On the E. the Arabah is bounded by the high escarpment of Edom (Mount Seir), often broken through by deep ravines which descend from the table-land of the Arabian desert ; except along these ravines, the valley is almost destitute of herbage. On the W. side the Arabah is bounded by terraced cliffs of cretaceous limestone, along which the great waterless plateau of the Badiet et-Tih (Wilderness of Paran, Gn 2^', Nu 12i8) terminates. The floor of the Arabah is generally formed of gravel, blown-sand, or mud flats ; and these are sometimes hidden beneath vast lUhdcles of shingle brought down bj- torrents from the heights above and spread fan-like over the sides of the valley at the entrance to the ravines. The surface of the sandhills is often marked with the footprints of gazelles, and, to a smaller degree, of hya'n.as and leopards ; and at intervals water can be had at springs or wells, of which the best known are the Am el-Gliudyfln and the 'Ayun Ghurundel at the entrance to the valley of that name.
Near the watershed (or saddle) at the limestone ridge of Er-Rishy the Arabah is contracted to a breadth of half a mile ; but to the N. of this as it begins to descend towards the Dead Sea basin (the (Jhor) it widens out to a breadth of 10 miles, and follows the course of the principal stream. El .leib, which receives numerous branches from the IMomite mountains on the E. and the Badiefi-et Till on the W. These streams are fed by thunder- storms in the winter months ; but the Jeib is prob- ably perennial ; and alf>ng its banks, from the 'Ain Abu Werideh for several miles, thickets of young palms, tamarisks, willows, and leeds line the course of the stream. At this spot, which is 24 miles from the banks of the Dead Sea, and at the level of the Mediterranean (1292 ft. above the Dead Sea), are to be found those remarkable lacustrine terraces of marl, sand, and gravel, with numerous semi-fossil shells of the genera Milanopsis and Melanin, which attest the extent to which the waters of the Dead Sea had risen in the Pleistocene period. Otbei
• The hei^ht of the watershed ftbove the sea-level was deter- mined by Major Kitehener and Mr. AnnKtrong in 1883 to be 660 ft., and bv M. Vi^nes in IS80 to be 240 mdtrea, or 787 ft,, mean 723 It. : or 201S It. above the surface of the Dead Sea.
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terraces of marl are to be found at inten-als as the traveller descends towards the margin of the Ghor ; and here tlie valley breaks off in a semicircular line of cliffs formed of sand, gravel, and marl, which encloses the Dead Sea sliore, and seems to be re- ferred to in Jos 15' as the ' Ascent of Akrahhim.'
Geology. — The Jordan- Arahali depressiDn owes its existence mainly to the presence of a line of ' fault,' or fracture of the crust, which may be traced at intervals from the G. of Akabah to the E. shore of the Bead Sea and onwards towards the base of Hernion. This line follows closely the base of the Edomite escarpment, and its effect is to cause the formations to be relatively elevated on the E. and depressed towards the W. Thus the cretaceous limestone (corresponding to the English chalk fonnation) which forms the crest of the Edomite escarpment and the plateau of the Arabian desert above Petra, at an elevation of 3000- 4000 ft. above the valley, is brought down on the W. side of the same valley to its very floor at Er-Eishy, and forms (as statecl above) that side of the valley throughout its whole length, breaking off in cliffs of nearly horizontal strata. The more ancient rocks which lie at the base of the Moabite and Edomite escarpment never reach the surface alon^ the W. side of the Wady el-Arabah.* These consLst of red granite and gneiss, various meta- morphic schists, seamed by dykes of basalt, diorite, and porphyry ; above which the carboniferous and cretaceous sandstones are piled in huge masses of nearly horizontal courses, the whole surmounted by the pale yellow beds of cretaceous limestone reach- ing to the summit of the escarpment. The richness of the colouring of the cretaceous sandstones, vary- ing from orange through red to purple, has been a source of admiration to all travellers, particularly as it is displayed amongst the ruined temples and tombs of tne city of Petra. t
Historical. — The Wady el Arabah appears to have been twice traversed by the Israelites : lirst on their way from Horeb to Kadesh Bamea, and afterwards when obliged to retrace their steps owing to the refusal of the king of Edom to allow them to pass through his land ( Nu 20-', Dt 2'). No passage for the host by which to circumvent Mount Seir was practi- cable till thev reached the stony gorge of the Wady el Ithem, which enters the Arahah 4 miles N. of Akabah. Traversing this rough and glistering ra\-ine under the rays of an almost vertical sun, it is not surprising that (as we read) 'the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way (Jsu 21*). In later times tlie Arabah became a caravan route from Arabi.i to Pal. and Syria. The fort and harbour of Akabah (Ezion -geber) now constitute an outpost for the Egj'p. Govern- ment, bej-ond which its authority does not ex- tend ; the Arabah, as well as the Arabian desert, being held by independent Arab cliiefs.J