THE HOLY LAND.

The entire country known asPalestine, orJudea, or theHoly Land, is full of interest, and associated to our minds with the wonders and miracles connected with the advent of Christ to our world. Time would fail to notice all the localities of this country, on which the mind loves to linger; but a few of them will be alluded to. One of these, a view of which is given in the cut below, is

JACOB’S WELL.

This was near to Shechem, one of the most ancient cities of Canaan, which was the capital of the kingdom of Israel in the time of Jeroboam, and was associated with some of the most interesting events of patriarchal times, as well as with the discourse of Christ to the woman of Samaria, which resulted in the conversion of several of the Samaritans to the truefaith. “I found this well,” says a late traveler, “in the midst of the ruins of a magnificent building that once covered and adorned it. Hewn stones, blocks of marble, and fragments of granite columns, were to be seen amid the general wreck. The narrow mouth of the well was stopped up with large loose stones, at which we all tugged until I nearly broke my back; but one of them defied our utmost endeavors. I kneeled down and peeped into the arched chamber, from the floor of which the well proper is sunk into the living rock some hundred feet or more. A little, gray-headed old Arab held my horse; the younger men stood around and looked on, while I sat down at the indubitable well of the patriarch, and read: ‘Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples had gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? (for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; from whence, then, hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.’ Here I closed the book, and with a gush of unutterable joy, exclaimed,

‘Spring up, O well, I ever cry, spring up withinMYsoul!’”

Bethlehem, celebrated throughout the world as the birthplace of the Redeemer, is situated at the distance of six miles south-west from Jerusalem, in a fine country, blest with a salubrious air, and abundant fertility. The water is conveyed in a low aqueduct which formerly passed to Jerusalem. Thefons signatusis a charming spring, yielding a constant supply of water to three large cisterns, one of which is still in good preservation. At a small distance from these, a beautiful rivulet called thedeliciæ Solomonis, laves the herbage of the valley, and fertilizes several fine gardens, while thecircumjacent soil is richly clothed with an elegant assemblage of fig-trees, vines and olives.

Bethlehem received its name, which signifies thehouse of bread, from Abraham; and it was surnamedEphratah, the fruitful, after Caleb’s wife, to distinguish it from another Bethlehem, in the tribe of Zebulon. It belonged to the tribe of Judah, and also went by the name of the city of David, that monarch having there been born, and tended sheep in his childhood. Elimelech, Obed, Jesse, and Boaz, were, like David, natives of Bethlehem, and here must be placed the scene of the admirable eclogue of Ruth. Matthew, the apostle, was also born in the village of Bethlehem.

The convent now at Bethlehem is connected with the church by a court inclosed with lofty walls. This court leads by a small side door into the church. The edifice is certainly of high antiquity, and though often destroyed and as often repaired, it still retains marks of its Grecian origin. On the pavement at the foot of the altar, you observe a marble star, which corresponds, as tradition would have us believe, with the point of the heavens where the miraculous star that conducted the three kings became stationary. The Greeks occupy the choir of the Magi, as well as the two other naves formed by the transform of the cross. These last are empty, and without altars. Two spiral staircases, each composed of fifteen steps, open on the sides of the outer church, and conduct to the subterraneous church situated beneath this choir. At the further extremity of the crypt, on the east side, is the spot where tradition reports that the Redeemer of mankind was born. This spot is marked by a white marble, incrusted with jasper, and surrounded by a circle of silver, having rays resembling those with which the sun is represented. Around it are inscribed these words:

HIC DE VIRGINE MARIAJESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST.

HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA

JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST.

At the distance of seven paces toward the south, after you have passed the foot of one of the staircases leading to the upper church, you find what is called “the Manger.” You go down to it by two steps, for it is not upon a level with the rest of the crypt. It is a low recess, hewn out of the rock. A block of white marble, raised about a foot above the floor, and hollowed in the form of a manger, indicates the spot where tradition says our Saviour was laid upon straw. Two paces further, opposite to the manger, stands an altar, which, the same tradition would teach, occupies the place where Mary sat when she presented the Child of Sorrow to the adoration of the Magi.

