THE OMAITA KITN-DAY BEE: JANUARY 1. 1011.
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An Interview with the High Priest of Samaritans of 1910
(Copyright, 1910, by Frank O. Carpenter.)
aMannAiiLUug, i aiesune i nave jusi naa ia m
I TT terview with a lineal descendant of
I I Aaron, the brother of Monei. t refer to
m. m' Jacob, the high priest of the Samaritans.
He belongs to the tribe of Levi, who in
ancient times were at the head of the
priesthood, and claims to hare a geneal
ogical tree which reai'.es from then until now. Hit
family has lived her tor more than 4,000 years, and
high priest has succeeded high priest until this man
took the position at the age of 15, his childless uncle,
the high priest, having died. That was sixty-two
years ago, and Jacob has been high priest ever since.
He la Dow almost 80, and he looks, I Imagine, as
Aaron or Moses may have looked in the latter part ot
their lives. Over six feet In height, he has the face
and form of a prophet. Ilia long beard fall down
upon his chest and his scholarly face is refined and
spiritual-looking.
The Oldest of Bible Manuscripts.
t met Jacob here at Kablous, on the site of old
Bheehem, withla a stone's throw of the well where
Christ talked with the Samaritan woman. It Is not
far from a farm which Abraham owned, and about on
the spot where Joshua gathered the tribes of Israel
together and read them the law of Moses.
Our conversation took place in the heart of the
city in the synagogue of the Samaritans. I had to go
through vaulted passageways and catelike streets to
reach It. I had an Interpreter with me, and as We
talked together the high priest showed me the original
parchments of the five books of Moses as they were
written by Abou, the son of Ben HaBsan, the aon ot
Eleazar, who, you remember, was one ot the two sons
of Aaron by Elisheba, his wife. The high priest tells
me that these five manuscripts were written only
twelve years after the Israelites came Into the Holy
Land, and that they are now 3,575 years old. They
are the oldest Bible manuscripts In existence. The
are written in the Hebrew of the timet of Moses, upon
long sheets ot parchment about two feet In width.
The scrolls are rolled upon three rods, each, tipped
with a silver knob as big as a teacup, and they are so
arranged that they can be rolled and unrolled as they
are read. The Ink is still plain and the letters dis
tinct, although the parchment is yellow with age. The
manuscript is treasured by the Samaritans, being kept
. In a brass case Inlaid with gold. It is said to have
been dug up about 800 years ago, and It has formed
a subject of controversy among oriental scholars. The
Samaritans believe that it was written by the grand
son of Aaron, as the high priest here claims, but the
Jews reject It as false, denouncing the Samaritans as
pagan outcasts from the children of Israel.
t The Samaritans of 1010.
t was surprised to find that there were any Samar
itans living. I supposed that they had been Swal
lowed up by the Mohammedans and other Syrians who
have absorbed everything In Palestine excepting the
Jews. I find, however, that there are about 100 In
Nablous, and that they practice the Same religion as
they bad when Christ came. They annually celebrate
the feasts ot the Passover and Pentecost on Mouht
Gerlslm. These feasts are different from those of the
latter-day Jews. At the time of Christ the Feast ot
the Passover was eaten reclining and as though at
the end ot a Journey rather than at the beginning.
The Samaritans eat their Passover with their
shoes bound upon their feet and staves In their hands
as though ready to start out on their wanderings In
the wilderness. They do this on the top ot the moun
tain, camping In tents. They smear the blood of the
sacrifice upon the tents to commemorate the passage
of the angel of death over the houses ot Israel. They
drees In white garments and they kill the animals
which are burnt according to the methods which were
In use when Aaron lived. The sacrifice consists ot
buck lambs, each ot which Is carefully examined that
It may be without wound or blemish. At a given
signal the throats of the lambs are cut, and. at the
same time some of the blood is caught In a tlncup and
smeared over the tent. As the blood flows the people
shout out the words, "There Is but one God," and they
shout this sentence again and again. At the same
time there Is a service, beginning with a hymn prais
ing Abraham, Isaac and' Jacob, and followed by a
prayer ot thanksgiving.
The meat for the sacrifice is cooked over a fire in
the earth. As soon as the animals are killed they are
scalded and the wool is pulled off. The entrails are
removed and salted; then a pole is thrust through
each lamb and it is laid on the hot coals of a fire made
In a trench. The meat is then covered with brush
and earth. The people continue to pray as It cooks
and keep on praying until the sunset approaches. At
ten minutes after sunset they begin to eat the meat,
throwing the bones into the fire without breaking
them.
