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 Land of /-sr 
 
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The Land of Israel 
 
 A Text Book on the Physical 
 and Historical Geography of 
 the Holy Land embodying the 
 Results of Recent Research 
 
 BY 
 
 Robert Laird Stewart, D. D. 
 
 Professor of Pastoral Theology and Biblical Archaeology in the Theolog- 
 ical Seminary of Lincoln University, Pa. 
 
 WITH EIGHTEEN MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 Publishers of Evangelical Literature 
 
Copyright, 1899 
 
 by 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 LOAN STACK 
 
 SEVENTH EDITION 
 
DS 101 
 
 TO 
 THE REV. F. H. ROBARTS AND WIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 GLASGOW, SCOTLAND 
 ERST-WHILE COMPANIONS AND FELLOW-TRAVELLERS 
 
 IN THE 
 LANDS OF THE EAST 
 
 260 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 ( Ascent of Pass of Nahr el Kelb, ) Facing tag* 44 
 
 { From North, with one of the Tablets } 
 
 2. Capture of Lachish by Sennacherib ....** '* 95 
 
 3. Tell es Safi (Gath ?) Page 102 
 
 4. *Tell Zakariya Facing page 103 
 
 5. Excavation at Tell es Safi " " 105 
 
 6. General view of Nazareth " " 116 
 
 7. Nablus and Vale of Shechem " "146 
 
 8. Curb of Jacob's Well Page 149 
 
 9. Ruined Crypt, and section of Jacob's Well ... " 151 
 
 10. *Wady Suweinet Facing page 161 
 
 11. General view of Jerusalem (Church of St. Anne 
 
 in foreground) " " 174 
 
 12. Damascus Gate " "176 
 
 13. The southeast angle of Haram Wall ....*' " 189 
 
 14. Robinson's Arch *' " 192 
 
 15. The probable site of Calvary " "200 
 
 16. Bethany '* " 203 
 
 17. The Bridge over the Kedron " "205 
 
 18. The Wilderness of Judea " "225 
 
 19. Bethlehem of Judah " "228 
 
 20. ^Abraham's Well, Beersheba Page 239 
 
 21. Kadesh Barnea " 244 
 
 22. *The new Jordan Bridge at mouth of Wady Shaib Facing page 283 
 
 *Reproduced, by permission, from the publications of the Palestine Exploring Fund. 
 
List of Maps 
 
 Physical Map of the Holy Land in Colors 
 Boundaries of the Tribes of Israel . . . . 
 Divisions of Palestine in the time of Christ 
 
 . Frontispiece 
 Facingpage 36 
 . " " 41 
 
 8. 
 
 9- 
 10. 
 n. 
 
 12. 
 13. 
 
 SECTIONAL MAPS 
 
 The Maritime Plain north of Mt. Carmel . Facingpage 6$ 
 
 The Maritime Plain south of Mt. Carmel . . ' * 79 
 
 TheShephelah ' " 97 
 
 The Mountains of Galilee M 106 
 
 The Plain of Esdraelon ' "120 
 
 The Mountains of Ephraim ** " 134 
 
 The Mountains of Benjamin " ' 158 
 
 Plan of Ancient Jerusalem ** M 170 
 
 Plan of Modern Jerusalem ** " 173 
 
 The Mountains of Judah " " 224 
 
 The Negeb or South Country ...... M "237 
 
 The Valley of the Jordan " "254 
 
 The Sea of Galilee Page 263 
 
 The Land of Bashan Facingpage 303 
 
 Gilead and Moab . ,...." " 3*7 
 

 Preface 
 
 TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The demand for a new edition of this work has given 
 opportunity to make some typographical corrections, 
 and to add a brief summary of the results of the exca- 
 vations, under the direction of Dr. Bliss, during the 
 summer of 1899. A photographic view of an interesting 
 section of the excavations at Tell es Safi, reproduced by 
 permission from the October Quarterly of the Palestine 
 Exploration Fund, has been added to the list of illus- 
 trations. The folded boundary maps, drawn by Kiepert, 
 have been replaced by two carefully prepared maps in 
 more convenient form, which harmonize at all points 
 with the descriptions of the text. 
 
 An additional map in colors gives the physical features 
 of the Land as a whole: the relative heights and depres- 
 sions being indicated by different shades of color. 
 
 R. L. S. 
 
 Lincoln University, Pa. t 
 September i, 1900. 
 
Preface 
 
 IN the light of recent research the Geography of the Holy 
 Land has become a study of absorbing interest. It has fur- 
 nished a clue to the explanation of many historical difficulties ; 
 filled old words with new meanings ; revealed correspondence 
 with the Bible hitherto unseen ; corroborated minute circum- 
 stances of position, time and distance, incidentally given by the 
 sacred writers ; and, in a word, has restored the real historic 
 setting of a series of real historic narratives. 
 
 The work of exploration on a strictly scientific basis, com- 
 menced by Dr. Robinson some sixty years ago, has been car- 
 ried on to the present time by a worthy corps of successors, 
 who amid many discomforts and perils have given years of 
 patient study and investigation to the identification of places, 
 the translation of ancient records, the excavation of buried 
 cities and the survey of the land as a whole. To these devoted 
 men the pioneers of Palestine Geography and to the Socie- 
 ties which supported them in their work, the Christian world is 
 deeply indebted. While this task has been necessarily limited 
 to a small number of specialists, it is given to a larger number 
 to glean after them in the same field of labor, and utilize the 
 results. Herein is the saying true, " Other men have labored, 
 and we are entered into their labors." 
 
 A desideratum, in view of the growing importance of this 
 study, is a Text-Book or Manual, abreast of the latest explora- 
 tions, in which the student may find a summary of the charac- 
 teristic features and historical associations of every place of im- 
 portance mentioned in the Scripture whose site has been defi- 
 nitely located. 
 
 The present volume, while doubtless imperfect in many 
 respects, is a contribution toward this end. It is the develop- 
 
Preface 
 
 ment of the outlines of a course of instruction which has been 
 tested during a period of eight years by several successive 
 classes of theological students ; and is now given to the public 
 in the hope that it may supply a want which has been felt in 
 other institutions of learning ; and that it may be helpful also 
 as a Handbook to ministers of the Gospel, Sabbath-school 
 teachers and students of the Bible in general. If its author 
 shall receive but a tithe of the favor and encouragement in this 
 wider field, which he has received from his own pupils, he will 
 be amply repaid for the time and labor he has devoted to its 
 preparation. 
 
 The chief value of a work of this character must of necessity 
 depend upon the careful selection and orderly presentation of 
 well authenticated facts, gathered from sources not readily ac- 
 cessible to the ordinary student. These are contained in costly 
 memoirs of exploration parties, monographs on places or sec- 
 tions of the country, narratives of travel, quarterlies and other 
 official publications of the Palestine Exploration Fund : and in 
 such standard works as Robinson's Physical Geography and 
 Researches, Ritter's Comparative Geography of Palestine, 
 Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, Thomson's Land and the Book, 
 Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land, and the Historical 
 Geographies of Drs. Henderson and Smith. 
 
 While the author has gathered, and adapted to his purpose, 
 the latest and most interesting information attainable from these 
 and other authoritative sources within his reach, he has also 
 availed himself of the impressions which can only come from 
 personal observation. A carefully-planned journey from the 
 borders of the South country to the heart of the Lebanon gave 
 opportunity for studying the Geography of the Land day by 
 day on the spot. In utilizing these impressions the writer has 
 sought to impart something of the life and coloring imprinted 
 on his own mind and memory through the "seeing eye." 
 Quotations from recognized authorities have been freely intro- 
 duced into the body of the work to give additional value to 
 
Preface 
 
 descriptions or to throw light upon the topography or antiquity 
 of disputed sites. 
 
 In the footnotes credit has been given for all citations, and, 
 as far as possible, the sources of direct information have been 
 indicated. 
 
 In the first part of the book a general description of the Land 
 is given, including its position among the nations, its bounda- 
 ries and prominent physical features, its present condition and 
 the salient points in its history. 
 
 In the second part the special features and noteworthy places 
 are grouped together in separate sections for study at close 
 range. These sectional divisions correspond to the natural 
 divisions of the country ; and, with scarcely an exception, have 
 familiar Old Testament names descriptive of their physical as- 
 pects and relations. 
 
 An obvious advantage of this arrangement is the opportunity 
 it affords for studying the characteristic features, and historical 
 associations of each Biblical site in connection with its natural 
 environment. In the historical records of the country the 
 several incidents which make up the story of its sacred locali- 
 ties are often widely scattered, but in a Handbook of Sacred 
 Geography they should be brought together. 
 
 As Dean Stanley puts it: "A work of this kind in which 
 the local description is severed from the history must neces- 
 sarily bear an incoherent and fragmentary aspect. It is the 
 framework without the picture the skeleton without the flesh 
 the stage without the drama. The materials of a knowledge 
 of the East are worthily turned to their highest and most fitting 
 use only when employed for a complete representation of the 
 Sacred History as drawn out in its full proportions from the 
 condensed and scattered records of the Scriptures." 
 
 There are some excellent works on the Geography of Pales- 
 tine which follow the historical order of the Biblical records. 
 These have their place and value as adjuncts to the study of 
 the Bible, but they are objectionable as text-books because this 
 
Preface 
 
 method of arrangement imposes upon the student the task of 
 searching through widely separated epochs for the materials, 
 which make up the story, of each sacred locality. 
 
 The necessity for the frequent repetition of places as in the 
 case of Shechem, which is mentioned in connection with every 
 prominent period of Hebrew history from Abraham to Christ 
 precludes a full or satisfactory description at any point. 
 
 A more serious difficulty, however, is the perplexity which 
 arises from the study in turn of a Palestine of the Patriarchs ; 
 of the Conquest; of the Judges; of the Kings; and of the 
 New Testament period. These or similar divisions may prop- 
 erly represent important periods in the history of the Holy 
 Land, but there seems to be no good reason for making them 
 serve as divisions of its geography. On the contrary their use 
 in this connection is bewildering to the student, if not positively 
 misleading. 
 
 The land given to Israel by Divine allotment, as a possession 
 among the nations, was not a domain of uncertain area, whose 
 metes and bounds were determined by political changes or rev- 
 olutions, but a distinct portion of the earth's surface, with 
 well defined boundaries and unique physical features. Within 
 these limits we are concerned with everything which belongs to 
 its configuration, topography, history, antiquity and associations. 
 
 To be available for ready reference a work of this character 
 must give an account of every Biblical site, which has been 
 more or less satisfactorily identified. It does not follow, how- 
 ever, that the student should be required to master this formi- 
 dable list of places in wearisome detail. They can be studied 
 to best advantage as the Astronomer studies the stars in a 
 given section of the heavens; first by resolving them into 
 groups, and second by concentrating attention upon the most 
 conspicuous representatives of these groups. 
 
 A synopsis of each chapter will be found in the Table of 
 Contents. This has been made as complete as possible to aid 
 the student in review. 
 
Preface 
 
 A series of sectional maps thirteen in number illustrate 
 the topographical feature of each subdivision of the country. 
 These have been prepared with great care under the author's 
 personal supervision, and for the most part from reductions of 
 the English Survey Maps. They indicate the exact localities 
 and the special features described in the text. Unimportant 
 and unidentified localities have been left out. 
 
 Railroads projected, or in operation, new carriage roads, and 
 the points recently selected for excavation in the Shephelah 
 have been indicated. 
 
 I desire to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. R. M. Cam- 
 den, Jr., of Philadelphia, for careful and accurate detail work 
 on the series of maps ; to Professor Theodore F. Wright, of 
 Cambridge, Honorary Secretary of the Palestine Exploration 
 Fund for the United States, for privileges accorded in connec- 
 tion with the use and reproduction of maps and illustrations 
 published by the Fund ; to my associates Drs. I. N. Rendall 
 and J. Aspinwall Hodge for valuable help and suggestions, and 
 especially to Professor George B. Carr, D. D., for assistance in 
 revision of the work in manuscript form. 
 
 R. L. S. 
 
 Lincoln University, Pa. 
 Afrilsoth, 1899. 
 
Contents 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE 
 
 The Lands of the Bible extend over the contiguous portions of 
 three continents. Syria preeminent among the lands of 
 Sacred Story. Its position and boundaries. Modern Syria. 
 Syria Proper. Palestine. The Land of Israel. Data 
 for the study of Sacred Geography. Work of Exploration 
 Societies. Survey of Palestine. Maps. Plan of Study . . 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 Part I 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE LAND 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PHYSICAL FEATURES 
 
 and Boundaries. " Dan to Beersheba." " Entering 
 of Hamath to River of Egypt." Significance of Scriptural 
 definitions. The Dominion promised to Israel (defined in 
 general terms). The Inheritance promised to Israel (de- 
 fined in specific terms). Territory east of the Jordan. Ter- 
 ritory west of the Jordan. The Domesday Book of the 
 Conquest. The boundary line on the north (Mount Hor. 
 Entering in of Hamath, Ziphron, Zedad). The boundary 
 line on the south (River of Egypt Kadesh Barnea). 
 Dimensions of this Greater Palestine. All of its territory 
 xv 
 
XVI 
 
 Contents 
 
 included in the Divine allotment. Stress to be laid upon 
 authorized possession rather than upon permanent occupa- 
 tion. Israel reproved for failure to occupy the whole land 
 at once. Descriptive lists given of the unoccupied portions. 
 Conquests of David prepared the way for the occupation of 
 the whole land. The promised heritage becomes the actual 
 possession during the Golden Age of the Hebrew nation. 
 Scriptural statements concerning the recognized boundaries 
 during this period. The land, as thus described, a unity 
 with respect to its physical features. 
 
 Position among the Nations. Its Isolation. Its Central Lo- 
 cation. Its relation to the chief centres of civilization of 
 three Continents. The High Bridge " between the basins 
 of the Nile and Euphrates. 
 
 Configuration and Natural Divisions. Preeminently " a land 
 of hills and valleys ; of fountains and depths that spring out of 
 valleys and hills." Divides naturally into four longitudinal 
 sections: Two parallel mountain ranges; and two corre- 
 sponding depressions. 
 
 1. The Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Sections. Run continu- 
 ously side by side throughout the land, except the distinct 
 break made by Plain of Esdraelon. General features of the 
 Lebanon range. Prominent Elevations (Dhar el Khodib, 
 10,052, Jebel Mukhmal, 10,016, Jebel Sunnin, 8,500). 
 Range corrugated by waclies running east and west. Gen- 
 eral features of the Anti-Lebanon range. Broader surface. 
 No distinct break slopes gradually to desert on eastern 
 side. Culminates in heights of Hermon, 9,383 feet. 
 
 2. The Lowland Sections. (i) The Maritime Plain. Coast 
 line remarkable for its straight, unbroken sweep. Only 
 one natural harbor. Continuity broken by Mount Carmel. 
 Upper portion a narrow strip, 140 miles in length.-^The 
 lower portion a broad undulating plain, widening toward 
 the south. (2) The Valley or Cleft between the moun- 
 tains. This a phenomenon unequalled on the earth's sur- 
 face. Upper portion known as the Lebanon valley, or 
 Ccele Syria. Its two Rivers, the Litany and Orontes: 
 lower portion known as the Valley of the Jordan. Its low- 
 est level 2,600 feet below the surface of the Sea. Summary 
 of most striking features of the land, viewed as a whole. 
 
Contents xvii 
 
 Geological Structure. Limestone the predominating element. 
 Basalt the most conspicuous surface formation next to 
 limestone. Granite and gneiss in Negeb. Red sandstone 
 outcrops from sides of Lebanon. Rich alluvial deposits in 
 valleys and on plains 5-21 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 (i) Climate and Productions. Summer and Winter. Wet 
 and dry seasons. Former and latter rains. The harvest 
 periods Remarkable range of levels and corresponding 
 variation in climate. 
 
 '2) Flora and Fauna. Four distinct zones represented. 
 Species range from those indigenous to Alpine heights, to 
 those having affinities in Nubia or Equatorial Africa. 
 Species recently described and catalogued in Dr. Post's 
 Flora number 3,416. Trees mentioned in the Scriptures. 
 Wild animals remaining, and extinct 22-'+ s - 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE LAND 
 
 i'. Canaanites. (I) Philistines. (2) Phoenicians. Lan- 
 guage of Canaan. Canaan and Gilead. Canaanites of 
 the Jordan valley. 
 
 2. Hittites. Concentrated principally in Northern Syria. 
 Land of the Hittites. Carchemish and Kadesh. Hittite set- 
 tlements as far south as Hebron. 
 
 3. Amorites. Preceded Hittites in occupation of Canaan. 
 Occupied greater part of mountain region on both sides of 
 the Jordan. Land of the Hittites. Og and Sihon. 
 Lachish. 
 
 4. Hivites. Occupied district north of Jerusalem. The 
 Hivite Confederacy. 
 
 5. Perrizites. Possibly peasantry of the time. Lower 
 Galilee and foothills of Ephraim. 
 
 6. Jebusites. Appear only in connection with Jerusalem and 
 environs. 
 
 Aboriginal tribes mentioned in Scripture. Avim, Horites, 
 Rephaim, Anakim 
 
XV111 
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 TRIBAL AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS 
 
 J. The Division among the Tribes. Recovery of old lines 
 of division. Boundaries conform to natural features of 
 the country. Evidences of survey and apportionment. 
 
 Limits of the Several Tribes. Judah, Simeon, BenjamI,., 
 Ephraim, Dan, Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, 
 Naphtali. Limits of the two and one half tribes beyond 
 Jordan, Manasseh, Gad, Reuben. The Cities of Refuge. 
 
 2. Limits of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah after the 
 death of Solomon. 
 
 3. Political Divisions in the time of Christ. Galilee, 
 Samaria, Judea, Idumea. Divisions of the Trans- Jordanic 
 territory. Gaulanitis, Auranitis, Iturea, Trachonitis, 
 Batanaea, Perea and Decapolis 36-43 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 HIGHWAYS AND CARAVAN ROUTES 
 
 Main routes connecting the Land of Israel with the outside 
 world. The coast road the oldest and most notable of four 
 main lines of travel. Egyptian and Assyrian tablets on this 
 route at Dog River. 
 
 Main routes of local character within the limits of the land. 
 Public roadways mentioned in Scripture. Roman roads. 
 Chariots. Khans .. 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE LAND 
 
 A land in ruins as well as a land of ruins. Heights denuded 
 of trees. Terraces broken down. Soil washed away. 
 Ruined cities and towns without inhabitants. The rugged 
 framework of the land with all its characteristic features yet 
 remain. Marked changes for the better within the past dec- 
 ade. Carriage roads. Railroads. Hotels, etc. Signs of 
 Providential oversight and the dawning of a better day . . . 
 
 47- 
 
Contents xix 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 Relation between the History and the Geography of the Holy 
 Land. Three periods of national or provincial occupation, 
 viz : The Canaanite, Israelite and Gentile. 
 
 1. The Canaanite Period. Comes into view about 2000 B. c. 
 Monumental Evidences. 
 
 (1) Canaan as a Babylonian Province. Designated in cunei- 
 form records as the land of the Amorites. Records of 
 Sargon, Naram-sin, and Gudea establish the fact of the 
 dependence of Canaan before the birth of Abram. Near 
 the close of this period (c. 1600 B. c.) evidences multiply of 
 a larger population and a higher grade of civilization. 
 
 (2) Canaan as an Egyptian Province. Dates from battle of 
 Megiddo. Period of Egyptian domination nearly three cen- 
 turies. Testimony of Tell Amarna tablets. Names of 
 principal cities appear in annals of Egyptian kings. 
 
 2. The Hebrew Period. Covers a stretch of nearly fifteen 
 centuries. Territory of Israel cut short after death of 
 Solomon. Kingdom of Syria arises and menaces the safety 
 of the northern kingdom. Conquests of the Assyrians and 
 ultimate fall of the kingdom of Israel. Ten tribes carried 
 away B. c. 721. Kingdom of Judah suffers reverses and 
 becomes a province of Babylon B. c. 606. Jerusalem de- 
 stroyed B. c. 587. After the return from the Captivity the 
 Jews dwelt securely under the protectorate of Persian em- 
 pire for 200 years. Following this are periods of Mace- 
 donian, Egyptian, Maccabean and Roman rule. 
 
 3. The Gentile Period. Dates from destruction of Jerusalem. 
 Jews banished from Palestine by order of Hadrian. 
 Roman supremacy ends A. D. 614. A brief period of Persian 
 rule followed by supremacy of Arabs and Turks. Period of 
 the Crusades the only interruption to Moslem rule for more 
 than a thousand years. Impress of Crusaders all over west- 
 ern Palestine. A deeper and more abiding impression left 
 upon the land by the centuries of Greek and Roman occupa- 
 tion. Monumental remains of Graeco-Roman civilization. 
 Roman roads. Christian emblems and inscriptions, etc. 
 Sacred Associations of the Land. Stands apart from all as 
 
 the Holy Land." . , , . , , , , 50-58 
 
XX 
 
 Contents 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF THE LAND TO THE BOOK 
 Importance of the study of the Land as a supplemental evi- 
 dence to the historical accuracy of the Scriptures. Topo- 
 graphical details fit in with the Biblical narratives. One 
 answers to the other as the die to its impress. Both fit to- 
 gether into one unique and grandly comprehensive plan. 
 Testimony of modern explorers: Robinson, Thomson, 
 Renan, Stanley, Conder, Besant 59-63 
 
 Part II 
 SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE LAND 
 
 The First Longitudinal Section 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE MARITIME PLAIN NORTH OF MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 Separated by the Ladder of Tyre into two portions, known as 
 Plains of Phoenicia and Acre. Description of Ladder of 
 Tyre. 
 
 i. The Phoenician Plain. Length and breadth. Coast line. 
 Palm belt. Low hills. Noted streams which cross the 
 plain: Eleutherus, Adonis, Lycus, Bostrenus, Litany. 
 Local subdivisions of plain : Tripoli, Berytus, Sidon, 
 Tyre. 
 
 Cities and Towns. Tripolis, Tell Arka, Gebal, Beirut, Sidon, 
 Zarephath, Tyre. 
 
 a. The Plain of Acre. Extent and boundaries. Crescent 
 shaped shore line. Harbor. Rivers. Belus and Kishon. 
 Cities and Towns: -Acre (Ptolemais), Haifa, Achzib, 
 Harosheth, Cabul, Abdon, Beth-cmek. The pass if *~ 
 Kishon the place of. the disast^s defeat of the army 01 
 Sisera 65-7$ 
 

 Contents xxi 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MARITIME PLAIN SOUTH OF MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 Divisions of the plain : Athlit, Sharon, Philistia. 
 
 1. The Plain of Athlit. Coast ridge. Ancient road. Towns 
 of Athlit and Dor. 
 
 2. The Plain of Sharon. Boundaries. Characteristic fea- 
 tures. Crossed by several perennial streams : The Zerka, 
 Mufjir, Iskanderuneh, Aujeh. The Nahr Rubin divides 
 Sharon from Philistia. Cities and Towns : Caesarea, Jaffa, 
 Harbor of Jaffa, Lydda, Ono, Hadid, Neballat, Ramleh, 
 Antipatris, Gilgal. Roadways. Railroad and Carriage 
 road to Jerusalem. 
 
 3. The Philistine Plain. Extent and General Features 
 
 South of Gaza a pastoral region. Kingdom of Gerar. 
 Plain north of Gaza a vast grain-field. Soil porous. Streams 
 find their way underground to the sea. Water supply easily 
 obtained by boring or sinking wells. Orchards and gardens 
 in vicinity of towns and villages. Chief cities and note- 
 worthy sites of ancient Philistia Ekron, Ashdod, Gath, 
 Askelon, Gaza, Jabneel, Libnah, Makkedah, Migdol, 
 Lachish. Results of excavations at Lachish (Tell el Hesy) 
 Eglon. Gerar. Evidences that the whole of the Philistine 
 
 PUin was a thickly populated region in the past 79-96 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE SHEPHELAH 
 
 Usage of term by latest authorities. Valleys of the Shep- 
 helah. Ajalon, Sorek, Elah, Zephathah, Wady el Hesy, 
 Wady esh Sheriah. 
 
 Towns of the Shephelah . Ajalon, Gimzo, Beit Nuba, Emmaus, 
 Gezer, Jabneel, Zorah, Eshtaol, Beth Shemesh, Timnath, 
 Camp of Dan, Shocoh, Adullum.Tell es San, A/ekah.Tell 
 Zakariya, Beit Jibrin, Mareshah. Ruined sites of unknown 
 towns and villages all over this region. The theatre of 
 many notable events in human history. Its possessors held 
 all the gateways of approach to the Holy City from the 
 west 97-IOS 
 
xxii Contents 
 
 The Second Longitudinal Section 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON AND GALILEE 
 Z. Lebanon. Term applied to the high mountains of the 
 Lebanon range. Characteristics of Lebanon. Its beauty, 
 sublimity, and wonderful variety of scenery and production. 
 Cedars of Lebanon. Principal rivers. Deeply cleft 
 chasms. Gorges of the Kadisha and Litany. Natural 
 bridges. Twelve hundred modern villages. Zahleh. Car- 
 riage road over Lebanon. 
 
 2. The Mountains of Galilee. Boundaries and characteristic 
 features. Mount Naphtali. Jebel Jermuk (3,934) the 
 dominant peak. Interspersed Plains. El Buttauf. Turan. 
 Ramah. Mountain of the Beatitudes. Wady Hamam. 
 Storied caves. 
 
 Noteworthy Places. Kedesh, Hazor, Edrei, Safed, Janoah, Mig- 
 dal El, Heleph, Horem, Beth Anath, Iron, Beth Shemesh, 
 Ramah, En Hazor, Hukkok, Zebulun, Gischala, Nazareth. 
 Fountain of Mary. Outlook from hill above Nazareth. 
 Sepphoris, Cana of Galilee, Khurbet Kana, Gath-hepher, 
 Bethlehem, Japhia 106-119 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 
 
 Opens up a natural passage-way from the Mediterranean to the 
 Jordan Valley. Divisions of the Plain. Ancient and mod- 
 ern names. 
 
 Esdraelon Proper. Triangular in outline. Gateways of Es- 
 draelon. Fertility. Present condition. The Kishon river. 
 Ancient Sites : Tell el Kasis, Jokneam, Megiddo, Battle- 
 fields in front of Megiddo, Taanach, Hadad Rimmon, En 
 gannim, Jezreel, Shunem, Chisloth Tabor. 
 
 Eastern Extension of the Plain. Divides into three branches. 
 Wady Bireh. Valley of Jezreel. Fountain of Jezreel. 
 Hill of Moreh. Beth Shittah. Bethshan. 
 
 Mountains of Esdraelon: (I) Gilboa. Characteristics and his- 
 tory. Jelbon. Mezar. (2) Little Ilcrmon. Characteris- 
 tic features. Hill of Morch. Nain. Endor. (3) Mount 
 
Contents xxiii 
 
 Tabor. Symmetrical from base to crown. Range of vision 
 from summit of Tabor. 
 Stirring events connected with Esdraelon and its outgoings . . 120-133 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF EPHRAIM 
 
 Characteristic features. Mount Carmel. The Excellency of 
 Carmel. Place of the conflict been Elijah and the priests 
 of Baal. The Hill of Samaria. Location and surround- 
 ings. The City of Samaria : Its glorious beauty. Its his- 
 tory as the Capital of the ten tribes. Its magnificence in 
 the time of Christ. 
 
 The mountains of Ebal and Gerizim. Topography of site of the 
 ratification of the book of the Law. Panoramic view from 
 Mount Ebal. Baal Hazor. Highest peak of Mount Eph- 
 raim. Landmark on border line between Ephraim and 
 Benjamin. 
 
 Interspersed Plains. Dothan (Caravan route) Tell Dothan, 
 Mukhna, Vale of Shechem. 
 
 Wadies. Farah, Aujeh, Arah, Selhab, Abu Nar, Shair, Kanah, 
 Deir Balut, Ishar, Nimr. 
 
 Towns and Sacred Sites : Shechem, Jacob's Well, Sychar, Be- 
 lata, Joseph's Tomb, Salim, JEnon, Tulluza, Tirzah, Thebez 
 Bezek, Samaria, Dothan, Bethulia, Awertah, Tombs of 
 Eleazar and Phinehas, Taanath Shiloh, Arumah, Janoah, 
 Timnath Serah, Neby Nun, Tiphsah, Shiloh, Lebonah, 
 Gilgal 134-157 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF BENJAMIN 
 
 Boundaries and characteristic features. A mountain fastness. 
 
 Isolated knolls. Terraced slopes and alluvial basins. A 
 
 land m ruins as well as a land of ruins. Neby Samwil the 
 
 probable site of Mizpeh. " Mountjoye " of the Crusaders. 
 
 Wadies and Ravines. Wadies : Nuweimeh, Kelt, Suweinet, 
 
 el Hod. 
 
 Towns and Sacred Sites of Benjamin. Gophna, Bethel, Berj 
 Beitin, Beth-aven, Ai, Et Tell, Rock Rimmon, MichmaaS^ 
 Geba, Beeroth, Ramah, Gibeah of Saul, Tell el Ful, Anathoth, 
 
xxiv Contents 
 
 The Beth-horons, Gibeon, Pool of Gibeon, Place of the Taber- 
 nacle and Altar, Nob. 
 
 Places of minor importance : Archi, Sechu, Baal Tamar, Gede- 
 rah, Ananiah, Razor, Gibeath, Kirjath, Mozah, Chesalon, 
 Parah, Alemeth, Debir, Eleph 158-169 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 JERUSALEM AND ITS ENVIRONS 
 
 Elevation and Environment. Kedron Valley. Hinnon Val- 
 ley. Wady en Nar. Accumulations of rubbish. Direction 
 and sweep of ancient walls. The Mountains around. 
 Internal divisions. Ridge on western side. Ridge on east- 
 ern side. Tyropceon valley. Lateral valleys. Acra and 
 Zion. Bczetha, Moriah and Ophel. Rubbish and wreck- 
 age of not less than eight cities below the present city. 
 Rock levels and general contour lines obtained by repeated 
 excavations. Appearance of modern city. Walls and 
 Gates. Quarters : i The Armenian Quarter : Citadel. 
 Tower of Hippicus. Tower of David. Palace of Herod. 
 The Armenian Convent. English Church. Church of St 
 James. 
 
 2. The Christian Quarter: The Muristan. Pool of Heze- 
 kiah. Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 3. The Moslem Quarter : Largest division of the city. 
 Governor's Palace. Barracks. Consulates. Church of St. 
 Anne. Pool of Bethesda. Via Dolorosa. Birket Israil. 
 Cotton Grotto. Jeremiah's Grotto. Geological formation 
 of Jerusalem plateau. 
 
 4. The Jewish Quarters : Synagogues. Dilapidated tene- 
 ments. The Wailing Place. Huge blocks of stone in 
 lower course of wail. 
 
 5. The Temple Area: Summit of Moriah. Quadrangle, 
 thirty-five acres in area. The Dome of the Rock. The 
 Sakhra. Its relation to the Holy House. Cave under the 
 rock. Threshing floor of Oman. The water supply of the 
 Temple Area. The Great Sea. Thirty underground reser- 
 voirs. Walls of the Temple Area. Fortress of Antonia 
 and connecting wall. Height t:f wall at northwest corner. 
 Phoenician characters TOO feet below the surface. The 
 Golden Gate. The Southeast Corner. Warren's excava- 
 
Contents xxv 
 
 tions. Character of masonry. Solomon's Stables. The 
 Single, Triple and Double Gates of the South wall. Hul- 
 dah Gate identified with the Double Gate. Vaulted passage 
 and vestibule. Robinson's Arch. Remains of two ancient 
 bridges connecting Zion with Moriah. Wilson's Arch. 
 Barclay's Gate. Sir Charles Warren's conclusions respect- 
 ing the walls and the several buildings which they enclosed. 
 General plan of first and second Temples. The Court 
 of the Gentiles and its Cloisters. The Terraced Mountain, 
 viewed as a whole. Its hallowed memories. 
 
 Outside the Walls. I. Catacombs and Tombs. Tombs of the 
 Kings and Judges. Tomb west of the probable site of 
 Golgotha. Tombs of Jehoshaphat, Zachariah, Absalom and 
 St. James. Reputed tomb of David. Aceldama. The 
 Place of the Crucifixion. The Mount of Olives. Three 
 distinctly marked summits. Church of the Ascension. 
 View from Olivet. Bethany. The place where Jesus 
 wept over Jerusalem. The place of the Ascension. The 
 Garden of Gethsemane. The King's Dale. King's Gar- 
 den. Gehenna. Plain of Rephaim. 
 
 Pools and Sources of Water Supply. Fountain of the Virgin 
 or En Rogel. Stone of Zoheleth. Village of Siloam. 
 Rock hewn tunnel. Pool of Siloam. Siloam Inscription. 
 Recent excavations. Restored pool. Ancient stairway 
 leading up to city. Byzantine Church. Lower Pool. Bir 
 Eyub. Mamilla Pool. Sultan's Pool. Low-level Aque- 
 duct. High-level Aqueduct. Inverted syphon two miles 
 in length. The Jaffa Suburb. Colonies and charitable 
 institutions. Population of Jerusalem. 
 
 Southern Wall of Ancient Jerusalem. Wall recovered by 
 Warren on eastern brow of Ophel. Summary of discov- 
 eries made by Dr. Bliss along the line of the southern wall. 
 The pools of Siloam and all the available portions of the 
 slopes of Zion and Ophel included in the circuit of the an- 
 cient walls. History and influence of the Holy City . . . 170-233 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF JUDAH 
 
 Characteristic features. Land of the olive and vine. A pas- 
 toral land. Wilderness of Judah. A land not inhabited. 
 
XXVI 
 
 Contents 
 
 Place of John's seclusion. Place of the temptation of Jesus. 
 
 Wadies. En Nar, El Ghar, Surar, Es Sunt, Afranj. The des- 
 olate heaps of Judah. 
 
 Sites which have been identified. Kirjath Jearim. Emmaus. 
 Bethlehem. Church of the Nativity. Mar Saba. 
 Etham. Tekoa. Hebron. Vale of Hebron. Vineyards 
 of Hebron. Cave of Machpelah. Pools of Hebron. Ziph. 
 Carmel. Maon. Engedi. Cliff of Ziz. Valley of Ber- 
 achah. Masada. Hareth.. Keilah. Places of minor im- 
 portance : Bethzur, Gedor, Beth Tappuach, Adoraim, 
 Arab, Juttah, Socoh, Jattir, Debir 224-236 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE NEGEB OR SOUTH COUNTRY 
 
 Limits north and south. Subdivisions. Characteristics. Pres- 
 ent condition. 
 
 Sites of Special Interest. Beersheba. Ancient wells. Asso- 
 ciations with the Patriarchs. Arad. Sheba. Aroer. Re- 
 hobo th. Zephath (Hormah). Plain Es Seer. Mount 
 Halak. Wady Feqreh. Mount Seir. Kadesh Barnea. 
 Recovery, description and history of this long-lost site. 
 Mount Hor (Jebel Madurah). The traditional Mount Hor. 
 Wady Madurah. Eshcol Hagar's Well. Probable 
 direction of the southern border line of the Land of Israel . 237-249 
 
 The Third Longitudinal Section 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE VALLEY OF LEBANON 
 
 Length and breadth. Secondary ridge on eastern side. Water- 
 shed near Baalbek. Characteristic features. Baalbek. 
 Its majestic structures and massive ruins the wonder of the 
 world. The three immense stones in western wall. Con- 
 nection with Baal Gad. Plain of Aven. Riblah .... 250-253 
 
Contents xxvii 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN 
 
 Wady et Teim. Merj Ayun. Derdarah branch of the Jordan. 
 Ijon (Tell Dibbin). Abel-beth Maachah. The Jordan 
 Valley Proper. The three Lakes. Subdivisions of the 
 valley. 
 
 1. The Upper Basin. Plain of the Huleh. Perennial sources 
 of the Jordan: (i) The Fountain of the Hasbany near 
 village of Hasbeiya. Most remote source Elevation 1,700 
 feet. Descent in 115 miles 3,000 feet. (2) The Fountain 
 of the Leddan. Chief source. Elevation 500 feet. Tell 
 el Kady. Oak at Dan. Rank vegetation. (3) The Foun- 
 tain of Banias. Springs from southern base of Hermon. 
 Prominent features of the place. Elevation 1,080. Cave 
 and shrine of the god Pan. This "a very sanctuary of 
 waters." Castle of Shubeiah. Lake Huleh. Marsh of 
 Huleh. Papyrus jungles. John Macgregor's explorations 
 in the Rob Roy. Elevation of Lake Huleh. Semi-tropical 
 climate and luxuriant vegetation of the Huleh. 
 
 2. The Descent between the Lakes. Bridge of Jacob's 
 Daughters. Below it a succession of rapids to level of 
 lower basin. Hills of Naphtali. 
 
 3. The Galilean Basin. Lake deep down in this secluded 
 basin (-682 feet). Different characteristics of mountains on 
 eastern and western sides. Plain of Gennesaret. Wonder- 
 ful fertility of the plain. Hallowed memories of the Lake 
 and the region around it. Towns on the Coasts of Galilee : 
 Tiberias, Magdala, Capernaum, Tell Hum, Bethsaida of 
 Galilee, Bethsaida Julias, Chorazin, Gergesa, Wady Fik, 
 Gamala, Semakh, Tarichaea. 
 
 $. The Ghor. Length and breadth. Contractions and ex- 
 pansions. Plain of Jordan. Ghor-es Seisaban. Ciccar. 
 Climate and Products. Tributaries of the Jordan. 
 Places of Special Interest : Abel Meholah. Kurn Sartaba. 
 Adam. Zaretan. Succoth. Jericho. Ain es Sultan. 
 Tell es Sultan. Tropical luxuriance of the plain. The 
 three Jerichos. Gilgal. Belh Hogla. The Cities of the 
 Plain. Plain of Abel Shittim (Plain of Moab). The last 
 camping place of Israel east of Jordan. Beth-nimrah. 
 Abel Shittim. Beth-haran. Zoar. Beth-jeshimoth. Prog- 
 
xxviii Contents 
 
 ress of Jordan through the Ghor. The Zor or high level 
 channel. The " swellings of Jordan." Fords of the Jordan. 
 Bethabara. Bridges and ferries. Unique features of the 
 Jordan. History of the Jordan. 
 
 5. The Dead Sea Basin. Extent and characteristic features. 
 Jebel Usdum. Ghor es-Safieh. El Lisan. The Dead 
 Sea. Unique features 254-288 
 
 The Fourth Longitudinal Section 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE ANTI-LEBANON MOUNTAINS 
 
 Anti-Lebanon Proper (The East Mountain). Distinguishing 
 features. The Abana river. Ain el Fijeh. Abila. Zebe- 
 dany Plain. Zedad. Hazar-enan. Ziphron. Hamath. 
 Damascus. Plain of Damascus. The Merj. The Pharpar 
 river. Damascus the Paradise of the Arab world. 365 
 canals. 30,000 gardens. Its antiquity and marvellous his- 
 tory. The great Mosque. Helbon. Mount Hermon: 
 The Hejrmons. Panoramic view from summit of Hermon. 
 Circuit of the waters. True source of the Jordan. The 
 Place of the Transfiguration. Hermon within the borders 
 of Israel's possession 289-301 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE TRANS-JORDANIC HIGHLANDS 
 
 Extent of Eastern Palestine. General characteristics. Old Tes- 
 tament divisions : 
 
 I. Bashan : Boundaries. District of Jedur. Jaulan. Golan. 
 Oak forests. Tell Ashtarah, Aphek. The Hauran. 
 En Nukra. Hajj road. Damascus. Hauran railroad. 
 Natural wealth of Hauran. Harvests. Threshing floors. 
 The Lejah. An uplifted mass of congealed lava. Its 
 cavernous depths and winding paths. Towns of the Lejah. 
 The stronghold of Og, king of Bashan. Edrei. 
 Kenath. Jebel Hauran. Batanaea. Salcah. 
 Kerioth. Bozrah. Ruined cities of the Hauran. 
 Giant cities. Greek and Roman types of architecture. 
 Monumental evidences of existence of active Christian 
 
Contents xxix 
 
 communities. Records of the days of persecution and 
 martyrdom. Divergent views with respect to an- 
 tiquity of Hauran architecture. Job's country. 
 
 2. Gilead : Boundaries and general characteristics. The 
 Yarmuk river. The Jabbok. Jebel Ajlun. The Belka. 
 Land of the children of Ammon. Wood of Ephraim. Con- 
 tinuous forests. Jebel Osha. Outlook from Jebel Osha. 
 Jacob's route from the East. Noteworthy Places : Ga- 
 dara. El Hamma. Land of Tob. Abila. Capitolias. 
 Arbela. Ramoth. Mizpeh. Kulat er Rubab. Outlook 
 from Kulat er Rubad. Mahanaim. Jabesh Gilead. Pella. 
 Peniel. Gerasa (Jerash). Ramoth Gilead. Suf. 
 Debir. Beth Gamul. Rabbath Ammon. Jogbehah. 
 Kulat Zerka. Jazer. Castle of Hyrcanus. 
 
 3. Moab. The Mishor. The Abarim. The Callirhoe. 
 Castle of Machoerus. Valley of the Arnon. Aroer. Jebel 
 Attarus. Bamath Baal. Mount Pisgah. Jebel Siaghah. 
 View from Pisgah. Baal-peor. High places of Moab. 
 Menhirs, dolmons, etc. Heshbon, Elalah, Sibmah, Medeba. 
 Mosaic map of Palestine. Mashetta. Mystery of the des- 
 ert. Baal Meon. Dibon. Moabite Stone. Aroer. Kir 
 of Moab (Kerak). The brook Zered. Limit of the wilder- 
 ness journeyings 302-338 
 
 Equivalents of Arabic Words 339 
 
 Index 34~35 2 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 GENERAL VIEW OF THE LANDS OF THE BIBLE 
 
 THE Lands of the Bible extend over the contiguous sec- 
 tions of three great Continents Asia, Africa and Europe. 
 
 They lie between north latitude 28 and 45; and east 
 longitude 12 and 50. This area includes the cradle of the 
 race, the holy cities, and the chief centres of civilization and 
 empire of the ancient world. 
 
 The principal events of Old Testament history are included be- 
 tween the four Seas of Western Asia, viz : the Mediterranean, 
 the Black, the Caspian and the Persian Gulf. 
 
 Syria Preeminent among all the lands of Sacred Story is 
 
 the narrow strip, inland of the Mediterranean, which for a 
 period antedating the Christian era, has been covered by the 
 general name Syria. 
 
 The Roman Province of Syria extended southward from 
 Mount Amanus, a spur of the Taurus range, to the desert 
 which borders the land of Egypt. Its eastern boundary was 
 the upper Euphrates and the Desert of Arabia. This rugged 
 and singularly-diversified tract was nearly 400 miles in length. 
 In breadth it varied from sixty-five to 150 miles. 
 
 Modern Syria, with but slight divergence in outline, covers 
 nearly the same extent of territory. 
 
 Syria Proper. In its ordinary acceptation the name is 
 restricted to the portion of territory which lies north of the 
 southern slopes of Hermon and Lebanon. 
 
 Palestine is the familiar designation of that section of 
 Southern Syria which was permanently occupied by the tribes 
 of Israel. The name, as originally used in the Bible and in 
 SLncient history was limited to the land of the Philistines. 
 
 1 
 
2 Introduction 
 
 There are some writers of note who confine the name, at the 
 present time, to the territory of _ Israel west of the Jordan, but 
 the best authorities, including the Palestine Exploration Society, 
 have given to the name a definite signification, which includes 
 the permanent possession of the twelve tribes on both sides of 
 the river. 
 
 The length of Palestine, as usually reckoned, from Dan to 
 Beersheba is only 144 miles. The entire area is less than 
 11,000 square miles. 
 
 The Land of Israel. As outlined and described by the 
 sacred writers the possession of Israel extended northward to 
 the "Entering in of Hamath," and southward to the "River 
 of Egypt" (Wady el Arish). This includes an area about 
 twice as large as the territory usually covered by the term 
 Palestine. As a matter of fact the characteristic features, and 
 historic events ascribed to the land of Israel cannot be com- 
 pressed within the limited area between Dan and Beersheba. 
 
 Data. Reliable data for the accurate study of the Geography 
 and Antiquities of this country, which for long ages has borne 
 the exclusive title of "The Holy Land," have been accumu- 
 lated within the last twenty years ; and we are no longer left to 
 the uncertainty of traditional lore or the hasty generalizations 
 of travellers to the East. As a result of patient Iab9rs, skill- 
 fully-conducted excavations, and accurate surveys, the promi- 
 nent places and events, which come successively into view in 
 connection with the unfolding of the purpose of Redemption, 
 have been definitely located and accurately described. 
 
 Prominent among the agencies to which we are indebted for 
 this important work are: "The Palestine Exploration Fund," 
 "The American Society for Palestine Exploration," and "The 
 German Palestine Society." Very efficient service has been 
 rendered by M. Ganneati, Renan, and other noted French 
 scholars and explorers. 
 
 In Palestine very little remains to be done, above ground, in 
 the way of geographical exploration and survey, except in a 
 
 
Introduction 3 
 
 limited portion of the country east of the Jordan. A triangu- 
 lation survey of Western Palestine was commenced by the 
 Palestine Exploration Fund in the autumn of 1872, and was 
 completed, so far as the field work was concerned, in 1877. 
 A list of 10,000 names was collected during the progress of 
 this survey, and 172 Biblical sites were discovered. At the 
 present time 434 out of the 622 Biblical names west of the 
 Jordan have been identified with a reasonable degree of 
 certainty. 
 
 Maps. The "Great Map of Western Palestine" embodies 
 the results of this monumental work of exploration, and is 
 recognized as the standard of authority in this department of 
 scientific research. On this map the natural features of the 
 country have been laid down in exact detail, on the scale of 
 one inch to the mile, as beautifully and accurately as on the 
 Ordnance map of England. It has been fittingly described as 
 
 A magnificent map with every road and ruin marked, and every con- 
 spicuous object filled in ; with the hills and mountains correctly delineated 
 and shaded, with the rivers and brooks all running in the right directions ; 
 with every vineyard, every spring of water and almost every clump ot 
 trees set down in its place, and with thousands of names that never ap- 
 peared on a Palestine map before. 1 
 
 The survey of Eastern Palestine, commenced by the Ameri- 
 can Exploration Society under the direction of Dr. Selah 
 Merrill, has been completed, under the auspices of the Pal- 
 estine Exploration Fund, for a portion of the country only. 
 Enough has been done, however, to secure a reliable map. 
 This has been published in connection with a reduced map of 
 Western Palestine (three-eighths of an inch to the mile) under 
 the title : " Old and New Testament Map of Palestine." 
 
 A Raised Map constructed on the same scale by Mr. 
 
 George Armstrong, Assistant Secretary of the Fund, is the 
 
 crowning work of all the surveys and explorations of the past. 
 
 It shows at a glance the relative heights and depressions of this 
 
 i St. Glair's Bible Countries, p. 123. 
 
4 Introduction 
 
 remarkably diversified land from Baalbec on the north to 
 Kadesh Barnea on the south. 
 
 The fully-colored relief map, which is recommended as 
 the most desirable for classroom study has "the seas, lakes, 
 marshes and perennial streams colored blue, the Old and New 
 Testament sites are marked in red, the principal ones having a 
 number to correspond with a reference list of names, the plains 
 in green, the rising ground, hills and mountains in various 
 tints, the olive groves and wooded parts of the country stippled 
 in green, and the main roads are shown in the thin black 
 line." l 
 
 Arrangements have been made by the London Society to 
 have this map reproduced by Mr. E. E. Howell, of Washing- 
 ton, D. C. Its cost at the present time is $55. 
 
 Plan of Study. In the description of the various sections 
 and sites which come within the range of this study, special 
 emphasis will be given to three leading points ; viz, Location, 
 Characteristics, and Associations. The entire work is con- 
 structed on this threefold arrangement, with a view to clear- 
 ness of statement, and the more ready retention of the im- 
 portant facts in memory. 
 
 The value of a uniform, natural and logical order in 
 description and recitation in connection with this study, can 
 hardly be overestimated. It is this which distinguishes a 
 "Text-book" from an ordinary treatise on this or any other 
 subject. 
 
 i Quarterly Statement, P. E. F. 1894, P- 93- 
 
THE LAND OF ISRAEL 
 
 Part I 
 General View of the Land 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PHYSICAL FEATURES 
 
 EXTENT and Boundaries. In the introductory chapter 
 the geographical position of the Holy Land was described in 
 connection with Syria. All authorities are agreed that its loca- 
 tion is in the southern part of Syria, but there is a wide di- 
 vergence of statement in reference to its bounding lines on the 
 north and south. 
 
 While many accept the familiar expression " from Dan to 
 Beersheba," as a sufficiently exact geographical definition, it is a 
 notable fact that they invariably go beyond it when giving a 
 complete description of Biblical places and events. 
 
 A geography of the Holy Land can hardly be considered as 
 complete, which omits the southern border-lands of Judah and 
 Simeon, associated with events inwoven with Israel's story from 
 the days of the Patriarchs ; the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, 
 which marked the northern limit of our Lord's beneficent 
 journeys ; the Holy Mount, so conspicuous from every quarter 
 of the land, upon which once shone a flood of light from the 
 
 5 
 
6 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 excellent glory such as " never was on sea or land " j or tl 
 " goodly mountain, even Lebanon," mentioned in the Scrip- 
 tures not less than sixty-eight times, which Moses so longed 
 to behold. It seems reasonable, also, that if we are to study 
 a Sacred Geography, confessedly based upon a Sacred Book, 
 we should give to the statements of that book the first place in 
 authority and importance. 
 
 In comparing these statements we find they relate to two 
 widely extended areas, one of which was included within the 
 other. 
 
 1. In the larger area the borders are defined in general 
 terms, in the promise given to Abraham and his descendants 
 
 Gen. xv. 18, " Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river 
 of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Ex. xxiii. 31," I will 
 set thy bounds from the Red Sea unto the sea of the Philistines and from 
 the desert unto the river." (V. also Josh. i. 4; Ps. Ixxii. 8.) 
 
 In the closing years of David's reign, and throughout the 
 period of Solomon's rule, this promise was realized, not in a 
 virtual possession, but in a dominion or empire, vast in extent 
 and remarkable in its influence over the nations. 
 
 In the exact language of Scripture-corresponding with the 
 original promise 
 
 " Solomon reigned over all the Kings from the river even unto the land 
 of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt " (2 Chron. ix. 26). As 
 elsewhere expressed, " Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the 
 river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt, they 
 brought presents and served Solomon all the days of his life. For he had 
 dominion over all the region on this side of the river, from Tiphsah 
 even to Azzah (Gaza), over all the Kings on this side of the river; and 
 he had peace on all sides round about him " (i Kings iv. 21 and 24). 
 
 2. In the smaller area the boundaries are defined in specific 
 terms, with a view to its occupation and possession by the 
 Hebrew nation as its peculiar heritage among the nations. 
 With respect to this territory the references are numerous and 
 the various descriptions, geographical, poetical, and historical 
 
General View of the Land 7 
 
 converge, with wonderful unanimity within the same boundary 
 lines. 
 
 In the book of Joshua (xii. i) the possession of the two and 
 one-half tribes is briefly described as " the land on the other 
 side Jordan toward the rising of the sun from the river Arnon 
 unto Mount Hermon and all the plain to the east." In an- 
 other reference, (Josh. xiii. n), "all Mount Hermon, and all 
 Bashan unto Salcah," are included in "the inheritance which 
 Moses gave to these tribes beyond Jordan eastward." 
 
 In a passage relating to the later history it is recorded that 
 the children of the half tribe of Manasseh, who dwelt in this 
 portion of the land, " increased from Bashan unto Baal -Hermon 
 and Senir, and unto Mount Hermon" (i. Chron. v. 23). 
 Baal-Hermon has been associated with one of the three peaks 
 of Mount Hermon (Henderson's Palestine, p. 31) ; and Senir, 
 according to Dr. Robinson, is identified with the ridge of 
 Anti-Lebanon north of Damascus. (Physical Geography, p. 
 
 347-) 
 
 On the westward side of the Jordan the boundary lines are 
 defined with remarkable accuracy and distinctness. " There is 
 one document in the Hebrew Scriptures says Dean Stanley 
 to which probably no parallel exists in the topographical 
 records of any other nation. In the book of Joshua we have 
 what may be termed, without offence the Domesday Book of 
 conquest of Canaan. Ten chapters of that book are devoted 
 to a description of the country, in which not only are its 
 general features and boundaries carefully laid down, but the 
 names and situations of its towns and villages are enumerated, 
 with a precision of geographical terms, which invites and al- 
 most compels a minute investigation " (Sinai and Pal., p. 14). 
 
 In the apportionment to the nine and one-half tribes, and in 
 several instances in the subsequent history of the nation, the 
 northern limit is defined as "The Entering of Hamath " 
 (Num. xxxiv. 8 ; Judg. iii. 3 ; Josh. xiii. 5 ; i Kings viii. 65 ; 
 2 Kings xiv. 28; 2 Chron. vii. 8; Ezek. xlvii. 16, etc.). 
 
8 The Land of Israel 
 
 The record of the original allotment is as follows : 
 
 " And this shall be your north border ; from the great sea ye shall 
 point out for you Mount Hor. From Mount Hor ye shall point out your 
 border unto the entrance of Hamath ; and the goings forth of the border 
 shall be Zedad. And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings 
 out of it shall be at Hazar-enan ; this shall be your north border " (Num. 
 xxxiv. 8, 9). 
 
 The exact location of Mount Hor, the first station on this 
 line is not known, but it was probably a conspicuous peak at 
 the northern extremity of the Lebanon mountains. 
 
 Dr. Robinson locates the entrance of Hamath at the north- 
 ern extremity of Lebanon. l "All the Scripture notices con- 
 cerning it show clearly that the entrance of Hamath was at the 
 northern extremity of Lebanon : and that when the children of 
 Israel took possession of the Promised Land this became the 
 geographical name for the great interval or depression between 
 the northern end of Lebanon and the Nusairiyeh moun- 
 tains.* 
 
 Mount Hor was obviously between the seashore and the 
 Buka'a (Coele-Syria Plain). 
 
 " The entering in of Hamath ' may then refer either generally to the 
 whole of the great depression affording as it does an easy passage from 
 the coast to the plain of the Orontes ; or specifically to the pass through 
 the ridge under El-Husn and the low watershed south of the Buka'a. . 
 . . In either application the phrase is intelligible and sufficiently def- 
 inite." 2 
 
 This view has been confirmed by recent explorations, and is 
 generally accepted by the best modern authorities. Not only 
 does this break or valley furnish a natural passage way from the 
 
 1 Some authorities have associated the entrance of Hamath with the 
 low water shed of the Litany and Orontes near Baalbec in the Coele 
 Syria valley, but this does not seem to fit in with any of the descriptions 
 of the northern boundary. Its position in a long valley running north 
 and south might be available for the description of an eastern boundary, 
 but it seems impossible to make it a point on the northern frontier. 
 
 * Robinson's Researches, Vol. 3, p. 568. * See map, page 65. 
 
Physical Features 9 
 
 seacoast to Kadesh and Hamath, but it is found to be the only 
 boundary line of natural formation south of Antioch, which ex- 
 tends from the Mediterranean to the desert eastward. 1 
 
 Zedad, now Sudad, seventy miles northeast of Damascus, is 
 the only one of the three towns on the north border line which 
 has been satisfactorily identified. It lies out on the edge of the 
 desert and must have been near Hazar-Enan, the northeast 
 limit of the land. 
 
 It is probable that the border line extended in a northeasterly 
 direction from the "entrance of Hamath" following the base 
 of the Nusairiyeh range to Ziphron, on the Orontes plain ; and 
 thence southeast to Zedad and Hazar-Enan. 
 
 It should be noted that this is the northern border of the ten 
 and one-half tribes. On the other side of the Jordan the 
 northern limit seems to have beem Aram of Damascus. 
 
 From Hazar-Enan the east border ran to Shepham (location 
 is not known), and thence to Riblah at the upper end of the 
 Coele-Syria valley. From Riblah the border descended unto 
 the Sea of Chinnereth (Galilee) eastward. (Num. xxxiv. n.) 
 
 With respect to the southern boundary it is definitely stated 
 that the limit was Kadesh Barnea, now identified with Ain 
 Gadis, on the edge of the desert. This was the noted resting 
 place of the Israelites before the invasion of Canaan : and it is 
 afterward designated as the lowest town belonging to the in- 
 heritance of Simeon. (See map, page 237.) 
 
 From this point the line extended westward to the Wady 
 el-Arish, or river of Egypt which it followed to the Mediter- 
 ranean Sea. (Num. xxxiv. 3-5 ; Josh. xv. 1-4.) 
 
 This, says Canon Tristram, is the boundary drawn from na- 
 ture, on the north of which is cultivation, on the south desert. 
 
 1 It should be noted here that the reference is to the Kingdom or land 
 of Hamath, rather than to the city which gave the name to this kingdom. 
 It meant, in other words, the entrance from the sea to the broad Valley of 
 the Orontes extending from Antioch as far southward as Riblah (2 Kings 
 
 XXV. 21). 
 
10 The Land of Israel 
 
 Briefly stated the boundaries of the whole land, as described 
 by the Sacred writers, were as follows, viz : 
 
 On the west the Mediterranean Sea ; on the north the valley 
 leading from the coast, in a northeast direction to Hamath 
 or into the land of Hamath, and then passing by way of Zedad 
 to Hazar-Enan on the border of the eastern desert ; on the east, 
 except the country east of Anti-Lebanon, the border line of the 
 desert ; on the south a line on or near the latitude of the lower 
 part of the Dead Sea, passing in a southwesterly direction, to 
 Kadesh Barnea and thence by way of the Wady el-Arish to the 
 Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 The territory thus described comes within the limits of 
 303o' and 35 north latitude. The dimensions of this 
 Greater Palestine are about 290 miles from north to south : 
 and from west to east an average of about 100 or 120 miles. 
 The area is an uncertain quantity because of the difficulty 
 in fixing a definite limit to the border line east of the Jordan. 
 It is safe to say, however, that it was about 25,000 square 
 miles, or more than double the area ordinarily assigned to Pal- 
 estine. 
 
 The principal objection advanced by modern authorities to 
 the acceptance of these Biblically-defined boundaries, is the 
 fact that only a portion of this territory was actually occupied 
 by the people of Israel as a permanent possession. 
 
 If this be a valid objection it applies with equal force to a 
 considerable portion of the recognized limits also between Dan 
 and Beersheba. If we lay the stress upon authorized possession 
 rather than upon permanent occupation the difficulty vanishes. 
 In the closing period of the life of Joshua a descriptive list of 
 the unoccupied portions of Israel's inheritance is given as a 
 reproof of the tardiness of the people in advancing to its con- 
 quest. In this list we find the mention, alongside of the land 
 of the Philistines, of " the land of the Giblites, and all Lebanon 
 toward the sun rising from Baal Gad under Mount Hermon 
 unto the entering into Hamath." (Josh. xiii. 5.) 
 
Physical Features 11 
 
 About four hundred years after the conquest of Joshua the 
 kingdom of David was enlarged and established within the 
 limits described, in accordance with the long deferred promise. 
 As the first step in this greater conquest, Jerusalem was taken 
 from the Jebusites and made the central Sanctuary, and world- 
 renowned Capital of Israel. The defeat and subjection of the 
 Philistines gave to David the frontier fortress of Gaza, and the 
 undisputed possession of the southland border to the river of 
 Egypt. The conquest and subjection, in rapid succession, of 
 the territories of Moab, Edom, Amalek, and Ammon secured 
 to its farthest limit the eastern frontier. 
 
 Then, by the defeat and overthrow of two powerful Syrian 
 kingdoms, which withstood David, the northeast border was 
 established to the great river Euphrates. In connection with 
 this Syrian campaign it is said (2 Sam. viii. 3) " David smote 
 also Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to 
 recover his border at the river Euphrates" An alliance with 
 Toi, king of Hamath, and with Hiram, king of Tyre, com- 
 pleted the subjugation of the land. 
 
 In this history, as has been already intimated the twofold 
 promise to Abraham and his descendants was fulfilled. The 
 dominion of Israel was extended over all the lands west of the 
 Euphrates : and the hitherto unoccupied territory of " the Land 
 of Israel" throughout the limits so carefully defined by Moses 
 and Joshua, was appropriated and held. Thus for a period of 
 about sixty years the golden age of the Hebrew nation the 
 promised heritage became the actual possession. 
 
 As an evidence of the recognized limit of its extent during 
 this period the statement is made that Solomon, at the time of 
 the dedication of the house of the Lord, made a feast and all 
 Israel with him, a great congregation, "from the entering in of 
 Hamath unto the river of Egypt." (i Kings viii. 65.) At a 
 subsequent period, also, it was recorded that Jeroboam II. re- 
 stored the coast of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto 
 the sea of the plain or Dead Sea : and again it is said of him 
 
12 The Land of Israel 
 
 that he recovered Damascus and Hamath, which belonged to 
 Judah, for Israel. (2 Kings xiv. 25, 28.) 
 
 Still later we find a carefully drawn sketch of the same ter- 
 ritory exactly defined along all its borders, in Ezekiel xlvii. 
 15-20. Whatever meaning we may attach to this passage in 
 its relation to the future of the land, it certainly conveys to us 
 the same conception of its boundaries and extent. 
 
 In harmony with these statements is the fact that the land, as 
 thus described, is a unity in its physical conformation. It has 
 the same characteristic features, throughout its extent, from 
 north to south. Beyond these limits they are not found. 
 
 While therefore we regard the expression " from Dan to Beer- 
 sheba " as a convenient, though not strictly accurate, definition 
 of the boundaries of a more permanent possession, we give our 
 adherence to the limits so carefully described by the sacred 
 writers in studying the Land as a whole. This is the Land 
 which corresponds with the Book through all the periods of 
 Jewish history. To it in its entirety, belong the glowing de- 
 scriptions, poetic allusions, and characteristic features, which 
 for long ages have made it preeminent, as the Holy Land 
 among the nations of the earth. 
 
 Position among the Nations. The Land of Israel oc- 
 cupies a unique position among the nations of the ancient 
 world. 
 
 ITS ISOLATION.- -It was separated from the west by the Medi- 
 terranean sea : from the land of Egypt on the south by the 
 great and terrible wilderness of Israel's journeyings : from the 
 east by the desert of Arabia, and from the north by a rugged 
 wall of mountains, which could only be entered through nar- 
 row valleys, or passage-ways, easily defended against an in- 
 vading army. 
 
 ITS CENTRAL LOCATION. While isolated in this remarkable 
 manner from the nations, the Holy Land shared in common 
 with the rest of Syria, the distinction of being at the centre of 
 the civilization and influence of the ancient world. 
 
Physical Features 13 
 
 To the inhabitants of Babylonia and Elam it was the West- 
 land, toward which a restless tide of immigration and adven- 
 ture had been tending long before the days of Abraham. To 
 the Egyptians on the south it was the Midland region on the 
 way to commerce or conquest amid the rich valleys of the 
 Euphrates and Tigris. 
 
 To the legions which followed Alexander, and the great 
 generals of Rome, it was the "high bridge," as Ritter terms 
 it, on which they ascended and descended respectively into the 
 basin of the Nile or of the Euphrates. Dr. Geo. Adam Smith 
 has fittingly described it " as a land lying between two Conti- 
 nents, Asia and Africa ; between two primeval homes of men, 
 the valleys of the Euphrates and the Nile ; between two great 
 centres of empire Western Asia and Egypt ; between all these, 
 representing the Eastern and ancient world, and the Mediter- 
 ranean, which is the gateway to the Western and modern 
 world." (Hist. Geog., p. 6.) While the mountain strongholds 
 of Israel, especially in the centre of the land, were seldom dis- 
 turbed by invading hosts, this highway on its western border 
 was the favorite route for centuries between the three great 
 Continents, Asia, Africa and Europe. 
 
 This double relation of exclusion and ready intercommuni- 
 cation, paradoxical as it may appear, was a necessary feature 
 in the heritage of a people, who were at one period of their 
 history to dwell apart from the nations : and at another to 
 carry the message of life and salvation to all the people of the 
 earth. 
 
 It was fitting also that the Book, which contained this mes- 
 sage, should be given in a land which touched all lands. 
 
 Configuration and Natural Divisions. The mountains 
 of the Holy Land, as a glance at the map will show, extend 
 over the greater part of its area. In the language of Scripture 
 it is "a land of hills and valleys, drinking water of the rain 
 of heaven" . . . "a land of brooks of water, of foun- 
 tains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." (Deut. 
 
14: The Land of Israel 
 
 xi. u, viii. y.) 1 The surface of the country is naturally di- 
 vided into four longitudinal tracts or sections ; viz : The coast 
 plain, the twin mountain ranges, known as Lebanon and Anti- 
 Lebanon, and the deeply-cleft valley which lies between them. 
 In briefest outline the prominent physical features are : 
 
 Two PARALLEL MOUNTAIN RANGES and Two CORRESPOND- 
 ING DEPRESSIONS, all running north and south throughout the 
 extent of the land. Each of these sections contributes an in- 
 dispensable part to the peculiar formation of the country, giv- 
 ing to it a universal character which no other country possesses 
 within such limited compass on the face of the earth. Their 
 general characteristics may be seen to best advantage by ex- 
 amining them in pairs, as indicated above. 
 
 i. The Mountains of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. 
 The double aspect of the broad mountain range, which extends 
 southward from Mount Amanus, a spur of the Taurus range 
 is not clearly defined until it reaches the northern border of 
 Israel's inheritance. From this point onward, however, the 
 two ranges run almost continuously side by side to the level of 
 the desert. In the Lebanon section there is only one break in 
 the continuity of the range. This is caused by the deflection 
 of the mountains westward, affording a natural passage-way 
 from the Mediterranean to the valley of the Jordan. The de- 
 flected portion of the main ridge is known as Mount Carmel. 
 The broad valley which lies between it and the northern con- 
 tinuation of the range was called, in ancient times, the valley 
 of Megiddo. Its modern designation is the Plain of Esdraelon. 
 The high mountains of this series are in the portion which lies 
 north of the latitude of Dan. This elevated region bears the 
 distinctive name of Lebanon. The word is used in this sense 
 throughout the Scriptures, but in modern times it is also ap- 
 plied as a general name to the range itself. The average height 
 
 1 In one sheet alone of the twenty-six which make up the great Map oi 
 Western Palestine there are 200 fountains. 
 See Thirty Years' Work, P. E. F., p. 130. 
 
Physical Features 15 
 
 of this rugged block of towering mountains is 7,000 feet. Its 
 extent north and south is about ninety miles. The highest 
 peak, which dominates all the lofty elevations of the land, is 
 the Dhar el Khodib. It is in the northern portion of the 
 Lebanon district and rises to the height of 10,052 feet above the 
 sea. Next to it in elevation is Jebel Mukhmal, overhanging 
 the famous grove of Cedars, (10,016 feet). 
 
 Mount Sannin (Jebel Sunnin) northeast of Beirut, is the 
 most conspicuous summit of this range, as seen from the south. 
 Its elevation is 8,500 feet, and it is generally snow-clad through- 
 out the year. 
 
 Near the head waters of the Jordan the general elevation dimin- 
 ishes rapidly, flattening and broadening out into the highlands of 
 Galilee, which have an average height of only 2,800 feet. The 
 lower portion of this district slopes gradually toward the plain 
 of Esdraelon. The division of the central range which lies 
 to the south of this plain is a continuous, closely-compacted, 
 block of rugged mountain territory. It extends to the vicinity 
 of Beersheba, a distance of ninety miles, and fills up most of 
 the space between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. It is 
 almost encircled by a lowland belt, so that it is possible to pass 
 around from the head of the Dead Sea by way of the Jordan 
 valley, the Esdraelon and Coast plains and the lower levels of 
 the South country to Engedi a short distance from the start- 
 ing-point without crossing an elevated ridge or climbing a 
 high hill. This long watershed has been appropriately likened 
 to a capsized flat-bottomed boat of corrugated iron, lying be- 
 tween the Sea and the Jordan ; one end of which descends to 
 the Plain of Esdraelon and the other to the Negeb beyond 
 Hebron. Its corrugated sides are the wadies that cut deep 
 toward the plains on either side. 1 
 
 Throughout its extent this Hill country is an immense rock- 
 buttressed stronghold, whose gateways to the plains on either 
 
 1 Good Words, May, 1865, p. 392. 
 
16 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 hand are long defiles, or narrow passes, easily defended by a 
 small force against the hosts of an invading army. 
 
 The road which traverses the ridge from end to end was the 
 great highway of Israel, over which Patriarchs, Prophets, Kings 
 and Pilgrim bands travelled on their way to and from Jerusalem, 
 and the regions to the south. It was also the route made sacred 
 by the footsteps of Jesus when He journeyed from Judea to Gali- 
 lee by way of Samaria. (John IT. 3, 4.) 
 
 Prominent Elevations. The highest point in this series 
 is Er Ramah just north of Hebron. It is 3,546 feet above the 
 sea. Next to it is the summit of Baal Hazor (Tell Azur), 3,318 
 feet. This is a conspicuous landmark north of Bethel on the 
 borderline between Ephraim and Benjamin. (2 Sam. xiii. 23.) 
 
 Above this dividing line the range was known collectively as 
 Mount Ephraim or the Mountains of Ephraim : below it as the 
 Mountains of Judah. A later designation of the former was 
 the Mountains of Samaria ; and of the latter the Mountains of 
 Judea. 
 
 The Ras Sherifeh, south of Bethlehem (3,260) ; Mount Ebal, 
 near Shechem (3,076) ; and Neby Samwil, northwest of Jeru- 
 salem (2,935) are next to Baal Hazor in order of elevation. 
 
 The general average of the plateau on which Jerusalem 
 stands is 2,500 feet above the sea. From Hebron there is 
 a gradual descent by steps or terraced slopes to the Negeb. 
 The mountains of Sinai, 250 miles south of Beersheba, are 
 regarded as the outliers of the Lebanon range. They rise 
 abruptly in a closely compacted group from the desert level 
 to a height corresponding very closely to the average eleva- 
 tion of the Lebanon district (7,000 feet). The highest peak 
 in the group is over 9,000 feet, or about the elevation of Mount 
 Hermon. 
 
 The general direction of the numerous ravines, or wadies, as 
 they are generally termed, which diversify, and in some sec- 
 tions deeply corrugate, this range, is from east to west. On the 
 eastern side they are short, direct, and deeply cleft : on the 
 
Physical Features 17 
 
 western they are comparatively long and shallow, and reach 
 the plain by circuitous routes. 
 
 The Eastern or Anti-Lebanon range culminates in the 
 snow-covered heights of Mount Hermon, 9,383 feet above the 
 sea. The range as a whole presents a broader surface on its 
 summit. It is not a backbone ridge, like the western section, 
 but slopes gradually to the eastern desert, except in the region 
 of its highest elevation north of Hermon. South of the Leb- 
 anon district its summit expands into an elevated plateau noted 
 for its rich pasturage, and surpassingly beautiful stretches of 
 fertile territory. The upper portion is the country of Bashan ; 
 the middle, of Gilead, and the southern of Moab. The gen- 
 eral elevation of Bashan and Gilead is 2,000 feet. The plateau 
 of Moab is something more than 3,000 feet above the level of 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 In this range there is no distinct break, or passage-way from 
 east to west, as in the Lebanon section. As seen from the in- 
 tervening depression, it is an unbroken wall, except where the 
 numerous wadies and an occasional tributary of the Jordan, 
 have cut their way down its face. The southern extremity of 
 the Anti-Lebanon range is the traditional Mount Hor, an iso- 
 lated cone-shaped peak near Petra in the land of Edom. It is 
 about 250 miles from the base of Mount Hermon. 
 
 2. The Lowland Sections. The longitudinal sections 
 on either side of the Lebanon mountains are alike only in 
 length and general direction. The one is a coast plain, the 
 other a deep fissure, or mountain valley, which descends to a 
 level far below the surface of the sea. 
 
 (i) The Maritime Plain. The coast line, which 
 bounds the Maritime plain on the west, is remarkable for its 
 straight, almost unbroken sweep. It has no deep estuaries or 
 gulfs and there is but one strongly marked indentation along 
 its entire length. This is at Haifa, where the rocky promontory 
 of Carmel juts out into the sea. Aside from this, at best a 
 shallow and unsatisfactory roadstead, there are no natural har- 
 
18 The Land of Israel 
 
 bors along the line of this coast. At times artificial harbors 
 or extensions have been made at Askalon, Jaffa, Caesarea and 
 Beirut ; but strictly speaking, it is with the single exception 
 mentioned, a harborless coast. Because of this the sea which 
 for centuries has surged against it, has been a barrier rather 
 than a highway. 
 
 The promontory of Mount Carmel breaks the continuity of 
 the Maritime plain, separating it into two parts very nearly 
 equal in extent. The upper portion is a narrow strip about 
 140 miles long, varying from two to twelve miles in 
 breadth. It is a well-watered region remarkable for its fer- 
 tility : and in former times was cultivated with great care. It 
 is broken into two parts by the "ladder of Tyre," a rocky 
 ridge which projects into the sea about twenty-five miles beyond 
 Mount Carmel. The section below the ladder of Tyre is 
 usually designated as the Plain of Acre. The long strip above it 
 is the famous Phoenician plain. The portion south of the Lit- 
 any is sometimes designated as the Phoenician plain, but the 
 appellation properly belongs to the lowland which borders the 
 whole extent of the Lebanon district, or, in other words, from 
 Tripoli to the ladder of Tyre. 
 
 Below Mount Carmel the plain contracts into narrow limits 
 for a distance of eighteen miles. Beyond this point to the Wady 
 el-Arish, or river of Egypt, the coast line inclines slightly 
 toward the west, leaving a broad, undulating stretch of low- 
 land, famous for its beauty and fertility, between the mountains 
 and the sea. 
 
 The northern portion is known as the Plain of Sharon : the 
 southern as the Plain of Philistia. The range of low hills, 
 which lie between the plain of Philistia and the mountains is 
 properly termed the Shephelah. It should be noted, however, 
 that in Scripture the name is sometimes used in a wider sense, 
 to include the whole of the southern portion of the plain. (Josh. 
 xv. 33-40; also x. 40-41.) 
 
 (2) The Depressed Region Between the Mountains.^ 
 
Physical Features 19 
 
 The valley between the two great mountain ridges has been fitly 
 characterized as a phenomenon unique on the earth's surface. 
 Nowhere on its wrinkled face do we find a furrow so deep, or 
 so remarkable for its length, directness and rapid descent. In 
 length it stretches from Antioch to the Red Sea, a distance of 
 350 miles. Its general course is almost due south. Between 
 the Lebanons it is a deep basin, eighty miles long and four to 
 nine wide, rimmed in by mountain walls 5,000 or 6,000 feet 
 high. This is the famous Ccele-Syria (Hollow Syria) region 
 of ancient history. In the southern portion the valley sinks 
 from sea level to a depression 1,300 feet below, in a distance 
 of less than 100 miles. If we add to this the lower level of the 
 Dead Sea basin the depression is 2,600 feet, or nearly one-half 
 of a mile toward the centre of the earth. 
 
 Putting it in another form, " a man who stands at the margin 
 of the Dead Sea is almost as far below the Ocean surface as the 
 miner in the lowest depth of any mine." 
 
 In describing the lower portion of this great cleft, Dr. Smith 
 says: 
 
 " There may be something on the surface of another planet to match the 
 Jordan valley : there is nothing on this. No other part of our earth, un- 
 covered by water, sinks to 300 feet below the level of the ocean. . . . 
 In this trench there are the Jordan, a river nearly loo miles long ; two 
 great lakes, respectively twelve and fifty-three miles in length ; large tracts 
 of arable country, especially about Gennesaret, Bethshan, and Jericho, re- 
 gions which were once very populous, like the coasts of the lake of Gali- 
 lee ; and the sites of some famous towns Tiberias, Jericho, and the cities 
 of the Plain. Is it not true that on the earth there is nothing else like 
 this deep, this colossal ditch ? " 
 
 Three of the great rivers of Syria flow through this longitu- 
 dinal cleft in different sections of its course. The first, and 
 most noted is the Jordan, which traverses its lower level to the 
 Dead Sea. The second is the Litany, or Kasimiyeh. This 
 river drains the southern portion of the Coele-Syria basin. It 
 1 Smith Hist. Geog., p. 468. 
 
20 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 rises near Baalbek and flows southward to a point near the 
 headwaters of the Jordan, where it turns sharply to the west 
 and passes through a deep gorge into the Mediterranean Sea. 
 
 The third is the Orontes, the largest and longest river of 
 Syria.. It rises on a watershed, near the source of the Litany, 
 and flows due north through the great plain within and beyond 
 the Lebanons, for a distance of about 130 miles. Then, like 
 the Litany, it turns sharply to the west and pours its flood of 
 waters into the sea. 
 
 These are some of the most striking features of the land, 
 viewed as a whole. Within its limits it is scarcely possible to 
 conceive of any variation, or peculiarity of land formation, that 
 is not represented. Here may be found in close juxtaposition, 
 sea and desert ; alpine heights and phenomenal depths ; fertile 
 plains and barren wilderness ; rolling downs and upland pas- 
 tures ; terraced slopes and deeply-scarred lava beds ; park-like 
 stretches and bleakest moorlands ; valleys of Edenic beauty and 
 dark canons suggestive of the shadow of death; rivers and 
 lakes ; snow-clad heights and depths of tropical heat and lux- 
 uriance; ice-bound streams and steaming fountains; shady 
 glens and interminable wadies ; open glades and impenetrable 
 jungles of cane and papyrus in short every feature of nature's 
 diversified handiwork, which is suggestive of the beautiful, the 
 picturesque or the sublime. 
 
 Geological Structure. The predominating element in the 
 structure of the country throughout its length and breadth is 
 limestone. In some sections of the mountain system it appears 
 as a very hard, flinty formation : in others it is soft, porous, 
 chalky, and lends itself easily to the agencies, both natural and 
 artificial, which have made it preeminently a land of grottoes 
 and caverns. This is especially true of the region of the Shep- 
 helah and the hill country of Judea. 
 
 In the lower strata of the mountains there are occasional out- 
 croppings of an underlying bed of red sandstone, especially on 
 the western side of the ridge of Lebanon. 
 
 
Physical Features 21 
 
 Next to the limestone the most conspicuous surface forma- 
 tion is volcanic. It is found in dark colossal masses of corru- 
 gated lava or hard basaltic and greenstone rock, on the plateau 
 of Bashan and Moab, and in some portions of the Jordan 
 valley. 
 
 In the Negeb, and on the desert beyond, the primitive rocks 
 (granite and gneiss) make their appearance in places. Farther 
 south these form the basis of the Sinaitic group. 
 
 The alluvial deposits in the valleys and plains are notably 
 rich in the elements which contribute to fertility of soil. Some 
 of them have been cultivated continuously for centuries without 
 any addition of fertilizers except such as nature has supplied. 
 
CHAPTER H 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 I. CLIMATE and Productions. In Scripture allusions 
 the climatic changes of the year are grouped under two divisions 
 only, summer and winter. The one is usually designated as 
 the "dry season," the other as the "season of rain." The 
 period of rainfall begins near the close of October, and usually 
 ends in March and April. In the intervening months the sky 
 is cloudless and there is no rainfall in any portion of the land. 
 
 As Dr. Robinson puts it, the winter period "is marked by 
 much rain: the summer by none at att." We must guard 
 against the impression, however, which some have received 
 from the terms used, that the wet season is a period of continu- 
 ous rain. 
 
 On the contrary the intervals of sunshine are actually longer 
 in this period than the. days of rain. The rainy days usually 
 come in groups, especially at the beginning and end of the 
 season. In these intervals of "clear shining" the husband- 
 men have ample time to sow the seed and cultivate the growing 
 crops. The plentiful showers which come at the beginning of 
 the season prepare the hard, dry soil for the plowman and the 
 sower. This is the time of the "former rain." "The latter 
 rain," coming at the close of the winter period, is essential to 
 the inbringing of the springtime and the ultimate maturing of 
 the harvests. If either are withheld in their season the supply 
 of food for man and beast is cut short. . . . The rapid 
 transformation of the land, in connection with, and immedi- 
 ately following the latter rains is marvellous. Freshness and 
 verdure take the place of desert-like fields and hillsides ; in- 
 numerable flowers open out their delicately tinted petals to 
 
 22 
 
Natural History . 23 
 
 the warm sunlight ; the fig tree putteth forth her green leaves 
 and the vines with the tender grape give a pleasant smell. 
 Then come the days of which the Sacred poets sing when the 
 little hills rejoice on every side ; " the pastures are clothed with 
 flocks : the valleys also are covered over with corn ; they shout 
 for joy, they also sing." (Ps. Ixv. 13.) 
 
 In this climate all the cereal and leguminous plants, com- 
 monly used for food, whether native or imported, grow readily 
 and yield bountiful harvests. Dr. Post of Beirut claims that 
 no other country in the world yields so large a number of food 
 products as Palestine. 
 
 The harvest period varies greatly in the different locali- 
 ties of the land. In the depressed sections the barley ripens 
 in April and the wheat in the latter part of May. In the ele- 
 vated region the wheat is harvested in the month of June. 
 
 Between the time of the wheat harvest in the valley of the 
 Jordan and on the plateau of Jerusalem is an interval of about 
 four weeks, and yet the points are hardly twenty miles apart. 
 The olive, the fig, and the vine yield a later harvest, and ap- 
 pear to be equally at home in all portions of the land. 
 
 In former times all the hills were terraced and the rich soil 
 from the valleys was carried up to nourish the vineyards and 
 olive yards, which were planted on these sunny slopes. 
 
 The Variations in Climate of the several sections of the 
 country correspond with the variations, already noted, in its 
 physical features. 
 
 The sea, the desert, and the extraordinary range of levels 
 are the most potent influences in effecting these variations, 
 which range from alpine cold to torrid heat. From the sum- 
 mits of Lebanon to the lower levels of the Jordan valley, all 
 the zones and climes of the earth, with the forms and varieties 
 of plant and animal life peculiar to each, are represented. As 
 the Arabs have happily expressed it, " Lebanon bears winter 
 on its head, spring on its shoulders, and autumn in its lap, 
 while summer lies at its feet." In a single day's ride Canon 
 
24: . The Land of Israel 
 
 Tristram passed through four different zones from the region of 
 the Scotch fir on the top of Mount Gilead to the region of the 
 date palm in the plains of the Jordan. From the snow fields 
 of Hermon to this lower level is less than 100 miles; and 
 yet in the one perpetual winter abides: in the other there 
 is never a trace of snow or hoar frost the year round. 
 
 11 All the intermediate steps between these extremes," says Dr. Smith, 
 " the eye can see at one sweep from Carmel the sands and palms of the 
 coast the wheat fields of Esdraelon ; the oaks and sycamores of Galilee ; 
 the pines, the peaks, the snows of Anti-Lebanon. How closely these 
 differences lie to each other! Take a section of the country across 
 Judea. With its palms and shadoofs the Philistine plain might be a 
 part of the Egyptian Delta ; but on the hills of the Shephelah which 
 overlook it, you are in the scenery of Southern Europe : the Judean moors 
 which overlook them are like the barer uplands of Central Germany ; the 
 shepherds wear sheepskin cloaks and live under stone roofs sometimes 
 the snow lies deep ; a few miles further east and you are down in the 
 desert among the Bedouin, with their tents of hair and their cotton 
 clothing ; a few miles farther still and you drop down to torrid heat in 
 the Jordan valley ; a few miles beyond that and you rise to the plateau of 
 the Belka, where the Arabs say the cold is always at home. Yet from 
 Philistia to the Belka is scarcely seventy miles." l 
 
 (2) Flora and Fauna. Canon Tristram, whose name 
 stands first among the recognized authorities on the Natural 
 History of Palestine, describes the flora and fauna of four dis- 
 tinct zones in which affinities are traced with many genera and 
 species of world-wide distribution. "There are the fauna 
 and flora, first of all on the coast and highlands, that are the 
 most familiar and the most recent. Then there is the flora and 
 fauna of the desert, taking southern Judea and the east side of 
 the Jordan ; then there is the flora and fauna of the Jordan 
 valley ; and fourthly just a remnant left of the Alpine flora and 
 fauna on the top of Hermon and Lebanon." In the same con- 
 nection he states the fact that out of a collection of 1 60 plants, 
 taken from a little valley on the southwest corner of the Dead 
 
 1 Historical Geography, p. 56. 
 
Natural History 25 
 
 Sea basin, 135 were exclusively African. For the most part 
 their kind are only to be found in Nubia or equatorial Africa. 
 In Egypt the Papyrus has long been extinct; but at Lake 
 Huleh, on the upper Jordan valley, a dense mass of it seven 
 miles in extent may still be seen. Affinities as clearly marked 
 have been traced between the fish of the sea of Galilee and the 
 fish found in the Zambezi, and in the Lakes Nyanza and Tan- 
 ganyika at the head waters of the Nile : also between the birds 
 and wild animals of the Lebanon and kindred species, found 
 on the Appenines, the Alps and the Himalayas. 
 
 The Flora of Solomon, which included in its range all 
 the plants of his day, from the Cedar of Lebanon even to the 
 hyssop that springeth out of the wall, has been studied anew 
 in the light of modern attainments ; and within the limits of 
 this restricted Syrian territory, with that of Sinai, 126 Orders, 
 850 Genera and 3,416 Species have been catalogued and de- 
 scribed. 
 
 The Trees mentioned in the Scriptures, with scarce 
 an exception, are still to be found in some portion of the 
 country. Among these may be named the lofty Cedars of 
 Lebanon, the Oaks of Bashan and Gilead with other Oaks of 
 different species and localities the Fir, Cypress, Terebinth, 
 Olive, Fig, Almond, Mulberry, Myrtle, Citron, Acacia (Shittim 
 wood), Pomegranate, Prickly pear, Tamarisk, Oleander, Apri- 
 cot, Orange, Lime and Palm. 
 
 Most noteworthy among the wild animals that still remain, 
 are the Roebuck or Gazelle (several species), Fallow Deer, 
 wild Goat, wild Cat, Fox, Jackal, Wolf, Hyena, Lynx, Leopard, 
 Otter, Badger, Coney, Hare, Buffalo, brown Bear, and wild 
 Boar. Some of the above are rare, but have occasionally been 
 seen. The Auroch, translated Unicorn, in our version, and 
 the Lion have become extinct ; but their bones have been 
 found in the caves of Lebanon and in the valley of the Jordan. 
 The feat of Benaiah, who went down and slew a lion in the 
 midst of a pit, or cistern, in the time of snow is referred to by 
 
26 The Land of Israel 
 
 Dr. Smith as an illustration of the remarkable variation of 
 climate within distances but a few miles apart. To this he 
 adds the statement, "The beast had strayed up the Judean 
 hills from Jordan and had been caught in a sudden snow- 
 storm. Where else than in Palestine could lions and snow 
 thus come together ? " * 
 
 With respect to the Auroch or Bison (Unicorn) it is interest- 
 ing to know that the equivalent of the original word Re' em has 
 been found on Assyrian sculpture written over a wild Ox. This 
 settles the question as to the dual number of its horns in a very 
 summary manner. 
 
 " This animal," says Tristram, " is alluded to in the earlier books of the 
 Bible, but not after the time of David. Except in one poetical passage the 
 word Re'em never occurs again. Coincidentally with this, in the tablets 
 in Nineveh describing the hunting feats of the kings of the earlier dy- 
 nasty, the grand game that the king hunted was the Aurochs, the Re'em, 
 but in the later Assyrian Empire, from just about the time of David, from 
 about looo B. C., we do not find in any Assyrian or Babylonian tablet or 
 sculpture a single trace of the Re'em, or wild Ox. Population had in- 
 creased and it had become extinct." 9 
 
 These with other interesting facts may be found in fuller 
 statement in Tristram's Flora and Fauna of Palestine, published 
 by the Exploration Fund, Tristram's Natural History of the 
 Bible, Conder's Hand Book to the Bible, and the Appendices 
 to recent issues of the Oxford and Teachers' Bibles. 
 
 A complete Flora of the Holy Land and Sinai excepting the lower 
 forms of cryptogams has recently been issued by the Mission Press at 
 Beirut, Syria. The author, the Rev. G. E. Post, M. D., D. D., has long 
 been a resident of Syria, and aside from his eminent qualifications, has en- 
 joyed exceptional opportunities for the prosecution of this study. It is a 
 standard work of its class and is recommended as an invaluable aid to 
 those whu wish to study the plant life of the Holy Land. 
 
 For fuller information on the " Geology of Palestine " the student is re- 
 
 i The City and the Land, p. 64. 
 
 9 The City and the Land, p. 75., P. E. F. 
 
Natural History 27 
 
 ferred to Professor Hull's recent work, published by the Exploration Fund ; 
 also to Dr. Robinson's Physical Geography, pages 311 and 372. A very 
 satisfactory article on the " Climate " may be found in the same volume, page 
 288. Fuller and later information is given in the Quarterly Statements of 
 the Palestine Exploration Fund. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE LAND 
 
 IN the Old Testament the mixed population, which occupied 
 the country before the period of the conquest, is generally 
 classified under six or seven distinct tribal names. In three 
 passages (Deut. vii. i ; Josh. xxiv. u, and iii. 10) seven tribes 
 or nations are mentioned by name. In nine passages a list of 
 six of the names, on the above mentioned list are given. These 
 are the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, Perizzites, and 
 Jebusites. (Ex. iii. 8, 17, xxxiii. 2, xxxiv. n ; Deut. xx. 17; 
 Josh. ix. i, xi. 3, xii. 8; Judges iii. 5.) In these lists the 
 Gergashite tribe is uniformly omitted. Of its location and 
 characteristics we have no definite information. 
 
 Recent research has thrown some additional light upon the 
 history of the six nations mentioned in all the lists and their 
 position in general has been definitely located. 
 
 z. The Canaanites. The name when used in its narrower 
 sense was descriptive of the people who dwelt by the sea and 
 by the coast of Jordan. (Gen. x. 19; Num. xiii. 29; Josh, 
 xi. 3.) 
 
 (i) THE PHILISTINES, who occupied the southern part of the 
 lowland region of Palestine came originally from Caphtor, or 
 greater Phoenicia, in lower Egypt. Professor Sayce makes the 
 assertion, based upon careful study of the Egyptian monuments, 
 that some of them were planted on the southern frontier of 
 Palestine by the Egyptians after their conquest of Canaan, in 
 order to garrison the newly acquired territory. In the book of 
 Deuteronomy (ii. 23) we are told that they conquered the 
 Avims and dwelt in their land. In the time of the Patriarchs 
 they appear as a pastoral people occupying the country west of 
 
Early Inhabitants of the Land 29 
 
 Beersheba and Kadesh, known as the kingdom of Gerar. At a 
 later period they held possession of the coastland from the Wady 
 el-Arish to the border of the plain of Sharon and had acquired 
 a high reputation as a powerful and warlike nation. For cen- 
 turies they were the most formidable and aggressive foes of the 
 Hebrew nation. Their chief cities were Gath, Ashkelon, Ash- 
 dod, Gaza and Ekron, on the Philistine plain. The name 
 Palestine, which was originally the Greek equivalent for the 
 land of the Philistines, was afterward used by Greek and 
 Roman writers to cover the whole country of Israel on both 
 sides of the Jordan. In this sense also we use the word at the 
 present time. 
 
