HARPER'S
NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
No. XXVII.—AUGUST, 1852.—Vol. V.
MEMOIRS OF THE HOLY LAND
BY JACOB ABBOTT
VIEW OF MT. CARMEL FROM THE SEA.MOUNT CARMEL.
ASPECT OF THE MOUNTAIN.
The Christian traveler, in journeying to theHoly Land, often obtains his first view of thesacred shores from the deck of some small Levantinevessel in which he has embarked at Alexandria,after having completed his tour amongthe wonders of Egypt and the Nile. He ascends,perhaps, to the deck of his vessel, early in themorning, summoned by the welcome intelligencethat the land is full in view. Here, as he surveysthe shore that presents itself before him,the first object which attracts his eye is a loftypromontory which he sees rising in sublime andsombre majesty above the surrounding country,and at the same time jutting boldly into the sea.It forms, he observes, the seaward terminus of amountain range which his eye follows far intothe interior of the country, until the undulatingcrest loses itself at last from view in the haze ofdistant hills. The massive and venerable wallsof an ancient convent crown its summit; itssloping sides are enriched with a soft and luxuriantvegetation; and the surf, rolling in fromthe sea, whitens the rocks at its foot with breakersand foam. This promontory is Mt. Carmel.
GEOGRAPHY OF THE VICINITY.
The geographical situation of Mt. Carmel isshown by the adjoining map. Palestine in thetime of our Saviour was comprised in three distinctprovinces—Judea, Samaria, and Galilee.Of these, Judea, which bordered upon the DeadSea and the lower portion of the Jordan, was themost southerly; while Galilee, which was oppositeto the sea of Tiberias and the upper part ofthe Jordan, was the most northerly; being separatedfrom Judea by the mountainous districtof Samaria, which lay between. The regioncomprised upon the map is chiefly that of Samariaand Galilee. The chain of which Mt. Carmel isthe terminus forms the southern and southwesternboundary of Galilee. A little south of theboundary was Mt. Gerizim, the holy ground ofthe Samaritans. Mt. Gerizim forms a part ofthe great central chain or congeries of mountainswhich rises in the interior of Palestine, and fromwhich the Carmel range branches, as a sort ofspur or offshoot, traversing the country in awestward and northward direction, and continuingits course until it terminates at the sea.The other principal mountain groups in the HolyLand are the ranges of Lebanon on the north,and the mountainous tract about Jerusalem inthe south.
MAP OF MOUNT CARMEL.On the northern side of the Carmel chain, atsome distance from the sea, there lies a broad expanseof extremely rich and fertile country, which,though not strictly level, is called a plain. Itwas known in ancient times as the plain of Jezreel.It is now called the plain of Esdraelon.The waters of this plain, flowing westward andnorthward along the fo