Much has been done for education. Palencia has also hospitals, a foundling refuge, barracks and a bull-ring. Local industries include iron-founding, and the making of rugs, alcohol, leather, soap, porcelain, linen, cotton, wool, machinery and matches. Palencia, the Pallantia of Strabo and Ptolemy, was the chief town of the Vaccaei. Its history during the Gothic and Moorish periods is obscure; but it was a Castilian town of some importance in the 12th and 13th centuries. The university founded here in 1208 by Alphonso IX. was removed in 1239 to Salamanca.

PALENQUE, the modern name of a deserted city in Mexico, in the narrow valley of the Otolum, in the north part of the state of Chiapas, 80 m. S. of the Gulf port of Carmen. About 30 m. away, on the left bank of the Usumacinta river, stand the ruins of Men-ché or Lorillard city. The original name of Palenque has been lost, and its present name is taken from the neighbouring village, Santo Domingo del Palenque. Unlike the dead cities of the Yucatán plains, Palenque is surrounded by wooded hills and overgrown by tropical vegetation.

There is less stone carving on the exterior walls, door jambs and pillars of the buildings than on those of the Yucatán Peninsula; this is due to the harder and more uneven character of the limestone. Probably owing to the same cause, there is less cut stone in the walls, the Palenque builders using plaster to obtain smooth surfaces. There is, however, considerable carving on the interior walls, the best specimens being on the tablets, affixed to the walls with plaster. Modelling in stucco was extensively used. A few terra-cotta images have been found. Paint and coloured washes were liberally used to cover plastered surfaces and for ornamentation, and paints seem to have been used to bind plastered surfaces. The Palenque builders apparently used nothing but stone tools in their work.

The so-called Great Palace consists of a group of detached buildings, apparently ten in number, standing on two platforms of different elevations. Some of the interior structures and the detached one on the lower southern terrace are in a fair state of preservation. The plan of construction shows three parallel walls enclosing two corridors covered with the peculiar pointed arches or vaults characteristic of Palenque. The buildings appear to have been erected at different periods. A square tower rises from a central part of the platform to a height of about 40 ft., divided into a solid masonry base and three storeys connected by interior stairways. The Temple of Inscriptions, one of the largest and best preserved, is distinguished chiefly for its tablets, which contain only hieroglyphics. Sculptured slabs form balustrades to the steps leading up to the temple, and its exterior is ornamented with figures in stucco, the outer faces of the four pillars in front having life-size figures of women with children in their arms. The small Temple of Beau Relief stands on a narrow ledge of rock against the steep slope of the mountain. Its most important feature is a large stucco bas-relief, occupying a central position on the back wall of the sanctuary. It consists of a single figure, seated on a throne, beautifully modelled both in form, drapery and ornaments, with the face turned to one side and the arms outstretched, and is reproduced by H. H. Bancroft. The temples on the east side of the Otolum are distinguished by tall narrow vaults, perforated by numerous square openings giving the appearance of coarse lattice work. The Temple of the Sun stands upon a comparatively low pyramidal foundation. The interior consists of the usual pair of vaulted corridors. The sacred tablet on the back wall of the sanctuary is carved in low relief in limestone, and consists of two figures, apparently a priest and his assistant making offerings. There are rows of hieroglyphics on the sides and over the central design. The Temple of the Cross is a larger structure of similar design and construction. The tablet belonging to this temple has excited controversy, because the design contains a representation of a Latin cross. The Temple of the Cerro, called that of the Cross No. 2, because its tablet is very similar to that just mentioned,

part a ruin. (For history and further details see CENTRAL AMERICA; § Archaeology.) PALERMO (Greek, Пávopμos; Latin, Panhormus, Panormus), a city of Sicily, capital of a province of the same name, in the kingdom of Italy, and the see of an archbishop. Pop. (1906), town 264,036, commune 323,747- The city stands in the N.W. of the island, on a small bay looking E., the coast forming the chord of a semicircle of mountains which hem in the campagna of Palermo, called the Conca d'Oro. The most striking point is the mountain of Hiercte, now called Pellegrino (from the grotto of Santa Rosalia, a favourite place of pilgrimage) at the N. of this semicircle; at the S.E. is the promontory of Zaffarano, on which stood Soluntum (q.v.).

