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| Tiberias |
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Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 2, facing
p. 52. |
Tiberias
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Tiberias was one of the most important towns of Galilee. It was once an
attractive and beautiful city, but to-day it is in ruins, like almost everything
else in the country upon which the eye may rest . . . .He who visits Tiberias
now will find the shore lined with ruins of what were once stately structures,
filth and wretchedness among its degraded inhabitants; and his view of the lake
and its surrounding hills must be obtained, not from the roof of some splendid
palace, but from the broken city walls and the crumbling castle . . . .The
present town . . . which travellers visit is comparatively modern, while the
ancient city of Herod Antipas stretched to the south of it along the shore for
more than a mile. The space between the water's edge and the steep hill to the
west is completely covered with ruins, and among these are to be found whatever
remains still exist of the times of Christ. (Source:
Picturesque Palestine, vol. 2, p. 50.) |
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Tiberias, On the Sea of Galilee |
Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 157. |
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[Tiberias] is one of the most sacred cities
of the Jews in Palestine, and now has a
population of about six thousand souls. Four
thousand of them are Jews, three hundred are
Christians and the rest Moslems. The view
above is very charming. Our artist remarked
upon reaching the city that it was the most
picturesque place he had ever seen . . . .
Marion Harland says: "Tiberias has never been
comely; the alleys, that do duty as streets,
are lined in some quarters with booths and
stalls, in others with mean dwellings that are
dirty white in the sunshine and dirtier gray
when wet . . . .The horses splash through
filth made liquid by the rain, and course in
vile-smelling rivulets down the middle of the
street." There is, perhaps, no town in Syria
so filthy as Tiberias or so little to be
desired as a residence. It is several hundred
feet below the level of the Mediterranean. To
the west are lofty mountains which shut out
the western breezes from the great sea. It is
therefore intensely hot in summer. A traveler
says: "The last time I encamped there near the
baths the thermometer stood at one hundred
degrees about midnight." (Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, pp. 157,
189.) |
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Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 218. |
Street Scenes, Tiberias |
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The Tiberias Hotel is not an attractive place
externally, and the universal testimony of
travelers is less favorable concerning its
interior. The tent of the tourist is better
than these village hotels in Palestine. In
walking through the town of Tiberias the
traveler will be struck by the predominance of
the Jewish element. Many of the Jews are from
Poland, most of them living on alms sent from
Europe . . . .N.B. Tristram, in his "Travels
in Palestine," says: "The houses of Tiberias
are placed without order or arrangement, as
though they had been pitched down from a sand
cloud, but for the most part looked clean
within." Upon visiting the Jewish quarter on
Friday evening, when the Sabbath had begun,
and the synagogue services were going on, he
adds: "The houses, with their open doors,
looked clean and bright inside for the
Sabbath; the people were well dressed in their
best--the women somewhat like the Jewesses of
Algiers. The men wore shabby broad-brimmed
hats, and long silk dressing gowns, with a
girdle." (Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, pp. 189, 218.) |
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Street in Tiberias |
Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 189. |
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The streets are lined in some quarters with
booths and bazaars, the merchants making a
fine display of their bright colored fabrics
and oriental wares. Fruit venders under their
canvas canopies, fish and vegetable dealers in
their respective markets; Jews, Moslems,
Syrians and Europeans move in and out among
the booths, and business is carried on in a
fashion that would amuse and interest any
European or American. The women, "with rich
frocks and gold lace fronts, but with elegant
long sleeves, and a white kefiyeh over the
head, were generally handsome, and some of the
girls were beautiful and fair." Upon
overhanging balconies were groups of happy
children in quaint oriental costumes, while
mingling with the crowd were the more humble
peasants, returning from the field . . . .The
moving panorama, in all its detail, combines
to make the business street a center of
interest to the visitor. (Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 218.) |
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See
Fortifications of Tiberias,
History of
Tiberias,
Hammath Tiberias,
Sea of Galilee,
Huleh Valley,
or
Fishing and
Fishermen |
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