Thursday, March 23rd.
Route
I promise you a most interesting ride today, and, while the loads go directly along the shore to the entrance of the Jordan, we will ascend toward the northeast for half an hour, to visit the site of Chorazin. This triangular part of Naphtali, between the northwestern corner of the lake and Jisr Benat Yacobe, has ever been a wild, semi-deserted region, destitute of water, of trees, and of human habitations; and, of course, there are no ruins of importance upon it.
Flocks in Winter
It is, however, a fine pasture-field for the flocks of the Arabs, and I found it covered, in mid-winter, with camels and cattle from the cold Jaulan. Those parts adjacent to the shore have neither snow nor frost, and are clothed with grass and flowers in January; but the ascent is very great, not less than two thousand feet at the highest part of the road, and much higher west of it toward Safed, where the hills are often buried under deep snow. The flocks and their shepherds can, therefore, pass from winter to summer in an hour, and for several months can graduate their range so as to enjoy just the temperature which is most agreeable to their tastes. In May, however, the pasturage dries up, water fails, and the heat sends the flocks and herds to the higher and colder regions east of the Jordan. It is a ride of four hours from Khan Minyeh to the bridge, most of the distance over rough black basalt, interspersed in a few places with a white marble, intensely hard, and sufficiently compact to take a beautiful polish.
Well of Joseph
Jub Yusuf — Well of Joseph — where Moslem tradition locates the pit in which that unfortunate lad was cast by his envious brethren, is midway between the lake and the bridge. The khan there is like this of Minyeh, but not so dilapidated, though equally deserted. Indeed, there is not an inhabited house in the entire region. The land, however, is fertile, and in some coming day of peace and prosperity it will be a picturesque, fruitful, and most healthy province.
Arab Houses
Before we pass entirely away from this vicinity, I wish to inquire whether there is anything in the construction of modern Arab houses to explain the manner in which the man sick of the palsy was placed at the feet of Jesus. I have never been able to understand it.
ILLUSTRATION
Letting Down Through Roof
The record in Mark 2:1-121And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. 2And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. 3And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. 4And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. 6But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 7Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? 8And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? 9Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? 10But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) 11I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. 12And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. (Mark 2:1‑12) and Luke 5:18-2618And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. 19And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. 20And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? 22But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? 23Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? 24But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. 25And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day. (Luke 5:18‑26) states that there was such a dense crowd around our Lord that the four men could not force their way through it, and therefore they went to the roof of the house, broke up part of it, and let down the sick man from above. The following considerations may make this act intelligible. We must banish from our minds every form of European or American houses. Those of Capernaum, as is evident from the ruins, were, like those of modern villages in this same region, low, very low, with flat roofs, reached by a stairway from the yard or court Jesus probably stood in the open lewan, and the crowd were around and in front of him. Those who carried the paralytic, not being able “to come at him for the press,” ascended to the roof, removed so much of it as was necessary, and let down their patient through the aperture. Examine one of these houses, and you will see at once that the thing is natural, and easy to be accomplished. The roof is only a few feet high, and by stooping down, and holding the corners of the couch — merely a thickly-padded quilt, as at present in this region — they could let down the sick man without any apparatus of ropes or cords to assist them. And thus, I suppose, they did. The whole affair was the extemporaneous device of plain peasants, accustomed to open their roofs, and let down grain, straw, and other articles, as they still do in this country.
The Paralytic in the Gospel
The only difficulty in this explanation is to understand how they could break up the roof without sending down such a shower of dust as to incommode our Lord and those around him. I have often seen it done, and have done it myself to houses in Lebanon; but there is always more dust made than is agreeable. The materials now employed are beams about three feet apart, across which short sticks are arranged close together, and covered with the thickly-matted thorn-bush called bellan. Over this is spread a coat of stiff mortar, and then comes the marl or earth which makes the roof. Now it is easy to remove any part of this without injuring the rest. No objection, therefore, would be made on this score by the owners of the house. They had merely to scrape back the earth from a portion of the roof over the lewan, take up the thorns and the short sticks, and let down the couch between the beams at the very feet of Jesus. The end achieved, they could speedily restore the roof as it was before. I have the impression, however, that the covering, at least of the lewan, was not made of earth, but of materials more easily taken up. It may have been merely of coarse matting, like the walls and roofs of Turkman huts; or it may have been made of boards, or even stone slabs (and such I have seen), that could be quickly removed. All that is necessary, however, for us to know is, that the roof was flat, low, easily reached, and easily opened, so as to let down the couch of the sick man; and all these points are rendered intelligible by an acquaintance with modern houses in the villages of Palestine.
But we must now make our way more to the east, across this Wady Nashif, as I hear it called by the Bedawin. It runs directly down to the lake on the east side of Tell Hum, and Khorazy lies over against us in that side valley which joins Wady Nashif directly below us. We may as well walk over these basaltic boulders, and each one take care of himself and horse as best he can.
Ruins of Chorazin
And here we are among the shapeless heaps of Chorazin, which attest most impressively the fulfillment of that prophetic curse of the Son of God. I have scarcely a doubt about the correctness of the identification, although Dr. Robinson rejects it, almost with contempt. But the name, Khorazy, is nearly the Arabic for Chorazin; the situation — two miles north of Tell Hum — is just where we might expect to find it; the ruins are quite adequate to answer the demands of history; and there is no rival rite. I am utterly at a loss, therefore, to discover any other reason for rejecting it, but that its location at this point might seem to favor the claims of Tell Hûm to be Capernaum. To me, however, this is an additional evidence of the correctness of the identification in both cases.
Bethsaida
But we must leave the discussion of such questions to those who have leisure and learning, and turn down to the southeast, over this vast field of black basalt, to visit the equally prostrate Bethsaida. Both fell beneath the same woe, and both have long been lost to the student and traveler. I am still in doubt as to the actual site of Bethsaida. The name is now generally affixed, in maps, to a Tell a short distance up the Jordan, on the east side; but the only ruins of importance are below, along the foot of the hills bordering the vale of the Jordan, and at its debouchure on the west side. When I was here in 1855, the Bedawin in the Butaiha applied the name Bethsaida to a bank on the shore of the lake, which is distinguished by a few palm-trees; and in some modern maps this site is called Misadiyeh, a derivative from the same root as Bethsaida, both having reference to fishing. Mesady, however, is the name of a site on the rocky hill west of the Jordan, and higher up the gorge. Doubtless the city of Andrew and Peter derived its name from this act and occupation of fishing; and, therefore, it is nearly certain that it was located on the shore, and not several miles from it, at the Tell to which the name is now affixed. Josephus also says that it was at the entrance of the Jordan into the lake.
