Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/190

 172 PALESTINE the Mediterranean. In the narrower application of the name, the whole plain forms a large triangle with its southern corner near Jennin and its western near the mouth of the gorge of the Nahr el-Mukatta (for here the hills of Nazareth shoot out towards Carmel) ; and connected with it are various small plains partly running up into the hills. The plain to the south of Acre, in which marshes are formed by the Kishori and Na mdn, and various other recesses towards north and east really belong to it. To the north-east stretches a valley bounded in one direction by Jebel Duhy (the Lesser Hermon, a range 15 miles long and 1690 feet high) and in the other direction by the hills of Nazareth and Mount Tabor (where lie Iksal and Deburiye) ; then to the east of the watershed lies the Eire valley, and the well-watered Wddi Jdliid from Zer in (Jezreel) falls away towards the Jordan between the slopes of Jelel Duhy and the more southern range of Jebel Fuku a (Mountains of Gilboa). And finally towards Jennin in the south lies the secondary plain of Arrdne. Quite recently it has been proposed to construct in the Merj Ibn Amir the beginning of a railway system for Palestine, and to turn to account the wonderful fertility of its rich basaltic loam which now lies almost completely waste, though in ancient times the whole country was densely peopled and well-cultivated. To the south of the plain of Jezreel, which belongs to the northern system of Palestine, it is much more difficult to discover natural divisions. In the neighbour hood of the watershed, which here runs almost regularly in great zigzags, lie a number of plains of very limited extent: the plain of Arrdbe (700 to 800 feet above the sea) connected south east with the Merj el-Ghuruk, which having no outlet becomes a lake in the rainy season ; the plain of Fendekiimiye (1200 feet) ; and the plain of Riijib, east of Shechem, connected with the plain of Mukhna (1600 to 1800 feet) to the south-west. The highest mountains too are generally near the watershed. In the ea$t lies the south-westward continuation of Gilboa. In the west Mount Carmel (highest point 1810 feet, monastery 470) meets the projection of the hills of Nazareth, and sends its wooded ridge far to the north-west so as to form the southern boundary of the Bay of Acre, and render the harbour of Haifa, the little town at its foot, the best on all the coast of Palestine. The belt of land along the shore, barely 200 yards wide, is the northern end of the lowland plain, which, gradually widening, stretches south towards Egypt. At Athlit (9 miles south) it is already 2 miles broad, and it continues much the same for 21 miles to the Nahr ez-Zerka (named by the ancients after the crocodile which is still to be found in its marshes), where a small ridge El Khashm projects from the highlands. South of Nahr ez Zerka begins the marvellously fertile plain of Sharon, which with a breadth of 8 miles near Otsarea and 11 to 12 miles near Ydfd (Jaffa), stretches 44 miles farther to the Nahr Rubin, and slopes upwards towards the mountains to a height of about 200 feet above the sea. Its surface is broken by lesser eminences, and traversed by a few coast streams, notably the Nahr el- Falik. Between the maritime plain and the mountains proper lies a multiform system of terraces, with a great number of small ridges and valleys. In this the only divisions are those formed by the basins of the larger wadis, which, though draining extensive districts, are here too for the most part dry. They all have a general east and west direction. First comes the basin of the Nahr Mefjir, bounded south by the Bayazid range, and debouching a little to the south of Caesarea ; and about 5 miles farther south is the mouth of the Iskanderiine, which is distin guished in its upper portion as the Wddi Sha ir, running east as far up as Ndbulus (Shechem), hardly a mile west of the watershed. It is in this neighbourhood that we find the highest portions of the mountains of Samaria Jebel EbhUip ye or Ebal, 3077 feet high, to the north of Shechem, and Jebel et-Tur or UERIZIM (q.v.), 2849 feet high. Both are bare and rugged, and consist, like all the loftier eminences in the district, of hard limestone capped with chalk. It was generally possible, however, to carry cultivation up to the top of all these mountains, and in ancient times the highlands of Samaria are said to have been clothed with abundant forest. From the watershed eastward the important Wddi Far a (also known as Wiidi Kerdwa in its lower course) descends to the Jordan. Returning to the western slope, we find to the south of Nahr el-Falik the basin of the Aujd, which after it leaves the hills is fed by perennial (partly palustrine) sources, and falls into the sea 5 miles north of Jaffa. As at this place the watershed bends eastward, this extensive basin stretches proportionally far in that direction ; and, the right side of the Jordan valley being also very broad, the mountains of the eastern slope soon begin to sink rapidly. On the watershed, not far from Jifna, lies Tell Asur (3378 feet), and with this summit of hard grey limestone begin the hills of ancient Judah. South of the Aujd comes the Nahr Rubin (near Jabne), perennial up to the Wddi Sunir (Sorek of Scripture ?), and reaching, as Wddi Bet Hanina, as far as the country north of Jerusalem ; the Wddi el- Werd is one of its tributaries. Farther south begins the maritime plain of Philistia, which stretches 40 miles along the coast, and, though now but partially under cultivation, consists of a light brown loamy soil of extraordinary fertility. It is crossed by numerous ridges of hills ; and to the south of Ashdod (Ezdiid) the highlands advance westwards, and form a hilly district composed of horizontal strata of limestone, sometimes considered part of the lowlands (Shephela), and separated from the more elevated region in the interior by a ridge more or less parallel with the line of the watershed. The basins to the south of the Rubin are those of Wddi Sukereir, which runs up towards Tell-es-Sdfi in one direction and to Bet Jibrm in another, of Wddi el-Hesy, and finally of Wddi Ghazza, which forms the proper boundary of Palestine towards the south, runs past Beersheba as Wddi es-Seba, and receives the Wddi el-Khalil (Hebron) from the north-east. As regards the central parts of the country, the mountain ous district north of Jerusalem is now known as Jebel el- Kuds, of which the loftiest point is the summit of the Nebi Samwil (2935), rising above the plateau of El-Jib. Near Jerusalem the watershed lies at a height of about 2600 feet. Wild deep-sunk valleys descend eastwards to the Jordan ; the Wddi Kelt, Wddi en-Ndr (Kedron valley), Wddi ed Dereje, and southernmost Wddi Seydl deserve to be mentioned. The country sloping to the Dead Sea falls in a triple succession of terraces, a waterless treeless waste (in ancient times known as the desert of Judah), which has never been brought under cultivation, but in the first Christian centuries was the chosen abode of monasticism. To the north of Hebron, in the neighbour hood of Hulhiil, lie the highest elevations of this part of the central highlands (up to 3500 feet), which may be distinguished as the mountains of Hebron. Towards Yutta (Juttah) in the south is a sudden step ; there begins a plateau at a height of about 2600 feet, but 500 feet below the Hebron watershed. It consists of open wolds and arable land, the soil being a white soft chalk ; but there are no wells. Southward another step leads to the white marl desert of Beersheba, abounding in caves. In ancient times this southern district was called the Negeb ; it extends far to the south, but is properly a part of Palestine. The country was in former times a steppe region without