262

TYRE-FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY.

palaces remains, except the prostrate granite pillars, over which the wave is ever beating. We remembered, too, as we looked along the bare shore, the minute predictior of Ezekiel, "They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God."* Alexander the Great seems actually to have scraped away the very rubbish as well as the stones of Old Tyre to construct his causeway; and now the bare rocks along the shore, on some part of which the ancient city must have stood, are literally a place for the spreading of nets. The first man we met in the gate of Tyre was a fisherman carrying a load of fish, and the fishing-boats in the harbour we have already mentioned. If, indeed, the sea has made an advance upon the coast, then the very rocks where Old Tyre stood may be now under water, and the nets of the fisherman may thus also be literally spread over them. And this, also, would give new meaning to the expression, "Thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters;"‡ although at the same time the ruin of her fleets and merchant-ships will completely satisfy the terms of this prophecy. How interesting, too, is the very uncertainty that hangs over the true situation of ancient Tyre, some placing it on the shore, some at Ras el-Ain farther inward, and some on a rocky eminence called Marshuk, to the north-east-all combining to shew how awfully the thrice-repeated curse has been fulfilled, "I will make thee a terror and thou shalt be no more;" and how true to the letter," Though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again."

Looking to the bare rock of the island, or to the vil lage that stands upon it, without a remnant of the triple wall and fortress once deemed impregnable, a traveller is ready to ask, in the very words of the prophet, “Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days?" "Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and

* Ezek. xxvi. 4. Dr. Newcome's note on this passage gives us the full sense: "The bare shining surface of a rock."

+ The words of Quintus Curtius, quoted by Dr. Keith, are very remarkable: "HUMUS aggerebatur." Ezek. xxvii. 34.

Ezek. xxvi. 21; xxvii. 36; xxviii. 19

JEWS-SYNAGOGUE.

263 to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth." "He stretched out his hand over the sea: he shook the kingdoms; the Lord hath given a commandment against the merchant-city, to destroy the strongholds thereof."* But a brighter day is yet to dawn upon Tyre, when it shall be a city of holiness. For the same sure word of prophecy declares, that though after its ruin it should return to its sinful gains, yet a time is coming, when "her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord; it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing." May not this allude to some event connected with Israel's restoration; for it is they who shall be in a peculiar manner the people" that dwell before the Lord?" Perhaps as Hiram supplied cedars and other materials for the temple in the days of Solomon, Tyre may again send her supplies to assist Israel on their return home.

The first Jew whom we met in Tyre was from Algiers. He had there acquired a little knowledge of French from the army, and told us that there were about a hundred Jews in Tyre; of these, five families had come recently from Algiers, and the rest from Saphet, on occasion of their dwellings being destroyed by the earthquake on 1st January, 1837. He led us to the synagogue, one of the poorest and most wretched we had yet seen, having a solitary lamp burning beside the ark. Several Jews gathered round us. The Hebrew Bible was produced, and we soon entered into conversation on divine things. One interesting young Jew seemed a little impressed, and often carried his difficulties to the elder ones, seeking from them an answer. Under a verandah, outside the synagogue, an elderly Jew sat on the ground teaching some children. Mr. Bonar tried the children with a few simple sentences in Hebrew, and they in turn asked him in Hebrew the names of several Scripture characters, putting such questions as п ap, "who was the father of Moses?"

We next visited the Rabbi of Tyre at his own house. He seemed a sagacious-looking man, kind and polite in his manners. In discussing passages of Scripture, when Mr. Calman pushed him hard, he invariably resorted to his commentators, taking down from a shelf some old thin folios. As we sat looking out at the open window

Isa. xxiii. 7, 8, 9, 11.

+ Isa. xxiii. 18.

264

TYRE-DISCUSSION WITH THE RABBI.

upon the bright blue sea, we observed that "the earth shall yet be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea;" upon which he made this interesting remark, that as there are many caverns, and inequalities of depths in the sea, and yet the surface of the water is all smooth and level; so shall it be then, people will still possess unequal capacities of knowledge and enjoyment, yet all will present one common appearance, because each will be filled up to his measure. He asserted, that the purpose for which the Jews are now scattered over the world, is to diffuse the knowledge of the true God; but was at a loss for a reply when we referred to Ezekiel xxxvi. 23, "My great name, which ye have profaned among the heathen."

We now retired to the khan, and spread our carpets for a little repose before leaving Tyre, but our visit excited curiosity throughout the Jewish community, and many whom we had not seen before came to visit us. With our back to a pillar of the khan, and the Hebrew Bible in our hand, we maintained a broken conversation, often with half a dozen at a time, some going away, others coming. One, as he departed, cried, “Come away from that Epicurus." Some were a little angry, but most were kind and good-natured. We showed that Isaiah i. 7, had been fulfilled before their eyes, "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, your land strangers devour it in your presence;" and, therefore, v. 3 must be true of themselves, "Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." We proved to them from Zech. xiii. 1, that, as a nation, they did not at present know the way of forgiveness; for God says, "In that day, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness." Several of them remained with us to the very last, conducted us through the narrow bazaar, and parted with us outside the gate, with expressions of kindness.

