THE WELLS OF PALESTINE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2997, 23 August 1911, Page 83

THE WELLS OF PALESTINE.

HISTORY AND TRADITION. There are naturally many springs; fountains, and wells scattered throughout Palestine interesting for their historical and sacred associations Sonne of them are known to be very ancient, and the legends connected with them to be more or less authentic, though this cannot be said of a great many of them. Indeed, the stories told that this or that sjtring was the one where this or that well-known personage in history drank or drew water, are often most unreliable, though it has been the means of making the spring famous. Be this .as it may, a little account of some of the many fountains and wells found in this, sacred land niay not be without interest. At Jaffa we have the well in the House of Simon the Tanner. There is a natural spring here and the water may be dipped up from the 'immense stone trough in the courtyard of this building. The well is known to be very old, though the statement that this was the house occupied by Simon the Tanner, from the roof of .which the Apostle Peter had a vision, is extremely doubtful. —ln Jerusalem. — In and around Jerusalem we have many remarkable springs and pools, that known as the Pool of Hezekiah being quite conspicuous from the windows of most of the foreign hotels in the vicinity of David street. The pool is about 240 ft long, north and south, and 144 ft wide, andabout 10ft deep. It is connected with. the Birkett Manilla, or Upper Pool of Gihon, by a small conduit. In the rainy season it contains, considerable water, but during the .summer there is but a small stagnant pond left in the lower part of the pcol, into which many impurities find their way from the surrounding houses and shops which fchut it in on all sides. The pool formerly extended some distance further north, and its name, Pool of Hezekiah, grows out of a tradition that ascribes its construction to that monarch. In the Valley of Jehosophat we have the Virgin's Fountain, the only one found in the immediate environs of the Holy City. It is at the foot of tho tongue of land extending from Moriahi called Ophel. Its native name is AinSitti Maryam—Lady Mary's Spring—from a mediaeval legend' that the Virgin drew wa4ar here. The water from the well is received into a large underground basin, or pool, whence it flows into a remarkable rock-cut tunnel, which conducts it beneath the Hill of Ophel to the Pool of Siloam on its west side. This spring is

