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24 24 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

from the border of the Mukutt'a basin. Four of them occur between Eas Hazweh and Neby Duhy (alt. 1,690 feet). Between Neby Duhy and Sheikh Barkan (alt. 1,698 feet) is the Nahr Jalud or the Valley of Jezreel, which falls into the Jordan below Beisan. Three more outfalls into the Jordan complete this series up to Tannin.

From Tannin to the sea, the waterparting takes a winding north-westerly course. As far as Musmus road, the Mukutt'a is contiguous with the maritime basin of Nahr el Mefjir, formerly named Nahr Akhdar. The Nahr el Mefjir has a common waterparting with the Jordan, and is therefore of the first class. From Musmus road north-westward, the water- parting divides the Mukutt'a from the second class basins of Nahr ez Zerka, and Nahr ed Dufleh, the latter ending at Wady el Milh. Here the waterparting ascends the main ridge of Mount Carmel, which it pursues up to the deflection of the ridge road down towards Haifa, and following this descending route it meets the coast on the east of the town.

The Mukutt'a Eiver falls into the southern part of the Bay of Acre near Haifa. About four miles from the bay, it is joined by the Wady el Melek, near the village of el Harbaj. The Wady el Melek is the main drain of the northern part of the basin. Its most distant sources are at Ailbun, Nimrin, and Lubieh, including the plains of Buttauf and Toron, and the hills as far south as Neby Sain (alt. 1,602 feet), close to Nazareth, from whence the southern boundary of the affluents of Wady el Melek may be traced by Ailut to Beit Lahm, Umm el 'Amed (alt. 643 feet), and Harbaj. The eastern part of the Plain of Buttauf has usually no outfall beyond its own swamp, which dries up in summer ; but judging from Dr. Thomson's account of his passage from Eummaneh to Kana,* across *a spongy morass, the overflow in floods probably reaches Wady Eummaneh. The Eiver Mukutt'a itself drains the central and southern divisions of its basin. Its course is from south-east to north-west, the distance between its farthest head

 * " The Land and the Book," p. 426.


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25 NAHR EL MUKUTT'A. 25

near the village of Jelbon, and its outfall at Haifa, being 22 miles in a direct line without reckoning the windings.

The separation between the central and southern divisions may be identified with the highway between Musmus, el Lejjun, and el 'Afuleh. For south of this road the basin is prolonged between Mount Gilboa, and Mount Ephraim, and its drainage passes down through the intermediate plain by four main channels with numerous branches, all of which unite in one outfall before crossing the road. This distinct hydrographical area forms the southern division of the basin.

Between el 'Afuleh and Zerin, the waterparting marks the separation of the Plain of Esdraelon (Merj Ibn 'Amir) and the head of the broad valley of Jezreel (Nahr Jalud), which here begins its steep descent to the Jordan.

The four main channels of this southern part of the basin have their sources (1) between Zerin (Jezreel) and Eas esh Sheiban ; (2) between Eas esh Sheiban, and Kh. el Medeka- kin, including a considerable extent of waterparting which may be traced through Jebel Abu Madwar (alt. 1,648 feet), Jelkamus (alt. 1,308 feet), Tannin (alt. 1,460 feet), and Kh. Umm el Butm; (3) between Kh. el Medekakin and Sh. Iskander (alt. 1,699 feet) ; (4) between Sh. Iskander and el Mesheirfeh near Musmus. The final confluence of these channels occurs close to the crossing of the boundary road, at an altitude of only 203 feet.

Two affluents of the Mukutt'a, forming the head of the central division, descend in opposite directions from the north-east and south-west respectively, and join the main stream from the southern division near Ludd. Their con- fluence is about 2 miles below the boundary of the divisions, and its altitude is 181 feet. The north-eastern affluent rises at et Tireh on the north of Iksal, the biblical Chesulloth, and east of Nazareth. It receives a branch from Neby Duhy (alt. 1,690 feet) and from Nein, the biblical Nain (alt. 744 feet). The south- western affluent descends from an alt. of 1,290 feet through the Wady es Sitt and waters the village of el Lejjun (alt. 403 feet). Three noticeable affluents descend to the right bank

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 of the main stream from the highlands of Nazareth; and three smaller ones come from the oak-clad hills which are interposed between the Plain of Esdraelon and the Maritime Plain of Acre. These forest hills mse to altitudes of 600 feet, and the Mukutt'a forces its way to the sea through a gorge which divides them from Mount Carmel (alt. 1,810 feet).

The tributaries on the left bank are more numerous than noteworthy. West of el Lejjun a spur descends from the waterparting (alt. 1,290 feet) to the village of Ludd (alt. 275 feet) and the Mukutt'a River (alt. 150 feet). On the slopes of this spur are found remains of the ancient city of Megiddo. On the east it sends off a perennial branch to the Lejjun tributary. On the west its numerous rivulets are spread out from Buseileh to Abu Shusheh and reach the Mukutt'a by four outfalls.

Northward of the spur, the steep descent of the highlands of Ephraim, terminates in the plain about midway between the waterparting and the course of the Mukutt'a, until the foot of Mount Carmel is reached, when the Mukutt'a dives into the gorge which leads it to the maritime plain and the Bay of Acre. Between Abu Shusheh and Mount Carmel three notable affluents on this side of the Mukutt'a are—(1) a perennial stream which descends from the village of Jarah (alt. 834 feet);—(2) another perennial stream which waters Kh. er Rihaneh and Kh. el Farriyeh;—and (3) the Wady el Milh, which drains the southern end of Mount Carmel, including el Mahrakah (alt. 1,687 feet) the place of Elijah's conflict with the priests of Baal, also the eastern face of Umm ez Zeinat, passing from the hills at the foot of Tell Keimûn (git. 248 feet).

The north-eastern face of Carmel with the watercourses which furrow it and descend to the Mukutt'a, and the pathways that surmount it from various points of the highway that skirts its base on both sides, are now so distinctly


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27 NAHR EL MUKUTT'A. 27

delineated by the Palestine Exploration Survey, as to lay bare its topographical features with a precision of detail, which the most attentive of previous travellers and surveyors could not have contemplated, and certainly did not achieve. As Mount Carmel is a special favourite and of limited extent, its treatment will be made more complete than other pa,rts. From the foot of Tell Kaimun, paths ascend to the ridge of Carmel by the Wady el Milh, and also by el Mahrakah. The ridge road extends through Esfia to the convent, all along the summit. Northward up to Jelameh the watercourses of this face of Carmel are precipitous and there are no paths. At Jelameh, there is a zigzag track up to the village of Eslia on the ridge (alt. 1,742 feet). Erom Esfia the Wady esh Shomariyeh has an oblique and therefore easier drop into the Mukutt'a. The Wady abu Haiyeh is the next on the north, and descends from the south side of Jebel 'Akkara (alt. 1,715 feet). About a mile from Esfia, a path descends from the ridge over Jebel 'Akkara to the foot of the mountain at Belled esh Sheikh. The northern side of Jebel 'Akkara is drained by Khallet (Eavine) en Nury, which runs north-westwards for two miles in a valley parallel with the main ridge of Carmel, when it breaks through a gap in an outer ridge, and descends north-eastward, through Wady et Tabil, to the Ashlul el Wawy, an affluent of Mukutt'a, the latter ceasing to be the direct recipient of the mountain wadys, north of the village of Yajur. The elevated valley or ravine of en Nury is pro- longed for a third mile parallel with the ridge up to Eas ez Zelaka (alt. 1,535 feet). At Eas ez Zelaka a path descends from the ridge through this valley and Wady et Tabil to Belled esh Sheikh. The drainage of this prolongation is south- eastward, in direct opposition to that of the other part of the valley, which it joins before entering the gap in the outer ridge, on its descent to Wady et Tabil.

Besides Wady et Tabil, the Ashlul (cascades) el Wawy receives some short channels near the village of Belled esh Sheikh, and also the Wady Hawasah and another unnamed wady from the north side of Eas ez Zelaka. It becomes a


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 permanent stream at 'Ain es Sadeh, and falls into the Mukutt'a about a mile from the coast.

The remainder of Carmel is independent of Mukutt'a. The Wady Abu Mudauwar, the Wady Kushmia, and some others have a common outfall in the Nahr Mantney, close to Haifa, and complete the drainage of this side up to a mile and a half of the convent. A path comes from the ridge at the head of Wady Mudauwar, and follows the edge of the wady to Haifa. Four more paths descend from the ridge to Haifa, at intervals between this point and the convent.

The Palestine Exploration Survey of the great basin of the Mukutt'a, well deserves to be remarked before leaving it, as a notable example of the surveyor's work; for although its general aspect was delineated in previous maps, rectifications and very numerous additions occur in every part of the new Survey.

South of the Mukutt'a, the next basin which extends back to the waterparting of the Jordan, is that of Nahr el Mefjir; the outfall into the Mediterranean Sea being near the ruins of Caesarea.

All to the north of the Mefjir basin, and between the Mukutt'a on the east, and the Mediterranean on the west is included in a triangular area, drained by numerous petty wadys with many independent outfalls. The western slope of Mount Carmel forms the northern part of this triangle, and recalls attention to this mountain, the account of which will now be completed. The chief of the channels which descend from the western side of Mount Carmel are, (1) the Wady el 'Ain, which in its middle course runs parallel to the range, and, reaches the maritime plain at the village of et Tireh. (2) the Wady Fellah with its outfall near 'Athlit, which receives the Wady el Miftelah from a valley which runs parallel with the main range of Carmel for about four miles. The Wady


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29 NAHR EL MUKUTT'A. MINOR BASINS. 29

Fellah receives two affluents from the villages of Daliet el Kurmul (alt. 1,245 feet) and Ain Haud (alt. 357 feet). (3) The Wady el Mikteleh which rises on the south of Daliet el Kurmul and reaches the shore if not the sea near Khurbet Malhah. (4) The Wady el Matabin, which rises in Eas el Meshahir (alt. 1,510 feet), an outlying summit of Carmel on the east of el Mahrakah. It receives a tributary from Umm ez Zeinat, flows by Tjzim (alt. 387 feet) and reaches the plain near Kef r Lam and Suraf end. Wady el Milh, and the Wady el Matabin, together define the southern base of Mount Carmel, and its separation from the lower region of Mount Ephraim. These Wadys are also traversed by a road which completes the communication round the bases of the mountain. The southern limit of Mount Carmel will again be discussed in connection with an account of the range of hills on the south of Nahr ed Dufleh.

Mount Carmel has been hitherto delineated as a single ridge ; but the Palestine Exploration Survey has brought to light parallel ranges more or less developed on each flank of the main ridge. The central or waterparting ridge extends from the Convent (alt. 470 feet) through Eas ez Zelakah (alt. 1,535 feet) and the village of Esfia (alt. 1,742 feet), to a point east-south-east of Daliet el Kurmul, where four tracts meet, coming from Esfia, Daliet el Kurmul, Umm ez Zeinat, and Tell Keimun. At this point is the head of Wady el Milh. Its altitude is not given, but about three-quarters of a mile northward is the highest observed point of the mountain (alt. ,1,810 feet).

The parallel range westward of the waterparting is defined as follows : From the junction of the four roads, the culminating ridge bends round to the westward, or west by north-half-north, and is traversed by the track to Daliet el Kurmul. But before reaching the village, the height of land turns northward and again westward to the summit of Eas Umm esh Shukf (alt. 1,607 feet). The northern flank of Mount Shukf continues this range to the gap of Wady Shellaleh, where Wady el Miftelah, after distinctly dividing


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 the central and western range for about four miles, breaks through the western range to reach the sea at Athlit. From the gap of Wady Shellaleh, the western range skirts the Wady el Ain and descends to the plain at the village of et Tireh.

