CHAP.

VI.

we found like one vast meadow, covered with the richest pasture,) the tribe of Issachar1 "rejoiced in their tents." In the first ages of Jewish History, as well as during the Roman Empire, the Crusades, and even in later times, it has been the scene of many a memorable contest. Here it was that BARAK, descending with his ten thousand from Mount Thabór, discomfited SISERA" and "all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him," gathered "from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river of Kishon;" when "all the host of SISERA fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left;" when "the kings came and fought, the kings of Canaan in Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo."

(1) Deut. xxxiii. 18.

(2) "C'est là," says Doubdan, "où le prophéte Elie fit mourir ces quatre cens cinquante faux prophétes de Baal sur le torrent de Cison, qui y passe et l'arrouse dans toute sa largeur." (Voy. de la T. S. p. 579. Par. 1657.) In this, perhaps, Doubdan is for once mistaken. Elijah took the prophets of Baal from Carmel down to the brook Kishon; but that river flows into the sea, after leaving the Plain of Esdraelon, through another plain whereon Acre is situate, connected with this by a narrow valley. See Maundrell's Journey, p. 57.

(3) Judges iv. 13, 15, 16. & ch. v. 19.

(4) "Josephus, lib. viii. Antiq. cap. ii. rò μéya wedíov fuisse regionem cui præfectus erat Banaias filius Achilud scribit, pro quâ regione Sacer Codex Taanach, Megiddo et Bethschear substituit." Reland. Palæst. lib. i. c. 55. tom. I. p. 366. Utrecht, 1714.

"as

Here also it was that JOSIAH, king of Judah,
fought in disguise against NECHO, king of
Egypt, and fell by the arrows of his antagonist.
So great were the lamentations for his death,
that the mourning for JOSIAH became an "ordi-
nance in Israel." The "great mourning in Jeru-
salem," foretold by Zechariah', is said to be as
the lamentations in the Plain of Esdraelon, or,
according to the language of the Prophet,
the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of
Megiddon. JOSEPHUS often mentions this very
remarkable part of the Holy Land, and always
under the appellation of "The Great Plain."
The supplies that Vespasian sent to the people
of Sepphoris are said to have been reviewed in
the great plain, prior to their distribution into
two divisions ; the infantry being quartered
within the city, and the cavalry encamped upon
the plain.

Under the same name it is also

CHAP.

VI.

(5) 2 Kings, xxiii. 29.

(6) "And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing-men and the singingwomen spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel." 2 Chron. xxxv. 24, 25.

(7) Zechar. xii. 11.

(8) Josephus, lib. iii. de Bell. c. 2, & 3. Id. lib. v. Lib. viii. Antiq. c. 2. &c. &c.

Antiq. c. 1.

CHAP.

VI.

mentioned by Eusebius', and by St. Jerom2. It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from the days of Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, (in the history of whose war with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the great Plain of Esdrelom3,) until the disastrous march of Napoleon Buonaparté from EGYPT into SYRIA. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian Crusaders, and Anti-christian Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors out of "every nation which is under heaven," have pitched their tents upon the Plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Thabor and of Hermon. It has not often been noticed in books of travels, because it does not occur in the ordinary route pursued by

(1) Eusebius ad voc. 'Ieopanλ. Id. ad voc. 'Apßnλá. Et ad voc. Βαιθακάδ, &c.

(2) Hieronymus, lib. de Sit. et Nom. Locorum Hebraicorum.

(3) It is so written from the original, Пledíov μéya 'Eodpnλúμ. Vid. Judith, c. i. 8. And according to our Version, "Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, sent unto all that dwelt in Persia, and to all that dwelt westward, and to those that dwelt in Cilicia and Damascus, and Libanus, and Anti-Libanus, and to all that dwelt upon the sea-coast, and to those among the nations that were of Carmel, and Galaad, and the higher Galilee, and the great Plain of Esdrelom."

(4) "We were sufficiently instructed by experience, what the holy Psalmist means by the dew of Hermon :' our tents being as wet with it as if it had rained all night." Maundrell's Journey, p. 57. Oxf. 1721.

VI.

pilgrims, in their journeys to Jerusalem. These CHAP. men have generally landed at Jaffa; and have returned thither, after completing their pilgrimages: in consequence of this, we seldom meet with any accounts of Galilee, or of Samaria, in their writings. Even Doubdan, whose work, full of the most valuable information, may be considered as the foundation of every recent description of the Holy Land, contents himself with the view afforded of this plain from Mount Thabor . Not that he has, on this account,

(5) Of which fact the Reader may find amusing evidence in an extract from a MS. Poem of the Cottonian Library. The last line will not easily be paralleled.

"At Port Jaff begynn wee,

"And so frothe from gre to gre,

"At Port Jaff ther is a place,

"Wher Petur reised thrugh Goddes grace,

"From dede to lif to Tabitane,

"He was a woman that was her name."

See Purchas, lib. viii. c. 15. p. 1238. Lond. 1624.

(6) This plan has so constantly been adopted by persons resorting to the Holy Land, that in the very recent instance of the visit paid to that country by Châteaubriand, (whose interesting Travels were published while this sheet was preparing for the press,) his journey extends only from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem back again to Jaffa. (See Trav. in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, and Barbary, during the years 1806 and 1807, by F. A. Châteaubriand. English edit. Lond. 1811.) The French edition could not be had when this volume was printing.

(7) Mons. Châteaubriand pleasantly styles him "honest Doubdan.” (Ibid. vol. II. p. 141.) justly extolling, upon other occasions, his perspicuity, accuracy, erudition, and, above all, his simplicity.

(8) "Or pendant que nous sommes encore sur le faiste de cette saincte montagne, il nous la faut horizonter et jetter la veuë avec plaisir

CHAP.

VI.

Encampments.

omitted any interesting circumstance of its history. He has given us a lively picture of the different encampments he observed from the summit. "We had the pleasure," says he', "to view, from the top of that mountain, Arabs encamped by thousands; tents and pavilions of all colours, green, red, and yellow; with so great a number of horses and camels, that it seemed like a vast army, or a city besieged: and to the end that each party might recognise its peculiar banner and its tribe, the horses and camels were fastened round the tents, some in square battalions, others in circular troops, and others again in lines: not only were Arabs thus encamped, but also Turks and Druses, who maintain abundance of horses, camels, mules, and asses, for the use of the caravans coming from or going to Damascus, Aleppo, Mecca, and Egypt."

Being provided with an addition to our escort, of ten well-mounted and well-accoutred

plaisir sur tous les lieux considérables qu'on y descouvre, à l'imitation de la grande Saincte Paule, laquelle, comme dit Sainct Jerosme (Ieron. Ep. 27. ad Eusto.) montant sur le Thabor, ou le Fils de Dieu s'est transfiguré, elle contemploit les montagnes d'Hermon, et Hermonim, les grandes campagnes de Galilee." &c. Voyage de la Terre Saincte, p. 577. Par. 1657.

(1) Ibid. p. 579.