Ruins on West Side of Jordan
I call your attention, in passing, to these remains of ancient buildings on the west side of the river, because we shall have occasion to refer to them hereafter. They mark that part of Bethsaida which was, as I suppose, on the west bank of the Jordan, and, of course, in Galilee; while those on the east belong to that part which Philip repaired and called Julias. We shall come among them after crossing the river, which we might do on the sand-bar along the margin of the lake; but I prefer the ford above, where the bottom is less marshy.
Buffaloes
Again we meet the mire-loving buffaloes, and they seem as fond of the mud as the very swine.
They are; and when they cannot find a marsh they bathe in pure water. I once ascended Olympus above Brusa, and near the very top buffaloes were lying in a pool of ice-water, collected from the surrounding snow-banks; and they appeared to enjoy this cold bath as much as these do this black mud.
Josephus’ Battle With the Romans
By the way, it was just here that Josephus fought the Romans under Sylla; concerning which battle he says, with his usual vanity, “I would have performed great things that day if a certain fate had not been my hindrance; for the horse on which I rode, and upon whose back I fought, fell into a quagmire, and threw me on the ground, and I was bruised on my wrist, and was carried into a certain village called Caphernome or Capernaum” (Life, 72nd paragraph).
This paragraph is not only curious in itself, but it confirms the idea that Capernaum was at Tell Ham, and that it was then only a village. But turn up to the margin of this marsh along the foot of the hill, or you will encounter that certain fate which hindered Josephus from doing great exploits against Sylla. These black spongy places are treacherous to the last degree, as David appears to have found by sad experience; for he speaks of sinking in deep mire to which there was no bottom. It is a curious fact that dry, rocky, and mountainous as this country is, yet it abounds in bogs and quagmires to an extraordinary extent.
Swamps
The rivers of Damascus all subside into vast swamps: the Orontes creeps through them from Riblah to Antioch. The Jordan does the same from Dan to Tiberias. The Kishon and the Naamany find their way to the Bay of Acre through bottomless marshes, and so does the Zerka or Crocodile River at Caesarea, the Abu Zabûra, the Kanah, the Falej, and the Aujeh, between that city and Jaffa. David was therefore perfectly familiar with these deceitful and dangerous pits, and could speak of them from painful personal experience.
Here we are at the ford, and though the water is not deep, the bottom is rocky; and there down goes the mule, with all our bedding and wardrobe, into the river. This “certain fate,” however, is less painful than that of Josephus; and, as the day is clear and warm, we shall be able to sun and dry everything before night.
Plain of Butaiha
And now we have the flowery but rather muddy Butaiha through which to saunter for two hours. Dr. Robinson says correctly that it resembles Gennesaret — the one on the northwest, and the other along the northeast shore of the lake, both well watered and extremely fertile, and also both very unhealthy. The Butaiha has the largest and most permanent brooks. Gennesaret the most numerous and largest fountains. I can confirm the statement of Burckhardt, that the Arabs of Butaiha have the earliest cucumbers and melons in all this region. I once visited it in early spring with a guide from Safed, who came, according to custom, to load his mules with these vegetables for the market in that town. The vines are already up and spreading rapidly; and there comes the gardener with a basket of cucumbers to sell, which, of course, we will purchase for our salad in the evening.
ILLUSTRATION
And that is the lodge, I suppose, which Isaiah speaks of; just as the frail, temporary thing suggested that sad complaint of the prophet, “The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers” (Isaiah 1:88And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. (Isaiah 1:8)).
No doubt; but the true point of the comparison will not appear until the crop is over, and the lodge forsaken by the keeper. Then the poles fall down or lean every way, and those green boughs with which it is shaded will have been scattered by the wind, leaving only a ragged, sprawling wreck, a most affecting type of utter desolation — “as Sodom, and ... like unto Gomorrah” (Isa. 1:99Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. (Isaiah 1:9)).
Julias (Bethsaida)
If this is the Julias which Philip built, and named in honor of the daughter of Caesar, it was certainly no great compliment.
And yet Josephus says he advanced it to the dignity of a city, both by the number of inhabitants it contained and its other grandeur (Ant. 18, 2, 1); of which grandeur nothing now remains but these heaps of unmeaning rubbish. The fact is, that the Jewish historian is not to be trusted in such matters. I have visited all the cities which Philip is said to have built, and there neither is, nor could have been, much of royal magnificence about them. This is a fair specimen; and though Sogana and Seleucia were somewhat larger, they could never have been anything more than agricultural villages. I suppose Philip repaired and enlarged this part of Bethsaida in order to detach it from Galilee, and to secure to himself this rich plain of Butaiha, which appertained to it.
Jaulan, or Golan
As we have leisure enough while sauntering down this flowery plain, I should like to hear some account of this Jaulan above us. It is the Golan of the Hebrews, the Gaulanitis of the Greeks, and yet is almost an utter blank on our maps and in books of travel.
I have repeatedly explored parts of it, and once rode through it lengthwise from Hermon to the Jermuk. With a pleasant party of friends I started from Banias on the morning of February 28th, to visit first the ruins at Seid Yehuda. After examining these interesting remains of antiquity, we ascended the basaltic hills eastward for more than an hour, to Sujan, the Sogana of Philip. The surrounding country was once well cultivated, as appears evident from the broken terraces along the sides of the mountain; but at present it is absolutely deserted by all except lawless Bedawin. The view from Sujan over the Hûleh and the surrounding regions is magnificent; and I imagine that one great attraction of the place was its cool and healthy atmosphere.
Ruins of Skaik
From Sujan we wandered upward and eastward over vast fields of lava, without road, or even path, for more than an hour, to Skaik, probably the Sacaca mentioned by Ptolemy. It is one of the largest ruins in Gaulanitis, and was better built than most cities of this region. My aneroid marked 2670 feet for the elevation of this site; and we found the air clear, cold, and bracing. Skaik was inhabited until modern times, and celebrated as the general rendezvous and point of departure for caravans to the east and south; and the existing remains of vast cisterns and caravanserais show that ample provision had been made for the accommodation of these large trading companies.
Summakah
Half an hour south by west from Skaik is a large and very ancient ruin, called Summakah. This word seems to contain the elements of Samachonitis, the Greek name for the Hûleh. It is, however, pronounced as though written with a koff (guttural k) instead of kaf; and in that case it is the name for the bush sŭmmāk, the sumach of the tanner. Whatever be the origin and relations of the name, the position is beautiful, and it is supplied with a fine spring of water, flowing out from the base of the hill.
