Full text of "Quarterly statement - Palestine Exploration Fund"

THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM LIBRARY

PALESTINE
EXPLORATION FUND

Patron— THE QUEEN.

Quarterly Statement

FOR 1885.

LONDON:
SOCIETY'S OFFICE, i, ADAM STREET, ADELPHI.

AND BY

RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, 8, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

LONDON :

HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY' TO BtKB MAJESTY,

ST. martin's LANE.

THE

PAUL GETTY CENTVR
LIBRARY

INDEX

Ain Tabghah, 20.

.Vrak el Emir, Hie inscription at, 133.
Aramaic alphabet, The, 12.
Assyrian annals, The Que of the, 111.
Berothah or Eerothai, Suggested identifi-
cation of, 108.
Bethlehem, The name, 112.
Beth Habbcchereh, or the Chosen House,

29, 140, 184.
Birch, Key. W. F., on The waters of
Shiloah, 60.
„ ,, ., ,, Zion, the City

David, 61.
„ „ The City of
David, 100,
208.
Chester, Greville J., On some Phoenician

gems, 129.
City of David, The, 57, 100, 208.
Conder, Capt., R.E., on A dolmen in the
Talmud, 10.
„ „ ,, The Aramaic

alphabet, 12.
„ ,, „ Inscriptions, 14.

„ Sin and Sad, 18.
„ ,, Districts in Pales-

tine, 18.
„ „ The Samaritan

temple, 19.
„ Lot's wife, 20.
„ En Rogel, 20.
„ Ain Tabghah, 20.
„ ,, ,, Kadesh - Barnca,

21.
Notes by, 228.
Coode, Sir John, Passage of the Israelites

over the Red Sea, 97.
David's census officers, The stations, 134.
Dead Sea, The, 212.

East of the Jordan, A short journey, 157.
Eden and Golgotha, Notes on, 78.
Egypt, Explorations in the Delta of, 114.
Eminaus, Site of, 116, 156.
En Rogel, 20, 184.

Exodus, The route of the, I, 65 ; II, 67.
Flora of Palestine, The, 6.
General Committee, Annual Meeting of,

153.
Golgotha, Eden and, Notes on, 78, 138.

Gordon, Gen. Charles, R.E., Notes on

Eden and Golgotha, 78.
Green, J. Baker, The route of the Exodus,

67.
Hanauer, Herr, The rock altar of Zorah,

183, 230.
Hart, H. G, A. naturalist's aourney, 231.
Hull, Professor, The route of the Exodus.

65.
Hunt, Holman, The Dead Sea, 212.
Inscriptions, 14.
Jaulan, Notes on, 82.
Jebata, Tomb opened at, Notes on, 94.
Jerusalem, New discoveries in, 222.
Judaea, A dolmen in, 181.
Kadesh-Barnea, 21, 123.
Kennion, Rev. A., Site of Emmaus, 156.
Le Strange, Guy, A short journey east of

the Jordan, 157.
Lot's wife, 20.

Luz, in the Land of the Hittites, 111.
Mearns, Rev. P., Emmaus, 116.
Merrill, Dr. Selah, on A relic of th* Tenth
Legion, 132.
„ ,, „ The inscription at

Arak el Emir, 133.
„ ., ,, The stations of

David's census
officers, 134.
„ „ „ Discoveries in Jeru-

salem, 222.
Mount Carmel, Round, 25.
Nablus, Monuments found at, 24.
Notes by Captain Conder, 228.
„ „ Rev. H. G. Tomkins, 229.
„ „ Herr Schumacher, 230.
,, „ Herr Hanauer, 230.
Oliphant, Laurence, Round Mount
Carmel, 25.
„ „ Notes on Jaulan, 82.

„ „ Notes on tomb

opened at Jebata,
94.
,, ,, Monuments found

at Nablus, 94.
„ „ A dolmen in Judaea,

181.
,, ,, Sarcophagus at

Zimmarizi, 182.

^^n,

INDEX.

Palestine, Districts in, IS.

Phoenician gems, On some, 129.

Queries, 59.

Keel Sea, Passage of the Israelites over the,
97.

Samaritan temple, The, 19, 39.

Sluloah, The waters of, 60.

Sin and Sad, 18.

Socin, Professor, on the work of the Society.

Talmud, A dolmen in the, 10.

Tenth Legion, A relic of ihe, 132.

Tenz, J. M., Zion and Ophel, 121.

Tomkins, Eev. H. G., Suggested identifi-
cation of Bero-
thah or Berothai,
108.
The Que of Assy-
rian Annals, 111.
Luz in the Land of
the Hittites, 111.
,, ,, ,. The name Beth-

lehem, 112.

Tomkins, Eev. II. G., Zobah, Aram-Zo-
bah, Hamath-Zo-
hali, 113.
,, ,, ,, Exploration in the

Delta of Egypt,
114..
Tristram, Bey. Canon, Flora of Palestine, 6.
Trumbull, H. Clay, Kadesh-Barnea, 123.
Vaux, Obituary notice of the late Mr. W.

S. W., 157.
-W., H. B. S., City of David, The, only part
of Jerusalem, 57.
„, ,, ,, ,, Queries, 59.
,, ,, ,, ,, on The Samaritan temple, 39.
Worrall Girdler, on Golgotha, 138.
Yoma, or the Day of Atonement, 197, 287.
Zimmarin, Sarcophagus at, 182.
Zion and Ophel, 121.
Zion, the City of David, 61.
Zobah, Aram-Zobah, and Hamath-Zobali,

113.
Zorah, Eock altar of, 183, 230.

Quarterly Statement, January, 1885.]

THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND

LAST YEAR AND THIS.

When, in the autumn of the year 1883, the Committee resolved upon
sending out a Geological Expedition, a list was opened for donations to
be directed specially to this purpose. It was found, however, that very
few donors and subscribers desired that their money should be set aside
for a special purpose, and the general funds of the Society were, as had
always been done in the Survey, employed for this work. The general
instructions for the Expedition were drawn up for the Committee, after
consultation with Professor Hull, by Sir Charles Wilson. Professor
Hull, as has already been told in the Quarterly Statement, carried the
Expedition to a successful termination. His scientific results are as
yet only partly published ; in his forthcoming book (ready January 1st,
1885), called " Mount Sen," he will give such of them as are capable of
being presented in a popular form. They will be fully and completely set
forth in the scientific memoirs which he is preparing for the Committee.
The results of the Expedition are, it may be stated, extremely satisfactory
from the geological point of view. Not less satisfactory are they from the
geographical point of view. Major Kitchener, who accompanied the
party, was able, with the assistance of Mr. George Armstrong, to execute
for the first time a reconnaissance survey of the Wady Arabah, which has
since been laid down upon sheets by Mr. Armstrong, and is now ready for
publication. At the same time Mr. J. Chichester Hart, who accompanied
the party as a volunteer, lias been doing good work in the natural history
of this little known region. We have been so fortunate as to secure the
publication of Mr. Hart's observations and discoveries in the Quarterly
Statement. The first instalment will appear in April.

Other important geographical work lias been done for Palestine during
the last year— (1) in the publication by Colonel Sir Charles Wilson of the
late Mr. F. W. Holland's notes of his last journey ; (2) of Sir Charles
Wilson's paper on Recent Biblical Research ia Asia Minor and Syria ; (3)
of Mr. Laurence Oliphant'a paper on the Kuurbsts of Carmel ; (4) of Mr.
Oliphant'a Notes on the Jaulan ; and (5) of various papers by Captain
Conder.

2 LAST YEAR AND THIS.

The topographical work of the year, which forms so large and impor-
tant ;l feature' 1 the! Quarterly Statement, includes papers by Captain
Gentler, Mr. II. Gh Tomkins, Mr. W. F. Birch, Mr. S. Flecker, Mr. Meams,
Herr Conrad Schick, Dr. Clay Trumbull, Mr. Kennion, and Mr. Baker
Greene. The archaeological work of the year includes four very remark-
able papers by M. C. Clermont-Ganneau.

We are thus able to look back upon the past year with considerable
satisfaction. Though the Firman for continuing the Eastern Survey is
still denied us, we have been able unexpectedly to secure the survey of
a large and very important part of the Holy Land : we have cleared
up many geological problems, and we have made a considerable addition
to the archaeology and topography of the country.

We have also, at length, completed the great work of the Society in
publishing the last two volumes which finish the " Survey of Western
Palestine." The work has been in hand for four years ; now that it is
completed we can look upon it as the permanent record of the greatest
geographical and descriptive enterprise ever undertaken for the elucidation
of the Bible, and as a work which should form part of every great library.

Since Mr. Armstrong's return he has remained in the service of the
Committee, and has been occupied, first, in laying down the geographical
work of the Expedition, which is now ready for publication, and next, in
preparing a Map of the whole of Palestine, which will contain all our
own survey work hitherto done, with the French and other work, as far
north as Beyrout, and will be joined on to the Society's already published
reduced Map of Western Palestine. It will be in sheets, so that any one
sheet can be withdrawn and a new one substituted on the arrival of new
matter. He is now engaged upon laying down on this map the Old and New
Testament names, boundaries, &c. It is intended, in short, to produce a
map, which can lie subsequently altered and improved, which shall cover
both sides of the Jordan. This map will contain the modern names, with
those of the Old and New Testaments. It will be published either as a
Map < if Modern Palestine East and West of the Jordan, or as a map showing
the Old Testament names with the modern names, or as showing the N'w
Testament names with the modern, or as a map showing all three. It has
already been announced that subscribers to the already issued Old and
New Testament maps will be enabled to exchange simply on payment of
the difference in price and the carriage.

A great many photographs were taken in the Wady Arabah by
Dr. Gordon Hull. Some of these have not, unfortunately, come out well.
A selection, however, will he made of the best, and a descriptive catalogue
written for them, and they will be issued as soon as possible.

As regards the work for the year 1885. There is little hope that the
Firman for the Survey of Eastern Palestine will he granted in the present
posture of things. If it were granted it would for the moment he useless,
because all the loyal Engineer officers who have worked for the Fund are
now on aetive service — Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, Major Kitchener, and
Captain Mantel! in Egypt ; General Sir Charles Warren and Captain

LAST YEAR AND THIS. 3

Conder in South Africa — and there would he little chance of getting any
other officers services in this period of uncertainty. At the same time we
have strong grounds for hoping to make from time to time very substan-
tial additions to the geography of certain little known districts from other
sources.

We shall also perhaps be able to undertake certain investigations in-
Jerusalem, and perhaps elsewhere, as occasion may offer.

It has been suggested that this time of inaction from field work maybe
utilised for a very important object included in our original prospectus, but
as yet hardly touched, viz., the scientific collection of manners, customs,
legends, traditions, superstitions, and religious and ritualistic survivals.
The Committee are at present considering a scheme having this in view
which has been submitted to them.

As regards publishing next year, we have made the following important
arrangements : —

(1) "Mount Seir."

This volume has been written for the Committee by Professor
Hull. It is now (Christmas, 1884) on the point of publication.
It contains a popular account of the journey, and especially of
that country, now known as the Wady Arabah, which was the
special scene of his labours. A geological map and a geographical
map accompany the work, with many other illustrations. The
published price will be 10s. 6d.

(2) A new edition of Captain Conder's popular and delightful work,

" Tent Work in Palestine," in crown 8vo., at 7 s. 6d.

(3) A new and cheap edition of " Ileth and Moab," uniform with the

above, at 7s. 6d.

These two works will be ready by the end of January.

(4) " Our Work in Palestine." This little book, which ended with

the commencement of the Survey, has been out of print for some
time. It is proposed, as soon as time can be found, to bring out a
new edition, carrying on the popular history of the Society's
work to the present date.

(5) We propose to publish in the Quarterly Statement for 1885, the

following important papers : — ■

(a) A Translation by Dr. Chaplin of a Hebrew Treatise by
Maimonides upon the Temple.

(/3) The Natural History Eesults of the Wady Arabah Expedi-
tion, by J. Chichester Hart.

(y) A Supplement by Canon Tristram to his " Flora and
Fauna."

(S) A Paper by Sir Charles Warren on the Arabs of the Sinai
Desert.

(e) Topographical papers by Eev. W. F. Birch, Captain Conder,
Mr. Boscawen, and other writers.

(t) Certain geographical papers now in preparation, the results
of observations made by a private traveller.

b 2

4 LAST YEAR AND THIS.

There remain in the hands of the Committee for publication : —

I. The Geological Memoirs by Professor Hull, F.G.S. We shall be
able to report upon these when they are completed.

II. The Memoirs and Plans of the interrupted Survey of Eastern

Palestine.

The Memoirs of the 500 square miles executed by Captain Conder are
much fuller than those of the country west of the Jordan, because they
deal with a district much less known, and fuller, if possible, of interest.
Thus, though the area surveyed occupies little more than that covered by
a single sheet, on the scale of one inch to the mile, the Memoirs are copious
enough to fill a whole volume equal in size to one of those published on
the " Survey of Western Palestine," while there are 400 drawings and
plans and illustrations, besides a series of photographs.

The Committee have not yet decided on the form of publication of
these Memoirs. They may possibly be published, as in the case of the
"Survey of Western Palestine," by special subscription.

III. The drawings made for M. Clermont-Canneau in the year 1874-5

by M. Lecomte.

Many causes have combined to prevent the publication of these most
exquisite and valuable drawings. They were executed for the Committee
by M. Lecomte, who accompanied M. Clermont-Ganneau to Palestine in
the years 1874-5. They are between six and seven hundred in number,
and are almost wholly of architectural and archaeological interest. Since
they were placed in the hands of the Committee, nine years ago, M. Cler-
mont-Ganneau has been engaged in Constantinople, in Palestine, and in
Paris, for the French Foreign Office. He has also held the post of
Professor of Semitic Archaeology at the Sorbonne. He is now, however,
able to promise the necessary explanatory letterpress as soon as it is
wanted. The cost of p\iblishing this work in a worthy form will be about
.£1,500. Perhaps proposals will be issued for a subscription work in the
spring.

IV. The copies of the "Survey of Western Palestine" which remain have
been placed in the hands of Mr. Alexander P. Watt, of 34, Paternoster Eow,
who has been appointed by the Society their agent for the sale. They will
be issued by him to libraries, &c, in order of application. Subscribers and
those "■/m already possess the work are requested to note that no reduction will
be made, either now or at any other time, in the price of this great work.
On the other hand, the Committee reserve to themselves the right of
raising the price of the last copies.

In conclusion, the friends of the Society are earnestly requested to
consider that the work is always actively going on ; that funds are always
needed ; that the real and invaluable work which has been already done
must be taken as an earnest of what will be done, and that their continued
assistance is asked in support of an enterprise which gives results, solid,
enduring, and for all time.

NOTES.

The income of the Society, from September 2Gth to December 12th, 1881,
inclusive, from all sources, was £656 9*. 3d. On December 16th the balance
in the Hanks was £205 9s. 6d.

It is suggested to subscribers that the safest and most convenient manner
of paying subscriptions is through a Bank. Many subscribers have adopted tbi*
method, which removes the danger of loss or miscarriage, and renders unneces-
sary the acknowledgment by official receipt and letter.

Subscribers who do not receive the Quarterly Statement regularly, are asked
to send a note to the Secretary. Great care is taken to forward each number
to all who are entitled to receive it, but changes of address and other causes
give rise occasionally to omissions.

While desiring to give every publicity to proposed identifications and other
theories advanced by officers of the Fund and contributors to the pages of the
Quarterly Statement, the Committee wish it to be distinctly understood that
by publishing them in the Quarterly Statement they neither sanction nor adopt
them.

The only authorised lecturers for the Society are —

(1) The Eev. Henry Geary, Vicar of St. Thomas's, Portman Square. His

lectures are on the following subjects :—

The Survey of Western Palestine, as illustrating Bible History. 1

Palestine East of the Jordan.

The Jerusalem Excavations.

A Restoration of Ancient Jerusalem. Illustrated by original photo-
graphs shown as "dissolving views."

(2) The Eev. James King, Vicar of St. Mary's, Berwick. His subjects are

as follows : —
The Survey of Western Palestine.
Jerusalem.
The Hiltites.
The Moabite Stone and other monuments.

(3) The Rev. James Niel, formerly Incumbent of Christ Church, Jerusalem.

ADDENDA TO THE FLOEA OF PALESTINE.

ADDENDA TO THE FLORA OF PALESTINE.

I have just received, through the kindness of M. William Barbey, of
Valleyres, Vaud, Switzerland, a copy of his splendid illustrated work,
" Herborisations au Levant," 4to., Lausanne, 1882, containing the results
of a botanical expedition to the East, made by himself and his brother in
1880. I much regret that I had not the good fortune to see the volume
I ief me the " Fauna and Flora of Palestine" went to press. MM. Barbey
only give the results of their own and Dr. Lortet's expeditions, but even
BO their catalogue comprises 38 species of phanerogamic plants, 13 of them
grasses, which escaped my observation, and which must be added to the
3,012 species in my volume. In order that our catalogue may be as
complete as possible, I trust you will afford apace in the Quarterly
Statement for these addenda. They are as follows : —

Papaveraceoe. 1. Glaucium grandiflorwm. Boiss. Diagn., Ser. II, v,
p. 15. — Valley of the Kedron. Not hitherto observed in Palestine
or Syria.
Crucifene. 2. Sinapis pubescens. L. Mant. 95. — Beersheba.
U..<r,hi,;;r. Reseda decu rsira. Forsk., a-g. p. 67. Included by me as

11. /'ropinqua, var. eremophila. F. and F., p. 231.
3. Caylusea canescens. L. Syst. 368, var. fuliosa, Mull. — Marsaba ;

between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Violarice. 4. Viola occulta. Lehm., Ind. S. Hamb., 1829. — Near

Samaria.
Silenece. 5. Silene apetala. Willd., Sp. II, 307. — In cultivated ground,
Valley of Achor.

6. Silene canopica. Del., 111. Fl. P>g., No. 442. — Beersheba.

7. Silene oxyodonta. Barbey, spec, nov., Herbor. au Levant, p. 121,

PI. XL— Plain of Esdraelon.

Alainea'. 8. Spergularia diandra. Guss., Prodr. Sic, I, p. 515. —
Kedron Valley ; between Jerusalem and Jericho ; by Dead Sea ;
Esdraelon.

M'dfacece. 9. Malm a^rjy/ttia. L. Sp. 981. — Southern Desert. Acci-
dentally omitted in F. and F.

Leguminotce. 10. Trigonellaaleppica. Boiss., Flor. Or., 1 1, 7i>. Valley
of the Kedron ; Jenin.

11. Trifolium bullatum. Boiss., Flor. Or., II, 138. — Fields near
Beyrout.

12. Qlycyrrhiza glabra. L. Sp. 1048, ears. t>ii>;<;< and violacea. — Jordan

Vallej ; wVnk Semakh.

13. Astragalus trimestris. L. L073. — Philistia ; Beersheba.

ADDENDA TO THE FLORA OF PALESTINE. 7

14. Astragalus camelorum. Barbey, spec, nov., Herbor. au Levant,

p. 131, PI. III.— Southern Desert.

15. Lathyrus setifoHus. L. Sp. 1031. — Southern Philistia.
Compositce. 16. Cynara sibthorpiana. Boiss. Diagm, Ser. I, x, p. 94.

— Jericho.
Convolvulacea. 17. Calystegia, soldanella. L. Sp. 2G6. — Sea-shore at

Sidon.
Scrophulariacece. 18. Celsia glandalosa Bouche., Linn., V, Lit. 12. —

Valley of the Dog River.
Labiatw. 19. Sideritis taurica. M. B., Taur. Cauc, II, 43. — On rocks

in the Dog River Valley.
Salsolacea>. 20. Salsola canescens. D. C, Prodr., p. 208. — Accidentally

omitted in F. and F. Found by us on Lebanon. By MM.

Barbey at Marsaba.
Euphorbiacece. 21. Euphorbia parvula. Del., Eg., p. 290. — In the

Southern Desert.
Salicineai. 22. Salix triandra. L. Sp. 1442. — Achzib. Not bel'ore

noticed in Syria.
Iridacere. Iris lorteti. Barbey, spec, nov., Herbor. au Levant, p. 178,

PI. VII. — This superb Iris, one of the two species mentioned by

me (F. and F., p. 423) as found in the woods of Galilee, has been

described and beautifully figured in a full-sized coloured plate

by MM. Barbey. It was found by Dr. Lortet in the same place

where I collected it, near Kulat Hunin, above the waters of

Merom.
Liliaceo'. 23. Bellevalia sessilijlora. Viv. FL, Lib. 21, t. vii, f. 5.—

Southern Desert.
24. Muscari holzmanni. Held., Att. Con. Fir., 228. — Achzib and

Beyrout.
MM. Barbey also mention two undescribed species of Leopoldia or
Wuscari — one from the southern desert, the other from the northern
joast.

Orchidecp. 25. Serapias lingua. L. Sp. 1344. — Near the Dog River.
Graminece. 26. Andropogon rubesceus. Vis., Reg. Bot. Zeit., L829,

p. 3. — Near Ras en Nakurah.

27. Alopecurus pratensis. L. Sp. 88. — On the coast.

28. Cynosurus callitrichus. Barbey, spec, nov., Herbor. a.u Levant,
p. 165, PI. X. — Near Hebron and Jerusalem.

29. Erliinaria capitata. L. Sp. 1488. — General.

30. Lepturus incurvatus. L. Sp. 1490. — Near Beyrout.

31. Bromus rubens. L. Sp. 114. — Dry places, throughout Southern
Palestine.

32. Lolvum rigidum. Gaud. Helv., I, p. 355. — Various places on the
coast.

33. Sp/ienopus goimni. Trim, Fund. Agr., p. 135 = S. divaricatvs

Rehb.— The Ghdr.

34. Festucainterrupta. Desf. Atl. I, p. 89.— Waste places, Esdraelon.

8 ADDENDA TO THE FLORA OF PALESTINE.

35. Catapodium loliaceum (Huds. Angl., 43). — On the coast.

36. Avena barbata. Brot., Flora Lus., I, 108. — In the desert and in
waste places. This is the unidentified Avena of F. and F., p. 444,
No. 56, from Moab.

37. Trisetum parviflorum. Pei-s. Syn., 1,97. — Waste places in Judsea.

38. Desehampsia media. Raeni. el Schultz., S. II, 687. — On the coast

near Achzib.
I may also here observe that I have identified the Phleum, No. 13,
Fauna and Flora, as P. grcecum. Boiss. Flor. Or., V, p. 481.

Also Pennisetum, No. 19, p. 442, F. and F. as P., ciliare (L. Mant. 302).
Aristida, No. 35, p. 443, F. and F., as A. pumila. Decaisne, Ann. Sc.

Nat., Ser. II, 85.
Oastridium, No. 23, p. 442, F. and F., as G. scabrum. Presl., Cyp. Sic,

p. 21.
Polypogon, Nos. 50 and 51, p. 444, F. and F., as P. maritimum, Willd.

Nov. Act., Ill, p. 443 ; and P. littorale, Smith, Comp. Brit., 13.
Avena, No. 56, p. 444, F. and F., should be Gaudinia fragilis (L. Sp.

119).
Bromus, No. 110, p. 445, is B. fascicidatus. Presl., Cyp. Sic, 39.
Dactylis, No. 93, p. 447, F. and F., is IK hispardca. Roth. ; cf. Flor. Or.,
V, p. 596.
I wish also to correct the following identifications of grasses in the
" Fauna and Flora :" —

Phalaris canariensis, p. 441, No. 5, should be P. brachystackya, Link
in Schrad. Journ. 1, 3, as pointed out by Boissier, Flor. (Jr., V,
p. 471.
For Milium si/riacum, Boiss. No. 119, p. 448, read M. vemale, M. B.

Taur. Cauc, I, 53, var. montianvm, Cosson.
For Melica boissieri, Reut, No. 83, p. 44(5, read M. ciliata (L. Sp. 97 J,
and erase Nos. 75 and 80, Briza bipennata and Melica minwta.
The former species is identical with No. 87, F. and F., Eragrostis
cynosuroides.
The long-expected completion of M. Boissier's most exhaustive and
accurate work, "Flora Orientalis," of which the concluding part has ouly
just reEfched me, enables me to revise my catalogue of grasses by the
decision of the first living authority on the subject. And I am sure that
all practical botanists will deal leniently with omissions and oversights,
as wt'll as with the necessity for the corrections enumerated above ; well
knowing the difficulties of deciding on the often unsatisfactory or muti-
lated specimens before us, of this most perplexing of all botanical families.
M. Boissier's work enables me to add one species to the Coniferce of
Palestine, viz., Abies cilicica, Ant. and Ky., JLst. Woch., 18, 53, p. 409.
It is the only Abies found in the country, and which 1 now well remember
to have seen near Ehden on Lebanon, one of the localities given by Boissier.
Ephedra fragilis, F. and F., p. 452, ought to stand as E. campyhpoda,
( '. A. \bv. Eph., T.'i. The two species have been generally confounded.
The distinctions are pointed out by Boissier, op. fit., pp. 714, 715.

ADDENDA TO THE FLORA OF PALESTINE. !)

I have but one fern to add to my catalogue, the common Adders'
tongue, Ophioglossum vulgatum (L. Sp. 1518), found near Zebdany. But
the number of grasses added to our list by M. Boissier amounts to no
fewer than 47, bringing up the whole number of Palestinian O'raminece to
216. I subjoin the names, with the localities given : —

1. Panicum sanguinale. L. Sp. 14. — General.

2. Panicum crm-galli. L. Sp. 83. — General in fields.

3. Panicum colonum. L. Sp. 84. — Coast near Sidon.

4. Panicum eruciforme. Sibth. Prodr., I, p. 40. — Ehden on Lebanon.

5. Panicum numidianum. Lam. Enc, IV, 749. — Near Beyrout.

6. Setaria verticillata. L. Sp. 82. — Near the coast.

7. Andropogon ischcemum. L. Sp. 1483. — Lebanon.

8. Hemarthria fasciculata. Desf. Atl., I, p. 110, t. 36. — Near Sidon

and Beyrout.

9. P/tularis nodosa. L. Syst., 38. — Coast and Lebanon.

10. HeUochloa acutiglumis. Spec, nov., Boiss., Flor. Or., V, p. 476. —

Hadith, Lebanon.

11. Phleum alpinum. L. Sp. 88, var. commutatum, Gaud. — Snowdine

of Lebanon.

12. Phleum boshmeri. Wib., Fl. Wett., p. 123. — Hadith, Lebanon.

13. Alopecurus gerardi. Vill. Dauph., II., 66. — Subalpine Lebanon.

14. Aristida sieberiana. Trin. in Spring., N. Ent., II, 71. — Near

Jerusalem.

15. Aristida forskahlei. Tausch., p. 506. — Sands near Beyrout.

16. Aristella bromoides. L. Mant, I, 30. — Lebanon above Sidon ;

Antilebanon above Kascheya.

17. Agrostis verticillata. Vill. Dauph., II, 74. — In wet places, general.

18. Agrostis alba. L. Sp. 93, var. scabriglumis. — Brumman on Lebanon.

19. (Jastridium lendigerum. L. Sp. 91. — Sidon.

20. Corynephorus articulatus. Desf., Fl. Atl., I, 70, PI. XIII. — Sands,

Gaza, Beyrout.

21. Holcus lanatus. L. Sp. 1485. — Lebanon.

22. Holcus annuus. Salz., Fl. Ting. exs. — Pine forests, Lebanon.

23. Ventenata blanchei. Boiss., spec. nov. Flor. Or., V, p. 539. — Cedar

grove, Lebanon.

24. Dactyloctenium wgyptiacum. L. Sp. 106. — Coast near Sidon.

25. Cynosurus elegans. Desf., Atl. I, 82, PI. XVII. — Hasrun, Lebanon.

26. Eragrostis poa'oides. P. de B. Agr., 71. — Fields, general.

27. Eragrostis megastachya. Link., Hort. Ber., I, 187. — Coast.

28. Briza spicata. Sibth., Fl. Graac, I, 61. — Lebanon and Antilebanon.

29. Poa diversifolia. Boiss., Bull. S. Fr., 1857, p. 306. — Dinias,

Lebanon.

30. Poa trivialis. L. Sp. 99. — The coast.

31. Poa persica. Trin. in C. A. Mey, Enum., p. 18, var. alpina. — Top

of Lebanon.

32. Molinia cat-idea. L. Sp. 95. — Upper Lebanon.

33. (Jlyccria plicata. Fries, Nov. Mant., Ill, 176. — In standing water.

10 A DOLMEN IN THE TALMUD.

34. Festuca ovina,~va,r. pinifolia. Hackel in litt., Flor. Or., V, 617. —

Higher Lebanon.

35. Scleropoa maritima. L. Sp. 128. — Coast near Sidon.

36. Bromus flabellatus. Hack., Boiss., Flor. Or., V, 648. — Near Jeru-

salem.

37. Bromus alopecurus. Poir. Voy., II, 100. — Galilee and the coast.

38. Bromus squarrosus. — L. Sp. 112. — Lebanon.

39. Bromus brachystachys. Hornung. Fl., XVI, 2, p. 418. — By the

Jordan.

40. BracJiy podium pinnatum. L. Sp. 115. — Lower Lebanon.

41. Agropyrum panormitanum. Pari. PI., var. Sic. II, p. 20. — Hermon.

42. Agropyrum repens. L. Sp. 128. — Lebanon.

43. Agropyrum elongatum. Hort., Gr. Austr., II, 15. — Near Beyrout.

44. JEgilops bicorni-s. Forsk., Desci., 26. — Sandy places, coast.

45. Psilurus nardoides. Trin. Fund., I, 73. — Coast and interior.

46. Hordeum secalinum. Schreb. Spic, 148. — The Lejah.

47. Elymus delileanus. Schultz. Mant., 2, 424. — Central Palestine.

H. B. Tristram.
Durham, 2ii>th Xovembcr, 1884.

A DOLMEN IN THE TALMUD.

" Rabbi Ishmael said, ' Three stones beside each other at the side of
the image of Markulim are forbidden, but two are allowed. But the wise
say when they are within his view they are forbidden, but when they are
not within his view they are allowed.' " (Mishnah Aboda Zarah, iv, 1.)

This passage from the tract treating of " Strange Worship " refers to
the idolatry of the second and third centuries a.d., before the establish-
ment of Christianity by Constantine. R. Ishmael was a contemporary of
Akiba (circa 135 a.d.). From the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Metzia 2.") /,
we learn that these three stones near the " Menhir of Mercury " (for
M:n kiilim was Mercury or Hermes, the god of the pillar) were arranged
two side by side and the third laid flat across. From another passage
(T. B. Beracoth 57 b) we gather that such symbols, viz., an " image "
(NTl!£) or Hermes with a tirlithon in front of it, were commonly to be
found.

From tin' Midrash on Proverbs xxvi, 8, we also gather that the cultus
of Markulim (or Mercury) consisted in throwing a stone at his image, and
it is well known t hat this practice was connected in Greece with the cultus
of Hermes or Mercury.

This trilithon was evidently a dolmen similar to the dolmen tables
still erected by the Arabs in Moab, and its connection with a menhir
recalls the "Sentinel Stones " which are found in Brittany, Scandinavia,
and England, standing in front of a dolmen or trilithon.

Maekulim on Mount Gilboa.

Monument on Mount Gilboa discovered by Captain Conder in 1872. (" Mem', irs," Vol. II, p. 115.)

Markulim in Sweden.

The Dolmen and Sentinel Stone of Oronst. (Fergusson's " Eude Stone Monuments," p. 30G.)

A DOLMEN IN THE TALMUD. 11

I feel little doubt that the curious monument which we discovered on
Mount Gilboa near the village of Deir Ghazaleh in 1872, is one of the
Markulim of the Talmud. It was, I believe, the first rude stone monu-
ment discovered west of Jordan (not including Phoenicia). The standing
stone is 6 inches thick, 2 feet wide, 3^ feet high. I found it very firmly
fixed. It was impossible to move it, and it is probably sunk to some
considerable distance in the ground. The trilithon or dolmen has a table-
stone 6 feet 9 inches long. The other stones form an enclosure such as
often encircles dolmens in every land. The enclosure with a central stone
is also a kind of monument found in Moab, as I have shown in my reports
and memoirs. All these facts tell strongly in favour of the contention,
which is supported by Lubbock, Forbes, Leslie, and other competent
authorities, that rude stone monuments in all lands are intimately
connected with the religious ideas of early tribes. This subject I have
endeavoured to treat in " Heth and Moab," but a great many confirmatory
facts have come to my knowledge since I completed that volume.

Idolatry was of course the general practice in Syria when the Mishnah
was written, and in the tract above quoted we find mention of the sun,
moon, planets, mountains, Zodiacal signs, trees, and stones, as objects of
idolatry ; also the sacred baths or springs of Venus, and the serpent or
dragon. One other passage is of interest in connection with rude stone
monuments.

" In Zidon, at the tree where they worshipped, they found beneath it a
heap) or cairn, 73), said R. Simon to them, examine the heap.' And they
examined it, and found in it an image (NTEJ). He saicl to tnem > as the
object of worship is the image, we shall allow the tree to you." (Mishna
Aboda Zara, iii, 2.)

In this case the menhir had been covered up in a cairn made of the
stones thrown at it as an act of worship. The meaning of this custom has
been made plain by archaeologists, and each stone thrown is witness of a
visit paid to the spot. The larger therefore the cairn the greater the
veneration shown.

From another passage it appears (iv, 2) that offerings used to be placed
on the head of Markulim or on the top of the menhir. In Brittany, and
in Scotland and in India alike, menhirs may still be seen which form
the nucleus of the cairn which surrounds them. This practice is probably
also noticed in the Bible (Genesis xxxi, 45-48), but I have not met with
any explanation of the cultus in the dictionaries and commentaries.

The arrangement of the trilithon and menhir, especially when the
latter is surrounded by an enclosure as is the case in the Gilboa example,
may be considered to represent the prehistoric prototype of such temples
as were afterwards erected in Phoenicia or Greece, with a rude stone
instead of a statue, and a pair of pillars standing in front of the fane, and
supporting only a single block of stone. The relative position of the pillar
and the trilithon appears sometimes to have had a relation to the sunrise
or sunset, but this though observed by the modern Arabs is not an
invariable rule.

12 THE ARAMAIC ALPHABET.

In connection with this subject, a few words may be added as to
hollows in dolmens and menhirs. The cup hollows have been described
(see " Heth and Moab ") in Moabite monuments. In Finland such hollows
are made in stones, and connected with a charm against diseases, which
are conjured into them. In Scotland the same hollows were used for
libations of milk. Milk was poured through a hole in a menhir in the
western isles off the Scottish coast. Another menhir in Aberdeenshire
had a hollow in the top in which rain water accumulates, which the
ignorant suppose to spring from the stone, and a cross-shaped stone, called
Water Cross, was said to bring down rain when placed upright.

Visiting recently the well known Kits Coty House dolmen, near
Maidstone, to see if there were any cup hollows in its table stone (which
is slanted just like the table of a Moabite dolmen), I found the side stones
pitted with deep hollows, some of which it is impossible to suppose to have
been natural erosions. About a quarter of a mile south of Kits Coty House
there is a ruined circle of fallen stones (sandstone from the neighbourhood,
as is Kits Coty House also). The farm people believe that these stones
cannot be counted, a legend which is I believe not peculiar to this circle
alone. I found in some of the stones of this circle (which are 7 to 8 feet
long) holes like those in the Cotty House, but still more plainly cut with
the object of holding something. Perhaps, as in so many other cases,
libations of blood or milk, honey, or water, were once poured on these
holy stones, or small offerings placed in the stone itself, by those who
regarded these monuments as sacred. The offering was placed on the top
of the stone in the case of Markulim as above noted. One of the best
examples of such holes in side stones is noticed by Fergusson, in the
famous covered dolmen at Gavr Innis in Brittany.

There is another circle at Addington Park, near Maidstone, which I
have not yet been able to visit, which has a curious outlying cairn on the
east or north-east. We may compare the circle and gigantic cairn of Wad v
Jideid in Moab.

C. R. C.

THE ARAMAIC ALPHABET.

In my paper on Hebrew inscriptions, published in the Quarterly Statement,
October, 1883, I have mentioned the inscription at 'Arak el Emir. Tins
we both copied and photographed, and my original copy made on the ppol
differs in the tirst letter from that of previous writers. According to
Levy, it has the form of a rude Tetlt open at the top.

According to invcopv it is round like an 0, and could only read as an Am.

~n^3 s o

THE ARAMAIC ALPHABET. 13

I did not when copying the text reflect on the importance of this difference,
but the photograph, though taken rather at an angle, appears to support
the copy, and de Vogiiu reads this letter as agreeing also with my view.

The importance of this difference lies in the fact that the inscription
appears as a whole to be Aramaic rather than Phoenician ; but that the
first letter if it be an Ain cannot be Aramaic, but must belong to some
alphabet allied to the Moabite Stone, according to the received views.
The Aramaic alphabets, whence square Hebrew developed, are peculiarly
marked by the open loops of the letters, especially of the Am. In order
to satisfy the learned world, a squeeze (which would require a ladder), or a
new photograph of very large size, may become necessary ; but it seems
strange that such a difference of copy should occur in so very distinct and
well preserved a text, and I incline to believe that my copy, made without
any reference to the reading of the text, is correct.

Now the inscriptions from Medeba seem to present us with exactly
the same problem, and their genuineness is rendered the more probable,
as some of their most suspicious forms have (as Dr. Taylor kindly points
out to me) been found also in unquestionably genuine texts from Arabia.
In No. 2 of the Medeba texts we find two letters almost identical with
two in the Arak el Emir text, namely,

The first of these is small, like the Ain of the South Semitic Alphabets,
the second appears to be an Aramaic letter.

Now almost the only great problem concerning the alphabet which
) emains to be solved, is that of the connection of the South and North
Semitic Alphabets. The link may perhaps exist, not in Arabia, but in
Moab, and the Medeba texts may serve to point it out. It seems that,
contrary to expectation, forms of the Aramaic may occur with Phoenician
or South Semitic forms in the same inscription. The 'Arak el Emtr text
in all probability dates as early as 176 B.C., and presents the same con-
fusion of two alphabets, generally believed to be distinct. We have, it is
true, not very much to guide us in drawing conclusions, but the Moabite
texts here noticed may perhaps induce palatograph ical authorities to extend
their researches in a new direction in treating the relations of the various
branches of the earliest alphabet, that of the Phoenicians. I should note
in conclusion that Mr. Doughty has brought home squeezes of some
Sinaitic and Aramaic inscriptions from the neighbourhood of Mecca
which may perhaps cast light on this question.

C. P. c.

14 INSCRIPTIONS.

INSCRIPTIONS.

It may be convenient to give a resumS of the epigraphic results of the
Survey of Palestine, which have been more numerous and important than
might perhaps be supposed, without collecting those scattered through the
pages of the Memoirs.

HEBKEW.

1. The inscription on a tomb in the Jordan Valley, which appears to
be perhaps as old as the Siloam text, was discovered by me in 1874.
(Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 396.) It is here given for comparison.

^ F oj ^cj

2. The curious text from Umm ez Zeinat, which reads, perhaps, Eleazar
Bar Azariah, was copied by me after being discovered by Sergeant
Armstrong in 1873. (Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 71.) As regards this it might
perhaps be suggested that we have here the tomb of Rabbi Eleazar ben
Azariah, who died 83 a.d. He was one of the Tauaim (Mishnah
Beracoth, iii, 7), a disciple of R. Jonathan ben Zaccai, who died 73 A.D.
Both were priests. R. Eleazar appears to have succeeded Gamahil the
younger at Jamnia. (Cf. Pirke, Aboth iii, 17.) The discovery of these
ancient Hebrew texts during the Survey may be considered an important
addition, especially as the zeal of M. Clermont-Ganneau has only added
the ( rezer text and the yet unpublished Phoenician text from Silwan.

:!. 'I'he square Hebrew inscription from a tomb at 'Ain Sinia was
copied by C. F. T. Drake in 1872. (Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 302.) It appears
to read, Moses bar Eleazar bar Zechariah the priest. This may be
ascribed to the Herodian period with confidence.

The well-known inscription at Kefr Birim is also noticed in the
Memoirs, vol. i, p. 233, and that at Nebratim, vol. i, p. 244, and at el
Jish, vol. i, p. 225.

4. Some Jewish graffiti at Neby Samwil are of interest. They cannot
be older than 1 L57 a.d., but they are not recent, because they have been
plastered over, and the plaster is old and has fallen off. The most
important is here given from the voussoir of a pointed arch with mediaeval
mason's marks (the shield of David) and diagonal tooling. It appears to
read, Moses Ben Nahum Levi . . . Ben Aloazer . . . Shemon.
Tins may be of value for comparison with the graffiti on the osteophagi
from (lie Mount of Olives described by M. Clermont-Ganneau. The form
of tin- Shin is much Later than thai on some of these osteophagi. The
same ma\ lie said of the Ain, Mim, and Lamed, but the Zain seems to have
a peculiar early form, if lightly read, and the Aleph is also peculiar.

INSCRIPTIONS.

Among the Jerusalem inscriptions which I have collected together for
the Jerusalem Volume of the Memoirs will be found mentioned the six
well-known Hebrew texts, namely, the Beni Hezir Tomb, and the tomb
found by De Vogue ; the sarcophagus of Queen Sara, and the stele found
by De Saulcy with the letters copied at the Torph Gate by Sir Charles
Wilson, and the Phoenician letters on the Temple wall ; as also the Siloam
text, the fragment of a text from Kefr Silwan, and the two supposed
letters on the so-called " Egyptian Tomb " in the Kedron Valley. These,
with the three Phoenician texts of Urm el Amln (Memoirs, vol. i, p. 183),
and the coffin of Eshmunazar, the Gezer Stones, and the Pillar of Amwas,
make a total of nineteen Hebrew and Phoenician texts known in
Palestine. The Moabite Stone and the Arak el Emir text East of
Jordan must be added to these. The graffiti are not counted, nor the
numerous Jewish tombstones at Taff'a. (Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 277.)

GREEK.

These are extremely numerous in Palestine, the majority being
Christian, and subsequent to the fourth century. The most valuable is
the stele of Herod's Temple found by M. Clennont-Ganneau. The follow-
ing are the new ones found by the surveyors within the Survey.

5. The inscription of the Cathedral of Tyre, mentioned, but not given,
Memoirs, vol. i, p. 73. I copied it in 1881.

PONTHN

OnOMH
O . . Ol . . N
KPHTHZ

See Appendix, vol. iii, p. 428.

6. Greek text at Deir Dugheiya, which was found first by Renan, in
honour of John the Baptist and St. George. (Memoirs, vol. i, p. 115.)
It appears to have been rediscovered in 1877.

16 INSCRIPTIONS.

7. Greek Christian text of Siddikim. (Memoirs, vol. i, p. 138.) It
contains the name of St. Procopius and the Deacon Eusebius. From the
contraction of the word Deacon it might be thought — as also from the
Jerusalem crosses above the text — to be of Crusading origin.

8. Marble slab from Masub. A funerary text, probably not earlier than
the 12th century. (Memoirs, vol. i ; p. 168.)

9. Greek Christian text from Marun. (Memoirs, vol. i, p. 251.) On
p. 260 is given another, which had been already copied by Renan.

10. Inscription on an early Christian tomb at Shefa 'Amr. (Memoirs,
vol. i, p. 341.)

11. Inscription at 'Abful, also found by Sir C. W. Wilson in 1866.
(Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 303.) "Memorial of the Holy ."

12. Medieval text, "Memorial of George," at el Hats. (Memoirs, vol.
ii, p 321.)

13. Inscription on font at Khiirbet Kilkh. It was found by Sergeant
Black, but had, I believe, been already copied by M. Clerniont-Ganneau.
(Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 336.)

14. Inscription almost illegible, copied by C. F. T. Drake at Akrabeh.
(Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 388.)

15. A few letters from another stone at the same place.

16. Inscription at Mejdel Yaba, " The Church of St. Cerycus " (an
early convent), or perhaps of the "Holy Herald" — that is, probably, of
John the Baptist. (Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 361.)

17. El Mujhar, a Greek Christian text. It was copied by M. Clermout-
Ganneau in 1874, of which fact we were not aware. (Memoirs, vol. ii, p.
427.)

18. Dedication by Martin the Deacon. This also was copied by
M. Clermont-Ganneau. (Memoirs, vol. ii, p. 134.)

19. Deir el Kelt. Greek and Arabic text over the door, and a number
of mediaeval Greek texts on the pictures. (Memoirs, vol. iii, pp. 193-197.)
The texts at Koruntil and Kasr Hajlah were already known. (See Memoirs,
vol. iii, pp. 203, 204, 215, 216.) The latter have since been entirely
destroyed.

20. A few letters at Ascalon.

21. Deir el Belak, Greek Christian. (See Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 248).
■J.-2. Another from the same place. (Memoirs, vol. iii.)

23. Meidan ez Zeid. (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 250.) A Greek funerary text.

24. A second found in 1877 on the same race course near Gaza. It is
not given in the Memoirs. It is Christian, beginning, " The earth is the
Lord's and the fulness thereof," and records the facing of some building
with stone by the Deacon Alexander. It, is probably not older than the
fifth century. (See Quarterly Statement, 1878, p. 199.)

25. Sheikh Bashed. (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 253.) A mediaeval Greek
( Ihrisl ian text in two lines.

26. Greek text in the Hebron Haram (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 340) ; this
is additional to one already known.

27. Khoreisa. Greek Christian text. "This is the gate of the Lord,

* j \ ..I — p — : —

OAOYKf
€0HK£*l

H^cer KB

Fig

/re0Y*P*cTH

fiAipceTiwHo

Fig 2.

/UATAA

F.g.4.

Fig. 3.

H«rnsoii I Sons.Iitli.Sl Martin.

vMOMKiOY YAI6TOVC

Fig. 5.

ohaictog
Antunikte: ^

Fig. 6.

%G0YC

Y^WW

Fig. 7.

MiN^YKAAYAlAA/
*>Y

Fig 8.

Harrison

GREEK INSCRIPTIONS. 17

the righteous shall enter in thereat." It is probably of the Byzantine
period. (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 357.)

28. Masada ; a painted text in a cave, the word Kuriokos, " of the
Lord." (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 421.)

29. Umm el Buruk, East of Jordan ; a tablet with the name of Antonius
Eufus in Greek. This has yet to be published.

30. 'Amman. Greek text in the wall of the Cathedral, with the name
of Gordiana. To be published in the Memoirs.

31. Jerusalem. A Greek Christian text from the north wall, which
has not been previously published, so far as I have been able to ascertain.

32. A text from those of Jerash appears to be new (see the account of
the Royal visit, Quarterly Statement, 1882, p. 219) ; but see also April,
1883, p. 108, and September, 1870, p. 389, where Canon Girdleston gives
a yet longer text in hexameter.

EOMAN AND LATIN.

33. Milestone north of Jerusalem. (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 55.)

34. Milestone at Fukeikis near Hebron. (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 328.)

35. Milestone near 'Amman. To be published in the new Memoir.

36. A fine Gothic tombstone found near the Zion scarp by H. Maudslay.
Noticed in the Jerusalem Volume of the Memoirs.

NABATHEAN.

36-37-38-39. Four texts from Medeba, found by Latin missionaries,
and copied by me in " Jerusalem." As regards these texts, I find that
Colonel Sir C. Warren has published another from Umm er Rasas in the
Quarterly Statement, 1870, p. 327, which is very valuable for comparison.

C. R. C.

GREEK INSCRIPTIONS.

Those represented in the accompanying plate (figs. 1-8) were copied in
1873 by Rev. W. Wright and myself, in the village and at the tomb of
Suk Wady Brarda (the ancient Abila), on the Abana River. Though
mentioned in the Memoirs (Special Papers, p. 113), they have not been
published. They are in the collection made by Waddington.

There is a fourth tablet uninscribed to the right. These are over a
sunk tomb north of the river.

Abila existed as a town in 60 B.C. The Roman inscriptions here date
about 250 a.d. The forms of Greek letters are uncial ; but these forms
are found at Jerash probably as early as the second century a.d. They
became common in the fourth and fifth centuries ; all the inscriptions here
are funerary.

C. R. C.

18 SIN AND SAD. — DISTRICT'S IN PALESTINE.

SIN AND SAD.

According to the students of literary Arabic the distinction of these two
letters is most carefully preserved in speaking, and they are never confused.
Nevertheless, even in the dictionaries, a few words may be found which
are occasionally written with either.

In our recent survey we found the native scribe, who was intelligent
and well-instructed, sometimes unable to distinguish the two letters in
the pronunciation by the Bedawin of local names : such as Wady Sir and
the ruin of Sur, and it is commonly said in Syria that the nomadic tribes
make no distinction between Sin and Sad. Even among the teachers of
Nahu or correct speech there is a difficulty, for when hard pressed they
are obliged to admit that a deeper vowel sound accompanies the Sad than
that belonging to the Sin. Thus even to the present day we have a
survival of the syllabary from which the distinction of some Semitic letters
originates ; and this is but one example of the importance of studying the
local peasant dialect of Syria, which is very different in many respects
from the polite Arabic of literature, preserving as it does archaisms which
are of the highest value for archaeological purposes.

C. K. C.

DISTRICTS IN PALESTINE.

The hills north of Jerusalem are divided into various government districts,
bearing ethnic names, viz. : —

Beni 'Amir Sons of Omar.

Beni Hdrith Sons of Aretas.

Beni Murreh Sons of bitterness.

Beni Salim Sons of peace.

Beni Zeid Sons of increase.

Beni Hamdr Sons of the ass.

Beni Sab Sons of stubbornness.

Beni Hasan Sons of beauty.

Beni Malik Sons of royalty.

These are not pastoral or nomadic, but agricultural districts, with
a settled population of Fellahin. There are no Arabs in these districts,
and historically the nomadic tribes seem never to have held them. I have
never seen any explanation of these names, nor does their origin seem to
be known in Palestine. M. Clermont-Ganneau has indicated the interest
of the names, but has not explained their origin. Professor Palmer in
revising my nomenclature has added the word Arabs to the title, ap-
parently thinking that they applied to existing tribes in Palestine, but
the districts are entirely free from nomadic tribes, nor are any existing
Arab clans west of Jordan called by these names.

THE SAMARITAN TEMPLE. 10

If, however, we turn to the map of Arabia in the clays of Muhammed
and of Omar, we find the following tribes represented : —

Beai 'Amir, a tribe of the Nejed near Yemana, or again south-east of
Medina.

Beni Harith, a tribe of Yemen north-east of Sana.

Beni Murreh, both east of Medina, and south of the Jauf Oasis.

Beni Suleim, east of Medina.

Beni Malik, a division of the Beni Temim, who lived near Yemana.

It was with the aid of these and other tribes that the famous K haled
defeated the Romans on the Hieroniax in 634 a.d. ; and under Omar they
swept over Palestine soon after.

It seems therefore probable that in these local names we have a trace
of Omar's Conquest of Syria, and that the hills of Judea and Samaria were
regularly portioned out among his followers. The noble families of
Jerusalem still claim to have " come over with the conqueror " at this
time. We have thus only another instance of the survival in Syria of
early Moslem divisions, and the division of the Keis and Yemeni factions,
which dates back to the early days of Islam, is still hardly extinct, and is
well remembered in Southern Palestine.

This identification of the tribes presents a curious and interesting
historic parallel to the division of Canaan by Joshua among the trium-
phant tribes who (as in Omar's time) entered Palestine from beyond
Jordan.

C. R C.

THE SAMARITAN TEMPLE.

Is there any satisfactory proof that the Samaritans ever erected a temple ?
Josephus speaks of Sanballat's Temple (2 " Antiq.," viii, 2-7), but gives
no account of it, and his Sanballat cannot be the Sanballat of the Bible if
he lived in the days of Alexander the Great. In the New Testament
only the mountain is noticed (John iv, 20); and Epiphanius in the fifth
century speaks of the Samaritans as worshipping in a circle open to the
air — such an enclosure as they still use. The Samaritan literature is all
very late, and makes Joshua erect a temple which Sanballat only restored.
The twelve (or ten) stones which the Samaritans point out as part of
their temple are probably terraced walls of Justinian's fortress. On the
whole it seems to me probable that they never had anything more than at
present, viz., a sacred rock with a well-marked cup hollow in its surface —
probably their altar, and enclosures with dry stone walls, where they
congregated on the holy mountain.

C. E. C.

20 LOT'S WIFE. — EN EOGEL. — AIN TABGHAH.

LOT'S WIFE.

Irex^eus believed Lot's wife to be still visible in his own days near the
Dead Sea, "still showing her feminine nature" and apparently not quite a
stone. Antoninus Martyr in describing his visit to the locality is careful
to controvert the idea that the statue had been diminished by being
licked by animals. It must have been to some stone or rock (apparently
west of the Dead Sea) that these writers refer. Sir John Maundeville
still saw the statue "at the right side" of the Dead Sea. It seems
possibly to the peculiar crag now called Kurnet Sahsul Hameid, "the
peak whence Hameid (an Arab boy) slipped down," that they all refer.
It is a crag somewhat like a human figure, jutting out of the cliffs near
Kuiurdn, not far from the Hajr el Asbah.

C. R. C.

EN ROGEL.

It is pretty generally allowed, I believe, that the real site of Eii Rogel is
the present Virgin's Fountain opposite Zoheleth, and not, as the Crusaders
thought, the Bir Eyub, which is too far south, and not a spring at all.

The usual translation of En Rogel is " Fuller's Spring," but " Spring
of the Foot " has recently been suggested. I would suggest that both are
equally unsatisfactory. In Arabic Rijlah means a water channel (locvs
ubi aqua Jluit, Freytag), perhaps derived from rijl "foot," because such
channels are made with the foot by the peasantry. There is an 'Ain
Rujeileh or modern En Rogel near the west margin of Sheet XVIII of
the Survey.

If En Rogel mean " Spring of the Channel," and if it be — as can be
shown on quite independent considerations — the present Virgin's Fountain,
the name is evidently derived from the famous rock-cut channel leading
f "in the biick of the cave in which the spring rises.

