CHAPTER II.

PALESTINE.

1. _Palestine generally._

It will be a useful preliminary to our study of Palestine if we give

here a short list of the expeditions sent out by the Committee of the

Palestine Exploration Fund.

We were already greatly indebted to many explorers--Dr Robinson,

Burckhardt, Van de Velde, &c., for the geography, and M. Lartet for the

geology, but there had never been any organised party in Palestine,

properly equipped for a scientific survey. In 1864 Jerusalem was

properly surveyed by Captain Wilson, R.E., at the expense of Lady

Burdett Coutts, and an excellent map of the city was published. Then

the happy idea occurred to Mr George Grove, at that time Secretary

of the Crystal Palace Company, but also known for his topographical

articles in Dr Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” that the time was

ripe for a systematic survey of the entire country. His energy brought

together an influential company at a public meeting in Willis’s

Rooms, on the 22nd June 1865, the Archbishop of York being in the

chair, and a Society was at once formed. The Archbishop of York was

elected President, Mr George Grove, Hon. Secretary, and the first

Committee included the names of the Duke of Argyll, the Earl of

Shaftesbury, A. H. Layard, M.P., Walter Morrison, M.P., Dean Stanley,

Sir Henry Rawlinson, Rev. H. B. Tristram, F.R.S., and others equally

distinguished. The Archbishop, in his opening address, laid down the

principles on which the work of the Society should be based--namely,

that it should be a scientific society, carrying out its work in

a scientific way, and should abstain from controversy. To these

principles the Society has steadily adhered, and it has been (as it has

called itself) “A Society for the accurate and systematic investigation

of the archæology, topography, geology, and physical geography,

natural history, manners, and customs of the Holy Land, for Biblical

illustration.”

The first expedition was sent out in 1866, under Captain Wilson, R.E.,

and Lieutenant Anderson, R.E., and landed at Beyrout. During six months

this party carefully probed the country from Damascus to Hebron,

and finally made its report in favour of commencing excavations at

Jerusalem.

In 1867 Lieutenant Warren, R.E., was despatched to Jerusalem, with a

party of non-commissioned officers, to commence the excavations. This

work was continued until 1870. In 1868 the Moabite Stone was discovered

by Rev. F. Klein, and in 1870 M. Clermont Ganneau, an archæologist

employed by the Society, found an inscribed stone belonging to Herod’s

temple.

To the same year 1870 belongs the Survey of Sinai, conducted by Major

H. S. Palmer and Captain Wilson, and to 1871 Professor E. H. Palmer’s

journey through the Desert of the Tih (or Wilderness of the Wanderings).

The Survey of Western Palestine was begun in 1872; and when, in a

short time, Captain Stewart came home invalided, his place was taken

by Lieutenant Conder, who continued the work during a series of

years. Meantime, in 1874, M. Clermont Ganneau went out on another

archæological mission.

In 1877 the Survey, which had been interrupted by an attack on the

party, at Safed, was resumed by Lieutenant Kitchener, who had been

Conder’s chief helper, and was completed satisfactorily.

In 1880 the great map of Western Palestine was published; and in 1881

Conder commenced the Survey of Eastern Palestine, which, however, the

Turks did not allow to be completed.

A geological expedition left England in October 1883, under Professor

Edward Hull, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland.

Lieutenant-Colonel Kitchener, who accompanied him, surveyed the Wady

Arabah.

In 1885 and later years, extensive tracts of country have been surveyed

by Herr Schumacher, especially in the Jaulan.

Following upon these various explorations, the Society has poured out

an incessant stream of publications, maps, and photographs, and its

officers have published important books on their own account.

2. _Physical Features of Palestine._

“The main object of the Survey of Palestine may be said to have been

to collect materials in illustration of the Bible. Few stronger

confirmations of the historic and authentic character of the sacred

volume can be imagined than that furnished by a comparison of the ‘Land

and the Book,’ which shows clearly that they tally in every respect.

Mistaken ideas and preconceived notions may be corrected; but the

truth of the Bible is certainly established on a firm basis, by the

criticisms of those who, familiar with the people and the country,

are able to read it, not as a dead record of a former world or of

an extinct race, but as a living picture of manners and of a land

which can still be studied by any who will devote themselves to the

task.”--_Major Conder._

Let us begin our present study of the Holy Land by fixing in our

minds a clear notion of its general physiography. Two ranges of hills,

running from north to south, one on either side of the river Jordan,

stand out as a principal feature of the country. The western range

is between 2000 and 3000 feet high, and the eastern range about 1000

feet higher. The Jordan, gathering its waters from three sources,

but chiefly from a spring issuing from a cave at Banias, at the base

of the Anti-Lebanon, about 1000 feet above the ocean level, descends

rapidly, and at a distance of 12 miles passes through the marshy swamp

called Lake Huleh, generally identified with the Scriptural Waters of

Merom. “Lake Huleh” is 4 miles long, and is very nearly at the same

level with the Mediterranean. The Jordan was not known to pass through

this swamp as an actual stream until Mr J. Macgregor, in his _Rob Roy_

canoe, navigated his way through the reeds. Descending with the stream

(“Jordan” means _the Descender_), we come, at a further distance of

10½ miles, to the Lake of Galilee, and here we are 682 feet below the

Mediterranean. The lake is 12½ miles long, and nearly 8 miles wide at

its broadest part. Between the Lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea the

distance, as the crow flies, is 65 miles; but the stream is so tortuous

that Lieutenant Lynch found it, in navigation, to be 200 miles. In

the course of this distance Lynch passed down twenty-seven rapids

which he considered “threatening,” besides a great many more of lesser

magnitude. The Dead Sea itself is 1292 feet below the Mediterranean,

though the level varies by a few feet according as Jordan overflows or

runs low. Its length is 47 miles and its breadth about 10 miles. It has

no outlet to the south, but gets rid, by evaporation from the surface,

of all the water poured into it. Thus the Jordan occupies a gorge which

is deep as well as wide, and is, together with its lake basins, the

most remarkable depression of the kind on the face of the earth. As

remarked by Mr Ffoulkes, it is a river that has never been navigable,

flowing into a sea that has never known a port--has never been a

highway to more hospitable coasts--has never possessed a fishery--a

river that has never boasted of a single town of eminence upon its

banks.

[Illustration: MERIDIONAL SECTION, WESTERN PALESTINE.

(_Reduced from Mr Trelawney Saunders’ Section by W. H. Hudleston._)

_Lower Galilee_ _Upper Galilee_

_Hills of Samaria_

_Mountains of Judæa_]

North of the Dead Sea the Valley of the Jordan widens out into an

extensive flat called the Kikkar or the Round, the Plain of the Jordan.

Northwards of this again, the low ground of the Jordan Valley extends

for several miles on either side of the stream, the hills now drawing

closer, now opening wider. Following the low ground northward, we

by-and-bye find an opening to the left, the western range of hills

being broken in two by the Valley of Jezreel and the Great Plain

of Esdraelon. We may continue our journey westward, and round the

promontory of Mount Carmel, where the road is close to the sea, and

then southward through the Plain of Sharon into the Plain of Philistia,

and onward to the desert of Sinai. Thus it is possible to travel all

round without once climbing the hills: so that this central region is

like an island, with plains around it instead of the ocean. It was, in

fact, still more isolated, by having a second separating ring around

the first; for on the west was the Mediterranean Sea, navigated by the

Phœnicians, who were peaceably disposed; on the south and east were

extensive deserts, and on the north were the mountains of Lebanon,

sending down their roots to the sea-coast. There was, however, a way

through Canaan, from Egypt to Mesopotamia, by the coast route and

through the passes of the Lebanon.

The hills of Western Palestine do not afford much level table-land,

for the torrents running off on either side, into the sea westward

and into the river eastward, cut the ground into deep gorges; these,

over-lapping at their sources, leave a central wavy ridge, and if we

travel from north to south anywhere but along this ridge we may have

to cross torrent-beds 1000 feet deep. The eastern range is cut by

gorges even more formidable, of which the principal are the Arnon, the

Jabbok, and the Hieromax.

The hills of Western Palestine consisted of grey rock, and were

comparatively bare and infertile; the plains were gorgeous with

flowers, and rich with corn-fields. Beyond the plain of Esdraelon was

wild scenery of mountain and forest. The eastern hills were green with

forest and pasture; in the central region were the forests of Gilead;

north of Gilead was rich pasturage for wild herds of cattle--the “bulls

of Bashan;” in the south was rich pasturage too, and the king of Moab

at one time was a sheep-master, paying as tribute the wool of 100,000

lambs and 100,000 rams (2 Kings iii. 4).

From Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, the country measured

only 140 miles, and from the Jordan to the sea only some forty or

fifty: a small country, even when we include the eastern hills,

yet sufficient for the tribes of Israel at that time; and in parts

extremely fruitful, a land of milk and honey.

Dan was a natural point for a northern limit, since there the ascent

of Mount Hermon begins, and there we have one of the sources of the

Jordan. The city was situated on an isolated cone, and the modern name

of it is Banias. On the north side of it there rises a cliff 100 feet

in height, and at the foot of this is a cave, which was a sanctuary

of the god Pan. Two niches in the cliff side contain inscriptions in

honour of Pan. From the worship of this deity the city was called

Panias or Panium. Its Biblical name was probably Baal Gad. In the time

of Josephus the waters of the Jordan burst forth from the cave itself,

but now they issue at the foot of a heap of rubbish in front of the

cavern, in numerous tiny rills, which soon unite and form a river. The

Castle of Banias is one of the most splendid ruins in Syria. It was

surveyed and planned by Colonel Kitchener in 1877. Remains of columns

occur in the village of Banias, and Major Conder suspects that the

Crusaders who fortified the place may very probably have destroyed the

heathen temple and used the pillars in their masonry.

About an hour’s distance south of Banias is a mound called _Tell el

Kady_ (the heap of Dan), and here we have another source of the Jordan.

Tell el Kady is one of the most romantic and picturesque spots in the

country, abundantly watered, and overlooking the broad valley of the

Upper Jordan, with mountain peaks and ridges to north, east, and west.

A group of dolmens recently discovered at this spot may be thought to

have some connection with the ancient worship.

Beersheba (the _well of swearing_, or the _well of the seven_) was

one of the oldest places in Palestine, and is about as far south as

a place can be without actually being in the desert. There are at

present on the spot two principal wells and five smaller ones, and

they are among the first objects encountered on entering Palestine

from the south. Conder found the principal well to be 12 feet 3 inches

in diameter, and over 45 feet deep, lined with a ring of masonry to a

depth of 28 feet. The sides of all the wells are furrowed by the ropes

of the water-drawers; but one discovery was made which was rather

disappointing, namely, that the masonry is not very ancient. Fifteen

courses down, on the south side of the large well, there is a stone

with an inscription in Arabic, on a tablet dated, as well as could be

made out, 505 A.H., that is 1117 A.D. The wells have no parapets, and

a traveller might easily walk into them unaware. Round the two which

contain water there are some rude stone water troughs, which may be of

any age.

These being the limits of the country, let us return again to a

consideration of its physical aspects.

