The present formation of the country is due to convulsions, which took place in the early Tertiary
riod. An immense fault was formed from
ermon southwards, rending the strata and form- ing the depression of the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea. The western strata fall with a steep dip to the valley, while the eastern are less contorted, the sandstone cliffs having been sheared in two, north and south. There are subsidiary parallel faults west of the valley, where the upper strata have fallen over into the great chasm. The fault continues south of the Dead Sea, but is less con- siderable, and a watershed 600 ft. above the Mediterranean here dammed up the waters of the Jordan Valley, forming a lake 1300 ft. geet, the surface of which is now 1292 ft. below the Medi- terranean. This convulsion was accompanied by volcanic outbreaks in the north, covering the
lains of Bashan and of Lower Galilee with
oods of basaltic lava. Minor outbreaks of the same are traceable also on the west slopes of Carmel.
West of the main ridge of Western Palestine, cretaceous sandstones were deposited, forming foot hills, which, though dipping westwards, are unconformable with the older strata of the central ridge. Beyond these an alluvial plain was formed, and is now banked in by sandy rocks and sand dunes. In the Jordan Valley a great salt lake at first occupied the whole length of the chasm. Ancient sea-beaches are visible, especially at the Meiddn el- Abd, north of Jericho. The shells gener- ally are lacustrine and not marine. The drying up of these waters has now left only the smaller sheets of the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea; but south of the former the bed of the valley is still strongly impregnated with salt, and salt springs occur on the slopes to the west in Samaria. The voleanic activity of this region is still not quite exhausted. Earthquakes such as are mentioned in earlier times (1 K 19", Am 1', Mt 27%) still occur, like that which destroyed the towns of the north in the twelfth century A.D., and ruined Sffed in Galilee in 1846. Hot springs occur on both sides of the valley, and the temperature of
VOL, 111.—at
square miles.
PALESTINE
those at Tiberias rose considerably at the time of the last-mentioned earthquake. This sketch of geological structure enables us to understand the physical features of Palestine; and it is important as showing that the destruction of the Cities of the Plain cannot be explained as by Josephus (Wars, IV. viii. 4), who believed them to be feivtead under the Dead Sea (see Gn 14%), which was certainly in existence before the appearance of man.
ii. NATURAL FEATURES.—The hills of Western Palestine are the continuation of the higher Lebanon ridge to the north, of which Mount Her- mon (9200 ft.) is an outlier on the east at the springs of Jordan. In Upper Galilee, where the hard limestone prevails, the highest elevation is 4000 ft. above the Mediterranean near Meirfin, and the eastern slopes are very steep. On the west the foot hills and long spurs from the water- shed exhibit the softer chalk in parts. Lower Galilee includes the plateau of Tabor, 600 ft. above the Mediterranean, and the western plain of Asochis (Buttauf), separated from the shore of the large shallow Bay of Acre by the low chalky hills, which also rise on the south round Nazareth. Mount Tabor (1800 ft.) is an outlier of these hills on the south-east, with a rounded summit like an immense molehill, and south of this again the voleanic peak of Nebi Dhahy (called Little Hermon in the twelfth century) rises from the plateau, divided by the valley of Jezreel from Gilboa farther south. t this point the Palestine watershed is only about 200 ft. above the Mediterranean, at the north-east corner of the large triangular plain called Esdraelon. This plain has the range of Gilboa (1600 ft.) on its east, and is bounded on the west by the long spur which divides it from the shore plain of Sharon, and which rises into the ridge of Carmel, which, projecting north - west, attains 1700 ft. above the sea, and, continuing 15 miles, falls to 500 ft. at the promontory which forms the natural harbour of Haifa on the south side of the Bay of Acre. A smaller plain lies west of the main shed, and south of Esdraelon near Dothan, separated by lower hills from Sharon. Entering the Samaritan region the watershed gradually rises. Gilboa, which is capped with chalk, spreads north, from the rounded watershed hills to the south near Jenin; but round Shechem, and as far south as Bethel, the dolomitic limestone mountains form one of the highest and most rugged districts in Palestine. The principal features on this watershed are the summits of Ebal (3077 ft.) and of Gerizim (2850 ft.) divided by the deep pass of Shechem ; and, south of Shiloh, Baal-hazor (3300 ft.). Long ridges run out west- wards from this chain, sinking to the chalky foot hills east of Sharon, and on the opposite side of the watershed are rugged slopes and small plateaus bounding the ΤΡ ΕΊΣ Approaching Jeru- salem the watershed sinks to about 2500
ft., and the chalk appears to the east on Olivet (2600 ft.); but after passing Bethlehem the flatter plateau rises ayain to the Hebron hills, which are in parts as rugged as those of Samaria, rising to 3000 ft.