Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/38

Rh 28 in the plain at the north-east corner, and rather further south the conical hill called Neby Duhy rises between Tabor and Gilboa. The whole of Lower Galilee is well watered. The Kishon is fed by springs from near T abor and from a copious stream from the west side of the plain of Esdraelon. North-west of Nazareth is ':‘uly el Melck, an open valley full of springs. The river Belus, just south of Acre, rising in the sea-coast marshes, drains the whole valley of J i phthah- el. On the east the broad valley of J ezreel is full of magniﬁcent springs, many of which are thermal. The plains of Esdraelon, and the Buttauf, and the plateau of cl Ahma, are all remarkable for the rich basaltic soil which covers them, in which corn, cotton, maize, sesame, tobacco, millet, and various kinds of vegetable are grown, while indigo and sugar—cane were cultivated in former times. The Nazareth hills and Gilboa are bare and white, but west of Nazareth is a fine oak wood, and another thick wood spreads over the northern slopes of Tabor. The hills west of the great plain are partly of bare white chalk, partly covered with dense thickets. The mountains north of the Buttauf are rugged and covered with scrub, except near the villages, where fine olive groves exist. The principal places of importance in Lower Galilee are Nazareth (10,000 inhabitants), Sepphoris (nov Setffirieli), a large village standing above the Buttauf on the sp11rs of the southern hills, and Je11in (En Gannim), a ﬂourishing village, with a palm garden (3000 inhabitants). The ancient capital, J ezreel (Zerin), is now a miserable village on a precipitous spur of Gilboa; north of this are the small 11n1d hamlets, Solam (Shunem), Endﬁr (Endor), Nein (Nain) ; on the west side of the plain is the ruin of Lejjﬁn (the Legio of the 4th century, which was then a place of importance). In the hills north of the Butt-auf is J efat, situated on a steep hill- top, and representing the J otapata defended by Josephus. Kefr Kenna, now a ﬂourishing Christian village at the foot of the Nazareth hills, south of the Buttauf, represents the probable site of Cana of Galilee, and the ruin Kana, on the north side of the same plain, represents the site pointed out to the pilgrims of the 12th and 13th centuries. Upper G'alilee.—Tl1e mountains are tilted up towards the sea of Galilee, and the drainage of the district is towards the north-west. On the south the rocky range of Jebel Jermuk rises to 4000 feet above the sea; on the east a narrow ridge 2800 feet high forms the watershed, with steep eastern slopes falling towards Jordan. Immediately west of the watershed are two small plateaus, covered with basaltic debris, near el J ish and Kades. On the west are rugged mountains with deep intricate valleys. The main drains of the country are—-ﬁrst, Wady el ’Ayi‘1n, rising north of J ebel J ermﬁk, and running north-west as an open valley, and secondly, Wady el Ahjar, a rugged precipitous gorge running north to join the Leontes. The district is well provided with springs throughout, and the valleys are full of water in the spring time. Though rocky and diflieult, Upper Galilee is not barren, the soil of the plateaus is rich, and the vine ﬂourishes in the higher hills, especially in the neighbourhood of Kefr Birim. The principal town is Safed, perched on a white mountain 2700 feet above the sea. It has a population of about 9000, including Jews, Christians, and Moslems. It is one of the four sacred cities in Pales- tine revered by the Jews, to which nationality the majority of the inhabitants belong. Among the smaller towns we may notice .Ieiri‘m. near Safed, a place also much re- vered by the Jews as containing the tombs of Hillel, Shammai, and Simon bar J ochai. A yearly festival of most curious character is here celebrated in honour of these rabbis. The site of Ilazor, one of the chief towns of Galilee in Bible times, has also been lately recovered. It was situated, according to Josephus, above the Lake Semechonitis (llahr el Htlleh), and the name Iludireh, identical with the Hebrew GALILEE Ilazor, has been found by the survey party in 1877 apply- ing to a mountain and plain, near an ancient ruin, in the required position. The little village of Kades represents the once important town of Kadesh Naphtali (Josh. xix. 37). The ruins are here extensive and interesting, but belong apparently to the Greek period. The population of Galilee is mixed. In Lower Galilee the peasants are principally Moslem, with a sprinkling of treek Christians round Nt1Z3l‘Cill, which is a Christian town. In I'pper Galilee, however, there is a mixture of Jews and Maronites, Druses and Moslcms (natives or Algerine settlers), while the slopes above the Jordan are inhabited by wandering Arabs. The Jews are engaged in trade, and the Christians, Druses, and Moslems in agricul- ture ; and the Arabs are an entirely pastoral people. The principal products of the country are corn, wine, oil, and soap (from the olives), with every species of pulse and gourd. The antiquities of Galilee include cromlechs and rude stone monuments, roek-cut tombs, and wine-presses, with numerous remains of Byzantine monasteries and ﬁne churches of the time of the crusades. There are also re- mains of Greek architecture in various places, but the most interesting buildings are the ancient synagogues. T hcsc have not been found in other parts of Palestine, but in Galihe eleven examples are now known. They are rectangular, with the door to the south, and three rows of columns forming four aisles east a11d west. The architecture is a peculiar and dcbased in1itatio11 of classic style, attributed by arcliitects to the 2d century of our era. The builder of the examples at Kefr Birim, el Jish, and )Ieir1‘m is known to have been the famous Simeon bar Jochai, who lived about 150 ..D., and built 24 synagogues in Galilee. The similarity of style renders it probable that the other examples 2: Tell Ilfnn, Kerazeli, N ebartein, _l_'mm el ’Amed, and Sufszif were also his work. Both at cl J ish and at liefr llirim there are two synagogues, large and small. A; Irbid, above Tibcrias, is another synagogue of rather dill'erent character, wl1icl1 is said to have been built by Rabbi Nitai. Traces of syna- gogues have also been found on Carmel, and at Ti rch, west of Nazareth. It is curious to ﬁnd the representation of various animals in relief on the lintels of these buildings. Hebrew inscriptions also occur, and the carved work of the cornices and capitals is very rich. These synagogues were erected at a time when the Galilean J cws were flourishing under the Roman empire, and when Tibcrias was the central seat of Jewish learning and of the Sanhedrin. In the 12th century Galilee was the outpost of the Chris- tian kingdom of Jerusalem, and its borders were strongly protected by fortresses, the magnificent remains of which still crown the most important strategical points. Toron (now Tibnin) was built in 1104, the ﬁrst fortress erected by the crusaders, and standing on the summit of the mountains of Upper Galilee. Beauvoir (Kaukab, built in 1182) stood on a precipice above Jordan south-west of the Sea of Galilee, and guarded the advance by the valley of J ezrccl; and about the same time Chateau N euf (Hunin) was erected above the Hﬁleh lake. Belfort (esh Shukif), on the north bank of the Leontes, the finest and most important, dates somewhat earlier; and Montfort (Kalat el liurn) stood on a narrow spur north-east of Acre, completing the chain of frontier fortresses. The town of Bﬁnias, with its castle, formed also a strong outpost against Damascus, and was the scene, in common with the other strongholds, of many desperate encounters between Moslems and Christians. Lower ( lalilee was the last remaining portion of the II oly Land held by the Christians. In 1250 the knights of the Teutonic order owned lands extending round Acre as far east as the Sea of Galilee, and including Safed. These possessions were lost in 1291, on the fall of Acre. (C. R. C.)