J O R 



229 



JOS 



;<*di.i. bounded on each side by lofty chains of mountains, 

 '"f"" contains in its centre the Jordan, now pursuing a lan- 

 guid course through the space of 75 miles, from the 

 lake Tiberias to the Dead Sen, into which it rolls the 

 volume of its waters. The total course is about 1'25 or 

 130 miles. But the intermediate country in the latter 

 part of it, ii almost as little known as that approxima- 

 ting its source ; and no modern traveller, except Has- 

 selqui-t. seems to have beheld the efflux of the river, 

 whose observations are restricted to its having there 

 thrown out a quantity of willow. Probably he traver- 

 sed the plain of Jericho to the Dead Sea, extending 

 about three leagius in length, as he says that it is in 

 general barren and level, with .-ome small rising grounds 

 interspersed ; that the soil consists of greyish sandy 

 clay, so loose that the horses sunk up to the knees in 

 it ; and that the whole surface of the earth was covered 

 with salt, the same as in Egypt. All computations of 

 the size of the Jordan, are taken from its appear- 

 ance at the distance of several miles from the mouth. 

 It there appears dull and turbid, flowing at the rate of 

 about two miles an hour. So many discrepancies pre- 

 vail in the-accounts of travellers regarding its breadth, 

 that the only mode of reconciling them, is to suppose 

 that it does not continue uniform for any considerable 

 space, that their observations were made at different 

 easons, and have been given in the measures of dif- 

 ferent nations. According to Thomson it is 75 feet; 

 Chateaubriand calls it 50 paces ; but Shaw, who pro- 

 bably has been more minute, remarks, that excepting 

 the Nile, it was by far the largest river he had seen in 

 the Levant or Barbary ; however he did not estimate 

 it at above SO yards wide, and three deep close to the 

 brink ; therefore combining the rate of its course with 

 its sue, he calculated that it would discharge six mil. 

 lions and ninety tons of water daily into the Dead Sea. 

 The natural history of the Jordan is not well ex- 

 plained, and there are* few geological illustrations of the 

 countr, which it traverses. Limestone, baaaltes, dif- 

 ferent salts, and asphalt um, seem to be the more re- 

 markable substances The banks in some places are 

 woody, and abounding in reeds, from which the Arabs 

 obtain materials fr the shafts of their lances Mid ar- 

 rows ; and the Turks employ the more slender kinds 

 for writing. Wild beasts and game are exceedingly 

 plentiful around Baniass, and the huntsmen set fire to 

 the reed* on the confines of the lake Samachoniti*, to 

 dislodge the wild hearts from among then. Lions, ti- 



lt Is said that the peculiar quality of the Dead Sea 

 is derived from a great mountain towards the south- 

 west extremity, composed of numerous strata of sal 

 gem, and that from a high rock, probably not dis- 

 tant from the mountain, an island of considerable ex- 

 tent may be discovered. 



But whatever be the physical nature of the waters 

 of the Jordan, the credulous have conferred on thorn 

 the property of washing away sin. Originally this 

 river only served for the necessities of the human 

 race, and as a boundary to the restless tribes of the 

 Jews ; but it was viewed with peculiar veneration by 

 succeeding generations. While the Christians had pos- 

 session of Palestine, during the Crusades, its waters 

 were carefully transported to Europe for the purpose 

 of baptizing the families of Potentates. The Jordan 

 is yet a place of great resort to those troops of pil- 

 grims who continue to visit the Holy Land, and they 

 endeavour to bathe in the very spot where our Saviour 

 was baptized by John. The pilgrims desire total im- 

 mersion ; but the female part of them only strip to 

 their under garments, and have the water poured on 

 their heads. The Greeks bathe at a place three or 

 four miles distant from the other Christians, on ac- 

 count of a dispute concerning the precise site of the 

 sanctified spot. It appears that, independent of other 

 times, an annual excursion for bathing takes place 

 on Easter Monday, when all the pilgrims, men, wo- 

 men, and children, leave Jerusalem in a great ca- 

 ravan, with the governor of that city at their head. 

 The road leads past several places mentioned in Scrip, 

 ture ; among which is the city of Jericho, now an incon- 

 siderable village. About hlf a mile from the river there 

 is a ruinous convent, dedicated to St. John, up to which, 

 according to tradition, it formerly flowed ; but modem 

 observers consider the fact improbable, from the height 

 and steepness of its present banks. The pilgrims de- 

 scend to a place still lower, yet their immersion is 

 not accomplished without danger; and there are in- 

 stances of many, who had entered the river incau. 

 tiou-l v, being carried away and drowned. A tax is im. 



Jordan. 

 Josephus. 



See 

 Po. 



Thorn- 

 Volney 



posed upon each on the way to the river, and something 

 is also exacted by the governors on their return. In 

 the year 1807, fifteen hundred pilgrims visited Jerusa- 

 lem ; and bathing in the Jordan is always one of the 

 principal objects of pilgrimage to the Holy Land. 

 Mariti, I'iaggi, torn. iii. Shaw's Travels, p. 374. 

 oocke's Detention of the Eatl, vol. ii. p. 72. 



gen, and bean, descend from the neighbouring moun- ion's Travfii. Haatelquist's Travel*. Volney Voy- 

 tains, to which must be added many other farockxa* agis, torn. it. p. '_'79. Chateaubriand, Voyage*, torn. i. 

 animals of prey. Chateaubriand found the waters of La Koque, Voyage en Syri*. (c) 

 the Jordan bitterish; but though he drank a great JOSKI'lll S, the Jewish historian, was born in the 

 quantity, he suffered no injury. They hold in solo- first year of the reign of Caligula, A. D. 37, and was 

 Don the same ingredients as the Dead Sea, bat in very descended from one of the noblest families in Judea. 

 portions; nor is this surprising, considering that His father Mathias was sprung from one of the princi- 

 pal branches of the race of the priests, and his mother 

 from the royal blood of the Asmoneans or Maccabees, 

 who had belt), for a considerable time, the supreme au- 

 thority among the Jews. He speaks rather boastingly 

 of hit early proficiency in learning ; and professes to 

 have been able, at the age of fourteen years, to confer 

 with the principal men of Jerusalem on the more intri- 

 cate points of the law. At the age of sixteen, he united 

 himself with a celebrated Essenian philosopher, sha- 

 ring, tor the space of three years, in all the austerities 

 f hu sect ; but, at the end of that period, he returned 

 to Jerusalem, and attached himself to the sect of the 

 Pharisees. In the 26th year of his age he made a voy- 

 age to Rome, in order to employ his influence in behalf 



jah 



there are salt streams in the neighbourhood. It is re- 

 lated in Scripture, that a bitter stream, which ran through 

 the plain of Jericho, was converted by the propht 



to a limpid brook to fertilize the fields. Notwith- 

 the mineral impregnations of the Jordan, it 

 aootains plenty of fish, which are sometimes carried 

 down to the Dead Sea, where they perish. It is gene- 

 rally understood that the waters of this sea are alike 

 penticioun to ai.im.il and vegetable life. Truilo affirms 

 that he hat collrcted the dead ashes as they were thrown 

 on the banks ; but ChaU-aubriand, having encamped on 

 its bank*, heard a noise toward* midnight, which )u 

 in Bethlehem assured him " proceeded 

 of little fishes leaping towards the shore." 

 1 



