is sometimes inundated, and even after this has subsided, the alluvial soil is dangerous for attempting to travel in, it becomes a bog for animals of burden. Thus it is quite conceivable that at the occurrence of a mighty storm, divinely and specially commissioned to destroy, the host of Sisera and his chariots would be irretrievably discomfited.
Where the scene opened upon the plain of Acre there was extensive cultivation visible, and the town of Caiffa appeared with the grove of palm-trees in its vicinity.
The view hence of the Caiffa bay reminds us of the prophetic blessing pronounced by the patriarch Jacob. “Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships.” I am convinced that this Hebrew root פוח (English haven and the German hafen) is perpetuated not only in those words but in the modern appellation, Caiffa, or as it may be more properly written Hhaifa. The Arabic letter ح is the real equivalent for ח in Hebrew; by grammatical permutation the letter ו rightly becomes ي in Arabic, and this we have
Hhaifa which Europeans turn into Caiffa.
We then reached a low natural mound on which are ruined walls of great thickness, the levelled surface on the summit had been probably all occupied by one castle with its outworks, but we saw it yellow with a ripe crop of barley. This place is Hurbaj, and the neighbourhood abounds with destroyed villages, the natural consequence of
being so near to Acre, and being the palœstra or wrestling ground of great nations in successive ages.
We arrived at Acre in exactly twelve hours from Jeneen, and pitched the tents outside upon a bank between two trenches of the fortification, commanding extensive views in every direction, and were fanned by sea breezes from the bay.
In conclusion, I may observe that the plain called by the Greeks Esdraelon, as a corruption of Jezreel, is that named “Megiddo” in Old Testament Scripture. In the New Testament it bears the prefix of the Hebrew word Har (mountain) minus the aspirate, being written in Greek, and so becomes “Armageddon” in the book of Revelation.
For topographical reasons it is very likely that the city of Megiddo was at Lejjoon. There is a village of Mujaidel on the north side of the plain, not far from Nazareth, but this is a diminutive of the Arabic Mejdal, so common in Palestine as a variation from the Hebrew Migdol.