March 24th.
Sulphureous Springs
A long ride and much to see promise a busy and a very pleasant day. We are to make the circuit of the entire southern half of the lake, and encamp among the ruins of that famous city from which it derives its present name. Here on the shore are warm, sulphureous springs, which emit steam with an odor intolerably offensive. The place is called Mizferah, and is probably what Burckhardt heard of as a ruined town at the mouth of Wady Semak, which he calls Medjeifera. There is no such ruin, and the names are very similar.
Roman Road
You observe that the plain (if so narrow a margin along the shore deserve such a name) is smooth, hard, and quite barren. A Roman road, or at least one well made, once ran along the shore quite to Kersa, whence it appears to have ascended to the Jaulan. We have now an excellent opportunity to study the grand geological characteristics of this region. The lower strata on our left are limestone, but all above is basaltic; and this formation is of vast thickness.
Geological Formation
The descent through Wady Shukaiyif from the lofty plateau of the Jaulan is full two thousand feet before the trap gives place to calcareous rock. This immense volcanic field consists everywhere of irregular heaps of amorphous lava and disintegrating scoriae, with gigantic mounds of globular basalt, which in a few localities shows a tendency to separate into rudely-shaped columns; but I have seen no genuine columnar basalt in the Jaulan. Were it not for the countless springs of water in the southern part, this whole province would be a black and barren wilderness, incapable of sustaining even the goats which now rejoice in its wild ravines.
Our Arab neighbors behaved very respectfully last night, and today I see no reason to apprehend any interruption to our researches.
A rare chance, and owing to political combinations in Tiberias, which render all parties particularly anxious to obtain or retain the goodwill of the European consuls. This is especially true of 'Akil 'Aga, who now controls all these lawless tribes.
Dangers of the Way
We may well congratulate ourselves, for this is just the most dangerous part of the country to traverse. When passing this way from Banias, I took the precaution to get a letter from Sheikh Fareij to Sheikh Mahmood, then at the head of a large tribe encamped a little south of Kŭl'et Hŭsn. With this, and three of his horsemen as guide and guard, we passed safely; but it was well we had them, for just at that little wady ahead of us we were suddenly confronted by a troop of Bedawin robbers on their fleet horses, and armed with their tremendous spears. Our guard galloped up to them, and explained that we were under the protection of Sheikh Fareij; and must be allowed to pass. They grumbled a good deal, and looked viciously at our loaded mules, but did not dare to lay hands on anything belonging to our party.
Plundering Bedawin
They acknowledged without a blush, however, that they had come up from the Ghor (Valley of the Jordan) on an expedition for plunder, and, when leaving us, said they intended to visit the Butaiha that very night. Alas for the poor peasants! Such visits, constantly repeated, desolate the country and drive the farmers farther and farther inland to find a place where these lawless villains dare not follow them. When such a raid breaks into a village, they compel the people to feed both themselves and their horses, and in the morning they march off with every valuable article they can find. Here is the true explanation of the wide-spread desolations of this beautiful country; and unless some stronger government than the Turkish shall come in to repress these intolerable robbers, the farmers will be driven toward the seaboard, until the whole interior is abandoned and changed to frightful deserts.
Tribe of “Wolves”
The marauding party that met us belonged to a tribe called Diab, which interpreted means Wolves, — a most significant and appropriate name. I visited their camp, and after reading my letter and making some private inquiries of the guard, the sheikh was very gracious, though the reception at first was austere enough, and somewhat alarming. He was surrounded by a most villanous-looking troop.
Resemblance of Arab Tribes to Scottish Clans
One aged warrior in particular might have sat for Rob Roy, or any other of Scott's wild Highland robbers. Indeed there are many points of resemblance between those Arab tribes and the Highland clans of former days. Perhaps the Arab is the more poetic, if not the more respectable character. The sheikh of these Diab urged me to spend the night with him; but finding me resolved to pass on, he rose and left the tent, saying that I must not go until he returned. After some time he came out of the hareem, or female department, with some fresh-baked bread and a plate of dibs (a kind of grape molasses), and, taking his seat by my side, he broke off a bit of bread, dipped it in the dibs, and gave it to me to eat; and in like manner he required all my companions to partake, and even had the muleteers called in to eat of it. After this, all those about the tent tasted of it. This was the ceremony, and he explained its significance somewhat in this fashion: “We are now brethren.
Covenant of Bread and Salt
There is bread and salt between us; we are brothers and allies. You are at liberty to travel among us wherever you please; and, so far as my power extends, I am to aid, befriend, and succor you, even to the loss of my own life.” The eating of this bread was the sign and seal of the covenant of Brotherhood (Khûwy, as they term it); and they tell us that this bread will never leave the heart of a true and loyal Bedawy; and, of course, the covenant of which it is the symbol can never be forgotten or renounced. They often upbraid the civilized Frank because he does not keep bread and salt — is not faithful to the covenant of brotherhood; and I have even heard them assert bluntly that we have no bread and salt.
Antiquity of the Custom
They tell us that this custom has come down to them from the remotest antiquity; and in reflecting upon this very striking incident, I have thought it not impossible that the apostles, who were plain fishermen, born and bred on this very shore, had been familiar with this custom, and fully appreciated its significance; and that our blessed Lord, appropriated, expanded, and infinitely ennobled it in the bread of the Eucharistic Supper. The points of resemblance are many, extremely significant, and impressive. In both, the element and the act are almost identical; the bread in both is the symbol of a covenant; the act of eating is the seal of the covenant. In both it is a covenant of brotherhood, introducing the participants into that near and sacred relationship. The covenant is perpetual; the bread never leaves the loyal heart. In both it supposes the tenderest affection, and guarantees protection and succor even unto death. These are not all the points of resemblance, but they are sufficient, I think, to rescue the idea of connection between them from the charge of irreverence. If our Lord did actually base the Eucharistic Supper upon a custom well known to his disciples, and deeply significant, this would be in pleasing unison with other similar institutions. When he would enter into covenant with the earth that it should not be again destroyed by a deluge, he selected the beautiful and familiar bow that gilds the retiring storm-cloud to be the sign and seal of the covenant. When, too, he made a covenant with Abraham, it is more than doubted by the learned whether the remarkable seal of that covenant was an act then performed for the first time. And, however this controversy may be settled, it is certain that baptism, which has taken the place of circumcision, was known and extensively practiced long before our Lord appropriated and sanctified it to its present important office in his Church. I see no objection, therefore, to the idea that we have in this bread of the khûwy an original and primitive custom, upon which our Savior ingrafted the precious institution of the supper; and the thought throws around this Arab institution an inexpressible charm.
