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. Below this place, towards the N.E. extends a small plain, called
Sahel Hottein (Arabic). The country is intersected by Wadys. About one
hour distant from the stones, upon the same level, stands a hill of an
oblong shape, with two projecting summits on one of its extremities; the
natives call it Keroun Hottein (Arabic), the Horns of Hottein. The
Christians have given it the appellation of Mons Beatitudinis, and
pretend that the five thousand were there fed. We travelled over an
uneven, uncultivated ground, until we arrived at Kefer Kenna (Arabic),
four hours and a quarter from Tabaria, a neat village with a copious
spring surrounded by plantations of olive and other fruit trees, and
chiefly inhabited by Catholic Christians. This is the Cana celebrated in
the New Testament for the miracle at the marriage feast; and the house
is shewn in which Our Saviour performed it.
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