Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/245

229 THE MOUNTAINS OF JUDJEA. 229

THE MOUNTAINS OF JUD^A. Northern Group.

From the Jordan to the Plain of Sharon, the southern banks of Wady el 'Aujah, Wady Samieh, Wady el Jib, and Wady Deir Balut, define the northern limit of the moun- tains of Judsea, including a part of Mount Ephraim, as well as the heights of Judah and Benjamin. Perhaps the southern edge of Mount Ephraim reached to Tell 'Asur, Yebrud, Bir ez Zeit, and Batn Harasheh.

The summit of the slope descending to the northern limit of the Judsean Mountains, is distinguished by the following culminating points from east to west : (1.) En Nejmeh (alt. 2,391 feet), on a spur eastward from Tell 'Asur, and dominating the Plain of Keziz and Wady el 'Aujah ; (2.) Tell 'Asur (alt. 3,318 feet), on the Mediterranean waterparting ; (3.) A summit south-west of 'Attara (alt. 2,791 feet), which belongs to a ridge continued through Umm Suffah (alt. 1,997 feet), Deir en Nidhan (alt. 1,934 feet), and 'Abud (alt. 1,240 feet), to the Plain of Sharon.

The height of 'Attara is also connected with a ridge run- ning southward to the summit occupied by the ruins of Kh. Bir ez Zeit (alt. 2,665 feet), which is the centre of a system of ranges that enclose the two branches of Wady esh Shellal (Surar or Budrus), that unite at Shebtin. These heights divide the two Shebtin valleys and their branches : (1.) On the north, from Wady el Jib and the heads of the Wadys that meet at Deir Nabala, near the Plain of Sharon ; (2.) On the south, from the northern branch of Wady Malakeh,* which joins the wady from Shebtin, on the west of Nalin ; (3.) On the east, from affluents of Wady el Jib, which descend to it northwards from Beitin and Abu Kush, to join the Jib on the east of 'Attara. These affluents of Wady el Jib, form a noted section of enlarged systems of lateral com- munication along the Mediterranean waterparting, which extend throughout the remainder of the survey southward.


 * Called also Shamo, Dilbeh, and Hamid.