Early Covenants
It certainly does; and may we not find traces of a custom somewhat similar to this among those Bedawin in early Bible history? Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, to mention no others, appear to have sealed their covenants on various occasions by eating. At first it may have been merely a friendly repast; but having been associated for some time with the making and the ratification of solemn contracts, it came to be regarded as a necessary finale and seal of the transaction, and then to be the principal formula of the covenant itself.
Such a transition would be natural, and is in itself highly probable; but we must leave these speculations for the student and the commentator. They are rather abstruse for a discussion on horseback.
Salt and Its Savor
Be it so; but, before we get on to some topic altogether foreign, I want to make an inquiry which the Arab proverb about bread and salt suggested. Our Lord, in the sermon on the mount, says, “Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men” (Matt. 5:1313Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. (Matthew 5:13)). To what fact in experience does he allude?
It is plainly implied that salt, under certain conditions so generally known as to permit him to found his instruction upon them, did actually lose its saltness; and our only business is to discover these conditions, not to question their existence. Nor is this difficult. I have often seen just such salt, and the identical disposition of it that our Lord has mentioned. A merchant of Sidon having farmed of the Government the revenue from the importation of salt, brought over an immense quantity from the marshes of Cyprus — enough, in fact, to supply the whole province for at least twenty years. This he had transferred to the mountains, to cheat the Government out of some small percentage. Sixty-five houses in June — Lady Stanhope's village — were rented and filled with salt. These houses have merely earthen floors, and the salt next the ground in a few years entirely spoiled. I saw large quantities of it literally thrown into the street, to be trodden under foot of men and beasts. It was “good for nothing.” Similar magazines are common in this country, and have been from remote ages, as we learn from history both sacred and profane; and the sweeping out of the spoiled salt and casting it into the street are actions familiar to all men.
Manufacture of Salt
It should be stated in this connection, that the salt used in this country is not manufactured by boiling clean salt water, nor quarried from mines, but is obtained from marshes along the seashore, as in Cyprus, or from salt lakes in the interior, which dry up in summer, as the one in the desert north of Palmyra, and the great Lake of Jebbûl, southeast of Aleppo. The salt of our Sidon merchant was from the vast marshes near Larnaca. I have seen these marshes covered with a thick crust of salt, and have also visited them when it had been gathered into heaps like hay-cocks in a meadow. The large winter lake southeast of Aleppo I found dried up by the last of August, and the entire basin, further than the eye could reach, was white as snow with an incrustation of coarse salt. Hundreds of people were out gathering and carrying it to Jebbûl, where the Government stores were kept.
Salt of JebbûL And Usdum
Maundrell, who visited the lake at Jebbûl, tells us that he found salt there which had entirely “lost its savor”; and the same abounds among the debris at Usdum, and in other localities of rock-salt at the south end of the Dead Sea. Indeed, it is a well-known fact that the salt of this country, when in contact with the ground, or exposed to rain and sun, does become insipid and useless. From the manner in which it is gathered, much earth and other impurities are necessarily collected with it. Not a little of it is so impure that it cannot be used at all; and such salt soon effloresces and turns to dust — not to fruitful soil, however. It is not only good for nothing itself, but it actually destroys all fertility wherever it is thrown; and this is the reason why it is cast into the street. There is a sort of verbal verisimilitude in the manner in which our Lord alludes to the act — “it is cast out” and “trodden under foot”; so troublesome is this corrupted salt, that it is carefully swept up, carried forth, and thrown into the street. There is no place about the house, yard, or garden where it can be tolerated. No man will allow it to be thrown on to his field, and the only place for it is the street; and there it is cast, to be trodden under foot of men.
An Adieu
But we must return to the tent of our new brother Mahmood. It would be an intolerable insult to depart without a courteous and somewhat ceremonious adieu. The sheikh accompanied us down to the road, and then sent two of his followers to guide us, as he said, to Semak, but, in reality, to guard us from some stray “brother,” who might not be disposed to act in exact accordance with the claims of our extemporaneous relationship. One of these horsemen was very talkative, and among other matters stated, without the least reserve, that he wanted to have accompanied the marauding expedition which we encountered in the morning; but his sheikh would not permit him to go. “Well,” said I, “if you had met me, would you have assisted to plunder me?” “Certainly, if you had not been protected by Sheikh Fareij.” “What! rob your 'brother?'“ “Oh, you would not have been my brother then.” Strange customs, and most singular people! It was something novel to be riding gaily along this solitary shore with professed robbers, and these bushy ravines swarming with their comrades, prowling about like beasts of prey.
Robbers Lying in Wait
“He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to catch the poor” (Psa. 10:99He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. (Psalm 10:9)). My talkative “brother” gloried in the title of robber; and when I asked him why they did not cultivate the rich valley of the Jordan, he curled his lip in disdain and exclaimed, “What! a Bedawy drive the plow. istugfar Allah — God forbid! We are robbers. This is our trade, and by this we will live, or, wallah! by this we will die,” striking his terrible spear fiercely into the ground. This fellow (as usual) was not satisfied with his present, and when I told him he might take or leave it, just as he pleased, he went away, muttering to the servant that we should meet him again in Wady Mandhour, “and then,” said he, “inshallak — if God please — I will take whatever I want.” We remained encamped on the shore of the lake at Semak three days, and I knew he watched us like a lynx, and if we had attempted to enter Wady Mandhour he would have made his threat good. Such insolence is intolerable, and I long for the day when a strong government will take these wild Arabs in hand. They might easily be tamed. Their ostentatious courage would utterly fail before even a small force of European soldiers. They are great boasters, and, like all such, great poltroons.
