CHAPTER XVI

 

TABOR AND TIBERIAS.

 

WHILE we were busy with sight-seeing in Naz­areth, our guide was diligently engaged in pre­paring for our future journey. The supply of bread brought from Jerusalem was exhausted, and a fresh stock must be laid in from the village baker's oven. It proved to be the most sodden, sour, and execrable apology for food we ever had tasted; and when, afterward, it became thor­oughly dry, we thought, "When we ask bread, will he give us a stone?"

Leaving our camping-ground, near the "Well of the Virgin," on the morning of April 14, we passed over the gentle hills lying to the east of Nazareth, on our way to Mount Tabor. The morning air was cool and bracing, and our horses, refreshed by their long rest over Sunday, went forward without the usual amount of urging.

The dew lay thickly scattered upon the grass, and glistened upon the leaves of the many oak trees, which bordered our winding pathway. The country, though rather broken, was quite fertile and afforded good pasture, but only a small por-­

 

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tion of it was under cultivation.  After passing the water-shed we began the long and gradual descent to the foot of Tabor. At the point of our approach, a slight elevation joins the mountain with these hills of Nazareth, forming its only connection with the surrounding summits. The distance traversed to this point is said to be about five miles. We found the ascent of Tabor quite difficult, the trail often mounting over the project­ing ledges of limestone, where a misstep might roll both horse and rider down the mountain side. We came upon many thickets of oak trees, with syringa and other shrubs, amid which wolves, wild boars, lynxes, and various reptiles have their coverts.   We reached the summit at ten o'clock, having been just three hours on the way from our encampment. A fine Saracenic arch, connected with an ancient wall which formerly encircled the whole plateau, and named Bab-el-Hawa--" Gate of the Wind "--confronted us immediately upon reaching the level area. Passing under this, we paused to take in the southern view, which in­cludes a section of the surface of Esdraelon. We then passed on eastward over what seemed to have been once a place for a garden, now affording fine pasture for the herd of goats kept here by the monks.            The whole surface is less than a quarter of a mile long and an eighth of a mile wide, and

 

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is quite level. The height of Tabor is variously estimated at from 1000 to 1400 feet above the level of the surrounding plain, and from 1700 to 1900 feet above the level of the sea.*

At the east end of the oblong space we found the old fortress which the monks of the Greek Church have turned into a place of worship and a monastery. Here we dismounted, and giving our horses in charge of the attendants, went on to the southeast angle, where we found the remains of extensive walls and fallen columns. This is the point, doubtless, where tradition has located the scene of the Transfiguration, and these are the re­mains of elaborate structures once erected here in honor of it.

Had we positive Scripture evidence for locating the Transfiguration here, no more suitable place could be imagined. The isolation of the mountain, its loftiness and symmetry, the extended views afforded in every direction, and the vicinity of other places visited by Christ, would render this place most fitting as the scene of that great event. While tradition favors the theory that this is the Mount of Transfiguration, modern research de-­

 

* The survey gives 1843 feet above the sea, while Prof. Socin states that its height above the table-land is about 1055 feet and above the Mediterranean Sea 2018 feet.--Schaff's Dict. of Bible, p. 843.

 

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cides against it, and locates the scene on Mount Hermon, near Banias. The evangelists leave this matter of the location an open question, and prob­ably we would do well to follow their example. The chief objection to the traditional view is that this mountain was occupied by a fortress and town in the days of Christ, and a wall, which Jo­sephus declares that he himself rebuilt some sixty years afterward. The mention of  “snow," in the evangelist's description, is also regarded as incidental proof that Hermon, which is generally cov­ered with snow, is the mountain intended.* Dr. Thomson says, however: "The fact that. there may have been a village on the top at that time does not present any difficulty. There are many secluded and densely-wooded terraces on the north and northeast sides admirably adapted to the scenes of the Transfiguration. I have been de­lighted to wander through some of them, and cer­tainly regretted that my early faith in this site had been disturbed by prying critics; and, after reading all that they have advanced against the current tradition, I am not fully convinced."+

While the word Tabor does not occur in the New Testament, it is several times mentioned in the Old: first, as on the border between Issachar

 

* Mark 9: 3.

+ Land and Book, vol. ii. p.139.

 

TABOR AND TIBERIAS.       275

 

and Zebulun, and then as the rendezvous for Barak's army--to which allusion has already been made--and then by the Psalmist,  “Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name."*

Upon returning to the monastery for our horses we hoped to see something of the institution, but the gate was closed, and as our horses were ready we mounted for the descent.+

Quite a romantic story is told of an aged monk named Erinna, who lived on Mount Tabor for many years, and died here in the year 1857. He was the son of an archimandrate of a monas­tery in the Crimea, and took orders at a very early age, with the expectation that he should succeed his father in authority. But soon after he had settled down in this quiet life, a vision, as he thought, appeared to him, in which he saw a

 

 * Psalm 89:12.

+ The tradition that Tabor was the scene of the Transfiguration is as old as the fourth century and as Saint Jerome. Helena built a church on the top of Tabor in 326. In the sixth century three churches are mentioned as existing then, and later a mon­astery. These were plundered by the Muslims in 1113, and again in 1183 by the Saracens, and a third time laid waste in 1187 by Saladin. One was partially restored but again destroyed in 1209, and a fourth erected from the ruins, which was itself destroyed in 1263. The ruins on the summit are therefore Jew­ish, Byzantine, Crusading and Saracenic. For in B.C. 218 Anti­ochus the Great founded a town on the top of the hill, and later Josephus caused it to be fortified. Tabor is mentioned eight times in the Old Testament.--Ed. Am. S. S. Union.

