at it and full of Trouble that they should be under his Holiness's Excommunication before they were aware of it wherefore they began to excuse themselves and said That they did not know any thing of it neither had they had any opportunity in their Travels to come to Rome But although this had been omitted before their Arrival yet they would certainly do it as they went back Notwithstanding all this the Guardian seemed to be very earnest and made shew as if he could not absolve them yet at last after he had long enough kept them in this fear he began to declare that he had also received full power from his Holiness and the whole Roman Catholic Church to absolve all those that did not bring any Certificates And so at last absolved us in the Cloisters of his Monastery in Latin with these Words I absolve you of all your Sins in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost And with this he concluded his Speech CHAP. III. A Plain Description of the City of Jerusalem as it was to be seen in our time and of the adjacent Countries THE Glorious and Kingly City of Jerusalem which formerly the Saracens called Kurzitadon but now is named Chutz by the Inhabitants is still situated in the old Place in the middle of Judea on the high Mountains and as the Head is extolled above the rest which may be concluded partly because from thence you may see all the the Country as from a Center partly also because the Springs rise here and so run down as from a higher place every way and to every part thereof as the holy Prophet Ezekiel doth testifie in his Fourteenth Capter where he saith That at that time fresh Streams shall flow from Jerusalem half thereof to the Sea toward the East and the other half towards the furthest Sea There are also many other places of Scripture that testifie the high Situation of Jerusalem as in the Eighth Chapter of the Acts Verse 26. where the Angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying Arise and go towards the South unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza c. And in the Tenth Chapter of St. Mark and the Thirty second Verse And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem And the Tenth Chapter of St. Luke Verse 30. A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho And Verse 31. And by chance there came down a certain Priest that way c. The Situation of Jericho together with the great Plains thereabout through which the Jordan runs from the North towards the South together with the Dead Sea where formerly Sodom and Gomorrah stood you see from the Town over a barren Hill below so plainly that one would think we might go thither with ease in three Hours and yet it would require a whole Days Journey Beyond the River that separateth Arabia from Judea lie the high Hills Abarim and Nebo over against Jericho whence Moses as is said Deuteronomy the 32d and 34th Chapters had a full Prospect of the Land of Canaan promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob one may see them thence so plainly as also the Mount Seir which toucheth them beyond the Dead Sea in the Land of the Moabites and Ammonites that one would also think they were very near They bring yearly a vast quantity of Sheep to Jerusalem from off the Mountains which feeding upon the fragrant delicate and hearty Herbs that grow there have Meat that tastes very pleasantly the Tails thereof are very fat above half a span thick and one and a half broad and long The Levitical Priest as we read in Leviticus the Ninth Chapter and other places used to burn this together with all the Fat of the Entrails and the two Kidneys for a Sin-Offering There are also Goats with hanging Ears almost Two Foot long And therefore some Arabians called Balduini keep in the Deserts that have no certain Abode but lie continually in the Fields and go from Country to Country in great numbers wheresoever they find good Pasture for their Beasts and Camels I have met with many of them in my Travels and have some time stayed with them all Night in their Tents they are commonly Soldiers armed usually with Bows and Long-Pikes made of Cane as the other Arabians and because of their Nimbleness and Courage they are very much preferred before the rest This holy Land which according to the Promise made to the Patriarchs was for many years in the possession of the Israelites was as you read in Deuteronomy Chap. 8. a most fruitful and rich Country abounding with Corn Fruits Wine and all that is required to the maintenance of Man's Life So the Lord himself saith That he will give them a Land that still floweth with Milk and Honey For it hath rich Valleys Hills Fields and Gardens richly adorned with Fountains and Trees so that it was very well chosen to be the worldly Paradise wherein Adam and Eve did live honor and serve God Now as the Land in its Goodness surpassed other Lands so did Jerusalem excel all other Cities in Building Glory Fortification and Number of Inhabitants Moreover God visited the Israelites from the beginning and had a House built in this City for himself which he chose before all others to sanctifie his Name there And above all this he provided them with High Priests Kings and Prophets until God the Father did send his only Begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ in the Flesh to reveal to them his Will with Teaching and Miracles But when they would not acknowledge his merciful Visitation nor receive his Messengers but did rather abuse ridicule and kill them rejected the Lord of Glory himself and adhered to and adored strange Gods and served them God did reject and disperse them among the Heathens burnt and destroyed their City and Temple and reduced their fruitful Country into barren Desarts and a desolate Wilderness and so the Punishment came upon them which the holy Prophet Esaiah did foretel them in the Thirteenth Chapter and 9th Verse saying Behold the day of the Lord cometh cruel both with wrath and fierce anger to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it And further in the Twenty fifth Chapter and Second Verse Thou hast made of a City a heap of a defenced City a ruine a place of Strangers to be no City it shall never be built And Daniel also maketh mention of this in his Ninth Chapter c. This ought to serve us and all Men as an Example of the fervent Anger of God to be a warning to us for ever For if of the Glorious City of Jerusalem which God had chosen before others and of its vast Buildings that made her famous before her Desolation there is at this Day nothing at all to be seen so that one might very well doubt whether it ever stood there were it not for some holy places and its situation that
any Arms. But in the middle of the City there is a Castle on a high Hill which is strong large surrounded with Walls and Ditches and well beset with a good Guard Concerning their other Buildings which are flat at the top and covered with a sort of Pavement that one may walk on the tops of them they are like unto them of Tripolis Amongst the rest there is a very Magnificent Building which they say hath cost a great deal of Money which hath for its Entrance a very low and small Door so that one must bend himself very low that will go into it but when you come in you find there delicate large Halls high open Arches very pleasant and cool to sit underneath in the Summer Water-works Orchards and Kitchen-Gardens where among the rest was one of these Ketmy's Besides these there was also some fine Mosques with Steeples which were round and small but very high some of them had a Balcony at the top like unto a Garland whereupon the Waits are and their Priests go about at the time of Prayers to call People in But for other stately Buildings that might be erected for the Memory of some Potent King or Prince there is none Without the City they have here and there some country-Country-Houses among the rest one built for the Turkish Emperour at four Miles distance from the City where he used to be sometimes chiefly when he is at War with the Sophy King of Persia that he may presently assist his Army in case of Necessity This is very large but not built so stately as so great a Monarch deserveth In the great Garden is a Chappel built by the River that runs through it upon Pillars where the Great Sultan used to hold Conferences with his Privy-Councellors and Visier-Bashaws It happened in the Reign of Solyman the Great as the Gardiner did relate to us that when they were assembled to consult whether it was more profitable to him to suffer the Jews in his Provinces or to root them quite out After every one had given his Opinion and the most of them were of the Opinion that they ought not to be tolerated because of their insufferable Usury wherewith they oppressed his Subjects And after the Emperour had heard every ones Sentiment he gave them also to understand his and that in this instance viz. He bad them look upon a Flower-Pot that held a quantity of fine Flowers of divers colours that was then in the Room and bid them consider whether each of them in their colour did not set out the other the better and that if any of them should decay or be taken away whether it would not somewhat spoil the Beauty of the rest After every one had heard the Sultan's Opinion and did allow of it to be true the Emperour did begin to explain this and said The more sorts of Nations I have in my Dominions under me as Turks Moors Grecians c. the greater Authority they bring to my Kingdoms and make them more famous And that nothing may fall off from my Greatness I think it convenient that all that have been together so long hitherto may be kept and tolerated so still for the future which pleased his Council so well that they all unanimously agreed to it and so let it remain as it was Without the City of Halepo are abundance of Quarries where they dig great Free-stones of a vast bigness almost as white and soft as Chalk very proper for Building There are also about the Town some Walks or Grotto's under Ground which are above an English Mile long which have the Light let into them by holes made near the High-way so that a Man must be very careful chiefly at Night that he may not fall into them or that he may not be trapan'd by the Moors that live in them in great numbers The Ground about it being very Chalky it causeth to the soles of our Feet chiefly at Night although one be very well provided with strong shooes a very considerable dryness and heat as one may also see by the Moors that for the most part go bare-foot which causeth the soles of their Feet to be so shrifled that into some of their crevises you may almost put your little Finger Yet notwithstanding that Halepo is surrounded with Rocky Hills and the Valleys thereof are Chalky they have no want of Corn as Barley Wheat c. but rather it is very Fruitful and their Harvest beginneth commonly in April or May But they have but few Oats and less Grass or Hay for the dryness is so great and it is so Sandy and the Hills are so rough and full of Bushes that they make but very little Hay Wherefore they feed their Cattel with Barley and with Straw which is broken in pieces by threshing Waggons that are drawn by Oxen. The Valley is also full of Olive-Trees so that Yearly they make several Thousand Hundred Weight of Oyl for to make Soap There is also a great quantity of Tame and Wild Almond-Trees of Figgs of Quince and white Mulberry-Trees which are very high and big