presume to identify the coffins of their Patriarchs and Prophets'. When it is once understood what the real monuments are, to which those traditions allude; the veneration always paid by that people to a place of sepulture; their rigorous adherence, in burial, to the cœmeteries of their ancestors; the care with which memorials are transmitted to their posterity; and other circumstances connected with their customs and history, which cannot here be enumerated; it is not merely probable, but it amounts almost to certainty, that the sepulchres they revere were originally the tombs of the persons to whom they are now ascribed.

In the time of Alexander the Great, Sichem was considered as the capital of Samaria. Its inhabitants were called Samaritans, not merely as people of Samaria, but as a sect at variance

CHAP.

VI.

(3) Gerrans, translator of the Hebrew Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin, published in 1783, makes use of an allusion to the Prophet Daniel's coffin, as a proof of the spurious nature of the Work. (See Dissert. p. 10, prefixed to the volume.) There is every reason to believe that Benjamin's Itinerary is a mere compilation; but the objection thus urged does not impeach its veracity. The tradition alluded to was probably borrowed from former Writers.

(4) Josephus, Antiq. lib. xi. c. 8.

VI.

CHAP. with the other Jews'. They consisted principally of deserters from Judæa; and they have continued to maintain their peculiar tenets to the present day. Sichem, according to Procopius', was much favoured by the Emperor Justinian, who restored the sanctuaries, and added largely to the other publices of the city. The principal object of ve tion, among the present inhabitants, is Jaco. Well, over which a church was formerly er cted. This is situate at a small distance from the town',

Jacob's
Well.

(1) Josephus says of them, that they boasted of their Jewish origin whenever the Jews were in prosperity, but disowned any connection with them when in adversity. Vid. Antiq. lib. xi. c.8.

(2) The antient medals of the city bear the name of Flavia Neapolis. Spanheim (De Præst. et Us. Numism. p. 769. Amst. 1761.) notices a medal of the Emperor Tirus, in Seguin's Collection, with this inscription, ΦΛΑΟΥΙΝΕΑΠΟΛΙΣΑΜΑΡΕΙΑΙ. Vaillant mentions colonial coins of Philip the Elder, on which appeared Mount Gerizim, with a temple on its summit. For an account of this temple, named, by Antiochus, the Temple of Jupiter, see Josephus, Antiq. lib. xi. c. 8. lib. xii. c. 7.

(See Maundrell's

(3) See Reland. Palæst. Illust. lib. iii. p. 1008. tom. II. Utrecht, 1714. Procopius, lib. v. De Edificiis Justiniani, cap. 7. (4) Attributed, as usual, to the Empress HELENA. Journey, p. 62.) Arculfe, as preserved in Adamnanus, gives a plan of it, which proves its form to have been that of a Greek cross: (lib. ii. de Loc. Sanct.) This is also in Reland's Work, (p. 1008. tom. II. Palæst. Illust. Utrecht, 1714.) It was mentioned by St. JEROM in the fourth century. ANTONINUS the Martyr saw it in the sixth; ARCULFE, in the seventh; WILLIBALD, in the eighth; and PHOCAS, in the twelfth. (5) "About one third of an hour from Naplosa, we came to 'JACOB'S WELL.'" Journey from Alep. to Jerus. p. 62. Oxf. 1721.

in the road to Jerusalem; and has been visited by pilgrims of all ages; but particularly since the Christian æra, as the place where our SAVIOUR revealed himself to the woman of Samaria. The spot is so distinctly marked by the Evangelist, and so little liable to uncertainty, from the circumstance of the well itself and the features of the country, that, if no tradition existed for its identity, the site of it could hardly be mistaken. Perhaps no Christian scholar ever attentively read the fourth chapter of St. John, without being struck with the numerous internal evidences of truth which crowd upon the mind, in its perusal. Within so small a compass it is impossible to find, in other writings, so many sources of reflection and of interest. Independently of its importance as a theological document, it concentrates so much information, that a volume might be filled with its singular illustration of the history of the Jews, and the geography of their country. All that can be collected upon these subjects from Josephus seems but as a comment to this chapter. The journey of our LORD from Judæa into Galilee; the cause of it;

(6) John, c. iv.

his

passage

(7) Vid. Antiq. lib. xi. c. 4, 7, 8. lib. xii. c. 3, 7, &c.

CHAP.

VI.

VI.

CHAP. through the territory of Samaria; his approach to the metropolis of that country; its name; his arrival at the Amorite field which terminates the narrow valley of Sichem'; the antient custom of halting at a well; the female employment of drawing water; the Disciples sent into the city for food, by which its situation out of the town is so obviously implied; the question of the woman referring to existing prejudices which separated the Jews from the Samaritans; the depth of the well; the Oriental allusion contained in the expression "living water;" the history of the well, and the customs thereby illustrated; the worship upon Mount Gerizim; all these occur within the space of twenty verses: and if to these be added, what has already been referred to in the remainder of the same chapter, we shall perhaps consider it as a field, which, in the words of HIM who contemplated its ultimate produce3, "WE MAY LIFT UP OUR EYES, AND LOOK UPON, FOR IT IS WHITE ALREADY TO HARVEST."

(1) "At this well, the narrow valley of Sychem ends; opening itself into a wide field, which is probably part of that parcel of ground given by JACOB to his son JOSEPH." Journey from Alep. to Jeras. p. 63. Oxf. 1721.

(2) Sec p. 185, Note 1; and p.186; of this volume.

(3) John, iv. 35.

THE HOLY LAND-NAPOLOSE TO JERUSALEM. Journey to Jerusalem-Singular Cultivation of Judæa-Jacob's Field-Bethel-Beer-Prospect of the Holy City-Formalities of a Public Entry-Reception by the Inhabitants-Gate of Damascus-Identity of "the Holy Places"-Visit to the Governor-Convent of St. Salvador -Appearance of the Monk-Dormitory for Travellers

-Pilgrim's Chamber-Convent Stores -Library Exactions of the Turks-Manufactures of JerusalemMecca Fruit-Fetid Limestone Water of the Dead Sea -Visit to "the Holy Places"-Sepulchre of the Messiah

-Its