C. R. C.

AIN TABGHAH.

It seems to have escaped notice that this place is mentioned in the
Talmud, which is important, as showing the name to be ancient, and thus
perhaps presenting a strung argument against the idea that this spring
is the one which Josephus intends in speaking of the Fountain of
< apharnaum.

The site, as is well known, is between Tell Hum and Miuieh, and fine
nga are here dammed up in a reservoir, while several curious round

KADESH BARNEA. 21

water-towers (including 'Ain Eyub) exist immediately to the east. The
name means the "Dyer's Spring." (See the notice in the "Princes' Tour
in the Holy Land.")

In the Talmud (Tal. Jer. Ekha, ii, 2, v Midrash) a certain Migdol
Tzeboya is mentioned, and according to Neubauer was on the Sea of
Galilee (Geog. Tal., p. 218), this name meaning "tower of the dyers."

(N^Il^ THJ^) i s identical with the Arabic Tabjhah. Twenty -four
weavers' shops stood at this place. Perhaps this may explain the curious
water-towers found both at 'Ain Tabjhah and near Mejdel. They may
have been used as wells in which to steep the stuffs while being dye!,
and this explains the name "Tower of Dyers." They clearly were not
connected with aqueducts, though a short mill lade led from the great
reservoir on the spot, which is probably only about a century old, and
built by the Zeidan family.

C. E. C.

KADESH BARNEA.

A scholarly work by Dr. H. Clay Trumbull has just been published in
America respecting the site of this city. I hope I shall not be considered
contentious if I take exception to the conclusions of the author, though
supported with much care and candour, and shared by many explorers
and scholars who have preceded him. There is much that is most
valuable in the book, but when we find that Seir and Mount Hor are
moved to the west of the Arabah, and that 'Ain Kadis is shown much
further east than on preceding plans, it seems that permanent harm
might result from leaving it to be supposed that the question of Kadesh
was finally settled.

Taking the questions which I would wish to raise as they occur in the
book, I would first note : —

Page 93, Seir = Es Seer. This looks well in its English garb, but we
must ask first what is the spelling of the Arabic. The Hebrew is "V^II?'
of which the proper Arabic equivalent is Shar, a word in use with same
meaning as the Hebrew, viz., "shaggy." In spite of the authorities
quoted it seems that Seer, or Sir, or Sirr is the common Arabic
geographical term found all over Palestine meaning a " route " or " high-
way," unless it be spelt with Sad, in which case it means a sheepfold, or
if it be really Sirr it means " gravelly." Until it be shown to contain the
guttural of the Hebrew, it cannot be considered to represent Seir,
especially as it should begin with Shin, not with Sin or Sad. The
distinction made between a Country of Seir and Mount Seir (p. 85) does
not seem to be well founded, though necessary to the theory which would
find a Seir at Seer independent of Mount Seir, the rugged chain east < f
the Arabah. Kasr es Sir (p. 94) would m >an probably "the sheepfold
tower," and us is so often the case among the Bedawin, the region round

22 KADESH BARNEA.

may probably have been named from this ruin. (Compare Sheet XV of
Survey of Palestine.)

Pa^e 101, Edom. It is no doubt the case that Idumsea was a name
applied to the country even as far north as Hebron about the Christian
pra, but the name Edom or " red " must surely have applied to the red
sandstone country, and not to the white chalk plateau of the Tih.

Pace 124, Bel-em. I fail to find anything to support the view that
there were two Bekems, one at Petra, one at 'Ain Kadts. All the
authorities agree that Petra was called Eekem, and the Jews appear most
clearly to have believed that Kadesh Barnea was at or near Petra, The
second Eekem seems only necessary to the theory of 'Ain Kadis being
Kadesh Barnea.

Page 127, Hor ha Har. No reference is given in note, and it seems to
me very clear that the references in Numbers xxxiv, 7, 8, are to a Mount
Hor in the Lebanon, not to the mountain in Edom. I have tried to
show elsewhere that we should probably read Hor ha Khar, " Mountain
of the Phoenicians," the change of pj and J-f being very slight.

Page 130, Hor. Dr. Trumbull says that Josephus does not suggest a
particle of evidence in favour of his assertion that Mount Hor was near
Petra. I would venture to suggest that he does not agree as to where
Jerusalem was, or even as to Sinai. The Mount Hor now shown is that
which Josephus believed in, and probably it was as well known as Sinai
or any other famous mountain (Carmel, Tabor, Hermon, etc.) which are
undoubted, though we have little but tradition in some case3 to rely on.
Dr. Trumbull accepts the usual Sinai, but the site of that mountain does
not rest on any more secure basis than does the traditional site of Mount
Hor— both are too famous ever to have been lost. In the case of Mount
Hor we have in fact that "consent of tradition" (Jewish, Christian, and
Moslem) which, as I tried to show in " Tent Work," is generally indicative
of continuous preservation of an ancient site. The position in the border
of Edom is quite in accordance with the usual understanding of the
desert geography, and the new proposed situation at Jebel Madurah
seems far too arbitrary to upset the consensus of tradition and opinion in
the matter.

Dr. Truml mil supposes Madurah to be a form of Moseroth (HlDlto)'
remarking that D and S are convertible in Eastern speech. I do not
think this is the case. The soft T and the soft S (Te and Sin) are
convertible, and so are the soft D or Dh and Z (Dhal, I)al,Zain), but I do
not recall any instance where D and S are convertible. Dr. Trumbull is
surprised (p. 228) that I should suggest Madurah to be the same as Adar,
which he appears to consider (p. 280) to be spelt with the guttural
Aim. In Joshua (xv, 3), however, it is spelt -fT^, which is di « tinct frum
the Eder ("Hy) of another passage (xv, 21). The Mm, being a servile
letter, Madurah if spelt JTfffti which one is led to su PP ose is the case
from Robinson's transliteration, might well be the same as Adar. The
site of Eder may perhaps be at the ruin 'Adar, near Gaza.

"Kadessa" (p. 136). It would be worth while to examine this vicinity

KADESH BARNEA. 23

carefully, in order to find whether the name Kadessa, reported by Berton,
really exists, or was only manufactured for his benefit. No effort seems
lately to have been made to discover this.

Page 170, et seq. Judging from the Arabic, the word Kekem would seem
to mean " variegated," perhaps from the bright colours of the Petra sand-
stones. (See Freytag, Lex.) The word Kerm (p. 174), spelt with the
Kofh, generally means a tree stump.

Page 211, "Zephath." The radical meaning of this name in Hebrew
and Arabic is the same, "to be clear," " bright," "conspicuous," "shining."
The identity of Zephath and Sufah can hardly be doubted by any who
consider the roots whence the two words originate. The suggestion of
Sebeita or Sebata for Zephath has always seemed to me to argue a want
of scholarship on the part of Kowlands. The Arabic name seems to be
from the root Sebt, " rest," which has not a single letter in common with
the root whence Zephath originates. Philogically at least (and I think
geographically as well) Eobinson's suggestion is preferable to that of
Rowlands, because it is radically sound, and the other radically unsound.
There was a Zephathah near Mareshab (2 Chron., xiv, 10), which as I hove
before pointed out survives at the ruin Safieh, a word from the same root
as Safah.

Page 212, "Hagar's Well" at Moilahhi, depends on a tradition of the
Beit Hajar. We ought to be informed how this latter name is spelt,
whether with He or with the guttural. In the latter case it would simply
mean "House of Stone," while Moilahhi is probably a vulgar Bedawi
pronunciation like other words with a supernumerary Wait, and means
" salt." If a tradition of Hagar does here exist, it is not free from suspicion
of monkish origin, and the same may be said of 'Ain Kadis, for not only
have Christian remains been found in this desert, with Arab traditions of
Christian settlements, but we also know from Jerome and from Antoninus
Martyr of hermitages and monasteries in various parts of the Tlh.

"Hezron," page 228. Dr. Trumbull has omitted to notice what
appears to me to be a strong argument, which, as far as I know, I was the
first to suggest in the identification of Hezron. He does not himself find
this name anywhere in the desert, yet all good maps show the Hadireh
hill west of Wady el Yemen. The proper Arabic equivalent of Hazor

-)^pf, is Hadireh (*_Jwas>-), which has the same meaning, "enclosure;"

and the Arabic Dad is one of the two proper equivalents of the Hebrew
Tzadi. It is strange that Dr. Trumbull should have been quite silent as
to this suggestion, which if it be correct settles the Kadesh Barnea
question for ever. As to the meaning of Hazor and Hazerim, we found in
1881 that the word Mahder (radically the same) is applied by the Arabs
beyond Jordan to the ancient stone circles in at least one case ; perhaps
such circles exist at Jebel Hadireh. The thorn enclosures would be called
Sir (see p. 281), and the Hazors seem probably to have been old cromlechs
or circles, funereal or of religious use.

Page 276. Hawy, usually rendered "winds," will be found to be

24 KADESH BARNEA.

derived from a word meaning a gorge or precipice, which fits well in the
case of Kaukab el Hawa, and in other instances.

Page 278. The opinion of Levy and other epigraphic authorities is
generally supposed to have settled the date of the Sinaitic inscriptions as
not earlier than the 4th century.

Page 283. 'Am el Qadayrat appears to be spelt with a Dad by mistake.
There is no such root in common Arabic, and the root meaning " omni-
potence," is spelt with a Dal.

Page 289. The suggestion of Ain Qasaymeh for Kaisam (QD^p) * s
free from philological objection, but Dr. Trumbull should consider
Neubauer's curious explanation of the Targum, reading Kaisam for Azmon.
The suggestion Qadayrat for Adar is objectionable, because Adar is spelt
with Aleph and Dal, while according to Dr. Trumbull Qadayrat is spelt
with a Dad ; in which case the Hebrew would be not "11^, but "^p. All
these suggestions seem to be far too vague to carry conviction ; and
Qasaymeh probably meaus "division," or "halving," as the Arabs say.
There seems no real reason for rejecting the Arab legend of a Christian
boundary at this point (see p. 291), as the district once had a Christian
population. The word Azmon is most likely to survive in Arabic in the
form 'Atmek.

As regards the Exodus route, there is little in Dr. Trumbull's careful
paper which will be new to readers of Brugsch, Tomkins, &c. The questi. n
of the wall Skur, and of the Yam Sup//, is treated with great clearness
and force, and leads to conclusions which will intime be generally accepted.
It is to be regretted, however, that sufficient notice has not been taken
of the facts (both geological and engineering), which leave it indisputable
that the level of the Bed Sea has been changing, and that the Isthmus of
Suez has been gi'owing broader within historic times. The existence of a
Nile branch down Wady Tameilub, which is important in this connection,
is also not noticed. As to Brugsch's idea (p. 327 et seq.), that Khetam C^n
and Etham DrVN are tlie same > I can onl y sav l a S ree witn Professor
Robertson Smith in regarding this as very doubtful. It seems far more
probable that the Atuma of the story of Saneha is Etham, and not as
generally supposed Edom. The Egyptian sign ^ may be read as D, but
is most often T.

Page 331. "The fortress of Kanaan has not been identified. " This
seems to be written before Dr. Trumbull had seen my paper on the subject,
as my suggestion of Kana'an, a large ruin near Hebron, met with hearty
acceptance from Mr. Tomkins.

Special attention should be called to the deduction from Exod. x, 19,
which Mr. Trumbull brings forward as showing the direction of the Yam
Suph. The rationalistic explanation of the pillar of cloud and of lire
which seems suggested on p. 397 is also very interesting.

The map requires a word of notice, for it is not clear why 'Ain Kadis
is there shown much further east in longitude than is the case on Palmer's
map or Holland's map. The result of moving MountSeir and Mount Hor
westwards, and Kadis east, is to bring them much nearer together, but

KADESH BARNEA. 2o

the site of 'Ain Kadis is still too far west to suit the requirements of the
case. Generally speaking, one feels that the evidence has been rather
twisted in favour of 'Ain Kadts, though Dr. Trumbull has striven to be
impartial and candid.

The omission of any notice of Hadireh, and several minor errors above
pointed out, seems to spoil the completeness of the work.

Robinson's site at 'Ain Weibeh is conjectural. Perhaps Kadesh may
yet be found in the vicinity of Jebel Madurah, where Berton claims to
have found the name. The name Wady Fikreh, or the " cloven valley," at
this place might have some connection with the rock cloven at Kadesh.
It has been established that an 'Ain Kadis does really exist further west,
but it is not established that this is the site of En Mishpat. It may be
either a monkish site, for the monks were not careful as to the biblical
requirement of their sites ; or it may indicate that the name Kadesh
applied to a large tract, but the Scrq:>ture narrative seems clearly to point
to a site for Kadesh Barnea close to the Arabah.

The excursus on Set, though interesting, is not novel, and it seems
hardly worth while to have revived the suggestion that Set was connected
with the Assyrian word Sed, and the Hebrew Shedim, meaning "powerful."
Set is more probably connected with Thoth, as meaning a "pillar" or
" stone," for both Set and Thoth were pillar gods and gods of darkness,
night, and the moon, and the determinative accompanying the name Set
in hieroglyphics is a stone.

The route of the Exodus as laid down by Dr. Trumbull seems to be a
mean between three views — those of Brugsch and the traditional, together
with that resulting from the latest observations and discoveries. Surely
however the wanderings are as meaningless as they well could be, extend-
ing from Ism'ailieh to Tell Hir, and back again west of the Bitter Lakes,
to cross the sea at Suez. The view which seems destined to survive is
that which discards the old traditional Baal Zephon at Jebel Attakah,
and makes the crossing to have occurred near Ism'ailieh. Bir Mejdel,
East of El Jesr, is a relic of the name Migdol, and the name of Baal
Zephon may perhaps survive in Birket Balah. The old sites near Suez
rest on no sound basis, and the fact that the head of the Gulf of Suez was
once much further north is now fairly well established.

C. R. C.

ROUND MOUNT CARMEL.

Haifa, 29th November.
Thk confusion which the Crusading nomenclature has introduced into the
identification of sites, is nowhere, as Captain Conder has shown, more
curiously illustrated than in Haifa and its neighbourhood.

The tradition, first suggested by William of Tyre, that Porphyrion
was identical with Haifa, is still firmly clung to by the monks of Carmel.
and both Eeland and Sepp identify the ruins in the neighbourhood of
that town with Porphyrion, basing their arguments, however, upon other
than Crusading tradition : the latter admitting that while one PorpnyriOM

26 ROUND MOUNT CARMEL.

may be eight miles north of Sidon at Khan Yum's, there must have been
another near the point of Carmel on the authority of the Onomasticon,
which places here a town called Chilzon, which he maintains is the
Hebrew name for Murex, the shell which produces the purple dye, and
which is found here in considerable quantities. Hence the name Porjmyrion.
But on analogous grounds the town might rather have occupied the site of
the ruins of Haifa el Atikah, where the coast is strewn with such a pro-
fusion of fragments of porphyry carvings as are not to be found elsewhere —
an hypothesis scarcely sufficient in itself to warrant the identification of a
site. The fact that there was a Bishop of Porphyrion who was under the
Metropolitan of Csesarea, only adds to the difficulty, which is not elucidated
by any of the itineraries of the pilgrims or ancient travellers, as none of
these give the distances between Acre, Cassarea, and the intervening towns
with sufficient accuracy to enable us to identify the places they mention.
Thus it happens that there are the ruins of five towns within a short
distance of one another on this coast, none of which have been identified
with absolute certainty. These are, first, the ruins of Haifa el Atikah,
distant a mile and a half from modern Haifa, which may itself be the
site of an ancient city ; second, those at Tel el Semak, distant two miles
from Haifa el Atikah : third, those of Kefr es Samir, distant two miles
and a half from Tel el Semak ; fourth, those of Khurbet el Keniseh,
distant two miles and a half from Kefr es Samir ; and fifth, those of
Athlit, the Castra Peregrinorum of the Crusaders, distant three miles and
a half from Khurbet el Keniseh. That one of these is Sycaminum, and
another ( 'alamon, is pretty certain, and the conclusion generally arrived at
is, that the ruin at Tel el Semak is the former, and that at Kefr es Samir
the latter. It was in the hope that I might find something at Tel el
Semak that might throw light on the subject, that I examined the neigh-
bourhood somewhat minutely, and in the course of my explorations
stumbled upon a ruin which turned out to be Khurbet Temmaneh, 1 which
Guerion vaguely mentions as being somewhere in this vicinity. Attracted
by a flight of rock-cut steps near which are some tombs to the left of the
road, I scrambled up the steep hill-side through the bushes for about
300 yards, where, at an elevation of 200 feet above the level of the sea, I
came upon a comparatively level plateau, about 6 acres in extent, covered
with the traces of an ancient town. Fragments of columns and capitals and
pieces of carved marble were strewn about in profusion ; the rocks in the
neighbourhood were honeycombed with tombs : two of the best of these
contained sis loculi, each in a perfect state of preservation, the entrances to
several others were closed ; there were traces of rock-cut chambers, two large
millstones, ami the foundations of walls which may possibly have been
those of a fort. This Khurbet lies due east of the mound of Tel el
Semak, from which it is distant about 400 yards, and may have formed an
upper town to the lower city of Sycamiimm. The ruin is bounded on the
cat side by a wall running nearly due north and south, 112 yards in
Length, from which at riidit angles runs a wall 40 yards long, terminating
in an angle where it stands to a height of 4 feet from the ground.
1 On the map Tinany.

KH.TEMMANEH OR TiN'AN'Y.

■P

ombs

mlMM

NHPHH

*S§FMillstoiie

>.-\

« ;

« i

■ o

' o

o ]

4' High

A rea of Ruins
about 6 Acres .

,S>////i III///

Scale

30 ',"

-T— -? "

ROUND MOUNT CARMKL. 27

Here it turns north for 12 yards. It is composed of rubble from which
the ashlar has been removed, and is from 3 to 4 feet in thickness ; the wall
bounding the ruin on the south is 65 yards long, commencing from the
south corner of the east wall, and the south wall is 70 yards long,
terminating apparently near a large cistern with four circular apertures.
I had myself let down into this, and found it to be hewn out of the rock,
70 feet in length, 20 feet in breadth, and 12 feet in height ; but the floor was
covered with an unknown depth of debris. The sides had been cemented,
the cement still remaining in parts in a very j>erfect state of preservation,
and the roof was supported by three columns hewn from the living rock,
4 feet square. The annexed plan will give some idea of the ruin. I
could find no traces of a wall on the north side, but I think it probable
that a little excavation would lay them bare. Near the east wall I
picked up a fragment of marble on which had been carved the word
" Allah," and two or three other letters indicated that it was the commence-
ment of an old Arabic inscription, though the characters were not Cufic.

I take this opportunity of adding a few notes of objects of interest which
have come under my observation in the course of my rides in this neighbour-
hood. At Kefr Lam (Sheet 7, I i) the fellahin have, since the visit of the
olficers of the Palestine Survey, opened an ancient well, which furnishes
them with a good supply of water. It is 35 feet deep, and approached by a
flight of steps, partly hewn oift of the solid rock and partly artificial ; the
sides of the well, the mouth of which is about 30 feet square, are also
partly of masonry and partly of hewn rock. In the neighbourhood are two
rock-hewn chambers, or they may possibly have been cisterns ; the largest
was 15 feet square, and spanned in the centre by a single stone 15 feet long
and 2 feet broad by 2 deep. Cut in the rock at intervals of about 8 inches
were two rows of holes, which may have been used for supporting rafters.
The fellahin also pointed out to me two stone vaults, 40 feet long by 12 feet
broad and 7 feet high. The roofs consisted of massive blocks of stone,
which were supported in the case of each vault by five arches, each arch
hewn from a single block of stone 4 feet in breadth, thus leaving a
comparatively narrow inteival between each arch, and forming a chamber
of a very peculiar construction. At Zimmarin (Sheet 8, Kj) the Jews, who
are settled there in a colony, have in the course of their operations also
brought to light a curious chamber, 10 feet by 8 feet and 10 feet deep ; on
three sides it is hewn out of the living rock ; on the longest side have been
cut four rows of eighteen holes, each hole being 6 inches square and about
6 inches deep at the base, but standing upwards ; on the shorter sides there
are four rows of ten holes, each row being about 3 inches above the one
below it. Whether these entered into the construction of the roof of the
chamber or served some religious purpose for which the room may have
been originally designed, I am unable to conjecture. 1 At El Makura, a

1 The survey party came across a number of those rock-hewn chambers along
the ridge running parallel to and near the coast line, having square pigeon- holes
in rows of about the same dimensions; some chambers had steps leading down,
others not. — G.A.

28 ROUND MOUNT CAKMEL.

Khurbet near Ijzim (Sheet 8, J j) I found the largest rock-hewn cistern 1
which I have yet observed in this part of the country. It measured 98
feet long by 40 feet in width. The bottom was so full of undergrowth that
it is impossible to conjecture the real depth, but it was doubtless capable of
containing an abundant supply of water. Should the country ever be re-
populated, many of these ancient cisterns could be utilised. I was myself
fortunate enough to discover a bell-shaped cistern at Dalieh, which only
required cleaning out and re-cementing, in a position which has since
enabled me to turn it to good account ; in excavating near it I came upon
the foundations of an old house, apparently of Byzantine times, which have
since served me for the foundations of a new one, and unearthed twelve
large iron rings, 3 inches in diameter, with iron staples 4 inches long
attached — probably used for fastening horses, some coins of the time of
Constantine, some carved cornices and drafted stones, and a great quantity
of fragments of glass, stems of vases, and rims of drinking goblets, and
heaps of broken pottery, while the neighbouring field is abundantly strewn
with tesserae, giving evidence that the former occupier must have been a
man of means, and that more excavation may bring further evidences of it
to light. In the course of my rides over Carmel I have observed erections 2
which I do not see mentioned in the Survey. The most perfect of these
lies about half-way between Dalieh and the Mahrakah, a little off the mad
to the left, concealed in the thick brushwood. It is a pile of stones 14 feet
square by 12 feet high, the stones averaging 3 feet in length by 2 feet in
breadth and 1 foot in thickness. They have been carefully cut, and laid » i as
zo form a perfect square, but without cement. I have since come upon five
or six similar erections, generally in very remote and unfrequented spots,
and the natives can give me no tradition in regard to them. 3

At Khurbet Keramis, near Umm es Zeinat (Sheet 8, K/), I found two
underground vaults, each 20 feet long by 10 feet broad and 5 feet high ; but
they were much filled with rubbish, also foundations, and drafted stones.
Standing in close proximity to each other were what at first appeared to be
the base of four gigantic columns, as they stood 4 feet high from the
ground and were about 6 feet in diameter ; from the square hole in the
centre of each they appear to have been the lower halves of mills.

A mile and a half, a little to the east of south, of Dalieh er Ruhah (Sheet

8, K k) I found a Khurbet Umm Edd Foof ( ij^\ A where there were

tombs, cisterns, millstones, and the usual foundations and heaps of stone.

At Kushinia, which is situated on Mount Carmel, at an elevation
of about 700 feet above the sea, distant an hour's ride from Haifa,
and described in the Memoirs, I am engaged with a friend in making

1 Marked on the map likt = Birket,

-' Probably old watch lowers (vineyard?), which are found on many of the
spurs of Carmel ; also in the wooded country to the south of Umm el Fahur.
I hey vary in dimensions, but generally measure 12 to 15 feet square of dry
slime masonry. Those in a fair state of preservation are usually found in the
t ickets of copse wood. — G.A. See Mr. Drake's Reports, Quarterly Statement,
1873, p. 31. 3 Usually called El Muntar (watch tower).

BETH HARBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 20

an excavation at the well of Elias, with a view of seeing whether
the spring affords a sufficient amount of water to furnish a supply for
the town of Haifa, in view of the change contemplated by the Government
of moving the seat of the Mutessariflik from Acre to this place. The water
enters the well through an apparently natural tunnel, but has no outlet
from the well itself, which thus becomes a sort of backwater, the native
tradition being that the spring is much further up, and is in fact the source
of a small rivulet, which, after an underground course, reappears in the
gardens below Haifa, and forms there a small lagoon. We first endeavoured
to strike this stream about 20 yards below the well, down the wady, but,
beyond finding some cut stones at a considerable depth, made no discovery.
We then dug in the immediate neighbourhood of the well, and came upon
the roof of an artificial tunnel ; on opening this we found it completely
filled with the soil, which had silted into it, and at a depth of 7 feet from
the surface came upon the stone floor in which a channel had been cut for
the water. As the water in the well was, however, now 4 inches lower than
this channel, we have had to take it up. We followed this tunnel for
10 yards ; the roof was arched and the sides built of stone, both hewn and
unhewn, but without cement. Altogether, we cleared a channel 30 yards
long and 8 feet deep, into which we let the water ; but the operation
of following up the channel, by which it reaches the well, and in which it
somewhere loses a good deal of its volume, is not yet sufficiently completed
to enable us to decide whether it will be worth conveying to Haifa,
a distance of over three miles.

Laurence Oliphant.

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.
CHAPTER I.

1. It was an affirmative command 1 to make a house for the Lord
suitable for offering in it the offerings, and celebrating the feasts thereat,
three times in a year, as is said, " and let them make me a Sanctuary "
(Exod. xxv, 8). The Tabernacle made by Moses our master has already
been described in the Booh of the Law. It was temporary as is said
" for ye are not as yet come," &c. (Leut. xii, 9).

2. After the children of Israel entered the promised land, 2 they placed
the tabernacle at Gilgal for fourteen years, whilst they subdued and
divided the land. And thence they came to Shiloh and built there a house
of stones, and spread the curtains of the Tabernacle over it, and it was not
roofed there. The Tabernacle of Shiloh stood 369 years, and after the
death of Eli it was destroyed, and they came to Nob, and there built a
Sanctuary. After the death of Samuel this was destroyed, and they came

1 H^'y ni^'O. The Rabbis enumerate 613 commandments, of which 24S are
riE^y DI^'O, prcecepta affirmantia, and 365 HCyJl N? JTIVQ, prcecepta pro-
hihentia.

8 " Three commands were given to Israel on their entrance into the land :
to set up a king over them ; to cut off the seed of Amalek ; and to build the
chosen house." — Sanhederim 20 b.

80 BETH HABBECHEEEH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

to Gideon and built there a Sanctuary, and from Gibeon they came to the
eternal house, and the days of Nob and Gibeon were 57 years.

,3. After the Sanctuary was built at Jerusalem, all the other places
were unlawful for building in them a house for the Lord and offering in
them offerings (Deut. xii, 11, 14). And no other was called a house for all
generations, except that at Jerusalem only and on Mount Moriah,' of which
it is said, " then David said, this is the house of the Lord God, and this
is the altar of the burnt offering of Israel" (1 Chron. xxii, 1), and he said
" this is my rest for ever." (Psalm cxxxii, 14.)

4. The building which Solomon built has been already described in the
book of Kings, and the building to be built in the future, although it is
written in Ezekiel, is not fully described and explained. The men of the
second house (which they built in the days of Ezra) built it like the
building of Solomon, and after the appearance of the things 4 explained in
EzekieL

5. And these are the things which were fundamental in the building of
the house. 5 They made in it a holy place, and a holy of holies, and there
was in front of the holy place a certain place which was called the porch,
and these three were called ^VTj hekhal, the Temple." And they made

3 Zevachim xiv, 4. " Before the Tabernacle was erected the high places
were permitted, and the priestly functions were performed by the first-born
of families. After the erection of the Tabernacle the high places were
forbidden, and the priestly functions were performed by the priests ; the most
holy offerings were eaten within the hangings, the less holy in all the camp of
Israel. 5. When they came to Gilgal and made the high places lawful ; the
most holy offerings were eaten within the hangings, the less holy in any place.
6. When they came to Shiloh high places were forbidden. There was no roof
to the Tabernacle there, but a ho\ise of stones below and curtains above. And
this was the ' rest.' (Deut. xii, 9.) The most holy offerings were eaten within
the hangings, and the less holy and the second tithes in any place from which
Shiloh could be seen. 7. When they came to Nob and Gibeon, they permitted
the high places ; the most holy offerings were eaten within the hangings, and
the less holy in all the cities of Israel. 8. And when they came to Jerusalem,
high places were forbidden, and were never afterwards permitted, and this was
the 'inheritance.' (Deut. xii, 9.) The most holy offerings were eaten within
the hangings (i.e., the wall of the court), and the less holy and the second tithes
within the wall" (of Jerusalem — Bashi). The Gamara adds (Zev. 118 b.) :
" The Rabbis teach that the days of the Tabernacle of the congregation in the
wilderness were forty years, less one; the days of the Tabernacle of the con-
gregation at Gilgal fourteen; seven whilst they were subduing, and seven whilst
tliev were dividing, the land, the days of the Tabernacle of the congregation at
Nob and (Sibeon lifty-seven. It remained at Shiloh three hundred and seventy
years less one."

* Or " in some things like."

5 Cf. Biiddoth ii, 5; hi, 1 ; ir, 2.

6 72'n. Hekhal = vaos in its wider sense, as in Joseplms, B. J. V, v, 3. It
were to he wished that the precision of nomenclature here aimed at by our
author had always been observed. But this is far from being the case. The

BETH IIABBECIIEREII, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 31

another outer boundary surrounding the temple distant from it like the
hangings of the court of the Tabernacle which was in the wilderness, and
all that was surrounded by this boundary, 7 which corresponded 8 to the
court of the Tabernacle of the congregation was what was called the court,
and the whole was called the Sanctuary. 9

6. And they made vessels 10 for the Sanctuary, an altar for burnt
sacrifices and other offerings, and a sloping ascent by which they went up
to the altar, and its place was in front of the porch, a little 11 to the south ;
also a laver with its base, to sanctify 1 - from it the hands and feet of the
priests for the service, and its place was between the porch and the altar,
a little to the south, so that it was on the left of a person entering the
Sanctuary ; also they made an altar for incense, and a candlestick and a
table, which three were inside the holy place, in front of the holy of holies.

7. The candlestick stood on the south, to the left of a person entering,
and the table on which was the shewbread to the right, and both of them on
the outer side of the Holy of Holies, and the altar of incense stood
between them both a little to the outside. 13 And they made within 14 the
court boundaries marking the limits of Israel and of the Priests 15 and they
built there houses for the other requirements of the Sanctuary, and each
of these houses was called a chamber. 16

8. When they built the Temple and the court, they built of large
stones, and if they did not find stones, they built of bricks. 17 And they

Talmud repeatedly speaks of the porch and the temple PDTll D1?X (Yoma 12 a,
Megillah 26 a), and Maimonides himself has elsewhere distinguished between
the ^31,-1 and the Holy of Holies {infra, vii, 22).

7 Exodus xxxviii, 9.

8 fJD " like the appearance of."

9 Cf. Middoth ii, 3 ; iv, v, for the contents of thi paragraph. The con-
cluding sentence " and the whole was called the Sanctuary," KHpD, mikdash, is an
inference from such passages as Middoth i, 1.

10 Pots, pans, shovels, tongs, instruments of music, &c. The word Kelim,
qi^3 has a very wide signification. Cf. Exodus xxvii, 19.

11 Literally " drawn to the South."

12 To wash.

13 Literally " the altar of incense drawn from between them both towards the
outside." In Yoma, 33 b, it is said " we are taught that the table was on the
north two cubits and a half from the wall, and the candlestick on the south two
cubits and a half from the wall. The altar was between and stood in the middle
drawn towards the outside," i.e., towards the porch.

14 Literally " in the midst or inside."

15 Middoth ii, 6.

16 n3^'7 liskah. Middoth i, 1, 5, 6; v, 4, and in very many other places in
the Talmud.

17 The opinion that bricks were employed in the construction of the Temple
appears to be derived from a passage in Mechilta (nd*lX rQTD, page 74, Fried-
mann's edition, Vienna 1870), where, commenting on Exodus xx, 25, it is
argued " thou wilt make me an altar of stone " is a permission, not a duty ; and
what but this does it teach ? that if it is desired to make an altar of stone, let it

32 BETH IIABBECHEBEH, OB THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

did not cut the stones of the building in the mountain of the house, but
they cut and fitted them outside, and afterwards brought them in for the
building, as it is said "great stones, costly stones, and hewed stones, to
lay the foundation of the house " (1 Kings v, 17) and, " neither hammer
nor axe, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was in
building' 118 (1 Kings, vi, 7).

be made of stone ; if of bricks, let it be made of bricks. And if this power of
election was permitted in the case of the altar (which was peculiarly sacred), a
fortiori it might be permitted in reference to everything else (Dv3n 73, every
vessel) in the Sanctuary. Yet it is to be observed that the opinion here
expressed in reference to the passage " thou will make me an altar of stone " was
not regarded as authoritative. ( Vide infra, i, 13.)

18 Meehilta, p. 74. The rabbinical writers appear always to assume that
in the building of the second temple, as in the building of the first, the stones
were not cut and dressed on the spot. The great pillar lying within the Russian
compound at Jerusalem, which not improbably was intended for Herod's
cloisters, has its upper surface partially dressed, and the discovery of a flaw
appears to have caused it to be abandomed before completion. Another pillar
of about the same size, smoothed on as much of the surface as could be reached
before the stone was separated from the rock, was discovered a few years ago about
200 yards south-w T est from the same spot, and it hence appears probable that
the great stones of the later temple were dressed in the quarry. The pillar of
smaller size which may be seen still joined to the rock on the north of the old
road to Lifta, although cut into shape, has not been smoothed.

In Sotah, 48 b, is the following passage bearing upon this subject : " After
the Holy House was destroyed the worm Shamir ceased," <fcc. (Mishna ix, 12).
The Rabbis teach that it was by means of the Shamir that Solomon built the
Holy House, as is said, "and the house when it was in building was built of
perfect stone from the quarry " (unbehauene Steine des Steinbruchs — Gesenius)
(1 Kings vi, 7). The words are to be interpreted literally. The words of Rabbi
Judah Rabbi Nehemiah said to him. Is it possible to say so, when it has
been said, all these stones were " costly stones, &c, sawed with a saw ? " (1 Kings
vii, 9), and if so, how are we taught to say that there " was not heard in the
house the sound of hammer, &c, while it was in building?" (1 Kings vi, 7).
Because they prepared the stones outside, and brought them in. (Cf. Meehilta,

eh. riDiK mrD.)

Rab said, " the words of R. Judah appear to refer to the stones of the
Sanctuary, and the words of R. Nehemiah to the stones of his (Solomon's)
house. And in reference to the opinion expressed by R. Nehemiah, for what
purpose did the Shamir come ? It was required for this, as we are taught, that
those stones {the stones of the breast-plate), were net written with ink, because it
is said " like the engravings of a signet" (Exodus xxxix, 14). And they did not
engrave them with a chisel, because it is said "in their fulness" (inclosings
A. V.) (Exodus xxxix, 13), but they wrote upon them with ink and showed the
worm to them from the outside, and they became opened by themselves just as a
fig becomes opened in the hot days, and there was no loss of substance ; like a
plain which becomes channeled in the days of the great rains without loss. The
Rabbis teach thai the Shamir was a creature like a barley corn, and was created
in the six days of the Creation, and there was no hard thing that could stand
before it. How did they preserve it? They wrapped it in a mass (literally

BETH IIABBECHEREII, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 33

9. And they did not build in it any projection of wood, but either of
stones, or of bricks and lime ; ami in all the court they made no porches
(exhedne) of wood, but either of stones or of bricks. 19

10. And they paved the whole court with costly stones, and if a stone
was dislodged, notwithstanding that it remained in its place, it was
profane so long as it moved, and it was unlawful for the officiating
priest to stand upon it at the time of the service until it was fixed in the
earth. 20

11. And it was a command to strengthen in the best manner possible

sponge) of wool, and put it into a leaden casket filled with barley bran." This
worm is said by R. David to have been brought by an eagle from Paradise
(Buxtorf. Lex. Talm. TW).

19 This is founded upon Dent, xvi, 21, which by the Talmudists is held
prohibit tbe placing any wooden erection near the altar (Tamid 28 b). Two
difficulties arise out of this passage, namely, 1, that there was in the south side
of the court a chamber of wood (Midd. v, 4), and 2, that there was, accord-
ing to Middoth, our author, and other writers, a wooden balcony surrounding
the inside of the court of the women. The first is met by supposing that the
chamber in the court was not constructed of wood, but was for the storing of
(picked) wood (Midd. ii, 5) for the altar ; and in reference to the second, it is
suggested, 1, that the expression "near unto the altar of the Lord" was
applicable only to that portion of the temple which was inside of the gate
Nicanor, and 2, that the balconies for the women were only temporary, being
put up for the rejoicings at the Feast of Tabernacles which took place in the beth
hashshaavah which was in the court of the women. (Succah v, 1 ; Piske Tosepb.
ad Midd.) The beams of cedar wood which passed between the front of the
temple and the porch, and the cedar roofs of the little pillars by the slaughtering
place, were not considered to be projections. For the exhedrm in the court see
Tamid i, 3, where it is related that the priests and their overseer, when they
passed out of Moked into the court early in the morning, divided into two
companies, the one going by the exhedra towards the east, and the others going
by the exhedra towards the west." The Gamara explains that these exhedra
were of masonry. Once in seven years, on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles
a pulpit of wood was erected in the court of the women, from which the kin<*
read portions of the law (Sotah vii, 8).

- u Zevachim ii, 1, 24 a. A priest (whilst receiving the blood) might not sit
nor stand upon any vessel, or upon a beast, or upon the foot of a fellow-priest.
If he chose to stand upon one leg whilst performing his service he was at liberty
to do so, but not when he had no service to perform. In connection with the
stones of the pavement the student of the Mishnas will remember the story in
Shekalim vi, 2 : "It happened that as a priest was engaged in his duties he
noticed that one part of the pavement was changed in appearance from the rest.
He came and told his companions, but before he could finish the account he died
and they knew that there the ark was certainly hidden." This priest had a
blemish, and was employed in picking wood for the altar (Midd. ii, 5), and it
was in consequence of this tradition that the families of Gamaliel and Hananiah
were accustomed to make obeisance towards the chamber of wood in the court of
the women.

34 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

the building, and to raise it as high as the means of the congregation
permitted, as is said (Ezra, ix, 9) "to set up the house of our God."
And they adorned and beautified it according to their power, and if they
were able to overlay it with gold 21 and to magnify the work of it, lo, that
was a good deed ! 22

12. They did not build the Sanctuary by night, as is said (Numb,
ix, 15), "on the day that the tabernacle was reared up," by day they
reared it up, not by night. 23 And they were employed in building from
the rising of the morning until the stars came out. 24 And all were obliged
to assist in the building, both by their own individual exertions and by their
means, men and women, as in the Sanctuary in the wilderness. 25 They
did not intermit the instruction of children in the schools for the building, 2 " 1
nor did the building of the Sanctuary annul a feast day.

13. They made the altar of stone 27 masonry only, and that which is
said in the Law, "an altar of earth thou shalt make unto me " (Exod. xx,
24), means that it should be joined to the earth, that they should not build
it either upon arches, or over cavities, 28 and that which is said, " if thou
wilt make me an altar of stone " (Exod. xx, 25), tradition teaches that this
is not a permission but an obligation. 29

21 Solomon overlaid the whole house, the altar, the doors, the cherubim, and
the floor of the house with gold. (1 Kings vi, 22, 28, 30, 32.)

22 ni^'D. Literally " a commandment, ," a good deed prescribed by the law.
- 3 Shevuoth 15 b.

-* Nehemiah iv, 21.

25 Exodus xxxv, 22, 25 ; xxxvi, 8.

26 Shabbath 119 b. " They did not intermit the instruction of children in
the schools, even for the building of the Sanctuary."

Shevuoth 15 b. The work of building the Sanctuary being of less import-
ance than keeping a feast-day was intermitted until the feast-day was over.
- 7 Some copies wrongly read here JT'TJ D'OnX, hewn stones.

28 Mechilta 73 a. Rabbi Ishmael said, " an altar of earth thou shalt make
unto me— an altar joined to the earth thou shalt make unto me, thou shalt not
build it upon arches or upon pillars." The compilers of the Gamara adopted
this opinion (Zevachim 58 a, and 61 b), and Maimonides has followed the Gamara.

29 Mechilta 73 b. " Eabbi Ishmael said every ' if ' in the Law is a permission,
not an obligation, except three : —

1. Leviticus ii, 14. " And if thou offer an offering of thy first-fruits," this
is an obligation. " If thou sayest is it obligation or only a permission ? " we are
taught to say " thou shalt offer for the meat-offering of thy first-fruits" (Exod.
ii, 14 J), which is an obligation, not a permission.

2. Exodus xxii, 25. " If thou lend money to any of my people," &c, this
is an obligation, and if thou sayest " is it an obligation or only a permission ? "
we are taught to say "thou shalt surely lend him" (Dent, xv, 8), which
is an obligation, not a permission.

3. Exodus xx, 25. "If thou wilt make me an allar of stone;" this is
an obligation, and if thou sayest "is it an obligation or only a permission P "
we are taught to say " thou shalt build of whole stones " (Deut. xxvii, G), which
is an obligation, not a permission. {Cf. note 1, page 29.)

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 3'o

14. Every stone which had a flaw in it sufficient to arrest the finger
nail, like the knife for slaughtering, 3 " lo, that was unlawful for the sloping
ascent and for the altar, 31 as is said " thou shalt build the altar of the
Lord thy God of whole stones " (Deut. xxvii, 6). And whence did
they bring the stones of the altar ? From virgin earth, 32 they dug until
they came to a place in which it was evident there had been no work or
building, and they brought out thejstones from it, or from the great sea, 33
and built with them. And the stones of the temple, and of the courts were
also perfect stones. 34

30 Few Jewish observances have been held to be of gi'eater importance than
tbe use of a very sharp knife for slaughtering. Whoever slaughtered without
first causing bis knife to be examined before a rabbi was liable to excommunica-
tion (Cbolin 18 a). One of several methods of examining tbe knife is by
drawing its edge over the finger nail {ibid. 17 b, where the subject is discussed
at length). " And what constituted a flaw in tbe altar ? " As much unevenness
of surface as arrested tbe finger-nail. They repeat, what constituted a flaw in
the altar ? R. Simeon ben Jocbai said as much as a handbreadtb. R. Eleazer
ben Jacob said as much as an olive. There is here no contradiction. This (the
opinions of R. Simeon and R. Jacob) refers to tbe lime, and that (the opinion
first expressed) to the stones (Cbolin 18 a).

31 That the same rule applied to tbe sloping ascent as to tbe altar appears from
Middotb hi, 4.

32 " The virginity of the earth," J?p"lpn TO^TQ. |», Middotb. iii, 4.

33 In the Tosefoth to Cbolin (18 a) it is enquired how they built the altar of
smooth stones since they were not permitted to use an iron instrument for
smoothing them, and the shamir could not make them so smooth that tbe
finger-nail would not be arrested in passing over them, and says that tbe
meaning of tbe passage in Zevacbim (54 a) is that they built of small stones in
which was no flaw, like tbe stones of a torrent, ~>j"\y Tbe notion that stones
were brought from " the great sea " appears to depend upon the interpretation
of tbe word rilD^IBD (Zevacbim 54 a), which is from a root signifying fresh,
moist. " Bohu, 1 !~ID. (A.V., void, Genesis i, 2), means those recent stones which
were sunk in the abyss, and from winch the waters flowed" (Chagigah 12 a) ; and
the gloss says, nitD^lDE (^ ue W01 'd in question), has the meaning of moist or
recent, ni"?n^- ,

34 Maimonides does not mean here by the expression niQvt? D*33S "perfect
stones," that the stones of the temple and courts were not hewn, but that they
were highly finished. (Cf Tamid 26 b, and the gloss ; also Sotah 48 b, quoted
above, and Mechilta 74.)

" He that did not see the Sanctuary, with its buildings, never saw beautiful
building. Which building was it ? Abai said, and some say that R. Khasdai
said that was the building of Herod. Of what did he build it ? Rabba s.iid
fcO»-|Dl K5W D'OnKn, of different kinds of marble. Some say KB»B> ^383
X1D1D1 vni3 of coloured marble] andjwhite marble. One lip projected and one
lip receded in order that it might receive the lime (plaster). He thought to
overlay it with gold, but the Rabbis said to him let it be, it is very beautiful so,
for its appearance is like the waves of the sea " (Succah 51 b ; Baba Bathra 4 a).
The gloss of Rashi adds " iW&^sMsha, coloured marble, neither white nor

D 2

36 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

15. Stones of the temple and courts which became broken or cut were
unlawful, and they could not be redeemed, but where laid by and preserved. 35
Every stone which iron had touched, even though it was not cut, became
unlawful for the building of the altar, and the building of the sloping
ascent, 36 as is said " for if thou lift up thy tool upon it thou hast polluted
it" (Exod. xx, 25), and whoever should build a stone which iron had
touched into the altar was beaten, as is said " thou shalt not build it of
hewn stone " (Exod. xx, 25) ; and whoever built in a stone with a flaw
transgressed an affirmative command. 37

16. A stone which became broken or touched by iron after being built
into the altar or the sloping ascent was unlawful, and the rest were lawful.
They whitened the altar twice a year at Passover, and at the Feast of
Tabernacles. And when they whitened it, they whitened it with a cloth,
and not with an iron trowel, lest it should touch a stone and defile. 38

17. They did not make stairs to the altar, as is said " neither shalt
thou go up by steps unto mine altar " (Exod. xx, 26), but they built a kind
of mound on the south of the altar diminishing and descending from the
top of the altar to the ground, and this is what was called Kebesh, 39 and
whoever ascended by steps to the altar was beaten. And whoever should
pull down a stone from the altar or from any part of the temple, or from
between the porch and the altar with the view of injuring it was beaten,
as is said " Ye shall overthrow their altars," &c, and " ye shall not do so
unto the Lord your God " 40 (Deut. xii, 3, 4) .

black, but a kind of yellow, plT 1 , culled in the barbarian tongue bis. &O0~l0,
mannora, white marble. N?ni3> Koch a la, marble coloured, as if stained. " One
lip projected," one row of stones went in and one went out. " Like the waves of
the sea," because the stones differed in appearance one from another, and the eye
in contemplating them moved to and fro, and they appeared like those waves of
the sea which are moved and agitated."

35 That is, they could not be sold or used for any other purpose (Tosefta
Megillah, ch. 2).

36 Middoth iii, 4.

37 Deuteronomy xxvii, 6. " Thou shalt build the altar of the Lordthy God
of whole stones."

38 Middoth iii, 4. It happened once at the Feast of Tabernacles that the
officiating priest poured the water upon his leg, and the people pelted him with
their lemons (" and with stones," gloss) and caused a flaw in the horn of the
altar, which they stopped up with a mass of salt (Succah 48 b ; Zevach. 62 a).

39 Middoth iii, 4 ; Zevachim 62 b. " The Kebesh was on the south of the
altar."

40 Sifre, page 87, Friedmann's edition, Vienna, 1864. Whence do we learn
that to take away a stone from the Temple, or from the altar, or from the courts
is a transgression of a negative commandment ? The doctrine is to say " ye
shall overthrow their altars," and "ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God "
(Deut. xii, 3, 4). Why Maimonides has here mentioned the space between
the porch and the altar instead of the courts, does not appear. In the corres-
ponding passage in his treatise, minn HID*, 6, 7, he bus "from the altar, or
from the Temple, or from the rest of the court."

BETH IIABBECHEREII, OB THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 37

18. The candlestick and its vessels, the table of shewbread and its vessels,
and the altar of incense and all the vessels of service, they made of metal
only. And if they were made of wood, or bone, or stone, or of glass, they
were unlawful. 41

19. If the congregation ~>|-Jp was poor, they made them even of tin,
and if they became rich, they made them of gold, even the basins, and
the flesh hooks, and the shovels of the altar of burnt-offering. And if the
community had the power, they made the measures of gold. Even the
gates of the court they covered with gold if they were able. 42

20. All the vessels of the Sanctuary were made expressly for sacred
use, and such as were made for ordinary piu'poses could not be used for
sacred purposes. Sacred vessels which had not yet been used for sacred
purposes might be used for ordinary purposes, but after they had been
used for sacred purposes, it was unlawful to use them for ordinary purposes.
Stones and beams cut for a synagogue could not be employed for a building
in the mountain of the house. 43

CHAPTEE II.

1. The position of the altar was determined with great care, 1 nor did
they ever change it from its place, as is said, " this is the altar of the
burnt offering for Israel " (1 Chron. xxii, 1). And in the sanctuary Isaak
our father was bound, as is said, " and get thee into the land of Moriah "
(Gen. xxii, 2), and it is said in the Chronicles (2 iii, 1), " then Solomon
began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah,
where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David
had prepared in the threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite."

2. And it is a constant tradition 2 that the place in which David and
Solomon built the altar in the threshing-floor of Araunah is the place
in which Abraham built the altar and bound upon it Isaac. And it
is the place in which Noah built when he went out of the ark, and

41 The question of what material it was lawful to make the candlestick is
discussed in Menachoth 28 b. The prevailing opinion of the Eabbis was that
if made of wood, or of bone, or of glass, it was unlawful.

42 " Because they saw the Qesh-hooks were of iron they covered them with tin ;
when they became rich they made them of silver ; and when they again became
rich they made them of gold" (Menachoth 28 h ; Avodah Zarah 43 a ; Eosh
Hashshanah 24 b). " Monbaz (Monobasus) the king made all the bandies of the
vessels of the Day of Atonement of gold, and Helena, his mother, made the
candlestick of gold which was at the door of the temple " (Yorna iii, 10). That
tbe gates of the court were covered with gold is related in Middoth ii, 3.

43 The authority for this paragraph is Tosefta Megillah c, 2. But in the
Tosef fa there is no mention of stones, &c, prepared for a synagogue ; the passage
runs, " stones and beams cut for an ordinary building" &c.

1 " Three prophets came up with them from the captivity .... one
testified to them respecting the place of the altar" (Zevachim 62 a).
' ^GH T3 miDO- A tradition by the hand of all.

38 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

it is the altar upon which Cain and Abel offered, and there [cp] the first
Adam offered an offering 3 after he was created, and from there he was
created. The wise men have said that Adam was created from the place
of his redemption. 4

3. The measures of the altar were carefully studied and its form was
known traditionally. And the altar which the sons of the captivity built
they made like the appearance of the altar which is to be built in the
future, and nothing is to be added to its measure nor diminished from
it! 3

4. And three prophets came up with them from the captivity ; one
testified to them respecting the place of the altar, one testified to them
respecting its measures, and one testified to them that they should
offer upon that altar all the offerings, even though there was no house
there. 6

5. The altar which Moses made, and that which Solomon made, and
that which the children of the captivity made, and that which is to
be made in the future all are ten cubits high, each one of them, and that
which is written in the Law, "and the height thereof shall be three

3 Pirke R. Eliezer, eh. 31 ; Yalkut Simeon, )<t^ NTl. 101 - The latter does
not mention Adam but only Cain, Abel, and Noah.

4 " And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground " (G-enesis ii, 7).
" Kabbi Judah ben Pazy said the Holy One, blessed be He, took one spoonful,
^Pl^, «p<|^]-| xSo> from the place of the altar and created from it the first Adam "
(Jems. Nazir 56 a, 2 (19 a)). TlllD has been used as synonymous with p^, the
famous incorruptible bone from which the body is to be rehabilitated at the
Resurrection (Buxtorf Lex. Talm. 2616).

" The learned Rabbins of the Jews
Write there's a bone, which they call leuz,
I' th' rump of man, of such a virtue,
No force in nature can do hurt to ;
And therefore at tho last great day,
All tli' other members shall, they say,
Spring out of this, as from a seed
All sorts of vegetals proceed ;
From whence the learned sons of art
Os sacrum justly stile that part." — Hudibras, iii, 2.

5 Cf. Menachoth 97 and 98.

r ' Zevachim 62 a. " Three prophets came up with them from the captivity ;
one who testified to them respecting the altar, and one who testified to them
respecting the place of the altar, and one who testified to them that they
should offer offerings even though there was no house . . . Rabbi
Eliezer ben Yacob said three prophets came up with them from the captivity,
one who testified to them respecting the altar and the place of the altar, and one
who testified to them that they should offer offerings, even though there was no
house, and one who testified to them respecting the law, that it should be
written in the Assyrian character [i.e. square Hebrew]." These prophets were
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi (Rashi).

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 39

cubits" (Exod. xxvii, 1), refers to the place of the pile [fire] only. 7
And the altar which the children of the captivity made, and also that
which is to be built in the future, the measure of its length and of its
breadth is two and thirty cubits by two and thirty cubits. 8

6. Of the ten cubits in the height of the altar some were of five
handbreadths and some of six handbreadths, and all the rest of the cubits
of the building were of six handbreadths, and the height of the whole
altar was fifty-eight handbreadths. 9

7. And thus was its measure and its form. It rose five handbreadths
and receded five ; this was the foundation. The breadth was now thirty

7 Zevachim 59 b. The doctrine is that the words " and three cubits the
height thereof " [Exod. xxxviii, 1], are to be taken literally. The words of Eabbi
Judah. Eabbi Jose said " it is said here 'foursquare,' and it is said there 'four-
square ' [Exod. xxxvii, 25, in reference to the altar of incense], as there its
height was twice its length, so here twice its length." Eabbi Judah said to him,
" and is it not said ' and the court an hundred cubits ' [Exod. xxvii, 18 ; xxxviii,
9], and ' the height five cubits,' &c. [Exod. xxxviii, 18]. Possibly the priest
standing upon the top of the altar performing his service all the people could see
him from without." Eabbi Jose said to him, " and is it not said ' and the
hangings of the court, and the curtain of the door of the court, which is by the
tabernacle and by the altar ' [Numb, hi, 26], as the tabernacle was ten cubits
[Exod. xxvi, 16], so also the altar was ten cubits, and it is said ' the hangings of
one side fifteen cubits' (Exod. xxvii, 14), and what is the meaning of what we
are taught to say ' five cubits ? ' from the border of the altar upward ; and
what is the meaning of what we are taught to say ' and three cubits its height ? '
from the border of the circuit 221D upward." Eashi adds this comment, "from
the border of the altar upward : upward from the altar its height was five cubits.
From the border of the circuit upward : to the place of the horns [three cubits]
and downward from it six cubits, and the height of the horn a cubit," which
make up the ten. For the height of Solomon's " altar of brass " see 2 Chronicles
iv, 1 ; for that of the altar to be built in the future, Ezekiel xliii, 14, 15.