A neolithic settlement and necropolis were discovered in 1897 at the foot of Monte Pellegrino, on the N.E. side (E. Salinas in Notizie degli Scavi, 1907, 307). Palermo has been commonly thought to be an original Phoenician settlement of unknown date (though its true Phoenician name is unknown), but Holm (Archivio storio siciliano, 1880, iv. 421) has suggested that the settlement was originally Greek. There is no record of any Greek colonies in that part of Sicily, and Panormus certainly was Phoenician as far back as history can carry us. According to Thucydides (vi. 2), as the Greeks colonized the E. of the island, the Phoenicians withdrew to the N.W., and concentrated themselves at Panormus, Motye, and Soluntum. Like the other Phoenician colonies in the west, Panormus came under the power of Carthage, and became the head of the Carthaginian dominion in Sicily. As such it became the centre of that strife between Europe and Africa, between Aryan and Semitic man, in its later stages between Christendom and Islam, which forms the great interest of Sicilian history. As the Semitic head of Sicily, it stands opposed to Syracuse, the Greek head. Under the Carthaginian it was the head of the Semitic part of Sicily, when, under the Saracen all Sicily came under Semitic rule, it was the chief seat of that rule. It was thrice won for Europe, by Greek, Roman and Norman conquerors-in 276 B.C. by the Epirot king Pyrrhus, in 254 B.C. by the Roman consuls Aulus Atilius and Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio, and in A.D. 1071 by Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger, the first count of Sicily. After the conquest by Pyrrhus the city was soon recovered by Carthage, but this first Greek occupation was the beginning of a connexion with western Greece and its islands which was revived under various forms in later times. After the Roman conquest an attempt to recover the city for Carthage was made in 250 B.C., which led only to a great Roman victory (see PUNIC WARS). Later, in the First Punic War, Hamilcar Barca was encamped for three years on Hiercte or Pellegrino, but the Roman possession of the city was not disturbed. Panormus received the privileges of autonomy and immunity from taxation. It seems probable that at the end of the republic the coinage for the west of Sicily was struck here (Mommsen, Röm. Münzwesen, 665). A colony was sent here by Augustus, and the place remained of considerable importance, though inferior to Catana. A fortunate chance has preserved to us a large number of the inscriptions set up in the Forum (Mommsen. Corpus inscr. lat. x. 752). The town was taken by the Vandal Genseric in A.D. 440. It afterwards became a part of the EastGothic dominion, and was recovered for the empire by Belisaris in 535. It again remained a Roman possession for exactly three hundred years, till it was taken by the Saracens in 835Panormus now became the Moslem capital. In 1062 the Pisan fleet broke through the chain of the harbour and carried off much spoil, which was spent on the building of the great church of Pisa. After the Norman conquest the city remained for a short time in the hands of the dukes of Apulia. But in 1993 half the city was ceded to Count Roger, and in 1122 the rest was ceded to the second Roger. When he took the kingly title in 1130 it became "Prima sedes, corona regis, et regni caput.TM 1 The coins bearing the name of nu are no longer assigned to Panormus; but certain coins with the name ps (Ziz; about 4108. C.) belong to it.

proverbial expression "from Dan to Beersheba" (Judg. xx. 1, &c.), an indication of the normal north-and-south limits of their land; and in defining the area of the country under discussion it is this indication which is generally followed. Taking as a guide the natural features most nearly corresponding to these outlying points, we may describe Palestine as the strip of land extending along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea from the mouth of the Litany or Kasimiya River (33° 20′ N.) southward to the mouth of the Wadi Ghuzza; the latter joins the sea in 31° 28′ N., a short distance south of Gaza, and runs thence in a south-easterly direction so as to include on its northern side the site of Beersheba. Eastward there is no such definite border. The River Jordan, it is true, marks a line of delimitation between Western and Eastern Palestine; but it is practically impossible to say where the latter ends and the Arabian desert begins. Perhaps the line of the pilgrim road from Damascus to Mecca is the most convenient possible boundary. The total length of the region is about 140 m.; its breadth west of the Jordan ranges from about 23 m. in the north to about 80 m. in the south. According to the English engineers who surveyed the country on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund, the area of this part of the country is about 6040 sq. m. East of the Jordan, owing to the want of a proper survey, no figures so definite as these are available. The limits adopted are from the south border of Hermon to the mouth of the Mojib (Arnon), a distance of about 140 m.: the whole area has been calculated to be about 3800 sq. m. The territory of Palestine, Eastern and Western, is thus equal to rather more than one-sixth the size of England. There is no ancient geographical term that covers all this area. Till the period of the Roman occupation it was subdivided into independent provinces or kingdoms, different at different times (such as Philistia, Canaan, Judah, Israel, Bashan, &c.), but never united under one collective designation. The extension of the name of Palestine beyond the limits of Philistia proper is not older than the Byzantine Period.

