eastern end of which lay the town of Thebez, and higher up, on the south-west, the more distinguished city of Thirza. Directly above Thirza, on the south-west, stands Mount Ebal, and, with a fruitful vale between, Mount Gerizim. In this vale, which sends its waters to the Jordan, was Shechem or Sichem. To the northwest of Shechem stood Samaria, called Sebaste or August, in honour of Augustus, the Roman emperor. Still further to the north-west there lay, on the sea-shore, Cesare'a, leaving at a distance, in the south, Joppa.

The mountains of Ephraim, or Samaria (Jer. xxxi. 5, 6; Amos iii. 9, iv. 1), are described by Josephus as rich in springs, abounding in vegetable products, and well provided with pastures. Ebal, on its northern side, is steep and bare; Gerizim, green, having gardens which of old rose from the vale in terraces up the hill. The high lands of Samaria send their waters in part to the Mediterranean, in part to the Jordan. The streams are numerous and have many feeders, but their course is short and the amount of their water inconsiderable.

The hill country of Judah follows that of Samaria. Taken in its widest extent, the term comprehends the greater part of the province of Judah (the tribes Benjamin, Dan, Judah, Simeon), and the high lands of which it consists stretch away southward to Idume'a and the desert. Mount Judah, however, in a narrower sense, is a lofty ridge or back, which from Etham, a little south of Jerusalem, runs in a slight curve, north and south, to Socoh, in the south of Judah (Josh. xv. 48).

From this stem branches strike out towards the west and towards the east. The former gradually become lower till they fall into the plains of the ancient Phili'stia (Campestria Sephela). The latter, with a valley intervening, form a succession of deserts, the rocks of which abut on the western shore of the Dead Sea. On a height in this valley lies the very ancient city Hebron, and near it rises a river which, with considerable bendings, finds its way to the Mediterranean, a little south of Gaza. On the same side the country is drained by a stream which, having its source near Anathoth, somewhat north of Jerusalem, winds its way among the hills in a general course to the southwest, and at length falls into the sea at A'skelon, after going through the vale of the Terebinths, by the town Jarmuth, and over the low lands that bear the name of Sephe'la. A third and less considerable stream, rising near A'jalon, and flowing by Emma'us (Nicopolis) and through the vale also called Ajalon, unites with the Mediterranean a little north of Jamnia. A fourth stream, forming on the west a sort of boundary between Samaria and Judah, rising on the top of the most southern part of the hills of the former, and flowing by Gophna, Bethhoron, the upper and the lower, as well as Lydda (Dio'spolis), passes over the low lands of Sharon into the sea, just above Joppa. On the eastern

side of the heights of Judah there are only rivulets, which, dividing the hills, form a succession of desert uplands, and, after a short course, fall precipitously into the Dead Sea. Between Jerusalem and the most southerly heights of Samaria the surface of the country is broken, and consists of a confused number of heights, well fitted to be the sites of towns in a state of society when protection and safety were sought on lofty spots difficult of access. Here, accordingly, are found many places well known in scriptural history. Beginning from the east, we may mention, as lying in a northern line, Ophrah (Josh. xviii. 23), Hazor (xv. 23), Bethhoron (x. 10, 11), Lydda (Ludd, Acts ix. 32); in a southern line, Ai (Josh. vii. 2), Mizpeh (Neby Samwil, Josh. xviii. 26), Emma'us (village, Luke xxiv. 13), Gibeon (Josh. ix. 3), A'jalon (ix. 2), Emma'us (the city Nicopolis); between these two lines, Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 7), Kirjath-je'arim (Joshua ix. 17), Modin, Ramleh (Ramah or Arimathe'a (Josh. xviii. 25; Matt. xxvii. 57).

CHAPTER VI.

PALESTINE WEST OF THE JORDAN.

