There is no reason to question that the present town occupies the site of the ancient Shechem, although its dimensions are probably more con tracted. The fertility and beauty of the deep and narrow valley in which the town stands, especially in its immediate neighbourhood, have been much admired by travellers, as far exceeding what they had seen in any other part of Palestine. This valley is not more than 5oo yards wide at the town, which stands directly upon its watershed, the streams on the eastern part flowing off east into the plain, and so towards the Jordan, while the fountains on the western side send off a pretty brook down the valley N.W. towards the Mediter ranean. The town itself is long and narrow, ex tending along the N.E. base of Mount Gerizim, and partly resting upon its declivity. The streets are narrow; the houses high, and in general well built, all of stone, with domes upon the roofs as at Jerusalem. The bazaars are good and well sup plied. There are no ruins which can be called ancient in tbis country, but there are remains of a church of fine Byzantine architecture, and a hand some arched gateway, both apparently of the time of the first Crusades. These occur in the main street, through the whole length of which a stream of clear water rushes down—a rare circumstance in the East. The population of the place is rated by Dr. Olin at S000 or ro,000, of whcm 5oo or 600 are Christians of the Greek communion, 'and the rest Moslems, with the exception of about 13o Samaritans, and one-third that number of Jews. The inhabitants bear the character of being
an. unusually valiant as well as a turbulent race, and some years since maintained a desperate struggle against the Egyptian government in some bloody rebellions (Robinson, Palestine, ii. 94-136 ; Olin, Travels, ii. 339-365 ; Narrative of the Scottish Deputation,pp.268-218; Schubert, Morgenland,iii. 136-134. ; Winer, Real-wort. s.v. ; Lord Nugent, Lana's Classical and Sacred, ii. 172-180).—J. K.
[Near to Nablus are two famous spots which tradition signalises as the well of Jacob and Joseph's tomb. The former lies about a mile and a half to the west of the city ; it is in the middle of the ruins of a church by which it was formerly sur rounded. The opening over the well is an orifice in a dome or arch, less than two feet in diameter. Thc well is very deep, not less than 75 feet (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, ii. 56). The latter is about a quarter of a mile north of the well, and is a tomb of the ordinary kind, enclosed in a square of high white-washed walls. In the walls are two slabs with Hebrew inscriptions (Wilson, ii. 61). There seems no reason to doubt the accuracy of these traditional identifications, especially the former. It is one in which Jews, Samaritans, Christians, and Mohammedans agree, and which everything con nected with the well itself favours. We may therefore, with all confidence, regard this as the memorable spot beside which the Saviour sat and conversed with the woman of Samaria.]