# The Handbook of Palestine/Part 3

PART III.
PLACES OF INTEREST.
§ 1. Archaeology and Art in Palestine.
Introductory.—The records of the great Egyptian conqueror Thothmes III. (c. 1479 B.C.) and the famous Tel al-Amarna letters addressed to the heretic king Amenhotep IV. (c. 1375 B.C.) give us some idea of Canaanite civilization in Palestine. Unfortunately its treasures, if they exist unspoiled, lie for the most part under the tels (artificial hills), which mark the sites of the ancient cities of this period.
Thus, as he passes northwards along the Philistine plain, the traveller will notice the lofty mound on which the present town of Gaza is built, and the similar but sand-covered mass of ancient Ashdod, which hes to the west of the present village of Esdud and ¼ mile south of the railway station.
In the plain of Acre (north of the railway) can be seen a number of such unidentified sites; and in the adjoining plain of Esdraelon a series of them, including the famous cities of Megiddo, Taʾanach and Bethshan, guard the passes southwards over the foothills of Carmel and the steep descent into the Jordan valley.
Thus, while the Israelite towns, with one or two exceptions, have left little or no trace of their existence on the bare rocks of the mountains, the earlier sites in the lowlands ​have better survived the lapse of centuries, and afford us to-day the fullest, and almost the only evidence for the ancient history of Canaan.
Excavations so far carried out in Palestine, notably at Tel al-Hesy (Lachish), Tel al-Jezer (Gezer), Ain Shems (Beth Shemesh), Ascalon (Askalon) and Tel al-Mutesellim (Megiddo), have established a chronological framework for these earlier periods on evidence largely derived from the development of the pottery types and their decoration in successive ages.
These periods may be tabulated as follows :
Palaeolithic. The instruments, which are confined in their distribution to the hill-country, are mostly of the "Chellean" type, though other forms are occasionally found.
Neolithic. The date and distribution of this age are uncertain. Its instruments are coarse and, with its rude hand-made pottery, shade into the following period.
Early Bronze (c. 2000–1700 B.C.). Vases are wheel-made but still coarse in type.
Late Bronze (c. 1700–1200 B.C.). This period shows strong Cypriote and Mycenaean (Mediterranean) influences at work.
Early Iron (1200–600 B.C.). New types, due to Philistine and Israelite invasion, are predominant. Egyptian scarabs and amulets are very common.
Hellenistic (600–100 B.C.). Attic vases are useful as dating factors. Both black-figured (600–450 B.C.) and red-figured (450–200 B.C.) are found in the more important sites.
Roman and Byzantine (100 B.C.–636 A.D.). Lamps, glass, etc.
Dolmen groups are to be found at the north-west end of the Sea of Galilee, but are of no special interest except to the archaeologist. Of greater importance are the five megalithic monuments called the Caves of the Children of Israel (Kabur Beni Isra'in), which lie close to the village of Hizmeh, a few miles north of Jerusalem. Their origin and ​purpose are unknown, but they are most probably connected with the burial of the dead.
Old Testament Period.—The earlier archaeological monuments in Palestine are cisterns and pools for the collection of rain-water, oil and wine presses, and rock tombs (kokim). Hebrew architecture is derived partly from that of the Phoenicians, who borrowed their types from Egyptian and Babylonian sources, partly from the Hittites. David's palace and Solomon's temple were works of Phoenician architecture, whose peculiarity lay in the fact that its fundamental source was not the column but the sculptured rock. Hence the plan of the structure was apt to be subservient to its material; hence, also, was probably due the use in building of enormous blocks of stone, such as are to be seen in the Herodian walls of Jerusalem and Hebron. The excavations which have:taken place in Palestine reveal a standard of material civilization throughout the period covered by Old Testament history, which is low when compared with the standard of the sublime literature to which that period gave birth.
Greek and Roman Periods.—Research has not yet given us a consecutive chronological account of the monuments, or the remains of monuments, that have survived. They may, however, be said to include the rock tombs to be seen in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, Beit Jibrin and elsewhere. A rock tomb may have a much more ancient origin than its surface decoration would suggest. Some of those at Beit Jibrin contain decorations of the Roman period, though the excavated caves themselves may be much earlier. Similarly the tomb of Absalom and the Pyramid of Zacharias in the Kidron Valley to the west of Jerusalem may be works of a more remote age than is suggested by the Egyptian and Graeco-Roman character of their surface treatment.
Herod the Great did much to spread the influence of Roman architecture; and; subsequently, the civilization and arts of Rome were extended by the emperors to the most remote districts of Palestine beyond Jordan and Arabia Felix.
​Roman sites in Palestine, unlike those in Trans-jordania, have been continuously occupied. Successive occupants destroyed the buildings upon them and used the materials for their own purposes. It is probable that there was no period more destructive of Roman buildings than that of the Crusades. At Caesarea the Crusaders built their walls from stones taken from the Roman walls and used Roman columns as bonding stones. Gaza and Ascalon were treated in much the same way, and nothing now is left above ground level of these Roman cities. At Caesarea fragments of Roman masonry may still be seen on the seashore. Samaria (now called Sebastieh) was an important Roman city. Excavations have revealed the remains of a basilica. The monolithic columns, the capitals of Corinthian design and the details of the pedestals seem to show that the building may date from Herod the Great. The remains of a great temple built by Herod in memory of the Emperor Augustus may also be seen, together with the grand stairway which led up to it. Ascalon has for centuries been used as a quarry. Nothing remains above ground level, but excavations have disclosed what remains of Herod's cloister. Of Roman Gaza practically no trace is visible above ground level.
Mention may be made of the remains of Jewish synagogues in Galilee. At Capernaum there is an interesting example. This building of the second or third century would seem to illustrate an imperfectly informed but interesting attempt at interpreting, by Jewish workers, the details of Roman architecture.
Christian Architecture in Palestine.—As an ample literature exists on the periods enumerated above, it has been thought sufficient to deal with them somewhat summarily in this Handbook. The Christian and Moslem architecture of Palestine, on the other hand, have hitherto received so little attention that rather fuller treatment here has been thought desirable.
At the beginning of the reign of Constantine the glorious ​biblical names of Zion and Jerusalem had been largely forgotten; and Aelia Capitolina, with its colonnades, with its Forum surrounded by temples and municipal monuments, with its Capitol and its camp of legionaries, differed nowise from other Roman provincial cities, whose sole ambition it was to emulate the metropolis.
When Constantine made Christianity the State religion of the Empire, he determined that Jerusalem should give in its buildings striking evidence of the change.
The sites of Calvary and of the Holy Sepulchre had not disappeared by the beginning of the fourth century; and for more than ten years from 325 A.D. onwards Constantine lavished the skill of his builders and much treasure on giving to these sites a worthy covering. It was his aim to surpass the most ambitious architectural monuments of previous ages; and, from the vestiges which contemporary archaeology has been able to recover, the realization fell not far short of his ambition.
The impressive group known as the "Holy Sepulchre," consisting of a collection of separate edifices within a single enclosure, evoked universal enthusiasm and attempts at imitation throughout Christendom. It marked, however, no striking departure from the principles and details of classical architecture. The rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre was derived from the Pantheon, itself modelled on the mausoleums of the Hellenistic age; the basilica of the Martyrium was purely Roman; the porticos differed only in their additional decoration from the porticos and peristyles to be met with throughout Aelia Capitolina or any other Romanized city. At the same time, Christian symbolism, ritual requirements and liturgical developments began to effect certain adaptations in purely classical art.
The internal troubles of the Empire after the death of Constantine for a time diminished building activity in the Holy Places; and during this period only the Church of the Caenaculum was added (towards 345) to the original trilogy of Holy Sepulchre, Mt. of Olives and Bethlehem, ​Before the end, however, of the fourth century the strong hand of Theodosius had imposed peace; and building activities were resumed. The ruins of Gethsemane, whose earliest basilica dates from this period, indicate that Christian architecture had already become to a certain extent emancipated from classical traditions: the rigid proportions of the classical basilica have undergone modification, and ornamental sculpture has assumed a new form. This emancipation proceeded farther during the first quarter of the fifth century, when the generosity of the great Roman ladies, such as Paula and the two Melanias, who had established themselves in Jerusalem, gave a fresh impetus to religious building. The interesting octagonal Church of the Ascension, of this period, introduced into Jerusalem a type of building as yet little known in the Christian world.
A particularly fruitful epoch for Jerusalem was inaugurated by the exiled Empress Eudocia, wife of Theodosius II. A zealous builder and possessed of an ardent devotion to the Holy Places, Eudocia was responsible for a large number of new constructions. Apart from churches of modified basilican type, such as the Martyrium of S. Stephen, and the Church of the Paralytic built over the Piscina Probatica, there begin to appear new types of buildings, such as the domed church over the Pool of Siloam, and, above all, the tri-apsidal church which survives to-day almost unchanged in the crypt of the Church of S. John the Baptist (cf. Part II., § 11). This church appears to be the earliest known dated example of a form in architecture subsequently introduced by Justinian in the Constantinian basilica at Bethlehem.
The curious domed edifices inside the Double Gate of the Haram enclosure, and the remarkable Golden Gate, also date in all probability from the time of Eudocia. Assisted by the development of monasticism and the donations of the Christian world to the Holy Places, the impetus given by the Empress to Christian architecture in Palestine endured until, in the first half of the sixth century, Justinian gave to it a new life and made of Jerusalem the ἅγια πόλις ​of the Madaba mosaic. Then came a period of Persian invasions and Imperial decay, followed in 637 by the conquest of Jerusalem by ʾOmar. Notwithstanding the tolerance of the earlier Khalifs, Moslem rule inevitably arrested the development of Christian religious art; and such gifts as the Holy Places now received came rather from the West, through the liberality of Charlemagne, than from the Byzantine East. The first Western note is struck by certain monastic foundations, in particular by those which afforded hospital treatment for pilgrims. The fanaticism of the mad Khalif Hakim in the first years of the eleventh century led to the almost complete destruction of Christian religious buildings; and the efforts of the Emperor Constantine Monomachus could barely cope with the vastness of the ruin. The exhausted Eastern Empire could only attempt a hasty restoration of the Holy Sepulchre; while a few hospitals were constructed’ by merchants of Amalfi. The situation was reversed by the liberation of the Holy Places at the hands of the Crusaders in 1099.
The character of the artistic renascence of Jerusalem in the twelfth century and during the lifetime of the Latin Kingdom has often been misunderstood. Because it coincided with the Byzantine renascence under the Comneni, because a judicious adaptation of local conditions introduced certain technical formulae and certain innovations in the art of the West, because the co-operation of Greek craftsmen has been definitely established, it has been thought that Palestine, and Jerusalem in particular, were a fruitful school in which Frankish architects acquired the knowledge which made possible the full development of their art. The study of the surviving monuments indicates that such was not the case. The technical structural detail and the decoration of the principal buildings of the Crusading period indicate that they are products of Romanesque art, similar to the buildings which arose throughout the West after the first half of the eleventh century.
