434 
plint's natueal history. 
[Book Y. 
of cities of wliicli the remembrance only exists. We then 
come to the Promontory of Carmelus^ and, upon the moun- 
tain, a town^ of that name, formerly called Acbatana. Next 
to this are Gretta^, 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 town 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 in ancient times for its oflspring, the cities 
to which it gave birth, Leptis, Utica, and Carthage — 
that rival of the Eoman sway, that thirsted so eagerly for the 
that it is the modem Keufah ; others that it is Hepha, near Mount 
Carmel. 
1 Insignificant in height and extent, but celebrated in Scripture history. 
It still bears the name of Cape Carmel. 
2 It is not improbable that. he means the town of Porphyrium, now 
Khaifa, at the foot of the mountain. 
3 Probably the Gritta of Polybius. Of it and Jeba, nothing is known. 
* The Nalir-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 the name of Ace. Under the. Homans, 
Ptolemais, as mentioned by Pliny, was a colony, and belonged to Gralilee. 
The modern city of Acre occupies its site. 
7 The Ach-Zib of Scripture, mentioned in J oshua 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. 
8 Still 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 still joined to the mainland by the mole which was erected 
by Alexander the Grreat during the siege of the place ; or, according to 
some, by the Syrians themselves. 
Carthage is supposed to have been colonized hnmediately by the 
people of Utica. 
