Chapter 14 - Tire to Kanah.*

Chapter 14 - Tire to Kanah.*

Boundary of tribe of Asher-and of Naphtali|Ancient sculptures near Kanah.|
Hiram's tomb.|Kanah.|
The cedars of Lebanon described.|Sheepfolds and shepherds.|
|Scripture allusions.|
March 1st.
IT is delightful to be again on our journey, and the more so that the region into which we are about to penetrate is absolutely unknown to me.
[*Kanah, the name of the first place in Palestine proper of which notice is taken in this chapter, is not to be confounded with Cana of Galilee. The present Kanah was in the tribe of Asher, and is probably the Kanah mentioned by Joshua (16:8), as belonging to that tribe.ED.]
vBoundary of Asher
We are now crossing the territory of Asher toward the Kanah which belonged to that tribe; but it is not probable that the Jews ever had possession of this plain, nor even certain that Kanah itself was inhabited by them. East of it lies the country of the warlike tribe of Naphtali, where Jews always resided from the days of Joshua until several centuries after the destruction of Jerusalem; and even yet they cling to certain places in it with invincible tenacity. How beautiful the sea, the city, and the plain, from these hills! and as the eye runs along the sloping declivities north and south, it rests on many a ruin which bears indubitable marks of Phoenician origin.
vWant of Historic Interest
I have wandered from place to place among them, hoping to find inscriptions in that ancient language, but in vain; and since they have no historic interest, it is useless to load the memory, or cram one's note-book with long lists of unpronounceable names. Here, however, is something which merits attention. That singular structure is called
vHiram’s Tomb
Hiram's Tomb,-upon what authority, except native tradition, I know not. But as there is nothing in the monument itself inconsistent with the idea that it, marks the
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final resting-place of that ancient king of Tire, I am inclined to allow the claim to pass unquestioned. It bears about it unmistakeable marks of extreme antiquity. The base consists of two tiers of great stones each three feet thick, thirteen feet long, and eight feet eight inches broad. Above this is one huge stone, a little more than fifteen feet long, ten broad, and three feet four inches thick. Over this is another, twelve feet three inches long, eight broad, and six high. The top stone is a little smaller every way, and only five feet thick. The entire height is twenty-one feet. There is nothing like it in this country, and it may well have stood, as it now does, ever since the days of Solomon. These large, broken sarcophagi scattered around it are assigned by tradition to Hiram's mother, wife, and family. Concerning them nothing need or can be said.
This whole neighborhood abounds in Phoenician remains, and it is quite natural that it should be so. The situation is beautiful; near enough, and sufficiently high, to command the then glorious prospect of plain, city, and crowded harbor; and no doubt the summer seats and summer residences of Tire's “merchant princes" crowned these hills. This village of Hanaweih is built out of the ruins of such palaces, and similar remains lie scattered over all the neighborhood.
Are there any of the cedar-trees which Hiram transported by sea to Joppa still found on these mountains?
I do not suppose there ever were any, for Lebanon terminates with Jebel Rihan, far to the north-east of Tire. These lower mountains, comprising the territories of Asher and Naphtali, are the favorite zone of the oak and the terebinth. Even the pine is rarely seen, and the cedar never.
vLocality of the Cedars
It is only on the loftier ranges of Lebanon that they flourish, and the true Biblical cedar is now confined to a single locality.* Hiram, I suppose, had the control of these mountains, and brought the cedar-tree to the coast at Tripoli, Batrone, Jebail, or Beirût.
Have you ever visited these cedars Many times. They are situated high up on the western slope of Lebanon, ten hours south-east from Tripoli. Besherrah is directly west, in the romantic gorge of the Khadîsha, two thousand feet below them, and Ehden is three hours distant on the road to Tripoli. In no other part of Syria are the mountains so Alpine, the proportions so gigantic, the ravines so profound and awful.
You must not leave the country without visiting the cedars. There are several routes to them, and all wild, exciting, delightful.
