Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/188

172 172 THE WESTERN SHORE OF THE DEAD SEA.

the mountain. This is the cliff of Zor (2 Chron. xx, 16). Plundering bands from the east, still use the pass on their incursions to the western highland. The plateau is surrounded by precipices on all sides, except at its throat on the north- west, where two roads unite, coming down the mountain side from the north and from the west, or from Bethlehem and Hebron. From this upper plateau, " the path descends to the seashore by ziz-zags, often at the steepest angle practicable for horses, and is carried partly along ledges or shelves on the perpendicular face of the cliff, and then down the almost equally steep ddbris." Thus the lower plateau is reached. The further descent to the plain follows the course of the cascade derived from the spring. The water is almost hidden among the trees and shrubs and canes that nourish on its banks. The whole of this lower slope was once built up for terraced cultivation, and at its foot are the remains of ancient Engedi one among the oldest of cities.

The Wady Areijeh which bounds Engedi on the south is one of the principal drains of these mountains, and rises along the Hebron road, about Hulhul, and northward as far as Breikut and Tekua, which are the existing names of ruined sites corresponding to the Berachah and Tekoa of Jehoshaphat's deliverance. 2 Chron. xx, 20, 26. The Wady Sideir only comes from the heights above Eas Shukf, but the extreme beauty of the fairy scene in the lower part of the gorge is too attractive to be passed without notice. Dr. Tristram is enthusiastic in its praise.*

Shore of the Dead Sea^-Eas Mersid to Sebbeh.

South of the Plain of Engedi, the shore is narrow, and follows the direction of the cliffs for two miles, with interrup- tions from gullies and boulders. At Wady el Kuberah, the line of cliffs inclines a little to the west of south, as far as Sebbeh, and the coast line becomes a mile distant from the great cliffs. The survey displays the projection of a considerable terrace extending between the foot of the cliffs and the sea,


 * " Land of Israel," 289, 290, 297.