Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/98

74 saints, who, as the Gospel relates, rose from the dead after Christ’s resurrection, and entering Jerusalem, appeared unto many. The origin of this legend seems to have been a misunderstanding of the texts Ephesians v. 14 and 21; 1 Corinthians xv. 21, 22; 45, 47. VII P. 41. Pilgrimage to Mûsa’s grave.—The writer was some years ago informed by a native Jew that he had been told by his late father that the latter had been informed by a Moslem sheykh that the annual Mohammedan pilgrimage to the traditional tomb of Moses had been instituted by the early Moslem conquerors of Palestine, in order that, in the case of disturb- ances in Jerusalem amongst the Christian pilgrims who come thither in order to celebrate Easter, a strong body of armed believers might be in reserve and within call in case of necessity. Whether this statement is correct I cannot tell; at any rate, the Neby Masa pilgrimage generally coincides in time with the Christian Easter festivities. P. 41. The stones of the place should be fit for fuel.—The limestone at Neby Mûsa is bituminous, and somewhat combustible.

VIII P. 45. “The tower stall bears his (David's) name.” —This tower is situated just inside the city, near the Jaffa Gate. It is often called the Tower of Hippicus, though its base measurements agree more nearly with those of Herod’s tower Phaszlus.

P. 49. The Kharrûb.—The Carob-tree (Ceratonia silique), said by tradition to have furnished, in its pods, the locusts which the Baptist ate; and also the husks on which the swine, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, were fed.

P. 50. Stones left unfinished at the death of Solomon.—These stones are generally called “ Hajar el Hibleh” or stone of the pregnant woman, from the belief that the work of cutting and carrying them had been assigned to female jinns in that condition. Onesuch stone is pointed out in the south wall of Jerusalem, and another huge block, on a hill-top near Hirsha, is said to have been left there by a jinniyeh who dropped it when she heard the welcome news of Solomon’s death. (See Clermont Ganneau’s “Archeological Researches,” vol. i. 69.)

Like Abraham and El-Khudr, David appears sometimes in