Forgotten Land: The Ottoman Legacy on the Holy Land's Wasteland

In 1281, Osman I was appointed "Bey," ruling a small principality in Asia Minor, now Turkey. A governor by grace, Osman's realm slowly expanded into a kingdom. By the 16th century, it had grown into an empire dominating most of the Middle East and the Balkans.

In 1517, Sultan Selim I conquered the land of Israel, seizing it from the crumbling Mamluk rule. He also took Egypt, earned the title "Selim the Brave," and infused new life into his vast empire.

In the land of Israel too, he ruled with a firm hand, but settling it? That never crossed his mind. From Selim I onward, the Ottomans' policy was preservation, not expansion. Why? "The king's heart is in the hands of Hashem."

In the 16th century, the pinnacle of the Ottoman Empire, after a thousand years of continuous Muslim settlement, the entire population of the land reached 250,000 people or slightly more. Such a number was insufficient to settle a land. Without inhabitants, the land naturally became desolate, the rivers turned into marshes, and the ruins became lairs for bandits and wild animals. This was exactly how the pioneers of the First Aliyah found it, and the devoted students of the Vilna Gaon and Baal Shem Tov, who courageously came to settle the sacred yet barren land. Slowly, they lifted the curse from its furrows and revived it.

A historian writes: "Due to the general decline during this period, the plagues that hit the city dwellers, and other calamities, it's likely that by the end of the 18th century the population of the land of Israel was even smaller, between 200,000 - 250,000 people, among them a growing Bedouin element."

John Palmer, a 16th-century English traveler, noted in his travels: "The land looks empty and desolate, the villages seem abandoned, and the land is uncultivated."

French traveler Henry de Conflance, during his 16th-century travels: "The land appears empty, as if completely abandoned. Fields are untended and villages deserted."

English traveler John Sanderson, in his 16th-century travels: "Throughout the journey, I saw no living soul; desolation reigns over the land."

In 1695, Rollandi's "Tour of Palestine" described the land as mostly vacant. The few inhabitants were concentrated in cities like Jerusalem, Acre, Safed, Jaffa, Tiberias, and Gaza. Bandits lurked along the roads between these cities, and the entire land was desolate.

Belgian traveler Augustin Foullet, in his 17th-century journeys: "Villages are empty, fields uncultivated, and no sign of life."

Dutch traveler Cornelis de Bruijn, in his 17th-century travels: "The land seems long deserted; everything is void and empty."

French traveler Charles de l'Hem, in his 17th-century travels: "Villages are empty, houses deserted, and the land uncultivated."

1706, traveler Gedaliah of Siamitz: "The roads of Zion mourn; it is impossible to move from city to city, for the whole land is full of bandits."

English traveler Henry Moundell, in his 18th-century travels: "The land is desolate and devoid of people; everything is abandoned and silent."

Italian traveler Francesco Guidotti, in his 18th-century journeys: "I saw no living soul along the way; the land is empty and desolate."

Alphonse de Lamartine, a French poet and politician, wrote in his book "Memories from the East" (1835): "Outside the gates of Jerusalem, we saw no living creature; we heard no living voice. We found the same emptiness, the same silence as before the gates of Pompeii or Herculaneum. Complete silence reigned in the city, on the roads, throughout the land."

William Thackeray, an English author, wrote in his travel book "From Cornhill to Grand Cairo" (1846): "There is a desolation here one cannot even imagine life and activity."

James Finn, British Consul in Jerusalem from 1846-1863, wrote in "Side Roads in Palestine": "The land is largely empty of population, and its greatest need is a population."

Louis François Casse, a French traveler, wrote in his book "Journeys to Palestine" (1847): "There is nothing here but empty and lonely fields. Villages are few and the population sparse."

Howard Crosby, an American pastor and researcher, wrote in "The Lands of the Moslems" (1851): "There is not a single village in the entire area; not for thirty kilometers in any direction. You can ride ten miles here without seeing ten people."

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, a British clergyman and historian, in his book "Sinai and Palestine" (1856): "In this part of Judea, it's hardly an exaggeration to say that for miles, there is no sign of life or settlement."

Herman Melville, the American author, wrote in his diary during his visit to Palestine in 1857: "We crossed several miles of rough hills, a wasteland like the hills of the moon. The land seems a place bereft of blessings."

Titus Tobie, an American general, wrote in his letters (1858): "This desolate land could be revived, but for now, it is barren and empty."

W. M. Thomson, an American missionary, wrote in his book "The Land and the Book" (1859): "A sad and gloomy silence prevails in the city, on the roads, and throughout the land; the entire land seems to be in mourning, and the curse of Hashem has fallen upon it and its inhabitants."

Mary Rogers, a British author, described the land in her book "A Year in the Holy Land" (1862): "The desolation is absolute. It is difficult to find any sign of modern life."

Gustav Freytag, a German author and playwright, wrote in "Pictures of German Life" (1862): "Since the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, till our time, the land lost its culture and in recent centuries has been a barren waste."

Henry Baker Tristram, a British clergyman and naturalist, wrote in "The Land of Israel: A Journal of Travels in Palestine" (1865): "A few dozen villages are scattered across the land, sparsely inhabited by a race different from those who once tilled its soil."

In 1867, Mark Twain's "The Innocents Abroad": "Not a single village can be found throughout the Valley of Jezreel, for thirty miles on either side. You can ride ten miles here without coming across ten people."

In 1868, John McGregor's "Rob Roy on the Jordan": "The land is empty, walking dozens of kilometers without seeing a living soul."

Walter K. Kingston, a British traveler and author, wrote in "Travels in Jerusalem" (1870): "The desolation prevailing across the land seems as though it has not seen life for centuries."

In 1882, Charles Warren's "Jerusalem of the Descend": "The land, once flowing with milk and honey, still stands in its desolation... Few would deny that the land of Israel lies under the burden of a curse."

Frederick Arthur Bridgman, an American artist, described Palestine in his letters (1883): "Desolation is a strong word, but it best describes the general appearance of the cities and towns."

Laurence Oliphant, a British author, traveler, and Christian mystic, wrote in "Haifa, or Life in Modern Palestine" (1887): "The land is in a state of neglect and desolation, almost unparalleled in history."

In 1888, John William Dawson: "To this day, no nation has managed to establish itself as a nation in the land of Israel."

Pierre Loti, a French writer who visited the Holy Land in 1895, wrote in his book "Jerusalem": "Riding to Jerusalem from Jaffa through the hills, I noted a complete emptiness... There is a feeling of absolute desolation throughout these expanses, of nothingness, of emptiness, that causes one to shiver as if death has passed here."

Gertrude Bell, a British writer, traveler, and archaeologist, wrote in her letters (1900): "Palestine sits in ashes and dust. Over it hangs a curse that has dried up its fields and fettered its strength."

Charles William Elliott, President of Harvard University, wrote in "Some Roads to Peace" (1913): "Palestine is a destroyed land. Its ancient culture has vanished; the desired land is sparsely populated."

As we've seen, a continuous sequence of testimonies up to 1913, just over a hundred and ten years ago, right before World War I, showed the land growing depleted, emptying, until it began to shine for the children of Israel returning to their land.