The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-09-25
THE INDIANA STATE SENTINEL WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER % 1880


They have strongly-marked features of
the Hebrew type, and their form of wor-
ship bears a close resemblance TO that of
the orthodox Jews. They observe the
Jewish Sabbath, believe in the one all
powerful God, and look forward to the
coming of the long-expected Messiah, but
they only acknowledge the five books of
Moses as divine, and their bible does not
extend beyond these. They celebrate
the passover and all the feasts commanded
by Moses, and the high priest conducts
the service in the Samaritan language. l
visited their synagogue, where, after re-
moving my shoes, / was permitted to en-
ter and view their most valued treasure,
the celebrated Codex of the Pentateuch,
which they claim to be the oldest manu-
script in the world, having been written
in the time of Moses and Aaron, and
which is undoubtedly very much older
than the Christian era. The sacred
seat of Samaritan worship to which
they always turn in prayer is Mt. GeriZim,
where their great temple formerly stood,
and where they encamp every year to eat
the sacrificed lambs and celebrate the feast
of the Passover, according to the divine
instructions as laid down in the book OF
Exodus. The ancient city of Sheehem or
Sychar, now known as Nabious a corrup-
ton of the Roman Neapolisl, is an i'm
portant place Of over 10000 inhabitants,
and is picturesquely located between the
historic mountains of Gerizim and Ebal
known as the mounts of Blessing and
Cursingl, where Joshua gathered ''all
Israel and their elders and officers and
judges" according TO the commands of
Moses, "half of them over against Mt.
Gerizim and half over against Mt. Ebal,
Ill l. - 4 10. kt.@
blessings and the cursings according to all
that Is witten in the book of the law"
Joshua viii, 81.
Even at so early date as Jacobs time,
Shechem was a prominent city of the
Invites, which was destroyed by his fierce
sons, Simeon and Levi, in avenging the
wrongs of their sister Dinah, and when
Solomon's death was followed by rebellion
and the division of his possessions it be-
came the capital of the new kingdom of
Israel, founded by Jereboam, who raised
the standard of revolt against Rehoboam
under the famous battle-cry of "To Your
Tents, o Israel" Il Kings, xii, 49, The
modern inhabitants of Nablous are noted
for being the most fanatical and malig
nant Mohammedans in Palestine, and
were it not for the presence OF the Turk
ish soldiery the life of a Christian would
hardly be safe upon the public streets.
As it is the newly arrived tourists are met
with malicious glares and sneers, and as
we rode through the narrow streets we
were greeted with jeering cries of Nozrani
| (Nazarene) by crowds of small
boys, who finally tossed several
! stones after us as we moved on rapidly to
our camping ground near the outskirts OF
the city, where two armed Bashi BaZodk
guards gave us the benefit of their protec-
ton for the night The residents of Nab
I lous are not only much more impudent
! but are much better looking than the peo-
/ Pile hereabouts generally, and the women
\ wear a largely different costume, consist
/ ing usually OF the Turkish trousers, with
/ out any outer dress over them. As the
/ men wear the long, flowing Mohammedan
male attire, the manner of dress is ex-
! actly eversed from our standpoint, and
! the women are arrayed like men and the
men like women. There is large, roomY
mosque, that stands in the center of the
city, which was originally crusaders
| church, and near it a smaller one. which
! the natives believe covers the exact spot
where jacob sat when the treacherous
brethren returned TO him with the blood
stained coat Of many coIors which be-
/ longed to the favored Joseph.
/ had the pleasure OF meeting some old
! friends at Nabous in a most pleasant and
unexpected manner, that l had last seen
! at Constantinople months before. While
| was aware that they were somewhere in
| SYRIA with one of Cooks conducted parties,
| they had no idea that | was anywhere in
/ that part of the world, and discovered it in a
! ratheramusing manner. They were travel
/ ing in the opposite direction from me, and
when they arrived in Nablous after hard
/ day S ride, two young ladies of the party,
whom knew well, being anxious to alight,
dashed on ahead of the rest, and. seeing
the stars and stripes waving over my tent,
| supposed it was their own, which was
/ always similarly decorated by the mule
teers and tentInen whom they sent on in
advance. They therefore halted and were
/ about TO take possession in my absence,
when Sasoor appeared with the information
that that boudoir was pre-empted and be-
longed to yours truly. "Not Of Indianap-
oils" they exclaimed with establishment,
and when he explained that it was the
same rock-rbbed moss-backed Hoosier
specimen they were more than sur
prised to find me in this out-of-the- way
part of the globe. In the meantime, being
/ Joined by their dragoman and the rest OF
their travelling companions, sixteen in
number, they departed for their own camp
on the other side of the town, leaving a
cordial invitation with Sasoor that join
them later on for dinner, which kindly
request / was not slow to comply with
considering that l had not seen a thor
oughly civilized human being since leav.
ing Jerusalem. As | had previously met
nearly all the members of the party al
Constantinople we passed a most pleasant
evening together and | was 10th say.
ing goodbye when they rode away
toward Jerusalem on the following
morning. leaving me once more alone
One of the party, gentleman of Cali
fornia, well advanced in years had given
out under the fatigue of the trip and they
were compelled to convey him the rest o.
the way in a palanquin, suspended from
the backs of two horses, one behind anC
one in front. However the poor old man
never recovered from the hard trials o.
this most trying journey and finally diec
from its effects in Cairo, far away iron
home and friends, the only persons pres
ent to show him the slightest attentions
being some chance travelling acquaint
ances, myself among the number, whC
happened to be stopping in the same
hotel WILL T. ENGLISH.
The Man of 1t.
[Judgel