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and power than any pacha in the grand signior's dominions. The delightful plain of Zabulon appeared every where covered with spontaneous vegetation, flourishing in the wildest exuberance. The same proof of its fertility is given by other tra vellers. As we proceeded across this plain, a castle, once the acropolis of the city of Sapphura,† appeared upon a hill, distant from Shef hamer about seven miles. Its name is still preserved, in the appellation of a miserable village, called Sephoury. An ancient aqueduct, which conveyed water to the city, now serves to supply several small mills. We were told, that the French had been quartered in all these villages; that their conduct had rendered the name of a Frenchman, once odious, very popular among the Arabs; that they paid punctually for every thing they required; and left behind them notions, concerning the despotic tyranny of the Turks, which the government of that country will not find it easy to eradicate. We ascended the hill to the village; and found the sun's rays, even at this early hour of the morning, almost insupportable. If we had not adopted the precaution of carrying umbrellas, it would have been impossible to continue the journey. The cactus ficus-indicus, or prickly pear, which grows to a prodigious size in the Holy Land, as in Egypt, where it is used as a fence for the hedges of enclosures, spronted luxuriantly among the rocks, displaying its gaudy yellow blossoms, amidst thorns defying all human approach. We afterward saw this plant, with a stem, or trunk, as large as the mainmast of a frigate. It produces a delicious cooling fruit, which becomes ripe toward the end of July, and is then sold in all the markets of the country.

Particularly by Pococke, Description of the East, vol ii. part i. Lond. 1745.

In the enumeration of the cities of Judah, (Joshua, xv. 55.) this place is mention ed with Carmel, under the name of ZIPH. And David is said to have hid himself with the Ziphites, in strong holds in the Hill of Hachilab, (1 Sam. xxiii. 19 ) Harduin, (Num Antiq. illust. p. 480. Paris, 1684.) upon the subject of its appellation, says, More porro Hebræo Sefforin dicimus, quanquam in scribendo Græci æque atque Latini, Emopiv et Sepphorin scribant." Cellarius writes it Sepphoris, from Josephus, (lib. iii. De Bell. cap. 3.) Σεπφωρις μεγίστη οὖσα τῆς Γαλιλαίας πόλις. Brocardus, (Theat. Terr. Sanct.) as from the Greek, Sephoron, and Sephorum; also Sephor, under which name it occurs in the writings of some authors. It is, according to Cellarius, the Zippor or Zippari, of the Rabbins. In the Coder Palatinus of Ptolemy, (lib. v. cap. 16.) the name however occurs so nearly according to the manner in which it is. now pronounced.in the country (Earpoupa), that this ancient reading may be preferred to any other. A curious etymology of Zipporis is noticed by Cellarius, (lib. iii. c. 13. Lips. 1706.) "Judæis est 58, Zipporis, ut in Talmud. Megill. fol. 6. col. 1. aiunt, quia monti insidet, 770 sicut avis."

It is applied to the same use in the West Indies. Baron de Tott notices its importance, as a fence, in the Holy Land. "The Indian fig tree, of which the hedges are formed, serves as an insurmountable barrier for the security of the fields." (Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 312. Lond. 1785.) It might, in certain latitudes, answer temporary purposes, as an outwork of fortification. Artillery has no effect upon it; fire will not act upon it; pioneers cannot approach it; and neither cavalry nor infantry can traverse it.

SAPPHURA, or SEPPHORIS, Dow Sephoury, was once the chiefTM city and bulwark of Galilee.* The remains of its fortifications exhibited to us an existing work of Herod, who, after its destruction by Varus, not only rebuilt and fortified it, but made it the chief city of his tetrarchy.

of the five Sanhedrims of Judæa.t

Here was held one Its inhabitants often

In later

revolted against the Romans. It was so advantageously situated for defence, that it was deemed impregnable. ages, it bore the name of Diocasarea. Josephus relates, that the inhabitants of Sepphoris amicably entreated Vespasian, when he arrived in Ptolemais.** Harduin commemorates medals of the city, coined afterward, under the Romans, in the reigns of Domitian and of Trajan.†† Wewere not fortunate in our search for medals, either here, or in any other part of the Holy Land; and, speaking generally of the country, these antiquities are so exceedingly rare, that the peasants seemed unacquainted with the objects of our inquiry. This was not the case among the Arabs in Egypt, nor in any part of Greece. It is true, the French had preceded us, and they might have carried off the few which had of late years been discovered; but they had weightier matters to consider, and the inhabitants among whom we made our inquiry did not mention having supplied them with any reliques of this kind. When we arrived in the village, we were invited to visit the house of St. Anne. The proposal surprised us, coming from persons in the Arab dress; but we afterward found that the inhabitants of Galilee, and of the Holy Land in general, are as often Christians as

· Σέπφωριν, μεγίστην μὲν οὖσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας πόλιν, ερυμνότατῳ δὲ ἐπεκτισμένην χωρίῳ, καὶ φρουρὰν ὅλου τοῦ ἔθνους ἐσομένην. “ Sepphoris, qua Galilea maxima, et in tutissimo loco condita, totiusque gentis futura praesidio." Joseph. lib. iii. Bell Jud. cap. i. p. 832.