Joaiza
Half an hour farther south are ruins called Joaiza; and there we encamped for the night, near the tent of the Emeer Hussein el Fŭdle — the supreme chief of all the Arabs in that part of the Jaulan.
A Truthful Emeer
He is a young man of quiet manners and modest deportment, of few words, but sincere and truthful — all remarkable exceptions in his race and station. He traces his pedigree back directly to Mohammed, and the highest sheikhs and emeers of the Jaulan kiss his hand in acknowledgment of his superior rank.
Patriarchal Entertainment
We were received with great respect; fresh coffee was roasted, and a sheep brought up, slaughtered, and quickly cooked before our tent, and the extemporaneous feast spread for us in presence of the emeer. Though he did not literally run to the herd and bring it himself, others did at his bidding, and the whole affair brought the patriarch Abraham most vividly to mind. Like our emeer, he dwelt in tents, and his dependents were encamped about him with their flocks and herds.
There were not more than thirty tents at this encampment; and, upon inquiry, I found, to my surprise, that the people were nearly all the slaves of the emeer. They and their ancestors have belonged to his family for so many generations that all trace of their real origin is lost. Their complexion also has softened into the bronze of the genuine Arab, and the Negro features are almost obliterated. The true Bedawîn, however, never intermarry with them, though the villagers and artisans who settle among them occasionally do.
Home Born Slaves
They are the property of the emeer in a restricted sense, and so are the flocks and herds which they are permitted to hold; and he does not hesitate to take what he wants, nor can they refuse his demands, whatever they may be. But then custom, or law, or both, utterly forbids him to sell them. I inquired into all these matters the next day as we rode through the country under the protection and guidance of his head servant, who reminded me constantly of “Eliezer of Damascus.” In answer to my question, he exclaimed, in indignant surprise, “Sell us! istugfar Allah — God forbid!” They are, in fact, the home-born servants of the very ancient house of El Fŭdle; and, like the three hundred and eighteen in Abraham's family, they are his warriors in times of need, which, in one way or another, happens almost daily. They seem to be attached to the emeer, or rather, perhaps, to his family name, rank, power, and honor. Their own honor, safety, and influence all depend upon him. I was almost startled to find that the emeer was entirely governed by one of his own slaves.
An Eliezer of Damascus
He does nothing of himself; and this modern Eliezer not only disposes of his master's goods, but manages the affairs of government very much as he pleases. All the Arabs of the Hûleh and Jaulan greatly fear and court this chief servant. He is shrewd, efficient, and sometimes cruel; nor is any man's life safe if its owner becomes obnoxious to Master Dauk. But a truce to him and his master. Other matters about this encampment of genuine Ishmaelites were equally interesting.
Gathering of Flocks
In the evening the flocks began to concentrate around this Joaiza from every part of the surrounding desert. It was a noisy, lively, and really beautiful scene. The young donkeys, calves, kids, and lambs, that had been kept up during the day, now let out from the folds, rushed bleating and braying every way, seeking their parents. They were finally shut in, and everything in the camp became quiet except the dogs. These kept up an incessant and angry barking all night long; and I understood that there were supposed to be robbers lurking about, who, but for these watchful sentinels, would carry off lambs, and even camels, from the outskirts of the encampment.
Bedawin Dogs
These dogs of the Bedawin are extremely fierce, and it is not a little dangerous, as I have repeatedly experienced, to come upon an encampment in the night.
Country of Job
They are an indispensable part of the shepherd's equipage, and appear to have been so even in the time of Job. And, by the way, this Jaulan was Job's country. His flocks and herds roamed over these same wild “walks,” and were exposed to the very same dangers that now task the courage of these Arab shepherds. In these inaccessible ravines were the lion's den, the tiger's lair, and pits for bears and wolves; and across these vast plateaus the flying bands of Sabean robbers roved in search of plunder. The country, the people, the manners and customs, remain unchanged from remote antiquity. Job was a great emeer of the Hauran; and if he were there now, he might find the same kind of enemies to plunder and kill, and even natural phenomena very similar to the great fire that burnt up the sheep, and the mighty wind from the wilderness that overturned the houses of his children. Destructive fires often sweep over the desert, and angry hurricanes hurl to the ground the habitations of man. I would not, however, be understood to bring down the patient man of Uz to a level with the modern emeers of Arabia. He was an agriculturist as well as shepherd; an honest man, and not a robber; one that feared God and eschewed evil, and not a fanatical follower of the false prophet.
Frost and Heat
The night air at Joaiza was keen and cold; indeed, there was a sharp frost, and ice appeared on all the little pools about the camp. Jacob had experience of such alternations between blazing sun and biting frost. “In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from me” (Gen. 31:4040Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes. (Genesis 31:40)), was the indignant reply to his avaricious father-in-law. In the present case the cold was owing mainly to the great elevation of the Jaulan — not less, on an average, than two thousand five hundred feet above the sea. It is a grand volcanic plateau, comparatively level, but with a line of singular tells running from Hermon southward to the Jermuk.
The first is Tell Ahmar, south of Gen. Tsai. 40.
Lake Phiala. Three miles south of this is Tell Sheikha, then Tell Bŭrm, next the great double Tell Aramein — the north peak called Aram, and the south Abu Nidy. About four miles farther south is Tell Yusuf, and next it Tell el Khanzîr. Tell el Farus is the last and the loftiest of the list.
Sugar-Loaf Hills
Few persons, I presume, ever ride over the hills of Galilee without admiring these tall, sugar-loaf land-marks on the eastern side of the Jordan, and wishing to know their names and character. To such, at least, the above list will be satisfactory; and the only additional statement I have to make in regard to them is, that, though seen at such a great distance they appear small, they are, in reality, rough volcanic mounts, and some of them very respectable mountains. Beyond them, eastward and southward, stretch the vast and fertile plains of the Hauran, now and always the granary of Central Syria and Northern Arabia. The Jaulan, however, is entirely given up to pasturage, and, from the nature of the soil and climate, it will continue to be so, although there are places which might be cultivated with any kind of grain, and orchards would flourish everywhere. It is exceedingly well watered in all parts, except the region between the Lakes Phiala and Tiberias. There the fountains and streams dry up early in spring, and the weary traveler must carry his water-bottle with him if he would not be “consumed with drought.”
