THE MODERN TRAVELLER, ETC. ETC. PALESTINE; OR, THE HOLY LAND. [A District in the South-west of Syria, lying between Lat. 31 and 334 N., and Long. 34 and 37 E.; bounded on the N. by the mountains of Libanus and Antilibanus; on the E. by the Syrian Desert; on the S. by Arabia Petræa and the Desert of Suez; on the W. by the Levant.] PALESTINE, the land of Israel, the kingdom of David and Solomon, the most favoured and the most guilty country under heaven; during between two and three thousand years the only section of the earth where the worship of the true God was perpetuated, "Over whose acres walked those blessed feet Which eighteen hundred years ago were nailed, this most interesting of countries is a small canton of Syria, included within the limits of the Turkish empire, and governed by the pashas of Acre and Damascus. In the map, it presents the appearance of a narrow slip of country, extending along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean; from which, to the river Jordan, the utmost width does not exceed fifty miles. This river was the eastern boundary of the land of Canaan, or Palestine, properly so called, which derived its name from the Philistines or Palestines originally inhabiting the coast. To three of the twelve tribes, however, Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, portions of territory were assigned on the eastern side of the river, which were afterwards extended by the subjugation of the neighbouring nations. The territory of Tyre and Sidon was its ancient border on the north-west; the range of the Libanus and Antilibanus forms a natural boundary on the north and north-east; while in the south, it is pressed upon by the Syrian and Arabian deserts. Within this circumscribed district, such were the physical advantages of the soil and climate, there existed, in the happiest periods of the Jewish nation, an immense population. The men able to bear arms in the time of Moses, somewhat exceeded 600,000; which computation, when the Levites (20,000) and women and children are added, will give nearly two millions and a half as the amount of the population as large as that of Sweden. * The kingdom of David and Solomon, however, extended far beyond these narrow limits. In a north-eastern direction, it was bounded only by the river Euphrates, and included a considerable part of Syria. It is stated, that Solomon had do * During the Roman war in the time of Josephus, the province of Galilee alone furnished an army of 100,000 men.-Jos. Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 20. § § 6. † 1 Kings iv. 24. minion over all the region on the western side of the Euphrates, from Thiphsah (or Thapsacus) on that river, in lat. 35° 20′, to Azzah, or Gaza. "Tadmor in the wilderness" (Palmyra), which the Jewish monarch is stated to have built, (that is, either founded or fortified,) is considerably to the northeast of Damascus, being only a day's journey from the Euphrates; and Hamath, the Epiphania of the Greeks, (still called Hamah,) in the territory belonging to which city Solomon had several "store cities," is seated on the Orontes, in lat. 34° 45′ N. On the east and south-east, the kingdom of Solomon was extended by the conquest of the country of Moab, that of the Ammonites, and Edom; and tracts which were either inhabited or pastured by the Israelites, lay still further eastward. Maon, which belonged to the tribe of Judah, and was situated in or near the desert of Paran,+ is described by Abulfeda as the furthest city of Syria towards Arabia, being two days' journey beyond Zoar. In the time of David, the people of Israel, women and children included, amounted, on the lowest computation, to five millions, besides the tributary Canaanites, and other conquered nations. The vast resources of the country, and the power of the Jewish monarch, may be estimated, not only by the consideration in which he was held by the contemporary sovereigns of Egypt, Tyre, and Assyria, but by the strength of the several kingdoms into which the dominions of David were subsequently divided. Damascus revolted during the reign of Solomon, and shook off the Jewish yoke. At his death, ten of the tribes revolted under Jeroboam, and 2 Chron. viii. 4. + Josh. xv. 55. 1 Sam. xxiii. 24; xxv. 2. See also 1 Kings xx. 34. the country became divided into the two rival kingdoms of Judah and Israel, having for their capitals Jerusalem and Samaria. The kingdom of Israel fell before the Assyrian conqueror, in the year B.C. 721, after it had subsisted about two hundred and fifty years. That of Judah survived about one hundred and thirty years, Judea being finally subdued and laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar, and the temple burned, B.C. 588. Idumea was conquered a few years after. From this period till the era of Alexander the Great, Palestine remained subject to the Chaldean, Median, and Persian dynasties. At his death, Judea fell under the dominion of the kings of Syria, and, with some short and troubled intervals, remained subject either to the kings of Syria or of Egypt, till John Hyrcanus shook off the Syrian yoke, and assumed the diadem, B. C. 130. The Asmonean dynasty, which united in the person of the monarch, the functions of king and pontiff, though tributary to Roman conquerors, lasted one hundred and twenty-six years, till the kingdom was given by Anthony to Herod the Great, of an Idumean family, B.C. 39.* At the time of the Christian era, Palestine was divided into five provinces; Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Perea, and Idumea.+ On the death of Herod, Arche Thirty-five years before the true date of our Lord's birth, which is computed to have taken place four years before the vulgar era. The tetrarchy of Judæa consisted of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Dan, and Simeon. The rest of the Holy Land, according to the Roman division, consisted of Samaria, Galilee, Peræa, Decapolis, Gaulonitis, Galaaditis, Batanæa, and Auranitis. Samaria contained in it the tribes of Ephraim, Issachar, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Galilee, the tribes of Zabulon, Asher, and Naphthali. Peræa, on the other side of Jordan, consisted of the tribes of Gad and Reuben. Decapolis was part of the laus, his eldest son, succeeded to the government of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, with the title of tetrarch; Galilee being assigned to Herod Antipas, and Perea, or the country beyond Jordan, to the third brother, Philip. But in less than ten years, the dominions of Archelaus became annexed, on his disgrace, to the Roman province of Syria, and Judea was thenceforth governed by Roman procurators. Jerusalem, after its final destruction by Titus, A.D. 71, remained desolate and almost uninhabited, till the emperor Hadrian colonized it, and erected temples to Jupiter and Venus on its site. The empress Helena, in the fourth century, set the example of repairing in pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to visit the scenes consecrated by the Gospel narrative, and the country became enriched by the crowds of devotees who flocked there. In the beginning of the seventh century, it was overrun by the Saracens, who held it till Jerusalem was taken by the Crusaders in the twelfth. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem continued for about eighty years, during which the Holy Land streamed continually with Christian and Saracen blood. In 1187, Judea was conquered by the illustrious Saladin, on the decline of whose kingdom, it passed through various revolutions, and, at length, in 1317, was finally swallowed up in the Turkish empire. half tribe of Manasseh. Gaulonitis was to the north of it. Galaaditis was a hilly country, extending from Mount Lebanon, through the half tribe of Manassel, and the tribes of Gad and Reuben. Further north in the half tribe of Manasseh, was Batanæa: and more northward was Auranitis, or Ituræa. Beyond this, bordering on the territory of Damascus, was Trachonitis.- PocockE's Travels, book i. chap. 1. |