8 Middoth iii, 1. In Ezekiel xliii, 16, it is said " and the altar shall be twelve
cubits long, twelve broad, square in the four squares thereof," and the Talmudists
in reference to this passage say "it might be that it was only twelve by twelve,
but when he said ' in the four squares thereof ' it is understood that from the
middle he measured twelve cubits to each side." (Menachoth 97 b ; Zevachim
59 b ; cf. Lightfoot 1131). This measurement refers to the upper part of the
altar [^ijOK> Ariel], and if correct, the lower part, or foundation, would of course
be of the dimensions given in the text, namely thirty-two cubits by thirty-two.

9 Menachoth 97a. "It is taught there (Kelini xvii, 9), that Rabbi Meyer
said all the cubits of the Sanctuary were medium cubits, except those of the
golden altar, and the horn, and the circuit, and the foundation. Eabbi Judah
said the cubit of the building was six handbreadths, and that of the vessels five."
Eashi explains that the horn, circuit, and foundation are those of the altar of
burnt-offering, and that the medium cubit was of six handbreadths. The question
of the number of handbreadths in the various parts of the altar is then discussed
at length. "The altar, how many handbreadths had it? Fifty-eight" (ibid.
98 a). The handbreadth was four fingerbreadths.

40 BETH HABBECHEEEH, OE THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

cubits and two handbreadths by thirty cubits and two handbreadths. It
rose thirty handbreadths and receded five handbreadths, this was the
circuit. It rose eighteen handbreadths, this was the place of the pile. Its
breadth was now twenty-eight cubits and four handbreadths by twenty-
eight cubits and four handbreadths. 10 It rose eighteen handbreadths, and
there receded at the corner of the eighteen 11 handbreadths a square hollow
structure at each of the four corners, 12 and the place of the horns was
a cubit on this side and a cubit on that side all round, and also the place
of the feet of the priests a cubit all round, so that the breadth of the
place of the pile was twenty-four cubits and four handbreadths by twenty-
four cubits and four handbreadths.

8. The height of each horn was five handbreadths, and the square of
each horn a cubit by a cubit, and the four horns were hollow within, 13 and
the height of the place of the pile was eighteen handbreadths, so that
half the height of the altar from the end WQ of the circuit downward 14
was twenty-nine handbreadths. 15

9. A red line encircled the middle of the altar (six handbreadths
below the end of the circuit) to divide between the upper and the lower
bloods, 16 and its height from the earth to the place of the pile was nine
cubits less a handbreadth. 17

10 Menachoth 97 b : cf. Midd. iii, 1. The difference between the measure-
ments given in the Gemara of Menachoth and those given in Middoth arises
from the difference in the length of the cubits. The compilers of the Garnara
appear to have held that the measurements of Middoth were not intended to be
minutely accurate.

11 From the circuit upwards to the place of the pile being three cubits, and
all the cubits of the height except those of the foundation and horn being cubits
of six handbreadths, it follows that from the circuit to the place of the pile was
eighteen handbreadths.

12 Zevachim 54 b.

13 Zevachim 54 b.

14 The circuit seems to have been reckoned as being one cubit of five hand-
breadths broad and one cubit of six handbreadths high, and hence the
expression " from the end of the circuit downward."

15 Menachoth 98 a. " The middle of the altar, how many handbreadths was
it high ? Twenty -nine. From the horns to the circuit, how many handbreadths ?
Twenty-three. How many less than to the middle of the altar ? Six. Hence
in Zevachim 65 a, and Menachoth 97 b and 98 a it is said that if the priest
standing upon the circuit sprinkled the (lower) blood one cubit below his feet
it was lawful.

16 Middoth iii, 1 ; Menachoth 97 b. " The blood of a sin offering of a bird
was sprinkled below, and that of a sin offering of a beast above. The blood of
a burnt offering of a bird was sprinkled above, and that of a bmmt offering of a
beast below." (Kinim i, 1 ; cf. Zevach. ii, 1 ; vi, 2 ; and vii, 2.) In Zevachim
10 b and 53 «, it is said " the upper blood was put above the red line, the lower
blood below the red line." Rabbi Eleazer, son of Rabbi Simeon, held that the
blood of a sin offering of a beast might be put only on the body of the horn or
corner, ^ fy nD13 L,y.

17 The height of the altar from the ground to the pile was eight cubits of six

BETH HABBECHEKEH, OB THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 41

10. The foundation of the altar did not surround its four sides like
the circuit, hut the foundation extended along the whole of the north and
west sides, and took up on the south one cubit, and on the east one cubit,
and the south-eastern corner had no foundation. 18

handbreadtks each, and one cubit (the lower) of five handbreadths, so that it fell
one handbreadth short of nine medium cubits. The tenth cubit was the
horn.

18 "And the foundation extended all along on the north and all along on the
west sides of the altar, and took up on the south one cubit and on the east one
cubit" (Midd. iii, 1). "And there was no foundation to the south-eastern
corner. What was the reason ? Rabbi Eleazer said because it was not in the
portion of the ravener [i.e., Benjamin: "Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf,"
Gen. xlix, 27], as said Eab Samuel son of Eab Isaak, the altar took up of the
portion of Judah a cubit. Rabbi Levi son of Khama said, Rabbi Khama son of
Rabbi Khaninah said, a strip [yi^"l a strap] went out from the portion of
Judah and entered the portion of Benjamin, and Benjamin the righteous was
grieved thereat, every day desiring to take it, as is said " he fretted thereat every
day " (Deut. xxxiii, 12 ; A.V. " the Lord shall cover him all the day long ")
wherefore Benjamin the righteous was judged worthy to become the dwelling-
place of the Holy One, blessed be He, as is said " and he shall dwell between his
shoulders " (Deut. xxxiii, 12). (Zevach. 53 b, 118 b ; Yoma 12 a ; Megillah 26 a.)
" What was in the portion of Judah ? The mountain of the house, the chambers,
and the courts. What was in the portion of Benjamin ? The porch, the Temple,
and the Holy of Holies, and a strip went out," &c. (Yoma and Megillah, loc.
cit.) Rashi explains (Zevach. 53 b) that the eastern part of the mountain of the
house, including the entrance, is here meant, that the chambers were those in
the chel, and that all the court of the women, and the twenty-two cubits of the
place for the tread of the priests and of Israel were called the courts. " Thus,"
he continues, " the portion of Judah was on the east of the altar and by its side,
and the altar took up of his portion a cubit on the east. With the exception of
the cubit of the north-eastern corner, all this side was in the portion of Judah,
which cubit was distant from the corner a cubit. And the strip went out at the
south of the altar and entered the portion of Benjamin, for from the place of
the tread of the i^'iests and upward was the portion of Benjamin at the south
of the altar, and the altar took up of it a cubit, and this was the cubit, JID'OS NTItJ',
i"Q nVil? ""IKI TDS"1, in which would have been the receding of the founda-
tion had there been a foundation there, as Mar said (Midd. iii, 1), 'it ascended
a cubit and receded a cubit, this was the foundation.' " Some confusion has
arisen in reference to this curious point in consequence of the passage in
Middoth iii, 1, PIOX DTI 3 7D1N1, having been translated "but on the south it
wanted one cubit, and on the east one cubit" (Lightfoot 1131), instead of "on
the south it took up (or included) one cubit," &c. Rashi (Zevach. 54 a) says,
" at the south-eastern corner it [i.e., the foundation] extended along the eastern
side a cubit and no more," and again, in allusion to the projection of the sloping
ascent towards the foundation on the south, "towards the place where the
receding of the foundation was adapted to be, but it was not there." Another
note of Rashi' s may be added here, " they made a kind of small projection
opposite that (the south-easternl corner to receive the blood of the burnt

42 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

11. At the south-western corner were two apertures, like two small
nostrils, and these are what were called sheteen, pj""p^) canals, and by
them the bloods descended and became mixed at that corner in the
cesspool, and went out to the Valley of Kedron. 19

offerings of birds, that it might not fall upon the ground, and this was called
PQTOn "Vp, the side of the altar (Levit. t, 9), but it was not called the founda-
tion." Tbis side of the altar is mentioned in Menacboth 98 b and Zevaehim
65 a {see the note of Bartenora on Kinini i, 1). The space between horn and
born is called by the Talmudists 2^3"0, Ki/rJcoob. The Gemara, in Zevaehim
62 a, enquires " wbat was the KirTcoob [A.V. "compass," Exod. xxvii, 5,
xxxviii, 4] ? Rabbi said it was the ornamented band, "iVD. Rabbi Jose, son of
Rabbi Judab, said it was the circuit, Q31D .... Wbat was tbe Kirkoob 1
Between horn and horn, tbe place of the path for the feet of tbe priests a cubit,
because the priests were accustomed to go between born and horn, therefore it is
said the place of the path for the feet of the priests a cubit (Middoth hi, 1),
and it is written " a brazen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath
unto the midst of it" (Exod. xxxviii, 4). Rab Nachman bar Isaak said there
were two, one for ornament, and one for the priests that they should not slip
off." The gloss of Rashi explains that upon the top of the altar there was
" a kind of deep channel, "pDJ? V1"in, between the place of the pile and the edge
of the altar all round and surrounding the place of the pile, and the breadth of
the channel was two cubits, one cubit that part which was between the horns,
and one cubit that which formed the path for the priests," and a few lines
above this passage he says " and there was a slight eminence aroiind it at the
edge of the altar." In reference to the network of brass, the same commentator
sajs " the grate of the network of brass which they put under the compass of the
altar below as far as its middle surrounded the altar from its middle upward.
It was clothed and as it were surrounded with a grating which was made
with many holes, D"Op3 D^QpJ, like a sieve or fishing net, and it reached upward
as far as to below the compass Kirkoob'''' There were two sur-
roundings to the altar which Moses made, one for ornament, and one for the
priests that they should not slip off. The latter extended round the side, *pp,
from the point where it was six cubits high [i.e., the circuit] .... That
for ornament was the " circuit," 321D, and the "ornamented band, " pV3, about
which Rabbi and R. Jose bar Jehudah disputed, and below that circuit they
put the grating, and its breadth reached downward to the middle of the altar,
and it was a sign to distinguish between the upper and the lower bloods, as is
said in Zevaehim 53 a ... . "And one for the priests that they should
not slip off ; " " and above on the top of the altar the depression surrounded it like
a kind of depressed channel, a slight thing the edge of which might form a little
parapet so thai the priests should not slip." In reference to the statement that
the priests could go between horn and horn be remarks, " the true path for the
feet of the priests was inside the space between horn and horn, between the horn
and the pile."

u Middoth iii, 2; cf. Yoma v, 6, and Meilah iii, 3. These holes were
distinct froni the two basins or funnels of silver or lime each with a perforated
nozzle for the drink offerings. These latter appear to have been on the south-
western part of the altar, since the priest went up by the sloping ascent and

BETH HABBECHEEEH, Oli THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 43

12. Below in the pavement at that corner was a place a cubit by a
cubit, and a slab of marble with a ring fixed to it, by which they went
down to the canal and cleansed it. 20

13. And a sloping ascent 21 was built to the south of the altar, Its length
thirty-two cubits by a breadth of sixteen cubits, and it took up upon the
ground thirty cubits by the side of the altar, and there was an extension
from it a cubit over the foundation, and a cubit over the circuit, 22 and a
small space separated between the sloping ascent and the altar sufficient
for the pieces of the sacrifices to be put upon the altar by throwing. 2 *
And the height of the slojnng ascent was nine cubits less a sixth to
opposite the pile. 24

14. And two small inclines proceeded from it by which they went to
the foundation and the circuit, and they were separated from the altar

turned to the left to reach them. The western one was for the water, the
eastern one for the wine, and the latter had a larger hole than the other
because the wine being thicker than the water took longer to run through. It
is uncertain whether they were of silver or of lime blackened to Jook like silver.
The libamina poured into these vessels ran down iipon "the roof of the altar,
and thence through a hole in the altar to the canals of the altar which were
hollow and very deep " (Succah iv, 9, and 48 b ; cf. Bartenora in loc. ; and also
Midd. hi, 2), where the hole in the altar is said to have been four cubits from
its southern side, and the cavity beneath also to have extended thus far.

20 Middoth hi, 3 ; cf Meilah iii, 3. pjVB', shitin, seems to have been the
upper and smaller canal, or receptacle, and HON, amah, a larger and lower
cavity, whence issued the sewer, a cubit square, through which the water of the
court and the blood ran down to the Kidron valley {cf. E. Shemaiah in
Middoth iii, 2). It does not appear they went into the !"|ft{<, or lower cavity,
to cleanse it. This seems to have been always sufficiently flushed by the water
of the court.

81 "Thou shaft not go up by steps unto mine altar" (Exod. xx, 20) : hence
they said let a sloping ascent be made to the altar (Mechilta, nCHX rQTD). For
the measurements of the sloping ascent see Midd. iii, 3 ; Zevach. 62 b.

22 Cf. Midd. v, 2, where it is said " the sloping ascent and the altar measured
sixty-two " cubits (upon the ground) . The altar was thirty-two cubits in length,
and the sloping ascent therefore only thirty at its base. The remaining two cubits
were those of the part which projected forward towards the altar over the
foundation and the circuit, and, a.s Rashi expresses it, " were swallowed up in the
thirty-two cubits of the altar" (Zevach. 54 a, 62 b).

23 It was required that the pieces of the burnt offerings should be thrown
upon the altar, " as the blood was put upon the altar by throwing, np'HT, so also
the flesh by throwing." (Zevach. 62 b ; cf. note on the signification of the word
pit in "The Speaker's Commentary," introduction to Leviticus.) Hence a
partition space was necessary between the ascent and the altar itself (Zevach.
62 b), across which the priest standing upon the ascent might throw the pieces
{cf Tamid vii, 3).

24 Vide supra, 9. The sixth of a medium cubit was a handbreadth, and it was
wanting in the height of the pile because the foundation was only a cubit of five
handbreadths high.

4-4 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

by the thickness of a thread. 25 And there was a cavity, a cubitfby a cubit,
on the west of the sloping ascent, and it was called rQ"Q*)> rebubah, and
in it they [placed birds found unfit for the sin offering, 26 until they became
decomposed, and were taken out to the place of burning. 27

15. And there were two tables on the west of the sloping ascent, one
of marble upon which they placed the pieces of the sacrifices, and one of
silver, upon which they placed the vessels of service. 28

16. When they built the altar they built it entirely solid, like a kind
of pillar, and they made no cavity whatever in it, but brought perfect
stones, large and small, and brought lime and pitch and lead, and
moistened it, and poured it into a large frame of the measure of the altar,
and built and raised it. And at the south-eastern corner they put a
frame [W\%, body] of wood or stone, of the measure of the foundation, into
the midst of the building, and likewise they put a frame into the middle
of each horn until they finished the building, and the frames which were
in the midst of the building took away so much as to leave the south-
eastern corner without foundation, and the horns remained hollow. 29

17. The four horns of the altar, and its foundation, and its square,
were essential ; 30 and every altar which had not horn, foundation, sloping
ascent, and square, lo, that was unlawful, because these four were

25 Zevach. 62 b. One of these inclines was on the east and led to the circuit,
and the other on the west leading to the foundation. " A burnt offering of
birds, bow was it made? He went up by the sloping ascent, turned to the
circuit and came to the south-eastern horn" (ib. vi, 5). Eashi upon this point
says " that by which they went to the circuit proceeded from the eastern side of
the sloping ascent to the right .... and that which led to the founda-
tion proceeded from the west of the sloping ascent" {ib. 62 b). The slope of
these small inclines was one in three, that of the large sloping ascent to the altar
" one cubit in three cubits and a half and a fingerbreadth and a third of a
fingerbreadth " (i b. 63 a, and the gloss). The large ascent was made with a
gentler slope in order that the priests carrying the heavy pieces of the sacrifices
might go up more easily. It was the custom to strew it with salt in rainy
weather in order to render it less slippery (G-rubin x, 14, and 104 a).

~ 6 Middoth iii, 3.

27 " Rabbi Ishmael son of Eabbi Johanan ben Baruka said there was a hollow
place there to the west of the sloping ascent, and it was called rDITI. rabtichah,
and there they threw the defiled of the sin offerings of birds until they became
decomposed and were carried out to the place of burning" (Tosefta Korbanoth 7).
Some read PI3133j hollow, for ri212"l- The rabubah was in the ascent itself.
The dimensions given were those of the opening ; the size of the cavity is not
known, but it is believed to have been large (cf. Aruch and Bartenora, and
Toscf. Yom Tov to Midd. iii, 3).

2b Shekalim vi, 4. The vessels were those ninety-three of silver and gold
which were brought out of the chamber of vessels at the commencement of the
morning sacrifice (cf. Tamid iii, 4, and Bartenora on the passage in Shekalim).

- ' Zen achim, 54 a, b.

M p2HyO> delaying, because the altar could not be considered as complete
until they were made.

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 45

essential, but the measure of its length, and the measure of its breadth,
and the measure of its height were not essential, and that which was not
less than a cubit by a cubit and three cubits high, was like the measure
of the place of the pile of the altar in the wilderness. 31

18. An altar which had a flaw in its masonry, if the flaw in its
masonry was a handbreadth, it was unlawful, if less than a handbreadth,
lawful, provided that in the remainder there was no stone with a flaw in
it. 3 -

CHAPTER III.

1. The form of the candlestick is explained in the Law. There were
four bowls, and two knops, and two flowers in the shaft of the candlestick,
as it is said (Exodus xxv, 34) "and in the candlestick four bowls, made
like unto almonds with their knops and their flowers." And there was
yet a third flower joined to the shaft of the candlestick, as it is said
(Numbers viii, 4) " unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof."

2. And it had three feet, and there were three other knops to the shaft
of the candlestick, and from them the six branches issued, three on this
side, and three on that side, and upon each of these branches were three
bowls, and a knop and a flower, and all were shaped like almonds in their
structure.

3. Thus all the bowls were twenty-two, and the flowers nine, and the
knops eleven. And all of these delayed the one the other, 1 and if even
one of the forty-two was wanting it delayed the whole. 2

4. To what do these words refer ? To the case in which they made the
candlestick of gold ; but when it was of other kinds of metal they did not
make for it bowls, knops, and flowers. And the candlestick which is to
come will be all of gold one talent with its lamps ; and it will be all of
beaten work from the mass. And of other metals they did not prescribe
the weight. 3 And if it was hollow it was lawful.

5. And they never made it of old materials whether it was of gold or
of other kinds of metal. 4

6. The tongs and the snuff dishes and oil vessels were not included in
the talent, for lo, it is said of the candlestick "pure gold" (Exod. xxv, 31),
and again it says, and the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof " pure

31 " Eab Khama bar Gorcah said the p'VTJ pieces of wood which Moses made
for the pile were a cubit long and a cubit broad," and this was regarded as the

measure of the HDiyO pile, or fire (Zevach. 62 a, b).

32 Cholin 18 a. " How much constitutes a flaw in the altar ? As much as
will arrest the finger-nail. They repeat, how much constitutes a flaw in the
altar ? Rabbi Simeon ben Yochai said a handbreadth. R. Eleazer ben Yacob
said as much as an olive. There is no contradiction, the one refers to the lime,
the other to the stones."

1 Menachoth 28 a, b.

2 Tosefta Menachoth 6.

3 Menachoth 2S a, b.

4 Menachoth 28 a.

46 BETH HABBECHEKEH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

gold" (ib. 38) ; aud it is not said its lamps pure gold, because the lamps
were fixed to the candlestick and were included in the talent. 5

7. The seven branches of the candlestick hindered the one the other,
and its seven lamps hindered the one the other, whether 6 they were of
gold or of another kind of metal. And all the lamps were fixed to the
branches. 7

8. All the six lamps which were fixed to the six branches which issued
from the candlestick had their faces towards the middle lamp, which vxis
upon the shaft of the candlestick, and that middle lamp had its face
towards ~\^2 the Holy of Holies, and it is that which was called the
western lamp. 8

9. The bowls resembled Alexandrian cups, of which the mouth is broad
and the bottom narrow. And the knops were like apples of Kirjathaim, 9
which are of little length, like an egg broad at its two ends ; 10 and the
flowers, like the flowers of pillars, which are like a kind of saucer with the
lips turned outwards. 11

10. The height of the candlestick was eighteen handbreadths. The legs
and the flower three handbreadths, and two handbreadths plain, and a
handbreadth in which were a bowl, a knop, and a flower, and two hand-
breadths plain, and a handbreadth a knop, and two branches issued from
it one on each side and were extended upwards to opposite the summit of
the candlestick, and a handbreadth plain, and a handbreadth a knop, and
two branches issued from it one on each side and were extended upwards
to opposite the summit of the candlestick, and a handbreadth plain, and a
handbreadth a knop, and two branches issued from it one on each side
and were extended upwards to opposite the summit of the candlestick,
and two handbreadths plain. There remained three handbreadths, in
which were three bowls, a knop, and a flower. 12

11. And there was a stone in front of the candlestick and in it three
steps, upon which the priest stood and trimmed the lamps, and he put
upon it the vessel of oil and its tongs and the snuff dishes at the time of
the trimming. 13

5 Menachoth 88 b. E. Uehemiah was of opinion that the lamps were not
included in the talent.

15 Menachoth iii, 7.

7 " At the top of each branch was a lamp like a cup and there they put the
oil and the wicks" (Rashi in Menach. 28 a).

' Menaduth 98 b, and the comment of Rashi.

9 Joshua xiii, 19, &c. Cariathaini is mentioned by Eusebius as a village near
Medoba and Baris.

lu For the signification of the word jHD, rf. a passage in Avodah Sarah 40 a,
and the note of Rashi ; also Aruch and Euxtorf, s.v.

11 Menachoth 28 b, and the comment of Raahi. The remark that the
flowers were Like little dishes or saucers seems to be Maimonides' own.

'- Menachoth 28 6.

1 Daiuid iii, 9. The Minima says that he left the oil vessel, T13, on this
.-tune, but does not mention his patting the tongs and snail'-dishes upon it.

BETH HABBECHEREII, OK THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 47

12. The tabic of shewbread was twelve handbreadths long and six
handbreadths broad. 14 It was placed with its length parallel to the length
of the house, and its breadth to the breadth of the house, and so all the
other " vessels " which were in the Sanctuary, their length was parallel
to the length of the house, and their breadth to the breadth of the house,
except the arc, the length of which was parallel to the breadth of the
house. 15 And also the lamps of the candlestick were opposite to the breadth
of the house between the north and the south. 1 ' 1

13. There were for the table four golden rods cleft at their tops,
against which rested the two piles of shewbread, two for each pile, and
these are what are mentioned in the Law as "the covers thereof," Vmil^p-

14. And it had twenty-eight golden reeds, each one of them like the
half of a hollow reed, fourteen for the one pile and fourteen for the other
pile, and these are what are called the " bowls thereof," "pjlVp-^-

15. And the two censers in which they put the incense upon the
table by the side of the piles are what were called " the spoons thereof,"
Vm^O- -^nd tne m0U1( -ls m which they made the shewbread are what
were called " the dishes thereof," YTlY^j}" Tne fourteen reeds were
thus arranged : the first cake was placed upon the table itself, and
between the first and the second were put three reeds, and also between
each two cakes three reeds, but between the sixth and fifth, two reeds

14 Menach. xi, 5. " The table was ten handbreadths long and five broad.

Rabbi Meyer said the table was twelve handbreadths long and six

broad." In the first statement the cubit is taken to be a small one of five hand-
breadths, in the second a medium cubit of six handbreadths. The decision
appears to have been according to R. Meyer's opinion.

15 Menach. xi, 6 and 98 a.

16 The position of the candlestick is discussed at length in Menachoth, 98 b.
Maimonides is of opinion that it stood across the house, three branches being
towards the north and three towards the south, and this agrees with the state-
ment that whilst the lamps which were upon the branches looked towards the
central lamp, the latter looked towards the Holy of Holies, and hence was called
the western lamp (vide supra). Rashi (in Menach. 9S b) says the candlestick
"was always placed north and south, and therefore only one of its lamps looked
towards the west, and that was the middle one, the mouth of whose wick was
towards the west, and the rest had their wicks looking towards the middle lamp,
the three on the northern side looking towards the south, and the three on the
southern side looking towards the north." Yet a passage in Tamid hi, 9,
which alludes to the " eastern lamps," gives support to the opinion held by some
of the Rabbis that the candlestick stood east and west, and that the western
lamp was the outer lamp on the western side, which position, moreover, is in
accordance with the rule that the length of the " vessels " was parallel to the
length of the house.

J 7 Menach. xi, 6, gives the number of the rods and reeds. The Gcmara (97 a)
adds '" the dishes thereof,' these were the moulds; 'the spoons thereof,' these
were the censers ; ' the covers thereof,' these were the rods ; and ' the bowls
thereof,' these were the reeds ' to cover withal,' because they covered the bread

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

only, because there was no other above the sixth. Thus there were four-
teen reeds to each pile. 18

16. And there were two tables within the porch at the door of the
house. One of marble upon which they placed the shewbread when they
took it in, and oue of gold upon which they placed the bread when they
carried it out, because they rose higher and higher with holy things, and
went not lower and lower. 19

17. The altar of incense was a cubit square, 20 and it stood in the holy place
(h^ipy), equidistant from the north and the south sides and drawn from
between the table and the candlestick towards the outside 21 {i.e., towards
the door), and the three were placed in the third part of the holy place
and inward, opposite to the veil which divided between the holy place
and the most holy. 22

18. There were twelve spouts to the laver in order that all the priests
occupied with the continual service might sanctify [i.e., wash] themselves
at the same time. And they made a machine for it in which there might
constantly be water. And it was profane [not hallowed] in order that
the water that was in it might not become unlawful by remaining all
night, because the laver was one of the sacred vessels and sanctified
(i-lmtever was placed in it, and everything that became sanctified in a
sacred vessel if it remained all night became unlawful. 23

with them."
of the table :

The following are the names given to these several appurtenances

Hebrew.

A.V.

Talmud.

Signification

of Talmud

word.

LXX.

Vulgate.

n-iyp
rwp

dish
spoon
cover

bowl

Tn {
nap

mould

censer
acerra

furcula
reed

TpvfiklOV
V &Vl(rKT)
(TTTOvhlOV

Kvados

acetabulum

phiala

thuribulum

cyathus

ls Menachoth ( J8 a, where it is said that the lower cakes were placed,
in?VJ' ?SJ> YVtiP b}fO, upon the middle of the table, or perhaps upon the clean
surface of the table, the bare table (Lev. xxiv, 6).

19 Menachoth Ni, 7.

-° Exodus xxx, 2.

21 Joma 33 b. " The table was on the north, drawn two cubits and a halfTrom
the wall, and tlic candles! Lck on the south, drawn two cubits and a half from the
wall. The altar was Let ween and stood in the middle drawn towards the
outside," which Etashi explains to mean towards the east, where was the door of
the temple.

- Of. Tosefta Yoma, 2.

i una iii, x, 37 a. "Ben Katin made twelve spouts to the laver, there

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 40

having been only two before. And also lie made a machine for the laver in order
that its water might not become unlawful by remaining all night." Ben Katin
was a high priest. The Gemara explains the reasons why twelve spouts were
required ; also that the " machine " was a wheel by means of which the laver [? ]
was "immersed" in the cistern (cf. Rashi). The structure and use of this famous
machine are not clearly understood. That by its means the laver itself could
have been immersed in a HIpD gathering of waters or spring [Maim., Biath
Hammikdash v, 14] and raised again by one unassisted priest [Tamid i, 4] will
appear impossible, if we remember how large aud heavy the laver must have'
been for twelve priests to wash at it at one time. Maimonides in his comment
on the Mishna hazards the suggestion that the machine was a vessel surrounding
the laver, and that the water remained constantly in it, and was removed into
the laver as required. Not improbably it was a bucket attached to a rope or
chain running over a wheel by means of which the water was raised, and which
was let down into the "cistern or spring" at night, its water being thus
"joined with the water of the cistern" (Rashi, Bartinora, Tosefoth Yom Tov).
That it was a clumsy instrument appears from the fact that the noise it made
could be heard at Jericho ! [Tamid hi, 8.] The chief interest which attaches
to this curious question arises from the circumstance that all the Rabbinical
commentators appear to assume that there was a cistern, pool, or fountain under
the laver, a point not to be forgotten in any attempt to determine the site of
the Sanctuary.

It may be mentioned here that the Talmud teaches that there was a canal
which brought water to the Sanctuary from the fountain of Etam (Jerus. Yoma
perek iii, fol. 41, a 1 ; Maim., Biath Hammikdash v, 15). This water went in
the second temple to the bathroom of the high priest on the Day of Atonement,
which was over the water-gate [Yoma 31 a] ; in the first Temple it supplied the
molten sea. Qtyy pjj, the fountain of Etam, is said to have been twenty-three
cubits higher than the floor of the court, and hence it is inferred that the water
might easily be forced to the top of the gate which was only twenty cubits high,
[Yoma, loo. dt.~\ Rashi thinks Etam may have been the same as Nephtoah
[Joshua xvi, 9.] The Talmudic doctors held a curious theory respecting the
water of Etam, which may be best given in the words of Rashi, " The slopes of
Babylon returned the waters which were poured upon them to the fountain of
Etam, which was a high place in the land of Israel, and this fountain brought
water to the bathroom of the high priest on the Day of Atonement, which was
situated on the wall of the court over the water-gate. As is said in the order
for the Day of Atonement (Yoma 31 a), 'the fountain of Etam was twenty- three
cubits higher than the floor of the court.' And how did they return? There
are by the Euphrates canals and stairs, niEOIDl nUl^D, below the surface (of
the sea), and by the way of these stairs [probably there is here an error, mo'PID
being put for ni3l7 1, Dj the waters returned to the land of Israel. And they
returned and welled up in the fountains. And the fishes returned by way of
those stairs, which were easier for their ascent than the way of the Euphrates
itself" (Shabbath 143 b). The curious may follow this subject in the Gamara,
Tosefoth and gloss of Rashi in Bechoroth 44 b and 55 a. " R. Judah said that
Rab said all the rivers in the world are lower than the three rivers (Hiddekel,
Bison, and Gihon), and the three rivers are lower than the Euphrates."

50 BETH ITABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

CHAPTER IV.

1. There was in the Holy of Holies, on its western side, a stone upon
which the ark was placed 1 and in it the pot of manna and Aaron's rod.

1 Yoma v, 2. "After the ark was removed there was a stone there" (in the
Holy of Holies) ,: from the days of the first prophets and it was called Sheteyah,
'foundation.'' Its height from the earth was three fingerbreadths." The
Gamara adds, "it is taught that from it the world was founded, which is as
much a* to say from Zion the world was created. According to the Bareitha,
R. Eleazer said the world was created from its middle, as is said "When the
dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together " (Job xxxviii, 38).
It. Joshua said the world was created from the sides, as is said, " for he saith to
the snow, be thou on the earth ; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain
of his strength " (Job xxxvii, 6). R. Isaak (Niphka) said the Holy One, blessed
be He, threw a stone into the sea, and from it was the world created, as it is said
" whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened, or who laid the corner stone
thereof?" (Job xxxviii, fi), and the wise men said it was created from Zion, as
it is said, " A psalm of Asaph. The Mighty God, even the Lord," and says
"from Zion the perfection of beauty" (Psalm 1, 1) ; from it was perfected the
beauty of the world. The Bareitha teaches that B. Eleazer the great said
"these are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were
created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens"
(Gen. ii, 4). The generations of the heavens were created from the heavens;
the generat'ons of the earth were created from the earth. And the wise men
said both the one and the other were created from Zion, as it is said "A psalm
of Asaph. The mighty God, even the Lord hath spoken, and called the earth
from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof," and it says " out of
Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined," from it was perfected the
beauty of the world (Yoma 54 b). Such were the Rabbinical opinions
respecting this famous stone, which, according to Eabbi Schwarz (das heilige
Laud 216-7), is identical witli the Sakhrah or sacred rock at present venerated by
Mahommedans under the Dome of the Rock.

In the Toldoth Jesu the Aven Hashsheteyah, "stone of foundation," is
affirmed to lie tin- stone which the patriarch Jacob anointed with oil. Upon it
was Baid to be written the letters of the the nomen tetragrammaton, the ineffable
name of God, and lest anyone should learn the letters of this name and become
possessed of the wondrous powers which that knowledge conferred, two dogs
were placed near the Sanctuary, which, if anyone had succeeded in learning the
letters, barked so fiercely at him as he was passing out as to cause him imme-
diately lo Eorgel them. It is said that Jesus having entered, learned the letters,
wrote them upon parchment, and placed the parchment in an incision which lie
male in his thigh, the skin closing over it on the name being pronounced, and
having escaped the canine guardians of the place, thus became possessed of the
supernatural powers which be afterwards manifested (Buxtorf Lex. Talmud,
25 1 1 ). fn Wagenseil's edition of the Toldoth Jesu the stone is said to have been

found by King David when digging the foundation of the temple (cf. Mai ill

11 a) "over the mouth of the abyss," and that he brought it up and placed it

BETH HABBECHEEEH, OK THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 51

And when Solomon built the house, knowing that its end was to !»•
destroyed, he built in it a place in which to hide the ark underneath in
secret places, deep and tortuous. And Josiah the king commanded them
t< i hide the ark in the place which Solomon built, as it is said " and he said
unto the Levites that taught all Israel, which were holy unto the Lord, put
the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel,
did build ; it shall not be a burden upon your shoulders ; serve now the
Lord your God," &c. (2 Chron. xxxv, 3). And there were hidden with it
the rod of Aaron, and the pot of manna, and the anointing oil, and all
these were not restored in the second house. 2 And also the Urim and
Thummim, which were in the second house, did not respond by the Holy
Spirit, nor did they enquire of them, as it is said, "till there stood uj> a
priest with Urim and with Thummim " (Ezra ii, 63), and they only made
them in order to complete the eight garments of the High Priest, in order
that he might not be Q*H;q "^DTlEs wanting in the proper number of
garments. 3

in the Holy of Holies. The Targum of Jonathan represents the Name as being-
engraved on the stone of foundation with which " the Lord of the world
covered the mouth of the great abyss " (Exod. xxxviii, 30). When Jonah was
in the belly of the fish lie was carried under the Temple of the Lord, and saw
the stone of foundation fixed to the abysses, niEliinS PJHP (Tanchuma
53,5 1).

There is a tradition that the prophet Jeremiah took this stone with him to
Ireland, that it was subsequently conveyed to Scotland by an Irish prince, and
eventually removed by King Edward III to Westminster Abbey, since which
time all the kings and queens of England down to Victoria have been crowned
upon it.

Nearly all modem Rabbis appear to hold the opinion of R. Schwarz
respecting this stone of foundation. It seems strange that it should have been
confounded with Zoheleth, yet in the Jewish manual arba' taauoth (tisha b'av)
this identity is suggested.

By the first prophets, Samuel, David, and Solomon are here intended (Raslii,
Sotah 58 b).

- In Yoma 52 b, Keritoth 5 b, Horioth 12 a, it is said "with the ark there
were hidden the pot of manna, the vessel of anointing oil, the rod of Aaron, its
almonds and blossoms, and the coffer which the Philistines sent as a gift to the
Grod of Israel" (1 Sam. vi, 8). For the place in which the ark was hidden, see
2 Chronicles xxxv, 3 ; Shekalim Yirushalmi, ch. vi, page 10, and Rashi on
Keritoth, 5 b. All the Rabbinical writers held that there were chambers or
hollow spaces under the whole Sanctuary, and it is doubtless some of the?e to
which Maimonides here refers. The exact position of the hiding-place of the
ark was supposed to be near the chamber of wood in the court of the women
(Skekalim vi, 2).

3 In Yoma, 21 b, it is said "in five things the second house differed from the
first house, viz., there was in it neither ark, nor atonement, nor cherubim of
fire, nor the Shekinah, nor Holy Spirit, nor Urim and Thummim." Raslii held
that the ark, the atonement and the cherubim were one. The opinion that there
were Urim and Thummim in the second house, in order that the number of the

E 2

52 BETH ILYBBECIIEREII, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

•1. In the first house there was a wall, a cubit thick, dividing between
the holy place and the most holy, 4 and when they built the second house
they doubted whether the thickness of the wall was taken from the
measure of the holy place, or from the measure of the most holy, and
therefore they made the length, VH^> °f ^ ie most holy place, exactly
twenty cubits, and the holy place, exactly forty cubits, and they put an
additional cubit between the holy place, and the most holy. 5 And they
did not build a wall in the second house, but made two vails, one on the
side of the most holy place, and one on the side of the holy place, and
betweeen them was a cubit corresponding to the thickness of the Avail
which was there in the first house. But in the first Sanctuary there was
one" vail, as is said, " and the vail shall divide unto you," &c. (Exodus
xx vi, 33).

3. The temple 7 which the children of the captivity built, was a hundred
cubits by a height of a hundred. And thus was the measure of its height.
They built to a height of six cubits closed and solid, like a kind of founda-
tion to it, s and the height of the wall of the house forty cubits, and the
height of the ornamented beam, "^yV}, kioor or ceiling, which was by the
roof, a cubit, and above it a height of two cubits vacant, in which the

garments of the high priest might not be incomplete, but that they did not
enquire of them, is derived from the Tosefoth Yoma, 21 b. Eabbi Abraham
hen David questions whether Urim and Thiimmim could be numbered with the
garments [note on Beth Habbeeh], nor does Mahnonides himself in his
enumeration [in Kle Hammikdash viii, 2] of the high priest's garments mention
the Urim and Thummim.

4 Yoma 51 b, and the comment of Eashi ; cf. Baba Battira, 3 a.

' Jems. Celaim, oh. viii.

fl Yoma v, 1 ; cf. Gamara and Tosefoth 51 b.

" PD'H. The whole of this section is from Middoth iv, 6.

s Maimonides elsewhere ["Commentary on the Mishnas," Midd. in lor.'] says
lli.it this foundation was built yp~lpn ^132, in the body of the earth, and that
the walls were placed upon it. The " Tafaereth Isi-ael " ("Mishmaoth Rabbi,
Lipsitz. Warsaw," L864) lias this passage, " it was the foundation, and was six
cubits high, because the mountain rose and fell, and the temple and the porch
were built upon the top of the mountain upon the level ground, and the walls
stood near the place where the mountain began to descend, and thus in order to
give to the house a firm foundation, DIO' 1 v3?, without tottering, they built a
foundation of hewn stones around the above mentioned level ground six cubits
high; and inasmuch as that foundation was joined [DIOX, closed] on the inner
Bide with the ground, so that the inside of the porch and temple was not seen at
all, it «as called Cu\x, closed,'" and this in accordance with the remark of Rabbi
Shemaiah, that "the threshold of the bouse was raised six cubits above the
ground by closed masonry, solid wall, and il is necessary to saj that there were

Bteps al the porch by which they went up to the threshold, and for those going
down from the temple to descend from the threshold. ' [Middoth, loc. cit j
Had these sii cubits been " in the body of the earth," they could net have been
reckoned to the height of the building.

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 53

dropping might be collected, and this is what was called NE , "1 P\*1-
domus stillicidii, place of dropping. And the thickness of the rafters
above the place of dropping a cubit, and the plaster a cubit. 9 And an
upper chamber was built above it, the wall of which was forty cubits
high, and by its roof a cubit, the height of the ornamented beam, and
two cubits the height of the place of dropping, and a cubit the rafter-,
and a cubit the plaster, and the height of the battlement three cubits ; and
a plate of iron like a sword, a cubit high, was above the battlement, all
round in order that the birds should not rest upon it, and this is whal
was called the scarecrow. Thus the whole was a hundred cubits.

4. From the west to the east was a hundred cubits, and this was their
arrangement : four walls, cue in front of the other, and between them
three vacant places ; between the western wall, and the wall in front of it
live cubits, and between the second and third wall six cubits, and between
the third and fourth wall six cubits ; and these were the measurements of
the thickness of the wall with the vacant place, which was between two
walls. And the length of the Holy of Holies twenty cubits, and between
the two veils, which divided between it and the holy place, a cubit, and
the length of the holy place, forty cubits, and the thickness of the eastern
wall in which was the gate six cubits, and the porch eleven cubits, and

9 " Kioor is engraved work (2 Chron. ii, 13 ; Zach. hi, 9), and the engraved
ornaments which architects make in lime or stone, and sometimes it is said
Kioor v'tzioor, i.e., engraved and painted. pn-| dropping, is the dripping of
water from the roof, and it was the custom to make for buildings two roofs, one
above the other, and to leave a small place between the two, and to call this
hollow space HS/Hn JV2, domus stillicidii, from the word *p~J, to drop, so
that if the upper roof should drip, the water would remain in that space"
[Maun. Comment on Mishnas, Midd. iv, 6]. " Kioor, the lower rafter of the
roof .... and because it was covered with gold and painted with beautiful
pictures it was called Kioor .... the upper rafters, winch re.-ted upon
the lower rafter, was two cubits thick, and these were called i"IS?T JV— . domus
stillicidii " [Bartenora on Midd., in loc.~] A modern gloss on this passage of
the Beth Habbech says " it is a custom in Turkey in building princes' houses to
make a roof of planks painted with beautiful pictures. It is called tavan, and
above it the principal roof which is exposed to the sky, and a space between the
tavan and that principal roof, and if at any time the principal roof should leak.
the dropping would descend in that space upon the top of the tavan, and on this
account it was called domus stillicidii."

The structure of the present roof of the outer corridor of the Dome of the
Rock at Jerusalem may illustrate that of the ancient Temple.

"The i"^?^ (or plaster) was the lime and stones which were placed upon the
roof" [Maim, on Midd., in loc.~] Sometimes reeds and bushes were placed over
the rafters, and the cement laid on above. [Baba Metyia (as quoted by Aruch)
117 a ; cf. ib. 116 b, in Mishma, and note of Rashi ; also Baba Batliri 20 b m
Mishna.] It was the custom to roll this plaster with a cylindrical stone called
mac/Hah, n?^JJ7D [Macoth ii, 1]. Such roofs are common in Palestine al the
present day.

54 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

the thickness of the wall of the porch five cubits, altogether a hundred
(•whits. 10

5. From north to south a hundred cubits. The thickness of the wall
of the porch five cubits, and from the wall of the porch to the wall of the
holy place ten cubits, and the walls of the holy place six walls, one in
front of the other, and between them five vacant places. Between the
outer wall and the second five cubits, and between the second and third
three cubits, and five between the third and fourth, and between the fourth
and fifth, six, and between the fifth and the inner wall six, in all forty
cubits on this side, and forty cubits on the side which was opposite to it,
and the breadth of the house within, twenty cubits. Lo, there were a
hundred cubits. 11

6. The pishpacsh, I^Q^^S, is a little door. There were two little
doors to the temple by the sides of the great gate, which was in the middle,
<.ne on the north, and one on the south. By that on the south no man
ever entered, and in reference to this it was explained by Ezekial (xliv, 2)
'•this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened." But by that on the
north they entered, and going between the two walls until he reached the
place where was the opening into the holy place on his left, he went into

t he interior of the temple ~>^r"h aU( l proceeded as far as the great gate
and opened it. 12

7. The breadth of the great gate was ten cubits, and its height twenty
cubits. And it had four doors, two within and two without, the outer
• ■lies opened into the doorway to cover the thickness of the wall, and the
inner ones opened into the house, to cover the space behind the doors. 13

8. The doorway of the porch was forty cub'ts high, and twenty broad,
and there were no gates to it. 14 And there were five carved oaken beams
over the doorway above. The lower one extended beyond the doorway,
;i cubit on each side, and each one of the five extended beyond that below
it, a cubit on each side, so that the upper one measured thirty cubits, and

here was a row of stones between every two beams. n

10 These measurements are essentially the same as those given in Middoth iv,
7, but by reckoning the thickness of the walls west of the Holy of Holies as
spaces, and eu.ch face of a wall as a distinct wall, obscurity has been occasioned.

11 Middoth iv, 7. See the last note. The account in Middoth gives only the
breadth of the house behind the porch. According to Maimonidea the room
tin- the slaughtering instruments measured ten cubits by eleven, internal

jurement.

'-' Middoth iv, 2 ; Tamid iii, 7. In the Mishna it is said that the priest, after
opening the little door, entered the chamber and thence passed into the temple.
Maimonidea doe* net agree with Rabbi Judah's opinion that the priest went in
the thickness of the wall until he found himself standing between the two gates.

u Middoth iv, 1.

" Tosefoth Avodah Zarah 53 a. "The porch was open along its whole
e letern side."

'■' .Middoth iii, 7.

BETH HABBECHEBEH, OK THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 55

9. The temple ™rj^n> was built broad in front and narrow behind, like
a lion. 16 And there were chambers surrounding the whole house round
about, besides the wall of the gallery. The lower chamber was five cubits
broad, and the roofing, "Q"n, above it six, and the middle chamber six, and
the roofing above it seven, and the uppermost seven, as is said "the
nethermost chamber" &c. (1 Kings vi, 6), and thus the three chambers
surrounded the house on its three sides. 17 And also around the walls of
the porch from below upwards there were thus : a space, p^J~f> °* one cubit,
and a standing place, "72,1% three cubits, and a space of one cubit, and a
standing place three cubits to the upper part. And the standing places,
Q"Q"n, surrounded the walls, the breadth of each standing place was three
cubits upwards, and between each two standing places a cubit, and the
upper standing place was four cubits broad. 18

16 Middoth iv, 7.

17 Middoth iv, 3, 4. T21"l is a floor or pavement, and the word is used here
because the roof of one chamber formed the flooring of the chamber above.

18 Middoth iii, 6. The following is Lightfoot's rendering of this passage :—
" Round about the walls of the porch from below upward they were thus : one
cubit plain, and then a half pace of three cubits, one cubit plain (or an ordinary
rising of steps) and then another half pace of three cubits, and so up, so that
the half paces did go about the walls of the porch."

Also by the Jewish commentators the passage in Middoth which Maimonidefi
here paraphrases is taken to refer to the steps and standing places which led up
to the porch. But Maimonides understood it to refer not to the steps, but to a
kind of ornament of the wall itself consisting of a projection three cubits in
perpendicular measurement repeated at intervals of a cubit, the uppermost
projection measuring fotir cubits. In his comments upon the Mishnas (Midd.
iii, 6) he says "the wall of the porch was built according to this arrangement,
which was that one cubit in the height of the wall its whole length was plain and
even like the rest of the walls, afterwards the building or masonry projected
from the wall like a balcony, mX1X3, three cubits high, afterwards, at a distance
of one cubit, it projected again, and this is what was called robad, "I21~l, and
thus the structure of the whole was a cubit, and a robad three cubits," &c.

If the steps of the porch are referred to there could not have been more than
three cubits between the lowest step and the foundation of the altar. According
to some opinions there was only one ; and it seems hardly possible that a
bullock could have stood and been slaughtered by the priest in so small a space
[Yoma iii, 8] without inconvenience. In the same narrow space, also, the whole
company of officiating priests must have stood whilst one of their number
sounded the mayrefah ; an instrument so large and powerful that people in the
city could not hear one another speak for the noise it made, and whose " voice "
could be heard at Jericho!

The laver, moreover, was between the porch and the altar, and it must have
been very small if the space between the altar and steps was only three cubits,
unless, indeed, as has been suggested [" Tafaereth Israel Mishnas, 'H arsaw,
1864"], it was placed upon the steps themselves. Objections to this latter view
are, 1, that no mention is made of the priests going up the steps to reach the
laver, and, 2, that the account of the manner in which the priests performing the

5G BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

10. All these vacant places, which were between the walls, are what
were called DNJ1> chambers (Ezekiel xl, 7, 10). The chambers surrounding
the Sanctuary were five on the north, five on the south, and three on the
west. And there were three stories, story above story, so that there were
fifteen chambers on the south, five above five, and five above them, and
also on the north fifteen. And on the west were eight chambers, three
above three, and two above them, in one story. Altogether there were
thirty-eight chambers. 19

11. There were three openings to each chamber, one to the chamber
on the right, and one to the chamber on the left, and one to the chamber
above. And at the north-eastern corner in the chamber, which was in
the middle story, were five openings, one to the chamber on the right, and one
to the chamber which was above it, and one to the gallery, and one to the
chamber in which was the little door, and one to the temple (73T0- 20

12. And a gallery (or winding staircase), ni^Dfo ascended from the
north-eastern corner to the north-western corner by which they went
up to the roofs of the chambers. Going up by the gallery with his face
to the west, he traversed the whole northern side until he reached the
west ; having reached the west he turned his face to the south, and passed
along the whole western side until he reached the south ; having reached
the south, he turned his face to the east and went along on the south, till
he reached the door of the upper chamber, for the door of the upper
chamber opened on the south. 21

13. And at the door of the upper chamber were two beams of cedar
wood by which they went up to the roof of the upper chamber. And
pointed pieces-- divided in the upper chamber between the roof the holy
place, and the roof of the Holy of Holies. And there were in the upper
chamber openings'- 3 into the Holy of Holies, by which they let down the
workmen in boxes that they might not feast their eyes upon the Holy of
Holies. And once a year, at every Passover, they whitened the temple

favrn)- 24 im t . ^

(To be continued.)
daily service ascended the steps to the porch (Tamid vi, 1) seems to imply that
they had not before ascended any of them, D^IJ? vtlH, " they beyan to go up."

19 Middoth iv, 3.

- u Middoth iv, 3. Maimonidcs and some more modern commentators regard
tlie lower chamber as having been below the level of the floor of the holy place,
and bounded on the outer side by the foundation.

21 Middoth iv, 5. It appears that the upper story did not extend farther
west than the western wall of the Holy of Holies. The roofs of the western, as
well as those of the northern chambers, were open to the sky.

-- Middoth iv, i>. DL"DL"D ""EH were wooden projections from the northern
and southern walls, of the upper story [</. Earfenora on Midd. i, 6, and Talaercth
Israel to Midd. iv, 5], or as Mahnonides thought from the floor [t'ouiment. on
Mishnas, Midd. iv, 5].

•-■:f pi-,^ = rTl2nX,/i?«e47ra [Barlenora, cf. Oholoth x, 1].

- 4 Middoth iii, -1.

THE "CITY OF DAVID " ONLY A PART OF JERUSALEM. 57

THE "CITY OF DAVID" ONLY A PART OF JERUSALEM.

Sir, — Captain Conder has in several places argued against the identifica-
tion of the modern Ophel with the old " City of David " on account of the
inadequacy of its area for " a capital like Jerusalem" (Quarterly Statement,
1884, p. 23), " the capital of Syria in David's time " (Quarterly Statement,
1884, p. 22), &c, thus making it appear that the terms " City of David " and
" Jerusalem " refer to the same area, and arc interchangeable.

He himself, however, supplies the answer to this assumption, when, on
p. 28, Quarterly Statement, 1884, he tells us that Solomon's palace was on
Ophel, and " outside the City of David." It is true he says also (p. 28) that
Ophel was " only afterwards occupied," it being, according top. 22, "in the
time of Manasseh, when Ophel was included," &c, but this can scarcely be
reconciled with the former statement, unless we are to understand that
Solomon's palace was outside the walls of the " capital of Syria."

The following passages from the Bible, however (some of which I have
not yet seen cited in this controversy), prove clearly, I think, that the
Scriptural " City of David " was not the whole, but only part, of the
" capital of Syria," even in Solomon's time.

From 2 Samuel vi, 12, we learn that David brought up the Ark of God
from the house of Obed-Edom into the City of David with gladness. (See
also 1 Chron. xv, 29.)

Then after the Temple was built, we find from the almost identical
language of 1 Kings viii, 1, and 2 Chronicles v, 6, that "Solomon
assembled the elders of Israel ... to bring up the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord, out of the City of David which is Zion."

It is quite clear, therefore, that the Temple was not in the " City of
David."

Again, we learn from 1 Kings iii, 1, that Solomon brought Pharaoh's
daughter into the City of David temporarily. " until he had made an end of
building his own house and the house of the Lord," &c. Upon the completion
of these "she came up out of the City of David into her house that Solomon
had built for her " (1 Kings ix, 24). This is corroborated by 2 Chronicles
viii, 11, which gives us also the reason for her sojourn in the "house [city,
Septuagint] of David, King of Israel," not being permanent. These latter
show that the " house for Pharaoh's daughter " also was not in the " City
of David."

Clearly then the " City of David " was not the whole of Jerusalem.

The above passages, I venture to think, give greater force to those cited
by Rev. "W. F. Birch, on page 80, line 3, 1884, Quarterly Statement, 2 Kings
xiv, 20, and page 198, "No. (2)," 2 Chronicles xxviii, 27, in the latter of which
he interprets "in the city of Jerusalem " as meaning " in the City (of David)
at Jerusalem." This is further borne out by 2 Kings viii, 24, which tells us
that Joram was buried "in the City of David," while 2 Chronicles xxi, 20,
informs us that "they buried him in the City of David, but not in the
sepulchres of the kings ;" and the same is said of Joash, in 2 Chronicles xxiv,

58 VERIFICATION OF REFERENCES.

25. Are we to understand that there were three royal cemeteries ? This
follows from the above passages, if the sepulchres in which David, Solomon,
and Behoboam were interred, were not on Ophel, where Captain Conder
allows it to be probable that the Garden of Uzza was situated, in which
were buried the later kings who are not said to have been laid to rest " in
the City of David."

If there were only two royal sepulchres, then we have three passages
certainly (and perhaps four, if we include the case of Asa, 2 Chron. xvi,
13, 14), in which it is distinctly stated of monarchs who were not buried
in the sepulchres of the kings, that they were buried in the City of David.

