Letters from Palestine / Written during a residence there in the years 1836, 7 and 8

by J. D. Paxton

We now entered a gently declining valley. The soil did not appear better than usual, but much care and labour had been bestowed on it, and evidences of this increased as we passed through to the south. The stones were gathered off—good stone fences were made along the road—the ground was well set with vines, and for miles we had nothing on either side of the road but a succession of vineyards loaded with the most delicious grapes. Surely, thought I, this must be the valley of Eshcol. It was here the spies procured the vine loaded with clusters, which they carried into the wilderness to the astonishment of the whole camp. If my conjecture was not entirely correct it was nearly so, if the Jews of Hebron are to be believed, for this, if not the valley of Eshcol, terminates in that valley about a mile from Hebron. This valley through which we passed became wider and more rich in its fruits until it joined the other valley, which comes in more from the west. This second valley is the widest, has a considerable breadth of level, rich soil finely cultivated, interspersed with trees, and covered with vineyards. This is called Eshcol, as we learned from the Jews with whom we lodged, and who took us out to see it. About a mile up this valley is pointed out the tree under which they say Abraham received the angels, Gen. xviii. 4-8. It is the largest tree in the vicinity, is of the oak kind, which here grows low and sends out many branches, and looks at a little distance not unlike a large apple-tree. If it be the self-same tree under which Abraham entertained the angels, it must have attained a good old age. I am, however, slow to believe it, although assured of it by a descendant of the patriarch. It may be a descendant of that tree thus honoured, either direct or collateral, but that it should have lived until now, does not agree with the great law of mortality which spares no living thing, neither man nor beast, animal nor vegetable, since death entered this world. These, however, are the plains of Mamre, and the good old patriarch long sojourned, and somewhere on these plains his tent was pitched, his altar raised, and his worship went up with acceptance to the God who was "his shield and exceeding great reward." How many generations have passed away since that time, and yet his name is known, is dear to the people of these lands—seeing the "memory of the righteous is blessed!" Abraham had his trials—he was ordered from the land of his nativity, and, although Canaan was promised him, he was made to live as a stranger in it, and at the sufferance of others—while he saw the nations which possessed it building cities, increasing their defences, and using means to secure it as an inheritance for their children, he was not allowed to secure a foot of it, except a burying-place for himself and family; and although he was promised a numerous posterity, yet he saw himself and wife getting old, passing the age in which men become parents, and not one son born to them. Yet he believed and loved and served God, and the event proved that not one word of God's promise fell to the ground.

Following this united valley a little to the south-east, we came to Hebron. The country about it is better cultivated than any district I have seen. There are many enclosures and vineyards; olive groves and fig-trees abound. As we drew near the town, we passed several wells; these, we were told, were, one the well of Jacob, one of Isaac, and one the well of Abraham; so each of the patriarchs has one. It at least shows their regard for the memory of these good men. Hebron stands in the valley; but at a place where the two ridges, which bound it on either side, are not uniform, but rather like separate hills placed near each other. While most of the town stands in the valley, its edges rise in a small degree on four of the hills by which it is surrounded, but in the greatest degree on the hill to the south-east. The town has a very old appearance; the streets are narrow and dirty, and to a great extent arched over, especially the bazaars. Few of the houses look well; they are placed uncomfortably close to each other, and are badly aired and lighted. The bazaars appeared poorly supplied with goods and provisions; and, on the whole, it was a poorer place than I was led to expect, from the improved state of the country around it. Much the largest part of the population is Mohammedan. There are few Christians in Hebron; we were told, but one family, and that was the family of the secretary of the governor. We had a letter to him, and expected to find lodgings with him, but to our regret he was not at home. While inquiring for him, the governor passed, and ascertaining that we were travellers, and were recommended to his secretary, he sent a soldier with us to introduce us to a respectable Jewish family, who were ordered to take care of us. We were kindly received and provided for. They showed us the synagogue, which was near our lodgings. We found a school in operation in the synagogue; the scholars were reading in the Hebrew Bible. They showed us a most splendid roll of the law, which they had recently received. It was fixed on two rollers, so as to roll off the one as it rolled on to the other, leaving such a part exposed as might serve for the lesson to be read. The whole put nicely in a case, and fastened with clasps, and laid away in a closet not far from the reading-desk or pulpit.

A few years ago, when Ibrahim Pasha's troops took Hebron, they committed great outrages on the Jews, by plundering them of all they could find. They broke into their synagogue, and opened all parts of it in which they thought anything could be found, mutilated and tore their roll of the law, and perpetrated many other enormities. Hebron is esteemed by the Jews as a sacred city; and they think it a great privilege to live here. They pretend that persons, when old, if they come and live at Hebron, can renew their age. They need not go far for materials to correct the opinion; for some of them had about them ample proof that old age and all its infirmities come upon people at Hebron as certainly and as fast as at other places.

