Chapter IV: The Mountains of Palestine

These may be considered either in order of height or of location. The diagram groups the principal mountains in the relation of their comparative height above the sea-level; we may notice them in their order of location. They naturally divide into two sections: 1. Those of the Mountain Region west of Jordan. 2. Those of the Eastern Table-Land.

Beginning at the northern boundary of Palestine, we find: 1. Mount Lebanon, "the white mountain," a range of lofty mountains stretching northward, parallel with the sea, generally about 5,000 feet high, but at its highest point, _Jebel Mukhmeel_, 10,200 feet high. 2. The highest point in Galilee is _Jebel Jermuk_, northwest of the Sea of Galilee, 4,000 feet high. 3. West of the Sea of Galilee is _Kurûn Hattin_, "the horns of Hattin," the traditional "Mount of the Beatitudes," 1,200 feet high. 4. At the northeastern corner of the Plain of Esdraelon is Mount Tabor, a symmetrical cone, the battle-field of Deborah and Barak, 1,843 feet high. 5. A short distance to the south stands Little Hermon, "the Hill of Moreh," now _Jebel el Duhy_, 1,815 feet high. 6. Southward still is Mount Gilboa, the place of Gideon's victory and of King Saul's defeat, 1,715 feet high. 7. Sweeping around the southern border of the Plain of Esdraelon to the Mediterranean Sea is Mount Carmel, at its highest point 1,750 feet, but 500 as it meets the sea. These last four mountains form the boundary of the Plain of Esdraelon. In the land of Samaria, which we now enter, are but two important elevations: 8. Ebal, the mountain of the curses, 3,075 feet; 9. Directly opposite, Gerizim, the mountain of the blessings, 2,850 feet. The principal peaks in Judæa are the following: 10. Mount Zion, the seat of David's castle, 2,550 feet; 11. Across the valley of the Kedron eastward, the Mount of Olives, 2,665 feet; 12. Mount Hebron, 3,030 feet. South of Hebron the land slopes away to the level of the desert.

The Eastern Table-Land has fewer elevations, and is generally less noticed in the Scriptures. 1. On the north rises Mount Hermon, 9,000 feet high, the southern end of the range known as Anti-Lebanon, or "Lebanon toward the sun-rising." 2. South of the river Hieromax is Mount Gilead, about 3,000 feet high. 3. Near the northern end of the Dead Sea is Mount Nebo, 2,670 feet high, on a "shoulder" of which, Mount Pisgah, Moses beheld the Promised Land, and died.