of water in Judah. Not a single perennial stream is found within its
immediate boundaries. Ezekiel's vision of the broad stream running
from the temple and irrigating the entire land clearly indicates what
he recognized to be its great need. Throughout the entire land not a
dozen copious springs burst from the dry rock. Jerusalem and Hebron
are thus blest and, as a result, are still the chief cities of the
land. Southwest of Bethlehem are the so-called Pools of Solomon, the
plenteous waters of which are treasured in huge, ancient, rock-cut
reservoirs, from which, in Roman times, they were conducted by high
and low level aqueducts to Jerusalem. No snow-clad Lebanons tower
above the parched hills of Judah to supply the much needed waters.
To-day the rains of winter rush down the rocky hills and valleys,
where there is little soil and vegetation to absorb and retain the
moisture, leaving the land more denuded than before. Undoubtedly, when
the hills of Judah were properly cultivated, as the presence of ruined
terraces and watch-towers even in the most deserted places indicate
they once were, the aspect of the landscape was very different; and
yet, compared with other parts of Palestine, it was ever barren. Its
inhabitants have always had to struggle for soil and water. In the
past, as at present, the chief water supply was from the rocky
cisterns. These were cut on the inside in the shape of a huge Oriental
water-jug and placed in a depression in the rock so that they would be
filled by the wash from the winter rains, which are usually very
copious throughout Palestine.
=Wilderness of Judea.= The eastern slope of the southern plateaus of
Palestine is rightly called a wilderness. Like the Shephelah or
lowland on the west it is a distinct physical division of the
west-Jordan land. The cultivated fields extend only four or five miles
east of the central watershed. Near Jerusalem the barren wilderness
comes up and touches the fertile fields about Bethany.^{(24)} The
descent on this eastern side of Judea to the low-lying Dead Sea is so
precipitous that the water from the winter rains runs off rapidly and
has cut deep channels through the soft clay and limestone cliffs so
that irrigation is impossible.^{(25)} No important villages are found
in this desolate region except at Engedi, where a beautiful spring
bursts out of the cliffs overhanging the Dead Sea and transforms the
barren desert into what seems by contrast a little paradise of trees
and gardens. Otherwise it is a land of dry, rocky, rounded hills which
descend in a series of three great terraces to the depths below. Some
vegetation is found between the rocks on the higher uplands. It is the
land of the shepherd and of the Arab invaders^{(26)} who here press
in from the desert and contend, as they have for thousands of years,
with the shepherds of the outlying villages for the possession of the
barren land. The dominant features in the landscape are the rocky,
rounded bluffs, the great gorge of the Dead Sea, usually enveloped in
mists, and the dim outlines of the massive Moabite hills beyond. This
wilderness of Judea exercised two powerful influences upon the life
and thought of the people of the south: (1) it brought to their doors
the atmosphere and peculiar customs and beliefs of the desert; and (2)
it kept before them the might and destructive power of Jehovah, as
exemplified by the Dead Sea and by the grim traditions that were
associated with this remarkable natural phenomenon.
=Western Judah.= In contrast to the barren wilderness of eastern
Judah, the western hills slope gradually down to the Philistine plain.
The chief characteristic of this western slope is the series of
valleys which lead up from the lowlands, piercing almost to the
watershed in the great central plateau of Judah. Most of these valleys
are broad and fertile as they enter the hills, but become ever more
tortuous and wild as they ascend the rocky heights. In the rainy
season (December to February) they are frequently swept by rushing
torrents, which, undeterred by soil or vegetation, soon run their
course, leaving the stream, during the greater part of the year, dry
and rocky. At many points the ascent is abrupt, between steep rocks,
clad with low bushes and wild flowers. In some places the path is so
narrow that it is impossible for a horse to turn with comfort.
=Valley of Ajalon.= Six important valleys thus lead up from the plain
to the central highlands. The northernmost, and in many ways the most
important, is the Valley of Ajalon. It marks the northwestern boundary
of Judah. It is a great, broad, fertile plain, lying between five
hundred and a thousand feet above sea-level. The stream which
ultimately finds its way into the sea a little north of Joppa, here
makes a broad curve to the northeast, receiving four or five small
tributary streams from the highlands of Judah and southern Samaria.
