I WILL not take space to describe our ride back from Damascus to the Sea of Galilee, but will hurry at once to our camp at the springs of Khan Minieh, which some think to have been the site of Capernaum, instead of the ruins at Tell Hum, which I described in a former chapter. We started early in the morning, rode across the plain of Gennesaret, once so famous for its fertility, then ascended the hills, passing in sight of the Horns of Hattin, or "the Mount of the Beatitudes," then rode in a southwesterly direction to Mount Tabor, a beautiful mountain, rising so regularly as to seem at a distance almost the shape of a cone, to the height of about 2000 feet. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, and I think I have spoken of Barak and Deborah gathering their army of Israelites upon this mountain before the great battle in which they destroyed the army of Jabin and Sisera. Here they were safe from the terrible chariots of iron with which their enemies were armed, since they could not be driven up the steep [193] mountain sides. Secure from attack, they watched the army of Jabin and Sisera down in the great plain of Esdraelon below them until they should see a favorable time for attack. At last there came a great rain, and the River Kishon overflowed until the whole plain was too soft for the

MOUNT TABOR.

chariots to rush to and fro. Then Barak marched down with ten thousand men, and completely destroyed the enemies of Israel. You will find an account of this battle in Judges, fourth chapter.

      "I think I remember hearing an old hymn," said Will, "in which Tabor was spoken of as the place where the Savior was transfigured. Was the idea ever held?" [194]

      "Yes," said I. "A tradition sprung up many centuries ago that this was the place, but that opinion is now abandoned. We know that Jesus was 'in the coasts of Cæsarea Philippi,' that is near Mount Hermon just before the Transfiguration (Matt. 16:13), and besides we are told by a historian who lived while Christ was on the earth, that there was a town and a fort on the top of Mount Tabor at that time. So it is certain that it was not the place. There are still some monks who dwell on the summit and count the place holy as the scene of the Transfiguration."

      We followed a running stream that flowed along the eastern base of the mountain until we descended into an arm of the great plain which stretches from the Mediterranean Sea across to the Jordan. This arm, or valley, was only about a mile wide, and had Mount Tabor on the north, and another mountain called the hill of Moreh in the Bible, but Jebel Duhy by the Arabs, and Little Hermon by travelers, on the south. This mountain interested us because several places named in the Bible are situated on its slopes. The first of these is a wretched-looking village named Endor, the place where King Saul went to see the witch or fortune-teller the night before he fought his last battle (1 Sam. 28:11-14). The little town is still called by the same name that it had in the days of Saul, and its wretched houses, some of them mere burrows in the side of the mountain, [195] look like they might be fit home for witches.

      From here we rode to Nain, where our Lord raised the son of the widow from the dead, and as we came near the town from the east we could see the old sepulchers cut out in the mountain-side to which the people were carrying the son of the widow, when Christ, who also came on the same road from the east, met them (Luke 7:11-15). We stopped at Nain about three hours and ate our noonday lunch in "The Pilgrim's Rest," a room attached to a Catholic church for the use of travelers. In the church is a Latin inscription declaring that "On this spot Christ raised the widow's son from the dead." We were very sure that this was a mistake, because the Scripture says that Christ met the funeral procession before he came into the city, and the place must have been out near the sepulchers that we had already seen.

      After a long rest we rode around the west end of the mountain to a place now called Solem, the ancient Shunem, where the Shunammite mother lived whose little boy Elisha restored to her (2 Kings 4:8-37). Here, too, the Philistines had their camp just before the terrible battle in which Saul and Jonathan came to so sad an end. Shunem is surrounded by a thick hedge of cactus, which is a good defense against Bedouin. It is a pleasanter place than many of the small towns of [196] Palestine. The groves of orange, lemon and citron trees, and the fine spring, are quite attractive to the traveler.

