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Antiquity of Jaffa —Recent growth.
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Mirage.
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Gardens and orchards.
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Philistines —Tribes of Dan and Ephraim.
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Tanneries —Pottery.
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Women grinding at the mill
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Plain of Sharon and Philistia.
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Ramleh.
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April 10th.
Antiquity of Jaffa
Jaffa is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was given to Dan, in the distribution of the land by Joshua, and it has been known to history ever since. It owes its existence to the low ledge of rocks which extends into the sea from the extremity of the little cape on which the city stands, and forms a small harbor. Insignificant as it is, and insecure, yet there being no other on all this coast, it was sufficient to cause a city to spring up around it even in the earliest times, and to sustain its life through numberless changes of dynasties, raves, and religions, down to the present hour. It was, in fact, the only harbor of any notoriety possessed by the Jews throughout the greater part of their national existence. To it the timber for both the temples of Jerusalem was brought from Lebanon; and no doubt a lucrative trade in cedar and pine was always carried on through it with the nations who had possession of the forests of Lebanon. Through it also nearly all the foreign commerce of the Jews was conducted until the artificial port of Caesarea was built by Herod. Hither Jonah came to find a ship in which to flee from the presence of the Lord, and from it he sailed for Tarshish.
Story of Andromeda and Perseus
By-the-by, do you think there is any foundation for the idea of Reland and others, that the story about Andromeda and Perseus originated from some confused account of Jonah and the whale which had reached the Greeks through sailors of Tarshish?
Possibly; and it is certainly curious that Pliny, after alluding to the story of Andromeda, says that M. Scaurus, among other wonderful relics, showed the bones of a wild beast brought, during his ædileship, to Rome from Joppa, a walled town of Judea. The length was forty feet, the elevation of the ribs greater than the height of an Indian elephant, and the thickness of the skin was a foot and a half! This may well have been a whale, if not the identical one in whose belly Jonah passed three days. The fact, also, that in the mythical fable of Perseus and Andromeda the name Iapolis frequently occurs as that of a city connected with the same, strongly favors the original identity of the stories. But we leave all such questions to the learned.
History of Joppa
Joppa has a history not made up of fables, but, alas! for the most part written in blood. Scarcely any other town has been so often overthrown, sacked, pillaged, burned, and rebuilt. It would be tedious to enter into minute detail of these disasters, and they may be gathered from the Bible —the books of the Maccabees, Josephus, the Greek and Roman historians, Eusebius, Jerome, and others of the fathers, and from the chronicles of the Crusades in the “Gesta Dei per Francos.” In our day it has acquired an unhappy notoriety in connection with Bonaparte, the plague, and the poisoning of sick soldiers. I myself was held prisoner in it for forty days in 1834, while it was besieged by the mountaineers in revolt against Ibrahim Pasha. Mr. Arutîn Murad, our consul at the time, told me that the present city was then not a hundred years old. In consequence of the pirates which infested this coast during the early life of his father, Jaffa was entirely deserted, and the inhabitants retired to Ramleh and Lydd. He himself remembered when there was only a single guard-house, occupied by a few soldiers, who gave notice to the merchants in Ramleh when a ship arrived. With this agrees the account of the desolation of Tyre at the same period, and from the same cause. Such facts lay open the wretched state of the country during those times of utter anarchy. When Bonaparte came along, however, Jaffa had again risen to some importance, and it has been growing ever since.
Recent Growth
Twenty-five years ago the inhabitants of city and gardens were about 6000; now there must be 15,000 at least, and commerce has increased at even a greater ratio. Several sources of prosperity account for the existence and rapid increase of Jaffa. It is the natural landing-place of pilgrims to Jerusalem, both Christians and Jews, and they have created a considerable trade. The Holy City itself has also been constantly rising in importance during the present generation.
Its Trade
Then there are extensive soap factories, not only here, but in Ramleh, Lydd, Nablûs, and Jerusalem, much of which is exported from this port to all the cities along the coast, to Egypt, and even to Asia Minor through Tarsus. The fruit trade from Jaffa is likewise quite considerable, and lately there have been large shipments of corn to Europe. Add to this that silk is now being cultivated extensively along the River 'Aujeh, and in the gardens about the city, and the present prosperity of Jaffa is fully explained. And unless European enterprise shall hereafter construct a railway which will carry off those sources of wealth to some more secure harbor, Jaffa must continue to rise in importance for ages to come.
Harbor
The harbor, however, is very inconvenient and insecure. Vessels of any considerable burden must lie out in the open roadstead, a very uneasy berth at all times; and even a moderate wind will oblige them to slip cable and run out to sea, or seek anchorage at Haifa, sixty miles distant. The landing also is most inconvenient, and often extremely dangerous. More boats upset, and more lives are lost in the breakers at the north end of the ledge of rocks that defend the inner harbor, than anywhere else on this coast. I have been in imminent danger myself, with all my family in the boat, and never look without a shudder at this treacherous port, with its noisy surf tumbling over the rocks, as if on purpose to swallow up unfortunate boats. This is the true monster which has devoured many an Andromeda, for whose deliverance no gallant Perseus was at hand.