The remarkable castles with which the Crusaders endowed Palestine and Syria are alluded to in Part I., § 5.
​These gesta dei per francos have been fittingly studied by French scholars; and the works of de Vogüé, Riant, Rey, and the more recent studies of PP. Vincent and Abel, O.P., are indispensable for the student of this period.
Moslem Architecture in Palestine.—That Palestine is rich in examples of Moslem architecture is not surprising. That it is not very much richer is because the country has suffered from many wars and many inroads of destructive barbarians. The natural constitution of Palestine and the building aptitudes of its inhabitants favour the production of noble works of architecture; but the situation of the country on the high road between continents has always endangered their permanence. Hence periods of great prosperity are followed by and are sharply contrasted with periods of great disaster. But newcomers, if they chose, could always profit by the building skill and building traditions of the population, and were able to use materials from the ruined works of former generations.
At the time of the Arab conquest in the seventh century A.D. there were in Palestine many workers skilled in all the building crafts. There was also a wealth of already wrought material; and, moreover, of material that was available for use without having recourse to the destruction of buildings then standing. In the year 636 A.D. the Arabs captured all the cities of Palestine from Gaza to Nablus. In the following year Jerusalem capitulated (cf. Part I., § 4). Twenty-two years earlier the country had been invaded and a large proportion of its buildings had been destroyed by the Persians. The land, when the Arabs arrived, was doubtless still covered by the ruins caused by that invasion. Dismantled walls of wrought stone, fallen columns, slabs of marble and other remains of ruined Byzantine or earlier structures were plentiful, and provided a supply of exceptionally fine materials that could only be exhausted by many years of intense building activity. The Arabs were not barbarians, nor was architecture an art altogether strange to them. They were a people of great taste and liberality as well as of not a little political sagacity. They fully ​appreciated the pleasure as well as the profit to be gained from splendid architecture; and when, fifty years after the conquest, the fifth Omayyad Khalif, ʾAbd al-Melek ibn Marwan, founded the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, he took every advantage of his ample opportunity. He used the traditional skill of the workers established in the country; and he employed the unsurpassed building materials that lay ready. The traditions of the workers were, of course, Byzantine; and the famous domed shrine that they erected was consequently Byzantine in character. This character the shrine has, to a large extent, retained even to the present day, notwithstanding the many changes in method or style of architectural expression that have developed during the long life of the Dome of the Rock, and have, from time to time, been incorporated with the structure or with its decoration. The columns used by ʾAbd al-Melek were taken from earlier buildings or, rather, from their ruins; some, possibly, from the ruins of Constantine's basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, which the Persians had destroyed. Internally the enclosing octagon wall was covered, as it still is, with marble slabs in the Byzantine manner. The dome, the drum on which it rests and the supporting arches were decorated with glass mosaics of Byzantine character. Mosaics also covered the outside of the building, except the lower half of the octagon wall, which then, as now, was clothed in marble. Within the shrine the mosaic method of decoration has survived in the main, with the important exception of the dome. But externally a decoration of glazed tiles has taken the place of the mosaics. Thus, though inside there is much left of the original Byzantine character, yet, outside, the Dome of the Rock is now clothed in a Persian dress, the product of an art of high antiquity that can be traced back to four hundred years before our era and to the coloured glazes of Susa. Earthquakes, fire, winter storms, hands of varying degrees of skill directed by minds as varied in their taste as in their intentions, together with periods of neglect due to political conditions, have all played their part in the production of the Dome of the Rock as we know it to-day. ​The shrine as it now stands constitutes a most precious and remarkable record of history and of human effort. In it is to be found the handiwork not only of many generations of men but also of many races; of Greeks and Armenians, of Arabs, Persians and Turks, and even of Franks.
The present purpose is not, however, to describe but to direct attention. Those who desire a fuller knowledge will refer to the many already published descriptions of this famous shrine, and, above all, will examine the shrine itself.
There are in Palestine no other monuments of the Omayyad period; for, though the Mosque of al-Aqsa was founded by ʾAbd al-Melek ibn Marwan, yet it has been so altered as to bear but little relationship to the mosque he built. Nor are there in Palestine any architectural remains to reflect the splendid days of the earlier ʾAbbasid Khalifs. Towards the end of the ninth century these Khalifs ceased to possess any real power in Palestine. The power passed successively to the Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Fatimite dynasties of Egypt. Nothing is left of their works. To the inroads of the Karmathians in the tenth century, of the savage Turkomans towards the end of the eleventh century and to the Crusades is no doubt largely due the destruction of the Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Fatimite work. It is not until after the Battle of Hattin in 1187 (cf. Part I., § 5), the capture by Saladin of Jerusalem from the Crusaders and the loss by the Crusaders of all the hill-country and the Jordan valley, that we again find examples of Moslem architecture. In respect of Moslem architecture in Palestine there is, then, a blank period of five hundred years between the Dome of the Rock (687 A.D.) and the next Moslem architectural work that has survived in Palestine (1187).
Saladin's first task was to undo much that the Crusaders had done. The Dome of the Rock, which they had turned into a church, he restored to its former use. He did the same for the Aqsa Mosque. The existing mihrab (prayer niche) of that mosque is his work. An inscription above ​the niche records his thanks for victory. The beautiful pulpit, dated 564 A.H. (1164 A.D.), that stands near the mihrab was brought by Saladin from Aleppo. It is an extremely fine example of twelfth century Moslem woodwork.
Saladin, in general, readapted all buildings of Moslem origin to their original purposes and adapted Christian buildings to Moslem needs. For example, he turned the palace of the Latin Patriarchs in Jerusalem into a great khanqa (hostel), whose entrance, built by him, still stands; he converted the Church of S. Anne into a school for the teaching of Shafi doctrine. He also repaired the walls of Jerusalem. Although these walls have since been dismantled, largely rebuilt or repaired, yet they still contain much of his work.
The three centuries, the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth, which followed Saladin's capture of Jerusalem were distinguished by great building activity. Despite the neglect from which they suffered in Turkish times, many noble specimens of Moslem architecture produced during the three centuries preceding the Ottoman conquest remain to us. Most of these monuments are to be found in Jerusalem. To the early thirteenth century belong the ruins of a great madrasa (Moslem seminary) built in 1209 A.D. by Melek Muʾazzam al-ʾIsa to the north of the Haram al-Sherif. To the same period appears to belong the gateway of the Haram known as the Bab al-Hitta. Into the lower part of this gateway a fine Frank altar or tomb has been built. In the street from the Bab al-ʾAtm (one of the northern doors of the Haram) to the Tariq Sitti Maryam (Via Dolorosa) is one of the finest examples of Moslem architecture in Palestine. This is the madrasa al-Salamieh. This school dates from 1300 A.D. It has a stalactite entrance of exquisite design and workmanship. The masonry of the whole building is most finely dressed and perfectly jointed. It is deeply to be regretted that this magnificent building is completely neglected and is falling into ruin. Among the hostels built in the thirteenth century are the great Mansuri ​hostel (1282) in the Tariq Bab al-Nazir, used as a prison by the Turks and now as a khan for Moslems from the Sudan; the hostel of Ali al-Din (1267) near the Bab al-Hadid, and the Rabat al-Kurd (1290), situated opposite the splendid façade of the Arghunieh madrasa outside the Bab al-Hadid.
Just as ʾAbd al-Melek ibn Marwan in the seventh century both profited by the skill of the craftsmen he found in the country and employed materials from earlier buildings, so also did the Bahrite Mamelukes of Egypt, who ruled in Palestine from 1250 to 1390 A.D., not only benefit by the existence of the large body of practised craftsmen which the country clearly possessed while under Frank rule, but also used, when it proved convenient to do so, materials from Christian buildings for incorporation in their own works. Hence we find, in some of the Mameluke buildings, many stones that their own masons had neither quarried nor dressed, stones that they took from Frank structures. The bridge at Ludd (Lydda) built by the conqueror of S. Louis, the Mameluke Sultan Bibars (cf. Part I., § 6), bearing his emblem, the lion, appears to be largely constructed of materials worked by Christian masons or at least by masons trained in Frank methods. The Mamelukes much admired the Frank buildings. They themselves were great builders, and they were sometimes tempted to destroy a building they admired (but perhaps had no use for as it stood) in order to make use of the parts they liked best or could most conveniently adapt for their own purposes. After Bibars had captured and destroyed Jaffa, he sent the wood and the marble of the buildings to Cairo for the construction of his mosque there; Sultan Mohammed al-Nasr ibn Qalaʾun similarly treated a doorway of the Cathedral of Acre; and in the porch of the great Mosque of Sultan Hasan in Cairo are to be seen most interesting fragments of carved Gothic work, evidently looted from some Frank building in Palestine. The stones composing the arches of the porch to the.shrine of Abu Huraira at Yebna are of Frank origin. An inscription records the ​building of this porch by Bibars. The minaret of the mosque at Yebna, the tomb known as the Kebekieh in the Mamilla Cemetery outside Jerusalem, and the north-west minaret of the Haram al-Sherif in Jerusalem are among the many Moslem buildings in which Frank materials are found. One of the capitals that adorn the north-east minaret referred to is carved with a representation of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. The Frank shrine from which it, with its column, came was not destroyed. Evidently some only of the columns and capitals were needed. The rest of the shrine was spared and still stands.
Among the other notable buildings of the Bahrite Mamelukes the following must be mentioned. At Ramleh there is a tower which was the minaret and is the only part left standing of a great mosque. It dates from the first quarter of the fourteenth century, and illustrates very well the conditions of that time: on the north and west sides of the Haram al-Sherif are, amongst others, the madrasas known as the Khatunieh (1354), the Asardieh (1359), the Manjaqieh (1360), and the Malikieh; all these are fine examples, though sadly neglected, of the work of their time. In the Tariq Bab al-Silsileh are the madrasa al-Taziya (1329), the madrasa Tashtamurieh (1382) and, near the Bab al-Silsileh, the madrasa al-Tanqizieh (1329), with a very fine entrance porch. In the Tariq Bab al-Hadid, just outside the Haram, is the madrasa Arghunieh (1357). This college contains the tomb of its founder. Of this tomb the dome has lately fallen through neglect. In general the whole of this exceptionally fine but deserted college is in urgent need of attention.
The Burjite Mamelukes of Egypt, who succeeded the Bahrites, ruled Palestine from 1390 to 1516. Among the works of that time may be mentioned the great palace of the Lady Tonsoq al-Muzaffar. This palace is in the street known as Aqabet al-Sitt. The façade of this magnificent building stretches up the side of most of this street. Opposite the palace is the lady's tomb. The palace is certainly one of the most remarkable Moslem buildings in Jerusalem. ​How much is left of its interior is not accurately known, but it is to be feared that a good deal has fallen to ruin. On the west side of the Haram al-Sherif is the great Ashrafieh madrasa, the upper part of which is unfortunately in ruins. Its splendid fan-vaulted entrance porch still stands. This madrasa was built in 1480 by the Sultan Kait Bai, whose fine tomb in Cairo is so well known to every visitor.