The eastern slope of Carmel presents a similar parallelism, chiefly displayed in the Khallet or Ravine of en Nury, which divides an outer ridge from the central one, for a distance of nearly three miles, between Ras ez Zelâkah and Jebel 'Akkara. Towards the south the outer ridge is found below Esfia, between Kh. esh Shelkiyeh and the Wady esh Shomariyeh. North of Ras ez Zelakah, the outer ridge descends by Tell Abu Mudauwar, and encloses numerous channels between it and the central range. These channels unite before they break through the outer range to reach the sea through Nahr el Mantneh, near Haifa. Dr. John Wilson noticed this feature as exhibiting "a lateral gash in the hill, running in the direction of the promontory, which is of some magnitude. It is here that the best cultivated fields occur.

There are two minor basins between the southern base of Mount Carmel and the first class basin of Nahr el Mefjir. These have their outlets by Nahr ed Dufleh, on the south of Tanturah, the biblical Dor of Manasseh; and by Nahr ez Zerka, which is identified with the Crocodile River of Pliny, and the Shihor Libnath of the Bible. Together they drain the principal part of the hilly tract now called Belad er Ruhah.,

Three permanent streams with tributary wadys drain the head of the Nahr ed Dufleh, between the villages of Daliet er Ruhah and Umm et Tût; and between Umm et Tût and


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31 MINOR BASINS WEST OF CARMEL, ETC. Hi

Shefeia, the Wady Madhy falls in from Kumbazeh, on the northern margin of the basin. Its length is about 11 miles, and its breadth about four miles. The hills which form the southern waterparting of this basin, and divide it from the Nahr ez Zerka, terminate on the west in the remarkable promontory of el Khashm, on the north of Caesarea. Here also the narrow plain of Tanturah* which extends along the western foot of Mount Carmel, and has a width of one mile and a half between el Khashm and the sea, suddenly expands into the famous Plain of Sharon, which attains a width of ten miles, and will be further noticed hereafter.

At the Zerka and el Khashm, the summit of the receding hills extends eastward in an arc behind Subbarin and Kefrein, to Umm el Fahm and Kefreireh, where the range sinks down to the Sahel or Plain of 'Arrabeh, and the Wady Selhab in the Mefjir basin. The hills on the east of the plain are offshoots of Mount Gilboa ; and those on the south culminate in the range of Sheikh Beiazid (alt. 2,375 feet), on the north of Samaria, and a portion of the southern water- parting of the Mefjir basin.

The eastern waterpartings of the basins of Nahr ed Dufleh and Nahr ez Zerka, form a low saddle, which, with those basins and the Wady el Matabin on the north, as well as Wady el Mihl and the wadys of the perennial affluents of the Mukutt'a rising at Kh. er Ruhaneh and Jarah, occupy a de- pression of the hills called Belad er Euhah, dividing Mount Carmel from the range of Jebel Sh. Iskander and Umm el Khataf, in the Basin of Nahr el Mefjir. See pp. 34, 222. The altitudes and other incidents lead to this conclusion, and thus is added orographic to the hydrographic evidence on this subject, which was first noticed in page 29.

The Basin of Nahr ez Zerka.

The basin of Nahr ez Zerka lies between the villages of Subarin on the north, Kefrein on the east, and Kefr Kara 011

 * So called by the present writer, in the absence of any previous name.


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 the south. Its principal wady with many small tributaries, drains the northern and eastern margins of the basin. The southern part supplies two main Wadys, one skirting the margin of the basin, and the other passing the village of Kannir, their confluence being due east of Caesarea.

From Cape Carmel to the Nahr ez Zerka, the delineation of the country has been very much altered by the Palestine Exploration Survey. For example, Sindianeh, ez Zerghaniyeh (Surganiyeh), Kh. Khudeirah (Gudara), Kannir (Kanir), and el Bureij, were all included in the basin of Nahr el Akhdar (now Nahr el Mefjir); whereas they belong to the more northerly basin of the Zerka. Koteineh appeared on the northern edge of the Zerka basin; it is now found on the northern edge of the Nahr ed Dufleh. Formerly the Dufleh basin was represented by Nahr Keraji which was supposed to be near Iksim (Ijzim). That village is now found to be in the basin of Wady el Matabin.

It is only just to the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey, and at the same time an assistance to students, to unravel the tangled geography which route surveys, casual observations, and compilations from such materials have hitherto supplied. Transpositions from one basin to another, like that which has just been described in the connection with the Zerka and Mefjir, will be found repeatedly necessary in pursuing this account.

Under the name of Nahr Akhdar, this basin was supposed to have very narrow limits, the waterparting between it and the Mukutt'a basin, having been wrongly confined to two or three miles on either side of the village of Umm el Fahm. Its waterparting is now known to be coterminous, with that of the Mukutt'a from the north of Umm el Fahm (alt. 1,400 feet) to Tannin, a ruin on the south-east of Jenin, the direct distance exceeding 20 miles. At Tannin, the Mefjir


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33 NAHR EL MEFJIR AND MERJ EL GHtillftK. 33

basin joins the basin of the Jordan, and continues with it up to Ras el 'Akra (alt. 2,230 feet), a further distance of six miles. At Eas el 'Akra, it is diverted from the basin of the Jordan by the remarkable inland basin of Merj el Ghuruk, forming a parallelogram with an area of about 30 square miles, without any outlet. The Merj is enclosed on three sides by the Mefjir basin, which again comes in contact with the waterparting of the Jordan for about two miles, north of Yasid. The area now known to be covered by the Mefjir basin has ^been hitherto wrongly divided between the basins of Nahr Falik, now reduced to very narrow limits, Nahr Abu Zabura, and Nahr Akhdar.

The main channel of Nahr el Mefjir descends from the Jordan waterparting between Tannin and Ras el 'Akra. It is there called Wady es Selhab, and by that name it passes Kubatieh, and the Plains of Dothan and 'Arrabeh. It passes from the western end of the Plain of 'Arrabeh in a southerly direction, till it receives a stream from the village of 'Arrabeh, when it turns westward with a winding course, and takes the name of Wady el Ghamik. Here it receives several small branches from the range east of Saida, and is diverted to the north, and soon again to the west, taking the name of Wady Abu Nar, and skirting a group of hamlets bearing the generic name of Nuzlet ; as Nuzlet esh Sherkiyeh, Nuzlet el Wasta, Nuzlet et Tinat, and the Nuzlet el Masfy is not far off. The Wady Abu Nar enters the Plain of Sharon, between Jett and Baka, and joins the Wady el Maleh, near el Mejdel. After the junction the Maleh proceeds north-westward, and becomes a permanent stream in Wady el Khudeirah and Nahr el Mefjir.

The Wady el Maleh is also the recipient of Wady er Roz, which skirts the southern waterparting. This Wady rises at Yasid (alt. 2,340 feet) between the waterpartings of the Jordan, Merj el Ghuruk and Nahr Iskanderuneh, and bears the name of Wady Abu Kaslan. It passes the northern foot of the Sheikh Beiazid Mountains on which the villages of Jeba, Fendakumieh, Silet edh Dhater, and 'Attara are situated at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,573 feet. Near 'Attara


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34 34 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

a branch unites which drains the north-west border of Merj el Ghuruk (alt. 1,770 feet). The main channel continues along the southern edge of the basin, passing Deir el Ghusun (alt. 827 feet), Attil (alt. 385 feet), Jelameh and el Mejdel to the junction at Tell edh Dhrur. Above Deir el Ghusun, a branch falls in from Batn en Nury (alt. 1,660 feet), and the village of Ellar (alt. 760 feet). Jelameh on the edge of the plain is 260 feet high, while the wady at its foot in the plain is 60 feet.

Another considerable affluent joins Wady el Khudeirah from the north-east. Its principal branch is Wady Arah which skirts the north-western limit of the basin, and rises at Umm el Fahm, on the mountain of Sheikh Iskander fait. 1,699 feet). The Wady Arah passes between Kefr Kara (alt. 451 feet) and Ararah (alt. 707 feet), and enters the Plain of Sharon between Kh. ez Zebadneh (alt. 320 feet) and Kerkur (alt. 160 feet), joining Wady el Khudeirah near Tell edh Dhrur (alt. 152 feet). Its principal branch is the Wady el 'Asl, which rises near Yabid (alt. 1,220 feet), and passes Kuffin (alt. 460 feet), where it receives a tributary from Ferasin (alt. 727 feet). At the ruins of el Medhiab, the Wady el 'Asl is joined by a wady from the north, which unites Wady Samantar, Wady el Yahmur, and Wady Easein, all draining the western slope of the wooded upland of Umm el Khataf. Below el Medhiab, the wady is called Wady Bir Isir, and it enters the plain near el Mes'ady (alt. 142 feet), and soon joins Wady el Khudeirah. See p. 218.

The whole of the Mefjr basin, with half of the Zerka on the north, or as far as Kannir, and a small part of the Iskanderuneh on the south, or up to Kakon, was supposed to have its outfall by Nahr Abu Zabura, which is now called Nahr Iskanderuneh. Dr. Eobinson on his last journey in Samaria, travelled from Umm el Fahm to Ya'bud (Yabid) along the waterparting. From Ya'bud he had a view of the Plain of Arrabeh and passed Ferasin to Abu Nar, on his way to Attil, thus crossing the basin at its widest part.*

 * Eobinson's "Biblical Researches," iii, 121 IJI.


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 With regret, it is observed that Monsieur V. Guerin in his "Description de la Palestine, Samarie "omits all that part of this basin, encircled by a line connecting Umm el Fahm, Tell edh Dhrur, Baka, Attil, Kefr Raay, Arrabeh, and Yabid; as well as a large tract to the north in the Zerka basin.

The outfall which bears the first name on the Palestine Exploration Survey, enters the sea at Minet Abu Zabûra, by which name the river also was called by former authorities. The basin is coterminous on the north with that of Nahr el Mefjir, and the waterparting on this side runs almost direct from Tell el Akhdar on the coast, to Yasid. There the Jordan basin is met, and continues along the eastern boundary, which runs from Yasid through Jebel Eslamiyeh (Mount Ebal) and Nablûs (Shechem), to the southern base of Jebel et Tur (Mount Gerizim). The southern waterparting divides this basin from that of the Nahr el 'Auja. It runs westward from Jebel et Tur, through Kh. Jafrûn, Ferâta, Kh. Askar, el Funduk, Kuryet Hajja and the road to Kefr 'Abbûsh, Kefr Zibad, Kefr Jemmâl, to Khurbet Nesha, round the Bir el Hanûtah, where it turns northward and parallel with the course of the Wady Kulunsaweh, to Umm Sur, where it turns seaward through Mukhalid.

All this, with part of the Mefjir basin on the north, pertained in former maps to the outfall of Nahr Falik; which is now found to be restricted to a part of the maritime plain between Mukhalid, Umm Sûr Miskeh, Kh. Sabieh, and el Jelil, a village on the coast, south of Arsuf, the site of Apollonia. The length of the Falik basin is about ten miles along the coast, and its greatest width towards the interior scarcely exceeds seven miles.