Pistacies-Trees which they call Fistuc are hereabout very common they have underneath very strong stems which have outwardly an Ashen-colour'd Bark and are adorned with handsome Leaves of a sad green colour like unto their Charnubis and behind them grow many small Nuts like Grapes in Clusters together In the Spring when they first put out they send forth long shoots which the Moors gather in great quantity for their Sallad and dress them as we do Asparagus There are also abundance of delicate Orchards that are filled with Oranges Citrons Lemons Adams-Apples Sebesten Peaches Morelloes and Pomgranats c. and amongst them you find sometimes Apples and Pears but very few nor so many sorts nor so big nor so well coloured as ours There grow many Mirtles which bear roundish Berries of the bigness of our Sorbus or Services of a blewish Grey colour very good to eat which have white Seeds of the shape of our jumping Cheese-magots they propagate them diligently because they are beautiful and remain long green to put about their Graves Moreover there are many Sumach-Trees which they plant for their Seeds sake which is much used by them But Cherries Amelanchier and Spenleny I have not seen there and very few Gooseberries or Currans Weychseln they have but very few wherefore they esteem them and keep them choice as a Foreign Plant to shew them to others and to present great Persons with them This may suffice of Trees Concerning their Garden Plants those that are common are Endives Lettice Kel or Coleworts Colliflowers Caulorapa Rauckelen Apium Tarcon whereof Rhases describeth two sorts one with long small Leaves by us called Taragon and the other with broad Leaves which I reckon to be our Lepidium by the Inhabitants called Cozirihan Ravos Serap or our Hartichokes But beyond all they plant Colocasia in such plenty as we do Turneps whereof they have
King Solomon did begin to build a House for the Lord at Jerusalem many years afterwards This was formerly very high surrounded with deep Ditches and Cliffs so that it would make a Man giddy to look down from the top into the depth Wherefore Pompey and Titus took a great deal of pains before they could get upon it to take and destroy that glorious and well-built Temple which was in the last Desolation as well as before in the first burnt by Nabuhcodonosor demolished and razed to the Foundations as Christ foretold them Mark xiii That there should not be left one stone upon another that should not be thrown down because they did not acknowledge the gracious time of their visitation And that all hopes might be taken away from the Jews to return and to build the Temple again to re-establish their Worship Hadrian the Emperor to prevent all ordered in the year of Christ 134 all to be broken down that was left and to root it up to demolish all heighths to fill up all Ditches to level Cliffs and to make the Ground even all over he did also alter the Name and Religion of the Inhabitants and instead thereof introduced the Heathenish Idolatry In the place of the Grave of Christ he built a Temple for the Idol Jupiter on Mount Calvaria another for the Idol Venus and another at Bethlehem to the Idol Adonis and at last in the place where formerly in the Temple of Solomon did stand the Sanctum Sanctorum he erected his own Image on a high Column for his memory which was still standing in Hieronymus's time The heighth of this Mount cannot be observed any where else now then without by the Fountain Siloah and in the Valley of Benhinnon and so it did remain desolate to the times of the great Emperor Constantine After that when the Jews undertook to rebuild the Temple at the Charge of Julian the Apostate who would make Christ a liar the Lord having said that their House should be left unbuilt a great Earthquake when they had opened the Ground to lay the Foundation did move and shake the whole place to that degree that every thing was turned upside down and abundance of Jews did perish in it But when the Jews did not matter this but endeavoured to go on with the Work in hand the next day Flames of Fire broke out of the Ground and fiery Beams struck down from Heaven which destroyed more than the Earthquake and burnt all their Tools viz. Saws Axes Shovels Hammers c. When the Jews would not leave their Error for all this the night following some small glittering Crosses like Stars fell down upon their Cloaths which they could not wash off the next Morning nor get out by any means and an Earthquake and such a violent Hurricane came upon it that it dissipated all tâ— Mortar and other Materials into the Air so that frightened and full of fear they were forced to confess that Christ whom their Ancestors Crucified was the true and only Lord and God Seeing that the Temple together with the Mount it stood upon are razed and desolated so that one can hardly now discern what they have been anciently every one that goeth by because the Lord did not favour his own House where his Name was sanctified hath reason to be astonished at it and to call to mind the strange anger of God against those that leave the Lord their God and adhere to other gods serve and adore them Now adays the Turks have taken possession of this Mount and all the Ground whereon Solomon's Temple did stand and have built a Mahumetan Mosche on it which Homar the Third after the great Impostor Mahomet built when he had taken the holy Land and the City of Jerusalem This is not very large nor high but fine and covered with Lead hath a great Court Yard about it paved with white Marble and here and there Orange and Date Trees are planted in it which is very pleasant about the sides thereof are some high Towers and Gates one whereof is vastly bigger than any of the rest which is near to their Batzar or Exchange which is very old high and hath very good Workmanship in it wherefore the Franciscan Monks shew it instead of the Gate of Solomon's Temple before which lay the Man that was lame from his Mother's Womb that begged Alms from Peter and John to whom Peter said Silver and gold I have none but such as I have give I thee In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk At the end of the Gate of this Yard as commonly in all their Church Porches hung some Lamps I could have willingly gone in before them to see the Rock and Fountain whereof Ezek. in his Forty seventh Chapter maketh mention together with the inward Building but because according to their Mahumetan Laws all those that are not circumcised are accounted to be unclean therefore going into their Churches is forbid to Christians if any one is catch'd â—ithin he is in danger of his life or else he must deny his Faith and be made a Mamaluck or Renegado In this Court-Yard is still another Gate called the Golden Gate by the Franciscans but because it stands just over against the Mount of Olives therefore it is to be taken to be the Gate Sur or rather as Nehemias ch iii. Ezek. xlvii and 2 Chron. xxxi say For the Gate of the Stairs which Semaia the Son of Sahamia the Keeper of them did build through which our Lord Christ did go into the Temple on Palm-Day to drive out the Buyers and Sellers Now altho this is walled up in the New Town Wall so that you cannot go either out or in yet considering its ancient Arches it looketh rather like a Church than a Town-Gate In the middle of the Yard stands a Turkish Mosche or Temple called the Rock this is esteemed very much by the Turks and next to those of Mecha and Medina reputed to be the most holy Because God Almighty hath wrought many great Miracles there and that there Mahomet as they falsly write of him in their Books called by God to be the last and greatest Prophet did ride from Mecha to that of the holy Rock of the Temple of Jerusalem which is Forty Days Journey on a very swift Beast called Elmparae conducted thither by the Angel Gabriel who at his arrival did help him off of his Beast tied it up and then led him by the Hand into the Temple where he found many Prophets standing together in a Circle which God had resuscitated for his Honor and to receive him and to acquaint him with new good Tidings and what God had prepared for him I suppose ever burning Flames of Fire among the rest he did also find Abraham Moses and Jesus the Son of Mary each of them presenting him first Moses with a Fatt of Wine Abraham with a Fatt full of Milk and Jesus with a Fatt of Water Then
purpose I never intended it yet I hope some way or other it may be as well useful as pleasant to them and others for whosoever shall read in this my Itinerary how the glorious and strong City of Jerusalem is now ruin'd and become a heap of Stones and great Babylon laid in Ashes and other famous places in like manner destroyed and desolate the Land of Promise also changed into a barren Ground he may thence collect that the Wrath of God is a consuming Fire that he hath not only not spaâ—ed the Jews his elect and peculiar People which he chose for his Inheritance but also destroyed that once fruitful Land flowing with Milk and Honey which tho' it self did not sin yet he hath cursed with Barrenness for the Transgressions of its Inhabitants Psal 107.30 and turned the holy City into a desolation and solitude the due consideration whereof would be an effectual Motive to provoke Christians to amend their Lives and Manners for if this was done in the Green Tree the chosen People of God what will become of the Dry if once the wrath of the Lord be kindled Moreover he that by this Book is instructed in the Manners Customs Laws and Orders of the People of the East and what Tricks and Cunning they make use of in time both of Peace and War will know the better how to behave himself in all his Necessary Occasions of Traffick and Dealings with them Further this Book also teacheth a Christian how to behave himself in his Slavery if it should befal him towards his Master without any detriment to his Soul or Conscience and how by convenient means he may procure his Liberty again You may also see here how many Sects of Religions there are in these places and how there are many good and well-disposed People which are not far from the true knowledge of God and might easily be brought to embrace the Orthodox Christianity I hope also that this my Work will not be very unacceptable to Apothecaries and Physicians containing Descriptions of many useful Herbs of which I had willingly added the Cuts but was forced to forbear at present for several Reasons not needful here to be related but I hope it may be done afterwards when Time and Opportunity shall serve You will likewise find here several strange Stories both pleasant to read and which may give occasion to higher Considerations So that I am in good hopes I shall not have taken all these Pains and used this Diligence altogether in vain Now Honoured Gentlemen and Cousins to return to you Sith it hath been always used by Writers both ancient and modern to dedicate their Books to some person or other I also in compliance with this laudable Custom have thought fit to dedicate this my Itinerary to you not only because of that Relation we stand in to each other by reason of consanguinity but also to acknowledge my Obligations and declare my Gratitude for the many Favours Good-turns and Friendly Offices done me by Mr. Leonhart Christel our dear Uncle of pious Memory in whose Steps you Mr. Nicholas Bemer and Christopher Christel the Heirs as well of his Virtues as his Estate do