the Brothers of St. Jacob are known by the Scallopshells The same is also with their Camels for on the lower part of one of their Forefeet you may see as many small Chains hung as they have been times there in Caravans so that you also may soon discern them And that I may return to my purpose again near to the Turkish Moschèe of the Holy Rock is also an other Church which by the Christians when they were in possession of Jerusalem was called the Virgin Mary's Church which is very well built rather bigger then the Turkish and stands without towards the South on the place of the great Porch of the Israelites which is several times mentioned in the Scriptures Viz. Joh. 10. Math. 21. where it is called the Temple and Porch of Solomon where Christ did Preach and drove out the Buyers and Sellers c. Underneath it is a great Cave so wide that some hundred Horse may with ease be drawn up in Battalia therein This is also in the Possession of the Turks and the Christians dare no more come in here then in the other By this Prohibition Viz. That the Mahumetans shall admit into their Churches or Porches thereof no Strangers which according to their Laws are not Cleansed and Washed you may easily see that the Turks have taken many Ceremonies and Laws from the Jews and according to their depraved understanding and mind Transcribed them into their Alcoran So we see that anciently they have their Circumcision Offerings Washings Fasts at certain times of the year marrying more then one Wife not Eating any thing that is Unclean or Pork or what is suffocated not having Bells not drinking Wine as the Levitical Priest must not do derived from the Jews But this last Law concerning not drinking of Wine is not only not kept for they drink thereof without mixture let it be as strong as it can more than ony other Nation It being then true that they choose the Fatt with Wine presented them by Moses as is before said to their own Ruin and Destruction wherefore I pray that God may fulfil their Prophecy Amen CHAP. VI. Of the Saracens and Turkish Religion Ceremonies and Hypocritical Life with a short hint how long time their Reign shall last after Mahomet 's Decease SEing I have here above made mention amongst the rest of the Places and Churches of Jerusalem of the Turkish Moschèes and also of Mahomet their Prophet I cannot but also Relate something of theit Hypocritical and Superstitious Life and belief as I have observed in my Travels and during my stay among them chiefly something of their outward Ceremonies good Works wherewith they think to fulfil the Laws to cleanse themselves from their manifold Sins and Transgressions and to obtain Gods Mercy and Love Wherefore they strive that they may be found always busie in these good Works whereof they reckon the chiefest to be Alms Pilgrimage Fastings to make Offerings to abstain from certain Food or Drinks frequent Washing Praying upon which two last they look most of all as the true means by which if they keep them diligently they may be freed and absolved from their Sins according to the Promises of their dear Prophet Mahomet Such and the like have also the Jews had in the Old Testament where without doubt their Prophet being by his Mother an Ishmaelite had them also But seeing that he also Attributeth to these Absolution and Satisfaction for our Sins and also consequently Salvation and everlasting Life Therefore all those that follow and believe his Doctrine miss the only Mediator and Saviour Jesus Christ of whom as well as of his Holy Word they else have a good Opinion as appeareth by their Alcoran in whom God the Father Almighty will only be known Invoked and Adored As St. John saith in his 5th Chap. 23. He that Honoureth not the Son Honoureth not the Father that hath sent him And Chap. 14. vers 9. where Jesus saith He that hath seen me hath seen the Father and in the 4th Chapt. of the Acts it is said verse 12. There is no Salvation in any other for there is no other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved wherefore although Mahomet doth greatly Command and Teach that we must Adore the only God yet they do not know the true God that will only be Adored and Honoured in his Beloved Son and besides Mahomet will not allow that God hath a Son and much less That Christ is the true God in whom we shall believe For in his Diabolical and Blasphemous mind and thoughts he hath this precaution that if God should have a Son he might come to be Disobedient unto him as happeneth sometimes chiefly amongst them to worldly Princes which would expose all Creatures in Heaven as well as on Earth unto great Danger So he denieth the Deity of Christ and Esteemeth him to be no more as Arius doth then a great Saint and meer Man So he hath the same Opinion with Macedonius of the Holy Ghost whom and Christ he sometimes maketh but one person And so the Turks know no more by the Instruction of their Cursed Prophet of the true living God that is one in his Essence and three in Persons then when they Adored the Fire water and other Elements nay Heaven and Earth as also the Persians have done before they come over to the Saracens and adhered to the Doctrine of their Mahomet And besides they have no more comfort in our Lord Christ then the Jews because they do not believe that Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary and Messenger of God was Crucified Dead and Buried but that another that was very like him suffered instead of him because he was Seated in Heaven where into God