CHAPTER I

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DORMANT VOLCANOES OF PALESTINE AND ARABIA.

(_a._) _Region east of the Jordan and Dead Sea._--The remarkable line of country lying along the valley of the Jordan, and extending into the great Arabian Desert, has been the seat of extensive volcanic action in prehistoric times. The specially volcanic region seems to be bounded by the depression of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the Arabah as far south as the Gulf of Akabah; for, although Safed, lying at the head of the Sea of Galilee on the west of the Jordan valley, is built on a basaltic sheet, and is in proximity to an extinct crater, its position is exceptional to the general arrangement of the volcanic products which may be traced at intervals from the base of Hermon into Central Arabia, a distance of about 1000 miles.[1]

The tract referred to has been described at intervals by several authors, of whom G. Schumacher,[2] L. Lartet,[3] Canon Tristram,[4] M. Niebuhr,[5] and C. M. Doughty[6] may be specially mentioned in this connection.

The most extensive manifestations of volcanic energy throughout this long tract of country appear to be concentrated at its extreme limits. At the northern extremity the generally wild and rugged tract of the Jaulân and Haurân, called in the Bible _Trachonitis_, and still farther to the eastward the plateau of the Lejah, with its row of volcanic peaks sloping down to the vast level of Bashan, is covered throughout nearly its whole extent by great sheets of basaltic lava, above which rise at intervals, and in very perfect form, the old crater-cones of eruption. A similar group of extinct craters with lava-flows has been described and figured by a recent traveller, Mr. C. M. Doughty, in parts of Central Arabia. The general resemblance of these Arabian volcanoes to those of the Jaulân is unquestionable; and as they are connected with each other by sheets of basaltic lava at intervals throughout the land of Moab, it is tolerably certain that the volcanoes lying at either end of the chain belong to one system, and were contemporaneously in a state of activity.

(_b._) _Geological Conditions._--Before entering any further into

## particulars regarding the volcanic phenomena of this region, it may be

desirable to give a short account of its geological structure, and the physical conditions amongst which the igneous eruptions were developed.

Down to the close of the Eocene period the whole region now under consideration was occupied by the waters of the ocean. The mountains of Sinai were islands in this ocean, which had a very wide range over parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. But at the commencement of the succeeding Miocene stage the crust was subjected to lateral contraction, owing to which the ocean bed was upraised. The strata were flexured, folded, and often faulted and fissured along lines ranging north and south, the great fault of the Jordan-Arabah valley being the most important. At this period the mountains of the Lebanon, the table-lands of Judæa and of Arabia, formed of limestone, previously constituting the bed of the ocean during the Eocene and Cretaceous periods, were converted into land surfaces. Along with this upheaval of the sea-bed there was extensive denudation and erosion of the strata, so that valleys were eroded over the subaërial tracts, and the Jordan-Arabah valley received its primary form and outline.

Up to this time there does not appear to have been any outbreak of volcanic forces; but with the succeeding Pliocene period these came into play, and eruptions of basaltic lava took place along rents and fissures in the strata, while craters and cones of slag, scoriæ, and ashes were thrown up over the region lying to the east of the Sea of Galilee and the sources of the Jordan on the one hand, and the central parts of the great Arabian Desert on the other. These eruptions, probably intermittent, continued into the succeeding Glacial or Pluvial period, and only died out about the time that the earliest inhabitants appeared on the scene.

(_c._) _The Jaulân and Haurân._--This tract is bounded by the valley of the Jordan and the Sea of Galilee on the west, from which it rises by steep and rocky declivities into an elevated table-land, drained by the Yarmûk (Hieromax), the Nahr er Rukkâd, and other streams, which flow westwards into the Jordan along deep channels in which the basaltic sheets and underlying limestone strata are well laid open to view.

On consideration it seems improbable that the great sheets of augitic lava, such as cover the surface of the land of Bashan, are altogether the product of the volcanic mountains which appear to be confined to special districts in this wide area. Some of the craters do indeed send forth visible lava-streams, but they are insignificant as compared with the general mass of the plateau-basalts; and the crater-cones themselves appear in some cases to be posterior to the platforms of basalt from which they rise. It is very probable, therefore, that the lavas of this region have, in the main, been extruded from fissures of eruption at an early period, and spread over the surface of the country in the same manner as those of the Snake River region, and the borders of the Pacific Ocean of North America, and possibly of the Antrim Plateau in Ireland, afterwards to be described.

