maritime tract towards Egypt, is difficult to determine. It seems certain that they had settled in Crete (where the name of the river Jordan appears), and they may have peopled that island at the same time as they appeared in Canaan. This would account for their connection with Caphtor, if, as is supposed by Ewald, the name Caphtor designated the whole or part of Crete. A remarkable relic of this people existed in Malta some forty years ago, though it has since been greatly mutilated. This monument is called Hdjar Cham, "stones of worship," and consists of a temple of the rudest workmanship, in the walls of which were found figures of female deities, probably Ashtoreth. In front of these statues were stone altars, and in another enclosure was an altar carved with the palm-tree, the Phoenician symbol, together with the high-priest's seat, on the back of which were graven two serpents and an egg. This temple is supposed to have been erected by some of the inhabitants of Palestine, who fled before the conquering arm of Joshua.❜ But the Philistines were evidently in patriarchal times possessed of little power, and lived a quiet pastoral life, displaying none of that restless activity and warlike skill which made them such formidable enemies in the age of Saul and David. This later change in national character is accounted for possibly by the infusion of a fresh element, owing to another immigration of these "strangers," as the Septuagint calls them.

The religion of these tribes was the worship of nature, gradually degenerating into immorality and cruelty. The Hittites borrowed many of their deities from Babylonia, so that among them Abram found traces of that religion which he had abominated in his old home. Their chief goddess was Istar or Ashtoreth, whose worship they carried with them wherever they went, and introduced especially among their Syrian neighbours. The other tribes worshipped also Baal under various namesEl, Moloch, Adoni. As in all such systems that have broken away from revealed religion, the people learned to consecrate their own lusts and passions, and to impress a Divine element on the indulgence of them. To propitiate offended powers of nature they practised human sacrifice; and from the notion that the more costly the offering the more favourably would the offerer be regarded, they scrupled not to slay their own offspring on the Homer, "Od." iii. 292. Ewald, "History of Israel,” i. 245. Malan, "Philosophy or Truth," p. 131 f.

altar of their gods. Of primitive idolatry vestiges are still to be found in stone circles, obelisks, and dolmens, though the zeal of Jewish kings destroyed most of them in Judæa. At the same time, in some quarters, a purer religion was cultivated. Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God (Elion); and whether this term Elion was applied, as Eusebius says ("Praep. Evang." i. 10), to the Phœnician deity or not, it is plain that Abram acknowledged the king of Salem as a worshipper of the same God as himself. Abimelech (Gen. xxi. 22 f.) appeals to God (Elohim), as recognized both by himself and Abraham ; and though in the plural form of this word many have seen an intimation of polytheism, yet, joined as it is with a verb in the singular number, it was doubtless used not only to adumbrate a monotheistic creed, but likewise to prepare men's minds for the full development of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.' But without pursuing this subject further, we may see that in Canaan at this time, side by side with idolatry and polytheism, there was a tradition of true religion, and that Abram was recognized as a worshipper of one God, and was not persecuted or despised on this account. In his intercourse with the inhabitants of the land he may have been eager to grasp at any intimation of purer doctrine and to turn it to a holy purpose; as when he uses the local term El-Olam, the eternal God, and identifies it with Jehovah (chap. xxi. 33); but no intimation is ever given that he was hereby exaggerating the belief of his hearers or attributing to them a faith which they did not profess. The example of such a man, in the midst of corruption of religion and abominable vice, must have had some influence for good, and led to the inference that the God whose worshipper was of so high a character was not as the gods of the heathen.

It was no

The fertility of Palestine was always remarkable. vain boast when Moses described it (Deut. viii. 7 f.) as "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil-olive and honey." Though little cultivated in patriarchal times, its capabilities were great; its wadys and pools were always there; its natural products were the same then as now. The climate indeed is variable, but would not be unhealthy if drainage were more ! Liddon, "Bampton Lectures," pp. 73 ff.

attended to. The danger arises from the cold winds concurring with the hot autumnal sun, and from malaria, especially in the 'ow country. Hence towns were always built either on hills or on the sea coast. The rainfall averages in the year about twenty-five inches, which with ordinary care would obviate all fear of drought. Probably in early times, when trees were more abundant, the supply of rain was greater; and the numerous cisterns in all parts of the country show that it was found necessary to store it where no springs or streams occurred. The Negeb, or south-land, is pastoral, but owing to the subsoil being a porous chalk is much subject to drought. The Shephelah, or low ground, is the richest part of the country, abounding in corn, olives, and at all times celebrated for its sycamores and terebinths. The Hebron hills are the home of the vine. Many of the forests which once existed have disappeared. Dense thickets of lentisk and dwarf-oak, with some scattered pines, are common on the western slopes. The box, the fig, and the acacia are indigenous, but very partially distributed. The present aspect of this part of the country represents to a great extent its state in these early times, the change being one of degree and not of kind." The Jordan valley is now a wilderness, with a deadly climate and tropical heat. But the soil is rich, and, where it was irrigated artificially, produced immense crops. The plain at the foot of the hills, watered by natural mountain streams, was always extremely fertile. Josephus called it 66 a region divine;" and the immediate neighbourhood of Jericho meets with the most glowing description at the hands of old writers. In Philistia, especially round Gaza, the soil is so rich and even now unexhausted, that good crops are raised with very little cultivation. But in these plains along the coast the sand steals on year by year, and covers the fertile ground. In primitive times there was a much wider stretch of verdant land before the dunes had encroached. From Jaffa to Carmel was all forest. The very name Sharon, as the plain was called, signifies "oaks ;" but a few trees scattered thinly over the open country are all that now remain of that ingens sylva which is mentioned by Strabo. In Lower Galilee the plain of Esdraelon is extremely rich, watered by numerous springs, and producing olives, palms, and every kind of grain and vegetable. The natives call it Merj Ibn Amir, “the meadow, the son of cultivation," a title which, however inappropriate in Abram's day,