received him and that he was to return again at the End of the World a great deal higher then that he could be so shamefully killed by the Jews that impious people wherefore the Turks admire it very much that so many Pilgrims of all Nations come to see the Grave of Christ with so great a Devotion which is not his And although the Turks prefer their Mahomet before Christ and also do not believe right neither of his Essence nor of his person so that therefore all their Worship with what Devotion soever performed is null and in vain because it is not in Christ Yet for all that they Praise and Esteem Christ very high and Extol him far beyond any Man as one that was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary and that hath here on Earth carried on his Doctrine and confirmed it with powerful Miracles Wherefore they Esteem the Books of Moses and the other Writings of the Prophets but chiefly the Four Evangelists which they call the Book Jugilis and the Books of Moses Thresit as true and Godly And sometimes they pretend so fairly that an ordinary Man that is not well instructed in the Chief Articles of Christianity although there is so
strange Origanum Tragoriganum Roman Mother of Time Spicanardi and a peculiar sort of Coniza c. At the foot of the Mount they shew us first a great Church between the Rivolet Cedron and the Valley of Josaphat which was so covered with Earth that you could see nothing of it but the Entry and before it without a large place three steps deep This Church was built by Helena Mother of Constantine the Emperor and called the Sepulchre of our Lady the Mother of God to go into it you must go down 44 steps Within it toward the right there is a small Chapel where they say our Lady was Buried and therefore by the Benevolence of the Pope there is distributed and given to the Pilgrims full forgiveness of all Transgressions and Punishments for ever Some are of Opinion That this Church did formerly stand even with the Ground and that after the Devastation of Jerusalem when part of the Valley of Josaphat was filled up it was covered thus over This Church stands as Nicephorus saith in his 8th Book and the 30th Chapter on that place where the Village Gethsemane stood whereby the Garden was whither our dear Lord Christ did just before his Passion go with his Eleven Disciples after he had Eaten the Paschal Lamb with them and given Thanks according to his usual Custom over the Rivolet of Cedron to regain us that which was formerly lost by our Ancestors in the Garden There he left his Eight Disciples while he went to Pray as the Scripture telleth us when he took with him Peter James and John the two Sons of Zebedeus and began to mourn to quake and to tremble and said to them My soul is sorrowful unto death stay here watch with me and pray that you enter not into temptation and he withdrew from them about a Stones cast where he kneeled down fell three times on his face and prayed to his Heavenly Father where he wrestled with Death and Sweat a bloody Sweat so that an Angel must come down from Heaven at last to Comfort him This place is underneath a great Rock that hangeth over a great Cave just at the Entry of the Valley of Josaphat This Valley is still where it cometh down from the Mount of Olives pretty deep and is called by the holy Prophet Joel the Valley of Judgment as you may read in his 3d Chapter 14 Verse which words of Joel give us to understand that the Lord as he was when he came first upon Earth in this Valley taken Prisoner Bound and carried away to the place of his bitter Suffering Crucifixion and Dying so he shall in his second and glorious coming appear in this Valley of Judgment again to Judge all people of the whole Earth c. that then the Impious shall see whom they have pierced Zacharias speaks also of it in the above-mentioned place As you go from thence to the Mount of Olives you see below towards your left hand near unto the Bridge of the River Cedron an old square Building like unto a Steeple This altho it is believed to this day not only by Christians but also by the Turks and Moors to be the Grave of Absalom as you shall see them fling Stones into it as they go by to revenge his Undutifulness shewn to his Father King David yet notwithstanding he was not Buried there as we read in the 2d Book of Samuel the 18th Chapter Vers 17. And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood and laid a very great heap of stones upon him Yet for all this when Absalom was alive as you may farther read in the before-mention'd Chapter he erected a Column in the Kings Dale for he said I have no Son therefore this shall be for a remembrance of my Name and called this Pillar after his Name and it is still called to this day Absaloms Place Of this Pillar writes also Josephus in the 7th Book of his Antiquities and the 10th Chapter saying And Absalom did erect a Kingly Column of Marble in the Valley Genes chap. 14. it is called the Kings Valley that is two Furlongs from Jerusalem Just by this Pillar beginneth a very steep Foot-Path which parts a little above it into two one whereof goeth Southward at the bottom of the Mount of Olives towards Bethania and Jericho c. down through the Valley that is made by this and the other part of the Hill called Mashit in the 4th of the Kings Chap. 23. but the other goeth over the height of the Mount of Olives out by Bethania to the House of Mary and Martha A little higher on this Hill did our Saviour sit over against the Temple when he