near it; and the soil among the sarcophagi is plowed and sowed like the rest of the plain. There are also other sites where nothing but the tombs of those who lived there remain to tell the story of their inhabitants.

Our guide, I see, is turning to the south, and intends to take us through Wady Kusab, midway between Tell el Mutsellîm and Tell Caimon; and now, before we enter this wady and bid adieu to Esdraelon, let us take a survey of the lower end of it. It has become perfectly level, and I can tell you from experience that in wet seasons it is extremely muddy; and then the Kishon causes great tribulation to the muleteers. Rarely, indeed, do they get over it without some of their animals sticking fast in its oozy bottom. You observe that the hills of Samaria bend round to the base of Carmel, while those of Galilee do the same on the opposite side, leaving a vale between them for the Kishon only a few rods wide. The great tell, which, from our position, seems to close up the entrance entirely, is called Kussîs (mound of the priest), a name probably commemorative of the slaughter of Baal's priests near its base. The hills of Galilee are clothed, down to the bank of the river, with a forest of oak, terebinth, mock-orange, and other trees and bushes. Hour after hour you wander delighted through these lovely woods, over hills and through wadies quite up to the Buttauf; and the same kind of grove reappears on the south of Carmel, and still forms the "ingens sylva" of the Roman geographers.

If you look down the Kishon, you can see a huge double tell at the farther end of the narrow vale. It is now called Harothîeh, and marks the site, I doubt not, of the old Harosheth of the Gentiles. The present village of that name is in a recess of the hills, a short distance to the east of the tell. On that bold promontory of Carmel directly facing us is the Mukhrakah, where the great sacrifice was offered by Elijah. The shapeless ruins of El Mansûra are on a lower terrace to the southeast of it, and similar ruins are below on the north side of the mountain. The great Wady Millh passes southward round the end of Carmel, and

WEST END OF ESDRAELON-ANCIENT SITES.

219

through it, I believe, ran the ancient Roman road to Tantûra and Cæsarea. The large tell on this side of it is Caimôn, often mentioned by ancient geographers and itineraries. This lower end of Esdraelon is not more than six miles wide, and most of it is too flat and wet for cultivation; but the Arabs delight in it, particularly in winter, and it is even now dotted over with their black tabernacles. Overgrown as it is with tall thistles and long grass, it is the favorite haunt of the gazelle; and there goes a family of them, bounding gayly toward Sheikh Bureîkh on the western margin of the plain. The solemn stork, too, frequents the more marshy parts of it, and adds much to the interest of this rather monotonous scene.

Around this northwestern side of Esdraelon are clustered a number of interesting sites which we may notice in pass ing. That large tell with a village upon it is Jibbata; and directly north of it, half an hour, is Semmûnia, on an immense tell, partly hid in a recess of the mountain. In the plain between the two Josephus fought one of his battles with the Romans. Semmûnia is entirely deserted, but there is an excellent fountain of water at the southwest base of the tell; and the traveler along that road in summer will be thankful to know where he can slake his thirst and fill his "bottle." Two miles west of Semmûnia is Jeîda, on an old site full of rock tombs and surrounded with oak glades and rich vales of the most exquisite loveliness. West of this are Kuskus and Tell'aum; and in the woods north of it are Zebda, Beît Lahm, and Em el 'Amed, all ancient, and some of them historical. Beautiful as paradise, yet that whole region is deserted; as in the days of Shamgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the inhabitants of the villages cease, the highways are unoccupied, and the travelers walk through by-ways; and so we are doing at this moment, and for the same reason. The present state of the country is no novelty.

