Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 18.djvu/195

PALESTINE apocryphal books of the Old Testament, Judrea and Samaria (2a^.apeiT(s, Sa^apis, Sa^uapeia) are opposed to each other ; but the limits of the two divisions at the time of Christ, and for centuries previously, can hardly be laid down. Thus in Josephus the Mediter ranean coast as far as Acre is assigned to Judiea ; towards the south this country was bounded by Idumea ; in the north it extended to about 8 miles to the south of Nabulus (Shechem). Whether Samaria extended from the Jordan to the sea is uncertain ; in the north it reached the southern edge of the plain of Esdraclon, the frontier town being En Gannim (Jenniu). Galilee (in regard to which see vol. x. p. 27) was originally the district in the neighbourhood of Kedes, afterwards distinguished as Upper Galilee. The Jewish popu lation was there largely mixed with Phoenicians, Syrians, Greeks, and even Arabs. The whole maritime region to the north of Dor was still called Phoenicia in the time of the Romans, and thus does not strictly belong to Palestine in our sense of the word. Along the coast, as well as more especially in the north, of the country, numer ous Greek colonies were established ; how strong the foreign influ ence must have been in Samaria and Galilee is evident from the preservation of so many Grteco-Roman names like Neapolis (Nabulus), Sebaste (Sebastiye), Tiberias (Tabariye). Elsewhere too, in the south for example, the old nomenclature was altered : JEAia. was substituted for Jerusalem, Azotus formed from Ashdod, and so on ; but the old names were always retained in the mouth of the people. The north of the country and the trans-Jordan region were much more thoroughly brought under the influence of the Greeks and Romans than the south. The Greek towns in some cases date from the time of Alexander the Great, and others were founded by the Ptolemies ; but most of them owe their origin to the Seleucids. One district of the trans-Jordan region retained at that period its old name in the Greek form of Penea. Josephus says that this district extended from the Jordan to Phila delphia (Rabbath Ammon, Amman) and Gerasa (Jerash), went southward as far as Machserus (Mkaur on the Zerka Ma in), and north as far as Pella (Fahil opposite Beisan). Adjoining Periea, and mainly to the east of Jordan, lay the Decapolis, which was not, how ever, a continuous territory, but a political group of cities occupied by Greek republics distinguished from the tetrarchies with their Jewish-Syrian-Arabic population in the midst of which they were scattered. The largest of these cities was Scythopolis (Beisan) ; others were Hippos, Gadara (Mkes), Philadelphia, Dion, Gerasa, &c. ; but ancient authorities do not agree about the names. Little requires to be said about the division of the country in later Roman times. In the 5th century a threefold partition began to prevail: Paloestina Prima (roughly equal to Judpea and Samaria), Palrestina Secunda (the countries about the upper Jordan and the Lake of Gennesaret), and Pakestina Tertia or Salutaris (Idumea and Moab). In the time of the crusades the same names were applied to three divisions (at once political and ecclesiastical) of the country west of Jordan, Palrestina Prima or Maritima being the coast region as far as Carmel (with C?esarea as its archbishop s see), Pakestina Secunda comprising the mountains of Judali and Ephraim (with the patri archal see of Jerusalem), and Pakvstina Tertia corresponding roughly to Galilee (with its bishop s see at Nazareth). The country east of Jordan was called Arabia, and was in like manner divided into three parts lying north and south of each other. The Arabians retained the name Filistin, and they divided the country into two principal portions, the Jordan district (chiefly the northern parts) and Flhstfn proper, which extended from the Lake of Gennesaret to Aila and from Lejjun to Refah. Under the Turks Palestine was till quite recently subject to the governor of Syria ; the greater part of it now forms an independent vilayet. The chief districts are (each with its town) Gaza, Hebron, Yafa, Ludd (with Ramla), Nabulus, Sha rawiye, Jcnnin (with Beisan), Haifa, Acre, Tabariye, Nasira, Safed ; and in the country east of Jordan Ajlun, Belka es-Salt, Kerak, and Ma an. Palestine is by no means so strikingly a country apart as is usually supposed. It lay, as already mentioned, near the great military highway from western Asia to Egypt and Africa. The traffic by sea was also formerly of importance ; and even in the Middle Ages something was done for the protection of the harbours. At no time, however, was the country in the proper sense of the word a rich one ; it hardly ever produced more than was necessary for home consumption. The great trading caravans which passed through were glad for the most part to avoid the highlands, and that region at least was thus more or less isolated. The following is a brief survey of the principal routes, partly as they formerly existed, and partly as they are still used. From Egypt a road runs by El- Arish (Rhinocolura) or " the river of Egypt " by Rafah (Kaphia) to GAZA (q.v.). From Gaza another runs by Umm Lakis (Lachish?) and Bet Jibrin (Eleutheropolis) across the mountains to Jerusalem. Northwards from Gaza the main route continues along the plain at some distance from the sea (which in this part has piled up great sand dunes) to El-Mejdel (Migdul Gad) near Askelon, and so on j to Ashdod (Ezilud, Azotus). From Ashdod a road runs by Aki r (Ekron) to Ramie, an important town in the mediaeval