Misplaced Admiration of Bedawin
I am amazed to find sensible and highly cultivated gentlemen the defenders and eulogists of the Bedawin. Burckhardt was both a learned man and an unsophisticated, straightforward writer, and yet he seems to have been captivated with the character and customs of these wild Arabs. But, according to his own account (which, so far as it goes, I can confirm), they are a nation of universal liars, thieves, and robbers, with all the vices which must ever attend such a course of life. They are also cowardly and mean. Rarely, indeed, will they venture to attack even a very inferior party, if armed and prepared to resist; but wherever and whenever they overtake a poor defenseless stranger, they pounce upon him like hungry wolves. Even helpless women and children are robbed and stripped without mercy or remorse. True, Burckhardt says that some of them turn their backs while the women are made to strip, and are then so generous as to toss back a few of the rags which they do not want. Wonderful generosity! In accordance with their whole character, they tyrannize over the women, who are, in fact, their slaves, made to do all the degrading and severe drudgery incident to their mode of life. The men lounge idly and lazily about the tent, smoke, drink coffee, and play at games of hazard, of which they have a considerable variety. They are execrably filthy and foul-mouthed, totally uneducated, and supremely proud. Their very virtues are vices, or are contaminated by an odious selfishness. Such is their one boasted virtue of hospitality. It is a mere social regulation; and without something of the kind, these troops of land pirates could not carry on their detestable vocation — could not even exist.
Rascally Character
Away, then, with all this mawkish complacency in the brutal character and habits of these insolent barbarians! They would reduce Paradise itself to a howling wilderness in five years, and no civilized government could or would tolerate them for a day. This they well know, and hence they have an extreme dread and jealousy of the constant increase of European influence in this country. They do not hesitate to say that, whenever this influence becomes dominant, they must decamp forever. So it certainly will be, and I should rejoice to witness the realization of their worst apprehensions. Not till then can this fair and fertile land be regenerated.
Gamala
But yonder is the hump of the camel which constituted the citadel, and gave name to the famous fortress of Gamala; for this is the Oriental word for camel, and it was appropriated to this isolated promontory from its resemblance to the back of that animal. By my aneroid it is eleven hundred and seventy feet above the lake, and we must leave our horses at its base, and climb on foot to its giddy summit as best we may. And now, within its mighty ramparts, let us sit down on one of these broken columns, and read Josephus until sufficiently rested to take a survey of this strongest of Jewish fortifications; for Jewish it is, and no mistake, whatever may be said of other castles. It was the last that was sacked by Vespasian and Titus before the siege of Jerusalem, and it has remained to this day just as they left it. It has not been repaired, and the materials have never been wanted for any other place.
Now KŭL’et HûSn
He who would study the architecture and mode of fortification at the time of Christ, should visit this Kŭl’et Hŭsn, as Gamala is now called. No other ruin in this country has remained so intact and perfect.
Josephus informs us that, even after the taking of Jotapata and all other places in these regions, the people of Gamala refused to surrender to the Romans. “They relied upon the difficulty of the place, which was greater than that of Jotapata, for it was situated upon a rough ridge of a high mountain, with a kind of neck in the middle. Where it begins to ascend it lengthens itself, and declines as much downward before as behind, insomuch that it is like a camel in figure, from whence it is so named.” He goes on to speak, in his accustomed style of exaggeration, of deep valleys all around it, and frightful precipices, which made every approach to it quite impossible. These were rendered still more impregnable by walls and towers above, and deep ditches below. This is sufficiently graphic, and almost accurate, for it is naturally one of the very strongest positions I have ever examined. But, notwithstanding this, it was doomed to utter destruction.
Its Siege
On the last of September, in the year sixty-nine of our era, the invincible legions of Rome closed around it, never to leave while a living man remained in Gamala. The Fifteenth fortified their camp on that ridge over against us to the east; the Fifth did the same further round toward the north, as I read Josephus; and the Tenth filled up the ditches on the southeastern part, along that narrow neck which connects this citadel with the main mountain on the south. Strong detachments also watched and hemmed in the devoted city on all sides, so that escape was impossible.
When the ditches were filled, and a way leveled up to a part of the wall that protected the lower city (there on the neck, I suppose), the battering-rams were made to play upon it in three places with such fury that it soon gave way and fell. Through the gap rushed the iron-clad legions, with “mighty sound of trumpets, and noise of armor, and shout of soldiers.” But despair and frenzy nerved the hearts and arms of the Jews.
The Repulse
They threw themselves madly upon their enemies, beat them back by main force, and overwhelmed them from above with darts, stones, and anything within reach. The Romans, hard pressed, rushed into the houses (that hung one over another along that steep declivity) in such numbers that the foundations gave way, and those above falling on those below, carried all away in their headlong descent, house upon house, in horrible confusion, burying up and crushing to death whole ranks in a moment. Thus it happened that “a great number were ground to powder by those ruins, and a great many of those that got from under them lost some of their limbs, but a still greater number were suffocated by the dust that arose from those ruins.” Josephus was then a prisoner in the Roman camp, and witnessed the awful scene from a high point on this overhanging mountain. His description is therefore very minute and graphic; true also, I suppose, for there was no particular temptation to exaggerate or falsify. He says that the houses which fell with the Romans were low and not firm; and an inspection of the place shows that none but very low houses could have stood there at all, for the face of the mountain is nearly perpendicular. After immense confusion and wild disorder, in which Vespasian himself was in extreme danger of perishing, the Romans retreated to their camps, and the Gamalites celebrated their unexpected victory with the most extravagant rejoicings.
The Capture
Brief was their triumph. Vespasian comforted and encouraged his army in a set speech. Titus came back from Syria with reinforcements; a high tower on the wall was undermined, and fell with prodigious noise; the soldiers rushed in again, led on by Titus himself; everything gave way, and went down before the ten-fold fury of the onset — the outer city first, and then this wonderful citadel itself was taken, and everything that breathed was put to the sword, even to the women and helpless infants.
