Consecrated by an event so remarkable, Carmel subsequently became the abode of Elisha. It was while looking down, one afternoon, upon this same great plain he saw the “woman of Shunem” coming in behalf of her only son. He sent Gehazito inquire the object of her visit; but she passed him by, and, pressing up this hill, laid her complaint before him. Descending from his mountain retreat,he hastened to her home of sorrow and restored her child to life.[520]
In after years Carmel was regarded with a superstitious veneration even by the learned heathen. Here Pythagoras passed some time in solitary meditations, and hither Vespasian came to consult the oracle which became so famous.
CHAPTER XII.
Plains of Palestine.—No Farm-houses.—Great Plain of Esdraelon.—Its Fertility.—Topography.—River Kishon.—World’s Battle-field.—Waters of Megiddo.—Deborah and her Victory.—Jeneen.—Bethshean.—Encampment.—Modern Sheikhs and ancient Patriarchs.—City of Ruins.—Jabesh Gilead.—Pella.—Gideon’s Fountain.—Mount Gilboa.—Battles.—Jezreel.—Napoleon and the Turks.—Shunem.—Nain.—Endor.—Witch’s Cave.—Saul and Samuel.—Witches.—Mount Tabor.—Its Form.—Woods.—View.—Misnomer.—Transfiguration.—It occurred at Night.—Argument.—Benighted Party.
There are two classes of plains in Palestine—those upon the sea-board, as the Plains of Philistia, Sharon, and Phœnicia, and those of the interior, as the Plains of Rephaim, Jericho, El-Mukhna, the Bukâ’a, and Esdraelon. They differ from each other chiefly in location, the former being maritime, and consequently more or less affected by the action of the sea; the latter being inland, and subject to the influences of the lofty mountains by which they are encompassed. Though equally beautiful, fertile, and historically important, yet at present those upon the coast are less cultivated and less inhabited than the others, as the wild Bedouins, dreading the sea, prefer to pitch their tents in the interior. Nothing evinces the degeneracy of the Syrian Arabs more than the neglect of these vast garden-plains. Perhaps it is not so much a proof of their degeneracy, as the Turk in Syria has never been otherwise than what he now is—indolent as he is overbearing, the enemy of all improvements, and the destroyer of whatever is elegant in architecture or beneficial in good government. The proverbial richness of the soil of Palestine is evinced by the abundance of grain annually raised at the expense of the least possible labor. Without ever receiving, the land is ever giving. The superficial process of plowing resembles our mode of dragging, and the application of mineral and other kinds of manure is a thing unknown. One often and heartily desires to see an American farmer occupying these noble plains, withhis enlightened views of agriculture and his improved implements of husbandry. What golden harvests, in more senses than one, would repay his toil! He would realize the prophetic blessings pronounced on Asher, “His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.”
The custom of dwelling in villages, and not upon the land cultivated, is fatal to the thorough development of the natural resources of any country. You may travel for miles through the richest portions of Palestine without seeing a human habitation. In going from Etham to Hebron, a distance of 15 miles, and through a fertile region, we failed to see a single dwelling, though occasionally we observed a small village perched on a mountain top. The traveler never meets with the clean, comfortable farm-house so common in the agricultural districts of America. Here the people dwell in towns, and there is a matter-of-fact meaning in the Savior’s words, “A sower went forth to sow.” If we except its eastern branches, there is not a single inhabited dwelling on the whole Plain of Esdraelon, and not more than one sixth of its soil is cultivated. Occasionally are seen the black tents of the nomadic Bedouin, who, despoiler-like, feeds his flocks till the crop is exhausted, and then removes to another section of rich pasturage, or, mounted on his fleet steed, scours the plain in search of plunder.
