DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0265
JOPPA.
249
existed before the deluge, the city where Noah
dwelt and built his ark ; whence Jonah embarked
for Tarshish, when he was thrown overboard and
swallowed by a whale ; the port used by Solomon
to receive timber from Tyre for the building of the
temple, and by all the kings of Judah to connect
the city of Jerusalem with foreign people, Jaffa
is now a small Turkish town on the shores of
the Mediterranean, built on a little eminence pro-
jecting into the sea, and containing a population of
from ten to fifteen thousand Turks, Arabs, Jews,and
Christians. It has a fine climate, and a fine coun-
try around it; and the orange-gardens are the
finest on the shores of the Mediterranean. Al-
though the seaport of Jerusalem, its harbour has
always been bad; and when I was there, the
wreck of a Turkish man-of-war was lying on the
beach; and that same night, there being a severe
storm, the little Greek pilgrim vessels were con-
sidered in great danger.
There is nothing of interest in the modern city
of Jaffa; its history is connected with the past.
The traveller must stand on the shore, and fill the
little harbour with the ships of Tarshish, or ima-
gine Noah entering the ark with his family, by
whom the earth was to be repeopled; or wander
through the narrow streets and ask himself, Where
is the house of Tabitha, whom Peter " raised from
the dead ?" or that of Simon the tanner, where Pe-
ter " tarried many days ?" and he may feel a less
holy, but hardly less powerful interest, in standing by
VOL. II.-Y
249
existed before the deluge, the city where Noah
dwelt and built his ark ; whence Jonah embarked
for Tarshish, when he was thrown overboard and
swallowed by a whale ; the port used by Solomon
to receive timber from Tyre for the building of the
temple, and by all the kings of Judah to connect
the city of Jerusalem with foreign people, Jaffa
is now a small Turkish town on the shores of
the Mediterranean, built on a little eminence pro-
jecting into the sea, and containing a population of
from ten to fifteen thousand Turks, Arabs, Jews,and
Christians. It has a fine climate, and a fine coun-
try around it; and the orange-gardens are the
finest on the shores of the Mediterranean. Al-
though the seaport of Jerusalem, its harbour has
always been bad; and when I was there, the
wreck of a Turkish man-of-war was lying on the
beach; and that same night, there being a severe
storm, the little Greek pilgrim vessels were con-
sidered in great danger.
There is nothing of interest in the modern city
of Jaffa; its history is connected with the past.
The traveller must stand on the shore, and fill the
little harbour with the ships of Tarshish, or ima-
gine Noah entering the ark with his family, by
whom the earth was to be repeopled; or wander
through the narrow streets and ask himself, Where
is the house of Tabitha, whom Peter " raised from
the dead ?" or that of Simon the tanner, where Pe-
ter " tarried many days ?" and he may feel a less
holy, but hardly less powerful interest, in standing by
VOL. II.-Y