have visited Jesusalem and returned hither in the same day, as the narrative requires, making a distance of forty miles.

Just as the sun was setting we found ourselves on the summit of a hill. Below us was a tangle and labyrinth of valleys running one into another. On the opposite hill the sun was resting before he "hasted to go down." Our camp was pitched on the edge of a brook in the bottom of the valley where mists and shadows were already gathering thick and heavy. It was the VALLEY OF AJALON, where Joshua commanded the sun to stand still. Again the topography illustrated and confirmed the narrative. Joshua,

encamped at Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan, received intelligence that five kings of the Amorites had attacked the Gibeonites with whom he had just before made an alliance,' and who demanded instant succour. "Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly and save us and help us." Though only just before the army had required three days to reach the city, Joshua at once ordered a forced march which he accomplished in the course of a single night. He found the Amorites besieging Gibeon, the site of which is marked by the village of Geeb, some distance to the north-east

THE VALLEY OF AFALON AND KIRJATH-JEARIM.

of where we stand. Taken by surprise at this sudden and unlooked-for attack, they were "discomfited," "slain with a great slaughter," and "chased along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon," now, Beit 'Ur el-Foka, Bethhoron the upper, on the summit of a hill looking over the plain of Sharon. Here they seem to have made a stand, but were driven down the steep rocky declivity leading to the lower Beth-horon, now Beit 'Ur et-Tahta, at the foot of the ravine. As in wild panic they were rushing down the precipitous descent, a hailstorm, perhaps, accompanied by a fall of meteoric stones, added to their confusion and dismay. Slipping and falling from rock to rock, the discomfited host endeavoured to escape along the valleys below us, hotly pursued by the victorious army. The kings took refuge in a cave, the entrance to which was blocked up by the pursuers who still pressed on after the flying foe. The sun had reached his meridian and stood over Gibeon, the pale crescent moon over Ajalon. Will the shades of evening close upon them when the victory is incomplete, giving opportunity to the Amorites to escape among the defiles which run in every direction, or to rally in the darkness? "Then spake Joshua to the Lord. . . and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies." The victory was complete; the kings were brought out from the hiding-place and slain. "And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp at Gilgal."

2

Soon after leaving the valley of Ajalon we reach the village of Kuryetel-enab, better known at the present day as Abu-Gosh, from the robber chief who for nearly a quarter of a century kept the Turkish power at bay, and levied blackmail on the whole district. It is identified with tolerable certainty as the ancient KIRJATH-JEARIM (the city of forests), though the forests from which it took its name have long since disappeared. Originally a city of the Gibeonites, it subsequently became one of the border towns marking the frontier between Judah and Benjamin. It is in consequence frequently mentioned in the mapping out and allotment of the land by Joshua.3 The accuracy of what has been well called "The Doomsday Book of the Israelites" is shown by the fact that these ancient records still afford invaluable aid in settling the topography of Palestine. At Kirjath-Jearim the Ark rested for twenty years after being recovered from the hands of the Philistines and before its removal to Jerusalem by David. It was in this "city of forests" that the royal psalmist found it in "the fields of the wood" and brought it with songs of praise to the place he had prepared for its reception. It was very interesting to read the narrative of the bringing hither of the Ark and compare it with the surrounding scenery. "And the men of Kirjath-Jearim came, and fetched up the Ark

1 Joshua x. 8-27. See Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' pp. 208–212.

3 Ibid. ix. 17; xv. 9, 60; xviii. 14, 15, 28.

2 Ibid. ix. 17.

4 I Sam. vi. 21; vii. I, 2. 1 Chron. xiii. 5. Psalm cxxxii. 6.

of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill." The village stands on the slope of a hill trending down towards Ain-Shems, the ancient

Beth-Shemesh.

A hill rises above the town, and the ruins of an ancient church which stands on its summit may not improbably mark the site of "the house of Abinadab."

VALLEY OF ELAH AND EMMAUS.

Shortly after leaving Abu-Gosh we descend into a broad deep valley, the Wady es-Sumt, enclosed by rounded hills, terraced and covered with olives to the very summit. A brook, swollen by winter rains into a torrent, brawls over a bed of pebbles brought down by it from the rocks above. It is the VALLEY OF ELAH, along which the hosts of the Amorites fled after their defeat at Beth-horon, and where the ruddy stripling from Bethlehem confronted and slew the giant of Gath.' The hills curve round, forming an amphitheatre, in which, as "the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other, and there was a

WADY ES-SUMT AND KULÔNIA. [From a Sketch by Mr. F. E. Blackstone.

valley between them," the hostile armies would be able to watch the combat between their chosen champions. Bethlehem is only about ten miles distant, and the young shepherd boy, who "rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper," could easily reach the spot in time to see "the battle set in array," and hear the defiant challenge of the Philistine. Shocoh is represented by the village of Shuweikeh; Azekah is probably the modern Tell Zakariya; and Gath lies at no great distance on the way down to Ekron. David, returning to Bethlehem by the main road would pass through

11 Sam. xvii.

or near Jerusalem, at that time in the hands of the Jebusites; hence the statement which has caused some perplexity to commentators, that "he took the head of the Philistine and brought it" thither.

Leaving the valley of Elah on the way to Jerusalem the eye is arrested by a white-walled village standing on the slope of the hill, a little way off the road, but visible from it. Travellers going thither from Jerusalem must turn aside as "they draw nigh unto it"; others "who would go farther, continue along the road, leaving it on the right. It is now called Kulon or Kulônia, and at least a probable conjecture regards it as EMMAUS.' Though there is no direct evidence of the fact, yet it fulfils all the requirements of the narrative, which, as we have seen, the traditional site fails to do. We know from Josephus that there was an Emmaus in this neighbourhood, and that a Roman garrison was stationed there. The modern name of Kulônia may not improbably represent the Colonia, or Roman settlement. Assuming the identification to be correct, we now, for the first time, find ourselves in the actual footsteps of Him whose "name is above every name." Tender, sacred, sublime, as are all the associations of the Holy Land, they must yield to thoughts of Him who was David's son and yet his Lord; who was of the seed of Abraham, and yet could say, "Before Abraham was I am."

About seven miles, "sixty sixty furlongs," from Kulônia we reach the summit of a broad plateau. Turning a corner of the road, a huge Russian monastery and church, with several smaller buildings around, all new, crude and raw in colour, obstruct the view in front. On the right is a ravine, beyond which a series of barren wind-swept hills stretch to the horizon. Just behind the monastery is a Turkish barrack, and then a line of dim grey venerable walls. There is nothing imposing or impressive in the sight, and yet every traveller halts; even the most frivolous are awed into silence. Not a few gaze with tears upon the scene. It is JERUSALEM! The moment when its sombre turreted walls, minarets, and domes break, for the first time, upon the eye is one never to be forgotten. The dream, the hope of a lifetime has been fulfilled. The one thought, "Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem," swallows up every other. I was not surprised; I was not disappointed. The outward features of the landscape were scarcely seen. The present was lost sight of and forgotten in the memories of the past. This was the city of the Lord of Hosts! Here He chose to dwell between the cherubim! Here my Lord was crucified!

It was not our plan to make any stay in Jerusalem at present. We should return in a few days. I contented myself, therefore, with entering at the Jaffa gate, and clattering for a few hundred feet along the stony street. Then, retracing my steps, I rode round a portion of the southern wall and descended into the Valley of Hinnom to rejoin my companions.

Passing the Pool of Gihon, and leaving the Hill of Evil Counsel on

1 Luke xxiv. 13-33.