From this valley several roads lead up to the plateau north of
Jerusalem. Of these the most important is the one that ascends the
pass of the Upper and Lower Beth-horons, along which ran the most
direct and, in early times, the main highway from Jerusalem to
Joppa.^{(118)}
=Wady Ali.= A little south of the Valley of Ajalon is the narrow Wady
Ali, along which runs to-day the carriage road from Jerusalem to
Joppa. Apparently because of the deepness and narrowness of this
valley it does not figure in biblical history until the Maccabean
period.
=Valley of Sorek.= The third important gateway to Judah was the Valley
of Sorek, the present Wady es-Surar. Here the modern railway from
Joppa to Jerusalem penetrates the central plateau. Just before the
Valley of Sorek reaches the steep ascent to the highlands it receives
two important confluents, the Wady el-Ghurab, from the northwest, and
the Wady en-Nagil from the south. Here the valley opens into a broad
fertile plain, closely connected with the larger Plain of Philistia
and yet encircled by the hills of the Shephelah. Immediately to the
north was the home of the Danites and about this picturesque point
gather the Samson stories. Along a winding and steep ascent the narrow
pass thence runs directly eastward toward Jerusalem, approaching the
city across the Valley of Rephaim from the southwest.
=Valley of Elah.= The fourth valley is that of Elah, the Valley of the
Terebinth, which is known to-day as the Wady es-Sunt. This valley
abounds in memories of David's earlier exploits.^{(88)} Its eastern
branch, the Wady el-Jindy leads through a narrow defile up toward
Bethlehem. Its more important branch, the Wady es-Sur, runs directly
southward past what are probably to be identified as the ancient
Adullam and Keilah, and thence turning eastward, reaches the uplands
near the famous Maccabean fortress of Bethzur, a little north of
Hebron.
=Valley of Zephathah.= The fifth valley is that of Zephathah, which is
known to-day in its upper course as the Wady el-Afranj. Its western
gateway is guarded by the present important city of Beit-Jibrin, the
Eleutheropolis of the Greek and Roman period. Recently opened caves
near by reveal the importance of the Egyptian influence which, at a
very early period entered Palestine along this important highway. The
valley itself leads up through winding, narrow walls past the Plain of
Mamre, directly to Hebron. Along it ran the great road from Jerusalem
to Philistia and Egypt.
=Wady el-Jizâir.= The southernmost valley of western Judah is a
continuation of the Wady el-Hesy, which runs past the frontier town of
Lachish and is to-day known in its extension into the Judean highlands
as the Wady el-Jizâir. Passing the ancient city of Adoraim, it also
led to Hebron and ultimately to Jerusalem.
=Significance of These Valleys.= Of these six western valleys,
unquestionably the three most important were the Valley of Ajalon,
with its main gateways opening toward Jerusalem, the Valley of Sorek,
with its broad entrance, also leading straight up to the capital city,
and the Valley of Elah, rich with historic memories. Each of these,
however, could be easily defended at certain strategic points by a few
determined men on the heights above. When these natural gates were
closed, Judah was practically unassailable on the west and could look
with a strong sense of security down from its frowning heights upon
the hostile armies which swept along the broad coast plains.
=The South Country.= The central plateau of Palestine extends south of
Judah fully seventy miles. At first it gradually descends in a series
of terraces, and then breaks into a confusion of barren, rocky,
treeless ridges, running for the most part from east to west and cut
by deep waterless gorges. As in Judah, the eastern hills which
overhang the Wady Arabah are more abrupt and the winter torrents have
cut deep channels in the gray limestone rocks. On the west the descent
is more gradual, running out into the level wilderness, bounded on the
west by the Wady el-Arish, known to the biblical writers as the Brook
of Egypt. This wild, desolate region, fifty miles wide and seventy
long, is the famous South Country, which figured so largely in early
Israelite history. Its name, _Negeb_, Dry Land, well describes its
general character.^{(1)}
=Its Northern and Western Divisions.= The hill country immediately to
the south of Judah is fairly fertile. Cultivated fields are found in
the valleys and terraces on the hillsides, even as far as the Wady
Sheba and the famous desert sanctuary of Beersheba. To the south and
west of Beersheba are found the ruins of many cities, which evidently
enjoyed high prosperity during the later Roman period. Here, as
throughout most of the South Country, rain falls during the winter
season, so that where the water is stored, irrigation is possible. A
few springs also furnish a perennial supply of water. Thus under a
strong stable government, the northern and northwestern portions of
the South Country are capable of supporting a large, semi-agricultural
population. By nature, however, it is the land of the nomad.
