MEROM, WATERS OF

ME'ROM, WATERS OF (waters of the high place), the name of a lake in the northern part of Palestine, where Joshua crushed the confederacy of the northern tribes under Jabin. Josh 11:5, 1 Kgs 15:7. It is usually identified with "Lake Samachonitis" of Josephus and the modern el-Huleh of the Arabs, though Grove, Keil, and some others question this identification. Lake Huleh is 11 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. It is triangular in shape, about 6 miles long, 3 1/2 miles wide, 11 feet deep, and 270 feet below the Mediterranean, and is covered in parts by several acres of papyrus. The marsh around it is about 10 miles long, and is covered with reeds and rushes, but on the west there is a beautiful and fertile plain. The lake abounds in wild duck, pelican, and other fowl. On the north is an impenetrable jungle, the wallowing-place of buffaloes. The miasma from the marshes renders the district very unhealthy. (See cut, p. 564.) Lake Huleh, or Waters of Merom, from the South-west.