# The Handbook of Palestine

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Harry Charles Luke, The Handbook of Palestine, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> The Handbook of Palestine
> 
> Harry Charles Luke
> pp. 33, 58-59, 105, 107
> 
> London: Macmillan and Company, 1922
> 
> 1. Text
> 
> [page 33]
> 
> ...
> The population of Palestine (exclusive of Trans-jordania
> and exclusive of the British garrison) is estimated as follows
> (1922):
> 
> Moslems - - - - 583,188
> Christians - - - - 84,559
> Jews - - - - 79,293
> Druses - - - - 7,034
> Metawileh - - - - 160
> Bahá'ís - - - - 158
> Samaritans - - - - 157
> ---
> Total - 754,549
> 
> [page 58]
> 
> Part II., § 18. The Bahá'ís
> 
> In 1844 a Persian, Mirza 'Ali Mohammed, proclaimed
> himself in Tabriz as the 'Bab,' or Gate, whereby communication was
> to be re-established with the 'hidden' or Twelfth
> Imam, or Mahdi, whose return to earth is awaited by a large
> number of Shiah Moslems. Later he stated that he himself
> was the expected Imam, but his ministry was cut short by
> martyrdom in Tabriz in 1850. Before his death he
> appointed as his successor a lad named Mirza Yahya,
> called Subh-i-Ezel ('the Dawn of Eternity'), who, with his
> half-brother Mirza Husein 'Ali, afterwards better known as
> Bahá'u'lláh, and other Babi leaders, took refuge in Baghdad
> in consequence of the persecution to which the sect was
> subjected by the Shah. After they had spent twelve years
> in Baghdad the Persian Government persuaded the Porte to
> have them removed, and they were taken to Adrianople,
> where they remained from 1864 to 1868. In A.H. 1283
> (A.D. 1866-67) occurred an event which rent the sect in
> twain. Bahá'u'lláh, who was of more assertive character
> than the retiring Subh-i-Ezel, suddenly announced that he
> himself was the expected Imam, and that the 'Bab' had
> 
> [page 59]
> 
> been no more than his fore-runner; and he called upon all
> Babis, including Subh-i-Ezel, to acknowledge him. This
> the latter refused to do, and Babis were now divided between
> Ezelis, who acknowledged the original Bab and his
> successor Subh-i-Ezel, and Bahá'ís, or followers of Bahá'u'lláh.
> Meanwhile both sections were again deported by the Turks,
> Subh-i-Ezel and his family to Famagusta in Cyprus, Bahá'u'lláh and his followers to Acre. From Acre the Bahá'í
> faith has spread over Asia and America and into Europe,
> and counts two millions of adherents; the Ezelis have
> dwindled to a handful.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh died on the 16th May, 1892, leaving, among
> other children, two sons, 'Abbas Effendi and Mirza Mohammed
> 'Ali, who for a while disputed the succession. Ultimately
> there prevailed the claims of the elder, 'Abbas Effendi,
> who took the spiritual title of 'Abdu'l Baha, meaning 'The
> Servant of the Glorious.' 'Abdu'l Baha was born in Teheran
> on the 23rd May, 1844, the day of the Declaration of the
> Bab, and died at Acre on the 27th November, 1921. His
> successor is his grandson, Shawki Effendi, who is Life-President
> of the Council of Nine, which regulates the affairs
> of the community. The number of Bahá'ís in Palestine
> is 158. Sir 'Abbas Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha had travelled
> extensively in Europe and America to expound his
> doctrines, and on the 4th December, 1919, was created by
> King George V. a K.B.E. for valuable services rendered
> to the British Government in the early days of the Occupation.
> For farther information on Babism and Bahá'ism
> the reader is referred to the works of Professor E.G. Browne,
> published by the Cambridge University Press.
> 
> [page 105]
> 
> Acre. — The varied history of Acre has been touched upon
> in Part I., §§ 5 and 6. It is mentioned only once in the
> Old Testament (Judges, i., 31), under the name of Accho,
> and once also in the New Testament (Acts, xxi., 7), under
> its Greek name of Ptolemais. According to the Talmud
> the Jews regarded Acre as being outside the confines of
> the Holy Land, whose frontier was its outer wall. The
> town became of importance during the Crusades, and was
> the favourite seat of the Court of the Latin Kingdom. On
> the fall of Jerusalem it succeeded that city as the capital
> and as the headquarters of the Knightly Orders, owing its
> full name of S. Jean d'Acre to the Knights Hospitallers.
> It was for several years, until its fall in May, 1291, the last
> outpost of the Crusaders in Palestine.
> 
> Even after the disappearance of the Franks Acre remained
> the usual landing-place for Christian pilgrims from the
> West. In more recent times it has stood several sieges,
> notably by Napoleon in 1799; was captured by Ibrahim
> Pasha in 1831; and was bombarded in 1840 by the British,
> Austrian and Turkish fleets under Stopford and Napier.
> In later Turkish times Acre was the capital of the Sanjaq
> which bore its name. Its connexion with the Bahá'í sect
> is described in Part II., § 18 [above].
> 
> [page 107]
> 
> ...
> About half a mile to the east of the walls is Tel al-Fukhar,
> where King Richard pitched his tent in 1190-1; from this
> place Napoleon directed operations in 1799. About one
> mile to the north-east is the village of Menshieh, where was
> the French Camp, and close by are the orange gardens of
> Baghche and the tombs of Bahá'u'lláh and Sir Abbas
> Effendi 'Abdu'l Baha. Across the plain to the north can
> be traced the aqueduct — rebuilt by Jezzar and 'Abdallah,
> probably on the ruins of a Roman aqueduct — conveying
> the water a distance of 8 miles into Acre. To the north-east
> on the hillside can be seen the late Arab castle of
> Jeddin, and to the north the white cliff of Ras al-Nakura
> (the boundary between Palestine and Syria) and the beginning
> of the "Ladder of Tyre." The beautiful Wadi
> Qurn, well wooded and with a strongly flowing stream,
> deserves a visit, together with the ruins of the Crusaders'
> castle of Montfort (Qala'at Qurein). This castle of Mons
> Fortis was begun in 1229 by Hermann von Salza, the Grand
> Master of the Teutonic Order, and was the principal strong-hold
> of the Order in Palestine. It was destroyed by Bibars.
> 
> Acre is connected with Haifa by a narrow-gauge railway,
> which crosses the rivers Kishon (Nahr Muqatta) and Belus
> (Nahr Na'mein). The latter provided and still provides the
> murex, from which the Phoenicians extracted the famous
> Tyrian purple; and Pliny records that glass was made from
> its exceptionally fine sand.
> 
> There is a local prophecy to the effect that when the
> waters of the river Belus reach the east gate of Acre the
> English will take the town. This possibility arose from
> the fact that Belus changes his course every year. In 1910 the
> river approached so close to the gate that, in view of the
> prophecy, the Turkish authorities became anxious. Numbers
> of sheep were publicly sacrificed on the spit of land
> between the river and the gate, and that winter Belus moved
> himself away from the walls.
> 
> 2. Image scans (click image for full-size version)
> 
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> Views30508 views since posted 2013-07-01; last edit 2024-08-22 20:03 UTC;
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> — *The Handbook of Palestine (Used by permission of the curator)*