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DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

_J

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 Archeology 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

List of Illustrations

5 Ascent of Pass of Nahr el Kelb, )
( From North, with one of the Tablets )

Facing page 44
Capture of Lachish by Sennacherib . . . . " " 95
Tell es Safi (Gath ?)  Page 102
*Tell Zakariy a  Facing page 103
Excavation at Tell es Safi  " "105
General view of Nazareth  " " 116
Nablus and Vale of Shechem  " "146
Curb of Jacob's Well  Page 149
Ruined Crypt, and section of Jacob's Well ... " 151
ng page 161

2.3-4- 5-
6. 7-8.
9-
10. *Wady Suweinet  Fac,
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.

vL.

List of Maps

Physical Map of the Holy Land in Colors .... Frontispiece
Boundaries of the Tribes of Israel  Facing page 36
Divisions of Palestine in the time of Christ ..." "41
SECTIONAL MAPS
1. The Maritime Plain north of Mt. Carmel . Facing page 65
2. The Maritime Plain south of Mt. Carmel . . " " 70,
3. The Shephelah  «' " 97
4. The Mountains of Galilee  " " 106
5. The Plain of Esdraelon  . *' " 120
6. The Mountains of Ephraim  " " 134
7. The Mountains of Benjamin  " " 158
Plan of Ancient Jerusalem  " " 170
Plan of Modern Jerusalem . . . . " " 173
8. The Mountains of Judah  " " 224
9. The Negeb or South Country  " " 237
10. The Valley of the Jordan  " " 254
it. The Sea of Galilee  Page 263
12. The Land of Bashan  Facing page 303
13. Gilead and Moab  " " 317

vilL

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 feature?
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.,
September I, 1900.

ix

Prefece
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-
x

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 thfTEast 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 ofthe 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.
April zoth, iSgg.

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 . . 1-4

The Land of Israel
Part I
General View of the Land

CHAPTER I
PHYSICAL FEATURES
Extent 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.
I. 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 wadies running east and west. — Gen-
era^ 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. — (1) 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
Coele Syrian — 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  S~21
CHAPTER II
NATURAL HISTORY
(i) Climate and Productions. — Summer and Winter.r— 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  22-27
CHAPTER III
EARLY INHABITANTS OF THE LAND
1. Canaanites. — (1) Philistines. — (2) Phoenicians. — Lan
guage of Canaan. — Canaan and Gilead. — Canaanites of
the Jordan valley.
2. Hittites. — Concentrated principally in Northern Syria. —
Land ofthe 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  28~35

xviii Contents
CHAPTER IV
TRIBAL AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS
I. 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, Benjamin,
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  44-46
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 . . . 47-49

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.
i. 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 Grasco-Roman civilization. —
Roman roads. — Christian emblems and inscriptions, etc. —
Sacred Associations of the Land  Stands apart from all as
the " Holy Land."  S°S8

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.
2. 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-emek. — The pass of the
Kishon the place of the disastrous defeat of the army of
Sisera  65-78

Contents xxi
CHAPTER X
THE MARITIME PLAIN SOUTH OF MOUNT CARMEL
Divisions of the plain : — Athlit, Sharon, Philistia.
i. The Plain of Athlit. — Coast ridge. — Ancient road. — Towns
of Athlit and Dor.
*. 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 : — Csesarea, 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
Plain 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 esSafi, Azekah.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
I. 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: (1) Gilboa. — Characteristics and his
tory. — Jelbon. — Mezar. — (2) Little Herman. — Characteris
tic features. — Hill of Moreh. — 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,
GilgaI  «34-I57
CHAPTER XV
THE MOUNTAINS OF BENJAMIN
Boundaries and characteristic features. — A mountain fastness. —
Isolated knolls. — Terraced slopes and alluvial basins. — A
land in 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, Michmash,
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, Hazor, 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. — Tyropoeon valley. — Lateral valleys. — Acra and
Zion. — Bezetha, 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 : — 1 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 wall.
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 of wall at northwest corner.
— Phoenician characters 100 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 . . . 170-223
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
hoboth. — 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 Laud 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.
I. 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, Tarichsea.
4. 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.— Beth 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 Hermons. — 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. — Batansea. — 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 Machasrus. — 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 ofthe 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  340-352

