Tent and Testament; a camping tour in Palestine

Front matter

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Preface

The tour which is recorded in this book followed in part the hackneyed tourist route ; in part a route which is seldom taken. It is hoped that each may have its own interest.

The average tourist who arrives in Jerusalem finds himself in the midst of perplexity. He is confronted by two or more sites for most biblical scenes. Two Zions, two Temple areas, two Bethanys, two Gethsemanes, two or more Calvarys, three Holy Sepul¬ chres, several Bethesdas, put in their claims for his veneration. And it is the same throughout his tour : there are two Bethlehems, two Capernaums, two Sychars, four Jerichos, and so on. Some attempt is made here to discriminate between the true and the false in respect of the Bible places which are visited by most pilgrims to Palestine.

For the rest, the detours to Bethlehem of Zebulon and to Chorazin, and the journey down the Ghor, with visits to Gadara and Pella, may interest those who have not left the beaten track and the Bible student in general.

The narrative is in some respects belated. The tour was taken five years ago, and, though the notes were written out in full immediately upon return, the

VI

PREFACE publication, with the results of subsequent study, has been delayed partly by an active life, partly by illness. The “ Unchangeable East ” has not, however, essen¬ tially altered since then. So far as the tourist is concerned, the main alterations are the completion of the northern road from Jerusalem as far as Sinjil, and the establishment of hotels at Nablus and Jenin. The opening of the railway from Haifa to Semakh does not help the average tourist : it is intended for and will be chiefly used by Mohammedan pilgrims. The suffering from drought, which occurred during my visit to Jerusalem, led to an attempt to lay on water from Solomons Pools, and a feeble stream now arrives in the Haram esh-Sherif, but it is available only for Moslems, and, since the pipes are laid on the surface of the ground, it arrives hot. Besides these “ improvements,” I do not know that any change remains to be noted which would alter the record if the tour had been taken this year.

PUBLISHERS NOTE

Mr. Rix died on October io, 1906, while this book was in the press.

We have e?ideavoured to make it accord in all respects with the Author’s wishes , and we are greatly indebted to those of his friends who have assisted us in the attempt.