The entrance of the Iskanderuneh into the sea, is on the north-western angle of its oblong basin. A branch rising near Belâh (alt. 1,367 feet) drains the western part of its


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36 36 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

northern boundary and passing Kakon in the plain, joins the permanent stream not far from its outfall. The north-eastern part of the basin is drained by its most noted watercourse, the "Wady esh Shair and its tributaries. This wady rises at the town of Nablus and flows by Zawata, where it receives a tributary from Asiret el Hatab (alt. 2,036 feet) at the northern base of Mount Ebal. Then it waters Deir Sharaf, and flows on to Eamin (alt. 1,095 feet) where another feeder unites, which rises at Yasid (alt. 2,340 feet) in the north-east angle of the basin, and washes the remains of Samaria (Sebustieh). Below Eamin it passes Anebta (alt. 545 feet) and takes the name of Wady Zeimer, up to its confluence with the Wady from Kulunsaweh, near Jisr (Bridge) el Maktabeh. On the south of Wady Zeimer are the villages of Kefr el Lebad, Dennabeh (alt. 506 feet), and TulKeram (alt. 370 feet), below which the wady leaves the hills.

On the south of Wady esh Shair is another large water- course which rises in Jebel et Tur (Mount Gerizim) and drains the south-eastern part of the basin as far west as el Funduk. This is the Wady et Tin, which after a very winding course leaves the hills between Irtah (alt. 340 feet) and Feron (alt. 581 feet) and joins the Wady Kulunsaweh at Burin. West of its source, it passes el Arak, Till (alt. 2,084 feet), and Surra (alt. 1,647 feet), where it flows due north, and then bends round to the west, and again turns to the north passing Kusein. At Kh. ed Deir, it meanders to the west-south-west to the foot of the village of Kur (alt. 1,257 feet). Above Kur, it receives a tributary from Kh. Jafrun, Ferata (alt. 1,715 feet), Amatin, el Funduk (alt. 1,295 feet), Kuryet Hajja (alt. 1,300 feet), Kuryet Jit (alt. 1,686 feet), and Kefr Kaddum (alt. 1,206 feet), villages on the southern margin of the basin. This is the Wady el Haj Musa.

The south-western part of the basin is drained by the Wady Kulunsaweh, which comes from Bir el Hanutah (alt. 365 feet), in the south-west angle, and runs to the north along the western edge of the basin. The Wady en Naml


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 joins it from the east, and rises between Kur and Kefr 'Abbûsh (alt. 1,365 feet), and passes Kefr Zibad (alt. 910 feet), Kefr Jemmal (alt. 642 feet), and Felamieh (alt. 434 feet),—all villages on the southern edge of the basin.

Two highways cross this basin at its eastern and western sides respectively. The eastern road passes through Nablûs, and connects Jerusalem with all parts on the north. The western road runs on the east of the Kulunsaweh, at the foot of the hills; and connects the ports of Jaffa and Acre. Other important routes radiate from Nablûs in every direction. Nevertheless the Palestine Exploration Survey proves that only the crudest notions previously existed concerning the topography of this important basin.

This is one of the most considerable basins on the western watershed of Palestine. It empties itself into the sea about five miles on the north of Jaffa. It becomes a permanent stream below the hills in four of its branches, two of which have their perennial sources in the Plain of Sharon, between Bir 'Adas and Jiljulieh; another, which is reckoned the principal, has immense fountains at Kulat Ras el 'Ain, rising at the foot of a mound, on the Ramleh road, near the village of el Mirr, where it forms a marshy tract covered with reeds and rushes. The fourth permanent branch has its fountain also near el Mirr, on the south of that village. These unite at Tell el Mukhmar, and form a river which is said to be nearly as large as the Jordan at Jericho, with a bluish tinge, dark, deep, usually sluggish, and hardly to be forded at any place. There is an old bridge over the stream, on the high road from Jaffa.

The basin of Nahr el 'Auja has its northern waterparting along with the Nahr el Falik, and Nahr Iskanderuneh. The waterparting begins at the sea on the south of el Jelil, runs north-west with the Falik basin nearly up to et Tireh, and then follows the Iskanderuneh basin, up to the foot of


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38 38 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

Jebel et Tur (Mount Gerizim), the details of which have been described. From Mount Gerizim it runs with the Jordan basin across the Sahel or Plain of el Mukhnah, and bends southward to Kh. el Kenim (alt. 2,700 feet), Akrabeh (alt. 2,045 feet) and the curious basin of Merj Sia, which lies between heights of 2,835 feet on the north and 2,710 feet on the west. Here .the waterparting takes a south-westerly course, crossing Tell Asur (alt. 3,318 feet), the village of Beitin or Bethel (alt. 2,890 feet), and Bireh (alt. 2,820 feet). At this point is the junction of the basins of Nahr el 'Auja, Jordan, and Nahr Kubin. The southern waterparting running with the basin of Nahr Eubin forms a great arc, continuing south-westward from Bireh to Saris (alt. 2,347 feet), and Beit Mahsir (alt. 1,790 feet), where it takes a north-west direction through Abu Shusheh, skirting er Eamleh, Surafend, and the road to Jaffa on the west, till it turns towards the coast at the trigonometrical points with altitudes of 261 feet and 240 feet.

The intricate system of watercourses composing this basin is primarily divisible into a northern and southern division.

The northern division includes the four streams and their tributaries, which unite near Tell el Mukhmar. They drain the whole of the northern waterparting, and also the eastern side southwards to Bireh. The northern is separated from the southern division, by an interior or sub-waterparting, which runs from Bireh, to Abu Kush, first by the " Eoman road " and then by the " ancient road." From Abu Kush, the dividing line proceeds close to Bir ez Zeit (alt. 2,665 feet), and round by the high road to Umm Suffah (alt. 1,997 feet), and so on through Deir en Nidham (alt. 1,934 feet), to Tibneh, Abud (alt. 1,240 feet), and along the northern side of the road from Abud to Deir Dakleh, whence it skirts the south side of Wady Sahury to Eantieh, and bending round north-westward to Khurbet Shaireh, passes over an altitude of 275 feet to the confluence at Jerisheh, where the two divisions unite.

The southern division has its outfall into the Nahr el


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39 NAHR EL 'AUJA. 39

'Auja, by a permanent stream, which flows from the south, passing Jaffa and Sarona. This stream is the recipient chiefly of the Wady Nusrah. Near the junction of Wady Nusrah, two small streams also join, which only drain a small portion of the southern waterparting included between Eamleh and the coast. The Wady Nusrah on the contrary is the recipient of all the rest of the drainage of the southern division of the basin.

The Watercourses of the Northern Division of el 'Auja Basin.

An account of the chief watercourses of the two divisions of this basin, is the next step towards understanding its topography. Of the four streams which unite near Tell el Mukhmar and receive all the watercourses of the northern division, the most northerly is the Wady Kalkilieh, which receives the drainage of the north-western edge of the basin as far east as el Funduk (alt. 1,295 feet). The Wady 'Azzun is its most southern tributary, and rises between 'Azzun and Kefr Lakif. Yet 'Azzun was supposed by Dr. Robinson to mark the northern limit of the 'Auja basin. " Phys. Geog,, Holy Land," p. 176.

The next of the four streams is the Wady Kanah, which has been identified with the Brook Kanah of the Bible, the boundary between the tribal territories of Ephraim and Manasseh. The Palestine Exploration Survey appears to throw remarkable light on this much contested subject. See the Quarterly Statement," October, 1880. The Kanah is one of the two great wadys of this division which derive their origin from the edge of the Jordan basin. The Wady Kanah drains the north-eastern part of the division, from el Funduk, by Mount Gerizim and the Plain of Mukhnah, to Yanun and Kh. el Kerum (alt. 2,700 feet).

The third stream is the Wady Eabah, which rises at Haris (alt. 1,560 feet), a village identified by the Talmud with Timnath Heres, allotted to Joshua. This valley is only about half the length of the Kanah valley, and, like the Kal-


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40 40 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

kilieh, it does not extend back to the Jordan basin. This is the Wady Eibah of Dr. Eobinson, " about half an hour north of Mejdel Yaba," which was supposed to be in continuation of the Wady rising on the edge of the Jordan basin at 'Ak- rabeh, and passing Kubalan ("Phys. Geog.," p. 100). The Palestine Exploration Survey connects Akrabeh and Kubilan with the fourth of this series.

The southern part of the northern division of the el 'Auja basin, is drained by the Wady Ballut and its feeders, the fourth of the series of streams uniting at Tell el Mukhmar. The heads of this Wady extend along the eastern waterparting of el 'Auja, in contact with the Jordan basin, from 'Akrabeh to the south of Beitin (Bethel), a direct distance of 15 miles. The principal channel runs from 'Akrabeh, south-westward, in a straight course to Kurawa ibn Zeid. It bears the names of Wady Bushanit and Wady Ishar ; and all the drainage between 'Akrabeh and Bethel flows into it at the three follow- ing points (1) Near Yetma, the Wady er Burnt falls in from Jurish, Kusra, and Jalud. (2) At Khurbet Keis, the Wady el Kub unites an intricate system of valleys as follows : From Eh Sawieh, a channel descends south-westward to el Lubban, and joins the Wady el Kub at Abwein. At Lubban this channel receives the Wady Seilun with branches from Kuriyut, Shiloh, and Turmus Ay a. Between Lubban and Abwein another wady falls in from Sinjil ; and at Abwein another descends from Jiljilia. (3) At Karawa ibn Zeid, a long and winding wady comes down from the eastern water- parting which it drains from Sinjil to Beitin, as follows : A series of valleys rising between Beitin and Abu Kush unite at Ain Sinia, and run on northward to 'Attara. At the east of 'Attara, Wady en Nimr falls in from Tell Asur on the south- east, after receiving a wady traversed by the Jerusalem Eoad from Kh. Kefr Ana on the south ; and also the Wady el Jib from the north-east near Sinjil. From 'Attara the main wady proceeds to Ajul, Deir es Sudan, and Karawa ibn Zeid.

From Kurawa, the Wady Ballut zigzags westward to el Kefr (alt. 1,290 feet), Deir Ballut (alt. 895 feet), and Mejdel


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41 NAHR EL 'AUJA. 41

Yaba (alt. 495 feet), where it leaves the hills, and passes north-westward to its junction with the Nahr el 'Auja.

Below Kurawa, the Wady Keiya takes up the drainage of the southern edge of the division, rising on the south of Neby Saleh (alt. 1,866 feet), and running on to 'Abud (alt. 1,240 feet), to join the Ballut at 'Ain Sarina.

West of 'Ain Sarina, the Wady Suhary rises, and skirts the southern edge of the division among the hills, entering the plain between Kuleh and Eantieh ; where the wady turns to the north and north-west, by Neby Tari and Fejja, to join the Ballut on the east of Mulebbis.

On the right bank, the Ballut receives only one notable valley, which rises between Merda and Ishaka, has branches from Selfit and Furkhah, and falls into the Ballut on the south of Berukin.

The Watercourses of the Southern Division of El 'Auja Basin.

At Kefr Ana all the watercourses of this division unite in Wady Nusrah, which runs on by Ibn Ibrak, Selmeh, and Sarona, to the Nahr el 'Auja at Jerisheh, the junction being only about a mile and a half from the sea.

Between Selmeh and Kantieh, there are three small but distinct tributaries to Wady Nusrah. They come from the north-western edge of the division, and have their junctions at Selmeh, Ibn Ibrak, and Kefr 'Ana, respectively.

