From Murray: (page 332)

So far as natural scenery is concerned the situation of Nâbulus is the finest in Palestine—in fact, it is the only really beautiful site from Dan to Beersheba. A verdant valley, sparkling with fountains and streams of water, opens from the plain of Mukhna. It is only some 200 yards wide, and is shut in on the N. and S. by the dark rocky sides of Ebal and Gerizim, which rise steeply from its smooth bed. For 1/2 m. the vale ascends gently, and is filled with cornfields; then it is crossed by a belt of olive-trees, whose gray foliage and black trunks contrast finely with the delicate green of the corn. These continue for another 1/2 m., when they are interrupted by the fruit-orchards and white-domed houses of the town. The town lies chiefly on the S. side of the valley, hugging the base of Gerizim, and even running up into a picturesque nook in its side. Here the opposite ridges recede a little, and the valley suddenly descends to the W., and continues its course between the hills, filled with the richest vegetation and foliage—gardens of vegetables, orchards of fruit – trees, belts of olives; every colour is here from the deepest green to the softest gray and most delicate russet, all harmoniously blended, and melting in the distance into the purple and azure tints of the mountain-sides and ‘summits. Nâbulus thus occupies the highest part, the watershed of the vale; and its domes and minarets are seen from the E. and W., shooting up from the dense mass of surrounding foliage. Between the town and the plain, Ebal and Gerizim look like twin brothers—wherever there is a nook or projection in the side of the one there is a corresponding nook or projection in the side of the other. Both are equally barren-looking; but not so barren as they look, at least from below. Here as elsewhere little terraces have been formed, partly by the natural limestone strata, partly by the hand of man; and upon some of these are strips of grain, which can only be seen from above. On ascending Gerizim we shall see how every handful of soil has been made productive, and how almost every stone and cliff has been turned to use to keep the soil in its place. The cliffs in the side of Ebal are here and there dotted with tombs; it seems to have been the necropolis of old Shechem.

See Nâbulus

Bædeker (1898) Route 22 page 254 (Nâbulus)