 (2) THE PHOENICIANS, who occupied the lowland region 
 north of Mount Carmel, were the original Canaanite population 
 of the country. The exact date of their arrival on the shores 
 of the Mediterranean is not known, but as early as the period 
 of Hyksos rule in Egypt they had established a flourishing 
 colony at the mouth of the Nile, and were then known as the 
 traders, or middle-men of the commercial world. Their oldest 
 city Sidon still bears the name of the firstborn of Canaan. In 
 the Scriptures they are sometimes designated as Zidonians. 
 There is a variety of evidence from reliable sources in con- 
 firmation of their own assertion, that they came originally from 
 the lower valley of the Euphrates. " The greater number of 
 modern critics," says Renan, "admit as demonstrated that the 
 primitive abode of the Phoenicians must be placed on the 
 lower Euphrates, in the centre of the great commercial and 
 maritime establishments of the Persian Gulf, conformably to 
 the unanimous witness of antiquity." Throughout the Bible 
 it is assumed that the language of the Canaanites was identical 
 with the language of the Hebrews, and this may readily be ac- 
 counted for on the ground that originally the progenitors of 
 both nationalities came from the same location on the Persian 
 Gulf. While the Canaanites were the descendants of Ham 
 they had, through early and close associations with the Semites 
 
30 The Land of Israel 
 
 of this region, many of their characteristics and spoke a lan- 
 guage which was practically the same. "The numerous in- 
 scriptions on tombs, tablets, etc., amounting in all to several 
 hundreds established the fact that this language (the Phoeni- 
 cian) is almost as closely allied to the Hebrew as German to Dutch 
 or Portuguese to Spanish." l It was in Egypt but not in the land 
 of Canaan that " Israel heard a language which he understood 
 not." 2 The name Canaan was originally applied only to the 
 land of Phoenicia, but afterward it was given to the whole of 
 Western Palestine. In this respect its history was similar to 
 that of the term Palestine. It is one of the oldest Biblical ap- 
 pellations of the Promised Land, and is found on Phoenician 
 coins, and on the monuments of Egypt and Assyria, as well as 
 in the Bible. 
 
 " There was no wider designation, says Prof. McCurdy, for 
 the whole country than Canaan : and after the Hebrews occu- 
 pied it the name Israel took its place, though not to the ex- 
 clusion of the old appellation." The common designation of 
 the country east of the Jordan in early times was " Gilead " or 
 the "Land of Gilead." 
 
 The Phoenicians were the traders of the commercial world 
 for almost a thousand years. Before the days of Homer they 
 had become famous for their skill in artistic and ornamental 
 handiwork, and with good reason were chosen by Solomon to 
 execute the difficult and painstaking designs which David had 
 planned under Divine guidance for the erection and ornamenta- 
 
 1 Rawlinson. 
 
 8 " The language of Canaan ' as Isaiah (xix. 18) calls it, was what we 
 term Hebrew. The fact was first made clear by the Phoenician inscrip- 
 tions ; the cuneiform tablets found at Tell el-Amarna in Upper Egypt have 
 carried back the history of the language to Pre-Mosaic days. A large 
 part of the tablets consists of letters in the Babylonian language from the 
 Egyptian governors and vassal kings of Canaan, and in some of them the 
 Canaanitish Equivalents are given of Babylonian words. In all such 
 cases we might substitute Hebrew for Canaanitish." (Professor Sayce 
 in Homiletical Review, March, 1897, p. 202.) 
 
Early Inhabitants of the Land 31 
 
 tion of the Temple. In shipbuilding and navigation, also, they 
 excelled all the nations of antiquity. The crowning honor at- 
 tributed to the Phoenicians was the invention of the alphabet. 
 Recent research has shorn this tradition of a part of its sig- 
 nificance, and points to an earlier system from which the Phoe- 
 nician alphabet was derived, but it is safe to say that the sys- 
 tem which they introduced is the mother of our modern alpha- 
 bets. "Phoenicia," says Sir Henry Rawlinson, "is rather to 
 be praised for curtailing the excessive redundance of the primi- 
 tive methods of expressing speech in a written form than for any 
 actual invention or discovery." From whatever source derived 
 it is now certain that a uniform alphabetical system, with slight 
 modifications was used by the Phoenicians, the Jews, the Sa- 
 maritans, and the Moabites at an early date. In its degenerate 
 form the Phoenician religion was the most sensual, debasing 
 and cruel in character and worship, of all the religions of the 
 East. Baal and Ashtaroth, the synonyms for long ages of cru- 
 elty and impurity, were the principal deities, and the influence 
 of their worship was degrading and demoralizing in the ex- 
 treme. 
 
 With respect to location the Phoenicians were sometimes sep- 
 arately designated as Zidonians, Giblites, Arkites and Ham- 
 athites. 
 
 THE CANAANITES OF THE JORDAN VALLEY dwelt in five cities 
 of "the plain " or " circle " of the Jordan. This, in connection 
 with other descriptions, makes it certain that the district in 
 which these cities were located was at the northern end of the 
 Dead Sea. It was noted for its tropical luxuriance, suggestive 
 of the land of Egypt or the primeval garden of the Lord ; but 
 its inhabitants were so grossly immoral and depraved that they 
 were destroyed in the midst of their possessions, by a swift 
 judgment of the Almighty, during the period of Abraham's 
 sojourn in the land. 
 
 2. The Hittites. This nation, which t.~ok its name from 
 Heth the second son of Canaan, is frequently mentioned in the 
 
32 The Land of Israel 
 
 Bible in connection with the Amorites. They were concentrated 
 principally in Syria, but their settlements extended as far south- 
 ward as Hebron. Carchemish on the Euphrates and Kadesh 
 on the Orontes were the chief cities, or garrison towns, of the 
 Hittites. Their geographical position in general was indicated, 
 in the time of Joshua as being " From the wilderness and this 
 Lebanon, even unto the great river the Euphrates, all the land 
 of the Hittites." (Josh i. 4.) 
 
 A parallel statement from an inscription of Tiglath Pileser I. 
 reads, " From the border of the distant mountains to the fords 
 of the Euphrates, the land of the Hittites and the upper sea of 
 the setting sun." This powerful nation of the north began to 
 extend its conquests southward a short while before the birth 
 of Abraham, and before the period of the conquest it was rec- 
 ognized as the dominant nation of Syria. So far from being a 
 petty tribe among the scattered tribes of Syria, as some have 
 asserted the fact has been established beyond controversy, from 
 Egyptian and Assyrian annals, as well as from the Scriptures, 
 that the Hittites were one of the great nations of the East. 
 For centuries they and their allies held their ground in the 
 northern part of Syria against the might of Egypt, Babylonia 
 and Assyria : and from the days of Abraham until the end of 
 the northern kingdom they were the most active and aggressive 
 of the nations which came into close contact with Israel. Their 
 chief cities were destroyed and their power and influence finally 
 broken 717 years before the Christian era by Sargon the suc- 
 cessor of Shalmaneser. So complete was this overthrow that 
 their very name was dropped from the records of history, until 
 the revelations of recent times restored it to its old time place 
 and prestige. The Scripture references to the Hittites as occu- 
 pants of the mountain strongholds of the land of Canaan are 
 numerous from the days of Abraham and onward, especially 
 in the periods connected with the history of Moses and Joshua. 
 In the report of the spies it is distinctly stated that " the Hit- 
 tites, and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the moun- 
 
 
Early Inhabitants of the Land 33 
 
 tains." (Num. xiii. 29.) In the commission given to Moses 
 (Ex. iii. 1 8) the promise made to the Patriarchs was renewed 
 to bring their children "unto the place of the Canaanites and 
 the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites, and the 
 Hivites and the Jebusites." 
 
 This narrative, says Dr. Wright, stands in topographical 
 order as viewed from the Egyptian standpoint. The traveller 
 northward first reached Canaan, next the Hittite colony in the 
 neighborhood of Hebron, and lastly the Jebusites who dwelt in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 There is abundant evidence that the Hittites were a literary 
 people and had a written language, but no definite clue has yet 
 been found to the interpretation of their writings. 
 
 3. The Amorites. It seems from the Biblical statements 
 that the Amorites preceded the Hittites in the occupation of the 
 mountain regions of Palestine and Syria. 
 
 One of the earliest names given to this country, as we now 
 know from the cuneiform inscriptions, was " the land of the 
 Amorites." This is also one of the names by which it was 
 known distinctively in the days of the Patriarchs. (Gen. xv. 16, 
 xlviii. 22.) 
 
 It is plain from the Scripture narrative as a whole, that in the 
 period immediately preceding the conquest the Amorites had 
 possession of the greater part of the mountain regions east and 
 west of the Jordan valley. On the western side they shared 
 certain portions in common with, or alongside of other moun- 
 tain tribes as confederates : but in the east they had control of 
 the whole country from the slopes of Hermon to the river Ar- 
 non. This region was governed by Og and Sihon, who are 
 called the two kings of the Amorites. (Deut. iii. 8 ; Josh. ix. 
 10.) With this nation Israel first of all came into conflict, in 
 the long continued struggle for possession of the promised land. 
 
 It is said, also, that they faced "the mountain of the Amor- 
 ites ' ' when they looked over the border of the land nearly forty 
 years before. (Deut. i. 19, 20.) 
 
34 The Land of Israel 
 
 One of the Amorite strongholds in the Shephelah was the city 
 of Lachish (Tel el Hesy), where recent excavations have shown 
 that it was the lowest as well as the strongest in its defences of 
 all the towns in this mound of long buried cities and civiliza- 
 tions. 
 
 4. The Hivites The tribe or nationality to which this 
 name was given occupied a limited district north of Jerusalem. 
 They had settlements also farther in the north under Hermon, 
 and by the " entering in of Hamath." (Josh. xi. 3 ; Judges iii. 
 3.) Of the latter very little is known, but the Hivites of the 
 southern district are frequently mentioned in the Scripture nar- 
 rative. They dwelt in a group of fortified towns (fenced cities) 
 which were leagued together for mutual support and defence. 
 So far as known the chief cities belonging to this league were 
 Beeroth, Gibeon, Chephirah, Kirjath-Jearim and Shechem. 
 " Their cities were ruled by elders and they do not appear to 
 have had kings ; but, as Ewald suggests, to have adopted thus 
 early a pure republican constitution not unlike the German free- 
 cities." (Henderson's Geography, p. 47.) 
 
 5. The Perizzites dwelt in the plains of lower Galilee and 
 in the foot hills which bordered the Sharon plain. It is impos- 
 sible, says Dr. Henderson, to decide from all that is said, 
 whether they were a different race from the Canaanites, or 
 merely a separate class, as the peasantry of the time. 1 
 
 6. The Jebusites. This tribe is mentioned only in con- 
 nection with Jerusalem and its environs. In the Tell el- 
 Amarna tablets a correspondence is preserved between the 
 Governor of Jerusalem and the Ruler of Egypt in which both 
 the name and the antiquity of the City are attested beyond all 
 question. In these tablets, which antedate the conquest of 
 Joshua, the name appears as Uru-Salim, the city of Salim 
 the city of peace. It was at this early date a strongly 
 fortified city, and its Ruler for some reason seemed to 
 have preeminence over the districts around it. One of 
 
 1 Henderson's Pal., p. 47. 
 
Early Inhabitants of the Land 35 
 
 these Rulers, "Ebed-Tob," declares to the Pharoah 
 that he was not like the other governors of Canaan, 
 that he had not inherited his royal dignity from his 
 father or his mother, but had been appointed to it by "the 
 mighty king." The " mighty king " is contrasted with the 
 "great king of Egypt, and must have been an old title of the 
 god of Jerusalem." 1 It is a significant fact that this Ruler 
 claims the title of priest-king, a title which in Genesis is given 
 to Melchizedek, king of Salem. When the lower part of the 
 city was conquered by Joshua and burned with fire, the citadel 
 on the higher ground remained in the hands of the Jebusites. 
 They were not driven out of it until the time of David. (Josh. 
 xv. 63; i Chron. xi. 4-7.) From Oman, or Araunah, the 
 Jebusite, at a later date, King David purchased the threshing 
 floor on Mount Moriah, where he set up an altar to the Lord ; 
 and where afterward the temple was erected by Solomon. 
 
 There are incidental references in the Pentateuch to certain 
 primitive or aboriginal tribes, such as the Avim or Geshuri, 
 the Horites, or cave dwellers of Edom, the Rephaim or giant 
 race of Bashan, and their kinsfolk the Anakims of the south : 
 but aside from these brief statements, little is known concern- 
 ing them. They were probably merged into the clans, or con- 
 federacies, of the later inhabitants, before the conquest. 
 
 1 See Article by Prof. Sayce in Homiletic Review, March, 1897, P- 2O 5- 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 TRIBAL AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS 
 
 I. THE Division among the Tribes. As a result 
 
 of the careful surveys which have been made in Pales- 
 tine, the old boundary lines between the tribes of Israel 
 can now be followed with a degree of accuracy and pre- 
 cision of detail, which to say the least, is very remarkable. 
 
 This is owing mainly to the fact that the division was made 
 to conform, as far as possible, to the natural features of the 
 country. It implies more than a general knowledge of its con- 
 figuration and adaptations. It must have been the outcome of 
 an original survey as careful and accurate, in its day, as that 
 of the Palestine Exploration Survey itself. The actual recovery 
 of the old lines by retracing the natural features of the country, 
 which unquestionably have remained without change ; and the 
 identification of long forgotten sites by names, which, with 
 slight changes, have clung to them since the days of Joshua, 
 furnish a strong incidental proof in support of the claim that 
 the record which defines these boundaries with such pains- 
 taking fidelity, was written at the time when this allotment, 
 itself a matter of history, was actually made. 
 
 It seems incredible that it should have been formulated in its 
 present shape, or that it should have been regarded of so much 
 value as to occupy the space of ten chapters of the book of 
 Joshua, if it had been written at any period after the displace- 
 ment or separation of the tribes. It is evident, also, that the 
 confusion of lines by the events of subsequent history, and the 
 formation of new political divisions, would have made the 
 task of preparing such a record a work of superhuman wis- 
 dom, as wonderful in its reach backward as the sweep of 
 the inspired prophets' vision forward into the future. 
 
-"";,^GH * 
 
 of 
 
 Tribes of fsraet 
 
 TTie ttcttett lines inc/tcate 
 firnc-ls 
 
Tribal and Political Divisions 37 
 
 " All these facts," says Major Conder, " serve assuredly 
 to prove that the geography of the Book of Joshua is no 
 idle tale, but a real division of a real country, capable of 
 the most minute critical examination by aid of the most 
 scientific modern research." 1 Those who desire to follow 
 the lines of these tribal divisions in specific detail will 
 find much valuable information in Robinson's Later 
 Researches, Vol. II., Henderson's Palestine, pp. 72, 82; and 
 the recent publications of the Palestine Exploration Fund. For 
 the purpose we have in view it will be sufficient to present a 
 brief statement of the relative position of the several tribes. 
 
 On the western side of the Jordan the first allotment of ter- 
 ritory was made to the Tribe of Judah. It included the 
 whole country south of Jerusalem from the Mediterranean to 
 the Dead Sea. Its area as originally outlined was more than 
 2,000 square miles. The Wilderness, the central mountain 
 district, the Shephelah, the plain of Philistia, and the Negeb, 
 or south country, were all included within its limits. The 
 southern portion was afterward assigned to the tribe of Simeon. 
 
 The boundaries of this grant are not accurately defined, but 
 it is evident from the list of towns belonging to Simeon that the 
 region about Beersheba and all of the district south of it to 
 Kadesh Barnea were included. The reason for this allotment 
 is given in Joshua xix. 9. " For the part of the children of 
 Judah was too much for them, therefore the children of Simeon 
 had their inheritance within the inheritance of them." 
 
 The inheritance of Judah was curtailed, also by the failure 
 of the people to drive the Philistines from their strongholds on 
 the coast plain. At times it was occupied as a whole, or in 
 part, but during the greater portion of the period of Israel's 
 national life it was in the hands of the Philistines or other alien 
 nationalities. 
 
 The Portion of Benjamin extended northward from the 
 border line of Judah to Baal Hazor, a conspicuous mountain about 
 1 Primer of Bible Geography, p. 97. 
 
38 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 twelve miles from Jerusalem. The eastern boundary for five or six 
 miles was the Jordan. Thence it extended to Beth-Horon and 
 Kirjath-Jearim, on the western slope of the mountain ridge, a 
 distance of thirty miles. 
 
 Its area is estimated at about 400 miles. Except a cross 
 section of the Jordan plain, the inheritance of Benjamin was 
 rugged and mountainous. In the early days of the occupation 
 it included the city of Jerusalem, but after adjustments gave to 
 Judah a joint possession in the Holy places within its walls. 
 The two noted passes, Michmash on the east, and Beth-Horon 
 on the west, gave to this warlike tribe the control of the whole 
 mountain region and made it the natural defender of Jerusalem 
 on the north. On the heights of Benjamin some of the most 
 stirring events in Old Testament history took place, and here 
 may still be seen on slope and summit of every shapely hill the 
 ruins of terraced vineyards and fenced cities. 
 
 " On the northwest border of Benjamin, Ataroth Adar (Ed Darieh),and 
 Archi ( Ain Arik) have been recovered in exact accordance with the words of 
 the Bible (Joshua xviii. 13), which define the position of the former with 
 the greatest minuteness." 
 
 The territory of Dan adjoined Benjamin on the west. It 
 included the foot-hills and a section of the coast plain from 
 Ekron to the river Aujeh north of Jaffa. It was never fully 
 occupied by this tribe and was held for a time as a fortified 
 camp ("the Camp of Dan") rather than a permanent posses- 
 sion. In the period of the Judges a large part of the tribe 
 removed from this to a new location at the head waters of the 
 Jordan. Some of the towns abandoned by the Danites 
 were afterward occupied by the tribe of Judah. 
 
 The tribe of Joseph usually designated as Ephraim and 
 Manasseh (the half tribe of Manasseh) was given a large and 
 exceptionally rich portion of territory north of the inheritance 
 of Benjamin and Dan. It extended westward from the Jordan 
 
 1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 1 15. 
 
Tribal and Political Divisions 39 
 
 to the Sea and northward to the borders of the plains of Acre 
 and Esdraelon. The boundary between Ephraim and Manassch 
 is not clearly defined except on the coast plain where it is defined 
 as the course of the brook Kanah. This brook (Wady Kanah) 
 flows westward from the southern slope of Mount Gerizim and its 
 course is now for the first time correctly laid down on the map 
 of the Palestine Exploration Survey. Shechem, and other 
 towns in its vicinity, were included in the original allotment 
 which fell to Ephraim, but the hill of Samaria, on which in 
 later times the capital of the ten tribes was built, seems to have 
 fallen within the borders of Manasseh. It should be noted, 
 however, that the whole of the mountain region north of the 
 border of Benjamin to the break made by the plain of Esdraelon, 
 was designated collectively as " Mount Ephraim," or the moun- 
 tains of Ephraim, in the period preceding the division of the 
 kingdom. The portion of the range south of the north border 
 of Benjamin was called the "Mountain" or "Hill country" 
 of Judah. 
 
 To the tribe of Issachar was given nearly the whole of the 
 rich plain of Esdraelon. Tabor and the hills of Galilee formed 
 the line of its northern boundary. Its extreme southern limit 
 was En-gannim (Jenin) on the edge of the great plain. For 
 some reason, not explained, the strong fortress town of Beth- 
 shan, at the eastward end of the valley of Jezreel was not in- 
 cluded in its limits, but was assigned to Manasseh. (Judges i. 27.) 
 
 The territory assigned to Zebulun northwest of 
 the allotment of Issachar. The line between these tribes ran 
 along the base of the hills of Galilee, which border the Es- 
 draelon plain on the north, to the Kishon river. Thence it 
 followed its course along the base of Mount Carmel to the Sea. 
 Its limit on the east seems to have been in the neighborhood 
 of Mount Tabor, but according to Josephus it afterward ex- 
 tended to the lake of Galilee. Its western border or " out- 
 going " was on the plain of Acre. The valley of Jiphthah-el, 
 on the northwest, now known as Wady el-Kurn is mentioned 
 
4:0 The Land of Israel 
 
 as one of the landmarks between Zebulun and Asher: and 
 another is given at Hannathon (Kefr* Anan) on the north- 
 east, which Henderson locates eleven miles north of Rimmon. 
 Without entering into detail these points indicate that the 
 line ran north of the rich plain of Buttauf through the Wady 
 el-Kurn to a point at, or near the mouth of the Belus river, to 
 the Sea. 1 
 
 The inheritance of the tribes of Asher and Naph- 
 tali extended northward of this territory side by side to the 
 northern limit of occupation of the land of Israel. 
 
 Asher held the portion next the sea while Naphtali pos- 
 sessed the hill country to the Jordan valley, including the 
 western border according to the original allotment of the 
 sea of Galilee. Dr. Henderson thinks it possible that the 
 actual possessions of Asher were extended much farther north 
 than the Litany, inasmuch as Joab went as far as Riblah in 
 taking the census of Israel. It is certain, also, that the allot- 
 ment extended north of Sidon, which is twenty miles beyond the 
 city of Tyre. (Joshua xix. 28-39.) Ijon, in the Merj 'Ajun, 
 is the farthest town northward which has yet been identified 
 in the inheritance of Naphtali. 
 
 On this side of the Jordan Kedesh of Naphtali, Shechem, 
 and Hebron were designated as Cities of Refuge. 
 
 The territory conquered by the Israelites on the eastern side 
 of the Jordan was divided between the tribes of Reuben 
 and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. This divi- 
 sion was made along the lines suggested by the natural divisions 
 of the country. 
 
 To Reuben was assigned the northern portion of the land 
 of Moab : to Gad the land of Gilead, extending to the river 
 
 1 " From some expressions it would seem as if the territory of Asher as 
 at first assigned, went south of Cannel : but if so some of the land in the 
 first instance given to Asher must have been ceded to Zebulon, which 
 certainly readied the Hay of Acre, and possessed the north slope of Car- 
 mel." Henderson's Palestine, p. 101. 
 
Divisions ofPalesth 
 
 in I; tie 
 Time of Christ 
 
Tribal and Political Divisions 41 
 
 Jarmuk : and to the half tribe of Manasseh the land of 
 Bashan. 
 
 The Cities of Refuge on this side of the river were Golan 
 in Bashan ; Ramoth in Gilead, and Bezar or Bosor in Moab. 
 
 2. Division of the Kingdoms. In the division of the 
 Kingdom after the death of Solomon the line of separation be- 
 tween Israel and Judah was on, or very near the old division 
 line between Benjamin and Ephraim. There were periods in 
 the history of the rival kingdoms when slight changes were 
 made, Bethel being at first within the northern : and in later 
 times within the limits of the southern kingdom. Hence, as 
 Major Conder suggests, the name of Mount Ephraim sometimes 
 applies in the Bible to country south of the border of the tribe 
 of Ephraim as laid down in the Book of Joshua. 
 
 All the territory east of the Jordan was included in the king- 
 dom of Israel. 
 
 3. Political Divisions in the time of Christ. In the 
 
 period of Roman rule the entire country south of Lebanon was 
 divided into three Provinces, viz : Galilee, Samaria and Judea. 
 Galilee was north of Mount Carmel, and the southern border 
 of the plain of Esdraelon. Samaria extended southward of 
 this province to the boundary line which separated Ephraim 
 from Manasseh. Conder defines its limits in general terms, 
 as "the land of Manasseh west of Jordan." On the coast 
 plain the brook Kanah as we have seen was the dividing 
 line. 
 
 The country south of Samaria, from the Mediterranean to 
 the Jordan valley and the Dead Sea retained the old name 
 of Judah, or Judea. Its southern portion was sometimes re- 
 garded as a separate province under the name of Idumea. 
 The Idumeans were Edomites who took possession of this 
 region during the time of the captivity. They were conquered 
 during the period of the Maccabees, but were permitted to 
 
42 The Land of Israel 
 
 remain in the land on condition of receiving the rite of cir- 
 cumcision. The Herodian family were of Idumean descent. 
 
 In the Roman period Phoenicia included the whole of the 
 coast plain from Tripoli to Achzib, ten miles north of Acre. 
 
 The trans-Jordanic country south of the Hieromax, 
 or Yarmuk river was usually designated as Perea the region 
 beyond. In a narrower sense this term was sometimes limited 
 to the land of Gilead. 
 
 After the captivity, Bashan, the northern province of East- 
 ern Palestine, was divided into five districts, known as Gaul- 
 anitis^ Auranitis, Iturea, Trachonitis, and Batanea. 
 
 Gaulanitis, corresponding with the modern Jaulan, covered 
 all of the western slope of the mountains, and the more rugged 
 part of the plateau, south of Lake Huleh. 
 
 Auranitis, the Hauran in its restricted sense, included the 
 level plateau east of Gaulanitis. 
 
 Iturea, the modern district of Jedur, was in the northern 
 part of the province, above the districts of Gaulanitis and 
 Auranitis. 
 
 Trachonitis was the lava district east of the Hauran, and 
 Batanea was probably a strip of border-land to the southeast, 
 which included the cluster of mountains now called Jebel 
 Hauran. 
 
 The region of Decapolis, mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment (Matt. iv. 25 ; Mark vii. 21) was southeast of the Lake 
 of Galilee. The ten cities, which gave the name to the dis- 
 trict, were all east of the Jordan, except Bethshan, or Scythop- 
 olis as it was termed after the captivity. This was a con- 
 venient grouping of towns but not a geographical division of 
 territory. 
 
 Before the advent of Christ the Jews were scattered through 
 all the provinces of the country. Everywhere they came into 
 close contact with Greek and Roman civilization, but they re- 
 mained separate and distinct in their religious life and national 
 characteristics. " Before the Roman occupation under Pompey 
 
Tribal and Political Divisions 43 
 
 all Gilead and Bashan with Moab were again Israel's and the 
 Greek cities were Judaized." ' 
 
 West of the Jordan the influence of the Jews was paramount 
 also, except in Samaria, which was regarded as a heathen or 
 semi-heathen province. 
 
 1 Smith's Hist. Ueog., p. 590. 
 
CHAPTER \ 
 
 HIGHWAYS AND CARAVAN ROUTES 
 
 THE Land of Israel was brought into communication with 
 the outside world mainly through four great highways, 
 
 1 . The oldest and most notable of these international routes 
 was the great thoroughfare along the Mediterranean coast, con- 
 necting Egypt with Phoenicia, Syria, and the empires of the 
 East. At the northern end of the Lebanon range it passed 
 through the natural gateway, called the entrance of Hamath, 
 into the Orontes valley and thence to the Euphrates. 
 
 2. The caravan route from Tyre and Sidon across Lebanon 
 to Damascus, Palmyra and the Euphrates. 
 
 3. The route from Gaza by way of Petra and Duma to the 
 Persian Gulf. 
 
 4. A parallel to the coast road, on the eastern border of the 
 land, from Damascus to the yElanitic Gulf and the peninsula 
 of Arabia. In general direction this corresponded to the mod- 
 ern Haj or pilgrimage route to Mecca. Over the northern part 
 of this route, most probably, the patriarch Abraham and his 
 grandson Jacob, journeyed from Damascus to the crossroads, 
 or wadies, which led to the upper fords of the Jordan. 
 
 The coast road was the favorite military route between the 
 Nile and Euphrates valleys. For about 5,000 years this has 
 been the well-trodden " war path of the nations." l 
 
 On a bold promontory, which juts out almost to the sea at 
 Dog river, ten miles north of Beirut, there are nine tablets cov- 
 ered with inscriptions deeply carved on the rocks. 
 
 1 This route, which was obstructed by several spurs from the mountains, 
 extending across the plain to the sea, was made passible for armies by the 
 engineering skill of the Egyptians and Assyrians. " The steps or zigzags 
 which surmounted these natural obstacles were known to the Greeks au^. 
 Romans under the name oi Climaces." See Rawlinson's Phoenicia, p. 7. 
 
 44 
 
ASCENT OF PASS OF NAHR EL KELB 
 
 FROM NORTH, WITH ONE OF THE TABLETS 
 
Highways and Caravan Routes 45 
 
 After a silence of many centuries these tablets have at last 
 declared their secrets, and they prove to be the boastful records 
 of some of the greatest of the leaders of the Egyptian and As- 
 syrian hosts, who took this method of celebrating the passage 
 of the narrow, and apparently impassible way. Three of the 
 tablets bear the name of Rameses II. On the others are the 
 names of Tiglath Pileser, Assur-banipal, Shalmaneser, 
 Esar-haddon. 
 
 " Among the striking features of this pass are the old road beds cut in 
 the solid limestone rock by successive monarchs of antiquity. The foot 
 holes of the horses and the grooves worn by the chariot wheels of armies 
 are still distinctly traceable in the rock. Here passed Pul, Tiglath Pileser, 
 Sesostris, Shalmanezer, Sargon, and Sennacherib ; here swarmed the hosts 
 of Alexander the Great en route for Egypt ; here passed the Romans, the 
 later Greeks, the Arabs, the Turks, and the Crusaders; and here pass 
 constantly the traders and travellers of the East." l 
 
 The main arterial route of travel and commerce between the 
 east and west for centuries has been the section of the coast 
 road between Gaza and Mount Carmel. While for some rea- 
 son, probably for greater security from attack, its continuation 
 north of Carmel was traversed by most of the great military 
 leaders of ancient times, there was a deflection from the main 
 line eastward by way of the valley of Dothan, and the Esdraelon 
 plain, which was a favorite route for those bent on commerce 
 or ordinary travel. This led to the principal fords of the Jordan 
 near Bethshan and thence along the uplands of Bashan to Da- 
 mascus and the East. Over this great trade route the caravan 
 of Ishmaelites, to whom Joseph was sold as a slave, "came 
 from Gilead, with their camels, bearing spicery and balm and 
 myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt." (Gen. xxxvii. 25.) 
 
 The main routes of a local character within the limits of 
 Israel's possession were : 
 
 i. From Jerusalem to Jaffa by way of Beth-Horon and 
 Lydda. 
 
 1 Article in Picturesque Pal., by Dr. H. W. Jessup, Vol. II., p. 31. 
 
46 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 2. From Jerusalem to Bethlehem and Hebron ; thence west- 
 ward to Gaza and eastward to the desert. 
 
 3. From Jerusalem to Jericho and thence across the Jordan 
 into Perea. This route recrossed the river at one of the upper 
 fords into Galilee. An alternate route was up the west bank 
 of the Jordan to Bethshan. 
 
 4. From Jerusalem to Galilee over the patriarchal highway, 
 which for the most part led along the summit of the mountains 
 of Benjamin and Ephraim. A continuation of this road passed 
 on to Damascus by way of Capernaum, the Hulah basin, and 
 the eastern slope of Mount Hermon. 
 
 5. From Acre to the trans-Jordanic country across the plain 
 of Esdraelon and down the valley of Jezreel. 
 
 6. From Hamath in the valley of the Orontes to Baalbec 
 and the head waters of the Jordan. In the Bible the first inti- 
 mation with respect to the construction of public roadways is 
 given in connection with the establishment of the Cities of 
 Refuge. (Deut. xix. 3.) The rock beds of the paved roads 
 of the Roman period may still be seen in many places, espe- 
 cially in some sections of Eastern Palestine. 
 
 The use of chariots in war, and for display in the time of 
 the Kings, implies the construction of suitable roads, but these 
 were usually constructed on the plains or in the valleys leading 
 up to the rugged highland country. In general the roads over 
 the mountain districts were pathways, or trails. 
 
 At suitable distances on all the roads Khans were maintained 
 for the accommodation of the travelling caravans. When once 
 established their location was seldom, if ever, changed. In many 
 instances modern travellers have found a resting place for them- 
 selves and their horses, or camels in caravansaries, whose names 
 and histories antedate the Christian era. While these rude 
 structures have doubtless changed and given way to others 
 many times, the sites still remain ; and the names handed down 
 from generation to generation attest the use to which they have 
 been originally set apart. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE LAND 
 
 THERE is much in the general aspect of the country at the 
 present time, suggestive of change, desolation and decay. Pal- 
 estine is preeminently a land of ruins. 
 
 The terraced slopes, which were once cultivated with extreme 
 care, have been broken down ; the rich soil has been washed 
 away, and naught remains except the bare shelving rock swept 
 smooth with wind and rain. In many places the highways of 
 former times have shrunken into camel paths or mountain trails. 
 All over the land the scattered debris of towns and villages 
 crown the heights or lie half hidden in the luxuriant over- 
 growth of the valleys and plains ; while beneath the soil in 
 hundreds of tells or artificial mounds, lie the ruins of super- 
 imposed cities, some of which contain the relics of former 
 civilizations as old as the days of the Patriarchs. 
 
 A few of the towns and ancient cities are now inhabited : 
 but over the greater part of the country nomads wander as in 
 the time of Abraham with flocks and herds. Except where 
 the flags of European nations extend their kindly protection, 
 the roving bands of Bedouins make life and property insecure. 
 
 In view of all these things, it is scarcely possible to resist the 
 impression that a series of judgments, such as were long ago 
 foretold by the prophets of Israel, have overtaken the land and 
 its inhabitants. 
 
 There are some things, however, that remain unchanged, 
 amid these changes and desolations. The geographical fea- 
 tures we have been considering have not changed in form or 
 general characteristics since it was given to the people of Israel 
 for a possession. The rugged framework of the land: its 
 
 47 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 towering mountains and deeply grooved valleys present the 
 same aspect to-day as when Moses looked down upon them 
 from the summit of Mount Nebo. While the destruction of 
 the forests and the breaking down of terraces and aqueducts 
 have in many places turned the fruitful field into a wilderness, 
 the country as a whole is still subject to the conditions which 
 governed its climatic changes in the period of the Sacred 
 writers. Now as in the past the early and latter rains come in 
 their appointed seasons : the heavy dews give moisture to field 
 and hillside ; wonderful transformations follow the time of clear 
 shining alter the rain " and the corn and wine and oil have not 
 ceased from the land." "The true curses of the country," 
 says Major Conder, "are injustice and ignorance; and the 
 decay of population has led to the shrinking of agriculture and 
 to the spread of briars, thorns, and rough brushwood where 
 once were wine-presses and vineyard towers." l 
 
 Within the last quarter of this century, and especially within 
 the last decade, there have been important changes in the op- 
 posite direction, that point unmistakably to a restoration of long 
 lost privileges. These consist mainly in the planting of pros- 
 perous colonies in various parts of the country ; and the open- 
 ing of new carriage roads and railroads to important centres both 
 east and west of the Jordan. At the present time Jaffa and 
 Jerusalem are connected by a railroad fifty-four miles in length, 
 which was opened for travel and traffic August 27th, 1889. 
 
 The Damascus-Hauran rail road, running to Meserib, the 
 starting point for the caravans to Mecca, has been completed 
 and is said to be yielding large returns on the investment. The 
 line over the Lebanons from Beirut to Damascus has also been 
 opened for travel. In addition to these, railroads have been 
 projected from Haifa to Damascus ; from Tripoli to Damascus ; 
 from Beirut to Sidon, and northward to Tripoli; and from 
 Egypt to the Euphrates over the old military route by way of 
 Gaza, Jaffa and the Entrance of Hamath. 
 
 1 The City and the Land, p. 34. 
 
Present Condition of the Land 49 
 
 A little steamer, built by a Greek priest of the Monastery, 
 "Mar Hauna," carries passengers from the Nimrim ford of the 
 Jordan to the landing-place of Kerak on the Dead Sea, reduc- 
 ing the distance between Jericho and Kerak to a journey of a 
 single day. A well graded carriage road has taken the place 
 of the rough mountain trail which formerly led down from 
 Jerusalem to the Jordan and the Dead Sea. 
 
 On the high ground overlooking this " silent sea " a modern 
 "Cafe" has been erected; and at Jericho the traveller may 
 now enjoy the comforts of a good " Hotel." 
 
 In all of these movements we may read the signs of a special 
 providential oversight, never wholly withdrawn from this land, 
 which is surely bringing out of the night of its long, gloomy 
 past the dawning of a better day. 
 
 Addenda May z, 1907. Railroads have been recently con- 
 structed and are now carrying passengers from Haifa to Da- 
 mascus, via Mezerib: from Damascus to Hamath, via Baalbek 
 and Hums: from Damascus to Medina, via Amman and Main. 
 
 A carriage road will soon be completed from Amman to Je- 
 rusalem. This connection will give a through route for pil- 
 grims and tourists from Jaffa to many interesting places east of 
 the Jordan. From Jerusalem to Nablous a good carriage road 
 has recently been completed and this connects with another 
 well constructed road to Haifa. Tours are now made by rail 
 from Beirut to Damascus over the Lebanons and thence by way 
 of the Hauran and Lake of Galilee to Haifa. At a station on 
 the lake carriages may be taken for Cana and Nazareth. A 
 macadamized road connects Beirut with Jaffa and a new road 
 has been built from Jaffa to Gaza and Beersheba. Accommo- 
 dations may be obtained in hotels along all these routes and 
 safety is assured to the traveller in every part of the country. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 THE Geography of the Holy Land is so closely associated 
 with its History that the one cannot be studied intelligently 
 without a definite knowledge of the salient points, at least, of 
 the other. These may be briefly grouped under three periods 
 of national or provincial occupation ; viz : The Canaanite, 
 Israelite and Gentile. 
 
 I. The Canaanite Period. In the Scripture narrative 
 the land of Canaan comes into view about 2,000 or as some 
 good authorities reckon it 2, 200 years before the Christian era. 
 Under the general term Canaanite, as we have seen, the 
 Amorites, who were probably the first settlers in the mountain 
 district, with other associated tribes, were included. For 
 many centuries this account of the country and its inhabitants 
 stood alone, and there are few of its historical statements which 
 have not been questioned or repudiated as mythical or unhis- 
 toric. 
 
 In recent years, however, a flood of light has been poured 
 upon this region and its early inhabitants. Out of this mass 
 of information, which has been diligently collected and care- 
 fully stored in libraries and museums, a new history of the an- 
 cient world has been constructed in which may be found con- 
 firmations, parallelisms, and illustrations of the Sacred record 
 both numerous and striking. 
 
 (i) CANAAN AS A BABYLONIAN PROVINCE. From the 
 cuneiform records, which antedate the historical statements 
 given in the Bible by several centuries, we find that this land 
 in the earliest period of its settlement was regarded as a prov- 
 ince or dependency of Babylon. The general name given to 
 
 60 
 
History and Associations 51 
 
 the country, including Phoenicia was " mat Amuri," the land 
 of the Amorites. 
 
 In the annals of Sargon, king of Agade, the founder of the 
 first Chaldean Empire, mention is made of four expeditions to 
 this "land of the Amorites," over which he claimed the exer- 
 cise of supreme authority. His son Naram-Sin, extended this 
 dominion to the Sinaitic peninsula and developed its famous 
 copper mines. 
 
 If the statement on the cylinder of Nabonidus, translated by 
 M. Pinches in 1880, can be accepted as historic, this king 
 reigned 3,200 years before the time of Nabonidus or about 
 3800 B. c. Previous to the finding of this inscription the gen- 
 eral consensus of scholars had assigned the date of Sargon's 
 reign to a period about 2000 B. c. All the evidence, which 
 bears upon this point confirms the view, so generally held by 
 all the authorities, that he could not have lived later than this 
 date. 
 
 On the assumption, therefore, that the date given by Naboni- 
 dus is only a boastful declaration, of doubtful authority, it is 
 still true that this " Westland " of the old world was under the 
 influence and control of Babylonia and Elam, as the Scripture 
 narrative implies, before the birth of Abraham. Says Professor 
 Sayce : 
 
 " We have learned from the cuneiform monuments of Babylonia that 
 long before the days of Chedorlaomer campaigns were undertaken against 
 Palestine by the Babylonian monarchs, and that in the age of Abraham 
 the rulers of Chaldea claimed to be also kings of Syria and Canaan." 
 
 King Gudea whose date is given, about 2500 B. c. accord- 
 ing to the statement of Nabonidus "ruled over the whole of 
 Mesopotamia. He tells us how he hewed cedars in Lebanon 
 and brought granite from Sinai to carve his statues, which 
 have been brought recently from the Tigris to the Louvre in 
 Paris." i 
 
 > The City and the, kan.d, p. 36. 
 
52 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 These and many other statements of like character show con- 
 clusively that in the earliest periods known to history, Canaan 
 was a dependency of the empires of the East, being subject to 
 them, at times at least, and receiving from them its literature 
 and culture. In the first glimpses which we have of the coun- 
 try it appears to be sparsely settled. Outside of Phoenicia and 
 the great plains it was an open common, where herdsmen and 
 confederated bands of different nationalities moved about at 
 will. 
 
 There were cities in the plains, and walled towns and for- 
 tresses on the frontiers in which the settled population dwelt 
 and carried on the various vocations peculiar to the time and 
 locality. 
 
 Near the close of this long period of Eastern supremacy 
 (c. 1600 B. c.) these permanent centres of civilization had be- 
 come the rallying points for numerous independent principal- 
 ities and petty kingdoms, which, in case of need, were allied 
 together for mutual support and protection. A great change 
 had also come over the hill country. The rocky slopes in 
 every portion of the land had been brought under cultivation 
 by means of terraces and artificial appliances for the distribution 
 of water ; and walled cities of great strength had arisen upon 
 commanding elevations in all the habitable districts of the sev- 
 eral tribes. The records of the Bible and the monuments 
 agree in their representations of the rapid growth, advanced 
 culture and material strength of the people of the land in the 
 period in which the Israelites dwelt in Egypt. They also agree 
 in their classification of the three dominant races at this time, 
 the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Hittites. 
 
 (2) CANAAN AS AN EGYPTIAN PROVINCE. The battle of 
 Megiddo, which took place about 1550 B. c., gave to the 
 Egyptians the dominant control of the southern portion of Syria 
 for about three centuries. The contestants in this conflict were 
 the Egyptians under Thotmes III., the Napoleon of the eigh- 
 teenth Dynasty, and the Hittites with their allies. The power 
 
History and Associations 53 
 
 and wealth of the latter nation, which at this time stood between 
 Egypt and Assyria, may be inferred from the description of the 
 spoils taken from them in this memorable campaign. 
 
 In connection with a list of 119 captured towns inscribed 
 upon the columns of one of the temples at Karnak mention is 
 made of precious stones of great value, vessels and ornaments 
 of solid gold, and 924 chariots including the chariot of the 
 Hittite king, covered with plates of gold. 
 
 The Tell el-Amarna tablets and the inscriptions on various 
 temples of Upper Egypt have thrown much light upon the 
 history of the country during the time of its subjection to the 
 rulers of Egypt. They furnish us with long lists of its principal 
 cities in the cuneiform language, including Megiddo, Kedesh, 
 Tyre, Sidon, Gebal Gezar, Lachish, Jerusalem. These towns 
 were either ruled by Egyptian governors or by native rulers 
 who reported directly to the reigning Pharoah. For a short 
 period a .half century or more the Egyptians seem to have 
 lost their hold upon the country, which was left without a cen- 
 tral government, or a chief ruler, who had the power to bind 
 the independent clans of the various localities together. 
 
 2. The Hebrew Period. The time of Israel's occupa- 
 tion of the land, beginning with the conquest under Joshua and 
 ending with the final destruction of Jerusalem under the Roman 
 general Titus, covered a stretch of nearly fifteen centuries. The 
 golden age of this period as we have seen was in the days of 
 David and Solomon, when the whole land from the entrance 
 of Hamath to the river of Egypt was held as a possession, and 
 the nations around from the sea to the great river were subject ; 
 contributing to its resources and renown the choicest products 
 of their labor and skill. 
 
 After the death of Solomon and the division of the kingdom, 
 the territory of Israel was " cut short " and gradually dimin- 
 ished on every side. This was in accordance with the oft-re- 
 peated warnings of the prophets, in consequence of the persist- 
 ent idolatry of the people and their long continued disavowal 
 
54: The Land of Israel 
 
 of the principles of righteousness, by which alone they held the 
 tenure of the land. (2 Kings x. 32, 33.) 
 
 On the north the scattered tribes and nationalities from Leb- 
 anon to the Euphrates revolted from the dominion of Israel 
 and formed the kingdom of Syria. The head of this king- 
 dom, which soon became the leading power in all Syria, was 
 Damascus. 
 
 Except a brief period in and after the reign of Jereboam II., 
 (circa B. c. 800) this rival kingdom occupied and held the 
 whole of the district of Lebanon. 
 
 For more than two centuries it wasted, at times, the northern 
 borders of the ten tribes and menaced the safety of their seat 
 of government at Samaria. In the reign of Hazael (c. 860) 
 the Syrians conquered all of Israel's possessions east of the 
 Jordan (2 Kings x. 32, 33) : and at the same time reduced the 
 allied tribes on the west, for a time, to a state of vassalage. 
 (2 Kings xiii. 1-8.) 
 
 In the middle of the eighth century B. c. the kingdom of 
 Syria came under the power of the Assyrian Empire, and the 
 ten tribes abandoned of Jehovah, shared in their fate. 
 
 In the year 721 they were carried away to Halah and Habor 
 beyond the Tigris. "And the king of Assyria brought men 
 from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Ava, and from 
 Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities 
 of Samaria, instead of the children of Israel : and they pos- 
 sessed Samaria and dwelt in the cities thereof." (2 Kings 
 xvii. 24.) 
 
 With the kingdom of Judah were some representatives of the 
 ten tribes, who had cast in their lot with it, in the dark days 
 of Israel's idolatrous defection, but this territory had also been 
 cut short by the revolt of Edom, the falling away of Simeon 
 on the south, and the possession by foreign powers of the cities 
 of the Philistine plain. 
 
 From the date of the first invasion of Nebuchadnezzar 
 (B. c. 606) the Kingdom of Judah became a province of 
 
History and Associations 55 
 
 Babylon, and many of the people were carried away into 
 captivity. The revolt of Zedckiah, the last ruler of this king- 
 dom (B. c. 587) brought down upon him a swift retribution 
 resulting in the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the deporta- 
 tion of the greater part of the population. The remnant which 
 remained tilled the fields and dwelt in the ruined cities of Judah 
 for seventy years. Meanwhile the Babylonian empire fell and 
 the victorious Persian conquerors extended their dominion far 
 beyond the original bounds of the old Assyrian empire. With 
 the sanction, and under the protection of Cyrus and his suc- 
 cessors, the Jews were permitted to return to their land, occupy 
 their former possessions, and rebuild their temple and ruined 
 cities. For 200 years they dwelt securely under the protecto- 
 rate of the Persian empire, increasing rapidly in population, 
 wealth and influence. Then followed in succession the short 
 period of the Macedonian supremacy (332-321) ; the period 
 of the Egyptian supremacy under the Ptolemies, or Greek 
 rulers of Egypt, lasting for 123 years (321-198) ; the period of 
 the Maccabees, or independent rulers (166-64) ; and the period 
 of Roman supremacy (B. c. 64-A. D. 614). 
 
 3. The Gentile Period. The national life of the Hebrews 
 ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, A. D. 70. From this 
 time until now they have remained a distinct people, scattered 
 among all the nations ; and yet without a Ruler or a Country 
 they could call their own. A feeble remnant, which survived 
 the horrors of the war with Titus, made a desperate effort, 
 under the leadership of Simon (Bar Cocheba), a pretended 
 Messiah, some fifty years later, to throw off the yoke of Rome 
 but miserably failed. The result was a wholesale prescription 
 and banishment by order of the emperor Hadrian, from the 
 land of their fathers. From this date Palestine became a 
 Roman colony in which the Jew had neither part nor lot. 
 
 In 614 A. D. the whole of Syria was severed from the 
 Roman empire by the Persians. 
 
 A few years later (A. D. 636) it came under the dominion 
 
56 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 of the Moslem hordes from the desert. For more than 1,000 
 years following the Holy Land of the Hebrew and the Christian 
 has been in the hands of the Arabs or their successors, and 
 co-religionists, the Turks. The one notable interruption of 
 Moslem rule was the period lasting for nearly a century 
 (1098-1187) in which it was conquered and held by the 
 Christian Crusaders. They have left the impress of their brief 
 occupation in ruined monasteries and churches all over the 
 western portion of the land. 
 
 A deeper and more abiding impression, however, has been 
 left upon the land by the centuries of Greek and Roman 
 occupation. The evidences of Graeco-Roman civilization, 
 literature and life are found in every part of the country, but 
 especially in the region east of the Jordan. Here amid the 
 ruins of great cities may be seen the remains of temples, forums, 
 triumphal arches, gateways, bridges, aqueducts, colonnaded 
 streets, amphitheatres, beautifully wrought columns and capi- 
 tals, and many wonderful works of art, both elaborate and 
 delicate. On this side of the Jordan not less than 500 miles of 
 solid Roman roads have been traced. Here too in mosaic 
 pavements, broken fragments of pottery, long lost coins of 
 Roman emperors and free Greek cities, have been found the 
 data for more accurate information with respect to time and 
 place than that which has been transmitted to us by the pen of 
 the classic historian. To the history of the early Christian 
 Church a new and most interesting chapter has been added, 
 also, from the numerous emblems and inscriptions unearthed 
 here and there, which were traced on basalt slabs, rock tombs 
 or marble tablets in the dark days of persecution and mar- 
 tyrdom. 
 
 Between some of these cities, in which Greek culture was 
 protected and encouraged by the might and majesty of Rome, 
 may still be seen, in places, the solid rock bed of the old road- 
 ways, deeply grooved by the chariot wheel ; or the mile stone 
 with its accurate record of distance from point to point. It is A 
 
History and Associations &'? 
 
 significant fact that the messengers of the gospel carried over 
 Roman roads, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth, a mes- 
 sage to all nations and for all time, which was written in the 
 beautiful, flexible, and almost universally disseminated ..an 
 guage of the Greeks. 
 
 These monuments of the Christian age, like tnose of in.? 
 earlier days, may now be read alongside of the recui 
 Sacred history ; and with wonderful unanimity they bear testi- 
 mony to its accuracy of historical and geographical statement. 
 
 Sacred Associations. Preeminent among all the things 
 which abide, and more indestructible than the framework of 
 its everlasting hills, are the sacred associations interwoven with 
 the history of the land of Israel. It has been brought into 
 close relations, at some time in its wonderful history, with 
 every great nation of the Ancient or Roman world, but from 
 none of these associations does it derive its peculiar charm or 
 its distinguishing glory. It stands apart from all as the " Holy 
 Land"; because here as nowhere else, the Almighty has 
 manifested His glory and unfolded His purpose of redeeming 
 grace. " Its hills and valleys have been transfigured by mean- 
 ings and mysteries mightier than physical influences," and over 
 it all there shines a light that fades not but grows richer and 
 more radiant with the ages. 1 
 
 It is the land of the Patriarchs ; of the Prophets ; of the 
 Sacred Poets ; of the Apostles ; of David and Solomon, and a 
 host of saintly men and women whose names are familiar to us 
 as household words. But more than all it is the land where 
 the Son of God was made flesh and dwelt among men. 
 
 " Here lie those holy fields, 
 O'er whose acres walked those blessed feet 
 Which 1900 ' years ago were nailed 
 For our advantage to the bitter cross." 
 
 From this land, long trodden under foot of the Gentiles, over 
 i Fairbairn's Studies of Christ. 
 
58 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 which the gloomy shadows of the dark ages yet linger has 
 gone forth an influence more potent than ever came from 
 schools of philosophers or the collected wisdom of the ancients. 
 That influence to-day is ruling the world. There are many 
 mountains celebrated in story and song, but there is only one 
 Mount Zion, one Olivet, one Calvary, go where we may. 
 There are many interesting cities of antiquity, which men have 
 travelled weary miles to see, but there is only one Bethlehem 
 and one Jerusalem in all the world. 
 
 These sites are sacred above all else because they have been 
 touched by the beautiful feet of Him who brought good tidings 
 and published peace. " It is historically incontrovertible that 
 in Palestine appeared He whose precept, example and pierced 
 right hand have lifted heathenism off its hinges and turned into 
 new channels the course of human thought." 1 
 
 1 The Testimony of the Land to the Book, Dr. Gregg, p. lo. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF THE LAND TO THE BOOK 
 
 IN recent years the evidential value of sacred geography has 
 been recognized and emphasized as never before. 
 
 In the " New Apologetic " of the Christian faith this study, in 
 connection with its kindred branches of archaeological science, 
 has already risen to a place of prominence, as a supplemental 
 evidence to the historical accuracy of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment narratives. The close correspondence between the lo- 
 cality avowedly chosen of God for the unfolding of His pur- 
 pose of grace and the Book in which this revelation is made 
 known, can only be explained on the assumption that both owe 
 their origin to the same intelligent cause, and have been pre- 
 pared and adapted for a predetermined end. " No fable, how- 
 ever cunningly devised, no myth or legend coming into existence 
 at a later age, could have adapted itself so precisely to the topo- 
 graphical details of the scene." l Its framework is the setting 
 of the Bible, and wherever tested it has been found that the one 
 answers to the other as the die to its impress. 
 
 In such works as the "Researches" of Dr. Robinson or 
 " The Land and the Book " by Dr. Thompson, who spent more 
 than forty years of his active life amid the scenes he has so 
 graphically depicted, there are proofs and illustrations of a cor- 
 respondence so minute and striking that it is scarcely possible 
 for a candid mind to resist the conclusion that both were made 
 to fit together into one unique and grandly comprehensive 
 plan. 
 
 Nor are we surprised, in view of these impressive facts, 
 that Renan, a noted leader and representative of the broadest 
 i Dr. Manning Those Holy Fields," p. 3. 
 
 68 
 
60 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 school of skeptical thought, should join his testimony on this 
 point with that of the most devout and conservative scholars of 
 his day, after an experience of two or more years of travel and 
 research in the heart of Palestine. 
 
 " I have traversed," he says, " in all directions the country of the Gos- 
 pels. I have visited Jerusalem, Hebron and Samaria ; scarcely any im- 
 portant locality of the history of Jesus has escaped me. All this history, 
 which at a distance seems to float in the clouds of an unreal world, thus 
 took a form, a solidity which astonished me. The striking agreement of 
 the texts with the places, the marvellous harmony of the gospel ideal with 
 the country which served it as a framework, were like a revelation to me. 
 I had before my eyes a fifth gospel, torn, but still legible." 1 
 
 In an admirable article on the connection of sacred history 
 and sacred geography Dean Stanley clearly defines the value 
 and pertinence of this testimony, in its application to the Old 
 Testament as well as to the New. 
 
 " The question which the geographer of the Holy Land, which the his- 
 torian of the chosen people has to propose to himself is, ' Can such a con- 
 nection be traced between the scenery, the features, the boundaries, the 
 situation of Sinai and of Palestine, on the one hand, and the history of the 
 Israelites on the other ? ' It may be that there is much in one part of 
 their history, and little in another ; least of all in its close, more in the 
 middle part, most of all in its early beginnings. But whatever be the 
 true answer, it cannot be indifferent to any one who wishes whether 
 from the divine or human, from the theological or the historical point of 
 view to form a complete estimate of the character of the most remarka- 
 ble nation which has appeared on the earth. If the grandeur and soli- 
 tude of Sinai was a fitting preparation for the reception of the decalogue 
 and for the second birth of an infant nation ; if Palestine, by its central 
 situation, by its separation from the great civilized powers of the eastern 
 world, and by its contrast of scenery and resources both with the desert 
 and with the Egyptian and Mesopotamian empires, presents a natural 
 home for the chosen people ; if its local features are such as in any way 
 constitute it the cradle of a faith that was intended to be universal ; its 
 geography is not without interest, in this its most general aspect, both for 
 the philosopher and theologian." 2 
 
 1 The life of Jesus by Renan, pp. 30, 31. 
 
 'Preface to Sinai and Palestine, pp. 15, 16. 
 
 
Testimony of the Land to the Book 61 
 
 We cannot, as yet, give a full and complete answer to the 
 question proposed by Dean Stanley : for all the evidence is not 
 yet before us, but it is surely a significant fact that up to this 
 hour it all points to one definite conclusion. 
 
 "There are," says Major Conder, "more than 840 places noticed in the 
 Bible which were either in Palestine or the desert of Beersheba and Sinai, 
 and of these nearly three-quarters have now been discovered and marked 
 on maps." Omitting those which may in any sense be doubtful and 
 these for the most part are unimportant or have bare mention in the 
 record it cannot be said of one that remains that its local features are out 
 of harmony with the history connected with its name. 
 
 The substance of the argument based on the foregoing facts 
 has been tersely stated by the Rev. Dr. Gregg of New York, 
 in a charming little book, which is commended to all who are 
 interested in this phase of the study of sacred geography. In 
 the development of this argument, he says : 
 
 " The Book weaves the physical features of the land into its statements. 
 It does this fearlessly. It does this knowing that it can be refuted if its 
 references are false or inaccurate. No book in all the literature of the 
 world has as honest a face as the Bible. Impostors avoid details and keep 
 to general statements, taking care to introduce no names, places, distances, 
 which might serve to betray the fraud and publish the imposition. But 
 the Bible in almost every chapter stands committed on all of these points. 
 Its narratives are accompanied with all the minute circumstances of time 
 and place and situation and distance. Thus the sacred writers commit 
 themselves with perfect fearlessness to statements always avoided in 
 apocryphal writings and which could be easily disproved if untrue. Yet 
 in no single instance has geographical incorrectness been detected. Each 
 new traveller is adding fresh confirmation to the precision and accuracy 
 of the Book." 1 
 
 The well known author, Walter Besant, Hon. Secretary of 
 the Palestine Exploration Fund, has recently given a remark- 
 able presentment of a like view, based upon the general work of 
 this society and its adjuncts, during the twenty-five years of his 
 official connection with the inner circle of its activf management. 
 1 " The Testimony of the Land to the Book," Dr. regg. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 " I have been often asked," he says, " whether these researches actually 
 prove the historical part of the Old Testament. It is a difficult question 
 to answer. Suppose, however, we were to discover a papyrus two thou- 
 sand or three thousand years old, containing a history, fragmentary in 
 part, and in part full and connected, covering many hundreds of years. 
 Suppose we were, without any prejudice against the authenticity of this 
 history, or any presumption in its favor, to discover on examination thai 
 we could assign any single event recorded in the narrative exactly to the 
 ground on which it was said to have taken place. Suppose further, we 
 could prove that the event must, from the conformation of the ground, 
 have taken place on that spot and on no other. Suppose we could prove 
 that the writer of the history had an exact knowledge of the place he was 
 describing ; and that if there were twenty writers every one of them had 
 also an exact knowledge of the country, would not these facts go very 
 far indeed to make us believe in the truth of this history ? Well, such is 
 exactly what we have proved for the historical books of the Bible. Such 
 and no more. If we are asked to argue for the inspiration of the Bible, 
 we reply that this is another branch of inquiry altogether, and that we 
 leave it for those who are capable of undertaking it. 
 
 " Again, to use another familiar and homely illustration, many men and 
 women in these days practice the art of fiction. It is in that art a recog- 
 nized and well understood rule that it is impossible to describe what you 
 have not seen ; so that if you are going to describe a house, a piece of 
 scenery, a country, you must go there and describe it from personal knowl- 
 edge, or, at least, from the personal knowledge of some one who will de- 
 scribe it for you. For instance, one of these literary persons, a few years 
 ago, was proposing to write a novel which required an exact knowledge 
 of the county of Northumberland. He obtained this knowledge by four 
 journeys in the district ; he walked from end to end of the county, and 
 saw everything there is to be seen in it ; until he had done this he found 
 it impossible to begin his work. Here is a modern instance a trivial 
 instance of the necessity of local knowledge for a historian. 
 
 " It shows with what care and trouble truth of detail must be acquired. 
 To my mind absolute truth in local details a thing "which cannot possibly 
 be invented, when it is spread over a history covering many centuries is 
 proof almost absolute as to the truth of the thing related" ' 
 
 With such testimony before us, it must be evident to every 
 thoughtful man that we have in this study " no common lesson 
 
 > The City and the Land, pp. 121-3. 
 
Testimony of the Land to the Book 63 
 
 of earth's geography." The conviction which has directed the 
 feet of countless hosts toward this Holy Land for long ages ; 
 which has stirred the enlightened nations of Europe to emulous 
 activity in keeping watch and ward over its sacred places ; 
 which to such an extraordinary degree has awakened and held 
 the attention of the literary and scientific world in an age so 
 practical as ours ; which has made it by common assent the 
 theme of Christian poetry and song, and the type of all that is 
 beautiful and good in the better country beyond does not rest 
 upon a passing fancy or a tissue of cunningly devised fables. 
 The marvellous adaptation of the land as we see it to-day 
 to all the conditions of its marvellous history ; its exceptional 
 physical features ; its typical universality, its double relation of 
 exclusion from, and ready intercommunication with the na- 
 tions; its manifest correspondence of places with the events 
 described, and its silent witness to scores of prophetic judg- 
 ments long ago uttered, but still preserved in the volume of the 
 Book, cannot in the nature of things, have been coincidences 
 or accidents of geographical position. 
 
PART II 
 
 Sectional View of the Land 
 
 In the preceding chapters a general bird's-eye view of the 
 Holy Land has been presented. In the study of its special 
 features, at close range, the most satisfactory outline of division 
 and subdivision is suggested by its physical geography. It is 
 a remarkable fact that the Biblical names and descriptions of 
 the minor divisions of the country accord with this outline, and 
 hence are still our best guides in the study and identification of 
 the several sections of this wonderfully diversified land. With 
 scarcely an exception, they are indicative of some peculiarity of 
 position or feature which distinguishes them from contiguous 
 sections. 
 
 In the political or provincial divisions, which have come 
 down to us with but slight changes since the days of Roman 
 occupation, this conformity to the natural features of the 
 country is only found where it falls in with other considerations 
 of policy or statecraft, which were regarded as more important. 
 For this reason we seek in the older history the real boundaries 
 of Israel's possession, and the best analysis of its characteristic 
 features. 
 
 As the starting point of this analysis we shall take up in 
 succession each of the four longitudinal strips or sections into 
 which the country is naturally divided as already indicated in 
 the general outlook. (Chapter I., p. 20.) 
 
 These are the Maritime plain, the parallel mountain ranges 
 of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and the deeply cleft valley 
 which lies between them. 
 
 64 
 
Lebanon 
 CoelG Syria, 
 
 and 
 
 L ebano 
 
The First Longitudinal Section 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE MARITIME PLAIN NORTH OF MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 THIS long and narrow strip of seacoast territory is sepa- 
 rated into two portions, known as the plains of Phoenicia and 
 Acre, by the Ladder of Tyre. 
 
 The Ladder of Tyre is a famous headland, or lateral off- 
 shoot from the mountains of Lebanon, which projects into the 
 sea for a distance of two miles. This projection is seven miks 
 in width and consists of three contiguous capes. 
 
 " The first is Ras el Abyad, which does not project into the sea more 
 than a mile beyond the general line of the coast ; the second is Ras en 
 Nakurah, the real ladder or Scala Tyriorum, and the last is Ras el Mush- 
 eirifeh, which is the highest of all, and shows boldest toward the sea, and 
 hence has often been confounded with the true Scala.' " * 
 
 Two bold headlands of similar character, but of lesser pro- 
 portions, interrupt the continuity of the plain northward. The 
 one shuts in the course of the river Lycus to the south and the 
 other blocks the way between Tripolis and Byblus. These 
 natural obstacles were impassable to armies until surmounted 
 by the engineering skill of the early Babylonian and Egyptian 
 invaders. 
 
 I. THE PHOENICIAN PLAIN 
 
 This plain extends from the northern end of Lebanon to the 
 ladder of Tyre. It is about 120 miles in length and varies 
 from two to fifteen in width. 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, Vol. II. p. 266. 
 65 
 
66 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 " The coast line of the region," says Rawlinson, " though not deeply 
 indented, was sufficiently irregular to furnish a number of tolerable har- 
 bors ; and when art was called in to assist nature, it was found fairly easy 
 to construct ports, which, according to ancient ideas, left little to be de- 
 sired." 
 
 While the abundance of the sea was the chief source of ma- 
 terial prosperity to the Phoenicians, their scant territory was 
 wonderfully rich in the number and variety of its productions. 
 Close to the sea was a sandy belt, which was admirably adapted 
 to the growth of the date-palm. So luxuriant was its growth 
 in this region that it received from the Greeks, in ancient times, 
 the name Phoenicia or Palm Land. 
 
 Inside the Palm belt was a fertile, well-watered strip of terri- 
 tory, cultivated with great care, which varied in width from one 
 to ten miles. Along this tract may still be traced by their ruined 
 heaps a succession of cities and villages. These, like the towns 
 now occupied, were once surrounded by orchards and gardens. 
 
 Back of this cultivated tract was a stretch of low hills, the 
 foot-hills of Lebanon, which were well adapted to the culture 
 of the olive, mulberry and vine. This region belonged partly 
 to the mountain and partly to the plain, but was occupied by 
 the Phoenicians, and may properly be included in the lowland 
 section. 
 
 Five noted streams cross this plain on their way to the sea. 
 These are : 
 
 (1) The Eleutherus (Nahr el-Kebir) which drains the 
 great plain of Akkar at the northern end of Lebanon, known 
 in Scripture phraseology as the " entering in of Hamath." 
 
 Strictly speaking, this river marks the northern limit of the 
 Phoenician plain. 
 
 (2) The Adonis, associated with the well-known mytho- 
 logical fable of the classics. 
 
 (3) The Lycus, or Dog river at the mouth of which are 
 the inscribed tablets of the Egyptian and Assyrian conquerors. 
 (See page 44.) 
 
Maritime Plain North of Mount Carmel 67 
 
 (4) The Bostrenus or Awaly, which supplied the old 
 city of Sidon and its environs with water. 
 
 (5) The Litany, or Kasimiyeh, the largest and most no- 
 table of all the rivers which water the plain of Phoenicia. Its 
 source and general direction have already been indicated 
 (page 19). It enters the sea five miles north of Tyre, and is 
 usually regarded as the limit northward of Palestine proper. 
 
 The local subdivisions of this plain are known as the plains 
 of Tripoli, Berytus (Beirut), Sidon and Tyre. 
 
 Cities and Towns. Of these the most important only can 
 be noted. 
 
 Tripolis or Tripoli (Tarablus) is situated on the eastern 
 border of the small plain of the same name nearly thirty miles 
 south of the Eleutherus river (Latitude 34 26'). It was col- 
 onized by three cities, Sidon, Tyre and Arvad. The colon- 
 ists, it is said, originally occupied separate quarters ; hence the 
 name Tripolis or triple city. The Kadisha, or sacred river, 
 coming down from the vicinity of the Cedars, passes through 
 the city. It is famous for the wealth and beauty of its groves and 
 gardens, which not only surround the city, but stretch across 
 the plain, two miles in width, lying between it and the sea. 
 The ancient city, which lays claim to great antiquity, was much 
 nearer the sea. It has no associations with Biblical history un- 
 less it be, as some suppose, "the place of the Zemarites " men- 
 tioned in Genesis x. 18. Tripolis was a stronghold of the 
 Crusaders for 180 years, and was one of the last which surren- 
 dered to the Saracens. On a neighboring hill is the well pre- 
 served ruin of the celebrated castle built by Count Raymond 
 of Toulouse. 
 
 The present population is quoted at 25,000. In virtue of its 
 position, spacious harbor, and natural advantages, it is already 
 indicated on the survey chart as the terminus of the projected 
 railroad to the valley of the Euphrates. If this project should 
 be realized, it may yet rival the most prosperous of the old mer- 
 chant cities of the Phoenician plain. A good carriage road 
 
68 The Land of Israel 
 
 connects Tripolis with Hums and Hamath, in the valley of 
 the Orontes. 
 
 Tell Arka, about ten miles north of Tripolis, marks the 
 probable site of a city of the Arkites. (Gen. x. 17.) 
 
 Gebal. Jebail is the modern Arabic name for the city called 
 Byblos by the Greeks. It is evidently the equivalent of the 
 Hebrew word Gebal. (Ps. Ixxxiii. 7 ; Ezek. xxvii. 9.) 
 
 Gebal was situated on a round hill close to the shore, thirty 
 miles south of Tripolis. Its residents were called Giblites or 
 " Stone-squarers," in Joshua xiii. 5 and i Kings v. 17, 18. 
 They were celebrated for their skill in hewing and squaring 
 stone, ship building, etc. They assisted in the construction of 
 the foundation work of Solomon's temple, and it is probable 
 that the huge stones recently uncovered in some portions of 
 the encircling wall of the temple area were fashioned by their 
 hands. 
 
 In the collection from Tell Amarna, there are thirteen letters 
 from the Egyptian Governor in Gebal to the reigning Pharoah 
 of Egypt, and the name is frequently mentioned in the Assyrian 
 inscriptions. 
 
 Gebal was sacred to Adonis and near to it were celebrated 
 some of the grossly immoral rites, which characterized both the 
 earlier and later forms of the idolatrous worship of the Canaan- 
 ite nations. "Mourning for Adonis," says Dr. Thompson, 
 " is supposed to be identical with the weeping for Tammuz, re- 
 ferred to in Ezekiel viii. 14." l 
 
 From the port of Gebal, cedars were floated in rafts to Joppa, 
 the seaport of Jerusalem, for the temple of Solomon. There 
 is a road over the mountains from Jebail to Baalbec in the 
 Ccele-Syria Valley. 
 
 Beirut the Berytus of the Greeks and Romans is de- 
 lightfully situated on the northern slope of a projecting head- 
 land, twenty-three miles south of Jebail. A gracefully curved 
 bay opens out to the sea on its front ; while behind the plain, 
 1 The Land and the Book Phoenicia, p. 609. 
 
Maritime Plain North of Mount Carmel 69 
 
 which at this point is six or eight miles in width, rises, in a 
 series of ascending terraces, a matchless background of pine 
 covered ledges, beetling cliffs, and snow crowned heights. 
 
 One who has seen this rare combination of sea and plain and 
 mountain-side from the most favorable view-points is not likely 
 to forget the picture while life or memory lasts. " In the 'plain 
 of Berytus,' " says Rawlinson, "the beauty and fertility of 
 Phoenicia culminate ; and it is not surprising that of all the 
 Phoenician cities Beirut should alone have maintained its pros- 
 perity." In the Tell Amarna tablets this city is mentioned 
 along with other ancient cities of the coast, under the name of 
 Beruta. This is the first distinct proof of its early origin. It 
 did not come into prominence in later times until the age of the 
 Maccabees, but it is now the most enterprising and enlightened 
 of all the cities of Syria. It has macademized streets, modern 
 methods of living and transportation, substantially built resi- 
 dences and an exceptionally large number of handsome churches 
 and mosques, colleges and schools. The Syrian Protestant Col- 
 lege founded by the friends of the American mission, is one of 
 the finest buildings in the city and stands at the head of all the 
 literary institutions of the country. The population of Beirut 
 has increased from 20,000 in 1860 to over 100,000. No Bibli- 
 cal associations are suggested by its name ; but it is the recog- 
 nized educational metropolis of western Asia, and the centre 
 of missionary agencies and operations throughout the Arabic- 
 speaking population of the East. 
 
 A good carriage road and a recently constructed railroad 
 connect Beirut with Damascus. 
 
 Sidon, or Saida as it is termed in modern Arabic, is situated 
 on a low promontory, or spur of Lebanon which juts out a few 
 hundred yards into the sea. It is twenty-seven miles south of 
 Beirut and eighteen north of the Litany river. "Three reefs 
 or low ridges of rock running parallel with the shore, with nar- 
 row openings between them, offered the nucleus of a harbor, 
 which Zidonian art converted after awhile into a small but safe 
 
70 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 harbor." * The Awaly or Bostrenus, enters the sea two miles 
 above the city and from time immemorial has been utilized to 
 irrigate the gardens and orchards which extend southward from 
 it to the city, and form a broad belt of living green around it. 
 These luxuriant gardens gave to it in classic times the appella- 
 tion of " Flowery Sidon " : and to-day, as in the past, they are 
 the glory of the city and plain. Here the orange, lemon, apri- 
 cot, pomegranate, banana and palm seem to find every condi- 
 tion favorable to luxuriant growth and abundant fruitage. 
 
 Sidon is the oldest of the chief cities of Phoenicia. It has 
 maintained its hold on the site, where according to Josephus, it 
 was located by Sidon, the grandson of Noah, and from that time 
 until now has had, with all its reverses, a continuous history. 
 
 Isaiah speaks of it as the mother of Tyre (xxiii. 1 2) : and 
 as far back as the time of Joshua it was called "great Sidon." 
 (Joshua xi. 8 and xix. 28.) It is mentioned in the Pentateuch 
 and the songs of Homer : and at this period its residents were 
 already famous among the nations for their skill in artistic and 
 ornamental handiwork. 
 
 Originally a fishing port by the sea, it became in time the 
 cradle of the world's commerce. Within the historic period it 
 held the second place in importance among the cities of Phoe- 
 nicia, but never had the advantage of a seaport like that of 
 Tyre. 
 
 In one of the mulberry gardens near the city several copper 
 pots containing gold coins with the stamp of Alexander and of 
 his father Philip, were found a few years ago by native work- 
 men. Only two were recovered by the authorities, yet these 
 contained between two and three thousand coins of pure gold 
 worth about five dollars each. The whole amount of thi.^ long- 
 buried treasure hidden in the field was estimated at 200,- 
 ooo. 2 Researches in the necropolis of Sidon have brought to 
 light several sarcophagi, two of which are surpassingly beauti- 
 
 1 Rawlinson's Phoenicia, p. 46. 
 
 8 The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 639. 
 
Maritime Plain North of Mount Carmel 71 
 
 ful in design and workmanship. One has a life-like figure of 
 Alexander the Great mounted upon a splendid charger. 
 
 " It bears," says Dr. De Long, " the undoubted portrait of Alexander, 
 easily recognized by every one who has ever held in his hand one of the 
 best coins, or medallions, of the Macedonian conqueror. This magnifi- 
 cent tomb, worthy of him or any other monarch who ever lived, has re- 
 ceived by general popular consent the name of the Alexander tomb." 
 
 The best authorities do not accord with this popular verdict, 
 however, and the probabilities are on the ^ide of those who 
 claim that it was constructed as a memorial of one of the noted 
 generals, or favorites of Alexander. 
 
 The Rev. Canon Curtis brings forward some strong evidence 
 in support of the supposition that it is a memorial to Clitus who 
 saved Alexander's life at the battle of Granicus ; and that the 
 battle scene so vividly represented on the monument has for its 
 central figure the hero of this timely rescue. 1 
 
 This valuable collection of sarcophagi, numbering eighteen 
 in all, is preserved among the art treasures of the Imperial Mu- 
 seum at Constantinople. 
 
 In the Louvre is a royal tomb of red syenite, found near 
 Sidon, in 1855. It has on its face an inscription of twenty-two 
 lines, which furnishes one of the important links in the chain 
 of evidence establishing the close connection between the Phoe- 
 nician and Hebrew alphabets. 
 
 In the Old Testament there are frequent references to Sidon 
 and its inhabitants. Some of the most suggestive are, Gen. 
 x. 19, xlix. 13; Josh. xix. 28; Judg. i. 31, x. 6; Isa. xxiii. 12; 
 Ezek. xxvii. 8, xxviii. 21, 22. 
 
 On His last northward journey Jesus visited the coasts of 
 Tyre and Sidon, and it is not unlikely that He entered this city 
 also. Says Canon Tristram : 
 
 " His fame had already reached Phoenicia, and probably He had many 
 disciples in these heathen cities. (Luke vi. 17.) The negotiations of 
 
 i Pal. Exp. Quarterly, April, 1894. 
 
72 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 Tyre and Sidon with Herod Agrippa I., and the visit of St. Paul to the 
 believers there, complete the New Testament incidents connected with 
 Sidon." i 
 
 Zarephath. The city of Zarephath, the Sarepta of the 
 New Testament (Luke iv. 26) was on the coast road almost 
 midway between Sidon and Tyre. The modern village of Sara- 
 fend is usually identified with it, but the true site is nearer the 
 sea, where broken columns and scattered fragments of ruined 
 buildings, extending for a mile or more along the shore, attest 
 the existence in former days of a town of more than ordinary 
 importance. Here Elijah the prophet dwelt with the widow 
 woman and her son, sharing with them in the unfailing supply 
 from the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil, during the sore 
 famine of Ahab's day. (i Kings xvii. 9, 10.) Tradition has 
 also associated the woman of Canaan, whom Mark designates as 
 a Syro-Phoenician, with the city of Sarepta. (Matt. xv. 21-28 ; 
 Mark vii. 24-30.) 
 
 Tyre. Ancient Tyre was a double city, part being built on 
 the shore and part on an island of 125 acres in extent, sepa- 
 rated from the mainland by a strait almost a half mile in width. 
 The city on the land, which according to tradition was the 
 original site (Palaetyrus), extended, in the height of its pros- 
 perity, over a circuit of about fifteen miles. Its location on 
 the plain is eleven miles north of the White Cape of the ladder 
 of Tyre (Ras-el Abyad), and five south of the Litany. Its 
 distance from Sidon is twenty-three miles. The latitude is 
 
 33 3'- 
 
 Tyre is first mentioned in Scripture in the list of cities as- 
 signed to the tribe of Asher. (Joshua xix. 29.) At this date 
 it is designated as "the strong city of Tyre." 
 
 The mainland portion was destroyed by the Assyrians in 
 
 their earlier campaigns in Syria ; and its ruins were utilized by 
 
 Alexander the Great to build a causeway to the city in the sea. 
 
 Long before its fall this seagirt city had outrivalled it in power 
 
 1 Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land, p. 293. 
 
Maritime Plain North of Mount Carmel 73 
 
 and magnificence. It is of this island city mainly that the Old 
 Testament prophets speak. Against it they prophesied in the 
 name of the Lord, because of its towering pride, and its per- 
 nicious influence over the people of Israel. These utterances 
 are among the most striking in expression, and minute in detail 
 within the lids of the Bible, and in the records of subsequent 
 ages their fulfillment to the letter has been verified. 
 
 In 2 Samuel xxiv. 7 it is recorded that the census-takers of 
 Joab, who went through all the land in the space of nine months 
 and twenty days, came also to the stronghold of Tyre. This 
 would seem to imply that at this period it was recognized as a 
 city of Israel ; but it is more likely that only the Israelite resi- 
 dents were included in this census. In the prophetic period 
 Tyre had reached the zenith of its glory as the great commer- 
 cial metropolis of the ancient world. In the book of Ezekiel 
 (chapters xxvi. to xxviii. inclusive) its wealth and magnificence 
 are set forth in a detailed statement which stands unrivalled 
 amid the literature of the world for its wonderful accuracy of 
 description and rare felicity of expression. 
 
 Near the close of the eighth century before Christ, Shalman- 
 ezer besieged the stronghold of Tyre for five years without suc- 
 cess. One hundred and twenty years later Nebuchadnezzar 
 destroyed the mainland portion, and then directed all his ener- 
 gies to the overthrow of the insular city. For thirteen years it 
 held out against this powerful assailant, when an amicable treaty 
 was arranged which seems to have averted its utter destruction. 
 In 332 B. c. the restored city endured a siege of seven months, 
 conducted by Alexander. Making a peninsula of the island 
 by means of a laboriously constructed causeway, he at length 
 carried it by storm, slaughtered its defenders and left it a ruined 
 heap. Partial restorations and destructions followed under the 
 successive dominion of Greeks, Romans, Crusaders and Sara- 
 cens, but its former glory had departed. " Broken by the seas 
 in the depth of the waters, her merchandise and all her com- 
 pany in the midst of her are fallen." " Swept like the top of 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 a rock," it is now a place "for the spreading of nets in the 
 midst of the sea." (Ezek. xxvi. 14.) 
 
 At the present time an unpretentious town has grown up 
 amid the outlying ruins on a portion of the area once occupied 
 by this princely city. The most interesting relic of mediaeval 
 Tyre is the " Crusader's Cathedral," a portion of which is still 
 standing. It occupies the site of the Basilica of Paulinus, built 
 by Constantine and consecrated by Eusebius in 323. In its 
 vaults lie the bones of Origen and Frederick Barbarossa. With 
 the multitude which came to see and hear Jesus, from all parts, 
 when He was at the lake of Galilee, were representatives also 
 from about Tyre and Sidon (Mark iii. 8) : and at the time of 
 St. Paul's last visit to Jerusalem there was a Christian com- 
 munity in Tyre with whom he and his company tarried seven 
 days. 
 
 On this Tyrian shore the impressive incident took place, as 
 they were about to depart, which the Evangelist Luke has so 
 graphically described: "They all brought us on our way, 
 with wives and children till we were out of the city ; and we 
 kneeled down on the shore and prayed. And when we had 
 taken our leave one of another, we took ship ; and they re- 
 turned home again." (Acts xxi. 5, 6.) 
 
 While the Phoenician plain was as clearly within the limits 
 of Israel's heritage as the sou them part of the coast plain, it 
 was nevertheless a Gentile province in name and population. 
 Between the lower tribes and the Philistines there was almost 
 constant strife for centuries ; each being intent upon excluding 
 the other from the occupation of debatable territory. Between 
 the tribe of Asher, to whom this portion was assigned, and its 
 Canaanite inhabitants, on the contrary, there was no strife for 
 supremacy after the death of Joshua. To a certain extent at 
 least there was, by mutual consent, a joint occupation of the 
 land. In no case were the cities above described dispossessed 
 of their original inhabitants. Fond of ease and unmindful of 
 
Maritime Plain North of Mount Carmel T5 
 
 the oft repeated warnings of Jehovah, theAsheritesentered into 
 sinful alliances with the people of the land, and with few ex- 
 ceptions abandoned their covenant engagements and privileges. 
 In the book of Judges we are told that AsS.er did not drive 
 out the inhabitants of Accho (Acre), nor the inhabitants of 
 Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of 
 Aphik, nor of Rehob : But the Asherites dwelt among the Ca- 
 naanites, the inhabitants of the land : for they did not drive 
 them out. (Judges i. 31, 32.) 
 
 II. THE PLAIN OF ACRE. 
 
 This designation is given to the section of the coast plain be- 
 tween the promontory called the "Ladder of Tyre" and the 
 promontory of Mount Carmel. It is twenty miles in length. 
 The average width is about five miles. The low hills 
 of Galilee bound it on the east, separating it from the 
 great plain of Esdraelon, whose only connection with this plain 
 is the narrow pass, or cleft, through which the Kishon river 
 finds its way to the sea. The Acre section itself is somewhat 
 broken by low ridges which come down from the mountains. 
 It is fertile and well watered. The crescent shaped shore line 
 in the southern portion forms the only natural harbor on the 
 coast plain. 
 
 Rivers. Two rivers, the Belus and the Kishon cross the 
 plain and flow into the bay of Acre : the one at its northern 
 and the other at its southern extremity. 
 
 The Belus (Nahr Naman) rises in the upland region north 
 of Nazareth. At its mouth the shell fish (Murex brandaris and 
 M. trunculus) abounded, from which the famous Tyrian dye 
 was extracted. From the sand of the river, according to Greek 
 tradition glass was first produced by the accidental combination 
 of materials in the camp fires of the Phoenician sailors. While 
 there is nothing improbable in the discovery of the art of glass- 
 making in this locality, it is certain that it was not the first dis- 
 covery of this nature, for among the exhumed treasures of 
 
76 The Land of Israel 
 
 Egypt, beautiful articles of glassware have been found dating 
 back as far as the eleventh and twelfth Dynasties. The Kishon, 
 which flows from the western side of the Esdraelon plain, en- 
 ters the plain of Acre through a narrow pass (Wady el Kasab) 
 between Mount Carmel and the hills of Galilee. Keeping close 
 to the base of Carmel it follows its general direction to the sea, 
 between steep banks of loamy soil about fifteen feet high, heav- 
 ily fringed with oleanders, rushes, reeds and grasses. 
 
 Cities and Towns. Acre has been from earliest times 
 the most important city in this section of the Maritime plain. 
 It is situated on a projecting headland which forms the northern 
 horn of the Bay, at the mouth of the Belus river. In the book 
 of Judges it is referred to as a well-known Canaanite town 
 called Accho (i. 31). 
 
 In the New Testament it is mentioned but once. Here, on 
 the occasion of his last journey to Jerusalem, St. Paul found 
 Christian brethren, and abode with them one day. 
 
 In this passage the Evangelist Luke gives to the place its 
 Greek name, Ptolemais. (Acts xxi. 27.) From the Crusaders 
 it received the designation St. Jean d Acre. Its later history 
 is crowded with stirring events. From the period of the cru- 
 sades it has been regarded as the "Key of Palestine"; and 
 next to Jerusalem, the coveted stronghold of contending fac- 
 tions and nationalities. It has been besieged and bombarded 
 in turn by Baldwin, Saladin, Richard, Sultan Khalil, Napoleon, 
 Ibrahim Pasha, and the united fleets of England, Austria and 
 Turkey. The modern city is surrounded by massive walls. It 
 covers an area of fifty acres, and is built upon the heaps of 
 former ruins. Nowhere, perhaps, can a more perfect repre- 
 sentation be found of a typical city of the Feudal times. Acre 
 is the emporium of the grain trade from the Hauran. It is 
 said that from 4,000 to 5,000 camel loads arrive daily from 
 this district in the season. Basalt grindstones are also brought 
 in large numbers from the Lejah, one being regarded as a load 
 for a camel. 
 
Maritime Plain North of Mount Carmel 77 
 
 The present population is about 10,000. 
 
 Haifa, ten miles south of Acre, is the second town of im- 
 portance on this plain. In the future it is likely to outgrow 
 Acre as a commercial emporium. It lies on the southern horn 
 of the crescent shaped bay directly under the ridge of Carmel. 
 
 Haifa is essentially a modern city in its structure and ap- 
 pointments. It is the terminus of the railroad now in process 
 of construction to Damascus, and is connected with Nazareth 
 by a good carriage road. It is also the port at which the Aus- 
 trian Lloyd Steamers touch, once a fortnight, in each direction. 
 Canon Tristram associates Haifa with the old Canaanite city 
 of Achshaph, whose king was smitten by Joshua. (Josh. xi. i, 
 xii. 20.) "Two miles out of it are the sculptures and ruins 
 which mark the site of the Greek and Roman city of Sycaminum, 
 still overshadowed by the sycamine fig trees whence it derived 
 its name. ' ' l 
 
 Achzib, now Es Zib, is an old Phoenician port, seven miles 
 north of Acre. It is mentioned in Joshua xix. 29 and Judges 
 i. 31. This town was regarded as the northern limit of the 
 Holy Land, after the return from the Captivity. 
 
 " Harosheth of the Gentiles " has been identified with 
 the village of El-Harothieh on the north side of the Kishon, 
 about nine miles from Haifa. It is situated at the entrance to 
 the lower end of the narrow pass through which the Kishon 
 issues into the plain of Acre. Tell Harothieh a little lower 
 down, on the other side of the river, is covered with ruins, and 
 its position would indicate the existence of a garrison town from 
 the earliest period of the country's occupation. 2 Harosheth 
 was the camp of Sisera before his disastrous battle with Barak. 
 From this point he advanced against Barak to a position on the 
 Great Plain near Megiddo, eight miles distant. 
 
 The wild rush for safety in the midst of the terrible storm 
 which suddenly burst upon the flying army was evidently in 
 
 l Topography of the Holy Land, p. 204. 
 *The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 216. 
 
78 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 the direction of the narrow pass up which they had recently 
 come. "There horses and men became mixed in horrible 
 confusion jostling and treading down one another ; and the 
 river, swifter and deeper than above, runs zigzag from side to 
 side, until, just before it reaches Tell Harothieh, it dashes 
 against the perpendicular base of Carmel. There is no longer 
 any possibility of avoiding it, and, rank upon rank, the flying 
 host plunge madly in, those behind crushing those before." 
 "The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the 
 river Kishon." l (Judges iv. 14-16, v. 21.) 
 
 Several of the mud built villages which dot the eastern 
 border of the plain rest upon the ruins of ancient towns, to 
 which the old names current in the days of Joshua, with but 
 slight changes, persistently cling. Among these are Kabul, 
 southeast of Acre, the Cabul of Joshua (xix. 27); Abdeh the 
 Abdon of Joshua (xxi. 30) on the northern limit of the plain ; 
 and Amkah the Beth-emek of Joshua. 
 
 i The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 215. 
 
^Maritime ^lain 
 South 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MARITIME PLAIN SOUTH OF MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 THERE are three recognized divisions in this portion of 
 the seacoast plain, viz: The plains of Athlit, Sharon and 
 Philistia. 
 
 I. THE PLAIN OF ATHLIT 
 
 Between the promontory of Mount Carmel and the Crocodile 
 river (Nahr ez Zerka), a distance of eighteen miles, there is a 
 narrow stretch of coast plain, which does not properly belong 
 to the plain of Sharon. It has no distinctive name as a whole, 
 but the north portion is sometimes designated as the plain 
 of Athlit and the south as the plain of Dor, or Tanturah. 
 This section is for the most part shut in between a low 
 ridge of sand-stone hills bordering the coast line and the 
 western slope of the Carmel range. The ancient road, 
 on which the deeply worn tracks of chariot wheels may 
 yet be seen, runs within the sea-coast ridge as far as the 
 town of Athlit, eight miles from Carmel; after which it 
 passes outside through an artificial gateway, cut through 
 the ridge of rock, and skirts its western base. From 
 this point the coast plain becomes a well-defined strip, 
 varying from half a mile to a mile or more in width. Athlit 
 was a strongly fortified garrison town in the period of the 
 Crusades, and was, *br a time the chief seat of the order of the 
 Knights Templar. It was the last citadel held by the Crusaders 
 in the Holy Land. Athlit has no Scriptural associations. 
 
 Dor. The modern town of Tantura, six miles south of 
 Athlit, occupies the site of the ancient city of Dor, or Dora, as 
 it was called by the Romans. It was a royal city with several 
 outlying towns. "The ruins," says Tristram, "are still ex- 
 
 79 
 
80 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 tensive, projecting into the sea, while the old tower, broken as 
 it is, is still a conspicuous landmark from afar." The Scripture 
 references are Josh. xi. 2, xii. 23, xvii. n ; Judges i. 27, and 
 i Kings iv. n. 
 
 In the vicinity of Dor the hills bordering the coast recede, 
 and the great plain opens out, widening as it extends south- 
 ward, to the desert. 
 