Fields of Lava
We started early next morning with a letter and guide from the emeer to Sheikh Fareij, whose camp was somewhere, about a day's journey in the desert southward of Joaiza. In that general direction our guide led us across endless fields of lava, and most of the time without any road that I could see, or my horse either. We crossed many tracks, however, which led down to the Hûleh, to Jisr Benat Yacobe, and to this Butaiha, and encountered numerous wadies, some shallow, others deep and ugly, which descend to the Jordan and the lake. For the first hour we were surrounded by the droves and flocks of the emeer, and I noticed a shepherd kindly carrying in his 'aba a new-born lamb, and a woman sedulously teaching a young calf what its mouth was made for, and how to manage its spasmodic legs. Such acts not only remind one of the patriarchs who dwelt in tents and tended cattle, but also of that Good Shepherd from whose bosom no enemy shall ever be able to pluck even the weakest lambkin of the flock.
Ruins
Two miles from Joaiza I took “bearings” from an elevated site, called Sindiana; and a mile farther south is the pretty Tell Delwa, with a ruin upon, and a wady descending from it toward the Jordan. Three miles farther we came to Thûban and Kefr Neffakh, both very large ruins, but particularly the latter, which exhibits an enormous mass of prostrate houses. After this we wandered about over broken ground for an hour in search of a Turkman sheikh, and found his camp hid away in Wady Ghadarîyeh, which joins, lower down, the far greater one of Ruzzanîyeh. This wady has many tributaries and much water, and here, where it enters the Butaiha, is called Em el 'Ajaj, and also Wady Sulam, incorrectly written Sunam on maps. Having procured a guide, we reached Selukia — the Seleucia of Philip — in half an hour. The rains of this place are extensive, but the position does not accord very well with the statements of Josephus. He, however, had never visited it, and spoke at random, as he often does in regard to matters with which he was not personally acquainted. Directly south is a Place called 'Ain Selukia, from a collection of fountains whose water flows west, and unites with Wady Ruzzanîyeh. We had some difficulty in crossing another deep wady, about a mile farther south, named Tellaiya, from a number of low tells, a few miles east of our line of march. This Tellaiya may be the same that enters the Butaiha to the east of us, and is called Dalia by Dr. Robinson. It has cut a deep channel through the hard lava, and a fine stream of water rattles over its rocky bed.
Remains of Wood
Down to this Wady Tellaiya the country had been more or less wooded. Though the oaks that cover the hills south of Banks and 'Ainfit gradually become more and more rare, smaller also, and more scraggy, still they are found, solitary or in groups, quite to the wady; but south of it they disappear altogether, and the country is naked and cheerless. So, also, the flocks became more rare; indeed, for many miles we saw none, although the pasturage is equally good, and water even more abundant than farther north. Lively little brooks crossed our track every five minutes; but I suppose this deserted region is a sort. of neutral territory between the northern and southern tribes, who are not always on such terms as render it safe to be caught too far away from their friends.
We were obliged to make a long detour to the east, in order to get round the impracticable gorge of the Jermaiah — that wady which comes down to the lake near the southeastern corner of the Butaiha. It is the largest and most savage of all the ravines into which we looked during our ride of nine hours, and is said to be the chosen resort of leopards, wolves, hyenas, boars, and other wild animals.
Game
In fact, the whole Gaulanitis abounds in game. We saw many gazelles, and another species of deer, called waal, considerably larger and more like our American deer; partridges also, and grouse, ducks, geese, cranes, and pelicans delight in these solitudes, which their grand enemy, man, rarely invades, or if he does, has too many causes of solicitude to admit of delay, or to make it safe to have the crack of his musket heard.
After heading Wady Jermaiah we turned nearly west, down a gentle declivity for half an hour, and then came to a large ruin called Kunaitera; not that of the same name on the road to Damascus from Jisr Benat Yacobe, but one more ancient, and much larger than that ever was.
Sehm Jaulan-Golan?
Sehm Jaulan is the name of a well-known ruin to the east of this, and I suppose it marks the site of the Biblical Golan, from which this province takes its name. There is also a Khurbet Saida, some distance to the east of our track, but no Beit Saida. From Kunaitera to Khurbet Arba'in — ruin of forty — is half an hour. This city was originally well built for a place where no stone but basalt is found, and it must have been inhabited until a comparatively recent period. Crossing a smooth and fertile plain for some two miles, we plunged abruptly into the gorge of Wady Shukaiyif by an almost perpendicular path, down which our animals slid rather than walked, greatly to their annoyance and our amusement; and here we found Sheikh Fareij, with his large camp, hid away so perfectly that it could not be seen until one is directly above it. Our nine hours' ride had made us all weary, and we gladly pitched our tent near that of the sheikh. He was not then at home, but a brother supplied his place, with a boisterous and rather ostentatious welcome. He berated our guide for bringing guests at an hour so late that it was impossible to give them such a reception and feast as were becoming. The sheep were all at a distance, and none could be got to sacrifice in honor of the occasion, and the parties, until morning, etc., etc. I assured him that we had all necessary provision for ourselves, and needed only provender for the horses. This was speedily brought, and everything arranged to our mutual satisfaction.
A Rescue
Just after our arrival a knot of Arabs gathered round the sheikh's tent, in earnest and angry discussion, and I felt rather anxious to know whether or not we were the subject of controversy. Upon inquiry, it appeared that some of the sheikh's men had fallen in with a party of robbers that morning, who were driving off the cattle of these poor peasants who cultivate this Butaiha, and, after a skirmish with them, succeeded in rescuing the stolen cattle, and brought them into their camp. The owners had come to claim their property, and the rescuers demanded four hundred piasters before they would give them up. The case was brought before the sheikh, who ordered them to be restored without ransom; and, of course, there was grumbling on one side, and loud thanks on the other.
Spear in Ground at Sheikh’s Tent
I noticed, at all the encampments which we passed, that the sheikh's tent was distinguished from the rest by a tall spear stuck upright in the ground in front of it; and it is the custom, when a party is out on an excursion for robbery or for war, that when they halt to rest, the spot where the chief reclines or sleeps is thus designated. So Saul, when he lay sleeping, had his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster, and Abner and the people lay round about him (1 Sam. 26:77So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster: but Abner and the people lay round about him. (1 Samuel 26:7)). The whole of that scene is eminently Oriental and perfectly natural, even to the deep sleep into which all had fallen, so that David and Abishai could walk among them in safety. The Arabs sleep heavily, especially when fatigued. Often, when traveling, my muleteers and servants have resolved to watch by turns in places thought to be dangerous; but in every instance I soon found them fast asleep, and generally their slumbers were so profound that I could not only walk among them without their waking, but might have taken the very 'aba with which they were covered.