thought by some scholars to be the Gihon of tile Old Testament, and its outflow the i "brook that ran through the midst of the land," which Hezekiah stopped, say- | ing, "Why should the King of Syria ooim© ! and find much water?" | The channel beneath Ophel is- thought to be the work of Hezekiah, and to be : referred to in Chronicles, where it is stated that he "stopped the upper water- ' course of Gihon, and brought it straight I down to the west side of the City of I David. The oldest Hebrew inscription ; extant was discovered in 1880 at the 1 eastern entrance to this channel, and is ! now in the Imperial Museum at ConstanI tinople. It tells how the work was bej gun at both ends and how the picks of , two gangs met, as is confirmed by an ■ examination of the tool marks in the ' midst of the channel. —The Fool of Siloam.— I The Pool of Siloam lies within the wails of the ancient' city, and, as described above, is connected with the Vir- • gin's Fountain by means of a remarkable cenduit. Here one may see the women of Siloam washing their clothes in native fashion, by throwing water on them and beating them vlith ,a kind of paddle as ■ they lie punched together on a rock, lnis pool derives its interest- from the references to it in the Old Testament, and especially from the miracle of the healing of the blind man who was sent here to wash. This last incident gave it great sacredness in the early and middle ages, so that a? church and baths stood here in the fifth century, and much efficacy was attached to the bathing. The original pool was 70ft square, cut out of the solid rock It is now in ruins, although the water still flows through it. Near here is Joab's Well. On Mount Zion we have the Lower Pool of Gihon. It is called by the natives Birkit es Sultan, the Sultan s Pool, from its having been restored by Sultan Soliman im the sixteenth century. This great .reservoir was formed by throwing across the upper end of the Valley of Hinnom two heavy embankments several hundred feet apart the lower one of which serves as part ot the roadway where it crosses the valley, it has only a small pool of stagnant water at its southern end, which is utilised tor ' -watering the roads. | —John the Baptist's Birthplace.— At Ain Karim, within easy reach of Jerusalem, where it is believed John the i Baptist was born, we have many mterest- : ing wells and springs. One of these latter is said to mark the very home of the prophet. On the journey to Hebron we pass those old reservoirs known as Solomon's Pools. They consist of three enormous tanks capable of storing, when m repair, about three million gallons ot water, having been built in ancient times to furnish a water supply to Jerusalem. Conduits carried the water past Artas and Bethlehem to the great reservoirs beneath the Temple area. These wonderful old pools measured from 380 ft to 580 ft in length, 150 ft to 250 ft in width, and are from 25ft to 48ft deep. They are separated from one another by intervals of over 150 ft, the height of each one •beintf about 19ft above the one below it. Flights of stone steps descend into the pools. „ , At Hebron we have a very fine pool, known as the Pool of Hebron, or Davids Pool. It is a large reservoir of ancient construction, and is still used in connection with the water supply of the town. Each side measures 132 ft, and it is built of hewn stones. There are flights of stone steps leading down to the water, and water-carriers can often be seen here ! plying their vocation, and carrying the ; goatskin "bottles" of Hebron manufacture It is by tradition connected with ! an incident in the early part of David s ' reign that illustrates his singular noble--1 ness of spirit. Reohab and Baanah, of the tribe of Benjamin, officers m the forces of Tshbosheth, Saul's son, who was a rival claimant to the throne, sought David's favour by treacherously slaying their leader and bringing his head to Hebron David denounced their wickedness, and caused them to be hung over the pool in Hebron. —The Apostles' Fountain. — On the way to Jericho one passes a remarkable structure in the barren halls known a® the Apostles' Fountain, so-called by Christians since the fifteenth century, as it is inferred that Christ and His apostles must have drank here on their journey between Jerusalem and Jericho. Between this spot and Jericho no fresh water is to be obtained. At Jericho we have a very pretty pool of water known as Elisha's Fountain. The spring here is enclosed by a large basin of masonry. The strong flow of excellent water is utilised to turn a grist mill, and to irrigate a large area of productive gardens. That which gives interest to this sprmg is the Old Testament incident of the healing of the waters, which were bitter, by Elisba, just after his return from the translation of Elijah. It may interest some to learn that there are several springs around that desolate and dreary region, the Dead Sea.. They are to be found on the four or five small fertile oases that dot the shores of this inland sea. There is one at Eugedi, on the western shore, about half-way down the sea. No mention of the fountains and wells in Palestine, perhaps, would be complete without a reference to Jacob's Well at Shochem, Mary's Fountain at Nazareth, and Gideon's Fountain in Northern Palestine. The site of the first-named belongs to the Greek Church, and it is now enclosed and planted with trees. A church stood here in the fourth century on the ruins of which the Crusaders built a shrine whose remains have been carefully uncovered, including the pavement surrounding the mouth of the well. It Is more properly a c'stern, 7Aft in diameter, and it is about 75ft to th? rubbish which still fills the bottom. There is now no spring to feed it, and it is dry in summer. It is, nevertheless, a spot of un'que and eacred. interest, for there is no good rea-

son to doubt the early tradition that identities it with Jacob's Well of the Gospel story. It may have been on these very stones forming its curb that Jesus sat at noon, weary from His journey, and talked with the woman of Sychar. —Gideon's Fountain. — Gideon's Fountain is a copious spring which gushes out of a cave at the base of the mountain ridge of Gilboa. It was near here Gideon's £2,000 men of Israel were encamped while the hosts of the Midianites, numbering 135,000, filled the plain to the north of the Hill Morah, After 22,000 of them had retired, as they were yet too many, Gideon, at God's direction, brought them to these waters to drink, when only 300 who lapped were taken to participate in the overthrow of Midian as recorded in Judges. The spring is the head of a considerable stream, which flows eastward doWni the valley, past Beth.sh.an, into the Jordan. At Nazareth a decidedly historic fountain is that known as the Virgin's or St. Mary's Fountain. It is on the east side of the town, near the Greek Church of the Annunciation, a semi-subterranean edifice, the water flowing past the altar of the church, where the conduit is open, and where pilgrims bathe their hands and heads. A stone .aqueduct carries the water to the arched structure, where_ the village women fill their graceful jars, and where the flocks and beasts of burden are watered. As doubtless in the days of Mary and Jesus, so now it is a place of concourse. As this is the only fountain in Nazereth, we may rest assured that amid all the traditions and legends that crowd the place this is the veritable spring at which the Virgin Mother drew water, and where her son, Jesus, often quenched His thirst. —H, J. S.