DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0223
i94
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
summits of the chain. The ridge is a steep anticlinal—a great arch of hard rocks curving
down east and west to valley and plain. The lower hills on the west, belong to a distinct
formation, and are indeed remains of the great chalk sea which once overflowed the hard
limestone mountains. Hence it arises that the division between the higher mountains and
the lower hills of the Judaean chain is so distinct; and the traveller looking down from the
higher spurs sees the low hills gleaming with white chalk or dusky with long olive groves,
forming an intermediate district between the grey mountains and the rich brown plains. In
Scripture and in later Jewish writings the two regions receive distinct names, the low hills
being called " Shephelah," and the higher range the " King's Mountain " in the Talmud.
Three main passes lead from the maritime plain to the King's Mountain or Chain of
Judaea : one from the north-west, one from the west, and a third from the south-west. The
first of these is the famous Pass of Beth-horon, the scene of so many Jewish victories ; the
second is the road by which the modern traveller approaches the Holy City, leading up from
Ramleh and past the " Gate of the Valley," through Wady 'Aly, a gorge flanked by rugged
mountains covered with mastic bushes and crowned by a belt of firs and other forest trees.
The third pass leads through the broad corn vale of Elah and ascends to the neighbourhood
of Halhul, half-way between Jerusalem and Hebron. At the time of the great struggle for
national existence Judas Maccabaeus successfully resisted three Greek armies attempting to
ascend by each of these three main approaches successively. The liberation of Judaea was
the immediate result of the three victorious " Battles of the Passes " at Beth-horon, Emmaus,
and Bethsura.
The three great valleys thus noticed—the main drains of the mountain system—are fed
by innumerable torrent-beds, which form an intricate network of deep and narrow trenches,
increasing in size as they recede farther from the watershed and plunge deeper towards the
plain. Long and narrow spurs run out between these ravines, and a traveller who attempts
to ride north and south instead of following the direction of the country will find his day
wasted in tedious climbing and break-neck scrambles, and may consider himself fortunate if
he makes a mile of way in an hour.
The western spurs of the King's Mountain present a far less bare and sun-scorched
appearance than do the steep eastern spurs above the Jordan Valley. The mountains are full
of springs of clear cool water gushing out between the slabs of shining limestone ; and although
the valleys and ravines never run water, except perhaps for a few hours in winter when filled
by a sudden spate or thunderstorm, still there is no lack of " fountains and depths that spring
out of valleys and hills." In the Shephelah, on the other hand, the water sinks through the
porous chalk and finds its way beneath the surface, springing up again in great blue pools at
the eastern border of the maritime plain. The inhabitants obtain water from wells and
cisterns in the Shephelah, but almost every village has its spring in the King's Mountain.
The mountain spurs thus watered and exposed to the cool western sea-breeze, which in
summer blows steadily throughout the day, are thickly covered with wild growth which has
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
summits of the chain. The ridge is a steep anticlinal—a great arch of hard rocks curving
down east and west to valley and plain. The lower hills on the west, belong to a distinct
formation, and are indeed remains of the great chalk sea which once overflowed the hard
limestone mountains. Hence it arises that the division between the higher mountains and
the lower hills of the Judaean chain is so distinct; and the traveller looking down from the
higher spurs sees the low hills gleaming with white chalk or dusky with long olive groves,
forming an intermediate district between the grey mountains and the rich brown plains. In
Scripture and in later Jewish writings the two regions receive distinct names, the low hills
being called " Shephelah," and the higher range the " King's Mountain " in the Talmud.
Three main passes lead from the maritime plain to the King's Mountain or Chain of
Judaea : one from the north-west, one from the west, and a third from the south-west. The
first of these is the famous Pass of Beth-horon, the scene of so many Jewish victories ; the
second is the road by which the modern traveller approaches the Holy City, leading up from
Ramleh and past the " Gate of the Valley," through Wady 'Aly, a gorge flanked by rugged
mountains covered with mastic bushes and crowned by a belt of firs and other forest trees.
The third pass leads through the broad corn vale of Elah and ascends to the neighbourhood
of Halhul, half-way between Jerusalem and Hebron. At the time of the great struggle for
national existence Judas Maccabaeus successfully resisted three Greek armies attempting to
ascend by each of these three main approaches successively. The liberation of Judaea was
the immediate result of the three victorious " Battles of the Passes " at Beth-horon, Emmaus,
and Bethsura.
The three great valleys thus noticed—the main drains of the mountain system—are fed
by innumerable torrent-beds, which form an intricate network of deep and narrow trenches,
increasing in size as they recede farther from the watershed and plunge deeper towards the
plain. Long and narrow spurs run out between these ravines, and a traveller who attempts
to ride north and south instead of following the direction of the country will find his day
wasted in tedious climbing and break-neck scrambles, and may consider himself fortunate if
he makes a mile of way in an hour.
The western spurs of the King's Mountain present a far less bare and sun-scorched
appearance than do the steep eastern spurs above the Jordan Valley. The mountains are full
of springs of clear cool water gushing out between the slabs of shining limestone ; and although
the valleys and ravines never run water, except perhaps for a few hours in winter when filled
by a sudden spate or thunderstorm, still there is no lack of " fountains and depths that spring
out of valleys and hills." In the Shephelah, on the other hand, the water sinks through the
porous chalk and finds its way beneath the surface, springing up again in great blue pools at
the eastern border of the maritime plain. The inhabitants obtain water from wells and
cisterns in the Shephelah, but almost every village has its spring in the King's Mountain.
The mountain spurs thus watered and exposed to the cool western sea-breeze, which in
summer blows steadily throughout the day, are thickly covered with wild growth which has