SAMARIA, SEBASTE, SEBUSTIEH. The situation of this royal city, if less beautiful, is more commanding than that of its sister Shechem. Nearly in the centre of a basin, about 5 m. in diameter, rises a flattish, oval-shaped hill, to the height of some 300 feet. On the summit is a long and nearly level plateau, which breaks down at the sides, 100 feet or more, to an irregular terrace or belt of level land; below this the roots of the hill spread off more gradually into the surrounding valleys.

THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON, the great battle-field of Palestine, on which we have now entered, requires a few words of general description before we proceed to visit the many places of interest situated upon it. The main body of the plain is an irregular triangle, its base to the E. extending from Jenîn to the foot of the mountains below Nazareth, about 15 m.; one side formed by the hills of Galilee, and measuring about 12 m.; the other—some 18 m. in length—running along the northern foot of the Samaria range. The apex is a narrow pass not more than 1/2  m.

SAFED is situated on an isolated peak, which rises steeply from the southern brow of the mountain-range. A deep glen sweeps round its northern and western sides, and a shallower one, after skirting the eastern side, falls into the former a few miles to the S. Beyond these, on the N.E., N., and W. are higher hills, but on the S. the view is unimpeded. The old castle crowns the peak; the Jewish quarter of the town clings to the steep western side considerably below the summit, the rows of houses looking at a distance like stairs.

Nâbulus to Sebustieh, Samaria 

Excursion to TIRZAH and THEBEZ, One day.
Jeba’, Geba
Sânûr

DOTHAN—its site and plain.
Kubâtîyeh
Jenîn, Enganním

Plain of ESDRAELON.
Zera`in, JEZREEL

Excursion to BETHSHEAN, or Scythopolis.
Ain Jâlûd, “Fountain of Jezreel”
Sôlem, Shunem
Nein, Nain 
Endôr, Endor
NAZARETH

NAZARETH,

Like Jerusalem, Tiberias is regarded as a “holy place” by both Christian and Jew. To the Christian it has been rendered sacred by the presence of Christ, when he dwelt by the lake and taught along its shores. To the Jew it is rendered sacred by the rabbinical belief that the Messiah will rise from the waters of the lake, land in this city, and establish his throne at Safed. The steep hills which hem in the lake here retire a little, leaving a strip of undulating ground about ¼ m. wide and 2 m. long.

First, direct.

Nazareth to er-Reineh
Kefr Kenna
Lûbieh
Base of Kurûn Hattîn
Tiberias

Second, by Tabor. 

Nazareth to Base of Tabor
Top of hbill
Khan et-Tujjâr
Kefr Sabt (on rt.)
Wells of Lûbieh
Tiberias

The direct road from Nazareth to Tiberias has little to attract the attention of the traveller. The road is good, and the stage is short; and one may thus get over it in-less than 5 hrs. when time presses. ...

Mejdel, Magdala.—1 h.’s ride along the shore brings us to this wretched hamlet, now the only inhabited spot in the plain of Gennesaret. In riding along, the wonderful richness of the soil strikes us. Nowhere else have we encountered such thistles, such grass, and such weeds—and such grain on the few spots still cultivated. Josephus described Gennesaret 18 centuries ago as an earthly paradise, where the choicest fruits grew luxuriantly, and eternal spring reigned. His words were not much exaggerated; for now, though more a wilderness than a paradise, none can fail to remark its fertility.

CAPERNAUM.—Crossing the pebbly strand of Bethsaida, we ascend a rocky promontory which shuts it in on the S.W., and soon find ourselves on the edge of a cliff along which the road is cut in the rock. Here we pause, for we have before us, like an open map, one of the most interesting and most sacred regions on earth. The cliff on which we stand dips its eastern end into the sea, and its western into a green meadow on the shore.

Bethsaida, Julias.—Instead of crossing the Jordan at the lake, we turn up along its eastern bank to visit the ruins of this ancient city. They cover a conspicuous tell at the northern end of the plain near the side of the river, and about 2 m. from its mouth. Heaps of unhewn stones, and a few rude houses used as stores by the Arabs, are all that have hitherto been seen on the spot; but it is probable a careful search among the rank weeds and rubbish that cover the surface would bring to light some vestiges of former grandeur.