Physical Features. Notwithstanding its small size, Palestine presents a variety of geographical detail so unusual as to be in itself sufficient to mark it out as a country of especial interest. The bordering regions, moreover, are as varied in character as is the country itself-sea to the west, a mountainous and sandy desert to the south, a lofty steppe plateau to the east, and the great masses of Lebanon to the north. In describing the general physical features of the country, the most significant point to notice is that (though it falls westward to the sca and rises eastward to an elevated plain) the rise from west to east is not continuous, but is sharply interrupted by the deep fissure of the Ghor or Jordan valley; which, running from north to south-for the greater part of its length depressed below sca-level-forms a division in the country of both physical and political importance. In this respect the function of the river Jordan in Palestine offers a strange contrast, often remarked upon, to that of the Nile in Egypt. The former is of no use for irrigation, except in the immediate neighbourhood of its banks, and is a barrier to cross which involves the labour of a considerable ascent at any point except its most northern section. The latter is at once the great fertilizer and the great highway of the country which it serves.

Western Palestine is a region intersected by groups of mountain peaks and ranges, forming a southern extension of the Lebanon system and running southward till they finally lose themselves in the desert. The watershed of this system is so placed that from two-thirds to three-fourths of the country is on its western side. This fact, taken in connexion with the great depth of the depression of the Ghor below the Mediterranean-already 682 ft. at the Sea of Galilee has a peculiar effect on the configuration of the country. On the west side the slope is gradual, especially in the broad plain that skirts the coast for the greater part of its length; on the east side it is steep-precipitous indeed, towards the southern end and intersected by valleys worn to a tremendous depth by the force of the torrents that once ran down them.

This territory of Western Palestine divides naturally into two longitudinal strips-the maritime plain and the mountain region. These it will be convenient to consider separately.

1. The Maritime Plain, which, with a few interruptions, extends along the Mediterranean coast from Lebanon to Egypt, is a strip of land of remarkable fertility. It is formed of raised beaches and sca-beds, ranging from the Pliocene period downwards, and resting on Upper Eocene sandstone. It varies greatly in width. At the mouth of the Kasimiya it is some 4 m. across, and this breadth it maintains to a short distance south of Tyre, where it suddenly narrows; until, at Ras el-Abiad, it has been necessary to

cut a passage in the precipitous face of the cliff to allow the coastroad to be carried past it. This ancient work is the well-known "Ladder of Tyre." South of this promontory the plain begins to widen again; on the latitude of Acre (Akka), from which this part of the plain takes its name, it is from 4 to 5 m. across; while farther south, at Haifa, it is of still greater width, and opens into the extensive Merj Ibn 'Amir (Plain of Esdraelon) by which almost the whole of Western Palestine is intersected. South of Haifa the promontory of Carmel once more effaces the plain; here the passage along the coast is barely 200 yds. in width. At 'Athlit, 9 m. to the south, it is about 2 m.; from this point it expands uniSouth of this it is shut in and broken up by groups of low hills. formly to about 20 m., which is the breadth at the latitude of Ascalon. From the Kasimiya southwards the maritime plain is crossed by numerous river-beds, with a few exceptions winter torrents only. Among the perennial streams may be mentioned the Na'aman, south of Acre; the Mukatta Kishon, at Haifa; the Nahr ez-Zerka, sometimes called the Crocodile River-so named from the crocodiles still occasionally to be seen in it; the Nahr el-Falik; the Aujeh a few miles north of Jaffa and the Nahr Rubin. The surface of the plain rises gradually from the coast inland to an altitude of about 200 ft. It is here and there diversified by small hills. forms what from the earliest times has been recognized to be the II. The Mountain Region, the great plain of Esdraelon, which easiest entrance to the interior of the country, cuts abruptly through the mountain system, and so divides it into two groups. Each of these may be subdivided into two regions presenting their own special peculiarities.