shows at any rate the natural capabilities of the district. The hills round Nazareth are chalky and bare, but the low ranges to the west are covered with oak woods, and where these sink into the plain a fine open country is exposed, more fertile even than Esdraelon. The dense forests which once surrounded the Sea of Galilee have disappeared; but the fertility of the land, which was afterwards apportioned to the tribe of Naphtali, is well attested both by Josephus' and the Talmud. The latter, speaking of Bethshan in this neighbourhood, says that, if Paradise is to be found on earth, its gate is here; and that its soil was so prolific that one peck of sown corn produced seventy quarters. In the Carmel region there is evidence that in the day of Israel's prosperity a great proportion was under cultivation; the remains of terraces and watch towers prove that what is now thicket and rank undergrowth was formerly a scene of vineyards and gardens. The once fruitful field" has returned to its primitive condition, and its tangled brakes and wild vegetation represent the picture which would have met the patriarch's eye had his steps wandered in this direction. Upper Galilee, through part of which Abram passed, if not on his way to Canaan, yet certainly on his expedition against Chedorlaomer, is the healthiest and most picturesque quarter of the whole country. Round Banias there are remnants of vast primeval forests, and the vine has always flourished in the district, though its wines were not considered by the Talmudists to be so good as those produced by the grapes of Hebron. The tract of land along the coast, called Phoenicia, is composed of sand and low hills of soft limestone. Here the palm finds a genial soil, and the olive, lemon, and banana grow luxuriantly. From these notices, which the accurate survey of modern travellers enables us to collect, we may gather a fairly correct sketch of the aspect of that good land which was to be the nursery of true religion and the home of God's people. That Abram is represented as confining his wanderings to the comparatively unfertile districts of the south, and neglecting the rich and fruitful region of North Palestine, is an argument for the authenticity of the narrative. A mythical or romantic history of the patriarch would have placed him in situations more favourable to his mode of life; and we can account for the "Bell. Jud." iii. 10, 7, 8.

66 Survey Memoirs," Special Papers, pp. 195 ff.

present record only by concluding that it is based on the true facts preserved by memory or tradition.

There was one peculiarity in Palestine: it was able to support a far larger number of inhabitants than its small size would lead one to expect. The area of Western Palestine is only 7,000 square miles, or about the same as that of Wales; but this is so diversified by hill and valley, so well watered and fertile under cultivation, that a dense population found food in abundance. When the census was taken in the plains of Moab (Numb. xxvi.), the people belonging to the nine and a half tribes who were to inhabit Western Palestine were estimated at about two millions. This would give 285 to the square mile, which is a far less proportion than is found in many countries now-a-days; Belgium having 330, North Holland 455, and South Holland 467 inhabitants to the square mile.1 In the best of times every available spot was inhabited; every hillside was a garden, or orchard, or vineyard. Cities and villages were seen in all directions; mountain, plain, valley, were covered with dwellings. The number of ruins at this day astonishes and bewilders the traveller. All this presupposes a large population and unwearied labour. Such a country under other circumstances would soon fall back into barrenness and desolation. And this is its state at the present time. Such was its condition when Abram settled there. Few towns existed; if we except the cities of the Jordan circle, we read of no more than some half-dozen in all the rest of the land; and the population must have been even more sparse than it is From seven to ten tribes are enumerated as dwelling in Palestine or its confines; but most of these were of small size, held together by no common policy, governed by no supreme chieftain, and sufficiently separated from one another to prevent feuds or disputes about territory. Abram found no difficulty in pasturing his flocks and herds where he pleased; his household made him respected as a powerful sheikh and the natural head of a confederacy of native chiefs, when a common danger gathered them together.

now.

Of the physical and moral peculiarities of these tribes, of their habits and characteristics, though at so distant a period, we may learn something from the study of their successors, if not descendants, the Fellaheen of Palestine. These are not Arabs, Thomson, "The Land and the Book," pp. 97,

98.

• "Survey Memoirs," Special Papers, pp. 309 ff. Probably too much is here made of the supposed ethnographical connection of the Fellaheen with