Between Rantieh and a point on the east of 'Abud (alt. 1,240 feet), a combination of wadys arises, which unite at el Khurab, and run on to Kefr 'Ana. The first descends from the edge of the division, on the west of ed Diurah, runs under Kh. el Muntar and Deir Alia (alt. 675 feet), and enters the plain to reach et Tireh and el Khurab. The second rises in the Khallet (ravine) es Salib, which skirts the northern edge of the division between Abud and el Lubban, where it bends round sharply to the south-west, passing in a gorge below Rentis (alt. 685 feet), to Khurbet 'Azzaz. Here it receives a tributary coming from Abud, and from Deir Abu


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42 42 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

Meshal (alt. 556 feet) and then zigzags south-westward to Beit JSTabala (alt. 260 feet), where it receives the Wady Shahhi from Shukbah (alt. 1,058 feet), and Kibbiah (alt. 840 feet), and enters the plain, through which it proceeds by Deir Tureif and Kh. er Eas, to the junctions at el Kurab and Kefr 'Ana.

The next outfall at Kefr 'Ana receives the greater part of the drainage of this division. It combines two separate drainage systems, which respectively concentrate in the Wady esh Shellal and the Wady Ludd, and these unite midway between Kefr 'Ana and the ancient town of Ludd. The Wady esh Shellal was formerly known as Wady Budrus.

The interior or sub-waterparting between the systems of Wady esh Shellal and Wady Ludd, is traceable from Jindas on the north of Ludd, over a trigonometrical station of 222 feet in height, to Deir Abu Selameh, Kh. Midieh (the remains of Modin of the Maccabees), and by the high- road to Shilta and Kefr Eut (alt. 1,290 feet), where it skirts Kh. Fa'aush and Kh. ed Dirish, and reaches Beit Ur et Tahta or Lower Beth Horon (alt. 1,910 feet). Here it ascends the pass to Beit 'Ur el Foka or Upper Beth Horon (alt. 1,022 feet), and follows the high road between Jaffa and Jerusalem, till it reaches the top of the descent into Wady el Askar, where this sub-waterparting joins the main waterparting, between the Basins of Nahr el Auja and Nahr Eubin,

The Watercourses falling into Wady Shellal (Budrus}.

The northernmost of these channels rises at Kh. Bir ez Zeit (alt. 2,665 feet) and runs north-westward alongside of the sub-waterparting and the high-road to Jaffa, nearly to Neby Saleh (alt. 1,866 feet). Here the channel bends about con- siderably in advancing westward, through a valley having Deir en Nidham (alt. 1,934 feet), Tibneh, Deir Abu Meshal (alt. 556 feet), and Shukbah (alt. 1,058 feet) on the north ; while on the south are the villages of Kubar (alt. 2,021 feet), Beit Ello (alt. 1,797 feet), Jemmaleh (alt. 1,694 feet), and Shebtin (alt. 904 feet).


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At Shebtin, another winding valley falls in from sources between Bir ez Zeit and Batn Harasheh (alt. 2,490 feet). This valley is further bounded on the south by Janiah (alt. 1,813 feet), Eas Kerker, Khurbetha Ibn Harith, and Deir el Khuddis (alt. 1,264 feet). Below Shebtin, the Wady takes the name of Wady en Natuf, bends round to the south-west, and reaches the foot of N'alin. The village is 860 feet, and the wady below is 500 feet above the sea. West of N'alin, the Wady en Natuf is joined by the Wady Malakeh, a con- siderable affluent from the southernmost part of the Shellal system. The Wady Malakeh has several important branches, as follows : (1) The Wady Hands is a permanent stream derived from fountains on the north of Earn Allah (alt. 2,850 feet), and joined by branches from the waterparting between Bireh and Abu Kush. (2) The Wady Kelb has a parallel course on the south of Wady Hamis, and also comes from Earn Allah ; these unite between Janiah and Deir Ibzia, and take the name of Wady Dilbeh, which lower down is Wady Shamy. The Wady Dilbeh or Shamy passes Kefr Namah (alt. 1,483 feet), and Bel'ain, and enters the Wady Malakeh, which at the same point receives (3) the Wady Ain 'Arik from the west of Earn Allah. The Wady Ain 'Arik is the recipient of (4) the Wady el Imeish, which runs parallel with the Jaffa-Jerusalem road, and after receiving the Wady es Sunt from Beitunia, passes the Beth Horons, on its way to the junction with Wady Ain 'Arik. Where the Wady Malakeh receives the Wady Shamy and the Wady Ain 'Arik, the Wady el Muslih (5) also falls in, from Lower Beth Horon and Suffa. From this confluence (alt. 713 feet) the Wady Malakeh finally proceeds by Shilta to Midieh, and the junction with Wady en Natuf on the west of Nalin. Below the confluence the single channel of Wady esh Shellal runs westward to join Wady Ludd.

Tlie Watercourses of Wady Ludd.

Two branches unite on the eastern side of the town of Ludd. The western branch is the Wady Harir, which


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44 44 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

collects the drainage of the southern waterparting from the neighbourhood of Abu Shusheh to Er Eamleh. The eastern branch is the outlet of the Wady 'Atallah and Wady Aly with their tributaries, which drain the country between the southern boundary of the Shellal or Budrus system, and the southern waterparting of the el 'Auja basin.

Four small wadys carry to the right bank of Wady 'Atal- lah, the drainage of a triangular space bounded by Deir Abu Selameh, Kh. Midieh, Shilta, and Kefr But (alt. 1,290 feet) ; where the limits of this space bend round south- ward by Bir Main (alt. 940 feet), to Selbit, and the confluence of Wady Suweikeh with Wady 'Atallah. The village of Jimzu lies between two of these wadys on the north ; the third is Wady Jaar, with the villages of Annabeh, Berfilya, El Burj, and Bir Main ; the fourth is Wady Suweikeh in the midst of several ruined sites.

At El Kubab on the 'Atallah, is the junction of Wady Selman (or Suleiman), which rises on the waterparting of the el 'Auja basin, at an altitude of 2,065 feet, on the west of el Jib, or of the plain around Gibeon. The ordinary camel route between Eamleh or Ludd and Jerusalem follows this valley. It has the villages of et Tireh and Kurbetha-ibn-es- Seba on the north, with Beit Dukku and Beit Likia on the south.

The Wady Selman receives a branch on the north or right bank, from the south of the high road between the Beth Horons. Before the junction, the Wady el Mikteleh from Beit Sira (alt. 840 feet) joins the branch which falls into Wady Selman about a mile lower down at an altitude of 625 feet.

Below this junction the Wady el Burj joins the Selman on its left bank, on the north-west of Beit Nuba. It rises between el Kubeibeh (alt. 2,570 feet) and Beit Anan (alt. 2,070 feet), in the Khallet or ravine of el Kuta.

West of Beit Nuba (alt. 737 feet), the Selman receives, on its left bank, the Wady Mozarki, which rises at el Kubeibel^ md passes Katanneh and Yalo (alt. 940 feet). At Yalo, &


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 branch falls in, which rises near Kuryet el Enab, takes the name of Wady el Hai, and receives the Wady Khushkush.

Lastly, about three miles east of el Kubab, the Selman receives a small wady from the east of Amwas.

At el Kubab, above the junction of the Selman, the 'Wady Atallah takes the name of Wady Aly, and rises on the southernmost portion of the waterparting of the el 'Auja, near the village of Saris (alt. 2,347 feet). South-west of Latron (alt. 800 feet), the Wady Aly receives a feeder from the margin of the basin which has several heads on either side of Beit Mahsir (alt. 1,790 feet). On the north, near Deir Eyub (alt. 1,070 feet), the Wady Aly receives the Wady Alakah skirted by the road to Kuryet el Enab. The direct road between Ramleh and Jerusalem follows Wady Aly; but if less circuitous it is more difficult than the route by Wady Selman.

Dr. Robinson was under the impression that a branch of this system originated in the rugged chasm on the north of Ram Allah, and issued from the mountain north of the lower Beth Horon; but here he was at a loss to say whether it proceeded to Beit Nuba, or went on directly west to Wady Ludd ("Phys. Geog.," p. 102). This misconception was corrected by Lieutenant Van de Velde; and further improvements were represented in the map of the Holy Land prepared under Dr. Grove for Dr. Wm. Smith's Ancient Atlas. But the difference between such approximations and the actual topography, as it is delineated in the new maps, can only be duly appreciated after a study of the maps, for which these notes may afford some preparation.

Between Jaffa and the town of Yebna (bib. Jabneel), the Nahr Rubin enters the sea, near the Neby Rubin, from which the name is derived. The basin of Nahr Rubin, with its central wady, follows the curvature that characterises the waterparting which divides it from the Nahr el'Auja basin


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46 46 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

on the north. The eastern waterparting extends along the Jordan basin from Bireh to er Earn, Shafat, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Urtas, about three miles west of which, at a point south-west of el Khudr (alt. 2,832 feet), it joins the southern boundary. The southern waterparting dividing it from the larger basin of Nahr Sukereir passes from el Khudr along a highway towards Kefr Som and Beit Atab. South of Kefr Som, where the road bifurcates, the waterparting follows the south-western road towards Beit Netif (alt. 1,517 feet) along the northern edge of Wady el Werd. From Beit Netif, it passes to the north of Zakariya (alt. 940 feet) ; and with a bend to the north, proceeds westward to Mughullis, where it turns to the north again, and impinges on the Wady el Menakh to the south of Jilia. Hence it goes westward to el Kheimeh (alt. 300 feet), passing Beshshit (alt. 197 feet), and Yebnah, to the coast at the Minet or Harbour of Rubin.

TJie Watercourses of Nahr Rubin Basin.

The Nahr Rubin appears in the Palestine Exploration Survey, as a permanent stream at a further distance from the coast than any other river in Palestine, except the Kasimiyeh ; its perennial sources being traced up the Wady es Surar to the hills about Surah and Tibnah, made famous by Samson and the Patriarch Judah. Dr. Robinson, however, has recorded that in autumn the Nahr Rubin sometimes dries up.*

The head of the Nahr Rubin basin lies in a recess pro- jected northward between the basins of the Jordan and el 'Auja. It contains the historical plateau of el Jib or Gibeon, which extends southward to the heads of the descending ravines and gorges of Wady el Ghurab, Wady es Surar or Ismain, and the " deep and rugged " Wady el Werd. This southern edge of the plateau,f is denned by the road from Jerusalem, which runs along the ridge on the south of Lifta, to the Wady es Surar on the north of Kulonieh, and thence

 * Robinson's " Phys. Geog. H. Land," p. 177. t " Bib. Res.," iii., 159.


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47 NAHR RUBIN. 47

to the waterparting through Beit Surik, along the wady desceuding to W. es Surar, from that village. The western side of the recess extends along the waterparting from near Beit Surik, to the east of Biddu, Beit Izza (alt. 2,621 feet), and Beitunia (alt. 2,670 feet), to el Muntar, a trigonometrical station of the Palestine Exploration Survey with the altitude of 2,685 feet. It may be observed that the heads of Wady el Imeish and Wady Selman rise in the plain of el Jib, and are not separated from Wady ed Deir by any prominent elevation. From el Muntar the northern side passes through Earn Allah (alt. 2,850 feet) to Bireh (alt. 2,820 feet), the biblical Beeroth, a village on the Jerusalem-Nablus road. The eastern side passes along the edge of the Jordan basin, from Bireh by Kefr Akab (alt. 2,740 feet), er Earn (alt. 2,600 feet), and Tell el Ful (alt. 2,754 feet), to the west of Jerusalem.

Two parallel watercourses with tributaries run through the plateau from north to south. The western is Wady ed Deir, which rises at Earn Allah, and " winding among low hills,"* has el Jib (alt, 2,535 feet), and Neby Samwil (alt. 2,935 feet) on its right bank. On this side the Wady Amir comes from near Biddu, and passes between el Jib and Neby Samwil.

