The Newnan weekly news. (Newnan, Ga.) 189?-1906, March 17, 1905, Image 2
JLamt of 1 roniise (TO AND FROM.) By Rev. C. O’N. Maktindalk. ARTICLE XXX. TURKEY [Continued] (IS). PALESTINE: Hy Jcbet Tur (Mount Tabor), to Nain and Shunem (near Endor) on Nebi Dahe (Little Hcrmon), over the Meij ibn 'Atnir (the Plain of Esdraelon or Valley of Megiddo or Valley of Jezreel) to Zer ’ain [Jezreel] and 'Ain Jalud [Gide on’a Fountain and the Well of Ilarodj on the Jebel Fuku’a [Mount Gilboa| to Jenin [En Ganniml. Kishon, going along nsar the river or brook Kishon. Afrer passing^ unmber of small villrges and ruins wo came In sight of that portion of Mount Oarmel near which Elijah's slaughter of the prophets of Baal is said to have taken place. • The Mountain of Carmel is, as is well known, a lengthened promdntory or ridge stretching from the mountains of Samaria iu a long lino to the north west toward the sea, and is frequently mentioned in the Bible period. It is of limestone formation and is es]»cially rich in vegetation, due to its proximity tc the sea and the heavy dews that fall ui>ou it. Its highest jioint is 1,810 feet, opposite Haroshoth whore our road hranohcH off toward Nazareth. Back toward the sea the mountain slopes down to a height of about 600 feet, and on a shelving promontory at 480 feet elevation is the famous Carmelite mon astery, from which the Carmelite order of monks received its name, The nbor iginal inhabitants regarded this uioun tain as sacred, and at a very early period iu Jewish history it was denominated ‘The Mount of God.’ Its beauty is of ten extolled in the Bible, as when Isaiah prophesies of the Church, ‘The glory ol Lebanon shall be given unto it, the ex cellency of Carmel and Sharon;' or, as in Solomon's Song, magnifying the Church’s graces, ‘Thine head upon thee is like Carmel.’ It does not seem to have been thickly populated ill ancient times, as it certainly is not now, but it wits frequently sought as an asylum hy tlie persecuted, on account of its ninny natural grottoes iu the soft limestone Ere we (mss from the magnificent view of Mount Carmel to he seen from the mount above Nazareth, per Imps we had better describe it and Haifa, the sea|Nirt of entry for Nazareth and the surrounding region, ns though we were approaching from the seaward side. I will let another set it before you : “ We are facing the east. Yonder on the left are the lulls of l.elmuoii. running back i ris k, iu some of which are still seen in fo the lowering mountains whence King ! soriptions placed there hy hermits and .Solomon obtained cedar trees, llr-trees, | religious refugees. In the twelfth cun- aud algtim-trees for the temple in Jeru- I tury the hermits here leguil to be re- salem (!) Chron. li:M IS). To our right i garded us a distinut order, iui'1 in 1334 is Mount Carmel, jutting out into the they were set apart as such hy the Fojs 1 sea ami sloping upward and eastward j ft t Romo. There are now some 18 or 20 toward the mountains ol Samaria, .lust monks there living in a large,olean, and in front is the Plain of Aero and the airy building, and they make a business mouth of thorivor Ivishon,on the hanks ol „f entertaining pilgrims on an extensive which we see the waving palm-trees and green guldens. In the distance, at the the northern end of the sickio-shaped liny, seemingly rising right out of the sea, is the oily of Aero, called Auoho in Judges l:!ll,ono of the oldest and lus- loru ally most interesting cities in the world, whose early inhabitants, the Hhonnioiuns,nru given the credit ol hav- nuiiIo. * * Within four miles of Nazar eth wo stopped a few moments at the rather pretty little village of Yafn, or the Japliiu which is mentioned in the tilth chapter of Joshua.” (Dr. O. B. F. Hal lock ) We arose at 5 and started off from Nazareth by 6:15 a.m. and descended the steeps toward the Plain of Esdrao ing invented the alphabet, discovered |on, passing not far from Yafa, and n how to make dyes, au<l of having been j photograph of our entire i>urty was t«k- thu Hint to umnutaoturo glass, it is possible that some of the teur bottles members of our party bought on shore were s|Hiciiuuus of their ancient work. In apostolic times there were Christians hero, and Panl once visited them, Acts ill :7. Porhnps no city of the same size in the wide world has had mi strange and chequered a history. Kiohnrd 1 of England, and Philip of Frnueo, par- chased its conquest once ut the sacrifice of 100,(XX) troops. They gave it to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who named it St. Jiau I)'Acre. But they could not hold it. Napoleon Bonaparte once besieged it for sixty-one days. Ho failed, and nftorwards said: ‘My failure to take it changed the destiny of the world.’ At last, in 1840, the united Heels of England, Aurtria, ami Turkey, sailed into its beautiful harbor, and, after a bombardment <>f three hours, left it utterly demolished. From this downfall it is but very slowly recover ing. As wo look again shoreward, I'ar in tiie distance to the northeast, we see, plainly iu sight, snow-capped and over majestic Mt. Hermou, while nearer, yet iu (lie same general direction, are the n just before wo got off the slopes. Mount Tabor to our east is passed on the way. Near it is a place called De- buvieh. site of Daberath (Josh. 111:16; 31:28; I Chron. 0:73). a Lovitioal city, atul having some relation perhaps with Deborah the prophetess, who with Barak set Israel's forces in array at Mt. Tabor before joining battle with Bisera and tiis hosts (Jud. 4:6-16), ns the name Tabor would also seem to indi cate. Some have located the soone of our Lord’s Transfiguration on Mouut Tabor, but the concensus of scholarship today hold that this hon our belongs to Mount Hertuon near Caesarea Philippi, os wo have already shown. Still Tabor is full of interest, for its striking aud remarkuble, round, large, knob-like sliaiw aud its ancient ruins ou the summit (Jewish, Byzan tine, Crusading, aud Saracenib), its early having three churches therefore, in memory of the three tabernacles Peter promised to erect for Jesus, Moses ami Elijah ( Matt. 17:4). Here the bro thers of Uideou were slain (Jud. 8:18-16). Hereafter the battle of Hattin in 1187, the Saraceu Saladin laid wnste the hills that lie round about the vicinity of ( mountain, and destroyed the monaster- Nazareth (twenty throe amt a half miles j ies of the Crusaders. It is also referred distant from Haifa). * * The oity cou-1 to iu Psa. 80:13; Jer. 46:18; Hos. 6:1. tains about 12,000 inhabitants, uinnu- In Scripture its majesty and grace is l'aotures soap, olive-oil and wine, which | alluded to; aud indeed it is a pretty with wheat, maize, sesame, and wool j sight, risiug from the northeastern end are largely exported. It has two Mu- of Esdraelon 1800 feet from base to top tianimadan mosques, several Christina j and 1865 feet above sea level, in suoli churches, schools, a hospital and a I symmetrical proportions, and covered thriving German colony, known as the ! with pistaehias, oaks and other trees Templars. A little distance up on Mt. j aud shrubs. "As Tabor is amoug the Carmel is a sanitarium, a hotel, aud j mountains, aud as Oarmel by the sea.” further up, the famous Carmelite Mon- ' "The north and the south Thou hast astory. * * Tholirst surprise that greet- created them; Tabor aud Hermou shall tid our eyes*ut Haifa was the sight of a rejoice iu Thy name!" Two monaster- railway tmok*uiteuded to go troui Haifa to the Jordan and the Lake of Galilee uml from thence to the uuciout city ot Damascus. Thu track is laid about live miles, but the road is graded, ami the bridges built as tar as we went toward the Jordan. \Vo must say that it looked strangely out of place in Palestine, aud yet wo may well hope that it will soon be completed. Ativ one who iius gone over the so-called roads ot Palestine, as ies—a Greek aud a Latin—crown the top at this time. Almost in a straight line southward from Tabor is Eudur (Endor) where Saul consulted the witch and talked with Samuel aud returned to Gilboa doomed. Still further on this line is the Hill of Morel) or Little Hermou, and just across the Yale of Jezreel is Mount Gilboa. iu plain view. Proceeding on tile beautiful Plain of they now are, will see the reason for | Esdraelou we came to the edge of tlie this wish. We were all preiwrod to ap : foot-hills of Little Hermou, stopping at preciate the frontier farmer's descrip tion of a road m his country, which ■was, he said, tirst a wagon track, then a Naiu tirst aud then at Shunem. Nain is in a fine situation, overlooking a splendid landscape, and hence perhaps bridle path, then a squirrel traok, and the