The physical features of the country naturally depend upon its

geological formation. The ranges of hills, east and west of Jordan,

are formed almost entirely of beds of cretaceous limestone, which were

once continuous. The Jordan Valley coincides with a line of fault; that

is to say, the rocky strata cracked in an irregular line from north to

south, and the country west of this fault sank down bodily, so that the

higher strata of rocks on that side abut now against the lower strata

on the eastern side. With this depression to begin with, the rains and

torrents have gradually sculptured the valley into its present form.

The maritime district of Palestine, stretching from the base of Carmel

southwards by Joppa and Gaza to the Desert of Beersheba, consists of

a series of low hills from 300 feet to 400 feet high, separated by

valleys and alluvial plains extending inland to a varying distance.

The coast line is bordered by a line of sand-hills, which, when

unrestrained by some physical barrier, are ever moving inland with

disastrous effect. The district is largely composed of beds of sand and

gravel, which have once been the bed of the outer sea; while along the

line of many of the rivers and streams a deposit of rich loam of a deep

brown colour covers considerable areas, and yields abundant crops of

wheat and maize to the cultivators.

Professor Edward Hull, the eminent geologist, who was commissioned by

the Palestine Exploration Society to investigate the geology of the

Desert and the Holy Land, reported the results to the Committee, in

an elaborate Memoir, in which he treats of the maritime district, the

table-land of Western Palestine and the Tih Desert, the depression of

the Jordan Valley and its continuation southward to the Gulf of Akabah,

the elevated plateau east of Jordan, and the mountainous tract of

the peninsula of Sinai. Utilising the labours of his predecessors,

Russeger, Fraas, Lartet, Vignes, &c., he sometimes confirms their

results, and sometimes adds to our knowledge.

[Illustration: GEOLOGICAL SKETCH MAP

of

SINAI & PALESTINE

(_based chiefly upon the Maps of M.M. Lartet, Hull & Zittel_.)

_The figures represent deviations above the sea level in English

feet; those with a minus mark represent depressions

below sea level._]

By the kindness of Mr W. H. Hudleston, F.R.S., and Secretary of

the Geological Society, I am able to illustrate this chapter with a

geological map based chiefly on the maps of Lartet, Hull, and Zittel.

To a great extent it tells its own story regarding the features of

the country, and the rocks and formations of which the region is

constructed. The oldest rocks occupy the greater portion of the

Sinaitic peninsula, as well as the mountains bordering the Gulf of

Akabah, and extending northward along the eastern side of the Wady

el Arabah. They consist of granitic, gneissose and schistose rocks,

amongst which have been intruded great masses of red porphyry, dark

green-stone, and other igneous rocks in the form of dykes, veins,

and bosses. These rocks are probably among the oldest in the world.

After these ancient rocks had been consolidated they were subjected

to a vast amount of erosion, and were worn into very uneven surfaces,

over which the more recent formations were spread; first filling up

the hollows with the lower strata, and ultimately covering even the

higher elevations as the process of deposition of strata went on. The

oldest of these formations is the Red Sandstone and Conglomerate,

which Professor Edward Hull calls the “Desert Sandstone” formation.

It forms a narrow strip along the margin of the old crystalline

rocks. It is capped with the fossiliferous limestone of the Wady

Nash, which shows it to belong to the Carboniferous period--in fact

to be the representative of the Carboniferous Limestone of Europe and

the British Isles. It is also found east of the Arabah Valley and

amongst the mountains of Moab east of the Ghor. This is succeeded by

another Sandstone formation, more extensively distributed than the

former. It belongs to a much more recent geological period, namely,

the Cretaceous; and is the representative of the “Nubian Sandstone” of

Roziere, so largely developed in Africa, especially in Nubia and Upper

Egypt. This is succeeded by the Cretaceous and Nummulitic Limestone

formations, which occupy the greater part of the map, forming the great

table-land of the Tih, from its western escarpment to the borders of

the Arabah Valley, and stretching northward throughout the hill country

of Judea and Samaria into Syria and the Lebanon.

On the east of the Jordan Valley the Cretaceous Limestone forms the

table-lands of Edom and Moab: as far north as the Hauran and Jaulan,

where the limestone passes below great sheets of basaltic lava. The

Cretaceous Limestone represents the Chalk formation of Europe and the

British Isles.

Although the Cretaceous Limestone belongs to the Secondary period,

and the Nummulitic Limestone to the Tertiary, they are very closely

connected in Palestine, as far as their mineral characters are

concerned; and they both contain beds or bands of flint and chert.

[Illustration: GENERALISED GEOLOGICAL SECTION ACROSS PALESTINE.

_o_, Level of the Mediterranean: _a_, bed of the maritime plains;

_m_, old lacustrine deposits of the Dead Sea basin; _n_, deposits

now forming beneath the Dead Sea; _p_, tufaceous deposits of hot

springs; _h_, basalt.]

The Cretaceous Limestone underlies nearly the whole of the Jordan and

Arabah Valleys, although concealed by more recent deposits, and is

broken off along the line of the great Jordan Valley fault against

older formations. In other words, on the west we have strata of the

age of the English chalk, which dip down very suddenly towards the

centre of the valley. On the east we have the Nubian Sandstone, with

hard limestone above it geologically coeval with our greensand. It

is entirely owing to the presence of this leading line of fracture

and displacement, and the subsequent denudation of strata, that this

great valley exists, and that the eastern side is so mountainous and

characterised by such grand features of hill and dale.

These limestones pass under a newer formation of Calcareous Sandstone

in the direction of the Mediterranean, a formation probably of Upper

Eocene age, and called by Hull the “Calcareous Sandstone of Philistia.”

The formations next in order consist of raised beaches and sea-beds

along the coast, and of lake-beds in the Ghor and Jordan Valley; and

these bring us, geologically, much nearer to our own time.

Not only do the physical features of a country depend upon its

geological formation, but it cannot be questioned that the character

and mode of life of the inhabitants are moulded or modified by the

physical features. It is remarked by Professor Edward Hull that the

mild patient character of the Egyptian cultivator befits the nature of

that wide alluvial tract of fertile land which is watered by the Nile.

The mountainous tracts of the Sinaitic peninsula, formed of the oldest

crystalline rocks of that part of the world, have become the abode of

the Bedouin Arab, the hardy child of nature, who has adapted himself

to a life in keeping with his wild surroundings. The great table-land

of the Tih, less rugged and inhospitable than the mountainous parts

of Sinai and Serbal, supports roving tribes, partly pastoral, and

gradually assimilating their habits to the Fellahin of Philistia and

of Palestine, who cultivate the ground and rear large flocks and herds.

[_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith’s “Dictionary of the

Bible.” Survey of Western Palestine, Memoir on the

Geology. Dr Edward Hull. “The Geology of Palestine.”

Wilfred H. Hudleston, F.R.S. “_Rob-Roy_ on the Jordan.”

John Macgregor.]

3. _The Dead Sea, Salt Sea, or Sea of Lot._

It is pointed out by Sir George Grove that the name “Dead Sea” never

occurs in the Bible, and appears not to have existed until the second

century after Christ. It originated in an erroneous opinion, and

there can be little doubt that to the name are due in a great measure

the mistakes and misrepresentations which were for so long prevalent

regarding this lake, and which have not indeed yet wholly ceased to

exist. In the Old Testament it is called the Salt Sea, and the Sea of

the Plain (Arabah). By the Arabs it is called El Bahr Lut (the Sea of

Lot).

The Salt Sea lies in the deepest part of the great Jordan-Arabah

depression, and the ground rises to the south of it, as well as in all

other directions. It was shown, in fact, by Colonel Kitchener’s survey

of the Arabah that the bed of the valley, for the most part, is raised

above the level of the Gulf of Akabah. From the border of the Dead Sea

southward the ground rises but little for 10 miles, but then begins to

rise rapidly, so that at a distance of about 40 miles it is as high

as the sea level at Akabah; and 29 miles further south it is 660 feet

above that level.

The Jordan Valley, as already stated, coincides with a great fault

in the strata. This had been recognised by Lartet, Tristram, Wilson,

and others; and Professor Hull has traced the continuation of this

fracture, at the base of the Edomite mountains along the Arabah Valley.

He agrees with Lartet in thinking that the waters of the Jordan Valley

have not flowed down into the Gulf of Akabah since the land emerged

from the ocean. The disconnection of the inner waters from the outer is

a very ancient event, dating back to Miocene times.

The River Jordan, throughout its course, from the Sea of Tiberias to

the Salt Sea, cuts its channel through alluvial terraces, consisting

of sand, gravel, and calcareous marl, which sometimes contain shells,

semi-fossilised, but of species still living in the lakes of Tiberias

and Huleh. These terraces are continuous round the shores of the

Salt Sea, and between the base of the cliffs of Jebel Karantul, near

Jericho, and the fords of the Jordan, three of them may be observed,

the first being at a level of 650 to 600 feet,

the second " " 520 to 250 " ,

the third " " 200 to 130 "

and below the last named is the alluvial flat, liable to be flooded on

the rise of the waters. The upper surfaces and outer margins of these

terraces indicate successive stages, at which the waters have rested in

sinking down to their present level. Originally they reached a level

somewhat over that of the Mediterranean, and at that time a great

inland lake extended from Lake Huleh southwards into the Arabah Valley,

its length being about 200 miles.

In the Jordan Valley, the upper terrace, at the foot of the hills, is

called the Ghor, and it is to be distinguished from the Zor, or bottom

of the valley, in which the channel of the river, cut still deeper,

meanders.

The Salt Sea itself is enclosed on all sides by terraced hills, except

towards the north, where it receives the waters of the Jordan. In

rising gradually out of the ocean, the region appears to have rested

several times at successive levels, and the sea left its mark in

deposits of marl, gravel, and silt. Beyond the southern end of the

Salt Sea the banks of the Ghor rise in the form of a great white

sloping wall, to a height of about 600 feet above the plain, and are

formed of horizontal courses of sand and gravel, resting on white marl

and loam. This mural wall sweeps round in a semicircular form from side

to side of the Ghor. The upper surface is nearly level (except where

broken into by river channels), and from its base stretches a plain

covered partly, over the western side, by a forest of small trees and

shrubs, and partly by vegetation affording pasturage to the numerous

flocks of the Arabs, who settle down here during the cooler months of

the year. It is impossible to doubt that at no remote period the waters

of the Salt Sea, though now distant some 10 miles, washed the base of

these cliffs, and a rise of a few feet would submerge this verdant

plain, and bring back the sea to its former more extended limits.

From this position also, the white terrace of Jebel Usdum--“the salt

mountain” where the Crusaders wrongly placed Sodom--is seen projecting

from the sides of the loftier limestone terraces of the Judæan hills.

Towards the east, similar terraces of whitish alluvial deposits are

seen clinging to the sides of the Moabite hills, or running far up the

deep glens which penetrate the sides of the great table-land. In these

terraces, the upper surfaces of which reach a level of about 600 feet

above the waters of the Salt Sea, we behold but the remnants of an

ancient sea-bed, which must originally have stretched from side to side.

Eight hundred feet higher than these terraces there are others

composed of marl, gravel, and silt, through which the ravines of

existing streams have been cut; and this indicates that the level of

the Salt Sea stood at one time 100 feet higher than the waters of the

Mediterranean stand now.

