Difference between revisions of "Palestine"

<p> Ρeleshet . Four times in [[Kjv,]] found always in poetry (&nbsp;Exodus 15:34; &nbsp;Isaiah 14:29; &nbsp;Isaiah 14:31; &nbsp;Joel 3:4); same as [[Philistia]] (&nbsp;Psalms 60:8; &nbsp;Psalms 87:4; &nbsp;Psalms 83:7 "the Philistines".) The long strip of seacoast plain held by the Philistines. The [[Assyrian]] king Ivalush's inscription distinguishes "Palaztu on the western sea" from Tyre, Samaria, etc. (Rawlinson, [[Herodotus]] 1:467.) So in the [[Egyptian]] Karnak inscriptions Pulusata is deciphered. The [[Scriptures]] never use it as we do, of the whole Holy Land. (See [[Canaan]] for the physical divisions, etc.) "The land of the Hebrew" [[Joseph]] calls it, because of Abraham's, Isaac's, and Jacob's settlements at Mamre, Hebron, and [[Shechem]] (&nbsp;Genesis 40:15). "the land of the Hittites" (&nbsp;Joshua 1:4); so Chita or Cheta means the whole of lower and middle Syria in the Egyptian records of [[Rameses]] [[Ii.]] In his inscriptions, and those of Thothmes [[Iii,]] Τu-netz , "Holy Land," occurs, whether meaning "Phoenicia" or "Palestine". In &nbsp;Hosea 9:3 "land of Jehovah," compare &nbsp;Leviticus 25:23; &nbsp;Isaiah 62:4. </p> <p> "The holy land," &nbsp;Zechariah 2:12; &nbsp;Zechariah 7:14, "land of desire"; &nbsp;Daniel 8:9. "the pleasant land"; &nbsp;Daniel 11:16; &nbsp;Daniel 11:41, "the glorious ''(or goodly)'' land"; &nbsp;Ezekiel 20:6; &nbsp;Ezekiel 20:15, "a land that [[I]] had espied for them flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands." God's choice of it as peculiarly His own was its special glory (&nbsp;Psalms 132:13; &nbsp;Psalms 48:2; &nbsp;Jeremiah 3:19 margin "a good land, a land of brooks of water ''(wadies often now dry, but a few perennial)'' , of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills ''(the deep blue pools, the sources of streams)'' , a land of wheat, barley, vines, figtrees, pomegranates, oil olive, honey ''('' dibs '', the syrup prepared from the grape lees, a common food now)'' ... wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it; whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass" (&nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:7-9). "The land of the Amorite" (&nbsp;Amos 2:10). </p> <p> "The land of Israel" in the larger sense (&nbsp;1 Samuel 13:19); in the narrower sense of the northern kingdom it occurs &nbsp;2 Chronicles 30:25. After the return from Babylon "Judaea" was applied to the whole country [[S.]] and [[N.,]] and [[E.]] beyond Jordan (&nbsp;Matthew 19:1). "The land of promise" (&nbsp;Hebrews 11:9). "Judaea" in the Roman sense was part of the province "Syria," which comprised the seaboard from the bay of [[Issus]] to Egypt, and meant the country from [[Idumea]] on the [[S.]] to the territories of the free cities on the [[N.]] and [[W.,]] Scythopolis, Sebaste, Joppa, Azotus, etc. The land [[E.]] of Jordan between it and the desert, except the territory of the free cities Poilu, Gadara, Philadelphia, was "Perea." From Dan (Banias) in the far [[N.]] to [[Beersheba]] on the [[S.]] is 139 English miles, two degrees or 120 geographical miles. The breadth at [[Gaza]] from the Mediterranean to the [[Dead]] Sea is 48 geographical miles; at the Litany, from the coast to Jordan is 20 miles; the average is 34 geographical or 40 English miles. About the size of Wales. The length of country under dominion in Solomon's days was probably 170 miles, the breadth 90, the area 12,000 or 13,000 square miles. </p> <p> The population, anciently from three to six millions, is now under one million. The Jordan valley with its deep depression separates it from the [[Moab]] and [[Gilead]] highlands. Lebanon, Antilebanon, and the [[Litany]] ravine at their feet form the northern bound. On the [[S.]] the dry desert of [[Paran]] and "the river of Egypt" bound it. On the western verge of Asia, and severed from the main body of Asia by the desert between Palestine and the regions of [[Mesopotamia]] and Arabia, it looks on the other side to the Mediterranean and western world, which it was destined by Providence so powerfully to affect; oriental and reflective, yet free from the stagnant and retrogressive tendencies of Asia, it bore the precious spiritual treasure of which it was the repository to the energetic and progressive [[W.]] It consists mainly of undulating highlands, bordered [[E.]] and [[W.]] by a broad belt of deep sunk lowland. </p> <p> The three main features, plains, hills, and torrent beds, are specified (&nbsp;Numbers 13:29; &nbsp;Joshua 11:16; &nbsp;Joshua 12:8). Mount Carmel, rising to the height of above 1,700 ft., crosses the maritime plain half way up the coast with a long ridge from the central chain, and juts out into the Mediterranean as a bold headland. The plain of [[Jezreel]] or Esdraelon on its northern side, separating the [[Ephraim]] mountains from those of Galilee, and stretching across from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley, was the great battlefield of Palestine. Galilee is the northern portion, Samaria the middle, Judaea the southern. The long purple wall of Gilead and Moab's hills on the eastern side is everywhere to be seen. The bright light and transparent air enable one from the top of Tabor, [[Gerizim]] or [[Bethel]] at once to see Moab on the [[E.]] and the Mediterranean on the [[W.]] On a line [[E.]] of the axis of the country and running [[N.]] and [[S.]] lie certain elevations: [[Hebron]] 3,029 ft. above the sea; Jerusalem, 2,610; Olivet, 2,724; Neby Samwil on the [[N.,]] 2,650; Bethel, 2,400; [[Ebal]] and Gerizim, 2,700; Little Hermon and Tabor, [[N.]] of the Esdraelon plain, 1,900. </p> <p> The watershed sends off the drainage of the country in streams running [[W.]] to the Mediterranean and [[E.]] to the Jordan, except at the Esdraelon plain and the far [[N.]] where the drainage is to the Litany. Had the Jews been military in character, they would easily have prevented their conquerors from advancing up the precipitous defiles from the [[E.,]] the only entrances to the central highlands of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, from the Jordan valley; as [[Engedi]] (&nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:1-2; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 20:16) and Adummim, the route between Jericho and Jerusalem by which Pompey advanced when he took the capital. The slope from the western valleys is more gradual, as the level of the plain is higher, and the distance up the hills longer, than from the eastern Jordan depression; still the passes would be formidable for any army with baggage to pass. From Jaffa up to Jerusalem there are two roads: the one to the right by Ramleh and the wady Aly; the other the historic one by [[Lydda]] and the Bethorons, or the wady Suleiman, and Gibeon. </p> <p> By this Joshua drove the [[Canaanites]] to the plains; the Philistines went up to Michmash, and fled back past Ajalon. The rival empires, Egypt and Babylon-Assyria, could march against one another only along the maritime western plain of Palestine and the Lebanon plain leading toward and from the Euphrates. Thus Rameses [[Ii]] marched against the Chitti or [[Hittites]] in northern Syria, and [[Pharaoh]] [[Necho]] fought at Mefiddo in the Esdraelon plain, the battlefield of Palestine; they did not meddle with the central highlands, "The [[S.]] country" being near the desert, destitute of trees, and away from the mountain streams, is drier than the [[N.,]] where springs abound. (See [[Pharaoh]] [[Necho;]] [[Megiddo.)]] The region below Hebron between the hills and the desert is called the [[Negeb]] (the later Daroma) from its dryness. Hence Caleb's daughter, having her portion in it, begged from him springs, i.e. land having springs (&nbsp;Judges 1:15). The "upper and lower springs" spring from the hard formation in the [[N.W.]] corner of the Negeb (&nbsp;Joshua 15:19); here too [[Nabal]] lived, so reluctant to give "his water" (&nbsp;1 Samuel 25:11). </p> <p> The verdure and blaze of scarlet flowers which cover the highlands of Judah and [[Benjamin]] in spring, while streams pour down the ravines, give place to dreary barrenness in the summit. Rounded low hills, with coarse gray stone, clumps of oak bushes, and the remains of ancient terraces running round them, meet one on each side, or else the terraces are reconstructed and bear olives and figs, and vineyards are surrounded by rough walls with watchtowers. Large oak roots are all that attest the former existence of trees along the road between Bethlehem and Hebron. [[Corn]] or dourra fills many of the valleys, and the stalks left until the ensuing seedtime give a dry neglected look to the scene. More vegetation