tread when he was alive and do still at present receive of you three my Honoured Kinsmen which my well-meaning Dedication I hope you will favourably accept and own and acknowledge as your Cousin Your most humble Servant Leonhart Rauwolff THE CONTENTS PART I. Chap. I. WHich way I went first of all from Auspurg to Marseilles and from thence shipped over the Seas towards Tripoli of Syria situated in Phenicia pag. 1 Chap. II. Of the famous City of Tripoli of its fruitful Neighbourhood and great Trade and also of the splendid Baths and other magnificent Buildings to be seen there Their ways of making Rusma Pot-ashes Soap c. p. 19 Chap. III. Of the Turks of high and low Conditions Men and Women Of their Employments Offices Manners Customs Cloaths as much as I could at Tripoli during my abode understand see and learn thereof p. 35 Chap. IV. A Description of the Plants I gathered at Tripoli p. 47 Chap. V. Which way I travelled from Tripolis further to the two famous Cities of Damant and Halepo p. 57 Chap. VI. Of the Situation of the Potent City of Halepo of the Buildings thereof and also of the delicate Fruits and fine Plants that grow there within and without Gardens p. 61 Chap. VII Of the high Places and Authority of Bashaws what great Courts they keep and how they administer their Offices as also of their way of living of their Priviledges of their Manners and Conversation p. 69 Chap. VIII Of the great Trading and Dealing of the City of Halepo as also of several sorts of their Meats and Drinks of their Ceremonies and their peculiar way of sitting down at Meals p. 83 Chap. IX A short and plain Relation of Plants which I gathered during my stay at Halepo in and round about it not without great danger and trouble which I glued upon Paper very carefully p. 100 PART II. Chap. I. HOW I departed from Halepo to the famous City of Bi r and how I sailed from thence on the Euphrates to old Babylon p. 121 Chap. II. Which way we went into the Ship and sailed to Racka and how the Son of the King of Arabia with his Retinue came to our Ship to demand his Customs What else we saw by the way and what we did suffer from the Arabians and their Mendicants p. 131 Chap. III. Of the City of Racka and of its Situation and also something of the Departure of the King of Arabia and of his League with the Turkish Emperor and also of the trouble we had with the Custom-house Officer or Publican p. 146 Chap. IV. Of the Inhabitants of the Mountains and the great Wilderness we came through to Deer of their ancient Origination and miserable and laborious Livelihood p. 153 Chap. V. Of our Voyage to the famous Town Ana in which we passed again through great Sandy Wildernesses for the performance whereof we must provide our selves with Victuals and be very careful in our Navigation Some relation of the Inhabitants of their Cloaths and other things we did observe and see by the way and what else did happen unto us p. 161 Chap. VI. Which way we travelled from Ana further to Old Babylon by some ancient Towns called Hadidt Juppe Idt and saw more pleasant fruitful and well cultivated Fields on each side than before p. 169 Chap. VII Of old Babylon the Metropolis of Chaldee and its Situation and how it is still to this day after its terrible Desolation to be seen with the Tower or Turret and the old ruined walls lying in the Dust p. 174 Chap. VIII Of the Famous City of Bagdet called Baldac of its Situation strange Plants great Traffick and Merchants of several Nations that live there together with several other things I saw and did learn at my departing p. 179
Cod-pieces which they do not suffer others to wear that they may wash themselves without hinderance their Private parts Feet Arms Necks or any other parts to cleanse themselves as often as their Laws shall direct them These Drawers they tie about their middle with some Strings or Bands about their naked Body and let their Shirts hang down over them When they have occasion to make Water they untie their Drawers again sit down and cast their Cloaths round about them like Women turn themselves from the South to which they turn when they are going to pray If they see a Man make his water standing they immediately conclude him to be a Christian and none of their Faith They commonly sit with their Legs laid one over the other which they do every where in the East wherefore they have neither Chair nor Table but instead thereof they have a paved place two or three steps high which is arched over head which they keep very clean and cover it with Tapestry or Serge or Mats finely twisted with several colours according to their Ability wherefore to save them the Turks pull of their Shoes and leave them at the Chamber-door Their Shoes are like unto those our Lacques use to wear and like Slippers easie to be put on and off they commonly are of a white or blew colour painted before underneath defended with Nails before and with Horse-shoes behind these are worn by young and old Men and Women rich and poor Besides these they also wear sometimes wooden Shoes which are to be sold every where they are about three Inches high and in the middle underneath carved out to distinguish the Soals from the Heels painted with several colours the same wear the Women which have almost the same Garments with the Men and have also Drawers which sometimes are so long that they hang out before their Coats they are commonly made of fine Cotton of several colours and laced at the sides You very seldom see any Turkish Women either in the Streets or in the Markets to buy Provision or in their Churches where only the chiefest of them come and that but seldom where they have a peculiar place separated from the Men. They have also in their Houses secret places and corners where they hide themselves immediately if any body should come to see their Housholds When they go abroad which is very seldom you see three or four of them together with their Children which are all one Man's for according to their Law they are allowed to take as many as they can maintain Their Faces are all covered with black Vails whereof some are of fine Silk and some of Horse-hair which the poorer sort wear and over their Head they put some white Scarfs made of Cotton which are so broad that they cover not only their Heads but their Arms and Shoulders they look in them almost like our Maids when to keep themselves from the Wet they put a Table-cloth or Sheets over their Heads But because the Turks are very Jealous therefore their Wives seldom meet in the Streets or Markets but only in the Hot-houses or when they go to visit the Tombs of their deceased Parents or Relations which generally are out of the Town near the High-ways When they go thither they take along with them Bread Cheese Eggs and the like to eat there which was called Parentalia by the Latins just as the Heathens used to do in former Ages and sometimes they leave some of their Chear behind them that the Beasts and Birds may eat it after they are gone for they believe that such good bestowed upon the Beasts is as acceptable to God as if it were bestowed on Men. Their Graves are commonly hollow covered at the top with great Stones which are like unto Childrens Bed-steads in our Country which are high at the head and feet but hollowed in the middle they fill them up with Earth wherein they commonly plant fine Herbs but chiefly Flags they also put some green Myrtles in little Air-holes that are round the Tombs and they are of opinion that their Relations are the happier the longer these remain green and retain their colour And for the sake of this Superstition there are in several places of the Town Myrtles to be sold that stand in Water that they may remain fresh which the Women buy to stick up at the Graves of their Relations Their Burying-places are always out of Town near the High-ways that any body that goeth by may be put in mind of them and pray to God for them which is the reason that so many Chappels are built about their Burying-places that People that go by chiefly the Relations of the deceased may go into them to pray to God on their behalf When any of them dieth they wash him and put on his best Cloaths then they lay him on a Bar or Board and strow him with Sweet-smelling Herbs and Flowers leaving only his Face bare that every body may look upon him that knoweth him as he is carried out If it be a Tschelebii that is a Noble Person they put his Helmet and his other Ornaments at his Head his Friends and Acquaintance which go before and follow the Corps keep no order but hang upon one another as if they were fudled and go merrily and shouting along to the Grave as also do the Women who come behind and hollow so loud that you may hear them a great way off CHAP. IV. A Description of the Plants I gathered at Tripoli COnsidering that I undertook this Journey into the Eastern Countries not only to see these People and to observe their Manners c. but also and that principally diligently to enquire and to search out the Plants that were growing there I cannot but shortly describe those I found about Tripoli during my stay there and will begin with such as grew on the Sea-shores which were Medica marina Gnaphalium marinum Leucoium marinum Juncus maritimus Peplis Scammonium Monspeliense which the Natives call Meudheuds but Rhasis in his Book ad Almans calleth it Coriziala Brassica marina which spreads its Roots above the Sand for some Cubits round and has instead of round Leaves rather square ones A kind of wild white Lillies by the Latins and Greeks called Hemerocallis which did not only grow on the Sea-shore but also in Islands thereabout in great plenty with a great many others which I forbear to mention here being common Behind the custom-Custom-house near the Harbour I found in the Ruines of the old Wall that are left of that City Hyoscyamus and hard by it in the Sand an Herb not unlike unto Cantabrica secunda Caroli Clusii saving only the Stalks and Leaves which are woolly But the Ricinus groweth there above all in so great plenty that you can hardly make your way through it the Inhabitants call it still by its old Arabian Name Kerva If you turn from thence to the High-way towards your Right-hand you see the
