DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10358#0156
i3o
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
among fallen columns and huge masses of masonry, where, in succession, palaces and forums,
Roman temples, synagogues, Byzantine basilicas, mosques, and mediaeval churches have stood.
The foundation of the cathedral can be traced, and near to the edge of the low cliffs there are
the remains of a church of the Crusading era, consisting of its three apses and four massive
buttresses, which stand erect and firm, though the walls they were intended to support fell long
ago. (They are shown in the steel engraving.) I once spent an hour or two here quite alone,
while my fellow-travellers and our attendants were all wisely sleeping or resting, during the
mid-day hours of a midsummer day, in a shady place by the seashore. I mounted the low cliff
and wandered amonff the ruins. Not a human being Was visible, and I shall never forget the
impression which the solitude and silence and utter desolation of this place made upon me.
There are a few cisterns, but only one shallow well of brackish water, within the walls ; but
the Roman city was evidently well supplied. There are traces of a low-level aqueduct, which
brought water from Nahr ez Zerka, and fragments remain of a high-level conduit, which
crossed the marshes on arches of fine masonry, and conveyed spring water from the main source
of the Zerka, in the distant hills.
On the sandy shore south of the mole (see page 108) I gathered beautiful pale yellow sea
poppies and prickly sea holly, and found some good specimens of white and yellow-tinted
opercula, but no perfect shells, though the shore was strewn with broken ones. The Arabs
call these ruins Kaiseriyeh, thus preserving the name of the city in its Greek form, Kaiaapeia.
From Caesarea we pursue our way southwards along the seashore, presently crossing the
bed of the Wady Mefjir (called by some writers Nahr Akhdar), and hastening onwards to a
rocky point of land which forms a small harbour, where there is a rude landing-place for Arab
boats, called the Minet, or port, of Abu Zabura. It is near to the river Iskanderuneh
(Alexander), to which it gives its more popular name of Nahr Abu Zabura (see map). This
river in the summer time has not sufficient force to reach the sea, but forms a shallow lake not
far from it.
At this point we leave the seashore and ascend the cliff of the broad sandstone ridge on
our left. The first village we come to is Mukhalid, standing near to the high road about
a mile from the edge of the cliffs, midway between the river Iskanderuneh and Nahr el Falik
(see map). It is the centre of the melon-growing district. I was here once with my brother
at the commencement of the melon harvest. We approached this place at about half-past
seven one July morning. A lively picture of Arab life was before us. All along the coast,
between the road and the edge of the cliff, as far as we could see, north and south, there were
beds of various kinds of melons, and groups of dusky peasants in white shirts, with leathern
girdles and large white turbans, were busily engaged gathering them and building them up
in pyramids. Hundreds of camels were there too, some walking away well laden, others
kneeling patiently while their panniers were being filled with the bulky fruit. White tents
were pitched here and there in the melon gardens : they were the tents of the tax-gatherers
who had come to claim the tribute of the melon harvest.
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
among fallen columns and huge masses of masonry, where, in succession, palaces and forums,
Roman temples, synagogues, Byzantine basilicas, mosques, and mediaeval churches have stood.
The foundation of the cathedral can be traced, and near to the edge of the low cliffs there are
the remains of a church of the Crusading era, consisting of its three apses and four massive
buttresses, which stand erect and firm, though the walls they were intended to support fell long
ago. (They are shown in the steel engraving.) I once spent an hour or two here quite alone,
while my fellow-travellers and our attendants were all wisely sleeping or resting, during the
mid-day hours of a midsummer day, in a shady place by the seashore. I mounted the low cliff
and wandered amonff the ruins. Not a human being Was visible, and I shall never forget the
impression which the solitude and silence and utter desolation of this place made upon me.
There are a few cisterns, but only one shallow well of brackish water, within the walls ; but
the Roman city was evidently well supplied. There are traces of a low-level aqueduct, which
brought water from Nahr ez Zerka, and fragments remain of a high-level conduit, which
crossed the marshes on arches of fine masonry, and conveyed spring water from the main source
of the Zerka, in the distant hills.
On the sandy shore south of the mole (see page 108) I gathered beautiful pale yellow sea
poppies and prickly sea holly, and found some good specimens of white and yellow-tinted
opercula, but no perfect shells, though the shore was strewn with broken ones. The Arabs
call these ruins Kaiseriyeh, thus preserving the name of the city in its Greek form, Kaiaapeia.
From Caesarea we pursue our way southwards along the seashore, presently crossing the
bed of the Wady Mefjir (called by some writers Nahr Akhdar), and hastening onwards to a
rocky point of land which forms a small harbour, where there is a rude landing-place for Arab
boats, called the Minet, or port, of Abu Zabura. It is near to the river Iskanderuneh
(Alexander), to which it gives its more popular name of Nahr Abu Zabura (see map). This
river in the summer time has not sufficient force to reach the sea, but forms a shallow lake not
far from it.
At this point we leave the seashore and ascend the cliff of the broad sandstone ridge on
our left. The first village we come to is Mukhalid, standing near to the high road about
a mile from the edge of the cliffs, midway between the river Iskanderuneh and Nahr el Falik
(see map). It is the centre of the melon-growing district. I was here once with my brother
at the commencement of the melon harvest. We approached this place at about half-past
seven one July morning. A lively picture of Arab life was before us. All along the coast,
between the road and the edge of the cliff, as far as we could see, north and south, there were
beds of various kinds of melons, and groups of dusky peasants in white shirts, with leathern
girdles and large white turbans, were busily engaged gathering them and building them up
in pyramids. Hundreds of camels were there too, some walking away well laden, others
kneeling patiently while their panniers were being filled with the bulky fruit. White tents
were pitched here and there in the melon gardens : they were the tents of the tax-gatherers
who had come to claim the tribute of the melon harvest.