Cruse of Water at Bolster
Then the cruse of water at Saul’s head is in exact accordance with the customs of the people at this day. No one ventures to travel over these deserts without his cruse of water, and it is very common to place one at the “bolster,” so that the owner can reach it during the night. The Arabs eat their dinner in the evening, and it is generally of such a nature as to create thirst; and the quantity of water which they drink is enormous. The cruse is, therefore, in perpetual demand.
David and Saul
Saul and his party lay in a shady valley, steeped in heavy sleep, after the fatigue of a hot day. The campground of Sheikh Fareij, in Wady Shukaiyif, is adapted in all respects to be the scene of the adventure. David, from above, marks the spot where the king slumbers, creeps cautiously down, and stands over his unconscious persecutor. Abishai asks permission to smite him once, only once, and promises not to smite a second time; but David forbade him, and, taking the spear and cruse of water, ascended to the top of the hill afar off, and cried aloud to Abner: “Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel?..... As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster” (1 Sam. 26:15-1615And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord. 16This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster. (1 Samuel 26:15‑16)). What a strange sensation must have run through the camp as David's voice rang out these cutting taunts from the top of the hill! But David was perfectly safe, and there are thousands of ravines where the whole scene could be enacted, every word be heard, and yet the speaker be quite beyond the reach of his enemies.
A Young Bride
Among the incidents of that memorable ride was the following: A hardy little girl, about twelve years old, accompanied us on foot. She was the daughter of our guide, and he was bringing her to her husband, at this camp of Fareij, who had purchased her for a thousand piasters (forty dollars). She had no companion or friend of any kind, except a young donkey, as little and as lively as herself. This she drove before her with infinite trouble. It was constantly running hither and thither, and she after it, over sharp rocks and through tangled thorns; but still she never seemed to grow weary. I became quite interested in the brave girl, and from my heart hoped and prayed that she might find, in her hitherto unseen husband, a kind companion. When we arrived at the camp of Fareij, she was taken immediately into the harem of the sheikh, and I saw her no more. She carried nothing in the shape of outfit, except the little donkey. I noticed that when she left her mother's tent at Joaiza, she had on a pair of high red leather boots. These, however, she quickly drew off, and, tucking them under her sash or girdle, raced over the rocks after her pet in bare feet; and this she did from early morning until after sunset. Our girls don't do such things on their wedding day.
An Arab Sheikh
Sheikh Fareij spent the evening in our tent, and greatly interested us by his dignified manner and intelligence, and by a certain air of sadness that pervaded his whole conversation and deportment. He complained bitterly of the course pursued by Government, whose tax-gatherers robbed and plundered the Arabs without mercy; and he maintained that they were compelled to plunder in turn. This was by way of apology for the admission which he seemed somewhat ashamed to make, that robbing was their trade, and that he and his men were engaged in it daily, either as aggressors or defenders. He further lamented that the ancient, generous customs of the Bedawin were being corrupted by Turkish oppression. They now robbed one another, and even murder is often added to plunder. “I myself,” said he, “live day by day by the life of this good sword,” striking his hand fiercely upon the formidable tool at his side. He admitted that, without my guide from the emeer, I could not have reached his tent in safety; and that, without similar assistance from himself, I should not be able to proceed on the morrow round the eastern shore of the lake. Of the truth of this I had certain and rather startling evidence next morning; for I found myself suddenly confronted by a troop of the most savage Bedawin I ever encountered, and they made no secret of the fact that they were restrained from plundering us solely by the guard from Sheikh Fareij. What significance do such incidents impart to a thousand allusions to robbers in the Bible, particularly in the history of David, and in his Psalms!
Mizpah
Your wanderings over the Jaulan must have led you near the track that Jacob followed on his return from Mesopotamia. Could you hear anything about that Mizpah where Laban overtook him?
Mizpah must have been to the east of our track; but I have never been able to identify any of the places mentioned in that remarkable narrative. The entire scene is eminently rich in allusions to Oriental manners and customs. The behavior of Laban is true to life, and every expression is familiar to my ear “as household words.”
Jacob and Laban
Laban says, “The God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad” (Gen. 31:2929It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto me yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. (Genesis 31:29)). Now we should think that Laban was uttering his own condemnation, and it appears strange that Jacob did not retort upon him by asking, Why, then, have you followed me? You have disobeyed the command of God, according to your own admission. Jacob, however, knew very well that such a plea would avail nothing. Laban believed that he fulfilled the intent of the divine command merely by refraining to injure Jacob; and so the latter understood it. The terms of the order were most comprehensive and stringent, but the real intention was to forbid violence; and this sort of construction must be applied to Oriental language in a thousand cases, or we shall push simple narratives into absurdities, and make men, and even the God of truth, utter contradictions.
Teraphim
The charge of stealing Laban's teraphim greatly provoked the idol-hating Jacob, and he very likely thought it a mere device to conceal some evil purpose. But the thing is interesting to us as the earliest distinct notice we have of the existence and worship of these images. They are frequently mentioned in after times, but here we first find them in this patriarchal family.
They must have been so small as to be easily concealed under the saddle of Rachel; and, by the way, it is still very common for Arabs to hide stolen property under the padding of their saddles. They probably resembled the small images of saints which are now carried about by Oriental Christians, and may have been honored and consulted in much the same way. Some of those saints are celebrated for assistance given to women afflicted with Rachel's sorrow; and perhaps she herself had been driven to this sort of idolatry in her agony to become a mother. It would be Orientally feminine in an eminent degree if this was, the cause of her stealing her father's gods. Nor does this act of stealing a god to worship strike these people about us as monstrous or absurd. I have known many such thefts of modern teraphim (pictures and images), and by women too. And why not? It is surely not absurd to steal the god whose aid you invoke to assist you to steal other things. It is well known that Greek pirates are most devout worshippers of the saints; and, what is even more monstrous, the Moslems, who claim to worship only the one true God, yet pray to this very Being for success even in their lowest intrigues and vilest lusts, and constantly mention his holy name in their lewd songs, blasphemously blessing him for success in their deeds of darkness. In this respect, as in most others, the “Thousand Nights” do but reflect the actual manners of the present generation of Arabs.
