Kings 9:4-26).
Gerasa! Beautiful, though in ruins. What glory must once have been
thine! But where are the warriors who passed in triumph through
thy gates? Where are the builders of thy temples? Where are the
the priests who ministered at thy altars? Where are the devotees
who bowed at thy shrines? Where are the people who thronged thy
theaters and trod thy beautiful streets? The hills over which man
walked are still here; the rocks that he quarried, carved,
polished, and fitted into place are here; the stone coffin in
which he lay down to his last resting-place is here - but where is
HE? Gone! gone forever! Surely, how frail is man! How fleeting his
glory! As the waters of thy stream flow on to the Sea of Death, so
has the tide of life which swept through thy streets passed on to
the grave and oblivion.
"Up Into the Mountains"
CHAPTER V.
Passing out over the fallen western wall of Gerasa we are
immediately in the ancient cemetery, which extends for a mile, or
nearly so, from the city. Many stone sarcophagi, some of which are
artistically carved, lie scattered about in almost every
conceivable position - some even lying across the tops of others.
But these windowless rock-palaces are all empty.
Leaving Gerasa, my way leads in a general direction westward over
the mountains of Gilead. The reader must remember that in all this
region there is not a road over which a carriage can be driven,
save that quite recently a few trips have been made from Mezarib
to Gerasa. What are called roads are simply bridle-paths, and, in
many cases, the paths are so indistinct that the guide is more
likely to take you forward with reference to a general direction
than to attempt to lead you by a recognized trail.
The Mountains of Gilead present a rugged appearance, but, in the
main, are clothed with vegetation; hence they are beautiful in
their majesty. The olive and the prickly oak are abundant. The
villages are not numerous, and are situated far up the slopes, or
even on the tops of the ridges. These villages are clusters of
squalid huts constructed of stone and mud, and can afford no
accommodation such as an American might desire. But, in many
instances, they occupy sites identified with places and events
noted in Bible story.
These mountains were given to Gad in the allotment of Joshua and
Eleazar. Surely at that time the prospect must have been much more
pleasing than at present, or the Gadites would not have been so
anxious to receive this district as a permanent possession. True,
even now, a few narrow valleys, or wadies, show signs of great
fertility, but the greater part is quite uninviting. Yet to the
tourist there is much of interest in this region.
My way to the Jordan lay over these mountains, especially that
part known as the Jebel Ajlun. Sometimes it seemed impossible to
proceed because of rocks and underbrush. The mountain sides were
so steep in some places that we were barely able to climb them;
many of the wadies, washed by winter torrents, were next to being
impassable; and when our way led along the sides of precipitous
slopes I shuddered to think of the consequences of a misstep upon
the part of my horse. The course I had chosen through this East-
Jordan country was an unusual one (as already noted) - one over
which my dragoman had never gone, and one over which, he said, not
one in a thousand tourists to Palestine ever asked to go, - a
statement corroborated by the United States Consul at Jerusalem,
who has written extensively on the trans-Jordanic highlands. This
statement was not very encouraging to me, but I had set my heart
on reaching the Jordan by this route, so simply said, "Lead on."
Several times I feared I had made a serious mistake, but having
come thus far I could not go back. After we had passed through the
old cemetery our ascent was gradual until we reached the modern
village of Suf, three miles northwest of Gerasa. Here we see "two
women grinding at the mill." The mill consists of two circular
stones about fourteen inches in diameter, the one stone rests upon
the other, and the grain to be crushed between them is supplied by
one of the women while the other turns the upper stone round and
round, thus grinding the meal for the uninviting bread of their
less inviting floor-table.
This place has been suggested by Major Condor as the probable site
of Mizpah in Gilead. A group of fine stone monuments, in ruins, is
yet to be seen here. If this be the location of Mizpah then here
is the place where Jacob and Laban made their covenant of lasting
peace, and erected the "heap of witness" (Gen. 31:44-52), saying,
"The Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from
another." Then they parted, Laban going back to Mesopotamia and
Jacob pressing on with anxious heart toward the near Jabbok and
the farther lands of his estranged brother Esau.
Inspired by the covenant at Mizpah, and with a desire to help
others to establish covenants of peace, and to accept with
cheerful resignation enforced separation from loved ones, a recent
writer, Julia A. Baker, has written beautifully the following poem
entitled "Mizpah":
Go thou thy way and I go mine;
Apart, yet ever near;
Only a veil hangs thin between
The pathways where we are;
And "God keep watch 'tween thee and me,"
This is my prayer;
He looks thy way, he looketh mine,
And keeps us near.
