CHAPTERXIII.

CHAPTERXIII.Jerusalem and Capernaum the great Centres of our Lord’s Ministry.—​Christ a limited Traveler.—​Judea and Galilee contrasted.—​Provinces of Galilee.—​The Herods.—​Meaning of Galilee.—​Sea of Galilee.—​Its Characteristics.—​Hallowed Associations.—​Imperial City of Tiberias.—​Founded by Herod Antipas.—​His Crimes.—​John the Baptist.—​It became a Jewish City and the Metropolis of the Race.—​Home of eminent Scholars.—​Now an Arab Town.—​Citizens.—​Miraculous Draught of Fishes.—​Jesus never visited it.—​Warm Baths of Tiberias.—​Site of Tarichea.—​Naval Engagement.—​Bridge of Semakh.—​River Jarmuk.—​City of Gadara.—​Ruins.—​Tombs.—​Not the Scene of the Destruction of the Swine.—​Argument.—​Ruins of Gamala.—​Near here was the Scene of the Miracle.—​Mouth of the Jordan.—​Bethsaida Julias.—​Feeding of the Five Thousand.—​Our Lord Walking on the Sea.—​Home of Mary Magdalene.—​Rich Plain of Gennesaret.—​Parables.—​Site of Capernaum.—​Fountain of the Fig.—​Thrilling History of the City as connected with Christ.—​The Woe.—​Desolation.—​Bethsaida.—​Birthplace of Peter, James, and John.—​Not Bethsaida Julias.—​Influence of natural Scenery upon the Formation of Character.—​Chorazin.—​Sudden Gale upon the Sea.—​Extensive Remains of the City.—​Without an Inhabitant.—​Upper Jordan.—​Waters of Merom.—​Tell el-Kâdy.—​City of Dan.—​Its Fountain.—​Cæsarea Philippi.—​Town of Hasbeiya.—​Fountain.—​Highest perennial Source of the Jordan.—​Mount Hermon.—​Vast and grand Prospect from its lofty Summit.—​Scriptural Allusions.—​“Valley of the Pigeons.”—​Sublime Ravine.—​Mount of Beatitudes.—​Battle of Hattin.—​Defeat of the Crusaders.—​Triumph of Saladin.—​Route to Nazareth.—​Its authentic History is not older than the Christian Era.—​Its Valley and Mountains.—​Population.—​Schools.—​Legendary Sites.—​Scene of the Annunciation.—​House and Shop of Joseph.—​Pictures.—​Fountain.—​Beautiful Girls of Nazareth.—​Mount of Precipitation.—​True Mount.—​View.—​Scene of our Lord’s Childhood and Manhood.Galileeand Judea share the mutual honor of having been the principal spheres of our Lord’s public life. Indeed, those spheres may be reduced to two central points, Jerusalem and Capernaum. Occasionally we trace his footsteps to the Mediterranean—“to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon” in the west, and among the mountains of Gilead, beyond the Jordan, on the east; but it is an extraordinary fact that he never went south of Jerusalem, not even to the city that gave him birth, and only asfar north as Cæsarea Philippi. Though a limited and infrequent traveler, he chose the great centres of life in which to unfold the doctrines he came to announce, and to perform the miracles he offered to mankind in attestation of his divine mission. As the scene of his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jerusalem will ever stand pre-eminent in Christian affection; but Capernaum will ever be memorable as the city of his adoption after his rejection by the ungrateful Nazarenes. Spending most of his public life on the shores of the Galilean Sea, he called his apostles from the fisheries of Gennesaret; from its teeming population he founded his infant Church; among its inhabitants he performed his grandest miracles; to them he delivered his most impressive parables; and overhanging the sea is the “Mount of Beatitudes,” the pulpit from which he preached his incomparable “sermon on the mount.” In contrast to the cruel treatment he received in Judea, the Galileans ever welcomed him to their cities, and “great multitudes followed him whithersoever he went.” And after the lapse of so many centuries, it is while passing through a region of associations and memories so hallowed that the traveler of to-day realizes the presence of the Lord more than in other parts of the Holy Land.At the death of Herod the Great his kingdom was divided into three parts, over which his sons reigned. With his accustomed precision and accuracy,St.Luke not only recognizes this historic fact, but defines the territory of each division.545To Archelaus was assigned Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, which embraced all that portion of Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, and from Beersheba to the northern border of Esdraelon. Ancient Idumea included that district of country lying south of Judea, and extending from the southern end of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah; but the Idumea of the Herodian era embraced only the northern section of the Desert of Tîh, together with several towns of Southern Palestine, with Hebron as the capital city. Though subdued by the warlike Maccabees, and by them subjected to the rule of Jewish prefects, the Idumæans of this latter period rose to favor under Cæsar, who appointed Antipater procurator of all Judea, and subsequently his son, Herod the Great, became “King of the Jews.”To Herod Antipas was allotted all Galilee, together with the district of Perea, which includes that part of Palestine east of the Jordan to Arabia, and south of Pella to Machaerus,and which in the New Testament is called the “coasts of Judea beyond Jordan.”546To Herod Philip were given Iturea and Trachonitis.The former extends from the northern border of Jaulân547to the banks of the Jennâny, and from the eastern base of Hermon to the great caravan road to Mecca; and the latter, adjoining Iturea on the east,includes the lesser provinces of Batanea,548Gaulonitis,549and Auranitis, or the modern Hauran.St.Luke also mentions the province of Abilene, which is north of Iturea, and extends within 12 miles of Damascus.“It originally included Heliopolis and Iturea, with the mountain region lying between,”550and had Chalcis as the capital city, the ruins of which remain. According to Strabo, Ptolemy, the son of Menneaus, was ruler of the province, who, after the annexation of Syria by the Romans, continued to hold his possessions till succeeded to the throne by his son Lysanias. Transferring the seat of his government to Abila, on the banks of the ancient Abana, he reigned till murdered through the artifices of Cleopatra, to whom the kingdom was given by Mark Antony. Subsequently passing into the hands of the tyrant Zenodorus,the province ultimately reverted to a descendant of Lysanias, bearing the same name, and who was “tetrarch of Abilene.”551The term Galilee is as old as Joshua.552Signifying a “circle” or “circuit,”it was originally applied to the region about Kadesh, “a city of refuge.”553In the reign of Solomon it designated the area containing the twenty cities he gave to Hiram of Tyre, which were afterward known as the “coasts of Tyre and Sidon,” and which, in the lapse of time, having become colonized by strangers,received the name of “Galilee of the Gentiles,” or of the “nations.”554Under the jurisdiction of the Romans, Galilee was the designation of all that magnificent region embracing the ancient tribeships of Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, which extended from the Plain of Esdraelon to Mount Hermon, and from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.According to Josephus, this vast section of Palestine was divided into two parts, “called the Upper Galilee and the Lower.”555The latter was bounded on the south by a line drawn from Carmel to Scythopolis, and on the north by a line extending from the Bay of ’Akka to Tiberias, and the former extended from this latter line on the south to Hermon on the north, and from this point westward to the sea.Whether considered geographically or historically, the Sea of Tiberias is the most remarkable feature in the physical geography of Galilee. Either from a town upon its ancient shore or from its harp-like shape,it was early called “the Sea of Chinnereth.”556At later periods it was successively called the “Sea of Tiberias,”557from the imperial city of that name standing on its western coast;the “Sea of Galilee,”558because it belonged to the province of Galilee; and, finally,the “Lake of Gennesaret,” corrupted from Cinnereth, the title of a noble plain on its northwestern shore.559With a depression of 650 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, it is 13 miles long, six wide, and 165 feet deep. Lying in a volcanic basin, its form is oval and its sides are shelving. Unlike the lofty and rugged mountains which encompass the Scotch and Italian lakes, the surrounding hills are neither high nor uniform. On the eastern coast they are steep and barren, and rise to the height of 2000 feet; on the west they are not so lofty, but smooth, more sloping, and are dotted with trees and tufts of grass, and are furrowed by gentle ravines. At either end the western hills retire, permitting the Jordan to enter the sea on the north and to find an exit on the south. The shores are alternately smooth and rocky. The smoother portions are strewn with beautiful shells, while at intervals the everlasting hills plant their dark feet upon the whitened beach. Through an open cliff and between grassy slopes numberless streamlets pour their crystal waters into the sea, and on their green banks gorgeous oleanders bloom and tropical flowers fill the air with their perfume. The water is clear, cool, and sweet, and abounds with fish, as in the days of Bethsaida’s fishermen. Though it is almost uniformly calm, there are times when the winds rush down the mountain gorges and up the Jordan valley, lashingthe placid waters into foam, and causing the waves to roll high and furiously. Its beauty is most apparent in the freshness of the morning, or amid the golden tints and purple shadows of evening; or in the sweet repose of a summer’s moonlight night, when the serene skies, with moon and stars, are mirrored on its quiet bosom; or during the solemn grandeur of a thunderstorm, when the heavens scowl, the wild winds rage, the lightning darts through the gloom in bars of fire or in sheets of light, and along the trembling mountains the thunder rolls responsive to the waves that madly break upon the rock-bound shore.TIBERIAS AND THE SEA OF GALILEE.Other lakes are more exquisitely beautiful; others present to the eye loftier forms of grandeur; but as it is impossible for the mind to dissociate the historical from a scene like this, so the presence of that Divine One has imparted to the “Sea of Galilee” an unparalleled beauty, and his divine works have rendered it the most sacred of earthly lakes. On its northwestern shore stood the city of his adoption; from the deck of one of its fishing-boats he taught the multitude; over its calm waters he often sailed on a voyage of mercy, or to a “desert place” for prayer; on its troubled bosom, as on a pavement of adamant, he walked in the “fourth watch of the night;” twice he rose in majesty, “rebuked the winds,” and said to the waves, “Peace, be still;” and on its shores he met his disciples after his passion and resurrection.Four miles from the southern end of the lake, and occupying a plain two miles long and less than half a mile wide, stands the once imperial city of Tiberias. Though only mentioned by the sacred writers in connection with the sea, it fills no inconsiderable portion of the political history of Galilee. Whether built upon the site of the ancient city of Chinnereth or not, it evidently covers, in part, the site of some old town, as sepulchres of great antiquity are on the sloping plain. Coming in possession of Galilee, Herod Antipas founded the new city, made it the capital of his kingdom, and named it after his friend and patron, the Emperor Tiberius. Inviting citizens from all parts to take up their residence within its walls, he granted them extraordinary privileges, and spared neither art nor treasure to render it worthy of his throne and palace. Here, in the day of his pride and luxury, he so far forgot the respect due the marriage covenant and the obligations of consanguinity asto marry Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For an offense so grave and notorious the faithful and courageous John the Baptist reproved the king, who, under the pretense of fearing lest John might take advantage of his own popularity and instigate a rebellion, ordered his arrest, and imprisoned him in the tower of Machaerus. It was here in his royal palace, while holding a feast in honor of his birthday, that Salome, the daughter of his incestuous wife, danced before him, and pleased him to such a degree that he swore to give her whatever she should ask, “to the half of his kingdom.” Influenced by her infamous mother, Salome asked for “John’s head in a charger.” Bound by his promise, the king reluctantly yielded, and dispatching one of his guards, the noblest and purest of prophets fell a victim to the revenge of a woman smarting under rebuke, and to the cowardice of a prince whose mortified pride was only excelled by the fears that tormented the dreams of his nights and the vision of his days. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Josephus has given us the pretense of John’s death rather than the true cause, in asserting that Antipas feared lest he might cause a revolt; but, as if half conscious of the injustice he had done the character of so eminent a prophet, the Jewish historian tells us that the Jews attributed the subsequent misfortunes of Herod to the death of John the Baptist. Retributive justice was speedily visited upon the son of Herod the Great. Having divorced his first wife, who was the daughter of a celebrated Arabian prince, that he might marry Herodias, Aretas, the father of the divorced wife, resolved to avenge the affront offered to his daughter, and declared war against Herod, and in a single battle vanquished his ungrateful son-in-law, and literally destroyed his army.Jealous of the prosperity of her brother Agrippa, who from a private citizen had become king of Judea, Herodias persuaded Antipas to visit Rome and request the same dignity from the Emperor Caius. Learning of the conspiracy, Agrippa anticipated the arrival of his uncle, and accused Antipas of conspiracy against Tiberius, and asserted that he was then carrying on a correspondence with Artabanus, king of Parthia, against the Romans. Convinced of the justness of the accusation,the emperor banished him to Lyons, and afterward to Spain, where he and his wife Herodias died in exile.560Tiberias subsequently bore a conspicuous part in the wars which terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, and especially during the command of Josephus in Galilee, who fortified the city; but it afterward capitulated to the victorious Vespasian. By this act of voluntary submission Tiberias escaped destruction, and remained undisturbed during those commotions ending in the overthrow of the Jewish commonwealth. Regarding it, with Hebron, Jerusalem, and Safed, as one of their four holiest cities, it became the chief city of the Jews after the destruction of their renowned capital; and, subsequently to their expulsion from Judea, they removed the Sanhedrim first to Jamnia, on the Plain of Philistia, then to Sefforis, and finally, in the middle of the second century, to Tiberias, which for three centuries continued the metropolis of the race. Here, amid those centuries of comparative repose, the most eminent of rabbins of the nation taught in the synagogues, and founded a school for the study of their law and language. As the head of this academy, Rabbi Judah collected and committed to writing the great mass of Jewish traditional law now known as the Mishnah, which was completed about the year 200 A.D. A century later, Rabbi Jochanan here compiled the Gemara as a supplement and commentary to the former work, and which is now usually called the Jerusalem Talmud.And from the same school, at a later period, emanated that critical work called the Masorah, at once designed to preserve the purity of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and of the language in which it was written.561Sharing the fortunes of other Syrian cities, Tiberias is now an Arab town. Occupying a plain on the shore, formed by the mountains receding, it is encompassed by a wall 20 feet high, 100 rods long, and 40 wide. Describing an irregular parallelogram, the wall is supported by 10 round towers on the west, five on the north, eight on the south, and three on the east. Only one half of the space within the inclosure is occupied by the present population. Most of the buildings are small and filthy, and the streets are neither clean nor straight. The pasha’s house and a Mohammedan mosque are the only edifices worthy of attention. The Moslems, who are in the ascendant, number about 1200. The Jews, who are estimated at 800, have a distinct quarter, which is in the centreof the town. Like those in Jerusalem, they are divided into two sects—the Sephardim, who are chiefly from Northern Africa and Spain, and the Askenazim, who are fugitives from Russia. As a class they are intelligent, well dressed, and of more comely appearance than those found in other portions of Palestine. The young men are athletic and manly in their bearing, and many of the younger Jewesses are more than ordinarily beautiful. As we entered the gates of the city at an early hour on a charming Sabbath morning, crowds of white-veiled Jewesses and of venerable Jews, with long gray beards, were slowly winding their way up the mountains that rise steeply behind the city, to offer their prayers at the sepulchres of Rabbis Jochanan, Akabi, Maimonides, and others of their ancestors. Still looking for the Messiah, they entertain a prevalent tradition that he will rise from the sea, land first in the city of Tiberias, and thence proceed to establish his throne on the summit of Safed, a lofty and imposing mountain situated 15 miles to the northwest. Christianity in Tiberias is represented by a solitary Latin monk. On the shore, to the north of the Jews’ Quarter, is a small convent, traditionally marking the spot where the Savior met the disciples after his resurrection,and where was landed the miraculous draught of fishes.562But, judging from the silence of all the evangelists, it is probable our Lord never visited this renowned city. The population was composed of strangers and slaves, unto whom he was not sent, and the city was built in part upon a cemetery, which, according to a Jewish law, rendered whoever entered therein ceremonially unclean; therefore the chief object of his mission and the law of Moses justified him in not entering its gates. It is, however, as remarkable as it is inexplicable that Christ should have spent so much of his public life in the vicinity of this lake, where he was universally known, and never have been seen by Herod Antipas till they met in Jerusalem.St.Luke informs us that“Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him, and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some that John was risen from the dead, and of some that Elias had appeared, and of others that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded; but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.”563Our Lord having been reared inNazareth, “he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction;” and having resided at Capernaum, which is less than eight miles to the north from Tiberias, he was a “political subject” in the tetrarchate of Antipas. Why did not Herod send for him? But, knowing the unscrupulous character of the tetrarch and his wife, together with the reasons assigned above, the Savior wisely avoided his presence; not from fear, for the pure and exalted nature of the Redeemer never knew such a base emotion, but rather to teach his messengers to yield to the storm rather than expose themselves to destruction, when, from known circumstances, the case was evidently hopeless. But the king and the Savior met at last. The former was a guest, and the latter a prisoner in Jerusalem. Finding no fault in Jesus, but willing to subject him to a more searching trial, Pilate “sent him to Herod.” “And when he saw Jesus he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him, and he had hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.” Too wise and holy to display his power to gratify the curiosity of an unprincipled king, our Lord neither performed a miracle nor answered the senseless questions propounded to him by a vain and trifling judge. Offended at his silence and majestic bearing,“Herod and his men of war set him at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate; and the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends.”564A mile to the south from Tiberias, and situated on the shore, are the “Warm Baths of Emmaus,” consisting of four springs. The water has a temperature of 144° Fahrenheit. It emits a sulphurous smell, and is exceedingly salt and bitter to the taste. It is considered by the natives efficacious in rheumatic complaints and in cases of debility, and the baths are visited by invalids from all parts of the country. Over one of the springs is a bath-house, and near the shore is another, both of which are rapidly going to decay. As we passed, persons of all ages and of both sexes were applying the medicinal waters, and some were bathing in water at over 140° Fahrenheit.Three miles to the south of these thermal springs is the site of ancient Tarichea. Here, on a narrow peninsula formed by the River Jordan as it leaves the lake, are venerable ruins,around which are the few huts of the modern town of Kerak. Being a town of considerable importance in the Jewish wars, Tarichea was fortified by Josephus, but stormed and taken, with great slaughter, by Titus. Having the only large and safe harbor on the whole lake, the Jewish chieftain made it his great naval station. With a foresight worthy of better fortunes, Josephus here collected 230 ships, in which to escape if beaten on land, or in which to engage the Romans in naval combat. Yielding to the powerful arms of Titus, Tarichea fell, and the inhabitants took refuge in their ships, and anchored in the middle of the lake. Resolved on the utter destruction of the Jewish army, Vespasian, who was present, immediately ordered the construction of a sufficient number of vessels to attack the enemy, and, having completed his navy, he launched his ships and engaged the foe. The engagement was long and sanguinary. The sea was turned into blood, and on its discolored waters floated the bodies of the dead.Not a Jewish vessel escaped; and for many days succeeding the fight the shores were strewn with shipwrecks, and with the swollen forms of the slain.565Thus ended the first and last sea-fight between the Jews and Romans. Like their mighty empires, their navies are also destroyed, and instead of that vast fleet which floated on its bosom, there is but one boat now upon the Sea of Galilee; and, excepting a long causeway resting on arches, through which the water flows into the Jordan when the lake is high, there is nothing entire remaining to mark the site of Tarichea and perpetuate its naval glory.A mile to the southeast from Jericho is the mouth of the Jordan, which is ninety feet wide, with high rounded banks. Less than a mile to the south is the old bridge of Semakh, which once spanned the sacred river, but is now a ruin. Near it is the modern ford, the present highway between the east and west. Through shrubberies of hawthorns, tamarisks, and oleanders, the path runs to the small village from which the bridge derives its name. Six miles to the south is the Jarmuk of the Hebrews and the Hieromax of the Greeks, called by the Arabs Mandhûr: it drains the whole plain of the Haurân and Jaulân, with a large section of the mountain range eastward. Flowing through a wild ravine, the sides of which are rugged cliffs of basalt 100 feet high, it enters the Jordanfour miles below the lake, and at the point of junction is more than 130 feet wide. During the Jewish commonwealth it was the boundary between Bashan and Gilead, and during the dominion of the Romans it defined the limits of the provinces of Perea and Gaulonitis. In the gloomy valley through which it flows, bearing the Arabic name of Sheri’at el-Mandhûr, are the famous “Baths of Amatha.” Consisting of eight warm springs, they were esteemed by the Romans as second only to those of the Italian Baiæ. Around them are clumps of dwarf palms and the remains of arched buildings. The largest of the eight bubbles up into a basin 40 feet in circumference, and five deep, which is inclosed by dilapidated walls. The boiling water deposits on the stones a yellow sulphurous crust, regarded by the natives a sovereign remedy in certain disorders to which their camels are subject.Three miles to the south from the banks of the Jarmuk is the celebrated city of Gadara. With an authentic history not older than the third century B.C., it was captured in the year 218 B.C. by Antiochus the Great. Regaining possession of it twenty years later, the Jews held it till destroyed during their civil wars. To gratify one of his freedmen, who was a Gadarene, it was rebuilt by order of Pompey, and during the proconsulate of Gabinius it was the capital of one of the five districts into which he had divided Judea.Considered one of the mostimportantcities east of the Jordan, it was captured by Vespasian in the first outbreak of the war with the Jews: all of its inhabitants were massacred, and the town itself was reduced to ashes.RUINS AND TOMBS OF GADARA.The ruins of a city more significantly reflect its grandeur than the records of the historian or the descriptions of the traveler. Gadara is in ruins. Occupying a projecting spur at the northwestern extremity of the mountains of Gilead, it is bounded on the north by the Jarmuk, on the south by the valley of El-Arab, and on the west by the Jordan. On the crest of the ridge, covering a space two miles in circumference, are the remains of the fallen city. On the northern side of the hill there is a theatre, the seats of which remain entire. Near it originally stood one of the great gates of the city, from which commenced a noble avenue extending through the town, and flanked on either side by a splendid colonnade. On the western side of the ridge there is another theatre, thewalls, seats, and vaulted chambers of which are in good condition. Between these two theatres lay the principal part of the city, on an even piece of ground. But the desolation of Gadara is complete. Neither dwelling, palace, nor column remains standing, and the only work of art, besides the theatres, which has come down to our own age well preserved, is the pavement of the main street, which is as perfect as when laid down, and bears distinctly the traces of the chariot wheels which once proudly rolled along this magnificent thoroughfare.Whether regarded as works of art or as associated with the history of the Gospel, the tombs of Gadara are replete with interest. Excavated in the limestone rock on the east and northeast sides of the hill, they consist of chambers, some of which are more than 20 feet square. Consisting of massive stone slabs, ornamented with panels, many of the doors remain in their places, and swing upon their hinges with ease, notwithstanding their great weight. Along the hill-side are ancient sarcophagi, ornamented with sculptured garlands and wreaths, gods and genii. As in the days of our Lord, these tombs are inhabited, and though not by maniacs, yet by Troglodytes, who at times are no less dangerous to the traveler. When it is remembered that Gadara is nine miles from the extreme southeastern shore of the Sea of Tiberias, its claim of having been the scene of the Savior’s miracle in curing the maniacs who “dwelt in the tombs” may be called in question. The miracle is recorded by three of the evangelists. They all agree as to where the Savior landed, viz., “to the other side;” “over unto the other side of the sea,” “which is over against Galilee;” that, on landing, he was immediately met by the demoniacs; and that the place was in thecountryor region of a certain people; but Matthew calls this people Gergesenes, while Mark and Luke call them Gadarenes. The reconciliation, however, is not difficult. Either Gergesa was located near the lake shore, and under the jurisdiction of the larger city, Gadara, and therefore could be properly described as in the “country of the Gadarenes,” or, as is more probable,St.Matthew, being a resident of this region, wrote the name correctly, and wrote it primarily to those who were familiar with all the smaller places of the country, whileSt.Mark andSt.Luke, who were strangers here, and who wrotefor the benefit of distant Greek and Roman readers, who were only familiar with the well-known district and city of Gadara, simply point out the vicinity of the place where the miracle occurred. Some eminent critics suppose that, as the name of the place given bySt.Matthew is variously pronounced Gergesa, or Gerasa, or Cehersa,the close resemblance between Gergesa and Gadara led to the substitution of the latter for the former in transcribing the manuscript.566But, whatever may have been the cause of the discrepancy, topographical facts are against Gadara, or any of its dependencies, as having been the scene of the miracle. In addition to the fact that Gadara is nine miles to the southeast from the sea, there is no mountain at this point of the shore adapted to the conditions of the miracle. The intervening space between these two points, even if the last-mentioned difficulty did not exist, would present an insuperable objection. It would have been a miracle in itself if 2000 swine had run down the mountain-side for an hour and a half, then forded the deep Jarmuk, and, having gained the northern bank, crossed a plain five miles wide before they reached the nearest margin of the sea. And as the scene of the miracle could not have been in the immediate neighborhood of Gadara, neither could it have been north of the Jarmuk, as the “country of the Gadarenes” lay south of that great river.Somewhere midway the lake we must look for the scene of this interesting event. Not two miles to the north from the small village of Semakh is the site of ancient Hippas, which was an important place in the days of Josephus, and four miles farther on are the ruins of the renowned city of Gamala. The ridge on which the city stood is not unlike a camel’s back, from which geological formation the town derived its name. So strongly was Gamala built, that the younger Agrippa besieged it seven months in vain, and it only yielded to the assailants when assaulted by a more powerful army under Vespasian. Four thousand perished by the sword, and, rather than surrender themselves captives to the victor, five thousand other citizens threw themselves from the walls of their city and were dashed to pieces in the deep ravines below. Whether this was the city of the Gergesenes it is impossible to determine with accuracy, but the topography of the shore, fromHippas to Wady Semakh, is in harmony with all the facts of the miracle. Here, in the face of the bold cliffs, are many ancient tombs, out of one of which the demoniacs rushed to meet Jesus the moment the boat touched the shore, and on the mountain summit, “a good way off from them, an herd of swine was feeding.” Seized with a sudden panic, the maddened herd rushed headlong down the steep mountain side, and as there was neither time nor space to arrest their descent on the narrow shelving shore between the base of the cliff and the sea, they were borne by the velocity of their own motion into the waters and perished. Thus, by a miracle as humane as it was godlike,our Lord condemned the vocation of the swineherds of Gergesa, and restored to reason and happiness two unfortunate men.567Ten miles north from Gamala is the mouth of the Upper Jordan. The path first runs along a rich plateau, separating the shell-strewn beach from the base of the hills, and then passes over a triangular plain of surpassing richness. Three miles beyond this rich field the Jordan enters the Lake of Gennesaret. Southerly winds have driven up an immense bank of sand before the mouth of the river, causing the water to flow through a channel some distance from the eastern shore. Being 70 feet wide, the Jordan is here a lazy, turbid stream, flowing between low alluvial banks. Droves of buffaloes and herds of cattle were standing in the shallow water, while along the banks were flocks of sheep and goats.Two miles from the mouth of the Jordan, and covering a conspicuous hill, are the remains of Bethsaida Julias. Originally a small village inhabited by fishermen,it was enlarged and beautified by “Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis,”568who made it the imperial city of his kingdom,and called it Julias in honor of Julia, the daughter