states that it took place in the time of harvest, when the Jordan was
overflowing its banks. The statement which follows is unintelligible
except as it is explained by the unique characteristics of this
strange river: "Its waters rose up in a heap, a great way off at Adam,
the city that is beside Zarethan, and those that went down toward the
Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off" (Josh. 3:16b).
Like the Missouri River in America, the Jordan frequently changes its
course. At certain points higher up the river, especially where the
Samaritan hills come down close to its shores and the Jabbok pours in
its waters from the east, the river sometimes undermines the clay
banks, with the result that it is temporarily dammed up, leaving the
bed below comparatively dry. The name of the town Adam, where its
waters "rose up in a heap," means _red earth_. It is probably
represented by the Tell ed-Damieh which stands near the famous Damieh
ford, just below the point where the Jabbok enters the Jordan. A
reliable Moslem historian records that in the year 1257 A.D. the
Sultan Bibers found it necessary to send workmen to repair the
foundation of the bridge (Jisr Damieh) at this point, in order to save
the retreating Moslem army. The task seemed impossible because of the
spring floods, which were then on; but to their amazement, when they
arrived at the bridge the men found the river-bed empty. By working
rapidly they were able to complete the repairs before the waters again
rushed down. Naturally they regarded this remarkable phenomenon as a
special divine interposition, although the historian does not fail to
state that the immediate cause was a huge landslide a little farther
up the river. This later analogy certainly throws much light upon the
great event, which like the exodus, made a profound impression upon
the faith of the Hebrews.
=Strategic Importance of Jericho.= Six miles across the white terraces
that rise from the bed of the Jordan close to the foot-hills of the
western plateau, which here projects far out into the valley, lay the
ancient Canaanite town of Jericho.^{(72)} It stood on an eminence a
few feet above the level of the plain. The old city is to-day but a
deserted egg-shaped mound about one thousand one hundred feet long and
five hundred wide, with three smaller mounds on the top. The total
area of the ruin is about twelve acres. The average height of the
mound is about forty feet above the plain. Immediately below it to the
east is the 'Ain es-Sultan, known in Hebrew times as the fountain of
Elisha. To the south the Valley of Achor, through which runs the
perennial stream of the Kelt, comes down from the heights of southern
Samaria. Immediately back of the ancient city ran the road over the
heights past Michmash and Ai to join the central northern highway
through Judea and Samaria. Jericho, therefore, not only commanded the
two southern fords of the Jordan, but was also the key to the
highways, which led to northern and southern Israel. Before it
stretched broad, rich fields, which could be easily irrigated by the
streams which came down from the western hills.
=Results of Recent Excavations.= Recent excavations have disclosed the
extent and strength of this old Canaanite city. Long stretches of the
ancient wall^{(73)} have been laid bare, both in the northern and
southern ends of the mound. This wall is remarkably well-preserved and
of excellent workmanship.^{(74)} On the native rock was first placed a
filling of loam and rock and on this was built a wall of rubble,
sixteen feet high and six to eight feet thick, bulging outward. The
spaces between the stones, which were very large at the bottom, were
carefully filled with smaller stones. On top of this foundation wall
was a supplemental wall of burnt brick, six or seven feet in
thickness, averaging even now in its ruined condition about eight feet
in height. As a result, the city was practically impregnable. At the
northern end of the mound was a citadel, made of unburnt bricks, three
stories high, with a stone staircase leading to the top. It takes
little imagination to picture the imposing character of this old
Canaanite city, small in area, but guarded by walls from twenty-five
to thirty-five feet in height and of a thickness that surpassed those
of many a mediæval fortress.
[Illustration: TERRITORIAL DIVISION OF CANAAN AFTER THE FINAL
SETTLEMENT OF THE HEBREW TRIBES.
L.L. POATES ENGR'G CO., N.Y.]