      South of this place, between Little Hermon and Mount Gilboa, is the plain of Jezreel, about three miles wide, and running east until it reaches the Jordan river, a plain almost as level and as fertile as a Western prairie. As we rode across this plain to the south, we could see a town perched on the top of a high hill, which was a sort of spur of the still higher mountain called Gilboa. That town is now called Zerin; its ancient name was Jezreel. It only required a short time to gallop across the plain to the place where we could see our white tents awaiting us by the fountain at the foot of the hill on which the town is built, but before we dismounted we rode away to the east towards the Jordan, until we came to the foot of the great, rugged lofty mountain pile, called Mount Gilboa. Here we found a magnificent spring which rushes out of a cave from under the mountain, forms quite a lake by the mountain side, then runs down in a little river to the Jordan, turning several mills by the way.

      This great spring is now called Ain Jalud, that is, the "Fountain of Goliath," so called, I suppose, because it is a giant in size among the springs of Palestine. It has still another name which is better known among travelers, who call it Gideon's Spring, on account of its connection with the [197] history of that famous judge of Israel. If you will open the Bible and turn to the seventh chapter of Judges you will find this spring mentioned. It is there called "the Well of Harod," and it is stated that Gideon and his army encamped upon the side of Mount Gilboa by the spring, while "the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill or Moreh, in the valley." The "hill of Moreh" is that great mountain across the valley, about three miles north, from which we have just come, that we spoke of as Little Hermon. The story of Gideon bringing down his soldiers to this spring to drink, and of his surprise of the Midianites in the night, and his great victory, is well worth reading, and seemed very real to us as we sat by this remarkable fountain.

      No one who has read the twenty-first chapter of First Kings can have forgotten that terrible story of wicked King Ahab, and his still more wicked Queen Jezebel, who put Naboth to death in order to get possession of the vineyard that he was unwilling to see. This vineyard, "down from Jezebel," was the place where the faithful and stern Elijah met the king and told him of the terrible judgments which would come upon him and his wife on account of their great sin. I think it likely that our camp for the night was pitched on the very spot where once was located Naboth's vineyard which King Ahab so much coveted. The reason that I think this is that it was not far from [198]

JEZREEL FROM GIDEON'S SPRING. [199]

Ahab's palace, which stood on the hill in Jezreel, and as he wished to have it for a "garden of herbs" it must have been near water, since this country irrigation is necessary for a vegetable garden. We were close to a spring, the only one that is near the old site of the city.

      When we came back from Gideon's fountain the Arabs had our tents all ready for us, in the plain below Zerin by the side of the fountain to which the women come down for water. The modern town is small, dirty, and wretched. The houses are made of mud and stones, and are occupied by donkeys, chickens and people all housed together. Yet we can see all around us ruins which indicate that once a splendid city stood here. There are broken columns, hewn stone, old walls, perhaps the remains of palaces in which once lived the kings of Israel. Here on this hill there once stood the "ivory palace" of King Ahab. Somewhere on the height was the tower where two kings looking down the long plain of Jezreel saw the company of the stern Jehu miles away, and beheld them rush so furiously towards Jezreel (2 Kings 9:16-26).

      Here on this eastern sloped of the hill were probably the pleasure grounds of Ahab and Jezebel, for the vineyard of Naboth which they wished to add to their grounds was, there is reason to believe, near this fountain where we are encamped.

      When I had lain down to rest that night my [200] mind was so full of thoughts concerning the great events of history that had taken place around us that they long drove sleep away. I thought of the great armies of Midianites, Philistines, Syrians, and Egyptians which had so often marched through between these mountains and watered every foot of soil with blood. I thought of Barak and Deborah rushing down from Mount Tabor to defeat Jabin and Sisera in the plain a little to the west, but in full sight; of Saul's last battle on Mount Gilboa, in which he and his sons, among them the lovely Jonathan, so bravely died; of Gideon's three hundred in the darkness of the night, breaking their pitches, flashing their torches, pealing forth the battle charge with their trumpets, shouting, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" and then rushing upon the startled Midianites; of good King Josiah killed in battle by the Egyptians just west of here; of the great prophet Elijah, who was here time and again; of Ahab and Jezebel; of poor Naboth; of Jehu and the kings whom he slaughtered, and of the men of old, and of the old times when this was a royal city.