of the Emperor Augustus;569and here, after he had reigned 37 years,he died and was interred with great pomp in a magnificent mausoleum which he had previously prepared for himself.570But this eastern Bethsaida is chiefly interesting to the Christian traveler as associated with the life of our divine Lord.Sailing from Capernaum, hither he retired with his disciples “into a desert place apart.”571This “desert place” was probablyone of those uninhabited mountains which overhang the lake on the south, and which, owing to the scarcity of springs and the nearer approach to the Bedouin tribes, were not dotted with towns as were the opposite hills, and which naturally became a refuge from the active life of the western shores.Attracted by his miracles and charmed by his presence, “when the people heard thereof they followed him on foot out of the cities,”572and sweeping round the head of the lake, while he himself sailed across it, they reached the place where he had landed. Having “healed their sick” and taught them lessons of divine wisdom,the compassionate Savior finished the labors of the day by feeding that multitude of over 5000 souls with five loaves and two fishes.573The scene of this extraordinary miracle is the noble plain at the mouth of the Jordan,which during most of the year is now, as then, covered with “green grass.”574Dismissing the multitude with his blessing, and “constraining his disciples to get into a ship” and return to Capernaum, “he went up into a mountain apart to pray.” The imagination dwells with delight upon this parting scene—the thousands of people scattered along the beach absorbed in deepest thought, and moving homeward with lingering step, turning ever and anon to gain another glance at the blessed Savior; the ship upon the sea, containing the twelve disciples, returning to Gennesaret; while, slowly moving up the mountain side, the Master is retiring into solitude for meditation and prayer.The multitude had reached their homes and were wrapped in slumber; the Savior had finished his devotions and had descended to the shore, but the disciples were in the “midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary.” “In the fourth watch of the night,” leaving this beautiful plain, “Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.” Calming their fears by that sublime salutation, “Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid,”he allowed the impulsive Peter to “walk on the water,” which no less evinced the weakness of the apostle’s faith than it displayed the compassion and power of his Lord.575Having described a part of the western and the whole of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, it only remains to follow the shore northward from Tiberias to Capernaum, and thence eastward to Chorazin. It was seven A.M. when we left theancient capital of Antipas to visit the cities upbraided by our Lord. The morning sun had risen upon the Hills of Galilee in cloudless beauty, the surface of the lake was rippled by a soft breeze from the south, and far to the north rose the sublime form of Hermon, its snowy summits reflecting the early light. Two paths were before us, one mounting the uplands on the left, the other following the coast. Choosing the latter, our course was to the northwest. The beach gently declined toward the clear blue waters, and was strewn with shells, and with white and black pebbles of basalt and limestone. In half an hour we passed the wild ravine of Arbela, opening into the interior, and flanked by bold, precipitous cliffs. Travelers were approaching from the north, mounted on fine Arabian horses, and seated on chair-back saddles. As we advanced the banks became steep and rocky, and the mountains above us rose in jutting peaks. In less than an hour we came to Magdala, the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. Standing on the shore, it bears the modern name of Mejdel. Eighteen centuries ago it was a large and thriving town, but at present it contains only 20 huts, on the flat roofs of which children had built booths of reeds. Around the hovels are old foundations and heaps of rubbish, and near a half-ruined tower stands a solitary palm. Attracted by our presence, the women rushed from their wretched homes and gazed at us wildly, and, judging from their frightful appearance, they might be dispossessed of as many demons as was their ancient sister. At Mejdel begins the celebrated Plain of Gennesaret. Formed by the mountains suddenly receding inland, it is an open and level plain two and a half miles wide and five long. Having the form of a crescent, it is encompassed on the west by rugged mountains, and on the east it is washed by the sea. Equaling in fertility the Plains of Jericho, it is well watered, and its soil is in part a rich black mould. No less than four streams flow through it to the lake, and, wherever cultivated, it yields abundantly. Portions of its shore-line consist of a thick jungle of oleander, in whose branches birds of variant forms and of brilliant colors carol the melody of their song. In his description of this plain Josephus is as correct as he is eloquent. Referring to the various kinds of trees which grew thereon,“he calls the place the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together.”576Were it cultivated with intelligence and taste, it would be the Paradise of Northern Palestine, producing the choicest fruits luxuriantly, and possessing an eternal spring. Even now, notwithstanding its neglected state, it is dotted with magnificent corn-fields and with groves of dwarf palms; and while from our feet quails sprang up at almost every step, the voice of the turtle-dove was heard on every side. In the days of our Lord it was the most densely populated part of the Holy Land, and through its beautiful gardens he was wont to pass, and in its thriving towns to teach his wondrous truths.Somewhere on its whitened beach he and his disciples landed after he had walked upon the water;577and from that beach he stepped into one of the “two boats” standing on its gradual slope, and,praying Peter “that he would thrust out a little from the land, he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.”578Taking advantage of the promiscuous audience which hung with rapt attention upon his words,he here delivered the remarkable parables of the “Sower and the Seed,” of the “Wheat and Tares,” of the “Mustard-seed,” and of the “Leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal.”579It is highly probable that the first three of these parables were suggested to his mind by the fields of vegetation which dotted this plain. As in his day, so now, the wheat and tares grow together, and all the facts of the parable are illustrated to the modern traveler. Tares abound throughout the country, and in many respects they resemble the Americancheat. The stalk stands perfectly erect, and the small grains are arranged compactly one above the other. Having a bitter taste, they produce dizziness when eaten, whether by man or beast, and are regarded as a strong soporific poison. If the Savior designed to represent the existence of thegoodandbadin his Church, no illustration could have been selected more appropriate and impressive. The “wheat and tares” derive nourishment from the same soil; they are so much alike before the grain isheaded outthat it is quite impossible to distinguish the stalk of the one from that of the other, even to those accustomed to weed their fields; and so intertwined are the roots of both, “that they must grow together until the harvest” before the wheat can be gathered into the garner and the tares collected to beburnt. And here, no doubt, was growing then, as it grows now, the mustard-plant, which formed the basis of a second parable. Attaining the height of ten feet, its trunk is slender, the leaves are broad, and the blossoms yellow. Though thiswildand perennial shrub may aid our conceptions of the tree which our Lord describes, yet it is probable that the variety to which he alludes wascultivated, and was the“least of all seeds” sown by the husbandman, and when grown was “the greatest among herbs” in all his garden.PLAIN OF GENNESARET AND HOME OF MARY MAGDALENE.On the northern horn of this crescent plain is the site of the renowned city of Capernaum. Plucking an anemone in memory of the devoted Mary, we passed up the coast, and found the distance to be scarcely four miles. In attempting to ford one of the mountain streams which pour their turbid waters into the lake, our horses sank into the soft clay bottom, leaving us no alternative but to dismount and wade ashore. Accustomed to such incidents in Oriental traveling, we remounted, and, hastening over the plain, reached Capernaum at ten A.M.Though its early history is involved in much obscurity, and though it is not mentioned in the Old Testament, it was probably built by the Jews after their return from Babylon. At the commencement of the Christian era it was a large and prosperous town, but it is indebted to the presence and works of Jesus for its present renown. As the history of its origin is obscure, so the time of its destruction is unknown.But whether the evidence of the identity of the site is drawn from the incidental allusions of the evangelists,580or from the history of Josephus,581or from the writings of the fathers,or from eminent travelers down to the 17th century,582or from the topography of the spot, the argument is no less clear than satisfactory. Judging from the heaps of ruins covering portions of the plain, the city stood near the base of a bold bluff, which rises in the form of a truncated cone 300 feet high, and which dips its eastern end into the sea, while its western extremity is bounded by a green meadow stretching along the shore. At the foot of the cliff is the large “Fountain of the Fig,” so called from a noble fig-tree that shades the cave from which the stream issues. The water is clear, cool, and sweet, andflows over a broad pebbled bed into the lake. Near the fountain are the remains of a tower, to which is attached a portion of an arched gateway, and south of it is a low mound of shapeless ruins, overgrown with thorns and thistles. Nearly 1000 feet to the northwest from ’Ain et-Tîn is the old Khan Minyeh, lying under the western brow of the hill, which, standing on the great caravan route between Egypt and Damascus, is designed for the accommodation of pilgrims.Ascending the bold cliff behind the city, we found the sides terraced, and the flattened summit covered with wheat and barley, ripe for the harvest. From this lofty position we obtained a delightful view. At our feet lay the lake, smooth and bright, like polished silver, and beyond the broad valley of the Jordan opened before us. On the east the eye glanced over the Plains of Bashan and the Mountains of Gilead; on the north, Safed rose in solitary grandeur; while on the west were the Land of Gennesaret, and, over lower hills, the “Mount of Beatitudes.” Charmed with the view and overwhelmed with the recollections of the past, I sat down and read the eventful history of Capernaum. Rivaling Jerusalem in the number and sacredness of its hallowed associations, it is to the north what the former is to the south. Not excepting Olivet, it stands pre-eminent in evangelical history as the scene of our Lord’s most instructive discourses and most astonishing miracles.Driven from Nazareth by his ungrateful townsmen, “he came and dwelt in Capernaum,”583which from that time forward became “his own city.”584Returning hither from journeys to other parts, here he was received with affection and revered as divine. Here, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath day, having astonished the people by the authority with which he had enforced his doctrines,he healed the demoniac.585Passing from the synagogue, “he entered the house of Simon and Andrew,” and finding the mother of Peter’s wife “sick of a fever,” he immediately restored her to health,585and that night the people thronged the door of the dwelling, “and he healed many that were sick of divers diseases.”585Returning from the “country of the Gergesenes,”he cured the paralytic;586and passing by the receipt of custom, he called Matthew to the apostleship.586Descending from the “Mount of Beatitudes,” hehere restored the servant of the devout centurion.587Yielding to the paternal entreaties of Jairus, he entered the ruler’s house, and, taking the dead damsel by the hand, uttered those life-giving words, “Talitha-cumi,” and “she arose and walked.” It was while going on this errand of mercy that, as he passed through the thronged streets of Capernaum,a daughter of Israel “came in the press behind and touched his garment,” and was made whole.588Coming from the visions and glory of Tabor, he was here met by those who “received tribute-money,” and sent forth Peter,who miraculously obtained from the mouth of a fish a coin bearing the image and superscription of Cæsar.589It was here, in a house no longer standing, that, after delivering from the deck of a fish-boat the memorable parables of the “Sower,” the “Tares,” the “Mustard-seed,” and the “Leaven,”he gave forth the parables of the “Hidden Treasure,” the “Merchant seeking goodly Pearls,” and of the “Net cast into the Sea.”590Here, in the home ofSt.Matthew, and around his well-spread board, our Lord discoursed on “fasting.”591At a subsequent period he reproved the Scribes and Pharisees for their “formality;”592and on the morning after he had calmed the storm he taught the people the nature of “faith;”593and here, either in the house of Simon or Levi, in the privacies of social life, and surrounded only by his disciples,he chided their ambition, rebuked their sectarianism, and unfolded to them the beauty and power of humility, forbearance, and brotherly love.594Who can wonder at the judgments pronounced upon a city so highly favored, whose citizens refused to be enlightened by such words of wisdom, and convinced by such acts of mercy? Rejecting him, he in turn has rejected them. The “woe” has fallen heavily upon the ungrateful city, and time has proven the fulfillment of prophecy.“And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto thee, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.”595Whether this exaltation denoted the lofty site of the city, or its pride andprosperity, the abasement is equally true. The desolation is universal; the ruin is complete. There is a dispute among the learned whether the town stood upon the high hill above the fountain, or on the plain below. In all probability the hill served as the acropolis, commanding the entire plain, on the northeast end of which the larger portion of the city was built. As there is no path along the northern shore, we wound up the sides of a precipitous promontory dipping into the sea, and found a path excavated in the rock 20 feet above the water-line, and measuring three feet deep and as many wide. Descending to the shore of a beautiful bay, and riding northeastward, in 20 minutes from Capernaum we came to Bethsaida, the home of Peter and his brethren. Bearing the Arabic name of Et-Tâbighah, this city of the holy apostles stands in a charming little nook in the mountain side. The hills rise around it in graceful gradations, and on the west is a small but lonely bay, encircled by a beach of fine sand, and just such a place as fishermen love to ground their boats and spread their nets upon. Unoccupied except by a fewmillers, the chief attraction of the place is its pools, fountains, and aqueducts. No city of its size in Palestine has so many and valuable water facilities as Bethsaida. The larger fountains burst out from the base of the mountain 300 yards to the north, and around the principal one is a large octagonal reservoir, with two circular holes designed as drains. A flight of steps in the southwest corner leads down to the water, which is warm and sulphurous, and about eight feet deep. From the bottom of the reservoir there were canes growing to the height of 20 feet. Nearer the shore is a circular well, called ’Ain Eyûb, or “Job’s Fountain.” This reservoir, together with several mills, were constructed by Dhâher el-Omer, and now belong to the government, by whom they are farmed out to villagers from the neighboring towns.Originally called the “House of Fish,” as significant of the vocation of its ancient inhabitants, Bethsaida will ever live in the recollection of the pious as the birthplace of five apostles, who have stamped the world with their influence, and affected the opinions and destiny of mankind in all countries. Here Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip spent their childhood, and here they engaged in the humble but honest calling of fishermen. It was probably on the shore ofthe small bay previously described that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, and said unto them,“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, and he called them, and they followed him.”596And here, no doubt, is the scene of that miraculous draught of fishes, which astonished the disciples, and convinced them of the divine character of our Lord.597But this Bethsaida must not be confounded with the one east of the Jordan, and which has already been noticed as having been enlarged and beautified by Philip the tetrarch. The latter being in Gaulonitis and not in Galilee, it could not have been the native city of the apostles, who wereGalileans; and though it may appear unusual to find two cities of the same name in such close proximity, yet the singularity disappears when it is remembered that they belonged to separate provinces, and that Bethsaida Julias is not on the lake shore, but on the eastern bank of the Jordan, two miles from the mouth of the river. This distinction sheds much light upon a somewhat obscure passage bySt.Mark. After our Lord had learned of the execution of John the Baptist, he left Capernaum, and, with his disciples,“departed into a desert place by ships privately.”598St.John, with greaterexactitude, says that“Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee.”599The “desert place” is on the northeastern shore of the lake, where he fed the 5000, and is “over the sea.” Having dismissed the multitude, “he constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida,” which is on “the other side;” and as it is only a mile from Capernaum, agrees withSt.John, who records that“they went over the sea toward Capernaum.”600They embarked for Bethsaida, but the “wind was contrary,” and they were driven from their course to the southward. “About the fourth watch of the night” Jesus came “walking on the sea,” and, entering the ship, “the wind ceased.” With a minuteness that leaves us without a doubt,St.Matthew andSt.Mark say,“They came into the land of Gennesaret;”601andSt.John designates which portion of Gennesaret they came to in saying that“when the peoplesaw that Jesus was on the other side, they took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus, and that they found him there.”602Had the disciples sailed for Bethsaida Julias, it would have been impossible for them to have sailed “over the sea toward Capernaum,” as the former is not “over the sea,” and is not in the same direction with the latter, Capernaum being southwest and Julias northeast. Nor is the difficulty relieved by supposing that Tell Hum is the true site of Capernaum, as the argument drawn from the direction of the place remains in full force.Having satisfied his mind touching the identity of a place, the traveler lingers about the spot with no ordinary delight. Such were the pleasing emotions I experienced as I stood amid the ruins of the home of Peter, James, and John, and watched the crystal waters flowing into the sea through banks lined with oleanders in full bloom. And the impression was overwhelming as the great fact rose up before my mind that in this retired quarter of the globe—in this Galilean village of humble pretensions, five inspired apostles were born, who from their fish-boats went forth commissioned to evangelize the world, and to be the biographers of the Son of God. It is an ancient suggestion, that the scenery of childhood gives tone to the character of a man and direction to his coming years. Few men whose acts fill so large a portion of the world’s history have evinced traits of character so opposite, and transitions in their emotional natures so remarkable as the “fishermen of Bethsaida.” Pure as they were simple, benevolent as they were sincere, they loved and hated, hoped and despaired; they were bold and fearful, joyful and sorrowful, firm and inconstant, as the surrounding circumstances were favorable to the development of their better natures, or to disclose the weaknesses of our common humanity. Looking out upon the scene before me, I fancied that their finer feelings and gentler traits were evoked by the deep blue skies, the transparent atmosphere, the mellow dawn, the golden sunset, the placid lake, the flowing fountains, the blooming flowers and shell-strewn shores, while the rugged mountains and boisterous storms at sea aroused their fiery and impetuous spirits. When composed they resembled their embowered lake, whose placid waters mirror the overhanging foliage along its banks;but when agitated, they were like their native sea during a storm, when the deep was troubled, when thunder answered thunder, and the roar of the waters responded to the howl of the winds.Three miles to the northeast are the remains of the city of Chorazin. In the intervening space the hills approach the shore, exposing at intervals a rough bank, lined with a tangled thicket of a thorny shrub. In the spring-time the black tents of the predatory farmers dot the table-land, only one of which now remained, and around it a solitary shepherd was keeping his flock. It was while riding over this broad plateau that we were startled by one of those squalls peculiar to this inland sea. The air had been quiet, the lake calm, and the heavens were cloudless, but within five minutes the wind blew a gale, the sea became troubled, the waves rolled high and dashed wildly on the shore. It was a repetition of that scene when the disciples were sailing over the sea; when “Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow;” when “there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full;” and when, in the moment of danger, they awoke the Divine Sleeper,“who arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.”603The natural causes operating and producing such effects in that distant age are still in force. The sea is 600 feet lower than the ocean; the mountains on the east and north rise to a great height, and their sides are furrowed with deep and wild ravines; and the temperature of this volcanic basin differing from that on the mountains above, these profound gorges serve as vast conductors, through which, at certain periods, the cold winds from above rush suddenly down, causing a tempest in an unexpected moment.The ruins of Chorazin lie upon the shore, covering a level tract half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. Consisting chiefly of the foundations and prostrate walls of dwellings, they are overgrown with a thicket of thistles eight feet high, and so dense that it is almost impossible to penetrate and examine the remains. The walls of a square tower 10 feet high are standing, and are composed of fragments of columns, capitals, and friezes, mingled with hewn stone of different dimensions. To the east of the tower we entered a structure, theobject of which can not now be determined. Portions of the northern and western walls remain, the former measuring 105 feet long, and the latter about 80. Within this inclosure are strewn, in utter confusion, limestone columns, Corinthian capitals, sculptured entablatures, ornamental friezes, double columns, and immense blocks of stone nine feet long and five wide, with panels sculptured in their sides. This may have been a magnificent Jewish synagogue, a substitute in part for the noble Temple of Jerusalem. In the days of our Savior and five centuries after, Chorazin was a populous and wealthy city. Driven from their ancient capital, the Jews settled on the shores of this lake. Their Sanhedrim found a resting-place at Tiberias, and Magdala, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin became their chief towns. In the wealth of her citizens, the grandeur of her architecture, and the influence of her religious institutions, the latter appears to have been as influential as magnificent. But the “woe” has fallen on Chorazin. What the “mighty works which were done” in her were we are not informed, but evidently they were of such a character as to give light to her people, in the rejection of which was involved her ruin. Rejecting that light, she has fallen with her sister towns; and without a single habitation, the most beautiful site for a city on all these shores is now a thorn-bed, where adders crawl and jackals hide. “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in thee had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” And if the present small but thriving towns of Tyre and Sidon be compared to this “howling wilderness,” this “perfection of desolation,” the contrast can not fail to suggest to every impartial mindthe marvelous and strangely exact fulfillment of our Lord’s solemn predictions.604Indeed, the Lake of Gennesaret is a beautiful desolation. Her villas are in ruins, her fisheries have failed, her ship-yards are silent, her commerce is destroyed, her manufactories are abandoned, and her waters, which were the rich possession of Naphthali, are without a keel to divide them, or a sail to fly before their mountain gusts.Turning inland and following a path along the base of the mountain, an hour’s ride brought us to the mouth of the Jordan.Forty miles to the northeast, up the broad ravine through which the most illustrious of earthly rivers flows, appeared Mount Hermon, with his icy crown brilliant in the midday sun. For nine miles the path follows the river bank to ’Jisr Benât Yakûb, the “Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters.” It is the only bridge which at present spans the Jordan, and its three arches, with its well-paved roadway, are in good condition. Though traditionally marking the site where Jacob, staff in hand, crossed the stream, yet it is not easy to determine why the word “daughters” should be added. The Jordan is here a rapid stream, 25 yards wide and 10 feet deep, flowing between alluvial banks fringed with thickets of reeds and rank grass. From the bridge on the eastern bank of the river, a beautiful level tract of land extends northward for three miles to the foot of Lake Hûleh. Four and a half miles in length and three and a half in breadth, this charming lake is the first gathering together of the waters of the Upper Jordan as they descend from their perennial springs.Known in the Bible as the “Waters of Merom,” and called by Josephus Samochonitis,605it was on the shore of this lake that Joshua “smote Jabin, king of Hazor.”606Passing the probable site of Hazor, two miles to the west from the fountain of Mellâhah, and crossing the deep glen through which the Hasbâny flows to the Jordan, the path runs over undulating ground to Tell el-Kâdy, “The Hill of the Judge,” or the Dan of Scripture, situated 12 miles from the northern end of Lake Hûleh. Rising from the midst of a level plain, the hill on which the ancient city stood is 80 feet high and three quarters of a mile in circumference. It is covered with trees and bushes, which conceal the ruins of the old town. Placed by Josephus at the fountain of the Jordan, and located by Eusebius a quarter of a mile from Paneas, on the way to Tyre, there can be no question as to the identity of the place. Its history is as sanguinary as it is romantic. Captured by the princes of Mesopotamia, hither Lot was brought after the pillage of Sodom; and, inspired by a courage that was never blanched with fear, here Abraham overtook the captors of his nephew, and dividing his 318 “trained servants born in his own house,” he fell upon the foe by night, “and smote them and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus; and he brought back all his goods,and also broughtagain his brother Lot,607and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”608Called in the days of the Judges Laish, its capture by the Danites forms one of the most romantic stories in the Old Testament. Unable to expel the more powerful Philistines who occupied a large part of their tribeship, 600 armed men from the cities of Zorah and Eshtool went up and smote the rich and careless Sidonians who inhabited the town, and, taking possession of the city, they called it “Dan, after their father.” On their way northward they had stopped at Mount Ephraim,where they pillaged the house of Micah of the holy symbols of his religion, and compelled a young Levite to accompany them, “to be to them a father and a priest.”609Though a trifling conquest when compared to the grand achievements of Joshua and David, the capture of Laish and its occupation by the Danites was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy:“Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan;”610and from that time the city was regarded as the northern border of the Promised Land, and gave rise to that household expression, “From Dan to Beersheba.”611But the city of Dan is no less celebrated for its waters than for its interesting history. At the western base of the hill there is the largest fountain in Syria, and among the largest in the world. Bursting forth from the rocks, the water first forms a small lake, from which it rushes southward a rapid river, called the Leddân. Four miles below it forms a junction with a large stream from Baniâs, and a mile beyond the confluence it is joined by the River Hasbâny, which gives its name to the stream down to the Lake Hûleh. Thus gradually the Jordan is formed.Winding through oaken groves, and lined with myrtle and oleanders, the road diverges to the northeast, and four miles from Dan is Cæsarea Philippi. Occupying a broad terrace in the mountain side, it is bounded by two sublime ravines, one on the north and the other on the south, between which, and in the rear of the site, rise the castellated heights of Subeibeh 1000 feet high. The terrace is adorned with groves of oaks and olives, and carpeted with the richest verdure. A site so remarkable for its Alpine scenery did not fail to attract the earlier Phœnicians, and, at a later period, the Greeks and Romans.Supposed to be the “Baal Gad” of Scripture, it was early consecrated by the Canaanites to the idolatrous worship of one of their Baals.612Chosen by the Greeks to be the shrine of Pan, it retains the name of Bâniâs, the Arabic form of Paneas. Coming into the possession of “Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis,” it was rebuilt and enlarged by the son of Herod the Great, who named it Cæsarea, in honor of Tiberius Cæsar; and to distinguish it from Cæsarea on the Mediterranean coast, and to perpetuate his own name, he called it Cæsarea Philippi. Among its mighty ruins is a citadel of quadrangular form covering four acres, and surrounded by a massive wall with heavy towers at the angles and sides. Guarded on the east by a deep moat, it is washed on the north and west by a large stream, and on the south it is protected by a profound chasm, which is spanned by a bridge, from which a noble gateway opens into the citadel. Within this inclosure, and surrounded by granite columns and limestone shafts, are the 40 dwellings of the modern town. To the north of the ruins, and at the base of a cliff of ruddy limestone 100 feet high, is a cave of vast dimensions, and as dark as vast. Within are the fragments of noble edifices, and around its mouth are heaps of broken rocks and portions of ancient buildings. In harmony with Grecian mythology, this deep cavern was selected as the temple of the sylvan Pan, and on the face of the cliff a Greek inscription records the sacred history of the cave. The Romans succeeding the Greeks,Herod the Great erected a splendid temple of white marble to Augustus near the place calledPanium.613Destroyed by some unknown power, the ruins of this temple are entombed in the cave, excepting a fragment clinging to the rocks above, and now dedicated to a Moslem saint. Near this spot is the great fountain of Bâniâs, which is one of the principal sources of the Jordan. Bursting forth from beneath heaps of rubbish, the water flows in a rapid, foaming torrent over a rocky bed, and, plunging over a precipice, falls into a dark ravine, through which it runs southward and joins the Hasbâny.