=Capture of Jericho.= These excavations both confirm and supplement
the biblical account of the conquest of Jericho. The walls are better
preserved than those of any other Canaanite city thus far uncovered,
indicating, as the oldest Hebrew narrative implies, that the city was
captured by stratagem rather than by siege, or as the later tradition
suggests as the result of a miracle. The story of the spies in the
first chapter of Joshua shows that the Hebrews had friends within the
city itself. The probabilities are that, while they were marching
around the Canaanite stronghold and thus distracting the attention of
its defenders, at a preconcerted signal the gates were suddenly opened
and the Hebrews rushed in and captured the city. The character of
the ruins suggest that the old Canaanite city was abandoned for
several centuries and that the top of the mound was cultivated, thus
confirming the statement of the biblical historian that the city was
entirely destroyed. Later a small Israelite town, dating from about
700 B.C., was built on the southeastern side of the mound. This may
represent the rebuilding of the city in the days of Ahab, as recorded
in I Kings 16:34.
=Evidence That the Hebrews Were Still Nomads.= This complete
destruction of Jericho after its capture by the Hebrews is
significant. The city was the natural key to the west-Jordan country
and therefore its chief defence against invaders from the east. Their
abandonment of this outpost indicates that the Hebrews were still
nomads, simply intent upon seizing the upland valleys, where they
could pasture their flocks, rather than agriculturists, ready to
settle down on the plains and able to perfect the conquest of the
land.
=Roads Leading Westward from Jericho.= From Jericho three main roads
led up to the central plateau of Palestine. The one followed a ridge
directly west from Jericho,^{(75)} running at first a little north of
the deep, narrow, rocky channel of the Wady Kelt.^{(25)} The second
road led up over the steep, barren, waterless wilderness of Judea,
through difficult passes to Jerusalem. It offered many obstacles and
no attractions to the invaders. A third road turned to the southwest,
leaving the Jordan valley opposite the northern end of the Dead Sea,
crossing the deep gorge of the Kidron in the vicinity of the present
Greek convent of Mar Saba. Thence it ran directly on through Bethlehem
to join the great central highway southward to Hebron.
=Conquests in the South.= This rocky trail may well have been the
route followed by the tribes of Judah and Simeon, when, according to
the ancient narrative in the first chapter of Judges, they went up to
the conquest of Canaan. Apparently they did not attempt to capture the
stronghold of Jerusalem, which remained in the hands of the Jebusites
until the days of David. The town of Bezek, which they first
conquered, has not yet been identified. It would naturally be looked
for at Bethlehem or at the stronghold of Bethzur farther south. The
text is clearly corrupt and possibly the original reading contains the
name of one or the other of these southern cities. The most important
acquisition of the Judahites was the city of Hebron in the south. This
ancient town lay in a shallow valley and was protected by no natural
defences.^{(76)} Allying themselves with certain Arab tribes, they
extended their conquests far out into the borders of the South
Country. The situation of Debir is still in doubt. It is usually
identified with Dhaheriyeh, southwest of Hebron, where the hills of
Judah descend to the wild South Country. In its vicinity are certain
springs, which correspond to those assigned to one of the clans of the
Calebites. To the southeast, with the aid of the Kenites, the
Judahites succeeded in conquering the border fortress of Arad,
seventeen miles southeast of Hebron. It stood at the head of the Wady
Seyal, which runs up in the direction of the Dead Sea past the later
fortress of Masada. Here dwelt the semi-nomadic Kenites. The
Simeonites, with the aid of the Judahites, also captured the city of
Hormah, far out in the South Country, and in this wild region, in
closer touch with the tribes of the desert than with the Hebrew tribes
of the north, they lived their free, nomadic life.
=Conquest of Ai and Bethel.= The strong tribes of Ephraim and
Manasseh, under the leadership of Joshua, took the more direct western
road over the heights above Jericho. While at this period the true
home of the Canaanites was still on the plains, certain of them, or
else the descendants of later immigrants, had already ascended these
heights and built small upland villages. The soil was not sufficiently
rich to support a large population. Probably the inhabitants still
depended to a great extent upon their flocks for sustenance. At the
head of the upland valley, along which the road ran, was the village
of Ai, sufficiently strong to repulse the initial attacks of the
Hebrews. It was finally captured, however, by means of strategy, in
which the wily sons of the desert were adept. In the same way they
captured the sacred city of Bethel, which is generally identified with
the present Beitin,^{(77)} two or three miles to the northwest of Ai.
