Biblical Geography And History - free ebook by Charles Foster Kent

CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D.

WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IN YALE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1926 Copyright, 1911, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Printed in the United States of America Published April, 1911...

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PREFACE

Geography has within the past few years won a new place among the sciences. It is no longer regarded as simply a description of the earth's surface, but as the foundation of all historical study. Only in the light of their physical setting can the great characters, movements, and events of human history be rightly understood and appreciated. Moreover, geography is now defined as a description not only of the earth and of its influence upon man's development, but also of the solar, atmospheric, a

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THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Extent of the Biblical World. In its widest bounds, the biblical world included practically all the important centres of early human civilization. Its western outpost was the Phœnician city of Tarshish in southern Spain (about 5° west longitude) and its eastern outpost did not extend beyond the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf (about 55° east longitude). Its southern horizon was bounded by the land of Ethiopia (about 5° south latitude) and its northern by the Black Sea (about 45° north altitude). Th

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THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PALESTINE

History of the Terms Palestine and Canaan. The term Palestine, originally applied to the home of Israel's foes, the Philistines, was used by the Greeks as a designation of southern Syria, exclusive of Phœnicia. The Greek historian Herodotus was the first to employ it in this extended sense. The Romans used the same term in the form Palestina and through them the term Palestine has become the prevailing name in the western world of the land once occupied by the Israelites and their immediate neig

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THE COAST PLAINS

Extent and Character. The eastern shore of the Mediterranean is skirted by a series of low-lying coast plains, from one to five miles wide in the north to twenty-five miles wide in the south. At two points in Palestine the mountains come down to the sea; the one is at the so-called Ladder of Tyre, about fifteen miles south of the city from which it is named. Here the precipitous cliffs break directly over the sea. The other point is at Carmel, which, however, does not touch the sea directly, but

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THE PLATEAU OF GALILEE AND THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON

Physical and Political Significance of the Central Plateau. The backbone of Palestine is the great central plateau. It was in this important zone that the drama of Israel's history was chiefly enacted. Here was the true home of the Hebrews. By virtue of its position this central zone naturally commanded those to the east and west. For one brief period the Philistines from the western coast plain nearly succeeded in conquering and ruling all Palestine; but otherwise, until the world powers outsid

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THE HILLS OF SAMARIA AND JUDAH

Character of the Hills of Samaria. The hills of Samaria and Judah are the southern extension of the central plateau of Palestine, and yet, like Galilee and Esdraelon they constitute an independent natural unit. No sharply defined boundary separates them; rather the one gradually merges into the other. The heights of Samaria and Judah are commonly called mountains and the term is not entirely inappropriate when applied to the range as a whole; but the individual peaks are in reality little more t

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THE JORDAN AND DEAD SEA VALLEY

Geological History. The great gorge of the Jordan and Dead Sea valley is the most striking natural phenomenon in Palestine. No place on the face of the earth has had a more dramatic geological history. As has already been noted (p. 14), this great rift which runs from northern Syria to the Red Sea was probably formed in the latter part of the Pliocene Age. At the northern end of the Dead Sea its bed reaches a depth of nearly one-half a mile beneath the ocean level. It is thus by far the deepest

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THE EAST-JORDAN LAND

Form and Climate of the East-Jordan Land. The east-Jordan land of biblical history is in form an irregular triangle, with its base skirting the Jordan Valley, its northern angle at the foot of Mount Hermon, its southern a little beyond the southern end of the Dead Sea, while its third angle lies in the Druse Mountains, about seventy miles east of the Sea of Galilee. Damascus, (42) to the northwest, is just beyond the bounds of Palestine. This famous ancient city lies in the midst of a verdant oa

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THE TWO CAPITALS: JERUSALEM AND SAMARIA

Importance of Jerusalem and Samaria. Two cities of ancient Palestine, Jerusalem and Samaria, towered above all others, both in size and in importance. Each was for a long period the capital of an important kingdom. Each represented a distinct type of civilization and religion. Their topography throws much light upon their development and history. Site of Jerusalem. At first glance the site of Jerusalem seems one of the most unpromising places in all the land of Palestine for a great city. It lie

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THE GREAT HIGHWAYS OF THE BIBLICAL WORLD

