1 9 i 9 i 6 [ 2 i rT tJ ^J i THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS, AND tnpta §Kitttm; WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OP THE TABERNACLE AND THE TEMPLE. PHILADELPHIA: AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION 146, CHESTNUT STEEET. J V In 'I /v // Ji ' S <. INTRODUCTION. CoNSiDEEABLE attention has been given during the last twenty years to Biblical Geography : its study has been promoted by the recent laborious investigations of learned men, and by a more careful preparation of maps. In the year 1840, the Eeligious Tract Society issued a Scripture Atlas, which was found very useful, and which has had an extended circulation. Since that time a considerable advance has been made in this department of knowledge. Very few localities in Palestine, for instance, had, up to that period, been satisfactorily ascertained, either by astronomical observation or geographical survey. The accounts of nearly all early travellers had been loose and indefinite, and often legendary and fabulous More recent writers, however, have felt the importance of greater care and accuracy, and hence materials have been furnished for the preparation of maps far superior to those hitherto published. For the arrangement of the present Atlas, the principal guide has been the "Bibel Atlas nach den neuesten und besten Hiilfsquellen," the production of Heinrich Keipert, of Berlin, a learned artist, who executed the valuable maps, and wrote the accompanying memoir, for Dr. Robinson's "Biblical Researches." But whilst his publication has formed the basis, the labours of Berghaus, Ritter, Schubert, Guers, and others, have afforded valuable assistance. The Physical Map, constructed by Petermann expressly for this work, will commend itself to the attention of the studious reader. The descriptive matter has been carefully com- piled from the works of Burckhardt, Buckingham, Robinson, Wilson, Olin, Barth, Kitto, Coleman, Lynch, Bartlett, and other modem writers. It is hoped that this improved work may assist many to read the Bible with more interest and profit; and that, so reading, they may, through the blessing of the Divine Spirit, experience the power of that holy book in enlightening the eyes, converting the soul, and rejoicing the heart. C. *9> 5006385 CONTENTS. MAP, No I. The Ancient World, sho\^Tng the probable Settlements of tlie Descendants of Noah Japheth • • Ham .•...• Shem . . . . • Kingdom of Nimrod . MAP, No. n. Countries mentioned in the Bible Mesopotamia .... Arabia .... I. Arabia Deserta . n. Ai-abia Petrea III. Arabia Felix 1. The Edomites . 2. The Moabites 3. The Amalekites 4. The Midiaiiites 5. The Ammonites , 6. Ishmaelites . 7. Kenites . Phoenicia Egypt .... Assyria .... Aram, or Syria . Ararat, or Armenia Major Chaldaea, or Babylonia Media .... Parthia .... Persia .... Africa .... Cush, or Ethiopia Libya . . . • The Ludim . MAP, No. in. JotTBNEYINGS OF THE ISRAELITES Tabular View of the Stations . MAP, No. rV. Canaan, as divided among the Twelve Tribes, from the Time of Joshua to the Accession of David . . • .30 Levi 31 Reuben 32 Gad 32 Manasseh 32 Judah 32 Ephraim . . _ 33 Benjamin ,...*. 33 Zebulon , . 33 Issachar Asher Naphtah Dau . Simeon . MAP, No. V. The Kingdom of Israel in the Time of David and Solomon .... 33 34 34 34 34 35 and MAP, No. VI. I Palestine, under the Maccabaean and Idu- mecan Princes, and illustrative of the Period of Christ and his Apostles Judea ....... Samaria ....... Galilee ....... Parasa ....... Idumaea ....... Modern Palestine ..... MAP, No. VII. The Journeys op the Apostle Paul ; the Seven Churches of Asia . St. Paul's First Missionary Journey ,, Second Missionary Journey ,, Third Missionary Journey ,, Voyage to Rome ,, Fourth and last Journey The Seven Churches of Asia MAP, No. Vin. Jerusalem and its Environs I. Ancient Jerusalem . WaUs . Gates and Towers Streets aad Palaces Reservoirs and Pools Modern Jerusalem Publ'c Edifices . Environs II. III. 37 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 43 44 44 45 46 46 48 48 50 51 52 52 53 55 56 MAP, No. IX. Physical Map of Palestine and the adja- cent Countries and Region of adjacent to I. The Great Valley Depression The Waters of Merom The Lake of Tiberias ^ The River Jordan The Dead Sea . The Wady el-Arabah n. The Region of the Plain the Shore III. The Tablelands rV. The Lebanon, also the Sinaitic Group V. Geological andMineralogicalFeatures 65 MAPS, Nos. X. and XI. The Tabernacle : its Altars, Utensils, and Priests The Tabernacle : its Courts Altars, etc. ...... Mode of Encampment .... Garments of the Priests .... 57 58 58 58 58 60 61 61 62 64 MAP, No. Plan of the Temple . Solomon's Temple Herod's Temple . . XIL Scripture Gazetteer 67 67 68 70 71 72 72 75 79 EXPLANATION. The classical and other names which do not appear in the Bible aie engraved in a thinner letter. The mark ? denotes that the site is doiibtfiil. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. No. I. €lie Intient Wmlt SHO^VING THE PROBABLE SETTLEMENTS OF THE DESCENDANTS OF NOAH. The tenth chapter of Genesis contains a brief account of the descendants of ^Toah, To the inattentive reader it may seem an uninteresting catalogue of names, but to the student it is of the highest value as a clue to the perplexed history of the nations of the earth. It should be remembered that this chapter is an inspired document, which, taken in connexion with other portions of Scripture referring to it, will yield much important instruction. It was the opinion of the ancient fathers, that the distribution of mankind was not left to be settled at random, or according to the exigencies of the moment ; but that a distribution of the world, as known to the patriarch Noah, was made by him among his three sons, before any actual migrations from the first settlement, in Armenia, took place. Probability is in favour of this hypothesis ; and Dr. Hales, who adopts it, quotes the striking passages, Deut. xxxii. 7 — 9, and Acts xvii. 26, as tending strongly to support it. He also adduces in its favour an Armenian tradition, quoted by AbuKaragi, which states, that Noah distributed the habitable part of tlie globe, from north to south, between his sons, giving to Ham the region of the blacks, to Shem the region of the tawny, and to Japheth the region of the ruddy. " We are not warranted," says Dr. J. Pye Smith,* " to suppose that the families, or clans, or tribes, or however the groups might be formed, migrated immediately to their respective seats, by any sort of general breaking up. This would presuppose some kind of compulsory enforcement, which neither the nature of the case, nor any intimation in the narrative, warrants us to assume. We may rather conceive that a diversity of movements took place, excited by general conviction of duty and utility, guided in a great measure by patriarchal directions, and strengthened by circumstances which would inevitably occur ; such, on the one hand, as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, local inundations, land-slips, pi'oof of unwholesomeness in marshy districts, the annoyance of winged insects or other noxious animals — urging to depart from disagreeable or dangerous places ; and, on the other hand, attractive peculi- arities, new and more convenient situations for pasturage, better soils for the various * Li the article. Nations, Dispersion of, Kitto's Biblical Cyclopaedia, ii. 396. B 2 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. kinds of agriculture, more pleasing sites for dwellings, the formation of towns, and the security of their inhabitants. It is, also, too probable that there were turbulent men, or those who had perpetrated crimes or occasioned offences, who, with their fiimilics and adherents, would quit hastily, and travel as rapidly and as far as they could." The descendants of Japheth are enumerated first in the sacred narrative ; and very briefly, as the more remote nations and the least concerned in biblical history The primitive families of Ham follow ; and the generations of Shem, as the most important, are mentioned last. The Canaanites, who lived nearest, are described with the greatest particularity, — so that even, in one instance, the boundaries are stated. Moses describes the individual tribes of the descendants of Gomer, Javan, Cush, Mizraim, and Ai-am, who lived near him, and even the minor divisions of the family of Joktan. I. Japheth, it appears from Gen. x. 21, was the eldest son of Noah. His name denotes " enlargement," and his boundaries have indeed been wonderfully extended. Not only Europe, but Asia Minor, the whole of the vast regions of Asia north of Taurus, and probably America, were peopled by his posterity. The genealogical table of his race may thus be represented : — Japheth. I ^ f 1 ^1 i \ \ ^ Gomer. Magog. Madai. Javan, Tubal. Meshecu. Tiras. ( I \ ( j i 71 Ashkenaz. Riphath. Togannah. Elishah. Tarshish. Kittim. Dodanim. 1. The descendants of Gomer, the eldest son, spread themselves westward over nearly the whole continent of Europe, retaining, with some slight variation, their paternal name of Gomerians ; as Cimmerians in Asia ; Cimfcri in Gaul and Italy ; and Cymri, Cambri, and Cumbri, in Wales and Cumberland. Ancient authors identify them also with the Galatse of Asia Minor, who, according to Josephus, were called Gomeriani, from their ancestor Gomer ; from whom came the Gaels, Gauls, and CeltaB of Europe, occupying the countries from the Euxine or Black Sea, to the Western Ocean. The descendants of Gomer are mentioned among the northern nations, which should accompany Gog in his conquests in the latter days, Ezek. xxxviii. 6. Ashkenaz, the eldest son of Gomer, appears to have settled on the coasts of the Euxine Sea, which from him received its primaiy denomination, Axenus, resembling Ashkenaz. His precise settlement is represented in Scripture as contiguous to Armenia, westward, answering to Bithynia ; for the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz are mentioned together, Jer. li. 27. The Armenian language is still called the Ashkenazian. The rabbinical Jews understand by Ashkenaz the whole of Ger- many ; but Keipert says such a view is unsupported by testimony. Eiphath, the second son, peopled the country east of the Euxine, Paphlagonia, Croatia, and the Alpine regions. Togarmah, or Togarmuth, the third son, inhabited the confines of Armenia and the Caucasian regions. Togarmah is mentioned witli Gomer, Ezek. xxxviii. 6 ; and with Meshech and Tubal, Ezek. xxvii. 13, 14. 2. Magog, Tubal, and Meshech, sons of Japheth, are noticed by Ezekiel, (xxxviii. 2, 14, 15,) as settled in the north; that is, the space between the Black and the Caspian Seas, and the borders of Scythia. Tlie first of these may be traced in the THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Mongogians, Mongols, and Moguls ; the second in the Toboloski of Siberia ; and the third in the Moschici, Moscow, and Muscovites. Reference is made to their descendants in Ezek. xxvii. 13 ; xxxii, 26 ; xxxix. 1. The prophet speaks of Magog as a country and Gog as its ruler. 3. Madai was the father of the Medes, who are thus denominated in Scripture : see 3 Kings xvii. 6; Isa. xiii. 17; Jei\ li. 11 ; Dan v, 28; and probably also of the primitive inhabitants of Hindustan. 4. Javan, the fourth son of Japheth, was the father of the Javanians, or Jaones of the Greeks. He had four sons, by whom the different portions of Greece Proper were peopled. Kittim is now generally considered to have settled in C^^prus ; and if we proceed on the principle that we are to look first of all for the countries nearest to the Hebrews, distinguished also for their civilization and commerce, hardly any objection can be made to the adoption of the reading Rhodanim for Dodanim, and applying it to the island of Rhodes ; or against explaining Tarshish to mean Tarsus in Cilicia, where a very ancient Greek colony (descended from Javan) existed ; whereas Tartessus in Spain, which has been commonly taken for it, was neither inhabited by the Greeks, nor known to the Hebrews at the time that Moses wrote. Tarshish, in the later books of the Bible, may possibly refer to the Spanish Tartessus. II. Ham and his descendants are next mentioned, Gen. x. 6 — 20. Ham signifies "teat," or "burnt," and is peculiarly significant of the regions allotted to his race — Africa and the hot southern parts of Asia. The name of this patriarch is preserved in the title given to Egypt, " the land of Ham," Psa. cv. 23. His genealogy may be thus given : — Ham. Ciish. . I f \ ^ Seba. Havilah. Sabtah. Raamah. Sabtechali. I. Mizraim. I I Phut. 1 Canaan 1 r n Ludim. Anamim. Lebabim. Naphtuhim. Patbrusim. Caslubim. Capbtorim. | Pbilistim. r 1. Sbeba. Dedan. Sidon, Hetb, tbe Jebusite, tbe Amoiite, the Girgashite, tbe Hhite, tbe Arkite, tbe Sinite, the Arvadite, tbe Zemarite, tbe Hamathite. 1. CusH appears to have been the most celebrated of the sons of Ham ; he gave his name to the land on both sides of the Red Sea. The portion in Asia, on the Gulf of Persia, still bears the name of Chusistan, from whence his descendants spread over Arabia and part of India, invaded Egypt under the name of " shepherd kings," and thence passed into Central Africa. Seha, Havilah, Sabtah, Sahtechah, and Raamah, the sons of Cush, and his two grandchildren, Sheba and Dedan, seem to have settled in Idumea and a portion of Arabia. Raamah founded a city in Arabia, which became noted for its commerce, Ezek. xxvii. 22. Sheba, whose queen came to learn of the wisdom of Solomon, was on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea. To the Jews in Palestine it was "the uttermost parts of the earth," Matt. xii. 42. Dedan was a place of merchandise, — probably the modern Aden, — a port which is again rapidly rising into importance. 2. Mtsb, or Mizraim, the second son of Ham, settled in Egypt, whence the Egyptians are styled in Scripture, Mizraim, (literally, " the two Egypts,") or Mizraites, in the plural form. This country is called in the East, at the present day, " the land of Misr." Of the sons of Misr, Ludi^n and Lehabim were probably the Copto-Libyans The 4 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. fomier are joined by Isaiah (Ixvi. 19) with Pul, whose settlement is supposed to have been about the island Philaj, near the first cataract of the Nile; by Jeremiah (xlvi. 19) with the Ethiopians and Lydians ; and by Ezekiel (xxvii. 10) with Phut, as the mercenary soldiers of Tyre ; — all plainly denoting their African position. The Naphtuhim occupied the sea coast, called by the Egyptians, Nephtus. The descendants oi Pathrusim occupied a lower part of Eg}-pt, which in consequence bore the name of Pathros, Isa. xi. 11; and those of Casluhim and Cajyhtorim, the district which lies between the delta of the Nile and the southern extremity of Palestine. The descendants of these latter people were the Philistines. Caphtor is mentioned by Jeremiah (xlvii. 4) as an island, and is supposed, from its geographical position, to be the island of Crete, which was known to the Egyptians at a very early period, and may have been first colonized by the Caphtorim. 3. Phut, or " the bow," and his posterity, are supposed to have peopled that part of Africa called Mauritania, which answers nearly to the modern Barbary and Morocco. Pliny mentions a city in this region called Putea, and Ptolemy, a river bearing the actual name of Phut. This is also mentioned by Jerome, who says that the adjacent country was called Pvegio Phutensis, or " the land of Phut." This region contained Cyrene, a cele- brated place of Jewish learning, whose ruins bear testimony to its former splendour. 4. Canaax, the youngest son of Ham, gave his name to that land which was after- wards promised to the children of Abraham for an inheritance. Sidon, the first-bom of Canaan, occupied the north-west comer, and built the town of that name, so early celebrated both in sacred and profane history for its luxury and commerce : see Judges xviii. 7 ; Isa. xxiii. 2. Heth, the second son, was the progenitor of the Hittites, who settled in the south, near Hebron, Gen. xxiii. 3 — 7 ; and Jehus and his posterity, the Jebusites at Jerusalem, where they remained till the days of David, 2 Sam. v. 6 — 9. Beyond these latter, the Emorites, or Amorites, settled, Numb. xiii. 29, extending themselves beyond Jordan, until they were destroyed by Moses and Joshua, according to the Divine command, for their iniquities. III. The posterity of Shem possessed the finest regions of Upper and Middle Asia. Shem signifies " renown," which distinctive title was realized by this great branch of the human family, both in a temporal and spiritual sense ; especially as from among his posterity was raised up the Messiah, in whom " all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Shem. j 1 ^ \ Elaai. Asshur. Arphaxad, Lud. Aram. Salah. ( j j \ I Uz. Hul. Gether. Mash. Eber. t ) Peleg. Joktan. Reu. Almodad, &c. I Serug. Nahor. I Terah. Abram. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. ' 5 1. Elam appears to have settled in Elymais, or Southei-n Persia, contiguous to the ancient Susiana, or modern Chusistan. The sacred writers, under the name of Elam, comprehended the country of Persia in general : the inhabitants were famous for the use of the bow, Jer. xlix. 34, 35. 2. AssHUR peopled the land known as Assyria, which became a province of the Cushite empire founded by Nimrod. 3. Arphaxad, through his grandson Eber, was the original of the houses of Peleg and Joktan, the progenitors of the two celebrated races of the Hebrews and the primitive Arabs. Peleg probably remained in Chaldea at the time of the dispersion ; for his descendant Terah and his family settled at Ur of the Chaldees, Gen. xi. 31. Of the children of Joktan it is said, that •' their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest, unto Sephar a mount of the east," Gen. x. 30. Faber conjectures that they were the ancestors of the great body of the Hindoos, who still retain a lively tradition of the patriarch Shem. 4. LuD, according to a tradition of the Lydians, quoted by Josephus, was the father of the people that dwelt in Asia Minor. 5. Akam, by his descendants, planted the fertile country north of Babylonia, called Aram-Naharaim, or "Aram between the two rivers," the Euphrates andTigxis, which the Greeks from thence denominated Mesopotamia, Gen.'xxiv. 10; and Padan-aram, or "the level country of Aram," Gen. xxv. 20. This country is frequently rendered Syria in Scripture, which must not be understood as Palestine Syria. Uz, the eldest son of Aram, peopled the northern part of Arabia, the land of Job. The map includes all the parts of the globe with which the Hebrews were acquainted ; and probably it includes countries unknown to them. Sinim, in Isa. xlix. 12, is supposed to mean China, and Phut, Mauritania: they are thus inserted in the maj) as probable, but not as certain. The localities of the Joktanic tribes in Southern Arabia are generally admitted to be very uncertain. Of the Ishmaelitish tribes veiy few can be determined ; hence, to avoid mere arbitrary decisions, most of them are omitted. Kingdom of Nimrod. — Eastern authors maintain that Nimrod the Cushite, and " mighty hunter," was the first man that wore a crown. His name, says Dr. J. Pye Smith, is rather an appellative, probably given after his death, as descriptive of his character : it signifies " apostasy, impiety, rebellion." The land of Nimrod (Mic. v. 6), situate in Shinar (Gen. x. 10), may have been of no great extent. The principal towns were, 1. Babel, "the city of confusion," which was the original of the great city of Babylon on the Euphrates, and, in after ages, became the capital of the Chaldean empire, and the mistress of Western Asia, Isa. xiii. 19 — 22 ; Dan. iv. 30. The tower of Babel or Birs Nimrod, was on the west bank of the river, and more than three hundred miles from its mouth. The early traditions respecting this ancient structure, and its ancient ruins, show that it was a stupendous work. The mighty mounds which remain are an enduring monument, at once of the ambitious impiety of this early race, and of the avenging justice of God. 2. Erech is supposed to be represented by the imposing mounds of El Assayah, or "the palace of pebbles," on the Euphrates. 3. Calneh, which both ancient and modern authorities concur in fixing as the site of the great city of Ctesiphon, upon the eastern bank of the Tigris. 4. Accad is assigned as the Sittace of the Greeks, and the Akkerkuf of tlie present time. It is situate about nine miles west of the latter river, where the waters make the nearest approach to the Euphrates. Its present name is Tel Nimrud, " the hill of Nimrod." Its ruins stand upon a gentle elevation, and consist chiefly of masses of sun-biu'nt bricks. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. No. IL Cnimtpies tnmtintieh in tjie ^Ut (For Canaan, see Maps, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 9 ; Asia Minor, see Travels of the Apostle Paul, Map 7.) In this map are exhibited "the lands of the Gentiles," all of which have, more or less, an interesting connexion with "the land of promise." The first that claims attention, as the scene of some of the earhest events recorded in biblical history, is: — MESOPOTAMIA. The Hebrew name of this countiy is Aram-Naharaim, which, as before stated, answers to the Greek Mesopotamia, or "the land between the two rivers," Gen. xxiv. 10. The modern Arabs call it El Jesireh, or " the island," it being nearly encompassed by the two great streams, the Euphrates and the Tigris. It extends from the thirty- third deoi-ee to the thirty-eightli of north latitude. Armenia, Asia Minor, and Syria, bound it on the west ; Babylonia and Arabia Deserta on the south ; and Kurdistan on the north. Along its northern boundaries is a branch of Mount Taurus, known to the Hebrews by the name Mash, Gen. x. 23, and called by the Arabs Judi. An important stream, the Chebar,* flows through the land, and joins the Euphrates near Carchemish. Here Nebuchadnezzar planted a colony of the Jews, among whom was the prophet Ezekiel, 2 Kings xxiv. 15; Ezek. i. 1, 3. The country in general is fertile; the mulberry, olive, and vine flourish without cultivation. The summer is hot and dry, and the winter is generally very mild. This land once contained many populous cities, as Carchemish, Hena, Sepharvaim, and Thelasar, but is now chiefly traversed by nomadic tribes of Arabs The Scripture associations of Mesopotamia are of much interest. Here Abram lived in the district of Ur, near the Euphrates. Grotius, Bochart, and Wells placed this spot on the Tigris : recent investigation, however, has fully shown that the present Urfah, on the first-named river, is the true locality. It is now called " Ur of the Chaldees," by the eastern Jews, who make pilgrimages to it as the birthplace of the patriarch. There is a pool of beautifully clear water within the walls of this city, known as " the lake of Abraham the Beloved." The most remarkable circumstance connected with it, is the large number of fish, a species of barbel, which sport unmolested in its waters. From thence Abram removed to Haran, about twenty miles south of Urfah, until, called of God, he left his own country to go to the distant land of Canaan, the future residence of his posterity. Haran is enumerated a thousand years after the call of Abram, among the towns which had been taken by the predecessors of the king of Assyria. It is also mentioned still later among the cities that traded with Tyre, 2 Kings xix. 12; Isa. xxxvii. 12; Ezek. xxvii. 23. "Rebecca's weU" still marks the spot, and to it the Ishmaelites, or Bedouins, still resort to pray, and water their flocks. In the New Testament it is called Charran, Acts vii. 4. One of the kings of Mesopotamia subdued the Israelites after the death of Joshua, Judges iii. 8. His dominions were probably in Lower Mesopotamia. In after ages * This river is not to be confounded with, the Chabor or Habor, of Assyria, where Shaliaaneaea- colonized the ten tribes. Edw? Go 1 r^ THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 7 the country was seized by the Assyrians : at the dissolution of their empire, it was di\'ided between the Medes and the Babylonians. In the revolutions of kingdoms that followed, it was successively a province of the Medo-Persian, Macedonian, and Parthian empires. At the present day it is subject to Persia. ARABIA. Arabia, though chiefly an arid, sandy desert, is a country of much biblical and histo- rical interest. It extends from west to east, commencing at the mouth of the Nile in Lower Egypt, to the Euphrates and Persian Gulf, a distance of one thousand miles ; and fourteen hundred miles from the Arabian Gulf to Syria in the north. The Arabs make two great divisions of their land : the northei-n, which they call Sham, or "the left;" and the southern, called Yemen, or "the right." But Ptolemy and older geographers distinguish it as three separate i^egions : Arabia Deserta on the east, Arabia Petrsea on the west, and Arabia Felix on the south. The ancient Hebrews denominated this region " the east country," Gen. xxv. 6, and its inhabitants " the children of the east," Judges vi. 3 ; Job i, 3 ; ] Kings iv. 30 ; Isa. xi. 14. By Ai'abia they only meant a small district of the country now so called, Ezek. xxvii. 21; 2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17. Thus the Ai'abians are placed in connexion with the Philistines, 2 Chron. xxvi. 7. By "all the kings of Arabia" (1 Kings X. 15 ; Jer. xxv. 24) we may understand the chiefs of wandering tribes, who lived in tents. When the apostle Paul speaks of having visited Arabia, Gal. i. 17, the northern part, adjacent to the countiy of Damascus, may be intended; but when he says that Sinai is in Arabia (iv. 25) he uses the name in its extended signification. Arabia is supposed to be so called from Arabah, that is, "the desert," a district in Idumea. In Deut. ii. 8, we read of "the way of the plain," in connexion with Elath and Ezion-geber; in the original it is Ha-Arabah. As its Ishmaelitish inhabitants wandered over the adjoining territories, the name became extended to them also. The Arabah consists of a great valley, "deep, dreary, and desolate," beginning at Elath and Ezion-geber, and extending to the Dead Sea, which is called "the sea of the plain," or Arabah, in Deut. iv. 49; Josh. iii. 16. It may be regarded as a continuation of the valley of the Jordan. It was the scene of some of the most interesting incidents in the exodus of the Israelites.. Here they encamped for thirty-eight years, and here were the graves of that rebellious generation, " whose carcases fell in the wilderness." Before the time of Burckliardt, this valley had not been traversed by travellers ; but his journey through it, together with subsequent investigations by others, has supplied much important illustration of the Holy Scriptm-es. (See the Physical Map, No. IX.) The parts of the country bordering on Palestine and Egypt, were originally peopled by Cush, the son of Ham ; hence Cush became a general name for both Arabian and African Ethiopia. The pure Arabians, however, trace their descent to Joktan, or Kahtan, the son of Heber, and of the posterity of Noah, by Shem ; and Kahtan is still the patronymic of the tribes which are widely scattered over the whole of Southern Arabia. Moses mentions thirteen sons of Joktan, several of whose names are identified by Niebuhr and other travellers with the provinces and towns of this part of the country. A native who can clearly trace his genealogy in this line, is called "an Arab of the Ai-abs," to mark the purity of his descent. A third class are the descendants of Ishmael, whose " sons became twelve princes according to 8 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. their nations," in fulfilment of the Divine promise to Abi-aham, Gen. xvii. 20. Others of the tribes sprang from the two handmaids of Abraham, Hagar and Keturah. The whole of these tribes are now divided into two classes : the Ai^ab-al-madar, or " dwellers in clay," and the Bedouins, or " dwellers in the wilderness." Between them there is a great diversity of character and habits. The latter class live in tents made of camel's-hair cloth; their wealth is in their flocks, and to a considerable degree they still maintain the prophetic declaration, "He will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him," Gen. xvi. 12. I. Akabia Deserta is mostly an extensive desert, with scarcely enough vegetation to support the camels by which it is traversed, and with only a few brackish springs and pools of water; neither river nor perennial stream flows over its wide expanse. The naked wilderness is encircled or intersected by barren mountains, with summits rising into rugged peaks. The cooling breeze enjoyed in other sultry climes is here unknovra. The air is dry, and often pestilential to animal life. Whole years occasionally pass without rain. According to the impressive description of holy writ, it is "a land of deserts, and of pits; a land of drought, and of the shadow of death; a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt," Jer. ii. 6. A large portion of this country is, to the present day, but little known to travellers. Warlike tribes of Bedouins, each under its respective sheikh, or chieftain, roam over its extensive deserts. II. Arabia Petrea, or Eocky Arabia, derives its name from Petra, "a rock," from the numerous rocky districts found within its limits. " To this wild but interesting region belongs a reverence which no other portion of the earth, Judea excepted, can claim. It was the theatre of many awful and extraordinary events recorded in Jewish history. The sacred eminence of Sinai, on whose cloudy summit the Deity made his pavilion of darkness, when he first issued a system of written laws to the human race ; Horeb, with its bui^ning bush, and its caves which gave shelter to Elijah, when he fled from the persecution of Jezebel ; the pastoral solitudes where the Jewish deliverer, then an exile from Egypt, kept the flocks of Jethro, the priest of Midian; Shur and Paran, with the bitter wells of Marah, and the smitten rock that yielded water ; the land of Uz, the scene of the wealth and the woes of Job, of the trial of his patience and the triumph of his piety, — are all comprehended within the geography of Petrea."* No part of this country has been so carefully traversed as the Peninsula of Sinai. Its general aspect is wild and rugged, — a collection of naked rocks and craggy precipices. Sir F. Henniker describes it as " a sea of desolation." " It would seem," says he, " as if Arabia Petrea had once been an ocean of lava, and that, while its waves were literally running mountains high, it was commanded suddenly to stand still." The scene of the giving of the law is still a question among travellers. (See Map of the Jodrneyings of the Israelites, No. III.) III. Arabia Felix, or "the Happy," was so called because of its superior fertihty. It is mountainous, tolerably well watered, and yields large quantities of com, coff"ee, and fruit. The present inhabitants of the land pride themselves on being the only pure and unmixed race of Arabs ; they live in cities, and successfully engage in agriculture and commerce. Among the people who occupied these three great divisions of Ai-abia, the following are the most considerable : — 1. The Edomites. The country of the children of Esau, "who is Edom," after he * Crichton's Arabia, i. 45. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 'J " went from the face of bis brother Jacob," was at Mount Seir, an elevated tract, stretching from the southern point of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Ezion-geber. Its earliest inhabitants were the Horims, or dwellers in caves, Deut. ii. 12, 22. It was in after ages called by the Greeks and Romans, Idumea. The Edomites were a warlike race, and gradually spread eastwards and southwards over an extensive country. They established several ports on the Red Sea, which were taken by David, and the kingdom of Edom was annexed to his house, until it revolted in the days of Jehoram, 2 Chron. xxi. 8 — 10. About one hundred and fifty years before the Christian era, the Edomites were again subdued, and were from that time gradually incorporated among the Jewish people, and their national name became extinct. The land, which was once covered with populous cities, and was the emporium of the commerce of the east, is now one of the most inaccessible countries of the world. The chief city, Petra, (the Joktheel of Scripture,) was situated in a deep ravine or defile of rocks, which rise on either side to a vast height, and form a remarkable natural citadel or defence. In these rocks, reaching to seven hundred feet in height, are cut many of the dwellings and sepulchres of its foi'mer inhabitants, fully justifying their being compared to "eagles' nests." Silence and obscurity hung over the ruins of this city for ages, until they were brought to light by Burckhardt ; since then they have been graphically described by Laborde, Robinson, Bartlett, and others. The Edomites were in all ages hostile to the Hebrews; hence, by a figure of speech, the enemies of the true Isi-ael of God are denominated Edomites. A number of striking prophecies concerning Edom have received an exact fulfilment. Instructive particulars on this point wiU be found in the Rev. Dr. Keith's admirable work, "The Evidence of Prophecy." 2. The MoABiTES. The land inhabited by the descendants of the eldest son of Lot, is on the east of the Jordan and the Dead Sea : its history is intimately con- nected with that of Israel and Edom. The people formed a powerful tribe, though too feeble or dispirited to offer resistance to the progress of the Israelites, when 'on their way to Canaan. They, however, succeeded, conjointly with the Midianites, in enticing the children of Israel into idolatry and sin, Numb. xxv. Their capital city was Ar, or Rabbath-Moab, situate on the southern bank of the Arnon. By the Greeks it was called Areopolis, or "the city of Mars." Its ruins have been discovered by modern travellers. The vine and grain here flourish as in former times, and it is still the best pasture ground in all Syria. The prophet Isaiah (ch. xv., xvi.) describes many of the chief towns of Moab as grieving over the conquest and desolation of the countiy, caused by the invasion of the Assyrians. 3. The Amalekites had their possessions on the west of Edom : they were called, in the prophecy of Balaam, "the first of the nations," Numb. xxiv. 20. They are described as occupying the whole region from. Shur in Egypt to Havilah, or the Persian Gulf, 1 Sam. xv. 7. 4. The Midianites were the descendants of Abraham and Keturah, through their son Midian ; they settled near Mount Horeb. A considerable part of their land was traversed by the Israelites, after they had come out from Egypt, and towards whom they manifested a friendly disposition. There was, however, a division or class of this people, who were the allies of Moab, Numb. xxii. 4, 5, and were overthrown by Gideon, Judges vi. 5. The Ammonites, the offspring of Ben-Ammi, the son of Lot, inhabited the coun- try between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok. They were subsequently driven by th-e Amorites more to the east. This people were in constant hostility with the 10 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Israelites ; and against them Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah, were directed to prophesy. Their name disappears from history before the birth of Christ ; they were amalgamated with other tribes of Arabs. Eabbath was their chief city, Deut. iii. 11. 6. The IsHMAELTTES. Nebojoth and Kedar were the two eldest sons of Ishmael (Gen. XXV. 13); the former gave the name to the region about Mount Hor ; the latter wandered far into the centre of the desert, dwelling under black tents, covered with hair-cloth, Sol. Song, i. 5. They were rich in herds, Isa. Ix. 7, and were expert and warlike archers, Isa. xxi. 16, 17 ; Psa. cxx. 5, 7. Dumah, the third son of Ishmael, directed his way to the east, near the Persian Gulf. A prophecy was directed against his descendants, Isa. xxi. 11. Tenia, the ninth son. Gen. xxv. 15, is spoken of by Isaiah (xxi. 14) in connexion with the caravans of Dedan. The other sons of Ishmael spread over that part of Arabia which lies south of Palestine, extending as far as Shur, near Egypt, with which latter country they carried on commerce so early as the days of Jacob, Gen. xxxvii. 25 ; xxxix. 1. 7. The Kenites ; a tribe of Midianites, dwelling near or among the Amalekites, in the south-western part of Arabia Petrea. They " showed kindness to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt," and in return, Saul, when he went against the Amalekites, desired them to withdraw, that they might not share the fate of his enemies. Numb. xxiv. 20, 21 ; 1 Sam. xv. 6. PHCENICIA. Phoenicia was a fertile province of Syria on the western declivity of Lebanon, and bordering upon the Mediterranean. Its limits varied at different times : generally it was included within two degrees of latitude, and was of narrow breadth. In the New Testament it is known as "the coasts of Tyre and Sidon," which cities it included, as well as some others not mentioned in Scriptm-e. It was also called Sp'o- Phoenicia ; and was in later times considered as a part of the land of Canaan, Matt. xv. 22, 24 ; Mark vii. 26. Its inhabitants were enterprising navigators, and the country has been honourably called "the birthplace of commerce." Phoenician pilots and sailors navigated the vessels of Solomon; and before other ships had ventured to lose sight of their own shores, colonies of this people were estabhshed in some of the most distant parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. They were also distinguished for their knowledge of the arts and sciences. Phcsnician workmen were employed at the building of the first temple, and by Phoenicians the knowledge and use of letters were introduced into Greece. The climate of the country is mild ; the land is abundantly watered with streams, and yields large crops of fruit, corn, cotton, and sugar. But its once populous and opulent cities are reduced, under the rule of a despotic government, to impoverished villages or masses of ruins. EGYPT. Egypt, next to Judea, holds the most conspicuous place in the inspired volume. It is now commonly divided into three great divisions :— Lower Egypt, or the Delta, so called from its triangular shape, resembling the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet. Central Egypt, comprehending a considerable portion of the valley of the Nile ; the most fertile part of the whole country. Upper Egypt, or Said, where the mountains that inclose the valley, mostly press " so closely on the river as to render the district little THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 11 ^ more than a mouutain glen." Egypt, in fact, may be said to consist of the valley of the Nile, ascending from north to south ; all beyond being wide and almost unin- habitable desert. Upper Egypt is also kno^vn in Scripture as Pathros, or " the land of the south," Ezek. xxix. 14; xxx. 14 ; Jer. xliv. 15. The ancient name of Egypt was Mizraim or Misr, from the son of Ham, who first peopled it after the deluge. The present inhabitants still call it Misr Bochart, how- ever, contends that the word Misraim is to be understood as a dual form to denote the two Egypts, the Upper and the Lower, and that it is derived from a word mean- ing " narrow," in allusion to the shape of H the country. In the poetical parts of the Bible it is sometimes called Eahab, Isa. li. 9; Psa. Ixxxix. 10; a name signifying "sea-monster," probably in allusion to the crocodiles and other aquatic animals for which the Nile was celebrated.