 II. THE PLAIN OF SHARON. 
 
 The Nahr ez Zerka, or Crocodile river marks the northern 
 boundary of the plain of Sharon. Its eastern border is the 
 rugged framework of the mountains of Ephraim. 
 
 There is no natural division between Sharon and Philistia, 
 but the dividing line is usually drawn eastward along a low 
 ridge from the mouth of the Nahr Rubin, seven or eight miles 
 south of Jaffa. As thus defined, the Sharon plain is forty-four 
 miles in length. In width it varies from six to twelve miles. 
 In the northeast corner there is an oak forest extending over 
 into the foot-hills, which is nearly nine miles in circumference. 
 
 At intervals small groves of oak extend southward for 
 several miles. These are, without doubt, the survivors of a 
 continuous forest which at one time bordered the eastern side 
 of the plain. " It is the same," says Dr. Adam Smith, " which 
 the Crusaders named the Forest of Assur ; Tasso the Enchanted 
 Forest; and Napoleon the Forest of Miski." * South of the 
 Crocodile river for ten or twelve miles the plain is marred by 
 marshes and drifting sand dunes. This has been described as 
 "a district of deserted ruins, haunted by Bedouins, who occa- 
 sionally cultivate some patches of land and reap scanty crops 
 of wheat and barley. ' ' 
 
 The remaining portion is an unbroken stretch of undulating 
 
 prairie or pasture land, diversified at intervals by grain fields, 
 
 gardens, and thickly set groves of oranges, pomegranates and 
 
 palms, which cluster around the scattered villages or spread out 
 
 J Hist. Geog., p. 148. 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 81 
 
 over the rich valleys, into which the numerous wadies from the 
 mountains pour their fertilizing floods year by year. From the 
 sea to the mountains there is a gradual ascent of nearly 200 
 feet. In some places, however, there are ridges or groups of 
 hills that rise to an elevation of 250 and 300 feet above the 
 general level. Sharon is crossed by several perennial streams, 
 which converge near the sea into the Zerka, the Muf jir, or Dead 
 river of the Crusaders, the Iskanderuneh, and the Aujeh. The 
 latter drains a large section of the hill country of Samaria. 
 
 The main trunk of the Aujeh is formed by the confluence of 
 the waters of Kanah and numerous smaller streams. It is less 
 than ten miles in length. 'While the Aujeh is noted as the 
 shortest river in Palestine, it is also the largest next to the 
 Jordan. It rolls to the sea "between deep banks, a yellow, 
 turbid, sandy volume of water nearly as wide as the Jordan at 
 Jericho, unfordable in winter and nearly dry in summer." 1 
 
 The Nahr Rubin properly belongs to the Philistine section. 
 It touches the plain of Sharon only at its outlet by the sea, 
 where it is barred by the inrolling sand, and spreads out to a 
 width of more than 200 feet. The richest, and most highly 
 cultivated, portion of the plain lies south of the Aujeh. Here 
 also may be found the most of the ruined towns and cities. A 
 few miles below the mouth of the Iskanderuneh is the centre of 
 a famous melon growing district, where field joins to field for 
 miles on every hand. In the season hundreds of camels are 
 required to bear their luscious fruitage to the market. 2 
 
 In Old Testament times the excellency of Sharon was 
 proverbial ; and in all ages it has been celebrated for its beauty, 
 fertility and rich pasturage. (Isa. xxxv. 2.) 
 
 Over its wide expanse in the early springtime "a million of 
 flowers are scattered, poppies, pimpernells, anemones, the 
 convolvulus and the mallow, the narcissis and blue iris-roses of 
 Sharon and lilies of the valley." Under the charge of his 
 
 Thirty years' Work, P. E. F., p. 93. 
 Pict. Pal., Vol. II., p. 130. 
 
82 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 chief herdsman Shitrai the Sharonite, one of the large herds of 
 King David was fed in Sharon, (i Chron. xxvii. 29.) The 
 sweet scented narcissus was probably the rose of Sharon, to 
 which allusion is made in Cant. ii. i. With all its desolations 
 Sharon is still a favorite resort of the herdsmen and " a fold of 
 flocks." (Isa. Ixv. 10.) 
 
 CITIES AND TOWNS 
 
 Caesarea, the royal city of the Herods and the Roman 
 capital of Judea, was built on a rocky ledge by the sea in the 
 northwest corner of the plain. It lies about 60 miles north- 
 west of Jerusalem, and 25 south of the promontory of 
 Carmel. The city was planned and completed by Herod the 
 Great, who spent twelve years in its building and adornment. 
 He constructed an artificial harbor in its front by erecting a 
 massive mole or breakwater far out into the sea. According 
 to Josephus this mole was 200 feet wide and of great strength. 
 Caesarea was " a city of great beauty and magnificence, with a 
 harbor looking Romeward and nothing in common with the 
 Jewish city of the plain or mountain." It had much to do, 
 however, with the spread of the Gospel, and numerous refer- 
 ences are made to it in the Acts of the Apostles. It was the 
 residence of Philip the evangelist; and in it were baptized 
 Cornelius the first Roman convert and his household (viii. 
 40, xxi. 8 and 16; also chapters x. and xi.). 
 
 Here Herod Agrippa I. was stricken with a loathsome dis- 
 ease, while appropriating honors which belonged to God alone 
 (xii. 19-23). From its famous seaport St. Paul sailed in his 
 early ministry to Tarsus, and to it he returned on his second 
 and third missionary journeys. (Acts ix. 30, xviii. 22, xxi. 
 8.) Here he made that pathetic appeal to his friends, who 
 sought to detain him from going up to Jerusalem " What mean 
 ye to weep and break mine heart ? for I am ready not to be 
 bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the 
 Lord Jesus" (xxi. 13). To the same city, after a little while 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 83 
 
 he was brought back by Roman soldiers to endure an impris- 
 onment of more than two years. In one of its magnificent 
 palaces of state he stood in turn before Felix, Festus, and 
 Agrippa (chapters xxiv.-xxvi.). It is a significant fact, that 
 from this harbor "looking Romeward " St. Paul went forth at 
 last, albeit as a manacled prisoner, to preach the gospel to them 
 that were at Rome also (xxvii. 2). No more important event 
 than this, in its bearing on the whole world, was ever chroni- 
 cled of this great city and its overcrowded seaport. Thus it 
 came to pass that "in seeking separation from his people, and 
 an open door to the west, Herod had secured these benefits 
 for a nobler cause than his own." 
 
 In the year 69 Vespasian was proclaimed Emperor in Caesarea, 
 and gave to it the privileges of a Roman colony. Eusebius, 
 the historian of the early Church, was Bishop of Caesarea in 
 the early part of the fourth century and Origen was, for a time, 
 a teacher in its famous school. The Crusaders found it a city 
 in ruins, and partly rebuilt its crumbling towers and walls. In 
 the year 1265 its walls were battered down by Sultan Bibers, 
 and all that pertained to its former greatness was ruthlessly 
 laid low. 
 
 Since that period it has been a desolate ruin in the midst of 
 widespread desolations, caused by time and the neglect of man. 
 On the north side of the harbor the waves still wash over a 
 great number of prostrate columns which long ago were thrown 
 down into the sea. The excavations made by the Palestine Ex- 
 ploration Survey have disclosed the outlines of a magnificent 
 city with wide streets, a noble forum, a vast amphitheatre, and 
 long rows of columns all of which confirm the record of its 
 former greatness and glory. 
 
 Jaffa or Yafa, was known as Japho in the Old Testament 
 and Joppa in the New. 
 
 It is thirty-two miles south of Caesarea, thirty-eight north- 
 west of Jerusalem, and about midway between Carmel and -the 
 desert. The town is built upon the abrupt slope of a hill 
 
84 The Land of Israel 
 
 which rises 153 feet above the water. " The houses rise tier 
 above tier from the very verge of the sea. The declivity is so 
 precipitous that the flat roofs of the lower tier of houses form 
 the terrace in front of those above and the ascent and descent 
 along the narrow streets is one continual stairway." As seen 
 from the deck of an approaching steamer this unique combina- 
 tion of closely compacted buildings gives the city a very pic- 
 turesque appearance. On the landward side it is surrounded 
 by luxuriant groves of oranges, olives, pomegranates, figs, apri- 
 cots, and other choice fruits of Oriental lands. It is said that 
 there are more than 350 gardens of fruit-bearing trees, which 
 join each other in one continuous belt stretching north and 
 south for seven miles and extending inland about one and a 
 half. 
 
 The average yield of the orange crop alone, in this district, 
 is estimated at 8,000,000 annually. 
 
 The port of Jaffa is regarded as the most dangerous landing 
 place on the shores of the Levant. It is encircled by great 
 rocks, and its narrow passage-ways are guarded by long lines 
 of wave-washed ledges and subterranean reefs. Through these 
 narrow channels little boats ply back and forth between the 
 shore and the open roadstead, more than half a mile away, 
 where seagoing vessels ride at anchor. When the surf dashes 
 with more than ordinary violence against this rock-bound shore, 
 the passengers and goods are landed on the backs of the Arab 
 boatmen, who from long habit, have become wonderfully expert 
 in this manner of delivery. This ancient seaport one of the 
 oldest known to history notwithstanding its evil reputation, 
 has been for many centuries the gateway of approach to the 
 Holy City, for countless hosts of travellers and pilgrims from 
 Europe and all the far-away lands of Christendom. The only 
 recorded instance in which it was used as an outgoing port of 
 the Israelites themselves, is given in the book of Jonah. Here 
 the unwilling prophet took passage for Tarshish when flying 
 from the presence of the Lord. (Jonah i. 3.) In Solomon's 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 85 
 
 day it was the landing place for the cedar rafts sent down from 
 the forests of Lebanon for the building of the Temple in Jerusa- 
 lem. (2 Chron. ii. 16.) Here in like manner Ezra received his 
 floats of trees for the building of the second Temple. In this 
 rock-girt harbor was laid the scene of the classic legend of the 
 deliverance of Andromeda from the sea monster. The first 
 scriptural reference to the city is in Joshua xix. 46, where it is 
 represented as fronting the border of the tribe of Dan. 
 
 Jaffa was held as a possession of Israel during the reigns of 
 David and Solomon, and also for a time during the period of 
 the Maccabees. After the Roman conquest, it was distinctively 
 a Jewish city. Here Peter raised Tabitha (Dorcas) from the 
 dead. (Acts ix. 36-42.) A few days later he had in this city 
 the wonderful vision on the house top, overlooking the sea, 
 which made the way plain for the evangelization of the Gen- 
 tiles : and hither came the three messengers to guide him to 
 the house of Cornelius in Caesarea. (Acts x. 9-18 and 23.) 
 The house accredited to Simon the tanner by tradition is still 
 shown in Jaffa. Excavations in its front have disclosed oval 
 cisterns which may have been used in tanning. These with 
 other accessories give color to the supposition that the house 
 stands on or near the original site of Simon's house. Jaffa has 
 been frequently destroyed and rebuilt during its long history. 
 
 It has associations of thrilling interest in connection with the 
 Maccabean struggle, the Arab invasion, the Crusades and the 
 brief, but darkly clouded period of its occupancy by Napoleon. 
 
 The present population, as given by Baedecker, is 23,000. 
 Jaffa is connected with Jerusalem by a carriage road and a 
 recently constructed railroad, which carries passengers to Jeru- 
 salem in three hours. The fare is $3.00 first class and $1.00 
 second class. 
 
 Lydda or Ludd, is eleven miles inland from Jaffa, on one 
 of the main roads leading to Jerusalem. It seems to have be- 
 longed to Benjamin and was known as Lod. (i Chron. viii. 
 
 12.) 
 
86 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 The Romans called it Diospolis, but the old name, with a 
 slight modification (Ludd) has survived all the changes of the 
 past. After the captivity, Lydda was reoccupied by the Jews. 
 (Ezra ii. 33; Neh. xi. 35.) It was the home of Eneas the 
 paralytic, who was miraculously healed by Peter. It became 
 the central point afterward, of the Apostle's successful ministry 
 among the residents of the plain of Sharon. (Acts ix. 33-35.) 
 The most interesting relic of the past in the modern village is 
 the ruined church of St. George. According to the medieval 
 tradition St. George, the patron Saint of England, was born and 
 buried in Lydda. " Within a few miles are Ono, Hadid and 
 Neballat, (i Chron. viii. 12) still bearing the names of Kef'r 
 Auna, Hadithet, and Beit Neballat." l 
 
 Rarnleh is pleasantly situated, amid fruitful orchards and 
 olive groves, on a slight eminence two or three miles southwest 
 of Lydda. It dates from the eighth century and has many as- 
 sociations connected with the period of the Crusades. The 
 principal object of interest in Ramleh is a massive square tower 
 resembling the famous Giralda of Seville, which rises from a 
 base of ruined buildings to a height of 1 20 feet. It is probably 
 a relic of the Crusading days. A circular stairway conducts to 
 the summit of the tower from which the view is wonderfully 
 comprehensive and distinct. 
 
 "The whole plain of Sharon from the mountains of Judea 
 and Samaria to the sea and from the port of Carmel to the 
 sandy deserts of Philistia, lies spread out like an illuminated 
 map."' 2 Ramleh is the first station on the railroad to Jerusalem. 
 It is the most prosperous of all the inland towns of the plain, 
 and at present has over 8,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Antipatris. The true site of this Herodian stronghold has 
 been definitely located by the Palestine Exporation Fund Survey 
 at Ras el Ain, twenty-six miles from Caesarea and forty-two 
 from Jerusalem. 
 
 1 Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land, p. 51. 
 * Land and Book, p. 113. 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 87 
 
 There were two main routes from Jerusalem to Caesarea, both 
 of which passed through Antipatris. One was by way of 
 Lydda ; and the other by way of Gophna, farther to the north. 
 It is probable that the Apostle Paul was sent, as a prisoner, to 
 the Roman governor, by the hitter route. In the vicinity of 
 Antipatris a portion of the solid road bed has recently been un- 
 covered. It bears the marks of centuries of travel, but is still 
 in good condition. The abundant supply of water which gushes 
 out from the foot of the mound of ruins that marks the site of 
 Antipatris, is an indication of the importance of the place as ? 
 principal station on this great thoroughfare. 
 
 Gilgal. The Gilgal of Joshua xii. 23 has been identified with 
 Jiljulieh, fourteen miles northeast of Jaffa and five north of An- 
 tipatris; Arsuf, on the coast with Apollonia; Beth-Dagon 
 with Beit-Dejan, five miles northwest of Lydda (i Sam. 
 v. 2) ; and Rakkon with Tell-er Rakkut, near the mouth 
 of the Aujeh. These points cover all the places of 
 special interest in this section. 
 
 Roadways. Two important roads, nearly parallel in their 
 course, traverse the plain of Sharon from south to north. One, 
 the great coast route, already referred to borders its western 
 side : the other its eastern side, keeping as close to the moun- 
 tain ridge as the nature of the ground permits. The inland 
 caravan route northward, which passes through Ramleh, Lydda, 
 Antipatris and Gilgal enters the plain of Esdraelon by the Me- 
 giddo pass at the eastern base of Mount Carmel. Another 
 main route diverges from this road at Wady Abu Nar and 
 passing to the northeast by way of the plain of Dothan enters 
 Esdraelon at Jenin. This, says Dr. Adam Smith, is no doubt 
 the historical road from Egypt to the east of the Jordan and 
 Damascus. It was on this road near Dothan that Joseph's 
 brethren, having cast him into a pit, lifted up their eyes, and 
 behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their 
 camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to carry it 
 down to Egypt. (Gen. xxxvii. 25.) 
 
88 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 A road diverging from the coast road at Jaffa crosses the in- 
 land route at Gilgal and thence leads to Shechem or Nablous. 
 Aside from the railroad, there are two great thoroughfares across 
 the plain from Jaffa to Jerusalem. One, by way of Lydda and 
 the Beth-Horon pass, enters the city from the north : the other, 
 by way of Ramleh and Wady Ali, enters at the Jaffa gate on 
 the west. The railroad diverges from this route southward at 
 Ramleh and follows the Wady-es-Surar (Valley of Sorek) to 
 Beth-shemesh, approaching Jerusalem by way of the valley of 
 Rephaim on the southwest. 
 
 III. THE PHILISTINE PLAIN 
 
 The plain of Philistia extends from the Nahr Rubin to the 
 Wady el-Arish, a distance of about fifty miles. Its average 
 width is greater than the Sharon section, especially to the south. 
 It is lower and flatter, also, but is diversified in some places by 
 gentle elevations. The irregular mass of the low hills, or 
 Shephelah, which belong to the plain rather than to the Central 
 Range, encroaches upon its eastern border, contracting its 
 limits at some points, and at others merging so closely with the 
 rising ground of the plain itself, that it is not possible to draw a 
 definite line of distinction between them. The portion which 
 lies between Gaza and the Wady el-Arish is a noted pastoral 
 region, having the general characteristics of the Negeb, to 
 which it properly belongs. Before the period of David's con- 
 quests it was known as "the south of the Cherethites" or 
 Philistines, (i Sam. xxx. 14 and 16.) At times, however, it 
 seems to have been occupied by Amalek altogether or 
 as a joint possession. (Num. xiii. 29, xiv. 25.) In the 
 days of Abraham it belonged to the kingdom of Gerar, 
 which was ruled by Philistine princes. 
 
 North of Gaza the soil is exceedingly rich and fertile. For 
 two or three miles inland there is a continuous line of barren, 
 drifting sand along the shore. Back of this throughout its 
 whole extent, the plain is one vast grainfield. Without any 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 89 
 
 other fertilizers than nature has provided, it has yielded enor- 
 mous crops continuously for forty centuries. The streams which 
 come down from the hill country during the rainy season, sink 
 down into the porous soil, and find their way underground to 
 the sea. 
 
 "You may leave the water at the commencement of the 
 wady mouth, ride over the plain without seeing any of it, and 
 meet it again welling out of the ground close to the seashore, 
 forming wide lagoons there." While surface irrigation by the 
 mountain streams is not practicable under present conditions, 
 a good supply of water can easily be obtained by boring or 
 sinking weLls a few feet below the level of the ground. 
 
 In the vicinity of the towns and villages the orchards and 
 gardens are as famous for their rich variety and luxuriant 
 growth, as those which border the coast of the plain of 
 Sharon. 
 
 Cities and Towns. There were five chief or royal cities of 
 ancient Philistia, included under one united government, or 
 confederacy, viz : Ekron, Gath, Ashdod, Askelon, and Gaza. 
 Their rulers were styled "Lords of the Philistines." With 
 each of these chief cities were associated groups of villages, 
 the remains of which, if they exist at all, are not distinguish- 
 able from the ruins of later towns, scattered at intervals all over 
 the plain. All of the chief cities, except Gath, have carried up 
 with their names, through the long ages of their existence, the 
 unquestioned evidence of their location and identity. 
 
 (i) Ekron, or Akir as it is now called, was on the north- 
 ern frontier of Philistia, and was within the limit of territory 
 originally assigned to Judah. It is situated on the southern 
 slope of a low ridge, which overlooks the Sorek valley. It is 
 nine miles from the sea and five miles southwest of 
 Ramleh. Ekron was the last of the Philistine cities to 
 which the ark of God was sent: and thence it was re- 
 turned, on the new cart drawn by milch kine, by way of 
 the well worn road up the Sorek valley to Beth-shemesh 
 
tfO The Land of Israel 
 
 in the mountains of Judah. (i Sam. vi. 7-13.) A collec- 
 tion of fifty or more mud hovels is all that represents 
 the former glo~y of this royal city of the Philistines. 
 
 (2) Ashdod (Esdud), Azotus of the New Testament, lies on 
 the coast road, three miles from the sea. It is nearly midway 
 between Jaffa and Gaza. It had a seaport in former times, but 
 its site has been swallowed up by the encroaching sands. The 
 site of the town is marked by a Tell which was probably the 
 Acropolis of the ancient city. Ashdod was one of the notable 
 strongholds of the Philistine plain, and from the days of the 
 Anakim, its original occupants and defenders, until the closing 
 period of the Crusades, its history is mainly a record of battles 
 and sieges. Psammeticus, King of Egypt, invested it closely 
 for twenty-nine years before it fell into his hands. This, on the 
 authority of Herodotus, is the longest siege recorded in history. 
 Preceding this destruction, and within a period of less than two 
 centuries, Ashdod had been besieged and taken in turn by 
 Uzziah of Judah (2 Chron. xxvi. 6) ; by the army of Sargon 
 (Isa. xx. i), and by Sennacherib. 
 
 To this city, the chief seat of worship of the god Dagon, the 
 Ark of the Covenant was removed after its capture by the 
 Philistines. Its presence was attended with consequences so 
 disastrous to the image of Dagon, and the residents of Ashdod, 
 that it was hastily transferred to the neighboring city of Gath. 
 (i Sam. v. 8.) The only New Testament reference is the brief 
 account of Philip's visit on his evangelistic tour among the 
 cities of the coast. (Acts viii. 40.) The modern village of 
 Esdud has a few substantial buildings surrounded by an un- 
 sightly collection of mud huts. 
 
 (3) Gath has not been identified with certainty. Tell es 
 Safi at the foot of the low hills, ten miles east of Ashdod, 
 has been suggested as a possible site. 
 
 This is the famous Blancheguarde of the Crusaders, where a 
 castle was built to command the outlet of the valley of Elah. 
 Gath was the home of Goliath and his associates of the race 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 91 
 
 of Giants, (i Sam. xvii. 2; 2 Sam. xxi. 18-22.) In this 
 city David found a refuge for a time from the persecutions of 
 King Saul, (i Sam. xxvii.) Some good authorities have seen 
 in Beit Jibrin, farther south, evidences of identification with 
 this ancient city which have more weight than those adduced 
 in favor of Tell es Safi. 
 
 (4) Askelon (Askulan) is a deserted ruin ten miles south- 
 west of Ashdod. It lies some distance west of the coast road, 
 and is only one of the confederate towns which was built on 
 the seashore. Its natural position is one of great strength. 
 William of Tyre describes it as " lying within a semicircle of 
 ramparts partly natural and partly artificial the diameter of 
 which was formed by the sea on the west." The white lime- 
 stone cliffs which formed this rocky amphitheatre, could be 
 seen far out to sea and gave to the place the distinctive name 
 of " The White City." An inscription on the walls of Karnak 
 gives an account of the capture of Askelon by Rameses II. on 
 his northward march into Syria ; and it has been the scene of 
 many a fierce struggle since that day. 
 
 By the Crusaders it was regarded as the key to Southwest 
 Palestine. " Within the walls and towers, still standing, Richard 
 of England held his court," and most of his daring adventures 
 were in its immediate vicinity. There are numerous references 
 to Askelon in the Old Testament, but it is not mentioned by 
 name in the New. Two remarkable prophecies concerning it 
 have been literally fulfilled, viz : " Askelon shall be a desola- 
 tion." (Zeph. ii. 4.) "Askelon shall not be inhabited." 
 (Zech. ix. 5.) 
 
 (5) Gaza was the most important stronghold along the 
 line of the great coast road. Its modern representative, which 
 the Arabs call Guzzeh, stands on or near the original location. 
 It is eight miles from Askelon and three miles from the sea. 
 The better part of the city is built upon a rounded or oblong 
 hill, which rises sixty or seventy feet above the plain. The 
 walls and fortifications above ground have disappeared and in 
 
92 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 their stead is a broad, green belt of flourishing orchards and 
 gardens. Its present population is estimated at 18,000. 
 
 " There is a large field to the west of the town buildings," says Dr. 
 Bliss, which has the genuine Tell slope, and a cutting near its base has 
 already revealed a splendid mud brick wall in situ with early pottery in 
 connection. This I take to be the old city wall, and doubtless precious 
 remains lie concealed under the barley field beyond." 1 
 
 Gaza was the last of the important towns on the highway to 
 the desert, and hence the outfitting station for caravans and 
 armies moving southward, as well as the supply depot for 
 those coming up from Egypt. Thus, in virtue of its command- 
 ing position, it was the gateway to Africa on the south and 
 Syria on the north. 
 
 Evidences of the great antiquity and importance of Gaza are 
 furnished by the Minnean inscriptions of Arabia ; 2 the records 
 of Thotmes III. of the eighteenth dynasty ; and the Old Testa- 
 ment Scriptures. In each of these records the name with 
 slight modifications, is the same. In Deut. ii. 23, it is written 
 "Azzah." 
 
 This frontier city of Philistia was taken by Joshua and appor- 
 tioned to the tribe of Judah. Not long after the death of Joshua 
 it was retaken by the Philistines and remained in their hands 
 until the reign of David. (Josh. x. 41, xv. 47 ; i Chron. xviii. 
 i.) In the period of the Judges, Samson carried off one of the 
 double gates of the city and left it on the top of a neighboring 
 hill. Gaza was also the place of Samson's imprisonment, and 
 here he overwhelmed the Philistine nobles, with himself, in one 
 common destruction, by pulling down the pillars of the great 
 house in which a crowd of revellers were assembled to make 
 sport of him. (Judges xvi. 29, 30.) Gaza is mentioned but 
 once in the New Testament. The reference is in connection 
 with the instructions given to Philip. (Acts viii. 26.) During 
 its long history this stronghold of the border has yielded in 
 
 1 Recent Research in Bible Lands, p. 40. Ibid., pp. n, 143. 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 93 
 
 turn to almost all the great conquerors of the world including 
 Thotmes III., Rameses II., Joshua, David, Alexander the Great, 
 Pompey, Omar, Saladin, Richard of England, and Napoleon. 
 
 Outside of this group of chief cities there are several towns 
 of importance on the Philistine plain, which we briefly notice 
 in order of succession, beginning at the north. 
 
 (6) Jabneel or Jabneh (Joshua xv. 1 1 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. 6), 
 has been identified with the modern village of Yebna, on the 
 south bank of the Nahr Rubin, three miles from the sea. Its 
 Greek name was Jamnia. It was an important Jewish town in 
 the time of the Maccabees and the seat of the Sanhedrin after 
 the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 (7) Libnah, a royal city of the Canaanites, is mentioned 
 several times in the Old Testament. The site is not definitely 
 known. The best modern authorities have pronounced in 
 favor of Tell es Safi, whose white cliffs may have suggested the 
 name. Dr. Thompson thinks it may be identical with Yebna. 
 (Joshua x. 29-39, xii. 15, xxi. 13; 2 Kings viii. 22, xix. 8; 
 i Chron. vi. 57; 2 Chron. xxi. 10; Isa. xxxvii. 8; Jer. Hi. i.) 
 
 (8) Makkedah. The village of Mughar, eight miles south- 
 east of Ramleh, has been identified by Captain Warren with 
 Makkedah, the hiding-place of the fugitive kings of the Amorites 
 after the battle of Gibeon. (Joshua x. 16-26.) The name sig- 
 nifies the place of the caves. This identification has been con- 
 firmed by the Survey party, " who found that at this site only 
 of all the possible sites for Makkedah in the Philistine plain do 
 caves still exist. The position also agrees well with the identi- 
 fication of the towns Gederoth, Beth-Dagon and Noamah men- 
 tioned in the same group with Makkedah." 1 
 
 (9) Migdal (Joshua xv. 37), is probably the modern vil- 
 lage of Mejdel, two and one-half miles inland from Askelon. 
 
 (10) Lachish. In the light of recent investigations the 
 identification of this ancient Amorite town with Tell el Hesy is 
 confirmed and generally accepted. It is favorably situated at 
 
 1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 1 10. 
 
94 The Land of Israel 
 
 the junction of two wadies, on the edge of the Shephelah, 
 eighteen miles northeast of Gaza, or nearly half way between 
 Gaza and Hebron. 
 
 The Tell has been described as " one of the most imposing objects on 
 the plain, above which it rises to a height of nearly 120 feet. Sixty feet 
 of this consists of an artificial mound formed by the decay of the succes- 
 sive cities that stood upon the spot. Nature had marked it out as the site 
 of one of the chief fortresses of Southern Palestine. Immediately under 
 its wall is an abundant spring of fresh water, the only fresh water to be 
 found for miles around." 1 
 
 Excavations at this place under the direction of the Survey 
 Fund were commenced by Professor Petrie in 1890, and con- 
 tinued by Dr. Bliss until one-third of the great mound was laid 
 bare, from top to bottom, and its various levels were exposed. 
 In the superimposed towns, eight of which were clearly distin- 
 guished from each other by the diverse collection of objects 
 among the debris, Dr. Bliss found the remains of walls and 
 towers, storehouses, ovens, wine-presses, a public hall, private 
 dwellings, a smelting furnace, weapons, tools, bronze and iron 
 implements, scarabs, flints, pottery, and most valuable of all 
 a clay tablet in the cuneiform language addressed to Zimrida, 
 Governor of Lachish, from Egypt. This is the counterpart of 
 the letters found at Tell Amarna, in Egypt, in the year 1888, 
 from Zimrida to the reigning Pharoah, whose servant or vassal 
 he acknowledges himself to be. This tablet is an important 
 link in the chain of evidence which establishes the identity of 
 Lachish with the foundation city of this series. It is not the 
 only evidence, however, of its great antiquity. Within its mas- 
 sive brick walls, twenty-eight feet, eight inches in thickness, 
 were found Amorite pottery of a distinctive type and many 
 other articles, such as bronze weapons and tools, having the 
 undoubted characteristics of a Pre-Israelite age. Here, then, 
 we may confidently affirm, has been laid bare one of the long 
 buried cities, which was captured by Joshua : and which the 
 1 Prof. Sayce, N. Y. Independent, Aug 28th, 1890. 
 

 u 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 . 
 
Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 95 
 
 faim-hearted spies of a generation before described as "walled 
 up to heaven." (Joshua x. 31, 32; Deut. i. 28.) The prob- 
 able date of the original occupation of this foundation city is 
 fixed by Drs. Petrie and Bliss at the beginning of the seven- 
 teenth century before Christ. There is evidence also that four 
 distinct buildings and destructions of the series of great walls 
 took place before the Israelite invasion. A later record of its 
 restoration as a garrison town by Rehoboam, King of Judah, is 
 given in 2 Chron. xi. 9. In its subsequent history Lachish ap- 
 pears as one of the " fenced cities of great strength " which held 
 out against the forces of Sennacherib (2 Chron. xxxii. 9), and 
 also against Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. xxxiv. 7). A collection of 
 Assyrian slabs in the British Museum, which bears the name 
 ^of Sennacherib, gives a vivid representation in detail of the be- 
 sieged city and its defences. " The details of the situation of 
 the city as shown there are exactly in accord with the point of 
 view from the southern side; and the resemblance strongly 
 suggests that the royal scribe or artist made sketches during 
 the campaigns for the future sculptures." l The higher levels 
 of the Tell furnish evidence of Greek and Roman civilization 
 and occupation. It has been a ruined heap since the fifth 
 century A. D. 
 
 (i i) Eglon. Three miles northwest of Tell el Hesy is a low 
 mound of shapeless ruins similar in appearance, that still bears 
 the name of Ajlan. This evidently marks the site of the an- 
 cient Eglon, another of the confederate cities of the Amorites. 
 It fell into the hands of Joshua immediately after the capture 
 of Lachish. (Josh. x. 34.) 
 
 (12) Gerar. The site of Gerar has been found at Umm 
 Jerar, six miles south of Gaza, in a valley running eastward 
 from Beersheba. 
 
 " There is little to describe beyond a gigantic mound on the side of a 
 deep, broad water course (Wady Sheba) in the midst of a rolling plain." 8 
 " There are pits in the valley bed whence the Arabs obtained water even 
 
 1 The City and the Land, p. 202. 2 Thirty Years' Work, p. 106. 
 
96 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 in summer. If the wells which Isaac digged again (Gen. xxvi. 18) were 
 anything like the pits now existing, it is easy to understand how the Phil- 
 istines filled them up after Abraham's death." 1 
 
 In this region Abraham sojourned for a long time, and the 
 narrative implies that it was the birthplace of Isaac. (Gen. 
 xx. 15, xxi. 34.) 
 
 During a period of famine in the mountain districts Isaac re- 
 turned to this rich pasture land and dwelt in Gerar and its im- 
 mediate vicinity. (Gen. xxvi. 1-22.) The springs called 
 "Esek" and " Sitnah " were apparently in the same valley 
 near Gerar, but no trace of such names has been found by 
 recent explorers. 
 
 It should be noted that the whole of the Philistine Plain bears 
 evidence of a thickly populated region in the past, and ruins of 
 nameless towns are found all over its widely extended surface. 
 The sites of several ruined towns, long without inhabitants, 
 have also been found along the "way of the Philistines" from 
 Wady el-Arish to Gaza. 
 
 1 Conder's Bible Geography, p. 42. 
 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE SHEPHELAH 
 
 THE term Shephelah, as used by the latest authorities in 
 Sacred Geography, applies to the range, or rather the irregular 
 mass, of low hills which lie between the Central Range of the 
 Mountains of Judah and the Philistine Plain. 1 It belongs to 
 the plain rather than to the mountains, and in some places can 
 hardly be distinguished from its higher elevations. From the 
 mountains, however, it is distinctly separated by a series of al- 
 most continuous breaks or depressions 500 to 1,000 feet in 
 depth. 
 
 The Shephelah has been aptly described as a loose gathering of chalk 
 and limestone hills, round, bare and featureless, but with an occasional 
 bastion flung well out in front of them. ..." Altogether it is a 
 rough, happy land, with its glens and moors, its mingled brushwood and 
 barley fields ; frequently under cultivation, but for the most part broken 
 and thirsty; with few wells and many hiding-places; just the home for 
 strong border men like Samson, and just the theatre for that guerilla war- 
 fare, varied occasionally by pitched battles, which Israel and Philistia, 
 the Maccabees and the Syrians, Salad in and Richard waged with each 
 other." a 
 
 Valleys of the Shephelah. There are six noted wadies 
 or valleys, (wadies among the hills, and valleys in the low- 
 lands) which begin their course in the Central Range and cut 
 their way through the Shephelah to the plain. These are 
 known as the Valley of Ajalon (Wady Selman), Valley of 
 Sorek (Wady es Surar), Valley of Elah (Wady Sunt), Valley 
 
 1 For full discussion in ref. to usage of the term in Old Test. Septuagint 
 and Talmud see Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 209. 
 * Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 209. 
 
 97 
 
98 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 of Zephathah (Wady el Afranj), Wady el Hesy (Wady el 
 Jizair), and Wady esh Sheriah. 
 
 Each of these afford passage-ways into the heart of 
 the mountain strongholds of Judea, and each has its 
 distinct characteristics and historical associations. 
 
 " To realize these valleys is to understand the wars that have 
 been fought on the western watershed of Palestine from Joshua's 
 time to Saladin's." * 
 
 i. The Valley of Ajalon. The northern border of this 
 valley may be regarded as the limit, in this direction, of the 
 Shephelah. Its identity with the vale now called Merj-Ibn- 
 Omier is established with certainty by the location of the town 
 Ajalon (Yalo) on its southern slope, and by the recent discovery 
 of the site of Gezer at its mouth. 
 
 It is a broad, green upland vale, which gradually opens out 
 into the great plain with its mouth inclined slightly northward, 
 toward Lydda. Three wadies from the height of Benjamin 
 converge in its upper basin, and from it, by way of these narrow 
 water courses, three ancient roadways lead up to the city of 
 Jerusalem. The most famous of these was the route by way of 
 the Beth-heron pass to the plateau of El Jib or Gibeon five 
 miles north of Jerusalem. "This has always been the easiest 
 passage from the coast to the capital of Judea. Throughout 
 history we see hosts swarming up this avenue, or swept down 
 it in flight." 2 Down this pass and through this valley Joshua 
 pursued the fleeing hosts of the Amorites on that memorable 
 day when he commanded the "sun to stand still upon Gibeon 
 and the moon in the valley of Ajalon." (Josh. x. 10-14.) 
 
 Up the same valley on several occasions the maraudii g hosts 
 of the Philistines found their way to the very heart of the ter- 
 ritory of Israel, and on two occasions were driven down it with 
 great slaughter once by Saul and Jonathan and again by 
 David, "who smote them from Gibeon until thcu come to 
 Gezer." (i Sam. xiv. 31 ; 2 Sam. v. 25.) In the Maccabean 
 
 1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 209. 8 Ibid., p. 210. 
 
 
The Shephelah 99 
 
 wars this valley was the route by which Jonathan led his forces 
 down to the plain in the campaign which gave Joppa into the 
 hands of the Jews ; and anon, when the tide turned, it was the 
 route by which the Syrians swept up to the plateau on which 
 Jerusalem stood. In the year 66 A. D. a Roman army under 
 Cestius Gallus was driven down this rugged defile to Ajalon by 
 a host of avenging Jews, and, as in the past, multitudes per- 
 ished in the headlong flight. Centuries afterward Godfrey d' 
 Bouillion led the first army of the Crusaders up the same 
 rugged passage-way to the walls of the Holy City. " Up none 
 of the other valleys of the Shephelah," says Dr. Adam Smith, 
 "has history surged as up and down Ajalon and past Gezer, 
 for none are so open to the north, nor present so easy a passage- 
 way to Jerusalem." 
 
 It has been frequently assumed by modern writers that the 
 apostle Paul was taken under guard from Jerusalem to Caesarea 
 by this route, but it is more likely that the shorter and more 
 northerly route by way of Gophna was followed to Antipatris 
 on the plain. The sites of historic interest in the valley are : 
 
 Ajalon (Yalo) frequently mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment, and also on the Tell Amarna tablets ; Jimzu or Gimzo 
 (2 Chron. xxviii. 18) ; Beit Nuba, near Yalo, the place of en- 
 campment of King Richard of England ; Amwas or Emmaus 
 (Nicopolis) a short distance west of Yalo, is mentioned in the 
 book of Maccabees, (i Mac. iii. 40.) The site does not corre- 
 spond with the location of the town of Emmaus mentioned in 
 Luke xxiv. 13. 
 
 Gezer or Gazar, a royal city of the Canaanites (Josh. x. 33) 
 was situated on a commanding, oblong hill the most northerly 
 outpost of the Shephelah which commanded the entrance to 
 the vale of Ajalon. Its identity with Tell Jezer has been es- 
 tablished by M. Ganneau, who found amid its ruins in 1874 a 
 bilingual tablet (Greek and Hebrew) on which the Biblical 
 name Gezer is deeply carved, "just as it is written in the 
 Bible." Major Conder found indications of a large ancient 
 
100 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 city on this Tell. In its vicinity were a number of rock tombs 
 and twenty-three rock-cut wine presses. 
 
 After its capture by Joshua this city was assigned to the 
 Levites of the Kohathite family (Josh. xxi. 21), but afterward 
 it fell into the hands of the Philistines. It was taken from the 
 Philistines by the Egyptians at a later period and given as a 
 dower to Solomon's Egyptian bride, (i Kings ix. 16.) During 
 the Maccabean wars it was captured by Judas Maccabseus and 
 strongly fortified to guard the Jewish possessions of the plain. 
 
 " Within sight of every Egyptian and every Assyrian invasion of the 
 land, Gezer has also seen Alexander pass by, and the legions of Rome in 
 unusual flight, and the armies of the Cross struggle, waver and give way, 
 and Napoleon come and go. If all could rise who have fallen around its 
 base Ethiopians, Hebrews, Assyrians, Arabs, Turcomans, Greeks, 
 Romans, Celts, Saxons, Mongols, what a rehearsal of the Judgment Day it 
 would be ! Few of the travellers who now rush across the plain realize 
 that the first conspicuous hill they pass in Palestine is also one of the 
 most thickly haunted even in that narrow land into which history has so 
 crowded itself. But upon the ridge of Gezer no sign of all this now re- 
 mains, except in the name Tell Jezer, and in a sweet hollow to the north, 
 beside a fountain, where lie the scattered Christian stones of Deir Warda, 
 the Convent of the Rose." 
 
 2. The Valley of Sorek. This valley, or wady, descends 
 to the low hills near Ain Shems (Beth-shemesh). From this 
 point to Yebna (Jebneel) it is called Wady Surar. Thence to 
 the sea it is Nahr Rubin. Its upper basin, which is a half 
 mile in width, is formed by the junction of three wadies 
 (Ghurab, Surar and Najil). This was the home of Samson 
 and the scene of many of his famous exploits. Zorah, his 
 birthplace, now called Surah, is situated on the high ridge 
 which borders the northern side of the valley. (Josh. xix. 41.) 
 Eshtaol lies to the northeast about two miles away. The ruins 
 of Beth-shemesh, two and a half miles distant, lie on a knoll op- 
 posite Zorah on the southern slope. (2 Kings xiv. 13 ; 2 Chron. 
 
 1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 217. 
 
The Shephelah 101 
 
 xxviii. 18.) "These three form a triangular group just where 
 the stream breaks out into the Shephelah from the mountains 
 of Judah." 1 
 
 Four miles southwest of Zorah on the crest of the opposite 
 ridge are the ruins of Timnath, where Samson sought a wife 
 of the Philistines. Timnath is 740 feet above the sea and 
 twenty-four miles from Askelon. The hiding-place of Samson 
 (Judg. xv. 8) was the cleft or cave in the rock tam, recently 
 identified with Beit Atab, a few miles eastward among the 
 Judean mountains. The camp or fortified place of Dan, was 
 on the north side of the valley, probably between Zorah and 
 Eshtaol. 
 
 The railroad from Jaffa to Jerusalem enters the Sorek valley 
 about two miles south of Gezer and follows it to Beth-shemesh. 
 Thence through the higher reaches of Wady Surar, and its con- 
 necting defiles among the mountains, it passes to the vale of 
 Rephaim on the outskirts of the city of Jerusalem. 
 
 3. The Valley of Elah. This has been identified with 
 Wady es Sunt by the recovery of the site of Shocoh or Socoh 
 (Shuweikeh) on its southern border. The valley is narrow and 
 winds among the hills for the greater part of its course through 
 the Shephelah region except in the neighborhood of Shocoh 
 where it expands into a fertile plain one-fourth of a mile in 
 breadth. In this plain is a large terebinth tree " fifty feet in 
 height, with a spread of shade seventy-five feet in diameter, and 
 a trunk seventeen feet in circumference." 2 
 
 The valley of Elah, says Major Conder, is here a broad open 
 vale, full of cornfields and bordered by rough hills, on which 
 grow thick copses of lentisk. In the middle of the valley runs 
 a deep trench, some twenty feet wide, with banks ten feet high, 
 a water course worn by the winter torrents, its bed strewn with 
 smooth white pebbles. This no doubt was the brook whence 
 David took the five smooth stones when he advanced to meet 
 Goliath. " The ridges on either side rise to a height of about 
 
 1 Henderson's Geog., p. 90. * pj ct . Pal., Vol. I., p. 158. 
 
loa 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 500 feet and have a steep, uniform slope, so that the armies 
 ranged along them could see the combat in the valley." * 
 
 " And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and pitched 
 by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 
 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on 
 a mountain on the other side; and there was a valley between them." 
 (I Sam. xvii. 1-3.) 2 " From the rear of the position of Israel the narrow 
 pass goes right up to the interior of the land near Bethlehem ; so that the 
 shepherd boy, whom the story represents as being sent by his father for 
 news of the battle, would have almost twelve miles to cover between his 
 father's house and the camp." 3 
 
 The site of the " Hold of Adullam " has been recovered by 
 M. Ganneau on a rounded hill in the upper stretch of the 
 valley, about three miles southeast of Shocoh. This identi- 
 fication has been approved by the Survey party. The modern 
 name is Aid-el-ma, in which it is possible, says Dr. Smith to 
 hear Adullam, and its position suits all that we are told about 
 David's Stronghold. It stands well off the Central Range and 
 is very defensible. 
 
 Tell es Safi, at the outlet of the valley of Elah, is one of 
 
 TELL ES SAFI (GATH ?) 
 
 the possible sites which have been suggested for the long-lost 
 city of Gath (see p. 90). It is a conspicuous eminence of 
 
 1 Bible Geog., p. 96. * Porter, in Alexander's Kitto. 
 
 'Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 228. 
 
The Shephelah 103 
 
 white limestone formation, crowned with the ruins of a famous 
 castle, known as Blanchgarcle in the days of King Richard of 
 England. 
 
 Azekah has been placed by some authorities at Tell Zaka- 
 riya. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. See 
 Josh. xv. 35 ; 2 Chron. xi. 9 ; Jer. xxxiv. 7, and Neh. xi. 30. 
 
 Tell Zakariya is four miles east of Tell es Safi. Recent 
 excavations under the direction of Dr. Bliss have disclosed the 
 remains of several buildings, one of which contains a chamber 
 about eighty feet square. A series of small caves have also 
 been opened up and explored. Scarabs, and pottery of Pre- 
 Israelite types have been found amid the debris. 
 
 4. Wady el Afranj. The long defile which leads into 
 this wady begins its course near Hebron. Among the low hills 
 it widens out into a broad, open valley apparently identical 
 with the valley of Zephathah. On the plain it is known as 
 Wady Simsin. It enters the sea a few miles north of Ashdod. 
 The most interesting town in this valley is Beit Jibrin which 
 occupies a part of the site of the famous city of Eleutheropolis 
 of the Romans. It has been identified also with the ancient 
 Betogabra. Dr. Thomson and other authorities regard it as 
 the site of the city of Gath, and there seems to be good reason 
 for this identification. The modern name Beit Jibrin signifies, 
 or at least suggests, "the house of the giants." 
 
 Dr. Robinson, who has established the identity of this site beyond 
 question with Eleutheropolis, describes the ruins as apparently of different 
 ages and more extensive and massive than any he has seen in Palestine, 
 except the substructions of the ancient temple at Jerusalem and the 
 Haram at Hebron. 1 They consist of an irregular fortress of great 
 strength, vaults, arches, walls, broken columns, etc., etc. In the chalk 
 hills that enclose the valley in this vicinity there are a large number of 
 closely connected caverns or grottoes of artificial construction. " The 
 regularity and art with which these chambers have been constructed are 
 admirable. The caverns consist of round vaulted chambers, twenty to 
 
 i Rob. Res., Vol. II., p 25. 
 
104 The Land of Israel 
 
 twenty-five feet in diameter, supported by detached pillars. They are 
 thirty to forty feet in height, each cave is lighted from above by a well- 
 like opening." 1 
 
 One of these caverns was found to be nearly 1 20 feet in 
 diameter and ninety feet deep. 
 
 In the days of the Roman occupation Eleutheropolis was 
 regarded as the geographical centre of the Shephelah. From it 
 roads radiated in all directions. "It was the half-way house 
 between Jerusalem and Gaza, Hebron and Lydda, and the 
 Onomasticon measures from it all distances in the Shephelah." 
 
 On the well-beaten highway through this place from Jerusalem 
 to Gaza, in all probability, Philip crossed the path of the 
 Ethiopian Eunuch. (Acts. x. 26-29.) 
 
 " This route," says Dr. Robinson, " lies along the north side of the meadow- 
 like tract of Wady el Hesy and also of Wady Simsin for a short distance 
 below the junction. In the gravelly bed of these valleys we saw water 
 percolating through the sand and gravel and forming occasional pools. 
 It was probably on this road Philip found the Eunuch and baptized 
 him." * 
 
 Mareshah, identified with Maresh, lies less than two miles 
 south of Beit Jibrin. At this point in the valley King Asa met 
 the Ethiopian host under Zerah and won a signal victory, pur- 
 suing them even unto Gerar. (2 Chron. xiv. 9-14.) 
 
 " Mareshah,'' says Dr. Smith, " was an important and a powerful town as 
 long as Beit Jibrin was unheard of; when Beit Jibrin comes into history 
 it disappears. Can we doubt that we have here one of those frequent 
 instances of the transference of a community to a new and neighboring 
 site. If this be so, we have now full explanation of the silence of the 
 Old Testament about Beit Jibrin ; it was really represented by 
 Mareshah." 3 
 
 5. Wady el Hesy or Wady el Jizair, rises in the mountains 
 a few miles southwest of Hebron and finds its way to the >,ca 
 i The Land and the Book, Vol. I., p. 220. 9 Phys. Geog., p. 119. 
 a Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 233. 
 
00 
 
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 fc. 
 
 u. E o 
 
 < s 5 
 
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 o ~ 
 
 ^ o> 
 
 5 a 
 
 5 - ~ 
 
 UJ S 
 
The Shephelah 105 
 
 between Askelon and Gaza. The most important site in this 
 valley is Tell el Hesy (Lachish) already described among the 
 cities of the plain. It commanded the entrance to the valley at 
 the point where the Shephelah pushes out one of its bastions, or 
 advanced clusters into the plain. 
 
 6. Wady esh Sheriah skirts the southern base of the low 
 hills, finding its way to the sea a few miles south of Gaza. It 
 is joined by Wady es Seba in the plain, and the united branches 
 are known as Wady Guzzah. This valley marks the southern 
 border of the Shephelah. Below it the hills fall away gradually 
 into the Negeb. 
 
 The region of the Shephelah is dotted over with the ruined 
 sites of towns and villages, most of which have long been with- 
 out inhabitants. As a whole it has been the theatre of many 
 notable events in human history both sacred and secular. Its 
 possessors held all the gateways of approach to the Holy City 
 from the west ; and yet there are but few instances on record in 
 which the upper stretches of the mountain stronghold above it 
 were forced in presence of a determined foe. Perhaps there is 
 no instance of a more persistent attempt to penetrate these 
 defiles than in the days "when all the Shephelah rang with the 
 exploits of Richard," the Lion-hearted King of England; but 
 with all his courage and persistency he could not drive back the 
 forces which held the heights of Benjamin and Judah. 
 
 Addenda : The excavations at Tell es Safi, during the summer 
 of 1899, disclosed the outlines of an ancient city (400 x 200 yds.), 
 with walls in situ 12 feet thick and 33 in height. On the north- 
 east plateau Dr. Bliss uncovered the remains of an ancient 
 Canaanite temple, or high place, in which he found three (3) stand- 
 ing stones or menhirs, imbedded in a layer of pre-Israelite pottery 
 and set in a line directly east and west. No inscriptions were found 
 which positively identifies the city with Gath ; but Dr. Bliss con. 
 eludes, from the study of thousands of potsherds and other objects 
 taken from the d&ris, that it is as " old as Gath, and must have been 
 fortified when Gath was made a city of defence." (Oct. Quarterly, 
 1899.) 
 
The Second Longitudinal Section 
 
 The Subdivisions suggested by the special features of this 
 section are : 
 
 The Mountains of Lebanon and Galilee. The Plain of 
 Esdraelon. The Mountains of Ephraim. The Mountains of 
 Benjamin. Jerusalem and its Environs. The Mountains of 
 Judah. The Negeb, or South Country. 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF LEBANON AND GALILEE 
 
 (Consult maps i and 4.) 
 I. LEBANON. Or its equivalent expression Mount 
 Lebanon is a collective term applied to the high mountains 
 of the Lebanon range. The northern boundary of this elevated 
 tract is the valley of the Nahr el Kebir, which, as already 
 noted, has been identified with "the entering in of Hamath." 
 The deep gorge of the Litany river may be regarded as its 
 boundary line on the south. Throughout its extent, a distance 
 of nearly 100 miles, Lebanon is a continuous dorsal ridge with 
 an average height of 7,000 feet. Its highest elevations are in 
 the northern portion where the Dhar el Khodib, Jebel Muk- 
 mul, and other associated peaks, rise to the height of more 
 than 10,000 feet above the sea. It is an open question whether 
 the word Lebanon, signifying the White Mountain, has been 
 derived from the appearance of its snowy summits ; or from 
 its rugged masses of white limestone rock, which are even 
 more conspicuous, as seen from below. The eastern declivity 
 of Lebanon is steep, rugged and for the most part uncultivated : 
 
 106 
 
The ^Mountains 
 
The Mountains of Lebanon 107 
 
 the western is gradual, and presents a wonderful variety of 
 scenery and production. From one outlook on this slope 
 Doctor Thomson counted more than sixty towns and villages. 
 In the Lebanon District there are 1,200 prosperous villages 
 most of which are on the western side of the mountain at an 
 elevation ranging from sea level to an altitude of 4,000 feet. 
 
 From time immemorial the beauty, the sublimity, the match- 
 less fertility, the salubrious climate and the grand scenery of 
 this goodly mountain have been celebrated in story and song. 
 " Along its base eternal summer smiles : and along its summit 
 10,000 feet overhead, rests eternal snow. Between the two ex- 
 tremes flourish the vegetation, fruit and flowers of all climes." l 
 Of this favored region Professor Rawlison says : 
 
 The scenery is throughout most beautiful. Garden cultivation carpets 
 the base of the mountain : above this is, for the most part, a broad fringe 
 of olive groves; higher up the hillsides are carefully terraced, not an inch 
 of ground being wasted : and among sharp cliffs and pointed rocks of a 
 grey-white hue are strips of cornfields, long rows of dwarf mulberries, figs, 
 apricots, apples, walnuts, and other fruit trees. Gorges, ravines, charm- 
 ing glens, deep valleys, diversify the mountain sides ; here and there are 
 tremendous chasms, with precipices that go sheer down for a thousand 
 feet ; tiny rivulets bound and leap from rock to rock and from terrace to 
 terrace, forming chains of cascades refreshing and fertilizing all around. 
 In the deep gorges flow copious streams, shaded by overhanging woods 
 of pines or cedars ; and toward the summit are in several places magnifi- 
 cent cedar groves, remnants of the primeval forest which once clothed the 
 greater part of the mountain. a 
 
 Lebanon is mentioned sixty-eight times in the Old Testa- 
 ment, but in every case the reference is to some of its natural 
 features. "They speak of the head, the countenance, the 
 sides, the roots of Lebanon : and of the snow, and the streams 
 that run among its valleys. They sing of the glory of Lebanon 
 and the smell of its forests the cedar, the fir, the pine and the 
 box together; and of its birds which sing among the 
 
 1 Dr. J. L. Porter, Pulpit Treasury, 1884, p. 455. 
 
 2 Story of Phoenicia, p. 18. 
 
108 The Land of Israel 
 
 branches." l This fact together with the absence of any men- 
 tion of ancient cities or towns, apart from Phoenicia, would 
 seem to imply that Lebanon was, for the most part in its forest 
 glory before the age of David and Solomon. 
 
 Cedars of Lebanon. The cedar groves which crowned 
 the higher levels of the timber belt have always been regarded 
 as the chief glory of Lebanon. From the far-remote period of 
 the reign of Naram Sin they were prized above all the trees of 
 the wood, and were carried away from these rugged slopes to 
 adorn kings' houses. In the British Museum may be seen 
 fragments of cedar wood found by Mr. Layard, which had been 
 built into the palaces of Nineveh more than 3,000 years ago. 
 Of this choice timber David's palace on Mount Zion was built. 
 Armies of skilled workmen were afterward employed, under the 
 direction of Hebrew officers to cut and hew cedar beams on 
 Lebanon to be used in the building of the first and second 
 temples. These were delivered at the coast and thence were 
 floated down in rafts to the harbor of Jaffa. 
 
 It is a common impression that the cedar has disappeared 
 from Lebanon, except in one or two jealously guarded groves ; 
 but Dr. H. W. Jessup, an authority on this point, mentions 
 eleven different groves which he has visited. These are : 
 
 1. The ancient ' Cedars of the Lord ' above Bsherreh, three hundred 
 and ninety-three in number. 
 
 2. The grove at the fountain of Ehden, fifty trees. 3. The great 
 grove between El Hadeth and Niha, numbering tens of thousands of 
 trees, covers an area of nearly twelve miles. 4. A small grove farther 
 south on the summit and brink of the precipice. 
 
 5. The scattered trees above Duma. 6. The Ain Zehalteh grove of 
 ten thousand trees, cut down by Murad Akil, and now growing up again. 
 7. A small grove on the cliff overhanging El Meduk. 8. A small 
 cluster near Kulat el Bizzeh. 9. The fine grove of Masir el Fukhhar, 
 about three hundred trees, some of great si/.c. 10. The forest of Jird el 
 Baruk, thousands of trees. II. The eastern grove of Baruk, about two 
 hundred trees. 3 
 
 1 The Land and Book, p. 139. Pict. Pal., Vol. II., p. 26. 
 
The Mountains of Lebanon 109 
 
 In many of the public gardens and parks of Europe majestic 
 cedars are growing from seeds or young trees, brought over by 
 the Crusaders or moden. travellers from Mount Lebanon. 
 
 The principal rivers on the western slope have been men- 
 tioned in connection with the description of the Phoenician 
 plain. All of these swiftly-flowing streams rise amid the snow 
 fields of Lebanon and find their way down to the plain through 
 ever deepening chasms in the mountain side. The gorges of 
 the Kadisha and the Litany are specially notable for their 
 depth and rugged grandeur. The latter has cut its way 
 through one of the wildest and most romantic regions in Syria. 
 " For thirty miles or more it flows at the bottom of a chasm 
 so deep and so precipitous, that its course can only be traced 
 here and there from the overhanging brow of one of the rocky 
 eminences which close it in." l In some places it rushes in its 
 impetuous course through tremendous chasms whose rocky 
 walls rising nearly a thousand feet above the water, approach 
 so closely together that the branches of trees from opposite 
 sides are said to meet and interlock. At one point a mass of 
 fallen rock has formed a natural bridge, called El Kuweh, a 
 hundred feet above the bed of the stream. The road from 
 Sidon to Banias passes over this bridge. The celebrated for- 
 tress known as Castle Belfort of the Crusaders (Kulat esh 
 Shukif) rises conspicuously from the summit of a cliff within 
 the great bend of the Litany and commands an extensive view 
 of the surrounding country. " The lofty precipice on which it 
 stands is exceedingly grand ; the castle crowns its highest pin- 
 nacle, standing upon the very brink ; so that a stone let fall from 
 its battlements would almost drop into the stream below." 2 
 
 The largest and most famous natural bridge in Lebanon 
 spans the great chasm through which flows the Neba el Leben 
 (Fountain of milk), one of the tributaries of the Dog river. It 
 is called Jisr el Hajr the Stone Bridge. Dr. Thomson de- 
 scribes it as follows : 
 
 1 Sinai and Pal., p. 492. 3 Robinson's Phys. Geog., p. 357. 
 
110 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 " The height, measuring on the northern side, is 150 feet above the bed 
 of the stream ; on the southern side it is about half that height. The 
 span is over 160 feet, and the curve is so regular and clean cut that one can 
 scarcely believe that it is entirely natural. The thickness of the rock 
 above the arch is thirty feet; and the breadth on top, where the road 
 passes over it, from ninety to 150 feet. There is an excavated amphi- 
 theatre south of the bridge, about 300 feet in diameter, and enclosed by a 
 perpendicular wall of limestone rock about 100 feet high." 1 
 
 On the eastern side of Lebanon the water passes through un- 
 derground channels, or dashes down the numerous torrent beds 
 which furrow its declivities, to the Coele Syria basin. Zahleh, 
 the most prosperous town on this side of the range, lies at the 
 southern base of Mount Sannin, 3,100 feet above the sea. 
 
 Its situation, says Dr. Thomson, is exceedingly picturesque. " There 
 is nothing resembling it on these mountains. The town occupies both 
 sides of the valley, which widens as it deepens, and finally opens out upon 
 the plain to the southeast. Through the middle of the valley flows the 
 sparkling little river of el Burduny, which descends from the southeast 
 end of Jebel Sunnin ; and after contributing to the wants of the town, its 
 life-giving waters are distributed over a wide area of vineyards, gardens, 
 and cultivated fields on the plain of el Buka'a below. The houses are 
 built upon the sloping declivities on both sides of the river, and rise, tier 
 above tier, far up the steep side of the mountain." * 
 
 Zahleh owes its prosperity mainly to the labors of missionaries 
 from England and the United States, who have made it a 
 centre of education and Christian influence. 
 
 It has churches, mission schools of higher and lower grades ; 
 and manufacturies of various kinds have been successfully 
 established. The inhabitants of Zahleh, numbering upward of 
 15,000, are almost wholly Christian. 
 
 The French carriage road over Lebanon, from Beirut to 
 Damascus, is the recognized line of division between the 
 Maronite and Druse districts of Lebanon. The former lies to 
 the north and the latter to the south of the road. 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, p. 228. 
 
 1 Ibid., p. 199. 
 
The Mountains of Galilee 111 
 
 2. The Mountains of Galilee. This designation ap- 
 plies to that portion of the range which extends from the gorge 
 of the Litany to the border of the Esdraelon plain. 
 
 On the east it is bounded by the Jordan valley : on the west 
 by the Tyrian section of the Phoenician plain. It has many of 
 the characteristic features of Lebanon, but is a broad, depressed 
 region in contrast with its lofty heights. The portion which 
 skirts the Jordan valley between the Lakes of Huleh and 
 Galilee is called Mount Naphtali in the book of Joshua (xx. 7). 
 This is the highest part of the Galilean range. Its dominant 
 peak is Jebeljermuk, 3,934 feet above the sea. Jebel Jermuk 
 is twelve miles west of the Jordan on a line about midway be- 
 tween Huleh and Galilee. . . . North of Mount Naphtali 
 the average elevation is about 2,800 feet : south of it the gen- 
 eral level is less than 2,000. At a point due west of the Lake 
 of Galilee the plateau is only 1,000 feet above the sea. 
 
 This district as a whole is noted for its beauty and fertility ; 
 its varied and picturesque scenery. It is broken by ridges and 
 valleys in alternate succession, with here and there park-like 
 stretches of upland, or beautiful mountain-rimmed plains. 
 
 It is well supplied with springs and water courses, and even 
 in its present condition, justifies all that has been written about 
 the rich portion of the inheritance of Zebulun and Naphtali. 
 Lower Galilee included the southern portion of the highlands, 
 as well as the plain of Esdraelon, and the low country border- 
 ing the sea of Galilee. 
 
 "Over the most of Galilee," says Dr. G. A. Smith, "there 
 is a profusion of bush, with scattered forest trees holly-oak, 
 maple, sycamore, bay-tree, myrtle, arbutus, sumac and others- 
 and in the valleys olive orchards and stretches of fat cornlands. 
 Except for some trees like the sycamore, Upper Galilee is quite 
 as rich. It is an undulating table-land, arable, and everywhere 
 tilled, with swelling hills in view all round, covered with shrubs 
 and trees." 1 "In briefer statement Renan describes it as a 
 1 Hist. Geog., p. 419. 
 
112 The Land of Israel 
 
 country very green, and full of shade and pleasantness, the true 
 country of the Canticle of Canticles and of the songs of the 
 well-beloved." 1 
 
 Interspersed Plains. One of the characteristic features of 
 this highland region is the series of basins, or elongated plains 
 which usually run in parallel strips from east to west between 
 the ridges. The largest and most noteworthy of these are the 
 plains of Ramah and Buttauf. 
 
 The Ramah basin lies at the foot of the southern range of 
 Upper Galilee, a little north of the latitude of Acre. It is eight 
 miles long and about a mile and a half wide. The road from 
 Acre traverses the length of this plain. 
 
 The plain of Buttauf (El Buttauf), lies directly west of the 
 Sea of Galilee. "It was properly the plain of Zebulun ; the 
 Rimmon of that tribe being still recognized in the Rummaneh 
 of this plain. It is without doubt the great plain called Asochis 
 by Josephus. On the south it is shut in on its southeastern 
 part by a steep and almost isolated ridge, dividing it from the 
 lesser plain of Turan beyond; and ending toward the west 
 near Rummaneh." 2 
 
 The plain of Turan is in reality a branch of Buttauf and is 
 sometimes called the lower Buttauf. The main branch is about 
 ten miles in length and two or three in width. 
 
 This basin is the granary of Galilee and, next to Esdraelon, 
 it is the richest portion of the country. Its drainage is toward 
 the river Kishon by way of the Wady Melek. 
 
 East of the low ridge which shuts in the plain of Buttauf, is a 
 wide shelf of table- land commanding a fine view of the Lake 
 of Galilee, lying nearly 1,000 feet below. 
 
 A conspicuous feature of the ridge which overlooks this 
 stretch of table-land, and forms its western border, is a deeply 
 indented mass of rock, called " Kurun Hattin " the "Horns 
 of Hattin." This is the traditional "Mountain of the Beati- 
 tudes" (Matt. v. i), but the real site is probably one of the 
 
 1 Life of Jesus, p. 96. 8 Robinson's Phys. Geog., p. 130. 
 
The Mountains of Galilee 113 
 
 lower slopes or ledges of the mountain in the immediate vicinity 
 of the plain of Gennesaret. However this may be, Hattin will 
 forever be memorable as the landmark overlooking the spot 
 where the army of the Crusaders made its last stand, and was 
 almost annihilated by the hosts of Saladin, July 5th, 1187. 
 Wady Hamam which leads down from this elevation to the 
 plain, terminates in a wild gorge flanked by perpendicular cliffs 
 over 1,000 feet high A labyrinth of caves cut into the face 
 of the rock at dizzy heights has been for centuries in the past 
 an impregnable stronghold of defence to the oppressed, as well 
 as a favorite hiding-place for outlaws and robber bands. 
 
 During the reign of Herod the Great a large body of des- 
 perate men, who had hitherto defied the authority of Rome, 
 were at length destroyed, or driven out, by soldiers let down 
 in cages, which had been suspended from the cliffs above. 
 "These storied caves still remain, extending for more than a 
 mile, and many of them can only be reached by ropes." l 
 
 NOTEWORTHY PLACES 
 
 i. Kedesh of Naphtali. The modern village of Kades, 
 five miles northwest of Lake Huleh, marks the site of this famous 
 city of the Canaanites. It has a conspicuous position at the 
 end of a low ridge, now covered with ruins, which borders the 
 western side of a beautiful upland basin. Its elevation above 
 the Jordan plain is about 1,600 feet. 
 
 "Just below the city gushed forth a copious spring. Then down a 
 gentle slope were several hundred acres of olive groves, and beyond them 
 a rich alluvial plain supplying abundance of corn and vegetables. Below 
 the rugged brow of the steep ridge, it had its strip of marsh land of in- 
 comparable fertility. Thus they had every kind of produce at their very 
 doors, like that long string of towns which studded the goodly heritage of 
 Naphtali : ' Satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord, 
 (Deut. xxxiii. 23) from Chinnereth to Dan." 2 
 
 Kedesh was one of the fenced cities in Mount Naphtali which 
 1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 244. Ibid., p. 267. 
 
114 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 "stood still in their strength " after the decisive battle between 
 Joshua and the kings of the northern confederacy at the waters 
 of Merom (Huleh). It was appointed as a city of refuge (Josh. 
 xx. 7) : and was allotted to the Levites of the family of Gershon. 
 (Josh. xxi. 32.) Kedesh was the home of Barak, the warrior- 
 judge of Israel, and from this mountain fastness he led his 
 hastily gathered forces against Sisera on the plain of Esdraelon. 
 (Judg. iv. 10.) It was one of the fortified cities taken by Tig- 
 lath-Pileser in the eighth century B. c. (2 Kings xv. 29.) 
 
 Hazor has been identified with Hadireh, at the foot of Jebel 
 Hadireh, three miles southwest of Kedesh. It is directly west 
 of Lake Huleh. A rocky hillock with a few ruins are the only 
 evidences of the existence and former glory of the city of King 
 Jabin, which, at one time, was the head of all the kingdoms of 
 the northern confederates. (Josh. xi. 10, n.) It was the only 
 one of the captured cities of this region which was burned by 
 command of Joshua (xi. 13). The city was subsequently re- 
 built and reoccupied by another Jabin, king of Canaan, the op- 
 pressor of Israel in the period of the Judges. (Judg. iv. 2.) 
 Hazor was selected as one of the garrison towns of the north by 
 King Solomon and a part of the levy which he raised in Israel 
 was devoted to the rebuilding and strengthening of its fortifica- 
 tions, (i Kings ix. 15.) It was taken and destroyed by Tig- 
 lath-Pileser. 
 
 Edrei, mentioned in the list with Kedesh and Hazor, is 
 supposed to be identical with a ruined site known as Tell 
 Khuraibeh, about three miles southeast of Kedesh. (Josh. 
 xix. 37.) 
 
 Safed, ten miles south of Kedesh, is situated in an upland 
 basin 2,775 ^ eet a bove the sea. It is one of the sacred cities 
 of the Jews and the traditional site of the city set upon a hill 
 to which Christ referred in the sermon on the Mount. Safed 
 has no Scriptural associations apart from this supposition. 
 
 The names and probable sites of other towns which have 
 been recently discovered may be briefly summed up as follows : 
 
The Mountains of Galilee 115 
 
 Janoah (Yanu) seven miles east of Tyre (2 Kings xv. 19); Migdal el 
 (Mujeidel) ten miles east of Tyre (Josh. xix. 38) ; Heleph, now Beit Lif, 
 eight miles south of Mujeidel (Josh. xix. 33); Horem (Khurbet Ilarah) 
 ten miles northeast of Kedesh (Josh. xix. 38) ; Beth Anatli (Anitha) five 
 miles west of Kedesh (Judg. i. 33) ; Iron (Yarun) four miles south of 
 Beth Anath (Josh. xix. 38) ; Beih-shemesh (Kh Shema) three miles west 
 of Safed (Josh. xix. 38; Judg. i. 33) ; Ramah, on the northern edge of the 
 plain of Ramah (Josh. xix. 36) ; En-Hazor (Ain Hazzur) five miles north 
 of Iron (Josh. xix. 37) ; Hukkok ( Yakuk) seven miles south of Safed and 
 six west of the north end of the Lake of Galilee (Josh. xix. 34) ; Zebulun 
 (Neby Sebalan) at the eastern base of Jebel Jermuk (Josh. xix. 27). 
 
 Gischala, now El Jish, five miles northwest of Safed, was a 
 prosperous city in the time of Christ. It was the last of the 
 cities of Galilee to hold out against the Romans. 
 
 Upper Galilee was renowned for its strongholds. In the 
 period of the conquest sixteen of the nineteen cities mentioned 
 in Joshua (xix. 35-38) as belonging to Naphtali were strongly 
 fortified. "In the time of Josephus the list of fortresses is a 
 long one, and some of them will be famous while the records 
 of the Hebrew nation are preserved." 
 
 In the hill country of Lower Galilee there are two places, 
 unknown in Old Testament history, whose names are indis- 
 solubly joined with the name and story of Jesus "the Man of 
 Galilee." One was His early home, where He grew up with 
 sinless character and winsome manners from infancy to mature 
 manhood : the other was the place where He hallowed with His 
 presence the cheerful festivities of a marriage; and "manifested 
 forth His glory ' ' in the first exercise of His miraculous power. 
 These places, Nazareth and Cana of Galilee rank with Beth- 
 lehem and Jerusalem in importance, and their natural features 
 have been studied with unusual interest and accuracy of detail. 
 
 Nazareth. There never has been any question concerning 
 the site of Nazareth. It nestles in a broad, green valley or up- 
 land plain, in the southern slope of the last, and lowest range 
 of the Galilean hills. "Itself resting on a_very steep slope, it 
 is encircled by hills on all sides, leaving an undulating saucer- 
 
116 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 shaped basin, with many little valleys running into it on 
 sides and in front of the town. . . . The enclosing sides 
 are, toward the south and east, well cultivated, corn fields 
 mingle with vineyards and fig trees, and the occasional date 
 palms, which here reach their northern limit, are marked fea- 
 tures in the home landscape. But the encircling rim is bare, 
 rocky, and in winter white and naked, a soft chalky limestone." * 
 
 Nazareth is 1,100 feet above the level of the sea. The fif- 
 teen crumpled hills which "rise around it like the edge of a 
 shell to guard it from intrusion" are 400 or 500 feet higher. 
 It is twenty-one miles from the Mediterranean Sea and seven- 
 teen from the lower end of the Lake of Galilee. While it is 
 true that none of the great roads of the country led up to this 
 sunny nook, and, in this respect, it was secluded, it was, 
 nevertheless, very close to the central routes of travel which 
 communicated with the outside world. 
 
 Just below it was the broad thoroughfare of the nations over 
 the plain, intersected by the great trunk road running north 
 and south. On the other side of Nazareth, four or five miles 
 to the north was Sepphoris, the Roman capital of Galilee, where 
 many roads centred ; and through which passed the well-worn 
 caravan and military route from Acre to the trans- Jordanic 
 towns. The town, as the modern traveller sees it, lies on the 
 western side of the enclosed basin and extends for some dis- 
 tance up its slope. "Its streets rise in terraces and the flat- 
 roofed houses, built of the yellowish-white limestone of the 
 neighborhood, shine in the sun with a dazzling brightness, 
 from among gardens and fig trees, olives, cypresses, and the 
 white and scarlet blossoms of the orange and pomegranate." 
 Nazareth is to-day, as it has been in the past, a quiet rural 
 town, the homestead of shepherds, craftsmen, vine dressers 
 and tillers of the soil. The present population, as given by 
 Baedecker, is 7,500 most of whom are of the Christian faith. 
 
 A new carriage road has been constructed from Haifa, 
 > Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 283. 
 
The Mountains of Galilee 117 
 
 twenty-three miles in length, which makes Nazareth easy of 
 access from the coast. The so-called "holy places" shown 
 by the representatives of the Greek and Latin Churches are 
 clumsily-devised modern substitutions for realities which have 
 passed away long centuries ago. The one thing, however, 
 which makes Nazareth and all its surroundings a holy place, is v 
 the life once manifested here, the influence and blessed memory 
 of which can never pass away. 
 
 The public fountain on the eastern edge of the village, known 
 as the "fountain of Mary," has been from time immemorial 
 the one unfailing source of water supply to its inhabitants. 
 
 This overflowing basin is the only thing in Nazareth which 
 can be directly associated with the home-life of Jesus. Hither, 
 without doubt, the Virgin-mother was wont to come nineteen 
 centuries ago with her Divine Child, just as the women of 
 Nazareth come to-day, with their children by their sides or 
 holding to their hands, to secure a daily supply of water for 
 their households. 
 
 " This path under the olive trees, like that from Bethany round the 
 base of Olivet, and like Jacob's well, is one of the few where we may be 
 perfectly sure we are treading for the moment in His earthly footsteps." i 
 
 The ridge which rises to the height of 500 feet, or more, x 
 directly behind Nazareth commands one of the most extensive * 
 panoramic views in Palestine. Northward it includes in its 
 reach the mountains of Naphtali and the snowy heights of 
 Hermon ; eastward the plateaux of Gilead and Bashan ; south- 
 ward Tabor, Little Hermon, Gilboa, the Esdraelon plain, the 
 long ridge of Carmel and the highlands of Samaria as far as 
 Mount Ebal ; westward to the Bay of Acre, and far beyond to 
 the horizon line where sea and sky appear to meet. This out- 
 look is the only place, perhaps, where as Dean Stanley sug- 
 gests the three sacred m&untains, Tabor, Hermon and Car- 
 mel are conjoined in one view. 
 
 1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 235. 
 
118 The Land of Israel 
 
 Here unchanged and unchangeable, the ancient mountains stand up 
 before our eyes, as once long ago before the eyes of the boy Christ on the 
 hilltop, with this difference only that the scene is to us full of the mem- 
 ories of His own life, of chapels reared to consecrate some spot where He 
 is supposed to have stood, and is thus more sacred for His sake than be- 
 cause of the triumphs or woes of the race from which He sprang." J 
 
 Above the line of houses on the slope of this ridge, there are 
 several precipitous cliffs, hidden for the most part by a luxuri- 
 ant growth of prickly-pear, either of which might mark the 
 spot where the bigoted men of Nazareth sought to cast Jesus 
 down headlong. The traditional site, a full half-hour distant, 
 does not fulfill any of the conditions of the narrative. What- 
 ever else may be affirmed of it, the so-called Mount of Precipi- 
 tation is not "the hill whereon the city was built." (Luke iv. 
 28-30.) 
 
 Can a of Galilee. The generally accepted site of Cana is 
 Kefr Kenna, five miles northeast of Nazareth. It is on the 
 direct route from the home of Jesus to the Sea of Galilee and 
 borders the southern arm of the plain of Buttauf. Dr. Zeller, 
 long a resident of Cana, describes it as follows : 
 
 " Its situation is particularly suitable, pretty, and healthy, for the village 
 lies on a hill gradually sloping down toward the west, so that the houses, 
 built in terraces up the slope, receive the cool west wind, which has 
 through the plain of Buttauf a free and strong current over the village. 
 On the south the village is separated by a valley from the higher 
 mountains, separating it from Mount Tabor and the plain of Jezreel. 
 At the south of the village is a copious fountain of excellent water. 
 . . . The gardens at the foot of the hill are luxuriant, and the pome- 
 granates produced there the best in Palestine." 
 
 The modern village has a population of 600, but Dr. Zeller 
 makes the statement that there are sufficient traces that in for- 
 mer times it was at least thrice as large. 
 
 Cana was the home of Nathanael (John xxi. 2) ; the scene 
 of the first miracle (John ii. n); and the place where Jesus 
 1 Conder's Bible Geography, p. 147. 
 
The Mountains of Galilee 119 
 
 received the Nobleman from Capernaum whose son was healed 
 in accordance with His word. (John iv. 46-54.) 
 
 Khurbet Kana on the northern side of the plain of But- 
 tauf, nine miles distant from Nazareth, has been regarded by 
 Dr. Robinson and others as the true site of Cana of Galilee, 
 but recent researches have brought evidences to light, which 
 seem to give additional confirmation to the arguments and the 
 ancient tradition in favor of Kefr Kenna. 
 
 El Meshed, the probable site of Gath-hepher (Josh. xix. 
 13) is situated between Sepphoris and Kefr Kenna, three 
 miles north of Nazareth. This town was the birthplace of 
 Jonah. (2 Kings xiv. 25.) His reputed burial-place is shown 
 on a hill near by. 
 
 Canon Tristram regards the evidence in favor of the identifi- 
 cation of this place with Gath-hepher as very satisfactory. 
 
 Bethlehem of Zebulun, mentioned in Joshua xix. 15 ; and 
 Judges xii. 8, 10, is seven miles northwest of Nazareth. 
 
 Japhia (Yafa) mentioned as a border town of Zebulun 
 (Josh. xix. 12) is two miles south of Nazareth. It was the 
 scene of a dreadful massacre of the Jews by the Romans dur- 
 ing the reign of Vespasian. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON 
 
 THE deflection of Mount Carmel breaks the continuity of 
 the range to which it belongs, and opens up an easy passage- 
 way from the Mediterranean sea to the valley of the Jordan. 
 This break, or intersecting , plain, divides naturally into three 
 parts. 
 
 At Tell el Kasis, nine miles from the sea, a spur, or outlying 
 cluster, of the Galilean hills closes down toward the ridge of 
 Carmel, confining the valley of the Kishon to a narrow pass 
 scarcely more than one hundred yards in width. 
 
 The first division of the Great Plain is the expansion west of 
 this pass. This properly belongs to the Maritime plain, and 
 has been described in connection with that section. 
 
 The second, or central division, is formed by the recession 
 of the hills on either side, eastward of Tell Kasis, to the bases 
 of Gilboa and Little Hermon. It is a broad, undulating plain, 
 triangular in outline, and unbroken by ridges or deeply cleft 
 valleys. 
 
 At the present time it is distinguished from its outgoings on 
 either hand by the name Esdraelon, a Greek form of the 
 Hebrew word Jezreel, but in the Old Testament it is called 
 "the Valley of Megiddo." 
 
 The third division is broken up by the parallel ridges of 
 Gilboa and Little Hermon into three nearly equal parts : the 
 middle portion being the famous valley of Jezreel, which leads 
 down to the Jordan valley. 
 
 While recognizing the close connection, historically and 
 otherwise between the central and eastern portions of this plain, 
 it will be more convenient to study them in detail as separate 
 divisions. 
 
 120 
 

The Plain of Esdraelon 121 
 
 Esdraelon Proper. As already intimated Esdraelon is a 
 great triangle whose western apex is at Tell Kasis. Its longest 
 side reaches to Jenin a distance of twenty miles and is bordered 
 by the mountains of Ephraim. From Jenin to the hills of 
 Galilee, a line skirting the western bases of Gilboa and Little 
 Hermon may be regarded as its eastern side, fifteen miles in 
 length. The remaining side extending along the hills of Gal- 
 ilee to the point of intersection with the eastern side does not 
 exceed twelve or thirteen miles. 
 
 Gateways of Esdraelon. These historic passage-ways 
 have been happily described by George Adam Smith, as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 The entrances are five in number, and are all visible from Jezreel. 
 Three are at the corners of the triangle the pass of the Kishon at Tell 
 el Kasis, the glen between Tabor and the Nazareth hills, and the valley 
 southward behind Jenin. 
 
 The first of these is the way of advance from the plain of Acre; 
 Harosheth of the Gentiles from which Sisera advanced, lies upon it 
 
 The second is the road down the plateau above Tiberias, and Northern 
 Galilee generally ; it is commanded by Tabor, on which there was al- 
 ways a fortress. 
 
 The third is the passage toward that series of meadows which lead up 
 from Esdraelon into the heart of Samaria the Anabaseis of the Hill 
 country." 
 
 The other two gateways to the Great Plain were, of course, Megiddo 
 and Jezreel. Megiddo guarded the natural approach of Philistines, 
 Egyptians, and other enemies from the South; Jezreel that of Arabs, 
 Midianites, Syrians of Damascus, and other enemies from the east. 1 
 
 The fertility of the plain of Esdraelon has been one of its 
 distinguishing features from time immemorial. Although sadly 
 neglected it is still a prolific source of supply to the inhabitants 
 of the land. "Checkered patches of wheat, barley, maize, 
 millet, sesame, and even cotton, with broad, dark-brown strips 
 of fallow land intervening, cover the surface ; and along the 
 hillsides here and there are groves of fig and olive trees, 
 
 1 Hist. Geog., p. 390. 
 
122 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 descending into the plain. The few palms at Jenin, the fruit 
 trees, and the prickly-pear hedges surrounding most of the vil- 
 lages on the heights, add variety to the scene ; still not a quar- 
 ter of the plain is under cultivation, and the remainder is ut- 
 terly desolate." 1 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that there are no historic nor modern 
 towns on the broad expanse of the plain. The liability to in- 
 vasion from so many different quarters is the apparent cause. 
 At the present time those who cultivate its fertile soil live in vil- 
 lages 'on the borders : and this has doubtless been the policy of 
 all who have drawn their supplies from it in the centuries past. 
 
 The Kishon, and its numerous tributaries from the western 
 slopes of Tabor, Gilboa and the hills about Jenin, drain the 
 surface of the plain toward the Mediterranean. 
 
 The general direction of the Kishon (Nahr el Mukutta) is 
 northwest. A portion of its bed is frequently dry in summer. 
 Its close proximity to the base of the mountains of Ephraim 
 makes it liable to sudden overflows which, as in ancient times, 
 sweep everything of movable character before them. 
 
 Several ancient sites whose histories are connected with 
 Esdraelon have been identified with a good degree of certainty. 
 These we note in the order of succession beginning at the 
 western apex of the triangle. 
 
 1. Tell el Kasis. This is a green, flat-topped mound, 
 which was probably the site of an ancient town or fortification. 
 It is on the right bank of the river, over against the generally 
 accepted location of the sacrifice of Elijah on Mount Carmel. 
 
 Canon Tristram regards the name (" Mound of the Priests ") 
 as an indication of the exact spot where Elijah slew the priests 
 of Baal, when he brought them down to the "brook Kishon." 
 It is significant, also, that the Arabic name for the Kishon is 
 Nahr Mukutta, "the river of slaughter." 
 
 2. Jokneam of Carmel. (Tell Keimum) is situated at 
 the foot of a high bluff near the eastern end of the ridge of 
 
 i The Land and the Book, p. 209. 
 
The Plain of Esdraelon 123 
 
 Carmel, twelve miles from the sea. It was a border city of 
 Zebulun, and was assigned to the children of Merari of the 
 tribe of Levi. (Josh. xii. 22, xxi. 34.) 
 
 3. Megiddo. The probable site of this ancient strong- 
 hold, which before the days of Joshua had given its name to 
 the Great Plain, is now known as Lejjun. It is about six miles 
 from Tell Keimum on the border of the plain and, as already 
 noted, guarded the approach to it from the south. " The line 
 of hills, which beginning at Carmel thus far skirts the plain, 
 here makes an offset toward the southwest ; and then runs on 
 again as a tract of lower hills, to Jenin or beyond. In front 
 of this offset a low ridge extends out for some distance, leaving 
 a nook behind it, in which are the remains of Lejjun. . . . 
 The great road from Ramleh issues from the mouth of a valley 
 in this nook, and immediately divides ; one branch, going to 
 Nazareth, passes down by a ruined Khan and bridge; the 
 other, leading to Tabor and Damascus, lies about forty rods 
 east of the Khan." l Dr. Robinson's identification of Lejjun 
 with the Roman city called Legio is accepted without question. 
 The evidence which he presents in favor of its identification 
 with Megiddo, seems to be equally convincing and has been 
 strengthened by recent research. Major Conder has recently 
 suggested another location, known as Mujedda, near Bethshan 
 as a more probable site, but the weight of evidence, as well as 
 of authority, bears heavily against this supposition. 
 
 Dr. G. A. Smith sums up the argument in favor of Lejjun 
 under three heads, as follows : 
 
 (1) It is close to Taanach, the location of which is not disputed. 
 
 (2) The waters of Megiddo are practically Kishon. 
 
 (3) Lejjun is as likely to give its name to the plain as Jezreel is, and 
 did so give it in the time of Jerome. 2 
 
 The name Megiddo appears frequently in the Egyptian rec- 
 ords at Karnak and elsewhere, and, except in one instance, 
 1 Rob. Researches, Vol. III., p. 116. Hist. Geog., p. 387-388. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 which seems to be due to ignorance of geographical details, 
 the descriptions of events connected with it correspond with 
 the location of Lejjun. 
 
 Three great battles were fought in front of Megiddo in an- 
 cient times. 
 
 The first, which took place about 1600 B. c., gave Palestine 
 into the hands of Thotmes III. and his successors. The sec- 
 ond was in the period of the Judges. From Tabor on the op- 
 posite side of the plain the forces of Barak swept down upon 
 the army of Sisera, and, aided by a terrific storm of rain and 
 hail, broke their serried lines and won a signal victory. In 
 that awful hour " the mountain torrents, rapidly swollen, poured 
 down into the Kishon, the river overflowed, and the torrent 
 swept them away chariots and horses in helpless confusion." 1 
 (Judg. v. 20-22.) 
 
 The third great battle at this place was more than six cen- 
 turies later. It was a contest between Pharoah Necho of Egypt 
 and King Josiah of Judah. It was long remembered with sor- 
 row and lamentation in Judah ; for here the good King Josiah 
 was mortally wounded in his chariot by the Egyptian 'archers. 
 (2 Chron. xxxv. 20-25.) 
 
 Another King of Judah, Ahaziah, died of his wounds in 
 Megiddo. He was stricken by the avenging hosts of Jehu near 
 Jezreel and fled across the plain to this city. (2 Kings ix. 27.) 
 
 There is a conspicuous mound (Tell el Mutasellim) a mile 
 northwest of the ruins of Lejjun, which commands an extensive 
 view of the region around, including the whole of the Great 
 Plain. This elevation may have been within the limits of the 
 town or its outlying defences. 
 
 4. Taanach (Tannuk) retains its ancient name unchanged. 
 It is four miles southeast of Lejjun and seven miles south- 
 west of Jezreel (Zerin). Some scattered ruins on a hilltop, 
 near the modern village, are all that remains of ancient 
 Taanach. It was a noted stronghold of the Canaanites 
 1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 196. 
 
The Plain of Esdraelon 125 
 
 and is mentioned five times in Scripture, in connection 
 withMegiddo. (Josh. xii. 21, xvii. n; Judg. i. 27, v. 19; I 
 Kings iv. 12.) It is also mentioned in the Egyptian 
 records of Thotmes III. 
 
 5. Hadad-Rimmon, now known as Rummaneh, is a 
 short distance northwest of Taanach. In this place 
 there was " great mourning for Josiah" by the people 
 of Judah. (Zech. xii. u.) 
 
 6. En-gannim, now Jenin, a town of Issachar lies at the 
 southeast corner of the great triangle. It is twenty miles from 
 the pass of Tell Kasis and seven miles south of Jezreel. It is 
 the probable site of " Ginea," mentioned by Josephus, which 
 answers to En-gannim or garden spring. "Its Hebrew name 
 has been changed the En for fountain was dropped, and the 
 gannim, gardens, transformed into the present word Jenin." 1 
 
 The spring, which long ago gave a name to the place, and 
 which now gives life to the gardens of this prosperous vil- 
 lage, comes from a valley to the east and is conducted into the 
 midst of the town and out among the clustered groups of fruit 
 trees which partially surround it. The Scripture references to 
 En-ganim are Josh. xix. 2, xxi. 29. 
 
 7. Jezreel. The modern village of Zerin, a collection of 
 miserable hovels, occupies the site of this ancient city. It is 
 on the eastern side of the triangle at the head of the valley of 
 Jezreel. It has a slight elevation above the plain on a ridge or 
 spur of the mountain of Gilboa, which juts out toward the 
 northwest. 
 
 Jezreel was the royal residence of Ahab and Jezebel, and has 
 been the scene of many thrilling events in the history of Israel. 
 Its associations call up the names in turn of Gideon and Saul, 
 Elijah and Naboth, Ahab and Jezebel, Joram and Ahaziah ; 
 and of Jehu the swift avenger of the crimes committed by the 
 bloody house of Ahab. Rock-cut wine presses on the slope 
 near the village suggest the vineyard of Naboth which was 
 hard by the palace of Ahab. To secure this coveted posses- 
 The Land and the Book, p. 172, 
 
126 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 sion he caused its rightful owner to be put to death. In the 
 fearful retribution that followed the dead body of his own son 
 was cast into this plat ; while from a window near by Jezebel, 
 the chief instigator of the crime, was thrown down by her own 
 servants to meet an ignominious death, (i Kings xxi. i ; 2 
 Kings ix. 34.) 
 
 8. Shunem, or Sulem, as it is called by the Arabs, lies on 
 the opposite side of the valley of Jezreel. It is three miles due 
 north of Zerin on the southwest slope of the ridge of Little 
 Hermon. There are some mounds in the vicinity, but no ruins 
 above ground. In this village dwelt the Shunammite woman 
 in whose house Elisha was always a welcome guest. As an 
 evidence of Divine approval of this kindness her son, who 
 had been suddenly stricken down by the heat in the harvest 
 field, and had afterward died in her arms, was restored to life 
 in answer to the prayer of Elisha. (2 Kings iv. 8-27.) It 
 was also the home of Abishag (i Kings i. 34) : and of the fair 
 maiden referred to in Canticles vi. 13. 
 
 Shunem was the place of encampment of the Philistines on 
 the eve of the battle of Gilboa. (i Sam. xxviii. 4.) 
 
 9. Chisloth -Tabor (Josh. xix. 12) has been identified 
 with Iksal, a modern village, at the northeast corner of the 
 great triangle. No historic sites have been found on its north 
 side, unless Major Conder's supposition that Sarid (Josh. xix. 
 10-12) is identical with Tell Shodud, should prove to be cor- 
 rect. 
 
