PALESTINE
PALIMPSEST
of oranges, lemons, dried fruits, sumac, tartar, grain, oils, manna, sulphur, wine and lemon juice are very large. Population 319,-ooo. See Freeman's History of Sicily.
Palestine, the Bible's land of Canaan, land of promise, Holy Land and land of Israel, was at the time of the conquest inhabited by six nations: the Canaanites, Hivites, Hittites, Ammonites, Perizzites and Jebusites. The invaders settled in allotted lands, and the struggles for possession followed for some years, although no tribes were dispossessed. In early times the tribal distinctions were strongly preserved, but later, as spoken of in Judges, the cities rose and fell, and Jerusalem became the capital of David and Solomon; but on the founding of the northern kingdom Shechem, Tirzah and Samaria became in succession the capital. On the return of the Jews from captivity they inhabited the territory between Jerusalem and Beersheba and Jericho and Lachish, while the Philistines retained their lands undisturbed. Under Herod the Great, who governed the entire country, the kingdom included Galilee, almost unknown in the Old Testament, Samaria, Judaea, Idu-maea, Perasa, Gaulonitis, Auranitis and Tra-chonitis. The most populous and fertile of these provinces was Galilee. The prosperity fostered by the Roman rulers disappeared on the conquest by Vespasian and the destruction of the temple by Titus. The second time the Jews rose in revolt, led by Bar-Cochba the pretended Messiah, led to the bloodiest of all wars, including the siege of Jerusalem, but the revolt was put down before the fortress of Bether. (See JEWS). For the next hundred years the progress of Christianity was rapid, and after the conversion of Constantine and the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre the history for three hundred years is the story of the church. In 614 A. D. King Chosroes of Persia entered Syria and was joined by the Jews, who looked to him for deliverance. They massacred 90,000 Christians in Jerusalem and burned all the buildings. Fifteen Sjars later the country was retaken by eraclius, only to have it fall into the hands of the Mohammedans, in whose control it remained for four hundred years. About 640 the Mosque of Omar, the most beautiful building in the world, was built by Byzantine architects. The crusades failed to relieve the oppression, and the country went from bad to worse as regards progress, and the ruins crumbled further.
Palestine covers an area of about 12,000 square miles, is bounded on the north by the river Kasimiyeh, on the east by the Jordan and on the west by the sea. Ranges of hills run over the entire country from east to west and, as the Bible says, it consists of desert, hills, plains and valley. The principal elevations are Jebel Jermuk, 3,934 teet; Mounts Carmel, Ebal, Gerizim, Tdl
Asur and Rasesh Sherifeh. The valley of the Jordan begins near the Mediterranean and runs from 5 to 13 miles wide to the plain of Jericho. The Dead Sea is another feature of interest, it having no issue for its waters save by evaporation. The country has few rivers. The Mefshukh, Namien, El Mukatta and a few others flow into the Mediterranean; the Yarmuk, Rukkad, Zerka and Mojib flow into the Sea of Galilee. The summers are extremely warm and the winters cold and wet. At present the modern spirit of improvement is at work in Palestine, roads are being built, railroads run from Jaffa to Jerusalem, from Beirut to Damascus and from Haifa to Damascus, and new colonies with new buildings are scattered over the entire land. The ruins are disappearing, and a modern country is springing up from the ashes. Population estimated at 1,000,000. See E. Hull's Physical Geology and Geography of Arabia Petr&a and Palestine,
Palestine, Tex., city, county-seat of Anderson County, about 135 miles north of Houston. In the vicinity are salt mines and iron-ore deposits. The most important agricultural product is cotton, although grain, fruit and vegetables are grown. Among the manufactures are cottonseed-oil, flour, pottery, iron products and packed-beef. It has good schools, waterworks, gas and electric lights. Population 10,482.
Palestrina (pa'lAs-tre'na), Giovanni Pier-luigi da, the greatest Italian composer, was born in 1524 at Palestrina, studied at Rome and in 1551 was made musical director of the Julian chapel of St. Peter's by Pope Julius III. In 1554 he published a collection of masses and became one of the singers of the Sistine Chapel, a position which he lost upon the accession of Paul IV. But in 1555 he became choir-master of the Lateran, and in 1561 was given a similar position in St. Maria Maggiore, which he held to 1571, when he returned to the Julian Chapel. He reconstructed the musical service of the Roman church, combining musical science with art, and takes a front rank in musical history. All his numerous compositions are sacred music. He died at Rome on Feb. 2, 1594. See Life by Baini.
Pal'et (in plants). The prominent bracts associated with the inflorescence of grasses are called glumes, and those immediately about the individual flowers are called palets. See GRASS.
Pal'impsest, the name given to ancient parchments which have been used more than once for writing purposes. The conquest of Egypt by the Saracens cut off from Europe the papyrus which was used to write upon, and parchment could be had only in limited quantities. So, through the dark ages, old manuscripts were used, after removing the first writing upon them. Sometimes the writing was washed off with a sponge, and the parchment smoothed with pumice stone;