Gardens and Orchards
Jaffa is celebrated in modern times for her gardens and orchards of delicious fruit more than for anything else. They are very extensive, flourishing, and profitable; but their very existence depends upon the fact that water to any amount can be procured in every garden, and at a moderate depth. The entire plain seems to cover a river of vast breadth, percolating through the sand en route to the sea.
ILLUSTRATION
A thousand Persian wheels working night and day underlies the whole territory of the Philistines down to Gaza at least, and probably much further south.
Persian Wheels
Have we any reason to believe that these Persian wheels were here in ancient days of Jewish history? I have been greatly interested in them, and they seem admirably adapted for the purpose intended — simple in construction, cheap, quickly made, soon repaired, easily worked, and they raise an immense quantity of water.
Many efforts have been made to introduce pumps, but they aways fail and get out of repair; and as there is no one able to mend them, they are thrown aside, and the gardener returns to his na'ura. The whole of this machinery is quickly enumerated and described. A wide cog-wheel is carried round horizontally by a mule with a sweep. This turns a larger one perpendicularly, which is directly above the mouth of the well. Over this revolve two rough hawsers, or thick ropes, made of twigs and branches twisted together, and upon them are fastened small jars or wooden buckets. One side descends while the other rises, carrying the small buckets with them, those descending empty, those ascending full, and as they pass over the top they discharge into a trough which conveys the water to the cistern. The length of these hawsers and the number of the buckets depend, of course, upon the depth of the well, for the buckets are fastened on the hawser about two feet apart.
Wells
The depth of wells in Jaffa. varies from ten to forty feet. If the mule turns the wheel rapidly, which he rarely does, a bucket with about two gallons of water will be carried over the top of it and be discharged into the trough every second; and it must be a good pump that will steadily do as much. The hawser is made of twigs, generally of myrtle branches, not merely because it is cheap and easily plaited by the gardener himself, but because its extreme roughness prevents it from slipping on the wheel, as an ordinary rope would do, and thus fail to carry up the loaded buckets.
There are other kinds of water-wheels in this country. The shadûf, so conspicuous on the Nile, is nowhere to be seen in Palestine, but the well-sweep and bucket are used in many places; and I once saw an Egyptian working an apparatus much like the shadûf on the shore of the lake a little north of the city of Tiberias.
Buffalo Skin
Another apparatus is common in this land of Philistia, which I have also seen on the plains of Central Syria. A large buffalo skin is so attached to cords that, when let down into the well, it opens and is instantly filled, and, being drawn up, it closes so as to retain the water. The rope by which it is hoisted to the top works over a wheel, and is drawn by oxen, mules, or camels, that walk directly from the well to the length of the rope, and then return, only to repeat the operation until a sufficient quantity of water is raised. This also is a very successful mode of drawing water.
Wheel and Bucket
The wheel and bucket (of different sorts and sizes) is an apparatus much used where the water is near the surface, and also along rapid rivers. For shallow wells it is merely a wheel, whose diameter equals the desired elevation of the water. The rim of this wheel is large, hollow, and divided into compartments answering the place of buckets.
ILLUSTRATION
A hole near the top of each bucket allows it to fill, as that part of the rim, in revolving, dips under the water. This, of course, will be discharged when the bucket begins to descend, and thus a constant succession of streams falls into the cistern. The wheel itself is turned by oxen or mules.
Large Wheels
This system of wheels is seen on a grand scale at Hums Hamath, and all along the Orontes. The wheels there are of enormous size. The diameter of some of those at Hamath is eighty or ninety feet. The great advantage of this apparatus is that it is driven by the river itself. Small paddles are attached to the rim, and the stream is turned upon them by a low dam with sufficient force to carry the huge wheel around with all its load of ascending buckets. There is, perhaps, no hydraulic machinery in the world by which so much water is raised to so great an elevation at so small an expense. Certainly I have seen none half so picturesque or so musical. These wheels, with their enormous loads, slowly revolve on their groaning axles, and all day and all night each one sings a different tune, with every imaginable variation of tone — sobs, sighs, shrieks, and groans — loud, louder, loudest, down to the bottom of the gamut — a concert wholly unique, and half infernal in the night, which, heard once, will never be forgotten.
Watering With the Foot
To what does Moses refer in Deuteronomy 11:1010For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: (Deuteronomy 11:10)? “For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs.”
The reference, perhaps, is to the manner of conducting the water about from plant to plant, and from furrow to furrow, in irrigating a garden of herbs. I have often watched the gardener at this fatiguing and unhealthy work. When one place is sufficiently saturated, he pushes aside the sandy soil between it and the next furrow with his foot, and thus continues to do until all are watered. He is thus knee-deep in mud, and many are the diseases generated by this slavish work.
