6. Michmash, the scene of Jonathan's daring exploit, lies on a hill adjoining a ravine, 7 miles northeast of the city; and a mile away, in plain sight, lies Geba, the camping place of Saul's army at the time of the battle. (1 Sam. 13.) It is now called Mukmas.
7. Ai—the place where Joshua's army was repulsed by the Canaanites, on account of the crime of Achan (Josh. 7), and which, after his punishment, was taken and destroyed by the Israelites—is 9 miles from the city; a desolate heap, known as el Tell.
8. Beeroth (wells), now el Bireh, 10 miles north, was one of the Gibeonite cities which made peace with Israel. (Josh. 9:17.) According to tradition, this is the place where Joseph and Mary, returning from Jerusalem, first missed the boy Jesus (Luke 2:44); and it is now the halting place of caravans going north.
9. Bethel, "the house of God" (now Beitin), 10 miles north, is a place of many Scriptural associations. Here Abraham pitched his tent and built his altar, on his entrance upon the Land of Promise (Gen 12:8); here Jacob lay down to rest and saw the glorious vision of the heavenly ladder (Gen. 28:11-22), and on his return from Syria again consecrated the place to God's service. (Gen. 35:6-15.) During the period of the Ten Tribes it was a sanctuary of idols, but also the seat of a prophetic school. (1 Kings 12:29-33; 2 Kings 2:2, 3.) It is now an uninhabited ruin.
10. East of Bethel, and 11 miles north of Jerusalem, is the rock Rimmon (now Rummon), where the remnant of the tribe of Benjamin found a refuge after the civil war. (Judges 20, 21.)
11. Two miles north of Rimmon is the site of Ophrah, in the New Testament Ephraim, the retreat of Jesus after the raising of Lazarus. (John 11:54.) It is in a wilderness, on the edge of the Jordan Valley, and outside the line of travel; now called et Taiyibeh.
SOLOMON'S POOLS.
II. The Eastern Road from Jerusalem leads through a barren region of crags and ravines, almost without inhabitants, except the robbers who have haunted it since the days when "a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves." (Luke 10:30.) The road is a continual descent from a height of 2,700 feet above the sea to 1,300 feet below it, in 20 miles.
The only place passed on the route is Bethany (now el Azariyeh), the home of Mary and Martha, the place where Lazarus was raised from death, and near which Jesus ascended. (Luke 24:50.) It is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, and about a mile and a quarter from Jerusalem. Beyond this place the road grows more steep, descending toward the Jordan Valley.