Contents

CHAP. PAGE

I. Jaffa . i

II. From Jaffa to Jerusalem . 6

Appendix

A. The Nazareth Question . 255

B. The Bethlehem Question . 257

C- The Bethsaida Question . . . 265

D. The Capernaum Question ....... 274

E. The Bethesda Question ....... 298

F. The Site of Herod’s Temple . 300

Index . 305

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

To face

fig. page

Mountains of Samaria and the Plain of Esdraelon Frontispiece

1. Our Dragoman . 14

3. The Well at Shiloh . . 26

4. Jacob’s Well . 26

5. Resting Place on Mount Gerizim . ... 44

6. Tomb at Nain . . 44

7. Greek Church at Nazareth . 50

8. St. Mary’s Well at Nazareth ....... 50

9. The Old Mosque, Tiberias ....... 60

10. The Sheikh of Gergesa . 60

11. Khan Minyeh and Ain et-Tin, Gennesaret .... 76

12. Ain T&bigha : The Octagonal Enclosure . . . -76

13. Ruins of Chorazin . 82

14. Ruins of Synagogue : Chorazin ...... 82

15. Bedawin of Ain Belata ....... 88

16. Bridge of el-Ghajar ......... 88

17. The Infant Jordan ......... 94

18. Near Caesarea Philippi ........ 94

19. Caesarea Philippi : The Castle Gate from the Bridge . . 104

20. Caesarea Philippi: The Castle Gate from Within . . 104

21. The Village of B&niy&s, built from the stones of Caesarea

22. Summer Houses on the Roofs of Baniyas .... 106

23. Caesarea Philippi : The Cave of Pan . 108

24. Caesarea Philippi : The Source of the Jordan .... 108

25. Bedawi Village : Plain of Huleh . . no

26. Fishing Bedawin of Lake Huleh . no

27. Tiberias: Jewesses preparing for the Passover . . . 126

28. Tiberias: Jewesses preparing for the Passover . . . 126

29. Outflow of the Jordan at Kerak . 128

X

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

To face

fig. pare

30. Crossing the Jordan at Kerak . 128

31. Western Theatre at Gadara . 136

32. Theatre at Gadara: The Corridors . . . . . -136

35. Coin Struck at Tiberias . 142

36. Valley of el- Waggas . 142

37. Pella: The Terrace . 142

38. Pella: The Wadi el-Jirm ........ 148

39. Pella: Temple Ruins . 148

40. Conder’s “ Bethabara ” . 152

41 Bedawin Women by Jordan . . . . . . .152

42. Natives of Thebez . . . . . . . .158

43 Thebez: Driving Home the Cattle ...... 158

45. Gordon’s” Sepulchre ........ 162

46. Shore and Bottom of Prehistoric Jordan Lake . . -174

47. Ford of Nimrin (Bethabara ?) . 174

49. The Jordan near the Mouth of Wadi Nimrin .... 176

50. Pilgrims to the Tomb of Moses . 182

51. Pools of Solomon : The Middle Pool . 182

52. Upper Pool of Hebron ........ 198

53. Pool of Hezekiah . 198

54. Entrance to the Virgin’s Spring .*.... 208

55. Hezekiah’s Conduit . . . 208

56. The Old Pool . . . 212

57. The Pool of Siloam . 212

58. The Jews’ Wailing Place . . . . . . . .218

59. Jewesses at the Wailing Place • . 218

60. The Haram esh-Sherif. N.W. Angle . 224

61. The Dome of the Rock ........ 224

62. “ Conder’s ” Sepulchre . . 242

63. The Village of Siloam . 242

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKS REFERRED TO

Besant, Sir W., and Palmer, E. H., “Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin,” 1888

Burton, Sir R., “Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah ”

Conder, C. R., “Tent-Work in Palestine,” 6th edition,

Curtis, W. E., “To-day in Syria and Palestine,” Chicago, 1904

“ Dictionary of the Bible,” Hastings, 1898

“ Dictionary of the Bible,” Sir W. Smith, and Rev. J. M. Fuller, 2nd edition, 1893

Doane, T. W., “Bible Myths and their Parallels in other Religions,” 4th edition, 1882

“ Encyclopaedia Biblica,” 4 vols., 1899-1903 “ Encyclopaedia Britannica,” 9th edition

Edersheim, Alfred, “The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah,” 9th edition, 1897

Edersheim, Alfred, “ Sketches of Jewish Life ”

Finn, James, “ Byeways in Palestine,” 1868

Guerin, M. V., “ Description De La Palestine,” Tome I. (Galil6e)

Hausrath, Adolf, “ A History of the New Testament Times — The Time of Jesus,” translated from 2nd German edition, 1878

Hausrath, “Time of the Apostles,” 1895

ABBREVIATIONS

USED

Tent- Work

Hastings , D.B.

Smith , D.B

Encycl. Bibl.

Encycl. Brit.

Hausrath , Time of Jesus Hausrath ,

T ime of the Apostles

“ Hibbert Journal, The,” Vol. II., 1904

Xll

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKS REFERRED TO

Hull, E., “ The Survey of Western Palestine.” “ Me¬ moirs on the Geology and Physical Geography”

Josephus, Flavius, The Works of. Translated by W. Whiston, 1843

“ Kernel, The, and the Husk,” by the Author of “ Philo-Christus,'"3 1886

Keim, Theodor, “The History of Jesus of Nazara.” Translated by Arthur Ransom, 2nd edition, 1876

King, Rev. J., “ Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill at Jerusalem,” 1884

Lees, Rev. G. R., “Jerusalem and Its People,” 2nd edition

Le Strange, Guy, “ Palestine under the Moslems,” 1890

Le Strange, Guy, “ A Ride through Ajlun ”

Macgregor, J., “The Rob Roy on the Jordan,” 2nd edition, 1870

Merrill, Selah, “ East of the Jordan,” 2nd edition, 1870

Neander, A., “ General Church History,” 2nd edition. Translated by J. Torrey, 1847

Okakura, Kakasu, “ Ideals of the East ”

Palestine Exploration Fund. Memoirs. 4to

Palestine Exploration Fund. Quarterly Statement. 8vo

“ Purchas, His Pilgrimes.3’ Fol. 1625

Ramsay, W. M., “Was Christ Born in Bethlehem ? 33 2nd edition

Robinson, E., and E. Smith, “ Biblical Researches in Palestine,” 1841

Robinson, E., and E. Smith, and others, “ Later Biblical Researches in Palestine,” 1856

Sanday, Prof. W., “ Sacred Sites of the Gospels,” 1903 Schumacher, G., “Northern Ajlun ”

Schumacher, G., “ Pella,” 1889

Smith, Geo. Adam, “ Historical Geography of the Holy Land,” 1894

Smith, W. Robertson, “ Lectures on the Religion of the Semites.” First Series. 2nd edition, 1894

ABBREVIATION

USED

Sacred Sites

Smith , Hist.Geog.