Nothing can be more pleasing to the view than this subterraneous church.It is adorned with pictures of the Italian and Spanish schools. These pictures represent the mysteries of the place, the Virgin and Child, after Raphael, the annunciation, the adoration of the wise men, the coming of the shepherds, and all those miracles of mingled grandeur and innocence. The ornaments of the manger are of blue satin embroidered with silver. Incense is continually smoking before the cradle of the Saviour. The grotto of the Nativity leads to the subterraneous chapel, where tradition places the sepulcher of the Innocents: “Herod sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: In Rama was there a voice heard,” &c.

The village of Nazareth is situated in a long valley, surrounded by lofty hills, between which a road leads to the neighboring plain of Esdraelon, and to Jerusalem. The convent is situated in the lower part of the village; and the church belonging to it, a very handsome edifice, is erected over the grotto, or cave, in which (tradition says) the Virgin Mary took up her residence. The other objects of interest in Nazareth are, the synagogue, where Christ is said to have read the Scriptures to the Jews, at present a church; a precipice without the town, where, they say, the Jews endeavored to cast Christ down after his speech in the synagogue; and a church called “the church of the Annunciation,” erected, as they say, on the spot where Mary, the mother of our Lord, received the divine message. It is the most magnificent church in the land except that of the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem.

The church of the Holy Sepulcher, a view of which is given on the next page, is very irregular, owing to the nature and situation of the places which it was designed to comprehend. It is nearly in the form of a cross, being one hundred and twenty paces in length, exclusive of the descent to what is called the place of the discovery of the Holy Cross, and seventy in breadth. It has three domes, of which that covering the Holy Sepulcher serves for the nave of the church. It is thirty feet in diameter, and is covered at the top like the rotunda at Rome. There is not any cupola, the roof being supported by large rafters, brought from Mount Lebanon. On entering the church, you come to the “stone of unction,” on which traditionsays the body of our Lord was anointed with myrrh and aloes, before it was laid in the sepulcher. Some say, that it is of the same rock as Mount Calvary; and others assert, that it was brought to this place by Joseph and Nicodemus, secret disciples of Jesus Christ, who performed this pious office, and that it is of a greenish color. Be that as it may, on account of the indiscretion of certain pilgrims, who broke off pieces, it was found necessary to cover it with white marble, and to surround it with an iron railing, lest people should walk over it. This stone is eight feet, wanting three inches, in length, and two feet, wanting one inch, in breadth: and above it, eight lamps are kept continually burning.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHER.

The Holy Sepulcher, as it is called, is thirty paces from this stone, exactly in the center of the great dome: it resembles a small closet, hewn out of the solid rock. The entrance, which faces the east, is only four feet high, and two feet and a quarter broad. The interior of the sepulcher is nearly square. It is six feet, wanting an inch, in length, and six feet, wanting two inches, in breadth, and from the floor to the roof, eight feet and one inch. There is a solid block of the same stone, which was left in excavating the other part: this is two feet, four inches and a half high, and occupies half of the sepulcher, for it is six feet, wanting one inch, in length, and two feet and five-sixths wide. On this table, tradition says, the body of our Lord was laid, with the head toward the west, and the feet to the east; but, on account of the superstitious devotion of the Orientals, who imagine that, if theyleave their hair upon this stone, God will never forsake them, and also, because the pilgrims broke off pieces, it has received a covering of white marble, on which mass is now celebrated. Forty-four lamps are constantly burning in this sacred place, and three holes have been made in the roof for the emission of the smoke. The exterior of the sepulcher is also faced with slabs of marble, and adorned with several columns, having a dome above.

The Holy Sepulcher is composed of three churches: that of the Holy Sepulcher, properly so called; that of Calvary; and the church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross. The first is built in the valley at the foot of Calvary, on the spot where tradition reports that the body of Christ was deposited. This church was in the form of a cross, the chapel of the Holy Sepulcher constituting, in fact, the nave of the edifice. It is circular, like the Pantheon at Rome, and is lighted only by a dome, beneath which is the sepulcher. Sixteen marble columns adorn the circumference of this rotunda: they are connected by seventeen arches, and support an upper gallery, likewise composed of sixteen columns and seventeen arches, of smaller dimensions than those of the lower range. Niches, corresponding with the arches, appear above the frieze of the second gallery, and the dome springs from the arch of these niches.

The origin of the church of the Holy Sepulcher is of high antiquity. The author of the “Epitome of the Holy War” asserts, that forty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian and Titus, the Christians obtained permission of Adrian to build, or rather rebuild, a church over the tomb of their Lord, and to inclose, in the new city, the other places venerated by the Christians. This church, he adds, was greatly enlarged and repaired by Helena, the mother of Constantine.

