1846.] Bâniás. The Fountain. 189 the green corn; and the farmers are obliged to watch their fields by night. This is rather dangerous sport; but they manage to kill a great many of them. Ounces, wolves, and gazelles are also very numerous in the thickly wooded plain before the town. The Fountain. Josephus, speaking of Herod the Great, says: "So when he had conducted Caesar to the sea and was returned home, he built him a most beautiful temple of whitest stone in Zendorus' country near the place called Panium. This is a very fine cave, in a mountain, under which there is a great cavity in the earth; and the cavern is abrupt, and prodigiously deep, and full of still water; over it hangs a vast mountain; and under the cavern arise the springs of the Jordan. Herod adorned this place, which was already a very remarkable one, still farther, by the erection of this temple, which he dedicated to Caesar." The above extract is interesting in various respects. But the present cave and fountain differ widely from this description of the great Jewish historian. A few rods north of the town, there runs a perpendicular cliff, forty or fifty feet high, parallel to the old wall of the city. Not far from the middle of this cliff, there is a high irregularly shaped cave, which however, at present, penetrates the mountain only a few feet. Out of this cave Josephus says the river issues; and this, indeed, is the uniform testimony, both ancient and modern, which even Burckhardt also is made to sanction. The fact is, however, that the fountain bursts out amongst loose stones and rocks, several rods distant, and some twenty feet below the mouth of the cave. Nor does that part of the cave which is visible, exhibit any trace of its ever having been the outlet of such a fountain. Probably the ruins of Herod's temple and other ancient buildings, have entirely choked up the entrance of the cave; and if the vast mass of rocks and rubbish, through which the water now bursts out, were removed, we should find the "cavern abrupt, and prodigiously deep, and full of still water." And probably it might be found arched over, in order to form the floor of the temple. Perhaps upon this arch are heaped together the broken rocks which now cover the bottom of the cave. This supposition seems necessary, in order to explain the various accounts of ancient historians. To the east of the cave the rock has been cut into niches, and smoothly polished to receive inscriptions. Two of these niches are surmounted with the figure of a large shell (pecten), beautifully carved and in fine preservation. I subjoin the inscriptions further on, for the inspection of the curious. Lake Phiala. Josephus has some other statements, which merit a pass 'Antiq. XV. 10. 3. ing notice: "Now Panium is thought to be the fountain of Jordan; but in reality it is carried thither after an occult manner from the place called Phiala. This place lies as you go to Trachonitis, and is 120 furlongs from Caeserea, and is not far from the road on the right hand. And indeed it hath its name Phiala, very justly, from the roundness of its circumference, as being round like a wheel. Its water continues always up to its edges, without either sinking or running over. And as this origin of Jordan was formerly not known, it was discovered so to be, when Philip was Tetrarch of Trachonitis; for he had chaff thrown into Phiala, and it was found at Panium, where the ancients thought the fountain head of the river was; whither it had been therefore carried. As for Panium itself, its natural beauty has been improved by the royal liberality of Agrippa, and adorned at his expense. Now Jordan's visible stream arises from this cavern, and divides the marshes and fens of the lake Semechonitis." The account here given of the lake Phiala, is not very probable. That so small a reservoir should supply such a magnificent fountain, and yet be subject to no fluctuations itself, is nearly incredible. But what, and where the Phiala is, continues to be a matter of dispute. Burckhardt thinks he may have discovered it on his route from Damascus to Safed. Irby and Mangles believe that they saw it at a distance, as they went from Damascus to Bàniâs. The guide who conducted us to the castle of Bâniâs, without being questioned, described to me a small lake called Birket er-Ram, which he said was round like a bowl; had neither stream, nor fountain, nor outlet; and yet its waters continued always at the same height. From the top of the castle, he pointed out a large tree, which he said grew on the margin. He had been often there, and said it was three quarters of an hour in circumference. The direction from Bâniâs is east, and the distance six or eight miles. I was very anxious to visit it, but the day was too