name which denotes "beauty.” At thou ran up a tree! Olio tiling is cer-' one time, as the ruins about it show, tain, that the roads are quite generally notable for their absence. * * At one mile troiu Haifa (Caita, or Kliaifa) we Nain was a considerable place; but to day it is anything but a towu of con sequence. Here are nothing but a lot of left the gardens aud euternl the plain of I mud and dung-oovered huts, a small Moslem mosque (known to the Arabs under the name Mukam Sidna 'Alaa the shrine of our Lord JeeuH”), and a Franciscan church with a fine picture therein representing our laird restoring the young man—the widow’s only sou— to life as they wore carrying him in a bier out of the oonfiues of the village (Lk. 7:11-18.) We could realize this all the more as afterward in riding away we passed iu sight of a cemetery. There ore two springs iu the vicinity, near one of which are a number of rock- cut tombs. Endor is just two miles from here, but aside from its mud cab ins, cuves ih the mountain, and a curi ous circle of rocks near the mouth of one of the caves, find its association with Saul and the witoh and Samuel's appoarauce there is nought here worthy of a visit (l Sam. 38:7 25). Hence we didn’t tarry for a visit thither. Again ooming on the fertile plain and slightly skirting the mountain-side to the west and south wo arrive ere long at Solam, the site of Shunem, a plate well watt-red by perennial springs, and with a flue brood view of Esdraelon. Only a traveller iu summer going over this Plain iu the burning noontide snu at harvest can take in the meaning of the ride of the bereaved Shunamite mother across the plain from Shunem to Carmel—about 13 miles—to secure the assistance of the prophet Elisha for her sun-stricken child (3 Kgs. 4:8-87). The view aud the bent brought it homo to our party ns never before. If was hen- also that by the jiower of God a woman’s son was raised to life. Hore too is jioiiitod out to the traveller a lit tle square-roomed lint on top of a hut of the Syrian typo and called "a prophet’s chamber.” Ah. how wo wonder and wonder and wonder that living men and women and children survive such mud- entombment and dung-encasement and dirt-defilement as is prevalent in the make-up of well-nigh every Oriental village! Truly tln-y need and that sore ly a "British cleaning-up" or an "American cleaning out.” Who can be surprised that there is no interest in liv ing and in labour whilo this state of affairs lasts. These people in "the Lund of the Bool." need God to work within them and liiati to work on the outside of i them to make them what they ought to i lie and to enable them do what is right. Thank God, Protestant Christians are accomplishing something along these lines. It is more like the beast of the field than a man of moral nature to live iu these squalid huts surrouuded with pricklypear plautk 6 to 10 feet high,with nothing l ore worth mentioning save a fountain of water, and that used ap parently for drinking aud cooking pur- jioses. Most of our travelling now is on the Plain of Esdraelon, one of the world- fumed battle-fields of Scripture and his tory. Tlio Great Plain lias five en trances. The Pass of th^ Kishon at Toll ol Kasis, first, the way of advance from the Plain of Acre; Harosheth of the Gentiles, from which Sisera advanced lies upon it. Second, the glon between Tabor and the Nazareth hills, the road down from tho plateau above Tiberias and Northern Galilee generally; it is commanded by Tabor, on which there was always a fortress. Third, the val ley southward behind Jenin, the pas sage towards that series of meadows which lead up from Esdraelon into the heart,of Samaria—the Atmboseis of the Hill-country. Fourth, Megiddo, guard ing the natural approach of Philistines, Egyptians, and other enemies from the south. Fifth, Jezreel, guarding that of Arabs, Midiauites, Syrians of Damascus, and other enemies from the east- We owe mncli to Dr. George Adam Smith for the realistio maimer in which he mnkes the events ocurriug on this plain pass before us iu review iu his epoch- making work on "the Historical Geo graphy of the Holy Land,” to which we refer the interested reader for the minutiae, since time and space forbid us here touching its great battles. Suffice it to say with this scholar: • What a Plain it is! Upon which