(*Those travelers who speak of finding these cedars in abundance on other parts of Lebanon, are simply mistaken in the tree. There are considerable groves of cedar in various places, generally along the very highest range,-for example, north of Tomat Niha, above Barûk, Aphcah, and other similar localities; but they are quite different from the cedar of Lebanon.)
vRomantic Scenery of the Neighborhood
One of the most romantic is to climb Lebanon from Beirut quite to the base of Jebel Knîseh, then wind northward around the heads of the stupendous gorges made by the rivers of Beirût, Antelîas, Dog River, Nahr Ibrahim, Nahr el Jous, and the Khadîsha. I have repeatedly followed that wildest of routes, with or without a path, as the case might be, clinging to the shelving declivities midway to heaven, with a billowy wilderness of rocks and ravines sinking away westward down to the sea. The very thought of it at this minute is positively intoxicating. The platform where the cedars stand is more than six thousand feet above the Mediterranean, and around it are gathered the very tallest and grayest heads of Lebanon.
vThe Cedar Grove
The forest is not large-not more than five hundred trees, great and small, grouped irregularly on the sides of shallow ravines, which mark the birth-place of the Khadîsha, or Holy River.
But, though the space covered by them does not exceed half a dozen acres, yet, when fairly within the grove, and beneath the giant arms of those old patriarchs of a hundred generations, there comes a solemn hush upon the soul as if by enchantment. Precisely the same sort of magic spell settles on the spirits, no matter how often you repeat your visits. But it is most impressive in the night. Let us by all means arrange to sleep there. The universal silence is almost painful.
vSensation by Night
The gray old towers of Lebanon, still as a stone, stand all around, holding up the stars of heaven to look at you; and the trees gather like phantoms about you, and wink knowingly, or seem to, and whisper among themselves you know not what. You become suspicious, nervous, until, broad awake, you find that it is nothing but the flickering of your drowsy fire, and the feeble flutter of bats among the boughs of the trees. A night among the cedars is never forgotten; the impressions, electrotyped, are hid away in the inner chamber of the soul, among her choicest treasures, to be visited a thousand times with never-failing delight.
There is a singular discrepancy in the statements of travelers with regard to the number of trees. Some mention seven, others thirteen-intending, doubtless, only those whose age and size render them Biblical, or at least historical. It is not easy, however, to draw any such line of demarcation. There is a complete gradation from small and comparatively young to the very oldest patriarchs of the forest.
vNumbers of the Trees
I counted four hundred and forty-three, great and small; and this cannot be far from the true number. This, however, is not uniform. Some are struck down by lightning, broken by enormous loads of snow, or torn to fragments by tempests. Even the sacrilegious ax is sometimes lifted against them. But, on the other hand, young trees are constantly springing up from the roots of old ones, and from seeds of ripe cones. I have seen these infant cedars in thousands just springing from the soil; but, as the grove is wholly unprotected, and greatly frequented both by men and animals, they are quickly destroyed. This fact, however; proves that the number might be increased ad libitum. Beyond a doubt, the whole of these upper terraces of Lebanon might again be covered with groves of this noble tree, and furnish timber enough not only for Solomon's temple and the house of the forest of Lebanon, but for all the houses along this coast. But, unless a wiser and more provident government control the country, such a result can never be realized; and, indeed, the whole forest will slowly die out under the dominion of the Arab and Turk. Even in that case the tree will not be lost. It has been propagated by the nut or seed in many parks in Europe, and there are more of them within fifty miles of London than on all Lebanon.
We have seen larger trees every way, and much taller, on the banks of the Ohio, and the loftiest cedar might take shelter under the lowest branches of California's vegetable glories. Still, they are respectable trees. The girth of the largest is more than forty-one feet; the height of the highest may be one hundred. These largest, however, part into two or three only a few feet from the ground.
vAge
Their age is very uncertain, nor are they more ready to reveal it than others who have an uneasy consciousness of length of days. Very different estimates have been made. Some of our missionary band, who have experience in such matters, and confidence in the results, have counted the growths (as we Western people call the annual concentric circles) for a few inches into the trunk of the oldest cedar, and from such data carry back its birth three thousand five hundred years. It may be so. They are carved full of names and dates, going back several generations, and the growth since the earliest date has been almost nothing. At this rate of increase they must have been growing ever since the flood. But young trees enlarge far faster, so that my confidence in estimates made from such specimens is but small.