Awful Fate of the Jews
Five thousand of these most miserable people, seeing escape impossible, destroyed themselves; husbands threw their wives over the walls; parents seized their children and leaped madly from the ramparts, and were crushed into hideous masses in those yawning gulfs below. Look over, if your head is steady enough, and see into what awful depths they must have plunged. So fell Gamala on the 23rd of October, A.D. 69, after a siege of twenty-nine days. Of the entire population that thronged this city and citadel, only two women escaped. The next act in the drama of Israel's destruction opens on the hills around Jerusalem, where the long bloody tragedy winds up with the total overthrow of the city and the holy temple, amid agonies and carnage never seen before and never to be repeated while the world stands.
The Fortifications
Let us now take a walk around the fortifications of old Gamala. You observe that this “hump of the camel” extends from southeast to northwest. The diameter from the eastern gate to the one at the northwestern extremity is seven hundred and sixty-five paces, and a straight and well-defined street ran from gate to gate. The average width was not quite half the length, and the entire shape of the summit approaches an oval. On all sides it is surrounded by deep ravines, except the narrow neck which joins it to the main mountain. This neck is much lower than the hump, and both are several hundred feet lower than the surrounding heights. Indeed, the hump looks as though it had broken away from those gigantic cliffs, pushed out lake wise to the northwest, and sagged down some five hundred feet below its original position, having only this narrow ridge to connect it with the parent mountain. Along this ridge, and particularly the eastern side of it, the exterior city was built; and in such fashion that Josephus says it looked as though it would fall down upon itself. The citadel, or hump, was entirely surrounded by a strong wall, which was carried along the very brink of the precipices; and in some parts arches had to be thrown from cliff to cliff, to secure a practicable foundation. Josephus intimates that he built this wall; which is simply absurd. But the man that could build the walls around the top of Tabor in forty days, might possibly construct those of Gamala in some idle moment! The fact is, that in neither case could Josephus have done more than slightly repair works which were already there.
This entire citadel, nearly a mile and a half in circuit, was covered with heavy buildings; and as the material was indestructible basalt, they remain very much as the Romans left them. This tower in the center appears to have been the largest and highest of all. Near it once stood a temple or splendid synagogue, and another to the northeast of it.
Egyptian Columns in Gamala
Is it not marvelous to see the ground hereabout thickly strewn with granite columns from Egypt? How did they get them up to this giddy perch? There must have been great wealth in the city, and roads, and machinery, of which the Syrians of this day have no conception. The entire wealth and power of the present generation would be exhausted, and fail in the attempt, to carry any one of these columns from Tiberias to the top of this hump of the camel; and there are at least thirty of them in this immediate vicinity, and some of them more than fourteen feet long. On the east of this tower is an immense under-ground cistern, the vault of which is a fine specimen of the Roman arch. There were also numerous cisterns in every part of the citadel, and necessarily so, because there was no other supply of water. Here are some Corinthian capitals neatly cut in hard black basalt — a curiosity in their way. And these sarcophagi and sepulchral stones are entirely peculiar to this city — at least I have seen nothing like them elsewhere.
No Inscription
But what marks it as a genuine Hebrew city is, the total absence of inscriptions. There is not a solitary letter in all language.
Josephus incidentally mentions a phenomenon which I happened to verify in my own experience. Speaking of the last assault upon the citadel, when Vespasian brought the whole army to support his son Titus, he says, “Now this upper part of the city was very rocky, and difficult of ascent, and elevated to a vast altitude, and very full of people on all sides, and encompassed with precipices, whereby the Jews cut off those that came up to them,” and so forth.
A Storm
However, there arose such a divine storm against them as was instrumental in their destruction. This carried the Roman darts upon them, and made those which they threw return back, and drove them obliquely away from them. Nor could the Jews, indeed, stand upon their precipices by reason of the violence of the wind,” etc., etc. Without supposing there was anything specially divine in the wind which blew down these ravines and over these ruins on my first visit, yet it was so vehement that I could not stand upon the ramparts for half a minute. Indeed, the depths below are so profound, in many parts, that no one can look into them without a shudder even in the calmest weather. It occurred to me at the time that this incidental notice by a contemporary of a furious wind rushing down toward and upon the lake, is a happy corroboration of the evangelical narratives, in which similar phenomena are repeatedly mentioned. To say the least, it is in beautiful correspondence with them.
With the single exception of Jerusalem, Gamala furnishes the most remarkable fulfillment on record of those terrible predictions of our Savior concerning the destruction of the Jews; and in its haggard desolation and utter solitude it is at this day a much more impressive monument of divine judgment than even the Holy City itself.
We may now return, and thus relieve the real or pretended fears of our guide, who has been impatient of our long ramble. He says that this is a chosen resort of robbers; which, by the way, I do not believe.
Searching for Treasure
They rarely frequent such a place as this, unless it be in search of hid treasure. When I descended from here to the camp of Mahmood they were extremely suspicious of the purpose of my visit, and no explanations, reasonings, or protestations, had the slightest effect in removing their belief that I had gone there to search for gold. When I appealed to the fact that some of their own men were with me, they replied that all I did then was to take a copy of the localities where the treasure was, so that I might come back in the night and carry it away. When asked why they did not take it themselves, they gave two reasons: first, that they had no daleel or guide to the exact spot; and, secondly, that they had no charm of sufficient potency to subdue the spirits (jin) that keep guard over the treasure. The Bedawin universally believe in the existence of such guards, and of charms or names which will subdue them. There is no tale on this subject in the “Thousand Nights,” however extravagant, but what is to them credible and real. A large part of their conversation is made up of preposterous stories of this kind.
Charms and Superstitions
They enter into the most minute details of the localities, the caves, rooms, closed doors, slabs with iron rings, etc., etc., ending always with some obstinate door which none of their charms could open; or, if they broke it open by main force, they were beaten back, thrown to the ground, blinded, suffocated with fumes of sulfur, or in some other miraculous way compelled by the guardian spirits to abandon the attempt. Of these creatures, also, they give the most outlandish descriptions, and appear firmly to believe their own stories. Several of the wildest of these romances have their locality in these very ruins of Gamala.
