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 lower Jordan may be forded at two points. One is at the shallow place where the Wady Kelt pours its waters and mud into the Jordan. The other is six or seven miles farther north, just below the point where the Wady Nimrin comes down from the highlands of Gilead. Probably the Hebrews crossed by this northern ford.

Crossing the Jordan. The older biblical account of the crossing states that it took place in the time of harvest, when the Jordan was overflowing its banks. The statement which follows is unintelligible except as it is explained by the unique characteristics of this strange river: "Its waters rose up in a heap, a great way off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those that went down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off" (Josh. 3:16b). Like the Missouri River in America, the Jordan frequently changes its course. At certain points higher up the river, especially where the Samaritan hills come down close to its shores and the Jabbok pours in its waters from the east, the river sometimes undermines the clay banks, with the result that it is temporarily dammed up, leaving the bed below comparatively dry. The name of the town Adam, where its waters "rose up in a heap," means red earth. It is probably represented by the Tell ed-Damieh which stands near the famous Damieh ford, just below the point where the Jabbok enters the Jordan. A reliable Moslem historian records that in the year 1257 A.D. the Sultan Bibers found it necessary to send workmen to repair the foundation of the bridge (Jisr Damieh) at this point, in order to save the retreating Moslem army. The task seemed impossible because of the spring floods, which were then on; but to their amazement, when they arrived at the bridge the men found the river-bed empty. By working rapidly they were able to complete the repairs before the waters again rushed down. Naturally they regarded this remarkable phenomenon as a special divine interposition, although the historian does not fail to state that the immediate cause was a huge landslide a little farther up the river. This later analogy certainly throws much light upon the great event, which like the exodus, made a profound impression upon the faith of the Hebrews.

Strategic Importance of Jericho. Six miles across the white terraces that rise from the bed of the Jordan close to the foot-hills of the western plateau, which here projects far out into the valley, lay the ancient Canaanite town of Jericho.⁽⁷²⁾ It stood on an eminence a few feet above the level of the plain. The old city is to-day but a deserted egg-shaped mound about one thousand one hundred feet long and five hundred wide, with three smaller mounds on the top. The total area of the ruin is about twelve acres. The average height of the mound is about forty feet above the plain. Immediately below it to the east is the 'Ain es-Sultan, known in Hebrew times as the fountain of Elisha. To the south the Valley of Achor, through which runs the perennial stream of the Kelt, comes down from the heights of southern Samaria. Immediately back of the ancient city ran the road over the heights past Michmash and Ai to join the central northern highway through Judea and Samaria. Jericho, therefore, not only commanded the two southern fords of the Jordan, but was also the key to the highways, which led to northern and southern Israel. Before it stretched broad, rich fields, which could be easily irrigated by the streams which came down from the western hills.

Results of Recent Excavations. Recent excavations have disclosed the extent and strength of this old Canaanite city. Long stretches of the ancient wall⁽⁷³⁾ have been laid bare, both in the northern and southern ends of the mound. This wall is remarkably well-preserved and of excellent workmanship.⁽⁷⁴⁾ On the native rock was first placed a filling of loam and rock and on this was built a wall of rubble, sixteen feet high and six to eight feet thick, bulging outward. The spaces between the stones, which were very large at the bottom, were carefully filled with smaller stones. On top of this foundation wall was a supplemental wall of burnt brick, six or seven feet in thickness, averaging even now in its ruined condition about eight feet in height. As a result, the city was practically impregnable. At the northern end of the mound was a citadel, made of unburnt bricks, three stories high, with a stone staircase leading to the top. It takes little imagination to picture the imposing character of this old Canaanite city, small in area, but guarded by walls from twenty-five to thirty-five feet in height and of a thickness that surpassed those of many a mediÆval fortress.

