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Road to Hebron
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History of Hebron
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Bottles — Mandrakes
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Giants.
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Appearance of Hebron.
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Pottage of lentiles.
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Machpelah — Tombs.
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Jacob and Esau.
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Oriental contracts.
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Emeers cooking.
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Burial of Jacob.
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Wells.
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El Haram — Machpeiah.
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Circumcision.
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Population of Hebron.
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Eliezer of Damascus.
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Pools — Vineyards.
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Rebekah Laban.
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Glass manufactory.
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April 19th.
Road From Beit JibrîN To Hebron
Owing to the wretched headache which tormented me all day, our ride from Belt Jibrin to this city has left no distinct trace on my memory, except that of a very fatiguing ascent from Idna toward Taffuab.
I can readily refresh your memory this morning by passing in review yesterday's journey, which was one of great interest to me. While the muleteers were packing up and loading, I rode out and again examined the excavations on the southeast of Beit Jibrin.
Caverns
My guide led me on horseback through a long succession of caverns, all dug out of the white cretaceous rock of the hill above the city. They closely resemble ancient cisterns, having a hole at the top as if to draw water from; but their number and vast size fill the mind with astonishment, and suggest doubts with regard to the original purpose for which they were made. They, however, were hewn out of the rock precisely as cisterns were, and the mark of the pickaxe is distinctly seen on the sides of those that are tolerably perfect. Multitudes of them, however, have fallen in from above, and the partition-walls of others have dissolved by time, thus throwing many into one. Indeed, they appear to have been originally connected by doors and galleries cut through the rock. But it would require a separate memoir adequately to describe these remarkable caverns, and this I certainly have no disposition to write, nor would you have patience to hear. They are all circular, and I measured one which was sixty-five feet in diameter, and ninety-one to the top of the dome from the rubbish which covered the floor, ten feet deep at least. The entire height of this cistern must therefore have been more than a hundred feet.
Idols
On the north side, and about midway to the top, are several figures of idols cut in the rock — rude images of Dagon himself perhaps. In several of the caverns further south are inscriptions very high up, in a large and mixed Cufic and Phoenician character. I have copies of them, and also of the images, kept rather as curiosities than for any light which they shed upon the mysteries of their location.
Immense Cisterns
The only theory I can entertain in regard to these gigantic excavations is, that they were cisterns of old (lath, made thus numerous, and on such an immense scale, to secure a supply of water against all emergencies of drought or of war; and this idea is corroborated by the existence, at the present day, of similar cisterns in more than one of the neighboring villages. At Zikrîn, some six miles northwest of
ILLUSTRATION
Beit Jibrîn, are vast excavation beneath a broad platform of rock which covers several acres, and it is pierced by forty openings or doors — babs in Arabic — through which water is drawn up by the villagers. The excavations underneath this flooring closely resemble these of Beit Jibrin both in shape and size, and the separate cisterns are so connected by galleries and doors that the water passes from one to the other, and stands in all at the same elevation. The overlying rock at Zikrîn is so hard that the roof has nowhere caved in, and the cisterns are therefore in good preservation, and afford an inexhaustible supply of water. This is all I have to suggest on the subject, and now for the ride to Hebron.
Valley of Senaber
I overtook you at Deir en Nukhaz, slowly sauntering up the pretty valley of Senaber, which village we reached in an hour from our campground. The valley, you remember, was broad and fertile, and the ascent for the first three hours very gradual. As we advanced, side valleys came in from the right and left, opening long vistas into the bosom of the surrounding country. In the mouth of the wady which descends from the vicinity of Turkumieh (Tricomia) we saw a large and picturesque encampment of Arabs, with whose goats, and dogs, and naked children we were highly entertained.
’Ain El Kuf
Escaping from the half-begging, half-plundering importunity of these Ishmaelites, we rode another hour. and stopped to lunch at ’Ain el Kuf, which is the only fountain in this entire valley.
Leather Bottles
Here we saw many people coming and going with pitchers and jars, and not a few with large “bottles” of skin — an unmistakable evidence that good water is very scarce in that region; and had we not filled our own “bottles,” we should have suffered no slight inconvenience in the long ascent, for we found no water from that on to this vale of Hebron.
ILLUSTRATION
Man-Drakes
I remember that ascent with sufficient distinctness, and also that we stopped to rest about half way up Wady 'Ain el Kuf, at a sheepfold under the southern cliff of the ravine; and there, for the first time, I saw the mandrake, with its broad leaves and green “apples,” and my curiosity was excited by the discussion which followed about the singular contract between Rachel and Leah for Reuben's mandrakes (Gen. 30:14-1614And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. 15And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. 16And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. (Genesis 30:14‑16)).
Into that we shall not now enter, nor will we pry with curious eye into the motives which urged Rachel to make the purchase. I, for one, don't know. As to the mandrakes themselves something may be said. Reuben gathered them in wheat-harvest, and it is then that they are still found ripe and eatable on the lower ranges of Lebanon and Hermon, where I have most frequently seen them. The apple becomes of a very pale yellow color, partially soft, and of an insipid, sickish, taste. They are said to produce dizziness; but I have seen people eat them without experiencing any such effect.
Vale of Mamre
The Arabs, however, believe them to be exhilarating and stimulating even to insanity, and hence the name tuffah el fan — “apples of the jan”; but we may safely leave the disputed questions concerning mandrakes to those who have time and inclination for such inquiries, and hasten on to our campground in the pretty valley of Mamre, here on the hill side, near the quarantine of Hebron.