appears in the [[W.]] and [[N.W.]] The wady es Sumt is named from its acacias. Olives, terebinths, pines, and laurels here and ten miles to the [[N.]] at Κirjath [[Jearim]] ("city of forests") give a wooded aspect to the scenery. </p> <p> The tract, nine miles wide and 35 long, between the center and the sudden descent to the Dead Sea, is desolate at all seasons, a series of hills without vegetation, water, and almost life, with no ruins save [[Masada]] and one or two watchtowers. ''(On the caves, see [[Caves.)'']] No provision is made in the [[S.]] for preserving the water of the heavy winter and spring rains, as in [[Malta]] and Bermuda. The valley of Urtas, [[S.]] of Bethlehem, abounding in springs, and the pools of Solomon, are exceptions to the general dryness of the [[S.]] The ruins on every hill, the remains of ancient terraces which kept the soil up from being washed into the valleys, and the forests that once were in many parts of [[Judea]] until invasions and bad government cleared them away, and which preserved the moistness in the wadies, confirm the truth of the Bible account of the large population once maintained in Judah and Benjamin. The springs and vegetation as one advances [[N.]] toward Mount Ephraim especially strike the eye. (See [[Fountains;]] [[En]] [[Hakkore;]] [[Gihon;]] [[Engedi;]] [[Harod;]] [[Engannim;]] [[Endor;]] [[Jezreel.)]] </p> <p> Such springs as [[Ain]] Jalud or Rasel Mukatta, welling forth as a considerable stream from the limestone, or Tel el Kady forming a deep clear pool issuing from a woody mound, or [[Banias]] where a river issues roaring from its cave, or Jenin bubbling from the level ground, are sights striking by their rarity. Mount Ephraim (jebel Nablus) contains some of the most productive land in Palestine. [[Fine]] streams, with oleanders and other flowering trees on their banks, run through the valleys which are often well cultivated. [[N.W.]] of Nablus is the large, rich, grain abounding, and partly wooded district toward Carmel, which reaches to where the mountains slope down to [[Sharon]] plain under Mount Carmel. Extensive woods there are none, and the olives which are found everywhere but little improve the landscape. This absence of woods elsewhere makes their presence on Carmel's sides, and parklike slopes, the more striking. [[N.]] of Esdraelon the Galilee hills abound in timber, the land round Tabor is clad in dark oak, forming a contrast to jebel ed Duhy (Little Hermon) and Nazareth's white hills. </p> <p> Oaks, terebinths, maples, arbutus, sumach, etc., cover the ravines and slopes of the numerous swelling hills, and supply the timber carried to Tyre for export as fuel to the seacoast towns. The hills throughout Palestine are crowned with remains of fenced cities, scarcely a town existed in the valleys. Inaccessibility was their object, for security; also the treacherous nature of the alluvial sand made the lower position unsafe in times of torrent floods from the hills, whereas the rock afforded a firm foundation (&nbsp;Matthew 7:24-27). Unlike ordinary conquests, the Israelite conquerors took the hills, but the conquered Canaanites kept the plains where their chariots could maneuver (&nbsp;Judges 1:19-35). Appropriately a highland coloring tinges their literature (&nbsp;Psalms 72:3; &nbsp;Psalms 72:16; &nbsp;Isaiah 2:2; &nbsp;Ezekiel 36:1,; &nbsp;1 Kings 20:28). The hills were the sites also of the forbidden "high places." The panoramic views from many hills, trodden by patriarchs, prophets, and heroes, as Olivet, Bethel, Gerizim, Carmel, Tabor, etc., are remarkable for their wide extent, comprising so many places of historic interest at once, owing to the clearness of the air. </p> <p> The seacoast lowland between the hills and sea stretches from Εl Αrish ("river of Egypt") to Carmel. The lower half, Philistia, is wider; the upper, or Sharon, narrower. This region from the sea looks a low undulating strip of white sand. Attached to the plain is the shephelah or "region of lower hills" intermediate between the plain and the mountains of Judah. Low calcareous hills, covered with villages and ruins, and largely planted with olives, rise above broad arable valleys. Olive, sycamore, and palm encircle Gaza and [[Ashdod]] in the plain along the shore. The soil is fertile brown loam, almost without a stone. [[Brick]] made of the loam and stubble being the material of the houses, these have been washed away by rains, so that the ancient villages have left few traces. The plain is one vast grainfield, produced without manure, save that supplied by the deposits washed down by the streams from the hills, without irrigation, and with only the simplest agriculture. Sharon is ten miles wide from the sea to the mountain base; there are no intermediate hills, as the shephelah in Philistia. </p> <p> Its undulations are crossed by perennial streams from the central hills, which instead of spreading into marshes, as now, might be utilized for irrigation. The ancient irrigatory system, with passes cut through the solid wall of cliff near the sea for drainage, is choked up. The rich soil varies from red to black, and on the borders of the marshes and streams are rank meadows where herds still feed, as in David's days (&nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:29). The white sand is encroaching on the coast. In the [[N.]] between Jaffa and Caesarea sand dunes are reported to exist, three miles wide, 300 ft. high. The Jews, though this region with its towns was assigned to them (&nbsp;Joshua 15:45-47; &nbsp;Joshua 13:3-6; &nbsp;Joshua 16:3 Gezer, &nbsp;Joshua 17:11 Dor), never permanently occupied it. The Philistines kept their five cities independent of, and sometimes supreme over, Israel (1 Samuel 5; &nbsp;1 Samuel 21:10; &nbsp;1 Samuel 27:2; &nbsp;1 Kings 2:39; &nbsp;2 Kings 8:2-3). </p> <p> The Canaanites held [[Dor]] (&nbsp;Judges 1:27) and [[Gezer]] until Pharaoh took it and gave it to his daughter, Solomon's wife (&nbsp;1 Kings 9:16). [[Lod]] (Lydda) and [[Ono]] were in Benjamin's possession toward the end of the monarchy and after the return from Babylon (&nbsp;Nehemiah 11:34; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 28:18). Gaza and [[Askelon]] had regular ports (majumas, Kenrick, Phoen. 27-29). Ashdod was strong enough to withstand the whole Egyptian force for 29 years. Under Rome Caesarea, (now a ruin washed by the sea) and [[Antipatris]] in this region were leading cities of the province. Joppa between Philistia and Sharon. is still the seaport for travelers from the [[W.]] to Jerusalem, and was Israel's only harbor. They had no word for harbor, so unversed in commerce were they; yet their sacred poets show their appreciation of the phenomena of the sea (&nbsp;Psalms 104:25-26; &nbsp;Psalms 107:23-30). Bedouin marauders and Turkish misrule have closed the old coast route between [[N.]] and [[S.,]] and left the fertile and to be comparatively uncultivated. The Jordan valley is the special feature of Palestine. </p> <p> Syria is divided, from Antioch in the [[N.]] to Akaba on the eastern extremity of the Red Sea, by a deep valley parallel to the Mediterranean and separating the central highlands from the eastern ones. The range of Lebanon and Hermon crosses this valley between its northern portion, the valley of the Orontes. and its main portion the valley of Jordan ''(the '' Αrabah '' of the Hebrew, the '' Αulon '' of the Greeks, and the '' Ghor '' of the Arabs.)'' Again, the high ground [[S.]] of the Dead Sea crosses between the valley of the Jordan and the wady el [[Arabah]] running to the Red Sea. The Jordan valley divides Galilee, Ephraim, and Judah from Bashan, Gilead, and Moab respectively. The bottom of Jordan valley is actually more than 2,600 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, and must have once been far deeper, being now covered with sediment accumulated by the Jordan. The steepness of the descent front [[Olivet]] is great, but not unparalleled; the peculiarity which is unique is that the descent is into the bowels of the earth; one standing at the Dead Sea shore is almost as far below the ocean surface as the miner in the lowest depths of any mine. </p> <p> The climate of the Jordan valley is tropical and enervating, and the men of Jericho a feeble race. "The region round about Jordan" was used of the vicinity of Jericho (&nbsp;Matthew 3:5). The Jordan is perennial, but most of the so-called "rivers" are mere "winter torrents" (nachal ), dry during fully half the year (&nbsp;Job 6:15-17). The land of promise must have been a delightful exchange for the dreary desert, especially as the Israelites entered it at [[Passover]] (&nbsp;Joshua 5:10-11), i.e. springtime, when the