394 SKETCHES OF PALESTINE. 



precise limits of this purchase it would be ridiculous to attempt to 

 ascertain. All that we know is, that it was near Sichar, 'before,* 

 or eastward of the city ; that it contained a well a possession of 

 the greatest importance in those parts ; and, like ' the field of 

 Ephron' purchased by Abraham,* a buryitig-place. A place of 

 burial seems to have given a sacredness to the property in which 

 it was situated, and to have rendered the inheritance inalienable ; 

 it established a right of proprietorship, and, connected with this, 

 what we should call a right of common to the neighboring pas- 

 tures.f Thus, we find the sons of Jacob leaving their father's resi- 

 dence in Hebron, to feed his flocks in Shechetn,} by virtue of this 

 right, long after he had been compelled to remove from this neigh- 

 borhood. The burial-place was, no doubt, (as that of Abraham 

 and that of Joshua were,) at the 'end of the field,' on the 'border 

 of the inheritance,' which must have been Mount Gerizim itself; 

 and, if the mosque should prove to conceal the entrance to a later- 

 al excavation or grotto, of the kind universally chosen for sepul- 

 chres of distinguished persons by the ancient Jews, it may possibly 

 mark the identical place 'in Shechem where the bones of Joseph 

 were laid.' 



Next to Jerusalem itself, this is, perhaps, the most interesting 

 spot in the Holy Land, as connected with those events transacted 

 in the fields of Sichem, which, from our earliest years, are remem- 

 bered with delight. ' Along the valley,' says Dr. Clarke, ' we be- 

 hold a company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, as in the days 

 of Reuben and Judah, 'with their camels, bearing spicery, and 

 balm, and myrrh,' who would gladly have purchased another 

 Joseph of his brethren, and conveyed him, as a slave, to some Po- 

 tiphar in Egypt. Upon the hills around, flocks and herds were 

 feeding as of old ; nor, in the simple garb of the shepherds of Sa- 

 maria, was there any thing to contradict the notions we may enter- 

 tain of the appearance formerly exhibited by the sons of Jacob.' 

 'The morning after our arrival, we met caravans coming from 

 Grand Cairo, and noticed others reposing in the large olive- planta- 

 tions near the gates.' 



Leaving Nablous, the road lies along the narrow vale, and, in 

 about three quarters of an hour, conducts the traveller to a copious 

 spring of good water, called Beer-sheba. This, Dr. Richardson 

 says, is the broadest and best cultivated part of the valley ; he saw 

 the natives busily engaged (May) in reaping a scanty crop of bar- 

 ley. Maundrell notices a village on the left of the road (going 

 northwards) called Barseba, deriving its name, no doubt, from this 

 well ; and, half an hour further, another village which he calls She- 

 rack. After leaving Beer-sheba, Dr. Richardson's account makes 

 the road ascend. ' In about a quarter of an hour,' he says, 'we 

 reached the top of the hill ; and as we wound our way down the 

 other side, had an excellent view of the delightfully situated Sebaste. 



* Gen. xxiii. 17. f Gen. xxxiv. 5. J Gen. xxxvii. 12 14. Gen. xxxvii. 25. 