Arabian I period, and Ludd (Lod, Lydda). From these towns, which are con- [ nected with the port of Yafa (Japho, Joppa), three routes run to Jerusalem, of which the one most used in antiquity was evidently the northern one passing by Jimzu (Gimzo) and the two Bet Urs (Beth-boron), and not the one now followed by Amwas (Nicopolis) and Wadi Ali. From Yafa a road continues along the coast by Arsiif (Apollonia) to the ruins of Kaisariye (Ceesarea), then past Tantura (ruins of Dor) and Athlit (Castellum Peregrinorurn of the crusaders) and round the foot of the promontory of Carmel, to Haifa and Acre (a town of great importance from early times). Another route starting from Ludd runs north close to the mountains by Antipatris (now Kefr Saba or Eds el- Ain ?) and Kakun, and ends at Khan Lejjun. The Great Plain oifered the easiest passage from the coast inland. El-Lejjuri (a corruption of the Latin Legio) was certainly an important point ; it is still conjecturally identified, according to Robinson s suggestion, with the ancient Megiddo, which Conder would rather place at Mejedde a. In the vicinity lie the ruins of Ta anuk (Taanach), and farther south-west the great centre of Jennin ( En Gannim, Ginna>a). From Acre there also runs a road directly east over the mountains to Khan Jubb Yusuf. The coast road from Acre northwards passes through Zib (Akhzib, Ecdippa) and the two promontories of Ras en-Nakuraand Ras-el-Abyad (Scala Tyriorurn), and so continues to the maritime plain of Tyre. To return to the south, from Egypt (Suez, Arsinoe) the desert was crossed to Ruheibe (Rechoboth), Khulasa(Elusa), and Bir-es-seb a (Beersheba), and from this place the route went north ward to Ed-Dhoheriye and El-Khah l (Hebron). In like manner a road from Aila up the Araba valley crossed the Es-Sufah pass to Hebron. One of the most frequented highways traverses the cen tral mountain chain northwards, and, though somewhat difficult in various parts, connects a number of the most important places of central Palestine. Starting from Hebron, it runs past Rama and Hulhul through the Wadi el-Biyar, and leaving Bethlehem on the right holds on to Jerusalem, where a branch strikes east by Khan Hadrur (probably there was once another route) to Jericho. From Jerusalem northwards it naturally continues by Sha fat past Er-Rftm (Rama) to El-Biro (Beeroth), and then onwards by Ain el-Haramiye, Sinjil, and Khan Lubban through the Mukhna plain to Nabulus (Shechem). From this point a route runs down to the Jordan and Es- Salt (Ramoth Gilead?); another passes by Tubas (Thebez) north eastward in the line of the Jordan valley to Beisan (Bethsheau, Scythopolis). The road across the highlands passes a little to the east of Sebastiye (Samaria, Sebaste), running along the west side of the Merj el-Ghurukand past Tell Dothan (Dothan) to Jennin. Thence the road northward to Nazareth skirts the east side of the plain of Esdraelon, and from Nazareth a path strikes to Acre. The caravan route proper passes from Afule north-eastwards past Jebel et-Tiir (Tabor) to Khan et-Tujjar (where several roads cross), and reaches the Lake of Tiberias near Mejdel (Magdala). It keeps by the shore only for a short distance. Having traversed the small plain of Gennesar, it begins again to climb the mountains where they approach the lake at Khan Minye (which, however, for many reasons cannot be Capernaum), and then it goes on to Khan Jubb Yusuf, strikes down again into the valley of the Jordan, and crossing the river at Jisr Benat Ya kiib holds on across Jebel Hish to Damascus. The moun tain district of Samaria is crossed by a great number of small roads, but none of them are true caravan routes or worth particular men tion. An old caravan route once ran northwards up the Jordan valley from Jericho to Beisan ; and from Beisan an important, now less frequented, road crossing the river at the bridge El-Mejam a struck north-east to Fik Tseil and Nawain the Hauran, and finally to Damascus. In the country east of Jordan a great highway of traffic ran from Petra (or really from the Elanitic Gulf) by Kerak (Kir Moab) to Rabba (Rabbath Moab, Areopolis); in front of Aroer ( Arair) it crosses the Mojib (Arnon) and runs northwards through the highlands to Hesban (Heshbon) and thence to Amman (Rabbath Ammon, Philadelphia). A route also led from Jericho to Es-Salt (which could also be reached from Hesban) and thence northwards to the Jabbok and Jerash (GERASA, see vol. x. p. 441); and then from Jerash one stretched north-west by Tibne to Mkes (Gadara) and the valley of the Jordan, and another north-east to the Zumle and the Hauran or more precisely to Bosra (Bostra), and so on to Damascus. It must also be mentioned that the great pilgrim s track direct from Damascus to Medina and Mecca skirts the eastern frontier of the country. A great many roads await more detailed investigation ; what has been said may suffice to show what lines of communication existed and still exist between the more import ant places of Palestine. Population. There are no trustworthy estimates of the numbi-r of inhabitants in the country at any period of its history. Certain districts, such as Galilee, have, there is no doubt, from early times been much more populous than certain other districts ; the desert of Judah and some portions of the country east of Jordan must all along have been very sparsely peopled. The figures given in the book of Numbers indicate that the whole country contained about 24 million souls, it being assumed that the statistics do not refer to the time of the wandering in the wilderness, and that the details XVTTT. -- 21