EXTENT OF GALILEE, AND THE NUMBER OF INHABITANTS TO A SQUARE MILE.

GALILEE embraced the northern portion of the country west of the Jordan, covering in the main the territory of the four tribes, Asher, Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar. The boundaries of these tribes are given definitely enough in Josh, xix., but it is impossible to trace them now, because the places mentioned as marking the boundaries have not, with very few exceptions, been identified. For the same reason the boundary line of this province, so explicitly laid down by Josephus¹, is lost to us, as well as the line dividing between what in his day were known as ' Upper ' and ' Lower ' Galilee. When the division of the country took place among the four tribes just referred to, there were, in all, sixty-nine cities mentioned by name. For the most part their sites are unknown. In Josephus' time this province numbered two hundred and four cities and villages, of which the names of about forty are given by him. Of this number not more than ten can be located with any great degree of certainty; perhaps as many more could be located approximately; while the rest remain unidentified. Ritter called this region, 'a true terra incognita'

The very best maps of Galilee hitherto have erred in trying to tell more than is absolutely known of that country. Their authors have been actuated by the commendable desire to place before readers and students the information they needed; but in doing so they have sometimes helped to give the authority of tradition to a certain site which modern researches have shown cannot be the true one.

The accurate and reliable map published by the Palestine Exploration Fund is our best authority for the present topography of the country: but with this important help it is still impossible to do more than indicate the general outline of the province as it was known twenty or thirty centuries ago. The sixty-nine cities of Joshua, or the forty cities and villages mentioned by Josephus, have not yet been identified, although within recent years a few sites have been recovered and added to the list of those previously known. In Upper Galilee sixteen of the nineteen cities of Naphtali were 'fortified (עָרֵי מִבְצָר, 'arēĭ mibhtzar)² After all the careful and successful explorations that have been made hitherto in this region, it still remains, beyond doubt, a rich field for research. Relics, foundation stones, and ancient sites are waiting to be brought to light on the hill-summits of Naphtali, as well as in the territory of the other tribes that occupied the northern province of Palestine. Fortunately, the object we now have in view can be accomplished without knowing definitely the location of those cities and towns which once made this region a centre of life and prosperity.

During the period under consideration the limits of Galilee may have varied somewhat with the changes in its own and neighbouring rulers. Carmel once belonged to it, but was, in Josephus' time, under the control of the Tyrians. The Lake of Tiberias and the River Jordan may at one period have formed the eastern boundary; but the Talmud reckons Gamala, which was situated on the east of the lake, together with the region above Gadara and Caesarea Philippi, as belonging to Galilee³. Graetz refers to a passage in the Talmud which makes Jotapata and Gischala mark the north or north-western boundary. Lightfoot gives some very good reasons why Persea, or a portion of it, might in Christ's time have been included under the general name of * Galilee.' This would harmonise with the statement just given from Neubauer respecting the region about Gadara.

The division of Galilee into 'upper' and Mower,' familiar to us from Josephus, is recognised by the Talmud, which has, however, a division peculiar to itself, as follows: ' Galilee contains the upper, the lower, and the valley. Thus the country above Kefr Chananyah, where the sycamore is not found, is called Upper Galilee; the country below Kefr Chananyah, where the sycamore flourishes, is called Lower Galilee; while the valley is the district of Tiberias⁴.'

Where the boundaries remain so indefinite it is impossible, of course, to give the exact extent of its territory. The whole territory of Palestine, including that of the trans-Jordanic tribes, has been estimated at about 11,000 square miles⁵. From the recent surveys the country west of the Jordan is found to contain 6,000 square miles, and the country east of the Jordan, reckoning that which properly belongs to Eastern Palestine, contains about the same number. Of the territory west of the Jordan, it is safe to say that Galilee occupied about one-third — perhaps a small third. Mr. Phillott's estimate, in the article ' Census,' just referred to, is without doubt altogether too low, as he allows only 930 square miles to Galilee. On the other hand, Keim's estimate may be too high, as he allows to it about 2,000 square miles.

But the limits of the province have seemed to many persons too narrow for the number of inhabitants it is purported to have contained. The question has been asked how three millions or more people could have been crowded into such a space, and supported there in comfort, and often in luxury. The problem, however, may not have been such a difficult one as it appears to those who have given the matter but little consideration. About the Sea of Galilee, only thirteen miles long by seven broad, there were ten or more flourishing cities and towns. This seems improbable; but the fact is established beyond dispute. Among illustrative facts bearing upon this point we may mention that the island of Malta had, in 1849, a population of 1,182 to the square mile. The county of Lancashire had 1,064, and that of Middlesex 6,683 inhabitants to the square mile. The island of Barbadoes, with an area of about 166 square miles, without any large towns, without manufactures of any description, a purely agricultural colony, supports a population of 180,000 souls, or over 1,084 to the square mile. Considering the fact that Galilee had a number of large cities, and that the whole province was dotted with important towns, its 2,000 square miles may have supported 3,000,000 inhabitants.

1) Wars, III. iii. I.

2) Josh. xix. 35.

3) Neubauer, pp. 178, 236, 242.

4) Shebiith ix. 3.

5) Smith's Bible Dict., art. 'Census.'