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 280 and 450; and east
longitude 120 arid 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 r5o 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
ancient 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 labors, 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. Ganneau, 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 of
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
1 St. Clair'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." 1
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. '
1 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 locaj
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 " ; or that
"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. i. 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. lxxii. 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 Ike 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 riyer, 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 " (1 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 ; 1 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. ' "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." »
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 ofthe 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
3o°3o' 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." (1 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. n, viii. 7.)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.
1. 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 of
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 SQnnin) 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 iv. 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.
(1) 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, Csesarea 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- 33-4o; 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 100 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 j 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 II
NATURAL HISTORY
i. CLIMATE and Productions. — In Scripture allusions
the climatic changes ofthe 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 all. ' ' 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
litde 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. lxv. 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 ioo 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.
" 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." *
(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 160 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 iooo 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." s
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 who wish to study the plant life of the Holy Land.
For fuller information on the " Geology of Palestine " the student is re-
1 The City and the Land, p. 64.
2 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. n, and iii. io) 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, 1 7, xxxiii. 2, xxxiv. 1 1 ; Deut. xx. 1 7 ;
Josh. ix. 1, 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.
1. 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.)
(1) 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
28

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.
2 " ' 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 took 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. 18) 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 ofthe 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." * 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; 1 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- ^S-

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.
36

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. Ml 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
' Primer of Bible Geography, p. 97.

3S 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 ofthe 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. 115.

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 Manasseh
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 Carmel : but if so some of the land in the
first instance given to Asher must have been ceded to Zebulon, which
certainly reached the Bay of Acre, and possessed the north slope of Car
mel." — Henderson's Palestine, p. 101.

dzotus.

'etliHa-r.

Divisions of Palestine
in the
Time of Christ =t

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 V
HIGHWAYS AND CARAVAN ROUTES
THE Land of Israel was brought into communication with
the outside world mainly through four great highways, —
i. 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 ^Elanitic 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." '
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 at.
Romans under the name of Climaces." See Rawlinson's Phoenicia, p. 7.
44

ASCENT OF PASS OF NAHR EL KELB
FROM NORTH, WITH ONB 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." '
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 :
1. From Jerusalem to Jaffa by way of Beth-Horon and
Lydda. ' Article in Picturesque Pal., by Dr. H. W. Jessup, Vol. II., p. 3/1. *

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

48 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 after 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." '
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.

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.
(1) 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
50

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." 1 • The City and the Land, 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 ovei 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 Zedekiah, 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 Grseco-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 57
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 lan
guage of the Greeks.
These monuments of the Christian age, like those of the
earlier days, may now be read alongside of the records of
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
1 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." ' 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
1 Dr. Manning " Those Holy Fields," p. 5.
'59

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.
8 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." «
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 active management.
" " The Testimony of the Land to the Book," Dr. Gregg.

62 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 that
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
1 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

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 miles
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 1 20 miles in length and varies
from two to fifteen in width.
' 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 :
(i) 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 ot 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. lxxxiii. 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 1 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." '
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
Coele-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 i860 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

TO The Land of Israel
harbor." 1 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 this long-
buried treasure — hidden in the field — was estimated at $200,-
000. 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 side 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
' 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." '
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. (1 Kings xvii. 9, 10.) Tradition has
also associated the woman of Canaan, whom Mark designates as
a Syro-Phcenician, 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 (Palsetyrus), 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

74: 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-thern part ofthe 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 75
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 Asher 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 walis. 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. 1,
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." 1
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
1 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." 1 (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.
1 The Land and the Book, Vol. II., p. 215.

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, for 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. 11 ; Judges i. 27, and
1 Kings iv. 11.
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 ezZerka, 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 comer 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." 1 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
' 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." l
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
1 Thirty years' Work, P. E. F., p. 93.
a Pict. Pal., Vol. IL, 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. 1. With all its desolations
Sharon is still a favorite resort of the herdsmen and " a fold of
flocks." (Isa. lxv. 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 1205 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 ain 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. (1 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, (1 Chron. viii. 12) still bearing the names of Kef'r
Auna, Hadithet, and Beit Neballat." 1
Ramleh 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.
2 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 latter 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 a
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 (1 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

90 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. 1), 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.
(1 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. (1 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." "
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 ; '' 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 ; 1 Chron. xviii.
1.) 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 jn 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.
(J5) 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 ;
1 Chron. vi. 57; 2 Chron. xxi. 10; Isa. xxxvii. 8; Jer. Iii. 1.)
(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." x
(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. I io.

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." '
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.

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Maritime Plain South of Mount Carmel 95
faint-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." 1 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.
(11) 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-
cknt 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 0mm
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." 2
" 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." '
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 offamine 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.

<ZV° 3

TneShephelah (
and.
<sPhilistineeP!airL

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 jn 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, Saladin and Richard waged with each
other." 2
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.
2 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-horon 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 marauding 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 thou come to
Gezer." (1 Sam. xiv. 31 ; 2 Sam. v. 25.) In the Maccabean
1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 209. 2 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. (1 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. (1 Kings ix. 16.) During
the Maccabean wars it was captured by Judas Maccabaeus 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. 1352 Chron.
1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 217.