The volcanic hills which rise above the plateau are described in detail by Schumacher. Of these, Tell Abû Nedîr is the largest in the Jaulân. It reaches an elevation of 4132 feet above the Mediterranean Sea, and 1710 feet above the plain from which it rises; the circumference of its base is three miles, and the rim of the crater itself, which is oval in form, is 1331 yards in its larger diameter. The interior is cultivated by Circassians, and is very fruitful; the walls descend at an angle of about 30° on the inside, the exterior slope of the mountain being about 22°. The cone seems to be formed chiefly of scoriæ, and the lava-stream, which issues forth from the interior, forms a frightfully stony and lacerated district.[7]

[Illustration: Fig. 24.--Extinct Craters in the Jaulân, north-east from the Sea of Galilee, called Tell Abû en Nedâ and Tell el Urâm, with a central cone.--(After Schumacher.)]

Another remarkable volcano is the Tell Abû en Nedâ (Fig. 24). This is a double crater, with a cone (probably of cinders) rising from the interior of one of them. The highest point of the rim of one of the craters reaches a level of 4042 feet above the sea. A lava-stream issues forth from Abû en Nedâ, and unites with another from a neighbouring volcano.

Tell el Ahmâr is a ruptured crater of imposing aspect, reaching an elevation of 4060 feet, and sending forth a lava-current, which falls in regular terraces from the outlet towards the west and north.

The ruptured crater of Tell el Akkasheh, which reaches a height of 3400 feet, has a less forbidding aspect than the greater number of the extinct volcanoes of this region, owing to the fact that its sides are covered by oaks, which attain to magnificent proportions along the summit. Numerous other volcanic hills occur in this district, but the most remarkable is that called Tell el Farras (the Hill of the Horse). It is an isolated mountain, visible from afar, and reaches an elevation of 3110 feet, or nearly 800 feet above the surrounding plain. The oval crater of this volcano opens towards the north, and has a depth of 108 feet below the edge, with moderately steep sloping sides (17°-32°), while the slope of the exterior, at first steep, gradually lessens to 20°-21°. These slopes are covered with reddish or yellowish slag. The above examples will probably suffice to afford the reader a general idea of the size and form of the volcanoes in this little known region.

It has been stated above that the great lava-floods have probably been poured forth intermittently. The statement receives confirmation from the observations of Canon Tristram, made in the valley of the Yarmûk.[8] This impetuous torrent rushes down a gorge, sometimes having limestone on one side and a wall of basalt on the other. This is due to the fact that the river channel had been eroded before the volcanic eruptions had commenced; but on the lava-stream reaching the channel, it naturally descended towards the valley of the Jordan along its bed, displacing the river, or converting it into clouds of steam. Subsequently the river again hewed out its channel, sometimes in the lava, sometimes between this rock and the chalky limestone. But, in addition to this, it has been observed that there is a bed of river gravel interposed between two sheets of basalt in the Yarmûk ravine; showing that after the first flow of that molten rock the river reoccupied its channel, which was afterwards invaded by another molten lava-stream, into which the waters have again furrowed the channel which they now occupy. The basaltic sheets descend under the waters of the Sea of Galilee on the east side, and were probably connected with those of Safed, crossing the Jordan valley north of that lake; owing to this the waters of the Lake of Merom (Huleh) were pent up, and formerly covered an extensive tract, now formed of alluvial deposits.

(_d._) _Land of Moab._--Proceeding southwards into the Land of Moab, the volcanic phenomena are here of great interest. Extensive sheets of basaltic lava, described as far back as 1807 by Seetzen, and more recently by Lartet and Tristram, are found at intervals between the Wâdies Mojib (Arnon) and Haidan. On either side of the Mojib, cliffs of columnar basalt are seen capping the beds of white Cretaceous limestone, while a large mass has descended into the W. Haidan between cliffs of limestone and marl on either hand.

Around Jebel Attarus--a dome-shaped hill of limestone--a sheet of basaltic lava has been poured, and has descended the deep gorge of the Zerka Maïn, which enters the Dead Sea some 2000 feet below. This gorge had been eroded before the basaltic eruption, so that the stream of molten lava took its course down the bed of this stream to the water's edge, and grand sections have been laid bare by subsequent erosion along the banks. Pentagonal columns of black basalt form perpendicular walls, first on one side, then on the other; while considerable masses of scoriæ, peperino, and breccia appear at the head of the glen, probably marking the orifice of eruption. Other eruptions of basalt occur, one at Mountar ez Zara, to the south of Zerka Maïn, and another at Wady Ghuweir, near the north-eastern end of the Dead Sea. There are no lava-streams on the western side of the Ghor, or of the Dead Sea.[9]