country is lovely with verdure and flowers. There is a remarkable variety of climate and natural aspect, due to the differences of level between the different parts, and also to the vicinity of snowy Hermon and Lebanon on the [[N.]] and of the parched desert of the [[S.,]] and lastly to the proximity of the ever fresh and changing sea. The Jordan valley, in its light fertile soil and torrid atmosphere where breezes never penetrate, somewhat resembles the valley of the Nile (&nbsp;Genesis 13:10). The contrast between highland and lowland is marked by the phraseology "going up" to Judah, Jerusalem. </p> <p> Hebron; "going down" to Jericho, Gaza, Egypt. "The mountain of Judah," "of Ephraim," "of Naphtali," designate the three great groups of highlands. In these the characteristic names occur, Gibeah, Geba, [[Gibeon]] (hill), Ramah, [[Ramathaim]] ("brow"), Mizpeh, Zonhim (watchtower, watchers). The lower hills and southern part of the seacoast plain is the "shephelah "; the northern part Sharon; the Jordan valley Ηa-Αrabah; the "ravines", "torrent beds", and "small valleys" ('eemeq , nachal , gay ) of the highlands are never confounded. The variations in temperature, from the heat of midday and the dryness of summer to the rain, snow, and frosts of winter, are often alluded to (&nbsp;Psalms 19:6; &nbsp;Psalms 32:4; &nbsp;Psalms 147:16-18; &nbsp;Isaiah 4:6; &nbsp;Isaiah 25:5; &nbsp;Genesis 18:1; &nbsp;1 Samuel 11:9; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:3; &nbsp;Jeremiah 36:30). The Bible by its endless variety of such illusions, familiar to the people of the [[W.]] and suggested by Palestine which stands between [[E.]] and [[W.,]] partaking of the characteristics of both, suits itself to the men of every land. </p> <p> [['''Antiquities''']] . In contrast to Egypt, Assyria, and Greece, Palestine does not contain an edifice older than the Roman occupation. There are but few remains left illustrating Israelite art. The coins, rude and insignificant, the oldest, being possibly of the Maccabean era, are the solitary exception. The enclosure round Abraham's tomb at Hebron we know not the date of Solomon's work still remains in some places. Wilson's arch is probably Solomonic, and the part of the sanctuary wall on [[E.]] side. (See [[Jerusalem.)]] The "beveling," thought to be Jewish, is really common throughout Asia Minor; it is found at Persepolis, Cnidus, and Athens. The prohibition '''(1)''' of making graven images or likenesses of living creatures, and '''(2)''' of building any other temple than that at Jerusalem, restricted art. Solomon's temple was built under Hiram's guidance. The synagogues of the Maccabean times were built in the Greek style of architecture. Tent life left its permanent impression on Israel (&nbsp;2 Samuel 20:1; &nbsp;1 Kings 12:16; &nbsp;2 Chronicles 10:16; &nbsp;2 Kings 14:12; &nbsp;Jeremiah 30:18; &nbsp;Zechariah 12:7; &nbsp;Psalms 78:55; &nbsp;Psalms 84:1; &nbsp;Isaiah 16:5). </p> <p> [['''Geology''']] . Palestine is a much disturbed mountainous tract of limestone, of the secondary or jurassic and cretaceous period. It is an offshoot from Lebanon, much raised above the sea, with partial interruptions from tertiary and basaltic deposits. The crevasse of the Jordan is possibly volcanic in origin, an upheaval tilting the limestone so as to leave a vast split in the strata, but stopping without intruding volcanic rocks into the fissure. The basins of the sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea resemble craters. Others attribute the chasm to the ocean's gradual action in immense periods. The hills range mainly [[N.]] and [[S.]] The limestone consists of two groups of strata. The upper is a solid stone varying from white to reddish brown, with few fossils, and abounding in caverns; the strata sometimes level for terraces, oftener violently disarranged, and twisted into various forms, as on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. </p> <p> This limestone is often topped with flint-abounding chalk, as on the western side of the Dead Sea, where it has many salt and sulfurous springs. Dolomite or magnesian limestone, a send-crystalline rock, white or brown with glistening surface, blends with the mass of limestone, near Jerusalem. The lower limestone group has two series of beds: the upper darkish, cavernous, and ferruginous; the lower dark gray, solid, abounding in the fossil cidaris, an extinct echinus, the spines of which are the "olives" of the convents. This is the substratum of the whole country [[E.]] and [[W.]] of Jordan. The ravine from Olivet to Jericho affords an opportunity of examining the strata through which it cuts. After the limestone had assumed its present outline, lava burst, from beneath and overflowed the stratified beds, as basalt or trap, long before historic times. These volcanic rocks are found in the cis-Jordanic country, only [[N.]] of the Samaria mountains, e.g. [[S.W.]] of Esdraelon plain and [[N.]] of Tabor. The two centers of eruption were: </p> <p> '''(1)''' The older about Kuru Hattin, the traditional mount of beatitudes, from whence the lava flowed forming the cliffs at the back of Tiberius; the disintegration of the basalt formed the fertile black soil of the plain of Gennesaret. </p> <p> '''(2)''' The more recent, near Safed, where three craters have become the lakes el Jish, Taiteba, and Delata. </p> <p> The earthquake in Uzziah's time (&nbsp;Zechariah 14:5), which injured the temple and brought down a mass of rock from Olivet (Josephus, Ant. 9:10, section 4), shows that volcanic action has continued in historic times. From the 13th to the 17th centuries [[A.D.]] earthquakes were unknown in Syria and Judaea, but the Archipelago and southern Italy suffered greatly. Since than their activity has been resumed, destroying Aleppo in 1616 and 1822. Antioch in 1737, and [[Tiberius]] and [[Safed]] in 1837. See &nbsp;Amos 4:11; compare &nbsp;Matthew 27:51; &nbsp;Psalms 46:1-2. The hot salt and fetid springs at Tiberias, [[Callirrhoe]] (wady Ζerka Μain , [[E.]] of the Dead Sea), and other places along the Jordan valley, and round the lakes, as Ain Tabighah [[N.E.]] of lake Tiberias, the rock salt, niter, and sulphur of the Dead Sea, evidence volcanic agency. The Tiberias hot springs flowed more abundantly and increased in temperature during the earthquake of 1837. [[W.]] of the lower Jordan and Dead Sea no volcanic formations appear. The igneous rocks first appear in situ near the water level at wady Hemarah, a little [[N.]] of wady Zerka Main [[N.E.]] of the Dead Sea. </p> <p> Here and [[E.]] of the upper Jordan the most remarkable igneous rocks are found; the limestone lies underneath. The Lejah, anciently [[Argob]] or Trachonitis, has scarcely anything exactly like it on the earth. (See [[Argob.)]] Traces of two terraces appear in the Jordan valley. The upper is the broader and older; the second, 50 to 150 ft. lower, reaching to the channel of the Jordan, was excavated by the river before it fell to its present level, when it filled the space between the eastern and western faces of the upper terrace. The inner side of both terraces is furrowed by the descending rains into conical hillocks. The lower terrace has much vegetation, oleanders, etc. The tertiary beds, marls, and conglomerates prevail round the margin of the Dead Sea; at its [[S.E.]] corner sandstone begins and stretches [[N.]] to wady Zerka Main. The alluvial soil of Philistia is formed of washings from the highlands by winter rains. It is loamy sand, red or black, formed of sandstone disintegrated by the waves and cast on the shore, or, as [[Josephus]] (Ant. 15:9, section 6) states, brought from Egypt by the [[S.S.W.]] wind. </p> <p> It chokes the streams in places, and forms marshes which might be utilized for promoting fertility. The plain of Gennesaret is richer land, owing to the streams flowing all the year round, and to the decay of volcanic rocks on the surrounding heights. Esdraelon plain is watered by the finest springs of Palestine, and has a volcanic soil. [[Asphalt]] or bitumen is only met with in the valley of the Jordan, and in fragments floating on the water or at the shore of the Dead Sea. Bituminous limestone probably exists in thick strata near neby Musa; thence bitumen escapes from its lower beds into the Dead Sea, and there accumulates till, becoming accidentally detached, it rises to the surface. Sulphur is found on the [[W.,]] [[S.,]] and [[S.E.]] shore of the Dead Sea, a sulfurous crust spreading over the beach. [[Niter]] is rare. Rock salt abounds. The Khasm Usdum, a mound at the [[S.]] of the Dead Sea, is five miles and a half long by two and a half broad, and several hundred feet high; the lower part