agrees with Lartet in thinking that the waters of the Jordan Valley have not flowed down into the Gulf of Akabah since the land emerged from the ocean. The disconnection of the inner waters from the outer is a very ancient event, dating back to Miocene times.
The River Jordan, throughout its course, from the Sea of Tiberias to the Salt Sea, cuts its channel through alluvial terraces, consisting of sand, gravel, and calcareous marl, which sometimes contain shells, semi-fossilised, but of species still living in the lakes of Tiberias and Huleh. These terraces are continuous round the shores of the Salt Sea, and between the base of the cliffs of Jebel Karantul, near Jericho, and the fords of the Jordan, three of them may be observed,
| the first | being at | a level of | 650 | to | 600 | feet, |
| the second | being at a„ | a level of„ | 520 | to | 250 | feet,„ |
| the third | being at a„ | a level of„ | 200 | to | 130 | feet,„ |
and below the last named is the alluvial flat, liable to be flooded on the rise of the waters. The upper surfaces and outer margins of these terraces indicate successive stages, at which the waters have rested in sinking down to their present level. Originally they reached a level somewhat over that of the Mediterranean, and at that time a great inland lake extended from Lake Huleh southwards into the Arabah Valley, its length being about 200 miles.
In the Jordan Valley, the upper terrace, at the foot of the hills, is called the Ghor, and it is to be distinguished from the Zor, or bottom of the valley, in which the channel of the river, cut still deeper, meanders.
The Salt Sea itself is enclosed on all sides by terraced hills, except towards the north, where it receives the waters of the Jordan. In rising gradually out of the ocean, the region appears to have rested several times at successive levels, and the sea left its mark in deposits of marl, gravel, and silt.
