356 SKETCHES OF PALESTINE. 



raent of Judea, Samaria, arid Idurnea, with the title of tetrarch ; 

 Galilee being assigned to Herod Anlipas, and Perea, or the coun- 

 try beyond Jordan, to the third brother, Philip. But in less than 

 ten years, the dominions of Archelaus became annexed, on his dis- 

 grace, to the Roman province of Syria, and Judea was thenceforth 

 governed by Roman procurators. Jerusalem, after its final destruc- 

 tion by Titus, A. D. 71, remained desolate and almost uninhabited, 

 till the emperor Hadrian colonized it, and erected temples to Jupi- 

 ter and Venus on its site. The empress Helena, in the fourth cen- 

 tury, set the example of repairing in pilgrimage to the Holy Land, 

 to visit the scenes consecrated by the gospel narrative, and the coun- 

 try became enriched by the crowds of devotees who flocked there. 

 In the beginning of the seventh century, it was overrun by the Sar- 

 acens, who held it till Jerusalem was taken by the crusadeis in the 

 twelfth. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem continued for about 

 eighty years, during which the Holy Land streamed continually 

 with Christian and Saracen blood. In 1187, Judea was conquered 

 by the illustrious Saladin, on the decline of whose kingdom it pass- 

 ed through various revolutions, and, at length, in 1317, was final- 

 ly swallowed up in the Turkish empire. 



Palestine is now distributed into pashalics. That of Acre or Ak- 

 ka extends from Djebail nearly to Jaffa ; that of Gaza comprehends 

 Jaffa and the adjacent plains ; and these two being now united, ah 1 

 the coast is under the jurisdiction of the Pasha of Acre. Jerusalem, 

 Hebron, Nablous, Tiberias, and in fact, the greater part of Pales- 

 tine, are included in the pashalic of Damascus, now held in con- 

 junction with that of Aleppo, which renders the present pasha, in ef- 

 fect, the viceroy of Syria. Though both pashas continue to be du- 

 tiful subjects to the Grand Seignior in appearance, and annually 

 transmit considerable sums to Constantinople to ensure the yearly 

 renewal of their office, they are to be considered as tributaries, rath- 

 er than subjects of the Porte; and it is supposed to be the religious 

 supremacy of the sultan, as caliph and vicar of Mahomrned, more 

 than any apprehension of his power, which prevents them from de- 

 claring themselves independent. The reverence shown for the fir- 

 rnauns of the Porte throughout Syria, attests the stronghold which 

 the sultan maintains, in this character, on the Turkish population. 

 The pashas of Egypt and Bagdad are attached to the Turkish sove- 

 reign by the same ecclesiastical tie, which alone has kept the ill- 

 compacted and feeble empire from crumbling to ruin. 



The present mixed population of Palestine consists of Turks, 

 Syrians, Bedouin Arabs, Jews, Latin, Greek, and Armenian Chris- 

 tians, Copts, and Druses. In western Palestine, especially on the 

 coast, the inhabitants are stated by Burckhardt to bear generally 

 more resemblance to the natives of Egypt than to those of northern 

 Syria ; while, towards the east of Palestine, especially in the vil- 

 lages about Nablous, Jerusalem, and Hebron, they are evidently of 

 the true Syrian stock in features, though not in language. The 

 Syrian physiognomy assumes, however, a cast of features charac- 