rock salt, the upper Sulphate of lime and salt with alumina. </p> <p> [['''Botany''']] . Palestine is the southern and eastern limit of the Asia Minor flora, one of the richest in the earth, and contains many trees and herbs as the pine, oak, elder, bramble, dogrose, hawthorn, which do not grow further [[S.]] and [[E.]] owing to the dryness and heat of the regions beyond hilly Judaea. Persian forms appear on the eastern frontier, Arabian and Egyptian on the southern. Arabian and Indian tropical plants of about 100 different kinds are the remarkable anomaly in the torrid depression of the Jordan and Dead Sea. The general characteristics, owing to the geographical position and mountains of Asia Minor and Syria, are Mediterranean European, not Asiatic. Palestine was once covered with forests which still remain on the mountains, but in the lower grounds have disappeared or given place to brush wood. </p> <p> Herbaceous plants deck the hills and lowlands from [[Christmas]] to June, afterward the heat withers all. The mountains, unlike our own, have no alpine or arctic plants, mosses, lichens, or ferns. [[Volney]] objected to the sacred history on the ground of Judaea's present barrenness, whereas [[Scripture]] represents it as flowing with milk and honey; but this is strong testimony for its truth, for the barrenness is the fulfillment of Scripture prophecies. Besides our English fruits, the apple, vine, pear, apricot, plum, mulberry, and fig, there are dates, pomegranates, oranges, limes, banana, almond, prickly pear, and pistachio nut, etc.; out no gooseberry, strawberry, raspberry, currant, cherry, Besides our cereals and vegetables there are cotton, millet, rice, sugar cane, maize, melons, cummin, sweet potato, tobacco, yam, etc. Three principal regions are distinguishable: </p> <p> '''(1)''' the western half of Syria and Palestine, resembling the flora of Spain; </p> <p> '''(2)''' the desert and eastern half, resembling the flora of western India and Persia; </p> <p> '''(3)''' the middle and upper mountain regions, the flora of which resembles that of northern Europe. The trans-jordanic region stretching to Mesopotamia is botanically unexplored. </p> <p> '''(1)''' In western, Syria and the commonest tree is the Quercus pseudococcifera Oak, then the pistacia, the carob tree (Ceratona siliqua ), the oriental plane, the sycamore fig, Αrbutus Αndrachne , Ζizyphus spina [[Christi]] ("Christ's thorn"), tamarisk, the blossoming oleander along the banks of streams and lakes, gum cistus, the caper plant. (See [[Oak;]] [[Husks.)]] The vine is cultivated in all directions; the enormous bunches of grapes at [[Eshcol]] are still fatuous; those near Hebron are so long as to reach the ground when hung on a stick resting between two men's shoulders. (See [[Olive]] and [[Fig]] thereon.) Of more than 2,000 plants in this botanical division, 500 are British wild flowers. </p> <p> Legum nosae abound in all situations. Of the Compositae , centauries and thistles. The hills of Galilee and Samaria are perfumed with the Labiatae , marjoram, thyme, lavender, sage, etc. Of Cruciferae , the giant mustard and rose of Jericho. Of Umbelliferae , the fennels. Of the Caryophylleae , pinks and sabonaria. Of Βoragineae , the beautiful echiums, anchusas, and onosmas. Of Scrophularineae , veronica and vebascum. The grasses seldom form a sward as in humid and colder countries; the pasture in the East is afforded by herbs and herbaceous shrubs. The Αrundo donax , Saccharum , Αegyptiacum , and Εrianthus Rarennoe are gigantic in size, and bear silky flower plumes of great beauty. Of Liliaceae , there is a beautiful variety, tulips, fritillaries, and squills. </p> <p> The Violaceae and Resaceae (except the Ρoterium spinosum ) and Lobeliaeceae are scarce, the Geraniaceae beautiful and abundant, also the Campauulaceae , Εuphorbiaceae , and Convolvuli . Ferns are scarce, owing to the dryness of the climate. The papyrus is the most remarkable of all. Once it grew along the Nile, but now it grows nowhere in Africa [[N.]] of the tropics. Syria is its only habitat besides, except one spot in Sicily. It forms tufts of triangled smooth stems, six to ten feet high, crowned by atop of pendulous threads; it abounds by the lake of Tiberius. The Cucurbitaceae abound, including gourds, pumpkins, the colocynth apple which yields the drug, and the squirting cucumber. The landscape in spring is one mass of beauty with adonis, the Ranunculus Αsiaticus , phloxes, mallows, scabicea, orchis; narcissus, iris, gladiolus, crocuses, colchicum, star of Bethlehem, etc. </p> <p> '''(2)''' The difference of the flora of eastern Syria and Palestine from the western appears strikingly in going down from Olivet to the Dead Sea. In the valleys [[W.]] and [[S.]] of Jerusalem there are dwarf oaks, pistacia, smilax, arbutus rose, bramble, and Cratoegus Αronia; the last alone is on Olivet. Not one of these appears eastward. Toward the Dead Sea salsolas, Capparideae , rues, tamarisks, etc., appear. In the sunken valley of the Jordan the Ζizyphus spina Christi , the Βalanites Αegyptiaca yielding the zuk oil, the Οchradenus baccatus , the Αcacia Furnesiana with fragrant yellow flowers, the mistletoe Loranthus acacioe with flaming scarlet flowers, the Αlhagi Μaurorum , the prickly Solanum Sodomoeum with yellow fruit called the Dead Sea apple. </p> <p> On the Jordan banks the Ρopulus Εuphratica , found all over central Asia but not [[W.]] of Jordan. In the saline grounds Αtriplex halimus , statices (sea pinks), salicornias. Other tropical plants are Ζygophyllum coccineum , Astragali, Cassias, and Nitraria. In Engedi valley alone Sida nautica and Αsiatica , Calotropis procera , Αmberboa , Βatatas littoralis , Αerva Javanica , Ρluchea Dioscoridis , and Salvadora Ρersica "mustard", found as far [[S.]] as Abyssinia and [[E.]] as India, but not [[W.]] or [[N.]] of the Dead Sea. (See [[Mustard.)]] In reascending from the [[N.W.]] shore on reaching the level of the Mediterranean the Ρoterium spinosum , anchusa, pink, of the Mediterranean coast, are seen, but no trees until the longitude of Jerusalem is reached. </p> <p> '''(3)''' Middle and upper mountains region. Above the height of 5,000 feet the Quercus cerris of [[S.]] Europe, the Quercus Εhrenbergii or Castanaefolia , Quercus Τoza , Quercus Libani , Quercus manifera are found, junipers, and cedars. The dry climate and sterile limestone, and the warm age that succeeded the glacial ''(the moraines of the cedar valley attesting the former existence: of glaciers)'' , account for the flora of Lebanon being unlike to that of the Alps of Europe, India, and [[N.]] America. The most boreal forms are restricted to clefts of rocks or the neighborhood of snow, above 9,000 feet, namely, Drabas, Arenaria, one Potentilla, a Festuca, an Arabis, and the Οxyria reniformis , the only arctic type surviving the glacial period. The prevalent forms up to the summit are astragali, Αcantholimon statices , and the small white Nocea. </p> <p> [['''Zoology''']] . Palestine epitomizes the natural features of all regions, mountain and desert, temperate and tropical, seacoast and interior, pastoral, arable and volcanic; nowhere are the typical fauna of so many regions and zones brought together. This was divinely ordered that the Bible might be the book of mankind, not of Israel alone. The bear of Lebanon (Ursus Syriacus ) and the gazelle of the desert, the wolf of the [[N.]] and the leopard (Leopardus varius in the central mountains) of the tropics; the falcons, linnets, and buntings of England, and the Palestine sun bird (Cinnyris osea ), the grackle of the glen (Αmydrus Τristramii ), "the glossy starling" in the [[Kedron]] gorge ''(whose music rolls like that of the organ bird of Australia, a purely African type)'' , the jay of Palestine, and the Palestine nightingale (Ιcos xanthopygos ), the sweetest songster of the country. </p> <p> Of 322 species of birds noted by Tristram, 79 are common to the British isles, 260 are in European lists, 31 of eastern Africa, 7 of eastern Asia, 4 of northern Asia, 4 of Russia, 27 peculiar to Palestine. He obtained a specimen of ostrich (Struthio camelus ) from the Belka [[E.]] of the Dead Sea. Jackals and foxes abound, the hyena and wolf are not numerous. (See [[Lion]] thereon.) Of the pachyderms, the wild boar (Sus scrofa ) on Tabor and Little Hermon, also the Syrian hyrax. (See [[Coney.)]] [[A]] kind of squirrel (Sciurus Syriacus ) on Lebanon, the Syrian and the Egyptian hare, the jerboa (Dipus Αegyptius ), the porcupine, the short-tailed field mouse, and rats, etc., represent the Rodentia . The gazelle is the antelope of Palestine. The fallow deer is not uncommon. The Persian ibex [[Canon]] Τristram