Importance of the Highways. Upon the direction and character of the highways depend to a great extent the growth and history of early civilization. By the great roads which entered Palestine the Hebrews came as immigrants. Along the same roads those later waves of both hostile and peaceful invasion swept in upon them that largely shaped their history. These highways were to them the open doors to the life and civilization of the outside world. Over these same roads the Hebrews later fled as fugi

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EARLY PALESTINE

The Aim and Value of Historical Geography. Historical geography deals primarily with the background of history rather than with the detailed historical facts themselves. It aims to go back of events and movements and to study underlying forces and causes. Primitive peoples are more subject to the influences of physical environment than the more civilized races. Modern peoples are able with the aid of art and science to rise superior in many ways to natural conditions and limitations. A knowledge

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PALESTINE UNDER THE RULE OF EGYPT

Reasons Why Egypt Conquered Palestine. The Egyptian rule in Palestine was established about 1580 B.C. and, with the exception of two long lapses, was maintained for nearly three centuries. Thotmose III, the greatest warrior and organizer in Egyptian history, after fifteen energetically fought campaigns, extended the border of Egypt to the Euphrates and brought all the petty little rival kingdoms in Palestine and Syria under his control. The reason for his intense activity was not merely the lust

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THE NOMADIC AND EGYPTIAN PERIOD OF HEBREW HISTORY

The Entrance of the Forefathers of the Hebrews Into Canaan. The biblical traditions regarding the beginnings of Hebrew history differ widely in regard to details, but regarding the great movements they are in perfect agreement. They all unite in declaring that the forefathers of the race were nomads and entered Palestine from the east. The fourteenth chapter of Genesis contains later echoes of a tradition which connects Abraham, the forefather of the race, with the far-away glorious age of Hammu

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THE HEBREWS IN THE WILDERNESS AND EAST OF THE JORDAN

Identification of Mount Sinai. Desert sites are so readily forgotten, and the records of this period in Israel's history were committed to writing so many years after the events transpired, that it is now impossible to follow the Israelites with certainty in their desert wanderings. Their first aim after leaving Egypt was to find a safe asylum. In this quest the experiences of their leader, Moses, would influence them to find at least a temporary refuge with his kinsmen, the Midianites. Their se

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THE SETTLEMENT IN CANAAN

The Approach to the Jordan. About the middle of the twelfth century B.C. the Hebrew tribes from Egypt crossed the Jordan into Canaan. They probably approached the river by the main highway which to-day skirts the northern side of Mount Nebo, (72) crossing the Wady Heshban, and entering the Jordan Valley where the Wady Kefrein broadens into the meadow on which still stands a group of acacias, the Valley of Shittim (Acacias), of the Hebrew narratives. After the late spring and summer freshets the

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THE FORCES THAT LED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HEBREW KINGDOM

The Lack of Unity Among the Hebrew Tribes. The powerful influence of the peculiar physical contour of Palestine on its inhabitants was clearly illustrated during the latter part of the period of settlement. Although masters of Canaan, there was apparently no political unity between the different Hebrew tribes. Like the petty Canaanite kingdoms, which they had conquered, they were all intent upon their own problems and fought their battles independently. The story of Jephthah reveals the same con

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THE SCENES OF DAVID'S EXPLOITS

David's Home at Bethlehem. The history of the united Hebrew empire gathers about the personality of its founder, David. The life of no other Old Testament character is recorded with greater detail and picturesqueness than that of the shepherd boy from Bethlehem. His native town was beautifully situated on a spur that ran eastward from the watershed of central Judah. (86) It is surrounded on three sides by deep valleys and looks eastward down upon the wilderness of Judea. About it are fields of w

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PALESTINE UNDER THE RULE OF DAVID AND SOLOMON

Establishment of Jerusalem as Israel's Capital. David's first act as king of all Israel was to break down the barrier of Canaanite cities which separated the north from the south, and then to establish a capital that would be free from local associations and more central than his former capital at Hebron. The Jebusite city of Jerusalem fully satisfied these conditions and was at the same time by nature much stronger and better fortified than Hebron. The original city of David apparently included

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THE NORTHERN KINGDOM

The Varied Elements in the North. The northern kingdom was rich in resources but lacked unity. Within its limited territory were found almost every kind of climate, flora, and fauna. Its population was as varied as its physical contour. In the east-Jordan land the shepherd and the Bedouin still held sway. Its valleys in the west-Jordan were the home of the agriculturist. The cities on its western borders and beside the great highways were already beginning to engage in commerce. Around the Sea o

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THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM

