378 PLAIN OF ESDRAELON. -Priesthood hereditary.-Differences between Jews and Samaritans. Alteration of Scripture.-Appearance of Gerizim and Ebal.—Annual sacrifice on Gerizim.—Samaritan secretary.-Antipathies of religious sects. LEAVING Nazareth at 6 A. M. we crossed over the "Hill of precipitation" at some distance from the spot whence the monks say the Jews proposed to cast our Lord headlong into the abyss. Proceeding by a steep descent, in an hour and a half we reached the plain of Esdraelon. The interesting villages of Nain and Deboree, with the site of Endor, where Saul consulted the woman that had "a familiar spirit,"* again came into view; and soon we passed Soolam, or Shunem, the residence of the Shunemmite,† whose son Elisha raised. Two hours after, we forded a little stream, one of the sources of the river Kishon; a mile beyond which is the parallel of the low hills of Gilboa, the scene of destruction to Saul and his sons. On these, two villages are situate that still retain, with slight corruption, their ancient scriptural appellations; the former is Gilboa, now called Jilboon, which gives its name to the hills; the other is Megiddo, * 1 Sam. xxviii. 7, 8. + 2 Kings iv. 8. 1 Sam. xxxi. 8. where, possibly, the last battle alluded to in the book of Revelations will be fought;* though, indeed, there is another similarly designated in the western part of the plain, which may be the one referred to. At noon we reached Zuraeen, the ancient Jezreel, a miserable little village, surrounded by some magnificent sarcophagi which lie exposed in the valley. It was in this neighbourhood that the battles of Barak and Sisera,† of Josiah and Pharaoh Nechoh, ‡ of the armies of Israel, Egypt, and Assyria, were fought. Here, likewise, was the vineyard of Naboth, "hard by the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria ;"§ and here, too, was fulfilled the terrible denunciation against his idolatrous wife, "the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." || Now, the vineyard and the palace, cultivation and architecture, are alike unknown. All is dilapidation and barrenness. When we visited Jezreel, it was under water; a few half-naked Arabs were the sole representatives of the courtiers who surrounded the palace of the king, and the pastures of his camels and horses were occupied by storks and lizards. *Rev. xvi. 14. 16. 2 Kings xxiii. 29. ↑ Judges iv. 13. 16. 1 Kings xxi. 23. 1 380 MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA. Having crossed the interesting valley of Esdraelon in six hours, we reached Junneen, the ancient Ginæa, and began to ascend the mountains of Samaria, which are less high and rugged than those of Galilee. Up to this point, the road had been for several days nearly impassable, and the whole valley was a quagmire; but here, as we left the territory of Asher and entered that of the half tribe of Manasseh, the track began to improve. the course of the subsequent journey we saw several black Bedouin tents, and were charmed with the beautifully wooded hills of Samaria, exhibiting scenery so different from that of the mountains of Galilee. Among numerous venerable olive-woods, towns and villages are scattered in every direction; and some of the views rival those of Switzerland. In At Jubbah, four hours and a half from Junneen, we were kindly received in the house of a Christian, whose two little girls immediately advanced, according to the fashion of the country, to kiss our hands; and no less than nine of the villagers, attracted by the intelligence of the strangers' arrival, came uninvited to spend the evening with us and to gratify a curiosity which knows no bounds. Our room was shared with the family, a goat, three cats, a young wild hog, just captured, and innumerable vermin. Dibash, unleavened cakes, and sour milk, were offered with all the hospitality of patriarchal days; and in the morning, our kind, but poor, host refused to accept any remuneration. At an early hour we remounted our mules; and the sun shone brightly as we entered the portion of Ephraim and rode towards the ruins of the ancient city of Sebaste. The first view of the representative of the famous capital of the kings of Israel is very imposing. It is built on a high semi-spherical mount, standing alone in a valley encompassed by hills, and covered with terraces of which we counted sixteen rising one above another: when each of these was defended with all the valor of the Israelitish host in the days of their glory and the science of war was yet in its infancy, it can readily be conceived that a city so circumstanced must have been almost impregnable. On the north-east, about half-way between the summit and the base of the hill, eighteen limestone columns are still standing, which seem to have formed part of a parallelogram, whose dimensions were about a hundred and eighty by eighty yards. On the top are two 382 RUINS OF SEBASTE. more parallel lines of pillars; the one containing six, the other seven, in a comparatively perfect state: they are all without capitals, but appear to belong to the Doric order, and were doubtless erected by Herod, who rebuilt the city and called it, in honor of Augustus, Sebaste.* On the opposite side, on one of the highest terraces, are two rows of limestone columns distant from each other about twenty yards; the one containing twenty-one, the other fifty-six. These seem to have formed a double colonnade, the present ruins of which are scattered over a space nearly a quarter of a mile in length; nor is it easy to determine whether it originally extended all round the mountain, which at that distance from the summit may be a mile and a half in circumference, or whether it only adorned the chief street of the city. To the east of the present village are the remains of a very handsome church erected by Helena. Its material is limestone, and the sculpture is beautiful. The whole of the eastern portion has been spared by time, as has the opposite end, which is converted into a Mohammedan mosque. Tradition records that this edifice was dedicated to John the Baptist, * Sebastos and Augustus are the corresponding Greek and Latin translations of the word august, or revered. |