By Josephus and other writers it is called the lake Asphaltites, from the abundance of bitumen found in it; and also the Dead Sea, from antient traditions, erroneously though generally received, that no living creature can exist in its stagnant and hydro-sulphuretted waters, which are in the highest degree salt, bitter, and nauseous, and of such a degree of specific gravity as will enable a man to float on their surface without motion. The acrid saltness of its waters is much greater than that of the sea; and the land, which surrounds this lake, being equally impregnated with that saltness, refuses to produce plants. To this Moses alludes in Deut. xxix. 23. The air itself, which is by evaporation loaded with it, and which is impregnated with the sulphureous and bituminous vapours, is fatal 1 Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, vol. viii. p. 164. An analysis of the water of the Dead Sea (a phial of which had been brought to England by Mr. Gordon of Clunie, at the request of the late Sir Joseph Banks), conducted by Dr. Marcet, gave the following results:-" This water is perfectly transparent, and does not deposit any crystals on standing in close vessels.-Its taste is peculiarly bitter, saline, and pungent.-Solutions of silver produce from it a very copious precipitate, showing the presence of marine acid.-Oxalic acid instantly discovers lime in the water. The lime being separated, both caustic and carbonated alkalies readily throw down a magnesian precipitate.-Solutions of barytes produce a cloud, showing the existence of sulphuric acid.-No alumine can be discovered in the water by the delicate test of succinic acid combined with ammonia.—A small quantity of pulverised sea salt being added to a few drops of the water, cold and undiluted, the salt was readily dissolved with the assistance of gentle trituration, showing that the Dead Sea is not saturated with common salt.None of the coloured infusions commonly used to ascertain the prevalence of an acid or an alkali, such as litmus, violet, and turmeric, were in the least altered by the water.' Dr. Marcet analysed the water by two different processes, the results of which coincided very nearly; the last of which, being in his judgment the most accurate, is subjoined: On summing up the contents of 150 grains of the water, they ap peared to be as follow: Salts. Acid. And consequently the proportions of these salts in 100 grains of the water would be: Grains. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, for 1807, part ii. pp. 298-312. Another analysis, made by the eminent French chemist, M. Gay-Lussac in 1819, gave nearly similar results. (See Quarterly Journal of Science, &c. vol. viii. p. 165.) "Hence it appears that the Dead Sea water now contains about one-fourth of its weight of salts supposed in a state of perfect desiccation; or if they be desiccated at the temperature of 180° on Fahrenheit's scale, they will amount to forty-one per cent. of the water. If any person wish for a stronger confirmation of the Scripture account of the origin of the Dead Sea than this furnishes, we can only pity the miserable state of incredulity to which he is reduced, and commit him to the influences of that power which can cause the 'wilderness to blossom as the rose,' and from 'stones raise up children unto Abraham.* ́ Eclectic Review for 1809, vol. v. part. i. p. 134, to vegetation; hence arises the deadly aspect which reigns around the lake. Here formerly stood the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which, with three other cities of the plain, were consumed by fire from heaven; to this destruction there are numerous allusions in the Scriptures, as displaying most signally the certainty and suddenness of the divine anger, which sooner or later overtakes the impenitently wicked. Viewing this sea from the spot where the Jordan discharges its waters into it, this body of water takes a south-easterly direction visible for ten or fifteen miles, when it disappears in a curve towards the east. Its surface is generally unruffled, from the hollow of the basin in which it lies scarcely admitting the free passage necessary for a strong breeze; it is however, for the same reason, subject to whirlwinds or squalls of short duration. The mountains on each side are apparently separated by a distance of eight miles ; but the expanse of water at this point has been supposed not to exceed five or six. As the Dead Sea advances towards the south, it evidently increases in breadth.3 Pliny states the total length to be one hundred miles, and its greatest breadth twenty-five. But modern travellers, who appear to have ascertained its dimensions with accuracy, have estimated its length to be about seventy-two English miles, and its greatest breadth to be nearly nineteen. A profound silence, awful as death, hangs over the lake: and "its desolate though majestic features are well suited to the tales related concerning it by the inhabitants of the country, who all speak of it with terror."4 3. The Great Sea, mentioned in Numb. xxxiv. 6. and elsewhere in the Sacred Volume, is the Mediterranean Sea, so called by way of eminence and the Red Sea, so often noticed, is now known by the appellation of the Arabian Gulph.5 Besides the preceding rivers and lakes, the Scriptures mention several Fountains and Wells. In a country where these are of rare occurrence, it is no wonder that they should antiently have given rise to strife and contention.6 (Gen. xxi. 25. xxvi. 20.) The most remarkable of these fountains and wells are the Fountain or Pool of Siloam and Jacob's Well. 1. Siloam was a fountain under the walls of Jerusalem, east, between the city and the brook Kedron: it is supposed to be the same as the fountain En-Rogel, or the Fuller's Fountain. (Josh. xv. 7. and xviii. 16. 