Imatges de pàgina
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PART

I.

Phoeni

cian let

ters also resemble Hebrew.

Temples.

nicia; and this accords with and confirms the ancient tradition in regard to the origin of the Greek alphabet. Still more interesting is the fact that the characters on this stone are so like the old Hebrew as to establish their close relationship, if not their actual identity. If this be so, then we have on this tablet of Ashmunazer the very alphabet that God employed to preserve and transmit to us the priceless gift of his divine law. It further appears that the language of the two peoples, as well as their alphabet, were identical. And this, too, accords with our most ancient history. In all the incidental notices of intercourse between the patriarchs and their descendants and the inhabitants of Palestine, this fact is assumed or necessarily implied. It is only in Egypt that they heard a language which they could not understand (as David has it in the 81st Psalm), and conversed through an interpreter,—a character and office never mentioned in Palestine. It is, perhaps, not necessary to suppose that either borrowed from the other, but that both inherited from their common ancestor. At any rate, it is scarcely possible that the Phoenicians could borrow their language and literature from the Hebrews. They were the more ancient people, and had attained a high civilization while the patriarchs still abode in tents and tended cattle.

In regard to the temples mentioned by Ashmunazer, I have the idea that Baal-Sidor was that which once covered the old mazar, or shrine now called Sidōne, a short distance south-east of the upper castle of the city. The Ene Dalil on the mountain may have been this temple of Munterah on the bold promontory above the Sanîk. The position, and the apparent signification of both names would point to it. There are also traces of more than one temple at Tubloon itself,--one over the spot where the sarcophagus was found, and another farther south.

But here is one of Sidon's antiquities by the road side, which claims a passing notice. Those two mighty emperors, Septimius Severus and Pertinax Arabicus, sought to immortalize their august names by graving into this granite column the important fact that they mended this road. And this brings us to the little river Sanik, somewhat swollen by the heavy rains. I will tell you something about this river when we get settled in our tent this evening. In the meanwhile, notice its exit from the mountains a mile to the east of us, through that fine gorge, with a village in its mouth, called, by some strange whim, Durb es Sîn, or “road to China," to translate according to sound. That ruined temple on the promontory above is Munterah, commanding the noble prospect I spoke of the other day. There are many tombs in the rock thereused as a abouts, and one so large that it is still used occasionally as a church. In my rambles I once bolted into it, horse and all, and was surprised to find myself before an altar with a crucifix, an old picture of the Virgin, and a greasy earthen lamp. I subsequently learned that it was dedicated to Mary, and on a certain day of the year a great feast is celebrated at it to her honour. That large village with white domes, a little farther south, is called Gâzzîyeh, which Maundrell spells Korie. William of Tyre, and other Crusaders, make

A tomb

church

IDOLATROUS USE OF HIGH PLACES.

141

X.

equally shrewd approximations to the reality. Those domes cover the shrines CHAPTER of reputed prophets, or holy men,--a sort of patron saints very common in this region. Each village has one or more; and, besides these, every conspicuous hill-top has a willy or mazar, beneath a spreading oak, to which people pay High religious visits, and thither they go up to worship and to discharge vows. sects in the country, without exception, have a predilection for these "high places," strong as that of the Jews in ancient times. The most pious and zealous kings could not remove the high places from Israel; and most of them

All places.

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not only connived at, but shared in this superstition, and frequented these shrines. They were generally surrounded with a grove, or, at least, had one

PART

I.

Grove on top of

Lebanon.

Roads and

routes.

or more shade-trees planted near them; and so they have to this day. The customs are identical. There is one of these high places, with its grove of venerable oaks, on the very summit of Lebanon, east of Jezzîn. It is of an oval shape, corresponding to the top of the mountain, and the grove was planted regularly around its outer edge. When I stood within this mystic circle of mighty oaks, and looked over the vast plain of Cole-Syria, north-east to the temple of Baalbek, and then south-west to ancient Tyre, I fancied that this had been a connecting point between the two great temples of Baal and Belus. The first rays of the "god of day" would glance from the gilded dome in Baalbek to this high place, and thence into the grand portal of Belus at Tyre. Many of these mazars, whose history no one knows, have probably come down from remote antiquity, through all the mutations of dynasties and religions, unchanged to the present hour. We can believe this the more readily, because they are now frequented by the oldest communities in the country, and those most opposed to each other. For example, Neby Seijûd, which you see crowning yon southern peak of Lebanon, is resorted to by Jews, wild Arabs of the desert, Moslems, Metawelies, and Christians. We have, therefore, in these places not only sites of the very highest antiquity, but living examples and monuments of man's most ancient superstitions; and if this does not add to our veneration, it will much increase the interest with which we examine them. If it does not soften our condemnation, it may at least lessen our surprise.