At Jacob's Well.
In my talk with the high priest he contended that
the Samaritans were the only true Israelites, and
spoke of the prophet Samuel as sorcerer. He paid
his respects to the Jews in no measured tones. He
gave me a little book he had written concerning the
religion of the Samaritans, and at the close was by no
means averse to a present of silver, for which he
thanked me in a dignified way. After I returned to
my camp, which is on the outside of Nablous, some of
his followers brought me his photograph and a model
of the five books of Moses, Which they offered to sell
tor a song. The Samaritans are exceedingly poor and
are despised by both Moslems and Jews.
It was at Jacob's well, not fsr from Nablous, that
Christ met the Samaritan woman and told her of the
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' mUte?AMPJ2& ON" AhEAIiAMZS FARM, mwmm mtm
water of which, if one drlnketh, he shall never thirst,
but there "shall be In him a well of Water springing
up Into everlasting life." You will find the story In
the fourth chapter of St. John. This well is one of
the holy sites ot Palestine, about which there can be
no doubt. The village ot Sychar corresponds to the
tillage of Askar, which stands on Mount Ebal, per
haps a thousand feet away from the well where the
Samaritan woman lived. The well Itself lies Just be
low the hew carriage road from Jerusalem. I went
through an olive orchard to reach it. It is surrounded
by a Walt and is in the heart ot a garden now owned
by the Greek church, which has made it a resting
place for pilgrims. They have built a stone chapel
ever the well and services are held there several hours
every day.
Some of the prleBta went With us down the steps
to the Well. It lies right In the floor of the chapel.
It Is about three feet In diameter, built up with stones
which are laid In the shape of a tube, being smoothly
cut. One of the monks brought a pan which was tied
to a rope In such a way that it remained level. Upon
this he placed a lighted candle and then slowly low
ered It down into the well. It descended perhaps
sixty feet before It came to the Water. The Bill of the
well Is ot marble and shows the marks of the ropes
which for ages have been lowered into It The Bill la
some distance above the floor and it may have been
the original stone upon which Christ eat at that weary
hour ot noon.
Jacob's Well has been known and visited by pil
grims for many years. It was probably once even
with the surface of the earth, but the debris and
earth washings from the mountains neat by have
filled up the valley, and It is bow considerably below
the country about. Within the last year excavations
have been made In the garden and the remains of a
church which was built over the Well some 1,500 years
ago have been discovered. I found Immense granite
Columns and also many pieces ot the stone walls of
the church. I persuaded the Greek priest who low
ered the pie pan with the candle Upon it into the well
to come Into the sun and be photographed.
The Unsatisfied American.
While I was at the well a party ot travelers, con
ducted by one of the great tourist agencies, arrived.
They were Americans, doing the Holy Land at bo
much per day, and they were bound to get the worth
of their money. One I shall never forget. Ills gl
gantlo frame was such that I shall call him Goltah.
When the party went down to the well the services in
the chapel had Just begun, and after pointing out the
hole In the floor the guide brought them out. As
they came Into the churchyard I heard Gollah remark:
"I ain't satisfied."
"About whatt" said the guide.
"I ain't satisfied about that well. How do I know
there's a well there?"
"You saw it," said the guide.
"Naw. I saw only a hole in the floor. How do
X know there's a wellT How do I know it has waterT
I tell you I ain't satisfied. Here I've come 6,000 miles
to see Jacob's well, and how can I prove that I've
saw Itt"
In short, the man so protested that the guide took
him back, stopped the service and had them let down
the candle. Further than that, he brought up some
of the water, which Gollah drank at a gulp. This
huge doubting Thomas would not believe in the spot
where our Lord was baptized in the Jordan, saying
that the banks were too steep, and that if he couldn't
crawl down them no one, not even John the Baptist,
could do so.
Over the Hills From Jerusalem.