found [[S.]] of Hebron. (See [[Unicorn]] as to the wild ox, urus, or bison.) </p> <p> The buffalo is used for draught and plowing. The ox is small. The sheep is the broad tailed. Of reptiles: the stellio lizard, which the Turks kill as they think that it mimics them saying prayers; the chameleon; the gecko (Τarentola ); the Greek tortoise. Of serpents and snakes, the Νaia , Coluber , and Cerastes Ηasselquistii , etc. Large frogs. Of fish in the sea of Galilee the binny, a bird of barbel, is the most common. The fish there resemble those of the Nile. The land mollusks are very numerous, in the [[N.]] the genus Clausilia and opaque bulimi . In the [[S.]] and hills of Judah the genus Helix like that of Egypt and the African Sahara. In the valley of Jordan the bulimus. No mollusk can exist in the Dead Sea owing to its bitter saltiness. The butterflies of southern Europe are represented in Sharon; the [[Apollo]] of the Alps is represented on Olivet by the Parnassius Apollinis. The Τhais and [[Glorious]] Vanessa abound. </p> <p> [['''Climate''']] . January ''(temperature average 49 degrees [[F.,]] greatest cold 28 degrees [[F.)'']] is the coldest month; July and August the hottest ''(average 78 degrees [[F.;]] greatest heat in shade, 92 degrees [[F.;]] in sun, 148 degrees [[F.)'']] . The mean annual temperature is 65 degrees [[F.]] The temperature and seasons resemble California. [[A]] sea breeze from the [[N.W.]] from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. mitigates the four months' midsummer heat. The khamsin or sirocco blows in February, March, and April. When it comes from the [[E.]] it darkens the air and fills everything with fine dust. [[Snow]] often falls in January and February (&nbsp;Psalms 68:14; &nbsp;Isaiah 55:10; &nbsp;2 Samuel 23:20); but plants do not need shelter from the frost. The average fall of rain at Jerusalem is 61.6 inches; whereas the London mean is only 25. [[Rain]] comes most from [[S.]] or [[S.W.]] (&nbsp;Luke 12:54) It begins in October or early in November, and continues to the end of February or middle of March, rarely to the end of April. </p> <p> Not a continuous rain, but a succession of showers or storms with intervals of fine weather for a few weeks in December and January. [[A]] drought of three months before harvest is fatal to the crops (&nbsp;Amos 4:7). None falls from April to October or November. Thus but two seasons are specified, "winter and summer," "cold and heat," "seedtime and harvest." But heavy saturating dews fall in summer, and thick fogs often prevail at night. In Jericho and the Ghor, sunk so deep below the sea level, the heat is much greater, owing to the absence of breeze, the enclosure by heights, the sandy soil, and the earth's internal heat; the harvest is a month in advance of that of the highland. The seacoast lowland has the heat mitigated by sea breeze, but it is hotter than the uplands. The Bible nomenclature of places still exists almost unchanged. Israel accepted it front the Canaanites; as is proved by the correspondence between it as recorded in Joshua and the nomenclature in the lists and conquests of Thothmes [[Iii.]] Thus the modern fellaheen seem to be the mixed descendants of the old Canaanites. </p>

<p> '''Pal'estine.''' ''(land of strangers).'' These two forms, ['''Palesti'na''' and '''Pal'estine''' ], occur in the Authorized Version, but four times in all, always in poetical passages; the first in &nbsp;Exodus 15:14 and &nbsp;Isaiah 14:29, the second in &nbsp;Joel 3:4. In each case, the Hebrew is '''Pelesheth''' , a word found, besides the above, only in &nbsp;Psalms 60:8; &nbsp;Psalms 83:7; &nbsp;Psalms 87:4 and &nbsp;Psalms 108:9. In all of which, our translators have rendered as "Philistia" or "Philistines." Palestine, in the Authorized Version, really means nothing, but Philistia. The original Hebrew word, '''Pelesheth''' , to the Hebrews signified merely the long and broad strip of maritime plain inhabited by their encroaching neighbors; nor does it appear that, at first, it signified more to the Greeks. </p> <p> As lying next the sea, and as being also the high road from Egypt to [[Phoenicia]] and the richer regions, take note of it, but the Philistine plain became sooner known to the western world than the country farther inland, and was called by them, '''Syria Palestina''' (Philistine Syria). From thence, it was gradually extended to the country farther inland, till in the Roman and later Greek authors, both heathen sad Christian, it became the usual appellation for the whole country of the Jews, both west and east of Jordan. The word is now so commonly employed, in our more familiar language, to destinate the whole country of Israel that, although biblically a misnomer, it has been chosen here as the most convenient heading under which to give a general description of '''The Holy Land''' , embracing those points which have not been treated under the separate headings of cities or tribes. </p> <p> This description will most conveniently divide itself Into three sections: - [[''I.]] '' '''The Names''' applied to the country of Israel in the Bible and elsewhere. [[''Ii.]] '' '''The Land''' ; its situation, aspect, climb, physical characteristics in connection with its history, its structure, botany and natural history. [[''Iii.]] '' '''The History''' of the country is so fully given, under its various headings throughout the work, that it is unnecessary to recapitulate it here. </p> <p> [[''I.]] '' '''The Names''' ''.'' - ''Palestine'' , then, is designated in the Bible by more than one name. During the patriarchal period, the conquest and the age of the Judges, and also where those early periods are referred to in the later literature (as in) &nbsp;Psalms 105:11, it is spoken of as ''"Canaan",'' or more frequently, ''"the land of Canaan",'' meaning thereby, ''the country west of the Jordan'' , as opposed to ''"the land of Gilead",'' on the east. </p> <p> During the monarchy, the name usually, though not frequently, employed is ''"the land of Israel".'' &nbsp;1 Samuel 13:19. </p> <p> Between the captivity and the time of our Lord, the name ''"Judea"'' had extended itself, from the southern portion, to the whole of the country, and even that beyond the Jordan. &nbsp;Matthew 19:1; &nbsp;Mark 10:1. </p> <p> The Roman division of the country hardly coincided with the biblical one, and it does not appear that the Romans had any distinct name for that which we understand by Palestine. </p> <p> Soon after the Christian era, we find the name ''"Palestina"'' in possession of the country. </p> <p> The name most frequently used throughout the middle ages, and down to our own time, is '''Terra Sancta''' - '''The Holy Land.''' </p> <p> [[''Ii.]] '' '''The Land''' ''.'' - The Holy Land is not, in size or physical characteristics, proportioned to its moral and historical position as the theatre of the most momentous events in the world's history. It is but a strip of country about the size of Wales, less than 140 miles in length and barely 40 miles in average breadth, on the very frontier of the East, hemmed in between the Mediterranean Sea, on the one hand, and the enormous trench of the Jordan valley, on the other, by which it is effectually cut off from the mainland of Asia behind it. On the north, it is shut in by the high ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and by the chasm of the Litany. On the south, it is no less enclosed by the arid and inhospitable deserts of the upper pert of the peninsula of Sinai. </p> <p> '''Its position.''' - Its position on the map of the world - as the world was when the Holy Land first made its appearance in history - is a remarkable one. </p> <p> (a) It was on the very outpost - and the extremist western edge of the East. On the shore of the Mediterranean it stands, as if it had advanced as far as possible toward the west, separated therefrom by that which, when the time arrived, proved to be no barrier, but the readiest medium of communication: the wide waters of the "great sea." Thus, it was open to all the gradual influences of the rising communities of the West, while it was saved from the retrogression and decrepitude, which have ultimately been the doom of all purely eastern states whose connections were limited to the East only. </p> <p> (b) There was, however, one channel, and but one, by which it could reach and be reached by the great Oriental empires. The rivals road by which the two great rivals of the ancient world could approach one another - by which alone, Egypt could get to [[Assyria]] and Assyria to lay along the broad flat strip of coast which formed the maritime portion of the Holy Land, and thence, by the plain of the Lebanon