Jerusalem and Capernaum the great Centres of our Lord’s Ministry.—​Christ a limited Traveler.—​Judea and Galilee contrasted.—​Provinces of Galilee.—​The Herods.—​Meaning of Galilee.—​Sea of Galilee.—​Its Characteristics.—​Hallowed Associations.—​Imperial City of Tiberias.—​Founded by Herod Antipas.—​His Crimes.—​John the Baptist.—​It became a Jewish City and the Metropolis of the Race.—​Home of eminent Scholars.—​Now an Arab Town.—​Citizens.—​Miraculous Draught of Fishes.—​Jesus never visited it.—​Warm Baths of Tiberias.—​Site of Tarichea.—​Naval Engagement.—​Bridge of Semakh.—​River Jarmuk.—​City of Gadara.—​Ruins.—​Tombs.—​Not the Scene of the Destruction of the Swine.—​Argument.—​Ruins of Gamala.—​Near here was the Scene of the Miracle.—​Mouth of the Jordan.—​Bethsaida Julias.—​Feeding of the Five Thousand.—​Our Lord Walking on the Sea.—​Home of Mary Magdalene.—​Rich Plain of Gennesaret.—​Parables.—​Site of Capernaum.—​Fountain of the Fig.—​Thrilling History of the City as connected with Christ.—​The Woe.—​Desolation.—​Bethsaida.—​Birthplace of Peter, James, and John.—​Not Bethsaida Julias.—​Influence of natural Scenery upon the Formation of Character.—​Chorazin.—​Sudden Gale upon the Sea.—​Extensive Remains of the City.—​Without an Inhabitant.—​Upper Jordan.—​Waters of Merom.—​Tell el-Kâdy.—​City of Dan.—​Its Fountain.—​Cæsarea Philippi.—​Town of Hasbeiya.—​Fountain.—​Highest perennial Source of the Jordan.—​Mount Hermon.—​Vast and grand Prospect from its lofty Summit.—​Scriptural Allusions.—​“Valley of the Pigeons.”—​Sublime Ravine.—​Mount of Beatitudes.—​Battle of Hattin.—​Defeat of the Crusaders.—​Triumph of Saladin.—​Route to Nazareth.—​Its authentic History is not older than the Christian Era.—​Its Valley and Mountains.—​Population.—​Schools.—​Legendary Sites.—​Scene of the Annunciation.—​House and Shop of Joseph.—​Pictures.—​Fountain.—​Beautiful Girls of Nazareth.—​Mount of Precipitation.—​True Mount.—​View.—​Scene of our Lord’s Childhood and Manhood.