It took me Just one day to come from Jerusalem
to Shechem. My outfit was a three-horse team, to
which an American dayton wagon was harnessed. The
The horses were good, and w-e drove up hill and down
on the trot. We started at Jaffa gate, past the place
of the Skull, where General Gordon thought the
Savior was crucified, and then crossed the valley of
Kedron. We climbed Mount Scopus, which Joins
Olivet, and rode under the hill on whose top was Mix
pah, where Samuel was burled and Saul . anointed
King of the Jews. There is a mosque on that spot
and the place is holy to Jews, Christians and Moslems
alike, all of whom worship at Samuel's tomb. Mlrpah
lies on a peak about 3,000 feet above the Mediterran
ean, and on one ot the highest of the Judean moun
tains. It is where an army of crusaders stood under
IMchard the Llon-Hearted and got their first sight of
Jerusalem. As they looked Klug Richard knelt down
and thus prayed:
The road which we took to 8atriarla wad the on
over which the boy Christ and the Holy Family came
when they traveled up to Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover. It is one of the highways of the Holy Land
and 1b still traveled by thousands. About ten milel
beyond Mount Scopus we Stopped at Beeroth, a stonf
village surrounded by green orchards of figs and pom
egranates. This is one day's Journey from Jerusalem,
and tradition says it is where Joseph and Mary, as
they were returning to Nasareth, discovered their 12-
year-old boy was not with them and they went back SP W the country. It was there Ell dwelt and
02T FARM,
and found Him teaching the wise men In the temple.
A little farther on we came to Bethel, where the
Benjamlnltes lived, where Abraham reared an altar
and called on the name of the Lord, and where Jacob
took stones for his pillows and dreamed that he saw
the ladder extending to heaven and the angels ascend
ing and descending thereon. The name Bethel, which
means the IloUse of God, has now been changed to
Beltln. It is a poor stone village of about 500 people,
with a ruined tower and a church.
Shlloh, which lies Just off the road a little farther
on toward Samaria, is now called Gellun, and, as
Jeremiah prophesied, it Is nothing but ruins. Where
it stood is a mound covered with debris, broken col
umns and rubbish, so that the prophecy, "I will make
thla city a curse to all the nations of the earth," has
come true.
Nevertheless Shlloh Is one of the most Interesting
there Hannah came every year with a new coat for her
little son Samuel, whom she had given up to the Lord.
It was there that Joshua divided the land, And there
the Philistines stole the Ark of the Covenant.
Travel in the Holy Land.
I am surprised at the caravans which are contin
ually crossing these Palestine mountains, there
seems to be a great trade north and south, and the
roads are full ot strange characters. On my way
here I saw crowds of men and women on donkeys
coming up to Jerusalem. Some were from Oalllee,
others from Damascus and not a few from the moun
tains of Lebanon. One crowd told us that its people
were Mohammedans, and that they were making a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the tomb of Moses. There
were many women among them. They sat astvide
upon donkeys, some carrying babes in their arms.
The Perverse Pictures
Mrs. Burton called to her huBband shrilly.
"Abner," ehe said, "come and look at the pic
tures." "Well," said be, with an Inquiring glance about
the walls, "what's the matter with them?"
"They're crooked,"
"I suppose," suggested Abner, "that you want me
to straighten them."
"Well since you are here you may as well. But
that wasn't what I called you tor. I wanted you to
see if you could tell what makes them get out of gear
every day. They've been acting bo ever since we
moved into this flat. Every day, Just as regularly
as the morning comes, I go through the house and
tilt them back to the proper angle, but Just that
surely do I find them crooked again the next morning.
And the funny part of it is they always lean in the
same direction. I think it very strange. They didn't
do that In the old flat."
"M-m-m ," said Abner, thoughtfully.
Mrs. Burton colored her voice with dramatic In
tonation. "I never liked to say anything about it
before," she said, "but I have thought it all along.
It is my belief that the bouse Is haunted."
"Oh, good Lord!" ejaculated Burton Incredu
lously. "Well, If it isn't ghosts, what Is it?" she asked
triumphantly.
"I'll give It up," said Burton.
"My wife believes," he said, with true Adamite
generosity, "that the place is haunted."
"Nonsense," said the landlord. "Anybody who
knows anything about houses and pictures knows
there are some places where the pictures could not
be hired to hang straight and that when they have the
tipping habit they invariably tip in the same direc
tion. Everybody knows that, but I for one don't
know the cause. Possibly the house dips a little to
one Bide."
"That can't be," said Burton, "because the folk
upstairs are bothered with tipping pictures, too, only
theirs lean to the north and west."
"Then I can't eiplaln It," sighed the landlord,
"but I do know that pictures are like a flock of sheep
when one tips all the rest are likely to follow."
Boston Herald.
Knowledge in Small Doses
There are nearly 3,000,000 acres of peat bog In
Ireland.
Philadelphia has the oldest textile school In the
United States.
It costs London more than 13,500,000 a year to
keep its streets clean.