The many hostels and colleges built in Jerusalem during the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries show that in those centuries Jerusalem was a city affording opportunities for study to large numbers of people, who doubtless came from all over the Moslem world to visit the holy sites and to gain learning. Each of these colleges was endowed with land, whose revenues went to their support. To discover the land allotted to the maintenance of each college would provide an interesting study and might result in the provision of the money needed for their repair and re-establishment as seats of learning.
Soon after the opening of the sixteenth century the Mamelukes fell before the power of the Ottoman Turks. For a few years after the Ottoman conquest, energy continued to be spent upon building. The Dome of the Rock was repaired and retiled; the gates and walls were repaired and rebuilt. The Damascus Gate in its upper part is of this time (1537). A number of sebils (fountains) were constructed in the year 1536. But this energy was ephemeral. A great period had come to an end. The Ottoman had arrived. The world was changing. The Cape route to India had been discovered, and those who held Egypt and Syria could no longer grow rich on the dues extracted at Alexandria and Alexandretta from merchants engaged in trading in Far Eastern and Indian goods in transit for European ports.
Of later date than the sixteenth century there is hardly any building in Palestine worthy of note. But mention may be made of the Mosque at Acre built by ʾAbdallah al-Jezzar in the eighteenth century. It is a charming domed building of the Turkish type and is set in delightful ​surroundings. Another mosque worth referring to is the Mosque of Hashim at Gaza, built or rebuilt in the nineteenth century on the square open court plan.
§ 2. Department of Antiquities.
Constitution and Functions.—Upon the establishment of the Civil Administration of Palestine, a Department of Antiquities was formed under the control of the Director of the British School of Archaeology, which had lately been founded in Jerusalem. Shortly afterwards an Archaeological Advisory Board was constituted and an Antiquities Ordinance promulgated.
The Advisory Board, an important feature of the constitution of the Department, consists of representatives of the several archaeological bodies working in Palestine (British, French, American, Italian, Greek and Jewish) under the chairmanship of the Director of Antiquities, and deals with all archaeological questions of importance, especially with those likely to involve opposing interests, and more particularly with permits to excavate. The existence and authority of this board constitute a recognition of the international character of archaeological work in the Holy Land.
The Antiquities Ordinance, whose aim is the protection of the antiquities of the country, is a comprehensive document, based not only on the collective advice of archaeological and legal experts, but also on the results and experience of neighbouring countries. In due time it is anticipated that it may be simplified and modified in some particulars to bring it into line with the proposed French Law of Antiquities for Syria.
Its underlying principles are, firstly, that the antiquities and monuments of Palestine belong to the country and its people; secondly, that the Government shall facilitate in every possible way the carrying out of excavations by scientific bodies of recognized standard irrespective of nationality.
​The term "antiquity" as defined by the Ordinance includes all monuments down to 1700 A.D.
Excavations.—The Palestine Exploration Fund, under the direction of Professor Garstang, has opened an extensive excavation at Ascalon which has yielded important results.
The colonnade and cloisters, with which Herod the Great endowed his birthplace, have been identified and partly cleared, some interesting statuary has been brought to light, and traces of Philistine and pre-Philistine occupation have been traced in the acropolis.
At Gethsemane the Franciscans of Terra Santa have excavated a basilica of the third or fourth century; they have also resumed excavation on the site of the synagogue of Capernaum (Tel Hûm), where efforts will be made to rebuild a portion of the fallen masonry.
At Tiberias the Palestine Jewish Exploration Society has been excavating ancient Jewish remains; and at Ain Duk, near Jericho, the Dominicans of the "Ecole Biblique" of S. Stephen, Jerusalem, have completed the clearance of an ancient synagogue, where, as a result of the war, portions of a mosaic floor had been laid bare.
A magnificent Roman mosaic of about 300 A.D. was unearthed in October, 1921, at the village of Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) in the sub-district of Hebron, near which are also situated the famous "painted tombs of Marissa" of the second century B.C. (cf. § 5 below).
The University Museum of Pennsylvania began in 1921 at Beisan excavation work, which now assumes important proportions. The site of Samaria has been provisionally reserved for the University of Harvard, which organized the original excavation there, and that of Megiddo for the University of Chicago.
§ 3. The Palestine Museum.
The Palestine Museum is at present housed in the Department of Antiquities, and consists largely of antiquities found ​in the course of pre-war excavations at Gezer, Ain-Shems, Tel al-Safi and elsewhere.
An important selection of vase-types has been presented, for purposes of comparative study, by the Cyprus Museum Committee. The gold jewellery exhibited is for the greater part the gift of Miss Newton of Haifa. Mr. S. Raffaelli, who is responsible for the arrangement of the coins, has deposited his private collection in the Museum to supplement the series.
Wall Cases.—The wall cases contain groups of vases, bronzes, etc., arranged in chronological order:
Case A (left and right sections). Primitive Culture and "Red Slip" vases of c. 2000 B.C.
Below (right), selected specimens of early Bronze Age vases from Cyprus.
Case B (left to right). Bronze Age vases from c. 1800–1200 B.C.
1. Group from High Place Grotto at Ain-Shems.
2. Group from East Grotto at Ain-Shems.
3. Tomb Group from Cyprus.
4. Selection of contemporary vases from Palestine.
Case C (left to right). Early Iron Age wares from 1200–600 B.C.
1. Selection of painted "Philistine" pottery.
2. Selection of contemporary vases from Cyprus.
3. Tomb group from Ain-Shems (No. 1).
(The drawer contains the smaller finds from this tomb.)
4. Tomb Group from Ain-Shems (No. 8).
(The drawer contains the smaller finds from this tomb.)
Case D (left to right).
1. Vases of Hellenistic date (from 600 B.C.).
2. Selection of vases, lamps and glass of the Roman and Byzantine periods (to 600 A.D.).
In the centre cases are exhibited scarabs, beads, gold, jewellery, selected flint implements, terra cottas, bronzes, glass, and coins.
​Drawer cabinets, which support the show cases, are intended to receive pottery fragments from all important Palestinian sites arranged in stratigraphical layers. Those of Ascalon and Ain-Shems are already in position.
Sculpture.—The sculpture includes:
(1) bust of a Roman lady (Princess?) of the third century A.D. (Gaza?);
(2) statuette of Hermes (Gaza?);
(3) torso of a kneeling female (Venus) of fine workmanship (Ascalon);
(4) statuette of a draped woman (Ascalon).
Inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and Arabic are arranged in the vestibule.
A sale-room attached to the Museum contains duplicate specimens of glass and pottery derived from various excavations.
The Museum is open daily, except on holidays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Local Museums.—Local Museums have been opened at Ascalon, Caesarea and Acre; while a Jewish section of the Government Museum is in course of formation in Jerusalem. The formation of an Arab section is under consideration.
§ 4. Coins.
Early Jewish Period.—The range of the coins of this period is from 141 to 40 B.C. They are as follows:
Thick silver shekels of the five years 141 to 136 B.C., half-shekels, and the rare quarter-shekel of the fourth year attributed by some scholars to Simon the. Maccabee (141 B.C.), by others to the Jewish Revolt (66 to 70 A.D.); large bronze coins with jug, palm-tree and lyre, with the legend "Simon Nasi Israel"; Maccabean bronze "Zion" coins of the second, third and fourth year (140 to 137 B.C.); small Asmonean bronze coins ending with the larger Mattathia-Antigonus, the last Asmonean ruler (40 B.C.).
Herodian Period.—The Herodian coins include those of Herod the Great (37 B.C.) and his sons, Antipas, Archelaus, ​Philip, Agrippa I. and II. (42 A.D. to 95 A.D.). All of these are bronze, and some are very rare.
Late Jewish Period.—The coins of Bar Cochba (122 or 132 A.D.) comprise the silver tetradrachm and denarius with the inscription of Simon, Jerusalem and Eleazar ha-Kohen, and large bronzes with jug, palm-tree and lyre, and the same legend. These are dated
| (1) | Leheruth Yerushalayim | 122 or 132 A.D. |
| (2) | Shnat Achath Geulath Israel | 123 or 133 A.D. |
| (3) | Shnat Bet Lachar Israel | 124 or 134 A.D. |
Some are very rare.
Greek and Roman Period.—The coins of this period include:
(1) Small bronze coins of the Roman Procurators struck at Caesarea, beginning with Caponius (6 A.D.) or, as some think, Ambivius (9 A.D.), and ending with Antonius Felix (52–60 A.D.);
(2) "Judaea Capta" bronze coins struck by Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian to commemorate the conquest of Judaea;
(3) "Aelia Capitolina" bronze coins struck with the name "Aelia Capitolina," the new city built by Hadrian on the site of Jerusalem. These begin with that Emperor (125 A.D. or 135 A.D.and end with Hostilian (251–2 A.D.);
(4) Imperial and Colonial bronze and silver coins struck in Palestinian cities, and bearing the busts and names of the Emperors, the City Goddess, and the names of the Cities.
Coins of the following cities have been found; Anthedon, Antipatris, Ascalon, Bostra (Araba), Caesarea, Diospolis (Lydda), Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), Gaza, Gadara, Gerasa, Hippos, Joppa, Nicopolis-Emmaus, Neapolis (Nablus, Shechem), Nysa-Scythopolis, Philadelphia (Amman), Panias, Philippopolis, Ptolemais (Acre), Sepphoris-Diocaesarea, Sebaste, and Tiberias.
Arab Period.—The Arabian conquerors of Syria and Palestine struck their coins in the first decades of the Hejra after the Byzantine model, with Greek and Arabic legends. After the famous reform of the coinage by ʾAbd al-Melek (77 A.H., 696 A.D.), the legends became entirely Arabic and contained the Mohammedan confession of faith, but the coins still kept their Byzantine standard-weight. The principal coin was the gold dinar (from denarius), of 4·25 grammes weight. The silver dirhem (from δραχμή) was struck on the Sassanian type, and was of 2·97 grammes weight. The copper fels (from the Latin follis), which was not considered as a standard coin, varied in weight according to the district.
The chief mints in Palestine were: Acre, Ascalon, Caesarea, Gaza, Jerusalem, Ludd, Ramleh, Tiberias. Coins are known of the Omayyad, ʾAbbasid, Tulunid, Ikhshidid and Fatimite dynasties.
Crusading Period.—The coinage of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem is scanty if compared with that of the Kingdom of Cyprus or even with the coinage of Tripoli and Antioch. The principal coins which have hitherto come to light are deniers (gr. 0·9) and obols (c. gr. 0·4) of billon. Coins are known of the following reigns: Amaury I., Baldwin (probably) II. and III., Guy de Lusignan, Henry of Champagne and John de Brienne. The most important mints were Jerusalem, Acre and Tyre. Of the many feudatories of the Kings of Jerusalem who had the right of coinage only the Princes of Galilee, the Counts of Jaffa, and the Lords of Sidon, Beirut, Tyre and Toron are so far known to hav exercised their privilege.