      When we arose in the morning we climbed the hill on which Zerin stands and beheld so extensive and lovely a landscape that we did not wonder that Ahab selected it for his summer capital. To [201] the west we gazed over the great plain of Esdraelon, watered by the winding river Kishon, until the eye rested on Mount Carmel, fifteen miles away. This plain is triangular in shape with a base of near eighteen miles, at the wildest place, from north to south, and a length of fifteen miles east and west from Jezreel to Mount Carmel. To the south were the rich hills of "Mount Ephraim," to the north the mountains of Galilee, and we could see where Nazareth lay concealed in its basin about ten miles distant. Nearer at hand were little Hermon and over it, farther away, we could see the tall, rounded top of Mount Tabor. To the east the eye could follow the plain of Jezreel almost to the banks of the Jordan, while the southeast horizon was filled up with the high, gloomy peaks of Mount Gilboa, rising to the height of about 1800 feet. As I looked upon them, outlined against the morning sky, I recalled David's lament over Jonathan and Saul: "Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, nor let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings; for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, the anointed."

      We could not but admire the beauty of the great Plain of Esdraelon, as we looked over it from the heights of Jezreel. It looks much like a great prairie of Iowa or Nebraska in all respects except the surrounding mountains. We could hardly help wondering that it was not dotted over with [202] towns and farm houses. Yet, as our eyes swept around for many miles over the rich, level expanse, it seemed almost uncultivated, except around the

SHUNEM AND THE MOUNTAINS OF GILBOA.

villages that nestled in its border, on the sides of the mountains. We asked Joseph to explain to us why so much fertile land was lying waste.

      "It is the Bedouin," said he. "They cause it all; the rascals!" [203]

      "How is that, Yusef?" asked Bayard.

      "Why, the country east of the Jordan river is full of them. Did you read in your Bible about the Midianites who came over here when Gideon lived, and took all the grain of the people? Just so the Bedouin across the Jordan have been doing. Yet, for a few years, they have feared the soldiers, and do not come over in open war as they used to do. They come over now in peace, camp on the plain near the villages, take the grain and the flocks of the poor people, and they dare not to resist them. Why should the Fellahin cultivate this plain when they are likely to be robbed of all that they raise?"

      Yet it is safer now here than it was ten or fifteen years ago, and a much larger portion of the plain is tilled. And old traveler told me that when he visited this great plain, twelve years ago, there were only two farm villages upon it; yet Joseph says that at this time there are forty-two.

      Our faces were now turned towards Jerusalem. Like our Savior, when once he made the journey, we "must needs go through Samaria," that ancient division of Palestine which, in the days when Jesus was on the earth, lay between Judea and Galilee. This country was the home of the Samaritans, whom the Jews hated, but to whom Christ preached at the well of Jacob, and in the city of [204] Sychar. There is still a small remnant of this ancient people which we shall find when we reach the city of Nablous. Our ride this morning was at first along the base of Mount Gilboa over the fertile plain of Esdraelon, then across the plain to a place called Jenin, a considerable town of two or three thousand people. It has an abundant supply of water provided by springs, and hence is surrounded with orchards and gardens, and has an attractive appearance. Here we found a great many charcoal pits and hundreds of people employed in making charcoal for fuel. The hills near at hand are covered with a scrubby growth which is charred and then sent off to other parts of the country for sale. Jenin is called Engannim, of the "Garden House" in the Scriptures, a fact that shows that its great springs have always made the country around it a garden.

      At this place we left the plain, and the road to Jerusalem which we were following entered a valley which gradually ascended until we were on, as well as among, the hills of what is called in the Bible Mount Ephraim. That great tribe, the strongest of the twelve tribes, except Judah, had its territory in this part of Palestine. A very good country, too, was their possession. Though mountainous, there are many fertile valleys, and the hills are very fine for olives, figs and grapes. Indeed, we found no portion of Palestine so well-cultivated, or apparently so prosperous, as this [205] district of Samaria. Part of the time our road led through valleys and over plains planted with olives, or sown in grain; part of the time in narrow wooded glens; part of the time over hills that had been terraced and planted in fruit.

      It was nearly noon when we rode through a fertile valley with a high hill on the right. "That is Dothan," said the dragoman.

