4. The district of PERÆA comprised the six cantons of Abilene, Trachonitis, Ituræ, Gaulonitis, Batanæa, and Peræa, strictly so called, to which some geographers have added Decapolis.

(1.) ABILENE was the most northern of these provinces, being situated between the mountains of Libanus and Anti-libanus, and deriving its name from the city Abila. It is supposed to have been within the borders of the tribe of Nephtali, although it was never subdued by them, and is one of the four tetrarchies mentioned by St. Luke. (iii. 1.) The evangelist's account is confirmed by the geographer Ptolemy, who states that Abila bore the name of Lysanias.

(2.) TRACHONITIS was bounded by the desert Arabia on the east, Batanæa on the west, Ituræa on the south, and the country of Damascus on the north. It abounded with rocks, which afforded shelter to numerous thieves and robbers.

(3.) ITURÆA antiently belonged to the half tribe of Manasseh, who settled on the east of Jordan : it stood to the east of Batanæa and to the south of Trachonitis. Of these two cantons Philip the son of Herod the Great was tetrarch at the time John the Baptist commenced his ministry. (Luke iii. 1.) It derived its name from Jetur the son of Ishmael (1 Chron. i. 31.), and was also called Aurantis from the city of Hauran. (Ezek. xlvii. 16. 18.) This region exhibits vestiges of its former fertility, and is most beautifully wooded and picturesque.!

(4.) GAULONITIS was a tract on the east side of the lake of Gennesareth and the river Jordan, which derived its name from Gaulan or Golan the city of Og, king of Bashan. (Josh. xx. 8.) This canton is not mentioned in the New Testament.

(5.) BATANÆA, the antient kingdom of Bashan, was situated to the north-east of Gaulonitis: its limits are not easy to be defined. It was part of the territory given to Herod Antipas, and is not noticed in the New Testament.

(6.) PERÆA, in its restricted sense, includes the southern part of the country beyond Jordan, lying south of Ituræa, east of Judæa and Samaria; and was antiently possessed by the two tribes of Reuben and Gad. Its principal place was the strong fortress of Machærus, erected for the purpose of checking the predatory incursions of the Arabs. This fortress though not specified by name in the New Testament, is memorable as the place where John the Baptist was put to death. (Matt. xiv. 3—12.)

(7.) The canton of DECAPOLIS (Matt. iv. 25. Mark v. 20. and vii. 31.), which derives its name from the ten cities it contained, is considered by Reland and other eminent authorities as part of the region of Peræa. Concerning its limits, and the names of its ten cities, geographers are by no means agreed; but according to

a

Josephus (whose intimate knowledge of the country constitutes him an unexceptionable authority), it contained the cities of Damascus, Otopos, Philadelphia, Raphana, Scythopolis (the capital of the district), Gadara, Hippos, Dios, Pella, and Ĝerasa.

5. IDUMÆA.—This province was added by the Romans, on their conquest of Palestine. It comprised the extreme southern part of Judæa, together with some small part of Arabia. During the Babylonish captivity, being left destitute of inhabitants, or not sufficiently inhabited by its natives, it seems to have been seized by the neighbouring Idumeans; and though they were afterwards subjugated by the powerful arms of the Maccabees and Asmonean princes, and embraced Judaism, yet the tract of country, of which they had thus possessed themselves, continued to retain the appellation of Idumæa in the time of Christ, and indeed for a considerable subsequent period.

VIII. Of the whole country thus described, JERUSALEM was the metropolis during the reigns of David and Solomon : after the secession of the ten tribes, it was the capital of the kingdom of Judah, but during the time of Christ, and until the subversion of the Jewish polity, it was the metropolis of Palestine.