* Some weogi-aphers have considered the Egyptian valley as belonging to Asia, rather than Africa. Others have divided the country into two parts, the east and the west banks J of the Nile, assigning the former to Asia, the latter to Africa, f Egypt, as the scene of the captivity of the children of Israel, and as the subsequent conqueror of that people, as well as from the frequent intercourse between the two nations, is a country of high interest to the biblical student. In the prophetical writings of the Old Testament, Egypt is frequently noticed. Isaiah publishes " the burden of Egypt," in the nineteenth chapter of his prophecy, in which he foretells the internal dissensions of the country, and, as is commonly interpreted, the cruelties of Cambyses, and the severe calamities under which the country suffered. He announces also the worship of the true God ; and the deliverance of Egypt, as is conjectured, by the interposition of Alexander the Great, in the age of the Ptolemies and Seleucidse. Jeremiah, who lived in the time of Nebuchadnezzar's attack on Jerusalem, and subsequently became a sojourner in the Egj-ptian territory, has many messages from God respecting the history of the land of Egypt, predicting particularly its overthrow by the power of Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel foretells in like manner the conquest of Egypt, and its subsequent degradation as the basest of the kingdoms, no more exalted above the nations, and having no more its own prince. Joel declares, that " Egypt shall be a desolation ;" and Zechariah, that its "sceptre shall depart." A survey of Egyptian histoiy, and its present abject con- dition amidst the nations, sufficiently illustrate the truth of these prophecies.! * Kitto's Biblical Cyclopsedia, vol. ii. t Sir G. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians. + Ancient Egypt : Monthly Series of the Religious Tract Society. THE NILE. — -1 12 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS- \ There is one impressive fact which must not be forgotten. Egypt was the j home of Jesus, when a child, according to the ancient prophecy, Hos. xi. 1 ; Matt, ii. 15. Here He dwelt who, in his Divine nature, is King of kings and Lord of ( lords, but who " humbled himself, and took upon him the form of a servant," that j as man he might become the Substitute and Surety of all who, through his Spirit, j should be brought to believe in his name. The fertility and wealth of Egypt are caused by the annual overflow of its far- } famed river. In the month of May the whole land becomes parched, and assumes j the appearance of a wilderness. By June men and animals ai-e suffering from the thirst and heat induced by the scorching and dry atmospliere. Early in July the i mountain waters from Abyssinia begin to flow down and join the Nile. The river j continues to rise from that time, and gradually overflows its banks, till the end of i September, when nearly the whole land is converted into a red muddy sea, while the only prominent objects above the waters are the cities, towns, date-trees, and the dykes, which latter now serve as footpaths for traffic. In November the seed- com is sown, when the waters begin to recede; and from December to February, the whole land is a paradise of fertility. At the close of April the harvest is gathered and sto}-ed, and the land returns to its arid and sterile appearance. The pi'oduce of corn from the rich slime, which is deposited over the land at the subsidence of the waters, is astonishingly abundant. Hence Egypt has, in all ages, been noted for its supplies to neighbouring countries, particularly Syria and Arabia. In times of scarcity, which were frequent in those countries, Egypt alone could save their numerous population from famine. The affecting story of Jacob and his sons furnishes a striking illustration of this fact. The various branches of the Nile have their rise in the high lands north of the equator ; and, flowing through Abyssinia and other regions westward of it, meet in the country of Senaar. The united stream flows northward through Nubia and Egypt, and after a course of more than 1800 miles from the farthest explored point of its principal branch, enters the Mediterranean by several mouths, which form the Delta of Egypt. In a distance of 1350 nautical miles the Nile does not receive a sino-le tributary stream, which, as Humboldt remarks, is a solitaiy instance in the hydrographic history of the globe. The Nile is known in Scripture as Sihor, or Shihor, Isa. xxiii. 3 ; Jer. ii. 18. The province of Goshen, which was given by Pharaoh to Jacob and his family, was the southern part of the Delta. Goshen means " pasture-land." It has always been celebrated for its fertility, and was therefore well suited for the purposes of shepherds. It possessed the further advantage of nearness to the wilderness of Etham, through which their cattle could range during the winter. According to Dr. Eobinson, the inhabitants of this region "still drive their mingled flocks of sheep and goats for pasturage to this quarter of the desert." In the district generally assigned as the ancient Goshen, traces are found, it is thought, of the residence of the Israelites in large heaps of niins, called by the Arabs " Jews' hills " and " Jews' graves."* Eobinson, however, is disposed to think that these mounds can only be referred back to the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era. Our first acquaintance with the Egj'ptians in Scripture introduces us to them as a people arrived at a high degree of civilization. It is evident from the ancient monuments now existing, that at a ver)^ early period they had reached an advanced state of perfection in agriculture, legislation, and the arts. Many learned men • Niebulir, i. 100. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 13 have directed their attention to the remains now profusely scattered over the country, and have found in them unambiguous corroboration of Scripture history. " The whole monumental wonders and antiquities of the land seem to have been pre- seiTed as if for the express purpose of evincing the authenticity and illustrating the narratives of the Bible ; every single allusion of which, either to the circumstances of the countrv or of the people, is seen to have the minutest consistency with truth — so strikingly indeed, as to have attracted the attention of every Egyptian antiquary." * The River of Egypt (Numb, xxxiv. 5 ; Josh. xv. 4, 47 ; 9 Kings xxiv. 7). or Sihor. Though by way of eminence the term may be applied to the Nile, which was called emphatically " The river," Gen. xli. 1, yet in several places of the Old Testament it refers to a much smaller stream, situate at the southern border of Canaan. Dr. Richardson supposes it to be a small rivulet, about thirty yards wide, called Wady Gaza, and which is quite dry in summer.. It is more generally considered to be the stream El-Arish. Amos calls it " the river of the wilderness," (vi. 14,) as being on the border of an extensive tract of desert countiy. [For the principal places and cities of Egj-pt, we must refer to the Gazetteer, at the end.] ASSYRIA. In ancient geography, Assyria is a country east of the Tigris, bounded on the north by Ai'menia, east by Media, and south by Susiana and Chaldea. It is to be distinguished from S}Tia, (Aram,) the country of which Damascus was the capital, and whose boundary joined the land of Israel on the south. As a kingdom it is generally said to have been founded by Asshur or Assur, the son of Shem, who, on leaving Shinar, travelled northward and founded Nineveh. Bochart, Faber, and Hales, however, adopt the marginal reading of Gen. X. 11 : " Out of that land, he" (that is Nimrod) " went out into Assyria (Asshur) and builded Nineveh ;" which interpretation is now commonly adopted. Assyria is watered by several rivers, the chief of which is the Tigris, or Hiddekel of Scripture. The southern and northern parts of the land are mountainous, though well adapted for pasturage, and the growth of fruit, corn, and cotton. In these mountains Shalmaneser colonized the inhabitants of Ephraim and Galilee, when he put an end to the kingdom of the ten tribes, 2 Kings xvii. They are now inhabited partly by the Nestorians : their forefathers embraced Christianity, which once flom'ished among them, but for several centuries the people have sunk into a rude and superstitious ignorance, and are now the objects of missionary enterprise. The first mention in Scripture of the Assyrian empire is upon the mission of Jonah to Nineveh, about 869 b.c. ; after that time it is more or less connected with the history of the Jews. For a long period it was of small extent, but there arose a succession of warlike kings, wlio carried their conquests over Media, Persia, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and other countries, and who formed one of the mightiest sovereignties which have existed on the earth, b.c. 750 to b.c. 612. This vast empire was subverted by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar : since then Assyria has successively belonged to the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Saracens, and Turks. Nineveh was built on the Tigris, and by some writers is estimated to have been forty-eight, or even sixty, miles in circumference. In the book of Jonah it is described as "an exceeding great city, of three days' journey." It was surrounded by a wall one * Dr. Wilson's Lands of the Bible : see ako Osbum's Antiqxiities of Egypt. 14 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. hundred feet high, and so broad that three carriages could be driven abreast on it. Fifteen hundred towers, each two hundred feet high, at intervals, protected the city. In the days of Jonah there were in it 120,000 children "who knew not their right hand from their left;" which would lead to the calculation, that it possessed 2,000,000 of inhabitants. Her merchants are said by the prophet Nahum (iii. 16) to have been more in number than the stars of heaven. The Greek historian Herodotus records the fate of Nineveh, and indicates the spot where it stood ; but after his time the site of this renowned city was rapidly forgotten, and for ages was a matter of conjecture. In the second century of the Christian era, Lucian, who was a native of a city on the banks of the Euphrates, says that "no vestiges of it at present remain, nor can it be easily ascertained whei-e formerly it stood. " Sub- sequent wi-iters considered the knowledge of its locality as entirely lost. During the present half century, however, by the researches of Eich, Botta, and especially Layard, not only has its site been clearly ascertained, but the treasures of antiquity, concealed for centuries beneath extensive mounds of earth, have been uncovered, and much light has thus been thrown on the customs and rehgious rites of the inhabitants of this once famous place. Mr. Layard commenced in 1845 the excavation of the great mound, lono- known to the natives of the region by the name Nimroud, situate near the Tigris. The singularly interesting details of his progress and success will be foimd in his valuable work, " Nineveh and its Kemains." * Many of the massive sculptures, bas- reliefs, instruments of war and domestic articles, in a good state of preservation, recovered from the ruins, now enrich the treasures of the British Museum. Several of these striking monuments throw a new and valuable light on various portions of the prophetical writings of Ezekiel, Nahum, and Zephaniah, and confirm the truth of the sacred writings. AKAM, OR SYRIA. Aram, or "the high land," was the original name of Syria, and a part of Mesopotamia. The Grecian name Syria, is of doubtful origin. It was peopled by Ai\am, the fifth son of Shem. It forms a part of the lofty and extensive chain of mountains known as Lebanon, including the celebrated Hermon and Her. Some of the most beautiful and poetical passages of the Scripture have reference to this pasture range. The Orontes, Abana, and Pharpar are the most distinguished rivers, adding to the splendour of the landscape and the fertility of the soil. Little more is known of the early history of Syria than that its people were a populous and powerful nation, divided into tribes, and maintained their independence for centuries. In the time of David, Hadadezer, king of Zobah, appears to have held the other chiefs as tributaries. But in the course of time the sovereign authority was transferred to Damascus, 1 Kings xi. 24. The Syrians were most hostile neighbours to the Israelites, and on several occasions invaded their land. At length the latter were overcome by Tiglath-Pileser, and their country added as a province to the Assyrian empire, 2 Kings xvi. Syria was favoured with the gospel in the first days of the Christian church. St. Paul and other apostles laboured at Damascus and Antioch, and to a great extent, idolatry gave place to the pure doctrines of the cross. At the present time, the inhabitants belong to the Greek, Syrian, Eomish, and Armenian churches ; but ignorance and superstition extensively prevail among all classes and sects. * Those who wish an epitomized account of the discoveries of modern travellers in this region, axe referred to the Religious Tract Society's Monthly Volume entitled " Nineveh and the Tigris." Price 6J. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 15 The petty kingdoms into which Syria was divided varied very much during the period of Old Testament history. The following are the principal :— Aeam-Beth-Eehob was in Coelesyria, or, " hoUow Syria," which lay between the two great ridges of Libanus and Anti-libanus. The most remarkable object remaining in this region is the splendid ruin of Baalbec, or the temple of the sun. Aram-Beth-Maachah included the southern declivity of Hermon and the adjoining district. The Syrians of Maachah were conquered by the army of David, under Joab, 2 Sam. x. 6 — 14. Ae.ui-Dammesek lay between the rivers of Abana and Pharpar, having Damascus for its chief city. The "land of Hadrach," Zech ix. 1, formed a part of this country. Aram-Zobah was on the north of Damascus, stretching eastwards to the Euphrates, forming the most extensive and powerful of these minor kingdoms. Its princes commonly bore the name of Hadadezer. In the time of David, the king of Zobah held the other chiefs as tributaries. But in the course of time, the sovereign authority was transferred to Damascus. Many flom'ishing cities belonged to this division, as Riblah, Tadmor, Helbon, Antioch, Seleucia, and Carchemish. Aeam-Hamath, which now constitutes the pro\dnce of Orontes. Its capital was called by Amos (vi. 2), " Hamath the great," and was one of the oldest cities of the world. In Gen. x, 18, the Hamathites are named among the descendants of Canaan. Aeam-Maachah adjoined the portion of Eeuben on the south : its name signifies a country hemmed in or inclosed by mountains. Aram-Nahaeaim, or "Syria between the two rivers," was also called Padan-Ai-am, " the plain of Aram ; " it was termed Mesopotamia by the Greeks. See Mesopotamia. Aram-Hauran was an extensive district on the north-east of Canaan. There were some other minor disti'icts in Aram, which, however, have no connexion with Scripture history. ARARAT, OR ARMENIA MAJOR. The name of this extensive region is, by some authors, derived from Ar-men, which denotes " the mountainous country of Meni," or Minni. Its inhabitants are men- tioned under the latter name, by Jeremiah (li. 27.) In the original text of the Bible it is called the land of Ararat, Isa. xxxvii. 38, and the kingdom of Ararat, 2 Kings, xix. 37. The whole of the country is elevated, and intersected by the extensive I'anges of the Caucasus and Taurus, which, during a greater part of the yeai% are covered to a considerable depth with snow. Among these mountains the Tigris and the Euphrates have their rise, as well as other streams of lesser note. Armenia possesses a dry, clear atmosphere, and is salubrious. The valleys are warm and fruitful : in ancient times, the country is said to have abounded in precious stones and metals. The early inhabitants of Armenia were known for their warlike habits, but the moderns are devoted to trr.cle imd commerce, in the pursuit of which, they are found in most parts of the world. Their religion differs but little from the Greek Church in its ritual and government. The country is now divided in subjection to the Persians, the Turks, and the Russians. Eden has been placed in Armenia ; but after all the resources of learning and researches of geographers, nothing can be satisfactorily affirmed on the subject. Eden is declared to have been intersected by the rivers Hiddekel, or the Tigris, and ths Euphrates, Gen. ii. 14, which has led to the conclusion that the abode of our first parents was in a part of the countr}^ of South Armenia. "The rivers Pishon and Gihon 16 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. may have been only branches of the two larger rivers, as the two words in the Oriental languages are appellatives, separate or prefixed, signifying a stream in general."* Mount Akakat, on which the ark rested, is shown by modem travellers, as well as the tradition of the people, to be Mount Masis, a name signifying " the mountain of descent." It is in the north-eastern part of Ai-menia. Since the days of Noah, it is probable no human being even reached its summit, until, in 1829, Dr. Parrot, a German, after a perilous adventure succeeded in standing on one of the highest summits of the mountain. The snow-crowned summit of this mighty peak is sometimes visible at a distance of nearly two hundred miles. " The approach to the mountain is very impressive. A vast plain lies before it, studded with numerous villages; the glittering waters of a noble river flow through the fresh green of the vale, and several ranges of mountains are clustered around the base of the huge Ararat. The ice-peaks of its double head rise in majesty into a cloudless sky; and as the sun blazes on the snow, a radiance is reflected that dazzles the eyes of the beholder. Unable to rest for any length of time upon the bright glory of the summits, the eye wanders down its giant sides, until the thoughts are bewildered and lost in the grandeur of the scene."t CHALD^A, OR BABYLONIA. The two names, Babylonia and Chaldsea, are generally applied to the same countiy. The city of Babylon gave its name to the region around it, which was more anciently known as the land of Shinar, Gen. x. 10; xi. 2: the south-eastern part of the country, lying towards Arabia, was more strictly known to the prophets as the land of the Chaldeans, Jer. xxiv. 5; Ezek. xii. 13. The former, Babylonia, was " the desert of the sea" of Isaiah, (xxi. 1), and by Jeremiah was said to " dwell upon many waters," (li. 13). The latter term, Chaldsea, was derived from the fact of the inundations of the Euphrates, as also from the numerous canals, described by early writers, formed to carry off the floodings, and for purposes of transit. These were " the waters of Babylon," by which the children of Israel sat down and wept, Psa. cxxxvii. 1. Chaldsea, in its enlarged sense, was bounded on the south-west by the Persian Gulf; by Mesopotamia and Assyria on the north ; Persia and Susiana on the east, and Arabia on the west. Mr. Faber supposes that the countiy was early peopled by the Chasdim, or Chusdira, who were the remnant of the military Cuthites, and that they continued to occupy Babylonia after the dispersion of their brethren. They were a tribe of pastoral warriors, who besides professed themselves to be magi, or astrologers. In such capacity they probably continued long to exist in Babylonia, as a distinct race of priests and philosophers, rather than as a nation of themselves. The Chaldtean language was not unlike the Hebrew; some small portions of the Old Testament Scriptures are written in it, as Dan. ii. 4 to vii. 28 ; Ezra iv. 8 to vi. 8 ; vii. 12—16; Jer. x. 11. The soil of Chaldaa is astonishingly fertile; wheat and barley yield from two hundred to three hundred-fold. Commerce was carried on to a considerable extent by means of the large navigable rivers and canals, which opened on the west the trade of Syi-ia and Asia Minor, and of Persia, Ai'abia, and India on the east. It was " a land of traffic, a city of merchants," Ezek. xvii. 4. The kingdom was one of the four " thrones" described by Daniel, and is set forth under the symbol of a lion with eagle's wings. • Dr. J. Pye Smith, in Kitto's Biblical Cycloptedia, art. Paradise. t Sir R. K. Portei's Travels. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS- 17 Babylon, thq metropolis, also called Sheshach, was built by Nimrod, on the same spot as the tower of Babel (see page 5.) It was raised to its greatest state of splendour under Nebuchadnezzar, so as to be entitled " The glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldee's excellency." References are frequently made in the sacred volume to its magnificence, its splendid temples and its golden idols, its great extent and luxurious inhabitants It was, according to Herodotus, sixty miles in circumference. The shape of the city was that of a square, traversed each way by twenty-five prin- cipal streets, intersecting each other. The walls, from the most moderate accounts, were seventy-five feet in height, and thirty-two in breadth. They were surrounded by a deep ditch, and were entered by a hundred gates, formed of solid brass. Within the city was the temple of Belus, or Jupiter, forming a square of a quarter of a mile. As a considerable portion of the area consisted of gardens and plantations, Major Eennel supposes that Babylon, in its most flourishing state, did not contain more than 1,200,000 inhabit- ants. The ruins of this celebrated place are of prodigious extent, and some of them remarkable for their size, solidity, and perfect state. The map here given will show the present position of the ruins, and the several features of the country. The appearances of the im- mense masses of ruin are grand, gloomy, and desolate, strikingly answering to the doom denounced by the prophets against this " golden city." It is indeed " a possession for the bittern, and pools of water;" swept "with the besom of destruction," Isa. xiv. 4—23.* Its walls, temples, and palaces, have long since been destroyed, and solitude now reigns on a spot where once the sounds of life were heard from assembled multitudes. The remains consist of three principal piles, and are severally known as the Mujellibe, the Kasr, and the Birs Nim- roud. These have been explored by Messrs. Rich, Buckingham, and Mignan, and other modern travellers, whose in- teresting descriptions of these memorials of fallen greatness teach a solemn lesson to mankind. They impressively illustrate the truth, that the loftiest and boldest will be visited for their sins, and that neither nation nor individual has ever hardened himself against God and prospered The only way to avert His just displeasure is by timely repentance, and imfeigned faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Saviour of sinners. ♦ See Keith's Evidence of Prophecy; also Babylon and the Euplii-ates, being No. 62 of the Monthly Series. 18 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. MEDLl. Ancient Media comprised that portion of Western Asia which lay on the north of Elam, or West Persia. It ejctended from the Caspian Sea to the borders of Persia Proper, and was divided into Lesser and Greater Media. The latter enibraced a mountainous region, with broad, fertile valleys, enjoying a salubrious climate. Lesser Media is, for the most part, warm, damp, and tmhealthy, though favourable to vej^etable growth. The mountains are adorned with extensive forests of oak, beech, and chestnut trees. This is the native land of the peach : oranges and other fruits are produced in abundance. The land contains many fountains of naphtha, which have burnt from one centmy to another, and are the objects of Divine honours by the fire-worshippers who reside near them. The capital of the land was Ecbatana, founded, or strengthened and enlarged, by Dejoces, (the Arphaxad of the Apo- crypha,) the first independent king of the country. The whole of Media belonged, at a very early period, to the Assyrian empire. After the time of Sennacherib, Media obtained the pre-eminence, and in its turn Assyria was reduced to one of its provinces. Contemporaneously with the downfall of Babylon, "the kingdom and laws" of the Medes and Persians arose. To this land Shalmaneser carried his Israelitish captives, on his taking Samaria, their capital, 2 Kings xviii. 9—11, B.C. 791. The ancient inhabitants of the land are supposed to have descended from Madai, the third son of Japheth. They were bold and relentless warriors, Jer. li. 11, 28; Isa. xiii. 17, 18, and for many ages they occupied a distinguished position in the history of nations, until the time of Cyrus, b.c. 538, when they became incorporated with the Persians, and so continue to the present day. PAETHIA. Parthia was on the north-eastern boundary of the Greater Media. According to Justm the name Parthians signifies, in the Scythian language, "exiles" or "wan- derers." At first the term Parthia referred only to a small mountainous district, but afterwards had a more extended application. It Avas for many ages a province of Persia. Having been subdued by Alexander the Great, about 330 b.c, it came under the dominion of the Grecian empire. In the year 250 before the Christian era, Arsaces, a noble chieftain, threw off his allegiance, and by a successful revolt became the founder of the Parthian kingdom. He followed up his conquests by an invasion of Persia, and extended his authority on tlie west to the banks of the Euphrates. The empire which he established maintained itself for nearly five hundred years ; but, at length, the Persians subdued the reigning monarch of Parthia. and annexed the country to their dommions. Among the Jews who came to Jeru- salem to celebrate the passover were some from Parthia, Acts ii. 9. Christianity spread among the people, but appears soon to have degenerated from its simplicity, and at the present day only a few Ai-menians represent the Christian faith, and that in a degenerate form. The ancient Parthians were noted for their skill in archeiy and horsemanship. They have been called the Cossacks of the east. Calmet sup- poses that their name means " horsemen." The peculiar mode of discharging their arrows while they were retiring full speed, has been greatly celebrated by the ancients, who observed, that their flight was more terrible than their attack. The country consists principally of bare mountains and sandy steppes, and is but thinly peopled. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 19 PERSIA. Persia, called by the Hebrews Paras, was in its oi'iginal state of small extent, confined probably to the single jjrovince now kno\vn as Phars, a district first mentioned in Scripture as Elam, from the eldest son of Shem, who settled hei'e. In its widest range, Persia was bounded by Media and the Great Desert on the north, Assyria on the west, the Persian Gulf on the south, and eastward by another desert that lay between it and the river Indus. The history of this country properly begins in the time of Cyrus, B.C. 536, previous to which the country was subject chiefly to the Medes. At length it became so extended as to include Elam, Media, Palestine, and even Assyria; and in its height of glory extended to 2800 miles in length, and 2000 in breadth. In its enlarged boundary it is spoken of in Scripture, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20, 22; Ezra iv. 5; vi. 14; Esth. i. 3, 18 ; x. 2. Several of the monarchs of Persia are mentioned in the sacred writings. Cyrus, who began to reign in the year, e.g. 559, issued a decree in favour of the return of the Jews to their native land, 2 Chron. xxxvi. j52; Ezra i. 7, 8. His son Cambyses, or Ahasuerus, suspended the building of the temple, Ezra iv. 6. Smerdes, or Artaxerxes, continued to prohibit the progress of the work of God at Jerusalem, Ezra iv. 7 ; but Darius, who ascended the throne, b.c. 521, published an edict in favour of the Jews, which encouraged them to proceed with vigour in the erection of their temple and city. His grandson, Artaxerxes Longimanus, called Aliasuerus in the Scriptures, raised Esther to the throne, and greatly favoured her people, Ezra vii. 1 ; Esth. ii. 16. Persepohs was the capital of this kingdom. It is now a heap of ruins, among which Sir John Chardin observed figures of rams' heads with horns, one liigher and the other lower, " exactly corresponding," as Dr. Hales observes, " to Daniel's vision of the Medo-Persian empire, Dan. viii. 3, the lower horn denoting the Medes ; the higher, which came up last, the Persians." Herodotus determines the position of Palestine in the Persian empire: he says, " Under the fifth satrapy was comprehended the tract of country which extends from the city Posideum, built on the frontiers of Cilicia and Syria, as far as Egypt, part of Arabia alone excluded. The same satrapy, moreover, included all Phoenicia, the Syrian Palestine, and the isle of Cyprus." Over this province it would appear that Tatnai, mentioned Ezra v. 6, governed. In the time of Nehemia, Syria appears to have formed more than one government : see Neh. ii. 7 — 9 ; which also is learned from common history. When divided, it is probable that Palestine was included in the government of Coelo-Syria. The Hebrews, it would seem, were indulged with native governors, invested with full powers for internal government, but subject to the control of the governor of the satrapy. Nehemiah was the last of these governors ; but the internal administration was left in the hands of the high priests till the overthrow of the Persian empire by Alexander. Persia is traversed by the Ai-axes, and a few other rivers, but which are mostly lost in sandy deserts or lagoons. The former rises in the high ridge of mountains which ascend from the shore of the Persian Gulf. These mountains inclose some beautiful broad valleys and fine plains, wliieh are not only fertile, but enjoy a peculiarly healthful atmosphere and a clear bright sky. In one of these valleys are the remains of the palaces and sepulchres of the ancient monarchs of the country. The valley of Shiraz has been in every age celebrated for its loveliness and fertility. The southern part of the kingdom, however, which lies on the Erythraean Sea, is a barren waste, and almost uninhabitable The m^anners and customs of the Persians have but little c2 00 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. changed during the lapse of centuries. "At every step," says Mr. Morier, "some object, some dress, or some custom of common life, reminds the traveller of ancient times, and confirms, above all, the beauty, the accuracy, and the propriety of the language and the history of the Bible." The ancient Persians were a kind of infidel idolaters. They had neither temples, altars, nor images, nor did they conceive that any of these were necessary, believing that the Deity resided in light and fire. Hence they worshipped the sun and other heavenly bodies ; but in succeeding ages they adopted several of the idolatrous rites of the Assyi'ians and Chaldeans. Zoroaster, who, it has been conjectured, was " an apostate disciple of the prophet Ezekiel," framed a code of laws for the Persians, and reduced their worship to some kind of system. At a veiy early period of the Christian era, the gospel appears to have been conveyed to Persia by those Jewish converts who were at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. But no period of the history of this country can be pointed out, in which the triumphs of the gospel hold a distinguished place. On the contrary, though at some periods many Christians were to be foimd in that extensive empire, Persia has in general resisted all attempts made to spread Christianity among its inhabitants. The Mohammedan imposture has long overrun the breadth and length of the kingdom.* AFKICA. A slight notice only is required of the countries on the west of Egypt, com- prising the northern parts of the continent of Africa. CusH, or Ethiopia :- -the latter term is employed indiscriminately in the Bible for all the countries that sprang from the posterity of Cush, both in Africa and Arabia. The descendants of Cush were numerous, and widely spread. Their original settlements were in Arabia and Persia; from thence they migi-ated over Egypt into Northern Africa. Strabo describes them as "a twofold people, lying extended in a long tract from the rising to the setting sun." Herodotus distinguishes the eastern Ethiopians in Asia from the western Ethiopians in Africa, by the straight hair of the former and the curly hair of the latter.f Ancient Ethiopia included the countries now ♦called Nubia and Abyssinia. It was mountainous and well- watered ; hence we read of "the rivers of Ethiopia," Isa. xviii. 1 ; Zeph. iii. 10. It was known to the Hebrews as Sheba, or Seba, Isa. xliii. 3 ; Psa. Ixxii. 10. Their present descendants are the woolly- headed negroes of the interior of that contment. Mr. Faber, however, maintains that they are to be found also in both Asia and Europe. Mizraim (Eg}^t) and Cush are often classed together by the prophets. Cush, in 2 Chron. xxi. 16, is applied to a part of Arabia. Libya was an extensive district, lying along the shores of the Mediterranean, originally the portion of the Lubim of the Old Testament, 2 Chron. xii. 3 ; xvi. 8 ; Nah. iii. 9. Its capital was Cyi-ene, founded by a Grecian colony, which gave the name of Cyrenaica to the country in which it stood. Many Jews resided here ; among the earliest Christians were some of this nation. Acts xi. 20; xiii. 1. The Libyans were chiefly wanderers of the desert, or engaged as mercenaries in the service of Ethiopia and Egypt. The wilderness of Sahara is still known as the Libyan Desert. The LuDiM sprang from Lud, the son of Mizraim. They are mentioned by several sacred writers. Isa. Lxvi. 19 ; Jer. xlvi. 9 ; Ezek. xxvii. ] ; xxx. 5. In the great desert of Sahara there is found at the present day, a people called Lud-aya. • Sime's Sacred Geography. t Kitto's Biblical Cyclopaedia. E?igfhy£d>i^Gov>r- Bvuxt S'BtdfiinLRaw. r THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 21 In glancing the eye over the "Map of the Countries mentioned in the Bible," mingled feelings of pain and liope are awakened. In their present state, spiritual ignorance holds almost undisturbed dominion. Lands that v:ere once trodden bv pious patriarchs and holy apostles are now overshadowed by the utter darkness of heathenism, or the gross delusion of Mohammedanism. But there are great and glorious promises, which in their fulfilment shall shed unnumbered blessings on these regions of the earth. The day-spring from on high shall visit those who now sit in the shadow of death. "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God," Psa. Ixviii. 31. " All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord ; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him," Psa. xxii. '27. Then shall they look unto Him who was once offered on the cross for the sin of the woi-ld, and in faith and love shall rest on him alone for salvation, while they gratefully and lovinglv render to him their undivided allegiance and praise. "All kings shall bow down before him : all nations shall serve him. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from tiic I'iver unto the ends of the earth. His name sh^U be continued as long as the sun : aiul men shaU be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed," Psa. Ixxii. 8, 11, 17. No. III. imirnrijingn nf tjit Siiriirlte, The joumeyings and subsistence of the children of Israel, for forty years in a desert, must be classed among the most extraordinary events recorded in either profane or sacred history. Almost eveiy stage of their route is marked by a succession of wonderful interpositions and miracles, which exhibit alike the goodness and forbear- ance of God towards a rebellious people, but a people of whom he had sworn unto their fathers that he would bring them into the promised land. The Israelites had rapidly increased in the land of their bondage to six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, the w^hole, probably, amounting to nearly two millions. With urgent haste they took their departure from Barneses in Goshen, the same as Eaamses, a city built by this peoi:>le for Pharaoh, Exod. i. 11. Some ruins, about twenty-eight miles from Suez, in the valley of Abu Keisheid, are thought to point out its position. Below this place was a collection of waters, the Bitter Lakes, several miles iij length, but which have been dried up for many ages. The Israelites had to pass round these lakes in their direction to the northei-n point of the Bed Sea ; for " God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near ; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt : but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Bed Sea," Exod. xiii. 17, 18. They encamped the first night at Succoth, which signifies "tents," or "booths," from its being a mere halting-place for caravans. On this route, at about twelve miles N.N.E. from the present Cairo, occurs a place which is very convenient for an encamp- ment, and where the ga'eat pilgrim caravan to Mecca awaits the arrival of the western pilgrims, previous to its final departure, and where it breaks up on its return. This has been regai'ded as the Succoth of Scripture. At the end of the second day, they 02 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. arrived at the " edge of the wikleniess," at Etham. They now probably would have pursued then- journey eastward, but they were commanded to "turn," or remove, " to Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon," Exod. xiv. 2 ; which it is thought was a narrow defile, not far from the western shore of the gulf, between the mountains which skirt the sea and a small bay on the south. They were now "entan^^led in the land." This movement had the effect to draw Pharaoh after them, and thus to accomplish his overthrow. If they had gone straight forward into the rocky wilderness, the Egyptians could not have followed them with their chariots ; but the design of God in thus altering the line of their march — and which route may have appeared foolish to the Egyptians — was revealed to Moses, Exod. xiv. 17. The Egyptians came upon the Israelites as they were encamped before the eastern arm of the Red Sea. This sea is a gulf of the Indian Ocean, and many have thought that it originally connected the Mediterranean and the Arabian seas. Some geographers have placed the miraculous passage at a narrow part of the gulf, where Suez now stands, which is less than a mile in width, and is fordable at low water. Professor Patter supposes the place of passage is to be sought higher.up in the ancient bed of the sea. Another position is pointed out, to which preference is to be given, as more in harmony with the decidedly miraculous character of the event ; it is lower down, some miles below Suez, near the mountain ridge of Atakah. Here the waters, according to Bruce, are about three leagues wide, and fourteen fathoms deep in the channel. It is the opinion of nearly every traveller in this region, that the extent and depth of the gulf has undergone considerable change in the course of the last three thousand years, and that much of the ancient bed has been filled up by the accumulations of sand. The Israelites passed through the sea upon dry ground, and came out on the eastern side, near what is now called Ajun, or, Kas Musa, or " the promontory of Moses." The region of country stretching from this point is the wilderness of Shiir, Exod. XV. 22, or the uilderness of Etham, of the book of Numbers (xxxiii. 