 

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mountain of most peculiar form, and heard a voice saying, "Arise, my son, and behold thy home upon earth." The dream was repeated seven nights running, and at last the dreamer did arise. He knew not where to go to find the mountain, and no one gave him any information about it; however, he set out, and went first to Mount Athos, then to Mount Sinai, and then to Mount Ararat in Armenia; but none answered to the picture in his dream. He travelled far into the east, then into the west; eleven years of jour­neying, and at last he stood before Mount Tabor. "This is it," he said; " I have found it; this is the strange shape I saw in my dream; I have sought, and found nothing like this!" So he ascended the mountain, and never left it again. Here he lived for many years, and collected money from pilgrims, which, at the time of his death, amounted to enough to build the church and monastery. He is said to have been remarkable for his long beard, and for a tame panther which, like the ancient hermits, he made his constant companion. He was a man of huge physical pro­portions, and claimed to subsist entirely upon milk and herbs.*

 

* Readers of the book named Ben Hur will probably conclude that the author, Gen. L. Wallace, obtained the foundation for its opening chapters from the legend of the monk of Mount Tabor.

 

TABOR AND TIBERIAS.                                  277

 

We descended the upper portion of the mount­ain by the usual path, and then turned away to the northeast across one of its lower ridges, and, at the distance of one mile, stopped for luncheon. We found ourselves in what western farmers  would call an "oak-opening."  The trees were far apart, and the ground between them was covered with green grass, variegated with many beautiful flowers. We here took our last view of Mount Tabor, which, from this point, appeared like a truncated cone, rounded off at the top. Its gen­eral features reminded me of those extensive mounds which are found at Graves' Creek, Vir­ginia, and Miamisburg, Ohio, though much greater in its altitude and proportions; but Tabor is ev­idently a natural tumulus, altogether too great to have been fashioned by the hand of man.

Our course now lay toward the northeast, over a country with a slightly-undulating surface, grad­ually ascending as we advanced, but yet a contin­uation of the plain surrounding Tabor. About the middle of the afternoon we passed the khan of Tujjar, a place famous for robbers, but beauti­fully situated in a shallow wady the waters of which flow southward. As we were approaching the high table-lands which overlook Tiberias, we came in sight of the "Horns of Hattin," supposed to be the Mount of Beatitudes. This is a ridge

 

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of ground less than a quarter of a mile in length, and rising above the level of the plain over which we passed to a height of from thirty to forty feet. At either end is an elevation, or "horn," from fifty to sixty feet high, from which it takes its name. It commands an extensive view toward the north and east, as it stands upon the edge of a steep hillside bordering the lower plain of Hat­tin, beyond which, and at a still lower level, lies the plain of Gennesaret. The northern half of the Lake of Galilee is also in plain view from this point, beyond which may be seen the hills of the Hauran, with Mount Hermon in the distance. It is doubtless in reference to its appearance on this side that it is named a mountain, as it is only a low ridge when seen from the south. There is no certain proof that it is the place where the Saviour gave his first lengthy discourse; but its nearness to the lake villages; its lofty and isolated situation, leave it without a rival in probability or tradition. "The platform at the top is evi­dently suitable for the collection of a multitude, and corresponds precisely to the level place to which Christ would ‘come down,’ as from one of its higher horns, to address the people. Its situ­ation is central to the peasants of the Galilean hills and the fishermen of the Galilean lake, be­tween which it stands, and would therefore be a

 

TABOR AND TIBERIAS.   279

 

natural resort for Jesus, and for his disciples when they retired for solitude from the shores of the sea; and also for the crowds who assembled from Galilee, from Decapolis, from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from beyond Jordan.’"* Safed, which is supposed to be the “city that is set on an hill,"+  is also within plain sight of this place.

It seems incongruous that a place thus hallowed as is claimed by the utterance of the “Sermon on the Mount" should be the scene of one of the fiercest and most sanguinary conflicts of the times of the Crusaders, but such is the fact recorded in history. On the 5th of July, 1187, the available forces of the Christians in Palestine were encamped upon the ridge, and "round the base of the hill on every side was the victorious army of Saladin ready for the attack." Under the burning rays of a midsummer Syrian sun, cut off from water supply until nearly perishing from heat and thirst, the Christians withstood the Mohammedans in three separate attacks, and then, breaking their ranks, gave themselves up to their fate. This unconditional surrender put the whole land under Mohammedan rule, in which condition it remains until the present time.

From this point we crossed the lofty plateau,

 

* Sinai and Palestine, p. 360.  + Matthew 5:14.

 

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from which the lake can be seen to the greatest advantage, and went directly to Tiberias. While descending the long slope stretching down to the water's edge, we came upon a great army of grass­hoppers, all marching up the hill and evidently on their way to the plain of Esdraelon. Language fails in attempting a description of their numbers. Every weed, every blade of grass, every stone and hummock, seemed covered with them. They were a little larger than the ordinary American grasshopper, but otherwise did not differ from it in appearance. As the prophet Jeremiah said of the soldiers of Babylon, whom he com­pared to these insects, they were "innumerable." An immense flock of white sea-fowls, griffons or vultures, were on the track of the grasshoppers and enjoying a royal feast, to the great admira­tion of the poor farmers.

We rode into Tubariya, i.e., Tiberias, through a breach made in the walls by the earthquake of Jan­uary 1, 1837. This is the only town of any con­siderable size left on the shore of the lake, and though it appears well when seen in cuts and en­gravings, it is sadly uninviting to the weary trav­eller who is in search of food and shelter. The city wall must have been originally twenty or thirty feet in height, having tall towers at regular 

 

*Jeremiah 46-23.