Another Oriental trait comes out very offensively in the conduct of Laban, and afterward in that of Jacob — a most undisguised and grievous favoritism. Laban searches all before he visits Rachel's tent, because she was the pet of his own and of Jacob's family. And so, when Jacob prepared for the worst, in the immediate prospect of a hostile visit from Esau, he placed the handmaids and his sons by them foremost, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and her son last; that, as he said about the cattle, “If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape” (Gen. 32:88And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape. (Genesis 32:8)). Nor was there the least attempt to disguise this offensive and injurious favoritism, even in this hard extremity.
ILLUSTRATION
Jacob and Laban
But to return to the meeting at Mizpah. The terms with which Laban and Jacob reproved each other are in admirable keeping with the parties and the story, and abound in allusions to Oriental customs, especially of a pastoral people. Twenty years long, cries Jacob, have I served thee. The ewes of thy flock have not cast their young. Evidence of most careful and successful treatment. The rams of thy flock have I not eaten. Implying that then, as now, the males of the flocks alone were used for food, or sold to the butcher. Then, as now, wild beasts tore some of the flock; but Jacob the shepherd, not Laban the landlord, bore the loss. Then, too, as at this day, thieves prowled about; but Jacob made good whatever was stolen. Of course, he had to watch by day and night, in winter's storms and summer's burning suns. It was, therefore, no mere figure of speech that the drought Consumed him by day and the frost by night. Thus do the hardy shepherds suffer in the same regions at the present time.
We must not pass from these scenes in Jacob's history without noticing the admirable tact with which he appeased his justly-offended brother. He sends an embassy to him from a long distance. This itself was a compliment, and, no doubt, the ambassadors were the most respectable he could command. Then the terms of the message were the best possible to flatter and to conciliate an Oriental. He calls Esau his lord, himself his servant — or slave, as it might be rendered; and he thus tacitly, and without alluding to the old trick by which he cheated him of his birthright, acknowledges him to be the elder brother, and his superior. At the same time, by the large presents, and the exhibition of great wealth, Esau is led to infer that he is not returning a needy adventurer to claim a double portion of the paternal estate; and it would not be unoriental if there was intended to be conveyed by all this a sly intimation that Jacob was neither to be despised nor lightly meddled with. There was subtle flattery mingled with profound humility, but backed all the while by the quiet allusion to the substantial position and character of one whom God had greatly blessed and prospered.
Jacob’s Policy
All this, however, failed, and the enraged brother set out to meet him with an army. Jacob was terribly alarmed; but, with his usual skill and presence of mind, he made another effort to appease Esau. The presents were well selected, admirably arranged, and sent forward one after another; and the drivers were directed to address Esau in the most respectful and humble terms: “They be thy servant Jacob's, a present unto my lord Esau; and be sure to say, Behold thy servant Jacob is behind us; for he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face” (Gen. 32:2020And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. (Genesis 32:20)). Jacob did not miscalculate the influence of his princely offerings, and I verily believe there is not an emeer or sheikh in all Gilead at this day who would not be appeased by such presents; and, from my personal knowledge of Orientals, I should say that Jacob need not have been in such great terror, following in their rear. Far less will now “make room,” as Solomon says, for any offender, however atrocious, and bring him before great men with acceptance (Prov. 18:1616A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. (Proverbs 18:16)).
Esau was mollified, and when near enough to see the lowly prostrations of his trembling brother, forgot everything but that he was Jacob, the son of his mother, the companion of his childhood.
Meeting of the Brother
He ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. All this is beautiful, natural, Oriental; and so is their subsequent discourse, but we cannot dwell upon it. It was obviously the purpose of God to bring his chosen servant into these terrible trials, in order to work the deeper conviction of his former sin, and the more thorough repentance and reformation. And here it is that Jacob appears as a guide and model to all mankind. In his utmost distress and alarm, he holds fast his hope and trust in God, wrestles with Him in mighty supplication, and as a prince prevails: “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed” (Gen. 32:27-2827And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. (Genesis 32:27‑28)).
Butaiha
Our long ride through the Jaulan has whiled away the time and the road quite to the end of this Butaiha, and this bold headland marks the spot, according to my topography, where the five thousand were fed with five barley-loaves and two small fishes (Matt. 14:15-1715And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. (Matthew 14:15‑17); John 6:99There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? (John 6:9)). From the four narratives of this stupendous miracle we gather 1St, That the place belonged to Bethsaida; 2nd, That it was a desert place; 3rd, That it was near the shore of the lake, for they came to it by boat; 4th, That there was a mountain close at hand; 5th, That it was a smooth, grassy spot, capable of seating many thousand people. Now all these requisites are found in this exact locality, and nowhere else, so far as I can discover. This Butaiha belonged to Bethsaida. At this extreme southeast corner of it, the mountain shuts down upon the lake bleak and barren. It was, doubtless, desert then as now, for it is not capable of cultivation. In this little cove the ships (boats) were anchored.
Feeding of the Five-Thousand
On this beautiful sward at the base of the rocky hill the people were seated to receive from the hands of the Son of God the miraculous bread, emblematic of his body, which is the true bread from heaven. When all had eaten, and the fragments were gathered up, they departed in haste, for the day was far spent.
A vast amount of learning and critical research has been expended in efforts to reconcile the different directions given (or supposed to be given) to the disciples by our Lord, and to make the entire narratives accord with the topography of this region.
Scene of the Miracle
According to John (John 6:1717And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. (John 6:17)), the disciples went over the sea toward Capernaum, while Mark says that Jesus constrained them to get into the ship and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida. Looking back from this point at the southeastern extremity of the Butaiha, I see no difficulty in these statements. The case was this, I suppose: As the evening was coming on, Jesus commanded the disciples to return home to Capernaum, while he sent the people away.
They were reluctant to go and leave him alone in that desert place; probably remonstrated against his exposing himself to the coming storm and the cold night air, and reminded him that he would have many miles to walk round the head of the lake, and must cross the Jordan at Bethsaida before he could reach home. To quiet' their minds, he may have then told them to go on before toward Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd, promising to join them in the night; which he intended to do, and actually did, though in a manner very different from what they expected. Still, they were reluctant to leave him, and had to be constrained to set sail. In this state of anxiety, they endeavored to keep near the shore between this and Bethsaida, hoping, no doubt, to take in their beloved Master at some point along the coast.