Throughout most of its history, the Bedouin have dominated it as they
do to-day. When undeveloped by irrigation, its hills and valleys are
covered in springtime by a green herbage, which disappears, except in
some secluded glens, before the glaring heat of summer. To the south,
the Negeb at last descends to the great barren desert of Tîh, across
which ran the highways to Egypt, to Arabia, and to Babylonia.
=Its Central and Eastern Divisions.= The central and eastern part of
this South Country is dry and barren and occupied only by fierce
Bedouin tribes. The absence of water, the ruggedness of its mountain
ranges, and the fierceness of its population have rendered it almost
impassable throughout most of its history. Many portions of it are
still unexplored. Thus, on its southern boundary, Judah was thoroughly
protected from the advance of hostile armies. At the same time, from
this South Country there came a constant infiltration of the
population and ideas of the desert, which left a deep imprint upon the
character of the southern Israelites.
=The Striking Contrasts Between Judah and Samaria.= The contrasts
between the hills of Judah and Samaria are many and significant. The
hills of Samaria are a collection of distinct groups, divided by
broad valleys, which intersect the land in every direction. The hills
of Judah, in contrast, constitute a great, elevated, solid plateau,
cut by no great valleys running throughout the land from east to west
or from north to south. Judah is a mountain fortress, with strong
natural barriers on every side. Samaria, on the contrary, stands with
doors wide open to the foreign trader and invader. Its inhabitants are
compelled to resort to the hilltops, or else to build strong
fortresses for their defence. The great highways of commerce pass on
either side of Judah, while they ran through the heart of Samaria.
Judah was secure, not only because of its natural battlements of rock,
but because of its barrenness. Its grim limestone hills, its stony
moorlands, and its dry valleys offered few attractions to the invader.
On the other hand, the rich fields of Samaria and its opulent cities
were a constant loadstone, drawing toward them conquerors from the
north, south, and east.
=Effect Upon Their Inhabitants.= Judah, with its few springs and its
rock-strewn fields, offered a frugal livelihood to men who were
willing to toil and to live without the luxuries of life. It bred a
sturdy, brave race, intensely loyal to their rocks and hills,
tenacious of their beliefs, even to the point of bigotry and
martyrdom. Like their limestone hills, they were grim and
unattractive, but capable of resisting the wearing process of the
centuries. In contrast, the fertile hills of Samaria, with their
plentiful springs and rushing streams, bred a luxury-loving,
care-free, tolerant race, who were ready, almost eager, for foreign
ideas and cults, as well as customs. Thus that great schism between
north and south, between Jew and Samaritan, was not merely the result
of later rivalries, but found its primal cause in the physical
characteristics that distinguished the land of Judah from that of
Samaria.
VI
THE JORDAN AND DEAD SEA VALLEY
=Geological History.= The great gorge of the Jordan and Dead Sea
valley is the most striking natural phenomenon in Palestine. No place
on the face of the earth has had a more dramatic geological history.
As has already been noted (p. 14), this great rift which runs from
northern Syria to the Red Sea was probably formed in the latter part
of the Pliocene Age. At the northern end of the Dead Sea its bed
reaches a depth of nearly one-half a mile beneath the ocean level. It
is thus by far the deepest depression on the face of the earth. During
the Pluvial period this huge rift was filled with water, making a
large inland sea, fully two hundred miles long, with its surface
nearly one hundred feet above the ocean level. Apparently the higher
land to the south of the present Dead Sea cut off the ocean, so that
at the first it was a fresh-water lake. During the Interglacial
period, possibly in part as the result of volcanic changes, it fell to
a level of not more than three hundred feet above the present surface
of the Dead Sea. It was during this period and the ice age that
followed that the deposits were made on the side of the valley, which
have given it its present terraced form.
