Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/493

 GEOGRAPHY

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GEOGRAPHY

Hebal and Mount Garizim, the W. Nawaimeh, the pass to the heights of Bethel (Beilin; cf. Jos., xvi, 1), and, below Jericho, the W. el-Kelt, the " torrent of Canth (A.V. Cherith)" mentioned in III (A.V. I) Kings, xvii, 3, according to many Biblical geogra- phers. On the east, besides many brooks draining the hill country of Cialaad, the Jordan receives, south of the Lake of Tiberias, the Sheri 'at el-JMenadhireh, not spoken of in the Bible (Yarmuk of the Talmud, Hieroma.v of the Greek writers), the W. Yabis, the name of which recalls that of the city of Jabes-Galaad W.(I Wngs, xi;xxxi, ll-l.'3),theJaboc(.V.e2-2crg<)),the Nimrin (cf. Bethemra, Num., xxxii, 36; Jos., xiii, 27), and, a few miles from the Dead Sea, the united waters of the W. Kefrein and W. Hesban (cf. Hesebon, A.V. Heshbon, Num., xxi, 26; Jos., xxi, 39, etc.).

Among the rivers and torrents debouching into the Dead Sea from the mountains of Juda, only one de- serves notice, viz., the Watly en-Nar, made up of the often dry t'edron (Wady Sitti Maryam), east of Jeru- salem, and the "Valley of Ennon" (W. er-Rababi) to the south of the Holy City. Many torrents stream from the highlands of Moab; among these may be mentioned the Wady 'Ayfln Milsa, the name of which preserves the memory of the great leader of Israel, the Arnon (W. el-Mojib), the Wady of Kerak. prob- ably the Biblical Zared, the "waters of Nemrim [A.V. Nimrim]" (Is., xv, 6; Jer., xlviii, 34.— W. Nenieira), and finally the W. el-Qiirahi, very likely the "torrent of the willows" of Is., xv, 7.

In the Mediterranean watershed, from the extreme north of Phrenicia, the most famous rivers are the Eleutherus (I M.ach.. xi, 7; xii, 30. — Nahr el-Kebir), the N. el Qasimiyeh (Leontes of the Greeks), the N. el-Muqatta (Cison; A.V. Kishon), the N. ez-Zerqa, very hkely the "flumen Crocodilon" of Pliny (Hist. Nat., V, xvii) and the Sichor Labanah of the Bible (Jos., xix, 26.— A.V. Shihor-hbnath), the N. el- Faleq, possibly the Nahal Qanah (D.V. "valley of reeds"; A.V. Kanah) of Jos., xvi. 8 and .xvii, 9, the N. Rabin, one of the confluents of which, the W. cs- Sarar, runs through the famous "valley of Sorec" (A. V. Sorek. — Judges, xvi, 4, etc.), the N. Sukreir, into which opens the "vallej' of the terebinth" (A.V. "valley of Elah". — I Kings, xvii, 2, 19; x.xi. 9 — prob- ably the W. es-Sunt), the W. el-Ha.sy, the main branch of which passes at the foot of Lachis (Tell el-Hasy), while another originates near Khirbet Zuheiliqa, not unhkely the site of Siceleg (A.V. Ziklag. — Jos., xv, 31, etc.); the W. Ghazzeh. into which flows the W. esh-Sheri'a, perhaps the "torrent Besor" (I Kings, XXX, 9. etc.). and the W. es-Seba', which recalls to the mind the city of Bensabee (Beer-Sheba), both being the natural outlets of all the hvdrographic system of the Negeb: finally, the W. el-Arish, or "torrent of Egypt", Shihor of the Hebrews and Rhinocolurus of the Greeks, which drains all the northern and north- eastern portions of the Sinaitic Peninsula. The Scriptures mention likewise a few inland rivers, partic- ularly two in the territory of Damascus: the Abana (N. Barada), which, after watering the city of Damas- cus, loses itself some twenty miles east in the Bahrat el-'.\teibeh, and the Pharphar, which feeds the Bah- rat el-HijAneh.

Besides the two lakes just mentioned, which are outside of Palestine proper, and the Lakes Hiileh and Tiberias, in the course of the Jordan, the Holy Land possesses no other lakes of any extent except the Birket er-Ram (the Lake Phiala of Josephus — Bell. Jud., Ill, X, 7) to the south of Bniiii/an: but ponds and marshes are numerous in certain parts of the land. Marshes near the lower Jordan, at a short distance from the Dead Sea, are mentioned in I Mach., ix, 46.

