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0450 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
アジアの鼓動 : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / 450 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
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tem of irrigation employed when the ruined cities were in
their prime. Elsewhere the water which appears formerly
to have supported oases is now saline. The ruins date from
near the beginning of the Christian era. Not far removed
from the Syrian ruins, Palestine is a well-known example of a
land, once highly prosperous, which now suffers from aridity.
Josephus, A. D. 75, describes Judea and Samaria as "moist
enough for agriculture, and very fruitful. They have abun-
dance of trees, and are full of autumn fruits, both wild and
cultivated. They are not naturally watered by many rivers,
but derive their chief moisture from rain, of which they have
no want. By reason of their excellent grass, their cattle
yield more milk than do those in other places; and as the
greatest sign of excellence and abundance they are very full
of people." A single description of this kind cannot be
accepted as conclusive, but it is worth quoting because of
its agreement with a large number of other data in regard
to Palestine. One would hardly speak of Judea and Samaria
to-day as countries which "have no want" of rain.

Farther to the south, the wandering of the tribes of Israel
in large bands through the desert peninsula of Sinai, where
small caravans now find but a scanty supply of water, pre-
sents the same sort of inconclusive, but not therefore insig-
nificant, evidence of desiccation. As to Egypt, which shares
the climatic conditions of Sinai, it has been concluded by
Sayce, Unger, and others that the great diminution in the
area of cultivation during the past three thousand years, the
disappearance of certain plants like the nelumbo, — a kind
of lotus, once a principal article of diet among the Egyp-
tians, — and the presence of magnificent ruins in the now