This remarkable mountain, a view of which is given in the cut on the next page, is on the confines of Zebulon and Naphthali, on the north-east border of the plain of Esdraelon, about six miles south of Nazareth. It is graceful and picturesque in its outlines, presenting different appearances as viewed from different points, which accounts for the diversities in the pictorial representations we have of it. From the north it has the appearance of the segment of a sphere, and appears beautifully wooded on the summit, affording retreats to the animals for whom “the net was spread on Tabor.” (Hosea v. 1.) From the west it is like a truncated cone, appearing much steeper and higher, with the southern side almost destitute of trees. But onall sides it is a marked and prominent object, as the prophet intimates when he says, “as Tabor is among the mountains.” (Jeremiah xlvi. 18.) The view from the summit is truly beautiful. The foundations of ancient buildings, and the remains of water-tanks, in which cool water is still collected from the drippings of the rocks, are still to be seen on the top of Tabor. On this mountain was the encampment of Barak’s army on the eve of its battle with the hosts of Sisera. (Judges iv. 6, 14.) Tradition indicates this as the scene of Christ’s transfiguration. This may well be doubted, owing to the distance of this mountain from Cæsarea Philippi, near which place our Lord left the nine disciples the day before. Besides, this mountain was at the time occupied by a fortified town, and thus did not, as well as some other hights, answer the description of “a high mountain apart,” or solitary. (Matthew xvii. 1.) No doubt the name of the mountain was concealed by design, to avoid giving occasion to the superstitious observances of place, which our Lord foresaw would be practiced, in after ages, by many calling themselves after his name. The Arab name of Tabor is Jebel-Tur. There was a Levitical city on Tabor of the same name. (1 Chronicles vi. 77.) The Tabor mentioned in 1 Samuel x. 3, was not Mount Tabor, but a place in the vicinity of the territory of Benjamin.

MOUNT TABOR.

THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.

The following descriptions of some of the spots in the Holy Land which excite a more particular interest, are extracted from Dr. Clarke’s very valuable “Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa.”

“As we advanced, our journey led through an open campaign country, until, upon our right, the guides showed us the mount where it is believed that Christ preached to his disciples that memorable sermon, concentrating the sum and substance of every Christian virtue. We left our route to visit this elevated spot; and, having attained the highest point of it, a view was presented, which, for its grandeur, independently of the interest excited by the different objects contained in it, has no parallel in the Holy Land. From this situation we perceived that the plain, over which we had been so long riding, was itself very elevated. Far beneath appeared other plains, one lower than the other, and extending to the surface of the sea of Tiberias, or sea of Galilee. This immense lake, almost equal, in the grandeur of its appearance, to that of Geneva, spreads its waters over all the lower territory, extending from the north-east toward the south-west, and then bearing east of us. Its eastern shores present a sublime scene of mountains, extending toward the north and south, and seeming to close it in at either extremity, both toward Chorazin, where the Jordan enters, and the Aulon, or Campus-magnus, through which it flows to the Dead sea. The cultivated plains reaching to its borders, which we beheld at an amazing depth below our view, resembled, by the various hues their different produce exhibited, the motley pattern of a vast carpet. To the north appeared snowy summits, towering, beyond a series of intervening mountains, with unspeakable greatness. We considered them as the summits of Libanus; but the Arabs belonging to our caravan called the principal eminence Jebel el Sieh, saying it was near Damascus; probably, therefore, a part of the chain of Libanus. This summit was so lofty, that the snow entirely covered the upper part of it; not lying in patches, as I have seen it, during summer, upon the tops of very elevated mountains, (for instance, upon that of Ben Nevis, in Scotland,) but investing all the higher part with that perfect white and smooth, velvet-like appearance which snow exhibits when it is very deep; a striking spectacle in such a climate, where the beholder, seeking protection from a burning sun, almost considers the firmament to be on fire.”

OTHER REVERED SITES.