Or the reference may be to certain kinds of hydraulic machines which were turned by the feet. I have seen small water-wheels, on the plain of Acre and elsewhere, which were thus worked; and it appeared to me to be very tedious and toilsome, and, if the whole country had to be irrigated by such a process, it would require a nation of slaves like the Hebrews, and taskmasters like the Egyptians, to make it succeed. Whatever may have been the meaning of Moses, the Hebrews, no doubt, had learned by bitter experience what it was to water with the foot; and this would add great force to the allusion, and render doubly precious the goodly land which drank of the rain of heaven, and required no such drudgery to make it fruitful.
Fruits of Jaffa
The fruits of Jaffa are the same as those of Sidon, but with certain variations in their character. Sidon has the best bananas, Jaffa furnishes the best pomegranates. The oranges of Sidon are more juicy and of a richer flavor than those of Jaffa; but the latter hang on the trees much later, and will bear to be shipped to distant regions. They are therefore more valuable to the producer. It is here only that you see in perfection fragrant blossoms encircling golden fruit. In March and April these Jaffa gardens are indeed enchanting. The air is overloaded with the mingled spicery of orange, lemon, apple, apricot, quince, plum, and china trees in blossom. The people then frequent the groves, sit on mats beneath their grateful shade, sip coffee, smoke the argela, sing, converse, or sleep, as best suits their individual idiosyncrasies, till evening, when they slowly return to their homes in the city. To us of the restless West, this way of making kaif soon wearies by its slumberous monotony, but it is Elysium to the Arabs.
Are these orchards remunerative in a pecuniary point of view?
Profit of Orchards
I am informed that they yield ten per cent on the capital invested, clear of all expense. Our friend Murad tells me that a biarah (the technical name of a watered garden) which costs 100,000 piasters will produce annually 15,000; but 5000 of this must be expended in irrigation, plowing, planting, and manuring. This allows the proprietor 10,000 piasters, which is a very fair percentage on capital invested in agricultural pursuits.
Thorough Fare of Jaffa
I have been strolling along the streets, or rather street of Jaffa, for there seems to be but one, and a more crowded thoroughfare I never saw. I had to force my way through the motley crowd of busy citizens, wild Arabs, foreign pilgrims, camels, mules, horses, and donkeys. Then what a strange rabble outside the gate, noisy, quarrelsome, ragged, and filthy! Many are blind, or at least have some painful defect about their eyes, and some are leprous. The peasants hereabout must be very poor, to judge by their rags and squalid appearance.
Dorcas
I was reminded of Dorcas and the widows around Peter exhibiting the coats and garments which that benevolent lady had made, and I devoutly wished she might be raised again, at least in spirit, for there is need of a dozen Dorcas societies in Jaffa at the present time.
Grave of Dorcas
Did you find her house? No! Well, our consul discovered her grave in one of his gardens, and gave it to the Armenian convent of Jerusalem. I examined the sarcophagus in its original bed, and there was this negative evidence in favor of Tabitha that there was no counter claim whatever. If not Tahitha's, whose tomb was it, pray?
Though not so fortunate as you, I was taken to the house were Simon the tanner resided. It is certainly by the seaside, and that is something, but then so is all Jaffa. A stout earthquake might shake half of it into the sea.
Tanneries
If Simon lived near his business, his house was probably on the shore south of the city, where the tanneries now are located, and most likely were in Peter's day. These manufacturing establishments are generally removed to a distance beyond the walls; and with good reason, for they are extremely offensive, as well as prejudicial to health. But there is no reason to suppose that Simon's dwelling-house was near his tannery, and it may have occupied the identical site now assigned to it.
Pottery. Potter’s Wheel
I have been out on the shore again, examining a native manufactory of pottery, and was delighted to find the whole Biblical apparatus complete, and in full operation. There was the potter sitting at his “frame,” and turning the “wheel” with his foot. He had a heap of the prepared clay near him, and a pan of water by his side. Taking a lump in his hand, he placed it on the top of the wheel (which revolves horizontally), and smoothed it into a low cone, like the upper end of a sugar-loaf; then thrusting his thumb into the top of it, he opened a hole down through the center, and this he constantly widened by pressing the edges of the revolving cone between his hands. As it enlarged and became thinner, he gave it whatever shape he pleased with the utmost ease and expedition.
Scripture Allusions
This, I suppose, is the exact point of those Biblical comparisons between the human and the Divine Potter; “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, saith the Lord” (Jer. 18:66O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. (Jeremiah 18:6)). And the same idea is found in many other passages. When Jeremiah was watching the potter, the vessel was marred in his hand, and “so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it” (Jer. 18:44And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. (Jeremiah 18:4)). I had to wait a long time for that, but it happened at last. From some defect in the clay, or because he had taken too little, the potter suddenly changed his mind, crushed his growing jar instantly into a shapeless mass of mud, and beginning anew, fashioned it into a totally different vessel. This idea Paul has expounded and employed, in the ninth chapter of the Romans, to soften some of those things which Peter says are hard to be understood: “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
ILLUSTRATION
“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor” (Rom. 9:20-2120Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? (Romans 9:20‑21)). Certainly he has, and I saw him do it, but I did not see thereby much further into the great mystery which the apostle was illustrating. That, I fear, will ever remain among the “bard things” which the unlearned and unstable will wrest unto their own destruction.