Deut., v\u, 7, describes Palestine as "a land of brooks and of waters and of fovmtains". Many springs are mentioned in Scripture, and nearly all

belong to Western Palestine. Going from north to south, and leaving aside those in the neighbourhood of cities to which they gave their names (Engannim, Enhasor, etc.) we may mention here: the "fountain of Daphnis" (Num., xxxiv, 11, in the Vulgate only: other texts have merely: "the fountain") identified by Robinson with 'Ain el-'Asy, the main spring of the Orontes in Ccelesyria; the "fountain which is in Jez- rahel" (I Kngs, xxix, 1) generally recognized in the 'Ain Jalud, near the Little Hermon; the "fountain that is called Harad" (Judges, vii, 1), po.ssibly the same, or 'Ain el-Meiyleh, 180 feet below 'Ain Jaliid; the "fountain of Taphua" (J6s., xvii, 7), near the city of that name; the "fountain of Jericho" or "of Eli- seus" (D.V. Ehsha. — IV Kings, ii, 19, 22), 'Ain es- Sultan, to the north of Jericho; the "fountain of the Sun" (Jos., XV, 7), 'Ain el-Haud, or Apostles' Foun- tain, on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho; the "fountain of the water of Neplitoa" (Jos., xv, 9), near Lifta, north-west of Jerusalem; the "source of the waters of Gihon" (II Par., xxxii, 30), 'Ain tJmm ed- Derej, or, as the Christians call it, 'Ain Sitti Maryam, on the south-east slope of the Temple hill at Jerusa- lem; the "fountain Rogel" (Jos., xv, 7), Bir EiytUb in the W. en-Nar, south of Jerusalem ; the "dragon-foun- tain" (Neh., D.V. II Esdras, ii, 13), somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Holy City, unidentified; "The Spring of him that invoked from the jawbone" (so D.V.; A.V. Enhakkore — Judges, .xv, 10 — rather, "the Spring of the partridge, which is in Lehy"), identified by Con- der with some 'Ay tin Qare, north-west of Sor'a; the "water" where Philip baptized the eunuch of Can- dace (Acts, viii, 36) Ain ed-Dirweh, near the high- road from Jerusalem to Hebron; "the fountain of Misphat that is Cades" (.\.V. "Enmishpat, which is Kadesh" — Gen., .xiv, 7) 'Ain Kedeis in the desert.

In places where the supply of water was scanty the ancient inhabitants constructed pools, either by damming up the neighbouring valley or by excavation. Of the former description were very likely the pools of Gabaon [A.V. Gibeon.— II Kings (A.V. II Samuel), ii, 13], Hebron (II Kings, iv, 12), Samaria (III Ivings, x.xii, 38), Hesebon (Cant., \'ii, 4), and certainly the lower pool of Siloe near Jerusalem (Is., .xxii, 9, 11); of the latter description are the "upper pool" of Siloe (IV Kings, XX, 20) and the famous ' ' pools of Solomon", probably alluded to in Eccl., ii, 6, near Bethlehem. These pools, frequent in the East, are suppUed either by natural drainage, or by springs, or by aqueducts bringing water from a distance.

In its climate, as well as in everything else, Palestine is a land of contrasts. At Jerusalem, which is 2500 feet above the sea level, the mean temperature of the whole year is about 6.3° F.; during the winter months, although the mean temperature is about 50°, the mercury occasionally plays around the freezing-point; whereas in June, July, August, and September, the average being between 70° and 75°, the thermometer sometimes rises to 100° or higher. For six or seven months there is no rain: the dry wind from the desert and the scorching sun parch the land, especially on the plateaux. The first rains generally fall about the beginning of November; the "latter rain", in the month of April. Plenty or famine depend particu- larly on the April rains. On clear nights, all the year round, there falls a copious dew; but in summer time there mil be no dew if no westerly breeze, bring- ing moisture from the sea, springs up towards the evening. Snowfalls are only occasional during the winter, and usually they are light, and the snow soon melts: not .seldom does the whole winter pass without snow (as an average, one winter in three). Owing to the neighbourhood of Lebanon and Hermon, the LTpper Galilee enjoys a more temperate climate: but in the lowlands the mean temperature is much higher. Along the coast, however, it is relieved almost every evening by the breeze from the sea. In the Ghor, the