Effect of Environment Upon Judah's History. Compared with the history of the northern kingdom, that of the southern, for the first two centuries following the division of the empire, was petty and insignificant. Judah was shut in by its natural barriers from contact with the larger life that surged up and down the coast plains and through the broad valleys of Northern Israel. While it survived, the northern kingdom protected it largely from Aramean and Assyrian invasions, so that during this per

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THE BABYLONIAN AND PERSIAN PERIODS

Jewish Refugees in Egypt. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. the Jews were to be found in three great centres—Egypt, Babylonia, and Palestine. Egypt, because of its friendly attitude toward the Jews and its nearness to southern Palestine, was the refuge to which most of the Jewish fugitives fled. Inasmuch as the approach of the Chaldean armies was from the north, the main highway running south from Hebron through the solitary desert was the most natural line of escape. The result was

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THE SCENES OF THE MACCABEAN STRUGGLE

Alexander's Conquests. The Persian Empire, founded as a result of the conquests of Cyrus and the organizing ability of Darius, after two centuries had become weak, corrupt, and ready for conquest. On the other hand, the Greek civilization, which had been developing for centuries in the little land of Hellas and the coast lands of the Ægean, demanded an outlet that it might expand naturally ( cf. p. 10). At this critical moment in the world's history, Alexander, the Macedonian, animated by the lu

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THE MACCABEAN AND HERODIAN AGE

Jonathan's Policy. Jonathan, who succeeded his brother, Judas, in the leadership of the Jewish rebellion, combined great skill and energy with a certain craftiness, which enabled him to profit by every turn in the tortuous politics of Syria. It was an exceedingly corrupt age, and Jonathan adopted the standards and methods of his day. The secure hiding-places in Palestine enabled him to elude the Syrians and to recover from the shock which his cause had received as a result of the death of Judas.

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THE BACKGROUND OF JESUS' CHILDHOOD AND YOUNG MANHOOD

The Short Reign of Archelaus. At his death Herod the Great left his kingly title to his son, Archelaus. Archelaus, however, showed himself so tyrannical and tactless in dealing with the Jews that Augustus did not confirm his title to the kingship, but instead made him ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and Idumea. During his tumultuous reign of ten years he developed the fertile plains about Jericho by means of aqueducts, which brought water for irrigation from the western hills, and also built the cit

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THE SCENES OF JESUS' MINISTRY

Why Jesus Made Capernaum His Home. At the beginning of his Galilean ministry Jesus transferred his home, as well as the scene of his work, from Nazareth to Capernaum. The choice of this city reveals the breadth of his purpose. Capernaum was the commercial metropolis of northern Palestine. Here converged the great highways from Egypt, central Palestine, Gilead, and Arabia on the south, which in turn led to Phœnicia, northern Syria, Damascus, and Babylonia. Although it was a strongly Jewish town,

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THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY THROUGHOUT THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Original Centre at Jerusalem. The spread of Christianity throughout the civilized world bears conclusive testimony not only to the life-giving truth of Jesus' message, but also to the supreme wisdom of his method. His heroic death at first daunted, but the vision of his living presence, which, according to the oldest records, came to his disciples amidst the familiar scenes on the northern shores of the Sea of Galilee, quickly inspired them to take up the mission which he had left them and to pr

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE PHYSICAL CONTOUR AND CHARACTERISTICS OF PALESTINE Baedeker, Palestine and Syria , 1911. Buhl, Geographie des alten Palästina , 1896. Conder, Heth and Moab , 1883. —— Tent Work in Palestine , 1895. Dawson, Egypt and Syria. Their Physical Features in Relation to Bible History , 1885. Dunning, To-day in Palestine , 1907. Forbush, The Travel Lessons on the Old Testament , 1900. Fullylove, The Holy Land Painted by John Fullylove. Described by John Kelman, 1902. Guérin, Description de la Palestine

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STEREOGRAPHS AND STEREOPTICON SLIDES ILLUSTRATING "BIBLICAL HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY"

The following stereographs (or stereopticon slides) have been prepared to illustrate the physical characteristics of the biblical world and the most important events of biblical history. Inquiries in regard to prices, methods of ordering, and other details should be sent directly to Underwood and Underwood, 3 West 19th Street, New York City or to Underwood and Underwood, 104 High Holborn, London, W. C., England. Through them a supplemental booklet (with three locating maps) may also be secured,

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