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ON LAND TENURE IN ANCIENT TIMES. 193 
I have elsewhere drawn attention to the fact that agricultural 
work in Palestine is, as it was in Bible times, divided into three 
principal kinds, following the main divisions of the soil :— 
Ist. Corn and grain culture, on arable land, chiefly on the great 
plains. 
2nd. Vine, olive, and fig culture, on the mountains. 
drd. Vegetable culture, in irrigated “ gardens of herbs,” where 
there is a stream from a fountain head, chiefly in the valleys by 
the villages, and on a great scale, formerly in the Jordan Valley. 
The sddeh, arable land, is, no doubt, now often held in common 
and allotted annually by the Chiefs of the Village; but we found 
this allotment greatly influenced by considerations as to mutual 
protection; the fallowing of the land; and the proper rotation of 
crops: Ist, wheat, barley; 2nd, pulse and beans; 3rd, summer 
crops, melons, cucumbers, summer beans, sesame, and millet. 
But Israel’s fallow was appointed to be in the Sabbatic year, 
and they were commanded to work the other six. 
It must be remembered that for many, many centuries, the 
population of Palestine has been so sparse that they have had 
far more land than they needed to use. The fellahh popula- 
tion has, moreover, shrunk enormously within the last 40 years. 
We found that the system of annual conclave and allotment 
was resorted to on the undistributed land of the Great Sharon 
Plain by the villages of the overhanging hills (Jezer is situated 
near this plain) for mutual protection and as a means of ensur- 
ing fallow, and also to prevent quarrels over any plot which, 
being “undistributed ” (unappropriated), one might seek to make 
his own by continuous occupation. That the custom is most 
ancient is certain, and also that it prevails in many lands, as 
Mr. Neil has shown. But all arable land is not now “undis- 
tributed’ in Palestine. Now, as of old, we have arable fields 
which are private property (Arabic, mulk, —&\c). 
But I think that, according to the Law of Moses, it was intended 
that every man was to receive an inheritance; and I read 
Numbers xxvi, as directing allotment—lst, to Tribes, and 2nd, to 
Families, IVVWD (still called after their fathers, whose names 
were in the first great muster roll of Moses, and were in use, 
though they themselves had died in the wilderness); but also, 
3rdly, to Individuals of full age (20 years, see verses 4and 51), 
stated in verse 51 to be 601,730. To them personal and inalien- 
able inheritance was to be granted, as follows, verses 52, 54: “To 
these shalt thou apportion (divide) the land for inheritance, accord- 