Galileeand Judea share the mutual honor of having been the principal spheres of our Lord’s public life. Indeed, those spheres may be reduced to two central points, Jerusalem and Capernaum. Occasionally we trace his footsteps to the Mediterranean—“to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon” in the west, and among the mountains of Gilead, beyond the Jordan, on the east; but it is an extraordinary fact that he never went south of Jerusalem, not even to the city that gave him birth, and only asfar north as Cæsarea Philippi. Though a limited and infrequent traveler, he chose the great centres of life in which to unfold the doctrines he came to announce, and to perform the miracles he offered to mankind in attestation of his divine mission. As the scene of his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jerusalem will ever stand pre-eminent in Christian affection; but Capernaum will ever be memorable as the city of his adoption after his rejection by the ungrateful Nazarenes. Spending most of his public life on the shores of the Galilean Sea, he called his apostles from the fisheries of Gennesaret; from its teeming population he founded his infant Church; among its inhabitants he performed his grandest miracles; to them he delivered his most impressive parables; and overhanging the sea is the “Mount of Beatitudes,” the pulpit from which he preached his incomparable “sermon on the mount.” In contrast to the cruel treatment he received in Judea, the Galileans ever welcomed him to their cities, and “great multitudes followed him whithersoever he went.” And after the lapse of so many centuries, it is while passing through a region of associations and memories so hallowed that the traveler of to-day realizes the presence of the Lord more than in other parts of the Holy Land.

