THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFRICA. 37 



while upon a medal of Domitian, it is delineated 

 as an emblem of Neapolis,or Naplosa,tlie ancient 

 Sicliem; and upon another of Tr;ijan, it ap- 

 pears as the symbol of Sepphoris, the metropolis 

 of Galilee. It was prosperous in the prosperous 

 days of these places, and has become desolate 

 ■with their desolation ; and the inscription of 

 ''Judcm capta;' which, with a palm, and a woman 

 sitting weeping at its foot, is the symbol of the 

 overthrow of the Jewish nation on the coins 

 of that date, mournfully expresses not only its 

 connexion with the Holy Land, but the wretched 

 state of its inhabitants, brought upon them by 

 their sins, and especially by their rejection of 

 the Son of God. The plain of Jericho, the 

 ancient city of palms, was once covered with 

 date groves, but they have vanished, and a 

 solitary palm scattered here and there is all 

 that is now to be seen, where multitudes for- 

 merly adorned the plain and supplied the 

 inhabitants with their fruit. At Jerusalem, 

 Sichem, and other places to the north, two or 

 three palms are rarely seen together, and even 

 these, as their fruit seldom or never comes to 

 maturity, are of no further service than, like 

 the palm-tree of Deborah, to shade the dwell- 

 ings of the inhabitants, and supply them with 

 branches at their solemn festivals. 



