was thus seized by one of the Pharaohs, in the time of Jeremiah. Cambyses, on 
his invasion of Egypt, made it the depository of his treasure. On Alexander’s march 
into Asia., its position attracted the eye of the great conqueror. It cost him a five 
months’ siege; and his wrath at the obstinate bravery of its defenders, gave rise to 
one of those desperate scenes of cruelty, so frequent in ancient warfare, yet so rare 
in the victories of that most splendid of all masters of the sword. 1 The inhabitants were 
massacred, and their places filled up by strangers. It now contains about fifteen thousand 
people, of whom about five hundred are Christians. The inhabitants still refer to 
Samson’s carrying away the gates, nay boldly point out the spot from which they 
were taken; and the small domed building on the right in the Engraving marks 
the spot to which he is supposed to have borne them. 2 
1 Arrian, Exp. Alex. ii. 27. 2 Roberts’s Journal. 
LYDDA. 
This village, now known as Loud’h or Ludd, and once bearing the name of Diospolis, 
was originally of considerable importance. Built by the Benjamites; and inhabited 
by them after their exile, it was transferred by Demetrius Nicator from Samaria to 
Judea. In the period following the death of Julius Caesar, the City was seized, and 
its inhabitants sold into slavery. In the history of the New Testament it was the 
scene of a miracle. 
“ And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down 
also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. And there he found a certain man named 
./Eneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. And Peter 
said unto him, ./Eneas, Jesus Christ maketli thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. 
And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt in Lydda and Saron saw him, and 
turned to the Lord.” 1 
Lydda was laid in ashes by the Roman troops in their march under Cestius Gallus 
to Jerusalem. On the conversion of the Empire it was a Bishopric of Palestina Prima, 
and in the Greek Ecclesiastical Notitke it stands as Diospolis, and in the Latin as 
Lydda. It was made memorable in later times by the appearance of Pelagius before 
a Council (a.d. 415). But its chief legendary fame is due to a tradition that the 
remains of St. George, who was born in Lydda, and martyred at Nicomedia in the 
third century, were transferred to his native place. The ruins of a Church dedicated 
to the Saint, and evidently once of great magnitude and beauty, lie in the eastern 
quarter of the village. 2 “We saw,” says Robinson, “these noble ruins by the bright, 
yet mellow light of the full moon. The lofty remaining arch towered in imposing 
majesty; and the effect of the whole, though mournful, was indescribably impressive. 
It transported me back to the similar, though far more perfect, moonlight grandeur of the 
Coliseum.” 3 
' Acts, ix. 32, &c. 2 Roberts’s Journal. G. Robinson’s Travels, i. 178. 3 Bib. Res. iii. 52, &c. 