At the death of Herod the Great his kingdom was divided into three parts, over which his sons reigned. With his accustomed precision and accuracy,St.Luke not only recognizes this historic fact, but defines the territory of each division.545To Archelaus was assigned Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, which embraced all that portion of Palestine from the Jordan to the Mediterranean, and from Beersheba to the northern border of Esdraelon. Ancient Idumea included that district of country lying south of Judea, and extending from the southern end of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akabah; but the Idumea of the Herodian era embraced only the northern section of the Desert of Tîh, together with several towns of Southern Palestine, with Hebron as the capital city. Though subdued by the warlike Maccabees, and by them subjected to the rule of Jewish prefects, the Idumæans of this latter period rose to favor under Cæsar, who appointed Antipater procurator of all Judea, and subsequently his son, Herod the Great, became “King of the Jews.”

To Herod Antipas was allotted all Galilee, together with the district of Perea, which includes that part of Palestine east of the Jordan to Arabia, and south of Pella to Machaerus,and which in the New Testament is called the “coasts of Judea beyond Jordan.”546

To Herod Philip were given Iturea and Trachonitis.The former extends from the northern border of Jaulân547to the banks of the Jennâny, and from the eastern base of Hermon to the great caravan road to Mecca; and the latter, adjoining Iturea on the east,includes the lesser provinces of Batanea,548Gaulonitis,549and Auranitis, or the modern Hauran.

St.Luke also mentions the province of Abilene, which is north of Iturea, and extends within 12 miles of Damascus.“It originally included Heliopolis and Iturea, with the mountain region lying between,”550and had Chalcis as the capital city, the ruins of which remain. According to Strabo, Ptolemy, the son of Menneaus, was ruler of the province, who, after the annexation of Syria by the Romans, continued to hold his possessions till succeeded to the throne by his son Lysanias. Transferring the seat of his government to Abila, on the banks of the ancient Abana, he reigned till murdered through the artifices of Cleopatra, to whom the kingdom was given by Mark Antony. Subsequently passing into the hands of the tyrant Zenodorus,the province ultimately reverted to a descendant of Lysanias, bearing the same name, and who was “tetrarch of Abilene.”551

The term Galilee is as old as Joshua.552Signifying a “circle” or “circuit,”it was originally applied to the region about Kadesh, “a city of refuge.”553In the reign of Solomon it designated the area containing the twenty cities he gave to Hiram of Tyre, which were afterward known as the “coasts of Tyre and Sidon,” and which, in the lapse of time, having become colonized by strangers,received the name of “Galilee of the Gentiles,” or of the “nations.”554Under the jurisdiction of the Romans, Galilee was the designation of all that magnificent region embracing the ancient tribeships of Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, which extended from the Plain of Esdraelon to Mount Hermon, and from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.According to Josephus, this vast section of Palestine was divided into two parts, “called the Upper Galilee and the Lower.”555The latter was bounded on the south by a line drawn from Carmel to Scythopolis, and on the north by a line extending from the Bay of ’Akka to Tiberias, and the former extended from this latter line on the south to Hermon on the north, and from this point westward to the sea.

Whether considered geographically or historically, the Sea of Tiberias is the most remarkable feature in the physical geography of Galilee. Either from a town upon its ancient shore or from its harp-like shape,it was early called “the Sea of Chinnereth.”556At later periods it was successively called the “Sea of Tiberias,”557from the imperial city of that name standing on its western coast;the “Sea of Galilee,”558because it belonged to the province of Galilee; and, finally,the “Lake of Gennesaret,” corrupted from Cinnereth, the title of a noble plain on its northwestern shore.559With a depression of 650 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, it is 13 miles long, six wide, and 165 feet deep. Lying in a volcanic basin, its form is oval and its sides are shelving. Unlike the lofty and rugged mountains which encompass the Scotch and Italian lakes, the surrounding hills are neither high nor uniform. On the eastern coast they are steep and barren, and rise to the height of 2000 feet; on the west they are not so lofty, but smooth, more sloping, and are dotted with trees and tufts of grass, and are furrowed by gentle ravines. At either end the western hills retire, permitting the Jordan to enter the sea on the north and to find an exit on the south. The shores are alternately smooth and rocky. The smoother portions are strewn with beautiful shells, while at intervals the everlasting hills plant their dark feet upon the whitened beach. Through an open cliff and between grassy slopes numberless streamlets pour their crystal waters into the sea, and on their green banks gorgeous oleanders bloom and tropical flowers fill the air with their perfume. The water is clear, cool, and sweet, and abounds with fish, as in the days of Bethsaida’s fishermen. Though it is almost uniformly calm, there are times when the winds rush down the mountain gorges and up the Jordan valley, lashingthe placid waters into foam, and causing the waves to roll high and furiously. Its beauty is most apparent in the freshness of the morning, or amid the golden tints and purple shadows of evening; or in the sweet repose of a summer’s moonlight night, when the serene skies, with moon and stars, are mirrored on its quiet bosom; or during the solemn grandeur of a thunderstorm, when the heavens scowl, the wild winds rage, the lightning darts through the gloom in bars of fire or in sheets of light, and along the trembling mountains the thunder rolls responsive to the waves that madly break upon the rock-bound shore.

TIBERIAS AND THE SEA OF GALILEE.

TIBERIAS AND THE SEA OF GALILEE.

Other lakes are more exquisitely beautiful; others present to the eye loftier forms of grandeur; but as it is impossible for the mind to dissociate the historical from a scene like this, so the presence of that Divine One has imparted to the “Sea of Galilee” an unparalleled beauty, and his divine works have rendered it the most sacred of earthly lakes. On its northwestern shore stood the city of his adoption; from the deck of one of its fishing-boats he taught the multitude; over its calm waters he often sailed on a voyage of mercy, or to a “desert place” for prayer; on its troubled bosom, as on a pavement of adamant, he walked in the “fourth watch of the night;” twice he rose in majesty, “rebuked the winds,” and said to the waves, “Peace, be still;” and on its shores he met his disciples after his passion and resurrection.

Four miles from the southern end of the lake, and occupying a plain two miles long and less than half a mile wide, stands the once imperial city of Tiberias. Though only mentioned by the sacred writers in connection with the sea, it fills no inconsiderable portion of the political history of Galilee. Whether built upon the site of the ancient city of Chinnereth or not, it evidently covers, in part, the site of some old town, as sepulchres of great antiquity are on the sloping plain. Coming in possession of Galilee, Herod Antipas founded the new city, made it the capital of his kingdom, and named it after his friend and patron, the Emperor Tiberius. Inviting citizens from all parts to take up their residence within its walls, he granted them extraordinary privileges, and spared neither art nor treasure to render it worthy of his throne and palace. Here, in the day of his pride and luxury, he so far forgot the respect due the marriage covenant and the obligations of consanguinity asto marry Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. For an offense so grave and notorious the faithful and courageous John the Baptist reproved the king, who, under the pretense of fearing lest John might take advantage of his own popularity and instigate a rebellion, ordered his arrest, and imprisoned him in the tower of Machaerus. It was here in his royal palace, while holding a feast in honor of his birthday, that Salome, the daughter of his incestuous wife, danced before him, and pleased him to such a degree that he swore to give her whatever she should ask, “to the half of his kingdom.” Influenced by her infamous mother, Salome asked for “John’s head in a charger.” Bound by his promise, the king reluctantly yielded, and dispatching one of his guards, the noblest and purest of prophets fell a victim to the revenge of a woman smarting under rebuke, and to the cowardice of a prince whose mortified pride was only excelled by the fears that tormented the dreams of his nights and the vision of his days. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Josephus has given us the pretense of John’s death rather than the true cause, in asserting that Antipas feared lest he might cause a revolt; but, as if half conscious of the injustice he had done the character of so eminent a prophet, the Jewish historian tells us that the Jews attributed the subsequent misfortunes of Herod to the death of John the Baptist. Retributive justice was speedily visited upon the son of Herod the Great. Having divorced his first wife, who was the daughter of a celebrated Arabian prince, that he might marry Herodias, Aretas, the father of the divorced wife, resolved to avenge the affront offered to his daughter, and declared war against Herod, and in a single battle vanquished his ungrateful son-in-law, and literally destroyed his army.