Scripture Allusions
It is evident, from numerous expressions in the Bible, that the potter's vessel was the synonym of utter fragility; and to say that the wicked should ' be broken to pieces as a potter's vessel, was to threaten the most ruinous destruction. In this day of glass and other fragile fabrics, and of strong stone pottery, we should hardly have adopted this language.
Arab Jars
Perhaps not; but for this country it is still as appropriate and forcible as ever. Arab jars are so thin and frail that they are literally “dashed to shivers” by the slightest stroke. Water-jars are often broken by merely putting them down upon the floor, and nothing is more common than for the servant to return from the fountain empty handed, having had all his jars smashed to atoms by some irregular behavior of his donkey.
To what does Isaiah refer in the 14th verse of the 30th chapter, where he says, “He shall break it as the breaking of the potter's vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit”?
Potsherd
Your inquiry refers, I suppose, to the sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water out of the pit. This last you must have seen many times during our rambles. It is very common to find at the spring or “pit” pieces of broken jars, to be used as ladles either to drink from or fill with; and bits of fractured jars are preserved for this purpose, But the destruction mentioned by Isaiah was to be so complete that there would not be a piece left large enough for that. The other allusion in this passage you may not have noticed, but I have a hundred times and more. Take your stand near any of the public ovens in Sidon (or here in Jaffa, I presume,) in the evening, and you will see the children of the poor coming with “sherds” of pottery in their hands, into which the baker pours a small quantity of hot embers and a few coals with which to warm up their evening meal. Isaiah's vessels, however, were to be broken into such small bits that there would not be a sherd of sufficient size to carry away a few embers from the hearth. These comparisons are exceedingly expressive where the actions referred to are of constant occurrence, as they are in all our cities to this present day.
Fountain
The only building about Jaffa that has the slightest claim to even Saracenic beauty, is the fountain near the gate. This is really striking; and its surrounding courts furnish admirable specimens of Arab countenances and costumes for the pencil of the artist and the study of the phrenologist. I rarely pass out of the city without turning aside there to taste its cool water, and amuse myself with the ever-shifting scene.
“Void Space” in the Gate
Did you not also notice the “void space” about Jaffa's only gate, and the crowds of people that always gather there in the afternoon? I have seen both the governor and the kady, with their suites, sitting there, decreeing and executing judgment precisely as such things are spoken of in the Bible. As the city is surrounded by a wall and ditch, and has but this one gate, all must go in and out through it, and hence the great crowd that chokes up the passage; and hence, too, it happens that there is scarcely an allusion in the Bible to matters transacted in “the gate,” but what you may see enacted every day about this one of Jaffa.
April 13th.
I am quite satisfied with Jaffa, and it is a relief to get beyond this sea of green trees into open plain. How many hours' ride have we before us today?
That depends upon the rate of travel. It is about three hours to the main source of the 'Aujeh at Er Ras, nearly the same distance back to Lydd, and three quarters of an hour further to Ramleh, where we are to find our tent.
Plain of Sharon and Philistia
This is truly a magnificent plain, much larger than those of Tyre, Acre, or even Esdraelon.
In its whole extent it certainly is the largest on the west side of the Jordan, for it includes the entire territory of the Philistines. Far from being a flat, dead level, it is, like Esdraelon, agreeably varied by long swells, growing into sandy ridges, and even rocky tells and hills, which afford sightly positions for villages. Of these there are more than in other plains, more populous also, and surrounded often by olive and fruit orchards, which impart an air of cheerfulness not seen elsewhere in Palestine. Yonder, on the plain to the southeast of us, is a beautiful mirage.
Mirage
This optical illusion is often so perfect, that even the experienced traveler finds it difficult to believe that he is not approaching an actual lake of transparent water. Dr. Wilson tells us that the name for mirage in Sanscrit means “the thirst of the antelope”; and nothing could be more poetical. I once gave chase to a flock of gazelles on the plain of Tyreh, southeast of Aleppo. The day was intensely hot, and the antelopes made direct towards a vast mirage, which covered the whole eastern horizon. To me they seemed to be literally leaping through the water, and I could see their figures below the surface, and reversed, with the utmost distinctness. No wonder they were deceived, for even their pursuers were utterly confounded. But the pursuit of the mirage is like chasing the rainbow, which retreats as you advance, and can never be overtaken. The Arab name is serab, and it is doubtless to this deceitful phenomenon that Isaiah refers (Isa. 35:77And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes. (Isaiah 35:7)), where the promise is that this serab shall become a real lake. Our translators have missed the exact meaning of this most emphatic figure. Serab is not “parched ground,” but a simmering, tantalizing phantom of a lake. Sale, in his Koran, chapter 24 translates serab by vapor: “The works of unbelievers are like the vapor serab in a plain, which the thirsty thinketh to be water, until, when he cometh thereto, he findeth it nothing.” Mohammed meant the mirage, and he gave the proper name for it.