give us demonstration thereof If I say this worldly Jerusalem because of its unbelieving Inhabitants that would not acknowledge the Blessed Messias nor adhere to his Doctrine to their Salvation is quite rooted out and instead thereof the way of the Heavenly Jerusalem opened to us Heathens by the holy Apostles How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation This way to our Lord Christ hath for many years past been shewed us sincerely by the Ministers of the holy Word of God but we do not only not much care for it but seek rather other by ways that lead us to Idolatry Sin and Vices nay to our utter ruine Wherefore it is to be feared that if we do not repeat in time and return to God again that he will come upon us with his wrath as he hath already begun and deliver us up into the Hands of our Adversaries that we may fall by their Swords as Ezekiel doth threaten us in his Thirty ninth Chapter and to punish us according to the Deserts of our Sins Wherefore we ought to lay to heart the terrible Example of the Jews and turn from our evil ways that we may avoid the Punishments that befel them We see that those who were formerly the People of God are now come to be so blind and full of Errors and of so depraved a Life that there is hardly any like them to be found even among the Infidels and Impious Wherefore they are by all Men despised and hated chiefly by the Turks which hate them more than any other Nation so that they would not let them live among them if the Turkish Emperor had not for a great Sum of Money given them a peculiar freedom And besides all this now adays their Towns and Countries are inhabited by Turks Moors and Arabians that do not love to till or cultivate the Ground but will rather starve than take pains to get a good Livelihood by their Hand-Labour And although the Country about Jerusalem is very rocky rough stony and ill managed yet notwithstanding they will not endeavour to mend and improve it but find out the fruitful Lands that are here and there and over-run the Country like Grashoppers so that you may observe it yearly to decay more and more Seeing then that there is but little Tillage about the City therefore the product of the Earth there is but very small so that they must have almost all Necessaries brought them from other places The Town of Jerusalem which is still pretty large but very ill built hath within its Walls which the Turkish Emperor caused to be built about Twenty Years ago large places that lie desolated and are so full of Stones and Rocks that one can hardly walk in them The Gardens even those that are within the City and are but ill managed are surrounded with Mud Walls not above Four Foot high so that one may climb over them without any difficulty These are washed down again by Rain in a very little time so that they want mending continually Their Habitations are also little and and low have Clay-Walls and many of them are decayed some lie quite in a heap The Churches of the two Apostles that of St. John and St. Peter are in the same Condition as also the Prison where St. Peter was kept the Habitation of Veronica which the Cordeliers shew us for them and a great many places more In some Streets chiefly near to their Bazar or Exchange are very old Vaults part whereof are decayed and broken part filled up with Dust which runs out into the Streets wherefore chiefly in the Summer the Dust lieth so thick in them that you may see every step in it as in Snow or Sand. All which sheweth that the Turks destroy or ruin more than they build wherefore they are deservedly called Turks that is to say Destroyers The present Town as to the Extent of its Walls is not much less than the old one was wherefore one should admire considering how it is built now how it was possible it should hold so many People as it is said were in it at the time of its Desolation viz. a Million of Men or as Josephus and Eusebius say Three Millions Jerusalem was formerly surrounded with very steep Cliffs deep Ditches and Valleys chiefly on three Sides towards the South East and West so that one could not easily get up to it but only on the North Side where the Town was low lying in a Plain therefore did Titus first attack it in a place near the Village called Scapas Seven Miles distant from it and afterward advanced and took it which the holy Prophet Jeremiah did foretel many years before in the First Chapter and Twelfth Verse saying Out of the North an Evil shall break forth upon all the Inhabitants of the Land These Ditches and Valleys are now quite filled up with the Ruins of the broken Walls and Buildings so that one may go into the Town as into an open Village without any hinderance or pain But when the Grand Signior after he had taken it saw that the Town was open and that the Christian Pilgrims came thither in great numbers from all places and Countries he feared that they might make themselves Masters of it again as they had done some years agone wherefore he ordered it to be surrounded again with new Walls which although they are very high yet they are so thin and slight that they are not able to withstand the least violence But as the Town was anciently built four square so it is now built more round chiefly towards Mount Calvaria which formerly was without the Town but now is Walled in so that you may still see two corners one whereof is towards Galilee where the Gate of that corner is which is still open and almost one of the handsomest through which you go to Nazareth distant three days Journey as also to Caesarea Philippi which is now called Balbec where still are to be seen some very fine Antiquities and also towards Damascus which is six days Journey distant from Jerusalem and from thence 6 days Journey more to Aleppo the greatest Town for Trade in all Syria Jeremiah maketh mention of this Gate in his 31st Chapter and the 38th Verse Behold the days come saith the Lord that the City shall be built to the Lord from the Town of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner And also Zacharias in his 14th Chapter and in the 2d Book of Chronicles the 26th Chapter and 9th Verse It is said Vzzia built Towers in Jerusalem at the Corner-Gate and at the Valley-Gate c. The second corner Mount Zion maketh where it doth end toward the South whereon as also on the Mount Moriah the City is rising towards the North. The old City had twelve Gates as you read in the Revelation The 1st the Fish-gate which was also called the Gate of Hebron because the Road of Hebron went through it which is about seven or eight
hours walking distant from it 2. The Old-Gate 3. The Prison Gate whereof Nehemiah maketh mention in his 12th Chapter through which our Saviour Christ carried his Cross 4. Rayn-Gate 5. The Gate of Ephraim before which St. Stephen was Stoned to Death as you may read in the 2d Book of the Ecclesiastical History in the 1st Chapter 6. The Gate of Benjamin where the holy Prophet Jeremiah was taken and Imprisoned as he saith himself in the 37th Chapter 7. Corner Gate 8. Horse-Gate 9. Valley-Gate through which they went into the Valley of Josaphat 10. Dung Gate through which the Water carried out all the Soil into the Valley of Josaphat and about this River is still to this day a great stink 11. Sheep-Gate 12. Fountain-Gate which is now Walled up The Prophet Nehemiah maketh mention of them in his 3d 8th and 12th Chapter so that it is not needful to say any more These Gates are so mightily decayed that there is not to be seen the least of the old Buildings The Turks have instead of them built others in the New raised Wall but yet not half so many in number whereof some according as the Town is enlarged in some places and contracted in others are displaced others are erected again in the same places according to the Old Streets viz. 1. The Fish-Gate which is still standing towards the West behind Mount Sion and over against Mount Gihon as you may conclude out of the words of the 2d Book of Chronicles in the 33d Chapter and 14th Verse Manasses built a Wall without the City of David on the West-side of Gihon in the Valley even to the entring in at the Fish-Gate This Gate hath its Name because they brought many Fishes from the Sea-side through this Gate into the City So is also still standing on the outside of the Valley Tiropaeon which distinguished the two Mounts Sion and the Temple Mount called Moriah the Gate of the Fountain which hath its Name because it leadeth towards the Fountain of Siloha which Nehemiah in his 2d Chapter Verse 14 calleth the Kings Pool Through this was our dear Lord Christ the true promised Siloha brought a Prisoner bound from the Mount of Olives over the Brook Kidron into the House of Hannas and Caiphas in the upper Town as we read in the 12th Chapter Verse 37. that by the Fountain-Gate they went up to the City of David The same way also the two Disciples Peter and John were sent to bespeak the Paschal Lamb by Christ where they met the Man with the Pitcher of Water The Sheep or Beast-Gate is also still standing by Moriah the Mountain of the Temple which the Turks have taken to themselves and have built on it a Turkish Mosque or Temple because that God Almighty hath done many and great Miracles on this Mount and besides Mahumet did find himself again on this Mount after he had been carried up as his lying Writings tell us through the Heavens before God by the Angel Gabriel Wherefore they take this Mount to be Holy so that none that is not Circumcised and so Unclean dare approach or come near it nor take the nearest way without over the height of the Mount as Nehemiah did as you may see in the before quoted place so that the Christians must take a further way about and from the Gate Siloha go below through the Valley of the Brook Cedron between this and the Mount of Olives to the Beast-Gate which hath its Name because the Beasts that were to be offer'd in the Temple were driven through it Near the Gate you see still the Sheep-pond which is large and deep yet hath but little Water in it wherein the Nathineens used to wash the Beasts and then to give them to the Priests And also immediately within towards the North a Conduit which was the Pool by St. John the Evangelist in the 2d Verse of his 5th Chapter called Bathesda erected by King Ezechia that had five Porches wherein lay a great multitude of impotent folk that waited for the moving of the Water Through this Gate is the straight way over the Brook Cedron by the Mount of Olives toward Bethania down to Jericho on the River Jordan into the Valley of Josaphat wherefore this also being nearer now in these days is called the Valley-gate There is also still the Corner-gate in its old place where the North and East Walls meet on large and high Rocks and 〈◊〉 called still by some the Gate of Naphthali This I thougâ— convenient to say of the City of Jerusalem in the gâ—nerâ— of its Buildings Fruitfulness and adjacent Countries what Famous and Holy Places are within and without the City thereof I intend to treat in particular CHAP. IV. Of Mount Sion and its Holy Places MOunt Sion very famous in holy Scripture hath round about it steep sides high Rocks deep Ditches and Valleys so that it is not easie to climb up to it only on one side towards the North where it buts upon the lower Town so that the Castle and Town of David situated on it was very strong and almost Invincible as you may read in the 48 Psalm vers 2. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Sion on the sides of the north the City of the great King God is known in her places for a refuge for the Kings were assembled c. Seeing then that the Castle and the upper Town Millo vvas so vvell fortified vvith Tovvers and Walls that it vvas not easily to be taken the Jebusites after that Canaan the vvhole Land of Promise together vvith the Tovvn of Jerusalem vvas taken did defend themselves in it against the vvhole force of Israel for a long time although they often attempted to take it and called the Tovvn of Jerusalem after their Name Jebus until the Kingly Prophet David came vvho took it by force and after he had rebuilt the upper Tovvn and joined the Castle vvith it into one Building and surrounded it vvith Walls he called it after his ovvn Name The City of David and kept his Court there and gave also Lodgings to his Hero's and Officers vvhereof Vriah vvas one vvho had his Lodgings near to the Kings Palace vvherein the King vvalking on the Roof of his House savv the fair Bathsheba his Wife and committed Adultery vvith her These their Habitations as they are still built in these Days have instead of Thatch or Tiles plaister'd Roofs so that one may walk on them as you may see here that King David walked on it And also in the Second Chapter of the Book of Joshua where is said That when the Two Spies sent into the Land of Promise to Jericho came into Rahab's House and the King sent to search after them they went at her request up to the Roof of the House where she hid them with the Stalks of Flax which she had laid in order upon the Roof But seeing there is nothing so strong in in this World that is not transitory