 Eastern Extension of the Great Plain. The ridges of 
 Gilboa and Little Hermon run side by side from Shunem and 
 Jezreel to the border of the Jordan valley dividing this section 
 into three divergent branches. The northern branch lies be- 
 tween the mountains of Galilee and the ridge of Little Hermon. 
 Mount Tabor is included in this portion of the plain. East of 
 Tabor it contracts to a narrow valley (Wady Bireh) which 
 descends to the Jordan, but this can hardly be regarded as a 
 portion of the plain. Up to the point where its expansion 
 
The Plain of Esdraelon 127 
 
 ceases the trend is toward the west. The southern branch is 
 an embayed plain or basin. It trends toward the west and its 
 waters are tributary to the Kishon. 
 
 The central portion is the valley of Jezreel. Although 
 greatly contracted in width this is the real continuation of the 
 Esdraelon plain. " It is a beautiful meadow-like expanse, from 
 two to three miles in breadth by about fifteen in length." The 
 brook Jalud follows the course of the valley and drains the in- 
 cline toward the Jordan throughout its extent. " The remark- 
 able and distinguishing feature of these three portions of the 
 plain is, that while both the northern and southern decline 
 toward the west, and their waters flow off through the Kishon 
 to the Mediterranean the middle arm sinks down between 
 them eastward, so that its waters, from a point within the tri- 
 angle, run with a far more rapid descent to the valley of the Jor- 
 dan at Beisan." (Rob. Phys. Geog., p. 132.) 
 
 The line of the watershed within the triangle, to which Dr. 
 Robinson alludes in the above quotation, runs through or very 
 near to the village of Fuleh, about two miles west of Shunem. 
 
 Fountain of Jezreel. The principal source of the Jalud is 
 the famous fountain (Ain Jalud) which issues from a cave at 
 the base of Mount Gilboa, a mile and a half east of Jezreel. 
 A pool fifty feet in diameter is supplied from this fountain 
 head. This has been a favorite resort for herdsmen, and camp- 
 ing-place for caravans and military bands, in all ages. Its 
 identity with the Spring of Harod has been generally admitted : 
 and it fits in exactly with the narrative of Gideon's campaign 
 against the Midianites. There certainly could be no more 
 likely place for his encampment in this vicinity ; nor for the 
 testing to which his men were subjected on the eve of the bat- 
 tle. It is stated also in the narrative that the host of the Mid- 
 ianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in 
 the valley. The hill of Moreh may have been some conspic- 
 uous hillock on the southern slope of Little Hermon, or the 
 name may have been applied to the whole ridge. (Judg. vii. 
 
128 The Land of Israel 
 
 1-25.) At this fountain of Jezreel King Saul encamped with 
 his army before the disastrous battle in which he and his son 
 Jonathan were slain on the " high places " of Gilboa. (i Sam. 
 xxviii. 4, xxix. i, xxxi. 1-7.) 
 
 Beth-Shittah (Judg. vii. 22) is probably identical with Shutta, 
 half-way between Jezreel and Bethshan. 
 
 Bethshan. A flat-topped mound or tell in the lower stretch 
 of the valley of Jezreel marks the site of this ancient strong- 
 hold of the Canaanites. Its modern name is Tell Beisan. It 
 is four miles from the Jordan valley and commands the entrance 
 to the Great Plain from the East. 
 
 " The spur of rock on which it stands projects boldly, as if an outwork, 
 beyond the east end of Gilboa. It rises almost perpendicularly 300 feet 
 above the valley of the Jordan and leaves a strip of rich luxuriant plain, 
 rather more than three miles wide, before the river is reached. But the 
 old city was not confined to the tell on which its fortress stood. The ruins 
 extend over a surface of three miles. The spot is not only in shape a 
 miniature Gibraltar ; it is marvellously favored by nature in other respects. 
 No less than four perennial streams flow through the ancient city, dividing 
 it into quarters. . . . The ruins surpass any others in Western Pales- 
 tine. There are several noble Roman bridges over the Jalud, two of them 
 tolerably perfect; a very fine amphitheatre, 180 feet in diameter, with its 
 seats, corridors, and dens for wild beasts all entire ; a large Saracenic 
 khan, with arches and pavements, and columns of black basalt and white 
 limestone alternating ; many Roman temples, of which more than twenty 
 tall columns are still standing erect, belonging to four or five sumptuous 
 edifices." i 
 
 For a long time after the conquest this important fortress was 
 held by the Canaanites (Judg. i. 27) and here the mutilated 
 bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to the city wall. 
 From the summit of the mound under which the ruins of these 
 walls have long been buried may still be seen the well-beaten 
 thoroughfare to the ford of the Jordan, over which the valiant 
 men of Jabesh Gilead came in the dead of night to take down 
 and bear away these dismembered bodies to their own city, that 
 
 1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 215. 
 
The Plain of Esdraelon 129 
 
 they might give to them an honorable burial, (i Sam. xxxi. 8- 
 13.) In the period of the Greek occupation the name of the city 
 was changed to Scythopolis, but the old name still survives in 
 the modern Beisan. 
 
 Scythopolis was the largest of the cities of Decapolis in the 
 time of Christ, and the only one of that district west of the Jordan. 
 (Matt. iv. 28; Mark v. 20.) At Jezreel the site of Bethshan 
 can be plainly seen. Up this ascent, "the main passage be- 
 tween Eastern and Western Palestine," countless hosts have 
 marched in orderly ranks, harnessed for the battle; or in 
 loosely compacted caravan bands with camels and merchandise, 
 on their way to Phoenicia or Egypt. Not once, but many times, 
 the children of the East have spread along in this valley " like 
 grasshoppers for multitude." Looking down it the watchman 
 on the tower of Jezreel could see the clouds of dust, which the 
 furious driving of Jehu had stirred, from the moment that his 
 chariots had emerged from the shadowy depths of the Jordan 
 valley. (2 Kings ix. 16-21.) 
 
 Mountains of Esdraelon. Three prominent mountains 
 lie between the broken divisions of the main range in this por- 
 tion of the plain, and are separated from each other by the 
 three branches, or arms, already described. This cluster of 
 mountains, familiarly known as Gilboa, Little Hermon and 
 Tabor, is an important feature in the topography, as well as in 
 the history of the Great Plain. 
 
 I. Gilboa. The general direction of the ridge of Gilboa 
 is a little south of east. Its length is about ten miles. It rises 
 from 500 feet above the sea at its eastern end, to an elevation 
 of a little over 1,500 feet. On its summit, near the Eastern 
 end, is the village of Jelbon, which seems to be identical with 
 the appellation of the mountain. Jezreel and Bethshan, already 
 described, stand on slight elevations or spurs at either end of 
 the ridge. An old and well-travelled road from Jenin to Beth- 
 shan, crosses the range at Jelbon. El Mezar, a small Moslem 
 village, rests on the western summit of the mountain about 
 
130 The Land of Israel 
 
 three miles east of Jezreel. "This mountain seems still to be 
 a stronghold of the aboriginal races. The fellahin of Mezar 
 and Jelbon are very dark and square-built, and recall our ideal 
 of the old Canaanites. Mohammedan in name and fanaticism, 
 though very ignorant of thetenentsof the prophet, they attach 
 far greater importance to the worship of the new moon on the 
 high places of this ridge, than to the ceremonial of the mosque. 
 They seem, in fact, to be an isolated survival left overlooked by 
 successive waves of conquerors on these barren, uninviting 
 heights." 1 
 
 The fatal battle in which Saul and Jonathan were slain raged 
 along the northern slope of Gilboa. On these high places Saul 
 and his three sons were smitten ; the army was routed, and 
 "the shield of the mighty vilely cast away." (2 Sam. i. 
 
 19-25-) 
 
 2. Little Hermon. This mountain, now called Jebel 
 Duhy by the natives, answers to the description of the hill 
 Moreh. (Judg. vii. i ; i Sam. xxviii. 4.) It is a shorter 
 ridge than Gilboa and rises more rapidly to its highest eleva- 
 tion (1,690 feet). "Jebel Duhy is simply the bold and abrupt 
 end of a great upheaved basaltic dyke amidst the rolled and 
 denuded limestone hills on all sides of it." 2 
 
 The village of Nain, with name unchanged, stands on 
 the northern slope of the mountain, not far from its western 
 end. "The ruined heaps and traces of walls prove that Nain 
 was of considerable extent and a walled town, and therefore 
 with gates, according to the gospel narrative, though it is not 
 mentioned in the Old Testament. A little above the present 
 village, both on the east and west sides are many tombs hewn 
 out of the rocks. About ten minutes' walk to the east of it is 
 the principal burying-place, still used, and probably on this 
 very path our Lord met the sorrowing procession." * (Luke 
 
 1 Art. by Tristram in Pict. Pal. Vol. I., p. 277. 
 
 8 Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 279. 
 
 3 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 222. 
 
The Plain of Esdruelon 131 
 
 vii. i i-iS.) Here within a short distance of the Shunammite's 
 home a greater than Elisha awaked, by his own almighty 
 power, the cold, inanimate form of the widow's only son from 
 the sleep of death and gave him back to his mother. 
 
 Endor or Endur lies on the same side of Jebel Duhy. It is 
 about two miles northeast of Nain. In the vicinity of its mud- 
 built houses there are many caves which are still utilized, as 
 they have been in the past, for human habitations. 
 
 At Endor some of the leading chieftains of the Canaanites 
 were slain by Barak. (Ps. Ixxxiii. 10.) Hither came King 
 Saul in his extremity from his camp on the other side of the 
 valley of Jezreel, some eight miles distant, to seek counsel from 
 the woman who had a familiar spirit, (i Sam. xxviii. 7-20.) 
 
 Mount Tabor is the most conspicuous landmark in Lower 
 Galilee. It is not a ridge but a shapely mountain which car- 
 ries its symmetrical proportions upward from its base to its 
 crown. Its general contour is that of a truncated cone, but 
 from the plain the flattened platform on its summit is not ap- 
 parent. 
 
 " This strange and beautiful mountain," says Dean Stanley, " is distin- 
 guished alike in form and in character from all around it. As seen from 
 the northwest of the plain it towers like a dome as seen from the east 
 like a long arched mound over the monotonous undulations of the sur- 
 rounding hills, from which it stands completely isolated, except by a 
 narrow neck of rising ground, uniting it to the mountain-range of Galilee. 
 It is not what Europeans would call a wooded hill, because its trees stand 
 all apart from each other. But it is so thickly studded with them, as to 
 rise from the plain like a mass of verdure. Its summit a broken oblong 
 is an alternation of shade and greensward, that seerns made for a 
 national festivity ; broad and varied, and commanding wide views of the 
 plain from end to end." * 
 
 The range of vision from the summit of Tabor extends from 
 Hermon to Ebal and Gerizim ; and from Gilead to the Med- 
 iterranean. In the triad of sacred mountains Hermon, Tabor 
 
 1 Sinai and Palestine, p. 418. 
 
132 The Land of Israel 
 
 and Carmel so often referred to in Scripture, we have the 
 representatives of the most conspicuous features of the moun- 
 tains of Palestine, viz : majesty, grace and park-like beauty. 
 This representative character is seen in such expressions as 
 these: "As Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel 
 by the sea," etc. (Jer. xlvi. 18.) "The north and the south 
 Thou hast created them ; Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in 
 Thy name." (Ps. Ixxxix. 12.) 
 
 Mount Tabor was the rallying point for the hosts of Barak 
 and Deborah (Judg. iv. 5-15): and the place where the 
 brothers of Gideon were slain by Zebah and Zalmunna. 
 (Judg. viii. 1 8, 19.) Tradition has located the Transfigura- 
 tion scene on this mountain, but this does not accord with the 
 story of the Evangelists, nor with the fact of its permanent oc- 
 cupation by a Roman garrison in the time of Christ. 
 
 Taken as a whole, with its outgoings toward the Jordan and 
 the Mediterranean, there is no place, perhaps, on the surface 
 of the earth, of similar extent, that calls up such a long train 
 of historic associations, and stirring events of far-reaching 
 character, as the Plain of Esdraelon. From the very begin- 
 ning of human history it has been the camping-place and 
 marching-ground and battlefield of the nations. "The an- 
 cient Canaanites, with chariots of iron, have traversed it; 
 Midianites and Amalekites, with their vast herds have deso- 
 lated it; and the Philistines, the Jews, the Egyptians, the 
 Syrians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Crusaders, the Saracens, 
 the French all have passed over it, and gone on to victory or 
 defeat. To this day it is exposed to devastating excursions 
 from the Bedawin, those modern < children of the East * who 
 come up from beyond Jordan 'as grasshoppers for multi- 
 tude.' " > 
 
 Thus in a sense more realistic than poetic, Esdraelon has 
 been the valley of decision, where Dynasties have risen and 
 fallen ; where Kingdoms have been lost and won. 
 The Land and the Book, p. 210. 
 
The Plain of Esdraelon 133 
 
 Hence it is not strange that this " valley of Megiddo," with 
 its long record of conflicts, from Thotmes III. to Napoleon, 
 should have been selected as the typical representative of the 
 last great field of conflict between truth and error, right and 
 wrong. (Rev. xvi. 16.) 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF EPHRAIM 
 
 THIS division, sometimes designated collectively as Mount 
 Ephraim, extends from the plain of Esdraelon to the northern 
 border of the tribe of Benjamin. In the later periods of Jewish 
 history Bethel and its neighboring towns were included within 
 its limits, but the term as generally used applies to the mountain 
 tract allotted to the sons of Joseph. 
 
 Mount Ephraim differs from the highlands of Galilee in 
 several characteristic features. Its ridges are more rugged, 
 rocky and irregular ; its plains are smaller and less frequent, 
 but notable for their rich pasturage and abundant crops of 
 grain ; its wadies and glens are more deeply cleft, and in some 
 localities the scenery is exceedingly wild and picturesque. 
 This portion of the inheritance of Joseph has been happily 
 described by Moses as " a land blessed of the Lord for the 
 precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that 
 coucheth beneath : for the chief things of the mountains and 
 for the precious things of the everlasting hills." (Deut. xxxiii. 
 
 i3- J 50 
 
 The mountains of this series which claim our special 
 
 attention are Carmcl, Samaria, the twin peaks of Ebal and 
 Gcrizim, and JJaal Jlazor. 
 
 Mount Carmel. 1'he position of this deflected portion of 
 the main range has been already indicated. It is a ridge about 
 eighteen miles in length which terminates in a bold headland 
 on the Mediterranean coast. At its eastern extremity, the 
 starting point of the deflection, it is 1,730 feet above the sea. 
 The elongated beak at its western extremity is 550 feet above 
 the water. It still retains its old name, Jebul Kurmul. 
 
 134 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 135 
 
 "The excellency of Carmel " (Isa. xxxv. 2) has passed into a proverb, 
 but the mountain, has no doubt, lost much of its original grace, and park- 
 like beauty by the destruction of its trees. The few that yet remain* 
 crown the highest parts 01 stand in lonely isolation here and there along 
 its sides. It is still true, however, that the " characteristic of the ex- 
 cellency of Carmel is the wonderful profusion of flowering and perfumed 
 shrubs bay, storax, linden, arbutus, and innumerable others, wafting their 
 fragrance in volumes through the air, while the open glades, with flowers 
 of every hue, orchis, cyclamen, tulip, lily, are like the Garden of Eden run 
 wild. But all this ' Excellency ' only lasts for a month in spring. More- 
 over, nothing can be more marked than the sudden contrast from the 
 brown, bare hills of Samaria to the copse and woodland which greets us 
 as soon as Carmel is touched." 1 " No wonder that to an Israelite it 
 seemed the park of his country ; that the tresses of the bride's head should 
 be compared to its woods (Cant. vii. 5) ; that its ornaments (excellency) 
 should be regarded as the type of national beauty ; that the withering of 
 its fruits should be considered the type of national desolation." (Amos 
 i. 27; Isa. xxxiii. 9; Nahum i. 4.) 2 "Before him, who stands on 
 Carmel, nature rises in a series of great stages from sea to Alp : the 
 Mediterranean, the long coast to north and south, with its hot sands and 
 palms ; Esdraelon covered with wheat, Tabor and the lower hills of 
 Galilee with their oaks, then over the barer peaks of Upper Galilee, and 
 the haze that is about them, the clear snow of Hermon, hanging like an 
 only cloud in the sky." 3 
 
 Carmel was a favorite resort of Elijah and of his successor 
 Elisha. Here the name and absolute authority of Jehovah 
 were vindicated by Elijah, in the presence of 850 priests of 
 Baal and the assembled thousands of Israel, (i Kings xviii. 
 19-40.) 
 
 The scene of this memorable conflict was at the eastern or 
 landward end of the ridge, some twelve miles from the sea. 
 The probable place of the sacrifice, which seems to fulfill all 
 the conditions of the narrative, still bears the name El 
 Mahrakah, the "burning" or "the sacrifice." It is a rock 
 platform or terrace, 300 feet lower than the summit of the 
 mountain and 1,400 feet above the bed of the Kishon. There 
 
 1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 198. * Sinai and Palestine, p. 420. 
 
 3 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 340. 
 
136 The Land of Israel 
 
 is a deep spring with a stone-built square reservoir, in the 
 upper part of this platform, in which have been found shell-fish 
 'such as exist only in permanent fresh-water streams or pools. 
 Dr. Tristram thinks this fact is sufficient of itself to establish 
 the presumption that this deep and shaded spring, fed from the 
 rocks of Carmel, remained throughout the three years.' drought, 
 when all the wells were dry and the Kishon itself had shrunken 
 to a string of pools, or had been dried up at its fountain heads. 
 He describes the site as "a glade overlooking the plain some- 
 what in the shape of an amphitheatre, and completely shut in 
 on the north by the well-wooded cliffs. No place can be con- 
 ceived more adapted by nature to be that wondrous battlefield 
 of truth, where Elijah appealed to Israel, How long halt ye be- 
 tween two opinions ? In front of the principal actors in the 
 scene, with the king and his courtiers by their side, the thou- 
 sands of Israel might have been gathered on the lower slopes, 
 witnesses of the whole struggle to its stupendous results. ' ' l 
 
 Another site, about a mile north of this platform has been 
 suggested by Mr. L. Oliphant. It is near some tanks capable 
 of supplying water in any quantity, even at that time of drought. 
 This spot is not far from the summit of the hill and within 
 100 yards of the path which leads down to Tell el Kasis, the 
 traditional site of the slaughter of the priests of Baal. Within 
 a radius of two and a-half miles of this spot Mr. Oliphant 
 counted the ruins of twelve ancient towns and villages. 
 
 The after scene in the events of that memorable day, when 
 the prophet directed the king to prepare his chariot and get 
 down in haste lest the rain should stop him, is in keeping with 
 all the facts of observation and experience with respect to the 
 heavy rains, which ofttimes follow the appearance of the " little 
 clouds which arise out of the sea " ; as well those which relate 
 to the behavior of the Kishon at this point, when there is a 
 sudden cloud-burst over the plain. To cross this river and 
 avoid the danger of swamping in the alluvial bed of Esdraelon, 
 2 Tristram's Holy Land, \\ 200, and also J L :v.l. Geog., p. 134. 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 137 
 
 before he should reach Jezreel, eighteen miles distant, required 
 quick work in the face of the on-coming tempest. In order that 
 he might hasten the king's flight the stern prophet of Israel be- 
 comes, for the moment, a messenger of deliverance. "And the 
 hand of the Lord was on Elijah ; and he girded up his loins, 
 and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." (i Kings 
 xviii. 46.) 
 
 Samaria. The Mount, or Hill of Samaria, stands in the 
 midst of a wide green basin (Wady esh Shair), which is shut 
 in on three sides by picturesque, fruitful hills of a higher 
 elevation. It is twenty-three miles from the sea, six miles 
 northwest of Shechem, and about fifteen southwest of Jenin. 
 It is an oblong, shapely hill, wholly isolated from the mountains 
 around it, except on the east, where a low, undulating ridge 
 touches its base and forms a slight connection with the main 
 range. Its elevation above the encircling plain is over 500 feet, 
 and it is belted to the top with broad, green terraces. The 
 outlook from the summit includes in its reach, through an 
 opening in the hills to the west, a glimpse of the blue water of 
 the Mediterranean Sea. The natural advantages of this watch 
 tower among the mountains were recognized by Omri, the 
 father of Ahab, who bought it of Shemer its owner for two 
 talents of silver. To the royal city which he afterward built 
 upon it he gave the name Shomeron (Samaria) " after the name 
 of Shemer, the owner of the hill." (i Kings xvi. 24.) For 
 nearly 200 years this city on the green hill ' was the capital of 
 the ten tribes of Israel. It was central in location,. beautiful for 
 situation and rich in agricultural surroundings ; but it lacked 
 the strength of righteousness and the favor of the God of 
 Israel, who had chosen Mount Zion for His dwelling-place. 
 Under the lead of Ahab and Jezebel it became a famous centre 
 of idolatrous worship in its most degrading forms : and, as the 
 prophet had foretold, on the eve of its destruction, " its glorious 
 beauty," which was on the "head of the fat valley," be- 
 came "a fading flower and as the hasty fruit before the sum- 
 
138 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 mer." (Isa. xxviii. 1-4.) The chief elements of the history of 
 this northern capital of Israel are rebellions, murders, famines 
 and sieges, (i Kings xx. 12-29, xxn - 37> 3& ; 2 Kings vi., 
 vii. and xvii. 5, 6.) 
 
 Samaria was destroyed, after a clcce investment oi~ three 
 years, by the Assyrians (B. c. 721). Its inhabitants, with 
 their brethren of the ten tribes, were carried away beyond the 
 Euphrates. With its fall the kingdom of Israel, which had 
 maintained its separate existence for a period of 255 years, came 
 to an end. 
 
 The foreign element introduced into the land by the kings of 
 Assyria built a new city upon the ruined site of Samaria, which 
 survived all the changes and reverses of subsequent centuries 
 until it came under the control of Herod the Great. In his 
 reign and under his personal direction it was rebuilt and 
 adorned with princely munificence. Palatial buildings crowned 
 its heights and extended down its graded slopes on every side. 
 In honor of the Emperor Augustus' Herod changed the name of 
 the reconstructed city to Sebaste, but the old name was retained 
 by the people of the land : and, after the lapse of many 
 centuries, its ruins are still designated by the name, Samaria. 
 In the height of its prosperity Philip preached the gospel 
 with wonderful success in Samaria: "and there was great 
 joy in that city." (Acts viii. 5-8.) The largest of the 
 ruined structures yet remaining on the slope of the hill is 
 the Church of St. John the Baptist, built by the Crusaders in 
 the twelfth century. Higher up are the remains of clustered 
 columns and of a magnificent double colonnade, fifty feet in 
 width, which swept around one of the upper terraces of the hill 
 a gleaming coronet of marble for a distance of 3,000 feet. 
 " In the western part," says Dr. Robinson, " about sixty of these 
 columns are still erect, and farther east are some twenty more 
 standing irregularly, at various intervals. Many more than 
 these lie prostrate ; and we could trace whole columns in frag- 
 ments nearly or quite to the village." Near the church of St 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 139 
 
 John is an ancient reservoir which suggests the " Pool of Sa- 
 maria ' ' where one washed the blood-stained chariot of Ahab, 
 in which, at last, the King had met his doom, (i Kings 
 xxii. 38.) 
 
 After all the centuries which have intervened, no language 
 so strikingly depicts the present condition of the cities of Ahab 
 and Jezebel ; Herod and Herodias as the words of the prophet 
 Micah, "I will make Samaria as an heap of the field and as 
 plantings of a vineyard : and I will pour down the stones 
 thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations 
 thereof" (i. 16). Not more literally, says Canon Tristram, 
 have the denunciations on Tyre or Babylon been accomplished. 
 
 Ebal and Gerizim. The rounded summits of these cele- 
 brated mountains rise side by side on the western edge of the 
 plain of Mukhna, in the very heart of the mountains of Ephraim. 
 As seen from the south or east, they appear to be conical peaks, 
 but in reality they are parallel ridges running nearly east and 
 west, which terminate abruptly in rounded masses on the edge 
 of the plain. 
 
 The distance between their bases at this point does not ex- 
 ceed 500 yards. Mount Ebal is on the north side of the vale 
 of Shechem. Its summit (3,076) is higher than Mount 
 Gerizim (2,848). " The contrast between Ebal and Gerizim is 
 less real than is often supposed. The dip of the strata sinks to 
 the north across the valley, and this causes a want of springs on 
 the south side of Ebal, but its north side is almost as rich in 
 them as the north slope of Gerizim." " The sides of Ebal are 
 clad with smooth prickly-pear. Gerizim, facing north seems 
 more bare and scarped : caves and springs diversify its face. 
 Up the little wadies, or nullahs, which furrow its sides, rich 
 fruit-orchards of orange, almond, pomegranate, peach, and 
 fig trees climb, till the rocks are too bare to support them ; and 
 on the east corner, is the little Moslem chapel, which crowns 
 the ruins of the Samaritan temple." 
 
 The survivers of the Samaritan sect, which at latest accounts 
 
140 The Land of Israel 
 
 numbered about 160 persons, have a synagogue in Shechem, 
 but to this day they observe the Passover as an annual festival 
 on the summit of Gerizim. " This mountain, " to which the 
 woman of Samaria nearly 2,000 years ago pointed as the 
 venerated shrine where her people worshipped, is the only place 
 on the face of the earth where this sacred festival has been cele- 
 brated continuously, in strict accordance with the law of Moses, 
 since the fall of Jerusalem. The sacred roll of the Pentateuch, 
 which is their warrant for this service and which they guard 
 with jealous care, is perhaps the oldest copy of this 
 portion of the Scriptures in the world. 
 
 On Gerizim the fearless Jotham, youngest son of Gideon, 
 uttered in the hearing of the people in the valley below, the 
 fable of the talking trees. This quaint homily embodied a 
 fitting rebuke to the men of Shechem for their folly and sin in 
 choosing the murderer of his brethren to be their king, as well 
 as a presage of the calamity which was certain to overtake them 
 in the end. (Judg. ix. 6-21.) 
 
 Along the slopes of these mountains, on opposite sides of the 
 valley of Shechem, all the tribes of Israel were ranged on that 
 memorable day, when the book of the Law of God, which 
 Moses had written, was rehearsed and ratified. (Josh. viii. 
 30-35.) Next to the giving of the law at Sinai this was the 
 most sublime spectacle and impressive service in the history of 
 Israel. It is a remarkable fact that two breaks, or lateral val- 
 leys, directly opposite each other, have formed natural amphi- 
 theatres on either slope which seem to have been prepared for 
 such an occasion. The narrative distinctly affirms that the 
 people " stood on this side and that of the ark ; half of them in 
 front of Mount Gerizim, and half of them over against Mount 
 Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded." 
 (Josh. viii. 33; Deut. xxvii. 12, 13.) There is no intimation 
 that either the readers or those who responded were on the top 
 of the mountains. The objection sometimes urged on this sup- 
 position has no support in the story of this impressive service ; 
 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 
 
 nor in the topography of the site where it took place. Says 
 Sir Charles Wilson, " It is hardly too much to say of this natural 
 amphitheatre that there is no other place in Palestine, so suit- 
 able for the assembly of a large body of men, within the limits 
 to which the human voice could reach, and where at the same 
 time each individual would be able to see what was going on. 
 The recesses in the two mountains that form the amphitheatre 
 are exactly opposite to each other, and the limestone strata 
 running up to the very summits in a succession of ledges pre- 
 sent the appearance of regular benches. A grander sight can 
 scarcely be imagined than that which the reading of the Law must 
 have presented : the ark borne by the Levites, on the gentle 
 elevation that separates the waters that flow westward, from 
 those flowing toward the Jordan, and all Israel and their elders, 
 and officers, and their judges on this side and on that, half of 
 them over against Mount Gerizim and half of them over against 
 Mount Ebal, covering the bare hillsides from head to foot." 
 
 In the clear, resonant air of Palestine the human voice can 
 be distinctly heard, as many experiments have demonstrated, 
 across these natural terraces from side to side. 
 
 The view from Mount Ebal includes a magnificent sweep 
 of country extending from the borders of the Negeb to the 
 snow-crown of Hermon, seventy-five miles northward, and 
 from the plateau of the trans- Jordanic range to the shore of the 
 Mediterranean westward. 
 
 Dr. G. A. Smith has admirably summed up the salient fea- 
 tures of this far-reaching panoramic view, in the following de- 
 scription : 
 
 All the four zones, two of the four frontiers, specimens of all the phys- 
 ical features and most of the famous scenes 'of the history, are in sight 
 No geography of Palestine can afford to dispense with the view from the 
 top of Ebal. In detail it is this : 
 
 Looking south, you have at your feet the pass through the range, with 
 Nablus (Shechem) ; then over it the mass of Gerizim, with a ruin or two ; 
 and then twenty-four miles of hilltop at the back of wbiph vou dimly dis- 
 
142 The Land of Israel 
 
 cern a tower. That is Neby Samwil, the ancient Mizpeh. Jerusalem is only 
 five miles beyond, and to the west the tower overlooks the Shephelah. 
 Turning westward, you see nay, you almost feel the letting down, by 
 irregular terraces, on to the plain ; the plain itself flattened by the height 
 from which you look, but really undulating to mounds of 100 and 200 
 feet ; beyond the plain the gleaming sand-hills of the coast and the infinite 
 blue sea. Joppa lies southwest thirty-three miles; Caesarea northwest 
 twenty-nine. Turning northward, we have the long ridge of Carmel 
 running down from its summit, perhaps thirty-five miles distant, to the 
 low hills that separate it from our range ; over the rest of this the hollow 
 that represents Esdraelon ; over that the hills of Galilee in a haze, and 
 above the haze the glistening shoulders of Hermon. Sweeping south 
 from Hermon, the eastern horizon is the edge of Hauran above the Lake 
 of Galilee, continued by the edge of Mount Gilead exactly east of us, and 
 by the edge of Moab, away to the southeast. This line of the Eastern 
 range is maintained at a pretty equal level, nearly that on which we 
 stand, and seems unbroken save by the incoming valleys of the Yarmuk 
 and the Jabbok. It is only twenty-five miles away, and on the near side 
 of it lies the Jordan valley a great wide gulf, of which the bottom is out 
 of sight. On this side Jordan the foreground is the hilly bulwark of 
 Mount Ephraim, penetrated by a valley coming up from Jordan into the 
 plain of Mukhna to meet the pass that splits the range at our feet. 1 
 
 Baal Hazor, now called Tell Astir, is the highest peak of 
 Mount Ephraim. Its elevation is 3,318 feet above the sea. It 
 is nearly five miles north of Bethel ; its southern base being the 
 old border line between 'Ephraim and Benjamin. It is a mass 
 of bare rock prominent in Biblical history mainly as a noted 
 high place, or landmark. All its associations seem to have been 
 with Baal and his worship. Dr. Henderson mentions the fact 
 that in the "registers" (Neh. xi. 33) Hazar was counted to 
 Benjamin, but in other descriptions it is clearly included within 
 the portion of Ephraim. The sheep farm of Absalom was 
 somewhere on the slope of Baal Hazor. To this place Amnon, 
 his brother, was treacherously decoyed and put to death. (2 
 Sam. xiii. 23-29.) 
 
 Interspersed Plains. These have been described as "a 
 i Hist. Geog., p. 120. 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 143 
 
 succession of level spaces, more or less connected, which 
 spreads southward through the centre of the province to within 
 a few miles of its southern border. 
 
 " First from Jenin is the Plain of Dothan, reached by an easy 
 pass through the low hills ; thence another easy pass leads to a 
 series of spacious meadows lying across the country from the 
 south end of Gilboa to the range of hills which bulwark the 
 city of Samaria on the north ; and thence another easy pass 
 leads to a third series of plains running south past the vale of 
 Shechem into the great Sahel Mukhna opposite Gerizim." 1 
 
 The plains of Dothan and Mukhna are especially noteworthy 
 because of their associations with important events in Biblical 
 history. 
 
 Dothan. The great caravan route, which diverges from 
 Esdraelon at Jenin and follows the course of the Wady Selhab 
 to the coast plain, passes through the plain of Dothan. 
 
 It lies directly south of the middle portion of the Esdraelon 
 plain and is separated from it by a low, narrow ridge jutting 
 out from the eastern base of Carmel. 
 
 As seen from the hills above it Dothan is a lovely crescent- 
 shaped basin, almost encircled by hills, which converge around 
 it from the north and south. It is still famous as a rich pasture 
 ground to which the shepherds and herdsmen resort when the 
 pastures of the hills and more elevated plains become dry and 
 parched with the drought of summer. 
 
 Here Joseph found his brethren and was sold by them into 
 slavery. The passing of a company of Midianite merchantmen 
 afforded the opportunity of disposing of him finally, as they 
 supposed, without imbruing their hands in his blood. (Gen. 
 xxxvii. 17-28.) 
 
 A large mound of ruins (Tell Dothan) at the southern end 
 of the plain still bears the name unchanged by which it was 
 known in the days of the Patriarchs. 
 
 Smith's Hist. Gog., p. 327. 
 
144: 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 " Here a spring yet bursts at the foot of a smooth hill. Round this 
 spring Joseph's brethren probably sat as he drew near. They cast him 
 into a cistern that was empty, for the season must have been advanced, 
 and possibly had been one of drought when they took their flocks from 
 Shechem to Dothan. The town remained till the time of the kings, when 
 it was the scene of Elisha's deliverance." 1 (2 Kings vi. 13-17.) 
 
 Remains of the old paved road and dry cisterns or pits have 
 been found near Tell Dothan. 
 
 Mukhna. This upland plain lies between the eastern de- 
 clivities of Ebal and Gerizim, and a broken range from two to 
 four miles distant on the edge of the plateau. 
 
 Its length is about nine miles. The general direction is 
 nearly north and south. The vale of Shechem enters the plain 
 on its western side about one-third of its length from the north- 
 ern end. At either extremity it is contracted by mountain 
 spurs or ridges which close gradually around it, but in the mid- 
 dle portion it expands to a breadth of three or four miles. On 
 the eastern side, directly opposite the valley of Shechem, an 
 offshoot one-half a mile or more in width, runs up among the 
 hills for two or three miles. 
 
 The broader expanse of the plain is noted for its fertility and 
 is carefully cultivated. In the early months of summer it is an 
 almost continuous grain field, from end to end. The portion 
 of ground which Jacob bought of the children of Hamor was 
 at the mouth of the valley of Shechem. It is doubly conse- 
 crated to the memory of the Patriarch by the well which he 
 dug and transmitted to his posterity, and by the tomb of his 
 noble son Joseph, who was buried here in the presence of the 
 assembled thousands of Israel. After the conquest this "parcel 
 of Ground " became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 
 (Josh. xxiv. 32.) 
 
 Wadies. These are numerous and may be readily traced 
 on the Relief Map. 
 
 The most prominent on the eastern side are : Wady Farah, 
 
 Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 66. 
 
The Mountains of Ephfaim 145 
 
 a notable cleft, leading down from the base of Mount Ebal to 
 the Damieh ford and the mouth of the Jabbok ; and Wady El 
 Auj'eh, which begins its course near Baal Hazor and enters the 
 Jordan valley directly east of Bethel. On the western side the 
 torrent beds are shallower with many tributaries : and hence 
 are not so distinctly marked. Among those worthy of special 
 mention are : Wady Arah, which affords a passage-way to the 
 coast from Megiddo ; Wady Selhab, which traverses the length 
 of the plain of Dothan and issues in Wady Abu Nar on the 
 coast plain; Wady Shair (the Barley Vale), running north- 
 west from Shechem, via Samaria, to the coast; Wady 
 Kanah t and its tributaries, beginning in the southern part 
 of the plain of Mukhna and ending in the Aujeh river : and 
 Wady Deir Balut, with its tributaries Wady Ishar and Wady 
 Nimr. 
 
 The natural, or geographical, limit of Mount Ephraim on 
 the south is marked by the course of "the Wady Deir Balut, 
 the Wady Nimr, a line across the water parting to the Wady 
 Samieh, and so down this and the Wady Aujeh to the Jordan, 
 eight miles above Jericho." 1 The head waters of both of the 
 lateral valleys traced in this description, are at the northern 
 base of Baal Hazor. 
 
 TOWNS AND SACRED SITES OF MOUNT EPHRAIM 
 
 i. Shechem. Nablus, the modern representative of 
 this ancient city, is in the very heart of the rich heritage of 
 Joseph. Its position is midway between Dan and Beersheba 
 and almost midway between the sea and the Jordan. It is 
 thirty miles from Jerusalem ; thirty miles from Caesarea ; eight- 
 een from Jenin ; thirty-three from Bethshan ; and about sixteen 
 from the nearest ford of the Jordan. The city overspreads the 
 narrow watershed, which lies between Ebal and Gerizim, parting 
 the rivulets which flow from their bases on either hand, to east 
 
 * Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 249. 
 
146 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 and west. "The streams which burst forth copiously from 
 springs within its walls, run from the east gate down to the 
 Jordan ; and those which dash over the pavements, at the west 
 end of the town find their way through the plain of Sharon to 
 the Mediterranean. A site so fair and lovely, invited by its 
 many waters the earliest settlement of mankind. As old as 
 Damascus and Hebron, Shechem was a city when Abram yet 
 lived in Chaldea." 1 
 
 There is certainly no spot in Central Palestine which rivals 
 this narrow valley in rich verdure, luxuriant vegetation, and 
 luscious fruitage. It calls forth the admiration of travellers 
 from every clime, and may be regarded as a typical representa- 
 tive of the natural beauty and extraordinary productiveness of 
 " the good land " when in its best estate. To the outskirts of 
 this place Abram came, about forty centuries ago with his 
 flocks and herds. It is probable that he crossed the Jordan at 
 the Damieh ford near the mouth of the Jabbok, and followed 
 the course of the Wady Farah to his camping ground, by the 
 oak of Moreh, in front of the city. Here he erected his altar 
 and called on the name of the Lord. (Gen. xii. 6.) Shechem 
 has the singular honor, therefore, of being the oldest of all the 
 sacred places in the land. It is the historical as well as the 
 geographical centre of Palestine. 
 
 With a view to a longer sojourn than that of Abram, and 
 doubtless for the purpose of dwelling apart from the people of 
 the land, Jacob, on his return from Padan Aram, purchased 
 the portion of ground which was before the city and there he 
 pitched his tents and erected his altar. (Gen. xxxiii. 18-20.) 
 It was under the oak which was by Shechem, the same no 
 doubt that had sheltered Abraham that, before he renewed 
 his covenant at Bethel, Jacob hid the strange gods, which 
 some of the members of his household had brought with 
 them from the other side of the Euphrates. (Gen. xxxvii. 
 12-17.) 
 
 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 175. 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 147 
 
 After the conquest Shechem was designated as the central 
 city of refuge on the west side of the Jordan and was given to 
 the Levites. (Josh. xx. 7, xxi. 21.) 
 
 It was the general meeting place for the tribes during the life- 
 time of Joshua. Here the Law was ratified and here the Cov- 
 enant with Jehovah was renewed on that memorable day when 
 Joshua addressed them for the last time. (Josh. viii. 33, 
 xxiv. 1-25.) 
 
 In Shechem Abimelech, the usurper, established his short- 
 lived kingdom. At a later period another usurper, Jeroboam 
 the son of Nebat, was crowned in this place by the representa- 
 tives of the ten tribes, (i Kings xii. 16-20.) It was the first 
 capital of the kingdom of Israel : and long afterward when the 
 ten tribes had been carried away into captivity by the Assyrians, 
 Shechem became the chief seat and the sacred city of the 
 Samaritans. 
 
 The modern city (Nablus) is solidly built, but its streets are 
 narrow, roughly paved and crooked. In some quarters they 
 are arched over as a protection from the heat of the sun. The 
 walls and houses are built of fine white limestone. The town 
 is literally embowered in green, and to the traveller approach- 
 ing it from either end of the valley it presents a very attractive 
 appearance. The present population is estimated at 20,000. 
 "When railways and other modern improvements and institu- 
 tions shall have been introduced into Palestine, this city, from 
 its natural position, abundance of water, great fertility of the 
 surrounding country, and temperate climate, will become not 
 only a favorite resort, but the centre of a large and productive 
 district." l 
 
 Jacob's Well. It may be confidently asserted that no spot 
 of ground within the limits of the Holy Land has been more 
 certainly identified than the site of this wayside well at the en- 
 trance of the valley of Shechem. The ruined chapel or crypt 
 which has protected its mouth from the drifts of earth and dis- 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, p. 145. 
 
148 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 integrated rock that have been piling up around it for ages, is 
 the successor of an older structure dating as far back as the 
 fourth century. Its connection with the well of Jacob has been 
 established by the testimony of the Apostle John ; by the re- 
 markable consensus of traditions concerning it among the 
 Jews, Samaritans, Moslems and Christians ; by the testimony 
 of Eusebius and other witnesses, from the early part of the 
 fourth century and onward ; and by the name still given it by 
 the Samaritans (Beer Jacub), who have never lost sight of it, 
 and in a sense have been its guardians, since the beginning of 
 the Christian era. For many years the visible opening to 
 Jacob's well was in the floor of the subterranean chapel, to 
 which reference has been made ; and could only be reached by 
 a descent of eight or ten feet through a hole in its vaulted roof. 
 Since the discovery of the real mouth of the well under the 
 floor of the chapel by Dr. C. A. Barclay in 1881, the rubbish 
 has been cleared away, and access to it has been made easy 
 from the level of the ground outside. The following account 
 of this important discovery was given by Dr. Barclay in a letter 
 to the Palestine Exploration Fund : 
 
 Jacob's well has again and again been described by writers on Pales- 
 tine, and all have mentioned their disappointment that instead of finding 
 any semblance to a well, or anything which would recall the interview of 
 our Lord with the woman of Samaria, they have merely found a dark, 
 irregular hole amid a mass of ruins in a vaulted chamber beneath the 
 surface of the ground. I have shared this disappointment on many pre- 
 vious visits to Nablus, and again, as a fortnight ago I stood with my wife 
 beside the spot, it was with great regret that we were utterly unable to 
 picture before us the scene so graphically described by the Evangelist. 
 We had clamlx-ml do\vn into the vault, and were vainly attempting to 
 peer into the dark hole amid the heaps of stones and rubbish, when we 
 chanced to notice, a few feet from the opening, a dark crack between the 
 stones. Fancying that possibly it might be another opening of the well, 
 we removed some stones and earth, and soon were able to trace part of a 
 curved aperture in a large slab of stone. Deeply interested at finding 
 this, we cleared away more earth and stones, and soon distinguished the 
 circular mouth of the well, though it was blocked by an immense mass 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 149 
 
 of stone. Calling to aid two men who were looking on, with considerable 
 labor we at length managed to remove it, and the opening of the well 
 was clear. It is impossible to describe our feelings as we gazed down 
 the open well, and sat on that ledge on which doubtless the Saviour rested, 
 and felt with our fingers the grooves in the stone caused by the ropes by 
 which the water-pots were drawn up. The following day we devoted to 
 completely excavating round the opening of the well, and laying bare the 
 massive stones which form its mouth. This consists of the hard white 
 limestone of the country, and is in fair preservation, though parts are 
 broken away here and there. The annexed rude sketch gives some idea 
 of its appearance. 
 
 The exact measurements I also give : 
 
 Length 
 
 ft. 
 
 3 
 
 in. 
 
 Breadth .... . . 
 
 2 
 
 
 Thickness 
 
 ... I 
 
 6 
 
 Height above pavement . 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 Breadth of aperture of well . . . 
 
 ... I 
 
 c 
 
 Depth of well 
 
 67 
 
 o 
 
 Width . 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 We let a boy down to the bottom, but found nothing of any interest, 
 but evidently there is a large accumulation of rubbish. I trust that a 
 stone of such intense interest may long remain uninjured now that it has 
 been exposed to light. l 
 
 Thirty Years' Work, p. 198. 
 
150 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 The accompanying sketch of a section of the well, for which 
 the author is also indebted to the Exploration Fund, 
 shows at a glance the ruined vault, as it formerly ap- 
 peared; the contracted mouth; and the relative propor- 
 tion of masonry and limestone-rock. 
 
 " The mouth and upper portion of the well," says Major Anderson, " is 
 built of masonry, and the well appears to have been sunk through a mix- 
 ture of alluvial soil and limestone fragments till a compact bed of moun- 
 tain limestone was reached, having a horizontal strata which could be 
 easily worked, and the interior of the well presents the appearance of be- 
 ing lined throughout with rough masonry. . . . Robinson states that 
 the well in 1838 was 105 feet deep, and if his measurement is correct, de- 
 bris to a depth of thirty feet has accumulated in thirty-eight years. It was 
 undoubtedly sunk to a great depth for the purpose of securing, even in ex- 
 ceptionally dry seasons, a supply of water, which at great depths would 
 always be filtering through the sides of the well and would collect at the 
 bottom." i 
 
 The associations of this place carry us far back in the world's 
 history amid pastoral scenes and patriarchal customs, but the 
 event which the Apostle John so graphically describes, tran- 
 scends all others in interest and importance. Here in the very 
 beginning of His public ministry Jesus revealed Himself to a 
 perplexed inquirer as the long promised Messiah, the Saviour 
 of the world. Standing on this hallowed spot we may see to- 
 day all the distinctive features of the landscape on which His 
 eyes rested nearly 2,000 years ago. Here are the twin moun- 
 tains which rise abruptly from the plain as if to guard the en- 
 trance to the narrow vale which lies between ; the wide ex- 
 panse of the vast grain field which stretches away to the north 
 and south ; the sites of Salim and Sychar and Shechem within 
 easy reach ; the place of worship on the summit of the sacred 
 mountain of the Samaritans; the dusty road on which the 
 lowly Redeemer travelled skirting the base of this mountain ; 
 and, stranger than all, the great stone recently brought to the 
 
 1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 197. 
 
Flan of 
 lit itt over Jtteol't Writ 
 
 RUINED CRYPT, AND SECTION OF JACOB'S WELL 
 
152 The Land of Israel 
 
 light on which for a few moments He rested His weary limbs 
 at the midday hour. 
 
 Sychar has been identified with Askar, a small modern vil- 
 lage on the site of an older town at the eastern base of Mount 
 Ebal. It is about a half-mile north of Jacob's well and less 
 than two miles northeast of Nablous. " The survey investiga- 
 tions have shown that the ancient Samaritan name of this vil- 
 lage closely approached the Hebrew Sychar, and the error first 
 made by the Crusaders, who confounded Sychar with Shechem, 
 may now be corrected through the explorations which prove 
 the antiquity and ancient name of the village Askar near 
 Jacob's well." l 
 
 Joseph's Tomb is on a slight elevation between Jacob's 
 well and Sychar. It is almost in the middle of the mouth of the 
 valley. The location accords with the Biblical narrative and for 
 many centuries it has been held in reverence by Jews, Samaritans, 
 Moslems, and Christians, as the burial-place of Joseph. 
 
 Belata, a little village a short distance due west of the well, 
 according to the Samaritan and early Christian traditions, 
 marks the place of "the oak which was by Shechem." (Gen. 
 xxxv. 4.) This is supposed to be identical with the "oak of 
 Moreh " (Gen. xii. 6); "the oak that was by the Sanctuary 
 of the Lord "(Josh. xxiv. 26); and " the oak of the pillar that 
 was in Shechem." (Judg. ix. 6.) 
 
 Salim (Salem), the ancient Shalem, is situated on the east- 
 ern arm of the plain of Mukhna about two miles northeast of 
 Jacob's well. It is mentioned in connection with the sojourn 
 of Jacob (Gen. xxxiii. 18) and in the New Testament as a 
 city near ^Enon. (John iii. 23.) 
 
 /Enon has been identified by the Survey party with Ainun 
 six miles north of Salim at the head of the Wady Farah. The 
 statement of the Evangelist that there was much water, or many 
 waters, there would seem to imply that it was not very near to 
 the Jordan. 
 
 ' Thirty Years' Work, p. 125. 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 153 
 
 simply means < springs ' the plural of the oft re- 
 curring Ain or En. The situation was a central one, ap- 
 proachable also from the northward and from all Samaria, and 
 by the central main road from the south. The assumption that 
 the place where John baptized must have been in Judea, at least 
 not in Samaria, is without show of proof." 1 
 
 Of the numerous sites previously proposed there is no other which 
 unites every requisite of name and water supply. Other ^Enons exist far 
 from any Salim, and other Salims in water districts where no name ALnon 
 is found ; but in the Great Wady Farah, which, starting at Shechem, 
 formed the north boundary of Judea, in the Jordan valley, we find a site 
 which appears to satisfy every requirement and to agree well with the 
 new identification of Bethabara." 2 
 
 Doctor Thomson and others dissent from this conclusion and 
 regard this site as one of the number not yet identified. 
 
 Tulluza at the head of the Wady Farah was formerly re- 
 garded as the probable site of Tirzah, but the Survey party has 
 decided in favor of Teiasir a small village eleven miles north- 
 east of Shechem. It stands on a fertile plateau close to the 
 southern border of Issachar. "The beauty of the position," 
 says Major Conder, * ' and the richness of the plain on the west, 
 the ancient remains, and the old main road to the place from 
 Shechem seem to agree well with the idea of its having been 
 once a capital ; and if I am right in the suggestion, then the 
 old sepulchres are probably, some of them, those of the early 
 kings of Israel before the royal family began to be buried in 
 Samaria." 3 Tirzah was a royal city of the Canaanites and its 
 king appears in the list of the rulers subdued by Joshua. (Josh, 
 xii. 24.) It became the capital of the northern kingdom dur- 
 ing the reign of Jeroboam. It was the residence of the succes- 
 sors of Jeroboam until the sixth year of the reign of Omri. 
 Tirzah was notable among the cities of Israel for its beauty. 
 (Cant. vi. 4.) At Tirzah Menahem organized a formidable 
 
 1 Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 154. * Thirty Years' Work, p. 125. 
 3 Thirty Years' Work, p. 86. 
 
154 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 rebellion against Shallum and thence went up to Samaria, who:* j 
 he slew Shallum and reigned in his stead. (2. Kings xv. 14.) 
 Thebez, now known as Tubas, is a prosperous village a short 
 distance southwest of Teiasir. It lies in a little valley among the 
 mountains and is almost surrounded Ly olive groves. Here 
 Abimelech met his death at the hands of a woman, who cast a 
 mill stone down from the wall upon his head. (Judg. ix. 
 
 5-57-) 
 
 Bezek is supposed to be identical with a ruin called Ibzik, 
 directly north of Tubas. At Bezek Saul assembled his army 
 before he crossed the Jordan to the rescue of the men of Jabesh 
 Gilead. (i Sam. xi. 8.) It is thirteen miles from Shechem 
 on the Bethshan road, and is directly opposite the site of Jabesh 
 Gilead. 
 
 Samaria (Sebaste) has been already described. It is five 
 miles northwest of Shechem. 
 
 Dothan is ten miles north of Shechem. The probable site 
 of Bethulia associated with the heroic exploit of Judith, is 
 Mithilia four miles southeast of Dothan. (Judith iv. 6, xvi. 
 
 21.) 
 
 Awertah, which the Samaritans identify with Gibeah 
 Phinehas (Josh. xxiv. 33), is situated on a little knoll, which 
 ri^es in the middle of the plain of Mukhna, about three miles 
 south of Jacob's Well. The reputed tombs of Eleazar and 
 Phinehas, the son and grandson of Aaron are close to the vil- 
 lage. They have been sketched and accurately described by 
 the Survey party. Awertah was occupied as a Samaritan city 
 until the seventh century. The supposition that these vener- 
 ated structures represent the burial-places of Eleazar and his 
 family is supported alike by Jewish, Samaritan and Christian 
 tradition. "The Monument of Phinehas appears to be of 
 great antiquity, but that of Eleazar has been rebuilt." l The 
 traditional tomb of Ithamar is also shown below the village 
 under a grove of olive trees. 
 
 Thirty Years' Work, p. 112. 
 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim 155 
 
 Taanath Shiloh (Josh. xvi. 6) has been identified with 
 Ta'ana four miles southeast of Shalim. 
 
 Arumah, the residence of Abimelech, is represented by El 
 Orma, a small village on the Mukhna plain, six miles south- 
 east of Shechem. (Judg. ix. 41.) 
 
 Janoah (Yanum), a frontier town of Ephraim, lies on the 
 eastern slope of the hills which trend toward the Jordan. It is 
 three miles east of El Orma. (Judg. xvi. 6, 7.) 
 
 Timnath Serah (Timnath Heres) the possession and burial- 
 place of Joshua has been identified by the Survey party with a 
 village called Kefr Haris, ten miles southwest of Shechem. 
 "A sacred shrine exists outside the village to which the name 
 Neby Lusha (no doubt a corruption of Yehusha, or Joshua) is 
 applied. Ancient tradition also places the tomb of Nun at this 
 same village, and a second sacred place called Neby Nun was 
 found close to the supposed site of the tomb of Joshua. " l As 
 regards these sepulchres, says Major Conder, we have an accord 
 between four distinct lines of tradition and the existence of the 
 name of Mount Heres in the modern form of Haris. (See 
 Judg. ii. 9 ; Josh. xix. 50, xxiv. 30.) 
 
 Tiphsah the scene of a cruel outrage in the reign of King 
 Manahem (2 Kings xv. 16), is probably represented by a vil- 
 lage eight miles southwest of Shechem, which bears the name 
 of Tafsah. 
 
 Shiloh, now known as Seilun, lies in a secluded upland val- 
 ley, a short distance east of the great northern highway. It is 
 twelve miles from Shechem and nine miles north of Bethel. 
 "The proofs," says Dr. Robinson, "that Seilun is actually the 
 site of the ancient Shiloh, lies within a small compass : and 
 both the name and the position are sufficiently decisive. The 
 full form of the Hebrew name was apparently Shilon, as we 
 find it in the gentile noun Shilonite. The position of Shiloh 
 is very definitely described in the book of Judges as on the 
 north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth 
 1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 1 1 1. 
 
156 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah." 
 (Judg. xxi. 19.) The ruins of Shiloh are scattered over a 
 little knoll, which rises on the north side of the valley. Ex- 
 cept a narrow opening to the south this valley or plain is shut 
 in on all sides by a circlet of hills. " Northward the Tell 
 slopes down to a broad shoulder, across which a sort of level 
 court, 77 feet wide by 412 long, has been cut. Most 
 probably here stood the tabernacle which was, according to 
 rabbinical tradition, a building of low stone-walls, with the 
 tent drawn over the top. The spring (Judg. xxi.), is three- 
 fourths of a mile northeast, up a narrow valley on the sides of 
 which are rock-cut tombs; in some of these the old high 
 priests of Israel may have been laid." l Shiloh was the resting 
 place of the tabernacle and the religious centre of the Israelites 
 for more than 300 years. (Josh, xviii. i.) At Shiloh Joshua 
 completed the division of the land according to the lot which 
 was cast for them after the several portions had been " de- 
 scribed by cities into seven parts in a book." (Josh, xviii. 
 6-1 o.) Here Eli ministered as high priest and Samuel grew 
 up in the service of the Sanctuary. Shiloh was the residence 
 of the prophet Ahijah, when the wife of Jeroboam came to in- 
 quire of him, concerning her son, who had fallen sick, (i 
 Kings xiv. 17.) 
 
 The site of Shiloh is utterly desolate. The rich soil has 
 been swept from the valleys around it and the hills where once 
 grew the olive and the vine have lost all the glory of their 
 former covering and are now a corrugated mass of bare shelv- 
 ing rocks. 
 
 " Go ye now unto my place, which was in Shiloh, where I set my 
 name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my peo- 
 ple." (Jer. vii. 12.) 
 
 Lebonah (Lubban) is three miles northwest of Shiloh. It is 
 mentioned only in Judges xxi. 19, in connection with Shiloh. 
 
 1 Henderson's Geography, p. 94. 
 
The Mountains of Ephraim i57 
 
 Gilgal (Jiljilia) is four miles south of Lebonah and seven 
 north of Bethel. It is situated on a high ridge near the western 
 brow of the range. This is the Gilgal where Samuel established 
 one of the schools of the Prophets. From Gilgal Elijah went 
 to Bethel and thence to Jericho on his last visit to the " sons of 
 the prophets." (2 Kings ii. i, iv. 38.) 
 
 This place should be distinguished from Gilgal (Jiljulia) on 
 the plain of Sharon, and also from the Gilgal in the Jordan 
 valley, where Israel encamped, after the passage of the river. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF BENJAMIN 
 
 THE possession of the tribe of Benjamin, with the excep- 
 tion of a narrow strip of low land on the Jordan plain, was a 
 rugged mass of mountain territory extending from the border 
 line of Ephraim to the southern slope of Mount Zion. The 
 habitable portion of this highland district was limited mainly 
 to its flattened summit, or watershed, which is about twelve 
 miles in length by two to five in breadth. It has no broad 
 fertile valleys, nor perennial streams, nor continuous cross- 
 ridges, as in the hill country of Ephraim. One of its char- 
 acteristic features is a succession of isolated knolls which rise 
 here and there out of the table-land " suggesting by their very 
 appearance either the site of fortresses or high places for wor- 
 ship." Most, if not all, of these "little hills" mark the site 
 of an ancient fenced city or town. While their summits were 
 utilized for defence, the slopes were terraced and carefully cul- 
 tivated. The portion of Benjamin was never an agricultural 
 region, however. It was a mountain fastness, whose rugged 
 surface and "munitions of rock" were accounted its chief ex- 
 cellence : a land, as one has described it, "more fit for the 
 building of barriers than for the cultivation of food." While 
 this is admitted it is evident, also, to every passing traveller 
 that it was not always a land given over to barrenness and des- 
 olation. The thickly clustered sites of its ancient towns are 
 the witnesses to-day, as they have been for ages, that this nar- 
 row plateau was capable of sustaining a population, at least, as 
 large as that of the tribe of Benjamin in its most prosperous 
 days. 
 
 Aside from the fact that it was preeminently a pastoral re- 
 
 168 
 
The Mountains of Benjamin J-59 
 
 gion, it should be noted that its terraced slopes and alluvial 
 basins, although limited in area, were capable of producing as 
 bountiful crops and as luscious fruits as any other portion of 
 the land. It is also true that in no other part of the country 
 was it possible for neglect and disaster to entail such wide- 
 spread destruction to field and vineyard. As we see it now it 
 is a land /// ruins, as well as a land of ruins. Its groves have 
 been cut down ; its streams have been dried up at the fountain 
 head ; its terraced walls have been destroyed or removed ; the 
 underlying rocks of vineyard and olive-yard have been washed 
 clean and bare; and the rich soil which once covered them 
 has been swept away by winds and winter torrents into the 
 wadies and ravines, and thence into the great plains below. 
 
 The most conspicuous elevation, on the plateau, north of 
 Jerusalem is Neby Samwil, the probable site of Mizpeh. It 
 is five miles northwest of Jerusalem and may be regarded as 
 one of the outer circle of mountains which environ it. Its 
 elevation is 2,936 feet. Neby Samwil was first identified with 
 Mizpeh, the watch tower of Benjamin, by Dr. Robinson. 
 There are some who question this identification, and suggest 
 Mount Scopus and other points in the vicinity, but the greater 
 number of acknowledged authorities accept it without hesita- 
 tion. It is certain, as Canon Tristram suggests, that "no 
 other peak in Southern Palestine affords such a panorama ": 
 nor is there any other that would be so likely to suggest the 
 name. Its modern name, Neby Samwil the tomb of Samuel 
 was given it by the natives, who, on the basis of a very an- 
 cient tradition, regard this peak as the burial-place of Samuel. 
 
 To Mizpeh the people of Israel were assembled to take coun- 
 sel together concerning the attitude of unjustifiable rebellion 
 assumed by the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. xx. i-n); to offer 
 sacrifices and seek deliverance from the Philistines (i Sam. vii. 
 5-11); and again to ratify the selection of Saul as their first 
 king, (i Sam. x. 17.) It was one of the three points, also, 
 where Samuel regularly judged Israel, (i. Sam. vii. 16.) 
 
160 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 Dr. Henderson gives the following statements concerning its 
 relation to the tabernacle : 
 
 Mizpeh is associated with Gibeon " the great high place " in several 
 places; and Nob is similarly conjoined with it in the Talmud (Quarterly 
 75, p. 37). Conder's suggestion that it is also Nob seems not improbable. 
 It is remarkable that on Neby Samwil, a similar levelled platform to that 
 at Shiloh has been traced. " There is a scarp of rock some five or six 
 feet high running north and south, a narrow trench is cut between this 
 and a sort of platform of rock, which is occupied by buildings. North of 
 the church there is a sort of sunk court about 250 feet north and south, 
 by 500 feet east and west, to which the narrow passage leads. On the 
 northeast of this is a flat platform of rock reached by steps with a cave 
 below. . . . East of the platforms are two large shallow reservoirs 
 communicating with one another, and there are two curious shallow re- 
 cesses in the scrap" (Memoirs III., p. 151 A. With these, at Mizpeh 
 and Shiloh, may also be compared the platform found at Kirjath Jearim, 
 where a place was made for the ark, similar to the tabernacle in which it 
 should have been. l 
 
 During the period of the captivity Mizpeh was the scene of 
 the massacre of Gedaliah and the remnant of Judah who 
 had gathered around him for protection. (2 Kings xxv. 22-25 ; 
 Jer. xli. 1-8.) It was probably the "Mountjoye" of the 
 Crusaders, who, from this outlook gained their first view of the 
 Holy City. 
 
 The three notable mountains, Zion, Moriah and Olivet, in 
 and about Jerusalem can be studied to better advantage in con- 
 nection with the topography of the city. 
 
 Wadies and Ravines. The mountains of Benjamin are 
 deeply furrowed on either side by water courses and ravines, 
 which may readily be traced on the contour map. 
 
 On the eastern side the most prominent are the Wadies 
 Nuweimeh and Kelt. 
 
 Wady Nuweimeh begins its course on the edge of the 
 watershed northeast of Bethel, and, passing by the rock Rim- 
 mon descends rapidly into a deep gorge, which opens out into 
 1 Henderson's Geog., p. 175. 
 
WADY SUWEINET 
 
The Mountains of Benjamin 161 
 
 the plain by the fountain, called Ain Duk, a little to the north 
 of the site of ancient Jericho. An old road, marked for some 
 distance by a Roman pavement, led up this pass to Oprirah on 
 the heights of Benjamin and thence to the great northern road. 
 
 Wady Kelt, directly behind Jericho, enters the plain on its 
 south side passing close by the village of Riha, on or near the 
 site of the Roman Jericho. The high mountain called Quar- 
 antana, the traditional mount of the Temptation, towers up 
 nearly a thousand feet between the openings of these ravines. 
 The sides of the Wady Kelt and the face of this precipitous 
 cliff are literally honeycombed with cells and chapels, which 
 were occupied by the Hermits of the fourth and succeeding 
 centuries. Wady Kelt is the wildest and deepest ravine or glen 
 on the western side of the Jordan. It is formed by the converg- 
 ence of several wadies which, rising at different points, drain 
 the greater portion of the eastern side of the plateau. The 
 Wady Suweinet is the most important of these branch 
 valleys, and the Wady Kelt, into which it passes, may be re- 
 garded as its lower basin. " It is a steep, almost impassable, 
 valley, cleaving the land from the Jordan valley up to Bethel on 
 the watershed, and compelling traffic to keep to the central 
 main road." This line of natural cleavage was the probable 
 route of Joshua's army of invasion, the objective point in the 
 first attack being Ai at the head of the valley. The position 
 of this city and the natural features of the defile conform to all 
 the incidental references in the narrative. (Josh. viii. 3-23.) 
 The celebrated Pass of Michmash is near the head of the 
 Wady Suweinet. It is a narrow gorge, or canon, 800 feet 
 deep, " with a sharp rock on one side, and a sharp rock on the 
 other." This was the scene of Jonathan's exploit, (i Sam. 
 xiv. 4.) He and his armor-bearer crossed over from the south- 
 ern cliff called Seneh to Bozaz on the northern side. 
 
 The hiding-place of Elijah, by the brook Cherith (i Kings 
 xvii. 3) has long been associated with the Wady Kelt. While 
 it must be admitted that the prophet could hardly have found 
 
162 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 a safer retreat, it seems to be too far to the south to fit in nat- 
 urally with the incidents of the history. There is no positive 
 or satisfactory proof that Elijah visited this locality at that 
 time, and it seems more probable that he retired to some fa- 
 miliar resort "before Jordan " in the land of Gilead. 
 
 The old historic road from Jericho to Jerusalem crosses the 
 Wady Kelt near its mouth and for a short distance skirts its 
 southern brink. It then diverges obliquely to the south-west, 
 and crossing one or two low ridges enters the valley leading up 
 to Bethany, known as the Wady el Hod. The distance be- 
 tween these points is only thirteen miles in a direct line, but 
 the ascent within that distance is 3,620 feet. 
 
 Of the twenty-six cities originally assigned to Benjamin 
 nearly all were on the heights. The sites of several of them 
 have been satisfactorily identified. 
 
 Gophna, represented by the modern village of Jufna, was 
 a border town on the western side of the plateau. It was the 
 most northerly town within the limits of Benjamin, and was 
 called Ophni at the time of the conquest. (Josh, xviii. 24.) 
 At this place the Roman road to Antipatris diverges from the 
 great northern highway. Dr. Thomson says that traces of this 
 road are still visible, and in some places the pavement is almost 
 entire. Gophna was the last halting-place of Titus on his 
 march to Jerusalem. 
 
 Ophrah, mentioned in Joshuaxviii. 23 and Judges vi. n, 
 has been identified with a village called Taiyebeh thirteen 
 miles north of Jerusalem. It was a frontier city in the north- 
 east corner of the plateau of Benjamin. It seems to be identi- 
 cal also with Ephron or Ephraim referred to in 2 Chron. xiii. 
 19 and John xi. 54. Its situation on a hill near to and over- 
 looking the wilderness would make it a desirable place for the 
 seclusion and retirement which Jesus sought, for a brief inter- 
 val, between the resurrection of Lazarus and the scenes con- 
 nected with the feast of the Passover. 
 
 Bethel (Beitin) is on the main highway ten miles north of 
 
 
The Mountains of Benjamin 163 
 
 Jerusalem. The ridge on which the ruins of the ancient city 
 are thickly strewn, is 2,890 feet above the sea. 
 
 The characteristics of the modern village, as summed up by 
 Dr. Schaff, are " about two dozen Moslem hovels, the ruins of a 
 Greek church, a very large cistern, and wild rocks." The cis- 
 tern referred to is a vast reservoir in the valley southwest of the 
 village. It is 314 feet long by 217 wide. It has long been 
 a broken cistern that can hold no water, but the green pastures 
 around it, which once attracted the eye of Abraham, indicate 
 a good supply of water, if utilized as in the early days, for flock 
 and herd. Some fig trees grow amid the huge boulders around 
 the village, and bright-hued flowers abound, but with these 
 exceptions the place, as Major Conder puts it, seems as it were 
 turned to stone. 
 
 The first halting place of Abraham on his journey southward 
 from Shechem was "a mountain on the east of Bethel, having 
 Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east : and there he builded 
 an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord." 
 (Gen. xii. 8.) This was the first dedication of " the place" 
 as it is afterward called. It was near the Canaanite city 
 called Luz, which occupied the site of the Hebrew city of 
 Bethel. The ruins of Berj Beitin on a little plateau half-a- 
 mile east of Beitin mark the probable site of Abraham's camp 
 and altar. The Jordan valley is plainly visible from this spot. 
 Farther west it cannot be seen. "Standing just here, Lot 
 could see the ciccar, or plain of Jordan, which allured him by 
 its luxuriant and well-watered pasturages away from Abra- 
 ham." 1 On or near the same place the exiled grandson of 
 Abraham saw the vision of angels on the terraced ascent that 
 reached to heaven, and heard the voice which came rolling 
 down the awful heights, "Behold, I am with thee, and will 
 keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee 
 again into this land. And he was afraid, and said, How 
 dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the house of 
 1 Memoirs II., p. 307. 
 
164: The Land of Israel 
 
 God, and this is the gate of heaven. . . . And he called 
 the name of that place Beth-el." The significance of this 
 event appears in the statement of Jacob long afterward in 
 Egypt, "God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land 
 of Canaan and blessed me" (Gen. xlviii. 3): and still more 
 fully in the words of Jesus : " Hereafter ye shall see heaven 
 open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon 
 the Son of Man." (John i. 51.) "That Bethel maintained 
 a reputation as a sacred place, is proved by the narrative of 
 Judges xx. 1 8, (where ' the house of God ' should be rendered 
 Bethel) ; while from verses 26-28 of the same chapter it ap- 
 pears that the ark of the covenant was there in those days." l 
 Bethel was a school of the prophets about a hundred years after 
 it became a high-place for the worship of false gods, "and it 
 frequently reappears in Old Testament history, as if a lingering 
 remnant of true Israelites always adhered to it." (2 Kings ii. 3, 
 xvii. 28.) The prophetic utterance of the man of God, who 
 stood by the altar of Jeroboam and cried against it in the word 
 of the Lord, marks the turning point in its history, (i Kings 
 xii. 32, 33, xi.ii. i-io.) Its present condition may be summed 
 up in a single sentence, the utterance of a later prophet, 
 "Bethel shall come to naught." (Amos v. 5.) 
 
 Beth-aven on the east side of Bethel (Josh. vii. 2) has 
 left no trace of its former existence. The name was evidently 
 applied to the wilderness, also, which bordered it on the edge 
 of the plateau. 
 
 Ai, or Hai has been identified by the survey party with the 
 ancient ruins of Haiyan, two miles east of Bethel. The name 
 corresponds with Aina, which is used by Josephus as the 
 equivalent of Ai. The surroundings of Haiyan conform very 
 closely to the description of the natural features in the immedi- 
 ate vicinity of Ai. (Josh. viii. 9-12.) 
 
 A conspicuous knoll a short distance north of Haiyan has 
 also been suggested as a possible site. Its identification with 
 1 Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 56. 
 
The Mountains of Benjamin 165 
 
 Ai is based mainly on the significance of its name, Et Tell 
 (the heap). On the assumption that this hillock has been the 
 site of an ancient city, its destruction has been as complete as 
 that which befel the city of Ai. " And Joshua burned Ai, and 
 made it an heap forever, even a desolation unto this day." 
 (Josh. viii. 28.) 
 
 Rock Rimmon is nearly four miles east of Bethel on the 
 edge of the plateau. A small village, which still bears the 
 name Rummon, clings to its rugged slopes. The cliff rises 
 several hundred feet above the deep ravine which borders it on 
 the north. The slopes of the wilderness below are full of caves 
 and hiding-places. To this mountain fastness the remnant of 
 the children of Benjamin fled after the disastrous series of bat- 
 tles in and about Gibeah, and here they remained for four 
 months. (Judg. xx. 28-47.) 
 
 Michmash (Mukmas) is a small village on the north side 
 of the pass of Michmash, four miles southeast of Bethel. 
 There are extensive ruins in the vicinity of the modern village. 
 At this point may be seen the upper basin and deep gorge of 
 the Wady Suweinit ; the rock up which Jonathan climbed ; the 
 place from which he started on his hazardous descent (i Sam. 
 xiii. 14); and portions of the deep cleft of the Jordan valley 
 including the northern end of the Dead Sea. Michmash is 
 mentioned in connection with several towns of Benjamin on the 
 route of the Assyrian invader from the north to Jerusalem. 
 (Isa. x. 28.) It was reoccupied by the children of Benjamin 
 after the return from the captivity. (Neh. xi. 31.) 
 
 Geba or Jeba, as it is now called, was on the south side of 
 the chasm directly opposite Michmash and is linked with it in 
 history and association. In the reign of Josiah, Geba marked 
 the frontier of the kingdom of Judah. (2 Kings xxiii. 8.) It 
 was strongly fortified by Asa. (i Kings xv. 22.) After the 
 captivity it was also reoccupied. 
 
 Beeroth, now Bireh, was an ancient city of the Hivite con- 
 federacy. (Josh. ix. 17.) It is two miles southwest of Bethel 
 
166 The Land of Israel 
 
 on the northern highway. This town was the customary rest- 
 ing-place of the pilgrim bands on their return from the great 
 feasts in Jerusalem. From this place, according to tradition, 
 Joseph and Mary turned back to seek the child Jesus. (Luke 
 ii. 44.) 
 
 Ram ah of Benjamin is represented by the modern village 
 of Er Ram. It is situated on a conical hill nearly four miles 
 south of Bireh. Ramah was fortified by Baasha, king of 
 Israel, in order to stop all communication with Jerusalem, (i 
 Kings xv. 17.) It was afterward destroyed by Asa, who took 
 away the stones and timber to strengthen Geba and Mizpeh. 
 (i Kings xv. 22.) It is mentioned several times in connection 
 with the earlier periods of Hebrew history. (Josh, xviii. 25 ; 
 Judg. iv. 5, etc.) This is one of the many Ramahs, or " high- 
 places " mentioned in the Old Testament history. It has often 
 been associated with the birthplace of Samuel, but this is as yet, 
 an unknown site, within the limits, as originally defined, of 
 Mount Ephraim. (i Sam. i. i.) 
 
 Gibeah of Benjamin, called also Gibeah of Saul, was 
 formerly supposed to be identical with the ruins on the top of a 
 conspicuous cone-shaped hill, which bears the modern name, 
 Tell el Ful (Hill of Beans). This location is not regarded by 
 the Survey party as a suitable one for a city with the history 
 connected with Gibeah. Conder is inclined to identify it with 
 Geba, but he also recognizes the apparent use of the name to 
 cover a district on the eastern edge of the plateau. " The 
 similarity in the names," says Doctor Thomson, " is strongly 
 in favor of Major Conder' s theory and against Tell el Ful, 
 since, if the latter was Gibeah, there would then have been 
 three cities near together, and in sight of each other, bearing 
 radically the same names, Gibeon, Gibeah, and Geba a con- 
 junction without example, and one likely to prove in practice a 
 soui i of confusion." Gibeah is frequently mentioned in con- 
 nect^ i with the periods of the Judges and Kings, but was spe- 
 cially notable as the scene of two of the most tragic events in 
 
The Mountains of Benjamin 167 
 
 the history of the land. One was connected with the almost 
 total annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg. xix. and 
 xx.) ; the other was an act of retributive justice which fell upon 
 seven of the direct descendants of king Saul. One of the most 
 pathetic incidents in the records of the Hebrew nation was the 
 lonely watch of Rizpah, the mother of two of the young men 
 who were hanged at Gibeah. (2. Sam. xxi. 1-14.) 
 
 Tell el Ful seems to have been one of the signal, or beacon, 
 stations on the heights of Benjamin. It is two miles south of 
 Ramah, and four north of Jerusalem. 
 
 Anathoth (Anata) is situated on a broad ridge, near the 
 road, three miles northeast of Jerusalem. It was a Levitical 
 city (Josh. xxi. 18) : the place of Abiathar's banishment (i 
 Kings ii. 26); and the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah. 
 (Jer. i. i.) 
 
 The Beth-horons Upper and Lower have occupied their 
 original locations, at the head of the famous pass of Beth-horon 
 for nearly 4,000 years. The road from Gibeon, to the upper 
 town while descending at some points is mainly an ascent ; 
 hence called the " going up " to Beth-horon. (Josh. x. 10, u.) 
 The descent to the lower is very rugged and steep and in 
 places steps were cut in the rock. This was the " going down " 
 to Beth-horon. The lower Beth-horon was at the northwest 
 corner of the territory of Benjamin. Both were border towns, 
 their assignment being with Ephraim, but their history and as- 
 sociations with Benjamin. They were situated on either side 
 of the pass, but the distance between is nearly two miles. " It 
 takes an hour to climb from the lower village to the higher, 
 and one feels that either in ascending or descending, a 
 hostile force would fare ill at the hands of a determined 
 enemy, whether defending the pass, or pursuing a retreating 
 host." 
 
 Gibeon, now El Jib, stands on an isolated, rounded hill 
 about six miles northwest of Jerusalem. The hill is belted by 
 horizontal strata of limestone cut into steps or terraces by the 
 
168 The Land of Israel 
 
 action of the winds and rains. It is nearly surrounded by n 
 fertile plain formed by the convergence of several valleys. 
 
 " Corn fields and olive-yards surround it, and the vines run down the 
 terraced sides of the old site, which, strengthened artificially by rock-cut 
 scarps, presents a magnificent position for an ancient fortress. The mod- 
 ern village is of stone, and contains an old Crusading church, and under 
 its houses are rock-cut tombs, perhaps as old as the time of the conquest 
 of the Holy Land by Israel." 
 
 East of the hill is a fine spring issuing from an excavation in 
 the rock. Below it among a group of straggling olive trees is a 
 broken reservoir, which measures 120 by 100 feet. This is the 
 "pool of Gibeon" where the bands of Joab and Abner met in 
 deadly conflict. (2 Sam. ii. 13.) Gibeon was the chief of the 
 four Hivite cities which surrendered to Joshua. By a clever 
 ruse its inhabitants beguiled the Hebrew leader and secured 
 an alliance which saved them from the destruction that befel 
 their former allies. 
 
 The great battle which decided the fate of the Amorite con- 
 federacy began at Gibeon and ended in the utter rout of the 
 enemies of Israel, who were driven headlong down the Beth- 
 horon pass. (Josh. x. 10, n.) Amasa was treacherously slain 
 by the Great Stone in Gibeon and near the same spot many 
 years afterward retribution came to Joab, his murderer, by the 
 hand of Benaiah, the chief captain of Solomon. (2 Sam. xx. 
 10 ; i Kings ii. 29-34.) 
 
 At Gibeon the tabernacle was set up after the slaughter of 
 the priests by Saul. Here a brazen altar was erected in front 
 of the tabernacle and upon that altar Solomon offered a thou- 
 sand burnt-offerings. Here, also, the young King chose 
 wisdom above the other gifts to be had for the asking, (i Kings 
 iii 4-15.) 
 
 /Sob, the city of the priests, was on one of the hills near to 
 Jerusalem, but its exact site has not been determined, (i Sam. 
 xxi. i, xxii. 9-19.) 
 
 1 Conder's Bib. Geog., p. 73. 
 
The Mountains of Benjamin 169 
 
 Identifications for other places of minor importance have been sug- 
 gested as follows: Archi (Josh. xvi. 2) identified with Ain Arik, six 
 miles west of Bethel ; Sechu ( I Sam. xix. 22) with Khurbet Suweikeh, one 
 and a-half miles south of Beeroth ; Baal Tamar (Josh. xx. 33) with 
 Attara; Gcclerah (I Chron. xii. 14) with Jedireh, one mile northeast of 
 Gibeon; Ananiah (Neh. xi. 32) with Beit Hanina, near Gibeon; Hazor 
 (Neh. xi. 33) with Hazzur, near Beit Hanina ; Gibeath (Josh, xviii. 28) 
 with Jibia, northwest of Neby Samwil; Kirjath of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 
 28) with Kuriet el Anab, formerly supposed to be identical with Kirjath 
 Jearim; Mozah (Josh, xviii. 26) with Beit Mizza, five miles northwest of 
 Jerusalem; Chesalon (Josh. xv. 10) with Kesla, west of Jerusalem; Parah 
 (Josh, xviii. 23) with Farah, six miles northeast of Jerusalem ; Alemeth or 
 Almon (I Chron. vi. 60) with Almit, three miles northeast of Jerusalem; 
 Debir, in pass called Ed-Debr, near road from Jerusalem to Jericho, 
 about midway between these cities; Eleph (Josh, xviii. 28) with Lifta, 
 two miles northwest of Jerusalem. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 JERUSALEM AND ITS ENVIRONS 
 
 JERUSALEM lies on a spur, or broken section, of table- 
 land near the eastern edge of the great watershed of the 
 country. It is thirty miles south of Shechem ; thirty-two in a 
 direct line from the sea ; and eighteen from the mouth of the 
 Jordan. Its position, as indicated by the Survey, is latitude 
 31 47' north, and longtitude 35 14' east. Its parallel of 
 latitude touches the northern end of the Dead Sea and intersects 
 the coast line of the Mediterranean at a point a little north of 
 Ashdod. The elevation of Jerusalem is about 2,500 feet above 
 the Mediterranean, and 3,800 feet above the Dead Sea. 
 
 The section of the plateau on which the city stands is almost 
 separated from the adjoining table-land by two deep valleys, or 
 ravines, which sweep closely around it on three sides. " These 
 valleys, at first mere shallow depressions in the ground, take 
 their rise within a few yards of each other, and at an altitude of 
 2,650 feet above the sea, in the gentle undulation which at that 
 point parts the waters of the Mediterranean from those of the 
 Jordan Valley. Separating at once, they soon take one of those 
 rapid plunges downward so characteristic of the wild glens of 
 Judea, and, after encircling the plateau, meet again at Bir 
 Eyub (the well of Job), 672 feet below their original starting 
 point; hence united as the Wady en Nar, ' Valley of Fire,' 
 they pass by a deep gorge through the Wilderness of Judea to 
 the Dead Sea." 1 
 
 From the point where it touches the city wall the eastern, or 
 Kedron valley, runs nearly due south. The western, or 
 Hinnom valley runs southward along the western side of the 
 
 > Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 2. 
 
Plan, of 
 
 sfnc lent Jerusalem 
 
 ANCIENT JERUSALEM 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 171 
 
 city and then turns eastward to Bir Eyub, where it joins the 
 Kedron, or Jehoshaphat, valley. In former times these en- 
 circling ravines were much deeper, and their sides more 
 precipitous than now. Excavations have shown that rubbish 
 to the depth of seventy or eighty feet has accumulated in the 
 Kedron valley, and that the original bed of the stream has been 
 pushed eastward as much as seventy feet by avalanches of 
 debris from the heights above it. The walls of the ancient 
 city, as might be expected, conformed to these lines of natural 
 defence, making the stronghold which they enclosed one of the 
 most notable in human history. On the east, south and west 
 it was practically unassailable. On the north there was no 
 natural break between the shelving plateau, on which Jerusalem 
 was built, and the table-land which adjoined it. This was the 
 only quarter, therefore, in which there was room for ex- 
 pansion, but it was also the exposed portion of the line of 
 defence ; hence it was necessary to guard it with fortifications 
 of great strength. Before the disastrous siege of the Romans 
 under Titus, this quarter of the city was defended by three lines 
 of massive walls, separated from each other by considerable 
 distances. Each of these was strengthened, at intervals, by 
 immense towers, and protected in front by deep, artificial moats 
 or ditches. These walls, which were frequently broken down 
 or swept away by besieging armies were not always replaced on 
 the old foundations ; and hence there is much uncertainty in 
 regard to their relative positions. With this exception, the 
 natural features of the place furnish the clue to the direction and 
 sweep of the ancient walls. Where these have not been actually 
 traced they may be inferred with a good degree of certainty. 
 
 The recovery of Jerusalem, as far as it has been accomplished, 
 has dispelled the idea that it was always a small place, or that 
 the present circlet of walls, which leaves out more than one- 
 half of Mount Zion, is to be regarded as the counterpart of the 
 walls which surrounded the city of David or of Herod. 
 
 " The Mountains round about Jerusalem " are higher than 
 
172 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 the spur on which the city stands. The only natural or con- 
 tinuous break in this circuit is the valley of Rephaim on the 
 southwest. Beginning with this break the first of the series is 
 the Mount, or Hill, of Evil Counsel to the south ; the next to 
 the southeast of the city is the Mount of Offence, an offshoot 
 from the Mount of Olives ; directly east is the Mount of Olives, 
 or the portion of the ridge to which the name is commonly 
 applied ; on the north the upper part of this triple crowned 
 mountain which curves around as if to shield the city is known 
 as Mount Scopus ; to the northwest, but farther removed than 
 any other peak of the group, is Neby Samwil or Mizpeh ; to the 
 west, an undulating ridge with occasional peaks of slightly 
 higher elevation. 
 
 Internal Divisions. The site included within the walls, as 
 already defined, was divided into two unequal ridges, running 
 north and south, by a deep ravine, called the Tyropoaon valley. 
 This depression begins on the higher level of the plateau, be- 
 tween the surrounding valleys, and extends southward to the 
 Kedron, which it enters not far from its junction with the val- 
 ley of Hinnom. The ridge on the eastern side of the Tyro- 
 pceon is Mount Moriah, on which stood the temple and all the 
 imposing buildings connected with it. The ridge on the west- 
 ern side is 1 20 feet higher than Moriah. It is broader in ex- 
 tent and has a much larger area of available space for buildings 
 and defensive works. In the earlier period of Jewish history 
 this ridge was probably distinguished from the other by the 
 name Zion. The city of David, the Palace of Herod and three 
 of the most noted towers Hippicus, Phasaelus and Mariamne 
 were on this side of the valley. " The researches of Captains 
 Wilson and Warren have shown that the Tyropceon valley has 
 been filled up to the depth of 1 20 feet between Zion and Moriah 
 at the southwest angle of the Temple area : and that the rock 
 here must have been inaccessible until a bridge was thrown 
 across the intervening space." l 
 
 1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 129. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 
 
 A lateral valley, which started very near the present Jaffa 
 gate on the west, ran in an eastern direction to the Tyropoeon 
 valley, separating the western ridge into two parts. It has been 
 ascertained that this valley, a depression scarcely noticeable at 
 the present time, has been filled up with rubbish in some places 
 to a depth of eighty feet. This was the line of separation be- 
 tween the Upper City of Josephus and the Lower City, which 
 occupied the northern portion of the ridge. It is generally 
 agreed that the name Zion properly applies to the portion south 
 of this valley : and that the portion designated as Acra by 
 Josephus, lies to the north of it. 
 
 On the eastern ridge (Moriah) a rubbish-filled valley has also 
 been traced. "This ravine, the < Valley called Kedron,' of 
 Josephus, rises in the eastern half of the plateau and runs into 
 the Kedron a short distance north of the Golden Gate ; in it 
 lies the large pool known as the Birket Israil." The portion of 
 the ridge north of this lateral valley is called Bezetha (new 
 Town), while that which lies directly south of it is known as 
 Moriah. The name Ophel was applied to the southern spur 
 of Moriah, which projected beyond the south wall of the tem- 
 ple area. 
 
 Summing up the foregoing in brief there are two recognized 
 divisions on the western side of the Tyropoeon valley Acra 
 and Zion. On the eastern side there are three divisions 
 Bezetha, Moriah and Ophel. While there are still differences 
 of opinion in regard to some of these subdivisions, they are now 
 generally accepted by the leading authorities, and are so indi- 
 cated on the Ordnance map. 
 
 Modern Jerusalem. The Jerusalem of to-day is literally 
 builded upon its own heap. (Jer. xxx. 18.) Below its houses, 
 courts and paved streets lie the rubbish and wreckage of not 
 less than eight cities which have risen in successive periods and 
 are now piled one above the other. The Holy City of the 
 Prophets, Kings and Apostles is a composite, underground city, 
 which can only be studied in a fragmentary way as the evi- 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 dences of its former existence and greatness are laid bare oy 
 the pick and spade. 
 
 " If we examine it, we have to determine at every step, among the 
 ruins of which city we are standing. Solomon, Nehemiah, Herod, Ha- 
 drian, Constantine, Omar, Godfrey, Saladin, Suleiman each in turn repre- 
 sents a city." * 
 
 Skillfully conducted excavations in and about Jerusalem, at 
 various times, have not only unearthed many interesting re- 
 mains of this underground city, but have given approximate 
 measurements of the depth of the successive accumulations in 
 the valleys and around the walls. 
 
 The rock levels and general contour lines of the entire sur- 
 face throughout the city have also been ascertained by the sink- 
 ing of numerous shafts. 
 
 With all its changes there is much of the Jerusalem of the 
 past that still remains. The mighty framework of the everlast- 
 ing hills on which it rested ; the deep valleys which surrounded 
 it ; and the mountains which stood round about it are the same 
 in all their essential features as when David extolled the beauty 
 of its situation, or when Jesus beheld its later glories and wept 
 over it. As a necessity of its environment Jerusalem is now, 
 and always has been, "a city compactly built together." 
 
 Its streets are narrow ; its open courts few and limited in 
 area, and its houses are massed in close juxtaposition in the 
 several quarters. Despite all the changes and transformations 
 of recent years it still retains the appearance of a great fortress 
 of the Middle ages. Its massive grey walls and broad -leaved 
 gates and flanking towers ; its mosques and churches and con- 
 vents ; its domes and minarets, rising conspicuously above the 
 walls and flat roofs of its houses, present a picture of marvel- 
 lous beauty and impressiveness, as outlined in the clear sun- 
 shine, from Olivet or Scopus. 
 
 The walls, which now enclose the city, were built, or rather 
 i Thirty Years' Work, p. 67. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 1T5 
 
 rebuilt, by Sultan Suleiman A. D., 1542. They rest, for the 
 most part on the foundation of older walls. The material used 
 was drawn from the rubbish heaps around and represents the 
 various structures, and diverse styles of workmanship of differ- 
 ent nationalities and widely separated centuries. "It is proba- 
 ble," says Dr. Thomson, " that the present west wall, from the 
 Tower of David southward, follows the course of the first wall, 
 since the deep valley below it would render that always the 
 necessary line for that part. The wall which crosses Zion east- 
 ward to the Mosk of El Aksa is, of course, modern, both in its 
 foundation and construction. The eastern wall of the Haram 
 area is partly ancient, and I think that the part of the wall at 
 the south end of the same area is built upon foundations as old 
 as the time of Herod, though most of the work above ground 
 is evidently of later date." 1 The Haram wall in places is 
 sixty and seventy feet above the surface of the ground, but in 
 general the height of the encircling wall ranges from twenty-five 
 to forty feet. Its width ranges from ten to fifteen feet. Its cir- 
 cuit is about two and a half miles. In outline it is an irregular 
 quadrangle. It has battlements, salient angles, and, at inter- 
 vals, is strengthened by thirty-four massive square towers. The 
 area now enclosed is 210 acres, but if we add to this the avail- 
 able space not included on the north and south, it would give 
 to the city, in its period of largest extent, a circuit of over 
 four miles and an area of nearly 1,000 acres. This would ac- 
 cord with the descriptions of its former extent as given by 
 Josephus. 
 
 Gates. There are six open gates in the wall which sur- 
 rounds the city, viz : The Jaffa Gate on the west ; the New 
 Gate (Bab Abdul Hamid) in the northwest angle, opened in 
 1889; the Damascus Gate on the north; St. Stephen's Gate 
 on the east ; the Gate of the Moors (Dung Gate), and the 
 Zion Gate, on the south. There are also five closed gates, 
 viz : Herod's Gate on the north ; the Golden Gate on the 
 1 Land and the Book, p. 464. 
 
176 The Land of Israel 
 
 east ; and the Single, Double, and Triple Gates on the south- 
 ern wall of the Temple area. 
 