Peasants of Sharon
The peasants of Sharon differ strikingly from those in the north. All these around us appear to me to be of Egyptian origin. Do you suppose that there is sufficient of the old Philistine blood in their veins to account for their peculiar physiognomy?
Supposed Origin of the Philistines
There is enough of the Egypto-African about them to explain all peculiarities of color, contour, and character. I hold that the Philistines came from the neighboring coast of Africa, perhaps from Lower Egypt, though Josephus seems to place Caphtor, their ancient home, higher up the valley of the Nile. There is much plausibility in the theory which identifies the shepherd kings, who conquered Lower Egypt about the time of Abraham, with the Philistines. They may have been a great roving race of Bedawin until the time of that conquest. By remaining, masters of that highly enlightened people for so many generations, they acquired much of their civilization; and, when finally expelled, they came north into Palestine, drove the original inhabitants from the coast and the great plain of Sharon, and there built their cities, carried on agriculture and commerce, and became a powerful confederacy, quite able to protect themselves from their neighbors. This seems to me best to agree with the various notices of them found in the Bible, in the fragments of Manetho, the history of Josephus, and with all other hints which can be gathered up from ancient authors,, the traditions of nations, and the architectural indications derived from the monuments which still exist. I cannot think that the Philistines emigrated originally from Crete, or from Cappadocia, nor even from Cyprus. Such theories show the skill and learning of their inventors more than they illustrate the true origin of nations. Who can believe that these islands were so overstocked with inhabitants at that very early age after the Deluge as to require, or even to admit such an emigration? And if they had been forcibly expelled from either of those countries, would there not have been some tradition of such a great fact in their national history?
To which of the tribes did this part of the plain belong?
Tribes of Dan and Ephraim
The border over against Jaffa was assigned to Dan, and Ephraim was north of it. The 'Aujeh may have been the boundary betwixt them. The Jews do not seem to have obtained possession of this neighborhood, at least not until the time of David.
Beit Dujan
There, to the south of us, on the road from Jaffa to Lydd, is Beit Dujan, “the house of Dalton,” which was probably held by the Philistines, and named from their famous god.
Silk Garden
Within the last fifteen years certain persons from Beirut planted along this fertile valley of the 'Aujeh large mulberry orchards which are succeeding well, and the cultivation of silk is extending rapidly to many other parts of this plain. The attempt was made to introduce this valuable crop many years ago, but for some reason or other failed. The fountains here at the Ras rise low in the earth, and the engineers of Ibrahim Pasha decided that the water could not be carried to Jaffa at a sufficient elevation to irrigate the gardens; and the project was therefore abandoned. If it could be achieved, such a canal would relieve the farmers from a very large part of the expense of cultivating their orchards, and would irrigate them much more thoroughly. I think it by no means fully ascertained that the water could not be elevated at this great source, as it is at Ras el 'AM, near Tyre, and at other places, by building strong cisterns. They would, of course, be very large and expensive; but then the supply of water, greater than even that near Tyre, would be invaluable, and convert the whole of Sharon into a paradise. Let us ride up to that mosque, and take a bird's-eye view of the country.
Jiljulieh-Gilgal
About an hour to the north is Jiljulieh, probably the site of that Gilgal whose king is called “king of the nations” in Joshua 12:2323The king of Dor in the coast of Dor, one; the king of the nations of Gilgal, one; (Joshua 12:23). If this is the Gilgal of the “Onomasticon,” there seems to be a mistake of south for north in that invaluable work, because Gilgal is placed six Roman miles north of Antipatris, whereas it is that much south of it. The latter place, now called Kefr Saba, is seen beyond it on the edge of the plain.
It is useless to endeavor to remember these non-historic names which our guide is rattling off at such a rate, so we will turn our horses southward, and pursue the regular old Roman road toward Lydd. It was along this route, doubtless, that Paul was brought by the soldiers who guarded him to Cæsarea.
Renthieh-Arimathea?
Here we have the village Renthieh before us, and, as Dr. Robinson remarks, it is sufficiently like Arimathea to be assumed as the site of that place; and, from what Jerome says, it seems to me quite probable that this was really the city of that “honorable counselor, which also waited for the kingdom of God,” who “went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus” (Mark 15:4343Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. (Mark 15:43)).
