| Transcript |
THE PHOENICIAN PLAIN. 71
and fifty feet above the sea, and five hundred and sixty above the stream at its foot, a tongue of
rock stands out between two ravines with perpendicular sides, not more than twenty yards wide
and two hundred yards long, and cut off from the ridge behind by a deep artificial chasm.
Where needful its sides have been coated with masonry, each tier sloping inwards, but the
course above projecting three inches, so that scaling was impracticable. On the top are four
successive fortresses, each successively defencible, and under each enormous cisterns, securing
an independent supply of water. From the masonry of the lower structures it would seem
that the fortress was originally Phoenician, that it was afterwards enlarged, and, perhaps,
rebuilt by the Syrian Greeks or the Romans, and finally strengthened as we now see it by the
Christian knights. It is, indeed, one of the most interesting relics of the long and hardly won,
and still more hardly kept, dominion of our Norman ancestors. Yet all that history tells us
of it is, that it was built by Hermann, grand master of the Teutonic knights, in a.d. 1229, and
captured by Sultan Bibars in a.d. 1291. The knights, however, did little more than restore
and strengthen fortifications of far earlier conquerors, as Phoenician, Greek or Maccabsean, and
late Roman work, can be successively traced below the mediaeval structures.
From Kul'at el Kurn the road to Acre passes through a partially wooded undulating plain
for about four hours, till the maritime plain, drained by the classic river Belus (see page 72),
now the Nahr Na'man, is reached. The spurs of the Galilean lower hills run far down and
form a low barrier between the plain of Acre and the plain of Esdraelon. From these spurs
are fed the springs which supplied" the aqueduct on the north. From the south-east the Belus
(see page 72) works its way through its marshy bed, the sand almost absorbing it as it nears
the shore.
The whole of this plain of Acre is studded, especially at the foot of the surrounding hills,
with mud-built villages, many of them inheriting ancient names, but none bearing any other
signs of antiquity. Thus we find to the south-east of Acre, Kabul, the Cabul of Joshua and
Kings, and north of it Amkah, the old Beth-emek; Semiriyeh, anciently Sherivron-meron;
Abdeh, or Abdon ; Jefat, the Jotopata of Josephus ; and many others. The fame of the river
Belus arises from the Greek tradition, that the invention of glass manufacture was due in the
first instance to the accidental discovery on its banks of a vitreous mass produced by a fire of
seaweed among the flints and sand, which some sailors had lighted when camping here. There
are no traces of glass works to be seen, but we know that the Tyrians were the first
manufacturers, and the tradition may very probably be true.
From the springs of the Nahr Na'man is an interesting ride up a gentle wooded slope to
Shefa 'Amr, one of the principal villages of the district. We know nothing of its biblical name
or history. It first came into notice in the time of the Crusades, and was the head-quarters of
Saladin when endeavouring to raise the siege of Acre. On the crest of the hill are the ruins of
an extensive mediaeval castle, apparently of Saracenic construction. Nothing of interest beyond
its massive walls remains. There is a very fine view of Acre, Haifa, and the plain from this
castle. Not a mile to the south, on the opposite hill, is another smaller ruined castle, El Burj. |