 Quarters. Two of the principal streets : David Street, 
 running eastward from the Jaffa Gate, and Damascus Street, 
 running southward from the Damascus Gate, traverse the city 
 almost at right angles and divide it into four unequal sections 
 or quarters. 
 
 The southwest section, as thus divided, is known as the 
 Armenian quarter ; the northwest as the Christian ; the north- 
 east as the Moslem; and the southeast (not including the 
 Haram) as the Jewish. The Haram, or Temple area, on 
 Mount Moriah, which contains thirty-five acres, is separated 
 from the rest of the city by an encircling wall of great strength. 
 
 In studying the places and objects of special interest, within 
 the city walls, it will be convenient to make use of these divi- 
 sions in the order given. 
 
 z. The Armenian Quarter. The most interesting monu- 
 ments of the past in this section cluster around the Citadel (Al 
 Kala), which occupies the northwest corner, directly opposite 
 the Jaffa Gate. 
 
 " It consists of a group of buildings including besides soldiers' quarters, 
 the saluting battery and four towers: three of these are evidently of 
 modern date, though they may stand on sites of more ancient towers. 
 Their masonry is composed of portions of arch stones, shafts of columns, 
 etc., mixed with better dressed stones, but the fourth, known as the Tower 
 of David is very different. It is an oblong building sixty-eight feet long 
 by fifty-eight feet broad. Its construction is very singular. It has an 
 escarp of masonry sloping to a ditch ; round the top of this is what is 
 known as a berne or chemin des rondes ; upon this a solid mass of masonry, 
 into which no entrance or appearance of any entrance could be found : 
 this is twenty-nine feet high. Above this the tower is built, the actual 
 tower, which consists of several chambers and a cistern. The lower part 
 of the masonry is very fine, and resembles that at the well-known Wail- 
 ing Place in its dressing, having, however, a large marginal draft. This 
 tower is at the northeast angle of the citadel. The smaller one at the 
 northwest angle also contains a cistern." 1 
 
 ' Our Work in Palestine, p. 24. 
 
 
If ./H 
 
 .. 
 $if/ 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 177 
 
 There seems to be no doubt that these towers are the remains 
 of the ancient structures which Titus left standing when he 
 destroyed the city. The one at the northwest angle corre- 
 sponds with the description of Hippicus, which Josephus took 
 for his starting point in the description of the three walls that 
 in his day defended the city from invasion on the north. This 
 tower is close to the Jaffa Gate. It is somewhat smaller than 
 the dimensions given of Hippicus by Josephus, but its location 
 accords with the descriptions and incidental references in other 
 respects. An additional proof of its identification with Hip- 
 picus has been furnished by the discovery of an aqueduct 
 twelve feet below the level of the present conduit probably 
 that by which, according to the Jewish historian, water was 
 brought into that building. The Tower of David has usually 
 been associated with Hippicus, but the measurements and gen- 
 eral descriptions do not correspond with it. The dimensions 
 of Phasaelus on the northeast angle agree much better with 
 these descriptions. It is larger ; has marks of greater antiq- 
 uity : and this identification has now the sanction of the best 
 authorities. This structure is the most conspicuous monument 
 of ancient times in the city of Jerusalem. While the upper 
 portion has evidently been restored, there seems to be no doubt 
 that the lower base, or substruction belongs to the time of 
 Herod. A location so important as a strategic point must al- 
 ways have been occupied by a defensive work of some kind in 
 every period of the history of Jerusalem. 
 
 Miss M. E. Rogers makes the statement that thousands of skillfully 
 fashioned arrow shafts were accidentally discovered beneath the roof of 
 one of the upper chambers of the Tower of Hippicus, nearly fifty years 
 ago. A leakage in the vaulted roof had damaged the ceiling, and the 
 arrows were exposed to view. " They were piled up by hundreds of 
 thousands in this spacious loft," but by order of the Governor they were 
 again walled up as soon as the damage had been repaired. A few, how- 
 ever, were carried off by the workmen, one of which came into the pos- 
 session of Mr. W. G. Rogers, the father of Miss Rogers. " Experts 
 
ITS The Land of Israel 
 
 pronounced the form and finish of this arrow shaft to be quite perfect, but 
 as it is neither barbed nor feathered, it is the more difficult to determine 
 its age." i 
 
 Somewhere in the vicinity of the citadel stood the magnifi- 
 cent Palace of Herod, but no certain trace of its exact location 
 has been found. 
 
 The Armenian Convent, the largest modern structure in Je- 
 rusalem, with its extensive grounds and quarters for pilgrims ; 
 the English Church; the Church of St. James, next in size, 
 and costly adornments to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre ; 
 and some very attractive gardens cared for by the Armenian 
 monks are included in this quarter. 
 
 2. The Christian Quarter. The objects of special in- 
 terest in this division are the Muristan, ox Hospital of the 
 Knights of St. John, covering a large space in the southeast 
 angle ; the Pool of Hezekiah ; the Palace and Church of the 
 Latin Patriarch ; the Greek Monastery, noted for its ancient 
 library and manuscripts ; and the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre. 
 
 The Pool of Hezekiah is a large reservoir, 240 by 140 
 feet. Its estimated capacity is nearly three million gallons. 
 The bottom of this reservoir is the natural rock, levelled and 
 cemented. Houses rise above its enclosing walls, and the 
 water is reached by a descent of several steps. The pool re- 
 ceives its water supply from the Birket Mamilla, in the upper 
 part of the valley of Hinnom, through an underground con- 
 duit. The reservoir and its supply pipe are supposed to be 
 identical with the " pool and conduit " constructed by Heze- 
 kiah to bring water into the city. (2 Kings xx. 20.) 
 
 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre covers the tradi- 
 tional site of the crucifixion and burial of Christ. It is in 
 reality a collection of churches, chapels and shrines, grouped 
 together under one widely-extended roof. The Chapel of the 
 Holy Sepulchre is a small marble edifice of two rooms twenty- 
 i Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 399. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 179 
 
 six feet long by eighteen wide in the centre of the rotunda be- 
 neath the dome. It is built up from the pavement of the 
 church, and is surmounted by a small crown or dome, sup- 
 ported by sixteen marble columns. In the inner chamber is 
 the so-called tomb of Christ. The only object suggestive of a 
 burial-place, is a marble slab, raised about two feet above the 
 floor. Here for nearly sixteen centuries, devout pilgrims, from 
 every part of Christendom, have kneeled to kiss this cold mar- 
 ble slab ; and yet there is no evidence, in sight at least, of even 
 a fragment of the rock-hewn tomb which the Evangelists have 
 described. If the real tomb where the Lord had lain had been 
 identified beyond question in the age of Constantine it would 
 be reasonable to infer that some of the essential features of its 
 original form and structure would still be preserved. It is 
 scarcely conceivable that a spot so frequently visited, and so 
 carefully guarded, since that day should have nothing to attest 
 its existence but an artificial representation of a tomb which 
 does not accord in any respect with the scores and hundreds of 
 tombs " hewn out in the rock " on every side of the Holy City. 
 Until some evidence of the original tomb can be shown which 
 was hewn out of the rock under the direction of the rich man 
 of Arimathaea, the genuineness of the site will certainly, and 
 with good reason, be called in question. 
 
 In another section of the church, and on a higher elevation, 
 reached by a flight of twenty stone steps, is shown the place 
 of the crucifixion. A large number of traditional sites, 
 more than twenty in all, associated with scriptural incidents 
 ranging in point of time frcm Adam to Christ are pointed out 
 in various nooks and corneU Df the church or its crypts. 
 
 While it is admitted that ic Church of the Holy Sepulchre 
 is the successor of the church built upon this site by Constan- 
 tine A. D., 325, and that it has been revered for more than 
 fifteen centuries as the tomb of Christ, most of the leading 
 authorities at the present time have accepted the conclusion 
 reached by Dr. Robinson many years ago " that its genuine- 
 
180 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 ness is supported neither by well authenticated historical facts, 
 nor by prior traditions, nor by archaeological features." Its 
 position in the midst of the modern city ; the impossibility of 
 placing it outside the line of the second wall, except on the 
 theory of a reentering angle ; its close proximity to the Pool of 
 Hezekiah, which must always have been within the walls ; and 
 the unsatisfactory, not to say damaging, evidence furnished by 
 the number and surroundings of the traditional sites themselves 
 all bear heavily against the supposition that this was the 
 place of the crucifixion and entombment of Christ. To place 
 the Church of the Holy Sepulchre without the wall of Herod's 
 time, with such knowledge as we now possess of its direction 
 and bearings, would give to that portion of the city, as Dr. 
 Thomson expresses it, "a configuration quite preposterous, and 
 so contract the area included between the second wall and the 
 old first wall as to make it scarcely worth while to erect it at 
 all." To this may be added the statement of Major Conder 
 that the recovery of the rock sections shows the improbability 
 of so drawing the second wall as to exclude the Church. 
 
 This venerated shrine, however we may regard its traditional 
 claims, has a history, strangely inconsistent with the character 
 of Him who died on Calvary : and yet one of surpassing in- 
 terest. No other rood of ground, not even Mecca itself, has 
 drawn together so many pilgrim bands from afar, or has cost 
 so much in blood and treasure. Its recovery from the hands 
 of the Infidel was the dominant thought of Christian Europe 
 for more than two centuries, and it is estimated that the several 
 Crusades organized to accomplish this object, cost from six to 
 ten million human lives. 
 
 More wonderful than all else were the errors overruled, and 
 the transformations indirectly brought about in Christendom, 
 by the attempt to recover this empty tomb. 
 
 3. The Moslem Quarter. This is the largest division 
 of the city. It contains the Governor's Palace ; the soldiers' 
 barracks ; the consulates of several nationalities ; the Church of 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 181 
 
 St. Anne ; the Pool of Bethesda ; and the so-called Via Dolo- 
 rosa. The Church of St. Anne occupies a prominent position 
 in this quarter. Its location is a few yards north of the street 
 which leads to St. Stephen's Gate. This church with its ex- 
 tensive grounds was given to Napoleon III., by the reigning 
 Sultan after the Crimean war. 
 
 The Pool of Bethesda. This has been identified with an 
 ancient reservoir, which was excavated in 1888, about one 
 hundred feet northwest of the Church of St. Anne. It 
 measures fifty-five by twelve and a half feet and was cut into 
 the rock for a depth of thirty feet. A flight of twenty-four 
 steps leads down to the east end of the basin. The pool has 
 five supporting arches with five corresponding porches, run- 
 ning along the side. A twin pool was found soon after six feet 
 away, lying end to end, and measuring sixty feet in length. 
 
 This double pool corresponds with the description of Be- 
 thesda given by Eusebius, and by the Bordeaux Pilgrim in 333 
 A. D. 
 
 " At a later period a church was built over the pool by the Crusaders, 
 and they seem to have been so far impressed by the fact of five arches 
 below that they shaped their crypt in five arches in imitation. They left 
 an opening for getting down to the water ; and further, as the crowning 
 proof that they regarded the pool as Bethesda, they painted on the wall of 
 the crypt a fresco representing the angel troubling the water of the 
 pool." * 
 
 In the bed of the ravine or fosse, which may be traced in 
 part along the outside of the north wall of the Haram, is a 
 large reservoir (Birket Israil) 360 x 126 x 75 feet. 
 
 This was formerly supposed to be identical with the Pool of 
 Bethesda, but, as Dr. Robinson suggests, it is more likely to be 
 the remains of the deep trench referred to by Josephus, which 
 separated the north Temple wall from Bezetha. 
 
 The traditional Via Dolorosa runs from the Governor's 
 
 1 Buried Cities and Bible Countries, p. 327. See also Pal. Quarterly, 
 July, 1888, and January, 1891, for plans and fuller description. 
 
182 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 Palace, which occupies a portion of the site of the tower of 
 Antonia, to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It has nothing 
 in common with the city of Herod, and its stations and general 
 direction through the city are merely creations of fancy. 
 
 The Royal Quarries or Cotton Grotto. The extensive 
 excavations designated by one or other of the foregoing names, 
 were made underneath the rock surface of the northern portion 
 of this quarter. From the entrance, near the Damascus Gate, 
 the floor slopes gradually toward the south. In this direction 
 the cavern extends for a distance of about 700 feet. In 
 breadth it varies from sixty to 300 feet. The roof which 
 averages about thirty feet in height, is supported by large pil- 
 lars of native rock. 
 
 The material is a soft white limestone, which hardens by ex- 
 posure to the air. The extent of the quarry indicates that an 
 enormous amount of this stone was required for some purpose 
 connected with the great structures of the city. That this was 
 a mammoth workshop, as well as a quarry, is evident from the 
 great blocks detached and partly-dressed blocks, and the heaps 
 of stone chippings which everywhere litter the floor. 
 
 "In many places," says Sir Charles Wilson, " the stones 
 have been left half cut out, and the marks of the chisel and 
 pick are as fresh as if the quarrymen had only left their work : 
 even the black patches made by the smoke of the lamps are 
 still visible." 
 
 There is no improbability in the supposition that the great 
 stones used in the substructions of the Temple of Solomon and 
 in its surrounding walls, were obtained from this quarry and 
 fitted for their places in this underground workshop. It was the 
 probable source of supply also for the reconstructions of Herod. 
 
 North of this grotto are similar excavations on a smaller 
 scale, in the hillside, which are known as Jeremiah's grotto. 
 These excavations were probably separated from the southern 
 portion by the cuttings made for the foundation of the present 
 wall. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 183 
 
 With respect to the geological formation of the plateau on 
 which the city stands, Sir Charles Wilson says : 
 
 " The upper strata are beds of a hard reddish and grey stone called Misseh t 
 the lower of a soft, easily worked stone known as Melekeh. The latter bed, 
 which is some thirty-five feet thick, underlies the whole city. All the 
 great subterranean reservoirs, nearly all the tombs, the Siloam aqueduct, 
 and the caverns at Siloam have been hewn out of it, and the great quar- 
 ries near the Damascus Gate show that it was largely used for building 
 purposes. The Misseh beds have, however, yielded the best and most 
 durable building material, and the stones from these beds can be easily 
 recognized in the walls by their sharp edges and superior state of preser- 
 vation." * 
 
 4. The Jewish Quarter. This division contains several 
 Synagogues, but has no imposing buildings, such as adorn the 
 other quarters of the city. Its streets are dark, narrow and 
 untidy; its houses are closely joined, dilapidated tenement 
 buildings ; and its inhabitants for the most part live in abject 
 poverty. Ruins heaped upon ruins are the chief character^ 
 istics of this densely populated district. 
 
 The Wailing Place on its eastern boundary is the only 
 part of the Holy City to which the Jews have free access. 
 Here they assemble day after day, and especially on Fridays, 
 to bewail their fallen estate and weep over the desolations of 
 Zion. Here may be seen men and women standing by the 
 wall putting their fingers into its clefts, kissing the great stones, 
 or sitting on the ground and swaying back and forth as they 
 intone the lamentations of the prophets of Judah. This portion 
 of the Haram wall is 155 feet in length and fifty-five in height. 
 Nine of the lowest courses are built of huge blocks of stone. 
 One stone measures sixteen feet in length and another thirteen 
 feet. 
 
 5. The Temple Area. This sacred enclosure, now 
 called the Haram esh Sherif, or " Place of the Noble Sanctu- 
 ary," is an irregular quadrangle of nearly thirty-five acres m 
 area. 
 
 1 The City and The Land, p. 8. 
 
184: 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 " It has been formed by cutting the rock away in some places, by build- 
 ing supporting vaults in others, and by filling in hollows with large stones 
 and rubbish. The dimensions are north side 1,042 feet; east side 
 1,530; south side 922; and west side 1,601." J 
 
 Those who enter this secluded spot, in which, beyond all 
 question, once stood the Temple of Solomon and its successors, 
 pass in a moment from the noise and bustle of the crowded 
 streets into a charming retreat, where no lurking intruder is 
 found ; and where eternal quiet seems to reign. Except the 
 raised platform near the centre, which covers an area of five 
 acres and is paved with smooth slabs of limestone, the surface 
 of the Haram is a beautiful greensward spangled with flowers, 
 and dotted here and there with Cyprus or olive trees. 
 
 The Dome of the Rock (Kubbet es Sakhra) "next after 
 Mecca the most sacred building in Moslem lands," and next 
 after Cordova the most beautiful in any land, occupies the 
 centre of the platform. It is an octagonal building, sheathed 
 with richly colored marbles and encaustic tiles, surmounted by 
 an exquisitely proportioned dome. " From whatever point that 
 graceful dome with its beautiful precinct emerges to view, it at 
 once dignifies the whole city. And when from Olivet, or from 
 the Governor's house, or from the northeast wall, you see the 
 platform on which it stands, it is a scene hardly to be sur- 
 passed." 2 The interior with its wonderful variety of archi- 
 tectural combinations and groupings ; its rich decorations in 
 stained glass, marble and mosaic ; and its lavish profusion of 
 gilt tracery and inscriptions, is indeed " a sumptuous build- 
 ing," well worthy of a visit for its own sake. But the object of 
 special interest, which has given to it a name and world-wide 
 fame, is the great rock, surrounded by an inner row of columns, 
 which rises several feet above its pavement, directly under the 
 Celling dome. This rock, known as the Sakhra, measures 
 fifty-six feet from north to south and forty-two from east to 
 west. Its elevation above the floor is four feet nine and one- 
 
 Pict. Pal., Vol. I., P . 52. 
 
 8 Sinai and Palestine, p. 235. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 185 
 
 half inches at the highest point, and one foot at the lowest. If 
 the platform were removed on which the building rests, this 
 ledge of rock would stand fifteen feet above the level of the 
 Temple area. It is unquestionably the summit of Mount Moriah 
 and must have had an important place in the construction of 
 the Holy House, which crowned this mountain and extended 
 its courts, corridors and retaining walls adown its rugged sides. 
 On the Sakhra itself there are chisel marks and scarping which 
 indicate that a framework of some sort had been carefully fitted 
 around it. 
 
 " The surface of the rock," says Colonel Wilson, of the Ordnance Survey, 
 " bears the marks of hard treatment and rough chiselling, on the western 
 side it is cut down to three steps, and on the north side in an irregular 
 shape, the object of which cannot now be discovered." 
 
 Some authorities have assumed that the floor of the Temple 
 overlaid the Sakhra, with possibly a projecting portion uprising 
 amid the Holy of Holies, while others regard it as the founda- 
 tion of the great brazen Altar. 
 
 It is generally agreed that the Dome of the Rock stands on 
 the site of the Sanctuary or Holy House of both temples. It is 
 scarcely possible, therefore, to conceive of any position which 
 this huge bulk of rock could occupy except that of a central 
 mass or core, around which the mighty structure grew. Be- 
 neath the surface of the Sakhra, at its east end, there is an arti- 
 ficial cave with a superficial area of nearly 600 feet, and an 
 average height of six feet. Its floor is reached by a flight of 
 steps which pass under an archway, but originally it was a 
 cistern or close chamber, whose only opening was through an 
 aperture, now utilized as a window, in the roof. In the centre 
 of the floor is a circular slab of marble, which gives forth a 
 hollow sound when tapped. 
 
 The underground shaft or chamber with which it evidently 
 communicates is called by the Arabs the " Well of Spirits." 
 
 Says Canon Tristram : 
 
 " It is possible that this cave was the receptacle for the offal of the sac- 
 
186 The Land of Israel 
 
 rifice and connected with the water supply which was so arranged as to 
 carry off underground all the refuse of the daily sacrifices without its be- 
 ing seen ; this we learn from the rabbinical commentaries." The same 
 author assumes that " Araunah's threshing floor must have been close to 
 the central Dome of the Rock, because threshing floors in the east are in- 
 variably placed on the ridges of hills and in the most exposed positions, 
 in order that the corn and chaff may catch any breath of wind when they 
 are thrown up into the air by the shovel." 
 
 On this supposition the cave, which may have been used as 
 a place of storage for the grain, would be the most likely hiding- 
 place for Araunah (Oman) and his sons, when the Angel of 
 the Lord suddenly appeared by the threshing floor, (i Chron. 
 xxi. 20; 2 Sam. xxiv. 18-20.) However this may be, it is 
 definitely stated (2 Chron. iii. i) that " Solomon began to 
 build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah, 
 where the Lord appeared unto David, his father, in the place 
 that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Oman the 
 Jebusite." 
 
 On the central platform several buildings fashioned in ex- 
 cellent taste, but of smaller proportions, are grouped around the 
 Dome of the Rock. 
 
 South of the platform is the Great Mosque of El Aksa and 
 its associated buildings. This pile extends to the outer wall of 
 the Haram and covers a space of 272 feet long by 184 wide. 
 The original structure was probably a Christian Church built 
 by the Emperor Justinian. " Taking it in mass and detail," 
 says Hep worth Dixon, " this group on the Temple hill the 
 Mosques of Omar and El Aksa, the domes, the terraces, the 
 colonnades, the kiosks and fountains is perhaps the very 
 noblest specimen of building art in Asia." 
 
 The water supply of the Temple area was provided for 
 by a vast system of conduits and reservoirs that literally honey- 
 combed the underlying rock. More than thirty of these 
 reservoirs were examined, measured, and marked on the chart, 
 by Warren and his party. One cistern of this series in front 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 187 
 
 of the Mosque of El Aksa, known as the " Great Sea," has a 
 capacity of 2,000,000 gallons. Sir Charles Wilson estimates 
 that the total number of gallons which could be stored in these 
 reservoirs would probably exceed 12,000,000. Solomon's 
 Pools were the principal source of supply from without the 
 city. 
 
 Walls of the Temple Area. The northern boundary of 
 the Haram for a distance of 350 feet from the northwest corner 
 was a mass of rock thirty feet high and about 100 feet thick. 
 It was scarped on the outside and protected in front by the 
 ravine which separates Moriah from the hill of Bezetha. This 
 ledge, on which the Turkish Barrack now stands, was the 
 probable site of the great quadrangular fortress of Antonia (or 
 Baras), the chief defence of the Temple on the side of its great- 
 est exposure. 
 
 The towers of this stronghold rose to a great height and 
 overlooked the courts of the Temple. It was connected with 
 its cloisters in the time of Herod by secret passages through 
 which soldiers might be hurried in case of need. It is probable 
 that the chief captain, who rescued Paul from mob violence, 
 led his band of soldiers through one of these underground 
 passages. (Acts xxi. 31-33.) On the stairway which led up 
 to the castle the Apostle made the noble defence recorded in the 
 twenty-second chapter of Acts. From this citadel also, in all 
 probability, Jesus was led away by a band of Roman soldiers to 
 the place of crucifixion. (Matt, xxvii. 27-31.) 
 
 Farther to the east on the line of the depression between the 
 two hills is the basin or reservoir known as Birket Israil. It is 
 360 feet long, 126 feet wide, and eighty feet deep. This 
 ravine, which originally entered the Kedron valley to the south 
 of the northeast angle, is only a shallow depression in some 
 places at the present time, but excavations have shown that its 
 bed, at a point near the angle, is actually 142 feet below the 
 level of the Temple area, or 125 below the outside surface. 
 This is the greatest accumulation of debris which has been 
 
188 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 found in or about the Holy City. No other part of the wall 
 has been so often demolished or thrown down. As we now 
 see it the wall which crosses the bed of this old valley is about 
 forty-five feet high outside, but if we could clear it of these vast 
 accumulations down to its rock foundation it would rise before 
 us to the height of more than 150 feet. On some of the great 
 stones of this wall masons' marks in red paint have been found 
 at a depth of 100 feet below the surface of the ground. These 
 have been identified as Phoenician characters by the best 
 authorities ; and from the fact that the trickling of the paint is 
 upward in some instances it is evident that the marks were put 
 on by workmen in the quarry, or that the stones belonged to an 
 earlier wall and were built in upside down. It is an interesting 
 fact that these characters correspond with masons' marks found 
 on the substructions of the harbor of Sidon. Similar marks 
 were also found on the foundation stones at the southeast 
 corner. "Some of these graphiti," says Mr. Deutsch, of the 
 British Museum, "were recognizable at once as well-known 
 Phoenician characters ; others, hitherto unknown in Phoenician 
 epigraphy, I had the rare satisfaction of being able to identify 
 on absolutely undoubted Phoenician structures in Syria." l 
 
 The Golden Gate is 373 feet south of the northeast angle. 
 It occupies the middle of a prominent projection which extends 
 for some distance beyond the line of the wall. It has a double 
 portal with semi-circular arches. Authorities differ with respect 
 to the date of its construction. It is probable, however, that it 
 belongs to the later Roman period. A shaft was sunk by the 
 engineers of Warren's party 143 feet from the south end of the 
 Golden Gateway, and an attempt was made to drive a tunnel 
 from it to the wal). This was found to be impracticable, be- 
 cause of a massive wall intervening, which was supposed to be 
 a retaining wall of a terrace. "It was concluded, though not 
 with perfect certainty, from the nature of the ground and other 
 reasons, that the Golden Gateway stands from thirty to forty 
 Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 47. 
 

 THE SOUTHEAST ANGLE OF HARAM WALL 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 189 
 
 feet above the rock. The very dangerous nature of the rubbish 
 obliged Captain Warren to close up the shaft." * 
 
 The masonry from this gate to the northeast corner was 
 found to be of a rougher sort than that to the south of it, in- 
 dicating a later construction or reconstruction. 
 
 The Southeast Corner. At this angle the wall rises to 
 the height of seventy feet above the surface of the ground. It 
 is the most imposing mass of solid masonry in or about the 
 modern city : and yet the greater part of this wall lies buried 
 beneath the surface of the ground. Its foundations have been 
 discovered at a depth of over eighty feet, and hence the wall as 
 it stands is not less than 150 feet high. " The masonry here is 
 about the best in all the walls, and some of the stones are very 
 great. (Mark xiii. i.) One at the angle, a good way above 
 the present surface is twenty-six feet long, and over six feet 
 high by seven feet broad. It must weigh over 100 tons. It is 
 said to be the heaviest though not the longest in the walls." 2 
 At the bottom of the shaft, which was sunk at this angle by 
 Colonel Warren, an accumulation of "fat mould filled with pot- 
 sherds " was found. " This was the layer of earth on the rock, 
 and is, perhaps, the actual layer found by Solomon when he 
 began his work of building. Close to the wall it was cut away, 
 gradually closing into it. This, of course, was to allow the 
 stones to be lowered into their position." 3 There were no 
 signs of stone dressing anywhere in this vicinity. This nega- 
 tive proof, coupled with the evidence furnished by the quarry- 
 men's marks, on the lower courses of the wall, make it clear 
 that these great blocks were fashioned elsewhere and made 
 ready to be lowered into their places without the use of " ham- 
 mer or axe or tool of iron." (i Kings vi. 7.) 
 
 Three feet east of the angle a small earthen jar was found in 
 a recess cut out of the rock. " It was standing upright as 
 though it had been purposely placed there." Broken pottery, 
 
 i Thirty years' Work, p. 127. Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 143. 
 
 3 Thirty Years' Work, p. 121. 
 
190 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 a rusty nail, some charred wood, and several jar handles were 
 also found in the red earth which had accumulated around the 
 foundation course. 
 
 The southeast corner of the Haram is supported by a series 
 of substructions or vaulted crypts, called Solomon's Stables. 
 They are regarded as a comparatively modern reconstruction. 
 The evident purpose of their original construction was the en- 
 largement of the Temple area. 
 
 " They consist of semi-circular vaults about twenty-eight feet high, rest- 
 ing on a hundred square piers, chiefly composed of ancient drafted stones. 
 In the middle ages the stables of the Frank kings and of the Templars 
 were here, and the rings to which they attached their horses still exist. 
 The vaults extend ninety-one yards from east to west, and sixty-six yards 
 from south to north. There are altogether thirteen vaults of unequal 
 length and breadth. The arches, in the shape of a rather elongated semi- 
 circle, are borne by eighty-eight columns in twelve parallel rows." l 
 
 There are three closed gates in the face of the south wall, 
 which divide it into three nearly equal portions, viz : the 
 Single, Triple and Double, or Huldah, Gates. 
 
 The following description, (somewhat condensed,) of these 
 noted portals is given by Sir Charles Wilson : 
 
 The Single Gate, the nearest of the three to the southeast angle is a 
 closed entrance of comparatively modern date, which at one time led 
 directly into the vaults known as Solomon's Stables. Beneath the gate 
 Captain Warren found the Great Passage, a narrow way from twelve to 
 eighteen feet high and sixty-nine feet long, which lies beneath one of the 
 aisles of Solomon's Stables. 
 
 Next in order is the Triple Gate, which consists of three arched portals 
 each thirteen feet wide. The openings are closed with small masonry, 
 but they formerly gave access to three parallel passages, which after run- 
 ning some distance beneath the surface of the Haram are blocked with 
 rubbish. 
 
 The Double Gate consists of two entrances, which formerly opened into 
 a vestibule, whence there was an ascent to the Haram area by a vaulted 
 passage at right angles with the line of the wall. The gates are each 
 
 Baedecker, p. 52. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 
 
 eighteen feet wide, and they are covered with large lintels, which have 
 been cracked by the pressure of the masonry above, and are now sup- 
 ported by columns. The Double Gate is undoubtedly a relic of the 
 Temple of Herod. Close to the eastern lintel is a dedicatory inscription 
 to Hadrian, built into the wall upside down, which some writers suppose 
 belonged to the statue erected to that emperor in the Temple area. l 
 
 The vaulted passage and vestibule alluded to in the above 
 description, is reached by a flight of steps from the inside 
 of the Haram, near the entrance to the Mosque El Aksa. The 
 vestibule is a large four domed crypt (thirty by forty feet,) the 
 sides of which are constructed of immense blocks of stone. In 
 the centre is a supporting column a monolith of hard lime- 
 stone eighteen feet in girth and twenty-one feet high. Its 
 capital has a beautiful decoration consisting of alternate leaves 
 of the acanthus and water lily. There is good reason to be- 
 lieve that the Double Gate is identical with the Huldah Gate, 
 mentioned in the Talmud, and, if so, it is probable that Jesus 
 frequently entered the cloisters by the Temple of this passage- 
 way. It is possible that the double vaults beyond the vestibule 
 have been changed in appearance or direction, but the vestibule 
 itself is certainly as old as the gateway. 
 
 Colonel Warren found a marked difference in the structure 
 and general appearance of the portion of the south wall which 
 lies west of the Double Gate. He accounts for this on the sup- 
 position that Herod added this western part as a retaining wall 
 in order that he might level up the southwest corner, and thus 
 secure the space he desired for the enlargement of the Temple 
 Courts. It is a noteworthy fact, in this connection, that the 
 course of great stones, which runs continuously from the east 
 angle, ends at the Double Gate. The longest stone above 
 ground in the Haram wall is at the southwest angle. It meas- 
 ures thirty-eight feet nine inches in length. 
 
 Robinson's Arch. On the west wall, thirty-nine feet from 
 the southwest angle, Doctor Robinson discovered some project- 
 
 i Pict. Pal., Vol I., p. 49. 
 
192 The Land of Israel 
 
 ing stones measuring fifty-one feet in width which suggested 
 the spring of an ancient arch. His inference that this was one 
 of a series of arches supported by piers, belonging to a bridge 
 or viaduct, which spanned the Tyropoeon valley, was confirmed 
 by the discovery of the first pier at the distance indicated by 
 the fragment of the arch. It rested on a pavement more than 
 thirty feet below the surface of the ground, and with it were 
 found nearly three courses of the masonry of the arch. Below 
 this pavement, at a distance of twenty-four feet, an ancient 
 aqueduct was unearthed, twelve feet deep and four feet wide. 
 Above it, and sticking fast in its vaulted roof, were two arch 
 stones of an older bridge. 
 
 The bottom of this drain was found to be 107 feet below the 
 level of the bridge which belonged to Robinson's Arch. In 
 reference to this discovery Colonel Warren says : 
 
 If we are to suppose that the roughly-faced stones at the southwest an- 
 gle were never exposed to view, we must presume, also, that the two ap- 
 parent voussoirs (arch stones) lying on the aqueduct under Robinson's 
 Arch, belonged to a bridge which crossed the Tyropoeon valley previous 
 to the building of the southwest angle of the Sanctuary. This, says Dr. 
 Thomson, would seem to imply that there was a bridge lower and more 
 ancient than Robinson's Arch ; and if the latter was constructed by 
 Herod, the former could not have been of a later date than that of the 
 restored Temple of Nehemiah, or even the Temple of Solomon itself. 1 
 
 It is probable that these remains represent the bridge over 
 the Tyropoeon on which, according to Josephus, Titus stood and 
 held parley with the Jews. (Wars i, vii. 2.) 
 
 Barclay's Gate, or the Prophets' Gate as it is sometimes 
 called, is a closed portal 270 feet from the southwest angle. 
 " This gateway, which is evidently one of those that Josephus 
 describes as leading from the western cloisters of the Temple to 
 the suburb of the city, is partly concealed by rubbish ; but ex- 
 cavations have shown that it was about eighteen feet ten inches 
 wide, and twenty-eight feet nine inches high. The lintel of 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, p. 515. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 193 
 
 the gate is one enormous stone, and its sill is no less than forty- 
 nine feet nine inches above the rock. The gateway formerly 
 gave access to a vaulted passage, one of the approaches to 
 Herod's Temple, which ran for sixty-nine feet in a direction at 
 right angles to the wall, to a domed chamber or vestibule, and 
 then, turning at right angles to the south, gained the Temple 
 area by a ramp or flight of steps." l It is an interesting fact 
 that both of these ancient passage-ways were discovered 
 by American explorers. 
 
 Wilson's Arch, named after its illustrious discoverer Sir 
 Charles Wilson, is a subterranean structure under the gate of the 
 Chain, 600 feet from the southwest angle. Dr. Thomson de- 
 scribes it as follows : 
 
 The arch springs from the foundation wall of the Haram, as does also 
 that of Robinson's Arch, and the stones are similar to it in shape and size. 
 It is semicircular and perfect, composed of twenty-five courses, or tiers, 
 twelve on each side of the keystone, and is, in a word, Robinson's Arch 
 rather, one similar to it completed and the perfection of the work 
 strikes the beholder with admiration and wonder. This arch is by far the 
 most impressive specimen of Roman architecture yet discovered about 
 Jerusalem. Major Wilson believes that there never was more than one 
 arch at that place, the remainder of the Tyropceon valley westward hav- 
 ing been filled up by a solid causeway ; but Warren's excavations have 
 since shown that there was a series of arches forming a viaduct which 
 lead up toward the palace of Herod on the western hill. 2 
 
 The Wailing Place of the Jews, already described, lies be- 
 tween Wilson's Arch and Barclay's Gate. 
 
 The conclusions drawn from the study of the Temple area 
 by Sir Charles Warren in view of all these discoveries, are " that 
 the oldest portion of the wall is the southeast part and the south 
 as far as the Double Gate ; that Solomon's palace stood in the 
 southeast, and that the southwest was built by Herod ; and that 
 the Temple stood in the middle ; where, in fact, Jewish, Chris- 
 
 1 Pict. Pal., p. 40, Art. by Col. Wilson. 
 8 Land and Book, p. 5 16. 
 
194: The Land of Israel 
 
 tian and Mohammedan tradition all unite in placing it." l In 
 his official report Warren gives it as his conviction also, that 
 the portions of the Haram wall from Wilson's Arch to Barclay's 
 Gate : and from the Double Gate round by the southeast angle 
 are Solomonic : while the wall at the northeast angle ' ' is pre- 
 sumably the work of the Kings of Judah, the old wall to which 
 Joseph us tells us the wall of Agrippa was joined." 
 
 It should be noted in connection with this study of the Tem- 
 ple Hill that the wall we have been tracing is only the wall of 
 the Temple enclosure, and not of the Sanctuary itself. Of this, 
 as Christ had foretold, there was not left one stone upon another 
 that was not thrown down. (Matt. xxiv. i, 2.) In conse- 
 quence of this total destruction its exact site is in controversy 
 to-day. The entrances to which reference has been made were 
 passage-ways to the cloisters or outer courts only. The real 
 gates of the Temple admitted to inside enclosures on higher 
 levels. 
 
 The general plans of the first and second Temples were the 
 same. The principal divergence in structure, extent and ap- 
 pearance, was in the outer courts. Solomon's Temple, accord- 
 ing to Warren's estimate, covered an area of 900 feet from east 
 to west by 600 feet from north to south. The so-called Tem- 
 ple of Herod, which was a reconstruction and enlargement of 
 the Temple of Zerubbabel, "appears to have consisted," says 
 Warren, "of the old enclosure of King Solomon's Temple, the 
 old palace, and a piece built in at the southwest angle to make 
 the whole a square of about 900 feet a side. And besides this 
 there was the portion on which the towers protecting the side 
 of the Temple rested, called by Josephus the Exhedra, and 
 connected with the main castle of Antonia by a double set of 
 cloisters." 2 
 
 Much confusion has arisen in the minds of Bible students 
 from failure to distinguish between three different usages of the 
 word "Temple" in ancient and modern times. 
 
 1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 63. * Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 252. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 195 
 
 i st. The word is used frequently to describe the Holy 
 House with its court, which stood upon the summit of the 
 mountain, and was double the size of the Tabernacle. 
 
 2d. It is applied to all the buildings and courts included in 
 the Sanctuary proper, or "Mountain of the House," which 
 was fenced off from those who were not acknowledged as "Is- 
 raelites " by birth or adoption. 
 
 3d. It is sometimes used to describe all of the closely com- 
 pacted structure within the limits of the retaining walls. 
 
 In the time of Christ all the space between the east and west 
 walls, now standing, and between the Tower of Antonia and 
 the south wall was occupied by the Sanctuary with its courts 
 and the Court of the Gentiles. 
 
 The Court of the Gentiles was the lowest level or terrace 
 of the Holy Mountain. It was separated from the Sanctuary 
 or Mountain of the House by a stone wall four or five feet in 
 height, called "the Soreg." Along this wall at intervals stone 
 tablets were placed, warning all who were not Israelites to re- 
 main outside under penalty of death. Near the site of the 
 Tower of Antonia, M. Ganneau found one of these tablets 
 with a Greek inscription in large, clear-cut characters. The 
 translation is given as follows : " No stranger is to enter within 
 the balustrade round the temple and inclosure. Whoever is 
 caught will be responsible to himself for his death, which will 
 ensue." This inscription confirms the statement of Josephus 
 and also throws additional light on the incident connected with 
 the arrest of the apostle Paul while presenting an offering for 
 himself and his companions in the Temple. (Acts xxi. 28, 29, 
 xxiv. n, xxvi. 21.) 
 
 The Outer Cloisters, which surrounded this spacious 
 court, were known as the Northern and Western Cloisters, 
 Solomon's Porch and the Royal Cloisters. 
 
 The Royal Cloister was the chief glory of this outer court. 
 It extended along the entire length of the south wall and was 
 105 feet in breadth. It was divided by rows of stately columns 
 
196 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 into three arcades: the central one being 100 feet high and 
 forty-five broad. Those on the sides were fifty feet high and 
 thirty broad. " At the southeast corner the roof of the cloister 
 was 326 feet above the bed of the Kedron. The height of the 
 pinnacle, which is said to have risen at that corner, is unknown ; 
 whatever it was, it must be added to that giddy height of 326 
 feet." 1 
 
 The Mountain of the House included the sacred space 
 within the Soreg. According to the Mishna this enclosure was 
 a square of 500 cubits, or about 750 feet on each side. The 
 outer Court or Chel, as it was usually termed, was a large open 
 space with five entrance gates. A flight of fourteen steps led 
 up to it from the Court of the Gentiles. Within this Chel, the 
 place of assembly for all who were recognized as Israelites, was 
 the Temple proper, with its several courts and enclosing walls 
 and magnificent buildings. 
 
 The Inner Court, which included the Inner Cloisters, the 
 Court of Israel, and the Court of the Priests, had seven gates, 
 three on the north, three on the south and one on the east. 
 The Court of the Women was a large, open space, surrounded 
 by store chambers, to the east of the Inner Court. It was 
 eight feet higher than the Outer Court and had three entrance 
 gates. The name indicates that the women had the same 
 privileges here as those accorded, in the other courts, to the 
 male worshippers. 
 
 " The C ourt of Israel was ten feet above the Court of the 
 Women ; then the Court of the Priests on a level three feet 
 higher ; and lastly, the temple floor, eight feet above this and 
 therefore twenty-nine feet above the level of the outer court of 
 the Gentiles. It is most interesting to know that these levels 
 correspond closely with the ascertained rock-levels round about 
 the Sakhra or ' holy stone ' now covered by the Dome of the 
 Rock. That stone was probably of old time the resting-place 
 of the ark of the covenant. ' The house ' on the mountain was 
 1 Henderson's Geography, p. 145. 
 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 197 
 
 seventy-nine cubits wide by 100 cubits long. The facade was 
 100 cubits in breadth and height, and was gilded, and over its 
 great entrance ' was spread out a golden vine, with its branches 
 hanging down from a great height, the largeness and fine work- 
 manship of which was a surprising sight.' ' (Ant. xv. ii. 3-) 1 
 
 It has been suggested that the great porch in front of the 
 Temple, whose dimensions have been regarded by some writers 
 as an evident exaggeration, resembled the pylon of an Egyp- 
 tian temple. On this supposition the difficulty in regard to 
 *he height of the porch and the great central entrance described 
 ^y Josephus disappears. 
 
 Taken as a whole, with its triple walls, its grand portals and 
 ascents, its spacious courts, its galleries and store chambers, its 
 colonnades, porches and cloisters the Temple on Mount Moriah 
 was an immense structure, the like of which, for beauty and 
 costliness, has probably never been equalled on earth. As seen 
 from the Mount of Olives it was a terraced mountain of gleam- 
 ing marble surmounted by a coronal of glittering gold. 
 
 " The Holy City lifted high her towers ; 
 And higher yet the glorious temple reared, 
 Her pile far off appearing like a mount 
 Of alabaster tip't with golden spires." MILTON. 
 
 No wonder the disciples, who noted how it was "adorned 
 with goodly stones and gifts," were moved to say, as they 
 looked down upon it from Olivet in the glowing light of the 
 setting sun " Master, see what manner of stones and what 
 buildings are here ! " (Mark. xiii. i.) 
 
 The sacred memories, the thronging events, the unuttered and 
 unutterable longings which have been, and forever shall be as- 
 sociated with this holy mount, cannot be fittingly expressed by 
 voice or pen. Crowned with the Sanctuary of Jehovah ; illu- 
 minated with the brightness of His glory ; trodden by the feet 
 of Patriarchs, Prophets, Priests and Kings : and, more than 
 
 1 Hend. Geog.,p. 146. 
 
198 The Land of Israel 
 
 all, hallowed by the presence of the Eternal Son of God, who 
 humbled Himself to take upon Him our human nature, this 
 place stands unchallenged among holy places as the most 
 memorable spot on earth. 
 
 Objects and Places of Special Interest Outside the 
 Walls. These will be grouped together as far as possible, 
 while making the circuit of the walls. 
 
 i. Catacombs and Tombs. The so-called Tombs of the 
 Kings and of the Judges, north of the city, a half mile and a 
 mile respectively, are regarded as the best examples of the 
 numerous subterranean burial-places, which have been found 
 on every side of the city. 
 
 Both are rock-hewn tombs in a connected series, and have 
 been excavated on the same general plan. There is nothing, 
 however, tv identify either of these tombs or catacombs with 
 the names they bear. The former has a vestibule, or open 
 court, ninety-three feet long by eighty-seven wide and twenty 
 deep, sunk in the surface rock. It has been identified by Dr. 
 Robinson and in this later authorities concur with the 
 Mausoleum of Queen Helena, a Jewish proselyte, of Adiabene. 
 
 " It is remarkable," says Dr. Manning, " not only for the extent and 
 perfect preservation of the sepulchral chambers, but for the ingenious 
 mechanism by which the entrance was closed or opened a huge stone 
 being rolled to or from the mouth of the entrance. It thus affords an in- 
 teresting contemporary illustration of the words of the evangelists, Who 
 shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? ' And when 
 they looked they saw the stone rolled away, for it was very great." l 
 (Mark. xvi. 3, 4 ; Luke xxiv. 2.) 
 
 The slopes and steep cliffs of the lower valleys of Hinnom 
 and Jehoshaphat are honeycombed with burial chambers of all 
 shapes and sizes. They are usually single or communicating 
 chambers with a doorway in the perpendicular face of the rock. 
 In some instances there are separate niches or recesses for the 
 bodies. A tomb with outer court, side entrance and small 
 i Holy Fields, p. 127. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 199 
 
 chambers was excavated a little to the west of the probable site 
 of Golgotha, in 1881. It is nearer to the wall than any Jewish 
 tomb yet discovered and is specially interesting because of its 
 location and date of construction. If Major Conder is right in 
 his suggestion it belongs to the centuries immediately preceding 
 the Christian era. 
 
 In the valley of Jehoshaphat there is a conspicuous group of 
 monuments and rock tombs differing in age and styles of arch- 
 itecture. These are known as the tombs of Absalom, Jehosh- 
 aphat, Zachariah, and St. James. "Two of these are real 
 monuments of rock ; the other two are excavated tombs with 
 ornamented portals." The slope of the Mount of Olives in 
 this vicinity and portions of Mount Zion, without the walls are 
 literally paved with tombstones. 
 
 The reputed Tomb of David (Neby Baud) is in the crypt 
 of a mosque on the southern slope of Zion. It is surrounded by 
 a cluster of massive buildings one of which is called the Cce- 
 naculum. The ancient tradition which associates this place 
 with the upper room in which the Lord's Supper was instituted, 
 and in which afterward was witnessed the descent of the Spirit 
 may be correct, but there is no reason to believe that the 
 building which now marks the site was the one in which these 
 memorable events took place. In 1894 a Latin inscription was 
 found by Dr. Bliss in a wall behind one of the gates of Neby 
 Daud, which had been blown down during a storm. It proves 
 to be a votive tablet to Jupiter erected by the Third Legion. 
 Canon Dalton gives the probable date of the inscription as not 
 earlier than 115, nor later than the summer of 117, A. D. 
 
 The traditional Aceldama or Potter's Field (Acts i. 19; 
 Matt, xxvii. 6-8) is a rugged plot of ground on the south side 
 of the lower basin of the Hinnom valley. In this " field," the 
 boundaries of which are not marked, is a cave artificially en- 
 larged which has long been used as a charne"! house. Down to 
 a very recent period the entire plot has been used as " a field 
 to bury strangers in." Colonel Wilson mentions the fact that 
 
200 The Land of Israel 
 
 clay from this neighborhood is still used by the potters of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 2. The Place of the Crucifixion. A rounded knoll out- 
 side the Damascus Gate, which commands a view over the en- 
 tire city, has been generally accepted as the place of the 
 crucifixion by those who discredit the traditional site within the 
 Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The smooth rounded summit 
 of this elevation, especially when seen from the Mount of 
 Olives, closely resembles a human skull in outline, and may 
 have suggested the name Golgotha or place of a skull. On 
 the southern side of this knoll is a precipitous cliff and at its 
 base the opening to an artificial cavern or quarry the so-called 
 Grotto of Jeremiah. There seems to be no doubt that this hill 
 was outside the second wall : and it must always have been 
 close to that wall and also to the main road that leads to the 
 north. Attention was called to this site by Mr. Fisher Howe 
 of Brooklyn, in a booklet, published in 1871, and entitled 
 "The True Site of Calvary." Major Conder of the Survey 
 Fund, General Gordon, Sir Wm. Dawson, Canon Tristram, 
 Dr. Henderson, Dr. Merrill, and other eminent authorities, 
 have accepted this identification. The requirements of the 
 Gospel narrative, as summed up by Mr. Howe, are as follows : 
 
 1. Calvary was a place outside the walls of the city. (Heb. xiii. 12; 
 Matt, xxvii. 31, 32 ; John xix. 16, 17.) 
 
 2. It was a place nigh to the city. (John xix. 20.) 
 
 3. It was popularly known under the general designation of Kranion. 
 (Matt, xxvii. 33; John xix. 17.) 
 
 4. It was obviously nigh to one of the leading thoroughfares to and 
 from Jerusalem. (Matt, xxvii. 39; Mark xv. 29.) 
 
 5. It was nigh to sepulchres and gardens. (John xix. 38-42.) 
 
 6. It was very conspicuous ; that is it could be seen by those at a 
 distance. (Matt, xxvii. 55 ; Luke xxiii. 35 ; John xix. 20.) ' 
 
 All of these conditions appear to be met and satisfied in the 
 locations outside the Damascus Gate. More recently this view 
 i Wilson's In Scripture Lands, p. 228. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 20V 
 
 has been strengthened by the discovery of the tomb already 
 mentioned which proves the place to have been both without 
 the gates, and nigh to rock-hewn Sepulchres ; and by a Jewish 
 tradition, which connects the knoll with the " place of stoning," 
 or public execution ground of the Hebrews. There is also a 
 Christian tradition as old as the fifth century which places the 
 stoning of Stephen in the same locality. It is worthy of note 
 in this connection that the portal now called the Damascus 
 Gate was earlier known as St. Stephen's Gate. 1 
 
 3. Olivet and its Sacred Sites. The Mount of Olives 
 (Jebel et Tur) is so close to Jerusalem that it has always had a 
 place in its topography as well as in its history. It is not an 
 isolated mountain but a ridge with three distinctly-marked, 
 rounded summits. The southern portion runs for nearly two 
 miles north and south, or in a line almost parallel with the 
 ridge of Moriah. It ends toward the south in a lower ridge, 
 the summit of which is known as the "Mount of Offence." 
 This name has been given to it on the supposition that it was 
 the "high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, and 
 for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon." 
 These degrading forms of idolatrous worship, which Solomon 
 encouraged in the later period of his reign, were said to be " in 
 the hill that is before, or eastward of Jerusalem." (i. Kings 
 xi. 7, 8.) 
 
 The central eminence, to which the name Olivet, or the 
 Mount of Olives, properly applies is directly opposite the Tem- 
 ple area. Its elevation is 2,682 feet, or about 170 feet higher 
 than Zion and 259 feet higher than Moriah. This summit is 
 the traditional site of the ascension of Christ and here the so- 
 called "Church of the Ascension" stands. The location, 
 however, does not harmonize with any of the details of the 
 Evangelist's story. About a mile north of this summit the 
 ridge curves to the west, culminating in another summit, the 
 generally accepted site of Mount Scopus, where the Roman gen- 
 1 Hend. Geog., p. 164. 
 
202 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 eral Titus drew up his legions in full view of the city, before he 
 began its investment. 
 
 The view from the summit of Olivet is one of the 
 most interesting and impressive within the limits of the Holy 
 Land. It includes nearly all the sacred sites connected with 
 the humiliation and suffering of our Lord from Bethlehem to 
 the place of His ascension. Southward the range of vision ex- 
 tends to the height at Hebron ; westward every object on the 
 plateau of Jerusalem stands out with startling distinctness ; 
 while to the east is an unequalled panoramic view of the rugged 
 Wilderness, the Jordan valley nearly 4,000 feet below portions 
 of the Dead Sea and the clearly-cut outlines of the mountains 
 of Moab and Gilead. Here the eager watchmen stood, long 
 ages ago, to catch the first glow of the beacon light on those 
 distant mountains, which gave notice of the appearance of the 
 new moon by which the beginnings of the sacred feasts were 
 regulated. The pathetic story of the passage of King David 
 over the summit of this mountain when he fled from the face 
 of Absalom, is the first and only important event associated 
 with it before the time of Christ. 
 
 " And David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, and wept as he 
 went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot : and all the 
 people that were with him covered every man his head, and they went 
 up, weeping as they went." (2. Sam. xv. 30.) 
 
 There were doubtless many occasions of rejoicing also, on 
 Olivet : as when the pilgrims bands had gained its summit and 
 looked down on the Holy City ; or when the people went forth 
 with gladness of heart over its wooded slopes "to fetch olive 
 and pine and myrtle branches to make booths, as it is written." 
 (Neh. viii. 15.) And yet, as Dean Stanley has said, its lasting 
 glory belongs not to the Old Dispensation, but to the New. It 
 is preeminent among the sacred mountains, because, more than 
 all others, it was honored *as the favorite retreat and quiet rest- 
 ing-place of Jesus. In the crowded city He taught and 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 203 
 
 ministered to the suffering and the needy, but when the 
 shadows of evening began to fall He went out to the Mount 
 of Olives. Here He slept through the night under the wide 
 spreading branches of the trees, or sought retirement for medi- 
 tation and prayer ; or entered into the home at Bethany where 
 He ever found the kindly sympathy and true hearted affection 
 which His human nature craved. Here, says Dr. Thomson, the 
 God-man chose to reveal more of His human nature than any- 
 where else on earth ; and here also were witnessed the most 
 affecting and stupendous scenes in the history of our Blessed 
 Redeemer. 
 
 Four places on the slopes of Olivet are specially note- 
 worthy in connection with the closing scenes of our Lord's 
 earthly life and ministry. These are Bethany ; the place 
 where He wept over Jerusalem ; the place of the Ascension ; 
 and the Garden of Gethsemane. 
 
 Bethany is pleasantly situated amid groves of olive, fig and 
 almond trees on the southeastern slope or shoulder of the moun- 
 tain, something less than two miles from Jerusalem. "A wild 
 mountain-hamlet screened by an intervening ridge from the view 
 of the top of Olivet, perched on its broken plateau of rock, 
 the last collection of human habitations before the desert-hills 
 which reach to Jericho this is the modern village of El Laz- 
 arieh, which derives its name from its clustering around the 
 traditional site of the one house and grave which give it an un- 
 dying interest." * The modern "house and grave" exhibited 
 here are of very doubtful genuineness, but the identification of 
 El Lazarieh with the " town of Mary and her sister Martha" 
 and Lazarus, has never been questioned. But for this one 
 home the type of all that is beautiful and sacred in the Chris- 
 tian home on earth it would long ago have been forgotten. 
 Its present condition has little to commend it, but all its associ- 
 ations with that far-away past are tender, sacred and sublime. 
 Here Jesus commended the choice of Mary who counted it her 
 * Sinai and Palestine, p. 256. 
 
204 The Land of Israel 
 
 greatest privilege to sit at His feet and hear His word. (Luke 
 x. 42.) Here He approved the service of Martha, so lovingly 
 rendered, and revived her drooping faith in the hour of anguish 
 and bereavement. Here He wept with the sisters at the grave 
 of Lazarus, and anon with a voice which penetrated not only 
 to the inner recesses of the tomb, but to the abode of the freed 
 spirits, called back the dear object of their affections to life, 
 and the further enjoyment of that sanctified home. (John, chap, 
 xi.) In Bethany afterward the grateful Mary anointed the 
 feet of Jesus with the costly box of ointment, and wiped His 
 feet with her hair, while He reclined at the table, as their 
 honored guest. And it is still true, according to the Master's 
 word, that wheresoever His gospel has been preached in the 
 whole world, there also has this, that this woman hath done, 
 been told as a memorial of her. It was from Bethany that the 
 triumphal march began toward Jerusalem on that memorable 
 day when the rejoicing multitude took branches of palm trees, 
 and went forth to meet Him, crying Hosanna : Blessed is the 
 King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. (John xii. 
 13.) Three ancient roads, or pathways, lead over the western 
 slope of the mountain, from the bridge over the Kedron valley, 
 to the town of Bethany. One passes around its northern 
 shoulder; another runs southeast, and passing close to the 
 new Greek church, ascends the steep slope to the summit; 
 the third passes around the southern shoulder of Olivet and 
 thence over a low bridge to the recess in which the village lies. 
 This road has recently been made wide enough for the passage 
 of carriages over the entire route to the Jordan. It is now, and 
 always has been the main thoroughfare to Bethany and Jericho. 
 
 There is every reason to believe that this was the route of the 
 triumphal procession. 
 
 The place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem was at a point 
 where the road, slightly ascending, turns sharply around an 
 overhanging ledge of rock. Here the whole city would come 
 instantly into view. "It is hardly possible," says Dean Stan- 
 
O 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 205 
 
 ley, " to doubt that this rise and turn of the road where His 
 eyes beheld what is still the most impressive view which the 
 neighhorhood of Jerusalem furnishes was the exact spot where 
 the multitude paused, and He, when He beheld the city, wept 
 over it." 1 The site of Bethphage which is mentioned in 
 this connection is not definitely known. 
 
 The place of the Ascension was in the immediate vicin- 
 ity of Bethany. All the circumstances of the narrative forbid 
 its location in a public place, or in full view of the city, where 
 an uncertain tradition has placed it. The statement of St. 
 Luke, that He led His disciple out as far as to Bethany cannot 
 be lightly set aside. The author has rested upon a natural 
 platform of rock and earth overhanging the town, and shut out 
 from view by the ridge of Olivet, where every incident recorded 
 in the gospel narrative might have taken place. It is probable 
 that Jesus took the direct road to Bethany as the morning was 
 about to dawn, and at this point or somewhere in its vicinity, 
 overlooking the place associated with so many blessed memor- 
 ies, " He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came 
 to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and 
 carried up into heaven." (Luke xxiv. 50-53.) 
 
 The Garden of Gethsemane. This sacred retreat we 
 are told was over the brook Kedron, and hence at the base 
 of the Mount of Olives. The place which for many centuries 
 has been known and revered as Gethsemane is just beyond the 
 bridge that spans the narrow valley of the Kedron, and nearly 
 opposite the Golden Gate. It is an enclosure of about an acre 
 of ground, in which are eight gnarled olive trees of extraordi- 
 nary girth and evidently of great age. It is scarcely possible 
 to resist the impression that the small space which is here set 
 apart by the Latin church, as the scene of the Saviour's mys- 
 terious agony, is in a location that does not admit of the pri- 
 vacy and seclusion, which the narrative of the Evangelists 
 plainly imply. It is the meeting-place of several roads, which 
 1 Sinai and Palestine, p. 260. 
 
206 The Land of Israel 
 
 must always have converged in or about this spot, and it is 
 scarcely more than 250 yards from the city wall. It is cer- 
 tainly a valid objection to this enclosed space that it was neces- 
 sarily a public resort, and especially so at the passover season, 
 when crowds were passing in and out the eastern gates at every 
 hour of the day and night. It is a fact worthy of note, also, 
 that the distinctive name, Gethsemane was given to the garden 
 or olive-yard, which Jesus was wont to visit, because there was 
 an oil press within it or belonging to it. Professor Kendall 
 Harris has recently suggested a site about one fourth of a mile 
 north of the traditional garden, where the ruins of an ancient oil 
 press have been discovered, surrounded by olive groves, some 
 of which are very old. This oil press, like most of its kind in 
 Palestine, was a permanent structure with rock-hewn vats and 
 heavy rollers for crushing the fruit. It is possible that this re- 
 tired spot indicates the true location of the hallowed place 
 where the Redeemer, on the night of His betrayal, prayed in 
 agony of spirit while His sweat was as it were great drops of 
 blood, falling down to the ground. (Luke xxii. 44; Matt, 
 xxvi, 36-45 ; Mark xiv. 32-41 ; John xviii. i.) 
 
 4. The King's Dale or King's Garden. These desig- 
 nations apply to that portion of the Kedron valley which ex- 
 tends from the southeast angle of the Haram to the confluence 
 of the valleys above Bir Eyub (Well of Job). It was favorably 
 situated for irrigation and has always been noted for its extra- 
 ordinary fertility. It was the place of Absalom's tomb (2 
 Sam. xviii. 18), and the meeting place of Abraham and 
 Melchizedek after the rescue of Lot. (Gen. xiv. 17-24.) 
 
 5. Tophet (Gehenna) was the distinctive name for the 
 lower basin of the valley of Hinnom. Its slopes are carefully 
 terraced and fertile garden plots join each other throughout 
 its length in almost continuous succession. The horrid rites 
 which were practiced here by Moloch worshippers in the days 
 of the kings : and its selection as the place of burning, where 
 the offal of the city and the altar were consumed, have made 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 207 
 
 its name infamous throughout all succeeding generations. (2. 
 Kings xxiii. 10 ; Isa. xxx. 33, Ixvi. 24.) It is worthy of note 
 that there is nothing in the natural features of this locality to 
 give it the evil preeminence which now attaches to it. 
 
 6. The Plain of Rephaim, now known as El Bukeia, is 
 southwest of the city of Jerusalem and extends very nearly to its 
 walls. For a mile or more it is an open plain or basin affording a 
 broad passage-way in the direction of Bethlehem. It then con- 
 tracts into a narrow valley (Wady el Werd) which bears off 
 toward the west. The railroad approaches the city by way of 
 this valley and plain. Its Hebrew name associates it with some 
 unrecorded story of the aboriginal race of giants which dwelt 
 in the east and south. (Josh. xv. 8, xviii. 16.) It was the 
 scene of the defeat of the Philistines in two notable battles dur- 
 ing the reign of David, (i Chron. xi. 15, xiv. 9-16; 2 Sam. 
 
 I7-25-) 
 
 7. Pools and Sources of Water Supply. (i) The 
 
 Fountain of the Virgin so-called, issues from a hidden source 
 under the eastern base of Ophel, about 950 feet south of the 
 Triple Gate. It is the only spring of flowing water in or about 
 modern Jerusalem. 
 
 The brook, which once flowed down the Kedron valley, has 
 been choked by avalanches of debris from the heights above, 
 and its streams have doubtless been diverted into subterranean 
 channels. There are evidences, also, of a stream or fountain, 
 with a similar history, which long ago coursed down the Tyro- 
 poeon valley. Dr. Bliss thinks it probable, in view of recent 
 discoveries along the line of the ancient southern wall, that the 
 references of Josephus to the " Fountain of Siloam," which he 
 places outside the city, apply to the spring-head, and not to the 
 Pool of Siloam, as has been generally supposed. "It is quite 
 possible," he says, "that the term Siloam might have been ap- 
 plied equally to the Virgin's Fountain as the source of the waters 
 which fed the Pool of Siloam." l M. Ganneau's identification 
 P. E. Quarterly, '97, p. 254. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 of this well-spring with En Rogel (the spring of the Fuller), 
 mentioned several times in the Old Testament, has been gener- 
 ally accepted, and it is known by this name on the Ordnance 
 map. Directly opposite, on the other side of the Kedron val- 
 ley, is a precipitous cliff, still known as Zahweileh, which with- 
 out doubt is the " Stone of Zoheleth." The discovery of this 
 ancient landmark by M. Ganneau gave the clue to the location 
 of En Rogel. It is described in the Book of the Kings as the 
 "Stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel." At this place 
 Adonijah prepared a great feast for his adherents, and was pro- 
 claimed King, (i Kings i. 19.) 
 
 The straggling village of Siloam (Silwan), once mentioned 
 in the New Testament in connection with the fall of its tower, 
 (Luke xiii. 4) is perched on the summit of this cliff. A rugged 
 pathway, or series of steps cut in the face of the rock, affords 
 a direct, but somewhat perilous passage from the town to the 
 fountain, its natural source of water supply. The suggestion 
 that this fountain is also identical with the Upper Pool or Spring 
 of Gihon ("the spring head "), and that the Pool of Siloam 
 represents the Lower Gihon, has met with favor and bids fair 
 to solve some difficulties in connection with the history of these 
 pools. On the assumption that this proposed identification can 
 be established it would follow that Solomon was anointed by 
 the Pool of Siloam. Inasmuch as the hill of Ophel came be- 
 tween this point and the place where Adonijah was proclaimed, 
 the party of Solomon would not be seen on their way to Gihon. 
 " But when the anointing had taken place, and the party were 
 going back up the Tyropceon toward David's house, the people 
 piped their music and shouted their joy till the earth rang 
 again." * It would seem from the narrative that the conspira- 
 tors did not know that their plans were foiled until they heard 
 the trumpet and the ominous shouts, " God save King Solo- 
 mon." ( i Kings i. 38-46.) 
 
 The spring head, or visible source of En Rogel is a cave, 
 1 St Clair's Buried Cities and Bible Countries, p. 282. 
 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 209 
 
 artificially enlarged, which lies twenty-five feet below the pres- 
 ent surface of the ground. It is probable that the stream from 
 this source originally ran out at the base of Ophel and down 
 the Kedron valley, and that the excavation was afterward made 
 higher up, for the purpose of diverting it in another direction. 
 The bottom of the cave in which the water rises at irregular 
 intervals, is reached by two flights of stone steps, (thirty in all). 
 When the flow fills the basin in the bottom of the cave it passes 
 through a rock-hewn tunnel, 1 708 feet in length, to the Pool of 
 Siloam in the Tyropoeon valley.* The following description of 
 this interesting fountain and its outgoings is given by Sir Charles 
 Wilson : 
 
 ' This spring has a constant though small flow of water, and also an 
 intermittent one which appears to depend upon the rainfall, and which 
 consists in a sudden increase of the ordinary flow. In winter there are 
 from three to four flows per diem ; in summer two ; later on, in autumn 
 only one ; but after a dry winter the flow takes place only once in three 
 or four days. ... In connection with the tunnel passage Captain 
 Warren opened out a rock hewn canal, which ran for some distance due 
 west with a slight fall, so that the water from the spring could flow down 
 to the west end where a shallow basin had been excavated to receive it. 
 From this point a circular shaft more than forty feet high, led upward to 
 a great corridor excavated in the rock, whence a flight of steps gave ac- 
 cess to the surface at a point on Ophel, which must have been well within 
 the ancient walls of the city. It was thus possible for the Jews on the 
 approach of an enemy to close or seal the well with blocks of stone, and 
 at the same time procure a supply of water for their own use by means of 
 the shaft or well within the walls. In the corridor three glass lamps of 
 curious construction were found placed at intervals, as if to light up the 
 passage to the shaft. A little pile of charcoal, as if for cooking, a dish 
 glazed inside, jars of red pottery, and other lamps, were also found, as 
 well as an iron ring overhanging the shaft, to which a rope might have 
 been attached for drawing water." l 
 
 This rock-hewn canal, sixty-seven feet long, with its shaft on 
 Ophel, was evidently the older portion of this cutting, and was 
 utilized as far as it extended, when the tunnel through the 
 i Pict. Pal., Vol. L* ^p. 10^ 104. 
 
210 The Land of Israel 
 
 ridge was undertaken. This accounts in part at least, for its 
 serpentine course. 
 
 It has been suggested by M. Ganneau that the deflection 
 lower down was made to avoid interference with the tombs of 
 the Kings, supposed to be on Ophel. If so they must be north 
 of the bend, for Dr. Bliss has excavated the ground to the 
 south of it, without finding anything of importance. 
 
 En Rogel was one of the familiar landmarks which separated 
 the portion of Benjamin from Judah, and its identification with 
 the Fountain of the Virgin has .resolved some of the difficulties 
 with respect to the topography of other points in or about Je- 
 rusalem. (Josh. xv. 7, xviii. 16.) We have noted already 
 that it was close to the scene of Adonijah's feast ; and it was 
 also near to the hiding-place of Jonathan and Ahimaaz, the 
 spies of David. (2 Sam. xvii. 17.) 
 
 The Pool of Siloam lies on the west side of Ophel near 
 the mouth of the Tyropceon valley. It is an artificial receptacle 
 for the overflow from the basin of En Rogel, and is wholly de- 
 pendent upon it for its water supply. The Siloam inscription, 
 accidentally discovered by an Arab boy, August, 1880, is re- 
 garded as one of the most important monumental records of 
 Old Testament times. Its position in the tunnel was about 
 nineteen feet from the Siloam entrance, where a space of 
 twenty-seven inches square had been smoothed to form the 
 face of the tablet. The letters closely resemble the Phoenician 
 in form. It is conceded by all the leading authorities that this 
 fragment represents the oldest specimen of the Hebrew lan- 
 guage that has come down to us, except the writing on the 
 Moabite Stone. Says Dr. Ward, " This tunnel was not made 
 later than the time of King Hezekiah, and the inscription must 
 be of that date or earlier ; and it is the only purely Jewish 
 Palestine inscription of any length known, there being nothing 
 else but small seals." l This discovery confirms, if it does not 
 make certain, the supposition that the pool and the conduit 
 i N. Y. Indep., '94, p. 553. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 211 
 
 were made by Hezekiah, " who stopped the upper course of 
 Gihon and brought it straight down to the west side of the city 
 of David " (2 Chron. xxxii. 30) : or, as it is elsewhere stated, 
 " made a pool and a conduit and brought water into the city." 
 "The very raison d'etre of the Siloam tunnel seems to have 
 been to bring water within the limits of the city. It is worthy 
 of note that while we devoted immense labor to testing the 
 contrary theory, yet all our discoveries have tended to support 
 this view." 1 Conder thinks that the Pool of Siloam and the 
 lower basin or old pool below it may have existed in the time 
 of Ahaz. (2 Chron. xxxii.; Isa. vii. 3.) The improved 
 translation of the Siloam inscription by Professor Sayce is as 
 follows : 
 
 1. (Behold the) excavation ! Now this is the history of the excava- 
 tion. While the excavators were still lifting up 
 
 2. the pick, each toward his neighbor, and while there were yet three 
 cubits to (excavate) there was heard the voice of one man 
 
 3. calling to his neighbor, for there was an excess (?) in the rock on 
 the right hand (and on the left). And after that on the day 
 
 4. of excavating the excavators had struck pick against pick, over 
 against one another, 
 
 5. the waters flowed from the spring to the pool for a distance of 
 1, 200 cubits. And (part) 
 
 6. of a cubit was the height of the rock over the head of the excava- 
 tors. 2 
 
 Recent excavations (1896-7) under the direction of the Pal- 
 estine Exploration Survey Fund have brought to light much 
 that was hitherto unknown in reference to the ancient Pool of 
 Siloam and its surroundings. The modern pool fifty-three 
 feet long by eighteen wide has been found to be a contraction 
 within the limits of the original basin, which was almost square. 
 
 As restored, it measures seventy-five feet on its north side and 
 seventy-one on the west. Close to its western wall, the greater 
 
 1 Dr. Bliss in Quarterly, July, '97, p. 177. 
 8 Records of the Past, second series, Vol. II. 
 
212 The Land of Israel 
 
 part of which was cut out of the solid rock, Dr. Bliss uncov- 
 ered an ancient stairway leading upward toward the city, which 
 he describes as follows : 
 
 The number of the steps is thirty-four. They vary in height from six 
 to nine and a half inches, and are arranged in a system of wide and nar- 
 row treads alternately, the wide treads from four feet three inches, to four 
 feet eleven inches, and the narrow ones from eleven inches to seventeen. 
 The main part of the stairway, as seen, consists of steps built of hard, well- 
 jointed stones laid on a bed of chips and weak mortar formed of mud and 
 lime. But pushing along the whole breadth of the stairway to the para- 
 pet wall, we found that for ten feet nine inches from the scarp the tread 
 consists of the natural rock, well polished by foot wear. 1 
 
 Above this flight of steps a large mass of " blockage" was 
 found, and beyond this to the north a paved road was traced for 
 a considerable distance, which appears to be the continuation 
 of the grand stairway from the Pool. The paved road and the 
 steps were found to be of the same class of work and the gen- 
 eral direction points to the entrance in the south wall known as 
 the Double Gate. On the north side of the enclosing wall, 
 near the northwest corner, a pier was found at the height of 
 twelve feet nine inches from the pavement with the springer of 
 an arch, which indicated the existence of an arcade at one 
 time on that side of the pool. " We may safely assume," says 
 Dr. Bliss, " that the arcade ran around the four sides of the 
 pool and represents the quadriporticum, or four-sided arcade 
 of the Bordeaux Pilgrim. . . . We have proved also that 
 the built stairway made use of a system of rock-hewn steps, 
 probably older, and led to a court in front of the Pool of 
 Siloam." 2 
 
 Directly north of the' present pool a well-preserved ruin of 
 an ancient church was found. By driving a series of tunnels 
 the outline of the church was recovered, but the superincum- 
 bent mass of debris and earth resting upon it to the depth of 
 twelve to thirty feet was not removed. The building with its 
 
 1 Quarterly, '97, p. 13. 'Quarterly Report, Jan'y, '97, p. 16. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 213 
 
 appendages was found to be 115 feet in length by 100 in 
 breadth. Its south aisle was built over the north arcade of the an- 
 cient pool. Along its west wall in some places the steps of the 
 great stairway were irregularly broken off to make room for it, 
 while at other places they were buried beneath the level 
 of the flooring. This displacement clearly indicates that 
 the steps were older than the wall of the church. There 
 seems to be no doubt that the church belongs to the By- 
 zantine period : and it is probable that it was built by the 
 Empress Eudosia. 
 
 The enlarged pool, which Dr. Bliss has thus recovered 
 piece by piece, is, without doubt, the Biblical Pool of Siloam. 
 Its genuineness has been attested by several lines of evidence 
 and, it is safe to say, that no site in or about Jerusalem has fur- 
 nished so many interesting mementos of the past or has been 
 more certainly identified. 
 
 The paved street and the majestic flight of stone steps, with 
 evidences of older foot wear on the rock beneath, suggest " the 
 stairs that go down from the city of David " (Neh. iii. 15) ; as 
 well as the way of descent by which the blind man reached its 
 healing waters in obedience to the command of Jesus. (John ix. 
 7.) It was from this same pool also, that water was brought 
 in a golden pitcher on the "last, great day of the feast " (of 
 Tabernacles), and poured out on the Altar of sacrifice amid 
 the shouts of the rejoicing multitude. (John vii. 37.) 
 
 South of the Pool of Siloam is a large reservoir constructed 
 by building a dam across the valley. It is known as the ' ' Old 
 Pool " and is connected with the upper basin by a channel cut 
 in the rock. It seems to have been constructed mainly with 
 the view to the irrigation of the gardens in the broad valley 
 below. The waters which glided down this rock-hewn chan- 
 nel and were parted hither and thither to gladden and refresh 
 the King's gardens, might well be described as " the waters of 
 Shiloah that go softly." (Isa. viii. 6.) "It seems probable," 
 says Colonel Wilson, " that the lower Pool of Siloam is the 
 mikvah (ditch, R. v., reservoir) which Hezekiah made * between 
 
214 The Land of Israel 
 
 the two walls for the water of the old pool.' (Isa. xxii. n.) 
 Thus the construction of the Siloam tunnel, and of the great 
 dam examined by Dr. Bliss, would be due to Hezekiah. Pos- 
 sibly the rock-hewn steps may have been connected with ' the 
 way of the gate between the two walls which is by the King's 
 Garden.' ' (2 Kings xxv. 4; Jer. Hi. 7.) l 
 
 Bir Eyub, or the Well of Job, is almost directly south of the 
 Pool of Siloam, a little below the Junction of the valleys of 
 Hinnom and Kedron. It is a shaft sunk through the limestone 
 rock to a depth of 125 feet. It is not a natural spring head, 
 but collects its water supply from the surface and underground 
 streams, which descend from the higher elevations and con- 
 verge at this point. Bir Eyub was formerly supposed to be 
 identical with En Rogel, but recent investigations, as already 
 intimated, have shown that this designation belongs of right 
 to the Fountain of the Virgin. 
 
 In the valley of Hinnom there are two large reservoirs known 
 as the Mamilla Pool (Birket Mamilla) and the Sultan's Poo\, 
 (Birket es Sultan). The first lies in the upper basin of the 
 valley, a little to the northwest of the Jaffa Gate. It is partly 
 hewn out of the rock, its sides being walled with stone and 
 cement. Its dimensions are 291 x 192x19 feet. This reservoir 
 supplies the Pool of Hezekiah (Amygdalon) by means of a con- 
 duit which passes under the city wall. 
 
 The second or lower pool is near the southwest angle of the 
 wall. It is the largest in the vicinity of Jerusalem, the dimen- 
 sions being 600 x 250 x 35 feet. It was formed by building a 
 dam across the valley. It is now broken and in ruins. Colonel 
 Wilson suggests that its only use could have been the irrigation 
 of the gardens lower down in the valley. These reservoirs 
 have been frequently called the Upper and Lower Pools of 
 Gihon, but the lower one is apparently of modern construction, 
 and there is no satisfactory evidence in favor of this identifica- 
 tion. 
 
 1 Quarterly Statement, Oct., '97, p. 248. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 215 
 
 Water Supply from the South. The remains of two 
 great conduits, which in former times furnished an abundant 
 supply of pure mountain water to the city and its temple courts, 
 can still be traced in almost continuous course from the hills 
 south of Bethlehem. These have been designated as the Low- 
 level and High-level aqueducts. 
 
 The first is connected with the Pools of Solomon near the 
 head of Wady Urtas. These reservoirs, three in number, are 
 supplied by surface drainage and a notable spring, flowing from 
 an enclosed rock chamber, known as the sealed fountain. A 
 farther source of supply was utilized by constructing a channel 
 from Wady Arub, in which were several copious springs of 
 water. The measurements of Solomon's Pools, as given by 
 Doctor Robinson, are as follows : Lower Pool, 582x207x50 
 feet; Middle, 423 x 230x39; Upper, 380 x 226x25. Acopi- 
 ou sstream of clear, sparkling water is still carried to 
 Bethlehem from these pools, and the expenditure of a 
 comparatively small amount of money would suffice to 
 repair the aqueduct along the whole line and once more 
 give to Jerusalem an abundant water supply. 
 
 The total length of the Low-level aqueduct is about fourteen 
 miles. From its starting point to the city it has a fall of 
 thirty-two feet. It crosses the valley of Hinnom a little below 
 the Sultan's pool on several pointed arches, and, winding 
 around the southeast slopes of Mount Zion, terminates at length 
 in the great reservoirs of the Temple area. " The waste over- 
 flow appears to have passed through one of the passages dis- 
 covered by M. de Saulcy, beneath the Triple Gate into the main 
 drain on the eastern hill, which discharged itself into the 
 Kedron valley." 
 
 The High-level aqueduct is a marvel of engineering skill. 
 It entered Jerusalem at an elevation of 100 feet above the Low- 
 level aqueduct, and delivered its water supply to every part of 
 the city. Its farthest source of supply was a fountain issuing 
 from a subterranean chamber sixty or seventy feet beneath the 
 bed of a valley, south of Solomon's Pools (Wady Byar). The 
 
216 The Land of Israel 
 
 following description of the course of this remarkable conduit, 
 is given by Sir Charles Wilson : 
 
 From this chamber a well-constructed channel cut in the rock and vary- 
 ing from five to twenty-five feet in height, leads up the valley for some 
 distance until it terminates in a natural cleft of the rock. A similar chan- 
 nel follows the bed of the valley, downward for more than four miles, 
 until it issues from the ground near a solid dam of masonry which extends 
 right across the valley. This great tunnel, to facilitate the construction 
 of which several shafts from sixty to seventy feet deep were sunk in the 
 bed of the valley, was intended to catch the flood water of the valley, the 
 dam being probably made to retain the water or prevent its running off 
 before it had filtered down to the channel. . . . About 600 yards be- 
 low the dam the conduit enters another tunnel 1,700 feet long, which at 
 one point is 1 15 feet below the surface of the ground. Eleven shafts were 
 sunk to aid the work of excavation, and the passage is in places fourteen 
 feet high. After passing through the tunnel the conduit winds around the 
 hill to the valley in which the Pools of Solomon lie. It then crosses that 
 valley above the upper pool in an underground channel which tapped the 
 Sealed Fountain, and formerly brought it, with its own waters to the high 
 level in Jerusalem. After leaving the pools the aqueduct at first runs 
 along the side of the valley of Urtas, but at a point not far from Bethle- 
 hem it enters a tank, and thence, when perfect, carried the water over the 
 valley near Rachel's Tomb by means of an inverted syphon. This syphon 
 was about two miles long, and consisted of perforated blocks of stone set 
 in a mass of rubble masonry some three feet thick all round. The tube 
 is eleven inches in diameter, and the joints, which appear to have been 
 ground or turned, are put together with an extremely hard cement. The 
 whole work is a remarkable specimen of ancient engineering skill, and 
 the labor bestowed upon the details excites the admiration of all travellers. 
 On approaching Jerusalem all trace of the conduit is lost. It has evi- 
 dently been destroyed during one of the many sieges, and the point at 
 which it entered the city is still uncertain. The most interesting feature, 
 however, is that the supply was brought to Jerusalem at an elevation of 
 twenty feet over the sill of the Jaffa Gate, and that the conduit would 
 have been able to deliver water to the highest part of the city, and so 
 provide an adequate supply for the whole population. 1 
 
 8. The Jaffa Suburb. This represents the largest addition 
 to the modern city outside the walls. It lies to the west of the 
 >Pict. Pal., Vol. L, p. 115. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 217 
 
 northwest quarter and has grown very rapidly in recent years. 
 To the cluster of Russian buildings, which a short time ago 
 stood alone, there have been added an imposing collection of 
 schools, hospitals, consulates, orphanages and residences of 
 various styles, surrounded by fruitful gardens, orchards and 
 olive-yards. Other extensions have been made along the Beth- 
 lehem road and on the north. The terminal Station on the 
 railroad from Jaffa is on the west side of the valley of Hinnom, 
 near the Bethlehem road. The German Colony of the Temple, 
 named Rephaim from the plain on which it is situated, the New 
 Leper's Hospital and the large Jewish Hospital founded by Sir 
 Moses Montefiore, are in the immediate vicinity of the railway 
 station. The present population of Jerusalem, including this 
 overflow in the suburbs, is about 60,000. It is estimated that 
 about 40,000 of this number are Jews. 
 
 9. Southern 'Wall of Ancient Jerusalem. One of the 
 most interesting results of the explorations conducted by Sir 
 Charles Warren is the recovery of a portion of the ancient wall 
 on the eastern brow of Ophel. This wall, which had been en- 
 tirely covered with debris, joined the Haram wall at the south- 
 east angle, but was evidently of later construction and of dif- 
 ferent materials. It was traced for a distance of nearly 800 
 feet and was found to be fourteen feet six inches thick at its 
 base, and from forty to sixty feet in height. The terminus 
 reached was at a point near a rocky knoll, where the stone had 
 probably been removed for building purposes. Several towers 
 were unearthed along the line of the wall, one of which meas- 
 ured eighty feet in breadth, sixty-six in height and projected 
 beyond it for a distance of forty feet. This accords with the 
 position of "the tower that lieth out" to which reference is 
 made in the book of Nehemiah (iii. 25). 
 
 The general direction of the wall, as far as traced, indicated 
 a line of defence which included the entire ridge of Ophel. 
 
 On the southern slope of Mount Zion an exposed scarp, south 
 of the present wall, suggested the existence of a lower and 
 
218 The Land of Israel 
 
 older wall, but its general direction and the extent of the slope 
 that it included were not known. In 1875 Henry Maudsley, 
 R. E., traced the scarp of this wall continuously, for over 650 
 feet, from the southwest angle to the eastern limit of the en- 
 closure which contained the English School and Cemetery. 
 
 At this point, in the spring of 1894, Doctor Bliss, under 
 direction of the Survey Fund, began his work of excavation. 
 This work was prosecuted with slight interruptions for three 
 years. Its results, briefly summarized, are : 
 
 i st. The tracing of the wall from the Protestant Cemetery 
 "with more or less interruption, but always the same wall, to a 
 point just outside and south of the lower pool of Siloam." The 
 distance of this traced, or inferred, wall is 2,420 feet, or a little 
 short of half a mile. The ridge along which it was found to 
 run is, in fact, the extreme possible position southward for a 
 line of defence. At its southwest angle it was 370 feet south 
 of the present wall and at its southeast angle the distance was 
 2,010 feet. 
 
 2d. The discovery of another wall of later date, which at 
 some points kept close to the older wall, or was built over its 
 ruins, and at others was so distinct that it could be readily 
 traced alongside of it. In a condensed report Dr. Bliss gives 
 the results of his discoveries along these lines, as follows : 
 
 On the upper wall were found five towers ; on the lower, four, two 
 of them very beautifully built. Two gates were found at the southwest 
 and southeast angles of the city respectively. Both gates have super- 
 imposed door-sills, indicating three periods ; the sockets, bolt-holes, and 
 in the case of the lower gate, door-jambs are clearly seen. Under both 
 gates large drains pass. The wall was found at greatly varying depths. 
 At one point its ruined top was so near the surface that the fellah had 
 often struck his plough against it, while the rock is only six feet below 
 the surface. At another point the rock is forty-eight feet below the sur- 
 face, and towering above it the wall was found still standing to a height 
 of forty-five feet. The masonry ranged from the rudest foundation rubble 
 to exquisitely jointed and finished work. There are good reasons to sup- 
 pose that the lower wall is Jewish. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 219 
 
 Firstly. The dtbris separating it from the upper wall indicates a time 
 when no city wall ran along this line, and points to an interruption in the 
 city's history like that which occurred after the destruction by Titus. 
 The upper wall would then be Roman or Christian. 
 
 Secondly. The pottery found along the base of the lower wall is al- 
 most exclusively Jewish, while that at higher levels is Roman. The 
 lengths of the pieces of this wall actually traced amount to a quarter of a 
 mile. The united lengths of our shafts and trenches amount to over a 
 mile and a quarter. 1 
 
 3d. At the southwest corner of the old Pool of Siloam a 
 wall was found, diverging from the main line, which ran in a 
 northwesterly direction up the west bank of the Tyropceon 
 valley. This was traced to a point some distance beyond the 
 upper Pool. In the search for the continuation of this wall the 
 great stairway, the enlarged Pool, and the ancient church were 
 discovered. Beyond this point no trace of the wall could be 
 found. The probability is that the material used in its con- 
 struction had been carried away to rebuild other structures. 
 
 4th. In addition to the stairway, original pool, and Byzan- 
 tine church, already mentioned, a broad, paved street with a 
 drain below it was traced for a considerable distance north of 
 the Pool. Its general direction was down the Tyropoeon val- 
 ley and Dr. Bliss regards it as almost certain that it had its 
 terminus in a gate discovered by him in the ancient wall that 
 includes the Pool within the city. " The key of the situation," 
 he says, "is the street. This street is very plainly older than 
 the Byzantine church, because the church is built over it. The 
 drain we traced very much further than the street, because the 
 latter was in a ruined condition. This drain when last seen 
 was pointing almost directly toward Robinson's Arch, under 
 which Sir Charles Warren discovered a Mosaic pavement, 
 whose large polished stones correspond to the huge paving 
 stones ten by six feet, which we discovered along our street. 
 We appear thus to have a line of road from Robinson's Arch 
 i Quarterly P. E. F., '96, p. 234. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 to our gate, which I think can be identified with the Fountain 
 Gate of Scripture." l 
 
 5th. Dr. Bliss has found by a series of excavations begin- 
 ning at the gate, which he identifies with the Fountain Gate, 
 that the wall took a northeasterly direction including the Old 
 Pool, as well as the Upper Pool, and that its terminus on the 
 other side of the Tyropoeon valley points to the wall found by 
 Warren, which ran in a southwest direction from the corner o. 
 the Temple area. It should be added also that careful search 
 was made for a wall north of the Pool of Siloam along the line 
 of the paved street, but no indication of either wall or gate was 
 found. // follows from the accumulation of evidences fur- 
 nished by this series of excavations, that all the available por- 
 tions of the slopes of Zion and Ophel, including the upper and 
 lower pools, were within the walls of the ancient city in the 
 time of its greatest enlargement. The Honorary Secretary of 
 the Fund, Walter Besant, has admirably summed up the re- 
 sults of the excavations in and about Jerusalem, in the following 
 statement : 
 
 " Our researches one says it with pardonable pride have 
 restored the splendors of the Holy City. We have proved how 
 the vast walls of the Temple the grandest enclosure of the 
 finest building in the whole world rose from deep valleys on 
 three sides presenting a long facade of wall crowned with pillars 
 and porticoes, and how within them rose the gleaming white 
 marbles of the Inner House with its courts and altars and 
 its crowds of priests who lived by the altar. Our researches 
 have shown the inner valley bridged by noble arches and 
 pierced by subterranean passages. They have shown the city 
 provided with a magnificent water supply, glorious with its 
 palaces, its gardens, its citadel, its castle, its courts and its villas. 
 It is a great town that we have restored ; not a commercial town, 
 but a great religious centre to which, at the Passover season, 
 more than 2,000,000 people brought their offerings." 2 
 
 1 Quarterly Report, Oct., '97, p. 255. The City and the Land, p. 1 18. 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 221 
 
 History and Associations. The story of this mountain 
 city, which for nearly forty centuries has occupied a position 
 of commanding importance, has a large place in modern liter- 
 ature and is interlinked with the history of all the leading 
 nations of ancient and modern times. Much that relates to it 
 has been already mentioned in connection with the description 
 of the Land as a whole, and the closer study of the several lo- 
 calities in and about Jerusalem, as they have come in turn be- 
 fore us. It will suffice for our present purpose, therefore, to 
 indicate merely the distinguishing features of this history ; and 
 to call attention to some points of special interest which recent 
 discoveries and investigations have enabled us to see more 
 clearly. 
 
 There seem to have been three distinct periods in the history 
 of Jerusalem before the time of Christ. The first may be desig- 
 nated as the Early Canaanite period, the second as the Jebusite 
 and the third as the Jewish. In the first it comes into view as 
 the royal city of Melchizedek and was known as Salem or the 
 city of Salem (" City of Peace "). Its courtly Ruler, who met 
 Abraham in the King's Dale, when " returning from the slaugh- 
 ter of the Kings, and blessed him," was a King-priest and is 
 represented as a worshipper of the Most High God. (Gen. xiv. 
 18 ; Heb. vii. 1-3.) In this record, and again in Psalm Ixxvi. 
 2 the city is called Salem. In the Egyptian records which 
 enumerate the conquests of Rameses II. in Canaan, Professor 
 Sayce finds the same name Shalam along with Gaza and 
 other ancient towns. The strongest confirmation of the Scrip- 
 ture narrative, however, is found in the Tell Amarna tablets 
 which transmit the old name Uru-Salim, in form almost identi- 
 cal with its familiar modern name, and give the long lost clue 
 to its derivation. These records antedate the exodus by a 
 period of about 1 20 years. It is thus made evident by three 
 distinct lines of proof that the old name of the city was not 
 Jebus, as has been frequently affirmed, but Salem or Uru- 
 Salem. There is also a very remarkable parallelism between 
 
222 The Land of Israel 
 
 the declaration of the Ruler of Uru-Salem and the King who 
 met Abraham. Says Professor Sayce " The description given 
 of Melchizedek in Genesis is precisely that which Ebed-tob 
 gives of himself, with this difference that whereas Ebed-tob 
 was the tributary of the Egyptian monarch, Melchizedek was 
 still an independent sovereign." 
 
 When Joshua entered the land, about 160 years after 
 the date of the Tell Amarna inscriptions, Jerusalem was the 
 noted stronghold of the Jebusites, and was then designated as 
 Jebus. The old name, however does not seem to have been 
 forgotten, for in the book of Joshua it is referred to as "Jebus 
 which is Jerusalem." (Josh, xviii. 28.) A similar expression 
 is found in Judges xix. 10. The men of Judah captured the 
 lower city of the Jebusites and set it on fire, but they could 
 not drive out the defenders from the stronghold of the upper 
 city. (Josh. xv. 63; Judg. i. 21.) This portion remained in 
 the hands of the Jebusites until David took it by assault and 
 made it the capital of his kingdom. The city as a whole was 
 frequently called Zion at a later period. From this time on- 
 ward Jerusalem was the capital of the Hebrew nation and the 
 Divinely-established centre of its religious life and worship. 
 