This amazing superstition is not only a source of constant annoyance to the traveler, but in these out-of-the-way parts of the country greatly increases the difficulties and the dangers of exploration. I am not sure but that my talkative guide from Sheikh Mahmood was induced to watch us so strictly under the idea that we either had or were intending to carry away their coveted treasure; and this absurd superstition might have cost us our lives if we had fallen into their hands in Wady Mandhour.
Native Jealousy of Travelers
Doubtless, too, it is this apprehension that induces Arabs often to conceal interesting localities from the traveler, or to refuse to accompany him to them; and, indeed, they have been known to mislead by false directions. This is one reason of the ridiculous blunders and topographical errors of certain tourists. Only this last year the British consul of Damascus (who had more influence over the Arabs of this country than any other man), in furnishing me with letters of protection to a large number of sheikhs in these mountains east of the Jordan, informed me that I must not take any instruments with me, nor be seen to take drawings, for it would certainly endanger my life, in spite of all the protection which the British Government could throw around me. These remarks, of course, apply chiefly to the remoter parts of the land — to routes and sites entirely under the control of the Bedawin. Other places can be visited with but little annoyance from this cause; and yet, even in the most civilized districts, the people are provokingly pertinacious in ascribing our visits to old ruins to this, the only intelligible motive to their minds. The idea of coming far, toiling hard, and spending money merely to examine historic sites, is to them absurd and ridiculous.
Other Ruins
Before we bid a final adieu to these mournful ruins, let us take a glance at their neighbors, some of which are not wanting in historic interest. That fortified rock on the north is called Nkeib, and the ruins upon it are evidently of the same age as these of Gamala. That sharp pinnacle further north, which resembles a church steeple, is Kureîn el Jerady.
FîK Or Aphek
East of us about two miles is Fîk, a considerable village on the top of the mountain, occupying the site of the ancient Aphek, the city to which Benhadad fled after one hundred thousand of his soldiers had been slain in battle by Ahab. The city, however, proved almost as destructive as the army of Israel, for “a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left” (1 Kings 20:26-3026And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. 28And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 29And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. (1 Kings 20:26‑30)).
This tremendous destruction was caused, as I suppose, by an earthquake; and after having seen the effects of the earthquake in Safed and Tiberias, I can easily understand and readily credit this narrative. We are not required to limit the catastrophe to the falling of a single wall; or, if this be insisted upon, we have only to suppose that it was the wall of the city, and a little consideration will convince any one familiar with Oriental fortifications that it might overwhelm a whole army. Those ramparts were very lofty and massive. An open space was always left along their base, and this would be packed full and tight, from end to end, by the remnants of Benhadad's mighty host, and escape from the falling towers would be impossible. The peculiar character of the site would render the destruction only the more extensive and inevitable. I have not visited it, but Burckhardt passed through it in 1812, and he informs us that the town is built around the base of a hill in the shape of a crescent, not unlike the topography of Safed, and it was this circumstance which rendered the overthrow of that place so destructive. The FM of our day is a mere village, containing about two hundred families, dwelling in huts built out of the rubbish of the ancient city.
Argob
Burckhardt seems to have visited Kŭl’et Hŭsn, or, at least, he heard of it, and supposed that it marked the site of Argob, the capital of the kingdom of Og. This is not very probable; indeed it is not certain, from the various notices of Argob, that it was a city at all. In Deuteronomy 3:13-1413And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. 14Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, unto this day. (Deuteronomy 3:13‑14), we read of “the region of Argob,” and of “all the country of Argob”; and the same in 1 Kings 4:1313The son of Geber, in Ramoth-gilead; to him pertained the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, which are in Gilead; to him also pertained the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars: (1 Kings 4:13); but nothing is said of a city of that name, nor can I hear of any such ancient site. It is worthy of note, however, that the Bedawin familiarly speak of this whole district as Arkoob or Argoob. Thus they call the mountain on which Um Keis stands Argoob Um Keis, and this mountain above us Argoob Hŭsn; and although this word is applied to any rough, mountainous country, I have nowhere else heard it thus used in common conversation; and since the kingdom or district of Argob was in this immediate neighborhood, I think it nearly certain that we have the identical name still preserved among these primitive inhabitants. And as this province is very wild and broken, may not its own proper name have been transferred, as an adjective, to all similar districts?
A Great Plain
Burckhardt speaks of a plain which extends from Fîk far into the interior of the Jaulan, and I myself passed over a portion of it, and thought it beautiful and very fertile. Josephus, in his account of the defeat of Benhadad, says he pitched his camp in the great plain (Ant. 47, 14, 4), a phrase often applied to Esdraelon, the valley of the Jordan, and other places. In the present case he probably means this very plain north of Fîk, since the remnants of his army fled into this city.
Directly south of el Hŭsn, on the mountain, is an inhabited village called Kefr Harib; and below it are the ruins of a castle, said to have belonged to it in olden times. The plain between the shore and the mountain, you observe, widens as we advance, and becomes more fertile.
Geology
The thickness of the superincumbent trap also decreases, and yellow calcareous rock crops out nearer and nearer the surface, until, at the valley of the Jermuk, the former ceases altogether, and cretaceous limestone takes its place. The scenery becomes less savage and more picturesque, the soil richer, the pastures more luxuriant, and noble forests of oak, terebinth, and other trees adorn the hills and valleys. All tourists agree in representing this as one of the most charming regions of the East, and we draw the same conclusion from the incidental references to it in Bible history. I long to explore Gilead and Bashan, and hope to do it on some future occasion, but at present we must continue the even tenor of our way round the southern shore of this lake. Here are traces of an old village called Dueir Ban and a little further south is Khurbet Samra. A long low ridge divides the plain of the Ghor quite down to the Jermuk. It is called Tell et Tâlib, and also Kusr el Kelb, from an old castle of that name. Khan 'Agaba, mentioned by Burckhardt, is on the side of it. He says that this Khurbet Samra was inhabited when he passed this way in 1812; but, to judge from present appearances, he must have been mistaken, for it seems to have been an utter ruin for generations. It may have been occupied by a few Arab huts, and certainly there could have been nothing here forty years ago of a more substantial character. We should not be too positive, however, because the peasants in all this region build very ephemeral habitations with small stones and mud; which, if deserted, soon fall and melt away like summer snow on the mountains.
