CITY DESTROYED

Evening Star, Issue 21722, 17 May 1934, Page 9

CITY DESTROYED

THE TIBERIAS CLOUDBURST THOUSANDS HOMELESS Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright JERUSALEM, May 16. The second cloudburst at Tiberias completed the destruction of the city. Eivo thousand people are homeless. Twenty-nine wore drowned. Arrangements are being made for rationing. OLD TIBERIAS ‘ In East of the Jordan,’ by Selah Merrill (an American archmologist), au interesting description is given of Tiberias. “ 1 have been greatly interested,” said the writer, “ in the old city of Tiberias, the ruins of which lino tho shore of the Sea of Galilee for a distance of two miles, and extend to the mountain on the west. In this mountain, which rises one thousand feet above the city, almost overhanging it, are numerous largo cavos, where people have lived in the past, and which with a little trouble could again be made comfortable abodes. Among the smaller caves, one near the summit of tho mountain deserves notice from the fact of the current of steam and hot air which proceeds from it. When I found it I was attracted

by tho grass and hushes which were in motion, there was not a breath of air stirring. I supposed some shepherds or perhaps robbers were inside, and hesitated about venturing into it. 1 came to the mouth on tho upper side and shouted into tho cave, but hoard no sound. The grass and flowers were in motion, as L said, and the rocks were dripping with moisture, and when I had passed through the narrow entrance to the inside, I was thrown into a perspiration at once. It was a natural steambath. I saw openings on all sides, but did not venture far. The rocks were too slippery for me to move about much on them with safety. On my next visit I took with mo a strong muleteer, and a long rope which, 1 tied about my body when I entered the cave. 1 took with me lights, but it was impossible to keep them burning, and when extinguished the matches which I carried with me were useless, being completely soaked by tho steam. The thermometer showed Gldeg outside tho cave, and inside, a few feet from the entrance, 86deg. I did not go far, for tho rocks were slippery and the pits were too dangerous. This cave is on the north sido of tho citadel-hill of old Tiberias, and near tho top; fully a mile artd a-half, I should judge, from the hot springs on tho shore below. Its position, as well as the steam and strong draft, arc interesting phenomena. “ This point to which I have referred as tho citadel-hill is approached on both sides by a zigzag wall, that on the south being most easily traced. At some of the angles of this wall there were towers, and in the rear of each of these was a cistern. Of the three cisterns which I measured, the

dimensions were, respectively, nine feet by nine feet, twelve feet by twelve feet, and twelve feet by fourteen feet. This wall, or portions of it, at least, was laid in mortar, and large masses of it, have fallen to the valley below without being broken into fragments. Among the ruins of the old city I found a good many cisterns, showing that the inhabitants in former times did not depend entirely upon the lake for their supply of water. The numerous columns, and the abundance of carved work that may be found among the ruins, I regard as indicative of the former elegance of the city. It was no doubt larger and more densely inhabited than is generally thought by those who have not given the subject special attention. I should say that tho city could easily have had a population of fifty thousand, or perhaps eighty thousand souls. “ Another feature worthy of notice is, that the material of the ruins is for the most part basalt rock. This, indeed, is the general character of the ruins all about the lake, and largely so of the hills themselves. At Tel Hum, at Abu Sliuslieh, at Kersa on the eastern shore, with which shoidd bo included Fik, Gamala, and Kefr Harib, and at all other points, hardly any other building material is seen. 1 have noticed that the basalt formation commences a little to tho east of Mount Tabor and continues to Tiberias. Also, the ruins of Hattin, and tho rock in all that section, and for some distance to the west, are basalt. On the shore of the great plain of Batiha at tho north-west corner of the lake, the sand is black, having been formed by the grinding up of basalt boulders and rock. This sand is also full of minute shells.