SHECHEM, NEAPOLIS, NABULUS.

So far as natural scenery is concerned the situation of Nâbulus is the finest in Palestine—in fact, it is the only really beautiful site from Dan to Beersheba. A verdant valley, sparkling with fountains and streams of water, opens from the plain of Mukhna. It is only some 200 yards wide, and is shut in on the N. and S. by the dark rocky sides of Ebal and Gerizim, which rise steeply from its smooth bed. For 1/2 m. the vale ascends gently, and is filled with cornfields; then it is crossed by a belt of olive-trees, whose gray foliage and black trunks contrast finely with the delicate green of the corn. These continue for another 1/2 m., when they are interrupted by the fruit-orchards and white-domed houses of the town. The town lies chiefly on the S. side of the valley, hugging the base of Gerizim, and even running up into a picturesque nook in its side. Here the opposite ridges recede a little, and the valley suddenly descends to the W., and continues its course between the hills, filled with the richest vegetation and foliage—gardens of vegetables, orchards of fruit – trees, belts of olives; every colour is here from the deepest green to the softest gray and most delicate russet, all harmoniously blended, and melting in the distance into the purple and azure tints of the mountain-sides and ‘summits. Nâbulus thus occupies the highest part, the watershed of the vale; and its domes and minarets are seen from the E. and W., shooting up from the dense mass of surrounding foliage. Between the town and the plain, Ebal and Gerizim look like twin brothers—wherever there is a nook or projection in the side of the one there is a corresponding nook or projection in the side of the other. Both are equally barren-looking; but not so barren as they look, at least from below. Here as elsewhere little terraces have been formed, partly by the natural limestone strata, partly by the hand of man; and upon some of these are strips of grain, which can only be seen from above. On ascending Gerizim we shall see how every handful of soil has been made productive, and how almost every stone and cliff has been turned to use to keep the soil in its place. The cliffs in the side of Ebal are here and there dotted with tombs; it seems to have been the necropolis of old Shechem.

Nabulus has a population of about 8000; 500 of whom are Christians, 150 Samaritans, and some 40 or 50 Jews. The houses are of stone, resembling in their style and general appearance those of Jerusalem. One or two are large and fine, superior in extent and finish to any I saw in the Holy City. The streets are, of course, narrow and tortuous, fragrant and filthy as those of other towns. They are on the whole more gloomy,. and tunnel-like than any in Syria—the houses almost everywhere projecting over them, and covering them, being supported on. arches, as if the ground was so wonderfully precious that not enough could be spared even for an open thoroughfare. But probably security is the secret of it; every one being afraid to venture an inch into the country. There is not ‘much of antiquity to attract the traveller’'s attention. It is true there are numbers of broken columns, granite, marble, and limestone; and large old stones; and sarcophagi doing duty as water-troughs; but they are scattered about and mixed up with modern masonry. A. spacious Saracenic doorway opening into one of the mosks is the only architectural ornament of Nâbulus. The elevation of the site above the sea is about 1800 ft., and the summits of Ebal and.Gerizim rise over it some 800 more. The Muslem inhabitants have a bad character, and deserve it. They have been long notorious for fanaticism and turbulence. They are almost always in a state of semi-rebellion ; obeying when it suits their fancy, and resisting, literally to the knife, when their passions are roused. The strong hand of Ibrahîm Pasha crushed them for a time, after a bloody struggle; but the weak vacillating government of the Turks has enabled the people to regain their old power. The poor Christians are the especial object of their tyranny; and both they and the Samaritans only live by sufferance—always scorned, often insulted, and occasionally spoiled and oppressed. A few years ago a Muslem deliberately shot a Jew boy in his shop; and nothing was done! Last year the mob, urged on, it is said, by one of the chief men in the town; attacked the Christians; pillaged a church, the Protestant school-house, the residences of a missionary and several natives, including that of the English: consular agent; killed the father of the latter; and committed many other acts. of cruelty—yet no redress has been obtained. Travellers, and especially ladies, in passing through the streets are exposed to the most wanton insolence.

