The Holy Land and Syria

by Frank G. Carpenter

In a galvanized iron shack, the home of newly arrived colonists, the bread of Bible times is made by a Jewess from modern Europe. Palestine, as a national home, has had a special appeal to the persecuted Jews of Poland and southeastern Europe

Near the waters of Lake Merom, where Joshua smote the Philistines, we see to-day the new farmer of Palestine and his transportation. At last even the roads of that backward land are being improved so that motor cars may go over them

I doubt not our Lord appreciated the beauties of Galilee. Its scenery is as picturesque as that of any lake in the Alps, and its loveliness changes every hour of the day. I saw the sun set last night. The clouds hung heavy over the hills to the east of the Jordan and the sun gilded the top of the Mount of the Beatitudes as it went down in the west. A little before that these waters were a glorious yellow which faded away into a rich copper bronze. At the same time the heavens were burnished copper, cloud piled upon cloud, and the whole was mirrored in the glassy surface beneath. The Sea of Galilee has always been noted for its wonderful beauty. It was a pleasure resort at the time of Herod Antipas, and the palaces of Tiberias and Capernaum were famous all over the East.

Later on I had still another view of the lake. It was moonlight on the Sea of Galilee. The great round queen of the heavens, her golden face at its full, shone out of a mass of dark blue with black clouds behind it. The rays of the moon striking the sea obliquely painted a wide path of silver running from the hills of Gadara across the waters to Tiberias. I gazed at the scene from the window of my hotel over the minarets of a Mohammedan mosque. It reminded me of Lake Como and of some Scottish lakes.

As we ride up the lake to-day I watch closely the fishermen handling our craft. We are in a skiff about thirty feet long and four feet wide. It has a white leg-of-mutton sail which is filled by the wind from the south, and we are speeding over the water. Our boat leaves a pathway of diamonds dropped there by the sun. I reach over the side of the boat and let my hand trail in the water. It is cool. I dip up some in my palm and taste it. It is quite brackish.

Now the fishermen have laid their oars across the sides of the boat. They are depending on the wind to carry us onward. Some are asleep, among them one at the prow who lies with bare legs outspread, his bronzed face in the full glare of the sun. He is snoring. At the right is a man mending a net, while on the other side of the boat two are chatting. The scene might have been one on this same lake nineteen centuries ago, when Christ called men like these from their boats to be “fishers of men.”

By and by the subject of fishing comes up. Thinking of the great draught which Simon Peter and the other apostles drew up when they cast their nets at the command of our Lord at the time He appeared to them here after His crucifixion, I ask if there are still many fish in the lake. They tell me that the sea is alive with good fish and that quantities are carried to Nazareth and other Galilean towns every week. Some are sent to Damascus by railroad and some are salted and shipped off to Jerusalem. About a year ago a party took five tons of fish in one day. The catch was so great that fish sold in Tiberias for one cent apiece, and six pounds or more could be bought for a penny. All along the lake there are fishing villages where the fishermen are still to be seen dragging their nets or mending them as they float near the shore. I am told that there are three ways of fishing. One is by hook and the others are by nets. One kind of net is cast. It is used from the shores by the fishermen wading breast deep into the water. The net is a great ring or disk of thread weighted with lead. As it sinks, it takes the shape of a dome, falling upon the fish it incloses. The fisherman dives down and draws the leads together and carries net and catch to the banks. Much fishing of this kind is done near Magdala. Another net is a dragnet, with floats at the top and leads at the bottom. This is usually worked from a boat dragging the net so that it forms a loop and scoops in the fish. Among the fish caught are excellent bass, some of which we have had at the hotel. An especially curious fish is that known as the chromis simonis, the male of which carries the eggs and the young about in its mouth.

The storms come up quickly on Galilee. I have seen several since I arrived in Tiberias and have experienced one or two on the sea. It was during one of these storms, when they were crossing the sea, that the apostles came to our Lord, who was sleeping, and begged him to save them. He arose and rebuked the waters, and lo, it was calm.

At the time of another storm He was not with them, having gone up into a mountain apart to pray. The ship was in the midst of the sea, tossed by the waves, when the disciples saw Him walking on the water. They were troubled, and, thinking Him a spirit, cried out for fear. Then Jesus said: “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”