Page:Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894.djvu/337

Rh the Christian Church. Rabbi Jechiel is an officer of the Pope; he is a handsome, discreet, and wise young man, and acts as steward of the Pope's household. The River Tiber divides Rome into two parts. On one side thereof is situate the great cathedral of St. Peter, and also the palace of Julius Cæsar the Great. The city contains numerous structures which are altogether different from any other buildings in the world. . . . . At San Giovanni Laterano, one can see two brass columns from the Holy Temple, of the work of King Solomon, and on each is to be found engraved the name of Solomon, the son of David. The Jews of Rome told me that every year on the ninth day of Ab, the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, sweat oozes from the pillars as water spilt on the ground. Moreover, there is a cave there in which Titus, the son of Vespasian, deposited the vessels of the Temple, which he brought from Jerusalem Sorrento was built by Zir, the son of Hadad, who fled thither through fear of King David. The sea has encroached on it, and divided it, as it were, into two parts, and to the present day one can see the submerged buildings and towers of the city. A fountain wells forth from underground, and an oil called petroleum is collected from the surface of the water, and is used for medicinal purposes. There are also baths of hot water which bubbles forth from the earth. Twenty of these baths are by the sea, and anyone who is afflicted with disease bathes therein, and finds healing and relief At Trani, by the sea-shore, the Christians assemble to embark for Jerusalem, for the harbour there is a very safe one Thebes is a flourishing town where about 2,000 Jews live. They are excellent workmen, and skilled in making garments of silk and purple The people of Wallachia are fleet as the hart; they descend the mountains to pillage and plunder the land of Greece. No man can stand against them, and no king can subdue them. Some say that they are of Jewish origin, and they call the Jews their brethren. Moreover, though they may despoil the Jews, yet they do not slay them as they slay the Greeks. They are subject to no law.

"Constantinople is the metropolis of the Greek Empire. This is the residence of the Emperor Manuel. Twelve princes rule the empire under him, and each has a palace in Constantinople The city of Constantinople is 18 miles in circumference. It is situated by two inlets of the sea, one issuing from the Russian Sea and the other from the Mediterranean, and it is a city of great bustle and traffic. Merchants come from Babylon and from the land of Shinar, the land of the Medes and Persians, the kingdom of Egypt, the land of Canaan, the kingdom of Russia, Hungary, Patzinakia, and Slavonia, Lombardy, and Spain. It is a city of great traffic, and is full of merchandise brought thither from all countries by sea and by land. There is not the like of it in any country, except the great city of the Arabs, Bagdad. The church of St. Sophia is under the authority of the patriarch of the Greeks, since the Greeks do not acknowledge the Pope of Rome. It contains as many altars as there are days in the year, and the wealth of the church exceeds that of any in the