a. The Galilean Mountains, north of the plain of Esdraelon, fall into two regions, divided by a line joining Acre with the north end of the Sea of Galilee. The northern region (Upper Galilee) is virtually an outlier of the Lebanon Mountains. At the north end is an elevated plateau, draining into the Kasimiya. The mountains are intersected by a complex system of valleys, of which some thirty run down to the Mediterranean. The face toward the Jordan valley is lofty and steep. The highest point is Jebel Jermak, 3934 ft. above the sea; about it, on the eastern and northern wooded; it is beyond question the most picturesque part of Palestine. sides, are lofty plateaus. The region is fruitful, and in places well The southern region (Lower Galilee) shows somewhat different characteristics. It consists of chains of comparatively low hills, for the greater part running east and west, enclosing a number of elevated plains. The principal of these plains is El-Buttauf, a tract 400 to 500 ft. above sea-level, enclosed within hills 1700 ft. high and measuring 9 m. east to west and 2 m. north to south. It is marshy at its eastern end and very fertile. This is the plain of Zebulun or Asochis, of antiquity. The plain of Tur'an, southeast of El-Buttauf, is smaller, but equally fertile. Among the principal mountains of this district may be named Jebel Tur'an, 1774 ft. and Jebel et-Tur (Tabor) 1843 ft.; the latter is an isolated mass of regular shape which commands the plain of Esdraelon. Eastward the country falls to the level of the Ghor by a succession of steps, among which the lava-covered Sahel el-Ahma may be mentioned, which lies west of the cliffs overhanging the Sea of Galilee. The chief valleys of this region are the Nahr Na'aman and its branches, which runs into the sea south of Acre, and the Wadi Mukatta', or Kishon, which joins the sea at Haifa. On the east may be mentioned the Wadi er-Rubadiya, Wadi el-Hamam and Wadi Fajjas, flowing into the Sea of Galilee or else into the Jordan. b. The great plain of Esdraelon is one of the most important and striking of the natural features of Western Palestine. It is a large triangle, having its corners at Jenin, Jebel et-Tur, and the outlet of the Wadi Mukatta', by which last it communicates with the sea-coast. On the south-west it is bounded by the range of hills that terminates in the spur of Carmel. The modern name, as above-mentioned, is Merj Ibn 'Amir ("the meadow-land of the son of 'Amir "); in ancient times it was known as the Valley of Jezreel, of which name Esdraelon is a Greek corruption; and by another name (Har-Magedon) derived from that of the impor tant town of Megiddo it is referred to symbolically in Rev. xvi. 16. It is the great highway, and also the great battlefield, of Palestine. At the village of Afuleh its altitude is 260 ft. above the sea-level. In winter it is swampy, and in places almost impassable. The fertility of this region is proverbial. There are several small subsidiary plains that extend from it both north and south into the surrounding mountain region; of these we need only mention a broad valley running north-eastwards between Jebel Duhi, a range 15 m. long and 1600 ft. high, on the one side, and Mt Tabor and the hills of Nazareth on the other side. East of the watershed are a number of valleys running to the Ghor; the most remarkable of these are the Wadi el-Birch and the Wadi Jalud, the latter containing the river that flows from the fine spring called 'Ain Jalud. c. The second of the divisions into which we have grouped the mountain system lies south of the plain of Esdraelon. This is divisible into the districts of Samaria and Judaea. In the first of these the mountain ranges are complex, appearing to radiate from a centre at which lies Merj el-Ghuruk, a small plain about 4 m. east to west and 2 m. north to south. This plain has no outlet and is marshy in the rainy season. Connected with it are other small plains unnecessary to enumerate. For the greater part the