Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-11


have stood here q Kings 4: 13). We
met lots of people travelling. some on
cainels. others on horses. donkeys and
mules, and many on foot. Among the
latter were large number OF very
ty-looking and ragged women car
rying fuel and other heavy burdens ON
their heads. The heat during the mid
die of the day was very oppressive,
and my umbrella. which had served
az phrasol. bursted in several places,
thus leaving me exposed 20 the full
powers of the sun At 1880 n. m. we
arrived at the village OF Sebastich, the
ancient Samaria, where | viewed the
ruined church of st. John, In which
Moslem attendants pointed out the
tomb of John the Baptist. the tomb
of Obadiah q Kings IS: - and the
tomb OF elisha. and many other alb
surditles." all for the purpose of eX-
acting money from pous pilgrims. l
also walked through the village to the
TOP OF the hill, on the eastern slope of
which, just above the village threshing
fioor If n dozen or more columns with
out capitals, forming an oblong qua
dranEle They are supposed to be
remains of the ancient temple which
Herod the Great Is said to have erect
ed IN honor of Augustus ION n large
open space in the middle of the city"
The top of the Samarla hill is 1.542 feet
above the level of the sea, which in
lisa. Is; !, is compared to crown and
commands an unobstructed view in
ciudhs the Mediterranean on the
west. Samarla Is surrounded by
ranges of gently slnping hills. Numer-
ous villages are visible. but none Of
them have any historical Significance
so far ms II Is known. on terrace
on the south side of the hill runs the
street of columns with which Herod
embellished the town. The columns.
all Of which have lost their capitals.
are 16 feet high. The colonnade was
about 20 yards wide and over $500
yards In length. II runs around the
hill, but is often interrupted. or is
buried beneath the soil. The whole
hill.whlch rises to the height OF $50 feet
from the surrounding valley.is terraced
from hnse to top, and ruins abound
everywhere. The hill stand isolated
in the valley.
Samnrla was built by Omrl. one of the
kings of Israel about 1926 years before
Christ and he made it, instead of Tir-
zah, the capital of the Kingdom of
Israel. After that the city became
distinguished in the hlstroy of that
Kingdom, and of the prophets Elijah
and Elisha, In connection with the var
ious famlnes of the land. the unexpect-
ed plenty of Samaria and the several
deliverances of the city from the
SyranF. II continued for two hundred
sNhlu lilt Sful III luOiNtTN, ana the sub
Ject of prophetic denunclatons. until
the carrying away of the ten tribes in
to captivity by shelmaneser. Five
hundred years afterwards II was taken
by John Hyrcanus. and RACED to the
ground according to words of prophesy
tMich. /; SEQ. The prejudice and en-
NIFTY or the Jews toward the Samari-
tans in the days of the Savior was
most bitter even more so than towards
the Opticians. The Samaritans We're
remnants and representatives of the
revolted tribes. They had been the
most violent antagonists of the Jews
IN the building of the temple in
Jerusalem. They had erected another
temple on Mount Gerizim. They re-
Jected the sacred books of the Jews
with the exception of the book of
Moses Their religion was an abomlna-
ton to the Jews. being q profane mix
ture of Judaism and paganism For
these reasons the Jews had no deal
ings with the Samaritans. The term
samaritan became to jew suggestive
only OF renroach, insomuch that when
they would express their deepest dis
gust and abhorrence ofChrist they said,
Thou art a Samaritan and has n
devil" For the same reason the Jews
avoided travelling through Samaria
and when compelled to pass through
the country, carried their own provis-
ions, and refused the entertainment of
the neople
While engaged in examining the
ruins and present status % Samaria
l was considerably annoyed by nm
Arabian youth who insisted I'm follow
Ing me wherever | went, calling for
"bakhshish," At last I made n pass
at him without hitting him, after
which he disappeared never saw
such impudcnce as these Arabs exhibit
Whenever n decently dressed European
on the travel makes his appearance I'm
any Arab town II is the signal for the
general cry of "bakhshlsh." Even little
children. mere infants, who ms yet are
unable to talk plain are taught by
their mothers to call for the much
coveted bakhshish when they see a
white stranger.
After spending about an hour and n
half in Samarfa we continued our
journey to Nablous distant about six
miles in n southeasterly direction
where we arrived at u, M. In time
to attend the Church Of England after
noon service. I nut up with the Rev
Christian Falscheer the Protestant
missionary. of Nahlous He II n Ger
man by birth. hut has spent over thirty
years of his life in his present posi-
tion In Nablous. After the services
the Arab servant of the house accom-
panied me short distance upon the
slope of Mount Gerizim, to view the
town from an elevation; he then
piloted me through the narrow
crooked streets of the town. many of
which We're arched over and We're
actual tunnels under tall buildings.
At length we reached the quarter of
the Samaritans where ! for small
fee was conducted into the old syn
agoguc, and shown very old copy of
the pentateuch (the Eve books of
Moses), which these people claim to
have hecn written by a great grand
son of Aaron, hut which can not posi-
bly, he Older than the Christian era.
AS I had been told that a more modern
copy Is generally exhibited TO visitors
instead OF the original, l insisted on
seeing n second copy, which was
finally permitted; and thus / have
reason TO think that the old copy was
actually shown me. II was written
upon parchment and mounted on roll
ers.
The quarter of the Samariinns is in
the southwest part of the town. Their
synagogue consists Of small white
washed chamber the pavement of
which Is covered with mating, and
must not be trodden on with shoes.
Their worship Is interesting. The
prayers are repeated In the Samaritan
dialect, although Arabic is now the
collouuial Language of the people. The
men were white SUPPLIES and red tur-
bans. The office Of High Priest IS
hereditary and Nakuh, the present
holder OF II. is n descendant of the tribe
Of Levi. He is the president of the
community and. ut the present time,
one Of the district authorities. His
stipend consists of tithos paid by his
flock. He took great pains to explain
Inv signs and gestures what he thought