The Shephelah 101
xxviii. 1 8.) " These three form a triangular group just where
the stream breaks out into the Shephelah from the mountains
of Judah." l
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 Etam, 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
» Henderson's Geog., p. 90. 2 Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 158.

102 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."
( 1 Sam. xvii. 1-3.) 5 " 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. 2 Porter, in Alexander's Kitto.
'Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 228.

<>-5< <N-)-JtuH

The Shephelah 103
white limestone formation, crowned with the ruins of a famous
castle, known as Blanchgarde 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
> 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 cavern is lighted from above by a well
like opening." '
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 ofthe 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." s
5. Wady el Hesy or Wady el Jizair, rises in the mountains
a few miles southwest of Hebron and finds its way to the sea
1 The Land and the Book, Vol. I., p. 220. 2 Phys. Geog., p. 119.
3 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 233.

SECTION OF EXCAVATIONS AT TELL ES SAFI.
The three standing stones in the foreground, surrounded by a rude enclosure of mud and rubble
suggest a "high place" ofthe Canaanites.

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
cludes, from the study of thousands of potsherds and other objects
taken from the d/bris, 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.)
1. 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

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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. ' ' 1
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
sjdes, 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
» Dr. J. L. Porter, Pulpit Treasury, 1884, p. 455.
s 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 size. 10. The forest of Jird el
Baruk, thousands of trees. 11. The eastern grove of Baruk, about two
hundred trees.2
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 moderr. 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." ' 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 :
' Sinai and Pal., p. 492. s 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." •
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. * 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 Jebel Jermuk, 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
» 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. 2 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
1. 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. 3 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, 11.) 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. (1 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 feet above the sea. It is one ofthe 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 Harah)
ten miles northeast of Kedesh (Josh. xix. 38) ; Beth Anath (Anitha) five
miles west of Kedesh (Judg. i. 33) ; Iron (Yarun) four miles south of
Beth Anath (Josh. xix. 38) ; Beth-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. xifc. 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 both
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 ofthe Christian faith.
A new carriage road has been constructed from Haifa,
» Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 283.

GENERAL VIEW OF NAZARETH

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
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."!
The ridge which rises to the height of 500 feet, or more,
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 mountains, Tabor, Hermon and Car
mel are conjoined in one view.
> 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." '
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.) Cana 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.
i. 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
1 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 Leffun. 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."1 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. s Hist. Geog., p. 387-388.

124 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." '
(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 Miitasellim) 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
with Megiddo. (Josh. xii. 21, xvii. n; Judg. i. 27, v. 19; 1
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. n.)
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 (1 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. (1 Sam. xxviii. 4.)
9. Chisloth-Tabor (Josh. xix. 1 2) has been identified
with fksal, 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 trje disastrous battle in which he and his son
Jonathan were slain on the " high places " of Gilboa. (1 Sam.
xxviii. 4, xxix. 1, 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." '
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.
1. 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 ofthe mighty vilely cast away." (2 Sam. i.
2. Little Hermon. — This mountain, now called Jebel
Duhy by the natives, answers to the description of the hill
Moreh. (Judg. vii. 1 ; 1 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." ?
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." 3 (Luke
1 Art. by Tristram in Pict. Pal. Vol. I., p. 277.
2 Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 279.
3 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 222.

The Plain of Esdraelon 131
vii. 1 1-18.) 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. lxxxiii. 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. (1 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 seems 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. lxxxix. 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. 18, 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.'"1 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.
1 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.
The mountains of this series which claim our special
attention are Carmel, Samaria, the twin peaks of Ebal and
Gerizim, and Baal Hazor.
Mount Carmel. — The 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." ] " 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. (1 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. 2 Sinai and Palestine, p. 42a
' 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 bis 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." '
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
ioo 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,'
1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 200, and also Hend. 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." (1 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. (1 Kings xx. 12-29, xxn- 37> 3&> 2 Kings vi.,
vii. and xvii. 5, 6.)
Samaria was destroyed, after a close investment of 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 ofthe 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 ofthe 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 ofthe 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 141
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 which you 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 ioo and 200
feet ; beyond the plain the gleaming sand-hills of the coast and the infinite
blue sea. Joppa lies southwest thirty-three miles; Csesarea 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 Asur, 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
1 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.
1 Smith's Hist. Geog., 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." > (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,
1 Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 66.