How then can there be any room for doubt, that if the later kings were
buried on Ophel, the former were so too 1

Yours truly,

H. B. S. W.

B.S. — Begarding C. B. C's objection to the force of the extract from the
Tosiphta ( ; 84, p. 197), may I point out that its bearing on this subject is
not weakened by the supposition that Babbi Akiba was " constructing a
theory merely 1 " Supposing this were the case, he would surely not have
" invented " a passage, whose length would have made it clearly impossible
of belief if the City of David lie knew had been where C. B. C. wishes to
place it !

His mention in this connection, of the Brook Kidron, shows sufficiently
that the Boyal Tomb of which he was speaking (and consequently the City
of David, which enclosed it) was in close proximity to the Kidron, so that
a passage from the tomb to the brook was neither incredible nor unlikely.

VERIFICATION OF REFERENCES.

City of David, Quarterly Statement, p. 173, 1884.— Where has Canon
Birch written anything that will entitle us to say that he has been " suppos-
ing that the City of David stretched across a deep valley 1"

Dolmen in Bashan, Quarterly Statement, p. 241, 1884— Where is the
passage to be found in which this is described as " a large example ? "

I cannot find it so spoken of by Mr. Oliphant, and it is certainly
desirable that the misleading passage should be pointed out, and the blame
fur its error rightly attributed.

H. B. S. W.
December 10th t 1834.

QUERIES. 59

QUERIES.

The Emek- of the dead bodies, &c, Quarterly Statement, 1883, p. 217. —
The statement here made that "Jeremiah terms it " (i.e., the valley of the
Tyropoeon) "the vale (Emek) of the dead bodies and of the ashes," makes
me desirous of asking whether the use there of the word " Emek " does
not imply that the " valley of the dead bodies," &c, was one of a different
character, and, therefore, a different valley, from that of the Tyropoeon,
respecting which another term, "gai," is used ?

The Upper Gihon, Quarterly Statement, 1883,. p. 216. — Does the word
" upper" in the original necessarily apply to Gihon? May it not be used, as
in the A.V., so as to read " the upper outlet of Gihon," inasmuch as there is,

1 believe, no direct mention anywhere in the Bible of any Lower Gihon ?

Valley of Giants, Quarterly Statement, 1883, p. 22-2. — May I venture to
ask that your readers may be afforded some explanation of the reasons
which have caused the expression of the view that this valley was north
of Jerusalem ; and is not the one which extends nearly to Bethlehem as
Josephus says it was 1

Uzziah's burial, Quarterly Statement, 1884, p. 242. — What are the
difficulties "in reconciling the accounts in Kings and Chronicles ?" Does
not the principal one arise from maintaining that " the City of David was
another name for Jerusalem generally I " whereas there is no diffipulty at
all if we regard them as analogous to Henry Yllth's Chapel and West-
minster Abbey.

The Siloam Tunnel, Quarterly Statement, 1884, p. 249. — May I ask
whether the following is a correct translation of the Syriac version of

2 Chronicles xxxii, 30, and if so whether it may not be considered as
strongly corroborating the view that the Siloam Tunnel was made by
Hezekiah 1 I am informed that the Syriac in this verse reads : —

" And Hezekiah hid the spring (or outgoing) of the waters of the upper
fountain and sent them into the western tank of the City of David."

The Lower Gihon, Quarterly Statement, 1884, p. 249. — How can the
Gihon mentioned in 2 Chronicles xxxiii, 14, be the Pool of Siloam, when the
Gihon is distinctly said to be " Gihon in the Nachal 1 " I have always
understood previously that this passage was the principal proof that the
Virgin's Fountain was to be identified with Gihon, as there is no other
spring in the Kidron than the Virgin's Fountain ; and no other Nachal in
the environs of Jerusalem than that of the Kidixm.

En Rogel and Gihon. — May it be an allowable explanation for the recon-
cilement of the somewhat conflicting views respecting these two, to suppose
that " Gihon " of Hezekiah is the Virgins Fountain, while the " Gihon" of
Solomon's anointing is equivalent to the " En Rogel " of Joshua, and is
the same as the Pool of Siloam ? Of course this necessarily supposes the
correctness of the distinction made between an Upper and a Lower
Gihon — a matter which I have made the subject of a previous query, for
the sake of obtaining fuller information.

December 10th, 1884. H. B. S. W.

60 THE WATERS OF SHILOAH.

THE WATERS OF SHILOAH.

In Quarterly Stateme?it,l884, p. 75, 1 put forward the theory that these waters
flowed along an aqueduct on the east side of Ophel from the Virgin's Foun-
tain to the mouth of the Tyropceon. I am anxious for my theory to be
tested (and (?) proved) by excavation. Meanwhile, it will be well to
dispose of the objections raised against my aqueductin the lant two numbers.
Captain Conder seems to object — +

(1) That it has left no known ti'aces of its existence. As the same
might have been said of the Moabite Stone before 1868, and the Siloam
Inscription in 1879, the objection has obviously no weight. Only let traces
be looked for where they may be supposed to exist, and then no doubt they
will be found.

(2) That it is so drawn on my plan that it apparently joins on to
an existing channel, in which water runs the opposite way. This
objection, I consider, was answered by anticipation in the three queries
placed in my plan against this part of the aqueduct.

Whether the aqueduct within the Tyropceon ran on the line marked, or
on another line, or on no line at all, does not really affect my theory that
there used to be an aqueduct on the east side of Ophel between the
Virgin's Fount and Siloam.

Professor Sayce offers a curious objection. He says, Sir Charles Warren
failed to find any traces of it in his galleries (or shafts) on Ophel, but he
does not add (as he rightly might have done) that all these shafts, except
possibly two, were north of the point whence my supposed aqueduct ran
southwards, and that the two exceptions were at least 40 feet higher in eleva-
tion than the level of the supposed aqueduct. Under these circumstances
it was impossible for Sir C. Warren to discover the aqueduct ; he wrote
to me, however, in November, 1883, as follows : — " I think it quite possible
that there was an aqueduct on the east side of Ophel, as you suggest."

To sum up —

Professor Sayce, in connecting the waters of Shiloah with the Siloam
Tunnel, is driven to attribute the latter to Solomon, and not to Hezekiah
whom ( laptain Conder and others (myself among the number) regard as its
author.

Captain Conder, by rejecting both Professor Sayce's tunnel and my
aqueduct, has the waters of Shiloah left on his hands wit/tout any ivater
a1 all. For water flowing down the Tyropceon could not be said to go
softly, and waters flowing in a natural channel down the Kedron could not
be the waters of Shiloah, as the meaning of this word shows that they ran
through an aqueduct.

Here my supposed aqueduct affords a happy way out of the dilemma.
It is most probable that the mouth of the Tyropceon was turned into well-
irrigated gardens by means of such an aqueduct, centuries before the
gigantic undertaking of making the Siloam Tunnel was ever dreamt of.

October 27th, 1884. W. F. BlRCH.

ZION, TIIF CITY OF DAVID. 01

ZION, THE CITY OF DAVID.

Ox urging a Society that sends its maps over the world not to be afraid,
but boldly to put the City of David where Nehemiah places it, i.e., south
of the Temple, I was told in reply, " You have convinced nobody." This
is an objection that has often, on other occasions, been urged against the
truth.

I have not claimed to have convinced any one, but still some have
been convinced. Professor Robertson Smith says that the Ophel site
alone " does justice to the language of the Old Testament." Professor
Sayce says, " Mr. Birch seems to me indubitably right in holding that
the City of David stood on the so-called hill of Ophel" {Quarterly
Statement, 1884, p. 80). Sir Charles Warren has for thirteen years
candidly owned that the Book of Nehemiah places the City of David
on Ophel. Captain Conder, after five years' unyielding opposition, at
length admits that " when Ophel came to be inhabited, the name (City
of David) may be supposed to have included Ophel" {id. 242).

My theory, then, ought not to be rejected off-hand on the plea that no
one believes it. Yet what I undertook to do was not to convince my oppo-
nents, but to confute their arguments. Two widely divergent objections
are urged against me in the July and October numbers. Captain Conder
credits me (p. 242) with " confining ancient Jerusalem to the insignificant
space south of the Temple," while Professor Sayce thinks I endanger my
views by supposing that the City of David stretched across a deep valley; —
in other words, the former thinks that I make Jerusalem small, and the
latter that I make the City of David large. Strange to say, the fact is, I
make Jerusalem larger and the City of David smaller than does either of
these writers. Want of due circumspection has caused the one to strike
on Scylla, and the other to fall into Charybdis. Neither can point to a
single passage of mine in these pages in support of the theories they thus
attribute to me.

Further, (1) in reply to Captain Conder I must remind him that I have
already pointed out (1884, p. 81) that " the City of David was only part of
Jerusalem," and that I jMace the former on Ophel, while I make my
Jerusalem larger than hia(id. 81). Thus, "confining Jerusalem to Ophel"
is just what I have not done.

Again, why (2) does Professor Sayce sj)eak of my " supposing the City of
David stretched across a deep valley?" Where have I supposed it ? So
far from doing so, I have consistently for six years repudiated any theory
that does not place Zion, the City of David, solely on Ophel (so-called).

My Jerusalem theory is as follows : —

1. The Tyropoeon Valley was part of the valley of Hinnom which ran
from near the Jaffa Gate through the present city to the Kedron.

2. Zion, the City of David, was entirely on the southern part of the
eastern hill, i.e., on Ophel (so-called).

3. The sepulchres of David were in this same part.

G2 ZION, THE CITY OF DAVID.

4. The " gutter " (2 Sam. v, 8) by which Joab gained access to Zion,
was the secret passage (connected with the Virgin's Fount) discovered by
Sir C. Warren.

5. Araunah betrayed Zion to David either hy divulging the secret of
the " gutter," or by assisting Joab in ascending it.

1 have defied any one to upset No. 2, but I am willing to extend the
challenge to the other points. Accordingly, when Professor Sayce conies
boldly to the attack, I cannot run from my guns, but must ruthlessly mow
down his objections to my (not Canon Birch's) theory by confuting them.
I am glad, however, to say that Professor Sayce agrees with me, partially
on No. 1, and all but entirely on Nos. 2 and .3, but he wholly rejects No. 4,
and consequently No. 5, though, since he is " qiiite ready to believe what-
ever Josephus may say provided it is not contradicted by external or
internal evidence" (p. 172), I anticipate in the end his hearty acceptance of
my last point.

Professor Sayce's objections to No. 4 are practically three.

(1) He urges that 2 Samuel v, 6-8, has to do with the capture of two
places, and that therefore it was not Zion, the City of David, to which
Joab gained access.

(2) That Joab could not have got up the shaft found by Sir C. Warren,
since in Professor Sayce's opinion it did not then exist, being of later date
than the Siloam Tunnel.

(3) That the Hebrew word for " gutter " means a waterfall, and there-
fore could not be a rock-cut shaft or passage.

To make the matter in dispute more intelligible, I give in full the
passages in question : —

2 Samuel v, 6. " And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto
the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, which spake unto David, saying,
Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in
hither : thinking, David cannot come in hither.

7. " Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion : the same is the
City of David.

8. "And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter,
and sniiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of
David's soul, //>• shall he chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The
blind and the lame shall not come into the house."

1 Chronicles xi, 6, states : "And David said, Whosoever smiteth the
Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. So Joab the son of Zeruiah
went first up and was chief."

To prove his first point, Professor Sayce tries to make a short cut, by
impressing into Ins service Hebrew grammar. He protests against my
describing Ins interpretation of two places being taken as a "popular
error" (perhaps my popular was ill-chosen), and asserts that "the Hebrew
teuses admit of no other (interpretation) ; we have waw consecuticmu
in each clause. The narrative sets before us a sequence of events. . .
David captured the outpost of Zion, and after this — but on the same day —
be promised rewards to ' whosoever getteth up to the gutter,' &c."

ZrON, THE CITY OF DAVID. 63

My contention (p. 72) was that in verse 8 the sense would be made
clearer by translating- "And David said" by "For David said," &c, since
tins verse explains how David succeeded in taking Zion, the capture of
which was mentioned in the previous verse.

The question is, Must the words translated "And David said" mean
" And after this (the previously mentioned event) David said," or may they
not mean " For David said," and, if so, does not this rendering agree better
with the rest of the passage ?

A disputed point of grammar must be dealt with by a competent
Hebrew scholar. I extract the following from a full explanation of
the question, kindly furnished to me by Professor Theodores : —

" The verbal form called ' future ' (Hebrew "P]""^ by the older gram-
marians), is variously named in the modern grammars as imperfect, aorist,
hens, &c. . . . The letter ^ prefixed to the 'future,' generally provided
with the vowel Pathach (-) and followed by a dot called ' strong Dagesh ' in
the initial letter of the verb, has the property of changing the verb from
the future to the past, whence the Hebrew grammarians named it 'the
vaw conversive.' Modern grammarians have invented for it different
names, consecutive, voluntative, relative, &c. The interpretation of the
prefix *\ varies between and, novo, for, but, still, nevertheless, then, inasmu<'h
as, namely, consequently, and probably still more particles, either temporal
or logical.

" It is not true that "1 before a verb in the future must be interpreted
to mean 'afterwards' (Suyce, p. 174). Examples are numerous. . . .
Thus in Genesis xxxvii, 5, w T e read (A.V.), 'And Josephus dreamed a
dream, and he told it his brethren, and they hated him yet the more.' "

Here follows verse 6 : " And he said [future with \\ unto them, Hear, I
pray you, this dream which I have dreamed." Would it not be absurd to
lender the beginning of verse 6, viz., "IftN'H (wayyomer), " Afterwards he
said unto them ? " Joseph did not tell his dream in consequence of his
brothers' hatred ; but his brethren hated Joseph in consequence of his
communication about dreaming. In point of time, verse 6, commencing
with " And he said," is anterior to the words "and they hated him yet the
more" in verse 5. Again, in Exodus xl, 17, we are informed that on the
first day of the first month in the second year the tabernacle was reared up.

The next verse, the 18th, reads, "And Moses reared up [future with 1] the
tabernacle, &c." Can ^ here mean "afterwards ?" What! after the rearing

up of the tabernacle, Moses reared up the tabernacle !

Professor Theodores adds this translation : — (b*) " Then marched the king
and his men towards Jerusalem against the Jebusite inhabiting the land,
and he said to David thus, Thou wilt not enter here, except thou set aside
the blind and the lame, meaning : David shall not enter here ! (7)
Nevertheless, David conquered the fortification ' Zion,' which is ' the City
of David. (8) For David proclaimed on that day, He that smites the

G4 ZION, THE CITY OF DAYID.

Jebusite, reaching so far as the aqueduct, along with the lame and along
with the blind, those hated by the sold of David . . . [The Scripture
is here elliptical, not stating what should be done to him, but the want is
supplied in 1 Chronicles xi, 6], because the lame and the blind, even they
say he shall not enter within. (9) Thus David settled in the fort and
called it the City of David. And David built round about from Millo and
inward." Professor Theodores further adds : — " In the Hebrew commentary,
called Biur, on the translation called Mendelssohn's, the following opinions
are stated : — Verse 7. ' And David conquered.' This ' And ' is adversative
and means hut, nevertheless. Verse 8. 'And David said.' In the preceding
verse (7) the text states in a general way that David overpowered the
stronghold, but now in (8) the particulars are stated how the conquest was
effected."

Thus it is amply shown that the grammar does not prove that
two places were taken in 2 Samuel v ; 1 Chronicles xi. If I may add
a woi'd of my own, I would say there would be an unaccountable lacuna
in the sacred narrative if two places had been taken, since no mention
whatever is made of the second capture. The passages give a complete
story of one place being taken, stating the fact of its capture, that a
reward had been offered for its capture, and the name of the successful
hero.

The A.V. is right in the heading of 1 Chronicles xi : " He winneth the
castle of Zion from the Jebusites by Joab's valour," and so far I was
wrong in describing Professor Sayce's interpretation as a popular error.
Thus I conclude that it was the fort (of) Zion to which Joab gained access.

But, secondly, Professor Sayce says (175) : " The careful workmanship of
these passages, the niches for lamps — a Grreco-Roman invention — the iron
ring, and the fact that the lower conduit (discovered by Sir C. Warren) led
into the winding Siloam Tunnel, all go to show that this lower conduit
was later in age than the Siloam one."

a. Niches for lamps. — In his account of the Siloam Tunnel (] 881, p. 1 42)
Professor Sayce mentions a niche opposite the inscription, and admits the
reasonable suggestion that it was for the lamp of the workman that cut
the letters. Was the inscription therefore (and the tunnel as well) a
( iniro-lionian invention? I will not, however, press the point. If
Professor Sayce will refer to Colonel Warren's account of the passage, he
will, I think, find no mention whatever of "niches for lamps," but only
of piles of loose stones (Letters, p. 39 ; Memoirs, Jerusalem, p. 307), an
invention dating as far back as Jegar — sahadutha.

b. " 7'/"' iron ring." My initials and H.B. are smoked beyond the
broad arrow in a low passage in the cave of Adullam, but the antiquity
of the cave is not consequently reduced. The ring must have been added
after the passage was made, but how Long after no one knows, and there-
fore the iron age proves nothing.

<■. The lower conduit, <&c. — It would, however, be quite as correct (more
correel I believe) to say "the Siloam Tunnel led into the conduit." Colonel
Warren's professional opinion (Letter?, p. 40) on discovering the passage, was

THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS. 65

as follows :—" The fact of the newly found aqueduct being nearly in a
line with the first 50 feet of the old one, gives the idea that this may
originally have been the means of providing Ophel with water, and that
the remainder of the duct to the present Pool of Siloam may have been
an afterthought."

He also holds to the same opinion in " Underground Jerusalem ,:
(p. 333). Thus Professor Sayce's second objection fails.

His third objection I propose, if time permit, to answer fully when I
have exposed in detail the fallacies of the arguments urged for placing
the City of David in any other position than on Ophel (so-called). It
will suffice now to say that the evidence proving that the gutter was an
aqueduct, and that Araunah betrayed Zion, is given in Quarterly Statement,
1878, p. 184; 1879, p. 104.

W. F.. Birch.

THE ROUTE OP THE EXODUS.

Permit me to reply to the views of Mr. Baker Greene, as given in the
October number of the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration
Fund, and which have been made the subject of a leading article in the
Morning Post of the 22nd October, regarding the identity of Mount Hor
with Mount SinaL I regret not having seen Mr. Greene's book, but as
his views are very fully set forth in the Quarterly Statement I will deal
with a few points on which he lays stress in that publication ; and I hope
to be able to show, by the aid of a few crucial tests, that his views are
altogether untenable.

I may be allowed to point out that this is pre-eminently a question
which requires some personal knowledge of the countries referred to ; and
it does not appear from Mr. Baker Greene's statement that, like the
venerable Dr. Beke, he has made a pilgrimage to the East in order
to verify his views by personal observation. On the other hand, I
may remind the reader that the identification of Mount Sinai (Jebel
Musa) in the peninsula of Arabia Petrsea with the "Mount of the Law"
has been maintained by eminent men who have personally examined the
district, such as Dr. Robinson, Burkhardt, the late Professor Palrner, and
Col. Sir Charles W. Wilson, formerly of the Ordnance Survey of Sinai.
After this consensus of opinion it might have been supposed that nothing
more was to be said.

Mr. Baker Greene asserts that after the passage of the Red Sea
the Israelites followed the old caravan road across the Tlh tableland
to Akabah, which he identifies with Elim, where there were " twelve
wells and threescore and ten palm-trees" (Exod. xv, 27). As Elim
merely means "a grove of palms," the name might doubtless have

66 THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS.

been applied to Akabah, or to several other spots where groves of
palms happened to grow ; so that little value can be attached to this
point of identification.

But taking the sacred narrative as it stands, let us see how it fits in
with Mr. Greene's views. The Israelites are stated to have gone three
days in the wilderness, and to have found no water (verse 22). Mr. Greene
then draws the probable inference that on the fourth day they found
water, and he identifies the spot where the water was found with Kala'at
Nakhl, which is situated about half-way between Suez and Akabah on
the caravan road, and is considered a fourth day's stage for caravans.
Of this place Professor Palmer says : — " The country is nearly waterless,
except a few springs, situated in the larger wadies ; but even here water
can only be obtained by scraping small holes in the ground and baling it
out with the hand. All that is obtained by the process is a yellowish
.solution, which baffles all attempts at filtering" (" Desert of the Exodus,"
p. 287). Such was the water with which, according to Mr. Baker
Greene's views, the thousands of Israel, with their flocks and herds,
were fain to slake their thirst after a march of three days under a
broiling sun, and over one of the most desolate and forbidding tracts
in that part of the world !

But, even supposing the water to have been at that period more
plentifid, another question remains to be answered : Has Mr. Baker
Greene ascertained the distance from Suez to Nakhl, which was reached,
as he supposes, on the fourth day ? If he will measure the distance on a
good map he will find that it is about seventy English miles in a straight
line, and in addition the march involves the ascent of the ridge of Jebel
er Rah ah of about 2,000 feet. To suppose that the Israelitish host,
consisting of men, women, and children, together with their flocks and
herds, could have marched seventy miles and crossed a ridge of 2,000 feet
in three days is a demand on our credulity which he can scarcely hope to
be granted. That it can be done on camels or horses is doubtless true ;
but to accomplish the journey on foot would tax the powers of a skilled
pedestrian, and would be impossible for women and children.

Having disposed of this point, which lies at the threshold of Mr. Baker
Greene's argument, I will take up another. It is stated that the Israelites
on reaching Elim found twelve wells, and that they "encamped there by
the waters," evidently referring to the waters of the wells ; but surely, if
Elim means Akabah, as Mr. Greene supposes, we might have expected to
find some reference to the waters of the Red Sea (or Gulf of Akabah) as
being in the vicinity of the camping ground.

But another objection to Mr. Greene's views meets us at the
commencement of Exodus xvi, where it is stated that on leaving Elim
the Israelites "took their journey and came unto the wilderness of
Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai." In his statement Mr. Greene
seems t<> make a confusion between the "wilderness of Sin" and the
"wilderness of Zin," which latter lay along the Arabah, and probal.ls
included Elim ar ' Mcabah, The wilderness of Sin, according to the besi

THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS. 67

authorities, lay to the west of the Sinaitic peninsula. In any case the
two names refer to two different districts. That spelt with samech
being referred to in Exodus xvi and xvii ; that spelt with tsade in
Deuteronomy xxxii, 57; Numbers xiii, 21 ; xxvii, 14; and Joshua xv, 3,
these being connected with Kadesh-Barnea. 1

In reference to the statement of St. Paul, it is not difficult to
understand why he places Mount Sinai in "Arabia." The term was
doubtless used by the Apostle in a general sense to include the vast
region of desert-land lying to the south and east of Judaea. Mr. Greene
himself sees the difficulty of accounting for the fact that Mount Hor
should be associated with the lesser event of the death of Aaron
rather than with those stupendous manifestations of Divine power which
were connected with the giving of the Law.

Again, if Elim be Akabah, how can this be reconciled with the state-
ment of Numbers xxxiii, 10, that the Israelites "removed from Elim and
encamped by the Red Sea," inasmuch as Akabah is actually by the Red
Sea ? Other difficulties might be cited, but the above are probably
sufficient to show that Mr. Baker Greene's identification cannot be
admitted.

Nor can I admit that Kadesh-Barnea is Petra. From personal
experience of the difficulties of the mountain pass leading from the
Arabah Valley to Petra, I may safely affirm that it would have been
impracticable for the Children of Israel when on their way to the
Promised Land.

Edward Hull.
Dublin, November 18, 1884.

II.

Professor Hull having been good enough to place at my disposal a
proof-sheet of his objections to my view of the Exodus, I gladly avail
myself of the opportunity of replying to them forthwith. Negatively it
is a source of satisfaction to me that, with this exception, no one of the
many members of the Palestine Exploration Fund has challenged the
soundness of my arguments.

I must confess, however, that I find considerable difficulty in knowing
how to deal with Professor Hull's criticisms. I have no right to complain
that he has not read my book before entering the lists, but not having done
so, I think I may justly complain that he should have assumed that I did
not take the trouble of studying with ordinary attention the subject
of which I treated. He tells me how to ascertain the distance from
Suez to Nakhl ; quotes Professor Palmer as to the waterless character
of the country around the last-named jdace f he attributes to me "a

1 The Rev. Dr. Stubbs, of Trinity College, Dublin, has kindly verified the
originals for me.

2 Kalaat el Nakhl, with its fort and wells, has been frequently mentioned
and described by travellers for centuries past. See Thevenot's account, quoted

F 2

68 THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS.

confusion " between the wildernesses of Sin and Zin ; he gravely informs
the readers of the Quarterly Statement that the initial letters of these
words are different, and with equal gravity adds in a footnote that my
respected friend Dr. Stubbs has verified the fact by reference to those
passages in the Hebrew version where the names occur. He somewhat
authoritatively asserts that personal observation of the country is pre-
eminently required for the settlement of the points in issue, and, with
what most persons will be inclined to think singular infelicity, refers
to the late Dr. Beke's pilgrimage in search of the true Mount Sinai.
Finally, he refers to the authority of a number of persons as to the
identity of Jebel Musa with Mount Sinai, 1 and airily adds that after
this consensus of opinion it might have been supposed that nothing
more remained to be said. To measure small things by great, I may
remind the Professor that there was a still greater consensus of opinion
against Galileo when he maintained that the earth moved, and against
the first geologists who ventured to deny that the creation of the world
was effected in six solar days.

And now to deal with Professor Hull's objections in detail : —
He says that little value can be attached to the identification of Elim
with Akabah because of the presence of palm-trees at the last-named
place. I would go farther, and say no value whatever could be attached
to such a ground of identification taken per se. But if he will turn to my
contribution to the last Quarterly Statement he will find that I wrote, " I
cannot give here in detail the many reasons, Scriptural, philological,
historical, and geographical, for my identification of the Elim of Exodus
xv, 27, with the Elath of Deut. ii, 8, and 1 Kings ix, 26," and the modern

by Bitter, Erdkunde, 14. He crossed the desert from Suez to Akabah in
1658, the journey occupying six days, of which sixty-seven hours were spent in
travelling, which closely corresponds with the estimated time in the "Tabula
Peutingeriana" (sixty-eight hours). See also Dr. Shaw, " Travels in Barbary
and the Levant," 1721, p. 477 ; Dr. Pococke, Bishop of Meath, " Description of
the East," 1743, i, 265. Nakhl is the half-way house on what Captain Burton
describes as the oldest route in the world, and it has never been surveyed.

1 It is not of much consequence, but as a matter of fact Burckhardt identi-
fied . rebel Serbal, a mountain thirty miles to the westward of Jebel Musa, with
Sinai, an opinion shared by Lepsius and others. Captain Burton thus pithily
sums up the respective claims of the various mountains in the peninsula to be
"the true Sinai : " — "It is evident that Jebel Serbal dates only from the early
days of Coptic Christianity; that Jebel Musa, its Greek rival, rose after the visions
of Helena in the fourth century ; whilst the building of theconvent by Justinian
belongs to a.d. 527. Baa Sufsaveh, its rival to the north, is an affair of yester-
day, and may be called the invention of Robinson ; and Jebel Katcrina, to the
south, i^ the property of Buppell." ("Midian Revisited," i, 237.) I have the
best reason for knowing that 1'rofessor I'almer had accepted my views of the
Route of the Exodus before lie left England in 18N2, and that he woidd
probably have taken the first opportunity of avowing his change of opinion had
he returned.

THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS. GO

Akabah. I cannot be expected to summarise the contents of an octavo
volume of nearly five hundred pages.

Professor Hull urges the impossibility of the thousands of Israel, with
their flocks and herds, finding a supply of water at Nakhl, and the im-
probability of their making the journey from Suez to that place in three or
four days. Unfortunately for his inference he proves too much. There
is no place in the desert of the Tih, where they are said to have wandered
for forty years, where water could have been obtained for such a multi-
tude. It is generally supposed that the released captives, including old
men, women, and children, numbered between two and three millions.
If such was the case, and they had formed a column ten abreast,
allowing only a yard depth for each rank, the caravan, exclusive of
flocks and herds, would have reached from Suez to Akabah. I believe
that the released captives were not in such excessive numbers as to
preclude the possibility of their doing what is annually done by the
Egyptian Haj, namely, crossing the desert to Akabah in about a week's
time. Professor Hull says that from his personal experience of the
difficulties of the mountain pass leading from the Arabah to Petra, he
can safely affirm it would have been impracticable for the Children of
Israel on their way to the Promised Land. This objection, like the
preceding one, rests, I presume, on their supposed numbers. But let us
glance at certain admitted historical facts. At some period of their
journeyings the Israelites were beyond all question in the middle portion
of the Wady Arabah. They desired to pass through Edom, which
throughout is a very mountainous region, in order to reach Moab and
the Trans-Jordanic country to the north. The Edomites refused per-
mission, and " came out against Israel with much people and a strong
hand " (Numb, xx, 20, 21), " wherefore Israel turned away from him."
But where did Israel turn ? It is conceded on all hands that on
quitting Mount Hor, the Israelites descended the Arabah " by the way
of the Bed Sea," by which is here meant beyond all dispute the Gulf
of Akabah (Deut. ii), and, passing Ezion Gaber and Elath, " compassed
Mount Seir," that is, Edom, and following the east " coast " of that
country pursued a northerly direction to Moab. About this portion
of the route followed by the Israelites there never has been any
question. But the reason they took this circuitous course was because
they were not enabled to pass through Edom, and this inability de-
pended not upon the physical characteristics of the country, but on the
hostile attitude of the Edomites. But the difficulties of this particular
pass by which Professor Hull proceeded from the Arabah to Petra
would have been equalled if not exceeded by those of the other "wadies"
debouching from the Idumean range into the Arabah. So that we must
either reject as unhistorical the statement that the Israelites would have
crossed Edom from the Arabah if they had been permitted to do so, or
admit that those physical difficulties on which Professor Hull lays such
stress would not have been insuperable.

Professor Hull says it is not difficult to explain St. Paul's placing

70 THE KOUTE OF THE EXODUS.

Mount Sinai in Arabia. "The term was doubtless used by the Apostle
in a general sense to include the vastj region of desert land lying to the
south and east of Judaea." But this is begging the whole question.
There is not a tittle of evidence that St. Paul ever thought or heard of
the so-called Sinaitic peninsula. I affirm without fear of contradiction
that no human being ever dreamt of extending Arabia west of the
Arabah until Ptolemy, at the close of the second century, introduced
what he called Arabia Petraea, an innovation which was never sanctioned
or recognised by the Arabian geographers. It is not unreasonable to
conclude that St. Paul, being a highly educated man, knew what he
was writing about, and when he referred to Arabia meant the country
which was so designated by his contemporaries. For the explanation of
the curious fact that the association of Mount Hor with Aaron's death
should have apparently survived those arising from the tradition of the
law I must refer to the "Hebrew Migration." It should not be for-
gotten that, wherever situated, Mount Sinai fell into oblivion among the
Jews. No pilgrimages were made to it, and its exact site was certainly
unknown to Josephus, or he would have fixed its locality by its proximity
to some well-known place.

The " confusion " which Professor Hull attributes to me respecting
the wilderness of Sin and Zin supplies an opportunity, of which I may be
permitted to avail myself, not oxdy of satisfying the Professor that he has
done me an injustice, but of bringing under the notice of the readers of the
Quarterly Statement some interesting facts respecting Sin and Zin which
will, I believe, lead them to share my opinion that they were identical.

The wilderness of Sin was between Elim and Sinai (Exod. xvi, 1), and in
Exodus xvii we have mention made of two very remarkable incidents which
must have happened in, or in the immediate neighbourhood of, that wilder
ness, namely, the smiting of the rock with the production of water, and the
battle with the Amalekites. Let us briefly consider all that is told us
respecting these two incidents.

According to the account in Exodus xvii, the Israelites murmured
through want of water, and obtained the miraculous supply from the rock
in Horeb, the place bearing the name " Massah and Meribah, because of
the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord."
We have, however, another account of this miracle in Numbers xx. It is
there stated that "then came the children of Israel, even the whole
congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month, and the people
abode in Kadesh, and Miriam died there." Whilst in this place "there was
n<> water for the congregation." The people rebelled, and Moses, by com-
mand of the Lord, smote the rock, and the water came forth abundantly.
"This is the wat.r of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with
tin Lord, and He was sanctified in them."

Now no one will seriously contend thai there were two distinct miracles,
performed under precisely similar circumstances, at an interval of nearly
forty years, in places widely apart, and that the water produced bore in
both cases the name " Meribah.'' But all doubt on the matter is removed

THE KOUTE OF THE EXODUS. 71

by referring to the language which was addressed by the discontented
Israelites to their leaders. They demanded why they had been brought
into the wilderness with their cattle to die, and asked " wherefore have ye
made us to come out of Egypt to bring us into this evil place ? it is no
place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there
any water to drink." This language was appropriate if used by people
who had only recently quitted Egypt, and who " in the first month " (Numb,
xx, 1) after their departure had arrived in a region where they were
forced to submit to great privations ; but it is hopelessly unintelligible as
coming from people who had been thirty-nine years straying about in the
wilderness, the generation which had quitted Egypt having by that
time almost entirely died out.

The second incident recorded in Exodus xvii is the battle with the
Amalekites, and if the accepted view that the wilderness of Sin was in the
south-west region of the Sinaitic peninsula, this must have been fought
close to the Gulf of Suez. The negative and the positive evidence against
such an assumption are, however, overwhelming. The inscriptions on the
steles at Sarbut el Khadem, which is close to the route which must have
been followed by the Israelites if they entered the peninsula, prove that
the mines in that neighbourhood were worked by the Egyptians for
centuries before the Exodus took place, and for long afterwards. 1 If,
however, this particular region was occupied by Egyj^tians when Moses
led the captives away, it is in the highest degree improbable that he would
have entered a place occupied by his enemies, and still more so that the
circumstance of having done so should have been unnoticed in the Biblical
records. But by what possible train of reasoning can the presence there of
the Amalekites be accounted for I Who were the Amalekites ? Amalek
was the grandson of Esau, and one of the Dukes of Edom (Gen. xxxvi, 12).
The Edomites and the Amalekites were frequently treated as identical. It
was the Amalekites who barred the progress of the Israelites when on
their way to the Land of Promise (Numb, xiii, 29), within a few months
after this supposed battle in sight of the Gulf of Suez. But we have a
specific account of a battle between the Israelites and the Amalekites, in
which, however, the latter were victorious, and the scene of the engagement
was in the wilderness of Zin near Kadesh (Numb, xiv), the same incident
being referred to in Deuteronomy i, and it was this reverse which led to
the return of the Israelites down the Arabah to Elath, and their subse-
quent journey by the east of Edom to Moab.

It is therefore simply inconceivable that the Amalekites, who beyond
all question were Edomites, should have been found at the time of the
Exodus in Egyptian territory, and then actually occupied by the Egyptians,
and that they should, without any imaginable reason, have given battle
there to the Israelites. In the battle recorded in Exodus xvii the Israelites
were victorious, while in that mentioned in Numbers xiv and Deut. i
they were vanquished. There can be no reason to doubt that these

1 " Heb. Mig.," p. 174.

72 THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS.

engagements were consequent on the efforts made by the Israelites to pass
through Edom, and were fought in the same region

It is worth while to ascertain what opinion a Jew living at the commence-
ment of the Christian era entertained respecting the locality where the
first battle with the Amalekites was fought. Josephus, in his pharaphrase
of this portion of the Biblical narrative, states that a coalition was formed
against the Hebrews, and that " those who induced the rest to do so were
such as inhabited Gobolitis and Petra : they were called Amalekites "
(" Ant.," iii, 2). It is perfectly clear, therefore, that, in the opinion of the
great Jewish historian, this battle was fought in Edom, and that the
Sinaitic peninsula was wholly absent from his mind. He certainly had
no opportunity of consulting those great modern authorities which place
Mount Sinai between the Gulfs of Suez and Akabah.

Whilst the Israelites were still between Elim and Sinai they met with
the Kenites and concluded a league with them (Exod. xviii). But the same
insuperable objection to the transportation of the Amalekites to the
Sinaitic peninsula, applies to placing the Kenites in the same region.
This latter people, though distinct from the Amalekites, occupied with them
the country on the east of the Arabah. They are positively referred to
by Balaam (Numb, xxiv, 7) ; they aided Judahinthe invasion of Southern
Palestine (Judg. i, 16) ; and on the occasion of Saul's campaign against the
Amalekites (1 Sam. xv), which beyond all question was fought in the
region to the south of the Dead Sea, the Kenites at the request of the king
separata 1 themselves from the Amalekites. What imaginable reason could
Jethro, who was the Sheikh of the tribe, have had for taking his people
for a flying visit to the so-called Sinaitic mountains ]

It will doubtless be urged that my identification of the wilderness of
Sin with that of Zin is irreconcilable with the " Itinerary " (Numb, xxxiii),
in which they are apparently distinguished from each other, and placed
very far apart. My reply is, that the result of a critical collation of the
Itinerary with the narrative of the principal events which marked the
journeying of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land shows that
the former is a production of a more recent date, and was probably com-
piled eitherduring or immediately subsequent to the Babylonian captivity.
It is (ibserval)Ie that the Itinerary tells us no new facts, though it furnishes
names of places of which there is no mention elsewhere. It would be
impossible for me to give here an exhaustive analysis in support of the
inference of the comparatively late date of this composition, but one or
two points may l»e noticed pertinent to the present matter. In the
Itinerary the [sraelites are said to have proceeded from Kibroth-hattaavah
(which we know was in the wilderness of Sin, Exod. xvi) to Hazeroth, and
thence to a number of places of which we have no mention elsewhere.
But we learn from another source that on removing from Hazeroth the
Israelites "pitched in the wilderness of l'aran '" (Numb, xii, L6), which is
identified with that of Zin, from which the spies were sent forth. It is
clear, therefore, that if according to the Itinerary the Israelites proceeded

from BLibroth-hattaavah, in the wilderness of Sin, to Hazeroth which was

THF ROUTE OF THE EXODUS. 73

the next station to the wilderness of Paran, or of Zin, the deserts of Sin
and Zin must have been contiguous, or were identical if the journey from
Hazeroth to Zin marks the return to Elath at the head of the Gulf of
Akabah. As, however, the spies "searched the land from the wilderness
of Zin unto Kehob," the wilderness of Sin, which was close by, if not
identical with, that of Zin, and which lay between Elim and Sinai,
could not have been in the Sinaitic peninsula. I may add that one of
the curious results of taking the statements in the Itinerary in their
received sense is that, as the Israelites did not reach the wilderness of
Zin until immediately before the death of Aaron, the spies who set out
from thence could not have undertaken their mission until nearly forty
years after the departure from Egypt. But the forty years' delay in the
wilderness was declared to have been the punishment for the disobedienrc
of the Israelites on the return of the spies (Numb. xiv).

Thex'e are many who regard the Pentateuch as a continuous narrative
from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, and who make
it an article of faith to ascribe the authorship to Moses. I cannot under-
stand why they do so, or why they consider it as incompatible with
inspiration to admit that it may be the work of many hands. The
Gospels do not speak with diminished authority because they are the
productions of four different evangelists. On the contrary, the confirmath >n
they respectively afford of the facts they record furnishes more conclusive
proof of the sacred narrative than if the story had been told by only a
single witness. And so it is with the various distinct records which have
been welded together in the Pentateuch. By their substantial agreement
in the main, no less than by their differences in details, in forms of
expression, and in dialect, they give us, by what are termed "undesigned
coincidences," the most absolute proof of the historical accuracy of this
great movement of liberated Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine which was
destined to exercise so great an influence on the human race. Carefully
preserved by the different nations of which Trans-Jordanic and Cis-Jordanic
Israel and Judah were composed, they were subsequently collected and
presented in the form in which we now see them. The Mount of God
was to some known as Horeb, to others as Sinai, and probably to all as the
Har-ha-har, the Mount of Mounts. The Elim of the records of one
section is the Elath of another, as the Hazarim of the one is the Hazeroth
of the other, and in like manner the wilderness which by some was kept
in their memories as that of Sin, was referred to by others as that of Zin. 1
These are, however, differences which, if viewed in a proper light, only
serve the more conclusively to convince us of Jdie authenticity and the
antiquity of these precious records.

J. Baker Greexe.

1 We have an illustration of the difference in the use of sibillants by the
Cis-Jordanic and Trans-Jordanic sections of Israel in Judges xii, 6. The
Sibboleth of the former was the .Shibboleth of the latter.

imp"- 3

i 3§||7 03 d

CM ^

nil

# # # «

Quarterly Statement, April, 1885.]

THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND

NOTES AND NEWS.

It lias been fouud necessary to postpone the first instalment of Mr. J. Chichester
Hart's papers on the "Natural History in the Desert " until July. The work
will be completed in about four instalments. Each number will be illustrated
by a large coloured plate.

The two communications from the late General Gordon published in this
number are merely, as will be seen, notes sent to the Secretary, and placed
aside until they could be revised by the writer. Of late years he took a deep
interest in the proceedings of the Society, though his own conclusions, as may
be gathered from the papers here published, were based on other than purely
scientific grounds. The theory put forward in the note on Golgotha has been
further developed in Gordon's "Reflections in Palestine."

The Committee have to thank Mr. Laurence Oliphant for two important
communications which will be found on pages 82 and 94. The other papers
promised to the Society by a recent traveller have not yet reached us, but we
shall almost certainly be able to produce them in July.

The following is the Balance Sheet for the year 1884 : —

BALANCE SHEET.

Subscriptions, Donations,
and Lecture returns. .

Loan

Maps and Memoirs

Books

Photographs

Balance {January 1st
1884)

3,709

850.

862

224

172

£5,826

December 31st
Exploration
Maps and Memoirs
Salaries
Eent
Printers

Office expenses . .
Photographs, cost ol
Postage and Parcels
Balance

1884.

£ s.

1,851 13

2,592 13

373 15

121

504 3

48 12

11 12

74 5

249 3

£5,826 19 10

Examined and found correct.

(Signed) WALTER MORRISON.

70 NOTES AND NEWS.

It will be seen that the expenditure includes the sum of £1,851 13s. Id. due
to exploration. This makes the total cost of the Geological Expedition about
£2,300, part of which was included in the balance sheet of the preceding year.
The sum of £2,592 13*. Id. was expended on " Maps and Memoirs." Against
this is the sum of £862 Is. received on that account, and the valuable
property of the G-reat Map and the reduced modern map in the possession
of the Society, besides the copies which remain of the "Survey of Western
Palestine." Printing takes the large sum of £500, which includes the postage
of the Quarterly Statements to subscribers. Management is an item which
varies little from year to year. Including parcels and postage it amounted last
year to £629 6s. 5d. The proportional table of expenditure is as follows : —

Exploration, nearly . . . . 33 "21 per cent.

Maps and Memoirs . . . . 46 "49 „

Printing 9 *04

Management .. .. .. 11 26 „

100-00

A considerable sum, about £750, still remains (March 25th) to be paid on
account of the Maps and Memoirs, and the Society is further indebted in the
amount of a loan of £850, the whole of which it is hoped to pay off before the
end of the year.

The Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society have issued their report for the last year,
in which it appears that they have now seventy-one members, and have issued two
pilgrims' texts, viz., those of Antoninus Martyr and Sancta Paula. That of the
Bordeaux Pilgrim is already translated and printed, and only awaits Sir Charles
Wilson's notes. The Society has received permission of Count Riant to use the
publications of the Societe de V Orient Latin. Four more publications may be
expected in the course of the year.

The long-promised list of Old and New Testament names, with identifications,
references, and notes, is nearly completed. It has been compiled by Mr. George
Armstrong from the Bible Dictionary, the lists in Clarke's Bible Atlas, and
Captain Conder's lists, and is especially prepared with a view to being a guide
to the forthcoming "maps covering the east as well as the west of the Jordan.

Professor Hull's book, called "Mount Seir," was issued on January 14th.
Subscribers are allowed a reduction on the price, and can obtain it in the usual
way, by application to the office, for 7*. 6d. post free. It contains, besides a popular
account of the Expedition, which occupies twenty chapters out of twenty-two, a
summary of Scientific Results, and a discussion on some of the more im-
portant of the sites visited. There is also appended a Geological Map, and an
Appendix containing Major Kitchener's Report, and a paper by Mr. George
Armstrong on the Wady Arabah. There are twenty-three illustrations from
drawings and photographs made by the ti'avellers during their work.

Those who are interested in the welfare of the modern inhabitants of
Palestine, will bo pleased to hear that the English Laugue of the venerable
Order of St. John has now established an Ophthalmic Hospital just outside

NOTES AND NEWS. 7

.Jerusalem, where a duly qualified English surgeon, specially skilled in the
treatment of the eye, is now resident. The local management is vested in a
committee of British residents, Associates of the Order of St. John, under the
presidency of the Consul, Mr. Noel Temple Moore, C.M.E. The English
offices are at the Chancery, St. John's Grate, Clerkenwell.

The income of the Society, from September 26th to December 12th, 1884,
inclusive, was — from subscriptions and donations £556 5s. 4<d., from all sources
£703 16s. -id. The expenditure during the same period was £728 6s. Id. On
March 12th the balance in the Banks was £205 9s. 6d.

It is suggested to subscribers that the safest and most convenient manner
of paying subscriptions is through a Bank. Many subscribers have adopted this
method, which removes the danger of Joss or miscarriage, and l'enders unneces-
sai*y the acknowledgment by official receipt and letter.

The only authorised lecturers for the Society are —

(1) The Kev. Henry Geary, Vicar of St. Thomas's, Portman Square. His

lectures are on the following subjects : —

The Survey of Western Palestine, as illustrating Bible History.

Palestine East of the Jordan.

The Jerusalem Excavations.

A Restoration of Ancient Jerusalem. Illustrated by original photo-
graphs shown as " dissolving views."

(2) The Rev. James King, Vicar of St. Mary's, Berwick. His subjects are

as follows : —
The Survey of Western Palestine.
Jerusalem.
The Hittites.
The Moabite Stone and other monuments.

(3) The Rev. James Neil, formerly Incumbent of Christ Church, Jerusalem.

G 2

78 EDEN AND GOLGOTHA.

EDEN AND GOLGOTHA.
By General Charles Gordon, R.E.

Position of Eden.

I have formed a theory with respect to the position of Eden. I believe
the Greek of the text respecting the parting of the main river of Eden
into four other rivers can be read that four rivers united to form one great
river.

In Genesis we have one river Euphrates given us : on it was Babylon.
We have the Hiddekel, on which was Nineveh {vide Daniel), and which is
the Tigris ; these two unite and come down the Persian Gulf. "We need
to identify the Pison and Gihon. The Pison is the Nile, its meaning is
" overflowing," and it flowed into the Red Sea before the Flood ; it is
connected with Egypt, which, like Nineveh and Babylon, oppressed
Israel. The Blue Nile encompasses Havilah, where there is gold.
Havilah was a grandson of Shem, his brothers were Ophir and Sheba, also
connected with gold, and with Abyssinia ; they went forth by Mesha
(? Mecca), they crossed the sea, for Solomon got his gold from Ophir by sea.
Where is the Gihon ? There is the Brook Gihon south of Jerusalem, the
Valley of Hinnom, where idolatrous practices went on ; it therefore is alsa
a spot whence Israel was oppressed. On this brook is Jerusalem ; its flow,
when it has any, is to the Dead Sea, its ravine is very deep, and could
have been the bed of a river before the Flood. There is the difficulty of
finding a ravine from the Dead Sea descending to the Gulf of Akabah
through Wady Arabah, the "Valley of Salt. By report, the watershed or
flow of the Valley of Salt is towards the Dead Sea, and not towards the
Gulf of Akabah. Is there any other ravine from the Dead Sea to the
Red Sea by which the Gihon could meet the Nile in that Red Sea ?

Allowing for the moment that the Pison is the Nile, and Gihon is
the Brook Gihon, that they flowed into the Red Sea, and through the
Gate of the World, Bab el Mandeb, we find by taking off the soundings
<>f the Indian Ocean, that there are two clefts of 1,000 fathoms deep,
joining near Socotra, and then going south, gradually deepening till they
teach 2,600 fathoms, some 100 or 200 miles west of Seychelles.

Seychelles is granitic, all other isles are volcanic.

Aden, query Eden.

Mussulman tradition places Eden at Ceylon.

I do not go into the question whether or not the Tree of Knowledge is
not the Lodoicea seychellarium, and the Tree of Life the Artocarpus incisa,
though for myself I do not doubt it.

I was two years in the neighbourhood (if the sources of the Euphrates,
A rax, Phasis, &c. ; no flood could connect these rivers ; — floods do not alter
the features of a country with respect to high ranges.

I N D I A N

'MauritOLS

OCEAN

EDEN AND GOLGOTHA. 79

II.

GOLGOTHA.

1. I last wrote to you giving the four rivers of Eden, oue of which
was the Gihon ou which Jerusalem was. I do not know if I then
mentioned it was the Tyropreon Valley, which conclusion I came to ere
I came to Palestine.

2. Golgotha. The morning after my arrival at Jerusalem I went to
the Skull Hill, and felt convinced that it must be north of the Altar.
Leviticus i, 11, says that the victims are to be slain on the side of the
Altar northwards (literally to be slain slantwise or askew on the north of
the Altar) ; if a particular direction was given by God about where the
types were to be slain, it is a sure deduction that the prototype would be
slain in some position as to the Altar : this the Skull Hill fulfils. With
reference to the word " askew " or " aslant," we have the verse " all the day
long have I stretched out my arms to a rebellious people " (Isa. lxv, 2).
Draw a line from the centre of the Sakhra to the centre of the Skull ;
draw a perpendicular to this line, at centre of skull ; a cross on that line
will embrace all the city and Mount of Olives, and be askew to the Altar.

The Latin Holy Sepulchre is west of the Altar, and therefore, unless the
types are wrong, it should never have been taken as the site.

I pass by the fact of the tradition of Beth hat Selzileh, of the
precipice, of the tradition of its being the place Jeremiah wrote the
Lamentations (which describes the scenes enacted there nearly 600 years
afterwards, "Is it nothing to thee, all ye that pass by" (Lam. i, 12), &c.,
or the particularly suitable entourage of the place, for these things may
be fanciful. I also will not hold to the fact that in the twelfth century
St. Stephen's Church was at the Damascus Gate, outside, and St. Stephen
was stoned nine months after our Lord's Crucifixion, and that it is unlikely
that the Jews would have had two places of execution in nine months.

2. And I will come to the more fanciful view, that the mention of the
place of Skull in each four gospels is a call to attention. Wherever a
mention of any particular is made frequently, we may rely there is
something in it ; if the skull is mentioned four times, one naturally looks

80 EDEN AND GOLGOTHA.

for the body, and if you take Warren's or others' contours with the earth
or rubbish removed showing the natural state of the land, you cannot help
seeing that there is a body, that Schick's conduit is the oesophagus, that
the quarries are the chest, and if you are venturesome you will carry out
the analogy further. You find also the verse (Ps. xlviii), " Zion, on the
sides of the north ;" the word " pleura," same as they pierced His pleura,
and there came blood and water, God took a pleuron from the side of
Adam, and made woman. Now the Church of Christ is made up of, or
came from, His pleura, the stones of the Temple came from the quarries,
from chest of figure, and so on ; so that fixed the figure of body to the-

skull.

3. Then by Josephus's account, as I read it, the Tower Psephinus was
on the rocky point opposite the skull. Titus had his headquarters at the
slaughter-house, 2 furlongs from the wall, viz., 300 to 400 yards, near the
comer (note that corner, for it is alluded to in the 400 cubits broken down
by Jehoash, king of Israel), and my placing of the walls and reading of
Josephus would make his point of attack just where Schick's conduit
enters the city east of Damascus Gate, or at the cisterns to east, where I
think Agrippa's wall began. Mystically, the Eoman Eagle should have
gone at the Lamb of Zion by the throat, viz., Schick's conduit. However,
I will not continue this, for if you please you can get the papers and plans
from my brother. I would do them for you if you wish ; I did them for
Chaplin long ago. The camp of the Assyrians is the place where Nebu-
chadnezzar camped a month after the fall of the city, when he came to
bum the Temple; it is this day which the Jews keep as the fast, not the
day of taking the city.

3. Naturally, after discerning the figure, the question arose of Mount
Zion, and of the boundaries ; by studying the latter with the Septuagint
there seemed no reason by Scriptxtre to consider Ain Haud the Enshemesh.
Septuagint has Beth Samos, and near Jebel el Tell is Kh. el Sama. Again,.
Gihon (being the Tyropceon) is to gush forth, and as the skull is the Altar,
it is thence the two rivers, one to the Dead Sea, the other to the
Mediterranean, are to come. At last Moses's blessing to Benjamin came in,
" he shall rest between His arms," not his shoulders ; so thus I brought
the boundary up Gihon to Kh. el Sama.

4. Other reasons came to back this view, —

Nehemiah mentions town of Furnaces.

He also mentions throne of Governor.

Josephus mentions women's towers.
The word " furnace " is derived from fomex, thence the connection.
The tent Cozbi and Zimri went into was a furnace. Josiah broke down
the high places built by Manasseh near the Gate of Governor, which
were, no doubt, these same furnaces. Herodias lived at Jaffa Gate, and
even to this day there are furnaces there I should think, for the troops
are there.

This led to looking up the history of the Levites, &c, in Judges, of
Gibeon, of mouldy bread, Nob, Gibeali of Saul, &c, and the result is as-

Sketch Map

PART OFTHE JAULAN DISTRICT

E.of Sea of Galilee

/ Tell el j

*- m^0^:r r: - .to

ffafi

G A L I L E E

fr» r

ffr

Scale of Miles

Q.A.,del.

EWeller.

EDEN AND GOLGOTHA. 81

I have just noted, according to my ideas ; but it is a matter of perfect
indifference to us all, for these sites are in each of us.

During these studies, the potters' field comes up, and also the pool
where Abner and Joab met, the field of the treacherous ones, and my idea
is that round about the Serpent's Pool is the Tophet, Aceldama, Potters'
field ; that down the Valley of Hinnom is the Perez of David.

