Page:An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.djvu/74

58 58 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

Tell Arad, where the map terminates, leaving the rest of the waterparting really unknown. Every one of the names along this eastern margin of the basin are sites of biblical interest and correspond to Janum, Ziph, the Carmel of Caleb, Maon, Kerioth Hezron, Beth-Lebayoth, and the Canaanite capital Arad.

The southern limit of the Palestine Exploration Survey, runs from the Dead Sea by Wady Seiyal, corresponding to the Wady Hafaf of Wilton, thence by Wady el Kureitein to Khurbet el Milh, the Moladah of Scripture, thence by the Wady es Seba to Bir es Seba, the biblical Beersheba, and the junction of Wady esh Sheriah, whence the Wady Ghuzzeh runs on to the sea near Gaza.

The Watercourses of the Basin of Wady Ghuzzeh.

The head of -the Wady el Khulil is the origin of the principal channel of the northern part of the basin. It com- mences in three wadys which unite at Hebron, and in others further north towards Khurbet Beit Anun, the biblical Beth Anoth (alt. 3,085 feet), which unite on the north-west of Hebron, and contribute to the Wady el 'Aawir, which joins the Hebron Wady, a few miles south of the city. The Wady el Khulil zigzags from this confluence south-westward to Kujrn ed Deir (alt. 2,612 feet) near Yutta (alt. 3,747 feet), the scriptural Juttah, and, according to Eeland, the homely retreat of Zacharias and Elisabeth and the birth-place of their son John the Baptist. The bottom of the Wady el Khulil is thus 1,135 feet lower than Yutta, near which it receives the Wady Kilkis and also the Wady ed Dilbeh on the right bank. Both come from Khurbet Kanan, on the water- parting south-west of Hebron, and both are partly skirted by the high road which further south impinges on the Wady el Khulil, where the channel encircles the remains of Khurbet Rabud. Here it receives an affluent on the left bank. The Wady Khulil continues down the deep valley in a winding course to the foot of a spur surmounted by a track from the