Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/160

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FOLK-LORE OF THE HOLY LAND

The suggestive name and the tales told of the eccentric people of Deyr es Sinneh are supposed to be reminiscences of the once famous sect of the Essenes, of whom mention is often made by Josephus, but of whom, as far as the writer is aware, no actual traces have as yet been discovered, except those of the cistern and baths above referred to.

P. 108. “The times of the infidels.” —This is the way in which the Moslem peasants usually refer to the period when Palestine was under Christian rule.

P. 109. Tombs on the site of the present Greek convent of St Onuphrius.—Ecclesiastical tradition says that these tombs and the ruined medieval building close by which covers a deep rock-hewn pit, mark the site of Aceldama. During the Middle Ages the earth from the hill-terraces here used to be carried to Europe by the ship-load to various cemeteries, such as the Campo Santo at Pisa, because of the general belief that it possessed the peculiar property of accelerating decomposition. It also was endued with the strange gift of knowing the difference between one nationality and another. Thus we are informed that “By order of the Empress Helena, two hundred and seventy ship-loads of it were translated to Rome and deposited in the Camp Santo near the Vatican, where it was wont to reject the bodies of the Romans and only consume those of strangers,”[1]

P. 110. Christians beyond Jordan in the time of the crusades.— Baldwin I. tempted many of the Christians living beyond Jordan to come and settle at Jerusalem. They were granted special privileges and immunities, and in a.d. 1121, his successor passed a free-trade measure remitting all customary dues on articles of commerce. (Will Tyrensis, xii. xv.; Williams’ “Holy City,” vol. i. p. 404 and foot-note.) It has for centuries been customary for criminals and outlaws to flee to the district east of the Jordan, and take refuge there under the protection of some Bedawai sheykh. The custom illustrates such episodes as the flight of Jephthah (Judges xi. 2), and David’s sojourn in Philistia (1 Sam. xxi.'10;. xxvii., xxviii. 1, 2).

VII

P. 120. The judgements of Karakash.—The expression “This is one of the judgements of Karakash,” is usual among the natives of Palestine, when a decision arrived at is hopelessly absurd, though based strictly upon the evidence in the case. It is said to have originated several hundred years ago during the ad-

  1. ↑ Monroe, as quoted by Barclay, “City of the Great King,” p. 208.
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