Chapter VI.
OF THE DESERT BETWEEN THE CHURCH OF ST. CATHERINE AND JERUSALEM.—OF THE DRY TREE; AND HOW ROSES FIRST CAME INTO THE WORLD.
After people have visited these holy places, they proceed towards Jerusalem, having taken leave of the monks and recommended themselves to their prayers. And then the monks give the pilgrims victuals to pass the desert towards Syria, which desert extends full thirteen days' journey. In that desert dwell many of the Arabians, who are called Bedouins and Ascopardes, who are people full of all evil conditions, having no houses, but tents, which they make of the skins of camels and other beasts that they eat; and under these they sleep and dwell, in places where they can find water, as on the Red Sea or elsewhere; for in that desert there is great want of water, and it often happens that where men find water at one time in a place, there is none at another time; and for that reason they make no habitations there. These people do not till the ground nor labour; for they eat no bread, except it be those who dwell near a good town, who go thither and eat bread sometimes. They roast their flesh and fish on the hot stones in the sun; and they are strong and warlike men, and there is so great a multitude of them that they are without number. Their only occupation is to hunt animals for their food. They care not for their lives, and therefore they fear not the sultan nor any other prince; but dare to war with all princes who do them any grievance; and they are often at war with the sultan, as they were at the time I was with him. They carry but one shield and one spear, without other arms; they wrap their heads and necks with a great quantity of white linen cloth; and they are right felonious and foul, and of a cursed nature.
When you pass this desert, on the way to Jerusalem, you come to Beersheba, which was formerly a very fair and pleasant town of the Christians, some of whose churches still remain. In that town Abraham the Patriarch dwelt a long time. It was founded by Beersheba (Bathsheba), the wife of Sir Uriah, the knight, on whom king David begat Solomon the Wise, who was king, after David, over the twelve tribes of Jerusalem, and reigned forty years. From thence we go to the city of Hebron, a distance of two good miles; it was formerly called the Vale of Mamre, and sometimes the Vale of Tears, because Adam wept there a hundred years for the death of Abel, his son, whom Cain slew. Hebron was the principal city of the Philistines, and was inhabited some time by giants. And it was a sacerdotal city, that is, a sanctuary, of the tribe of Judah; and was so free, that all manner of fugitives from other places, for their evil deeds, were received there. In Hebron, Joshua, Calephe, and their company, came first to espy how they might win the Land of Promise. Here king David first reigned, seven years and a half; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years and a half. In Hebron are all the sepulchres of the patriarchs, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and their wives, Eve, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah: which sepulchres the Saracens keep very carefully, for they hold the place in great reverence, on account of the holy fathers, the patriarchs, that lie there. And they suffer no Christian to enter that place, except by special grace of the sultan; for they hold Christians and Jews as dogs, and say that they should not enter into so holy a place. And they call that place where they lie Double Spelunk, or Double Cave, or Double Ditch, because the one lies above the other. And the Saracens call the place in their language Karicarba, that is, the Place of Patriarchs. The Jews call it Arbothe. And in that same place was Abraham's house, and there he sat and saw three persons, and worshipped but one: as Holy Writ saith, He saw three, and worshipped one: and at the same place Abraham received the angels into his house. Close by that place is a cave in the rock, where Adam and Eve dwelt when they were put out of Paradise, and there they begat their children. And in that same place was Adam formed and made, as some men say; for they used to call that place the Field of Damascus, because it was in the lordship of Damascus. And from thence he was translated into Paradise, as they say; and after he was driven out of Paradise he was left there. Here begins the Vale of Hebron, which extends nearly to Jerusalem. There the angel commanded Adam that he should dwell with his wife Eve, on whom he begat Seth, of which tribe Jesus Christ was born. In that valley is a field where men draw out of the earth a thing they call cambylle, which they eat instead of spice, and they carry it to sell. And men may not make the hole where it is taken out of the earth so deep or wide, but at the year's end it is full again up to the sides, through the grace of God.
Two miles from Hebron is the grave of Lot, Abraham's brother. And a little from Hebron is the mount of Mamre, from which the valley takes its name. And there is an oak tree which the Saracens call dirpe, which is of Abraham's time; and people call it the dry tree. They say that it has been there since the beginning of the world, and that it was once green and bore leaves, till the time that our Lord died on the cross, and then it dried; and so did all the trees that were then in the world. And there is a prophecy, that a lord, a prince of the west side of the world, shall win the Land of Promise, that is, the Holy Land, with the help of the Christians; and he shall cause mass to be performed under that dry tree, and then the tree shall become green and bear both fruit and leaves. And through that miracle many Saracens and Jews shall be converted to the Christian faith. And, therefore, they do great worship thereto, and guard it very sedulously. And although it be dry, still it has great virtue; for, certainly, he that hath a little thereof upon him, it heals him of the falling evil, and his horse shall not be afoundered; and many other virtues it hath, on account of which it is highly esteemed.
