ROUTE 29. TIBERIAS TO BANIAS DIRECT,

Tiberias to Mejdel, Magdala
Khan Minyeh, Capernaum
Khan Jubb Yûsef
Nahr Hendâj
‘Ain Mellâhah
Tell el-Kâdy, Dan
Bâniâs, CÆSAREA-PHILIPPI

This is a dreary uninteresting route, offering nothing, after we pass the shores of the lake, deserving of the notice either of the antiquarian or the lover of natural scenery. Its only attraction is that it is the shortest practicable way between the two points, Tiberias and Baniâs. Post haste, or some other haste, may therefore justify a man in taking it; but those who travel either for pleasure or profit should follow Rte. 30.

Still another track may be taken by the lovers of novelty, or by the geologist or naturalist who would wish to survey the banks of the “sacred river.” Go first to the débouchure of the Jordan, reversing the latter part of Rte. 28 (4 h.); then wind up the ravine along the stream to Jisr Benât Yakûb (3 h.) and the lake el-Hûleh (1 h.). There is a practicable road along the E. side of the lake and the marshy ground N. of it, which leads to Tell el-Kâdy, Dan, in about 6h. We might here fall in with the ruins of the old city of Seleucia, which Josephus tells us (B. J. iv. 1) was situated in Gaulanitis, on the Lake Samochonitis, a sheet of water 30 stadia in breadth by 60 in length.

On the direct road we first proceed along the shore to Mejdel and Khan Minyeh, Capernaum (see Rte. 28). We then ascend the long acclivity in the line of the old caravan road between the capital of Syria and Egypt. It is about as steep, and rugged, and difficult as the ground will admit of. The old engineers seem to have made it a point to select the roughest banks and the steepest gradients; if they ever attempted to level the surface all traces of their labours have long since disappeared. The whole acclivity is more or less thickly strewn with rounded stones of black basalt; and every here and there is a ridge or bank of rocks, by way of variety. The soil, however, is surpassingly rich, and the vegetation in early spring wonderful. Thistles that rival those of the plain of Gennesaret; grass that reaches to the horses’ bridles; and grain of proportionable luxuriance on the few patches cultivated. How desolate the country looks !—Not a village, nor a house, nor a sign of human habitation, is within the range of vision, save the few huts of Mejdel, and the crumbling towers of Tiberias; yet the eye takes in the whole basin in which the lake lies, and a large section of the western slopes of the Jaulân. On reaching the brow of the long ascent, where the lake lies far below us, with the green valleys radiating from it, and the rich plateaus spreading out from the top of its high banks, we cannot refrain from sitting down to gaze upon that vast panorama. A mournful and solitary silence reigns over it. Nature has lavished on it some of her choicest gifts; but man has deserted it. In the whole valley of the Jordan, from the lake Hûleh to the sea of Galilee, there is not a single settled inhabitant. Along the whole eastern bank of the river and the lakes, from the base of Hermon to the ravine of the Hieromax——a region of great fertility, 30 m. long by 7 or 8 wide—there are only some three inhabited villages! The western bank is almost as desolate. Ruins are numerous enough. Every mile or two is an old site of town or village, now well nigh hid beneath a dense jungle of thorns and thistles. The words of Scripture here recur to us with peculiar force—‘ I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries into desolation. And I will bring the land into desolation ; and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land: even then shall the land rest and enjoy her sabbaths.’”’ (Lev. Xxvi. 31-35.)

After an hour and a half's ascent we reach the top, and have before us Khan Jubb Yûsef, “the Khan of Joseph’s Well ; ”so called from the tradition that here Joseph was thrown into a well by his brethren and afterwards sold to the Ishmaelites. The building is comparatively modern, and in tolerable repair. Being now only used as a goat and cow house, the interior is almost choked up with heaps of filth. To clean it out would form a new labour for Hercules, not less difficult than the celebrated Augean stables. The well is probably older than the building, in a side court of which it may be seen. The caravan road to ‘Akka here strikes off westward through a valley; and a rugged path runs up among the mountains of Safed, about a mile farther N. The distance to Safed from the khan is about 2 hrs,

Our path now becomes drearier than ever; running along an undulating plateau called Ard el-Khait, with the Safed mountains rising steeply on the l., and the Jordan valley on the rt. The basin of the Hûleh gradually opens up in front, with Hermon away beyond it. The road by the Jisr Benât Yakûb to Damascus soon strikes off to the rt., while our road, if such a track can be called by that name, keeps close to the foot of the mountains. 4 small villages are seen half way up the heights to the L, at intervals of about a mile. Ja’ûneh, the first of them, is more than an hour from the Khan.

