714 



PALESTINE 



grc.At idea ">f the Crusade* (q.v.) iiiuilly faded out of 

 ..... 'i - uiiii'l-, and ceojied to be a factor in F.iitop'-an 



Km 1'ne hundred yi>ar Palestine has lieen so far 

 happy that she box c.intrihiitcd little to tin' history 

 of tlii- world. Tin- Turk MII-I-IM-.II-.I tin- Saracen ; 

 tin-!.- li:tN IMM-II no progress till tin- pi.--.-nt genera- 

 lion : tin- ruin- have IMTOIIH* moie ruinous ; p:i-h:i- 

 come nil. I go : tin 1 people are OppNMld with taxes ; 

 tin- young IIM-II are taken for -ul.li.-r-, nn.l they 

 ncier I-.IHII' lnck : lint the country lias 'x-.-n for the 

 m .-t p.m in pea.---. 



II. rhyiii-nl Itffri/iliiiH of thr Hn'ij J.'tinl. 

 l'.i!i--tiii>' |n.i]M-r contain-- an area of ,-iliont 0000 -.1. 

 in. It it IHMIII. li*.l on tin 1 N. by tin- river Ka-imiveh 

 (tin- '.livi.lfr 'I, which is never mentioned at nli in 

 tin- Hihle : on tin- F.. I iy tin- .Ionian, nml on tin- \V. 

 by tin- sea. At liist sight the inaj) shows ridge 

 ii|ioii ridge of hills tunning cn-st am! west, -loping 

 giadti.illy to tin- west, and descending steeply to 

 tli.- c.-wt On tlie went in a long strip of low sea- 

 Imard varying in breadth, vanishing altogether at 

 tin- foot of ( 'arm. -I. and hrondening southward into 

 the Plain of I'liili-ii.-i. The Bible -peaks of thu 

 country as consisting of desert, iiiiiiint.-vin, plain. 

 low hilU (Shephehih), and valley. In North 

 (lalilec tin- \vatrr>lifd rnns at an average height 

 of 2800 feet alnive the sen, while the highest pcik 

 ri*e to ft height of .'Kl.'ll I'.-ft. In Samaria the hills 

 are lower, nut ii-ing alMive 3<HK) fret, while south 

 of .1. -i ii-. ili-iii the hills again rise, to over Tj(K) feet. 

 The north country contains the Plains of liiittanf 

 nnd the rich plain of K-draelon, 20 miles long and 

 !l miles liroail. elevated, at its highest point, ill) 

 feel altove the sea. The principal elevations in 

 t!.-- c.mntry are Jebel .Icrmnk. Ji.irU fc'ei; Carniel, 

 I74O fret high and I'J miles long: .Mount I-'.lial. 

 3TW4 feet, and Mount C.-ri/.im. !iS4!) feet: Tell 

 A-i\r, 3:<I8 feet; and lias .-h Sherifeh, :r>8 feet, 

 the only known >-|iot whence the Dead Sea anil 

 M.-.lilerran. ;.' vi-ilile. The Maritime 



I'l.-iin, forme,! partly l>y the ilenndntion of the 

 inonntninH anil partly hv accumulation of Hand, 

 pomeamw a fertile -.i! ; d.-.-p Bullies run across j(, 

 with, in Home cases, p.-r.-nnial KtreaniH. The 

 .Ionian Valley Ue^ins with the rise of the stream 

 1000 fi-et alni\ c tin- Mcdit'-riancan, and in 1(K) miles 

 has fallen to I'.VI-J fei-t lelo\v the Me.litenan.-aii. 

 Thi is n drop of ne.irly 2,'WX) feet, or i't feet in a 

 mile. The valh'j- it-elf vaii.-s in width from "> mil.--, 

 where it lie-ins, to |:i miles in the Plain of .leiicho. 

 Tli<> country terminates southward with the .l.--lii 

 mon. tlie 'Solitude' of the Old Testament or the 

 1 \Vilderiies of .ln.l.-i-a' of the New, a plnteaii c.f 

 whit- dialk li-in.-; in clilni 200U feet high altnvc tlie 



Deri.l 



Pah-line i poorly mimilie.l with rivpni. The 

 following, lar^-e and Mmall, How into tin- Mediter- 

 ranean : The Nahr Mefslnikh. Nahr Nam.-in (the 

 Ifc-lns), Nahr el Mnk.-Utn (the Kiolion), Nahr el 

 Torka, Niihr ! Mcfjir, Nahr Iskandernneh, Nahr el 

 l-'.ilik. Nahr e| Anjeli, Nahr Knhin, Nahr Snkereir. 

 The follouin^ ate th- -.nin-es of the .Ionian : Nahr 

 I i.it. Nalir el Hasliiiny, Nahr el I.ed.lAn, Nahr 



i On tl ..... a-t.-rn side, not counting a few 



winter rills which run into the Sea of Calilee, tin-re 

 ar- the Nahr Yarmiik, Nahr Itnkkad, Nahr/.erka 



iil.liok), Nahr Xerka M/Tain, nnd Nahr Mojili 

 (the Arnon). Those whieh How into the .Ionian 

 on tin- west niiln nrc Nahr .Inlrtd and Nahr Knr'nh. 

