Chapter 17 - Lake Phiala-Castle of Banias
Chapter 17 - Lake Phiala-Castle of Banias
Kamûa Hermel,-a Syrian monument|Oak or terebinth?|
Road to Lake Phiala.|Oak forests.|
Lake Phiala-now Burket Ram.|Castle of Banias-perhaps Baal-Hermon|
Sacred groves-High places-Inhabited trees.|Scorpions.|
March 4th.
vNorthern Boundary of Land of Israel
ACCORDING to your location of the "entrance into Hamath" in our conversation of last night, I suppose you make the northern end of the Buk'ah * the limit of Israel's inheritance in that direction?
[*El Buk'ah, or Bukáa, is the modern name of the celebrated valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon-the Cœle-Syria of ancient history.-ED.]
I do not mean to be led into a discussion of this vexed question, as difficult to settle as any other boundary-line which has perplexed the politicians of Europe and America; but when I have stood at the Kamûa Hermel, and looked out northward and eastward over the vast expanded plain of Hamath, I have felt assured that I stood near that celebrated "entrance;" and a careful study of all the passages in the Bible which deal with this question has confirmed the impression made by the eye and the scene.
What is this Kamûa, which you have mentioned more than once?
vKamûa-A Syrian Monument
It is the most singular monument now standing in this part of Syria, and was probably erected by some of the Seleucidæ, kings of Antioch; but this is not certain. It seems to represent hunting scenes, and some of them were sufficiently fond of the chase to lead them to seek immortality in connection with its trophies. What else it was intended to commemorate cannot now be ascertained, for the tablets of inscription, if ever there were any, are gone. The south-west corner has fallen down, showing the fact that the entire structure is built solid throughout. It is nearly thirty feet square, and about sixty-five high, the latter fifteen of which is a regular pyramid; the remaining fifty feet is divided into two stories, with a pedestal of three feet and a half. There are square pilasters at the corners of the lower story, and additional ones in the center of the upper story. Upon a broad belt of well-smoothed stones, near the top of the first story, are the animals and hunting implements, drawn at about full size. The execution, though graphic and bold, looks toward the burlesque.
From its elevated position, I saw this curious monument, when coming from Aleppo in 1846, for a day and a half before I got to it, and wondered all the while what it could be, as no traveler had visited it or the region about it. Since then it has become a favorite detour from the regular route to the cedars from Baalbek, and I would advise all who can to make it, not merely to see the Kamûa, but also the sources of the Orontes at Lebweh, 'Ain, and Mugharet er Rahib, near Hermel. The ride to the cedars from this fountain, up Wady el Farr, is one of the most romantic in Syria or anywhere else. But it is high time we were in the saddle, for we have a smart ride, and plenty to see before us to occupy one day.
You had a long ramble this morning, or at least you forsook the pillow and the tent at a very early hour.
vRambles Through Banias
I am too deeply interested in these scenes to waste the morning hours in sleep. My first visit was to the fountain, to bathe and drink. I shall not lose the memory of that hour, should I live a thousand years. Then I followed the brook, crossed over to the western side, and strolled away, I know not how far, among those venerable oaks. Returning, I climbed to the top of the castle on the north-west corner of the city, and looked into the wilderness of bushes and briers that hides the brawling river at its base. Descending to some mills I forced my way through sharp thorns to the south-west corner, and then followed up the wall to the gate and bridge over the ravine called Wiry, which, I suppose, formed the southern fosse of the city. From the south-eastern corner I followed the ditch, which brought me back here to the tent.
You have made the entire circuit of the city, which, indeed, is not great; but as it was entirely surrounded by deep ravines, or by a ditch which could be filled with water from the great fountain, it must have been a very strong place. This, however, was merely the citadel: the city spread out on all sides far beyond these narrow limits. The traces of this extension are found not only among the oak groves on the north and west, but also south of the brook es Sāāry, and on the plain to the east, as we shall see along our road to the Phiala.*
[*Lake Phiala, so called by Josephus from its resemblance to a cup, is now called Burket Ram. "It lies," says Dr. Robinson, 'at the bottom of a deep bowl, apparently an ancient crater, not less than from 150 to 200 feet below the level of the surrounding tract. The form is an irregular circle, the diameter of the water being a mile and perhaps more. This lake is not mentioned in Scripture.―ED.]