The great mosque, which was probably once a Christian church, stands over, as we were told, the cave of Machpelah. We were not allowed to enter it. It is a very large building, and the lower part contains stones of a very large size. It stands on the side of the hill, at the south-east part of the city. The palace of the governor joins it; and it is not improbable that the palace in which David reigned for seven years was in that quarter. Near the mosque is a very large cistern, which the Jew, who was our guide, pretended was Sarah's bathing-house. It was, however, of much more modern formation; the declaration of the Jew to the contrary notwithstanding.

At the south end of the town is a fine pool. This is the pool, as is supposed, over which David hung the hands and feet of Rechab and Baanah, the murderers of Ishbosheth. 2 Sam. iv. 12. It appears to have been formerly fed by a stream through a small aqueduct, that comes into it; but the stream is now dry, and the aqueduct out of order. A short distance to the north of this pool, is another of a smaller size; but the water in it does not appear as good, nor is it as much used.

While rambling among the olive-trees that almost cover the hill to the south-west of the town, we came to the ruins of an old building, which must have been a place of some consequence formerly, but is now wholly deserted. Our guide took us into it, and in one of the rooms showed us a small hole in the wall, which he told us was the tomb of Jesse, the father of David. The Jews, who were with us, certainly showed much reverence for the place, pulling off their shoes, and performing other acts of regard. Whether this be the grave of Jesse none can tell, nor is it worth much inquiry. It is not impossible that Jesse may have died at Hebron, notwithstanding Bethlehem was his usual place of residence. When David came under the jealousy of Saul, and was obliged to flee, his family fled with him, and David had to provide for and protect his father and mother. 1 Sam. xxii. 1-4. It is not unlikely that while he reigned in Hebron, and the sons of Saul over the rest of Israel, his family may have resided with him; Jesse, who was an old man when David was anointed, may have finished his days while his son lived and reigned at Hebron.

I could not but notice in passing, some piles of wood of a larger kind than any I had seen in Palestine. It was pine, and cut into pieces of four or five feet in length. Many pieces were from a foot to eighteen inches in diameter, which, in this country, is large growth. I noticed also over their shops, and at other places, pine branches used as a protection from the sun. On inquiry I was told that, a few hours to the south-west, there was much wood of that kind. As the pine, in these countries at least, is seldom found except in sandy districts, there must be a sandstone formation in that quarter. Hebron, indeed, lies far south in Palestine, and on the borders of the wilderness, and probably the limestone formation terminates not far south of this, and gives place to the sandstone, which accounts for the immense regions of sand which are met with in that district. Had time allowed, I would gladly have made a tour of a day or two to the south, and taken a glimpse of that waste, howling wilderness in which Israel, for their rebellion, were made so long to wander. The peculiar circumstances of my companion, Mr. B——, whose aid I needed as interpreter, imposed on us the necessity of limiting our time. There is a pretty good road from Hebron to Gaza and El-Arish on to Egypt, which may be traversed on a dromedary in four days.

We wished on our return from Hebron to take a route more to the east, and pass Tekoah and the region of the Dead Sea. We learned, however, that that district was now in a troubled state, as the population on it were among those whom the Pasha was disarming, and some of the more desperate were for keeping out of his reach, and might, in their ill-humour, injure those who fell in with them. As we had no guard, we thought it the part of prudence to keep out of harm's way, and accordingly returned as far as the pools of Solomon by the same route we had traversed in going to Hebron. From the pools we went down the hollow in which they are situate, and followed the course of the aqueduct. This led us over a new district, and brought us to Bethlehem on the other side. The district over which we passed was exceedingly rough and rocky. The hollow, along the side of which we passed, became deep, rough, and had very little level space at the bottom, and the sides of the hills that bordered it really appeared given up to rocks and stones. The little earth, however, that was to be seen, was fertile, for the rock was a soft limestone, which always forms a good soil.

About half way from the pools to Bethlehem, we passed a place where the valley spread out so as to leave, for a few hundred yards, a strip of level land from twenty to fifty yards wide. This was divided into lots, and walls made across it to prevent the washing away of the earth. Trees and garden herbs were planted, and the whole had a most pleasing appearance among the wilderness of rock by which it is surrounded. On the adjoining hill were a few low huts, some of them more in the ground than above it, where the owners of this green spot dwell.

The hills in the immediate vicinity of Bethlehem were finely terraced, and many olive and fig trees planted. I could not but notice the number and beauty of the watch-houses or little towers, which were placed in the vineyards—some of them were round and some square—made of stone, from ten to fifteen or twenty feet high. These serve as places from which a watch is kept on the vineyards during the season of the grape. It is common to watch in this way their gardens and fruit-trees, as otherwise they might be pillaged. Reference is made to these towers in Scripture, "as a cottage in a vineyard,"—"as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers," Isaiah i. 8; "built a tower in it," (the vineyard,) Matt. xxi. 23. The ground on which Bethlehem stands is rough and uneven. It is a poor-looking place, and has but a small population. It was swarming with the Pasha's troops when we were there, and that, as well as other reasons, made our stay short.