 

TABOR AND TIBERIAS.   281

 

intervals, a few of which are still standing, though in a shattered condition. Many of the buildings have crevices and great gaps in the walls, and not a few appear to have been hastily thrown together, at a more recent date, from the remains of former and more elaborate structures. The population is said to be 2000,-1000 Moslems, 900 Jews and 100 Christians. But Prof. Socin in 1873 thought there were 3000 people here, more than, half Jews. A tall tower, octagonal in form, with a sort of balcony fringing it around near the top, stands back toward the northwest corner of the

 

282               TENT AND SADDLE LIFE.

 

town, and is quite a conspicuous object as seen from the surrounding shores of the lake. A dozen or two palm trees also rise above the flat­-roofed buildings, attesting the former fertility of the soil and the mild nature of the climate. The houses stand quite on the water's edge, and though no traces of the city wall appear length­wise on this side of the town, the remains of masonry may be seen extending into the water.

The effects of the great earthquake give a des­olate and ragged appearance to the whole place, several hundred houses having been completely destroyed, and the great fortress on the west side utterly ruined. A few years after the catastrophe, a native stated to a companion of Dr. Robinson that he and four others were returning down the mountain west of the city in the afternoon, when the earthquake oc­curred. All at once the earth opened and closed again, and two of his companions disappeared. He ran home affrighted, and found that his wife, mother, and two others in the family, had per­ished. On digging next day where his two companions had disappeared, they were found dead in a standing posture.*

Tiberias is one of the four cities in the land re­garded as holy by the Jews (Jerusalem, Hebron,

 

* Robinson: Researches, vol. iii. p.255.

 

TABOR AND TIBERIAS.   283

 

Safed, are the others), in which, as they say, prayer must be offered without ceasing, or the world would fall back instantly into chaos. They expect also that their Messiah, when he appears, will emerge from the waters of the lake, and landing at Tiberias, proceed to Safed, and there establish his throne on the highest summit of Galilee. Hence the tendency for immigration to this point for people of Jewish ancestry from the various countries of Europe, especially from Po­land and Russia.  When their forefathers ceased their desperate, yet useless, resistance against the Roman government for possession of the country, many of their learned rabbis came to this place, among whom was Rabbi Jehuda Hakkadosh, who, about 180 A.D., compiled the famous collection of Jewish laws and traditions known by the name of the Mishna. Jewish learning still makes a show of existence here, though the teaching is carried on mainly in private houses-one would think, under many disadvantages, inasmuch as the "king of the fleas is said to hold his court at Tiberias." In addition to German, or other languages of their several countries, the Jews here speak rabbinic Hebrew and modern Arabic. Probably in no place in the world is the Hebrew spoken as a ver­nacular language to such an extent as here.*

 

* It is also spoken in Jerusalem.

 

284          TENT AND SADDLE LIFE.

 

We passed through the Jewish quarter, in the centre of the town and quite near the lake, but saw nothing inviting about it. The houses are square, rickety structures, built of stone, crowded up against each other without the slightest regard to order or system, and do not appear to be kept with any great degree of cleanliness. The men wore high fur caps, as no doubt was customary among their ancestors in some far-off cold climate, and beneath which their hair straggled forth in long ringlets, a solitary curl in every case dang­ling in front of each ear. Altogether, they looked like a people in a strange land, beset by poverty and superstition.

Having taken this casual view of the town, we entered our camp, located a few rods east of the ancient city walls, and not far from the lake shore, where we passed a comfortable night.

 

 

CHAPTER XVII.

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE--THE PLAIN OF GEN­NESARET.

 

WE began our first full day of observation at the Lake of Galilee by ascending the rise of ground back of Tiberias for a general view of its situation. We first noted the fact, frequently mentioned, that the lake lies in a deep basin sur­rounded by hills of medium height, between which a number of ravines find their way to its borders.

On the east side two such clefts in the high table-lands are noticed, named Wady Fik and Wady Semakh, which divide the coast-line into three similar sections. On the north the ascent of ground from the Jordan westward is more gradual, culminating in a long ridge of basaltic rock connected with the mountains of Safed, and coming out in a bluff overhanging the lake at the northwest corner. On the west and south the banks are less regular,* the plain of Gennesaret having but a few feet elevation above the water-­level, while two bluffs of considerable height ap­pear, the one above and the other below Tiberias. The Jordan flows into the lake at the north­

 

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east corner, and flows out again at the extreme southern end, through a narrow, tortuous chan­nel. The lake is 12 1/2 miles in length and 6 3/4 in width, and is elliptical or "pear-shaped" " in form. Some writers affirm that it was anciently named Chinnereth*--the “lake of the harp”—from its oval shape; yet others think that a town of this

 

 *Numbers 34:11;   Joshua 12:3, 13:27.

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                287

 

name once stood upon the site of Tiberias,* and that its title was changed to Gennesaret. At a later period the name Galilee--"circuit"--was given to it in connection with the hill country westward, which was originally, allotted to the tribe of Naphtali; and in the days of Herod Antipas it was named  “Sea of Tiberias," in honor of the emperor under whom Herod reigned. We have reference to this man in the Gospel history, for he is the Herod who was rebuked by John the Baptist for "having his brother Philip's wife," for which plainness of speech John was beheaded while in prison.+ Antipas is also named the  “tet­rarch," i. e., ruler over one-fourth of the posses­sious of his father, Herod the Great. Philip's portion was on the east side of the lake, includ­ing the country of Bashan as far northward as Banias, at the foot of Mount Hermon.

The two brothers were rivals, and each founded a city in his own dominions bordering upon the lake. Philip's city was situated on the fertile plain Butiha, at the northeast corner of the lake, and was named Bethsaida Julias, and was within sight of its greater rival here at Tiberias.  When we were on our way to the "Warm Springs," a mile and a quarter south of our camp, we saw the ruins of this once splendid city of Antipas scat­-

 

*Joshua 19:35.        +Matthew 14:4-10.

