vii HASISADRA'S ADVENTURE 269 



is almost equally certain, that the time at which 

 this great Jordan- Arabah mere reached its 

 highest level coincides with the glacial epoch. 

 But then the evidence which goes to prove this, 

 also leads to the conclusion that this state of things 

 obtained at a period considerably older than 

 even 4000 B.C., when the world, according to the 

 " Helps " (or shall we say " Hindrances ") provided 

 for the simple student of the Bible, was created ; 

 that it was not brought about by any diluvial 

 catastrophe, but was the result of a change in the 

 relative activities of certain natural operations 

 which are quietly going on now ; and that, since 

 the level of the mere began to sink, many thousand 

 years ago, no serious catastrophe of any descrip- 

 tion has affected the valley. 



The evidence that the Jordan-Arabah valley 

 really was once filled with water, the surface of 

 which reached within 160 feet of the level of the 

 pass of Jezrael, and possibly stood higher, is this : 

 Remains of alluvial strata, containing shells of 

 the freshwater mollusks which still inhabit the 

 valley, worn down into terraces by waves which 

 long rippled at the same level, and furrowed by 

 the channels excavated by modern rainfalls, have 

 been found at the former height ; and they are 

 repeated, at intervals, lower down, until the Ghor, 

 or plain of the Jordan, itself an alluvial deposit, 

 is reached. These strata attain a considerable 

 thickness ; and they indicate that the epoch at 



