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The great object before us to-day, was to search for the long lost site of the ancient Eleutheropolis, an important episcopal city of the fourth and fifth centuries, assumed indeed by Eusebius and Jerome as the central point in southern Palestine, from which to fix the position of many other places. We had been making inquiries ever since we first reached Jerusalem, to ascertain whether any name or any ruins still existed in the same quarter, which might afford a clue for determining this ancient site. But no trace of any such name could be found; nor could we hear of any such ruins, excepting at a place called Beit Jibrîn. These the Arabs described in extravagant terms; and although we placed little reliance upon their accounts, yet we determined to visit the spot ourselves in the course of our journey. On arriving at Beit Nettîf, we were surprised and gratified to find ourselves surrounded by several places, whose distances from Eleutheropolis are specified by Eusebius and Jerome. Thus the distance both of Beth-shemesh and Zorah is given at ten Roman miles towards Nicopolis; that of Jarmuth (Jarmuch) also at ten miles towards Jerusalem, and that of Socoh (Shuweikeh) at nine miles towards the same city, probably on another road.1 The first three places all lay within a circle of an hour and a half West of North from Beit Nettîf; and these distances, we thought, might perhaps serve us in some measure as a clue, in our search after the site of Eleutheropolis itself.

We left Beit Nettîf at 7 o'clock, descending immediately southwesterly into Wady es-Sumt, in order to strike again the Askelon branch of the ancient road, which passes down this valley. The hill-side was covered with fine groves of olive-trees, some of them planted in rows like a regular orchard; which is not 1) Onomast. arts. Bethsamis, Saara, Jermus, Soccho.

usually the case. Twenty minutes brought us to the bottom; and we now followed down Wady es-Sumt on a course W. by N. This valley is formed by the junction of three Wadys at a point directly S. of Beit Nettif, viz. Wady el-Musurr coming from the East Northeast; Wady es-Sûr, a large valley from the South; and a smaller one from the N. N. E. just under Beit Nettîf. The bottom is a fine fertile plain with moderate hills on each side. It was now covered with fields of grain, except towards the western part; where are a good many of the trees here called Sumt, from which the valley takes its name.'

We crossed the water-bed of the valley, now dry, and soon came upon the ancient road, which had followed down Wady el-Musŭrr. The other or Gaza branch goes off more to the left, and crosses Wady esSûr near an immense Butm-tree about twenty minutes south of the junction of the vallies. On our left, in a gap of the southern hill, we now had the ruins of Shuweikeh, the Socoh of the plain of Judah, which is enumerated with Jarmuth, Adullam, and Azekah, and lay nine Roman miles from Eleutheropolis towards Jerusalem.2 It was therefore not far from Jarmuth; as it now also lies not far distant from Yarmûk, about half an hour.

Another mention of Socoh enables us to determine

1) The form Sumt seems to be merely a corrupt pronunciation of the word Sunt, the proper Arabic and Egyptian name for the tree whose fruit is called Karadh. This is the Mimosa Nilotica of Forskål, Flora Aegypt. Arab. p. LXXVII; and the Acacia vera s. Arabica of later botanists, Sprengel Hist. Rei Herbar. I. pp. 269, 270. The Arabic name Sunt is variously written by the Arabs themselves. It is a thorny tree resembling the Tulh or Seyâl, with which it has some

times been confounded.-This Arabic name affords an apt etymology for the Heb., i.q., the Shittim-wood of the Bible (Ex. xxv. 5, 10, 13, etc.) which was probably the same tree; see Celsius Hierobot. I. p. 498, seq. Gesen. Lex. Heb. art. . Rosenmüller Bibl. Alterthumsk. IV. i. p. 277. These writers however confound the Acacia vera (Sunt) with the Acacia gummifera (Tülh).

2) Josh. xv. 35. See pp. 314, 318.

the ancient name of this fine valley; and fixes it as the scene of a memorable event in Scripture history, the combat of David and Goliath. We are told that the Philistines "were gathered together at Socoh which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Socoh and Azekah. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side; and there was a valley between them." The mention of Azekah shows that the Socoh meant, can only be this place; and the valley between the armies, the valley of Elah, in which the combat took place, could well be no other than the present Wady es-Sŭmt. It took its name Elah of old from the Terebinth (Butm), of which the largest specimen we saw in Palestine still stands in the vicinity; just as now it takes its name es-Sumt (Sunt) from the acacias which are scattered in it.2

We now pursued our way down the valley, rejoicing in having thus been able to discover and visit the spot, where the youthful warrior and poet, in firm reliance on the God of Israel, made his first glorious essay as the champion of his people. At 7 40′ we reached a well by the way-side, called Bîr Kŭlîdhia, about twenty-five or thirty feet deep, with several drinking troughs of wood. Fifteen minutes later, the ruins of Jennâbeh were upon the hill at our left. At 8 o'clock Wady es-Sumt turned to the right, nearly North, passing off between Tell Zakarîya on the left and the village of the same name on the right, perhaps

1) 1 Sam. xvii. 1-3.

2) Monastic tradition, as we have seen, assigns the name of Elah, or Turpentine (Terebinth) Valley, to the great Wady Beit

Hanîna; and points out the place of David's combat at a spot north of 'Ain Karim, not less than five or six hours distant from Socoh. See above, p. 145, Note 2.

half an hour distant; and then bending again more to the left, and running to the plain.' A road to Ramleh here left ours, passing down the valley.

We continued on the ancient road in a direct course, and ascended the ridge towards the West, reaching the top at 8 o'clock. Here a narrower valley lay before us, running off in the direction W. N. W. The numerous olive-groves in this valley and upon the hills around, gave the country almost a wooded 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.2

We descended into the narrow valley; and after fifteen minutes passed 'Ajjûr, a small village on the left. At 8 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 around 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."3

1) See on p. 327.

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

3) Deut. xi. 10. See more on this subject in Note II, at the end of Vol. I.

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 Jibrîn, 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.

After a stop of twenty minutes at the well, we now at 9h 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 from the Sheikh of Beit Nettîf, 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 9h 40', a few steps be

1) 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 an hour. See above,

p. 147. See also Note VII, end of
Vol. I.
xv. 41.

2) Josh. x. 10, 16, seq.
Onomast. art. Maceda.

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