DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10358#0219
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE,
by pursuing the mountain track parallel to this along the crest of the ridge towards Tekoa, and
then descending at once on Berachah. West of this ridge there is general cultivation ; the
eastern slopes are for the most part bare downs, with sparse stunted shrubs, pastured over by
the Ta'amireh Arabs, abounding in partridge, and the favourite haunt of the gazelle and a few
ibexes or wild goats.
From the Wady Bereikuh a ride of five miles brings us to Tekoa (see page 188), crossing
the little upland plain, ensconced in a circle of hills, called Bukat et Teku'a. In front of us is a
long hill, with a copious spring at its foot and ruins on its top. The name is scarcely changed,
Teku'a for Tekoa, and the district in its natural features seems to have been always what it
is now —bare, treeless, open pasturage. We here lose all traces of the ancient terraces which
gird the undulations of every hill farther west with their swathing bands. Here and there are
still patches of cultivation in the hollows of the valleys, but the soil is dry and stony, and we
begin here to lose the rich vegetable mould which, however scanty, still covers more or less
the whole of the central hills, and have, in its stead, only a thirsty chalky marl. That vegetable
soil is doubtless due, in the first instance, to the primseval forest, which certainly once covered
the whole of the Judaean as of the Gilead range, but which has left no traces of its existence
on the western slopes towards the Dead Sea (see page 185). Tekoa thus stood on the outskirts
of civilisation. Though a city, and a fortified one, for its strategic importance is evident, and
it was the permanent advanced post towards the pass of Engedi (see page 200), yet it is not
girt with a number of low ruin-topped knolls, like the strongholds of the country we have been
traversing. As a town it stood in the centre of a nomad district, and the inhabitants of the
region eastward dwelt in tents like their modern successors, the Ta'amireh Arabs. But that it
was always a garrison post is indicated by the words, " Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up
a sign of fire in Beth-Haccerim " {i.e. Frank Mountain, or Jebel Fureidis, the peak facing us on
the north), (see page 137, vol. i.). Tekoa was fortified by Rehoboam as one of his frontier
posts. Of its large buildings little remains that can be identified; but it was occupied during
the Christian era, and the most conspicuous ruin is that of the Byzantine church, with the
broken columns of its aisles, and a large baptismal font well wrought in hard limestone (see
page 188). St. Saba established a convent here ; and the Crusaders resettled the place, only
to be again, after their expulsion from the country, devastated by the Bedawin.
But the chief interest of Tekoa is not its history, but the fact of its being the birthplace
and home of the prophet Amos, a "herdsman of Tekoa " and a "gatherer of wild figs." His
early life here, the character of the country, and the nature of his calling, have stamped his
writings with an individuality which has attracted the notice of every student and critic, from
St. Jerome, the father of commentators, downwards.
From Tekoa to Engedi (see page 203) there is no track, but we may follow the course of
the wadys which converge towards the pass, the Wady Husasah, W'ady el Jihar, or Wady el
Areijeh. All are equally featureless, all alike without relics of the past, or dwellings of the
present. But any of them afford an admirable opportunity for studying the natural products,
by pursuing the mountain track parallel to this along the crest of the ridge towards Tekoa, and
then descending at once on Berachah. West of this ridge there is general cultivation ; the
eastern slopes are for the most part bare downs, with sparse stunted shrubs, pastured over by
the Ta'amireh Arabs, abounding in partridge, and the favourite haunt of the gazelle and a few
ibexes or wild goats.
From the Wady Bereikuh a ride of five miles brings us to Tekoa (see page 188), crossing
the little upland plain, ensconced in a circle of hills, called Bukat et Teku'a. In front of us is a
long hill, with a copious spring at its foot and ruins on its top. The name is scarcely changed,
Teku'a for Tekoa, and the district in its natural features seems to have been always what it
is now —bare, treeless, open pasturage. We here lose all traces of the ancient terraces which
gird the undulations of every hill farther west with their swathing bands. Here and there are
still patches of cultivation in the hollows of the valleys, but the soil is dry and stony, and we
begin here to lose the rich vegetable mould which, however scanty, still covers more or less
the whole of the central hills, and have, in its stead, only a thirsty chalky marl. That vegetable
soil is doubtless due, in the first instance, to the primseval forest, which certainly once covered
the whole of the Judaean as of the Gilead range, but which has left no traces of its existence
on the western slopes towards the Dead Sea (see page 185). Tekoa thus stood on the outskirts
of civilisation. Though a city, and a fortified one, for its strategic importance is evident, and
it was the permanent advanced post towards the pass of Engedi (see page 200), yet it is not
girt with a number of low ruin-topped knolls, like the strongholds of the country we have been
traversing. As a town it stood in the centre of a nomad district, and the inhabitants of the
region eastward dwelt in tents like their modern successors, the Ta'amireh Arabs. But that it
was always a garrison post is indicated by the words, " Blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up
a sign of fire in Beth-Haccerim " {i.e. Frank Mountain, or Jebel Fureidis, the peak facing us on
the north), (see page 137, vol. i.). Tekoa was fortified by Rehoboam as one of his frontier
posts. Of its large buildings little remains that can be identified; but it was occupied during
the Christian era, and the most conspicuous ruin is that of the Byzantine church, with the
broken columns of its aisles, and a large baptismal font well wrought in hard limestone (see
page 188). St. Saba established a convent here ; and the Crusaders resettled the place, only
to be again, after their expulsion from the country, devastated by the Bedawin.
But the chief interest of Tekoa is not its history, but the fact of its being the birthplace
and home of the prophet Amos, a "herdsman of Tekoa " and a "gatherer of wild figs." His
early life here, the character of the country, and the nature of his calling, have stamped his
writings with an individuality which has attracted the notice of every student and critic, from
St. Jerome, the father of commentators, downwards.
From Tekoa to Engedi (see page 203) there is no track, but we may follow the course of
the wadys which converge towards the pass, the Wady Husasah, W'ady el Jihar, or Wady el
Areijeh. All are equally featureless, all alike without relics of the past, or dwellings of the
present. But any of them afford an admirable opportunity for studying the natural products,