=Evidences of Volcanic Action.= From the Pluvial period to the present
the valley has been the scene of frequent volcanic disturbances. The
water, sinking through the great rifts and subterranean passages, and
being transformed by the heat into steam, forced up great masses of
lava, which may be traced at many points on the heights both to the
east and to the west of the Jordan valley. Earthquakes, many of them
severe, are still common in this volcanic region. That of 1837
destroyed the city of Safed, killing one thousand of its inhabitants.
In recent years severe shocks were felt in June, 1896, January, 1900,
March and December, 1903. Many copious, hot, mineral springs still
bear testimony to the presence of volcanic forces. Those near
Tiberias, on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee and in the Wady
Zerka Ma'in, east of the Dead Sea, have a temperature of about 144°,
while the waters of El-Hammeh in the Yarmuk Valley vary in temperature
from about 93° to 110.° These springs are strongly impregnated with
mineral salts and it is from these and similar sources that the salts
have come that make the waters of the Dead Sea what they are to-day,
heavy and far more saline than the ocean itself.
=Natural Divisions.= The Jordan and Dead Sea valley falls into four
natural divisions: (1) the upper Jordan, from Mount Hermon to the Sea
of Galilee, (2) the Sea of Galilee, (3) the lower Jordan, and (4) the
Dead Sea. At its northernmost point rises Mount Hermon, called by the
natives Jebel es-Sheik, that is, Mountain of the White-haired.
=Mount Hermon.= Hermon is in reality a massive mountain plateau,
twenty miles long from northeast to southwest. Like most of the
mountains of Palestine, it is of hard limestone, covered at places
with soft chalk. On its northern side the vineyards run up to a height
of almost five thousand feet.^{(27)} Above are found scattered oaks,
almond and dwarf juniper trees. The mountain rises to the height of
nine thousand and fifty feet and is crowned by three peaks.^{(28)} The
northern and southern peaks are about the same height, while the
western, separated from the others by a depression, is about one
hundred feet lower. Mount Hermon commands a marvellous view of almost
the entire land of Palestine. From the masses of snow which cover its
broad top far into the summer and lie in its ravines throughout the
year, come the copious waters of the upper Jordan. Its sources spring
from the western and southern bases of Mount Hermon fully developed
streams. Three-fourths of the waters of Mount Hermon thus find their
way down the deep gorge of the Jordan.
=Source of the Jordan at Banias.= One of the two main sources of the
Jordan is at Banias, the Cæsarea Philippi of New Testament times.
About one hundred feet beneath an ancient grotto in the side of a
sheer cliff, the stream pours forth from the rocks and goes rushing
down through thickets of trees and the gardens which are irrigated by
its waters.^{(29)} By Josephus and other ancient writers the springs
at Banias were regarded as the true source of the Jordan. Here the
ancient Canaanites apparently reared a sanctuary to the god of the
stream and later the Greeks built a temple to Pan, from whence comes,
with the change of the initial letter, the modern name of Banias, or
City of Pan. Here also Herod reared a temple which was one of the
glories of the Roman city.
=At Tell el-Kadi.= The largest source of the Jordan is on the western
side of the mound now known as Tell el-Kadi. A stream about ten feet
wide flows directly from the rock and is joined by a smaller confluent
a little to the south, forming the so-called El-Leddan. The imposing
mound of Tell el-Kadi, lying at the head of the Jordan Valley and
commanding the highway that leads to Banias, and thence across the
eastern spurs of Mount Hermon to Damascus, is probably the site of the
Canaanite Laish, later the Hebrew Dan.
=The Western Confluents.= A mile and a half further to the south the
two eastern sources of the Jordan are joined by the Hasbany. This
stream springs from a pool on the western side of Mount Hermon and
thence flows southward through the broad plain on the west of the
mountain from which it sprang. The fourth source of the Jordan, the
Nahr Bareighit, the least important of the four, rising not far from
the River Litany, comes down through a valley to the northwest.