The coins referred to above were for the most part of base metal and low value, intended for petty disbursements. For more important payments the Crusaders adopted the strange device of striking, at Acre and elsewhere, gold bezants in imitation of the Fatimite dinars, and silver ​drachmae and half drachmae in imitation of the Ayubid dirhems.
The earlier types of these curious coins imitate more or less clumsily the Arabic inscriptions, which are frequently full of errors and intermixed with crosses and occasional Latin letters; the later types bear Christian legends correctly rendered in Arabic characters.
Bibliography.—For Jewish coins see F. de Saulcy, Récherches sur la Numismatique Judaique, Paris, 1854, and F. W. Madden, Coins of the Jews, London, 1903. The Greek and Roman coins are described in de Saulcy, Numismatique de la Terre Sainte, Paris, 1874, and G. F. Hill, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Palestine, London, 1914. The best work on the Crusading coins is Schlumberger, Numismatique de l'Orient Latin, Paris, 1878–1882 (with bibliography).
§ 5. The Southern Province.
The Handbook of Palestine in no sense aims at taking the place of a guide-book, and the space which it can give to places of interest is necessarily limited. Its function in this connexion must be to enumerate rather than to describe. For a list of the several excellent guide-books to the Holy Land the reader is referred to Part IV., § 5.
Route from Kantara to Gaza.—Kantara (Arabic for "bridge") marks the site of the ancient crossing of the caravan route between the two lakes by which the patriarchs and the Holy Family travelled from Canaan into Egypt. One kilometre north of al-ʾArish (155 kilometres from Kantara) the railway line crosses the broad and shallow wadi which was the "River of Egypt" of the Bible (Numbers, xxxiv., 5}; Isaiah, xxvii., 12). Al-ʾArish, the ancient Rhinocolura, and the Laris of early Christian times, was the death-place of Baldwin I. of Jerusalem, and was taken by Napoleon in 1799.
At Khan-Yunis (kilo. 211) is a mosque built by the ​Egyptian Sultan Barquq, and here Napoleon had a remarkable escape from capture by Arabs.
Just beyond kilo. 202, 2⅓ kilos. beyond Rafa (Rephaim), is the frontier between Palestine and Egypt.
Gaza.—Gaza was the southernmost of the five allied cities (the others being Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron) of the "Pelishtim" or Philistines, the non-Semitic people inhabiting the country of Peleshet, which was the name given to the low-lying plain between Mt. Carmel and the frontier of Egypt. Through the land of Peleshet lay the only route practicable for armies between Egypt and Babylonia; and Gaza has been the scene in the course of history of innumerable battles. Its affinities in antiquity were generally with Egypt; and although it is now the last outpost of Palestine towards the south (and since 1922 the capital of the Southern Province of Palestine), historically it has rather been the sally-port of Egypt towards the north.
Beside the main transit route from Egypt to Damascus, three other routes reached the sea at Gaza. The first was the frankincense route from Yemen through the Hejaz to Petra, whence a branch ran to Gaza; the second was the sea route from the east, of which one branch led to Egypt and another to Ezion-geber (Akaba), and thence by caravan to Petra and Gaza; the third connected Gaza by way of Petra and Jauf with lower Mesopotamia. This was the most direct route across northern Arabia, and, in as late a period as the Roman Occupation, was thronged with caravans. For Gaza the most important route was the frankincense route. The demand for frankincense and myrrh in ancient worship was immense and could only be met in the one way; when Alexander the Great took Gaza, the booty of the city included vast stores of frankincense in its warehouses. Gaza was then the largest city in Palestine and Syria.
Gaza was famous under the Philistines for the worship of the fish-divinities Dagon (Marnas) and Derketo (Atargatis), who probably had Minoan affinities. The story of ​Samson (Judges, xiii., sq.) gives a graphic picture of the perpetual and frequently successful struggle maintained by the Philistines with the Israelites for the hegemony of Palestine. Pharaoh gave Gaza to Solomon as his daughter's dowry, and Moslem tradition makes Gaza Solomon's birthplace.
Under the Romans Gaza was an important city with the name of Minoa; and although its traditional first Bishop was the Philemon to whom S. Paul addressed the Epistle of that name, paganism survived almost until the Arab conquest. S. Jerome considered Marnas (Dagon) to be the worst enemy of Christianity after the Egyptian god Serapis, and it was not until the beginning of the fifth century that Bishop Porphyry of Gaza was able to secure the destruction of his temple. The Empress Eudocia caused a large cruciform church to be erected on the site, but the pagan tradition lingered; and for many years the women of Gaza refused to step on the once holy marbles. Again, when Justinian I. closed the pagan schools of Athens in 529, he permitted those of Gaza to continue the teaching of Neoplatonism.
In 634 Gaza was occupied by the Khalif ʾOmar, and became important to Moslems, partly because the Prophet's great-grandfather Hashim (a direct ancestor in the male line of the King of the Hejaz) is buried there, partly because it is the birthplace of Ibn Idris al-Shafi, the founder of the Shafi rite or school of Sunnite Islam (cf. Part II., § 5).
During the Crusades Gaza was hotly contested between the Saracens and the Crusaders, but received a terrible blow in 1244, when the Christians and Moslems, on this occasion in alliance, were defeated by the Khwarizmians (cf. Part I., § 5). Finally, it was the scene of two battles (26th–27th March and 17th–20th April, 1917) between the British and the Turks in the late war, and was very largely destroyed by the Turks and by subsequent bombardments. It was occupied by General Allenby on the 7th November, 1917.
The principal surviving monuments of Gaza are the ruined Orthodox church of S. Porphyry; the great mosque ​(Jamiʾ al-Kebir), also originally a Christian church; the Jamiʾ al-Sayid Hashim, containing the tomb of Hashim; and the sanctuary of Abu al-ʾAzm ("The Father of Strength"), with the reputed tomb of Samson.
Ascalon.—Ascalon is best reached from the town of Mejdel, which lies on the railway (kilo. 259). One of the most important of the Philistine cities, a seat of the worship of Derketo, and the birthplace of Herod the Great, Ascalon has a long and varied history from the time of Joshua until its final destruction by Bibars in 1270.
It is perhaps worthy of mention that onions were always extensively cultivated at Ascalon, which, through its Latin name Ascalonia and the Norman form Escallion, has given the word shallot to the English language.
Excavations were undertaken at Ascalon by the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1920–21. A large public building of fine workmanship in good classical style was uncovered near the crossing of the central routes in the area. It is identified with the cloisters that Herod the Great is said to have set up, and is connected with the Senate House, of apsidal plan (as at Samaria); the whole was more than a hundred yards in length, and was adorned with statuary and Corinthian columns of considerable beauty. A museum of the antiquities is to be found on the spot, where there is also a guard of the Department of Antiquities. The inscriptions recording decisions of the Senate (or Boulé) and the smaller statues have been removed to the Museum in Jerusalem. Other excavations were of a scientific character and the results are not visible. The site as a whole repays a thorough inspection. The circuit of the ramparts is about two miles; they form a semicircle facing the sea. Numerous columns and capitals, remains of a Byzantine church, Crusaders' buildings, and other antiquities are visible.
Tel al-Safi.—North-east of Mejdel, commanding the outlet of the great Wadi al-Sant. (Valley of Mimosa; probably the Valley of Elah of 1 Samuel, xvii., 2), stands Tel al-Safi, which has been identified with the Philistine city of Gath. Here stood the Crusaders' castle of Blanchegarde; the ​excavations carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund revealed nothing of outstanding interest.
Esdud and Yebna.—Esdud (kilo. 272) is the ancient Ashdod, one of the five cities of the Philistines, and the Azotus of the New Testament (Acts, viil., 40). Fifteen kilometres beyond Esdud is Yebna, the Jabneel and Jabneh of the Old Testament, the Jamnia of the Maccabees, and the Ibelin of the Crusaders. After the Roman capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Jabneh became an important Jewish spiritual centre under Rabbi Johannan ben Zakkai (cf. Part II., § 14). The principal mosque of the village was a Crusaders' church.
Beersheba.—From Rafa a branch line (60 kilos.) of the standard gauge railway runs to Beersheba (Bir al-Seba), now a small town of about 1,760 inhabitants.
Beersheba was the southernmost town of the Israelites, whence the expression "Dan to Beersheba"; and its wells played a prominent part in the history of the patriarchs (Genesis, xxi.). In early Christian times Bishops of Beersheba are occasionally mentioned, but by the fourteenth century the town had lost all importance. Beersheba was captured by the British on the 31st October, 1917, and it was from Beersheba that was made the advance resulting in the capture of Gaza.
Hebron.—Hebron, now a town of 16,332 inhabitants, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Here Abraham pitched his tent, under the oak of Mamre the Amorite, and, on the death of Sarah, purchased from Ephron the Hittite the double cavern of Machpelah, where he buried her, and was subsequently himself laid to rest, together with Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Leah and Joseph. The Arabic name of Hebron ("al-Khalil," which is an abbreviation of Khalil al-Rahman, i.e. Abraham the "Friend of God") preserves its association with the patriarch.
Hebron was destroyed by Joshua, and from Hebron David ruled over Judaea for 7½ years after the death of Saul. Abner was slain by Joab at the gates of Hebron, ​and by its pool the murderers of Ishbosheth were hanged by David. Except for a small Jewish community Hebron is a Moslem town, and, owing to its connexion with Abraham, is a place of intense Moslem veneration. The town, with its tall stone houses, narrow streets, and the picturesque vaulted bazaars, which display the sheep-skin coats and blown glass for which Hebron is renowned, is a remarkably complete specimen of an Arab city. Characteristic, too, are the figured veils worn by the Hebron women.
Hebron's great monument is the Haram, the sacred area which encloses and surmounts the Cave of Machpelah. The outer wall of the Haram is built to a height of about 40 ft. of very large drafted blocks, apparently of Herodian age, strengthened externally by square buttresses. A flight of steps leads between the old wall and a more recent enclosing wall to the interior of the court; to the left of the sixth step, leading into the outer of the two caves, is a hole in the old wall, by which petitions addressed to Sarah are still thrown by childless women into the cave below. The mosque itself, which occupies the southern side of the Haram, has been adapted by the Arabs from a Crusaders' church of the twelfth century. It stands over the cave; the entrance to the inner cave is sealed, but through a hole in the floor of the mosque a boy is let down at infrequent intervals into the outer cave to collect the petitions which have been thrown in it.
The cenotaphs of Abraham and Sarah occupy two octagonal chapels to the north of the church; those of Isaac and Rebecca are inside the church; those of Jacob and Leah in chambers at the north of the Haram. Ina separate enclosure is the cenotaph of Joseph. All are covered with heavily embroidered palls, and the chapels of Abraham and Sarah are particularly richly decorated.
