GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF BIBLE LANDS. 673: 
and against these, of the successive sandstone and limestones, and afterward the 
formation of the later rocks and soil. 
All this had much to do with the nature of the Hebrew sojourn, and with 
their employments and their training while in Egypt. The probable location of 
the land of Goshen was indicated. When the Israelites were first assigned to it, 
it was probably being just reclaimed by drainage and irrigation. The marshes to 
the north afforded pasturage for cattle, and the hills to the south for sheep. 
These and various other circumstances attending the sojourn, were illustrated by 
means of the physical characteristics of the country. 
The subject of the second lecture was ‘‘ The Geology of the Sinai Peninsula 
and its relation to the history of the Exodus.” To the maps and diagrams before 
exhibited were added a larger geological map of the southern part of the penin- 
sula, and cross-sections of the isthmus of Suez and Palestine. The blackboard 
bore a chart of geological strata, substantially like that presented for Egypt on 
Thursday evening. 
The peninsula of Sinai, said the lecturer, having been for years compara- 
tively unknown, is now accurately known to its whole extent, owing to the re- 
cent careful Ordnance Survey under the auspices of the English Society for the 
exploration of Palestine and other neighboring countries. It is a great triangle, 
150 miles at its greatest breadth across the north, and 130 miles long. Its geo- 
logical formations are identical with those of Egypt, though differently arranged. 
The mountain region of the lower part is of great physical grandeur, the great 
rough granite mountains rising to the height of 9,000 feet, and the valley-plains 
between them being 4,000 feet above the sea Thus in a very small area a wide 
variety of climate, of scenery and of geological structure is found. The moun- 
tains are formed of syenite granite, associated with gneiss and dolorite of the 
Eozoic ages, and flanked on every side by a belt of Nubian sandstone, rich in 
ores of copper, iron and manganese. North of this, and forming the great in- 
terior table land which reaches almost to the Mediterranean, are formations of 
cretaceous limestone and of Nummulite limestone of the Eocene period. The 
other geological formations are a broad strip of later tertiary gypsum series 
across the north, raised beaches of the post-pliocene on all sides of the peninsula 
and desert drift of modern formation in various places. 
At the time of the exodus of Israel the peninsula was inhabited by three 
peoples: the Amalekites, nomadic, and pastoral, occupying the arid interior table- 
land; Egyptian miners and garrisons holding some of the western valleys of the 
mountains, and the Midianites, miners, and merchantmen, filling the eastern 
coast along the gulf of Akabah. 
The lecturer then went on to speak of the route of the exodus from Egypt, 
the crossing of the Red Sea, etc. Mustering at Ramses, in their own ‘‘ Land of 
Goshen,” they were a host of 600,000 armed men, and with women and chil- 
dren must have numbered more than two millions, exclusive of the ‘*‘ mixed mul- 
titude,” which chose to cast its lot with them. From Ramses across the isthmus 
of Suez three ways were possible: 1. The maritime road along the coast, be- 
