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Tower of Martyrs |
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Source:
Earthly Footsteps
of the Man of Galilee, p. 88. |
General View of
Ramleh
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Ramleh (signifying sand) is a name of purely Arabic origin. The town was founded
in 716 by the Mayyad Khalif Suleiman, the son of Abd el-Melik. Ramleh is three
miles southwest of Lydda, at the intersection of the great roads from Damascus
to Egypt, and from Jaffa to Jerusalem. Edrisi, in the XIIth Century, calls
Ramleh and Jerusalem the two principal cities of Palestine. Its position made it
a place of importance during the wars of the Crusades. Ramleh was once fortified
and had four large and eight smaller gates. Christians lived there, and churches
were built before the time of the Crusades. In 1099 a bishopric of Lydda and
Ramleh was established. During the wars between the Franks and Saladin, Ramleh
was twice taken by the Saracens. After 1266, when it was wrested from the Franks
by Beibars, it was wholly occupied by Moslems. Near the close of the XVth
Century it fell entirely into decay and is now a village of about 3,000
inhabitants---two-thirds Moslems and the rest Christians. It now contains few
buildings or ruins earlier than the times of the Crusades. (Source:
Earthly
Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 88.) |
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Tower of Forty Martyrs |
Source:
Earthly Footsteps
of the Man of Galilee, p. 89. |
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The Tower of Ramleh (Jami el Abyad) known
by various names, as the White Mosque, White
Tower, Tower of the Forty Martyrs--and by the
Moslems, Tomb of the Forty Champions--stands
on high ground about a quarter of a mile from
the town of Ramleh. Around it are the remains
of a large quadrangular enclosure--once,
doubtless, a spacious Khan. The tower is now
isolated, but there can be little doubt that
it was once attached to a mosque. The tower is
Saracenic, square, and beautifully built. The
angles are supported by slender buttresses,
and the sides taper upwards in stories. A
winding staircase, lighted by pointed windows,
leads to the top, opening on an external stone
gallery, which is carried around the tower.
The height is about 120 feet. Migr ed Dili
ascribes the building of the tower to Masir
Muhammed ibu Kalawuu, Khalif of Egypt. He is
believed to have begun it A.D. 1310, and
finished it in eight years. (Source:
Earthly
Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 89.) |
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Source: Those Holy Fields, p. 18. |
The Tower of Ramleh
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An extended and beautiful view is obtained from the gallery of the tower.
"Orchards and olive groves of Ramleh lie at our feet; on the northeast they are
touched by those of Lydda, which is seen seated on a gentle eminence. Beyond
these, north and south, the eye wanders over a boundless plain, tinted according
to the season, with the verdure of spring, or the golden hue of early summer, or
the unvarying gray of autumn. On the west is the sea, and on the east the
'Mountains of Israel.'" There is a Mohammedan tradition to the effect that forty
companions of the prophet are buried in the vaults of the mosque. The Christian
version has it that forty Christian martyrs of Cappadocia, repose here. Conder
gives a first impression of Ramleh thus: "We arrived before sundown in sight of
the tower, which is first visible from a rise of ground on the road. The long
olive groves here formed a dark oasis in the treeless plain, and above them rose
the beautiful tower of the Forty." (Source:
Earthly Footsteps
of the Man of Galilee, p. 89.) |
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The Plain of Sharon from the Tower, Ramleh |
Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 3, p. 148 |
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The traveller who, on arrival at Ramleh at
sunset, can forget his fatigue and accomplish
the ascent of the lofty tower overlooking the
plains . . . will be amply rewarded for his
exertions by the magnificent view spread out
before him . . . . Though yet early in the
year, the winter is past, the rain is over and
gone. “The flowers appear on the earth, the
time of the singing of birds is come, and the
voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The
fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, and the
vines with the tender grapes give a good
smell.” The fragrance from the orange-groves
is wafted on the breeze, the last lowing of
cattle and bleating of sheep returning to
their folds fill the air with a pleasant
sound—darkness and quiet are spreading over
the land. . . . The whole goodly plain of
Sharon is visible—from Mount Carmel on the
north down to Lydda, from the eastern hills to
the blue sea, now bathed in gold—a wilderness
of weeds and thorn brakes, and yet a very
paradise of colour and ever-varying beauty.
(Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 3, pp. 145-46.) |
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See
Jaffa (Joppa),
Travel in Palestine,
Caesarea, or
Peter and Cornelius |
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