8). Both terms apply to the upper portion of the desert, extending from Egypt down the eastern shore of the Bed Sea, and over to Palestine. Their first station in this wilderness was Marah, or " bitter," where the miracle of rendering bitter water sweet occurred, Exod. XV. 23 — 25. The spot where this event took place is considered to be the well of Howara, near the barren bed of a winter torrent, called Wady Amarah, which is the same in sound and meaning as Marah. It occurs on the customaiy road along the coast from Suez to Sinai. Burckhardt observes of the water of this well, that there is no other so absolutely bitter on the whole coast. Even camels, if not severely parched with thirst, refuse to drink it. Three days were occupied in travelling to this place, a distance of thirty-four miles. Their next station was Elim, "where were twelve wells of water and threescore and ten palm trees," Exod. xv. 27. The site of this place is fixed by Niebuhr and Burckhardt in the vale of Gharendel, which is the largest of all the torrent beds on the west side of the peninsula. The valley now contains many date trees, tamarisks, and acacias of different species. Water here may be obtained in abundance, by digging wells; there is also a copious spring with a small rivulet. Hence it has become a principal watering place of the Ai-abs. This people still show a spot, held by them in gi-eat veneration, called " the bath of Closes." The Israelites took their journey from Elim, and came unto the icildcrness of Sin, " between Elim and Sinai," Exod. xvi. 1, at the foot of the mountainous ridge of El Tyh, a name which signifies "the wanderings." JBurckhardt describes it as "a frightful desert, almost wholly destitute of vegetation." It was immediately after they had THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS 23 eniered this desert that they obtahied the miraculous su[)ply of quails and of inanna from heaven. They had wholly exhausted the food they had brought with them out of Egypt, and were now dependent upon the direct interposition of God. Dr. Eobinson and others suppose that the Israelites now bore south-eastward into the Sinaitic "•rouii of mountains. Their entrance, in that case, would be through the broad valley called by the Arabs, Wady Feiran. Or, they may have taken a nearer course, through Wady Mukattam, " the valley of inscriptions." They were now brought to Dophkah and Alush, the sites of which stations cannot be fixed with any degree of Certainty. The Wady Feiran is the most fertile in the whole region, and here we must look for Rephidim. Much interest is associated with this station. Here the Israelites were, for the first time, attacked by the Amalekites, Exod. xvii. 8 — 13. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, visited him also at Rephidim, and, by his advice, judges were appointed to assist the Jewish leader in his judicial capacity, Exod. xviii. But, chiefly, here amidst the lofty granite peaks was the rock which Moses smote at the command of God, and from whence issued a miraculous supply of water. The interest of which fact is increased, as the inspired apostle, Paul, refers to this rock as a figure of Christ, from whom flow the streams of salvation and every blessing, saying, " They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them ; and that Rock was Christ," 1 Cor. x. 4. The next encampment was in the desert of Sinai, where events of the deepest importance occurred. Here the Almighty made known his will, through the medium of Moses, to the assembled multitude. Here the decalogue was given, and the covenant made, Exod. xx. 1 — 17; xxiv. 7, 8. In this desert, also, the worship of the golden calf took place ; the people were numbered ; the tabernacle erected ; Aaron and his sons consecrated ; the second passover was celebrated ; and Nadab and Abihu destroyed for offering strange fire unto the Lord. The mountain from which the law was given is denominated Horeb, in Deutero- nomy ; in other books of the Pentateuch it is called Sinai. These names are now applied to two opposite summits of an isolated, oblong, and central mountain in the midst of a confused group of mountain heights. It is about two miles in length, from north to south, and about one-third of this distance in width. Horeb is the awful, frowning cliff at the northern extremity, which rises to an elevation of more than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea. A deep, irregular, and narrow defile sweeps around the entire base' of this oblong mountain, which supports the heights of Horeb and Sinai. It has been asserted that there is no spot in the Sinaitic group which agrees with the description of the Scripture narrative, and where so large a host could make an encampment. Dr. Robinson, however, has satisfactorily shown that, at the foot of Horeb, there is the plain er-Rahah, which amply meets all the requirements of the history. " Here," says this learned traveller and critic, " was space enough to satisfy all the requisitions of the scriptural narrative, so far as relates to the assembhng of the congregation to receive the law. Here, too, one can see the fitness of the injunction, to set bounds around the mountain, that neither man nor beast might approach too near." Again, he observes, " The whole plain lay spread out beneath our feet, with the adjacent wadys and mountains ; while Wady Esh-Sheikh, on the right, and the recess on the left, both connected with and opening broadly fiom er-Rahah, presented an area which serves nearly to double that of the plain. Our conviction was strengthened that here, or on some of the adjacent plains, was the spot where the Lord ' descended in fire,' and proclaimed the law. We gave ourselves up to the impressions of the awful scene ; and read, with a feeling of awe that will never be forgotten, the sublime account of the transaction, and the commandments there ^1 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. promulgated, in the original Avords as recorded by the great Hebrew legislator."* Other travellers have explored a valley on the southern base of Sinai, which was shut from the view of Dr. Eobinson, in his ascent, by a long ridge of rocks, and which has been found to be even greater than the valley of er-Eahah on the north. This, it is supposed by Eitter and others, may have been occupied by the Israelites at the giving of the law. Another mountain, known as the Serbal, separated from the Sinaitic group, has been selected by Lepsius and Bartlett, as the locality of the "mount of God."t Whichever view we adopt, the truthfulness of the Scripture narrative is vindicated. In the desert of Sinai the Israelites abode for rather less than one year, when the signal for them to go forward again appeared. Their marchings and encamp- ments in all their subsequent wanderings were directed by Jehovah, their King. A cloud, in token of his presence, covered the tabernacle by day, and " at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire until the morning," Numb. ix. 15, 16. The rising of this cloud was the signal for them to advance, as it, overhanging the tabernacle, should lead the way ; and the settling of the cloud upon the tabernacle was the signal for them again to encamp. Doctors Wilson and Eobinson suppose the Israelites to have come through a wide avenue of the Sinaitic group, known as Wady Esh-Sheikh, near their former encampment at Eephidim. This would bring them into a large plain called El Hadharah, somewhere in which was Taherah, or burnings, a name given to it from the destruction by fire from heaven, which came upon the people for their complainings, Numb. x. 12 ; xi. 1 — 3. Their next station was Eibroth-hattaavah, or " the grave of lusts ;" for here the people lusted for flesh, and were smitten with death while their food was in their mouths, Numb. xi. 34 ; xxxiii. 16. Dr. Wilson, in his graphic description of this part of the desert says, " It seemed to us, by its slopes, and precipices, and hollows, and caverns, to be a striking illustration — as we often noticed among the ravines of the wilderness — of the text in which the Israelites are said to have been led ' through a land of deserts and of pits,' Jer. ii. 6. Bartlett, also, in describing this part of the desert, says, " It is impossible to convey any idea of the feeling of utter weariness that grows upon the solitary wanderer, as day by day he penetrates further into the heart of this great and terrible wilder- ness : as ravine succeeds to ravine, each more forsaken and desolate than the last, with its bed of sand or gravel, overhung with mountains, which, in their convulsed forms, their bald and awful abruptness, their arid colouring of brown, black, white, red, and yellow, ever glaring under the same fiery sun, seem like a portion of some early world untenanted by man — some blasted planet visited in the wildness of our dreams, where human foot has never trodden, and human life has neither object nor subsistence. The mind falls back upon itself, and delights to recall the events, in all their vividness, of that early period when the Israelitish host threaded these weary defiles — to represent to itself every incident of their toilsome march, and the feeling of horror and amazement that must have daunted their spirits, as they felt them.selves transported from verdant Egypt into the heart of such a solitude."]: From Kabroth the Israelites came to Hazeroth, at which place the sedition of Miriam and Aaron occurred. Numb. xii. Eobinson, after Burckhardt, places Hazeroth at a spot now called el Hudhera, where is a fountain, together with palm-trees. * Biblical Researches, i. 129, 130, 158. t See the groiuids on which they rest their decision, in Bartlett's Forty Days in the Desert, pp. 55—60. X Forty Days in the Desert on the Track of the Israelites, p. 50. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 25 "The determination of this point," says Robinson, "is perhaps of more importance in biblical history than would at first appear ; for if this position be adopted for Hazeroth, it settles at once the question as to the whole route of the Israelites between Sinai and Kadesh. It shows that they must have followed the route upon which we now were to the sea, and so along the coast to Akabah, (at the head of the eastern arm of the Red Sea,) and thence, probably, through the great Wady-el- Arabah to Kadesh. Indeed, such is the nature of the country, that having once arrived at this fountain, they could not well have varied their course so as to have kept aloof from the sea, and continued along the high plateau of the eastern desert." Dr. Wilson, whose views are adopted by Keipert, supposes the Israelites to have gone through one of two passes at the head of the mountains now known as Jebel Shakeirah, which would bring them at once upon that " great and terrible wilder- ness," in which the universal tradition of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans has placed their journey to Kadesh-barnea. This route, he contends, would admit of the orderly pitching of their camp, according to the Divine directions, and free them from many difficulties which the narrow coast road presents. Their stations in this part of the desert were Rithmah, Rimmon-parez, Libnah, and Kadesh-barnea; the latter place they probably reached about June. As they were now not far from the borders of the promised land, spies were sent out to examine it, from whose evil report the people were so intimidated, and so unmindful of the promises they had received, and the Divine protection they were under, that they rebelled ; for which they were sentenced to wander in the wilderness forty years. The pass up which the Israelites, after this sentence, rashly ascended to fight with the Amalekites and Canaanites, Numb. xiv. 40 — 45, is extremely steep and difficult. The remains of an ancient road, formed of steps hewn in the rocks, ai'e perceptible in many places, with ruins of a fortification at the foot and at the summit. The pathway is in a zigzag direction, and much worn.* The exact site of Kadesh cannot perhaps be defined. Dr. Robinson conjectures that it may have been at Ain el Weibah, a fountain at the mouth of a deep valley, leading up through the mountains to the high western desert south of Hebron. It certainly lay near the mountains of the Amorites. The narrative in the early part of the book of Numbers goes at once from Hazeroth to Kadesh ; while the second account in the same book mentions other places, but which seem properly to belong to a second route, and a second visit to Kadesh. Dr. Robinson harmonizes this period of the wanderings of the Israelites thus : "I have thus far assumed that the Israelites were twice at Kadesh ; and this appears from a comparison of the various accounts. They broke up from Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year of their departure out of Egypt, corresponding to the early part of May : they came into the desert of Paran, whence spies were sent up the mountain into Palestine, ' in the time of the first ripe 'grapes ;' and these returned after forty days to the camp at Kadesh. As grapes begin to ripen on the mountains of Judea in July, the return of the spies is to be placed in August or September. The people now murmured at the report of the spies, and received the sentence from Jehovah that their carcasses should fall in the wilderness, and their children wander in the desert forty years. They were ordered to turn back into the desert ' by the way of the Red Sea,' although it appears they abode ' many days' in Kadesh. The next notice of the Israelites is, that in the first month they came into the desert of Sin, and abode again at * Coleman's Historical Geography of the Bible. 20 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Kadesh. Here INIiriam dies ; Moses and Aaron bring water from the rock ; a passage is demanded through the land of Edom, and refused ; and tliey then journeyed from Kadesh to Mount Hor, where Aaron dies in the fortieth year of the departure from Eg}-pt, in the first day of the fifth month, corresponding to a part of August and September. Here, then, between August of the second year and August of the fortieth year, we have an interval of thirty-eight years of wandering in the desert."* In this way the scriptural account of the journeyings of the Israelites becomes pei-fectly harmonious and intelligible. The eighteen stations mentioned only in the general list in the book of Numbers, as preceding the arrival at Kadesh, are then appa- rently to be referred to this eight-and-thirty years of wandering, during which the people at last approached Ezion-ijeher, and afterwards returned northwards a second time to Kadesh, in the hope of passing directly through the land of Edom. Their wanderings extended, doubtless, over the western desert, although the stations named are probably only those head-quarters where the tabernacle was pitched, arid where Moses and the elders and priests encamped ; while the main body of the people were scattered in various directions.! The events of this long intervening period may have been of little interest, being filled up with the ordinary incidents of pastoral life. Dr. Barth considers that the tabernacle and principal encampment remained at Ezion-geber for thirty-eight years, while the people wandered through Arabia Petrasa in search of pasturage. | In the retrograde movement of the Israelites from Kadesh-barnea, after their second visit, they probably passed down the Wady Arabah, a deeply depressed valley, which has evidently been formed by some great convulsion to which the earth's surface has been subject at a very remote period. (See Physical Map of Palestine, No. IX.) On tlieir way they came to Mount Hor, near Petra, where Aaron died — a mount which is " the veiy throne of desolation itself," consisting of " broken, shattered, and frowning heights, ruin piled upon ruin, and dark and devouring depth added unto dei)th '"§ The Arabs still call it Jebel Neby Hauran, that is, " the mountain of the prophet Aaron ;" and to the present day, when an eastern caravan comes in sight of its summit, a lamb is sacrificed to his memory. Arriving again at Ezion-geber, the people turned at the head of the eastern, or Elanitic Gulf of the Eed Sea, to enter on the great eastern desert of Arabia. At this place a large defile comes down steeply from the north-east, through the mountains, forming the main passage out of the Wady Arabah into the desert. Tlie ascent of the Israelites was, doubtless, through this pass, when they departed from the Red Sea, and turned to " compass Edom." At this point of their wanderings the people were " much discouraged because of the way," and murmured against God and his servant Moses. As a punishment, fiery flying seqoents were sent among them, and many died; but at the command of Jehovah, a brazen serpent was raised, and those who looked in faith were cured. This provision of mercy is referred to, by our Lord Jesus Christ, as an emblem of his great work of saving sinners. " As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wild^'ness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life," John iii. 14, 15. They again pursued their journey along the eastern sides of the mountains of Seir. The Edomites, who had refused them a passage through tlieir land, now suffered them * Biblical Rescarclics, ii. Gil. t Ilobiiison's Biblical Researches ; Kitto's Biblical Cyclopaedia. X Biblical Geography. § Dr. "Wilson's Lands of the Bible. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 27 to pass unmolested along their bordei'S, and even supplied them with provisions for their march, Deut. ii. 3—6. Nothing is known of their halting places until they come to Zared, or " the brook," a small stream which flows through the mountains into the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. They next " removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites," Numb. xxi. 13. This brought them to Beer, or Beer-elim, "the well of the princes ;" where, finding that they were now nearly at the end of the wilderness, and in prospect of a speedy entrance into the promised land, they broke forth into the "song of the well," Numb. xxi. 17, 18. The Israelites next successfully encountered a formidable foe in Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, and whose territories extended along the shores of the Dead Sea, and up the valley east of the Jordan to the river Jabbok. A few broken pillars, several large cisterns and wells, together with extensive ruins, still mark the situation of Heshbon, twenty-one miles east of the mouth of the Jordan. These ruins overspread a high hill, commanding a wild and desolate scenery on every side. Tlie next conquests of the Israelites were over Og, who ruled in the territories east of the Sea of Galilee, and the north-eastern portion of the valley of the Jordan. These conquered lands and "cities of the plain," being fit for pasturage, were allotted, at their own request, to the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, who had much cattle, on the condition of their assisting the other tribes in the conquest of the promised land westward of Jordan, Numb, xxxii.; Deut. iii. 8 — 20. It was from hence the next station was called Dibon-Gad, in order to distinguish it from another Dibon belonging to the Reubenites, Josh. xiii. 17. The ruins of this place, under the name of Diban, are shown about four miles north of the river Araon. Thence they passed to Almon Dlblathaim, or Diblath, on the edge of the wilderness of Kedemoth, from whence they proceeded to Mattanah, Nahaliel, and Bamoth, in the valley belonging to Moab, which brought them again near to the mountains of Abarim, on the east of the Jordan. They now took up their final station at Betlqjeor, over against Jericho. Thus ended a journey of forty years, chiefly through deserts, which might have been accomplished in a few weeks. The direct route from Eg}'pt to Palestine, through the desert, is now performed in omnibuses, and occupies only two or three days. The Moabites, once a powerful people on the east of Jordan and the Dead Sea, had been driven south by the Amorites from the plains of Moab, and were at this time confined within narrow limits between the streams Zared and Ai-non. They seem to have been too feeble to offer resistance to the Israelites, the males of whom were now chiefly young, or in middle life, and inured to hardship. Unable to resist their progress, and discouraged at the discomfiture of the Amorites and Bashanites, they invited Balaam to curse Israel. But their efforts to prevail by enchantment were unsuccessful, and they had recourse to temptations. In this they succeeded, and the people of Israel were seduced into impurity and idolatry. As a punishment, a terrible plague and the sword of vengeance cut off twenty-four thousand of them, even within sight of their promised rest. Moses now, by Divine command, took the census of the people from twenty years old and upwards, and found they amounted to 600,730, among whom there was not one whom Moses and Aaron had numbered in the wilderness of Sinai, except Joshua and Caleb, Numb. xxvi. 65. The work and pilgrimage of Moses were now at an end. He had brought the people, through perils and foes, to the borders of the long-desired land. Nothing was more natural than that he should earnestly desire to pass over, and see it before he died. But he yields submissively to the will of God. He is directed to ascend 28 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Mount Nebo, or Pisgah, in order that he might "behold the goodly land," and then lie down and die From the summit a large tract of Canaan was before his view. On the right lay the mountain-pastures of Gilead, and the romantic district of Bashan ; the windings of Jordan might be traced along its broad and level valley, till almost beneath his feet it flowed into the Dead Sea To the north spread the luxuriant plains of Esdraelon and the more hilly yet fruitful country of Galilee. Right opposite stood the city of Jericho, embowered in its groves of palms — beyond it, the mountains of Judea, rising above each other till they reached the sea Gazing on this magnificent prospect, beholding in prophetic anticipation his great and happy commonwealth, occupying its numerous toA\iis and blooming fields, Moses breathed his last. The place of his burial was unknown, lest, perhaps, his followers might be tempted to ascribe Divine honours to his name, and assemble to worship at his sepulchre. But though Moses was denied an entrance into the earthly Canaan, the people of Israel, according to the faithful promise of God, were led down to the banks of the Jordan, and by his almighty power the waters were divided, and the people passed over " right against Jericho." In these wanderings of an ancient favoured race, the true believer may see various resemblances to his own pilgrimage through the earthly wilderness to the heavenly Canaan. And as the Lord fulfilled his promise of old time, so surely will he guide, protect, and finally bring all true believers to the rest of heaven. The Map of the Joumeyings of the Children of Israel has been accurately reduced by Keipert, the learned German geogi-apher, from material furnished by Professor Robinson. The names of many of the stations are not given in the plate, as their position would be merely matter of arbitrary conjecture. Dr. Robinson* has given a tabular view of the stations, harmonizing the enumeration of the books of Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which may be hei-e appropriately given. 1. From Egypt to Sinai. Exodus xii. — xix. Niunbers xxxiii. From Rameses, xii. 37. From Eameses, ver. 3. 1. Succoth, xii. 37. ' Succoth, 5. 2. Etham, xiii. 20. Etham, 6. 3. Pi-hahiroth, xiv. 2. Pi-hahiroth, 7. 4. Passage through the Red Sea, xiv. 22 ; Passage through the Red Sea, and three and three days' march into the de- days' march ia the- desert of Etham, 8. sert of Shui-, xv. 22. 5. Marah, xv. 23. Maxah, 8. 6. Elim, XV. 27. Elim, 9. 7. Encampment by the Red Sea, 10. 8. Desert of Sin, xvi. 1. Desert of Sm, 11. 9. DopKkah, 12. 10. Alush, 13. 11. Rephidim, xvii. 1. Rephidim, 14. 12. Desert of Sinai, xix. 1. Desert of Sinai, 15. 2. From Sinai to Kadesh, the second time. Numb. x. — XX. Numb, xxxiii. From the Desert of Sinai, x. 12. From the Desert of Sinai, ver. 16. 13. Taberah, xi. 3 ; Deut. ix. 22. 14. Kibroth-hattaavah, xi. 34. Kibroth-hattaavah, 16. 15. Hazuroth, xi. 35. Hazeroth, 17. * Biblical Researches, ii. 678. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 29 16. Kadesh, in the Desert of Paran, xii. 16; xiii. 26 ; Deut. i. 2, 19 ; hence they turn back and wander for thirty- eight years, Numb. xiv. 25, seq. 17, Rithmah, 18. 18. Rimmon-parez, 19- 19. Libnah, 20. 20. Rissah, 21. 21. Kchelathah, 22. 22. Mount Shapher, 20. 23. Haradeh, 24. 24. Makheloth, 25. 25. Tahath, 26. 26. Tarah, 27. 27. Mitheah, 28. 28. Hashmonah, 29. 29. Moseroth, 30. 30. Bene-jaakan, 31. 31. Hor-hagidgad, 32. 32. Jotbathah, 33. 33. Ebronah, 34. 34. Ezion-geber, 35. 35. Return to Kadesh, Numb. xx. 1. Kadesh, 36. 3. From Kadesh to the Jordan, Numb. XX. xxi. ; Deut. i. ii. x. Numb, xxxiii. From Kadesh, Numb. xx. 22. From Kadesh, ver, 37. 36. Beeroth, Bene-jaakan, Deut. x. 6. 37. Mount Hor, Numb. xx. 22 ; or Mosera, Deut. X. 6, where Aaron died. Mount Hor, 37. 38. Gudgodah, Deut. x. 7. 39. Jotbath, Deut. x. 7. 40. Way of the Red Sea, Numb. xxi. 4 ; by Elath and Ezion-geber, Deut. ii. 8. 41. Zalmonah, 41. 42. Pimon, 42. 43. Oboth, Numb. xxi. 10. Oboth, 43. 44. Ije-abarim, Numb. xxi. 11. Ije-abarim, or lim, 44, 46. 45. The brook Zared, Numb. xxi. 12; Deut. ii. 13, 14. ./ 46. The brook Arnon, Numb. xxi. 13 ; Deut. ii. 24. 47. Dibon-gad, 45. 48. Abnon-diblathaim, 46. 49. Beer in the desert, Nxunb. xxi. 16, 18. 50. Mattanah, xxi. 18. 51. Nahaliel, xxi. 19. 52. Bamoth, xxi. 19. 53. Pisgah, put for the range of Abarim, of which Pisgah was part. Numb. xxi. 20. Mountains of Abarim, near to Nebo, 47. 54. By the way of Bashan to the plains of Moab by Jordan, near Jericho, Plains of Moab by Jordan, near Jericho, 48. Niunb. xxi. 33 ; xxii. 1. !}0 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. No. IV. Cannnii m WM nmnng tlje €mlm €x\\\m. FROM THE TIME OF JOSHUA TO THE ACCESSION OF DAVID. The Israelites reached the land promised to Abraham their father (Gen. xii. 0, 7] about B.C., 1451. It was at that time known as the land of Canaan, a name derived from its original settler, the fom-th son of Ham, Gen. x. 15 — 19. This region of country, so inconsiderable in its physical condition, and yet so famous in the history of tlie world, is, in its extreme length, only about 180 miles from north-east to south-west. The width in the south is eighty or ninety miles, which tapers towards the north, where it scai'cely exceeds twenty miles. Its boundaries varied at different times ; but in general terms they may be described as the mountains of the Lebanon on the north, the Great, or Mediterranean Sea on the west, Arabia on the east, and the Desert of Sin and the Dead Sea on the south. The entire boundaries, as given by Moses, (Numb, xxxiv. 2 — 12) and Joshua, (xiii. 15 — 31) are not easily identified at the present day. Canaan was inhabited by several warlike tribes, upon whom the curse of God rested for their idolatry and grievous sins. The Amorites chiefly inhabited around the south- western shores of the Dead Sea. The Hittites abode in the south, in the neighbour- hood of Hebron; the Jebusites possessed the mountains of Jerusalem and the vicinity; the Girgashites are supposed to have dwelt near the Jordan ; the Hivites, in the north, about mount Hermon ; and the Perizzites south of the plain of Esdraelou. The descendants of six other of the sons of Canaan were the Sidonians, Arkites, Arvadites, Sinites, Zemarites, and Hemathites, who settled on Mount Lebanon and the regions east and west of it. The Sidonians, called by the Greeks, Phoenicians, were by far the largest division of this people, and under this name all the northern tribes were sometimes included. The Philistines, also, had settled in the land, and became numerous and powerful. They wei^e the descendants of Mizraim, the second son of Ham. Besides these, there were the Rephaim and the Anakim : the latter were a race of gigantic highlanders, residing in the northern and southern mountains. A few of their families existed in the land so late as the time of David, 2 Sam. xxi. 16. The term Canaanites, which signifies " merchants," was sometimes confined to the inhabitants of the north-western coast, who, from their maritime position and enterprise, had distinguished themselves in such arts of commerce as were known in the early ages. It, however, was more indiscriminately applied to the whole of the tribes inhabiting the country lying between the 31st and 34th degi'ees of north latitude. The name Perizzites, or, "villagers," belonged to those who lived in the interior of the land. The united terms of Canaanites and Perizzites sometimes included the people of the whole country. Gen. xiii. 7 ; xxxiv. 30. " The land of Canaan was in every way most suitable for the Israelites. The mountains and the sea, by which it was in eveiy part inclosed, rendered it easy of defence against all invasion. It abounded in corn, oil, and fruit — in all productions and capabilities essential to settled life. Besides, this was the land which attached to itself all the memories capable of exciting the enthusiasm of such a people as the Hebrews. It was the cradle of their race It was their historical land — the laud in Dra-wn fcEng^'byE-Gavar. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 81 whicli their renowned forefathers fed their flocks for more than two hundred years, and whicli was still the country of their fathers' sepulchres.'"* But they entered the land as the ministers of the Divine justice, to remove its debased inhabitants either by death or expulsion. The patriarchs had been told by God, that " the iniquity of the Canaanites was not yet fuU." At length it was filled to the brim ; and the escaped captives from Egypt were commissioned by the God of nations to execute his judg- ments upon the guilty inhabitants, and to possess their covmtiy Joshua, the Divinely appointed leader of the Israelites, in his first campaivsi . THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 37 Hebrews after the death of Solomon, though it flourished for ages — a magnificent city in the midst of a solitary desert. Its ruins, which are of an age subsequent to the times of its royal founder, show that it was of considerable extent. The usual approach to them is from the west, through a valley of about two miles in length, at the termination of which, thousands of Corinthian columns, of white marble, burst upon the traveller's sight in all their desolate grandeur. "So numerous are these," it has been said, " that the spectator is at a loss to connect or arrange them in any order or symmetry, or to conceive what purpose or design they could have answered." The wretched hovels of a poor tribe of Arabs now occupy the court of the once splendid Temple of the Sun. The names of those Canaanitish nations, which, scattered among the Israelites, maintained a partial independence till the reign of Solomon, are inserted in the map. No. VL UNDER THE MACCAB.EAN AND IDUM^^IAN PRINCES, AND ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE PERIOD OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. The land of Canaan varied in its political divisions at different periods of its history. Under the administration of Joshua it was arranged in tribal cantons ; during the reign of Solomon it was formed into provinces ; in the days of his successors it was divided into two kingdoms ; and when our Lord was on the earth it was subdivided into tetrarchies or four presidencies, the whole being tribu tary to the Komans. These tetrarchies were Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and Pereea. The first three were included in Palestine proper; the last embraced the territory beyond the Jordan. There was also a fifth division, Idumaea, pai't of which, however, lay out of the borders of Canaan, or Palestine. Palestine, signifying " the land of the wanderer," was an early name of the country of the Philistines, Exod. xv. 14 ; Isa. xiv. 29. Strictly it belonged only to the strip of land bordering on the Mediterranean ; but Philo and Josephus use the word to designate the country of the Jews generally ; and hence it became a common appellation employed alike by Greeks and Komans, Christians and Mohammedans. JUDEA. Judea was the most southern portion of the country. The Jewish captives who returned to their own land were chiefly of the tribe of Judah. They spread over the original territories of Judah, Benjamin, and Dan, and gave the name of Judea to this portion of the land of their fathers ; and the people themselves were from that time no longer called Hebrews or Israelites, but Judsei, or Jews. Josephus thus describes this portion : " The southern parts, if they be measured lengthwise, are bounded by a village adjoining the confines of Arabia, called by the Jews who dwell there, Jordan ; and its northei'n limit, where it joins Samaria, is the village Annath, also called Borceos : its breadth, however, is extended from the river Jordan to Joppa, on the shore of the Mediterranean. The city of Jerusalem is situated in the verv middle, on which account some have, with sagacity enough, called that 38 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. city the navel of the country. Nor is Judea destitute of such delicacies as come from the sea, since its maritime places extend as far as Ptolemais. It was divided into eleven portions, of which the royal city of Jerusalem was the chief; and ruled over the neighbouring country, as the head over the body. As for the other cities which were inferior to it, they presided over their several provinces. Gophna was the second of them ; Acrahatta the next ; after them, Thamna, Lydda, Emmaus. Palla, Idumea, Engedi, Herodium, and Jericho ; and after these came Jamnia and Joppa, as presiding over the neighbouring people." From the Mishna, it appears that this division was considered under four aspects ; namely, the western, which lay alono- the Mediterranean ; the mountainous, or pastoral district ; the plain, which lay farther east, and inclined towards Jordan ; and the vale, or flat, which bordered on the banks of that river. The whole of this province was often denominated the •' south countr}'," because it lay southwards of Samaria. The eastern part of this land formed what is called in Scripture the desert, or the wilderness of Judea. It ranged along the slopes of the mountains which con- stituted the western cliffs of the Dead Sea. This tract of country is sixty-five miles in length, and ten in breadth. At the present day a considerable portion of it is a stony and barren district ; but the parts furthest from the sea have numerous inhabitants, and afford good pasturage to large flocks and herds. Here are the remains of many ancient sites, which were visited by Dr. Eobinson, whose well-directed labours were rewarded by the discovery of the localities of several places mentioned in Scripture. The hill country, or " the mountains of Judea," consist of a number of precipitous ridges, interspersed with numerous small valleys, well watered by brooks and rivulets. It forms a broad table-land, about thirty miles in length, and seven in breadth; and its round, steep hills, long ridges, and verdant plains, present a constantly diversified and picturesque scene. Its moun- tains, beinff about midway between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, afford some beautiful and extensive views of the countiy. The villages of Judea were generally built on the tops of hills ; and now, as in ancient times, the female peasants are seen carrying on their shoulders the water, contained in earthen pitchers, procured from the fountains at the base of the mountains. Judea, at the death of Herod the Great, was assigned to his son Archelaus, Matt. ii. 22, who, after reigning nine years, was deposed by the Eomans, and banished to Gaul. Judea was now entirely reduced to a Eoman province. The sceptre had departed, for Shiloh had now come, according to the prediction uttered by the patriarch Jacob, Gen. xlix. 10. Syria was placed by its heathen masters under the government of a proconsul, Publius Quirinus, (the Cyrenius of Luke ii, 2,) who resided at Csesarea. Under the proconsul were procurators ; one of whom, Pontius Pilate, was appointed to the charge of Judea about a.d. 2G, and was stationed at Jerusalem with a cohort of soldiers under his command. His oppres- sive conduct led to his loss of office and disgrace at the end of ten years. SAMARIA. Samaria was the smallest of the tetrarchies ; it comprehended the original pos- sessions of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Josephus describes its general features in the following terms : " It is entirely of the same nature as Judea, for both countries are made up of hills and valleys, are moist enough for agriculture, and are very fertile. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal fruit, THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. fiO both that which grows wild, and that v/hich is the result of cultivation. They are naturally Avatered by many streams, but derive their chief moisture from rain water, preserved in reservoirs during the dry season, of which they have no want ; and as for those streams which they have, their waters are exceeding sweet. By reason also of the excellent grass which they have, their cattle yield more milk than those in other places ; and, what is the greatest sign of excellency and abundance, they each of them are very full of people.'' There was no natural boundary between the provinces of Judea and Samaria. After the Israelites were carried away captive to Assyria, their conquerors planted colonies from Babylon, Hamath, and other heathen places, who introduced their idolatrous practices. These people mingled with the poor and feeble Samaritans left in the land, and a system of religion was introduced in which the worship of idols was associated with that of the true God. On the return of the Jews an inveterate enmity sprang up between the two races, and they would have no " dealings " one with the other, John iv. 9. Continual conflicts took place, and the Jews, being the stronger party, made encroachments on the Samaiitan boundaries, which accordingly varied at different periods. The chief cities of the province were Samaria, Sychar, and Shiloh. The valleys are generally deep ravines, much narrower and steeper than those of Judea. One of the chief is that of Shechem, through which a brook continually flows. The plain of Sharon is a district of country lying along the Mediterranean between Joppa and Carmel. In the Scriptures this name is applied only to that part of the great level which lies north of Joppa, but it was afterwards extended to a wider range. The southern part of the plain is verdant and fruitful : in the spring of the year it is adorned with an extraordinary variety of beautiful flowers. But where Solomon's herds once pastured in peace, the wolf and other wild animals now abound. And where the husbandman once sat under his own vine and fig-tree, in the midst of well- cultivated fields, " none daring to make him afraid," the poor modern Ai-ab never goes forth to plough without a gun on his back, and then sows only as much grain as will serve for his own scanty support, lest he should provoke the exactions of his jealous and oppressive rulers. The length of Samaria, from north to south, was reckoned a three days' journey. Hence, says Josephus, " it is absolutely necessary for those who would go quickly to Jerusalem," (from Galilee,) " to pass through that country." And hence there was a natural, as well as moral reason, that our Lord " must needs go through Samaria" to Jerusalem, as recorded in John iv, 4. The gospel was preached to the Samaritans by Philip, and the first Christian church out of Jerusalem was formed in the city of Samaria, within one year of our Lord's death, Acts viii. ; but heresy was soon introduced by Simon Magus. An adul- terated form of Christianity appears to have existed among them from that time to the present day. " They were," says Gibbon, " an ambiguous sect, rejected as Jews by the Pagans, by the Jews as schismatics, and by the Christians as idolaters." GALILEE. This was the most northerly division of Palestine, and contained the original .portions of Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, 7vsher, and parts of the tribes of Dan, and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. It was the most extensive tetrarch of the Holy Land. The limits of Galilee have been thus defined by Josephus : — " It is terminated 40 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. west by Ptolomais and Carmel, which do not belong to Gahlee ; on the south, by the country of Samaria and Scythopolis, on the river Jordan ; on the east, by the cantons of Hippos, Gadara, and Gaulan ; on the north, by the confines of the Tyrians." After the Jews were carried into captivity, various Gentile tribes migrated into this division of the land, and formed settlements. They afterwards intermarried with the Jews. The country being destitute of natural barriers, was also more open to the aggressions of the Tyrians and neighbouring heathen nations than other parts of the land; hence it was called Galilee, or "district," (that is, "of the Gentiles"). This fact also accounts for the low estimate in which the Galileans were held by the Jews, who imagined that nothing good could come out of Galilee, John i. 46, vii. 59. The language of the inhabitants became so corrupted by their intercourse with foreigners, that they could be distinguished from the Jews by their speech. Matt. xxvi. 73; Mark xiv. TO. Galilee was divided into Upper and Lower. Upper, or Northern Galilee, was sometimes called "the coasts of Tyre and Sidon," from its proximity to those cities. It was a hilly countiy, with deep, fruitful valleys. Lower, or Southern Galilee, was the territory occupied by Issachar in the early days of Israel, and included the cele- brated plain of Esdraelon, which is nearly fifty miles in length, and twenty in breadth. Dr. Wells remarks of this province, that it was more honoured with our Saviour's presence than any other: hence he was called a Galilean. "The immense population of Galilee, indeed, afforded numerous opportunities to our Eedeemer of preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing the diseased, among whom he spent the greater part of his time while he tabernacled upon earth. To this province also he commanded his apostles -to repair, and converse Avith him after his resurrection. Matt, xxviii. 