Back Aa

Birdseye Views of Far Lands

Close

<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> <h3>A World-Famous Land—Palestine</h3> The most fascinating and lureful land on the globe is the little country we call Palestine. Since it was wrested from the unspeakable Turk during the world war, the eyes of the world have been focused upon it to a greater degree than ever. It is the dearest spot to civilization. From it have gone the greatest and most powerful influences for good that ever affected humanity. It produced the one great character which is today the great center of history. The date of his birth is the recognized beginning of the greatest era in the history of mankind. The calendars of the world have been changed by the Galilean carpenter. Palestine is less than one-eighth as large as Wisconsin. Smaller than Greece or Italy or England or even Belgium, it has a greater history perhaps than all these combined. The book it produced is the foundation of history, literature and law. The hills and valleys, mountains and rivers are hallowed by the memory of him who wore the crown of thorns. The writer of these lines will never forget the tender memories aroused when standing on the sacred spots in this world-famous land. The man who said: "Palestine is the world in a nutshell," told the exact truth. Between snow-capped Mount Herman on the north, which is ten thousand feet above the ocean, and the Dead Sea on the south, which is thirteen hundred feet below the level of the ocean, are found all the zones and climates that can be found on the globe. The geologist finds here not only all the formations of rock found on the earth, but all the geological periods and ages. The botanist finds here about all the plants, shrubs and flowers; the zoologist finds most all the animals and the ornithologist finds most all the birds, while the ichthyologist finds all the fishes. It used to be thought that there was at least one exception to the above named rule: that there was at least one type of fish that could not be found in Palestine. The exception was a type of fish found by David Livingstone in an inland lake in tropical Africa. Nature has provided the male of this peculiar fish with a large head and made him the protector of the school of little fishes when they are first hatched out so that in time of danger he opens his gills and the little ones swim into his mouth where they will be safe. The habit is unheard of and unparalleled among any fish in the world, so it is said. While for years it was supposed that this family of fish was found only in tropical Africa, yet some years ago one of this very type of fish was caught in the sea of Galilee. It was the privilege of the writer to visit Palestine some years ago with a converted Jew as a guide. We fell in together on an Italian steamship on the way from Italy to Egypt. On account of the bubonic plague which was raging in Egypt at the time we were thrown together again unexpectedly, leaving Egypt on the same ship bound for Syria. We were quarantined together on a ship in a Syrian harbor and became so well acquainted that he was persuaded to act as my guide through Palestine. Our first landing place on this sacred soil was at the city of Haifa, which is located at the foot of Mount Carmel near the northern part of the country. Haifa is a small city of some ten thousand people and to visit the market place in the early morning makes one think that the people are very much alive. Not far from the city are shown some rock-cut chambers in Mount Carmel that are said to be the very rooms where Elisha conducted his school for the young prophets. On the top of this mountain perhaps four or five miles from Haifa is a sort of a natural amphitheater and in this an old, old, rock-cut altar that is pointed out as the place where Elijah and the prophets of Baal had the great test to see whose god would answer by fire. At the foot of the mountain is a large mound which is to this day called the "Priest's Mound" and which is the traditional burial place of the false prophets who were slain at that time. From Haifa we went to Nazareth which is about eighteen miles in an eastward direction. We traveled for several miles along a railroad that the builders had started and then abandoned. The story told me at the time as to why this project was abandoned became quite significant when the war broke out, although it was told me several years before this happened. They said an English company secured the right to build a railway from Haifa to Damascus. About the time the work was started the Kaiser came to visit Palestine. Great preparation had been made for this visit and as a worshipper (?) he visited all the sacred places. On his return he spent a week in Constantinople with the Sultan of Turkey and that immediately after this visit this Turkish ruler decided that this railway would give the English too much power and the company was compelled to give up the work. Of course the railway was finished later on, but not by the English. As it developed after the war broke out, the Kaiser and the Sultan of Turkey had worked together for years. Stopping by the highway a Mohammedan woman was drawing water at a well and on request she cheerfully gave us a drink. These people never refuse to help even an enemy get a drink of water so I was told. The women do most of the hard work in Palestine. Where we stopped to pay the government tax that was always collected from travelers, I saw a man and woman building a stone wall. The only thing the man did was to sit on the wall while the woman mixed the mortar and carried both it and the stone to him. She even had to lift the stone up on the wall without any assistance from him, but he did manage to spread the mortar alone. Spread out before us was the great Plain of Esdraelon, which was often spoken of as the world's greatest battlefield. Here more battles that decided the destiny of nations have been fought than on any other spot on the globe. To behold the place where "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera" and a score of other world-famous struggles was a marvelous sight to say the least. Nazareth is a beautiful little city on the side of a mountain. The streets are narrow, the paving stones are worn slippery, and the shops are all open to the streets. In the Church of the Annunciation they point out "Joseph's Workshop" and "Mary's Kitchen" and with great solemnity show you the tools used by the Galilean carpenter and the cooking utensils used in the sacred home. There is in Nazareth one building the walls of which perhaps were standing nineteen hundred years ago. This old wall is hoary with age and the Hebrew characters above the door indicate that it used to be a Jewish synagogue. Possibly it was the place where the great sermon was preached which so enraged the people that they tried to mob the preacher, but he escaped from their hands. An amusing experience was when we visited the Hall of Justice. The officials found that we had come into their city without permission from the authorities at Haifa. At once we were held up and fined. The fines and costs amounted to sixty cents each and I had to pay one dollar and twenty cents for myself and guide. When this was paid they gave us permission to proceed on our journey. That all might know that we had this permission it was so stated upon the back of our passports. The last thing I remember before going to sleep one night in the city of Nazareth was the loud talk of a crazy man in the street near the window. As there were no asylums for these unfortunate people they often just wandered around. I visited the only asylum for crazy people in all Syria at that time, and Dr. Waldimier told me with his own lips that it took him nineteen long years to get permission from the Turkish government to found the institution. From the top of the mountain near Nazareth one has a wonderful view of the entire country. As Palestine is less than one hundred and fifty miles long and but one-third as wide one can see almost entirely over the land from some high elevation. To the east and southeast of the top of this mountain lies the great Jordan valley with the mountains of Moab in the background. It was from one of these peaks, Mount Nebo, that Moses viewed the landscape o'er. Only about fifteen miles to the northeast lies the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias and Lake of Gennesaret. One cannot see the water in this lake, but the depression where it lies is very marked. To the north is the "Horn of Hattin," where the famous Sermon on the Mount was given to the assembled multitude. Still further is Mount Hermon which was the scene of the transfiguration. Still farther away are the mountains of Lebanon. To the west is old Mount Carmel and beyond that the great Mediterranean Sea. Stretched out to the southwest is the Plain of Esdraelon, and beyond that the mountains of Samaria. Just east of this plain are Mount Tabor and Gilboa. One can stand for hours and not get tired of looking for every foot of the ground is historic. <hr /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2