2. Sitiialion. — It is usually identified with the little plain situated on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, and known to the Aralis as el- Ghuweir, 'little Glior or hollow.' This identifica- tion is as good as certain. The description of it as given by Josephus can apply to no other. Several years ago an attempt was made by Thrupp and Tregelles (in the Journal of Classical and Sacred Philology, ii. 290-308) to identify it witli the plain of ei-Batihah, on the N. E. shore of the Lake, but without success (cf. Stanley's ' Note ' in refutation, SP 455).
3. .S'('-<^.— Shut in by the hilly promontory of Khan Minyrh >m tliu N. and the still more promi- nent liills liy Miigdala on the S., .and extending westward from tbe Lake only to the base of the rugged uplands of Galilee, its total area is exceed-
about 3 miles long from N. to S. liy Ij: broad from E. to AV. Stanley's measurements are wide of the mark when he says that the plain is 6 or 7 miles long by 5 miles broad {SP 442) ; and even G. A. Smith exaggerates Avhen he describes it as 'four miles broad' (HGHL 443). Josephus' measure- ments are more nearly correct, viz. 30x20 stadia; though in fact it is a little longer than 30 and not quite so broad as 20. In form it is soiuewh.at crescent-shaped or semi-elliptical. Its surface is comparatively level. Its altitude, like that of the Sea of Galilee, is over 650 feet below the level of the Mediterranean.
i. Josephus' description of tlie Land of Gennes- aret.—
ants accordingfly plant all sorts of trees thcr< of the air is so well mixed that it agrees v.-i several sorts; particularly walnuts, which V' air, flourish there in vast plenty; there ;irr which grow best in hot air ; tig trees also ■.iu.[ them, which yet require an air that is i
plants that ar.- tiatucalh ' ii.aiii>'s to nnr :i:
of them lai«l > inm \" lln- ri,iiiili\ ; 1m|- j'
c-r :i .1 . I i (h other fruits as they become ripe through
til' I I Ill-sides the good temperature of the air,
il 1^ .1- I v III I'll ii'itia most copious fountain. The people of thu euuiui.v rail u (J.ti>haruauni, Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the coracln fish as well as that lake does which is near to .Mexandria. The length of this country extends itself along the banks of this lake that bears the same name for thirtv furlongs, and is in breadth twenty. And this is the nature of that place ' {BJ ill. x. 8).
This classical passage from Josephus, though probably coloured to some extent, gives substanti- ally the truth about the Plain as it must have been in the time of Christ, and for this reason it is of the utmost importance. Jewish Rabbins of early times corroborate his description. They descrilie it as possessing both ' gardens and paradises ' ; as one of the garden spots of the world ; as irrigated and cultivated so that no portion of it was barren ; and as being dotted over thickly with towns ami villages. Indeed, ruins of \ ill.iji -^ li.ivc l.^en found at three or four dilti-rriit Imiliiii , in ih,- Plain, viz. at the opening of Wml.i . / // <,i./,,/, at Win cl- Mudauirarn/i, south (if'.li// 'i/'in, ami i)ii the N. side of n'a,/!r-'--li'"'""'i.'/'/'.
S. Its ciiiii/itinii tii.i/'ii/. — Josephus' account is especially iniiiv^i Jul; l.rcause of the contrast be- tween its coiiililicm tlii-ii and now. Then, it was a most charming spot — 'the unjiaralleled garden of God,' as a certain Rabbi calls it ; and ' the gem of Palestine,' as Merrill .speaks of it {Galilee in the Time of Christ, 33) : now-, it is, as 'Thomson says, 'pre-eminently fruitful in thorns,' a veritable thicket of oleanders and nubk trees, of gigantic thistles and brambles. And yet even now one finds proofs of its former luxuriance in the wealth of its wild flowers, the heavy-headed wheat and barley growing here and there, and in the stout- ness of the thorns and thistles almost everywhere.
(1) The soil is wonderfully rich, like that of the Delta in Egypt. It consists of basaltic loam formed by the mingling of decomposed basalt witli the alluvium of the lake. All travellers — Seetzen, von Schubert, Ritter, Burckhardt, Robinson, Wilson, and Thom.son — praise the fertility of this Plain, and all except Stanley (cf. SP 451) lament its present desolate and uncultivated condition. The latter erroneously describes it as ' cultivated everywhere.' Only near Magdala are there signs of marsh.
(2) Fountains and streams supply it with water in copious abundiince. Three winter torrents rush down from the hill country lying to the west, and bring with them abundance of water for the greater portion of the year, {a) One is known as the iVady el-Hanmm, or the 'Valley of Pigeons,' a deep gorge bounded by almost perpendicular cliffs over one thousand feet in height, which enters tlie Plain from the S.W. This is a tremendous ravine, and from Josephus' day has lieen known as the ravine of the 'Robber Caves' — the chosen resort of brigands in former days. Tliomson describes it in two connexions, as ' a, great chasm ' and as a 'profound gorge' (Land and the Book, ii. 395- 397), and as leading up to a fort or castle known as Katat ibn Mdan, and still on to the village of ^attin. Down this valley are poured large volumes of water, and down through this same ravine, as through a funnel, rush sudden blasts of wind, which break upon th« Lake. The ruins of