Joseph. Antiq. lib. xviii. c. 3.

Ibid. lib. xiv. c. 10.

Of which instances are mentioned by various authors. Οἱ ἐν Διοκαισαρείᾳ τῆς Παλα στίνης σδαῖοι κατὰ “Ρωμαίων ὅπλα ἀντήρων. (Socrat. Hist. ii. c. 33.) " Judi qui Diocæsaream Palæstinæ incolebant contra Romanos arma sumserunt." ́See also Sozomen. Histor. lib iv. c. 7.

Cellarius, tom ii. p. 499. Lips. 1706. and the authors by him cited. Hieronymus de Locis Ebr. in ARABA: "Est et alia villa, Arabâ nomine, in finibus Diocæsareæ, quæ olim Saphorine dicebatur." Hegesippus, lib. i. cap. 30. "Præveniens adventus sui nuntio Sepphorim prisco vocitatam nomine, quam Diocæsaream postea nuncupaverunt."

** Καὶ κατὰ ταύτην ὑπαιτῶσιν αὐτῷ τὴν πόλιν οἱ τῆς Γαλιλαίας Σεπφωριν νεμόμενοι, τῶν τῇδε εἰρηνικὰ φρονοῦντες. "In hacporro civitate occurrerunt ei Sepphorita, qui Galilææ oppidum incolunt, animis pacis studiosis." Joseph. lib. iii. Bell. Jud. cap. 1.

CETPOPHNON. “Domitiani ac Trajani nummi, e Cimelio Regio, quorum postremum laudat Patinus, p. 183, cum palmæ, efligie, qui Phoenices in primis, ac Judææ typus." Harduini Numm. Antiq. illust. p. 449. Paris, 1684. See also Patin. p146, and Vaillant, Imp. August, et Cæs. Numism. pp. 23, 31. Par. 1698,

they are Mahometans; indeed, they sometimes consider them selves equally followers of Mahomet and of Christ. The Druses, concerning whom, notwithstanding the detailed account published by Niebuhr* and by Volney, we have never received due historical information, worship Jonas, the Prophets, and Mahomet. They have also Pagan rites; and some among them certainly offer their highest adoration to a calf.‡

This

account of their religion we received from a sensible and wellinformed member of their own community. The worship of the calf is accounted for, in their Egyptian origin; the remains of superstition, equally ancient, being still retained in that country. Although the vicinity of Mount Libanus may be considered as the residence of the main horde of this people, stragglers, and detached parties of them, may be found in every part of the Holy Land. The inhabitants of Sephoury are generally Maronites, yet even here we found some Druses. Those of Nazareth are Greeks, Maronites, and Catholics. Cana of Galilee is tenanted by Greeks only; so is the town of Tiberias. In Jerusalem there are sects of every denomination, and, perhaps, of almost every religion upon earth. As to those who call themselves Christians, in opposition to the Moslems, we found them divided into sects, with whose distinctions we were often unacquainted. It is said there are no Lutherans; aud if we add, that, under the name of Christianity, every degrading superstition and profane rite, equally remote from the enlightened tenets of the gospel, and the dignity of human nature, are professed and tolerated, we shall afford a true picture of the state of society in this country. The cause may be easily assigned. The pure gospel of Christ, every where the herald of civilization and of science, is almost as little known in the Holy Land as in

*Voyage en Arabie, tom. ii. p. 348. Amsterd. 1780.
†Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. ii. p. 33. Lond. 1787.

The worship of the calf has been doubted, and by some denied; but the existence of this curious relique of the ancient mythology of Egypt, as well as of the worship of Venus, among the inhabitants of Mount Libanus, is now placed beyond dispute. Colonel Capper, journeying, over land, from India to Cyprus, in order to join our fleet in the Mediterranean, informed the author that he had witnessed the existence of the last-mentioned superstition.

See a note in the last chapter, p. 224.