not I only the greatest empires, races, and j faiths, east and west, have contended : with each other, but each lias come to judgment—on which from the first,with all its splendour of human battle, men ; have felt that there was fighting from heaven, the stars in their courses were fighting—on which panic has descended so mysteriously upon the best equipped and mosi successful armies, but the humble have been exalted to victory in the hour of their weakness—on which false faiths, equally with false defend ers of the true faith, have been exposed and scattered—on which since the time of Saul wilfuluess and superstition, though aided by every human excellence, have come to nought, and since Josiah's time the purest piety has not atoned for rash and mistaken zeal. The Crusaders rejieat the splendid folly of the kings of I Israel: aud, alike under the old and the j new covenant, a degenerate church suf fers hore her judgment at the hands of the infidel. ‘They go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of the great Day of God Almighty • * and He gathered them together unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue Har Ma- geddou.' ” It was over this cultivated plain that the watchman ou the tower of Jezreel saw the wild ana furious driving of Jeha, the son of Nimshl. Directly south of Shunem aud across the Vale of Jez reel we travel until we climb the ridge aud come to the rock well near Zer 'ain, the site of ancient Jezreel, upon quite a high place, aud the identity of the two has uever been doubted. In the centre of the present large aud miserable mud- hut village is a modern watch-tower, whioh probably stands on the very site of tiie aucieut watch-tower iu Jezreel in | 3 Kgs. 2:17, from which one can see far | down the valley to Beisan (Bethshan). ! See 1 Sam. 31:8-13. Here we had our noon-hour luncheon spread out on blaukets on the grass by our camp-at- teudaats. Hot up there iu the sun? you ask. Well, I should say so. Yet hardly had lunoh ended bofore some of us were off under the lead of our dragoman Shukrey Hishmeh down the mountain side to the plain as far as the foot of the western side of Mount Gilboa to 'Ain Jalud, ideutifled almost beyoud perad- venture as the Well of Harod, or Gid eon’s Fouutaiu—bursting ‘‘some 16 feet broad and two feet deep from the very teet of Gilboa, and mainly out of it, but also fed by the other two springs, flows ] a stream considerable enough to work | six or seven mills. Tiie deep bed aud i sott banks of this stream constitute a formidable ditch in front of the position on Gilboa, and render it possible for the defenders of the latter to hold the spring at their feet iu face of nil enemy on the plain; aud the spring is indispensable to them, for neither to the left, right, nor rear is there any other living water. Thus the conditions of the narrative in i Judges vii arc all present. ” Under the! screen of overhanging rocks huddled up j together in tho water were a lot of cat- ! tie. Animals no less than human be ings suffer from the heat in this land and take to shelter whenever possible at midday. As we climbed back np to Jezreel, we heard a distant and prolonged whistle out ou the plain, aud lo! a modern lo comotive was flying along a railway traok, would you believe it? Yes, tho growth erf Westernism is hero, this is an evidence of it. Just as we reached tiie summit again, we hearda moaning kind of sound, and saw not far off from whore we lunched a newly made grave sur rounded by ten women, some with ba bies iu arms, others still in aii outer cir cle, all sitting witli legs crossed iu Turkish style, and children standing in numbers all about lhem. These people mourn their dead for 8 days, and if a sheikli for thirty days. The dead one here was a husband, and the widow led iu the lamentation, and I assure you it was genuine sorrow, tears being accom panied by a rocking back and forth of the body, a waving of the hands to and fro as if to keep off evil spirits, and the oliaut in Arabic: "Why have yci gone away so soon from us?” ‘Why have you gone away so far from us?” “You were so kind to us!” Over and over again they wout thus with their strange dirge. Some of our party in their eagerness to see all came too close to the circle, aud were stonod for their onri- osity. It doesn’t pay to be over-ourious