From Hebron we proceed to Bethlehem, in half a day, for it is but five miles; and it is a very fair way, by pleasant plains and woods. Bethlehem is a little city, long and narrow, and well walled, and on each side inclosed with good ditches. It was formerly called Ephrata, as Holy Writ says, "Lo, we heard it at Ephrata."[324] And towards the east end of the city is a very fair and handsome church, with many towers, pinnacles, and corners strongly and curiously made; and within are forty-four great and fair pillars of marble. And between the city and the church is the Field Floridus, that is to say, the field flourished; for a fair maiden was blamed with wrong, and slandered, that she had committed fornication, for which cause she was condemned to be burnt in that place; and as the fire began to burn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as truly as she was not guilty, he would by his merciful grace help her, and make it known to all men. And when she had thus said, she entered into the fire, and immediately the fire was extinguished, and the faggots that were burning became red rosebushes, and those that were not kindled became white rosebushes, full of roses. And these were the first rose-trees and roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw. And thus was this maiden saved by the grace of God. And therefore is that field called the field that God flourished, for it was full of roses. Also near the choir of the church, at the right side, as men go down sixteen steps, is the place where our Lord was born; which is full well made of marble, and full richly painted with gold, silver, azure, and other colours. And three paces from it is the crib of the ox and the ass. And beside that is the place where the star fell, which led the three kings, Jaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar: but the Greeks call them Galgalathe, Malgalathe, and Saraphie: and the Jews call them in Hebrew Appelius, Amerrius, and Damasus. These three kings offered to our Lord gold, incense, and myrrh; and they met together by a miracle of God, for they met together in a city in India called Cassak, which is fifty-three days' from Bethlehem, and yet they arrived at Bethlehem on the thirteenth day, which was the fourth day after they had seen the star, when they met in that city; and thus they were nine days from that city to Bethlehem: and that was a great miracle[325]. Also, under the cloister of the church, by eighteen steps at the right side, is the charnel-house of the Innocents, where their bones lie. And before the place where our Lord was born is the tomb of St. Jerome, who was a priest and cardinal, and translated the Bible and Psalter from Hebrew into Latin; and without the church is the chair that he sat in when he translated it. And close by that church, at a distance of sixty fathoms, is a church of St. Nicholas, where our Lady rested after she was delivered of our Lord. And forasmuch as she had too much milk in her breasts, which grieved her, she milked them on the red stones of marble; so that the traces may yet be seen all white in the stones. And you must understand that all who dwell in Bethlehem are Christians. And there are fair vineyards about the city, and great plenty of wine, which the Christians make. But the Saracens neither cultivate vines nor drink wine; for their books of their law, that Mohammed gave them, which they call their Alkoran, (and some call it Mesaphe, and in another language it is called Harme,) forbids them to drink wine. For in that book Mohammed cursed all who drink wine, and all who sell it. For some men say that he slew once a hermit, whom he loved much, in his drunkenness; and therefore he cursed wine and them that drink it. And also, the Saracens breed no pigs and they eat no swine's flesh, for they say it is brother to man, and it was forbidden by the old law; and they hold all accursed who eat thereof. Also, in the land of Palestine and in the land of Egypt, they eat but little or no veal or beef, except when the animal is old, that he may work no more; for it is forbidden, because they have but few of them, and they keep them to plough their lands. In this city of Bethlehem was David the king born, and he had sixty wives; and the first wife was called Michal: and also he had three hundred concubines.
From Bethlehem to Jerusalem it is but two miles. And in the way to Jerusalem, half a mile from Bethlehem, is a church, where the angel announced to the shepherds the birth of Christ. And in that way is the tomb of Rachel, the mother of Joseph the patriarch, who died immediately after she was delivered of her son Benjamin; and there she was buried by Jacob, her husband, and he caused twelve great stones to be placed over her, in token that she had borne twelve[326] children. In the same way, half a mile from Jerusalem, the star appeared to the three kings. In that way also are many churches of Christians, by which men go towards the city of Jerusalem.