1. Jerusalem is frequently styled in the Scriptures the Holy City (Isa. xlviii. 2. Dan. ix. 24. Nehem. xi. 1. Matt. iv. 5. Rev. xi. 2.) because the Lord chose it out of all the tribes of Israel to place his name there, his temple and his worship Deut. xii. 5. xiv. 23 xvi. 2. xxvi. 2.); and to be the centre of union in religion and government for all the tribes of the commonwealth of Israel. It is held in the highest veneration by Christians for the miraculous and important transactions which happened there, and also by the Mohammedans, who to this day never call it by any other appellation than El-Kods, or The Holy, sometimes adding the epithet El-Sherif, or The Noble. The original name of the city was Salem, or Peace (Gen. xiv. 18.): the import of Jerusalem is, the vision or inheritance of peace; and to this it is not improbable that our Saviour alluded in his beautiful and pathetic lamentation over the city. (Luke xix. 41.) It was also formerly called Jebus from one of the sons of Canaan. (Josh. xviii. 28.) After its capture by Joshua (Josh. x.) it was jointly inhabited both by Jews, and Jebusites (Josh. xv. 63.) for about five hundred years, until the time of David; who, having expelled the Jebusites, made it his residence (2 Sam. v. 6—9.), and erected a noble palace there, together with several other magnificent buildings, whence it is sometimes styled the City of David. (1 Chron. xi. 5.) By the prophet Isaiah (xxix. 1.) Jerusalem is termed Ariel, or the Lion of God; but the reason of this name, and its meaning, as applied to Jerusalem, is very obscure and doubtful. It may possibly signify the strength of the place, by which the inhabitants were enabled to resist and overcome their enemies; in the same manner as the Persians term one of their cities Shiraz, or the Devour

1 This is a contraction from Medinet-el-KADESS, that is, the Sacred City. Capt Light's Travels in Egypt, Nubia, &c. p. 177. VOL. II.

4

a

ing Lion. Being situated on the confines of the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah, Jerusalem sometimes formed a part of the one, and sometimes of the other ; but, after Jehovah had appointed it to be the place of his habitation and temple, it was considered as the metropolis of the Jewish nation, and the common property of the children of Israel. On this account it was, that the houses were not let, and all strangers of the Jewish nation had the liberty of lodging there gratis, by right of hospitality. To this custom our Lord probably alludes in Matt. xxvi. 18. and the parallel passages.

2. The name of the whole mountain, on the several hills and hollows of which the city stood, was called Moriah, or Vision ; because it was high land and could be seen afar off, especially from the south (Gen. xxii. 2—4.); but afterwards that name was appropriated to the most elevated part on which the temple was erected, and where Jehovah appeared to David. (2 Chron. ii. 1. 2 Sam. xxiv. 16, 17.) This mountain is a rocky limestone hill, steep of ascent on every side except the north; and is surrounded on the other sides by a group of hills, in the form of an amphitheatre (Psal. cxxv. 2.), which situation rendered it secure from the earthquakes that appear to have been frequent in the Holy Land (Psal. xlvi. 2, 3.), and have furnished the prophets with many elegant allusions. On the east stands the Mount of Olives, fronting the temple, of which it commanded a noble prospect, (Matt. xxiv. 2, 2. Luke xix. 37-41.) as it does to this day of the whole city, over whose streets and walls the eye roves as if in the survey of a model. This mountain, which is frequently noticed in the evangelical history, stretches from north to south, and is about a mile in length. On the descent of this mountain our Saviour stood when he beheld the city and wept over it; on this mountain it was that he delivered his prediction concerning the downfall of Jerusalem (Luke xix. 41-44.); and the army of Titus encamped upon the very spot where its destruction had been foretold. Dr. Clarke discovered some Pagan remains on this mountain ; and at its foot he visited an olive ground always noticed as the garden of Gethsemane. “This place,”

“This place,” says he,"is, not

“ without reason, shown as the scene of

our Saviour's

agony

the

night before his crucifixion (Matt. xxvi. Mark xiv. Luke xxii. John viii.), both from the circumstance of the name it still retains, and its situation with regard to the city.” Here he found a grove of olives of immense size covered with fruit, almost in a mature state.2 Between Olivet and the city lies the valley of Kedron, through which flows the brook of that name which is noticed in a subsequent page.

On the south side stood the Mount of Corruption, where Solomon in his declining years, built temples to Moloch, Chemosh, and Ashtaroth (1 Kings xi. 7. 2 Kings xxïïi. 13.): it was separated from

the city by the narrow valley of Hinnom (Josh. xviii. 16. Jer. xix. 2.), where the Israelites burnt their children in the fire to Moloch (Jer. vii. 31. and xxxii. 35.) : thence made the emblem of hell, Gehenna, or the place of the damned. (Matt. v. 22. xxiii. 33. Mark ix. 43.)