In 3 h. 20 min. from Khan Jubb Yûsef we reach Nahr Hendâj, which flows down through a wild ravine from the mountains of Naphtali to the Hûleh. It is a lively little stream reminding one of the trout-streams of Scotland. On its right bank, high up among the hills, 3 h. from the road, is a ruined town called Kasyûn, which deserves a visit, since it is at least as likely as any other place yet known to be the site of the long-lost Hazor. Here are the remains of a small temple, or perhaps Jewish synagogue, lying upon a platform of massive masonry. It had a portico of 4 columns; the bases of 3 still occupy their places. One shaft lies prostrate, and fragments of a sculptured cornice are scattered about on every side. The building faces the N., and in front of it is an open reservoir, with sloping sides, almost like a little amphitheatre. On the W. side is a similar, but larger reservoir. On the S. side of the building is an upright stone, altar-shaped, some 3 ft. high by 14 broad. Upon it is a tablet with a laurel wreath in relievo, and a portion of a Greek inscription, never yet copied. Ruins of other buildings cover the brow of the ravine for some distance ; but the whole site is so thickly overgrown with rank weeds that it is almost impossible fully to explore it. Fo ra notice of Hazor see Rte. 30.

The Lake Hûleh is a sheet of water nearly triangular in form, the apex pointing southward to where the Jordan issues from it. Its length is about 44 m. and its greatest breadth 34. It occupies the southern end of a plain, or rather basin, 15 m. long by 5 wide. Round the lake is a broad margin of marshy ground, extending some miles to the northward, and covered with thickets of canes. Beyond this is a wider border of fertile ground, reaching to the foot of the hills on each side, and embracing more than a half of the whole basin towards the N. It is now generally cultivated, partly by the Bedawîn who pitch their tents upon it, and partly by some sheikhs of Lebanon, and some merchants of Damascus, who, attracted by the unusual richness of the soil, employ labourers to till it, allowing them a certain part of the produce. These are the modern representatives of the old merchant princes of Phoenicia, who planted their agricultural colonies at Laish. (Jud. xviii. 7-10.)

The whole basin in which the lake is situated is called Ard el-Hûleh, “The district of Hûleh;” most probably an Arabic form of the Oulatha (Ουλάθα) of Josephus, which, with Paneas, had belonged to Zenodorus the robber, and was given by Augustus to Herod. (Ant.xv.10,3.) The lake Hûleh is mentioned in the Old Testament as the “ Waters of Merom,” beside which Joshua smote Jabin king of Hazor. The field of battle was most probably on the south-western border of the lake, near the banks of the Hendaj. After pursuing the fugitive Canaanites E. and W. until he “left them none remaining,” Joshua returned, “and took Hazor, and smote the king thereof with the sword: for Hazor beforetime was the head of all those kingdoms.” (Josh. xi. 6-10.) Josephus calls this lake Samochonitis.

Resuming our march northward, we reach, in less than 1 h. from Nahr Hendâj, a large fountain called ‘Ain Mellâhah, which springs up in a kind of pond or natural reservoir, at the foot of the mountains, and sends down a stream to the N.W. angle of the lake. Beside it is an old mill, which forms the usual resting-place of travellers between Tiberias and Banias. The place is famous for malaria and wild swine; both of which find a congenial home in the neighbouring marshes. Tell Khureibeh, Dr. Robinson’s Hazor, is about 2 m. W. of the fountain, among the mountains, and Kadesh is about 3 m. to the N.W.

An hour N. of ’Ain Mellâhah is another large fountain, called ’Ain Belât, with some foundations and ruins, apparently very ancient ; and also several natural caves. The marshy ground is now close on our rt.; and we can see droves of ill-looking buffalos wading through it, under the guidance of Arabs, with faces as sinister in expression as the beasts they tend. Passing anotlier fountain, we sweep round to the eastward, over undulating ground. The old towers of Hunîn, another claimant for Hazor, are now seen crowning the brow of the steep ridge partly behind us. We soon cross the deep glen through which the Nahr Hasbâny flows, carrying its mite to the Jordan. The sides of the ravine are steep and rugged, bristling with basalt rocks; while the banks of the stream below are lined with oleander. A ride of 40 min. more over the stony and marshy plain brings us to

Tell el-Kâdy, “The Hill of the Judge,” the Dan of Scripture. Two things are here worthy of special notice—the Fountain of the Jordan, and the site of the ancient city. A cup-shaped tell, sprinkled with trees, and covered with a jungle of bushes and rank weeds, rises in the midst of the plain, which is here not quite level. The southern rim of the tell has an elevation of about 80 ft. above the plain; and the diameter of the cup may be about 4m. At the western base the waters of the great fountain burst out, first forming a miniature lake, and then rushing off, a rapid river, southward. It is probably the largest fountain in Syria, and among the largest in the world ; but for grandeur; and picturesque beauty, it cannot be compared to the fountain of the Abana at Fijeh. Another smaller fountain springs up ‘within the tell, and flows off through a break in the rim on the S.W. Just at this break stands a noble oak-tree, beneath which the traveller will enjoy an hour’s siesta after the long and dreary ride—perhaps, too, he may be lulled to sleep by the murmur of waters, and the voice of the turtledove. Some Muslem saint has unfortunately found a last resting-place under the shadow of the tree; and his tomb is garlanded with as many ‘‘shreds and patches”’ as would deck a dozen derwishes. The waters of the two fountains soon unite, and meander down the-rich plain—both fountain and stream bearing the name el-Leddân, possibly some Arab corruption of Dan. At a little more than a mile below Tell el-Kâdy the Leddân passes a mound with ruins called Difneh, doubtless the Daphneh mentioned by Josephus as near the source of the lesser Jordan, and the temple of the golden calf (BJ. iv. 1,1); at 3 m. farther it is joined by the stream from Baniâs, near a conspicuous wely, called Sheikh Hazaib; and at 1 m. farther the Nahr Hasbâny falls in from the rt., and the united waters flow on through the plain to the lake some 6 m. distant. Such is the principal fountain, and such is the gradual formation, of the river JORDAN.

