DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27910#0079
BANIAS,
THE ANCIENT CiESAREA PHILIPPI.
ANIAS is situated about midway on the road usually taken by travellers between Tiberias
and Damascus. The village, as described by Dr. Robinson, occupies a terrace 1147 feet
above the sea. He says—“ The situation of Banias is unique, combining in an unusual
degree the elements of grandeur and beauty. It nestles in its recess at the southern
base of the mighty Hermon, which towers in majesty to an elevation of seven or eight
thousand feet above. Its terrace I have already described, over which the abundant waters
r!& J of the glorious fountain spread luxuriant fertility, and the graceful interchange of copse, lawn, and
fefe waving fields. The situation is charming. Lying so high above the Huleli, its atmosphere partakes of
i ’j>o>
H the salubrity of the adjacent mountain. The vicinity of the mountain, the many woods, and the rich
fields of grain around Banias, make it the resort of an abundance of game. Panthers and wolves are on the
mountains; wild swine and gazelles luxuriate among the grain. Wild ducks, partridges, snipe, and other
birds, are in plenty.”
With regard to the animals mentioned by Dr. Robinson, I will relate my own experience in this district.
Whilst our men were pitching the tents in the plain below Banias, near the brink of the Lake Merom,
I took my gun, and strolled up the side of the mountain, in the hope of meeting with partridges; but,
instead of birds, I very soon put up, at the same instant, and apparently feeding close together, a wild boar
and a gazelle. A good rifle-shot might have killed both. Descending, I saw a wolf prowling, with
remarkable coolness, around our tents. We killed a large black snake close to the encampment; and
I saw on the mountain two others of a brown colour, and each of them about ten feet long. Two nights
afterwards, at Beit Jeun, on the other side of Banias, a panther carried off a goat from a flock within a
walled enclosure about fifty yards from our tent. He leapt the wall, with his victim over his shoulder ; the
ball' fired by the man who was watching the flock passing so close, that we distinctly heard its “ whiz ” over
the roof of our tent.
Close to the village, at the foot of a precipitous limestone rock, is a remarkable cavern, from which pours
a considerable stream, forming one of the chief sources of the river Jordan. In this cave was probably
conducted the worship of Baal, and afterwards of Pan, whence its name—Panias, now Banias.
Lord Nugent thus expresses his regret at being prevented from visiting Banias, as a place which he
much more regrets having left the East without seeing than even Damascus:—“ The scanty but venerable
remains of Panias, anciently a grotto and fane dedicated by the Greeks to the mysterious rites of Pan and
the Nymphs; afterwards a border city of the Jews, on the northern frontier of Palestine, hard by what is
said to be the spring-head where the Jordan found both its source and name; the ‘Dan’ of the Old Testa-
ment ; and, lastly, the Ceesarea Philippi of the New, enlarged and decorated by the Tetrarch, Herod Philip,
and which he dedicated to the glory of Tiberias,” &c. The Bridge and Gateway, which are almost the only
remains of antiquity at Banias, are probably the work of Herod Philip. The Castle, which crowns the distant
mountain, is perhaps the most perfect existing specimen of the military architecture of the Phoenicians, or
possibly of the Syro-Grecians. “ The fortress makes upon the traveller a deep impression of antiquity and
strength, and of the immense amount of labour and expense employed in its construction.”
THE ANCIENT CiESAREA PHILIPPI.
ANIAS is situated about midway on the road usually taken by travellers between Tiberias
and Damascus. The village, as described by Dr. Robinson, occupies a terrace 1147 feet
above the sea. He says—“ The situation of Banias is unique, combining in an unusual
degree the elements of grandeur and beauty. It nestles in its recess at the southern
base of the mighty Hermon, which towers in majesty to an elevation of seven or eight
thousand feet above. Its terrace I have already described, over which the abundant waters
r!& J of the glorious fountain spread luxuriant fertility, and the graceful interchange of copse, lawn, and
fefe waving fields. The situation is charming. Lying so high above the Huleli, its atmosphere partakes of
i ’j>o>
H the salubrity of the adjacent mountain. The vicinity of the mountain, the many woods, and the rich
fields of grain around Banias, make it the resort of an abundance of game. Panthers and wolves are on the
mountains; wild swine and gazelles luxuriate among the grain. Wild ducks, partridges, snipe, and other
birds, are in plenty.”
With regard to the animals mentioned by Dr. Robinson, I will relate my own experience in this district.
Whilst our men were pitching the tents in the plain below Banias, near the brink of the Lake Merom,
I took my gun, and strolled up the side of the mountain, in the hope of meeting with partridges; but,
instead of birds, I very soon put up, at the same instant, and apparently feeding close together, a wild boar
and a gazelle. A good rifle-shot might have killed both. Descending, I saw a wolf prowling, with
remarkable coolness, around our tents. We killed a large black snake close to the encampment; and
I saw on the mountain two others of a brown colour, and each of them about ten feet long. Two nights
afterwards, at Beit Jeun, on the other side of Banias, a panther carried off a goat from a flock within a
walled enclosure about fifty yards from our tent. He leapt the wall, with his victim over his shoulder ; the
ball' fired by the man who was watching the flock passing so close, that we distinctly heard its “ whiz ” over
the roof of our tent.
Close to the village, at the foot of a precipitous limestone rock, is a remarkable cavern, from which pours
a considerable stream, forming one of the chief sources of the river Jordan. In this cave was probably
conducted the worship of Baal, and afterwards of Pan, whence its name—Panias, now Banias.
Lord Nugent thus expresses his regret at being prevented from visiting Banias, as a place which he
much more regrets having left the East without seeing than even Damascus:—“ The scanty but venerable
remains of Panias, anciently a grotto and fane dedicated by the Greeks to the mysterious rites of Pan and
the Nymphs; afterwards a border city of the Jews, on the northern frontier of Palestine, hard by what is
said to be the spring-head where the Jordan found both its source and name; the ‘Dan’ of the Old Testa-
ment ; and, lastly, the Ceesarea Philippi of the New, enlarged and decorated by the Tetrarch, Herod Philip,
and which he dedicated to the glory of Tiberias,” &c. The Bridge and Gateway, which are almost the only
remains of antiquity at Banias, are probably the work of Herod Philip. The Castle, which crowns the distant
mountain, is perhaps the most perfect existing specimen of the military architecture of the Phoenicians, or
possibly of the Syro-Grecians. “ The fortress makes upon the traveller a deep impression of antiquity and
strength, and of the immense amount of labour and expense employed in its construction.”