While geographical allusions are spread over the whole Bible, there are a few books which de mand special notice. Genesis, in addition to the narrative of creation, sketches the establishment of the primeval empires and cities, and then the travels of the patriarchs in Canaan. In Numbers and Deuteronomy we have accounts of the penin sula of Sinai, Edom, Moab, Gilead, and Bashan. Joshua is geographically one of the most remark able books in the Bible. Ten chaptcrs of it are devoted to a description of Palestine, in which not only are its general features and boundaries care fully laid down, but the names and situations of it?. towns and villages enumerated with a precision of geographical terms which invites and almost com pels a minute investigation' (Stanley, Pref.) In Daniel we have a few notices of Babylon, and a prophetic allusion to the Babylonian, -Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. The first three gospels contain notices of the towns, people, and products of Galilee. The topographical notices of John are confined chiefly to Judma. The re ferences in the Acts of the Apostles extend to Northern Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy.
The Hebrews do not seem to have devoted any attention to geography as a science, though they were widely scattered at the commencement of our era, and occupied a distinguished place in literature. The Greeks probably led the way in systematic geography. The first map is said to have been constructed by Anaximander, about B. C. 600. Nearly a century later Hecatmus of Miletus wrote a geogmphical work entitled Ilylo Sor -yijs (Ukert, Geogra25kie des Hecat. und Damas tes). These were followed by Strabo and Ptolemy. The Pheenicians and Egyptians were likewise dis tinguished as geographers. Ptolemy acknowledges that his great work was based on a treatise writ ten by Marinus of Tyre (Heeren, Commentatio de Fontibzis Geognzphicorum Peolemod, etc.) Pliny, the only Roman writer deserving of special men tion in this place, was a mere compiler. As a geography his book is of little value (See Ukert, Geographie d. Griech. Rbiner ; Mannert, Geo gay5hie, etc.) Sacred geography was not reduced to a system until a comparatively recent time. The Onomasticon of Eusebius and Jerome is an alpha betic list of places, with brief descriptions. The Tract of Brocardus, written in the 13th century, is little more than an itinerary. To Samuel Bochart, a French Protestant minister (born 1599), belongs the honour of writing the first systematic work on Biblical geography. His Geographia Sacra is a. storehouse of learning from which all subsequent writers have drawn freely. Well's wrote his His torical Geography of the O. and N. T. in the
beginning of last century-. Reland's Palcestina, published in 1714, remains to this day the stan dard classic work. Dr. Robinson's Researches opened a new era in Biblical geography. It, however, is neither complete nor systematic ; it is only a book of travels, with most important his torical and geo,graphical illustrations. Ritter's Palastina und Syrien aims at system and com pleteness, but it is too diffuse. It gives a risumd of everything that has been written on Bible lands. A systematic and thorough treatise on Biblical geography is still a great desideratum in our country's literature.
It is of importance to the Biblical student to have placed before him a condensed list of the more im portant works bearing on the subject of sacred geo graphy. Such a list will now be given. It has been compiled with much care. To enumerate all the books written on Bible lands would be prac tically useless. Many of them have no v-alue be yond the entertainmcnt they may afford. Many are mere repetitions of their predecessors. The works given below are such only as tbe writer has found really useful. The dates attached are those of the editions in his possession, and to which refe rence is made in the geographical articles prepared for this work. More extended lists may be seen in Robinson's B. R. ii. ; Kitto's Physical Geography of Palestine. For facility of reference thc list is divided into three classes.
Ancient and Aledional writers who have inci dentally furnishea' infbrmation on Sacred Geog- raphy. (1) .7eivisk—The Apocryph-a ; Josephus, Opera, ed. Hudson, 2 vols. fol. 1720 ; Traill's translation of the Wars (2 vols. ISA contains im portant notes and illustrations. (2) HeatIzen— Herodotus, especially Rawlinson's translation, 4 vols. 1858-60 ; Strabo, Ceographia, ed. Casaubon, 1587 ; Pliny, Historia Naturalis, ed. Sillig, 5 vols. 1S31-36. Dio Cassius (1752, Hamburg) gives some short notes on Palestine. The few remarks in Tacitus and Livy are of little value. (3) Christian— Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomon, and Theodoret, in Historia Eccles. Scriptor. Crerci, 3 vols. fol. 1695 ; Jerome, Opera, ed. Migne, 9 vols. Svo ; Theodo ret, Opera, ed. Migne, 5 vols. In the exegetical writings of Jerome and Thcodoret are some useful notes ; they both resided in Palestine. William of Tyre, Historia Belli Sacri ; James de Vitry, Histo ria Orientalis, etc.—These two works, with several others, are contained in Bonger's Gesta Dei per Francos, fol. 161r. Chronicles of the Crusades, ed. Bohn, 1848, containing Richard of Devizes, Geoffrey de Vinsauf, and De Joinville.