“As we rode toward the sea of Tiberias, the guides pointed to a sloping spot from the hights upon our right, whence we had descended, as the place where the miracle was accomplished by which our Saviour fed the multitude: it is therefore called theMultiplication of Bread; as the mount above, where the sermon was preached to his disciples, is called theMountain of Beatitudes, from the expressions used in the beginning of that discourse. The lake now continued in view upon our left. The wind rendered its surface rough, and called to mind the situation of our Saviour’s disciples, when, in one of the small vessels which traverse these waters, they were tossed in a storm, and saw Jesus in the fourth watch of the night, walking to them upon the waves. Often as this subject has been painted, combining a number of circumstances adapted for the representation of sublimity, no artist has been aware of the uncommon grandeur of the scenery, memorable on account of the transaction. The lake of Genesareth is surrounded by objects well calculated to highten the solemn impression made by such a picture; and, independent of the local feelings likely to be excited in its contemplation, affords one of the most striking prospects in the Holy Land. Along the borders of this lake may still be seen the remains of those ancient tombs, hewn by the earliest inhabitants of Galilee, in the rocks which face the water. Similar works were before noticed among the ruins of Telmessus. They were deserted in the time of our Saviour, and had become the resort of wretched men, afflicted by diseases, and made outcasts of society; for in the account of the cure performed by our Saviour upon a maniac in the country of the Gadarenes, these tombs are particularly alluded to; and their existence to this day, (although they have been neither noticed by priests nor pilgrims, and have escaped the ravages of the empress Helena, who would undoubtedly have shaped them into churches,) offers strong internal evidence of the accuracy of the evangelist who has recorded the transaction: ‘There met himout of the tombsa man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwellingamong the tombs.’”

Mount Carmel is a tall promontory, forming the termination of a range of hills, in the northern part of Palestine, and toward the sea. It is fifteen hundred feet high, and is famous for its caverns, which are said to be more than a thousand in number. Most of them are in the western part of it.Here also was the cave of the prophet Elijah. Both Elijah and Elisha used to resort to this mountain, and here it was that the former opposed the prophets of Baal with such success. Here it was, too, that this prophet went up, when he told his servant to look forth toward the sea yet seven times, and the seventh time he saw a cloud coming from the sea “like a man’s hand;” when the prophet knew the promised rain was at hand, and girded up his loins and ran before Ahab’s chariot even to the gates of Jezreel. (See 1 Kings xviii. 4-46.)

This mountain, which is highly worthy of our notice as the one on which the ark rested, is, by the general consent of western Asia and of Europe, decided to be the mountain of Ara Dagh in Armenia; and that this opinion is correct, would seem plain from the statement of the Bible that Araratwasin Armenia, taken in connection with the fact, that in all that country there is no mountain comparable to this. It is in all respects a most noble mountain, and one of the finest in the world. “When our eyes first beheld it,” says Kitto, “we had already seen the loftiest and most remarkable mountains of the old world; but yet the effect of the view ofthismountain was new and surprising. The reason appeared to be this, that most of the loftiest mountains of the world are but peaks of the uppermost ridge of mountain chains; but Ararat, though not so high as many of these, is far more grand and impressive, because it is not merely the summit of a ridge, but a whole and perfect mountain.” “Nothing,” as Mr. Morier well remarks, “can be more beautiful than its shape, or more awful than its hight; all the surrounding mountains sink into insignificance when compared with it. It is perfect in all its parts; having no hard, rugged features, and no unnatural prominences; but everything is in harmony, and all combines to render it one of the sublimest objects of nature.” It rises from the valley of the river Aras, the ancientAraxes, gradually towering from its broad base, till it reaches the region of perpetual snow, (which is about one-third below its summit,) when it becomes more conical and steep, and is surmounted with a crown of ice which glitters in the sun with peculiar brightness. And near to this peak, and rising from the same broad base, is another almost exactly like it, but smaller, which is doubtless the reason why the sacred text speaks of “themountainsof Ararat,” rather than of a single mountain. The tallest of the two is seventeen thousand, seven hundred and fifty, and the lowest thirteen thousand, four hundred and twenty feet above the level of the sea, which is some three thousand feet lower than theplain on which Ararat stands. The top of the mountain, it is said, was never reached till 1829, when Mr. Parrot, a German, succeeded in climbing to it, and there found a slightly convex, and almost circular plain, some two hundred and twenty feet in diameter, declining steeply on all sides; from which some suppose, that the ark must have rested on the lesser Ararat, as it would have been difficult for its inmates, including heavy cattle, to have descended from the higher summit.

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