This is the extent of our excursion for to-day.
vRoad to Lake Phiala
This lake, now called Burket Ram, is two hours nearly due east, and for the first hour, to 'Ain Kŭnyeh steep, and over vast formations of trap rock, and this whole region is of the same volcanic character down to the River Jermuk, south-east of the Lake of Tiberias. This brook, es Sāāry, has cut a deep channel in the trap rock, verifying the proverb of Job that the waters wear the stones,* even the hardest of them. The country hereabouts is very fertile, and, at the proper season, clothed with luxuriant harvests. Those olive-trees which climb the steep declivities on our left, quite up to the castle, I have seen bowing to the earth under a heavy load of oily berries, and every one is delighted with the variety and beauty of the wild flowers which in spring adorn these ravines; even now they begin to appear in profusion.
(*Job 14:19)
This 'Ain Kŭnyeh shows evident traces of antiquity. Is anything known in regard to its past history?
Not that I am aware of. It was probably the country residence and health-retreat for the citizens of Caesarea, and is, in fact, still celebrated for its good climate. There is yet another hour to the Phiala, and our path lies along the mountain side, above this noisy Sāāry. This oak wood on our right extends far south, and is a favorite resort for the flocks of those Arabs which occupy the western borders of the Jaulân.
vWild and Lawless Region
It is not particularly safe to explore this neighborhood, but I hear of no special danger at present; and the number of people from the lower villages who are out on the border of the forest burning and carrying coal, is a pretty certain indication that we can go to the lake without interruption. It is a wild and lawless region, however, and I never stay at Phiala longer than is necessary for my purpose. We must here cross the Sāāry at this mazar, called Mesâdy. The brook comes down from the southern extremity of Jebel es Sheikh, and across that plain of Yafûry on our left; so named from a saint, whose white-domed mazar is seen on the edge of it, about a mile north of Phiala. And here is the lake itself, round like a bowl, motionless as a molten mirror, but alive with frogs, ducks, and hawks. We must guide our horses carefully along the rim of this strange volcanic basin to some slope sufficiently gradual to allow us to descend to the water.
There is an air of mysterious solitude and desolation quite oppressive about this mountain lake.
Shall we ride round it?
As you please.
How great is the circumference?
That we shall know better after we get back. I have never made the circuit and am not quite sure we shall find a practicable track all the way.
vFrogs and Leeches
Large parts of its surface are covered with a sort of sea-weed, and upon it and all round the margin,
“These loud-piping frogs make the marshes to ring.
It seems to be the very metropolis of frogdom.
Yes, and upon this grass feed countless millions of leeches. The Phiala, in fact, has long furnished the chief supply of that insatiable mother, whose two daughters ever cry, Give, give! Solomon says so.*
(*Proverbs 30:15)
vHawks
What are those large hawks after? They swoop down like a bolt from the clouds, just graze the surface, and rebound, as it were, again to the sky.
Don't you see how the frogs hush their clamor and dive under when this their great enemy makes a descent in their vicinity? My muleteer shot one of them on a former visit, which fell into the lake near the shore, and he attempted to wade in for it, but got entangled in this interminable grass, and we were glad to get him back in safety. Without a boat it is impossible to explore the lake to any considerable distance from the shore.
vSingularity of the Lake
Do you believe that this water covers the bottom of an extinct crater?
It resembles one in all respects, and is like nothing else that I know of. This Phiala has neither inlet nor outlet; that is, no stream runs into it, and none leaves it. There must be large fountains, however, beneath the surface, for the evaporation in this hot climate is very rapid, and yet the lake is equally full at all times, or so nearly so as to sanction the native accounts to that effect.
What think you of the opinion of Josephus, that this is the more distant source of the fountain at Banias?
And that Philip proved the fact by casting chaff into the Phiala, which came out at Banias? I don't believe it, and I wish it were the only absurd thing to be found in his history. He thinks it worthwhile to mention a tradition that the fountain of Capernaum (probably that of Tabigah) comes from the Nile, because it produces fish similar to the coracinus of the lake near Alexandria. The Moslems about Tire will assure you that Ras el'Ain comes from the same river, and there are many other such stories equally absurd. In regard to this Phiala, it is impossible, from the geological construction of this region, that its waters could flow down to Banias. Then, also, this water is dark-colored and insipid, and abounds in leeches, while the Banias has none of them-is bright as sunlight, and deliciously cool and sweet. And still more to the point is the fact, that the river which gushes out at Banias would exhaust this lake in forty-eight hours. And now we have made the circuit in fifty-five minutes; the lake is, therefore, full three miles in circumference. I had judged it to be at least that, merely from appearance. Our next point is the castle of Banias, and the path leads over the mountain to the north-west. This large village on our right is Mejdel es Shems, inhabitated by Druses, a fierce, warlike race, sufficiently numerous to keep the Bedawîn Arabs at a respectful distance. We may stop in safety under these splendid oaks to rest and lunch.
vOak Grove
This is certainly the finest grove of the kind I have seen. A solemn stillness reigns within it; and what a soft, religious light struggles down through the thick branches!
vSacred Groves and High Places
It is not unlikely that this was one of those "high places" of idolatry which were always accompanied with groves.