Noteworthy is the pulpit of the mosque, a noble specimen of twelfth-century Moslem wood carving similar to the pulpit of the Aqsa mosque (cf. § 1. above).
​Beit Jibrin.—In the District of Hebron, west of Hebron town, lies Beit Jibrin, alluded to in §§ 1 and 2 above.
On the adjacent Tel Sandahannah stood the Israelitish town of Mareshah (the Greek Marissa), excavated by the Palestine Exploration Fund. Of great interest are the extensive rock caverns and tombs, many dating back to the ancient Hebrew period. The finest tomb, of more recent date, is that of Apollophanes (second century B.C.), with gabled roofs—the only one of the kind hitherto found in Palestine—and interesting wall paintings. For the Roman mosaic recently unearthed at Beit Jibrin, cf. § 2 above.
Beit Jibrin was the Roman Eleutheropolis and the Crusading Gibelin.
Tel al-Hesi.—South-west of Beit Jibrin lies Tel al-Hesi, the ancient Lachish, excavated by Flinders Petrie and others under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund. These excavations laid the foundations of our knowledge of Palestinian ceramics.
§ 6. Jerusalem and Jaffa Province.
Jaffa.—Jaffa, the port of Jerusalem and now a town of about 45,000 inhabitants, is the ancient Japho, the Greek Joppa and the Crusaders' Japhe.
In mythology Jaffa is the scene of the rescue by Perseus of Andromeda from the sea-monster, whose fossilized bones were long exhibited in proof of the story, together with the chains with which Andromeda was fastened to the rocks by the shore. It was also the place where Jonah was swallowed by the whale (Jonah, i., 3).
The name of the city occurs on the pylon of Thothmes III. at Karnak in a list of Syrian towns overthrown by Pharaoh in the sixteenth century B.C. In the fifteenth century Jaffa was a Phoenician city under Egyptian suzerainty, and then became, and remained for about a thousand years, Philistine. ​During this period the cedar logs for King Solomon's Temple were landed here after being floated down from the Lebanese ports by Hiram, King of Tyre. The Maccabees made of Jaffa a typically Jewish town; and, after its conquest by Pompey, it became a Roman Free City. During the ensuing century it was frequently bandied about between Rome and the Idumaean princes, and at one moment was given by Mark Antony as a love-token to Cleopatra. Christianity was introduced at an early period into Jaffa, where, in the house of Simon the Tanner, S. Peter saw the vision recorded in Acts, ix., 43.
Under Byzantine, Seljuq and Fatimite rule the history of Jaffa is comparatively uneventful, but with the advent of the Crusaders it again becomes varied. King Baldwin I. signed here the Treaty of Jaffa with the Genoese, the foundation of many future conquests, and Jaffa was constituted a county, the investiture of which was always given to the heir to the throne of Jerusalem. In that year of disaster to the Crusaders, 1187, the town was captured and destroyed by the brother of Saladin, was subsequently retaken by Richard Cœur-de-Lion, and was sacked by Bibars in 1267. In 1799 it was stormed by Napoleon.
In spite of its age, Jaffa offers little of interest to the visitor. The oldest part of the city clusters citadel-like on a rocky hill overlooking the harbour, its streets narrow and labyrinthine. At the southern end of the old city the site of the house of Simon the Tanner is shown in an insignificant little mosque, although the present tanners' quarter lies farther south, on the shore below the Ajami quarter.
To the north of Jaffa lies the Jewish township of Tel Aviv, much enlarged under the stimulus of recent Zionist development, and offering, in its European modernity, a striking contrast to the eastern character of Jaffa. Inland of Jaffa lie the orange groves for which the place is famous; for the German Templar colonies, see Part II., § 13.
Jaffa to Jerusalem.—Ludd, so called by the British troops but properly Lydd, the ancient Lydda, is the junction for the Kantara-Haifa and Jaffa-Jerusalem railway lines. ​It is a town of some 7,000 inhabitants, of whom about 5,000 are Moslems and the remainder Orthodox Christians. Its chief interest lies in its connexion with S. George of England, generally identified by Moslems with Sheikh Khidr (Elijah). We hear in the sixth century of a church built over his tomb. The Crusaders erected a cathedral over the shrine, and portions of this mediaeval building are still discernible, embodied in the present church restored in the nineteenth century. It is not improbable that the legend of S. George and the dragon and its connexion with Lydda are due to the conveyance to the Saint of the legend of Perseus and Andromeda.
Ramleh means "the sandy," and was founded in the eighth century A.D. by the Omayyads. Its celebrated Tower (the "Tower of the 40 Martyrs") is of Moslem origin and dates from the fourteenth century (see § 1 above). The Tower was the minaret of a large mosque originally built by Khalif Suleyman, the founder of the town.
Gezer, whose ruins lie near the village of Abu Shusheh, figures in the Tel al-ʾAmarna letters, and was excavated by Professor Macalister, who traced there the remains of Arab, Christian, Roman, Maccabean, Jewish, Israelite and Canaanite civilizations.
Latrun marks, for travellers by road, the end of the plain and the beginning of the Judaean hills. The name, which was originally Natrun, was confused in the Middle Ages with the Latin latro, a robber, and from this association there arose the mediaeval legend that this was the birthplace of the Penitent Thief.
Amwas, which lies close to Latrun, disputes with the not far distant Qubeibeh the claim to be the Emmaus of the New Testament.
Enab, also known as Abu Ghosh or, in full, as Qariet al-Enab ("the village of grapes"), contains a mediaeval church recently restored by the Benedictines.
The last big village before Jerusalem is reached is Ain Karem, probably the Karem of the Septuagint and the ​traditional birthplace of John the Baptist. Franciscan and Russian monasteries surmount sites connected with the Baptist's birth and life.
Jerusalem.—Jerusalem's unique history can only be touched upon here in outline. We have seen (Part I., § 3) that Urusalim appears among the cities of Palestine in the fifteenth century B.C.; and as Jebus the city was captured by David from the Jebusites about 1000 B.C. Enlarged by Solomon and embellished with the First Temple, it became, after the division of the kingdom, the capital of Judaea. In the reign of Rehoboam the city surrendered to the Egyptian King Shishak, who despoiled Temple and Palace of much of their ornaments.
King Hezekiah endowed his capital with a water-supply and, at the approach of Sennacherib, repaired the fortifications. Jehoiakin surrendered it to Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Temple and carried away to Babylon the king, together with thousands of the principal inhabitants. The attempt of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, to revolt led to the destruction of the city in 587 and to the second deportation of its inhabitants. After the return of the Jews from the Captivity in 538 the Second Temple was built by Nehemiah.
The Maccabean period has been referred to in Part I.; then came Herod the Great, a mighty builder, who aspired to renew in Jerusalem the glories of King Solomon. He built the Third Temple, erected a sumptuous royal palace protected by the towers Hippicus, Phasaël and Mariamne, and endowed his capital with municipal buildings, theatre and a circus for gymnastic games.
The subsequent vicissitudes of Jerusalem are so entirely bound up with the general history of Palestine (of which a sketch is given in Part I.) that it is needless to recall them here. The next outstanding date after the city's capture by Titus in 70 A.D. is its surrender to ʾOmar in 637. The Arabs treated the inhabitants with clemency, and permitted them to remain in the city on payment of the kharaj (poll-tax). The Khalif Harun al-Rashid is said actually to ​have sent the keys of the Holy Sepulchre to Charlemagne; and we have seen in § 1 above that the Carolingian Emperors sent contributions for the support of Christian pilgrims proceeding to Jerusalem.
The Arabs named the town Beit al-Maqdes ("house of the sanctuary"), or, more shortly, al-Quds ("the sanctuary"), and its present Arab name remains Quds al-Sherif. The oldest known plan of Jerusalem is contained in the mosaic map of Palestine discovered in 1897 at Madaba in Trans-jordania, and dates from about a century prior to the capture of the city by the Arabs.
The Crusading period has been dealt with in Part I. In 1517, as we have seen, Jerusalem surrendered to the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Selim I., and in 1542 the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt in their present form by Suleyman the Magnificent. In 1862 the Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII., visited Jerusalem and did much to bring about the constitution of the Palestine Exploration Fund. For the improvements wrought in Jerusalem since the British Occupation, see Part I., § 7.
It is not proposed here to describe or even to enumerate all the monuments and sights of Jerusalem, or to attempt to enter into the vexed question of its topography; this must be left to the guide-bogks. It must suffice to indicate the outstanding objects of interest of a city, where almost every stone has its history and significance.
The principal monuments are the Haram al-Sherif; the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, together with the remains of the basilica of Constantine; the walls, gates and citadel; the Wailing Wall of the Jews; the Armenian cathedral; the Caenaculum or tomb of David; the Jewish tombs in the valley of Jehoshaphat; the Crusaders' Church of S. Anne; the Ecce Homo arch and adjoining remains; the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin and the Garden of Gethsemane; and the Mount of Olives. The old city within the walls, that "city compact together" with its vaulted suqs (bazaars) and narrow streets that have undergone no change for centuries, with its steep alleys flanked in many ​cases by masterpieces of Saracenic architecture, may well, however, be regarded as the greatest monument of all, unique in its compactness, in its appearance of hoar antiquity, and in that homogeneity which it is the aim of its present administrators jealously to preserve.
The Haram al-Sherif is the platform, artificially prolonged towards the east and south on substructures known in part as "Solomon's Stables," upon which stood the Temple of Solomon and its successors. In the centre of the Haram area is an outcrop of the naked rock, now surmounted by the beautiful mosque known as the Dome of the Rock. This rock can probably claim a greater continuity of religious tradition than any other spot in the world. On it there stood in all likelihood the altar of burnt-offerings of the First Temple; traces of a channel for carrying off the blood, which are visible in the rock, would appear to confirm this theory. Here, or hereabouts, stood Hadrian's Temple of Aelia Capitolina; here the Khalif ʾOmar built a small wooden mosque, which subsequently gave place to the present masterpiece of Moslem architecture; on the rock, finally, the Crusaders erected an altar when they converted the mosque into the Templum Domini.'
The Dome of the Rock (in Arabic, Qubbet al-Sakhra), was built by Khalif ʾAbd al-Melek towards the end of the seventh century, and was probably restored by the Khalf al-Mamun in the ninth century, and again in 913. The dome itself, consisting of two concentric wooden vaults, was erected by the mad Khalif Hakim in 1022 in the place of the original dome, which had collapsed six years previously.
The mosque is in the form of a flat-roofed octagon surmounted by a drum, on which is borne the dome. The outer surface is covered, as regards the lower part, with marble slabs, as regards the upper, with a brilliant series of coloured tiles added by Suleyman the Magnificent in 1561. It is of interest to record that the original kilns in ​which these tiles were manufactured were discovered in the Haram precincts after the British Occupation, and that potters from Kutahia have been brought to Jerusalem under the auspices of the Pro-Jerusalem Society to make tiles in the old manner to replace such original tiles as have been destroyed by weathering in the course of centuries.
