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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 220 of 453
Words from 114221 to 114722
of 236498