abroad any more than at home. Oh that these and their dead one had known the Saviour who came te bring life aud immortality to light in the gospel! Tiie most pitiful sorrow is that without the hope of the gospel. Away behind us lies Little Hermou, so-called probably because on a small scule its outline resembles that of great Herman. We press oil over the ridges of Gilboa and the plain southward to Jenin (Eli Ganiiim) which forms the lowest apex of the Esdraelon triangle and guards the hill-country' of Samaria. On the way the entrance to the Plain of Sharon is pointed our. To our right, midway of the distance from Jezreel to Jenin, stands the site of Ta’ aimak < Taanach). A Muhammadan farmer elad in white and ploughing an ass and an ox stopped his work, spread his outer garment on tiie ground and went through his pray ers atul genuflexions at his regular sea son as though no one saw but God. One of the party must needs take the man in tiie act of prayer with a camera. N. B. —God forbids animals no less than peo ple being unequally yoked together I ( P eV, . f ^ " :10: cf ’ 3 ° or - 6:14 >: an d we I should respect a man’s worship of God ! even though his way be not ours or the I true way. Our camp is in sight. It is in a lonely spot just outside the town of No One But Yourself if You Don't Get Well When SicK. All we can do Is give advice. Of course that’s easy. But our advice Is really worth a little) more to you than most people’s, for we offer to give you the first bottle of ouf. medicine free; If It fails to help you. Wo could not afford to do this unless our medicine was good. Such an offer, on the wrong kind of medicine, would put a merchant prince in the poor house. Dr. Miles’ Nervine, however, as years of experience have proved, la a medi cine that cures the sick. Those whom it cannot benefit—less than one in ten thousand—we prefer to refund their money. All we ask of you Is to try Dr. Miles* Restorative Nervine for your complaint. If you suffer from sleeplessness, nervous exhaustion, diztlness, headache, mus- oular twltchlngs, melancholy, loss of memory, weak stomach, poor blood, bilious troubles, epilepsy, St. Vitus* Dance, etc., wo will guarantee to benefit you or refund your money. You are the doctor. “My son Bert, when In hts 17th year, became subject to attacks of epilepsy, so serious that we were compelled to take him out of school. After several physicians had failed to relieve him, wo gave Dr. Miles' Nervine a trial. Ten months treatment with Nervine and Liver Pills restored our boy to perfect health."—MR. JOHN S. WILSON, Deputy Co. Clerk, Dallas Co.. Mo. Write us and we will mall * AVXiJu y 0U a Free Trial Package of Dr. Miles’ Anti-Pain Pills, the New, Scientific Remedy for Pain. Also Symp tom Blank for our Specialist to diagnose your case anil toll you what is wrong and how to right It. Absolutely Free. Address: DR. MILKS MEDICAL CO., LABORATORIES, ELKHART, IND. The succcessful man goes about his business with the same energy that a terrier displays when you yell “rats!’’ in its ear. Colds It should be borne in mind that every cold weakens tiie lungs, low ers the vitality ami prepares the system for the more serious dis eases, among which nre the two greatest destroyers of human life, pneumonia and consumption. Chamberlain’s Cough Remedy has won its great popularity by its prompt cures of this most common ailment. It aids expectoration, re lieves the lungs and opens the secretions, effecting a speedy and permanent cure. It counteracts any tendehey toward pneumonia. Price 25c, Large Size 50c. If you want an interesting farm paper, try The American Farmer, a monthly farm journal cost'ng 50$ per year. A year’s subscrip tion to this journal is given free with a year’s subscription to the News. Both papers for $1.00. tf Jenin. [To be continued. The best way to have a time is to do good. SEXTON, the Plumber, does expert sanitary plumb ing and repair work; furnish es estimates on steam and hot water heating; supplies hydraulic rams, pumps, ra diators, ranges, boilers, valves and all kinds of wat- er fixtures. Work always guaranteed to be satisfactory and prices fixed as reasonable as first (f! class work can be done. Shop on Depot Street, £ next door to Dr. Jones’ g Building. W. L. SEXTON, Newnan, Ga. good The bird on the hat sings songs to spring,