also built thereon a theatre of stone; and on the south quarter, behind the port, an amphitheatre also, capable of holding a vast number of men, and conveniently situated for a prospect to the sea. The city was thus finished in twelve years, at the sole expense of Herod." In the description of the march of Titus across the desert of Pelusium, from Egypt to Palestine, with intent to besiege Jerusalem, he is said to have halted at Cæsarea, having taken a resolution to gather all his forces toge ther at that place. And after the memorable siege and fall of this devoted city, "Titus went down with his army to that Cæsarea which lay by the sea-side, and there laid up the rest of his spoils in great quantities, and gave orders that the captives should be kept there; for the winter season hindered him from sailing into Italy."

During the long period between this event and the rise of the Mohammedan power, no remarkable details are known respecting it; but it was captured in the seventh century, by the Saracens.

After giving the preceding extracts from the Jewish historian, Mr. Buckingham thus describes the present state of Cæsarea, now a mass of ruins :—

"In examining the ruins of this celebrated spot, we first passed the remains of a building with fine Roman arches, many of which still remained perfect, while other masses of fallen fragments lay scattered beneath them. A little beyond were the remains of another pile, with five or six granite columns fallen into the sea, on the very edge of which these buildings appear to have been originally erected. They appeared to us to correspond, both in situation and form, with the edifices appropriated to the residence of the mariners.

"Ascending from the beach, we saw fragments of white marble, highly polished, and an abundance of broken pottery, of the ribbed or grooved kind, so common amid Egyptian ruins; and this we conceived to mark the site of the edifices which stood all along the

circular haven, and were built of the most polished stone, while the pottery might have been fragments of domestic utensils, or of broken vessels used in the service of the temple that stood there.

"We next came to the principal remains of a large and well-built fort, of an irregular form, having four sides facing nearly towards the cardinal points, and the western one fronting the sea. On its northern front we observed four pyramidal bastions with sloping sides, each about forty feet long at the base, twenty at the top, fifteen feet thick in the centre, and from twenty to twenty-five feet in perpendicular height. They were separated from each other by a space of twice their own length, which was occupied by the main wall of the fort, excellently built; and near the centre, within the wall, we saw the remains of a large building, with the arched gateway of a passage through it.

"On the eastern front, which is of greater extent than the northern, were ten similar bastions, including both of those at the angles. Opposite to the fourth, from the north-east angle, we observed a well, and looking down into it, saw distinctly an arched passage of undetermined extent, which was doubtless one of those subterranean vaults constructed for the carrying off the filth of the city by the influx of the sea; and, as far as the eye could trace it from above, it seemed to confirm the assertion of the historian, that these subterranean vaults had no less of architecture bestowed on them, than had the buildings above ground. . ."

After giving a minute description of other parts of this fort, amongst the ruins of which he mentions seeing the shaft of a grey granite column, and several pieces both of sculptured and polished marble, fragments of the sumptuous palaces of the city, Mr. Buckingham continues:- "The whole terminates in an edifice on a rocky base, surrounded by enormous blocks of stone, the disjointed masses of the ancient mole, now washed by the waves; of which edifice scarcely any perfect

1

portion remains, but among whose ruins are seen fragments of at least twenty granite columns. This may probably be the tower of Drusus . . . which was built on the mole itself, where this ruin still stands, having braved the fury of two thousand winters, and still defying the storms of ocean to effect its total demolition, though its venerable ruins are lashed by an almost eternal foam. The fort was surrounded on the north, the east, and the south, by a ditch about thirty feet broad and twenty deep

2

"The fragments of granite pillars, and other marks of splendour seen near the sea, are unquestionably remains of the ancient Cæsarea; but the fort itself, as it now stands, is as evidently a work of the Crusaders, who had one of their chief military stations here . (The) ruin of (the city) is so complete, that the most diligent survey would scarcely be rewarded by the fixing, with accuracy, the site of any of the public buildings, or even the delineation of its precise form, from the foundation of its walls.