Appearance of Hebron
Whatever may be true in regard to the road hither, the appearance of Hebron itself, lying in deep repose along the vale of Mamre, was quite beautiful. The time of our visit is doubtless most favorable, for nature upon these mountains is now in her holiday dress; and when we began to descend toward the city, the lengthening shadows of the western hills had just dropped their sober curtains over the scene, softening its somewhat rugged features, thereby greatly enhancing its charms. Seen under circumstances not so favorable, the impression might be much less agreeable; but, apart from natural scenery, no intelligent traveler can approach Hebron with indifference. No city in Palestine so carries one back to earliest patriarchal times. Manners and customs, and modes of action, and even idioms of speech, have changed but little since the Bible was written, or from what they were when Abraham dwelt here among “the sons of Heth.” Take the account of the death and burial of Sarah, as it is found in Genesis 23, as an example:
Mourning for the Dead
“Sarah died in Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.” There is something formal in this remark, but it is in perfect accordance with present customs. Should such a person die here tomorrow, there would be a solemn public mourning and weeping — not as indicating the grief of the family so much as in honor of the dead. The customs of the people demand that there should be loud, boisterous, uncontrollable weeping, mourning, beating of the breast, and every other external manifestation of great sorrow. Such was this funeral mourning of the great emeer Abraham; but, besides this public tribute to the memory of Sarah, he, no doubt, sincerely lamented her death in the privacy of his own tent.
Purchase of Tombs
Abraham's negotiation for a sepulcher is also very Oriental and striking. Such a purchase was quite necessary. There has always been in this country the utmost exclusiveness in regard to tombs; and although these polite Hittites said, “Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us; in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead” (Gen. 23:66Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. (Genesis 23:6)). Abraham was too experienced an Oriental not to know that this was merely compliment. The thing was quite out of the question; nor would Abraham himself have consented thus to mingle his dead with the dust and bones of strangers, even if they had been willing. He knew well how to understand the offer, and therefore pressed his request to be allowed to purchase. Nor is such a negotiation easily arranged. If you or I had occasion to make a similar contract today from these modern Hittites, we should find it even more delicate and tedious than did Abraham. I do not believe we could succeed, even with the aid of all the mediators we could employ.
Eastern Customs in Selling and Buying
In concluding the purchase with Ephron, we see the process of a modern bargain admirably carried out. The polite son of Zohar says, “Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee. In the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee; bury thy dead” (Gen. 23:1111Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead. (Genesis 23:11)). Of course! and just so I have had a hundred houses, and fields, and horses given to me, and the bystanders called upon to witness the deed, and a score of protestations and oaths taken to seal the truth of the donation; all which, of course, meant nothing whatever, just as Abraham understood the true intent and value of Ephron's baksheesh. He therefore urged forward the purchase, and finally brought the owner to state definitely his price, which he did at four hundred shekels of silver. Now, without knowing the relation between silver and a bit of barren rock at that time and in this place, my experience of such transactions leads me to suppose that this price was treble the actual value of the field. “But,” says the courteous Hittite, “four hundred shekels! what is that betwixt me and thee!” Oh, how often you hear these identical words on similar occasions, and yet, acting upon their apparent import, you would soon find out what and how much they meant. Abraham knew that too; and as he was then in no humor to chaffer with the owner, whatever might be his price, he proceeded forthwith to weigh out the money. Even this is still common; for, although coins have now a definite name, size, and value, yet every merchant carries a small apparatus by which he weighs each coin, to see that it has not been tampered with by Jewish clippers.
The Specifications
In like manner, the specifications in the contract are just such as are found in modern deeds. It is not enough that you purchase a well-known lot; the contract must mention everything that belongs to it, and certify that fountains or wells in it, trees upon it, etc., are sold with the field. If you rent a house, not only the building itself, but every room in it, above and below, down to the kitchen, pantry, stable, and hen-coop, must be specified. Thus Abraham bought the field, “and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, and that were in all the borders round about, were made sure.” I see this negotiation in all its details enacted before me, and hear the identical words that passed between the parties. The venerable patriarch, bowed down with sorrow, rises from beside the couch on which lay the lifeless body of his beloved Sarah. He stands before, the people — the attitude of respect which etiquette still demands. He addresses them as beni Heth — sons of Heth; and in the same words he would address these Arabs about us as beni Kegs, beni Yemen, etc., etc., according as each tribe is now designated. Again, Abraham begins his plea with a reference to his condition among them as a stranger — the very idiom now in use — I, a stranger, and ghurîb; and this plea appeals strongly to the sympathies of the hearers.
Manner of Conducting Contracts
It is by such an appeal that the beggar now seeks to enlist your compassion, and succeeds, because all over the East the stranger is greatly to be pitied. He is liable to be plundered and treated as an enemy; and among these denizens of the desert strangers are generally enemies, and dealt with as such. The plea, therefore, was natural and effective. Abraham stood and bowed himself to the children of Heth — another act of respect in accordance with modern manners; and the next step is equally so. He does not apply directly to the owner of the field, but requests the neighbors to act as mediators on his behalf; and were we anxious to succeed in a similar bargain with these people, we must resort to the same round-about mode. There is scarcely anything in the habits of Orientals more annoying to us Occidentals than this universal custom of employing mediators to pass between you and those with whom you wish to do business. Nothing can be done without them. A merchant cannot sell a piece of print, nor a farmer a yoke of oxen, nor any one rent a house, buy a horse, or get a wife, without a succession of go-betweens. Of course Abraham knew that this matter of the field could not be brought about without the intervention of the neighbors of Ephron, and therefore he applies to them first. How much maneuvering, taking aside, whispering, nodding of heads, and clasping of hands there was before the real owner was brought within reasonable terms, we are not told, but at length all the preliminary obstacles and conventional impediments are surmounted according to the most approved style of etiquette, and the contract is closed in the audience of all the people that went in at the gate of the city. This also is true to life.
Witnesses
When any sale is now to be effected in a town or village, the whole population gather about the parties at the usual place of concourse, around or near the gate, where there is one. There all take part and enter into the pros and cons with as much earnestness as if it were their own individual affair. By these means, the operation, in all its circumstances and details, is known to many witnesses, and the thing is made sure, without any written contract. In fact, up to this day, in this very city, a purchase thus witnessed is legal, while the best drawn deeds of a London lawyer, though signed and sealed, would be of no avail without such living witnesses.