Whether considered as to the extent of its area, the fertility of its soil, the beauty of its scenery, or the political and religious importance of its history, the Plain of Esdraelon is the first of inland plains. The southern frontier of Zebulon, it fell to the lot of Issachar, “who saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant;” and, rather than abandon his possession,“he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.”[521] Extending from the Mediterranean to the Jordan Valley, it is not unlike a vast rent in the heart of the land. Resembling in form an irregular triangle, its base extends a distance of 15 miles from Jenîn to the mountains below Nazareth; and with one side measuring 12 miles long, formed by the Hills of Galilee, the other runs along the Samarian range a distance of 18 miles. Serving as the channel-bed of the ancient Kishon, its apex is a narrow pass half a mile wide, opening into the Plain of ’Akka. From its base threearms branch out toward the east, divided by Gilboa and Little Hermon. With Tabor on one side and Little Hermon on the other, the northern branch has Nain and Endor on its southern border, and was the path taken by the troops of Deborah and Barak when on their way to the battle of Megiddo. Lying between Gilboa and Jenîn, the southern branch terminates among the hills to the eastward. But, excelling the others in extent and richness, the great central branch descends in green and gentle slopes to the banks of the Jordan, having Jezreel on the south and Shunem on the north, and is known in Scripture as the “Valley of Jezreel,” where Gideon triumphed, and Saul and his sons were slain. Having its most distant perennial source in the great fountain of Jenîn, the famous river Kishon flows through this plain in a northwesterly direction, and pours its brackish waters into the sea. Called by the Arabs Nakr el-Mukuttah, it is ordinarily a clear and rapid stream, lined on either side with flowers and dense shrubbery. Increased in the rainy season by numberless mountain torrents, and by springs from the base of Carmel and from the bases of the Hills of Nazareth, it varies in depth from four to eight feet, and from 10 to 40 in width. It is evident that it must have been swollen by some extraordinary means to have swept away the fugitive army of Jabin. “The stars in their courses fought against Sisera” may indicate a tremendous storm that swept over mountain and plain, sending down torrents of water from the mountain streams, overflowing the steep banks of the Kishon, and sweeping on to the sea with irresistible force, bearing on its rapid current the routed foe, who, in the confusion of defeat and flight, had become entangled in the dense thickets that line its banks.
But the significance of Esdraelon is its marked history. It is the battle-field of nations. The hosts of Israel and the wild tribes of the ancient Canaanites have met in death-grapple upon its soil, and in later times the powerful armies of Europe contended on the fields of El-Fûleh with the barbarous hordes of the Orient. Here Deborah and Barak marshaled their hosts against Sisera; here Gideon encountered the Midianites; here the Philistines fought against Saul and Jonathan; here Benhadad put the battle in array against Ahab; here Jehu slew Ahaziah and Joram; here the knights of mediæval times grappled with the soldiers of the Crescent, and Napoleon and Kleberled their splendid columns against the relentless Turks. It was a memorable day when we traversed this plain, recalling the clamor of war, and in fancy beholding the onset, the retreat, and fierce pursuit of mighty armies. And equally gratified were we that those scenes of death are past, and that flowers now bloom and harvests ripen where belligerent hosts once fought.
Descending from the heights of Carmel, we followed a winding path through wooded dells to the southwest corner of Esdraelon, and in half an hour reached Wady el-Mêlhor, “The Salt Valley,” which forms the boundary-line between Carmel and the Mountains of Samaria. Up this ravine the French marched in 1799 to attack Ramleh. Fording the Kishon, our path lay along the base of the Samarian Hills, which are furrowed by deep gorges, eleven of which are the channels of as many streamlets flowing into the sacred river. Seven miles beyond is the battle-field of Megiddo. Here, sweeping along the base of a high mound, are the “waters of Megiddo,” running northward into the Kishon. On the banks of this stream is the scene of that great battle between Barak and Sisera. Roused by the call of a woman, the former had assembled the northern tribes of Israel on the summit of Tabor, where he was joined by Deborah, who led to the fight the tribes of Central Palestine. Choosing Taanach as his rallying-point, the latter had concentrated his host with 900 iron chariots. Approaching from different points of the plain, the contending foes met hard by the “waters of Megiddo.” Then it was that “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera,” as at that moment a storm of sleet and hail gathered from the east, and,bursting over the plain in the face of the advancing Canaanites, threw them into confusion, and “the torrent swept them away.”[522] Springing from his chariot, Sisera fled on foot into the neighboring mountains, where the nail of Jael awaited him who had escaped the sword of Barak.Then, in the moment of triumph, Deborah sang her wondrous song.[523]