BIBLIOGRAPHY xm

WORKS REFERRED TO

Stanley, Arthur P. (Dean), “ Sinai and Palestine,” 1883

Stapfer, Edmond, “ La Palestine au Temps de Jesus- Christ.” 6me edition

Stapfer, Edmond, “ Palestine in the Time of Christ.” Translated by A. H. Holmden, 1886

Thomson, W. M., “The Land and the Book,” 1866

Tristram, H. B., “The Land of Israel,” 3rd edition, 1876

Tristram, H. B., “The Natural History of the Bible,” gth edition, 1898

Wilson, Sir C. W., and Sir C. Warren, “ The Recovery of Jerusalem,” 1871

Wilson, John, “The Lands of the Bible Visited and Described,” 1847

ABBREVIATIONS

USED

Nat. Hist. Bib.

Chapter I Jaffa

After a leisurely journey across Europe, and a glimpse of Egypt, we (myself and a friend) anchored off Jaffa on Friday, March 8. The vessel in which we had sailed from Port Said was a Russian. Apparently she had no keel to speak of, for, although the sea was calm, she rolled prodigiously. Every one spent the night in more or less of misery, which was much increased by the fact that no one belonging to the ship, not even the captain, nor, alas, the steward, spoke a word of anything but Russian. One passenger, fortunately, could speak modern Greek, and by means of this he made the officers understand a little of our wants, and so we managed to endure the long hours in which we bored our way cork¬ screw fashion through the dark waters. When at length we anchored outside the reef we learned to our dismay that the surf was too heavy for the boats to put off.

All that weary day we swung and rolled and bobbed about in the smooth, heaving swell, the ship never still for a moment, the passengers mostly on their backs. Evening came, and still the ocean heaved and the reef foamed. For twenty-four hours we endured that curvilinear motion in many planes ; and then, oh, joy ! in the cold dawn of the second day the boats came threading the reef to our rescue, and a shout of relief went up from the travellers who crowded the deck.

We landed at about 7.30 a.m. and found our dragoman awaiting us. His Christian name was Hanna, which being interpreted means John ; a strong, stout, good-looking fellow, dressed in Syrian costume, cool and composed in manner, and speaking good English. He was a Christian, and a resident in this town of Jaffa.

One’s first impression of Jaffa is that of a place of unmiti¬ gated glare, with roads ankle-deep in dust. But this impression is soon lost in admiration for the beauty and luxuriance of the surroundings seen from any point of vantage. The view from the minaret of the Greek church, which was the first sight that Hanna took us to see, is very lovely. Below and around us was one dense mass of foliage, the greater part that of orange-groves upon which the fruit hung golden. Among the orange-trees were pomegranates, not yet in leaf, bananas, blossoming almonds, and, rising tall and stately amid the general mass, palms, which reared their feathery heads and gazed abroad over the blue waters of the Mediterranean. To the north-east rose the hills of Judaea and Samaria, and south-eastward the high plateau between Jerusalem and Hebron. These heights were all dim with a blue heat-mist ; Carmel and Gaza were still shrouded by it. Enough, however, we could see to enable us to realise, at length, what had been at first so difficult to believe, that we were indeed in the Holy Land.

This church of the Greek Christians is built in honour of Dorcas, whose tomb is supposed to be in the adjoining burial-ground. We did not care to visit it, but drove at once to the traditional house of Simon the Tanner. In Dean Stanley’s time the site of Simon’s house was shown near the Latin convent ; but it has shifted since then, and is now shown half a mile away, to the south of the town : there is little reason to suppose that either site is the true one. Dean Stanley, it is true, regards the former as “ one of the few localities which can claim to represent an historical scene of the New Testament” ; but the most that Canon Cheynecan say for the long note in which Stanley maintains this posi¬ tion* is that it “is at least eloquent and chivalrous.”! On the whole, the archaeology of Jaffa may be summed up in the three words used by the Canon in the article just quoted : “ Antiquities are wanting.”

But although there are no antiquities, and ancient sites are more than uncertain, we may to some extent console

* “Sinai and Palestine,” p. 274.