therefore is also this Worldly Mount Zion together with its strong Building and Fortification which was rather a Type of the true Rock in Zion Christ our Lord and his Heavenly Kingdom and Holy Church that was built thereon so ruined and desolated that the greatest and highest part thereof before the Town except a Turkish Mosche some Tile Houses and a few Acres of it lieth quite like a Desart covered with Rocks and Stones So it is come to pass what Micah in his Third Chapter and the Twelfth Verse predicted Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field and Jerusalem shall become heaps and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest And Jeremiah in his Lamentations Cap. 5. Verse 18. saith The mountain of Zion which is desolate the foxes walk upon it And Isaiah in his Thirty second Chapter Verse 14. The Palaces shall be forsaken the multitude of the City shall be left the forts and towers shall be dens for ever a joy of wild asses a pasture of flocks The great Castle of the Turks is situated at the top of the inward part of the Mount towards the West Side near the Fishgate which is also newly built and very well surrounded with Walls and Ditches under the Gate are several great Guns to frighten the Christians that come thither in great Flocks chiefly against great Feasts from all Nations Armenians Georgians Abyssins Latinists c. for they fear that else the Town might be taken from them again Within the Fort near the Fishgate is still a strong high Tower built up with great Free-stone which is quite black through Age wherefore some say that it did anciently belong to the Fort and was built by one of the Kings of Juda. So much I thought convenient to mention of Mount Zion concerning other famous places that are to be seen upon and about it I will only mention the chiefest thereof First as you go out of the New Gate of Mount Zion there is a long Street wherein on the Left Hand is an ancient Church of the holy Apostle James the Greater Brother of John which Helena the Mother of Constantine the Emperor as also many more did build on the Market Place of the upper City where he was beheaded The Armenians that have possession thereof did conduct us into it shewed us the Building and the place where the holy Apostle was beheaded with the Sword as you read in the Acts of the Apostles the 12th Chapter by Order of Herod Agrippa to whom he was delivered out of spite as a seditious person by the High Priest Abiathar Then we came to the place of the Habitation of Hannas whereto Christ our Lord was first of all brought a prisoner and bound or fetter'd wherein was nothing observable only a large Court and in it an old Chapel called the Angels which we soon left and went out of the Gate of Mount Zion to the Habitation of Cayaphas where we saw an Orange-tree planted in the place where the holy Apostle Peter did warm himself when he denied our Saviour the third time further within a Chapel called St. Salvators where in former Ages was the Place of the High Priest where Christ was severely accused by Cayaphas and by his Servants mocked spit upon and beaten wherein is an Altar whereon the great Stone of the Grave still lieth that stopped the Door of the Sepulchre which is very like unto the Rock of the Grave in its breaking That the Habitation of the High Priest was in the upper City Josephus does testifie in the Seventeenth Chapter of his Second Book of the Desolation of Jerusalem where he saith thus When the rebellious Jews that had the lower Town in possession with the Temple did undertake to possess themselves also of the upper Town they did assault it with all might and power and at last take it then they drove out the Soldiers which had the Chief Priests and Men in power with them out of the upper Town set the Habitation of Ananias the High Priest on fire and burnt it Before this on the top of the Mount stands on the Plain a large Church which the Franciscan Monks had not long ago in possession and lived in it wherefore their Father did call himself a Guardian of the holy Mount Zion But after that the Turks did about Twenty years agon possess themselves of it and kept it to themselves and made a Mahumetan Mosche of it the Monks were forced to flie and take the Habitation where they now live instead thereof Of this Church or Mosche we saw only the outside of the Habitation of Caiaphas for no Christian is allowed to go into it It was built many years agon by Helena Mother of Constantin the Emperor as Nicephorus testifieth in the Thirtieth Chapter of his Eighth Book wherein is also included the Habitation the Disciples were locked up in for fear of the Jews and also the paved Dining-Room or Hall wherein Christ with his Disciples did eat the Passover where he also washed their Feet and sent the Holy Ghost after his Ascension to them where also James the Lesser was Elected Overseer and first Bishop of Jerusalem In this Temple which is above a thousand paces distant from Golgotha or the place of a Scull was for some time kept the Stone-Pillar whereto Christ our Lord and Saviour was tied and whipped Near unto this in the place of the Palace of Caiaphas the same Queen Helena ordered a Church to be built for the Holy Apostle Peter and many more whereof mention is made at large in the above quoted place This Mount extendeth its self towards the South out before the City and hath on the other side where it is highest other higher ones about it distinguished with Ditches and Valleys viz. towards the West Mount Gihon at the bottom whereof Solomon was anointed King by the Priest Zadock and the Prophet Nathan as we read in the First Chapter of thr First Book of Kings upon this at the top towards the Road of Bethlehem lieth the Field of Blood in their Language called Hakeldemas that was bought for 30 Silver Pieces to bury the Pilgrims there where you see still to this day here and there large and deep holes and one among the rest very big one wherein are still to be seen several whole Bodies lying by one another A deep Valley separates this Mount from Mount Zion which beginneth at the Fish-gate and goeth down to the Brook Cedron in it is a Conduit by the upper Pool called Asuia in the Third Chapter of Nehemiah which is pretty large yet without any Water which receiveth its Water from the high Spring of Gihon this was covered by King Hezekias and laid down to the Town of David as we read in the Second Book of Chronicles Chap. 32. The holy Prophet Isaiah Chap. 7. Verse 3. mentioneth it when she Lord said to him Go forth now to meet Ahaz thou and Shear-jashub
of July in the Year 1099 and had reduced it they laid down their Armors and Arms and went to visit the Holy Sepulchre with great Devotion and chose there unanimously their General King of Jerusalem who at their request undertook the Government would not be called King nor Crowned with a Golden Crown in that place where our Saviour that Arch-King had worn one of Thorns After he had obtained this Victory he also subdued some adjacent Towns viz. Joppe called Jassa Porphria situated at the Foot of Mount Carmel by the Arabians and Turks called Hayphe Tiberias and the Consines of Galilea He also overcame with a handful of his Men the Captain of the Sultan who had a great number of Men with him and killed above Thirty thousand of them But as nothing is lasting in human Affairs he died in the Eleventh Month of his Reign and was buried in the above-mentioned Chapel and upon his Tomb-Stone is still to be read this following Epitaph Hic jacet inclitus dux Gottefridus de Boulion qui totam istam terram acquisivit cultui Christiano cujus anima regnet cum Christo Amen After his Decease the Christians unanimously chose his Brother Baldewin King of Jerusalem in his place He overcame with a small number of Men th◠King of Egypt that was Two and twenty thousand strong and killed the greatest part of his Men. And when he died in the Eighteenth Year of his Reign they chose Cousin Baldewin of Burgo the Second of that Name King This was a great Warrior and did many Heroick Deeds with few Men against the Heathens he overcame and took Prisoner Gatzim the Turkish Prince of the Lesser Asia with a great number of Men but soon after in the Fifth Year of his Reign he was beaten in a Battel by the King of the Parthians and carried away Prisoner In the mean time the Venetians and Genoueses came with Two hundred and seventy Ships and dispersed and beat the Armada of the Saracens and sunk many of their Ships and took also the strong Town of Tyrus so that both by Sea and Land there was abundance of Blood shed When the Enemies saw this that they set the King at liberty again in the Eighteent Month of his Imprisonmenth for a Sum of Money after that he did execute in the six following Years of his Reign in order to an Enlargement of his Kingdom many glorious and famous Deeds He overthrew the King of the Ascalonites who was assisted by the Egyptians and fell upon Jerusalem in one single Battel and also beat the King of Damascus in three several ones as you may see by his Epitaph here underneath written Rex Baldewinus Judas alter Machabaeus Spes patriae vigor ecclesiae virtus utriusque Quem formidabant cui dona tributa ferebant Cedar Aegyptus Dan homicida Damascus Proh dolor in modico clauditur hic tumulo In the Year 1131 the Crown was presented to Fulcon Count of Andegavia and Son-in-law to the before-said Baldewin who also obtained several Victories against the Persians and Turks But in his time there arose some Differences among the Christians and some Conspiracies which proved afterwards very disadvantageous to him he lost also Edessa a City in Mesopotamia which King Baldewin the First had conquered before which the Turks took by force from him This King left two Sons Baldewin and Alamric and after he had reigned Eleven Years he fell dead when he hunted a Hare on full speed After him his Son Baldewin the Third was Crowned who also died in the Twenty fourth Year of his Reign after he had fought several Battels and taken some Towns Then his Brother Alamric came to the Crown who was a great Warrior so that he was very fit for this Dignity he obtained many Victories against Sultan Saladin But afterwards when the Scales were turned he died also after his return from Egypt in the Year 1178 his Son Baldewin the Fourth and the Seventh King undertook the Government of the Kingdom in the Thirteenth Year of his Reign This although he was leprous yet he managed his Business very well and defended his Dominions courageously and gloriously against the Infidels And because he would not be married by reason of his Distemper therefore he married his Sister Sibylla to a Marquis of Monteferrato called William She was brought to Bed in the first year of a Son and called him after his Uncle Baldewin But when William died he married her again to Guido of Lusignan Count of Joppe with this condition that after his Decease he should Rule the Kingdom for his Son-in-law and be his