The middle mountain of the three which guards the plain of Esdraelon on the East is the Hill Moreh, called in modern times Little Hermon. We see it in the distance beyond the level plain, here cultivated with care. In the foreground you look down upon the home of a farmer and his fmaily; perhaps the possessor of some of the fields in the distance. The house is built of clay and probably contains but one room. The corner of the only window is seen upon the right. Notice the wall bounding the court in front of the house. In some such home as this, not far away at Nazareth, our Lord may have lived during his youth and early manhood.
Let us cross the Plain of Esdraelon. On its eastern border we find three mountains; the northern Mount Tabor; the middle one "The Hill of Moreh" in the Old Testament; often called in modern times "Little Hermon"; the greatest of the three on the south, Mount Gilboa. We are now looking upon Mount Tabor from the summit of the Hill of Moreh or Little Hermon. That village in the middle of the view is Nain, here, on one of his journeys, Jesus raised to life the only son of a widow. Beyond the village over the plain we see the rounded summit of Mount Tabor, the most symmetrical and beautiful in form of all the hills in this land of many hills and mountains.
We looked upon the Hill Moreh of Little Hermon from a distance. Let us now stand upon its summit beside yonder Arab and from it look northward over the plain of Esdraelon. We can see dimly in the distance the white buildings of a town upon the mountain. That town is Nazareth, the home of Jesus during nearly thirty years. The hills around Nazareth look out upon the storied plain of Esdraelon; and from yonder hilltops the Boy Jesus must have often gazed upon this plain and the mountains surrounding it, recalling the battles of the Israelite history that were fought upon this famous field.
The largest of the three mountains on the east of the plain of Esdraelon, is Mount Gilboa, which now stands before us, seen from the summit of the Hill Moreh, our view looking southward. Notice the village in the plain between the two mountains. This is Shunem, the home of the rich woman who befriended the prophet Elisha, and was rewarded in having her boy restored to life.
We come now to Jerusalem, the city of the great king, the joy of the whole earth in the eyes of the ancient Israelites. Here a whole group of mountains will claim our attention; for Jerusalem stands upon mountains and is surrounded by mountains. We begin with Mount Zion, the largest of its hills. Here is the traditional site of the original city, seen from the new tower over Jaffa gate. You note an ancient and in places half-ruined castle, standing upon the wall. This, according to tradition, is the tower of David, the site of the ancient Jebusite fortress, which David, stormed and took in the opening of his reign. You can see how steep is the ascent from the valley below. Up those rocks swarmed David's warriors; they climbed the wall and smote down the Jebusite defenders. When once the city had been taken, David strengthened its fortifications and made it his capital. That grove of trees surrounded by a wall is in the court of the Armenian Monastary. Those walls have been destroyed and rebuilt many times. The present wall was built by the Sultan Solyman the Magnificent, in the sixteenth century.
We climb up the staircase from the underground recesses, and standing upon the Temple platform, one looks across the Valley of the Kedron to the Mount of Olives. This is a range of hills, having four summits on the east of the city. Our views include the middle of the range, the part most interesting. That prominent building on the hillside with its onion-shaped dome, is a Russian Church; and the tower on the summit of the hill is also a Russian building. You can perceive three roads up the hill, that on the left is the highway to Jerusalem and Jericho, in Christ's time haunted by robbers - as you remember in the parable of "The Good Samaritan"; and even now it is not safe for travelers who are alone. That lower path on the right may be the one over which Christ rode on his traditional Garden of Gethsemane where our Saviour bowed in prayer on the night before his cross. These old olives may be the descendants of the tree whose leaves rustled over him in his agony.
This octagonal building with a blue dome stands directly over the rock where the altar arose in front of the ancient temple. It is commonly called "The Mosque of Omar", but it is not a mosque nor was it built by the Caliph Omar. Yet it is regarded by Mohammedan as one of the most holy places upon the earth, and next in sacredness to the great mosque of Mecca in Arabia. You notice that the building is in two colors, the upper part dark, the lower light. The upper part is faced with porcelain tiles, the lower part with marble. The smaller domed building on the right, it is said, was built as a model for the larger edifice, and is called "the judgement seat of David." We will walk across the rocky plateau, take off our shoes, or cover them with slippers, and step inside the Dome of the Rock.
In the interior of the building we walk around an octagonal corridor, and entering a door we stand before a mass of slanting native rock, 57 feet long from north to south and 43 feet wide. Here was the threshing floor of Araunah, bought by King David for the site of his altar; but Jewish tradition claims that a thousand years before David, Abraham built his altar on this rock for the sacrifice of Isaac. Without a doubt here stood the altar of Solomon' Tmeple, and in the two temples that succeeded Solomon's. Think of the great men of the Bible who stood here and worshipped; prophets, priests, kings, and apostles, saints! We may well look upon this rock as one of the hallowed places of the earth.
On the northern side the New Calvary hill is an easy ascent either on foot or on horseback, and from its summit we take a view of Jerusalem. Close at hand we see the northern wall of the city, pierced by the Damascus Gate, the very gate through which Saul of Tarsus went forth on his persecuting errand, expecting to scatter the church in Damascus, as he had scattered the church in Jerusalem. That modern building on the right is the Latin Convent and hospice for the entertainment of Catholic pilgrims. You note a large dome standing prominently with a smaller dome beside it; that is the Church of the Holy Sepupchre where a mistaken tradition locates all the events connected with the death and resurrection of our Lord. This part of the city is largely Christian in its population and is more modern and thrifty in appearance than some of the other sections.
There is a record in the Gospel of John which gives to these twin mountains an interest deeper than any of the Old Testament events, and, for the sake of that story, we look once more at Mount Gerizim from the base of Mount Ebal. Do you see a village yonder, at the foot of Mount Gerizim? That is the modern Askar, the ancient Sychar. Do you perceive beyond it another small enclosure? Within that wall is Jacob's Well, dug by the ancestor of the Israelites thirty-five hundred years ago, and still giving forth its water. Over yonder road, winding around the mountain, walked Jesus and his disciples one morning; and he sat weary beside the well while his disciples came to this village to obtain food for their breakfast. Waiting by the well he met a woman from the neighboring village, bearing her water-jar upon her shoulder; a woman, bright, quick-witted, and of deep, spiritual insight, although her past had been guilty. He saw her traits of mind and heart, and engaged her in conversation, while above them both loomed the summit of Mount Gerizim. That old well is there today, and every traveler receives a drink from its cool depths.
