24

CHURCH OF ST. JOHN.

cultivated hills, while Mount Gerizim is prolonged, inclining a little to the north, and joins the lower range of hills which sweep round north-northwest, enclosing the valley of Nablous. This valley bends round the western point of Mount Ebal, and then expands on the north of it into a magnificent basin, in the midst of which rises the insulated Mountain of Samaria. The road does not make the circuit of the valley, but ascends to the north over the western slope of Ebal, from the summit of which is the richest view in Palestine. The mountains on the south, west, and north form a vast amphitheatre, adorned throughout its whole area with villages, vineyards, groves, grass and grain fields. In the northern part of this lovely panorama the Mountain of Samaria is seen rising in the midst of a richlycultivated basin. It is a very regular oblong swell, rising five hundred feet above the level of the plain, very steep on all sides, and richly cultivated to its summit. As seen from Mount Ebal, the broad terrace which girds its middle is clearly distinguishable by a broken line of columns, extending three thousand feet from west to east; their tops rise above the olive-trees, while their bases are hid in the luxuriant wheat. Conspicuous on the eastern brow was the noble ruin of the Church of St. John the Baptist, under whose walls nestled the miserable little village which still bears the name of the master of the Roman world.* On different parts of the hill were lone columns, standing amid the green wheat and olive-trees.

Descending from Mount Ebal, we halted at the eastern base of the mountain of Samaria, immediately under

* Sebustieh, from & Zebaotos, Augustus; the name which, in honour of his master, Herod gave to the ancient city of Samaria when he rebuilt and adorned it.

TOMB OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

25

the walls of the venerable cathedral. Situated on the first great terrace which encircles the mountain, the ascent to the church was steep and winding, amid rent walls and fractured arches, which mined the hill. A single glance at the noble ruin reveals its date and its founders. The round arches on the outside of the alcove of the great altar, the pointed ones within, the buttressed walls, the high, narrow, military-looking windows, and the multitude of mutilated Maltese crosses, prove it to be the work of the Crusaders and of the Knights of St. John. The alcove is whole, and the walls not much broken, though the stone roof has long since fallen in. The interior is occupied by a small mosque, and a tomb commonly reputed to be that of St. John the Baptist. The tomb covers a deep grot hewn in the rock, which tradition declares to be both the grave and the prison of the Baptist. It can scarcely be so, as we know, on the authority of Josephus, that John was beheaded in the castle of Macharus, on the east of the Jordan, near its mouth; and it is not to be supposed that his disciples would have encountered the displeasure of Herod by transporting his body thence, and burying it within his favourite city of Sebaste. Besides, the neighbourhood of the Jordan was the proper country of John the Baptist, and in that vicinity where he had preached, and baptized, and fallen a martyr, it is most likely that his remains were laid to rest.

From the church we ascended directly westward, and about two thirds of the way up came to a second well-defined terrace, which encircles the hill. Here we found fifteen noble columns standing on the terrace, marking the lines of a quadrangle about one hundred feet on a side. There are no traces of walls, and the pavement has given way to the plough, the olive, and VOL. II.-C

26

REMAINS OF A TEMPLE.

the young grain. It appeared to me to have been an open colonnade, at once a place of public amusement and an ornament to the city. To the south of it is a smaller quadrangle, also flanked by a colonnade, which was probably connected with the larger one, but certainly did not form a connexion between it and the magnificent colonnade seen from Mount Ebal, sweeping round the southern side of the hill; for this is on the first terrace, while those are on the second. From this second terrace we ascended to the summit, which we found to have been formed by art into a level circular plateau, about two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, and precipitous on all sides. There had stood a magnificent edifice, encircled with a peristyle of fine columns, some of whose bases were still in their places on the edge of the plateau, while fragments of shafts and capitals were mingled with the ruins scattered amid the young grain. The position of this edifice, which sat as a crown upon the city of Sebaste, points it out as the magnificent temple which, according to Josephus, Herod built in honour of the emperor, his patron and friend. I saw no view in Palestine to compare with that from the summit of the Mountain of Samaria. It took in all the rich and varied prospect from Mount Ebal, and, in addition, the fine valley opening westward to the Mediterranean, whose broad expanse sparkled in the sun.

From the summit I descended to the southwest to the first great terrace, and struck upon the remains of an edifice which seemed to form the western end of the colonnade already mentioned as girding the hill for three thousand feet on the south. I looked out westward to the sea, and then turned and walked eastward, with the perpendicular bank of the terrace on my left, and its line of columns on my right. This noble façade

PLAN OF THE CITY.

27

is much broken at various and distant intervals. Many shafts and capitals have fallen down the hill, and are partly concealed among the olive, almond, and fig trees, and growing grain; but about eighty are still standing in their places. I walked within the colonnade until it terminated on the east at the village, repeating to myself the denunciation of Micah: "Therefore will I make Samaria as a heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard; and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof."

(Chap. i., 6.) Some of my young companions descended the hill on the north, where they found another magnificent colonnade similar to that already described on the south, and which they represented as scarcely inferior to it. It was situated lower down the hill, probably on the first great terrace.

It is easy to conceive of the plan of the city. It covered an oval mountain about 500 feet high, whose greatest diameter, from east to west, was perhaps a mile and a half, and its shortest, from north to south, one mile. It was girded by three great terraces, adorned throughout their whole circle with public buildings and open colonnades, connected with each other at convenient distances by steep avenues, ascending and converging to the summit, which was crowned by a magnificent temple. Thus, in the days of her glory, she sat in the midst of the magnificent basin as a rich ruby in its ground of gold. This was the Samaria of the New Testament. We have seen all that remains of her. Not a vestige remains of the Samaria of the Old Testament, so intimately connected with the history of Elijah and Elisha, and whose population was carried away captive by Shalmanezer seven hundred years before Christ.

28

THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON.

The next point of interest to us was the Plain of Esdraelon, the great battle-field on which Palestine has been so often lost and won. We had lingered on the Mountain of Samaria so long that it was dark when we reached the village of Jenin, and found it all in commotion. The streets were illuminated with bonfires, and resounded with music, accompanied with the clapping of hands and the occasional discharge of fire-arms. It was a wedding fête. Our guides insisted that it was dangerous to pitch the tents, and so led us to a ruined khan, in whose sunken court they and their horses found shelter, while we ascended a flight of steps to an artificial plateau, on which were some rooms in a dirty, dilapidated state. In one of these we spread our quilts after supper, and slept soundly. I had occasion to make war upon some night-walkers, and so, stepping out to eject them from my under-clothes, I stumbled over our landlord, lying across our door outside, and upon inquiry wherefore, his reply was, to make the guard. If he had defended us from fleas and other vermin within, he would have done some service.

When we rose in the morning the sun was pouring a flood of light over the Vale of Esdraelon, which lay spread out as a map before us. Beyond it were the Mountains of Nazareth, while far in the distance, to the north, rose the snowy Hermon. To the northwest, the dark mass of Mount Carmel lay banked against the sky; close at hand, on the northeast, smooth and green to the eye, were the wavy Mountains of Gilboa, on which Saul and Jonathan, and with them the glory of Israel, fell before the Philistines. In the midst of the valley was Jezreel, so intimately connected with the execrable memories of Ahab and Jezebel; and on the north of this valley rose the Little Hermon, intercepting the view of Mount Tabor.