The interior of the building is a marvel of colouring and decoration. The roof of the octagon is richly decorated in green, blue and gold; the drum is adorned with sumptuous mosaics by Byzantine artists of the tenth and eleventh centuries; the stucco incrustation of the inner dome produces a most rich effect with its red and golden tones. Not the least beautiful feature of the interior lies in the coloured glass of the windows. The rock itself is surrounded by a screen of wrought iron, placed there by the Crusaders when they converted the building to Christian use. The inscription on the inside of the drum records its construction in 72 A.H. (691 A.D.) by ʾAbd al-Melek, whose name was excised from the inscription and replaced by that of al-Mamun one hundred and twenty years later.
Many traditions, Moslem and Talmudic, attach to the rock, which is believed to hover over the waters of the flood and to be the centre of the world, the gate of hell, the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac, and much else of a fantastic nature. According to Moslem belief it was from the rock that Mohammed was translated to heaven on the back of al-Buraq, his magic steed of the human face.
To the south of the Dome of the Rock stands its tiny prototype, the Dome of the Chain, built by ʾAbd al-Melek as a treasure-house to contain the money which he had set apart for the reconstruction of the Haram area. At the southern end of the Haram rises the celebrated Mosque al-Aqsa, the "more distant" shrine, to which God conveyed the Prophet in a single night (Sura xvii., 1). The Aqsa mosque in its present form occupies the site of Justinian's Church of the Panagia, and, despite almost complete reconstruction by the Khalifs and their successors, retains, in outline at all events, much of its original character of a ​Byzantine basilica. The dome, which is of wood, covered with lead without, is handsomely decorated in a manner similar to the dome of the Qubbet al-Sakhra. Its mihrab and pulpit have been referred to in § 1 above. A staircase in front of the narthex of the mosque leads down to the southern substructures and to the vestibule of the old Double Gate; "Solomon's Stables" are entered from the south-east corner of the Haram area.
Enclosing and overlooking the Haram on the west and south are a series of superb madrasas and other Saracenic buildings of the highest merit (cf. § 1 above); the Suq al-Qattanin (bazaar of the cotton merchants), which forms the principal entrance to the Haram area, is the most important of the old vaulted bazaars of Palestine and Syria, and was preserved from imminent destruction in 1919 through the efforts of the Pro-Jerusalem Society. The minaret in the north-western corner of the Haram rises on the remains of the Antonia tower.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre stands in the north-western corner of the old city, but is concealed from view by the many Patriarchates, monasteries, chapels and other ecclesiastical buildings, which cluster round it and only leave open to view the southern façade. Originally a group of small separate churches, rising on the holy sites in the fourth century and after, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre received its present form from the Crusaders, who erected one large Romanesque church to embrace the chapels covering the several sites. In 1799 a great part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt, only to be destroyed almost entirely by fire in 1808; another comprehensive rebuilding followed in 1810. Of its two conspicuous domes, the larger westerly dome, surmounting the Rotunda and the Sepulchre itself, was constructed of iron lattice girders under Russian auspices in 1868. The eastern dome is part of the Crusading building, and appears to have escaped ​untouched the reconstruction of 1810; it is probably the largest dome of its type ever built in Palestine. The belfry is twelfth-century work, but has lost its topmost story.
The two-storied Romanesque façade is interesting: the lower story forms a double portal, the lintels of both doors being adorned with admirable bas-reliefs of the twelfth century. The upper story encloses windows.
The interior is divided into two principal parts, the Rotunda and the old "Chorus Dominorum," now the Orthodox cathedral. The Rotunda, whose central object is the small shrine covering the Tomb of Christ, dates in its present form, together with its dome and the shrine of the Sepulchre, from the nineteenth century, although the design and dimensions have been meticulously preserved from the earlier buildings. On the other hand, the "Chorus Dominorum" and transept date from the twelfth century, the vaulting over the transept being of particular interest as the earliest known example of the diagonal rib, a feature which differentiates pure Gothic from Romanesque. The chapels of Golgotha are reached by steps leading upwards from the east of the porch; the interesting chapel of S. Helena is at a lower level and is reached by a flight of steps descending from the ambulatory. From S. Helena's chapel another flight of steps leads down to the chapel of the Invention of the Cross.
What renders the Church of the Holy Sepulchre of outstanding interest, apart from its sanctity in the eyes of a large portion of mankind, is the fact that it is shared by representatives of most of the Churches of Christendom. Roman Catholies, Orthodox, Armenians, Jacobites, Copts and Abyssinians have their appointed chapels and rights within its walls (formerly also Georgians and Nestorians), and in it is celebrated almost every known form of Christian liturgy and ritual. During Holy Week and at the other great festivals of the Christian year it offers to the spectator a diversity of Christian ceremonial visible nowhere else under one roof.
Adjoining the Holy Sepulchre to the south-east is the ​Orthodox monastery of Abraham, in one of whose chapels the Church of England has the right to celebrate services; below this, again, is the modern building belonging to the Russian Palestine Society, which encloses important remains of the "Martyrium" of Constantine.
The oldest part of the Walls is that which is also the enclosing wall of the Haram area; much of this is Herodian, but is partly concealed by immense masses of débris. The walls received additions at the hands of the Romans and the Byzantines, and were comprehensively restored by Saladin, not a little of whose work survives. The city walls, apart from the Haram section, owe their present form in the main to the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. The Gates, beginning with the Damascus Gate, and going eastwards are: the Damascus Gate, Herod's Gate, S. Stephen's Gate, the Golden Gate (an elaborate Byzantine structure within the Haram area, built by the Empress Eudocia in the fifth century and walled up by the Turks in 1530; the Gate through which the Palm Sunday processions entered the city during the Crusades), the Dung Gate or Gate of the Magharbeh, the Zion Gate, the Jaffa Gate, and the modern opening known as the New Gate. Adjoining the Jaffa Gate is the Citadel, a massive fortress of five mighty towers, probably occupying the site of Herod's Palace. The Citadel in its present form dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century, with sixteenth-century additions. But the drafted blocks of the foundations are of much earlier date, and the north-east tower probably corresponds with the tower of Phasaël of the Herodian structure. Much work has been done by the Pro-Jerusalem Society in repairing the Citadel and in clearing up the débris with which the interior and the moat were encumbered.
The Wailing Wall of the Jews is an ancient section of the western Haram wall, and is much resorted to for the purpose of prayer by pious Jews, particularly on the Sabbath, when the festal dress of the Ashkenazim offers a picturesque spectacle.
​The Armenian Patriarchate and Cathedral, the largest conventual enclosure in Palestine, occupies with its hospices, schools and gardens the greater part of the south-western quarter of the old city. The Cathedral of S. James the Less, with its rich treasury, is of considerable interest, and is lined with Kutahia tiles of an unusual figured type.
Within the Armenian compound is shown an interesting old chapel regarded as occupying the site of the house of Annas; while to the south of the Zion Gate is the Armenian Monastery of Mt. Zion with the traditional house of Caiaphas and the tombs of the Armenian Patriarchs of Jerusalem. The house of Annas is also known as the "Convent of the Olive Tree" (from a very old olive believed to have sprung from the tree to which Christ was bound), and, together with the house of Caiaphas, is decorated with tiles similar to those of the Cathedral.
The Caenaculum or Tomb of David (al-Nebi Daud), to the south of the Zion Gate, is a venerable shrine known in the Middle Ages as "Mater Ecclesiarum" because considered to be the house of the Virgin Mary and the place where the Last Supper was celebrated. The existing monument is a Gothic church built, probably by Cypriote masons, in the middle of the fourteenth century; after being in the possession of the Augustinian Canons and afterwards of the Franciscans, it passed in 1547 into the hands of the Moslems, in whose ownership it has remained. The "Upper Chamber" is accessible to non-Moslem visitors, but the lower room, alleged to contain the Tomb of David, is shown only to Moslems.
The Valley of Jehoshaphat (Valley of the Kidron; Wadi Sitti Maryam) runs along the eastern boundary of the city, which it separates from the Mount of Olives, and has been from time immemorial the burial-place of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Of particular interest are the Jewish monuments of uncertain dates known as the Tomb of Absalom (a remarkable rock-cube surmounted by a superstructure ​terminating in an oddly shaped spire), the so-called Tomb of Jehoshaphat, the Grotto of S. James, and the Pyramid of Zacharias. Below these tombs the valley leads past the village of Siloam (Silwan) until it is joined at right angles by the Valley of Hinnom.
Among the most complete remains of the Crusading era are the Church of S. Anne, inside S. Stephen's Gate, and the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, outside it on the road to the Gethsemane. The former was built by the Queen of Baldwin I. in the twelfth century, was offered to and refused by the British Government after the Crimean War, and was then presented to Napoleon III., by whom this well preserved Gothic building was intelligently restored.
The Church of the Tomb of the Virgin is in its present form the handiwork of Queen Melisende, whose tomb it contains.
The adjoining Garden of Gethsemane is divided into shares belonging respectively to the Latins, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Russians, and the Armenians. The early Christian basilica recently excavated in the Latin Garden of Gethsemane has been referred to in § 2 above.
The Ecce Homo Arch is probably part of a Roman or Byzantine triumphal arch, whose northern end has been ingeniously incorporated within the church of the "Dames de Sion."
The Mount of Olives (in Arabic, Jebel al-Tur) stands 2,680 feet above sea-level, and is crowned by a number of churches and convents, of which the most ancient is the small octagonal Church of the Ascension, dating from the fifth century (see § 1 above). Other buildings are the Orthodox Convent of Galilee; a modern Russian convent with its conspicuous view-tower; and a group of Latin buildings, including the Church of the Paternoster.
Dominating the northern end of the Mt. of Olives is a massively constructed German Protestant Hospice, built by William II. in 1910 and now the Government House of the Palestine Administration.
The most satisfactory of the modern buildings of Jerusalem is the Anglican Cathedral and Close of S. George with ​its small and attractive cloister, built for the late Bishop Blyth by Mr. George Jeffery. Conspicuous are the German Catholic Church of the Dormition outside the Zion Gate (its design based on that of the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle), and the Lutheran Church of the Muristan, embodying fragments of the mediaeval Church of S. Maria Latina.
One and a half miles west of the Jaffa Gate lies the ancient Orthodox Monastery of the Cross, for many centuries in the possession of the Georgians.
Bethlehem.—Bethlehem lies 5½ miles south of Jerusalem, and is reached by a main road which passes, after 4 miles, the Tomb of Rachel. The birthplace of Christ and of King David is now a town of 6,200 inhabitants, mostly Christians, and stands 2,500 ft. above sea-level. The name Bethlehem (Beit al-Lahm) means the "house of meat," and has been the appellation of the place from earliest times. Bethlehem is the scene of the story of the Book of Ruth, and in Old Testament times is famous for its association with the House of David. Since the time of Constantine Bethlehem has been predominantly Christian, and is remarkable for the number of its churches and religious institutions of all periods surrounding an agglomeration of ancient, narrow and picturesque streets. Noteworthy is the mediaeval dress still worn by the Bethlehem women, married women being distinguished by a tall white coif.