The chief productions of Nâbulus are soap, cotton, and oil. The soap-works are large, and the trade is flourishing. The immense heaps of ashes and débris round the town show something of the extent of their operations; and also remind one of the similar mounds to the N. of Jerusalem. The oil of Nâbulus is considered among the best in Syria. There are no large groves of olives like those of Gaza, Beyrout, and Damascus; but every little village and hamlet in the whole district is embowered in them, and they constitute a main feature in the scenery wherever we turn our eyes. Some think they are not picturesque, Perhaps not, when standing alone on a rocky mountain side or parched plain; but when mixed with other trees they enhance vastly the beauty of the landscape. The soft gray hue of their foliage contrasts finely with the deep green of the walnut and fig; and then they are clothed in mid-winter when other trees are bare. The olive-tree (Arabic Zeitûn, like the Hebrew Zeit) is to the Syrian “ prima omnium arborum.” ‘“ Me pascant olivæ” he is ever ready to say, not in Horatian Latin, however, but in deep-toned Arabic. The trees are slow in their growth, and they are from 10 to 15 years old before they begin to pay the expense of culture. They live long—1000 years or more—and the old ones have a venerable aspect with their great gnarled and furrowed stems. The berries ripen in November and December, and are beaten off by men with long sticks. (Deut. Xxiv. 20.) Women and children pick them up, and carry them away on their heads to the press. The oil is extracted by a rude and clumsy apparatus. The berries are placed in a circular cavity in a large stone, and another stone, like a dwarf mill-stone, is rolled over them either by men or oxen. The crushed mass is then bound up in mats and placed under the press, which is forced down by a long weighty beam, or else a screw. The liquor is afterwards slightly heated, and the oil as it rises is skimmed off and poured into skins or big-bellied earthen jars. .

In addition to the olive, the district of Nâbulus abounds in figs and vines. In fact Ephraim received abundantly all the blessings prophetically promised. by Jacob and Moses—* The precious fruits brought forth by the sun .... the chief things of the ancient mountains .... the precious things of the lasting hills ..,. the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof.” (Gen. xlix. 22-26 ; Deut. Xxxiii. 14-16.) We might apply to this favoured land the graphic description of Horace's Utopia :—

“Reddit nbi Cerarem tellus inarata quotannis,
Et imputata floret usque vinea;
Germinat et nunquam fallentes termes olivae,
Suamque pulla ficus ornat arborem ;
Mella cava manant ex ilice, montibus altis
Levis crepante lympha desilit pede.”

The History of Shechem extends over a period of nearly 4000 years. The first spot where Abraham pitched his tent in Canaan was in the “place of Sichem,” at “the oaks of Moreh” (“plain” in the Eng. trans.; but the Hebrew Elon signifies “oak,” or “terebinth”’). Very probably the site of his camp was at the opening of the glen into the plain of Mukhua. (Gen. xii. 6.) Jacob also came to this fine pastoral region immediately on his return from Mesopotamia; and pitched his tent “before” (that is east of) the city, near to Shalem. To this day there is a little village called Sâlim on the lower slope of the hills, just opposite the vale of Shechem, and not more than 2 m. distant. And the patriarch then bought from Hamor, Shechem’s father, that “parcel of a field,” still marked by his well and the tomb of his favourite son. (Gen. Xxxiii. 18-20.) It was here that, not long afterwards, Simeon and Levi so treacherously avenged the dishonour of their sister Dinah, by the slaughter of the whole male population of Shechem. (Gen. xxxiv.) Jacob removed to Hebron, but still retained possession of his fields; and it was to this spot he sent his son Joseph to look after his brethren. They had removed to Dothan (about 12 m. northward), “and a certain man found him wandering in the field”—Jacob's field—and directed him to Dothan; thither he went and was sold to the Ishmeelites. (Gen. xxxvii.)

The place where the patriarchs first settled in Canaan became, four centuries later, the first great gathering-place of their posterity on taking possession of the country. On the summit of Ebal an altar was built, and the words of the law inscribed upon it—then six of the tribes took their station on this mountain to pronounce the curse, and the other six across the valley on Gerizim to bless. (Deut. -xi. 29, 30 ; xxvii. 1-13 ; Josh. Viii. 30-35.) Shechem was assigned to the Levites, and made a city of refuge. (Josh. xx. 7; xxi. 20, 21.) The next striking incident in Shechem’s history was its seizure by Abimelech during the rule of the Judges, and his being proclaimed king “by the oak of the pillar.” This gave occasion to the beautiful and characteristic parable of Jotham, pronounced from the top of Gerizim. (Jud. ix.) In this city Rehoboam was proclaimed king over all Israel; and here, too, not many days afterwards, the ten tribes, maddened by his folly, revolted and made Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, king, establishing in Shechem the seat of the new monarchy. (1 Kings xii.) The dignity of capital, however, it had soon to share with the more favoured Tirzah, and finally to give up to Samaria.