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240 240 THE MOUNTAINS OF JUDAEA.

the heights of Kurn el Hajr (alt. 1,460 feet), and er Eueikbeh (alt. 1,486 feet). One of the roads from Jerusalem to Engedi, crosses this part near the top of the cliffs.

The tract between the Main Waterparting Eange and the Eastern Eange, as far as the summit on the south of the confluence of the Farah and Suweinit, may be distinguished as the northern part of the Eastern Plateau of Jerusalem. South of the unnamed summits, the eastern edge of the plateau must be sought further to the west than the Eastern Eange, as it has been traced on the south of that summit. The westerly projection of the Jordan Waterparting, as it advances southward, widens the slope ; and the altitude and structure of the ground together indicate the interposition of a medial range and terrace, which may be observed all the way southward from Wady Farah.

The Middle Eange passes from the summit on the south of Wady Farah, along the Waterparting south-westward, to the rocks of 'Arak Ibrahim ; when it proceeds southward, across two wadys, to a long range distinguished by Arak esh Shem, Kh. Karrit, and Kh. er Eaghabneh. The Middle Eange is now intersected by a remarkable bend of Wady Abu Hindi, and proceeds to a similar bend of Wady Abu Nar, both of the bends being due to the intersection of the range and the sudden descent of the wadys from higher to lower ground. The range is next denned by the prominent heights of Deir Ibn Obeid* and Umm el Tala, on the east of Bethlehem, and crosses the Wady el War to Jebel Fureidis, or Paradise, called also the Frank mountain, and the site of the fortress of Herodium erected by Herod the Great, on the southern boundary of the present group.

The Middle Eange from Wady Farah to Jebel Fureidis, and the Eastern Eange from Wady Farah northward to Eas et Tawil and Wady Eummamaneh, separate the habitable tract of the Eastern Plateau of Jerusalem, from the wild ravines and ridges that descend from it rapidly and form the lower parts of the mountain. The plateau is generally


 * The ruined Monastery of Theodosius, including two churches.