Cave of Machpelah
Well, Abraham thus obtained the cave of Machpelah for the possession of a burying-place for himself and his descendants, and thus became legal proprietor of a portion of the promised inheritance. “There,” as Jacob, when dying, said, “they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah” (Gen. 49:3131There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. (Genesis 49:31)). And thither, too, his sons carried Jacob out of Egypt when he died, and buried him by the side of his wife.
Funeral of Jacob — Atad, or Abel-Mizraim
Dr. Kitto maintains that Joseph carried his father through the Great Desert, round the south end of the Dead Sea, then through the land of Moab, and crossing the Jordan near Jericho, there held the great mourning of the Egyptians in the floor of Atad, which he locates between Jericho and the Jordan; and the Doctor rather complains that no one has taken the trouble to notice this extraordinary fact. The reason, I suppose, is, that no one believes the story. There is not a particle of evidence for such a wonderful journey in the Bible account of the funeral, nor does Josephus give a hint that he had ever heard of it. Moses, who wrote on the east of the Jordan, simply says that the floor of Atad, called Abel-mizraim, was on the other, or west side of it, without stating where. Jerome, indeed, indentifies it with Bethagla, and locates that village near Jericho; but this identification has no authority in itself; and besides, there was another Bethagla in the land of the Philistines, much more likely to be the Abel-mizraim of Genesis, if the two places had in reality any relation to each other. In a word, nothing less than the positive assertion of the Bible would enable me to believe this theory of Dr. Kitto, for it would be the most extraordinary journey on record.
Do you suppose that this El Haram encloses the identical cave, and the graves of the six ancestors of the Hebrew nation? I have no doubt of it, and therefore I regard it as the most interesting of all spots on the face of the earth. Others might be equally sacred and precious could we be sure of their identity — the manger at Bethlehem, Calvary in Jerusalem, or the last resting-place of Adam or Noah, for example; but doubt and obscurity, absolute and impenetrable, rest on all such sites. Here, however, there is no room for skepticism. We have before us the identical cave in which these patriarchs, with their wives, were reverently “gathered unto their people,” one after another, by their children. Such a cave may last as long as the “everlasting hills” of which it is a part; and from that to this day it has so come to pass, in the providence of God, that no nation or people has had possession of Machpelah who would have been disposed to disturb the ashes of the illustrious dead within it.
I have been out examining this venerable edifice as closely as the insolent keepers would allow, and it seems to bear marks of a higher antiquity than anything I have yet seen in the country.
Machpelah
It is doubtless very ancient — is probably of Jewish workmanship, though I cannot think that it dates back to Solomon, or to any time anterior, to the captivity. The stones are large, but with a shallow bevel, and the face is worked off smooth, like some parts of the wall about the area of the Temple at Jerusalem. The square pilasters, without capitals or any well-defined cornice, are a feature wholly unique, and marks it off from any other edifice I have examined. There are sixteen of these on each side, and eight on the ends. The height, including the more recent additions of the Saracens, is at least fifty feet, perhaps more. Dr. Robinson gives two hundred feet for the length, one hundred and fifty for the breadth, and sixty for the height, and this is as near the truth as any guess of our own could be. It is located on the declivity of the hill, with the town mostly below in the wady south and west of it. The rock above it is intensely hard, and portions of it are of a pale red color, like that from which books, crosses, and other curiosities are made for the pilgrims. I succeeded, in 1838, in breaking off specimens of it, though not without danger of a mob. The cave is beneath this foundation of hard rock. Up to this day we have no good description of the interior of the edifice. I have studied Alp Bey's drawings, and his very unsatisfactory account explanatory of them, but am unable to say whether or not they confirm the following particulars gleaned from other sources.
Benjamin of Tudela’s Account
The most interesting items we have are from Benjamin of Tudela, a traveler of the twelfth century, upon whom I have wished on many occasions to be able to rely, and never more than in this instance. He says the real sepulchers are not shown to ordinary visitors, but if a rich Jew arrives, the keepers open an iron door which has been there ever since the days of our forefathers — that is, of the patriarchs themselves! Through this they enter; descend into a first. cave, which is empty, traverse a second, which is also empty; and reach a third, which contains six sepulchers — those of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah, one opposite the other! He says, also, that all these sepulchers have inscriptions, the letters being engraved, that of Abraham thus: “This is the sepulcher of our father Abraham, upon whom be peace”; and so of all the rest. O Benjamin! why did you allow yourself to write so carelessly in other instances, where we can follow you, as to shake our faith when we cannot? Well, the day is not far off when this and every other sacred locality will be thrown open to the inspection of all who wish to know the truth; and until then we must rest contented with what information floats about, without any very satisfactory authority. All agree, and my own Moslem servants testify to it, that within this exterior edifice is a large building which may have been an ancient church, but is now used as a mosque.