_Origin of the saltness of the Dead Sea._--It has been generally

recognised that the waters of lakes which have no outlet ultimately

become more or less saline. Of these the most important in the old

world are the Caspian, the Sea of Aral, Lakes Balkash, Van, Urumiah,

and, lastly, the Dead Sea, or as it was originally called, “the Salt

Sea.” “The Caspian,” says Professor Hull, “owing to its great extent

and other causes, is but slightly saline; but that with which we have

here to deal is the most saline of all. It is probable that the water

of the ocean itself has become salt owing to the same cause which has

produced saltness in the inland lakes, as it may be regarded as a mass

of water without an outlet. The cause of the saltness in such lakes I

now proceed to explain.

“It has been found that the waters of rivers contain, besides matter

which is in a state of mechanical suspension, carbonates of lime and

magnesia, and saline ingredients in a state of solution; and as those

lakes which have an outlet, such as the Sea of Galilee, part with their

waters and saline ingredients as fast as they receive them, the waters

of such lakes remain fresh. It is otherwise, however, with regard to

lakes which have no outlet. In such cases the water is evaporated as

fast as it is received; and as the vapour is in a condition of purity,

the saline ingredients remain behind. Thus the waters of such a lake

tend constantly to increase in saltness, until a state of saturation

is attained, when the excess of salt is precipitated, and forms beds

at the bottom of the lake. The contrast presented by the waters of the

Sea of Galilee on the one hand, and those of the Dead Sea on the other,

though both are fed by the same river, is a striking illustration of

the effects resulting from opposite physical conditions. In the former

case, the waters are fresh, and abound in fishes and molluscs; in the

latter, they are so intensely salt that all animal life is absent.

“The increase of saltness in the waters of the Dead Sea has probably

been very slow, and dates back from its earliest condition, when its

waters stretched for a distance of about 200 miles from north to

south....

“The excessive salinity of the waters of the Dead Sea will be

recognised from a comparison with those of the Atlantic Ocean. Thus,

while the waters of the ocean give six pounds of salt, &c., in a

hundred pounds of water, those of the Dead Sea give 24·57 pounds in the

same quantity; but in both cases the degree of salinity varies with the

depth, the waters at the surface being less saline than those near the

bottom....

“_As to the depth of the waters_:--The floor of the Dead Sea has been

sounded on two occasions: first, by the Expedition under Lieutenant

Lynch in 1848, and secondly, by that under the Duc de Luynes. In the

former case the maximum depth was found to be 1278 feet; in the latter

1217 feet, being close approximations to each other. We may therefore

affirm that the floor of the lake descends to nearly as great a

depth below its surface as the surface itself below the level of the

Mediterranean Sea.

“The section given by Lynch indicates that the place of greatest depth

lies much nearer the Moabite than the Judæan shore, and the descent

from the base of the Moabite escarpment below Jebel Attarus and between

the outlets of the Wâdies Mojeb and Zerka Maïn, is very steep indeed.

The deepest part of the trough seems to lie in a direction running

north and south, at a distance of about 2 miles from the eastern bank;

and while the ascent towards this bank is rapid, that towards the

Judæan shore on the west is comparatively gentle. The line of this deep

trough seems exactly to coincide with that of the great Jordan Valley

fault. From the bottom of the deeper part, the sounding line brought up

specimens of crystals of salt (sodium-chloride), and it can scarcely be

doubted that a bed of this mineral, together with gypsum, is in course

of formation over the central portions of the Dead Sea.”

[_Authorities and Sources_:--“Memoirs of the Survey:

Geology”, Dr E. Hull. Smith’s “Dict. of Bible.” “Tent Work in

Palestine.” By Major Conder, R.E.]

4. _The Cities of the Plain._

There is now a general consent that Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and

Zeboim were situated north of the Dead Sea, in the Kikkar or Plain of

the Jordan. There are old maps which represent these cities as situated

at the bottom of the Dead Sea waters, and yet enveloped in flames!

Popular ignorance imagines that the bitumen which rises to the surface

of the waters is a relic of the agency which effected the destruction.

And until recently even the best scholars supposed the cities to lie

beneath the shallow part of the sea, south of the Lisan peninsula.

All such theories are disproved by the geological investigation,

which shows that the Dead Sea is much older than any date which can

be assigned to the destruction of the cities, and that the surface of

the water has been constantly diminishing in area and sinking to lower

levels.

There is nothing in the Bible which should lead us to look for the

cities south of the Dead Sea, where the Crusaders placed them, or east

of it, or anywhere but north and in the Kikkar. When Abraham and Lot

talked together concerning the disputes between their herdsmen, and

decided to go different ways with their flocks, “Lot lifted up his eyes

and beheld all the Plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered ...

until thou comest unto Zoar.” It was clearly shown by Sir George Grove,

in Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” that the Plain of the Jordan

here spoken of is not the Arabah, in which the Dead Sea reposes, but

the Kikkar or “Round” of country north of it. The position of Abraham

and Lot at the time was on a mount east of Bethel; and as the site of

Bethel is known, it was not difficult to find the mount east of it. It

was reasonably identified by Rev. Canon Williams, and his conclusions

were confirmed in 1865 by Colonel Sir C. Wilson. It has been shown that

if the cities had been south of the Dead Sea, human vision could not

possibly have extended so far, to distinguish anything. But north of

the sea, in the Round or Plain, Lot would be able to perceive them.

Accordingly, when the friendly conference ended, he journeyed eastward

from the mount near Bethel, in order to reach his new home in Sodom.

The vision of Lot had extended across the plain, to Zoar and no

farther, because the plain was bounded by the high mountains of Moab.

Dr Tristram believes that he has identified Zoar, the fifth city of

the Plain, the “little city” to which Lot fled after the convulsion.

Standing on Mount Nebo, he detected the ruins a little in front of him,

almost in a line with Jericho. The ruins were on a low brow of ground,

and thus correspond to the description that Lot rested in this city

on his way to the mountains, and afterwards went up into the mountain

and dwelt in a cave. The ruins are still called Ziara, which does not

differ much from the Greek spelling Ζωαρα, nor very widely

from the Hebrew.

Is it possible to discover any relics of the four larger cities?

Although destroyed by fire, they may not have been utterly annihilated,

any more than Pompeii; but if their remains are hiding beneath the

dust, the dust keeps its secret well. Major Conder rode day by day

over almost every acre of ground between Jericho and the Dead Sea, and

could not detect any mound or sign of a buried city. The whole was a

white desert, except near the hills, where rich herbage grows after

the rains. The time of year was most favourable for such exploration,

because no long grass existed to hide any ruins. But in all that plain

he found no ruin, except the old monastery of St John and a little

hermit’s cave.

This description leaves out of account a remarkable group of _tells_,

or mounds of earth and rubbish, strewn over with ruins, existing in

the neighbourhood of Jericho. They are seven in number, and one of

them is not far from Elisha’s Fountain, now called _Ain es Sultan_.

One would imagine that the exploration of these mounds might yield

valuable results; but nobody undertakes the work. It is true that some

excavations made by Sir Charles Warren only proved the existence of

sun-dried bricks; and because the mounds occur generally where the

soil is alluvial, Conder regards them as piles of refuse bricks, and

nothing more; but Sir J. W. Dawson, on visiting the place, noticed

numerous flint chips in the mound, and Sir C. Warren, when presiding at

my Guildford lecture, publicly expressed the opinion that many small

objects of great interest would probably be found if the stuff were

sifted.

But if the ruins of the Cities of the Plain are not discoverable, their

names appear to linger in the district, slightly disguised as Arabic

words, and applying to portions of the ground.

Conder justly remarks that the cities would probably be situated near

fresh-water springs, and the great spring of ’Ain Feshkhah, on the

north-west of the Dead Sea, is a probable site for one of them. The

great bluff not far south of the spring is called Tubk ’Amriyeh by

the Bedawin, and the neighbouring valley Wady ’Amriyeh. This word is

radically identical with the Hebrew Gomorrah, or Amorah as it is spelt

in one passage (Gen. x. 19), meaning, according to some authorities,

“depression,” according to others, “cultivation.”

Admah means “red earth,” a description which would hardly apply to the

ground near the Dead Sea. But there is no reason why all the four

cities should be close to the Dead Sea. A convulsion overthrowing

cities near the Sea would probably be felt a long way up the Jordan

Valley, owing to the line of fault. Conder has pointed out, too, that

the term Kikkar is applied in the Bible to the Jordan Valley as far

north as Succoth. A “city Adam” is noticed in the Book of Joshua as

being beside Zaretan; the name Ed Damieh applies to the neighbourhood

of the Jordan ford east of Kurn Surtabeh, about 23 miles up the valley;

and it has always seemed possible to Conder that Adam and Admah were

one and the same. I would add a suggestion of my own in support of the

view that Admah was some distance up the Jordan Valley. The passage

Gen. x. 19 describes the boundary of Canaan, beginning at Sidon,

following the coast line to Gaza, striking thence eastward to the Plain

of the Jordan, and then proceeding up the Jordan Valley to Dan or

Lasha--and the passage may be freely rendered thus,--“And the border

of the Canaanite was from Sidon; thence you go towards Gerar, as far

as Gaza; thence you go toward Sodom; then by Gomorrah and Admah and

Zeboim, unto Dan.”[14] As Gerar was beyond Gaza southward, the boundary

only went toward it; and as Sodom was beyond Jordan eastward, the

boundary only went toward Sodom; there was no need to say it stopped

at the river, for that was obvious. It then follows the course of the

river from the Dead Sea to the source of the stream. And then the

northern boundary is known without description. If this rendering holds

good, then Gomorrah was north-west of the Dead Sea, on a line joining

Gaza with Sodom; and the boundary of the Canaanites, after reaching

Gomorrah, touched Admah and Zeboim, and continued northward to the

grotto at Banias.

_Zeboim_ means “hyenas,” and is identical with the Arabic Dub’a. For

this reason Conder asks whether it may not have been situated at the

cliff just above the plain, near the site of Roman Jericho, for that

is now called Shakh ed Dub’a, “lair of the Hyena.” If I am right in

my reading of Gen. x. 19, Zeboim should be northward of Admah--unless

two names so often coupled together may have their order transposed.

Grove reminds us that the Valley of Zeboim (the name spelt a little

differently) was a ravine or gorge apparently east of Michmas,

described in 1 Sam. xiii. 18. It appears to be overlooked in the

discussion that Zeboim is mentioned in Nehemiah xi. 34, in the same

group with Hadid, Lod, and Ono, among the places occupied by the

children of Benjamin, while in Neh. vii. 37, these three places are

named between Jericho and Senaah. But if the Lod in this passage is to

be regarded as Lydda in the Plain of Sharon, the grouping of the places

affords us no guidance.

_Sodom_ alone, as Conder goes on to say, remains without a suggestion,

and he finds no trace of it west of the Jordan. He notes, however, that

the word Siddim is apparently the same with the Arabic _Sidd_, which is

used in a peculiar sense by the Arabs of the Jordan Valley as meaning

“cliffs” or banks of marl, such as exist along the southern edge of the

plains of Jericho, the ordinary meaning being “dam” or obstruction.

Thus the Vale of Siddim might well, so far as its name is concerned,

have been situated in the vicinity of the northern shores of the Dead

Sea.