Guardian so long until he came at age But he behaving himself very ill in the mean while the King grew so angry with him that he would by no means suffer him to live in his Dominions and ordered another to fill up his place one Raymond a Count of Tripoli Soon after the King died before his Son was quite Twenty Years old and was also buried in the Temple of the holy Sepulchre Within Eight Months after did also die the true Heir of the Crown the Son of Sibylla his Sister and was also buried by the other Kings so that we find still on three several Tomb-Stones that stand close one behind the other viz. Septimus in tumulo puer hic regnum tumulatus Est Baldewinus regum de sanguine natus Quem tulit è mundo sors primae conditionis Vt Paradysiacae loca possideat regionis So by the Incitation of his Mother Guido was proclaimed the last King Raymund the Count of Tripoli was extremely disgusted at this Election being that the Kingdom was already recommended to him wherefore he resolved to go to war with him and that he might be strong enough for him he made a League with Sultan Saladin to his own Grief and Ruine For when the Sultan saw these Differences between them two he raised suddenly a great Army and took Jerusalem and the whole Country by force of Arms. So the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the Christians had been possessed of it Eighty eight Years and Nineteen Days was retaken again by the Infidels not without great Loss and Damage Not long after the Infidels did pull down the Walls of the City turned the Churches into Stables saving the Temple of Solomon and spoiled the holy Sepulchre of our Lord Christ which in all the other Wars did still remain intire so that only one side of the Rock thereof is now to be seen This was done by the Infidels on purpose to shew us the foolish Zeal we have to conquer and visit the holy Grave and City as if Christ were still in it This and other places had been quite demolished also had it not been for the Eastern Christians the Armenians Surians c. which did stop their Fury by giving of them a great Sum of Money and so redeemed it CHAP. X. A Common Account of several sorts of Christians but chiefly of them that are
nearer into the Valley between the Mounts of Olives there is still to be seen several Fig-trees whereabouts Christ did curse one of that kind because he found no Fruit thereon when he was hungry Just at the coming out of the Valley near unto the Steps of Mount Olivet you see the City again but chiefly the Mount of the Temple and Gate where you go up walled up in the new Wall From this Valley when our Lord Christ came in sight and came down the Mount Olivet the People as he came riding long cried saying Hosanna to the Son of David c. And a little after when he came nearer unto it he lamented with tears also their future misery and the terrible destruction of the Town and went in from thence toward the Golden Gate into the Temple and drove out the Buyers and Sellers CHAP. XXII Of Bethlehem the Mountains of Judea and their famous Places Where also is made mention of my returning back from Jerusalem to Tripoli BEthlehem formerly called Ephrata is situated towards the South Twenty Furlongs or a German Mile distant from Jerusalem The nearest way to it you go through the Gate of Hebron and come to the Right by the upper Mote and the bloudy Field up the steps over mount Gihon where just before you see a Cistern with good fresh Water near the Path made of white Stones and well prepared near which the Star did appear again unto the three wise Men of the Eastern Countries and led them into Bethlehem Near it there groweth a Turpentine Tree larger and higher than any that ever I saw elsewhere in my life Further about half way you pass over a Hill at the top whereof you may see both Towns Jerusalem and Bethlehem Before you is a large Valley which altho it be rocky yet is it fruitful both of Corn and Wine In it towards the Right Hand near the Road is an Acre called the Cicer-Field which had its Name as I was informed from the following Transaction It is said that when Christ went by at a certain time and saw a Man that was a sowing Cicers he did speak to him kindly and asked him what he was a sowing there the man answered scornfully and said He sowed small stones Then let it be said our Lord that thou reap the same seed thou sowest So they say that at Harvest-time he found instead of the Cicer-pease nothing but small Pebles in shape and colour and bigness like unto them exactly Now whether there be any thing of truth in it or no I cannot affirm but this I must say that there are to this day such stones found in this Field For as we went by some of us went into it and did gather a great many of them that were in bigness shape and colour so like unto these Cicers by the Arabians called Ommos and in Latin Cicer arietinum that we could hardly distinguish them from natural ones Hard by it you see still some old Ruins of old Stones where first Abraham the Patriarch did build a Tent as you read Genesis 12.8 And he removed from thence unto a Mountain on the East of Bethel and pitched his Tent having Bethel on the West and Hai on the East Senacherib the King of Assyria when he went before Jerusalem did come into this Valley with all his might and power and had by the Angel of the Lord in one nights time One hundred and eighty five thousand Men slain and still to this day there are two great holes to be seen wherein they flung the dead Bodies one whereof is hard by the Road towards Betlehem the other towards the Right Hand over gainst old Bethel which Town fell to the Children of Benjamin and is called still to this day Bethisella and is situated half a League farther towards the West at the Foot of the Hill in a very fruitful Country There did Jacob the Patriarch when he fled from his Brother Esau see in his sleep the Ladder which reached up into Heaven whereon the holy Angels ascended and descended wherefore he erected there a stone for a mark and called the place Bethel which was called Luz before as you may read in the Twenty eighth Chapter of Genesis As you come nearer to Bethlehem you see the Grave of Rachel at your Right Hand near the Road which Jacob did erect there when his Wife died in labour with Benjamin as you read in Genesis xxxv 16. And they journeyed from Bethel and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath and Verse 18. And it came to pass as her soul was in departing for she died that she called his name Benoni but his father called him Benjamin and Rachel died and was buried in the way Ephrath which is Bethlehem And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave that is the pillar of Rachel's Grave unto this day Before you come quite thither there is just by without it on the Left a good rich Cistern which is deep and wide Wherefore the People that go to dip water are provided with small Leathern Buckets and a Line as is usual in these Countries and so the Merchants that go in Carrvans through great Desarts into far Countries provide themselves also with these because in these Countries you find more Cisterns or Wells than Springs that lie high This was formerly under the Gates of Bethlehem whereof King David longed to drink wherefore his three Champions did break into the Camp of the Philistins and did dip some Water out of the Well and brought it to the King but the King would not drink of it for certain Reasons as you may read in the Twenty third Chapter of Samuel and in the Twelfth Chapter of the First of Chronicles From thence we went by the Path of the Mount into Bethlehem the Town of David where he was born and anointed King by the Prophet Samuel it lieth upon an Ascent its Buildings Town-Walls and Towers are so decayed that now it is quite open and nothing at all to be seen except the Well and Monastery but ruined Cottages Just without Bethlehem at the the other side of the Path towards the East for formerly the Town reached fo far they shew still the Stable under a large Rock wherein Jesus Christ the promised Messias God and Man was born of the immaculate Virgin Mary and laid in a Manger Of his coming and the place where he should be born the holy Prophet Micah long before prophesied in his Fifth Chapter and Second Verse saying But thou Bethlehem Ephrata though thou be little among the thousands of Juda yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting On that place hath Helena Mother of Constantine the Great also built a stately Church but since it is so ruined and demolished that hardly half of it is left as one may see by the old Walls of the Foun-Foundation and other Places
Bethlehem there are some Valleys very well tilled with Corn and Wine and among the rest a very pleasant and fruitful one that beginneth immediately by the Church and Fountain and runs down towards Jericho and Jordan This is below pretty wide full of Olive and Fig-trees it also bringeth forth some comfortable Herbs viz. some strange Origanums Tragoriganum Roman Serpillum which the Arabians call Sathar Absintium Santonicum which groweth every where in the holy Land this hath small ash-coloured Leaves very like unto them of ours and many small Stalks full of small yellowish Seeds it is of an unpleasant Smell very bitter with a saltish sharpness wherefore it is reputed to be the Scheha of the Arabians from whence our Worm-seed cometh In this Valley were the Shepherds to whom the Angels of the Lord did appear and declared to them the saving Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ saying Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord c. and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men In that place which is about half a League below Bethlehem is still a Church which also Queen Helena did build as Nicephorus testifieth in the Thirtieth Chapter of his Eighth Book this is for the greatest part fallen in so that nothing more but a small Arch is to be seen of it Hard by it did stand the Tower Ader as St. Jerom writes whereby Israel did erect a Tent as you may read in Genesis and looked after the Sheep with his Twelve Sons This is in our time so demolished that it lieth quite in Ruins Beyond it in another Valley not far from Bethlehem they shew still to this day a large Orchard full of Citron Lemon Orange Pomegranate and Fig-trees and many others which King Solomon did plant in his Days with Ponds Canals and other Water-Works very pleasantly prepared as he saith himself in the Second Chapter of Ecclesiastes Verse 5. I made me gardens and orchards and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits I made me pools of water to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees This is still in our time full of good and fruitful Trees wherefore it is worthy to be seen for their sakes and also for the Ditches sake that are still there Wherefore I really believe it to be that same whereof Josephus maketh mention in his Eighth Book of the Jewish Antiquities and the Seventh Chapter saying And the King rode in a Chariot cloathed in white and it was his Custom to ride early in the morning to a place called Hetten a hundred Furlongs from Jerusalem where he had a Garden with Water-pools and Works very pleasant and rich Thither went the King for his pleasure and did always use great diligence and consideration in all things and took delight to see every thing neat and handsom c. After we had seen the chiefest places within