Esdraelon

This is the Gr. way of writing the Heb. name Jezreel — ^n;p,]' 'God soweth'— the royal city of Aliab and Jezebel, which, standing on the E. edge, gave its name to 'the great plain' of central Palestine. It is variously given, e.g. Jth 3" n"* A 'EaSpTiXiir (B 'EadpaTtXun) ; 7' A 'EffSpriXiiiJ. (B K 'EaSpTiXwv) ; 4' B 'EaprjXuy, A 'Etrep-rjxuf. Tlie name by which it^is now known among the natives is Merj Ibn-'Amr 'Meadow of the son of 'Amr.'

At one time the mountain range must have stretched unbroken from the uplands of Samaria, behind Jenln, to those of Galilee, which run N. into the Lebanons. Now it is as if a gigantic mass had been torn from the bo.som of the range, leaving the rough protuberances of Gilboa, Little Hermon, and Tabor, along the edge of the Jordan Valley, and thrust violently towards the sea, in a N.W. direction. This ma.

ss forms llie wooded bulk of Carmel, which, rising to a heiglit of over 1800 feet, terminates in a bold promontory, guarding the S. end of the Bay of Acre. The undulating floor of this great gaj) among the hills forms the ' valley ' or plain of^ Esdraelon.

The name by which it is mentioned 2 Ch 35*", Zee 12", nypa ' an opening,' from pb; ' to split ' or ' cleave asunder,' as distinguished from p;y 'a depression ' or 'deepening,' applied to its oirslioot, tlie vale of Jezreel, suits the conditions admirably. The word still persists in El-Bekd', tlie great hollow between the Lebanons ; and in its dim. form, lU-Bakei'a, a village with a tract of fertile land around it, enclosed by ridges, high in the mountains of Naphtali. So the plain of E.

is shut in by hills on every side. It may be described generally as triangular in form. It is bounded oy irregular lines, drawn from the foot of Carmel, along the N. edge of the low hills wliich join Carmel to the Samaritan mountains, to Jenin ; from Jentn to the base of Mt. Tabor; and thence imder the Nazareth hills, back again to Carmel. The S. boundary is the longest, extending some 20 miles ; the other two are nearly equal, being each about 15 miles in length.

From Jenin a little bay runs ea-st into the bosom of (Jilboa, but linds no outlet. Between Gillxia and Little llermon a broad and easy descent passes down as far as BeisAn, and then. with a sudden leap, plunges to the level of the Jordan Valley. This is properly the vale of Jezreel. Between Little Hermon and Tabor another oll'slioot of the plain makes its way down to the Glii'tr, throwing oil' a spur to the N.E. of Tabor.

Westward the plain narrows to a gorge between the lower hills of Galilee and Carmel, tlirough which the Kishon forces a passage to the plain of Acre, and thence to the sea. We have practically one continuous plain from the sea-shore to the 11]) of the Jordan Valley. There is the plain of Acre, running up to the gorge at the E. end of Carmel ; the great central plain spreading N. and S., and rolling E. to the base of Gilboa and Little Hermon, the general elevation of which is about '200 ft.

above sea-level ; then the vale of Jezreel, which, in the 12 miles from Zer'in to Beiidn, sinks about 600 ft., before falling steeply into the Jordan Valley. For the most part, the plain consists of deep, rich, loamy soil. After the removal of the crops, where it is cultivated, the autumnal suns burn uie surface almost to brick ; and when the rains come, it sucks them in like a huge sponge.

In winter it becomes a nearly unbroken sheet of mud, extremely dangerous to cross ; disaster not seldom befalling those who travel even by tlie most frequented and thoroughly beaten tracks. Its fertility has always been remarkable, ever generously rewarding the toils of the husbandmen. In season you may pass over many acres where the man on horseback can just see over the tall stalks of grain.

Where left to itself, the rank luxuriance it produces is proof enough of what it might do in skilful liands. Of trees, in the plain there are few, but on its borders, esp. at Jenin, there are clumps of olives and other fruit trees, the stately palm waving high over all. The low hills tliat run down towards Carmel from the N. are thickly covered by oak trees, and are known among the natives as ' the forest.'

The only stream of importance in the iilain is the Kishon, visible, for the most part, only from its own steep banks. Rising at Jenin, it pursues its crooked course, justifying its name ' the tortu- ous,' along a deep muddy bed, gathering contribu- tions from other parts of the plain, and carrying all, through the gorge at Carmel, to the sea.

