GEPHYRUN

fertile loam. The Western Table-land has streams rising in copious springs of water stored in the limestone strata; these streams on the Eastern side have a very- rapid fall, owing to the great depth of the GhOr. The hills are generally bare, but the valleys, where the soil has accumulated, are very fertile. The surface of theGASr is for its greater part alluvial. The Eastern Table-land is composed of granite and other igneous rocks, overlaid towards the North by sandstones which are themselves covered by calcareous strata. To the South, however, it is entirely covered with basaltic lava sheets, through which the cones of extinct volcanoes rise. The Sinai Peninsula Is characterized by its barrenness, vegetation being found only in the valleys.

II. Geological formations. — The geological forma-tions of which the above regions are composed are the following. — (1) Archaean (granitic gneiss, hornblende, diorite, etc.): the oldest rocks in this region, found only among the mountains of Sinai and Edom. — (2) Volcanic (lavas, ash-beds, etc.): found in the Wady HarQn and Jebal esh-Shomar, east of the Dead Sea. — (3) Lower Carboniferoiis (sandstone, blue limestone): found in Wady Nasb, and Lebruj, E. of the Dead Sea: sand-stones below, and limestones containing shells and corals of carboniferous limestone species. ^(4) Cretaceous: lower beds of Nubian sandstone, which is found all along the Tib escarpment and along the Western escarp-ment from 'Akabah to beyond the Dead Sea. It was probably a lake-deposit. It is overlaid by a great thickness of cretaceous limestone, amounting to nearly 1000 feet. This is the most important constituent of the rocks of Palestine. Good building stones are taken from it in the quarries of Jerusalem. — (5) Lower Eocene: nummulite Umestone, found overlying the cretaceous beds in elevated situations, such as Carmel, Nablus, and Jerusalem. — (6) Upper Eocene: a formation of calcareous sandstone on the surface between Beersheba and Jaffa. Its true position is uncertain. Prof. Hull assigns it to the Upper Eocene, but Dr. Blanckenhorn to a post-tertiary or diluvial origin. — (7) Miocene Period. No rocks are assignable to this period, but it is important as being that in which the country rose from the bed of the sea and assumed its present form. This was the time when the great fault in the Jordan valley took place. — (8) Pliocene to Pluvial Period. During this period a subsidence of about 220 feet took place round the Mediterranean and Red Sea basins, afterwards compensated by a re-elevation. The evidence for this remains in a number of raised beaches, especially in the valley of Sheriah, east of Gaza. A similar phenom-enon has been found at Mokattam, above Cairo. — (9) Pluvial to Recent Period. In the glacial epoch there were extensive glaciers in Lebanon, which have left traces in a number of moraines. At that time the tem-perature was colder, and the rainfall higher; hence the valleys, now dry, were channels of running water. Alluvial terraces in the Jordan valley-lake prove that the Dead Sea was formerly hundreds of feet higher than its present level. With the passing of the Pleistocene period the lakes and streams were reduced to their present limits. R. A. S. Macalister.

GEPHYBUH. — A city captured by Judas Maccabseus (2 Mac 12"; AV 'he went also about to make a bridge to a certain city,' RV 'he also fell upon a certain city Gephyrun'). It is possible that the Greek text is corrupt (see RVm).

GEB. — See Stranger.

GERA. — One of Benjamin's sons (Gn 46", omitted in Nu 26"-"). Ace. to 1 Ch 8'- »■ ' he was a son of Bela and a grandson of Benjamin. Gera was evidently a well-known Benjamite clan, to which belonged Ehud (Jg 3") and Shimei (2 S 16' 19". >», 1 K 2S).

GERAH, the twentieth part of the shekel (Ex 30", Lv 27" etc.). See Monet, 3; Weights and Measures, ni.

290

GERIZIM

GERAR. — A place mentioned in Gn 10" in the boundary of the Canaanite territory near Gaza, where Abraham sojourned and came in contact with a certain 'Abimelech king of Gerar' (20'). A similar experi-ence is recorded of Isaac (26'), but the stories are evidently not independent. Gerar reappears only in 2 Ch 14'3- u, in the description of the rout of the Ethio-pians by Asa, in which Gerar was the limit of the pur-suit. Eusebius makes Gerar 25 Roman miles S. of Eleutheropolis; hence it has been sought at Umm el-Jerdr, 6 miles S. of Gaza. This, however, seems a com-paratively modern site and name. Possibly there were two Gerars: the Abrahamic Gerar has also been identified with Wady Jerar, 13 miles W.S.W. from Kadesh. The problem, like that of the mention of Philistines in connexion with this place in the time ot Abraham, has not yet been solved.

R. A. S. Macalister.

GERASA, — A city of the Decapolis of unknown origin, the first known event in its history being its capture by Alexander Jannseus, about B.C. 83. It was rebuilt by the Romans in a.d. 65, and destroyed in the Jewish revolt. Vespasian's general, Lucius Annius, again took and destroyed the city. In the 2nd cent. a.d. it was a flourishing city, adorned with monuments of art; it was at this time a centre of the worship of Artemis. It afterwards became the seat of a bishop, but seems to have been finally destroyed in the Byzantine age. An uncertain tradition of some Jewish scholars, favoured by some modern writers, identifies it with Ramoth-gilead. The ruins ot the city still exist under the modern name JerSsh; they lie among the moun-tains of Gilead, about 20 miles from the Jordan. These are very extensive, and testify to the importance and magnificence of the city, but they are unfortunately being rapidly destroyed by. a colony of Circassians who have been established here. The chief remains are those of the town walls, the street of columns, several temples, a triumphal arch, a hippodrome, a theatre, etc.

Gerasa is not mentioned in the Bible, unless the identification with Ramoth-gilead hold. The Gera-senes referred to in Mk 5' (RV) cannot belong to this place, which is too far away from the Sea of Galilee to suit the story. This name probably refers to a place named Kersa, on the shore of the Lake, which fulfils the requirements. See Gadara. R. A. S. Macalister,

GERASENES, GEBGESENES.— See Gadara and Gerasa. R. A. S. Macalister.

GEBIZDU, — A mountain which with Ebal encloses the valley In which is built the town of Nablus (Shechem). The Samaritan sect regard it as holy, it being to them what Jerusalem and Mount Zion are to the Jew. Accord-ing to Samaritan tradition, the sacrifice of Isaac took place here. From Gerizim were pronounced the bless-ings attached to observance of the Law (Jos 8''), when the Israelites formally took possession of the country. It was probably chosen as the fortunate mountain (as contrasted with Ebal, the mount of cursings), because it would be on the right hand of a spectator facing east. Here Jotham spoke his parable to the elders of Shechem (Jg 9').

The acoustic properties of the valley are said to be remarkable, and experiment has shown that from some parts of the mountain it is possible with very little effort to make the voice carry over a very considerable area. A ledge of rock half-way up the hill is still often called 'Jotham's pulpit.'

On this mountain was erected, about 432 b.c, a Samari-tan temple, which was destroyed about 300 years after-wards by Hyrcanus. Its site is pointed out on a small level plateau, under the hill-top. The Passover is annually celebrated here. Other ruins of less interest are to be seen on the mountain-top, such as the remains of a castle and a Byzantine church. The summit of the mountain commands a view embracing nearly the