The eastern watercourse rises as Wady Jillan near Bireh, and skirts the Jerusalem road in passing Kefr Akab and er Earn (alt. 2,600 feet) on its left bank. South of er Earn, the wady takes the name of ed Dumm, and turns to the south- west, to meet the western branch, on the south of the village of Beit Hannina, which lies between the wadys. The villages of Tell en Nasbeh, Eafat, Kulundia, Jedireh, and Bir Nebala, are also situated in a (( beautiful plain "t between the two wadys.

Below the confluence the wady is called after the village of Beit Hannina, and it runs on southward for about two miles to Lifta, where it bends to the westward for a mile and a half, receiving the Wady el Abbeideh from Neby Samwil and

 * Robinson's " Bib. Res.," i., 454. f


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48 48 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

Beit Iksa. The Wady Buwai from Beit Surik, joins the Wady Beit Hannina where it bends round on a southerly course to the village of Kulonieh.

Having some time since paid close attention to the cartography of this interesting plateau, in constructing the map of the environs of Jerusalem in Dr. Wm. Smith's Ancient Atlas, the present writer may be allowed to express the gratitude of a geographer for the light which the Palestine Exploration Survey now throws upon the subject. This part of Palestine had perhaps been more closely and generally studied than any other, thanks especially to the late Dr. Barclay of the American Mission. And yet if the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund needed a proof of the necessity for its exertions, it would be supplied by a com- parison of their survey with the aforesaid map of the Environs of Jerusalem.

Below Kulonieh, the central Wady of the Nahr Eubin basin, runs as Wady es Surar southward and westward, in a deep and winding valley to Setuf, Kh. el Loz, and 'Akur, receiving on its right bank between Loz and 'Akur, the Wady esh Shemarin from KustuL and Soba ; and on its left bank opposite 'Akur, the Wady es Sikkeh, the recipient of the noted Wady el Werd, and Wady Bittir, which drain the eastern and part of the southern margin of the Eubin basin from Lifta and Jerusalem, to Bethlehem, el Khudr, and Kefr Som. West of Kefr Som, another wady descends to the left bank of Wady Surar now called Ismain, at Deir esh Sheik (alt. 1,595 feet). The Wady Ismain continues westward at the foot of Deir el Hawa (alt. 2,090 feet) to 'Artuf (alt. 910 feet), where it receives the Wady en Najil direct from the southern edge of the basin, near Beit Nettif. This northward course of the Najil will be mentioned hereafter in connection with other features, which serve to define the base of the mountains, and separate them from the lowland hills of the Shephelah. A tributary of the Najil skirts the southern edge from the south of Kefr Som ; and a parallel tributary on the north joins the Najil from the same direction, passing


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Beil Atab and Jerash, Deir Aban and Deir el Hawa also send branches to the Najil.

At Artuf also falls into the right bank of Wady el Surar, the important Wady el Ghurab, which drains the northern waterparting of the Eubin basin that extends from Beit Sunk westward through Kuriet el Enab, Saris, and Beit Masir, The Ghurab washes Beit Nakuba, el Ammur, Kesla, Eshua, and Artuf, and receives small branches from Soba and Kuryet el Enab in its upper part, and from Surah near its outfall. Between Eshua and Surah a branch of Wady el Ghurab comes direct south from the northern waterparting, and forms a part of the long depression that separates the mountains of Judah from the lowland hills.

Between the deep and precipitous valleys of the Ghurab and the Surar, is a rugged mountain which appears to correspond with the Mount Seir of Joshua. On the north of the Ghurab is perhaps the Mount Ephron of Joshua. It is the range which forms the waterparting of the Auja and Eubin basins, between the heads of Wady Ghurab and Wady Amir and those of Wady Selman and Wady Aly.

Below the confluence of the Ghurab, the Wady es Surar crosses a plain in the midst of Samson's country and surrounded by many biblical sites. This plain is a pro- minent part of the depression which runs north and south between the foot of the mountains of Judah on the east and the lowland hills of the Philistine Shephelah on the west. Where the Wady es Surar enters the lowland hills, it has the remains of Ain Shems (the biblical Beth Shemesh) on a southern eminence ; while Surah, the Zorah of Samson and the tribe of Dan, looks down upon it from the north. The wady passes through the hills for about nine miles in a north-westerly direction, and skirts the southern edge of the plain of Akir (Ekron), which has a low ridge on the west, with a gap between el Mughar (alt. 236 feet) and Katrah (alt. 195 feet). Through this gap the Wady es Surar passes on its way to Yebnah (Jabneel) and the sea ; near which it


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50 50 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

takes the name Nahr Rubin, from a shrine dedicated to the Patriarch Reuben.

The north-west waterparting of the Nahr Rubin basin runs along the summit of the hills on the north of Wady Surar, from Beit Mahsir, to Abu Shusheh, and beyond Ramleh. From this slope many affluents join Wady es Surar. 1. From the extensive ruins of Rafat, and Surik near Surah, comes a wady which may be identified with Samson's Valley of Sorek, although the Wady Surar itself has hitherto been adopted. Samson's En Hak-kore, is also placed at Ain ek Kharyeh or Ayun el Kharjeh, and his Ramath Lehi at Kh. Ism- Allah.* Mahaneh Dan or the Camp of Dan, is probably at Khurbet Kila or the Ruined Fort. These are on the Wady el Khayeh, which becomes Wady el Baght towards its junction/with Wady Surar. 2. Other wadys fall in below Khuldeh. 3, The slope around the plain of Akir (Ekron), is drained by many channels which all unite near Ekron, and join the Surar at the gap below el Mughar. These include the villages of Sidun, Na'aneh, el Mansurah, and Akir. The Wady Deiran and the Wady Ayun Do, drain the hilly tract between Ramleh and Yebnah, and join the Nahr Rubin about two miles from the sea.

On the south or left bank, the Wady es Surar receives the Wady en Nahir, on the west of Ain Shems. It comes from the southern waterparting at Beit Nettif (alt. 1,517 feet), and passes the remains of Jarmuth and Zanoah. West of the Wady en Nahir, the southern edge of the basin is drained by the Wady el Menakh which descends from el Bureij (alt. 830 feet), Mughullis, Jilia, and Kezazeh to enter the Surar near Shahmeh (alt. 186 feet). Small drains also join the left bank at Katrah, Beshit, and Yebnah. These descend from a group of hills which culminate in a height of 305 feet, and correspond with the Mount Baalah of Joshua xv, 11, on the border of the tribe of Judah, which "went out unto Jabneel (Yabneh)."

 * Conder's "Tent Life," i, 27G-7.


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The delineation of this basin has undergone great changes from the Palestine Exploration Survey. Its northern border is coterminous with the Nahr Rubin basin. The eastern side, beginning on the south of el Khudr, divides the heads of Wady Musurr on the west from the springs of Wady Urtas, which descend through Wady Derajeh to the Dead Sea. The eastern side continues southward along the edge of the Dead Sea basin, through Ras esh Sherifeh (alt. 3,258 feet) and along the road to Hebron, until the waterparting bends to the westward towards the village of Sâfa, whence it goes south again to rejoin the highway to Hebron, near Khurbet Jedur; then it passes Beit Ummar, Beit Sûr, and Hulhul, where this basin ceases to be connected with that of the Dead Sea, and follows the basin of Wady Guzzeh up to the south of Dura. Here and westward to Kh. Kjjis er Raz, the southern limits of this Sukereir basin divide it from the basin of Wady el Hesy, which falls into the sea on the north of Gaza. From Kh. Ejjis er Raz, the waterparting follows a line of hills up to Kh. Yasin, near Esdtid (Ashdod), which divides the Sukereir from the small basin of Wady el Bireh, a coast basin like that of el Falik, on the north of Jaffa. The basin of Wady Guzzeh is continued from Dura, along the eastern and southern sides of el Hesy.

The drainage of Sukereir basin is divided between three main branches.

1. The northern branch is Wady es Sunt, which takes the whole of the eastern drainage from el Khudr on the north to Hulhul on the south, and that was known before the present survey. The main channel of Wady Sunt begins with Wady Musurr, which rises on the west of el Khudr (alt. 2,832 feet). It takes the drainage of the north-east angle of the basin from Kh. Umm el Kulah on the north to Kh. Beit Skaria on the south. At Jeba it receives a feeder


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52 52 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

from the northern margin at Kh. el'Ahbar and Wady Fukin, and runs westward as Wady el Jindy to Kh. Shuweikeh (Shocoh). Here it receives a tributary from the northern margin of the basin, on the south of Kefr Som, which follows the margin westward as far as Beit Nettif. At Kh. Shu- weikeh also is the junction of Wady es Sur, which rises at Kh. Beit Nasif near Terkumieh and runs almost due north, in a line prolonged by the plain of es Sunt, the Wady en Najil and the Plain of Surar, the Wady Ali, and the Plain of Beit Nuba to the foot of the Beth Horon Pass. This remarkable depression is about thirty miles in length, and serves to divide the mountains of Judah from the lowland hills of the Shephelah. The Wady es Sur is the recipient of a succession of valleys which have their heads along the eastern margin of the basin, between a point west of Safa and Beit Sur near Hulhul. The cave of Adullam according to Mons. Ganneau is at Aid el Ma in the Wady es Sur.

Below Kh. Shuweikeh, the Wady es Sunt enters a gorge through which it zigzags on its way to the Plain of Philistia which it reaches at the foot of Tell es Safi, the Blanche garde of the Crusaders, and perhaps the Libnah of the Bible. The altitude of Tell es Safi is 695 feet, and the wady at its foot is 395 feet above the sea. In its passage through the gorge it receives a valley from the south, traversed by the Eoman road from Beit Jibrin. Near its entrance into the plain it receives another affluent from Kudna (alt. 810 feet), Eana (alt. 660 feet), Dhikerin (alt. 680 feet) and Deir es Dhiban (alt. 665 feet). It crosses the rolling plain in a north-westerly direction to Jisr Esdud or the bridge of Ashdod, where it joins the outlet of the central and southern parts of the basin.

2. The central branch is best known as Wady el Afranj (Feranj of former maps). This branch drains the eastern waterparting, where it abuts on that of Wady Guzzeh, about the heads of Wady el Khulil, around Hebron. It rises from two small feeders skirting the border on the east of Dura, and


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53 NAHR SUKEREIR. 53

it receives five tributaries which rise along the eastern border to the northward of the main sources. The northernmost is the chief of these. It has its most northern source in the Wady Kaideh which rises close to the Hebron road on the west of Hulhul. But the most easterly source of this tributary is about half a mile further south, on the east side of the Siret el Bella'a (alt. 3,370 feet), a prominent height on the east of the Hebron road. Lower down this tributary skirts Terkumieh and joins Wady el Afranj on the north of Idhna.

This branch has been supposed hitherto, to belong to a drainage system, quite distinct from Wady es Sunt. On leaving the hills at Zeita, instead of running as it does to the north-west to join the Sunt at Ashdod, the Afranj was reputed to cross the plain towards the south-west, and to join the Wady el Hesy at Simsim. See map of Holy Land in Dr. William Smith's Ancient Atlas ; also Lieutenant Van de Velde's map ; and Dr. Eobinson's "Phys. Geog.," 107.

