306

NAZARETH-MOUNT OF PRECIPITATION.

thou that art highly favoured;" also, the house of Joseph cut out of the rock, and the pillar curiously (the inhabi tants say miraculously) suspended from the roof. They wished to take us to another part of the town, to see the stone-table from which Christ dined with his disciples both before and after his resurrection—a visit which procures seven years' indulgence to the deluded pilgrims of the Romish Church; but we were no way inclined to see more of their follies, and grievously offended our guide by declining to go. One or two of the paintings in the convent are good, especially a large one of the Annunciation, but it has the painful profanation of representing God the Father as an old man. There is also a curious ancient picture of Christ, said to be the very one sent by him to the King of Edessa, on which is inscribed, "Hac vera imago Domini," &c.

From the convent garden the monks pointed out to us the Mount of Precipitation, regarded by them as the hill from which the angry Nazarenes wished to cast the Saviour headlong, about a mile and a half distant from the town. This is a tradition which disproves itself, being contrary to the express words of the Gospel narrative, "They rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong."* We next visited the place which Dr. Clarke conjectured to be the true precipice, immediately above the small church of the Maronites. This is really a continuation of the hill upon which the town is built. It is composed of limestone rock, forming several precipices, so that a person cast down from above would without doubt have more than one dangerous fall. We had no hesitation, when standing there, in concluding that the brow of that hill was the very spot where the men of Nazareth rejected the Lord of glory.

The white rocks all round Nazareth give it a peculiar aspect. It appears dry and tame, and this effect is increased by the trees being powdered over with dust during the summer season. The heat was very great, and the glare from the rocks painful to the eyes. There is a good fountain near the entrance of the town, called the Fountain of the Virgin, because it is said that Mary and her Son were in the habit of drawing water there.

* Luke iv. 29.

LEAVE NAZARETH-CANA OF GALILEE.

307

We were detained in this town longer than we intended, by the abrupt departure of the muleteer whom we had engaged at Saphet to accompany us to Acre, but who had set off to join a caravan that was collecting near the town, and bound for Damascus. On discovering this, we went to the Cadi to lay our complaint before him, and found several people waiting at the door of his house, who, when he made his appearance, kissed the hem of his garment-an act, like the kissing of the image of Baal,* indicating respect and reverence. Perhaps also there may be an allusion to the same custom in the words, "Kiss ye the son lest he be angry." The Cadi could do nothing for us, and sent us to the Muteselim; and he again said it was not a cause to be laid before him, but before the Sheikh! By this time, however, the man was out of reach, and we had no thought of remaining till search was made for him. We therefore proceeded on our journey without him.

We left Nazareth by a well-worn track leading over the rocky hills to the north-west, passing on our right a village called Reineh. Beyond this lies Kefr Kenna, generally supposed to be Cana of Galilee, where Jesus made the water wine. In an hour and a half we reached Sephourieh, the ancient Sepphoris. The name, which means "a bird," (in Hebrew,D,) seems to be derived from the position of the town; the town being on an eminence, like a bird perched on a hill-top. Its castle is in ruins, but still occupies the summit of the hill. The village is small, but many fragments of pillars and other ruins lie scattered about. Having so lately visited Tiberias, lying low upon the edge of the Lake of Galilee, we could now see the force of the saying of a rabbi, who wished his portion to be with those who began the Sabbath at Tiberias, and ended it at Sepphoris." The sun lingers of course longer upon the hill of Sephourieh, and makes a longer day than is enjoyed in low-lying Tiberias. Rabbi Judah, the holy, who completed the Mishna, was born in this town.

The people of this village were kind and affable. Some of them offered us leban, of which we gladly sat down in a court-yard to partake. Beside us were women and

* 1 Kings xix. 18. Hos. xiii. 2.

+ Ps ii. 12.

The researches of Robinson go far to prove, that the true site of Cana of Galilee is not Kefr Kenna, but Kana el Jelil, a ruined village three hours north of Nazareth. The latter village was within our view after leaving Sephourieh, but we did not take notice of it.