It is still sacred. The mazar is in honor of one Othman el Hazûry, or Othman of Hazor, and some indistinct traces of a village between this and the castle still bear that ancient name. But this could not have been the capital of Jabin, as some have supposed. That city was given to Naphtali, and must have been situated somewhere in Upper Galilee. But your remark about the religious shade of this grove reminds me of a certain kind of superstition, as prevalent now in these parts as idolatry was in the days when those temples we spoke of yesterday were thronged with deluded worshippers. Ezekiel says, "Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when their slain shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savor to all their idols."* Not only did the heathen delight to build temples and rear altars in the tops of the mountains, as these ruins testify, but they worshipped their idols under every green tree, and especially under thick oaks. They do so still, in a modified form.
(*Ezekiel 6:13)
vInhabited Trees
These oaks under which we now sit are believed to be inhabited by Jan and other spirits. Almost every village in these wadies and on these mountains has one or more of such thick oaks, which are sacred, from the same superstition. Many of them are believed to be meskûn (inhabited) by certain spirits called Benat Yacobe―Daughters of Jacob―a very strange and obscure notion.
vRag Peace Offerings
The common people are afraid of these inhabited trees, and when they pass them hang on the branches a rag torn from their clothes, as an acknowledgment of their presence, and a sort of peace-offering to avert their anger. I have seen scores of such thick oaks all over the country, but could never obtain an intelligible explanation of the notions or traditions upon which this widespread custom is based. It has rather seemed to me to be an indistinct relic of ancient idolatry, which the stringent laws of Mohammed banished in form, but could not entirely eradicate from the minds of the multitude. Indeed, the Moslems are as stupidly given to this superstition as any other class of the community. Connected with this notion, no doubt, is the custom of burying their holy men and so-called prophets under these trees and erecting mazars to them there. All non-Christian sects believe that the spirits of these saints love to return to this world, and especially to visit the place of their tombs. Nor can we restrict our remark to the heathen. It is difficult to distinguish between this and the belief or feeling which lies at the bottom of all saint-worship.
vAllusion in Isaiah
Isaiah speaks of a time when the people shall be ashamed of the oaks which they have desired.* May that day speedily dawn. It implies the spread of light and knowledge. No sooner is a man's mind even partially enlightened by the entrance of that word that giveth light,** than he becomes heartily ashamed of these oaks, and of his former fear and reverence for the beings supposed to inhabit them. I have witnessed some ludicrous displays of daring enacted about these old trees by Protestant Arabs just emancipated from this degrading superstition; and I can point you to many respectable people who have been all their lives long, and are still, held in bondage through fear of these imaginary spirits.
Scarcely any tree figures more largely in Biblical narrative and poetry than the oak, but I observe that certain modern critics contend that it is, after all, not the oak, but the terebinth.
(*Isaiah 1:19) (**Psalms 119:130)
vOak Versus Terebinth
The criticism is not quite so sweeping as that. It is merely attempted to prove, I believe, that the Hebrew word alah, which, in our version, is generally rendered oak, should be translated terebinth. Allon, they say, is the true name of the oak. It is not for us to settle such controversies, but I have not much confidence in the results. In fact, the Hebrew writers seem to use these names indiscriminately for the same tree, or for different varieties of it, and that was the oak.
vAbsalom's Oak
For example, the tree in which Absalom was caught by the hair was the alah, not the allon, and yet I am persuaded it was an oak. That battle-field was on the mountains east of the Jordan, always celebrated for great oaks―not for terebinths; and this is true to this day. Again: that "wood of Ephraim," in which the battle was fought, and which devoured more people than the sword,* is called yaar in Hebrew, waar in Arabic―evidently the same word; and it signifies a wild, rocky region, overgrown with trees―mostly oak, never the terebinth. There is no such thing as a terebinth waar -no such thing in this country as a terebinth wood. And yet this alah which caught Absalom formed part of the wood of Ephraim. It was an oak, I firmly believe. There are thousands of such trees still in the same country, admirably suited to catch long-haired rebels, but no terebinths. Indeed, this latter tree does not meet the requirements of this catastrophe at all. I see it asserted by the advocates of this translation that the oak is not a common nor a very striking tree in this country, implying that the terebinth is. A greater mistake could scarcely he made. As to strength, it is simply ridiculous to compare the terebinth with the oak; and the same in regard to size. The terebinth under which our tent is pitched down at Banias is the largest I have seen, and yet there are many oaks to which it is but as an infant. Still more surprising are the statements about the extent of oak forests in this land. Why, there are more mighty oaks here in this immediate vicinity than there are terebinths in all Syria and Palestine together. I have traveled from end to end of these countries, and across them in all directions, and speak with absolute certainty.