“ Encycl. Bibl.” art. “ Joppa.”

JAFFA 3

ourselves with the reflection that there is no doubt about the situation of the town itself. Jaffa or Yafa, as the natives call it, corresponds to the ancient Joppa. It was in these blue waters that the cedars were floated for the building of the Temple ; and in the offing yonder that the miserable act of treachery took place, in the days of Judas Maccabaeus, when the men of Joppa “ invited the Jews who dwelt among them to go with their wives and children into the boats which they had provided,” and then “ took them out to sea and drowned them in number not less than two hundred.” * Here stood the city which Jonathan Maccabaeus besieged and took, and which went through such troubled times during the Maccabaean Wars. Here stood the later city which Pompey built and gave to Syria, which Caesar restored to the Jews, which Herod seized, and which Cestius plundered and burnt in the Jewish War. And, coming to later times, it was here that Richard Coeur de Lion fought the Saracens ; and it was on that strip of beach, where the surf is now breaking so white, that Napoleon, called “the Great,” shot in cold blood two thousand prisoners whom he could not feed and would not release.

There is, moreover, much that interests in the life which to-day crowds the streets and roads. Here come long processions of camels loaded with mountains of empty orange-boxes going to the gardens to be packed for Europe. Here, up this narrow court, is a bare- legged boy drawing water from a well, in a bucket made of a roughly stitched piece of goat-skin. The stone edge of the well is worn with deep grooves where the ropes have rubbed for many generations. Possibly this may be the very well which supplied water for Simon's tannery : who knows ? The bazaars, too, are picturesque. The shops are dark, shadowy recesses without shop-front or screen : inside squat the shopkeepers smoking their pipes. Along the narrow lane between these stalls, crowds of picturesque figures pass to and fro, old men in turbans riding brisk little donkeys ; youths in long cotton gowns girded at the waist ; women with their faces veiled, not as in Egypt merely from the eyes downward, but with the countenance completely covered.

Perhaps, after all, the most interesting thing about Joppa is the variety of myth connected with it, in which variety there is, moreover, a very interesting unity. I am reminded of it by the appearance of the reef as it is seen from the shore. One cannot but note the likeness of the long line of rocky spikes, standing up so abruptly from the water, to the backbone of some great fish whose skeleton has been stranded in the shallow surf ; and I have wondered whether that reef was not in fact the skeleton of the sea-monster which was shown at Joppa until about 60 B.c. as that of the creature from whose jaws Andromeda was rescued by Perseus ; though, if it is true that Marcus Scaurus, Pompey's general, carried the skeleton to Rome, that cannot be, for there it still is.

The myth of the great Joppa fish is threefold. First you have the myth of Jonah : for, it was from Joppa that Jonah took ship for Tarshish, when the storm arose and he was cast into the sea, to be swallowed by “ the great fish which the Lord had prepared.” Next you have the Greek tale of Heracles, rescuing Hesione from the sea-monster at Joppa by leaping into its jaws and tearing its entrails for three days and three nights. And, thirdly, you have the story of Perseus rescuing Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus and Joppa, who was chained to the rocks at a place of the latter name.*

As to these three myths folklorists seem pretty well agreed that they are variations of the same idea — that of the sun being swallowed up by the earth (or sea) and vomited forth again in the morning — a cross-current of another cycle coming in, from the observation of the winter solstice, when the sun remains in the lowest regions for three days and three nights from December 22 to 25.

But this does not of itself explain why all three myths should be localised at Joppa. To explain this we must remember that Joppa was originally a Phoenician colony in Philistine territory, and that the particular legend of Heracles given above is of Phoenician origin. Also, in the neighbour¬ ing Philistine country Dagon was worshipped, who was represented as a man emerging from a fish's mouth, being in fact a symbol of that same solar myth which is represented by the stories of Heracles and Perseus ; while Jonah is said to be no other than Oannes, the Chaldean fish-god, who is one with the Philistine Dagon. Whoso meditates

* According to Josephus “the chains wherewith Andromeda was bound have left their marks” on the rocks here (“Jewish Wars,” ifi. ix. 3), and Pliny says the same.