The Mountains of Ephraim 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
Aufeh, 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, and its tributaries, beginning in the southern part
of the plain of Mukhna and ending in the Aujeh river : and
Wady Heir Balut, with its tributaries Wady fshar 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." x 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
1 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.) 1 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. ^3>
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. (1 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.
1 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."1 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 clambered down 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 : ft. in.
Length  3 9
Breadth  <.  2 7
Thickness  1 6
Height above pavement  1 1
Breadth of aperture of well  1 5/^
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. '
1 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 appeaTance 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." '
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*

L,imeslon e -=^
Hock ^jjSlF

=S§ Pletnnf ChuYl'll
=f £« *7^ ezv>7- Jeicoh's fVf-7l
s^f: tle*crileil Ii/Jlccnlp7tu3

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 ofthe mouth of thg
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
ofthe Lord "(Josh. xxiv. 26); and "the oak ofthe 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 y£non. (John iii. 23.)
JE,non 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. 1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 125.

The Mountains of Ephraim 153
" JEniya 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 ^Enon
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. 2 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, where
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 by 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. (1 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
rises in the middle of the plain of Mukhna, about three miles
south of Jacob's Well. The reputed tombs of Efeazar 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.
1 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." J 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. III.

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." J Shiloh was the resting
place of the tabernacle and the religious centre of the Israelites
for more than 300 years. (Josh, xviii. 1.) 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.
6-10.) 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. (1
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 157
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. 1, iv. 38.)
This place should be distinguished from Gilgal (Jiljulia) on
the plain of Sharon, and also from the Gilgal in the Jordan
vailey, 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-
158

The Mountains of Benjamin 159
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 in 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 (1 Sam. vii.
5-1 1); and again to ratify the selection of Saul as their first
king. (1 Sam. x. 17.) It was one of the three points, also,
where Samuel regularly judged Israel. (1. 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 * 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). 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. 1
During the period of the captivity Mizpeh was the scene oi
the massacre of Gedaliah and the remnant of Judah who
had gathered around him for protection. (2 Kings xxv. 22-25 >
Jer. xii. 1-8.) It was probably the "Mountjoye" ofthe
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
'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 Ophrah 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. (1 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 (1 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 seem'- 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 north-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. 11,
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
nal, 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." J 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, J 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. 18, (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." J
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. (1 Kings
xii. 32, 33, xiii. 1-10.) 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 (1 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 oh 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. (1 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.)
Ramah 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. (1
Kings xv. 17.) It was afterward destroyed by Asa, who took
away the stones and timber to strengthen Geba and Mizpeh.
(1 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. (1 Sam. i. 1.)
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
source of confusion." Gibeah is frequently mentioned in con
nection 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 (1
Kings ii. 26); and the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah.
(Jer. i. 1.)
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, 11.)
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 a
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, 11.) 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 ; 1 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. (1 Kings
iii. 4-15.)
Nob, the city of the priests, was on one of the hills near to
Jerusalem, but its exact site has not been determined. (1 Sam.
xxi. 1, 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; Gederah (1 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 (1 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
310 47' north, and longtitude 350 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." J
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.
170

Plan, of
sfncient 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 Tyropoeon 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
poeon is Mount Moriah, on which stood the temple and all the
imposing buildings connected with it. The ridge on the west
ern side is 120 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 Tyropoeon 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." :
1 Tristram's Holy Land, p. 129.

Jerusalem and its Environs 173
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-

174 The Land of Israel
dences of its former existence and greatness are laid bare by
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
1 Thirty Years' Work, p. 67.

GENERAL VIEW OF JERUSALEM
(CHURCH OP ST. ANNE IN FOREGROUND)

Jerusalem and its Environs 175
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
' 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.
i. 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 & ditch ; round the top of this is what is '
known as a berne or chetnin 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." i
1 Our Work in Palestine, p. 24.

DAMASCUS GATE

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 ,jts 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

178 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."1
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, or 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-
' 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
x>{ Arimathsea, 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 from Adam to Christ are pointed out
in various nooks and corners of the church or its crypts.
While it is admitted that the 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 archseological 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 maybe 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." 1
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,
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."1 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 in
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." *
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
swelling 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. 2 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. 1) 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 Hepworth 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." x
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 ofthe
Golden Gateway, and an attempt was made to drive a tunnel
from it to the wall. 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
1 Pict. Pal., Vol. I., p. 47.

¦ /

a*, i i», ¦;¦ t

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." l
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. 1.) 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." (1 Kings vi. 7.)
Three feet east of the angle a small earthen jar was found in
a recess cut out ofthe rock. "It was standing upright as
though it had been purposely placed there." Broken pottery,
1 Thirty years' Work, p. 127. 2 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 uilequal
length and breadth. The arches, in the shape of a rather elongated semi
circle, are borne by eighty-eight columns in twelve parallel rows." •
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, » 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
1 Baedecker, p. 52.

Jerusalem and its Environs 191
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. '
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 1, 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,

ROBINSON'S ARCH

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." > 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 \rard, 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 Tyropoeon 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 oh the western hill.'
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-
' Pict. Pal., p. 40,. Art. by Col. Wilson.
• Land and Book, p. 5 16.

