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| Title | Picturesque Palestine, Sinai, and Egypt, Vol. 2 |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Publisher | D. Appleton and Company |
| Date | 1883 |
| Description | Index: Phoenicia and Lebanon / by the Rev. H. W. Jessup -- The Phoenician plain / by the Rev. Canon Tristram -- Acre, the key of Palestine, Mount Carmel and the river Kishon, Maritime cities and plains of Palestine / by Miss M. E. Rogers -- Lydda and Ramleh, Philistia / By Lt. Col. Warren -- The south country of Judaea / by the Rev. Canon Tristram -- The southern borderland and Dead Sea / by Professor Palmer -- Mount Hor and the cliffs of Edom, The convent of St. Catherine / by Miss M. E. Rogers -- Sinai / by the Rev. C. P. Clarke -- The land of Goshen, Cairo, Memphis, Thebes, Edfu and Philae / by S. Lane-Poole. |
| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | DS107 .W73 v.2 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1703789~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Exotic Impressions: Views of Foreign Lands |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/exotic |
| Repository | Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/william-r-jenkins-architecture-art-library |
| Use and Reproduction | No Copyright - United States |
| Identifier | exotic_201304_015 |
| Title | Page 251 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | exotic_201304_015_274.jpg |
| Transcript | SINAI. 25i the sea, and one knows that they must therefore mark a stage in our journey ! And this reminds me that, under shelter of this ridge, above Wady Gharandel (see page 257), into whose thickets of tamarisk and palm, with its pleasant stream of water, we are going to descend, is a aood halting-place whereat to make note of the peculiarities of the Sinai district, for it lies at the western extremity of the base line of the peninsula. This peninsula, naked of the gentler beauties of natural scenery, foliage, lake, running waters, does combine nature's three grander features—the sea, the desert, the mountains. Geographically its position is peculiar. Palestine, Egypt and Arabia each have an interest in it, while from each it is kept distinct. Historically the interests embosomed herein are stupendous. From Sinai the very life of the human race takes a fresh departure. If, as great writers have suggested, Egypt with its prodigality of antiquarian information is yet a tomb whose occupants excite no interest, in the Desert—and the further and further we advance into it will the impression become more real—we feel that we are on the stream of continuous history. It will flow on and through the Desert; it will pass the hill country of Judah, till Jerusalem and Calvary and Olivet are reached, whence will issue fresh streams of life. Three clefts break in on that great waterless region, which we call generally the Desert, extending nearly from the Atlantic Ocean to the Persian Gulf. The westernmost is the Valley of the Nile, the second is the Gulf of Suez, and the Elanitic Gulf (the Gulf of 'Akabah) is the third (see page 224). This last must have at one time communicated with the wide valley " El 'Arabah," which in turn communicates with that marvellous chasm, the valley of the river Jordan, running up into the heart of the Lebanon Mountains. The triangle formed between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of'Akabah is Sinai, its boundary on the north, its base line being the plateau of the Tih, projecting into it somewhat like a blunt wedeje. The area of this triangle is about twice the size of Yorkshire. South of the Tih a broad belt of sandstone crosses almost from shore to shore, and reaches down as far as Jebel Mukatteb. Very fantastic are the shapes and gorgeous is the colouring of the mountains in this district; the valleys are narrow and steep-sided, whilst there are many undulating barren plains of gravelly sand found at their mouths. In this formation are veins of iron, copper, and turquoise, in the mines of which Egyptian captives from the far south or from the northern Hittite country pined away their life, generation after generation. South of this sandstone is a trianeular mass of mountains, some of which reach to over eight thousand feet, nearly as high as the upper heights of Mount Hermon, in the north of Palestine. The two sides of this triangle are parallel with the sides of the peninsula itself, and meet in their common apex, Ras Mohammad. A strip of desert of very varying width bounds these sides, its greatest extension being at the plains El Markha (probably the " Wilderness of Sin ") and El Ga'ah (" the plain "), on which is situated the little town of Tor. The dreariest portion of the peninsula is that which skirts the sea-coast from Suez to Tor. There are in it a few fine bluffs of limestone, but they are not more than two thousand six hundred feet high, and are altogether wanting in the colouring and picturesque outline of the sandstone and granite districts. |