JAFFA 5

on these cognate facts will not find it hard to see how Joppa may have come to be the scene of these strange adventures.*

* See Doane’s “ Bible Myths,” p. 77, et seq. ; “ Encycl. Bibl.” art. “ J°PPa ” » Smith’s D.B. art. “Joppa,” &c. We have also to take into account the widespread association of dragons with the movement of waters. The rising and falling of the intermittent spring at Jerusalem known as St. Mary’s Well are accounted for by the natives by a hypo¬ thetical dragon, who is believed to swallow the waters and vomit them forth again at regular intervals. The special liveliness of the sea at Joppa, where the Mediterranean swell is churned into foam by the remarkable reef at that place, would, therefore, go to confirm the connection between Joppa and sea-monsters. (See “ Encycl. Bibl.” arts. “ Dragon ” and “ Joppa.”)

Chapter II Jaffa To Jerusalem

There was no need to linger in Jaffa, and at mid-day we took train to Jerusalem by the one little bit of railway which up to the time of our visit had invaded Palestine.* It is a line of about fifty miles, with one train a day each way, which accomplishes the journey in something under four hours.

The line runs first through the plain of Sharon, a district of wonderfully rich and deep soil. Along the shore a great deal of this rich land has been lost beneath the drifting sand, which has accumulated to the depth of a couple of feet or more. A little energy in planting tamarisk and other bushes might rescue some thousands of acres which are otherwise doomed. At present, however, there is a vast extent of fertile soil remaining. In two or three places I noticed excavations near the line, which showed a depth of ten feet or more of pure loam. The scriptural “ Rose of Sharon/' by the by, is said to be the Polyanthus narcissus (Narcissus tazetta ), which grows both upon the plains and hills of this district, a flower of which Orientals are passion¬ ately fond. “ While it is in flower," says Canon Tristram, “it is to be seen in all the bazaars, and the men as well as the women at that season always carry two or three blossoms at which they are continually smelling."

The train passes between large plantations of orange-trees ; then through cornfields, the blades of wheat standing, on this ninth day of March, eight or ten inches high, very rich and glossy. In the distance we could see the small square watch-towers along the Jerusalem road. “ Before the railway was made," said Hanna, “two soldiers were put in each

* A branch of the Hejaz line, from Haifa, is in course of con¬ struction, but is still (1906) far from completion. The Southern extension of the Damascus-Beyrout Railway is now carried as far as Mezerib, and a Turkish railway has been built from Damascus to Akaba.

JAFFA TO JERUSALEM

tower to guard the road, but there is now much less traffic by road, and the towers have no guard in them.” On the right of the line Hanna pointed out the village of Beit- Dejan — the ancient Beth-Dagon (Josh. xv. 41). It stands on the border of Philistia. And on the same side there presently came into sight the Tower of Ramleh, near the old Saracenic and Crusading city of that name.

Then we passed through the olive-plantations of Lydda, enclosed by hedges of prickly pear, and I knew that away to the left lay Modein, where the Maccabaean revolt took its rise, where Mattathias hewed down the false priest who sacrificed to idols, and where the Maccabees are buried. On our right Ekron was pointed out, and then the train began to climb through the harsh and stony land of Judaea, the maritime plain being left behind. Past “ Samson's Cave ” the engine panted, toiling up a narrow chasm in the limestone, where we got our first impression of the wadis of Palestine. Here, too, we saw our first jackals, of which we were to have experience in plenty before our tour was done.

We arrived at Jerusalem at five o'clock or thereabouts, and were straightway whirled off to the hotel in one of the open carriages drawn by a pair of horses, which here fulfil the office of the London cab. People say that Jerusalem is disappointing, especially when approached from the western side. I can only say that I did not find it so. To me it was forthwith entirely fascinating ; so picturesque, so venerable, so crowded with strange half-civilised life, so full of historical and sacred interest ! In particular I found it more obviously biblical than I had expected. Here were the blind, the lame, the lepers, the camels passing through the city gates, the peasants riding on their asses. It hardly needed interpreting ; the past was brought to life. As I sat in my room and looked from the window at the “ Tower of David” and a narrow perspective of grey walls beyond, and knew that at last my eyes actually beheld the Holy City, there came one of those rare moments of life when the ideal is fulfilled and the mind rests in perfect content.

