Helon, in the mean time, viewed with admiration the splendour and wealth of the mansion. Its general arrangement was that which is common to houses in the east; but the solidity of construction and elegance of finish which characterised each part, showed that it was the residence of a wealthy man. Marble, cedar of Lebanon, brass, gold, silver, ivory, silk, and whatever else contributes to the splendour of an oriental house, glittered here on every side.
Selumiel’s house was built in such a way, that it enclosed a large open quadrangular space, called Chazer, or Thavech, (the middle or inner court,) which, under a sky that was almost uninterruptedly serene, served as a great chamber, even on great and festive occasions. The pavement was composed of variegated marble, tastefully disposed. In the middle, where in houses of humbler construction a simple basin stood, was a fountain, enclosed with marble and surrounded with lofty palms, which cast such a cooling shade beneath, that our travellers felt themselves instantly refreshed. In the angles stood rows of vases filled with flowers, especially the roses of Jericho, and many other odoriferous shrubs, planted in bowers. Their grateful shade, and the ever fresh and green turf around the fountain, made the coolness as it were visible, which in the hottest days was to be found there. On the sides of this quadrangle stood three rows of pillars, forming two parallel porticoes. The floor of them was covered with carpets and cushions of very elaborate workmanship, and before some of the pillars hung curtains, which gave the space behind the convenience of an enclosed chamber. The cushions were embroidered with gold and silver, and the curtains were of silk, red, white, green, and blue. Against the interior sides of the porticoes were divans and sofas, elevations of the height of from two to three feet, which were surrounded with a lattice, and in the day time were covered with carpets and served as seats, in the night were used as beds. Above, the porticoes were covered by three galleries one above another, for the house had three stories, and each gallery had a parapet breast-high towards the court.
Round this court the principal parts of the house were disposed. The side which adjoined the street contained a small court, separated from the inner only by a wall and a door, contrary to the common mode of building, according to which this court lay beyond the outer wall and in front of the house, being connected with it by a covered way: some houses again had both the small internal court, which we have described in Selumiel’s house, and the larger exterior court, the latter then serving to receive horses and camels. In Selumiel’s house the court was furnished with a sofa, visitors were received here, and only those whom the master of the house specially invited into the interior went any further. The house-door, which was in the wall of the house and was covered with inscriptions, led to the outer court. In this court was a staircase, which led to the upper stories of the house and immediately to a little building directly over the small interior court, called Alijah, which rose like a tower upon the flat roof. An awning was fastened to the parapet of the roof in such a manner, that it could be drawn over the whole of the innermost court, and produce complete shade in the brightest sunshine.
The side of the court which was furthest from the street formed the communication with the Armon, or house of the women. The apartments of the females were universally in the east separate from those of the men, and in Selumiel’s mansion they formed a distinct house, divided and arranged much in the same way as we have already described, so that there were in fact two houses, having one side in common.
Elisama and Helon had been so much occupied with the splendour which they beheld around them, that they had allowed the slaves with their silver ewers to wait, without performing their office. Selumiel re-entered, and said, smiling, to Elisama, observing how he was occupied, “Doubtless you are used to see more splendid edifices in Alexandria.” “Nay,” said Elisama, laughing, “I recall what I said on the way. An elder of Israel who dwells so sumptuously and tastefully is assuredly no Essene.” Selumiel led his guests into one of the bowers, and after they had rested here a short time, to the richly spread table. When the dishes were taken away, and the dessert set on, the mother and her daughter appeared, to bid a solemn welcome to the guests from Egypt—a condescension which showed the esteem in which Selumiel held them. The mother, though advanced in years, was active and still handsome; but Sulamith her daughter, who stood by her side, was glowing in all the freshness of youthful beauty, and united in herself every charm by which a daughter in Israel could fix the attention of the beholder. From beneath the large eyebrows, coloured of a brilliant black, dark eyes, like those of the gazel, sent forth their quiet brilliancy, through the transparent veil which descended from the turban. Her tall and stately form was clad in a robe of fine cotton, which flowed down in folds like a wide mantle; the sleeves hung loose, except where they were fastened with costly bracelets; the ears and the nose were adorned with rings of gold, in which rubies, emeralds, and topazes were set. Helon, dazzled by so much beauty, on which he hardly dared to gaze, and agitated by an emotion which he had never felt before, thought he read in the looks with which the old men regarded his surprise, the interpretation of some words which had occasionally escaped Elisama and Selumiel, and which till now he had not understood.
When the females had retired, and the men continued their conversation, Selumiel’s son addressed himself to Helon, and proposed to him that in the coolness of the early morning on the following day he would be his guide through the region round Jericho, and as far as to the Dead Sea. Helon, lost in feelings to which he had hitherto been a stranger, had scarcely heard the conversation of the elders; but he was roused from his reverie by this offer, which it was the more difficult to decline without discourtesy, as an oriental seldom imposes on himself the fatigue of a walk. Yet it seemed to him as if he were forcibly torn from that world of delightful illusions, to which he had been just transported.
