II. =Seas.= This world of the Old Testament embraces several large bodies of water. 1. The _Caspian Sea_, the largest body of water surrounded by land on the globe, occupies its northeastern corner. 2. The _Persian Gulf_, the outlet of the great rivers of the Old Testament history, is in its southeastern border. 3. The two arms of the northern end of the _Red Sea_, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akaba, are on its southwestern side. 4. The _Mediterranean Sea_, "the great sea toward the going down of the sun" (Josh. 1:4), forms a part of its western boundary. These are its largest seas; but besides these may be named three others, all salt lakes, imbedded in its mountain system. 5. The _Dead Sea_, called in the Bible "Sea of the Plain," and "Salt Sea," lying 1,290 feet below the Mediterranean, and situated in the land of Palestine; 6. _Lake Van_, anciently Arsissa, in Armenia; and 7. _Lake Urumiyeh_, in Media. Neither of the last two are referred to in the Bible. III. =Mountain Ranges.= The nucleus of the mountain system is found in the land of Armenia, on the north of the map. Here five great ranges of mountains have their origin. 1. The _Ararat Mountains_ are lofty masses, lying between the Caspian Sea and Asia Minor. They are arranged in three sections, nearly parallel: Mount Masius, on the south; Mount Niphates, north of Lake Van; and Mount Abus, still farther north. One of the peaks of this latter section is the traditional resting place of the ark (Gen. 8:4), and is the summit of the group, 17,750 feet high. 2. The _Caspian Mountains_, branching from Ararat, bend around the southern end of the Caspian Sea and extend eastward, forming the northern boundary of Media. 3. The _Zagros Mountains_ also start from Ararat, and follow a direction generally southeast, to the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. They form the eastern watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 4. The _Lebanon Range_ starts from the western side of the Ararat group, and follows the Mediterranean coast through Syria and Palestine, then down the Sinaitic peninsula. Its general direction is west of south. In Syria and Palestine it is divided into two parallel branches, Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, the latter on the east. Its highest peak is Mount Hermon, about 9,000 feet above the sea. South of Palestine it forms the remarkable Sinaitic group of mountains, upon one of which the Law was given. 5. The last range is _Mount Taurus_, which also branches from Ararat, in a westerly direction, and forms the southern coast line of Asia Minor. [Illustration: COMPARATIVE HEIGHT OF BIBLE MOUNTAINS.] [Illustration: THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD.]