according to the most accurate maps, appears to have been 200 miles in length, and about 80 in breadth at the widest part. It reached from 31 deg. 30 min. to 33 deg. 20 min. of north latitude; and from 34 deg. 50 min. to 37 deg. 15 min. of east longitude. The serenity of the air, the fertility of the soil, and the incomparable excellence of the fruits of Palestine, induced the Jewish lawgiver to describe it, as "a land that flowed with milk and honey; a land of brooks and waters, of fountains that spring out of the hills and valleys; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, pomegranates, figs, and honey; a land where is no lack or scarcity of any thing." Its richness and fecundity have been extolled even by Julian the apostate, and many writers have descanted upon its natural beauties but, in consequence of the just anger of God, the greater part of it is now reduced into a mere desert, and seems incapable of cultivation. Subsequent to its conquest by the children of Israel, Judea, in its most extensive sense, was divided into maritime and inland, as well as into champaign and mountainous; and again subdivided into Judea on this side, and Judea beyond Jordan. But the most considerable division was that made by lot among the twelve tribes, for the prevention of murmurs and discontent, when two tribes and a half were seated beyond the river, and the rest on this side. In the reign of king Solomon it was divided into twelve districts, each under a peculiar officer; and, in the time of kingdoms of Sihon, Og, &c., are not so easily ascertained, any Tore than the conquests and acquisitions which they afterward under the reigns of their most prosperous monarchs. his imprudent son Rehoboam, a more fatal division was effected by the revolt of ten tribes, who, under the conduct of Jeroboam, established a new monarchy, which they called the kingdom of Israel, in opposition to that of Judah. The Romans divided it into tetrarchies and toparchies; and, after various changes that took place under the northern barbarians, Saracens, &c., the Turks reduced it to a province under the beglerbegate or bashawship of Damascus. It will, however, be proper to give a general description of the country, prior to the history of its successive inhabitants and revolutions. Of the mountains, so frequently celebrated in the poetic books of Holy Writ, those of Lebanon*, er Libanus, were the highest and most considerable. This famous chain is computed to be about 300 miles in compass, having Mesopotamia on the east, Armenia on the north, Palestine on the south, and the Mediterranean on the west. It consists of four ridges, which rise above each ether the first is extremely fertile in grain and fruit; the second barren and rocky; the third embellished with verdant plants, balsamic herbs, and odoriferous flowers; and the fourth, by reason of its surprising height, is generally covered with snow. Several considerable rivers have their source in these mountains, viz. the Jordan, Rocham, Nahar-Rossian, and Nahar-Cadicha; • These mountains make a considerable figure in the Jewish history, on account of the prodigious number of cedars, which they afforded for the ornament of Solomon's temple and metropolis. And St. Jerom, speaking of Libanus, fays, it is the highest hill in all the Land of Promise, as well as the most woody and thickset.”* and and some others, of a less stream, rush down the heights, and form the most beautiful cascades that ever attracted the admiration of the curious. The western ridge is properly distinguished by the appellation of Libanus, as the eastern is called Antilibanus, and the hollow between Cœlosyria. They are at present inhabited by the Maronites and wild Arabs; and spotted with various edifices, as churches, convents, chapels, grots, &c. Mount Hermon, the summit of which, like Lebanon, is usually capped with snow, is the next in dignity for height, and was once famed for an ancient temple, much resorted to by the superstitious heathens. It is also celebrated by the royal psalmist for its refreshing dews, which descended on the adjoining mount of Sion: and St. Jerom asserts, that its snow was carried to Tyre and Sidon, to be used in cooling liquors. Mount Tabor is justly admired for its beauty, regularity, fertility, and central situation, in a large plain, at a distance from any other hill. It enjoys the noblest prospect that can possibly be imagined of many places famed in Scripture; such as the hills of Samaria and Engadi, on the south; those of Hermon and Gilboa, on the east and north-east; and mount Carmel, on the southwest. Some remains of the wall and gates built by Josephus are still visible on the top; and on the eastern side are those of a strong castle; in the cincture of which are three altars in remembrance of the three tabernacles, which St. Peter proposed to erect, at the time of our Lord's transfiguration, on this mountain. Mount Carmel stands on the skirts of the sea, and is the most remarkable headland on the coast. from coast. It seems to have derived its name its abundant fertility, and is highly venerated both by Jews and Christians, as having been the residence of the prophet Elijah. Mount Olivet, or the Mount of Olives, is situated at the distance of one mile from Jerusalem, and commands a fine view of the city, from which it is parted by the brook Kedron and the valley of Jehoshaphat. It is not, in reality, a single hill, but part of a long ridge, with four summits, extending from north to south; the middlemost of which is that, whence our Saviour ascended into Heaven. Mount Calvary claims our chief regard, as the scene of our Redeemer's great atonement for his sinful creatures. It stood anciently without the gates of the city, being the place appointed for public executions. But the emperor Adrian, having ordered Jerusalem to be rebuilt a little to the northward of its former situation, enclosed this mountain within the walls. Constantine erected a magnificent church upon it; and it has always been regarded as a place of great veneration by Christians of all denominations. Mount Gihon stands west of Jerusalem, and at a smaller distance than Calvary, being about two furlongs from the gate of Bethlehem. It was here that Solomon was anointed king by Zadock the priest, and Nathan the prophet. There was also a celebrated pool upon it, from which king Hezekiah brought water, by an aqueduct, into the city. It is still a noble basin, one hundred and • The word carmel, according to the Hebrew import, signifies the vine of God, and is constantly used in the prophetic books, to represent any place planted with a profusion of fruit trees. six six paces long, and sixty-seven broad, lined with plaster, and well stored with water. Mount Moriah, the site of the famous temple of Solomon, stands on the south-east of Calvary, having Millo on the west, so called from the filling up of that deep valley, in order to raise it to a level with the rest. It is commonly supposed, that Abraham was commanded to offer his be loved son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice to God upon this mountain. This article of the mountains may be concluded with observing, that those in the kingdom of Judah mostly stand southward, towards the land of Edom; but those of the kingdom of Israel are interspersed within the country. The most celebrated of the valleys were, Berakhah, in the tribe of Judah, on the west side of the lake of Sodom; Siddim, famed for the overthrow of Chedorlaomer; Shaveh, or the royal valley, where the king of Sodom met Abraham after the defeat of the confederates; the vale of Salt, celebrated for the overthrow of the Edomites by David and Amaziah; Jezreel, the scene of Jezebel's untimely end; Mamre, so called from the name of its owner, and from the cak under which Abraham entertained the three celestial visitors; Rephaim, the vale of the Titans and giants; Jehoshaphat, so called from the victory there obtained by a monarch of that name; Hinnom, anciently defiled by many barbarous rites and superstitions; Zeboim, which received its appellation from one of the four cities that perished with Sodom near the Dead Sea; Achor, where Achan was put to death by the Israelitish host for his sacrilege; Bochim, so denominated from the universal mourning, which the Israelites mase there |