The Cave – Monro’s Account
The cave is beneath its dome. Monro the traveler thus speaks of it, but most certainly from hearsay; “The mosque is a square building, with little external decoration. Behind it is a small cupola, with eight or ten windows, beneath which is the tomb of Esau. Ascending from the street at the corner of the mosque, you pass through an arched way, by a flight of steps, to a wide platform, at the end of which is another short ascent. To the left is the court, out of which, to the left again, you enter the mosque.” Not very intelligible; but let that pass. “The dimensions within are about forty paces by twenty-five. Immediately on the right of the door is the tomb of Sarah, and beyond it that of Abraham, having a passage between them into the court. Corresponding to these, on the opposite side of the mosque, are the tombs of Isaac and Rebekah; and behind them is a recess for prayer, and a pulpit. These tombs resemble small huts, with a window on each side, and folding doors in front, the lower parts of which are of wood and the upper of iron, or of bronze plated. Within each of these is an imitation of the sarcophagus which lies in the cave below the mosque, and which no one is allowed to enter. Those seen above resemble coffins, with pyramidal tops, and are covered with green silk, lettered with verses from the Koran. The doors of these tombs are left constantly open, but no one enters those of the women — at least men do not. In the mosque is a baldachin, supported by four columns, over an octagonal figure of black and white marble inlaid, around a small hole in the foremost, through which passes a cord from the top of the canopy to a lamp which is kept continually burning in the cave of Machpelah, where the actual sarcophagi rest. At the upper end of the court is the chief place of prayer, and on the opposite of the mosque are two large tombs, where are deposited the two larger sarcophagi of Jacob and Leah” (Summer's Ramble, 1, 245). This whole description has the air of something composed from the account of an intelligent Moslem, who had been employed by Mr. Monro to bring back the best account of it he could. If it will not bear a very rigid criticism, it is probably a tolerably close approximation to the reality, and with it we must be content.
House in Hebron
Hebron appears to be well built. The houses are generally two stories high, and have flattened domes, such as we saw at Jaffa, Ramleh, Gaza, and other places in the south part of this country.
The same as at Jerusalem; and the reason is, that beams are too scarce and dear to admit of flat roofs. I presume it was the same in the days of Solomon, for he had to bring the beams and boards for the Temple from Lebanon; and what is now used in these cities is brought from thence by sea to Jaffa, and afterward carried on camels. Hence the rooms are all vaults, even where there is a second and a third story. The roofs, however, may be made flat by raising the exterior walls, and filling in until level with the top of the arch. This is done on the convents and other heavy buildings, by which a fine promenade is secured.
Population
What may be the population of Hebron I estimated it at between seven and eight thousand in 1838, and it remains about what it was then. Some think this estimate too low, while others speak of only five thousand; but this is certainly below the truth. There are some seven hundred Jews; all the rest are Moslems, and of a most bigoted and insolent character. There are no Christians either in the town or district. Hebron furnishes another refutation of the ancient fable about the cities of refuge, that they were situated in conspicuous positions. Here it lies in this long valley, with no prospect in any direction except toward the southeast; and even that is not very extensive.
Tradition of Former Site
If it were of any importance, we might refer to a tradition as old, at least, as Benjamin of Tudela, that the original city did actually occupy the northwestern hill I do not, however, believe it; there is nothing there to support it; and many things in and about the present town seem to settle its claims to be one of the oldest cities in the world on an immovable basis.
Pools
These immense birkehs or pools are certainly very ancient. The one furthest down the valley is one hundred and thirty-three feet square, and about twenty-two feet deep. The upper one is eighty-five by fifty-five, and nineteen feet deep. They are rarely full of water, though I have seen them overflowing in a very rainy season. Stone steps lead down to the water from the corner, and people are constantly descending and ascending with large skin “bottles” on their backs. Indeed, the town seems now to depend entirely upon them, though the water is none of the purest, and there are two or three fountains at no great distance up the valley. It was not always thus, for there are two or three broken aqueducts in the valley to the west and northwest of the city, which must have been in use down to a comparatively recent period.
Vineyards
All the visitors speak of the vineyards of Hebron; and it is a very ancient tradition that the clusters which the spies carried back from Eshcol were from this valley. Certainly in no other part of Palestine are the vineyards so extensive, so well kept, or so productive. They cover the sloping hill sides for a long distance to the west and northwest of the town. As the Moslems do not make wine, the grapes not disposed of in the market are dried into raisins, or the juice is boiled down into dibs, a kind of thick grape molasses, frequently mentioned in the Bible under the kindred name of debash, in some places translated “honey,” and in others “manna!” Besides grapes, the olive and the fig are the most important fruits of Hebron; but apricots, pomegranates, quinces, apples, pears, and plums also flourish, with proper care.
Pomegranates
There are some pomegranate bushes in this neighborhood which may even be called trees by way of courtesy, but in reality these large and delicious “apples” grow on a stout thorny bush. There are several kinds of them in this country. In Jebaah, on Lebanon, there is a variety perfectly black on the outside. The general color, however, is a dull green, inclining to yellow, and some even have a blush of red spread over a part of their surface. The outside rind is thin but tough, and the bitter juice of it stains everything it touches with an undefined but indelible blue. The average size is about that of the orange, but some of those from Jaffa are as large as the egg of an ostrich. Within, the “grains” are arranged in longitudinal compartments as compactly as corn on the cob, and they closely resemble those of pale red corn, except that they are nearly transparent and very beautiful. A dish filled with these “grains” shelled out is a very handsome ornament on any table, and the fruit is as sweet to the taste as it is pleasant to the eye. They are ripe about the middle of October, and remain in good condition all winter. Suspended in the pantry, they are kept partially dried through the whole year.
The flower of the pomegranate is bell or tulip shaped, and is of a beautiful orange-red, deepening into crimson on some bushes. There is a kind very large and double, but this bears no fruit, and is cultivated merely for its brilliant blossoms, which are put forth profusely during the whole summer.
Ornaments
This fruit was greatly esteemed in ancient times, and is mentioned by Moses as one of the excellences of the promised land (Dent. 8:8); and, by divine command, he was to make pomegranates on the hem of the ephod — a golden bell (the blossom)
ILLUSTRATION
and a pomegranate alternately round about the hem of the robe (Exod. 39:2424And they made upon the hems of the robe pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and twined linen. (Exodus 39:24)) ; and they were reproduced in the Temple, upon the net-work that covered the chapiters on the top of “Jachin and Boaz,” — those noble pillars of brass — two hundred pomegranates, in rows, round about. Solomon, of course, adorns his Song of Songs with allusions to this beautiful and pleasant fruit; and, while admiring it, we may enter more readily into the gorgeous chamber of imagery where that poetic monarch delighted to dwell and to revel.
