A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs; To Which Are Appended a Brief Consideration of the Geography and History of Palestine, and a Chapter on Churches of Christ in Great BritainJanes, Don Carlos
Religion
A Trip Abroad: An Account of a Journey to the Earthly Canaan and the Land of the Ancient Pharaohs; To Which Are Appended a Brief Consideration of the Geography and History of Palestine, and a Chapter on Churches of Christ in Great Britain
Janes, Don Carlos
Churches of Christ -- Great Britain; Palestine -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
We went outside of the monastery to eat our noon-day lunch, but before
we finished, one of the monks came and called us in to a meal at
their table. It was a good meal, for which no charge was made, and I
understand it is their custom to give free meals to visitors, for they
believe that Jesus here sat at meat with his two disciples. We enjoyed
their hospitality, but drank none of the wine that was placed before us.
Our next point was Abu Ghosh, named for an old village sheik who, "with
his six brothers and eighty-five descendants, was the terror of the
whole country" about a century ago. Our object in visiting the spot was
to see the old Crusaders' church, the best preserved one in Palestine.
The stone walls are perhaps seven or eight feet thick. The roof is still
preserved, and traces of the painting that originally adorned the walls
are yet to be seen. A new addition has been erected at one end, and the
old church may soon be put in repair.
The last place we visited before returning to Jerusalem was Ain Kairim,
a town occupied mainly by the Mohammedans, and said to have been the
home of that worthy couple of whom it was written: "They were both
righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of
the Lord blameless" (Luke 1:6). The portion occupied by the Latins and
Greeks is very beautifully situated on the side of the mountain. The
stone houses, "whited walls," and green cypresses make quite a pretty
picture. The Church of St. John, according to tradition, stands on the
spot where once dwelt Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John, the
great forerunner of Jesus. Night came upon us before we got back to our
starting place, and as this was my first day of donkey riding, I was
very much fatigued when I finally dismounted in Jerusalem; yet I arose
the next morning feeling reasonably well, but not craving another donkey
ride over a rough country beneath the hot sun.
On Saturday, the twenty-second of October, I turned away from Jerusalem,
having been in and around the place almost two weeks, and went back to
Jaffa by rail. After a few miles the railway leads past Bittir, supposed
to be the Beth-arabah of Joshua 15:61. It is also of interest from the
fact that it played a part in the famous insurrection of Bar Cochba
against the Romans. In A.D. 135 it was captured by a Roman force after
a siege of three and a half years. Ramleh, a point twelve miles from
Jaffa, was once occupied by Napoleon. Lydda, supposed to be the Lod of
Ezra 2:33, was passed. Here Peter healed Aeneas, who had been palsied
eight years. (Acts 9:32-35.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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