194 The Land of Israel
tian and Mohammedan tradition all unite in placing it." ' 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
Josephus 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." a
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. 2 Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 252.

Jerusalem and its Environs 195
ist. 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 ofthe 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 Ught 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 ioo 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 ofthe
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 fsrael, 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 Court 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 ioo cubits long. The facade was
ioo 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
the height of the porch and the great central entrance described
*iy 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. 1.)
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
'Hend. Geog., p. I46,

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, to 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." '
(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
1 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 Daud) 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 chamel 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. (Het>. 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
1 Wilson's In Scripture Lands, p. 228.

Jerusalem and its Environs 201
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." (1. 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

>-
z<XHLUCQ

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 modem " 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
1 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 tne 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-

zoat.QtuX.UJXHOi w>OwOQ 503UJ X
H

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
neighborhood 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 objecticn 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 Rendall
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. 1.)
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, lxvi. 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. (1 Chron. xi. 15, xiv. 9-16; 2 Sam.
v. 17-25-)
7. Pools and Sources of 'Water Supply. — (1) 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." * M. Ganneau's identification
• P. E. Quarterly, '97, p. 254.

208 i ue j^ana ot 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 Tyropoeon 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." (1 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. 283.

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, 1708 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." ¦
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
" Pict. Pal., Vol. I., pp. 102, 104.

210 ine .Land ot 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 Tyropoeon 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." 2 This discovery confirms, if it does not
make certain, the supposition that the pool and the conduit
'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 :
I. (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. *
Recent excavations (1896-7) under the direction ofthe 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 dehris 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 stepa 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 ofthe 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. Iii. 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 Pool
(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, 582 x 207 x 50
feet; Middle, 423X 230x39; Upper, 380X 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 sfill 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. I., 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 66,000. 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 :
ist. 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 debris separating it from the upper wall indicates a time
when no city wall ran along this line, and points to an interruption in tlie
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 Tyropoeon
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
1 Quarterly P. E. F., '96, p. 234.

220 The Land of Israel
to our gate, which I think can be identified with the Fountain
Gate of Scripture." '
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 of
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. It 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 ofthe 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 Tvorld — 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, £o
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. 6^; 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 1244,
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." '
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

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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 fo
its base by the deep valleys or gorges that issue from the moun
tain. All is irregular and wild ; presenting scenes of savage
grandeur." 3 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
1 Hist. Geog., p. 306. 2 Sinai and Palestine, p. 230,
s Rob. Phys. Geog., p. 33.

226 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." *
The following list comprises the most important of the sites
which have been identified.
1. 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. (1 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. (1 Sam. vii. 1, 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." »
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 disciples. (Luke
xxiv. 13-33.)
'Thirty Years' Work, p. 119. 'Henderson's Hist. Geog., p. 1 12.

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. (1 Sam. xvi.
11, xvii. .28.) While we do not know the exact spot, it is cer
tain that somewhere on this eastward stretch of open country

BETHLEHEM OF JUDAH

The Mountains of Judah 229
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. xii. 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; 1 Kings ii. 7.)
Under the choir at the east end of the church a flight of
steps leads down to the "grotto ofthe 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." ' 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 1101
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. 1.) 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 in
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. 1 ), 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 Esh col 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.

232 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-
em 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.

ine mountains ot 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." '
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." J
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 of the 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
1 Pict. Pal., Vol. IL, p. 183. * Bible Geog., p. 38.

234 me i^ana oi israei
Saul, viz : Ziph, Carmel, Maon and Engedi. All of these
places have been satisfactorily identified.
ii. 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 i
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,
Uzziah 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. ' ' J The
whole of this district, says Doctor Robinson, was apparently
1 Prof. Palmer in Pict. Pal., Vol. IL, p. 193.

ine mountains ot 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.
3-8.) 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
¦RT)b. 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.

236 a nc .Lanu oi israei
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. ' ' *
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 island 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, (1 Sam. xxii. 5), is identical with a
ruin called Kharas, five or six miles northwest of Hebron.
16. Keilah is west of Kharas about two miles. (1 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 (1 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. ii. 9) ; Arab, seven miles southwest
with Er-Rabiyeh (Josh. xv. 52) ; futtah, the traditional residence of
Zacharias, five miles south, with Yuttah (Josh. xxi. 16 ; Luke i. 39) ;
Socoh, 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.'7 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.) 2
' Pict. Pal., Vol. IL, p. 191. s 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. (1 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, npt 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
1 Holy Land, pp. 14, 15.