      "Well," said Will, "what is Dothan worth remembering for?"

      "I can tell you," exclaimed David. "If you will read the thirty-seventh chapter of Genesis you will find that this is the place where Joseph was sold as a slave by his wicked brothers."

      "Yes," I said. "Dothan was situated on this hill, and as Joseph came across this plain from the south, you will observe that his brethren could 'see him afar off, before he came near unto them.' (Gen. 37:18). This place is famous also for another incident in sacred history. This is the place where the prophet Elijah was living when King Ben-hadad sent a host to compass the city with horses and chariots, and where the servant of the prophet, when his eyes were opened, saw and 'Behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.' (2 Kings 6:13-23)."

      About the middle of the afternoon we came into a considerable plain, some two or three miles across, with a round him in the center rising like a [206] mound. We could see on one side of this hill a village, while over the hill a larger number of standing columns, the remains of ancient porticoes and colonnades, could still be observed. We all knew that on this hill had once stood one of the most famous cities of Palestine. That hill had once belonged to a man named Shemer, but was bought by Omri, one of the kings of Israel, and a city built there which he made his capital. The city was called Samaria, from the name of the former owner of the hill. For hundreds of years it remained the capital, and many interesting incidents narrated in the Books of Kings took place here. None of us could forget Jehu's awful slaughter of the worshipers of Baal (2 Kings 10:25), or the siege by the Syrians (2 Kings 6:24) when food became so scarce that mothers were ready to eat their own children, and if the wonderful deliverance when the Syrians fled in terror in the night. Nor do we fail to remember how the Assyrians had gathered around the hill, besieged the city for years, until food was exhausted, and then had carried away the Ten Tribes into a captivity from which they never returned.

      As we rode over and around the hill and saw the remains of old walls, of mosaic pavements, and of splendid colonnades, one of the boys remarked that the old Israelites must have been very [207]

SAMARIA. [208]

excellent builders to have left such fine works behind them.

      "These colonnades," said I, "are not remains of the Israelitish Samaria. That city passed away and a new city was built here. The 'Herod the King' who slew the children of Bethlehem, rebuilt the city that he found here with great magnificence, and most of the ruins that we see belong to some of his structures. There are said to be a hundred columns here still, which belong mostly to the time of the Herods. It was Herod who changed the name to Sebastieth!"

      Indeed, we found a great part of the hill covered with stones which had been a part of ancient walls, or with columns and heaps of rubbish. In no part of Palestine had we seen so much that spoke of ancient splendor as at this place. Nor could we fail to admire the fine view that presents itself from the summit of the hill of Samaria. To the northwest, through an opening in the mountains, a wide section of the plain of Sharon and of the Great Sea, with the ruins of Cæsarea, the great port of Palestine in the time of Christ, was plainly visible. To the south were seen the tall peaks of Ebal and Gerizim, with the lovely vale of Shechem stretching between them. All around are hills and valleys, green with olive and fig trees, and dotted with hamlets. We could count twelve villages in sight, including that of Sebastieh on the slope of the hill. How beautiful the scene is now! [209] How glorious it must have been when "Samaria was the glorious crown of Ephraim, the flower of its winning beauty, standing over its rich valley!" (Isa. 28:1).

      The village on the side of the hill is a miserable affair, with wretched huts, but it contains one object of great interest, an old church built by the Crusaders when they had conquered Palestine. It is called the Church of St. John and belonged to a body of warriors called the Knights of St. John, who were once very famous. It is claimed that John the Baptist was buried here, and a tomb is shown where his body is said to lie. I do not believe the story, however, for the wicked Herod beheaded him at a place called Machærus, east of the Jordan, and he was probably buried there. Yet the Mohammedans and some Christians think his body lies here, and they have converted the church into a mosque.

      We camped for the night in an olive grove near the ancient city of Samaria, and early the next morning we started to ride to the city now called Nablous, five miles distant. Our road led through one of the most charming portions of country we had seen in Palestine. We were among the fertile valleys of the great tribe of Ephraim, and to this day the hills are green with fig and olive orchards, the fields are rich in grain, vines and gardens, and [210] along the shady water-course that we are ascending we passed a number of mill-seats, with rude, old-fashioned water mills for grinding the grain. Indeed, in the ride this morning we almost forgot that we were in the far East, in a country the history of which ended nearly two thousand years ago, and which has been wasted by oppression every since. I could have easily fancied that I was among the hills of West Virginia, or in some section of southern Europe.

