Sioux County pioneer., 1922-09-28
Where the Children OF Israel Crossed tho Jordan.

Where the Children OF
Prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. D. Co.
Palestine, home of Christianity, the
British mandate for which has just
been formally approved by the council
Of the League of Nations, has prob.
ably never been better described than
by the late viscount Bryce, former
British ambassador to the United
States. In communication to the
National Geographic society, he wrote
of the Holy Land as follows:
Palestine is tiny little country.
Though the travellers handbooks pre-
pare him to find it small, it surprises
him by being smaller than he expected.
Taking 1t as the region between the
Mediterranean on the west and the
Jordan and Dead sea on the east, from
the spurs Of Lebanon and Hermon on
the north to the desert at Beersheba
on the south, it is only 10 miles long
and from so to 60 broad-that is to
say, 1t Is smaller than New Jersey,
whose area is 1900 square miles.
OF this region large parts did not
really belong to ancient Israel. Their
hold on the southern and northern
districts was but slight while in the
southwest wide, rich plain along the
Mediterranean was occupied by the
warlike Philistines, who were some
times more than match for the He
brew armies. 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, in the days Of his power, looked
down from the hill cities of Benjamin,
just north Of Jerusalem, upon Phil
istine enemies only 25 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 terri
tory no bigger. than the state Of Con-
necticut, whose area is 4,8O0 square
miles; and into hardly any other coun-
try has there been crowded from the
days Of Abraham till our own so much
history is to say, so many events
That have been recorded and deserve
to be recorded In the annals Of man
kind. 3 RI
lts smallness Is Visible.
Nor is It only that Palestine Is
really small country. The traveller
constantly feels as he moves about
that 1t is a small country. From the
heights few miles north Of Jeru-
salem he sees, looking northward, a
( faroff summit carrying snow for eight
months in the year. It is Hermon,
nearly 10000 feet high - Hermon,
whose fountains feed the rivers Of
Damascus. But Hermon is outside the
territory Of Israel altogether, standing
in the land Of the Syrians; so, too,
4 It IS Of Lebanon. We are apt to think
Of that mountain mass as within the
country, because Is also Is frequently
mentioned in the Psalms and the
Prophets, but the two ranges Of Leb-
anon also rise beyond the frontiers
Of Israel, lying between the Syrians
Of Damascus and the. Phoenicians Of
the West.
Palestine Is a country poor in any
natural resources. There, are practical
" no minerals, no coal. no iron. no
copper, no silver. though recently
( some oil has been discovered in
the Jordan valley. Neither are
there any large forests, and though
the land may have been better wooded
IN the days Of Joshua than It is now,
there Is; little reason to think that
the woods were of trees sufficiently
large to constitute a source Of wealth.
"A comparatively small area is fit for
+ tillage. II. II.
TO an Arab tribe that had wandered
through a barren wilderness for 40
weary years, Canaan may we'll have
{ seemed a delightful possession; but
many a county In iowa, many de
partment in France. could raise more
grain or wine than all the Holy Land.
There is one stretch Of fertile, level
land 20 miles long and from 3 to g
4 miles wide the Plain Of Esdraelon.
4 But with this exception 1t is only In
the bottoms and on the lower slopes
I; OF a few valleys, chiefly in the terri.
tory of Ephraim from Bethel north.
ward and along the shores of the Bay
I 3 sf Acre. that one sees cornfelds and
olive yards and orchards. Little wine
ID now grown: !. II
& Such wealth al the country has
39l consists 10 It's pastures. and the ex
preston - land flowing with mill
=