Jealous of the prosperity of her brother Agrippa, who from a private citizen had become king of Judea, Herodias persuaded Antipas to visit Rome and request the same dignity from the Emperor Caius. Learning of the conspiracy, Agrippa anticipated the arrival of his uncle, and accused Antipas of conspiracy against Tiberius, and asserted that he was then carrying on a correspondence with Artabanus, king of Parthia, against the Romans. Convinced of the justness of the accusation,the emperor banished him to Lyons, and afterward to Spain, where he and his wife Herodias died in exile.560

Tiberias subsequently bore a conspicuous part in the wars which terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem, and especially during the command of Josephus in Galilee, who fortified the city; but it afterward capitulated to the victorious Vespasian. By this act of voluntary submission Tiberias escaped destruction, and remained undisturbed during those commotions ending in the overthrow of the Jewish commonwealth. Regarding it, with Hebron, Jerusalem, and Safed, as one of their four holiest cities, it became the chief city of the Jews after the destruction of their renowned capital; and, subsequently to their expulsion from Judea, they removed the Sanhedrim first to Jamnia, on the Plain of Philistia, then to Sefforis, and finally, in the middle of the second century, to Tiberias, which for three centuries continued the metropolis of the race. Here, amid those centuries of comparative repose, the most eminent of rabbins of the nation taught in the synagogues, and founded a school for the study of their law and language. As the head of this academy, Rabbi Judah collected and committed to writing the great mass of Jewish traditional law now known as the Mishnah, which was completed about the year 200 A.D. A century later, Rabbi Jochanan here compiled the Gemara as a supplement and commentary to the former work, and which is now usually called the Jerusalem Talmud.And from the same school, at a later period, emanated that critical work called the Masorah, at once designed to preserve the purity of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament and of the language in which it was written.561

Sharing the fortunes of other Syrian cities, Tiberias is now an Arab town. Occupying a plain on the shore, formed by the mountains receding, it is encompassed by a wall 20 feet high, 100 rods long, and 40 wide. Describing an irregular parallelogram, the wall is supported by 10 round towers on the west, five on the north, eight on the south, and three on the east. Only one half of the space within the inclosure is occupied by the present population. Most of the buildings are small and filthy, and the streets are neither clean nor straight. The pasha’s house and a Mohammedan mosque are the only edifices worthy of attention. The Moslems, who are in the ascendant, number about 1200. The Jews, who are estimated at 800, have a distinct quarter, which is in the centreof the town. Like those in Jerusalem, they are divided into two sects—the Sephardim, who are chiefly from Northern Africa and Spain, and the Askenazim, who are fugitives from Russia. As a class they are intelligent, well dressed, and of more comely appearance than those found in other portions of Palestine. The young men are athletic and manly in their bearing, and many of the younger Jewesses are more than ordinarily beautiful. As we entered the gates of the city at an early hour on a charming Sabbath morning, crowds of white-veiled Jewesses and of venerable Jews, with long gray beards, were slowly winding their way up the mountains that rise steeply behind the city, to offer their prayers at the sepulchres of Rabbis Jochanan, Akabi, Maimonides, and others of their ancestors. Still looking for the Messiah, they entertain a prevalent tradition that he will rise from the sea, land first in the city of Tiberias, and thence proceed to establish his throne on the summit of Safed, a lofty and imposing mountain situated 15 miles to the northwest. Christianity in Tiberias is represented by a solitary Latin monk. On the shore, to the north of the Jews’ Quarter, is a small convent, traditionally marking the spot where the Savior met the disciples after his resurrection,and where was landed the miraculous draught of fishes.562But, judging from the silence of all the evangelists, it is probable our Lord never visited this renowned city. The population was composed of strangers and slaves, unto whom he was not sent, and the city was built in part upon a cemetery, which, according to a Jewish law, rendered whoever entered therein ceremonially unclean; therefore the chief object of his mission and the law of Moses justified him in not entering its gates. It is, however, as remarkable as it is inexplicable that Christ should have spent so much of his public life in the vicinity of this lake, where he was universally known, and never have been seen by Herod Antipas till they met in Jerusalem.St.Luke informs us that“Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him, and he was perplexed, because that it was said of some that John was risen from the dead, and of some that Elias had appeared, and of others that one of the old prophets was risen again. And Herod said, John have I beheaded; but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.”563Our Lord having been reared inNazareth, “he belonged unto Herod’s jurisdiction;” and having resided at Capernaum, which is less than eight miles to the north from Tiberias, he was a “political subject” in the tetrarchate of Antipas. Why did not Herod send for him? But, knowing the unscrupulous character of the tetrarch and his wife, together with the reasons assigned above, the Savior wisely avoided his presence; not from fear, for the pure and exalted nature of the Redeemer never knew such a base emotion, but rather to teach his messengers to yield to the storm rather than expose themselves to destruction, when, from known circumstances, the case was evidently hopeless. But the king and the Savior met at last. The former was a guest, and the latter a prisoner in Jerusalem. Finding no fault in Jesus, but willing to subject him to a more searching trial, Pilate “sent him to Herod.” “And when he saw Jesus he was exceeding glad, for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him, and he had hoped to have seen some miracle done by him.” Too wise and holy to display his power to gratify the curiosity of an unprincipled king, our Lord neither performed a miracle nor answered the senseless questions propounded to him by a vain and trifling judge. Offended at his silence and majestic bearing,“Herod and his men of war set him at naught, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate; and the same day Pilate and Herod were made friends.”564

A mile to the south from Tiberias, and situated on the shore, are the “Warm Baths of Emmaus,” consisting of four springs. The water has a temperature of 144° Fahrenheit. It emits a sulphurous smell, and is exceedingly salt and bitter to the taste. It is considered by the natives efficacious in rheumatic complaints and in cases of debility, and the baths are visited by invalids from all parts of the country. Over one of the springs is a bath-house, and near the shore is another, both of which are rapidly going to decay. As we passed, persons of all ages and of both sexes were applying the medicinal waters, and some were bathing in water at over 140° Fahrenheit.

Three miles to the south of these thermal springs is the site of ancient Tarichea. Here, on a narrow peninsula formed by the River Jordan as it leaves the lake, are venerable ruins,around which are the few huts of the modern town of Kerak. Being a town of considerable importance in the Jewish wars, Tarichea was fortified by Josephus, but stormed and taken, with great slaughter, by Titus. Having the only large and safe harbor on the whole lake, the Jewish chieftain made it his great naval station. With a foresight worthy of better fortunes, Josephus here collected 230 ships, in which to escape if beaten on land, or in which to engage the Romans in naval combat. Yielding to the powerful arms of Titus, Tarichea fell, and the inhabitants took refuge in their ships, and anchored in the middle of the lake. Resolved on the utter destruction of the Jewish army, Vespasian, who was present, immediately ordered the construction of a sufficient number of vessels to attack the enemy, and, having completed his navy, he launched his ships and engaged the foe. The engagement was long and sanguinary. The sea was turned into blood, and on its discolored waters floated the bodies of the dead.Not a Jewish vessel escaped; and for many days succeeding the fight the shores were strewn with shipwrecks, and with the swollen forms of the slain.565Thus ended the first and last sea-fight between the Jews and Romans. Like their mighty empires, their navies are also destroyed, and instead of that vast fleet which floated on its bosom, there is but one boat now upon the Sea of Galilee; and, excepting a long causeway resting on arches, through which the water flows into the Jordan when the lake is high, there is nothing entire remaining to mark the site of Tarichea and perpetuate its naval glory.

A mile to the southeast from Jericho is the mouth of the Jordan, which is ninety feet wide, with high rounded banks. Less than a mile to the south is the old bridge of Semakh, which once spanned the sacred river, but is now a ruin. Near it is the modern ford, the present highway between the east and west. Through shrubberies of hawthorns, tamarisks, and oleanders, the path runs to the small village from which the bridge derives its name. Six miles to the south is the Jarmuk of the Hebrews and the Hieromax of the Greeks, called by the Arabs Mandhûr: it drains the whole plain of the Haurân and Jaulân, with a large section of the mountain range eastward. Flowing through a wild ravine, the sides of which are rugged cliffs of basalt 100 feet high, it enters the Jordanfour miles below the lake, and at the point of junction is more than 130 feet wide. During the Jewish commonwealth it was the boundary between Bashan and Gilead, and during the dominion of the Romans it defined the limits of the provinces of Perea and Gaulonitis. In the gloomy valley through which it flows, bearing the Arabic name of Sheri’at el-Mandhûr, are the famous “Baths of Amatha.” Consisting of eight warm springs, they were esteemed by the Romans as second only to those of the Italian Baiæ. Around them are clumps of dwarf palms and the remains of arched buildings. The largest of the eight bubbles up into a basin 40 feet in circumference, and five deep, which is inclosed by dilapidated walls. The boiling water deposits on the stones a yellow sulphurous crust, regarded by the natives a sovereign remedy in certain disorders to which their camels are subject.

Three miles to the south from the banks of the Jarmuk is the celebrated city of Gadara. With an authentic history not older than the third century B.C., it was captured in the year 218 B.C. by Antiochus the Great. Regaining possession of it twenty years later, the Jews held it till destroyed during their civil wars. To gratify one of his freedmen, who was a Gadarene, it was rebuilt by order of Pompey, and during the proconsulate of Gabinius it was the capital of one of the five districts into which he had divided Judea.Considered one of the mostimportantcities east of the Jordan, it was captured by Vespasian in the first outbreak of the war with the Jews: all of its inhabitants were massacred, and the town itself was reduced to ashes.

RUINS AND TOMBS OF GADARA.

RUINS AND TOMBS OF GADARA.

The ruins of a city more significantly reflect its grandeur than the records of the historian or the descriptions of the traveler. Gadara is in ruins. Occupying a projecting spur at the northwestern extremity of the mountains of Gilead, it is bounded on the north by the Jarmuk, on the south by the valley of El-Arab, and on the west by the Jordan. On the crest of the ridge, covering a space two miles in circumference, are the remains of the fallen city. On the northern side of the hill there is a theatre, the seats of which remain entire. Near it originally stood one of the great gates of the city, from which commenced a noble avenue extending through the town, and flanked on either side by a splendid colonnade. On the western side of the ridge there is another theatre, thewalls, seats, and vaulted chambers of which are in good condition. Between these two theatres lay the principal part of the city, on an even piece of ground. But the desolation of Gadara is complete. Neither dwelling, palace, nor column remains standing, and the only work of art, besides the theatres, which has come down to our own age well preserved, is the pavement of the main street, which is as perfect as when laid down, and bears distinctly the traces of the chariot wheels which once proudly rolled along this magnificent thoroughfare.

Whether regarded as works of art or as associated with the history of the Gospel, the tombs of Gadara are replete with interest. Excavated in the limestone rock on the east and northeast sides of the hill, they consist of chambers, some of which are more than 20 feet square. Consisting of massive stone slabs, ornamented with panels, many of the doors remain in their places, and swing upon their hinges with ease, notwithstanding their great weight. Along the hill-side are ancient sarcophagi, ornamented with sculptured garlands and wreaths, gods and genii. As in the days of our Lord, these tombs are inhabited, and though not by maniacs, yet by Troglodytes, who at times are no less dangerous to the traveler. When it is remembered that Gadara is nine miles from the extreme southeastern shore of the Sea of Tiberias, its claim of having been the scene of the Savior’s miracle in curing the maniacs who “dwelt in the tombs” may be called in question. The miracle is recorded by three of the evangelists. They all agree as to where the Savior landed, viz., “to the other side;” “over unto the other side of the sea,” “which is over against Galilee;” that, on landing, he was immediately met by the demoniacs; and that the place was in thecountryor region of a certain people; but Matthew calls this people Gergesenes, while Mark and Luke call them Gadarenes. The reconciliation, however, is not difficult. Either Gergesa was located near the lake shore, and under the jurisdiction of the larger city, Gadara, and therefore could be properly described as in the “country of the Gadarenes,” or, as is more probable,St.Matthew, being a resident of this region, wrote the name correctly, and wrote it primarily to those who were familiar with all the smaller places of the country, whileSt.Mark andSt.Luke, who were strangers here, and who wrotefor the benefit of distant Greek and Roman readers, who were only familiar with the well-known district and city of Gadara, simply point out the vicinity of the place where the miracle occurred. Some eminent critics suppose that, as the name of the place given bySt.Matthew is variously pronounced Gergesa, or Gerasa, or Cehersa,the close resemblance between Gergesa and Gadara led to the substitution of the latter for the former in transcribing the manuscript.566But, whatever may have been the cause of the discrepancy, topographical facts are against Gadara, or any of its dependencies, as having been the scene of the miracle. In addition to the fact that Gadara is nine miles to the southeast from the sea, there is no mountain at this point of the shore adapted to the conditions of the miracle. The intervening space between these two points, even if the last-mentioned difficulty did not exist, would present an insuperable objection. It would have been a miracle in itself if 2000 swine had run down the mountain-side for an hour and a half, then forded the deep Jarmuk, and, having gained the northern bank, crossed a plain five miles wide before they reached the nearest margin of the sea. And as the scene of the miracle could not have been in the immediate neighborhood of Gadara, neither could it have been north of the Jarmuk, as the “country of the Gadarenes” lay south of that great river.

Somewhere midway the lake we must look for the scene of this interesting event. Not two miles to the north from the small village of Semakh is the site of ancient Hippas, which was an important place in the days of Josephus, and four miles farther on are the ruins of the renowned city of Gamala. The ridge on which the city stood is not unlike a camel’s back, from which geological formation the town derived its name. So strongly was Gamala built, that the younger Agrippa besieged it seven months in vain, and it only yielded to the assailants when assaulted by a more powerful army under Vespasian. Four thousand perished by the sword, and, rather than surrender themselves captives to the victor, five thousand other citizens threw themselves from the walls of their city and were dashed to pieces in the deep ravines below. Whether this was the city of the Gergesenes it is impossible to determine with accuracy, but the topography of the shore, fromHippas to Wady Semakh, is in harmony with all the facts of the miracle. Here, in the face of the bold cliffs, are many ancient tombs, out of one of which the demoniacs rushed to meet Jesus the moment the boat touched the shore, and on the mountain summit, “a good way off from them, an herd of swine was feeding.” Seized with a sudden panic, the maddened herd rushed headlong down the steep mountain side, and as there was neither time nor space to arrest their descent on the narrow shelving shore between the base of the cliff and the sea, they were borne by the velocity of their own motion into the waters and perished. Thus, by a miracle as humane as it was godlike,our Lord condemned the vocation of the swineherds of Gergesa, and restored to reason and happiness two unfortunate men.567

Ten miles north from Gamala is the mouth of the Upper Jordan. The path first runs along a rich plateau, separating the shell-strewn beach from the base of the hills, and then passes over a triangular plain of surpassing richness. Three miles beyond this rich field the Jordan enters the Lake of Gennesaret. Southerly winds have driven up an immense bank of sand before the mouth of the river, causing the water to flow through a channel some distance from the eastern shore. Being 70 feet wide, the Jordan is here a lazy, turbid stream, flowing between low alluvial banks. Droves of buffaloes and herds of cattle were standing in the shallow water, while along the banks were flocks of sheep and goats.