Twenty pounds of cloves a year are produced by
an average 10-year-old tree.
Radium gives a violet tinge to glass and porcelain
and turns white paper yellow.
A deposit of almost pure tantalum ore has been
discovered in the Ural mountains.
New York forbids electric signs projecting more
than six feet from the building line.
More than 2,000,000 acres of grazing land in
Australia are Irrigated by artesian wells.
Wrought Iron electro-magnets can be made to
carry 150 pounds to the square Inch of core surface
exposed.
A re-enforced concrete building that rises 295
feet above the street level has been erected in Liverpool.
The population of Manila has decreased about 20
per cent since the American occupation of the Philip
pines. The yearly consumption of sugar per American
family has increased by about 140 pounds in the last
thirty-five years.
Gold and aluminum have been combined In a new
alloy of beautiful color adaptable tor many uses in
the Jewelry trade.
In some Argentine brickyards horses are used to
mix the clay by treading it instead of employing more
expensive machinery.
India ink stains may be removed from carpet by
repeated applications of milk, the carpet being wiped
dry between applications.
The fishing fleet of Venice includes about 1600
vessels, which visit different portions of the Adri
atic according to the seasons.
The Syduey Technical college, an Australian gov
ernment institution, has opened a department for
special Instruction In the wool Industry,
We passed many camels. Some were loadea with
white building stones slung in a network of rope on
each Bide their humps. They were taking them to
Jerusalem. Others were ridden by women and men.
I saw one which had two veiled women clad all in
black on its back, with two boxes below them, each
box holding a baby.
Another party was composed of Samaritan women
on their way to a moslem festival. They were red
haired and as straight as royal palm trees. They car
ried their baggage in bundles on top of their heads
and walked single file. Behind them were women
from Lebanon walking barefooted and singing in
Arabic. They were tattooed on lips, chin and cheeks
and their heads were frowsy and dusty; they wore
nothing on the head and their bodies were clad In long
cotton gowns embroidered with red. Only a few wer
good-looking and all seemed prematurely old.
In Old Shechem.
I am now living in my tents outside this old town
of Shechem, my camp facing Mount Ebal and above
me Gerizlm, the holy hill of the Samaritans. It Is
very near the spot where the laws of Moses were read
by Joshua to the assembled children of Israel, the
country being the shape ot a great amphitheater, of
which the hills form the walls. These hills are, It is
said, a natural sounding board, bo that one can talk
on one mountain and be beard on the other, and for
this reason the place was chosen for reading the laws.
The town is one of the oldest In history. It was
founded long before Jerusalem and before Jacob's
time; it is within about six miles of the city of
Samaria, where Ahab had his Ivory palace and where
Herod the Great owned a royal mansion and enter
tained, so it Is said, his lords at his birthday party,
while bis step-daughter, Salome, came in and danced.
You remember the story. Her dancing, which I doubt
not was that of the nautch girl, so delighted King
Herod that he told her she should have whatever she
asked, even to half of his kingdom. She there
upon, as her mother suggested, demanded the head ot
John the Baptist, who was lying in prison near by,
and this bloody gift was brought in on a great plate
or charger.
The old town of Samaria has long since fallen to
ruin. Its site Is a mound with some broken pillars
and other debris lying near It, and an olive orchard
not far away in which more of the columns are still
to be seen.
As to Shechem, or Nablous, it thrives, and is one
of the liveliest towns In the Holy Land. It is the
chief commercial center between Damuscus and Jeru
salem and is populated almost altogether by Moham
medans. There are some Jewish merchants, but
neither Jews nor Christians are welcomed. I have
been told to watch out as I go through the streets
and to take care not to provoke anyone. Several
times the boys have thrown stones at our party and
men spit as we pass them. People yell out "Naza
renes" at us and my guide refuses to let me photo
graph them, saying it will surely get us In trouble.
The city is so fanatical that even the Christian women
go about with veils over their faces. The English
nurse, who is working here In the Charity hospital.
Is veiled like a Mohammedan when she goes out on
the street, otherwise she would create comment and
her reputation and work might be ruined.
Nablous has about 30,000 people and it Is the cen
ter of a considerable trade. It Is made up ot stone
houses and stone bazaars, roofed with galvanized iron.
Many ot the bouses are built over the streets, and
going through the town is like going through cata
combs. Some of the streets are so narrow that you
can stand In the middle and reach both walla with
your hands; others are wide, but all are dirty and
filthy. FRANK G. CARPENTER.