2 Sam. xvii. 17. and 1 Kings i. 9.) The spring issues from a rock, and runs in a silent stream, according to the testimony 1 Volney's Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. i. p. 288. 8vo. 3d edit.; Turner's Tour in the Levant, vol. ii. p. 227. 2 Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, p. 293. 3 Jolliffe's Letters from Palestine, p. 118. 4 For an account and refutation of the antient traditions concerning the Dead Sea, see Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. pp. 400-406. 8vo. 5 See the article RED SEA, in the Geographical Index, infra. 6 When Capt. Light descended in 1814, into the beautiful plain of Sephora, or Sephoury, at a short distance from Nazareth, he saw in the centre a band of herdsmen, armed with muskets, watering their cattle in a large stone reservoir. With them he was obliged to have an altercation before they would permit him to water his horse, without paying for the privilege. Travels, p. 196. of Jeremiah. It has a kind of ebb and flood, sometimes discharging its current like the fountain of Vaucluse; at others, retaining and scarcely suffering it to run at all. The pool or rather the two pools of the same name are quite close to the spring. They are still used for washing linen as formerly. The water of the spring is brackish, and has a very disagreeable taste: people still bathe their eyes with it, in memory of the miracle performed on the man born blind.1 From this pool, on the last day of the feast of tabernacles, which was a day of great festivity among the Jews, it was the custom to fetch water, some of which they drank with loud acclamations of joy and thanksgiving, and some was brought to the altar, where it was poured upon the evening sacrifice. During this solemn offering the people sang with transports of joy the twelfth chapter of Isaiah's prophecy, particularly the third verse-With joy shall ye draw water from the wells of salvation. To this custom our Lord alludes in John vii. 37. it was observed, in commemoration of their forefathers being miraculously relieved when they thirsted in the wilderness; and the water poured on the altar was brought as a drink-offering to God, when they prayed for rain against the following seed-time. : 2. Jacob's Well or fountain is situated at small distance from Sichem or Sechem, also called Sychar, and at present Napolose; it was the residence of Jacob before his sons slew the Shechemites. It has been visited by pilgrims of all ages, but especially by Chris→ tians, to whom it has become an object of veneration from the memorable discourse of our Saviour with the woman of Samaria.2 (John iv. 5-30.) In consequence of the scarcity of water in the East, travellers are careful to stop as often as possible near some river, fountain, or well this will probably account for Jacob's halting with his family at the ford Jabbok (Gen. xxxii. 22.); for the Israelites assembling their forces near the fountains of Jezreel (1 Sam. xxix. 1.), as the celebrated Moslem warrior Saladin afterwards did;3 and for David's men that were unable to march with him, waiting for him by the brook Besor. (1 Sam. xxx. 21.) It is not improbable that the antient wells, mentioned in Gen. xvi. 14. xxiv. 20. and Exod. ii. 16., 1 Chateaubriand's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 34. 36. Mr. Buckingham, who visited the fountain of Siloam in 1816 (a few years after Viscount Chateaubriand) describes it as a dirty little brook; which even in the rainy season is said to be an insignificant muddy stream. Travels in Palestine, p. 188. See also Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 357. 2 Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. pp. 278–280. Some learned men have conjectured that Jacob's well was only a cistern or reservoir for rain water; but the whole of the surrounding scenery confirms the evangelist's narrative, and the antiquity of the well. Such cisterns, indeed, are common in the oriental deserts to this day; and it is perhaps to conveniences of this kind, made or renewed by the devout Israelites in the valley of Baca, to facilitate their going up to Jerusalem, that the Psalmist refers (lxxxiv. 6, 7.) where he speaks of going from strength to strength till they appeared in Zion. Harmer's Observations, vol. ii. p. 184. To prevent accidents by the owners of such cisterns leaving them uncovered, Moses enacted various regulations. See Exod. xxi. 33, 34. 3 Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. p. 401. The Christian kings of Jerusalem, in the close of the twelfth century, also assembled their forces at a fountain between Nazareth and Sephoris. Ibid. were furnished with some conveniences for drawing water to refresh the fainting traveller, and with troughs or other contrivances for supplying cattle with water, similar to those which are to this day found in Persia, Arabia, and the East Indies. Great precautions were taken antiently as well as in modern times, to prevent the moving sands from choaking up their wells, by placing a stone over the mouth (Gen. xxix. 2-8.) after the requisite supply had been drawn up; or by locking them up, which Sir John Chardin thinks was done at Laban's well, of which Rachel perhaps kept the key. (Gen. xxix. 6.9.) The stopping up of wells is to this day an act of hostility in the East, as it was in the days of Abraham and Isaac, (Gen. xxvi. 15-18.) and Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxii. 3, 4.), and also long after among several antient nations. Thus, the Scythians, in their retreat before the Persians, under Darius, filled up the wells and fountains which lay in their way: and Arsaces ordered the wells to be broken and filled up, upon the advance of Antiochus from Ecbatana; while the latter, who was fully aware of their consequence to himself and his