The ruins on this site are so meagre that its identification is by no
means certain. If they represent the ancient city, it was always
insignificant--a place of pilgrimage rather than of residence. The
present village lies on a gradually sloping hill, strewn with large
limestone rocks. It lacks the commanding view characteristic of the
other high places of Palestine. Its outcrop of rock furnished abundant
sites for ancient altars and for the rocky pillow on which, according
to Hebrew tradition, rested the head of the fugitive Jacob. It is
important strategically, because near it converge the ancient roads
from the east, the north, and the south. It was captured by a sudden
attack which caught the inhabitants unprepared.
=Incompleteness of the Initial Conquest.= It is probable that certain
other small villages in the uplands near Ai and Bethel, were captured
by the Hebrew tribes that turned northward. The later traditions
record an important battle near Gibeon, which swept westward down
through the pass of the Upper and Lower Beth-horons. The older
narrative, however, found in the first chapter of Judges, states very
definitely that the Hebrews did not capture any of the important
cities on the plain except Jericho and that all the important towns in
central Canaan still remained in the possession of the older
inhabitants. One zone of strong cities, beginning with Gezer on the
west, including Shaalbim, Ajalon, Gibeon, and Jerusalem, remained in
possession of the Canaanites. Farther north, beginning with Dor on the
Mediterranean coast, another line of strong Canaanite cities extended
across the Plain of Esdraelon to the Jordan, including Megiddo,
Taanach, Ibleam, and Bethshean. These cities commanded all the
important highways from north to south. Still farther north the chief
cities of Galilee were still held by the Canaanites. Thus, in the
early stages of the settlement in Canaan, the Hebrews, who at this
time came in from the east-Jordan land, succeeded in intrenching
themselves only at two points: (1) in the heights of Judah, from
whence they gradually extended their conquests, first to the south
and then to the north; and (2) in the highlands of southern Samaria,
gradually spreading down the western hills and pressing northward
through the valleys of Samaria and Galilee. In the north they readily
affiliated with their kinsmen who, like the Asherites, had probably
remained in the land since the first invasion in the days of Amenhotep
IV.
=Migration of the Danites.= The eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of
Judges contain an exceedingly old and vivid picture of the way in
which the different tribes individually won their homes in this land,
where there was no political unity and where each tribe and city
fought its own battles single-handed. At first the little tribe of the
Danites had settled at a point where the Valley of Sorek penetrated
the Judean hills on the west and opened out into a diamond-shaped
valley. Here the Danites were pressed by the Judahites on the south,
the Ephraimites and Benjamites on the north, and above all by the
Philistines, who were able to enter this fertile valley by its western
gateway. Acting on the advice of the spies whom they had sent out to
find a more favorable place of abode, a large body of the Danites
migrated to the north. At the foot of Mount Hermon, amidst the rushing
waters which come from the copious sources of the Jordan, they found a
Sidonian colony.^{(78)} It had probably been established as a trading
outpost, for past it ran the great highway from Damascus through
Northern Israel. It was cut off from all connection with its parent
city by the heights of upper Galilee. The Danites suddenly attacked
the city, put to death its inhabitants, and changed its name from
Laish to Dan. Thus was founded a city which became the famous
sanctuary of the north.
=The Moabite Invasion.= All the earlier narratives of the Old
Testament indicate that the Hebrews undertook the conquest of Canaan,
not as a united nation, but as independent tribes. At first they
appear to have contented themselves with the least desirable and
therefore unoccupied regions. These were scattered throughout the wide
extent of the land and were separated by zones of Canaanite cities.
The result was that the local Hebrew tribes soon fell a prey to the
older races. Early during the period of settlement the Moabites who
were at first confined to the south of the Arnon, swept over this
natural barrier and appeared at the fords of the Jordan opposite
Jericho. They even exacted tribute of the Hebrew tribes in southern
Canaan. The Moabite oppression was overthrown by the Benjamite Ehud,
who treacherously slew the Moabite king and rallied the strong clans
of Ephraim. By seizing and holding the two lower fords of the Jordan
they succeeded, with the aid of this great natural barrier, in keeping
back the Moabites; but it is evident that by this time these
aggressive foes had largely reconquered the old kingdom of Sihon and
subjugated the Hebrews who remained east of the Jordan and south of
the Jabbok.