7, 16 ; and of this country the greater part, if not the whole, of the apostles were natives ; on which account they are styled by the angels, 'men of Galilee,'" Acts i. 11.* Josephus, himself a Galilean, describes his countiymen as a brave, high-spirited, and industrious people, though they were at the same time very turbulent, and used to be foremost in all the insurrections against the Komans. The principal cities of this province were Csesarea Palestina, Tiberias, Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, Cana, Nazareth, and Nain. It contained, according to Josephus, one hundred and four cities and towns, the least of which numbered fifteen thousand inhabitants ; but the correctness of this account may be justly questioned. In the present day, the whole region is almost deserted, though it is still beautiful even in its desolation. No boat now moves upon its sea, and no net is cast into its waters. The fields that were formerly cultivated are now covered with thorns and thistles ; the walls of the teiTaces along the hill have fallen down ; the rain has washed away the soil from the rocks ; and the groves of palm-trees have disappeared. Pompey the Great first brought this province under the Pioman sway, about 61 B.C. On the deatli of Herod the Great, it formed one of the tetrarchies into which his dominions were divided, and was given to his son, Herod Antipas, Luke iii. 1. PER^A. Peraea means " the land on the other side," and was applied at an early period, to a part of the region formerly known as the lands of Gilead and Bashan, originally the counirj' of the Ammonites. It once abounded with palm-trees, vines, and olives, and was well watered with springs and torrents from the mountains • At the present * Simes' Geography. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 41 day, though this district is almost desoltite, travellers speak of it with expressions of delight. It possesses a mild climate, and a fruitful soil. Its principal city was Gadara, and the region adjacent was known as the country of the Gadarenes, ]\lark v. 1 — 17. The remainder of the land of Bashan, not included in Pertea, was formed into several divisions, the exact position and limits of which cannot in each case he ascertained. Abilene was the most northern of these, and derived its name from Abylse, or Abel, which probably signifies "a grassy spot." The inhabitants of the country called it Nebi-Abel, that is, " the prophet Abel," from the belief that Cain here buried his murdered brother. When the Eomans made themselves masters of Western Asia, this district became subject to them, and the native rulers were made their vassals. Iturea, which probably corresponded to the old Geshui", was peopled by Jetur, tlie son oflshmael, Gen. xsv. 15; 1 Chron. i. 31: the inhabitants were distinguished for their skill in the bow, and their predatory habits. Trachonitis derived its name from two mountains, called by the Greeks Trachones. It was included in the tetrarchy or dominion of Philip, the son of Herod the Great, Luke iii. 1. The immense cavities of the mountains in this district, which were known to Strabo, are to this day secure retreats for marauders.* Gaulonitis received its name from Gaulon, or Golan, the chief city of ancient Bashan. The remains of some of its cities show that they were places of considerable strength and importance, and well adapted to resist, as they did, the armies of the warlike Piomans. BatancBa, in the time of the Romans, was the southern portion of the ancient kingdom of Bashan, and was noted for its high hills, stately oaks, rich pastures, and excellent cattle. Its more modern name does not occur in the Scriptures. Auranitis, or Haiiran, is a beautiful hilly district, covered with luxuriant pasture ground, forming an agi-eeable contrast to the dreary wilderness Avhich adjoins it. It produces the finest wheat in Syria. It is sometimes noticed by writers as identical with Trachonitis. During the period of its subjection to the Roman power it was densely inhabited ; and the ruins of its ancient villages still afford commodious habitations for the present inhabitants in their migrations over the land. DecapoUs, mentioned in the Gospel, is so called from its containing ten principal cities, scattered through an extensive region. Geogi'aphers are not agreed as to their names and sites ; but they are generally considered to be Scythopolis, (or Bethshan,) Hippos, Gadara, Pella, Philadelphia, (formerly Rabbath,) Dium, Gerasa, Raphana, Canatha, and perhaps Damascus. In this region our Lord preached, and wrought many miracles, Matt. iv. 25. Pella is said to have been the place to which the Christians of Jerusalem fled, in obedience to our Lord's direction, at the commencement of the siege of that city. IDUMiEA. Idumsea, as a district of Palestine, must not be confounded with the Idumsea of the Old Testament ; the latter was in Arabia Petrsea, while the former was that part of Judea which originally constituted the inheritance of Simeon, and which was inhabited principally by descendants of the ancient Edomites. They had settled there without opposition, while the Jews were in captivity at Babylon, having been driven from their own country by the violence of war. The Jews on their return Avere too weak to repossess themselves of the lands of their fathers, and the Edomites, or Idumseans, as they were then called, continued to dwell in the southern border. At length, however, a little more than a hundred years befoi-e the coming of Christ, John * Rosenmuller's Handbook of Bible Geography. 42 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Hyrcanus, the great Jewish commander, conJjuered them completely, and compelled them either to leave the country, or to embrace the Jewish faith. They chose to change their religion, rather than relinquish tlicir lands and return into the wilderness; and accordingly from that time they became a part of the Jewish nation. Still, that division of the country in which they lived continued to be called Idumsea, and the people IdumfEans, Mark iii. 8, for several centuries after the Christian era. MODERN PALESTINE. Syria remained a province of the Eoman empire until its conquest by the followers of Mohammed, a.d. 633 — 638 ; from which period it was subject to the Saracens, until the establishment, by the crusaders, of the Latin kingdom, 1099. This kingdom Avas destroyed by Saladin, 1187, and the crusaders were finally expelled, 1291 ; from which time Syria continued subject to the sovereigns of Egypt, until the conquest of both countries by Selim i., 1517, when they were brought under the Turkish sway. About this latter period Palestine was divided into five provinces ; namely, Palestine, Hauran, Al Ghut, Emessa, and Kinnarin. More recently it has been divided into pashalics, the greater part of Palestine being comprehended within the pashalic of Damascus. Considerable progress has been made in our knowledge of the modern geography of Palestine, during the present generation. The industrious researches of men of learning and enterprise have been directed to a thorough investigation of the land. Many hitherto doubtful sites have been settled, several geographical problems have been solved, and interesting descriptions have cast much light on the sacred narrative. Indeed, every fresh account has brought instruction to the Christian mind, and supplied illustrations of the sacred Scripture.* All travellers agree in their statements in regard to the evidence of the former fertility of the land, and its present depressed and desolate state. " The more I see of Palestine," says Mr. Paxton, " the more I am persuaded that it was once one of the first countries of the world. The time was, I doubt not, when all its rocks were covered with a fine vegetable mould." " Even in those parts where all is now desolate," says Dr. Eobinson, " there are everywhere traces of the hand of the men of other days." "The numerous prophecies conceniing Canaan," says another traveller, " have been so literally fulfilled, that they may be used as actual histoiy. It is now under the curse of God, and its general barrenness is in full accordance with prophetic denunciation." " The desolation of the land," says Lady F. Egerton, " predicted in the Bible, has been brought about by those political events which are fast causing the depopulation of the country : it now no longer num- bers men sufficient to till the ground, nor can the people raise funds adequate for the purpose. Thus does man, unwittingly, bring about the unerring decrees of God.'"t Whether this land shall again be inhabited by the descendants of Abraham, as a pious and prosperous nation, and whether its fields, which have lain fallow for more than sixteen hundred years, shall again teem wath fruitfulness and plenty, as the result of their labours, are questions which have excited great interest in the minds of Chris- tians in eveiy age. * For a description of Palestine, as it now appears, see Dr. Kitto's "liand of Promise," published by the Reiigioiis Tract Society. t Journal of a four in the Holy Lar.'l. VII THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 43 No. VII. €^t Mxm\\B nf tlie ^psilt ^niil; ml i\}t $tmi Asia Minor is the name given by ancient geogi-aphers to the lai-ge peninsula lying between the Black, ^gean, and the Mediterranean Seas. It includes many countries associated with the early history of Christianity, and claims particular attention as the principal scene of the labours of the apostle Paul. During the progress of ages it has fallen under the sovereignty of the various great empires which have successively arisen. At the division of the kingdom of Alexander the Great, it w^as assigned to Seleucus Nicator. One of his successors, Antiochus, in the year 200 b.c. removed thousands of Jewish families from Mesopotamia to Asia Minor, in order that the warlike and turbulent tribes of that region might be civilized through their influence. The descendants of these Jews were called " the dispersed among the Gentiles," John vii. 35, and ■' Grecians," Acts vi. 1, At an early date the whole western coast of Asia Minor was known as Ionia ; in the time of the Eoman empire this region was called Proconsular Asia, while the term Ionia was applied only to the interior parts of the country. Modern Greece was called Achaia, in the times of the apostle Paul, (Acts xviii. 27 ; Piom. xvi. 5 ; 2 Cor. xi. 10) ; having Corinth for its capital (2 Cor. i. 1); which was the residence of a proconsul, (Acts xviii. 12.) St. PauVs first missionary journey ^^&s undertaken a.d. 45. Barnabas and his nephew John Mark accompanied him in this apostolic progress: the latter, however, after a time shrunk from the toils and dangers of the mission, and returned to Jerusalem. Seleucia, from whence they set sail, is the port to Antioch, at the mouth of the river Orontes. Thence their course was to the isle of Cyprus in the Mediterranean, where at Salamis, one of its cities, they preached the gospel to the people. Passing through the island, they came to Paphos, where they met with Elymas the sorcerer, and Sergius Paulus the governor. About this time Saul's name was changed to Paul, the reason of which change is uncertain. Sailing from this island, they came to Perga, in Pamphylia, a province of Lesser Asia, then onward to Antioch in Pisidia, where the apostles preached to the idolatrous inhabitants with great success, but were expelled from the city through the influence of the Jews. They now proceeded to Iconium, about one hundred miles in the interior, but had again to experience the rage of the Jews ; driven out by persecution, they came to Lystra, where a cripple was miraculously healed, and then went forward to Derbe. After preaching the gospel there, they retraced their steps through Lystra and Iconium, passed into Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga, and Attalia, and from thence, by sea, to Antioch in Syi'ia. The whole tour is calculated to have extended to nearly 1400 miles, and to have occupied one year and a half. During the long time — not less than three years — that Paul and Barnabas abode with the disciples at Antioch, it seems highly probable, if not demonstrably true, that they made a journey to Jerusalem, and returned, previous to setting out on their second tour, Gal. ii 1 — 10.* The object of this \'isit was to consult the apostles and elders upon * Tate's Continuous History of St. Pa\il, p. 23. a THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. the question, which certain converts from Judaism had raised in the church at Antioch, whether it were necessary that proselytes from heathenism should he circumcised. Second missiunary journeij. On the return of this deputation to Antioch, Paul pro posed to Barnabas to undertake a second tour, and visit the churches they had formed during their first journey. They were unable to come to an agreement as to who should accompany them ; and Paul, taking with him Silas, entered upon his journey without his former comjianion. The range of country traversed was far more extensive tlian on the first occasion. The apostle proceeded by land round the north-east coast of the Mediterranean, through Cilicia, his native country, to Derbe and Lystra, where he was joined by Timothy. His course was now into the large and populous province of Phrygia, in which district was the celebrated city of Colossse. From this place he entei-ed Galatia; in which country Neander considers that he had the remarkable vision, accompanied by the "thorn in the flesh," to which he refers in 2 Cor. xii. 1 — 10. Avoiding Asia, strictly so called, he went by a circuitous course to Philadelphia, Sardis, and Thyatira, and came to Troas : from which place, where he was joined by Luke the physician and evangelist, he was Divinely directed in a vision to cross the Hellespont into Macedonia. Landing at Neapolis, he passed on to Philippi, one of the chief cities of that region, where Lydia and the Philippian jailor were converted, and the founda- tion of a church was laid which stands forth as the most pure of all the apostolic churches. He next passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica, the metropolis of Macedonia ; but from whence he was driven by an uproar of the Jews, to Berea. Here Paul was for some time favourably received by the Jews, until a party from Thessalonica followed him and aroused their malice against him. After some vicissitudes of missionary life, he arrived at Athens, where his spirit was stiiTed within him on observing the whole city immersed in idolatiy, and he addressed the Grecian philosophers on Mars' Hill on the folly of their superstitions and the character of the only true God. On leaving Athens, Paul went to Corinth, where he abode for a year and a half, supporting himself by working at his trade of a tentmaker. At the end of this time, finding himself still opposed by the resident Jews, he proceeded homewards, calling at Ephesus and Csesarea, and from thence overland to Jerusalem, which made the fourth visit to that city since his conversion. After a brief stay, he hastened to Antioch, in Syria, after an absence of two years and a half, where he joined Barnabas and other fellow labourers in the work of the Lord. Third missionary journeij. The third tour of the apostle was begun by visiting the churches of Galatia, Phiygia, and Ephesus. At the latter place he remained for nearly three years, and preached with such remarkable success as to provoke the wrath of those engaged in the worship of the goddess Diana ; at the instigation of Demetrius, who enjoyed a lucrative trade in the manufacture of silver images of the idol and of the heathen temple, he was compelled hastily to depart. On leaving Ephesus, he went by wav of Troas on a second visit to Philippi. Thence he passed through the parts about Illvricum, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea ; then back to Corinth ; but finding his enemies among the Jews were lying in wait to assault him as he returned to Syria, he changed his plan, and once more visited Macedonia, and also Troas, at which latter place he raised Eutychus to life. Having invited the elders of the church of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, he took of them a solemn and afi"ectionate farewell. Thence he sailed towards Syria, calling at Troas and Ptolemais. On his arrival at Jenisalem he was violently seized in the temple, under the false charge of introducing a Gentile into the sacred precincts, and was conveyed as a prisoner to Csesarea for safety. In this city he was brought before Felix. After lingering there for two years as a prisoner, and THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 45 after repeated examinations before Felix and Festus, and king Agrippa, the last of the Herod family, Paul was conveyed to the imperial city of Rome, to prosecute his ap})eal oefore Caesar. Voyaqe to Rome. The apostle Paul was placed along with other prisoners under the charge of a centiirion named Julius, who embarked with them at Coesarea. After touching at Sidon, they were forced by contrary winds to pass to the north of the island of Cyprus. Favoured, as they probably were, by the land breezes and currents, they arrived at Myra in Lycia, then a flourishing sea-port, now a desolate waste. The centurion here found a ship of Alexandria, loaded, as we afterwards learn, with wheat, bound for Italy, in which he embarked the prisoners. Proceed- ing slow]}' on their voyage, and with adverse winds, they came to Cnidus, a small town on the south-western promontory of Asia Minor. They now changed their course, crossing over to the island of Crete, and put in at Fair Havens — a small, insecure roadstead, near the centre of the southern coast of this island. It was the month of October, a season when ancient mariners considered navigation to be increasingly hazardous; it was accordingly determined, though against the advice of the apostle, to attempt to reach Phenice, a more secure winter harbour on the same coast. A moderate breeze from the south having sprung up, they weighed anchor, cleared the harbour, and had every prospect of reaching their destination in a few hours. Sudden changes of wind, however, are very common in these seas; and a typhoon* arose, Avhich drove the ship before it, towards the small neighbouring island of Clauda. Fearing that the gale would force them on a lee shore, they lightened the ship and lowered their sails. The ship now became unmanageable, and was driven about in the Adriatic Sea for about fourteen days ; neither sun nor stars were observed, and all hope of being saved was at an end. An ancient ship, without being able to make celestial observa- tion, and without the compass, had no means of keeping a reckoning. The danger was therefore imminent ; the crew were exhausted by long endurance, labour, and abstinence. Probably the storm had destroyed their provisions, or at least had prevented their cooking them. The ship, with nearly three hundred souls on board, was every moment in danger of foundering. At length it was borne towards land, and was run on shore at " a place w'here two seas met," to avoid being forced upon the breakers. The traditional locality of this shipwreck is the island of Melita, the Malta of modern geography, and which recent careful investigation has proved to be correct. St. Paul's Bay, the scene of this disaster, is a deep inlet on the north side of the island. The ship, it is supposed, was driven on the west side of the bay, which is rocky, but which has two creeks, near which it shortly went to pieces.f The shipwrecked party remained for three months on the island, and several miraculous cures were wrougbt by the apostle. A ship which had wintered at IMelita was engaged to convey them on their voyage. They first sailed to the large and beautiful city of Syracuse, the principal place in the island of Sicily, and from thence to PJiegium and Puteoli, seaports in Italy. At the latter place, which is sixty miles from Piome, the apostle tarried with Christian brethren for seven days. At Appii Forum he was met by believers from Eome, who * The Euroclydon, or tj-phoon, is a tempest accompanied by the agitation and whirling motion of the clouds, caused by the meeting of opposite currents of air, and the raising of the sea in columns of spray. Modern navigators in these seas call it the Michaebnas blast. Pliny in describing the effects of sudden blasts, says that they caiise a vortex, wliich is called "ty]3hoon;" and Gellius, in his account of a storm at sea, notices "frequent whiriwinds, and the di'eaded appearances in the clouds which they call tyiihoons." — Smith's Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. t The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. By James Smith, Esq., f.k.s. 1848. 46 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. had come out forty-three miles to comfort and encourage him on his way. At another station, the Three Taverns {taberncB, houses for the sale of food), more Roman brethren came to him, by whom he was much refreshed. From this place he was can-ied to the imperial city, and put into secure custody as a prisoner. After a short time, he was permitted to reside in his own hired house, guarded by a single soldier, to whom he was probably chained, — a mode of securing prisoners in common use among the Romans. The fourth and last journey from Rome to Jerusalem, and return to Home. After two years' imprisonment the apostle of the Gentiles obtained his release ; the particulars of which, and the whole of his future course, lie beyond the period to which the Acts of the Apostles brings up his history. Our knowledge of his progress can be gleaned only by occasional allusions in his several epistles written after that time. It is sup- posed that he embarked from Brundusium, the port from whence the Romans mostly sailed for Greece and Syria, in company with Timothy and Titus. On the way, Timothy was sent to Philippi ; and Paul passed by way of Crete (where he left Titus) towards Jerusalem, landing at Csaesarea. In his epistle to the Hebrews, (xiii. 23,) which was written from Rome, he had expressed his hope of soon again visiting Palestine From Palestine he set out on his last tour, and visited Colossse, Philippi, Ephesus, and other cities, the scenes of his former labours, and then passed on to Rome by way of Rhegium.* In the summer of a.d. 65, he was again a prisoner in the imperial city ; from whence, in the prospect of a violent death, he wrote that sublime and pathetic expression of his confidence in the faithfulness of his Divine Master, which is contained in his second epistle to Timothy : " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day : and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing," 2 Tim. iv. 6 — 8. He sufi"ered martyrdom in the spring of the following year. THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA. A short general view of the ancient condition of these churches, with the present appearance of their sites, may appropriately follow the account of the journeys of the apostle Paul. Ephesus (Rev. ii. 1 — 7) was a place of much reno^^•n. It became the centre of the labours of St. Paul, and the chief seat of Christianity in Asia Minor. The church here formed was at its commencement in a state of considerable pi-osperity; but " the candlestick" has long since been removed. Only a few Greek peasants, living in extreme poverty, are met with among groups of splendid ruins : the chief ruins being those of the theatre, memorable for a tumult, described Acts xix. 21 — 41. Travellers have sought for the remains of the famous temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the world, and which was two hundred years in building. Of its one hundred and twenty-seven magnificent marble pillars not one can now be found. The mysteries of Diana were connected with the arts of magic ; and Ephesus was the chief seat of Jewish and heathen witchcraft, (Acts xix. 19,) to which the apostle probably alluded when he enjoined the believers to put on the whole armoiu- of God that they might resist " the wiles of the devil," (Eph. vi. 11.) * Foley's Hora Paulina!, with Birks' Eorce Apostolica, published by the Religious Tract Society; Tate's Continuous History of St. Paul. THPJ NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 47 Smyrna (Rev. ii. 8 — 11) lies at the head of a deep bay, about fifty miles from Ephesus In the earliest ages this city "v^'as of great commercial importance, and is the only one of the seven cities which retains its former prospei^ty. Its situation is favourable to trade : it is now one of the largest towns in the Turkish empire, and contains a population of 134,000, of whom 25,000 are members of the Greek and other eastern churches, which retain a corrupt form of Christianity. Smyrna was the resi- dence of Polycarp, the disciple of John. He was buried alive, a.d. 1G6. "When required to revile Christ, the venerable martyr exclaimed, " Eighty and six years have I served Christ, and he has never done me the least wrong : how, then, can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?" PerctAMOs (Eev. ii. 12 — 17) was the capital of Hellespontic Mysia, and situate on the north bank of the Caicus, about twenty miles from the sea. Its ancient importance may be inferred from its possessing a library of .200,000 volumes, which Antony removed to Egypt, and presented to queen Cleopatra. It was also famed for its serpent or devil worship. " I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is." At the present day, it retains some remnant of its ancient importance, under the name of Bergamo. The modern town consists of small and mean houses, among which appear the remains of early Christian churches, " like vast fortresses amidst barracks of wood." Thtatira (Piev. ii. 18 — 29) was built upon a fertile plain, on the banks of the river Lycus, between Pergamos and Sardis. It still exists under the Turkish name of Ak-his- sar, or "the white castle ;" but it is very deficient in ancient remains, while its modern buildings, for the most part, consist of mud and earth. Its inhabitants are still noted for their skill in dyeing puvple or scarlet cloth. Lydia, a seller of purple, was a native of this city. Acts xvi. 14, 15, 40. Many nominal Christians are found here. But "the works, and charity, and service, and faith, and patience of this faithful church," says Dr. Coleman, " have no longer any memorial on earth except the commendation contained in the epistle to the angel of the church in Thyatira." Sardis, (Rev. iii. 1 — 6,) once the capital of the kingdom of the wealthy Croesus, and one of the most celebrated cities of the east, is now a miserable village, under the modified name of Sart, It was about sixty miles from Ephesus, at the foot of Mount TmoluB, and on the bank of the river Pactolus, renowned for its golden sands. " The i-uins of the city bear witness that the Lord has come upon it as ' a thief in the night ; ' all its glory has passed away. The black tents of the wandering Turcomans are scattered through the beautiful valley; the whistle of the camel-driver now resounds in the deserted palace of Croesus, and the song of the lonely thrush is heard from the walls of the old Christian church. Schubert found there only two Christian millers, in 1836, who spoke nothing but Turkish."* Philadelphia (Rev. iii. 7 — 13) was situate about twenty-five miles south-east of Sardis, upon a part of the range of Mount Tmolus, and commanding a magnificent view. At this spot there are still to be seen the relics of a noble city, running up the sides of an irregular hill, called by the Turks, Allah Shehr, "the beautiful city," or, "the city of God." Among the ruins are four strong marble pillars, which once supported the dome of a Christian church. One solitary pillar of high antiquity has been often noticed, as reminding the beholder of the remarkable words in the Apocalyptic message to the church at Philadeli)hia, — " Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God." It is estimated that about 1000 Greek and Armenian Christians reside in * Bai'th's Biblical Geography, p. 340. 48 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. the miserably built houses of the modern town, who have Divine service every Sunday in five churches. Laodicea (Bev. iii.^4 — 22). There were four cities of this name: two in Asia Minor and two in Syria. The Laodicea of the Bevelation was on the confines of Lydia and Phrygia, about forty miles east from Ephesus. There is not one of the cities of the seven churches of which the overthrow has been so severe, and the desolation so entire, as Laodicea. It is a heap of ruins, abandoned entirely to the owl and the fox : its remains testify alike to its former grandeur, and to the displeasure of the Almighty at the departure of its once celebrated church from the faith. " Laodicea," says a recent traveller, " is even more solitary than Ephesus : for the latter has the prospect of the rolling sea, or of a whitening sail, to enliven its decay, while the former sits in widowed loneliness ; its walls are grass-growii, its temples desolate ; its very name has perished. We preferred hastening on, to a further delay in that melancholy spot, where everything whispered desolation, and where the very wind that swept impetuously through the valley, sounded like the fiendish laugh of Time exulting over the destruc- tion of man and his proudest monuments."* The contrast of the present wretched condition of the seven cities of Asia Minor, with their former privileges and prosperous state, cannot but awaken feelings of sadness and sympathy. They once enjoyed the light of the gospel ; they are now laearly shrouded in spiritual darkness, or in a state of ruin and desolation. The Divine judg- ments have overtaken them, and they stand forth as impressive instances of the abuse of the day of visitation. " He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches." No. VIII. Ancient Jkeusalem. — Jerusalem is celebrated in sacred poetry as " the holy city," "the joy of the whole earth," and, as its name imports, "the habitation of peace." Its history is identified with the dearest interests of mankind, as the spot where for ages Jehovah manifested his peculiar presence, where the Son of God was ofi'ered on the cross as a propitiation for sin, and from whence went forth that gospel which is to enlighten and bless all the nations of the earth. The word Jerusalem is supposed to be derived from the Hebrew jerush, which signifies "possession," and shalem, or salem, "peace." Professor Lee, however, considers it to come from Jebus-shalem, that is, "the treading down of peace," a name appropriate, as he considers, to the warlike character of its early inhabitants. There is no evidence that Jerusalem was an inhabited site in the days of the patriarchs, though it is generally considered to be the Salem of Melchizedek.f There is no doubt, however, that it was the spot to which Abraham came for the purpose of offering his only son Isaac, in obedience to the command of God. It may be therefore inferred, that a portion of it was then a secluded district, and well suited to the design * Quoted in Professor Stuart's Apocalypse, ii. 45. r There was another Salem in the valley of the Jordan, and a third near Sychem. tiff milffrrw Ifl VIII ^? J3I Mi If ^ r si J III g '°-l ^11 ||i / gl 2S \^ / ^>^f n THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 49 of the patriarch. The whole of the chister of mountains on wliicli the city was afterwards built was, in Abraham's days, known as Moriah, or "vision," as they could be seen from some distance, and commanded an extensive jDrospect, especially on the south. Gen. xxii. 2, 4. This mountain range afterwards came into the possession of the Jebusites, who erected a fortress on Mount Zion, and called it Jebus, after the name of their forefather, the son of Canaan. During the days of Isaac and Jacob, and the sojourn of their descendants in Egypt, the Canaanites rapidly increased to a multitude of people ; and many of their cities were built where the patriarchs had formerly fed their flocks : among which cities was probably Jerusalem. On the coming up of the IsraeUtes from the wilderness, it appears on the page of history as a place of some importance. Josh. x. ] — 4. Joshua, in the first year of his arrival in Canaan, defeated Adonibezek, king of Jerusalem, and twenty-five years afterwards the children of Judah attacked and burned the city. Josh. x. '2 ; Judges i. 8. This latter event, however, must refer only to the lower city, as it is immediately afterwards stated that the Benjamites, to whom the place was allotted, " did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem ; but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem," Judges i. 21, until David took possession of the city, 2 Sam. v. 6 — 8. Even after that time, some of the original inhabitants were permitted to hold their lands, as we find David purchasing of Araunah, a Jebusite, the ground upon which the temple was afterwards erected, 2 Sam. xxiv. 18 — 24. Jerusalem now became known as "the city of David;" and was the metropolis of the kingdom. All Hebrew strangers, from whatever part of the country they came, had the privilege of the rights of hospitality ; to which custom our Lord may allude in Matt. xxvi. 18. Solomon enlarged the city, enriched it by costly structures, and surrounded it by a wall (Millo). He also erected a noble causeway, or terrace, over the valley lying between Zion and Moriah, whereby the passage from his palace to the Temple was rendered more convenient. Another building, called "the house of Millo," probably because placed on or near the wall, may have been used as a state- house, or city -hall, and employed also as an armoury and fortress in times of war. When Jerusalem became the capital of the kingdom, and the chosen place for the worship of Jehovah, every means were used to render it impregnable, by high walls, massive gates, and towers. Kings Jotham, Hezekiah, and Manasseh, engaged in the erection of these defences with much zeal. The latter king, it is stated, built "a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, even to the entering in at the fish- gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up to a very great height," 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. With this exception, the successors of Solomon did not materially add to the strength or beauty of the place. After numerous vicissitudes, the city was completely overthro\vn by Nebuchad- nezzar, and the inhabitants carried into captivity. On the return of the Jews in the days of Ezra, the Temple was rebuilt on the old site ; but the walls were not restored until some time after, by Nehemiah. His description of the portions of the work is interesting, though few of their localities can now be assigned. Ophel, the quarter of the Nethinims, or servants of the Temple, was again inclosed ; and " the city was large and great, but the people were few therein, and the houses were not builded," Neh. vii. 4. The state of Jerusalem, from the times of Nehemiah to the days of Herod the Great, cannot now be traced, though probably it underwent but little change. Josephus is the highest authority we possess for ascertaining the form and limits of the ancient Jewish capital. He says, "The city was built on two hills, which are opposite to each other, having a valley to divide them asunder ; at which valley the E RO THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. corresponding rows of houses on both hills terminate. Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly it was called ' the citadel,' by King David : he was the father of that Solomon who built this Temple at the first ; but it is by us called 'the upper market-place.' But the other hill, which is called Acra, and sustains the lower city, is of the shape of the moon when she is horned. Over against this there was a third hill, but naturally lower than Acra, and parted formerly fi-om the other by a broad valley. In the time when the Asmoneans reigned, they filled up that valley with earth, and had a mind to join the city to the Temple. They then took off part of the height of Acra, and reduced it to a less elevation than it was before, that the Temple might be superior to it. Now, ' the valley of the cheesemongers,' as it was called, was that which distinguished the hill of the upper city from that of the lower, and extended as far as Siloam ; for that is the name of a fountain which hath sweet water in it, and this in great plenty also. But on the outsides these hills are surrounded by deep valleys, and, by reason of the precipices belonging to them on both sides, are everywhere impassable As the city grew more populous, it gradually crept beyond its old limits ; and those parts of it that stood n'orthward of the Temple, and joined that hill to the city, made it con- siderably larger, and occasioned that hill, which is in number the fourth, and is called Bezetha, to he inhabited also. It lies over against the tower Antonia, but is divided from it by a deep valley, which was dug on purpose. This new-built part of the city was called Bezetha in our language, which, if interpreted in the Grecian languag.e, may be called ' the new city.' " Jerusalem, in the time of the Jewish historians, was fortified by three walls, except where the abrupt ravines encircling it rendered only one necessary. The first or most ancient Avail began at the tower of Hippicus, running round the heights of Mount Zion, along the ridge of the valley of Hinnom, across the Tyropoeon, by the pool of Siloam, as far up the valley of Jehoshaphat as the modern well of the Virgin, whence it ascended to the eastern comer of the Temple. From Hippicus it descended, on the other hand, along the ridge of the Tyropoeon, separating Zion from Acra, down to the western cloisters of the Temple; it then was continued along the edge of the valley, down to Hinnom, near Siloam, forming, in fact, the oi-iginal wall of Mount Zion before Acra was added. Thus this wall inclosed the whole of the city as it existed in the times of Da\dd and Solomon. The course of the second wall has been subjected to more con- troversy than any other point of the topography of the city. The Jewish historian describes it as starting from the gate Genath, apparently near the tower of Hippicus, and encircling the northern quarter of the city, as far as the castle of Antonia. The division thus inclosed communicated with the Temple by flights of steps and causeways. It was doubtless the chief seat of business, as in the present day. Here were crowded together the narrow streets of the various craftsmen, among which streets many of the soldiers of Titus were entangled and slain. On the eastern part of this wall were two towers, Hananeel * and Meah.f They were square, twenty ells above the wall, and two hundred yards apart. It was without this wall, probably on the northern side, that the crucifixion of our Lord took place. Keipert and others commence the western wall from near the gate of Ephraim, and bring it in a direct line southwards ; thus limiting Acra, and placing the traditional Golgotha outside the walls. The Roman lines of cir- cumvallation, together with the camp of Titus, are thus also brought to a spot which, according to Dr. Thenius' plan, is within the city. (See the Map.) The third, or outer wall, did not exist in the time of Christ, but was built shortly after, by Agrippa, to * Jcr. xxxi. 38; Zech. xiv. 10. t Neli. iii. 1, xji. 39. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 51 inclose a populous suburb which had extended itself to the north : it was not completed with the strength the builder originally designed. It commenced also at the tower of Hippicus, and ran northwards to the tower of Psephinus on the extreme west. It thence swept round east, and then south, to the old wall in the valley of Kidron. The tower of Antonia is placed by Josephus at a short distance from the north-west comer of the Temple area, and described as standing on a rock, exactly answering to the present site of the governor's house. It was strong and capacious, communicating with the outer court of the Temple, and divided by a deep trench from the suburb of Bezetha on the north. * Several stones in the ancient wall, on the Tyropoeon side, have obtained much atten- tion from recent travellers. They are in three courses, and are evidently the springing stones of a large arch. Their size is enormous, one being twenty and a half feet long, another twenty-four and a half, and the rest in like proportion. These are referred by Bartlettto the time of Herod; but Eobinson, who was the first to direct attention to these interesting remains, conjectures that they are as old as the days of Solomon, probably forming a part of the viaduct with which he connected his palace with the Temple. "Not a hundred yards further" from these mighty relics, " to the north, is a spot, immediately under the wall, and quite concealed from observation, where the Jews have purchased permission from the Turks to approach the boundary of the Temple, to wail over the desolation of Judah, and implore the mercy and forgiveness of their God."f In the original wall constructed at the rebuilding of the city were ten gates. There is some difficulty in assigning them to their respective positions. The following arrangement is chiefly from Eaumer : — On the north side. 1. The Old gate, at the north- east comer.j 2. The gate of Ephraim, or Benjamin. § This gate derived its name from its leading to the territories of these tribes ; and Dr. Robinson supposes it may be represented by some traces of ruins which he found on the site of the present gate of Damascus. 3. The Corner gate ;|| probably the same as the tower of the Fiu'naces.lF — On the west side. 4. The Valley gate, over against the Dragon fountain of Gihon,** near the north-west corner of Zion. — On the south side. 5. The Dung gate, ff (probably identical with " the gate between two walls, "|| ) so called because of the refuse of the beasts retained for sacrifice being carried through it from the Temple. 6. The gate of the Fountain, §§ near to the pool of Siloah. — On the east side. 7 The Water gate, |||| near which the water used in the sendee of the Temple was emptied into the Kidron. 8. The Horse, otherwise the Prison gate,1I^ near the Temple. 9. The Sheep gate,*** supposed to have been so called from the victims intended for sacrifice being led through it. 10. The Fish gate,-|-ff on the north-east, may be that through which the supplies of fish were brought from the sea coast. The whole compass of the city, according to Josephus, was rather more than four miles. The TOWEES of Jerusalem are noticed in Scripture, ^|t and may also be referred to under the term "bulwark."§§§ Josephus describes that of Hippicus, which existed in the time of Christ. It was erected by Herod the Great, who gave to it the name of a friend who had been slain in battle. The v/hole height was about 140 feet. Dr. Robinson and Eanmer point out the foundations of a tower near the modern Jaffa gate, as those * Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem, pp. 30, 36. f Ibid. p. 141. ; Neb, iii. 6, xii. 39. • § Jer. xxsviii. 7 ; Neb. xii. 9 ; 2 Cbron. xxv. 23. |] 2 Cbron xxvi. 9 ; Zeeb. xiv. 10. f Neb. iii. 11, xii. 38. ** Neb. ii. 13, iii. 13 ; 2 Cbron. xxvi. 9. ft Neb. ii. 13, xii. 31. XI 2 Kings xxv. 4 ; Jer. xxxix. 4. §§ Neb. ii. 14, iii. 15. |||| Neb. iii. 26. 11^ Neb. iii. 28, xii. 39. *** Neb. iii. 1, xii. 39. ftt Neb. iii. 3 ; Zepb. i. 10. Jtt 2 Cbron. xxvi. 9, 15 ; Psa. xlviii. 12. §§§ Psa. xlviii. 13. k2 5Q THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. that probably belonged to this erection. The tower of Psephinus was built after the time of our Lord, by Herod Agrippa. It was of an octagonal form, 120 feet high. It stood upon a high swell of the ground, and formed a landmark to a considerable distance of countiy. The castle of Antonia was built by John Hyrcanus, and repaired by Herod. Here a garrison was stationed, after Palestine became a Koman province, to watch the proceedings of the Jews in the Temple, which building it overawed, and with which it communicated by secret passages. The interior of this castle was probably the Pretorium, or judgment hall ; and in front of it was the " Pavement," where Pilate pronounced sentence on our Saviour. - Besides these, there were the towers of Meah and Hananeel, already noticed, and numerous others along the whole line of defence. No particular street in Jerasalem is mentioned in Scripture, excepting the bakers' street.f From this expression, and from Neh. iii. 32, it would seem that, in the ancient citv, as in most oriental towns at the present day, men of the same occupation inhabited the same quarter. Josephus mentions the "street of the cheesemongers." The word translated "street" in two passages, t properly signifies open spaces around the gates. The PALACE of Solomon, called " the house of the forest of Lebanon" on account of the multitude of cedars used in its erection, stood on Mount Zion. On the same hill, in later times, stood the palace of Herod, a magnificent edifice, which was destroyed, with the other public buildings, by the Romans. Eeservoirs and pools were constructed in different parts of the city and its neighbour- liood. This was the more necessary as the whole region in which Jerusalem stood was destitute of any great ninning stream, and the rivulets were diy during the greater part of the year. The remains foimd in the present day show the extensive arrange- ments made for an ample supply of this necessary of life. A large tank in the loAver city is attributed to Hezekiah, who "made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city," 2 Kings xx. 20. It is evidently of great antiquity. An aqueduct brought a copious stream from Solomon's pools, near Etham, to the Temple, which supplied the waters necessary for the ceremonial senrices ; and it still serves for the same purpose to the mosque of Omar. The pool commonly known to travellers as that of Bethesda is a long excavation. It is now nearly filled with rubbish, and probably has not contained any water for centuries. At the north end of this basin are two unequal arches, foiTQing a covered way, which are conjectured to be the remains of the "five porches" that gave shelter to the "impotent folk" while waiting for the " troubling of the water." The pool of Siloam, or Shiloah, lay at the extremity of the Tyropoeon valley, near the foot of Mount Zion. Its water now issues from a rock, twenty-five feet below the ground, to which there is a descent by steps. Here it flows out, clear as crystal, and winds its way several rods under the mountain; then makes its appearance as a gurgling, refreshing rill, and takes its way south-eastward down the valley, answering to the description, "the waters of Shiloah that go softly," Isa. viii. 6. It has been ascertained by the persevering labours of Dr. Eobinson, that the stream descends to this pool from the fountain of the Virgin, higher up the valley, by means of a channel cut through the rocky hill of Ophel. To this pool of Siloam our Lord sent a blind man to wash, for the recovery of his sight by miraculous power, John ix. 7. The fountain of the Virgin is so called from the notion that the Virgin Mary here washed the clothes of her blessed Son. Its waters are intermitting: " sometimes the bottom of the basin is bare and nearly diy, when suddenly the water reappears, flowing in with a strong current, and rising rapidly to the height of several feet."§ There is historical and other evidence which goes to establish the fact, * Johnxviii. 28, xix. 9. t Jer. xxxvii. 21. ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 6 ; Neh. viii. 1, 3. ^ Dr. Olin's Travels. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 53 that there is a great reservoir at a considerable depth below, where the Temple court was situated, move abundantly supplied formerly than at present, and that from thence are subterraneous channels, which once largely supplied the waters to several fountains and reservoirs.* The fountain of Nehemiah, as it is called by Christians, but by the natives, the fountain of Job, is about fifty rods below the pool of Siloam. It measures 125 feet hi depth, though the water seldom rises to more than half that height. It is apparently of great antiquity : there can be little doubt that it is identical with the En-rogel of 2 Sam. xvii. 17 ; 1 Kings i. 9. In ancient times the upper and lower pools of Gihon also yielded considerable supplies of water : they are now in a ruinous state, and quite diy. The latter of these pools is supposed by some to be the Dragon well of Nehemiah, before the Valley gate. Neb. ii. 13; though generally this is referred to the fountain of the Virgin. It is very difficult to decide as to most of the particular localities of the ancient city. The present surface of the ground is, in many parts, covered to a great depth with the accumulated ruins of ages. As an instance of this it may be stated, that a few years since, when seeking a foundation for a Protestant church on Mount Zion, super- incumbent rubbish to the depth of twenty-five feet was dug through before reaching the solid rock.f The Jerusalem of sacred history is, in fact, no more. Not a monument or vestige of the capital of David and Solomon exists, if we except the foundation stones already noticed. MoDEEN Jerusalem. "Were a person," says Mr Joliffe, "placed blindfold in the centre of Jerusalem, or on any of the hills which overlook the city, nothing perhaps would exceed his astonishment on the sudden removal of his bandage. From the centre of the neighbouring elevations, he would see a wild, rugged, mountainous desert — no herds depasturing on the summit, no forests clothing the acclivities, no water flowing through the valleys ; but one rude scene of melancholy waste, in the midst of which the ancient glory of Judea bows her head in widowed desolation. On entering the town, the magic of her name, and all his earliest associations, would suffer a still greater violence, and expose him to still stronger disappointment. No ' streets of palaces and walks of state,' no high-raised arches of triumph, no fountains to cool the air, or porticoes to exclude the sun ; no single vestige to announce its former military greatness or commercial opulence ; but, in the place of these, he would find himself encompassed on every side by walls of rude masonry, the dull uniformity of which is only broken by the occasional protrusion of a small grated Avindow." All travellers agree in their representations of the impressions produced by the first view of the holy city, so singular in situation and sacred in hallowed associations ; as they also do in the feelings of disappointment on becoming familiar with its streets and dwellings. For, beautiful as Jerusalem appears in the distance, the illusion is dissipated on entering the gates. As the stranger traverses the irregular and almost forsaken streets, meanness, misery, and filth appear on every side. Very few, if a»y, of the streets bear names among the native population. Some ai'e a succession of arched avenues ; in others the opposite houses nearly meet at the top, or a canopy of old mats and planks is placed across, and so low, as scarcely to allow an equestrian to pass beneath them. The footpaths are only partially paved, and, in many instances, ai^e as rugged and as steep as a mountain road, and so narrow, that two loaded camels can with difficulty pass one another. The few shops have a dirty and desolate appearance : the only signs of business are at the bazaars, if we except the sale of beads, crosses, and other objects of superstitious regard, which are purchased by the pilgrims who * Kitto's Modern Jerusalem. t Dr. Olin's Travels, ii. 254. 64 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. annually resoi't to the city. The outsides of the private houses, though sti'ongly built of limestone, are exceedingly mean, more particularly those in the Jewish quarter, with their narrow windows, masked and guarded with iron bars towards the street, and wooden casements within. Nor do the insides of these dwellings remove the dis- agreeable sensations made by the exterior. "A large number of houses in Jerusalem are in a dilapidated and ruinous state. Nobody seems to make repairs so long as his dwelling does not absolutely refuse him shelter and safety. If one room tumble about his ears, he removes into another, and permits rubbish and vermin to accumulate as they will in the deserted halls. Tottering staircases are propped to prevent their fall ; and when the edifice becomes untenantable, the occupant seeks another a little less ruinous, leaving the wreck to a smaller or more wretched family, or more probably to a goatherd and his flock. Habitations which have a very respectable appearance as seen from the street, are often found, upon entering them, to be little better than heaps of ruins."* "Throughout the whole place, there is not one symptom of either commerce, comfort, or happiness."! " Under Turkish rule, no one dreams of finding regulations and appliances for the convenience or safety of the public. No lamp-posts, no water- pipes, no names of streets, no numbered houses, no drains or se"wers, no scavengers but dogs and jackals, no coaches or carriers' carts. Everybody is expected to provide for himself."^ "At every step you are reminded of that prophecy, 'Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles.' "§ And now, " destitute of any interest but that connected with the past, the traveller gladly hastens from the dulness and misery within her walls, to the lonely hills around, where there is nothing to disturb the picture of the momentous events brought before him by his imagination."!! Jerusalem is now universally called Kouds, by the Mohammedans, which signifies " holy." The city that now is, appears of an irregular shape. It is surrounded by a high embattled wall, which is generally of a compact limestone. It has six gates, one of which looks to the west, and is called the gate of Bethlehem, because the road to this place passes through it. On the north are the gates of Damascus and Herod : the latter is now closed. On the east, leading to the valley of Jehoshaphat and the Mount of Olives, is St. Stephen's gate, near which, it is said, the proto-martyr was stoned to death. On the same side is the Golden gate, filled up with solid masonry, and " flanked with a tower, on which a Mohammedan soldier is constantly on guard ; for the Turks have a tradition that by this gate the Christians will one day enter and obtain possession of the city."ir Looking to the south is Zion gate, or the gate of the prophet David : it is nearly opposite to the mosque built over the supposed site of the tomb of the royal psalmist. Most travellers get their first view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which lies within half a mile east of the city walls. Standing on a part of the brow of the hill which is traditionally said to be the spot on which om' Lord stood when he beheld the city, and wept over it, the whole of Jerusalem spreads out to the sight like a map, every considerable edifice, and almost every house, being visible. The whole is as an inclined plane, sloping gently from east to west, and indented by a slight depression nearly through the centre in the same direction, and seems as though built on one continuous hill, standing out singly from the midst of the surrounding mountains. The vast assemblage of domes and tuiTets which adorn the roofs of the convents, churches, and houses, gives to the place an external air of grandeur : of these domes * Kitto's History of Modern Jenisalem. f Sir F. Henniker's Journey. J Dr. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land. § Eev. J. Jowett's Christian Researches. IJ Bartlett's Walks about Jerusalem. IT Stephen's Incidents of Travel. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 5r. none seem more splendid than that of the mosque which has usurped the place of the ancient Temple. • Among tlie public edifices is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the traditional site of Calvary. ■ The locality of the crucifixion, however, is strongly contested. Some writers favour the claims of this spot, chiefly on the ground that the early Christians must have well known the real Calvary, at the time when Constantine erected the original church of the Holy Sepulchre ; while some, on the other hand, urge the topographical difficulty, that this site is now far within the walls, and that it cannot be shown that it was ever otherwise than within the city, whereas we are distinctly taught that Christ " suff"ered without the gate," Heb. xiii. 12. " The ascent to the [traditional] mount of Calvary is by a staircase cut in the rock : its form is almost entirely disfigured by marble and decorations. The holes of the crosses, evidently spurious, are beneath ; and there is a fissure in the rock, said to have been produced by the earthquake. These contrivances tend both to produce disgust, and to weaken our faith in the locality."* It is at times the scene of most disgraceful conflicts between the adherents of the Latin and Greek churches, and to the scandal of religion, even in the judgment of Jews and Turks. The "place called Calvary" is sometimes assigned, though very arbitrarily, to the outside of the second wall, on Llount Bezetha. The mosque of Omar, with its extensive area, verdant lawn, and gi'oups of olive and cypress trees, is the most handsome object in modern Jerusalem. It occupies nearly one-eighth of the whole city. This splendid Turkish sanctuary occupies the site of the Temple of Solomon ; but it is forbidden ground to both Jew and Christian. Beneath the platform of the mosque are some concealed crypts, supposed to be part of the original basement laid on Mount ]\Ioriah, on which to rear the lofty groundwork of the " house of the Lord." The citadel and the great Armenian convent occupy that part of Mount Zion included within the present walls The citadel lies on the northern brow of the hill. It incloses within its ancient outworks a portion of the celebrated tower of Hippicus, which was saved, at the command of Titus, from sharing in the general destruction of the city. Between the citadel and the Ai-menian convent is the Protestant episcopal church of St. James. On the outside of the wall is a mosque, which is said, by the Mohammedans, to be built over the grave of David. Another part of the hill is occupied by some small convents, and the remainder of Zion has become a ploughed field.f Dr. Kae Wilson and Dr. Clarke found part of it laid out as arable land, and the ploughmen actually at Avork, turning up the soil of the spot which, in ancient days, was covered with houses The Rev. R. Herschell saw a crop of barley growing on the mountain. The Jewish quarter adjoins the rugged slopes of Zion : " here their wretched and ruinous habitations are crowded together, without the slightest regard to cleanliness or comfort." They number 5000 individuals, and possess several synagogues. The Armenians live round their convent ; and the Greeks and Eoman Catholics have their houses near to Calvary. The Turks and Arabs chiefly occupy the more airy and open district of Bezetha, and also have their dwellings scattered in every quarter. The petty political intrigues of these various classes " constitute the only life in the holy city Each of them hates and despises the others, and would willingly be rid of them, unless indeed they can be made a soin^ce of profit." The total population is about 15,000. In addition to this number, there is a Turkish garrison of 800 men, and at the time of * Bartlett's Wcoits about Jerusalem. + ^licali m. 12. 50 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Easter a great influx of pilgrims. The Jews bury on Olivet, the Mohammedans on Moriah, and the Christians on Zion. ^ Environs. "Mountains are round about Jerusalenv" Psa. cxxv. 2. The Mount of Olives, or Olivet, so celebrated both in the Old and New Testaments, rises on the east of the city. It is three hundred feet above Moriah, and towers one hundred feet above the highest point in the city. It is two miles in length, and stretches from north to south. It rises with considerable steepness over against the city. On its eastern side is the town of Bethany, where the Saviour found a temporary home in the house of pious and devoted friends. Not far ofi", and still on the mount, are the ruins of the village of Bethphage, to which place the disciples were sent for a colt, on that memorable occasion when our Lord made his last visit to the guilty metropolis of Judea. The site of this place has latterly been satisfactorily traced by Dr. Olin. A few olive trees yet maintain their ground on the mount: their gnarled branches and hollow trunks prove them to be very aged. A path winds down the hill to a square space, inclosed by an ordinary stone wall, which was fixed on by early tradition as the garden of Gethsemane. " Giving myself up," says Dr. Ptobinson, " to the impressions of the moment, I sat down here for a time, alone, beneath one of the aged trees. All was silent and solitary around : only a herd of goats were feeding not far off, and a few flocks of sheep grazing on the side of the mountain. High above towered the dead walls of the city ; through which there penetrated no sound of human life. Here, or at least not far off, the Saviour endured that ' agony and bloody sweat,' which v/as connected with the redemption of the world ; and here, in deep submission he prayed, ' my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink it, thy will be done.'"* The southern peak of Olivet is known as the Mount of Offence, because it is supposed to be the spot where the idolatrous wives of Solomon built a temple to their god Chemosh. On a neighbouring ridge is the modem village of Siloam, consisting of a number of Arab families, who have built their plaster huts against the side of a m^ountain, or have made themselves dwellings by creeping into the rocky sepulchres, where the bodies of the nobles of Judah were once placed with funereal pomp. The " hill Gareb" (Jer. xxxi. 39) lay at the north-western corner of the ancient city. Dr. E. Henderson supposes the word to be derived from a Hebrew verb, signifying "to scratch or scrape," and that it designates the locality to which lepers were removed, as they were not allowed to remain in the city.f Opposite Zion is the " Hill of Evil Counsel." It obtains its name from a tradition that the high priest, Caiaphas, had here a country-house, at which the Jews took counsel to destroy Jesus. On the top of the hill are the ruins of a small village. The valleys running between the mountains are of no gi-eat breadth. On the west is the valley of Gihon, with a continuation known as the valley of Hinnom. It is a deep and narrow dell, with rocky and, precipitous sides. It sweeps around Mount Zion, and descends with great rapidity into the deeper valley of Jehoshaphat. Near to the juncture of the valleys there is a spot to which Jerome assigns the place of Tophet, where the Jews practised the horrid rites of Baal and Moloch. It was probably in allusion to the fires which were here piled for the destruction of children, that the later Jews applied one of the names of this valley (Gehenna) to denote the place of future punishment, or the fires of hell. Near this spot is the traditionaiy Aceldama, or field of blood, of the traitor Judas. It is a small plot of ground, overhung with one precipice, and looking down another into the gloomy glen below. "At the junction of * Biblical Researches, i. 347. t Henderson on Jeremiah, p. 178. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 57 the Hinnom with the valley of Kidron, which is nearly at right angles, there is a level space of several acres, laid out in gardens, and well set with trees : this rich and beautiful spot, watered by Siloam, was called ' the King's Dale,' or, Garden."* Here Adonijah was proclaimed king, 2 Sam. xvii. 17. It is "the prettiest and most fertile place around Jerusalem. "f The rocky sides of the hills forming the valley of Jehoshaphat descend precipitously, and are adorned with many straggling olive trees. Most of these rocks are hevm. into sepulchres of various forms and sizes, and with considerable care. One of them passes for the tomb of Zechariah, and a second for Jehoshaphat 's ; while a square detached erection is called the tomb of Absalom. No doubt they are ancient places of sepulture: they are noAv often the resting-places of benighted passengers, or the homes of destitute Arabs. The channel of this valley is the brook Kidron of the Scriptures. It is in tlie present day nothing more than the dry bed of a wintry torrent, bearing marks of being occasionally swept over by heavy volumes of water, which descend into it from the neighbouring hills. After passing by Jerusalem, the brook, when flowing, finds its way into the Dead Sea. Dr. Rae Wilson saw the Kidron at a time when a regular stream of water filled the channel, occasioned by the autumnal rains. He says that, at such a season, it rushes with great impetuosity. | Those who desire particulars respecting Jerusalem and its suburbs will find much valuable information in the works of Eobinson, Wilson, Kitto, and others. They all furnish a variety of particulars which afifectingly confirm the fulfilment of the Divine predictions against this highly-favoured, yet guilty city. It has been " given into the hands of strangers for a prey, and unto the wicked of the earth for a spoil." "All that pass by clap their hands at thee ; they hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth?" Lam. ii. 15. "0 Jerusalem, Jemsalem," exclaimed the pitying Saviour, "thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate," Matt, xxiii. 37, 38. " From the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed," Lam. i. 6. The Rev. John Hardy observes, that the prophecies concerning Judea and Jerusalem have been so exactly accomplished, that they may now be read as actual history. Some of the most striking of these prophecies are to be found in Lev. xxvi. ; Deut. xxix. 22 — 24; Isa. i., vi., xxiv., xxxii. 9; Jer. iv. 20, &c. ; xii. xviii. ; Ezek. vii. 21; xii. 17 — 20; Dan. ix. 27. No. IX AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRIES. It will be seen by the accompanying map, that Palestine may be divided into four regions, distinguished by climate, vegetation, and general aspect. Three of these regions form long strips of land nearly parallel with each other and with the coast. * Paxton's Letters from Palestine, p. 123. t Robinson's Researches, i. 490. X Travels, i, 244. — — 1 58 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. \ 1. The Great Valley and Kegion of DErREssioN extends from the sources of tlie Jordan to the Gulf of Akaba. Its general elevation is from 500 feet above the level of the ocean to 1300 feet below it. It is the hottest part of the Holy Land, the mean annual temperature being 70° to 75°. This great central basin includes the waters of Merom, the sea of Tiberias, the whole valley of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the Wady el Arabah. Towards this basin all the principal valleys incline, and into it the waters of the eastern slopes flow. The Waters of Merom, or, according to its modern name, Bahr el Huleh, is a lake of a triangular shape, six or eight miles broad at its base, though it varies at difterent seasons. Its surface in many places, especially the northern part, is covered with a marsh plant, having very broad leaves. As the lake narrows towards the outlet, the plain on the west widens, forming a beautiful and very fertile champaign. On the north, its waters are skirted by a large marshy tract, densely covered with shrubs, reeds, and rushes, through which, the Arabs assert, neither man nor beast can penetrate, and which is the resort of wild fowl and animals.* In con3e(j[uence of the higher level o* the lake Huleh, and the rocky and narrow character of its channel, the Jordan flows down to the lake of Tiberias with considerable rapidity and noise The banks are thickly overhung with groves of the plane and oleander trees. The Lake of Tiberias, known also as the Sea of Galilee, and the Lake of Gennesaret, and Chinneroth, lies 652 feet below the level of the ocean.f It is twelve miles in length, and six in breadth. Lofty, irregular ridges surround it on every side, which break abruptly dowia to form the bed of the lake. The mountains on the east are very bold, and so continue on that side with little interruption. On the west, small and beautiful vales and charming defiles, irrigated by streams of water, separate the heights. The water is deep, clear, and pure, and abounds with excellent fish. Its flow is swift and silent. The margin presents flocks of storks, ducks, and pelicans; and occasionally vultures and eagles heavily flap their broad wings over its expanse. Dr. Clarke speaks of the uncommon grandeur of the surrounding scenery, and compares it, for picturesque beauty, with the lakes of Westmoreland and Italy. Dr. Eobinson gives a less glowing description. " The lake presents, indeed," says he, " a beautiful sheet of limpid water, in a deep, depressed basin, from which the shores rise, in general, steeply and continu- ously all around, except where a ravine, or sometimes a deep wady, occasionally interrupts them. The hills are rounded and tame, with little of the picturesque in their form : they are decked by no shrubs nor forests ; and even the verdure of the grass and herbage, which earlier in the season might give them a pleasing aspect, was already gone ; they are now [in June] only, naked and dreaiy." This sea, though generally calm, is still subject to whirlwinds and sudden gusts from the openings in the mountains, as in ancient times, Luke viii. 23, 24. The Jordan maintains its course through the middle of the lake, and may be traced by a line of smooth water through its centre. The River Jordan is a venerated stream, identified with many of the leading events in Old Testament histoiy, and remarkable in the New Testament as the scene of the baptism of our Lord. This chief of Syrian rivers rises under the lofty peaks of the Anti-Libanus, and flows in a direction almost wholly southward, flowing through the lake of Tiberias, and onward to the Dead Sea. Its present Arabic name means " the * Bibliotheca Sacra, 1846. t Lieutenant Sj-monds, in Ids trigonometrical survey, makes it only 328 feet ; and further states, that the difference between this lake and the Dead Sea is 984 feet, giving a fall of 16-4 feet in every geographical mile. — Bibl. Sacra, 1848. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 50 !vatering-place," to which the epithet " great" is sometimes prefixed. The first and most eastern som-ce of the Jordan is named Banias ; a second and principal source i« about twenty miles above Ctesarea Phi- lippi.- This latter streamlet flows for '■=«fe^«3; -^r' the first three miles through a narrow and lovely valley, and then pursues a southern course, joined by several small tributary streams, whose united waters form the lake el Huleh. About ten miles further on, the Jordan flows with some power into the lake of Tiberias. Lieu- tenant Lynch, who published the first authentic account of this river, frc m actual survey, describes it, after leaving the lake, as pursuing a serpentine course, so that, in making a distance of sixty miles in a direct line, its short and frequent windings extend to 200 (other accounts make it 113) miles in length. This officer met with twenty-seven rapids, some of them fearful and dangerous: in other parts the water dashed from side to side, as if it would break through the rocky barriers that formed its shores. Towards the end of its course, the flow of the Jordan becomes more gentle, though its meanderings continue the same. An- ciently, at certain seasons, it overflowed its banks, 1 Chron. xii. 15; Jer. 1. 44; and ^ at the present day it rises in height nine "'■ to ten feet, between the months of Janu- ViXj and March — a height sufficient to pro- ^■^^'^ -^'^^ duce an extensive inundation were the channel not so deep as it is. The spaces between the outer and inner banks, on each side, which, during the greater part of the year are dry, and overgrown with thickets of bushes and reeds, are the hiding-places of wild beasts, until the yearly rising of the waters compels them to fly ; whence the expression, to " come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan," Jer. xlix. 19. The common name of the great valley through which the Jordan flows is el Ghor, signifying a depressed tract or plain, usually betw^een two mountains ; and the same name continues to be applied to the valley across the whole length of the Dead Sea, and for some distance beyond. " This valley," says Dr. Richardson, "through its whole course is bounded by a chain of mountains on each side. On the east they rise almost perpendicularly from the bed of the river ; but on the west there is a fine fertile vale, averaging about half or three quarters of a mile in breadth, between the water and the mountain. On the north of Tiberias, the hills retire in a kind of arch, forming a small triangular plain of great beauty and THE COURSE OF THE JORBAN. * Buckiiardt says that one of the streams or spiings still bears the name of Dan, or Dhan, and that the ancient name of the Banias was Jor ; hence the name Jordan. 60 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. -1 fV'rtility, and well watered by a pure limpid stream : this is the ancient " land of Gen- nesaret" (Mark vi. 53,) and the modern el Ghuweir, or " Little Ghor." The Bead Sea lies deep in this region of depression, being 131-2 feet below the level of the Mediterranean. It is known in Scripture as the "sea of the plain," the "salt sea," and the " east sea."* Its collection of waters is forty miles long, and six to eight wide, e.xcept in one place, where it is contracted to only two by a broad peninsula projecting from the eastern shore. South of this point, the sea is very shallow, so that in summer, in consequence of evaporation, the body of water falls from twelve to fifteen feet to less than one ; and this end of the sea at such seasons becomes an offensive marsh. The scene at all times is one of unmixed dreariness. Unstirred by the wind, the sluggish waters seem a " vast caldron of metal, fused, but motionless." " I liave visited many scenes of desolation," says Mr. Hardy, "but this surpasses them all: yet this very spot, 'we are assured by Scripture, was once 'as the garden of the Lord.' " The shores present a sterile and forbidding aspect; in some parts the mountains appear one black mass of lava. Some of the stones on the shore, observes Dr. Kobinson, " partially ignite in the fire, and emit a bituminous smell." Bitumen, or asphaltum, in large pieces, is found in various places, which has given to this sea its Roman name Asphal- tites. The warm fountains, the hot sulphur springs, and the appearance of every object around, testify to the volcanic character of the whole region. Masses of crystallized fossil salt rise to fifty feet in height, and are several hundred feet in length. Lieutenant Lynch found at the western side of the lake a pillar of salt, forty-three feet high, resting on a kind of oval pedestal. f The waters of this sea are bitter, nauseous, and Salter than the ocean : no living thing inhabits them. Only in three instances have they been known to be navigated by man ; and then one of the adventurers was found The figures denote the depths'in fathoms. dying on the shore; and a second, immediately after his return, sunk under a fever brought on by the heat and exertion to which he was exposed. The latter explorator, lieutenant Molyneux, experienced several storms during the two days he spent on its waters. At the end of his brief voyage "everythmg in the boat was covered * Gen. xiv. 3 ; Deut. iii. 17 ; Numb, xxxiv. 3 ; Josh. xv. 5; Ezek. xhii. 18 ; Joel ii. 20. t This pillar, or a similar one, is mentioned bj^ Josephus and early Cliristian ■v^Titers, and was an object of search by various travellers ; the curious discovery was made by Mr. Lynch. The judgment of God overtook Lot's -wife on the eastern side of the sea, while this pillar is on the western. Literest- ing, then, as it may be as a natui-al emiosity, and as an illustration of Scripture, it must not be pre- sumed to be the identical pillar mentioned m the sacred niurative. THE DfL\D SEA THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 61 with a nasty slimy substance: iron was singularly corroded, and looked as if covered in patches with coal tar ; and the effects of the salt spray, by lying upon the skin, and getting into the eyes, nose, and mouth, produced constant thirst and drowsiness, and took away all appetite.* It has been observed, that although the Dead Sea is constantly receiving large supplies of water from the Jordan and other streams, and has no visible outlet by which they may be discharged, it yet preserves the same level. This singular fact is accounted for by the evaporation occasioned by the intense heat of the region, which occasions the mists and vapours described by early travellers as the smoke from the caldron of the sea. The appearance of the bed of these deadly waters, and of the suiTounding district, bears ample evidence that the whole (or, as Dr. Eobinson sup- poses, the southern part only) has sunk down by some extraordinary convulsion ; and, at the same time, affectingly illustrates and confirms the account of the overthrow of the guilty cities of the plain, Deut. xxix. 23. Pursuing our course along the depression, we find at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea " the valley of salt," a saline morass, whose stagnant waters and impure exhalations render the whole neighbourhood peculiarly unhealthy. Still further south is a range of rugged rocks, called in Scripture Acribbim, or " scorpions," Numb, xxxiv. 