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

apocryphal books of the Old Testament, Judæa and Samaria (Σαμαρειτις, Σαμαρις, Σαμαρεια) 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 Mediterranean coast as far as Acre is assigned to Judæa; towards the south this country was bounded by Idumea; in the north it extended to about 8 miles to the south of Nábulus (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 (Jennín). 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 population was there largely mixed with Phœnicians, Syrians, Greeks, and even Arabs. The whole maritime region to the north of Dor was still called Phœnicia 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, numerous Greek colonies were established; how strong the foreign influence must have been in Samaria and Galilee is evident from the preservation of so many Grteco-Roman names like Neapolis (Nábulus), Sebaste (Sebastíye), Tiberias (Tabaríye). Elsewhere too, in the south for example, the old nomenclature was altered: Ælia 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 Penæa. Josephus says that this district extended from the Jordan to Philadelphia (Rabbath Ammon, 'Ammán) and Gerasa (Jerash), went southward as far as Machærus (Mkaur on the Zerka Ma'in), and north as far as Pella (Fáhil opposite Beisan). Adjoining Peræa, and mainly to the east of Jordan, lay the Decapolis, which was not, however, 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 Seythopolis (Beisan); others were Hippos, Gadara (Mkés), 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:—Palæstina Prima (roughly equal to Judæa and Samaria), Palæstina Secunda (the countries about the upper Jordan and the Lake of Gennesaret), and Palæstina 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,—Palæstina Prima or Maritima being the coast region as far as Carmel (with Cæsarea as its archbishop's see), Palæstina Secunda comprising the mountains of Judah and Ephraim (with the patriarchal see of Jerusalem), and Palæstina 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 Filistín, and they divided the country into two principal portions,—the Jordan district (chiefly the northern parts) and Filistín proper, which extended from the Lake of Gennesaret to Aila and from Lejjún 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, Yáfá, Ludd (with Ramla), Nábulus, Sha'rawíye, Jennín (with Beisan), Ḥaifa, Acre, Tabaríye, Násira, Safed; and in the country east of Jordan 'Ajlún, Belḳá es-Salṭ, Kerak, and Ma'án.

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-'Arísh (Rhinocolura) or "the river of Egypt" by Rafaḥ (Raphia) to Gaza (q.v.). From Gaza another runs by Umm Lákis (Lachish?) and Bét Jibrín (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 (Migdal Gad) near Askelon, and so on to Ashdod (Ezdud, Azotus). From Ashdod a road runs by 'Aḳír (Ekron) to Ramle, an important town in the mediæval Arabian period, and Ludd (Lód, Lydda). From these towns, which are connected with the port of Yáfá (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 Bét Urs (Beth-horon), and not the one now followed by 'Amwás (Nicopolis) and Wádi 'Ali. From Yáfá a road continues along the coast by Arsúf (Apollonia) to the ruins of Kaisaríye (Cæsarea), then past Ṭanṭura (ruins of Dor) and 'Athlít (Castellum Peregrinorum of the crusaders) and round the foot of the promontory of Carmel, to Ḥaifa 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 Rás el-'Ain?) and Kakún, and ends at Khán Lejjún. The Great Plain offered the easiest passage from the coast inland. El-Lejjún (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 Jennín ('En Gannim, Ginnæa). From Acre there also runs a road directly east over the mountains to Khán Jubb Yúsuf.

The coast road from Acre northwards passes through Zíb (Akhzib, Ecdippa) and the two promontories of Rás en-Náḳúra and Ras-el-Abyaḍ (Scala Tyriorum), 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 northward to Ed-Dhoheríye and El-Khalíl (Hebron). In like manner a road from Aila up the Araba valley crossed the Es-Sufáh pass to Hebron.—One of the most frequented highways traverses the central 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 Hulhúl through the Wádi el-Biyár, and leaving Bethlehem on the right holds on to Jerusalem, where a branch strikes east by Khán Ḥaḍrúr (probably there was once another route) to Jericho. From Jerusalem northwards it naturally continues by Sḥa'fát past Er-Rám (Rama) to El-Bíre (Beeroth), and then onwards by 'Ain el-Haramíye, Sinjil, and Khán Lubbán through the Mukhna plain to Nábulus (Shechem). From this point a route runs down to the Jordan and Es-Salṭ (Ramoth Gilead?); another passes by Tubâs (Thebez) north-eastward in the line of the Jordan valley to Beisan (Bethshean, Scythopolis). The road across the highlands passes a little to the east of Sebastíye (Samaria, Sebaste), running along the west side of the Merj el-Ghuruk and past Tell Dothan (Dothan) to Jennín. 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 'Afúle north-eastwards past Jebel eṭ-Ṭúr (Tabor) to Khán et-Tujjár (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 Khán Minye (which, however, for many reasons cannot be Capernaum), and then it goes on to Khán Jubb Yúsuf, strikes down again into the valley of the Jordan, and crossing the river at Jisr Benát Ya'kúb holds on across Jebel Ḥish to Damascus. The mountain district of Samaria is crossed by a great number of small roads, but none of them are true caravan routes or worth particular mention. 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-Mejám'a struck north-east to Fík Tseil and Nawa in the Ḥauran, 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 ('Ará'ir) it crosses the Mójib (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-Salṭ (which could also be reached from Ḥesbán) 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 Mkés (Gadara) and the valley of the Jordan, and another north-east to the Zumle and the Ḥauran 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 number 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 2½ million souls,—it being assumed that the statistics do not refer to the time of the wandering in the wilderness, and that the details