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1. Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which
are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are
bounded toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory
belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had
formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the
Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the City
of Horsemen, because those horsemen that were dismissed by Herod
the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with
Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east
with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the
borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are hounded
by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee
which is called the Lower, it, extends in length from Tiberias to
Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor;
its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in the
great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is
taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village
Baca, which divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length
is also from Meloth to Thella, a village near to Jordan.
2. These two Galilees, of so great largeness, and encompassed
with so many nations of foreigners, have been always able to make
a strong resistance on all occasions of war; for the Galileans
are inured to war from their infancy, and have been always very
numerous; nor hath the country been ever destitute of men of
courage, or wanted a numerous set of them; for their soil is
universally rich and fruitful, and full of the plantations of
trees of all sorts, insomuch that it invites the most slothful to
take pains in its cultivation, by its fruitfulness; accordingly,
it is all cultivated by its inhabitants, and no part of it lies
idle. Moreover, the cities lie here very thick, and the very many
villages there are here are every where so full of people, by the
richness of their soil, that the very least of them contain above
fifteen thousand inhabitants.
3. In short, if any one will suppose that Galilee is inferior to
Perea in magnitude, he will be obliged to prefer it before it in
its strength; for this is all capable of cultivation, and is
every where fruitful; but for Perea, which is indeed much larger
in extent, the greater part of it is desert and rough, and much
less disposed for the production of the milder kinds of fruits;
yet hath it a moist soil [in other parts], and produces all kinds
of fruits, and its plains are planted with trees of all sorts,
while yet the olive tree, the vine, and the palm tree are chiefly
cultivated there. It is also sufficiently watered with torrents,
which issue out of the mountains, and with springs that never
fail to run, even when the torrents fail them, as they do in the
dog-days. Now the length of Perea is from Macherus to Pella, and
its breadth from Philadelphia to Jordan; its northern parts are
bounded by Pella, as we have already said, as well as its Western
with Jordan; the land of Moab is its southern border, and its
eastern limits reach to Arabia, and Silbonitis, and besides to
Philadelphene and Gerasa.
4. Now as to the country of Samaria, it lies between Judea and
Galilee; it begins at a village that is in the great plain called
Ginea, and ends at the Acrabbene toparchy, and is entirely of the
same nature with Judea; for both countries are made up of hills
and valleys, and are moist enough for agriculture, and are very
fruitful. They have abundance of trees, and are full of autumnal
fruit, both that which grows wild, and that which is the effect
of cultivation. They are not naturally watered by many rivers,
but derive their chief moisture from rain-water, of which they
have no want; and for those rivers which they have, all their
waters are exceeding sweet: by reason also of the excellent grass
they have, their cattle yield more milk than do those in other
places; and, what is the greatest sign of excellency and of
abundance, they each of them are very full of people.
5. In the limits of Samaria and Judea lies the village Anuath,
which is also named Borceos. This is the northern boundary of
Judea. The southern parts of Judea, if they be measured
lengthways, are bounded by a Village adjoining to the confines of
Arabia; the Jews that dwell there call it Jordan. However, its
breadth is extended from the river Jordan to Joppa. The city
Jerusalem is situated in the very middle; on which account some
have, with sagacity enough, called that city the Navel of the
country. Nor indeed is Judea destitute of such delights as come
from the sea, since its maritime places extend as far as
Ptolemais: it was parted into eleven portions, of which the royal
city Jerusalem was the supreme, and presided over all the
neighboring country, as the head does over the body. As to the
other cities that were inferior to it, they presided over their
several toparchies; Gophna was the second of those cities, and
next to that Acrabatta, after them Thamna, and Lydda, and Emmaus,
and Pella, and Idumea, and Engaddi, and Herodium, and Jericho;
and after them came Jamnia and Joppa, as presiding over the
neighboring people; and besides these there was the region of
Gamala, and Gaulonitis, and Batanea, and Trachonitis, which are
also parts of the kingdom of Agrippa. This [last] country begins
at Mount Libanus, and the fountains of Jordan, and reaches
breadthways to the lake of Tiberias; and in length is extended
from a village called Arpha, as far as Julias. Its inhabitants
are a mixture of Jews and Syrians. And thus have I, with all
possible brevity, described the country of Judea, and those that
lie round about it.
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