foretold his Disciples that shewed him the glorious Buildings thereof That not one Stone should remain upon another that should not be thrown down And did also tell them at length the terrible and prodigious Signs that should come to pass before the Desolation of Jerusalem and the end of the World To this day we still see into the Turkish Mosque with its large Paved Court-yard over the Walls thereof so perfectly that you may distinguish almost the Persons that walk there From thence when you go up to the Hill which is very steep and rough there is a large Plain from whence our dear Lord Jesus Christ was taken up and ascended into Heaven as you may see by the words of the Holy Evangelist St. Luke in his first Chapter of the Acts Verse 9. where he saith And he was taken up and a cloud received him out of their sight And Verse 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-days journey On this place as Nicephorus mentioneth did Queen Helena also afterward Build a stately Church which now is so decayed that there is no more to be seen of it but a New built Chapel in a large Yard surrounded with a Wall Just by it on a Hill of the Mount towards the North and Galilea there is an old decayed Building which was formerly as my Guide informed me an Inn for the Galileans where commonly did take up those that went to Jerusalem from Galilea Wherefore they are of opinion that some of them were there in the time of Christ that also were Spectators of his Glorious Ascension as it doth appear by the Words of the two Angels that spoke to them and said You men of Galilea why stand you here gazing up into Heaven c. But if you duly consider these words you will find as you read it in the Second Chapter of the Acts Verse 7. that the Apostles themselves were these Galileans where it is written Behold are not all those which speak Galileans and how hear we every man in our own tongue c. So did also the holy Angels speak to the Apostles after the same manner and called them Galileans rather to bring them as Elders of the Christian Church off their worldly thoughts
was almost like unto the Sea so that at Night pretty late we arrived at Juppe a pleasant and well built Town belonging to the Turks and it is also divided into two Parts whereof one lieth in the middle of the River on a high Ground at the Top whereof is a Fortress so the Town is pretty well defended The other which is rather bigger lieth on the lest in Mesopotamia wherein are many fine Orchards belonging to the Houses full of high Date-Trees c. wherefore the Merchants spent half a Day there to buy Dates Almonds and Figs to carry with them into the Inns the same they did at Idt another great Town of the Turks on the Right-hand of the Euphrates situate on a high Ground where we arrived on the 20th of October at Night in very good Time and gave them instead thereof Soap-balls Knives and Paper c. After which goods they have often enquired of us and we have given them sometimes some Sheets of white Paper which they received with great Joy and returned us many thanks for them After our Merchants had sufficiently stored themselves with these Goods and our Master had pay'd the Duty for his two Ships he put off about Noon on the 21st of October and went away About the Evening we saw at this Side of the River a Mill and also the next Day another whereby were several old Walls Doors and Arches c. Whereby I conjecture that formerly there stood a Town These two Mills as I was informed were two Powder-Mills that make Gun-powder for the Turkish Emperour and send it to him in Caravans together with other Merchandizes through the Dominions of the King of Arabia wherefore he must as well as other Merchants pay Duty for that Liberty and Toll or Custom The Gun-powder is not made from Salt-Peter as ours is but out of another Juice which they take from a Tree that is reckon'd to be a kind of Willow known to the Persians by the Name of Fer and to the Arabians by Garb as I have mentioned above Besides this they take the small Twigs of these Trees together with the Leaves and burn them to Powder which they put into Water to separate the Salt from it and so make Gun-powder thereof yet this is nothing near so strong as ours Pliny chiefly testifieth this in his 31st Book and 10th Chapter where he saith that in former Days they have made Niter of Oak-Trees which certainly he hath taken these to be for they are pretty like Oaks but that it hath been given over long before now Which is very probable chiefly because the Consumption thereof was not so great before they found out Guns as it is now since they have been found out Further on the Water-side on the high Banks I saw an innumerable many Coloquints grow and hang down which at a distance I could not well know until they called them by their ancient Arabick Name Handbel whereby they still to this Day are known to the Inhabitants After we had navigated a great way several Days one after another through even Grounds and in a good Road we arrived at length on the 24th Day of October at Night near to Felugo or Elugo a little Village called so and with it the whole Province 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 THE Village Elugo lyeth on the place where formerly Old Babylon the Metropolis of Chaldee did stand the Harbour lyeth a quarter of a League off whereinto those use to go that intend to travel by Land to the Famous trading City of Bagdet which is situated further to the East on the River Tigris at a Day and a half 