Capture of Jericho. These excavations both confirm and supplement the biblical account of the conquest of Jericho. The walls are better preserved than those of any other Canaanite city thus far uncovered, indicating, as the oldest Hebrew narrative implies, that the city was captured by stratagem rather than by siege, or as the later tradition suggests as the result of a miracle. The story of the spies in the first chapter of Joshua shows that the Hebrews had friends within the city itself. The probabilities are that, while they were marching around the Canaanite stronghold and thus distracting the attention of its defenders, at a preconcerted signal the gates were suddenly opened and the Hebrews rushed in and captured the city. The character of the ruins suggest that the old Canaanite city was abandoned for several centuries and that the top of the mound was cultivated, thus confirming the statement of the biblical historian that the city was entirely destroyed. Later a small Israelite town, dating from about 700 B.C., was built on the southeastern side of the mound. This may represent the rebuilding of the city in the days of Ahab, as recorded in I Kings 16:34.

Evidence That the Hebrews Were Still Nomads. This complete destruction of Jericho after its capture by the Hebrews is significant. The city was the natural key to the west-Jordan country and therefore its chief defence against invaders from the east. Their abandonment of this outpost indicates that the Hebrews were still nomads, simply intent upon seizing the upland valleys, where they could pasture their flocks, rather than agriculturists, ready to settle down on the plains and able to perfect the conquest of the land.

Roads Leading Westward from Jericho. From Jericho three main roads led up to the central plateau of Palestine. The one followed a ridge directly west from Jericho,⁽⁷⁵⁾ running at first a little north of the deep, narrow, rocky channel of the Wady Kelt.⁽²⁵⁾ The second road led up over the steep, barren, waterless wilderness of Judea, through difficult passes to Jerusalem. It offered many obstacles and no attractions to the invaders. A third road turned to the southwest, leaving the Jordan valley opposite the northern end of the Dead Sea, crossing the deep gorge of the Kidron in the vicinity of the present Greek convent of Mar Saba. Thence it ran directly on through Bethlehem to join the great central highway southward to Hebron.

Conquests in the South. This rocky trail may well have been the route followed by the tribes of Judah and Simeon, when, according to the ancient narrative in the first chapter of Judges, they went up to the conquest of Canaan. Apparently they did not attempt to capture the stronghold of Jerusalem, which remained in the hands of the Jebusites until the days of David. The town of Bezek, which they first conquered, has not yet been identified. It would naturally be looked for at Bethlehem or at the stronghold of Bethzur farther south. The text is clearly corrupt and possibly the original reading contains the name of one or the other of these southern cities. The most important acquisition of the Judahites was the city of Hebron in the south. This ancient town lay in a shallow valley and was protected by no natural defences.⁽⁷⁶⁾ Allying themselves with certain Arab tribes, they extended their conquests far out into the borders of the South Country. The situation of Debir is still in doubt. It is usually identified with Dhaheriyeh, southwest of Hebron, where the hills of Judah descend to the wild South Country. In its vicinity are certain springs, which correspond to those assigned to one of the clans of the Calebites. To the southeast, with the aid of the Kenites, the Judahites succeeded in conquering the border fortress of Arad, seventeen miles southeast of Hebron. It stood at the head of the Wady Seyal, which runs up in the direction of the Dead Sea past the later fortress of Masada. Here dwelt the semi-nomadic Kenites. The Simeonites, with the aid of the Judahites, also captured the city of Hormah, far out in the South Country, and in this wild region, in closer touch with the tribes of the desert than with the Hebrew tribes of the north, they lived their free, nomadic life.

