PALESTINE 643
supplies the deep wells of Beersheba and the shallow pits at Gerar (Gn 26%"); but the water is only found by digging in its pebbly bed. Its modern name is the Wddy Ghitzzeh
Many of the other great ravines, such as the Brook | Kanah (Jos 16%) in Samaria, flow with water in winter; and the most remarkable of these is the stream which bursts out of the Bir Eyivb at Jerusalem in winter, flowing down the Kidron gorge towards the Dead Sea.
Palestine is also well supplied with springs in all parts where the hard limestone is near the sur- face. The hills of Gilead run with small brooks. There are minor streams in Galilee, and good springs in the central region and on the western slopes of the Hebron mountains. Near Jerusalem there is less water, and the dry regions of the Negeb and the deserts have been already noticed. The springs mentioned in the Bible include the fountain of Jezreel (1S 291), one of several near the city, two of which (Ain Jalid and ‘Ain Tubaan) form large pools; the pool of Samaria (1 K 22%), which has ‘a fine natural spring; the pool of Gibeon (2 S 28), which rises in a cavern under the ancient site of the town; the fountain of Gihon (1 K 1%, 2 Ch 32%) east of Jeru- salem, also now rising in a cavern—the probable site of Bethesda (Jn 53); and the well of Sirah (2S 3%), a spring well near Hebron, which retains its ancient name. To these we must add the well of Jacob at Shechem, and the Beersheba wells, which still contain natural waters. The towns called ‘Hn (with an affixed name) in the Bible still Pe springs, as a rule, when the site is known.
he hot springs most famous in Palestine are those near Tiberias, near Hammath (east of Jordan), and at Callirrhée (Ant. xvul. vi. 5) as already men- tioned ; others occur at Gadara and in the valley south-west of Beisfn.
The Palestine coast is very deficient in harbours. The ports of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Jamnia, Joppa, Caesarea, Accho, Tyre, and Sidon, are all formed only by reefs. The Haifa open roadstead is protected by the bluff of Carmel, and is the only one now visited in winter storms. Fleets, however, found refuge at Tyre and Joppa as early as B.C. 1500, and the latter port was used by Solomon (2 Ch 216),
The natural highways of the country are equally indicated by its formation and by history. The great shore road has always been the main route of armies, and an important cross road led from Sharon across the downs south of Carmel, and from the Bay of Acre, to the Valley of Jezreel, crossing the Jordan at Bethabara (?), and gaining the Bashan plateau on the way to Damascus. The mountain roads are difficult paths; and until the Romans in the 2nd cent. laid out roads, marked with milestones, all over both Eastern and Western Palestine, commerce appears to have been mainly confined to the natural routes above indicated. The pilgrim road from Damascus to ‘Akabah on the Red Sea leads over the eastern plateau, and formed the route by which Israel appears to have entered Moab and marched to Bashan.
iii. CLIMATE AND NATURAL Propucts,—In the short distance of a hundred miles the traveller passes from an Alpine region on Hermon to the tropical plains of the Dead Sea, and finds in Pales-
tine a fauna and flora ranging from that of Northern Europe to that of Africa, In the Bible we read of snow, hail, and ice, as well as of the desert whirlwinds and the sunstroke. There is no reason to suppose that the climate and productions of the country now differ much from those of the earliest times. Forests have, no doubt, been de- stroyed in Sharon and in the Hebron mountains ;
but, on the other hand, copses now cover the sites of
PALESTINE
644
PALESTINE
former vineyards, marked by towers, terraces, and rock-cut winepresses, on Carmel and elsewhere. With decrease of population the great tanks and cisterns have fallen into ruins, with the aqueducts and rock-cut canals of Roman times. But in the Gospels we read of the fevers of Gennesaret ; and the swampy plains must always have been malari- ous. The regions now desert or waterless are the same so described in the OT. The palm culture of the Jordan Valley has ceased, but it was mainly an artificial product of Herodian times. The
lains are still as thickly covered with grass and
owers in spring as they ever were, and woods and pastures by the waters still exist.
The climate of Palestine resembles that of Sicily, and the seasons are the same as in other Mediter- ranean lands. The average temperature in summer rises to nearly 90° F. by day, the nights being cool, with heavy dews. When the east wind blows from the desert, and ozone is absent from the air, the heat increases sometimes to 105° F., and the nights are also very hot; but this beers) only lasts for three or face days at a time. In the Jordan Valley in summer 118° F. in the shade may be experienced. The extremes from 90° F. by day to 40° Ε΄ by night in the bare deserts of Moab are severely felt in autumn, but the prevalence of a fresh breeze from the sea makes the summer heat in the hills very moderate. In winter the hills of Judea, Samaria, and Galilee are often white with snow for several days, and the Edomite chain may be seen snow-covered from Jerusalem. The palm will consequently not grow in the hills, and there are but few groves even in the plains, where frost is rarely felt. Lebanon and Hermon retain snow patches till autumn every year. The winter begins usually in December or earlier, and in January there are heavy gales and much rain. The ‘former rains’ (Dt 11‘) fall at the time of the autumn equinoctial gales, and the ‘latter rains’ about the spring equinox ; but in March the spring begins, and April is the month of grass and flowers. In May the east wind prevails, and dries up the herb- age, but in June and July the west wind rises about 10 a.m. daily. The heat increases in August and September, and the country is entirely dried up in October. The most unhealthy time is when the autumn ploughing begins, after the first thundershowers in November. Thunderstorms in June during the harvest (1 S 12!7) occasionally occur suddenly. The dust whirlwinds (Job 379), which swirl along the plains in later summer—esp. in Bashan—are a peculiar feature of the hot season. The rainfall averages 25 to 30 in. in ordinary years, and is quite sufficient ; but the storage of water in dry districts is very imperfect. Years of drought occur from time to time, as do earthquakes and visitations of locusts ; and these are noticed in every age from the earliest times. But in spite of the deserts, and of the barrenness of the mountains, Palestine has a good soil, esp. in Bashan and Sharon, and is a land of ‘corn, must, and oil,’ answering to the descriptions of Deuteronomy (81: 11°), and capable of supporting a large τὴ Swe if fully cultivated.