and without near and a far off of Bethlehem we returned to Jerusalem again by another way that was near as far again about and went over the Mountains of Judea which have first as you come from thence very good and fruitful Valleys full of Vines and Corn but the nearer you come to Jerusalem the higher and rougher are the Mountains In this way half a League from Nebeleschol the Friars shewed us a Well very rich of Water just by the Road that goeth down to Gaza this runneth into a small Rivulet wherein the holy Apostle Philip did baptize Candaces Chamberlain to the Queen of Aethiopia by it is nothing else to be seen but a small Church and a Fish-pond From thence we came over high rough and steep Hills into the Deserts where St John the Baptist did lead his life in his young Age there is nothing to be seen but a very ancient Chapel and hard by it a delicate Spring on the top of the Hill where we went up to refresh our selves a little with eating and drinking of what we had taken along with us About the Roads grow many Trees by the Inhabitants called Charnubi the Fruit whereof is called St. John's Bread in our Country and is brought to us in great plenty From thence we had still a very rough and hilly way to the Church and Habitation of Zachary whither the Virgin Mary did come climbing over the Hills to give Elizabeth a Visit c. before it a League distance nearer to the Town at the end of the Valley Raphaim whereof the holy Scripture maketh often mention viz. in the Fifteenth and Eighteenth Chapters of Joshua and in the First of the Chronicles and the 12th Chapter stands in a very pleasant and fruitful place the Church of St. John the Baptist and by it before you come quite to it falleth down the Spring of Nephthaah that is very rich of Water This Church is very ancient but yet pretty well built and hath on the Left Hand as you go in a deep and hidden Cave wherein Elizabeth did hide her self with John her Child that it might not be slain with the Children of Bethlehem by the Servants of Herod whereof you may read more in the Proto-Evangelium of St. Jacob where it is thus written When Elizabeth did hear that among the rest of the Innocents which Herod had commanded to be killed her Son John was also searched for she did climb up the Hills and looked about her where she might hide him but when she saw no place there where she could do him she sighed and cried out with a loud voice saying O ye hills of Gad take both the Mother and the Child for she could not ascend them the Hill did open it self instantly and took them into it c. But how afterwards Herod did search for John and how he did threaten and exhort his Father Zachary to tell him where his Son was and also how his Servants did kill Zachary not being satisfied with his Answer for it in the Porch of the Temple is at length related in the Books of the Martyrs of the Learned and Reverend Ludowich Rabus As you come from the before-mentioned Church nearer to the Town of Jerusalem there is still seen a large Pillar that is of great Antiquity and lieth very high between the Mountains on a high Hill five Furlongs off of Jerusalem wherefore some take it to be Ruines of the Fortification of Betzura but as far as one can understand by the Books of Maccabees that is situated more towards the East behind Mount Olivet Just before it within stands in the Valley that is full of pleasant Olive Trees a very old yet well built Church called the Holy Cross whereof some Greek Friars are possessed they pretend that in that place the Tree did stand that was made use of for the
Delta of Egypt and the City of Memphis on the side of Africa At length we returned by old Caire and saw all that is curious or worth being seen in it A Letter from Dublin concerning the Porphyry Pillars in Egypt By Dr. Huntingdon SIR YOU engage me after a very undeniable manner as I perceive by the minutes of your Philosophical Society to send you some account of the Porphyry Pillars in Egypt and though I could have satisfied your Curiosity much better in this matter had you thought of it when I was amongst my Papers in Oxford yet rather than hazard your good Opinion or give the least pretence of disrespect to your worthy Company for whose Persons and Designs I have so just an esteem and veneration I here send not what 's fit for me to write or you to read but what I can remember upon this subject Nor do I intend to speak concerning the nature or composition of Stones in general or of Porphyry more particularly but meerly as to matter of Fact so far chiefly as it fell under my own cognizance i. e. if you please rather like an Historian than a Philosopher In the first place then I think it may be taken for granted that there is no such Quarry or Rock of Stone rather in all the lower parts of Egypt for so far as the Nile o'erflows is perfect Soil A Sample whereof I hope you still retain and let me entreat you to be very exact in weighing it this year that you may be sure whether it be heavier in the time of the inundation as is generally believed than before or after And when and in what proportion it encreases The Boundaries of this overflow which are never ten miles from the Channel that I saw generally scarce half of it and in some places but a mile or two the Delta still excepted which is universally covered all but the North side to the Sea and a little to the East for some miles above Damiata are rising Hills of Sand beyond which is perfect Desart upon the Africk side the Lybian Higher South I have been told there are Rocks nearer the River and in some places streighten it but under those Sands is a yielding Stone not much harder than Chalk though not so white and very easily managed as at the Mummies deep spacious Vaults which were the old Repositories for the Dead And the like also may be said of those Cells or Sepulchres which are hewn purely out of the Rocky Earth three quarters of a mile on the South of Alexandria Albeit nearer the Sea there are Stones of a harder kind and with which they build but by their mouldering away as appears by the Remains of Houses within the Walls of the City 't is plain they can't endure the Weather which is sufficiently corroding there The Iron which once plated their thick wooden Gates being mostly eaten away and the deep Characters upon the sides of these very Porphyry Pillars exceedingly defaced Indeed about Memphis i. e. by the Pyramids they have a milder Air and the Hieroglyphicks cut in those Stones will last well enough till they shall be removed into a rougher But then they 'l crizle and scale as I found by sad experience For having procur'd four Stones the best mark'd with those figures of Antiquity I could meet with and sent them down to Alexandria in order to their transportation for England I found them upon my second Voyage into Egypt very much injur'd being put into the Custom-house-yard where they lye still embargo'd by the Aga who demanded an intolerable Sum for liberty to ship them as you may remember I told you the Story But yet farther in the Country there are Mountains of harder Stone In the Nitrian now the Desart of St. Macarius and not far from the Lake where the Latroon or true Nitre incrustates upon the top of the Water there are many and some of them not utterly unlike Porphyry That which nearest resembles its colour though not its Consistence is the vein that produces the Eagle-stone of which there are many in the Bahr Batama a great Sandy Valley But these Stones are of a different complexion from Porphyry as you may perceive by those I sent you which also will assist your conjectures of their original However I can't pronounce that there is no Porphyry hereabouts for in the chief Monastery of the four now remaining of 366 as many as are days in the longest year dedicated to the Blessed Virgin the two Stones which secure their entrance are of the like if not the very same substance which I more particularly observ'd upon the account of their ingenious contrivance for these poor People lying otherwise at the mercy of the roving Arabs with these two Mill-stones for that 's their make thus make good their Gate against them or rather their passage into which they run them and then drive a great wooden Wedge between them on the inside which so fastens them that they cannot be loosed but upon the inside neither And of such a sort of Porphyry is the noted Sphynx a mighty head and shoulders 110 feet in compass yet standing by the Northern Pyramids I have indeed been told of the place upon Mount Sinai whence this Porphyry came but so they shew the very Rock where the two excellent double rows of Pillars in the Church of Bethlehem were hewn though I went away satisfied that 't was a quite different sort of Stone Another tells of a Pillar of the same make yet lying there and if this be certain you need seek no further Albeit I must tell you that the Stones brought thence with the representation of a Buck it must needs be called upon them some of which you had though reddish are of a much finer and more even texture Wansleben writes of a great many more Southerly but I know him too well to believe all that he says for Gospel And a more sober man Father Carlo Francisco d' Orleans now Superior of the Capucines at Cairo who went 300 leagues up the Nile in the year 69 told me of many Temples Statues and Pillars at that distance tho I can't be sure he said there were any of Porphyry But since 't was in Thebais why may we not suppose them of that black white and red speckled Thebaick Marble famous in the World and wherewith the lesser Pyramid perhaps was crusted yet to be seen upon the ground about it and when polish'd looks finely Those which I have my self seen are one of them at the Matarea three or four miles East of Grand Cairo and two at Alexandria just within the Wall upon the North side of the City for Pompey's Pillar as they call it half a mile without the Gate to the South is quite of another make and matter One of these is thrown down and broken into pieces but was of the same dimensions for breadth and thickness with the other The Franks call them Aguglia's the English particularly
