RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Palestine
Burj al-Lisanah. Still farther to the west are a number of isolated peaks between the wadis running to the coast; while from 'Ain Sinya and Jifna is a range whose summit formed the Roman road from Jerusalem to Cesarea, passing Tibnah, apparently the Timnah of the Old Testament. The entire southern mountain district falls away to the east to the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley, the first and second group in three terraces and the third (at Beitin) in two, practically parallel with the watershed between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. Since the crest of the range is from 2,775 to 3,100 feet above the Mediterranean, and the basin of the Dead Sea over 1,200 feet below the Mediterranean, while the air-line distance from the crest of the Dead Sea is only fifteen miles, there is a slope of extreme abruptness. The water flowing over such a surface can only denude it, not irrigate it. On the western slope of the watershed the first and second groups are remarkable for having, toward the west, a very clear boundary in a series of side valleys running almost vertically north or south, parallel with the great geological fault which determines the present topography of Palestine. This system of side valleys begins at the southern edge of the Wadi Malakah, about five miles northwest of Beit 'Ur al-Tahta, continues southward in the Wadi al-Miktali, and at the Wadi Salman broadens out into the plain of Ajalon. In the south of this valley the Wadi al-Najil forms the boundary between the plateau proper and the western foothills, as does the Wadi al-Zur south of the Wadi al-Sant. Even farther south there are traces of an elevated edge of the foothills running toward the coast, as Idna, Bet 'Auwa, Khirbat Jeimar, and Tell Khuwileifah. At the latter hill the border is reached between the Wadi al-Shari'a and the Wadi al-Khalil; and the low hill country formed by this intersection is the Shephelah, or "plain," of the Old Testament.
The middle mountain district, bounded on the
north by the plain of Jezreel, falls into two groups.
The southern of these extends from the Wadi deir
Ballut in the west and the Wadi al-'Aujah in the
east to the Wadi al-Sha'ir in the west
4. The and the Wadi al-Humr in the east.
Middle Here again the declivity to the bed of Mountain the Jordan is very steep and precipi-
District. tous. The numerous side valleys (running north and south) of the first terrace are markedly fertile. Some three miles north of Tell Azur, the great watershed bends to the east, but resumes its northern course after three miles to the peak of al-Tuwanik, whence it runs westward to the Jabal al-Tor, the Gerizim of the Old Testament. Again running to the north, it passes the site of the ancient Sichem and includes the Jabal Aslamiyah, the Old-Testament Ebal. The aridity of Ebal together with its northern position explain why the curses were given from Ebal and the blessings were pronounced from the relatively fertile Gerizim (cf . Deut. xi. 29; Josh. viii. 33). The northern group of the middle mountain district runs from al-Tuwanik and the Wadi al-Sha'ir to the plain of Jezreel. The watershed approaches the valley of the Jordan, being within ten miles of it at the Ras Ibzik and the Jabal Fuku'ah (the Gilboa of I Sam. xxxi. 1 and
II Sam. i. 21) . First running north, it bends northwest and falls away steeply to the plain of Jezreel. The eastern terrace system stops at al-Tuwanik, its place being taken by four parallel ridges running southeast, enclosing beautiful open valleys. The largest of these valleys is the Wadi Far'ah, which includes the fertile plain of al-Makhnah, probably the Michmethah of Josh. xvii. 7. But with Jabal Fuku'ah these valleys stop, and the region between the watershed of the Jordan becomes traversed by short valleys cutting through the plain of Beisan, the Beth-shean of Josh. xvii. 11 and Judges i. 27. West of the watershed fertile plains are scattered among the hills, especially along the upper and middle Wadi Salhab south of Janin. The latter plain is called Sahil 'Arrabah and contains the Tell Dotan, the Dothan of Gen. xxxvii. 17. The heights at Kafr Kud and the hill country of Bilad al-Ruhah loosely connect the middle mountain district with Carmel (q.V.).
The plain of Jezreel is a right-angled triangle, its hypotenuse running from Janin to the southeastern foot of Carmel, its eastern side defined by Jabal Fuku'ah and Tabor, and
5. The the north by Tabor and Carmel. Plain of The plain lies 185-230 feet above the Jezreel. Mediterranean, into which it drains
through the Nahr al-Mukaatt', the Kishon of Judges v. 21 and I Kings xviii. 40. The edges of the plain being higher than its center, the middle is often marshy, so that only the edges of the plain are habitable. The soil is extraordinarily fertile on account of early volcanic deposits; the watershed is in the east, in the deep valleys which open the way to the valley of the Jordan on either side of the Jabal al-Dahi. In the south the valley is traversed by the Nahr Jalud, which runs beside an important ancient route from Zar'in to the Jordan. The much narrower valley of the north is drained by the Wadi al-Sharrar or the Wadi al- Birah.
The northern mountain region is divided into the districts of Lower and Upper Galilee. The former extends from the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee in the east to the plain of Acre in the west, and from the plain of Jezreel in the south to the heights of al- Ramah and the Wadi al-'Amud on the Sea of Galilee in the north. It falls into several ranges of hills running parallel from west to east and
6. The divided by small plains. The southern Northern group, commonly named after Nazareth, Mountain begins with wooded hills, and northeast
District, of Nazareth Tabor reaches an elevation of 1,730 feet. The second range of hills includes the Jabal Tur'an, the Karn Hattin, and the so-called Manarah (" watch tower ") on the Sea of Galilee. The southern plain, or Wadi Rummanah, is small; but the northern, or Sahal Battof, is larger, and may correspond to the valley of Jiphthah-el on the boundary between Zebulun and Asher (Josh. xix. 14, 27). The third range of hills is the al-Shaghur, which begins in the west at the village of Shafa 'Amr and rises with ever-increasing breadth toward the northeast and east until it ends in the precipitous heights (especially the Jabal al-Daidabah, the Jabal llanzirah, and the Ras
Palestine