3. The southern branch of the Sukereir basin, rises from south-eastern angle at Dura, and receives tributaries from the margin of the Wady el Afranj north-westward to a point on the west of Beit Jibrin. It is the Wady ed Dawaimeh of former maps, and was so called from a village of that name on the main channel. On the east of this place it receives the drainage from between Dura and Idhna. At el Kubeibeh it receives the drainage from the margin of the Wady el Afranj, between Idhna and Beit Jibrin. From Kubeibeh, it flows north-westward to 'Arak el Menshiyeh, where it receives a branch rising on the west of Dawaimeh, and taking the drainage of the southern edge of the basin from its source to Kh. Ajlan (biblical Eglon). Another affluent rises at Kh. Ajlan, and taking the drainage of the western border up to Kh. Mamin, joins the main channel at Keratiya. At Kera- tiya the main southern branch is called Wady el Ghueit, and runs on north-westward to join the el Afranj at Beit Duras, from whence the junction with the northern channel is made at Jisr Esdud. The passage to the sea then proceeds north- ward for three miles, when it finally turns to the west and

E


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 reaches the coast at Neby Yunis, a shrine of the Prophet Jonah.

Of course this southern branch of the Sukereir basin was supposed to follow the central one to the basin of Wady el Hesy; which indeed has been entirely deprived of its reputed channels, and has been furnished with a newly discovered series by the present survey. Such was the recent state of the geography of an important part of Philistia and Judæa.

The outfall of Wady el Hesy lies between the ancient cities of Gaza and Ashkelon. The northern limit of its basin runs with the Sukereir basin, and beginning at the sea, and the sandhills at the mouth of the river, proceeds north-eastward between Berberah and Nalia to Kh. Erzeh, Khurbet Samy and Kh. 'Ejjis er Ras (alt. 331 feet). [These places mark the division between Wady Kemas in the basin of el Hesy, and Wady Bireh. The latter belongs to a small but distinct basin, including the villages of Nalin, Askalan (Ashkelon), el Mejdel, Hamameh, and Julis. Its outlet is at Tellul el Ferani (alt. 50 feet) where it appears to be lost in the sands. ]

From Kh. 'Ejjis er Ras (alt. 331. feet) the northern waterparting turns to the south-east and south, through Neby Ham to Khurbet Melita (alt. 336 feet). Here it strikes south-eastward again to Kh. Ajlûn (Eglon), and more easterly along a succession of ranges by Tell Jabis (alt. 450 feet), Muntaret el Kaneiterah, and by a long sweep to Khurbet er Resum (alt. 1,090 feet). From this point it bends round the heads of the Valley of Dawâimeh, and then makes another bend around the valleys on the west of Dura; finally reaching Ras el Biain (alt. 2,950 feet).

At Ras el Biain, the eastern side of the waterparting begins, dividing the Hesy from the Ghuzzeh (Gaza) basin. It passes south to Khurbet Kharsa (alt. 2,857 feet), Kh. Sirreh (alt. 2,746 feet), Ras Sirreh (alt. 2,601 feet), and Merj


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55 WADY EL HESY. 55

Domeh, to a point about one mile north of edh Dhaheriyeh ; whence it proceeds westward to Sheik abu Kharrubeh (alt. 2,070 feet), then south-west to Eas en Nukb (alt. 2,023 feet), and on to Tell Khuweilfeh, the southernmost point of the basin.

Here the waterparting strikes north-westward by the track of Kanan es Seru to Kh. Umm Ameidat (alt. 560 feet), and Tell Abu Dilakh (alt. 470 feet) ; still continuing along the Kanan es Sera to the heights of Saleh Burber ; whence the waterparting strikes southward to Kh. Zuheilikah (alt. 450 feet) and Kh. el Jindy ; then north-west to Kh. Hurab Diab (alt. 490 feet) ; and westward, near Khurbet Sihan and Kh. Mansurah to the gardens of Gaza, and to the sea.

From Tell Khuweilfeh westward, the waterparting divides the affluents of Wady el Hesy from the Wady esh Shertah, which runs to Wady Ghuzzeh, and forms the northern boundary of the pastoral nomadic tribes of the 'Azazimeh and the Teiaha. West of the 'Az^zimeh are the Terabin, whose territory reaches from Gaza to Suez.

The Watercourses of the Basin of Wady el Hesy.

The main channel has its origin at the north-eastern extremity of the basin. Six wadys rise along the eastern waterparting between Eas Biain (alt. 2,950 feet) and Eas Sirreh (alt. 2,061 feet). These unite at different points on the east of Kh. 'Aitun, and flow north-westward, receiving an affluent from Beit Auwa (alt. 1,495 feet) on the northern edge of the basin. The next of importance falls in on the left bank, from a wady which has its sources along the eastern waterparting, between Eas Sirreh and Sheikh abu Kharrubeh (alt. 2,070 feet). The main channel hugs the northern edge of the basin, and has only short tributaries on that side, till it reaches the plain at Simsim (alt. 219 feet), where an out- fall takes place from Umm Lakis (Lachish), el Huleikat, and Bureir.

At L>eir Sineid, a longer branch falls in, which rises at

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 the northernmost part of the basin at Kh. 'Ejjis er Ras (alt. 331 feet), and takes the drainage of Kaukabah, Beit Tima, Kjjeh, Burberah, and Beit Jerjah.

From the southern waterparting, between Sk. abu Kharrubeh and Tell Khuweilfeh, the Wady edh Dhikah proceeds, and takes the name of Wady en Nias on the way to its junction at Kh. Surrâ. Another considerable branch rises near the same part, and skirts the waterparting up to Kh. el Mukeimin, when it turns to the north-west and passes Kh. abu Gheith (alt. 640 feet) on its way to the main wady at Tell el Hesy (alt. 340 feet). The modern name of Gheith, its position on the southern frontier of Philistia, midway between the ancient fortresses of Hebron and Gaza, and particularly its connection with "the way to Shaaraim"(Tell esh Sheriah) have caused the remains of Gheith to be regarded as the representative of the long lost, ancient Gath, one of the five cities of Philistia, and the birth-place of Goliath.

Another affluent from the south, rises at Kh. Umm Ameidat, waters the modern village of Huj, and joins the Hesy at Khurbet Jelameh. The next from the southern waterparting, rises at Kh. Zuheilikah (alt. 450 feet) runs nearly up to Gaza where it receives a tributary from the south, and bending northwards, reaches the Hesy at-Deir Sineid.

The Palestine Exploration Survey only includes the northern part of this basin. Where the southern limit is to be drawn, it would be rash to affirm with any pretension to certainty, after the proofs supplied by the Survey of the unreliable character of existing maps dependent on route surveys in respect to questions of this precise character. The present southern limit of the survey corresponds with the division between Philistia and the Hill Country of Judah on the one hand, and the exceedingly interesting but unsurveyed and therefore very imperfectly known region including the


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57 WADY GHUZZEH. 57

Negeb or " South Country " of Scripture on the other. How attractive that part of the Holy Land is to the student of the Bible, is amply attested by that admirable work, which the Eev. Edward Wilton, M.A., Oxon., has devoted to it,* That book alone yields abundant evidence of the desirability of extending the survey work of the Palestine Exploration Fund to the southward. No doubt it is an undertaking which must be approached with ample precautions, but there is sufficient evidence to warrant the belief that a good under- standing for the purpose, might be entered into with the chiefs of the tribes, whose goodwill it would be necessary to secure. They are able to appreciate reverence for the Sacred Writings. It would be possible to explain to them the desire of believers to recover such a knowledge of the sites of the holy places in the " South Country," as the Survey now supplies further north. Their objections and apprehensions may be ascertained and provided for. A conviction that the welfare and prosperity of these pastoral people would be studied and promoted by the supporters of the Survey, might be justly impressed upon them. Such are some of the notions that seem to encourage the confident expectation that the Survey of the " South Country " of the Holy Land, will soon be taken up with the same earnestness and ability, which has already brought so large a part of the Fund's work to a most successful issue.

The northern limit of the Wady Ghuzzeh (Gaza) basin, runs with that of el Hesy from the coast eastward to Kuweil- feh, and thence north-eastward to Ras Biain ; beyond which it runs in the same general direction nearly to Hulhul, on the north of Hebron, having in this part the basin of Nahr Sukereir on the west. Here it becomes attached to the basin of the Dead Sea, and runs southward along its margin through Beni Nairn, Tell ez Zif, el Kurmul, Tell Main, Khurbet el Kureitein, Khurbet Beiyud, and

Wilton, M.A. Oson., Macmillan & Co., 3863.
 * The Negeb or " South Country " of Scripture. By the Eev. Edward


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58 58 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

Tell Arad, where the map terminates, leaving the rest of the waterparting really unknown. Every one of the names along this eastern margin of the basin are sites of biblical interest and correspond to Janum, Ziph, the Carmel of Caleb, Maon, Kerioth Hezron, Beth-Lebayoth, and the Canaanite capital Arad.

The southern limit of the Palestine Exploration Survey, runs from the Dead Sea by Wady Seiyal, corresponding to the Wady Hafaf of Wilton, thence by Wady el Kureitein to Khurbet el Milh, the Moladah of Scripture, thence by the Wady es Seba to Bir es Seba, the biblical Beersheba, and the junction of Wady esh Sheriah, whence the Wady Ghuzzeh runs on to the sea near Gaza.

The Watercourses of the Basin of Wady Ghuzzeh.

The head of -the Wady el Khulil is the origin of the principal channel of the northern part of the basin. It com- mences in three wadys which unite at Hebron, and in others further north towards Khurbet Beit Anun, the biblical Beth Anoth (alt. 3,085 feet), which unite on the north-west of Hebron, and contribute to the Wady el 'Aawir, which joins the Hebron Wady, a few miles south of the city. The Wady el Khulil zigzags from this confluence south-westward to Kujrn ed Deir (alt. 2,612 feet) near Yutta (alt. 3,747 feet), the scriptural Juttah, and, according to Eeland, the homely retreat of Zacharias and Elisabeth and the birth-place of their son John the Baptist. The bottom of the Wady el Khulil is thus 1,135 feet lower than Yutta, near which it receives the Wady Kilkis and also the Wady ed Dilbeh on the right bank. Both come from Khurbet Kanan, on the water- parting south-west of Hebron, and both are partly skirted by the high road which further south impinges on the Wady el Khulil, where the channel encircles the remains of Khurbet Rabud. Here it receives an affluent on the left bank. The Wady Khulil continues down the deep valley in a winding course to the foot of a spur surmounted by a track from the


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59 WADY GHUZZEH. 59

village of edh Dhaheriyeh (Debir of Caleb) on the western hill-side (alt. 2,150 feet). This is the first village in Palestine, by the road from Sinai through Beersheba and Hebron. At the foot of the spur, the Wady Deir el Loz falls in on the left bank. The wady continues to wind about in its south- westerly descent, receiving the outfall of a group of wadys which come from the waterparting between Eas Sirreh and Eas en Nukb (alt. 2,023 feet), and passing Khurbet Tat Eeit, skirt the north-western side of the Dhaheriyeh ridge. Afterwards it proceeds on a straighter course, and is joined by Wady Itmy from the northern edge of the basin at Kh. Khuweilfeh (Eobinson's " Bib. Ees." i, 207) ; finally reaching the Wady es Seba at Tell es Seba (alt. 950 feet) on the east of Beersheba (alt. 788 feet). This confluence is also joined by another wady from the north, which skirts the Khashm el Buteiyir.

