III. LANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
These lands will receive more extended treatment in connection with other maps, so that we give them only a brief mention here.
1. Asia Minor scarcely enters the field of the Old Testament, except as the "land of the Hittites." It will be noticed under the topic of the Journeys of the Apostle Paul, [page 117].
2. Syria, in the Hebrew Aram, is a name of indefinite signification, sometimes embracing all the territory north of The Wilderness of the Wandering, and therefore including Palestine and the provinces around it. But Syria Proper seems only to indicate the territory bounded by the Amanus and Taurus ranges of mountains on the north, by the Euphrates and the desert on the east, by Palestine, beginning with Mount Hermon, on the south, by the Mediterranean and Phœnicia on the west. It reaches the Mediterranean only near the mouth of the Orontes. It consists of three portions: On the north an elevated tract, never thickly populated, having Carchemish and Samosata as its principal cities; between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon ranges of mountains a great valley, called Cœle-Syria, "hollow Syria," forming the bed of the Orontes, flowing north, and the Leontes (Litany), flowing south; and on the east a level country reaching to the desert, containing the cities of Damascus on the south, Tiphsah (Thapsacus) on the north, and Tadmor (Palmyra) in the desert. During the times from Jeroboam to Jehoash, Syria was an independent kingdom, the rival of Israel, with which its political relations may be seen on the map on [page 86]. In the Old Testament period, Damascus was its principal city, and exercised sovereignty; but later, Antioch, in the north, became more prominent, and was the Greek and Roman capital of the province.
3. Phœnicia is a narrow strip of territory between the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Lebanon, north of Palestine and south of the Orontes. Its two great cities were, Zidon, the mother of Mediterranean commerce; and Tyre, her daughter. Its boundaries were never extensive; but its vessels traded with every land, and its colonies were planted all along the shores of the Mediterranean.
4. Palestine lies south of Phœnicia, between the Mediterranean and the desert. It will be described in connection with the Physical Map of Palestine, [page 29], and Moab and Edom, near it, on [pages 39] and [45].
5. South of Palestine is The Wilderness, a part of Arabia, in which the Israelites wandered during forty years. Its description may be found on [page 42].
6. Egypt lies in the northeastern corner of Africa. See its description on [page 41].