Though the Khan is at no great distance from the foot
of Mount Tabor, the people could not inform us whether or not the Mount
was inhabited at present; nor were they hospitable enough either to lend
or sell us the little provision we might want, should there be no
inhabitants. At a quarter of an hour from the Khan is a fine spring,
where we found an encampment of Bedouins of the tribe of Szefeyh
(Arabic), whose principal riches consist in cows. My guide went astray
in the valleys which surround the lower parts of Djebel Tor, and we were
nearly three hours, from our departure from the Khan, in reaching the
top of the Mount.
Mount Tabor is almost insulated, and overtops all the neighbouring
summits. On its south and west sides extends a large
[p.334] plain, known by the name of Merdj Ibn Aamer (Arabic), the Plain
of Esdrelon of the Scriptures. To the S. of the plain are the mountains
of Nablous, and to the N. of it, those of Nazareth, which reach to the
foot of Mount Tabor, terminating at the village of Daboury. The plain of
Esdrelon is about eight hours in length and four in breadth, it is very
fertile, but at present almost entirely deserted. The shape of Mount
Tabor is that of a truncated cone; its sides are covered to the top with
a forest of oak and wild pistachio trees; its top is about half an hour
in circuit. The mountain is entirely calcareous. We found on the top a
single family of Greek Christians, refugees from Ezra, a village in the
Haouran, where I had known them during my stay there in November, 1810.
They had retired to this remote spot, to avoid paying taxes to the
government, and expected to remain unnoticed; they rented the upper
plain at the rate of fifty piastres per annum from the Sheikh of
Daboury, to which village the mountain belongs; the harvest, which they
were now gathering in, was worth about twelve hundred piastres, and they
had had the good fortune not to be disturbed by any tax-gatherers, which
will certainly not be the case next year, should they remain here.
On the top of Mount Tabor are found the remains of a large fortress. A
thick wall, constructed with large stones, may be traced quite round the
summit, close to the edge of the precipice; on several parts of it are
the remains of bastions. On the west side a high arched gate, called Bab
el Haoua (Arabic), or the gate of the winds, is shewn, which appears to
have been the principal entrance. The area is overspread with the ruins
of private dwellings, built of stone with great solidity. There are no
springs, but a great number of reservoirs have been cut in the rock, two
of which are still of service in supplying water. The Christians
consider
[p.335] Mount Tabor a holy place, in honour of the Transfiguration, but
the exact spot at which it took place is not known; and the Latins and
Greeks are at variance upon the subject. The Latins celebrate the sacred
event in a small cavern, where they have formed a chapel; at about five
minutes walk from which, the Greeks have built a low circular wall, with
an altar before it, for the same purpose. The Latin missionaries of the
Frank convent of Nazareth send annually two fathers to celebrate a mass
in their chapel; they generally choose St. Peter’s day for making this
visit, and arrive here in the morning, in order that they may read the
evening mass in the church of St. Peter at Tabaria. The Greek priests of
Nazareth visit their chapel of Mount Tabor on the festival of the
Virgin, on which occasion several thousand pilgrims repair to the
mountain, where they pass the night under tents with their families, in
mirth and feasting.
During the greater part of the summer Mount Tabor is covered in the
morning with thick clouds, which disperse towards mid-day. A strong wind
blows the whole of the day, and in the night dews fall, more copious
than any I had seen in Syria. In the wooded parts of the mountain are
wild boars and ounces. I lodged with my old acquaintance the Arab of
Ezra, who had taken up his quarters in one of the ruined habitations.
June 27th.—After mid-day we returned to Tabaria by the same road. On
entering the church-yard of St. Peter’s, my old lodgings, I was not a
little surprised to find it full of strangers. Mr. Bruce, an English
traveller, had arrived from Nazareth, in company with several priests of
the Frank convent, who intended to celebrate mass at night, this being
St. Peter’s day. I was easily prevailed on by Mr. Bruce to accompany him
on his return to Nazareth the following morning, the more so, as I there
hoped to find a guide for the valley of the Jordan; for no person at
Tabaria
NAZARETH
[p.336] seemed to be inclined to undertake the journey, except in the
company of an armed caravan.
June 28th.—We left Tabaria two hours before sun-rise. There are two
direct roads to Nazareth; one by Kefer Sebt and El Khan, the other by
Louby. We took a third, that we might visit some spots recorded in the
New Testament. In one hour from Tabaria we passed a spring called Ain el
Rahham (Arabic). At two hours and a half, the road leads over a high
uncultivated plain, to Hedjar el Noszara (Arabic), the Stones of the
Christians, four or five blocks of black stone, upon which Christ is
said to have reclined while addressing the people who flocked around
him. The priests of Nazareth stopped to read some prayers over the
stones.
