For more than two centuries after this period Pales- tine was the theatre of fierce contests between the shep- herd hordes of Tartary and the Mamelukes of Egypt. In 1517 it was conquered by sultan Selim, and from that time till the present it has formed part of the Ot- toman empire.
6, Pi-esent Status. — Palestine now forms part of two great pashalics: (1) Sidon, embracing the whole of Western Palestine; and (2) Damascus, embracing all east of the Jordan. That part of Palestine lying within the pashalic of Sidon is divided into the subpashalics of Jerusalem and Akka. The official residence of the pasha of Sidon is now in Beirut, and hence his prov- ince is sometimes called the Pashalic of Beimt. The pashas of Jerusalem and Akka are subject to the pasha of Sidon, whose province extends from Latikea on the north to Gaza on the south.
The modern inhabitants of Palestine are a mixed race, made up of the descendants of the ancient Syrians, and of the Arabs who came in with the armies of the Caliphs. The number of the latter being small, the mixture of blood did not visibly change the type. This is seen by a comparison of the Christians with the Mo- hammedans— the former are of pure Sj'rian descent, while the latter are more or less mixed ; yet there is no visible distinction, save that which dress makes. In addition to these there are a few Jews, Armenians, and Turks ; all of whom are easily recognised as foreigners. The Druses who live in Hauran, and occupy a few vil- lages in Galilee and on Carmel, are converts from Mo- hammedanism.
No census has been taken of the country, and the number of the inhabitants it is impossible to ascertain with any near approach to accuracy. One thing is manifest to every observer — the greater part of the country is desolate. Jerusalem, its capital city, has but 20,000 inhabitants; and the only other places of any note are Gaza, Hebron, Joppa, Acre, Nabliis, Beirut, and Damascus. Even villages are few, and separated by
PALESTINE
580
PALESTINE
long reaches of desolate country. The following is the nearest approach which can now be made to the popu- lation of the country : Pashnlic of Jeius:ilein (Ritter, Pal. und Sijr. iii,
833) 602,000
Paslialic of Acre (Uobinsou, iii, 628) T2,000
Keninining part of the pashalic of Sidou, iu Pales-
tiue (estimate) 50,000
Eastern Palestine (estimate) 200,000
Total 924,0UU
Of these about 80,000 are Christians, 12,000 Jews, and the rest Mohammedans.
The following general observations are by Dr. Olin (rmi-eis, ii, 438, 439):
" The inhabitants of Palestine are Arabs; that is, they speak the Arabic, though, with slight exceptions, they are probably all descendants of the old inhabitants of Syria. They are a fine, spirited race of men, and have given Mo- hammed Ali much trouble in subduing them, and still more iu retaining them iu subjection. They are said to be industrious for Orientals, and to have the right ele- ments for becoming, under better auspices, a civilized, iu- tellectual nation. I believe, however, it will be found im- practicable to raise any people to a respectable social and moral state under a Turkish or Egyptian, or any other Mohammedan government. The uiherent vices of the religious system enter, and, from their unavoidable con- nections, must enter, so deeply into the political adminis- tration, that any reform in government or improvement iu the people, beyond temporary alleviations of evils too pressing to be endured, cannot reasonably be expected. The Turks and Syrians are about at the maximum of the civilization possible to Mohammedans of the present time. The mercantile class is said to be little respected, and generally to lack integrity. Veracity is held very lightly by all classes. The people are commonly temper- ate and frugal, which may be denominated Oriental vir- tues. Their situati(n], with regard to the physical means of comfort and subsistence, is, in many respects, favora- ble, and under a tolerable government would be almost unequalled. As it is, the Syrian peasant and his family fare much better than the laboring classes of Europe. The mildness of the climate, the abundance of land and its fertility, with the free and luxuriant ])asturage that covers the'mountains and the plains, render it nearly im- possible that the peasant should not be well supplied with bread, fruit, meat, and milk. The people almost al- ways appear well clothed. Their houses, too, thongh oft- en of a slight construction and mean appearance, must be pronounced commodious when compared with the dark, crowded apartments usually occupied by the corre- sponding classes iu Europe. Agricultural wages vary a good deal iu different parts of the country, but I had rea- son to conclude that the average was not less than three or four piastres per day. With all these advantages pop- ulation IS on the decline, arising from polygamy, military conscription, unequal and oppressive taxation, forced la- bor, general insecurity of property, the discouragemeut of industry, aud the plague."
IX. Authoi-ities. — -The list of works on the Holy Land is of prodigious extent. Of course every traveller sees some things which none of his predecessors saw, and therefore none should be neglected by the student anx- ious thoroughly to investigate the nature and customs of the Holy Land. A select list has already been pre- sented iu the article Geography, to which the student is referred; and fuller catalogues may be seen in the works of Eitter, Kobinson, Van de Velde, and Bouar. An almost exhaustive list, accompanied by critical no- tices, is given by Tobler {Biblior/rapliia Geognqihica Falcestince, in German, Leips. 1867), with a supplement on the earlier works — from A.D. 333 to 1000 (in Latin, Dresd. 1875). The most important of these and of later ones we note below.