"At the present moment, the whole of the surrounding country is also a sandy desert towards the land; the waves wash the ruins of the moles, the towers, and the port, towards the sea; and not a creature resides within many miles of this silent desolation."-BUCKINGHAM's Travels in Palestine, vol. i. pp. 197-215.

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Mr. Hardy thus contrasts the present state of Cæsarea with its past history:-" Without the city," he writes, on the southern side, are several mounds of ruins, overgrown with grass and brushwood. The amphitheatre stood in this direction, where Herod Antipas was smitten by an angel of God, and eaten of worms. Whilst I was

1 Irby and Mangles regard this building as erected upon the ruins of a Roman temple.

2 Irby and Mangles mention finding a column of marble, with a Roman inscription of the Emperor Septimus Severus, but too much buried for them to copy; but they subsequently learned from Mr. Bankes, (who had it cleared for copying,) that it was a milestone.-Travels, p. 190.

occupied in taking a sketch of the place, my companions picked up several pieces of marble, upon one of which was a flower, well executed; and upon another, a Greek inscription. There are many holes in the ground, made by the pachas of Acre in digging for the marbles, by which their mosques and palaces are decorated . granite columns are scattered along the sea-shore in great profusion.

"There is not a single inhabitant near the place, nor any modern building. . . A few birds and lizards are the only living possessors we saw of this once crowded city, and these are not often disturbed in their abode, as the road usually pursued passes at a little distance.

"As Cæsarea was the usual residence of the Roman governor, it was the scene of more numerous cruelties than any other part of Palestine during the heathen persecutions. The ecclesiastical historian Eusebius was bishop of this place. The famous Origen resided here some time, and whilst yet a layman, was permitted to preach before bishops. A walk through ruins where scenes so memorable have been witnessed, could not but awaken many trains of most profitable reflection. The woes of the prisoner, and the triumphs of the persecutor, had alike passed away; and where the simple eloquence of an apostle was once heard, and its power was acknowledged by an unjust judge and an ambitious monarch, no sound could then be distinguished but the gentle murmur of the sea. There was a single boat passing at the time, with its small white sail, to remind us of the thousands that once bore themselves proudly

1 Lamartine relates, that he disinterred three jackals from the bosom of the ruins, and that the only human being whom he saw in Cæsarea was a young Arab shepherd, who arrived there during Mr. Lamartine's visit, to water his flocks at a fountain, to which he said he was in the daily habit of resorting for that purpose from his dwelling, two leagues distant, among the mountains. According to Pococke, crocodiles were formerly found near Cæsarea.

upon the same waters, laden with the produce of all climes. This spot is particularly dear to the missionary, as it was consecrated by the baptism of the first Gentile convert, at that time a wonder without a precedent. Now the children of the adoption are living under the wrath of God, and the despised 'barbarians,' from almost every nation among men, are admitted into the favour of the Lord, and have the promise that they shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. At such a place, the solemn caution of the Apostle comes home to the mind with additional force, 'Be not high-minded, but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he spare not thee!'" -HARDY'S Notices, pp. 125–128.

DOR. (TORTOURA.)

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"THE king of Dor, in the coast of Dor (in the list of kings slain by Joshua.)"-Joshua xii. 23.

"Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants.

of Dor and her towns. . . but the Canaanites would dwell in that land."-Judges i. 27.

"... Dor and her towns in these dwelt the children of Joseph the son of Israel."-1 Chronicles vii. 29.

[Josh. xi. 2, xvii. 11; 1 Kings iv. 11.]

"The city of Dor, or Dora, was the capital of a district in Canaan, and is often reckoned to Phoenicia. Joshua conquered it, and killed its king. He gave it to the half tribe of Manasseh, on this side Jordan. Dor is situated on the Mediterranean, and has a bad port, between Cæsarea Palestina and Mount Carmel, nine miles from Cæsarea. Dor was situated on a peninsula,