=The Rally of the Hebrews Against the Canaanites.= The rapid increase
of the Hebrews led the Canaanites to revive the old coalition, which
in the days of Thotmose III had its natural centre at Megiddo.^{(63)}
Again this important city was the rallying place of the Canaanites. On
the great plain that extends for miles in front of this ancient
fortress was fought the battle which decided the possession of central
Canaan. Only the Hebrew tribes of central Israel rallied on the
battle-field. The Asherites in the west, the Danites in the north, and
the Reubenites across the Jordan remained by their ships or with their
flocks. No mention is made in the biblical narratives of the tribes of
Judah and Simeon, far in the south. According to the older poetic
account of the battle, Deborah, who issued the call that rallied the
strong central tribes, belonged to the tribe of Issachar, whose
territory lay on the northeastern side of the plain. Here near
Deborah's home gathered the Hebrews, ill-organized but patriotic and
brave. Down along the highway, which ran through the territory of
Napthali from the northwestern end of the Sea of Galilee (_cf._ p.
79), rushed Barak with his sturdy warriors. Evidently the Hebrews had
hitherto confined their fighting to the hills, where they had had a
great advantage; but now, forty thousand strong, they ventured out on
the plain to meet the Canaanites who were equipped with horses and
chariots and who were fighting on their own natural battle-field.
=The Battle-field.= The Hebrews, however, chose their ground wisely.
On the eastern side of the great plain the hills from the south almost
meet those from the north, so that here the Hebrew warriors from all
parts of the land could unite without a long journey across the open
plain. On the other hand, they were there reasonably free from the
danger of a flank attack, for the only direct and feasible approach to
the battle-field from Megiddo was straight across the plain to the
northeast. Farther to the west the Kishon is ordinarily not fordable,
while east of Megiddo, opposite Taanach, are probably to be found the
Waters of Megiddo, mentioned in the ancient song, for here many
springs burst from the plain, rendering it muddy and practically
impassable far into the summer. The Hebrews evidently took their stand
on the northeastern side of the Kishon,^{(79)} where the main highway
crosses it about seven miles from Megiddo. The river here ploughs its
muddy way through the plain, which rises gently toward the northeast
to the position occupied by the Hebrews. Its fords are treacherous at
all times and especially so in spring. In crossing this point as late
as April, our horses would probably have foundered in its sticky mud
had not some camel-drivers waded out into the middle of the stream and
guided us over the one narrow place where it was possible to cross
without being submerged. As we looked back two hundred yards beyond
the river, its low, sluggish stream was completely hidden. Had we not
recently crossed, we would not have suspected that it ran across the
seemingly unbroken plain. Not even the usual bushes fringed its bank
to proclaim its winding course.
=Effect of a Storm Upon the Plain.= Evidently the Hebrews waited
before offering battle until the Canaanites had crossed and were thus
cut off from the possibility of quick retreat. The ancient poem of
Judges 5 also indicates that they chose for the battle the time of
year most advantageous for them. The references to Jehovah coming on
the clouds from Sinai and pouring out his waters, to the stars
fighting in their course against the Canaanites, and to the swollen
Kishon, clearly show that the battle was fought in the spring and
that, while it was in progress, one of those drenching thunder-storms
that sweep over the plain at this time of the year demonstrated to
Hebrew and Canaanite alike the presence of Israel's God. The loamy
soil of the plain dries quickly and is then very hard, but when wet
becomes at once a hopeless morass. The horses' hoofs sink deep into
the muddy soil and are withdrawn with that peculiar sucking sound
which the author of the poem in Judges 5 has successfully reproduced.
The Canaanites, never famous for bravery, were quickly thrown into
confusion. In their mad endeavor to get back to Megiddo, chariots,
horses, and horsemen plunged headlong into the treacherous, swollen
Kishon, and were swept away.