Landing Place
But a violent wind beat off the boat, so that they were not able to make Bethsaida, nor even Capernaum, but were driven past both; and when near the plain of Gennesaret, at the northwest corner of the lake, Jesus came unto them walking upon the sea. All this is topographically natural, and easy to be understood on the supposition that the miracle took place on this spot; that Bethsaida was at the mouth of the Jordan, and Capernaum at Tell Hûm. Nor is there need even of the marginal rendering in our Bible: “Over against Bethsaida.” The disciples would naturally sail toward Bethsaida in order to reach Tell Hûm. Neither is there anything inconsistent with the statement of John (John 6:2424When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. (John 6:24)), that “the people took ship the next day, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.” They came from the southeast, where the miracle had been wrought, and would naturally seek him in Capernaum, for that was his home; but it seems that they did not find him there, for John immediately adds, “When they had found him on the other side of the sea,” — a very singular mode of expression if they found him in Capernaum itself, but perfectly natural on the supposition that they had to go on to the plain of Gennesaret, where he had landed. They would probably find him somewhere about 'Ain et Tiny, near which, I presume, the party reached the shore from their wonderful sail. But if it should appear to any one more probable that the people actually found Jesus in Capernaum, this might easily be, for Capernaum was not more than one hour's walk from the corner of Gennesaret, and he could easily have returned home, for they reached the shore very early in the morning. I, however, have very little doubt but that the people had to pass on from Tell Hum to 'Ain et Tiny to find Him whom they sought.
It follows, of course, from this explanation, that Capernaum was itself not in Gennesaret; and I must add that neither Matthew, Mark, Luke, nor John locates it in that plain; nor does Josephus, nor any other ancient author. It is carried thither and anchored there by a modern theory, which, I think, is a mistake.
Bethsaida
I am of opinion, also, that the invention of a second Bethsaida is wholly unnecessary. Deland, who first started the idea, confesses that he has no authority for it, but merely resorts to it as an ultimum refugium, a last resort, to solve an otherwise invincible topographical difficulty. But I do not believe that another instance can be found of two cities of the same name close together on the same part of a small lake; and such hypothetical cities should not be created without absolute necessity, and no such necessity exists in this case. All admit that there was a Bethsaida at the entrance of the Jordan into the lake. The greater part of it, certainly that part which Philip repaired, lay on the east bank of the river, and, therefore, it is maintained, must have belonged to Gaulanitis, and not to Galilee; and as the Bethsaida of Andrew, Peter, and Philip, was a city of Galilee (John 12:2121The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. (John 12:21)), it is thought that we must have a second town of this name. But I think this unnecessary. Any city built at the mouth of the Jordan would almost necessarily have part of its houses on the west bank of the stream; and this would be literally and geographically within the territory of Galilee. Peter, Andrew, and Philip were born there, and would be mentioned as Galileans. And further, I think it highly probable that the whole city, on both banks of the river, was ordinarily attached to Galilee, and that one object which Philip the tetrarch had in rebuilding the part on the east side, and changing its name, was to detach it entirely from its former relations, and establish his own right over it. I believe, therefore, that there was but one Bethsaida at the head of the lake, and that it was at the mouth of the Jordan; and thus we settle the sites of all the places in this neighborhood which are intimately related to the history of our blessed Lord and his disciples.
Storms on the Lake
My experience in this region enables me to sympathize with the disciples in their long night's contest with the wind. I spent a night in that Wady Shukaiyif, some three miles up it, to the left of us. The sun had scarcely set when the wind began to rush down toward the lake, and it continued all night long with constantly increasing violence, so that when we reached the shore next morning the face of the lake was like a huge boiling caldron. The wind howled down every wady from the northeast and east with such fury that no efforts of rowers could have brought a boat to shore at any point along that coast. In a wind like that, the disciples must have been driven quite across to Gennesaret, as we know they were. To understand the causes of these sudden and violent tempests, we must remember the lake lies low — six hundred feet lower than the ocean; that the vast and naked plateaus of the Jaulan rise to a great height spreading backward to the wilds of the Haman, and upward to snowy Hermon; that the water-courses have cut out profound ravines and wild gorges, converging to the head of this lake, and that these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains. On the occasion referred to, we subsequently pitched our tents at the shore, and remained for three days and nights exposed to this tremendous wind. We had to double pin all the tent-ropes, and frequently were obliged to hang with our whole weight upon them to keep the quivering tabernacle from being carried up bodily into the air. No wonder the disciples toiled and rowed hard all that night; and how natural their amazement and terror at the sight of Jesus walking on the waves!
Conduct of Peter
The faith of Peter, in desiring and daring to set foot on such a sea, is most striking and impressive; more so, indeed, than its failure after he had made the attempt. The whole lake, as we had it, was lashed into fury; the waves repeatedly rolled up to our tent door, tumbling over the ropes with such violence as to carry away the tent-pins. And, moreover, those winds are not only violent, but they come down suddenly, and often when the sky is perfectly clear. I once went in to swim near the hot baths, and, before I was aware, a wind came rushing over the cliffs with such force that it was with great difficulty I could regain the shore. Some such sudden wind it was, I suppose, that filled the ship with waves, “so that it was now full,” while Jesus was asleep on a pillow in the hinder part of the ship; nor is it strange that the disciples aroused him with the cry of “Master! Master! carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still; and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And the disciples feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:38-4138And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? (Mark 4:38‑41)).
Wady Semak
Salim reminds me that we are to encamp early, in order to dry our bedding and clothes, and thinks that this Wady Semak is the best place for the purpose that we are likely to find. While the men pitch the tents, we will stroll up the valley, for exercise in part, and partly that I may show you the remains of antiquity that are still to be found in it. Some four miles higher up are the broken walls of Kusr Bardawîl, as the Castle of Baldwin, the famous crusader, is called by the Arabs. We cannot go there, nor is there anything worth the trouble at it. Here, however, is something of great interest to me, and I think will be to you before we are done with it.
Gersa, or Gergesa
The name of this I prostrate town is Kerza or Gersa, as my Bedawin guide shouted it in my ear the first time I visited it, on that windy day we have been describing. It was a small place, but the walls can be traced all round, and there seem to have been considerable suburbs. I identify these ruins with the long-lost site of Gergesa, where our Lord healed the two men possessed with devils, and suffered those malignant spirits to enter into the herd of swine. If this be correct, it is a discovery of some importance. From Origen down to the last critic who has tried his skill upon the Greek text of the New Testament, the conflicting and contradictory readings of manuscripts in regard to the place where the miracle was performed have furnished a fruitful source of discussion. Matthew locates it at Gergesa (Matt. 8:2828And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. (Matthew 8:28)), Mark (Mark 5:11And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. (Mark 5:1)), and Luke (Luke 8:2626And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. (Luke 8:26)) at Gadara. A few various readings give Geresa. The Vulgate, Arabic, and others that follow the Vulgate, read Gergesa in all the evangelists; nor are these all the discrepancies in regard to the name of this place. Only one of these readings can be correct. Which shall we select? This is the question to be settled. Our inquiries will, of course, be confined to the topographical indications which may have a bearing upon the problem.
