THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
connected with those of other Mediterranean countries. From May to October dry winds from the northwest, west, and north prevail at Jerusalem and in the western mountain district; but in September and October frequent east and southeast winds increase the heat. In winter west and southwest winds prevail and bring rain (cf. Luke xii. 54-55). Except for these phenomena, the land west of the Jordan has a tolerably regular alternation of land and sea breezes, divided partly into annual and partly into daily interchanges. In the hot season the Syrian mountains are heated much more rapidly than the Mediterranean. The hot air consequently rises to the upper atmosphere and passes to the sea, while the cooler layers from the water go toward the land. In the winter the reverse is the case; and these alternations are repeated daily on a small scale. At times, however, the meeting of the air currents produces severe whirlwinds which last an hour, or even longer. The north wind is cold (Job xxxvii. 9); the west wind moist; the east wind dry; and the comparatively rare south wind warm. The east wind is refreshing in winter, but in summer its heat, dryness, and dust are distressing. The most destructive and unhealthful wind, however, is the sirocco from the southeast, especially as it is often violent and productive of severe whirlwinds (cf. Job i. 19; Jer. xviii. 17; Ezek. xvii. 10; Jonah iv. 8).
The rainy season, from October to May, falls into three divisions. The first of these is the early rains (James v. 7), which extend from October or November to the middle of December and prepare the parched ground for plowing. The second division,
from the middle of December to the
2. Rain and middle or end of March, saturates the
Moisture, ground and fills the wells, pools, and
cisterns. The third division, or late rains of April and May, permits the wheat to ear. These divisions are separated by a series of rainless days; and the description of spring in Cant. ii. 11- 12, refers to the time after the close of the winter rain. The annual precipitation is very uneven, 67.5 per cent falling in December and January. From May to September there is scarcely any rain, but the place of rain is taken, to some extent, by the dew brought by the sea breezes, especially in the spring, though rain falls in abundance in September and October (cf. Job xxix. 19; Cant. v. 2). There is frequently a heavy mist at dawn, which is gradually dissipated by the sun. But with the hot sirocco, all moisture, and even the dew, vanishes. In summer there are no storms, so that the thunder and rain in the wheat harvest, mentioned in I Sam. xii. 17-18, produced terror. Storms are frequent, however, in the other months, especially in April and May. Snow falls almost every winter, but seldom remains more than a few days. Hail likewise falls in winter (cf. Job xxxviii. 22; Isa. xxx. 30; Hag. ii. 17). The climatic conditions of the Jordan valley are little known. The temperature, however, seems to be high, and the precipitation relatively slight. Snow is apparently unknown in Jericho, though it occasionally falls at Tiberias. In the Jordan valley south winds blow in summer, and north winds in winter, these phe-
nomena seemingly being due to barometric conditions over the Dead Sea. There is no reason to suppose that the climate of Palestine has changed in the historic period, though the heavy woods mentioned in the Bible (cf. Josh. xvii. 15; Isa. ix. 18; Jer. iv. 7, 29) have greatly diminished. It is probable that the mountains west of the Jordan were once densely wooded, and it is not impossible that deforestation has caused a diminution of the rainfall, though with little general effect on the climate. It may also be conjectured that the opposition of the seasons has been intensified; though here, again, no alteration of the mean annual temperature can be assumed.
V. Irrigation and Fertility: The few permanent rivers of Palestine are not of a character available for irrigation, even the Jordan having too deep a bed for a source of a system of canals. The other rivers, such as Kishon and the Nahr al-Aujah, run in low-lying plains near the coast, so that their waters are not available for the mountain districts, where the only sources of water supply are the wells and the rain. Some portions of Palestine are by no means lacking in springs, which appear mostly in the valleys or at the foot of the mountains. They are most frequent in eastern Galilee, tolerably numerous on the southern and southeastern borders of the plain of Jezreel, and not rare in the vicinity of Nablus (Sichem). From the latter point to the south, except in the neighborhood of Hebron, the wells are scarcer and scantier. Though they have been of the utmost economic and strategic importance in the history of Palestine, they are seldom cared for, as at Nazareth, though the remains of ancient structures attest the protection formerly afforded them. Little attention is given to collecting the rain water in pools, though more care is taken of the cisterns in the mountain district. The greater part of the rain water is thus wasted, and flows either into the Jordan and the Dead Sea, or forms marshes (as in the plain of Sharon) or underground waters in the coast plains, where it can be utilized by trenches (cf . II Kings iii: 16) or wells. It thus becomes evident that the prosperity of the land is conditioned by the yearly rainfall, the ultimate source of the wells. If the rain fails, the wells dry up; man and beast suffer from thirst (Ps. xlii. 1); the parched land can not be plowed; and general famine is the sequence of the failure of the crops (cf. II Sam. xxi. 1; I Kings xvii. -xviii.; Jer. xiv. 2-6; Amos iv. 7-8). The wells include a number of hot springs, especially south of Tiberias, where there is a temperature of 63° C. In the valley of the Wadi Zarka Ma'in in Moab there is a number of hot springs, one with a temperature of 62.8° C. and others occur at the entrance of the same wadi into the Dead Sea. These hot springs may date from the end of the diluvial period, and it is probable that many springs now cold were originally hot, the transition being shown by numerous warm springs near the Jordan valley. For the fertility of Palestine see Agriculture, Hebrew. The phrase " flowing with milk and honey " (Ex. iii. 8, 17, xiii. 5; Num. xiii. 27; etc.), applied also to Egypt (Num. xvi. 13), does not refer to agricultural fertility, but to adaptability for pasturage,