 In the period which elapsed between its capture by the men 
 of Judah and its final overthrow by the Roman general Titus, 
 Jerusalem was besieged seventeen times. Twice it was razed to 
 the ground, and on other occasions the walls on the north were 
 broken down. Its after history is a succession of desolations 
 and restorations of a similar character up to the year 1 244, 
 when it was besieged for the last time by the Kharezmian 
 hordes who plundered it and slaughtered its Christian inhabit- 
 ants. 
 
 This is reckoned as the twenty-seventh siege of Jerusalem. 
 There is no parallel to this record of vicissitudes in the history 
 of any city of ancient or modern times. It has experienced 
 all the judgments uttered against it by its own prophets to the 
 full: and yet despite all these calamities, its spiritual associa- 
 
Jerusalem and its Environs 223 
 
 tions have invested it with a peculiar sanctity and glory, even 
 in its ruined estate, that attaches to no other city on earth. 
 "If it had existed two thousand one hundred and seventy- 
 seven years when overthrown by Titus, as stated by Josephus, 
 its age at present is not less than four thousand years. More 
 than any other city it has influenced the moral and religious 
 character of the human race and the end is not yet" l 
 
 1 Land and Book, p. 567. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE MOUNTAINS OF JUDAH 
 
 THIS portion of the range increases in elevation, as it ex- 
 tends southward, until it culminates in the heights of Er 
 Ramah, directly north of Hebron, 3,546 feet above the sea. 
 From this point the elevation falls away gradually or by a 
 series of steps, until it merges, at length, into the lower levels 
 of the Negeb, or South Country. The border line between the 
 Negeb and the Hill country cannot be definitely placed, but 
 in general it was the base or southern limit of the Judean 
 range proper, not including its lower slopes and rolling downs. 
 Its western boundary was the irregular depression between the 
 main range and the Shephelah : its eastern was the shore of 
 the Dead Sea. 
 
 The characteristic features of this mountain tract correspond 
 with those already given in the description of the Mountains of 
 Benjamin. To this we add a very striking and life-like sketch 
 by Dr. G. A. Smith : 
 
 Where the plateau rolls, the shadeless slopes are for the most part di- 
 vided between brown scrub and grey rock ; the hollows are stony fields 
 traversed by dry torrent-beds of dirty boulders and gashed clay. Where 
 the plateau breaks, low ridge and shallow glen are formed, and the ridge 
 is often crowned by a village, of which the grey stone walls and mud 
 roofs look from the distance like a mere outcrop of the rock ; yet round 
 them, or below in the glen, there will be olive-groves, figs, and perhaps a 
 few terraces of vines. Some of these breaks in the table-land are very 
 rich in vegetation, as at Bethany, the Valley of Hinnom, the Gardens of 
 Solomon and other spots round Bethlehem, and in the neighborhood of 
 Hebron, the famous vale of Eshcol or Vine Cluster. And again between 
 Hebron and the wilderness there are nine miles by three of plateau, 
 where the soil is almost free from stones, and the fair, red and green 
 
 224 
 
/Jfiffibii? M 
 
 

 THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA 
 
The Mountains of Judah 225 
 
 fields, broken by a few heathy mounds, might be a scene of upland 
 agriculture in our own country. 1 
 
 It is evident from this description that the Hill country of 
 Judah is a pastoral land, and that its principal fruits are the 
 fig, the olive and the vine. "A vineyard on 'a hill of olives,' 
 with the ' fence,' and ' the stones gathered out,' and ' the tower 
 in the midst of it,' is the natural figure which, both in the 
 prophetical and evangelical records, represent the kingdom of 
 Judah." 2 In the springtime the one ever present relief to the 
 otherwise desolate-looking landscape is the abundance of deli- 
 cate, richly-tinted wild flowers, which grow everywhere along- 
 side the rocks, amid ruined heaps or are closely intertwined 
 with dense tangles of undergrowth and vine. 
 
 The Jeshimon or Wilderness of Judea is a barren, un- 
 inhabited region which well accords with its name. It includes 
 the whole of the eastern slope or declivity of the mountain 
 ridge from the head to the foot of the Dead Sea. "Every- 
 where it is steep and sometimes precipitous and is often cleft to 
 its base by the deep valleys or gorges that issue from the moun- 
 tain. All is irregular and wild ; presenting scenes of savage 
 grandeur." From several of the deep rugged chasms, which 
 lie below the fields of Bethlehem, it would be easy to select a 
 typical " valley of the shadow of death," such as impressed the 
 mind of David when he kept his father's sheep, (i. Sam. 
 xvii. 15, 28, 34; Ps. xxiii. 4.) Through all the centuries in 
 which it has been known to history, this has been a wild, un- 
 cultivated region, save in a few spots; given over to wild 
 beasts, to hermits, and to outlaws in hiding ; or to wandering 
 shepherds and herdsmen. Into this "land not inhabited " the 
 scapegoat was "led by the hand of a fit man," after the in- 
 iquities of the people had been "confessed and put upon his 
 head." (Lev. xvi. 21, 22.) In this wilderness John the Bap- 
 tist sought seclusion from the world for a time while preparing 
 
 * Hist. Geog./p. 306. * Sinai and Palestine, p. 230. 
 
 Phys. Geog., p. 33. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 for his mission as the Forerunner of the coming Messiah . and 
 on its outskirts he began to preach, saying : " Prepare ye the 
 way of the Lord, make His paths straight." (Matt. iii. 1-6; 
 Luke iii. 2.) Somewhere, also, amid these dreary wastes the Son 
 of man withstood the subtle temptations of the Evil One ; and 
 here, when the long trial had issued in victory, the angels 
 found Him in His exhausted state, and ministered unto Him. 
 (Matt. iv. i n; Mark i. 12, 13.) 
 
 The principal Wadies on the east side are the Wady en 
 Nar down which the waters of the Kedron flow to the Dead 
 Sea and Wady el Ghar, or Areijah, running from the wilderness 
 of Tekoa to the oasis at Engedi. . . . There are possibly 
 a score of deep gorges besides, but they are in the flank of the 
 mountain ridge only and do not afford continuous passage-ways 
 to its summit. On the western side are the tributaries of the 
 Wadies Surar, Es Sunt, and Afranj, already mentioned. 
 
 Forty-four cities, including those in the wilderness, are 
 enumerated in the description of this mountain heritage of 
 Judah in the book of Joshua (xv. 48-62). Many of these 
 had outlying villages. "It is impossible," says Canon Tris- 
 tram, " to wander among these hills without perceiving that the 
 expression, 'her towns,' applied in the enumeration to many 
 of the cities, was no mere figure of speech. The groups of 
 ruins, ' the desolate heaps ' of Judah, far outnumber any cata- 
 logue of her cities that has come down to us." l 
 
 The following list comprises the most important of the sites 
 which have been identified. 
 
 i. Kirjath Jearim. The site formerly proposed for this 
 border city was Kuriet el Anab, better known as the town of 
 Abu Ghosh, on the road to Ramleh from Jerusalem by way of 
 Wady Ali. This place is now regarded as identical with Kir- 
 jath of Benjamin : and Kirjath Jearim has been satisfactorily 
 identified, by the Survey party, with a ruin farther to the south 
 called Khurbet 'Erma. It is on a ridge thickly covered with 
 1 Holy Land, p. 55. 
 
The Mountains of Judah 227 
 
 undergrowth on the south side of the ravine which leads down 
 to the valley of Sorek. Its location conforms to the descrip- 
 tion of the border line of Judah ; it being on the line indicated 
 by natural features between Rachel's sepulchre and the town 
 of Beth-shemesh. It is twelve miles from Jerusalem and four 
 from Beth-shemesh. 
 
 " The name 'Erma corresponds to the latest form Arim, which took 
 the place of the original Ya'rim or Jearim. (Ezra ii. 25.) This ruin is 
 distant only three miles from the great valley toward which it looks down. 
 It lies close to the border of the lower hills and the high Judean mountains, 
 and shows evidence of having been an ancient site. Close to the same 
 vicinity the Survey party fixed the situation of Deir Aban, ' The Convent 
 of the Stone,' identified by St. Jerome with the site of Ebenezer, The 
 Stone of Help,' which Samuel erected to commemorate the great victory 
 over the Philistines. (I Sam. vii. 12.) Its situation seems to render the 
 traditional view not improbably correct, for the village stands at the 
 mouth of the great valley, down which undoubtedly the Philistine hosts 
 were driven." * 
 
 The Ark of the Covenant was brought from Beth-shemesh to 
 Kirjath Jearim where it remained until it was removed to Jeru- 
 salem by David, (i Sam. vii. i, 2; 2 Sam. vi. 1-17; Ps. 
 cxxxii. 6.) "After being twenty years neglected, the ark was 
 sought for in a time of religious revival (chap, vii.), and a 
 place, doubtless prepared for it ' on the hill. ' Just such a 
 levelled platform as remains at Shiloh has been found at Khur- 
 bet 'Erma." 3 
 
 2. Emmaus has been recently identified with a ruined 
 village, in a well-watered valley, called Khamasa, an altered 
 form of the Hebrew word Hammath or Emmaus. It is eight 
 miles southwest of Jerusalem. There is a cluster of springs 
 five or more in number in the vicinity. An old Roman road 
 leads past it to the coast-plain, over which in all probability 
 our Lord journeyed with the two perplexed di dples. (Luke 
 xxiv. 13-33.) 
 
 i Thirty Years' Work, p. 119. 'Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 112. 
 
228 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 3. Bethlehem. The little town where Jesus was born is 
 less than six miles from the place where He was crucified. It 
 crowns the summit of a white chalkstone ridge or spur which 
 projects eastward from the main range. On the north, east, 
 and south, where the ridge stands clear of the plateau, the 
 slopes are naturally abrupt, but have been graded somewhat, 
 and made capable of a high state of cultivation by a series of 
 broad terraces. These are covered with gardens, vineyards, 
 and olive-yards. To the traveller approaching from the north 
 the encircling walls, the terraced heights, the steep ascent to 
 the gate, and the long line of snowy-white houses present a 
 picture of rare beauty and attractiveness. Bethlehem, or Beit- 
 Lahm as the natives call it, is a typical upland village of the 
 country, with one long street, from which a few short streets or 
 alleys diverge at irregular intervals. Its identity with the old 
 town at first known as Ephrath and afterward Bethlehem of 
 Judah is unquestioned. By the ridge road to the south, less 
 than a mile from the village, is the place, still marked by a 
 conspicuous tomb where Rachel died and was buried. (Gen. 
 xlviii. 7.) Bethlehem was the home of Boaz; the scene of 
 the beautiful story of Ruth and Naomi ; and the birthplace of 
 David. (Ruth, chaps, ii.-iv.) And in this city of David 
 was born, in "the fullness of the time," a "Saviour, which is 
 Christ the Lord." (Luke ii. 4-14.) Below the terraced slope 
 directly east of Bethlehem there is an open valley, known as the 
 fields of Bethlehem, where Boaz and his reapers labored, and 
 where Ruth gleaned after them among the sheaves. Beyond 
 this strip of corn land, in which each inhabitant of the village 
 has his little plot of ground, indicated as of old, by the stone 
 landmark, lies a large tract on the edge of the wilderness. 
 This from time immemorial has been the common pasturage of 
 the shepherds of Bethlehem. Here, and on the slopes of the 
 wilderness below, David kept his father's flock, (i Sam. xvi. 
 n, xvii. 28.) While we do not know the exact spot, it is cer- 
 tain that somewhere on this eastward stretch of open country 
 
The Mountains of Judah 
 
 the shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks by night, 
 when, suddenly, the glory of the Lord shone round about them 
 and the angelic message was proclaimed. Between this ancient 
 pasture ground and the stars a multitude of the heavenly hosts 
 were revealed who thrilled the astonished watchers below, as 
 they chanted together the praiseful refrain, " Glory to God 
 in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 
 There are good grounds for the commonly accepted belief that 
 the Church of the Nativity, at the eastern end of the village 
 covers the site of the "inn," or Khan at Bethlehem. It was 
 known as the " habitation," or caravansary, of Chimham, the 
 son of Barzillai, centuries before (Jer. xli. 17), and was 
 probably the portion of the patrimony of David, which was 
 given to him as a reward for the kindness of his father. (2 
 Sam. xix. 38-40; i Kings ii. 7.) 
 
 Under the choir at the east end of the church a flight of 
 steps leads down to the "grotto of the Nativity." The tradi- 
 tion which locates the birthplace of Christ in this grotto 
 " seems to be credible," says Major Conder, " because through- 
 out this part of Palestine, there are innumerable instances 
 of stables cut in rock, resembling the Bethlehem grotto. 
 Such stables I have planned and measured at Tekoa, Aziz, and 
 other places south of Bethlehem, and the mangers existing in 
 them leave no doubt as to their use and character." l It is an 
 interesting fact, also, that this is the oldest Christian tradition 
 relating to any sacred site. While no other can be traced back 
 earlier than the fourth century, this concerning the birthplace 
 of Christ goes back to the second. It rests on the authority of 
 Justin Martyr, who described it as a cave near Bethlehem, and 
 afterward Jerome avouched his belief in the genuineness of the 
 site by making his abode in a grotto close beside it, where he 
 lived and labored on his great life-work for thirty years. Here, 
 at least, we may be sure " we are treading on ground hallowed 
 by the footsteps of nearly fifty generations of believers." This 
 1 Tent Work, p. 145. 
 
230 The Land of Israel 
 
 Basilica is said to be the oldest building of its kind in the 
 world : the date of its erection by order of Constantine being 
 A. D. 327. The roof beams were originally of cedar brought 
 from Lebanon, but these were replaced by beams of English 
 oak during the reign of Edward IV. On Christmas Day noi 
 Baldwin I. was crowned as King of Jerusalem within the walls 
 of this Basilica. 
 
 The present population of Bethlehem is estimated at about 
 8,000. It is one of the most prosperous Christian villages in 
 Palestine. 
 
 4. The fortified convent of Mar Saba is directly east of 
 Bethlehem in the deep gorge of the Kedron valley. It belongs 
 to the Greek Church and has stood in this wild, desolate re- 
 gion since the fifth century. This curious structure can hardly 
 be distinguished from the precipitous cliff to which it clings : 
 the walls being built up from ledges or rock platforms high 
 above the level of the valley, and supported by massive but- 
 tresses from the lower levels to the summit of the cliff. From 
 one outlook on the wall the elevation is 590 feet above the bed 
 of the ravine. 
 
 5. Jebel Fureidis, or the Frank Mountain as it -is some- 
 times called, is a little over three miles southeast of Bethlehem. 
 It is conspicuous among the hills of Judah because of its isola- 
 tion and mound-like appearance. It is probably the beacon- 
 mountain called Beth-haccerem, on which " the sign of fire 
 was set up" in times of invasion. (Jer. vi. i.) It was forti- 
 fied by Herod the Great and here he erected his summer pal- 
 ace. It is also the place of his burial. 
 
 6. The traditional Cave of Adullam in the contracted 
 part of the Wady Khureitun, a short distance from the Frank 
 Mountain, is the largest cavern which has yet been explored i;i 
 this land of caverns and grottoes. It has many intricate wind- 
 ings and communicating chambers, the farthest of which is 
 about 600 feet from the entrance. While capacious enough to 
 shelter a much larger force than the band of David's men, there 
 
The Mountains of Judah 231 
 
 is no good reason for identifying it with the Cave of Adullam. 
 The probable site of this stronghold is, as already indicated, 
 among the low hills, near the town of Adullam at the head of 
 the valley of Elah. 
 
 7. Etham or Etam, has been identified with a mound of 
 ruins three miles south of Bethlehem, at the head of the valley 
 of Urtas, in the immediate vicinity of the Pools of Solomon. 
 It is mentioned by Josephus as the source of the water supply 
 for Solomon's gardens. It was fortified by Rehoboam. (2 
 Chron. xi. 6.) The Pools of Solomon have been already de- 
 scribed in connection with the water supply of Jerusalem. The 
 fountains which supply these pools are probably identical with 
 the waters of Nephtoah. (Josh. xv. 9.) 
 
 8. Tekoa now Tekua, is five miles south of Bethlehem. 
 It was the home of the prophet Amos (Amos i. i), and also of 
 the wise woman who came at the instance of Joab to plead the 
 cause of Absalom. (2 Sam. xiv. 2.) 
 
 9. Bether (Cant. ii. 17) is probably represented by Bittir, in Wady 
 Bittir, five miles west of Bethlehem; Phagor by Faghur, four miles 
 south of Bethlehem ; Soris by Saris, ten miles northwest of Bethlehem 
 and Galem by Beita Jala, two miles west of Bethlehem. 1 
 
 10. Hebron or Kirjath-Arba, as it was originally called, is 
 nineteen miles southwest of Jerusalem. It is at the head of a 
 fertile, well-watered valley, which extends northward for about 
 two miles. In the Scriptures it is called the Vale of Hebron. 
 (Gen. xxxvii. 14.) Its wider expanse north of the city is 
 known as the Plain of Mamre, and all the indications point to 
 this as the probable place of Abraham's encampment. It has 
 been associated with the vale of Eshcol because of its large and 
 flourishing vineyards, but later research indicates a location 
 farther to the south. In his description of this rich upland 
 valley Canon Tristram says : 
 
 Not an inch of space is lost. Terraces, where the ground is not too 
 rocky, support the soil. Ancient vineyards cling to the lower slopes ; 
 1 Hend. Geog., p. 86. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 olive, mulberry, fig, almond, and pomegranate trees fill every available 
 cranny to the very crest ; while the bottom of the valley is carefully tilled 
 for corn, carrots, and cauliflowers, which in summer give place to a sec- 
 ond crop of melons and cucumbers. Streamlets of fresh water trickle on 
 each side of the path. . . . About two miles north of Hebron is a 
 very interesting ruin, now called Rameh or Ramel said to be the ancient 
 Mamre, and where Abraham's celebrated terebinth once stood, under 
 which, after the final overthrow of the Jews at Bether, A. D., 135, thou- 
 sands of captives were sold as slaves. On the hill above, Abraham could 
 easily have seen the ascending smoke of the Cities of the Plain. 1 
 
 Among the vineyards of Hebron, a mile or more to the north- 
 west, is a great oak, called Abraham's Oak. It measures thirty-two 
 feet in circumference at a height of six feet from the ground. 
 Its leafy crown has recently been reduced in size, but the 
 branches formerly extended over an area in one direction of 
 fifty feet, and of ninety-three in another. It is supposed to be 
 at least two or three centuries old. 
 
 Hebron is one of the few cities of Palestine which was lo- 
 cated in a valley, and yet it occupies the highest ground (3,029 
 feet) in the whole sweep of mountain territory south of Jebel 
 Jarmuk. It stretches across the valley from side to side, but 
 the greater part of the modern city is on the slope of the east- 
 ern hill. The most interesting as well as the most conspicuous 
 object in Hebron is the Great Mosque, which, without doubt, 
 covers the site of the Cave of Machpelah. It is a massive 
 structure 200 feet long, 115 wide and its enclosing walls are 
 about fifty feet high. The masonry of these walls corresponds 
 with that portion of the walls of the Temple area, which the 
 best authorities regard as Solomonic. One stone in this struc- 
 ture measures thirty-eight feet in length and three and a half 
 in height. 
 
 There are two ancient reservoirs in the valley outside the 
 
 gate. The largest of these is 135 feet square and fifty feet 
 
 deep. At one of these pools, probably the largest, David 
 
 hanged up the murderers of Ish-bosheth. (2 Sam. iv. 12.) 
 
 1 Holy Land, p. 64. 
 
The Mountains of Judah 233 
 
 " The ancient city may have been a little more to the north- 
 west, but the pools as well as the Haram fix the variation 
 within narrow limits." 1 
 
 Hebron is one of the oldest existing cities in the world. It 
 was built seven years before Zoan or Tanis in Egypt. (Num. 
 xiii. 22.) It was the third-halting place of Abraham on his 
 journey southward, and afterward a favorite camping-place. It 
 was also the abode for a time of Isaac and Jacob : and it was 
 "out of the vale of Hebron " that Joseph was sent to deliver a 
 message to his brethren. (Gen. xxxvii. 14.) Here in turn 
 the Patriarchs with their wives, except Rachel, were borne to 
 their burial in the family sepulchre, the cave of Machpelah, 
 which Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite. (Gen. xxxvii. 
 '14.) For forty centuries this spot has been revered as the 
 hallowed resting-place of the households of Abraham and 
 Isaac and also of the embalmed body of Jacob which was 
 brought hither from the land of Egypt. There is a tradition 
 that the bones of Joseph which were buried at Shechem, were 
 afterward brought to the cave of Machpelah, but there is no 
 intimation of this in the Scriptures. "The site of this cave," 
 says Major Conder, " may almost rank with that of Jacob's well 
 and the Jerusalem Temple as being preserved by local tradition 
 dating back to the times of the Jewish kingdom at least." a 
 
 Hebron was a Hittite city in the time of Abraham. At a 
 later period it was a stronghold of the Anakim. After the con- 
 quest it was assigned to Caleb for an inheritance. (Josh. xiv. 
 10-15.) It was one f tne six cities of refuge. David reigned 
 in Hebron for seven and a half years, or until he was made 
 the king of all Israel (2 Sam. v. 5 ): and here Absalom set up 
 the standard of revolt. (2 Sam. xv. 7-12.) 
 
 Three towns in a line on the edge of the Wilderness and one 
 in the heart of the Wilderness itself, have been made famous 
 by their connection with the romantic history of David when 
 he was "hunted as a partridge on the mountains" by King 
 
 * Pict. Pal., Vol. II., p. 183. Bible Geog., p. 38. 
 
234 The Land of Israel 
 
 Saul, viz : Ziph, Carmel, Maon and Engedi. All of these 
 places have been satisfactorily identified. 
 
 ix. Ziph is marked by a ruined heap which still bears the 
 name Tell Zif. It is four miles southeast of Hebron. 
 
 Major Conder thinks that the expression " wood " (Choresh) 
 of Ziph is the name of a place Choresh of Ziph and gives 
 in support of this theory the absence of all signs of a forest in 
 this region and the discovery of the ruins of a town called 
 Khoreisa near Ziph. This he supposes to be the place of meet- 
 ing between David and Jonathan, (i Sam. xxiii. 16.) 
 
 12. Carmel, now Kurmul, is four miles south of Ziph. It 
 was formerly a garrison town and extensive ruins of Roman 
 days are intermingled with fragments of buildings erected by 
 the Crusaders and Saracens. This was the place where the 
 churlish Nabal was shearing his sheep when David sent to him 
 for supplies for his men. It was also the native place of Abi- 
 gail, who became the wife of David after the death of Nabal. 
 (i Sam. chap, xxv.) In Carmel, and the mountains around, 
 TJzziah had farms and vineyards with husbandmen and vine- 
 dressers to care for them. (2 Chron. xxvi. 10.) 
 
 13. Maon is represented by Tell Main. It is less than two 
 miles south of Carmel on a higher elevation. It was the birth- 
 place of Nabal, a direct descendant of Caleb, to whom this 
 mountain district had been originally assigned. (Josh. xiv. 12.) 
 
 14. Engedi (Ain Jidy). This name applies to a celebrated 
 fountain (Fountain of the Kid) and also to a town below it near 
 the shore of the Dead Sea. An older name was Hazezon- 
 tamar. (Gen. xiv. 7 ; 2 Chron. xx. 2.) The fountain issues 
 from the base of a rock, which is nearly 500 feet above the 
 level of the Dead Sea and 1,500 feet below the top of the cliff 
 that towers above it. It is represented as "bursting forth 
 amidst an oasis of tropical vegetation and then kid-like skip- 
 ping from rock to rock, until it reaches the plain below." * The 
 whole of this district, says Doctor Robinson, was apparently 
 
 Palmer in Pict. Pal., Vol. II., p. 193. 
 
The Mountains of Judah 235 
 
 once terraced for tillage and gardens. 1 The beauty of this 
 " sub-tropical oasis" is the more notable because of the wild 
 desolation and savage grandeur all around it. Solomon makes 
 mention of the camphire in the vineyards of Engedi ; Josephus 
 of its balsams ; and Pliny of its palms, but these have given 
 way to native plants of a different class. 2 
 
 In this vicinity " among the rocks of the wild goats " David 
 had no difficulty in finding hiding-places for himself and his 
 men. From one of these he issued forth and cut off the skirt 
 of Saul's robe while he was sleeping in a cave, (i Sam. xxiv. 
 
 3-80 
 
 The rugged pass, which leads down to Engedi from the 
 plateau near Tekoa, has been identified with the cliff or ascent 
 of Ziz by which the hosts of Moab and Ammon came, from 
 the Dead Sea, to the plateau near Tekoa. (2 Chron. xx. 16-20.) 
 The valley of Berachah, Jehoshaphat's " valley of blessing," is 
 supposed to be an open vale between Tekoa and the Hebron 
 road, in which is a ruined site which the natives called Khur- 
 bet Bereikuh. (2 Chron. xx. 26.) Engedi has given its name 
 to a portion of the wilderness region around and above it. The 
 invading army from the East under Chedorlaomer came around 
 the southern end of the Dead Sea to Engedi where they smote 
 the Amorites. (Gen. xiv. 7.) From thence to the northern end 
 of the Sea the only practicable route would be by the ascent 
 of Ziz. "This pass and cliff," says Professor Palmer, "have 
 been from the days of Chedorlaomer and Abraham, the one 
 ascent by which invaders from the south and east entered the 
 hill country of Judea. As far as Engedi they could march 
 by the shore without any obstacle ; north of it the shore line is 
 impracticable, even for footmen, and there are no paths by 
 
 i Rob. Res., Vol. I., p. 506. 
 
 * Canon Tristram says that on breaking through the limestone incrusta- 
 tion of the recesses of the rocks there, he found great masses of perfect 
 palm leaves, and even whole trees, petrified where they had stood. Nat. 
 Hist, of the Bible, p. 380. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 which beasts could be led up. Had they taken any of the 
 openings south of Engedi this must have entailed a long 
 march across a rough and almost waterless desert." l 
 
 Masada, the last refuge of the Jews after the destruction of 
 Jerusalem by Titus, is about half way between Engedi and the 
 south end of the Dead Sea. Tristram describes it as "a bold 
 isolated rock a very inland Gibraltar crowned by certainly 
 the most remarkable ruin in Palestine." 
 
 15. Hareth, the city to which David went from Adullam, 
 before he came to Ziph, (i Sam. xxii. 5), is identical with a 
 ruin called Kharas, five or six miles northwest of Hebron. 
 
 1 6. Keilah is west of Kharas about two miles, (i Sam. 
 xxiii. 1-13.) 
 
 17. The following towns have been identified, for the most 
 part, by the names which they still retain. The distances given 
 are from Hebron : 
 
 Bethzur, four miles north, with Beit Sur (Josh. xv. 58) ; Gedor, seven 
 miles north, with Jedar (i Chron. iv. 39); Beth Tappuah, a short dis- 
 tance northwest, with Tuffuh (Josh. xv. 53) ; Adoraim in Wady Afranj, 
 six miles west, with Dura (2 Chron. xi. 9) ; Arab, seven miles southwest 
 with Er-Rabiyeh (Josh. xv. 52) ; Juttah, the traditional residence of 
 Zacharias, five miles south, with Yuttah (Josh. xxi. 16; Luke i. 39); 
 SocoA, ten miles southwest, with Shuweikeh (Josh. xv. 48) ; Jattir, the 
 lowest town on the border of the Hill Country proper, thirteen miles 
 southwest, with Attir. (Josh. xv. 48.) 
 
 Debir has been identified with El Dhoheriyeh, twelve miles southwest 
 of Hebron. This was the famous " book-town " of the Anakim (Kirjath- 
 Sepher) Josh. xv. 15. Conder notes the fact that Debir stood in a "dry 
 land " and locates the " upper and lower springs " given to Caleb's 
 daughter at Dilbeh seven miles north of Debir. These seem to be the 
 springs to which reference is made ; for there are no other of like charac- 
 ter in this entire region." They number fourteen in all and are divided 
 into three groups. From these fountain heads a brook flows through the 
 small gardens for four or five miles." (Judg. i. 15 ; Josh. xv. 9.)* 
 
 > Pict. Pal., Vol. II., p. 191. Faussett's Bib. Cyclopedia, p. 165. 
 

CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE NEGEB OR SOUTH COUNTRY 
 
 THIS district lies between the lower levels of the mountains 
 and the desert of Paran, or Tih. Its southern limit is about 
 sixty-five miles south of Hebron. Several of the towns de- 
 scribed in the preceding chapter have sometimes been classed 
 with the Negeb, but the line of division, as therein indicated, 
 may be assumed as approximately correct. 
 
 In the Scriptures several subdivisions indicating special lo- 
 calities are mentioned, such as the Negeb of the Cherethites; 
 of Judah ; of the Kenites ; of Caleb, etc. 
 
 The descent to the south throughout this section is by a series 
 of steps or slightly inclined slopes. On the surface, with a few 
 exceptions here and there, it has the appearance of a dry and 
 thirsty land " bare and desolate as the desert itself." It is still 
 a pasture land, however, and in most of the deeper Valleys a 
 good supply of water may be obtained by sinking wells. In 
 many localities grass and flowers appear in the early spring, but 
 soon wither away or become as brown and dry as the soil and 
 rock around them. Before the conquest the greater part of the 
 Southland was held by the Amalekites. (Num. xiii. 29.) In 
 the southwestern part David wandered for a time when hiding 
 from the face of Saul, (i Sam. xxvii. 7, 8.) The northern 
 portion was a favorite pasture range of Abraham and Isaac, but 
 in every place of their sojourn it was necessary to dig wells. 
 Except where groves were planted in the neighborhood of these 
 wells the entire country was probably as treeless then as it is 
 now. Canon Tristram, to whom this region is more familiar 
 than most explorers of modern times, gives the following ac- 
 count of its characteristics and ancient habitations : 
 
 237 
 
238 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 The south differs from the hill country to the north of it, not merely so 
 much in being pastoral instead of cultivated, for its whole extent yields 
 proof of very extensive though not universal cultivation in former times ; 
 nor in its being less hilly, for it has but few plains of any extent; but in 
 its deep ravines, torn and rent by winter torrents (aphikim), " the streams 
 in the south " of Psalm cxxvi. 4. These torrents, quite dry in summer, cut 
 down steep cliffs into narrow gullies by their violence in winter. On 
 the west side they drain toward the Arish and Philistia, on the east 
 toward the Dead Sea, none running south into Paran or the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 The wide central expanse is now a sort of upland wilderness, a series 
 of rolling hills, with scanty herbage more abundant on their northern 
 slopes, but without a tree or a bush more than three feet high. Occasion- 
 ally, by a well, the rich soil, scratched for barley or wheat, shows that 
 with care, as in the days of Isaac, it might still yield a hundredfold. 
 Probably every one of the twenty-nine cities, with their villages, in the 
 south, assigned by Joshua to Judah and Simeon, survive. They cover many 
 acres with ruins which might, with very slight labor, be again rendered 
 habitable : with oil-presses and wine-presses lying at their gates ; contain- 
 ing cisterns, reservoirs, and conduits still perfect and beautifully cemented, 
 with a rich soil in the lower grounds ; in short everything that might be 
 supposed to attract a settled population. Nearly all of these cities have 
 been identified, with more or less probability. 
 
 Yet throughout the whole extent of the south country, thickly strewn 
 as it is with traces of its former occupants and peopled with hardy tribes 
 who pay a nominal allegiance to the Turkish government, there is not so 
 much as a single inhabited village. 
 
 Not until the traveller has fairly crossed its northern border and entered 
 the hill country, does this strange spectacle of deserted towns and a house- 
 less population cease to arrest his attention. . . . The words of Dr. 
 Robinson, about Zephath or Hormah, may be applied to every city of the 
 Negeb : " Once, as we judged upon the spot, this must have been a city 
 of not less than 10,000 or 20,000 inhabitants. Now it is a perfect field 
 of ruins, a scene of unutterable desolation, across which the passing 
 stranger can with difficulty find his way." A mighty spell seems to rest 
 upon the cities of the south. We turn to the word of prophecy, and we 
 read, The cities of the south (Negeb) shall be shut up, and none shall 
 open them : Judah shall be carried away captive, all of it : it shall be 
 wholly carried away captive. (Jer. xiii. 19.) 1 
 
 i Holy Land, pp. 14, 15. 
 
The Negeb or South Country 
 
 SITES OF SPECIAL INTEREST 
 
 239 
 
 I. Beersheba. This famous camping-ground of the pa- 
 triarchs is situated on the northern side of the wide water- 
 course, known as Wady es Seba (Lat. 31 4'; Long. 34 47'). 
 It is forty-six miles from Jerusalem and twenty-seven miles 
 southwest of Hebron. The Hebrew name signifies " Well of 
 the Oath," and it is probable that it was first known as a 
 
 ABRAHAM'S WELL, BEERSHEBA. 
 
 camping-place and afterward as a town or city. (Gen. xxi. 
 31.) Two of the seven wells, which were originally sunk by 
 the servants of the Patriarchs in this valley, are still used by 
 the shepherds who gather their flocks, as of old around them 
 and drawing from the wells with bucket and rope, pour the 
 water into rude troughs of hewn stone, placed at convenient 
 distances around the mouths of the wells. Dr. Robinson says 
 that the water in both is pure and sweet, and in great abun- 
 dance; the finest indeed which he had found since leaving 
 Sinai. 
 
 The larger well measures twelve and one-half feet in diame- 
 ter, and is over forty-five feet in depth. In the vicinity may 
 be seen traces of the other wells, one of which is twenty-three 
 
240 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 feet deep and nine feet two inches in diameter. They are all 
 lined above the native rock with finely-squared blocks of lime- 
 stone, which are deeply furrowed by the ropes of the water- 
 drawers. The ruins of the ancient town are scattered over an 
 area of a half a mile or more in extent. 
 
 The southern bank of the valley is banked up with a strong wall of 
 solid masonry, extending for a few hundred yards along the part opposite 
 the wells, which are thus protected from the earth falling in and filling 
 them up. The hillside behind them is covered with ruins, though, from 
 the confused state into which they have fallen, it is impossible now to 
 make out with any certainty the original ground-plan of the town. Higher 
 up in the valley are the foundations of a Greek church. 
 
 The country around Beersheba consists of a rolling plain, intersected 
 by the wady beds of Seba and Khulil. In spring, when the rains have 
 fallen, it is often covered for miles around with grass, flowers and herb- 
 age ; at other times it is nothing but a dry, parched land. Strange and 
 solemn are the thoughts which such a place inspires. 
 
 Here are the very wells, in all human probability, which the Father of 
 the Faithful dug. The name he gave it still clings to the spot; the 
 Bedawin, to whom the Scriptures are unknown, still point with pride to the 
 great work which their father Ibrahim achieved, and as they draw water 
 from it for their flocks and herds, the ropes that let the buckets down still 
 glide along the same deep furrows in the masonry which, mayhap, the ropes 
 of the patriarch's servants first began. l 
 
 Beersheba, more than any other place in the Land, was the 
 centre of Patriarchal life and history. Here Abraham dwelt 
 for about seventy-five years after the destruction of Sodom. 
 Around the place of his tent and altar he planted a grove and 
 called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God : 
 thus establishing the first permanent sanctuary in the Holy 
 Land. (Gen. xxi. 33.) Most of the 180 years of Isaac's life 
 were spent in or about Beersheba ; and Jacob was about 
 seventy years old when he went out from this place to go to 
 his mother's home in Padan A m. (Gen. xxviii. 10.) To this 
 sanctuary he came once more, when an old man, on his way 
 
 1 Prof. Palmer. Pict. Pal. Vol. II., p. 207. 
 
The Negeb or South Country 241 
 
 *> Egypt, and there " God spake to him in the visions of the 
 night" and dispelled all his fears, promising to bring him up 
 again to the land after that his son Joseph "should have put 
 his hands upon his eyes." (Gen. xlvi. 1-5.) Here Abraham 
 received the strange command to sacrifice his son Isaac, and 
 thence he journeyed to the land of Moriah in unquestioning 
 obedience to the Divine direction. (Gen. xxii. 3, 19.) To 
 Beersheba Rebekah came as the bride of Isaac and there her 
 children were born. Here Esau forfeited his birthright and 
 Jacob obtained by fraud the coveted blessing. (Gen. xxv. 34, 
 xxvii. 23-29.) 
 
 Beersheba was originally assigned to Judah, but was after- 
 ward given to Simeon. (Josh. xix. 2.) Near the close of 
 the period of the Judges it was the recognized limit of Israel's 
 possession in the south, and hence the familiar expression 
 "from Dan to Beersheba." (Judg. xx. i; i Sam. iii. 20.) 
 It does not follow, however, that this applies to the land in all 
 periods of its history, or that it is to be regarded as its Biblical 
 limitation in modern times. Over the district represented by 
 this city Samuel appointed his two sons, Joel and Abiah, to be 
 Judges, (i Sam. viii. 2.) To this place Elijah fled from the 
 fierce anger of Jezebel on his way to the desert solitudes of the 
 south, (i Kings xix. 3.) Beersheba was one of the seats of 
 idolatrous worship in the kingdom of Judah and was denounced 
 by the prophets in connection with Bethel, Gilgal and Dan. 
 (Amos v. 5, viii. 14. See also 2 Kings xxiii. 8.) 
 
 Arad, the city of "king Arad who dwelt in the south," 
 (Num. xxi. i), lies eighteen miles northeast of Beersheba 
 and seventeen south of Hebron. Its modern designation 
 is Tell Arad. (Judg. i. 16.) " Tell Arad and its adjacent 
 plains form the Negeb of the Kenitcs, probably extend- 
 ing to the southwestern end of the Dead Sea." 1 
 
 2. Sheba (Josh. xix. 2) is probably identical with Tell es 
 Seba, two and one-half miles east of Beersheba. 
 i Thirty Years' Work, p. 75. 
 
242 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 3. Aroer, one of the haunts of David, is in the Wady 
 Ararah twelve miles southeast of Beersheba. (i Sam. xxx. 
 
 28.) 
 
 4. Rehoboth. The probable site of the well to which 
 Isaac gave this name (Gen. xxvi. 22) is in the Wady Ru- 
 haibeh, twenty miles southwest of Beersheba. . . . "On 
 the left of the wady is a small valley called Shatneh er Ru- 
 haibeh, in which we see the word Sitnah, so that two of the 
 three words (Gen. xxvi. 20-22) are preserved." l 
 
 5. Zephath, afterward called Hormah (Judg. i. 17), has 
 been identified with the ruins of Sebaita, thirty miles south of 
 Beersheba. 
 
 " All round the city lie the gardens which once were covered with 
 orchards of apples and pomegranates, and terraces of clustering vines. 
 The city itself is marked by an expanse of ruins 500 yards long by 300 
 wide ; containing three churches, a tower, and two reservoirs of water. No 
 timber is used in the building of the houses, the absence of wood being 
 supplied by thick beams of stone. Nearly every house had its well, 
 about two feet in diameter, and covered with square stone blocks having 
 holes cut in them. The streets can still be traced, and the outer build- 
 ings are either walled in or strengthened with additional masonry, pre- 
 senting a series of angles, like a fortification. Three miles to the north- 
 west stands a ruined fortress on an isolated hill, called El Meshrifeh the 
 watch-tower. It commands the only pass by which the plain where 
 Sebaita, or Hormah, stands can be approached and answers to the de- 
 scription in the Bible. The distance of Sebaita from Ain Gadis (Kadesh 
 Barnea) is only twenty miles. The names Dheiget el Amerin (ravine 
 of the Amorites), Ras Amir (a chain of low mountains fifteen miles 
 southwest of El Meshrifeh), and Sheikh el Amir (a place in the immedi- 
 ate neighborhood of El Meshrifeh), all point to the identification of this 
 region with the hill country of the Amorites. 
 
 " Thus the name, Sebaita, is etymologically identical with the 
 Zephath of the Bible. Zephath means watch-tower, and it exactly 
 corresponds both in situation and in name. Mr. Palmer suggests here 
 that the city, though three miles distant from the fortress which protected 
 it, might yet well be called the city of the Watch-Tower ; so that in El 
 
 Our Work in Pal., p. 300. 
 
The Negeb or South Country 243 
 
 Meshrifeh we should have the Zephath itself, and in Sebaita the city 
 of the Zephath. 
 
 " This is one of the most remarkable examples of the tenacity of the 
 ancient names. It is 3,500 years since Judah, with Simeon his brother, 
 changed the name from Zephath to Hormah. The country has been suc- 
 cessively Jewish, Roman, Christian, Mohammedan, Christian again, and 
 Mohammedan again. Yet here is the original name surviving still." l 
 
 This identification throws light upon the long lost site of 
 Kadesh Barnea. It is specially interesting because of its as- 
 sociation with the battle and defeat of the Israelites, " when 
 they presumed to go up unto the hilltop " of the Amorites 
 in disobedience to the Divine command (Num. xiv. 40-45,) 
 and also of a later battle in which the Israelites were the vic- 
 tors. (Num. xxi. 1-3.) The plain Es Seer, which stretches 
 northward almost to Beersheba from Hormah, has been identi- 
 fied with Seir, or the region of Seir, to which Moses refers in 
 his account of the battle: "And the Amorites, which dwelt 
 in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees 
 do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah." (Deut. i. 
 44.) The "Mount Halak (Bald Mountain) that goeth up to 
 Seir" (Josh. xii. 7) was without doubt the rugged barrier which 
 stretches along the northern border of the Wady Feqreh (Fekreh). 
 " This wady ascends southwesterly from the Arabah, from a 
 point not far south of the Dead Sea, and separates Palestine 
 proper from the Azazimeh mountain tract, or Jebel Muqrah 
 group. The northern wall of this wady is a bare and bold 
 rampart of rock, forming a natural boundary as it < goeth up to 
 Seir ' ; a landmark both impressive and unique, and which cor- 
 responds with all the Bible mentions of the Mount Halak." 3 
 The identity of the plain Es Seer with " the land of Seir in 
 the country or field of Edom," where Esau dwelt when Jacob 
 returned from Padan Aram (Gen. xxxii. 3), has also been satis- 
 factorily established. This tract which lies close to the 
 
 1 Our Work in Pal., pp. 296, 298. 
 9 Tnimbull's Kadesh Barnea, p. 95. 
 
244 The Land of Israel 
 
 southern limit of the land of Canaan is to be distinguished 
 from Mount Seir on the eastern side of the Arabah. 
 
 6. Kadesh Barnea. This important site has been definitely 
 located, after many years of uncertainty and controversy, at 
 Ain Gadis or, as it is sometimes written, Ain Quadis. The 
 name in either form is the equivalent of the Hebrew word 
 Kadesh. The wady at the head of which Ain Gadis is situated, 
 expands into a fertile plain about ten miles long by six broad. 
 
 KADESH BARNEA. P. E. F. 
 
 " At the northeast of the plain is a bold and bare rock, a 
 promontory of the northern mountain rampart, from the foot of 
 which issues a copious spring, which begins by falling in 
 cascades into the bed of a torrent, and ends by losing itself in 
 the sands. The plain of Gadis is strictly within the limits of 
 that southern desert now called et-Tih, and yet it is quite close 
 to the Wady Murreh, which with its sandy expansions toward 
 the east may well have been the Wilderness of Zin." l 
 
 Ain Gadis is forty-eight miles from Beersheba and nearly the 
 same distance from the base of the Mount Seir range (Lat. 
 30 28'; Long. 34 36'). 
 
 This long hidden site was discovered by the Rev. J. Row- 
 lands, an English explorer, in 1842, but all traces of it were 
 again lost for nearly forty years. The honor of its re-discovery 
 belongs to Dr. H. Clay Trumbull of Philadelphia, who has 
 
 1 Butler's Bible Work, p. 557. 
 
The Negeb or South Country 245 
 
 fully described and identified it in his well-known work entitled 
 Kadesh Barnea. 
 
 Near the middle of the Wady Dr. Trumbull found " rich 
 fields of wheat and barley," artificial ridges for retaining and 
 utilizing the rainfall and a large magazine for grain " dug into 
 the ground, with a mound heaped upon it, somewhat after the 
 fashion of the Egyptian granaries shown in the tomb picture-gal- 
 leries of the Pharaoh's'." In the quotation which follows, Dr. 
 Trumbull gives his first impression of Ain Quadis and its sur- 
 roundings : 
 
 It was a marvellous sight ! Out from the barren and desolate stretch 
 of the burning desert-waste, we had come with magical suddenness into 
 an oasis of verdure and beauty, unlocked for and hardly conceivable in 
 such a region. A carpet of grass covered the ground. Fig trees laden 
 with fruit nearly ripe enough for eating, were along the shelter of the 
 southern hillside. Shrubs and flowers showed themselves in variety and 
 profusion. Running water gurgled under the waving grass. We had seen 
 nothing like it since leaving Wady Fayran; nor was it equalled in loveli- 
 ness of scene by any single bit of landscape, of like extent, even there. 
 
 Standing out from the earth-covered limestone hills at the northeastern 
 sweep of this picturesque recess, was to be seen the " large single mass, 
 or a small hill of solid rock," which Rowlands looked at as the cliff 
 (Sel'a) smitten by Moses, to cause it to " give forth his water," when its 
 flowing stream had been exhausted. From underneath this rugged spur 
 of the northeasterly mountain range issued the now abundant stream. 
 
 A circular well, stoned-up from the bottom with time-worn limestone 
 blocks, was the first receptacle for the water. A marble watering trough 
 was near this well. Down the slope, a little distance was a second, much 
 like the first, but of greater diameter; and here again was a marble 
 trough. ... A basin or pool of water larger than either of the wells, 
 but not stoned up like them, was seemingly the principal watering place. 
 Around the margin of this pool, as also around the stoned- 
 wells, camel and goat dung as if of flocks and herds for centuries was 
 trodden down and commingled with the limestone dust so as to form a 
 solid plaster-bed. Another and yet larger pool, lower down the slope, 
 was supplied with water by a stream which rippled and cascaded along its 
 narrow bed from the upper pool; and yet beyond this, westward, the 
 water gurgled away under the grass, as we had met it when we came in. 
 
246 The Land of Israel 
 
 and finally lost itself in the parching wady from which this oasis opened. 
 The water itself was remarkably pure and sweet ; unequalled by any we 
 had found after leaving the Nile. There was a New England look to this 
 oasis, especially in the flowers and grass and weeds ; quite unlike anything 
 we had seen in the peninsula of Sinai. Bees were humming there, and 
 birds were flitting from tree to tree. ... It was, in fact, hard to re- 
 alize that we were in the desert, or even near it. 1 
 
 Elsewhere Dr. Trumbull says . 
 
 All the conditions of the Bible-text are met in Quadis (Gadis), as in 
 no other suggested site. A Wady Quadis, a Jebel Quadis, and an Ain 
 Quadis are there. Wady Quadis is an extensive hill-encircled region of 
 sufficient extent to encamp and guard a host like Israel's. Large portions 
 of it are arable. Extensive primitive ruins are about it. Springs of rare 
 abundance and sweetness flow from under a high cliff. By name and by 
 tradition it is the site of Kadesh. Just north of it is a lofty mountain, 
 over which is a camel-pass toward Hebron. It lies just off the only 
 feasible route for an invading army from the direction of Sinai, or from 
 east of Akabah, and is well adapted for a protected strategic point of ren- 
 dezvous prior to an immediate move northward. It is at that central 
 position of the southern boundary line of Canaan which is given to 
 Kadesh in its later mentions in the Bible-text. Its relations to the 
 probable limits of Edom and to all the well-identified sites of Southern 
 Canaan, and its distance from Mount Sinai, conform to the Bible record. 5 
 
 The Biblical associations, of which hints are given in the fore- 
 going statements, are numerous and important. In the account 
 of Chedorlaomer's aggressive campaign Kadesh is mentioned 
 for the first time. (Gen. xiv. 7.) It comes into view also in 
 connection with the story of Abraham's sojourn in the South 
 country. (Gen. xx. i.) 
 
 A succession of important historic events took place during 
 the sojourn of Israel at Kadesh Barnea. Here the order was 
 issued to go up and possess the land, and spies were sent out 
 to search it from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men 
 come to Hamah. (Deut. i. 19, 20; Num. xiii. 17-21.) Here 
 afterward the report was made ; the rebellion took place follow* 
 
 1 Kadesh Barnea, pp. 271-274. 
 
 8 Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, p. 1222. 
 
The Negeb or South Country 247 
 
 ing that report ; and the sentence of the rejection of all the 
 men of that generation, except Joshua and Caleb, was pro- 
 nounced. (Num. xiii. 26-29, xiv. i-io.) It was the place 
 where Miriam died and was buried (Num. xx. i) ; and the 
 place where the rock was smitten from which the water came 
 out abundantly. (Num. xx. 2, 13.) From several hints 
 in the Scripture narrative the inference has been drawn that 
 Kadesh Barnea was the rallying place of the tribes of Israel 
 during all the years of the wandering in the wilderness. 
 
 Here, at least, they abode many days after their defeat at 
 Hormah (Deut i. 46), and here also we find the entire camp 
 of Israel again after the rebellion of Korah. From this en- 
 campment, after vainly endeavoring to secure a passage-way 
 through the border of Edom they started, at length, on their 
 circuitous journey around the confines of Edom and Moab to- 
 ward the Jordan. (Num. xxi. 4; Deut. ii. 1-18.) In Num- 
 bers xx. 1 6, Kadesh is mentioned as a city. After the con- 
 quest it is frequently mentioned as the lowest city on the south- 
 ern border line of the heritage of Israel. (Num. xxxiv. 4; 
 Josh. xv. 3; Ezek. xlvii. 19, xlviii. 28, etc.) "Its location 
 is admitted to be a key both to the wanderings of the Israel- 
 ites and the bounding of their domain." 
 
 7. Mount Hor. A short distance eastward of Hormah 
 (Zephath), and some twenty-five miles northeast of Kadesh Bar- 
 nea, an isolated mountain rises from a barren plain over which it 
 towers as a conspicuous landmark from all sides, but especially 
 from the south. Its modern name is Jebel Madurah. Every 
 indication in the Scripture narrative points to this mountain as 
 the true site of Mount Hor. Dr. Trumbull has summed up the 
 arguments which support this location, and, at the same time, 
 has shown the impossibility of reconciling the traditional site, 
 within the limits of Mount Seir, with the requirements of the 
 Bible text. (See Kadesh Barnea, pp. 127-135.) 
 
 " In its location, Jebel Madurah stands at a triangular site, where the 
 boundaries of Edom, of Canaan, and of the Wilderness of Zin, or in a 
 
248 The Land of Israel 
 
 larger sense of the Wilderness of Paran, approach each other so as 
 pass along this mountain without touching it. It is at the extremest 
 northwestern boundary of the land of Edom, yet it is not within that 
 boundary line. It is on the very verge of the Land of Promise, yet it is 
 not within the outer limits of that land. The border wadies Feqreh, 
 Madurah, Murreh, and Hanjoorat which separated Canaan from Edom, 
 and both Canaan and Edom from the unclaimed wilderness, so run as to 
 form the surrounding plain, above which is upreared this remarkable 
 mountain-tower, this lofty, solitary mountain-citadel. . . . Jebel Ma- 
 durah is in the line from Kadesh of the route which the Israelites seem 
 to have had in mind, when they proposed to pass along Edom's royal 
 road from the east of the Arabah, and eastward of the Dead Sea ; pos- 
 sibly through the broad Wady el Ghuwayr which offers an easy passage. 
 The Israelites would not unnaturally move thitherward as they planned 
 for that route, and such a move on their part would not unnaturally be 
 looked upon by the kings of Edom and Arad as a threatening move, to 
 be met and resisted vigorously." (Num. xx. 20, 21, xxi. 1-3.) 1 
 
 One of the records which relates to the death of Aaron 
 (Deut. x. 6), conveys the impression that the Israelites were 
 encamped in the Wady Madurah, or Moserah, when Moses 
 and Aaron and Eleazar " went up into Mount Hor in the sight 
 of all the congregation." 
 
 On this lone summit the garments of Aaron were transferred 
 to his son Eleazar; "and Aaron died there in the top of the 
 Mount." (Num. xx. 22-28.) 
 
 8. Eshcol. The location of the valley of Eshcol, whence 
 the spies brought the cluster of grapes, which was "borne upon 
 a staff between two" (Num. xiii. 23, 24), is not definitely 
 known. It may have been in the Negeb, a long way south of 
 Hebron, its supposed site. 
 
 In this southland region, now given over to barrenness, ex- 
 cept in favored spots, Professor Palmer found miles of country 
 hillsides and valleys covered with small stone heaps, swept 
 in regular swathes, and called by the Arabs to this day " teleilat 
 el anab, ' ' or grape mounds. 
 
 9. Hagar's Well Beer-lahai-roi has been identified with a 
 
 1 Kadesh Barnea, p. 133. 
 
The Negeb or South Country 249 
 
 spring in the Wady Muweileh, about fifteen miles northwest of 
 Kadesh. (Gen. xxi. 19.) 
 
 It follows from the hints and partial descriptions, already 
 given, that the southern boundary of the Land of Israel, which 
 conformed to the physical divisions of the country, was irregu- 
 lar, or wedge-shaped in outline, Kadesh Barnea being its lowest 
 point. 
 
 Roughly speaking the line ran southward from the end of 
 the Dead Sea about twelve miles to the mouth of the Wady 
 Feqreh. Thence by way of this Wady to the Akrabbim or 
 steep pass, represented by Es Suffah or El Yemen near Mount 
 Hor. Thence hinging on this mountain the line turned south- 
 ward so as to include Kadesh Barnea, the extent of its southern 
 limit. From Kadesh the general direction of the border line 
 was northwest along the Wady el Arish (River of Egypt) to its 
 mouth. This Wady has several branches, but the principal 
 one runs northwest about 150 miles before it enters the Medi- 
 terranean. In the rainy season it is often a rushing torrent, 
 but at other times it is a dry, stony watercourse. 
 
 A short distance north of the mouth of Wady el Arish are 
 two pillars erected by Mehemet Ali to mark the boundary line 
 between Africa and Asia. 
 
The Third Longitudinal Section 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE VALLEY OF LEBANON 
 
 THE Buka'a, or valley of Lebanon (Josh. xi. 17), lies be- 
 tween the great parallel ranges north of the head-waters of the 
 Jordan. This valley or plain the Ccele-Syria (Hollow Syria) 
 of the classic writers is about seventy-five miles in length. 
 In breadth it varies from four to nine miles. The lower por- 
 tion of the Lebanon valley is separated from the upper portion 
 of the Jordan valley by a low or secondary ridge which follows 
 the general direction of the great ranges for several miles. 
 This ridge, which at first is hardly distinguishable from the 
 mass of the eastern mountains, becomes more sharply defined 
 as it extends southward. At the base of Mount Hermon it 
 trends toward the west, gradually contracting the valley, until 
 it ends at the point where the Litany is abruptly deflected 
 westward through a deep gorge in the Lebanon mountains. 
 
 The highest ground in the Lebanon basin is in the immediate 
 vicinity of Baalbek, some fifty miles from its southern limit. 
 From this watershed the streams, which flow abundantly from 
 springs in the plain or on the mountain-sides, part to north 
 and south to join, by longer or shorter routes, the waters of the 
 Orontes or Litany. 
 
 Dr. Robinson describes this great plain as " superbly rich 
 and beautiful ; a gem lying deep in its setting of mountains, 
 and fringed with the brilliant snows of Lebanon." * 
 
 "Looking down upon the Buka'a," says Dr. Thomson 
 i Rob. Res. Vol., III. p. 504. 
 250 
 
The Valley of Lebanon 251 
 
 "from anyone of the hundred standpoints on Lebanon and 
 Hermon, the beholder is charmed with the checkered and end- 
 lessly-varied expanse of blending wheatfields, green or golden, 
 recently ploughed land, black or reddish-brown, and broad 
 belts of dun-covered fallow ground, reaching to the foot-hills, 
 and losing themselves amongst the vineyards that cling to the 
 mountain-sides." l 
 
 The modern villages of the plain are numerous along the 
 lines of its principal roadways, but there are very few of its 
 ancient sites which have been recovered. Among those which 
 have been identified satisfactorily, the most noteworthy are 
 Baalbek and Ribleh. 
 
 Baalbek, or Heliopolis as it was called by the Greeks, lies on 
 the eastern side of the valley. A beautiful fountain near by, 
 whose bright sparkling waters overflow the basin provided for 
 them, and irrigate a portion of the adjacent plain, was doubt- 
 less one of the determining features in the selection of the site. 
 
 The majestic structures and vast heaps of massive ruins 
 which cover the acropolis of Baalbek have been for centuries 
 the wonder of the world. The bulk of these remains belongs 
 to two great temples which Dr. Robinson describes as follows : 
 
 The larger, with its magnificent peristyle and vast courts and portico, 
 extended a thousand feet in length from east to west. It stands upon an 
 artificial vaulted platform, elevated from twenty to thirty feet above the 
 adjacent country. Besides the dilapidated ruins of the courts and portico, 
 there now remains only the six southwestern columns of the lofty peri- 
 style ; and these are still the crowning glory of the place. 2 
 
 The lesser temple stands likewise upon its own similar, though less 
 elevated platform. It is on the south of the greater temple ; is parallel 
 with it ; and its front is a few feet east of the eastern line of the great 
 
 iThe Land and the Book, Vol. III., p. 338. 
 
 2 "These columns are seven and a half feet thick and sixty-two feet 
 high. The top of the entablature which they supported must have been 
 eighty feet above the ground and 130 feet above the level of the plain." 
 (Land and Book, p. 325.) 
 
252 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 peristyle. It had no court ; and its length is less than one-fourth part oi 
 that of the greater temple with its courts. 
 
 It was finished, and that most elaborately, and the larger portion of it 
 still remains; while not improbably the larger temple was never com- 
 pleted. . . . 
 
 Not less wonderful than the other parts of the great temple are the im- 
 mense external Substructions, by which the walls supporting the peristyle 
 are enclosed and covered; if indeed that term can be properly applied to 
 huge masses of masonry, on which nothing rests. . . . The most im- 
 posing of these substructions is the western wall, as viewed from the out- 
 side. It rises to the level of the bottom of the columns, some fifty feet 
 above the ground ; and in it is seen the layer of three immense stones cele- 
 brated by all travellers. Of these stones, the length of one is sixty-four 
 feet ; of another sixty-three feet eight inches ; of the third sixty-three 
 feet; in all 198 feet eight inches. Their height is about thirteen feet ; 
 and the thickness apparently the same, perhaps greater. They are laid 
 about twenty -three feet above the ground; and below them are seven 
 others of like thickness, and extending somewhat beyond the upper ones 
 at each end. 1 
 
 These temples have been the wonder of past generations ; and will con- 
 tinue to be the wonder of future generations, until barbarism and earth- 
 quakes shall have done their last work. In vastness of plan, combined 
 with elaborateness and delicacy of execution, they seem to surpass all 
 others in western Asia, in Africa, and in Europe. They are like those of 
 Athens in lightness, but surpass them far in vastness; they are vast 
 and massive like those of Thebes, but far excel them in airiness and 
 grace. 9 
 
 It is probable that these great buildings are constructions or 
 reconstructions of the Roman period, but the immense plat- 
 form upon which they stand has doubtless been from time im- 
 memorial the seat of Baal or Sun worship. 
 
 There is no positive evidence upon which to base its connec- 
 tion with Baal-Gad, but the brief description of the location of 
 this ancient gathering place of the worshippers of Baal " in the 
 
 1 A great stone in the quarry nearly a mile distant, measures sixty-eight 
 feet four inches in length, seventeen feet in width and fourteen feet seven 
 inches in height. Its estimated weight is 1,100 tons. 
 
 * Rob. Res., Vol. III., p. 507. 
 
The Valley of Lebanon 253 
 
 valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon" (Josh. xi. 17), ex- 
 actly accords with the location of Baalbek. 
 
 The identification of the "plain of Aven," mentioned by 
 the prophet Amos (i. 5), with the plain of Baalbek is generally 
 admitted. " Aven is given in the Septuagint as On, the do- 
 mestic name of the Egyptian Heliopolis. The allusion is 
 clearly to the Buka'a of Baalbek, and the Eden mentioned in 
 the same verse is supposed to be the Paradisus of Ptolemy, 
 about forty miles north of Baalbek." l 
 
 Riblah. The identity of this ancient border town of the 
 land of Israel (Num. xxxiv. n) with the modern village of 
 Ribleh is unquestioned. It lies on the right bank of the 
 Orontes at the northern end of the Lebanon valley. The sur- 
 rounding country is open, easily accessible from every side, 
 and is noted for its fertility. 
 
 Riblah was within the limits of the land, or kingdom, of 
 Hamath (2 Kings xxiii. 33); and was one of the famous 
 camping grounds of the armies of Egypt and Assyria. The 
 old caravan route from the coast which leads through the " En- 
 trance of Hamath" to Sudad, Palmyra, and the east, inter- 
 sects the main thoroughfare down the valley of the Orontes at 
 Riblah, making it a centre of four great routes eastward, 
 westward, northward, and southward. Here, while resting for 
 a time with his army, Pharaoh-Necho deposed Jehoahaz of 
 Judah and put him "in bands." (2 Kings xxiii. 33.) At a 
 later period Zedekiah was brought up to Riblah, " where Nebu- 
 chadnezzar gave judgment upon him." "Then the king of 
 Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes : 
 also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. More- 
 over he put out Zedekiah' s eyes, and bound him with chains 
 to carry him to Babylon." (Jer. xxxix. 5-7.) 
 
 i Dr. Merrill Pict. Pal., p. 468. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN 
 
 THE connecting link between the basins of the Lebanon and 
 the Jordan is a long, narrow valley, known as Wady et Teim. 
 This valley is bordered on the east by the foot-hills of the Anti- 
 Lebanon ; on the west by the secondary ridge, already described, 
 which runs parallel to the Anti-Lebanon range. A low water- 
 shed, not far from the upper end of the Wady, diverts a few 
 streamlets northward into the Buka'a, but in general the drain- 
 age from the slopes on either side flows southward into the Jor- 
 dan valley. The largest and longest tributary, coming from 
 the northern slope of Hermon, is reinforced by a swiftly-flowing 
 stream from a perennial fountain near Hasbeiya, and is known 
 as the Hasbany branch of the Jordan. 
 
 West of the lower stretch of Wady et Teim, and separated 
 from it by a wooded ridge, is a beautiful upland plain called 
 Merj Ayun (the "Meadow of Springs"). Robinson describes 
 this plain as oval in outline, level as a floor, and about three miles 
 in length by two in breadth. It is nearly 1,800 feet above sea 
 level and drains toward the south. The westmost tributary of 
 the Jordan the Derdarah branch rises in this plain. It is 
 frequently dry in summer and hence is not reckoned with the 
 main sources of the river. 
 
 Tell Dibbin, near the upper end of Merj Ayun, is the gen- 
 erally accepted site of the ancient city of Ijon. The Hebrew 
 name lyon is still preserved in the Arabic name (Ayun) of the 
 plain. Ijon was one of the cities of Naphtali. It was taken 
 and destroyed by Benhadad of Syria (i Kings xv. 20; 2 
 Chron. xvi. 4) ; and, at a later period, by Tiglath-Pileser. (2 
 Kings xv. 29.) The town of Abel-beth-Maachah, or Abel- 
 Maim (2 Chron. xvi. 4), which on each of the above-men- 
 
 254 
 
Upper Basin 
 
 of the 
 
 Jordan I/alley 
 
 ofti* 
 
 Jordan 
 J/alley 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 255 
 
 tioned invasions was involved in a like destruction, has been 
 identified with the little town of Abil, seven miles south of 
 Tell Dibbin. " The Derdarah, from Merj Ayun, glides swiftly 
 along the western declivity of the Tell, and from the neighbor- 
 ing mountains gushes out the powerful stream of er Ruahineh. 
 Such rivulets would convert any part of this country, under 
 skillful cultivation, into a paradise of fruits and flowers, and en- 
 title it to be called 'Abel on the waters,' <a mother in 
 Israel."' 1 
 
 When besieged by Joab's army this city was saved from de- 
 struction by the timely interference of a wise woman, who, 
 calling out to the chief captain from the wall, obtained a res- 
 pite until she could persuade her townsmen to deliver up the 
 head of the traitor Sheba, whose cause they had rashly es- 
 poused. (2 Sam. xx. 14-22.) 
 
 The Jordan valley proper begins at the base of Mount 
 Hermon and extends to the southern limit of the Dead Sea 
 basin. This is marked by a line of white cliffs which cross the 
 Valley (Arabah) obliquely eight miles south of the lower end 
 of the Dead Sea. The general direction of the valley is almost 
 due south. Its total length is about 158 miles. 
 
 There are three distinct levels or basins in the Jordan valley, 
 each of which contains a lake famous in history, and unique in 
 its setting. The river passes through two of these lakes in its 
 course and discharges the full volume of its accumulated waters 
 into the third. The first, Lake Huleh, known as the waters 
 of Merom in the days of Joshua touches the level of the 
 Mediterranean Sea; the second the Lake of Galilee lies 682 
 feet below; the third the Dead Sea lies 1,300 feet below 
 sea level. 
 
 The connection between the upper lakes is a contracted 
 valley down which the river flows in a series of rapids. The 
 connection between the lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea is a 
 broad valley, shut in by high hills, called El Ghor. 
 The Land and the Book, Vol. p. 545. 
 
256 The Land of Israel 
 
 These natural features suggest five subdivisions of the valle 
 viz : 
 
 The Upper Basin of the Jordan, the Descent between the Up- 
 per Lakes, the Galilee Basin, the Ghor, and the Dead Sea Basin. 
 
 i. The Upper Basin of the Jordan. This, as Dr. 
 Robinson suggests, may properly be called the Basin or Plain 
 of the Huleh. It connects with the narrower plain at the 
 mouth of the Wady et Teim on a line with the southern base 
 of Mount Hermon, and extends to the lower extremity of the 
 Huleh Lake. The Huleh basin is about five miles in breadth 
 and eighteen miles in length. Its northern portion is a green, 
 meadow-like tract, varied with occasional thickets of under- 
 growth and patches of reedy marsh-lands. Here the numerous 
 rivulets from the mountains unite with streams of greater vol- 
 ume, bubbling up from the ground or bursting forth from the 
 crevices of the rocks, to form the Jordan a river almost full 
 grown from the beginning of its course. The real source of 
 all these tributaries, and hence of the river itself, is the vajt 
 reservoir of snow and ice on the summit of Mount Hermon. 
 The volume of the flood which the Jordan carries down to the 
 basin of the Dead Sea is regulated by the periodic melting of 
 this never-failing supply of frozen moisture. 
 
 Three large streams sometimes called rivers, known as the 
 Leddan, the Banias, and the Hasbany find their way to the 
 plain from the base of Hermon, and unite to form the Upper 
 Jordan. The copious fountains from which they issue are the 
 main sources of the Jordan. 
 
 (i.) The Fountain of the Hasbany flows out from 
 the base of a cliff near the village of Hasbeiya on the western 
 side of Mount Hermon. This is the most remote source of 
 the Jordan. It is 1,700 feet above the sea level and about 115 
 miles from the northern end of the Dead Sea. The descent of 
 the river, in other words, from its farthest perennial source to 
 its mouth is 3,000 feet or nearly twenty-eight feet to the mile 
 of its direct distance. The Hasbany begins its course, as al- 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 257 
 
 ready noted, in the watershed of the Wady et Teim, far beyond 
 this noted fountain, but this northern portion is not a perennial 
 stream. 
 
 (2.) The Fountain of the Leddan rises under the west- 
 ern shoulder of Tell el Kady, the generally accepted site of the 
 ancient city of Dan. Here a deep, clear pool is formed which 
 sends a broad stream down the plain. This is the largest of 
 all the fountains of the land of Israel, and is said to be the 
 largest single fountain in the world. Its location at the head 
 of the valley, and its immense volume of water entitle it to be 
 named as the chief source of the Jordan. Its elevation is a 
 little over 500 feet. 
 
 The Tell rises about forty feet above the plain. It is ob- 
 long in outline and somewhat depressed in the centre. The 
 ruins of the ancient city cover a considerable extent of ground 
 and the region around, when under careful cultivation, must 
 have been singularly beautiful and productive : " a place where 
 there was no want of anything that is in the earth." (Judg. 
 xviii. 10.) There is a famous oak on a gently inclined slope of 
 this mound, not far from the fountain, which is almost as large 
 and stately in appearance as the oak at Mam re. Other trees 
 of vigorous growth occupy the higher ground in the immedi- 
 ate vicinity : while along the beds of the rushing streams be- 
 low, dense thickets, and jungles of rank vegetation almost hide 
 the water from view. 
 
 The story of the conquest of this old Phoenician city origi- 
 nally called Laish by the Danites, is recorded in Judges xviii. 
 Here after the conquest the children of Dan departed from the 
 faith of their fathers by setting up a graven image before which 
 worship was offered " all the time that the house of God was in 
 Shiloh." (Judg. xviii. 29-31.) 
 
 At a later period the worship of the golden calf was insti- 
 tuted at Dan, and until the ten tribes were carried away it con- 
 tinued to be a noted shrine of idolatrous worship, (i Kings 
 xii. 28, 29; Amos. viii. 14.) 
 
258 The Land of Israel 
 
 At this place, long before any of these events occurred, 
 Abraham, at the head of his band of armed retainers, overtook 
 the marauding hosts of Chedorlaomer, and smote them by 
 night, pursuing them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of 
 Damascus. (Gen. xiv. 14, 15.) 
 
 (3.) The Fountain of Banias springs directly from the 
 southern base of Mount Hermon. It is four miles northeast of 
 Tell el Kady and the way to it leads through a long stretch of 
 green glades and meadow-land, dotted here and there with 
 clumps of oaks and olives. The name Banias, which is ap- 
 plied to the site of the ruined city as well as to the fountain, is 
 the Arabic equivalent of the old Greek name Paneas the 
 abode or shrine of the god Pan. The prominent features of 
 the place are a broad terrace clothed with luxuriant vegetation 
 " all alive with streams of water and cascades " ; a precipitous 
 cliff at the mountain's foot something more than 100 feet high; 
 the remains of ruined temples ; and, at the bottom of the cliff, 
 a cave whose mouth is partly closed with loose stones which 
 have fallen from the roof, or from the summit of the cliff. 
 Out of this mass of boulders and debris, and apparently from 
 crevices between the strata of the rock alongside, a foam- 
 crested stream bursts forth, " along a line of thirty feet, a full- 
 born river." A short distance from its source this flood of 
 seething waters is collected together in a large pool and thence 
 becomes a swift torrent, roaring and dashing over the rocks, 
 and gliding amid dense thickets of oleander, hawthorn and 
 cane, until it is lost to view in the depths of a dark ravine. 
 About four miles south of Tell el Kady the Banias joins the 
 Leddan. A mile or more below, the Hasbany flows into the 
 bed of this united stream and here the Jordan proper begins its 
 course. The elevation of the spring-head at Banias is 1,080 
 feet, or nearly 600 feet higher than the source of the Leddan. 
 The Leddan is more than twice the size of the Banias : and the 
 Banias is more than twice the size of the Hasbany. The stream 
 f rom the fountain at Banias is the clearest of all and its site is 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 259 
 
 the most picturesque. There is no place in Palestine, and 
 there are but few places perhaps in the world, where so many 
 elements of grandeur and beauty are combined. Dean Stan- 
 ley describes it as "almost a Syrian Tivoli " ; Dr. Robinson, 
 as "a noble fountain unique" in its setting ; Dr. Smith as a 
 " very sanctuary of waters ' ' ; Dr. Thomson, as "one of Nature's 
 grandest temples, whose oak glades and joyous brooks, happy 
 birds and frisking flocks, all bear part in her services " ; and 
 Dr. Schaff, as "the most charming landscape in all Palestine, 
 adorned with tropical vegetation of flowers and trees, and musi- 
 cal with the murmur of rivulets and cascades. ' ' 
 
 The site of the ancient city which grew up around this 
 " sanctuary of waters " can still be traced by its ruins, most of 
 which belong to the Roman period. 
 
 Herod the Great built a temple of white marble near the 
 fountain in honor of Augustus. At a later period the city was 
 rebuilt and "adorned with temples, villas and palaces" by 
 Philip the Tetrarch, who named it Csesarea Philippi. The 
 Castle of Shubeiah which overlooks the town from a high hill 
 to the east, is by far the most extensive ruin in this region, and 
 there is good reason to believe that it occupies the site of one 
 of the most ancient fortresses in the land. It is the " Heidel- 
 berg of Syria," and the views which it commands over the 
 gorges of the Hermons and the upper valley of the Jordan are 
 unsurpassed. 
 
 Near the close of His public ministry our Lord entered the 
 coasts of Csesarea Philippi, and, in some retired nook in this 
 restful region, dwelt for several days with His disciples. Here, 
 apart from the crowds which thronged Him in Galilee, He un- 
 folded to them the nature of His redemptive work and spake 
 of "the decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem." 
 This was the place of Peter's confession ; of the prophetic an- 
 nouncement concerning the Church ; and of the healing of the 
 demoniac child. Every circumstance and detail of the story 
 of the Evangelists points to the "high mountain" which 
 
260 The Land of Israel 
 
 towers above this plain as the place where Jesus took His disci- 
 ples apart, and was transfigured before them. (Matt. xvi. 13- 
 28, xvii. 1-21 ; Mark. ix. 2; Luke ix. 28; 2 Peter i. 17.) 
 
 Lake Huleh occupies the lower portion of the Huleh basin. 
 The Jordan enters this broader expanse of its channel twelve 
 miles below the site of Dan. The lake is triangular in outline 
 and is about four and a half miles in length by three in 
 breadth. The base of the triangle is the northern end of the 
 lake, the exit of the river being at its apex. Between the junc- 
 tion of the three tributaries of the Jordan and the head of the 
 lake there is a great marsh larger than the body of the lake it- 
 self; this march is so closely shut in by dense masses of tall canes 
 and papyrus reeds that it is impossible, as the Arabs declare, for 
 even a wild boar to make its way to the water. John Mac- 
 gregor, of Rob Roy fame, is the only man, in all probability, 
 who has ever explored the interior of this great swamp : and in 
 order to do this, he was obliged to enter the channel from the 
 open country above. The canoe in which he made this mem- 
 orable journey, was launched at first on the Hasbany at its 
 source. Floating down this stream until he reached the plain, 
 Mr. Macgregor transferred his little boat to the pool at Dan, 
 and thence, by skillful paddling and shooting of rapids with oc- 
 casional lifts over the shallows, descended to the basin of 
 the Sea of Galilee. 
 
 West of the lake is a rich farming region which extends to 
 the foot of the mountains. On this plain by the Waters of 
 Merom the decisive battle was fought between Joshua and the 
 confederate kings of the north. (Josh. xi. 5-8.) The surface 
 of Lake Huleh is only seven feet above the level of the Medi- 
 terranean. In round numbers the descent from the upper 
 source of the Jordan to this lake a distance of twenty-four 
 miles is 1,700 feet; from the source at Banias one half the 
 distance it is 1,100 feet. The semi-tropical climate and lux- 
 uriant vegetation of this upper strrtrh of the Jordan valley 
 present a strong contrast to the almost perpetual line of 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 261 
 
 snow, within easy range of vision, on the summit of Mount 
 Hermon. 
 
 The following description of this region, viewed as a whole, 
 is given by Dr. Thomson : 
 
 The Huleh lake, and marsh, and plain, and fruitful field is un- 
 rivalled in beauty in this land, no matter when or from what point beheld 
 from the heights of Hermon, the hills of Naphtali, the plain of Ijon, 
 or the groves of Banias, in midwinter or midsummer, in the evening or 
 in the morning. It lies like a vast carpet, with patterns of every shade, 
 and shape and size, and laced all over with countless silver threads : those 
 laughing brooks of the Huleh, now revealed, now concealed ; here weav- 
 ing silver tissue into cunning complications with graceful curves, and 
 there expanding into broad and gleaming patterns, like full-faced mirrors. 
 The plain is clothed with flocks, and the solemn stork is there, and herds 
 of black buffalo bathe in the pools. The lake is alive with fowls, the 
 trees with birds, and the air with bees. At all times fair, but fairest of all 
 in early spring and at eventide when the golden sunlight pervading the 
 ethereal amber fades into the fathomless blue of heaven. 1 
 
 The darker side to this picture, in which " every prospect 
 pleases," may be seen in the wretched and homeless condition 
 of the nominal possessors of this bountiful region. Owing 
 partly to the insecurity of life and property, . and partly to the 
 deadly malarial exhalations from earth and water, the plain 
 does not have a single permanent habitation throughout its ex- 
 tent, except in the border village of Banias. 
 
 There are said to be forty Arab villages in this lowland dis- 
 trict, but their inhabitants are tenants at will and the houses 
 are flimsy constructions of papyrus reeds and mud. 
 
 2. The Descent between the Lakes. The distance in a 
 direct line between the lake of Huleh and the lake of Galilee is 
 eleven miles. About two miles below Lake Huleh the river is 
 crossed by an ancient bridge, called by the Arabs, Jisr Benat 
 Yacub (the Bridge of Jacob's Daughters). This bridge is a 
 substantial structure with three pointed arches. A ruined Khan 
 at its eastern end, and the remains of an old road beyond it, 
 * The Land and the Book, p. 478, 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 paved with basaltic blocks, indicate that this has been the 
 crossing place of one of the main routes from Galilee to the 
 East for centuries. The bridge itself may not be older than 
 the fifteenth century, but it unquestionably marks the site of one 
 of the oldest and most notable fords of the Jordan. Here, in 
 all probability Saul of Tarsus, breathing out threatening and 
 slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, crossed the Jordan 
 as he journeyed to Damascus. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the river at this point is on a level 
 with the Mediterranean Sea. Above it lies the upper basin of 
 the Jordan whose elevation ranges from sea level to 1,100 feet; 
 below it the Great Rift of the Lower Jordan begins its descent 
 to the extraordinary depth of 1,300 feet. Here the hills of 
 Naphtali close in toward the east obstructing the continuity of 
 the channel and contracting the river-bed to a narrow depres- 
 sion or gorge, on its eastward side. Down this gorge the Jor- 
 dan plunges in a succession of rapids, or cascades for a dis- 
 tance of six or seven miles to the level of the lower basin, 
 some two miles north of the Sea of Galilee. The descent for 
 this distance is more than ninety feet to the mile. On a ledge, 
 at one point on this line of descent, we caught a glimpse of the 
 Lake of Galilee and the deep trench below it, before the waters 
 of Merom and the valley of the Upper Jordan had passed out 
 of view. 
 
 The banks of the river in this part of its course are " fringed 
 with an extraordinary growth of oleander, which at times com- 
 pletely conceals it from view ; and the scenery is among the 
 wildest as well as the most beautiful in the Holy Land." 
 
 3. The Galilean Basin. The length of this trough-like 
 depression does not exceed fifteen miles, and its greatest breadth 
 is less than nine miles. Its maximum depth below sea-level is 
 838 feet. The lake, which lies deep down in this secluded 
 basin (682 feet), is twelve and a half miles long, and not over 
 seven miles at its widest point. It is lyre-shaped in outline 
 " with the bulge to the northwest." 
 
" JeaofGahlee', 
 . FromOrdftanceSurrey 
 
264: 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 The mountains on the eastern and western sides have differ- 
 ent characteristics which are apparent at a glance. On the east 
 they rise to the height of nearly 2,000 feet, and the general im- 
 pression is that of a bare rugged wall of rock, cleft here and 
 there by deeply-gashed torrent beds. In these there are occa- 
 sional patches of green, but the prevailing colors are the red 
 and brown of the vast masses of bare basaltic rock. On the 
 western side the range trends gradually toward the lake. It is 
 broken into rounded hills and grass-covered slopes, which, in 
 some places, terminate abruptly, as they approach the margin 
 of the sea. The hills on this side, for nearly two-thirds of the 
 length of the water-basin, come down close to the beach, leav- 
 ing only a narrow " ribbon of coast." To the northwest there 
 is a notable recession in which lies the crescent-shaped plain of 
 Gennesaret. It is nearly four miles long and a mile or more 
 in breadth at its widest point. It is watered by several streams 
 now running to waste, which in former days were so utilized as 
 to irrigate every portion of the plain. In the period of the 
 Romans, Gennesaret was one of the garden spots of the world. 
 Its climate was a "harmonious blending of the seasons "; its 
 orchards and gardens yielded their luscious fruits in tropical 
 profusion ; its grapes and figs ripened " during ten months in 
 the year " ; and its cultivated fields produced the finest of the 
 wheat. 
 
 Over most of its extent, at the present time, Gennesaret has 
 reverted to its primitive condition. Back of its silvery strand 
 made up of myriads of tiny shells an almost continuous 
 hedge of oleanders holds back a wild tangle of luxuriant vege- 
 tation, which gives evidence, not to be disputed, of the won- 
 derful fertility of the soil and its adaptation to the growth of 
 plants from widely differing climes. 
 
 On this side of the lake, in the Saviour's day, towns and 
 villages were thickly clustered on plain and hillside, and every 
 foot of land was carefully cultivated. On the " other side " the 
 towns were few : the only suitable locations for them being at 
 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 265 
 
 the mouths of the wadies which came down from the plateau 
 above. It was a region of " desert places "where our Lord 
 often sought retirement and rest when wearied with His arduous 
 labors amid the crowds that thronged Him on the western 
 side. (Mark iv. 35, 36, v. 21 ; Matt. xiv. 13-15, etc.) 
 
 It is a common impression that the hills on the eastern side 
 press down closely to the margin of the lake, but this is not the 
 case. Except at the ruined site of Gergesa (Khersa) the hills 
 recede for fully one half of a mile ; and, at the upper end is 
 the broad plain, known as the Batihah, which is nearly as large 
 and as fertile as the plain of Gennesaret. The passage-way 
 along the northern shore of the Lake from Gennesaret is inter- 
 rupted by cliffs which push into the water, and also by swamps 
 at the upper end of the numerous bays on this portion of the 
 coast. It is necessary, therefore, as in former times to "take 
 shipping" for this part of the journey, going or returning. 
 (John vi. 24.) The water of the lake is a deep rich blue, and 
 still, as of old, it is noted for the abundance and variety of its 
 fish. 
 
 The Old Testament name of the Lake of Galilee was the Sea 
 of Chinnereth. (Num. xxxiv. n; Josh. xi. 2 ; i Kings xv. 
 20.) In the Roman period it was also called the Sea of Tibe- 
 rias, (John vi. i), and the Lake of Gennesaret. (Luke v. i.) 
 
 This inland lake and the region around it have been made 
 blessedly familiar by the story of the Evangelists. It was the 
 home of many of the disciples as well as the favorite dwelling- 
 place of Jesus. No other spot on earth awakens so many hal- 
 lowed recollections of His lowly, unselfish life and beneficent 
 ministry. Here by mountain side and lake side, and in the 
 crowded synagogue, He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom, 
 speaking in parables for the most part, and drawing His illus- 
 trations of spiritual truths from familiar objects around Him on 
 land and sea. 
 
 Here He healed the sick ; cleansed the lepers ; opened the 
 eyes of the blind ; cast out demons ; calmed the raging of the 
 
266 The Land of Israel 
 
 winds and waves by a word ; walked upon the sea to rescue 
 His imperilled disciples ; comforted the sorrowing ; gave rest 
 to the weary and heavy laden ; and awaked from the sleep of 
 death the little daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. The 
 story of Galilee, in a word, is the story of the larger part of the 
 public ministry of Jesus. (Matt, chaps, iv.-xviii. ; Mark i.-ix. ; 
 Luke iv.-ix. ; John vi. and xxi.) It has been said with truth 
 that there is nothing amid these surroundings " to distract our 
 thoughts from that Divine Presence which here abode in human 
 form. One great memory lingers undisturbed amongst these hills 
 and valleys. The bustle of modern life and the squalid misery 
 and degradation of the eastern peasantry would equally clash 
 with the sacred, tender associations of the spot where ' most 
 of His mighty works were done,' most of His ' gracious words ' 
 were spoken. The stage is empty, and there is nothing to pre- 
 vent our peopling it with hallowed memories of Him who spake 
 as ' never man spake, ' who was Himself ' the way, the truth, 
 and the life."' 1 
 
 Here the words of McCheyne most fitly express the Christh 
 pilgrim's thought : 
 
 " How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, 
 
 O Sea of Galilee; 
 
 For the glorious One who came to save, 
 Hath often stood by thee. 
 
 " Graceful around thee the mountains meet, 
 
 Thou calm reposing sea, 
 But, oh, far more ! the beautiful feet 
 Of Jesus walked o'er thee." 
 
 Towns on the Coasts of Galilee. Only two of the 
 towns or cities mentioned by the Evangelists are now inhabited. 
 These are Tiberias and Magdala, both of which are sadly 
 changed since the prosperous days of the Roman period. 
 
 Tiberias is situated in a recession of the hills on the west- 
 
 1 Holy Fields Doctor Manning, p. 196. 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 267 
 
 ern shore of the lake, a little less than half way from its south- 
 ern end. A mile or more below the present village are the 
 celebrated Hot Springs, which made this portion of the coast 
 so attractive to the Romans. The city, which once extended 
 to the immediate vicinity of the springs, was built, or possibly 
 rebuilt, by Herod Antipas and named by him for the Emperor 
 Tiberius. The ruins of this Herodian city cover acres of 
 ground along the shore, and recent researches have shown that 
 the enclosing wall was nearly three miles in length. This wall 
 included a citadel, 580 feet above the lake, on a declivity be- 
 hind the city. In the time of Christ it was "a pile of noble 
 buildings rising from the level of the lake behind a low, strong 
 sea wall. Theatres, amphitheatres, Forum, praetorium, tem- 
 ples, synagogues, baths, rich houses all crowned by the lofty 
 fortress looking down upon the city." l There is no mention 
 of any visit made to this city by our Lord or His disciples, but 
 He must often have been near it, and its massive buildings run- 
 ning up the slope of the hill were frequently before Him as a 
 picture of worldly magnificence when He sailed back and forth 
 upon the lake. 
 
 Magdala is represented by the modern village of Mejdel 
 (Migdol or watch-tower) at the lower end of the Plain of Gen- 
 nesaret. The name is mentioned in Matt. xv. 39, but the 
 place is best known as the home of Mary, the devoted friend 
 of Jesus, to whom He first showed Himself after His resurrec- 
 tion. (John xx. 1 6-1 8.) 
 
 Capernaum. The site of this city, so highly favored in 
 point of privilege during the period of the Galilean ministry, 
 has long been in dispute. The most probable location, in view 
 of all the evidence at present attainable, is at the northern end 
 of the Gennesaret plain on a little swell of ground directly 
 south of Khan Minyeh. 
 
 Another location, whose claims have been earnestly advo- 
 cated by eminent authorities is Tell Hum at the end of the 
 J The City and the Land, p. 112. 
 
268 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 lake, some two and a-half miles northeast of Khan Minyeh. 
 At this place there are extensive ruins, the most conspicuous of 
 which has been found to be a Jewish synagogue of white lime- 
 stone. On one of the large blocks near by there is a beauti- 
 fully engraved representation of the "pot of manna," which 
 for centuries had been preserved as a memorial in the ark of 
 the covenant. (Heb. ix. 4.) 
 
 Aside from these ruins, which without doubt indicate the ex- 
 istence of a prosperous city of the Roman period, there are no 
 special features of the place or its surroundings which directly 
 suggest its identification with Capernaum. 
 
 The main points of the argument in favor of Khan Minyeh 
 have been briefly summed up by Dr. Merrill as follows : 
 
 At Capernaum there was (i) a garrison. For this there would naturally 
 be some fort or castle, of which there should be remains. There was (2) 
 a customhouse ; and this would be on the road leading northward past 
 the Lake to Damascus. There are no traces of there ever having been a 
 road leading past Tell Hum, or existing anywhere in the angle formed by 
 the river and the north end of the Lake. At Khan Minyeh there are 
 traces of a Roman road, and it is still in use. Tell Hum is fully two 
 miles distant from this road. This road coming from the north would 
 first touch the lake at Khan Minyeh, and the customs stations being there, 
 it would accommodate both the lake and the road. The garrison would 
 be at the same place as the customhouse. No remains of a fort of any 
 kind exist at Tell Hum, while the hill overhanging Khan Minyeh be- 
 tween the old Roman road just referred to and the present road which 
 follows the trench in the brow of the bluff, has been shaped artificially, 
 and gives every appearance of having been occupied by an ancient castle. 
 I attach no importance to the ruins at Khan Minyeh that are still visible 
 above ground ; but I have seen enough to convince me that a town of 
 considerable size is buried there. 1 
 
 The principal argument advanced by Magregor in favor of 
 Khan Minyeh is its open, safe harbor to which storm-tossed 
 vessels would naturally be directed ; while at Tell Hum there 
 is no secure harborage and not even a safe landing-place in 
 rough weather. 
 
 Butler's Bible Wock, p. 673. 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 81 
 
 To these may *be added the argument emphasized by Dr. 
 Robinson that Tell Hum lies outside the definite and well- 
 known district, known as Gennesaret, or the plain of Gennesa- 
 ret, in which, according to the Evangelists, Capernaum was 
 situated. (Matt. xiv. 34; Mark vi. 53; John vi. 17-25.) 
 
 For Khan Minyeh, says Keim, the whole situation vouches in a high 
 degree. Here is the plain of Gennesar, and here too it leaves off, for di- 
 rectly north of it stretches the mountain-chain which had retired in a half- 
 circle to make room for that fair district, and abuts again upon the lake ; 
 so much so, that it is only by a narrow and difficult pathway that the 
 rocks are artificially penetrated, and the great road to Damascus on leav- 
 ing the Khan strikes straight up hill and inland. Here there is water 
 and vegetation. Close at hand are several springs. Along the lake-side 
 is a strip of luxuriant green, consisting of grass and clover, an emerald 
 meadow-carpet ; " no other in Palestine so green " ; the shore is adorned 
 with a tall growth of sedge. Numerous herds and flocks graze on this 
 part of the plain ; indeed it is just the pastures of Minyeh which, accord- 
 ing to Burckhardt, have become proverbial for their richness among the 
 dwellers in the neighboring districts. Finally, the district of Minyeh 
 served as a harborage ; a half-circle seems to mark the harbor, which has 
 become choked up in the lapse of time, sheltered by the mountain promon- 
 tory from all the northern winds ; here the wood from the east shore is 
 still landed for Acco (Acre). 1 
 
 Capernaum was exalted in point of privilege above all the 
 cities of Galilee. It was the home of Jesus, and of His inner 
 circle of disciples, for nearly three years. Matthew speaks of 
 it as "His own city." 2 It was the scene of many of the mir- 
 acles of healing ; "the central pulpit of our Lord's teaching " ; 
 and the birthplace of the Christian Church. Two at least of 
 the Apostles, Peter and Matthew, occupied houses in Caper- 
 naum which were always open to the Master, and at some 
 period in His earlier ministry Mary, the mother of Jesus, trans- 
 ferred her residence from Nazareth to Capernaum. (Mark i. 
 29, ii. 14, 15; Matt. xii. 46; John ii. 12.) Three of the 
 Evangelists have given us a record of the blessed ministries 
 
 1 Butler's Bible Work, p. 672. z Matt. ix. I. 
 
2TO 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 which filled one Sabbath day at Capernaum, and so deeply 
 were the people impressed with His gracious words and 
 miracles of healing that at even all the city was gathered at 
 the door of Simon's house ; and "all they that had any sick 
 with divers diseases brought them unto Him ; and He laid His 
 hands on everyone of them, and healed them." (Matt. 
 viii. 14-17; Mark i. 21-34; Luke iv. 3341.) 
 
