﻿LAND 
  USE 
  — 
  LOWDERMILK 
  417 
  

  

  at 
  its 
  worst. 
  Here 
  are 
  ruins 
  of 
  villages, 
  market 
  towns 
  resting 
  on 
  the 
  

   skeleton 
  rock 
  of 
  limestone 
  hills, 
  from 
  which 
  3 
  to 
  6 
  feet 
  of 
  soil 
  have 
  been 
  

   swept 
  off. 
  Evidence 
  of 
  the 
  depth 
  of 
  soil 
  eroded 
  from 
  these 
  slopes 
  is 
  

   found 
  in 
  doorsills 
  of 
  stone 
  houses 
  now 
  3 
  to 
  6 
  feet 
  above 
  the 
  bare 
  rock. 
  

  

  Here 
  soil 
  erosion 
  has 
  done 
  its 
  worst 
  and 
  spread 
  a 
  ghastly 
  destruction 
  

   over 
  a 
  formerly 
  prosperous 
  landscape, 
  as 
  judged 
  by 
  the 
  ruins 
  of 
  splen- 
  

   did 
  houses 
  in 
  villages 
  and 
  in 
  cities, 
  such 
  as 
  at 
  El 
  Bare, 
  which 
  we 
  ex- 
  

   amined 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1939. 
  In 
  reality, 
  these 
  cities 
  are 
  dead, 
  with 
  

   no 
  hope 
  of 
  resurrection; 
  for 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  their 
  prosperity 
  is 
  gone. 
  

   These 
  cities 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  buried, 
  but 
  have 
  been 
  left 
  high 
  and 
  stark 
  

   by 
  the 
  removal 
  of 
  soil 
  through 
  the 
  irreversible 
  process 
  of 
  erosion. 
  

   The 
  good 
  earth 
  of 
  terra 
  rossa 
  soils 
  is 
  completely 
  gone 
  from 
  the 
  slopes 
  

   except 
  in 
  patches 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  held 
  back 
  by 
  walls 
  of 
  ruined 
  buildings 
  

   or 
  in 
  pockets 
  in 
  the 
  limestone. 
  In 
  these 
  patches 
  a 
  few 
  vines 
  and 
  olive 
  

   trees 
  stand 
  as 
  sad 
  remnants 
  of 
  a 
  former 
  profitable 
  use 
  of 
  land, 
  which 
  

   provided 
  exports 
  of 
  olive 
  oil 
  and 
  wine 
  to 
  Rome 
  during 
  the 
  empire. 
  

   Seminomads 
  now 
  inhabit 
  repaired 
  ruins 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  cities. 
  

  

  As 
  one 
  travels 
  in 
  the 
  desolation 
  of 
  this 
  man-made 
  desert 
  today, 
  amid 
  

   the 
  barren 
  limestone 
  hills 
  once 
  forested 
  before 
  they 
  were 
  converted 
  to 
  

   cultivated 
  fields, 
  I 
  was 
  moved 
  by 
  continuous 
  astonishment 
  to 
  find 
  ruins 
  

   of 
  dead 
  cities 
  which 
  gave 
  every 
  evidence 
  of 
  former 
  prosperity 
  and 
  

   well-being. 
  (PI. 
  2, 
  fig. 
  1.) 
  While 
  buildings 
  of 
  some 
  cities 
  are 
  tumbled 
  

   amid 
  their 
  masses 
  of 
  overturned 
  blocks, 
  those 
  of 
  other 
  cities 
  stand 
  

   upright, 
  showing 
  facades, 
  towers, 
  arches, 
  and 
  walls 
  of 
  convents 
  and 
  

   cathedrals, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  details 
  of 
  houses, 
  villas, 
  shops, 
  stores, 
  public 
  baths, 
  

   hotels, 
  and 
  superb 
  tombs 
  such 
  as 
  those 
  at 
  El 
  Bare. 
  This 
  area 
  was 
  

   flourishing 
  from 
  the 
  third 
  to 
  the 
  seventh 
  century, 
  without 
  sign 
  of 
  

   decadence. 
  The 
  invasion 
  of 
  the 
  Persians 
  in 
  614 
  and 
  the 
  Arabs 
  in 
  630 
  

   decimated 
  the 
  inhabitants, 
  blotted 
  out 
  their 
  culture, 
  destroyed 
  their 
  

   cities, 
  and 
  even 
  the 
  traditions 
  of 
  their 
  agriculture. 
  

  

  Today, 
  after 
  13 
  centuries 
  of 
  neglect, 
  of 
  terraces 
  overrun 
  by 
  herds 
  

   and 
  patch 
  cultivation 
  of 
  grain 
  by 
  seminomadic 
  descendants 
  of 
  the 
  

   invaders, 
  soil 
  erosion 
  has 
  completed 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  the 
  good 
  earth 
  

   with 
  a 
  thoroughness 
  that 
  has 
  left 
  this 
  formerly 
  productive 
  land 
  a 
  

   man-made 
  desert, 
  generally 
  void 
  of 
  vegetation, 
  water, 
  and 
  soil. 
  The 
  

   cities 
  could 
  be 
  made 
  habitable 
  again, 
  but 
  they 
  will 
  remain 
  dead 
  for- 
  

   ever, 
  because 
  their 
  soils 
  are 
  gone 
  beyond 
  hope 
  of 
  restoration. 
  Here 
  

   the 
  "unpardonable 
  sin" 
  of 
  land 
  use 
  has 
  been 
  committed. 
  

  

  THE 
  "PROMISED 
  LAND" 
  OF 
  PALESTINE 
  

  

  When 
  Moses 
  stood 
  on 
  Mount 
  Nebo 
  and 
  looked 
  across 
  the 
  Jordan 
  to 
  

   the 
  "Promised 
  Land" 
  about 
  3,000 
  years 
  ago, 
  he 
  described 
  the 
  land 
  to 
  his 
  

   followers 
  as 
  a 
  "land 
  of 
  brooks 
  of 
  water, 
  of 
  fountains 
  and 
  depths 
  that 
  

   spring 
  out 
  of 
  valleys 
  and 
  hills 
  ; 
  a 
  land 
  of 
  wheat, 
  and 
  barley, 
  and 
  vines, 
  

  

  