The Maritime Plain varies in width from 10 to 16 miles. It is for the most part flat or rolling, and rises gradually toward the base of the moun- tains. The upper portion (Sharon) is noted for its rich pasturage ; the lower (Philistia) for its vast grain-fields, which have yielded enormous crops without the use of fertilizers, except such as nature has distributed over its surface from the wash and waste of the mountains, for forty centuries. The international highway which follows the line of tlie coast inside the region of the sand-dunes is one of the oldest caravan and military roads in the world. Most of the noted towns of the Plain are on or near this ancient highway. This section of Judsea has no associations with the life or ministry of Jesus, but in the Acts there are several refer- ences to visits which were made, or events which took place, in its towns, in connexion with the work of the Apostles or their associates (chs. 8-10 and 18-21).
The 'Shephelah' belongs to the plain rather than to the central ridge of the mountains, from which it is distinctly separated by a series of almost continuous breaks or depressions. It has been aptly described as ' a loose gathering of chalk and limestone hills, round, bare, and featureless, but with an occasional bastion flung well out in front of them.' There are several noted valleys, which begin their courses as wadis in the central range, and cut their way through the Shephelah to the plain. Each of these affords a passage-way into the heart of the mountain stronghold of Judaea, and each has its distinct characteristics and historical associations. Apostles and evan- gelists entered this region soon after the disper- sion of the believers at Jerusalem, and in its lime- stone grottoes, in the days of the persecutions, multitudes of hunted and outlawed Christians found refuges and hiding-places (HGHL, ch. xi.).
The ' Hill country ' or highland region fills most of the space between the Jordan Valley and the
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JUDAS
sea, and gives character to the district as a whole. In its present condition it is the most rugged and desolate section of the Lebanon range. In former times its hillsides were terraced, and every avail- able break in its table-lands was carefully culti- vated ; and yet in every period of its history it has been regarded as a rough, stony land, more suit- able for pastoral than for agricultural pursuits. Its watershed is an irregular, undulating plateau, which varies in width from 12 to 18 miles. The general direction of the numerous ravines or torrent- beds which diversify, and in some sections deeply corrugate, its sides, is east and west. On the east side they are short, direct, and deeply cleft ; on the west, comparatively long and shallow, reaching the coast often by circuitous routes. The highest elevation (3564 ft.) is er-Bamah, a short distance north of Hebron. The general average of the plateau on which Jerusalem is located is about 2500 ft. South of Hebron there is a gradual de- scent by steps or terraced slopes to the region which for many centuries has borne the distinctive name ' Negeb ' or dry country.
The ' Wilderness ' includes the whole of the eastern slope or declivity of the Judsean mountains. It is a barren, uncultivated region, unique in its setting, and notable above all other sections of the land for its desolation, its loneliness, and its scenes of wild and savage ^randeur. The variation in levels from the edge of tlie plateau to the surface of the Dead Sea is but little short of 4000 ft., nearly one half of which is a precipitous descent from sea-level to the margin of the deeply depressed basin amid the .silent hills. In this ' land not in- habited ' John the Baptist sought seclusion while preparing for his ministry as the forerunner of the Messiah ; and here the Holy One, concerning whom he bore record, abode ' forty days tempted of Satan ; and was with the wild beasts : and the angels ministered unto him' (Mt 3'" II Lk 3=, Mt 41-" II Mk 1'=- '=).
i. The sacred memories and thronging events which have been, and for ever shall be, associated with these holy hills cannot be fittingly expressed by voice or pen. In the long ages past the highways of this Judoean plateau have been trodden by tlie feet of patriarchs, prophets, priests, and kings, and for centuries its sanctuary on Mt. Zion was the dwelling-place of Jehovah ; but, more than all else in its wonderful history, it was the place of the incarnation, the self-denying ministry, the agony, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension of the Son of God, the Saviour of the world.
Literature. —Stanley, SP pp. 227-233 ; Conder, Pal. ch. i. p. 221 ; Schtirer, HJP, index ; G. A. Smith, HGUL, ch3. xii.- XV.; Neubauer, G<;o(7. du TaZm, p. 82 ff. ; PEF Meinoirs,\o\. iii.; C. W. Wilson in Hastings' DB, vol. ii. p. 791 : Smith, Z>B2, vol. ii. p. 1488; Hastings' DB, art. 'Palestine'; Baedeker, Pal. and Syria, Ivi. ROBERT L. STEWART.
JDDAH.— The eponymous ancestor of the tribe to which our Lord belonged (Mt I-'*-, Lk 3^', He 7» ; of. art. Genealogies).
JDDAH ('Ioi''5a).— Two passages in the Gospels mention 'Judah'(RV), or 'Juda' (AV), >yhich is orthographically distinct from 'Juda?a' ('lovoaia) as well as geographically smaller. The one is Mt 2* 'And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise least among the princes of Judah,' etc., alluding to Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, in the heart of the hill country. The other is Lk P' ' And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah ' ; which also probably alludes to some town in the centre of the hill countrj', the birthplace of John the Baptist. In the latter passage, however, in- stead of «'s toXlo 'lo.'-Sa, Reland in 1714 (Pal. p. 870), endorsed by Robinson in 1841 {BRF' ii. 206) and