      But soon, long before we reach the place, we see the smoke ascending from the great soap-factories of Nablous. Perhaps my young readers do not recall this as one of the names of the old Jewish cities. Like the word Naples, it is from Neapolis, the Roman word meaning "new city," and the name was given to one of the most famous cities if Israel when it was rebuilt by the Romans.

      It was called Shechem in Bible times, and is among the oldest cities in the world. Old Abraham was here nearly four thousand years ago, and here built an altar to the Lord, as you may learn from Gen. 12:6, 7, where the place is called Sichem. Here, over a hundred and fifty years later, the grandsons of Abraham, Jacob, came and bought a tract of land, dug a great well, which can be seen still, and built an altar to the "God of Israel" (Gen. 33:18-20). Near here the tomb of Joseph is still shown, where his body was buried when brought up out of Egypt (Josh. 24:32). [211]

      Here, too, when the Israelites marched up from Egypt and took possession of the land, they were wont to come to hold their Congress, or great gathering of the nation. Joshua gathered all the Tribes twice at this place, once for the "Blessings and the Cursings" (Joshua 8:34), and once to speak to them his farewell address (Joshua 24:27). Here, also, hundreds of years later, was gathered the great Congress which asked King Rehoboam to make their burdens lighter, and when he refused, rejected him as king over the Ten Tribes.

      These are not by any means all of the great events in the history of Shechem, but I have named these in order that you may see that the place that we are now about to visit is one of great importance in the Bible. Indeed, I would say that after Bethlehem, where Christ was born, Nazareth where he so long lived, and Jerusalem where he was crucified, Shechem is, perhaps, the most interesting spot in all Israel to the Christian.

      As we red up to the city on the road from Samaria we found ourselves in a fine valley between two high mountains, one on the north of the valley 3075 feet in height, while the mountain on the south is 2850 feet. The higher of the two is called Mount Ebal, and the other Mount Gerizim, "the Mounts of Cursing and Blessing." In the long valley between these two mountains lies the city of Shechem, or Nablous. The valley is not more than half a mile wide, stretches from east to west, [212] and from the east of the city the water flows to the Jordan, while from the west it flows to the Mediterranean Sea. The great springs which burst out near the foot of Mount Gerizim furnish abundance of water for the city and for the valley, which is well-cultivated.

      The plain is said to have about 15,000 inhabitants, a few of whom are Jews, some are Samaritans, some are Christians, but the most are Mohammedans. A great many of the people are engaged in making soap, of olive oil, and there are said to be twenty-seven soap factories, but the faces and clothes of the inhabitants look as though they did not make much use of it. Though the place is so pleasantly situated, has plenty of water and of soap, it is one of the filthiest cities that I visited in Palestine. It was difficulty to pass along the streets without getting into filth, it being the custom to cast all kinds of filth into the streets. Nor is it ever carried off except when the winter rains raise floods enough to wash out the streets, or when it is eaten by the hungry dogs which are lying so thick in spots that we have to watch our feet to get along without stepping on them.

      I have spoken above of the remnant of the ancient Samaritans which is still found in Nablous. I must tell something about our visit to the Samaritan Synagogue here. This is the only [213] Samaritan synagogue in the world. If you will read the fourth chapter of John you will find an account of our Savior;s visiting this very place and preaching to the Samaritans. You have read in the New Testament "that the Jews and Samaritans have no dealings." Indeed, they were very bitter against each other in Christ's time, and had been for many hundred years before, although there was much in common between the two races, and although the Samaritans claimed to be the children of Abraham as well as the Jews.

