Such was the amount of our observations and information, in respect to the lake and basin of the Hûleh itself. The town of Bâniâs in its northeast quarter we could not here see; it being hidden behind some projections of the hills in its vicinity. But the ruined Saracenic castle, Kul'at Bâniâs, called by Arabian writers Kŭl'at es-Subeibeh, standing upon a thin ridge cut off from Jebel esh-Sheikh by a deep ravine, was distinctly visible. From the point where we now stood, this castle bore N. 40° E. and we judged the distance to be not far from fifteen or sixteen geographical miles. Beyond it, nearly in the same direction, and perhaps twice as remote, towered the lofty summit of Jebel esh-Sheikh, here seen in all its majesty, with its long narrow glaciers, like stripes of snow, extending down below its icy crown, and glittering in the sun. Our position enabled us to obtain a good general idea of the country on the north, around the sources of the Jordan; and the same was confirmed by further observation, on our subsequent journey.

The mighty parallel ridges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, the Jebel Libnân and Jebel esh-Shurky (East Mountain) of the Arabs, enclose the noble valley now called el-Bukâ'a, once Cole-Syria proper, watered throughout the greater portion of its length by the river Lîtâny, the ancient Leontes. The general direction of the mountains, the valley, and the stream, is from northeast to southwest. The lofty southern end of AntiLebanon is called Jebel esh-Sheikh. It rises to its highest elevation nearly south of Râsheiya and over Hâsbeiya; and is supposed to be somewhat higher than Jebel Sunnîn near Beirût. The usual estimate of its height is ten thousand feet above the Mediterranean. The top is partially crowned with snow, or rather ice, during the whole year; which however lies only in the ravines, and thus presents at a distance the appearance of radiant stripes, around and below the summit. The mountain afterwards slopes off gradually and irregularly towards the W. S. W. quite down to the opening of Wady et-Teim upon the plain, northwest of Bâniâs. În this part there is some cultivation, and several villages. From the southeastern base of the high part of Jebel esh-Sheikh, a low broad spur or mountainous tract runs off towards the south, forming the high land which shuts in the basin and lake of the Huleh on the east. According to Burckhardt, this tract is called Jebel Heish; the higher portion of it terminates at Tell el-Faras, nearly three hours north of Fîk; but the same high plain of Jaulân continues towards the

1 These are general names; but the Arabs more commonly employ particular names for different parts of these mountains; e. g. Jebel esh-Sheikh, Jebel Sun

nîn, etc.-The name Jebel Libnân occurs in Edrîsi, par Jaubert pp. 336, 355, 361. Abulfeda Tab. Syr. pp. 163, 164.

south, until the mountains of 'Ajlûn rise again above it, in the district el-Wastîyeh and around el-Husn.1

The chain of Lebanon or at least its higher ridges, may be said to terminate at the point, where it is broken through by the river Lîtâny, somewhat north of Tyre. But a broad and lower mountainous tract continues towards the south, bordering the basin of the Hüleh on the west; it rises to its greatest elevation around Safed (Jebel Safed); and ends at length abruptly in the mountains of Nazareth, as the northern wall of the plain of Esdraelon. This high tract may be regarded as the prolongation of Mount Lebanon.

Wady et-Teim lies along the western base of Jebel eshSheikh and Anti-Lebanon; being separated from the proper valley of the Lîtâny by a ridge and line of hills, extending north as far as 'Anjar. The water-shed, which is also the head of the southern valley, is not far north of Râsheiya. It enters the basin of the Hûleh about an hour west of Bâniâs. It is a fertile valley with a considerable stream; skirted on each side by declivities of various height, usually cultivated; with no plain along the middle, except at the southern end. On the hills are many villages. It is divided into two districts, called the Upper and Lower Wady et-Teim; the capital of the former being Râsheiya, and that of the latter Hâsbeiya. The lower district includes also Bâniâs and the vicinity. These and some other districts, form the province of Jebel esh-Sheikh."

West of the southern part of Wady et-Teim, between it and the Lîtâny, lies the fine region of Merj 'Ayun, separated from the Teim by a range of hills. It is an oval or almost circular basin, about an hour in diameter, a beautiful, fertile, well-watered plain, surrounded by hills, which in some parts are high, but mostly arable. On the north, they retain this character quite to the brow of the descent towards the Lîtâny. Towards the south, Merj 'Ayûn communicates with the plain of the Hûleh by a narrow entrance, through which flows a stream. Merj 'Ayûn forms a district within the government of Belâd Beshârah, a large province occupying the mountains between the Hûleh and the plain of Tyre, and having for its capital the castle of Tibnîn. The route of my companion from

3

1 Burckhardt pp. 281, 286 sq.

4

2 The Arabian writer edh-Dhâhiry in the 15th century, speaks of Wady et-Teim as a district in the province of Damascus, so called from the Wady, and containing 360 villages; see Rosenmüller's Analect. Arab. III. p. 22. Lat. p. 46.