MEcha is seven and thirty days Journey from Caire and all over Desarts it is a days Journey from the Red-Sea the Port of it is called Gidde which is a little Town wherein are two Castles on the two sides of the Port one on each side and the Turks say that Eve lies buried there They shew her Sepulchre which is in length 38 or 40 steps of a man's walk and hath no other Ornament but a Stone at each end Mecha is about the bigness of Marseilles in the middle whereof is the Kiaabe or Beytullah that is to say the House of God which the Turks say was first built by the Patriarch Abraham This House is about fifteen foot in length eleven or twelve in breadth and about five fathom high The Threshold of the Door is as high from the ground as a man can reach his Hand being within filled up even with the Threshold The Door is about a fathom and an half high and a fathom wide and is in the corner to the left hand when one faces the House This Door is of beaten Silver and opens with two leaves they go up to it by a Ladder supported by four Wheels two whereof are fastened to the lower end of the Ladder and the other two to two wooden Posts about the middle of it by means of which Wheels the Ladder is run to the Wall when any body is to enter into the Beytullah This House has a flat Roof supported by three Pillars of an Octogone Figure which are of Aloes-wood as big as the Body of a man and about three fathom and a half long they are of one entire piece each and yet run in a streight Line the length of the Building which is hung with red and white Stuff having here and there these words upon them La Illah Illallah Mouhammed Resoul allah At the same corner where the Door is but on the other side by the Wall is the black Stone which they call Hadgiar Asuad and is had in veneration by them because as they say Abraham stood upon it when he built that House and that it served him for a Scaffold to the end he might make no hole in the Wall it rising higher or lower as he pleased and being for that purpose brought him by the Angel Gabriel There is a Court about this House which the Turks call Haram and it is encompassed with Walls with three rows of Pillars and Arches on the inside of it The four Sects of Mahometanism have their places of Prayer in this Court which are the Hanifi Chafii Maliki and Hambeli each in one of the four parts of the Court with their Faces turned always towards the Beitullah or House of God This House is begirt with two Belts of Gold one below and the other on high On one side of the Terrass that covers the Beitullah there is a Spout of beaten Gold about a fathom long that jets out to carry off the Rain-water that falls upon the Terrass The same House is covered on the out-side with Hangings of black Silk which is a kind of Damask and every year there are new ones sent from Caire at the charges of the Grand Signior Ten days Journey from Mecha upon the Road to Damascus is the City of Medina three days Journey from the Red Sea The Port of it is called Iambo which is a little Town of the same shape and bigness as Gidde Medina is about half as big as Mecha but it hath a Suburbs as big as the Town it self Much about the middle of that Town there is a Mosch in a corner whereof is the Sepulchre of Mahomet covered in the same manner as the Monuments of the Turkish Emperors are at Constantinople The Sepulchre is in a little Tower or round Building covered with a Dome which the Turks call Turbe This Building is quite open from the middle up to the Dome and all round it there is a little Gallery of which the out-side Wall has several Windows with Silver Grates to them and the in-side Wall which is that of the little Tower is adorned with a great number of precious Stones at that place which answers to the head of the Tomb. There are rich things there also of an inestimable value sent by the Mahometan Kings during so many Ages which are fastened within this Gallery all round the said Turret Among others at the place which answers to the head of the Tomb there is a great Diamond half as long as ones Fore-finger and two Fingers broad over which is the Diamond which Sultan Osman the Son of Sultan Ashmet sent thither and is equal to that which the Ottoman Emperors wear on their Finger These two Diamonds were heretofore but one which Sultan Osman caused to be sawed in two in the middle Lower down there is a Half-Moon of Gold set with Diamonds of great worth The Pilgrims see not Mahomet's Tomb because that Turret wherein it is enclosed hath no Windows being only open above as hath been said but such as make any stay at Medina have liberty and leisure to enter into the Turbe and see it when there is no clutter of Strangers there that is to say three or four months after the departure of the Pilgrims who see no more but the aforesaid Gallery and the Riches that are within it through the Silver Grates of the Windows which we mentioned before Those then who enter into the Turbe see that the Tomb hangs not in the Air as many have falsly written and which is more never did hang so but is upon the flat Ground raised and covered like the Tombs of Turkish Emperors and Bashaws The Turbe is hung all round with Hangings of red and white Silk like Damask which cover all the Wall except at the place where the great Diamonds are for there they are tuck'd aside that the Diamonds may not be covered Round all these Hangings are the aforementioned words in Characters of Gold La Illah Illallah Mouhammed Resoul allah These Hangings are renewed every seven years by the Ottoman Emperors unless when a new Emperor succeeds before the seven years be accomplished for in that case the Emperor renews them so soon as he comes to the Throne The Door by which they enter into the Gallery is of Silver and so is the other that goes out of the Gallery into the Turbe When the Pilgrims to the number of Two hundred thousand Souls are come to Mecha at the usual time which is a short while before the little Bairam and that it is the day before the Vigil of the said Bairam they go and lye at a place called Myne half a league from Mecha and next day being the Vigil of Bairam they go half a league farther off to another place called Arafa which is a great Plain in the middle whereof there is a Rock or rising Hillock and on the top of it a Member or place for preaching in into which steps a Scheikh who preaches to all the
and confessed that after it they were holy and so innocent that if they should die then they were secure that their Soul should go immediately out of their Mouth into Heaven and eternal life To this I answered them That I expected Remission of Sin no other ways but only in the Name and for the Merits of our Lord Jesus Christ and that I had not undertaken this Pilgrimage as they did to get any thing by it as by a good Work nor to visit Stone and Wood to obtain Indulgence or with opinion to come here nearer to Christ because all these things are directly contrary to Scripture As the Lord himself saith Time will come that you shall neither on this Mount nor at Jerusalem worship the Father And he also forewarneth us of these that say Lo Christ is here Christ is there lo he is in the desarts he is in the Chamber that we should not believe them nor go out but rather confide on his promise that he will be with us to the end of the World and where two or three are met together in his Name that he will be in the middle of them Wherefore our dear Lord Christ hath no need because he is himself present with them that believe in him of any Vicegerent that should on Earth usurp such Power and take such Honor and Glory to himself as to give Indulgence at his pleasure because all these things belong only to God When I saw that they did not much mind this my Discourse I let them alone in their Opinions but yet I saw here and there all these places and considered by my self what our Lord Christ had by his bitter Sufferings and Death by his Glorious Resurrection and Ascension procured us from his Heavenly Father When the Pilgrims came to one of the above-mentioned places of Mount Zion and had said their Prayers they went into it and contemplated it fell down again before it and kissed it with great Submission and Devotion pulled out several pieces viz. Beads and Rosaries turned of the Wood of the Trees of the Mount of Olives some wrought Points Laces c. tied together in Bundles to touch the holy place with it they also knocked off in some places where they might some small Pieces to take them along with them as consecrated Sanctuaries to distribute them amongst their Friends at their Return All the while that they were thus busie I considered rather standing behind what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had suffered for us in these places how he had humbled himself and came down to us miserable Sinners to help us and to extol us that were fallen and to make us free of the heavy Burthen of our Sins how he was led before the Seat of Judicature of Caiaphas that we might not be led before the severe Judgment Seat of the Almighty God that he suffered himself to be led captive and bound to deliver us from the Bands of the Devil and Death and to save us from the Jaws of Hell and as Esaias saith in his 53d Chapter Verse 5. He was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed But that our dear Lord Christ was delivered to the High Priest and Scribes c. for our sakes and that he was obedient to his Heavenly Father unto Death even the Death of the Cross to deliver us from the Curse of God and eternal Death And to make us certain that he had procured these his unspeakable Benefits and Heavenly Treasures for us and that we really should be partakers thereof before his passion he did institute his holy Supper upon the Mount in the large upper Room wherein he doth not only communicate them to us but giveth us also if we receive the holy broken Bread and the blessed Cup with true Faith according to the Institution his real Body and Blood to feed us to eternal Life where we then shall sit with our Lord Christ and all the elected ones after this life as Coheirs in the high upper Room of his Heavenly Father at his Table to eat and drink it with him anew And that we might heartily comfort our selves with these his unspeakable Benefits he also after his Ascension sent us on the Day of Pentecost his Holy Ghost the Spirit of Truth to incline our Hearts to believe stedfastly all that he hath promised us in his holy Word and Sacraments So the sending of the Holy Ghost which was long before predicted by the holy Prophets was fullfilled on this Mount whereof we read in several places of the holy Scripture viz. Joel ii 28. And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh c. For on mount Zion and in Jerusalem must be a Deliverance according to the promise of the Lord. And Isaiah ii 3. Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord c. for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem So that the Preaching of Christ's holy Gospel and his Kingdom did begin from Zion and Jerusalem and was afterwards spread abroad by his holy Apostles throughout the whole World Grant then O our dear Lord Christ unto us thy Holy Ghost that he may keep us in the Knowledge of thy holy Word and that he may so strengthen and comfort us in it that we may freely and without any fear confess it before the Face of our Enemies and Adversaries and if they offend and prosecute us that we may overcome our Crosses and Persecutions with patience that thy Honor may be advanced and our Constancy appear Grant us also that he may plant these thy Graces in our Hearts that we may comfort our selves with the hope and expectation of those Treasures which thou hast by thy Death and Passion merited and purchased for us So that we may abide in thy Tabernacle and dwell in thy holy Hill for ever Amen Psalm xv 1. CHAP. V. Of the Mount Moria and the Glorious Temple of Solomon WIthin the City near to Mount Zion lieth another called Moria divided from it by the Valley of Tiropaeon which is now filled up and made even with the top as I have said before that hereabout is hardly any Depth or Unevenness to be seen This as well as the other meets with the Rivulet or Brook of Kidron towards the North and on both of them the Town lieth on the sides or descent This is very famous in the Holy Scripture as you read Genesis xxii That the pious Patriarch Abraham was ready to offer his Son Isaac on this Hill for a Burnt-Offering to the Lord whereon Melchisedec the first Founder and King of the Town Salem and Priest of the Almighty God did first build a Temple and therefore named the City Jerusalem So we read in the Second Book of Chronicles Chap. iii. That on the same holy Mount