The outburst of the celebrated thermal springs of Callirrhoë, together with nine or ten others, along the channel of the Zerka Maïn, is a circumstance which cannot be dissociated from the occurrence of basaltic lava at this spot. In a reach of three miles, according to Tristram, there are ten principal springs, of which the fifth in descent is the largest; but the seventh and eighth, about half a mile lower down, are the most remarkable, giving forth large supplies of sulphurous water. The tenth and last is the hottest of all, indicating a temperature of 143° Fahr. Thus it would appear that the heat increases with the depth from the upper surface of the table-land; a result which might be expected, supposing the heated volcanic rocks to be themselves the source of the high temperature. To a similar cause may be attributed the hot-springs of Hammath, near Tiberias, and those of the Yarmûk near its confluence with the Jordan. Some of these and other springs break out along, or near, the line of the great Jordan-Arabah fault which ranges throughout the whole extent of this depression, from the base of Hermon to the Gulf of Akabah, generally keeping close to the eastern margin of the valley.

(_e._) _The Arabian Desert._--The basaltic lava-floods occupy a very large extent of the Arabian Desert, from El Hisma (lat. 27° 35' N.) to the neighbourhood of Mecca on the south, a distance of about 440 miles, with occasional intervals. The lava-sheets are called "Harras" (or "Harrat"), one of which, Harrat Sfeina, terminates about ten miles north of Mecca. The lava-sheets rest sometimes on the red sandstone, at other times, on the granite and other crystalline rocks of great geological antiquity. In addition to the sheets of basalt, numerous crater-cones rise from the basaltic platform at a level of 5000 feet above the sea, and two volcanic mountains, rising far to the west of the principal range, called respectively Harrât Jeheyma and H. Rodwa, almost overlook the coast of the Red Sea.[10]

(_f._) _Age of the Volcanic Eruptions._--It is very clear that the first eruptions, producing the great basaltic sheets of Moab and Arabia, occurred after the principal features of the country had been developed. The depression of the Jordan-Arabah valley, the elevation of the eastern side of this valley along the great fault line, and the channels of the principal tributary streams, such as those of the Yarmûk and Zerka Maïn, all these had been eroded out before they were invaded by the molten streams of lava. Now, as these physical features were developed and sculptured out during the Miocene period, as I have elsewhere shown to be the case,[11] we may with great probability refer the volcanic eruptions to the geological epoch following--namely, the Pliocene. How far downwards towards the historic period the eruptions continued is not so certain. Dr. Daubeny, quoting several passages from the Old Testament prophets,[12] says it might be inferred that volcanoes were in activity even so late as to admit of their being included within the limits of authentic history. The poetic language and imagery used in these passages by the prophets certainly lends a probability to this view, but nothing more. On the other hand, these regions have suffered through many centuries from the secondary effects of seismic action and subterranean forces, and earthquake shocks have laid in ruins the great temples and palaces of Palmyra, Baalbec, and other cities of antiquity. The same uncertainty regarding the time at which volcanic action died out, with reference to the appearance of man on the scene, hangs over the region of Arabia and Syria, as we have seen to be the case in reference to the extinct volcanoes of Auvergne, the Eifel, and the Lower Rhine. In all these cases the commencement and close of eruptive action appear to have been very much about the same period--namely, the Miocene period on the one hand, and that at which man entered upon the scene on the other; but in the case of Syria and Western Palestine, the close of the volcanic period may have been somewhat more than 2000 B.C.

[1] Lake Phiala, near the Lake of Huleh, is also situated to the west of the Jordan valley. Its origin, according to Tristram, is volcanic.

[2] Schumacher, "The Jaulân," _Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund_, 1886 and 1888; and _Across the Jordan_, London, 1886.

[3] Lartet, _Voyage d'Exploration de la mer Morte_ (Géologie), Paris, 1880.

[4] Tristram, _Land of Moab_, London, 1873; and _Land of Israel_, 1866.

[5] Niebuhr, _Beschreibung von Arabien_, 1773.

[6] C. M. Doughty, _Arabia Deserta_, 2 vols., 1888. A generalised account of this volcanic region by the author will be found in the "Memoir on the Physical Geology of Arabia Petræa, and Palestine," _Palestine Exploration Fund_, 1887.

[7] Schumacher, _loc. cit._, p. 248.

[8] _Land of Israel_, p. 461.

[9] "Geology of Arabia Petræa, and Palestine," _Memoirs of the Palestine Exploration Fund_, p. 95.

[10] Doughty, _loc. cit._, vol. i., plate vi., p. 416. An excellent geological sketch map accompanies this work.

[11] "Memoir of the Geology of Arabia Petræa, and Palestine," chap. vi. p. 67.

[12] Nahum, i. 5, 6; Micah, i. 3, 4; Isaiah, lxiv. 1-3; Jeremiah, l. 25.

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