The map of Dr. Robinson has some mistakes in this region which deserve to be corrected. The situation of Lydd is correctly laid down with respect to Jaffa and Ramleh, but Kubab is where Beit Dujan should be, and Safuriyeh is too near Lydd. Kubab is between Ramleh and Latron; Amwas (Emmaus, Nicopolis) is half an hour north, not south of Latron. On the north of Beit Dujan is a village called Yafa; and south of Safuriyeh, a little off the road to Ramleh, is Sarafend, the third of the name between this and Sidon.
Orchards of Lydd
We are now approaching the orchards of Lydd, that village where Peter was when summoned to Jaffa on account of the death of Dorcas.
Church of St. George
Its greatest celebrity, however, is derived from St. George, who is said to have been both born and buried there. Dr. Robinson has given an excellent description of the church as its ruins now are, and a rapid sketch of the long and somewhat eventful history of the city. No one will examine the remains of the church without being impressed with a certain air of grandeur which it wears. The arch of the south aisle is particularly fine and striking. The edifice is at the southwest corner of the village, and it seems always to have been outside the, ancient city, or on its wall. It was a little more than seventy feet wide, and one hundred long, though it is impossible to get the exact length on account of a mosque which is built on the corner of it. The material is a pale yellow rock, cut from quarries on the road to Jerusalem. It takes a good polish, and is very hard and durable.
Lydd is a flourishing village of some two thousand inhabitants, embosomed in noble orchards of olive, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, sycamore, and other trees, and surrounded every way by a very fertile neighborhood. The inhabitants are evidently industrious and thriving, and the whole country between this and Ramleh is fast being filled up with their flourishing orchards.
Prosperity
Rarely have I beheld a rural scene more delightful than this presented in early harvest, when I rode from Ramleh hither through the fields on the east of the common path. A thousand reapers, gleaners, and carriers were abroad and busy when the morning sun shot his first rays down through the olive-trees upon the animated groups. The wheat and barley grew among the olive-trees, which half hid, half revealed the merry harvesters — men, women, and children — the first reaping, the second gleaning and guiding the loaded camels, and the children at play, or watching the flocks and herds, which were allowed to follow the gleaners. But no description can reproduce such a tableau. It must be seen, heard, and enjoyed to be appreciated.
Ancient Trade
Lydd, like most other towns in this country, has seen better days, and that, too, in times not very remote. There are remains of large and well-constructed buildings mingled with the modern huts, and several extensive soap factories are now also deserted and falling to decay. These times of recent prosperity were probably when Jaffa was abandoned on account of the pirates; for in those days the trade of Syria and Palestine was carried on over land. Large caravans came from Aleppo through the Bŭk’âh, and down Wady et Teim to Khan Minieh; from Bagdad and Damascus across the Jaulan, by Jisr Benat Yacobe, to the same place; and from the Hauran by Beisan and Zer'in. All these lines, meeting near Lejjun, passed down by Antipatris to this place, and thence, by Ramleh and Gaza, to Egypt. That was the time when the long lines of khans, caravanserais, and castles were needed and maintained. But no sooner did the sea, freed from pirates, offer a cheaper conveyance, than this entire system was abandoned. Commerce sought the nearest ports along the coast, and was thence shipped to its destination. Hence all these khans have gone to ruin, and those great highways are deserted. Many other towns besides Lydd and Ramleh have lost by this change of route, and the cities on the coast have gained in equal if not greater proportion.
Historical Interest
Let us ride through the village, to get a better idea of a place which has figured so largely in Jewish, Macedonian, Roman, Saracenic, Frank, Arab, and Turkish dynasties. From the earliest ages of the Church to the present hour it has been frequented by pilgrims, and during the Crusades it was specially honored on account of St. George.
Women Grinding at the Mill
This little circuit has afforded me a beautiful illustration of Scripture. Two women are sitting before the door of their house, upon a large piece of sackcloth, grinding on a hand-mill. I heard the ring of this apparatus some time before I saw it, and I now understand what is meant by the preacher when he says, “The sound of the grinding is low, because the grinders are few” (Eccles. 12:44And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; (Ecclesiastes 12:4)). Jeremiah also saddens his picture of Israel's desolation by Nebuchadnezzar, by adding that the sound of the mill-stones should cease (Jer. 25:1010Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. (Jeremiah 25:10)). And upon Babylon, whose king thus stilled the voice of the grinding in Jerusalem, John, with apocalyptic thunders, denounces the like desolation: “The sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee” (Rev. 18:2222And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; (Revelation 18:22)). From this on southward through Philistia there are no mill-streams, and we shall not cease to hear the hum of the hand-mill at every village and Arab camp morning and evening, and often deep into the night. I like it, and go to sleep on it as a child to its mother's lullaby.
Mode of Working
It is suggestive of hot bread and a warm welcome when hungry and weary. You observe that two women sit at the mill facing each other; both have hold of the handle by which the upper is turned round on the “nether” mill-stone. The one whose right hand is disengaged throws in the grain as occasion requires through the bole in the upper stone, which is called the rekkab (rider) in Arabic, as it was long ago in Hebrew.