Glass Manufactory
The only manufacture peculiar to Hebron is that of glass. I was not a little amused, on my first visit, with this business. Having not long before examined the great glass factories at Pittsburg, I entered these with no little curiosity; but what a contrast! In an old rickety room were three or four small furnaces of earth, all in a glow with the melted matter. The men were then making rings for bracelets, or rather armlets, to supply the Jerusalem market. The process was extremely simple: an iron rod was thrust into the melted mass, to the end of which a small portion adhered. This was rapidly twisted and pressed into a circular shape, merely by the dexterous use of a long blade like that of a knife. It was a second time thrust into the fur pace, and, when sufficiently softened, was stretched, to the proper size by the aid of another iron rod. This was the entire process. The various colors seen in these rings and seals are mingled into the general mass while in the furnace, not laid on afterward. Some are nearly black, others quite white, and others variegated with all the intermediate shades. I did not see them make lamps, although they manufacture large quantities for this country and for Egypt.
History
Hebron, having been “built seven years before Zoan in Egypt” (Num. 13:2222And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) (Numbers 13:22)), has, of course, a very long history from that day to this; and from the fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob spent much of their lives in and near it, and, with their wives, were buried here, it has always been held in high veneration by their descendants. Not only Jews, but all who claim to be related to them, Arabs and Edomites, and other Oriental tribes, have shared in this veneration; and since the Gentile world has adopted the religion of Abraham — that father of the faithful — its name and fame have extended to the ends of the earth, and must continue till time shall be no more. When the spies came this way, the giants of the Anakim family resided in it; but they were expelled by Caleb, to whom the place was given by Joshua. After this we hear but little of Hebron till the time of David, who made it his residence during the seven years in which he reigned over the tribe of Judah. When he became king of all Israel he removed to Jerusalem, made that city the permanent capital of the Jewish commonwealth, and Hebron is rarely mentioned after this in sacred history. Neither the prophets nor the evangelists name it, nor does the Savior appear to have visited it; yet we know from the Maccabees and Josephus that it continued to be an important city even subsequent to the time of the captivity; and Eusebius, Jerome, and a host of later writers speak of it, generally in connection with the tombs of the patriarchs. The Moslems got possession in the seventh century, and have continued to inhabit it ever since, with short interruptions during the time of the Crusades. Thus its existence and identity have been perpetuated and guaranteed without a break to our day.
Unsatisfactory Histories of the Crusades
Is it not strange that the historians of the Crusades, who must have had free access to the cave of Machpelah, have given us no intelligible description of it?
Not to those who have waded through their confused and rambling annals, where one finds everything he does not want, and very little of what he does. Every valuable geographical and topographical fact contained in the large folios of the “Gesta Dei per Francos” might be condensed into a few pages; and yet this collection embodies the most important remaining records of those eventful times. If there had then been a single intelligent student of Biblical geography in the world, we might now have had important light from the Middle Ages to guide us in many a doubtful ramble after a lost locality.
Anakims
The Anakims of ancient Arba seem to have been the proverbial type of those giants so often mentioned in the Bible. We hear of them in Moab under the name of Emims, “a people great and many, and tall as the Anakims, which also were accounted giants” (Deut. 2:10-1110The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; 11Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. (Deuteronomy 2:10‑11)). The same were found among the Ammonites, and called Zamzummims; and Og, king of Bashan, remained of the giants at the time of Moses. What are we to understand, and how much, from these and other notices of this peculiar race?
Giants
Nothing less, certainly, than that there existed men of gigantic stature from the remotest antiquity, even before the Deluge; for these “men of renown” are mentioned in the sixth of Genesis. That there were in times past men of extraordinary size is a tradition wonderfully prevalent to this day all over the East. It not only runs through their legendary lore, but is embodied in numerous monuments of a more substantial character, as the tomb of Noah at Kerak, in the Buk'ah, and that of Seth at Neby Sheet, on the eastern side of the same plain. To what extent such fables corroborate the historic facts of the Bible every one must decide for himself; but the traditions themselves, and these commemorative monuments, are extremely ancient, reaching back to the times of myth and fable. The truth appears to be, that there were among the governing races of primitive times certain families of gigantic stature. This peculiarity was carefully perpetuated and increased by such marriage restrictions as tended to that result; and something similar has been found among the inhabitants of the Pacific islands. For anything beyond this, tradition, that delights in the marvelous and monstrous, is probably accountable. Every distant object seen through her telescope is distorted and vastly exaggerated.
Exaggerations
If we pass from fact to fable, we may pause a moment on the first step in the scale of exaggeration, and hear the returned spies terrifying their brethren at Kadesh by their false report: “All the people that we saw in the land are men of great stature. There we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight” (Num. 13:32-3332And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:32‑33)). You may now enter any coffee-shop on a mild summer evening, and, as twilight shadows settle on the silent auditors, listen to the professional hakwatieh amplifying the dimensions of these ancient men of renown, until — the coffee sipped and the argela out — the hearers separate, stroking their beards, and muttering Ma sha Allah! — “God is great!”
Storytellers Og
But the flights of these story-tellers are tame and timid in comparison with the unfettered excursions of rabbinical imagination. Hear what they say about Og, king of Bashan: The soles of his feet were forty miles long, and the waters of the Deluge only reached to his ankles. He, being one of the antediluvian giants, escaped the general destruction, and reappears in subsequent history as Eliezer of Damascus, Abraham's servant. Abraham, who was only of the size of seventy-four ordinary men, could yet scold most terribly. Under his rebuke Og trembled so violently that one of his double teeth dropped out; and this the patriarch made into an ivory bedstead for himself, and ever after slept upon it. When Moses, who was ten ells high, attacked this same Og — by this time king of Bashan — he seized an ax ten ells in length, jumped ten ells high, and then struck with all his might — where? why, on his ankle. That blow finally killed him, for Rabbi Jochanan says, “I have been a grave-digger, and once, when I was phasing a roe, it fled into a shin-bone. I ran after it and followed it for three miles, but could neither overtake it nor see any end to the bone; so I returned and was told that this was the shin-bone of Og, king of Bashan.” But enough of this nonsense. Go to Kanah, and the old Metāwely sheikh there will entertain you till midnight with an account of the process by which Abraham tamed this unruly servant into obedience somewhere in the marshes of the Hilleh, below Tell el Kady. Coming back from such grotesque and monstrous fables, we may be thankful for the sober and credible statements of the Bible, which only require us to believe that there were in primitive times certain persons of very large stature, who were called giants.
