It has been remarked in reference to Jacob's Well, where our Lord held his conversation with the woman of Samaria, that no Christian scholar ever read the fourth chapter of St. John's Gospel without being struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind in its perusal. Within so small a compass it is impossible to find, in other writings, so many sources of reflection and of interest. Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information that a volume might be filled with its singular illustration of the history of the Jews and the geography of the country. All that can be collected upon these subjects from Josephus seems to be but a comment on this chapter. The journey of our Lord from Judea into Galilee—the cause of it—his passage through Samaria—his approach to the metropolis of that country—its name—his arrival at the Amorite field which terminates the narrow Valley of Schechem—the ancient custom of stopping at a well—the female employment of drawing water—the disciples sent into the city for food, by which the situation of the well and of the town is so obviously implied—the question of the woman referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans—the depth of the well—the oriental allusion contained in the expression "living water"—the history of the well itself, and the customs thereby illustrated—the worship upon Mount Gerizim—all these occur within a few verses, and supply a species of evidence for the truth of the narrative in which they are embodied that no candid mind has ever been able to resist.[135]
The ancient Samaria presents itself to the traveller in these days under the name of Sebaste, or the Venerable,—an appellation conferred upon it by Herod in honour of his patron Augustus. The Jewish historian describes at length the buildings erected by the Idumean prince, especially a citadel, and a noble temple which he intended to exhibit to future generations as a specimen of his taste and munificence. He adds, that the town was twenty furlongs in circumference, and distant one day's journey from Jerusalem. It is computed by modern tourists to be more than forty miles. The situation is extremely beautiful as well as naturally strong, being placed on a large hill encompassed all round by a broad deep valley, and therefore capable of an easy and complete fortification. But the splendid city of Herod is now reduced to a village, small and poor, exhibiting only the remains of its former greatness. In one place, according to Dr. Richardson, there are sixty columns of the Ionic order extended in a single row, marking the site of some gorgeous structure erected by the vassal of Augustus. Mr. Buckingham counted eighty-three of these pillars, and alludes to a tradition current among the natives, that they formed part of Herod's own palace. This may be the edifice mentioned by Josephus, who says that the king just named built a sacred place of a furlong and a half in circuit, and adorned it with all sorts of decorations; and therein constructed a temple remarkable both for its largeness and its beauty.
Mr. Maundrell relates, that in his time the place where the city had stood was entirely converted into gardens; and all the tokens that remain to testify that there ever was such a metropolis are only a large square piazza surrounded with pillars, and some poor ruins of a church, said to have been built by the Empress Helena over the place where St. John the Baptist was both imprisoned and beheaded. In the body of this temple you go down a staircase into the very dungeon where that holy blood was shed. The Turks hold the prison in great veneration, and over it have erected a small mosque; but for a little piece of money they suffer you to go in and satisfy your curiosity at pleasure.
A hundred and thirty years, aided by the destructive habits of Mohammedans, seem to have made a deep impression upon the remains of Sebaste; for when Dr. Clarke passed through it, he could not discover even the relics of a great city, and was, therefore, disposed to question the existence of the splendid ruins mentioned by Maundrell, and more minutely described by Richardson and Buckingham. He is inclined to identify the site of the ancient Samaria with the high ground on which stands the castle of Santorri; but his reasoning is not sufficiently cogent to satisfy the mind even of the least reflecting among his readers.
