and surmounted by small domes. There are many springs and natural fountains in and about the city, and some of the many beautiful gardens are watered from the fountains, while others have a soil sufficiently moist. Figs, almonds, walnuts, oranges, grapes, and pomegranates are abundant. But the olive now, as in ancient times, is the principal tree.

This city being, as it were, the gateway between Jaffa and Beirut, on the coast and the interior, is the seat of an active commerce and of a comparative luxury to be found in but few Oriental cities. Here are manufactured many of the coarse woolen fabrics; cloth of camel's hair, and delicate silk goods.

The most remarkable antiquity here is Jacob's well. It is covered by an arched stone chamber, entered by a narrow hole in the roof. The mouth of the well is covered by a large flat stone with a circular aperture, and its depth is 105 feet. This well is on the road from Jerusalem, and is visited by many pilgrims every year. It bears every mark of great antiquity, and is so clearly marked by the Evangelist, that if no tradition existed for its identity, the place could not be mistaken. Wearied with his journey, the Saviour sat near this well and taught the Samaritan woman, saying "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." Upon the return of the woman to the city she reported her remarkable interview with Jesus to the people, upon which they flocked out to hear him. In addressing them, Christ pointed his disciples to the waving fields of grain in the plain around, exclaiming, "Say not ye there

are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest." The tomb of Joseph is about a quarter of a mile north of the well. It is a small square enclosure of high walls surrounding a tomb of the ordinary kind. An altar black with the traces of fire is at the head, and another at the foot of the tomb. In the walls are two slabs with Hebrew inscriptions, and the interior is almost covered with the names of pilgrims in Hebrew, Arabic, and Samaritan. The base of Mt. Ebal, opposite the city, is full of ancient excavated tombs, and on Mt. Gerizim are the ruins of a strong fortress.

GAZA

is in the s. w. corner of Palestine, 45 miles s. w. of Jerusalem. It is first mentioned in Genesis as a border town of the Canaanites (B. c. 1920). It was one of the chief cities of the Philistines, and is remarkable for its continuous existence for over 3,800 years. Gaza is situated on the main road between Syria and the valley of the Nile. Its commanding position and strong fortifications rendered it important in a military as well as commercial sense. Its name (=the strong) was well elucidated in its siege by Alexander the Great, which lasted five months, and in which he was wounded. In the conquest of Joshua the territory of Gaza is mentioned as one he was not able to subdue. Samson carried away its gates, but afterwards perished under the ruins of its vast temple. At subsequent periods Gaza was occupied

by Chaldeans, Persians, and Egyptians. The Jewish king, Alexander Jannæus, captured it about 96 B. Q In A. D. 634 it came under Moslem rule.

The modern town stands partly on an oblong hill and partly on the low ground, and contains a population of about 15,000 inhabitants. The climate of this place is nearly tropical, but it has deep wells of excellent water.

The ruins of the old city cover a large hill, which is about three miles from the sea. Among the ruins are those of the fortress that so long withstood Alexander the Great.

BEERSHEBA.

Beersheba (the Well of the Oath) is 28 miles southwest of Hebron-at the southern extremity of the Holy Land; Dan lay at the northern extremity; so that the phrase, from Dan to Beersheba, meant from the northern to the southern end of Palestine. Abraham dug a well here, and gave the name Beersheba, because here he and Abimelech, King of the Philistines, "sware" both of them, but the compact was ratified by the setting apart of "seven ewe lambs,' and from the Hebrew word, Sheba,-seven, the name of the place.

The town that rose here was first assigned to Judah, and then to Simeon. It was a seat of idolatry in the time of Uzziah. After the captivity it was repeopled by the Jews, and continued a large village many centuries after the coming of Christ. There are at present on the spot two large wells and five