4; Josh. xv. 3. Not far from thence are some chalky cliffs which divide el Ghor from el Arabah. The Wady el Arabah extends southwards nearly 105 miles, and joins that branch of the Eed Sea known as the Gulf of Akaba. Its western side is limited by a lofty line of cliffs, forming an abutment to the great western desert, which lies at the height of twelve to fifteen hundred feet above the bed of this valley. Its bed is a sandy desert, five or six miles in width, and its water-shed is at el Sateh, which runs obliquely across the desert valley. It is a curious fact, that this immense crevasse, (as this rent in the earth's surface is geologically called,) stretching from sea to sea, " deep, dreary, and desolate," was totally unknown to modern geographers and travellers until the beginning of the nineteenth century. As the scene of some of the most remarkable incidents in the exodus of the Israelites, it claims particular attention.! II. The Region of the Ptains adjacent to the Shore. This elevation ranges from one to one thousand feet. Mean annual temperature 65° to 70°. The sea- coast, to which the name of Palestine more properly belongs, lies low, and the entrance to most of its streams and bays is choked with sand. Few good landing places are found along the coast. Gsesarea once had a commodious harbour, but it is now barred with reefs of sand, and even small vessels are compelled to lie at anchor at the mouth of the small river Arsuf. The rest of the shore as far as Joppa affords no secure anchorage. The northern portion of this coast is known as the vale of Leontes, Avhich ends at the lofty peaks of the Eas-el-Bayad. This headland is the termination of a range of hills that stretches from Safed. South of this is another mountain, el Nakura, from which point the coast becomes more level. Around the bay of Acre the hills recede, so as to form a beautiful broad plain, of a semicircular shape, and ten miles in diameter. The town of Acre, anciently Accho, stands on an angular promontory, jutting into the sea. The opposite or southern point of the bay is formed by Mount Carmel. The sceneiy from Beirut to Tyre is described, for the most part, as simple and uninteresting. On the one hand is the sea, and on the other a line of low hills. From Tyre to * Journal of the Royal GeograpMcal Society, 1848. t Coleman's Historical Geogi-aphy of the Bible. GO, THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. Carrael the country is more picturesque. The latter spot especially is noted as "a fruitful field," which its name signifies. From its heights various streamlets flow gently down, and evergreen meadows and vineyards adorn its sides. Numerous wild animals resort to its woodlands ; and " large flocks of birds, attracted by the abundance of food, and by the waters which wind through the neighbouring valleys, enliven, by their harmony of song, one of the most beautiful spots in the Holy Land." On the north of Carmel is the plain of Esdraelon, in Scripture called Megiddo and the plain of Jezreel, and which has been termed by Dr. Clarke " the battle-field of nations," from the numerous conflicts of armies which have here been witnessed from the days of Barak to those of Buonaparte. Its direction is south-easterly ; and it is divided from the plain of Acre by a narrow defile, through which the Kishon makes its way. This stream is almost dry in summer, but during the rainy season it flows with great breadth and force. From Carmel to Joppa (Jaflfa) the first part of the plain is covered with brush- wood, in which there are herds of wild boars. It then becomes cultivated, and opens " on the rich pasture land of the vale of Sharon, clothed with luxuriant verdure as far as the eye can reach. The white clover springs spontaneously, and among a variety of shrubs and flowers are a few dwarf tulips. There is nothing now bearing the appearance of what is called a rose, except the cistus roseus of Linnseus, which grows abundantly. This tract of land, glorious as it is to the eye, is yet deficient of water in its central parts, and for this reason appears not to be [much] frequented even by the Arabs. The grass and flowers spring to waste their sweetness, and to fall unseen ; and the storks, striding to and fro, are the only animals by which they are visited. The soil is light, and the surface elastic ; and the uneven foreground swells into hills to the east, which are backed by the mountains of Samaria beyond."* Such is the scene early in spring, but by June the grass and the flowers are gone. Buckingham, who crossed this tract in winter, describes it as presenting an unattractive appearance. Indeed, tlie northern portion is at all times arid and sandy, but the further it extends southward it improves. A few hills separate Sharon from the plain of Sephela — once the country of the Philistines. The soil of this district is described by Dr. Kobinson as good, and yielding fair crops of gi'ain. Shortly after the traveller has passed this plain, a perceptible struggle commences between the sand and grass. At length, all appearance of cultivation is at an end, and only drifting sands meet the eye in every direction. III. The Tablelands, comprising the elevated regions on both sides of the valley of the Jordan. Elevation from 2000 to 3000 feet. Mean annual temperature 60° to 65°. Starting from the noi'thern point of the tablelands, mount Safed, in Galilee, first attracts the notice of the traveller. This isolated peak reaches an altitude of 2770 feet. The ancient town that stood on it is supposed to have been the " city set on an hill," to which the Saviour drew the attention of his disciples during the delivery of the sennon on the mount. The modern city is visible from a great distance on every side except the north ; while the neighbouring valleys are deep, and lie much below the level of the ocean. " The declivity from the central hills of Galilee towards the great valley of the Jordan is formed by a succession of narrow plains, rising one above another from the valley of that river. Here the soil is everj'where a fine black mould, deep, free from stones, and appearing in such a climate capable of almost any production, were but the hand of man applied to it."f Tabor is the • Monroe's Summer Rambles in Syria. f Kitto's History of Palestine. THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 63 loftiest mountain in lower Galilee, and one of the most striking in Palestine. A path winds around the mountain, and gives a view from all its different sides, eveiy step presenting something new, and more and more beautiful. Stripped of eveiy association, and considered merely as an elevation commanding a view of extensive valleys and mountains, it well repays the toil of ascending it.* At the north-westei-n point from Tabor is the vale of Nazareth. It is a kind of hollow or basin, formed by inclosing hills. " It seems," says Dr. Kichardson, " as if fifteen mountains met to form one inclosure for this delightful spot : they rise around it like the edge of a shell to guai'd it from intrusion. It is a rich and beautiful field in the midst of barren mountains. It abounds in fig-trees, small gardens, and hedges of the prickly pear, and the dense grass affords an abundant pasture." The mountains of Samaria are chiefly of limestone, very hard, and, like all lime- stone strata, are filled with caverns, to which caverns reference is frequently made in Scripture. The valleys of Samaria are generally deep ravines, much narrower and steeper than those of Judea. Mount Ephraim is a tract of high land, which runs from north to south, in the division of the country formerly belonging to the tribe of Ephraim. The western slope forms an almost unbroken range. Eastward it terminates by a steep descent towards the Jordan. It is a well wooded and rather fruitful district. At the extremity of this ridge is Neby Samuel, to which the prophet Samuel convened the Israelites, and where the Philistines met with a decided over- throw, 1 Sam. vii. 2 — 10. On it the ancient village of Mizpeh, or " watchtower," was situated : this- Mizpeh is, however, to be distinguished from others of the same name. The tablelands of Judea are a continuation of those of Samaria. The most noticeable physical feature of this division of the country is the desert or wilderness of Judea, which stretches from near Jericho on the north, to tlie mountains of Edom in the south. Though called a desert, it is not to be understood that it was either uninhabited or barren, but simply that it was less fertile than other parts ; and being left to its spontaneous productions, was used chiefly for pasture land. From Jerusalem the road ascends to Bethlehem and Hebron, which is the highest point in western Palestine. The land then again descends to Eshtemoa, where it sinks into the hilly lowlands, called in Scripture "the south of Judah." Here the elevations are apparently very small, yet the plain from which they rise is itself of considerable height, and thus brings the tops of the hills to nearly 1500 feet above the level of the sea. On the "other side of the Jordan," a steep wall of rocks, averaging nearly 2000 feet in height, runs along the whole length of the country, broken only by the narrow valleys and ravines through which the streams of eastern Palestine pass down to the Jordan and its two seas. On the east of the range is a wide and undulating table- land, 120 miles in length; and near to the middle of this tract lies the elevated region called the mountains of Gilead. Here, " lofty mountains give an outline of the most magnificent character ; flowing beds of secondary hills soften the romantic wildness of the picture ; gentle slopes, clothed with wood, give a rich variety of tints, hardly to be imitated by the pencil ; deep valleys, filled with murmuring streams and verdant meadows, offer all the luxuriance of cultivation ; and herds and flocks give life and animation to the scene."t The Scripture name of the plain south of the mountains of Gilead is Mishor, that is, " level region :" the present inhabitants have given to it the name Belka, and to the adjoining heights, Jebel el Belka. Still further south rise the lofty Abarim mountains, or " hills of the passage," over which * Stephens's Incidents of Travel. + Buckingham's Travels in Syria. I 04 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. the Israelites passed in their march to the promised land. The neiglibouring dis- tricts are the Hauran, Zubleh, Ajlun, and Lejah. The substratum of the plains in this region is mostly basalt, covered with a very fruitful soil. The plain of Hauran bears fine crops of grain, but is not deep enough to sustain any trees, excepting a few stunted figs. Nothing breaks the xmiformity of the scene, except a few black basaltic rocks, which start up here and there fx-om the brown soil. The Lejah, a district twenty miles long and ten broad, is covered over with a vast number of black rocks, and is not suitable for cultivation, though it has good pasture land, and in some places a grove of oaks may be seen. The range of mountains in the south-east, anciently known as Mount Seir, now called Shera and Jebal, line the broad valley of the Ai'abah, and extend from the Gulf of Akaba to the Dead Sea. According to Dr. Eobinson, " the structure of the chain is, at the base, low hills of limestone, or argillaceous rock ; then lofty masses of porphyry constituting the body of the mountain ; above these, sandstone broken up into irregular ridges and grotesque groups of cliffs ; and again, further back and higher than all, long elevated ridges of limestone without precipices. East of all these, stretches off indefinitely the high plateau of the great eastern desert, [which consists chiefly of fine loose sand.] We estimated the height of the porphyry cliffs at about 2000 feet above the Ai-abah : the elevation of Wady Musa above the same is perhaps 2000 or 2200 feet ; while the lime stone ridges further back probably do not fall short of 3000 feet. The whole breadth of the mountainous tract between the Arabah and the eastern desert beyond does not exceed fifteen or twenty geogi'aphical miles. The character of these mountains is quite different from those on the west of Ai'abah. The latter, wliich seemed to be not more than two-thirds as high, are wholly desert and sterile, while these on the east appear to enjoy a sufficiency of rain, and are covered with tufts of herbs and occasional trees. The wadys too are full of trees and shrubs and flowers, whilst the eastern and higher parts ai-e extensively cultivated, and yield good crops. The general appearance of the soil is not unlike that around Hebron ; though the face of the country is very different. It is, indeed, the region of which Isaac said to his son Esau, 'Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.' " IV. The Lebanon, also the Sinaitic Group, which present a contrast to the deeply depressed Ghor. The elevation ranges from 4000 to 10,000 feet. Mean annual temperature probably as low as 35°. The name of Lebanon (or " whiteness") was given to the northern mountainous range in Palestine, according to some, because of its snow- capped heights ; or, as others maintain, from the white limestone of which it consists. It presents great diversity of aspect, which occasioned the description of an Arabian poet: "Lebanon bears winter on its head ; spring plays upon -its shoulders ; autumn rests on its bosom ; while summer lies sleeping at its feet." There are two principal ridges, known as Libanus and Anti-Libanus. Of the former, Mount Makmel rises to the height of 9375 feet. From this point, a long chain of mountains stretches towards the south, when the land again descends to the level of the sea. Below Makmel is a district of tableland, about twelve miles long and four broad ; and at the lower end of this tract, next the sea, Jebel Sanin rises almost perpendicularly to the height of 9350 feet, from whence it descends by irregular gradations to the valley of the Leontes. The Anti-Lehanon range runs towards the north-east, nearly parallel with Lebanon. It is now called by the inhabitants, Jebel-esh-Shurky, or, "the eastern mountains." Its highest peak is Jebel-esh-Sheildi, or Mount Hermon, which attains to 10,000 feet, whose summit is covered with perpetual snow. Its western declivities are THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 65 completely barren, but its eastern side affords good pasturage. The mountains on this ridge, however, are generally covered with woods. Hermon is still celebrated for the heavy dews which fall on it. Between the two Lebanons is the broad and beautiful valley of Bukaa, extending to ninety miles in length, with an average of eleven in breadth. This valley was the Coele (or Hollow) S}Tia of the ancients. Its water-shed, or source, near the celebrated ruins of Baalbec, rises to the height of 3500 feet above the level of the sea, and on each side of it are the springheads of two considerable rivers, the Abana and Pharpar of Scripture. The first of these, whose name signifies " the constant," and now called the Barada, rises in Anti-Lebanon: it joins the Pharpar, or "the rapid;" and at a short distance from Damascus, the united streams form the Bahr-el-Meij, or "meadow-lake." Other streams which run from these mountains are mostly lost in the sands of the desert. The remains of the far-famed forests of Lebanon lie on the western declivity of the Makmel, at a height of 6300 feet ; above which is a pass more than 7000 feet high, across which runs the road from Beiriit to Damascus. The Sinaitic group consists of an innumerable multitude of sharp rocky summits, thrown together in wild confusion, rising to different heights, leafless and barren, without the least trace of verdure to relieve the stem and awful features of the prospect. The view from one of these summits presents a perfect " sea of desolation," without a paraUel on the face of the earth. The valleys between the summits sink into steep and narrow ravines, with perpendicular sides of several hundred feet in height, forming a maze of irregidar defiles, which can be securely traversed only by the wild Arab, who has his habitation in the "clefts of the valleys," amidst these eternal solitudes. Towards the north this wilderness of mountains slopes down in an in-egular curvilinear line, which turns outward like a crescent, and runs off, on the one hand, towards the head of the eastern gulf of the Bed Sea; and on the other, north-west, to this sea itself. The extremities of the long, irregular hne formed by this circular ridge, are joined by a high chain of mountains, Et-Tyh, extending eastward from the Bed Sea, south of Suez, in a continued chain to the Gulf of Aliaba, a distance of near one hundred and twenty miles, and inclosing in a circular segment a high sandy desert, utterly desolate and barren. North of Et- Tyh, the whole tract of country extending to the Mediterranean, and from the Bed Sea to the deep valley of the Arabah, is an immense tableland, fomied into hard gravelly or rocky plateaus, lying high above the level of the adjacent waters, with a slight inclination to the ncrth. The surface of this elevated plain is overspread with a coarse gravel, mingled with black flint stone, interspersed occasionally with drifting sand, and only diversified with lidges and summits of barren chalk hills, and furrowed by the diy beds of winter torrents. In the time of Moses it was a great and terrible wilderness ; and from time immemorial it has been a waste-howling desert, without rivers or fountains, and with but little verdure to alleviate the horrors of its desola- tion.* A few shrubs of Egyptian thorn are met with occasionally, which furnish the RyKBrfti^|r DieHoly SdUes PLAN or THE TABERNACLE Eiigf\)yEdw^Gover.fe3mDfKie|.iei-ts Atlas THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 7:3 the Jebusite," "2 Chron. iii. 1. He largely added to the materials prepared by his father, and entered into treaty with Hiram, king of Tyre, for the service of Phoenician artists and workmen. " In the fourth year (of Solomon's reign) was the foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month Zif : and in the eleventh year, in the month Bui, which is the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So was he seven years in building it," 1 Kings vi. 37, 38. Josephus says* that the foundations of the Temple were laid on a steep eminence, the natural summit of which did not offer a sufficiently level space. As it was surrounded by precipices, it became necessary to build strong walls and buttresses from the -valley, to gain an enlarged extent of surface, the intervening space being filled with earth. The hill was also fortified by a triple wall, the lowest tier of which was in some places more than 300 cubits high;f and the depth of the foundation was not visible, because it had been necessary in some parts to dig deep into the ground, in order to obtain sufficient support. The dimensions of the stones of which the foundations and walls were composed were enormous. Josephus states that the builders were directed to search for the largest blocks that could be found, some of which were forty cubits in length, and which were cut into shape on the mountains where they were found, and then conveyed to Jerusalem. | It is evident there must have been some knowledge of the laws of mechanics, for the transit of these ponderous blocks from their distant quarries, over the rugged mountains, and the raising of them to the lofty heights appropriated to them in the building. The Jewish historian further states, that the stones composing the outer walls were entirely white, and were put together with so much skill, that the interstices were not perceptible. The dimensions of the Temple were not so extensive and imposing as is commonly supposed. It was constructed, not with a view to the accommodation of the people generally, like Christian places of worship, as they were not permitted to enter into the intei-ior, but offered their prayers and sacrifices in the front of the building, or in its outer quadrangle. The body of the building, or " the Holy Place," admitted only the officiating priests. A porch extended along the whole eastern front of the house, which rose to the height of two hundred and ten feet. At its entrance were two great pillars of brass (in that age a most costly metal) sixty feet high, including the capital and base, distinguished by the names of Jachin and Boaz (" durability" and " strength"). Whether these were detached obelisks, like those foimd before some ancient Egyptian temples, or whether they supported the entablature of the porch, is a disputed point. The height of the Temple itself, according to Josephus, was sixty cubits, or one hundred and five feet ; but in 1 Kings vi. 2, it is given at only thirty cubits. The latter was, probably, the height of the external walls ; the former of the raised parts of the interior. The length of the building was sixty cubits, and its width twenty. The dimensions of the sanctuary, or " Holy Place," were forty cubits long, twenty wide, and thirty high. The " Holy of Holies" formed a square of twenty cubits. Into the latter chamber none but the high pi-iest * De Bell. Jud. v. 5. t A cubit was equal to one foot nine inches. J " In the sub-basement of the great temple at Baalbek, there is one stone sixty-six feet in length by twelve in breadth and thickness, with others of not greatly inferior size ; while in a neighbouring quarry, which tradition declares to be that from which Solomon obtained his ' great stones,' are stones of equal and greater dimensions, cut and ready for use, one of them being no less than seventy feet in length by fourteen feet five inches in thickness." — Kitto's Bible Illustrations, vol. iv. p. 47. 74 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. were permitted to enter, and he only once in a year, on the great day of atonement, Heb. ix. 2 — 7. Here was the cloud manifesting the Shechinah, or Divine presence, which was, as Dr. Hales observes, " at the west end of the sanctuary, pointing, as it were, towards Calvary, the true place of atonement for the sins of mankind ; and also to distinguish it from the heathen temples, whose adyta, or oracles, usually fronted the east, or rising sun, the grand object of heathen idolatry." The " Holy of Holies" was separated from the outer apartment by a partition of cedar, and folding doors of olive-wood, carved with cherubim, palm-trees, and flowers, overlaid with gold. A similar pair of doors, of larger dimensions, hung on massive golden hinges, or pins, formed the outer entrance. These doors were left open, and the space covered with a superb veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and white twined linen yam. The court of the priests was separated from the court of the congregation by a low stone balustrade of one cubit in height ; so that all the ritual service performed at the altar was open to the view of those who stood in the extended space without. The different courts were placed, as it were, in terraces, each inner court being higher than the next outward one: thus the centre of the Temple, from its elevated position, was clearly seen from every part of the city. The inner sides of the walls were narrowed, or made thinner, as they ascended, by shelvings of about eleven inches in width, on which the beams of the several parts rested, without the necessity of inserting the ends into the substance of the wall : " so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building," 1 Kings vi. 7. The "narrow lights," or windows, 1 Kings vi. 4, in the uppermost stories of the side chambers, were probably of curious lattice-work, and chiefly designed for ventilation. The " Holy Place" was lighted by the lamps of the ten golden candlesticks ; and it is generally understood that the Holy of Holies was strictly an adytum, having no windows ; and that to this circumstance Solomon alludes, " The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness," 1 Kings viii. 12. The wainscot of the walls and the ceiling were ornamented with cedar, beautifully carved, representing cherubim, clusters of foliage, and fruit, over which was a thick coating of pure gold. Some of these latter ornaments were combinations of the most " precious stones," 2 Chron. iii. 6, which, contrasting with the gold, produced a most brilliant effect. Planks of cedar, veneered with fir, and covered with gold, foi-med the floor : the doors were chiefly of olive wood. Though the Temple, strictly considered, was limited in its dimensions, the whole site, embracing the surrounding courts, store-chambers, and residences of the officiating priests, covered a large extent of ground, and was " like a costly gem in a broad setting of gold." In our plan of Solomon's Temple, the outer court is omitted, in order to preserve the scale from being too much limited : it was, however, similar in arrange- ment to the plan of Herod's Temple, engraved on the same plate. On the completion of the Temple, it was dedicated by Solomon with great solemnity. The ark was brought from its tented inclosure, and placed in the "Holy of Holies," with sounds of thanksgiving and joy. Numerous sacrificial offerings were made; the "glory of the Lord filled the place," and fire descended from heaven, and consumed the sacri- fices on the altar. At these manifestations of the Divine presence and approval, all the people " bowed themselves with their faces to the ground, and praised the Lord, saying. For he is good ; for his mercy endureth for ever," 2 Chron. vii. 1 — 3. This superb Temple retained its pristine splendour only thirty-three years, when it was plundered by Shishak, king of Egypt, (the celebrated Sesostris of the Greek THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. '^ historian,) 1 Kings xiv. 25, 26 ; 2 Chron. xii. 9. Under the Hebrew kings Jehoram and Ahaziah it feU into great decay, but was repaired about the year b.c. 889. After this it underwent several profanations and pillages, until, at length, it was utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. When the Jews returned from their captivity, it was rebuilt by Zerubbabel, whom Cyrus appointed governor of Judea. The dimensions of this Temple in breadth and length were double those of Solomon's. It wanted, however, five things which constituted the principal glory of the first Temple ; namely, the ark and mercy-seat ; the visible glory of the Shechinah ; the holy fire on the altar ; the Urim and Thummim ; and the spirit of prophecy. This Temple was plundered and profaned by Antiochus Epiphanes, who ordered the discontinuancte of the daily sacrifice, and erected his idol, Jupiter Olympus, on the altar of burnt- ofi"erino-. About three years after this desecration it was repaired and beautified by Judas Maccabeus, who restored Divine worship. This second Temple stood for about five hundred years, when, being much decayed by the lapse of time, it was repaired, or rather gradually reconstructed, by Herod the Great, as an act of policy, with a view to ingratiate himself in the favour of his Hebrew subjects, who, notwithstanding they denied the power, were much attached to the forms of religion. But though rebuilt, it was still called by the Jewish writers, the second Temple. » HEKOD'S TEMPLE. This superb building employed 18,000 men, for more than nine years, in its erection ; but additional courts were added from time to time, so that in the days of our Lord, the Jews could correctly say, that forty- six years were occupied in its constnaction, John ii. 20. The Temple was not at once taken down with a view to its re-erection; the Jews feared that the king, if he pulled down the entire building, would be unable or unwilling to accomplish its restoration. Herod, to convince them of his sincerity, got ready a thousand wagons, chose out ten thousand skilful workmen, and had some of the priests taught in the arts necessary to his purpose. Josephus says, that with respect to magnitude, building, and the splendour of its ornaments, utensils, and furniture, it was the most magnificent structure he had ever seen. "It was built," says he, "on a hard rock, in which the foundations were laid at an incredible expense. The Temple itself was sixty cubits high, and as many broad; but in the front, Herod added two wings or shoulders, each of which, projecting twenty cubits, made the whole length of the front one hundred cubits, by as many in breadth. The gate was seventy cubits high and twenty broad ; but it was without doors. The stones were white marble, twenty-five cubits in length, twelve in height, and nine in breadth, all polished and unspeakably beautiful. Instead of doors, the gate was closed with veils, flowered with gold, silver, purple, and everything rich and curious. At each side of the gate were two pillars, from whence hung golden festoons, and vines with leaves and clusters of grapes curiously wrought." Court of the Gentiles. — The principal entrance on the east, which led into the court of the Gentiles, was called the gate Shushan, derived from a representation of the Persian city of Shushan portrayed upon it, to remind the Jews of their captivity, and that they might not again fall into idolatry ; or, as others suppose, to commemorate the wonderful dehverance of the Jewish nation from the malice of Haman, when they were in subjection to the Persians. At this gate the half-shekel tribute (Exod. xxx. 13) was collected during three weeks before the passover ; and here sat the money-changers, ready to supply Jewish coins for the Temple dues in exchange for foreign money. 7e THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. There were other gates; all of which had towers over them. This outer court being assigned to the Gentile converts, the Jews, who in later times did not worship in it themselves, conceived that they might appropriate it to secular uses, such as a market for the sale of sacrificial animals, incense, and oil — a practice which received a severe rebuke from our Lord. The court of the Gentiles was often called "the mountain of the house," because in it assembled proselytes from all nations to worship. Further than this place no one who was not a strict Hebrew was allowed to approach. Its flooring consisted of pieces of marble stones, of various colours, tastefully and smoothly ai-xano-ed. The wall and roof of the Temple generally were covered with polished gold externally, which had a most gorgeous appearance when the sun shone upon them. Around the court was a piazza, or covered walk, supported by massive pillars of white marble, and crowned with a ceiling of the finest cedar. Along these covered wallis were convenient seats ; and the place furnished a pleasant retreat for the people in sultiy or rainy weather. That portion of the piazza lying on the east was known as " Solomon's porch," which was the scene of our Lord's instructions, and the miraculous power of his apostles. Above this were galleries or apartments. This portico is represented by Josephus as the noblest work under the sun. From the roof of this piazza, the view down into the depths of the valley below was very impressive, being, it is said, no less than 750 feet. The extreme angle, or pinnacle of this part of the building, is supposed to have been the spot whence Satan tempted our Saviour to precipitate himself. Court of the Women. — Standing in this outer court, the spectator beheld the house of the Temple, rising with lofty magnificence, and inclosed in a second wall Immediately before him, was a flight of steps which led into the court of the women. It was so called, not because it was occupied exclusively by women, but because they were not allowed to go further into the interior. The court itself was a level space, ten cubits broad, paved with marble. On the sides of the gates were tablets, inscribed in Greek and Latin, prohibiting an entrance to all Gentiles, and every ceremonially polluted person. Directly opposite the gate Shushan of the outer court, was the eastern gate, richly overlaid with Corinthian brass, which is thought to have been the gate called "Beautiful," at which the lame man lay to ask alms of those who were going into the Temple, Acts iii. 2—11. This court was the place where men, as well as women, ordinarily performed their worship, wlien they appeared at the Temple without bringing sacrifices with them. Here Peter and John used to go up with others, to pray towards the Temple of the Most High, Acts iii. 1. Here it was that the self- righteous Pharisee and broken-hearted publican appeared at the same time ; the one boldly presenting himself close up to the gate that led forward to the interior, and pleading his own worthiness before a holy God ; the other standing afar off, near the outer door, not daring to lift his- head toward the dwelling place of the Lord, but smiting upon his breast and crying, " God be merciful to me a sinner," Luke xviii. 9 — 14. Paul was in the same court when he was violently seized by his countrymen, and charged, among other things, with having brought Gentiles into that holy place. Acts xxi. 26 — 30. This court was the place of the " treasury," where the people pre- sented their offerings of money for the service of the Temple. Several chests or vessels, called "trumpets," because they were wide at the bottom and small at the top, were placed in some part of it, to receive the gifts : each vessel was appointed to receive some one particular class of offerings : one, for instance, was for money contributed to buy wood for the altar ; another, for money to buy frankincense ; and so the rest for different uses. Here our Saviour beheld the people casting in their offerings, when THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. 77 the poor widow came forward with her two mites, and cast in all that she had, Mark xii. 41 — 44. In this part of the Temple it was, too, that he delivered some of his solemn and impressive discourses, teaching the people, and reproving their unbelief, John viii. 20. The Court of Israel. — Another flight of steps conducted into the court of Israel. Besides the gate leading from the court of the women, there were three other gates on the north, and three on the south, by which the court of Israel might be entered. Around this inclosure were various chambers, in which the Levites deposited their musical instruments, and which also were used for other purposes connected with the service of Divine worship. An elegant railing divided this court from that of the priests, so that the Israelites, who there came to attend the offering of sacrifices, could, without difficulty, witness the ceremonj in the inner part of the Temple. The Court of the Priests. — In this division was the beautiful building of the Sanctuary, with the altar of burnt-offering and the laver standing in front of it. Here the priests performed their daily service. Besides these, no other Israelite might pass the railing just noticed, except Avhen he came forward solemnly to lay his hands upon the head of a victim that he presented for sacrifice, or to wave part of his offering before the Lord. Along the eastern end of this court, facing the front of the sanctuary, was another covered porch. Here the Levites stood in a row, at appointed times, "with their various instruments in their hands, playing and singing with a loud voice to the praise of the most high God. The rest of this covered space, before the narrow range set apart for the use just mentioned, was for the accommodation of the priests, when any of them were not called to be employed in service elsewhere in the court. There were no seats, however, provided for them to sit upon and rest themselves : it was not con- sidered lawful for persons to sit at all, either in the court of the priests or in the court of Israel, around it; reverence towards God, and regard for the holiness of these places, were required to be continually manifested by standing on the feet."* The Sanctuary, or the Temple proper, as it stood in the days of our Lord, was larger in its dimensions than that of the building erected by Solomon, though constructed after the same general plan. The walls of this part were built of large blocks of beautiful white marble. They rose to the height of three stories, and included various chambers. The Holy of Holies stood in its midst, but was entirely empty, excepting a stone, which marked the place once occupied by the ark of the covenant. This stone was sprinkled by the high priest with the blood of the sacrifice on the great day of atonement, and thereon he j)laced the censer of incense. Before the entrance were two curtains or veils, which are spoken of in Scripture and by Josephus as one, as they formed one partition. These veils were rent asunder from the top to the bottom, at the moment our Lord gave up the ghost on the cross, which signified that the mysteries of the Jewish dispensation were at an end, to make way for the clearer revelation of the gospel ; and especially that the way of access to God was now opened, Christ having entered for us with his own blood into " the holy place" not made with hands, and secured for all believers holy liberty and confidence at the mei-ey seat, Heb. ix. 7, 12. " He that never saw Jerusalem in her glory," say the Jewish rabbis, " never saw a lovely city ; and he that never saw the Temple, never saw the most noble fabric under the sun." While we make some allowance for the exaggerated mode of expression of these ancient doctors, it must be admitted that the latter building was of extraordinary magnificence, and might well challenge the admiration of the simple-minded fishermen of Galilee, who exclaimed, " Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are * Nevin's Biblical Antiquities. r" 78 THE NEW BIBLICAL ATLAS. here !" But He who saw the ovenvhehiiing judgments that were at hand, replied, " Seest thou these great buildings ? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." And so it came to pass, in less than forty years. The Jews, besieged by the Romans, made a fortress of it ; and though every effort was made by Titus, the Roman general, to save it from the general destruction, wild and terrific flames wrapped the glory of Moriah in utter ruin. The remains of the walls were afterwards demolished to the foundation, and the whole ground on which the Temple stood, was, according to the Romish custom, ploughed up, thus fulfilling the Divine prediction, Micah iii. 12. Its site is now occupied by a Mohammedan mosque. The daily services of the Temple were, in the main, the same as in the tabernacle in the days of Aaron ; though a variety of formal and trivial observances had been associated with them in the course of ages. There were still the morning and evening sacrifice of the lamb, and the impressive ceremonials of the great day of atonement, by which were preserved a perpetual remembrance of the awful guilt and demerit of sin, and of the infinite purity and justice of God. At the same time, there was prefigured the " one offering" of Christ, as "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." In the oblation of incense on the golden altar was typified, in a lively manner. His mediation who has entered into heaven itself, where, as the High Priest of his church, he ever lives to plead the virtue of his sacrificial death. And in the washings and purifications of the brazen laver were set forth the need of universal cleansing by the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus, while on the altar the eye of faith beheld, as it were, this inscription, " Without shedding of blood is no remission," so on the laver it might discern the correlative truth, " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." That, however, which was presented to the ancient Israelites under types and ceremonies, is now clearly made known in the gospel, and the " fountain opened for sin and uncleanness" is free, not to the Jew alone, but to the people of eveiy nation under heaven. But with this clearer light and fuller privilege is connected a more solemn responsibility ; for if " he that despised Moses' law died without mercy vmder two or three witnesses : of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace ? " Heb. x. 28, 29. THE SCEIPTURE GAZETTEER *5t* The Capital numerals indicate the number of the Msqy m which the place will be found ; the words in italic are the meanings of the proper names so far as they can be ascertained. Ab'ana, or Am'ana (the constant), a Syrian river, rising in Mount Hermon, and flowing through the city of Damascus, 2 Kings v. 12. [IV., Ab'akim {iMssages),d. chain of mountains in the east of Canaan, the most noted of which were Nebo, Pisgah, and Peor, Num. xxvii. 