 Bethsaida of Galilee, which was evidently near to Caper- 
 naum, (Mark vi. 45 ; John vi. 17), was probably situated on the 
 other side of the headland which cuts off Gennesaret from the 
 northern shore of the Lake. 
 
 Some ruined buildings and an octagonal fountain about a 
 mile north of Khan Minyeh mark the site of the old town. 
 The modern village, known as Et Tabiga, is inhabited by 
 fishermen and the little bay in its front is still the favorite fish- 
 ing-ground of the lake. This city was the birthplace of Peter, 
 Andrew and Philip. 
 
 Bethsaida Julias was on the plain of Batihah east of the 
 Jordan and not far from the upper end of the lake. It was also 
 originally a fishing village, but was raised to the rank of a city 
 by Philip the Tetrarch who enlarged it and gave to it the 
 name of the Emperor's daughter Julias. On a grassy slope 
 near this place Christ fed the five thousand (Luke ix. 10-17); 
 and on one of the mountains near by He was alone praying 
 when the storm arose which delayed the progress and imperilled 
 the lives of the disciples who were heading toward Bethsaida 
 of Galilee. (Mark vi. 45, 46; John vi. 15-17.) 
 
 Chorazin. The only clue to the location of this city is 
 given in the prophetic announcement of its doom. (Matt. xi. 
 20-24; Luke x. 13. In this sentence of condemnation 
 Bethsaida and Capernaum are included. Hence the inference 
 that the three cities were near the sea, and so closely grouped 
 together as to have practically the same advantages in connec- 
 tion with the beneficent ministry of Christ. On the assump- 
 tion that the other cities of this group have been correctly 
 
The Valley of .he Jordan 
 
 located, Chorazin would fall naturally into place at Tell Hum. 
 This identification was suggested by Dr. Robinson and has 
 been approved by Merrill and other eminent explorers. The 
 discovery of a ruined heap about two and a-half miles north 
 of Tell Hum called Kerazeh has suggested another possible 
 site, which has found favor with some of the leading authori- 
 ties. While the name is practically the same, the location is 
 objectionable because of its isolation from the main lines of 
 travel and from the prosperous cities by the lake-side. It is 
 possible also that the name was transferred to this inland town 
 after the destruction of the old city by the Lake. 
 
 Gergesa. The ruins of a town called Gersa or Khersa on 
 the eastern shore, at the mouth of the Wady Semakh, have 
 been identified by Dr. Thomson with the ancient city of Ger- 
 gesa, which gave its name to a limited district around it. 
 (Matt. viii. 28.) This was included in a larger district of 
 which Gadara, an important city eight miles away, was the 
 capital ; hence it was said to be "in the country of the Gada- 
 renes, which is over against Galilee." (Luke viii. 26.) Gersa 
 is four or five miles from the upper end of the lake and almost 
 opposite Magdala. In the immediate vicinity of this town and 
 landing-place was the scene of the healing of the fierce demo- 
 niacs and the destruction of the herd of swine. (Matt. viii. 
 
 28-34.) 
 Dr. Thomson describes the characteristic feature of the place 
 
 as follows : 
 
 In Gersa we have a position which fulfills the requirements of the 
 narratives, and with a name so near that in Matthew as to be in itself 
 a strong corroboration of the identification. The site is within a few rods 
 of the shore, and a mountain rises directly above it, in which are ancient 
 tombs ; out of some one of them the man possessed of the devils may 
 have issued to meet Jesus. The lake is so near the base of the 
 mountain that a herd of swine feeding above it, seized with a sudden 
 panic, would rush madly down the declivity, those behind tumbling over 
 and thrusting forward those before, and, as there is no space to recover 
 on the narrow plain between the base of the mountain and the lake, they 
 
272 The La. d of Israel 
 
 would crowd headlong into the water and perish. . . . Farther south 
 the plain becomes so broad that the herd might have stopped and recoiled 
 from the lake, whose domain they would not willingly invade. 
 
 To this description Dr. Thomson adds the fact that wild hogs 
 abound at this place, and in a state as wild and fierce as 
 though they were still "possessed." l 
 
 The deepest furrow in the hills on this side is the 
 Wady Fik, which enters the lake three miles below Gersa. 
 On the precipitous heights above are the ruins of Gamala 
 (Kulat-el Husn), a well-nigh impregnable stronghold, famous 
 for the desperate resistance its defenders made to the Romans. 
 The mouth of the Wady is almost directly opposite the city of 
 Tiberias. The road from Bethshan to Damascus passes up 
 through this cleft to the plateau above. The railroad 
 to Damascus runs up the lake to Gersa and thence east- 
 ward by Wady Semakh. 
 
 The village of Semakh on the southeastern shore of the lake 
 was formerly supposed to occupy the site of Hippos, one of the 
 cities of Decapolis, but later research has recovered it at a site 
 known as Susiyeh, the Arabic equivalent of Hippos. Tarichcea, 
 famous for its fisheries and for ship-building, is probably iden- 
 tical with a ruined site now called Kerak on the south- 
 western shore near the outgo of the Jordan. This city 
 is not mentioned in Scripture, but is fully described by 
 Josephus who fortified it to meet an attack of the Romans. 
 
 4. The Ghor. The Arabs use this term to designate the 
 lower valley of the Jordan, or that portion which extends from 
 the Sea of Galilee to the line of cliffs beyond the southern 
 border of the Dead Sea. In its popular usage by writers who 
 have adopted the term, it applies only to the deep trench or 
 sunken valley between the lakes. This section is sixty-five 
 miles in length. In breadth it varies from four to fourteen 
 miles. Its contractions and expansions have been briefly de- 
 scribed by Dr. Smith as follows : 
 
 i The Land and the Book, p. 355. 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 273 
 
 For thirteen miles south of the lake the breadth is hardly more than 
 four miles, then it expands to six or seven in the Plain of Bethshan, 
 which rises by terraces toward the level of Esdraelon. Ten miles south 
 of Bethshan the Samarian hills press eastward, and for the next thirteen 
 the river runs closely by their feet, and the valley is three miles wide. 
 Again the Samarian hills withdraw, and the valley widens first to eight 
 miles and then gradually to fourteen, which is the breadth at Jericho. 
 What we have therefore between Galilee and the Dead Sea is a long, 
 narrow vale twice expanding at Bethshan and Jericho to the dimen- 
 sions of a plain. 1 
 
 Through the last named expansion the river runs almost in 
 the middle, separating it into the Plain of Jericho on the one 
 side, and its counterpart, the plain of Shittim on the other, 
 which the Arabs now call Ghor-es Seisaban. Above this ex- 
 pansion, designated by the Old Testament writers as the 
 Ciccar or Circuit (Gen. xiii. 10-12) except for a short dis- 
 tance in the vicinity of Bethshan, the strip of plain on the east- 
 ern side of the Jordan is much wider than that on the western 
 side. 
 
 Climate and Products of the Ghor. This portion of 
 the Jordan valley has been aptly described as an enormous hot- 
 house. It is a region of never-ending summer. Cold winds 
 sweep over the mountain ridges which border it and snow rests 
 at times on their summits, but in this sheltered groove far be- 
 low the level of the sea, frost and snow are alike unknown. 
 The products of its lower levels, especially on the eastern side, 
 correspond with those in the equatorial belts and rank vegeta- 
 tion may be seen wherever water reaches its fruitful soil. The 
 only exception to this tropical luxuriance is the portion touched 
 by the salt marshes in the neighborhood of the Dead Sea. 
 
 Tributaries of the Jordan. The two principal affluents 
 of the Jordan which enter the valley from the east are the Yar- 
 muk (Jarmuk) or Hieromax and the Jabbok. The Yarmuk 
 joins the Jordan four miles below its outgo from the lake ; and 
 
 i Hist. Geog., p. 482. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 the Jabbok about twenty miles from the upper end of the Dead 
 Sea. On the west there are two principal affluents also, the 
 Wady Farah and the Wady Kelt. The former coming from 
 the plateau near Shechem runs for several miles nearly parallel 
 with the Jordan, joining it some six or seven miles below the 
 mouth of the Jabbok. The latter crosses the plain of Jericho 
 and enters the Jordan a few miles above its mouth. 
 Places of special interest. 
 
 (1) Abel Meholah (Meadow of the Dance) has been 
 placed by Conder at Ain Helweh, ten miles south of Bethshan. 
 It was one of the places to which the Midianites fled (Judg. 
 vii. 22), and the place of Elisha's residence before he was 
 called to the prophetic office, (i Kings xix. 16.) 
 
 (2) Kurn Sartaba. The most conspicuous landmark in 
 the Jordan valley is a lofty conical peak called the Kurn or 
 "Horn" of Sartaba. Its position is on the west side of the 
 valley near the junction of the Wady Farah with the Jordan. 
 " Its summit, 2,400 feet above the bed of the valley, is 
 capped by a cone 270 feet high, with steep smooth sides like 
 those of the so-called Frank mountain near Bethlehem." 1 A 
 mass of ruins on the summit indicated that this apparently in- 
 accessible height had at one time been fortified as a stronghold. 
 It was also used, according to the Talmud, as an observatory 
 along the line of selected mountains between Jerusalem and 
 the plateau east of the Jordan, on which beacon-fires were 
 kindled to announce the appearance of the new moon. 
 
 (3) Adam. The site of this city was probably at or near 
 the Damieh crossing close to the mouth of the Jabbok. When 
 Israel passed over Jordan it is said " that the waters which 
 came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very 
 far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan." (Josh. iii. 
 1 6.) The site of Zaretan has not been definitely located, but 
 the district of Zaretan extended from Abel Meholah to Succoth. 
 
 (4) Succoth (place of lxx>ths) has been identified with 
 
 1 Tent Life, p. 224. 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 275 
 
 Tell Dar'ala about a mile north of the Damieh ford on the east 
 side of the Jordan. This identification rests mainly upon a 
 statement of the Talmud that Succoth, in the later periods of 
 Jewish history was called Tarala, the equivalent of the present 
 name Dar'ala. At this place Jacob dwelt for a time on his 
 homeward journey from the east, and constructed booths for 
 his cattle. (Gen. xxxiii. 16, 17.) The brass foundries of Solo- 
 mon were in " the clay ground of the plain of Jordan between 
 Succoth and Zarthan " (Zaretan). (i Kings vii. 46.) 
 
 (5) Jericho. The site of ancient Jericho the city of 
 palm-trees is indicated by a large mound (Tell es Sultan) on 
 the western border of the plain, about six miles from the 
 Jordan. The waters of the Wady Kelt flow out from the 
 mountains a short distance to the south of the tell. A famous 
 fountain (Ain es Sultan) issues from the eastern base of the 
 mound, and was doubtless used for irrigation of the plain as 
 well as for the supply of the city. An early, and a generally 
 accepted tradition, has identified this with the fountain whose 
 waters were miraculously healed by Elisha at the intercession 
 of the people of Jericho. (2 Kings ii. 19-22.) Dr. Bliss made 
 a brief visit to this mound in 1894, and found fragments of 
 pre-Israelite pottery, similar to some of the types found at Tell 
 el Hesy, and traces of a mud-brick wall in situ. " I confess," 
 he says, "that this wall sent a thrill through me. If Tell es 
 Sultan is a mass of debris caused by the ruin of several mud- 
 brick towns over the first Jericho, then there is good reason to 
 suppose that this wall, uncovered near the base of the mound, at 
 its edge, is the very wall which fell before the eyes of the Captain 
 Joshua. Tell es Sultan is a long mound, over 1,200 feet in 
 length from north to south, about fifty feet high, with four 
 superimposed mounds, the highest being some ninety feet 
 above the fountain, which is at the east, but not more than 
 sixty or seventy feet above the ground at the west, as the mound 
 occurs where the land slopes down to the plain." 1 In the 
 * Quarterly, P. E. F., July, '94, p. 176. 
 
276 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 earlier history of the country the plain in the immediate vicin- 
 ity of Jericho was famous for its fertility and tropical luxuri- 
 ance. Aqueducts, the ruins of which may still be seen in 
 several places, carried abundant supplies of water from the 
 mountains and distributed it over the plain, making it a rich 
 garden spot, or as Josephus describes it " a divine region.'* It 
 was especially noted in the days of the Roman occupation for 
 its almost priceless balsams ; its choice varieties of palm trees 
 and fragrant spices. The princely revenues derived from this 
 region were given over by Mark Antony to Cleopatra, and were 
 afterward recovered for himself by Herod the Great. The 
 revenues of this plain in the time of its occupation by the 
 Crusaders were valued at $25,000 per annum. These were 
 derived from the cultivation of sugar cane. 
 
 Jericho was a noted stronghold of the Canaanites. It was 
 the first place invested by the Israelites after the passage of the 
 Jordan. (Josh. chap, vi.) Its first mention in the book of 
 Joshua is in connection with the visit of the spies (Josh. chap, 
 ii.) : and when the city fell Rahab, who had hidden the spies, 
 and all her household were saved. (Josh vi. 22-25.) Jericho 
 was assigned to Benjamin, but, because of the curse pronounced 
 upon the man who should rebuild it (Josh. vi. 26) the actual 
 site remained for a long time a desolation. In the reign of 
 Ahab, Kiel, the Bethelite, incurred the curse by rebuilding its 
 walls, (i Kings xvi. 34.) One of the schools of the prophets 
 was established at Jericho, and it was frequently honored by the 
 visits of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. To this school Elijah 
 came on his last round of visitation just before his translation. 
 (2 Kings ii. 4-7.) On the return of Elisha he healed the bit- 
 ter waters of the fountain. (2 Kings ii. 19-22.) 
 
 It should be noted that there were three Jerichos, in the long 
 history of this region, which occupied three different sites. 
 The site of the first, or the Old Testament Jericho has been al- 
 ready described. The site of the Roman Jericho was farther 
 to the south along the line of the Wady Kelt. It was enlarged 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 277 
 
 and adorned with magnificent buildings by Herod the Great, 
 and his successor Archelaus. It was the favorite winter resi- 
 dence of Herod and the place of his death. The position of 
 this city, at the opening of the pass leading up to Jerusalem, 
 made it a place of general rendezvous for the pilgrim bands 
 going to and returning from the great festivals at Jerusalem. 
 On his last journey to Jerusalem our Lord tarried for a short 
 time in this Roman city. Here He healed the two blind men 
 and called Zacchaeus the publican. (Matt. xx. 29-34; Mark 
 x. 46-52 ; Luke xix. 5.) 
 
 "The distinction between the new and the old towns may 
 solve the seeming discrepancy between Matthew (xx. 30), who 
 makes the miracle on the blind to be when Jesus was leaving 
 Jericho, and Luke, who says it was when Jesus was come nigh 
 unto Jericho (xviii. 35)." l 
 
 Modern Jericho, known as Eriha or Riha, occupies a site nearly 
 two miles from Tell es Sultan on the north bank of the Wady Kelt 
 It is a small Arab village of rudely constructed houses. A 
 square tower dating from the period of the Crusades is the 
 only relic of antiquity within its limits. Quite recently the ap- 
 pearance of the place has been improved by the erection of a 
 hotel and a Russian Hospice for the accommodation of the 
 pilgrims who swarm past it year by year to the fords of the 
 Jordan. The town itself is probably not older than the twelfth 
 century. 
 
 (6) Gilgal. The site of Gilgal has been discovered on a 
 slight elevation about a mile east of the village of Riha, which 
 still bears the name Jiljulieh. The only remains apparent on 
 the surface of the ground, are a large ruined reservoir by the 
 side of a wide-spreading tamarisk tree, and several rounded 
 hillocks of artificial construction. In some of these mounds 
 hewn stone pottery and flint knives have been found. 2 
 
 Gilgal was the first camping-place of the Israelites after the 
 passage of the Jordan, and hither the twelve stones taken from 
 
 1 Fausset's Bib. Cyclopedia Art Jericho. 9 Ibid., p. 399. 
 
278 The Land of Israel 
 
 the bed of the river were brought and set up as a memorial. 
 (Josh. iv. 19-24.) Here also the covenant of circumcision was 
 renewed and "the reproach of Egypt rolled off." (Josh. v. 
 2-9. ) At Gilgal by Divine direction the Passover was celebrated 
 and from this date the manna ceased. (Josh. v. n, 12.) 
 
 From this place Joshua went up by night to the help of the 
 Gibeonites (Josh. x. 6-9), and the narrative of the conquest 
 seems to imply that the camp at Gilgal continued to be the 
 rallying-point of the tribes, and the abode of the ark of the 
 covenant, until the removal of the tabernacle to Shiloh. 
 
 (7) Beth-Hogla, a frontier city of Benjamin (Josh, xviii. 
 19-22), has been identified with Ain Hajlah, five miles south- 
 east of Jericho. There are numerous tells on the plain which 
 have not as yet been identified. 
 
 (8) " The Cities of the Plain." There is no evidence 
 in the Scriptures on which to base the supposition that the five 
 Canaanite cities of the plain Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Ze- 
 boim, and Zoar were situated at the southern end of the Dead 
 Sea ; nor is there any intimation that the four cities which 
 were destroyed, were submerged in its waters. 
 
 On the contrary it is implied, if not directly stated, that they 
 were in the plain at the northern end of the Sea. The proofs 
 which bear upon this point may be summed up as follows : 
 
 1. It is said (Gen. xiii. 10-12) that Lot beheld all the plain of Jordan 
 in which these cities were located from a ridge east of Bethel. From 
 this ridge modern explorers have been able to see the lower valley of the 
 Jordan river and the upper end of the Dead Sea, but they are unanimous 
 in their testimony that the depression at the lower end of the Sea is com- 
 pletely cut off from view by the mountain wall in the vicinity of Engedi. 
 
 2. Abram's outlook near Hebron was " toward Sodom and Gomorrah, 
 and toward all the land of the plain." It is not said that he beheld the 
 cities of the plain, but he saw the " smoke of the country, which went up 
 as the smoke of a furnace." This description exactly accords with the 
 northward view, as described by modern travellers, but not with the lim- 
 ited outlook southward. 
 
 3. The word translated "plain" in the passages cited is Ciccar (cir- 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 279 
 
 cuit) in the original. Without limitation it might be applied to the de- 
 pression at the lower end of the lake, but here and elsewhere it is called 
 the plain (Ciccar) of the Jordan. It is evident that this expression 
 would be inapplicable to a valley which is removed more than forty 
 miles from the mouth of the Jordan. 
 
 4. The route taken by Chedorlaomer on his marauding expedition 
 furnishes a confirmatory proof in support of the northern location which 
 can hardly be questioned. Coming from the east by way of the southern 
 end of Mount Seir he turned northward to Kadesh Barnea and thence 
 to the Vale of Siddim by way of Engedi. (Gen. xiv. 1-16.) On the 
 supposition that the confederated cities were at the south end of the Sea, 
 the four kings would certainly have met the invader long before he reached 
 Engedi, or, at least they would have attacked him at a great disadvantage 
 on his return journey to the south. Of such a doubling on his track, 
 however, there is no hint in the narrative. The direction of march was 
 evidently continuous from Kadesh Barnea to Dan and, hence " there is a 
 topographical sequence in the whole story." 
 
 5. The fact that Zoar, which was not destroyed, is mentioned by some 
 of the prophetic writers in connection with contiguous sites on the plain 
 of Moab (Abel Shittim) is worthy of note, as indicative of the general lo- 
 cation of the entire group. (Isa. xv. 5, 6; Jer. xlviii. 34.) This harmon- 
 izes also with the statement that Moses, from the top of Pisgah, beheld 
 the south (Negeb) and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm 
 trees, unto Zoar. (Deut. xxxiv. 3.) This could not have been the tradi- 
 tional Zoar, at the southeast end of the Dead Sea ; for that portion of the 
 valley is completely hidden by the high mountains intervening from every 
 outlook on, or in the vicinity of, Nebo. 
 
 The exact sites of the cities which were destroyed will prob- 
 ably never be known. They were overthrown and consumed 
 by fire ; the ground on which they stood was made a desola- 
 tion "and their names were blotted out of the later topography 
 of the time of Joshua." Concerning these sites Major Conder 
 says: 
 
 Although no ruins were found by the Survey party, and were not to be 
 expected, yet there are names in the district, applying to portions of the 
 ground, which seem to me to have a possible connection with those of 
 Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim. 
 
 The great spring of Ain Fe<=hkah is a probable site for one of the Cities 
 
280 The Land of Israel 
 
 of the Plain and the great bluff not far south of it is called Tubk Am- 
 riyeh, and the neighboring valley Wady Amriyeh. This word is radic- 
 ally identical with the Hebrew Gomorrah, or Ainorah as it is spelled in 
 one passage. (Gen. x. 19.) It is possible then that the name of Gomor- 
 rah is preserved in this modern district title. 1 
 
 The Plain of Abel Shittim. This beautiful expanse the 
 meadow of the Acacias or, as it is most frequently designated 
 in the Pentateuch, "the Plains of Moab " extends from the 
 Nimrim ford or ferry of the Jordan nearly opposite Jericho 
 to the limit of the Jordan plain at the head of the Dead Sea. 
 Its dimensions, according to Dr. Thomson's estimate, are fifteen 
 miles in length by eight in breadth, including the mouths of the 
 wadies, and adjacent hillsides. The plain is broken in places 
 by torrent beds, little knolls, and rocky spurs which push down 
 from the main range. Near the river it is exceedingly fertile 
 but farther back it is an undulating pasture land. " The old 
 and gnarled acacias, scattered here and there upon this Shittim 
 plain, testify in the strongest degree to the appropriateness of 
 its Biblical name, and they are no doubt the descendants of the 
 shittah-trees which covered this plain in the time of Moses." a 
 
 This was the last camping-place of Israel east of the Jordan. 
 (Num. xxii. i ; Josh. iii. i.) The rows of tents extended 
 from "Abel Shittim" the town which gave its name to the 
 plain on the north, to " Beth-Jeshimoth " on the south. 
 (Num. xxxiii. 49.) 
 
 " Neither pencil nor picture," says Dr. Thomson, " can adequately de- 
 scribe the wonderful scene, nor can imagination reproduce it. History 
 records nothing with which to compare it in this or in any land, and 
 no wonder that Balaam, when he looked upon the scene from the moun- 
 tains of Nebo, and saw Israel abiding in his tents, according to their 
 tribes,' exclaimed, How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy taber- 
 nacles, O Israel ! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the 
 river's side, as the trees of lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as 
 cedar trees beside the waters, and blessed is he that blesseth thee.' "> 
 
 Tent Work, p. 207. The Land and the Book, p. 672. 
 
 3 The Land and the Book, p. 672. 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 281 
 
 There are a number of tells on this plain whose names or 
 locations have suggested identifications with the cities of Reu- 
 ben and Gad. Of these the most important are : Tell Nim- 
 rim, opposite Jericho which, with name scarcely changed, 
 marks the site of Beth-nimrah (" House of the Leopard ") one 
 of the fortified cities of Gad (Num. xxxii. 36) ; Tell Kef rein 
 identified with Abel Shittim, the city from which the plain de- 
 rived its name (Num. xxxiii. 49) ; Tell er Ramah, near Wady 
 Heshbon, with Beth-harem, a fenced city of Gad (Num. xxxii. 
 36) ; Tell Ektanu, a little farther east, with Zoar the city of 
 the plain to which Lot fled (Gen. xix. 23); and Tell es Su- 
 iveimeh at the southern limit of the plain, with Beth-jeshimoth, 
 a city of Reuben. (Josh. xiii. 20.) 
 
 "At Tell Kef rein, according to Josephus, Moses completed 
 the book of Deuteronomy, and amid the palm trees of the place 
 delivered his last address to the children of Israel." (Ant. iv. 
 8, i, 2.) In the Septuagint the name Beth-nimrah is trans- 
 lated Bethabara and hence the ford of the Jordan near by has 
 been regarded by many as the place of John's baptisms, to 
 which reference is made by the Evangelist. (John i. 28.) 
 
 It is an interesting and suggestive fact that the name, 
 "Plains of Moab," which is used nine times in connection 
 with this camping ground of Israel, is not found outside of the 
 Pentateuch, "except in one quotation from it in the book of 
 Joshua." "The district had been conquered by the Amorites 
 just before the coming of Israel, and in later days was always 
 known as Amorite territory. Accordingly it was only at a time 
 when the memory of its former ownership was still fresh that it 
 could thus be called by its ancient designation." * 
 
 The Jordan River in its progress through the Ghor makes 
 a descent of about 600 feet. It is a swift, turbid, swirling 
 stream, with numerous rapids, islands, bends and loops, and 
 frequently for miles its course is completely hidden from view 
 by dense masses of trees and undergrowth. The width of 
 J Pres. and Ref. Review, Vol. II., p. 632. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 the river, except in its flood-time, is seldom more than 100 
 feet. 
 
 It has two channels with two sets of banks. The lower 
 channel is the narrow bed in which the river ordinarily flows. 
 The upper is a mile or more in width, in some places, and is 
 covered with an almost impenetrable jungle of tamarisks, ole- 
 anders, willows, and reedy vegetation of mammoth growth. 
 This high-level channel is called the Zor. 
 
 In March and April the harvest season of this part of the 
 valley the Jordan overflows its banks and spreads out over the 
 surface of this wider basin, driving the wild beasts from their 
 lairs in the jungle and making the river for the time an impass- 
 able barrier. During this season the Jordan in the vicinity of 
 Jericho is nearly a mile wide ; at its close it sinks down within 
 its natural borders. 
 
 Fords of the Jordan. The Survey party tabulated a list 
 of not less than forty crossing-places in the Ghor, most of 
 which are available for passage only in summer. 
 
 The principal fords in ancient times are the following : 
 
 (1) The crossing -place of the great highway from Galilee 
 to Bashan, just below the point where the Jordan leaves the lake 
 of Galilee. This is marked by the ruins of an ancient bridge 
 of ten arches, known as the bridge of Um el Kanater. 
 
 (2) The crossing of the caravan road from Galilee to Gadara 
 and the East by way of the gorge of the Yarmuk (Hieromax). 
 This ford is six miles below the lake and one mile below the 
 junction of the Yarmuk with the Jordan. The bridge (Jisr el 
 Mejamia) which spans the river at this point, is the only one 
 now available for travel south of the lake of Galilee. Here the 
 proposed railroad to Damascus will cross the Jordan. 
 
 (3) The crossing at the opening of the valley of Jezreel by 
 the road leading to Pella, Jabesh, Gilead and eastward. There 
 are three fording places in reality at this point very near each 
 other. One of them, a mile north of the mouth of the Jalud, 
 still bears the name Arabah, meaning " passage," or "ferry," 
 
fti 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 283 
 
 and is radically the same word found in the name " Betha- 
 bara." 1 Col. Conder's suggestion that this place may be 
 identical with the Bethabara where John was baptizing 
 when he received the deputation from the priests and 
 Levites of Jerusalem and where certain events following 
 the Baptist's public and emphatic testimony to the Messiah- 
 ship of Jesus was given, (John i: 1944) has been favor- 
 ably received by some leading authorities. The location, 
 however, does not seem to accord with other contemporary 
 events, which evidently belong to John's ministry in 
 Judea. (Matt. 3: 13; Luke 4: 14; John 1-29.) At one of 
 these fords the men of Jabesh Gilead crossed over by night 
 and brought away from the wall of Bethshan the bodies of 
 Saul and his sons, (i Sam. xxxi. 12.) 
 
 (4) The Damieh ford, just below the junction of the 
 Jabbok, was the well-known crossing-place of the road from 
 Mount Gilead to Shechem. This was evidently the place of 
 Jacob's passage over the Jordan on his return from Padan 
 Aram, and not improbably of Abraham's, also, at an earlier 
 day. (Gen. xii. 6, xxxiii. 18.) It is supposed to be the place 
 where the Ephraimites who could not say "Shibboleth" were 
 slain by the men of Gilead. (Judg. xii. 5,6.) 
 
 (5) The Nimrim or Nuwaimeh ford, near Beth-nimrah, 
 to which reference has been already made, is the most interesting 
 of all the passages of the Jordan. It is nearly opposite Jericho, 
 at the mouth of the Wady Shaib. It is sometimes called the " up- 
 per ford ' ' to distinguish it from a lower crossing a short distance 
 below the Pilgrims' bathing-place. The main thoroughfare from 
 Jericho to Gilead has always been by way of this upper ford. 
 By this route to the Jordan's brink, in all probability, the ark 
 of the covenant was borne by the priests when the waters stood 
 on heap far up the Ghor, and rolled away to the Sea from all 
 the valley below. (Josh. iii. 15, 16.) Hither Elijah came 
 with his faithful friend and associate, Elisha, from Jericho, and 
 "the river that had drawn back at a nation's feet, parted at 
 
 Thirty Years' Work. p. 99. 
 
284: 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 the stroke of one man and they two, went over dry-shod." 
 And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that, 
 behold there appeared a chariot of fire, and parted them both 
 asunder ; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. It 
 is a notable fact that one of the two men who communed with 
 Jesus on the transfiguration mount passed from earth on the 
 top of Mount Nebo, and the other from the plain which lies at 
 its foot. All the circumstances of the gospel narratives, as 
 well as the name, which the Septuagint supplies, point to this 
 spot beyond Jordan as the preaching place where Jesus was 
 baptized. (John i. 28.) " There is surely a deep significance 
 in the fact," says Dr. Tristram, "if this be so, of him who 
 came in the spirit and power of Eli as, thus exercising his 
 function of herald of the kingdom, and completing his mission 
 by the baptism of Christ, at the very spot where his prototype 
 had ceased from his mission and been carried unto heaven. 
 As suddenly as the first Elijah disappeared, so suddenly 
 did the second Elias appear to prepare the way of the Re- 
 deemer. Where the first dropped his mantle, in that very spot 
 did the second take it up." l By this ford Christ and His dis- 
 ciples crossed the Jordan when coming from Perea to Jerusa- 
 lem. Here, also, He remained two days when He heard that 
 Lazarus was sick. (John x. 40, xi. 6.) 
 
 (6) The lower ford, known as the Pilgrims' Bathing- 
 place, is five or six miles south of the Nimrim ford. It was 
 used almost exclusively for the passage to Moab. This was 
 one of the "fords toward Moab" which Ehud took when he 
 delivered Israel from the oppression of the Moabites. (Judg. 
 iii. 28.) This ford was the probable crossing-place of Naomi 
 and Ruth on their journey to Bethlehem. (Ruth, chap, i.) 
 
 It is evident from this brief study that the Jordan as a whole 
 has several remarkable features, some of which are absolutely 
 unique. 
 
 Its time-honored name " the Descender " is indicative of 
 i Sunday Mag., 1868, p. 256. 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 285 
 
 one of these features, viz : its unparalleled descent not only 
 a down-going of 3,000 feet in its course of 115 miles, but its 
 descent to a lower point than is reached by any other water 
 basin of its class on the surface of the earth. Other features 
 hardly less noteworthy than this are : the rapidity of its flow ; 
 the almost countless windings of its channel, especially in the 
 lower valley where there is "no reach of half a mile in a 
 straight line"; its three picturesque sources, which are but 
 reservoirs for the down-rushing floods of Mount Hermon's melt- 
 ing snows ; its three lake-basins, unlike each other in almost 
 every physical feature ; its double channel ; its dense border- 
 ings of undergrowth hiding the flow of its waters ; the periodic 
 overflow of its banks in the harvest season ; and the wonder- 
 ful variety of soil and scenery, climate and vegetation through 
 which it passes on its way to the deep, lifeless basin, which 
 swallows up its continuous flood and yet is never full. 
 
 The history of the Jordan has been inwoven with the story 
 of Redemption from the memorable day that Abram passed over 
 it into the Land of Promise. It is more frequently named in 
 poetry and song, more attractive to pilgrim bands from every 
 land, "more spoken about by mankind," than the Nile, the 
 Euphrates, the Abana or any other stream, because of the Di- 
 vine manifestations of power, healing, and grace displayed from 
 age to age all along its course from the fountain of Banias to 
 the fords of Jericho. 
 
 "The Jordan marks the termination of the wanderings of 
 the children of Israel from the banks of the Nile, and the be- 
 ginning of their history as an independent nation in their own 
 home. It blends the memories of the Old and New Cove- 
 nants, as the culmination of John's testimony and the inaugu- 
 ration of Christ's kingdom." l " Surely," says Magregor, " the 
 Jordan is by far the most wonderful stream on the face of the 
 earth, and the memories of its history will not be forgotten in 
 heaven." 2 
 
 1 Schaff 's Bible Lands, p. 299. * Rob Roy on Jordan, p. 406. 
 
The Land of Israel 
 
 The Dead Sea Basin. The Dead Sea or Salt Sea as it 
 is usually termed in the Scriptures occupies the upper portion 
 of this basin almost exclusively. On the northern half of its 
 west side there is a narrow strip of coast-land, interrupted at 
 two places by towering cliffs which push down to the water's 
 edge. South of Engedi the beach is wider, admitting a broad 
 uninterrupted passage-way to the lower end of the lake. An 
 ancient roadway from the south followed the coast to Engedi 
 where it diverged westward, passing up by way of the cliff of 
 Ziz to the summit of the plateau. This was the route taken 
 by the army of Chadorlaomer from Kadesh Barnea to the 
 cities of the plain (Gen. xiv.), and it is still used by the camel 
 trains, which carry salt from Jebel Usdum to Jerusalem. 
 
 Jebel Usdum is a narrow, isolated ridge of crystallized 
 rock-salt, six or seven miles in length, near the southern ex- 
 tremity of the western coast. This salt mountain has a slight 
 covering of chalky limestone and gypsum which protects it 
 from rapid disintegration. Beneath this, however, portions of 
 the ridge frequently split off in great masses and lie in heaps 
 at its base. In some places it is pierced with long, narrow 
 caverns. Its height varies fron 200 to 300 feet. 
 
 The portion of the basin south of the water-line of the Dead 
 Sea is a marshy, salt-covered region given over to barrenness 
 and desolation except on its eastern side near the southeast 
 corner of the lake. This favored district is called the Ghor- 
 es-Safieh. Here there is an abundance of fresh water and the 
 soil is wonderfully fertile. In no other spot perhaps in the 
 whole valley of the Jordan can such a collection of plants and 
 trees peculiar to tropical climes, be found. 
 
 The width of the whole valley south of the lake varies from 
 five to six miles. Its length is a little over eight miles. The 
 basin ends at the line of high cliffs which cross the valley at 
 this distance from the Sea. Here begins the Arabah which ex- 
 tends due south 1 1 2 miles to the Gulf of Akabah. This long 
 valley for more than one-half its distance drains toward the 
 
The Valley of the Jordan 287 
 
 Dead Sea. " There are also many springs on the shores of the 
 lake, and within its shallower waters, some hot, some salt, 
 some sulphurous, and others fresh, which contribute to its 
 bulk." 1 The most prominent feature on the eastern shore is 
 the peninsula near the lower end called El Lisan the tongue 
 which pushes its huge bulk more than half-way across the lake. 
 It is about twelve miles in length by six in breadth. Lieutenant 
 Lynch describes it as "A bold, broad promontory, from forty 
 to sixty feet high, incrusted with salt and bitumen, the perpen- 
 dicular face extending all round, and presenting the coarse and 
 chalky appearance of recent carbonate of lime." 2 
 
 Above the Lisan, excepting a slight recession at the mouth of 
 the Arnon river, there is a narrow continuous beach overshad- 
 owed by the towering mountains of Moab. 
 
 Driftwood stripped of its bark, bleached, and salt covered, 
 marks the high- water line of the coast on either side. Lumps 
 of bitumen or asphalt so pure that they will ignite when held 
 in the flame of a lamp, may be picked up at almost any point 
 on the shore. 
 
 The Dead Sea is forty-six miles long and nearly ten wide, at 
 its widest part. Its maximum depth is 1,308 feet. The point 
 where this depth was found is about one-third of the length of 
 the lake from its north end, on the eastward side of the chan- 
 nel. This portion of the valley or cleft is 4,300 feet below the 
 level of the Hashbany source of the Jordan, and about the 
 same distance below the summit of the mountains of Moab, 
 which rise directly above it. If a plummet were dropped from 
 a level corresponding with the summit of the Mount of Olives 
 to this depth, it would require the paying out of a line 5,260 
 feet long : and yet the distance between thei-e points in a direct 
 line is less than twenty miles. The water of the lake is famous 
 for its density, its bitterness and its buoyancy. It holds in so- 
 lution more than five times as much salt as the water of the 
 ocean, mingled with chlorides of magnesium, calcium, potas- 
 
 1 The Holy Land, p. 76. 2 Narrative of Lieutenant Lynch, p. 297. 
 
288 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 sium and other mineral salts, which impart to it an extremely 
 bitter and nauseous taste. To float on this briny deep requires 
 no effort ; to make progress in swimming is not so easy, be- 
 cause of the difficulty experienced in keeping the feet and lower 
 limbs beneath the surface. Contrary to the impression which 
 generally prevails, the water is clear, delicately tinted and so 
 transparent that pebbles may be seen at a depth of twenty and 
 thirty feet. The reflections of the mountains on the surface 
 of this deeply-set, heavily-framed mirror are surpassingly beau- 
 tiful, and the mists which rise from it as from a steaming chal- 
 dron, impart to every object lying beyond it, that rare purplish 
 tint which Holman Hunt has sought to reproduce in his famous 
 picture of the Scape-goat. In all Judea, says Doctor Smith, 
 there is no view like that one bounded by the range of Moab, 
 as you see it across the wilderness from the Mount of Olives. 
 
 While there is nothing in the atmosphere of the lake or its 
 shores, or in the appearance of its waters, to suggest the omi- 
 nous name which it now bears, it is nevertheless true that it is a 
 sea of death. "No fish can live in it; no tree grows on its 
 banks, and its air is like the blast of a furnace. ' ' Few of those 
 who have tarried by its shores to sound its depths or explore its 
 coasts, have escaped the effects of its blighting malaria or 
 deadly fevers. 
 
 The narrative of the carefully conducted explorations of the Jordan 
 valley under the direction of Lieutenant Lynch of the United States 
 Navy, gives the fullest and most accurate information concerning the char- 
 acteristic features of the Dead Sea and its surroundings. See also Bible 
 Researches of Doctor Robinson, The Land and the Book Doctor Thom- 
 son, Tristram's Topography of Holy Land, Conder's Tent Work, etc. 
 
The Fourth Longitudinal Section 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE ANTI-LEBANON MOUNTAINS 
 (Consult Sketch Map No. i.) 
 
 THE Eastern or Anti-Lebanon range is lower in elevation and 
 more irregular in outline than Lebanon. While pursuing the 
 same general direction southward, Anti-Lebanon is, for the 
 most part, a series of broken, parallel ridges. In the Scripture 
 it is designated as "Lebanon toward the sun rising." (Josh, 
 xiii. 5.) 
 
 There is a marked depression or break in the range, a little 
 north of the latitude of Damascus, which has been utilized in 
 the construction of the carriage and railroad routes from Beirut 
 to Damascus. This break separates Anti-Lebanon Proper, 
 known as the East Mountain (Jebel esh Shurky), from Mount 
 Hermon (Jebel esh Sheikh). ^ 
 
 Mount Hermon trends farther to the west than the main 
 ridge and is properly an outlier of Anti-Lebanon. 
 
 The East Mountain for more than two-thirds of its length 
 northward is a treeless, verdureless waste. Here there are no 
 perennial streams and but few valleys or patches of level ground 
 amid the chalky ridges, that are capable of cultivation. The 
 southern end of the range is broken up by the deep valley of 
 the Barada, the Abana of ancient times (2 Kings v. 12) which 
 brings life and fertility all along its zigzag course from the plain 
 of Zebedany, near the summit of Anti-Lebanon, to the plain 
 of Damascus, at its foot. "Along the river on both sides, in 
 
 289 
 
290 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 the deep narrow valley, every inch of land that can be reached 
 by irrigation is cultivated, and the rows of tall poplars extend 
 for miles, marking the course of the river as with a fringe of 
 green, running back and forth among the chalky hills." 1 
 
 The chief tributary of the Abana is the celebrated fountain 
 called Ain el Fijeh. The crystal waters of this fountain burst 
 forth from a double cavern in front of which are the ruins of 
 an ancient temple. This spot is an ideal resting-place which 
 the wayfarer over the Lebanons is not likely to forget while life 
 and memory last. Here at Ain el Fijeh, says Doctor Thomson, 
 one is at a loss which most to admire the great quantity of 
 water that bursts from beneath this ruined platform, cold and 
 beautifully clear, or the rushing, roaring cataract, foaming and 
 tumbling over the rocks as it plunges down its narrow channel ; 
 or the thick forests of tall trees, willows and walnuts, syca- 
 mores, planes and poplars, that overshadow the banks, or the 
 magnificent cliffs that rise a thousand feet or more and shut in 
 this happy vale on every side. 
 
 A modern village (Suk Wady Barada) in a bend of the 
 river, three miles above the Fijeh fountain, occupies the site of 
 the ancient city of Abila, the capital of Abilene. This district 
 is mentioned by Luke in connection with the tetrarchy of Ly- 
 sanias (iii. i). The place has been identified by Latin inscrip- 
 tions on the face of a cliff above the road dating from the mid- 
 dle of the second century. 
 
 The Zebedany plain, seven miles long by one to three 
 wide, is noted for its rich verdure and luscious fruits. Its ap- 
 ples, pears, quinces, apricots, plums, and grapes are in great 
 demand in Beirut and the towns of northern Syria. The ele- 
 vation of the plain is over 3,500 feet. 
 
 The Jebel esh Shurky has no Scriptural associations ex- 
 cept the casual references to sites already named. 
 
 The ancient city of Zedad, a landmark on the northern bor- 
 der line of Israel, lies out on the open plain along the road 
 I Doctor Merrill Pict. Pal., p. 444. 
 
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 291 
 
 leading from Ribleh to Palmyra. It is about twenty miles east 
 of the northern end of the main ridge of Anti-Lebanon, and 
 seventy miles northeast of Damascus. The site of Zedad has 
 been recovered after the lapse of more than thirty centuries 
 mainly by the identification of its name with the name of the 
 modern village of Sudad. The outgoings of the border line 
 from this point were at Hazar-enan, and thence the line passed 
 westward to Riblah, and southward to Baal-Gad and the east- 
 ern shore of the Sea of Galilee. (Num. xxxiv. 9-11. See also 
 Ezek. xlvii. 16-18.) The site of Hazar-enan is not definitely 
 known, but if Ziphron is identical with the modern village of 
 Zifrun, three miles east of Arethusa, the border line must have 
 been drawn northeast from the "entrance of Hamath " toward 
 the city of Hamath ; then southeast by Ziphron, Zedad and 
 Hazar-enan; and thence westward to Riblah. 1 (See Sketch 
 Map No. i.) 
 
 Damascus. The city of Damascus lies on the edge of a 
 sandy desert which stretches eastward from Anti-Lebanon to the 
 valley of the Euphrates. It is two miles from the base of the 
 mountain ; seventy miles from Beirut by way of the carriage 
 road; fifty-five miles east of the Mediterranean coast, and 133 
 miles in a direct line from Jerusalem. 
 
 The plain of Damascus known as the Ghutah is a 
 dark island-like mass of green covering an area of more than 
 thirty miles in circumference. It is an oasis of marvellous 
 beauty and fertility shaped and nourished by the life-giving 
 waters of the Barada, the Abana of Scripture. Close to the 
 place of its outgo from the mountains this swiftly descending 
 stream is parted into several branches and these into smaller 
 streams with lateral water courses which irrigate every foot of 
 ground within their reach. According to the estimate of the 
 natives there are 365 canals in the Ghutah which distribute 
 water to more than 30,000 gardens. The main branches of 
 the river flow over the plain in a southeasterly direction for 
 1 Porter's Holy Places of Syria, p. 316. 
 
292 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 sixteen or eighteen miles, where they unite in a lower basin to 
 form two marshy lakes. 
 
 To this river the city of Damascus owes its origin, its long 
 existence and its distinctive charms. Everywhere amid groves 
 and gardens, in public resorts and in quiet, retired nooks, the 
 flash of its swiftly moving currents or the murmur of its unseen 
 rivulets may be seen or heard. Every mosque and khan, every 
 house and court has its fountain or fountains, and there are no 
 restrictions on their constant flow. This paradise of the Arab 
 world has been briefly described as "a 150 square miles of 
 green, thronging and billowy as the sea, with the white compact 
 city rising from it like an island. There is apparently all the 
 lavishness of a virgin forest, but when you get down among it 
 you find neither rankness nor jungle." l Here every shade of 
 green is visible, from the dark of the orange to the silver-grey 
 of the olive ; every tinge of color from the rich bloom of the 
 oleander and the damask rose to the snowy white of the almond 
 and the apricot. On every side of Damascus, except the 
 west there are numerous villages surrounded by gardens and 
 orchards. On the right bank of the river, beyond the Ghutah 
 proper, there is a notable expanse of greensward called the Merj. 
 This is the favorite outdoor resort of the citizens of Damascus 
 and the usual starting point for the caravans and pilgrim bands. 
 There is not another city in Syria, says Dr. Thomson, which 
 can boast of such a verdant meadow. 
 
 The Awaj river, supposed to be identical with the Pharpar, 
 rises among the rugged clefts of Mount Hermon and flows 
 eastward across the plain to a lake a few miles south of the twin 
 lakes of the Barada. This stream borders the southern portion 
 of the Ghutah, and contributes its share to the irrigation of the 
 greater plain which lies beyond it. " Next to the Barada, this 
 is the most important stream in all the region around Damas- 
 cus; and is therefore most probably to be regarded as the 
 Pharpar of Scripture." 2 These rivers of Damascus the 
 
 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 644. 3 Rob. Phys. Geog., p. 365. 
 
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 293 
 
 Abana and Pharpar fresh from the mountains and capable of 
 such wonderful transforming power, were regarded by Naaman 
 the Syrian as " better than all the waters of Israel " (2 Kings 
 v. 12), until he found in the Jordan the evidence of a 
 Divinely-imparted efficacy far transcending the natural agen* 
 cies of his own highly -favored land. 
 
 Damascus has more of the characteristic features of a city of 
 the Caliphs than any other city of the East. The spirit of the 
 Arabian Nights yet lingers in its streets and courts imparting 
 to it a charm peculiarly its own. It is also true that " Damas- 
 cus furnishes, in many respects, the best living illustrations of 
 the Holy Book that are now to be found in any part of the 
 Promised Land." 1 Its crowning glory is its undisputed an- 
 tiquity. It holds the first place among all the great cities of 
 the past ages because it is the only one which has retained its 
 name and individuality unchanged. It has suffered from re- 
 verses, from sieges and frequent invasions ; its streets have oft- 
 times been stained with the blood of its defenders and its de- 
 fences have been reduced at times to a ruinous heap, but it has 
 never become an utter desolation. It has never wholly lost its 
 place of power and influence. With a present population of 
 250,000, it still holds its ancient place as the " head of Syria." 
 In this sense it may be appropriately styled the " mother-city 
 of the world." 
 
 Damascus was included in the dominion over which David 
 and Solomon had rule, but it is not mentioned in the lists of 
 the cities belonging to the inheritance of Israel. 
 
 In the second book of Kings we are told that " Jeroboam 
 (II.) recovered Damascus and Hamath which belonged to 
 Judah, for Israel " (xiv. 28), but this evidently means that he 
 regained a portion of the empire over which Solomon had 
 ruled. It does not necessarily imply that Damascus was a re- 
 covered part of Israel's possession. In this sense there could 
 be no propriety in saying that it formerly belonged to Judah. 
 1 The Land and the Book, p. 371. 
 
294 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 In the book of Joshua we find that the inheritance of the two 
 and one half tribes beyond Jordan included "all Mount Her- 
 mon, and all Bashan unto Salcah, and all the kingdom of Og 
 in Bashan" (xiii. n). Elsewhere it is recorded that "the 
 children of the half tribe of Manasseh increased from Bashan 
 unto Baal-Hermon and Senir, and unto Mount Hermon." (i 
 Chron. v. 23.) This extension was close to the border of the 
 plain of Damascus if it did not include it, but at most it was 
 only a temporary possession. 
 
 The situation of Damascus accounts for its close relationship 
 to the people of Israel. Its unbroken history of more than four 
 thousand years is interwoven with many of the prominent 
 events in both the Old and the New Testament dispensations. 
 
 Josephus asserts that Damascus was founded by Uz, the 
 great-grandson of Noah. There can be no doubt that it was 
 on the line of Abram's journey to Canaan, and the tradition 
 that he tarried for a time in or about this city is strengthened 
 by the fact that the chief steward of the household, in his old 
 days, was Eliezer of Damascus. This faithful servant was 
 born in his house. (Gen. xv. 2, 3.) The city is mentioned 
 for the first time in Scripture in connection with the story of 
 Abram's pursuit of the army of Chedorlaomer. (Gen. xiv. 
 15.) When David extended his conquests northward to the 
 Euphrates all of the country covered by the name "Aram of 
 Damascus " fell into his hands. " Then David put garrisons in 
 Syria of Damascus ; and the Syrians became servants to David 
 and brought gifts." (2 Sam. viii. 6.) This captured territory 
 belonged to the empire of Solomon also, but in the latter part 
 of his reign was held as a nominal rather than a real posses- 
 sion, (i Chron. xviii. 6.) After the division of the kingdom 
 of Israel the several tribes of Syria united their strength under 
 one government the head of which was at Damascus. Between 
 this aggressive power and the northern kingdom there was 
 almost constant strife, until both came under the dominion of 
 the Assyrians. At this time the inhabitants of Damascus were 
 
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 295 
 
 carried away into captivity unto Kir, as the prophet Amos had 
 foretold (i. 5). 
 
 The home of Naaman, the famous captain of the hosts of the 
 king of Syria, who was healed of his leprosy by the prophet 
 Elisha, was in Damascus, and here dwelt the "little captive 
 maid, brought away from the land of Israel," at whose earnest 
 solicitation he undertook the journey to Samaria. From this 
 city, Naaman went forth with horses and chariot and a retinue 
 of servants, expecting to be healed in a manner comporting 
 with his great rank and dignity, but ere he returned that way 
 he had learned that there was " no God in all the earth, but in 
 Israel." (2 Kings, chap, v.) During one of the brief intervals 
 of peace between Israel and Syria, Elisha came to Damas- 
 cus with a message from God to Hazael. Well knowing that 
 his advancement to the throne of Syria was with a view to the 
 execution of long-threatened judgments upon his own people, 
 the prophet wept as he delivered his message. When Hazael 
 knew the meaning of this uncontrollable emotion, he indignantly 
 exclaimed, " Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great 
 thing." Notwithstanding this disclaimer Hazael, during his 
 long and infamous reign, was guilty of all the atrocities that the 
 prophet had foreseen and foretold. (2 Kings viii. 7-15.) 
 
 The most important and far-reaching event in the long his- 
 tory of Damascus was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. 
 Hither he came from Jerusalem, "breathing out threatenings 
 and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord," but, ere he 
 reached the confines of the city, a light above the brightness of 
 the sun shone round about, and as he fell prostrate to the earth, 
 he heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul why persecutest thou 
 me ? In that supreme moment of his life the bigoted persecutor 
 saw the glorified Saviour and recognized in Him the long-prom- 
 ised Messiah. From that moment he yielded himself without 
 reserve to Him and to His service. Within the city, where his 
 sight was restored after three days, Saul was baptized by An- 
 anias. " And straightway he preached Jesus in the synagogues, 
 
296 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 that He is the Son of God." (Acts ix. 1-26.) Here as one 
 has well said, in view of his baptism, " the rivers of Damascus," 
 became more to him than " all the waters of Judah " had been. 
 Driven from the city by the violence of the Jews, Paul went into 
 Arabia. Some time afterward he returned again unto Damascus 
 (Gal. i. 1 7) where he preached boldly and with great success 
 in the name of Jesus. When at length it was known that the 
 Jews were lying in wait to kill him " the disciples took him by 
 night, and let him down by the wall in a basket." (Acts ix. 24, 
 25.) Over one of the portals of "the Great Mosque," which 
 was once a Christian Cathedral, may still be seen the signifi- 
 cant, prophetic words: "Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an ever- 
 lasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth for all genera- 
 tions." 
 
 Helbon, a city noted for its wine and wool in the olden time 
 (Ezek. xxvii. 18) has been identified with a village still bearing 
 the same name, about nineteen miles north of Damascus. " It 
 lies on the eastern slope of Anti-Lebanon in a deep and wild 
 glen, the sides of which are covered with vineyards ; and the 
 vintners of Damascus regard the grapes of Helbon as the best 
 in this part of Syria." l 
 
 Mount Hermon. This majestic mountain stands out dis- 
 tinctly from the main range of Anti-Lebanon, and towers high 
 above it. Its elevation above the sea is 9,383 feet. It is but- 
 tressed by ridges of lesser elevation, so compactly grouped 
 around it that it seems to rise as one gigantic mass, almost di- 
 rectly from the plains that skirt it on the south and east. The 
 noble contour of its glittering dome may be seen from the 
 lowest reaches of the Jordan valley ; from the shores of the Sea 
 of Galilee ; from the Huleh basin ; and from almost every 
 elevated plain, and mountain in Eastern and Western Palestine. 
 As seen from the south it stands, with snowy summit reaching 
 to the clouds, apparently at the very head of the great cleft be- 
 tween the mountain ranges. From the east no better con- 
 > Barrow's Sacred Gcog., p. 290. 
 
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 297 
 
 ception of its appearance can be given than the poetic desrrip- 
 tion of it in the book of Canticles, " the tower which looketh 
 toward Damascus" (vii. 4). 
 
 The crest of Hermon terminates in three peaks about one 
 fourth of a mile apart. The lowest lies to the west ; me two 
 which lie to the north and south respectively, are about equal 
 in height. The plural of the Hebrew name, " the Hermons M 
 incorrectly translated "the Hermonites" is used in Psalm 
 xlii. 6 with evident reference to the triple peaks of the 
 mountain. Baal-Hermon seems to have been the designation 
 of one of these peaks, or possibly, as Dr. Robinson suggests, of 
 that part which was adjacent to the city Baal-Hermon. (Judg. 
 iii. 3 ; i Chron. v. 23.) By the Phoenicians Hermon was 
 called Sirion; by the Amorites, Shenir. (Deut. iii. 9.) It was 
 also called Sion, " the lofty or elevated." Its modern name is 
 Jebel esh Sheikh, the Chief Mountain or Mountain of the Chief. 
 Hermon was the sacred mountain of the ancient worshippers of 
 Baal. The remains of a temple have been excavated on its 
 summit near the southern peak, and the whole of the moun- 
 tain, as Dr. Robinson puts it, " was girdled with temples. 
 They are found in all situations crowning hills and mountain- 
 tops, or secluded in deep valleys and gorges." l 
 
 The view from the summit of this mountain, when it is free 
 from clouds, is said to be unequalled in its sweep, especially to- 
 ward the east, where the dim outlines of Jebel Hauran, seventy 
 miles away, may be seen; and toward the south, where the 
 whole of the depressed line of the Jordan can be traced. In 
 midsummer the snow melts away from the smooth faces of the 
 upper slopes of Hermon, but it remains in the deep furrows and 
 clefts throughout the entire year. As ordinarily seen by trav- 
 ellers to the East its lofty heights are covered with a glittering 
 mantle of ice and snow. On the twentieth of March we found 
 snowdrifts so deep as to be almost impassable, on the road to 
 Damascus over the shoulder of Hermon, at an elevation of less 
 1 Bib. Res., p. 409. 
 
298 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 than 5,000 feet. The crystal streams which issue from this 
 mass of slowly-melting snow pour out from the base of the 
 mountain to the south and west, going down by the valleys, and 
 through each successive level of the descending course of the 
 Jordan to the deep basin of the Dead Sea. Here the impris- 
 oned waters, obeying the impulse of another great law of na- 
 ture, begin to ascend in the form of vapor, steaming up as 
 from a heated chaldron, to the summit of the hills. Thence, 
 by the subtile movements of other forces and currents, it hastens 
 by an irresistible attraction to the " place of the gathering of the 
 clouds" directly over the lofty summit of Hermon. The de- 
 scent of the rain, the copious dews or the feathery flakes of 
 snow from the clouds, which thus collect over the mountain, 
 complete this circuit of never-ending movements and transfor- 
 mations. Here where cloud and snow can hardly be distin- 
 guished the phenomenon which the wise man of Israel noted 
 many centuries ago is evermore repeated ; and in a circuit so 
 contracted that its farthest limit comes within the range of or- 
 dinary vision. " Unto the place from whence the rivers come, 
 thither they return to go again." (Eccl. i. 7.) 
 
 The Place of the Transfiguration was probably on one of 
 the elevated platforms on the southern slope of Hermon, in the 
 vicinity of Caesarea Philippi. There is no intimation that our 
 Lord returned to Galilee in the six days that intervened be- 
 tween the first announcement of His approaching death, and 
 the scene of the Transfiguration. 
 
 Evidently this was a period of retirement from the world for 
 a definite purpose and this wonderful manifestation of the glory 
 of the incarnate Saviour was the closing event in this sacred prep- 
 aration period. On that memorable evening Jesus took three 
 of the inner circle of His disciples to some point on this " high 
 mountain apart by themselves " for a season of uninterrupted 
 communion and prayer. "It is natural to suppose," says 
 Dean Farrar, "that our Lord, anxious to traverse the Holy 
 Land of His birth to its northern limit, journeyed slowly for- 
 
 
The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 209 
 
 waid till he reached the lower slopes of that splendid snow-clad 
 mountain, whose glittering mass, visible even as far south as 
 the Dead Sea, magnificently closes the northern frontier of 
 Palestine the Mount Hermon of Jewish poetry. Its very 
 name means 'the mountain' (Luke ix. 28), and the scene 
 which it witnessed would well suffice to procure for it the dis- 
 tinction of being the only mountain to which in Scripture is at- 
 tached the epithet 'holy.' On these dewy pasturages, cool 
 and fresh with the breath of the snow-clad heights above them, 
 and offering that noble solitude among the grandest scenes of 
 nature, which He desired as the refreshment of His soul for the 
 mighty struggle which was now so soon to come, Jesus would 
 find many a spot where He could kneel with His disciples ab- 
 sorbed in silent prayer." 1 " There, as He prayed He was trans- 
 figured before them : and His face did shine as the sun, and 
 His raiment was white as the light. And behold there ap- 
 peared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him." "And 
 there was a cloud that overshadowed them : and a voice came 
 out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son : hear Him." 
 (Matt. xvii. 1-8 ; Mark ix. 1-9; Luke vii. 28.) " There was 
 a deep significance in the time and place at which this mani- 
 festatir^ of Divine glory was made. It was the northern limit 
 of His earthly ministry. It was also at the close of His last 
 missionary journey. Henceforward His face was ' steadfastly 
 set to go up to Jerusalem,' for ' the time was come that He 
 should be received up.' He now commenced the pilgrimage 
 southward of which the cross was the foreseen goal. Step by 
 step along the return road He pressed onward, each step bring- 
 ing Him nearer to the decease which He should accomplish at 
 Jerusalem, of which ' Moses and Elias spake with Him ' as they 
 appeared in glory." 2 
 
 While by common consent Mount Hermon is accorded a 
 place among the Sacred Mountains, it is generally regarded as 
 a border land-mark outside the inheritance of Israel. In other 
 
 1 Life of Christ, p. 242. a "0r. Manning's Holy Fields, p. 219. 
 
300 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 words the boundaries of the land on the west, south and east, 
 as usually defined, extend only to the base or outskirts of 
 Mount Hermon. This virtual exclusion of the " Holy Mount " 
 from the " Holy Land " does not seem to be warranted by the 
 Bibical definition of the trans- Jordanic territory. In the book 
 of Joshua the statement is made that Og king of the race of 
 giants " reigned in Mount Hermon and in Salcah and in all 
 Bashan." (Josh. xii. 4, 5.) Following this is the record that 
 the northern portion of the inheritance which Moses gave to 
 Israel beyond Jordan, eastward, included " all Mount Hermon, 
 and all Bashan unto Salcah." (Josh. xiii. n.) It is true that 
 the extent of this possession as a whole, is elsewhere indicated 
 by the brief formula "from the river of Arnon unto Mount 
 Hermon" (Deut. iii. 8, iv. 48, etc.), but this phraseology does 
 not necessarily exclude the mountain, or any part of it. Its 
 equivalent is the more familiar phrase " from Dan even to 
 Beersheba." In this case Beersheba is as certainly included as 
 Dan. A similar expression occurs in the description of the 
 boundary eastward, viz : " all Bashan unto Salcah and Edrei, 
 cities of the kingdom of Og" These border towns were noted 
 cities of the Amorite king, and afterward became a part of the 
 possession of the half tribe of Manasseh. (Deut iii. 13; Josh, 
 xii. 6.) The statement above quoted " all Mount Hermon, 
 and all Bashan unto Salcah " is given in connection with the 
 account of the actual distribution of the land in accordance 
 with the original assignment by Moses, and jt is as definite as 
 language can make it. It is possible that Hermon was the 
 " high hill of Bashan " to which reference is made in Psalm Ixviii. 
 14, 15, but it is usually named with Bashan as though it were 
 regarded as distinct from it. It is certain, however, as Dr. 
 Smith intimates, that the reference to Bashan in Deut. xxxiii. 
 22 " Dan is a lion's whelp ; he leapethfrom Bashan" car- 
 ries the name to the very foot of Hermon. " Whether Her- 
 mon itself was known as the mount or mountains of Bashan, 
 or whether the latter name designates the whole of that eastern 
 
The Anti -Lebanon Mountains 301 
 
 range ib uncertain the poet says, mountains of bold heights 
 are the mount of Bashan. This epithet, not applicable to the 
 long, level edge of the table-land, might refer either to the lofty 
 triple summit of Hermon, or to the many broken cones that are 
 scattered across Bashan, and so greatly differ in their volcanic 
 form from the softer, less imposing heights of Western Pales- 
 tine."' 
 
 i Hist. Geog., p. 550. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE TRANS-JORDANIC HIGHLANDS 
 
 THE inheritance given by Moses to the two and one half 
 tribes on " the side of Jordan toward the sun rising," included 
 all the territory taken out of the hands of the two Amorite 
 kings Sihon and Og. (Deut. iii. 1-16; Josh. xii. 1-6, xiii. 
 8-15.) Its boundary on the. north was on or near the southern 
 limit of Aram of Damascus. On the east it was bordered by 
 the irregular line of the desert; on the south by the river 
 Arnon. 
 
 The territory thus defined is not less than 130 miles in 
 length. In breadth it varies from twenty-five to seventy or 
 eighty miles. The widest part is at the upper or northern end. 
 It is a broad expanse of table-land throughout the greater part 
 of its extent. Its average elevation is nearly 2,000 feet above 
 sea level or 2,800 above the level of the Jordan valley. The 
 elevated region between the river Arnon and the south end of 
 the Dead Sea was the possession of the Moabites when Israel 
 reached the Jordan, and was secured from invasion by the 
 command of Jehovah. (Deut. ii. 9.) Moab was tributary to 
 Israel during the reign of David and Solomon, and after the 
 separation of Israel from Judah continued under Israel until 
 after the death of Ahab. This territory is so closely related to 
 the adjoining possession of the Israelites north of the Arnon, 
 and so closely associated with its people and its history that it 
 i.* usually grouped with it under the name of Moab. 
 
 The Old Testament divisions of the land, east of the Jor- 
 dan, now known as Eastern Palestine, were Bashan, Gilead 
 and Moab. We shall follow these divisions in their order in 
 the study of this section. 
 
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 Vt<h x/ 
 
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The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 303 
 
 I. BASHAN. 
 
 The land of Bashan extends from the border of the highland 
 region south of the Awaj or Pharpar river to the river Yarmuk 
 or Hieromax. The line of division between Bashan and 
 Gilead inclines to the southeast and terminates at Salcah, OR 
 the edge of the desert, at the lower end of the Jebel Hauran. 
 
 The district of Jedur, which was called Iturea in the days 
 of the Roman occupation (Luke iii. i), occupies the northmost 
 portion of this territory. The southern boundary of Iturea 
 is not definitely given, but it probably extended in a southeast 
 direction as far down as the latitude of the northern end of 
 Lake Huleh. This district was occupied in the period of the 
 Judges, and possibly from an earlier date, by a strong force of 
 Hagarites, or Ishmaelites, who gave their names to its towns. 
 The district itself took its name from Jetur, a son of Ishmael. 
 (Gen. xxv. 15.) Jedur is a rich pastoral region to which the 
 descendants of Ishmael still come from the edge of the desert 
 in the early spring to find pastures for their flocks and herds. 
 In the days of King Saul, the Hagarite occupants of this por- 
 tion of the country were conquered by the Israelites beyond 
 Jordan and the children of Manasseh took possession of their 
 cities "and dwelt in their stead until the captivity. The 
 spoils taken at this time included 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep 
 and 2,000 asses." (i Chron. v. 18-23.) 
 
 Canon Tristram describes Jedur as " a table-land with many 
 conical hills : the southern portion consisting of fine pasture 
 plains, but the northern, nearer Hermon, very different, look- 
 ing like *a stormy sea of black molten rock suddenly arrested 
 and petrified, which indeed it is, being a rugged surface of 
 lava, with deep fissures in all directions." Dr. Porter col- 
 lected the names of thirty-eight ruined sites in this district, but 
 none of them have any Scripture associations. 
 
 South of Jedur Bashan divides naturally into three longi- 
 tudinal sections, known as the Jaulan (Gaulanitis), the Hauran, 
 and the Lejah or Trachonitis. 
 
304 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 The Jaulan takes its name from Golan one of its chief 
 cities, which Moses designated as the northern city of refuge. 
 (Deut. iv. 43; Josh. xx. 8, xxi. 27.) This district includes 
 the western slope of the mountains with a broad strip of the 
 plateau on the summit, from the basin of the Huleh under 
 Hermon to the Yarmuk. 
 
 " The Roman province of Gaulanitis," says Dr. Smith, 
 "must have been practically the same as the present Jaulan, 
 or all the country between the Yarmuk (Hieromax) and Her- 
 mon, with an uncertain eastern border along perhaps the river 
 Allan." Its width in this case at the widest part would be 
 about fifteen miles. Schumacher, who has surveyed and de- 
 scribed the Jaulan, estimates its extent to be about 560 square 
 miles. Like the Jedur this district abounds in rich pastures. It 
 rises by a series of steps or terraces to the breezy heights which 
 stretch far beyond its limits, and its ruined sites indicate that 
 it once sustained a large settled population. Oak forests cover 
 some of the conical hills and are occasionally found along the 
 slopes of the mountains. Golan, the city which gave this dis- 
 trict its name, has not been satisfactorily identified. A possi- 
 ble site, suggested by Dr. Merrill, is Nawa near the source of 
 Wady Allan. 
 
 Tell Ashtarah a few miles south of Nawa is supposed to be 
 the site of the city of Ashtaroth, of the Rephaim. (Gen. xiv. 5 ; 
 Deut. i. 4; Josh. xii. 4.) 
 
 Aphek, now Fik, is situated at the head of Wady Fik on the 
 high road to Damascus. This place was the scene of two 
 battles with the Syrians which resulted in victory to trfe Israel- 
 ites, (i Kings xx. 26-30; 2 Kings xiii. 17.) 
 
 Gamala (Kulat-el Husn) has been mentioned in connection 
 with the sites on the eastern shore of Galilee. 
 
 The Hauran, strictly speaking, extends eastward of the 
 Jaulan to the desert. In its narrower sense it applies to the 
 level treeless plain between the Jaulan and the Lejah and 
 southeastward to the Jebel Hauran range. This central plain 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 305 
 
 is nearly fifty miles in length and fifteen or twenty in width. 
 The portion of the plain which inclines to the southeast and is 
 directly south of the lava district (El Lejah) is called En 
 Nukra (Hollow Hearth) by the Arabs. Some authorities apply 
 the name Hauran to this portion exclusively and extend the 
 limits of the Jaulan so as to include all of the plateau west of 
 the Lejah. 
 
 The great Hajj road traverses the length of the Hauran and 
 thence passes southward along thj west border of the 
 desert. The old caravan road from Gamala and the 
 railroad, which leaves the Lake at Gersa, touch the Hajj 
 road near Acre in the Hauran. The Damascus-Hauran 
 railroad runs directly south to Mezarib very near the lower end 
 of the great plain. This road is now carrying grain and pro- 
 duce of various kinds to Damascus and is reported to be a prof- 
 itable investment. 
 
 The loose volcanic soil of the Hauran produces the finest 
 wheat in all Syria. The grain is hard and semi-transparent and 
 the yield is enormous. "The natural wealth of the soil here," 
 says Dr. Merrill, "is a constant surprise. I have seen men 
 on this plain turning furrows which were nearly one mile in 
 length and as straight as one could draw a line." This de- 
 scription of the southern portion of the plain is applicable to it 
 throughout its whole extent. Dr. Smith gives the following 
 description of its harvests and threshing floors : 
 
 The surface of the plain is broken only by a mound or two, by a few 
 shallow water-courses, by some short outcrops of basalt, and by villages of 
 the same stone, the level black line of their roofs cut by a tower or the 
 jagged gable of an old temple. 
 
 All else is a rolling prairie of rich, red soil, under wheat, or lying for 
 the year fallow in pasture. It is a land of harvest, and if you traverse it 
 in summer fills you with the wonder of its wealth. Through the early 
 day the camels, piled high with sheaves, five or seven swaying corn stacks 
 on a string, draw in from the fields to the threshing-floors. These lie 
 along the village walls, each of them some fifty square yards of the plain, 
 trodden hard and fenced by a low, dry dyke. The sheaves are strewn to 
 
306 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 the depth of two or three feet, and the threshing sledges, curved slabs of 
 wood, studded with basalt teeth, are dragged up and down by horses, 
 driven by boys who stand on the sledges and sing as they plunge over the 
 billows of straw. Poor men have their smaller crops trodden out by 
 donkeys driven in a narrow circle three abreast, exactly in the fashion 
 depicted on the old Egyptian monuments. 
 
 When the whole mass is cut and bruised enough, it is tossed with great 
 forks against the afternoon wind, the chopped straw is stored for fodder in 
 some ancient vault that has kept the rain out since the days of Agrippa 
 or the Antonines ; but the winnowed grain is packed in bags and carried 
 on camels to the markets of Damascus and Acre. 1 
 
 The Lejah. The Hauran plain is bordered on the east by 
 a lava district absolutely unique in its physical characteristics. 
 It is called El Lejah " the refuge" by the Arabs. Its identifi- 
 cation with Trachonitis "the rough region" of the Greeks, 
 (Luke iii. i) and with Argob "the stony" of the Hebrews 
 (Deut. iii. 4) has been satisfactorily established. 
 
 The Lejah is a vast uplifted mass of congealed lava, sixty 
 miles in circumference and 350 square miles in extent. It is an 
 irregular oval in outline, about twenty-five miles in length from 
 north to south by fifteen in breadth. This rugged mass, which 
 rises to an elevation of twenty to thirty feet above the plain, is 
 encircled by a rampart "as clearly defined as a rocky shore 
 line." 
 
 The Lejah has been described as a " tempest in stone " ; as a 
 " black motionless sea, with waves of petrified lava" ; as " an im- 
 pregnable mountain fortress"; and a "labyrinth" whose 
 intricacies, and cavernous depths and winding paths can only 
 be traced by a native guide. " Although barren and incapable 
 of cultivation, and almost entirely destitute of fountains and 
 streams, yet there are several "pasturing places" in and about 
 the Lejah ; and it is dotted with the remains of old towns, some 
 of which were places of considerable size and importance. 
 Thither the people restorted in ancient times from all sides, and 
 in this Lejah or asylum they dwelt secure from the raids of law- 
 1 Hist. Geog., p. 612. 
 
The Trans- Jordan ic Highlands 307 
 
 less tribes, and bade defiance to the attacks of even regular and 
 well-disciplined troops." 1 "The bed in its outline or edge," 
 says Dr. Merrill, is far from being regular, but sends out at a 
 multitude of points black promontories of rock into the sur- 
 rounding plain. Through this rugged shore there are a few 
 openings into the interior, but for the most part it is impassable, 
 and roads had to be excavated to the towns situated within 
 it." 2 
 
 The Lejah or Argob was the stronghold of the kingdom of 
 Og. In this region, at the time of the conquest, were "three- 
 score cities, all fenced with high walls, gates and bars ; beside 
 imwalled towns a great many." (Deut. iii. 4, 5.) It is also 
 recorded that " Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country 
 of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi ; and 
 called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair." (Deut. 
 iii. 14.) In Solomon's time it had lost none of its distinctive 
 features, for it is reported in the list of tribute paying districts 
 as a region containing "threescore great cities with walls and 
 brazen bars." (i Kings iv. 13.) It is interesting to note in 
 this connection that more than seventy-five villages and cities of 
 ancient towns have been found by explorers within and im- 
 mediately around the Lejah. Many of these are deserted 
 cities or dead towns, and " are still in such a condition that but 
 few repairs are necessary to render them habitable. The ex- 
 planation is, that all the dwellings and larger edifices in this re- 
 gion were constructed entirely of stone gateways, walls, doors, 
 windows, stairs, and roofs were all made of the imperishable 
 doleritic lava, hard as adamant." * 
 
 Of the sixty great cities of the Argob only two are mentioned 
 by name Edrei and Kenath and these have been identified 
 with two of the ancient cities which encircle the rocky rampart 
 of the Lejah. 
 
 1 Porter's Five years in Damascus, p. 282. 
 3 Merrill's East of Jordan, p. II. 
 3 The Land and The Book, p. 470. 
 
308 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 Edrei, now known as Edhra, stands on a rocky promontory 
 forty or fifty feet above the plain on the southwest border of 
 the Lejah. It is almost due east of Nawa, and about sixty 
 miles from the north end of the Sea of Galilee. On the maps 
 of eastern Palestine Edhra is frequently designated by its 
 Roman name Zora or Zorava. 
 
 " This ancient city is in a locality which meets the requirements of the 
 Biblical narrative, and still bears a name which may be regarded as 
 identical with that mentioned by Moses. (Deut. iii. i.) The existing 
 ruins are nearly four miles in circumference, and although many of the 
 houses and other edifices in their present condition are of an age com- 
 paratively modern, yet they were erected on foundations and out of ma- 
 terials far more ancient. Most of the present inhabitants reside in the 
 vaults of old structures which may fairly be said to be under ground, so 
 great is the accumulation above them of the debris of ruined buildings. 
 To reach them one has to descend into subterranean courts and caverns." l 
 
 " The most interesting remains," says Tristram, " are the small houses of 
 remote antiquity, known familiarly as those of the giant cities, with their 
 walls of great blocks of basalt, closely fitted, but not in regular courses, 
 their stone roofs and their solid stone doors and windows still moving in 
 the same sockets or cup and ball joints on which they have turned for 
 thousands of years." 2 
 
 Edrei was the capital of the giant King Og, and the battle- 
 field where he lost his life and kingdom was in the immediate 
 vicinity. (Num. xxi. 33-35 ; Josh. xii. 4, xiii. 12.) 
 
 The ruins of an ancient city called Dera or Dra'a, sixteen 
 miles southwest of Edhra have been suggested as a possible site 
 of Edrei, but the northern city appears to have the weight of 
 argument and authority in its favor. It is possible that there 
 were two places with the same name in Bashan, as some writers 
 have suggested, and that Dra'a or Dera was the place mentioned 
 in Deut. i. 4, and Josh. xii. 4, in connection with Ashtaroth. 
 
 Kenath, (Kanatha of the Greeks) has been identified with 
 a ruined city of large proportions at the lower or southeast ex- 
 tremity of the Lejah, called Kunawat. " The city overlooks a 
 
 i The Land and the Book, p. 461. * Holy Land, p. ioc, 
 
The Trans- Jordan ic Highlands 309 
 
 vast region, and is surrounded by a cluster of cities or towns, 
 all within a distance of half an hour or two hours from it. 
 There could not be a more appropriate phrase than ' Kenath 
 with her daughter towns/ (Num. xxii. 42; i Chron. ii. 23), 
 which is applied to this ancient city in the midst of a large 
 group of smaller, but still important places." 1 The following 
 description of the present appearance of Kunawat is given by 
 Dr. Porter : 
 
 The wall, still in many places almost perfect, follows the top of the 
 cliffs for nearly a mile, and then sweeps round in a zigzag course, en- 
 closing a space about half a mile wide. The general aspect of the city is 
 very striking temples, palaces, churches, theatres, and massive buildings 
 whose original use we cannot tell, are grouped together in picturesque 
 confusion ; while beyond the walls, in the glen, on the summits and sides 
 of wooded peaks, away in the midst of oak forests, are clusters of columns 
 and massive towers, and lofty tombs. The leading streets are wide and 
 regular, and the roads radiating from the city gates are unusually numer- 
 ous and spacious. . . . Many of the ruins of Kenath are beautiful 
 and interesting. The highest part of the site was the aristocratic quarter. 
 Here is a noble palace, no less than three temples and a hippodrome once 
 profusely adorned with statues. In no other part of Palestine did I see so 
 many statues as there are here. Unfortunately they are all mutilated ; but 
 fragments of them heads, legs, arms, torsos, with equestrian figures, lions, 
 leopards, and dogs meet one on every side. A colossal head of Ashta- 
 roth, sadly broken, lies before a little temple, of which probably it was 
 once the chief idol. The crescent moon which gave the name Carnaim 
 (" two horned ") to the goddess is on her brow. 
 
 About a quarter of a mile west of the city is a beautiful peripteral 
 temple of the Corinthian order, built on an artificial platform. Many of 
 the columns have fallen, and the walls are much shattered ; but enough re- 
 mains to make this one of the most picturesque ruins in the whole coun- 
 try. 2 
 
 It is recorded in the book of Numbers that " Nobah went 
 and took Kenath and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, 
 after his own name" (xxxii. 42). It was known by this name 
 
 1 Merrill's East of the Jordan, p. 37. 
 
 2 Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 42, 43. 
 
310 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 in the period of the Judges, for we are told that Gideon, when 
 pursuing the two kings of Midian, ' < went up by the way of 
 them that dwell in tents on the east of Nobah, and smote the 
 host." (Judg. viii. 4-11.) In later times the old name was 
 restored. Afterward it took the form of Kanatha. Kenath 
 was one of the cities of the Decapolis and the farthest to the 
 east, in this group. 
 
 Jebel Hauran. The range of mountains which borders 
 the east side of En Nukra the lower basin of the great plain 
 is usually designated as Jebel Hauran. It is sometimes 
 called the Druse mountain or Jebel ed Druze. The length of 
 the range is about forty miles. It has several conspicuous 
 peaks and divergent spurs. The highest point, El Kuleib, is 
 5,730 feet above the sea. These mountains have been de- 
 scribed as " picturesque and occasionally even grand." The 
 ridges are clothed with forests of evergreen oak and the slopes 
 give evidence of careful terrace-cultivation in former times. 
 The best specimens of the famous " oaks of Bashan " grow on 
 these rocky heights, and the richest portion of the Hauran, 
 "the granary of Syria" lies at their base. Farther to the 
 north and west were the great cattle ranges, to which reference 
 has been already made, where " rams of the breed of Bashan " 
 and "bulls of Bashan " found nourishing pasturages long cen- 
 turies ago ; and where flocks and herds still roam in almost 
 countless numbers. Says Dr. Smith : 
 
 "One afternoon which we spent at Edrei, the Aneezeh tribe, that 
 roams from Euphrates to Jordan, drove their camels upon the plain to the 
 north of the town till we counted nearly a thousand feeding, and there 
 was a multitude more behind. Next day we passed their foes, the Beni 
 Sahr, one of whose camel-herds numbered 40x3, and another 200. We 
 looked southeast from the hills above Amman, and there were hundreds 
 more of the Sherarat Arabs from Ma'an. ' Profusion of camels shall 
 cover lhee t camels of Midian and Ephah, all of them from Sheba shall 
 come? The Bedouin had also many sheep and goats. The herds of the 
 settled inhabitants were still more numerous." 
 1 Hist. Geog., p. 523. 
 
The Tnins-Jordanic Highlands 311 
 
 The exact limits of the district of Batanaea cannot be de- 
 fined, but it is generally agreed that it included the Jebel 
 Hauran range and a portion of the territory directly north of 
 it which is still known as "Ard el Bathanyeh, the land of 
 Bathanyeh." 
 
 Salcah, the eastern frontier city of the kingdom of Og and 
 of the possession of Israel, has been identified with the ruins 
 of a city at the southern end of Jebel Hauran, which still bears 
 the name of Sulkhad. This frontier town, beyond which to 
 the east lies the great desert, was defended by a fortress on a 
 conical hill 300 feet above the level of the surrounding country. 
 Its great castle the Gibraltar of the desert is a prominent 
 landmark from the "plain country " on every side. It is built 
 in the mouth of an extinct crater, on a conical swell or rise 
 composed of porous lava-rock. The walls of the castle are 
 from eighty to 100 feet high. As the crater is bowl-shaped, 
 there is a deep natural moat entirely around the castle, and 
 the fortress is approached by a bridge over the moat. The 
 interior of this castle is a perfect labyrinth of halls, galleries, 
 chambers, and vaults, which are now in a very confused 
 and ruined state." 1 Dr. Porter estimates the circumference 
 of the town and castle together to be about three miles. Some 
 500 of the houses of Salcah are still standing and " from 300 to 
 400 families might settle in it at any moment without laying a 
 stone, or expending an hour's labor on repairs. 3 From the 
 castle Dr. Porter counted upward of thirty deserted towns. 
 
 The expression "all Bashan unto Salcah" is used in two 
 passages in describing the territory of King Og. (Deut. iii. 
 10 ; Josh. xiii. n.) At a later period it is said that the chil- 
 dren of Gad dwelt in the land of Bashan unto Salcah." (i 
 Chron. v. n.) It maybe inferred from these references, but 
 especially from the last, which indicates the dividing line at 
 that time between Gad and Manasseh, that Salkah was the 
 farthest town on the eastern border of Bashan. 
 
 1 East of the Jordan, p. 50. * Giant Cities c' Jashan, p. 76. 
 
312 
 
 The Land 
 
 Another ancient stronghold of this region, whose ruins are 
 said to be as extensive as those of Salcah, lies in a broad valley 
 at the south-western base of Jebel Hauran. It is called Kureieh 
 by the Arabs and is supposed to be the representative of the 
 city of Kerioth to which reference is made in Jer. xlviii. 21 and 
 Amos ii. 2. Several towns in this vicinity are mentioned in 
 connection with prophetic denunciations against Moab. The 
 explanation is found in the fact that the Moabites had recovered 
 for a time their old pasture-lands on these upland pkins as far 
 north probably as the edge of the Hauran. (See Isa. chaps, 
 xv. and xvi ; Jer. xlviii. 3 ; Ezek. xxv. 8-n, etc.) 
 
 Bozrah, now Busrah, was the chief city of this region in 
 the period of the Roman occupation, and was then known as 
 Bostra. It is twelve miles west of Salcah on the line of the 
 great Military and caravan route which crossed the Jordan 
 below the Sea of Galilee and thence extended eastward to the 
 desert in the direction of the Persian Gulf. 
 
 Bozrah of Bashan is probably the city to which reference is 
 made in Jer. xlviii. 24, and should be distinguished from 
 Bozrah of Edom. (Isa. Ixiii. i.) 
 
 " The ruins of Bozrah," says Dr. Porter, " are nearly five miles in cir- 
 cuit ; its walls are lofty and massive ; and its castle is one of the largest 
 and strongest fortresses in Syria. Among the ruins I saw two theatres, 
 six temples, and ten or twelve churches and mosques ; besides palaces, 
 baths, fountains, aqueducts, triumphal arches, and other structures almost 
 without number. The old Bozrites must have been men of great taste 
 and enterprise as well as wealth. Some of the buildings I saw there 
 would grace the proudest capital of modern Europe. . . . Bozrah 
 had once a population of 100,000 souls and more ; when I was there 
 its whole inhabitants comprised just twenty families ! These lived huddled 
 together in the lower stories of some very ancient houses near the castle. 
 The rest of the city is completely desolate." l 
 
 The ruined cities of the Hauran furnish abundant evidence 
 on every hand of the characteristic features of Greek and Ro- 
 
 i Giant Cites of Bashan, p. 64. 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 313 
 
 man civilizations. Everywhere Greek architecture inscriptions 
 and statuary are found side by side with Roman fortresses, tem- 
 ples, theatres, and Roman roads. With these also are found the re- 
 mains of Christian basilicas and unquestionable evidences on 
 tablets of imperishable basalt of the existence of active Christian 
 communities throughout this province in the days of persecution 
 and martyrdom for the Gospel's sake. " The Christians of this 
 region must have suffered, like those of the rest of Syria, in the 
 persecutions under Decius and Diocletian, and it is perhaps 
 owing to the latter Emperor's order for the destruction of all 
 Christian buildings that we have so very few Christian remains 
 earlier than his day. Traces of these great persecutions are 
 still eloquent in Hauran. Here is * the cryptogram for Christ, 
 the Ichthus of the Catacombs. Here as in the Catacombs the 
 dead are spoken of as "they that sleep," and many bits of 
 basalt have been found with the words, or syllables of the words, 
 Martyr and Martyr's Monument. These latter meet you in 
 almost every village, rendering its very dust dear to your Chris- 
 tian heart. Even the nomads raised monuments to the 
 martyrs. One longer inscription runs : For the repose of the 
 Martyrs who have fallen asleep ; it reminds of Stephen. The 
 erection of such memorials proves a day in which Christianity 
 was able to show itself in public, and there are others that re- 
 cord its gradual triumph over paganism. In several places 
 have been found the words 'Help O Christ.' On the lintel 
 of a house at Tuffas : < Jesus Christ be the shelter and defence 
 of all the family of the house, and bless their incoming and 
 their outgoing.' On another tablet is the quotation, similarly 
 adapted to Christ : ' If the Lord watch not the city, in vain 
 doth the watchman keep awake.' Other notable expressions of 
 faith and feeling are : O Christ, our God ' ; 'the Peace of 
 Christ be to all ' ; < Peace be to all men,' etc." l 
 
 Explorers and archaeologists differ in opinion with respect to 
 the age of the massive basaltic structures which characterize the 
 * Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 632-4. 
 
314 The Land of Israel 
 
 cities in and around the Lejah. They belong unquestionably 
 to a type peculiar to the region itself, and are found for the 
 most part upright and unbroken, amid the magnificent ruins of 
 Greek and Roman architecture which once overshadowed them. 
 
 One class of explorers represented by Waddington, De Vogue 
 and Smith assert with positive emphasis that these structures 
 were built in the period of the Roman occupation, and present 
 in evidence of their assertions the Greek and Roman inscrip- 
 tions, and the Christian symbols, found upon them or scattered 
 about in their immediate vicinity. These Cyclopean walls and 
 cities of stone are designated as * ' the shells of the Roman 
 peace." They are, in other words, the kind of cities which 
 Rome would be likely to build out of the materials at hand, on 
 this frontier province so often overswept by marauding bands 
 from the desert. " In some primeval tranquillity of man," says 
 Dr. Smith, " 'giant cities of Bashan ' may have risen, as is al- 
 leged, on this margin of the desert : but if so, these are not 
 their ruins." l De Vogue, who has given his views of Hauran 
 architecture in a costly and beautifully illustrated volume, asserts 
 that he had not met with structures of a more ancient date than 
 the first to the seventh centuries of our era. These views are 
 based upon the assumption, buttressed, as its supporters claim, 
 by evidences drawn from the region itself, that the Hauran, 
 prior to the period of the Roman occupation, was held by a suc- 
 cession of nomadic tribes, who were incapable of erecting such 
 elaborate and carefully planned structures. 
 
 Another class of explorers, represented by Ritter, Porter and 
 Tristram, have been convinced, as the result of careful study of 
 this type of Hauran architecture and its comparison with the 
 Biblical descriptions of this region in the time of Moses, that 
 the wonderful cities now found in and around the Lejah, with 
 their gates and bars, and habitations of imperishable basalt, are 
 the actual remains of the ancient giant cities of Bashan. In 
 support of this view, it is argued that the number and positions 
 1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 624. 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 315 
 
 of these stone cities correspond with the Argob cities of tb 
 Biblical record ; that the names of some of them have con 
 down to us with locations which correspond with the sacred 
 narrative ; that in some cases these basaltic structures have been 
 overlaid by easily distinguished structures of Greek and Roman 
 architecture ; l and that the assumption of a continuous reign of 
 barbarism in the Hauran prior to the Roman occupation is not 
 in accord with the historical descriptions given of this country 
 and the inducements its conquest offered to invaders from east- 
 tern lands. The following quotations from the works of Porter 
 and Tristram give the main arguments in support of this view : 
 
 The simplicity of the style of these buildings, their low roofs, the pon- 
 derous blocks of roughly hewn stone with which they are built, the great 
 thickness of the walls, and the heavy slabs which form the ceilings, all 
 point to a period far earlier than the Roman age, and probably even 
 antecedent to the conquest of the country by the Israelites. Moses 
 makes special mention of the strong cities of Bashan, and speaks of their 
 high walls and gates. He tells us, too, in the same connection, that 
 Bashan was called the land of the giants (or Rephaim, Deut. iii. 13) ; leav- 
 ing us to conclude that the cities were built by giants. Now the houses of 
 Kerioth and other towns in Bashan appear to be just such dwellings as a 
 race of giants would build. The walls, the roofs, but especially the pon- 
 derous gates, doors, and bars, are in every way characteristic, of a period 
 when architecture was in its infancy, when giants were masons, and when 
 strength and security were the grand requisites. I measured a door in 
 Kerioth : it was nine feet high, four and a half feet wide, and ten inches 
 thick, one solid slab of stone. I saw the folding gates of another town 
 in the mountains still larger and heavier. Time produces little effect on 
 such buildings as these. The heavy stone slabs of the roofs resting on 
 the massive walls make the structure as firm as if built of solid masonry ; 
 and the black basalt used is almost as hard as iron. There can scarcely 
 be a doubt, therefore, that these are the very cities erected and inhabited 
 by the Rephaim, the original occupants of Bashan ; and the language of 
 Ritter appears to be true : " These buildings remain as eternal witnesses 
 of the conquest of Bashan by Jehovah." 2 
 
 The evidence of the sixty cities of Argob, says Tristram, is patent. 
 The cities are there, and more than sixty, all attesting their antiquity by 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, p. 475. 2 Giant Cities, p. 84. 
 
