Part 11 (1/2)

[156] This prince first resided with the emperor Johannes Porphyrogenitus, with whom he was a great favourite; but on his death, and the succession of Manuel Comnenus to the throne, Thoros left Constantinople, disguised as a merchant, and proceeded by water to Antioch, from whence he went to Cilicia, and with the a.s.sistance of the priests and n.o.bles found himself at the head of a formidable army, and soon established himself on the throne of his ancestors. When these news reached Constantinople, Manuel became highly incensed; and, raising a numerous force, he sent Andronicus Caesar into Cilicia with the command to extirpate all Armenians; but the imperial general was defeated, and Thoros was subsequently reconciled with the emperor. He died in 1167.

[157] Malmistras is the ancient Mopsuestia, on the Pyramus, at present Messis on the Jeihan. Under the former name it appears in William of Tyre and his contemporaries.

[158] Boemond III., prince of Antioch, surnamed le Baube (or the Stammerer), succeeded his mother in the princ.i.p.ality of Antioch in 1163, and died in 1200.

[159] Kharmath was a famous impostor, founder of a sect called Carmathians, very similar to that of the a.s.sa.s.sins. One of the tenets of this sect was, that the soul of the founder transmigrates into the body of his successor, and that the person who held the office of chief among them was the personification of the original founder of the sect.

[160] Kadmus is enumerated by Burckhardt in a list of old castles, on the mountains of Szaffyta, in the territory of the Anzeiry.

[161] Joshua, xiii. 5. 1 Kings, v. 32.

[162] This pa.s.sage was entirely misunderstood by the earlier translators. The family of the Embriaci was one of the most ancient of the patricians of Genoa; and one of its members, Guillelmus Embriacus, was named commander of the fleet which was sent to aid the Christian princes of Syria, and which, in 1109, took Byblus, of which he became the feudal lord. The jealousy of the other patrician families was subsequently roused, but the family of the Embriaci succeeded in retaining their feudal tenure. The supreme government of the city, however, at this time, appears to have been vested in a committee of seven persons, six of whom were delegated by the republic, the place of president being always filled by one of the Embriaci. William of Tyre (xi. 9) relates the conquest of Byblus by the Genoese, and informs us that the Christian name of the Embriacus who governed when he wrote (about 1180) was Hugo, ”a grandson of the Hugo who conquered it;” but all other historians call the conqueror Guillelmus, and Mr. Asher thinks that we ought to read, in Benjamin's text, [Hebrew: ???????], which stands for William, instead of Julia.n.u.s.

[163] Joshua, xviii. 25.

[164] It is well known from other sources that Tyre was celebrated in the middle ages for the manufacture of gla.s.s.

[165] Isaiah, xxiii. 8.

[166] The modern Nahr-el-Mukattua. See Judges, v. 21.

[167] Joshua, xix. 13. Modern writers identify Kaiffa with the ancient Ephah, and not with Gath.

[168] Kings, xviii. 30.

[169] Joshua, xv. 44.

[170] Judges, i. 26.

[171] Deut. xi. 29.

[172] To which place, according to the tenets of the Talmudic Jews, the offerings are confined, and since the destruction of which they have been discontinued.

[173] Joshua, xxiv. 32.

[174] Modern critics and travellers appear to confirm this statement relating to the peculiar p.r.o.nunciation of the three letters by the Samaritans.

[175] At present Yalo.

[176] The knights templars.

[177] Jesus is thus called in the Talmud.

[178] 1 Kings, iv. 26.

[179] 2 Sam. xviii. 18.

[180] 2 Kings, xv. 1-7.

[181] After the slaughter of the Jews of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the few that were saved from destruction were dispersed in all directions.

Those persons who mourned over these unhappy circ.u.mstances were called ”mourners of Jerusalem,” and are mentioned under that t.i.tle more than once by Benjamin. We find these mourners even among the Caraites about 1147. We read in several ancient Jewish writers of the danger incurred by the Jews who visited Jerusalem while it remained in the power of the Christians. Pethachia found only one Jew at Jerusalem, whereas Benjamin speaks of 200. A numerous congregation was again to be met with there about 1190; but about 1216 great discord prevailed among them in consequence of the pretensions of the different congregations.