Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-05-01
Little More Than Hill Country.

~ lHtS ltS ion, idISe parts uiu lIOt
really belong to Israel. Israel had, in
fact, little more than the hill country.
which lay between the Jordan on the
east and the maritime plain on the
west. King David. i'll the days of his
power. looked down from the hill cities
of Benja min, just north of Jerusalem,
upon PhiliStinc enemies only twenty
i've miles off, on the one side. and
looked across the Jordan to Moabite
enemies about as far off on the other.
Nearly all the events in the history
of Israel that are recorded in the Old
Testament happened within a territory
no bigger than Connecticut, whose area
is $500 square miles: and into hardly
any other country has there been
crowded from the days of Abraham till
our own times so much h1Story-that
is to say, so many events that have
been recorded and deserve to be re-
corded in the annals of mankind.
Nor is the Palestine of today SO
| beautiful or 50 rich country as was
| painted by the Jews just emerging
from the barren, comfortless desert
Its centuries of misgovernment ant
warfare have nightly assisted its
somewhat stepmotherly nature il
crushing out development. according
! to Lord Bryce: wherefore the present
day proposal that this land at last b'
| given rest and opportunity by neutral
4
the nations is overdue. Palestine is :
land of ancient strife and seldom Inter
| rupted slaughter, Lord Bryce explains
and more than fourteen centuries o
sad misrule have done their fatal worl
upon it's physical appearance.
Poor in Any Resources.
Palestine is a country poor in an.
natural resources. There are practical
" no minerals. no coal, no iron, no cop
per. no silver, though recently some OF
wells have been discovered in the Jor
dan valley. Neither are there an,
large forests, and though the land ma.
have been better wooded in the days o
Joshua than it is now, there is lttl.
reason to think that the woods wer,
of trees sufficiently large to constitut,
a source of wealth. A comparativel,
small area is fit for tillage.
| Such wealth as the country has con
sists in it's pastures, and the expression
| a land flowing in milk and honey ap
! propria tely described the best it has t
| offer. for sheep and goats can thriv,
! on the thin heritage that covers tn,
hills. and the numerous aromatic plant:
| furnish plenty of excellent food for tn,
| bees: but it is nearly all thin pasture
for the land is dry and the soil mostl,
shallow. The sheep and goats vastl,
| outnumber the oxen.
Holy Land Scenery Inferior.
The scenery of the Holy Land. taker
| as whole for there are exceptions)
| is inferior" says Lord Bryce, ''both in
| form and in color, to that Of northern
and middle Italy, to that of Norway
! and Scotland, to that of the coast OF
| Asia Minor, to that OF many parts OF
| California and Washington
| Lord Bryce then sums up this Pales-
| tine in which the whole world is in
! terestcd, yet which, in itself. appar-
emily has so little wherewith to
| awaken interest:
IF Palestine is not a land of natural
wealth nor Il land of natural beauty
what is it: What the the Impressions
exactly as it is carries away with him:
Roughly summed up. they are these:
Stones, caves, tombs, ruins, battle
fields sites halloWed by traditions--all
bathed in an atmosphere of legend and
| marvel. In no other country are there
so many shrnes of ancient worship
so many spots held sacred-some
sacred to Jews. some TO Christians
| some to Mussulmans. Neither has any
other country spots that still draw d
! multitude of pilgrims. not even Bel
| gium and Lombardy, each a profusion
of battlefelds.