12. [III., IV., IX.] Ab'don (a servant), a Levitical cityin Asher, Josh. xxi. 30. A'bel [mourning, ov plain), a town in Judah, 1 Sam. vi. 18. A'bel-Beth-Ma'achah [plain of the house of Ma- achah), a to^vn in the north of Canaan, 2 Sam. XX. 14. [IV., VI.] A'bel-Ma'im [plain of the waters), the same as Abel-Beth-Maachah, 2 Chron. xvi. 4. A'bel-Meho'lah [the plain of weakness), a town in Simeon, and the birth-place of Elisha, Judg. Yii. 22. [IV.] A'bel-Miz'raim [mourning of the Egtjptians), a place on the west of the Jordan, where the Egyptians moiirned the death of Jacob ; previous to which it was known as Atad, Gen. 1. 11. A'bel-Shit'tim [the plain of acacias), a towTi of Moab, east of the Jordan, Num. xxiv. l._ [IV.] A'bez [muddy), a to-vvn in Issachar, Josh. xix. 20. Abile'ne [the father of mourning), a district so called from its chief town AbUa, in the north of Palestine, extending southward to mount Hermon, Luke iii. 1. [VI.] Ac'cAD, one of the cities built by Nimrod, in Baby- lon, Gen. X. 20. [I., II.] Ac'oHO [inclosed), a seaport on the Mediterranean, in the tribe of Asher ; the ancient Ptolemais, and the modern St. Jean d'Acre, Judg. i. 31 ; Acts xxi. 7. [II., IV., v., IX.] Acel'dama [the field of blood), a plot of ground on the outside of the southern wall of Jerusalem, called also " the potter's field," Matt, xxvii. 8, 10. [VIII.] Acha'ia, a region of Greece (now known as the Morea) occupying the north-western portion of the Peloponnesus ; Corinth was its capital, Acts xviii. 12. [Il.i VII.] Ach'metha [treasury), in Greek authors, Ecba- tana, the capital of Media, Ezra vi. 2. [II,] A'cHOR, [trouble), a valley near Jericho, on the north of Judah, Josh. vii. 26. Ach'shaph, a royal city of the Canaanites in Asher, Josh. xi. 1. [IV.] Ach'zib, a. a town on the sea-coast in Asher ; called by the Greeks Ecdippa, now Dsib, Josh. xix. 29. [IV.] ;8. a town on the plains of Judah, Josh. xv. 44 ; Micah i. 14 ; possibly the same as Chezib, Gen. xxxviii. 5. Aceab'bim [scorpiions) , hills to the south of the Dead Sea, much infested with scorpions, Num. xxxiv. 4 ; Maaleh-Acrabbim [ascent or steep of scorpions), Josh. xv. 3. [IV., Vl., IX.] Ad'adah, a town in the south of Judah, Josh. xv. 22. Ad'am [earthy), a town on the Jordan, Josh. iii. 16. Ad' AMAH [I'cd earth), a tovsm in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 36. Ad'ami [earthy), a town in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33. A'dar, the same as Hadar-Azzar, a town in Julah, Num. xxxiv. 4. Aditha'im, a tovni in Judah, Josh. xv. 36. Ad'mah [i-ed earth), one of the cities in the vale of Siddim destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. X. 19. Adora'im, a town in the south of Judah, 2 Chron. xi. 9. [V.] Adramyt'tium [court of death) , a city on the coast of Mysia, Asia Minor, Acts xxvii. 2. [II., VII.] A'dria, the Adriatic Sea, Acts xxvii. 27. [II., VII.] Adul'lam, a. a cave, 1 Sam. xxii. 1. [VI.] /3. a royal city of the Canaanites, Josh. xii. 15. [IV., v.] Adum'mim, an ascending road between Gilgal and Jerusalem, much infested with robbers. Josh. XV. 7. Aha'va, a. an Assyi-ian town, Ezra viii. 15. jS. the river on which the town stands, Ezra, ■^dii. 21, 31. Ah'lab, a town in Asher, Judg. i. 31. [IV.] A'l [heap), a. a Canaanitish city in Benjamin, Gen. xii. 8, (Hai). [V.] j3. an Ammonitish city, Jer. xlix. 3, Ai'JA, the same as Ai, Neh, xi, 31, and Aiath, Isa, X. 28. A'lN [a fountain), a. a Levitical city in Simeon, Josh. XV. 32. /3. a town in Northern Pales- tine, near the source of the Jordan, Num. xxxiv. 2. [IV., v., VL] A'jALON [strength), a. a valley, and Levitical town in Dan, Josh. x. 12; Judg. i. 35, (Aijalon). [IV., v.] p. a town in Zebulon, Judg. xii. 12. Alam'melech [God is King), a town in Asher, Josh. xix. 26. 80 THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. Ale'meth, a Levitical to^v'n in Benjamin, 1 Chron. ■vi. 60, perhaps the same as Almon, Josh. xxi. 18. Alexan'dria, on the Mediterranean coast, capital of Egypt under the Ptolemies ; built by Alex- ander the Great, Acts xviii. 24. [II., VII.] Al'lon, a to\vn in Naphthali, Josh. xix. 33. Al'mox {hidden), a Levitical town in Benjamin, Josh. xxi. 18. Al'mon Diblatha'im, an Israelitish station in the desert of Sinai, near Moab, Num. xxxiii. 46. A'loth, a district probably in or near Asher, 1 Kiiigs iv. 16. A'lu.sii, an Israelitish station on the route to Sinai, Num. xxxiii. 13. A'mad, a town in Asher, Josh. xix. 26. Am'alek, Am'alekites [a people that strike), a. an ancient people, the descendants of Esau through Amalek, inhabiting the region south of Pales- tine ; also dwelling on the east of the Dead Sea, and Mount Serr, Gen. xiv. 7. [II., HI., V.] /3. Amalek, a mountain in Ephi-aim, on wliich the city of Phathon was buUt, Judg. xii. 15. A'mam, a city in the south of Judah, Josh. xv. 26. Am'axNA, see Ab'ana ; also an eastern summit of Lebanon, Sol, Song, iv. 8. Am'mak [nuj people), a lull where Asahel was slain by Abner, 2 Sam. ii. 24. Am'monites {sons of my people), a nation descended fi-om Lot through his son Ammon, inhabiting the region between the rivers Jabbok and Am- mon, Gen. xix. 38. [IV. V., VI.] A'morites {rebels), the descendants of the fourth son of Canaan, and the most powerful of the C-anaanites ; a nation dwelling on both sides of the Jordan, Gen. xiv. 7. [in., IV.] Amphip'olis, a cily of Greece, and the capital of Macedonia, situate on the river Strymon, Acts x^-ii. 1. [n., VII.] A'xAB {cluster of graves), a town in the mountauis of Judah, Josh. xi. 21. [V.] Anaha'rath, a town in Issachar, Josh. xix. 19. An'akim, a Canaanitish nation, remarkable for their stature, who inhabited Hebron and other towns in the south. They consisted of three tribes, named after the sons of Anak, Num. xiii. 22. An'amim, a people of Egj-pt or its ^^.cinity ; their exact locality not known. Gen. x. 13. [I.] .■V>-ani'ah, a town in Benjamin, Neh. xi. 32. Ax'athoth, a Levitical town and city of refuge in Benjamin, and birth-place of Jeremiah, Josh. xxi. 18 ; (1 Chron. xi. 28. Antothite.) [IV., v.] A'nem, a Levitical city in Issachar, 1 Chron. vi. 73, the same as En-gannim, Josh. xix. 21, A'ner, a Le-sitical city in Manasseh, 1 Chron. vi. 70. A'kim, a to-rni in the hUl coimtry of Judah, Josh. XV. 50. Anti-Leb'anon, or, Anti-Lib'anus, a range of mountains in the north of Palestine, running nearly parallel to Lebanon, of which the highest point is Mount Hermon, the modem Jebel-esh sheikh, 10,000 feet high. [VII.] An'tiocii, a. the capital of SjTia, where the dis- ciples were first called Christians, Acts vi. 5. [II., v., VII.] — ■ — /3. a city of Pisidia, Asia Minor, visited by Paul and Barnabas, Acts xiii. 14. [VII.] Antipa'tris {against his father), a city bmlt by Herod the Great, on the site of Caphar-saba, be- tween Caesarea and Lydia, Acts xxiii. 31. A'piiAR, Aphar'sites, a nation of whom a colony was brought to Samaria, Ezra iv. 9. Aphau'sachites, Ezra v. 6, and Apharsathchites, Ezra iv. 9, two Assyrian nations otherwise un- known, unless they be taken as the same. A'PHEK {a stream), a. a royal Canaanitish city in Issachar, Josh. xii. 18. [IV.] j3. a city in Asher, Josh. xiii. 4, xix. 30; called Aphik, Judg. i. 31. [IV.] y. a town in SjTia, near which Benhadad was defeated, 1 Kings xx. 26 ; 2 Kmgs xiii. 17. Aphe'kah, a town u\ the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 53. Apollo'nia, a city of Macedonia, Acts x\ii. 1. [II., VII.] Ap'pii-Fo'rum {village ofAppius), a market-town m Italy, about fifty miles from Rome, named after Appius Claudius, whose statue was placed here, Acts xxiii. 15. [I., VIII.] Ar, the capital of Moab, situate on the Amon, called also Kabbah, and Ariel. Its later Greek name was Areopolis, Num. xxi. 15, 28. [III., IV.] A'rab, a to^vn in the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 52. Hence probably the Gentile noun Arbite, 2 Sam. xxiii. 35. Ar'abah, in the authorized version, translated " plain," but in the original it has the article as a proper name — the Arabah ; the valTey of the Jordan prolonged n-om the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf, Deut. i. 1; (Isa. xxxiii. 9, a wilder- ness. Auth. Ver.) Ar'abah, or, Beth Ar'abah, a town in Benjamin, Josh. x\iii. 18 ; the inhabitants called Arbathites, 2 Sam. xxiii. 31. Ara'bia {desert place), "the east country," or properly the south-east country, inhabited chiefly by the descendants of Ishmael, or " children of the east," 1 Kings x. 1. [I., U., III.] (Ezek. xxxviii. 13, Sheba). See page 7. A'rad, a Canaanitish town and country in the south of Palestine, Num. xxi. 1 (" the king of Arad," Josh, xii, 14.) [III., IV., v.] A'ram {the high land), a name given to Syria. See page 14. [II., III.] a. A'ram-Beth-Rehob, the same as Beth-Rehob, 2 Sam. X. 8. [II.] /3. A'ram-Dame'sek {i.e.), Syria of Damascus, 2 Sam, viii. 5, 6. [II., V.] y. A'baji-Ma'achah, 1 Chron. xix. 6, or simply Maachah, 2 Sam. x. 6, 8. [II.] 5. A'ram-Na'hara'im {Aram of the two rivers, i.e., the Euphrates and the Tigris), see Mesopotamia, p. 16. [II., v.] 6. A'ram-Pa'dan {the loxclands of Aram), in Meso- potamia, Gen. XXV. 20. [H-] ^. A'ram-Zo'bah, see Zobah. [II. ,V.] Ara'rat {^nountain of descent), the name of a dis- trict and a movmtain in Armenia. Gen. viii. 4. [II.] Ab'bathi'tes, see Arabah. Ar'chevi'tes, the inhabitants of Erech, a city of Babylonia, Ezra iv. 9. Ar'chi, an \mknown place in Palestine, probably in Ephraun, Josh. x\-i. 2. Areop'agus {the hill of Mars), a hill in Athens, on which a court of justice was held. Acts xvii. 19. Ar'gob, or Gaulonitis, a firuitful disti-ict in Bashan, Deut. iii. 14. [IV., VI.] I Arimathe'a, a town near to Ramah or Ramlet, by THE SCEIPTURE GAZETTEER. bl some supposed to be the same place, Matt, xxvii. 57. [VI.] A.Rii'iTES, a Canaanitish tribe inhabiting a district at the foot of Mount Lebanon, Gen. x. 17. [III.,V.] Akmaged'don, conjecttired to mean " i!Ae mount of Meglddo," a valley formmg the great plaiji of Es- draelon, Rev. xvi. 16. SeeMegiddo. Arme'nia, or the land of Ararat. See page 15. [II., VII.] Ar'non {leaping f 07- joy), a district and stream in Moab ; the present name of the latter is Moojeb, Numb. xxi. 13. [IV., V., VI.] Ar'oer {heath), a. town on the northern banks of the Arnon, Deut. ii. 36. [IV.] /3. a town on the river of Gad, an arm of the Jabbok, Numb, xxxii. 34. y. a town in Simeon, 1 Sam. XXX. 28 ; (1 Chron. xi. 44, "Aroerite"). Ar'pad, a town and region m Syria, near Hamath, 2 Kings xviii. 34. Arphax'ad, the third son of Shem, who gave his name to a people or region in Northern Armenia, Gen. X. 22. Ar'uboth, a town in Judah, 1 Kings iv. 10. Aru'mah, or Ru'mah, a town near Shechem, Judg. ix. 41. Ar'vad, a maritime city of Phoenicia, Ezek. xxvii, 8 ; hence the Gentile noun, Arvadite, Gen. x. 18. [II., v.] A'sHAN, a Levitical city, in tribe of Judah, Josh. XV. 42. A'sHAN, a Levitical tOAvn in Simeon, Josh. xv. 42 ; xix. 7 (Ashen) : the same as Chor-ashan, 1 Sam, XXX. 30. Ash'dod, one of the five chief cities of the Philistines: it was theAzotus of the Greeks and Romans, now an Arab village called Esdud, Josh. xi. 22. [IV.] Ash'doth-Pis'gah, a city of Reuben, near Pisgah, Josh. xii. 3. Ash'er {blessedness), a. the son of Jacob, by Zilpah, the father of one of the twelve tribes. Gen. XXX. 13. )3. a tOAvn on the borders of Manas- seh. Josh. xvii. 7. [IV.] Ash'kenaz, a descendant of Japheth, Gen. x. 3, who gave his name to a country mentioned ■nith Ararat and Minni, and to the sea now knowii as the Black Sea, Jer. U. 27. [I.] Ash'nah, the name of two cities in Judah, Josh. xv. 33, 43. Ash'taroth (y?ocAs), Ash'teroth-Karna'im, a town of Bashan, included in the territory of the half tribe of Manasseh, and assigned to the Le\ites, Gen. xiv. 5. [II., IV., V., VI.] A'siA, that is. Proconsular Asia, a part of Asia Minor, Acts ii. 9. [II., VII.] Seep. 43. As'kelon, or AsH'KELON.oneof thefive cities of the Philistines ; still called Asculan, (Josh. xiii. 3, Eshkalonite,) Judg. i. 18. [III., IV., V., VI.] Assh'ur, a son of Shem, progenitor of theAssyrians, Gen. X. 22. [L] Assh'urim, an Arabian tribe. Gen. xxv. 3; 2 Sam. ii. 9. As'sos, a seaport of Lesser Mysia, in the ^gean Sea, Acts XX. 13. [IL,VII.] As'sYRiA (happy), an ancient kingdom of Asia. See p. 13. [I., II., v.] As'sYRiANs, 2Kingsxv. 19, 29. A'tad, a threshing-floor, the burial-place of Joseph; afterwards called Abel-Mizraim, Gen. 1. 10. At'aroth, o. Ataroth-Beth- Joab, in Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 54. 0. Ataroth-addar, in Ephraim, Josh. xvi. 5, 7. [IV.] 7. Atai'Oth- Shophan, in Gad, Numb, xxxii. 34. 5. Ata- roth, in Reuben, Numb, xxxii. 3. [IV.] A'thach, a town in Judah, 1 Sam. xxx. 30. Atii'ens, the capital of Attica in Greece, Acts xvii. 16. [II. VII.] Ath'erim {"the ivay of the spies," in Auth. Vers.), Numb. xxi. 1. Attali'a, a maritime city of Pamphylia, now called Adalia, Acts xiv. 25. [VII.] A'vA, most probably a Syrian or Mesopotamian town, 2 Kings xvii. 24. A'vEN, a. the same as On, Ezek. xxx. 17. j8. the the same as Beth-aven, IIos. x. 8. 7. Plain of Aven, some valley near Damascus, Amos i. 5. A'viM, o. the inhabitants of Ava, 2 Kings x\-ii. 31. ;3. inliabitants of Philistia, Deut. Li. 23 ; 7. a town,inBenjamin, Josh, xviii. 23. [III.] A'viTH, the chief city of Hadad, king of Edom, Gen. xxxvi. 35. A'zAL, a place in or near Jerusalem, Zech. xIa'. 5. At.'e'^k'b. {strength of toalls), a town in the lowlands of Judah, Josh. X. 10. [IV., V., VI.] A'zEM, a place in Simeon, Josh. xv. 29 ; (1 Chron. iv. 29, Ezem.) Az'maveth, a city in Judah, Ezra ii. 24. Az'mon, a place in Judah, Numb, xxxiv. 4. Az'noth-ta'ror; or, the southern border of Naph- tali. Josh. xix. 34. Azo'tus. See Ashdod. Az'zAH, or Ga'za, a town in Philistia, Deut. ii, 23, Ba'al (the Sim, or lord), a. a town in Simeon, called Baalath-Beer, 1 Cliron. iv. 33. /3. a mountain, Numb. xxii. 41. Ba'al- AH, a. city of Judah, the same as Baale of Judah, Kii'gath-Baal, or Kirgath-Jearim, Josh. XV. 9. j8. a moimtam. Josh. xv. 11. Ba'alath, a. in Dan, Josh. xix. 44. /3. a city in Lebanon, built by Solomon, 1 Kings ix, 8, [II., IV., v.] Ba'alath-Be'er, a town in Simeon, Josh. xix. 8. B a'albec, a magnificent city in Ccelo- Syria, in which was a celebrated temple dedicated to Baal, or the sun: its ruins show its former splendour: supposed to be mentioned in the Bible under the name Baal-Gad. [IV., IX.] Ba'al-Gad (idol of the troop), the northern limit of the conquests of Joshua, and an ancient seat of Syrian idolatry ; afterwards known as Baal- bec. Josh. xi. 17. [IV.] Ba'al-Ham'on, a Adneyard, belonging to Solomon, in the valley of the Lebanon, Sol. Song viii. 11. Ba'al Ha'zor, in Ephraim, a pasture-ground belonging to Absalom, 2 Sam. xiii. 23. [IV.] Ba'al-Her'mon, a mountain near Hermon, Judg. iii. 3. [VI.] Ba'al-Me'on (the master of the house), or Beth- Me'on, a town in Reuben, Numb, xxxii. 38, [IV.] Ba'al-Pe'or, a mountain of the range Abarim, Numb, xxiii. 28. Ba'al-Per'azim (master of divisions), 3. mountain on the south of Jerusalem, 2 Sam, v. 20 ; 1 Chron. xiv. 11. Ba'al-Shal'isha {the third idol), town in the plains of Shai-on, near Gilgal, 2 Kings iv. 42. Ba'al-Ta'mar (master of the palm-tree), village in Benjamin, Judg. xx. 33. Ba'al-Ze'phon (idol of the iiorth), a promontoi-y of the Red Sea, on which an idol-temple was erected, Exod, xiv. 2 j Numb, xxxiii. 7, 82 THE SCRIPTUEE GAZETTEEK. Ba'bel, Bab'yi.on {cifij ofconfusioi}) (.See Slieshach, Shinar), the metropolis of the Babylonian em- pii-e, situate on tlie river Euphrates, and cele- brated for its great extent, strength, and opu- lence : it is often used in a wider sense for the Persian empii'c. Gen. x. 10 ; xi. 9. [I., II.] Ba'ca [mulberry -trees), a valley, by some placed in the northern part of Talestine ; by others, near to Jerusalem, Psa. Ixxxiv. G. Bahu'rim, a place not far from Jerusalem, beyond the mount of Olives, 2 Sam. iii. 16; (2 Sam. xxiii. 31, Barhumitc) ; (1 Chron. xi. 33, Baharumite). Ba'lah, a place in Simeon, Josh. xix. 3. Ba'moth, Ba'moth-ba'al, a town in Reuben, Numb. xxi. 19 ; (the high places of Baal, Josh, xiii. 17.) Ba'shan, the northern part of the region beyond Jordan, called Batansea by the Greek ^vl•iters : the modern name is el-Betenyeh, Numb, xxi, 33. [II., III., IV., v.] Ba'siiax-iia'voth-ja'ie, {the villages of Jair), sixty walled cities in the country of Argob, in Bashan, Deut. iii. 4, 14. Bath-rab'bim, a valley or tower, Sol. Song ^-ii. 4. Bf/aloth, in Judah, Josh. xv. 24 ; or "in Aloth," 1 Kings iv. 16. Be'er {the well), a. a tovai in Benjamm, Judg. ix. 21. [IV.] /3. same as Beer-elim in Moab, an Israelitish station. Numb. xxi. 16. Be'er-e'lim {the well of the mighty ones), a well dug by the staves of the Israelitish princes. Be'er-laha'i-roi {the loell of him that sees me), a fountain in the wilderness neai' to Shur, Gen. xvi. 14 ; xxiv. 62 ("the well Lahai-roi," xxv. 11.) Bee'roth, a city in Benjamin, about eight miles from Jerusalem, Josh, xviii. 25. [V.] Bee'roth-be'ne-Ja'akan {Beeroth of the children of sorrow), Deut. x. 6. Be'er-she'ra {tvell of the oath), a town on the southern border of Palestine, which still retains its ancient name, and possesses two wells of excellent water. Gen. xxi. 14. [III., IV., V., VI., IX.] Beesh'terah, perhaps the same as Ashtaroth, a Levitical city in Manasseh, Josh. xxi. 27. Be'la-zo'ar, the smallest of the cities of the plain of Sodom, Gen. xiv. 2. Ben-eb'erak, a town in Dan, Josh. xix. 45. Be'ne-ja'akan. See Beeroth. Ben'jamin {so7i of the right hmid), a tribal division of Canaan, given to the descendants of the youngest son of Jacob, Josh, xviii. 11. [IV.] Be'on, a district on the east of the Jordan, Numb. xxxii. 3. Ber'achah {valley of blessing), in Judah, 2 Chron. XX. 26. Bere'a, city of Macedonia, afterwards called Ire- nopolis, and now Boor, Acts xvii. 10. [II., VII.] Be'red, in the wilderness of Sheor, Gen. xvi. 14. Ber'othai {wells), city in Syria, conquered by David, 2 Sam. viii. 8. Be'sor, stream in the south of Judah that enters the Mediterranean Sea near Gaza, 1 Sam. xxx. 9. Be'tah, city in Syria, 2 Sam. viii. 8. [V.] Be'tex, city in Asher, Josh. xix. 25. Bethab'ara {house of passage), village and ford on the Jordan, near Jericho, where John baptized, John i. 8. Beth'axath {ho%ise of affliction), town in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38. [IV.] Beth'anoth {house of tcaters), a town in Judah, Josh. XV. 59. Beth'any {house of so?ig), town or village on tlie eastern side of the mount of Olives, about fif- teen fiulongs E.s.E. from Jerusalem, Matt, xxvi. 6. [V., VI.] Beth-ar'abah {house of the plain), town on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, Josh. xv. 6, 61. Beth-a'ram, a town in Gad, Josh. xiii. 27. [IV.] Beti£-ar'bel {houi-e of the ambush), called also Ar- bela, a wild region, fUled with caves, on the western shore of the sea of Galilee, formerly the haujit of robbers, Hos. x. 14. Beth-a'ven {ho2ise of idolatry), a. ato'wn in Benja- min, Josh. vii. 2. /8. a wilderness, Josh.x viii. 12. y. a name given to Bethany, when it became an idolatrous city, Hos. iv. 15, Beth-az'maveth {house of the strength of death), town in Judahor Benjamin, near Jerusalem, Neh. vii. 28 ; or simply Azmaveth, Neh. xii. 29. Beth-ba'al-me'on, or Ba'al-jie'on {hottse of the idol), citjs in Reuben, Josh. xiii. 17. Beth-ba'ka, the same as Bethabara, Judg. vii. 24. Beth-bir'ei, in the tribe of Simeon, 1 Chron. iv. 31. Beth'car {house of pasture), town in the south of Palestine, near Mizpeh, 1 Sam, vii. 11. Beth-da'gon {house of Bagon, or the fish), a. town in Judah, Josh. xv. 41. j3. a town near to Joppa, Josh. xix. 27. [IV., V.] Beth-diblatha'im {house of dry figs), town of the Moabites, Jer. xlviii. 22. Beth-e'den ijiouse of Eden), near Damascus, Amos i. 5. Beth-e'ked, or "shearing-house," 2 Kings x. 12. Beth'el {the house of -God), previously called Luz, (see also Beth-aven) in the tribe of Benjamin, situate between two valleys on the road to Shechem, Gen. xii. 8. It was also called Beth-ar. [IV., v., VI.] Mount Bethel, Josh. xvi. 1, Beth-e'mek, town in Asher, Josh, xix, 27, Bethes'da {house of mercy), pool near the sheep- gate of Jerusalem, John v. 2. [VIII.] 'Bbtu-b'z'eIj {house of the tieighbour), a village near Samaria, Mic. i. 11. Beth-ga'der, the same as Gederah, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 36. Beth-ga'mul {house of the camel), town in Moah, Jer. xlviii. 23. [IV.] Beth-hac'cerem {house of the vineyard), a hill in Judah, Neh. iii. 14. Beth-ha'merciiak, " a place that was far off," 2 Sam. XV. 17. Beth-ha'nan (Elon-beth-haxan, Auth. Vers.) a town in Judah or Dan, 1 Kings iv. 9, Beth-ha'ran, Beth-ha'ram, a town in Gad, Numb, xxxii. 36, [IV., v.] Beth-hog'lah, a town of the Benjamites, on the borders of Judah, now called Hajlah, Josh, xv, 6. Beth-ho'ron {house of liberty) , a.douh\e city between Lydda and Jerusalem, a. the upper, a Leviti- cal city in Ephr aim. Josh. x\i. 5. )3.the loAver city. Josh. X. 10. [IV., V., VI.] Beth-jes'imoth {house of the deserts), a town of the Reubenites, on the Jordan, afterwards belonging to the Moabites, Numb, xxxiii. 49. Beth-leb'aoth {house of lionesses), town in Simeon, Josh. xix. 6. Beth'lehem {house of bread), a. Bethlehem Judah, or BetMehem Eplrratah ; a village six miles from Jerusalem, Gen. xxxv. 19. [IV., V., VI., IX.] /3. a town iii Zebulon, Josh, xix, 15, THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. y3 Beth-Ma'achah [house of bruising), the same as Abel Beth-Maachah, in Naj^htali, 2 Sam. xx. 14. Beth-mae'caboth (house of chariots), town in Simeon, Josh. xix. 5. Beth-me'on (house of habitatioii), same as Beth- baal-meon, Josh, xiii. 17. Its ruins are called Minn. Beth-mil'lo. See MUlo. Beth-nxm'rah {house of li?npid loater), town in the tribe of Gad, Numb, xxxii. 36; "waters of Nimrim," Isa. xv. 6. [IV., VI.] Beth-pa'let (house of escape), in Judah, Josh. xv. 27 ; (Neh. xi. 26, Beth-phelet). Beth-paz'zez (house of dispersion), town in Issachar, Josh. xix. 21. Beth-pe'or, or Ba'al-pe'or, a Midianitish town near the Jordan, Deut. iv. 46. [VI.] Beth'phage (house offgs), a small village between Jericho and Bethany, Matt. xxi. 1. Beth'hehob (house of breadth), town in Asher, Judg. xviii. 28. Beth-sa'ida (house of fish), a. a to-\vn in. Galilee on the tvestern side of the sea of Tiberias, and not far from Capernaum, John i. 44. [VI.] i3. a town on the eastern side of the lake of Tiberias, in Lower Gauloiiitis ; rebuilt not long after the birth of Christ by Philip the Tetrarch, and called Julias, in honour of Julia, daughter of Augustus, Luke ix. 10. [VI.] Beth-she'an (house of rest), or Beth'suan, a town in Manasseh, afterwards called Scythopolis, and now Beisan by the Arabs, Josh. xvii. 11, 16. [IV., v.] Beth'shemesh (house of the sun), a. a city of refuge, and Levitical city in Judah, Josh. xv. 10. [IV., v.] ;3. a town in Issachar, Josh. xix. 22. J. in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38. 5. an Egyptian city, the same as On, or HeKopolis, or " city of the sun," in Egj^Dt, Jer. xliii. 13. [V.] Beth-shit'tah (house of the acacia), a town in Issachar, between Bethshan and Abel-meholah, Judg. vii. 22. [IV., VI.] Beth-tap'puah [house of apples), a town in Judah, Josh. XV. 53. [V.] Be'thul, or Bethu'el, town in Simeon, Josh. xix. 4. Beth'zue, (house of the rock), a to'wai in the moun- tains of Judah, fortified by Rehoboam, Josh. xv. 58. [IV., v., VI.] Be'tonim (pistacias), border town in Gad, Josh. xiii. 26. Be'zek (lightning), city of the Canaanites, in the valley of the Jordan, 1 Sam. xi. 8. [IV.] Be'zer, city of refuge, in the tribe of Reuben, Deut. iv. 43. [IV.] Bil'eam, Levitical city in Manasseh, 1 Chron. vi. 70. Bi'thah, same as Balah, town m Simeon, 1 Chron. iv. 29. Bith'eon, district in Perea, 2 Sam. ii. 29. Bithyn'ia, pro\'ince of Asia Minor, bounded on the north by the Euxine Sea and the Propontis, Acts xvi. 7. [II., VII.] Bizjoth'jah, town in the south of Judah, Josh. XV. 28. Bo'oiiiM (weepings), a place, probably, near Shiloh, Judg. ii. 1, 5. [IV.] Bo'han (a thumb), a boundary-stone between Judah and Benjamin, Josh. xv. 6. Borhasi'ra, " the well of Sirah," Auth. Vers., 2 Sam. iii. 26. Bo'zEZ, a rock in the pass Michmash, in tribe of Benjamin, 1 Sam. xiv. 4. Boz'icATK, in Judah, Josh.xv. 39 ; (2 Kings xxii. 1, Boscath). Boz'rah (distress), the Bostra of the Greeks and Romans, Ln Auranitis, Gen. xxx\'i. 33 ; (1 Chron. i. 44, Bosrah). Some suppose it was the same as el-Busaireh, a village and castle in Ai-abia Petrsea, south-cast of the Dead Sea. [II., III., IV., v., VI., VII.] Buz, a people and region in Arabia Deserta, Jer. XXV. 23; (Job xxxii. 2, Buzite). Cab'bon, town in Judah, Josh. xv. 40 ; probably the same place as Machbenah. Ca'bul (insignificant) a. town in Asher, Josh, xix 27. j8. a region in Galilee containing twenty cities given by Solomon to Hiram, 1 Kings ix. 13. [IV., v.] C^sare'a Palesti'na, city built on the shores of the Mediterranean by Herod the Great, 22 B.C.; the Roman metropolis of Palestine, and the resi- dence of the Procurator, Acts ix. 30. [VII.] CvEsare'a Philip'pi, a city near the springs of the Jordan, and originally called Banias, but en- enlarged by Philip the Tetrarch, who called it Ca;sarea in honour of the emperor Tiberias, adding his own name to distinguish it from the other Cirsarea : it lay about 120 miles north of Jerusalem, Matt. xvi. 13. [VI.] Cain (possessio7i) , town in the hUl country of Ju- dah, Josh. XV. 57. Ca'lah, a city of Assyria, built by Asher or Nim- rod, now called Hatreh, Gen. x. 11. Ca'lee, or Ca'leb-eph'ratah (as the heart), town or district in Judah, 1 Sam. xxx. 14. Cal'neh, or Cal'no, an Assyrian city, probably the same place that was afterwards called Ctesi- phon, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, oppo- site Seleucia, Gen. x. 10. (II.) Cal'vary (place of a skidl). See p. 55. Ca'mon, town in Gilead, Judg. x. 5. Ca'na (the nest), a. a toMm in Galilee, near Ca- pernaum, John ii. 1 ; ("Simon the Canaanite," more correctly Cananite, Mark iii. 18.) jS. or Kanah, in Asher, Josh. xix. 28. [IV., VI.]- y. or, Kanah, a stream on the confines of Ephraim and Manasseh, Josh. xvi. 8. [IV., VI.] Ca'naan (^merchant), the name of western Palestine and Phoenicia, previous to its occupation by the Israelites ; Ca'naanites, Gen. x. 6. [I., IL, III.] (Hos. xii. 7, "a merchant," Auth. Vers.) Can'neh, probably the same as Calneh, Ezek. xxvii. 23. Caper'naum (citij of comfort), a populous city on the north-western shore of the lake of Genne- sareth. The site of this place is uncertain. Matt. iv. 13, [VI.] Caph'tor, probably Crete, though the ancient translators understand it to mean Cappadocia, Deut. ii. 23. [I., II., VII.] Caph'torim, the Philistines, who came originally from Crete, Deut. ii. 23. Cappado'cia, an eastern province of Asia Minor, bordering on Armenia, Acts ii. 9. [II., VII.] Car'mel (fruitfid field, or vineyard of God), a. a range of hills extending north-west from the plain of Esdraelon, and ending in a promontory forming the Bay of Acre, Josh. xix. 26. [II., III., IV., v., VI., IX.] (Jer. iv. 26, "the fiuit- ful place," Auth. Vers.) )3. town in the mountains of Judah, Josh. xv. 65. [IV,, V,, 84 THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. Cxsirii'iA, a place in the north-east of Media, Ezra viii. 17. Cas'luhim, descendants of Mizraim, who abode near Colchis, Gen. x. 14. [I.] Ce'dron. See Kidron. Cen'chrea, one of the ports of Corinth, Acts, xviii. 18. [II., VII.] Chal'dea, Chal'dees {Ckasdim, Heb.), the region and inhabitants of Uabylonia ; but in a wider sense Chaldea comprehended Mesopotamia, Gen. xi. 28. [II.] See p. 6. Char'ran. See Haran. [II.] Cha'rchemish, a fortified city on an island formed near the junction of the Chebar and the Eu- phrates. It was taken both by Pharaoh-Necho and Nebuchadnezzar ; was called by the Greeks, Kirkesion ; by the Romans, Circesium ; and by the Arabs, Kerkesiyeh, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. [II., v.] Che'bar {streiigth), a navit^able river of Mesopo- tamia, kiiowTi to the Greeks as the Chaboras, and now called the Khabour, Ezek. i. 1. [II.] Che'phar-haam'monai {village of the Amtnonites), a to^vTi in Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 24. Chephi'rah, to-\\ni of the Hi-vites, afterwards in the territory of the Benjamites, Josh. ix. 17. Cher'ethite, or Cher'ethim, the Philistines, 1 Sam. XXX. 14. Che'uith [slmjing), a brook on the east of the Jordan, 1 Kings xvii. 3. [VI.] Ches'alon, to-vvn in Judah, Josh. xv. 10. Che'sil, a town in the south of Judah, Josh. xv. 30. Chesul'loth, to-\vn in Issachar, Josh. xix. 18. Che'zib, in the lowlands of Judah, perhaps the same as Achsib, Gen. xxxviii. 5. Chi'don, the same as Perez-uzza, 1 Chron. xiii. 9. Chil'mad, a town or region mentioned together with Assyria, Ezek. xx'S'ii. 23. Chin'nereth, a lake or sea in Palestine. See p. 58. Numb, xxxiv. 11 ; (1 Kings xv. 20, Cinne- roth). [II., III., IV., v., VII.] Chi'os, a populous and fertile island in the Ionian archipelago, now Scio, Acts xx. 15. [II., VII.] Chis'loth-tabor, a fortified city at the foot of Mount Tabor, on the eastern boundary of Zebu- Ion, Josh. xix. 12, 22. Chit'tim, or Kit'tim, the island of Cyprus, and in a wider sense the islands of the Mediterranean, Numb. xxiv. 24. [I., II., VII.] Chora'shan, 1 Sam. xxx. 30, probably the same as Ashan, in Simeon, Josh. xv. 42. Chora'zin {the secret), a toMaa of Galilee near the lake Tiberias : no traces of it now exist. Matt. xi. 21. [VI.] Chub, probably Nubia, Ezek. xxx. 5. Chun, a Phoenician city, probably the modem Beirut, 1 Chron. xviii. 8. CiLi'ciA, a proATJice in the south of Asia Minor, Acts vi. 9 ; xv. 23. [II., VII.] Clau'da, a small island off the south-west coast of Crete, also called Gaudos, and now bears the name of Gozzo, Acts xxvii. 16. [II., VII.] Cni'dus, or Gni'dus, a town and peninsula of Do- ris, in the JEgeKo. Sea, Acts xxvii. 7. [II., VII.] CoLOs'sE, a citv of Phrygia, on the river Lycus, now Konos, Col. i. 2. [II., VII.] Co'os, a small island near the coast of Caria, now called Stan-co, or Stanchio, Acts xxi. 1. [II., Cor'ixth, a commercial city, the capital of Achaia, and the residence of a Roman proconsul, on the isthmus of the Peloponnesus, between the jEgean and Ionian Seas, Acts x^'iii. 1. [II., VII.] Crete, one of the largest and most fruitful islands in the Mediterranean, now called Candia, and by the Turks, Kirid, Acts ii. 11. [II., VII.] CusH {black), or Ethiopia, Gen. x. 6, embracing part of Arabia, together with Abyssinia and Nubia: the name was sometimes used to denote all those who lived south of Palestine. [I.] Cu'sHAN, a district in Arabia, Hab. iii. 7. Cu'thah, or CuTH, a district in Babylonia, 2 Kings xvii. 24. [II.] Cy'prus, a large island in the Mediterranean, for- merly called Chittim, now Kebris by the Turks, Acts iv. 36. [II., VII.] Cyre'ne, a city in Upper Libya, once a seat of Jewish learning. Matt, xxvii." 32. [II., VII.] Dab'basheth {flowing with honey), town in Zebulon, Josh. xix. 11. Dab'ereth, a Levitical city in Zebulon, Josh. xix. 12 ; (xxi. 28, Dabareh), [IV.] Dalmanu'tha, a village near Magdala, on the shores of the sea of Galilee, Mark viii. 10. Dalma'tia, a district on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, 2 Tim. iv. 10. [II., Vll.] Damas'cus, a very ancient city, the capital of Syi'ia, situated in a plain at the eastern foot of Anti- Libanus, Gen. xiv. 15. [II., III., IV., V., VI., VII., IX.] Dam'mim, See Ephes-dammim. Dan {hethaf judges), a. oneof the twelve tribes. Josh. xix. 48. [IV.] j8. a to-mi in the north of the Holy Land, in the tribe of Naphtali, the same as Leshem, or Laish, Josh. xix. 47. [IV.,V., VI.] Dan-ja'an, probably the same as the preceding, 2 Sam. xxiv. 6. Dan'nah, a city of Judah, Josh. xv. 49. Dead Sea. See page 60. [IX.] De'bir, a Levitical town in Judah, thirty miles s.w. from Jerusalem ; also called Kirgath-sepher, and Ku-gath-sannah, Josh. x. 38. [IV., V., VI.] Decap'olis {te7i cities), a district in the north-east of Palestine, containing ten cities, Matt. iv. 25. Ded'anim, a. a people near the Arabian Sea, descended from a son of Cush : they spread to- wards northern Arabia, Gen. x. 7. [I., II.] /3. a people in Idumca, descended from the second son of Jokshan, Abraham's son by Keturah, Gen. xxv. 3. Deha'vites, a people tributary to the Persians, residing on the high lands near the Caspian Sea, Ezra iv. 9. Der'be, a small towaa of Lycaonia, at the foot of the Taiiriaii mountains. Acts xiv. 0. [II., ^ni.] Diblatha'im. See Abnon-diblathaim. Di'bon, or Di'bon-Gad, a. a city built by the Gadites, but belonging to Reuben, Numb. xxi. 30. [IV., VI.] p. a town in Judah (pro- bably the same as that called Dimonah in Josh, xiii. 2G), Neh. xi. 25. Dii/ean, toAvn in Judah, Josh. xv. 38. Dim'nah, a Levitical city in Zebidon, Josh. xxi. 35. Dimo'nah. See Dibon. Di'naites, an Assyrian people, Ezra iv. 9. Din'habah, an Idumean to^vn, Gen. xxxvi. 32. Diz'ahab {a place ahonnding with gold), in the desert of Sinai ; probably the same as Dchab, on the western shore of the Elanitic gtdf, Deut. i. 1. Dod'anim, or Rod'anim, descendants of Japheth, Gen. X. 4 ; 1 Cliron. i. 7. THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. b5 Doph'kah, a station of the Israelites in the wilder- ness of Sin, Numb, xxxiii. 12. [HI.] Dor, the city of a Canaanitish king, in the heritage of Manasseh. A village exists on its site, called Tortura, Josh. xi. 2. [III., IV., VI.] Do'than (well), Do'thaim {two wells), a place north of Shechem, Gen. xxxviii. 17. [HI-] Du'mah, o. an Arabian tribe. Gen. xxv. 14. /3. a town in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 52. [I., Du'ra, a plain in Babylonia, Dan. iii. 1. [II.] E'bal {a heap), a moimtain forming one side of the valley that contained the town of Shechem, now Nabulus, and opposite to Mount Gerizim, Deut. xi. 29. [IV., VI., IX.] Eben-e'zer {stone of help), a memorial stone erected by Samuel at Mizpeh, 1 Sam. iv. 1. E'ber, a district peopled by the descendants of SLem, Gen. x. 21. [I.] Ebro'nah, station in the wilderness. Numb. xxxiii. 34, E'dar [a flock), town in Judah, Gen, xxxv. 21. E'den {pleasure, or delight), a. the site of Paradise: its locality is uncertain, Gen. ii. 8. j3. a dis- trict of Mesopotamia, or Assyi'ia, 2 Kings xix. 12. E'dom (>-cc?),Idume'a. The country of the Edomites consisted of the mountainous tract between the Dead Sea and the Elanitic gulf of the Red sea, afterwards called Gebalene, now Jebal. Gen. xxxu. 3. [II., m., IV., v., VII.] Ed'rei, o. the ancient metropolis of Bashan, situated in a deep valley. Its site, called Draa, is covered with ruins. Numb. xxi. 33, [IV,] j3. a town in Naphtali, Josh, xix, 37. Eg'laim {two pools), a village in the land of Moab, Isa. XV. 8, Eg'lon, a Canaanitish city in Judah, Josh. x. 3, 34. [III., IV., v., VI.] E'gypt (Miz'raim, Heb.), called also " the land of Ham" (Gen. x. 6). Seepage 10. Gen, xii.lO, 14. [I., II., Ill,, VII,] Ek'ron, one of the five principal cities of the Philis- tines, Its site is supposed to be now occupied by a small Moslem village called Akri, five miles south of Ramleh, Josh. xiii. 3. [IV., V., VI.] E'lah {an oak), the valley in which the Israelites encamped when Da^id fought with Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 2, 19. [V.] E'lam, a part of the kingdom of Persia, the ancient Susiana, now called Kuzistan ; and the Elymais of the Greeks and Romans. E'lamites, descend- ants of Shem, See page 19, Gen. x. 22. [I., II.] E'lath, or E'loth, called by the Greeks and Romans, Elana ; a city of Idumea, having a port on the eastern arm of the Red Sea, called from it the Elanitic Gulf, the modem GuK of Akaba, Deut. ii. 8, [II„ III.] Elea'leh, now called El-al {the height), a towTi in Reuben, north-east of Heshbon. The ruins are called El-aal, Numb. xxii. 37. [IV.] E'leph, a towni in Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 28. E'lim, an Israelitish station, Exod, xv, 27 ; (Isa, XV, 8, Beer EUm), [IV,] Eli'shah, a son of Javan, who gave name to the "Isles of Elishah," a region of the Mediterranean (some suppose the Pelopomiesus), whence purple was brought to Tyre, Gen, x, 4. El'kosh, the modern Alkosh, in Assyria, near Mosul, Nah, i, 1, El'laser, a territory near Babylonia and Elymais ; perhaps the same as Thelasser, Gen, xiv, 1. [II.] E'lon {a grove), a. a town in tribe of Dan, Josh. xix. 43; (1 Kings iv. 9, Elon-beth-hanan). 0. probably Mealon in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33, (" from AUon," Auth. Vers.) El'tekeh, a Levitical city in tribe of Dan, Josh. xix. 44. El'tekon, a town of Judah, .Tosh. xv. 59. El'tolad, or To'lad, in Judah, but belonging to Simeon, Josh, xv. 30, E'mims, an ancient gigantic race, who originally occupied the land of Moab, Gen. xiv. 5. [III.] Em'maus {warm baths), a vUlage about seven miles from Jerusalem, Luke xxiv. 13. [V., VI.] E'nam {tico fountains) , in Judah, Josh. xv. 34. En'dor {fountain of generation), in Manasseh, Josh. xvii. 11. [III., IV., VI.] En-egla'iiM {fountain of two calves), a town of Moab, Ezek. xlvii. 10. En-gan'niji {garden fountain), a town in the tribe of Judah, near Bethel, Josh. xv. 34. [IV.] En'gedi {fountain of the kid) : the more ancient name was Hazezon-Tamar, a town in the wilder- ness of Judah, now called Ain-Jidy, Josh. xv. 62.* [IV., VI.] 'Eh-tiaiVd A. {fou7itain of swiftness), in the tribe of Issachar, Josh. xix. 21. En-hak'kore, in Simeon, Judg, xv, 19, En-ha'zor 'fountain of inclosure) , inNaphtali, Josh, xix, 37. En-mish'pat {fovntain of judgment), or Ka'desh ; probably the same as Meribah, Gen. xiv. 7. E'noch {dedicated), a city built by Cain, and named after his son, Gen. iv. 17. E'non {the place of springs), a small town on the western side of the Jordan, near Mount Gilboa, John iii. 23. [VI.] En-rim'mon {fountain of the pomegranate), a town in Judah, Neh. xi. 29. En-ro'gel {the fuller s fountain), the fountain of Nehemiah, on the north-east of Jerusalem, 2 Sam. xvii. 17. [IV., VIII.] En'shemesh {fountain of the sun), a tow^l with a stream on the borders of Judah and Benjamin, Josh. XV. 7. En-tap'puah {fountain of the apple), a tovm on the borders of Manasseh and Ephxaira, Josh. xvii. 7. E'PHAH, a district belonging to a Midianitish tribe, near the shores of the Dead Sea, Gen. xxv. 4. E'phes-dam'mim, a place in the tribe of Judah, 1 Sam. xvii. 1 ; (called in 1 Chron. xi. 13 Pas- dammim) . Eph'esijs, the capital of Ionia, and, under the Romans, of Proconsular Asia, Acts xviii. 21. 24. [II., VII.] E'phraim, a. a tribal, division of Canaan, Josh, xvi, 5 — 10, [IV.] j3. a niormtain, or mountain range. Josh. xvii. 15. [IV., V., VI., IX.] y. a forest or wood on the east of Jordan, 2 Sam. xviii. 6. 5, a city near the wilderness of Judea, 2 Sam. xiii. 23. [IV., VI.] — - e. a name given to the kingdom of Israel, Isa. ix. 9. Eph'ratah, Eph'rath {the fruitful), or Beth'lehem EpH'RATAir, the ancient name of BetUehem in Judah, Gen. xxxv. 19. [V.] E'phron, a. a mountain on the border of Judah and Benjamin, Josh. xv. 9. 18. a town on the borders of Benjamin, 2 Chron. xiii. 19. E'rech, a city in Babylonia ; probably the same as Areca, Gen. x. 10. [I.] 80 THE SCRIPTUEE GAZETTEER. E'sEK (strife), one of the -wells dug by Isaac, Gen. xxvi: 20. Esh'col (a bunch of (/rapes), a valley between He- bron and Jerusalem, -Nvhich is still distinguished for its vineyards. Numb. xiii. 24. [III., V.] E'&HEAN, in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 52. Esh'taol, in the tribe of Dan, Josh. xv. 33. [IV.] Esh'temoh, or Eshtemo'a, a Levitical town in Judah, Josh. xv. 50. [IV., V., VI.] E'tam, or E'tham, a. a town in Judah, 1 Chron. iv. 32. [IV., v.] j8. a rock near the tovm, Judg. XV. 8 ; Etham {end of the sea), a station of the Israelites on the edge of the wilderness [11.], Exod. xiii. 20. E'ther, in the tribe of Simeon, Josh. xv. 42 ; xix. 7. Ethio'pia (blackness), a name given to several countries in Africa. See Cush, and p. 20. Euphra'tes {that snakes fruitful), the most con- siderable stream in Western Asia, and therefore fi-equentlv designated "the river," or " the great river," Gen. ii. 14 ; xv. 18. [II., V., VII.] E'zEL {departure), a stone, 1 Sam. xx. 19. E'zEM, town in the tribe of Simeon, 1 Chron. iv. 29. E'zion-ge'ber, a station of the Israelites on the Red Sea, and afterwai'ds a maritime city of some importance, called by the Greeks, Berenice, Numb, xxxiii. 