      You have all read of Philip the Evangelist going down to Samaria to preach Christ, and that the Samaritans believed the Gospel. Soon after, Peter and John came down to help on the work. Many of them became Christians at an early day, others were slaughtered by their enemies, and it has come to pass that now there are only about one hundred and sixty of them in all the world. These worship in their synagogue on the Sabbath, eat the passover on Mount Gerizim, which they think the holiest place in the world, just as they did when Jesus was there (John 4:20), circumcise their children, teach them out of the Law of Moses, and refuse to receive the New Testament, as well as those parts of the Old Testament which they insist were made by the Jews. They keep in their synagogue some very old manuscript copies of the books of Moses; perhaps the oldest now in existence, one of which they claim was written by the [214] great grandson of Aaron, the brother of Moses.

      When we visited the synagogue they were engaged in worship. The high priest, rather a fine-looking man, would read a passage out of the books of Moses in the old Samaritan tongue, and then the whole congregation would join together in a reading, shouting at the tops of their voices, and apparently so deeply interested that they took no note of so many strangers present. Indeed, they seemed to engage in their worship with remarkable zeal, and to set a good example to so many Christians who are careless and inattentive at church.

      They are quite a fine, intelligent-looking people, and after the services were over ready to converse with us. The high priest is, no doubt, a descendant of Aaron, being descended from that Jewish priest who had married the daughter of "Sanballat, the Horonite," and was on that account "chased away" by Nehemiah and Ezra to the Samaritans (see Neh. 13:28). He is a pleasant appearing man, and said that he would like very much to have a European or American teacher who would teach the young Samaritans sciences and languages.

      After we left the synagogue we continued our walk along the narrow, dark, dirty streets of the city until we were satisfied, and then came out at a gate on the eastern side. Here we found our horses, which had been led around from the gate [215]

THE VALE OF SHECHEM AND MOUNT EBAL. [216]

where we entered, awaiting us under some fine trees.

      While we were standing under the trees in the grateful shade, we noticed several of the most wretched-looking objects that our eyes had ever beheld approaching us. They stopped a short distance from us, extending their arms, and uttered a sort of unearthly sound, unlike any human utterance that we had ever heard.

      "Joseph, Joseph!" exclaimed the boys. "Do tell us what are these?"

      And Joseph replied, "These are lepers."

      Lepers! That strange disease, so often referred to in the Bible, but which some seem to suppose disappeared with Bible times! We gaze at them with intense interest. Their faces are drawn into knots that remind one of grapes in size and appearance; some have lost eyes; others their noses, hair or fingers, or even their hands. The strange sounds that they utter are caused by the loss of palates, or vocal organs. These pitiable objects, alive yet slowly dying, appeal for our pity and charity.

      The sight was horrifying. It was the first, but not the last time, that we saw these most unfortunate of mortals. The frightful disease has prevailed in the East ever since the time of Moses, and perhaps for a great while before. The lepers [217] still live apart, and do not approach or mingle with other mortals. They either have a separate quarter assigned to them, or are obliged to live outside of the city, and are shunned as unclean and dangerous. It is thought that the disease is communicated by contract, and hence, no one will touch them, eat with them, or even use the same dishes. As a rule they still live by begging, but they will never attempt to touch you. At Jerusalem we found a few days after this, the leper's village outside of the walls on Mount Zion, but found that the lepers had been gathered from it and placed in a hospital northwest of the city. The leper's children are sure to become lepers. They may be free from it in childhood, and as fair as other children, but the terrible disease will be sure to appear in due time. Still, it is incurable by human art, and is sure finally to end the sufferings of its victim by death. Still the people believe that it can only be healed by the power of God. What a blessed thing if the mighty Healer who once walked where we stand, were only here to lay his hand on these poor mortals, and to say, Be thou clean!

      We mounted and rode east along the valley between the two mountains. On our left hand was Mount Ebal, lofty, rugged, bare, fit symbol of "cursing," while on our right was Gerizim, clad in green, fresh enough to suggest blessing. You have read the account of that wonderful [218] assemblage of the children of Israel which is given in the eighth chapter of Joshua. After they had entered Canaan, Joshua led them to this valley where both Abraham and Jacob has before lived, and he placed six of the Tribes over towards Ebal and on its slopes, and six Tribes on the side of Gerizim. Then the priests and Levites read the curses that would come upon them if they did not keep the commandments of God, and as each one was read the Six Tribes on Mount Ebal said, "Amen!" Next the priests read the Blessings which would be bestowed upon them if they obeyed God, and the Six Tribes against Mount Gerizim, as each was read, cried out, "Amen!" I think thus must have been a wonderful scene, nor do I think that the children of Israel could ever forget the solemn impressions of that day.

