5. From the Destruction of Jerusalem to the pre sent time. —On the establishment of Christianity in the Roman empire, a new ecclesiastical division of Palestine appears to have been made, into Prima, Secunda, and Tertia ; but the boundaries are not defined, the lists of their cities are confused, and the territory embraced extended far beyond Pales tine proper (See Reland, pp. 204-214).
After the Mohammedan conquest, Palestine be came a province of the empire of Khalifs, and on the dismemberment of the empire this unhappy country was the theatre of fierce struggles between rival dynasties. About the middle of the loth century the Fatimites seized it ; and a century later it was overrun by the Seljukian Turks, whose cruelty to Christian pilgrims roused the nations of western Europe to the first Crusade. Jerusalem was taken by the Franks in the year 1099, and Palestine was made a Christian kingdom. But the rule of the Crusaders was brief. Defeated by Saladin, they took refuge in a few of their strong holds. At length, in the year 1291, Acre was stormed by the Mamluke Sultan of Egypt, and thus terminated the dominion of the Crusaders in Palestine.
For more than two centuries after this period Palestine was the theatre of fierce contests between the shepherd hordes of Tartary and the Mamlukes of Egypt. In 1517 it was conquered by Sultan Seltm ; and from that time till the present it has formed part of the Ottoman empire.
Modern Divisions.—Palestine now forms part of two great pashalics—(1.) Sidon, embracing the whole of western Palestine ; and (2.) Damascus, embracing all east of the Jordan. That part of Palestine lying within the pashalic of Sidon is divided into the subpashalics of Jerusalem and Akka.* Inhabitants.—The modern inhabitants of Pales tine are a mixed race, made up of the descendants of the ancient Syrians, and of the Arabs who came in with the armies of the Khalifs. The number of the latter being small, the mixture of blood did not visibly change the type. This is seen by a comparison of the Christians with the Mohamme dans—the former are of pure Syrian descent, while the latter are more or less mixed ; yet there is no visible distinction, save that which dress makes. In addition to these there are a few Jews, Arme nians, and Turks ; all of whom are easily recog nised as foreigners. The Druses who live in
Hauran, and occupy a few villages in Galilee and on Carmel, are converts from Mohammedanism.
No census has been taken of the country, and the number of the inhabitants it is impossible to ascertain with any near approach to accuracy. One thing is manifest to every observer—the greater part of the country is desolate. Jerusalem, its largest city, has but 20,000 inhabitants ; and the only other places of any note are Gaza, Joppa, Acre, and Mbulus. Even villages are few, and sepa rated by long reaches of desolate country. The following is the nearest approach which can now be made to the population of the country : Pashalic of Jerusalem (Ritter, Pal. and Syr., iii. 833) . . . . 6oz,000 Pashalic of Acre (Robinson, iii. 628) 72,000 Remaining part of the pashalic of Sidon, in Palestine (estimate) . 50,000 Eastern Palestine (estimate) . . ioo,000 Total . 824,000 Of these about So,000 are Christians, 12,000 Jews, and the rest Mohammedans.
AUTHORITIES.-It is not necessary to give a list of all the books and treatises which have been written by geographers and travellers on Palestine. A select list has already been presented in the article GEOGRAPHY, to which the student is re ferred ; and fuller catalogues may be seen in the works of Ritter, Robinson, and Van de Velde. It may be well, however, in an article like the pre sent, to state the leading authorities from which the facts and descriptions it contains are derived, and also to direct the student to those works to which he may confidently turn for fuller details.
As to authorities, the writer thinks it proper to state that while he has read with care nearly all that has been written upon Palestine, he has de pended mainly, in so far as regards the physical geography and topography of the country, on his own observations and researches, which were pro secuted during a period of nine years, and embraced the whole land with the exception of the region east of the Dead Sea.
The authorities on botany, zoology, and geology have already been given. The following works embody nearly all that is yet known of the geo graphy :—