appearance. The great western plain was here visible; and in it at some distance an isolated oblong hill, or short ridge, called Tell es-Sâfieh, a very conspicuous point, on which our guide said there were ruins.1 1

We descended into the narrow valley; and after fifteen minutes passed 'Ajjûr, a small village on the left. At 82 o'clock, there was another ancient well in the valley, exhibiting quite a pastoral scene of patriarchal days. Many cattle, flocks of sheep and kids, and also camels, were all waiting round the well; while men and women were busily employed in drawing water for them. These people at once offered and drew water for us and our thirsty animals, without the expectation of reward. The well was square and narrow; by measuring the rope we found the depth to be sixty feet. A platform of very large stones was built up around it, and there were many drinking troughs. On the platform was fixed a small reel for the rope, which a man, seated on a level with the axis, wound up, by pulling the upper part of the reel towards him with his hands, while he at the same time pushed the lower part from him with the feet. This may not improbably have been the ancient Egyptian manner of "watering with the foot."?

In coming thus far from Beit Nettîf, an hour and three quarters, we had on the whole made no southing whatever, but rather the contrary. Our relative position in respect to Sur'ah, 'Ain Shems, and Yarmûk was indeed changed; these places all now lying east of north; and being, so far as we could judge, not far from an hour to an hour and a half distant. We knew, too, that we must now be at least approaching the ancient road running north from Eleutheropolis to Nicopolis; and there was therefore every reason to suppose, that we could not be more than two or at the most two and a half hours distant from the site of the former city. But with all our inquiry, we could hear of no ruins of any kind, except the great ones (as they were called) at Beit Jibrin, and the slighter ones at Tell es-Sâfieh. The latter place seemed to be much too far both towards the north and west; it being apparently about an hour and a half distant from this point. We therefore determined at any rate first to visit the ruins at Beit Jibrîn; and then to take such a course as circumstances might dictate.

3

After a stop of twenty minutes at the well, we now at 9.05 turned to the left almost at a right angle, and proceeded on a course about S. by W. We had heard all along, and especially

1 The Tell bore from this spot N. 70° W. and Beit Nettîf S. 85° E.

2 Deut. 11, 10. See more on this sub

ject in Note II, at the end of Vol. I.

The reader will bear in mind, that our

usual rate of travel with horses and mules, in a region like this, was very regularly three Roman miles to an hour. See above, Vol. I. p. 462. See also Note VII, end of Vol. I.

1

from the Sheikh of Beit Nettif, of a great cavern in this quarter, a convent under ground, large enough (it was said) to contain all the Pasha's troops. We had hoped it might turn out to be the cave of Makkedah, which Eusebius and Jerome place eight miles east of Eleutheropolis. According to our reckoning, however, we had already travelled too far for this. At 9.40, a few steps beyond a village named Deir Dubbân, we came to the cavern (so called) of which we were in search, just by our road on the left. Although not Makkedah, yet the place is certainly a great curiosity.

In the soft limestone or chalky rock, which the soil here scarcely covers, are several irregular pits, some nearly square, and all about fifteen or twenty feet deep, with perpendicular sides. Whether these pits are natural or artificial, it might at first be difficult to say. In the sides are irregular doors or low arched passages, much obstructed by rubbish, leading into large excavations in the adjacent rock in the form of tall domes or bell-shaped apartments, varying in height from twenty to thirty feet, and in diameter from ten or twelve to twenty feet or more. The top of the dome usually terminates in a small circular opening at the surface of the ground above, admitting light into the cavern. These apartments are mostly in clusters, three or four together, communicating with each other. Around one pit towards the southwest we found sixteen such apartments thus connected, forming a sort of labyrinth. They are all hewn very regularly; but many are partly broken down; and it is not impossible, that the pits themselves may have been caused by the falling in of similar domes. Some of the apartments are ornamented, either near the bottom or high up, or both, with rows of small holes or niches, like pigeon-holes, extending quite around the wall. In the largest cluster, in the innermost dome, a rough block of the limestone has been left standing on one side, ten or twelve feet high, as if a rude pulpit or a pedestal for a statue. In the same apartment are several crosses cut in the wall; and in another of the same suite, are several very old Cufic inscriptions, one of which is quite long. These we neglected to copy, much to our subsequent regret; although from what we elsewhere saw, they probably would throw no light upon the age and character of these singular excavations.

What then could have been the object of these caverns? Cisterns they were not; and quarries they could hardly have been; as the stone is not hard enough for building, and there is no place in the vicinity erected with such stone. Or, if quarries, why then excavate in this peculiar and difficult form, when all is so near the surface? The form in itself resembles that of 1 Josh. 10, 10. 16 sq. 15, 41. Onomast. art. Maceda.

the subterranean magazines around many of the villages at the present day; and naturally suggests the idea, that these caverns too may have been intended for magazines of grain. But their great number, and especially the fact of their communicating with each other, is inconsistent with such an hypothesis. I am unable to solve the mystery; and the similar excavations which we afterwards saw on our second visit to Beit Jibrîn, serve only to render the whole matter still more inexplicable. We afterwards found reason to suppose, that the ancient Gath-Rimmon was situated here or in the vicinity.1

ProWe spent nearly an hour in exploring these caverns. ceeding on our way at 10.35, we came in fifteen minutes to a village on our right called Ra'na, with fields of tobacco and cotton. Our guide, by mistake, now took a road lying to the left of the right one, but parallel to it. This brought us at 11.25 to Kudna, a small village, in which are the remains of a large ancient building. A portion of the western wall is standing, some one hundred and fifty feet in length, built of large stones. It is difficult to say, whether it was once a church, or perhaps a castle; it seemed older than the age of the crusades.