Slight Houses
It is surprising to see how quickly “houses which no man inhabiteth ... become heaps,” as Job has it (Job 15:2828And he dwelleth in desolate cities, and in houses which no man inhabiteth, which are ready to become heaps. (Job 15:28)); and Solomon noticed the same thing: “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through” (Eccl. 10:1818By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through. (Ecclesiastes 10:18)). The roof of any of these huts, forsaken or neglected through idleness, will “drop through” in a single winter, and then the unprotected walls wash down by the rain, and speedily become mere shapeless “heaps.” The cause is easily explained. The roof is made by heaping a thick stratum of earth over the brush, thorns, and cane which are laid on the beams to receive it. This earth, if not constantly rolled, or carefully plastered, so as to shed the rain, absorbs it, until the weight breaks the beams, and then the whole mass drops through, bursting out the feeble walls, which now have nothing to bind them together. The mortar used is without lime, and, when thoroughly saturated by the rain, becomes as slippery as soap; and thus the whole fabric tumbles into a dismal ruin. Indeed, such frail houses often fall suddenly during great storms, and crush the inhabitants to death. This is particularly the case where there is much snow, and the people cannot properly roll their terraces.
Untempered Mortar
It was such facts as these, perhaps, that suggested to Ezekiel the terms of that terrible rebuke to the prophets of Israel: “Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: There shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it” (Ezek. 13:10-1610Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar: 11Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it. 12Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where is the daubing wherewith ye have daubed it? 13Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. 14So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 15Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered mortar, and will say unto you, The wall is no more, neither they that daubed it; 16To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 13:10‑16)).
Villages Destroyed
Yes, these are the very agencies by which the Lord now overthrows in a night whole villages thus built with untempered mortar. “So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundations thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof” (Ezek. 13:1414So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 13:14)). A calamity this of very frequent occurrence. I have known many such during my residence in this land, and this whole passage is so graphic and true to experience, that the prophet, beyond a doubt, drew the picture from scenes with which he was personally familiar. This Samakh which we are approaching is a striking specimen of walls built and daubed with such mortar, and not a few of the houses threaten to crush their inhabitants beneath their ruins. It is at present the only inhabited village in this fertile delta formed by the lake, the Jordan, and the Jermuk, and it probably marks the site of the ancient Hippos. One or two of the houses, and the menzûl for strangers, are partly built of cut stones which belonged to the old city; but the remainder are made of small cobblestones from the shore and untempered mortar, loosely laid up, and daubed on the outside with the same.
Plain of Semak
The plain is some twenty feet above the lake, quite level, but declines rapidly to the junction of the Jordan and the Jermuk, some six miles to the south. It is a mere mud deposit, and indicates that the level of the lake has been, at some former period, much higher than it is now. The people of the village informed me that in very rainy years the water rises several feet above its present low mark, and should anything dam up the narrow exit of the Jordan, it would, of course, rise at once to the level of the plain.
Exit of Jordan
I once spent several days encamped on the pebbly beach below Semak, and had ample time to explore the entire southern shore of the lake, as well as the outgoing of the Jordan. The shore is covered with pebbles of flint, jasper, chalcedony, and agate, mixed with several kinds of fresh-water shells. The largest is a variety of the unio. The exit of the Jordan is correctly laid down by Captain Lynch, but by no other author that I have seen. The ruins of an ancient bridge partly choke up the exit, and narrow it to about one hundred feet in width at low water; and even there it was not more than four feet deep; the current, however, is very swift. The shore and the river I found crowded with ducks, cranes, and other water-fowl, in the latter part of February; and, were it safe, it would be a delightful spot for the sportsman and the lover of fish and game. Semak has about two hundred wretched huts, packed together in the most uncomfortable manner possible. The inhabitants are all Moslems, and of course, or of necessity, confederates in robbery with their neighbors, those Diabs — wolves — whose tents we saw along the base of Tell Tâ lib. No wonder the Bedawîn prefer the open country and the canvas cover to such an accumulation of dust, vermin, and every other abomination. Nothing could induce me to dwell in such a village. And yet it is situated on the shore of this sweet and beautiful lake, with the most interesting scenery in the world around it. Alas! it is a splendid “jewel of gold in a swine's snout” (Prov. 11:2222As a jewel of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. (Proverbs 11:22)).
Aspect of the Lake
The regular path leads directly to the ford below the broken bridge, Em el Kŭnatur, but we will follow the shore to the exit of the Jordan. We have now a good view of the entire lake, and can see at a glance that it narrows rapidly on both sides, until it is not more than three miles wide at this extremity of it. The Jordan leaves it near the southwest corner, and its exit was commanded by those fortified tells on the north side, now called Tells of Kerak. The triangular plat north of them is the site of the ancient Taricea, or Tarichea, so famous in the wars of the Jews. A branch of the river once came down on the west side, and, of course, made the site of the city an island; nor would it be difficult to make that again the main outlet of the river, as it probably was in former times.
Kerak
This Kerak was the great naval station of the Jews in the time of the Roman war.
Two Hundred and Thirty Ships
Josephus collected two hundred and thirty ships at this place to attack Tiberias, and here occurred the only sea-fight between the Jews and Romans. The ships probably lay at anchor within and around the exit of the Jordan, protected by towers upon these tells. The situation is admirable for the purpose, and there is no other safe harbor on the whole lake. It must, therefore, have been a place of great importance, so long as there were ships to need a refuge from the wild winds which often sweep over it. I have seen it lashed into fury for thirty consecutive hours by a tempest that would have wrecked a hundred fleets such as that of Josephus, had they been exposed to its violence.