Conquest of Ai and Bethel. The strong tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, under the leadership of Joshua, took the more direct western road over the heights above Jericho. While at this period the true home of the Canaanites was still on the plains, certain of them, or else the descendants of later immigrants, had already ascended these heights and built small upland villages. The soil was not sufficiently rich to support a large population. Probably the inhabitants still depended to a great extent upon their flocks for sustenance. At the head of the upland valley, along which the road ran, was the village of Ai, sufficiently strong to repulse the initial attacks of the Hebrews. It was finally captured, however, by means of strategy, in which the wily sons of the desert were adept. In the same way they captured the sacred city of Bethel, which is generally identified with the present Beitin,⁽⁷⁷⁾ two or three miles to the northwest of Ai. The ruins on this site are so meagre that its identification is by no means certain. If they represent the ancient city, it was always insignificant—a place of pilgrimage rather than of residence. The present village lies on a gradually sloping hill, strewn with large limestone rocks. It lacks the commanding view characteristic of the other high places of Palestine. Its outcrop of rock furnished abundant sites for ancient altars and for the rocky pillow on which, according to Hebrew tradition, rested the head of the fugitive Jacob. It is important strategically, because near it converge the ancient roads from the east, the north, and the south. It was captured by a sudden attack which caught the inhabitants unprepared.

Incompleteness of the Initial Conquest. It is probable that certain other small villages in the uplands near Ai and Bethel, were captured by the Hebrew tribes that turned northward. The later traditions record an important battle near Gibeon, which swept westward down through the pass of the Upper and Lower Beth-horons. The older narrative, however, found in the first chapter of Judges, states very definitely that the Hebrews did not capture any of the important cities on the plain except Jericho and that all the important towns in central Canaan still remained in the possession of the older inhabitants. One zone of strong cities, beginning with Gezer on the west, including Shaalbim, Ajalon, Gibeon, and Jerusalem, remained in possession of the Canaanites. Farther north, beginning with Dor on the Mediterranean coast, another line of strong Canaanite cities extended across the Plain of Esdraelon to the Jordan, including Megiddo, Taanach, Ibleam, and Bethshean. These cities commanded all the important highways from north to south. Still farther north the chief cities of Galilee were still held by the Canaanites. Thus, in the early stages of the settlement in Canaan, the Hebrews, who at this time came in from the east-Jordan land, succeeded in intrenching themselves only at two points: (1) in the heights of Judah, from whence they gradually extended their conquests, first to the south and then to the north; and (2) in the highlands of southern Samaria, gradually spreading down the western hills and pressing northward through the valleys of Samaria and Galilee. In the north they readily affiliated with their kinsmen who, like the Asherites, had probably remained in the land since the first invasion in the days of Amenhotep IV.

Migration of the Danites. The eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Judges contain an exceedingly old and vivid picture of the way in which the different tribes individually won their homes in this land, where there was no political unity and where each tribe and city fought its own battles single-handed. At first the little tribe of the Danites had settled at a point where the Valley of Sorek penetrated the Judean hills on the west and opened out into a diamond-shaped valley. Here the Danites were pressed by the Judahites on the south, the Ephraimites and Benjamites on the north, and above all by the Philistines, who were able to enter this fertile valley by its western gateway. Acting on the advice of the spies whom they had sent out to find a more favorable place of abode, a large body of the Danites migrated to the north. At the foot of Mount Hermon, amidst the rushing waters which come from the copious sources of the Jordan, they found a Sidonian colony.⁽⁷⁸⁾ It had probably been established as a trading outpost, for past it ran the great highway from Damascus through Northern Israel. It was cut off from all connection with its parent city by the heights of upper Galilee. The Danites suddenly attacked the city, put to death its inhabitants, and changed its name from Laish to Dan. Thus was founded a city which became the famous sanctuary of the north.

The Moabite Invasion. All the earlier narratives of the Old Testament indicate that the Hebrews undertook the conquest of Canaan, not as a united nation, but as independent tribes. At first they appear to have contented themselves with the least desirable and therefore unoccupied regions. These were scattered throughout the wide extent of the land and were separated by zones of Canaanite cities. The result was that the local Hebrew tribes soon fell a prey to the older races. Early during the period of settlement the Moabites who were at first confined to the south of the Arnon, swept over this natural barrier and appeared at the fords of the Jordan opposite Jericho. They even exacted tribute of the Hebrew tribes in southern Canaan. The Moabite oppression was overthrown by the Benjamite Ehud, who treacherously slew the Moabite king and rallied the strong clans of Ephraim. By seizing and holding the two lower fords of the Jordan they succeeded, with the aid of this great natural barrier, in keeping back the Moabites; but it is evident that by this time these aggressive foes had largely reconquered the old kingdom of Sihon and subjugated the Hebrews who remained east of the Jordan and south of the Jabbok.

