BETH-HORON (BEIT-'UR) AND VALLEY OF AJALON.

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"AND the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died . . . Then spake Joshua to the Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou moon, in the Valley of Ajalon."-Joshua x. 10-12.

66

66

... Beth-horon the upper."-Joshua xvi. 5.

Beth-horon the upper and Beth-horon the nether, fenced cities, with walls, gates, and bars Joshua xvi. 3; xviii. 13. 2 Chronicles viii. 5.1

Travelling from Ramleh to Jerusalem, Dr. Robinson writes: "We came to the small village called Beit 'Ur el Tahta, (or the lower.) (It is situated on the top of a low ridge, and is a small place ;) but the foundations of large stones indicate an ancient site, doubtless the Nether Beth-Horon of the Old Testament.

"This place is still separated from the foot of the high mountain by a valley, which ... we crossed; and then began the long and steep ascent. The way winds up along the extremity of a sort of promontory, jutting out between two deep valleys, as they issue from the mountain; one of them being that which we had just crossed. The ascent is very rocky and rough; but

1 1 Chron. vii. 24.

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BETH-HORON AND VALLEY OF AJALON.

the rock has been cut away in many places, and the path formed into steps; showing that this is an ancient road.

We passed the foundations of large stones, the remains perhaps of a castle which once guarded the pass.

On the summit of the promontory stands the village Beit 'Ur el Foka (the upper), on an eminence, upon the very brow of the mountain, with a deep valley on each side, both north and south . . .

"The village is small, but exhibits traces of ancient walls and foundations. Just below the little hill on which it stands towards the east, is a small but very ancient reservoir. There can be no question, but that this village, and the one at the bottom of the mountain, Beit 'Ur the Upper and Lower, represent the ancient Upper and Nether Beth-horon.

"The Nether Beth-horon lay at the north-west corner of the territory of Benjamin; and between the two places was a pass, called both the ascent and descent of Bethhoron, leading from the region of Gibeon down to the western plain. Down this pass Joshua drove the five kings of the Amorites, who made war upon Gibeon. Both the upper and lower town were afterwards fortified by Solomon... The Roman proconsul of Syria under the Emperor Nero, on his expedition from Cæsarea to Jerusalem, after having burned Lydda, ascended the mountain by Beth-horon, and encamped near Gibeon. By the same road, the apostle Paul was doubtless conducted by night to Antipatris, on his way to Cæsarea.2 In the days of Eusebius and Jerome, the two Beth-horons were small villages . . . From all this it appears, that in ancient times, as at the present day, the great road of communication and heavy transport between Jerusalem and the sea-coast was by the pass of Beth-horon . . .

“The inhabitants of Beit 'Ur seemed to be mostly absent, probably in the fields or plains, at work, during the harvest. We found several women, and at length also one

1 Josh. xviii. 13, 14, x. 10, 11.

2 Acts xxiii. 31, 32.

active old man, drawing water at a neighbouring well. He led us to the roof of a house, where we had a wide and a very distinct view of the country around Bethhoron, and towards the sea. The prospect included the hill country and the plain, as far on the right and left as the eye could reach... Between us and Ramleh we looked down upon a broad and beautiful valley at our feet...

“The interest of this fine plain or valley is increased by its probable connexion with a remarkable event of Bible history. Upon the side of the long hill which skirts the valley on the south, we could perceive a small village called Yalo, which name cannot well be any other than the ancient Ajalon. Whether this was the ancient city of that name in the tribe of Dan, is perhaps doubtful . . . (but) there can be little question, that this village marks the site of ancient Ajalon, and that the broad valley on the north of it is the valley of Ajalon, so renowned in the history of Joshua. Here it was, that this leader of Israel, in pursuit of the five kings, having arrived at some point near Upper Beth-horon, looked back towards Gibeon, and down upon the noble valley before him, and uttered the celebrated command, Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.'"-ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. iii. pp. 58-64.

"After leaving the plain (of Sharon) our road followed a ridge for a considerable distance; a little west of the highest ground we passed two ruined villages at some distance from each other, that were called Beth-horon. They are, I doubt not, the Upper and Nether Beth-horon. This opinion is, I think, confirmed by the account given of the defeat of the kings that were confederated against Gibeon. It is said that Israel' chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon; and it came to pass that as they were going down to Beth-horon, that the Lord threw down on them great hail-stones from heaven.' Beth-horon lies on the west side of the ridge, and Gibeon

lies on the east side, and at the distance of several miles from the top. The flight began from Gibeon, and was first up to the top of the ridge on the road towards Bethhoron; and from the top of the ridge it was down to Beth-horn, and (it was) on this last part of the way, that the hail-stones fell upon them. Until I saw the ground, I never understood the 'up' and 'down,' as used in the record of this flight and pursuit.”—PAXTON's Letters, p. 227.

BEEROTH, PROBABLY ALSO BEER. (EL-BÎREH.)

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin.

were

. . Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth."-Joshua xviii. 21, 25. (See also ix. 17.)

"And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother."Judges ix. 21.

The site of the ancient Beeroth is probably to be found at El-Bîreh, near Bethel.

"We left Bethel," writes Dr. Robinson, "at (a quarter to ten o'clock). We reached Bireh at half-past ten, situated on the ridge running from west to east, which bounds the northern prospect as seen from Jerusalem and its vicinity. Bîreh may be seen at a great distance, both from the north and south. The houses are low, and many of them half underground. Many large stones and various substructions testify to the antiquity of the site. Here are also the remains of a fine old church with pointed arches, which mark it as being of the time of the Crusades. . . On the southern edge of the village is a khân in ruins; and a few minutes further south-west, on the right side of the Jerusalem road, is a fine flowing fountain, with a trough of stone, connected with a small Muslim building, or place of prayer.

Here several females were employed in washing. The water was anciently conducted into two large reservoirs a little below on the other side of the path; in one of which portions of two of the sides still remain tolerably entire, while the other is more in ruins.

Bîreh, as we were afterwards informed, contains a population of some seven hundred souls, all Muhammedans

"The distance from Jerusalem is reckoned at three hours with horses or mules . . .

"I hold El-Bîreh to be the Beer1 or Beeroth of Scripture, unless these were names of two distinct places; and in that case El-Bîreh corresponds to the latter, Beeroth."-ROBINSON'S Researches, vol. ii. pp. 130-132.

"We reached the ancient Beeroth. Our servants had gone before us and erected the tent, and now stood at the tent-door to welcome us. It was a fine moonlight evening; the ground was sparkling with the light of the glow-worm, and the fire-flies glittered through the air in great numbers. The tent was pitched in front of a gushing fountain, that emptied its waters into a large trough, above which was a Mahometan place of prayer, falling into decay. We were up before the sun, and enjoyed the luxury of washing ourselves at the fullflowing fountain of Beer. It is from this fountain that the town receives its name, both now and in ancient times. The Moslem women came out to draw water, and the well soon presented a lively scene."-Mission to the Jews, pp. 203, 204.

1 Beer is mentioned only once in Scripture, as the place to which Jotham fled. (Judges ix. 21.) It is merely the same word in the singular, "well," of which Beeroth is the plural "wells." Yet Eusebius and Jerome place Beer in the great plain ten miles north of Eleutheropolis; and I find in our lists a deserted village El-Bireh, at the present day, adjacent to the mouth of Wady el-Surar, not far from the site of Bethshemesh.