army, sent a detachment of a thousand horse, to drive away the Persian cavalry who were employed upon this service. Wells and fountains were also lurking places of robbers and assassins, and enemies were accustomed to lie in ambush at them as they are now. To this Deborah alludes in her song. (Judg. v. 11.) The Crusaders suffered much from the Saracens, who lay in ambush for them in like manner; and Dr. Shaw mentions a beautiful well in Barbary, the water of which is received into a large basin for the accommodation of travellers; and which is called Shrub we krub, that is, drink and away, from the danger which they incur of meeting with assassins there.3 In our own time it is the custom for the oriental women, particularly those who are unmarried, to fetch water from the wells, in the mornings and evenings; at which times they go forth adorned with their trinkets. This will account for Rebecca's fetching water (Gen. xxiv. 15.), and will further prove that there was no impropriety in Abraham's servant presenting her with more valuable jewels than those she had before on her hands. (Gen. xxiv. 22-47.) 1 Herodotus, lib. iv. c. 120. tom. i. p. 292. Oxon. 1809. 2 Polybius, lib. x. c. 29. tom. iii. p. 253. edit. Schweighaeuser. 3 Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. p. 409. Shaw's Travels, vol. i. p. 63. 8vq. Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, &c. p. 627. 4 Harmer's Observations, vol. i. pp. 198, 199. vol. ii. pp. 125. 184. 193. vol. iii. p. 401. "In the valley of Nazareth," says Dr. Clarke, " appeared one of those fountains, which, from time immemorial, have been the halting place of caravans, and sometimes the scene of contention and bloodshed. The women of Nazareth were passing to and from the town, with pitchers upon their heads. We stopped to view the group of camels with their drivers who were there reposing; and calling to mind the manners of the most remote ages, we renewed the solicitations of Abraham's servant unto Rebecca, by the well of Nahor. Gen. xxiv. 17." (Travels, vol. iv. p. 165.) The same traveller observed a similar custom in the Isle of Syros. (vol. vi. p. 152, 153.) In Bengal it is the universal practice for the women to go to pools and rivers to fetch water. Companies of four, six, ten, or more, may seen in every town, daily, going to fetch water, with the pitchers resting on their sides. (Ward's View of the History, &c. of the Hindoos, vol. ii. p. 316. In the island of Goza, which is eighteen miles from Malta, Mr. Jowett says, that the Бе IV. Palestine is a mountainous country, especially that part of it which is situated between the Mediterranean or Great Sea and the river Jordan. The principal Mountains are those of Lebanon, Carmel, Tabor, the mountains of Israel, and of Gilead: those which are either within the limits, or in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem, have been noticed in pp. 18, 19. supra. 1. Lebanon, by the Greeks and Latins termed Libanus, is a long chain of limestone mountains, extending from the neighbourhood of Sidon on the west to the vicinity of Damascus eastward, and forming the extreme northern boundary of the Holy Land. Antiently, it bounded with odoriferious trees of various descriptions, from which the most curious gums and balsams were extracted; whence some have derived its name, Lebanon, which signifies frankincense. It is divided into two principal ridges or ranges parallel to each other, the most westerly of which is known by the name of Libanus, and the opposite or Eastern ridge by the appellation of Anti-Libanus: but the Hebrews do not make this distinction of names, denominating both summits by the common name of Lebanon. These mountains may be seen from a very considerable distance, and some part or other of them is covered with snow throughout the year. On the loftiest summit of all, Dr. Clarke observed the snow lying, not in patches, as he had seen it during the summer upon the tops of very elevated mountains, but investing all the higher part with that perfect white and smooth velvet-like appearance which snow only exhibits when it is very deep-a striking spectacle in such a climate, where the beholder, seeking protection from a burning sun, almost considers the firmament to be on fire.2 These mountains are by no means barren, but are almost all well cultivated and well peopled: their summits are, in many parts, level, and form extensive plains, in which are sown corn and all kinds of pulse. They are watered by numerous springs, rivulets, and streams of excellent water, which diffuse on all sides a freshness and fertility even in the most elevated regions. To these Solomon has a beauti ful allusion. (Song iv. 15.) Vineyards, and plantations of mulberry, olive, and fig trees are also cultivated on terraces formed by walls, which support the earth from being washed away by the rains from the sides of the acclivities.3 The soil of the declivities, and of the hollows that occur between them, is most excellent, and produces abundance of corn, oil, and wine; which is as much celebrated in the East in the present day as it was in the time of the prophet Hosea, who particularly alludes to it. (Hos. xiv. 7.) Lebanon was antiently celebrated for its stately cedars, which are now less numerous than in former times; they grow among the snow near the women, as they go to the wells for water, carry their empty pitchers horizontally on their heads, with the mouth looking backwards. (Missionary Register for 1818, p. 297.) May not this illustrate Jer. xiv. 3,? 1 The heights of ODOROUS Lebanon are eulogised by Musaeus-Aiẞavov Dvoev τος ενι πτερύγεσσί. 3 Light's Travels, p. 219. 2 Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. pp. 202, 201. 4 Mr. Kinneir, who visited this country at the close of the year 1813, says, that |