Dr Selah Merrill, in his “East of the Jordan,” also discusses the site

of the Cities of the Plain. He says:--“Since Zoar was one of them, a

hint as to their situation may be derived from Gen. xiii. 10, where

Lot and Abraham are represented as standing on a hill near Bethel, and

looking down the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea. As this verse

is rendered in our English Bible, the meaning is not clear; but it

will become so when all the middle portion of the verse is read as a

parenthesis, as follows: ‘And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the

Plain of Jordan (that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord

destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the

land of Egypt), until thou comest to Zoar.’ The last clause qualifies

the first. Lot saw all the Plain of Jordan as far as Zoar, or ‘until

you come to Zoar.’ Zoar was both the limit of the plain and the limit

of vision in that direction, so far as the land was concerned.”

Dr Merrill then shows that nothing could have been distinguished at the

southern end of the Dead Sea; and quotes early writers to show that

Zoar existed near the northern end.

Regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not sufficient

to say briefly that it was a miracle, and assume that no further

explanation can be given. A rain of brimstone and fire is spoken of,

and it is legitimate to look for the source of it. With the instance

of Pompeii in our minds it is natural to suggest volcanic agency,

especially as the region north-east of the Dead Sea affords evidence

of volcanic action. But Sir J. W. Dawson (a well-known American

geologist), in his volume on “Egypt and Syria,” ingeniously argues

for a petroleum explosion. The “slime pits” spoken of as abounding in

the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 10), he regards as petroleum wells, and

then traces a parallel as follows:--“Regions of bitumen, like that of

the Dead Sea, are liable to eruptions of a most destructive character.

Of these we have had examples in the oil regions of America. In a

narrative of one of these now before me, and which occurred a few

years ago, in the oil district of Petrolia, in Canada, I read that a

borehole struck a reservoir of gas, which rushed upward with explosive

force, carrying before it a large quantity of petroleum. The gas almost

immediately took fire, and formed a tall column of flame, while the

burning petroleum spread over the ground and ignited tanks of the

substance in the vicinity. In this way a space of about fifteen acres

was enveloped in fire, a village was burned, and several persons lost

their lives. The air flowing toward the eruption caused a whirlwind,

which carried the dense smoke high into the air, and threw down burning

bitumen all round.

“Now, if we suppose that at the time referred to, accumulations of

inflammable gas and petroleum existed below the Plain of Siddim, the

escape of these through the opening of a fissure along the old line of

fault might produce the effects described--namely, a pillar of smoke

rising up to heaven, burning bitumen and sulphur raining on the doomed

cities, and fire spreading over the ground. The attendant phenomenon

of the evolution of saline waters, implied in the destruction of Lot’s

wife, would be a natural accompaniment, as water is always discharged

in such eruptions; and in this case it would be a brine thick with mud,

and fitted to encrust and cover any object reached by it.”

An important note, with reference to the destruction of the Cities of

the Plain, appears in the statement in Gen. xiv., that the Vale of

Siddim had bitumen pits or wells, and that these were so abundant or

important as to furnish a place of retreat to, or to impede the flight

of, the defeated kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. These bitumen pits have

disappeared, unless their remains are represented by the singular pits

described by Dr Merrill as occurring near Wady Nimrim. Their existence

in the times of Abraham would bespeak a much greater abundance of

bituminous matter than that now remaining; and it is possible that the

eruption which destroyed the Cities of the Plain may have, to a great

extent, exhausted the supply of petroleum.

“There is no reason to think” (adds Dr Dawson) “that the destruction

of Sodom and Gomorrah was connected with any important change in

the limits of the Dead Sea, though it is highly probable that some

subsidence of the valley took place, and may have slightly affected

its levels relatively to the Jordan and the sea; but it would appear

from Deut. xxix. 23, that the eruption was followed by a permanent

deterioration of the district by the saline mud with which it was

covered.”

In the _Theological Monthly_ for May 1890, Rev. James Neil declares

that no bitumen pits are to be found anywhere in the neighbourhood of

the Jordan. The pits spoken of by Dr Selah Merrill were connected with

aqueducts, and used for purposes of irrigation. But the asphalt thrown

up from the bottom of the Dead Sea may have been employed to render

such pits watertight, and to that extent they would be slime pits. He

shows that such pits do exist in the Jordan Valley, extending across

it in long lines just north of the supposed site of some of the Cities

of the Plain; and it is a very curious fact that the Bedawin, who are

unacquainted with their nature and purpose, have a legend connecting

them with a great battle.

[_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith’s “Dict. of the Bible.”

“Tent Work in Palestine.” Major Conder, R.E. “The Land of

Moab.” Rev. Canon Tristram, F.R.S. “East of Jordan.” Dr Selah

Merrill. “Egypt and Syria.” Sir J. W. Dawson.]

5. “_Lot’s Wife._”

In connection with the destruction of Sodom, the Bible mentions the

fate which overtook Lot’s wife, who “became a pillar of salt.” In the

Book of Wisdom also we read of the waste land that smoketh, and plants

bearing fruit that never come to ripeness, and a standing pillar of

salt--a monument of an unbelieving soul (Wisd. x. 7). Josephus also

says that he had seen it (Ant. i. 11, 4). The Arabs have legends on

the subject; and travellers now and again describe the pillars of salt

which have been pointed out to them, and to which the legends attach.

The stories are by no means modern. Major Conder, in his “Syrian Stone

Lore,” brings into brief compass the notions of the Fathers of the

Church on the subject. From an early period “Lot’s wife” is mentioned

as standing by the western shores of the Dead Sea, and Antoninus Martyr

is careful to combat the idea that the pillar of salt was destroyed

through its being constantly licked by animals. Clemens Romanus had

seen it; Irenæus also (IV. xxxi. 3) mentions “Lot’s wife” as a pillar

still standing. (Quoted by Kitto, Cyclopæd. “Lot.”) So does Benjamin

of Tudela, whose account is more than usually circumstantial; and in

later times Maundrell and others. It seems possibly to be the natural

pinnacle, now called Karnet Sahsul Hameid, to which these writers

refer. The feminine nature of this statue was supposed to be still

perceptible, in spite of petrification.

Perhaps the best account of “Lot’s wife” is to be found in E. H.

Palmer’s “Desert of the Exodus,” where a coloured plate helps the

realisation.

“While with the Ghawárineh” (says Palmer) “we had heard strange rumours

that ‘a statue’ called ‘Lot’s wife’ existed on the eastern shore of

the Dead Sea, but none of them had ever seen it, or could give us a

satisfactory description of it. Making cautious inquiries amongst the

Beni Hamideh, we found that the statement was correct, and after some

little trouble, guides were procured who offered to conduct us to the

spot.... Our path led us to another plateau, about 1000 feet above

the Dead Sea, and on the extreme edge of this was the object of which

we were in search--Bint Sheikh Lot, or ‘Lot’s wife.’ It is a tall

isolated needle of rock, which does really bear a curious resemblance

to an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder. The Arab legend of

Lot’s wife differs from the Bible account only in the addition of a

few frivolous details. They say that there were seven Cities of the

Plain, and that they were all miraculously overwhelmed by the Dead

Sea as a punishment for their crimes. The prophet Lot and his family

alone escaped the general destruction; he was divinely warned to take

all that he had and flee eastward, a strict injunction being given

that they should not look behind them. Lot’s wife, who had on previous

occasions ridiculed her husband’s prophetic office, disobeyed the

command, and, turning to gaze upon the scene of the disaster, was

changed into this pillar of rock.

“Travellers in all ages have discovered ‘Lot’s wife’ in the pillars

which atmospheric influences are constantly detaching from the great

masses of mineral salt at the southern end of the Dead Sea, but these

are all accidental and transient. The rock discovered by us does not

fulfil the requirements of the Scriptural story, but there can be no

doubt that it is the object which has served to keep alive for so many

ages the local tradition of the event.

“The sun was just setting as we reached the spot; and the reddening

orb sank down behind the western hills, throwing a bridge of sheeny

light across the calm surface of the mysterious lake. As we gazed on

the strange statue-like outline of the rock--at first brought out into

strong relief against the soft yet glowing hues of the surrounding

landscape, and then mingled with the deepening shadows, and lost amid

the general gloom as night came quickly on, we yielded insensibly to

the influence of the wild Arab tale, and could almost believe that

we had seen the form of the prophet’s wife peering sadly after her

perished home in the unknown depths of that accursed sea.”

6. _The Natural History of Palestine, as dependent on its

Physical Geography._

The gradual elevation of the countries of Egypt and Palestine, inferred

by Professor Hull from the geological facts, appears to be borne out

by a comparison of the fishes which inhabit respectively the Lake of

Galilee and the lakes of south-eastern Africa.

Josephus, after describing in glowing language the beauty and

fruitfulness of the country of Gennesaret, says, “For besides the

good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile

fountain. The people of the country call it Capharnaum. Some have

thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the Coracin

fish as well as that lake does which is near to Alexandria.”[15] The

truth turns out to be much stranger than Josephus imagined, for the Sea

of Galilee can claim affinity by its fishes with the Victoria Nyanza.

Rev. Canon Tristram, who more than any other traveller has studied

the natural history of the Holy Land, has made the comparison in some

detail, and made out the relationship of the fishes beyond doubt. He

declares that of all the forms of life in Palestine the fishes are the

most interesting. There are no fishes in the Dead Sea; but there are

fishes, chiefly Cyprinidæ, or of the perch tribe, in the little streams

and rivers close to the Dead Sea. “I have seen the date palm absolutely

dipping its fronds into the Dead Sea as it hung over--for on the east

side the date palm is very luxuriant. On the eastern shores there is

as wonderful an exuberance of vegetable life as will be found anywhere

on the face of the earth. The plants are like hot-house plants growing

wild. In the warm waters entering to the sea there are small fishes of

various species. We found thirteen new kinds of fishes in the Jordan

and its affluents. Dr Günther of the British Museum kindly described

them in a paper in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of

London,’ and certainly such a discovery amply repaid our search.

“I wish now to point out the conclusions come to from these fishes,

for they are really the climax of the physical geography of the Jordan

Valley. The fishes found in the Sea of Galilee not only belong for the

most part to species different from those found in any stream flowing

into the Mediterranean, but they belong frequently to different genera.

Some years before, I brought home the type specimen of a fish, the only

species I could find in some salt lakes of the Sahara, and Dr Günther

declared it to be not only a new species but a new genus. I remember

Sir Charles Lyell observing, ‘You have got there the last living

representative of the Saharan ocean.’ We found in the Sea of Galilee

three more species of the same genus, but each distinct. Speke brought

back two species of the same family from the Nyanza, and Dr Kirk has

described several from the Zambezi and the neighbouring region.

“Now we may see what this amounts to. We have got the same genus of

fishes represented in a variety of specific types from the Sea of

Galilee and the Jordan that are found in the feeders of the Nile,

and in the Central African lakes down to the Zambezi. The conclusion

is natural that all these fishes come from a common origin, and that

during the Tertiary period there was a chain of fresh-water lakes,

extending to the lakes in Africa, similar to the chain of lakes in

North America.

“We find in Palestine forty-three species of fishes, of which only

eight belong to the ordinary ichthyological fauna of the Mediterranean

rivers. But these belong to the rivers of the coast. In the Jordan

system only one species out of thirty-six belongs to the ordinary

Mediterranean fauna, viz., _Blennius lupulus_. Two others, _Chromis

niloticus_ and _Clarias macracanthus_, are Nilotic. Seven other

species occur in other rivers of South-Western Asia, the Tigris,

Euphrates, &c. Ten more are found in other parts of Syria, chiefly in

the Damascus lakes, and the remaining sixteen species of the families

_Chromidæ_, _Cyprinodontidæ_, and _Cyprinidæ_, are peculiar to the

Jordan, its affluents, and its lakes. This analysis points at once to

the close affinity of the Jordan with the rivers of Tropical Africa.