ILLUSTRATION
It is not correct to say that one pushes it half round, and then the other seizes the handle. This would be slow work, and would give a spasmodic motion to the stone. Both retain their hold, and pull to, or push from, as men do with the whip or cross-cut saw. The proverb of our Savior (Matt. 24:4141Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (Matthew 24:41)) is true to life, for women. only grind. I cannot recall an instance in which men were at the mill. It is tedious, fatiguing work, and slaves, or lowest servants, are set at it (Isa. 42:22He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. (Isaiah 42:2)). From the king to the maid-servant behind the mill, therefore, embraced all, from the very highest to the very lowest inhabitants of Egypt (Exod. 11:55And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. (Exodus 11:5)). This grinding at the mill was often imposed upon captives taken in war. Thus Samson was abused by the Philistines (Judg. 16:2121But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. (Judges 16:21)), and, with Milton for his poet, bitterly laments his cruel lot:
“To grind in brazen fetters, under task,
Eyeless, In Gaza, at the mill with slaves.”
What is the foundation for the comparison, “Hard as the nether millstone?” (Job 41:2424His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. (Job 41:24)). Is the lower harder than the upper?
Not always. They are often both of the same porous lava, brought from the Hauran; but I have seen the nether made of a compact sandstone, and quite thick, while the upper was of this lava — probably because, from its lightness, it is the more easily driven round with the hand.
What tree is this mingled with the olive and the almond, and loaded with a pale green berry?
Damascus Mulberry
That is the tut shamy — the Damascus mulberry. It is grown for its fruit, not for the silk-worm. Pass this way in the middle of May, and you will find these trees bending under a load of berries so exactly resembling our largest blackberries in America that you cannot distinguish them from each other. There are more of these Damascus mulberry-trees here than all I have seen elsewhere in my life, and they yield their glossy black fruit more abundantly than in other places. It has a sharper acid than that of the ripe blackberry, and when eaten in large quantities is unhealthy. It is one of those fruits, now found all over Palestine, which are not mentioned in the Bible; and the same remark applies to the prickly pear, which flourishes in such impenetrable thickets around these villages.
Let us incline a little to the right, pass round to the west of Ramleh, and examine that tower which overlooks the whole country. Here we cross the road from Jaffa, and you observe this large open cistern in ruins to the south of it. There are many vaulted cisterns between this and the tower, and other indications that this vicinity was once either the seat of Ramleh itself, or of some more ancient town. These cisterns may be almost of any age, and a city at this place would have them, of course. In Mohammedan times we can find an adequate cause for them in the fact that there were here large khans for the accommodation of the trading caravans which passed this way into Egypt.
Ramleh
This noble tower is generally believed to be a minaret, but the style of architecture differs from that of any minaret known to have been erected by the Moslems, at least so far as I have seen. There are a few minarets in some of the cities of Syria which resemble this, but they are in every case attached to mosques which were originally Christian churches. In my opinion this tower is one of them, and was the campanile of a magnificent church. Of its age I know nothing. That there is an Arabic inscription over the entrance to the interior stairway, bearing date A.H. 710, A.D. 1310, establishes only the fact that this record was placed there at that date, for Mohammedan rulers often insert slabs with pompous inscriptions over entrances to buildings which they did not erect. There are scores of such vaunting records on castles, temples, and churches which are much older than the era of Mohammed. The nature of those ancient buildings renders this matter quite easy, and the architects of this country are so skilled in these insertions that the forgery cannot readily be detected. I am inclined, therefore, to ascribe an early date to the cisterns found all through the olive orchards hereabout, and the same to the tower itself.
Remains of Churches
That the Moslems did destroy Christian churches at Ramleh is certain, and in doing this it would be quite natural to leave the tower standing, to serve as a minaret to mosques, which, after their usual custom, they erected at or near the same site. These mosques, being less substantial, subsequently fell into decay, or were thrown down by earthquakes or by the Crusaders. The confused tradition of such events, mingled up with fables of various ages, have, therefore, as I suppose, a foundation in fact. Dr. Robinson has a long and learned epitome of these historical and traditionary notices, and, though we may not always fully sympathize with him in his depreciation of ecclesiastical tradition, nor feel anxious to strip all these cherished sites of their sacred associations, yet we can never fail to be instructed by his learned researches.
Ancient Vaults
These vaults beneath the area enclosed by the ancient buildings are in themselves, and apart from all historical questions, very remarkable. The one under the south side is about one hundred and fifty feet long, forty wide, and twenty-five deep. The roof is sustained in the center by a row of nine square columns. The cistern on the west end is nearly seventy-five feet square and twenty deep, and the roof is supported by a double row of columns. The third is parallel to the first, which it also resembles in its details. Besides these, there are smaller vaults and cisterns, so perfect, even yet, as to hold water. The great vaults, well plastered with hard stucco, are dry, lighted from above, and may have been used as store-houses for the caravans; but if so, the case is unique, for there is no other example of the kind in Syria, and no reason can be assigned why resort should have been had to such expensive subterraneous magazines in Ramleh alone. In all other khans the magazines were built round the hollow square enclosed by the exterior walls, nor can I believe that the Moslems constructed these vast vaults for that purpose. Probably they were connected with the more ancient cathedral or convent, or both united, of which they and the tower are the only remaining monuments. But enough of this antiquarian discussion. Here lies a heavy marble slab, or, rather, square column, written over from end to end with an Arabic inscription which refers to the erection of mosques on this spot subsequent to the times of the Crusades.
