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 is bounded on its western end by a strip of plain about two hundred yards wide. The soil of these coast plains consists of alluvial deposits, largely clay and red quartz sand washed down in the later geological periods from the mountains of the central plateau and constantly renewed by the annual freshets.

Fertility. Because of the nature of the soil and their position, these plains are among the most fertile spots in all Palestine. Numerous brooks and rivers rush down from the eastern headlands. Some of these are perennial; others furnish a supply of water, which, if stored during the winter in reservoirs on the heights above, is amply sufficient to irrigate the plains below. The average temperature of these coast plains is sixty-eight degrees. The cool sea-winds equalize the climate so that the temperature changes little throughout the year and there is but slight variation between the north and the south. Under these favorable conditions the soil produces in rich abundance a great variety of tropical fruits. Here grow side by side oranges, lemons, apricots, figs, plums, bananas, grapes, olives, pomegranates, almonds, citrons, and a great variety of vegetables, as well as the cereals of the higher altitudes.

Divisions. The coast plains of Palestine fall naturally into four great divisions, broken by two mountain barriers. The northern is the Plain of Tyre, which is the southern continuation of the rich plains about Sidon. The second division is the Plain of Acre, which lies directly south of the Ladder of Tyre and extends to Carmel. The third is the Plain of Sharon, which begins at the south of Carmel and merges opposite Joppa into the ever widening Plain of Philistia.

Plain of Tyre. Throughout the Plain of Tyre the low foot-hills come down within a mile of the sea; but for five or six miles back from the coast they must be reckoned as a part of the same division, for their natural and political associations are all with the coast rather than with the uplands. The city of Tyre was originally built on an island ⁽²⁾ and was supplied with water from the Spring of Tyre, near the shore about five miles to the south. The four great perennial rivers of Phoenicia were the Litany (the present Nahr el-Kasimiyeh, a few miles north of Tyre), the ZaherÂni, south of Sidon, the Nahr el-Auwali, which was the ancient Bostrenus that watered the plain to the north of Sidon, and the Nahr ed-Damur which was the Tamyras of the ancients. Many springs in the plain and on the hillsides contribute to the fertility of this land, which was the home of the Phoenicians. At the best the narrowness of the territory, which supported only a very limited population, made it necessary for this enterprising race to find an outlet elsewhere. Long before the days of the Hebrews their colonies had extended down the coast plains to Joppa and northward to the Eleutherus (the present Nahr el-Kebir, north of Tripoli). The nineteenth chapter of Judges refers to the Sidonian colony at Laish (later the Hebrew Dan) at the foot of Mount Hermon; but, with this exception, there is no evidence that they ever attempted to plant colonies inland. Instead they found their great outlet in the sea to the west. Launching their small craft from the smooth sands that extend crescent-shaped to the north and to the south of their chief cities, Tyre and Sidon, they skirted the Mediterranean, colonizing its islands and shores until a line of Phoenician settlements extended from one end of the Great Sea to the other. Thus they were the first to open that great door to the western world through which passed not only the products of Semitic art and industry, but also in time the immortal messages of Israel's inspired prophets, priests, and sages, and of him who spoke as never man spoke before.

The Plain of Acre. For ten miles to the south of the Plain of Tyre the coast plain is almost completely cut off by the mountains, which at Ras el-Abjad, the White Promontory of the Roman writers, and at Ras en-Nakurah push out into the sea. The great coast road runs along the cliffs high above the waters in the rock-cut road made by Egyptian, Assyrian, and Roman conquerors. The Plain of Acre, less than five miles wide in the north, widens to ten miles in the south. Four perennial streams water its fertile fields. On the west the sand from the sea has swept in at places for a mile or more, blocking up the streams in the south and transforming large areas into wet morasses. In ancient times, however, most of the southern part of the plain (like the northern end at present) was probably in a high state of cultivation. Many large tells or ruined mounds testify that it once supported a dense population. During most of its history this plain was held by the Phoenicians or their Greek and Roman conquerors, but at certain times the Hebrews appear to have here reached the sea.

Carmel. The most striking object on the western side of central Palestine is the bold elevated plateau of Carmel. Except for the little strip of lowland on its seaward side, it completely interrupts the succession of coast plains. Its formation is the same as that of the central plateaus. Viewing Palestine as a whole, it would seem that Carmel had slipped out of its natural position, leaving the open Plain of Esdraelon and destroying the otherwise regular symmetry of the land. Its long, slightly waving sky-line, as it rises abruptly above the plains of Acre and Esdraelon, commands the landscape for miles to the north⁽³⁾ and adds greatly to the picturesqueness of Palestine. It is about eighteen hundred feet in height and slopes gradually downward to the southeast and northwest. The ascent on the north is more abrupt than on the south, where it descends slowly to the Plain of Sharon. As its name Carmel, The Garden, suggests, it is by no means a barren, rocky mountain. Instead, where the thickets and wild flowers have not taken possession of the soil, it is still cultivated, as was most of its broad surface in earlier times. The ruins of wine and olive presses and of ancient villages testify to its rich productivity. On its top the western showers first deposit their waters, so that in the Old Testament Carmel is a synonym for superlative fertility. Like the uplands of central Palestine, it was held by the Hebrews, who from its heights gained their clearest view of the Great Sea.