's distance At this Harbour is the place where the Old Town of Babylon did stand but at this time there is not a House to be seen whereinto we could go with our Goods and stay till our departure We were also forced to unload our Merchandises into an open Place as if we had been in the midst of the Desarts and to pay Toll under the open Sky which belongeth to the Turks This Country is so dry and barren that it cannot be tilled and so bare that I should have doubted very much whether this Potent and Powerful City which once was the most Stately and Famous one of the World situated in the pleasant and fruitful Country of Sinar did stand there if I should not have known it by its Situation and several ancient and Delicate Antiquities that still are standing hereabout in great Desolation First by the Old Bridge which was laid over the Euphrates which also is called Sud by the Prophet Baruch in his first Chapter whereof there are some Pieces and Arches still remaining and to be seen at this very Day a little above where we landed These Arches are built of burnt Brick and so strong that it is admirable and that so much the more because all along the River as we came from Bi r where the River is a great deal smaller we saw never a Bridge wherefore I say it is admirable which way they could build a Bridge here where the River is at least half a League broad and very deep besides Near the Bridge are several heaps of Babylonian Pitch to pitch Ships withal which is in some places grown so hard that you may walk over it but in others that which hath been lately brought thither is so soft that you may see every step you make in it Something farther just before the Village Elugo is the Hill whereon the Castle did stand in a Plain whereon you may still see some Ruines of the Fortification which is quite demolished and uninhabited behind it pretty near to it did stand the Tower of Babylon which the Children of Noah who first inhabited these Countries after the Deluge began to build up unto Heaven this we see still and it is half a League in Diameter but it is so mightily ruined and low and so full of Vermin that have bored holes through it that one may not come near it within half a Mile but only in two Months in the Winter when they come not out of their holes Among these Insects there are chiefly some in the Persian Language called Eglo by the Inhabitants that are very poysonous they are as others told me bigger than our Lizards and have three Heads and on their Back several Spots of several Colours which have not only taken Possession of the Tower but also of the Castle which is not very high and the Spring-well that is just underneath it so that they cannot live upon the Hill nor dare not drink of the Water which is wholesome for the Lambs This is Romance From this Tower at two Leagues distance Eastward lieth the strong Town Traxt which was formerly called Apamia mentioned
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
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
near the bottom of the Hill Norad the second the Father of Mahomet the Great lies buried near whereunto was formerly the Metropolitical Church of the Holy Apostles The Bezesten or Exchange seems to be much better and larger than the great one at Constantinople as are the several Caravanserais built for the use and accommodation of Merchants and Travellers in one of which the Rice Chane I took up my quarters Without the City toward the East is the Mosch and Sepulchre of the Emperor Bajazid the first whom the Turks call Jilderim or Lightning and the Greek Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Not far from hence is the Mosch of Mahomet the first and his Sepulchre Toward the West upon the side of the Hill is the Mosch of Morad the first whom they call Gazi or the Conqueror near which he lies buried There are in the whole about 124 Moschs several of which were formerly Christian Churches and between fifty and sixty Chanes The Castles built by Osman when he besieged the City are slighted and altogether unfortified the one to the North the other to the South-west At Checkerghe about a mile and a half out of Town are the hot Baths much frequented both by Christians and Turks They are made very convenient to bath in and are covered over that they may be used in all weathers Among others there is a large round Basin where they usually divert themselves by swimming What Opinions the Turks have of our B. Saviour and the Christian Religion I shall briefly shew as they lye dispersed in several Chapters of the Alcoran according to which they frame their Discourse whensoever either Zeal or Curiosity puts them upon this Topick for Mahomet upon his setting up to be the Author of a new Religion finding such a considerable part of the World professing the Doctrine of Christ with all the Mysteries of Faith therein contained was cast upon a necessity of saying something both concerning him and it By which it will appear how great the power of Truth is above Imposture and Subtilty and that as the Devils in the possessed confess'd though against their wills Christ to be the Son of God so this Daemoniack in the midst of all his Forgeries and Lyes and ridiculous and childish Narratives not being able to contradict the universal Belief of the Christians of that and the preceeding Ages founded on the History of the Gospel hath been forced to give testimony to several particulars of it They confess then that Christ was born of a pure spotless