The Rally of the Hebrews Against the Canaanites. The rapid increase of the Hebrews led the Canaanites to revive the old coalition, which in the days of Thotmose III had its natural centre at Megiddo.⁽⁶³⁾ Again this important city was the rallying place of the Canaanites. On the great plain that extends for miles in front of this ancient fortress was fought the battle which decided the possession of central Canaan. Only the Hebrew tribes of central Israel rallied on the battle-field. The Asherites in the west, the Danites in the north, and the Reubenites across the Jordan remained by their ships or with their flocks. No mention is made in the biblical narratives of the tribes of Judah and Simeon, far in the south. According to the older poetic account of the battle, Deborah, who issued the call that rallied the strong central tribes, belonged to the tribe of Issachar, whose territory lay on the northeastern side of the plain. Here near Deborah's home gathered the Hebrews, ill-organized but patriotic and brave. Down along the highway, which ran through the territory of Napthali from the northwestern end of the Sea of Galilee (cf. p. 79), rushed Barak with his sturdy warriors. Evidently the Hebrews had hitherto confined their fighting to the hills, where they had had a great advantage; but now, forty thousand strong, they ventured out on the plain to meet the Canaanites who were equipped with horses and chariots and who were fighting on their own natural battle-field.

The Battle-field. The Hebrews, however, chose their ground wisely. On the eastern side of the great plain the hills from the south almost meet those from the north, so that here the Hebrew warriors from all parts of the land could unite without a long journey across the open plain. On the other hand, they were there reasonably free from the danger of a flank attack, for the only direct and feasible approach to the battle-field from Megiddo was straight across the plain to the northeast. Farther to the west the Kishon is ordinarily not fordable, while east of Megiddo, opposite Taanach, are probably to be found the Waters of Megiddo, mentioned in the ancient song, for here many springs burst from the plain, rendering it muddy and practically impassable far into the summer. The Hebrews evidently took their stand on the northeastern side of the Kishon,⁽⁷⁹⁾ where the main highway crosses it about seven miles from Megiddo. The river here ploughs its muddy way through the plain, which rises gently toward the northeast to the position occupied by the Hebrews. Its fords are treacherous at all times and especially so in spring. In crossing this point as late as April, our horses would probably have foundered in its sticky mud had not some camel-drivers waded out into the middle of the stream and guided us over the one narrow place where it was possible to cross without being submerged. As we looked back two hundred yards beyond the river, its low, sluggish stream was completely hidden. Had we not recently crossed, we would not have suspected that it ran across the seemingly unbroken plain. Not even the usual bushes fringed its bank to proclaim its winding course.

Effect of a Storm Upon the Plain. Evidently the Hebrews waited before offering battle until the Canaanites had crossed and were thus cut off from the possibility of quick retreat. The ancient poem of Judges 5 also indicates that they chose for the battle the time of year most advantageous for them. The references to Jehovah coming on the clouds from Sinai and pouring out his waters, to the stars fighting in their course against the Canaanites, and to the swollen Kishon, clearly show that the battle was fought in the spring and that, while it was in progress, one of those drenching thunder-storms that sweep over the plain at this time of the year demonstrated to Hebrew and Canaanite alike the presence of Israel's God. The loamy soil of the plain dries quickly and is then very hard, but when wet becomes at once a hopeless morass. The horses' hoofs sink deep into the muddy soil and are withdrawn with that peculiar sucking sound which the author of the poem in Judges 5 has successfully reproduced. The Canaanites, never famous for bravery, were quickly thrown into confusion. In their mad endeavor to get back to Megiddo, chariots, horses, and horsemen plunged headlong into the treacherous, swollen Kishon, and were swept away.