 

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tered upon the plain which lies between the high bluff of basaltic rock and the shore, of which Jo­sephus speaks as follows:  “Herod the tetrarch; who was in great favor with Tiberius, built a city of the same name at the Lake of Gennesaret. There are warm baths at a little distance from it, in a village named Emmaus." He adds that many came and inhabited this city, Galileans and strangers, some by constraint, since sepulchres were to be taken away in order to make room for the city, and the Jewish law made such inhabit­ants unclean for seven days.* Hence their reluc­tance to dwell here.

In another place Josephus mentions a "house" built here by Antipas which had the figures of living creatures in it; and also that certain Gal­ileans set the entire palace on fire, thinking they should get a great deal of money thereby, be­cause they saw some of the roofs gilt with gold. This, with mention of royal furniture, candle­sticks of Corinthian brass, royal tables and great quantities of uncoined silver, gives us a hint of the original magnificence of the city standing here in the days of our Saviour. Probably Jesus never entered within the city proper. Though he must have often sailed along its quays, and passed behind it on the hill-top when

 

*Antiquities, xviii. 2, 3.

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                289

 

on his preaching tours in Galilee, yet we do not know that he ever actually entered within its walls.          His spirit was more in harmony with the works of God in nature than with the bustle and din of a city whose inhabitants lived for mere sensual gratification and temporal gain. More­over, Antipas had slain the Baptist, and his craft was compared to that of an old fox,* so that it was a matter of prudence for the Prophet of Naz­areth to keep away from his haunts.

We found the traces of walls and foundations of buildings, columns, standing or prostrate, bas­tions or towers of masonry at the water's edge, indicating the extent of the ancient city south­ward beyond modern Tiberias. Near the centre of the plain we came upon a mass of ruins which marked the site of some great structure, and amid the blackened fragments of dressed stones we found three large columns of granite or syen­ite, of a reddish color, sixteen feet in length and two feet in diameter. Evidently there were at one time either buildings or colonnades erected at this point, to which these columns belonged.

In the cliffs behind were grottoes made or en­larged by human labor, and on all sides were traces of former occupation, wealth and skill. The ruins extend nearly to the Warm Springs,

 

 * Luke 13:32.

 

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thus indicating that the ancient city was at least one mile in length, and perhaps a quarter of a mile in width. It is left to the imagination to reconstruct the famous “golden house," the sta­dium and forum, and the mint where the un­coined silver was stored. Evidently Antipas had the city constructed on the plan generally used by the Greeks and Romans, and was not backward in adopting their pastimes and luxuries in his court.

The morning was well advanced when two of us reached the  “Springs," where the fashionable people in the days of Antipas came to bathe, and where a suburb named Emmaus was then located. At this point the bluff approaches the shore, thus terminating the plain already described. Here we noted four springs in a sort of rambling group--there are seven altogether, it is said--is­suing from the base of the basaltic rock some fifty feet back, and fifteen or twenty feet higher than the margin of the lake. The first spring afforded a strong current, which ran in a rivulet to the shore, and was not utilized in any way. The next spring was strongly impregnated with sulphur, and was conducted into a square building of masonry capped with a broad dome. This is the structure usually presented in the foreground of pictures and engravings of the

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                291

 

“sacred lake," taken from this standpoint. We entered the building, and found a round pool, once used for bathing purposes, but now out of repair. The atmosphere was almost stifling, and the water so hot that we could scarcely bear the hand in it. We next entered another and much larger building near by, where was a square tank, built of dressed stone and lined with marble, also filled with the hot mineral water, emitting a pun­gent vapor of gases which rendered the breathing of the visitor labored and difficult.  The people of Tiberias frequent this bath as an antidote for rheumatic and other complaints. The temper­ature of the water is at present from 132 to 144 degrees Fahrenheit. After the earthquake of 1837 the springs became very copious, and the heat and sulphurous odors were also largely increased.

On our way from camp we had noticed that a couple of suspicious-looking characters, who had evidently been waiting at a little khan near the springs for our return, were following us in a       stealthy manner. They now boldly confronted us, fiercely demanding backshish. We hastened past their rendezvous, where several armed Bedouin were breakfasting around a smouldering camp-fire. The clamor of our two assailants aroused the whole clan, and they started up as if to join in the pursuit; but as we were walk-

 

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ing briskly, and as our camp was not far distant, they were left in the lurch, and doggedly retraced their steps, evidently disappointed and angry that their prey had escaped. As we went hastily for­ward, we noted the effects of the earthquake on every hand. The surface of the plain was broken and furrowed, as if a gigantic plough had been driven through it, or as if thunderbolts had fallen upon it, scattering the walls and build­ings in all directions.

We did not visit the outlet of the lake, five and a half miles distant from Tiberias, where the ancient city of Taricheae once stood, now named Kerak. Its situation. Mr. Macgregor describes as admirable for defence. "It was built on a triangular mound, about fifty feet high and four hundred yards in length, which was made into an island by the water led around it. The Jor­dan forms a fosse on one side, while the lake guards another, and an artificial lagoon is toward the mainland. The remains of a causeway westward from the mound show how it was approached when insulated. The desolate mound, so silent now, was once a great city, teeming with people and sounding with the shouts of the brave and the din of battering-rams." *  This was the un­happy town and fortress taken by Titus, aided

 

* Rob Roy, p. 402.

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                293

 

by a small fleet, when the whole lake was colored with blood, and six thousand five hun­dred. corpses were left upon its shores, while thirty thousand still more unfortunate Jews were taken captive and sold in the market-place of Corinth. From this point the Jordan continues its rushing course to the Dead Sea, some sixty miles distant in a straight line; but on account of the windings of the stream, some two hundred miles are actually traversed.

