The splendid buildings of the Christians were levelled to the ground, and the place remained desolate until 1749 A.D.
The rebuilding of ’Akka, as the town is now called, was effected by the celebrated Dhahr el ’Amr, of the Zeidaniyîn family. The rise and fall of this famous house forms a natural parallel to that of the native Jewish ruling family of the Hasmoneans. Zeidan was a chief of Arab race settled in the town of ’Arrâbeh, north of the Buttauf plain. The power of the family gradually extended, until Dhahr el ’Amr, his grandson, became virtually King of Galilee. Under this famous Sheikh, who paid no tribute, and who governed all Lower and a great part of Upper Galilee, eight districts, including 162 villages, were ruled by his eight sons. Strong forts were erected all over the country, many of which still remain, while in the other cases the foundations only are visible. The mosque and Serai (or court-house) of Haifa, the castles of Shefa-’Amr, Jedin, and Seffurieh, the fortress of Deir Hanna, the walls and mosques of Tiberias, and part of the fortifications of Acre, were built by this family, while many mills and works of irrigation by the Sea of Galilee date from the same period. The country appears to have been prosperous under the rule of its native chiefs, and their buildings are remarkable for good workmanship and well-chosen positions.
But, in 1775, Dhahr, who had long been governor at Acre—where his walls still stand, with an inscription on them, giving the date of their construction—was seized and beheaded by the cruel Bosnian Pacha called Jezzar, or “butcher,” from his many murders. The old man was nearly ninety when he died. His family decayed in power, and it has been so persecuted by the Turks, that now only one representative remains in the village of B’aîneh. From him we obtained lists of the possessions of the Zeidaniyîn, of their fortresses and towns, their mosques and public buildings, with the names of the various builders and approximate dates.
Under Jezzar Pacha, Acre again declined in prosperity. The cruelties of this governor are well known, and remembered among the people. His murder of seven of his wives, whom he beheaded with his own hand, the mutilation of his servants, and of all who offended him, are often spoken of. It was Jezzar whom Sir Sidney Smith assisted, in 1799, against Napoleon, when besieging Acre from King Richard’s Hill, and the defeat of the Emperor was followed, as before noticed, by the massacre of the sick on Carmel.
Jezzar died in 1804, and, since then, Acre has had no history, excepting in 1840, when the English fleet bombarded the town, and drove out the forces of Ibrahim Pacha, who had taken it in 1832. There are many inhabitants who can well remember the short, sharp engagement, and the terrific explosion of the powder magazine, which killed 2000 Egyptians. Since this disaster, the prosperity of the place has dwindled more and more, so that it now contains only some 8000 inhabitants. Should Palestine, however, be destined to form the theatre of future military operations, the name of Acre will no doubt be often heard again in English mouths.
CHAPTER VII.
SHARON.
THE preceding chapters bring down the history of the Survey to the end of the campaign of 1872. In the winter Mr. Drake’s health became so much affected that he was obliged to try the effect of a sea voyage to Egypt. Thus, on the 1st of February, he left me alone for a month. On the 26th I marched out from Haifa, and again took the field, our intention being to fill in the broad tract of plain and low hills between Carmel and Jaffa, and from the sea to the Samaritan mountains previously surveyed.
Our first camp was at a village not marked on any map and much wanted, for it was known that a place called Geba of Horsemen, which Herod’s veterans colonised, must have existed near Carmel, and here we found the required spot in the present Jeb’a at the foot of the hill.
All round us were places of interest. The village had rock-cut tombs, and a fine olive-grove, amongst the trees of which sat the little “boomehs,” or Athenian owls only some ten inches high. By day their peculiar cry, a sort of mew, is the only indication of their lurking-place, but by night their big eyes can be seen in the branches.
To the south-east we discovered a large volcanic outbreak at Ikzim, which appears to have been a submarine crater according to the geologist’s verdict on our specimens.