ROADS WEST OF JERUSALEM.

511

Four miles northwest from the convent, after passing a vineyard, we arrive at a little village, Kulonieh, on the east side of a small hill, and composed of twenty or thirty houses. Up to this place the road is exceedingly stony, and the soil in its reddish hue reminds us of that which we had seen around Safed. A few minutes more, and we pass a little stone bridge, and then some massive and architectural ruins, which one of the Arabs called El Jib; but otherwise he seemed to know little of them. Here, also, were beautiful orange-groves, with fruit just ripening. We have been passing up a valley for some time, and in forty minutes after leaving Kulonieh we arrived near the top of the hill, which, with the ruin on its top, a quarter of a mile to our left, appeared as represented below. Presently we

arrive at a little clear-running brook, and at some short distance toward our left is Shoba or Soba, and the RAMATHAIM ZOPHIM of Scripture, as Dr. Robinson supposes.

512

RAMATHAIM ZOPHIM.

How many efforts have been made to identify the birthplace of Samuel! If any one will consult the numerous passages wherein Ramah occurs, it will be seen that there were so many Ramahs as to suggest the necessity of distinguishing the places called by this name. Ramah signified a hill; and the method adopted of distinguishing the hills was by adding the name of the country in which they were situated. Thus, we have the Ramah of Gilead, of Benjamin, and of Zophim, -Soba being similar to Zopha, which is a singular form of the word of which Zophim is the plural. The names Ramathaim Zophim signify "the double heights of the watchmen." Now, the ruin-covered hill of Soba and its adjoining height, with the elevation, on which is a ruined tower in the distance between them, make a little group of Ramahs, which from our position, looking southwest, we see as in the sketch on the following page.

On the two hills, in the foreground, are ruins broken down to the ground, with not so much as a corner of a building standing. Here may have been the birthplace of Samuel,-here was Naioth, which word may mean the "University seat," or, more properly, "the dwellings" of the prophets, and here Saul was found "among the prophets." Beyond the two ruined-covered tops is a tower in the distance, which appeared perfectly square through my glass. Riding on, we came to a village on the side of the hill facing northward, containing an

2

1 See the passages, which are all noted in the Geographical Appendix. So my friend Dr. Leeser supposes; but, if I might be permitted to differ at all, I should suppose simply the "dwellings" of the prophets, the "Naioth" of Ramoth. See Geographical Appendix.

interesting and venerable church-building still in some degree of preservation. The rain was dripping through groined arches springing from square columns measuring forty-one inches on each side, which from their massiveness and the dimness of the light had a most sombre and melancholy appearance. The birds were fluttering among the arches; and there were evidences of its conversion into a stable. On the exterior appear some styles of cathedral-moulding which have been adopted of late years; and the building has one door at the end, at which we entered, and one large arched window opposite the entrance. It was once a magnificent and massive building,-filled with the Christian hosts as from time to time they gathered into Palestine during the Crusades. Now it is entered on horseback, because of the mud on the ground beneath the leaking

514

PLAIN OF SHARON.

stone roof, and nothing is within but a melancholy silence, ruin, and desertion. One of the Arabs pronounced the name of the village Bo-osh. Not far off we obtain a view of the Mediterranean as seen over the plain of SHARON.

In the plain is a distant minaret; and the little cluster of white buildings around it, brightly reflecting the sun's rays, marks the site of LYDDA of the New Testament. How beautiful these villages look in the distance, especially LYDDA, in the midst of the plain of Sharon and with the cheerful waters of the Mediterranean beyond! And yet I should expect to break the illusion should I set foot within its precincts. The soil at one o'clock is of a darker brown; and yet no volcanic fragments have been seen since we left Eriha. Near Jerusalem, or in its latitude, we have experienced such

CONCERT OF BIRDS.

515

rapid changes, and so different from the character of the climate farther north, that we are not surprised to hear of agues and fevers being prevalent in and around the city. This morning the thermometer stood at forty degrees; but now, in the sun, it is at seventy.

Passing a little village pronounced Avroon, or Abrûn, we ride upon the plain, the soil of which is dark and rich; and not far off is a solitary block of stone, five or six feet in length, beveled after the Roman style of building. I cannot conceive what purpose caused this well-shaped stone to be brought here and half buried in the plain, to be left entirely by itself. We have at several times passed little green lizards and others of different shades; but now there appears one with a broad head and back and a peculiar roughness. It appears to be a species which I have never seen in America, but it is quite common here. Some of the lizards, I am told, are from twelve to sixteen inches in length; and Dr. Robinson speaks of one three feet eight inches long, found near the Dead Sea.1 On our left the ground seems perfectly alive from the chirping of birds, though not one can be seen; yet we know they are there, for we saw a cloud of birds settle on the ground. The chirping is most singular, coming as it does from the throats of six or eight hundred little birds each seeming intent on being heard.

At twenty minutes before three o'clock we pass another little village, the name pronounced Obeb; and after one hour we can distinctly see the houses and

1 Robinson's Biblical Researches, vol. ii. p. 253.