Plain of Sharon. South of Carmel, beginning with an acute angled triangle between the mountains and sea, rolls the undulating Plain of Sharon. Opposite the southern end of Carmel it is six or seven miles wide. Thence the plain broadens irregularly until, at its southern end, opposite Joppa, it is twelve miles in width. From north to south it is nearly fifty miles long. Groups of hills from two to three hundred feet high dot this undulating expanse of field and pasture. Five perennial streams flow across it to the sea. Of these the most important are the Crocodile River (the modern Nahr el-Zerka) a little north of CÆsarea, and the Iskanderuneh in the south. Here again a wide fringe of yellow sand bounds the sea and at several points holds back the waters of the streams, making large marshes. In the north there are a few groves of oaks, sole survivors of the great forest, mentioned by Josephus and Strabo, which once covered the Plain of Sharon. To-day the southern part of the plain is a series of cultivated, fruitful fields and gardens,⁽⁴⁾ but the northern end is covered in spring by a wealth of wild flowers, among which are found anemones, brilliant red poppies, the narcissus, which is probably the rose of Sharon, and the blue iris, which may be the lily of the valley. Rich soil and abundant waters are found on this plain; but its resources were never fully developed, for it was the highway of the nations. Across it ran the great coast road from Egypt to Phoenicia in the north and to Damascus and Babylonia in the northwest. Phoenician, Philistine, and Israelite held this plain in turn, but only in part and temporarily, for having no natural defences, it was open to all the world.

The Philistine Plain. The only natural barrier that separates the plains of Sharon and Philistia is the river which comes down in two branches from the eastern hills, one branch leading westward past the Beth-horons and the other through the Valley of Ajalon. After much twisting and turning, and under many local names, this, the largest river south of Carmel, finds the sea a little north of Joppa. Southward the Plain of Philistia, about forty miles in length, broadens until it is twenty miles wide. The low hills of the Plain of Sharon change first into long, rolling swells and then throughout much of the distance settle into an almost absolutely level plain. In the southwest the sands of the sea have come in many miles. Ashkelon now lies between a sea of water and a sea of sand. At many other points the yellow waves are steadily engulfing the cultivated fields. Three perennial streams, with sprawling confluents, cut their muddy course across this rich alluvial plain. It is one of the important grain fields of Palestine, for the subsoil is constantly saturated with the moisture which falls in abundance in the winter and spring. No barns are necessary, for the grain is thrashed and stored out under the rainless summer skies. It is a land well fitted to support a rich and powerful agricultural civilization. Like all the coast plains, it is wide open to the trader and to the invader. Its possessors were obliged to be ever ready and able to defend their homes from all foes. Its inhabitants necessarily dwelt in a few strongly guarded cities. Here in ancient times, especially on the eastern side, were found the city-dwelling Canaanites. Later the valiant, energetic Philistines established their title to these fruitful plains and maintained it for centuries by sheer enterprise and force of arms. The chief Philistine cities were Ekron and Ashdod in the north, Askelon by the shore, quite close to the Judean foot-hills and Gaza⁽⁵⁾ in the southwest. Except during the heroic Maccabean age, the Israelites never succeeded and apparently never seriously attempted to dispute this title. Lying on the highway that ran straight on along the coast to Egypt, this part of Palestine was most exposed to the powerful influences that came from the land of the Nile. The oldest Egyptian inscriptions, as well as the results of recent excavations, all reveal the wide extent of this influence.

The Shephelah or Lowland. Along the eastern side of the Philistine plain, from the valley of Ajalon southward, runs a series of low-lying foot-hills, which are separated from the central plateau of Palestine by broad, shallow valleys running north and south.⁽⁶⁾ This territory was called by the biblical writers, the Shephelah or Lowland. These low chalk and limestone hills, with their narrow glens, their numerous caves and broken rocks, was the debatable ground between plain and hill country. Sometimes it was held by the inhabitants of the plain, sometimes by those of the hill country; always it was the battle-field between the two. Even to-day it is sparsely inhabited, the haunt of the Bedouin tribes, whose presence is clearest evidence of the difficulties that the local government experiences in controlling this wild border land. Like the Scottish lowlands, this region is redolent with the memories of ancient border warfare. It is also richly suggestive of one phase of that severe training which through the long centuries produced a race with a mission and a message to all the world.