The Bridge Is Of
A Solid Construction, With Four Arches:
On its E. side is a Khan, much
frequented by travellers, in the middle of which are the ruins of an
ancient square building constructed with basalt, and having columns in
its four angles.
The Khan contains also a spring. The Pasha of Damascus
here keeps a guard of a few men, principally for the purpose of
collecting the Ghaffer, or tax paid by all Christians who cross the
bridge. The ordinary Ghaffer is about nine-pence a head, but the
pilgrims who pass here about Easter, in their way to Jerusalem, pay
seven
AIN FERAEIN
[p.316] shillings. The bridge divides the Pashaliks of Damascus and
Akka. On the west of it is a guard-house belonging to the latter. Banias
(Caesarea Philippi) bears from a point above the bridge N. by E.
The lake of Houle, or Samachonitis, is inhabited only on the eastern
borders; there we find the villages of Esseira [Arabic] and Eddeir
[Arabic]; and between them a ruined place called Kherbet Eddaherye
[Arabic] complete. The south-west shore bears the name of Melaha, from the
ground being covered with a saline crust. The fisheries of the lake are
rented of the Mutsellim of Szaffad by some fishermen of that town. The
narrow valley of the Jordan continues for about two hours S. of the
bridge, at which distance the river falls into the lake of Tiberias.
About an hour and a quarter from the bridge, on the E. side of the
river, is the village Battykha (Arabic); its inhabitants cultivate large
quantities of cucumbers and gourds, which they carry to the market of
Damascus, three weeks before the same fruits ripen there; the village is
also noted for its excellent honey. June 21st.--We ascended the western
banks of the valley of the Jordan, and then continued upon a plain,
called Ard Aaseifera (Arabic), a small part of which is cultivated by
the inhabitants of Szaffad. There are several springs in the plain. In
an hour and a quarter, we began to ascend the chain of mountains known
by the name of Djebel Szaffad, which begin on the N.W. side of the lake
of Houle, being a southern branch of the Djebel el Sheikh, or rather of
the Anti-Libanus. On the steep acclivity of this mountain we passed to
the left of the village Feraab (Arabic). The road ascends through a
narrow valley, called Akabet Feraein, and passes by the spring of
Feraein (Arabic). In two hours and three quarters from the bridge, we
reached the summit of the mountain, from whence the Djebel el Sheik
bears N.E. The whole is calcareous,
SZAFFAD
[p.317] with very little basalt or tufwacke. At the end of three hours
and a half, after a short descent, we reached Szaffad (Arabic), the
ancient Japhet; it is a neatly built town, situated round a hill, on the
top of which is a castle of Saracen structure. The castle appears to
have undergone a thorough repair in the course of the last century, it
has a good wall, and is surrounded by a broad ditch. It commands an
extensive view over the country towards Akka, and in clear weather the
sea is visible from it. There is another but smaller castle, of modern
date, with halfruined walls, at the foot of the hill. The town is built
upon several low hills, which divide it into different quarters; of
these the largest is inhabited exclusively by Jews, who esteem Szaffad
as a sacred place. The whole may contain six hundred houses, of which
one hundred and fifty belong to the Jews, and from eighty to one hundred
to the Christians. In 1799 the Jews quarter was completely sacked by the
Turks, after the retreat of the French from Akka; the French had
occupied Szaffad with a garrison of about four hundred men, whose
outposts were advanced as far as the bridge of Beni Yakoub. The town is
governed by a Mutsellim, whose district comprises about a dozen
villages. The garrison consists of Moggrebyns, the greater part of whom
have married here, and cultivate a part of the neighbouring lands. The
town is surrounded with large olive plantations and vineyards, but the
principal occupations of the inhabitants are indigo dyeing, and the
manufacture of cotton cloth. On every Friday a market is held, to which
all the peasants of the neighbourhood resort. Mount Tabor bears from
Szaffad S.S.W.
June 22d.--As there is no Khan for travellers at Szaffad, and I had no
letters to any person in the town, I was obliged to lodge at the public
coffee house. We left the town early in the morning, and descended the
side of the mountain towards the lake; here the
AIN TABEGHA
[p.318] ground is for the greater part uncultivated and without trees.
At two hours and a quarter is Khan Djob Yousef (Arabic), or the Khan of
Joseph’s Well, situated in a narrow plain. The Khan is falling rapidly
into ruin; near it is a large Birket. Here is shewn the well into which
Joseph was let down by his brothers; it is in a small court-yard by the
side of the Khan, is about three feet in diameter, and at least thirty
feet deep. I was told that the bottom is hewn in the rock: its sides
were well lined with masonry as far as I could see into it, and the
water never dries up, a circumstance which makes it difficult to believe
that this was the well into which Joseph was thrown. The whole of the
mountain in the vicinity is covered with large pieces of black stone;
but the main body of the rock is calcareous. The country people relate
that the tears of Jacob dropping upon the ground while he was in search
of his son turned the white stones black, and they in consequence call
these stones Jacob’s tears (Arabic). Joseph’s well is held in veneration
by Turks as well as Christians; the former have a small chapel just by
it, and caravan travellers seldom pass here without saying a few prayers
in honour of Yousef.
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