nt menace to the continued existence of his kingdom.

But was Judah strong enough to take their place, and set up in Southern
Syria a sovereign state, around which the whole fighting material of the
country might range itself with confidence? The incidents of the last
war had clearly shown the disadvantages of its isolated position in
regard to the bulk of the nation. The gap between Ekron and the Jordan,
which separated it from Ephraim and Manasseh, had, at all costs, to be
filled up, if a repetition of the manouvre which so nearly cost David
his throne at Adullam were to be avoided. It is true that the Gibeonites
and their allies acknowledged the sovereignty of Ephraim, and formed
a sort of connecting link between the tribes, but it was impossible to
rely on their fidelity so long as they were exposed to the attacks of
the Jebusites in their rear: as soon therefore as David found he had
nothing more to fear from the Philistines, he turned his attention
to Jerusalem.* This city stood on a dry and sterile limestone spur,
separated on three sides from the surrounding hills by two valleys of
unequal length. That of the Kedron, on the east, begins as a simple
depression, but gradually becomes deeper and narrower as it extends
towards the south. About a mile and a half from its commencement it is
nothing more than a deep gorge, shut in by precipitous rocks, which for
some days after the winter rains is turned into the bed of a torrent.**

* The name Jerusalem occurs under the form Ursalimmu, or
Urusalim, in the Tel el-Amarna tablets. Sion was the name of
the citadel preserved by the Israelites after the capture of
the place, and applied by them to the part of the city which
contained the royal palace, and subsequently to the town
itself.

** The Kedron is called a nalial (2 Sam. xv. 23; 1 Kings ii.
37; Jer. xxxi. 40), i.e. a torrent which runs dry during the
summer; in winter it was termed a brook. Excavations show
that the fall diminishes at the foot of the ancient walls,
and that the bottom of the valley has risen nearly twelve
yards.

During the remainder of the year a number of springs, which well up at
the bottom of the valley, furnish an unfailing supply of water to the
inhabitants of Gibon,* Siloam,** and Eogel.*** The valley widens out
again near En-Kogel, and affords a channel to the Wady of the Children
of Hinnom, which bounds the plateau on the west.