to the Euphrates. </p> <p> (c) After this, the Holy Land became, (like the [[Netherlands]] in Europe), the convenient arena on which, in successive ages, the hostile powers who contended for the empire of the East fought their battles. </p> <p> '''Physical features.''' - Palestine is essentially a mountainous country. Not that if contains independent mountain chains, as in Greece, for example, but that every part of the highland is in greater or less undulation. But it is not only a mountainous country. The mass of hills which occupies the centre of the country is bordered or framed on both sides, east and west, by a broad belt of '''Shefelah''' , or lowland, sunk deep below its own level. The slopes or cliffs, which form, as if it were, the retaining walls of this depression, are furrowed and cleft by the torrent beds, which discharge the waters of the hills, and form the means of communication between the upper and lower level. </p> <p> On the west, this '''Shefelah''' , or lowland, interposes between the mountains and the sea, and is the plain of Philistia and of Sharon. On the east, it is the broad bottom of the Jordan valley, deep down in which rushed the one river of Palestine to its grave in, the Dead Sea. Such is the first general impression of the physiognomy of the land. It is a physiognomy compounded of the three main features already named - the plains, the highland hills, and the torrent beds features, which are marked in the words of its earliest describers, &nbsp;Numbers 13:29; &nbsp;Joshua 11:16; &nbsp;Joshua 12:8, and which must be comprehended by every one who wishes to understand the countrym and the intimate connection existing between its structure and its history. </p> <p> About halfway up the coast, the maritime plain is suddenly interrupted by a long ridge thrown out from the central mass, rising considerably to shove up the general level, and terminating in a bold promontory on the very edge of the Mediterranean. This ridge is ''Mount Carmel'' . On its upper side, the plain, as if to compensate for its temporary displacement, invades the centre of the country, and forms an undulating hollow right across it from the Mediterranean to the Jordan valley. </p> <p> This central '''Shefelah''' , or lowland, which divides, with its broad depression, the mountains of Ephraim from the mountains of Galilee, is the plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel: the great battle-field of Palestine. North of Carmel, the '''Shefelah''' , or lowland resumes its position by the seaside till it is again interrupted, and finally put an end to, by the northern mountains, which push their way out of the sea, ending in the white promontory of the ''Ras Nakhura'' . </p> <p> Above this is the ancient Phoenicia. The country, thus roughly portrayed, is, to all intents and purposes, the whole land of israel. The northern portion is Galilee; the centre is Samaria; and the south is Judea. This is the land of Canaan, which was bestowed on Abraham, - the covenanted home of his descendants. </p> <p> The highland district, surrounded and intersected by its broad '''Shefelah''' , or lowland plains, preserves, from north to south, a remarkably even and horizontal profile. Its average height may betaken as 1600 to 1800 feet above the Mediterranean. It can hardly be denominated a plateau; yet, so evenly is the general level preserved and so thickly do the hills stand behind and between one another, that, when seen from the coast, or the western part of the maritime plain, it has quite the appearance of a wall. This general monotony of profile is however, relieved at intervals, by certain centers of elevation. </p> <p> Between these elevated points runs the watershed of the country, sending off on either hand - to the Jordan valley on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west - the long, tortuous arms of ifs many torrent beds. The valleys, on the two sides of the watershed, differ considerably in character. Those on the east are extremely steep and rugged, while the western valleys are more gradual in their slope. </p> <p> '''Fertility.''' - When the highlands of the country are more closely examined, a considerable difference will be found to exist in the natural condition and appearance of their different portions. The south, as being nearer the arid desert and farther removed from the drainage of the mountains, is drier and less productive than the north. The tract below Hebron, which forms the link between the hills of Judah and the desert, was known to the ancient Hebrews by a term originally derived from its dryness - ''Negeb'' . This was the south country. </p> <p> As the traveller advances north of this tract, there is an improvement; but perhaps no country equally cultivated is more monotonous, bare or uninviting in its aspect than a great part of the highlands of Judah and Benjamin, during the larger portion of the year. The spring covers even those bald gray rocks with verdure and color, and fills the ravines with torrents of rushing water; but in summer and autumn, the look of the country from Hebron up to Bethel is very dreary and desolate. At Jerusalem, this reaches its climax. </p> <p> To the west and northwest of the highlands, where the sea-breezes are felt, there is considerably more vegetation. Hitherto, we have spoken of the central and northern portions of Judea. Its eastern portion - a tract some nine or ten miles in width by about thirty-five miles in length, which intervenes between the centre and the abrupt descent to the Dead Sea - is far more wild and desolate, and that, not for a portion of the year only, but throughout it. This must have been always what it is now - an uninhabited desert, because uninhabitable. </p> <p> No descriptive sketch of this part of the country can be complete which does not allude to the caverns, characteristic of all limestone districts, but here, existing in astonishing numbers. Every hill and ravine is pierced with them, some very large and of curious formation - perhaps partly natural, partly artificial - others mere grottos. Many of them are connected with most important, and interesting events of the ancient history of the country. Especially is this true of the district now under consideration. Machpelah, Makkedah, [[Adullam]] En-gedi, names inseparably connected with the lives, adventures and deaths of Abraham, Joshua, David and other Old [[Testament]] worthies, are all within the small circle of the territory of Judea. </p> <p> The bareness and dryness which prevail more or less in Judea are owing partly to the absence of wood, partly to its proximity to the desert, and partly to a scarcity of water, arising from its distance from the Lebanon. But to this discouraging aspect, there are some important exceptions. The valley of ''Urtas'' , south of Bethlehem, contains springs which, in abundance and excellence, rival even those of ''Nablus'' . The huge "Pools of Solomon" are enough to supply a district for many miles round them; and the cultivation, now going on in that neighborhood, shows what might be done with a soil which required only irrigation, and a moderate amount of labor, to evoke a boundless produce. </p> <p> It is obvious that, in the ancient days of the nation, when Judah and Benjamin possessed the teeming population indicated in the Bible, the condition and aspect of the country must have been very different. Of this, there are, not wanting, sure evidences. There is no country in which the ruined towns bear so large a proportion to those still existing. [[Hardly]] a hill-top of the many within sight that is not covered with vestiges of some fortress or city. But, besides this, forests appear to have stood in many parts of Judea until the repeated invasions and sieges caused their fall; and all this vegetation must have reacted on the moisture of the climate, and, by preserving the water in many a ravine and natural reservoir where now it is rapidly dried by the fierce sun of the early summer, must have influenced, materially , the look and the resources of the country. </p> <p> Advancing northward from Judea, the country, (''Samaria'' ), becomes gradually more open and pleasant. [[Plains]] of good soil occur between the hills, at first, small, but afterward, comparatively large. The hills assume here a more varied aspect than in the southern districts, springs are more abundant and more permanent until at last, when the district of ''Jebel Nablus'' is reached - the ancient ''Mount Ephraim'' - the traveller encounters an atmosphere and an amount of vegetation and water which are greatly superior to anything he has met with in Judea, and even sufficient to recall much of the scenery of