Campanile
Let us now enter and ascend this campanile by its winding stairs of one hundred and twenty-six steps. The entire height cannot be much less than one hundred feet. Twenty-three years ago, after this tower had been rudely shaken by an earthquake, which cracked nearly all the houses in Ramleh, and threw down many, I ascended to see if it had been injured; but it stood precisely as before, not a rent or crack from bottom to top, and thus it has stood a hundred earthquakes uninjured. It is twenty-five feet square at the base, and diminishes by graceful offsets, dividing it into different stories, with various-shaped windows and architectural embellishments. The summit has been accommodated with a round tower and balcony, to fit it for the muezzin of the mosque; but this is obviously an anomalous addition to the original structure, and most of it has been shaken down by those earthquakes which have had no effect on the body of the tower.
At the time I speak of, the whole of this country was in revolt against Ibrahim Pasha and Mohammed Aly of Egypt. I was shut up in Ramleh for many anxious days, and often came to this lofty look-out to watch the movements of the opposing forces with a heavy heart, for my family was in Jerusalem — the only Franks there, with one exception — and the city was in the hands of the rebels. After returning from one of these sad and solitary watchings, I wrote in my journal as follows:
View From Top
“The view from the top of the tower is inexpressibly grand. The whole plain of Sharon, from the mountains of Judea and Samaria to the sea, and from the foot of Carmel to the sandy deserts of Philistia, lies spread out like an illuminated map. Beautiful as vast, and diversified as beautiful, the eye is fascinated, the imagination enchanted, especially when the last rays of the setting sun light up the white villages which sit or hang upon the many-shaped declivities of the mountains. Then the lengthening shadows retreat over the plain and ascend the hill sides, while all below fades out of view under the misty and mellow haze of summer's twilight. The weary reapers return from their toil, the flocks come frisking to their folds, and the solemn hush of Nature shutting up her manifold works and retiring to rest, all conspire to soothe the troubled heart into sympathetic repose. At such an hour I saw it once and again, and often lingered until the stars looked out from the deep sky, and the breezes of evening shed soft dews on the feverish land. What a paradise was here when Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, and sang of the rose of Sharon. “Better still will it be when lie that is greater than Solomon shall sit on the throne of David his father; for in his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness” (Psa. 72:3,73The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. (Psalm 72:3)
7In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. (Psalm 72:7)).
Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time,
And bring the promised day.”
Lovely Sharon, goodnight! our tent awaits us at the Birkeh on the eastern side of the village.
Is Ramleh Arimathea
Is there reason to believe that Ramleh is the Arimathea of Joseph?
Some understand Jerome to mean this place when he speaks of Arimathea as being near to Diospolis — that is Lydd; but he may have had in mind Renthieh, on the north of Lydd. The tradition which connects Joseph with this place, however, is quite ancient, confused, and doubtful, though it may be. Dr. Robinson discusses the question with his usual learning; and with his usual distrust of tradition he settles it against Ramleh. There is too little resemblance between the names of Ramleh — sand — and Arimathea, derived from a root which means high, and is applied to towns on elevated sites, to build anything upon the mere name; but those who have faith in ecclesiastical tradition will scarcely give up Ramleh on this account. The assertion of Abu el Fida, that Ramleh as it now is was built after Mohammed, scarcely touches the question, for the Mohammedans rarely built entirely de novo, and I am quite sure they did not here. The old city might have been called Ramathaim; and the form of the word, not being according to Arab taste and idiom, was changed to Ramleh for their new town. I am unable to decide the question, because I cannot be certain that both Eusebius and Jerome do not speak of this as the Arimathea of Joseph. They must have had better opportunities for correct information than we can procure, and if they locate it here I shall not dispute their decision.
Its Size
Ramleh is a larger town than Lydd, and has now about three thousand five hundred inhabitants, a greater proportion of whom are Christians than in any other place on this plain. There are many good houses, several churches and convents for pilgrims, and some large well-built soap factories. An immense old church, once dedicated to St. John, is now the chief mosque of the place. It always fills me with indignation to see these ancient edifices thus perverted, and I believe it would be an act of real justice if the Christian nations would compel the restitution of this, and all others like it, to the native Christians. Most of the European nations have consular agents here, and there is more wealth and a greater approximation to the style and manners of a city than in other towns of the same size in Palestine. This is doubtless owing to constant intercourse with pilgrims and European travelers.