RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Palestine
in the New Testament, the " lake of Gennesaret " (Luke v. 1; cf. Matt. xiv. 34; Mark vi. 53) from a small district on its northwest shore (Matt. xiv. 34; Mark vi. 53); the " sea of Galilee " (Matt. iv. 18, xv. 29; Mark i. 16, vii. 31); and the " sea of Tiberias " (John vi. 1, xxi. 1), the latter giving rise to its modern Arab name, Bahr Tabariyah.
From the southwestern corner of the Sea of Galilee the Jordan flows west, then turns southward and preserves this general course to the Dead Sea, receiving, among other streams, the
9. The Nahr Yarmuk, and the Nahr al-Zarka Lower Jor- (the Jabbok of the Old Testament). dan Valley. From the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea the distance is nearly seventy miles, and the fall of the Jordan between these points is 570 feet. The bed of the river becomes a loose marl and loam, and the water changes to a dirty yellow. The region along the banks is divided into two parts, the general district being called al-Ghor (" depression "), this including the entire basin, while the river bed itself and the rich vegetation near its shores are comprised under the name al-Zor. Generally the water of the river is hidden under a mass of vegetation, but after the rainy season it frequently covers the trees on its usual bank (cf. I Chron. xii. 15; Ecclus. xxiv. 26). The western bank, which alone is thus far well known, varies greatly in breadth. South of the Sea of Galilee a plain begins with a breadth of one and a half to three miles, widening out near the old Beth-shean, where the Nahr Jalud discharges. It thus presents the form of a triangle, its northern side measuring from thirteen to fifteen miles and its eastern side, to the mouth of the Wadi Malih, eleven miles. The entire region is rich in water and shows numerous traces of ancient canals. The plain east of the Jordan is here about two miles broad. Between the Wadi al- Malih and the Wadi Abu Sidrah the last foothills of the western mountain district confine the river to its bed. South of the Wadi Abu Sidrah the plain again reaches a breadth of five to seven miles. In the vicinity of the Karn Sartabah the Ghor penetrates deeply into the open valley of the mountain district. The heights on the western bank are so firm that frequently the Jordan tributaries are obliged to run parallel to the main stream for a considerable distance, this being the case especially with the lower course of the Wadi Far'ah. In winter, moreover, the entire vicinity to the east becomes a large lake, called Watat al-Khatalin. In the immediate neighborhood of Jericho, beginning with the Wadi al-Nuwai'imah, is a level plain sloping to the Jordan, its lower part traversed by the Wadi al- Kalt. From this point, however, to the Dead Sea the soil becomes barren; and this region, " the valley of Achor," is in the Old Testament an example of a desolate wilderness (Isa. lxv. 10; Hos. ii. 17; cf. Josh. xv. 7). At Kasr al-Yahud the marl hills bend back from the Jordan and are lost in the hill country. At several places, as near Jericho, a second shore, about fifty feet above the present bank of the river, rises at a distance from the stream. On this elevation spreads the arid region sometimes called 'Arabhah in the Old Testament (Deut. iii. 17; II Sam. ii. 29; cf. Deut. xxxiv. 3; Josh. xiii. 27),
though this generally connotes the district north and south of the Dead Sea. The topography east and west of the Jordan above the Dead Sea is practically the same. The oasis of Jericho, with the wells 'Ain al-Sultan and 'Ain Duk, on the east corresponds to the Abel-shittim of Num. xxxiii. 49 (cf. Num. xxv. 1; Mic. vi. 5); while the western district was called the plains of Jericho (Josh. v. 10; II Kings xxv. 5), and the eastern the plains of Moab (e.g., Num. xxii. 1). The land immediately surrounding the Jordan, perhaps from the Jabbok to the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah, was termed the " plain of Jordan " (I Kings vii. 46; cf. Deut. xxxiv. 3), though elsewhere the name is restricted to the vicinity of Jericho (Neh. iii. 22, xii. 28).
In summer the Jordan can be crossed in a number of places, there being five fords between the Bahrat al-Hulah and the Sea of Galilee, and fiftyfour between the latter and the Dead Sea. These are very unequal in their distribution. On extremely rare occasions, as in 1267, the river bed becomes dry through land-slides, thus explaining the event recorded in Josh. iii. 13-17
The Dead Sea is generally termed in the Old Testament the " salt sea " (cf. Num. xxxiv. 3, 12; Josh. xv. 2, 5), a phrase used to explain the older name, " sea of the plain " (Deut. iii. 17; Josh. iii. 16). It is likewise known as the " east 10. The sea " (e.g., Ezek. xlvii. 18) in contra- Dead Sea. distinction from the western sea, or Mediterranean. Called the Salt Sea or the Sea of Sodom in the Talmud, and the Sea of Asphalt by Josephus and Pliny, its designation of Dead Sea is found in Pausanias and Justin, and especially in Jerome. The Arabs term it Bahr Lut, or " Sea of Lot." Its surface is about 1,290 feet below that of the Mediterranean, its length is about forty-six miles, and its maximum breadth (from 'Ain Jidi, or Engedi, to the mouth of the Arnon) is about eleven miles. Its depth varies from 1,310 feet in the north to eighteen feet in the south. The northern and southern shores are flat, the latter being practically a salt marsh and receiving the water of several wadis, among them the Wadi al- Kurahi, which apparently corresponds to the " brook Zered " of Num. xxi. 12; Deut. ii. 13-14. The " brook of the willows " (Isa. xv. 7) may be the lower part of this same wadi. The western and eastern shores of the Dead Sea are bounded by steep hills, the peak north of the Wadi al-Sayal being 2,295 feet above the Dead Sea. These mountains do not, as a rule, fall away abruptly to the water on the western coast, but on the east, where some of the hills are over 4,300 feet in height, the coast is extremely precipitous, especially north of al-Lisan. The water of the Dead Sea is a concentrated lye, its salts including chlorid, bromid, natrium, magnesium, kalium, and calcium. The salinity varies in parts of the surface and also in proportion to depth. This lye of the sea is due to two causes: the minerals carried down by the rivers flowing into the sea; and the constant evaporation in the hot, dry air which hovers over the deep basin of the Dead Sea. The high specific gravity of the water, which is six times more salt than the ocean, both prevents organic bodies from sinking
Palestine