I was fortunate in being the bearer of a letter of intro¬ duction to the Rev. Dr. Merrill, the United States Consul in Jerusalem, and the learned author of several works on Palestine. Many were the kindnesses which he wrought us during our stay in the Holy Land, and very valuable was the information which he afforded us. On Sunday morning, being the day after our arrival, the kind doctor took us on the roof of our hotel and indicated the points of interest in the bird’s-eye view of the city which is thence obtained. The “ Grand New Hotel " in which we were staying is close to the Jaffa Gate, in the middle of the western wall. As you face eastward the high ground, on which of old stood the Upper City, lies in the near foreground and stretches away to your right. This, in the time of Christ, was the aristocratic and wealthy quarter of the town. It is now erroneously known as “ Zion," a designation which causes much confusion in the minds of tourists. On your left are the two domes belonging to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and straight before you, at the further boundary of the city, stands forth the Dome of the Rock, in the old Temple Area, situated on the true “Zion" of the Psalms. Beyond this rises the Mount of Olives, very sadly disfigured of late by the buildings which have multiplied upon its sacred soil, and, back of all, stretches the purple wall of Moab, a huge straight-ridged mountain-barrier, looking strangely near, though it is thirty or five-and-thirty miles away.

Dean Stanley * seems to find some difficulty in justifying the Psalmist’s simile, “ As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about his people." He is tempted to refer it to the mountain-barrier on the far North, together with the enclosing arms of Olivet on the East, and, perhaps, the distant range of Moab just mentioned ; but he is perplexed because on the South and West he finds no protecting mountains such as the expression would lead one to look for. Seen, however, from an elevated point, like this roof on which we are standing, the surrounding country seems to fit perfectly with the scriptural picture. The pro¬ tection of the city is notin any towering heights which over¬ top and hem the city in, but in that wide sea of mountains which, billowing ridge behind ridge, and stretching arid and forbidding far into the distance, are seen to surround the city on every hand. This difficult country, waterless and waste, was, historically speaking, always Jerusalem's pro¬ tection.

And now it behoved us immediately to make our plans, and decide upon what day we would take up our camp. One main object of our tour was to see something of the Ghor or Valley of the Jordan. I had long since come to the

* “ Sinai and Palestine,” p. 174.

JAFFA TO JERUSALEM

conclusion that it was probably by this Jordan Valley route that Jesus in His last sad journey came from Galilee to Jerusalem, and I was anxious for this reason to travel down some portion of its length. After due deliberation we decided to travel northward to Nazareth at once, returning southward by the Jordan Valley, and deferring any sight¬ seeing in Jerusalem until the end of our tour.

This decision having been communicated to Hanna, he forthwith brought our horses round for us to try them, and we went for a two hours' ride on as lovely a morning as 1 have ever known. It was just such a day as early June sometimes brings to us in England, when the air is of perfect clearness, the colour brilliant, the heat tempered by a delicious breeze, and the dull world so gay and buoyant that it is hard to believe that it has ever been the scene of tragedy or terror.

At the start our horses were somewhat fresh and frisky, and performed various antics to the amusement of the onlookers, but they very soon quieted down and gave no trouble except such as was occasioned by their extreme jealousy of one another. This I have been told is character¬ istic of the Syrian horses. They seldom quarrel with their riders, but continually quarrel with each other. The almost invariable mode of progression being in Indian file, it is inevitable that one horse of the party should be the leader ; and which is to be the leader is the great subject of dispute among the horses. In their endeavours to settle this question each in his own favour, they bite and kick and fight, with no animosity against their riders but occasionally with peril to them all the same. The peril, however, is after all but slight, for the Syrian horses are docile to a degree, and there is no need for even inex¬ perienced riders to make such an exhibition of themselves as did the good clergyman of whom Dr. Merrill tells in his delightful book “ East of Jordan ” * u who was so timid that he had his horse led by the bridle from Jaffa to Jerusalem, to Jericho, Mar Saba, Hebron, and back to Jerusalem again, and thence all the way up through the country to Beirut 1 "

Our ride took us first to the knoll above “ Jeremiah’s Grotto," which I had learned in my previous study to identify with Calvary. The question whether it is rightly so identified must be discussed in a future chapter ; here it will suffice to say that it is a mound divided from the northern wall of the present city only by a road and a small area of garden ground, and presenting to it the broken face of a sheer cliff, while on all other sides it slopes gently down so as to form a slightly rounded surface.

I had sufficient faith in the site to make the interest very great, yet there was always the haunting doubt, and there was moreover the hard glare of the mid-day sun, which made the reality seem too earthly. I felt that one should have come here not only in full faith, but by twilight. On this first visit it was as if the sun were shouting to us, “ This is Calvary ! ” and it ought to have been whispered.