      Skeptics have, however, sometimes said that the account is incredible. They assert that in so wide a valley the Tribes on the two mountains could not hear those who read in the valley, or hear each other. They forget that Joshua does not say that the Israelites were on the mountains, but "over against" them. They might still have been in the valley, but each division on its own side of the valley. Yet we thought we would make an experiment and see for ourselves whether the reading could have been heard. So one of our company rode a part of the way up the side of Mount Gerizim and another up Mount Ebal, and then [219] another with a good strong voice, who was stationed in the center of the Valley, read the Blessings found in the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy. As he read them there came from the side of Mount Gerizim at the end of each Blessing a loud, distinct Amen. Then he read the Curses, beginning with the verse 15. As each was read there came at the close a clear, strong Amen from the rugged side of Mount Ebal. The fact is that the mountains roll back the sounds into the valley and to the sides of each other, so that this is a natural speaking gallery, perhaps the finest in the world. Under the Divine direction Joshua led the great army of Israel to the only place that I know of in all Palestine which was perfectly fitted for such an assemblage.

      Not far from the walls of Nablous we rode by some large buildings which are used as barracks for Turkish soldiers. Some of them were engaged in training their horses, or exercising themselves in feats of horsemanship, as we passed by. One who rode a very fine horse seemed to be very proud of his skill and thought he would show it off before the Americans. So he galloped his horse at full speed around us, curveting and turning in unexpected ways, until finally the horse made a turn that the soldiers was not looking for, and he tumbled off and came down sprawling full length in the dirt. When he gathered himself up he had a very foolish, crestfallen look, he he [220] hurried away from the sound of our laughter and cheers as rapidly as possible.

      But the most interesting part of our visit to this locality is yet to come. When we had gone a little farther the valley opened into quite an extensive plain, level as the prairie, cultivated in grain fields, which was called in the times of Abraham "the Plain of Moreh." Just where Mount Gerizim ends and the great plain begins, at the foot of the mountain, we enter an inclosure, and get down from our horses, gather around a deep, dark hole, extending into the earth farther than we can see, listen while the Arabs drop down stones to show us how deep it is by the sound, then stand in silent thought as we think of a scene that occurred at this well nearly nineteen hundred years ago. This is the well of Jacob! This is the parcel of ground that he bought of the "sons of Emmor!" This well was dug by the old patriarch. Yonder, a few rods away, under the trees by that mosque. is the tomb of Joseph, where he was buried (Acts 7:16).

      This well is where our Lord rested at noon while his disciples went into the city to obtain food, and where he conversed with the woman of Sychar came for water; told her of her history; asked her to seek for the living waters; convinced her and the Samaritans of the city that [221] he was the Christ who had come to save the world.

      You will find the account of the Savior at this well, sitting right where we are sitting, looking at these same mountains, and preaching the great lessons of eternal life, in the fourth chapter of

JACOB'S WELL.

John, and the story is so interesting that you ought not to fail to read it. As we read, now, sitting on the stones by Jacob's well, it seems that in some way our Lord is wonderfully near to us.

      I said above that the Arabs rattled down some stones to show us how great is the depth of the well. People have been doing this for many generations until they have the well half filled up. [222] An old traveler, who visited here one or two hundred years ago, has written that it was one hundred and five feet deep. It is now so filled with rubbish that it is only seventy-five, and has no water in it except in the rainy season. It was probably one hundred and fifty feet deep in Christ's time. I wish some pious man of wealth would arrange to have all the rubbish cleaned out and the well restored to its original depth. Perhaps it will be done. Since I visited it, the ground with the well has been bought by Russia and a church will be built there. The Russian priests will probably again put the well in good condition. [223]

[YFBL 193-223]