(*2 Samuel 18:6-8)
vGreat Extent of Oak Forest
Besides the vast groves around us, at the north of Tabor, and in Lebanon and Hermon, in Gilead and Bashan, think of the great forests, extending thirty miles at least, along the hills west of Nazareth, over Carmel, and down south beyond Caesarea Palestina. To maintain, therefore, that the oak is not a striking or abundant tree in Palestine, is a piece of critical hardihood tough as the tree itself. And, finally, the terebinth is deciduous, and therefore not a favorite shade-tree. It is very rarely planted in the courts of houses, or over tombs, or in the places of resort in villages. It is the beautiful evergreen oak that you find there. Beyond a doubt, the idolatrous groves so often mentioned in Hebrew history were of oak. The straggling, naked terebinth is never selected for such purposes. It sheds down no soft twilight, suggests no religious thought, awakens no superstitious fears. It takes the dense, solemn, mysterious oak to do this. I confess that I never come within such a grove even as this without being conscious of a certain indescribable spell, a sort of silly timidity, tending strongly to religious reverence. With the ignorant this might easily be deepened into downright idolatry.
vAbraham's Oak at Hebron
I do not believe that Abraham's celebrated tree at Hebron was a terebinth, as many now affirm without qualification. It is now a very venerable oak, and I saw no terebinth in the neighborhood. That there are mistakes in our translation in regard to the trees, as well as other things, I would not deny; but until we have more light on this particular matter, and more decisive, let us continue to read out bravely the good old word oak, and never fear the smile of overwise critics.
vApproach to Castle of Banias
And now we must leave this fine grove for the Castle of Banias.* Prepare for one of the roughest scrambles you have yet encountered in the East, and look well to your clothes, or they will be left streaming on the sharp thorn-bushes through which we must force our way. And now, as we ascend Castle Hill, hold a steady rein, or you will meet with something far worse than thorns.
This is, indeed, a fearful ascent, and of itself enough to confound any assailing party, without the aid of walls and bulwarks.
[The Castle of Benito, more properly the castle of Subeîbeh, is about an hour's ride from the town, at an elevation above it of at least 1000 feet. It resembles the Castle of Esh-Shukîf, which may indeed be seen from it. (See p. 222). Though the extreme antiquity of the castle has not been doubted, It becomes famous in history only in the time of the Crusaders. It was finally abandoned in the seventeenth century.―ED]
Those who built the castle did not think so. But all danger is past, and our path lies along this south wall to that curious and well-defended entrance.
Is it probable, or even possible, that the Crusaders erected this prodigious fortification?
vIts Antiquity
I think not. Dr. Robinson, with whom I once visited it, decided, without hesitation, that it was ancient. These deep grooves in the posts of this gateway show that the door did not open and shut, but was drawn up by machinery. To such an apparatus David, perhaps, alludes in the 24th Psalm:
vLifting up Gates
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in."** You will find no other good specimen of this kind of gateway in all Syria, and it is therefore the more worthy of special notice. It is also a tacit witness to the antiquity of these works.
(**Psalms 24:7)
vThe Castle
Is not the entire castle too fresh, and in too high a state of preservation to accord with a very remote antiquity.
That is owing to the quality of the stone, which is very compact, and hard as adamant; it rings, when struck, like metal. Even those that have been thrown down in confusion for many centuries are as perfect as the day when they were cut from the mountains: they will last to the end of the world. But let us tie up our horses, for it will take hours to explore the place to your satisfaction. The site is admirably adapted for a castle. The ridge is high, sharp, and isolated, and at least seven hundred feet long from east to west. The two ends are much broader than the middle, and the whole summit is included within the walls. The east end is far the highest, and the fortifications there are exceedingly strong, commanding most effectually the steep declivity up which the road was cut. On the south and west the mountain sinks down steeply for a thousand feet to the plain of Banias, and on the north yawns the frightful gorge of Khushaib. It is thus unapproachable by an assailing force on all sides, and, until the invention of cannon, it could have been taken only by treachery or starvation. Nor would it have been easy to starve the place into surrender, if properly victualed. There is space sufficient for a strong garrison, and they might even raise vegetables for their table, as the shepherds grow fine crops of tobacco at present; and, though there is no fountain, these immense cisterns would afford an abundant supply of good water. The native tradition is, that the dark stairway here at the west end, down which we groped our way into the vaults beneath, was a subterranean, or, rather, submontane path to the great fountain of Banias, by which the garrison could obtain both water and provisions; but as that is two miles distant, and a thousand feet below, the thing is scarcely credible. A respectable man of Hasbeiya, however, assured me that he once descended it a long distance, to where it was blocked up by the falling in of the roof. By my aneroid, the top of this castle is 2300 feet above the Mediterranean, being nearly the same elevation as that of Shukîf.