At this point we leave the territory of Ephraim, and pass into that of the half-tribe of Manasseh. Pursuing his course northwards, the traveller reaches a small hamlet called Bethamareen; and afterward, at the distance of three or four miles, he finds himself at Gibba, a village surrounded with trees bearing olives and pomegranates, and occupying a lofty station over a narrow valley. This place is succeeded by Sannour, which appears to be nothing more than a castle erected on an insular hill, and is more commonly known by the name of Fort Giurali. Another village, called Abati, presents itself on the right-hand, imbosomed in a grove of fruit trees; but the stranger, desirous to proceed, advances along the valley until, after having ascended a rising ground, he beholds stretched out at his feet the fine plain of Esdraëlon covered with the richest pasture.[136]
On the slope of the hill which bounds the southern extremity of this fertile valley stands the town of Jennin, a place, like most of the cities of Palestine, more remarkable for decayed grandeur than for actual wealth, beauty, or power. Its ancient name was Ginoa, and it is found recorded in the works of some of the older writers as a frontier place between Samaria and Galilee. The population at present is said to amount to about eight hundred; but the ruins of a palace and a mosque prove that it once possessed a greater importance than now belongs to it. Marble pillars, fountains, and even piazzas still remain in a very perfect state; an Arabic inscription over one of which induces the reader to believe that it was erected by a commander named Selim.
Instead of pursuing our course towards Nazareth and the Lake of Tiberias, we shall now cross the Jordan into the Land of Gilead, and lay before our readers a brief outline of the discoveries which have been recently made in that section of Palestine, the inheritance of Reuben and of Gad. We have already remarked, that to the indefatigable exertions of Dr. Seetzen the world are indebted for much of the knowledge they possess relative to the ancient city of Geraza, the ruins of which are pointed out by the Arabs under the name of Djarash.
Approaching it from the south, the traveller first observes a triumphal gateway, nearly entire, bearing a striking resemblance in point of workmanship to the remains of Antinoë in Upper Egypt. The front presents four columns of a small diameter, and constructed of many separate pieces of stone; their pedestals are of a square form, but tall and slender. On each of these is placed a design of leaves, very like a Corinthian capital without the volutes; and on this again rises the shaft, which is plain, and composed of many small portions. As all the columns were broken near the top, the crowning capitals are not seen. The pediment and frieze are also destroyed; but enough remains to give an accurate idea of the original design, and to prove that the order of the architecture was Corinthian. The building appears to have been a detached triumphal arch, erected for the entrance of some victorious hero passing into the city.
Just within this gateway is perceived an extensive naumachia, or theatre for the exhibition of sea-fights, constructed of fine masonry, and finished on the top with a large moulding wrought in the stone. The channels for filling it with water are still visible. Passing onward there is seen a second gateway, exactly similar in design to the one already mentioned, but connected here on both sides with the walls of the city, to which it seems to have formed the proper entrance. Turning to the left the stranger advances into a large and beautiful colonnade arrange in a circular form, all of the Ionic order, and surmounted by an architrave. He next perceives beyond this point a long avenue of columns in a straight line, supposed to mark the direction of some principal street that led through the whole length of the town. These columns are all of the Corinthian order, and the range on each side is ascended to by a flight of steps.
Making his way along this imaginary street over masses of ruins, his attention is attracted by four magnificent pillars of greater height and larger diameter than the rest; but, like all the others, supporting only a entablature, and probably standing before the front of some principal edifice now destroyed. He next arrives at a square formed by the first intersection of the main street by one crossing it at right angles, and, like it also, apparently once lined on both sides by an avenue of columns. At the point of intersection are four masses of building resembling pedestals; on the top of which there probably stood small Corinthian columns, as shafts and capitals of that order are now scattered below. Passing the fragments of a solid wall on the left, which appears to have constituted the front of a large edifice, the tourist next comes to the ruins of a temple of a semicircular form, with four columns in front, and facing the principal street in a right line. The spring of its half-dome is still remaining, as well as several columns of yellow marble and of red granite. The whole seems to have been executed with peculiar care, especially the sculpture of the friezes, cornices, pediments, and capitals, which are all of the Corinthian order, and considered not less rich and chaste than the works of the best ages. On a broken altar near this ruin is observed an inscription, containing the name of Marcus Aurelius. "Beyond this, again," says Mr. Buckingham, "we had temples, colonnades, theatres, arched buildings with domes, detached groups of Ionic and Corinthian columns, bridges, aqueducts, and portions of large buildings scattered here and there in our way; none of which we could examine with any degree of attention, from the restraint under which our guides had placed us."[137]