When foreign armies were not occupying the country, civil wars usually prevailed. The main difference between Syria and Palestine is that for more than one thousand years the Hebrews occupied most of Palestine and tried to develop a sense of national pride and independence. They even succeeded for relatively brief periods, but the foreign invasions and exploitation of the land were always resumed. It was not the conquering armies that depopulated the land, however. The climate of Palestine is typically Mediterranean.
Enough rain falls in most areas to nourish the crops grown by the ancients.
As long as the soil was capable of absorbing the rainfall, this was a relatively prosperous and beautiful country. They have an abundance of trees, both wild and cultivated, that are full of fruit. The land is not naturally watered by irrigation, but chiefly by rainfall, of which they have no want. The hills also have been greatly depopulated. . . .