The interval between the basins of el Hesy and the Dead Sea, widens between Dura on the west and Tell es Zif on the east, and gives rise to another system of watercourses, on the east of Wady el Khulil. It rises on the eastern water- parting, on the north of Tell ez Zif (alt. 2,882 feet) the biblical Ziph " immortalized by its connexion with David." It skirts the waterparting to el Kurmul (alt. 2,067 feet) the Carmel of Saul,* David,f and UzziahJ and, appearing again in the history of the Crusades. Here it turns to the west, receiving a tributary from Yutta (alt. 3,747 feet), and doubling upon itself, bends south to es Sernua (alt. 2,407 feet), the Eshtemoa of David's exile, near which it receives tributaries from the eastern waterparting about Maon (alt. 2,887 feet), and Bir el Edd (alt. 3,000 feet). Pursuing its south-westerly course as the Wady el Khan, it reaches Zanuta, the biblical Zanoah, where it receives a branch 'from Kanan el Aseif (alt. 3,002 feet) and Eafat (alt. 2,312 feet). It passes Kh. Attir, the biblical Jattir (alt. 2,040 feet) ; receives the Wady el Habur,

 * 1 Sam. xv. 12.

f 1 Sam. xxv. 2, 5, 7, 40 ; xxviii. 3 ; 1 Chron. iii. 1.

1 2 Chron. xxvi. 10.


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60 60 THE MEDITERRANEAN WATERSHED.

the Wady el Ghurra, and the Wady Saweh, and joins Wady es Seba near Tell es Seba.

Above this junction, the Wady es Seba may be traced to its origin on the eastern waterparting about Khurbet el Kureitein ; from whence it runs southward as Wady el Kureitein to Khurbet el Milh, the site of Moladah (alt. 1,210 feet), where it bends abruptly to the west on its way to Beersheba.

From the confluence of the Wady el Khulil, the Wady es Seba proceeds by the west through the pastures of the 'Azazimeh and Terabin Arabs, to its junction with a great wady from the south, which will be an attractive feature in the extension of the Survey. At this point the Wady es Seba changes its name to Wady Guzzeh, and runs north-westward to its confluence with Wady esh Sheriah, and its further passage to the sea on the south-west of Gaza.

The Wady esh Sheriah drains the northern margin of the basin of Wady Ghuzzeh, from the sea to Tell Khuweilfeh. On the east it has the Wady It my and another affluent of Wady el Khulil, being separated from the latter by Tuweiyil abu Jerwal and Khashm el Buteiyir, names which are applied to a spur which stretches southward from the range of the northern waterparting to the Sahel Umm Butein or plain of Beersheba. The southern boundary of Wady Sheriah is the summit of a broad down, which undulates between the Sheriah and the Seba.

Two main branches divide the basin of Wady esh Sheriah and meet at Khurbet 'Erk. The northern branch is the recipient at Kh. Umm el Bakr, of several wadys which rise along the north-eastern edge .of the basin, from Kh. Umm Dabkal round by the east to Tuweiyil abu Jerwal (alt. 1,500 feet). The Wady Sheriah passes westward from Kh. Umm el Bakr to Tell esh Sheriah (alt. 400 feet), an ancient site identified with Shaaraim, the way to which place is connected with the long-lost city of Gath, in the account of the flight of the Philistines, after Goliath was slain by David, 1 Sam. xvii. 52. Between Tell esh Sheriah and the junction with the


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61 WADY GHUZZEH. 61

Ghuzzeh seven wadys join the Sheriah from the northern edge of the basin.

The southern branch collects all the south-eastern affluents of the Sheriah and carries their waters to Khurbet Erk. Monsieur V. Guerin has contributed some additional sites to this part of the survey, which the surveyors left incomplete. But it is difficult to make his routes fit with the Palestine Exploration Map, and his own map like the best of others relating to this part, only serves to repeat the proof of the imperfect results of route surveys.

At the junction of Wady Sheriah with Wady Ghuzzeh, the survey places the Khurbet el Kutshan, which appears to be Arabic for the " Euins of the Horse Village." This at once suggests its identification with the biblical Hazor Susah or Susirn, which has the same meaning. The site has been long looked for in this locality. It has been supposed to be connected with the trade in horses with Egypt in Solomon's time; but its association with this neighbourhood is more fitly explained by the fact that horsebreeding is a prominent pursuit in the pastures about Gaza. The Henady Arabs of this part are famous for it.

On the south of Wady Ghuzzeh and near the sea, the Survey places the remains of Deir el Belah, which Mons. V. Guerin identifies with the Crusaders' fortress of Darum. The Rev. E. Wilson applies his cogent reasoning to connect it with the Bizjoth-Jah-Baalah of Joshua xv, the Balah of Joshua xix, and the Bilhah of 1 Chronicles iv. It is un- doubtedly the site of a sacred fane of high antiquity, suitable for the worship of Baal, and still more to give expression to the contempt of the Almighty (Bizjoth-Jah) for that idolatry.

Here ends the present examination of the Survey within the Mediterranean watershed. The remainder includes the western slope of the Jordan and Dead Sea Basin. It will be subjected to the same analysis as the former part ; and the comparison of the knowledge acquired by the Survey with earlier work will be not less instructive and interesting.


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62 PART II.

THE WESTERN WATERSHED OF THE JORDAN AND DEAD SEA BASIN.

THE BASIN OF WADY ET TEIM AND NAHR EL HASBANY.

The head of the Jordan basin lies about twenty-four miles beyond the present limits of the Palestine Exploration Survey, among the sources of the Wady et Teim, and surrounded by the villages of Medukhah, Bekka, and 'Ain el Arab. Near it passes the high-road from Beirut on the Mediterranean, over Mount Lebanon to Damascus by way of the Wady el Kuril. The wady runs to the Barada river, and divides the northern flanks of Mount Hermon from the southern extremity of Anti Lebanon.

The Wady et Teim drains the western slope of Mount Hermon ; and, as the Nahr el Hasbany, it comes into the Palestine Exploration Survey. It has on its right bank the Jebel ed Dahar, a narrow ridge on a portion of the water- parting between the Jordan basin and the Kasimiyeh. South of Dibbin, the plain of Merj 'Ayun lies between the Kasimiyeh- Jordan waterparting and the southern prolongation of Jebel- ed-Dahar. The waterparting skirts the western side of the Merj, and is continued along the southern prolongation of the Kasimiyeh, as described in the notice of that basin. The Kasimiyeh rises more than forty miles further north than the Wady ed Teim, on the flanks of the highest summit of Mount Lebanon ; from whence it descends along the eastern base of that mountain, till it passes the Crusaders' fortress of Belfort now Kulat esh Shukif. There it turns abruptly westward to the sea, and falling within the limits of the Survey, it came under notice at the commencement of this investigation.

The Nahr Hasbany and the Wady et Teim are without a record in ancient geography. They are discoveries made


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63 WADY ET TEIM AND NAHR EL HASBANY. 63

since the Palestine Association began the work which has been taken up by the Fund. The study of watersheds and basins commenced since accurate surveying supplied the requisite information, just as anatomy originated with the precise examination of the human frame. Formerly nothing was known of the Jordan further north than the fountains which supply its perennial waters on the south of Mount Hermon. The chief of these gushes out of the western side of Tell el Kady,* or the Judge's Mound (alt. 505 feet), and is one of the largest in the world, while another springs from the top of the same Tell directly above, and forms a distinct and considerable stream running to the south- west, and driving two mills, before it joins the other river. The ruins on the Tell are the remains of Dan, the northern counterpart of southern Beersheba, the foundation of which is recorded in the Books of Joshua and Judges. Its name is still retained by its fountains and stream, the 'Ain and Nahr el Leddan. The change from Dan to el Leddan is plainly traced by Dr. Smith in a note quoted by Dr. Robinson (" Bib. Res.," iii, 392), and Dr. Wilson remarked that Kady and Dan are respectively Arabic and Hebrew for a judge (" Lands of the Bible," ii, 172).

The next fountain in importance springs up at Banias (alt. 1,080 feet) in a nook of the mountain at the inner or north- eastern angle of the terrace, on which are the remains of this ancient place. The stream is called Nahr Banias and joins the Leddan in the plain. Not far below the confluence, a third affluent adds to the bulk of the stream ; it is the Nahr Hasbauy which comes from the Wady et Teim and the northern extremity of the basin. Near its outfall (alt. 140 feet) the Nahr Hasbany receives (1) the Nahr Bareighit, which has its source in the Merj 'Ayun at 'Ain ed Derderah near the Kasimiyeh, and a few miles above its great bend. The Bareighit becomes nearly dry in autumn. (2) The

high, and half a mile in diameter, its western side covered with a thicket of reeds, oaks, and oleanders. Tristram's " Land of Israel," 580. See also Monsieur Guerin, " Galilee," iii, 338.
 * An artificial looking mound of limestone rock, flat topped, eighty feet


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64 64 THE JORDAN WATERSHED.

outlet of fountains rising along the eastern foot of the hills, above el Khalisah and en Na'ameh. Dr. Robinson considers the Banias stream to be twice the bulk of the Hasbany, while the Leddan is twice that of the Banias. Dr. Wilson found the Hasbany to be seven yards broad and about two feet deep. The Leddari measured ten yards wide and two feet deep. At Banias, Dr. Wilson only remarked that the spring appeared to be " about as copious as that of Dan." According to the Memoirs of the Survey, the Nahr Banias is the principal source, and the fountains at Tell el Kady are mentioned as one in " Memoirs," 17A, but not in p. 24.

THE HULEH PLAIN, MARSH, AND LAKE.

The confluence of the perennial streams which unite to form the Jordan of the Bible and History,* takes place on the Huleh Plain, described on p. 144 ; and the river enters the marsh and lake of el Huleh, at es Salihiyeh. Here are the Waters of Merom (Josh, xi, 5, 7); and Lake Semechonitis of Josephus. Both lake and marsh have been examined by Dr. Tristram who nearly lost his life in the marsh ; and by Mr. Macgregor who penetrated them at great risk in the "Bob Roy" canoe. Tristram's "Land of Israel," 585-590. Macgregor's " Rob Roy on the Jordan/'

The principal wady entering the marsh from the west drains a recess of the waterparting, which affords space for the plateau of Kades, the famous Kedesh of Naphtali. On the north of this plateau is one still more elevated, and having no outlet for its waters. It contains the villages of Meis, and its waters form lagoons in the rainy season. Robinson's " Bib. Res.," iii, 369. From the south-west angle of Meis plateau, the Kades plateau flanks the most southerly part of the Kasimiyeh basin between Meis and Aitherun. It is the recipient of several branches before it descends from the hills as Wady Arus. Another wady from the hills unites with the abundant waters of 'Ain el Mellahah,

 * As distinguished from its extension northwards throughout Wady et Teiin.


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65 HULEH PLAIN. ETC. WADY EL HIND A J. 65

which enters the lake through the southern edge of the marsh. This wady does not impinge on the Mediter- ranean waterparting, but is divided from it by the next ; and as a rule only those wadys will be noticed separately here- after, which are in contact with the Mediterranean basins.

THE BASIN OF WADY EL HINDAJ.

The western side of Lake Huleh receives one wady from the Mediterranean parting, and two which are divided from it. The first is known in its lower part as the Wady el Hindaj. On the north the waterparting commences on the edge of the lake at Tell Abalis, and touches on the plateau of Kedes, passing the southern extremity of the Kasimiyeh basin on its way to Marun er Ras (alt. 3,035 feet). Turning southward, the basin of the Hindaj, runs with the Ezziyeh basin between Marun er Eas and Sasa. From Sasa the boundary of the Hindaj ascends to the top of Jebel Jurmuk (alt. 3,934 feet), the culmi- nating summit of Galilee. Here the Hindaj adjoins the Medi- terranean basin of Wady el Kurn. After descending the north- eastern slope of Jebel Jurmuk, the boundary goes towards Ras el Ahmar, and reaches Lake Huleh at et Teleil. Between Jebel Jurmuk and Ras el Ahmar, the Hindaj basin runs with the northernmost part of the Wady Amud or Safed basin, which falls into the Sea of Galilee. Eastward of Ras el Ahmar, it is bounded by the minor basin of Wady Shebabik. This basin is more fully noticed in pp. 185 to 188.