far advanced, and our animals were very tired. If this be indeed the Phiala, I venture to say that it is nearly a geological impossibility that it could have any connection with the fountain of Baniâs. The water would have to run up the strata of rock, and must pass under the deep ravine on the south of Bâniâs, before it could reach the fountain; a supposition altogether incredible, Our guide at the same time volunteered another piece of information. He said that five hours up the mountain, towards the snows of Jebel esh-Sheikh, at a place called Shebâ there was a cave, through which this stream of Bâniâs flowed. Upon asking him how they knew that it was the same, he replied, that they threw in tibn (chaff) at the cave, and it came out at Bâniâs. This is exactly the experiment ascribed to Philip. 1 B. J. III. 10. 7. 1846.] Lake Phiala. 191 This account of the appearance of the stream in a cave far up above the fountain, and in a direction along which we should naturally expect the stream to come, is much more credible than the story of Josephus. On a subsequent visit to Bâniâs, I had an opportunity to visit Birket er-Ram and feel well satisfied that it is the ancient Phiala. Burckhardt could not have seen it, and I doubt whether Irby and Mangles did. It is about one hour and a half due east from the castle; and consequently nearly three hours from the fountain of Bâniâs. The path climbs over a high mountain, and then leads across a plain covered with lava and divided by the deep channel of a brook, which runs down S. W. and falls into the marsh of the Hûleh. The Birkeh is the most singular basin of water I have ever examined. It is manifestly the mouth of a perfectly round crater, filled with water to within about eighty feet of the top. This great volcanic bowl is about three miles in circumference, and the sides are so steep, that it is difficult to get down to the water. It does not appear to be very deep; since, in most parts, the surface is covered with weeds, upon which thousands of ducks were feeding. The circumstances which identify the Birket er-Râm with the ancient Phiala are, its bowl-like shape, and the fact that it has neither inlet nor outlet, is fed neither by a running stream nor by any visible fountain; and has no known channel of escape for its surplus waters. It neither increases nor diminishes; but what it is now, in this hottest and driest season of the year, the line on its lava-built margin clearly proves it to be, during the rains and snows of winter. This is a singular fact, and I leave others to explain the curious phenomenon. The examination confirmed my former doubts. It is scarcely possible that the Phiala is the more distant appearance, much less the source of the stream at Bâniâs. The water of the Phiala is so insipid, and nauseous that it cannot be drank, while the fountain at Bâniâs pours out a river of cool, sweet, and delicious water. The Phiala is so crowded with leeches, that a man can gather 6000 or even 8000 in a day; while the fountain at Bâniâs is not infested by a single leech. This could not be, if the river of Baniâs drained the lake Phiala. Besides, the size and position of the mountains, and the depth and direction of the intervening valleys, interpose physical and geological obstacles which render the supposition incredible. And moreover so vast a discharge of water as the fountain of Bâniâs requires, would draw off the whole lake of Phiala in twenty-four By comparing Kiepert's Map in the Bib, Researches, the reader will perceive, that the lake described by Mr. Thomson is the same which was seen by Irby and Mangles; the direction and distance from Bâniâs being the same in both. Seetzen heard of it also under the name of Birket er-Râm. See Bibl. Res. 111. p. 349, 350.-E. R. hours; or, if the supply from some hidden source be equal to the demand, it would at least change the stagnant character of the lake, and manifest its operation on the surface. I have also become convinced, that the great fountain in the cave at Sheba, is not connected with that at Bàniâs. The supply is not sufficient at best, and only a part of the stream disappears under the mountain, and this not all at one place, but it escapes insensibly amongst the rocks as it descends the gorge from Sheba towards the valley of the Hasbâny. There are also too many deep ravines and valleys, under which the water from Shebâ must flow, before it can reach Bâniâs. The dip of the strata likewise is westward toward the valley of the Hasbany, not southward towards Bânias; and it is next to impossible that a stream could work its way south through fifteen or twenty miles of mountain strata, all dipping towards the western valley. Moreover, some six miles south of Sheba, there flows down into the