From this time forth, the level of
the Palestinian mere could be lowered only by evaporation. It is
an extremely interesting fact, which has happily escaped capture
for the purposes of the energetic misunderstanding, that the
valley, at one time, was filled, certainly within 150 feet of
this height--probably higher. And it is almost equally certain,
that the time at which this great Jordan-Arabah mere reached its
highest level coincides with the glacial epoch. But then the
evidence which goes to prove this, also leads to the conclusion
that this state of things obtained at a period considerably
older than even 4000 B.C., when the world, according to the
"Helps" (or shall we say "Hindrances") provided for the simple
student of the Bible, was created; that it was not brought about
by any diluvial catastrophe, but was the result of a change in
the relative activities of certain natural operations which are
quietly going on now; and that, since the level of the mere
began to sink, many thousand years ago, no serious catastrophe
of any description has affected the valley.
The evidence that the Jordan-Arabah valley really was once
filled with water, the surface of which reached within 160 feet
of the level of the pass of Jezrael, and possibly stood higher,
is this: Remains of alluvial strata, containing shells of the
freshwater mollusks which still inhabit the valley, worn down
into terraces by waves which long rippled at the same level, and
furrowed by the channels excavated by modern rainfalls, have
been found at the former height; and they are repeated, at
intervals, lower down, until the Ghor, or plain of the Jordan,
itself an alluvial deposit, is reached.
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