FOUNTAIN OF CANA. 
The whole country of Galilee possesses a solemn interest from its connexion with the 
earlier periods of our Lord’s human existence. The scene of his first miracle, and made 
conspicuous by his frequent return, and frequent displays of power and benevolence, the 
soil becomes eminently sacred, and the mind approaches its contemplation with the reverent 
solicitude and grateful homage due to the hirtli-place of Christianity. 
The Fountain in the Sketch is traditionally the same from which the water-pots in the 
miracles were filled. The water is remarkably copious and pure; and as there is no other 
fountain within a considerable distance, the inhabitants of the village regard its sacred 
claim as beyond all question. 
The large sculptured stone near the fountain is a Roman Sarcophagus, now used as a 
watering-trough for cattle, a purpose for which similar relics are frequently employed in 
Palestine. At this Fountain the Christian pilgrims rest and taste the water, as a sanc¬ 
tifying ceremonial previous to their entering Cana. The women of the village are 
constantly seen here, in groups, bearing jars of the same material and same dimensions 
with those described in Holy Scripture . 1 
But the claims of the existing Cana have been strongly disputed by late and learned 
authority. It is contended, that the site of the village in which the miracle was performed, 
is Kana-el-Jelil (Cana of Galilee), a ruin on the northern side of the Plain El-Buttauf; 
N.gE. from Nazareth, and about three hours distance. The chief reasons are its unaltered 
name, and its having been regarded as the true site by authorities altogether earlier than 
those of its competitor, and traceable up to the sixth century . 2 
1 Roberts’s Journal. 
2 Biblical Researches, iii, 208. 