=The Upper Jordan Valley.= During the first part of its descent to the
Dead Sea, the Jordan winds leisurely through a valley about five miles
wide, flanked by hills rising to between fifteen hundred and two
thousand feet.^{(30)} Its northernmost part, under the shadow of Mount
Hermon, is plentifully strewn with stones, but a few miles below Tell
el-Kadi fertile grain fields appear, watered by copious springs. The
Jewish colonists on the northwestern edge of the Jordan valley, are
beginning to cultivate these meadows, again demonstrating how fertile
they are. Six miles above Lake Huleh the river loses itself in reedy
marshes^{(31)} and finally empties into the lake through six different
channels. Here the papyrus grows in great profusion. Lake Huleh
itself, four miles long, is little more than a great malarial marsh,
formed by the temporary stopping of the river by the eastern and
western hills, which here approach within three or four miles of each
other.
=The Rapid Descent to the Sea of Galilee.= From Banias to Lake Huleh
the Jordan descends over one thousand feet and in the eleven miles
from the lake to the Sea of Galilee it plunges downward six hundred
and ninety feet. These occasional pauses, followed by sudden plunges,
have given the river its name, the Jordan, which means the Descender.
A little below Lake Huleh, the valley of the Jordan narrows into a
rocky gorge. Through this rocky chasm, hemmed in by steep cliffs on
both sides, the Jordan plunges in continuous cascades until it reaches
the delta which it has formed at the northern end of the Sea of
Galilee.
=The Sea of Galilee.= At Lake Huleh the waters of the Jordan are seven
feet above the ocean level, but at the Sea of Galilee six hundred and
eighty-two feet below. The Sea of Galilee is a pear-shaped lake,
twelve and one-half miles in length and eight in width, encircled by
bold limestone cliffs.^{(32)} Its greatest depth, which is in the
north, is seven hundred and fifty feet. Its blue, clear waters, bathed
in sunshine, and the soft, warm breezes that blow across the lake,
make it in spring-time, and even in winter, one of the most delightful
spots in all the world. In the summer, however, its atmosphere is hot
and sultry, and at many points malarial. Ordinarily, the ocean winds
blow high above the Sea of Galilee without affecting its hot, tropical
climate, but occasionally they pour down through the valleys,
especially to the north and northwest, suddenly transforming these
quiet waters into a tempestuous sea.
=Its Shores.= On the east rise the steep, now barren but probably once
tree-clad, limestone hills of the Jaulan, capped by vast layers of
black basalt, towering in the distance like huge battlements. They
stand back, however, from the lake, leaving a shore averaging one-half
mile in width. On the north the Jordan has worn down the hills, which
here descend gradually in wild, stony moorlands, covered with thorns
and rough grasses. To the northwest opens the fertile plain of
Gennesaret,^{(33)} four miles wide, watered by dashing mountain brooks
and flanked by the high hills of upper Galilee. The industry of German
colonists is again beginning to demonstrate the marvellous fertility
of this fair plain, where the fruits and grains of tropical and
temperate climes grow side by side. On the western side of the lake
the hills descend in terraces, leaving a narrow strip of shore,
connected with the uplands by one or two shallow valleys. To the south
the shore broadens and the hills recede until they are four miles
apart at the southern end,^{(34)} where the Jordan leaves the Sea of
Galilee.
=From the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea.= The distance from the Sea
of Galilee to the Dead Sea in a straight line is only sixty-five
miles, but, owing to its constant turnings, the actual course of the
river measures nearly two hundred miles. In this last plunge the river
descends more than one thousand feet. Its descent is more rapid in the
upper part of its course. A little below the Sea of Galilee it
receives its largest confluent, the River Yarmuk, which breaks through
the heights of the Hauran to the east. The volume of the water thus
poured in nearly equals that of the Jordan itself at this point.
Further south the Brook Jalûd comes down on the west from the Plain of
Jezreel past Bethshean. About twenty miles from its mouth, the Jordan
receives the waters from the Jabbok, which descends from the heights
of Gilead on the east, and from the Wady Farah, which comes from the
vicinity of Shechem on the west.