Tell el-Kâdy looks like the crater of an old volcano; and the whole plain round it is dotted with blocks of black basalt, of every form and size. The rim that encompasses it may be partly made up of the walls of the ancient city. Few ruins are now visible ; but many are probably concealed by the rank vegetation, which it is, in places, impossible to penetrate, at least without pioneers to cut down the jungle. Near the oak-tree are a few remains of houses; and on the southern declivity are others more ancient and massive, consisting of large hewn stones. About 4m. N. of the tell are heaps of stones that look as if they had once belonged to buildings. Probably a suburb of the city extended thus far.

There cannot be a doubt as to the identity of this site. Josephus places Dan at the fountain of the Jordan, “ in the great plain of Sidon, a day's journey from that city’ (B. J. v. 3, 1); Eusebius locates it at the fourth mile from Paneas on the way to Tyre, where the Jordan rises (Onom. s. v. Dan, Laisa); and the Jerusalem Targum calls it Dan of Cæsarea. The modern name too adds to the evidence. Kâdy and Dan have the same signification, both meaning “Judge.”

The story of Dan is soon told. Originally an agricultural colony of the Phœnicians called Lesem or Laish, it was captured and named Dan by 600 adventurers of the Danites from the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol. The old colonists lived quiet, luxurious lives, revelling in the richness of this plain, and far removed alike from the control and protection of their parent city Sidon. They thus became an easy prey to the warlike Israelites. The country was described by the Danite spies as it would be described by any visitor at the present day—“ We have seen the land, and, behold, it is very good ..... a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth” (Jud. Xviii. 2, 7-10, 27-29). The Danites who settled here were, like their predecessors, far removed from their brethren and from their sanctuaries, Not over – scrupulous either about things civil or sacred, they stole a teraphim and a graven image from Micah of Mount Ephraim, set them up in their new city, and established an irregular priesthood (id. 14-21, 30, 31). But long before this period the plain of Dan had become celebrated in Scripture history. When Sodom was pillaged, and Lot captured by the Arab princes of Mesopotamia, Abraham pursued the spoilers “ unto Dan,” fell upon them at night, and recovered all the booty (Gen. xiv. 14, 15). On the shrine of the Danites Jeroboam erected a temple, and set up in it one of his golden calves for the benefit of those to whom a pilgrimage to Jerusalem would not have been politic, and a pilgrimage to Bethel might have been irksome (1 Kings xii. 28-33). But Dan is best known as the northern border city of Palestine. The expression “from Dan to Beersheba” is as well known in modern as it was in ancient times (Jud. xx. 1; 1 Sam. iii. 20; 2 Sam. iii. 10, xvii. 11). The capture of Laish and the establishment of the Danites in the N. was the fulfilment of Moses’ prophetic blessing to the tribe: “Dan is a lion’s whelp; he shall leap from Bashan ” (Deut. xxxili. 22). The neighbouring mountain range, which rises suddenly on the E. side of the plain of Hûleh, was within the ancient kingdom of Bashan; and the oaks for which that kingdom was famed still cover the mountains, and extend in scattered clusters and single trees as far down as the site of this city (Is. ii. 13; Ezek. xxvii. 6; Zech. xi. 2).

From Tell el-Kâdy our road winds across the plain eastward through the glades of an oak forest variegated with hawthorn, myrtle, and oleander, and carpeted with green turf spangled with flowers of every hue. Before us the southern ridge of Hermon rises in all its majesty; the lower peaks and deep ravines covered with foliage, the towers of the Phœnician castle crowning an isolated summit, little villages and ruins clinging to the steep acclivities; in fact, the scenery of this place is not surpassed, if equalled, in Syria. We soon reach the base of the mountains, and then scramble up the rugged slope, shaded by the “ oaks of Bashan,” to a broad terrace on which the modern village of Baniâs stands amid the ruins of the ancient Cæsarea-Philippi. 1 shall return to this beautiful spot after describing the route from Tiberias by Safed and Kedesh.