A very curious account of the Maronite Christians, collected from their own historians, is given by De la Roque, (Voyage en Syrie et du Mont Liban, Par. 1722.) wherein it is stated, that this sect were named from their founder, St. Maron, a Syrian hermit, who lived about the beginning of the fifth century, and whose life is written by Theodoret. His austere mode of living spread his reputation all over the east. St. Chrysostom wrote a letter to him from the place of his exile, ("Ad Maronem Monachum et Presbyterum Epist. S. Joan. Chrysost. 36.") which letter fixes very nearly the time when St. Maron lived, which was about the year of Christ 400. Pococke says (Descript. of the East, vol. ii. p. 94.) that the Maronites are esteemed more honest than any other sect of Christians in the east.

Caliphoruia or New Holland. A series of legendary traditions, mingled with remains of Judaism, and the wretched phantasies of illiterate ascetics, may now and then exhibit a glimmering of heavenly light; but if we seek for the blessed effects of Christianity in the land of Canaan, we must look for that period, when "the desert shall blossom as the rose, and the wilderness become a fruitful field." For this reason we had early resolved to make the sacred Scriptures our only guide throughout this interesting territory; and the delight af forded by the internal evidences of truth, in every iustance where their fidelity of description was proved by a comparison with existing documents, surpassed even all we had anticipated.* Such extraordinary instances of coincidence, even with the customs of the country as they are now exhibited, and so many wonderful examples of illustration afforded by contrasting the simple narrative with the appearances presented, made ns only regret the shortness of our time, and the limited sphere of our abilities for the comparison. When the original compilert of "Observations on various passages of scripture" undertook to place them in a new light, and to explain their meaning by relations incidently mentioned in books of Voyages and Travels into the East, he was struck by communications the authors of those books were themselves not aware of having made; and it is possible, his commentators may discern similar instances in the brief record of our journey. But if the travellers who have visited this country (and many of them were men of more than ordinary talents) had been allowed full leisure for the inquiry, or had merely stated what they might have derived solely from a view of the country, abstracted from the consideration and detail of the lamentable mummery whereby the monks in all the convents have gratified the credulity of every traveller for so many centuries, and which in their subsequent relations they seem to have copied from each other, we should have had the means of elucidating the sacred writings, perhaps in every instance, where the meaning has been "not determinable by the methods commonly used by learned men."+

*Scio equidem multa loca falso ostendi ab hominibus lucri avidis per universam Palæstinam; ac si hæc et illa miranda opera ibi patrata fuissent, sed hoc tamen negari non potest, aliqua sane certo sciri." Relandi Palæstina, cap. iv. in Thesaur. Antiq Sacrar. Ugolini, vol. vi. Venet. 1746.

t The Rev. Thomas Harmer. See the different editions of his work, 1764, 1773, 1787 and especially the fourth, published in 1808, by Dr. Adam Clarke.

See the title to the work above mentioned.

The House of St. Anne, at Sephoury, presented us with the commencement of that superstitious trumpery, which, for a long time, has constituted the chief object of devotion and of pilgrimage in the Holy Land, and of which we had afterwardinstances without number.* A tradition prevails that St. Joachim and the mother of the Virgin Mary resided in this place: accordingly, some pious agent of Coustantine the First erected over the spot where the monks fancied their house had stood, or, what is more likely, over what they vouched for be ing the house itself, a most magnificent church, The remains of this sanctuary were what we had been invited to see; and these now bear the name of the house I have mentioned. The visit was, however, attended by circumstances which may possibly interest the reader more than the cause of it will in duce him to imagine.

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We were conducted to the ruins of a stately gothic edifice, which seems to have been one of the finest structures in the Holy Land. Here we entered, beneath lofty massive arches of stone. The roof of the building was of the same materials. The arches are placed at the intersection of a Greek cross, and originally supported a dome or a tower: their ap pearance is highly picturesque, and they exhibit the grandeur of a noble style of architecture. Broken columns of granite and marble lie scattered among the walls, and these prove how richly it was decorated. We measured the capital of a pillar of the order commonly called Tuscan, which we found lying against a pillar of granite. The top of this formed a square of three feet. One aisle of this building is yet entire; at the eastern extremity whereof a small temporary altar had been recently constructed by the piety of pilgrims: it consisted of loose materials, and was of very modern date. Some fragments of the original decorations of the church had been gathered from the ruins, and laid upon this altar; and, although it was open to every approach, even Mahometans had abstained from violating the sacred deposit. We were less scrupu lous; for among these, to our very great surprise, we noticed an ancient painting, executed after the manner of the pictures worshipped in Russia,† upon a square piece of wood, about half an inch in thickness. The picture, split through the middle, consisted of two pieces: these, placed one upon the

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A house supposed to have belonged to the same persons is also shown in Jeruga-. See the first part of these travels, ch. II.

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