CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SHEPHELAH AND PHILISTIA.
ON the 11th of March we at last marched down from the hills to our new camp at Beit Jibrîn. Past the “Oak of rest,” and the Russian Hospice now building near it, we rode westwards to a narrow valley, wandering through vineyards and down rocky hillsides gay with flowers, and through hollows full of sprouting barley, and over slopes covered with grey olives. The road led to the hill-town of Tuffûh (Beth Tappuah), thence down to the mud village of Idhnah (Dannah), and then north-west through an open corn valley by Deir Nakhâs which is perched on a hill; and finally we came to the camping-place by a long village, on low ground, surrounded by hills, which hide it completely, and by long olive-groves. North of the houses are the traces of the old fortifications (which King Fulco constructed in 1134 A.D.) extending some 2000 yards. To the south is a fortress, and about one mile south-east, up the hill, is the old Byzantine Church of St. Anne, which was repaired at a later period by the Crusaders.
Dr. Robinson was the first to show, by means of the distances to surrounding places, that Beit Jibrîn is the ancient Eleutheropolis; but this name has disappeared, as is usually the case with foreign names for places in Palestine. The present name, Jibrîn, was thought by the Crusaders to have some connection with the angel Gabriel, and they seem to have erected a church to St. Gabriel, of which only the north aisle remains, though the site is still remembered by the peasants, who there venerate a piece of open ground, which probably marks the old nave, and is now dedicated to Neby Jibrîn, “the Prophet Gabriel.” Here again we find the Moslems unconsciously worshipping at a Christian shrine.
The Gibilin of the Crusaders is the Beto Gabra of the fourth century, and the name can be traced yet farther back. The Talmudic scholars understood “the dew of heaven from above” (Gen. xxvii. 39) to have some mysterious reference to Beth Gubrin, in Idumæa, and to its fertile neighbourhood; thus the present name is carried back to Jewish times, and there is no reason to suppose that the place ever had any other Hebrew name.
Beit Jibrîn is famous for its great caverns, hollowed out in the white soft rock on every side of the village. They have generally names of little importance, but one is called “Cavern of the Fenish” (or Philistines), and the ground near it is “the Garden of the Fenish.” It is, perhaps, from these great caves, numbering eleven in all, that the place came to be considered as a former habitation of the Horites, or “cave-dwellers.” Jerome states that Eleutheropolis, or “the City of Freemen,” was once inhabited by the Horites, which he renders “freemen.” This idea is derived, as are many of Jerome’s more fantastic criticisms, straight from the Jews, for the same connection between these two names is to be found in the Talmud.
The question of the date of the great caverns is difficult. One of them has been enlarged, so as to cut into an old Jewish tomb, and it must therefore be comparatively recent. In another there are niches for funeral urns, which date back no doubt to Roman times. Others have inscriptions in Cufic on the walls, containing in one instance the name of Saladin. In one we discovered rudely-carved figures, perhaps intended to symbolise the Crucifixion, and there are many Latin crosses, and apses pointing east. One long tunnel with sculptured walls is called “the Horse’s Cavern,” but it seems to have been a chapel, fifty feet long and eighteen wide. Altogether there is not any evidence that the caverns, as they now exist, are older than the twelfth century, when the town was fortified, and there are indications that, if not originally excavated, they were at least enlarged in times subsequent to the Jewish epoch. There are, however, near Beit Jibrîn, ancient tombs (one having thirty-four Kokim), and also cisterns and wine-presses, showing the village to be a Jewish site, and a great vault containing 1774 niches for urns; there are also domed caverns with flights of rock-cut steps, which seem to have been used for storing water. The site is extensive, and several days were occupied in its exploration; but it is not a naturally strong position, and we should not therefore expect it to represent any one of the great Palestine strongholds.