THE HOLY LAND

Evening Star, Issue 15481, 1 May 1914, Page 5

THE HOLY LAND

BIBLICAL ASSOCIATIONS IN JERUSALEM. CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES. [By Mrs J. M. Williamson*.] We were very sorry to say good-bye to Mena House, the Pyramids, and the Sphinx. Our cwmel boys ware equally sorry to see us go, and on our iost camel ride in the desert they told us how much they wished we would take them along to these unknown countries wlw» everyone seemed to be rich. " But," we said, " what would Saleeka, do without you?" for already we had been made a confidant of Salie, and knew bow "he hoped to marry Saleeka next year, and have very, very many children." Alas for the perfidy of man ! He was quite willing to come with us, and Saleeka might console herself as best she'could. This, in spite of the' fact that he was undoubtedly very much..in love. We asked him if Saleeka would wear a veil when married? He most apologetically explained it was necessary that she should. " She is most beautiful," he said, "and there are many rude,'ignorant Arabs about." They could not understand how four ladies could travel as far as we had- come, and we had great trouble to explain where New Zealand lies. We said: " You know, Salie, do you not, the earth is round like a ball." "We have heard it said, but of ourselves we do not know it," was the candid reply. From Port Said we sailed to Jaffa, a one-night's trip by the Messageries steamer. The. landing at Jaffa is rather exciting, being done by small boats, but if the weather is at all rough passengers and cargo must go on to Harfa. We were fortunate in having a lovely morning, but as the boat shot through a very narrow opening in the cruel looking rucks one understood what a dangerous landing place it could be. Once safely through, the boatmen stood up, and with hands extended to us, chante'd a welcome. At Jaffa we seemed-to step right ;iway into the New Testament. Our first excursion was to where Dorcas lived and performed her food works. Her followers invoke the elp of the sewing machine in these latter days of Dorcas Societies. Here, as will be remembered, Tabi.ha had died, and amidst the lamentations of the widows St. Peter came to the i-escue, and raised Tabitha from the dead. Then we followed Peter to where he stayed at the house of ■■" one Simon the tanner," whom one of our party persistently called "Simon the Cellarer!" —The Two Gre;ii Industries—

of Jaffa are growing oranges and making soap. We are told there -is an export trade with Liverpool alone of one million and a-half boxes of oranges yearly. We watched one little chap nine years old making boxes. He worked very quickly, and told our guide lie could make 100 in a day, working 10 hours. For this he got sixpence. We saw thousands of oranges, each being carefully wrapped in tissue paper for export. Certainly the fruit deserves the name it has got, .of being the finest grown in any country. Camels, donkeys, and human beings were everywhere laden with boxes, or timber for making them, also with large consignments for the vessels going out of port. As we went to see the soap manufactories our guide remarked: ".The Jaffa people never eat oranges, as they see too many of. them, and they never wash themselves unless it might be by an accident. It is in this way. You see they are always 'working with the soap and- get it on their hands, and then if rain comes, why, they rub it on their faces and then they are clean, but no other way." Anyhow, the soap is exceedingly good, pare olive oil being the only fat used in its manufacture. —Arrival at Jerusalem.—

