well as from the east, came the hot winds, and the samiel. It would appear, from our translation, that the spouse thought the north and south winds of advantage to her garden; for she for she says in Cant. iv. 16, "Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out :" but some render it, "Awake, O north wind, to fan the air, and retire thou destructive south wind:" for if the south wind blew, the excessive heat would have prevented her beloved from visiting his garden, as she wishes in the end of the verse, and would have shut him up in his apartment." I may remark, however, in general, that the south winds in Judea are moderate or destructive, according to the season. Dr. Russell's account of the winds at Aleppo may either be seen in his Travels, or in Harm. Observ. vol. i. p. 99; and we shall have occasion to notice their prevalence in the different seasons of the year in Judea, when we examine the state of the seasons in that country.

SECT. IV.

The Seasons in Judea.

Jewish divisions of the year; the same as mentioned in Gen, viii. 22.—1st, Seed time; former rains described; activity of the former in sowing after them.-2d, The winter; its duration; the season for thunder and lightning; an eastern winter mild.—3d, The cold.-4th, The harvest; the latter rains described.-5th, The summer; its duration, and effects on vegetation-6th, The heat; its duration. Jews seldom went abroad at this season between eleven o'clock and three; retired to rest. Some general signs as to the weather in Judea.

In describing the weather of Judea, it is most natural to begin at the autumnal equinox, which was the beginning of their civil year, and the time when the ope

Harm. Ob. vol. i. p. 65.

rations of the seasons commenced. Accordingly their year is thus described by one of their own writers. "Half Tizri, all Marchesvan, and half Chisleu, is y zero, or seed-time. Half Chisleu, all Thebeth, and half Shebat, is herep, or winter. Half Shebat, all Adar, and half Nisan, is

hum,

kur, the cold. Half Nisan, all Ijar, and half Sivan, is n ketsur, or harvest. Half Sivan, all Thamuz, and half Ab, is pp kiits, or summer. And half Ab, all Elul, and half Tizri, is □ or the great heat." It is somewhat remarkable, that the promise of God to Noah after the flood, is expressed in the very words in the original and our translation, which are here used by the Jewish writer. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." But let us attend to each of these divisions in their order.

In the first division, which was that of y zero, or seed-time, and which comprehended half Tizri, all Marchesvan, and half Chisleu, or from the beginning of October till the end of November, the first thing concerning the weather is what is usually known by the former rains. The rabbins deliver that the former rains fell in the month Marchesvan, which corresponds with the last fortnight of October, and the first fortnight of November. And with this the accounts of modern travellers agree. For an eye-witness, mentioned by Harmer, says, that on the 2d of November, N. S., he found some rain between Joppa and Rama; and that, on the 4th of that month he was nine hours and a half in the rain, which fell, not constantly, but in heavy showers; that the day after his arrival at Jerusalem (Nov. 5) he was prevented

c

a Lightf. Heb. and Talm. Exer. John iv. 35.

Lightf, Heb. and Talm, Exer, Luke iv. 25.

b Gen. viii. 22.

d Ch. i. ob. 2. Clark's edit.

b

from going out by the rain; and that it continued unsettled weather until the 19th of November, when he left that city but that it would have been deemed very good weather in Britain, as the rain did not fall in large quantities, or without interruption, through the day. Dr. Shaw is, therefore, not correct in saying,a that the first rains in Judea usually fall about the beginning of November, O. S. meaning the 12th of November, N. S.; but he was no eye-witness, as he himself acknowledges, and must, therefore, yield to the evidence which Harmer produces. It is, indeed, probable, that they begin to fall still earlier in Judea; for Mr. Harmer's eye-witness found the peasants ploughing up their stubbles for wheat, as he went between Joppa and Jerusalem, and also through the vale of Esdraelon. Now, according to Dr. Shaw, the Arabs do not begin to break up the ground to sow wheat and beans till after the falling of the first rains. Nay, Rauwolff says, that on the 13th September, O. S., in the year 1575, equal to the 25th September, N. S., he found the hemerocallis near Joppa, which Dr. Russell describes as a plant that never appears till after the first fall of the autumnal rains. And the author of the History of the Revolt of Ali Bey, told Mr. Harmer, that when he was at Joppa, they began to fall about the 7th of September, O. S., equal to the 19th, N. S., or about the equinox. From consulting Dr. Russell's Aleppo, p. 14. 66. 155, it appears that the first rains fall at Aleppo about the same time that they fall in Judea; for, according to him, they usually begin between the 15th and 25th September, O. S., or the 27th September and 7th October, N. S.; but they are rather very heavy showers than continued rains, which cool and freshen the air; and about twenty or thirty

* Page 335. VOL. II.

b Page 137.

3 H

C Ray's Coll. of Trav. p. 228.

it

days after, or the 17th and 27th of October, are the second rains; between which the weather is temperate, serene, and extremely delightful; but after that it becomes variable. We are not to confound these second rains, however, with the latter rains of scripture, which do not fall till some months after, and will be noticed by and by. Dr. Shaw confirms Dr. Russell's account of these former rains; for he says, that after the two or three first days of rain, which is commonly very heavy, there is usually a week, a fortnight, or more, of good weather, in which interval they begin to plough and sow. From the above accounts, then, of the former rains, appears, that after the autumnal equinox, sometimes a few days sooner or later, according to circumstances, the first fruits of these rains descend in heavy showers for two or three days; that the weather then clears up for twenty or thirty days; after which the real former rains begin so that they really fall in the month Marchesvan, as the Jewish account formerly given stated, or in the last fortnight of October, and the first fortnight of November. But we are not to suppose that they ceased then; for they continue during the winter months in Judea, as the snow does in Britain. The meaning, therefore, is, that they were most severe during that time, to drench the parched earth with rain, and that they continued to water it occasionally afterwards. The following description of a Jewish dearth of this indispensable element of water, will show the justice of the foregoing remarks." "The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth. Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof (or the people that met at the gates as the places of public resort) languish; they are black unto the ground (with thirst,) and the cry of Je

* Jer. xiv. 1-6.

rusalem has gone up. And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters (or running streams:) they came to the pits (reservoirs, or tanks, which used to be filled by the rain,) and found no water: they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the ploughmen were ashamed; they covered their heads. Yea, the hinds also calved in the field, and forsook their offspring; because there was no grass. And the wild asses did stand in the high places; they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass." From these verses it appears that the delay of the former rains was accounted a serious evil both by man and beast. How exceedingly appropriate then is the Jewish appellation for rain, when they call it emphatically "the river of God!" No sooner did it appear than all was in motion, and the words of Isaiah were completely verified: "Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass." In considering, however, the former rain now, and the latter rain in spring, which we shall describe by and by, we are not to suppose that they are confined to Judea; for while the great south-west monsoon, as it is called, deluges the east, from Africa to the Malay peninsula, during the summer months, or from the beginning of June to September, according to circumstances, there is a rain that falls in winter, and extends over all the countries west of the Indus, as far as the Hellespont, which assumes the form of rain or snow, according to the temperature of the place, and is of much greater importance to husbandry than the summer monsoon. Now, it is this winter rain which affects Judea; and the