* Not improbably the word 'Ayûn in this name may have some relation to the

Safed to Deir el-Kamr in 1835, led him directly through Merj 'Ayûn, and so over the bridge of the Lîtâny near the castle eshShukîf to Jezzin.

The preceding account has been corrected by observations made during a visit to Bâniâs and the sources of the Jordan in 1852. The fuller account of the region now in view belongs to another volume.1

The high tract of country bordering the Hûleh on the west, is thickly populated. It bore everywhere the marks of tillage, and many villages were in sight, the names of which our guide. did not know. One was mentioned on the hills opposite the marshes, still bearing the name of Kedes; it is without doubt the ancient Kedesh of Naphtali, a city of refuge and of the Levites, the birthplace of Barak, situated twenty Roman miles from Tyre and not far from Paneas.2

The view from Benît, the spot where we stood, was very extensive and magnificent. Before us rose Jebel esh-Sheikh in all his glory; while more on the left, the ridges of Lebanon were visible to a great distance, terminated far in the N. N. E. by the snowy peak of Jebel Sunnîn near Beirût. On the east of Jebel esh-Sheikh, the eye scanned the lower mountains and high table land which extends off far southwards; including the districts of Kuneitirah and Jaulân; and beyond these Haurân with its mountain.3-The bridge Benât Ya'kôb was not itself visible; but we could see the Khân upon its eastern side, and could distinctly trace the outline of the narrow valley of the Jordan, from the Hûleh to the Lake of Tiberias. A portion of the latter lake, the northeastern part, could also be perceived, like a separate lake, deep among the mountains; and beyond it the "high hills" of Bashan presented their beautiful outline. Towards the south and west the view was shut out by the adjacent higher ground. But the place of the ancient Dan was before us; and we thus had been permitted to behold the Promised Land in all its length, even from Dan to Beersheba.5

p. 47. Schultens Index Geogr. art. MarsjOjoun.-Abulfeda writes the name with the article, Merj el-'Ayûn.

6.

1 See in Vol. III. Sect. IX.

2 Josh. 19, 37. 20, 7. 21, 32. Judg. 4, Afterwards conquered by Tiglathpileser, 1 Kings 15, 29. Onomast. art. Cedes. The place is mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela, I. p. 82; and by Brocardus, c. 4. p. 173. It is said to have been visited a few years since by Lady Hester Stanhope, and again soon after we left Syria by Bertou; Bull. de la Soc. de Géogr. Sept. 1839, p. 144.

3 See above, under Safed, p. 432.

Tiberias, aided by its apparent nearness as seen through the transparent atmosphere, has doubtless given occasion for the story of another small lake between that of Tiberias and the Hûleh. Richardson's Travels II. p. 446. An English traveller, whom we afterwards met at Beirût, had fallen into the same error on the testimony of his own eyes, as he supposed.

The bearings taken from Benît were as follows: Kŭl'at Bâniâs N. 40° E. Jebel esh-Sheikh N. 40° E. Mouth of Wady etTeim about N. 20° E. Snowy peak of Jebel Sunnîn N. 24° E. Lake el-Hûleh north end N. 41° E. (?) Lake el-Hûleh

* Some such partial view of the lake of south end N. 65° E. Khân at Jisr Benât

We returned to Safed highly delighted with our excursion; which we felt assured had given us a better idea of the Hûleh and the adjacent country, than we could have obtained by simply passing through the plain. Such, at least, was the experience of my companion, who had already twice travelled along the Hûleh; where the road is so low as to afford no prospect of the land, and only occasional glimpses of the lake.

A few historical notices of the Hûleh and two or three places in and around it, may close this section.

The lake el-Hûleh is mentioned in the Old Testament as the waters of Merom; in the vicinity of which Joshua smote Jabin king of Hazor and the Canaanites, with a great slaughter.1 Josephus, speaking of another Jabin, also king of Hazor, places that city over the lake Samochonitis, the appellation by which alone he knows these waters. The name el-Hûleh goes back, as we have seen, at least to the period of the crusades; while Abulfeda describes it only as the lake of Bâniâs.3

2

3

5

In Jebel esh-Sheikh we have the majestic Hermon of the Old Testament, which is put as the northern limit of the territory of Israel beyond Jordan, "from the river of Arnon unto Mount Hermon." The Psalmist couples it with Tabor, as the representatives of all the mountains of the Promised Land." Eusebius describes Mount Hermon as overagainst Paneas and Lebanon; Jerome learned from his Hebrew teacher, that Hermon impended over Paneas; and in that day its snows were carried in summer to Tyre as a luxury.-Mount Hermon bore also the name of Sion; was called by the Sidonians, Shirion and by the Ammonites, Senir; which latter name in the Arabic form Sunîr was still applied, in Abulfeda's day, to the portion of Anti-Lebanon north of Jebel esh-Sheikh. Very early too Hermon began to receive the appellation of the "Snowy Mountain,” in Chaldee Tûr Telga, in Arabic Jebel eth-Thelj; which latter was its common name in the time of Abulfeda, and is