Bethlehem’s outstanding monument is the Basilica of the Nativity erected over the traditional birthplace of Christ. It is the oldest Christian church still in use, and, although restored and enlarged by Justinian in the sixth century, is essentially one with the basilica built by Constantine in 330. The church, whose diminutive entrance was intended as a protection against the entry of camels, donkeys, etc., consists of a nave and double aisles, of a wide transept and a semi-circular apse. The nave and aisles are separated from each other by four rows of monolithic columns, surmounted by Corinthian capitals. The walls ​of the nave and transept are decorated with mosaics, with which the church was endowed by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Comnenus in the twelfth century. In 1482 the roof, which had fallen into decay, was repaired, the lead for this purpose being given by King Edward IV. of England.
Two flights of steps descend into the Chapel of the Nativity and the Chapel of the Manger, which are situated below the choir. The unsightly wall, which formerly separated the nave from the transept and practically divided the church into two separate parts, was removed at the instance of the Governor of Jerusalem in 1919.
Like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Nativity is shared by several communities (Orthodox, Latin, Armenian, Jacobite, Abyssinian and Coptic). In the extensive grotto below the church is shown the tomb of S. Jerome, who dwelt for many years in Bethlehem and died there in 420.
Two miles south of Bethlehem are the three mighty ancient reservoirs known as the "Pools of Solomon." These reservoirs are of considerable antiquity and collected the water for Jerusalem's early water-supply. They are now again being brought into use in conjunction with the other ancient sources at Arrub (cf. Part I., § 7, and Part V., § 10).
Between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea, at the head of a deep cañon, lies the Orthodox Monastery of S. Sabbas (Mar Saba), an ancient settlement of ascetics established in the fifth century. Ladies are not admitted within the monastery, which stands precipitously on the side of the cañon, but are able to overlook it from a mediaeval tower outside the porch. About 45 monks at present inhabit the monastery and lead lives of great austerity.
Jericho.—Jericho (in Arabic, Eriha) was the scene of the first victory of the Israelites in Palestine, was sacked by Joshua, but was subsequently rebuilt and formed part of the inheritance of Benjamin. It was here that Elijah performed the miracle of rendering a bitter spring sweet. After the Captivity Jericho increased in prosperity, and was subsequently given by Mark Antony to Cleopatra, who, in her turn, ​sold it to Herod the Great. The latter irrigated the district and built a winter palace, the ruins of which were excavated by the Germans in 1909. Herod died at Jericho in 4 B.C.
New Testament Jericho sprang up somewhat to the north of the older town, became the seat of a bishop in the fourth century, but decayed after the fall of the Crusading kingdom, together with its once prosperous cultivations of dates, sugar-cane, balsam, henna, and other sub-tropical products. It is now a somewhat squalid township of 1,000 inhabitants and, as being the lowest town on the earth's surface (820 feet below sea-level), is unbearably hot in summer, although its winter climate is pleasant.
There is little to see in Jericho itself beyond the excavations of the German Oriental Society, which have laid bare the traces of an outer and inner course of walls and have unearthed a part of the actual masonry. Jericho is overlooked to the south-west by the Mount of Temptation (Jebel Qarantal), half-way up the face of which is perched an Orthodox monastery, remarkable chiefly for its amazing situation and for its fine view over the Ghor. Running westward from the Ghor is the cañon known as the Wadi Qelt, containing the small Orthodox monastery of S. George, also perched on the face of the cliff. The whole of this region was, in early Christian times, thickly dotted with the settlements of hermits.
Interesting processions to the Jordan take place from Jericho at the Orthodox Epiphany and Easter, when pilgrims, robed in white shrouds, bathe in the river. The bathing-place of the pilgrim is supposed to be the scene of the Baptism of Christ, the miraculous division of the waters by the cloak of Elijah, and the legend of S. Christopher, who carried the Infant Christ across the river. Between Jericho and the Dead Sea lie the large Orthodox monasteries of S. John (also known as the "Castle of the Jews") and of S. Gerasimos, incorporating early Christian remains.
For the peculiar tropical flora of the Jordan Valley, see Part V., § 9; for the Ghor and the Dead Sea in general, see Part. I., § 2, and Part VI., § 1.
§ 7. Samaria Province.
Nablus.—Nablus, the capital of Samaria Province, is peculiar among the towns of Palestine in having kept its more recent name, Νεάπολις, in preference to its original name Shechem.
Shechem is associated with the earliest period of Jewish settlement in Palestine, for here Abraham pitched his tent on entering the country, and set up the first altar to Jehovah on a spot still shown on the slope of Mt. Ebal. Again, to Shechem, which lies in the long and narrow valley separating Mt. Ebal from Mt. Gerizim, Joshua led the Israelites after the miraculous passage of the Jordan, and on the slopes of the two mountains recited the Law of Moses. From Ebal and Gerizim were pronounced the blessings and the cursings.
The community most enduringly associated with Nablus is that of the Samaritans (cf. Part II., § 16), who claim Gerizim as the hill of Joshua's altar and as "the place where men ought to worship" (S. John, iv., 20).
Abimelek, who was the son of Gideon and a woman of Shechem, ruled here for three years, and then destroyed the city in order to punish the Samaritans, who had risen against him. Rehoboam's foolish speech at his coronation in Shechem led to the division of the Jewish State into the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and Jeroboam established here the first capital of the Northern Kingdom. After the fall of Jerusalem Shechem is recorded as being inhabited by the Samaritans (Jeremiah, xli., 5), and, after the Jewish wars, becomes, under Vespasian, the city of Flavia Neapolis.
In the early centuries of Christianity Neapolis was constantly the scene of strife between the Samaritans and the Christians, and Justinian was compelled to put down with severity a serious revolt of the former; from this revolt is to be dated the decay in the numbers of the Samaritan people.
Nablus was captured by the Crusaders under Tancred, and an important ecclesiastical Council was held here in the reign of Baldwin II.
​One of the best authenticated holy sites in Palestine is Jacob's Well, which lies just outside the eastern end of the town, below the little village of Sychar, and is the scene of Christ's conversation with the woman of Samaria. A Byzantine church, which was erected over the well, gave place to a Crusaders' church, on whose ruins a modern Orthodox church is in course of construction.
Nablus itself is long and narrow, and is traversed by two parallel suqs, containing several mosques which were formerly Byzantine or Crusaders' churches. The "Great Mosque," in the eastern part of the town, was originally a basilica built by Justinian and rebuilt by the Crusaders in the twelfth century. Its interesting eastern porch is well preserved. Other mosques of Crusading origin are the Jamiʾ al-Khadra and the Jamiʾ al-Nasr; the former is believed to stand on the spot where Joseph's brethren brought his coat to Jacob. The small, compact Samaritan quarter lies in the south-western part of the town, in that corner of Nablus which runs up the valley towards Mt. Gerizim.
Samaria.—Samaria, now the village of Sebastieh, stands on the 'egg-shaped' hill from which the ancient Jewish town took its name of "watch-hill." Samaria was founded by Omri, King of Israel, remained the capital of the Northern Kingdom until its capture by Sargon in 722 B.C., and, in the days of the Maccabees, gave its name to all Central Palestine. Herod the Great rebuilt it on an ambitious scale, endowed it with handsome monuments, made of it a pleasure resort, and, in compliment to Augustus, gave to it the name of Sebaste, which it still bears.
Excavations were conducted at Samaria by the University of Harvard in 1908–9. The chief discoveries were, on the summit, the foundations of a large temple built by Herod the Great, including the grand stairway (still visible), an altar, and a torso of Augustus. In the same area deeper cuttings exposed older buildings, some of the masonry of which was shown to be of the period of Omri and Ahab. On a broad terrace, north-east, there were uncovered the ​remains of a basilica in classical style. This is more properly the Senate House (Curia) or Council Chamber of the city; and the tiers of seats, forming a_half-theatre around the well of the apse, are well seen. This part was roofed, while the forecourt was open with a surrounding cloister. The style and character of the work are Herodian.
Other features of interest are the fine Roman gateway to the west, with circular flanking towers, upon older square foundations; an avenue of columns indicating the principal road through the town; and the site of the Stadium on the low ground to the north-east.
Below the village stands the well-preserved Crusaders' church of S. John the Baptist, now a mosque. Tradition places both the beheading and the burial of the Baptist at Samaria.
Taʾanach and Megiddo.—In the rich plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel, north-west of Jenin, lie the ancient sites of Taʾanach and Megiddo, where excavations have brought to light not only a good deal of pottery of an early period, but many evidences of Babylonian culture.
Beisan.—East of Jenin, in the Jordan valley, lies Beisan, the Beth-Shan of the Old Testament and the Greek Scythopolis. Excavations were begun here, in the imposing mound called Tel Hosn, by the University of Pennsylvania in 1921, and are proceeding. The site dominates the approaches to Palestine by the Jordan and Esdraelon from the direction of Damascus, and is aptly called the key to Palestine. Trial sections have disclosed stratifications leading back to the earliest phases of settlement in the Bronze Age. Systematic clearing from the top has recovered the plans of superposed mediaeval and Byzantine cities, with monastic buildings of the later date and a great rotunda of the earlier date. The excavations promise results of great interest. A monument of the Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I. has been found, together with tombs of the same period.
§ 8. The Northern Province.
Haifa and Mt. Carmel.—Haifa, the capital of the Northern Province, is a flourishing port of some 34,000 inhabitants situated at the foot of Mt. Carmel. Archaeologically, however, it has nothing of interest to offer.
Mt. Carmel, famed from Old Testament times for its beauty, is one of the most attractive regions of Palestine. Not very high (its highest point is only 1,810 ft.), it is more than twelve miles long, running from Haifa in a south-easterly direction. Its perennial green, which it owes to a heavy dewfall, contrasts pleasantly in summer with the rest of Palestine, while re-afforestation by the Government is endeavouring to repair the ravages to its once thick forests. At a height of 560 ft., commanding a wide view, stands the Carmelite Monastery, the parent-house of a monastic order which was founded here in 1156 and takes its name from the mountain. Accommodation in the monastery is occasionally available on application to the Vicar of Mt. Carmel. The so-called "Place of Burning," commemorating the miracle of Elijah and the priests of Baal (1 Kings, xviii.), is on the south-eastern point of Mt. Carmel, at a height of 1,685 ft.
Athlit and Caesarea.—On the coast south of Haifa lies the Crusaders' castle of Athlit, a stronghold of the Knights Templar under the names of Chateau Pèlerin and Petra Incisa. It was the very last possession of the Crusaders in Palestine, being captured by Melek al-Ashraf on the 14th August, 1291, after Acre had already fallen. The Department of Antiquities has recently undertaken certain work of clearing and preservation in the castle, and has exposed the remains of a polygonal church.
