4. The Eastern Table-Land is a lofty plateau, east of the Jordan. The mountains on this side are higher and more steep than are those on the west; and from their summit a plain stretches away to the great Syrian desert. It is mostly fertile, and especially adapted to pasturage. On the north is Bashan, now called "the Hauran," in the centre lies Gilead, and south was the land of Moab.
III. THE WATERS OF PALESTINE.
These may be noticed under three heads: 1. The River Jordan. 2. The Three Lakes. 3. The Brooks, or mountain torrents.
THE RIVER JORDAN.
1. The River Jordan has three sources. (1.) The most northerly is at Hasbeiya, on Hermon. (2.) The largest stream proceeds from a great spring at the ancient Dan, now Tell el Kady. (3.) The one recognized as the source by the Jews is at Banias, near the ancient Cæsarea Philippi. It may be divided into three sections: from Hasbeiya to Lake Merom, about 40 miles; from its entrance into Merom to the Sea of Galilee, 15 miles; and from the northern end of that lake to the Dead Sea, 79 miles,—making its direct length 134 miles, though by its windings the channel is about 200 miles long. In its progress it falls over 3,000 feet, an average fall of over 22 feet to the mile. It varies in width from 80 to 180 feet, and in depth from 5 to 12 feet.
2. The Three Lakes are: (1.) Merom, now called Huleh, a triangular sheet of water three miles across, located in a swamp in Northern Galilee. (2.) The Sea of Galilee, called Chinnereth in the Old Testament, a pear-shaped lake, 14 miles long, and 9 wide. (3.) The Dead Sea, 46 miles long, its surface 1,290 feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and in some places 1,300 feet deep, though the great lagoon on its southern end is not more than 20 feet deep.
3. The Brooks, or mountain torrents, are an important feature in the country. They are dry for most of the year, but during the winter are large and rapid. (1.) On the east of the Jordan Valley are: (a) the Hieromax (now called the Jarmuk), flowing from the highlands of Bashan into the Jordan, south of the Sea of Galilee; (b) the Jabbok (now Zerka), descending from the table-land, and entering the Jordan a little south of midway between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea; (c) the Arnon (now Mojeb), entering the Dead Sea about the middle of its eastern shore. (2.) Flowing from the Mountain Region eastward are: (a) the Farah, "the waters of Enon" (John 3:23); (b) the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:3), perhaps Wady Kelt, near Jericho; (c) the brook Kedron, running past Jerusalem, eastward, into the Dead Sea, probably the Wady en Nar. (3.) Flowing into the Mediterranean are: (a) the Leontes (now Litany), the northern boundary of Palestine, a stream almost as long as the Jordan; (b) the Kishon, "that ancient river" (Judg. 5:21), watering the Plain of Esdraelon; (c) the brook Besor (Wady es Sheriah), near the southern frontier. Others might be named, but these are the most important, though not in all cases the largest.