We may now speak in some detail of particular parts of Palestine west of the Jordan. The country, according to Josephus, was rich in corn, wine, and fruit. Among its hills, those of Jerusalem are prominent, namely, Olivet, Zion, Moriah. Near them, of ancient renown, are the vales of the Kedron, Ben Hinnom, and Rephaim. From Joppa, on the sea-shore, the traveller may reach Jerusalem over the lovely plains of Sharon, through Ramleh, in about seven hours. There the bare limestone rock of Judah begins to rise, over which a very heavy road conducts in about six hours to the capital. From that point the hilly range goes on eastwardly for about five hours, at the end of which it falls into the vale of the Jordan near Jericho, in Benjamin. This eastern fall is the termination of a tongue of land formed by two brooks or rivulets, of which the northern, rising near Gibeah, enters the Jordan at Jericho; the southern, the Kedron, having its source at Jerusalem, and making its way through a deep ravine, throws its water into the Dead Sea. In this tongue is the steep Mount Quarantania (Quarante, in French forty), so called because it is supposed to be the hill on which for forty days the Saviour underwent his temptation (Matt. iv. 2, 8). At its base rises a fountain whose waters are held to be those which were sweetened by Elisha (2 Kings ii. 18, seq.).

The name 'mountains of Judah' (Josh. xi. 21; 2 Chron. xxvii.

4), or 'hill country of Judea' (Luke i. 65), are of frequent occurrence in the Bible. To them belonged the wilderness of Teko'a' (2 Chron. xx. 20), 'the wilderness of Engedi' (1 Sam. xxiv. 1), the wilderness of Ziph' (xxiii. 13, 14), and 'the wilderness of Maon' (24, 25), the three last well known in the history of David. The four which succeed each other from north to south in the given order, combine to form the wilderness of Judea that stretched along the western side of the Dead Sea. In the same parts are found the Frank mountain (Beth-ha'ccerem, Herodion, Jer. vi. 1) near Teko ́a; and Carmel (not to be confounded with the promontory of the same name), where Nabal dwelt (Josh. xv. 55; 1 Sam. xxv.). The southern part of the high lands of Judah bore the name of 'the Mount of the Amorites' (Deut. i. 7, 19). It rises above the southern wilderness. Far south, in the desert, stood Kadesh Barnea (Numb. xiii. 26; xx. 1; Deut. i. 46). Midway between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea was Beersheba, the southern, as Dan was the northern limit of Palestine (Judg. xx. 1). The uninhabitable desert which extended beyond formed a natural boundary, and at the other extremity the lofty heights of Lebanon. Chalk, limestone, and flint predominate from the white mountain (Rass el-Abiad), south of Tyre, to the south-east end of the Dead Sea. In the chalk and limestone are numberless caverns, in the formation of which art has lent aid to nature. Such are found at Nazareth, Carmel, and Ebal. A hundred at least are said to exist on the north side of Jerusalem. In caverns of the kind the Israelites sought refuge from the Midianites (Judg. vi. 2), also from the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii. 6). In the cave at Ma'kkedah five kings of the Amorites hid themselves (Josh. x. 16). In the rock Rimmon, six hundred of the tribe of Benjamin abode for four months (Judg. xx. 47); and it was in the cave Adullam that David sought refuge and gathered around him a band of desperadoes (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2). The naked chalk heights and the wide bare plains, covered with flint, of the desert of Arabia, are the southern continuation of the calcareous formations of western Palestine. Chalk and limestone occur also on the east of the Jordan, especially between the Mandhur and the Arnon. Here also, on the Sea of Galilee and other points, are found basaltic summits, which may be considered as outposts of the great field of basalt of the ancient Bashan.

Judah, considered as a province, was not without special advantages. Its soil at first sight may not appear very favourable to agriculture. But its high lands afforded admirable sheep walks ; and wherever was any depth of earth' in a nook, a crevice of the rock, or a glen, there the olive-tree flourished, affording the most abundant and most valuable products. Scarcely inferior were the bounties bestowed by the fig-tree. The vales were very luxuriant and prolific. From the low lands agriculture