The affinity is not only of species, but of genera, for _Chromis_

and _Hemichromis_ are peculiarly Ethiopian forms, while the other

species are identical with, or very closely allied to, the fishes

from other fresh waters of Syria. But the African forms are a very

large proportion of the whole, and considering the difficulty of

transportation in the case of fresh water fishes, the peculiarities of

this portion of the fauna are of great significance.

“The fluviatile fishes claim special attention, dating, as they

probably do, from the earliest time after the elevation of the country

from the Eocene ocean. In the _Foraminifera_, mentioned above as found

in the Dead Sea sand, such as _Gr. capreolus_, we have the relics of

the inhabitants of that early sea. But of the living inhabitants we

must place the Jordanic fishes as the very earliest, and these, we have

seen, form a group far more distinct and divergent from that of the

surrounding region than in any other class of existing life. During

the epochs subsequent to the Eocene, owing to the unbroken isolation

of the basin, there have been no opportunities for the introduction

of new forms, nor for the further dispersion of the old ones. These

forms, as we have seen, bear a striking affinity to those of the

fresh-water lakes and rivers of Eastern Africa, even as far south as

the Zambezi. But the affinity is in the identity of genera, _Chromis_

and _Hemichromis_ being exclusively African, while the species are

rather representative than identical.

“The solution appears to be that during the Meiocene and Pleiocene

periods the Jordan basin formed the northernmost of a large system of

fresh-water lakes, extending from north to south, of which, in the

earlier part of the epoch, perhaps the Red Sea, and certainly the

Nile Basin, the Nyanza, the Nyassa, and the Tanganyika lakes, and

the feeders of the Zambezi, were members. During that warm period, a

fluviatile ichthyological fauna was developed suitable to its then

conditions, consisting of representative, and perhaps frequently

identical species, throughout the area under consideration.

“The advent of the glacial period was, like its close, gradual.

Many species must have perished under the change of conditions. The

hardiest survived, and some perhaps have been gradually modified to

meet those new conditions. Under this strict isolation it could hardly

be otherwise; and however severe the climate may have been, that of

the Lebanon, with its glaciers probably corresponding with the present

temperature of the Alps at a proportional elevation (regard being had

to the difference of latitude), the fissure of the Jordan being, as we

certainly know, as much depressed below the level of the ocean as it is

at present; there must have been an exceptionally warm temperature in

its waters in which the existing ichthyological fauna could survive.”

Such facts as these tell us that Palestine is not to be regarded as a

European country, but rather as an African outlier, while it has also

strong affinities with Asia, as proved by others of these fishes. In

fact, it stands in the midst between three continents, and is, in a

very important sense, the centre of the world. Dr Tristram, our best

authority in this department, shows us how Palestine contains an

epitome of the life of the world, and does so just because it includes

almost every variety of climate.

Linnæus said that we know more of the botany and zoology of farther

India than we do of those of Palestine. It is pleasant to reflect

that, to some extent, this reproach has been removed. It always

entered into the plans of the Palestine Exploration Society to study

the natural history of the Holy Land; and although they have not been

able to equip and maintain a party of naturalists, charged with this

business alone, some of their officers have gathered interesting facts

incidentally. Other inquirers, like Rev. Wm. Houghton and Mr Thaddeus

Mason, have been usefully engaged on the same work. Mr H. Chichester

Hart, who accompanied Professor E. Hull through the Arabah and Southern

Palestine, has written an interesting volume on “The Animals mentioned

in the Bible.” But it is to Rev. Dr Tristram we are chiefly indebted.

The Memoirs of the Survey include a magnificent volume on the “Fauna

and Flora of Western Palestine,” in which he works out his valuable

series of investigations, and besides giving facts and details, treats

the subject in a large philosophical way, as he does also in his

lectures. “You have on Lebanon and Hermon,” he says, “a climate like

that of the Alps, or two-thirds of the way up Mont Blanc. You have on

the tops of Lebanon and Hermon an almost arctic climate, and you have a

fauna and a flora (animals and plants) corresponding to that climate.

You know that when you descend a coal-pit 1300 feet deep you get into

a very warm temperature indeed. Now the Dead Sea is 1300 feet below

the level of the Mediterranean, and the consequence is that you have

around the Dead Sea a tropical or sub-tropical climate, and you have

sub-tropical products.

“At the northern end of the Holy Land you find yourself at the starting

point of the Jordan, which, being 1000 feet above the Mediterranean at

the grotto of Banias, descends so rapidly that it is only a few feet

above the sea level at Lake Huleh. Mount Hermon rises abruptly from its

base near Lake Huleh (the ancient Waters of Merom). Although Hermon is

only 10,000 feet high, I am not aware of any mountain which rises so

suddenly or so directly from its base. Take, for instance, Chamounix.

If you want to go to the top of Mont Blanc, you know that Chamounix is

many hundred feet above the platform of the Mediterranean. It is true

that Mont Blanc is many thousand feet higher than Mount Hermon, but

from its immediate base it is not so high. When you get up to the Grand

Mulets you are not so far from the summit of Mont Blanc as you are at

Lake Huleh from the summit of Hermon. The consequence of this is that

you have brought together in that spot a greater contrast of produce,

animal and vegetable, than I have found anywhere else. You have the

arctic climate of the north on the tops of the mountains, and a

tropical climate in the Jordan Valley, where, in the month of January,

I have been glad to sleep in the open air, the thermometer never being

below 80° at midnight. At the east and south you have the dry sandy

desert; so that you have four distinct climates within view of each

other. I can stand on any of the hills of Judea and see the snow-capped

tops of Hermon and Lebanon, and look over this vast desert eastward and

down to the seething tropical valley of the Dead Sea.

“Now, with all that, there is nothing in the physical character of that

country which is striking or phenomenal, as people would call it. It

is about the most commonplace and ordinary country in the world that I

have ever seen. There are no startling features, but there is endless

variety in it, and I cannot help thinking that there is something very

providential in the extraordinary variety which is brought together

within a district of the Holy Land, which is not so large as the six

northern counties of England; because I remember that it was chosen

as the country in which was written a Book, which was to be for the

teaching and guidance of all mankind in every country and in every

age; and I know no spot in the world in which there could have been

found brought together so many phenomena of Nature, maritime and

desert, mountain and plain, hill and valley, tropical, temperate, and

arctic, as are brought together there within the space of a few miles.

And when I remember that that Book was to be for the teaching of all

men, for all time, I feel that there is something providential in that

ordering of circumstances which led to the selection of the only spot,

as far as we know, in the whole world, in which there is such a great

variety of objects for the illustration, comparison, and elucidation

of Holy Writ as in that country of the Holy Land. Often, when I have

been in that country, on one of its hills, and have noticed the variety

of scenery brought into my view at one time, I have thought to myself,

‘What would the Bible have been if its pages had been written by men

who had lived only in the monotonous valley of the Nile? What would

they have been able to pen in the way of illustration which would

have come home to the heart of the English peasant?’ Again, if that

Book were written by men who were only familiar with the phenomena of

Arabian deserts, how could it have come home to those who dwell on the

sea? Had it been written by inhabitants of tropical India, how would

it have come home to those who are familiar with ‘snow and frost and

vapour, fulfilling His will?’ In fact, there are illustrations taken

from every kind of natural phenomena, and yet none of them are very

marked or startling.”

[_Authorities and Sources_:--“Palestine in its Physical

Aspects.” Rev. Canon Tristram, F. R. S. Survey Memoirs: “The

Fauna and Flora.” Rev. Canon Tristram. “The Animals mentioned

in the Bible.” Henry Chichester Hart, B.A., F.L.S.]

7. _The Topographical Survey of Western Palestine._

Before we can properly understand the history of any country we must

have before us an accurate map, showing its physical features of

mountain, plain, and river, and the relative positions of its cities

and important places. This is true in an unusual degree in the case of

Palestine, a country peculiar in its physical contrasts, and for more

than a thousand years the home of a peculiar people. The sacred books

of other religions--consisting greatly of rhapsodies, prayers, and

devotions--might have been written as well in one country as another;

but the Bible contains the history of a particular people, occupying

a definite district of country, fighting their battles, making their

journeys, and singing psalms oft suggested by their surroundings. It is

absolutely necessary for the student of Hebrew history to make himself

acquainted with Palestine geography and topography. “The history

assumes everywhere a knowledge of the country, and the writer never

stops to explain where the scene of every episode occurs, except to

name it as a spot already known.” Yet, until lately, no accurate map

of the country could be obtained--because no scientific survey had

been carried out. Bible towns and villages had disappeared, and their

sites were not known. The visitor to Palestine, consulting Murray’s

“Handbook” as his best guide, found long columns of “places mentioned

in Scripture, but not yet identified”--Admah, Adullun, Debir, Edrei,

Gallim, &c., &c. In going up from Jaffa to Jerusalem he was shown a

brook, and told that David there selected the five smooth stones before

his combat with Goliath; but the brook was in the wrong locality.

Down by the Jordan he found the grave of Moses on the wrong side of

the river. In Galilee he was perplexed how to decide between two

rival sites for Cana, especially as the water-pots connected with the

marriage feast were to be seen at both places. General uncertainty

attended his footsteps throughout.

The people who did most to bring about this confusion in regard to the

sacred sites were the Crusaders. Knights and priests of the twelfth

century, arriving in Palestine, were strangers in the country, and

although enthusiastic they were ignorant and illiterate. They used to

land at Athlit, and journey thence to Nazareth or to Jerusalem, fixing

as many places _en route_ as they could. Athlit itself they regarded

as the ancient Tyre! Meon, the home of Nabal, they fixed close by,

because Mount Carmel was not far off, and Abigail came from Carmel.

They did not recognise that the Carmel of Abigail and Nabal was a city

in the south of Judah. Knowing that Capernaum was a fishing town, they

placed it on the Mediterranean coast and identified it with a fortress

of their day, now the village called Kefr Lam. These three places,

which were shown to the religious devotee as soon as he landed, are in

reality many days’ journey apart. Caipha (Haifa) was shown as a place

where Simon Peter used to fish. Shiloh was south of Bethel, and was

in fact the mountain now called Nebi Samwil. Sychar and Shechem were

one and the same place. “The Quarantania or Kuruntul mountain” (says

Conder) “has, from the twelfth century down, been shown as the place

where our Lord retired for the forty days of fasting in the desert.

Near to it the Crusaders also looked for the ‘exceeding high mountain’

whence the Tempter showed our Lord ‘all the kingdoms of the world and

the glory of them’ (Matt. iv. 8). Saewulf tells us that the site of

this mountain was 3 miles from Jericho. Fetellus places it north of

that town and 2 miles from Quarantania. The measurements bring us to

the remarkable cone called the Raven’s Nest. The story is wonderfully

descriptive of the simplicity of men’s minds in the twelfth century,

for the summit of the ‘exceeding high mountain,’ whence all the

kingdoms of the world were to have been seen, is actually lower than

the surface of the Mediterranean, and it is surrounded on every side by

mountains more than double its height.”

