, now in use, exists in the middle of the town. This I was afterwards able to visit, and found it to be probably the most perfect specimen of a fine twelfth century church in Palestine, unchanged except that the beautiful western doorway is closed, a prayer recess scooped in the southern wall, and the delicate tracery of the columns defaced by whitewash and plaster — a vandalism not peculiar to Moslem restorers. This fine church, which we were the first to examine and plan, is probably that visited by the old English pilgrim Sir John Maunde ville, dedicated according to him to the Virgin, " where Our Lord appeared to Our Lady in the likeness which betokeneth the Trinity." Ramleh, like many another town in this ruined land, is full of contrasts of past prosperity and of present squalor and decay.

The walls of fine stone houses are enclosed in wretched hovels of mud. Here and there an ornate Cufic or Arabic inscription is left, telling of Moslem conquerors and munificent Caliphs * but the bazaars are deserted, and starved dogs and helpless lepers meet the eye on every side. Many attempts have been made to identify Ramleh with some ancient site. Thus the learned Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela regarded it as the birthplace of Samuel, while Christians have sup posed it to be Arimathæa or Ramoth Lehi. But, against all such views, the testimony of historians, both Moslem and Christian, is decisive. They agree in representing Ramleh as founded by the son ofthe Caliph 'Abd el Melik early in the eighth century, after the destruction of Lydda. In Crusading history the town, which was then walled, plays a conspicuous part, and under the early successors of Saladin it rose to considerable importance * but the site, which is, as its name indicates, " sandy," is not a natural one for a great city, and the water-supply is entirely artificial, from wells and huge tanks having Cufic inscriptions on their sides.

Pic turesque as is the scene, especially from among the palms on the east, Ramleh is nevertheless a modern place, when compared with the high antiquity of sites near to it. In crossing Palestine at any point three districts are passed through, each of which receives a distinctive name in the Bible and in Jewish writings. First we cross the flat sea plain, in part sandy and barren, scattered with the black tents or reed cabins of the small encampments of Bedawin, a pastoral race gradually losing ground before the peasantry ; in part a cultivated and very rich corn land, with wretched villages of mud perched on eminences whence the breeze is better felt. To the new comer these hamlets, most of which represent sites older than the time of Joshua, have a deserted appearance. The eye misses the contrast between roof and wall, and the glazed windows and wooden doors seen in Europe.

The peasant hut in the lowlands of Palestine consists merely of four walls of mud, with a roof of boughs covered also with mud ; hence the village, which consists of perhaps fifty or sixty such cabins huddled together without plan or order, and gradually climbing the slope so that the floor of one is level with the roof of another, has an uniform grey colour only broken by the whitewashed dome of the little chapel dedicated to the patron " Prophet " or Sheikh. In the plain there are scarcely any springs, and the village is supplied as a rule by cisterns and by a pond of stagnant rain-water banked round freshly every year. The most conspicuous object outside is the huge rubbish-heap where refuse of every kind is thrown. Savage mangy half-starved dogs keep watch above, and annoy the stranger until boldly attacked in turn.

They belong to no one, are cared for by no one, and their only food appears to be an occasional carcass of a donkey or bullock. It is said that they eat mice and beetles when nothing else is to be found. All night they vie with the jackal in their howls, and they are often really dangerous when rearing their puppies. Upon the refuse-heap, in the shade of the wall, the village elders may be seen seated smoking in rows, whilst the blue-gowned 'women toil up the hill with the goat-skin water-bags bound to their heads or the red pottery jars balanced upon them, holding in their tattooed lips the corner of the white head-veil which prevents their mouths being visible. The plain once passed, the traveller enters the district called Shephelah, or " lowlands " in the Bible, consisting of low hills, about 500 feet above the sea, of white soft limestome, with great bands of beautiful brown quartz running between the strata.

The broad valleys among these hills forming the entrances to the third district produce fine crops of corn, and on the hills the long olive groves flourish better than in either of the other districts. This part of the country is also the most thickly populated, and ancient wells, and occasionally fine springs, occur throughout. The villages are partly of stone, partly of mud * the ruins are so thickly spread over hill and valley that in some parts there are as many as three ancient sites to two square miles. All along the base of these hills, commanding the passes to the mountains, important places are to be found, such as Gath and Gezer, Emmaus and Beth Horon, and no part of the country is more rich in Bible sites or more famous in Bible history. With dawn on the 9th July we entered the " lowland " district, and before us were some of the ancient places above noticed.