William McClure Thomson (31 December 1806, in
Springdale, Ohio – 8 April 1894, in
Denver, Colorado
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
) was an American
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
working in
Ottoman Syria
Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and sout ...
. After spending 25 years in the area he published a best-selling description of what he had seen in his travels. He used his observations as a means of illustrating and illuminating passages from the Bible.
Career
Thomson was the son of a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
minister. He was a graduate of
Miami University
Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
, Ohio.
He landed in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
on 24 February 1833. He was only the eighth Protestant missionary from America to arrive in the area. Two of his predecessors had died and two had been recalled. In 1834 he travelled, with his wife, to Jerusalem. In April 1834 he was in
Jaffa when the
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Blac ...
broke out and he was forced to remain there as the rebels took control of the countryside. He was unable to return to
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
until
Ibrahim Pasha retook it with 12,000 troops. In his absence his wife had given birth to a son but she died 12 days after Thomson's return.
Following his wife's death Thomson returned to Beirut with his son. There in 1835, with Rev. Story Hebard, he established a boarding school for boys. In August 1840 all the American missionaries in Beirut were evacuated by the
USS Cyane. They witnessed the commencement of the naval bombardment of Beirut by a combined British, Austrian and Turkish fleet of 51 vessels under the command of
Charles Napier. The bombardment lasted a month and resulted in the retreat of Ibrahim Pasha's army. In the same year fighting broke out between Lebanon's Druze and Maronites.
In 1843 Thomson, with
Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck
Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck, M.D. (August 13, 1818 – November 13, 1895) was an American missionary physician, teacher and translator of the Protestant Bible into Arabic.[Abeih
Aabey, also spelled Abey ( ar, عبيه), is a village located in Mount Lebanon, in Aley District of Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is located from Beirut and has an altitude of 800 m (2,600 feet). It is bordered by Kfarmatta (South), Al ...]
. There was another outbreak of violence in 1845. Thomson was involved in organising a local truce. In 1851 he moved to
Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
where he remained until 1857, when he returned to America for two years.
In 1860 full scale
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
broke out in Lebanon. The conflict lasted sixty days and spread to
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
. Thomson supervised the distribution of £30,000 of money, food and clothing amongst the thousands of destitute refugees.
At a Beirut Mission Meeting on 23 January 1862 he proposed the establishment of a college with
Daniel Bliss as its President. The
Syrian Protestant College
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, auto ...
was established in 1866 with 16 students. This college was to evolve into the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
.
Theophilus Waldmeier
Theophilus Waldmeier (1832 in Basel – 1915) was a Swiss Quaker missionary. Married Susan Bell, eldest daughter of John Bell, at Magdala, Ethiopia on 4 December 185
He was held prisoner by Ethiopian Tewodros II of Ethiopia, King Theodore and ...
’s autobiography states that it was on Thomson’s advice, in 1873, that Waldmeier established
Brummana High School.
His local nickname became ''Abu Tangera'' - father of the cooking pot - after his broad-rimmed hat. With his local knowledge he was used as a
dragoman by several Biblical scholars. In 1852 he accompanied one of the founders of modern Biblical archeology,
Edward Robinson on his second tour of the Holy Land.
The Land and the Book
In 1859 Thomson published an account of his experiences entitled ''The Land and the Book.'' Aimed at the general public rather than academics or theologians it became very popular. In America over the next forty years it was only outsold by ''
Uncle Tom's Cabin''.
The book is framed around a pilgrimage undertaken during 1857. Thomson is accompanied by an unnamed individual whose questions enable the author to recount his experiences and illustrate stories from the Bible. They set out from Beirut in January, riding South to
Sidon
Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
and
Tyre, from where they cut inland and arrived in Palestine via the
Hula Valley. They visited Safad,
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...
,
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
and
Jenin
Jenin (; ar, ') is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had ...
before returning to the coast at
Caesarea
Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesar ...
and South to
Jaffa,
Ashdod
Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...
and
Gaza. From Gaza they turned North via
Bayt Jibrin,
Hebron
Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after Eas ...
and
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...
, ending the journey in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
In his book he gives lengthy accounts of two memorable events. He was one of the first outsiders to arrive at
Safad following the devastating
1837 earthquake, and in June 1839 he presided over the funeral of
Lady Hester Stanhope.
The naturalist
Henry Baker Tristram, author of ''A Natural History of the Bible'', used Thomson's book as his guide during his own exploration of Palestine.
At the turn of the century, an English writer,
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform t ...
, covered a similar itinerary. When he landed at
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, his party had difficulty hiring horses due to a nationwide shortage caused by the arrival of a party of 500 Americans on a tour of the Holy Land.
Many of the illustrations in the book are by his son
William Hanna Thomson.
[Thomson. p.xv]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Wiliam MacClure
1806 births
1894 deaths
American Protestant missionaries
American University of Beirut
Protestant missionaries in Syria
Holy Land travellers
American expatriates in the Ottoman Empire
Protestant missionaries in the Ottoman Empire
Protestant missionaries in Palestine (region)
Protestant missionaries in Lebanon
People from Springdale, Ohio