•.Leaving Jaffa,, we came by rail to Jerusalem, and for the last few days have, again been steeped in New Testament 'doings. Wo./hast of all went to the housetop to see the geography of f th«"city. The. luotel is en tl-te hill of Sion, so wo gob a good view si\\ to iVi© hotel. On wis - went through the) Jaffa, gate, one of the eight, gates to the city. Wei saw the remains of Herod's palace., now used as a Turkish barracks, the soldiers doing their washing on the. flat roof. Wo were shown where a- portion .of the- city wall, ai few years ago, was puiled down in order to let the German Emperor's carriage pass to the hotel. On wo went through the narrow streets, jostling against human-beings of all sorts. Nov; .and again a string of camels, laden with furniture, timber, or merchandise, or eise a little donkey, oanw along and brushed oiio aside without a word of warning. This at first is rather startling, till- we ?re told " donkeys only kick when stomach. i.< full; these never kick here, for stomach- is always empty." —At Jericho.— From Jerusalem we had a very charm- : ing trip to Jericho. The day was fine and the road was full ox interesting sights, and was vivid with scar'et anemones, blue forget-me-nots, and ot.her lovely flowers. Here we saw the flocks of sheep and goats following their shepherd over the lulls, and also heard tho'.' shepherd playing on the reed pipes exactly as David of old may have dona. The Jordan was- a, little disappointing, as, just here, where it flows into the Dead Sea, it was cloudy and muddv, with uninteresting banks, immersion in it. being the last thing one would wish. The Dead Sea, however, was beautiful, axid quite m.like what we had pictured it, as its little tide sent) miniature breakers up to our feet on the most lovely pebbly beach. We heaxd there are great expectations of petroleum being found here. If so, the scene will certainly be changed. All about the land belongs) to the Sultan. In many cases money has been lent on it at 20 cent, interest, or else the owner was tax->d out of existence, a tax of 4s yearly having at one time been exacted for every olive ti'ee owned. In reply to our question as to who owned this land, wo were frankly told: "Tho last thief, tho Sultan.'" We saw 1 . Klisha'a Fountain where he throw in a cruse of salt'. ' This is the modern Jericho's water supply. As wo were. 1 at the same time cautioned not to chink this water, we came to the painful conclusion the miracle was hardly miraculous enough for these davs of chemical analysis.

—The Professional Beggars.-

The drive back to Jerusalem next day was delightful. Wild flowers of all sorts flourished in profusion. Here are seen freesias, ivis, mignonette, anemones (scarlet, blue, purple, and white), and thousands of poppies. At. times the ground for miles was like a gay garden bed. Wo passed Gilgal, with one lonely tree on it, .Mount Pisgah in the distance, the valley of Moab, and the wilderness of Judea. We stopped for lunch at- the Fountain of the Apostles, with its never-failing supply of water. At every stopping jdace we were surrounded .by swarms of awful humanity. One find's if, quite impossible to get a minute's quiet thought with the ever-prevailing cry of "backsheesh" ringing in one's ears." One may give away a dozen small coins, but like magic a fresh swarm of beggars appears. Even beside one's carriage they run for a mile at a time. They know exactly, where the horses will slow down, either for us to view a place of interest or because the road is not good, and here they are like a pestilence, the blind beggar with his sores always in evidence. —Crunch of the Holy Sepulchre.—

Almost everyone we have spoken to finds great difficulty in realising the past in Jerusalem. One is shown tombs and holy spots without end, but everything is covered with marble, and often tawdrydecorations, or else a lavishness of gilding and detail that r-eeiu strikingly out ol place when one reads the Bible narrative. In the Church of tht Holy Sepulchre five sects '— Roman Catholics, Armenians, Syriax, Copts, and Greek hold services, arid so' great is" the jealousy of one sect gettnig "an advantage- over the others that the key of this chttrch is actually kept by a Mohammedan, who is paid in advance by the different religions -using it. The Sopukvhre is. covered with, marble,, t<f protect it from tha hordes, of

piiguims, a slit being left, where, by the light of a taper, the original rock can'be seen These tapers are sold over the tomb itself, ami this -form.-, one of the many things that give one a shock in Palestine. The-'man pays £I,OOO yearly for the rightto ceil these tapers. We 'saw him paid half a franc (scll each for them. We went several time. lß to this church to .watch the Russian nilgrimfc. Here they brought their bundles, opening them. With the utmost* reverence, rubbing them on the slab that marks the spot where the body of Christ is said to have been anointed. Then,, descending into the tomb, they touched the sacred marble there with each treasure to he borne back to Russia. They came up out of the crypt with streaming eyes, kissing every sacred inch of the way.

