The road from Jenin passed near the base of Mount Gilboa, and as our friends followed the ridge on which their track lay they found themselves on the water-shed between the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean. They passed the village of Zerin, the ancient Jezreel, where Jezebel was thrown to the dogs, and where Ahab's palace is supposed to have stood. To the east of the village is the spring of Harod and the fountain of Jezreel, where Saul's army made its last camp. It is on the slope of Mount Gilboa, and directly in front of the position where the Philistines were posted before the battle. By going still farther to the north we come to Endor, where Saul had his interview with the witch. Most of these points lay too far from the road to allow time for a visit, but they were visible from the high points of the route, or their positions were easily indicated.
MAP OF THE VALLEY OF ESDRAELON.
Other battles than those of the Bible were recalled by this ride over the plain, and among the hills that bordered it. The guide pointed out the spot where Saladin defeated the Hospitallers and Templars when he conquered Palestine, and also where Napoleon Bonaparte and Kleber defeated a Turkish army much larger than their own. The Doctor said they were not far from where Nebuchadnezzar's army was encamped when Judith cut off the head of Holofernes, and a little farther away was the scene of the defeat of the Jews by the army of Vespasian.
"No wonder it is called the battle-field of Palestine," said he, "when it has been the scene of so much warfare. No other part of the country has been traversed by so many armies as this, and in no other place have so many historic battles been fought. There is hardly an acre of the Plain of Esdraelon that has not been moistened by the blood of the victims of war. The soil is fertile, or would be if it were well cultivated, but it has shared the fate of other parts of Palestine, and is suffering from neglect."
At the suggestion of the guide they made a slight détour from their route in order to visit the village of Nain, which is celebrated in Scripture as the scene of the raising of the widow's son (Luke vii. 7-15). There is nothing of interest in the village itself, and it is probably no larger in population than it was two thousand years ago. The hill-sides near it are fairly honey-combed with tombs, but hardly any of them are of modern date.
Mount Tabor was in full view from the road for a considerable time, and so were other hills and mountains mentioned in sacred history. From the Plain of Esdraelon to Nazareth the road wound through a broken country, and in many places it was quite steep. Nazareth is about four hundred feet higher than the plain, and consequently the ascending parts of the route preponderated over the descents. The town is surrounded by hills, and is not visible until quite close at hand, in consequence of its secluded position.