Hasbâny through a deep gorge a brook called Suraiyib, as large as that at the Shebâ; and the idea is absurd that the former flows under the Suraiyib to get to Bâniâs. On the whole, therefore, I do not find the story about the chaff to be well supported. After the minutest and most careful inquiries of people who are perfectly familiar with all this region of country, I can hear of no lake in this vicinity, except the Birket er-Râm; and that neither this, nor the fountain at Sheba, has any connection with Bâniâs, is evident. If, therefore, the water of this fountain appears anywhere before reaching Bânias, it must be sought for in the direction of Jebel esh-Sheikh. From Bâniâs, the mountain rises in unbroken ranges up to its snow-capt summits; and there, doubtless, are inexhaustible reservoirs, which supply all the great fountains that burst out around its base, and which united constitute the Jordan. It is still possible that the stream of Baniâs, in its descent from the snows of Hermon, may appear on the surface, and subsequently disappear under the mountain. The idea is familiar to the people of the country, and many absurd stories of such phenomena are in circulation and believed. A respectable man once gave me a description of such a stream, on the heights of Lebanon, above el-Batrûn, which he had visited, and carefully examined. The story of Josephus may have at least this basis of truth to stand upon. Castle of Baniás. About three miles north-east of Bâniâs, one of the spurs of Mount Hermon terminates abruptly in an oblong, isolated summit, elevated about fifteen hundred feet above the city and plain below. The whole of the summit is enclosed within the vast castle of Bàniâs. Of course the fortress assumes the shape of the mountain-a long and irregular quadrangle, extending from north-east to north-west. Impas 1846.] Castle of Bâniás. 193 sable valleys defend it on all sides, except on the north-east, where it is connected with the general mountain range by a narrow ridge of rock. But even here the castle hill rises almost perpendicularly, two or three hundred feet above the connecting ridge. This north-eastern end being the only assailable point, was fortified with walls, round towers, and bastions, of prodigious strength. The south side is protected by alternate round and square towers, six in number. The only entrance is through one of these towers, which overhangs a ravine of great depth. It is difficult to see how this gate-way could ever have been stormed. The south-western, western, and north-western walls are carried along the brink of precipices, where the head grows dizzy by looking into the frightful gorges below. Within the fortress, the original rock of the mountain is left undisturbed, and rises higher than the walls. Both at the north-eastern and south-western ends of the castle, immense cisterns, granaries, and magazines were excavated, in whole or in part, out of the solid rock. The garrison must have been entirely dependent upon these cisterns for water. There is a stair-way at the western end, cut in the living rock, and descending at an angle of forty-five or fifty degrees. The tradition is, that this stair-way leads down to the great fountain of Bâniâs! a supposition altogether incredible. I descended a few steps and found it so choked up with rubbish, as to be impenetrable. One is surprised at the vast extent of this mountain fortress. Burckhardt says that it took him half an hour to walk around it. The circumference, however, is not more than one mile. Still the dimensions are prodigious, and the spectator never ceases to gaze in astonishment at these huge towers, vast reservoirs, spacious magazines, and hoary walls. The style of architecture, also, is, in many parts, beautiful. I am strongly impressed with the idea that the fine bevelled stones, with which the noble round towers are constructed, belong to an edifice far more ancient than the present castle. What may be the age of these modern works, it is not easy to ascertain. There are a number of Saracenic inscriptions, in an excellent state of preservation; but only one of them dates as far back as the later crusades, and celebrates merely the repairing of works which had then fallen into decay. The possession of this strong-hold must have been a matter of great importance during all the wars of Syria, up to the time when cannon came into use. It then ceased to be terrible, and has long been deserted, except by the mountain shepherds, who still fold their flocks in its empty magazines. Why this castle should have received the name of es-Subeibeh about the time of the crusades, it is perhaps impossible to discover. I have already spoken of two encampments of Arabs not far from Bâniàs, called VOL. III. No. 9. 17 |