Results of the Victory. Apparently the Canaanite leader, Sisera, swerved to the northward from the Kishon and escaped over the hills of lower Galilee. Exhausted with his flight he took refuge in the tent of a wandering Kenite and there met the most ignominious of fates—death at the hands of a woman. Thus the Hebrews were left masters of central Canaan and possessors of the opulent cities and the material civilization, which had been developing in Palestine for over a thousand years. In the southern zone, the Canaanite cities remained unconquered until the days of the united Hebrew kingdom, but they ceased to be a menace to Hebrew expansion. Thus at last, after two or three centuries of wandering, of struggle, and of training, the different Hebrew tribes entered into their heritage and continued to occupy it until Assyria and Babylonia destroyed their independence and carried their leaders into exile.

The East-Jordan Tribes. In the east-Jordan territory the Reubenites settled just north of the Arnon. They were the first to occupy their lands and the first to disappear from history. The territory was rich and productive, but exposed to attack from the Moabites on the south, from the Arabs on the east, and from the Ammonites on the northeast. In the days of Mesha, the Moabite king (the ninth century B.C.), they had evidently disappeared, only the Gadites being mentioned. The Gadites were equally exposed to attack from every side, but they were more strongly intrenched among the hills and deep wadies that lie south of the Jabbok. They were also more closely in touch with their kinsmen across the Jordan and protected on the north by the strong east-Jordan tribes of Manasseh and Machir, whose territory extended to, if not beyond, the Yarmuk and eastward to the borders of the desert.

The Tribes in Southern Canaan. West of the Jordan the tribe of Simeon guarded the southern outpost, but in time almost completely disappeared from Hebrew history. The strong tribe of Judah, from its mountain heights spread westward to the borders of the Philistine Plain and at a later period absorbed the territory of the Canaanite cities, which extended from Gezer to Jerusalem. The little tribe of Benjamin was wedged in between the great tribes of the north and the south. The southern boundary of its territory ran close to Jerusalem and on the east it touched the Jordan. Northward to the Plain of Esdraelon and from the Jordan to the Plain of Sharon extended the rich, fruitful territory of Ephraim and Manasseh.

The Tribes in the North. The tribe of Issachar, profiting most by the results of the great battle beside the Kishon, in which it had played a central rÔle, entered into possession of the fertile territory lying south of the Sea of Galilee, probably spreading across the Plain of Esdraelon to Mount Gilboa and the boundaries of northern Samaria. Zebulun occupied the territory extending up into the hills of lower Galilee. Upper Galilee was divided between the tribe of Napthali on the east and Asshur, whose territory extended to that of the Phoenicians on the west. In the upper Jordan valley, at the foot of the southern slope of Mount Hermon, the warlike energetic tribe of Dan was strongly intrenched.

Effect of the Settlement Upon the Hebrews. Apparently the Hebrew settlement of Canaan occupied fully a century. With the exception of two or three important engagements, the process was one of peaceful settlement rather than of conquest. It was a process to which there are many analogies, especially in the history of Babylonia and Syria. A stronger, more virile race pressed in from the desert and gradually conquered and absorbed the more highly civilized but less energetic peoples resident in the land. It was only in exceptional cases that the earlier Canaanite population was completely destroyed. Shechem, and later Jerusalem, are familiar examples of the way in which the conquerors and the conquered lived side by side, freely intermarrying and in time completely fusing with each other. This process was especially natural and easy in Palestine, because the older population simply represented earlier waves of invasion from the desert. The conquerors and the conquered shared in common many traditions and institutions. Inevitably the invaders gave up their nomadic habits and adopted the agricultural pursuits, the civil institutions, the sacred places, and many of the religious rites of the Canaanites. The marvel is that during this transitional period of settlement they preserved their loyalty to Jehovah, the God who had guided their fathers in their wilderness wanderings.