Geography

Geography, considered as a systematic description of the earth, took its rise at a much later period than other sciences, probably because it is of less essential necessity to man; yet the elements of the knowledge out of which scientific geography is constructed must have existed as soon as men turned their attention to the earth on which they dwelt, and found it necessary to journey from one part of its surface to another. See COSMOLOGY.

1. In the absence of positive statements, we have to gather the views of the Hebrews as to the form of the carth from scattered allusions, and these for the most part in the poetical books, where it is difficult to decide how far the language is to be regarded as literal, and bow far as metaphorical. There seem to be traces of the same ideas as prevailed among the Greeks, that the world was a disk (Isa 40:22; the word חוּג, circle, is applied exclusively to the circle of the horizon, whether bounded by earth, sea, or sky), bordered by the ocean (De 30:13; Job 26:10; Ps 139:9; Pr 8:27), with Jerusalem as its center (Eze 5:5), which was thus regarded, like Delphi, as the navel (טִבּוּר; Jg 9:37; Eze 38:12), or, according to another view (Gesenius, Thesaus. s.v.), the highest point of the world. The passages quoted in support of this view admit of a different interpretation; Jerusalem might be regarded as the center of the world, not only as the seat of religious light and truth, but to a certain extent in a geographical sense; for Palestine was situated between the important empires of Assyria and Egypt; and not only between them, but alcove them, its elevation above the plains on either side contributing to the appearance of its centrality. A