In my talk with the high priest he contended that the Samaritans were the only true Israelites, and spoke of the prophet Samuel as a sorcerer. He paid his respects to the Jews in no measured terms. He gave me a little book he had written concerning the religion of the Samaritans, and at the close was by no means averse to a present of silver for which he thanked me in a dignified way. After I returned to my camp on the outside of Nablus some of his followers brought me his photograph and a model of the five books of Moses which they offered to sell for a song. The Samaritans are exceedingly poor and are despised by both Moslems and Jews.
It was at Jacob’s Well, not far from Nablus, that Christ met the Samaritan woman and told her of the water of which, if one drinketh, he shall never thirst, but there “shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” You will find the story in the fourth chapter of St. John. This well is one of the holy sites of Palestine about which there can be no doubt. The village of Sychar corresponds to the village of Askar, which stands on Mount Ebal, perhaps a thousand feet away from the well where the Samaritan woman lived. The well itself lies just below the road from Jerusalem. I went through an olive orchard to reach it. It is surrounded by a wall and is in the middle of a garden now owned by the Greek Church, which has made it a resting place for pilgrims. Over it they have built a stone chapel where services are held several times every day.
Some of the priests went with us down the steps to the well. It lies right in the floor of the chapel and is about three feet in diameter, built up with stones. One of the monks brought a pan tied to a rope in such a way that it remained level. Upon this he placed a lighted candle and then slowly lowered it into the well. It descended perhaps sixty feet before it came to the water. The sill of the well is of marble and shows the marks of the ropes which for ages have been let down into it. It is some distance above the floor and may have been the original stone upon which Christ sat at that weary hour of noon.
Jacob’s Well has been known and visited by pilgrims for many years. It probably used to be even with the surface of the earth, but the débris and earth-washings from the mountains near by have filled up the valley, and it is now considerably below the present ground level. Excavations have uncovered in the garden the remains of a church which was built over the well some fifteen hundred years ago. I found immense granite columns lying in the garden as well as many pieces of the stone wall of the church.
While I was here a party of travellers conducted by one of the great tourist agencies arrived. They were Americans “doing” the Holy Land at so much per day, and they were bound to get the worth of their money. One I shall never forget. He had such a gigantic frame that I shall call him Goliath. When the party went down to the well the services in the chapel had just begun, and after pointing out the hole in the floor, the guide brought them out. As they came into the churchyard I heard Goliath remark:
“I ain’t satisfied.”
“About what?” said the guide.
“I ain’t satisfied about that well. How do I know there’s a well there?”
“You saw it,” said the guide.
“Naw, I only saw a hole in the floor. How do I know there’s a well? How do I know it has water? I tell you I ain’t satisfied. Here I come five thousand miles to see Jacob’s Well, and how can I prove that I’ve saw it?”