 The eoniitry i.s not. therefore, plentifully supplied 

 with Htreani". On the other hand, it is a eon n try 

 boandlag in oprin^s. Tin- three lakes of llnl.-li, 

 Calih-e, and the iK-ad Sen an- its only lakes. 



The clima'e of I'al.-lim- is extremely hot in 

 munriier, n ln-n die l-m|H-iatnre rearhux 100* F., 

 And in winter it is wet and cold, though frost doc- 

 iiot ot-cur on the plains. There arc heavy dews. 



The ' former rain ' nnd the Matter rain' are those 

 which occur at autumnal and M-I nal equinoxes. 



The fauna anil flora of rale-tine h.-n. 



'I i-\hausti\i-ly liv Can. m Tri-tiam. The 

 ili-lincli\e tiees of the country are the teieliinth, 

 the olive, the cednr, nnd tlie sycamore. The 

 .sliittiiii-wixxl is suppose*! to have l.i-cn the ncnria. 

 The vine of ScMlom i- the usher, whieh 1ms n fruit 

 like a lemon, containing pith. The rose of shai-.n 

 is a white narcissiiB ; aim the lily of the \aU.-\ i- 

 the lillle ili-. 



Many of the names n f rrenturc- im-ntioneil in 

 the Itihle Imve liei-n so translated in the oh! vci-imi 



;i- t nve\ i|iiite a false imprr-sii.n. Thus, the 



'nnicoin' tnu w:is a species of wild ox now 

 extinct. This is shown l.y the Assyrian bas- 

 reliefs. Tlie 'hart' is the fallow-deer j the 'coney' 

 is not the laldiil, lull the Syrian hyiax : the ' leo- 

 ]iard ' is the cheetah ; the ' fox ' is the jackal ; the 

 ' mouse ' i.s the jerlioa: the 'wea-el' i- the mole- 

 rat; the ' hndxci ' is the poij.oi-e. The leviathan 

 i prol.alily the i-io<-odil<-. still found in one or two 

 of the rivers. The wihl-uont- ibtx i- -till found 

 in lni-}.'e henls in the southern wildenie-s; the lion 

 is extinct ; the hear lingers in the mountains; the 

 hya-na is common; the wolf is rare; the d' . 

 an unclean creature living in the outskirts of 

 towns, and feeding on jjarhnjre. Of hirds, many 

 mentioned in the liiblc cannot he identilied. Ail 

 those which can he identilied are still to IM- found. 

 Of insects, the locust still devastates the eiops; 

 the grasshopper still serves for food; the hornet 

 and the wasp are still regarded with terror: and 

 the worship of the 'lord of Hies' i- still explained 

 by the multitudes of those insects in the lowlands. 



Geotogy. In no other country nre the phv-i.-al 

 features more indicative of the jreolojjicnl structure 

 than in 1'alestine: and every student of the history 

 of this reinarkahle country will recognise the 

 important ln-nrin^' which these features have had on 

 the political and religion* IliktorT of it* inhal.it;int-. 

 The region is (ihysically ilivisil'de into four parts: 



(1) The maritime distiict. extending along the 

 shore of the Mediterranean, nnd including I'hiiistia; 



(2) the central tnhleland or 'hill country ' of 

 .Imhea, culminating in the l.i-hanon towards the 

 north ami spreading out into the great plain of the 

 lladiet et-Tih in nn opposite direction: (.'{) the 

 depression of the Jordan Valley nnd I>c:id Sea, 

 separating Knstern from Western Palestine ; and 

 (4) the tahleland of Kdom. Moali. and the region 

 of Traohonilis to the east of the .Ionian Valley. 

 hounded l.y nn alirupt nnd lofty escarpment, and 

 stielching awnv towards the en-l into the I V-ei t 

 of Arabia. Tnking these clhi-ions in the order 

 hen- stated, their geological structure may be 

 In icily dcscrilicd as follow- : 



(I) The maritime di-nict, having an average 

 elevation of about 2<HI feet aliove the sea. is formed 

 of marl-, -ami. and gravel, with shells belonging to 

 s|H-cies now living in the adjoining MM. These 

 deiiosits are, in fact, the npiai-cil sea ln-aches 

 Ix'longing to geologically recent times, and indicate 

 con-idcrnhle physienl changes at a jicriml partially 

 prehistoric. These littoral ilepo-ils re-t upon cal 



-is saiidstom-s of perhapt Miocene Age, which 

 terminate inland along the borders of the central 

 tableland. (2) This latter is composed of lime- 

 stones and marls, of Cretaceous and F.occnc M^,., 

 with bands of marl nnd layers or mulules of elicit ; 

 the whole having a thickness of about 3,500 fed. 

 The bed- rise from beneath tin; calcareous sand- 

 stone of I'hiiistia, and form a vast crenelated 

 arch, the central axis of which pusses in a meii- 

 dionnl direction nmler the summit of the table- 

 land, when 1 the strata are nearly horizon I at ; and 

 II|KIII which nre the sit.-* of Nnblns, Jerusalem, 

 Bethlehem, and Hebron. Fossils in these strata 