Our way wound much, leading us through broad arable Wadys among the low bushy hills. We were now verging towards the border of the hilly tract and the great plain on the west, where hill and plain pass over into each other; and where the frequent and shallow Wadys, running in all directions, render it difficult to mark their general course, or to distinguish any main trunk. As we approached Beit Jibrîn, however, we travelled along a fine open valley or plain, running from south to north, which seemed to be one of the principal Wadys. passes onwards to the great plain, where it sweeps round on the south of Tell es-Sâfieh, forming apparently one of the main branches of Wady Simsim, which we afterwards encountered on our way to Gaza.

It

In this valley along the road were traces of ancient walls, once probably enclosing fields; and in several places we saw short rude pillars, which at first we thought might have been intended as Roman milestones. For this however they were too numerous; and they more probably once served as private landmarks, between the fields of different owners. We reached Beit Jibrîn at 12 o'clock, situated among low hills at the head of this main valley, where it is formed by the junction of two or three smaller Wadys, and runs at first N. N. W. The site is so shut in by hills, that no other places are visible from it. Like most of the villages in this region, it is surrounded with olive trees; and

1 See under May 22d; and at the end of the discussion respecting Eleutheropolis, on the subsequent day, May 23d.

beneath one of these, northwest of the ruins, we spread our carpets, and after a few minutes of rest and 'refreshment, entered upon our examination of this interesting spot.

Here is a village with ruins, apparently of different ages, and more extensive and massive than any we saw in Palestine, except the substructions of the ancient temple at Jerusalem and the Haram at Hebron. They consist of the remains of a fortress of immense strength, in the midst of an irregular rounded enclosure, encompassed by a very ancient and strong wall. This outer wall was built of large squared stones uncemented. It has been mostly thrown down; but on the northern side it is still several feet in height, running along the southern bank of the water-bed of the Wady which comes down from the E. N. E. In the other quarter also it is still distinctly to be traced. Along this wall on the inside, towards the west and northwest, is a row of ancient massive vaults with fine round arches, apparently of the same age as the wall itself. These are now nearly covered by the accumulated rubbish; yet some of them still serve as dwellings for the inhabitants. The northern wall of this exterior enclosure, representing the diameter from east to west, measured six hundred feet; and the other diameter cannot be much less. The character of this wall and of these vaults, leaves no doubt that they are of Roman origin.

In the midst of this area stands an irregular castle, the lower parts of which seem to be as ancient as the exterior wall; but it has obviously been built up again in more modern times. Indeed, an inscription over the gate-way shows that it was last repaired by the Turks in A H. 958,1 (A. D. 1551,) nearly ten years after the present walls of Jerusalem were built. The northern and western sides alone are regular; the former measured one hundred and ninety-two feet, and the latter one hundred and ninety-five feet. The gate was now shut up; and the court within planted with tobacco, so far as there was room among the heaps of stones and rubbish. The walls are so far broken down, that we could clamber over them and enter without difficulty. The interior of the castle was full of arches and vaults; and the people told us of a church with pictures in the southern part, now shut up and indeed buried beneath the ruins. Several small marble columns were strewed around. The area of the enclosure, outside of the castle, is occupied partly by the modern hovels of the village; partly by patches of tobacco and vegetables; while in the northern and eastern quarters, it is confusedly covered with heaps of stones, the materials of ancient walls and structures.

1 I follow here the journal of my companion; my own pencil notes made on the spot have A. H. 948.

The situation of this fortress was low, on a point between two Wadys, one coming from the E. N. E. and the other from the S. S. E. Back of the village the ground rises into hills, which must have overlooked the fortress. The ancient town appears to have extended for some distance along the open valley towards the northeast. In this part are still remains of the former wall and dwellings. Just by the village on the west in the other Wady, is a large public well, around which cattle and flocks were collected for watering.

Twenty minutes from the village, in the direction S. 28° E. are seen the ruins of an ancient church bearing the name of Santa Hanneh (St. Anne), situated on higher sloping ground near the head of the southern Wady, northeast of its watercourse. In following up the Wady to this spot we passed two other wells. One of them about half way was quite large; flocks and herds were gathered around both; while men and women were drawing water and filling for them the many drinking troughs, presenting an animated scene of pastoral life. Of the church, only the eastern end is standing, including the niche of the great altar, and that of a side chapel, built of large hewn stones of strong and beautiful masonry. The foundations remain throughout; and there are subterraneous vaults with windows on the north side. Indeed, the edifice stood on round arches; which with the foundations seem nearly of the same character and antiquity as the fortress itself. In the Wady near by are the ruins of an ordinary village. Southwest of the church, on the other side of the Wady, rises a truncated Tell of a chalky and singular appearance. We had been told of a fountain near the church, which became dry for a part of the year; but it turned out that our informant meant only a well at some distance northeast, where men were drawing water for their flocks. This we found to be fifty-two feet deep, dug mostly in the solid rock, and apparently ancient. There is another on the slope of the hill southwest of the church, which was now dry.2

us:

1

In returning to the village, as we passed one of the wells where the people were watering their flocks, a man called out to "Do not be long," that is, in coming to take possession of the country. Here, as elsewhere, we were supposed to be in search of our hereditary estates. Such expressions we often heard; and this desire for a Frank government or Frank protection we found to be universal in Syria, among both Chris

1 The only allusion I find to this church is in Gaufr. Vinisauf, Iter Hierosol. Regis Richardi, etc. 5. 44, in Gale Scriptores Historiæ Angl. Tom. II. p. 375. further on, p. 28, n. 5.

See

2 From the hill just east of Santa Hanneh the following bearings were taken Tell es-Sâfieh N. 20° W. Beit 'Atâb N 63° E. Min'în S. 64° E. Dûra on the mountain S. 44° E.