Two miles from the mouth of the Jordan, and covering a conspicuous hill, are the remains of Bethsaida Julias. Originally a small village inhabited by fishermen,it was enlarged and beautified by “Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis,”568who made it the imperial city of his kingdom,and called it Julias in honor of Julia, the daughter of the Emperor Augustus;569and here, after he had reigned 37 years,he died and was interred with great pomp in a magnificent mausoleum which he had previously prepared for himself.570But this eastern Bethsaida is chiefly interesting to the Christian traveler as associated with the life of our divine Lord.Sailing from Capernaum, hither he retired with his disciples “into a desert place apart.”571This “desert place” was probablyone of those uninhabited mountains which overhang the lake on the south, and which, owing to the scarcity of springs and the nearer approach to the Bedouin tribes, were not dotted with towns as were the opposite hills, and which naturally became a refuge from the active life of the western shores.Attracted by his miracles and charmed by his presence, “when the people heard thereof they followed him on foot out of the cities,”572and sweeping round the head of the lake, while he himself sailed across it, they reached the place where he had landed. Having “healed their sick” and taught them lessons of divine wisdom,the compassionate Savior finished the labors of the day by feeding that multitude of over 5000 souls with five loaves and two fishes.573The scene of this extraordinary miracle is the noble plain at the mouth of the Jordan,which during most of the year is now, as then, covered with “green grass.”574Dismissing the multitude with his blessing, and “constraining his disciples to get into a ship” and return to Capernaum, “he went up into a mountain apart to pray.” The imagination dwells with delight upon this parting scene—the thousands of people scattered along the beach absorbed in deepest thought, and moving homeward with lingering step, turning ever and anon to gain another glance at the blessed Savior; the ship upon the sea, containing the twelve disciples, returning to Gennesaret; while, slowly moving up the mountain side, the Master is retiring into solitude for meditation and prayer.

The multitude had reached their homes and were wrapped in slumber; the Savior had finished his devotions and had descended to the shore, but the disciples were in the “midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary.” “In the fourth watch of the night,” leaving this beautiful plain, “Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.” Calming their fears by that sublime salutation, “Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid,”he allowed the impulsive Peter to “walk on the water,” which no less evinced the weakness of the apostle’s faith than it displayed the compassion and power of his Lord.575

Having described a part of the western and the whole of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, it only remains to follow the shore northward from Tiberias to Capernaum, and thence eastward to Chorazin. It was seven A.M. when we left theancient capital of Antipas to visit the cities upbraided by our Lord. The morning sun had risen upon the Hills of Galilee in cloudless beauty, the surface of the lake was rippled by a soft breeze from the south, and far to the north rose the sublime form of Hermon, its snowy summits reflecting the early light. Two paths were before us, one mounting the uplands on the left, the other following the coast. Choosing the latter, our course was to the northwest. The beach gently declined toward the clear blue waters, and was strewn with shells, and with white and black pebbles of basalt and limestone. In half an hour we passed the wild ravine of Arbela, opening into the interior, and flanked by bold, precipitous cliffs. Travelers were approaching from the north, mounted on fine Arabian horses, and seated on chair-back saddles. As we advanced the banks became steep and rocky, and the mountains above us rose in jutting peaks. In less than an hour we came to Magdala, the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. Standing on the shore, it bears the modern name of Mejdel. Eighteen centuries ago it was a large and thriving town, but at present it contains only 20 huts, on the flat roofs of which children had built booths of reeds. Around the hovels are old foundations and heaps of rubbish, and near a half-ruined tower stands a solitary palm. Attracted by our presence, the women rushed from their wretched homes and gazed at us wildly, and, judging from their frightful appearance, they might be dispossessed of as many demons as was their ancient sister. At Mejdel begins the celebrated Plain of Gennesaret. Formed by the mountains suddenly receding inland, it is an open and level plain two and a half miles wide and five long. Having the form of a crescent, it is encompassed on the west by rugged mountains, and on the east it is washed by the sea. Equaling in fertility the Plains of Jericho, it is well watered, and its soil is in part a rich black mould. No less than four streams flow through it to the lake, and, wherever cultivated, it yields abundantly. Portions of its shore-line consist of a thick jungle of oleander, in whose branches birds of variant forms and of brilliant colors carol the melody of their song. In his description of this plain Josephus is as correct as he is eloquent. Referring to the various kinds of trees which grew thereon,“he calls the place the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants that are naturally enemies to one another to agree together.”576Were it cultivated with intelligence and taste, it would be the Paradise of Northern Palestine, producing the choicest fruits luxuriantly, and possessing an eternal spring. Even now, notwithstanding its neglected state, it is dotted with magnificent corn-fields and with groves of dwarf palms; and while from our feet quails sprang up at almost every step, the voice of the turtle-dove was heard on every side. In the days of our Lord it was the most densely populated part of the Holy Land, and through its beautiful gardens he was wont to pass, and in its thriving towns to teach his wondrous truths.Somewhere on its whitened beach he and his disciples landed after he had walked upon the water;577and from that beach he stepped into one of the “two boats” standing on its gradual slope, and,praying Peter “that he would thrust out a little from the land, he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.”578Taking advantage of the promiscuous audience which hung with rapt attention upon his words,he here delivered the remarkable parables of the “Sower and the Seed,” of the “Wheat and Tares,” of the “Mustard-seed,” and of the “Leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal.”579It is highly probable that the first three of these parables were suggested to his mind by the fields of vegetation which dotted this plain. As in his day, so now, the wheat and tares grow together, and all the facts of the parable are illustrated to the modern traveler. Tares abound throughout the country, and in many respects they resemble the Americancheat. The stalk stands perfectly erect, and the small grains are arranged compactly one above the other. Having a bitter taste, they produce dizziness when eaten, whether by man or beast, and are regarded as a strong soporific poison. If the Savior designed to represent the existence of thegoodandbadin his Church, no illustration could have been selected more appropriate and impressive. The “wheat and tares” derive nourishment from the same soil; they are so much alike before the grain isheaded outthat it is quite impossible to distinguish the stalk of the one from that of the other, even to those accustomed to weed their fields; and so intertwined are the roots of both, “that they must grow together until the harvest” before the wheat can be gathered into the garner and the tares collected to beburnt. And here, no doubt, was growing then, as it grows now, the mustard-plant, which formed the basis of a second parable. Attaining the height of ten feet, its trunk is slender, the leaves are broad, and the blossoms yellow. Though thiswildand perennial shrub may aid our conceptions of the tree which our Lord describes, yet it is probable that the variety to which he alludes wascultivated, and was the“least of all seeds” sown by the husbandman, and when grown was “the greatest among herbs” in all his garden.

PLAIN OF GENNESARET AND HOME OF MARY MAGDALENE.

PLAIN OF GENNESARET AND HOME OF MARY MAGDALENE.

On the northern horn of this crescent plain is the site of the renowned city of Capernaum. Plucking an anemone in memory of the devoted Mary, we passed up the coast, and found the distance to be scarcely four miles. In attempting to ford one of the mountain streams which pour their turbid waters into the lake, our horses sank into the soft clay bottom, leaving us no alternative but to dismount and wade ashore. Accustomed to such incidents in Oriental traveling, we remounted, and, hastening over the plain, reached Capernaum at ten A.M.

Though its early history is involved in much obscurity, and though it is not mentioned in the Old Testament, it was probably built by the Jews after their return from Babylon. At the commencement of the Christian era it was a large and prosperous town, but it is indebted to the presence and works of Jesus for its present renown. As the history of its origin is obscure, so the time of its destruction is unknown.But whether the evidence of the identity of the site is drawn from the incidental allusions of the evangelists,580or from the history of Josephus,581or from the writings of the fathers,or from eminent travelers down to the 17th century,582or from the topography of the spot, the argument is no less clear than satisfactory. Judging from the heaps of ruins covering portions of the plain, the city stood near the base of a bold bluff, which rises in the form of a truncated cone 300 feet high, and which dips its eastern end into the sea, while its western extremity is bounded by a green meadow stretching along the shore. At the foot of the cliff is the large “Fountain of the Fig,” so called from a noble fig-tree that shades the cave from which the stream issues. The water is clear, cool, and sweet, andflows over a broad pebbled bed into the lake. Near the fountain are the remains of a tower, to which is attached a portion of an arched gateway, and south of it is a low mound of shapeless ruins, overgrown with thorns and thistles. Nearly 1000 feet to the northwest from ’Ain et-Tîn is the old Khan Minyeh, lying under the western brow of the hill, which, standing on the great caravan route between Egypt and Damascus, is designed for the accommodation of pilgrims.

Ascending the bold cliff behind the city, we found the sides terraced, and the flattened summit covered with wheat and barley, ripe for the harvest. From this lofty position we obtained a delightful view. At our feet lay the lake, smooth and bright, like polished silver, and beyond the broad valley of the Jordan opened before us. On the east the eye glanced over the Plains of Bashan and the Mountains of Gilead; on the north, Safed rose in solitary grandeur; while on the west were the Land of Gennesaret, and, over lower hills, the “Mount of Beatitudes.” Charmed with the view and overwhelmed with the recollections of the past, I sat down and read the eventful history of Capernaum. Rivaling Jerusalem in the number and sacredness of its hallowed associations, it is to the north what the former is to the south. Not excepting Olivet, it stands pre-eminent in evangelical history as the scene of our Lord’s most instructive discourses and most astonishing miracles.Driven from Nazareth by his ungrateful townsmen, “he came and dwelt in Capernaum,”583which from that time forward became “his own city.”584Returning hither from journeys to other parts, here he was received with affection and revered as divine. Here, in the synagogue, on the Sabbath day, having astonished the people by the authority with which he had enforced his doctrines,he healed the demoniac.585Passing from the synagogue, “he entered the house of Simon and Andrew,” and finding the mother of Peter’s wife “sick of a fever,” he immediately restored her to health,585and that night the people thronged the door of the dwelling, “and he healed many that were sick of divers diseases.”585Returning from the “country of the Gergesenes,”he cured the paralytic;586and passing by the receipt of custom, he called Matthew to the apostleship.586Descending from the “Mount of Beatitudes,” hehere restored the servant of the devout centurion.587Yielding to the paternal entreaties of Jairus, he entered the ruler’s house, and, taking the dead damsel by the hand, uttered those life-giving words, “Talitha-cumi,” and “she arose and walked.” It was while going on this errand of mercy that, as he passed through the thronged streets of Capernaum,a daughter of Israel “came in the press behind and touched his garment,” and was made whole.588Coming from the visions and glory of Tabor, he was here met by those who “received tribute-money,” and sent forth Peter,who miraculously obtained from the mouth of a fish a coin bearing the image and superscription of Cæsar.589It was here, in a house no longer standing, that, after delivering from the deck of a fish-boat the memorable parables of the “Sower,” the “Tares,” the “Mustard-seed,” and the “Leaven,”he gave forth the parables of the “Hidden Treasure,” the “Merchant seeking goodly Pearls,” and of the “Net cast into the Sea.”590

Here, in the home ofSt.Matthew, and around his well-spread board, our Lord discoursed on “fasting.”591At a subsequent period he reproved the Scribes and Pharisees for their “formality;”592and on the morning after he had calmed the storm he taught the people the nature of “faith;”593and here, either in the house of Simon or Levi, in the privacies of social life, and surrounded only by his disciples,he chided their ambition, rebuked their sectarianism, and unfolded to them the beauty and power of humility, forbearance, and brotherly love.594

Who can wonder at the judgments pronounced upon a city so highly favored, whose citizens refused to be enlightened by such words of wisdom, and convinced by such acts of mercy? Rejecting him, he in turn has rejected them. The “woe” has fallen heavily upon the ungrateful city, and time has proven the fulfillment of prophecy.“And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto thee, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.”595Whether this exaltation denoted the lofty site of the city, or its pride andprosperity, the abasement is equally true. The desolation is universal; the ruin is complete. There is a dispute among the learned whether the town stood upon the high hill above the fountain, or on the plain below. In all probability the hill served as the acropolis, commanding the entire plain, on the northeast end of which the larger portion of the city was built. As there is no path along the northern shore, we wound up the sides of a precipitous promontory dipping into the sea, and found a path excavated in the rock 20 feet above the water-line, and measuring three feet deep and as many wide. Descending to the shore of a beautiful bay, and riding northeastward, in 20 minutes from Capernaum we came to Bethsaida, the home of Peter and his brethren. Bearing the Arabic name of Et-Tâbighah, this city of the holy apostles stands in a charming little nook in the mountain side. The hills rise around it in graceful gradations, and on the west is a small but lonely bay, encircled by a beach of fine sand, and just such a place as fishermen love to ground their boats and spread their nets upon. Unoccupied except by a fewmillers, the chief attraction of the place is its pools, fountains, and aqueducts. No city of its size in Palestine has so many and valuable water facilities as Bethsaida. The larger fountains burst out from the base of the mountain 300 yards to the north, and around the principal one is a large octagonal reservoir, with two circular holes designed as drains. A flight of steps in the southwest corner leads down to the water, which is warm and sulphurous, and about eight feet deep. From the bottom of the reservoir there were canes growing to the height of 20 feet. Nearer the shore is a circular well, called ’Ain Eyûb, or “Job’s Fountain.” This reservoir, together with several mills, were constructed by Dhâher el-Omer, and now belong to the government, by whom they are farmed out to villagers from the neighboring towns.

