273 
PALESTINE. 
Pentateuch. The extent of this country is likewife va- 
rioufly fettled by geographers; tome giving it no more 
than 170 or 180 miles from north to fouth, and 14.0 in 
breadth where breaded, tliough not much above half 
that breadth where narrowed. But, from the la ted and 
mod accurate maps, it appears to extend near 200 miles 
in length, and about 80 in breadth near the middle, and 
about 10 or 15, more or lei's, where it widens or con¬ 
trails. 
The land was divided by its original inhabitants into 
fo many toparddes, or petty dates, each of which had its 
chief, or king; and, in this refpeft, it was fomething like 
the ancient date of Britain, during the time of the Saxon 
heptarchy. All thefe were conquered and dedroyed, one 
aftep another, by the children of Ifrael, as related in the 
book of Jodiua, and other parts of the facred Scriptures. 
After the conqued by the children of Ifrael, Judea, in its 
larged fenfe, was divided into maritime and inland, and 
into mountainous and champaign; and, as the river Jor¬ 
dan ran acrofs it, it was again divided into Judea on this 
fide, and Judea beyond, Jordan. But the mod confider- 
able divifion is that which was made, according to the 
divine appointment, among the twelve tribes, by lot, to 
prevent all murmuring and difeontent among that dub- 
born people ; and of which, two tribes and a half were 
feated beyond (or on the eaft of) Jordan, and the red on 
this fide. The next remarkable divifion was made by 
king Solomon; who divided his kingdom into twelve 
provinces, or didrifts, under peculiar officers, each of 
which was to fupply the king with provifions for his 
houfehold in their turn, that is, each for one month of 
the year. But the mod fatal divifion was made under 
la is imprudent fon Rehoboam, when ten of the twelve 
tribes revolted from him, under the influence of Jero¬ 
boam, who became head of this new monarchy, ftyled the 
kingdom of Ifrael, in oppofition to that of Judah ; the 
title by which the difmembered kingdom of Rehoboam 
was known from that time downwards. Under the fe- 
cond temple, this didinftion laded a confiderable time, 
and the fame hatred continued between thefe two king¬ 
doms ; that of Ifrael, from its capital city, being called 
Samaria; and the inhabitants of this kingdom were a 
mixture of the old Ifraelites, and thofe fent thither by 
the kings of Afl’yria, after their conqued of it, till they 
were fubdued by the Maccabees, and their metropolis 
dedroyed. Under the Romans it began to be divided 
again into petty dates, called tetrarchies and toparchies ; 
fom<e greater than others : the larged were thofe of Judea, 
Samaria, and Galilee Upper and Lower; the fmaller thole 
of Geraritica, Sarona, and fome others of lefs note; all 
which were on this fide the Jordan : thofe on the other 
fide, were Gilead, Perasa, Gaulonitis, Auranitis, Batanea, 
and Decapolis. Jofephus mentions another divifion, made 
in Gabinius’s time, into five didrifts, or, as he dyles them, 
ffvveltfix, or councils, agreeable to the Roman manner; 
and thefe were, Jerusalem, Jericho, and Sephoris, on this 
fide Jordan ; and Gadaris and Amathus, on the other,; 
but thefe did not lad long. In procefs of time, during 
the reigns of the Chridian emperors, it was divided afrefh 
into Palaedina Prima, Palaedina Secunda, and Palaedina 
Tertia, or Salutaris, which included the far greater part, 
jf not the whole country. 
The divifion that principally prevailed in the time of 
eur Saviour, was that which fubfided under the Romans, 
to whom the land of Judea was then fubjeft, and by whom 
it was divided into the provinces of Judea, Samaria, and 
Galilee. Judah is the mod fouthern part, and Galilee the 
mod northerly; on which account Samaria, called at pre- 
fent the country of Nabloufa, remained in the middle, 
and was, as it were, the centre of all Paledine: thus, 
when St. John, mentioning the travels of our Saviour, 
fays, He left Judea, and departed into Galilee, he immedi¬ 
ately adds, and he tnufl needs go through Samaria ; (John 
iv. 3, 4.) which evidently diows the fituation of the pro- 
Vol. XVIII. No. 1241. 
