IN NORTHERN GALILEE N OW We Are Ready to Go Northward. But
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CHAPTER XVII IN NORTHERN GALILEE OW we are ready to go northward. But there is another N place I must mention before leaving. I mean Chorazin. According to Hierome it was located two miles from Caper naum along the sea. About two miles from Capernaum some ruins have been found called Kerase. Is this Chorazin Y Some believe it; others do not. Thompson in his, ''The Land and the Book,'' Vol. 11, page 8, says, ''There is no place that rivals Kerase.'' But this is not in accordance with the truth, because Brocardus (1283) writes, that "Jordan falls into the sea be tween Capernaum and Chorazin,'' and according to the map of Marino Sanuto (1308) Chorazin was located to the east of the sea of Gennesaret. According to another author, Menkes, there was a village east of Jordan by the name Quarzin. This location seems to correspond with the description of Wilibald, who relates that on his journey about the sea from Tiberias He came first to Magdala, Capernaum, Bethsaida, and then to Chorazin. It is difficult to determine which is the right place. According to the general opinion Kerase is the right one. Quite recently they have found the ruins of a synagogue with Corinthian pillars, and a road leads from this place to the ancient caravan highway, which passes through these sections. The road from Capernaum leads us in a northwesterly direc tion over the hills and by a Chan, where· some Arabs are tenting with their camels. After an hour's journey we came, at about twelve o'clock, to an old Chan, Djub Yusef, i. e. the Chan at the [ 365] THROUGH THE LAND OF PROMISE well of Joseph. Here we stopped for dinner, but it was very warm and no water was to be had. Near this Chan, on a ridge, is a well, and the Mohammedans hold, that this is the well in which Joseph was put by his brothers. Such an assertion shows a gross deficiency in the knowledge of the Scriptures, but we must remember that it is the Mohammedans that make such an assertion. Here is the main road and a great many Arabs are riding back and forth. Some greeted us very kindly with their "marhaba", a word of greeting, which means about the same as "good day." Along a stony road we proceeded in the hot sunshine, and came in about an hour to a crossroad, where the road to the left leads to Safed. The road to the right is the one we shall follow. Within about half an hour's ride from here we would come to Safed. We followed the road along hills and val leys with the Jewish colony, Roschpina as the goal. This village is also called Djaune. This colony is located on the northeast side of the Safed mountains and to the southwest from the waters of Merom. We came here late in the afternoon and resolved to stay here till the next day. From this place there is a most excellent view towards the sea of Galilee, and along the valley of Jordan towards the northeast to Lebanon. Here you see Hermon as a real giant at the northern boundary line of the land. In Roschpina we rode up along a very steep street and lodged at the house of a Jew, who kept a kind of hotel. The buildings of the colony, which are scattered around on the side of the mountain, are made of stone and are white. Towards the northeast is the plain, where the Jews have their vineyards and their grain fields. In this colony the people also have a number of mul berry trees and cultivate the silkworm and raisins. Our Jewish host was very kind and gave us a very good room, but here we had no peace on earth because of flies and mosquitoes, which [ 366] THROUGH THE LAND OF PROMISE kept us all the time on the warpath. Besides these there were a number of geese and chickens in the neighborhood. Now and then during the night they gave us some of their melodies, and we had to listen, because they were so near. The 29th September we arose early in the morning, and at half past five we were in the saddle, ready to go to Caesarea Philippi. My poor "mule boy" was battling with his fever and could not come along. My dragoman was my only com panion. We rode towards the northeast down the slopeJ until we came to a road which passes along the west side of the waters of Merom. The Arabs call this lake Bahrat el-Hule. It is about three miles long and two wide. This is the water of Merom, of which we read in the book of Joshua (11: 5-7). Here the kings of the Canaanites marshalled their armies against the children of Israel, and here Joshua came suddenly upon them. This happened at the time, when Israel conquered the country, and divided the land between the various tribes. This lake is only from ten to sixteen feet deep, and forms a triangle, whose base faces the north. The river Jordan flows in at the north end and runs out at the southern end. Along the shores, and on the north side there grows a certain kind of grass, from six to twelve feet high. It is called ba.bir or papy rus-reed by the Arabs. On this marsh near the lake are vari ous kinds of wild animals, such as wild boars, panthers, and buffaloes, that move around in this bog. The middle of the lake is free from weeds and here the Jews from Roschpina and J esud Hamaala, another Jewish colony, located on the west side of the sea, do their fishing. We had a chance to taste this fish from the water of Merom, and it was quite good. There is an abundance of fish in this lake. The valley where we rode, is about two or three miles wide. To the east we have the mountains of Gaulanitis and on [ 367] THROUGH THE LAND OF PROMISE the west side the ridge of Naphtali. These mountains are not very high, but fall alm.ost perpendicularly down into the valley. North of the lake the land is called Erd el-Hule or the Land of Rule. Having passed by the lake, we came to more elevated land. Here, along the fields, the Arabs sat with their guns in their garden lodges. These lodges are made of poles with a straw roof, which gives protection from the sun. When I saw these lodges, I thought of the words in Isaiah, ''And the daugh ter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city" (Is. 1: 8). This val ley is occupied by the Ghawarineh-Arabs, or as the word im plies, the Arabs in the Ghor or "cavity." Besides tilling the soil, they tend to their flocks, hunt, fish, and weave carpets of straw. The land is rich and gives good crops. When we had gone quite a distance along this valley, we came to a foun tain, called Ain el-Betala. Further north there is a still larger spring, called Ain el-Melaha, which gives water enough to turn a mill. Here we watered our horses and rested awhile, watch ing the Arabs, who were tending to their herds of cattle, and cultivating cornfields. We rode along during the whole fore noon until we came to the foothills; here we turned a little towards the northeast. The road is exceedingly stony, and streams of water poured forth between the stones along the pathway. Here we saw, along the sides of Lebanon and Anti lebanon, many villages and cities. At last we came to one of the tributaries of the river Jordan, Hasbani. This river we followed for quite a long while. The country is barren and desolate. We saw very few human dwellings along the road. We did not see a single human being for a long time, and the whole vicinity bore the stamp of desolation itself. Part of the time we followed an old Roman road, which must have been a regular highway in the olden time, but now there are only [ 368] THROUGH THE LAND OF PROMISE pieces of it fit for use. Here is the old Via Maris of the ancient world, as it was called during the Middle Ages. We followed Hasbani for quite a distance and came at last to an old bridge which the Romans have built. This bridge has the peculiar name of Djisr el Rhadjar. It is made of stone, of course, and almost ready to fall. When we came to the bridge we stepped down from the horses, and led them across, because we feared that the horses might not dare to go over this miserable look ing structure. We came over safely and went in a northeast erly direction to the old Dan. The river Hasbani follows the valley up to the northern end of the land of Canaan, to the vil lage Hasbeya. A smaller branch of this river, a tributary of the Jordan, goes up to Rasjeja, but it is dry in the summer. The 1well of Hasbani, which flows all the year round, is 1630 feet above the level of the sea. This branch of the river is about twelve miles long. On the other side of the river was an abundance of stones and the road was exceedingly bad.