I will not bore you much longer than to say that, by my ideas,

f Khjath-jearini

I Ramatliaim-Zophini

I Armathaim
Kurvet el Eneb is-, Ramah, one of them

I Place of Saul's anointing

I Arimathsea

[ Emmaus
and that Samuel was sacrificing to the Ark when Saul came to him.

Schick has been writing on these subjects for years, and he plaintively
says, "but how am /possibly to advance other views now V In reality, in
writing on these sites, no man ought to draw any cheques on his imagina-
tion ; he ought to keep to the simple fact, and not prophesy or fill up gaps.
If one wrote under cognomen a, and altered under cognomen /3 it would
be all right ; as it is now, a man under his own name cannot go right
about face all at once. The Ark was built at Abu Shusheh by Noah, and
floated up to Baris ; only in a.d. 776 was it placed on Ararat, which is
" holy land." God said, " Go to a mountain I will shew thee," a mountain
already consecrated by the resting place of the Ark. Noah offered on the
rock his sacrifice. Look at Genesis and you will see (Gen. xi, 1), after
the Flood they journeyed eastward to Shinar ; you might go eastward
from either Ararat or El Judi near Jesereb ebn Omar for ever before you
reached Shinar. I will not bore you any longer, except to say that I
think there are not many places Far apart of interest in the Scripture way,
and that these few are—

1. Nazareth and region of Tiberias.

2. Plain of Esdraelon.
.3. Shechem.

4. Bethel.

5. Jerusalem.

6. Bethlehem

7. Hebron.

8. Kuryet el Eneb, Philistia.

9. Jericho, Gilgal, Amnion and Moab, Dead Sea, Vallev of Arabah.

C. G.

82 EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS,

EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS,
AND IN JAULAN.

By Laurence Oliphant.

Haifa, 30th January.
The examination of the country to the east of the Jordan is, under
existing conditions, attended with so much difficulty that I was glad to
seize an opportunity which offered a few weeks ago to pay a visit to the
northern and eastern shores of the Lake of Tiberias, and penetrate a short
distance into Jaulan, with the view of visiting certain localities, where I
had reason to believe that some ruins existed which had hitherto escaped
observation. I was unfortunately prevented by circumstances from de-
voting to them the time and labour which they deserved, and was compelled,
in more than one instance, to hurry past places where it would have been
interesting to linger, with the mental reservation that I would endeavour
to return, at some future time, for a more detailed examination.

I commenced my investigations immediately on crossing the Jordan, at
the point of its debouchure into the lake. Here, at a distance of half a mile
east from its mouth, are situated the ruins of El Araj, which consists of
foundations of old walls, and blocks of basaltic stone, cut and uncut, which
have been used for building purposes. The ruins cover a limited area. A
little over a mile north of El Araj there rises from the fertile plain of El
Batihah a mound strewn with blocks of stone, and remains which cover
a considerable area. This is Et Tell, a spot which it has been sought by
more than one traveller to identify with Bethsaida Julias. I will not
here enter into the much vexed question of whether there were two Beth-
saidas, as insisted upon by Reland and many others, or only one ; or
whether " the desert place apart," upon which was performed the miracle of
the five loaves and the two fishes, was on a desolate spur of the range im-
mediately to the north of this Tell, which would necessitate two Bethsaidas,
or whether it was not, as Dr. Thomson supposes, at the north-east corner
of the Lake on the shoulder overhanging Mesadiyeh, upon which assump-
tion he constructs a theory which would involve only one ; or whether, as
suggested by Captain Conder, the Sinaitic Manuscript is right in omitting
the definition (Luke ix, 10) of the desert where the 5,000 were fed, as
" belonging to the city called Bethsaida," in which case the necessity for a
second city of that name ceases to exist, and the miracle may have been
performed in the plain at the south-east of the Lake. It is possible
that excavations at Et Tell might enable us to decide positively whether it
is the site of Bethsaida Julias, which we know was in this vicinity. A
small native village has been built among the ruins, which do not at
present afford to the passing traveller any indications of former magnifi-
cence ; but I was unable at the time to examine them, as I was desirous of
poshing on without delay to a spot where I was informed by a Bedouin
sheikh who accompanied me from Araj that the fellahtn, in the course
of getting out stone for constructing a small village last summer, had laid

AND IN JAUr.AN.

bare some stones on which were carvings and pictorial representations.
After following the course of the Jordan, on its east bank, for another
mile, we reached a spot on the barren slope of a hill a few hundred yards
from the river, where some native huts had been recently built, and where-
large cut stones, carved cornices, capitals, and fragments of columns were
strewn in profusion, while from the midst of them rose the walls of what
appears to have been a synagogue ; owing, however, to a later super-
structure having evidently been reared upon the original foundation, I feel
somewhat diffident in pronouncing upon this point decidedly. I will, how-
ever, state my reasons for coming to this conclusion, while the accompany-
ing sketches of the ornamentation I
found here may enable others more
competent to form an opinion than
myself to judge of their origin. The
dimensions and ground plan of the
building with the columns still in situ
■closely resembled those of the small
synagogue at Kefr Birim. The
length was 45 feet, the breadth 33
feet. The building had an east and west orientation, and the door was
in the centre of the wall on the western side. This does not, so far as I
know, occur iu the case of any synagogue hitherto found, but it was
doubtless due to the necessities of the case, as the site for the building
was excavated from the hill-side, the floor at the east end being about
9 feet below the surface of the earth at the back of the wall, while the
slope of the hill would have made it inconvenient to place the door, as
usual, on the south side. A more serious objection to this being a
synagogue lies in the fact that the stones were set in mortar, which does
not occur in the case of other synagogues ; but there were indications
to show that these walls had been erected upon older foundations. They
were now standing to a height of 8 feet. There were no door-posts
or lintel to the entrance. The floor, which was thickly strewn with
building stones, fragments of columns, and of carved cornices and capitals,
was below the level of the ground, and was reached by a descent of two
steps, while opposite, running along the whole length of the eastern side,
were two benches or steps, the face of the upper one decorated with a thin
scroll of ornamental tracery ; these may have served for seats. The de-
pressed floor and
stone benches are
both features which
occur in the syna-
gogue at Irbid.
Upon the upper
bench stood the frag-
ments of two columns

about 4 feet in

Fig. 4.

EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS.

height, and 1 foot 2 inches in
diameter. They were evidently
not in situ, being without ped-
estals, and I can only account
for their being in their present
position by the supposition that
they had been placed there
recently. The other two ap-
peared to be in situ, but their
bases were much hidden by
the blocks of stone heaped on
the floor. These blocks averaged 2 feet 6 inches by 18 inches. The capitals
of the columns were in Corinihian style, 2 feet 3 inches in height, and con-
sisted of a double row of leaves, which differed somewhat from the usual
acanthus, apparently of a later or more composite order. The ornamenta-
tion and character of the niches (see figs. 4 and 5) so closely resembled those
found at the synagogue at Kei-azeh and elsewhere, being of the same florid
and somewhat debased type, that they seemed to me to set at rest the
question of the original character of this building, though it may subse-
quently have been diverted to other uses. Time did not allow me to do
more than make rough drawings of the architecture, but I trust they are

sufficient to enable a comparison
to be made between them and
the engravings in the " Me-
moirs." If I am right in my
conjecture, this synagogue would
probably date from about the
second century of the Christian
era. I also found a stone which
consisted of the upper portion of
two small semi-attached fluted columns with Doric capitals, almost exactly
similar to the one found at Irbid. Also one cut into a round arch, which

may have been placed over the
lintel on the plan of the arch on
the lintel over the entrance to the
great, synagogue at Kefr Birim.
It measured 39 inches across the
base of the arch (fig. 1). A most
interesting object was a winged
female figure, holding what was
apparently a sheaf (fig. 2). The
ornamentation of the cornice does
not resemble any which I have
observed either in the "Memoirs"
or elsewhere, and is not unlike the
so-called egg and dart pattern
(fig. 3). Other specimens of the ornamentation are seen in fig. 7. T have

AND IN JAULAN.

not been able to
form any conjecture
which should iden-
tify this most inte-
resting spot with
any Biblical or his-
torical locality. Its
modern name is Ed-
Dikkih, meaning
platform, a name not
inappropriate to its
position. It is pos-
sible that during the
next dry season the
natives may con-
tinue their excava-
tions, as stones are
needed. I have FlG - 3 -

urgently impressed upon them not to deface or destroy any remains that may
be unearthed ; but they un-
fortunately watched my pro-
ceedings with an uneasiness
and suspicion which I am
afraid a gratuity failed alto-
gether to dispel.

We now pursued an almost
easterly direction along the
lower flank of the range which
rose abruptly on our left, and in a mile and a half reached a spring and the
remains of a small ruin called Umm el Araj. There seemed, however, to
have been only two or three houses here, and finding nothing of interest
we pushed on, and reached in half a mile more the ruins of Elahseniyeh.
Here again I was fortunate in coming upon remains which have been
exposed to view for the first time by the natives this year.

The portion excavated was not so extensive, nor did it reveal so much
that was interesting, as Ed-Dikkih, but the area covered with old ruin was
greater, and it was in ancient times probably the centre of a larger popu-
lation. The character of the remains now exposed to view is very difficult
to determine, owing to the confusion which has been created by their
representing two periods, the building of the later having apparently been
placed diagonally on the one that preceded it. They were situated upon
a terrace of solid masonry about 5 feet high, now strewn with building
stones. The upper or more recent chamber measured 20 feet across
one way, but there was nothing to determine its length, no walls having
been left standing ; the dimension in one direction, however, could be
gathered from the cement floor which still remained, a considerable
portion of which was visible at a depth of 18 inches below the surface

1-ig.

86 EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS,

of the earth. There appeared, 18 inches below it, a floor of solid stone, and
this was evidently a portion of a building of some size, to judge from the
blocks of stone which apparently were the foundations for the pedestals of
columns. These consisted of five cubes of stone, each 2 feet every way, and
6 feet apart. As the stone floor on which they stood was 3 feet below the
surface of the ground, the upper surface was 1 foot below it, and there
may therefore have been more in continuation of the line in which they
were, which the excavations of the villagers had not revealed. They ran
north and south, and diagonally to the upper flooring of cement. There
were some fragments of columns, pedestals, and carved cornices and capitals
lying among the ruins of the vicinity, but they were much broken, and not
sufficiently noteworthy to stop to sketch.

I had, unfortunately, no time to carry out my original intention of
following up the Wady Ed Dalieh, two miles higher to Elyahudiyeh,
where ruins are reported to exist, but I was assured by the sheikh that
they contained no remains such as I had seen at Ed-Dikkih and Elah-
seniyeh, so I crossed the plain back to the coast where the ruins of
Mesadiyeh still remain to suggest that the similarity of their name to that
of Bethsaida may furnish a clue to the identification with them of that
town. They contain nothing of interest however, without excavation ; but
enough remains to show that the head of the Lake must in old times have
been a great centre of population, since the towns near it are all from one
to two miles apait, and I have heard of more ruins in the neighbourhood,
which I hope at some future time to have an opportunity of examining.

As some confusion exists in all the maps to which I have had any access
in the nomenclature of the five wadies which intersect the country between
the Jordan and the Wady es Samak, I have been very particular in ob-
taining the names as accurately as I could from the best native sources.
Of these the Wady Jeramaya is the most wild and inaccessible, and except
for the sportsman — it affords excellent cover for the large game which are
said to abound in it — would probably not repay examination ; the same
cannot be said of the other wadies, in which, especially near their heads, 1
have reason to believe some ruins are to be found.

Following the Lake shore, we passed at the mouth of the Wady Ejgayif
the ruins of Akib ; these consist of nothing but heaps of basaltic stones.
There is near here a spot marked "ruins" in some maps, and called Dukah ;
they are also mentioned by more than one traveller. I found on inquiry,
however, that a projecting cliff near Akib was called the Dukah Kefr
'Akib, or the precipice of Akib, and this has doubtless given rise to the
confusion. A mile and a half beyond 'Akib we turned up the great wady
of Es Samak. It is up this fertile valley, watered by a perennial stream,
and which is in places two miles wide, and about seven miles in its greatest
length, that it is proposed to carry the projected railway from Haifa to
Damascus, as it affords an easy gradient from the depressed shores of Lake
Tiberias to the elevated plateau of Jaulan ; the rise in that distance being
a little over 2,000 feet. As we ascend, I observe that only quite the lower
strata are of limestone ; all the rest is basaltic, and this formation is of vast

AND IN JAULAN. H7

thickness. The whole of Jaulan is indeed an immense volcanic field, con-
sisting of irregular heaps of amorphous lava and disintegrating scoriae, with
mounds of globular basalt.

After ascending the wady for three miles we reached, a little below
the margin of the plateau on the right side, the ruins of El 'Adeseh, but it
happened to be so dark at the time that I could not distinguish more than
heaps of stones, and I had no opportunity of returning to it.

The country is very sparsely peopled in the district of Jaulan in which
we now were, one of the largest villages being that of El 'Al, built on the
site of an ancient ruin ; but the place has been so much built over that little
can be seen, though in the walls and yards of the houses are many vestiges
of antiquity. In the stable of the house in which I lodged was a column
in situ standing to a height of 6 feet, and in the yard a draped female
statue, life size, in three pieces. The feet, which as far as I could judge
were on a pedestal in situ, were partially covered with earth ; the rest of
the figure, which had been separated from them at the ancles, was lying
on the ground ; the head had also been separated from the body ; but each
of the pieces was in good preservation. The left arm clasped what ap-
peared to be a quiver, from which I gathered that the statue was one to
Diana. An inscription would probably be found on the pedestal settling
this question, but circumstances prevented my excavating sufficiently to
find out whether this was the case.

My objective point was now Khisfin, a village lying five miles distant
in a north-easterly direction, which has played so important a part in the
history of the country that I was extremely anxious to investigate the
ruins which exist there, and which have never been the subject of exami-
nation. After riding for an hour we came to the ruins of Nab, situated
on a small mound. They consist of blocks of basalt building stone, some
traces of foundations, some fragments of columns and capitals, and a tank,
dry at the time of my visit, but which evidently holds water for some
portion of the year ; it had apparently been much deeper at a former
period, only the two upper courses of masonry being now visible. It was
oval in shape, and measured about 60 yards by 30. A little off the road to
the right stands a large tree on a mound which is a conspicuous object on
the vast plain, and is called Ez Zeitlmi, or the hill of the olive-tree. In
half-an-hour more we reached Khisfin, which is a large village for this part
of the country, the houses constructed entirely of the hewn stones which
here cover a greater area than any ruins which I have hitherto visited in
this neighbourhood.

The earliest notice which I have been able to obtain of Khisfin is that
of Yakubi, about 900 a.d. He mentions it as one of the chief towns of
" the Province of the Jordan," Syria being divided in his day into three
provinces, viz. : the Province of Damascus, the Province of the Jordan,
and the Province of Palestine. Yakub in the thirteenth century mentions
it as a town of the Hauran district below Nawa, on the Damascus road, be-
tween Nawa and the Jordan. Khisfin was doubtless at one time a fortress
of the Saracens, as it is further mentioned as the place to which Al Melek

EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS,

al Adil (Saladin's son and successor) fled after having been routed at the
battle of Baisan by the Crusaders, who advanced upon him from Acre. As
it is mentioned as being one of the chief towns of the province so long ago
as 900 a.d., it is probable that its importance dates from a much older period,
as indeed was indicated by some of the ornamentation which I found there.
That it must also have been an important crusading stronghold is evident
from the leading characteristics of the remains, as they now appear, and of
the ornamentation, of which I give specimen sketches.

The walls of the principal fort now standing measure 68 yards one way,
by ~>4 the other. They are 9 feet in thickness, and are eight courses of
stone in height, the stones from 1 foot to 1 foot 6 inches square, but some
are much larger. Within the fort are the traces of a second or inner wall
forming a sort of keep in the centre, but the whole area is so encumbered
with ruin that it would require more time than I was able to give to it to
make accurate measurements, or a plan of the building. The village had
almost the appearance of a quarry, so thickly piled were the blocks of hewn
atone which enclosed the courtyards and formed the walls of the houses,
while fchey were strewn thickly or stacked in heaps over all the neigh-

AND IN JAULAN. 89

ouring fields. The lintels of the doors consisted frequently of large
stones, some of which possibly had served the same purpose in old times, on
which were tablets, rosettes, crosses, bosses, and other crusading devices.

I now proceeded in a westerly direction, and in two miles reached the
ruins of Esfera, a mound covered with the usual hewn basaltic stones, and
with traces of foundations. Two miles fux-ther on was the conspicuous hill
of Tell el Muntar, which is also strewn with ruins of the same character ;
but at neither place were the remains of any marked interest ;— they all
indicated, however, the presence in ancient times of a large population in
this section of country. Just to the south of Tell el Muntar we came upon
a dolmen field — I counted twenty grouped in a comparatively limited area,
averaging perhaps a hundred yards apart. Some were composed of three
side stones with a covering slab, and in most cases were " free standing.'"
In others the superincumbent slab rested upon four uprights, and in others
upon heaps of large blocks of stone. In no case did I observe the covering
slabs to be so large as I have seen them elsewhere, probably owing to the
weight of the basalt of which they were composed ; but circumstances
prevented my giving these interesting monuments upon this occasion the
attention they deserved, and I was compelled to be satisfied with having
discovered their locality. In support of Captain Conder's theory it may
be interesting to note that they were situated near water, as I shall pre-
sently show, and upon the verge of the precipitous ledge of rock which here
forms the eastern cliff of one of the branches of the Wady es Samak, from
which a magnificent view is obtained. The plateau here forms a pro-
montory which splits the wady, and at its southern extremity is situated
the old stronghold of the Crusaders, called the Kasr Berdauif, or Baldwin's
Castle. I saw the ruin from a distance, but was unable to visit it on this
occasion. This I the less regretted as it has already been examined, and
the small crumbling ruin which remains offers nothing of interest. On the
other hand, I was impatient to reach a ruin hitherto unknown, and which
was situated directly beneath the upper ledge of rocky cliff down which
we were now leading our horses at no little peril to life and limb. After
descending abruptly about 500 feet we came to a broad shelf, or small culti-
vated plateau, beyond the edge of which there was another steep descent to
the bottom of the wady. It was upon this shelf that the ruins of Umm el
Kanatar, or the " Place of Arches," is situated. It may have derived its
name from the first object which met our view, as, turning sharj) to the
right under the impending cliff down which we had just descended, we
came upon a most singidar and most picturesque spot. Here were two
large arches, one partially ruined, but the traces of which were still plainly
visible projecting from the rock against which it had been built, the other
in a perfect state of preservation. This one measured 23 feet in breadth,
6 feet 6 inches in depth, and 16 feet in height. The ruined one was pro-
bably of the same dimensions, but as it was partially broken away there
was no means of accurately judging of it. They had been built over a
crystal spring, the waters of which still filled the small tank 23 feet long
and 6 feet wide, w T ith a depth of 2 feet of water, under the perfect arch, and

EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS,

Fig. I.

contained many small fish. It apparently escaped by an underground
channel. Over the centre of the arch was a large slab of stone, upon

which had been an in-
i . b _> scnption now too effaced

to be legible, and as it
was 16 feet over head I
had no means of exa-
mining it closely. At
a slab at the side of the
spring was a stone on
which was the carved
figure of a lion (fig. 1),
and in front the wide-
spreading arms of a mag-
nificent old tree offered
a grateful shade. At
the time of year at which
I visited these springs,
however, I was not in a position to appreciate its charms ; a bitterly cold
wind, accompanied by sleet, was blowing, and I had just before arriving at
the dolmen field undergone an experience which made the task of a minute
examination of ruins or dolmens in an easterly gale of wind unpleasant in

the highest degree. When allowing
my horse to drink at what seemed a
puddle on the plateau, he had made a
step forward and plunged head fore-
most down what turned out to be an
overflowed well, with me on his back.
We had some difficulty in extricating
ourselves, but the severity of the cold
wind was so much intensified by my
drenched condition, that, not being in
my good health otherwise at the time,
I was compelled to hurry over these
ruins. They are situated about fifty
yards from the spring to the north,
and consist of ruined walls enclosing
an area apparently as nearly as pos-
sible of the same dimensions as the
synagogue at Ed-Dikkili, but the traces
of the western wall were concealed by
such piles of large blocks of building
stones that it was impossible to deter-
mine them. The southern wall was
standing to a height of about 7 feet,
and consisted of (luce courses of stone
averaging a little over 2 feet each in

Fig. 2.

AND IS THE JAULAN.

height, by about 2 feet 6 inches in breadth. The door was situated 15 feet
from the south-east angle of the wall, and was 4 feet 9 inches in width ;
the stones forming the door-post were slightly carved into a plain mould-
in" (fig. 2). On entering, the area presented a mass of stone d4bri$, and
columns, and pieces of carving, tossed about in the wildest confusion ; six
columns from 10 to 12 feet in height rose above the piles of stone at every
angle, as though they had been partially overturned by an earthquake ;
the shaken condition of one of the stones which formed the door-post, and
which projected from the others, as well as the general aspect of such of
the ruin as was still standing, confirmed my impression that the building
had been destroyed by a convulsion of nature. It was difficult under the
circumstances to determine the true position of the columns, or the exact
plan of the building ; but the character of the fragments of ornamentation
which still remained, the fact that the columns were all within the enclosure
of the building, that the walls were without cement, the position of the
door, and the moulding of the door-posts, all rather lead me to the same
ci inclusion with respect to this building which I have arrived at in the case
of Ed-Dikkih, and to regard it as
having been formerlya synagogue.
There was one stone on which
was carved the representation of
an eagle (fig. 3), a fragment of
egg and dart cornice, closely re-
sembling the one at Ed-Dikkih,
a large triangular slab cut in the
shape of an arch and highly or-
namented, measuring 3 feet 6
inches along the base line, and
5 feet 8 inches between the two
extremities, and which I assume
to have been placed on the lintel of the main entrance (fig. 4) ; and there
were fragments of Corinthian capitals.

It is highly pro-
bable that a care-
ful investigation of
these stones would
reveal inscriptions
which would throw
more light on this
interesting ruin
than, during my
hurried inspection I

of them, I was in a position to obtain. I send these notes simply as a
description of what I was able to observe, under circumstances by no
means favourable to minute investigation ; but it is not impossible that I
may be able to revisit this part of the country and supplement this
paper with more details of the ruins v hich are noticed in it, as well as

92 EXPLORATIONS NORTH-EAST OF LAKE TIBERIAS,

to look for others of the position of which I have received some
information.

On my return to Tiberias, a Jew came to tell me that he knew a house
which contained a stone upon which there was an inscription. I found it
in the floor of a tumble-down dwelling inhabited by an old Jewish woman.
As it was too begrimed with dirt to make anything of, I tempted the old.
woman with a bribe to let me take it up and carry it off, promising to re-
turn it. The inscription turned out to be in Greek characters, and as it
may have escaped the attention of former travellers, a squeeze of it is
forwarded herewith. I also annex the best copy I have been able to make,
in case the squeeze does not arrive in good condition.

Yn€P€YXAPICTIACAm§Ii
|iliOYHMU)NCIPIKIOV f}>;

NAnAICAMCNOIHMI
OIGP€BOICOYANHriPAM0|i

I was also taken by a Jew to look at a stone built into the back wall of
the synagogue, on which was an inscription. He told me that he had seen
some gentlemen take a squeeze of this, and I therefore only took a hasty
copy, thinking it probable that it would be found in the "Memoirs." As
however, this is not the case, I presume it must have attracted the notice
of some more recent explorers. The following is my copy : —

oYArmi

TA€TH 'Oe

?£IUMHNAA€N

HgpNZHCACAN
§f||||KBNYM<l>HN

I am indebted to my companion, Mr. Guy Le Strange, for the list of the
Arab names, which I append, of the places taken down from the natives
on this trip, with their significations.

AND IN JAULA.N. '-' : 3

LIST OF NAMES OF PLACES.

1. El-'Adesi, for El-'Adeseh, ^1, "the lentil."

In Palestine, concrete of small pebbles used for floors, from its re-
sembling lentils, is known as " El-Adesi."

2. El-Ahsaninyeh, the vulgar form of El-hassaniyyeh, cUoL*^, ■>
" Belonging to Hassan," p.n.

3. 'Ain Esfera, probably for 'Ain Eso-Sfairah, 'i ,jJ^J.\ ..-^>
whistling spring."

4. El-'Akib, i_^jJu51, "the term."

5. El'Al JU^," the high."

6. El-'Araj, _ ~\}\, " the lame."

7. El Batlhah, j^sOskj^, "the swamp."

8. Ed-Dikkih, &d\, "the platform."

9. Kasr Berdawil, Jj \j> ~i , " Baldwin's Castle.''

10. Kersa, _. <", (?) " the seat."

11. Khisfin, ^j JUAg ^, p.n.

12. Mes'adiyyeh, ij Sx^-c, "the place of ascending."

13. Nab, i_j,{} , " the eye-tooth."

14. Et-Tell, Jjjl, "the hill."

15. Tell el Montar, W K ^\ Jj , "the hill of the watch-tower.

16. Tell ez-Zeitunih & JL> ')\ J.: , " the hill of the olive-tree."

17. Ummel'Ajaj, __t«x^ *U " the place of whirl-winds " or " battles."

18. Umm el Kenatir, U. \,_Aji! ^ +\ , "the place of arches."

19. Wadi ed Dalieh, ij^jj^ i_>jl« 5 "the gorge of the vine tendril."

20. Wadi Ejgayif, for Wadi esh-Shakayyif, u-ejJLkM lS J^ , "the
gorge of the little boulder." Shakayyif, or Shagayyif, for the Bedouins
change the dotted K into G, is the diminutive of " Shakif," meaning a
" fragment " or " boulder " in the colloquial dialect.

21. Wadi Jermayya, <jj\,,. ~~ u£t)!»j P- n -

22. Wadi es Saffah, ^\s^A\ i«£t>Uj " the gorge of the slayer."

23. Wadi es Samak, <jX*-^ L_£jUi "the fish's valley."

24. Wadi Shebib, i^ju^ iiA, p.n.

25. El-Yahudiyyeh, fa >,- \]\ , " the place belonging to the Jews."

ii 2

NOTES ON A TOMB OPENED AT JEBATA, AND ON

NOTES ON A TOMB OPENED AT JEBATA, AND ON
MONUMENTS FOUND AT NABLOUS.

Br Laurence Olipiiant.

Haifa, 21st January, 1885.
Having received intelligence from a native that the villagers of Jebata
(Sheet 5, M. i) while excavating for stone for their building operations,
Lad unearthed what he termed a subterranean abode, but which I con-
jectured to be a tomb, I proceeded to that place in order to examine it.
The sheikh and most of the villagers accompanied me to the spot ; here
they had laid bare a flight of nine stone steps leading down to an open
court about 6 feet square— the niches formed of cemented masonry, the
stones averaging 2 feet by 18 inches, but in some instances exceeding those
dimensions. The height from the debris which had accumulated on the
flour to the top of the masonry was about 11 feet, above which were 2 feet
of" soil. From this open court a passage 3 feet long, 2 feet 6 inches wide,
a ad 5 feet high, marked A in the plan (Section BC), led to a chamber 14 feet

long, 8 feet broad, and 8 feet 6 inches high, the walls consisting of plain

chiselled stones set with moi'tar in courses of from 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches

in height. This chamber differs from the very few hitherto discovered

in Palestine, and which seem confined to Galilee, in that the stones are set

in mortar. On the left of the chamber was a single koka, which had been

a good deal destioyed by the recent excavations of the villagers, but the

chamber itself was in perfect order, and in fact in such good condition

that it was difficult to realise that it was an ancient construction. The

roof was vaulted, and of solid masonry. In the centre of the east wall

was an entrance, D, exactly corresponding to the one marked A, excepting

that the passage was 7 feet 6 inches in length. It led into a chamber

hewn out of the solid rock, 12 feet by 10 feet 6 inches and 6 feet 6 inches

in height ; this contained three kokim and a loculus under an arcosolium,

but the side of the loculus, as well as those of the kokim, had been much

injured. The villagers told as that they had found bones in the loculus, and

some fragments of pottery in this chamber. Not far from these tombs was

another similar excavation, the entrance to which presented the appearance

i that to an ordinary cave ; but on entering it we found ourselves in

MONUMENTS FOUND AT NABLOUS. 95

a small circular rock-hewn chamber, the floor so covered with rubble that

it was not possible to stand upright. In the centre of the roof was an aperture
18 inches square, carefully hewn, and from it led a passage of masonry,
the stones, also set in mortar, 2 feet 6 inches broad, and about 5 feet to
the point where it was completely choked with earth ; had we been able
to spare the time to excavate we should have found probably that it led
into a tomb. The entrance to this passage was almost completely block* !
by the handsome capital of an Ionic column, the column itself 18 inchc-
diameter. On further examining the stones strewn in the vicinity, and
some of which we were told by the natives they had unearthed, we found
one on which was carved a seven-branched candlestick, one which may have
served as a keystone, a sarcophagus, several fragments of columns, and a
monolith standing 10 feet from the debris at its base, with grooves and
lots similar to others which I have seen at Dubil on Carmel, but taller.
I can only imagine it to have formed part of some olive-pressing machinery.
In the neighbouring rocks were vats and winepresses. It is not unlikely

that next summer the natives will undertake further quarrying opera-
tions, when new discoveries may be brought to light, the more especially
as all the existing indications go to show that Jebata, the ancient
Gabatha, must formerly have been a place of some importance.

I have been fortunate in obtaining a glimpse of some monuments
recently discovered during some municipal improvements now in progress
at Nablous, which are destined for the Museum at Constantinople, and of
which I send you such hurried and imperfect sketches as I was able to
take, with copies of inscriptions. They were in such positions that it was
extremely difficult to take squeezes, nor were the conditions propitious
for my doing so. The one which I forward was of an inscription much
defaced, on which I can only make out the words TON TPH~IOA,
but perhaps others may be more successful. Many of the letters in the
other inscriptions were so much effaced as to be rendered doubtful, and I
have left them imperfect ; but it will not be difficult, with more time than
I have been able to give to them, to make the necessary corrections. Tlie
monuments which I have seen consist of two statues, one of a draped male

NOTES ON A TOMB OPENED AT JEBATA, ETC.

figure, life size ; the head, right arm, and feet were missing. The other was
a smaller draped male figure, the head and feet of which were also missing.
The most interesting object was a triangular pedestal, 40 inches high, with
slightly curved sides 22 inches long, and squared angles 8 inches across.
The three sides contained six tableaux in basso relievo, one of them a
good deal mutilated, representing, amongst others, incidents in the life and
labours of Hercules, in whose honour possibly the statue which once stood
upon the pedestal was erected. The first tableau represents a figure in a

i 70

< hariot struggling apparently with a hydra. Above this, on the upper
moulding of the cornice, was the inscription (marked A) —

VlNIOZeHKENATGIAOZEK^ZAZ
NEKENENTeYnOAEZZINAPlZgg|ZKENAnAZIN

Below this (marked B) was the following : —

KAAAEIKAIMEIFGTI- -KAIXAPIZINribCWEPON

and below this (C) —

TOYinr-KAIArONIFOI- -AIAMETAI KAI!i£IH0EN

The lower section represented three draped figures standing : on their
right a nude male figure standing ; at their feet a prostrate nude male
figure ; above them was the inscription (D)—

i§ii; ;:tonaxeai20n

THE PASSAGE OF THE ISRAELITES ACROSS THE RED SEA. 97

The upper section of the next side represented Leto Apollo and
Artemis, with their names above them in the following order: —

APTEMIZ AnOAAHN AHTH

Nude to the waist. Nude right arm over Ar- Completely draped,
temis's shoulder, with with a snake appa-
a cloak hanging down rently on the left,
his back and over his
arm.

The lower section of this side represented five figures, behind a group
of four figures, of whom two were naked men wrestling, the other two
were naked, one standing with outstretched arm, and one on a sort of
stool ; above them the inscription, partly illegible, —

TAiH PITONME

and over some of the figures were the letters, NfXT TYPO

On the third side, which I had no opportunity of sketching, on the
upper section, under the words TPO<l>OI H PAKAHZ, was a nude
infant struggling with a serpent between two draped female figures —
evidently Hercules strangling the serpents sent against him by Hera. On
the lower section of this side, and under the words 0HS! EYZ
rNflPIZ MATA, w as a much defaced nude figure on the left,
supporting what seemed to be a full sack, and on the right three draped
figures.

I understand that they are continuing to find objects of interest at
Nablous, which I trust shortly to have an opportunity of going to examine.

THE PASSAGE OP THE ISRAELITES ACROSS TFTE

RED SEA.

By Sir John Coode.

The Quarterly Statement for April of last year contained an interesting
article by Professor Hull, of Dublin, on " The Relations of Land and Sea
in the Isthmus of Suez at the time of the Exodus," wherein he deals with
the question of the actual position of the passage of the Red Sea by the
Children of Israel.

Professor Hull justly remarks that, according to the present position of
land and water, there is a direct landway across into the " wilderness of
Etham," and he asks whether, if at the time of the Exodus the physical
conditions of the district north of Suez had been the same as they are now
(of course he disregards for the moment the existence of the Suez Canal),
there would have been cause for the cry of despair from the Israelites, or

98 THE PASSAGE OF THE ISRAELITES ACROSS THE RED SEA.

the necessity for a stupendous miracle of deliverance such as the Bible
narrative relates !

He then proceeds to show that the beds of sand and gravel containing
shells, corals, and other marine forms now existing in the waters of the
Gulf of Suez (which beds are found on either side of that gulf up to at
least 200 feet above the present sea-level) form complete evidence of the
elevation of the whole land area of that particular region, but that this
elevation must have taken place at a time long antecedent to that of the
Exodus. He points out, what is true, that if at the time of the Exodus
an elevation of not more than from 25 feet to 30 feet had remained to be
effected, the land now forming the southern part of the Isthmus of Suez
would have been submerged by the waters of the Eed Sea, and he regards
it as in the highest degree probable that as far back as the time " when
the Exodus took place the waters of the Eed Sea extended northwards up
the valley at least as far as the Bitter Lakes, producing a channel 20 to 30
feet in depth, and perhaps a mile in breadth ; a terrible barrier to the
Israelites, and sufficient to induce a cry of despair from the whole mul-
titude."

Having quite recently traversed the whole Isthmus, making a special
examination of the portion between Ismailiya and Suez, the following
incident, which then occurred, appears to me to be worthy of notice, inas-
much as it is eminently corroborative of Dr. Hull's view.

Whilst engaged with other members of the International Commission
upon the investigation of various matters connected with the question of
improving the Suez Canal, some of our party landed from time to time,
and on one occasion at a point between what is now the north end of the
Gulf of Suez and the south of the Bitter Lakes, not, in fact, very far to the
north of the bridge of boats by which the pilgrims to and from Mecca cross
the Canal.

Desiring to test for myself the character and hardness of the unbroken
ground at this point, and at a height of about 12 or lb feet above sea-level,
the first stroke of a pick turned up, from 3 inches below the surface, a
thick cake of a dull white substance which at the moment appeared to be
gypsum, and whilst stooping to take it up, I remarked accordingly ; but
simultaneously, a colleague who was standing at my side exclaimed "Salt."
On asking him how it came to pass that he so instantly arrived at this con-
clusion, he replied that the whole district thereabouts was full of such salt.

When it is explained that this gentleman had the engineering charge
of a considerable length of this part of the Suez Canal at the time the work
was in course of construction, and consequently had thus acquired an
intimate knowledge of this district, and also that on testing the ground
at other points thereabouts, I found salt existing below a thin covering of
sand at heights considerably above the sea-level, there is ample warrant
for saying, as I have done, that the extensive existence of salt in this form
and at such a height cannot be regarded otherwise than as a proof that the
waters of the Bed Sea did at one time extend as far north as the Bitter
Lakes ; a specimen nearly an inch thick is before me as I write.

THE PASSAGE OF THE ISRAELITES ACROSS THE RED SEA. 99

Further evidence that, at some time antecedent to the formation of the
Suez Canal, the sea extended as far up the Isthmus as the Bitter Lakes, is
found in a remarkable sample of salt which was cut from the bottom of
the Bitter Lakes by the engineers of the Suez Canal Company before the
sea was let in to effect the completion of the water communication between
the northern and southern sections of the work. This block of salt, to
Which my attention was directed by M. de Lesseps, is preserved in the
courtyard attached to the offices of the Canal Company at Ismailiya ; it
is fully 7 feet in height, and, according to M. Voisin Bey, who at the
time it was taken out acted as the Company's Chief Engineer in Egypt,
salt certainly existed to a still greater depth, but to what precise extent is
not known.

I may here mention that whilst passing over the 1,500 (English
statute) miles from the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb to Suez, the water of the
Red Sea is so far changed by evaporation that samples taken from the
surface at Suez have been proved to be nearly 2 parts in 1000 salter than
those at Bab-el-Mandeb. It should be borne in mind, moreover, that an
exceptionally great amount of evaporation would necessarily take place
within such a comparatively shallow inland basin as that of the Bitter
Lakes, having its surface swept by the hot dry air of the Arabian Desert,
and shut in from the Mediterranean by the high land at Serapeum
immediately to the north, or at any rate by the still higher ridge of
country at El Guisr. These conditions would obviously contribute to the
formation <>f such a remarkable deposit of salt as is found in the specimen
above described.

A peculiar feature in this specimen is the presence of an occasional
thin layer of sand, most probably caused during the prevalence of violent
southerly winds which from time to time raise the sea-level at Suez
ii. -arly 3 feet above that of an ordinary spring tide in calm weather. The
strong current to the northward on such occasions would be certain to carry
a considerable quantity of sand into the Bitter Lakes, sufficient, it may be
assumed, to account for the layers of sand in question.

The facts to which I have here called attention appear to me unques-
tionably to confirm the view entertained by Professor Hull. Feeling, with
him, that according to this view the physical conditions at the time of the
Exodus will be brought into harmony with the Bible narrative, and that
the difficulty which has hitherto surrounded the subject of the passage of
the Israelites through the Red Sea will thus have been to a great extent
removed, I have ventured to send you the result of my own recent personal
observations in the locality in question.

100 THE CITY OF DAVID.

THE CITY OF DAVID.

By the Rev. W. F. Birch.

"Nil tarn difficile est, quin quserendo investigari possiet." — Ter. H. T.

So long as knowledge grows from more to more, will thoughtful writers on
Jerusalem from time to time change, or at least qualify, their opinions. Mr.
Fergusson in 1847 placed Acra west of the Temple, but in 1860 north of it.
.Surely, until he reverts to his earlier opinion, no one can fairly quote the
weight of his name as in favour of the western site, which he has delibe-
rately abandoned for more than twenty years. But if a writer is always
to be tied down to what he has once written, and afterwards distinctly
repudiated, then I must ask Captain Conder to submit to his own ruling,
and to allow me to quote the weight of his own name, in favour of the
Ophel site for the City of David, and against his later statements, since in
Quarterly Statement, 1877, p. 179, he said, "Thus the City of David, in this
case, is Ophel."

Another error into which Captain Conder has fallen may also be cor-
rected, as it bears on the position of Zion, and most readers are weary of
arguments pro and con, and so in accepting theories are guided solely by
the names of their respective advocates. In the Memoirs ("Jerusalem,"
p. 93) he says that " Sion has been supposed by Lewin to be identical with
the Upper City of Jerusalem." Many will learn with surprise that Lewin
was a most determined opponent of the common opinion, that the Upper
( 'ity was the site of Zion, and actually accentuated his aversion to such
an identification bv dubbing the Upper City pseudo-Zion, i.e., the false or
spurious Zion. "Afterwards, in 'Siege of Jerusalem, 1863,' Lewin holds
that the names 'Zion' and the ' City of David' were originally applied to
the whole city of Jerusalem ; that the latter was subsequently appropriated
by popular belief to that portion of Ophel where he supposes ' David's
palace to have stood.' Accordingly, throughout his book, lie speaks of
the south-west quarter of the city as ' now called Zion,' thereby intimating
that it had no ancient right to this special designation ; and yet, incon-
sistently enough, the name of Sion is given to it in his plan.''

I am obliged to take this extract from "The Psalms of David" (by
E. F.), as I cannot myself refer to " The Siege," since the Fund's copy has
been indefinitely borrowed. Some reader of these pages perhaps will
kindly correct me if I misrepresent Lewin's opinion, who, as it seems to
me, never maintained that Zion was identical with the Upper City.

Whoever assails my theory must inevitably catch a Tartar, for the
simple reason that the site I advocate is the very one appropriated (as many
admit) to Zion in the Book of Nehemiah ; and Nehemiah (be it remem-
bered) himself was chief surveyor at Jerusalem and rebuilt its walls, and
therefore must have known the position of Zion, the City of David, a
thousand times better than either Joseph us or any other writer on
Jerusalem from his day to this.

As no one seems disposed to accept my challenge and grapple boldly

THE CITY OF DAVID. 101

•with my theory, I suppose it is time for me to make a sally and expose
the utter hollowness of the arguments alleged in favour of the rival sites
for Zion, positions well descrihed (to use Lewin's word) as pseudo-Zions.

N..w the key to the whole question of the true site of Zion consists of
two simple facts, viz. :

(A) That the Hebrew version always describes the Valley of Hinnom
as ge-Wmnom, and the Brook Kidron (on the east side of Jerusalem) as
nachal-Kidron, never once interchanging the two words ge and nackal.

(B) That in the historical books of the Bible, the City of David is six
times called Zion, but never in a single instance Mount Zion, while in the
Psalms and Prophets this term is often applied to the Temple. Consistently
with this distinction, 1 Maccabees, omitting all mention of Zion simply,
speaks of the City of David as one place and Mount Zion as another, iden-
tifying it with the Temple or sanctuary.

Through disregarding these reasonable distinctions, and taking geto be
equivalent to nachal, and Zion (the City of David) to be the same as Mount
Zion, writers have unconsciously produced such a confusion in Jerusalem
topography, that with scores of books bearing on the subject, very few
persons are aware of the true site of the City of David.

This remarkable distinction between ge and nachal, I must add, is no
invention of mine devised to prop up my theory. Gesenius long since
observed it, Lewin approved of it, Williams " had misgivings " in disregard-
ing it, Thrupp and Captain Conder and others have recognised it ; I merely
insist on its rigid application, contident that it is the key to Jerusalem.

Further, that the City of David is never historically called Mount Zion
in the Bible is a point that any Bible reader may verify for himself.
Having got possession of this invaluable key, let me now use it without
fear against all the pseudo-Zions, and show how untenable and indefensible
it makes every one of the various positions held by the opponents of my

theory.

First I will take the site west of the Temple originally proposed (though
it resembles Lightfoot's) by Sir Charles Warren, since with his opinion on
many kindred points I am in the closest agreement.

I. Zion, South and not West of the Temple.

In 1871 Sir C. Warren stated in the " Becovery of Jerusalem," that
" in the Book of Nehemiah, the City of David, the House of David, and the
Sepulchre of David, all appear to be on the south-eastern side of the hill
of Ophel, near the Virgin's Fount, and yet such a position for Zion appears
at first sight to be out of the question."

Seven years passed over before I perceived that the apparently
contrary evidence, which seemed to Sir C. Warren to make the Ophel
position for Zion " out of the question," really was in strict agreement
with the evidence of Nehemiah. Seven years more have rolled on since
that time, yet I regret to have to add that the whole Biblical evidence,
which I have from time to time shown to be consistent, and to point to but

102 THE CITY OF DAVID.

one conclusion, still appears to hini contradictory, and leads him still to
place Zion, the City of David, on the western side of the Temple, and not
on Ophel on its southern side. When I place Ziou on Ophel, he admits
" it is the natural position to assign to it on reading the Book of Nehemiah,
only it does not seem to me to accord with the other accounts."

I am very desirous that Sir C. Warren from an opponent should become
an ally of my theory, by being convinced that this natural position is also
the true position. One important result, I believe, would be that a
diligent and (I anticipate) a successful search would soon be made for the
sepulchres of David, and of the Kings of Judah, and the discovery of
these most interesting and magnificent relics of pre-exilic Jerusalem
would, once and for ever, lay the restless ghost of controversy about the
position of the City of David, and save me the trouble of demolishing the
other pseudo-Zions.

With this object I would point out two things—

(1) That the weight of Nehemiah's evidence is simply overwhelming.

(2) That his evidence is really in the strictest accord with all the

other accounts except one or two palpably incorrect statements
of Josephus.

The Book of Nehemiah (as admitted by Sir C. Warren) places (1) the
Sepulchres of David (iii, 16), (2) the House of David (xii, 37), and (3) and
(4) the stairs of the City of David (iii, 15 ; xii, 37), between the Pool of
Siloah and the Temple, i.e., on Ophel (so-called). It is also to be noted
that in harmony with these indications " the House of the Mighty " (or
Gibborim, the technical name of David's body-guard) is further (iii, 16)
spoken of as being in this part, i.e., on Ophel.

Here I must ask two questions. In the case of what sacred site does
the identification rest upon fuller or better evidence than the Book of
Nehemiah gives in the case of the City of David ? If these four or five
consistent statements in Nehemiah can reasonably be discredited, what
identifications can reasonably be believed ] Is it not far more probable
that Nehemiah's statements are the truth, the whole truth, aud nothing
but the truth, and that the other sacred writers have been misunderstood
by Sir C. Warren, than that the Biblical statements about the City of
David are inconsistent and contradictory ?

Sir C. Warren (" Temple or Tomb," p. 41) thinks it " probable that from
the first the site of the Holy Sepulchre was known among the Christians,
and that it has never been for -gotten ." But is it not much more probable
that the Jews, with far less difficulties to contend with, never forgot the
site of the Sepulchre of David, and of the City of David I When Sir 0.
Warren rejects the Ophel site for Zion, it seems to me that he has to
suppose that the Jews, in the time of Nehemiah, had actually become
misled about the true position of the Tomb and the House and the City
of David, although there had been no break whatever in the continuity of
their knowledge about these revered localities, for " many of the priests
and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had
seen the first house," were present when "the foundation of this (second

THE CITY OF DAVID. 103

Temple i.e.) house was laid before their eyes " (Ezra iii, 12). Is it possible
that all these had either forgotten the position of the chief sites in " the
city of their fathers' sepulchres," or else agreed to transfer them to wrong
positions ? Any such ignorance .or conspiracy is utterly inconceivable.
If it is once admitted that the Book of Nehemiah places the Tomb and the
House and the City of David all on Ophel, then, whatever be the con-
sequences, I see no way of escape from a frank admission that these
localities were actually on Ophel.

The position, however, held by Sir C. "Warren I understand to be this,
viz., that strong as is the evidence in Nehemiah in favour of Zion, the City
of David, having been on Ophel, nevertheless the evidence requiring Zion
to have been elsewhere seems to him still stronger and only to be satisfied
by his site. As in the Athenaeum, 1881, he writes of "The Temple or the
Tomb " thus, " I must state emphatically that this book is a very serious
attempt to settle the topography of Jerusalem, and one that I have no
doubt will be successful," I take that work as setting forth his reasons
for placing Zion west of the Temple.

Let me first, however, state certain points on which I agree with this
most candid of opponents. He states in his book —

(a) p. 21 : "They (the first book of Maccabees) call the sanctuary

. . . Mount Zion."

(b) 9 : " Zion, . . . the royal sepulchres were also there."

was not synonymous or co-extensive with Jerusalem. We have
not a single instance in the historical books of the term Zion, or
the City of David, being used for the whole city.

(d) 24, 25 : " His (i.e., Josephus') vagueness in speaking of the topo-

graphy of the past . . . greatly in contrast with the precision
throughout the historical books (of the Bible) and 1 Maccabees.
. . . It does not appear in any case that he gives any help in
the topography " {i.e., of the Jerusalem of the Old Testament).

(e) 13 : " There can be little doubt that Zion the stronghold was in

Benjamin."

Having thus successfully threaded his way through what have proved
great stumbling blocks to many, Sir C. Warren seems to me to have been
completely beguiled into a wrong conclusion by three misconceptions : first
as to (A) and (B) above, in reference to the distinction between ge and
nachal, and between Zion and Mount Zion ; and next, (C), that the Acra
of Josephus was west and not south of the Temple.

Unconscious of his first misconception, Sir C. "Warren writes ("Temple
or Tomb," p. 35) in support of his western site thus : " This position I have
assigned to Zion is the only one which allows of accord in the several
accounts, and is the only site yet proposed that will render intelligible
the passage, ' Now after this, he (Manasseh) built a wall without the City
of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley' (2 Chron. xxxiii, 14)."
One has only to point out that the word here rendered valley is in the
Hebrew version nachal, and at once it will be apparent that this passage,

104 THE CITY OF DAVID.

instead of supporting Sir C. Warren's theory, is directly opposed to it, and
confirms the evidence of Nehemiah. For a wall in the nachal or Kidron
Valley, which is on the east side of Jerusalem, could not possibly be on
the west side of Jerusalem. While, further, as Gihon literally means a
spring, and not a pool, and as the only spring in the Kidron Valley is the
Virgin's Fount, a lower wall on the east side of Ophel just west of that
Fount (as required by this passage) would exactly suit the indications of
Nehemiah which place the City of David on Ophel.

Even if some sophist could succeed in persuading one that nachal does
not always in regard to Jerusalem mean the Kidron, still it might fairly
be urged that it was needless to make the Bible contradictory, by applying
to the valley running westwards from the Temple a term which un-
doubtedly often refers to the Kidron, especially when the usual application
would leave Nehemiah and 2 Chronicles in perfect accord. So again, in
like manner, 2 Chron. xxxii, 30, may be as well explained by the Ophel
site for the City of David as by one west of the Temple, while it is
probable that if Gihon means (as it must) the Virgin's Fount in xxxii i,
14, it also means the same spring in xxxii, 30.

One mistake often leads to and confirms another. Unaware that the
nachal (Kidron) could not be the ge (Hinnom), Sir C. Warren drew the
boundary between Judah and Benjamin which "went up by the valley of
the son of Hinnom " (Josh, xv, 8) from " the Virgin's Fount, up the
(Valley of Hinnom) Kedron, until nearly opposite the south-east angle
of the Noble Sanctuary, where it crossed over the hill of Moriah at the
southern side of the Temple, and thence up the Tyropceon Valley to the
Jaffa Gate" ("Jerusalem Rec," p. 307). As this line quite excluded the
Ophel site from Benjamin (see (e) above), Sir C. Warren appears to think
it unnecessary to discuss the Ophel site in " The Temple or the Tomb," and
accordingly he does not make any allusion to the evidence of Nehemiah,
even while he takes the trouble of saying (p. 24), " Akra {i.e., Zion) could
not have been south of the upper city as here fixed, and if further to the
north than Et-Takiyeh, it would have been on the other side of the
valley," &c.

Had he only gone on to deal with the Ophel site, I believe Sir Charles
Warren and not I would now be its most resolute defender.

Further, unaware of his second misconception, Sir C. Warren writes
("Temple or Tomb," p. 11): "It would hardly be necessary to point out
that Mounts Zion and Moriah were distinct hills, were it not that of late
years they have been pronounced by some writers to be identical. In the
first place, for many years after King David captured Jerusalem, Zion
was a royal city, while Moriah must have been beyond Jerusalem, and
was the private property of a sheikh or chieftain of the Jebusites. Then,
again, David had to go up to Mount Moriah, which he could not have
•lone had the two been identical ; then we have the grand ceremony of
bringing up the ark of God out of the City of David, which is Zion, up to
Mount Moriah."

Here misconception as to (B), or involuntary confusion between Zion

THE CITY OF DAVID. 105

and Mount Zion, makes a mountain of difficulty where everything is
really smooth and plain. Only let it be borne in mind that Zion was the
City of David, and that Mount Zion (the higher part of the ridge north of
Zion) was the site of the Temple-- i.e., Mount Moriah— and these three
points turn out to be genuine supporters of my theory.

David lived in Zion, the City of David, while Mount Moriah was
outside it. Therefore he could go up and the ark could be brought up
"out of the City of David which is Zion" to Mount Moriah {alias Mount
Zion).

I have thus shown that the Biblical passages claimed by Sir C. Warren
as requiring another site for Zion than that marked out in Nehemiah, are
really in the strictest harmony with the evidence of that book. Instead
of there being any "difficulty or discrepancy" about the Biblical state-
ments, there is nothing but perfect concord among them, as to the position
of the City of David.

After this it would only be so much the worse for the credit of
Josephus if the third misconception (C) that I have attributed to Sir
C. Warren could be shown to be no misconception on his part. For what
value, in opposition to the Bible, would belong to the opinion of a" vague "
writer like Josephus, who " does not appear in any case to give any help "
in the topography of pre-exilic Jerusalem, but has rather made of it a
Gordian knot by a few rash conjectures and inaccurate statements of his
own devising ? Bare justice, however, to the Jewish historian demands
that I should point out that he nevertheless places his Acra south of the
Temple, so that he also is thereby a witness in favour of the Ophelsite for
Zion, inasmuch as he makes his Acra correspond with the fortress or
Acra of the Maccabees, and this (1 Mace, i, 33) was identical with the City
of David. (See Acra south of the Temple.)

One or two other points still remain to be noticed. It is said (" Temple
or Tomb," p. 12) that "in no single instance in the historical books is
this (that it was a holy place) said of Zion after the building of the Temple."
This, however, from 2 Chron. viii, 11, seems hardly to be correct, and
curiously enough this verse is quoted on p. 6. Yet after the ark had been
taken out of Zion, the City of David, one does not expect to read
historically anything implying that it was still there.

Sir C. Warren admits ("Temple or Tomb," p. 18) that no argument as
to the position of Zion, the City of David, can be derived from the poetical
books, yet afterwards he points out that Psalm xlviii may be an exception,
and " if so we have direct proof that Zion, the City of David, stood on
the north side of the city."

Obviously he refers to the words, " Beautiful for situation, the joy of
the whole earth, is Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the
great King." But, unhappily for his theory, even here it is Mount Zion
(or the Temple), and not Zion the City of David, that is said to be towards
the north. In Quarterly Statement, 1883, p. 154 (see also 1878, p. 183), I have
pointed out that the Rabbis (though misunderstocd by Lightfoot and
Fergusson) in several passages place Mount Zion (i.e., the Temple) on the

106 THE CITY OF DAVID.

north side of the city (i.e., of David), or Zion. Therefore Zion was south
of the Temple.

