DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0220
GIBEON.
191
once an important fortress, Gibeon of Benjamin (see page 189). The country round the little
basin in which it rises is seamed with watercourses apparently running in every direction,
but all ultimately find their way to the plain of Sharon, for we are here altogether west of
the Jordan watershed. The ancient city has shrunk to a collection of a few scattered
hovels, but the landmarks of old history are still here. Under a cliff where a cave has
been hollowed out bursts forth a copious spring, which feeds not only a deep reservoir
on the spot, but also a large open reservoir of very ancient masonry beneath the village
on the east. Few spots can be more minutely identified than this Pool of Gibeon, where
Abner, with the adherents of Ishbosheth, Saul's son, met in the heart of Saul's own tribal
district Joab and David's men, and the two bands sat down facing each other on opposite
BEIT-'UR-EL-FOKA, ON THE SITE OF UPPER BETH-HORON.
In the distance the sandy line of coast and the Mediterranean Sea.
sides of the pool. When in the wager of battle, twelve against twelve, all the twenty-four
fell, the plain was called "the Field of the Strong Men " (2 Sam. ii.). The tradition still
lingers in the name Wady-el-Askur, "the Valley of the Soldiers." We may recall, too,
the second tragedy on this spot, in which Joab took the leading part, when, " by the great
stone that was in Gibeon," he basely assassinated his rival Amasa; and here, by a just
retribution, he was slain on the horns of the altar by Solomon's sentence. By this tank,
too, "the great waters," Johanan defeated the traitor Ishmael during the Captivity. But El
Jib has more hallowed reminiscences than deeds of blood. Its Canaanite inhabitants, whose
blood probably runs in the veins of the villagers of to-day, were the only Hivites spared
by Joshua, lured by their wiles into a treaty with them; and here, for more than fifty
191
once an important fortress, Gibeon of Benjamin (see page 189). The country round the little
basin in which it rises is seamed with watercourses apparently running in every direction,
but all ultimately find their way to the plain of Sharon, for we are here altogether west of
the Jordan watershed. The ancient city has shrunk to a collection of a few scattered
hovels, but the landmarks of old history are still here. Under a cliff where a cave has
been hollowed out bursts forth a copious spring, which feeds not only a deep reservoir
on the spot, but also a large open reservoir of very ancient masonry beneath the village
on the east. Few spots can be more minutely identified than this Pool of Gibeon, where
Abner, with the adherents of Ishbosheth, Saul's son, met in the heart of Saul's own tribal
district Joab and David's men, and the two bands sat down facing each other on opposite
BEIT-'UR-EL-FOKA, ON THE SITE OF UPPER BETH-HORON.
In the distance the sandy line of coast and the Mediterranean Sea.
sides of the pool. When in the wager of battle, twelve against twelve, all the twenty-four
fell, the plain was called "the Field of the Strong Men " (2 Sam. ii.). The tradition still
lingers in the name Wady-el-Askur, "the Valley of the Soldiers." We may recall, too,
the second tragedy on this spot, in which Joab took the leading part, when, " by the great
stone that was in Gibeon," he basely assassinated his rival Amasa; and here, by a just
retribution, he was slain on the horns of the altar by Solomon's sentence. By this tank,
too, "the great waters," Johanan defeated the traitor Ishmael during the Captivity. But El
Jib has more hallowed reminiscences than deeds of blood. Its Canaanite inhabitants, whose
blood probably runs in the veins of the villagers of to-day, were the only Hivites spared
by Joshua, lured by their wiles into a treaty with them; and here, for more than fifty