The Negeb or South Country

239

Sites of Special Interest
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. 310 4'; Long. 340 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. •
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 Aram. (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
to 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. 1; 1 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. (1 Sam. viii. 2.) To this place Elijah fled from the
fierce anger of Jezebel on his way to the desert solitudes of the
south. (1 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. 1), 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 Kenites, 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.
1 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. (1 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." 1
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
1 Our Work in Pal., p. 300.

ine rsegeo 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." '
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 ofthe 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." J
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.
2 Trumbull's Kadesh Barnea, p. 95.

244

a nc x-,aiiu oi israei

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.
300 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.

.me i-NegeD or ooutn 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 Pharoahs." 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, unlooked 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

*nv-i UI.

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.2
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. 1.)
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. 27 1-274.
5 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, xvv- i~10-) It was the place
where Miriam died and was buried (Num. xx. 1) ; 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. 16, 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 to
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.) '
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 oi
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. 1 7), 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 ofthe
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." l
"Looking down upon the Buka'a," says Dr. Thomson
1 Rob. Res. Vol., III. p. 504.
250

The Valley of Lebanon 251
" from any one 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." 1
The modem 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
1 The 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 ofthe 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 of
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.2 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.
2 Rob. Res., Vol. III., p. 507.

The Valley of Lebanon 253
valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon ' ' (Josh. xi. 1 7), 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. 11) 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.)
> 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 ^flf ady 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 Iyon 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

NQJO

Upper Basin
ofthe
Jordan l^alley

wenBcLsin oflke
Jordan Valley

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.
1 The Land and the Book, Vol. p. 545.

256 The Land of Israel
These natural features suggest five subdivisions of the valley,
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 vast
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 distanee. 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 Mamre. 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. (1 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
from 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 Caesarea 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, he traversed the entire length
of the river to its terminus in the Dead Sea.
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 stretch 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,
1 The Land and the Book, p. 478.

262 lhe Land ot 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."

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264 ine Land ot 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 ofthe
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 ofthe 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 ; 1 Kings xv.
20.) In the Roman period it was also called the Sea of Tibe
rias, (John vi. 1), and the Lake of Gennesaret. (Luke v. 1.)
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 Christian
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
em 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, prsetorium, tem
ples, synagogues, baths, rich houses — all crowned by the lofty
fortress looking down upon the city." * 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. 16-18.)
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
1 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.)
Asida 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 (1) a garrison. For this there would naturally
be some fort or castle, of wnich 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 ruin's 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. 1 Butler's Bible Work, p. 673.

The Valley of the Jordan 269
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 j 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."3 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 ofthe
Evangelists have given us a record of the blessed ministries
1 Butler's Bible Work, p. 672. a Matt. ix. 1.

270 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. 33-41-)
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 the Jordan 271
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 Land 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." *
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
r known as Susiyeh, the Arabic equivalent of Hippos. Tarichaa,
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 :
1 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 Jerichoon 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
1 Hist. Geog., p. 482.

274: ine Land oi 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.
(i) 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. (1 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.
16.) The site of Zaretan has not been definitely located, but
the district of Zaretan extended from Abel Meholah to Succoth.
(4) Succoth (place of booths) has been identified with
1 Tent Life, p. 224.

The Valley ot 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). (1 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
1 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 ofthe 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, Hiel, the Bethelite, incurred the curse by rebuilding its
walls. (1 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)." 1
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. 2 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. 11, 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 Feshkah 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 Amorah 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." 2
This was the last camping-place of Israel east of the Jordan.
(Num. xxii. 1; Josh. iii. 1.) 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 scsne, 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.' "3
1 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 Kefrein
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-haran, 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-
weimeh at the southern limit of the plain, with Beth-feshimoth,
a city of Reuben. (Josh. xiii. 20.)
"At Tell Kefrein, 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, 1, 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." 1
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 rafjids, 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
1 Pres. and Ref. Review, Vol. II., p. 632.

282 The Land of Israel
the river, except in its flood-time, is seldom more than ioo
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 :
(i) 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,"

The Valley of the Jordan 283
and is radically the same word found in the name "Betha-
bara." x Major Conder' s suggestion that this ford marks the
probable site of the baptism of Jesus (John i. 28) has been fav
orably received by some leading authorities, but a serious objec
tion to this location is the fact that it was within the limits of
the district of Galilee. This position does not accord with the
statement of Matthew, that "Jesus came from Galilee to Jor
dan unto John, to be baptized of him " ; nor with other con
temporary events which evidently belong to John's ministry in
Judea. (Matt. iii. 13; Luke iv. 14; John i. 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. (1 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
1 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 ; arid 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 Elias, 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
1 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." • " 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. 2 Rob Roy on Jordan, p. 406.

286 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 112 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 these 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. ! 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." '
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 ofthe 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
• 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. 9-1 1. 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. 1.)
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 ofthe 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." 1 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
1 Smith's Hist. Geog., p. 644. 2 R0b. Phys. Geog., p. 365.

