The summer heat varies greatly in different lo calities. It is most intense along the shores of the Dead Sea, owing in part to the depression, and in part to the reflection of the sun's rays from the white mountains. The temperature at Engedi is probably as high as that of Thebes. The heat, the evaporation, and the fetid atmosphere, render the whole of this plain dangerous to Europeans during the summer months. Tiberias is not so hot as Jericho, but it is sensibly hotter than the coast plain, where, owing to the influence of the sea-breeze, which sets in at ten o'clock in the fore noon and continues till two hours after sunset, the heat is not oppressive. The dry soil and dry atmo sphere make the greater part of the coast salubrious. Palms flourish luxuriantly, and produce their fruit at Gaza, Joppa, Haifa, and as far north as Sidon and Beyrout ; they also bear fruit in favourable positions on the plain of Damascus. At Hebron, Jerusalem, along the summit of the central ridge, and on the eastern plateau, the heat is never in tense, the thermometer rarely rising to 9o° in the shade, though the bright cloudless sun and white soil make open-air labour and travel exhausting and dangerous. The following results of Dr. Barclay's observations at Jerusalem, extending over five years (1851-55), are important :— ' The greatest range of the thermometer on any year was 52° Fahr. The highest elevation of the mercury was 92°. Under favourable exposure, immediately before sunrise, on one occasion, it fell to 28°. The mean annual average of temperature is 66.5° ; July and August are the hottest months, January the coldest. The coldest time is about sunrise ; the warmest noon ; sunset is about the mean. The average temperature of January, the coldest month, during five years, was ; of August, the warmest month, 79.3°•' The temperature of Damascus is lower than that of Jerusalem. The highest range of the thermometer noted was 88°, the lowest 29°. The mercury rarely rises above 84° during the heat of the day. At Shumlan, on Lebanon, the highest range of the thermometer was 82° (August 22d) ; and the aver age of that month was 76°. According to the estimates of Dr. Forbes (Edinburgh New Philos. ,dour., April 1862), the mean annual temperature of Beyrout is 69°, of Jerusalem 62.6°, and of Jericho 72°. That of Jerusalem differs widely from Dr. Barclay's average ; and Jericho appears to be too low.
Rain —In Palestine the autumnal rains com mence about the end of October. In Lebanon they are a month earlier. They are usually accom panied by thunder and lightning (Jer. x. 13). They continue during two or three days at a time, not constantly, but falling chiefly in the night ; then there is an interval of sunny weather. The quantity of rain in October is small. The next four months may be called the rainy season, but even during them the fall is not continuous for any lengthened period. The showers are often ex tremely heavy. In April rain falls at intervals ; in May the showers are less frequent and lighter, and at the close of that month they cease altogether. No rain falls in Palestine in June, July, August, or September, except on occasions so rare as to cause not merely surprise, but alarm ; and not a cloud is seen in the heavens as large as a man's hand (I Sam. xii. 17, seq. ; Cant. ii. i t).* In Lebanon the climate in this respect is somewhat different. In 1850 rain fell at Shumlan on June 27th and z8th, and on August 8th, 9th, and 12th ; and in Damascus the writer has on one or two occasions seen rain in the month of June. In Lebanon also clouds are occa
sionally, though not frequently, seen during the summer months. Dr. Barclay gives the following average of the rainfall at Jerusalem during seven seasons 59 inches ; 1847-48, 55 inches ; x848-49, 60.6 inches ; 1850-51, 85 inches ; 185' 52, 65 inches ; 1852-53, 44 inches ; 1853-54, 26.9 inches.
This gives a general yearly average of 56.5 inches, which is 25 inches above the mean annual rainfall in England, and within one inch of that in Keswick, Cumberland, the wettest part of England (City of Great King, pp. 417, 428 ; Penny Cyclopadia,s.v. Rain).
Only two seasons are expressly mentioned in the Bible ; but the Rabbins (Talmud) make six, ap parently founding their division upon Gen. viii. 22. They are as follows :—(t.) Seed-time: October— December. (2.) Winter: December—February. (3.) Cold: February—April. (4.) Harvest: April —June. (5.) Heat : June—August. (6.) Sum mer: August—October. These divisions are arbi trary. Seed-time now commences in October after the first rains, and continues till January. Harvest in the lower valley of the Jordan sometimes begins at the close of March ; in the hill country of Judaea it is nearly a month later, and in Lebanon it rarely begins before June ; and is not completed in the higher regions till the end of July. After the heavy falls of rain in November, the young grass shoots up, and the ground is covered with verdure in December. In January, oranges, lemons, and citrons are ripe ; and at its close, in favourable sea sons, the almond tree puts out its blossoms. In February and March the apricot, pear, apple, and plum are in flower. In May, apricots are ripe ; and during the same month melons are produced in the warm plains around the Sea of Galilee. In June, figs, cherries, and plums ripen ; and the roses of the ' Valley of Roses,' near Jerusalem, and of the gardens of Damascus, are gathered for the manu facture of rose-water. August is the crowning month of the fruit season, during which the grape, fig, peach, and pomegranate are in perfection. The vintage extends on through September. In August vegetation languishes. The cloudless sky and burning sun dry up all moisture. The grass withers, the flower fades, the bushes and shrubs take a hard gray look, the soil becomes dust, and the country assumes the aspect of a parched, barren desert. The only exceptions to this general bareness are the orange-groves of Joppa and those few portions of the soil which are irrigated. The following are the principal works from which information may be obtained regarding the climate of Palestine and Syria. (i.) An Economi cal Calendar of Palestine, by Buhle, translated by Taylor, and inserted among the fragments ap pended to Calmet's Did. of the Bible. (2.) Walchii Calendarium Palastince, ed. J. D. Michaelis, 1755. (3.) Volney, Voyage en Syrie, etc., 17S7. (4.) Schubert, Reise nacli dem liforgenlande, iii., 1838. (5.) Russegger, Reisen, etc. (6.) Robinson, Bib. Res. passim. (7.) Kitto, Physical History of Pales tine, chap. vii. (S.) Barclay, City of the Great King, pp. 49 seq., 414 seq. (9.) Von Wilden bruch and Petermann, in yournal of R. G. S., xx.; and Poole in vol. xxvi. (to.) Forbes in Edinburgh New Philosophical Yournal, April 1862. (i i.) Russell's Natural Hist. of Aleppo gives full infor mation regarding the climate and products of Northern Syria.