This little brook is called Meshûn; and here the road to Hasbeiya takes off to the south-east, over those swelling hills on our left. After crossing the River Zahrany, it winds up a conical hill nine hundred feet high, to Khan Mohammed Ali, where is a fountain with a Greek inscription. Farther on are rock-tombs, and other indications of an ancient city, near the present village of Zifty. An ancient road continues due east past Deîr Zahrany and Tell Hubbush to the Jermuk,-a beautiful vale which leads down to the Litany, at the ford called Tamra, seven and a half hours from Sidon. The modern road, however, passes south of this, through the long wady Kafûr to Nebatîyeh, and thence to the bridge Khurdîleh, below the great castle of Shukîf, which is about eight hours from Sidon. Beyond the Litany the road divides to various parts of Ijon, Wady et Teim between the two Lebanons, to the Hûleh and the Hauran. In those days when Sidon possessed Dan and the fertile plains of Merom, this was an important highway, and was well kept, furnished with cisterns of water, and paved in places which required it. I trust we may be able to visit Shukîf on our return. It is the Castle of Bellefort or Beaufort of the Crusaders, and commands a magnificent panorama of mountains, plains, rivers, and lakes.

Our present path has brought us to a second mile-stone, with a Latin inscription, which we need not stop to copy, as it is a fragment which reveals nothing worth remembering. That pretty river before us is the flowery Zahrany, with a broken bridge of three arches embosomed in a wilderness of oleanders. We shall have something to say about this river also in the evening. In the meanwhile, we will examine that Tell, which rises like a huge

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hay-stack on the very margin of the sea.
those very ancient cisterns east of it, in which was collected the water from
fountains that rise out of the plain above it.

It is called Tell el Burak, from CHAPTER

66

X.

What is that man quarrelling about with his companion? Shall I translate this last explosion of his wrath? May God curse your grandfather, and the father of your great-grandfather! Can't you give a man time to pray? I Cursing want to pray."

Preposterous!

Which the swearing, or the praying?

Both.

Both together are certainly preposterous enough; and yet this scene and language are so familiar that I should not have noticed them if you had not called my attention that way.

But what makes the man so pertinaciously resolved to pray at this hour and place?

Perhaps he has made a vow to say his prayers at this time of day, wherever he may be, and if he fails he must do penance or pay a piastre, which is worse. Alas! religion in the East has always been joined in fellowship with many strange and monstrous things. This man may have been prompted to get off his donkey and pray merely because it is now the 'asr-the regular hour for afternoon prayer; and this little river furnishes water for the necessary ablutions.

and pray

ing.

I am surprised to see the plain covered with men ploughing and sowing at Ploughing this late season.

This is common and will continue all winter. It has always been so, I suppose. Solomon says, "The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold,"

in winter.

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or winter, as the margin has it; "therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing."I Our farmers do actually plough in the severest weather. I have

Prov. xx. 4

PART

I.

Deficient

Imple

ments.

Manner of

plough.

ing.

Elisha's

twelve yoke of

oxen.

often seen them shivering with cold, and contending with wind and rain, quite enough to discourage those who are not sluggards. But time has become precious and critical, and he who expects to reap must sow, no matter how tempestuous the weather. "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap."1 This hard necessity of winterwork is mainly owing to the wretched implements used, and to a strange deficiency in agricultural science and skill. If the farmers had good ploughs and adequate teams, they might break up and prepare their ground in fair weather, and then, when sufficient rain had fallen, they would sow the whole crop in a few days. But these men, with their frail ploughs and tiny oxen, must wait until the ground is saturated and softened, however late in the season that may be. Then they cannot sow and plough in more than half an acre per day, and few average so much, and hence the work is dragged along for months. They know nothing about the harrow, and merely plough under the seed, and leave it to take its chance. Job, however, speaks of the harrow; and, if our translation be correct, it is one of the oldest agricultural implements in the world.2

If you count these here

We have another Biblical illustration before us. In 1 Kings xix. 19, we read that Elijah found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth. We are not to suppose that he had a team of twelve yoke of oxen before him. at work, you find seven separate ploughs following one after another as closely as possible; and I have seen more than a dozen of them thus at work. To understand the reason of this, several things must be taken into account. First, that the arable lands of nearly all villages are cultivated in common; then, that Arab farmers delight to work together in companies, partly for mutual protection, and in part from their love of gossip; and, as they sow no more ground than they can plough during the day, one sower will answer for the entire company.

Their little ploughs make no proper furrow, but merely root up and throw the soil on either side, and so any number may follow one another, each making its own scratch along the back of the earth; and when at the end of the field, they can return along the same line, and thus back and forth until the whole is ploughed. It was well that Elisha came the last of the twelve, for the act of Elijah would have stopped all that were in advance of him. They cannot pass one another. Such brief hints let us far into the interior of ancient manners and customs. We may fairly conclude that Elisha's plough and oxen were much like those in this field; that the people worked in companies as they do now, and probably for the same reasons. These reasons suggest painful thoughts about insecurity, and oppression, and robbery; about the tenure of land, the mode of raising taxes and collecting rents, and I know not what besides. Why are lands now worked in common? Because

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