Is there no history of this remarkable place?
vFamous in Time of Crusaders
None that reaches much further back than the time of the Crusaders. Under the name Subeîbeh it figures largely in the wars between the Saracens of Damascus and the Templars of Jerusalem; and these long Arabic inscriptions speak of repairing and rebuilding by Melek et Dither and others, some six or seven centuries ago; they, however, were not the original architects of this great fortress. As it commands the pass from the Hûleh and the plains of the Jordan over Hermon to Damascus and the east, it must always have been a place of great importance. I have long suspected that this is the site of Baal-Hermon mentioned in Judges 3:3, and 1 Chronicles 5:23.
vPerhaps Baal-Hermon
From these notices it appears that Baal-Hermon was at the south end of the general mountain of Hermon; and there is no other point in this whole region so important or so conspicuous as this.
vNoble View
It is not possible, however, to identify some of these ancient sites with certainty, and this is one of the most doubtful. By leading our horses down the terraces through this olive grove, we shall shorten our distance to the town more than half. What a noble view over plain, and marsh, and lake, and mountain! and how sweetly reposes the village of Banias in this verdant and sheltered nook of Hermon! Its fifty tottering huts, however, form a wretched representative of ancient grandeur, and the place is now very unhealthy, especially in autumn.
vScorpions
During the hot months the people erect booths on their roofs, elevated on poles, to escape from scorpions, of which there are countless numbers among the ruins. I have had them tumble down upon me while sitting under the terebinth-tree near our tent; and I never pitch there in summer without carefully turning up every stone in search of those dangerous reptiles.
I should like to see one of these stinging scourges. They are not a little celebrated in the Bible. An insolent allusion to them cost Rehoboam the loss of ten tribes. They magnified the horrors of that "great and terrible wilderness," and are standing types of the wicked, "whose torment is as the torment of a scorpion when he striketh a man." *
Return here three months hence, and your wish can easily be gratified. You may chance to get even more than you seek for.
(* Revelation 9:5)
vScripture Allusions
Is there any resemblance between a scorpion and an egg, to suggest the antithesis in our Lord's question, "If he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?" **
There is no imaginable likeness between an egg and the ordinary black scorpion of this country, neither in color nor size, nor, when the tail is extended, in shape. But old writers speak of a white scorpion, and such a one, with the tail folded up, as in specimens of fossil trilobites, would not look unlike.a small egg. Perhaps the contrast, however, refers only to the different properties of the egg and the scorpion, which is sufficiently emphatic.
Our Lord says, "Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions," etc.*** Is this ever done now'?
(**Luke 11:12) (***Luke 10:14)
vCatching Scorpions
I have seen little boys draw out scorpions from their holes by thrusting in small sticks with wax on the end, into which their claws fasten. They then catch them in their fingers, and stick them on to a rod of bird-lime or common wax, until they cover the rod with them; nor do they seem to be afraid, but rub their hands up and down this string of scorpions without hesitation. We also hear of fanatics who actually crush them in their mouths and pretend to eat them. But it is to be remembered that the scorpion's sting is in its tail, with which it strikes its victim (as is correctly implied in the quotation from the Revelation), and that it cannot strike sideways. If, then, it be properly held between the fingers, or so stuck into the bird-lime as not to admit its longitudinal stroke, there is no danger; and, moreover, the boys may have something on their hands or in the wax which "charms" or stupifies it.
vHabits of Scorpions
The pain from its stroke is very intense, but never fatal in Syria. Those on the northern coast of Africa are said to be larger, and the poison so virulent as frequently to cause death. At any rate, it is a hateful creature, crabbed and malicious in the extreme. I have tried the experiment of surrounding one with a ring of fire; and, when it despaired of escape, it repeatedly struck its own head fiercely, and soon died, either from the poison, its satanic rage, or from the heat, I could not be certain which, perhaps from all combined. For a minute description of this reptile you must apply to books of natural history, and to drawings of them, which can easily be procured.
We shall sleep all the more safely because, from hibernating instincts, they are now buried deeply beneath the rubbish of old Banias.