of it, at Shechem, came the first attempt to found a monarchy in Israel,
and thus unite the Israelitish tribes; out of it also came the second
and more successful attempt under Saul the Benjamite and David the Jew.
The Israelites never succeeded in establishing themselves on the
sea-coast, and their possession of the plain of Megiddo and the southern
slopes of the Lebanon was a source of weakness and not of strength. It
led eventually to the overthrow of the kingdom of Samaria. The northern
tribes in Galilee were absorbed by the older population, and their
country became "Galilee of the Gentiles," rather than an integral part
of Israel. The plain of Megiddo was long held by the Canaanites, and up
to the last was exposed to invasion from the sea-coast. It was, in fact,
the battle-field of Palestine. The army of the invader or the conqueror
marched along the edge of the sea, not through the rugged paths and
dangerous defiles of the mountainous interior, and the plain of Megiddo
was the pass which led them into its midst. The possession of the plain
cut off the mountaineers of the north from their brethren in the south,
and opened the way into the heart of the mountains themselves.

But to possess the plain was also to possess chariots and horsemen, and
a large and disciplined force. The guerilla warfare of the mountaineer
was here of no avail. Success lay on the side of the more numerous
legions and the wealthier state, on the side of the assailant and not of
the assailed.

Herein lay the advantage of the kingdom of Judah. It was a compact
state, with no level plain to defend, no outlying territories to
protect. Its capital stood high upon the mountains, strongly fortified
by nature and difficult of access. While Samaria fell hopelessly and
easily before the armies of Assyria, Jerusalem witnessed the fall of
Nineveh itself.