The temperature of Damascus is lower than that of Jerusalem. The highest range of the thermometer noted was 88', the lowest 2'.)-'. The mercury rarely rises above 84= during the heat of the day. At Shumlan, on Lebanon, the highest range of the thermometer was 82° (Aug. 22); and the average of that month was 76°. According to the estimates of Dr. Forbes {Kdbihurijh New Philos. Jour. April, 18(52), the mean annual tem- perature of Beyrfit is G!)°, of Jerusalem ()2.(> ', and of Jericho 72°. That of Jerusalem diffirs wi<lely from Dr. Barclay's average ; and Jericho ajipears to be too low.
2. Rain.— In Palestine the autumnal rains commencie about the end of October. In Lebanon they are a month earlier. They are usually accompanied by thunder and lightning (Jer. x, 13). They continue during two or three days at a time, not constantly, but falling chiefly in the night; then there is an interval of sunny weath- er. The quantity of rain in October is small. The next four months may be called the rainj' season, but even then the fall is not continuous for any lengthened pe- riod. The showers are often extremely heavy. lu April rain falls at intervals ; in May the showers are less frequent and lighter, and at the close of that month they cease altogether. No rain falls in Palestine in June, July, August, or September, except on occasions so rare as to cause not merely surprise, but alarm ; and not a cloud is seen in the heavens as large as a man's hand (1 Sam. xii, 17 sq. ; Cant, ii, 11). In Lebanon the climate in this respect is somewhat different. In 1850 rain fell at Shimilan on June 27 and 28, and on Aug. 8, 9, and 12; and in Damascus, on rare occasions, rain is seen in the month of June. In Lebanon also clouds are occasionally, though not frequently, seen during the summer months. Dr. Barclay gives the following aver- age of the rainfall at Jerusalem during seven seasons : 181G-47, 59 mches; 1847-48, 55 inches; 1848-49, 60.6 inches; 1850-51, 85 inches; 1851-52, 65 inches; 1852- 53, 44 inches; 1853-54,26.9 inches. This gives a gen- eral yearly average of 56.5 inches, which is 25 inches above the mean annual rainfall in England, and within one inch of tliat in Keswick, Cumberland, the wettest part of England (C7/// of the Great King, p. 417, 428; Whitty, Water Supply of Jerusalem, p. 194). See IIaix,
3. Seasons. — Only two seasons are expressly men- tioned in the Bible; but the rabbins (Talmud) make six, apparently founding their division upon Gen. viii, 22. They are as follows: (1.) Seed-time; October to December. (2.) Winter: December to February. (3.) Cold: February to April. (4.) //cnres^- April to June. (5.) Heat: June to August. (6.) Summer: August to October. These divisions are arbitrary. Seed-time now commences in October after the first rains, and con- tinues till January. Harvest in the lower valley of the Jordan sometimes begins at the close of March ; in the hill country of Jtukca it is nearly a month later, and iu Lebanon it rarely begins before June ; and is not com- pleted in the higher regions till the end of July. After the heavy falls of rain in November the young grass shoots up, and the ground is covered with verdure in December. In January, oranges, lemons, and citrons are ripe; and at its close, in favorable seasons, the al- mond-tree puts out its blossoms. In February and ]\Iarch the apricot, pear, apple, and plum are in tlower. In May, apricots are ripe ; and during the same month melons are produced in the warm plains around the Sea of Galilee. In June, figs, cherries, and plums ripen ; and the roses of the " Valley of lioses," near Jerusalem, and of the gardens of Dainascus, are gathered for the manufacture of rose- water. August is the crowning month of the fruit season, during which the grape, fig, peach, and pomegranate are in perfection. The vintage extends on through September. In August vegetation languishes. The cloudless sky and burning sun dry up all moisture. The grass withers, the flowers fade, the bushes and shrubs take a hard gray look, the soil be- comes dust, and the country assumes the aspect of a parched, barren desert. The only exception to this general bareness arc the orange - groves of Joppa and those few portions of the soil which are irrigated. See
AoRICULTLyUK.
The following are the principal works from which in- formation may be obtained regarding the climate of Palestine and Syria: (1.) An Economical Calendar of Palestine, by Buhle, translated by Taylor, and inserted among the fragments appended to Calmet's Diet, of the Bible. (2.) A\'alchii Calemlarium Pahestinie, ed. J. D. Jlichaelis, 1755. (3.) Volney, Voyetge en Syrie, etc., 1737. (4.) Schubert, Reise nach dem Morgenlande, vol.
PALESTINE
573
PALESTINE
iii, 1838. (5.) Russegcjer, /?«'.<*■», etc. ((>.) Tlnh'mson, Bib. Ees. passim. (7.) Kitto, Phydcul Iliston/ of Palestine, ch. vii. (8.) Barclay, Cittj of the Great King, p. 49 sq., 414 sq. (9.) Von WiKlenbriich and Pctermann, in Jour- nal of R. G. S. vol. XX ; and Poole, in vol. xxvi. (10.) Forbes, in Edinburrjh Neiu Philosophical Journal, April, 1862. (11.) Eussell's Natural History of A leppo gives full information regarding the climate and products of Northern Syria. See Calendar, Jewish.