April 20th.
In my rambles about the outskirts of the town last evening I lit upon a company of Ishmaelites sitting round a large saucepan, regaling themselves with their dinner. As they said “Tufuddal” very earnestly, I sat down among them, and doubling some of their bread spoon-fashion, plunged into the saucepan as they did, and I found their food very savory indeed.
Pottage of Lentiles
The composition was made of that red kind of lentiles which we examined in the market, and I can readily believe that to a hungry hunter it must have been very tempting.
It is a singular fact that our Frank children born in this country are extravagantly fond of this same adis pottage. Generally, however, it is made out of the brown or bronze-colored, and not of this red kind. I can testify, also, that when cooking it diffuses far and wide an odor extremely grateful to a hungry man. It was, therefore, no slight temptation to Esau, returning weary and famished from an unsuccessful hunt in this burning climate. I have known modern hunters so utterly spent as to feel, like him, that they were about to die.
Jacob and Esau
It has always seemed to me an act peculiarly unlovely and unbrotherly in Jacob to seize such an opportunity to cheat Esau out of his birthright.
Doubtless it was so; nor do I suppose that it was the first time he had overreached his careless brother. This, however, deserved to be recorded, because it was the grand pivot upon which turned all Jacob's life — the antecedent act which led directly on to that odious deception practiced upon poor old blind Isaac, then to Jacob's flight into Mesopotamia, his marriages, etc., etc. It is instructive to notice how one sin prepares the way for and seduces to the commission of greater. This private purchase would do Jacob no good unless the father confirmed the sale. When, therefore, Isaac was about to transmit, by an act of solemn blessing, the birthright, with all its rich covenants and promises, to Esau, Jacob and his mother saw that their whole previous maneuvers to secure these would utterly fail unless they could now succeed in deluding the helpless father also.
Conduct of Jacob
It is not difficult to imagine by what process of sophistry Jacob might reconcile his conduct with his conscience. I believe the unsophisticated reason of man always refuses to ratify the rights of mere primogeniture as established by custom or law among many nations. In the case of Jacob and Esau it is also to be remembered that they were twins, born at the same time, and Jacob no doubt felt that his brother had really no valid claims of precedence which should entitle him to the inestimable blessings involved in this instance in the question of birthright; so also thought his mother — and to that extent I agree with them. Then it is highly probable that Jacob knew that Esau disbelieved, or at least despised, the religious covenants and promises connected with the line of family descent, and that he was utterly unfit to be trusted with matters of such high import. And in this also he judged correctly. And further, it is nearly certain that Jacob had largely augmented the common estate, while Esau, by his wild and idle life, had rather squandered than added to it. He therefore felt that he had the best right to it — and so he had. Add to this a spice of chagrin at the obvious partiality of the father for the idle Esau, for no better reason, as appears, than because he ate of his savory venison; and we have materials enough from which Jacob could work out a tissue of specious reasons for self-justification. Success in fraud, as usual, entails a long train of retributive sorrows.
Chastisement of Jacob
Jacob was immediately obliged to fly from his beloved home; and his fond mother, largely implicated in the crime, never again saw her darling son. After a long and perilous journey to Mesopotamia, he was subjected to a series of cruel deceptions and frauds practiced upon him by his selfish father-in-law; and when compelled to flee from this intolerable annoyance, he had to humble himself to the dust and plead for his life before the brother he had so often and so grossly injured; and, long after this, he was again deceived by his own sons, in the matter of his lost beloved son Joseph. Few histories are more instructive than this of Jacob, or better illustrate the, to us, involved and complicated machinery of divine providence.
Emeers Cooking
There are some curious incidents in this long story which let us into the habits and manners of those primitive times. For example, it appears that Jacob, though the son of a wealthy emeer, was actually cooking his own mess of pottage.
There is nothing in this contrary even to present usage in this country. I have often seen rich and luxurious citizens occupied in the same way, and this is still more common among the Arabs of the desert. So also Esau, one would have thought, might easily have sent some of the numerous servants to hunt for venison on the important occasion of receiving the parental blessing; but this too is quite natural in the East. I have had an opportunity to see the great sheikhs of the Anizy, Bini Sukhr, and other tribes of Arabs, and they were in no way distinguished either by dress or manners from their humblest followers. Their garments were even more worn and greasy than those of the servants, and I could not see that they refused to bear their full share of any business that was going on. Indeed, there is a rude etiquette which requires these chiefs to be foremost in all hardships which they and their followers encounter. So also the fact that Laban's daughters were keeping the flocks, and Jacob's mother carrying water from the well, and other similar examples, do not contradict the customs of wealthy Eastern shepherds. And who that has traveled much in this country has not often arrived at a well in the heat of the day which was surrounded with numerous flocks of sheep waiting to be watered. I once saw such a scene in the burning plains of northern Syria. Half-naked, fierce-looking men were drawing up water in leather buckets; flock after flock was brought up, watered, and sent away; and after all the men had ended their work, then several women and girls brought up their flocks and drew water for them. Thus it was with Jethro's daughters when Moses stood up and aided them; and thus, no doubt, it would have been with Rachel, if Jacob had not rolled away the stone and watered her sheep. I have frequently seen wells closed up with large stones, though in this part of the country it is not commonly done, because water is not so scarce and precious. It is otherwise, however, in the dreary deserts.