Not Gadara.
Our first point is, that the miracle could not have occurred at Gadara. It is certain, from all the accounts we have of it, that the place was near the shore of the lake. Mark says that “when he came out of the ship, immediately there met him a man,” etc. (Mark 5:22And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (Mark 5:2)). With this precise statement the tenor of all the narratives coincides, and therefore we must find a locality directly on the shore, and every place must be rejected that is not consistent with this ascertained fact. Again, the city itself, as well as the country of the Gergesenes, was at the shore of the lake. All the accounts imply this fact. Lastly, there was a steep mountain so near at hand, that the herd of swine, rushing down it, were precipitated into the lake. Now Gadara does not meet any one of these necessary conditions. I take for granted, what I believe to be true, that Urn Keîs marks the site of Gadara; and it was, therefore, about three hours to the south of the extreme shore of the lake in that direction. There is first a broad plain from Khurbet Samra to the Jermuk; then the vast gorge of this river; and after it an ascent for an hour and a half to Um Keis. No one, I think, will maintain that this meets the requirements of the sacred narratives, but is in irreconcilable contradiction to them. It is true that a celebrated traveler, from his lofty stand-point at Um Keis, overlooks all intervening obstacles, and makes the swine rush headlong into the lake from beneath his very feet. But to do this in fact (and the evangelists deal only in plain facts), they must have run down the mountain for an hour and a half, forded the deep Jermuk, quite as formidable as the Jordan itself, ascended its northern bank, and raced across a level plain several miles, before they could reach the nearest margin of the lake — a feat which no herd of swine would be likely to achieve, even though they were “possessed.” The site of the miracle, therefore, was not at Gadara. This is an important result. Nor was it in the country of the Gadarenes, because that country lay south of the great river Jermuk; and, besides, if the territory — of that city did at any time reach to the south end of the lake, there is no mountain there above it adapted to the conditions of the miracle; and further, the city itself where it was wrought was evidently on the shore. There we must find it, whatever be its name. And in this Gersa, or Chersa, we have a position which fulfills every requirement of the narratives, and with a name so near that in Matthew as to be in itself a strong corroboration of the truth of this identification.
Mountain and Tombs
It is within a few rods of the shore, and an immense mountain rises directly above it, in which are ancient tombs, out of some of which the two men possessed of the devils may have issued to meet Jesus. The lake is so near the base of the mountain, that the swine, rushing madly down it, could not stop, but would be hurried on into the water and drowned. The place is one which our Lord would be likely to visit — having Capernaum in full view to the north, and Galilee “over against it,” as Luke says it was (Luke 8:2626And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. (Luke 8:26)). The name, however, pronounced by Bedawin Arabs, is so similar to Gergesa, that, to all my inquiries for this place, they invariably said it was at Chersa; and they insisted that they were identical, and I agree with them in this opinion.
Not a Perpendicular.
In studying the details of the miracle, I was obliged to modify one opinion or impression which had grown up with me from childhood. There is no bold overhanging the lake on the eastern side, nor, indeed, on any other, except just north of Tiberias. Everywhere along the northeastern and eastern shores, a smooth beach declines gently down to the water. There is no “jumping off place,” nor, indeed, is any required. Take your stand a little south of this Chersa. A great herd of swine, we will suppose, is feeding on this mountain that towers above it. They are seized with a sudden panic; rush madly down the almost perpendicular declivity — those behind tumbling over and thrusting forward those before; and, as there is neither time nor space to recover on the narrow shelf between the base and the lake, they are crowded headlong into the water, and perish. All is perfectly natural just at this point; and here, I suppose, it did actually occur. Farther south the plain becomes so broad that the herd might have recovered and recoiled from the lake, whose domain they would not willingly invade.
Discrepancies in Evangelists
How do you suppose these discrepancies in the name of this place crept into the text?
We must leave that question to professed critics. I have an abiding conviction, however, that Matthew wrote the name correctly. He was from this region, and personally knew the localities. His Gospel, also, was written first of all, and mainly circulated in the beginning, in these Oriental regions. John does not mention the miracle, and Mark and Luke were strangers to this part of the country, and may possibly have intended, by mentioning the country of the Gadarenes, to point out to their distant Greek and Roman readers the mere vicinity of the place where the miracle was wrought. Gergesa, or Gerasa, or Chersa, however pronounced, was small and unknown; while Gadara was a Greek city, celebrated for its temples and theater, and for the warm baths on the Hieromax just below it. They may, therefore, have written “country of the Gadarenes” (Luke 8:2626And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. (Luke 8:26)). But I think it far more probable that intermeddling scholiasts made the change from Gergesa to Gadara, in order to indicate to the unlearned the spot where the wonder took place. There is a certain resemblance between the names, and when once introduced into a leading manuscript, the basis for the controversy would be fairly laid down. Learned annotators would he misled by the very extent of their geographical knowledge; which, however, would not be sufficiently exact to prove to them that the miracle could not have taken place at Gadara. Origen, who, I believe, first attempted to correct the text in those passages, seems to have been acquainted with this very site we are upon; and this might well have been the case, since he resided at Caesarea. Still, his notice of it is confused, and his criticisms had no valuable result. The mistake spread and became permanent. But, leaving to others more competent to decide how much weight should be allowed to accurate topographical research in settling the reading of a controverted name in manuscripts, we may certainly inquire, without presumption, whether it is safe to correct the text of Matthew by that of Luke (as some modern critics have done), and thus locate an important transaction in the life of our Savior at a place where it could not possibly have occurred. One thing, I fear, is certain: if the light shed upon this question by careful topographical examinations cannot settle it, then must it remain forever unsettled. Let any one examine the “various readings” of these passages as collected in Alford and Tregelles, and he will despair of ever arriving at even a safe probability from mere manuscript authority.
Wild Hogs
And now, by way of relief, let me draw your attention to the fact that this Wady Semak is everywhere plowed up by wild hogs in search of the esculent roots upon which they live at this season of the year. Whether there is any lineal connection between them and the herd that was feeding on this mountain, I leave you and every one else to decide according to his particular fancy. It is fact, however, that these creatures still abound at this place, and in a state as wild and fierce as though they were still “possessed.”