after Solomon. He is the "Herod
the king" who killed the Apostle James and imprisoned Peter. After
delivering an oration at Caesarea, he died a horrible death, "because
he gave not God the glory." At his death, in A.D. 44, the country was
divided into two provinces. The northern section was ruled by Herod
Agrippa II. till the Jewish State was dissolved, in A.D. 70. He was the
"King Agrippa" before whom Paul spoke. The southern part of the country,
called the province of Judaea, was ruled by procurators having their
seat at Caesarea. When Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70, the country
was annexed to Syria.

The climate depends more upon local conditions than on the latitude,
which is the same as Southern Georgia and Alabama, Jerusalem being on
the parallel of Savannah. In point of temperature it is about the same
as these localities, but in other respects it differs much. The year has
two seasons--the dry, lasting from the first of April to the first of
November, and the rainy season, lasting the other five months, during
which time there are copious rains. One authority says: "Were the old
cisterns cleaned and mended, and the beautiful tanks and aqueducts
repaired, the ordinary fall of rain would be quite sufficient for the
wants of the inhabitants and for irrigation." The summers are hot, the
winters mild. Snow sometimes falls, but does not last long, and ice is
seldom formed.

Palestine is not a timbered country. The commonest oak is a low, scrubby
bush. The "cedars of Lebanon" have almost disappeared. The carob
tree, white poplar, a thorn bush, and the oleander are found in some
localities. The principal fruit-bearing trees are the fig, olive, date
palm, pomegranate, orange, and lemon. Grapes, apples, apricots, quinces,
and other fruits also grow here. Wheat, barley, and a kind of corn are
raised, also tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, and tobacco. The ground
is poorly cultivated with inferior tools, and the grain is tramped out
with cattle, as in the long ago.

Sheep and goats are the most numerous domestic animals, a peculiarity of
the sheep being the extra large "fat tail" (Lev. 3:9), a lump of pure
fat from ten to fifteen inches long and from three to five inches thick.
Cattle, camels, horses, mules, asses, dogs and chickens are kept.

CHAPTER IX.

HISTORIC SKETCH OF PALESTINE.

In the ancient Babylonian city called Ur of the Chaldees lived the
patriarch Terah, who was the father of three sons, A