Tradition having been shown to be untrustworthy, when unsupported

by other evidence, a general uncertainty prevailed with regard to

Scripture places. No traveller could believe what his guide or guide

book told him, and no student could have confidence in his map. The

labour of investigation was beyond the power of private individuals;

and no Government and no Society had ever sent out an organized

expedition. But now happily this reproach is removed. The Committee

of the Palestine Exploration Fund were able to send out Major Conder,

R.E., and Colonel Kitchener, R.E., and these officers, with their

little party, spent seven years in carrying out a triangulation survey

of the entire country west of the river Jordan. As a result of their

labours, followed up by much patient work at home, we are now presented

with a magnificent map of Western Palestine, on the scale of one inch

to the mile, as beautifully and accurately executed as the ordnance

map of England, with every road and ruin marked, and every conspicuous

object filled in; with the hills and mountains correctly delineated and

shaded, with the rivers and brooks all running in the right directions;

with every vineyard, every spring of water, and almost every clump of

trees set down in its place, and with thousands of names that never

appeared on a Palestine map before. Moreover, while there are six

hundred and twenty-two Scripture names of places west of the Jordan,

and out of these three hundred and sixty were missing, the surveyors

have succeeded in finding one hundred and seventy-two of these. A

reduced map, on the scale of three-eighths of an inch to the mile, has

been prepared, and contains the Old Testament names and New Testament

names conspicuously marked, while other forms of the map show the

watershed and physical features of the country, or give the divisions

of the land and the Arabic names of places in use to-day.

There could be no better aid in studying the Scriptures than to

have such maps by our side; for whether we read of the marching and

counter-marching of armies; of the positions taken up before a battle;

of the direction taken by the retreating foe; the sites selected for

places of worship; the journeys of prophets of the Old Testament, or of

Jesus and his disciples in the New, so much depends upon the relative

positions of places, and their distances one from another, that we

necessarily lose a part of the meaning, and miss a portion of the

enjoyment unless we have a correct map by our side.

The best modern map of the Holy Land, previous to that prepared by the

Palestine Exploration Fund, was the work of Van de Velde, a careful

and scientific traveller and scholar. Van de Velde not only took

observations himself, but laid down on his map all the observations

made by previous travellers. Yet, when at the annual meeting of the

Palestine Exploration Fund in 1886, a portion of Van de Velde’s map

was shown on an enlarged scale, side by side with the same portion

of the Society’s map, similarly enlarged, the contrast was striking.

The first, with its hills roughly sketched in, its valleys laid down

roughly, and its inhabited places, villages, or ruins, gave all that

was known of this piece of country before the Survey. It was on such

a map as this, the best at the time, because the most faithful, that

the geographical student had to work. There was little use, from a

geographical point of view, in consulting previous books of travel,

because Van de Velde had gleaned from them all their geographical

facts. Yet hardly any single place was laid down correctly; none of the

hill shading was accurate; the course of the rivers and valleys was

not to be depended upon; the depression of the Lake of Galilee was

variously stated; distances were estimated by the rough reckoning of

time taken from place to place; and the number of names was only about

eighteen hundred, whereas the large map of the Palestine Exploration

Society contains ten thousand.[16]

[Illustration: PHYSICAL MAP of PALESTINE]

[_Authorities and Sources_:--“Tent Work in Palestine.” Major

Conder, R. E. “Twenty-one Years’ Work in the Holy Land.” P. E.

Fund. “Quarterly Statements of the P. E. Fund.”]

8. _Israel’s Wars and Worship, considered in connection

with the Physical Features of the Country._

_The Wars._

Now that we possess a detailed and accurate map of the Holy Land we are

in a position to study with advantage the conquest of the country by

Joshua, and to appreciate the motives of strategy and policy displayed

in the successive phases of Israel’s wars and worship.

The twelve tribes, coming out of the wilderness, encamped in the Plain

of the Jordan, opposite Jericho. While they rested there, Balak,

king of Moab, alarmed by their numbers, and uncertain as to their

intentions, sent to Mesopotamia for Balaam, to come and curse them.

Balaam ascended Mount Peor (sacred to Baal Peor, _i.e._, Baal the

Opener) and was constrained to bless them, and speak of them as “a

people that dwell alone--not reckoned among the nations” (Num. xxiii.

9).

Under Moses the Israelites conquered the country east of Jordan. The

gorge of the Arnon, 2000 feet deep, and with almost perpendicular

sides, was a natural boundary for the Moabites. Sometimes, indeed,

they possessed territory north of it; but since it would take a

traveller several hours to cross at the easiest parts, it was a natural

boundary. The district between the Arnon and the Jabbok, Moses wrested

from Sihon, king of Heshbon. And then, with the aid of the Ammonites,

he conquered the country north of the Jabbok, from Og, the king of

Bashan. These lands were not divided among all the tribes of Israel,

but were given to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh as their

portion, for it was planned and intended that the country west of the

Jordan should be conquered and given to the rest.

The country west of Jordan was occupied by the Amorites and the

Canaanites--that is, as some suppose, by the Highlanders of the

central hills, and the Lowlanders of the plains around. But these

peoples appear to have been subdivided, so that, together with the

tribes of the Lebanon, we read of the Jebusite and the Girgashite, the

Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite and the

Hamathite, as well as Zidon and Heth (Gen. x. 15); and, in another

place, of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, the Hittite,

the Perizzite, and the Rephaim (Gen. xv. 19). Of all these “nations” we

are told by St Paul that seven were eventually destroyed, and Israel

received their land for an inheritance (Acts xiii. 19).

It was not the object of Joshua in the first place to conquer the

“nations” in the plains, but rather those in the hills. It is true

that the hills were comparatively barren and infertile, while the

plains were exceedingly fruitful; but the hill country offered

counter-balancing advantages. Compared with the Egyptians, who

sometimes invaded Syria, the Israelites were small and weak, and their

greatest security would be in the hill fastnesses. More immediately

also, they have to consider that they are but a nation of foot

soldiers, while the Canaanites of the plains possess chariots and

horses. In any case, if they can once gain possession of the hills, it

may be easier thence to conquer the plains at their leisure, than it

would be for them by-and-bye to conquer the hills, with the plains as

their base of operations.

They approach the river opposite Jericho, and prepare to cross. The

spot is very well known, and it is where the pilgrims now go to bathe.

At this part the Jordan is ordinarily a brown, rapid, swirling stream,

some 20 yards across, fringed with a jungle of tamarisk, cane, and

willow, in which the leopard and the wolf find their hiding place. The

stream often runs low and is easily fordable in two or three places

hereabout. When we remember that the spies sent by Joshua had crossed

and recrossed without difficulty a few days before, we might suppose

that Joshua intended to march the entire army over at the fording

places, at low water, were we not told that at this season the Jordan

overflowed all its banks, it being the time of barley harvest. The

Jordan, it is recorded, was divided--“The waters which came down from

above stood and rose up in one heap a great way off from Adam, the

city which is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the Sea

of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people

passed over right against Jericho” (Josh. iii. 16). Major Conder has

discovered the name Zarethan, still in use, applied to a district 3

miles west of Bethshan; and on examining the gorge of the Jordan at

this part, a good way north of “Admah” or _Damieh_, he found that the

lower cliffs approach in places so close to one another that a very

little would dam up the river. In that event, in place of a shallow

stream some 20 yards across, a lake would be formed nearly a mile in

width, and the waters would have to rise to a height of 50 feet before

they overflowed the barrier and descended again to the south. But

whether in this way the bed of the Jordan was rendered dry while the

Israelites passed over, is a question upon which, of course, opinions

will differ.

When the tribes are safely across they encamp at a place called Gilgal.

An important success in the way of identifying Scripture sites has been

the recovery of Gilgal. Robinson had heard the name Jiljûlieh, but

had not been able to fix the site. In 1865 a German traveller (Herr

Schokke), more fortunate, was shown the place, at a mound about a

mile east of the modern Jericho; and Major Conder succeeded in fixing

the spot. Just west of the ruins grows a magnificent old tamarisk

tree, conspicuous from a distance. South-east of the tamarisk is an

oblong tank, measuring about 100 feet by 80 feet; and near this about

a dozen small mounds. The mounds are called Telleilât Jiljûlieh (the

little hillocks of Gilgal), and the tank is named Birket Jiljûlieh

(the Pool of Gilgal). “The Bedawin of the district,” says Conder,

“have a well-known tradition regarding the site of Jiljûlieh. Over the

coffee and pipes in the evening, after the day’s work was done, they

related it to us. By the old tamarisk once stood the City of Brass,

which was inhabited by Pagans. When Mohammed’s creed began to spread,

Aly, his son-in-law, ‘the lion of God,’ arrived at the city, and rode

seven times round it on his horse Maimûn. The brazen walls fell down,

destroyed by his breath, and the Pagans fled, pursued by the Faithful

toward Kŭrŭntŭl; but the day drew to a close, and darkness

threatened to shield the infidels. Then Aly, standing on the hill which

lies due east of the Kŭrŭntŭl crag, called out to the sun,

‘Come back, O blessed one!’ And the sun returned in heaven, so that the

hill has ever since been called ‘the Ridge of the return.’ Here stands

the Mukâm, or sacred station of Aly, and here also is the place where

Belâl ibn Rubâh, the Muedhen of the Prophet, called the Faithful to

prayer after the victory.”

Such is the legend, in which we see the fall of Jericho mixed up with

the battle of Aijalon, and assigned to Mohammedan heroes instead of to

Joshua.

Quite apart from the facilities of a ford, there was a good reason why

the Israelites should cross the Jordan where they did. The hill country

of Western Palestine is much broken by gorges, which serve not only as

torrent beds after the rains, but as passes to the central plateau.

The principal pass is by that great gorge, the continuation of the

Wady Kelt, which runs to the north of Jericho and up to Ai and Bethel.

Joshua intends to ascend by this pass. But there is an obstacle in the

way. Just at the foot of the hills--where the springs issue forth and

make a beautiful oasis--is the city of Jericho, “walled up to heaven.”

This is the key to the pass, and it would be bad generalship to rush

past the place and leave it in the rear. So Jericho, “the city of palm

trees,” was besieged and taken.

Modern Jericho is not a city of palm trees, but a very poor village,

of mud huts and black tents, standing amid low vineyards. For the

convenience of travellers, indeed, an excellent hotel has lately been

opened--the “Jordan Hotel”--but the proprietor has been disappointed in

his neighbours; the peasantry will not do a good day’s work for good

wages, he cannot even get fruit and garden stuff from them, and every

requisite has to be brought down from Jerusalem.

The site of Jericho has shifted considerably since Scripture times,

for the Bible city was near the Sultan’s Spring--Elisha’s Fountain--at

the foot of the pass, the only natural position, whereas the present

village is at a distance from the spring. Some Russian excavations in

the neighbourhood have brought to light shafts, columns, and lintels,

lamps, jars, rings, and weapons, some indication of former splendour.

