PALESTINE (PALESTI'NA) is the name commonly applied to the whole land anciently inhabited by the Israelites, including the country of the Philistinea. It is derived from a Hebrew word signify ing the laud of the Philistines.' The country was originally called the Land of Canaan (Exodus, vi. 4). The Romans generally called it Judica. It was adjacent on the south-west to the desert which lies east of the delta of Egypt, on the south and south-east to Arabia, on the east and north to Syria. Its frontier towns were Dan on the north and Beersheba on the south. On the west it is bounded by the Medi terranean Sea. Its southern boundary on the coast was a stream which is called in Scripture the River of Egypt (probably the brook of El Arish), from the mouth of which the southern boundary extended eastward through the Arabian Desert to a point about 25 geographical miles south of the Dead Sea. The northern boundary was formed by the mountains of Lebanon; the eastern by the river Jordan and its lakes. The country lay therefore between 30° 40' and 33° 36' N. 1st, 33° 45' and 85° 30' E. long. Its length from north to south is about ISO geographical miles ; its breadth increases gradually from the northern boundary, where it is not more than 20 miles, to the southern, where it is not leas than 90 miles : the average breadth is about 50 miles. This description applies to the country originally intended iu Scripture by the term ' the Land of Promise,' &c. ; but the name of Palestine is used in history in a wider sense, embracing a considerable territory to the east of the Jordan, the addition of which increases its average breadth to about 65 miles. The southern limit of this eastern territory was the river Arnon, which falls into the DEAD SEA. The whole country contained about 11,000 square miles.
Mountains. —Palestine is a very mountainous country. A mountain range commences in Syria south of the Orontes, and stretches to the south as far as the sources of the Jordan, where it divides into two branches, which continue their course nearly parallel to each other, and inclose between them the valley of tbo Jordan and its lakes. These two ranges diverge from each other at the head of the Gulf of Akaba; the one running along the eastern coast of that gulf and terminating on the shore of the Red Sea ; the other along the western coast of that gulf and terminating in the mountains of Sinai.
The mountains of Lebanon, which are a part of this mountain system, form the northern boundary of Palestine. They consist of two parallel ranges, inelosing a fertile valley of the average width of fifteen miles, which was the ancient Ceele-Syria (Hollow Syria), and is now called El Bekka' (the valley). The western range inclines towards the sea, and terminates at the mouth of the Leontes, near Tyre; the eastern extends southward into Palestine, and divides into two branches, as above described. The name of Lebanon is applied in Scripture indifferently to either or both of these ranges : by the Syrian-Greeks the western was called Libanus, and the eastern Anti Libanus. Lebanon is by far the highest part of the Syrian mountains. The summit of the western rauge is quite barren ; but the lower slopes, especially on the western side, are inhabited and cultivated. Among the trees which grow upon them are the remains of the cele brated cedars of Lebanon. Anti-Libanus is in general not so high as the western ridge; but at the point where it divides into the two branches which inclose the basin of the Jordan, it rises above all the other summits of Lebanon, forming the Jebel-es-Sheikh, the Hermon of Scripture, whose summit is covered with snow for the greater part of the year. The eastern range is more barren, and has fewer inhabit ants than the western. As this range passes into Palestine it diminishes in height, and becomes less rugged and more fit for tillage; but at the Dead Sea it consists of desolate rocks.
Almost all the mountains of Palestine may be regarded as belonging to the two principal ranges which include the basin of the Jordan. The moat remarkable are the following :—Mount Tabor, the highest mountain in Lower Galilee, stands on the north-east of the plain of Esdraelon. It is entirely detached from the surrounding mountains,
and in nearly of a hemispherical figure. On its summit in a plain of about half an hour in circuit, which is inclosed by an ancient wall. This mountain is said by an old tradition to have been the scene of our Saviour's Transfiguration. A range of fertile hills about five miles south-south-least of Tabor is generally considered to be the Mount Hermon mentioned in the Psalms (xlii. 6; lxxxix. 12): it is called the Little Hermon, to distinguish it from the great peak of the same name in Anti-Libanus. To the south and south-east of Tabor are the moun tains of Gilbert of Scripture, a sterile range of hills about 1000 feet above the level of the sea : they bound the valley of the Jordan on the west for some miles. The range of Carmel, the termination of which forms the only very prominent headland on the sea-coast of Palestine, lies almost due west of Mount Tabor. The promontory in which it terminates incloses the Day of Acre on the south, whence the ridge runs inland to the south-east till it joins the principal range. It is only of moderate height, and is covered with forests and grass. To the south of the plain of Esdraelon lie the mountains of Samaria, which are beautifully wooded, chiefly with olive-trees, and covered with towns and villages. Of these mountains perhaps the highest are those of Ebal and Gerizim, which are separated from each other by a valley 200 or 300 paces broad. From these mountains were delivered the curses and the blessings of the Law. The Samaritans had their temple on Mount Gcrizim, which they esteemed the holiest of moun tains. Judaea, or the southern part of Palestine, is full of hills, which are divided by valleys and torrents, and are for the most part of moderate height. They are composed of a friable rock, particles of which are washed down by the torrents, and form terraces on the elopes of the mountains. In ancient times these terraces were planted with the olive, the 6g-tree, and the vine. At present the rocks are for the most part barren and desolate. In the eastern part of Judaea, on the borders of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, is a wilderness of moun tains, the most rugged and desolate in all Palestine. This mountain ous country, which is the highest in Judaea, bears the name of Quaran teals, from a tradition that this was the wilderness in which Christ fasted forty days and nights ; the highest summit among these mond. tains is called the Mountain of Temptation, and is pointed out by tradition as that from which the devil showed our Saviour the king doms of the world. The most mountainous part of Judwa is the district round Jerusalem. [JEnosALEst.] From the Jebel-ea-Sheikh, already noticed, the mountains on the east side of the Jordan continues southward for about twenty-five miles under the name of Jebel-Heish, and terminating at a point about ten miles to the east of the Lake of Genneeareth. To the south of this mountain, for about twenty-four miles, is an open country, equally divided by the river Yarmak (ancient Hieromax), and con taining the pasture-lands of Argob and Benham To the south of this district lies the land of Gilead, the mountains of which are the most considerable on this side the Jordan : they are for the most part well wooded, chiefly with the oak and wild pistachio. To the south of the river Jabbok (Zerka) the mountains are less elevated though broader. About six miles to the south of the river Jabbok is a ridge running east and west for about seven miles, the name of which (Jelaad) bears a trace of the ancient name of the country. As the principal chain approaches the latitude of the Dead Sea, it diminishes in breadth ; and somewhat below the head of that sea it widens out again, and forms the the mountains of Seir. [InusLEA.] Among the mountains at the head of the Dead Sea, and to the north of the river Arnon, was Nebo, from the summit of which Moses was permitted to see the promised land.