Virgin the Virgin Mary chosen by God and sanctified above all the Women in the World and that the Angel Gabriel was dispatched out of Heaven to acquaint her with the news of it That such a kind of miraculous and supernatural Birth never hapned to any besides and that Christ was conceived by the Holy Ghost and that he wrought mighty Miracles for instance that he cleansed Lepers gave Sight to the Blind restored Sick persons to their Health and raised the Dead That he is a great Prophet sent by God to convert men from the vanity and error of their false worship to the knowledge of the true God to preach Righteousness and to correct and restore the imperfection and miscarriages of human Nature that he was of a most holy and exemplary life that he was the true Word of God the Apostle or Ambassador of God that his Gospel was revealed to him from Heaven and that he is in Heaven standing nigh to the Throne of God They blaspheme indeed with a brutishness and stupidity only befitting Turks the Mysteries of the Holy Trinity and of the Divinity of our B. Saviour and deny that he was put to death and say that another in his shape was crucified by the Jews and that he himself was assumed into Heaven in his body without dying at all and consequently they will not own that he satisfied Divine Justice for the Sins of the World so great an affinity is there between the Heresie of Socinus and profess'd Mahometanism I could never yet see any Turkish Translation of the Alcoran they cry up the elegance of the style which being Enthusiastick and high-flown by reason also of the tinkling of the periods is very delightful to their Ears who seem to be affected with Rythme mightily Though I suppose it is upon a more politick account that they are so averse as to the translating it into their vulgar Language not out of respect to the sacredness of the Original only whose full commanding Expressions they think cannot be translated without a great diminution to the sence but to keep it in greater veneration among the People who might be apt to slight and disesteem it should it become thus common among them It is enough that the Priests and Learned men explain the difficult passages of it to the people and write Commentaries for the use of the more curious and inquisitive The Persians on the contrary think it no disparagement to the Arabick or profanation of the sence to translate this cursed Book into their own Language and Copies are frequent among them The Grand Signior's Women are usually the choicest Beauties of the Christian Spoiles presented by the Bassa's or Tartars The present Sultana the Mother of the young Prince Mustapha is a Candiot the Valide or Emperors Mother a Russian the Daughter of a poor Priest who with her Relations were seized upon by the Tartars in an Incursion which they made into the Muscovites Country She being received into the Seraglio by her beautiful Complexion and cunning Behaviour gain'd the Heart and the Affection of Sultan Ibrahim a man wholly addicted to soft Pleasures and who seldom cared to be long absent from the Womens Apartment but chose to spend his time among them Having the good Fortune to be the Mother of the Prince Mahomet the eldest Son of his Father who now reigns she had all the Honours that could possibly be done her and was the beloved Hazaki or chief Concubine During this height of Splendour and Glory the Court removing from Constantinople to Adrianople distant about an hundred and twenty miles as she was passing in great state attended with her Guards through the Streets of the City in a Coach much like our Carriage-wagons but that they are latticed to let in the Air for no one must presume to stare or scarce look upon the Women much less must they themselves suffer their Faces to be seen in this jealous Country she out of curiosity looking through the holes saw a poor Christian Slave in a Shop where Sugar and such-like Wares were sold Upon her return she sent one of her Eunuchs to enquire for the person and to ask him several Questions about his Country Relations Friends and the time when and how long he had been a Slave His Answers were so particular and satisfactory that she was soon convinc'd of the truth and certainty of her apprehensions when she first cast her Eyes
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
a Voice spake to him from Heaven saying If thou chusest the Fatt with Wine thou and thy People shall perish if thou chusest the Fatt with Milk thou shalt also perish but if thou chusest the Fatt of Water thou and thy People shall be saved eternally These and many more insipid Lies of their Mahomet which are very ridiculous and silly Fables are believed to be as true as the Gospel by the Turks Moors and Arabians c. They also certainly believe chiefly these that live at Jerusalem as the Pilgrims know that on the last day their Mahomet is to come and seat himself on the Rock of the Temple of Mâ—ria and Christ on the other side of the Valley of Josaphat on the Mount of Olives over against him Then when all the People of the Earth shall appear before the Lord of Judicature he shall ask Mahomet who the rest are meaning the Christians that have been under the Yoak of the Turkish Emperor then shall Mahomet answer and say They are these that have served me faithfully whereupon Christ shall let them pass into Paradise and eternal Felicity which they believe to consist in gratifying Fleshly Lusts and Desires in Eating and Drinking Fine Cloaths costly Jewels Gold