Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/159

 Sodom and Gofnorrah

141

It should be always borne in mind that, as the excavations have shown, with but very few exceptions the towns and cities of Therefore the ancient Palestine covered comparatively small areas. public square itself was never very large, nor, at the most, far from liere.

The Gate the city gate. since, as

v.

4

Sodom seems tells,

it

of an Oriental City

to

have been

was divided

into a

a larger city

number of

erally in large cities the people of various occupations

own

quarter;

cf.

Isaiah

XLVII,

15;

Jeremiah

than ordinary,

quarters.

had each

XXXVII.

Gentheir

21.

V. 17. For "the Plain" cf. the note to XI IT. 12. The mountains on either side of the Jordan valley rise quite abruptly to an average height of approximately 3,500 feet above the surface of the Dead Sea.