carried its labours and reaped its rewards up the sides of the hills, so as to greatly augment the surface of cultivated land. The very labour that tillage and the cares of husbandry required in Judah, secured for it an abundance of food and a social preeminence which made it distinguished in history before all other parts of the country. For the higher purposes of life, that condition of soil and climate is preferable in which 'souls are ripened;' and mind gains vigour and comes to maturity most readily in those regions where labour is an indispensable requisite for subsistence. Soft and sunny climes, in which nature itself supplies food for man, prevent the growth of robust industry, high enterprise, and manly virtue. But mountainous and rugged districts, if not under too cold a sky, call out all man's higher powers. Switzerland is niggard in natural bounties, but has produced high-minded men and a free nation. Italy is in bondage, while England enjoys a very large portion of individual and social freedom. So Judah of old held sway over now a large part, now the whole of the land; while Jericho and other places in the deep, hot, relaxing vale of the Jordan, had either no vigorous or no permanent life. It was partly a consequence, partly a cause of its social supremacy, that Judah in its chief city, Jerusalem, became the religious centre of Palestine, and thence sent out its law into all parts of the Western world. Along the western side of the extended range of hills which runs from Lebanon to Judah, there stretches a line of sea-coast, varying in width and of deep historic interest, from Tyre in the north to Gaza in the south. This lengthened seaboard is washed by the fine blue waves of the Mediterranean Sea. It is divided by Mount Carmel into two chief plains, namely, that of Acre on the north and that of Sharon and Sephe'la on the south. There is on the coast but one good harbour, that of Acre or Ptolemais. This is owing to the fact, that the streams which run down from the hills are short in their course and have no great volume of water. The tides on the coast are inconsiderable (comp. Jer. v. 22). The Mediterranean in Scripture is often termed the sea, also 'the great sea' (Numb. xxxiv. 6, 7; Josh. i. 4; Ezek. xlvii. 20), and the great sea at the sunset' (Josh. xxiii. 4, marg.), as well as 'the uttermost sea' (Deut. xi. 24; Joel ii. 20), and ‘the sea of the Philistines' (Exod. xxiii. 31).

The first plain on the north is that of Acre. This you reach in coming from Tyre by pursuing the precipitous road formed by Alexander the Great, which leads over Album Promontorium, the White Promontory, or Rass el-Abiad, to what is called the Tyrian Ladder, whence may be seen the bay of the renowned city of Acre, with the promontory of Carmel running out into the sea and forming its back ground. The plain of Acre from the Tyrian Ladder to the foot of Carmel takes six hours to traverse. In passing from Acre to Nazareth, travellers in two hours come

to hills covered with woods, beyond which they gradually ascend to the table lands of western Galilee. The plain of Acre is not without water or fertility, but uncultivated and unproductive. It is intersected by the river Belus, the same, probably, as the Sihor-libnath, that is glass-river, the first glass being, it is said, made from its sands. Flowing through the territory of Asher, it joins the sea at Acco (Josh. xix. 26). At the foot of Carmel the Kishon enters the Mediterranean, which, having its principal source on the western side of Mount Tabor, flows through the plain of Jezreel, uniting it with that of Acre. Near the sea it has beautiful gardens. Its water is green and clear (Judg. iv. 7, v. 21; Ps. lxxxiii. 9; 1 Kings xviii. 40).

The plain of Acre is divided from that of Sharon by Mount Carmel. The latter, in union with the plain of Sephe'la, with

*

MOUNT CARMEL.

which it is naturally connected, has a breadth varying from five to eight hours, and a length of about forty hours, extending from Dor (Judg. i. 17) to Gaza (xvi. 21). From Carmel, through Cesare'a, to Jaffa (Joppa, 2 Chron. ii. 16), the plain presents now downs of sand and now low rocky levels, but also parts remarkable for the charms of vegetable abundance. The country lying inland from Cesare'a has rich pastures, whose white clover is variegated by dwarf tulips and red cistus flowers. Specially beautiful is the country around Joppa and Arimathe'a. This, in the narrower sense, is the famous plain of Sharon, whose wide,

The hour (7 hours 'make now a day's journey in the East, Gen. Xxx. 36; Exod. iii. 18, &c.) may be considered as nearly equal to two and a half of our miles, or 27-26 hours, equal to one degree or 69 miles, or about 75 Roman miles each of a thousand paces or yards.