Letters from the Holy Land

In Short

Elizabeth Butler’s travel memoir gathers personal letters written to her mother during a four-week journey across Palestine in the spring of the late nineteenth century. Moving from the port of Jaffa through Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Galilee, Butler records her impressions of biblical sites, local populations, and varied landscapes. Written without pretension, the account survives as a vivid, painterly observation of the Holy Land before modern development changed it forever.

The Story

The journey begins at sea, where Elizabeth Butler and her husband, a military officer stationed in Egypt, arrive off the rocky coast of Jaffa. Trans-shipping into large open boats over heavy swell, they land on a shoreline that appears unchanged since the Middle Ages. From Jaffa, their path crosses the Plain of Sharon, bright with spring wildflowers, passing Lydda and Ramleh. At Ramleh, Butler climbs a great tower to view all Philistia, but her elevation is sharply contrasted when she returns to street level and meets a line of eyeless lepers waiting for alms.

Ascending into the hills of Judah, the travelers pass Ain Kareem and hear the Salvation Army marching along the road before catching their first sight of Jerusalem’s walls and the Mount of Olives. Entering through the Jaffa Gate on foot, they make their hotel facing the Tower of David their base. Over the next week, Butler visits the Wailing Place of the Jews beneath the Mosque of Omar, follows the Via Dolorosa, explores the Cenaculum, and examines General Gordon's proposed Calvary at "Skull Hill." Excursions take them outside the city to Bethlehem, where she kneels at the site of the Nativity, and down into the hot, stone-choked valley of Hebron to view the guarded mosque covering the Cave of Machpelah. They also traverse desolate terrain to reach the mountain monastery of Mar Saba and ride down to the Jordan and the Dead Sea.

Setting out due north from Jerusalem on horseback, the party travels into Samaria and Galilee. They ride through bare hills, past Bethel, and pause at Nablous (ancient Shechem), nestled between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim amid orange groves and running streams. Continuing through Cana and Nazareth, Butler visits the Church of the Annunciation before riding on to the Sea of Galilee. There, she sketches along the shores near Capernaum, navigates sudden violent winds by boat, and explores ancient Roman road stones worn smooth by past centuries.

The expedition ends on the slopes of Mount Carmel near Caïfa. Looking down on the River Kishon and watching the afterglow fade over the Mediterranean, Butler reflects on the historical and religious weight of the terrain. Early in the morning, under a waning moon, she boards an Austrian Lloyd steamer at Jaffa, leaving the coast behind as night settles over the water.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins Steaming toward Jaffa at dawn, Butler watches the Eastern town rise on a rock above heaving waves. She boards a stout rowboat to cross the dangerous surf, landing on an unarmored shore reminiscent of medieval pilgrim arrivals.

First steps across Philistia Traveling across the Plain of Sharon, the party passes through green wheat-fields dotted with wild blooms and hoary olive trees. At Ramleh, Butler views the entire plain from a tall tower, then encounters a heartbreaking row of lepers begging in the cold street below.

Arrival at Zion Passing the reputed birthplace of John the Baptist at Ain Kareem, the travelers climb toward Jerusalem. Butler's husband spots the Mount of Olives first, and they dismount outside the Jaffa Gate to enter the wall-encircled city on foot.

In the Holy City Butler spends days walking the Via Dolorosa, observing Jewish worshippers at the Wailing Place beneath the Moslem Mosque of Omar, and visiting the site of the Last Supper. She sketches Gordon's "Skull Hill" and takes in the surrounding desolate valleys.

Excursions south Diving into hot, stony terrain, the group visits Bethlehem's vault of the Nativity and the subterranean tombs of Hebron. They ride through the wild ravines of Mar Saba toward the Jordan, navigating variable temperatures and rugged paths.

Journey to Galilee Heading north on an eight-hour ride over rolling stones, the party passes Bethel and rests at Nablous. They push past the fountain of Cana to reach Nazareth and the quiet, wind-whipped shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Departure from Carmel Stationed on Mount Carmel near Caïfa, Butler spends her final days writing and sketching the surrounding oak-clad hills. She boards a rowboat in the dark hours of morning to rejoin the steamer bound for open sea.

The People

• Elizabeth Butler, the author and artist, approaches the landscape with a painter's eye and quiet religious devotion. She seeks direct contact with the biblical terrain, indifferent to physical fatigue, wind, or sunburn so long as her view of the land remains unblurred.
• W. (Major-General Sir William Butler), her husband, arranges the four-week leave from his military command at Alexandria. He acts as a practical companion, spotting distant landmarks from the carriage box, selecting memento stones from dry riverbeds, and managing safety precautions.
• Isaac, their dragoman and interpreter, is a former Mahometan converted to Protestantism who handles logistics. He wears various arms for show, translates complex conversations, and manages camp routines as they move across rugged ground.
• Father Abraham, a Bethlehem native and Greek Orthodox priest dressed in fellaheen clothes beneath his cassock, meets the travelers under the olive trees. He blesses their meal, engages in lively theological debates through Isaac, and brews coffee for the party.

In Its Own Voice

"As sunrise this morning the throbbing of the screw suddenly ceased, and as I went to the port-hole of our cabin I beheld the lovely coast of the Land of Christ..."

Context: Butler describes her very first glimpse of Palestine from her ship cabin before trans-shipping to open boats.

"At every turn some text in the Old or New Testament which alludes to the natural features of the land, springs before one's mind illumined with a light it could not have before."

Context: Butler reflects on the experience of riding through the countryside near Jericho.

"To-day, Thursday, we saw the 'School of the Prophets,' a curious and awesome cavern in the side of the mountain."

Context: Butler notes her visits to the historic caves nestled in the side of Mount Carmel near the end of her journey.

What It's Really About

Beneath its daily travel log, the book explores the tension between ideal faith and material reality. Butler tests childhood mental images against physical geography, finding that tangible rocks, trees, and streams illuminate rather than ruin her religious understanding. She constantly considers how geography preserves history, arguing that the land's ruggedness and political isolation safeguard ancient sites from modern commercialization. At the same time, her writing examines the coexistence of diverse, competing faiths—Jewish, Christian, and Muslim—living side-by-side among sacred monuments. Ultimately, the narrative considers how direct encounter with historical spaces grounds abstract belief into physical reality.

Why Read It Today

This account appeals to readers who appreciate historic travel writing, descriptive nature prose, and clear-eyed observational detail. Butler writes with a painter's exactness, describing changing lights, floral carpets, and architectural forms with clarity rather than sentimentality. Reading her text offers a vivid window into Palestine at the turn of the twentieth century, captured just before modern infrastructure altered the landscape.

Modern readers must navigate period attitudes and occasional cultural distance toward local populations, but Butler’s narrative remains remarkably grounded. She resists dramatic hyperbole, openly reporting disappointing encounters, awkward encounters with guides, and grueling rides over bad roads alongside moments of quiet beauty. Her honest, observant voice makes the journey feel both immediate and memorable.