judge between persons of his own nation: the office was suppressed in the year 429, after subsisting three hundred and fifty years. In the sixth century, according to Procopius, Justinian rebuilt the walls. In the seventh, the city was taken by the Saracens, under the Caliph Omar. Yet, in the eighth, it is mentioned in an Itinerary, cited by Reland, as still containing many churches and Jewish synagogues. The city never appears to have been wholly deserted by the Jews, and it is remarkable that there are still two Jewish schools here. Dr. Richardson found six Rabbis studying Hebrew folios, containing the Scriptures and commentaries thereon. Mr Burckhardt says, he saw some beautiful copies of the Books of Moses in the Syrian Synagogue, written upon a long roll of leather, not parchment. He could not learn where they were brought from, but he supposes they came from Bagdad. He states that the libraries of the schools are moderately stocked with Hebrew books, chiefly from Vienna and Venice; but, except some copies of the Old Testament and the Talmud, they possess no manuscripts. Mr. Jowett states, that in the library of one of the Synagogues he counted upwards of 1500 Hebrew books, and the attendants informed him, that with what they had laid up in boxes, they possessed as many as 10,000. In the domestic Synagogue of the Consul he counted about 1000 volumes.

The present town is situated close to the edge of the Lake, upon a small plain surrounded with mountains. It is enclosed towards the land by a thick and well-built wall, about twenty feet in height, with a high parapet and loop-holes. It surrounds the city on three sides, and touches the water at its two extremities. According to Pococke, its circumference is about three quarters of a mile; Mr. Buckingham says, about a mile. Like all the Turkish citadels, it has an imposing appearance from without; but within the walls, it exhibits the utmost wretchedness, many parts being in a ruinous and filthy condition. It possesses but few objects of interest. The ordinary habitations are generally small and mean. The Sheikh's house is described as tolerably good, and near it are the ruins of a very large castle, with some remains of towers, moats, and other works, which appear to have commanded the harbour. On the rising ground to the northward of the ruins, stands the modern castle, erected, according to Hasselquist, by Sheikh Daher, who defended the place against the Pasha of Seide. There is a mosque, with a dome and minaret, now frequented, and another, with an octangular tower, in ruins. The former of these is not far from the gate of entrance, which is facing the sea: the latter is near the beach. Mr. Jowett visited three public synagogues: they are similar in design to those at Jerusalem, though much inferior. There is a bazaar on the rising ground, near the northern quarter of the town, in which Mr. Burckhardt counted about a dozen shops. The only interesting relic of antiquity, is the "House of Peter," which stands in the northern quarter and close to the water's edge. It is supposed to be the most ancient place of Christian worship existing in Palestine, and to have been built in the fourth century. It is described by

Mr. Buckingham, as a vaulted room about thirty feet by fifteen, and perhaps fifteen in height; it stands nearly east and west, having its door of entrance at the western front, and its altar immediately opposite, in a shallow recess. Over the door is one small window, and on each side, four others, all arched and open. The masonry of the edifice is of an ordinary kind; the pavement is similar to that used for streets in this country, and the whole is all devoid of sculpture or other ornament.

The ancient town of Tiberias does not appear to have occupied any part of the limits of the present one, but was probably situated at a short distance farther to the south, near the borders of the Lake. Mr. Burckhardt states, that its ruins begin about five minutes walk from the wall of the present town, on the road to the hot wells. Mr. Buckingham says, he observed among the scattered ruins of the old city, many foundations of buildings, some fragments of others still standing, and both grey and red granite columns, some portions of the latter being at least four feet in diameter. These ruins stretch along the sea shore, as far as the hot springs, and extend to about three hundred yards inland. There are some other remains of ancient habitations on the north side of the town, upon a hill close to the sea, which is connected with the mountain; here are also some thick walls which indicate that this point, which commands the town, was anciently fortified. The celebrated baths of Emmaus are about a mile south of the present town, and about fifty feet from the water's edge: they are much resorted to, the waters being esteemed good for all sorts of pains and tumours, and even for the gout.

The following account of these baths is furnished by Mr. Buckingham. "In less than an hour after our leaving the town, we arrived at the baths. The present building, erected over the springs here, is small and mean, and is altogether the work of Mahommedans. It is within a few yards of the edge of the lake, and contains a bath for males and a bath for females, each with their separate apartment annexed. Over the door of the former is an Arabic inscription; ascending to this door by a few steps, it leads to an outer room, with an open window, a hearth for preparing coffee, and a small closet for the use of the attendant. Within this is the bath itself, a square room of about eighteen or twenty feet, covered with a low dome, and having benches in recesses on each side. The cistern for containing the hot water is in the centre of this room, and is sunk below the pavement; it is a square of eight or nine feet only, and the spring rises to supply it through a small head of some animal; but this is so badly executed, that it is difficult to decide for what it was intended. My thermometer rose here instantly to 130°, which was its utmost limit; but the heat of the water was certainly greater. It was painful to the hand as it issued from the spout, and could only be borne gradually by those who bathed in the cistern.

There is here only an old man and a little boy to hold the horses and make coffee for the visitors; and those who bathe strip in the inner room and wash themselves in the cistern, without being furnished