Silver Pearls pleasant Spring-Gardens beautiful and cleanly Women Therefore the Temple is so highly esteemed by the Turks and others of the same Faith and believed to be so holy that they go into it on their bare Feet with great Devotion and come twice a year thither in Pilgrimage in great Caravans from all places moved thereunto by the great Zeal they have towards their Mahomet but chiefly these Pilgrims that have been at Madina-Talnabi and Mecha that is Three Days Journey farther who return by the way of Jerusalem which is now by them caled Chutz to say also their Prayers there and are of opinion that if they should do otherwise than to come thither their Peregrination would not be acceptable to God Amongst these are a good many Renegado Christians that go with them to Mecha to get by their Devotion into greater preferment and Wealth wherefore they are esteemed by them as holy and creditable ones altho they are full of Knavery and Roguery as these that come from Mahomets own Blood they keep them very honorably and pray for them as their Victors and endue them with great great and peculiar Privileges so that their single Witness is as valueable as three four six ten of others according as they have been oftener in these places And that every body may know them they put upon their Turbans on their Heads their Mahomet's green Colours as those of their Priests do which esteem themselves to be his Relations which are only permitted as the Persians wear their red Colour to wear such Turbants Wherefore the Turks believe it to be a sin to cover those Members which Nature hath made secret with that Colour which their Prophet did bear on his Head When the before-mentioned Renegado Christians are come to this degree they are bought by every Body for Money to bear witness before the Cady or any other Turkish Magistrate and that even in Causes whereof they have not the least knowledge So it happens daily that those that give larger Bribes to the Magistrate and do exceed their Adversaries in number of Witnesses make their lost and foul cause good and of this they make no Conscience because their Alcoran teacheth them that God doth not impute to them perjury but only if they do not invoke him so that it is full Satisfaction if they feed ten poor ones for this Transgression or if they cloath them or if they redeem one prisoner but if they are not substantial enough to do this they fast for it three times This is of a very ill consequence because they are not afraid to be Perjured and to cheat others And although these and other the like Sins are very common amongst the Turks Viz. Robbing and to break their Faith c. which are directly against God yet for all that these because they have lost all remembrance of Confession Penitence or mending of their Lives exceed them in this by far Besides all this they do not let the Christians know who or what they are but rather study to their utmost Power to abuse and hurt them as often as they find an opportunity nay they would not spare their very Lives if they dare do it for fear of the Turkish Magistrates In this they are very like unto the Abyssins which in former Ages were subject unto the Soldans of Aegypt and did live on the south side of Mount Libanus which as Defenders and Protectors of their own Religion were set out before other Saracens to Murder and Kill clandestinly all those that did oppose their Mahometan Laws and Religion But after the Turkish Emperor did beat the Soldan and took his Dominions from him the Fury of these Assassinators was also soon quelled For the Great Turk doth not allow in any of his Provinces of Murthers as the Saracens did but punisheth them severely and keepeth very strict Laws that no Body may hurt the other which you may Conclude by this that if one doth but fetch Blood from the other in the least he is not only mulcted in one or two Ducats but sometimes in Forty Fifty Nay sometimes in a Hundred according to the Hainousness of the Crime and the Ability of the Offender and so he keepeth his Subjects in Peace and Quietness Besides these Pilgrims that go to Mecha there are many others in their great Caravans that rather like unto Pedlers endeavour to get thither with small Charges by the help of their Carvatscharas or Inns and Hospitals to make good Profit there by Buying and Selling then out of Devotion to wait on their Mahomet and amongst them there are also sometimes Christians but at their Arrival they must not Visit the Holy Places much less touch them Wherefore they buy before hand all sorts of Merchandises chiefly at Cayro from whence to Jerusalem it's ten days Journey to sell or swap them at Mecha and other places Which custom we need not think to be strange among the Turks seeing that a great many are found among the Roman Pilgrims that pretend to be good Christians that go Pilgrimages to Rome St. Jacob Jerusalem c. not only to get his Holinesses Absolution and Indulgences but rather to make goodâ— profit of Goods they buy for that purpose Or which is more they pass over their Estates during their Absence into the Hands of others to reap the Benefit thereof with this Condition that if they return home from these places where they Vowed to go they shall have them restored again with great profit Now as among all these Pilgrims chiefly these that have been oftnest at Mecha are by the Turks in greatest esteem and that Green Colour which only belongeth to the Priests to wear is the sooner allowed them whereby they may be known as