—A Service in the Greek Church, —

AYo attended a wonderful service in the Greek Church. Although we went early, tli.-i large building'was'rilled with Russian pilgrims. The women were standing at the back and in the gallery, and the men were in front. Our guide piloted us through, and found uo a safe place in a little raised side chapel, that, was railed in, and commanded a good view of tho church. There were four women kneeling there, one of whom rc-se, put a chain round the door, to prevent any more from coming in, and pushed a bit of patchwork over to protect .our feet from the cold pavement. These, as we found _ afterwards, wera " first class " pilgrims —bits of swells in their little way. Never were there more dovout worshippers than we saw that day, bowing repeatedly to the., ground, kissing it, crossing themselves in unison, as though a wave had passed through, the church. ■Every now and then a woman from the Ixick would n-.alie her way through, come up to some altar or shrine in. front, kiss it, kiss the. railing or stone all round, kiss the, floor several times, and then kneel dow.n in pravcr. Or a man would come through, taper in hard, light it from an altar, melt tho wax at the end, and find a place to stick it. Hundreds of tapers were burning when we left, and the service seemed to be r.o nearer termination.

—The Pilgrims;.-

The pilgrims are an amazing eight as thev file along the streets and connlry roails of Jerusalem. They are hairy, uncouth, and ruegcd of feature, and wiln dress very often made of brown-colored sheepskins. The women Ti.ro in- heavy quilted coat and petticoat. mQst .with .oddlooking boots made of birch bark. A moderate estimate of their numbers is 15.000 yearlv. Now, we aro told, the fiat, has gone forth that in 'fiitare, . for the Mohammedans, the pilgrimage, to Mecca will not bo sufficient, but they must also go to Hebron and Jenieakm. The pilgrims are a constant source ot revenue. Jerusalem does not want tourists, it wants pilgrims. Even the poorest of these brings the savings of a lifetime, besides money from friends in Russia who wish prayers to be said, or offerings made on their behalf. The journey costs £lO or £l2 each, return. In addition the Government charges £2 for a passDort, and gets another £l, winch is held' in reserve for the pilgrim's ieturn, in order ' that he will be ensured food ou his journey home. I have said "he," but ma;rv more women make the journey than men. We have noticed quite two-thirds were women. Their piety is amazing. There is not a sacred place, whether stone, steps, slab, or shiine. that is inot worn like glass through contact with their lips. We could never have believed it had we nob seen them, kissing and licking these places.

—Soldiers Guarding Dirty Church c | 'Windows.— » ,j

Tlrj Church of ihe Nativity at Bethlehem- is another church owned in common bv the different branches of the. Christian faith. It is built over where Christ is said to have beeu born, a large star on the floor marking the exact spot. Here can be-seen the curious sight of an ■armed soldier standing, day and night, guarding three dirty windows, covered with cobweb*. The five different religions are. so intensely jealous of each other that none will allow the others to clean this particular part, each claiming it as its own the rest of the church, even to the rafters, is cleaned once a year,\i regiment/ ot soldiers coming specially from Constantinople. About two vears ago a fearful ..right toon place here because the carpet in the Armenian part encroached one ■ .inch on ground that belonged to another, body. Thev took heavy silver candlesticks oil the 'Armenian altar and fought with them, one man being killed.

--The Wailing Place of the Jews.— We went on Friday afiernonn to the •'Wailing Place of the Jews.' .Here, outside the stones' of the Temple, some 200 Jews nvt in a very impressive way. About 4 o'clock a score or so ol women were in the narrow Mohammedan street, wailing and crving. some lighting tapers and iixing them to the stones, others thrusting papers with petitions written therein into the cracks between the stones. We felt thev were bringing their troubles to what, Ui them, was a sacred place. About an hour later the men began 1c assemble. A rabbi appeared to conduct tho ' service, though everyone was also pravin"" and reciting .individually, and manv kissed the stones of the Temple, waii as they passed along. The Psalms were recited in unison, and the following beautiful chant was joined in by all the men, their voices blending in what nnght be termed a wail:

Rabbi: "Because of the Palace which i> clgserted," " People :"' We sit alone and weep. . Rabbi: '-Because of our Temple which is destroyed. Because of the walls that arc broken down. . . Because of our greatness which is departed. , Because of the precious stones ol the Temple, ground to powder. " Because of our priests who have "erred and gone astray, Because of our Kings who have contemned God," People : "We sit alone and weep. '

This service continues till the stars conic out. As we stole away quietly we could not help hoping their Temple would be restored to them. Tiberias, March 6.

(To be continued.)