vThe Timber
The wood, bark, cones, and even leaves of the cedar are saturated, so to speak, with resin. The heart has the red cedar color, but the exterior is whitish. It is certainly a very durable wood, but is not fine grained, nor
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peculiarity in the shape of this tree, which I have not seen any notice of in books of travel.
vThe Branches
The branches are thrown out horizontally from the parent trunk. These, again, part into limbs which preserve the same horizontal direction, and so on down to the minutest twigs, and even the arrangement of the clustered leaves has the same general tendency. Climb into one, and you are delighted with a succession of verdant floors spread around the trunk, and gradually narrowing as you ascend.
vCones
The beautiful cones seem to stand upon, or rise out of this green flooring. I have gathered hundreds of these cones for friends in Europe and America; and you will see them in private cabinets more frequently than any other memento of the Holy Land.
vAncient Sculptures
We will now turn to the left, and visit some curious sculptures in the face of the rocks on the south side of this ravine which comes down from Kanah. Here they are, some twenty figures of men, women, and children, rudely carved in alto-relievo when no great progress had been made in sculpture. They may be of any supposable age, and were probably cut by Phoenician artists, before Tire had any such masters as that Hiram who was filled with all wisdom to work all cunning work,* whom Solomon employed to beautify the temple of the most high God.
(*1 Kings 7:14)
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vKanah
And that is Kanah spreading down the mountain to the east. It is a village of not more than two thousand inhabitants, and I see no evidence of antiquity about it.
That may be accounted for from the nature of the stone, a white marl, barely hard enough to be wrought, and which soon dissolves into soil when exposed to sun and rain. There is a ruin about a mile north of it, called 'Em el 'Awamid, which was built of hard rock, and there are ancient remains in abundance-foundations, columns, oil-presses, cisterns, and posts of houses scattered far and wide over the face of the mountain. There, too, are some ' well-preserved specimens of Cyclopean architecture, such as I have seen nowhere else in this country. The original name is lost, and the present one, "Mother of columns," has been given by the Arabs on account of the columns which form so conspicuous a feature in its ruins. From the great number of old oil-presses at this place, and others north and south, it is evident that those now naked hills were once clothed with olive-trees. And that is probable enough, for this chalky marl is the best of all soils for the olive.
vBeauty of the District
When thus cultivated and adorned, this part of Asher must have been most beautiful. So thought that crowning city Tyrus, and in her self-complacent vanity exclaims, "I am of perfect beauty.”
We will now pass into the wady on the east of Kanah, where the servants are expecting us. With our wanderings and explorations, the ride from Tire has taken three hours, but it can easily be done in two. Though it is early in the afternoon, we shall spend the night here, for there is no suitable place to encamp between this and Tibnîn.
vSheep Folds
Owing to the wild wadies covered with dense forests of oak and Underwood, the country above us has ever been a favorite range for sheep and goats. Those low, flat buildings out on the sheltered side of the valley are sheepfolds. They are called mirth, and, when the nights are cold, the flocks are shut up
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thorns, which the prowling wolf will rarely attempt to scale. The nimer, however, and fahed-the leopard and panther of this country-when pressed with hunger, will overleap this thorny hedge, and with one tremendous bound land among the frightened fold.
"His varied works of wonder shine,
And loud declare the hand divine
That made the day, and made the night,
And sowed the sky with diamonds bright;
And bade old ocean in his might,
And mountains bathed in golden light,
The ever-present God proclaim-
Holy and reverend be his name!”
"The timely dew of sleep,
Now falling with soft slumb’rous weight,
Inclines our eyelids.”
Let us first read, and meditate a while upon that delightful chapter in John,* where our blessed Savior appropriates all these characters of a good shepherd to himself.
(*John 10:1-29)