454 plint's NATUBAL HISTOET. [Book V. 



of cities of which the remembrance only exists. "We then 

 come to the Promontory of Carmeliis\ and, upon the moun- 

 tain, a town^ of that name, formerly called Acbatana. Next 

 to this are Getta^, Jeba, and the river Pacida, or Belus^, 

 which throws up on its narrow banks a kind of sand from 

 which glass* is made : this river flows from the marshes of 

 Cendebia, at the foot of Mount Carmelus. Close 'to this 

 river is Ptolemais, formerly called Ace*, a colony of Claudius 

 Caesar; and then the towna of Ecdippa', and the promon- 

 tory known as the White Promontory*. We next come 

 to the city of Tyre', formerly an island, separated from 

 the mainland by a channel of the sea, of great depth, 700 

 paces in width, but now joined to it by the works which 

 were thrown up by Alexander when besieging it, — the 

 Tyre so famous ui ancient times for its off*spring, the cities 

 to which it gave birth, Leptis, TJtica, and Carthage^", — 

 that rival of the Roman sway, that thirsted so eagerly for the 



that it is the modem Keufah ; others that it b Hepha, near Mount 

 Carmel. 



* Insignificant in height and extent, but celebrated in Scripture history. 

 It still bears the name of Cape Carmel. 



'^ It is not improbable that. he means the town of Porphyrium, now 

 Khaifa, at the foot of the mountain. 



3 Probably the Gitta of Polybius. Of it and Jeba, nothing is known. 



* The Nalu-'Naman, or Abou, on which Ptolemais was situate. 



* Employed in the extensive manufacture of that article at Tyre and 

 Sidon, to the north of this district. 



^ A corruption of Acco, the native name ; from which the English 

 name Acre, and the French St. Jean d'Acre. The earUest mention of it 

 is in the Book of Judges, i. 31. It is supposed that it was Ptolemy I., 

 the son of Lagus, who enlarged it and gave it the name of Ptolemais. 

 Its citadel, however, still retained tlie name of Ace. Under the. Eomans, 

 Ptolemais, as mentioned by Pliny, was a colony, and belonged to Qtililee. 

 The modem city of Acre occupies its site. 



7 The Ach-Zib of Scripture, mentioned in Joshua xix. 29, and Judges 

 1. 31. Its ruins are to be seen near the sea-shore, about three hours' 

 journey north of Acre. The spot is still called Es-Zib. 



' StiU called the Ras-el-Abiad, or White Promontory. 



* A colony of the Sidonians : its scanty ruins are still to be seen at the 

 poor village of Sur. The wars of the Crusades completed its downfall. 

 The island is stiU joined to the mainland by the mole which was erected 

 by Alexander the Great during the siege of the place ; or, according to 

 some, by the Syrians themselves. 



^^ Carthage is supposed to have been colonized immediately by the 

 people of Utica. 