How different the condition of these shores now from the time when Josephus could gather at this point more than two hundred ships in a single day! There is not at this hour a boat of any kind upon the lake, and I never but once saw a single sail unfurled upon its deserted bosom. Josephus, however, who lived, and sailed, and fought on it in the time of the apostles, abundantly corroborates their accounts of the ships that then sailed over it; and my own experience confirms all the other phenomena mentioned by them.
Storms on the Lake
Small as the lake is, and placid, in general, as a molten mirror, I have repeatedly seen it quiver, and leap, and boil like a caldron, when driven by fierce winds from the eastern mountains; and the waves ran high-high enough to fill or “cover” the ships, as Matthew has it (Matt. 8:2424And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. (Matthew 8:24)). In the midst of such a gale calmly slept the Son of God, in the hinder part of the ship, until awakened by the terrified disciples.
Gadara
Gadara, with her prostrate temples and theaters, is seated on the top of the mountain south of the great gorge of the Jermuk, and the celebrated hot baths of another Hammath are below on the bank of the river. The fountains are of immense size, and the entire locality extremely interesting and wild. Until quite recently, the Christians of Nazareth held a grand fair at those baths, and they still speak in raptures of the happy times they used to enjoy there, and curse these Arab wolves who now prowl about, and render it utterly impossible to hold their joyous festa.
Bridges. Jisr El MŭJamia
The great highway from the west into Perea, Decapolis, and the distant east, passed the Jordan at this bridge to which we are coming, now called Jisr el Kŭnâtur, in reference to the many high arches on which it rested. They appear to have been ten, but are all so broken and choked up with rubbish that one cannot be quite certain as to the number. The ford below it would be excellent were it not for the fragments of the bridge which strew the bottom. The river is about three hundred feet broad, and it is not more than three feet deep, except in early spring.
Jisr El MŭJamia
The only bridge still in repair is Jisr el Mŭjamia, about seven miles below the lake. I spent a night and day there last spring with 'Akil 'Aga, and then followed the west bank of the Jordan to this point. The junction of the Jermuk is in a rough, rocky channel, about a mile north of the Mŭjamia, and it is also spanned by a strong stone bridge.
Dalhamia
Further up the river is a ruined site called Dalhamia, or Dalmamia. One could make Dalmanutha out of this word, if the geography of the New Testament would admit the location here of that place, to which our Lord came on his return from Caesarea Philippi (Banias) “through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis” (Mark 7:3131And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. (Mark 7:31)). This journey of our Savior appears to have been unusually extended and very circuitous. Departing from Tyre and Sidon, he came to this lake, not by the direct route, but, going first to Banias, he then made a circuit through the region of Decapolis, on the east of the lake and the Jordan. Now, if he visited Jerash, Pella, Gadara, and Hippos, he might return by this Dalhamia on his way home, or might come hither by boat, as Mark states. It must be remembered, however, that Matthew says Jesus “came into the coasts of Magdala” (Matt. 15:3939And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. (Matthew 15:39)) after the very same miracle mentioned by Mark, just before he came to Dalmanutha; and this want of correspondence (for it is not a contradiction) between the two records my geographical knowledge does not enable me to clear up. It is generally supposed that the name in Mark is an error, and ought to be corrected into Magdala. This solution I do not accept. It is certain that but a very few points in this long journey are mentioned by any of the evangelists, and Jesus may well have gone to both Magdala and Dalmanutha; and since he must have passed very near to this Dalhamia (as it is now called), it is not unlikely that he visited it. At any rate, there is abundant room in the country, and in the narratives, for a Dalmanutha, and I see no good reason for supposing that Mark has fallen into a geographical error.
If this Dalhamia is not it, I confidently expect that some other more fortunate explorer will ere long reveal the true site. Let us wait patiently. Every extension of our knowledge in this department lessens the number of topographical obscurities, and in time all will be cleared away.
Windings of Jordan
How strangely the Jordan winds about, as if reluctant to leave its mother for the hard, downward race to the Sea of Death! On coming out of the lake it first runs northward, then west, southwest, and finally south, and all within a mile. Here at the bridge its course is south, but it soon departs from this western side of the plain, and makes a long detour to the east, and thus it continues meandering about in the most eccentric fashion, often darting along rocky rapids, or leaping down noisy cataracts, as if in sport, and then stealing silently away in some new direction, beneath overhanging willows and thick sycamores. On the whole, one is very much amused with its behavior, and quite satisfied that the Jordan should be as peculiar in its character as it is unique in its history. Its manifold windings and doublings, with all the green islets enclosed, are accurately laid down in Captain Lynch's map, so far as I have followed the course of the river. There must have been far more water when he passed down it than there is now, or it would have been impossible to get the boats through the rocks in safety. To judge from the pictures we have of that expedition, the act of shooting these rapids must have been sufficiently perilous, even under the most favorable circumstances.
AbadîYeh
About three miles lower down is a large village, on a singular tell near the river. It is called Abadîyeh, and the surrounding lands are well cultivated. South of that the entire valley of the Jordan is abandoned to the Bedawin, and there is not an inhabited village until you reach Jericho. Beyond those nearest hills on our left is a deep wady called Fedjâs, which runs far up to the northwest.
Aqueducts
In it is a copious fountain, the water of which was anciently carried along the declivity of the valley in an aqueduct which bent round the end of the ridge northward, and was taken to the old city of Tiberias. You can see the remains of that great work here above us on the side of the mountain. Those who built it seem not to have been acquainted with the arch, for the canal was frequently led into the heart of the hill, in order to get round some narrow ravine. I have not seen this curious old work noticed by any traveler, and I myself passed this way repeatedly without seeing it. The chief design of it, I suppose, was to irrigate the orchards and gardens of Tarichea, Emmaus, and Tiberias, because the water of Fedjâs is not particularly good to drink, and the inhabitants on this shore desire no better water than that of the lake itself. There are ruins of a building on the hill side, now called Tâhûn es Sŭkkar-that is, sugar-mill; and it seems to have been driven by water from the canal. It is not impossible that sugar-cane was once grown on this part of the Jordan valley (as it certainly was about Jericho), and that this canal was made to serve the double purpose of irrigating the sugar plantations and of driving the mills to crush the cane. This double use of aqueducts is everywhere made, where the condition of the adjacent land will admit it. Of course this supposition implies that the canal has been in use in comparatively modern times.