We are now passing through the scene of Barak's great battle with Sisera; and this same neighborhood witnessed

another contest more remarkable and vastly more important and impressive than the overthrow of that oppressor of Israel. It occurred during the reign of that wicked king Ahab, and his more wicked queen Jezebel; and the scene shifts from Esdraelon to Carmel, and from mountain to plain, in rapid succession. Elijah, the Tishbite, is the principal actor. Jezebel had successfully employed the power and patronage of the government to corrupt the faith of Israel, and the whole kingdom was overrun with the priests of Baal, that abomination of the Zidonians, while his idolatrous temples reared their insulting heads in every part of the land. To effect this apostasy, Jezebel had waged a bloody persecution against the prophets of the Lord. The Tishbite thus states the case, in reply to the question, What doest thou here, Elijah? I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, said he, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away.1

To arrest this ruinous revolt, the Lord interposed by a series of awful judgments and stupendous miracles. At the prayer of the prophet he shut up the heavens for three years and six months, so that there was neither rain nor dew during all these years. Near the close of this dreadful drought the king said to Obadiah, the governor of his house, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks; peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. So Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. The latter went westward from Jezreel to the marshy grounds near Carmel, at the bottom of Esdraelon, and there Elijah met him, and said, Go tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. The good man was terrified at the thought of carrying such a message to the enraged king. As the Lord thy God liveth, said he, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee.5 Elijah replied, As the

11 Kings xix. 10.

4

1 Kings xviii. 8.

21 Kings xvii. 1.

1 Kings xviii. 10.

31 Kings xviii. 5, 6.

ELIJAH'S SACRIFICE-PRIESTS OF BAAL.

221 Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to-day. Ahab seems to have been near at hand, for he quickly obeyed the summons; and when he saw Elijah he exclaimed, in anger, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?1 I have not troubled Israel, was the reply of the Tishbite, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim. Now, therefore, send and gather me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of the groves, four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.2 The wicked but weak-minded king sank before the daring servant of God, his more wicked and resolute wife not being by his side. He hastily gathered the people to a remarkable and wellknown spot on the eastern end of Carmel, where sacrifice had been offered to Jehovah in ancient times. But never before was there such a meeting as this, never such a momentous question to be discussed, such a mighty controversy to be settled. Elijah came unto all the people and said, If the Lord be God follow him, but if Baal then follow him.3 But the people, conscience smitten, yet afraid of the king, answered him not a word. Then the prophet, to compel a choice, proposed the test of sacrifice, and the God that answered by fire let him be God. The irresolute multitude ventured to approve; the king could not resist; the priests dared not refuse. Quickly the victims are upon the altars, and the priests call upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no voice, nor any that answered. Then Elijah mocked them, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is on a journey, or, peradventure, he sleepeth and must be awaked. The poor priests, goaded to madness by this scorching irony, leaped in frantic despair upon the altar, crying aloud, O Baal, hear us! and they cut themselves with knives and lancets after their manner, till the blood gushed out upon them. But in vain. There was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor that regarded. Thus they continued until the time of the evening sacrifice. Then 1 1 Kings xviii. 15–17. 21 Kings xviii. 19. 31 Kings xviii. 21.

Elijah repaired the altar of Jehovah, which was broken down, placing twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob. A trench was dug round it, the wood arranged, the sacrifice upon it, and all was ready for the great decision; but, to make the trial doubly convincing, barrel after barrel of water was poured on until it ran round about the altar and filled the trench. Then comes the solemn invocation, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I thy servant have done all these things at thy word. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. The whole multitude fell on their faces, crying out, Jehovah he is the God! Jehovah he is the God! And Elijah said to the people, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. They did so, and brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there, near the base of that high Tell Kussis which you see in the mouth of the valley. Then Elijah said to Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. Elijah himself returned to the top of Carmel, cast himself upon the ground, put his face between his knees, and prayed-prayed earnestly for the rain; but it came not until his servant had gone up to the top and looked out on the Mediterranean seven times. Then the little cloud, as large as a man's hand, was seen to rise out of the sea, and Elijah sent word to the king, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. In the mean while the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Thus the long drouth of three years and a half was brought to a close; but the work of the prophet on this most eventful day was not yet ended. Ahab rode and went home to Jezreel; and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. This is the last, most strange, and most unexpected act of this great drama; and perhaps there is no one day's work in the whole history of man more wonderful than this.