The other route from Samaria to Galilee leads us through a district richer in Scriptural associations than that just described. It runs almost due north through a series of picturesque glens, or over romantic hills which need only a moderate amount of labour to be turned into a succession of gardens. At a little distance to the right is Talûza, the Tirzah of the kings of Israel, a royal residence, the beauty of which furnished Solomon with the comparison, “Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah!”[[217]] A little farther on is Tûbâs, or Thebez, where Abimelech was slain by the hand of a woman, his ignominious death furnishing a proverb for after years.[[218]]
About twelve miles north of Nablus, and just before descending into the plain of Jezreel we pass the entrance to a broad, deep valley, or basin amongst the hills on our right. Its name, Dothan, recalls one of the most memorable incidents in the lives of the patriarchs which formed one of the turning-points in the history of the Church and of the world. Joseph, sent by his father to visit his brethren in their favourite camping-ground at Shechem, found on his arrival that they had passed northward to Dothan. Hither, therefore, he followed them; and “when they saw him afar off they conspired against him to slay him.” Having cast him into one of those deep pits with which the district yet abounds—excavations formed by the inhabitants of the land for storing grain or water, often shaped like an inverted funnel—they left him to perish. Relenting in their murderous purpose, or prompted by the selfish hope of gain, they subsequently drew him thence, and sold him to a company of Midianites from Gilead, who were passing on their way down into Egypt.[[219]] Upon this slight incident the whole after-fortunes of the nation turned.
JENIN, THE ANCIENT EN-GANNIM.
Here, as elsewhere throughout Palestine, a study of the topography of the district gives unexpected confirmation or illustration to the narrative. Dothan lies just off the main route by which the Bedouins, like the Ishmaelites of old, travel on their way southward. Crossing by the upper ford of the Jordan, near to Beisan, the ancient Bethshan, the caravans enter the main road at Jenin, a short distance to the north, and pass the very spot indicated by the inspired historian. I met several parties of Bedouins near Dothan, “who came from Gilead with their camels,” conveying the produce of the Hauran to exchange it in the bazaars of Jerusalem, Nablus, or Jaffa for the manufactures of Europe, which is to the Syrian nomads of the present day what Egypt was to their forefathers three thousand years ago.
The mound of ruins which rises from the valley of Dothan, marks the site of the city. It was here that Elisha hid himself from the fury of the king of Syria, when the monarch, infuriated at the repeated disclosure of his plans by the prophet, resolved to put him to death, and for this purpose “compassed the city both with horses and chariots.” But whilst the valley was filled with the “great host,” “behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha,” so that he could confidently say, “Fear not; for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.”[[220]] As we look at the valley girdled with hills on every side, and remember the mighty host of defenders once revealed there to the eye of faith, we gratefully call to mind the promise made to every believer, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”[[221]]
The town of Jenin, which lies at the junction of several valleys and roads, is a place of considerable importance. Its Scripture name, En-gannim,[[222]] (the fountain of the gardens) seems to be derived from a magnificent fountain of water which rises in the hills just behind the town, and irrigating the rich alluvial soil turns it into a garden. It has the reputation of being unhealthy; but its picturesque minarets, surrounded by clumps of feathery palms, gardens of cactus and prickly pear, and luxuriant orange groves, make it one of the most beautiful towns in Palestine. Dr. Wilson, in his “Lands of the Bible,” calls attention to the peculiar head-dress of the women of this district, and thinks it illustrates the words of Solomon, “Thy cheeks are comely with rows [of jewels], thy neck with chains [of gold].”[[223]] Strings of gold coin hang down from a sort of tiara upon the cheeks, like the tie of a helmet, and a similar ornament is worn round the neck. A colony of Egyptians was settled in this neighbourhood about half a century ago, and as it resembles the head-dress of the fellaheen of Egypt it may have been derived from them, but it is probably much older.
We are now at the entrance of the great Plain of Esdraelon, so memorable in the military history of the Jews as the scene of some of their greatest victories, and most disastrous defeats. It forms an irregular triangle, stretching from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley, bounded on the north by the hills of Galilee, on the south by those of Samaria. Amongst the former Tabor is the most conspicuous, both from its height and its peculiar pyramidal form. The long ridge of Carmel stretches along the south-western side. The mountains of Gilboa and Little Hermon rise out of the plain itself at the eastern end.
HEAD-DRESS OF EGYPTIAN FELLAHEEN.