DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4642#0018
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The mountain ridge which commences not far from Carmel, and runs W.S.W. to the solitude of
Beersheba, formed the natural boundary, on this side, of the higher tract, or "mountains of Judah;"
while the lower region, farther south, extending quite round to Beersheba, constituted the uttermost
border "toward the coast of Edom, southward."
The country between Wady Mousa and Hebron has evidently been once the seat of a large
population; every hill seems to have had its town, as probably every valley had its tillage and pasture.
But the towns are chiefly ruins, and the valleys are abandoned to the precarious cultivation of a peasantry
with whom everything is precarious.1
Semua (now variously pronounced, and which stands probably on the site of the Eshtemoa of
Scripture2) is reduced to a village, in the midst of pasture lands, filled with flocks and herds at certain
seasons. At the time of the Artist's visit, the cattle had been driven away to other pastures; and the
inhabitants had migrated along with them. There might be an additional reason for the general solitude.
The Conscription had been in force, and the young men, by whom the Egyptian service was hated, on
those occasions generally fled to the mountains.3
The ground is strewed with large stones, the remains of vast ancient buildings, the only portion of
which left standing is a tower, a relique, probably, of Roman fortification.4
1 Biblical Researches, ii. 626.
• Josh. xv. 50. xxi. 14.
Roberts's Journal.
Kinnear.
IS ¥ II M ^ ©W
WW&<
The mountain ridge which commences not far from Carmel, and runs W.S.W. to the solitude of
Beersheba, formed the natural boundary, on this side, of the higher tract, or "mountains of Judah;"
while the lower region, farther south, extending quite round to Beersheba, constituted the uttermost
border "toward the coast of Edom, southward."
The country between Wady Mousa and Hebron has evidently been once the seat of a large
population; every hill seems to have had its town, as probably every valley had its tillage and pasture.
But the towns are chiefly ruins, and the valleys are abandoned to the precarious cultivation of a peasantry
with whom everything is precarious.1
Semua (now variously pronounced, and which stands probably on the site of the Eshtemoa of
Scripture2) is reduced to a village, in the midst of pasture lands, filled with flocks and herds at certain
seasons. At the time of the Artist's visit, the cattle had been driven away to other pastures; and the
inhabitants had migrated along with them. There might be an additional reason for the general solitude.
The Conscription had been in force, and the young men, by whom the Egyptian service was hated, on
those occasions generally fled to the mountains.3
The ground is strewed with large stones, the remains of vast ancient buildings, the only portion of
which left standing is a tower, a relique, probably, of Roman fortification.4
1 Biblical Researches, ii. 626.
• Josh. xv. 50. xxi. 14.
Roberts's Journal.
Kinnear.