At the first dawn of the following day, the two young men issued from the mansion of Selumiel, into the streets of Jericho. The city is about six sabbath-days’ journies from Jordan, and three sabbath-days’ journies in circumference. It was considered at this time as the second city in Judea, and had been in ancient times one of the thirty-one royal cities of Canaan. It was [chiefly inhabited by priests], whose number was estimated by some as high as 12,000.
The son of Selumiel was well acquainted with the ancient history of his nation, and had discovered Helon’s enthusiasm for every thing which recalled it. As they quitted the city he pointed to the other side of the Jordan. “There,” said he, “our forefathers encamped in the fields of Moab, opposite to Jericho, and thither Balak the king of Moab summoned Balaam to curse them.[[81]] The blue hill seen far in the distance is the hill of Abarim, and part of it is Nebo, to which Jehovah led Moses and showed him the land which he was not permitted to enter,[[82]] the future heritage of the children of Israel. Thence Joshua sent out spies to explore the land, and especially Jericho, when Rahab saved them by her humanity.[[83]] There,” pointing to the banks of the Jordan itself, “our fathers crossed the flood, Jehovah renewing the miracle by which they had passed through the Red Sea.[[84]] They destroyed the city, and not only exterminated every living thing, but their leader laid a curse on him who should rebuild it, which six hundred years afterwards fell on Hiel of Bethel, whose eldest son died when he laid the foundation of it, and the youngest when he set up the gates.[[85]] Yet its sanctity was recovered by the residence of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, who long dwelt here, and the schools of the prophets which they superintended. In later times we must confess, with grief, that it was here the valiant chief and high-priest Simon, father of Hyrcanus, fell by the hand of his son-in-law.”[[86]]
Helon thanked his companion for his information, dissatisfied with himself that the present and the past contended with each other for the possession of his mind. They continued their way to an eminence, from which they had a prospect scarcely to be equalled even in the Holy Land itself. They had here a view of the course of the Jordan. In its progress from its source in Antilibanus, a course of about one hundred sabbath-days’ journies, it had attained a breadth of thirty paces; it is about the depth of a man, and in the neighbourhood of Jericho it has a strong current. It abounds in fish, and its banks were overgrown with sedges, reeds, willows, and tamarisks, among which, jackals, lions,[[87]] and other wild beasts harboured. The river had just overflowed its banks,[[88]] in consequence of the melting of the snows of Lebanon, and this annual exundation greatly promoted the fertility of the adjacent fields. On the banks of Jordan lies Gilgal, the place where the people of Israel crossed over under Joshua, and erected twelve stones as a memorial. A little further on was [Bethabara], where the pilgrims from Galilee crossed to the eastern side of the Jordan, in order to avoid going through the country of the Samaritans. Thus a great part of the beautiful valley of the Jordan lay before them, whose fertile fields are enclosed by hills on each side, on the east by the mountains of Judah, on the west by Abarim, with the summits of Pisgah and Nebo on Peor, followed by the mountains of Moab. Southward they beheld the plain of Jericho, ten sabbath-days’ journies in length, and almost three in breadth, extending to Engeddi, containing the celebrated grove of palms,[[89]] adorned with olives and [balsam shrubs], and known in all the ancient world for its honey and its roses. Joining this plain [the Dead Sea] extended itself far to the south, called also the Sea of the Plain, from its vicinity to the plain of Jordan; the Salt Sea, from the taste of its waters; and the Eastern Sea, in contradistinction from the Mediterranean, which lay westward of Palestine. It was formed in the time of Lot and Abraham, by the destruction of the towns of Sodom, Gomorrah, Adama, and Zeboim, the place of which this lake now covers.[[90]] Its length amounts to eighty-three, its breadth to twenty-one sabbath-days’ journies; its waters, being impregnated with naptha and asphaltus, are salt and bitter; and all around it had the appearance of conflagration, because the frequent exundations of the lake covered the adjacent soil with a coating of salt. The fruits correspond with the water; the son of Selumiel related to Helon, that the [apples of Sodom], as they are called, were beautiful to the eye, but bitter and unfit to eat, and that when they were dried, they were nothing but dust.
The world of external nature is but the mirror which reflects to us what interests our feelings in the world of man. Helon had never looked on the beauties of nature with so true a relish for them, as now that they gave him back the image of his own fond hopes and gay imaginations; nor had he ever felt so deeply the impression of her awful scenes, as now when they harmonized so well with the trembling anxiety which chastised his hopes.