gage, and two attendants (Mukârîn, muleteers) on foot, who had charge of the animals.1

Friday, May 4th. We intended to have set off this morning with the rising sun; but the arrangements for a large party delayed us; so that it was seven o'clock before all was ready. Then occurred various other delays; some of the party went out at St. Stephen's gate, and others by that of Damascus; and it was not until 7 o'clock that we mustered at the N. E. corner of the city-wall and took our departure. The road descends obliquely into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and then crosses the ridge extending between the Mount of Olives and Scopus, at a point just at the left of the northern summit of the former. We reached the top of the ridge in twenty-five minutes. This point, and more especially the adjacent summit, presents, I think, the finest view of Jerusalem anywhere to be found. The city is seen diagonally; and the view thus includes the Great Mosk and the deep valley, which are not seen so well from the Damascus road; while, at the same time, the domes and minarets are here exhibited to the eye with far better effect than from the other summit of Olivet. The Dead Sea was also visible, and the little village el-'İsâwîyeh in a valley below us about a quarter of an hour distant, bearing N. 70° E. Far in the North was the high village er-Râm, the ancient Ramah, on the East of the Nâbulus road. Before us was a wide prospect of broken hills and vallies, extending to the plain of the Jordan.

Our course thus far had been N. 25° E. The way now became more winding, but in the general direction N. E. We lost sight of Jerusalem, and descend

1) The Mukâry is indiscriminately the owner or provider and

driver of camels, horses, asses, mules, etc.

ing rather steeply came in twenty minutes to the bottom of Wady es-Suleim, here running E. by S. to join Wady Sidr further down, and afterwards the Farah. In the same direction we were told of the ruins of a convent, called Deir es-Sidd. We thus left el-'İsâwîyeh on the right behind a ridge; and crossing the valley obliquely, ascended another ridge skirting it on the North; beyond which runs also a deep parallel valley, called Wady es-Selâm. We kept along upon this ridge, which becomes gradually wider; and at 8 o'clock reached 'Anâta, situated on the same broad ridge at the distance of one hour and a quarter from Jerusalem. There can be no question that this is the ancient Anathoth, the birth-place of the prophet Jeremiah; which Josephus describes as twenty stadia distant from Jerusalem, and which Eusebius and Jerome also place in the tribe of Benjamin about three miles from the same city towards the North.' Ecclesiastical tradition, as is well known, has selected for Anathoth another site, at the village of Kuryet el'Enab on the road to Ramleh, a distance of three hours from Jerusalem.2

'Anâta seems to have been once a walled town and a place of strength; but I do not find it directly mentioned by any writer since the days of Jerome.3 Portions of the wall remain, built of large hewn stones, and apparently ancient; as are also the foundations of some of the houses. One of our party found the fragments of a column or two among the ruins.

1) Jer. i. 1, et Hieron. Comm. in loc. "qui habitabant contra septentrionalem Jerusalem in tertio miliaro et viculo Anathoth." Onomast. art. Anathoth. Joseph. Ant. X. 7. 3. See the other authorities collected by Reland, Palaest. p. 561.

2) Adrichomius, p. 14. Cotovicus, p. 146. Quaresmius II. p. 15.

3) Brocardus indeed mentions Anathoth, but places it close by Ramah of Benjamin; c. VII. p. 179. He had probably heard of the name 'Anâta, without knowing its exact position. Breydenbach copies Brocardus. In like manner Nau has merely the passing remark, that Anathoth lies a league east of Jerusalem; Voyage, p. 49.

The houses are few, and the people seemed poor and miserable, amounting only to a few scores. The village lies where the broad ridge slopes off gradually towards the S. E. On this side are tilled fields; and we had passed several others on our way. The grain was still standing; the time of harvest not having yet come. Fig-trees and olive-trees are also scattered around. From the vicinity of 'Anâta a favourite species of building-stone is carried to Jerusalem; and we met several troops of donkies loaded in this manner with the materials of future dwellings; a hewn stone being slung upon each side of the poor animal. Larger stones are transported on camels.

