The Land of Israel

The Land of Israel A Text Book on the Physical and Historical Geography of the Holy Land embodying the Results of Recent Research BY Robert Laird Stewart, D. D. Professor of Pastoral Theology and Biblical Archaeology in the Theolog- ical Seminary of Lincoln University, Pa. WITH SEVENTEEN MAPS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company Publishers of Evangelical Literature Copyright, ift by I < 1 1 EMING H REVEI < >MPANY 1' I THE REV. F. II. ROBARTS AND WIFE (I ASG< >W, 54 I 'II ami Erstwhile Companions and Fellow travellers IN HIE LANDS OF THE EAST List of Illustrations of Pass of Nahr el Kelb, I Facing- page , j Ascent 44 ' the Tablets ( From North, with one of ) 2. Capture of Lachish by Sennacherib " " 95 Pa Io2 3. Tell es San (Gath ?) & Facin a e io3 4. *Tell Zakariya S P S Nazareth " " II6 5. General view of '4° 6. Nablus and Vale of Shechem " " PaSe f 49 7. Curb of Jacob's Well " Well '5 1 8. Ruined Crypt, and section of Jacob's Facin PaSe l61 9. *Wady Suweinet S St. Anne in 10. General view of Jerusalem (Church of " foreground) * 4 " I 7" 11. Damascus Gate " " l89 12. The southeast angle of Haram Wall " '9 2 13. Robinson's Arch " " 2°° 14. The probable site of Calvary " " 2°3 15. Bethany " " 2°5 16. The Bridge over the Kedron " " 22 17. The Wilderness of Judea 5 " " 228 18. Bethlehem of Judah Pa e 2 39 19. *Abraham's Well, Beersheba S " 244 20. Kadesh Barnea page of Shaib . Facing 283 21. *The new Jordan Bridge at mouth Wady Palestine Exploration Fund. Reproduced, by permission, from the publications of the Vtt List of Maps Canaan—Tribal Boundaries in Colors Frontispiece Palestine in the time of Christ and the Apostles .... Facing page 41 SECTIONAL MAPS Plain . The Maritime north of Mt. Carmel . Facing page 65 The Maritime Plain south of Mt. Carmel . 79 The Shephelah 97 The Mountains of Galilee " 106 The Plain of Esdraelon " 120 The Mountains of Ephraim " 134 The Mountains of Benjamin " 158 Plan of Ancient Jerusalem " 170 Plan of Modern Jerusalem . 173 8. The Mountains of Judah " 224 9. The Negeb or South Country " 237 10. The Valley of the Jordan " 254 11. The Sea of Galilee Page 263 1 2. The Land of Bashan Facing page 303 13. Gilead and Moab " " 3 J 7 ; Preface In the light of recent research the Geography of the Holy Land has become a study of absorbing interest. It has fur- nished a clue to the explanation of many historical difficulties filled old words with new meanings ; revealed correspondence with the Bible hitherto unseen ; corroborated minute circum- stances of position, time and distance, incidentally given by the sacred writers; and, in a word, has restored the real historic setting of a series of real historic narratives. The work of exploration on a strictly scientific basis, com- menced by Dr. Robinson some sixty years ago, has been car- ried on to the present time by a worthy corps of successors, who amid many discomforts and perils have given years of patient study and investigation to the identification of places, the translation of ancient records, the excavation of buried cities and the survey of the land as a whole. To these devoted men—the pioneers of Palestine Geography—and to the Socie- ties which supported them in their work, the Christian world is deeply indebted. While this task has been necessarily limited to a small number of specialists, it is given to a larger number to glean after them in the same field of labor, and utilize the results. Herein is the saying true, " Other men have labored, and we are entered into their labors." A desideratum, in view of the growing importance of this study, is a Text-Book or Manual, abreast of the latest explora- tions, in which the student may find a summary of the characteristic features and historical associations of every place of importance mentioned in the Scripture whose site has been defi- nitely located. The present volume, while doubtless imperfect in many respects, is a contribution toward this end. It is the develop- x Preface ment of the outlines of a course of instruction which has been tested during a period of eight years by several successive classes of theological students ; and is now given to the public in the hope that it may supply a want which has been felt in other institutions of learning ; and that it may be helpful also as a Handbook to ministers of the Gospel, Sabbath-school teachers and students of the Bible in general. If its author shall receive but a tithe of the favor and encouragement in this wider field, which he has received from his own pupils, he will be amply repaid for the time and labor he has devoted to its preparation. The chief value of a work of this character must of necessity depend upon the