Lastly, if Sir C. Warren should urge ("Temple or Tomb," p. 21) that
the foreign soldiers descended from the Acra (i.e., the City of David) to
molest the Jews, and that they could not have descended from the Ophel
site, then the answer is that it is either he himself or Josephus who makes
them to descend, since 1 Maccabees, the reliable authority for these times
(which Josephus was not), speaks rather of a going up from the Acra to
the Temple (1 Mace, vii, 33).

As, therefore, (1) Sir C.Warren admits that Nehemiah in four particulars
places the City of David on Ophel, and (2) as it has been shown that
2 Chron. xxxiii, 14, instead of requiring his western site, makes it
impossible, and that there was no difficulty in going from Zion, the City of
David, to Mount Zion, the site of the Temple, and that according to Psalm
xlviii and the Rabbis, Mount Zion, or the Temple, was on the north side of
(Zion) the City of David ; for it is admitted that 1 Maccabees gives the name
of Mount Zion to the Temple, and identifies the City of David with its
Acra ; and (3) as this Acra is identified by Josephus with his Acra, which he
has been shown to place south of the Temple, I now invite Sir C. Warren
either to find some fresh defence for his pseudo-Zion or to abandon it
entirely and occupy what he has all along admitted is Nehemiah's site,
viz., that on Ophel so-called.

I await with keen pleasure Sir C. Warren's attention to these remarks,
hoping that he will (if he can) overthrow my conceit or else become the
latest and ablest advocate of the Ophel site for Zion. To his memorable
excavations at Jerusalem I am deeply indebted for my interest in the
Holy City. If his works have enabled me, as a dwarf on a giant's shoulders,
on the one solitary point of the true site of Zion, to see at present some-
what further than he has done, I cheerfully own my obligation to such
an instructor.

Most gladly, too, shall I turn chameleon and change from a hasty critic
to a patient spectator, whenever an outburst of enthusiasm for discovering
the hidden catacombs of David sends forth a treasure-laden band of
explorers to resume his too long suspended work of discovery. In this
case whom would the men of Silwan (" Jerusalem Rec," p. 243) more eagerly
hail in their native tongue as a guide through the labyrinthine sepulchres
of Ophel, than the well-known Monitor Xiloticus (Quarterly Statement,
1871, p. 80) of the Philistian plain \

Meanwhile, if any one (in the absence of our gibborim in Africa)
thinks that I go in for assertion rather than for argument, let him not
fail at once ruthlessly (and if he likes anonymously) to expose the
fallacies of my fancied reasoning.

Perish my theory if it be false ; but if it is true, then the very next
thine is to search for the sepulchres of David, so that some fortunate
explorer may telegraph to Mr. Besant almost in the very words of Caesar,
" Veni, vidi, vici."

W. I. Bincn.

THE CITY OF DAVID. 107

P.S.— I see that at the Carlisle Church Congress,, Canon Tristram
practically accepted my challenge and attacked the Ophel site for Zion is
the following words : —

" Still less does it seem to me possible to conceive that the City of
David, the fortress, was on Ophel, dominated by the higher rock of
Moriah behind, and with the commanding brow of the modern City of David
to the west. To any one acquainted with the strategic sites of ancient
fortresses, the hypothesis is simply impossible. What becomes of the
wall of Ophel excavated by Sir C. "Warren, and which is referred to in
Kings and Chronicles as the work of Manasseh 1 And again, there is no
question as to the Jerusalem of the period of the return. "We read the
minute details of Nehemiah, and no ingenuity can square his description
of the circuit with the suggested position of the City of David."

Now it is remarkable that not men of war, like Sir C. Warren and
Captain Conder, but Canon Tristram, like myself, a man of peace, should
be the first to urge that, from a military point of view, it is impossible
that the City of David, a fortress, ever stood on Ophel.

In "Jerusalem Eecovered,'' Sir C. Warren observes that there is a
rocky knoll on the Ophel ridge higher than the ground immediately north
of it. This knoll he marks at 2,290 feet (p. 298). If the ancient fortress
of the Jebusites reached northward as far as this knoll, and was fortified
here by a wall 50 feet high, then according to his plan of the rock levels
it would not be dominated by any point on the Moriah ridge, or on the
western hill (the modern Sion), within a distance of 400 feet. But at
that distance, against walls built of mezzeh, what would even Arish's bow
have availed, though it was reputed to have carried between 400 and 500
miles ?

If in the age of the twelve spies, the cities of Canaan were " walled up
to heaven," why might not the castle of Zion, 400 years after, be fortified
in its weakest point by a wall 50 feet high ? And how then, I would
ask, does Canon Tristram propose with a sling and a stone, or even with a
long bow, in the absence of catapults, to capture a fortress not dominated
within a range of 400 feet ? Secondly, as the Ophel wall discovered by
Sir C. Warren is at least 200 feet north of the knoll (the assumed
northern point of the City of David), the date of its construction has
nothing to do with David's Zion.

Thirdly, "the minute details of Nehemiah " place (and are admitted
by Sir C. Warren to appear to place) the City of David solely on Ophel.

1 am glad to see every form of objection urged against Ophel (so called)
being the site of the City of David, since, as the feebleness of each objec-
tion is exposed, it will gradually dawn on one and another opponent that
Nehemiah's site is both true and reasonable. One unique and invaluable
advantage that this site possessed I may here name in passing, viz., that
by means of a secret passage (Sir C. Warren's shaft, or the " Gutter,"

2 Sam. v, 8) the defenders of Zion had at their service an inexhaustible
supply of water from the Virgin's Fount.

If now the opponents of the eastern hill once more fall back from

108 SUGGESTED IDENTIFICATION OF BEROTIIAH OR BEROTHAI.

arguments on names they will be worse off than ever, since General
Gordon (" Reflections in Palestine," p. 14) observed, " The Hebrew ' tzion '
is always the eastern hill." It will take a few bushels of names to out-
weigh that of the noble hero of Khartoum.

NOTES BY THE REV. G. H. TOMKINS.
I.
SUGGESTED IDENTIFICATION OF BEROTHAH OR BEROTHAI.

This place, so important on the northern frontier of Palestine, has never
yet been fixed. The name B-rothah, nrTH3> i' s on h' gi yen by Ezekiel
(xlvii, 16) in setting out the boundaries of the tribes. I do not doubt
that it is the B-rotbai, or B-ruthi, ^ni"Q> or ^iTD' °f 2 Sam. viii, 8, a
city of Hadadezer, King of Zobah, taken from him by David. I hope to
show that this place may now be identified in a very interesting way,
both by its name and by its probable position, and I will take the matter
as it came to me, only premising that if I am wrong in separate points
still my main jiosition may hold good.

In the Karnak List of Northern Syrian towns made tributary by
Thothmes III (Mariette, "Karnak," pi. 19, 20, 21) occurs Bur-su (141).
In "Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch.," Jan. 9th, 1883, I made a guess at its being
possibly the Bisuru of Assurnazirpal (now Tell Basher), but this did not
satisfy me, and it occurred to my mind that the explanation might be
found in the Semitic word for cypress, or perhaps pine-tree, viz., Assyr.
burdshu; Heb. b-ros/i, ^"Hl '■> Aram. 6-rM, jTTfli Arab- (says Kitto)
burasi and burati ; Syr. vers, berutha ; Chald. berath.

Now the Bursit of Thothmes is very close to the Assyrian burdshu,
allowing for the Syrian s instead of sh, which the Rutennu, lords of the
land in the time of Thothmes, would use. Burasu and the Egyptain
transcript Bur-su are one word, and this led me to the country of conifer-
ous trees, and to the name B-rothah in the Bible.

It has been supposed that the B-rothah of Ezekiel is Beirftt, but I think
this quite inadmissible from the situation of Beirftt, and also from the
name, which seems much more likely to be Heb. jTH^;}, we U s ! and
here I think Egyptian records will help us. For we have a Beeroth in
the Palestine List of Karnak, No. 19, Bartu, so recognised both by
Mariette and by Maspero (Zt., 1881, p. 123). And again, we have Beirtit in
theMohar's travels, Bartha (Brugsch, "Geog. Inschr.," vol. ii, 42 ; Pierret,
"Voc," pp. 124, 126). And these names differ from Bur-su as Beeroth,
m"lN3' from B-rosh or Burasu, Berutha in the Syriac, and B-rothah in
Ezekiel, and B-rothi in 2 Sam. viii, 8, which might well be near Rihlali,
but could not be Beirftt, a place of the Phoenicians who were friends and
close allies of David.

SUGGESTED IDENTIFICATION OF BEROTIIAH OR BEKOTHAI. 109

But I am anticipating. In the very interesting letter of M. Clermont-
Ganneau (Times, Dec. 29, 1883, Quarterly Statement, Jan. 1884), the name
of Wady Brissa struck me in connection with the rock-inscriptions of
Nebuchadnezzar found there by M. Pognon, who thinks " that these
texts mark the site of a timber-yard where trees were cut to be sent
to Babylon." Now this seems to me to cohere with all the evidence, as I
will try to show.

The name of the wady, " one of the wildest valleys on the eastern
slope of Lebanon, about two hours from Hermel," appears also as the
name of a place, Brisa, in the beautiful Carte du Liban of the French
Imperial Government, at the mouth of the wady, down which a stream
is marked as flowing to the Orontes. Brisa seems to declare the root
B-R-S, which in various modifications signifies to cut (including B-R-TH),
and this is the key to the names given above as designating the cypress,
or pine, which was regarded as timber for hewing.

Now in Syriac names habitually end in the vowel a, and (as we have
said) take the sound of s rather than of sh. And I think Brisa may well
be so called from the tree in question, which Mr. Carruthers, of the
British Museum, takes to be the Pinus Halepensis ("Bible Educ," iv, 359) ;
and it may well be this tree which the conquered people of the Lebanon
are represented as felling for Seti I, that he might build a great ship,
and rear their stately stems as masts for the bright streamers in front of
his temples.

We know that Thothmes III led his armies to the Lebanon, and
thence drew the tribute that pleased him. The ships of Phoenicia were
laden with sticks of timber and masts, together with long poles of wood
for [the dwellings of] the king, who had founded in the country of
Lebanon a fortress of unusual strength, named after himself, near the
Pluenician cities of Aradus and Simyra at the foot of Lebanon (Brugsch,
"Hist.," vol. i, pp. 334, 336).

The great valley of Ccele-Syria, the course of the Orontes, the new
walls and towers of Kadesh, were well known to this hardy warrior-king.
And I know not why the name Bursu should not have marked the
place in his time, where Nebuchadnezzar gathered his stores of pine-
timber so long afterwards, and which is now known by the name of Brisa.

Possibly another name, hard by Brisa, may illustrate this supposition.
In the Carte du Liban I find on the other side of Hermel a place marked
Erenieh.

Now erinu is the Assyrian name for the cedar, as in Hebrew V^

occurs in Isaiah xliv, 14. May not Erenieh be named from grin, as Brisa
from B-rosh ?

I will now endeavour to prove that Brisa is a very likely site for
Berothah, taking that place also as the B-rothi of Samuel.

It was one of the cities of Hadadezer, King of Zobah, whom David
defeated towards Hamath, where an intrusive Hittite king, Toil, was at
war with Hadadezer (see Sayce, "Fresh Light from the Monuments,"
p. 163.) It is not surprising that Hadadezer, who had subjugated the

i 2

110 SUGGESTED IDENTIFICATION OF BEROTHAH OR BEROTHAI.

minor "kings of Zobah" whom Saul had beaten, should hold lordship
over the upper course of the Orontes.

And, as far as we know, Brisa will suit Ezekiel's boundary right well.
Unfortunately "the way of Khethlon" is not known. May Heit, west of
Riblah, be Khethlon ? It is on the way from "the great sea" to Zedad,
i.e., Sudud (Ezek. xlvii, 16). I think this description may be partly
cleared as follows : " from the great sea the way of Khethlon towards the
entrance to Zedad-Hamath [or Zedad of Hamath] ; Berothah, Sibrim
(which is on the frontier of Damascus and Hamath) ; the middle Khatser
(which is on the frontier of Khauran) ; and the frontier from the
west Khatser- Ainun the frontier of Damascus, and Zephon [the Orontes,
as Captain Conder suggests] northwards, and the frontier of Hamath."
The Septuagint, which is very confused, seems to read Zedad-Hamath
as one name transposed, viz., Hemaseldam. If we take it as meaning
Zedad of Hamath the difficulty of getting Hamath into the frontier-list
disappears ; and then all will go consistently. For we thus cut out the
Phoenician territory, including the Lebanon, by a line following the
opening of the Nahr el Keblr to a little south of the Bahr el Kades, then
striking the Orontes near Hermel, and perhaps making its south-east
comer at Sabura, west of Damascus (Sibrim 1 QV^p), an d then west-
wards to the north of Hermon until it finds the sea again. This will
not take the frontier to Zedad, but to the entrance (fc^O^X "as men go
to Zedad" (A.V.), or, as the Vulgate puts it, "a mari magno via
Hethalon, venientibus Sedada."

Then Khatser-ainum, if it be at 'Ain el Asy, as Captain Conder suggests,
would be quite in the line following the higher waters of the Orontes
(Zephon), and he says that it is "close to the present north-west limit of
the Damascus district."

But the situation of Berothah seems to be nearly settled by one
Biblical coincidence. The place called Berothai in 2 Sam. viii is designated
Kon, p^, evidently the Conna of the Antonine Itinerary, in the parallel

text of 1 Chron. xviii, 8.

This lias been set by Porter and the Carte du Liban at Pas Ba'albek ;
but the thirty-two Roman miles given from Heliopolis will overreach
Pas Ba'albek, and accordingly Captain Conder suggests Kamu'a el Hirmil.
But this distance will very nearly bring us to Brisa, which may surely
well be B-rothah and K6n.

If indeed the Brisa of the rock-inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar were
the Bursu of Thothmes, and the Biblical Berotha, it would be a wealthy
place, and David might well have taken "exceeding much brass" thence.
And this would bring David's northern limit very near to the land of the
Hittitea and to Kadesh, as the record of his census shows in 2 Sam.
xxiv, 6.

P.S. — I think it a very interesting tiling that in the Karnak List of
Northern Syria, No. 246, is found the name J.ehu, which must, I think,
be Lebweh on the road half-way between Ba'albek and Brisa, which

THE QUE OF THE ASSYRIAN ANNALS IN THE BIBLE, ETC. Ill

"modern name is sometimes pronounced Lebu," says Captain Burton. "It
is the Lybo or Lybon of the Antonine Itinerary." ("Unexpl. Syria,"
vol. i, 64) [? Libo].

II.

THE QUE OF THE ASSYRIAN ANNALS IN THE BIBLE.

The land of Que, mentioned by Assyrian kings in their records of
conquest, was the plain of Cilicia.

In the last work which, still incomplete, left the hand of the lamented
Fr. Lenormant ("Les Origines de l'Histoire," vol. iii, p. 9), he has pointed
out the interesting fact that this land is mentioned in 1 Kings x, 28, and
2 Chron. i, 16, where the word translated in A.V. "linenyarn" has so
perplexed the interpreters. Jerome has given the true sense : " And
horses were brought to Solomon from Egypt and from Coa, for the king's
merchants bought them from Coa, and brought them at a settled price ;"
and similarly in the parallel passage. In the Hebrew it is j-pp, W1|2i
and it is to be noticed that " all the kings of the Hittites " must include
the King of Qu§, as indeed we know.

In the Septuagint the name is given as ThSkoug, Qeicove, but I think
this was caused by the Egyptian prefix Ta, meaning " the laud," which
might be familiar to the Alexandrian Jewish scholars.

This is an excellent instance of the light to be gained from Assyria
for the explanation of the Bible. The name Que also occurs in Egyptian
records in the composite personal name of Kaui-sar, a Hittite oificer in
Egypt.

III.
LUZ IN THE LAND OF THE HITTITES.

Captain Conder thinks that the Luz built by the man who betrayed
Bethel (Lftz), as recorded in the Book of Judges (i, 22-26), may be the
present Luweizeh, near Banias.

But if a more remote and northerly part of the " land of the Hittites "
is to be preferred, it may be worth notice that in Rey's map a place called
Qalb Louze is marked between Aleppo and Antioch, in the middle of
the Hittite region.

112 THE NAME BETH-LEHEM.

IV.
THE NAME BETH-LEHEM.

The ordinary meaning given to the name Beth-lekhem is " house of
bread," the modern name being hardly different at bottom, viz., " house
of flesh " in Arabic, since the root QHT 1 ) *° ea ^ * s on ^Y varied in applica-
tion, as we now restrict the old general word " meat " to flesh-meat.

But I have long suspected that Beth-lekhem was originally a sacred
place of the Lakhniu of whom we read in the Chaldean cosmogony
(G. Smith, " Chaldaean Genesis," by Sayce, 58, 60, &c). Lakhmu and his
female counterpart Lakhamu seem to have been deities of fertility.

There is another Bethlehem (of Zebulon), equally called Beit Lahm,
an old city of the Canaanites (Josh, xix, 15), "in the midst of an oak
forest," says Dr. Porter (Murray, 370), a better place for a sanctuary of
Lakhmu than for a " house of bread."

I think this Lakhmu will also account for the name of "Lakhmi, the
brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear-staff was like a weaver's beam "
(1 Chron. xx, 5), and vindicate the text of the passage in the Chronicles
in preference to that in 2 Sam. xxi, 19, which is otherwise doubtful. This
devotee of Lakhmu would well match the son of Anak devoted to Saph
(Saphi) " of the sons of Kapha " in the verse before. (See my paper on
"Biblical Proper Names," Trans. Vict. Inst., 1882.)

Perhaps Lakhmam, or Lakhmas, may be similarly named. It is
supposed to be the present El Lahm, very near Beit Jibrin. "The
situation appears satisfactory. The site is ancient " (Quarterly Statement,
1881, p. 53). This brings us to the very haunt of the sons of the giant,
" the house of the giants." " We still find the neighbourhood of this town
[Beit Jibrin] producing an exceptionally tall and line race of peasants,
greater and more stalwart men than those to be found in any other part of
the country." So wrote the late Professor E. H. Palmer (" Jewish Nation,"
]). 58). Captain Conder speaks of the "gigantic sheikh" of this place
("Tent Life," vol. ii, p. 153). Indeed this Lahm might well be the home
of "Lakhmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite," and Gath is only twelve
miles off. That the old heathen significance of Lakhmu should resolve
itself into "bread," and the proper name Lakhmi become unintelligible
to the Jews, would be only characteristic of the purification that so
.signally swept Western Palestine of the monuments of its pristine idolatry,
of which, however, the quaint memorials linger in occult forms of names
and old-world folk-lore of the fellahin, as M. Clermont-Ganneau and
Captain Conder and others have disclosed.

ZOBAH, AKAM-ZOBAH, HAMATH-ZOBAII. 113

V
ZOBATH, ARAM-ZOBATH, HAMATH-ZOBAH.

Zobah has, I think, never yet been identified, unless, indeed, by the
lamented George Smith in his last explorations from Aleppo.

Dr. Friedrich Delitsch, in his work " Wo lag das Paradies ? " p. 266,
gives most interesting extracts from George Smith's last pencil notes, m
which he wrote : "(April) 6 (1876) : 2.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on to Sfira.
— 7 : 6.15 to 3.30. Kanassar, at corner of lake building of basalt, road
through hills, large city by lake. Greek inscriptions and remains,
remains of large camp near city— earth inclosure— 8 : 3 hours past end
of hills to Zobat or Zibat 4 miles 'round extensive ruins. Many Greek
inscriptions, nothing earlier, tombs on hills.— 9 : 8 hours to Meskeneh,
(Tipsah.)"

Now the name Zobat would agree with the Assyrian form of the
name Zubitu, or Zubutu : and the place, more than a quarter of the way
from Aleppo to Palmyra, would surely suit well enough for Zobah.
Professor Sayce considers Pethor, at the outlet of the Sajur into the
Euphrates, to have been in Aram-Zobah, and says: "The territory
Zobah, which extended into the desert towards Palmyra, adjoined Aram-
Rehob, and Arani-Maachah (2 Sam. x, 6). Aram-Maachah again bordered
on Geshur "in Aram" (2 Sam. xv, 8 ; iii, 3) ; and both formed parts of
the territory allotted to Manasseh (Josh, xiii, 11, 13). However, Rehob
and part of Zobah alone are included under the name of Arumu or Aram
in the Assyrian inscriptions, which place them on the west of the
Euphrates, southward of Pethor and the R. Sajur" (Queen's Pr. Bible
Supp., p. 69).

Is it not possible that the Tob of 2 Sam. x, 6, whence the Ammonites
hired Aramaeans against David (with the warriors of Zobah, Beth-rehob,
and Maakah) may be found at Taiyibeh (marked Tyba in ancient maps),
between Palmyra and Thapsacus, and that Rehob may be Ruheibeh,
north-east of Damascus, on the old route to Palmyra by Geruda (Porter,
" Syria, &c," p. 505). It does not seem necessary that this Rehob should
be the same as the northern limit of the reconnaissance of Joshua's spies.
The name is frequent.

" Maachah," says Canon Tristram, "lay east of Argob (Dent, iii, 14),
and east of Bashan (Josh, xii, 5)."

As to Khamath-Zobah, may not this be explained as the warm baths
near Kanasir in the land of Zobah (jHftrb the eame m Hebrew without
points as Khammath, viz., the present Hammam (" Unexpl. Syria,"
vol. ii. 180), just as at Tiberias the Khammath of Josh, xix, 35, now
Hammam Tabariya ?

P.S.— Is it possible that the name Ma'akah may in altered shape
survive in the Tell Umm Ma'azah, visited by Burton and Drake, north-
east of the Lejah I ("Unexpl. Syria," vol. i, p. 231.)

114 EXPLOEATION IN THE DELTA OF EGYPT.

EXPLORATION IN THE DELTA OF EGYPT.
Br the Rev. H. G. Tomkixs.

In the Quarterly Statement for January, 1884, some account was given of
the important work of M. Naville for the Egypt Exploration Fund in the
Wady Tumilat, i.e., the valley of the Sweet- water Canal. Since the
memorable discovery at Tell el Maskhutah much has been done at San
by Mr. Flinders Petrie ; and just now the subscribers to the Egypt Fund
have received M. Naville's Memoir on " The Store-City of Pithom, and
the Route of the Exodus." Of this I will first write something, and hope
in a later number of the Quarterly to give a short account of the last
year's work, and of that now in hand.

M. Naville's Memoir is handsomely got up, and contains thirteen
plates and two maps. The plates are photographic, and represent the
statue of the recorder and the sculptured hawk, both in the British
Museum by the gift of H.H. the Khedive to the Committee, and of the
Committee to the Museum. The plates give the inscriptions found by
M. Naville. In these the name of the nome is given, that of the district,

and that of the " store-citv." The nome is ^^ T, the 8th nome of Lower

— T —

Egypt. The district is|==^], fEE^ \ ^g^, -3^ g, the last

form being truly equivalent to the Hebrew JII^Dj letter for letter.

With regard to the equivalence of g s and Q the instances given by
Brugsch in the Zeitschrift f. Aeg. >Spr. 1875, p. 8, are conclusive, and so
says M. Naville, p. 6 : " The letter g •> which was pronounced th is often
transcribed in Greek and Coptic by o-, and in Hebrew by p. The name
of 2e/3«wuror, Sebennytus, Theb neter "^ g- > J © is a striking proof of
this assertion, which is corroborated by the spelling of many common
names. I need not dwell on this philological demonstration, which seems
to me quite conclusive."

Yet a writer in the Athenamm of February 14, 1885, has the hardihood
to pronounce that "the philology that can identify the Oukut of the hiero-
glyphics with the JTl3p of Exodus xii, 37, is worthless. 1

The "store-city" is called by the name of its sanctuary, spelt both
ideographic-ally and phonetically, rh, Pi-Turn, Hebrew Qj-©> ail( l

1 x , Ha-neter Turn, which equally means the sanctuary of Turn ;
and the tutelary god of the place is identified by various and conclusive

1 1 am glad to find that M. Naville agrees with me in an interesting point :
" Eev. H. G. Tonikins lias pointed out that we have the Assyrian transcription
of Suecoth in the Iskhiit of Essarhaddon. Academy, March 3, 1883." Mem. p.
6, note.

EXPLOEATION IN THE DELTA OF EGYIT. 115

proofs besides. In the Deutsche Revue, March 1884, p. 358, Brugsch gives
his adherence to M. Naville's conclusion in most undoubting language.

I have already pointed out in the Quarterly Statement for January,
1884, how singularly the structures disclosed at Tell el Maskhutah, even
in minute details, tell their own tale and bear out the precise and un-
usual particulars of the story in the Book of Exodus with regard to bricks,
and straw, and reed, and the short supply, and the " hard bondage in
mortar." It will not be doubted, I believe, by those who weigh the
manifold monumental evidence, that we have there the store-city Pitum,
built by the enthralled children of Israel.

It is in the large and important tablet of Ptolemy Philadelphus that
we get some most interesting clues to further geographical discoveries.

The most curious is the mention of a place, with a sanctuary of Osiris,

have been " the second sanctuary of Heroopolis, at a short distance from
Pi-Turn, but nearer the sea." He compares the name with the Pi-Ha-
Khiroth (Exod. xiv, 2, 9 ; Numb, xxxiii, 7), rOTHl ^D > LXX (Numb.),
Toarofxa Elpo>8 ; Vulg., Phihahiroth. In Numb, xxxiii, 8, we have merely
Hakhiroth ; LXX, Elcbd. The name itself seems to be, therefore,
Egyptian, expressed in Hebrew rTPJT Tllis woum \ I think, convey the
sound of A \ "^ well enough. Considering the determinative (a
serpent), may we not compare j( Si> ^ m , "serpent of the lower hemi-
sphere " (Pierret. Vocab., p. 372) ?

The ascertained position of Pi-tum and the indication of "Pihakhiroth"
of Exodus put us on the sure line of inarch of the Israelites. I would
recommend students of these questions to read the new edition (just out)
of the very able and important work of the Abbe Vigouroux, " La Bible
et les Decouvertes Modernes," 4 me - ed n - Paris. Berche et Tralin, Tome II.

In a future Quarterly Statement I hope to return to some detailed
points of geography of the eastern part of the Delta. Meanwhile it is
most satisfactory to know that M. Naville has undertaken excavations at
an important point near Fakus in the heart of the land of Goshen.

In the great ruined and deserted capital of the Delta, Zoan, Tanis, San,
Mr. Flinders Petrie has entered on a course of thorough examination in
his methodical and j)erfect style. It must be remembered that he has
done much valuable service, which scholars will appreciate, in pioneering ;
having sifted the first tentative suggestions in very many places, and
ascertained at what spots work will be worth the cost. All this is of very
high practical importance, besides the actual results, of which I hope to
speak in the next Quarterly Statement, with regard both to biblical and
to classic antiquity.

The Rev. W. C. Winslow, of Boston, the Hon. Treasurer for America,
is doing most active and successful work ; and with regard to support at
home it is especially to be noted with much pleasure that the Hellenic
Society has given an earnest of approval and practical interest by a

116 THE SITE OF EMMAUS.

donation towards the cost of excavations at the spot where Mr. Flinders
Petrie has, in all probability, hit upon the ancient Naucratis, the one
Greek colony of later Pharaonic times. The Hellenists will revel in the
spoils of this mine of early Greek art, while the Biblicists will await the
certainly important tidings of further exploration in Goshen and the
" Field of Zoan."

THE SITE OF EMMAUS.

By the Eev. P. Mearns.

The interesting narrative of our Lord's journey to Emmaus, with two of
His disciples, on the day of His resurrection, has caused much attention to
be given to the question as to the site of the village ; but, until recently,
nothing satisfactory had been suggested in the way of identifying the site.
Mrs. Finn's identification of Emmaus with Urtas, in the valley of Etham,
near Bethlehem, has been received with much approval, as it well deserves
to be. But certain objections have been urged against this discovery
by writers who have paid some attention to the subject, and such
objections ought to be carefully weighed. One thing seems to me certain,
however, that if Urtas be rejected the site is still entirely unknown.

Two writers, who both held theories of their own, have stated objec-
tions, in the Quarterly Statement for October last, to Mrs. Finn's discovery.
It has been remarked by a shrewd observer of men and manners, that
when a man has made a speech in favour of an opinion he is not likely to
change it, even after he finds strong objections stated against it ; but, if
he has written a book in its advocacy, there is no longer any hope of his
abandoning it. Mrs. Finn's critics naturally wish credit for previously
expressed views ; but others will be careful to weigh the evidence on both
sides. The two objectors to Mrs. Finn are not themselves agreed ; and,
whatever may be said of her discovery, I think we must throw their
theories overboard ; for they do not seem to me to meet the requirements
of the case. It appeared to me at first, as it does still, that none of the
sites recently discovered in Palestine have been supported by evidence
more conclusive than that produced by Mrs. Finn in favour of Urtas as
the true Emmaus.

Mr. Henderson says — " At the risk of being classed among cavillers
I venture to give reasons for entirely dissenting from the proposed iden-
tification." He refers to Lightfoot, " who proposed to identify Etham with
Emmaus, not only anticipating Mrs. Finn's proposal, but giving another,
and (as he thinks) more plausible support for it than she has done."
This remark is curious, especially as following his strong dissent. It
cannot mean, that because the learned Lightfoot went to the valley of
Etham for the site of Emmaus, Mr. Henderson "entirely dissents from"
the proposal of Mrs. Finn to go to the same valley for the same purpose.

THE SITE OF EMMAUS. U7

Perhaps he merely meant to refuse the credit of the discovery to Mrs.
Finn because Lightfoot made a remark somewhat in the same direction.
He thinks that Lightfoot anticipated Mrs. Finn's proposal, and gave more
plausible support for it ; and we almost expect him to add, therefore
I yield to Dr. Lightfoot rather than to Mrs. Finn. Any one who has
read Lightfoot's remark will see that it is feeble compared with the
conclusive evidence adduced by Mrs. Finn ; but we accept the identifica-
tion with equal readiness, whether it is made by Lightfoot or Finn.

Mr. Henderson begins his objections thus :— " There is no evidence to
show that ' the bath ' Mrs. Finn writes of is of the age she assumes—
that is, was old enough, not to say important enough, to give its name to
a place known to Luke and Josephus." The reader is apt to suppose
from this remark, that Mrs. Finn had incidentally found a bath among
the ruins at Urtas, and at once inferred that it was old enough to have
given the name of Emmaus to the place before the days of Luke and
Josephus ; but, on turning to her paper in the Quarterly Statement for
January, 1883, he will find that she has not said anything like this.
After a personal examination of all the places, within "h miles of
Jerusalem, that had been or might be proposed as the site of Emmaus,
she fixed on Urtas as the only one that met the requirements of the
narratives of Luke and Josephus. Her conclusion was not hasty, but was
reached after a prolonged investigation of ten years. The ruined
buildings had been concealed by 20 inches of soil ; but she said that
diggings might bring the buildings and the baths to light. "Several
years passed before funds for making excavations were forthcoming ; "
but at length excavations were made, and both the buildings and the
baths were found. Mrs. Finn thinks that there is reason to believe that
baths had been used here in ancient times from the days of Solomon. It
is a caricature of her remarkable discovery, to say that she found one bath,
and concluded that it was old enough to have given name to the place.

Mr. Henderson's second objection is, that " the existence of a bath, or
baths, in a valley down which flows abundance of water is not, prima
facie, a thing so special as to explain the distinctive name of a village."
He does not say that the excavations carried out under the direction of
Mr. Cyril Graham and Mrs. Finn brought several baths to light ; but
he slips in the words " or baths " to cover the whole. The reader who
fails to turn to Mrs. Finn's paper will form a very incorrect idea of her
discovery from the representations of Mr. Henderson. The local name of
Urtas is Hammam, which like Emmaus signifies baths ; and a rock there
has the name Leet/et al Ilammdm, that is, " the promontory of the baths."
Here was abundance of water, and baths, and the very name Emmaus in
its local form. But Mr. Henderson thinks that "if every place is to be
recognised as a possible Emmaus where the name 'Hammam ' is found,
we shall have plenty to choose from." It is not a "possible Emmaus"
that is wanted, but one 1\ miles from Jerusalem, with the other necessary
requirements, and, if we give up Urtas, instead of many places to choose
from, there is not one left.

118 THE SITE OF EMMAUS.

Mr. Henderson's other objections are equally trifling. Jerome looted
away from Urtas, which was near Bethlehem, where he was living, to
Nicopolis, which was far away, as the Emmaus of Luke. Mr. Henderson
rejects Jerome's opinion, for this Christian Father favours Nicopolis ; but
he tries to get an argument against Mrs. Finn from his very silence. He
appeals also to the silence of Meshullam, who is now dead ; but how
does he know what Meshullam had heard of Emmaus or Hammam ? As
M. Meshullam and Mrs. Finn were joint-cultivators of the ground at
Urtas, it is likely that she had told him all she knew about the name, and
probably he knew of it before her, as he had lived for years on the spot.
Mr. Henderson thinks that Urtas refers to the old gardens of Solomon ;
and that it was an older name than Emmaus ; but he has not produced
a particle of evidence for this opinion. Mrs. Finn's explanation is much
preferable — that the Roman soldiers, who were settled there after the
destruction of Jerusalem, changed the name from Emmaus to Hortus, the
Latin name for garden ; and that the natives corrupted this name into
Urtas.

Mr. Henderson is favourable to the claims of Kubeibeh, for which
place not much can be said, except that it is about the proper distance
from Jerusalem, which might be said of many other places equi-distant
with it. The Crusaders fixed on it ; but their opinion does not count for
much. In publishing an account of my journey in Palestine in 1881,
from Joppa to Jerusalem, I had occasion to remark — "It is a pity we can
ask no more than probability for Kubeibeh " as the site of Emmaus.
I could get no reliable information regarding the site. Since the
publication of Mrs. Finn's discovery, in 1883, there is no longer a
jjrobability in favour of Kubeibeh. Mrs. Finn was aware of its claims ;
but, after a personal inspection, she concluded that neither there, nor
anywhere else at the distance of lh miles from Jerusalem, is there a
sufficient supply of water for the baths of Emmaus. Professor Robinson
says, that it was only in the beginning of the fourteenth century, when
traces began to appear of the " idea which fixed an Emmaus at Kubeibeh ;
a transfer of which there is no earlier vestige, and for which there was
no possible ground, except to find an Emmaus at about sixty stadia from
the Holy City."

Mr. Henderson is not strongly in favour of Kubeibeh — he gives his
readers a choice of it, or Khamasa on the other side of Jerusalem : he is
only strongly against Urtas, the true site. He was formerly an advocate
of Khamasa, but the distance of ten miles from the city appears to have
cooled him ; although he retains the name, in the face of this formidable
objection, so far as to offer his readers a choice between Khamesa niid
Kubeibeh. Lieutenant Conder's objection to Khamasa is unanswerable—
"The distance of Khamasa is 8^ English miles (some seventy stadia) in
a straight line, and 10 by road" {Quarterly Statement for 1881, p. 274).
Mr. Henderson reserves a right to offer a choice of Khamasa after it has
been given up by everybody else who has given attention to the subject

The second letter is very incorrectly printed. I therefore avoid

THE SITE OF EMMAUS. 119

referring to what may be only typographical errors. But the letter is

more distinguished by confidence than caution. Mr. Kennion begins by

saying : " Mrs. Finn's case rests on a mistaken inference from the words

of Josephus about the Galilee Emmaus." He ought to have been very

sure of his ground before writing down so sweeping a condemnation of

so esteemed a writer as Mrs. Finn. She is not likely to have rested her

whole case " on a mistaken inference." On examination it will be found

that Mr. Kennion is mistaken, and not Mrs. Finn. He says that Josephus

interprets the name Emmaus " to mean pro hdc vice hot wells. But he

certainly does not intend it to be understood that the name Emmaus

always has that meaning." But Josephus, in fact, does not interpret the

name Emmaus to mean, either for the occasion referred to or any other,

" hot wells." The word he uses is 6epna, warm baths, referring to the

gentle heat of baths. But if he had meant hot springs he would have

used the feminine, depfiai. Josephus says, that the meaning of a warm

bath was particularly applicable to the Tiberian Emmaus ; for in it was

a spring of warm water, to supply the bath, and useful for healing. The

historian distinctly says, that the name always points to a warm bath.

The Hebrew Hammath also signifies "warm baths," rather than hot

springs, as Dr. Tregelles remarks under the word in his edition of

Gesenius. At Emmaus Nicopolis there was a healing fountain, and the

baths supplied by it gave name to the place. Neither at Nicopolis nor

Urtas is there a hot spring now, whatever there may have been in the

days of the Bible ; but Mrs. Finn thinks that the name might be given

to a place famous for its baths artificially heated. Mr. Kennion asserts

that there is "no ground for the assumption with which Mrs. Finn

sets out, that the interpretation given by Josephus to the Galilee

Emmaus is to be extended, or has any application to any other Emmaus."

But the truth is, that Josephus records the fact that the name was

applied to three places — Tiberias, Nicopolis, and the village 7 J miles

from Jerusalem ; and he intimates no limitation of the general meaning

he assigns to the word.

Mr. Kennion gives a much better account of Mrs. Finn's discovery
than Mr. Henderson does. He says:— "The copious fountain in the
Urtas valley attracted her attention, as being sufficient to supply baths.
The recollection of once visible traces of baths still existed in the
neighbourhood : search is made : remains of extensive and luxurious
baths are brought to light, dating very probably from the days of
Herod the Great : and Mrs. Finn concludes that she has found Emmaus."
We almost expect him to add, as he might well have done, I agree
with her, and accept this as a highly interesting and important
discovery. It is therefore disappointing to find him adding, " I submit
that, just as every Emmaus was not a Hamath, or hot spring, so every
discovery of Hammam, or baths, is not the discovery of an Emmaus.
That there were Hammam at Urtas Mrs. Finn has discovered as a
veritable and interesting fact. But that the village itself, or the
district, was ever known by the name of Emmaus, or even of Hammam)

120 THE SITE OF EMMAUS.

Mrs. Finn has not advanced a fragment of evidence." I have already
shown that Emmaus is never a hot spring, but a hot bath, and that
the three places to which, according to Josephus, the name was applied
had all a spring for the supply of baths, and that Mrs. Finn found
the local name for Emmaus at Urtas. We do not speak of " a fragment
of evidence" merely, but we say that the chain of evidence in favour
of Urtas is complete, not one link being wanting.

Mrs. Finn remarked in her paper that Emmaus had been " chosen for
a Eoman settlement of military colonists, 800 strong ; " and she added
that " Caesar ordered the lands of Judaea to be put up for sale, all but
one place, which he reserved for 800 men, whom he had dismissed
from his army — which he gave them for habitation." She thought it
"not likely" that Kolonieh would have been chosen for the Emmaus
settlement ; " for it would have been altogether useless on the western
side as a check on the eastern fortress of Masada, or on the mountain
district in general, being too much off the upper plateau of Highlands."
Mr. Reunion objects that "the colonisation referred to was in no
sense what she calls it, military. It was a grant of land to 800 disbanded
veterans, for their residence and possession." Unintentionally no doubt,
but not the less really, does he here misrepresent Mrs. Finn. He does
not quote her words, but he conveys the impression that, according to
her, the 800 soldiers belonged still to the regular army, and that they
were stationed at Emmaus solely for defensive purposes. But she
called the company military only because it consisted of soldiers dismissed
from the army ; and they would require some fortification to defend
themselves from the sudden attacks of neighbours in those times of
war and confusion. Their very presence would be a protection against
incursions from the east side of the Jordan. Mr. Reunion puts emphasis
on the words grant of land and disbanded, as if to intimate that Mrs. Finn
had said something contrary ; but her words were confirmatory of both.

Mr. Rennion tries to get some help from Jerome, who blunderingly
fixed on Nicopolis as the Emmaus of Luke, and overlooked the true site ;
but he admits the fact that the true site was not known in the days
of Jerome, so that he can get no help from him.

He mentions what he calls an improbability — that Josephus and Luke
should have stated the distance from Jerusalem if the place was so near
Bethlehem. He is -at a great loss for arguments when he resorts to such
an improbability. Josephus was likely to state the distance from the
o-reat city where the Romans completed their conquest of the Jews,
when he was speaking of the destination of a portion of the disbanded
army. And as for Luke, he was describing a journey, not from Bethlehem,
but from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and probably the disciples only passed
near, and not through, the City of David. His mistaken improbabilities
lead him again to speak of " the fragile nature " of Mrs. Finn's arguments ;"
but he is still dreaming ; when will he awake ? It is "as when a hungry
man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth ; but he awaketh, and his soul is
empty."

ZION AND OPHEL. 121

Mr. Kennion concludes by propounding his own theory, which is, that
the district of Emmaus in Josephus "lay along the valley that has
Kolonieh at its southern extremity," and that the village in Luke
" was near the head of that valley, and reaching on to Kubeibeh." It
is his old opinion, which he finds it hard to give up in favour of
Mrs. Finn, whom, however, he thanks "for her valuable contribution
to the discussion."

I have already referred to the claims of Kubeibeh, which really have
no weight in the presence of Mrs. Finn's discovery. As for the district
beginning at Kolonieh, four miles from Jerusalem, it is impossible that
Josephus, who knew the district well, could have said that it was
?Jr miles from the city. The proposal of this site must therefore be
regarded as utterly untenable. But no discovery of baths is mentioned
at Kubeibeh ; and the reader now perceives why the writer was led
into the error of asserting that Josephus explained Emmaus to mean
hot springs, and that baths were not necessary to every Emmaus. He
shuts his eyes against the flood of light which Mrs. Finn has thrown
on the subject, and says : " One conclusion is indisputable, that no other
location of St. Luke's Emmaus could by any possibility combine so
many rays of light as converge upon the Wady Buwai." His conclusion
is not only disputed, but we may pronounce it utterly impossible to
accept the site he proposes. All was doubt and uncertainty about the site
of Emmaus till the publication of Mrs. Finn's paper ; but now all appears
clear and certain.
Coldstream.

ZION AND OPHEL.
By J. M. Tenz.

Mr. Birch and Dr. A. H. Sayce are confident that Mount Zion stood
on the south side of the Temple mount which descends down to the lowest
part of the valleys surrounding Jerusalem, and Dr. Sayce, in his "Topography
of Prse-exilic Jerusalem," in the last Quarterly Statement, takes it for granted
that it is no longer possible to deny it. Yet the valley which Dr. Sayce
shows in his sketch map to divide Ophel from his little Mount Zion on
the lowest hill of the city has no existence.

We may also justify the remarks made by Captain Conder in reply to
Mr. Birch on the same subject in the last Quarterly Statement.

Josephus, the great historian of the Jews, who is so much blamed for
his errors, and attributed errors, is yet the most reliable authority, as it has
in many cases been proved by recent discoveries.

Having for many years taken great interest in the history of Jerusalem,
the Temple, and the discoveries made from time to time by exploring

122 ZIOX AND OPHEL.

parties, and having also carefully constructed a model of that city when in
the time just before its destruction by Titus, I may be permitted to give
my opinion on the topography of ancient Jerusalem.

The "upper city" of Josephus answers to all requirements of Mount Zion,
the City of David. " Walk about Zion, and go round about her, tell the
towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, and consider her palaces "
means many towers, extensive walls, numbers and important palaces,
which could not have all been placed on the lower slope of the Temple-
hill, which by Josephus is called the suburb.

In a military point of view we may naturally suppose that the upper-
most hill was " Mount Zion, the stronghold of the Jebusites." History
and recent discoveries support it. When the Israelites took possession of
their promised land, Jerusalem fell to the lot of Benjamin (5 " Ant.," i, 22),
" but the Jebnsites who inhabited it were not driven out until the time
of David," " and the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom
unto the south side of the Jebusite ; the same is Jerusalem " (Josh, xv, 8).
This passage sufficiently indicates that the border went up by the south
valley, which is now called valley of Hinnom. The Tomb of David may
also be looked for at or near the traditional site, which is ovar against, or
near "the pool that was made" (Neh. iii, 16), which may well be the so-
called lower Pool of Gihon, once one of the largest pools at Jerusalem.

The Dragon Well may be identified with the Virgin's Well.

On the arrival of Nehemiah at Jerusalem, the Temple was partly
rebuilt by Zerubbabel ; the king's high house (the site of which was in
later years joined to the outer court of the Temple by Herod the Great)
was probably restored, and the Nethinims had dwellings in Ophel ;
Nehemiah would have taken up his residence there, as the other parts of
the city were still in ruins. On his night journey he would have proceeded
from Ophel to the valley gate before the Dragon Well (Virgin's Well), then
went on to the dung gate, probably the same as the gate between two
Avails near the Pool of Siloam, then to the fountain gate, a gate leading to
the upper city. After he went up by the brook (Brook Gihon and Valley
of Hinnom), then returned and entered by the valley gate (Neh. ii, 12-15).

Further explorations may result in the discovery of the site of the
east, or Shushan gate, which according to the Talmud stood over against
the east front of the Temple. Thus we would obtain the exact line from
east to west through the centre of the Altar, which, I believe, stood on the
rock in the Great Mosque. It has also been remarked, in one of the
( L )u/trt<Tl;i St'ttPiiH'ntx, that the sacred cubit, which is said to have been
marked on the sides of the Shushan gate, may yet be found on the lower
part, which must have been below the level of the court, witli steps to
descend to a much lower level of the ground outside the wall, but which
is now to a great extent filled up. The discovery of that gate would
therefore be of great importance.

It is still my impression that some remains of the second wall may yet
be found on the cast side <>f tin' Chinch of the Holy Sepulchre. It is quite
possible that that church may cover the site of Calvary and the garden of

CAPTAIN CONDEK AND KADESH-BARNEA. L23

Joseph of Arimathea. Although, according to the Talmud, the place of
stoning, and the discoveries of the ruins of St. Stephen's Church outside the
Damascus gate, may favour Captain Conder's views of his supposed
Calvary on a hill just outside that gate, yet the traditional site, which
dates at least back to the time of the Empress Helena, ought not to be
disputed until further discoveries can be made.

We sincerely hope that the Palestine Exploration Fund Society will be
able to continue their work of exploration at Jerusalem, which is the only
means to lead us to a satisfactory result.
December lOt/i, 1883.

CAPTAIN CONDER AND KADESH-BARNEA.
By the Rev. H. Clay Trumbull.

Inasmuch as Captain Conder has given special prominence, in the Quarterly
Statement, to my volume on Kadesh-Barnea, as worthy of consideration in
the settlement of a pivotal point in the lower boundary of Palestine, I
venture to ask the privilege of calling attention to the main purpose of
that volume — which he has not touched by his comments.

In "Kadesh-Barnea," I have subjected every Biblical mention of that
ancient site to an examination, and have compared them all with each
other, showing, as I believe, that many of them absolutely require its
location at or near the site of 'Ayn Qadees, and that every one of them is
consistent with that location ; hence that there and there only its identi-
fication is properly to be looked for. If I am right as to this consensus of
Biblical evidence, it follows that even if a Kadesh-Barnea be actually
discovered elsewhere, it cannot, by any possibility, be the Kadesh-Barnea
of the Bible-text.

This basal portion of my volume is, as I have said, left untouched by
( laptain Conder's criticisms ; and if, indeed, he were found to be correct at
every one of his more than twenty noted points of difference with my
incidental suggestions of confirmatory evidence of the identification of
'Ayn Qadees, my claim that there is the site of Kadesh-Barnea would
remain as strong as before, in spite of such errors in my confirmatory
collatings.

But, lest Captain Conder's long list of apparent mistakes on my part
should throw discredit on the really important portion of the volume, not
dealt with by him, and so should deter from its examination those who
know of it only from his criticisms, I desire to say, that after a careful re-
examination of every point to which Captain Conder has taken exception,
I am of the opinion that at no one of them has he shown an error in the
work he criticises, while in a number of cases his own position is clearly
untenable. Let me name a few illustrative instances.

124 CAPTAIN CONDER AND KADESH-BARNEA.

1. I referred to the plain of "Es^Seer," or "Es-Sirr" — as noted by
Rowlands and Wilson and Palmer — as a trace of the old name of " Seir,"
in the region south-eastward from Beersheba. Captain Conder says of this
modern name : " Until it can be shown to contain the guttural of the
Hebrew, it cannot be considered to represent Seir, especially as it should
begin with Shin, nor with Sin or Sad." But Gesenius, Fiirst, and other
lexicographers, are positive that the Hebrew guttural (^) is frequently
interchanged with approximate sounds, and is sometimes dropped alto-
gether. Captain Conder himself suggests this dropping, when he would
find a trace of " Ba'al " in " Ballah." And Dr. John Wilson even cites
this very word " Seir" (east of the Arabah) as an illustration of the ex-
ceptional dropping of the 'Aj/n. "Yet we have," he says, ".t aU (Esh-

Sherah), for *V^^ (Seir)." And in this view Wilson is sustained by

Burckhardt, by Koehler in his notes on Abulfeda, and by others.

Again, the lexicographers above-named give marked illustrations of the
representing of the Hebrew Sin by the Arabic .Sin, instead of Shin. This
would seem to make it possible, certainly, for the name " Es-Seer " to be
a trace of the ancient " Seir," especially as the district where it is found
did, as I think I have shown from the Bible-text, formerly bear that name
— whether it be found there now or not.

2. I have claimed that the early Old Testament sweep of Edom clearly
included the region also known as " Seir," where Esau lived before he
removed to " Mount Seir." Captain Conder thinks that " the name Edom,
or ' red,' must surely have been applied to the red sandstone country, and
not to the white chalk plateau of the Tih." But the Bible says that the
name Edom likewise came from the '' red " pottage — which Esau ate on
" the white chalk plateau " of his early home ; " therefore was his name
called Edom," and therefore was his land likely to be known as the land
of Edom. I still incline to the opinion that the Bible statement has some
basis of truth in it.

3. In explaining the causes of the long-prevalent error that there were
two Kadeshes, I referred to the Rabbinical evidence that there were two
Reqams, one of which was Petra, and the other was Kadesh. Captain
Conder says, " I fail to find anything to support the view that there were two
Rekems, one at Petra, one at 'Am Kadis ; " and he courteously suggests
that " the second Rekem seems only necessary to the theory of Ain Kadis
being Kadesh-Barnea." But I cited the assertion of a well-known Talmudic
scholar of more than two centuries ago, that, according to the Talmud,
" there were two noteworthy places named Rekam on the Hunts of the
land [the Holy Land]." Then I showed from the Talmud itself that one
of these Reqams was in the region of Petra (probably identical with it)
while the other (sometimes called " Reqam Giah") was on the westerly
side of the desert, toward Askelon. The identity of Ain Qadees with
this second Rebam I left open for other proof. Does Captain Conder really
think that the Talmud was written in the special interest of those who
would identify Kadesh at Ain Qadees ?

CAPTAIN CONDER AND KADESH-BARNEA. 125

4. Concerning the " Mount Hor in the edge of the land of Edom," —
which is not, however, an essential point in the locating of Kadesh-Bamea, —
I claimed that the whole tenor of the references to it in the Bible-text
forbid the possibility of its fixing at the traditional site, in a mountain
stronghold of the Hebrew-tabooed Mount Seir ; while every requirement of
the sacred text is met in the suggested location at Jebel Madurah. The
evidence of the Bible-text Captain Conder does not discuss ; but he is
sure as to " the consensus of tradition and opinion in the matter." I spoke
of the possible vestige of the Hebrew name " Moseroth " (one of the names
of the lower Mount Hor) in the Arabic " Madurah," " the consonants ' D ' and
' S' having a constant tendency to interchange in Eastern speech." At this
Captain Conder says : "I do not think this is the case. The soft T and
the soft S (Te and Sin) are convertible, and so are the soft D or Dh and Z
{Dhal, Dal, Zain), but I do not recall any instance where D and S are
convertible." I did not say that D and S were " convertible," but that
they had " a constant tendency to interchange ;" — if Captain Conder is not
aware of that fact, I am surprised ; for the lexicons teem with illustrations
of it, and Orientalists frequently refer to the fact. For example, from
Freytag and Fiirst : Hebrew, HDH i^hasa) ; Arabic, ^^ (Badaa) ;

both meaning " to flee." Hebrew, *rt q > {Nasalch) ; Arabic, -^a^ (Nodakha)

and • (Nadaha), all three meaning " to pour out." Also in Arabic

itself, such parallel forms as ^^ (yassasa), and ^^ {yaddada), " to

open the eyes " (said of a young animal).

5. Incidentally I referred to the correspondence of the names " Zephath "
and " Sebayta," and to the lack of the formerly claimed identity between
" Zephath " and " Sufah." Captain Conder says : " The radical meaning
of this name [Zephath] in Hebrew and Arabic is the same, ' to be clear,'
' bright,' ' conspicuous,' ' shining.' The identity of Zejmath and Sufah
can hardly be doubted by any who consider the root whence the two words
originate. The suggestion of Sebaita or Sebata for Zephath has always
seemed to me to argue a want of scholarship on the part of Rowlands. The
Arabic name seems to be from the root Sebt, ' rest,' which has not a single
letter in common with the root whence Zephath originates." But it is
Professor Palmer who says (" Desc. of Exod," ii, 375 /) : " The name Sebaita
is etymologically identical with the Zephath of the Bible, Zephath signifies
a watch-tower." As to the root of the two words, it would seem that
Captain Conder has mistaken, as a root, the Hebrew J-Q^J (Tsabali), "to
shine," for pfD!J (Tsaphah), " to look about." The idea that Professor

Palmer, having examined this word on the field and afterwards in his study,
should have confounded the root of " Zephath " and " Sebayta " with so
common a root as that of the "Sabbath,"— "which has not a single letter
in common with the root " he was considering, — presupposes " a want of
scholarship " on the part of that eminent Orientalist which English readers
generally will not be ready to admit without some show of proof.

