Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 15.djvu/289

PALESTINE. and in many parts of the east-Jordan land hot springs e.ist. These show that the ancient Volcanic activity, evidenced not only by many cartlujuakes recorded in history, but especially by the great lava plateau (with many extinct volcanoes) which stretches from the Sea of Cialilee to the Hauran (q.v.), is not j'et entirely quiescent.

The hilly range west of the Jordan, in striking contrast to the' eastern plateau, is broken and irregular in character. It may be divided into several distinct regions. Beginning at the ex- treme south, we have the 'Negeb' or 'south' re- gion (literally the dry or parched land), a desert tableland, 1500-2000 feet above sea level, inter- sected by wadics or ravines numing cast toward the Dead Sea or northwest toward the Mediter- ranean. The largest of these is the Wady es-Seba, Avhich ))asses by ancient Beersheba and enters the Mediterranean as Wady Ghuzzeh a few miles south of ancient Gaza.

The northern part of the Negcb is higher (about • 2500 feet above sea level ) and more broken. The central ridge now becomes more pronounced, and the higliland or mountain region of .Jiulah begins. This extends as a fairly unbroken pla- teau some miles north of Jerusalem. The highest portion of the .Judean range is near Hebron (3370 feet). Toward .Jerusalem the level sinks in places to about 2400 feet, but becomes higher as it extends north. The crest of the Judean highland averages nearly 15 miles in breadth. From it the descent to the Dead Sea. 10 or 15 miles away, is rapid, breaking down finally in precipitous cliffs. The whole region bordering on the Dead Sea is wild, barren, and rocky, intersected by countless deep ravines leading toward the sea. It was known as Jcshimon (the desert waste), and its upper reaches nearer the central plateau formed the Wilderness of >Judah with its various subdivisions, the Wilderness of Tekoa, of .Teruel, of ^Maon, etc. West of the Judean highland the country sinks gradually toward the coast plain. This region of hills and valleys was known as the iihephelah, i.e. the low land. In the more open valleys and on the hillsides both the Shephelah and the central plateau are capable of high cultivation. In other parts, especially the uplands, they are more suited for pasturage. From the coast plain sev- eral large valleys lead up into the interior high- lands, of which those of Ajalon, of Sorek, and of Elah have become famous as scenes of great conflicts between invaders and defenders of the uplands.

The central highland continues north of Jeru- salem for upward of forty miles, but with less uniformity. North of Bethel ( 10 miles north of tierusalem ) it begins to be broken. The general level sinks, though many peaks are over or nearly 3000 feet high. The descent to the Jordan Vallev is in places very abrupt, though also traversed by a number of passable valleys. One of these, the Wady Farah, pierces far into the interior. Near Shechem, situated in a beautiful vale between JInunt Gcrizim (2849 feet) on the south and Mount Ebal (3077 feet) on the north, a network of valleys seems to converge. One of these, the Wady esh-Shair, opens out northwest into the plain in which the city of Samaria was situated and continues on to the coast. Another opens into the Wady Farah. and thus gives open connection with the Jordan Valley. Near She- chem, then, the central highland may be said to break down into a system of valleys, plains, and isolated peaks. Between Bethel and Shechem, especially along its western border, the whole plateau is more open anil undulating, more fer- tile and capable of cultivation, tlian that of Judah to the south. This region was known as Mount Ephraira, rather a .succession of hills than one continuous mountain. The part of the coast plain west of Mount Ephraim is the famous 'Plain of Sharon.'

From the hills near Samaria northward the comitry takes on a new character. The low-lying plain of Dothan, 10 miles north of Samaria, connects tlic .seacoast plain with the southern reaches of the great Plain of Esdraelon (q.v.), a triangular-shaped expanse, about 16 miles across, midway between the .Jordan and the sea, with an average elevation of but about 250 feet. This remarkable district is separated from the seacoast plain to the west by a series of low hills running northwest from the plain of Dothan and culminating in the Carniel range (loOO-lSOO feet), which juts out into the Medi- terranean in a promontory 556 feet high, at the foot of which there is a narrow strip of beach. The Plain of Esdraelon is shut in on the east by the Gilboa Mountains (1300-1650 feet) and the hills near the site of ancient Shnnem and Nain. Between these two ranges of hills the deep valley of Jezreel, all of it below the sea level, leads down to the Jordan. The northeastern corner of the plain opens out into another rapidly descend- ing valley across which Mount Tabor ( 1843 feet) rises in lonely grandeur.

Xorth of Esdraelon, in Lower Galilee, the mountains begin to reappear. The whole region between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediter- ranean (i.e. the Galilee of the New Testament) is quite open. None of the peaks attains a height of 2000 feet, and they are for the most part iso- lated and interspersed with valleys and plains. There are two main systems of hills in this lower Galilee. One bounds the Plain of Esdraelon on the north, extending from the river Kishon just opposite Mount Carmel to the Sea of Galilee. The hills about Nazareth and Cana and Mount Tabor belong to this system. North of these hills, extending from the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee to the coast plain, is a long, low plain broken into several portions by low hills, crossing it from north to south. The most fa- mous part of this plain is the fertile Sahel el- Buttauf (Assochis), ten miles long and two to three miles wide. The eastern end of the plain as it descends to the Sea of Galilee forms the Land of Gennesaret. A second line of hills, north of the long plain, at the northern foot of which runs the bed of the Wady Shaib, completes the hill system of Lower Galilee. North of the Wady Shaib the elevation rapidly increases. As in .Judah. we now find a high central plateau with an elevation of 2000-3000 feet, with occa- sional peaks still higher. The descent on the east, to the Jordan, is steep; that on the west, to the sea, more gradual. The plateau is nar- rower at the north than in its southern portion. Northern Galilee is limited by the Leontes, which, rising between the Lebanons, makes a sharp detour to the west and enters the sea just north of Tyre. East of the angle formed by the Leontes the mountains of Galilee extend north-