New-York tribune., 1903-03-12
THE HOLY LAND.
Notes of Travel by Professor
Ste1c0rt.

MEMORABLE PLACES AMONG THE HOLY
Hills. BY Robert Laird Stewart p: y; ~ 5ro-
tessor OF ssteFS. S seT.nary Of lincoln
University, Pennsylvania Emo. pp. 20 Fiem'
ing q Reven Company.
No two people ever see Palestine with the
same eyes and this topical account, while rest
ing freely on citations from theoiog!anss cnurcn-
man and exnIorers makes its own appeal LIT.
Stewart accepts the i6entihcations OF Biblical
names made By the Palestine Exploration Funo'
and holds with Colonel Conder that tine geos'0
phy OF the Book OF Joshua is no idle tsle' ou'
a real division of q real country. cap2ole VI 'Ne
most minute examination by aid OF the ms
acientidc modern research. Though scnol~
ere by no means agreed upon these results 4
Identification as yet some holding tnat 1ne -
cepted description Is an ideal demarcauon oue
~ 3 nost-exil,c source and accepted. IN con-
forroitv with nious wishes on insufficient ioenu-
dcstion Of Arabic sirniIarities in names yet ene
results have not been read out OF court anu
their candid acceptance certainly aoos 10 'nS
vividrese OF these descriptions. However cet'
tain ground may lie in dispute, the merit Iii
relating the events OF the Bible. 50 TAR as pos
efble to their physical surroundings, ts as oo-
vious IS Is the advantage gained by the sans
method in other historical work
To understand the story OF Gettysburg, one
must have before him an outline picture OF the
6eId on which the battle was fought Its situa-
non and confguration must be known Oe1oIe
the history of the great conflict can oe inIei ent
II we have the setting we can understand tne
story 1t takes on definiteness and coloring ana
pfeIikeuess as II Is connected with the detaAs
~ itS environment To the ordinary reader OF
the Bible the mention of place caIleo Dotnaa
IN tie story OF Joseph's life suggests htue OF
nothing of special interest, but when We CONS
to know it as q mountain trimmed plain OF rare
beauty, sought out to-day by the shepneIos
when other pastures fail; when we find 1t on the
hvf ha merchantmen of the East Tor
something like five thousand years; wnen we
learn that there empty cisterns now. near 70
this great highway, like that one In Wnlcn
JoseTh was imprisoned by his brethren Wnen
we find near by a perennial spring, aIounu
6reW near. and we race down the wady lead
ing out from this plain the ancient road 20
Egypt-the name and story are associated WIN
living realities Of undying interest ano iuagina
ton truthfully and vivsdly reproduces the scene
II all roads do not lead to Rome, Roman oc-
cupsticn always leads to roads. They were made
70 serve the empire which was TO last forever
and no military necessity was too slight and no
natural difficulty too great for the undaunted
engineer One Of the most impressive Of these
memorials of the vespasian is the remainder
Of great roadway built by Silva to reduce the
garrison under Eleazar at Masada on the Deao
Sea This well fortified and thoroughly stocked
STRONGHOLD was not even attempted by the
Romans until Jerusalem and the cities OF Juoea
had fallen. For the siege water had TO De car
riod eleven miles and there was foraging to
be done nearer than twenty Battering rams
and engines had to be brought all the way from
Jerusalem. Obviously all that was needed was
a broad roadway, and 1t was no insurmount-
able obstacle that for great part of its length
Il had TO follow 'the trail Of the shepherd OF
the wild goats down the rugged nountalnsioe
or along the edges of precpitous slopes" An
other monument to Roman engineering Is the
Via Maris.' a roadway paved with large SLABS
Of basalt following the mountain slope to the
Jordan, which il touches at Jsr Benat 4acub
This was great caravan route from Egypt and
the coast to Damascus, and in time of harvest
is still being worn by long camel trains. The
mount of the TRANSPORTATION is identified. as by
Ruskin, with Mount Hermon.
AS ordinarily seen by travellers tc the East.
the lofty heights of Mount Hermon are covered
with a glittering mantle Of ice and snow ON
March 90 we found snowdrifts so deep as to oe
almost impossible. on the road to Damascus over
the shoulder of Hernon. at elevation or
less than five thousand feet The crystal streams
which Issue from this mass or slowly meitlns
Stow pour out from the base OF the mountain
from the south and west. going down by the
valleys. and through each successive level OF
the descending course of the Jordan to the
deep basin of the Dead Sea The fountain OF
Banias, the most picturesque source OF the Jor-
dan, springs directly from the southern base
of Mount Hermon. There Is no place in Pales-
tine-and there are but few places perhaps in
ell the vorld-where so many elements OF gran
deur and beauty grouped together in happy
comb mbnatior.
photograph Of the source at Banias is re-
produced among the several good half tones
which aid in fixing the mental images this pleas
ant book designs 10 furnish As further aids
are included an outline map of Palestine in the
time Of Christ. showing the principal roads and
fords q map of the Sea of Galiiee. and plan
OF recent excavation in and about the port Of
Siloam.