The next city in the way of the invaders was Ai. We learn from the

narrative that Ai had Bethel on the west of it, and a plain in the

front or on the east, while there was a valley on the north side, and

low ground on the west between Ai and Bethel. With these particulars it

should be possible to identify the site. Sir Charles Wilson examined

the district in 1865, and confirmed the opinion of Rev. Canon Williams

that there is only one spot which answers to the description. “The

description applies in a very complete manner” (says Conder) “to the

neighbourhood of the modern village of Deir Diwan, and there are

here remains of a large ancient town, bearing the name Haiyan, which

approaches closely to Aina, the form under which Ai appears in the

writings of Josephus. Rock-cut tombs and ancient cisterns, with three

great reservoirs cut in the hard limestone, are sufficient to show this

to have been a position of importance. To the west is an open valley

called ‘Valley of the City,’ which, gradually curving round eastward,

runs close to the old road from Jericho by which Joshua’s army would

probably advance. To the north of the site there is also a great

valley, and the plain or plateau on which the modern village stands,

close to the old site, expands from a narrow and rugged pass leading up

towards Bethel, which is 2 miles distant on the watershed.”

Ascending from Jericho the path at one point enters upon the plain in

front of Ai, so that no army on its way to Bethel could afford to leave

Ai behind. Joshua took the city by stratagem, and we can see every step

of the proceeding. Marching troops up the northern valley, he placed an

ambush in the depression west of the city. The main body of his troops

attacked in front and presently feigned a retreat, drawing the men of

Ai after them till the city was empty. Then, at a given signal from

Joshua--who had posted himself on the hills to the north and could

be seen by both sections of his army--the ambush rose up and fired

the city, the men retreating turned back to fight, and the men of Ai,

caught “between two fires,” became utterly demoralised.

Bethel itself is now called Beitin. The site is known but with the

exception of a church of crusading date, and a tower, there are no

ruins of any importance. On a hill to the east is a stone circle,

consisting of large and small boulders.

After the victory at Ai a rapid march was made to Shechem, where, upon

the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, the tribes assembled to hear the

reading of the Law and to pronounce their “amens” after the blessings

and the curses. It has been questioned whether they could hear one

another at the distance apart of these two mountain tops; but they

would hardly be on the mountain summits, for there is a natural

recess in the hills, with natural benches in the limestone rock, an

amphitheatre which might seem to have been formed for the purpose.

Modern travellers have stood in the midst of that valley and heard

their companions on either side reading the Law, and they assure us

that those who were reading could hear one another’s voices with

sufficient distinctness to take up the verse, each where the other left

off.

Shechem is now called Nablous--a corruption of the Roman Neapolis,

by which name it was rebaptized--and is a considerable city. The

Samaritans, now reduced in numbers to about one hundred and sixty

individuals, all told, live in this city, and none are found elsewhere.

In their synagogue they preserve several old copies of the Pentateuch,

and one of them, which is kept in a silver case and jealously guarded,

they declare to have been written by Abishua, the great-grandson

of Aaron. On a stone built into a tower near the synagogue is an

inscription--the oldest known in the Samaritan character--which it

was formerly impossible to read, because the inscription is upside

down in its place, and the investigator had to dangle on a rope and

hold his head downwards. But here we see the advantage of photography:

the picture was obtained in the camera, and the inscription when

turned right way up was seen to be the Samaritan version of the Ten

Commandments.

After the solemn ceremony of reading the Law at Shechem the Israelites

under Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal. But by this time the

news of their victories had spread, the neighbouring cities became

alarmed, and all the kings throughout an extensive district gathered

together to fight against them. Meantime the wily Gibeonites, wearing

“old shoes and clouted,” and pretending to be ambassadors from a far

country, came to Joshua and succeeded in making a treaty of alliance,

offensive and defensive. After three days the deception was found out;

but it was held that the covenant must be kept, and when the kings of

Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon--“the five kings of

the Amorites”--went and encamped against Gibeon, Joshua went up from

Gilgal all the night to raise the siege. He came upon them suddenly,

and a terrible battle took place, which deserves to rank among the

decisive battles of the world. The conflict raged before Gibeon, and

the defeated kings were pursued, with continued slaughter, to higher

ground (the ascent of Beth-horon) and then to lower ground (the going

down of Beth-horon), as they vainly sought to escape down the Valley

of Aijalon into the Plain of Philistia. According to the poetical book

of Jasher,[17] quoted by the historian, “the sun stood still upon

Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Aijalon,” and lengthened out the

day until Joshua had defeated his foes utterly. The five kings were

found hidden in a cave at Makkedah, and were imprisoned there till the

pursuit was over and Joshua had leisure to decide their fate.

Makkedah has been identified by Colonel Sir C. Warren as being _El

Mughar_--“the cave”--a little south-west of Ekron. Conder tells us that

this is a remarkable place, and one of the most conspicuous sites in

the plain. A promontory of brown sandy rock juts out southwards, and at

the end is the village climbing up the hill-side. The huts are of mud,

and stand in many cases in front of caves; and from these caves the

modern name is derived. It is worthy of notice, he says, that this is

the only village in the Philistine plain at which he found such caves.

Joshua made his victory complete, by overthrowing Libnah, Lachish,

Eglon, Hebron, and other cities in succession, “utterly destroying all

that breathed,” until the centre and the south of the hill country were

altogether in his power.

In the spring of 1890, a _firman_ having been obtained, Mr Flinders

Petrie went to excavate at _Umm Lakis_ and _Ajlan_, the supposed sites

of Lachish and Eglon, two of the five strongholds of the Amorites

(Josh. x. 5). As soon as he arrived and could examine the ground, he

saw, from his Egyptian experience, that the two sites named were only

of Roman age and unimportant; while _Tell Hesy_ and _Nejileh_ in the

same neighbourhood promised better results. _Tell Hesy_ is a mound of

ruins 60 feet high and about 200 feet square, and one side of it has

been washed away by the stream, so that a clear section is afforded

from top to base. The generally early age of it was evident from the

fact that nothing later than good Greek pottery was found at the top

of it, while near the middle, and from that to three-quarters of the

height, was found Phœnician ware, which is known in Egypt to date

from 1100 B.C. The foundation seems to date from about 1500

B.C., agreeing nearly with the beginning of the Egyptian raids

under Thothmes I.

The actual remains of _Tell Hesy_ consist of a mound which is formed of

successive towns, one on the ruins of another, and an enclosure taking

in an area to the south and west of it. This enclosure is nearly a

quarter of a mile across in each direction, and is bounded by a clay

rampart still 7 feet high in parts, and in one place by a brick wall.

This area of about 30 acres would suffice to take in a large quantity

of cattle in case of a sudden invasion; and such was probably its

purpose, as no buildings are found in it, and there is but little depth

of soil. The city mound is about 200 feet square, and rests on natural

ground 45 to 58 feet above the stream in the _wady_ below. The earliest

town here was of great strength and importance, the lowest wall of all

being 28 feet 8 inches thick, of clay bricks, unburnt; and over this

are two successive patchings of later rebuilding, altogether 21 feet of

height remaining. “Such massive work” (says Mr Petrie) “was certainly

not that of the oppressed Israelites during the time of the Judges; it

cannot be as late as the Kings, since the pottery of about 1100 B.C.

is found above its level. It must, therefore, be the Amorite city, and

agrees with the account that ‘the cities were walled and very great’

(Num. xiii. 28), ‘great and walled up to heaven’ (Deut. i. 28), and

also with the sculptures of the conquests of Rameses II. at Karnak,

where the Amorite cities are all massively fortified.”

Mr Petrie feels little doubt that _Tell Hesy_ is Lachish and _Tell

Nejileh_, 6 miles south of it, Eglon. There are no sites in the country

around so suited to the importance of Lachish and Eglon as these two

_tells_; they command the only springs and water-course which exist in

the whole district, and it is certain that the positions must have

been of first-rate importance from the time of the earliest settlements.

Above the Amorite wall at _Tell Hesy_ Mr Petrie finds 5 feet of

dust and rolled stones corresponding to the barbaric period of the

Judges; then a wall 13 feet thick, probably belonging to Rehoboam’s

fortifications of Lachish (2 Chron. xi. 9), and above this successive

rebuildings until the city is finally destroyed about 500 B.

C. The mound is full of potsherds, and the good fortune of such a

grand section as that of the east face from top to bottom, affords at

one stroke a series of all the varieties of pottery extending through

a thousand years. “We now know for certain,” Mr Petrie says, “the

characteristics of Amorite pottery, of earlier Jewish, and later Jewish

influenced by Greek trade, and we can trace the importation and the

influence of Phœnician pottery. In future all the _tells_ and ruins of

the country will at once reveal their age by the potsherds which cover

them.”

Lachish, with its wall 28 feet in thickness, is a specimen of the

Amorite cities which Joshua overthrew in the south.

But now the kings of the north are alarmed, and Jabin king of Hazor

gathers together the tribes of the Lebanon. He calls to his assistance

the kings of the Jordan Valley, the kings of the Sharon Plain, with

the Jebusites and all who are willing to come. The battle takes place

near the Waters of Merom. The Canaanites are furnished with chariots

and horses, and the Israelites, being without such helps, are prudently

posted on the hills. We read that Joshua “fell upon” the foe, down the

slopes, and drove them before him, on the west as far as to Zidon,

and on the east to the valley of Mizpeh: he burned their chariots,

hamstrung their horses, and again “left none remaining.” So now the

north as well as the south of the hill country is subdued; Joshua

settles four tribes in these northern districts, and the Sea of Galilee

becomes a Hebrew lake.

There is no need any more to come back all the way to Gilgal, for no

foe is left to dispute their occupation anywhere, and the armies only

return as far as Shiloh, in the centre of the hills, and there set

up “the Tent of Meeting.” Nor is there need any longer to detain the

two and a half tribes from the east of Jordan who have come across to

assist in the conquest. So the soldiers of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh

are sent back to their homes. “And when they came to the region about

Jordan that is in the land of Canaan” they built there an altar--“a

great altar to see to,” and which was afterwards called “Ed” or

Witness. Their brethren were so indignant at this action--regarding

it as heathen worship, and rebellion against the God of Israel--that

they thought of going to war against them. However, they prudently sent

envoys to demand an explanation, and the explanation was perfectly

satisfactory.

Where was this altar of Ed, so conspicuous from afar? If we stand in

the Jordan Valley near Jericho, and look northwards, we cannot fail to

see, at a distance of 20 miles, a conical peak called _Kurn Surtabeh_,

standing out like a bastion at the eastern end of a chain of blue

hills. This peak is 1500 feet above the level of the Mediterranean,

and 2500 feet above the Jordan, near to it. From the top of it one

may see the Dead Sea to the south, the Sea of Galilee to the north,

the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim in the centre. According to the

Jewish Talmud this mountain was a beacon station, where the fires were

lighted, in connection with fires on the Mount of Olives, to signify

the advent of the new moon. Conder, some years ago, pointed out that

this mountain would be in the path which the two and a half tribes

should naturally take in going from Shiloh to their home in Gilead, the

fords of the Jordan being a little way north of it. On the top of this

almost inaccessible peak he found some huge masonry work of ancient

character, which he was inclined at the time to regard as remnants

of the altar. And when the identification seemed to be thus nearly

complete, it appeared to be confirmed by the discovery that the north

side of the mountain, the only accessible side is called “the Ascent of

Ed.” But the identification was disputed.

It was pointed out that Josephus says the altar was on the east side of

Jordan, and that the Scripture narrative makes the tribes to cross the

river at “the passage of the Children of Israel,” which is supposed to

describe the Jericho ford and not the ford at Damieh. For these reasons

Conder now regards his idea as “only a conjecture.”