 

"And far below Gennesaret's main

 Spreads many a mile of liquid plain

(Though all seem gathered in one eager bound), Then narrowing cleaves yon palmy lea,

Towards that deep sulphureous sea

Where five proud cities lie, by one dire sentence drowned."

 

Upon breaking camp near Tiberias we entered the town again, and, passing through the Jewish quarter, were reminded of the fact that the ref­ugees slowly gathered to this point when the Romans finally overthrew their holy city and temple at Jerusalem. Here, about 180 A.D., the holy rabbi made the famous collection of Jewish laws and traditions known as the Mishna, as mentioned before. And among the numerous tombs in the vicinity, near which we may have passed in our rambles, one contains the remains of the great Maimonides.

 

* Keble's  “Christian Year."

 

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Arriving at the north wall, with the shattered tower at the end farthest inland, we followed its side to the water's edge, where our guide, at our earnest solicitation, had ordered the fishermen's boat to take us to Magdala. Huge blocks of stone, fallen from the walls, lay in the water, scattered about in such a way as to prevent the boat from getting within a rod of the shore. The brawny fishermen stood in the water ready to do the honors of the occasion. Their single gar­ment-something like a smock-frock, made of coarse cotton-did not reach much below the waist, hence they were in no way inconven­ienced by the flapping waves about them. They grimly seized upon us, and between two raised us in their arms, and, bearing us outward, pitched us into the craft rather unceremoniously. When all were safely on board, four of them leaped in after us, and allowed the boat to drift out into deep water. They leisurely adjusted the great clumsy oars, and, slowly drawing the prow around toward the northwest, proceeded at a snail's 'pace to the place of  destination.

As this was the only boat we saw while around the lake, we gave it a careful inspection. It was about twenty feet in length by about five feet beam, and was propelled by three oars, the last oarsman acting as steersman, for there was no

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                295

 

rudder. Macgregor, who is himself a sailor, says of his visit here in 1869,  “The boats now used in the Lake of Galilee are all about the same size, rowing five oars, but very clumsy ones, and with a very slow stroke. Generally only three oars were in use. Their build is not on bad lines, and rather ‘ship-shape,' with a flat floor; likely to be a good sea-boat, sharp and rising at both ends. The upper streak of the boat is covered with coarse canvas, which adheres to the bitumen and keeps it from sticking to the crew when they lean upon it. The waist is deep, and there are no stern-sheets, but a sort of stage aft."* Probably no great change has been made in the structure of Galilean boats from the days of the disciples; and the part here called a "stage" may be where Christ was asleep upon the pillow or boat-cushion.+  These boats are sometimes driven by a sail, but more frequently propelled by the oar, and, while exceedingly clumsy, are strongly built, and in an ordinary sea quite safe.

The distance from Tiberias to Magdala is three miles, and midway between the two points a small ravine comes down from the hills and opens out into a small triangular plain at the lake shore. As our boat crept lazily around the curve of the

 

 *Rob Roy, p. 348.  + Mark 4:38.

 

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little bay at this point, we noticed that a number of fig and nubk trees, oleanders and other shrubs grew in clumps near the water's edge. There were two round stone reservoirs which are said to be built around the three fountains named 'Ain Barideh (“cold spring"), formerly used for mill purposes.

The main road from Mount Tabor to Damascus comes down this wady and then follows the shore to the north side of the plain of Gennesaret. Tra­dition at present points out a spot in this vicinity where the multitudes were fed by the miracle of the loaves and fishes. As two separate miracles of this kind are mentioned by the evangelists, one of them may have occurred on the west shore at or near this point, though Dr. Thomson and others prefer to locate both on the eastern coast. Here indeed would be plenty of grass where the people could sit down in ranks by hundreds and by fifties; and by this route a great company might be on their way to keep the feast of the Passover at Jerusalem.*  There is an early tradition of the second and also of the seventh century, given by Arculf, that 'Ain Barideh was the scene of the miracle, where also the five thousand " drank after they had eaten their fill." The Sinaitic version of Luke 9:10 and John 6: 22, 23 places the old

 

*John 6: 4, 5.

 

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tradition in a more probable light, for in the former there is no mention of Bethsaida, and in the latter it is said that the place was close to Tiberias.*

However this may be, it seems that the place named Dalmanutha in the New Testament must have been near 'Ain Barideh. In Matthew 15: 39 it is said that Jesus “came into the borders of Magdala," while in Mark 8:10 we read that he "came into the regionsof Dalmanutha." From this we may conclude that Dalmanutha was a town on this coast, near Magdala. Canon Tristram says that the ruins of a village and res­ervoirs here probably identifies the place with the Dalmanutha of the New Testament.+ The identification of the long-lost site of this place is a matter of great interest both to the traveller and the Bible student.

After passing 'Ain Barideh we skirted the high plain bluff which forms the southern border of the Plain of Gennesaret, and under its shadow we drew to the shore and disembarked at Magdala. The place is now called Mejdel, having only about eighty inhabitants, all Moslems, and consists of a few huts built of stone and others composed of wattled cane and rushes. A little Mohammedan mosque or wely with a whitened dome, only in-

­

*Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 280.

 + Land of Israel, p. 429.

 

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creases the forlorn aspect of the place. This is the undisputed site of ancient Magdala, once the home of that Mary whose history is so touchingly recorded in the New Testament.*

In the face of the cliff just west of Magdala we saw the famous caverns from which, as Jose­phus relates,+ Herod dislodged the Galilean ban­ditti by lowering large boxes from the summit, filled with soldiers, who pulled out the desperate wretches with long hook-shaped weapons.