308

SEPHOURIEH-AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS.

children busily employed in arranging and binding the leaves of the tobacco plant in bundles. A large thrashing-floor was also near, and we put many questions to the peasants in regard to their farming operations. A flat board, which is drawn over the corn to bruise it, is called loah. It is made of two or three boards firmly

united, and the bottom is spiked with stones arranged at regular distances, not unlike the nails in a ploughman's shoe. It is drawn by two horses or oxen, a boy sitting upon it, and driving them round and round. This instrument is universally used, and is probably "the thrashing instrument" mentioned by the prophet.* The wooden fork for throwing the bruised corn up in the air, is called midra, and the flat, hollow wooden shovel next used for a similar purpose, is called raha. The latter is evidently the fan of the New Testament. When this implement is used, the wheat falls down in a heap on the thrashing-floor, while the chaff is carried away by the wind, and forms another large heap at a little distance. The peasants do not burn it; they give it to their cattle; but it is so perfectly dry, that, were it set on fire, it would be impossible to quench it. In how striking a manner do these simple customs illustrate the words of David,

Isa. xxviii. 27.

PASS OF ABILENE-SURMISES OF DANGER.

309

"The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away;"* and those of John the Baptist concerning Jesus, "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner: but he will burn up the chaff with fire unquenchable."t

Leaving Sephourieh, we proceeded still north-west, and after half an hour of a rough undulating road, entered upon a vast plain, stretching far to the north and east, bounded by gently swelling hills. Here and there we came upon fields of dhura, but by far the greater part was covered with weeds and thistles. The ground was very hard, so that although there seems to be a good deal of travelling upon this road, it was not at all cut up, but smooth and good. No wheels ever pass over it. Here we missed our servant Antonio, and found that, erroneously supposing that he had left a cloak behind at Sephourieh, he had gone back without our knowledge to recover it. Approaching the north-west corner of the vast plain, where the hills come near to one another, and form the entrance to the fine pass of Abilene, we arrived at a well and a ruined khan, where we halted for a little time to wait for Antonio; but as he did not appear, we prepared to go on without him. Meanwhile an old man came up to the well riding on an ass, and immediately warned us not to proceed further, for there were eight armed Bedouins in the valley, who had stopped and threatened him: and had allowed him to escape only because he was old, and his ass worth nothing. They were lurking for the very purpose of waylaying travellers that might be passing on to Acre. On hearing his account we were considerably alarmed, and hesitated what to do. One proposed that we should encamp in the old khan, and proceed under cloud of night; and another that we should cross the plain to a village in sight. While we were deliberating, some other men came up, who were leading camels to Sephourieh. They had met nobody in the valley, and conjectured that what the old man took for Arabs might be the Pasha's soldiers. Our muleteers, who were much afraid, and anxious to turn back, said that these men wanted us to be taken, because we were all Christians. At length, considering that we had no place of safety in which we might encamp, and that the road to Acre might be as dangerous on the

310 VALLEY OF ABILENE-COMPANY OF BEDOUINS.

morrow as that day, we decided to go forward, commit ting ourselves once more to Him who keepeth Israel, and who had helped us hitherto. Accordingly, we left the well, and soon entered the pleasant valley of Zebulun, now called Wady Abilene, connecting the plain above described with the plain of Acre. Sometimes the valley was broad and level, like a small plain, well cultivated, and enclosed with steep wooded hills; sometimes it narrowed almost to the straitness of a defile. At one of these narrow passes one of the men picked up a stick which we recognised as belonging to Antonio. This circumstance excited many conjectures. We hoped that he had in some way got safely on before us; although some of the men started the suspicion that he must have fallen into the hands of the Arabs. We journeyed on, and about sunset met with a company of Bedouins, of a dark and formidable appearance, but not armed. They were riding on asses, and each carried a massy club in his hand. They looked closely at us, but passed quietly on, returning our salutation. Our servants supposed that, when they saw that we were Franks, they had imagined that we must be carrying fire-arms. To us it seemed like the deliverance of Jehoshaphat, when “God moved them to depart from him."* We met no other travellers during the rest of our way. The valley is long, and declines very gently toward the west; the hills on either side are often finely wooded, sometimes rocky and picturesque. The road is one of the best in Palestine, and was no doubt much frequented in ancient days.

Issuing from the valley, we saw with the last rays of evening, high upon a hill on our left, the town of Abilene, a fine-looking place. There is little doubt that this is the ancient Zebulun, on the border of Asher,†_the modern name being a corruption of the ancient. Travellers who have visited it, have found there the remains of arches and other buildings. We only saw it at a distance and in the twilight. Josephus says, that on account of its populousness it was called "Zaßovλwv àvópur,"‡ (q. d. well-manned, or well-peopled, Zabulon).

Still further on is a village called Chamforeh. In half an hour after, we left the road, and crossed the valley to the right, to a small hamlet called Fatria, with two other villages, Damoun and Ruesh, on the right hand

2 Chron. xviii. 31.

+ Josh. xix. 27.

B. J. ii. 22.