Towards the west, and without the walls of the city, agreeably to the law of Mosest (Levit. iv.), lay Calvary or Golgotha, that is, the place of a skull (Matt. xxvii. 33.), so called by some from its fancied resemblance to a skull, but more probably, either because criminals were executed there, or perhaps because this place contained sepulchral caverns for the dead.?

The southern quarter, originally “ the city of David," built on Mount Sion, Josephus calls the upper city : and the house of Millo was what he calls the upper market. In process of time the upper city spread downwards into the winding hollow way, which he calls the valley of the cheesemongers (Tyropeum), and composed the lower city, by him termed* Acra.

3. We have no particulars recorded concerning the nature of the fortifications of Jerusalem, previously to the time of Nehemiah; though such there undoubtedly must have been, from the importance and sanctity of the city, as the metropolis of the country, and the seat of the Jewish worship. In the account of the rebuilding of the wall, under the direction of that pious and patriotic governor, ten gates are distinctly enumerated, viz. three on the south, four on the east, and three on the western side of the wall.

The three gates on the south side were, 1. The Sheep Gate (Neh. iii. 1.), which was probably so called from the victims, intended for sacrifice, being conducted through it to the second temple. Near this gate stood the towers of Meah and Hananeel. The Sheep Gate was also called the Gate of Benjamin.-2. The Fish Gate (Neh. ii. 3. xii. 39.), which was also called the first gate.-3. The Old Gate, also called the Corner Gate. (Neh. iii. 6. xi. 39. 2 Kings xiv. 13. Jer. xxxi. 38.)

The gates on the eastern side were, 1. The Water Gate (Neh. iii. 26.), near which the waters of Etam passed, after having been used in the temple-service, in their way to the brook Kedron into which they discharged themselves.-2. The Horse Gate (Neh. iii. 28. Jer. xxxi. 40.), which is supposed to have been so called, because horses went through it in order to be watered.-3. The Prison Gate (xii

. 39.), probably so called from its vicinity to the prison.-4. The Gate Miphkad. (Neh. iii. 31.)

The gates on the western side were, 1. The Valley Gate (Neh. ii. 13.), also termed the Gate of Ephraim, above which stood the Tower of Furnaces (Neh. ii. 11. xii. 38.); and near it was the Dragon Well (Neh. ii. 13.), which may have derived its name from the representation of a dragon, out of whose mouth the stream flowed that issued from the well.-2. The Dung Gate (Neh. ii. 13.), which is supposed to have received its name from the filth of the beasts that were sacrificed, being carried from the temple through this gate.-3. The Gate of the Fountain (Neh. iii. 15.) had its name either from its proximity to the fountain of Gihon, or to the spot where the fountain of Siloam took its rise. We have no account of any gates being erected on the northern side 1

Previously to the fatal war of the Jews with the Romans, we are informed by Josephus, that the city of Jerusalem was surrounded by three walls on such parts as were not encompassed with impassable vallies, where there was only one wall. The first wall began, on the north side, at the tower called Hippicus, whence it extended to the place called the Xistus, and the council-house, and it terminated at the western cloister of the temple. But, proceeding westward, in a contrary direction, the historian says, that it began at the same place, and extended through a place called Bethso, to the gate of the Essenes, then taking a turn towards the south, it reached the place called Ophlas, where it was joined to the eastern cloister of the temple. The second wall commenced at the gate Gennath, and encompassed only the northern quarter of the city, as far as the tower Antonia. The third wall began at the tower İlippicus, whence it reached as far as the north quarter of the city, passed by the tower Psephinus, till it came to the monument of Helena queen of Adiabene. Thence it passed by the sepulchres of the kings; and, taking a direction round the south-west corner, passed the Fuller's Monument, and joined the old wall at the valley of Kedron. This third wall was commenced by Agrippa, to defend the new part of the town; but he did not finish it from apprehensions of incurring the displeasure of the emperor Claudius. His intention was to have erected it with stones, twenty cubits in length by ten cubits in breath; so that no iron tools or engines

Observationes Philologicæ ac Geographicæ, Amstelædami, 1747. 8vo. Pp. 21-29,