The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 29S
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 rale, 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
(H.) 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.
' 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. ii). 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 territorj
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. (1 Chron. xviii. 6.) After the division of the kingdom
of Israel the several tribes of Syria united their strength undei
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. ' ' '
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-
1 Barrow's Sacred Geog., p. 290.

The Anti-Lebanon Mountains 297
ception of its appearance can be given than the poetic descrip
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 ; the two
which lie to the north and south respectively, are about equal
in height. The plural of the Hebrew name, " the Hermons " —
incorrectly translated "the Hermonites" — is used in Psalm
xiii. 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 ; 1 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." 1
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 Csesarea 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 299
ward 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 ofthe 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
festation 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. 2 Dr. Manning's Holy Fields, p. 219.

300 ine Land ot 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 it 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 lxviii.
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 ii. uncertain — the poet says, mountains of bold heights
are the tnount 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."' 1 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
11= 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. 302

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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." (1 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 riyer
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 the Israel
ites. (1 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
ftmits 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 the west border of the
desert. The old caravan road from Gamala and the
railroad, which leaves the Lake at Gersa, touch the Hagg
road near Aere 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.

ihe T'rans-Jordanic 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
unwalled 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." (1 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.
8 Merrill's East of Jordan, p. 11.
s 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." ¦
" 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
1 The Land and the Book, p. 461. 8 Holy Land, p. 305.

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; 1 Chron. ii. 23),
which is applied to this ancient city in the midst of a large
group of smaller, but still important places. ' ' • 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. •'
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.
8 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. 4-1 1.) 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 p6int, 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 400, 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
ccrver thee, camels of Midian and Ephah, all of them from Skeba 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 Trans-Jordanic Highlands 311
N
The exact limits of the district of Batanam 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.2 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. 11.) At a later period it is said that the chil
dren of Gad dwelt in the land of Bashan unto Salcah." (1
Chron. v. 11.) It may be 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. 2 Giant Cities of Bashan, p. 76.

312 The Land of Israel
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 plains as far
north probably as the edge of the Hauran. (See Isa. chaps.
xv. and xvi ; Jer. xlviii. 3 ; Ezek. xxv. 8-1 1, 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. lxiii. 1.)
" 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." ¦
The ruined cities of the Hauran furnish abundant evidence
on every hand of the characteristic features of Greek and Ro-
1 Giant Cites of Bashan, p. 64.

ine irans-joraanic nigniands 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." '
Explorers and archaeologists differ in opinion with respect to
the age of the massive basaltic structures which characterize the
1 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." x De Vogu6, 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 Hibt. Geog., p. 624.

The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 315
of these stone cities correspond with the Argob cities of the
Biblical record ; that the names of some of them have come
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 ; 1 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 Lhe Land ot 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." 2 On this point rather than upon the actual
1 Holy Land, p. 306. s 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 com 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 fqsdable, 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." 1
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
ofthe 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." * (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 ofthe 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 Wady 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 ofthe 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
100 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. 1) 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. 1 ; 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. 1; 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 than 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." '
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 1030. 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 theij 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." '
East of this district are several Roman cities of importance,
as their ruins indicate.
Abila, now Tell Abil, is bn the highway to Damascus, some
twelve miles east of Gadara.
Capitolias, eight or ten miles south of Tell Abil, is prob
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. 3 East of Jordan, p. 146.
3 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." *¦
"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. ' 2 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. (1 Sam. xi. 1-11.) 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. n-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." >
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. (1 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." a
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
1 East of the Jordan, pp. 391, 392. » Ibid., p. 287.

The Trans-Jordanic Highlands 327
later Roman period. Aside from the evidence furnished 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 (1 Kings xxii.
1 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 the Mizpah in
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 (2,700 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
pf 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. 1,2; 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 ofthe 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." (Nahaliel —
Num. xxi. 19.) This awful chasm, or cafion, is bordered by

The Trans-Jordanic 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 no° to 140O 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 Mach'aerus — 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 this side and its
mouth is just half-way down the shore.
At Aroer, about twelve miles from its mouth, the Arnon
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. 651.

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." r
" 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. e., 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."8
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. 2 Hist. Geog., p. 72.

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
1 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. (1 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." x
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
¦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." '
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 ; 1 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 900 b. c. "The characters," says Dr. Neubaur, "in
1 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,dies about eight miles south of the Arnon. (Num. xxi.
28.) Kir of Moab, now Kerak (Isa. xv. 1), 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.
Mej del= Watch tower.
Merj= Meadow or Plain.
Mugharah= 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.
A'bdon (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.
A-bila (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 Zib), 77.
Acra, Division of Jerusalem,
173-
Acre (Accho), 76.
Acre, Plain of, 75.
Adam, Town in Jordan Valley,
274.
Admah, 278.
Adonis River, 66.
Adoraim (Dura), 236.
Adullam (Aid-el-ma), 102.
Adullam, Traditional site of, 230.
Mnon (Ainun), 152.
Afranj Wady, 103.