Old Wall
We have now an easy ride of an hour along the shore to the celebrated hot baths of Tiberias. A castle once crowned this eminence on the left, and this old wall ran from its base across the ancient bed of that branch of the Jordan which ran on the west side of Tarichea. This wall and castle would entirely command the road along the shore, so that it would be impossible to pass without permission. The wall may also have served as a causeway to the city when the delta on which it stood was surrounded by water.
This place on our left is now called Shŭgshab, but it must mark the site of Sennahris according to Josephus; for the Roman army encamped at it was in full view of Tiberias, and it is only at this spot (half an hour down the lake from the baths) that this could have been true. There are traces of old buildings hereabout, and the name is sufficiently outlandish to have come down from the dark ages.
Rain
There has been a smart shower here, while at Semak the ground was baked hard, and the grain drooping sadly. The same was true on a former occasion when I came up the Jordan valley. The ground in the Ghor was like a parched desert. There had not been sufficient rain to bring up the grain, and “the seed sown had rotted under the clod” (Joel 1:1717The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered. (Joel 1:17)), while here at Tiberias the whole country was a paradise of herbs and flowers. And thus it was in former times. The Lord “caused it to rain upon one city,” says Amos, and “caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered” (Amos 4:7-87And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. 8So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. (Amos 4:7‑8)). It was literally so about Semak and ‘Abadîyeh, while their nearest neighbors were rejoicing in abundant showers.
There are other interesting allusions to matters in agricultural experience in this passage of Amos. “I have withholden,” says God, “the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest” (Amos 4:77And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered. (Amos 4:7)). This is utterly ruinous to the hopes of the farmer. A little earlier or a little later would not be so fatal, but drought three months before harvest is entirely destructive. In the eighth verse we read,” So two or three cities wandered unto one city to drink water: but they were not satisfied,” — a fact often repeated in this country. No longer ago than last autumn it had its exemplification complete in Belad Besharah, the ancient inheritance of Naphtali.
Baths of Tiberias
Here are the far-famed baths. They are often mentioned by Josephus, who says they were a little distance from Tiberias, in a village called Emmaus (Ant. 18, 2, 3). I am inclined to think that this was the Hammath given to Naphtali; and if so, then Rakkath, mentioned in connection with it, may have been the ancestor of Kerak at the outgoing of the Jordan. There is a certain similarity in the names either in sound or in signification. Kerak and Rakkath ring on the Arab ear alike; and Emmaus and Hammath are but different modifications of the word from which Hammam, the name for warm baths, is derived Tiberias itself may occupy the site of Chinneroth, from which the lake derived its primitive name, as it now gets that of Tiberias from its successor. We throw out these suppositions without vouching for their truth, or attempting to establish it. I cannot doubt, however, but that there was a city near Tiberias far older and more splendid than that, built by Herod. The granite columns mingled among the now visible ruins must have an antiquity much higher than the first century of our era. I suppose the city of Herod occupied the same situation as the present town, for it is plainly implied in many notices by Josephus that it was at a considerable distance from the hot baths, while these ancient remains extend quite down to them. They cannot, therefore, be the ruins of Herod's city, but of one still older than it. Emmaus (alias Hammath) lay chiefly south of the baths, and its walls can be traced out without any doubt or difficulty. But this is quite enough of topography for once.
The Water
The water of these springs has a sulphureous and most disagreeable smell, and is so nauseous that it cannot be drunk, and is not used internally. The baths, however, have a great medicinal reputation, and their sanitary virtues are believed by the ignorant to be almost adequate to remove all the ills to which frail flesh is heir. The accommodations for bathing are everything but satisfactory, and the entire establishment is filthy and offensive in the extreme; and yet it is always crowded with the lame, the halt, the withered, and the leprous. There is but one common bathing cistern, where the water is hot enough to cook an egg, and it is always crowded with patients. What healthy person would dare to bathe in such a cistern, and with such company? How they can endure the water at from 130° to 140° of Fahrenheit is a mystery. I once had the bath cleared, and made the experiment, but should have fainted in a very short time if I had not made my escape from it. Little by little, however, they get used to it, and some delight to roll about in it by the hour, happy as a hippopotamus in the Nile.
Temperature
The temperature of the fountains varies in different years, and at different seasons of the same year. According to my thermometers, it has ranged within the last twenty years from 136° to 144°. I was here in 1833, when Ibrahim Pasha was erecting these buildings, and they appeared quite pretty. The earthquake which destroyed Tiberias in 1837 did no injury to the baths, although the fountains were greatly disturbed, and threw out more water than usual, and of a much higher temperature. This disturbance, however, was only temporary, for when I came here about a month after the earthquake, they had settled down into their ordinary condition.
Are these hot springs ever mentioned in the Bible?
Bible Allusion
The name of the place perhaps is, but the baths themselves are not alluded to either in the Old or the New Testament. There is a curious passage in Genesis 36:2424And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father. (Genesis 36:24), which I suspect refers to warm mineral springs and their medicinal virtues. In our translation it reads thus: “This was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.” The Hebrew word yamim, here translated mules, means waters; and the Vulgate and Arabic translations render it warm waters; which rendering Jerome and others among the ancients favor, and not a few modern critics agree with them. Of one thing I am well satisfied, that Anah did not find mules, whatever may be the true meaning of yamim. And since such hot fountains exist, not only here, but in Wady Mandhour, below Gadara, and at Callirrhoe, east of the Dead Sea, it is quite possible that Moses may have become acquainted with them when in that region, and also with the fact that Anah had first discovered them, or at least had found out their medicinal virtues, and brought them into public notice. Perhaps some remarkable cures upon Jews of distinction rendered it still further appropriate for Moses to commemorate the discovery and the discoverer.