It may be reasonably questioned, however, whether the identification

should be given up. We are told in Joshua xxii. 10, that the altar, so

high to look to, was in “the region about Jordan that is in the land

of Canaan”--“in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region

about Jordan, on the side that pertaineth to the Children of Israel.”

The historian takes pains to distinguish between the two sides of the

river, and if one side pertained to the Children of Israel more than

the other, it was surely not the eastern side. Moreover, the altar

was in the land of Canaan, and the eastern boundary of Canaan was

the Jordan itself (see Gen. x. 19, and page 107 of this volume). The

altar was “in the forefront of the land of Canaan,” at the extreme

of its eastern side, and therefore close by the Jordan. The Hebrew

faced the rising sun, and spoke of the south as the right hand, the

north as the left, so that his forehead or forefront was to the east.

It was apparently because the supposed idolatrous altar was set up

on territory belonging to the western tribes that those tribes felt

so insulted. The east of Jordan was unclean, but the western country

was “the possession of the Lord.” “Come across”, they said, “into the

Lord’s land, if you will; but if you come, do not build rebel altars”

(v. 19). Further, the object of the two and a half tribes, according

to their apology and explanation, was to have a memorial in that

western land from which the Jordan seemed to cut them off.

Two and a half tribes being settled east of Jordan, three tribes north

of the Plain of Esdraelon, and one in the Plain itself, the remainder

of the country is divided between the remaining five tribes and a half.

In the Book of Joshua the boundaries of the tribes are given with the

greatest minuteness, but it was impossible for us to trace them with

any accuracy before the topographical survey was carried out. Many of

the villages by which the border lines passed were lost, in some cases

the sites were displaced; but as soon as these things were rectified

the boundaries could again be drawn.

The blessing which Jacob pronounced upon his sons, according to

Gen. xlix., was true to the position of the tribes in their several

districts; and their position determined in some degree their conduct

and their fortunes. When Joshua dismissed the two and a half tribes,

they went away to their tents: living on those green hills east of

Jordan, they remained for a long time a pastoral people. Reuben,

bordering on Arabia, and being “unstable as water,” became hardly

distinguishable from an Arab tribe. Gad, of whom Jacob said, “a troop

shall press upon him,” was subject to attacks from troops of Bedouin

plunderers. Divided from their brethren by the great gorge of the

Jordan, the eastern tribes were separated also in their fortunes.

The three northern tribes of Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali were also

partially cut off by the great plain of Esdraelon. They got into

communication with the northern nations from whom they were less

separated geographically, and they entered into alliance with Phœnicia.

Solomon gave away twenty of their cities to Hiram, king of Tyre,

apparently thinking that the allegiance which was so nearly gone,

might as well be parted with altogether. These northern tribes, like

those east of Jordan, seldom came to the assistance of their brethren

in any great crisis. When Deborah required help from all quarters

she had to complain that Asher “sat still at the haven of the sea,”

and Reuben “sat among the sheep-folds, to hear the pipings for the

flocks.” In the south--in a country half a desert, the lair of wild

beasts--Judah “couched as a lion,” and it was dangerous to rouse him

up. Ephraim, the most powerful of the tribes, secured to himself the

choicest portion of the hill country. Manasseh, with territory on

both sides of the Jordan, was “a fruitful bough by a fountain, whose

branches run over the wall.” Little Benjamin, situated between the

two powerful tribes of Ephraim and Judah, knew not which to be guided

by, and was at last torn asunder in the effort to follow both. Yet

Benjamin, on whose eastern border we still find a valley, called the

Wolf’s Den, was “a wolf that ravineth” and often “devoured the prey.”

Issachar “saw the land that it was pleasant”--namely, the fruitful

plain of Esdraelon,--and “bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a

servant under task-work,” cultivating the ground.

The tribe of Levi had no district of country assigned to it, but in

place thereof forty-eight cities, scattered throughout the tribes. Of

these cities two have been identified by the agents of the Palestine

Exploration Fund.

The recovery of the site of _Gezer_ we owe to M. Clermont Ganneau.

It is in the lowland district, and off the road to the right as one

goes up from Jaffa to Jerusalem, about 8 miles past Ramleh. The modern

name, _Tell Jezer_, represents the Hebrew exactly. Gezer had been a

royal city of the Canaanites; and it was in a position commanding one

of the important passes. The Levitical cities had around them a margin

of 1000 cubits. In 1874 M. Ganneau was shown by the peasantry a rude

inscription deeply cut in the flat surface of the natural rock. It

appears to be in Hebrew letters, and to read “Boundary of Gezer.” He

afterwards found a second, similar to it; and from their position he

judges that the city lay four-square, and had its angles directed to

the cardinal points of the compass. It was this city of Gezer which was

reconquered from the Philistines by Pharaoh, and handed over to Solomon

as a dowry with his daughter.

We owe to Major Conder the discovery of another of these Levitical

cities, namely, the royal city of Debir, south-west of Hebron, together

with the “upper and nether springs of water” (at a distance), which

Caleb gave to his daughter, on the occasion of her marriage (Judges

i. 15). The modern name is Dhâheriyeh, and the place is evidently an

ancient site of importance, to which several old roads lead from all

sides. Another name for this place was Kirjath-Sepher, which means

Book-Town; so that it must have been noted for books or writings of

some kind.

In tracing the boundaries of the tribes the surveyors found reason to

look upon the Book of Joshua as “the Domesday Book of Palestine.” The

towns in a district are all mentioned together, and in such consecutive

topographical order that many Scripture sites could be identified from

this very circumstance. The tribal boundaries are shown to be almost

entirely natural, namely, rivers, ravines, ridges, and the watershed

lines of the country. It is a remarkable fact, however, that while

the descriptions of tribal boundaries and cities are full and minute

in the territory of Judea, and scarcely less so in Galilee, they are

fragmentary and meagre within the bounds of Samaria. There is no

account of the conquest of Samaria, nor does the list of royal cities

include the famous Samaritan towns of Shechem, Thebez, Acrabbi, and

others. No list of the cities of Ephraim and Manasseh is included in

the topographical chapters of the Book of Joshua, nor any description

of the northern limits of Manasseh, and only a very slight one of the

southern border, where that tribe marched with Ephraim.

Thus far, in our description of Joshua’s conquest, we have seen how

his good generalship secured possession of the hills--the central

hills only, and not the plains. The Canaanites still dwelt in the

plains round about. The Philistines held the south-west. The Phœnicians

were secure in the north. The outlying nations of Edom and Moab were

undisturbed. In this condition things remained for a long time; and the

Israelites, occupying the hills only, were not likely to become a race

of sailors. Nor did they desire it, if we may judge from such notices

of the sea as occur in the Bible, for they seem to show the awe with

which the writers regarded its rolling waves. And besides, the coast

was not suited for it. The principal harbour was Tyre; but that was in

Phœnicia, which was hardly to be included in Palestine. South of Tyre

we have Accho, Caipha, and Joppa; but these are by no means good and

convenient as ports. Accho is the best, but has been the least used,

although Napoleon considered it “the key of Palestine.” It was to

Joppa that the Phœnicians brought timber in rafts for the building of

Solomon’s Temple; and thence it was carried by road to Jerusalem. It

was at Joppa that Jonah found a ship going to Tarshish, and took his

passage.

If the sea coast was little available for the Israelites, the Jordan

was still worse: a narrow, shallow, rocky stream, ending in the Dead

Sea, it led to nowhere, and was useless for purposes of commerce.

Naturally the capitals of the country were inland--Jerusalem in the

centre of the hills, and afterwards Shechem. The main road of the

country ran from south to north, along the watershed, the backbone of

highest ground. But since the hills were comparatively unfruitful,

the dwellers there suffered more in times of famine than the dwellers

in the plains. In times of war they had some advantage, and preferred

to fight from the hillsides, as they did not possess chariots and

horses, and could have found no use for them. Their enemies said of

them,--“their God is a God of the hills; He is not a God of the plains!”

Accordingly, the enemies of Israel sought to entice them to fight in

the plains, and sometimes partially succeeded. The Plain of Esdraelon

became a great battle field. The Great Plain, as distinguished from the

Plain of Acre, the Valley of Jezreel, and others which are continuous

with it, measures about 14 miles by 9. It is described by Conder as one

of the richest natural fields of cultivation in Palestine, or perhaps

in all the world. “The elevation,” he says, “is about 200 to 250 feet

above the sea, and a Y-shaped double range of hills bounds it east

and west, with an average elevation of 1500 feet above the plain on

the north-east. On the north-east are the two detached blocks of Neby

Duhy (Little Hermon) and Tabor, and on the north-west a narrow gorge

is formed by the river Kishon, which springs from beneath Tabor, and,

collecting the whole drainage of this large basin, passes from the

Great Plain to that of Acre. On the east of the plain the broad Valley

of Jezreel gradually slopes down towards Jordan, and Jezreel itself

(the modern Zerin) stands on the side of Gilboa above it. On the west

are the scarcely less famous sites of Legis, Taanach, and Joknean,

while the picturesque conical hill of Duhy, just north of the Jezreel

Valley, has Shunem on its south slope, and Nain and Endor on the north.

Thus seven places of interest lie at the foot of the hills east and

west; but no important town was ever situated in the plain itself.”

The first great struggle in this plain was against Sisera, captain of

the host of Jabin, king of Canaan, who came with nine hundred chariots,

and threatened the Israelites near the sources of the Kishon. The

topography of the Scriptural episode of the defeat and death of Sisera

has been hitherto very little understood. The scene of the battle has

often been placed in the south-west of the great Esdraelon plain, and

the defeated general has been supposed to have fled a distance of 35

miles over the high mountains of Upper Galilee. But this is contrary

to what we know of the general character of the Biblical stories, the

scenes of which are always laid in a very confined area. The kings of

Canaan assembled in Taanach and by the waters of Megiddo, but it was

not at either of these places that the battle was fought. Sisera was

drawn to the river Kishon (Judges iv. 7), and the conflict took place

in the plain south-west of Mount Tabor.

The forces of the Israelites were posted on the side of Mount Tabor.

At a signal from Deborah they rushed down the slope and attacked the

foe. At that moment a terrible storm from the east sent sleet and hail

full into the face of the enemy. They turned and fled along a line at

the base of the northern hills, where a chain of pools and springs,

fringed with reeds and rushes, marks, even in the dry season, the

course of the Kishon. The rain converted the volcanic dust of the plain

into mud, and clogged the wheels of the chariots. The water pouring

down from the hills swelled the stream, and “the river of Kishon swept

them away, that ancient river the river Kishon.” The remainder fled

to Harosheth, now only a miserable village (_El Harathiyeh_), named

from the beautiful woods above the Kishon at the point where, through

a narrow gorge, the stream, hidden among oleander bushes, enters the

Plain of Acre.

The flight of Sisera himself was in an opposite direction--to the Plain

of Zaanaim, or rather Bitzaanaim, “the marshes,” _i.e._, the marshy

springs east of Tabor--the neighbourhood of _Bessum_. The Kedesh

of the passage is probably a site so called south of Tiberias; and

the tent of Heber the Kenite would thus have been spread on the open

plateau within 10 miles of the site of the battle.