2 Joseph. Ant. 5. 5. 1. B. J. 3. 10. 7. ib. 4. 1. 1.

3 Bohaed. Vit. Salad. p. 98. Edh-Dhâhiry in Rosenm. Analect. Arab. III. p. 22. Lat. p. 45. Abulf. Tab. Syr. pp. 147, 155. See above, p. 436. For the name Meleha, probably a mere extension of 'Ain el-Mellâhah, see p. 435.

* Deut. 3, 8. 4, 48. Comp. Josh. 11, 3. 17. 13, 11.

7 Sion Deut. 4, 48. Senir Deut. 3, 9. Abulf. Tab. Syr. p. 164.-The Sion (Heb.) here spoken of, is a wholly different name from the Zion (Heb. 1) in the Holy City; and can therefore have nothing to do with the explanation of the difficult passage in Ps. 133, 3; where only the latter name is read.

;

perhaps heard occasionally at the present day. The monkish transposition of Hermon to the plain of Esdraelon, where the name of Little Hermon is still sometimes employed, has been already sufficiently considered.2

The Jisr Benât Ya'kôb, "Bridge of the daughters of Jacob," appears to be later than the time of the crusades, and was probably erected in connection with the great caravan road from Egypt to Damascus, with its numerous Khâns. The writers of that period speak only of a ford of Jacob; according to a legendary tradition or supposition, that the patriarch here crossed the Jordan on his return from Mesopotamia. Abulfeda, about A. D. 1300, calls the spot Beit Ya'kôb (Jacob's house), and the ford, el-Ajrân.*

Travellers of the fourteenth century, on their way from Palestine to Damascus, journeying apparently with the regular caravans, crossed the Jordan below the lake of Tiberias.5 In Jan. A. D. 1450, the party of Gumpenberg is described as travelling to Damascus along the lake of Tiberias northwards, then over hills, and afterwards crossing a bridge where was a toll; this answers to the bridge in question, though the Jordan is not named. In the remainder of the fifteenth, and the greater portion of the sixteenth century, the tide of travel among the pilgrims turned from Jerusalem southwards towards Sinai and Egypt; but about the middle of the sixteenth, we find Belon passing to Damascus by the present great road and bridge; and he was followed by several others in the same century.?

6

It would appear, therefore, that this great caravan route had been established, the bridge built, and the Khâns erected, probably before the middle of the fifteenth century. The Khân near the bridge, at its eastern end, is similar to the rest, as we 1 Chald. 1, Targ. Hierosol. came first to the ford of the Jabbok, the Deut. 4, 48. So too Vers. Samarit. ibid. present Zerka, north of Jericho; here See Reland Pal. pp. 323, 324.-Abulf. Esau met him, having come from Mount Seir. Gen. 32, 22; comp. vs. 3. Tab. Syr. p. 163.

2 See above, pp. 326, 327.—For Dan and Bâniâs, see Vol. III. Sect. IX, 1852. 3 Instead of Benát Ya'kôb, Burckhardt has incorrectly Beni Ya'kôb, Sons of Jacob;' p. 315.

4 "Vadum Jacob," Will. Tyr. 18. 13. ib. 21. 26. ib. 22. 22, "per locum, cui nomen Vadum Jacob, fluvium pertransiens." Quaresmius II. p. 871. Abulfed. Annal. A. H. 575; in Bohaed. Vit. Salad. Excerpt. p. 26. Bonifacius has here also "domus Jacob; Quaresmius 1. c. p. 872; and Pococke speaks of a small hill north of the bridge with some ruins, called the town of Jacob; II. i. p. 73.-But Jacob, in returning from Mesopotamia,

a

5 W. de Baldensel ed. Basnage p. 355, "Jordanem transivi ponte in eo loco, ubi ipse fluvius se a mari Galilææ separat." Sir J. Maundeville p. 115. Lond. 1839. So late as A. D. 1508, Baumgarten crossed the Jordan near Jericho, and proceeded thence to Damascus, on the east side of the river ; p. 107 sq.

6 Reissb. in h. Land p. 451. The stream is merely spoken of as "a water Daie.”

"Belon Observ. Paris 1588, p. 331. Then followed M. Seidlitz as a prisoner in 1556, Reissb. p. 489; Radzivil in 1583, Reissb. II. p. 153; Cotovicus in 1598, p. 361 sq. Comp. Quaresmius Elucidat. Tom. II. p. 871.