Page:The Natural History of Pliny.djvu/468

of cities of which the remembrance only exists. "We then come to the Promontory of Carmelus^[1] and, upon the moun- tain, a town^[2] of that name, formerly called Acbatana. Next to this are Getta^[3], Jeba, and the river Pacida, or Belus^[4], which throws up on its narrow banks a kind of sand from which glass^[5] is made : this river flows from the marshes of Cendebia, at the foot of Mount Carmelus. Close "to this river is Ptolemais, formerly called Ace^[6], a colony of Claudius Caesar; and then the town of Ecdippa^[7], and the promon- tory known as the White Promontory^[8]. "We next come to the city of Tyre^[9], formerly an island, separated from the mainland by a channel of the sea, of great depth, 700 paces in width, but now joined to it by the works which were thrown up by Alexander when besieging it, — the Tyre so famous in ancient times for its offspring, the cities to which it gave birth, Leptis, Utica, and Carthage^[10], — that rival of the Roman sway, that thirsted so eagerly for the

that it is the modern Keufah ; others that it is Hepha, near Mount Carmel.

1. Insignificant in height and extent, but celebrated in Scripture history. It still bears the name of Cape Carmel.
2. It is not improbable that. he means the town of Porphyrium, now Khaifa, at the foot of the mountain.
3. Probably the Gitta of Polybius. Of it and Jeba, nothing is known.
4. The Nahr-Naman, or Abou, on which Ptolemais was situate.
5. Employed in the extensive manufacture of that article at Tyre and Sidon, to the north of this district.
6. A corruption of Acco, the native name ; from which the English name Acre, and the French St. Jean d' Acre. The earhest mention of it is in the Book of Judges, i. 31. It is supposed that it was Ptolemy I., the son of Lagus, who enlarged it and gave it the name of Ptolemais. Its citadel, however, still retained the name of Ace. Under the. Romans, Ptolemais, as mentioned by Pliny, was a colony, and belonged to Galilee. The modern city of Acre occupies its site.
7. The Ach-Zib of Scripture, mentioned in Joshua xix. 29, and Judges I. 31, Its ruins are to be seen near the sea-shore, about three hours' journey north of Acre. The spot is still called Es-Zib.
8. Still called the Ras-el-Abiad, or White Promontory.
9. A colony of the Sidonians : its scanty ruins are still to be seen at the poor village of Sur. The wars of the Crusades completed its downfall. The island is still joined to the mainland by the mole which was erected by Alexander the Great during the siege of the place; or, according to some, by the Syrians themselves.
10. Carthage is supposed to have been colonized immediately by the people of Utica.