vinces. The I-Ioly Land even yet is confidered as divided 
into the fame three parts. The capital of Judea is Jeru¬ 
falem ; that of Galilee, tlie fmall city of Nazareth ; and 
that of Samaria, the city of Nabloufa, the ancient Sichem, 
and not the city of Samaria or Sebadan, which at prefent 
is only a paltry village. “ Thefe provinces, in different 
refpefts, excelled, and confequently were inferior to, each 
other. With refpeft to antiquity, Galilee has the pre¬ 
ference; Judea next; Samaria, in a provincial view, being 
of much later date. In extent, Judea takes the lead, 
beingon both fides the Jordan ; Galilee, Upper and Lower, 
is the fecond; and Samaria, the mod inconfiderable of the 
three. As to honour, Judea again adepts her fuperiority, 
on account of Jerufalem, her capital; Samaria next aflerts, 
her claim, without contention ; for Galilee, though the 
mod ancient, feems to be confcious of her meannefs. 
Yet out of Galilee, whence no good thing was expefted, 
came Jefus Chrid, and mod, if not ail, his apodles. In 
point of fafety from foreign invafions, Samaria, the mid¬ 
dle province, was mod fecure; Judea next; and Galilee 
lead. But, in fruitfulnefs, Galilee exceeds; Samaria fol¬ 
lows; and Judea, without controverfy, gives up the claim 
to both.” Martin’s Conqued of Canaan. 
Paledine, in its prefent date, is a part of Afiatic 
Turkey, fituated between 3i°3o'and 33°2o' north lati¬ 
tude, and between 34 0 50' and 37 0 15' ead longitude. It 
is bounded by Mount Libanus, which divides it from 
Syria, on the north ; by Mount Hermon, which feparates 
it from Arabia Deferta, on the ead; by the mountains of 
Seirand the deferts of Arabia Petraea, on the fouth; and 
by the Mediterranean Sea, on the wed. 
We need fcarcely remind our readers, that the Holy 
Land is in the facred writings reprefented to have been 
exceedingly fertile, rich, populous, and powerful. Its 
vad population is an evident proof of the fertility of its 
foil. In the time of king David, there were 1,100,000 
combatants in the kingdom of Ifrael, and 470,000 
in the tribe of Judah alone, .without reckoning thofe of 
Benjamin or of Levi. Some writers conclude therefore 
that its inhabitants, comprehending women, children, 
old people, and thofe unfit for bearing arms, might amount 
in all to eight millions. The Land of Canaan contained 
a prodigious number of cities and villages, as may be 
feen in the -15th chapter of Jodiua, where we are told 
that 112 walled cities fell to the lot of the tribe of Judah 
alone. Of all its ancient cities, however, a few only re¬ 
main; the red being either dedroyed, -or their names 
given to paltry villages, now almod in ruins. The po¬ 
pulation of this country is alfo greatly diminiflied; but 
at prefent no certain calculation can be given of it, as 
the number of inhabitants continually varies, on account 
of the Bedouin Arabs, who always come hither at cer¬ 
tain periods from Arabia, and the country beyond the 
Jordan, in order to feed their flocks. 
If this country has led its ancient fplendour by the de- 
druftion of its cities, and the decreafe of its population, it 
dill retains its natural advantages, being beautifully varie¬ 
gated with mountains, hills, and delightful plains. Its cli¬ 
mate is exceedingly good, the fituation being neither too 
far fouth nor too far north. But the limits of Paledine ap¬ 
pear fo fmall, confidering that the country is likewife in- 
terfefted by high ridges of mountains, woods, deferts, &c. 
that many learned men have been induced toquedion what 
we read of its fertility and populoufnefs in former times. 
It mud be owned, indeed, that when we compare its an¬ 
cient and flouridling date, when it was cultivated with 
the utmod diligence by perfons well flcilled in every 
branch of agriculture, with what it has been fince the 
total extirpation of the Jews out of it, and more efpecially 
fince it fell into the hands of the Turks, the contrad is 
amazingly great; but, when we conlider the many evident 
caufes which have contributed to effeft this change, and 
even yet confider themature of the country itfelf, we find 
not the lead reafon to doubt the truth of what the facred 
4 A liidorians 
