How frequently in the Gospels are the ' cities and villages' of Galilee mentioned, leading us to suppose that its surface was thickly covered with flourishing centres of life. While Josephus praises the fertility and populousness of the entire pro- vince, he rises to enthusiasm when he describes the Plain of Gennesaret, ' that unparalleled garden of God' ( Il'ni's, III. iii. 2, 3 ; x. 8). ' For sixteen miles about Sepphoris,' says the Talmud, 'the region is fertile, flowing with milk and honey.' 'The land of Xaphtali is everywhere covered with fruitful fields and vines, and its fruits are renowned for their wonderful sweetness ' (Talm. Bab. MeijiHa 0"). Five of Solomon's corami.ssariat officers Were assigned to this region, who furnished for tlie royal table fine flour, meal, and barley, great numbers of fat oxen, also pasture-fed oxen, sheep, harts, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl (1 K 4- ^).
In early times the forests of Galilee were extensive, and even in the country's present degradation they are deserving of notice, for there, besides many flowering trees, shrubs, and aromatic plants, we find the vine, the olive, and the fiir, the oak, the hardy walnut, the terebinth, and the hot-blooded palm, the cedar, cypress, and balsam, the fir tree, the jiine, the sycomore, the bay tree, the mulberry, tlie almond, the pomegranate, the citron, and the beautiful oleander. And, ammig other productions of the soil, Galilee can still boast of wheat, barley, millet, pulse. indii;o. rice, sugar cane, oranges, pears, apricots, and some otiier fruits, besides vegetables in great variety (Merrill, Galilee in the time of Christ, pp. 14-21).
But a fine climate, a rich fore.st growth, great fertility of soil, and a wealth of vegetation pre- suppose an abundant supply of water, and in this respect Galilee was notably favoured. One might almost say that the lawgiver had this province s|)ecially in mind when he promised the Hebrews thai they were to enter a ' land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills ' (I)t 8'). Lake Merom and Lake Tiberias both belonged to Galilee, and the latter was justly the pride of the nation. The . Jordan flowed through them both, and the water of both was sweet and clear.
All of the Jordan north of the Sea of Galilee and one-third of its length to the south of that was reckoned to (ialilee. The sources of this river at IJanias and Dan are remarkable for their natural features and for the volume of water which in each bursts fortli from the ground. From the eastern side of the watershed of (ialilee numerous suiall streams flow into the Jordan, while those on the west side make their way into the .Meiliterranean. Of the latter one of the most celebrated was the Kishon (AVi/ir Mukat/a), which took its rise near the foot of Tabor, and after a winding courao acro.ss the plain of Esdraelon entered the sea near
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the base of Carmel. This stream had a number of ffC'ilers from the north, from Mount Gilboa and the region of Kn-ganniui, and also from the south. This is ' that ancient river ' fanu'd in the triumph song of Deborah and Barak (Ji; 5).
Near Acre another stream entered the Mediter- ranean, the Belus {Xalir yantdn), regarded as the Shihor-libnath of Jos HI-'', willi wliich is connected tlie interesting tradition tliat from its line sand the I'hteuicians first made glass. It is a fact that this .sand was so liighly prized tlial numerous ships came here to convey it to the glass shops of Tyre and Sidon. then the most famous in the world. The supply was thought to be inexhaustible (Pliny, JIN xxxvi. 65).
All vegetation in Galilee would be affected by the 'dew of Uermon ' wliieli is praised in Ps 133^, and snow from this mountain was carried as a luxury to Tyre and Sidon, and to Sepphoris and 'i'iber'ias the" capitals of Herod Antipas. Springs and fountains were so abundant in Galilee that it would be next to impossible to count them. In aildition to these, notice must be taken of the Hot Springs of this province, which had a world- wide fame as resorts for health and pleasure. Those at Tiberias were probably the most cele- brated, and their medicinal advantages were known even in Rome (Pliny, if JV v. 15). The benefit to be derived from bathing in this hot sulphur water was so great that not only the common people but people of learning and rank came hither, seeking by this means to restore their health (Jos. Life, 10; Jer. Talnuid, Sliab. 3"). These springs had a rival in those of Gadara, about two hours S.E. of the Sea of Galilee, where still existing ruins of a small theatre, bath houses, paved courts, beautifully carved stone seats or chairs, dressing rooms, etc., indicate the lux- urious provision that was made for the guests (Merrill, East of the Jordan, pp. 1-50-153).
One would hai'dly expect to find that Galilee, directly under the perpetual snows of Ilermon, would be subject to earthquakes ; still such is the fact, and several very severe calamities are on record as having visited that country. In 1759 Safed was destroyed by an earthquake, and another in 1837 killed five thousand people out of a total population of about nine thousand. Chasms opened in tiie earth, and the houses being built on a steep hillside fell one upon another, and the ruin was terrible. Tiberias at the same time was visited in like manner, and half it.s inhabitants killed. The ravages then caused are still evident iu ruined houses and in the cracked and twisted walls of the city, which have never been repaired.