The plain of Hamath is very extensive. It joins Coele-Syria on the south, and extends northward on both sides of the Orontes as far as Apamea, about seventy miles; while its breadth from the base of Lebanon to the desert is nearly thirty. Its surface is almost per- fectly fiat, its soil generally a rich black mould ; water is abundant. Upon it once stood the large cities of Hiblah, Laodicea ad Libanum, Emesa, Arethusa, Larissa, Hamath, and Apamea; all of which, with the exception of Hamath and Emesa (now Hums), are either in ruins or have dwindled down to poor villages.
The plain of Damascus and its continuation towards Hauran on the south are exceedingly fertile. See Da- mascus.
The little plain of Issus between the mountains and the bay is now a pestilential marsh, on the borders of X.— G
which stands the miserable village of Iskanderfin, the only seaport of Antioch and Aleppo.
The plain of Suweidiyeh, at the mouth of the Oron- tes, is still a lovely spot, in part covered with orchards and mulberry plantations. On its northern border lie the ruins of Seleucia, the port from which Paul em- barked on his first missionary journey (Acts xiii, 2-4), and once so celebrated for its docks and fortifications (Polybius, bk. v).
2. Mountains. — (1.) The parallel ranges of Lebanon and Antilebanon have already been noticed inider their own titles. At the southern end of the former is the pass called in Scripture " the entrance of Hamath" (q. v.).
(2.) Bej-ond this, in a line with Lebanon, rises the range of Bargylus, which extends to Antioch. It is a rugged limestone ridge, rent and torn by wild ravines, thinly peopled, and sparsely covered with oaks. Its elevation is much inferior to Lebanon, and does not av- erage more than 4000 feet. In the parallel of Antioch the chain meets the Orontes, and there sweeps round in a sharp angle to the south-west, and terminates in the lofty peak of Casius (now Jebel Akra), which rises ab- ruptly from the sea to a lieight of 5700 feet, forming one of the most conspicuous landmarks along the coast of Syria. The Bargylus range has received the name Jebel en-Nusairtyeh, from the mysterious and warlike tribe of Nusairiyeh, who form the great bulk of its in- habitants.
At the northern extremity of the range, on the green bank of the rapid Orontes, stand the crumbling walls and towers of Syria's ancient capital, Antioch (q. v.), now dwindled down to a poor town of some GOOO inhab- itants. A few miles west of it, in a secluded mountain glen, are the fountains and ruins of Beit el-JIa, which mark the site of the once celebrated Daphne (Murray, Handbook for Syr. and Pal. p. G02).
(3.) Beyond the valley through which the Orontes breaks narrow and wild, rises steeply another mountain- range, which runs northward till it joins the Taurus, and has an average elevation of nearly 6000 feet. The scenery of this range is very grand — deep ravines shut in by cliffs of naked rock, conical peaks clothed with the dark foliage of the prickly oak, and foaming tor- rents fringed with dense copses of myrtle and oleander. On the west it sends out the lofty promontory of Ras el-Khanzir, which shuts in the plain of Suweidiyeh; and farther north the curve of the bay of Iskanderiin s\veeps so close to the rocky base of the range as to leave a pass only a few feet broad between the cliff and the sea. Here are the ruins of an ancient arch mark- ing the site of the celebrated Syrian Gates; to the north of it is the battle-field of Issus. The southern section of this range was ancientlj' called Pieria,*and gave its distinguishing name to the city {Sdeucia Pie- ria} at its base ; the northern section was called Ama- nus. The whole ridge is now usually called Jawar Dagh, though the southern portion is perhaps more commonly known as Ras el-KhanzSr.
(4.) On the eastern bank of the Orontes, near the ruins of Apamea, rises another but much lower range of hills, which rinis northward, not in a regularly form- ed ridge, but rather in detached clumps, to the parallel of Aleppo. The hills are mainly calcareous, well wood- ed in places, and intersected at intervals by fertile plains and vales. They are interesting to the traveller and antiquarian as containing some of the most remarkable ruins in Syria (Murray, Handbook, p. 615 sq. ). The southern section is called Jebel Riha, the central Jebel el-' Ala, and the northern Jebel Siman, from its having been the home of St. Simeon Stylites.
3. The Xorthern Hiyhlands. — Northern Syria, espe- cially the district called Commagene, between Taurus and the Euphrates, is still very insufficiently explored. It seems to be altogether an elevated tract, consisting of twisted spurs from "Taurus and Amanus, with narrow valleys between them, which open out into bare and
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sterile plains. The valleys themselves are not verj'- fertile. They arc watereil by small streams, producing often abuiulant fish, and, for the most part, flowing into the Orontes or the Euphrates. A certain number of the more central ones, however, unite and constitute the " river of Aleppo," which, unable to reach either of the oceanic streams, forms (as we have seen) a lake or marsh, wherein its waters evaporate. Along the course of the Euphrates there are rich land and abundant vege- tation; but the character of the country thence to the valley of the Orontes is bare and woodless, except in the vicinity of the towns, where fruit-trees are culti- vated, and orchards and gardens make an agreeable ap- pearance. Most of this region is a mere sheep-walk, which grows more and more harsh and repulsive as we approach the south, where it gradually mingles with the desert. The highest elevation of the plateau be- tween the two rivers is 1500 feet; and this height is reached soon after leaving the Euphrates, while towards the west the decline is gradual.