e Hebrews, like that of the Scotch, was
largely that of highlanders. How suited were those hills for defense
is suggested by photographs (304, 344, 356 H.T.). These highlands
slope up gradually from the lowland plain on the west, but on the east
they fall toward the Jordan with frightful rapidity, broken by kopjes,
small canyons, and almost inaccessible swift streams. What this
country is like is suggested by the picture (154 G.B.). It was a
fitting home for such lonely prophets as Elijah and John the Baptist.
Along these highlands rested the high towns of Hebron (44 H.T.),
Bethlehem (14 H.T.), Jerusalem (496 H.T.), Shechem (82 H.T.), Samaria
(156 T.J.), and, beyond Esdraelon, Nazareth (60 L.J.). Farther to the
north lived the brave prophets of the Northern Kingdom among the
mountain sanctuaries of the Lebanon (44 S.A., 460 H. T.) under the
shadow of the King of the Land, Mount Hermon (60 S.A.). On these
highlands this mere speck of a people intrenched themselves for ages
against the mightiest of world powers. Here lived all their great men.
Here were written their histories. Here were their two capitals. In
one of their hill towns lived the Master for thirty years; in another,
Jerusalem, he consummated his mission.

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The Jordan Valley

Jordan is more glorious in poetry than in history or in fact. As a
stream it begins nowhere and ends in a salt lake. Its lower banks are
a great hot muggy bowl (126, 394 T.J., 280, 290 H.T.). The stream has
never been anything but a boundary, since it is not navigable and is
too low for purposes of irrigation. Its fords have been the scene of
many wars of conquest and defense (284 H.T., 64 L.J.), but the people
living near it have always been weak and degenerate. It has been
called the pantry of Canaan, fertile for food but ever open for easy
attack. In literature, the stream has been often referred to as the
symbol of the transition of death, and the outlet, the Dead Sea, as
the emblem of judgment (34, 258 H.T.).

Esdraelon and the Lake of Galilee

Where the Kishon crosses northern Canaan is a long triangular valley,
bounded on the south by the low range of Carmel (118 T.J.). This is
Esdraelon, the fertile (328 H.T., 56 T.J.). It was Israel's natural
battleground, and recalls Deborah, Gideon, Sisera, Saul, Ahab, Elijah,
Jehu, Josiah, Pharaoh-necho, the Maccabees, the Romans, the Arabs, the
Crusaders, and Napoleon. The seer of Patmos foresaw other world
conflicts even mor