De Situ Hierusolimitanae Urbis Atque Ipsius Judaeae

Faustus, presbyter of the island, to Eucherius the bishop. The site of the city of Jerusalem and of Judaea itself, as far as it was known to me either by report or discovered by reading, I have briefly embraced, indicating this by a brief preface itself, because it is fitting that a preface not be diffuse for a work that is not diffuse. Farewell in Christ, my glory and my protection. Jerusalem is called Aelia by Aelius Hadrianus, for after the destruction by Titus it received the name of Aelius together with the work of its founder. The nature of the place is elevated, so that for those approaching it from any direction, it will undoubtedly have to be ascended, for it rises with a long but gentle slope. The site itself of the city is almost turned in a circle, with a considerable circuit of walls, by which it now receives within itself even Mount Sion, once nearby, which, situated to the south, towers over the city like a citadel. The greater part of the city lies below the mountain, situated on the plain of a lower hill. Mount Sion, on one side, which faces the north, is set apart for the dwellings of clerics and religious persons. On its summit, the cells of monks occupy the plateau, surrounding the church which is said to have been founded there by the apostles out of reverence for the place of the Lord's resurrection, because there, once filled with the Paraclete promised by the Lord, they were filled with the Spirit.

There are three more notable gates: one on the west, another on the east, and a third on the north, for those entering the city from the northern side. First, regarding the holy places, according to the layout of the streets, one must turn aside to the basilica called the Martyrium, recently built with great splendor by Constantine the Great. Then, adjoining it on the west, the sites of Golgotha and the Anastasis are seen; but the Anastasis is at the place of the Resurrection, while Golgotha, between the Anastasis and the Martyrium, is the place of the Lord’s Passion, where even the rock that once bore the cross with the Lord affixed to it is visible. Yet these are seen to be situated outside Mount Sion, where the sloping ground, declining toward the north, extends. The Temple, however, located in the lower part of the city near the wall on the east and once magnificently built, was a wonder; of it, a single pinnacle of one wall remains in ruins, the rest having been destroyed from the foundations. A few cisterns for the use of water are shown in that part of the city which stretches toward the north.

Near the temple is the notable pool of Bethsaida, with its twin basins, one of which is usually filled by winter rains, while the other is discolored with reddish waters. On that side of Mount Zion, where the steep cliff faces the eastern sky, within the walls and at the foot of the hill, the spring of Siloam bursts forth, flowing southward with an alternating flow of waters. Beside the wall of Jerusalem or the temple, to the east, lies Gehenna, which is called the Valley of Jehoshaphat, stretching from north to south, through which the torrent of Kidron runs when it receives the waters of the rains. The surroundings of the city of Jerusalem are seen to be rough and mountainous, and it looks out toward the Mount of Olives, which is separated from it by a thousand paces. On it there are two very famous churches: one founded on the spot where the Lord is said to have spoken to the disciples, and the other on the place from which he is reported to have ascended into heaven.

Six miles from Jerusalem, Bethlehem lies on the southern side, enclosed by a low wall without towers and of very narrow extent, where the Lord's manger, adorned with silver and gleaming gold, is surrounded by a cell. Jericho, however, stretches eighteen miles from Jerusalem toward the summer east. The Jordan also extends from the same quarter of the sky over the land of Judaea, separated from Aelia by the twenty-fourth milestone; it first cuts through the Sea of Tiberias, and, emerging from it, then with abundant and gently flowing waters empties into the Dead Sea, which sea looks toward Jerusalem at about twenty miles. The city of Hebron, once of the giants, lies about twenty-two miles from Jerusalem below the southern region. The Great Sea is nowhere nearer than around the town of Joppa, which is forty miles from it toward the summer west. The true length of the land of Judaea extends from Dan to Beersheba, stretching from the northern region to the south. Dan is indeed a small village in the outer parts of Judaea, which face the northern part, at the fourth milestone from Paneas for those traveling to Tyre; from it the Jordan, bursting forth, takes its name from the place. For the Hebrews call a river "Ior." Moreover, Beersheba, as we said above, is a very large village verging toward the south, at the twentieth milestone from Hebron.

Therefore, the extent of Judaea, both in length and width, the blessed Jerome also determined in a certain letter to Dardanus, from which we have excerpted for this work what seemed necessary, in which, arguing against the Jews concerning the Promised Land, he also added these words: "Let those who think that this land, which has now become the Promised Land for us through the passion and resurrection of Christ, was possessed by the Jewish people after their return from Egypt, answer me how much they actually possessed; certainly from Dan to Beersheba, which extends scarcely one hundred and sixty miles in length. For Scripture does not testify that even the most powerful kings David and Solomon held more, except for those whom they received into friendship after victory. And I say this to say nothing of the five cities of Palestine—Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, Ekron, Azotus—nor of the Idumeans, separated from Jerusalem by scarcely twenty-five miles on the southern side, nor of the Arabs and Agarenes, whom they now call Saracens, in the vicinity of the city of Jerusalem. I am ashamed to mention the width of the Promised Land, lest we seem to have given occasion to the pagans for blasphemy. From Joppa to our little village of Bethlehem there are forty-six miles; beyond this follows a vast solitude full of fierce barbarians.

