Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-03

up under the Greek Church of the An
nunciation, and as the church itself Is
under ground the water is led past the
altar Of Gabriel to a well which is kept
full for the use Of pilgrims, and thence by
conduit to an arched fountain below the
church on the hillside.
Here the stream flows into a square
stone trough. from which the water is
dipped. The overflow forms q pool, in
which the women wash their linen and In
which the children battle. The church over
the spring is believed by the Greeks TO be
the exact site Of the house in which Mary
lived and in which she received the saluta.
ton Of the angel. The Catholics have an
other Church of the Annunciation, in an
other part Of the city, for which the same
things are claimed. But according to ira
ditlon the holy house Of Nazareth is not
here. 1t is the legend that on May 10, 1891,
when the house which had been the home
of the Blessed Virgin was in danger Of
beir & desecrated by the Mohammcdans, 1t
was lifted bodily from its foundations and
was borne by the hands of angels through
the air to a town in Dalmatia. After three
years, by the same miraculous means, the
holy house was removed to Lorctto. in
Italy, where It still is an object Of venera-
ton by many pilgrims.
The visitor is shown the site of the
synagogue wherein Jesus taught. the place
where Joseph had his carpenter shop, the
brow Of the hill from whence the Nazarenes
sorsht to cast down Jesus and many other
traditional historical places. While It is
impossible to ascertain the exact authen-
tictty of these sites, one is compelled to
believe that these things actually did AXE
plrce in this immediate vicinity.
Nazareth, more than Bethlehem, and much
more than Jerusalem. is potent to recon.
struct In the imagination the life of the
Christ.
Every visitor to Nazareth Is Of course
especially interested in the carpenter shops
to be seen in the bazaar. 81 great has been
the demand Of tourists for bits Of wood
work wrought by a carpenter of Nazareth
that the Industry has responded by a par
adoption of modern methods. Every
other trade is carried on just as 1t was in
the day of Jesus apprenticeship, but the
carpenters have arisen from their seats on
the floor to work at a carpenters bench
such as is used In America. They nave
gone so far as to buy a few modern tools,
and they have almost succeeded in de-
stroying the romantic interest of their
peculiar trade in their particular town.
ClAiilDiLib " IL summit OF the MIL IN
whose slope the town is built the visitor
to Nazareth commands a wonderful view,
which undoubtedly is the same as that
which delighted the eyes Of the Son Of
Mary. On the west one sees the blue Medi-
terranean, and the green slopes of Carme,.
To the east there is Mount Tabor. Between
lies that country In which were enacted
the great events of the history Of the
kingdom of Israel. In sight are the bat
tlefields Of Deborah and Barak, the scene
of Sisera's defeat, the scene of the strate-
gem of the pitchers and candles, and Of the
triumph Of the sword of the Lord and of
Gideon. One may see the country where
Saul and Jonathan waged their disastrous
warfare against the Philistines. One may
see the country over which Jehu raced in
his chariot to Jezreel, one may see the
ruined tower of the city which was the
home and the death place Of the cruel
Jezebe,. One may see the high natural
altar where Elijah overcame the prophets
of Baal. One INDY see the denuded noun
tains which bespeak the barren estate of
modern Palestine, and at ones very feet
in the valley OF Nazareth, there is a rem
nant Of the olive groves and vineyards of
the land which once flowed with milk
and honey,
Nazareth was unknown to history until
Jesus gave 1t prominence. But ever since
His day 1t has been sacred both to the
Christian worshipers Of Jesus Christ and
the Mohammedan worshipers of the Lord
lisa, son of Maryam, of the village of En-
Nazirah, who was crucified in Jerusalem.
The followers of Jesus were first known as
Nazarenes, a name which was applied to
them by the Jews, and which persisted In
DaIaeNt- ~,A- aRA1- A. =.
given the peculiar people, the nickname
of Christians. The Mohammedans to this
day speak of Christians as Nazarenes, the
Arabic form being Ear Nasranlyyah."
Thus has Nazareth, the despised, been
preserved from destruction and from OBJ
livion by the power OF the prophet whom
IL had refused to honor because He was
not a stranger.
By FREDERIC j. HAsRIN.
Tomorrow-THE HOLY LAND-xII,
HA RAHE NV mETr era