Originally called the “House of Fish,” as significant of the vocation of its ancient inhabitants, Bethsaida will ever live in the recollection of the pious as the birthplace of five apostles, who have stamped the world with their influence, and affected the opinions and destiny of mankind in all countries. Here Peter, and Andrew, and James, and John, and Philip spent their childhood, and here they engaged in the humble but honest calling of fishermen. It was probably on the shore ofthe small bay previously described that Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, and said unto them,“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, and he called them, and they followed him.”596And here, no doubt, is the scene of that miraculous draught of fishes, which astonished the disciples, and convinced them of the divine character of our Lord.597But this Bethsaida must not be confounded with the one east of the Jordan, and which has already been noticed as having been enlarged and beautified by Philip the tetrarch. The latter being in Gaulonitis and not in Galilee, it could not have been the native city of the apostles, who wereGalileans; and though it may appear unusual to find two cities of the same name in such close proximity, yet the singularity disappears when it is remembered that they belonged to separate provinces, and that Bethsaida Julias is not on the lake shore, but on the eastern bank of the Jordan, two miles from the mouth of the river. This distinction sheds much light upon a somewhat obscure passage bySt.Mark. After our Lord had learned of the execution of John the Baptist, he left Capernaum, and, with his disciples,“departed into a desert place by ships privately.”598St.John, with greaterexactitude, says that“Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee.”599The “desert place” is on the northeastern shore of the lake, where he fed the 5000, and is “over the sea.” Having dismissed the multitude, “he constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida,” which is on “the other side;” and as it is only a mile from Capernaum, agrees withSt.John, who records that“they went over the sea toward Capernaum.”600They embarked for Bethsaida, but the “wind was contrary,” and they were driven from their course to the southward. “About the fourth watch of the night” Jesus came “walking on the sea,” and, entering the ship, “the wind ceased.” With a minuteness that leaves us without a doubt,St.Matthew andSt.Mark say,“They came into the land of Gennesaret;”601andSt.John designates which portion of Gennesaret they came to in saying that“when the peoplesaw that Jesus was on the other side, they took shipping and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus, and that they found him there.”602Had the disciples sailed for Bethsaida Julias, it would have been impossible for them to have sailed “over the sea toward Capernaum,” as the former is not “over the sea,” and is not in the same direction with the latter, Capernaum being southwest and Julias northeast. Nor is the difficulty relieved by supposing that Tell Hum is the true site of Capernaum, as the argument drawn from the direction of the place remains in full force.

Having satisfied his mind touching the identity of a place, the traveler lingers about the spot with no ordinary delight. Such were the pleasing emotions I experienced as I stood amid the ruins of the home of Peter, James, and John, and watched the crystal waters flowing into the sea through banks lined with oleanders in full bloom. And the impression was overwhelming as the great fact rose up before my mind that in this retired quarter of the globe—in this Galilean village of humble pretensions, five inspired apostles were born, who from their fish-boats went forth commissioned to evangelize the world, and to be the biographers of the Son of God. It is an ancient suggestion, that the scenery of childhood gives tone to the character of a man and direction to his coming years. Few men whose acts fill so large a portion of the world’s history have evinced traits of character so opposite, and transitions in their emotional natures so remarkable as the “fishermen of Bethsaida.” Pure as they were simple, benevolent as they were sincere, they loved and hated, hoped and despaired; they were bold and fearful, joyful and sorrowful, firm and inconstant, as the surrounding circumstances were favorable to the development of their better natures, or to disclose the weaknesses of our common humanity. Looking out upon the scene before me, I fancied that their finer feelings and gentler traits were evoked by the deep blue skies, the transparent atmosphere, the mellow dawn, the golden sunset, the placid lake, the flowing fountains, the blooming flowers and shell-strewn shores, while the rugged mountains and boisterous storms at sea aroused their fiery and impetuous spirits. When composed they resembled their embowered lake, whose placid waters mirror the overhanging foliage along its banks;but when agitated, they were like their native sea during a storm, when the deep was troubled, when thunder answered thunder, and the roar of the waters responded to the howl of the winds.

Three miles to the northeast are the remains of the city of Chorazin. In the intervening space the hills approach the shore, exposing at intervals a rough bank, lined with a tangled thicket of a thorny shrub. In the spring-time the black tents of the predatory farmers dot the table-land, only one of which now remained, and around it a solitary shepherd was keeping his flock. It was while riding over this broad plateau that we were startled by one of those squalls peculiar to this inland sea. The air had been quiet, the lake calm, and the heavens were cloudless, but within five minutes the wind blew a gale, the sea became troubled, the waves rolled high and dashed wildly on the shore. It was a repetition of that scene when the disciples were sailing over the sea; when “Jesus was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow;” when “there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full;” and when, in the moment of danger, they awoke the Divine Sleeper,“who arose and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.”603The natural causes operating and producing such effects in that distant age are still in force. The sea is 600 feet lower than the ocean; the mountains on the east and north rise to a great height, and their sides are furrowed with deep and wild ravines; and the temperature of this volcanic basin differing from that on the mountains above, these profound gorges serve as vast conductors, through which, at certain periods, the cold winds from above rush suddenly down, causing a tempest in an unexpected moment.

The ruins of Chorazin lie upon the shore, covering a level tract half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. Consisting chiefly of the foundations and prostrate walls of dwellings, they are overgrown with a thicket of thistles eight feet high, and so dense that it is almost impossible to penetrate and examine the remains. The walls of a square tower 10 feet high are standing, and are composed of fragments of columns, capitals, and friezes, mingled with hewn stone of different dimensions. To the east of the tower we entered a structure, theobject of which can not now be determined. Portions of the northern and western walls remain, the former measuring 105 feet long, and the latter about 80. Within this inclosure are strewn, in utter confusion, limestone columns, Corinthian capitals, sculptured entablatures, ornamental friezes, double columns, and immense blocks of stone nine feet long and five wide, with panels sculptured in their sides. This may have been a magnificent Jewish synagogue, a substitute in part for the noble Temple of Jerusalem. In the days of our Savior and five centuries after, Chorazin was a populous and wealthy city. Driven from their ancient capital, the Jews settled on the shores of this lake. Their Sanhedrim found a resting-place at Tiberias, and Magdala, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin became their chief towns. In the wealth of her citizens, the grandeur of her architecture, and the influence of her religious institutions, the latter appears to have been as influential as magnificent. But the “woe” has fallen on Chorazin. What the “mighty works which were done” in her were we are not informed, but evidently they were of such a character as to give light to her people, in the rejection of which was involved her ruin. Rejecting that light, she has fallen with her sister towns; and without a single habitation, the most beautiful site for a city on all these shores is now a thorn-bed, where adders crawl and jackals hide. “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in thee had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” And if the present small but thriving towns of Tyre and Sidon be compared to this “howling wilderness,” this “perfection of desolation,” the contrast can not fail to suggest to every impartial mindthe marvelous and strangely exact fulfillment of our Lord’s solemn predictions.604Indeed, the Lake of Gennesaret is a beautiful desolation. Her villas are in ruins, her fisheries have failed, her ship-yards are silent, her commerce is destroyed, her manufactories are abandoned, and her waters, which were the rich possession of Naphthali, are without a keel to divide them, or a sail to fly before their mountain gusts.

Turning inland and following a path along the base of the mountain, an hour’s ride brought us to the mouth of the Jordan.Forty miles to the northeast, up the broad ravine through which the most illustrious of earthly rivers flows, appeared Mount Hermon, with his icy crown brilliant in the midday sun. For nine miles the path follows the river bank to ’Jisr Benât Yakûb, the “Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters.” It is the only bridge which at present spans the Jordan, and its three arches, with its well-paved roadway, are in good condition. Though traditionally marking the site where Jacob, staff in hand, crossed the stream, yet it is not easy to determine why the word “daughters” should be added. The Jordan is here a rapid stream, 25 yards wide and 10 feet deep, flowing between alluvial banks fringed with thickets of reeds and rank grass. From the bridge on the eastern bank of the river, a beautiful level tract of land extends northward for three miles to the foot of Lake Hûleh. Four and a half miles in length and three and a half in breadth, this charming lake is the first gathering together of the waters of the Upper Jordan as they descend from their perennial springs.Known in the Bible as the “Waters of Merom,” and called by Josephus Samochonitis,605it was on the shore of this lake that Joshua “smote Jabin, king of Hazor.”606Passing the probable site of Hazor, two miles to the west from the fountain of Mellâhah, and crossing the deep glen through which the Hasbâny flows to the Jordan, the path runs over undulating ground to Tell el-Kâdy, “The Hill of the Judge,” or the Dan of Scripture, situated 12 miles from the northern end of Lake Hûleh. Rising from the midst of a level plain, the hill on which the ancient city stood is 80 feet high and three quarters of a mile in circumference. It is covered with trees and bushes, which conceal the ruins of the old town. Placed by Josephus at the fountain of the Jordan, and located by Eusebius a quarter of a mile from Paneas, on the way to Tyre, there can be no question as to the identity of the place. Its history is as sanguinary as it is romantic. Captured by the princes of Mesopotamia, hither Lot was brought after the pillage of Sodom; and, inspired by a courage that was never blanched with fear, here Abraham overtook the captors of his nephew, and dividing his 318 “trained servants born in his own house,” he fell upon the foe by night, “and smote them and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus; and he brought back all his goods,and also broughtagain his brother Lot,607and his goods, and the women also, and the people.”608Called in the days of the Judges Laish, its capture by the Danites forms one of the most romantic stories in the Old Testament. Unable to expel the more powerful Philistines who occupied a large part of their tribeship, 600 armed men from the cities of Zorah and Eshtool went up and smote the rich and careless Sidonians who inhabited the town, and, taking possession of the city, they called it “Dan, after their father.” On their way northward they had stopped at Mount Ephraim,where they pillaged the house of Micah of the holy symbols of his religion, and compelled a young Levite to accompany them, “to be to them a father and a priest.”609Though a trifling conquest when compared to the grand achievements of Joshua and David, the capture of Laish and its occupation by the Danites was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy:“Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan;”610and from that time the city was regarded as the northern border of the Promised Land, and gave rise to that household expression, “From Dan to Beersheba.”611

But the city of Dan is no less celebrated for its waters than for its interesting history. At the western base of the hill there is the largest fountain in Syria, and among the largest in the world. Bursting forth from the rocks, the water first forms a small lake, from which it rushes southward a rapid river, called the Leddân. Four miles below it forms a junction with a large stream from Baniâs, and a mile beyond the confluence it is joined by the River Hasbâny, which gives its name to the stream down to the Lake Hûleh. Thus gradually the Jordan is formed.

Winding through oaken groves, and lined with myrtle and oleanders, the road diverges to the northeast, and four miles from Dan is Cæsarea Philippi. Occupying a broad terrace in the mountain side, it is bounded by two sublime ravines, one on the north and the other on the south, between which, and in the rear of the site, rise the castellated heights of Subeibeh 1000 feet high. The terrace is adorned with groves of oaks and olives, and carpeted with the richest verdure. A site so remarkable for its Alpine scenery did not fail to attract the earlier Phœnicians, and, at a later period, the Greeks and Romans.Supposed to be the “Baal Gad” of Scripture, it was early consecrated by the Canaanites to the idolatrous worship of one of their Baals.612Chosen by the Greeks to be the shrine of Pan, it retains the name of Bâniâs, the Arabic form of Paneas. Coming into the possession of “Philip, tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis,” it was rebuilt and enlarged by the son of Herod the Great, who named it Cæsarea, in honor of Tiberius Cæsar; and to distinguish it from Cæsarea on the Mediterranean coast, and to perpetuate his own name, he called it Cæsarea Philippi. Among its mighty ruins is a citadel of quadrangular form covering four acres, and surrounded by a massive wall with heavy towers at the angles and sides. Guarded on the east by a deep moat, it is washed on the north and west by a large stream, and on the south it is protected by a profound chasm, which is spanned by a bridge, from which a noble gateway opens into the citadel. Within this inclosure, and surrounded by granite columns and limestone shafts, are the 40 dwellings of the modern town. To the north of the ruins, and at the base of a cliff of ruddy limestone 100 feet high, is a cave of vast dimensions, and as dark as vast. Within are the fragments of noble edifices, and around its mouth are heaps of broken rocks and portions of ancient buildings. In harmony with Grecian mythology, this deep cavern was selected as the temple of the sylvan Pan, and on the face of the cliff a Greek inscription records the sacred history of the cave. The Romans succeeding the Greeks,Herod the Great erected a splendid temple of white marble to Augustus near the place calledPanium.613Destroyed by some unknown power, the ruins of this temple are entombed in the cave, excepting a fragment clinging to the rocks above, and now dedicated to a Moslem saint. Near this spot is the great fountain of Bâniâs, which is one of the principal sources of the Jordan. Bursting forth from beneath heaps of rubbish, the water flows in a rapid, foaming torrent over a rocky bed, and, plunging over a precipice, falls into a dark ravine, through which it runs southward and joins the Hasbâny.

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