At Magdala we mounted our horses again--the attendants having brought them along the shore from Tiberias--and began to cross the beautiful plain of Gennesaret. We were now approaching the places forever consecrated in Christian hearts by the life and teachings of our Saviour. The names Magdala and Gennesaret recalled the matchless stories of the gospel, and seemed to transport us to the scenes of early gospel history.

The plain of Gennesaret is crescent-shaped, and is situated in the middle of the western side of the Lake of Galilee, being surrounded on three sides with high table-land and bluffs, and having a pretty strip of beach on the coast. It is three miles in length by two in depth, everywhere quite level, and elevated but a few feet above

 

 * Luke 8:2.

+ Antiquities, xiv. 15, 4.

 

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the surface of the lake. Four rivulets wander over its face, supplied from the springs and ra­vines to the westward, amid a tangled growth of thorny papyrus, wild mustard and nubk trees. In crossing I noticed only one little field of wheat, and another of barley, unfenced, and un­promising in appearance because of the lack of proper attention. What a contrast in appearance to its ancient beauty as described by Josephus, who says: "Its nature is wonderful as well as its beauty. Its soil is so fruitful that all sorts of trees can grow upon it, and the inhabitants; accordingly, plant all sorts of trees there: for the temperature of the air is so well mixed that it agrees very well with those several sorts; par­ticularly walnuts, which require the coldest air,

 

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flourish there in vast plenty. One may call this the ambition of nature, where it forces those plants which are naturally enemies to one another to agree together. It is a happy conjunc­tion of the seasons, as if every one laid claim to this country; for it not only nourishes different sorts of autumn fruits beyond men's expectations, but preserves them a great while. It supplies men with the principal fruits; with grapes and figs continually during ten months in the year, and the rest of the fruits as they become ripe, through the whole year; for, besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile fountain. The people of the country call it Capernaum. Some have thought it a vein of the Nile, because it  produces the fish coracinus, as well as that lake which is near Alexandria."

If we knew where this fountain is, we would be able to identify the site of Capernaum, where Jesus dwelt after leaving Nazareth. Various views prevail on this subject; some writers locating it at the middle of the west side of the plain, where an ancient reservoir is found, known as 'Ain Mudauwarah, or the "round fountain." We crossed the tiny stream which flows down to the coast from this source, and examined the sur­roundings, but could not persuade ourselves that this could be the site of the ancient city Caper-

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                301

 

naum.   We continued across the plain, stopping to gather shells on the beach, and plucking the great oleander flowers which fringed the whole coast, until we came to 'Ain et-Tin, "spring of the fig," at the foot of the bluff on the north side, where our camp was pitched for the night.

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE--BETHSAIDA AND CAPERNAUM.

 

FROM our camp at the north end of the plain of Gennesaret we entered upon one of the most interesting parts of our tour in the Holy Land. We were near the spot where our Lord uttered many of his matchless sayings, and where he did many of his "mighty works." Though no shrines or churches are erected here in commemoration of these great events, and though the exact sites of the ancient cities which once stood on this shore of the lake are unknown, yet the general locality is well known, and must ever be regarded as consecrated ground.

We first ascended the bluff  which overhangs the lake, and the only one that comes quite to the shore line on the west coast, on our way northward toward Tell Hum. Making a little detour westward, we came to an old ruin named Khan Minieh, supposed to have been erected near the twelfth century for the use of travellers on their way to and from Damascus. From this point, by a sharp turn eastward, we fell into a

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                303

 

bridle-path running along the bluff, which soon entered into a deep groove cut in the native rock, evidently used in former times as a conduit or water-course. Just below us was the famous spring, beside which stands a fig tree, from which it takes its name--'Ain et-Tin. It is quite a large fountain, though much smaller than Tabi­ghah, on the other side of the cliff. Its waters flow into the lake only a few rods distant. A large mound on the plain near by, Dr. Robinson conjectures was the site of Capernaum; but Cap­tain Wilson excavated it and found no signs of antiquity in its rude walls and fragments of coarse pottery.*

The rock-groove ran quite around the brow of the cliff. The groove was oval in shape, about two feet wide, and narrowed at the top,--the very least-convenient form for a road, and the very best for a water-channel. We paused under a large nubk tree on the summit of the cliff, from, which a few poor women, who had been gather­-

 

*Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 273. Dr. Merrill, who was here May 1, 1876, writes: " At Khan Minieh is a swell in the plain, in which peasants are digging, and at a depth of four to six feet they struck a finely-built wall, which they followed to a depth of twelve feet. I do not know that they reached the bottom. They traced this wall until it turned an angle, and for some dis­tance after that. . . . If the time and necessary means were at my disposal, I would like to excavate these two low mounds." ­Merrill's East of Jordan, p. 302. And we add, So would we.

 

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ing fruit similar to the crab-apple, hastily de­parted. Their abject appearance and frightened look spoke volumes as to their hard toil and pri­vation. As we could not speak their language, we could give them no comfort in their fears, yet could not help pitying them, and wishing for them a share in the common blessings of that gospel which their Lord, and ours, so long ago preached in this vicinity.

The view from this point was very command­ing. The whole surface of the lake was spread out before us, the water deep and blue, calm and mirror-like, reflecting the outlines of the hills on its margin. Behind us lay the plain of Gennes­aret, the two peaks of the Mount of Beatitudes peering up on the distant horizon. Below the plain was Magdala, and farther on Tiberias, and still farther the dome of the bath-house at the Warm Springs.  On the eastern side, and nearly opposite, we noticed the wady Semakh, or Kersa, and just south of it a low bluff, steep and fur­rowed, the supposed site where the herd of swine ran into the sea and perished. Before us was Tabighah,.with its ancient stone mill, and beyond it the cape which marks the site of Tell Hum.