=Results of the Victory.= Apparently the Canaanite leader, Sisera,
swerved to the northward from the Kishon and escaped over the hills of
lower Galilee. Exhausted with his flight he took refuge in the tent of
a wandering Kenite and there met the most ignominious of fates--death
at the hands of a woman. Thus the Hebrews were left masters of central
Canaan and possessors of the opulent cities and the material
civilization, which had been developing in Palestine for over a
thousand years. In the southern zone, the Canaanite cities remained
unconquered until the days of the united Hebrew kingdom, but they
ceased to be a menace to Hebrew expansion. Thus at last, after two or
three centuries of wandering, of struggle, and of training, the
different Hebrew tribes entered into their heritage and continued to
occupy it until Assyria and Babylonia destroyed their independence and
carried their leaders into exile.
=The East-Jordan Tribes.= In the east-Jordan territory the Reubenites
settled just north of the Arnon. They were the first to occupy their
lands and the first to disappear from history. The territory was rich
and productive, but exposed to attack from the Moabites on the south,
from the Arabs on the east, and from the Ammonites on the northeast.
In the days of Mesha, the Moabite king (the ninth century B.C.), they
had evidently disappeared, only the Gadites being mentioned. The
Gadites were equally exposed to attack from every side, but they were
more strongly intrenched among the hills and deep wadies that lie
south of the Jabbok. They were also more closely in touch with their
kinsmen across the Jordan and protected on the north by the strong
east-Jordan tribes of Manasseh and Machir, whose territory extended
to, if not beyond, the Yarmuk and eastward to the borders of the
desert.
=The Tribes in Southern Canaan.= West of the Jordan the tribe of
Simeon guarded the southern outpost, but in time almost completely
disappeared from Hebrew history. The strong tribe of Judah, from its
mountain heights spread westward to the borders of the Philistine
Plain and at a later period absorbed the territory of the Canaanite
cities, which extended from Gezer to Jerusalem. The little tribe of
Benjamin was wedged in between the great tribes of the north and the
south. The southern boundary of its territory ran close to Jerusalem
and on the east it touched the Jordan. Northward to the Plain of
Esdraelon and from the Jordan to the Plain of Sharon extended the
rich, fruitful territory of Ephraim and Manasseh.
=The Tribes in the North.= The tribe of Issachar, profiting most by
the results of the great battle beside the Kishon, in which it had
played a central rôle, entered into possession of the fertile
territory lying south of the Sea of Galilee, probably spreading across
the Plain of Esdraelon to Mount Gilboa and the boundaries of northern
Samaria. Zebulun occupied the territory extending up into the hills of
lower Galilee. Upper Galilee was divided between the tribe of Napthali
on the east and Asshur, whose territory extended to that of the
Phœnicians on the west. In the upper Jordan valley, at the foot of the
southern slope of Mount Hermon, the warlike energetic tribe of Dan was
strongly intrenched.
=Effect of the Settlement Upon the Hebrews.= Apparently the Hebrew
settlement of Canaan occupied fully a century. With the exception of
two or three important engagements, the process was one of peaceful
settlement rather than of conquest. It was a process to which there
are many analogies, especially in the history of Babylonia and Syria.
A stronger, more virile race pressed in from the desert and gradually
conquered and absorbed the more highly civilized but less energetic
peoples resident in the land. It was only in exceptional cases that
the earlier Canaanite population was completely destroyed. Shechem,
and later Jerusalem, are familiar examples of the way in which the
conquerors and the conquered lived side by side, freely intermarrying
and in time completely fusing with each other. This process was
especially natural and easy in Palestine, because the older population
simply represented earlier waves of invasion from the desert. The
conquerors and the conquered shared in common many traditions and
institutions. Inevitably the invaders gave up their nomadic habits and
adopted the agricultural pursuits, the civil institutions, the sacred
places, and many of the religious rites of the Canaanites. The marvel
is that during this transitional period of settlement they preserved
their loyalty to Jehovah, the God who had guided their fathers in
their wilderness wanderings.
XV
THE FORCES THAT LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HEBREW KINGDOM