The basin of Wady el Hindaj includes the village of el Jish, the ancient Giscala (alt. 2,370 feet), and also those of Farah (alt. 2,160 feet), Salhah, 'Alma, and Deishun. The biblical sites of Edrei and Hazor are reputed to be in this basin, at Hadireh and el Khureibeh.

MINOR BASINS WAD SHEBABIK, &c.

The Wady Shebabik is the most northerly of a series of minor basins which are divided from the Mediterranean Slope by the basin of Wady Amud or Safed. It is followed by Wady Musheirefeh, properly Loziyeh, and both fall into Lake Huleh. At Kh. Benit, between the heads of Shubabik


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66 66 THE JORDAN WATERSHED.

and Loziyeh, is a commanding view over the Huleh basin. Eobinson, " Bib. Bes.," ii, 434. The Wady Loziyeh, properly Musheirefeh falls into the Jordan on the south of Jisr Benat Yakub, or the Bridge of Jacob's daughters. Besides it, this part of the Jordan only receives a few short wadys. The remainder of this secondary series falls into the Sea of Galilee. The first is Wady Zuhtuk, which runs nearly parallel with the Jordan, and joins the lake near it. The next, with a trifling inter- vention rises in Jebel Kanan, on the east of Safed, and enters the sea at Tell Hum. The Wady Jamus has its mouth at 'Ain Tabghah.

THE BASIN OF WADY 'AMUD, SAFED.

This is an important basin, containing the noted town of Safed. It comes into actual contact with the Mediterranean slope on the margin of Wady el Kurn, but it is only divided from the Kasimiyeh on the north by the Hindaj, and from the N'amein and the Mukutt'a basins on the south, by the Eubudiyeh basin. It enters the sea through the plain of Ghuweir or Gennesaret, at Tell el Henud. See p. 186.

THE BASIN OF WADY EUBUDIYEH.

Its mouth is not far south of the preceding wady. The head of the basin is spread between Jebel el Arus (alt. 3,520 feet) and Jebel Abhariyeh, where it is divided from the Wady el Kurn on the north, and on the east from the Plain of Bameh, watered by the principal branch of the Wady Halzun in the Naiman basin, which empties itself near Acre. On the east it has the Safed basin. At Ailbun, on its southern border, it approaches the Plain of Buttauf, in the north-eastern part of the Mukutt'a basin. From Ailbun to the Sea of Galilee it is bordered by the Wady el Hamam.

THE BASIN OF WADY EL HAMAM.

The Mediterranean waterparting here approaches closely to the Sea of Galilee and confines this basin within a short


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67 WADY EL HAMAM. WADY FEJJAS. 67

extent. It is, however, of much interest, for it rises near Hattin, where the Crusaders suffered a decisive defeat ; and includes the site of Irbid, and also the biblical Magdala, now el Mejdel, where it falls into the sea.

A series of minor basins skirt the rest of the coast of the Sea of Galilee between Wady el Hamam and Wady Fejjas, which falls into the Jordan at the Jisr es Sidd. The only one at all notable is the Wady el Amis next to Wady el Hamam. For from Tiberias to Jisr es Sidd the basin of Wady Fejjas skirts the sea closely, and at a height which attains to 1,650 feet above its depressed surface, leaving only a steep and narrow margin furrowed by precipitous channels towards the shore. The level of the Sea of Galilee as deter- mined by the Survey is 682*5 feet below the level of the Mediterranean.

THE BASIN OF WADY FEJJAS.

The waterparting of the Jordan is thrust inward at the head of this basin, which is coterminous with the most easterly extension of the Mukutt'a at the Plain of Toron. It has however some length, in consequence of its oblique direction from north-west to south-east. On the south it is bounded by the more considerable basin of Wady Bireh, except towards the outfall into the Jordan at the Jisr es Sidd, where a few short secondary channels are interposed along the right bank of the Jordan between the out Calls of this wady and Wady Bireh. Among them is the Wady umm Walhan with a permanent stream falling from a height of 2,000 feet in a short distance. It falls into the Jordan on its right bank, about a mile above the junction of the Yarmuk on its left bank, where the depression of the valley below the level of the Mediterranean is 835 feet. About two miles lower down, the Jordan is crossed by the Jisr el Mujamia, on the road to the Yarmuk and Um Keis (Gadara).

THE BASIN OF WADY EL BIEEH.

The heads of this basin extend along the margin 'of the Mukutt'a between the villages of esh Shejerah and


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68 68 THE JORDAN WATERSHED.

Nain. On the south-west it is bounded by the heads of Nahr Jalud, until the secondary basin of Wady Yebla or 'Esh-sheh ('Osheh formerly) intervenes, along with three others of no magnitude.

The principal channel of this basin rises at its northern extremity and flows at the eastern base of Mount Tabor, receiving on the south-west of the mountain another branch which rises on the east of Nazareth, and descending between Iksal and Deburieh, the Chesulloth and Dabberath of Scrip- ture, passes the south of Mount Tabor to join the northern branch. There are many tributaries on both sides of the main stream, and one of them comes from the biblical Endor. The river passes from the hills into the Ghor or Valley of Jordan, by a fine gorge which has Kaukab el Hawa " the Star in the Air," on the southern summit. It is the remains of the Crusaders' Castle of Belvoir, and the ruins are occupied by a miserable peasantry.

THE BASIN OF NAHR JAL^D.

The permanent stream rises at 'Ain Jalud and 'Ain el Meiyiteh, near the village of Zerin, the ancient Jezreel. It waters the noted Valley of Jezreel, and the village of Beisan, the site of biblical Bethshean, and the later Scythopolis. Below Beisan it crosses the Ghor to enter the Jordan through the ravine of ed Duwaimeh.

The head of the basin lies between Jebel Duhy (alt. 1,690 feet), and Jebel Fuku'a or Mount Gilboa, which at Sheikh Burkan is 1,698 feet. It skirts the edge of the plain of Esdraelon through the villages of el 'Afuleh and Zerin. The plain is called also the Valley of Megiddo, and by the present inhabitants, Merj Ibn 'Amir. Esdraelon is the well known Greek form of Jezreel, and the " Plain " which extends from Zerin westward, must be distinguished from the " Valley " which descends rapidly from it, eastward to the Jordan.

The descent of the valley is thus defined. Zerin is 402 feet above the sea. The 'Ain Meiyiteh at the foot of the village, is only 60 feet above the sea ; the 'Ain Jalud


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 but the person supposed by him an hour before as dear to him as life had since then turned him out into the world. Well, the world was there to take him. Yes, he increasingly felt, he was there and his bench, placed near the top of the spread of a great alley, seemed to give him a general view of it. The object indeed after a while most distinct in this view was Ralph Pendrel himself, who rose there conspicuous and held our young friend's eyes. What marked him most was that he was a man humiliated. Arrange it as he would—or as she would—he had not been good enough. What it really came to—she might say what she liked—was that he was not of the type. Who was then?—he could but put himself the question. He even presently reflected that it might serve her right to find after a while there was nobody. Thus it was that Ralph Pendrel, with the world taking him, was yet thrown back on that gentleman. If he was not good enough for her he would be so for this alternative friend; and he gathered about him in thought for an hour all the merits he could muster. One of them precisely was that he had another and quite a different passion. He kept repeating to himself that just this, for his hard mistress, was his defect. He had wondered much before he got up whether he had it with such intensity as to constitute a vice—an inhuman side, that is, which she might pardonably distrust. The only thing for him 38


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69 NAHR JALUD. 69

within two miles of Zerin, is 120 feet below the sea level. Beisan is on the edge of a broad terrace, which extends southward along the foot of the mountains for several miles at a height of 322 feet below the sea. The terrace has a steep descent to the Ghor or upper valley of the Jordan, which is here between 700 and 800 feet below the sea. The edge of the terrace above the Ghor, is traversed by the ancient road between Nablus and Beisan. The Eiver Jordan itself runs in a narrow trench through the Ghor, at a still lower depth, which does not appear to have been observed nearer than Jisr Mujamia, minus 845 feet, and at the foot of the ancient road which leads from the Jordan south-westward to Wady Farrah. At this point the river is minus 1,080 feet, which would make it about 950 feet below the sea near Beisan.

From Sheikh Barkan to Beisan and the Jordan, the southern edge of the Nahr Jalud basin is undistinguishable among an intricate network of irrigation works and neglected swamps, which extend from Beisan southward to Wady Shubash.

The wadys descending from Mount Gilboa (Jebel Fukua) to Nahr Jalud appear to be mere seams in the side of the mountain and require no further notice.

The wadys from the northern edge of the basin are more remarkable. The head of the basin including the south side of Jebel Duhy (alt. 1,690 feet) and the edge of the valley passing through el 'Afuleh to Zerin is drained by the affluents of Wady el Hufiyir, which with another distinct wady from Jebel Duhy, joins the stream from 'Ain el Meiyiteh, before its junction with the waters of 'Ain Jalud.

From the slopes east of Jebel Duhy and around the village of en Naurah, the Wady es Sidr descends to 'Ain Tub'aun, a spring which rises close on the left bank of the Nahr Jalud, facing 'Ain Jalud on the right bank. The Wady es Sidr does not however join the Nahr Jalud, for it main- tains an independent and parallel course as an aqueduct called Kanat es Sokny as far as the Khan el Ahmar, where it runs off' northward of the village to the Wady el Khaneizir.

The discovery of 'Ain Tub'aun is of historical interest. It


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solves a passage in William of Tyre where Saladin is said to have encamped by a fountain called Tubania, at the foot of Mount Gilboa, near Jezreel ; " circa fontem cui nomen Tubania," etc.* The same event is related by Boha-ed-din. in his Life of Saladin, as having taken place at 'Ain el Jalut, or Ain Jalud, which considering the proximity of the fountains, involves no real discrepancy. Mons. Guerin in an instructive notice of 'Ain Jalud, draws attention to these passages and concludes that 'Ain Jalud is meant by both of the historiaus.f Thanks to the Palestine Exploration Survey, it will now be seen that the old French chronicler was quite exact, and that the name which he records exists to this day. The Kan at es Sokny continues to intercept all the drainage of the northern slope; It is sufficient to note that the Wady el Harriyeh drains the villages of Kumieh and Shutta.

THE BASIN OF WADY SHUBASH.

The head of this basin is in contact with the south- eastern extremity of the Mukutt'a at Jelkamus, and with the north-eastern end of the Nahr Mefjir basin between Tannin and Eas Ibsik. One of its sources descends from Eas Ibsik (alt. 2,404 feet) and the secluded village of Eaba. Another rises on the north of el Mughair. The wady descends from these elevated glens by a gorge, which terminates at the south-western extremity of the Beisan Terrace, where it appears to end in a continuing slope with the lower level of the Ghor. It also receives branches from the projecting hills on which the village of Khurbet Ka'aun is situated, which although 213 feet below the Mediterranean, is still about 700 feet above the Ghor at its foot. This Ka'aun is probably the Coabis of the Peutinger Tables, in this direction.

THE BASIN OF WADY KHASHMEH.

The basin of the Shubash is succeeded by the Wady Khashineh, and its affluent the Wady Selman, which unite at the foot of the mountains, below the village of Berdeleh.

 * " Hist. Belli Sacri," lib. xxii, rap. xxvi. f Guerin, " Samarie," i, 309.