We resumed our journey along the hillside, fronting the little bay, and presently turned east­ward across the streams which flow from the

 

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spring and turn the mill just mentioned. We noted a number of ruined arches which formerly spanned the mill-stream, and were part of the aqueduct which once conveyed these waters by the rock channel to Gennesaret for irrigation. Several fishermen's tents were pitched here, built of wattled rushes and covered with black camel’s hair cloth. The nets were spread out on the long shore-grass, in preparation for the following night's occupation. Several little enclosures or  “fish-traps" were built of loose stones, in shal­low water, within which we saw a number of good-sized fish lying with their dorsal fins out of water.

Every feature of this place seemed to us an indication that this was the ancient Bethsaida ("fish-house") so often mentioned in the Gos­pels. The warm water which flows in such abundance into the lake from the heavy springs above must in ancient times, as at present, have attracted great numbers of the finny tribe from the deep water to this little bay. Mr. Mac­gregor, when at this place in his canoe, made the following observations: "The hot springs (86½ degrees), flowing in here over these rocks, and a little farther on in larger volume over a clean brown sand, warm all the ambient shallows for a hundred feet from shore; and as much vegetable

 

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matter is brought down by the springs, and probably also insects which have fallen in, all these dainties are half cooked when they enter the lake. Evidently the fish agree to dine on these hot joints, and therefore, in a large semicircle they crowd the water by myriads round the warm river-mouth. Their backs are above the surface as they bask or tumble and jostle crowded in the water. They gambol and splash, and the calm sea, fringed by a reeking cloud of vapor, has beyond this belt of living fish a long row of cormorants feeding on the half-boiled fish, as the fish have fed on insects. I paddled along the curved line of fishes' backs and flashing tails.

 

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Some leaped into the air, others struck my boat or paddle. Dense shoals moved in brigades as if by concert or command."*  This visit was made in the month of January, hence the un­usual quantity of fish and the apparent high tem­perature of the spring water. The fishing trade is no longer brisk as in the days of the disciples, for two reasons.  First, the inhabitants are few, while in ancient times the whole district around the sea was densely populated. Josephus states that Galilee was overspread with towns and well­-peopled villages. The smallest one had over fif­teen hundred inhabitants. The number of towns on the lake shore, and the constant influx of travellers between the east and west and between Damascus and Egypt, made the demand for fish very pressing. The second reason for the decline of the fishing traffic here is the exorbitant tax imposed by the Turkish government. "Nom­inally, the rent the fishers pay for the right to fish at Bethsaida is five hundred dollars per an­num; but the rapacious hands of the revenue guard carry away twenty, forty, even sixty percent of the fisher's hard-earned gains."

Mr. Macgregor, who is our authority for this statement, found three fishing-boats in and about the lake in 1869; but travellers who have been

 

 *Rob Roy, p. 336.

 

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here at intervals for fifty years, like the writer, have noticed but one.

Leaving Tabighah, we continued on our course in a northeast direction. In this part the land slopes back from the shore uniformly and gently to the higher hills extending up toward Safed. After a ride of one and a half miles, we reached the ruins of Tell Hum, where we dismounted and spent a considerable time in exploration. The ruins are partly basaltic and partly limestone fragments, once dressed and fitted into structures of no common order. Long grass and thistles were already springing up among them in April, thus showing that the climate is warm and the soil fertile. A little cape projects into the lake at this point, and the ruins lie about one hundred yards from the water. They are two miles dis-

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                311

 

tant from the entrance of the Jordan into the lake, and thus the town had a prominent, as well as central, position on the northern coast.

The greater portion of the ruins seems to lie in a narrow belt, half a mile in length by a quarter of a mile in breadth, with the longer axis north and south, stretching back from the shore. At the farther end are two tombs, built of limestone, of fine workmanship. In the midst of these fallen walls, which seem to be mainly the frag­ments of former dwellings, we came upon what is known as the "White Synagogue"--thus named under the supposition that Tell Hum is indeed the long-lost site of Capernaum, and this the syn­agogue in which Christ preached the sermon on the "bread of life," recorded in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St. John.  If so, the structure may represent the one originally built by the Roman centurion.*  Here we noticed the found­ations of the outer walls in situ, level with the surface, but happily left bare by the excavations of the Palestine Exploration Fund. They are 74 feet 9 inches by 56 feet 9 inches in dimensions. A smaller structure, and of apparently later con­struction, joins the main edifice on the northeast corner; we could not trace its complete outline. We counted the pedestals of some thirty col-­

 

.* Luke 7: 4, 5.

 

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umns in the synagogue, the shafts of which lay broken around them. Two rows of these col­umns once ran lengthwise, dividing the edifice proportionately, as if there had been two aisles at the side, with a nave in the centre. The front was toward the south, overlooking the lake and commanding a charming prospect, reaching to Tiberias in the distance. Here lay the heavy lintel, pierced with large holes at either end for the extended framework of the heavy double doors to turn in, and one for the standard in the centre.  On the face of this stone beam or lintel three figures were engraved,--somewhat defaced, but apparently representing a pot of manna and two golden candlesticks. Not far from the en­trance a flight of stone steps, much worn, was seen, imbedded in the earth, the use of which we could not determine.

Just east of Tell Hum a little rivulet makes its way into the lake, on the banks of which, one and a half miles to the north in a direct line, lie the supposed ruins of Chorazin, now named Ke­razeh. This place we did not visit; but the ruins are described as covering an area equal to, if not larger than, the ruins of Capernaum, and are sit­uated partly in a shallow valley, partly on a rocky spur formed by a sharp bend in the stream, here a wild gorge eighty feet deep. From

 

AROUND THE LAKE OF GALILEE.                313

 

Kerazeh there is a beautiful view of the lake to its southern end, and here too are gathered the most interesting ruins--a synagogue, with Co­rinthian capitals, niche heads and other orna­ments cut in the hard basaltic rock.*

Our visit inclined us to favor Tell Hum as the site of ancient Capernaum. Though great au­thorities differ from this view, fixing the site of this city where Jesus had his home during the three years of his ministry elsewhere, or else leaving the whole matter an open question, yet the conclusion seemed to us irresistible. Captain Wilson affirms, in behalf of the Exploration Fund, that the ruins here are of a synagogue similar to many found and carefully examined in other parts of the country.