K 2

126 CAPTAIN CONDER AND KADESH-BAKNEA.

6. One of the many Hazars, or Hezrons, or border-territory "en-
closures," of Canaan, is mentioned in the sacred text as lying between
Kadesh and Adar. I stated that I found traces of one or two enclosures
between 'Ayn Qadees and 'Ayn Qadayrat, which would meet that de-
scription. Thereupon Captain Conder says : " Dr. Trumbull has omitted
to notice what appears to me to be a strong argument, which, as far as
I know, I was the first to suggest, in the identification of Hezron." The
site of Hezron which Captain Conder suggests is " the Hadireh hill west
of Wady el Yemen " — quite out of the Bible possibilities of the case ; and
he says : " It is strange that Dr. Trumbull should have been quite silent
as to this suggestion, which if it be correct settles the Kadesh- Barnea
question for ever ; " and Captain Conder even thinks that " the omission of
any notice of Hadireh (in ' Kadesh-Barnea '), and several minor errors above
pointed out, seems to spoil the completeness of the work." Yet the term
Hazar, Hazor or Hezron, or the plural form, in simple or in compound, is
so common as a descriptive one in the Bible story (see, e.g., Numb, xi,
35 ; xxxiv, 4, 9 ; Deut. ii, 23 ; Josh, xv, 23, 25, 27, 28 ; xix, 5, 36, 37 ;
1 Kings ix, 15 ; Ezek. xlvii, 16, 17), that if found by itself anywhere it
would hardly be more determinative as a particular site than the term
"camp." It is even shown by the Bible-text (Deut. ii, 23) that these
Hazars or Hazarlm were all along the southern boundary of Canaan, and
four or five of them are noted, as near each other in that region, in the
description of that border (Josh, xv, 23-28). The idea that the finding a
trace of one of those " enclosures " " settles the Kadesh-Barnea question
for ever," seems to me so utterly chimerical that I should not have felt
justified in an attempt to refute it if it were not forced into fresh promi-
nence by Captain Conder's renewed claim of its importance. I certainly
accord to him all the credit of being, as far as I know, "the first to
suggest" it.

7. I gave the Arabic name of " Qadayrat " precisely as it was written for
me by my guide, who gave me also its English meaning as " the power of
God." Captain Conder says that " it appears to be spelt with a Dad
[instead of a Dal] by mistake." Yet the dialectic change of Dad for Dal
is by no means uncommon in Arabic words, as the lexicons show. I simply
gave the writing and the definition as given to me by a native Arab.
Captain Conder has himself emphasized "the importance of studying the
local peasant dialect of Syria," because of its throwing light on the inter-
changing of letters — like Sin and Sad— supposed by scholars to be "never
confused." Possibly another example of this is to be found in Dad and
Dal.

8. Quite outside of the question of the site of Kadesh-Barnea, but con-
sidered at some length in my book, is the route of the Hebrew exodus.
( laptain < londer says: " It is to be regretted, however, that sufficient notice
has not been taken of the facts (both geological and engineering), which
leave it indisputable that the level of the Red Sea lias been changing, and
that the Isthmus of Suez has been growing broader within historic times.'
In speaking of that which is "indisputable," Captain Condor probably

CAPTAIN CONDEK AND KADESH-BARNEA. 127

means that, in his opinion, the view he holds ought not to be disputed ;
— although he is aware that it is. I have yet to see any claim by a geological
authority that the Isthmus must have been materially narrower in the days
of Moses. The mere opinion of a geologist that it might have been so at that
date, because it had been so long earlier, can weigh but little against the
evidence and indications from history, sacred and profane, to which I have
pointed in my book, that then it was not so.

9. My footnote remark, in passing, an incidental item of Egyptian
history, that " the fortress of Kana'an has not been identified," prompts
Captain Conder to say : " This seems to have been written before Dr.
Trumbull had seen my paper on the subject, as my suggestion of Kana'an
a large ruin near Hebron, met with hearty acceptance from Mr. Tomkins."
In the English edition of my book (published by Hodder & Stoughton),
I have mentioned Captain Conder's proposed identification ; but while 1
recognise the exceptional value of the Rev. Henry George Tomkins's
opinion in favour of one of Captain Conder's suggested identifications, I
still venture to repeat what I have already said in my revised volume,
that, in my opinion, Khurbet Kana'an " does not correspond with the
pictured [Egyptian] representation of a fortress on a detached hill, with
a lake near it."

10. Captain Conder's mention of a " rationalistic explanation of the
pillar of cloud and of fire, which seems suggested on p. 397 " of my book, I
do not quite understand ; but I desire to relieve the text and the tone of
my work from the imputation which " seems suggested " in that mention.
Referring to the fact that " it was common for Eastern armies to be guided
by a column of smoke moving on in their van by day, and by a streaming
banner of name before them by night," I said that when Jehovah's host
went out from Egypt, " the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of
cloud to lead them the way ; and by night in a pillar of fire to give them
light." And to make it clear to every mind that I looked upon the
1 si aelites' guiding emblem as a supernatural and a miraculous display, I
quoted approvingly the words of Kurtz, that the difference between the
ordinary caravan-beacon and this one was, "that the one was a merely
natural arrangement, which answered its purpose but imperfectly, and was
exceedingly insignificant in its character, whilst the other was a super-
natural phenomenon, beyond all comparison more splendid and magnificent
i d its form, which was also made to answer far greater and more glorious
ends." Possibly Captain Conder's term " rationalistic explanation " was
a slip of the pen, or a misprint, for " rational explanation."

11. While admitting that I have shown the existence of an 'Ayn Qadees
at the site described, Captain Conder suggests that it may be " a monkish
site;" since "the monks were not careful as to the Biblical requirements
of their sites ;" and he also says that, "generally speaking, one feels that
the evidence has been rather twisted in favour of 'Ain Kadis, though Dr.
Trumbull has striven to be impartial and candid." It is quite a fresh
thought to me, that the monks were in the habit of fixing, in Arabic equi-
valents of ancient Hebrew, geographical sites of the Old Testament story,

128 CAPTAIN CONDER AND KADESH-BARNEA.

in the Holy Land or the desert ; although I knew that they located the
homes, or the tombs, of Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel, and Elijah, and
Jonah, and other Old Testament personages, without much regard to the
Biblical requirements " — as in the case of Jebel Neby Haroon (called
Mount Hor), for example. Their interest was, I supposed, in Bible bio-
graphy rather than in Bible geography. Indeed in a work written since
my re-discovery of 'Ayn Qadees, Captain Conder has said implicitly on
this point (" Hetli and Moab," p. 18) : " There is, however, no better guide
to identification than the discovery of an ancient name, and whatever may
have been written concerning the migration of sites, we have not as yet
any clearly proven case in which a Semitic indigenous title has wandered
away from the original spot to which it was applied for geographical or
religious reasons." Why Captain Conder would suggest an exception to his
otherwise invariable rule, in this case of 'Ayn Qadees, is by no means
obvious ; for I certainly would not suggest that, " generally speaking, one
feels that the evidence, or the argument," " has been rather twisted "by
him against Ayn Qadees ; for it must not be questioned that Captain
Conder " has striven to be impartial and candid."

12. It would seem unnecessary for me to follow up in detail all the
minor points touched by Captain Conder in his extended critical comments
on my work ; not one of which has any more force than those to which I
have already replied. But there is a single other suggestion of his which
I ought to note in closing. He says : " The map requires a word of notice,
for it is not clear why Ain Kadis is there shown much further east in
longitude than is the case in Palmer's map, or Holland's map." It is even in
connection with this point that Captain Conder suggests the appearance
of my twisting the evidence I would proffer. On the face of my map I
said distinctly : "This map makes no claim to accuracy in the unsurveyed
region of the Negeb. Any comparison of maps based on the researches of
Robinson, Rowlands, Wilson, Palmer, Holland, Bartlett, and other recent
explorers, will show irreconcilable differences in the contour of that region
as portrayed by them. All that this map attempts is to indicate the out-
line and salient points of that region in the light of present knowledge,
and as explained by descriptions in the text of the volume which it accom-
panies." I will now add, that on my return from the East I saw Professor-
Palmer in London, and talked over my discovery with him. He told me
that he did not visit Ayn Qadees ; hence he could not be sure of its location.
We looked over his map together, and, in the light of all that I could tell
him of my journeyings, he and I were agreed that Ayn Qadees must be
farther east than he had supposed. Therefore it was that I entered it on
my tentative sketch-map accordingly. As I understand it, Mr. Holland
made no survey of the region, and the map which was prepared by General
Sir Charles Wilson, to accompany Mr. Holland's posthumous notes of his
journey, was also based on Palmer's (or Tyrwhitt Drake's) survey ; hence,
again, the location of Ayn Qadees was there given as erroneously indicated
by Professor Palmer. The difference in the location thus indicated affects in
no degree, however, the question of identification — an identification which the

.<i\< wnrr-h-j'ti.

NOTES ON SOME PHOENICIAN GEMSv 120

Bible record will admit of anywhere within the sweep of a dozen or fifteen
miles or so in that region, and only within that sweep. There was, there-
fore, no inducement for me to change the location for the sake of my
argument, even if I were as liable to such swaying a* Captain Conder
would suppose.

Of one thing I am very sure, that the precise location of Ain Qadees —
which is Kadesh-Barnea — can be known only through a careful survey of
its region ; and I earnestly hope that that survey will soon be made under
the eminently competent direction of Captain Claude Regnier Conder ;
for whatever differences of opinion there may be as to his thousand and
one identifications, with his often fanciful and his sometimes grotesque
suggestions of resemblance, there is no question that he has laid the entire
Bible-studying and truth-loving world under obligation to him, for his
tireless, his intelligent, and his most skilful services- as an explorer and
a surveyor in the lands of the Bible. And of that line of his work, I

sincerely hope that the end is not yet.

H.. Clay Trumbull.

Philadelphia, JJ.Sui.

NOTES ON SOME PHOENICIAN GEMS.

By Grevillb J. Chester, B.A.,
Member of the Boyal Archaeological Institute.

In the course of last winter, during visits of short duration to Smyrna
and Beyrut, I obtained several antique gems and engraved stones of
Phoenician and semi-Phcenician character, which seem to be of sufficient
interest and importance to merit description in the Quarterly Statement of
our Society. I should, however, mention at starting that, being altogether
unlearned in ancient Oriental languages, I am indebted for the ensuing
information concerning the different inscriptions to Professors A. H. Sayce
of Oxford, and Robertson Smith of Cambridge, to whom my best thanks
are due for the trouble they have taken, and the attention they have paid
to the matter.

No. 1. Bought at Bey r (It. (See plate.)— This gem is of pale blue
chalcedony, approaching to the stone sometimes called " sapphirine," and
is a fairly executed and beautiful specimen of semi-Phcenician work. The
influence of both Egyptian and Assyrian art are here well displayed. The
intaglio represents a winged sphinx treading upon a uranis. This sphinx,
according to Professor Sayce, has the bearded human head of the Assyrian
bull, surmounted by the plumes of the Egyptian god Bes. Each of the
two wings ends in a horned head, of which one resembles that of a griffin,
and the other that of some species of antelope. With regard to these
heads, Professor Sayce remarks that they "suggest the origin of the

130 NOTES ON SOME PHOENICIAN GEMS.

Greek legend of the Chimaera. 1 ' Curiously enough, I this winter obtained
in Lower Egypt a small bottle of brownish-green ware, being a grotesque
human figure, in front of which is a seated lion, with the head and plumes
of Bes. This variant was hitherto unknown to Professor R. V. Lanzone
of Turin, the learned author of the " Mitologia Egizia," now in course of
publication, and will be figured by him in the next forthcoming part of
that work. On a Phcenico-Egyptian scarabaeus of burnt sard in my
possession, found in Egypt, is depicted a hmck-headed, seated sphinx, with
the disk upon his head, and a uraeus under his feet, and on a fragment of
limestone sculptered on both sides, and of singularly fine work, now in the
British Museum, but found in the Fayoum, and brought by me from
Egypt in 1882, is a winged lion, passant, to the right, with the head and
plumes of the same deity. Could this fragment have been identified as
having been found in the Delta, it might have been supposed to have
belonged to the period of the Shepherd Kings, and the combination
ascribed to semi-Semitic influence, but I am not aware that the sway of the
Hvksos extended to the isolated province of the Fayoum. Anyhow, it is
interesting to compare the subject of the earthenware bottle, the gem, and
the sculptured fragment, with that of the present stone. This gem has
had a small hole drilled through it, close to the tail of the sphinx, by some
possessor, who wished by that means to fit it for suspension.

No. 2. From Nazareth. (See plate.) — This gem, cut in intaglio in dark
sard, is set in a modern gold ring of Oriental workmanship, and is of even
finer work than the stone last described, and a most beautiful example of
Egypto-Phcenician art. On it is a winged sphinx, seated, whose human
head wears the Egyptian head-dress. Below this is a scarabaeus, whose
expanded wings stretch completely across the stone. Below this again,
supported by ursei, is an ornamental cartouche, of which Professor Sayce
remarks, " the hieroglyphics consist of the Egyptian Neb, i Lord,' turned

upside down, followed by the Hittite \ \/\ ' country,' twice repeated,

and turned upside down." It may have been the signet of a Phoenician
I >rince.

No. 3. Found at Ann-it (Marathus). (See plate.) — This scarabasoid of
hard yellowish-brown limestone is pronounced by Professor Sayce to be a
very interesting example of Egypto-Phnenician work. It was formerly
in the possession of the late well-known M. Peretie of Beyrut, whose large
collection of Egypto-Phcenician amulets, scarabs, and scarabseoids fell into
my hands after the death of their proprietor. Most of these objects are
formed from steatite, but some, like the present specimen, are of harder
stone. Their large number, upwards of three hundred, testify to a school
of craftsmen for ornaments of this description having existed in early
times, at least as early as Thothmes III, of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty
{circa 1600 B.C.), at Unn it.

The centre of this stone is occupied by the figure of a king, between
two palm-branches, a characteristic and favourite emblem upon the
Phoenician coast. The monarch, whose name seems to have been Ah-nub,

NOTES ON SOME PHOENICIAN GEMS. 131

or, according to another possible reading, Ah-men, wears the Pschent, or
combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, copied from Egyptian
monuments, and is in the act of adoring the lunar disk "Ah." On either
side the king is a cartouche, "each of which," says Professor Sayce, "con-
tains the lunar disk Ah, and the character Men, each twice repeated and
turned upside down. The work of this stone is distinctly Phoenician,
and though the dress and attributes are Egyptian, the figure evidently
represents a king of Phoenicia.

No. 4. Found at Beyrftt. (See plate.)— This lentoid gem of white
crystal is the most remarkable stone in the collection, and has been found
very difficult to interpret. It has for its device three stars, of which the
upper one is winged. Below these, and divided from them by two lines, is an

early Phoenician inscription, written from right to left -jC W -^.(N^ 1 ^),

i.e., Yesha-a, from the root YSsha, to save. Professor Sayce considers the
characters to be of the seventh or eighth century, B.C., and certainly not
later ; in which case this gem is one of the earliest known, and he adds
that "the two lines which divide the name from the stars and winged
solar disk [for so he deciphers the winged star] explain the origin of the
similar names which divide in half the inscriptions on early Hebrew seals."
With regard to the translation of the inscription, I have permission to
insert in this place two communications with which I have been favoured
by Professor Robertson Smith.

" The seal reads -fc W ^, fr^ttA The root ^)\ is not Aramaic, and

so the ^ cannot be the Aramaic article. The explanation must be sought
within the Hebrew-Phoenician language.

u This being so, the analogies which naturally present themselves are
those of such Phoenician proper names as fc»073, ^nHS iS"Q^> ^ n
which the termination ^ apjaears to mark that the name has been shortened
at the end. Thus Kalba is the same name as Kalbelim (Corp. Inscr. Sem.
Fasc. i, No. 52), Hanno (with 6 for a as a later pronunciation) is the
shortened form of Hannibal or some such longer name, Pathha corresponds
to a heathen counterpart of Pethahia, and so on.

" The Hebrews themselves have similar contractions of proper names,

and had them at an early date, as appears from the form ^JV = Uzziah
or Azariah in 2 Samuel vi, 3. Thus if the seal were Hebrew, the name on
it would be the short form answering to ")rP^ , H?' , > Isaiah. The winged
star seems, however, rather to point to a heathen owner, and in this case
the last member lopped off will not be the name Jahveh, but some other
divine name, as in the Phoenician instances already quoted, and the name
means ' the victory or salvation of ' Baal, or whoever the god is.

" Quite similar is the Philistine name Sidka, King of Ascalon, on the
inscriptions of Sennacherib. ^\£^ without the fr$, appears as a proper
name on a gem figured by Levy, I'ltonizische Studien, ii, No. 8a of the
plate."

132 A RELIC OF THE TENTH LEGION, CALLED " FBETENSIS."

No. 5. Found at Konia, in Asia Minor. (See plate.) — This large
scaraba?oid gem, perforated lengthways for suspension, is formed of
beautifully iridescent rock crystal. Upon it is represented the four-winged
Assyro-Babylonian god Merodach, who, although the stone is slightly
damaged, Professor Sayce considers is strangling in either hand the bird-
demons. " This device," the Professor adds, " passed through Phoenicia to
early Greece. Below Merodach, from which it is divided by double
horizontal lines, is a bird, perhaps an eagle, on either side, divided by two
vertical lines, the Egyjrtian symbol Ankh, the sign of life.

No. 7. Found at Beyrut. — A pierced scarabreoid. On it is a winged
sphinx, with antelope's head, standing. Behind, a winged deity. This
specimen is in poor preservation, but is remarkable on account of its
material, which is malachite, a substance very rarely used by the
ancients. Phoenician work.

No. 8. Found near Beyrut. — Scarabreoid of opaque white chalcedony.
On it a bull, in front an amulet, perhaps intended to represent the solar
disk. Good Gra?co-Pho?nician work.

No. 9. From Beyrut. — Small scarabreoid of pale blue opaque chalce-
dony. On it a lotus flower ; on either side, and facing it, a vulture with
expanded wings. Beneath these a striated band. Below this a star,
upon either side of which is a winged urseus, and again below, a scarab
with expanded wings. Phoenician work.

No. 10. Coast of Syria. From the collection of M. Per6tie\ (See
plate.) — This is a bead of white opaque gypsum. It bears an inscription
of eight letters, the meaning of which has hitherto defied elucidation.
Professors Wright, Eobertson Smith, and Sayce are alike unable to in-
terpret it, but the latter thinks it may be of Gnostic origin.

NOTES BY SELAH MERRILL, D.D., LL.D.

A RELIC OF THE TENTH LEGION, CALLED " FBETENSIS."

I notice in the list of antiquities in the possession of the Palestine Fund,
that they have two imperfect specimens of tiles bearing the stamp of the
Tenth Legion, and it may be of sufficient interest to state that I possess a
perfect specimen, which I bought of some fellahin who had just dug it
from its hiding place. The following are the dimensions of the tile ;
Ih X 7| inches, and l£ inches thick. The oblong place for the letters is
sunk into the tile, leaving the letters in relief, the surface of the letters

THE INSCRIPTION AT ARAK EL EMIR.

being of the same level as the surface of the tile. The oblong place
itself is 4 inches long and If inches wide. The length of the letters is
lj inches.

II.
THE INSCRIPTION AT AEAK EL EMIR

Evert copyist, if he labours conscientiously, has reason to respect his own
work until he is convinced that he is in error. I visited the place in
question several times, and copied the inscription with care. My copy
is quite unlike that which Captain Conder ascribes to Levy (Quarterly
Statement, January, 1885, p. 12), and unlike that which Captain Conder
gives as his own (ibid.), inasmuch as mine has a decided bar extending
from the top towards the right as in the initial letter of the following
inscription from Bozrah : —

Or) A <r

UsV

134 THE STATIONS OF DAVID'S CENSUS OFFICEKS.

In the first and second lines a letter occurs three times which is
identical with the first letter in the Arak el Emir inscription. This
letter I would read Aleph, and would transliterate the above inscription —

This is one of a number of Nabathean inscriptions which I copied while
at work in the Hauran, but I have never had time to classify them or to
give them much study.

I have for years felt that there were a larger number of Nabathean
inscriptions to be gathered in the desert east of the Jordan than scholars
imagined, and that when these have been collected, materials will exist
for a better understanding and a fuller knowledge of that once powerful
and interesting people.

I make no attempt to translate the Arak el Emir inscription, but
when I visit the place again I will take pains to re-copy it, or to take an
impression of the letters.

III.
THE STATIONS OF DAVID'S CENSUS OFFICEES.

The account of the numbering of the Israelites by David contains some
interesting geographical notices, two of which, at least, have always been
puzzles to scholars. It will be a help to remember that only Israel and
Judah were to be numbered (see 2 Sam. xxiv, 1). The command was, " Go
now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba," and leads us
to suppose that aliens and subject peoples, whether within or without the
limits of the kingdom, were not to be reckoned in the census of the Jewish
people themselves. This is confirmed by verse 9, where the sum of the
men of Israel and Judah only is given.

King David's officers crossed the Jordan and pitched first in Aroer near
Jazer. They went thence to Gilead. Their third camping place was " the
land of Tahtini Hodshi," their fourth camping place was Dan Jaan, and
their fifth was Sidon. They went thence to the " stronghold of Tyre," and
thus southward to Beersheba, keeping within the limits of the territory as
defined in verse 2. The Hebrew of verse 6 is as follows : — " And they came

to Gilead, i^nn DTWin Y"W7N1> and the y came p* 1 POTl" The
Septuagint renders verse 6 — " And they came to Galaad, and into the land
of Thabason which is Adasi, and they came to Dan Idan and Udan, and com-
passed Sidon." The Targuin on Samuel has after Gilead, V^-jJ-j fc^ym

THE STATIONS OF DAVID'S CENSUS OFFICERS. 135

NT^Sl' ^' ia * i g > " an< ^ ^o ^ ie district south of Hodshi." Eusebius lias,
"A/xeiSSa -q 'ASacrat, and Jerome, " iEthon Adasai pro quo Symruachus posuit
iuferioreni viam."

Numerous suggestions have been made in explanation of the words
Tahtim Hodshi. The Septuagint regarded them as two names belonging to
one place. Zunz, whose high rank among Jewish scholars all admit, regards
them as two distinct places. Boettcher resolves the word Tahtim, Q^nnrV
into Ql nnn> below the sea. Fuerst is inclined, I judge, to favour this
change, which is true of some other scholars. In that case Q1 would refer
to the Sea of Galilee (compare Numb, xxxiv, 2 ; Josh, xii, 3; viii, 27), ami
Hodshi would have some connection with Chinnereth. Besides these hints
there should be mentioned an important Hebrew tradition, found in the
Midrash on Samuel, chapters xxx and xxxii, which connects Tahtim
Hodshi with Beth Yereh.

There were two places, Tarichea and Sennabris, which Josephus locate
at the southern end of the Lake of Tiberias, and both are extremely distant
from the City of Tiberias, namely, thirty furlongs (" Life," xxxii ; " Wars,"
III, ix, 7). Josephus states that the great plain of the Jordan commenced
at Ginnabrin [Sennabris] (" Wars," IV, viii, 2) ; while the Talmud states
that the Jordan did not receive that name until after it left Beth Yereh
(ITV i"VD,> Talniud Bab. Bechorot, 55«). It would seem that the point
where the plain of the Jordan commenced (according to Josephus), and
the point where the river Jordan began to receive that specific name
(according to the Talmud) were practically identical. But, further, the
Jerusalem Talmud mentions Beth Yereh and Sennabris together as the
names of two towers, fnvtO^N "^l^ or fortified places on the Lake of
Gennesareth (Megillah, i, 1, Gemara). This passage might be rendered,
"The . . . was divided into two parts like Beth Yereh and Sennabri."
The Aruch explains the words jlVT^H^-t^ (m vt£QN f° r m^t23N)
as meaning " two castles in a place where there is a bridge for water, but
there is no water between them." There can be little doubt, I think, that
the Beth Yereh of the Talmud is the Tarichea of Josephus, of which the
modern representative is Kerak. This place has long since been identified
as Tarichea, and a knowledge of the nature of the ground comjDared with
Josephus's detailed description of it makes such a conclusion almost if not
absolutely certain.

It is difficult to decide whether Tarichea, Beth Yereh, or Yereh was
the original form of the name, or whether the place bore two names, as
was not unfrequently the case. The Hebrew name might have been
written rnWrVH or rTVD"^ an( l this would easily come to be written
PH" 1 "]""^- The name Tarichea is also a good Greek word meaning
salting-station, from rapixeva, which has reference to preserving bodies by
artificial means, whether salting fish or embalming mummies. The name
is thus supposed to be derived from the business of preserving fish which
was carried on at this place (compare Strabo, xvi, 2, 45).

The long bluff at the extreme south-west corner of the Lake of
Tiberias, which is called at present Kerak, was originally connected with

136 THE STATIONS OF DAVID'S CENSUS OFFICERS.

the mainland by a dry bridge or causeway. On the mainland at or near
the end of this bridge we suppose that the place called Sennabris should
be located. These suggestions, if valid, would illustrate and confirm both
Josephus and the Jewish writings. The statement of the Aruch, for
instance, made probable without any knowledge on the part of the writer
of the ground at the south end of the Lake, could not have been more
accurate than it is, and Josephus also would be correct in stating the
distance of Tarichea and Sennabris from Tiberias to be the same and in
the same direction.

I have several times had occasion to speak of the Jordan Valley on
the east of the river, from the Lake of Tiberias as far south as the Zerka
or Jabbok, as being exceedingly fertile because of the numerous mountain
streams which water it. The first stream below the Lake is the Yarmuk,
or Hieromax, called at present the Menadireh, It is an interesting fact
that the region along this river, after it leaves the hills, is called Ard el

'Adasiyeh, tj^ss. ■ T!ie Menadireh is, in that portion of it, called Wddy
'Adasiyeh. At the point where the road approaches the river in order
to enter the mountains there is a ruin of considerable size, which bears
the common name of Ed Deir, and the portion of the valley of plain
immediately north of it is called the Plain of Dueir. Still farther to the
north, and but a short distance from the mountains, are the " hills of the
foxes." On the shore of the Lake are the ruins of Semakh, and to the
north-east is the place known as Khurbet es Sumrah. Down the valley to
the south, a short distance from Ed Deir, and near the Menadireh, is a
fountain and a ruin called Yagana (Yagana, Yag'na, or Yak'na, lilSuj or
A lib ). Since the letter Heth readily interchanges with Ayin, may it not
be possible that 'Adasiyeh represents the ancient Hodshi ?

In my judgment there was a very natural reason why the census-
takers should visit the broad and fertile valley which stretches to the
south from the lower end of the Sea of Galilee. They had completed
their work in Gilead, and were on their way northward towards Sidon
and its vicinity. As only Israel and Judah were to be numbered the
region of Damascus would not be visited, but that just below the Sea of
Galilee would be on their direct route as they went north. This was the
meeting place of two great thoroughfares between the country on the east
and that on the west of the Jordan, even as it is to-day. The road from
Beisan to Damascus, which crosses the Jordan by the Jisr Mejamia, and
the road from Tiberias to the Hauran and Gilead (formerly a fine bridge
supported on ten arches, led over the Jordan just below the Lake),
intersect on this plain now called Ard el Adasiyeh. If any point on their
route, as the officers were going from Gilead northward, was suitable for
a place of public assembly, none more suitable than this could have been
chosen. Their object was not to get into a large city, but to pitch their
camp in the place that was most central and most easily accessible for the
largest number of the inhabitants.

THE STATIONS OF DAVID'S CENSUS OFFICERS. 137

One of the truest remarks ever made in the long discussion as to the
site of the Holy Sepulchre was that of Lieutenant Cornier, namely, that
" Fortifications " (referring to the line of the walls) " follow the hills and
not the valleys." Again, with regard to the site of Capernaum I have often
urged, in opposition to those who advocate the claims of Tell Hum, the
unreasonableness of supposing that a custom house would be located at a
distance of 2£ miles from the main route of travel, which it was designed
to accommodate. In like manner in endeavouring to trace the route of
David's census-takers is it unfair to claim that the most natural sup-
positions should receive the first consideration? It is on this principle
that attention is now called to the district or Plain of 'Adasiyeh below
the Sea of Galilee. Similarly the region about Aroer near Jazer (I locate
Jazer at Khurbet Sar) has been the battle ground and the meeting place
of the tribes living in that section of the country for generations, and why
may it not always have been so 1

If the census-takers chose for their work the most central and con-
venient points, we should expect one near Lake Merom. Dan, if it were
chosen, would accommodate all the people residing north of the Sea of
Galilee, and south of Mount Hermon. The great road from Damascus to
the sea coast divided at Dan into two branches, one following the present
route by Shuklf to Sidon, and the other, that farther south, past Hunin
to Tyre.

If Dan stood alone in the text there would never have been a doubt
that one of the census stations was near this ancient and well-known site.
But having the word Jaan with Dan has seemed to make the matter of
identification a difficult one. We must remember that we are dealing
with a Hebrew record of a very early date, when Phoenician influence was
especially strong in the north of Palestine. Banias, the modern name
found in this region, is commonly thought to be a corruption of Panias
or Paneas, which commemorated the worship of the god Pan in this
once famous grotto. But Banias is probably a corruption of a much
older name, Balinas, composed of two Phoenician words, Bal and Jaan, or
Yaan.

I notice in the " Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology,"
Vol. VII, Part 3, page 394, an attempt to identify Thatim Hodshi with
Kadesh on the Orontes, which seems to me to be wholly without founda-
tion. Why should the census-takers go more than 100 miles north of
Palestine when they were directed to confine themselves to numbering
the tribes of Israel within their several tribal territories ?

138 GOLGOTHA.

A NOTE ON GOLGOTHA.

I have noticed latterly a good deal of discussion as to the site of
Calvary, and that modern writers incline to place it north-west of Jerusalem.
I have never been in Palestine, so can be no judge from the country of
the fitness of their ideas. But I should like to make some suggestions
arising from study of the Gospel narratives.

We read that Joseph of Arimathsea went in boldly to Pilate and begged
the body of Jesus. Evidently then it was not customary for the bodies
of crucified criminals to be given up to their friends ; or Mary and His
apostles would have taken His body as a matter of course. Joseph was
an influential and rich man — he got it ; but even he had to go to head-
quarters, and make special request for it. How about the bodies of the
two thieves ? What would be done with them ?

Two others were crucified with Him — on either side one, and Jesus in
the midst. Plainly then it was an ordinary execution, and would take
place at the ordinary spot. In the valley of the son of Hinnom was Tophet,
where fires were kept always burning to consume the filth and refuse of
the city ; dead animals and the " bodies of criminals " were thrown therein.
This valley debouches into the Cedron valley, wherein Jews so desire to be
buried.

We read that many of the women who had followed Jesus and had
ministered to Him, stood afar off beholding. They must have had some
eminence on which to stand or they would not "from afar off" have been
able to behold ; the crowd would have hidden Him. This coign of van-
tage the Mount of Offence, or the Hill of Evil Council, would supply. As
Antonia (and the Hall of Judgment) was at the north-west corner of the
Temple hill, they would only have to bring Him down by the Temple
precincts — always guarded — and a very short distance would bring them
"without" the gates ; for we are very sure the accursed valley of the
son of Hinnom would never be enclosed within the Holy City by any wall.
Neither does it seem at all likely that the spot for the infliction of the
accursed death of crucifixion should be chosen near the place where were
the tombs of kings and prophets. Does it not then seem that the most
likely spot to fulfil all the Scripture requirements for the crucifixion is
near the junction of the valley of Hinnom with that of the Cedron ? There
would be Tophet on the one hand, and the place of honourable burial close
by on the other.

It is plain that Jesus was laid in an open space ; for as the women
came hurrying up, one is bidden by one angel to look in and see the place
where the Lord lay ; does so, and sees a second angel seated on the right
side ; whilst another woman standing on the outside stoops down to look
in, and sees two angels within, sitting one at the head the other at the foot
of the place where the body of Jesus had lain. There was space enough
for Peter and John to walk in, and see where the grave-clothes lay, and
the napkin which had bound the head lying apart.

THE SAMARITAN TEMPLE. 139

Then as for the " mound bearing some resemblance to a skull." When
we consider the earthquakes, the battles, the sieges, which so changed and
destroyed the ancient features of the land, we need not lay much stress
upon this : such resemblances are common in rocky countries. Within
half a mile of the spot where J write is a sharp cliff which from three
different points bears a faithful likeness of three men known to me, and
extremely unlike each other. Any very wet early winter, followed quickly
by severe frost, might bring down a portion of this cliff' and utterly destroy
all these faces.

The last argument for the north-west site, viz., the shorter length of
streets to be passed through, is entirely set aside by supposing our Lord to
be led along the Temple precincts to the south side, and so to the valley of
the son of Hinnom.

GlRDLER WORRALL.

THE SAMARITAN TEMPLE.

Captain Conder seems to think that no dependence is to be placed upon
the precise statement of Josephus that there was a Temple on Mount
Gerizim, unless a corroboration of his assertion can be furnished from
another source.

I do not gather that he is prepared with any evidence actually con-
tradicting Josephus, and until such is forthcoming may we not justifiably
believe him, especially as he refers to the said Tenqffe, not merely in the
long passage to which reference is given by C R. C. (" Ant.," XI, viii, 2-7),
but also in " Ant.," XII, v, § 5, where he quotes a letter from the Samaritans
to Antiochus asking permission for their Temple, which before had no
name, to be called " the Temple of Jupiter Hellenius," and again in
" Ant.," XIII, iii, § 4, in which he gives an account of the disputation befi »re
Ptolemy respecting the two Temples, viz., at Gerizim and at Jerusalem (

If there was no Temple at Gerizim, he must have fabricated a good ileal
more of his history than the assertion about its being built by Sanballat,
of whom he records that "he was then in years" ("Ant.," XI, viii, § 2).

H. B. S. W.

March -23rd. 1885.

140 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE—

continued.

CHAPTER V.

1. The mountain of the house, which was Mount Moriah, was five hundred
cubits by five hundred cubits, and it was surrounded by a wall. 1 And
arches were built upon arches beneath it, because of the tent of defilement. 2
And it was all roofed over, cloister within cloister. 3

2. And there were five gates to it ; one on the west, and one on the
east, and one on the north, and two on the south. 4 The breadth of each gate
was ten cubits and its height twenty. And there were doors to them. 5

3. Inside of it, a reticulated wall [called soreg'] went all round. Its
height was ten handbreadths, 6 and inside of the soreg the rampart 7 ten

1 Middoth ii, 1, and i, 1.

- Parah iii, 3. " The mountain of the house and the courts were hollow
underneath because of Dinnn "Qp, the grave of the abyss," i.e., lest there
should be a hidden grave beneath.

a Pesachim i, 5. " Rabbi Judah said two cakes of a thank-offering which
had become defiled were put upon the roof of the porch, NSLDVXH 2) ?J?," and
Rashi remarks that this porch was a VOD = aroa, cloister, which was "in the
mountain of the house where the people assembled and sat." The Gemara
upon the same passage (Pesach. 13 b) says " Rabbi Judah said that the moun-
tain of the house was a double cloister .... ■which was called JTOTIODX,
a porch, a cloister within a cloister," and here Rashi adds that it was furnished
with a roof to protect the people from the rain, and that the porch, X3DVX,
went all round, ASpO T2D T2D, and had another inside it. In Pesach. 52 b,
and Berachoth 33 b, this remark of Rabbi Judah is again noted, and in the
former place Rashi explains that " double porches, mSn'O^X, were all round the
mountain of the house one within the other." In Succah iv, 4, it is stated
hat the elders arranged the palm-branches of the people at the Feast of
Tabernacles " upon the top of the porch," and here again the gloss of Rashi
adds that (he breadth, mm, of the mountain of the house was surrounded by
covered cloisters." These cloisters and their roof are again mentioned in Succah
44 I and 45 a. According to the Talmud, therefore, a roofed double cloister
extended all round the mountain of the house, but for the statement of
Maimonides that the whole enclosure was roofed over (if that be the meaning of
riTlpE iTTI l^D) I find no authority in the Talmud.
* Middoth i, 1, 3. 5 Middoth ii, 3.

6 This reticulated wall (311D, sorey) is mentioned in Middoth ii, 3. The
gloss of R. Shcniaiah says "it was made of carved pieces of wood, D^J? fllvpO,
intertwined one upon the other obliquely as t hey weave bedsteads." Rashi in
Voma 16 a says the soreg was "a partition made with many holes in it like a
bedstead woven with cords, and was constructed of long and short pieces of
wood called a lattice placed one upon another obliquely" (<:/'. Bartenora). I do
not know thai it is anywhere stated in the text of I lie Talmud whether the soreg
was of stone or of wood.

7 L^p, chel. The word 0!"Q*2, its height) is placed between brackets, and is
perhaps an interpolation of the transcribers. Thai the chel was a space and not

BETH IIABBECHEUEII, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 141

cubits (in height). It is this which is spoken of in the Lamentations
(ii, b), "He made the rampart ami the wall to lament ;" that is the wall
of the court.

4. Within the chel was the court, and the whole court was one hundred
and eighty-seven cubits long by one hundred and thirty-five broad. 8 And
it had seven gates, three on the north, near to the west, and three on the
south near to the west, and one on the east, 9 set opposite the Holy of
Holies in the middle. 10

5. Each of these gates was ten cubits broad, and twenty cubits high,
and they had doors covered with gold, except the eastern gate, which was

a wall is proved by several passages in the Talmud. In Sanhedrim 88 b, it is
said "on sabbaths and feast days they (the members of the court) sat in the
chel." Rashi adds " because the people were many and the place in the chamber
too narrow for them." Pesachim 64 b, notes that " the first company (bringing
their lambs at the Passover) remained in the mountain of the house, and the
second in the chel," and here Rashi has the important note that it was " within
the soreg, between the soreg and the wall of the court of the women, where the
mountain began to rise." Baal Aruch says the chel was a place surrounding the
wall between the mountain of the house and the court of the women, and that
there was a great divinity school, ^-ft L""l"IO' m &•

In Kelim 5 b, we read " the chel was more sacred than the mountain of the
house, because idolaters and those defiled by the dead might not enter there."
Not impi-obably there was a rampart, perhaps with an escarp at the inner side of
the open space, and joined to the wall of the courts, and to this the door of the
house Moked opened (Midd. i, 7). The remark of Baal Aruch "that the chel
was a wall higher than the soreg" would in this case be intelligible, and it may
have been such a wall which some have supposed to have been ten cubits in
height.

R. Lipsitz thinks that four cubits of the chel were level, and the remaining
six on the rising ground, and that those six cubits were occupied by the steps up
to the court, which steps he holds to have extended all round the house for the
people to sit upon, and he founds this opinion upon the passages in Pesachim
(13 b, 52 b) above quoted, and the gloss of Rashi. This learned Rabbi also
holds that these steps and all the mountain of the house outside of the inner
wall (the wall of the courts) were roofed over, and that probably seats were
placed on the level ground outside the soreg (Mishnaoth, vol. v, 311 b, Warsaw
1864). Rashi, in Yoma 16 a, remarks that the twelve steps leading from the
chel to the court of the women were mOX' 1 fniX! "in those ten cubits" which
formed the breadth of the chel, because the mountain rose from the Soreg to the
court of the women six cubits, and he farther adds, in reference to these steps,
that "in breadth each step was half a cubit, and in length extended, -y»ft> along
the whole breadth of the mountain from north to south." Of the chel he says
that it was " a vacant place of ten cubits."

8 Middoth v, 1, 2, 6.

9 Middoth i, 4 : cf. ib. ii, 6, and Shekalim vi, 3.

10 Berachoth ix, 5. " A man may not raise his head lightly (i.e., indulge
in levity) opposite the eastern gale, because that is set opposite the Holy of
Ilolies."

i. 2

142 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

covered with brass resembling gold, and that gate was what was called the
upper gate, and it was the gate Nicanor."

6. The court was not set in the middle of the mountain of the house,
but its distance from the south of the mountain of the house was greater
than that from all the other sides, and its nearness to the west greater than
that to all the other sides. And the space between it and the north was
greater than that between it and the west, and that between it and the east
greater than that which was between it and the north. 12

7. And before the court on the east was the court of the women, which
was one hundred and thirty-five cubits long by one hundred and thirty-
five cubits broad. And at its four corners were four chambers of forty
cubits by forty, and they were not roofed, and thus they will be in the
future.

8. And what was their use ? The south-eastern chamber was the
chamber of the Nazarites, because there they cooked their peace-offerings
and shaved off their hair (Num. vi, 18) ; the north-eastern was the
chamber for storing wood, and there the priest who had blemishes
removed the worms upon the wood, because every piece of wood in
which there was a worm was unlawful for the altar. 1 * The north-western
was the chamber of the lepers. In the south-western they put oil and
wine, and it was called the chamber of the house of oil. 15

i). The court of the women was surrounded by a balcony, 16 in order

11 Middoth ii, 3. In Succah v, 4, it is said "the two priests stood at the
upper gate which led down from the court of Israel into the court of the
women." That this was the gate Nicanor appears from Middoth i, 4, " the gate
on the east of the court was the gate Nicanor" (cf. Yoma 19 a). Kashi in his
note on Sotah i, 5, says " the gate of Nicanor was the upper gate, which was in
the wall that was between the court of Israel and the court of the women." To
this gate suspected women were brought to drink the bitter waters of jealousy
(Num. v.), and lepers and women after childbirth were cleansed at it (Sotah i,
5 ; Negaim xiv, 8) . E. Shemaiah also, on Kclim 5 b, says. " the gate Nicanor was
the gate of the court of Israel." In Kle Hammikdash vii, 6, Maimonides
remarks, " the upper gate was the gate Nicanor. And why was it called the
upper gate ? Because it was above the court of the women."

'-' Middoth ii, 1. The Tosefoth Yom Tob gives the following measurements
of the several spaces : —

Cubits.

Northern space

. . 115

Eastern space

.. 213

Southern ,,

.. 250

Western ,.

. . 100

Court..

.. 135

Court

.. 287

500 600

13 Middoth ii, 5.

14 For the chamber of wood, see also Shekalim vi, 2.
'"' Middoth ii, 5.

lfi fiHDTITJ, tabulatum; in Middoth ii, 5, it is called iT1V*V3, tabula, cuter cut
aliquid imponitur (Buxtorf). This balcony is said by R. Shemaiah and by
Bar tenors to have been for the accommodation of the women during the rejoicings

BETH HABBECHEttEH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 143

that the women might see from above and the men from below, and
so not be mixed. And there was a large house on the northern side
of the court outside, between the court and the rampart {chel) ; it
was arched and surrounded by stone benches, and it was called Beth
Hammoked, the House Moked. There were two gates to it, one opening
to the court and one opening to the chel. 11

10. And there were four chambers in it, two holy and two profane,
and pointed pieces of wood 18 distinguished between the holy and the
profane. And for what did they serve? The south-western was the
chamber of the lambs, 19 the south-eastern the chamber for making the
shewbread, in the north-eastern the family of the Asmoneans laid up the
stones of the altar which the Greek kings defiled, and in the north-western
they went down to the bathing-room.

11. A person descending to the bath-room 20 from this chamber went
by the gallery which ran under the whole Sanctuary, 21 and the lamps

at the Feast of Tabernacles, and they take this opinion from the Gamara (Succah
51 b), which explains that the erection of this balcony was part of the " great
preparations" which were made on that occasion. "At first the women were
within and the men without, and when they began to indulge in levity it was
arranged that the women should be outside, and the men inside, and seeing that
the occasion of levity still arose they arrange:! for the women to be above and the
men below" (Gamara, loc. cit.). Kashi upon this passage remarks that in the
court of the women there were originally no beams, pTll, projecting from the walls,
and that afterwards they placed beams jutting from the walls all round, and every
year arranged these balconies of planks, upon which the women might stand and
witness the rejoicings of the Beth Hashshavavah." Both Middoth and Maimo-
nides speak of these balconies as if they were permanent.
l ' Middoth i, 5, 7, 8.

18 D^'i? ni3*J"in> pieces of wood (Bashi in Yoma 15 b). "Ends of beams
projecting from the wall" Bartenora (cf. Middoth i, 6 ; ii, 6 ; iv, 5). They do
not appear to have formed a partition, but only to have been a sign indicating
the limits of the holy and profane parts of the house.

19 Middoth i, 6, where it is called the chamber of the lambs for the offering.
In Tamid iii, 3, the chamber of the lambs is said to have been at the south-
western corner, which evidently refers to its position in relation to the altar and
court of the priests, and shows the position of the house Moked itself without
contradicting the statement of Middoth and our author. There can hardly be a
doubt that it was, as here stated, at the south-western corner of Moked, though
the gloss on Tamid says it was on the north-west of that house (cf. Yoma 15 b,
and Tosefoth Yom Tov on Tamid iii, 3).

20 n^TiOn JV3, domus lavaeri, house of bathing or clipping. The bathing
here practised differed from baptism in the usual modern signification of the term,
inasmuch as it was not an initiatory rite, and might be repeated.

21 In Tamid i, 1, it is " under the Birah! " " What is Birah ? Eabbah, son
of Bar Chanah, said that K. Johanan said there was a place in the mountain
of the house, the name of which was Birah, and Raioh Lakish said all the house
was called Birah," as is said (1 Chron. xxix, 19) "and to build the palace, birah,
for which I have made provision" (Zevach. 1C1 b). Maimonides here uses the

144 BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

burned on either side until he came to the bathing-room. And there
was a large fire 22 there and an excellent 23 watercloset, and this was its
excellence, that if he found it shut he knew there was some one
inside.

12. The length of the court from east to west teas a hundred and
eighty-seven cubits, and these were the measurements, viz., from the
western wall of the court to the wall of the temple (2Tf) eleven cubits,
the length of the whole temple a hundred cubits, between the porch and
the altar two and twenty, the altar two and thirty, the place of the tread
of the feet of the priests, which was called the court of the priests, eleven
cubits, the place of the tread of the feet of Israel, which was called the
court of Israel, eleven cubits. 24

13. The breadth of the court from north to south was a hundred and
thirty-five cubits, and these were the measurements, 25 viz., from the north
wall to the shambles eight cubits, the shambles twelve cubits and a half :
and there on the side they hung up and skinned the holy sacrifices.

14. The place of the tables was eight cubits, and in it were marble
tables, upon which they laid the pieces of the offerings and washed the
flesh to prepare it for being boiled. These were eight tables. And by
the side of the place of the tables was the place of the rings, twenty-four
cubits, and there they slaughtered the holy sacrifices.

15. Between the place of the rings and the altar was eight cubits, and
the altar two and thirty, and the sloping ascent to the altar (\T*^D)
Kebesh) thirty, and between the sloping ascent and the south wall
twelve cubits and a half. From the north wall of the court to the wall
of the altar, which was the breadth, was sixty cubits and a half, and
corresponding to it from the wall of the porch to the east wall of the court,
which was the length seventy-six. 26

term tJHpD, mikdash, as synonymous with birah. Bartenora, in Pesaehim vii, 8,
and again in Tamid, remarks that " the whole of the Sanctuary was called Birah."
The gallery here spoken of, !"ODD, ambitus, circuitus, was subterranean, Vp~^P^
nnn (Beth Habbec. viii, 7). It opened into the profane part of the enclosuie,
and was consequently not holy.

22 A wood fire, mHD. Of. Isaiah xxx, 33 ; Ezekiel xxiv, 9, 10.

23 Lit. honourable, -j<Q2 £b>. The whole of this section is from Tamid i, 1.
-' Middoth r, 1.

* 5 Middoth v, 1.

26 In Middoth v, 2, where the measurements of the court from north to south
are given, a remainder of twenty-five cubits is said to have been " between the
sloping ascent and the wall and the place of the pillars," and Maimonides has
allotted one-half of this measurement to the former space, and one-half to the
latter, the result of which is to place the central line of the altar nine cubits
south of the central line of the door of the Temple and of the court. His
authority for this is the Gamara of Yoma 16 b, for although R. Judali
maintained (loc. cit. and Zevach. 58 b) that the altar " was placed in the middle
of the court, and measured thirty-two cubits, ten cubits opposite the door of the
Temple ^n, eleven cubits to the north and eleven cubits to the south," the

BETH HAP.EEOIIEltEIl. OK Till- CHOSEN HOUSE.

145

16. All this quadrangle was called "north," and it was the place in
which they slaughtered the most holy sacrifices. 27

17. There were eight 28 chambers in the court of Israel, three on the

other rabbis disputed that opinion, bringing forward the passage in Middoth v, 2,
to prove that "the greatest part of the altar lays to the south."

The following are the measurements given by the three chief authorities: —

From north wall to place of the pillars

Place of pillars

From pillars to tables

Place of tables

From tables to rings

Place of rings

From rings to altar. .

Altar

Sloping ascent

Between sloping ascent and south wall

Middoth

and
fiamara
ot Voma.

8
12* <P)

24
4
38
32
10J(?)

135

Maimo-

nides.

12J

24
8
32
30
12*

135

10*

4
24

8
32
30
10|

135

According to Maimonides, therefore, twenty-five cubits, and according to Eashi,
twenty-seven cubits of the altar were south of the central line of the court.
Eashi, in his elaborate note on this subject in Yoma 16 b, explains that the
northern side of the altar extended just as far as the northern doorpost of the
central gates, and that the receding of the foundation and circuit of the altar
(Midd. iii, 1) left two cubits on the northern side of the top of the lower gate
(that east of the court of the women) not obstructed, and that it was through
this small space the priest standing on the Mount of Olives could see into the
door of the Temple (Midd. ii, 3). It will be remembered that the summit of the
altar was exactly twenty cubits above the floor of the court of the women, and
that consequently the aperture of the lower gate was obstructed by it to the top,
except on its northern side, if Easbi's supposition as to its position is correct, and
on the south of the northern horn where one cubit would be left above the altar,
through which a person could see into the Temple if his eye were placed in a line
with the lintel or not more than one cubit below it. As to the priest on the
summit of the Mount of Olives looking through the gateway, this will appear
hardly possible when it is remembered how much higher the Mount of Olives is
than the Temple Hill. He must have looked over the eastern wall and over the
lower gate.

-" Zevachim 20 a.

28 Middoth v, 3 and i, 4, and Yoma 19 a. In Yoma the chambers on the north
and south are placed as Maimonides here places them, but in Middoth the
chambers of salt, of Parvah, and of the washings are placed on the north, and
the other three on the south.

146 BETH HABBECHEREH, OK THE CHOSEN HOUSE.

north and three on the south. Those on the south were the chamber
of salt, the chamber of Parvah, 29 and the chamber of washing. In the
chamber of salt they put salt to the offering, in the chamber Parvah they
salted the skins of the holy sacrifices, and on its roof was the bathing-room
for the High Priest, on the Day of Atonement. 30 In the chamber of
washings they washed the inwards of the holy sacrifices, and from it a
winding staircase (j-Q^Dft) ascended to the roof of the house of Parvah.
And the three on the north were the chamber of hewn stone, 31 the chamber
of the draw-well, and the chamber of wood. In the chamber of hewn
stone the great Sanhedrim sat, and half of it was holy and half was profane ;
and it had two dooi's, one to the holy and one to the profane part, and the
Sanedrim sat in the profane half. In the chamber of the draw-well 82

29 R. Shemaiah on Middoth (37 L) says that the name Parvah was derived
from D'HS, parim, young bulls, because it was the skins of the oxen offered as
sacrifices which were salted in it. Baal Aruch quotes from Yoma 35 a, " What
is Parvah? R. Josef said Parvah was X^'IJDX, amqusah, a magician," and
explains " Parvah was the name of a certain magus, and some of the wise men
say that he dug a hollow place underground in the Sanctuary so that he might
see the service of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement ; that the wise men
became aware of the pit which he had dug in that place, and found him, and
that the chamber was called after his name." Maimonides in his comment on
Middoth says " Parvah was the name of a magician who dug in the wall of the
court in this chamber until he could see the service ; and he was killed." Since
the service of the Day of Atonement was chiefly performed on the northern side
of the court, this story is a confirmation of the statement of Middoth that the
chamber of Parvah was on the northern side. Bartenora, quoting Rashi (on
Yoma iii, 6), remarks "a certain magician, ^'3D, named Parvah, built this
chamber, and it was called after his name ; " and in his work on Middoth v, 3,
the same writer intimates that the chamber was built by magic. Parvah was in
the sacred part of the Temple enclosure (Yoma iii, 3, 6).

31 Yoma iii, 3, G.

31 j-|i|jp| ry3fc}^>. The chamber Gazith. The Gamara of Yoma (25 a) says
" it was like a large basilica; the lots were on the east, the elders sat on the?
west," so that its long diameter appears to have been east and west. That one
half of it was holy and one half profane is stated on the same page. The reason
why the Sanliedrim sat in the profane half is that only kings of the House of
David might sit in the court (lot: cit.). The Tosefoth Yom Tov (Midd. v, 4)
says the chamber of the draw-well was south, and the chamber of wood to the
north of the chamber Gazith.

A1 r6ljn rDL"^- Light foot calls it the room of the draw-well, because there
was in it a wheel with which to draw water. Middoth (in some copies) speaks
of the n'piJn 112' *he well of the captivity, being placed in it, and this well is
suid to have been dug by those who came up from tin' captivity, and to have
given its name to the chamber (Bartenora and Tosefoth Yom Tov). This well
is mentioned in Erubinx, 14. "They were permitted to draw water from the well
of the captivity and from the ^mit well on the Sabbath." R. Shemaiah, in
Middoth, says it had Bweel water for drinking and a pipe or reservoir, riSX, of
water for washing {of. Jer. Yoma 11 a, 1). The word n^lJ) or more accurately

BETH HABBECHEREH, OR THE CHOSEN HOUSE. 147

was a well from which they drew by means of a bucket/ 8 and thence
supplied water to the whole court. The chamber of wood 34 was behind
these two. It was the chamber of the High Priest, and is what was
called the chamber Parhedrin. 35 And the roof of the three was even.
And there were two other chambers in the court of Israel, one on the
right of the eastern gate, which was the chamber of Phinehas the
vestment keeper, and one on the left, which was the chamber of the
pancake maker.

il/J, means also a fountain or source of water (of. Jud. i, 15), and inasmuch as
it is taught in both Talmuds ( Jerus. Yoma 41 a ; Bab Yoma 31 a ; Becbor 44 b :
Sbabb. 145 ft, and the notes of Rashi, also Maim. Baitb Hammikdash v. 15),
that the water of the fountain Etham, Dt3' , y, was brought to the Temple, it is not
certain that n^Uil D3"'^ should not be translated "the chamber of the fountain.' -
Solomon's molten sea is said to have been supplied from Etham, and the laver to
have been filled from it. In Yoma 31 a it is said " the fountain of Etham was
twenty-three cubits above the level of the court."