Very little remains to-day of the ancient city of Caesarea, after 70 A.D. the capital of Roman Palestine and residence of the Procurators, and the ecclesiastical capital until 451 A.D. (cf. Part II., § 6). S. Paul was a prisoner in Caesarea for two years. The town was taken by the Crusaders under Baldwin I. in 1101, when the booty included ​the green crystal vase supposed to have been used at the Last Supper, and subsequently famous in mediaeval literature and legend as the "Holy Grail." Caesarea was finally destroyed by Bibars in 1265, and its ruins are now inhabited by the Bosnians referred to in Part II., § 4.
Acre.—The varied history of Acre has been touched upon in Part I., §§ 5 and 6. It is mentioned only once in the Old Testament (Judges, i., 31), under the name of Accho, and once also in the New Testament (Acts, xxi., 7), under its Greek name of Ptolemais. According to the Talmud the Jews regarded Acre as being outside the confines of the Holy Land, whose frontier was its outer wall. The town became of importance during the Crusades, and was the favourite seat of the Court of the Latin Kingdom. On the fall of Jerusalem it succeeded that city as the capital and as the headquarters of the Knightly Orders, owing its full name of S. Jean d'Acre to the Knights Hospitallers. It was for several years, until its fall in May, 1291, the last outpost of the Crusaders in Palestine.
Even after the disappearance of the Franks Acre remained the usual landing-place for Christian pilgrims from the West. In more recent times it has stood several sieges, notably by Napoleon in 1799; was captured by Ibrahim Pasha in 1831; and was bombarded in 1840 by the British, Austrian and Turkish fleets under Stopford and Napier. In later Turkish times Acre was the capital of the Sanjaq which bore its name. Its connexion with the Bahaʾi sect is described in Part II., § 18.
Now a town of about 4,000 inhabitants, Acre is one of the most picturesque places in Palestine. The walls and earthworks, which have been described as a perfect example of a late eighteenth-century fortress, are practically intact. Built largely on Crusaders' foundations and from the débris of Crusaders’ walls by ʾOmar al-Daher, and completed by Jezzar Pasha between 1775 and 1802, they form a most interesting feature of the place, and still bear signs, in the form of round shot embedded in them, of the bombardment of 1840.
​From the direction of Haifa a picturesque view is obtained of the southern battlements, the ruins of the 'Tower of Flies,' and the remains of the Phoenician breakwater. The town is entered through an archway in which still stand the original massive iron-plated gates. Here can be seen a beam on which criminals were formerly hanged. Inside the gate is the 'White Market,' with a vaulted roof of curious construction, while the general markets and bazaars stretch down towards the harbour. Acre possesses no less than four commodious khans, for, prior to the construction of the Damascus-Haifa Railway, all the wheat trade passed through Acre; during the season from two to three thousand camels would arrive daily laden with grain. The most interesting of the khans are the Khan Shahwarda, which contains a number of old cannon of the time of Sir Sidney Smith, and the Khan al-Umdan near the harbour. The most important of Acre’s six mosques was built by Jezzar Pasha about 1790 of materials brought from Ascalon, Caesarea, Sidon and elsewhere; it has dignity and grace, and is set in pleasant surroundings. The courtyard is surrounded by a colonnade and by domed cells for the accommodation of scholars. In a detached building are the tombs of its bloodthirsty founder, Ahmed Pasha al-Jezzar, the Butcher Pasha of Napoleon's siege, and of his successor Suleyman. On the opposite side of the road is the Turkish arsenal, where lie stacks of round shot of all sizes, bar and chain shot, fireballs, cannister, grape and other ordnance of the eighteenth century, much of which was put on shore by the English at the time of Napoleon's siege. Under the Citadel, which was built by ʾAbdallah Pasha about 1820 and is now used as a central prison, and under the Girls' School on the opposite side of the road, are the crypts of the residence of the Knights of S. John, in good preservation and worthy of a visit. The porch of the Crusaders' Cathedral, now destroyed, was removed after the city's fall to Cairo, where it may still be seen embodied in the façade of the türbé of Mohammed al-Nasr. In the Citadel tower, whence there is a fine view, is a small museum with a ​collection of Phoenician glass. Near by is the hammam built by Jezzar, the finest Turkish Bath in Palestine.
About half a mile to the east of the walls is Tel al-Fukhar, where King Richard pitched his tent in 1190–1; from this place Napoleon directed operations in 1799. About one mile to the north-east is the village of Menshieh, where was the French Camp, and close by are the orange gardens of Baghché and the tombs of Bahaʾuʾllah and Sir Abbas Effendi ʾAbduʾl Baha. Across the plain to the north can be traced the aqueduct—rebuilt by Jezzar and ʾAbdallah, probably on the ruins of a Roman aqueduct—conveying the water a distance of 8 miles into Acre. To the north-east on the hillside can be seen the late Arab castle of Jeddin, and to the north the white cliff of Ras al-Nakura (the boundary between Palestine and Syria) and the beginning of the "Ladder of Tyre." The beautiful Wadi Qurn, well wooded and with a strongly flowing stream, deserves a visit, together with the ruins of the Crusaders' castle of Montfort (Qalaʾat Qurein). This castle of Mons Fortis was begun in 1229 by Hermann von Salza, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, and was the principal stronghold of the Order in Palestine. It was destroyed by Bibars.
Acre is connected with Haifa by a narrow-gauge railway, which crosses the rivers Kishon (Nahr Mugqatta) and Belus (Nahr Naʾmein). The latter provided and still provides the murex, from which the Phoenicians extracted the famous Tyrian purple; and Pliny records that glass was made from its exceptionally fine sand.
There is a local prophecy to the effect that when the waters of the river Belus reach the east gate of Acre the English will take the town. This possibility arose from the fact that Belus changes his course every year. In 1910 the river approached so close to the gate that, in view of the prophecy, the Turkish authorities became anxious. Numbers of sheep were publicly sacrificed on the spit of land between the river and the gate, and that winter Belus moved himself away from the walls.
Nazareth (al-Nasira).—No mention of Nazareth, where ​Christ spent His early youth and taught in the synagogue, occurs in the Old Testament; and in the time of Christ the place was so insignificant that the term Nazarene was applied to Him in derision. Down to the time of Constantine Nazareth was inhabited by Samaritans; then dwindled rapidly in importance after the Arab conquest; revived during the Crusades only to contract again when the Franks left Palestine; but grew once more in the seventeenth century, when the Franciscans were enabled by the Druse Emir Fakhr al-Din to establish a church and convent on the supposed site of the House of the Virgin before its miraculous journey to Loretto. The enterprising ʾOmar al-Daher (cf. Part I., § 6) increased the prosperity of the place, which is now a flourishing town of about 9,000 inhabitants.
Nazareth is, like Jerusalem, a place of religious and charitable establishments, and the heights around it are crowned by imposing orphanages, hospitals and schools. There are no buildings of great antiquity, unless we except the church of the Melchites, which, it is claimed, is the synagogue where Christ preached (S. Luke, iv., 16 sqq.). The general aspect of Nazareth, with its hilly background, its orchards, its cypresses and its many churches, is reminiscent of some Tuscan or Umbrian hill-town. Rising abruptly from the plain south-east of Nazareth is the dome-shaped Mt. Tabor.
Tiberias.—The road from Nazareth to Tiberias (16 miles) passes Kafr-Kanna, the traditional scene of the Miracle of Cana (S. John, ii.), and, farther on, runs close to the hill of the "Horns of Hattin," the scene of the disastrous defeat of the Crusaders in 1187 (cf. Part I., § 5).
Tiberias lies on the west bank of the Lake, and was founded by Herod Antipas in honour of the Emperor Tiberius, whose name it received. During the Jewish war the town voluntarily surrendered to Vespasian, and on this account the Jews were permitted to continue to reside there. During the second, third and fourth centuries A.D. it was the headquarters of the Jewish remnant in Palestine ​and the seat of the rabbinic Sanhedrin, the birthplace of the Mishna and of the Palestinian Talmud (cf. Part II., § 14). It is still the resort and the dwelling-place of orthodox Jews, and continues to be a favourite place of Talmudic study.
The town lies 681 ft. below sea-level and, as seen from the hills overlooking the lake, is of picturesque appearance. It is built, like many towns of Syria and Trans-jordania, of black basalt, which gives it, on closer approach, a somewhat sombre look. It is partly enclosed within walls and bastions, built or restored by ʾOmar al-Daher.
A little to the south of Tiberias are the hot baths described in Part IV., § 6, and below these, again, is the tomb of the celebrated Talmudist Rabbi Meir. The tombs of the philosopher Maimonides and of Rabbi Ben Akiba lie to the north of the town.
At the northern end of the lake is Capernaum (Tel Hum), whose interesting synagogue, now in process of excavation, is referred to in § 1 above.
Safed.—Safed is the northernmost town of any size in Palestine (c. 12,500 inhabitants) and stands at a height of 2,749 ft. Like Tiberias, Safed is a Jewish holy town, which it became after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal. It then developed as a centre for the study of the Kabbala; and we have seen in Part II., § 14, that the first printing press in Palestine was set up at Safed in 1563.
Safed contains the remains of a Templar castle, and commands an extensive view towards Mt. Hermon and the north. At Meiron, north-west of Safed, are the tombs of Hillel and other famous Jewish teachers, to which pilgrims resort in great numbers on the 30th April of each year.
For Lake Huleh (the Waters of Merom), see Part I., § 2.
* ↑ See Fr. Meistermann, O.F.M., Capharnaum et Bethsaide, Paris, 1921,
* ↑ See Bishop McInnes's booklet, Notes on the Journey Kantara to Jerusalem, Nile Mission Press, Cairo.
* ↑ See Vincent and Mackay, Hebron: Le Haram El-Khalil, Sépulture des Patriarches, Leroux, Paris, 4to, 1922.
* ↑ See Peters and Thiersch, The Painted Tombs at Marissa, P.E.F., London, 1905.
* ↑ See Petrie, Lachish; Bliss, A Mound of many Cities, P.E.F., London.
* ↑ See R. A. S. Macalister, Bible Sidelights from the Mound of Gezer, London, 1906.
* ↑ See E. T. Richmond, The Dome of the Rock and its present Condition, Oxford 1922.
* ↑ The most recent English work on the Holy Sepulchre is Jeffery, A Brief Description of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, and other Christian Churches in the Holy City, with some account of the mediaeval copies of the Holy Sepulchre surviving in Europe, Cambridge, 1919.
* ↑ These tiles are described and illustrated in C. A. Nomicos, Τὰ Χριστιανικὰ Κεραμουργήματα τοῦ Ἀρμενικοῦ Πατριαρχείου τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων, Alexandria, 1922.
* ↑ See Vincent and Abel, Bethléem: Le Sanctuaire de la Nativité, Gabalda, Paris, 1914.
* ↑ For an explanation of the burnt-offerings which are still made by the pilgrims on this occasion see Sir J. G. Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris (3rd edn, revised, 1919), vol.i., pp. 178–9.