careful selection and orderly presentation of well authenticated facts, gathered from sources not readily ac- cessible to the ordinary student. These are contained in costly memoirs of exploration parties, monographs on places or sections of the country, narratives of travel, quarterlies and other official publications of the Palestine Exploration Fund : anil in such standard work?, as Robinson's Physical Geography and Researches, Ritter's Comparative Geography of Palestine, Stanley's Sinai and Palestine, Thomson's Land and the Book, Tristram's Topography of the Holy Land, and the Historical Geographies of Drs. Henderson and Smith. While the author has gathered, and adapted to his purpose, the latest and most interesting information attainable from these and other authoritative sources within his reach, he has also availed himself of the impressions which can only come from personal observation. A « arefully-planned journey from the larders of the South country to the heart of the Lebanon gave opportunity for studying the Geography of the Land day by day on the spot. In utilizing these impressions the writer has sought to impart something of the life and coloring imprinted on his own mind and memory through the "seeing eye." Quotations from recognized authorities have been freely intro- duced into the body of the work to give additional value to Pretace XI descriptions or to throw light upon the topography or antiquity of disputed sites. In the footnotes credit has been given for all citations, and, as far as possible, the sources of direct information have been indicated. In the first part of the book a general description of the Land is given, including its position among the nations, its boundaries and prominent physical features, its present condition and the salient points in its history. In the second part the special features and noteworthy places are grouped together in separate sections for study at close range. These sectional divisions correspond to the natural divisions of the country ; and, with scan ely an exception, have familiar Old Testament names descriptive of their physical as- pects and relations. An obvious advantage of this arrangement is the opportunity it affords for studying the characteristic features, and historical associations of each Biblical site in connection with its natural environment. In the historical records of the country the several incidents which make up the story of its sacred locali- ties are often widely scattered, but in a Handbook of Sacred Geography they should be brought together. As Dean Stanley puts it : "A work of this kind in which the local description is severed from the history must necessarily bear an incoherent and fragmentary aspect. It is the framework without the picture—the skeleton without the flesh —the stage without the drama. The materials of a knowledge of the East are worthily turned to their highest and most fitting use only when employed for a complete representation of the Sacred History as drawn out in its full proportions from the condensed and scattered records of the Scriptures." There are some excellent works on the Geography of Pales- tine which follow the historical order of the Biblical records. These have their place and value as adjuncts to the study of the Bible, but they are objectionable as text-books because this —; xii Preface method of arrangement imposes upon the student the task of searching through widely separated epochs for the materials, which make up the story, of each sacred locality. The necessity for the frequent repetition of places—as in the case of Shechem, which is mentioned in connection with ever)' prominent period of Hebrew history from Abraham to Christ precludes a full or satisfactory description at any point. A more serious difficulty, however, is the perplexity which arises from the study in turn of a Palestine of the Patriarchs of the Conquest ; of the Judges ; of the Kings ; and of the New Testament period. These or similar divisions may prop- erly represent important periods in the history of the Holy Land, but there seems to be no good reason for making them serve as divisions of its geography. On the contrary their use in this connection is bewildering to the student, if not positively misleading. The land given to Israel by Divine allotment, as a possession among the nations, was not a domain of uncertain area, whose metes and bounds were determined by political changes or rev- olutions, but a distinct portion of the earth's surface, with well defined boundaries and unique physical features. Within these limits we are concerned with everything which belongs to its configuration, topography, history, antiquity and associations.

Load more