How far the valley of the Jordan was emj^loyed by the ancient inhabitants of the Holy Land as a medium of communication between the northern and southern parts of the country we can only conjecture. Though not the shortest route between Galilee and Juda^n, it would yet, as far as the levels and form of the ground are concerned, be the most practicable for large bodies ; though these advantages would be seriously counter- balanced by the sultry heat of its climate, as compared with the fresher air of the more difficult road over the highlands. The ancient notices of this route are very scanty: (1.) From 2 Chron. xxviii, 15 we find that the captives taken from Judah by the army of the northern kingdom were sent back from Samaria to Jerusalem bj' way of Jericho. The route pursued was probably by Nabulus across the Mukhna, and by Wady Ferrah or Fasail into the Jordan valley. Why this road was taken is a mystery, since it is not stated or implied that the captives were accompanied by any heavy baggage which would make it difficult to travel over the central route. It would seem, however, to have been the usual road from the north to Jerusalem (comp. Luke xvii, 11 with xix, 1), as if there were some impediment to pass- ing through the region immediately north of the city. (2.) Pompey brought his army and siege-train from Damascus to Jerusalem (B.C. 40) past Scythopolis and Pella, and thence by Korete (possibly the present Kera- wa at the foot of the Wady Ferrah) to Jericho (Joseph. Ant. xiv, 3, 4; War, i, 6, 5). (3.) Vespasian inarched from Emmaus, on the edge of the plain of Sharon, not far east of Ramleh, past Neapolis (Nabulus), down the Wady Ferrah or Fasail to Korew, and thence to Jericho (IFur, iv, 8, 1) ; the same route as that of the captive Judaeans in No. 1. (4.) Antoninus Martyr (cir. A.D. 600), and possibly Willibald (A.D. 722), followed this route to Jerusalem. (5.) Baldwin I is said to have journeyed from Jericho to Tiberias with a caravan of pilgrims. (6.) In our own times the whole length of the. valley has been traversed by De Bertou, and by Dr. Anderson, who accompanied Lynch's Expedition as geologist, but apparently by few if any other travellers.
(4.) The Plateau east of the Jordan. — Eastern Pal- estine, or the region beyond the Jordan valley, is widely different in its physical geography from Western. Its average elevation is about 2500 feet above the sea. The Jordan valley is a rent or chasm in the earth's crust; the country beyond it is an elevated terrace. This elevation affects the scenery, the climate, the prod- ucts, and the inhabitants themselves. Nowhere east of the Jordan, at least within the boundaries of Pal- estine, is there tlie bare, desolate aspect such as is presented by the sun-scorched plain of Philistia, or the white downs of the Negeb, or the barren wilderness of Judrea. There is more verdure, more richness, and more beauty everywhere on the east. The pastures of Gilead and Bashan are still as attractive as they were when Reuben and (Jad saw and coveted them (Numb. xxxii, 1), The surface of Western Palestine is rough and rugged, varied by plain and mountain ridge ; the east is nearly all a table-land, consisting of smooth downs, well designated by the accurate sacred writers as the M'whor (Dent, iii, 10; Josh, xiii, 9, 16, etc.; comp. Stanley, p. 479). It does not appear so from the west, from whence the eye sees only a ridge, like a huge wall, running along the horizon ; for this pecul-
iarity is visible from every point on the east, and is very striking when seen from some commanding spot, as the top of Hermon, or the crest of Jebel Hauran. In Western Palestine, again, the ancient cities are almost obliterated, and the very foundations of the temples and monuments can scarcely be discovered; in the east, the magnificence of the existing ruins, and the perfect preservation of some of the very oldest cities, are sub- jects of continual surprise and admiration to the travel- ler. Some have represented Eastern Palestine as main- ly a pastoral country, where the three tribes lived in a semi-nomad state, dwelling in tents, and placing their flocks in rude folds like the border tribes of Bedawin. The coimtry itself gives the best refutation to this the- ory. It is everywhere thickly studded with old cities, towns, and villages — many of them still bearing their Scripture names. In no part of Western Palestine are there evidences of such a dense population as through- out Bashan and Gilead. The country was indeed rich in pastures; but it was also rich in cornfields. The northern section of it is to this day the granary of Damascus.
The northern border of Palestine intersects that part of the ridge of Hermon now called Jebel el-Heish, pass- ing Banias, and the little lake Phiala (now Birket er- Ham), which ancient geographers regarded as the head source of the Jordan (Joseph. War, iii, 10, 7). This range bears some resemblance in features and scenery to the mountains of LTpper (ialilee. It is broad, and is interspersed with green upland plains and wide fertile valleys. Its peaks and sides are mostly covered, more or less densely, with forests of oak, sycamore, terebinth, and here and there clumps of pine-trees. The timber is larger and the woods denser than in any part of Western Palestine (Porter's Damascus, i, 307). The forests, however, are gradually disappearing under the destroying hand of the Bedawin and the Damascus charcoal manufacturers. At the place where the bor- der-line crosses, the ridge appears to be of about equal altitude with that on the opposite side of the Hnleh; but it slowly decreases, and finally sinks into the table- land a few miles south of the ruins of Kuneiterah. The scenery of the southern end is beautiful. Lines and groups of conical hills, perfect in form, covered from base to summit with green grass and sprinkled with evergreen oaks, are divided by meadow-like plains and winding vales, with here and there the gray ruins of a town or village. The grass in spring is most luxuriant ; and the wild flowers — anemon{?s, tulips, poppies, mari- golds, cowslips — are more abimdant than even in Gali- lee. The whole landscape glows with them. The su- periority of the pastures and the abundance of flowers are owing to the forests, to the high elevation, and to the influence of the neighboring snow-crowned peaks of Hermon. At all seasons dew is abundant;, one of the highest summits is called Abu-Nedy, "the father of dew ;" and clouds may often be seen hovering over the ridge when the heaven elsewhere is as brass. This il- lustrates the Psalmist's beautiful imagery : " As the dew of Hermon, that descended on the mountains of Zion" (cxxxiii, 3). The ridge is now almost desolate. With the exception of two or three small villages, and a few families of nomads, it has no inhabitants. Its rich soil is unfilled, and even its pastures are forsaken or neglected.