Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/545

 PALAESTINA. the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Ze- boim, even unto Lasha" (x. 15 — 19). As several of these names occur no more in the history of Pales- tine, we must suppose either that the places reappear under other names, or that these tribes, having originally settled within the limits here assigned, afterwards migrated to the north, where we cer- tainly find the Arvadites and Hamathites in later times. Of the eleven families above named, the first six are found in the subsequent history of the country: the descendants of Sidon on the coast to the north ; the children of Heth in Hebron, on the south; the Jebusites to the north of these, in the highlands about Jerusalem ; the Amorites to the east of the Hittites, on the west of the Dead Sea; the Girgashites, supposed to be a branch of the Hivites next named, who were situated north of the Jebu- sites in Shechem and its vicinity. (^Gen. xxxiv. 2.) The coast to the south was wrested from the Canaan- ites in very early times, if they ever possessed it; for throughout the records of history the Philistines, descendants of Mizraim, not of Canaan, were mas- ters of the great western plain (s. 14). The dis- tribution of the country among these tribes is in- volved in further confusion by the introduction of the Perizzites with the Canaanites as joint occupiers of the country (xiii. 7), and by the fact of the Ca- naanites appearing as a distinct tribe, where the Hittites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites, who were all alike Canaanites, are sever- ally enumerated (xv. 19 — 21). It would appear also that while the name Canaanites was used in a more restricted sen.se in the last cited passage, the names of the particular families were sometimes used in a wider acceptation; which may account for the Hittites, whose seats we have already fixed to the south of Jerusalem, being found to the north of th.at city, in the neighbourhood of Bethel. {Judges, i. 2C.) It may be, however, that the seats of the several tribes in those early times were not fixed, but fluctuated with the tide of conquest or with the necessities of a pastoral people : an example of the former may be found in the victories of Che- dorlaomer (Gem. xiv.), and of the latter in the many migrations of Abraham with his numerous depend- ents, and of his descendants, which finally trans- ferred the whole of his posterity into Egypt for a period of four centuries (sii. 6 — 10, xiii. 1 — 4, 18, XX 1, XX vi. 1, &c.). To attempt to trace these various migrations were a fruitless task with the very scanty notices which we possess ; but the number and general disposition of the Canaanilish tribes at the period of the Eisodus of the Israelites under Joshua may be approximately ascertained, and aid in the description of the distribution of the land among the latter. The tribes then in occupation of the land are said to be seven {Deut. vii. 1), and are thus enumerated: — ''Canaanites, Hittites, Amoritos, Perizzites, Hivites, Jebusites," only six (Exod. iii. 8, 17, xxxiii. 2); but in Deuteronomy {I. c.) and Joshua (iii. 10) the Girgashites are added, which completes the number. Of these the Ainorite-s occupied the .southern border, or probably shared it with the Amalekites, as it was with the latter that the Israelites were first brought into collision. (Exod. xvii. 8, 9; Numb. xiv. 25, 43 — 45.) This was therefore called " the Slount of the Amorites" {Deut.'i. 19, 20); and their relative position with regard to the other tribes is thus clearly stated: — VOL. II. PALAESTINA. 329 " The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amor- ites (Joshua, xi. 3, adds the Perizzites), dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan." (Numb.xin. 28,29.) The limits of the Amorite territory are further defined by the confederacy of the five sheikhs of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon, all of whom were Amorites (Josh. x. 5) ; while the hill-country immediately to the north and west of Jerusalem, comprising Gibeon, Chephlrah, Beeroth, and Kir- jath-jearim was held by the Hivites (ix. 3, 7, 17, xi. 19), who are also found, at the same period, far to the north, "under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh" (xi. 3 ; Judges, iii. 3), as two l.irge and powerful kingdoms of the Amorites coexisted on the east of the Jordan [Amorites], the older inhabitants having been driven out. It is worthy of remark that during the occupation of Palestine by these Canaanites it is already called " the land of the Hebrews " or Heberites, which can only be accounted for by an actual residence in it of Heber himself and his race, which goes far to prove that the Canaan- itish ti'ibes were only intruders in the Land of Promise. (Gen. xl. 15; see Christian Remem- brancer, vol. xviii. p. 451.) For fuller details reference may be made to Reland (Palaestina, cap. xxvii. pp. 135 — 141) and Bochart (Phaleg. lib. iv. capp. 34—37). 2. Second period. — We have now to consider the division of Palestine among the twelve tribes of Israel, on the settlement of the land by Joshua the son of Nun; and the Scripture statement compared with Josephus will furnish numerous landmarks, which a more careful survey of the country than has yet been made would probably bring to light at the present day. To begin with the cis-Jordanic tribes: — Jitdah, Simeon, Dan. — The south border of Judah was bounded by the country of Edom and the wil- derness of Zin; the frontier being plainly defined by a chain of hills, of considerable elevation, forming a natural barrier from the southern bay of the Dead Sea on the east to the Mediterranean on the west, in which line the following points are named, viz., the ascent or pass of Acrabbim, Zin, Kadesh-Barnea, Hezron, Adar, Karkaa, Azmon, the river of Egypt. The east border extended along the whole length of the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan, from which the north border was drawn to the Slediter- ranean along an irregular line, in which Jerusalem would be nearly the middle point. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho passes innnediately within the line, and 'Ain-er-Hessi'd, Wady Kelt, Kulaat-ed- Dammim, and 'Ain or Kiisr Hajlah,are easily iden- tified with Enshemesh, the river, Adummim, and Beth-hogla. It pas.<ed south of Jeru.'^alem, from Enrogel up the valley of Hinnom, by Nephtoah, Mount Ephron, Kirjath-jearim, Bcthshemesh, Tim- nah, Ekron, Shichron, and Jabnecl. Their cities were, as stated in the summary, 29 in number, in the south division of the tribe, on the borders of Edom ; but the names, as recounted in the Eng- lish version, are 39. The discrepancy is to be accounted fur, as Reland remarks, by several of the words, regarded as proper, or .separate names, being capable of translation as appellatives or as adjuncts to other names. In the valley, including under that name the declivity of the western plain and the plain itself, there were 14+16 + 9= 39 towns, with their villages, bc-ides the cities of the Philistiiioa M M