the West. </p> <p> Perhaps the springs are the only objects which in themselves, and apart from their associations, really strike an English traveller with astonishment and admiration. Such glorious fountains as those of ''Ain-jalud'' or the ''Ras el-Mukatta'' - where a great body of the dearest water wells silently but swiftly out from deep blue recesses worn in the foot of a low cliff of limestone rock, and at once, forms a considerable stream - are rarely to be met with out of irregular, rocky, mountainous countries, and being such unusual sights can hardly be looked on by the traveler, without surprise and emotion. </p> <p> The valleys which lead down from the upper level in this district to the valley of the Jordan are less precipitous than in Judea. The eastern district of the ''Jebel Nablus'' contains some of the most fertile end valuable spots in the Holy Land. Hardly less rich is the extensive region which lies northwest of the city of Shechem (''Nablus'' ), between it and Carmel, in which the mountains gradually break down into the plain of Sharon. </p> <p> But with all its richness and all its advance on the southern part of the country, there is a strange dearth of natural wood about this central district. It is this which makes the wooded sides of [[Carmel]] and the park-like scenery of the adjacent slopes and plains so remarkable. No sooner, however, is the plain of Eadraelon passed than a considerable improvement is perceptible. The low hills which spread down from the mountains of Galilee, and form the barrier between the plains of Akka and Esdraelon, are covered with timber, of moderate size, it is true, but of thick, vigorous growth, and pleasant to the eye. [[Eastward]] of these hills, rises the round mass of Tabor dark with its copses of oak, and set on, by contrast, with the bare slopes of ''Jebel ed-Duhy'' , (the so called "Little Hermon") and the white hills of Nazareth. </p> <p> [[A]] few words must be said in general description of the '''Shefelah''' , or maritime lowland, which intervenes between the sea and the highlands. This region, only slightly elevated above the level of the Mediterranean, extends without interruption from ''el-Arish'' , south of Gaza, to Mount Carmel. It naturally divides itself into two portions, each of about half its length; the lower one, the wider, and the upper one, the narrower. The lower half is the plain of the Philistines-Philistia, or, as the Hebrews called it, the '''Shefelah''' , or Lowland. The upper half is the ''Sharon'' , or Saron, of the Old and New Testaments. </p> <p> The Philistine plain is on an average 15 or 16 miles in width, from the coast to the beginning of the belt of hills, which forms the gradual approach to the high land of the mountains of Judah. The larger towns, as Gaza and Ashdod, which stand near the shore, are surrounded with huge groves of olive, and sycamore, as in the days King David. &nbsp;1 Chronicles 27:28. </p> <p> The whole plain appears to consist of brown, loamy soil, light, but rich, and almost without a stone. It is now, as it was when the Philistines possessed it, one enormous cornfield; an ocean of wheat covers the wide expense between the hills and the sand dunes of the seashore, without interruption of any kind - no break or hedge, hardly even a single olive tree. Its fertility is marvellous; for the prodigious crops which if raises are produced, and probably have been produced. Almost year by year. For the last forty centuries, without any of the appliances which we find necessary for success. </p> <p> The plain of Sharon is much narrower than the plain of the Philistines-Philistia. It is about 10 miles wide from the sea to the foot of the mountains, which are, here, of a more abrupt character than those of Philistia, and without the intermediate hilly region there occurring. </p> <p> The one ancient port of the Jews, the "beautiful", city of Joppa, occupied a position central between the '''Shefelah''' and Sharon. [[Roads]] led from these various cities to each other to Jerusalem, [[Neapolis]] and Sebaste in the interior, and to [[Ptolemais]] and Gaza on the north and south. The commerce of Damascus, and beyond Damascus, of [[Persia]] and India, passed this way to Egypt, Rome and the infant colonies of the West; and that traffic and the constant movement of troops backward and forward must have made this plain, at the time of '''Christ''' , one of the busiest and most populous regions of Syria. </p> <p> '''The Jordan valley.''' - The chacteristics already described are hardly peculiar to Palestine, but there is one feature, as yet only alluded to, in which she stands alone. This feature is the Jordan - the one river of the country. The river is elsewhere described; ''see '' '''Jordan''' '','' but it and the valley through which it rushes down its extraordinary descent must be here briefly characterized. This valley begins with the river at its remotest springs of ''Hasbeiya'' , on the northwest side of Hermon, and accompanies it to the lower end of the Dead Sea, a length of about 150 miles. During the whole of this distance, its course is straight and its direction nearly due north and south. </p> <p> The springs of ''Hasbeiya'' are 1700 feet above the level of the Mediterranean and the northern end of the Dead Sea is 1317 feet below it, so that, between these two points, the valley falls with more or less regularity, through a height of more than 3000 feet. But though the river disappears at this point, the valley still continues its descent below the waters of the Dead Sea till it reaches a further depth of 1308 feet. So that the bottom of this extraordinary crevasse is actually more than 2600 feet below the surface of the ocean. </p> <p> In width, the valley varies. In its upper and shallower portion, as between Banias and the lake of Merom (''Huleh'' ), it is about five miles across. Between the lake of Merom and the Sea or Galilee, it contracts, and becomes more of an ordinary ravine or glen. It is in its third and lower portion that the valley assumes its more definite and regular character. During the greater part of this portion, it is about seven miles wide from the one wall to the other. </p> <p> The eastern mountains preserve their straight line of direction, and their massive horizontal wall-like aspect, during almost the whole distance. The western mountains are more irregular in height, their slopes less vertical. North of Jericho, they recede in a kind of wide amphitheatre, and the valley becomes twelve miles broad - a breadth which it, thenceforward, retains to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. </p> <p> Buried, as it is, between such lofty ranges, and shielded from every breeze, the climate of the Jordan valley is extremely hot and relaxing. Its enervating influence is shown by the inhabitants of Jericho. All the irrigation necessary for the cultivation, which formerly existed, is obtained front the torrents of the western mountains. For all purposes to which a river ordinarily applied the Jordan is useless. The Dead Sea, which is the final receptacle of the Jordan, is described elsewhere. ''See '' '''Sea, The Salt''' ''.'' </p> <p> '''Climate.''' - "Probably there is no country in the world of the same extent which has a greater variety of climate than Palestine. On Mount Hermon, at its northern border, there is perpetual snow. From this, we descend successively by the peaks of [[Bashan]] and upper Galilee, where the oak and pine flourish, to the hills of Judah and Samaria, where the vine and fig tree are at home, to the plains of the seaboard, where the palm and banana produce their fruit, down to the sultry shores of the Sea, on which we find tropical heat and tropical vegetation." - McClintock and Strong. </p> <p> As, in the time of our Saviour, &nbsp;Luke 12:64, the rains come chiefly from the south or southwest. They commence at the end of October or beginning of November, and continue, with greater or less constancy, till the end of February or March. It is not a heavy, continuous rain, so much as a succession of severe showers or storms, with intervening periods of fine, bright weather. Between April and November, there is, with the rarest exceptions, an uninterrupted succession of fine weather and skies without a cloud. Thus, the year divides itself into two, and only two, seasons - as indeed we see it constantly divided in the Bible - "winter and summer;" "cold and heat;" "seed-time and harvest." </p> <p> '''Botany.''' - The botany of Syria and Palestine differs but little from that of Asia Minor, which is one of the most rich and varied on the globe. Among trees, the oak is by far the most prevalent. The trees of the genus '''Pistacia''' rank next to the oak in abundance, and of these there are three species in Syria. There is also the carob or locust tree ('''Ceratonia siliqua''' ), the pine, sycamore, poplar and walnut. </p> <p> Of planted trees and large shrubs, the first in importance is the vine, which is most abundantly cultivated all over the country, and produces, as in the time of the Canaanites, enormous bunches of grapes. This is especially the case in the southern districts, those of Eshcol being still particularly famous. Next to the vine, or even in some respects, its superior in importance, ranks the olive, which nowhere grows in greater luxuriance and abundance than in Palestine, where the olive orchards form a prominent feature throughout the landscape, and have done so from time immemorial. The fig forms another most important crop in Syria and Palestine. </p> <p> (Besides these are the almond, pomegranate, orange, pear, banana, quince and mulberry among fruit trees. Of vegetables, there are many varieties, such as the egg plant, pumpkin, asparagus, lettuce, melon and cucumber. Palestine is especially distinguished for its wild flowers, of which there are more than five hundred varieties. The geranium, pink, poppy, narcissus, honeysuckle, oleander, jessamine, tulip and iris are abundant. The various grains are also very largely cultivated. - Editor). </p> <p> '''Zoology.''' - It will be sufficient, in this article, to give a general survey of the fauna of Palestine, as the reader will find more particular information in the several articles, which treat of the various animals, under their respective names. Jackals and foxes are common; the hyena and wolf are also occasionally observed; the lion is no longer a resident in Palestine or Syria. [[A]] species of squirrel of which the term '''orkidaun''' , ''"the leaper",'' has been noticed on the lower and middle parts of Lebanon. Two kinds of hare, rats and mice, which are said to abound, the jerboa, the porcupine, the short-tailed field-mouse, may be considered as the representatives of the '''Rodentia''' . </p> <p> Of the '''Pachydermata''' , the wild boar, which is frequently met with on [[Taber]] and Little Hermon, appears to be the only living wild example. There does not appear to be at present any wild ox in Palestine. Of domestic animals, we need only mention the Arabian or one-humped camel, the ass, the mule and the horse, all of which are in general use. The buffalo ('''Bubalus buffalo''' ) is common. The ox of the country is small and unsightly in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, but in the richer pastures, the cattle, though small, are not unsightly. The common sheep of Palestine is the broadtail, with its varieties. Goats are extremely common everywhere. </p> <p> Palestine abounds in numerous kinds of birds. Vultures, eagles, falcons, kites, owls of different kinds represent the '''Raptorial''' order. In the south of Palestine especially, reptiles of various kinds abound. It has been remarked that, in its physical character, Palestine presents on a small scale, an epitome of the natural features of all regions, mountainous and desert, northern and tropical, maritime and inland, pastoral, arable and volcanic. </p> <p> '''Antiquities.''' - In the preceding descriptions, allusion has been made to many of the characteristic features of the Holy Land; but it is impossible to close this account, without mentioning a defect which is even more characteristic - its lack of monuments and personal relics of the nation, which possessed it for so many centuries, and gave it its claim to our veneration and affection. When compared with other nations of equal antiquity - Egypt, Greece, Assyria - the contrast is truly remarkable. </p> <p> In Egypt and Greece, and also in Assyria, as far as our knowledge at present extends, we find a series of buildings reaching down from the most remote and mysterious antiquity, a chain of which hardly a link is wanting, and which records the progress of the people in civilization, art and religion, as certainly as the buildings of the medieval architects do that of the various nations of modern Europe. </p> <p> But in Palestine, it is not too much to say that, there does not exist a single edifice, or part of an edifice, of which we can be sure that it is of a date, anterior to the Christian era. And as with the buildings, so with other memorials. </p> <p> With one exception, the museums of Europe do not possess a single piece of pottery or metal work, a single weapon or household utensil, an ornament or a piece of armor of Israelite make, which can give us the least conception of the manners or outward appliances of the nation before the date of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. </p> <p> The coins form the single exception. [[M.]] Renan has named two circumstances, which must have had a great effect in suppressing art or architecture amongst the ancient Israelites, while their very existence proves that the people had no genius in that direction. These are </p> <p> (1) the prohibition of sculptured representations of living creatures, and </p> <p> (2) the command not to build a Temple anywhere, but at Jerusalem. </p>

<p> '''Palestine''' (''păl'es-t'' ''îne'' ), ''land of sojourners.'' &nbsp;Joel 3:4; comp. &nbsp;Exodus 15:14; &nbsp;Isaiah 14:29; &nbsp;Isaiah 14:31. [[A]] small country east of the Mediterranean Sea, sacred alike to Jew, Mohammedan, and Christian. In length it is about 140 miles, in average breadth not more than 40 between the Mediterranean westward, and the deep Jordan valley to the east, while to the north it is closed in by Lebanon and Anti-libanus, and bordered on the south by the desert. It lay on the direct route between the great ancient empires of Asia and northern Africa, and exposed to peril from both. The physical structure of Palestine is peculiar. It is mountainous, but among these mountains are plains and valleys and torrent-beds. The mountain mass which occupies the central part is bordered on each side east and west by a lowland belt. On the west the plains of Philistia and Sharon lie between the Mediterranean and the hills, interrupted by a ridge which, shooting out from the main highlands, terminates in the bold promontory of Carmel. To the north of this ridge the low plain widens and extends in one part its undulating surface quite across the country to the Jordan. And still farther to the north is Phœnicia with headlands down to the sea. The eastern depression is most remarkable. It is a deep cleft in which lie a chain of lakes connected by the Jordan. And the bottom of this cleft is, in its lower part, far below (1300 feet) the level of the Mediterranean Sea. Owing to this extraordinary depression, the slopes on the eastern side of the central elevated land are much more abrupt and rugged than on the west. The southern hill country is dry and bare. There is little wood; it is near upon the desert, and possesses few springs of water. The hill tops are rounded and monotonous—the eastern part of the tract being but an arid wilderness. And a noteworthy feature in these hills is the abundance of caverns, partly natural, partly, perhaps, artificial. [[Northward]] the country improves. There are more fertile plains winding among the lulls, more vegetation and more wood, till in the north the swelling hills are clothed with beautiful trees, and the scenery is pleasing, oftentimes romantic. In central and north Palestine, too, there are gushing fountains of water, imparting fertility to the valleys through which they pour their streams. The Philistine plain is one vast grainfield, yielding the most abundant increase. And dry and barren as are many of the hills at present, there is evidence enough that in earlier happier days they were terraced, wooded, and productive: "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey... a land whose stones ''are'' iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." &nbsp;Deuteronomy 8:7-9. Palestine was early inhabited by seven tribes—as, Hittites, Gergashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, &nbsp;Deuteronomy 7:1; and other tribes are also noted as occupying adjacent regions. &nbsp;Genesis 10:15-19; &nbsp;Genesis 15:18-21; &nbsp;Numbers 13:28-29. It became afterwards the land of Israel; but, when judgment fell upon the Hebrews for their sins, they were removed, and there was at different times a large influx of foreign population, eastern nations, &nbsp;2 Kings 17:24; &nbsp;Ezra 4:9-10, Greeks, etc.; so that even in our Lord's time the inhabitants of Palestine were of a mixed character; and in later ages additional foreign elements were introduced. See Judæa, Galilee. </p>