At the corners of a triangle, therefore, whose sides measure one and one-half miles each, whose base is on the shore line, and whose apex is on the hillside, probably lay ancient Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum.

As we sat upon the prostrate columns of the synagogue the Saviour's words flashed upon us with a new meaning--"Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which have been done in you, they had a great while

 

* Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 270.

 

314          TENT AND SADDLE LIFE.

 

ago repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And thou, Caper­naum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust down to hell."

 

"Bethsaida, where?

Chorazin, where art thou?

His tent the wild Arab pitches there,

The wild reeds shade thy brow.

Tell me, ye mouldering fragments, tell,

Was the Saviour's city here?

Lifted to heaven, has it sunk to hell,

With none to shed a tear?"

 

How signally has that prophecy been fulfilled! Where was once a tide of human prosperity, a city of fame and beauty by the sea, are now only fragments of rock, covered by rank weeds and thistles.

On our way back to Tabighah we thought of those words of Isaiah quoted by Saint Matthew – “The land of Zabulon, and the land of Neph­thalim, by the way of the sea beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."* This great highway of ancient times, running from Egypt to the East, came down here "by the way of the sea," and here it may literally be said,  “The people which sat in darkness saw great light."+  Along this “way" Jesus often came if, indeed, as we think,

 

* Matthew 4:15.    + Ibid. 4:16.

 

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Tell Hum was Capernaum and Tabighah was Bethsaida. The latter place was the suburb and port of Capernaum, and this mile and a half was familiar ground to the disciples and their divine Master.  Here the fishers kept their boats and nets and plied their craft, while on some occasions their Lord taught the people from the ship. To this point the boat would return, to "his own country," when the various voyages across the lake were ended. These low lands are calculated to breed fevers, of which Peter's wife's mother lay sick, and of which she was cured by a touch of the great Physician. Yonder hillside would afford the natural features for the parable of the sower, where the ledge of rock covered with a thin coating of soil, in which the seed would have no depth of earth, and soon wither away, illustrates the failure of a transient faith. Below the rock is the good ground where the good seed would bring forth some thirty, some sixty and some an hundred fold; and above the unfenced field are the numerous birds, ready to catch away the exposed seed, and thus disappoint the farmer. Nor are the rank thistles and thorns lacking near the shore, ready to choke the growing grain and render it unfruitful.

Here also would be the natural place for a tax-gatherer, like Matthew, sitting at the receipt of

 

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custom, collecting for the Roman government. This fountain at Tabighah might very well be that named Capernaum by Josephus, since it is located in this suburb of that city, and would naturally be mentioned by him in connection with Gennesaret, since the aqueduct at that time conducted its waters into that plain for purposes of irrigation. The walls of the ancient reserve are still to be seen just above the mill, from which point the aqueduct extended. The coracinus (catfish) is found in the stream all through the winter season.

Passing along the rock channel over the bluff, it occurred to us that the channel was probably covered over in ancient times, thus affording a roadway on its surface. The road which we followed from Solomon's Pools to Bethlehem was constructed precisely in this manner, and there we heard the water gurgling beneath the flagstones upon which our horses walked. If this conjecture be correct, Jesus must have often passed here on his way to and from the plain and the hill country of Galilee.

Our last evening in camp at 'Ain et-Tin  was delightfully tranquil. The waters of the lake lay spread out before us in charming repose. The rays of the setting sun lighted up the eastern shore with a.soft radiance as the shadows fell

 

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around us on Gennesaret. Gathering at the door of the tent, we sang a number of our Sunday-­school hymns, during which the following lines of Dr. Morris came up in recollection:

 

“Each cooing dove and sighing bough,

That makes the eve so blest to me,

Has something far diviner now

It bears me back to Galilee.

 

"Each flow'ry glen and mossy dell,

Where happy birds in song agree,

Through sunny morn the praises tell

Of sights and sounds in Galilee.

 

"And when I read the thrilling lore

Of him who walked upon the sea,

I long, oh how I long once more

To follow him in Galilee.

 

"0 Galilee! sweet Galilee!

Where Jesus loved so much to be;

0 Galilee! blue Galilee!

Come sing thy song again to me!"

 

The old rabbins had a saying, "I have created seven seas, saith the Lord, but out of them all I have chosen none but the sea of Gennesaret." If this sheet of water was thus honored by the Jews, it should be thrice precious to Christian hearts, for on its shores the great Founder of Christianity not only had his earthly home, but it was here that he called together his disciples and organized his Church. This is the birthplace

 

318          TENT AND SADDLE LIFE.

 

of Christianity. In the hearts of the humble fishermen and the poor women who dwelt here, to whom his true character was first revealed, he founded his gospel kingdom, and from hence it is spreading over the whole earth. Hence our last­ing interest in this place.

 

"How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave,

O Sea of Galilee!

For the glorious One who came to save

Hath often stood by thee.

 

"Graceful around thee the mountains meet,

Thou calm reposing sea;

But ah! far more, the beautiful feet

Of Jesus walked o'er thee.

 

“0 Saviour! gone to God's right hand,

Yet the same Saviour still,

Graved on thy heart is this lovely strand,

And every fragrant hill."—M`Cheyne.