A little later: "But if you object that the land of promise is what is contained in the book of Numbers, from the south of the Salt Sea through Sina and Cadesbarne as far as the River of Egypt, which flows into the Great Sea near Rinocorura, and to the west that sea itself, which stretches before Palestine, Phoenicia, Coele Syria, and Cilicia, to the north Mount Taurus and Zephyrium as far as Emath, which is called Epiphania of Syria, to the east through Antioch and Lake Ceneret, which is now called Tiberias, and the Jordan, which flows into the Salt Sea, now called the Dead Sea, and across the Jordan the possession of two and a half tribes, Reuben and Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh: then I will confess that these were promised to you, not delivered." He added afterwards: "And to me in the Gospel the kingdoms of heaven are promised, which the Old Testament does not name at all; but if I do not do what is commanded, the fault will by no means lie with the promiser, but with me, who did not deserve to receive the promise. Read the book of Joshua and of Judges, and you will understand within how narrow confines of possessions you are constrained." Thus Jerome, a man most learned in all knowledge of the Scriptures.

But also Josephus, the noble historian of the Jews, describes the site of that entire region, who distinguishes the boundaries of both Galilees and Samaria in his account, or the various peoples that adjoin Galilee, Syria, and Phoenicia and demarcate it: on the west, Ptolemais with the limits of its territory and Mount Carmel, which was formerly among the Galileans, but now is associated with the boundaries of the Tyrians, to which is joined the city of Gabaa, which once was the cause of a grievous destruction for the Jews; on the east, Hippene and Gadara remain within their own boundaries. Moreover, the same region had its borders prescribed in ancient times with the Gaulanitis region and the kingdom of Agrippa. On the southern side, Scythopolis and Samaria each receive it within their regions and do not allow it to be extended beyond the streams of the Jordan. Its northern side on the right is closed by Tyre and the entire region of the Tyrians, by whose barrier the spaces of Galilee are defined. The Galilees themselves are distinguished from each other in this way, so that what is called Lower Galilee extends in length from the city of Tiberias as far as the city named Zabulon, above the maritime area of Ptolemais.

Its width, however, is undoubtedly drawn from the village of Chaloth, which is in the great plain, as far as Bersabe. Whence also the beginning of Upper Galilee is opened, as far as it touches the boundaries of the village of Bacata; and by that same village the boundaries of the land of Tyre are also determined. Moreover, the beginning of its length is the village of Thoalla, and its end is Thoalla, which borders the Jordan. From this it is given to understand how far the spaces of Upper Galilee extend, whose beginning is the Jordan, or its confines. By this estimation of its magnitude, therefore, each Galilee is distinguished. The land, moreover, is fertile, grassy, gleaming with diverse kinds of cultivation, distinguished by trees, so as to attract anyone to its grace and to invite and rouse even one fleeing from labors to the pursuits of cultivation. Finally, no portion of land here, however small, lies idle; it is thronged with many inhabitants. There are numerous cities, frequent villages, and an innumerable multitude of people, so that a small village in its district has 15,000 inhabitants.

A little later: "The Samaritan region also," he says, "lies in the middle between Judaea and Galilee, beginning from the village named Helias, ending in the land of the Acrabatteni, similar in nature and differing in no way from Judaea. For both are mountainous and level according to the diversity of places, neither spread entirely over plains nor in all places broken by mountain crags, but possessing the charm of each quality. The soil, soluble and softer for cultivation, is thereby useful for grains and second to none in fertility of the soil, certainly first of all in ripeness of fruit; for while elsewhere grains are still being sown, here they are reaped. The species and the very nature of the grain are held to be nowhere more excellent. The water is sweet, beautiful to behold, also pleasant to drink, so that according to the grace of the elements the Jews considered it the land promised to the fathers, flowing with milk and honey, when it had pledged to them the prerogative of resurrection, and indeed divine bounty had conferred both, if they had kept the faith; but from faithless hearts both were snatched away, here by the yoke of captivity, there by the bond of sin. The region is wooded and therefore rich in livestock, abundant in milk; indeed nowhere does a beast carry udders so distended with milk. Wild or grafted fruits exceed the abundance of all regions.

Both Samaria and Judaea are filled with a multitude of people, so that the Jews seem to me to have interpreted from this what is written: "That there will be no barren and unfruitful land in these," although the Law prescribed this concerning the fecundity of merits and the fertility of virtues. The beginning of Samaria is from the borders of Arabia, from the village named Jordanis; its end extends northward to the village Bortheus. The breadth of Judaea, however, is from the river Jordan as far as Joppa. For it begins from the sources of the Jordan and from Mount Libanus and extends as far as the Lake of Tiberias. Also from the village Arfa begins its length, which extends as far as the village Iulias, in which there is a common habitation of both Jews and Tyrians. In the middle of Judaea, the city of Jerusalem is called, as it were, the navel of the entire region, as has seemed fitting to the learned. The region abounds in inland resources and is not deprived of maritime ones, because it stretches as far as Ptolemais and that whole sea extends along its shores. There are many cities, but among all Jerusalem stands out, so that, as a head in its own body, it does not overshadow its members, but rules them and is for them a protection and an ornament.

Thus far Josephus, whom I thought should be inserted into this account for this reason, so that a Jewish reporter might lend greater credibility to the description of Judaea for those diligently seeking the truth.