As we moved slowly round the fine sandy bay on the southern side of the peninsula, we remembered the solemn scene which that very shore had witnessed, when the Apostle Paul visited Tyre on his way to Jerusalem, as recorded by Luke. The Tyrian disciples "All brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city; and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed."*

* Acts xxi. 5.

ANCIENT TOMB-TRIBE OF ASHER.

265

Not far from the town, our mules stopped to drink at a well, where the trough was of beautifully carved stone, and seemed to have been an old sarcophagus. We passed a small grove of fragrant lemon-trees, and then crossed an old aqueduct, with water running in it. Several of the gardens had watch-towers in them, in one of which we saw two men sleeping on a sort of loft. We soon began to ascend the heights which form the eastern background of the plain around Tyre, and often looked back to enjoy the magnificent view of the sea, the coast of Syrophenicia, and Tyre itself, with its rocks stretching south from the end of the peninsula.

In two hours from Tyre, our attention was attracted by a singular monument or tomb, resting upon immense hewn stones. The upper stone was very large, and it was not easy to see how it had been lifted on to its fellows. Where are they that raised it? Their name and object are alike unknown.*

Reaching the summit of the ridge, our road lay southeast, as it penetrated into the interior of the country. In crossing the hills, we noticed in them another capability of this wonderful land, distinct from any we had seen in the southern parts. The sides, and even the summits, were sprinkled over with vigorous olive-trees. Some of these hills were no doubt 1000 feet high, yet their tops were frequently crowned with groves of olives, showing how fertile and how suitable for the cultivation of the olive this range must have been in former days. This was the more remarkable, because we were now in the tribe of Asher; and the prophetic blessing pronounced upon Asher, was, "Let him dip his foot in oil." His hills appear to be suitable neither for the vine nor for pasture, but for the olive, whose berries yield the finest oil. To this also, as well as to Asher's luxuriant plains in the south of his possession, the words of Jacob may refer, "out of Asher his bread shall be fat." Nor is it unlikely that the promise," Thy shoes shall be iron and brass," may have a reference to these hills, that were his defence against his hostile neighbours in Tyre and Sidon. In days of quietness and peace, his hills yield him

* Robinson mentions this monument, and says that it bears among the common people the name of Kabr Hairan, "Sepulchre of Hiram." "It is possible (he adds) that this sepulchre once held the dust of the friend and ally of Solomon." Vol. iii. 385. » Deut. xxxiii. 25.

t Deut. xxxiii: 24.

Gen. xlix. 20.

266

KANAH OF ASHER-VILLAGE OF SEDEEKIN.

oil in which he dips his feet; in war, his hills are to him as shoes of iron and brass.

In an hour from the ancient monument, we came to a kind of basin in the bosom of the mountains-a gentle hollow, with a thriving village in the midst. It was surrounded with luxuriant corn-fields and verdant olives, and the villagers were all busy at the corn-floor. We asked an old peasant the name of the village; he said, "Kana." The name thrilled to our heart, so strange and pleasant was it to hear a Scripture name from the lips of an ignorant Moslem. It is every way probable that this is the Kanah of Asher mentioned in Joshua.* Near it are some caves or tombs, and there is a heap of stones on a hill to the right which caught our attention, but which we had no time to investigate. The situation of the village is retired and peaceful. In the last cottage we passed, some Jews, who seemed to be travellers, were much surprised when we saluted them in the holy tongue.

Leaving Kana, we proceeded up a steep ascent, on the summit of which was another village called Sedeekin, that is, "The faithful," so called by the Moslems because none but Mahometans dwell there. It is beautifully situated in the midst of fields of tobacco and fig-trees in abundance. It may be the site of some one of the towns named along with Kanah, “Hebron, and Rehob, and Hammon." The inhabitants were all in the field reaping their harvest. The climate on the high hills of Galilee we found to be delicious. The hills around, as far as we could see, were covered with a carpet of green, not of grass, however, but of brushwood and dwarf-trees. Crossing over a low hill, and descending a very steep declivity, we came to the entrance of a deeply shady glen, called Wady Deeb, that is, "Valley of the Wolf," no doubt from its being a favourite resort of that animal. Here we met a Moslem returning from cutting wood, with his axe in his hand, while his wife followed carrying the bundle of wood upon her head, an example of the degradation to which women are subjected in eastern countries. The steep hills on each side of the pass rose to the height of 800 feet, and were finely clothed with tall shrubs and trees. The road winds through by a footpath, which in winter is probably the bed of a torrent. Nothing could exceed the romantic beauty of this ravine.

*Josh. xix. 28.