The chief fountains are at Jenin, where, creating the gardens, they gave rise to the ancient name En- Gannim ; at Jezreel, where, in close proximity, are three springs, the principal being '^tre Jaliia, just under the northern dill" of Gilboa, identilied with the well of Harod. The stream which these three 8U[)|)ly flows eastward to Jordan. At Lejjiln, the ancient Megiddo, there are also copious s])rin};s, suHicient to form considerable marslies to the N.

, besides turning several mills, and serving largely for irrigation. The plain owed its importance chiefly to its central position, and to the great highways that lay athwart it. The main gateways of entrance were live in number. (1) That coming down from the N. between Tabor and the Nazareth hills, guarded l>y the fortress on the mountain. (2) That from the E. up the vale of Jezreel, commanded by this city. (3) The approach fnmi the S. by Jenin.

(4) That up ]\'<i(lij'Arnh into the plain by the old stronghiild of Megiddo, now Lejjiin. (5) That through the pass under Carmel, from the plain of Acre, dominated by Haroslieth — Hiirithii/eh — on the N., and by Jokneam of Carmel on the edge of the plain. By one or other of the.se ])ortals the merchant caravans and the armies of contending powers had to enter, an<l lind exit, on their pas.sage N., S., E., or W.

These strongholds, together with Ik'thshean — Jieisdn, Shunem — Sulam, Nain, on the N.W. shoulder of Little Hermon, Daberath — DebHriyeh, on the W. slope of Tabor, and Chesul. 758 ESDRAS. FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS, FIRST BOOK OF loth — Iksdl, ander the Nazareth hUls, were the chief cities around the plain. At no time have towns of any importance been built on the plain itfielf. E. formed the main part of the ' lot' ot Issachar (Jos I9"'").

This tribe seems to have reverted at once to the old nomadic life, ' dwelling in tents ' (Dt 33'"), and the fatness of the land becoming a snare to them, they were ignobly content to secure its enjoyment b-y stooping as servants ' under task-work (Gn 49"). The ' men who had understanding of the times,' of the child- ren of Issachar, who came to David at Hebron (1 Ch 12'*), were probably astrologers, and skilled in the arts of divination, so popular from of old among the children of the wilds.

This goes to show how closely the inhabitants of the plam were identified with their Bedawi neighbours. In the same chapter, v.*", we have an indication of the character of its ancient produce. The men of Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali ' brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victual of meal, cakes of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance. ' Four battles, famous in Israel's history, were fought in this plain.

On the banks of Kishon Sisera was overthrown, ' the stars in their courses ' contributing to his defeat (Jg 5^). In the hollow between GiJboa and Little Hermon, the swarms of ' the children of the East ' perished in the midnight alarm, before Gideon and his brave 300 (Jg 7). Saul and Jonathan, driven back by the victorious Philistines, retired to the heights, and were slain on the 'high places' of GUboa (1 S 31).

Josiah's disastrous mistake, in attempting to arrest the progress of Pharaoh, necoh in the valley of Megiddo, was paid for with his life. Wounded in the battle, he was carried to Jems, dead (2 K 23*") or dying (2 Ch ZS"'^). Imperishable memories of Elijah's encounter with the prophets of Baal cling to its western border. Up from the way of the Jordan came Jehu, driving furiously, to the slaughter of Ahab's house, and across the plain fled Ahaziah, to perish by Megiddo.

The army of Holofemes spread out from the hills above Jenin to Cyamon — Tell KaimHn (Jth 7'). During the long period of the Jewish wars, the plain often resounded with the tramp of armies and the noise of battle.

In the vision of the Jewish-Christian seer (Rev 16'*- "), the most fitting place whither ' the kings of the whole world shall be gathered together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty,' is the level reaches, so often drenched in blood, which take their name from 'the place which is called in the Heb. tongue Har-Magedon.'

Open of old to the eastern tribesmen, who kept the peasants in constant fear, the Romans inaugu- rated a period of security, and the people made progress m the arts of civilization. But with the fall of the eastern empire, the Arab hordes rushed back, and restored the ancient conditions. In recent years the Turks have established more efl'ectual control over the nomads ; and the pea.

sants, delivered from the rapacity of the Arabs, have been handed over to the tender mercies of certain Greek capitalists in Beirflt. We may doubt if their burdens have thus been lightened. LmHATFM.— O. A. Bmlth, HGUL SSl-ilO; Baedeker, Pal.* 229 ; Furrer In Schenkcl's Bibetlex. Ui. 302 ; Thomson, Land and Book, ii. 179 (. ; Porter, Giant Citiet of Bashan, 245 1. ; PEFSt, 1872, 180f. ; 1873, 3ff., 40, «0 ; IS75, 40; 1879, 13; Conder, renMFori, 588. ; Moore, ,/ud(;M, 197 (.

; Schurer, HJ/" «■ U- 8». W. EWINO.