35. [II., III.] Fair-Havexs, a small bay to the north-east of Cape Matula, in the Island of. Crete, which re- tains the Greek name of Kalos Limenas, Acts xxvii. 8. [II., VII.] Ga'ash, a hill in Ephraim, Josh. xxiv. 30 ; (2 Sam. xxiii. 30, "the brooks of Gaash"). Ga'ba, or Ge'ba, a Levitcal city in Benjamin, near Jerusalem, Josh, xviii. 24. Gab'batha {elevated), probably a tesselated pave- ment outside the prajtorium of the Roman governor, John xix. 13. Gad (a band, a troop), a. a tribal division of Ca- naan, Josh. xiii. 24 — 28. [Iv.] ;8. a name given to the brook Jabbok, 2 Sam. xxIa'. 5. Gadare'nes, the inhabitants of Gadara, the chief city of Peryea, near the southern extremity of the Sea of Galilee, Mark v. 1. [VI.] Gala'tia, a pro\'ince of Asia Minor, Acts xvi. 6, [II. VII.] Gal'ilee {district), the northernmost of the three principal di%isions of Palestine, Matt. iv. 16. See p. 39. [V.,VI.] Gal'ilee, Sea of. Lake of Gennes'areth, or Tibe'- RiAS. Matt. iv. 18. Seep. 58. [II., VI., IX.] Gal'lim, a town of the Benjamites, north of Je- rusalem, 1 Sam. XXV. 44. Ga'reb {scratch, or scrape), a hill near Jerusalem, Jer. xxxi. 39. See p. 56. [VIII.] Gath {a press), one of the five royal cities of the Philistines, Josh. xi. 22. [IV., V., VI.] Gath-he'pher, or Git'tah-he'pher, the birth- place of the prophet Jonah, in tribe of Zebtdon, Josh. xix. 13. [IV.] Gath-rim'mon {the granite pi-ess), a. a Levitical city in tribe of Dan, Josh. xix. 45. [IV., V.] j3. another city in tribe of Manasseh, though the preceding may be the same, Josh, xxi, 25 ; the LXX. has " Jebatha." Ga'za {strouf/), or Az'za, one of the five cities of the Philistines, on the southern border of Palestine. Here Samson pulled down the idol-temple on himself and his enemies. A vUlage, about ten miles distant, is still called Samson; in Arabic, Simsim, Gen. x. 19. [II., III., IV., V., VI., VII.] Ga'zer or Ge'zer, a royal city of the Canaanites, included in the allotment to Ephraim as a Le- vitical town, Josh. xvi. 3. [V.] Geri'zim, a mountain of Samaria, opposite toMoimt Ebal, on the western side of the valley in which Shechem is situate, Deut.xi. 29. [IV.,VI.,IX.] Ge'ba, or Ga'ba, a town near Shechem, Josh. xxi. 17. Geba is also used for Gibeah, which see. Ge'bal, a city in Phoenicia, called Byblos by the Greeks, Gabale by the Romans, and now known by the name of Jebail. (The inhabitants are called Giblites, Josh. xiii. 5, but the word is translated " stone-squarers" in 1 Kings v. 18.) Ezek. xxvii. 9. [V.] Ge'bim, a town in Judah, Isa. x. 31. Ge'der, an ancient town of the Canaanites, in the plain country of Judah, probably the same as Gedera and Beth-Geder, Josh. xii. 13. Ge'dor, a town in the hill country of Judah, Josh. XV. 58. Gederotha'im, in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 41. Gehen'na, See Hinnom. [VIII.] Gexnes'aret {garden of the prince), Matt. xiv. 34. .See page 58. Ge'rar, a town of the Philistines, Gen. x. 19. [III., IV., v., VI.] Gergese'nes, the inhabitants of one of the cities of Decapolis, called Gergesa, though some con- sider this place to be the same as Gadara, Matt. viii. 28. [VI.] Ge'siiur {the vale of the ox), a. a district of Syria, between Mount Hermon and Bashan, 2 Sam. iii. 3 : the inhabitants are called Geshurites, Dcut. iii. 14. [IV., VI.] jS. Geshuri, a people in the south of Palestme, Josh. xiii. 2, [IV.] Ge'ther, a Syrian tribe. Gen. x. 23. Gethsem'ane {oil-press) , a small field or garden, just out of Jerusalem, at the foot of the motint of Olives, Matt. xxvi. 36. [VIII.] Seep. 56, Gez'er, a Levitical town in Ephraim, Josh. x. 33. [IV.] Gez'rites, probably the inhabitants of the city Gezer, 1 Sam. xxvii. 8. Gi'ah, a place nearGibeon, 2 Sam. ii. 24. Gib'bar, probably the same as Gibeon, Ezra ii. 20. Gib'bethon, a Levitical city in Dan, Josh. xix. 44. Gib'eah {a hill, and hence used as the name of several towns situated on eminences), o. in Judah, Josh. xv. 57. [IV., V.] ^. in Ben- jamin, Josh. x\'iii. 28. (Neh. xii. 29, Ceba.) [IV., v.] y. in Ephraim, where Eleazar the son of Aaron was buried, Josh. xxiv. 33. ("in a lull," Auth. Vers.) Gib'eon {2}ertaitiing to a kill), a Levitical city in tribe of Benjamin, Josh. ix. 3. [IV., V., VI.] Gi'dom, a city in Benjamin, Judg. xx. 45. Gi'hon {valley of grace), a. one of the rivers of Paradise, Gen. ii. 13. )3. a valley and pool near the western walls of Jerusalem, 1 Kings i. 33. [vni.] Gil'boa {the icallfowitain), a motmtain ridge to the south of the valley of Jezreel, in Issachar, 1 Sam. xxviii. 4. [III., IV., VI., IX.] Gil'ead, a. a large district east of the Jordan, Gen. xxxvii. 25. [IV., V., VI.] j3. a moun- tain rimge connected with Lebanon by means of THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. 8' Mount Hermon, Gen. xxxi. 21. [III.] — —y. a city south of the river Jabbok ; also calledJabesh- Gileacl, Judg. xxi. 8. Gil'gal [a heap), a. the place of the first encamp- ment of the Israelites, after the passage of the Jordan, Josh. iv. 19. [IV.] 18. a place near Shechem, Deut. xi. 30. [IV., MT.'] Gi'loh, a town in the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 51. Gim'zo (bulrush), a town in Judah, 2 Chron. xxviii. 18. [V.] Gik'gashites, one of the Canaanitish nations on the west of the Jordan, probably a branch of the Hivites, Gen. x. 16. Git'tah, a town in Samaria, mentioned by Justin Martyr, Eusebius, and other early -wTiters, but not in the Scriptui-es. [IV., VI.] Git'taim (two xoine-pr esses), a town of the Benja- raites, 2 Sam. iv. 3; Neh. xi. 33. Git'tites, a tribe of Philistines, Josh. xiii. 3. Gi'zoNiTES, 1 Chrou. xi. 3*. (xo'ath, a place near Jerusalem, Jer. xxxi. 39. GoH {cistern), a place where David fotight with the Philistines, 2 Sam. xxi. 19. Go'lan {a passage), a city of refuge in Manasseh, Deut. iv. 43. [IV.] Gol'gotha {a heap of skulls). Matt, xxvii. 33, or Calvary. Keep. 55. [VIII.] Go'mer, a northern people, descended from a son of Japhet, Gen. x. 2. [I.] Gomor'kah {rebellious 2}eople), one of " the cities of the plain," Gen. x. 19. Go'sHEN {pasture land), a. a province of Egypt, on the eastern side of the Nile, now called Shar- kieh : it has been always celebrated for its fer- tility. Gen. xlv. 10. [II., III.] ^. a city with a neighbouring district in the tribe of Judah, Josh. x. 41. [V.] Go'zAN, a region of Mesopotamia, subject to the Assyi-ians, 2 Kings xvii. 6. Giie'cia, Greece, a celebrated country in the south- east of Europe, Dan. viii. 21. [II., VII.] Gud'godah, an Israelitish station in the Desert, Deut. X. 7. [III.] GuR {dwelling), a place in the western portion of Manasseh, 2 Kings ix. 27. Gur-ba'al {dwelling of Baal), a town or district in Arabia, 2 Chron. xxvi. 7. Ha'bor, a river of Mesopotamia, elsewhere called Chebar, 2 Kings xvii. 7. [II.] Hach'ilah, a hill near the desert of Ziph, 1 Sam. xxiii. 19. Ha'dad-rim'mon, a town in the plain near Megid- don, afterwards called Maximianopolis, Zech. xii. 11. Both Hadad and Rimmon are the names of Syrian idols. [IV., V.] Had'ashah, in Judah, Josh. xv. 37. Ha'did, in Benjamin, Neh. vii. 37. Hado'ram, an Arabian tribe. Gen. x. 27. [I., II.] Ha'drach, a city and region east of Damascus, Zech. ix. 1. Hag'arites, Hagare'nes, Hag'geri, an Arabian pastoral tribe, 1 Chron. v. 10. [I., II.] Ha'lah, or rather Cha'lach, a district of Media, 2 Kings xvii. 6. [II.] Hal'hul, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 58. [V.] Ha'li, in Asher, Josh. xix. 25. [III]. Ham {heat), a. a poetic name for Egypt. ;3. country inhabited by the Zuzim, but its exact geographical position unknown, Gen. xiv. 5. [I.] IIa'math, the name of one of the smaller Syrian kingdoms, and of its capital (on theriverOrontes), which was called Epiphania by the Greeks, Numb. xiii. 21. [I., II., V.] (1 Chron. xiii. 5, Hemath) ; (2 Chron. viii. 3, Hamath-zobah). [V.] Ham'math, a fenced citynear the sea of Cliinnereth, Josh. xix. 35. [IV.] Ham'mon, a. town in Asher, Josh. xix. 28. /3. town in Naphtali, 1 Chron. vi. 76. Haivi'moth-uok, town in Naphtali, Josh. xxi. 32. IIan'nane'el, a tower in Jerusalem, Neh. iii. 1. IIa'nes, a city of Egypt. See Tahpanhes, Isa. XXX. 4. Han'nathon, town in Zebulon, Josh. xix. 14. Haphra'im, in Issachar, Josh. xix. 19. Ha'ra, a province of Assyria, 1 Clu'on. v. 20. [II]. IIar'adah, an Israelitish station, Numb, xxxiii, 24. Ha'ran, or Char'ran, a city, on a river of the same name, which falls into the Euphrates, called by the Greeks Charran, andby the llomans Charrae. It is situated in a sandy plain, 30° 40' N. lat., 39'' 2' 45" E. long., and is now called Harran, Gen. xi. 31, 32. [II. v.] Ha'rarite, (a 7nountaineer) , 2 Sam. xxiii. 11, 33. Ha'reth, a forest in Judah, 1 Sam. xxii. 5. IIa'rod, a fountain near Gilboa, Judg. vii. i . Har'osheth {forest), a U)vn\ in the north of Pales- tine, Judg. "iv. 2. [IV. VI.] Hashmo'nah, an Israelitish station. Numb, xxxiii. 29. IIau'ran, a tract in Syria, south of Damascus, called by the Romans Auranitis, Ezek. xlvii. 16, 18. [II. v.] Keep. 41. Hav'ilah a. a land rich in gold. Gen. ii. 11. j8. a district of Arabia, so called from a son of Cush, Gen. x. 7. [I. II. V.] Ha'voth-ja'ir {Jair's village). Numb, xxxii. 41. Ha'zar-e'nan {village of fountains), a town in the north of Canaan, Numb, xxxiv. 9. Ha'zar-gad'dah, in Judah, Josh. xv. 27. Ha'zau-hat'ticon {the middle village), town on the borders of Hauran, Ezek. xlvii. 16. Ha'zar-ma'veth {the inclosure of death, so called from the unhealthiness of the locality), a district in Arabia Felix, abounding in spices, Gen. x. 26. [L] Ha'zar-shu'al {fox-village), in Judah, Josh. xv.2S. Ha'zar-su'sah, and Ha'zar-su'sim {horse-village), in Simeon, Josh. xix. 5 ; 1 Chron. iv. 31. Haze'rim (^villages of the Avinis), in Judah, Deut. ii. 23. Haze'roth {inclosures), a station of the Israelites in Arabia Petrsea. The modern Arabic name is Hudherah, where there still is a fountain. Numb. xi. 35. [III.] Haz'ezon-ta'mar {pruning of the palm), a towTi in the wilderness of Judah, celebrated for its palms, afterwards called En-gedi {kid's fountain). Gen. xiv. 7. [IV.] Ha'zor, a. a town in Benjamin, Neh. xi. 33. [IV.] /8. in Naphtali, fortihed by Solomon, Josh. xi. 1. [IV., VI.] y. in Judah, the same as Ilezron, or Kerioth-hezron, Josh. xv. 3, 23. ■ -S. a district in Arabia, Jer. xlix. 28. IIa'zor-hadat'tah, in Judah, Josh. xv. 25. (In the Auth.Vors. the names are given separately, as of two places, Hazor, Hadattah.) He'bhox {society, or friendship), a town in Judah, twenty miles south of Jerusalem, anciently S8 THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. called Kii-jath-Arba {city of Ai-ha), from Arba, father of Anak. It was also called Mauire, Gen. xiii. 18. [II., III., IV., v., VI., IX.] ITe'lam, a town near the Euphrates, 2 Sam. x. 17. IIel'hah, in Ashcr, Judg. i. 31. [IV.] Hel'don Ijatncss), the Chalybon of the Greeks and Romans, and the modern Aleppo, or, as the natives call it, Haleb, situated in N. lat. 3G° 11' 25", E. long. 37" 9', Ezek. xxvii. 18. [II., He'lefh, inNaphtali, Josh, xix. 33. HELior'oi.is. SeeBethshemesh, and On. [V.,VII.] Hel'kath, aLevitical city in Asher, Josh. xix. 2*5 ; xxi. 31. Hel'kath-haz'zurim [field of strong men), a place near Gibeon, 2 Sam. ii. 16. He'na, probably the same as Anah, a city in Me- sopotamia, situated on the Euphrates, 2 Kings xviii. 34. He'pher, a royal city, the same as Gath-hepher, Josh. xii. 17. [V.] He'kes, a mountain near Ekron, Judg. i. 35. [IV.] Her'mon [rnountain), a mountain, the south-eastern branch of Anti-Libanus, called by the Sidonians, Sirion, and Shenir by the Amorites, Deut. iii. 8, 9. [III., IV., v., VI., IX.] Another mountain, known as Little Hermon, is not far from Tabor. [IX.] Hesh'bon {industry), the metropolis of the Amo- rites, afterwards a Levitical city in Gad. Numb, xxi. 26. [II.,III., IV., VI.] Hesh'mon, town in Judah, Josh. xv. 27. Heth'lon, a town near Damascus, Ezek. xlvii. 15. Hez'ron, the western limit of Judah, Josh. xv. 3 ; the same as Hazor. Hid'dekel, the river Tigris, Gen. ii. 14. HiEEAp'oLis {holy city), a city of Phrygia, not far from Colossse and Laodicea, Col. iv. 13. [II.] Hi'len, in Judah, probably the same as Holon, 1 Chron. vi. 58. Hin'nom, or Ben-Hin'nom, an unknown person whose name is given to a valley that bounds Jerusalem on the north. Josh. xv. 8. [VIII.] Hit'tites, a Canaanitish nation, descendants of Heth, Gen. x. 15. [III., V.] Hi'viTES, a Canaanitish nation, resident near Her- mon, Gen. xxxiv. 2. [III., V.] Ho'rah, a city west of Damascus, Gen. xiv. 15. Ho'lon, a. a Levitical city in Judah, Josh. xv. 51. [V.] )3. a place in Moab, probably the same as Holon, Jer. xlviii. 21. HoR {who shows, or an elevation), a. mountain in Arabia Petrtea, now called Jebel Haroun (Moirnt Aaron), Numb. xxi. 4, [II., V., IX.] ;8. another mountain in the north of Pales- tine, Numb, xxxiv. 7, 8. [III.] Ho'reb {solitude), the northern peak of the moun- tain ridge of Sinai, Exod. iii. 1. [II., III., IX.] Ho'rem, town in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38. Horhagib'gad {hill of felicity), an Israelitish sta- tion. Numb, xxxiii. 32. Hor'ites, the people who inhabited Mount Seir before the Edomites, Gen. xiv. 6. Hor'mah {curse), a royal city in the territory of Simeon, at first called Zephath, Numb. xiv. 45. [III., IV., VI.] Horoxa'im, Hor'onites, aMoabitish city, Isa. xv. 5; Neh. ii. 10. Ho'sAH, towni in Asher, Josh. xix. 29. Huk'kok, town in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 34. HuL, Gen. x. 23. [II.] Hum'tau, to^vn in Judah, Josh. xv. 54. Ib'leam, town in Manasseh, Josh. xvii. 11. [IV.] Ico'nium, the capital of Lycaonia, situated at the foot of Mount Tatirus, now called Koniyeh, Acts xiii. 51. [IL,VII.] Id'alah, in Zebulon, Josh, xix, 15. Idume'a. See Edom, and p. 41. Mark iii. 8. I'lM, in Judah, Josh. xv. 29. I'je-ab'arim, an Israelitish station, Numb. xxi. 11. I'joN, or I'jon-A'bil, a fortified city in Naphtali, 1 Kings XV. 20. [VI.] Illyr'icum, a countrj' north-west of Macedonia, answering nearly to that which is at present called Dalmatia, Rom. xv. 19. [II., Vll.] In'dia, in Eastern Asia, not known to the Hebrews tdl the days of Esther, though probably India, as then understood, may have been only the region forming the modern Cabul and Beloochistan, Esth. i.l. [I.] Ir'nahash, in Judah, 1 Chron. iv. 12. I'ron, city in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38. Ir'peel, city in Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 27. Ish'maelites, Arabs descended from Ishmael, trading with Egj'pt, and wandering as far as the Persian GuK and Assyria, Gen. xxxvii. 25. [H.] Ish'tob, a district beyond Jordan, Judg. xi. 3. [IL, v.] Is'rael {a prince with God), the kingdom of the ten tribes, 2 Kings xiv. 9. See p. 36. [V.] Is'sachar, a tribal division in Canaan, Numb. xxvi. 25. [IV.] It'aly, a country in Europe, having Rome as its capital. Acts xviii. 2. [^^I•] Ith'nan, town in Judah, Josh. xv. 23. It'tah-ka'zin, to^vn in Zebulon, Josh. xix. 13. Tture'a, a district in the north-east of Palestine, forming in the time of our Saviour the te- trarchy of Philip. The name is supposed to be derived from Itur, or Jetur, one of Ishmael' s sons, 1 Chron. i. 31. The name is retained, slightly altered, in the modern el-Jedur, Ltdie iii. 1. Seep. 41. [VI.] I'vAH, the same as Ava, 2 Kings xviii. 34. Ja'azar, or Ja'zer, a Levitical city in Gad. Its ruins are now called Sar, Numb. xxi. 32. [IV., VI.] In Jer. xlviii. 32, a "sea of Jazer" is mentioned, but the correctness of the reading is doubtful. The LXX. reads, " the cities of Jazer." Jab'bok {the boisterous), the modem Zerka ; a stream which runs through the country east of the Jordan, and falls into that river about thirty miles below the lake of Tiberias, Gen. xxxii. 22. [IV., v., VI., IX.] Ja'besh-gil'ead, a town belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh, beyond the Jordan, in the land of Gilead, Judg. xxi. 8, 9. The brook Jabesh (or the dry) is near the site of the town. [IV., VI.] Ja'bez, a to'wn in Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 55. Jab'neel {building of God), a. a town in Judah, Josh. XV. 11. /3. to^vn in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33. Jab'neh, a town situated on the coast of the Medi- terranean, which was taken from the PliiUstines by Uzziah. A village now stands on its site, called Yebna, 2 Chron. xxat. 6. Ja'gur, in Judah, Josh. xv. 21. THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. Jacob's Well, near Shechem, iii Samai-ia: a church was built over this spot by the empress Helena, of -which only the foundations remain. Accord- ing to a recent measurement, its depth is seventy- five feet, with a diameter of nine feet. It is he^\'n ou' of solid rock, John iv. 6. [IV., ^^^•^ . . Ja'haz, Jaha'za (^qtuirrel, dispute), or Jah za, a Le- vitical city in Reuben, Numb, xxi, 23. [IV.] Jano'hah, town in Ephraim, Josh. xvi. 6. ' Ja'nxjm, town in the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 53. Japhi'a, towninZebulun, Josh. xix. 12. [IV., V.] Japh'leti, town in Ephraim, Josh. x^-i. 3. Ja'pho, Jop'pa [beauty), the Jaifa of modern history, a city of the Philistines, now a seaport of Pales- tine, forty miles north-west of Jerusalem, Josh. xLx. 46. [II., in., IV., v., VI., VII., IX.] Jab'muth, o. a town in Judah, Josh. x. 3. /3. a Levitical city in Issachar, Josh. xxi. 29. [IV., v., VI.] Jat'tir, a Levitical city in the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 48. [IV., VI.] Ja'van, a. Greece, primarily modern Ionia, being nearest and best kno-v\Ti to the Orientals, Gen. X. 2; Dan. viii. 21 (Grecia) ; Joel iii. 6 (Grecians). ;8. a city in Arabia Felix, probably Javan, Ezek. xx%'ii. 13, 19. [I., VII.] Je'arim, a mount in Judah, Josh. xv. 10. Je'bus [possession), the ancient name of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of which were called Jebusites, Judg. xLx. 10. [in., v.] Jeb'usites, a powerful Canaanitish nation, who built Jerusalem and called it Jebus, after the name of their progenitor, Gen. x. 16. [III., IV., V.] Jehosh'aphat, a valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, Joel iii. 2. [VIII.] Je'hud, to-svn in Dan, Josh. xix. 45. [V.] Jekab'zeel, town in Judah, Neh. xi. 25. Je'rah, an Arabian tribe. Gen. x. 26. [II.] Jerahm'eelites, 1 Sam. xxvii. 10. Jer'icho (called "the city of palm-trees"), in a plain of the same name not far from the Jordan, at the point where it enters the Dead Sea. An in- considerable village, called Rihah, now stands on its site, six miles west of the Jordan, north lat. 31° 57', and east long. 35° 33', Numb. xxii. 1. [II., IV., v., VI., IX.] Jer'uel, a "wilderness in Judah, 2 Chron. xx. 16. Jeru'salem [possession of peace), a royal city of the Canaanites, and from the time of David the metropolis of the Hebrews. See page 48. Josh. X. 1. [II., IV., v., VI., VII., IX., X.] Jesh'anah, town in Judah, 2 Chron. xiii, 19. Jesh'ua, town in Judah, Neh. xi. 26. Jeth'lah, tovm. in Dan, Josh. xix. 42. Je'tur, an Ai'abian tribe, Gen. xxv. 15. Jez'reel [the seed of God), a. a town in the moun- tains of Judah, Josh. xv. 56 ; 1 Sam. xxix. 1. /3. a to-\\'n in the tribe of Issachar, where stood the palace of Ahab and his successors, Josh. xvii. 16. [IV., V.] Jiph'tah, tovm in Judah, Josh. xv. 43. Jiph'thah-el, a valley in the tribes of Zebulun and Asher, Josh. xix. 14. Jo'bab, an Arabian tribe. Gen. x. 29. [I.] Jog'behah, town in Gad, Numb, xxxii. 35. [IV.] Jok'deam, town in the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 56. Jok'meam, a lievitical city in Ephraim, 1 Chron. vi. 68. Jok'xeam, of Carmel, or "at the foot of Cannel," a Le^itical city in Zebulun, Josh. xii. 22. [IV. J Jok'tan [small), an Arabian people, Gen. x. 25. Jok'theel, a. the city of Sela or Petra, the capi- tal of Arabia Petrsea, 2 Kings xiv. 7. ;3. a to^vn in Judah, Josh. xv. 38. Jop'pa [beautiful). See Japho. Jor'dax [river of judgment), the principal river of Palestine, rising atthefoot of Anti-Libanus, and flowing into the Dead Sea. See p. 58. Gen, xxxii. 10. [II., IV., v., VI., IX.] Jot'bah, a city of Judah, 2 Kings xxi. 19. Jot'bathah, anlsraeUtish station, Numb, xxxiii. 33. Jv't>xk [the praise of the Lord), 01 3 VB^A, a. a tribal division of Canaan, Josh. xv. See p. 32. [IV.] ^. the mountains of, Josh. xv. 48. [IV., v., IX.] 7. the kingdom of, Psa. cxiv. 2. See p. 36. [V.] 5. the wilderness of, Judg. i. 16. [VI., IX.] See p. 63. Judea [praise), the land of the Jews, Matt. xix. 1. After the captivity, the name Judea was ap- plied to the whole of Palestine west of the Jordan (Haggai ii. 2). Under the Romans, in the time of Christ, Palestine was divided into Judea, Galilee, and Samaria; but as a general denomi- nation, Judea and Palestine were regarded as synonjTuous. See p. 37. [VI.] Jut'tah, a Levitical city in the mountains of Judah, Josh. XV. 55. [V.] Kab'zeel, the same as Jekabzeel, Josh. xv. 21. Ka'desh [holy), or Ka'desh-Bar'nea [holiness of corn), a town in the desert to the south of Pales- tine, Gen. XX. 1 ; Numb, xxvii. 14. [II., III., V.] Kad'jionites, a Canaanitish nation living in the north-east of Palestme, Gen. xv. 19. Ka'nah. See Cana. Kar'kaa, to-wn in Judah, Josh. xv. 3. Kar'kor, town beyond the Jordan, Judg. viii. 10. Kar'tah, town in Zebulun, Josh. xxi. 34. Kar'tan, the same as KirjathaLin, a Levitical city in Naphtali, Josh. xxi. 32. Kat'tath, town in Zebulun, Josh. xix. 15. Ke'dar (blackness), a district in Arabia, inhabited by wandering shepherds, descended from the second son of Ishmael, Gen. xxv. 13 ; Sol. Song i. 5. [I., II.] Ked'emoth, a Levitical city in Reuben, Deut. ii. 26. [IV.] Ke'desh, a. a town in the south of Judah, Josh. XV. 23. [IV., VI.] ;3. another to-wn in the tribe of Naphtali, Josh. xii. 22. 7. another to-wn in Issachar, 1 Chron. vi. 72. Kehel'athah, an Israelitish station. Numb, xxxiii. 22. Kei'lah, a city in Judah, about twenty miles south-west of Jerusalem, Josh.xv. 44. [IV., V.] Ke'nath, a to-wn in Auranitis, near Bostra ; also caUed Nobah, Numb, xxxii. 42. [IV., V.] Ken'ites, a tribe of Midianites, dweUmg among the Amalekites, Gen. xv. 19. [HI.] Ken'izzites, a Canaanitish nation, whose locality is -unkno-wn, Gen. xv. 19. Ke'rioth, or Ke'rioth-Hez'ron, o. a to-wn in Ju. dah. Josh. xv. 25. [IV.] R. a city in Moab, Jer. xlviii. 24. Ke'ziz, a valley. Josh. x\'iii. 21. Kib'roth-hatta'avah [graves of lust), Niimb. xi. 34. Kib'zaim, a Le-vitical city in Ephraim, Josh. xxi. 22. Kid'ron, or Ce'dron [obscurity), a stream (with a valley of the same name' flo-wing between Jeru- 90 THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. salem and the Mo\int of Olives, and emi)tymg itself into the Dead Sea, 2 Sam. xv. 23; John xviii. 1. [V., VIII.] Ki'nah, a tov\-n in Judah, Josh, xv. 22. Kir (a eiUj), a a region near the Caspian Sea, 2 Kings xvL. 9. ;3. A fortified city on the bor- ders of Moab, called also Kir of Moab, Isa. xv. 1 ; Kir-hareseth, Isa. xvi. 7 ; and Kir-heres, Jer. xlviii. 31, 36; a small town on its site is now called Kerak, 2 Khigs ii. 35. [II., III., IV., Y.] Kib'jath {city, or town), the same as Kiijath- jearim, Josh, xviii. 28. Kir'jath-a'im {the two cities), a. one of the most ancient towns on the east of the Jordan (Kiria- thaini, Gen. xiv. 5). See also Jer. xlviii. 1, 23. )8. a town in the tribe of Naphtali, the same as Kartan, 1 Chron. vi. 76. {IV.] Kir'jath-au'ba {the city of four), the ancientname of Hebron, but still used in the time of Nehe- miah. Josh. xv. 13. Kir'jath-a'rim {city of cities), an abbreviation for Kirjath-jearim. Kir'jath-Ba'al {city of Baal), the same as Kirjath- jearim, Josh. XV. 60. Kir'jath-hu'zoth {city of streets), a town in Moab, !Numb, xxii. 39. Ki'rjath-je'arim {city of the forests), originally one of the towns of the Gibeonites, situated in the tribe oi Judah, Josh. ix. 17. [IV., V.] Kir'jath-sax'na {city of palms), otherwise Kir'- jath-se'pher {city of the book) ; also De'bir, Josh. XV. 15. Kish'ion, or Ki'shon, a town in the tribe of Issa- char. Josh. xix. 20. Ki'shon, a river which rises in Mount Tabor, and flows into the Gulf of Ptolemais, Judg. iv. 7. [IV., VI., IX.] Kith'lish, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 40. Kit'ron, a town in Zebulun, Judg. i. 30. Kit'tim. [II.] See Cliittim. La'ban, in the Desert of Ai-abia, Deut. i. 1. La'chish, a fortified towTi in the south of Judah, between Adoraim and Azekah, Josh. xv. 39. [IV., v., VI.] Lah'mam, town in Judah, Josh. xv. 40. La'ish {a lion), a town in the north of Palestine, caUed also Dan and Leshem, Judg. xviii. 7. [IV.] La'kum, in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33. Laodi'cea, a city on the borders of Phrygia and Lydia, about forty miles east of Ephesus, Col. iv. 13. [II., VII.] Seep. 48. Lase'a, a city in Crete, Acts xxvii. 8. [II., VII.] La'sha, a town supposed to be the same as Callir- hoe, a place abounding with hot springs, on the east of the Dead Sea, Gen. x. 19. Lash a' RON, a Canaanitish city. Josh. xii. 18. Leb'anox {tchite mountain), a mountain-range on the borders of SjTia and Palestine ; the western ridge is called Lebanon, or Libanus, and the eastern Anti-Libanus. See p. 64. [III., IV., v., VI., IX.) Deut. xi. 24. Leb'aoth, a town in Simeon, Josh. xv. 32. Lebo'nah, Judg. xxi. 19. [VI.] Le'uabim, a people of Egyptian origin, probably Lybians ; Gen. x. 13. [I.] Le'hi {Jaw-bone), or Ra'matu-le'hi {elevation^ of the jaw-bone), a place in the south of Palestine, Judg. XV. 9. Le'shem, a toAvn called also Laish and Dan, Josh. xix. 47. [III.] Letc'shim, an Arabian tribe, Gen. xxv. 3. Leum'mim, an Arabian tribe, Gen. xxv. 3. Lib'nah, a. a station in the -wilderness. Numb. xxxiii. 20. /3. a royal city of the Canaanites, afterwards a Levitical to%vn belonging to the tribe of Judah, Josh. x. 29. [IV., V.] Lib'ya, a country west of Egv-pt, of which Cyrene was its capital, Acts ii. 10. [II.] LoD, LuD, or Lyd'da, a town nine miles east of Joppa, in Benjamin, 1 Chron. viii. 12. [I., IV., v., VI.] Lod'ebar, a place near Jordan, 2 Sam. ix. 4. Lu'bim, the Libyans, always connected with the EgVT)tians and" Ethiopians, 2 Clu-on. xii. 3. [II.] Lu'dim, a. an African nation. Gen. x. 13. [II.] 18. the Lydians, Gen. x. 22. [I., II.] Lu'hith, a height in Moab, Isa. xv. 5. Luz {separation), a. a town in the country of the Hittites, Judg. i. 26. j3. the ancient name of Bethel, Gen. xxviii. 19. [III.] Lyd'da, (See Lod,) Acts ix. 32. Lyd'ia, a province on the west coast of Asia Minor, Ezek. XXX. 5. [VII.] Lyd'ians, or Lu'dim, Ezek. xxx. 5. [IL] Lycao'nia, a province of Asia Minor, subject to the Romans when visited by Paul, Acts xiv. 6. [II. , VII.] Lyc'ia, a province in the south-west of Asia Minor, Acts xxvii. 5. [II., VII.] Lys'tra, one of the chief towns of Lycaonia, Acts xiv. 6, 8. [II., VII.] Ma'achah, Maach'athi, a city and region at the foot of Mount Hermon, Deiit. iii. 14. [IV., V.] Ma'arath, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 59.* Macedo'nia {eminent), a large province of ancient Greece, north-west of the ^gean Sea, Acts xvi. 9 ; in the time of the apostles under Roman government. [II. , VII.] J»Iach'bexah, a to\«i in Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 49 ; probably the same as Cabbon, Josh. xv. 40. Machpe'lah, a cave near Hebron, the burial-place of Scirah, Gen. xxiii. 17. Madi'a. See Media. [I., II.] Madman'nah, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 31. Mad'mex, a towTi on the borders of ^Nloab, Jer. xlviii. 2. Madme'nah, a town near Jerusalem, Isa. x. 31. Ma'don, a Canaanitish city, Josh. xi. 1 . Mag'bish, doubtful whether the name of a place or of a man, Ezra Li. 30. Mag'dala {tower), :Matt. xv. 39 ; the probable birth- place of Mary Magdalene, that is, Mary of Mag- dala, situated on the lake of Gennesareth, and on the western shore. It was the Migdal-el of Josh. xix. 38. [VI.] The Moslem village, el Mej'del, probably occupies its site. Ma'gog, the name of a son of Japheth, and of a great northern nation aescended from him ; probably the same whom the Greeks call Scythians, Gen. X. 2. [I.] Mahana'im {the camps), a place beyond Jordan, afterwards the site of a Levitical town belonging to Gad, Gen. xxxii. 2; Josh. xiii. 26. [IV., v., VI.] Ma'haxeh {encampment), in the tribe of Judah, Judg. xviii. 12. Mahan'ehdax, Judg. xviii. 12. Ma'kaz, a town, probably in Dan, 1 Kings iv. 9. Mak'heloth, a station in the wilderness, Numb. xxxiii. 25. THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. 91 Makkf.'dah, a town in Jndah, Josh. x. 10. ^Iaji're [rebellions), an oak-grove in the neighbour- hood of Hebron, Gen. xiii. 18. [V.] Mana'hath, a to-^^ni in Benjamin, 1 Chron. viii. 6. ^Ianas'seu, one of the tribal divisions, Josh. xvii. 7. See p. 32. [IV.] Ma'on (habitation) , a city in the south of Judah, ]ieai' to a -wilderness of the same name. Josh. xv. 55. [III., IV., v., VI.] Ma'oxites, or Mehu'xims, an Arabian tribe, Judg. X. 12. Ma'rah (bitter), a "well of bitter water, Exod. xv. 23. [III.] Mar'alah, a town in Zebulun, Josh. xix. 11. Mare'shah, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 44. [IV., Ma'roth, a towm in Judah, Micah i. 12. Mash, a people on the borders of Mesopotamia, Gen. X. 23. [I., II.] Ma'shal, a town in Asher, 1 Chron. vi. 74. Mas'rekah, a town or district in Edom, Gen. xxxvi. 36. Mas'sah (temptation), an Israelitish station in the desert, Exod. xvii. 7. Mat'tanah, an Israelitish station. Numb. xxi. 18. Mea'lon. See Elon. Mea'rah, the name of a town, or simply a cave near tSidon, Josh. xiii. 4. Me'deba, a town in Reuben, Numb. xxi. 30 ; [IV.] Meko'xah, ill Judah, Neh. xi. 28. Me'dia (Madia, Heb.), a country near the Caspian Sea. See p. 18, 2 Kings xvii. 6. [I., II.] Megid'do (host), in the tribe of Issachai", at the foot of Mount Carmel, called by the Romans, Legio ; by the Greeks, Mageddon, and hence the name Armageddon, or " mountain of j\Ie- giddo," as applied to Carmel, Josh. xii. 21. [IV.] Meho'lah. See Abel-Meholah, 1 Sam. x-\iii. 19. Mejar'kon, a to^^^l in Dan, Josh. xix. 46. Meli'ta, the island of Malta, Acts xxviii. 1. [IJ., VII.] Mem'phis (Moph and Noph, Heb.), the ancient capital of Lower Egypt, Hos. ix. 6. [II., III.] Some remains of it are still found on the western bank of the Nile, to the south of old Caii'o : in. its neighbourhood are the pyramids, those mighty monuments of ancient Egypt. Meph'aath, a Levitical city in Reuben, Josh. xiii. 18. Merath.a'im, probably Babylonia is meant, Jer.l. 21. Mer'ibah (strife), a. a fountain which gushed forth from a rock in Horeb, when struck, at the Divine command, by the rod of Moses, Exod. xvii. 7. ;3. another fountain, produced in the same super- natural manner, in the desert of Zin,nearKadesh, Numb. XX. 13, 24. Me'rom, the lake Samochonitis, now called Huleh, the highest lake of the Jordan, Josh. xi. 5. [IV., v., VI., IX.] Me'roz, a place in the north of Palestine ; the exact site is unknown, Judg. v. 23. Me'sha, in Ai'abia, supposed to be the modern Mecca, Gen. x. 30. Me'shech (shtit xip, surrounded), a people inhabit- ing the Moschean mountains, between the Black and the Caspian Seas, Gen. x. 2. Mesopota'mia (the land between the ttco rivers). Gen. xxiv. 10. See Ai-am Naharaim, pp. 5, 14. [I., II., vn.] Mes'obaite, 1 Chron. xi. 47. Me'theg-am'mah, probably a town of the Philis- tines, 2 Sam. viii. 1. Mich'mash (gathering),^ town of Benjamin, situated in a narrow pass, 1 Sam. xiii. 2. [IV., V.] Mich'methah, a town m Epliraim, Josh. xvi. 6. !Mid'din, a place in the wilderness of Judah, Josh. XV. 61. Mid'ian, Mid'ianites, an Arabian nation, descended from Abraham, whose tenitory extended fi-om the eastern shore of the Elanitic Gulf, as far as the land of Moab, and even to Sinai, Gen. xxv. 2. [I., II., IV.] Mig'dal-E'dar (tower of the flock, ox tower of Edar), a village near Betlilehem, Gen. xxxv. 21, used for Bethlehem itself, and figuratively for the royal stock of David, Micah iv. 8. Mig'dal-El {tower of God), a fortified city in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 38 ; the same as Magdala, Matt. XV. 39. [IV.] Mig'dal-Gad (tower of Gad), a town in the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 37. Mig'dol (the totcer), probably the last towai on the Egj'ptian frontier, in the dii-ection of the Red Sea, Exod. xiv. 2 ; Ezek. xxx. 6 ; ("from the tower of Syene," Auth. Vers., but probably it should be translated " from Migdol to Syene"). [Ill] Mig'ron, a town in Benjamin, 1 Sam. xiv. 2. Mile'tus, a city and seaport of Ionia in Asia Minor, thii'ty-six miles south of Ephesus, Acts XX. 14. [II., VII.) Mil'lo (a wall), a. pait of the citadel of Jerusalem, 2 Sam. V. 9. [VIII.] 0. a castle of the She- chemites, Judg. ix. 6. Min'ni, probably a pro\'ince of Ai-menia, Jer. li. 27. [II.] MiN'NiTH,.a town on the borders of the Ammonites, Judg. xi. 33, whence wheat was brought to the Tyrian market, Ezek. xxvii. 17. !Mis'gab, probably a to-s\m in Moab, Jer. xlviii. 1. Mi'sheal, Mi'shal, or Ma'shal, a Levitical city in Asher, Josh. xLx. 26. [IV.] Mis'rephoth-ma'im {the flow of loaters), a town or region near Sidon, Josh. xi. 8. Mith'cah, an Israelitish station. Numb, xxxiii. 28. Mith'nite, name of an unknown tribe ; occiu-s only in 1 Chron. xi. 43. Mityle'ne, the capital of Lesbos, an island in the .?Egean Sea, Acts xx. 15. [II., VII.] Mi'zAR, a mountain on the eastern ridge of Lebanon, Psa. xiii. 6. Miz'pEH or Miz'pah (^oatch-totcer), a. a town of the Benjamites, Josh, xviii. 26. [IV., V., VI.]. ^. a to-ivn in Gilead, Judg. x. 17. [IV., VI.] y. a town in the plain country of Judah, Josh. XV. 38. 5. another in Gad, the same as Ra- moth Mizpeh, or Ramoth Gilead, Judg. xi. 29. e. a town in Moab, 1 Sam. xxii. 3. ^. a valley in Lebanon, Josh. xi. 3, 8. Miz'raim. See Egypt. [I., II.] Mo'ab, Mo'abites, a country and people on the east side of the Jordan, Gen. xix. 37. [II., III., IV., v., VI., IX.] Mol'adah, a town in Simeon, Josh. xv. 26. [IV.] Moph. See Mempliis. Mo'eeh, a. an oak-grove ("plain," Auth. Vers.) near Shechem, Gen. xii. 6. —3 a hUl near Jezreel, Judg. vii. 1. Mor'esheth-gath, a to\\ii in Judah, Micah i. 14. Mori'ah (vision), one of the hills at Jerusalem, on which the temple Avas built. Gen. xxii. 2. [VIIL] Mose'roth, Mose'ra, an Israelitish station, Numb. xxxiii 30. [IIL] Mo'zah, town in Benjamin, Josh, xviii. 2(L 9'i THE SCRIPTURE GAZETTEER. Mtt'ra, a city of Lycia, Acts xx-vii. 5. [II., VII.] Mys'ia, the north-western province of Asia Minor, separated from Europe by the Propontis and Hellespont, Acts xvi. 7. [II., VII.] Na'am.\h, a toAvn in Judah, Josh. xv. 41 ; (Job ii. 11, Naamathite.) Na'aiian, a town in Ephraim, the same as Naarath, 1 Clmrn. vii. 28. Na'arath, a town in Ephraim, Josh. xvi. 7. Naha'liel, an Israelitish station. Numb. xxi. 19. Nahal'lal, or Na'halol, a Levitical city in Zebu- lun, Josh. xix. 15. [IV.] Na'hok, a city in Mesopotamia, Gen. xxiv. 10. Na'in [pleasantness), a to\Mi in Palestine, three miles from Mount Tabor ; a hamlet on its site is now called Nein, Luke vii. 11. [VI.] Na'ioth, a place near Kamah, 1 Sam. xix. 18. Naph'ish, an Ishmaelitish tribe. Gen. xxv. 15. Naph'talt, o. one of the tribal di'vdsions of Canaan, Josh. xix. 32. See p. 34. [IV.] /3. a moun- tain in Galilee, Josh. xx. 7. Naphtu'him, an Egyptian people. Gen. x. 13. Naz'aueth {separated, sanctified), a town in Galilee, six miles west-north-west from Mount Tabor, on the western side of a valley. It is now a small but well-built place, contaming about 3000 inha- bitants, of whom two-thii-ds are Christians, Matt, ii. 23. [VI., IX.] Ne'ah, a town in Zebulun, Josh. xix. 13. Neap'olis [neio city), a maritime city in Macedonia, near the borders of Thrace, now called Napoli, Acts xvi. 11. [I., II., VII.] Neba'ioth (^prophecies, or fruits), the name of Ish- mael's first-born, and of his posterity, who formed one of the Arabian tribes, Isa. Ix. 7 ; (Nebajoth, Gen. xxv. 13). [I., II., V.] Nekal'lat, a town in Benjamin, Neh. xi. 34. [V.] Ne'bo {that fructifies), a. a mountain on the con- fines of Moab, Numb, xxxiii. 47. [IV.] y3. a town m the vicinity. Numb, xxxii. 3. y. a town in Judah, Ezra ii. 29. Ne'iel, a towTi in Asher, Josh. xix. 27. Ne'keb, a towm in Naphtali, Josh. xix. 33. Neph'toah, a fountain in the tribe of Judah, near the valley of Jerusalem, called Ben-Hinnom, Josh. XV. 9. Neto'phah, a town in Judah, 2 Sam. xxiii. 28. Ne'zib, a towm in Judah, Josh. xv. 43. [V.] Nib'siian, a town in Judah, Josh. xv. 62. Nicop'olis {city of victory), a city m Epii'us, now called Nicopi, Titus iii. 12. [II., VII.] Nile, the chief river of Egypt, called in Scripture, by way of eminence, ' the river,' Gen. xli. [II.] Nim'rah, Nim'rim {leopard), a town in Gad, Nvmib. xxxii. 3. Nin'eveh, the capital of the Assjrian empire, on the Tigris, Gen. x. 11. [I., n.] No, No- AM'MON(ee Zidon. Si'hor (black), a. the Hebrew name for the Nile, Isa. xxiii. 3. -j3. the river of Egjrpt, on the Rhinocura, Josh. xiii. 3. [IH.] Sil'la, a place near Jerusalem, 2 Kings xii. 20. Silo'ah, or Sil'oam, a fountain and pool at the entrance of tlie valley of Tyi'opseon, near Mount Zion, Neh. iii. 15. [IX.] Sim'eon, a tribal division of Canaan. See p. 34. Josh. xix. 1 — 9. Sin (slime), a. a fortified city, at the mouth of the eastern arm of the Nile, in Eg)T)t, generally sup- posed to be the Pelusium of the Greeks, Ezek. XXX. 15. [III.] p. the desert which the Is- raelites entered on leaving the Red Sea, Exod. xvi. 1. [II.] Si'nai, a mountainous district in Arabia Petrsea, and in a stricter sense, a ridge three miles in length, the northern end of which is termed Horeb, and the southern, Sinai, now known as Jebel Musa, or Moses' Mount, Exod. xvi. 1. [II., III., IX.] Si'nim, probably China, though some suppose Persia is meant, Isa. xlix. 12. [I.] Sin'ites, anortliern Canaanitish people, Gen. x. 17. Si'oN, a name for Mount Hermon, Deut. iv. 48. Siph'moth, a town in Judah, 1 Sam. xxx. 28. Sir'ion, the Sidonian name for JSIoTint Hermon, Deut. iii. 9. Sit'nah (hatred), one of Isaac's wells, Gen. xxvi. 21. Smyb'na, a celebrated commercial city of Ionia, and still flourishing ; the Tm'ks call it Izmii", Rev. i. 11. See p. 47. [II., VII.] So'coH, Sho'choh, or So'cho, o. a town in Judah, in the vale of Elah, Josh. xv. 35. )3. a town near the mountains of Judah, Josh. xv. 48 ; now called Shuweikeh. [IV., V.] Sod'om, one of the cities in the vale of Siddim, having its own chief or king. Gen. x. 19. So'rek (a vine), a vallev so called, near to Gath, Judg. xvi. 4. [IV., VI.] Spain, a Roman province, formerly including both Spain and Portugal, Rom. xv. 24. Suc'coTH (booths), a. a place east of Jordan, between that river and the brook Jabbok, about forty miles from Jerusalem, Gen. xxxiii. 17. [IV., VI.] p. the tii-st station of the Israelites after Rameses, Exod. xii. 37. Suk'kiims (dwellers in tents), an African nation, 2 Chi-on. xii. 3. Sy'char. See Shechem. John iv. 5. Sye'ne (keT/ or border fortress), a city of Egypt, in the Thebais, or southern extremity of the coim- try, towai-ds Ethiopia, Ezek. xxix. 10. [I., II.] Syr'acuse, a city of antiquity, on the south-east coast of Sicily, Acts xxviii. 12. [II., IX.] Syb'ia (sublime), the region from west to east, be- tween the MediteiTanean and the Euphrates, and from north to south, between the Lebanon and the borders of the desert. See p. 14. Gen. xxviii. 5. [II., VI., IX.] Ta'anach, or Ta'nach, a Levitical city ii'. Manas- seh, Josh. xvii. 11. [IV.] Ta'anath-shi'loh, a town on the border of the tribe of Ephraim, Josh. xvi. 6. Tab'kath, a town in Issachar, Judg. vii. 22. Tab'erah (a burning), an Israelitish station m tl;e wilderness, Nvmib. xi. 3. [HI.] Ta'bor, a. a mountain on the confines of Zebidun and Naphtali, Josh. xix. 22. [III., IV.', VI., IX.] )3. an oak-grove, ("plain," Auth. Vers.) in the vicinity of Benjamin, 1 Sam. x. 3. y. a Levitical city, situated on Mount Tabor, 1 Cliron. vi. 77. Tad'mor, or Ta'mar (palm-tree), a city built by king Solomon, the Palmyra of heathen writers, situated between the Euphrates and Hamath, in a fertile tract of the desert, 1 Kings ix. 18. [II., v., VII.] Tahap'anes, Tahpan'hes, or Tehaph'nehes (