316 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 their antique Cyclopean architecture, with the basalt slabs for roofs and 
 doors. We read of their gates and bars. The huge doors and gates of 
 stone eighteen inches thick, and the places for the bars, which can still be 
 seen, take us back to the very time of Moses ; perhaps even earlier for, 
 in the first campaign recorded in history, Chedorlaomer smote the 
 Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim. (Gen. xiv. 5.) . . . The buildings, 
 like their names, may have come down from the days of Abraham. 
 Chedorlaomer also smote the Emims in the plain of Kiriathaim, and the 
 houses of Kureiyeh, or Kerioth, are probably the very work of the 
 Emims. In the days of the Romans these places were held to be the 
 work of the ancient inhabitants (M. Marcellin). This could not have been 
 said of any Greek or Grseco-Syrian building ; and we may be quite sure 
 that the tent-loving children of Manasseh were not a building race. Besides 
 cities of some sort were there when they took the land; and it is more rea- 
 sonable to suppose that not the Amorite, whom they dispossessed, but even 
 their predecessors, the Rephaim, were the constructors, than to bring them 
 down to a later date. 1 
 
 Among those who accept without hesitation the Biblical 
 testimony that Bashan had fortified cities and a settled popu- 
 lation long before the Roman period, there are many who do 
 not regard these habitations in their present condition as neces- 
 sarily the work of the aborigines of the country. There can 
 scarcely be a doubt that they for the most part occupy the sites 
 of these ancient cities, and also represent a type of architecture 
 which has prevailed in this region from the earliest ages, but it 
 is scarcely conceivable that several successive nationalites should 
 occupy these structures without making changes or modifications, 
 even if time and the destructive forces of nature had left them 
 unharmed. "The fact should be considered," says Dr. Mer- 
 rill, "that in this country the eligible sites for cities would be 
 selected when men first began to build, and such would remain 
 the eligible sites as long as the country was inhabited by civi- 
 lized races. It is therefore impossible to say how many layers 
 of civilization may exist beneath any one of these important 
 Hauran towns." 8 On this point rather than upon the actual 
 
 Holy Land, p. 306. 
 
 East of the Jordan, p. 74. 
 

The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 317 
 
 identification of the habitations which remain with the giant 
 builders of the kingdom of Og, the stress should be laid. 
 
 There is certainly as good evidence for the identification of 
 some of these places apart from their associations with the 
 Rephaim with the cities occupied by the Israelites from Moses 
 to Solomon, and presumably much longer, as for the identifica- 
 tion of many of the cities whose sites are accepted without 
 hesitation on the western side of the Jordan. 
 
 Job's country the land of Uz according to an ancient 
 tradition of the Arabs, was situated in Southern Bashan. M. 
 Waddington found an inscription in honor of Job at 
 Bozrah (Busrah), and several localities in this region 
 have been associated with his name and trials. The 
 history of this tradition, and the arguments in favor of 
 it, are summed up in Oliphant's Land of Gilead, pp. 
 83-91. While it is generally agreed that some portion 
 of the "land of the East " i.e., east of the Jordan valley 
 or Arabah on the border of the desert, is clearly indi- 
 cated in the Book of Job, the weight of authority, at the 
 present time, is in favor of the country bordering the 
 desert near Petra in the land of Edom. 
 
 II. GILEAD. 
 
 The land of Gilead, as usually defined, is bounded on the 
 north by the Yarmuk ; on the south by the Wady Heshbon, 
 which enters the Ghor near the north end of the Dead 
 Sea. Its extent from north to south is sixty miles. 
 
 The Yarmuk river receives a number of tributary streams 
 which flow across the great plain from Jebel Hauran, but its 
 perennial sources are in the vicinity of Mezarib. Here the 
 Yarmuk proper begins. One of its principal southern tributaries, 
 the Wady Zeideh, coming from the mountains near Salcah, may 
 be regarded as the dividing line between Bashan and Gilead 
 east of Mezarib. The Yarmuk flows a little north of west 
 for nearly half its length, and thence southwest to the Jor- 
 dan valley. For most of its course it passes through wild 
 
318 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 narrow, deeply-cleft chasms. "The river in the mountains 
 runs with great swiftness along its rocky chasm ; in the Ghor 
 it has its own lower valley, like the Jordan ; and is everywhere 
 thickly skirted with oleanders. The stream is here about forty 
 yards wide ; and in the spring of the year is four or five feet 
 deep. It enters the Jordan five miles below the lake of Tibe- 
 rias ; and has there nearly as much water as the Jordan." 
 
 The Jabbok (Nahr ez-Zerka) enters the Ghor a little more 
 than half-way between the Yarmuk and the Wady Heshbon. 
 The district north of it, sometimes designated as Northern 
 Gilead, is a rugged, undulating ridge corresponding in its nat- 
 ural features to the range on the western side of the Jordan. 
 It differs from it, however, in its exuberant fertility, and its pic- 
 turesque combinations of densely-wooded heights, open glades, 
 grass-covered knolls, and gently-rolling stretches of corn and 
 pasture lands. The modern name of this mountain tract is 
 Jebel Ajlun. In Southern Gilead the mountains adjacent to 
 the line of the Jabbok rise to the highest elevation of the 
 series, but farther to the south the summit of the range broadens 
 out into a wide expanse of table-land, corresponding to the 
 great upland plains of Bashan and Moab. The Arabs call the 
 whole of Gilead south of the Jabbok the Belka. It was held 
 by Sihon the Amorite king at the time of the conquest, but had 
 formerly been a portion of the possession of Moab. (Num. 
 xxi. 24-26.) 
 
 " From first to last, the valley of the Jabbok is of great fertility. The 
 head-waters of the river rise on the edge of Moab, only some eighteen 
 miles from the Jordan, yet to the east of the water-parting. So the river 
 flows at first desertwards, under the name of Amman, past Rabbath-Am- 
 mon to the great Hajj road. There it turns north, fetches a wide compass 
 northwest, cuts in two the range of Gilead, and by a very winding bed 
 flows west-southwest to the Jordan. The whole course, not counting the 
 windings, is over sixty miles. The water is shallow, always fordable, ex- 
 cept where it breaks between steep rocks, mostly brawling over a stony 
 bed, muddy, and, at a distance, of a grey-blue color, which brings it its 
 present name of the Zerka. The best fields are upon the upper reaches, 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 319 
 
 where much wheat is grown, but almost nowhere on the banks are you out 
 of sight of sheep, or cattle, or tillage. A great road from Jordan follows the 
 valley all the way to the desert, another runs from the desert by Amman 
 to the west. The river has always been a frontier and a line of traffic." l 
 
 The "half of the land of the children of Ammon " which 
 Sihon had taken from the Ammonites, and which afterward be- 
 came the portion of Israel by conquest (Josh. xiii. 25 ; Judg. 
 xi. 21, 22) was a fertile strip along the line of the head-waters 
 of the Jabbok whose principal source still retains its old name 
 Amman. 
 
 The volcanic deposits, which cover the limestone beds north 
 of the Yarmuk, disappear in Gilead except in a few locations, 
 and, as on the western side, the limestone comes to the surface. 
 The distinguishing feature of the northern section of Gilead is 
 the almost unbroken succession of noble forests of pine and oak 
 which clothe the high ridges and frequently extend far down 
 the slopes of the mountains. "Jebel Ajlun," says Dr. Eli 
 Smith, " presents the most charming rural scenery that I have 
 seen in Syria : a continued forest of noble trees, chiefly the 
 evergreen oak, sindian, covers a large part of it, while the 
 ground beneath is clothed with luxriant grass, a foot or more 
 in height, and decked with a rich variety of wild flowers." 2 
 Dr. Thomson thinks it probable that the famous "wood of 
 Ephraim" in which the battle between the armies of David 
 and Absalom was fought was in the neighborhood of the village 
 of Ajlun, at the head of the Wady Ajlun about ten miles north 
 of the river Jabbok. Here, he says, maybe seen "many a 
 'great oak' and terebinth with 'thick boughs,' and low, wide- 
 spreading branches, large enough to have caused that fatal ac- 
 cident to Absalom, and which proved so disastrous to his 
 cause." 3 (2 Sam. xviii. 6-14.) The precious balsam or "balm 
 in Gilead " has been diligently sought among the " trees of the 
 wood ' ' in this region, but without success. 
 
 1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 584. 2 The Land and the Book, p. 575. 
 
 3 The Land and the Book, p. 578. 
 
320 The Land of Israel 
 
 The highest point, and the most prominent topographical 
 feature of the Gilead range is Jebel Osha (3,597 feet), an 
 isolated peak on the southern side of the Jabbok. 
 
 Dr. Merrill gives the following description of the outlook 
 from this mountain-peak : 
 
 Jebel Osha is perhaps the most sightly place in Palestine after Mount 
 Hermon. Mount Hermon, Safed, the hills behind Tiberias, and the pla- 
 teau which slopes toward Hattin, Tabor, the hills about Nazareth, those 
 of Naphtali, Ephraim, and Manasseh, Little Hermon, Ebal and Gerizim, 
 Neby Samwil, and Massada are in sight, and in fact nearly every prom- 
 inent point in the unbroken range of mountains from Jebel esh Sheikh 
 (Hermon) clear around to the south end of the Dead Sea. All the Jor- 
 dan valley, more than 4,000 feet below us, is at our feet ; the plain of 
 Beisan, the tells at the mouth of Wacly Ajlun and Wady ez-Zerka, all the 
 Nimrin and the Shittim plains and the tells upon them, the mouth of the 
 Jordan, the entire Dead Sea, including the extreme south end and el 
 Lisan, the rolling country of Moab, or the Mishor of the Bible, the hills 
 about Amman, the Hauran, and the mountains of Gilead are in full view. 
 
 In this wide and comprehensive prospect the eye sweeps over the coun- 
 try to the north, the west, the south and the east a sweep of eighty to 
 loo miles in extent. If one utterly ignorant of the Bible records should 
 go east of the Jordan to find the point commanding the most extensive 
 view on all sides, he would select Jebel Osha. It is 800 to 1,000 feet 
 higher than Mount Nebo itself. " The hill over against Jericho " (Deut. 
 xxxiv. i) could just as well be this place as Jebel Neba, and this would 
 meet the conditions of the thirty-fourth chapter of Deuteronomy better 
 than any other point. These are claims or facts which belong to this 
 mountain, independent of any claim of Jebel Neba to be the spot where 
 Moses stood. 1 
 
 It is probable that Abraham journeyed with his flocks and 
 herds from Damascus to the land of Canaan by way of the 
 great Bashan plain and the rich pasture lands of Mount Gilead 
 to the valley of the Jabbok, over against the natural passage- 
 way to the plain (Wady Farah) "before the city of Shechem," 
 where he pitched his tent and erected his altar for the first 
 
 1 East of Jordan, p. 279. 
 
The Trans- Jordanic Highlands 321 
 
 time in the land. It is certain that this was Jacob's route from 
 the east, and it led him directly to the same place. 
 
 Gilead was the home of Jephthah, the warrior-judge of the 
 tribe of Manasseh, and of Elijah the great prophet and cour- 
 ageous reformer of Israel. On the border of its coasts Jesus 
 was baptized, and in that portion of it then known as Peraea 
 some of the most interesting events connected with His public 
 ministry took place. (See Matt. xix. i, 13 ; Mark x. i ; Luke 
 xiii. 22 ; John x. 40, etc.) 
 
 There are but few sites in the uplands of Gilead with Scrip- 
 tural associations, which can be definitely located, but there 
 are several cities of the Roman period whose ruins are exten- 
 sive and exceptionally well preserved. Among these we note 
 the following : 
 
 Gadara. This city, which was once the capital of a Ro- 
 man province including Gergesa and other places of note, is 
 three miles south of the Yarmuk and five miles east of the Jor- 
 dan. Its modern name is Um-Keis. As already noted, the 
 "country of the Gadarenes " was the scene of the healing of 
 the Demoniac, recorded by three of the Evangelists. (Matt. viii. 
 28 ; Mark v. i ; Luke viii. 26.) The ruins of Gadara are 
 over two miles in circuit, and the rich ornamental work in 
 marble, basalt and granite lying in confused heaps or scattered 
 everywhere over the ground indicate the existence of a 
 wealthy and magnificent city. "The most remarkable feature 
 in the remains of Gadara," says Tristram, " is a perfect paved 
 Roman street, more chan half a mile long, with the ruts worn 
 by the chariot-wheels ; colonnades on either side, of which the 
 columns are lying prostrate, though many bases are standing ; 
 and massive crypt-like cells in a long row, apparently a market 
 or bazaar. There is, of course, a fine amphitheatre, and a very 
 perfect theatre also, partially scooped in the side of the rock, 
 and the remains of a Christian cathedral. To the east several 
 acres are strewn with stone coffins and lids, most of them fairly 
 sculptured with all sorts of designs, dragged out of the caves 
 
322 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 with which the whole district is perforated. At every step 
 there is either a cavern or an artificial cave." l 
 
 El Hamma, the place of the famous hot springs, known as 
 Amatha in the Roman period, is situated in the Yarmuk valley 
 nearly three miles from the ruins of Gadara. The remains of 
 vaulted bath-houses and other buildings may be traced near 
 the principal group of springs. In one the temperature of the 
 water is 115: in another 103. The basin of the largest 
 spring is 180 feet long by ninety wide. Dr. Merrill found an- 
 other hot spring three miles up the valley to the east whose 
 overflow made the little plain in which it was situated "a trop- 
 ical paradise." "I counted," he says, "eighteen tropical 
 trees growing there, while of the different shrubs, flowers, and 
 plants I do not know the number ; nor do I know that I ob- 
 served all the trees. The most striking feature, however, is a 
 grove of 200 fine palms, lifting their graceful heads above the 
 plain and jungle below. Such a sight is not to be seen else- 
 where in Syria. ' ' 2 
 
 The land of Tob, in which Jephthah found a refuge (Judg. 
 xi. 3), according to the Talmud, was a district southeast of the 
 Sea of Galilee. " Its old title," says Conder, " survives in the 
 modern name Taiyibeh, which applies to a village in this direc- 
 tion, and which is radically the same with the Hebrew signify- 
 ing ' goodly ' or fruitful." 3 
 
 East of this district are several Roman cities of importance, 
 as their ruins indicate. 
 
 Abila, now Tell Abil, is on the highway to Damascus, some 
 twelve miles east of Gadara. 
 
 Capitolias, eight or ten miles south of- Tell Abil, is piob- 
 ably identical with Beit-er Ras. 
 
 Arbela has been identified with a ruined site called Irbid, 
 four miles south of the site of Capitolias. 
 
 Ramoth-Mizpeh (Josh. xiii. 26; Judg. xi. 34) has not 
 
 1 Holy Land, p. 315. 8 East of Jordan, p. 146. 
 
 . *Heth and Moab, p. 181. 
 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 323 
 
 been definitely located. Conder thinks the most probable site 
 is Remtheh, or Rimthe, on the east side of the Hajj road, 
 about fifteen miles south of Mezarib. Tristram suggests Tib- 
 neh, midway between Gadara and Jerash, while Merrill favors 
 Kulat er Rubad. 
 
 Kulat er Rubad "the watch tower of Gilead " is the 
 most prominent peak of Jebel Ajlun. Its position corresponds 
 with that of Jebel Osha south of the Jabbok, and the view from 
 the ramparts of the ruined castle, which crowns its summit and 
 which has given to it its modern name, is probably as compre- 
 hensive in its sweep as from that famous outlook over the Jab- 
 bok. Dean Stanley describes it as the finest view he ever saw 
 in this part of the world. Says Dr. Thomson: "The out- 
 look from this fortress is, indeed, magnificent and impressive 
 beyond anything we have seen ' on this side Jordan toward the 
 sunrising,' and one never to be forgotten." . . . "In re- 
 ality this prospect includes more points of Biblical and histor- 
 ical interest than any other on the face of the earth." l 
 
 "The view," says Merrill, "is more than a picture. It is a 
 panorama of great variety, beauty, and magnificence. . . 
 As we look down from Kulat et Rubad upon this river (Jordan) 
 and valley, the sea and the lake, our eyes rest upon the scene 
 of a multitude of famous historical events in which many of the 
 great men of antiquity bore a part ; Chedorlaomer, Abraham 
 and Lot, Joshua, Jacob, David and Solomon, Gideon and 
 Jephthah, Absalom, Joab, and Judas Maccabeus, Pompey, 
 Vespasian, and Herod the Great, John the Baptist, and Christ, 
 the Redeemer of the world." 2 
 
 Mahanaim. The site of Mahanaim has not been satis- 
 factorily identified. Several places have been suggested, in- 
 cluding Jerash, Khurbet Suleikhat in Wady Ajlun, and 
 Mahneh. The latter is favored by Robinson, Tristram, and 
 Oliphant. Mahneh is on the edge of Wady Mahneh, three or 
 four miles northeast of Kulat er Rubad. The incidental 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, pp. 578-9. 8 East of Jordan, p. 365. 
 
324 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 notices of Mahanaim in the Old Testament point to a place 
 north of the Jabbok, near the border of Manasseh and yet 
 within the territory of Gad. (Gen. xxxii. 2 ; Josh. xiii. 30, 
 xxi. 38.) 
 
 At this place the angels of God met Jacob, and from this 
 event it received its name. Here Ishbosheth was crowned, and 
 after two years was treacherously put to death. (2 Sam. ii. 
 8-10, iv. 5, 6.) It was the refuge of David, also, when he 
 fled from the face of Absalom. In the gate of this city David 
 waited for tidings of the battle between his army and the forces 
 of Absalom, and to the chamber over the gate he went up with 
 the bitter cry : " O, my son Absalom, my son, my son Ab- 
 salom ! would God I had died for thee." (2 Sam. xvii. 24, 
 xviii. 24-33.) 
 
 Jabesh-Gilead. A clue to the identification of this place 
 is furnished by a wady nearly opposite Bethshan, which still 
 bears the name Yabis, the equivalent of the Hebrew word Ja- 
 besh. Dr Robinson has identified the city with a ruined site on 
 the south side of Wady Yabis, called Ed Deir, and this identi- 
 fication has been generally accepted. Jabesh-Gilead is men- 
 tioned for the first time in connection with the story of the de- 
 fection and restoration of the tribe of Benjamin. (Judg. xxi. 
 8-14.) In the beginning of his reign Saul went to the rescue 
 of the inhabitants of Jabesh who were in sore straits by reason 
 of the cruel and insolent demands made upon them by a 
 superior force of Ammonites, who " came up and encamped 
 against Jabesh-Gilead." Gathering his army at Bezek on 
 the opposite side of the river the King of Israel made a 
 rapid night march, and, in the morning watch attacked and 
 utterly routed the hosts of Ammon. (i Sam. xi. i-u.) This 
 opportune deliverance was gratefully remembered by the men 
 of Jabesh-Gilead, who afterward rescued the dead bodies of 
 Saul and his sons from the dishonor to which they were sub- 
 jected at Bethshan, by making a perillous foray into the midst 
 of their victorious foes under cover of the night. In their own 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 325 
 
 city they gave to these rescued bodies an honorable burial, and 
 for this brave deed were publicly commended and blessed by 
 David, (i Sam. xxxi. 11-13; 2 Sam. ii. 5.) 
 
 Pella has been identified with a deserted site, called Tabakat 
 Fahil, six miles northwest of Jabesh-Gilead. It was one of the 
 cities of the Decapolis. It was the place to which the Chris- 
 tians fled from Jerusalem, in obedience to the prophetic warning 
 of Christ, just before the siege of Titus. 
 
 Peniel, or Penuel, the place where Jacob wrestled with "the 
 Angel and prevailed," was on the bank of the Jabbok at, or 
 near, one of the fording-places, but its exact location has not 
 been determined. It is said that the Patriarch " passed over 
 Penuel ' ' after he had received the blessing : hence the natural 
 inference that Penuel was a ridge or summit by the side of the 
 river. (Gen. xxxii.) Afterward we read of a city in this 
 locality called Penuel. Conder suggests Jebel Osha on the 
 south side as a probable location. Merrill, after a careful ex- 
 amination of the whole region, and its approaches, places 
 Penuel at Tellul edh-Dhahab. Here the road from the east 
 crosses to the south bank of the Jabbok. 
 
 "As to the site of Penuel," he says, " there is but one suitable point on 
 the Jabbok, and that is at Tellul edh-Dhahab, or Hills of Gold. These 
 mounds are about four miles east of Canaan's ford, a crossing which is 
 not far from Tell Deir Alia (the probable site of Succoth). They rise 
 from the middle of the valley to a height of about 250 feet. They are 
 conical in shape, with abrupt sides. The line of the hills is east and 
 west, the same as that of the valley ; but the stream winds so that one 
 hill is on one side of it, and the other on the other side. Whether ap- 
 proached from the east or west, or looked down upon from the mountains 
 above them, they form very striking objects. Further they are covered 
 with ruins, and on the eastern of the two are the remains of an ancient 
 castle. The road from the west follows up the north side of the river, 
 and crosses it a little to the east of the eastern mound. It immediately 
 rises to a small plateau, where are the ruins called El Khiuf. The 
 Midianites, who troubled the Hebrews, were desert people, and, in mak- 
 ing their great raids to the west, would avoid the hills and follow the 
 most feasible route. Even after reaching Western Palestine, they kept to 
 
326 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 the lowlands. The only route open to them was that along the valley of 
 the Jabbok. Here they would be sure of a good road and an abundance 
 of grass and water. A castle and garrison on this route would be very 
 necessary, if the western kingdom (as Jeroboam's) was to be protected 
 from invasions from the eastern plains." l 
 
 When Gideon passed from Succoth to Penuel in his pursuit 
 of the Midianites, he was mocked by the residents of the place, 
 as at Succoth, and, on his return "he beat down the tower of 
 Penuel, and slew the men of the city." (Judg. viii. 17.) 
 Penuel was rebuilt and fortified by Jeroboam as an outpost of 
 defence, (i Kings xii. 25.) 
 
 Jerash or Gerasa, one of the chief cities of the Decap- 
 olis, was situated about twenty miles east of the Jordan on one 
 of the northern tributaries of the Jabbok. Its site is ten miles 
 north of the river and its elevation is 1,900 feet above sea 
 level. Tristram describes it as "probably the most perfect 
 Roman city left above ground'' "It is difficult," says Mer- 
 rill, "to decide which is the most attractive feature of Gerash, 
 its forest of columns, its ruined buildings, or its beautiful situ- 
 ation. It lies on both sides of a stream which flows through 
 the city from north to south, and which is lined with a thick 
 growth of oleanders. These bushes ^ grow tall and rank, and, 
 when in bloom, they present a blaze of beauty such as is seldom 
 beheld, in Syria at least. The main street, which is paved, 
 runs along the west bank of the stream, and, at a point near 
 the middle of the city, is crossed by another, running east and 
 west. The first is a mile or more in length, and was originally 
 lined on both sides with columns. It came from the south, 
 and on it, about half a mile before reaching the city, stood a 
 triumphal arch, about forty feet high, with a small passage on 
 each side of the main entrance, and niches for statues." 3 
 
 The forum, the temples, theatres, baths, massive walls, 
 gateways, and clustered columns, more than 200 of which are 
 yet standing, represent a great and magnificent city of the 
 
 > East of the Jordan, pp. 391, 392. * Ibid., p. 287. 
 
The Trans4ordanic Highlands 321 
 
 later Roman period. Aside trom the evidence (urnished by its 
 remains, but little is known of the history of Jerash. 
 
 Ramoth Gilead. There has been much controversy over 
 the various sites suggested for this ancient city. Robinson, 
 Tristram, Gesenius, Porter and others have sought to establish 
 its identity with the modern town of Es Salt, about two miles 
 southeast of Jebel Osha. A serious objection to this site is its 
 rugged environment which does not accord with the story of 
 the conflicts around it in which chariots were extensively used. 
 Says Major Conder: "To reach Es Salt, where Ramoth 
 Gilead is generally shown, in a chariot, would have been a feat 
 which no ancient charioteer is likely to have attempted, and 
 still less any general commanding a force of chariots." Jelad, 
 four or five miles north of Es Salt, Reimun or Remun, five miles 
 west of Jerash, and Jerash, have also been suggested as probable 
 sites. The latter seems to fulfill all the conditions of the Bibli- 
 cal narratives, and the arguments brought forward in its favor 
 by Dr. Merrill are deserving of careful consideration. 
 
 We suggest, he says, that Ramoth Gilead was not identical with any 
 place bearing the name of Mizpeh in that region ; and further, that it was 
 identical with the present Gerash (Jerash). I. This place would be 
 three days' journey from Samaria (if Josephus' statement is to be accepted. 
 Antiq. viii. 15, 4). 2. It would be suitable for a city of refuge, because 
 it was on one of the main routes which would be kept open (according to 
 the command in Deut. xix. 3). 3. For the same reason it would be an 
 appropriate point at which to command Eastern Gilead and Bashan. 4. 
 Here chariots could be used, as we learn they were very extensively, in 
 two notable campaigns. (I Kings xxii. 31-35; 2 Kings ix. 16.) 5. 
 This would verify the ancient Jewish testimony respecting the cities of 
 refuge, that Ramoth Gilead was opposite Shechem. 6. It would also 
 confirm the Jewish tradition that Gerash is identical with Gilead. 
 
 The most notable events in the Biblical history of this place 
 were the death of Ahab, who had joined forces with Jehosha- 
 phat to recover the city from the King of Syria (i Kings xxii. 
 i East of Jordan, p. 290. 
 
328 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 34-37) ; the battle between Hazael and the combined forces 
 of Ahaziah of Judah and Joram in which the city was taken, 
 but Joram was severely wounded (2 Kings viii. 28, 29, ix. 14); 
 and the anointing and proclaiming of Jehu as king of Israel. 
 (2 Kings ix. 4-16.) From Ramoth Gilead Jehu rode forth in 
 a chariot, to execute his dread commission concerning the house 
 of Ahab, and came to Jezreel. 
 
 Suf, a village three miles northwest of Jerash, has been sug- 
 gested by Major Conder as a probable site for theMizpahin 
 Gilead where Jacob and Laban entered into covenant and erected 
 the "heap of witness." (Gen. xxxi. 44-52.) The home of 
 Jephthah was probably at the same place. (Judg. xi. 34.) 
 "It is very remarkable that a fine group of rude stone monu- 
 ments exists near Suf, showing in all probability that there was 
 once a sacred centre here." 
 
 Debir (Josh. xiii. 26) may be identical with a village called 
 Dibbin a few miles southwest of Jerash. 
 
 Beth-Gamul (Jer. xlviii. 23) is supposed to be identical 
 with Um el Jemal, a deserted site with extensive ruins east of 
 the Hajj road, and some twenty miles northeast of Jerash. 
 
 Es Salt, at the southern base of Jebel Osha (2,7100 feet) 
 has a population of over 6,000. Until recently it was the only 
 centre of a settled population east of the Jordan. It is the 
 capital of the Belka district, extending from the Jabbok to the 
 Arnon. The hillsides around are covered with vineyards, 
 which yield enormous crops of choice grapes. Baedeker notes 
 the fact that the raisins of Es Salt are famous. 
 
 Rabbath Ammon. This ancient capital of the Ammon- 
 ites is represented by a ruined city of later date which still 
 bears the name Amman. The ruins which now remain above 
 ground are for the most part the remains of the magnificent 
 Grseco-Roman city of Philadelphia, but this name only sur- 
 vived the period of the Roman occupation. 
 
 Amman lies at the head of a ravine in which the Jabbok 
 takes its rise. Its elevation above the sea is 2,770 feet. Its 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 329 
 
 position is about eighteen miles southeast of Jebel Osha near 
 the border of the desert. It has been described as " a strong 
 position, shut in by high mountains, and shut in by deep val- 
 leys ; an abundance of good water flowing through a narrow 
 vale from the southwest to the northeast, with a sufficient space 
 on the left bank of the stream for edifices of all kinds, public 
 and private ; while a large isolated hill, some 300 feet high, 
 overhangs it on the northwest and north, affording on its 
 summit a broad platform for a large and almost unassailable 
 citadel." The ruins of Amman cover a larger space than 
 those of Jerash but they are not so well preserved. Traces of 
 the ancient city of Ammon may be seen in the lower courses of 
 the walls and in the substructures of the citadel. Ewald ad- 
 vances the theory that Ammon was one of the first cities built 
 after the flood, but it is more likely that it was built by the sons 
 of Ammon who gave to it the name of their father. In the 
 first reference to it in the Old Testament (Deut. iii. n) it is 
 called Rabbath of the children of Ammon. It was besieged 
 by Joab two years before the lower city " the city of waters " 
 was taken, and in front of its walls Uriah the Hittite was 
 slain. (2 Sam. xi. 16, 17.) The citadel was afterward taken 
 by David. "And he took their king's crown from off his 
 head, the weight whereof was a talent of gold with the precious 
 stones: and it was set on David's head. And he brought 
 forth the spoil of the city in great abundance." (2 Sam. xii. 
 30.) The prophetic denunciations against this city and its 
 inhabitants have been strikingly and most literally fulfilled. 
 (Jer. xlix. i, 2; Ezek. xxi. 20, xxv. 5; Amos. i. 14.) 
 
 Jogbehah (Num. xxxii. 35) has been identified with the 
 ruins of a place called Jubeihah, seven miles northwest of 
 Amman. This place is mentioned in connection with Gid- 
 eon's pursuit of the Midianites. (Judg. viii. n.) 
 
 Kulat Zerka, a caravan station on the Hajj road about 
 fifteen miles northeast of Amman, is supposed to be the site of 
 the Roman town of Gadda. It is on the edge of the desert. 
 
330 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 Traces of a solid roadway have been discovered between Am- 
 mon and Kulat Zerka. "There can be little doubt," says 
 Oliphant, "that the force sent by Moses to conquer Bashan 
 must have passed by this spot after the battle of Jahaz." (Num. 
 xxi. 23.) 
 
 Jazer has been identified by Dr. Merrill and others with 
 Khurbet Sar or Seir, one mile west of Amman. If this identi- 
 fication is correct the "land of Jazer," famous for its cattle 
 ranges is the plateau region west of Rabbath Ammon. (Num. 
 xxi. 32; Josh. xiii. 25 ; 2 Sam. xxiv. 5, etc.) 
 
 The castle of Hyrcanus, a prince of the Maccabean line, 
 now called Arak el Emir stands on an elevated platform or 
 " natural amphitheatre " some eight or ten miles southwest of 
 Khurbet Sar. The remains of this stronghold are said to be 
 "the most remarkable purely Jewish ruins existing, and have 
 never been altered or retouched by Roman or Saracen. . . . 
 Half a mile above the castle is a vast series of rock dwellings, 
 impregnable by ancient warfare, with chambers, halls, stables 
 for one hundred horses, with rock-hewn mangers still perfect, 
 and inscriptions in the old Hebrew character over the rock- 
 hewn portals." 
 
 III. MOAB. 
 
 The land of Moab, as already indicated, is a broad, al- 
 most treeless, plateau elevated 3,000 feet above the Mediter- 
 ranean, and 4,300 feet above the Dead Sea. This is the 
 " Mishor " or table-land of Moab in distinction from the lowlands 
 or " plains of Moab " in the Jordan valley. From the crest or 
 ridge above the Dead Sea there is a gradual, almost imper- 
 ceptible slope to the eastern desert. The Abarim or mountain- 
 wall, which towers above the Dead Sea, is cleft almost to its 
 base by the two deep ravines of the Callirhoe and the Arnon. 
 
 The Callirhoe (Cal-lir'-ho-e), now called Zerka Main, was 
 known in ancient times as "the valley of God." (Nahaiiel 
 Num. xxi. 19.) ^his awful chasm, or cafion, is bordered by 
 
The Trans- Jordan ic Highlands 331 
 
 cliffs at one point 1,700 feet in height. On the south side of 
 the stream a series of basaltic columns rise several hundred 
 feet and almost block the gorge, while far below the hot springs 
 are indicated by the thin cloud of vapor which rises to the skies. 
 In giving his impressions of this dark valley Major Conder 
 says: 
 
 It took a full hour to reach the bottom of the gorge, and the scene was 
 wonderful beyond description. On the south, black basalt, brown lime- 
 stone, gleaming marl. On the north, sandstone cliffs of all colors, from 
 pale yellow to pinkish purple. In the valley itself the brilliant green of 
 palm clumps, rejoicing in the heat and in the sandy soil. The streams, 
 bursting from the cliffs, poured down in rivulets between banks of crusted 
 orange sulphur deposits. The brooks (which run from ten springs in all) 
 vary from 110 to 140 F. in temperature, and fall in little cascades amid 
 abundant foliage, to join the main course of the stream. At one point the 
 stream has bored through the sulphurus breccia, and runs in a tunnel of 
 its own making, issuing from this hot shaft about 100 feet lower, in the 
 gorge itself. Of all scenes in Syria, even after standing on Hermon, or 
 among the groves of Banias, or at Engedi, or among the crags of the 
 Anti- Lebanon, there is none which so dwells on my memory as does this 
 awful gorge, the Valley of God, by Beth-peor, where, perhaps, the body 
 of Moses was hid the fair-flowing stream which Herod sought below the 
 gloomy prison of John the Baptist at Machaerus the dread chasm where 
 the Bedawin still offer sacrifices to the desert spirits, and still bathe with 
 full faith in the healing powers of the spring. 1 
 
 The valley of the Arnon, (Wady Mojib), twelve miles 
 below the Callirhoe, is the deepest furrow on this side of the 
 Dead Sea. While the channel of the river is not over 100 feet 
 in width the breadth of the valley from crest to crest is more 
 than two miles. Its maximum depth is not less than 2,000 feet. 
 The sides of this great trench, except where they fall away in 
 precipitous cliffs, are clothed with rich verdure. The Arnon is 
 the largest stream that enters the Dead Sea on tlr"" side and its 
 mouth is just half-way down the shore. 
 
 At Aroer, about twelve miles from its mouth, the Arson 
 1 Heth and Moab, pp. 150, 151. 
 
332 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 proper is formed by the junction of three wadies, one coming 
 from the east called Saideh, and two from the south; "these 
 two latter first join together and then unite with the eastern 
 branch." The name Lejjun or Makherus applies to the cen- 
 tral, and Balus to the smaller branch. 1 
 
 The itinerary of the Israelites indicates that they came up 
 from the wilderness on the eastern side of the territory of Moab, 
 and hence must have crossed the Arnon near its head-waters. 
 
 The highest mountain of the range of Moab is Jebel At- 
 tarus on the south side of the Callirhoe. The outlook from 
 this mountain rivals that from Jebel Osha. A heap of ruins on 
 its summit probably represents the remains of an ancient sanctu- 
 ary of Baal or Chemosh. An ancient town, whose ruins cover 
 a considerable space, called Kureiyat, a short distance south 
 of Jebel Attarus, is supposed to be identical with the place 
 called Kirjath-huzoth, to which Balak brought Balaam on his 
 arrival in the land of Moab. (Num. xxii. 39.) 
 
 Bamoth Baal, the high place on which the seven altars 
 were erected the next day, seems to have been some elevation 
 on the north side of the ravine in the direction of the camp of 
 Israel. Its position has not been definitely located. 
 
 Mount Pisgah, or the "top of Pisgah," over against Jeri- 
 cho, was the next station to which Balaam was taken, and here, 
 as before, seven altars were erected. (Num. xxiii. 14.) 
 
 "The summit of Jebel Neba, which has been generally ac- 
 cepted as the mountain of Nebo, is not 300 feet higher than the 
 plain of the Belka, yet its position near the edge of the tre- 
 mendous descent to the plain of Abel Shittim adds 1,300 feet 
 more to its height, and thus, in reality, it presents a noble stand- 
 point 4,000 feet above the Dead Sea from which to survey the 
 Promised Land beyond Jordan westward." 2 A projecting 
 head-land, a half-mile or more to the west, known as Siaghah 
 or Jebel Siaghah offers another view-point, which some ex- 
 plorers regarded as the top of Pisgah, but the outlook, except 
 
 1 Quarterly P. E. F., '95, p. 215. * The Land and the Book, p. 65 1. 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 333 
 
 the downward look into the Jordan valley, is not more com- 
 prehensive than that from the top of Jebel Neba. 
 
 With respect to the different names used in connection with 
 this view-point of Balaam and of Moses, Dr. Thomson concludes, 
 as the result of a careful study of the Bedawin designations and 
 identifications, "that Nebo is 'the mountain ' of which Pisgah 
 is 'the top,' ras, or headland; and Siaghah is probably only 
 another and an Arabic equivalent for the Hebrew and the 
 English Pisgah." 1 
 
 " After testing repeatedly every view in the neighborhood," says Dr. 
 Tristram, " I am perfectly satisfied that there is none which equals in ex- 
 tent that from Nebo i. <?., from the flat ridge which rises slightly about 
 half a mile behind the ruined city (Nebbeh), and which I take to be the 
 true field of Zophim, the top of Pisgah. On these brows overlooking the 
 mouth of the Jordan, over against Jericho, every condition is met for 
 the Pisgah both of Balaam and of Moses." Here " the Lord showed 
 Moses all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali and the land 
 of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost 
 sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm- 
 trees unto Zoar." (Deut. xxxiv. 1-3.) " In this account," says Dr. 
 Henderson, " if we only read toward instead of unto as applied to Dan 
 and the Western Sea, the accuracy of the description is perfect." 9 
 
 Beth-peor, the third station of Balaam, has been located 
 by the Survey party at the western edge of a ridge on the north 
 side of the Callirhoe. Here the plain of Moab (Abel Shittim) 
 on which Israel was encamped, can be seen throughout its ex- 
 tent. (Num. xxiv. 2.) The burial-place of Moses was "in 
 a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor, but no 
 man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day." (Deut. xxxiv. 
 6.) Menhirs, dolmens, stone circles, and the remains of ancient 
 shrines supposed to be connected with the worship of Baal and 
 Chemosh, have been found on many of the high places of 
 Moab. 
 
 The sites of several of the towns belonging to the inheritance 
 
 1 The Land and the Book, p. 654. 3 Hist Geog., p. 73. 
 
334: 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 of Reuben have been identified by the names which they bore 
 in the time of Moses. 
 
 Heshbon, now Hesban, was built on a commanding emi- 
 nence some 200 feet above the plain. Its position is about fif- 
 teen miles east of the northern end of the Dead Sea. Jewish, 
 Roman, and Saracenic ruins are mingled together on the crest 
 of the hill, and eastward of the city are the remains of a large 
 reservoir suggestive of " the fish pools in Heshbon, by the gate 
 of Bath-rabbim." (Cant. vii. 4.) 
 
 Heshbon was the capital of the Amorite king, Sihon, who had 
 taken it out of the hands of the Moabites. (Num. xxi. 26.) 
 It was rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben, but afterward became a 
 city of Gad and was assigned to the Levites. (Num. xxxii. 
 37 ; Josh. xxi. 39.) At a later period it came into the posses- 
 sion of the Moabites and was included in the denunciations of 
 the prophets against Moab. (Isa. xv. 4; Jer. xlviii. 34, 
 45.) In the Maccabean period Heshbon and all the cities in 
 its vicinity were recovered from the Moabites. 
 
 Elealah, frequently mentioned in connection with Heshbon, 
 is now known as El 'Al. Its ruins are scattered over the sur- 
 face of a mound whose elevation is nearly 3,000 feet above sea 
 level. This site is less than two miles from Heshbon in a 
 northeast direction. 
 
 Sibmah, renowned for its choice vineyards, has been identi- 
 fied with Sumieh, which lies about the same distance to the north- 
 west. The remains of wine-presses hewn out of the rock have 
 been found at the base of this mound. (See Isa. xvi. 9, 10.) 
 
 Medeba is represented by the modern village of Madeba, 
 which lies about six miles south of Heshbon, along the line of 
 the old highway to southern Moab. "The name has re- 
 mained identically the same," says Dr. Thomson, "since the 
 age of Moses, a period of about 3,500 years, and the first men- 
 tion of it, in Numbers xxi. 30, implies that it was a well-known 
 place before the time of the Hebrew Lawgiver." * The ruins 
 * The Land and the Book, p. 638. 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 335 
 
 of ancient walls, temples, a handsome gateway, churches, ba- 
 silicas, Mosaics ; and three large pools, one of which measures 
 135 yards in length by 103 yards in width, attest the impor- 
 tance of the place in Roman and early Christian times. A 
 great battle between the army of Joab and the combined forces 
 of Syria and Ammon, resulting in victory to the Israelites, was 
 fought in the plain before Medeba. (i Chron. xix. 6-15.) 
 Medeba is included among the cities of Moab in the time of 
 Isaiah (xv. 2). 
 
 The discovery of a large Mosaic map of Palestine and 
 Egypt, presumably of the fifth century, on the floor or pave- 
 ment of an old church in December, 1896, has brought Medeba 
 into a place of special prominence. Photographs of the com- 
 plete map on ten separate sheets have been secured, and it will 
 soon be published as a whole in reduced form. "Upon this 
 map the tribes of Israel are marked, each tribe with its boun- 
 dary and its chief towns ; Biblical or Gospel events are alluded 
 to by a word the greater part of Jacob's prophecy is noted 
 thereon, with some variations from the received text. (Gen. 
 xlix. 25 ; Deut. xxxiii.) The administrative districts into 
 which the country was divided in the fifth century are there 
 also, and some hitherto unknown names of towns. Each town 
 or holy place is represented by a building of some kind : Jeru- 
 salem, Nablus and Gaza are encircled by walls ; one can rec- 
 ognize the chief gates, and the public buildings show the out- 
 ward appearance of these cities." 1 
 
 The full topographical value of this mosaic has not yet been 
 ascertained, but it will doubtless aid in determining some 
 points of uncertain identity. 
 
 At Mashetta on the eastward side of the Hajj road, some 
 fifteen miles northeast of Medeba, there is a wonderful struc- 
 ture which has puzzled the antiquarians and excited the admi- 
 ration of all travellers in this desert region. It is an unfinished 
 building 500 feet square flanked by twenty-five towers. Its 
 1 Quarterly P. E. F. '97, p. 215. 
 
336 
 
 The Land of Israel 
 
 walls and towers which rise to the height of fifteen or twenty 
 feet, are covered with sculptures, zigzag moulding, stone-tra- 
 cery, " large bosses in the centre of triangular segments" and 
 " fret-work within and about these sections of great beauty and 
 variety of design vines, fruit, birds, animals, and even men." 
 It can be truly said of the facade, says Dr. Thomson, that it 
 is " adorned with a richness and magnificence unparalleled, and 
 scarcely exceeded in the architecture of any age or nation." l 
 This palatial building is one of the mysteries of the desert. Its 
 origin, history and purpose are alike unknown. For fuller de- 
 scriptions and a discussion of the suppositions concerning it see 
 Tristram's "Land of Moab," Merrill's "East of the Jordan " 
 and Thomson's " Land and Book." 
 
 Baal-Meon, or Beth-Meon is represented by Tell Ma'in, 
 four miles southwest of Madeba. It is mentioned among the 
 cities of Reuben. (Num. xxxii. 38 ; i Chron. v. 8.) 
 
 Dibon, now known as Dhiban, is on the highway to the 
 south about three miles north of the Arnon. Its ruins are ex- 
 tensive, covering the slopes of two adjacent hills. Taken from 
 Sihon it was rebuilt by Gad, and, at a later period, was held 
 by the Moabites. (Num. xxi. 30, xxxiii. 34 ; Isa. xv. 2.) 
 
 Here the famous Moabite Stone was found by Dr. Klein in 
 1868. This monument, now in the Louvre at Paris, is one of 
 the most interesting and valuable which modern research has 
 brought to light. It is a slab of basalt three and one-half feet 
 in length by two feet in breadth. It was shattered into frag- 
 ments while in the hands of the Arabs, but has been so care- 
 fully restored that only one-seventh part of the inscription, 
 originally of thirty-four lines, is lacking. The first part of the 
 inscription gives an account of the oppression of Moab by Omri, 
 king of Israel, and of the subsequent deliverance accomplished 
 by the author of the tablet, Mesha, king of Moab during the reign 
 of Omri's son or successor. The date of this inscription is 
 about 9008. c. "The characters," says Dr. Neubaur, "in 
 i The Land and the Book, p. 631. 
 
 
The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 337 
 
 which the inscription is written are Phoenician, and form a link 
 between those of the Baal Lebanon inscription (of the tenth 
 century B. c.) and those of the Siloam text." On this tablet 
 twenty-two letters corresponding to the letters of the early 
 Hebrew alphabet have been found. We have in this monu- 
 ment the same names that are given in the Old Testament, the 
 evidence of the same relationship between Moab and Israel, 
 and a striking confirmation of the historical statement concern- 
 ing Mesha in the second Book of the Kings (iii. 4, 5). "And 
 Mesha, king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto 
 the king of Israel 100,000 lambs, and 100,000 rams, with the 
 wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the 
 king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel." 
 
 Aroer, the border town of the heritage of Reuben, and "the 
 Beersheba of the East," lies on the northern brink of the great 
 trench of the Arnon. (Deut. ii. 36.) Its modern name is 
 Ar'air. Aroer shared in the changes and vicissitudes of the ad- 
 jacent towns of Reuben until Moab ceased to exist as a separate 
 nationality. 
 
 The ruins of a bridge and traces of an old road across the 
 ravine can still be seen at this point. 
 
 There are scores of ruined sites on the plateau south of the 
 Arnon, but there are very few of them that have been satisfac- 
 torily identified. 
 
 The ancient capital of the land, " Kir of Moab," or Rabbath 
 Moab, lies about eight miles south of the Arnon. (Num. xxi. 
 
 28.) 
 
 Kir of Moab, now Kerak (Isa. xv. i), is perched on an 
 isolated hill which is almost cut off from the plateau by deep 
 ravines, one of which is Wady Kerak. It was regarded as one 
 of the impregnable strongholds of the land of Moab. 
 
 When besieged at this place by the confederated forces 
 of Israel and Edom, King Mesha vainly attempted to break 
 through the opposing lines of the Edomites. "Then he took 
 his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered 
 
338 The Land of Israel 
 
 him for a burnt-offering upon the wall." (2 Kings iii. 26, 27.) 
 This deed of horror ended the siege, and the Israelites returned 
 to their own land. Kerak is said to be the only one of the an- 
 cient cities of Moab which is inhabited. Its population has 
 been recently estimated at 10,000. 
 
 The brook or valley of Zered is probably represented by the 
 Wady El Ahsy a part of which is called Wady Siddeh the 
 boundary between Moab and Edom. "This wady," says Dr. 
 Robinson, " forms a natural division between the country on 
 the north and south. Taking its rise near the castle El Ahsy 
 on the route of the Syrian Hajj, upon the high eastern desert, 
 it breaks down through the whole chain of mountains to near 
 the southeast corner of the Dead Sea, forming, for a part of the 
 way, a deep chasm." 
 
 In the narrative of the Journeyings of Israel toward the Jor- 
 dan it is plainly intimated that the route was along the border 
 or coasts of Edom and Moab. Hence the place of crossing on 
 this memorable occasion must have been at the upper end of 
 the valley or in the neighborhood of the Hajj road. Here 
 while resting in camp (Num. xxi. 12) the Israelites received 
 the stirring command : " Rise up and get you over the brook 
 of Zered." (Deut. ii. 13.) This passage, more significant in 
 its results for the world than Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon, 
 marked the limit of the thirty-eight years of wilderness journey- 
 ings, and the beginning of a new era for the disciplined hosts 
 which followed Moses and Joshua. (Deut. ii. 14.) From this 
 hour their faces were set steadfastly "unto the land of their 
 possession, which the Lord gave unto them." 
 
Equivalents of Arabic Words 
 
 Ain= Fountain (PI Ayun). 
 
 Arak= Cliff. 
 
 Ballut=Oak. 
 
 Beit (Heb. Beth)= House. 
 
 Bir (Heb. Beer)=Well. 
 
 Birket=Pool. 
 
 Buka'a= Valley. 
 
 Burj=Tower. 
 
 Deir= Convent. 
 
 Haram= Sacred Inclosure. 
 
 Jebel= Mountain. 
 
 Jisr= Bridge. 
 
 Kefr= Village. 
 
 Khan=Inn or Caravansary. 
 
 Kulat= Castle 
 
 Kurn= Horn. 
 
 Kusr= Tower. 
 
 Mar= Saint. 
 
 Mejdel=Watchtower. 
 
 Merj= Meadow or Plain. 
 
 Mugbarah=Cave. 
 
 Nahr= River. 
 
 Neby= Prophet 
 
 Ras=Head, Promontory. 
 
 Sahel= Plain. 
 
 Sheikh= Chief. 
 
 Tell= Mound. 
 
 Tor= Isolated Mountain. 
 
 Wady= Valley or Watercourse. 
 
 Wely=Tomb of a noted Saint. 
 
 339 
 
Index 
 
 Abana (Barada), 289, 291-292. 
 
 Abarim, 330. 
 
 Abdon (Abdeh), 78. 
 
 Abel - beth Maachah (Abel 
 
 Maim), 254. 
 Abel Meholah (Ain el Helweh), 
 
 274. 
 Abel Shittim (Tell Kefrein) 
 
 Plain of Moab, 280. 
 Abila (Suk Wady Barada), 290. 
 Abila (Tell Abil), 322. 
 Abilene, 290. 
 Abraham, Oak of, 232. 
 Abraham, Well of, Beersheba, 
 
 239- 
 
 Absalom, Tomb of, 199. 
 Abu Ghosh. See Kirjath, 226. 
 Accho (Akka). See Acre. 
 Aceldama (Potter's Field), 199. 
 Achor, Valley of (Wady Kelt), 
 
 161. 
 
 Achshaph (El Yasif), 77. 
 Achzib (Es Zibj, 77. 
 Acra, Division of Jerusalem, 
 
 173- 
 
 Acre (Accho), 76. 
 Acre, Plain of, 75. 
 Adam, Town in Jordan Valiey, 
 
 274. 
 
 Admah, 278. 
 Adonis River, 66. 
 Adoraim (Dura), 236. 
 Adullam (Aid-el-ma), 102. 
 Adullam, Traditional site of, 230. 
 JEnon (Ainun), 152. 
 Afranj Wady, 103. 
 
 Ahsy, El, Castle of, 338. 
 
 Ahsy, Wady (Zered), 338. 
 
 Ai-Hai (Haiyan), 164. 
 
 Aijalon-Ajalon. 
 
 Ain Duk, 161. 
 
 Ain Feshkhah (Spring of P5s- 
 gah), 279. 
 
 Ain el Fijeh, 290. 
 
 Ain Gadis-Ain Kadeis. SeeKad- 
 ish Barnea. 
 
 Ain Hajla. See Beth Hogla. 
 
 Ain Helweh. See Abel Me- 
 holah. 
 
 Ain Jalud (Well of Harod), 127. 
 
 Ain Muweileh. See Beer-lahai- 
 roi. 
 
 Ain Shems. See Bethshemesh. 
 
 Ain Tabighah (Fountain of Ca- 
 pernaum), 270. 
 
 Ain Zehaltah, 108. 
 
 Ajalon (Yalo), 99. 
 
 Ajalon Valley (Merj-Ibn-Omier,, 
 98. 
 
 Ajlun, 319. 
 
 Ajlun, Mount, 318. 
 
 Ajlun Wady, 319. 
 
 Akabah, Gulf of, 286. 
 
 Aksa, El, Mosque of, 186. 
 
 Alemeth (Almit), 169. 
 
 Amalek, Territory of, 237. 
 
 Amatha (El Hamma), 322. 
 
 Amman. See Rabbath Ammon. 
 
 Ammonites, Country of, 319. 
 
 Amorites, 33. 
 
 Amorites, Mountain of the, 33. 
 
 Amwas(Emmaus), 
 
 
 340 
 
Index 
 
 34' 
 
 Anathoth ('Anata), 167. 
 Ananiah (Beit Hanina), 169. 
 Anti-Lebanon, Mountains of, 17, 
 
 289. 
 
 Antipatris (Ras el Ain), 86. 
 Antonia, Towerof, 187. 
 Aphek, (Fik), 304. 
 Apollonia (Arsuf), 87. 
 Aqueducts of Jerusalem, 215. 
 Ar, of Moab-Rabbath Moab. 
 Arab (Er Rabiyeh), 236. 
 Arabah Wady, 286. 
 Arad (Tel Arad), 241. 
 Arah Wady, 145. 
 Arak-el Emir, 330. 
 Aram-Syria. 
 Arbela (Irbid), 322. 
 Archi (Ain Arik), 38, 169. 
 Arethusa, 291. 
 
 Argob. See Lejah. 
 
 Arish Wady El, 9, 249. 
 
 Armenian Quarter Jerusalem, 
 176. 
 
 Armenian Convent Jerusalem, 
 178. 
 
 Arnon River (Wady Mojib), 331. 
 
 Aroer of Judah (Ar'air), 242. 
 
 Arka-Tell, 68. 
 
 Arkites, 31. 
 
 Arsuf-Apollonia. 
 
 Arub Wady, 215. 
 
 Arumah (El Orma), 155. 
 
 Ascension, Church of, 205. 
 
 Ascension, Place of, 205. 
 
 Ashdod (Eshdud), Azotus, 90. 
 
 Asher, Territory of, 40, 75. 
 
 Ashtaroth (Tell Ashtarah,) 304. 
 
 Askelon (Askulan), 91. 
 
 Ataroth Adar (Ed Darieh), 38. 
 
 Athlit, Plain of, 79. 
 
 Athlit, Town of, 79. 
 
 Aujeh River (Mejarkon), 81. 
 
 Auranitis, 42. 
 
 Awaj (Pharpar), 292. 
 
 Awertah. See Gibeah Phinehas. 
 
 Aven, Plain of, 253. 
 
 Avim, 35. 
 
 Azekah (Tell Zakariya ?), 103. 
 
 Azur Tell-Baal Hazor. 
 
 Azzah. See Gaza. 
 
 Baalbek (Heliopolis), 250-251. 
 
 Baal Gad, 252. 
 
 Baal Hazor (Tell Azur) 16, 142. 
 
 Baal Hermon, 7, 297. 
 
 Baal Meon (Ma'ain), 336. 
 
 Baal Poer. See Beth Peor. 
 
 Baal Tamar ('Attara), 169. 
 
 Bamoth Baal, 332. 
 
 Banias (Csesarea Philippi), 258- 
 
 259- 
 
 Banias, Fountain of, 258. 
 Barada. See Abana. 
 Bashan, 42, 303. 
 Bashan, Cattle of, 310. 
 Bashan, Oaks of, 310. 
 Bashan, Giant Cities of, 314. 
 Batanaea, 42, 311. 
 Bathaniyeh, 311. 
 Batihah, Plain of, 265, 270. 
 Beer-lahai-roi (Hagar's Well) 
 
 248. 
 
 Beeroth (Bireh), 165. 
 Beersheba, 239. 
 Beirut, 68. 
 Beit Nuba, 99. 
 
 Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis), 103. 
 Belata, 152. 
 Belfort, Castle of, 109. 
 Belka, 318. 
 
 Belus River (NahrNaman), 75. 
 Beniah, Feat of, 25. 
 Benjamin, Territory of, 37. 
 
342 
 
 Index 
 
 Benjamin, Mountains of, 158. 
 
 Berj Beitin, 163. 
 
 Beth Anath (Anita), 115. 
 
 Bethabara, 283. 
 
 Bethany (El Azeriyeh), 203. 
 
 Beth Dagon (Beit Dejan), 87. 
 
 Bethel (Beitin), 162. 
 
 Beth Emek (Amkah), 78. 
 
 Bether (Bittir), 231. 
 
 Bethesda, Pool of, 181. 
 
 Beth Gamul (Urn el Jemal), 328. 
 
 Beth-Haccerem, 230. 
 
 Beth-Haran (Tell er Ramah), 281. 
 
 Beth Hogla (Ain Hajlah), 278. 
 
 Beth Horon, Upper, 167. 
 
 Beth Horon, Lower, 167. 
 
 Beth-Jesimoth, 280, 281. 
 
 Bethlehem of Judah (Beit Lahm), 
 
 228. 
 
 Bethlehem of Zebulun, 119. 
 Beth Meon. See Baal Meon. 
 Beth-Nimrah (Tell Nimrim), 281. 
 Beth Peor, 331, 333. 
 Bethphage, 205. 
 Bethsaida of Galilee (Ain Tabi- 
 
 ghah), 270. 
 Bethsaida Julias, 270. 
 Bethshan (Beisan)-Scythopolis, 128. 
 Bethshan, Plain of, 273. 
 Beth Shemesh (Ain Shems), 100. 
 Beth Shemesh (K'h Shema), 115. 
 Beth Shittah (Shutta), 128. 
 Beth Tappuah (Tuffuh), 236. 
 Beth Zur (Beit Sur), 236. 
 Betogabra. See Beit Jibrin. 
 Bezek (Ibsik), 154, 324. 
 Bezetha Division of Jerusalem, 
 
 173- 
 
 Bible, Lands of the, I. 
 Bir Eyub, 214. 
 Birket Israil, 181. 
 
 Birket Mamilla, 214. 
 
 Birket es Sultan, 214. 
 
 Blanchegarde, 103. 
 
 Bostrenus River (Awaly), 67, 70. 
 
 Bozrah (Buzrah), 312. 
 
 Bridge of Jacob's Daughters, 261. 
 
 Bsherreh, 108. 
 
 Buka'a (Lebanon Valley), 19, 250. 
 
 Buttauf, Plain of (El Buttauf), 112. 
 
 Byar Wady, 215. 
 
 Cabul (Kabul), 78. 
 
 Csesarea, 82. 
 
 Csesarea Philippi. See Banias. 
 
 Callirhoe (Zerka Main), 330. 
 
 Calvary, Place of, 178, 200. 
 
 Cana (Kefr Kenna), 118. 
 
 Cana (Kh Kana), 119. 
 
 Canaan, 30. 
 
 Canaan, Early history of, 50. 
 
 Canaan As a Babylonian Provincet 
 
 5- 
 Canaan As an Egyptian Province, 
 
 5 2 - 
 
 Canaanites, 28. 
 Capernaum (Khan Minyeh), 267- 
 
 270. 
 Capernaum, Ministries of Christ in, 
 
 269. 
 
 Capitolias (Beit er Ras), 322. 
 Caravan Routes, 44. 
 Caravansary. See Khan. 
 Carmel, Mount, 134. 
 Carmel (Kurmul), 234. 
 Cedron-Kedron-Kidron. 
 Cedars of Lebanon, 51, 108. 
 Chariots in Palestine, 46. 
 Chedorlaomer, Route of, 235, 279. 
 Chesalon (Kesla), 169. 
 Chinnereth-Sea of Galilee, 265. 
 Chisloth Tabor (Iksal), 126. 
 
Index 
 
 343 
 
 Ciccar (Circuit) of the Jordan, 279. 
 
 Citadel, Jerusalem (Al Kala), 176. 
 
 Climate, Variations in, 23. 
 
 Coele Syria (Lebanon Valley), 19. 
 
 Coast Route, 44. 
 
 Crocodile River (Nahr ez Zerka), 
 
 80. 
 
 Crusades, Period of, 56. 
 Crusades, Monuments of, 56. 
 
 Damascus, 291. 
 
 " Plain of (Ghutah), 291. 
 " Merj of, 292. 
 " Gate (Jerusalem), 175. 
 Dan, Territory of, 38. 
 Dan, Camp of, 101. 
 Dan (Tell el Kady), 257. 
 Dan, Oak at, 257. 
 Data for study of Sacred Geog- 
 raphy, 2. 
 
 Damieh Ford, 283. 
 David, Dominion of, II. 
 
 " Kingdom of, II. 
 
 " City of, 172. 
 
 " Tomb of, 199. 
 
 " Tower of, 177. 
 Dead River (Nahr Mufjir), 81. 
 Dead Sea (Salt Sea), 286-288. 
 
 " " Basin, 286. 
 Debir (El Dhoheriyeh), 236. 
 Debir (Dibbin), 328. 
 Debir (Ed Debr), 169. 
 Decapolis, District of, 42. 
 Deir Aban (Ebenezer), 227. 
 Deir Ballut, Wady, 145. 
 Deir Warda, 100. 
 Derdarah, tributary of the Jordan, 
 
 255- 
 Dibon (Dhiban), 336. 
 
 " Moabite Stone of, 336. 
 Dera (Dra'a), 308. 
 
 Dilbeh, 236. 
 
 Dome of the Rock, 184. 
 
 Dog River (Lycus), 44, 66. 
 
 Dolmens, 333. 
 
 Dor or Dora (Tanturah), 79. 
 
 Dothan (Tell Dothan), 143, 154. 
 
 " Plain of, 143. 
 Double Gate Huldah Jerusalem, 
 
 190-191. 
 
 Druze Jebel Ed, 310. 
 East Mountain (Jebel esh Shurky), 
 
 289. 
 
 Ebal, Mount, 139. 
 Ebenezer (Deir Aban), 227. 
 Ed-Debr, 169. 
 
 Edrei (Tell Khuraibeh), 114. 
 Edrei (Edhra), Zora, 308. 
 Ehden, Fountain of, 108. 
 Eglon (Ajlan), 95. 
 Ekron (Akir), 89. 
 El Aksa, Mosque of, 187. 
 Elah, Valley of, (Wady es Sunt), 
 
 101. 
 
 Elealeh (El'Al), 334. 
 Eleazar, Tomb of, 154. 
 Eleph (Lifta), 169. 
 Eleutherus River (Nahr el 
 
 Kebir), 66. 
 
 Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin), 103. 
 El Hamma (Amatha), 322. 
 Elijah, Place of Translation of; 
 
 283. 
 
 El Kuleib, 310. 
 El Lisan, 287. 
 El Mahrakah, 135. 
 El Meshed. See Gath Hepher. 
 El Meshrifeh, 242. 
 El Mezar, 129. 
 
 Emmaus (Amwas), Nicopolis, 99. 
 Emmaus (Khamasa), 227. 
 Engannim (Jenin), 125. 
 
344 
 
 Index 
 
 Engedi (Hazezon-tamar) Ain Jidy, 
 
 234- 
 
 En Hazor (Ain Hazzur), 115. 
 En Mishphat-Kadesh Barnea. 
 En Nukra (Hollow Hearth), 305. 
 En Rogel (Fountain of the Virgin), 
 
 207. 
 
 Ephraim, Mount, 1 6, 134. 
 " Wood of, 319. 
 " City of (Ophrah), 162. 
 " Territory of, 38. 
 Ephratah or Ephrath- Bethlehem. 
 Er Ramah, 16. 
 Esdraelon, Plain of, 120. 
 
 Gateways of, 121. 
 Esek, Springs of, 96. 
 Eshcol, Valley of, 248. 
 Eshtaol (Eshua), 100. 
 Es Seer, Plain of, 243. 
 Etam, Rock of (Beit Atab), 101. 
 Etham, or Etam in Valley of Urtas, 
 
 231. 
 
 EtTell(Hai?), 165. 
 Exploration Societies, 2. 
 
 Farah Wady, 144, 274, 320. 
 
 Fauna of Palestine, 25. 
 
 Ferata- Ophrah. 
 
 Fekreh (Feqreh) Wady, 243. 
 
 Fik (Aphek), 304. 
 
 Fik Wady, 272, 305. 
 
 Flora of Palestine, 24, 26. 
 
 Fountain Gate (Jerusalem), 220. 
 
 Frank Mountain, 230. 
 
 Fuleh, 127. 
 
 Gad, Territory of, 40. 
 Gadara (Um Keis), 321. 
 Gadarenes, Country of, 271. 
 Gadda. See Kulat Zcrka. 
 Gadis Ain. See Kadesh Barnea. 
 
 Gadis Wady, 244-245. 
 
 Galem (Beit Jala), 231. 
 
 Galeed-Gilead. 
 
 Galilee, Province of, 41, ill. 
 
 " Upper, 115. 
 
 " Lower, 115. 
 
 " Sea of, 262-273. 
 
 " Basin of, 262. 
 
 " Mountains of, in. 
 Gamala (Kulat en Husn), 272. 
 Gath (Tell es Safi ?), 90, 102. 
 Gath Hepher (El Meshed), 1 19. 
 Gaulanitis (Jaulan), 42. 
 Gaza (Guzzeh), 91. 
 Geba (Jeba), 165. 
 Gebal (Jebail), 68. 
 Gederah (Jedireh), 169. 
 Gehenna (Tophet), 206. 
 Gennesaret, Lake of. See Galilee. 
 
 " Plain of, 264. 
 
 Geology of Palestine, 20, 27. 
 Gerar (Um el Jerar), 95. 
 Gerar, Kingdom of, 29. 
 Gerasa (Jerash), 326. 
 Gergesa (Khersa), 265, 271. 
 Gerizim, Mount, 139. 
 Gethsemane, Garden of, 205. 
 Gezer (Tell Jezer), 99. 
 Ghor El, 1 8, 272. 
 Ghor-es Seisaban, 273. 
 Ghor es Safieh, 286. 
 Ghurab Wady, 100. 
 Gibeah (Geba or Jeba), 1 66. 
 Gibeah, District of, 166. 
 Gibeah Phinehas (Awertah), 154. 
 Gibeath (Jibia), 169. 
 Gibeon (El Gib), 160, 167. 
 
 Pool of, 1 68. 
 Giblites, 10, 68. 
 Gihon, Pools of, 208, 214. 
 Gilboa, Mount, 126, 129. 
 
Index 
 
 345 
 
 Gilboa (Jelbon), 129. 
 Gilead, Land of, 30. 
 
 " District of, 317. 
 
 " Mountains of, 318. 
 
 " Forests of, 319. 
 
 " Balsam (Balm) of, 319. 
 Gilead Jabesh, 324. 
 Gilead Ramoth, 327. 
 Gilgal (Jiljuheh), 87. 
 Gilgal (Jiljilia), 157. 
 Gilgal (Tell Jiljulieh) 277-278. 
 Gimzo (Jimzu), 99. 
 Gergashites, 28. 
 Gischala (El Jish), 115. 
 Glass, Discovery of, 75. 
 Golan, 304. 
 
 Golden Gate (Jerusalem), 175, 188. 
 Golgotha. See Calvary. 
 Gomorrah, 278, 280. 
 Gophna (Jufna), 162. 
 Greek period, 55. 
 Graeco-Roman Civilization, 56. 
 
 " " Architecture, 309, 
 
 3 ' 2-3H. 
 Guzzeh Wady, 105. 
 
 Hadad Rimmon (Rummaneh), 125. 
 
 Hadeth El, 108. 
 
 Hagar's Well (Beer-lahai-roi), 248. 
 
 Haifa, 77. 
 
 Hajj Road, 305. 
 
 Halak Mount, 243. 
 
 Hamam Wady, 113. 
 
 Hamathites, 31. 
 
 Hamath, City of, 9. 
 
 " Kingdom of, 9. 
 
 " Entrance to, 8. 
 Haram esh Sherif, 183. 
 Hareth (Kharas), 236. 
 Harod, Spring of (Ain Jalud), 127. 
 Harosheth (El Harathiyeh), 77. 
 
 Harvest Periods, 23. 
 Hasbany River, 256. 
 Hattin, Horns of, 1 12. 
 Hauran, 304-305. 
 Ilauran Jebel, 310. 
 
 " Architecture, 313. 
 
 " Threshing-floors of the 
 
 305- 
 
 Havoth Jair, 307. 
 Hazar-enan, 8, 2QI. 
 Hazerim (Enclosures of Avim). 
 Hazezon Tamar. See Engedi. 
 Hazor (Hadireh), 114. 
 Hazor (Hazzur), 169. 
 Hebron (Kirjath Arba), 231. 
 " Vale of, 231. 
 " Pools of, 232. 
 Helbon, 296. 
 Heleph (Beit Lif), 115. 
 Hermon Mount (Jebel esh Sheikh), 
 
 296-301. 
 
 Hermon, Little, (Jebel Duhy), 126. 
 Hermonites, Land of, 297. 
 Herod, Palace of, 172. 
 
 " Gate of (Jerusalem), 175. 
 Herodium. See Jebel Fureidis, 
 
 230. 
 Heshbon (Heshban), 334. 
 
 Wady, 317. 
 Hezekiah, Pool of, 178. 
 Hieromax-Yarmuk or Jarmuk, 
 
 317. 
 
 Highways of Palestine, 44. 
 Hinnom, Valley of, 170. 
 Hippos (Susiyeh), 272. 
 Hippicus, Tower of, 172, 177. 
 Hittites, 31. 
 
 " Land of the, 32. 
 Holy Sepulchre, Church of, 178. 
 Horem (Kh Harah), 115. 
 Hor Mount (Jebel Madurah), 247. 
 
346 
 
 Index 
 
 Hor Mount of tradition, 17. 
 " " (Hor-ha-har), 8. 
 Hormah or Sebaita (Zephath), 238, 
 
 243- 
 
 Hukkok (Yakuk), 115. 
 Hulda Gate. See Double Gate. 
 Huleh Lake (Waters of Merom), 
 
 260. 
 
 Huleh Basin, 256, 261. 
 Hyrcanus, Castle of (Karak el 
 
 Emir), 330. 
 
 Idumea, 41. 
 
 Ijon (Tell Dibban), 254. 
 Iron (Yarun), 115. 
 Iskanderuneh River, 81. 
 Israel, Land of, 2. 
 
 " Allotment of tribes of, 36. 
 Issachar, Territory of, 39. 
 Iturea (Jedur), 42, 303. 
 
 Jabbok River (Nahr ez Zerka), 273, 
 
 318- 
 
 Jabesh Gilead (Ed Deir), 324. 
 Jabneel (Yebneh), Jamnia, 93. 
 Jacob's Well, 147. 
 Jaffa, Joppa (Yafa), 83. 
 
 " Gate (Jerusalem), 175. 
 
 " Suburb (Jerusalem), 216. 
 Jalud, Brook, 127. 
 Janoah (Yanim), 115, 155. 
 Japhia (Yafa), 119. 
 Jarmuk-Yarmuk. 
 Jattir (Attir), 236. 
 Jaulan, 42, 304. 
 Jazer (Kh Sar), 330. 
 
 " Land of, 330. 
 Jebail (Gebal), 68. 
 Jebel Ajlun, 318. 
 
 " Atterus, 332. 
 
 Jebel Dhar el Khodib, 15, 106. 
 " Duhy (Little Hermon), 126. 
 " esh Sheikh, 296-301. 
 " es Shurky, 289-290. 
 " et Tur (Olivet), 201. 
 " Fureidis (Frank Mountain), 
 230. 
 
 Jebel, Hauran, 310. 
 " Hadireh, 114. 
 *' Jermuk, in. 
 " Mukhmal, 15. 
 Neba (Nebo), 332. 
 " Osha, 320. 
 " Siaghah, 332. 
 " Surinin, 15. 
 " Usdum, 286. 
 Jebusites, 34. 
 
 Jedur, District of (Iturea), 303. 
 Jehoshaphat, Valley of. See Ke- 
 
 dron. 
 
 Jehoshaphat, Tomb of, 199. 
 Jelad, 327. 
 Jelbon (Gilboa), 129. 
 Jerash (Gerasa), 326. 
 Jericho (Tell es Sultan), 275. 
 
 " (New Testament Site), 276. 
 " (Modern) Eriha, 277. 
 Jerusalem, 34, 170-223. 
 
 " Environs of, 170. 
 
 " Walls of, 171, 174. 
 " Gates of, 175. 
 " Mountains round about, 
 171. 
 
 Jerusalem, Modern, 173. 
 " Quarters, 176. 
 " Temple area, 183. 
 " Royal Quarries of, 182. 
 
 " Catacombs and Tombs 
 of, 198. 
 
 Jerusalem, Pools and Fountains, 
 207. 
 
Index 
 
 347 
 
 Jerusalem, Recent Excavations in, 
 
 217. 
 Jerusalem, South Wall of, 217. 
 
 " Byzantine Church of 
 219. 
 
 Jerusalem, History and Associa- 
 tions of, 221. 
 Jeshimon. See Wilderness of 
 
 Judea. 
 Jezreel (Zerin), 125. 
 
 " Fountain of (Ain Jalud), 
 
 127. 
 
 Jezreel, Valley of, 127. 
 Jird el Baruk, 108. 
 Jisr Benat Yacub, 261. 
 Jisr el Mejamia, 282. 
 Jisr Um-el Kanater, 282. 
 Job, Well of (Bir Eyub), 214. 
 Job's Country, 317. 
 Jogbehah (Jubeihah), 329. 
 Jokneam (Tell Keimum), 122. 
 Joppa-Jaffa. 
 Jordan River, 18. 
 
 " Valley, 19, 255. 
 
 " Sources of the, 256. 
 
 " History of the, 284. 
 
 Fords of the, 282. 
 
 " Plain of, 278. 
 
 " Swellings of, 282. 
 
 " Cities of the Plain of, 278. 
 Joseph, Tomb of, 152. 
 Joshua, Tomb of (Neby Lusha), 
 
 '55- 
 
 Jotopata. See Map No. 4. 
 Judah, Territory of, 37. 
 
 " Mountains of, 224. 
 
 " Wilderness of, 225. 
 Judea, Province of, 41. 
 Juttah (Yuttah), 236. 
 
 Kadesh Barnea (Ain Gadis), 9, 
 
 244. 
 
 Kadisha River, 67, 109. 
 Kades of Galilee. See Map No. 4. 
 Kana Khurbet, 119. 
 Kanah Wady (Brook Kanah), 145. 
 Kasimiyeh River (Litany R.) 67. 
 Kedesh (Kades) of Naphtali, 113. 
 Kedron, Valley of, 170, 205. 
 Kedron Brook, 207. 
 Kefr Kenna. See Cana of Galilee. 
 Keilah (Kilah), 236. 
 Kelt Wady, 161, 274. 
 Kenath (Kunawat), 308. 
 Kerak-KirofMoab. 
 Kerak-Tarichaea, 272. 
 Kerioth (Kureieh), 312, 316. 
 Kerioth-Ar of Moab. 
 Khan Minyeh (Capernaum), 267- 
 
 270. 
 
 Khan of Chimham, 229. 
 Khans, 46. 
 
 Khurbet Siileilchat, 323. 
 King's Dale (Shaveh), 206. 
 
 " Garden, 206, 214. 
 Kir of Moab (Kerak), 337. 
 Kirjath (Kuriet el Anab), 169. 
 Kirjath-huzoth (Kureiyet), 332. 
 Kirjath Jearim (Kh 'Erma), 226. 
 Kirjath-Sepher-Debir. 
 Kishon River (Nahr el Mukutta), 
 
 76, 78, 122. 
 Kulat el Bizzeh, 108. 
 Kulat el Husn-Gamala. 
 Kulat er Rubad, 323. 
 Ku'at Zerka (Gadda), 329. 
 Kurn Sartaba, 274. 
 Kurn Wady. See Map No. 4. 
 Kuweh El (Natural Bridge), 109. 
 
 Kabul-Cabul. 
 
 Lachish (Tell el Hesy), 93. 
 
Index 
 
 Ladder of Tyre, 65. 
 Lebanon, Mount, 14, 106. 
 
 District of, 14, 106. 
 
 Valley of (Buka'a), 
 19, 250. 
 
 Lebanon, Cedars of, 51, 108. 
 Lebonah (Lubban), 156. 
 Leddan, Fountain of, 257. 
 Legio (Lejjun), Megiddo, 123. 
 Lejah (Argob, Trachonitis), 306. 
 Lisan. See El Lisan. 
 Litany (Leontes), Kasimiyeh, 
 
 19, 67, 109. 
 
 Lod (Ludd), Lydda, 85. 
 Luz-Bethel. 
 Lydda (Ludd), 85. 
 Lycus (Dog River), 44, 66. 
 
 Machaerus, Fortress of (M'Kaur), 
 33i. 
 
 Machpelah, Cave of, 232-233. 
 
 Madurah Jebel. See M't Hor. 
 
 Mahanaim (Mahneh ?), 323. 
 
 Makkedah, Cave of (El Mughar), 
 93- 
 
 Mamilla, Pools of, 214. 
 
 Mamre, Plain of, 231. 
 
 Manasseh, Territory of, 38. 
 
 Maon (Main), 234. 
 
 Maps of Palestine, 3. 
 
 Mareshah (Maresh), 104. 
 
 Mariamne, Tower of (Jerusa- 
 lem), 172. 
 
 Maritime Plain, 18, 65. 
 
 Mar Saba, 230. 
 
 Mary, Fountain of, 117. 
 
 Masada, 236. 
 
 Mashetta, 335. 
 
 Masir el Fukhhar, 108. 
 
 Medeba (Madeba), 334. 
 " Mosaic Map of, 335. 
 
 I.leduk, IOS. 
 
 Megiddo (El Lejjun), 123. 
 
 " Valley of, 120. 
 Mejarkon R. (Aujeh), 81. 
 Melek Wady, 112. 
 Menhirs, 333. 
 Merj Ayun, 254. 
 Merom, Waters of. See Huleh 
 
 Lake. 
 
 Mezar El, 129. 
 Mezarib, 305. 
 
 " Railroad to, 305. 
 Michmash (Mukmas), 165. 
 
 Pass of, 161, 165. 
 Migdal El (Mujeidel), 115. 
 Migdal Gad (Mejdel), 93. 
 Mishor, 330. 
 Mizpah in Gilead, 328. 
 Mizpeh (Neby Samwil), 16, 159. 
 
 " Plain of, 159. 
 Moab, 330. 
 
 " Plains of-Plain of Shittim, 
 
 280-281. 
 
 Moabite Stone, 336. 
 Moreh, Oak of, 146, 152. 
 Moreh, Hill of. See Jebel Duhy. 
 Mount Abarim, 330. 
 
 " of the Amalekites, 237. 
 
 " of Corruption, 172. 
 
 " of Evil Counsel, 172. 
 
 " Ephraim, 134. 
 
 " of Olives, 172. 
 
 " of Precipitation, 118. 
 
 " Samaria (Hill Shomer), 137. 
 
 " Tabor, 131. 
 
 " Zion, 173. 
 
 Moor's Gate (Jerusalem), 175. 
 Mozah (Beit Mizza), 169. 
 Mufjir (Dead River), 81. 
 Mugrah Jebel, 242. 
 Muristan, 178. 
 Murrch Wady, 248. 
 
Index 
 
 349 
 
 Mujedda, 123. 
 
 Mukhna, Plain of (Sahel Mukhna), 
 144- 
 
 Nablus (Shechem), 145. 
 
 Naboth, Vineyard of, 125. 
 
 Nahaliel (Valley of God), 330. 
 
 Nahr Hasbany, 256. 
 
 Nahr Rubin, 81. 
 
 Nain, 130. 
 
 Naphtali Mount, in, 262. 
 
 " Territory of, 40. 
 Nar Wady en, 226. 
 Nativity, Church of, 229. 
 
 " Grotto of the, 229. 
 Natural Bridges of Lebanon, 109. 
 Nazareth, 115. 
 
 Neballat (Beit Nebala), 86. 
 Nebo Mount (Jebel Neba), 332- 
 
 333- 
 
 Neby Samwil (Mizpah), 16, 159. 
 Negeb (South Country), 237. 
 Niha El, 108. 
 
 Nimrah (Beth Nimrah), 281. 
 Nimrim Ford of Jordan, 280, 283. 
 Nob, 1 68. 
 
 Nun, Tomb of (Neby Nun), 155. 
 Nusairiyeh Mountains, 9. 
 Nuweimeh Wady, 160. 
 
 Oak Forests of Palestine, 80, 304, 
 
 3!9- 
 
 Olives, Mount of, 172, 201, 204. 
 Ono (Kefr Ana), 86. 
 Ophel Mount, 173. 
 Ophni (Jufna). See Gophna. 
 Ophrah-Ephron (Taiyebeh),i62. 
 Orontes, 20. 
 Osha Jebel, 320. 
 
 Palestine, 1-57. 
 
 Paneas-Banias. 
 
 Papyrus, 25. 
 
 1'arah (Farah), 169. 
 
 1'aran, \Vildci nrss of, 237. 
 
 Patriarchal Highway, 16. 
 
 Pella (Tabakat-Fahil), 325. 
 
 Peniel-Penuel (Tellul Edh Dha- 
 
 hab), 325. 
 Perea, 42. 
 Perrizites, 34. 
 Phagor (Faghur), 231. 
 Pharpar, (Awaj), 292. 
 Phasaclus, Tower of, 172, 17,. 
 Philadelphia (Rabbath Ammon), 
 
 328. 
 
 Philistines, 28. 
 Philistia, Plain of, 88. 
 Phinehas, Tomb of, 154. 
 Phoenicia, Plain of, 18, 65. 
 Phoenicians, 29. 
 
 Pisgah Mount (Jebel Neba), 332, 
 Pool of Siloam. See Siloam. 
 Ptolemais-Acre. 
 
 Quarantana Mount, 161. 
 Quarries Royal. See Cotton Grotto, 
 182. 
 
 Rabbath Ammon (Amman), 328. 
 Railroads, 48. 
 
 Rains. Early and latter, 22. 
 Rakkon (Tell er Rakkut), 87. 
 Ramah (Er Ram), 166. 
 
 " (Rameh) of Naphtali, 115. 
 
 " Plain of, 112. 
 Ramleh, 86. 
 Ramoth Gilead (Jerash), 327. 
 
 Mizpah (Rimthe ? ), 322. 
 Ras el Abiad, 65. 
 
 Ras en Nakura (Ladder of Tyre), 
 65. 
 
350 
 
 Index 
 
 Ras Sherifeh, 16. 
 Refuge, Cities of, 40-41, 46. 
 Rehoboth (Ruheibeh), 242. 
 Reimun or Remun, 327. 
 Renan, Testimony of, 60. 
 Reuben, Territory of, 40. 
 Rephaim, Plain of, 207. 
 Ribl'ah (Ribleh), 9, 253. 
 Rimmon of Zebulun (Rummaneh), 
 
 112. 
 
 Rimmon Rock, 165. 
 
 Roadways, 44, 56, 87. 
 
 Robinson's Arch, 191. 
 
 Roman Roads, 56. 
 
 Saideh Wady, 332. 
 
 Safed, 114. 
 
 Salcah (Sulkhad), 311. 
 
 Salem- Jerusalem. 
 
 Salim (Shalem), 152. 
 
 Salt, City of (Tell el Milh). See 
 
 Map No. 8. 
 Salt Es, 327. 
 Samaria (Sebaste), 137, 154. 
 
 " Hill of, 137. 
 
 " Pool of, 139. 
 
 " District of, 41. 
 Sarepta (Zarephath), 72. 
 Sarid (Tell Shodud), 126. 
 Sechu (Kh Suweikeh), 169. 
 Scopus Mount, 159. 
 Seir Mount in Edom, 243. 
 Seir, Region of, 243. 
 Selhab Wady, 145. 
 Semakh, 272. 
 Semakh Wady, 271. 
 Senir-Hermon. 
 Sepphoris (Suffurieh), 116. 
 Shaib Wady, 283. 
 Shair Wady, 145. 
 Sharon-Saron, Plain of, 80. 
 " Roadways of, 87. 
 
 Sharon, Rose of, 82. 
 Sheba (Tell es Seba), 241. 
 Shechem (Nablus), 145. 
 
 " Plain of, 144-146. 
 
 " Vale of, 144. 
 Shephelah, 18, 88, 97. 
 
 " Valleys of the, 97. 
 
 Shepherd's Fields, 228. 
 Sheriah Wady, 105. 
 Shiloah, Waters of, 213. 
 Shiloh (Seilun), 155. 
 Shittim, Plain of (Abel Shittim), 
 
 273- 
 
 Shunem (Sulem), 126. 
 Shur (Wall), Way of. See Map 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 Sibmah (Sumieh), 334. 
 Sinai Mount, 16. 
 Siddeh Wady, 338. 
 Siddim, Vale of, 279. 
 Sidon (Zidon), 69. 
 
 " Recent discoveries near Si- 
 don, 70. 
 Siloam (Silwan), 208. 
 
 " Pool of, 210. 
 
 " Tunnel, 209. 
 
 " Church over Pool, 212. 
 
 " Stairway, 210. 
 
 " Old Pool of, 213. 
 Simeon, Territory of, 37. 
 Simsin Wady, 103. 
 Sisera, Battlefield of, 77. 
 Sitnah (Shutnah), 96, 242. 
 Socoh (Shuweikeh), 236. 
 Soris (Saris), 231. 
 Sodom, 278. 
 Solomon, Dominion of, 6. 
 
 " Temple of, 184, 194. 
 " Porch of, 195. 
 " Stables of, 190. 
 " Pools of, 215. 
 
Index 
 
 351 
 
 Springs Hot, 267. 
 
 St. James, Tomb of, 199. 
 
 St. Stephen's Gate (Jerusalem), 175. 
 
 Sorek Valley (Wady), 100. 
 
 Succoth (Tell Dar'ala), 274, 325. 
 
 Sudad. See Zedad. 
 
 Suf, 327. 
 
 Sultan's Pool, 214. 
 
 Suweinet, 161. 
 
 Sycar (Askar), 152. 
 
 Sychem-Shechem. 
 
 Syria, I. 
 
 " Kingdom of, 54. 
 
 Taanach (Tannuk), 124. 
 Taanath Shiloh (Ta'ana), 155. 
 Tabernacle, Platforms of, 160. 
 Tabiga Et, 270. 
 Taiyibeh, 322. 
 Tappuah Beth, 236. 
 Tarablus-Tripolis. 
 Tarichaea-Kerak, 272. 
 Teim Wady et, 254. 
 Tekoa (Tekua), 231. 
 Tell Amarna tablets, 53. 
 
 Arka, 68. 
 
 " Ashtarah (Ashtaroth), 304. 
 
 " Azur (Baal Hazor), 16. 
 
 " Dibbin, 254. 
 
 " el Ful, 166-167. 
 
 " el Hesy, 93. 
 
 " el Kady, 257. 
 
 " el Kasis, 120, 122, 136. 
 
 " el Mutasellim, 124. 
 
 " es Safi, 90, 102, 105. 
 
 Hum, 267-268. 
 Terebinth in Valley of Elah, 101. 
 Terraces of Palestine, 47. 
 Testimony of the Land to the 
 
 Book, 59. 
 Thebez (Tubas), 154. 
 
 Thotmes III., Conquests of, 52. 
 Tiberias, Sea of, 262-273. 
 " City of, 266. 
 " Hot springs of, 267. 
 Tibneh, 323. 
 Tih, Desert of, 237. 
 Timnath (Tibnah), 101. 
 Timnath Heres-Timnath Scran 
 
 (Kefr Haris), 155. 
 Tiphsah (Tafsah), 155. 
 Tirzah (Teiasir), 153. 
 Tob, Land of, 322. 
 Tomb of Absalom, 199. 
 
 " of David, 199. 
 
 " of Jehoshaphat, 199. 
 
 " Rachel, 228. 
 
 " St. James, 198. 
 
 " Zachariah, 199. 
 Tombs of the Kings, 198. 
 " Judges, 198. 
 Tophet-Gehenna. 
 Trachonitis (Lejah), 42, 306. 
 Trans- Jordanic Country, 56, 302. 
 Triple Gate (Jerusalem), 190. 
 Tripoli (Tarablus), 67. 
 Tribal Divisions, 36. 
 Turan, Plain of, 112. 
 Tulluza, 153. 
 Tyre, 72. 
 
 " Ladder of, 65. 
 Tyropceon Valley, 172. 
 
 Urn el Jemal (Beth Gamul), 328. 
 Um-Keis (Gadara), 321. 
 Urtas, Valley of, 215. 
 Unicorn of Syria, 26. 
 
 Valley gate, 220. 
 
 Virgin, Fountain of, (En Rogel), 
 
 207. 
 Volcanic Formations, 21. 
 
352 
 
 Index 
 
 Wailing Place of the Je'^s, 183. 
 
 Wady Abu Nar, 145. 
 
 Afranj, 103. 
 
 " Amriyeh, 280. 
 
 " Arab, 145. 
 
 " Bittir, 231. 
 
 " Bireh, 126. 
 
 " Deir Balut, 145. 
 
 El Arish, 9, 249. 
 
 " el Ahsy (Zered), 338. 
 
 el Aujeh, 145. 
 
 " el Ghar, 226. 
 
 el Hesy, 104. 
 
 " el Hod, 162. 
 
 en Nar, 226. 
 
 et Teim, 254. 
 
 " esh Shair, 137, 145. 
 
 esh Sheriah, 105. 
 
 " Farah, 144. 
 
 | Ghurab, 100. 
 
 " Hamam, 113. 
 
 " Ishar, 145. 
 
 " Kanah, 145. 
 
 Kelt, 161. 
 
 " Khureitun, 230. 
 
 " Melek, 112. 
 
 " Najil, 100. 
 
 " Nimr, 145. 
 
 " Nuweimeh, 160. 
 
 " Selhab, 145. 
 
 Surar, 100. 
 
 " Urtas, 231. 
 
 Zeidah, 317. 
 Wilderness of Judea, 225. 
 Wilson's Arch, 193. 
 
 Yarmuk River (Jarmuk), Hiero- 
 
 max, 273, 317. 
 Yazer-Jazer. 
 Yabis Wady, 324. 
 
 Zachariah, Tomb of, 199. 
 
 Zahleh, no. 
 
 Zakariya (Azekah), 103. 
 
 " Tell, 103. 
 Zarephath (Sarepta), 72. 
 Zaretan, 274. 
 
 Zebedany, Plain of, 289, 290. 
 Zeboim, 278. 
 
 Zebulun (Neby Sebalan), 115. 
 Zebulun, Territory of, 39. 
 
 " Plain of. See Buttauf. 
 Zedad (Sudad), 9, 253, 290. 
 Zemarites, 67. 
 
 Zephath (Hormah), 238, 242. 
 Zephathah, Valley of, 103. 
 Zered (Zarad), Brook, 338; 
 Zerin-Jezreel. 
 Zerka Nahr ez, 318. 
 Zidon-Sidon. 
 Zidonians, 31. 
 Zion Gate (Jerusalem), 175. 
 Zion-Sion, 172. 
 Ziph (Tell Zif), 234. 
 Ziph, Wood of, 234. 
 Ziphron (Zifrun), 291. 
 Ziz, Cliff of, 235. 
 
 Zoar (Tell Ektanu), 278-279, 281. 
 Zoheleth, Stone of (Zahweileh), 208. 
 Zor, 282. 
 Zorah (Surah), 100. 
 
YC i U46U I