Cisterns are very generally covered over with a large slab, having a round hole in it large enough to let down the leather bucket or earthen jar. Into this hole a heavy stone is thrust, often such as to require the united strength of two or three shepherds to remove. The same is seen occasionally over wells of “living water”; but where they are large and the supply abundant no such precaution is needed. It was either at one of these cisterns, or less abundant and more precious wells, that Jacob met Rachel; and being a stout man, nearly seventy years of age, he was able to remove the stone and water the flock.
I have repeatedly found wells closed up tight and the mouth plastered over with mortar. Such wells are reserved until times of greatest need, when all other sources of supply have failed. This may illustrate that passage in Zechariah 13:11In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 13:1): “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” This is indeed a beautiful and significant promise, which many actions and customs in this country may shed light upon and render emphatic. Not only are fountains often sealed up until times of utmost need, and then opened for public use, but when this is not the case they are commonly far off from the villages, in secluded valleys, and on account of the difficulty of carrying water to their homes, the women take their soiled clothes, a kettle, and some wood down to them, and there do their washing. Again, the inhabitants of most villages select one or more sheep in autumn, which they feed with the greatest care for their winter's supply of cooking-fat. They not only stuff them with vine and mulberry leaves, as is done in our country with poultry, but every evening they take them to the open fountain and thoroughly wash them from all defilements. This greatly adds to the richness and sweetness of the mutton. The figure may have been suggested to Zechariah by this custom. Now Christ is not only the good shepherd, and his people the sheep of his pasture, but he is also the fountain in which their sins and pollutions are washed away.
This fountain, long sealed up, was opened by the nails and the spear on Calvary, and not merely for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but for all whom they represent and include. Millions have been washed in the gospel fountain, and yet its waters are as abundant and efficacious to cleanse from sin as ever. It is the very heart and core of the glad tidings to all nations that this fountain has indeed been opened, and whosoever will may wash and be clean.
What does this curious and irregular procession signify?
Circumcision
Our friend here says it is a circumcision, and it is generally attended with just such music and buffoonery.
Well, that is interesting, certainly, to find this rite still practiced in the very place where it was first instituted by command of God to Abraham, nearly four thousand years ago. Ishmael, too, the great ancestor of these Arabs, was among the very first to receive the rite (Gen. 17:2323And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. (Genesis 17:23)).
If you have any curiosity to study this subject in detail, you will find the process, and the accompanying feasts and ceremonies, minutely explained by Lane in his “Modern Egyptians.” This before us is evidently a small affair, for the rabble accompanying the victim are rude in the extreme, and poorly clad. The whole thing resembles a drunken frolic more than a religious ceremony; but even in the processions of the rich on such occasions, there are commonly two or three buffoons along with the musicians, to make sport by their outlandish costume and ridiculous behavior.
What do you say to the arguments of those who maintain that Abraham was not the first that practiced circumcision — that, in fact, the Father of the Faithful borrowed it from the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, or Colchians?
I have very little interest in such speculations.
Origin of Circumcision
The Bible is false — let us say so at once — Jewish commonwealth — if Abraham did not receive this rite by revelation, and adopt it in obedience to a direct command of God. He received it also as the seal of a most important covenant. I care not whether anybody ever used a somewhat similar custom or not before the time of Abraham. It may be so, though there is no satisfactory evidence of the fact. To me it seems far more probable that the rite was communicated to the priests in Egypt through Joseph, who married into their family or tribe, than that the Israelites borrowed it from them. As to the testimony of Herodotus, who came into Egypt fifteen centuries after, and, with great learning and research, often writes a good deal of nonsense, I refuse utterly to put it in the same category with that of Moses. The great founder of the Jewish commonwealth — the greatest lawgiver on record — born and bred in Egypt, states the facts in relation to the introduction of circumcision among his people. A mere traveler and historian — a foreigner and a Greek — comes along very much later, and makes statements which are partly true, partly erroneous, as Josephus shows in his answer to Apion; and then skeptical authors, more than twenty centuries later than Herodotus, bring up his imperfect statements, and, twisting and expanding them, attempt to prove that Abraham did not receive circumcision from God (as Moses plainly says he did), but from the Egyptians! Not with such weapons can the veracity of Moses be successfully assailed.
Its Extension
It is, however, very remarkable that this singular rite did actually spread into many countries — that it has been retained not only by Jews and Moslems all over the world, but that even some Christian sects have adopted it, as the Copts and Abyssinians. We need not pursue this subject any further at present, but it is certainly a fine corroboration of the Book of Genesis, to stand in the plain of Mamre and witness the ceremonies of that solemn religious rite which Abraham here received “as a seal of the righteousness of faith which he had yet being uncircumcised” (Rom. 4:1111And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: (Romans 4:11)).
Eliezer, Abraham’s Servant
We are reminded by the firing of guns, the beating of the everlasting table, the singing and clapping of hands, and the general hubbub always attendant upon native weddings, that it was from this place Abraham sent his faithful servant into Mesopotamia to find and to bring a wife for Isaac.
Yes; and the account of this embassy in the 24th chapter of Genesis furnishes many allusions to Oriental customs which modern manners beautifully illustrate. We have already had occasion to notice the great influence and authority which chief servants in the families of emeers and sheikhs still exercise. Such was the confidence and respect accorded to Eliezer, that Abraham at one time seriously contemplated making him his heir — a result not uncommon in these Oriental countries in all ages down to the present time.
Another thing very noticeable, and to which also we have before alluded, is the great solicitude of Abraham to have his son marry one of his own kindred. This is in exact correspondence with the customs of the Eastern nobility; nor need we limit the remark to the higher classes. Certain degrees of affinity excepted, a relative always has the preference in matrimonial negotiations. The strict injunction of Abraham, therefore, to bring none but a relative from his own family, though enforced by religious considerations, was in no sense a departure from established usages and social laws in regard to marriage.