From this point there is an extensive view over the whole eastern slope of the mountainous tract of Benjamin; including also the valley of the Jordan and the northern part of the Dead Sea. The region before us was that alluded to by the prophet Isaiah, near the end of the tenth chapter, where the approach of Sennecharib towards Jerusalem is described; and from the spot where we now stood, several of the places there mentioned were visible. Thus er-Râm (Ramah) bore N. N. W. on its conical hill; and Jeba' (Gibeah) was before us, bearing N. 10° E. The nearest village was Hizmeh N. 20° E., and far in the distance we could distinguish Taiyibeh lying N. N. E. N. on a lofty hill, which was to be the limit of our excursion.

The whole tract over which we were now about to pass, is made up of a succession of deep rugged vallies running towards the East; with broad ridges of uneven table-land between, often broken and sometimes rising into high points. These terminate towards the East in high cliffs overhanging the plain of the Jordan. I have already remarked, that the great northern road from Jerusalem to Nâbulus passes along

the water-shed of the mountainous country; where the heads of the vallies running off in opposite directions often interlap. Our present road lay at some distance further East; so that the vallies, where we crossed them, had now become very deep. The sides of these Wadys indeed are here so steep and high, that in descending into them, we were usually obliged to dismount from our horses. The whole district is a mass of limestone rock; which everywhere juts out above the surface, and imparts to the whole land an aspect of sterility and barrenness. Yet wherever soil is found among the rocks, it is strong and fertile; fields of grain are seen occasionally; and fig-trees and olivetrees are planted everywhere among the hills. Lower down the slope, towards the Jordan valley, all is a frightful desert.

With some difficulty we obtained a guide at 'Anâta to conduct us to Taiyibeh. Our object in this was not so much to learn the way; for that was tolerably plain; but rather to have a person always at hand, of whom we could inquire respecting the various villages and features of the country as they came into view. We continued this practice during our future journies, so far as possible; and found it generally necessary to obtain a new guide at the end of every few miles; inasmuch as the peasants, though well acquainted with the immediate neighbourhood 'of their own villages, seldom know much of the country at a distance from their homes.

Our route now led us to Hizmeh. Leaving 'Anâta at 9h 10', we descended very steeply in ten minutes to the bottom of Wady es-Selâm, which, with the Suleim, runs into Wady el-Farah further down. Crossing a low ridge and a small shallow Wady, we ascended again more gradually, and came at 9h 50' to Hizmeh,

1) See above, Vol. I. p. 380.

situated on the top of the next high ridge, with a deep valley on the North. Its position is similar to that of 'Anâta; though the ridge is not so high. The village is about as large as 'Anâta, and was now deserted; the inhabitants having about two months before all fled across the Jordan to escape the conscription, leaving their fields of wheat and their olive and fig-trees with none to attend them. The houses are solidly built of stone; but we saw here no appearance of antiquity; nor do I know of any ancient name to which the form Hizmeh corresponds.

Here, as on all the high points we crossed, there was a wide view over the whole slope quite to the Jordan and its valley, including the Dead Sea and the eastern mountains. We could trace the course of the Jordan by the green trees along its banks. The transparency of the atmosphere rendered distant objects very distinct; so that the plain of the Jordan seemed not more than two hours distant, though its real distance was not less than four or five hours. In that direction we could see Wady el-Fârah as it ran off towards the plain, bearing S. 85° E.1 From this point er-Râm bore N. 55° W.; and Jeba', the next village on our route, due North. A high conical hill near the Nâbulus road, called Tell el-Fûl, with a large heap of stones upon the top, was everywhere a sightly object, and bore from Hizmeh S. 70° W.

Leaving Hizmeh at 10 o'clock, it took us again ten minutes to descend into the deep valley on the North, which I suppose to be the Fârah. Here are enclosures of fig-trees; and on the projecting point of a low hill at the right of the road, are a few ancient walls, some

1) The name of this Wady might suggest a coincidence with the Parah of Benjamin; Josh. xviii. 23. But these names come from different roots; the Hebrew word

meaning 'a heifer,' while the Arabic signifies a mouse.' We could hear of no village called Fârah, as related by Buckingham. Travels, 4to. p. 312.