Ahsy, El, Castle of, 338.
Ahsy, Wady (Zered), 338.
Ai-Hai (Haiyan), 164.
Aijalon-A j alon.
Ain Duk, 161.
Ain Feshkhah (Spring of Pis
gah), 279.
Ain el Fijeh, 290.
AinGadis-AinKadeis. See Rad
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), Nicopolis,9g.

34o

index

34 1

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 (Caesarea 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 (Um 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)t
228.
Bethlehem of Zebulun, 119.
Beth Meon. See Baal Meon.
Beth-Nimrah (Tell Nimrim), 281.
Beth Pebr, 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,
'73-
Bible, Lands of the, 1.
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, 315.
Cabul (Kabul), 78.
Csesarea, 82.
Csesarea Philippi. See Banias.
Callirhoe (Zerka Main), 330.
Calvary, Place of, 178, 200.
Cana (Kefr Kenna), 1 1 8.
Cana (Kh Kana), 119.
Canaan, 30.
Canaan, Early history of, 50.
Canaan — As a Babylonian Province,
50.
Canaan — As an Egyptian Province,
52-
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.
Chioloth Tabor (Iksal), 126.

mcicx.

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, 1 1.
" Kingdom of, II.
" City of, 172.
" Tomb of, 199.
" Tower of, 177.
Dead River (Nahr Muf jir), 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 ofthe 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, 16, 1 34.
" 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.
Et Tell (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 Zerka.
Gadis Ain. See Kadesh Barnea.

Gadis Wady, 244-245.
Galem (Beit Jala), 231.
Galeed-Gilead.
Galilee, Province of, 41, III.
" Upper, 115.
" Lower, 115.
" Sea of, 262-273.
" Basin of, 262.
" Mountains of, m.
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, 18, 272.
Ghor-es Seisaban, 273.
Ghor es Safieh, 286.
Ghurab Wady, 100.
Gibeah (Geba or Jeba), 166.
Gibeah, District of, 166.
Gibeah Phinehas (Awertah), 154.
Gibeath (Jibia), 169.
Gibeon (El Gih), 160, 167.
" Pool of, 168.
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 (Jiljulieh), 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.
Grseco-Roman Civilization, 56.
" " Architecture, 309,
312-314.
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.
Ham am Wady, 1 1 3.
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 Harafhiyeh), 77.

Harvest Periods, 23.
Hasbany River, 256.
Hattin, Horns of,ni2.
Hauran, 304-305.
Hauran Jebel, 310.
" Architecture, 313.
" Threshing-floors of the
3°5-
Havoth Jair, 307.
Hazar-enan, 8, 291.
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,
3'7-
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), 1 19.
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, 111.
" Mukhmal, 15.
" Neba (Nebo), 332,
" Osha, 320.
" Siaghah, 332.
" Sunnin, 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, 1 27.
Jird el Barak, 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, 1 19.
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- Kir of Moab.
Kerak-Tarichsea, 272.
Kerioth (Kureieh), 312, 316.
Kerioth-Ar of Moab.
Khan Minyeh (Capernaum), 267-
270.
Khan of Chimham, 229.
Khans, 46.
Khurbet Suleikhat, 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»Gatnala.
Kulat er Rubad, 323.
Kulat Zerka (Gadda), 329.
Kurn Sartaba, 274.
Kurn Wady. See Map No. 4.
Kuweh El (Natural Bridge), 109.

Kabul-Cabul.

Lachish (Tell el Hesy), 93.

348

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),
33L
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.
Meduk, 108.

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, I5g.
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.
Murreh 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, m, 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, 168.
Nun, Tomb of (Neby Nun), 155.
Nusairiyeh Mountains, 9.
Nuweimeh Wady, 160.
Oak Forests of Palestine, 80, 304,
3J9-
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.
Parah (Farah), 169.
Paran, Wilderness 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.
Phasaelus, 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, t6i.
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-

35°

Index

c r

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.
Riblah (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, 27 1.
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. Tarichsea- 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 Serah
(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 ofthe 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.
Tyropoeon Valley, 172.
Um 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 Jews, 183.
Wady Abu Nar, 145^
" Afranj, 103.
" Amriyeh, 280.
" Arah, 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, J37, 145.
" esh Sheriah, 105.
<• Farah, 144.
t" Ghurab, 100.
" Hamam, 113.
" Ishar, 145.
" Kanah, 145.
" Kelt, 161.
" Khureitun, 230.
" Melek, 112.
" Najil, 100.
" Nimr, 14J.
" 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.

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