The occurrence of terraces of marl, gravel, and silt, through which the ravines of existing streams have been cut at an elevation of about 100 ft. above the present level of the Mediterranean, show that the level of the inland sea at one time Btood for a period without change al>out 1400 ft. higher than it does at present ; but this can have had no connexion with the chain of lakes about Sinai, which extended to prehistoric times, as this inland sea was dissevered to the .south <luringa remote Miocene epoch ; and though there may have been a connexion for some time by way of the Mediterranean throuj;h the plain of Esdra»<Ion, yet, as the land contmued to rise, the inland sea would eventually have become entirely isolated. The lowering of the water in the inland sea from evaporation is supposed to have taken place at the coinmeneement of the Pliocene perio<l, so that it reached somewhere al>out the present level long l)efore the prehistoric times, and there cannot have been any change in the course and character of the Jordan during historic or prehistoric times.
At the i)resent time the level of the Salt Sea is
about 1300 ft. below the Mediterranean Sea, tlie lower part of the lloor of the Salt Sea again 130U ft. below its surface level, and the waterslied of WMy Ardbah 2000 ft. above the SALT Sea, and 700 ft. above the Mediterranean Sea. The plain of Ksdraelon at the watershed is about 250 ft. above the level of the Mediterranean, so that on this side there may have been communication with the ocean to a much later period than on the south side; but this point does not seem to have been rai.sed hitherto. Hull brings forward abundant evidence of a Pluvial period having existed through the Pliocene and post-Pliocene (or Glacial) period down to recent times. As it was known from the observations of Hooker, Tristram, and others that perennial snow and glaciers existed in the Lebanon during the Glacial epoch, it is assumed by Hull that the adjoining districts to the south of the Lebanon must have had at that epoch a climate ajiproacliing to that of the British Isles at the present day, and that in a region of which many jiarts were over 2000 ft. above the sea-line there must have been abundant rainfall. Even when the snows and glaciers of the Lebanon had dis- appeared, the ellects of the colder climate which was pa.s.sing away mivst have remained for some time, the vegetation must have been more luxu- riant down to within the epoch of huiii.an habita- tion. It is considered that the outburst of volcanic phenomena commenced to occur when the waters of the inland sea stretched as far north as the Lake HuUh, that is to say, at the time they began to be lowered by evaporation, shortly after they were dissevered from the ocean, and that the period of the volcanoes of the Jnuldn and Haurdn ranged through the Pliocene and post-Pliocene to the recent, when concurrently with the drying up of the waters of the inland sea the volcanic action became extinct.
It would seem, then, that during the Glacial epoch Palestine and Syria presented an aspect very dillerent from the present. The Lebanon through- out the year was snow-clad on its higher re^rion, while glaciers descended into some of its valleys. The region of the Haurftn was the scene of some extensive volcanoes ; while the district around, and the Jordan Valley itself, was invaded by floods of lava. A great inland sea, occupying the Jordan Valley, stretched from Lake BAlen on the north to a southern margin near the base of Samrnt Feddiin in the WiUly el-Ardbah of the present day, while numerous arms and bays stretched into the glens and valleys of Palestine and Moab on either side. Under such climatic circumstances, we may feel a.ssured, a luxuriant vegetation decked witn ver- dure the hills and vales to an extent far beyond that of the present ; and amongst the trees, as Hooker has shown, the cedar may have spread far and wide. As will be shown hereafter, Tristram supposes that the inland sea, now representeJ by the Jordan Valley, was one of a chain of freah-water lakes stretching down to Southern Africa. This is a very interesting subject in relation to the prac- tical question as to the amount of salts now de- posited in the Salt Sea, and to what extent an mcrea-sed rainfall would lie required to render the Salt Sea habitable by lish, as contemplated in the prophecies of Ezekiel, Zecbariah, Joel, and other prophets.
PilY.<5lCAL Fratitkks.— The Jordan Valley may be divided into three portions — {a) The Upper Jordan, running thmugli Cii'le - Syria to Lake Hflleh. {6)FromL. HiMeh to L. Tiberias, (c) From L. Tiberias to the Salt Sea.
(a) The Upper Jordan, although alwars ac- counted to have its sources at lidni/is and Dan, has its most distant prominent source in the grent fountain below Hdsbdya (1700 ft.), running down
758
JORDAX
JORDAN
into the Wady et-Teim, and becoming the turbid torrent of Nahr Hasbdny, receiviiij' on its way numberless springs from the Anti-Lebanon and Herraon, and particularly the stream from Sheb'a, the greut fount-ain of Surniyit, at the foot of Hermon and el-Ghujar. After rushing through a deep gorge it has worn for itself in the basalt, it penetrates the marsh of HUleh for about 5 miles, where it is joined by the united streams of the Kahr LedMn from Tell el-Ifddi (which has been joined by the Wddy Laweizdiiy) and the Nahr Bdnids. Of these main branches of the Jordan, the Nahr Hasbdny is the longest by 40 miles, the Nahr Ledddn is the largest, and the Nahr Bdnids is the most beautiful. A considerable stream comes down from the plain of Ijon, the contribu- tions of the Nahr Bareighit, west of 'Abel. Several large fountains also burst out from the hills to the west side of the marsh, and send their streams to the river or lake (Land and Book, ii. 320). At Ghtijar the old road from Damascus through Bdnids to the west crosses the Hasbdny by a bridge of three arches nearly west of Tell el-fCddi. From the foot of the mound at Tell el-^ddi{Daii or Laish) gushes out one of the largest fountains in Palestine (505 ft.), called the Nahr Ledddn, which, joining the Nahr Bdnids and the Hasbdny, forms the Jordan. Josephus speaks of the fountains of the lesser Jordan at Dan {Ant. I. .\. 1 ; v. iii. 1 ; VIII. viii. 4). Speaking of Semechonitis (Hiileh), he says : ' Its marshes reach as far as the place Daphne, which, in other respects, is a delicious place, and hath such fountains as supply water to what is called " Little Jordan," under the temple of the golden calf, when it is sent into Great Jordan' (BJ IV. i. 1), thus clearly identifying Daphne with Dan.