Swearing Fidelity
The mode of swearing fidelity required of Eliezer, by placing his hand under the thigh of Abraham, seems to have been peculiar to the patriarchs, and may have had reference to that promised seed who was to proceed from Abraham's loins, according to the then figurative style of speaking on this subject. In the present case there would be more than ordinary propriety in this significant action, inasmuch as the oath taken had direct and exclusive reference to the preservation of that line of descent through which this promised seed was to come.
Eliezer’s Journey
The preparation and outfit for this journey agree in all respects with the persons concerned, the nature of the country, and the habits of the people. Eliezer took ten camels loaded with provisions and presents; and such an expedition would not now be undertaken from Hebron with any other animals, nor with a less number. The diligent servant, no doubt, selected the most direct route, which would be through Palestine, along the west side of the Jordan and the lakes, into the Buk'ah, and out through the land of Hamath to the Euphrates, and thence to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia. Such a journey is both long and dangerous — far beyond what is indicated to a Western reader by the brief statement that Eliezer “arose and went to Mesopotamia” (Gen. 24:1010And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor. (Genesis 24:10)); but what befell him by the way we know not. The narrative leaps the whole distance, and so must we, with the simple assurance that the Lord God of Israel led him by the right way.
Customs
Every phrase of the eleventh verse contains an allusion to matters Oriental. Arrived at the town of Nahor, “he made his camels kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of evening-the time that women go out to draw water”(Gen. 24:1111And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. (Genesis 24:11)).
Camels Kneeling
He made the camels kneel — a mode of expression taken from actual life. The action is literally kneeling; not stooping, sitting, or lying down on the side like a horse, but kneeling on his knees; and this the camel is taught to do from his youth.
A Well Outside the City
The place is said to have been by a well of water, and this well was outside the city. In the East, where wells are scarce, and water indispensable, the existence of a well or fountain determines the site of the village. The people build near it, but prefer to have it outside the “city”; to avoid the noise, dust, and confusion always occurring at it, and especially if the place is on the public highway. It is around the fountain that the thirsty traveler and the wearied caravan assemble; and if you have become separated from your own company before arriving at a town, you need only inquire for the fountain, and there you will find them. It was perfectly natural, therefore, for Eliezer to halt at the well. The time was evening; but it is further stated that it was when the women go forth to draw water. True to life again. At that hour the peasant returns home from his labor, and the women are busy preparing the evening meal, which is to be ready at sunset. Cool fresh water is then demanded, and of course there is a great concourse around the well. But why limit it to the women I Simply because such is the fact. About great cities men often carry water, both on donkeys and on their own backs; but in the country, among the unsophisticated natives, women only go to the well or the fountain; and often, when traveling, have I seen long files of them going and returning with their pitchers “at the time when women go out to draw water.”
Rebekah
Again: the description of Rebekah, the account she gives of herself, and the whole dialog with Eliezer, agree admirably with Oriental customs.
Even the statement as to the manner of carrying her pitcher, or rather jar, is exact — on her shoulder. The Egyptian and the negro carry on the head, the Syrian on the shoulder or the hip. She went down to the well; and nearly all wells in the East are in wadies, and many of them have steps down to the water-fountains of course have. Eliezer asks for water to drink; she hastens and lets down the pitcher on her hand. How often have I had this identical net performed for myself, when traveling in this thirsty land! Rebekah's address to the servant, “Drink, my lord” — Ishrub ya seedy — will be given to you in the exact idiom by the first gentle Rebekah you ask water from. But I have never found any young lady so generous as this fair daughter of Bethuel. She drew for all his camels, and for nothing, while I have often found it difficult to get my horse watered even for money. Rebekah emptied her pitcher into the trough — an article always found about wells, and frequently made of stone. The jewels, also, for the face, forehead, and arms, are still as popular among the same class of people as they were in the days of Abraham. Not only are the head, neck, and arms adorned with a profusion of gold and silver rings, chains, and other ornaments, but rings are suspended on the face, from the side of the nose, and so forth.
Laban’s Welcome
Laban's address,”Come in, thou blessed of the Lord” (Gen. 24:3131And he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; wherefore standest thou without? for I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. (Genesis 24:31)), is still in good taste. I have often been welcomed in set phrases even more complimentary and sacred. The camels, as appears from the 32nd verse, were included in the invitation, and were brought into the house; and I have often slept in the same room with these peaceful animals, in company with their owner and all his family. Straw and provender were given to them; that is, tibn and some kind of pulse or grain. There is no hay in the East. Water to wash the feet of the wearied travelers was of course given; and the same kind act will be done to you under similar circumstances. So, also, the mode of negotiating the marriage contract, the presenting of gifts, etc., are all in perfect accordance with modern usages. The parents manage the whole affair, often, however, with the advice of the eldest son and heir, as Laban was in this case. And if the father be dead, the eldest son takes his place, and assumes his authority in the disposal of his sisters. Presents are absolutely essential in betrothals. They are given with much ceremony before witnesses, and the articles presented are described in a written document, so that, if the match be broken off, the bridegroom can obtain them back again, or their value, and something more as a compensation for the injury.
Behavior of Rebekah
Finally, the behavior of Rebekah, when about to meet Isaac, was such as modern etiquette requires. It is customary for both men and women, when an emeer or great personage is approaching, to alight some time before he comes up with them. Women frequently refuse to ride in the presence of men; and when a company of them are to pass through a town, they often dismount and walk. It was, no doubt, a point of Syrian etiquette for Rebekah to stop, descend from her camel, and cover herself with a veil in the presence of her future husband. In a word, this Biblical narrative is so natural to one familiar with the East, so beautiful also, and life-like, that the entire scene seems to be an affair in which he has himself been but recently an actor.