33 H?J is also a jug or similar vessel, lecythus, or "a large round basin, ^jy
7113 ^QD " (Tosefoth Yom Tov to Midd. v, 4). Some kind of bucket is here
signified by Maimonides, but whether it was of wood, metal, or clay it is im-
possible to determine. The suggestion of a modern commentator (Mishnaoth
Schmid, Vienna, 1835) may here be noted "probably the n713n "112 was ;1
common well with two buckets worked by a wheel, one descending into the
water as the other was drawn up."

34 The chamber of wood is said to have been for storing the wood fit for the
altar (Tosefoth Yom Tov to Midd. v, 4 ; cf. Midd. ii, 5).

:« « Seven days before the Day of Atonement they separated the High Priest
from his house into the chamber Parhedrin" (Yoma i, 1). "And why the
chamber Parhedrin ? Was it not the chamber of the councillors ? At first it
was called the chamber of the councillors *>t211^2 rO^ , / =7ra(7 " ro< £ e P e ' '' TC0 ''
BoXevroov, but because they began to purchase the priesthood with money and to
change it every twelve months, as these assessors were changed every twelve
months, therefore they called it p~nmD rDL'6' the chamber of the assessors''
(lb. 8 b, and the note of Rashi). " Rab Papa said there were two chambers for
the High Priest ; one, the chamber Parhedrin, and one the chamber of the
house of Abtinas ; one being on the north, and one on the south, of the court

. . I do not know whether the chamber Parhedrin was on the north and
the chamber of the house of Abtinas on the south ; or the chamber of the house
of Abtinas on the north, and the chamber Parhedrin on the south, but we are of
opinion that the chamber Parhedrin was on the south " (Yoma 19 a).

(To he continued).

COL. SIK CHARLES W. WILSON, K.C.M.G., C.B., LL.D., F.B.S., B.E.

Quarterly Statement, July, 1885.]

THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND

NOTES AND NEWS.

We have received, too late for the Quarterly Statement, a most important
packet from Herr Schumacher, a note concerning which appeared in the
January and April numbers. It contains a map covering about 200 square
miles of a part of the Jaulan, that little known and extremely interesting
country lying east of the Lake of Galilee, formerly G-aulanitis after the hitherto
undiscovered city of Golan (Josh, xxx, 8, and xxi, 27), one of the three cities
of refuge in the East. It has been traversed by Burckhardt, Porter, and
Welzstein, Mr. Cyril Graham, Mr. Laurence Oliphant, and Dr. Selah Merrill.
Herr Schumacher, however, is the first who has surveyed any part of the
country, and planned and sketched its ruins. The results of the work are
very briefly summed up in the report of the Executive Committee below. He
has discovered, almost beyond possibility of doubt, the Biblical Golan. He
suggests a new identification for Argob. He has found a vast field containing
something like 500 dolmens ; he has partially planned the most curious sub^
terranean city of Dera, and he has planned and described all the monuments
and buildings in the places which he visited, including the very interesting place
round which are gathered the traditions of Job. He has also given a most
valuable general description of the country, and has gathered a good collection
of Arabic names. It is sufficient commendation of the work to state that its
places may be placed side by side with those of Captains Conder and Kitchener
in the " Memoirs of the Survey of Western Palestine."

The Committee have decided to produce this work separately and to present a
copy of it, post free, to every subscriber of the Fund who may make application
for it. A form of application is enclosed. The book will be set up uniform with
the cheap editions of " Heth and Moab " and "Tent Work," and will form a
volume about half the size of these books. It wdl be issued with the October
Quarterly Statement.

We are enabled by the courtesy of the Proprietors of the Pictorial World
to present with this number a portrait of Sir Charles Wilson, who has now
returned from Egypt.

The interest attaching to Herr Schumacher's work will be increased by the
paper presented to the Society, and published in this number, by Mr. Guy le

150 NOTES AND NEWS.

Strange. It is an account of a short journey east of the Jordan, and of a visit
to Pella, the Kalat el Eukud, which is outside the part surveyed by Captain
Conder ; Jerash, the Wady Zerka, Yajuz, and Amman. Mr. le Strange
carries with him in his Eastern travels a rare acquaintance with the works of
Arabian and Persian travellers. He has undertaken to translate and to annotate
for the Pilgrims' Text Society, the Travels of Mokaddasi.

The notes by Mr. Laurence Oliphant and by Herr Hanauer are curious and
interesting. The Rock Altar close to the site of Zorah strongly suggests the story
of Judges xiii, 19, and the altar of Manoah. It seems to be, at any rate, of
extreme antiquity.

On Sunday evening, June 21st, died suddenly, at his residetu-e in Cheyne
Walk, Mr. W. S. W. Vaux, F.R.S., formerly Keeper of Coins in the British
Museum, and latterly Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society. Mr. Vaux
became a member of the Committee of this Society on its foundation, May 12,
18G5, for the whole period of its existence he remained a member, and attended
nearly every meeting of the Committee. His loss is one which will not be easily
filled up.

And on Tuesday, the 23rd, died, at his residence at Penzance, another of the
Society's oldest friends and supporters, A. Lloyd Fox, a member of the General
Committee, and the Society's Hon. Secretary for Falmouth.

Professor null's work, " Mount Seir," is now ready. New editions have also
been issued of " Tent Work " and " Heth and Moab " at six shillings each.

Light upon the ancient customs of Palestine has been thrown from a very
unexpected quarter, namely, Russian Central Asia. Dr. Lansdell (" Russian
Central Asia," Sampson Low & Co.) has discovered as far to the east of
Palestine as London is to the west, and among an Iranian population, many
Semitic customs described in the Sacred Books, especially those written after the
Captivity. These customs may have had a common origin, or, as Dr. Lansdell
suggests, they may have been taken eastwards by the Ten Tribes.

The income of the Society, from March 17th inclusive, was — from subscrip-
tions and donations £260 9s. 6d., from all sources £481 18s. 5d. The expenditure
during the same period was £382 1*. Gd. On June 24th the balance in the
Banks was £351 12*. Id.

It is suggested to subscribers that the safest and most convenient manner
of paying subscriptions is through a Bank. Many subscribers have adopted this
method, which removes the danger of loss or miscarriage, and renders unneces-
sary the acknowledgment by official receipt and letter.

NOTES AND NEWS. 151

The only authorised lecturers for the Society are —

(1) The Eev. Henry Geary, Vicar of St. Thomas's, Portman Square. His

lectures are on the following subjects : —

The survey of Western Palestine, as illustrating Bible History.

Palestine East of the Jordan.

The Jerusalem Excavations.

A Restoration of Ancient Jerusalem. Illustrated by original photo-
graphs shown as " dissolving views."

(2) The Rev. James Xing, Vicar of St. Mary's, Berwick. His subjects are

as follows : —
The Survey of Western Palestine.
Jerusalem.
The Hittites.
The Moabite Stone and other monuments.

(3) The Rev. James Neil, formerly Incumbent of Christ Church, Jerusalem.
(-4) The Rev. George St. Clair, formerly Lecturer to the Society, is about to

organise, by arrangement with the Committee, a course of lectures
this winter on the work of the Society.

152

THE LATE MR. W. S. W. VAUX.

We have to announce the sudden death, at the age of sixty-seven, of Mr.
William Sandys Wright Vaux, M.A., F.E.S., the well-known numismatist
and Oriental scholar. His long connection with the British Museum, the
service of which he entered in 1841, the year after his graduation as B A.
at Baliol College, Oxford, and from which he retired in 1870, culminated
in his keepership of the Department of Coins and Medals, which he
occupied for two or three months short of ten years. As an expert in
this sphere of learning, he acted for some time as a joint editor of the
Niimismatic Chronicle, arranged and described for the Society for the
Publication of Oriental Text the series of fac-similes of the coins struck by
the Atabeks of Syria and Persia, 1848, and, among other learned contribu-
tions, communicated to the Numismatic Society of London in 18G3a paper
" On the Coins reasonably presumed to be those of Carthage." He was
employed from 1871 to 1876 in the compilation of a catalogue of the coins
in the Bodleian Library for the University of Oxford. As a scholar of
more general and literary activity, Mr. Vaux prepared, in 1851, a descrip-
tive " Handbook to the Antiquities of Greek, Assyrian, Egyptian, and
Etruscan Art in the British Museum." He was the author of " Nineveh
and Persepolis, an historical sketch of Ancient Assyria and Persia, with an
account of the recent researches in those countries," 1850, which reached
its fourth edition in 1855, and of which a German translation by Dr. J. T.
Zenker was published at Leipsic in 1852. To the series of the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, generically entitled " Ancient History
from the Monuments," Mr. Vaux contributed two several works — " Persia,
from the Earliest Period to the Arab Conquest," 1875, and "Greek Cities
and Islands of Asia Minor," 1877. These works, however, by no means
exhaust the list of Mr. Vaux's productions, which embrace numerous
contributions to the transactions of various learned societies, and especially
to those of the Eoyal Society of Literature, of which Mr. Vaux was for
some time secretary. On New Year's Day, 1876, he was appointed to the
secretaryship of the Eoyal Asiatic Society, an office which he held until
his death, at his residence in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, on Sunday evening
last. Mi\ Vaux, who was the son of the late Prebendary Vaux, of
Winchester, Vicar of Eomsey, Hants, was born in 1818, and was educated
at Westminster and Baliol College, Oxford, where, as already mentioned,
he took his B.A. degree in 1840. In the world of learning he was a man
of very wide knowledge and of the most varied accomplishments, and he
was much esteemed by a large circle of private friends. — From the Times.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. 153

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE.

The Annual Meeting of the General Committee was held at the Society's
Offices, 1, Adam Street, Adelphi, on Wednesday, June 24th, 1885.

The Chair was taken by Mr. James Glaisher.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The
Secretary then read the following Report of the Executive Committee : —

"My Lords and Gentlemen,

"Your Committee, elected at the last meeting of June 19th, 1884,
have, on resigning office, to render an account of their administration
during the past year.

" I. The Committee have held nineteen meetings during the year.

"II. The 'firman' necessary for the prosecution of the Survey of
Eastern Palestine is still withheld by the Turkish authorities.

" III. The work of exploration in the Holy Land has been carried on
during the last twelve months by Mr. Laurence Oliphant, Herr Schumacher,
and Mr. Guy le Strange. The best thanks of the Committee are due to
these gentlemen for the valuable reports and papers given to the Society
by them ; some of them, including Notes on the Jaulan and Notes on Carmel
by Mr. Oliphant, have already been published in the Quarterly Statement.
Other notes by the same gentleman will appear in July, together with an
account of a journey east of Jordan by Mr. Guy le Strange. The Com-
mittee have also just received, and have great pleasure in laying on the
table, a really magnificent contribution to the Survey of the East, in a
packet of memoirs, plans, and map, from Herr Schumacher. This work,
certainly the most important examination, so far as it goes, of the Jaulan
district, as yet made by any traveller, is put forward by the Committee
with great satisfaction as the principal work of the year. It is proposed
to issue this in a separate form apart from the Quarterly Statement, and to
present it to all subscribers who may desire to possess a copy. The map will
be incorporated with the map of the Society, and laid down on the sheets
now being prepared by Mr. Armstrong. It covers about 200 square miles;
the Memoirs contain a list of Arabic names, a general description of the
country with its perennial streams, cascades, forests, villages, roads, and
people, and an account with excellent plans and drawings of the villages
and ruins in the district visited by Herr Schumacher.

" Among the principal ruins described may be mentioned that called
Kh. Arkub er Rahwah, which Herr Schumacher would identify with the
Argob of the Bible, commonly placed at the Lejjah. He is supported in
this view by the authority of Burckhardt, who maintained that Argob would
be found somewhere in southern Jaulan. Important ruins were found in
the Ain Dakhar and Beit Akkar. North of the former place is a field of

154 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE.

dolmens, in number not short of 500, called by the natives Kubur Beni
Israil — graves of the children of Israel. Ancient stone bridges were
found crossing the streams at Nahr el Allan and Nahr Bukkad ; a re-
markable altar was found at Kefr el Ma, conjectured by Herr Schumacher
to be the Maccabsean Alima. Here a remarkable statue of basalt was
also found. In a village called Sahem el Jolan, Herr Schumacher thinks
he has discovered the Biblical Golan, which has hitherto escaped identifi-
cation. The situation, the name, the extensive ruins, and the traditions
of the people, all seem to confirm Herr Schumacher's conjecture. The
ruins of the remarkable underground city of Ed Dera were examined
and planned for the first time, .together with the towns and monuments of
El Mezeirib Tuffas and Nawar, identified by Mr. Oliphant with the land
of Uz ; other subterranean buildings were found at Kh. Sumakh and at
Sheik Saad. The rock tomb of Job was also photographed and planned.
These Memoirs and Maps may be considered as followiug immediately
on the notes furnished by Mr. Oliphant for the Quarterly Statement of
April last. The recovery of two important Biblical places, the mass of
light thrown upon ancient worships, the great number of ruins planned,
and the care and intelligence bestowed upon the whole work, render it
incumbent ujion the Committee to ask the General Committee for a special
vote of thanks to this young explorer, as well as to Mr. Oliphant and
Mr. Guy le Strange. It must also be mentioned that Mr. Oliphant has
discovered a dolmen in Judaea, where hitherto none had been found. It
lies in a desert and hilly part of the country, on sheet 115 of the great
map. Another interesting discovery is one made by Herr Hanauer, close
to the site of the ancient Zorah, of a rock altar which suggests the
passage in Judges xiii, 19 and 20.

"The publications of the year in the Quarterly Statement have also
included Major Kitchener's important geographical report of the Arabah
Valley. An archaeological paper by Clermont-Ganneau on Palestine
Antiquities in London, and communications from Canon Tristram, Bev.
H. Clay Trumbull, Rev. H. G. Tomkins, Dr. Selah Merrill, Dr. Chaplin,
Bev. W. E. Birch, Brofessor Hull, Mr. Baker Greene, and others, to whom
the best thanks of the Committee are due. The books published by the
Committee since the last meeting of the General Committee are 'Mount
Seir ' by Brofessor Hull, and cheap editions of Captain Conder's 'Tent
Work ' and ' Heth and Moab.' The remaining copies of the ' Survey of
Western Palestine ' have been placed in the hands of Mr. A. B. Watt, of
Baternoster Bow, for disposal, subject to the condition that no reduction
be made on the original price of the work.

" The Committee have now in their hands the whole of Brofessor Hull's
Geological Memoirs. This important work has been sent to the printers
and will be issued as soon as possible.

"An arrangement has been made with Mr. H. Chichester Hart, by
means of which we shall be enabled to publish his Memoirs on the Natural
History of the Arabah. Herr Schumacher will also, it is hoped, continue
his researches as opportunity may offei.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE. 155

"The Balance Sheet for the year 1884 was published in the April
Quarterly Statement. The Society received during the year the sum of
£5,654, including a loan of £850, and expended £1,851 in exploration,
£2,592 on maps and memoirs, £504 in printing, and £618 in management.
Since the beginning of the year the sum of £1,224 has been received ;
exploration has cost £116, maps and memoirs £408, printers £200, and
management £346.

"As regards the maps showing both Eastern and Western Palestine
with the Old and New Testament names on them, they are now ready for
the engraver, but will not be handed to him until Herr Schumacher's
work can be laid down on them. Mr. Armstrong has also completed a
list of Old and New Testament names with their identifications.

"The Committee have to express their best thanks to the Local
Hon. Secretaries, and to all who have helped to spread a knowledge
of their work, which, as will be seen from the preceding report, is actively
going on, and will continue to do so, as long as any part of our original
prospectus remains to be filled up.

" The Committee have lastly to "deplore the sudden death on Sunday
last, the 21st, of Mr. W. S. W. Vaux, F.R.S., formerly Chief of the
Numismatic Department in the British Museum, and lately Secretary of
the Royal Asiatic Society. Mr. Vaux has been a member of the Executive
Committee since the formation of the Society on May 12th, 1865. There has
hardly been a meeting from that date until the last meeting of June 2nd
at which he was not present, and his interest in the Society and his watch-
fulness over the advance of its work have never ceased from the beginning."

The adoption of the Report was proposed by Dr. Chaplin, of Jerusalem,
who spoke of the way in which the work of the Society was steadily
growing in recognition, and seconded by Mr. Cyril Graham, who bore
testimony, from his own experience in the country, to the beauty and
excellence of Herr Schumacher's work.

The Dean of Chester proposed the re-election of the Executive
Committee. This was seconded by the Rev. Dr. Lowy. Both gentlemen
took occasion to speak of the great loss the Society had sustained in the
lamented death of Mr. Vaux.

Mr. Henry Maudslay proposed, and Mr. Crace seconded, a vote of
thanks to the Chairman.

156 THE SITE OF E.MMAUS.

THE SITE OF EMMAUS.

(See Quarterly Statement, October 1884, April 1885.)

In reply to Mr. Mearns, I only ask permission to prove my statement
that Josephns (Bell. Jud. iv, 1) does interpret Emmaus to mean, in the
particular place referred to, Hotwells. Mr. M. contends "The word he nses
is 6epp.a, warm baths, referring to the gentle heat of Laths. But if he had
meant hot springs he would have used the feminine, Beppai." Whatever
the lexicon may say, Josephus leaves no doubt as to his own employment
of Beppa in the passage before us. His words are : pedepp-qievopevr) 8e
Appaovs, 6*ppa Aeyoir' av, ecm yap iv avrfj Trrjyi) deppcov vSdrcov 7rp6s aKtcrtv
e7rtrr;Seto?. Mr. Mearns paraphrases this passage in the following some-
what imaginative manner : — " Josephus says that the meaning of a warm
bath was peculiarly applicable to the Tiberian Emmaus ; for in it was
a spring of hot water to supply the bath, and useful for healing. The
historian distinctly says that the name always points to a warm bath."
(The italics are mine.) If Mr. Mearns reads his authors in this fashion,
I think I may safely leave my argument to take care of itself on other
points on which he animadverts.

A. Kennion.

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 157

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE
JORDAN.

By Guy le Strange.

The impediments which, at the present time, the Turkish Government
almost invariably throw in the way of any one who attempts a journey
into the country across the Jordan, and having heard of the large sums
usually demanded of travellers by the Sheikhs of the Belka under plea of
escort dues — emboldens me to offer this present account of a hurried
trip through 'Ajlun and the Belka, successfully carried out during the
month of November, 1884, without Government permission, tents,
baggage-mules, or blackmail. We left Nazareth on the morning of
Tuesday, the 11th of November, but, as is often the case on the first
day of a journey, the start was delayed by reason of trifles forgotten till
the last moment, and, in consequence, the sun was already two hours on
its course before we lost sight of the white houses of Nazareth and
threaded the ravines down into the plain of Esdraelon. Pella was to
have been the end of the first stage, but the sky was clouding up and
threatening a deluge ; hence even before we had passed the villages of
Nain and Endor it seemed hopeless to attempt getting across the Jordan
that day. The rain, however, held off till after lunch, which was discussed
on the green bank of Goliath's river, the Nahr Jalud, which runs into the
Jordan after watering Beisan, and then we walked our horses through
the ruin of the beautiful Saracenic Caravanserai overhanging the stream
which is known as the Khan el Ahmar, or " the Red." But an hour
later, while passing through the squalid village of Beisan, and casting
a hurried glance at the imposing and widespread ruins of the ancient
Scythopolis of the Decapolis, down came the rain in torrents ; and the
sky at the same time displayed such sure tokens of something more than
a passing shower, that by 4 o'clock it was determined to seek shelter and
a night's lodging in the hospitable tent of an Arab whom we found
camped below in the valley of the Jordan.

For about ten hours the rain continued with but little abatement,
soaking through the hair walls, and dripping from the roof of our host's
abode, and further causing the sheep and goats to be disagreeably anxious
to participate with us in the comparative shelter which the same afforded.
However, by a couple of hoars past midnight the sky was again clear, and
I may add that during the remainder of the trip as far as Jerusalem, the
state of the atmosphere was everything that could be desired. The late
autumn in Palestine, as a season for journeying and exploration, has
perhaps some advantages over the spring, if only the traveller be
sufficiently fortunate to happen on the six weeks or two months which
generally intervene between the early autumn showers and the steady
rains of winter, which last do not, as a rule, begin much before Christmas.

158 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

In the autumn, the land, having been parched by the summer heats, is of
course less green and beautiful than is the case in the early days of spring ;
but, on the other hand, ruins are no longer concealed by any luxuriant
vegetation, and since the coolness of the weather renders a shortened
halt at noon a matter of no inconvenience, the traveller can devote to the
business on hand all the hours of daylight, which even at this season can
be counted upon as lasting from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Bedouins in general
are of course early risers, and we, their guests, had in consequence no
difficulty in getting early into the saddle, so that before the sun had
made its appearance above the mountains of Ajhm we were riding east-
wards over the fertile lands of the Ghor, the Arab name for the mighty
" cleft " through which the waters of the Jordan pour. At the present day
the country all round Beisan, though partially cultivated, and fetching a
certain price in the market, is not to compare with the description that has
been left to us of its fertility in the century preceding the arrival of the
Crusaders. Mokaddasi, 1 writing about the year 1000 a.d., describes
Beisan at his time as being rich in palm trees, and informs us that all the
rice used in the provinces of the Jordan, and of Palestine, was grown
here. At the present day no rice is cultivated anywhere in this neigh-
bourhood, nor for the matter of that, as far as I know, in any other part
of Palestine, and the palm has long been gone from here as from the
shores of the Sea of Tiberias, where, according to the geographer above
quoted, there might be seen in his days " all around the Lake villages and
date palms, while on the same sail boats coming and going continually." 2

That the bygone prosperity might easily return to this country, should
circumstances (i.e., the Government) again become propitious, was an
idea that impressed itself on us, each moment the more, while riding over
the rich soil, and fording at every hundred yards the streams which here
intersect the Ghor. An abrupt descent brought us in an hour to the Jordan,
at a ford where the water scarcely reached the bellies of our horses, and
we had the luck to be guided to the right place by three of our hosts of
the previous evening, who, mounted on their wirey, bald-tailed mares,
and armed with the long Arab lance, had turned out to accompany us
during the first few hours of the way. Across the Jordan we suddenly
came upon an encampment of black tents, tenanted by kinsmen of our
last night's host, and as a consequence were condemned to waste a precious
hour while coffee was prepared and ceremoniously drunk, followed by
a light repast of bread and sour milk ; and hence it was past nine before
we reached the ruins of Pella, although these lie but an hour distant from
the spot at which we forded the Jordan. As Mr. Selah Merrill very
justly observes in the work which, unless I am misinformed, is as yet the

1 Edited in Arabic by de Goeje (Leyden, 1877), p. 162.

2 Op. cit., p. 161. A few stunted palms are, however, still to be seen at Kufr
Argib and elsewhere on the shores of the Lake (see J. Macgregor, "Rob Roy
on the Jordan," 1869, pp. 325, 329 ; also, "Recovery of Jerusalem," p. 367, in
Capt. Wilson's article on the Sea of Galilee).

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 159

sole fruit of the American Palestine Exploration Society, " Tabakat
Fahl is a beautiful location for a city, and the wonder is that it should
have been forsaken." Even after the long summer drought, the springs
gushing out among the broken columns and ruins of former splendour, are
abundant enough to make fertile all the neighbouring land, which,
situated as it is on the upper level of the Ghor, and 250 feet below the
sea, enjoys, perhaps, the finest climate, from an agricultural point of view,
that can be found in Syria.

That the Arab name of Tabakat Fahl, the Fahl Terraces, represents
the ancient Greek Pella, there can be little doubt. Dr. Robinson, who was
the first to make this identification, is no mean authority in such matters,
and further, Mr. Merrill, who discusses the various objections which may
be urged against this present site, winds up the argument by bringing
together a mass of evidence in favour of this being the ancient Pella of
the Decapolis, giving citations from the works of Josephus, Stephanus of
Byzantium, Eusebius, and others, who treat of the early topography of
Palestine. 1 It may be of some interest to add that though the site has, to
all appearance, for centuries been abandoned by the Moslems, it is
renowned in their early chronicles as being the field which witnessed
the great " Battle of Fahl," which, six centuries after Christ, sealed the
fate of Byzantine rule in Syria. 2 According to the annalist Tabari, this
celebrated victory was gained in the year 13 a.h., 3 and the geographer
Yakut asserts that the Greeks left 80,000 dead on the field.

In the first decades of the Christian era, Pliny, describing Pella, notes
its abundant water supply, and in the Talmud this city is mentioned under
the name of " Phahil," as having hot springs. 4 At the present day,
however, the springs, though abundant, are apparently not thermal. We
found them icy cold, and perfectly sweet, and on this point it may be
added that the Arab geographers never allude to them in their enume-
ration of the numerous Hammams of the Jordan Valley. Neglecting the
Greek name Pella, the Arabs, according to their wont, revived the older
Semitic pronunciation of Phahil, which they wrote Fahil or Fihl. It is
of interest here to note that Yakut, in his Geographical Encyclopaedia, 5
after stating the correct pronunciation of the name to be "Fihl," continues,
" I believe this name to be of foreign origin, since I do not recognise in it
the form of any Arab word." And that this Pella was the place which
witnessed the Moslem victory over the Greek forces, is placed beyond a
doubt by the further statement that " the battle of Fihl, which took place
within the year of the capitulation of Damascus, is likewise known under
the appellation of the Day of Beisan," 6 and from Beisan, on the right bank

1 "East of the Jordan," by S. Merrill (London, 1881), pp. 412-447.

2 Weil,, " Gesch. der Chalifen," I, 40, et seq.

3 Ed. Kosegarten, II, 158.

4 Conder's "Handbook to the Bible," 3rd edition, p. 315.

5 " Mo'jam-al-Buldau" (Leipzig), III, 853.

6 Quoted also by the author of the " Marasid-el-Ittila," ed. Juynboll, II,
33b', whose work is a critical abridgment of Yakut's Encyclopaedia.

N 2

160 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

of the Jordan, we had ridden in a couple of hours. Pella, or Fihl, must have
fallen into ruin very shortly after the Moslem conquest, as is proved by
the absence of all Saracenic remains among those of the Byzantine epoch
which cover the ground in all the neighbourhood of the springs. A like
fate also befell most of the great Greek cities over Jordan, such as Gerasa
(.Terash) and Philadelphia (Amman), where we find little that is Moslem
among much that recalls the Christian times. A few generations later,
after the third century of the Hejra, the very name of Fihl ceases to be
mentioned in the itineraries and town lists of the Arab geographers, and
neither Istakhri, Ibn Haukal, nor Mokaddasi (himself a Syrian) take
any notice of the place. Still, in a.h. 278, one of the earliest of their
geographers, Yakubi, considered it a place of importance, for in his
summary of the cities of the military province of the Jordan (Jond al
C'rdunn), after describing such towns as Acre and Tyre, he mentions 1
together Tibnin, Fihl, and Jerash, adding that " the population inhabiting
these towns is of a mixed character, part Arab, part foreign " (al 'ajam),
by which last term, if I am not mistaken, we are to understand the native
Greek-speaking Christians who had not been displaced by the immigrant
Arabs. Fihl, or Tabakat Fahl, as the place is now called, having thus
been left undisturbed for nigh on a thousand years, would doubtless
yield a rich archaeological harvest to any one who could spend some days
among the ruins, and carefully examine the very large number of broken
cornices and other carved stones which lie about on every hand. Con-
siderable remains of buildings also, that were once adorned with columns,
surround the spot where the springs gush out from the hill-side.

Although the Jordan Valley is elsewhere parched after the summer
droughts, the Fihl Gorge was a mass of waving green reeds, reaching
higher than a horseman's head, and almost completely masking from
view the ruined edifices which lay partially submerged in the running
water. Near what must have been a bath — judging from the large piscina
— stood a fine monolith in white marble, above 8 feet in height ; and
among the reeds, a score of yards further down, and nearer the north bank,
were two others, rising, each of them, over a dozen feet out of the pool in
which they stood. But nowhere did we notice inscriptions. The great
centre of population would seem to have been up on the hill-side on the
right or northern bank of the stream. Here there are traces of a large
necropolis with innumerable sarcophagi lying abovit on every hand. In
most cases these last had been smashed up by iconoclastic treasure-seekers,
but some remained almost intact, displaying the Christian emblems
beautifully carved in the white stone. One in particular was noticeable
from its high artistic merit. The lid of the sarcophagus was still
perfect, adorned with three wreaths chiselled in high relief, and between

them, in monogram, the yt , and the A. 10. but with no further
1 " Kitib-al-Buldan," ed. Juynboll, p. 115.

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 16]

inscription. Traces of buildings and half-buried columns lie in profusion
to the south of the necropolis, on the slope overhanging the green gorge
where the stream gushes out, while, doubtless, the precipitous hill which
shuts in the left or southern bank of the wady, would repay a more
detailed examination than any which has as yet been bestowed upon it.
Digging would naturally be most desirable here, but much that is
interesting might easily be brought to light by any one who would come
armed with a crowbar, and give himself the trouble of turning over the
drums and the cornices which, to all appearances, have lain in their
present position since the days of the Arab invasion ; and greatly do I
regret that, in our hurried visit, I had neither tools with me, nor leisure
time, that would have allowed of a detailed examination of this little
visited ruin.

The road from Fahl to 'Ajlftn winds up the steep north bank of the
"Wady Fahl, here running east-north-east into the plateau overhanging the
eastern boundary of the Jordan Valley. For the first mile the wady is
narrow and precipitous, and the road a mere path straggling about the
cliffs, a hundred feet above the dry torrent bed ; but after passing a curious
gap, where two giant boulders on projecting spurs have the appearance
of watch towers, the gorge widens and bifurcates, the road taking the
branch gulley leading in the direction east-south-east. Since Mr. Merrill
has laid such stress on his discovery, in these parts, of the Eoman road
running between Pella and Gerasa, 1 referred to by Eusebius, and which
the American archaeologist regards as a final proof that Fahl is Pella, I was
naturally on the look-out for traces of the same in the Wady Fahl. It is
a disappointment for me to have to confess that though evident remains
of a paved causeway are found in several places on the uplands above, yet
here in the wady itself no traces could be discovered of cuttings in the
cliff sides. I therefore conclude that the road must have approached Fahl
(Pella) down some other gulley.

Three-quarters of an hour after leaving Fahl we had reached the
upland rolling plain, intersected in every direction by shallow ravines, and
dotted with scrub oak. Before us, in a south-easterly direction, rose the
mountains of Gilead ; to the right, less than a mile away, and due south,
was the village of Kefr Abd ; while on the left, at a distance of a mile and
a half, on a low spur, appeared Beit 'Adls. Skirting the heads of three
small wadies which lead down to the Jordan Valley, our road took a
southerly direction for a couple of miles over the barren upland, after
which suddenly the path plunged down off this upland into the precipitous
gorge, which I believe to be an upper arm of the Wady Y abis. On the
height, with a path running up to it from the gorge, lies the village of
Kefr Abll before mentioned, and before leaving the upland plateau, on
the very brink of the wady, our road passed through remains of former
habitations, rendered the more noticeable by the living rock having in
many places been cut into to form large square tanks, measuring, roughly,

1 Op. cit., 357, -445.

162 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

in length 10 feet by 8 feet across. These were now filled up with mould
so as to be flush with the surface, and have been constructed to serve as
vats for oil or wine. The workmanship was assuredly ancient, and such as
to do honour to the skill and perseverance of the stone-cutters of Palestine.
The wady into which the road plunged turned off upwards into the hills
in a north-easterly direction, while downwards, towards its outlet, it runs
on for more than a mile due south with many smaller wadies coming into
it from the east. In this part both the main wady and its tributaries
were, at this season, conrpletely dry, though showing clear traces of the
rush of spring freshets. The road ran down in the bed of the wady, and
we followed it for about a mile before turning to the left into a green
valley leading up in a south-easterly direction, where nestled the village of
Jedaidah surrounded by olive trees and gardens. The natural beauties of
this dell, the distant clatter of the two mills which were churning the
waters of the brawling stream, the well-tilled fields, and the succulent
grass that covered the slopes on every hand, to us invested Jedaidah
with all the attributes of a rural paradise ; and it being now past midday
we proceeded to recruit exhausted nature with certain of the contents of
our saddle-bags, while the nags lunched, even more sumptuously than we,
on the fresh grass of the brook side.

Whether or not this be the main stream of the Wady Yabis I was
unable to ascertain, for the maps of this district are all remarkably deficient
and inexact, and a villager whom I questioned was ambiguous in his
replies. But from Jedeidah, as far as we could see, the stream, making a
bend at right angles about a mile down the wady going due south, turns
west again, and forcing its way through the mountains would have every
appearance of coming out into the Jordan Valley at the spot whei'e the
Wady Yabis is marked on the maps. All this we noted while following the
path which led away in the opposite direction, for scrambling up the high
spur overhanging the left bank of the stream, we proceeded nearly due east
into the mountains along and up the ridge, which forms the southern
boundary of the little valley where we had made the noontide halt. The
wadies here begin to be dotted with scrub oak, through which, after riding
for a short hour, we came into the olive groves surrounding the hamlet of
Urjan. There is collected in this village a population apparently too
numerous for the accommodatiom provided by its houses. More than half
its inhabitants have turned the caves, which honeycomb the rocks, into
habitations, and thus manage to provide themselves with all the comforts
of a home in the bowels of the ground. These caverns would seem to be
mostly of artificial construction, having squared windows and doors, with
properly situated smoke holes, but very awkward for riders, and into which,
several times, it was difficult for me to prevent my horse from precipitating
himself. These tenements would doubtless prove worthy of investigation
by any one who, more fortunate than was the case with myself, shall have
leisure to overcome the inhospitable shyness of their present occupants, and
thus have the good fortune to gain admittance to these Troglodyte harems.

Beyond Urjan may be said to begin the forest of Ajlun. At first the

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 163

hill slopes, and later on both the torrent beds and the ridges, become covered
by oak trees, with an average height of between 30 and 40 feet. In the
spring time, doubtless, the ground would be covered with grass and weeds,
but now, in the late autumn, nothing was to be seen under the trees but the
bare rocks ; still from the thickness of the forest, and the low sweep of the
branches, a horseman ten yards ahead was generallycompletely hidden from
view. For a mile beyond Urjan the road keeps along the southern slope of
the valley under the trees, leading steadily upward and crossing the entrances
of many smaller dells, till finally it turns up one of these latter in a direction
south-west by south, and round the upper end gains the summit of the ridge,
whence a lovely view is obtained through the oak openings back over the
Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea. A little further on along the ridge,
and about three-quarters of an hour after leaving Urjan, we passed a
large circular hole in the ground, some 6 feet across, opening down into
an immense cistern, now partly choked with rubbish, but the bottom of
which was still 20 feet from the surface of the ground. It appeared to
be bottle-shaped within, as are most of the cisterns in Palestine. In a
southerly direction not far from its mouth, under the trees, were traces of
ruined walls, but I was unable to obtain from the guide any information
as to the name by which the place was, or had formerly been, known.

Our road still lay along the ridge in a south-easterly direction, with
the broad wady on the left hand down which behind us lay Urjan, while
on the right we were continually crossing charming glades where the oaks
ever and again give place to bay trees, and through them a rider obtains
picturesque glimpses over the well-wooded hills to the south-west. It was
up one of these glades, or rather forming the background of an upland plain
closed in on either hand by dark green mountain slopes, that we first caught
sight of the Castle of BabM crowning a hill- top about three miles away,
bearing south-south-west. From this point, which is rather more than an
hour distant from Urjan, a direct road, said to be very stony, leads to the
Kusr er Rabud straight up this plain. It was, however, now past 3 o'clock, and
the days being short we decided to push straight on to the town of Ajlftn,
our night quarters, and put off visiting the castle till the morrow. "We
therefore turned up the hill-side to the south-east, and on the brow first
caught sight of the town far below us, at the junction of three valleys, em-
bowered in its gardens, its minaret and walls already gilded by the rays of
the setting sun. An hour's scramble, first round the shoulder of the hill and
then over into the valley which comes down on Ajlrni from the north,
brought us to our destination, and for the last two miles the road lay through
a succession of vineyards among the rocks, where the vines, whose leaves the
autumn had turned to ruddy gold, stood out against the darker shade of
ancient olive trees. The distance we had travelled perhaps lent a false
enchantment to the view, but whether or not this be the cause, Ajlun has
a place in my memory as one of the most beautiful and fertile regions of
Palestine that I visited, bearing comparison in this even with those far-
famed villages that are watered by the rivers of Damascus. The little
town is situated at the junction of three valleys, one coming from the north

16-1 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

down which bad been our road ; another coming from tbe west, blocked a
couple of miles distant by the spur, crowned with tbe Castle of Eabud ;
while opposite is tbe valley leading up almost due east on tbe road to Suf
and Jerash. The place contains a mosque with a tall square minaret, of
fine workmanship in yellow stone ; and this last recalls so strikingly
some campanile in the plains of Lombardy, that I am inclined to suppose
that we have here the relics of a Christian church, perhaps of Crusader
times. The town has an abundant supply of water from a spring which
gushes out, not far from the mosque, under an archway of ancient masonry,
which rises among ruins of columns and cornices. Modern Ajlun is, how-
ever, but an unpicturesque collection of mud hovels, where the homestead
generally consists of an agglomeration of windowless cabins surrounding a
dung-heap.

In one of these cabins, having accomplished the ejection of our host's
family, we proceeded to take up our night's quarters, and made an excellent
dinner off the mutton and rice that had been originally prepared for his
own household. It then became a burning question to my two companions
whether the hospitality which they in turn were forced to offer to the fleas
would allow of their enjoying the solace of undisturbed repose. For myself
I was happy in being above such considerations. For, during a late trip
across the Hauran, sundry insects pervading the guest chambers of my
Arab hosts, having kept me for three successive nights without closing an
eye, and further observing myself to be rendered incapable of archa?ological
research through the physical exhaustion brought on by ceaseless scratch-
ing, I had, this journey, brought in my wallet a small string-hammock.
Now the den in which we were quartered had, like most Arab cabins, square
ventilation-holes, left under the rafters on either side below the ceiling.
Through two of these holes, from without, I found I could manage to push
the straight stems of a couple of long logs of firewood, in such a manner
that the ends protruded very appropriately inside, like pegs standing out
from the opposite wall of the room ; while tbe logs were jammed and
prevented from being drawn completely through the holes by the gnarled
and branched portion that remained without. Having thus got my pegs
inside the room I pi'oceeded to sling the hammock from them about a yard
and a half above my friends and the fleas, and enjoyed thereby un-
disturbed repose during the night, having first been duly admired by the
whole population of the village, who, during a couple of hours, were admitted
in rotation to rejoice their eyes at the unaccustomed sight of a Frank in
bed in a hammock.

The next morning, the 13th of November, we were up betimes, and
after a thimbleful of coffee rode up, going almost due west, to the Kul'at
er Eabud, and reached it in a few minutes over the half-hour. From the
Arab geographers quoted on a previous page, I have been unable to obtain
any information as to the early history of this splendid fortress. 1 Baised on

1 I find no mention of the place in the works of Yakubi, Ibn ITaukal,
Istakhri, Mokaddasi, or Yakut, neither does the name occur in Ibn-el-Athir's

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 165

foundations that would appear to date from Eoman days, its bastions and
walls bear silent witness to the energy and skill of the Crusading Knights
who, during their two century tenure of the Holy Land, erected this strong-
hold beyond the Jordan to hold the country of Moab and Amnion in awe.
The view from its battlements is grand beyond the power of pen to describe.
Looking west, the long valley of the Jordan, from the Lake of Gennesareth
to the Dead Sea, lay spread out at our feet, with the windings of the
Jordan itself glittering among the green brushwood, its surface being
already gilded by the beams of the rising sun. Beyond and for a back-
ground were the mountains of Samaria, while on either hand lay the well-
clothed hills of Ajlun, now bronzed by the late autumn, and giving back
a sheen of almost metallic lustre under the level rays of sunlight that
were pouring over them. Eastward at our feet rose up the town of A jlun
nestling at the bifurcation of the valleys, in its gardens and vineyards ;
and beyond, some three miles off, white in a green garland, was 'Ain
J anna, a village on the road to Jerash. The castle itself crowns a height,
and is surrounded by a deep moat dug out of the rock. Its vaults and
halls are certainly some of the finest in Palestine, the masonry equalling
that to be seen at 'Athllt, on the sea coast above Csesarea, which is always
quoted as the most remarkable of the Crusading ruins. Kusr-er-Rabud
amply deserves a more extended examination than any that has as yet
been accorded to it by travellers. As I have noted above, the foundations
of the building would appear to date from Roman days, for on many of
the stones used in the lower walls eagles are carved, in low relief, which
seemed to me of earlier workmanship than the tenth century. On the left
of the gate-house high up in the wall is a tablet bearing an Arab inscription,
which I was unable to come near enough to read. My readers will easily
believe how about these old walls, thus perched on the mountain-top as a
landmark to all the Jordan Valley, and concerning the men who first con-
structed its dungeons and wells and dark passages, there was an amount
of mystery that it would have been most fascinating to have made some
attempt at penetrating, had the time permitted of a detailed exploration.
But that night we were bound to sleep at, or beyond, Jerash, and therefore

voluminous chronicle. However, although unnoticed among the Crusading
Castles of Palestine by Or. Key, in his " Monuments de 1' Architecture Militaire
des Croises en Syrie," an examination of the architecture and mode of construc-
tion has led me to doubt that the building is of purely Saracenic origin. I must
state, however, on the other hand, that Burckhardt, who visited the place in his
travels and found it occupied by a garrison, writes (" Travels in Syria," pp. 266,
267") that he saw Arabic inscriptions (presumably on the slab in the wall
that I was unable to reach) which proclaimed that the castle was built by
Saladin. Which too is further corroborated by Abu-1-Feda's Geography, a
work of the fourteenth century of our era, where it is stated (p. 245 of the Arabic
Text) that the Castle of Ajlun was built by 'Izz-ed-Din Osamah, one of Saladin's
famous captains. Still, in spite of all this, after having examined the place,
I must repeat that there is little doubt in my mind that parts of the building
date from prior to the time of Saladin or even the first Crusade.

166 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

after a hurried visit we reluctantly turned our backs on the castle, and
returning through the town of Ajlun rode on, up the valley eastwards,
towards 'Ain Janna.

On the right bank of the bed of the brook up which lay our path,
and five minutes after leaving the last houses of the town, is a low cavern,
used by the natives as a stable for their cattle. As far as we could see it
contained no inscriptions or sculptures, and though originally, doubtless,
natural, it had been artificially enlarged for the convenience of the beasts,
being in most places upwards of 6 feet in height, and running deep into
the hill-side for a distance that we estimated at somewhat less than fifty
yards, thus affording a large area under cover, that was at the present
moment much encumbered with all sorts of refuse. The distance of about
a mile and a half which separates 'Ajlfin from 'Ain Janna is almost
entirely taken up with olive trees, from which the fruit had now
(November) lately been shaken ; and in the market-place of the latter
village we passed three huge caldrons filled with crushed berries set in a
little water to simmer over a slow fire, this being one of the methods of
extracting the oil. Beyond 'Ain Janna the road still continues straight
up the valley almost due east, and, on the northern hill slope about
half-a-mile from the village, passes beside a couple of rock-cut tombs
overhanging the bed of the stream, the second of the two still containing
a broken sarcophagus without ornament. A short distance beyond these
we come on the source of the brook, where it wells up from a hole under a
rock in the middle of the valley. The stream runs down from here through
'Ain Janna, and even at this season suffices to water all the lands between
this and 'Ajlun. Above this point, although no water was visible, oak
groves of considerable extent lay on every hand, and the path, after
traversing a rocky glen where the branches of the trees almost met
above our heads, came to a more open space where at a couple of
miles above 'Ain Janna the roads to Irbid and Suf bifurcate. Of these
we followed the latter, bearing slightly towards the right and in a
southerly direction, through park-like glades, and in half-au-hour reached
the saddle which forms the watershed between the valleys of Ajlun and
Suf. At this point a fine view was obtained over the way before us,
running through the broad valley winding down towards Jerash in a
direction a little south of east. The ground about here was dotted with
oak trees and scrub, but the growth became smaller and the clumps more
sparse the further we left Ajlun behind, till at last, near Suf, about
three miles from the saddle, the trees had disappeared almost entirely.
Before reaching this village the valley narrows to a gorge shut in by white
chalk cliffs, and the track, after climbing among those which overhang
the ravine to the south, leads suddenly down on the squalid cabins of the
inhabit,! n is.

The Sheikh of Suf has so evil a reputation among travellers for both
cupidity and insolence that, it being yet an hour to lunch time, we
decided on hurrying on without paying him a visit ; but that we did not
make some acquaintance with the people of the village was a cause of

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 167

subsequent regret to me, when I heard that they held in their hands many
of the coins and antiquities which are brought to them for sale by the
Circassians who are colonising Jerash. There were, in particular,
rumours of a pot said to have been dug up in this neighbourhood, and
reported to have contained countless gold coins of large size, which same
had not all of them, as yet, been delivered over into the hands of the
officials of the Ottoman Government, to whom all treasure -trove is lawfully
due. The finding of hoards is of by no means rare occurrence in Palestine,
where the people have at all times been their own bankers, and have ever
preferred confiding their hard-earned gains back to the bosom of mother
earth, rather than entrust them, for safe keeping, to friends in whom they
could place no trust, knowing well that they themselves, in the like
position, would, without a question, deem it imbecile to be fettered by any
shackles of honesty or honour. The road from Suf to Jerash, which we
travelled over during a ride of rather more than an hour and a half, has
been so well described in guide books as to need no detailed notice. For
the most part the path follows the hill-slopes on the southern side of the
broad shallow wady which runs down in an easterly direction till it joins
that wherein lies Jerash, which is a valley joining it from the south.
Shortly after leaving Suf, far down to the left of the road and on the northern
hill-slope, a ruin was pointed out to us by our guide which our time did
not permit of our visiting, but as he assured us that it was the remains
of some ancient, edifice it may perhaps repay the examination of some
future traveller with leisure at command. Even before reaching Suf, as
noticed above, the aspect of the country had changed. The thick oak
forest, which is so characteristic of the Ajlfin hills, had been replaced by
single stunted trees, pines and scrub oaks, dotted sparsely over the hill-
sides ; beyond Suf the slopes became almost bare, and in all the country
to the east and south of Jerash the land is for the most part treeless, and
only an occasional pollarded oak cuts the sky line of the hill-top.

Biding across the hills from SM, Jerash becomes visible from the
village of Deir-el-Leyyeh, a couple of miles from the ruins, which are
seen spread out below in the broad valley running north and south.
From this upper point, where, at the bottom of a hole in the rock, there is
a spring, all along the road lie fragments of sarcophagi and carved stones,
showing how extensive must have been the suburbs and necropolis of the
Eoman city. Jerash, or Gerasa, has been too often and too well described
to require more than a passing notice in these pages. At the time of our
visit the Circassians had possession of the place, but had fortunately taken
up their abode on the left bank of the stream, where the ruins are com-
paratively insignificant, and they had not as yet begun to meddle with
the magnificent theatres, colonnades, and temples crowding the right
bank, and which are, Palmyra perhaps excepted, the most extensive and
marvellous remains of the Grseco-Bornan rule in Syria. The prosperity of
the town, despite its fine situation and plentiful water supply, diminished
considerably after the expulsion of the Byzantines. The locality, however,
is mentioned by Yakubi, a couple of centuries after the Moslem conquest,

168 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

as being in his time one of the towns of the Jordan province : and again
the poet al-Mutanabbi, one of the most celebrated of those who nourished
at the Court of Baghdad, in a panegyric, devotes some lines to the praise
of the fertility of the Crown domains at Jerash. But, except for such
incidental notices, if I mistake not, the city is rarely mentioned by the
subsequent Arab geographers and historians ; though Yakut, in the thir-
teenth century a.d., who had not himself visited the spot, writes that it was
described to him by those who had seen it as "a great city, now a ruin,
. through which runs a stream used for turning many mills ;
. it lies among hills that are covered with villages and hamlets,
the district being known under the name of the Jerash Mountain." 1
Whatever may have been the original cause of its depopulation, it is very
noticeable that the ruins of Jerash up to the present day have been but
little disturbed. There has never been any great Moslem city in its
neighbourhood, and hence its columns remain in situ or, thrown down by
the earthquake, sprawling along the ground, while the stones of the Great
Temple of the Sun and of the theatres are fortunate in having been, as yet,
unpilfered for building material. Further, since there is in these regions
no sand to drift over and veil the outlines, and the frequent drought
preventing the ruins from becoming masked by vegetation, all that remains
stands out, white and glaring, in noontide, having that same appearance
of recent desolation which is so striking a characteristic of the freshly
cleared streets of Pompeii.

After lunching on the bank of the stream, among the gigantic oleanders
that, still in November, were covered with delicate pink flowers, we
passed the afternoon riding about, examining the ancient city, combining
archaeological investigations with the keeping of a good look-out against
prowling Circassians, and at sundown proceeded out of the southern gate,
past the circus, now a meadow, and through the fine Triumphal Arch at
the town limit. Here turning to the left, we crossed the stream at the
mills and began to climb the conical hill on which stands the Moslem
village and sanctuary of Neby Hud, where it was determined to claim
for ourselves hospitality, and safe night quarters for our horses, against
the thievish propensities of the Christian Circassians.

The view from this high point is extremely fine, and embraces all the
valley and ruins of Jerash looking north. While the guest-room was
being swept out the elders came round and discoursed on their grievances,
against the Government in general, and their new Circassian neighbours
in particular. These last are a thorn to the Moslems in their agricultural
operations, and further debar them from poking about for treasure
among the vaults and cisterns of Jerash, a city built, as one of the sheikhs
was good enough to inform me, by his own ancestors, the 'Adites, of the
Days of Ignorance. After supper till near midnight had we to listen to
and discuss politics with these worthy people, among whom the arrival of
a traveller is a rare accident, and we three being Christians and they

1 Op. cit, H, 61.

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 169

Moslems, points of religion were often incidentally touched upon to the
exceeding happiness of our Arab guide, who was a red hot Protestant and
polemic. Despite religious differences, however, we remained excellent
friends, and ultimately all slept together in the guest chamber, the party
consisting of our three selves, the sheikhs, and the children. During the
nio-ht an occasional dog chased goats over our prostrate forms, and the fleas
hopped about merrily, which combined prevented our oversleeping ourselves.
Hence by half-past six next morning (Nov. 14th) we had saddled our horses,
and, breakfastless, were off for 'Amman, to which place it had been
determined to proceed by the direct road across country, without going
first south-west to Salt and thence back south-east to Amman, the route
o-enerally followed by the caravans. This direct road is hilly, and there
have to be crossed numberless valleys, which from the east intersect the
tableland lying between Jerash and Amman ; it is but little used, and, as
far as I could learn, has been seldom described by previous travellers.
To us its being the less known was, of course, a recommendation ; besides,
as we had no wish to excite the attention of the officials of the Belka, it
was perhaps as well to avoid visiting Salt, the residence of the Governor
of that province.

Starting from Neby Hud in a south-easterly direction, after half -an -
hour we crossed at right angles the Wady Riyashl, running south-west,
and down which lies the direct road to Salt. At the point where we
forded the brook is a ruined mill almost hidden in the mass of oleanders
and fig trees bordering the bed of the stream, which, it is said, joins the
Jerash river a short distance before this latter itself falls into the Zerka.
We, however, turning towards the south, left the Eiyashi behind us, and
making our way up the hill slopes above its left bank, here most
refreshingly dotted with scrub oak, in rather more than half-an-hour had
gained the summit of the watershed which divides the valley of Jerash
from that of the Zerka. The saddle across which the road lay commanded
a fine view on either hand, the summit being marked by a cairn of stones
a dozen feet high, erected to mark the spot where a celebrated chief had
been slain. From here to the right, westwards, there was visible the
lower part of the valley of Jerash, separated from us by several ranges of
bare hills. To the left, and in front towards the south, lay the hills of
the Belka, cut off from us by a deep gorge, at the bottom of which, as yet
unseen, ran the Zerka, the Biblical Jabbok, in ancient times the boundary
between the territories of Og, the King of Bashan, and of Sihon, King of
the Amorites, and still to-day the limit to the north of the Belka,
n-ovince. The hills all round were barren and stony, here and there a
pollarded oak struggled for existence against the drought and the loss of
its branches, which the Bedouins cut off for fuel, and everything seemed
lifeless and forlorn, until suddenly, as we were making our way down a
steep spur to the bed of the Zerka, we came on an encampment of three
black tents, hidden away in a delicious little dell, down which went
brawling a tiny stream. The Bedouin men were all away with the flocks,
but the women received us hospitably, started coffee-making, and the

170 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

while were profuse in advice and directions as to the road we were to
follow. They belonged, they said, to the Khaza 'Ali, a branch of the
Beni Hasan, one of the great tribes of the Belka, and seemed in comfortable
circumstances. Very pretty striped carpets of goat hair were spread for
us to sit on in the shade of the goat-hair walls, and though our hostess was
more remarkable for her perpetual chatter than for graces of person, she
seemed extremely proud of the rings which adorned both thumb and
little finger of her right hand and the two big toes of her feet. What
between conversation, coffee-making, and the setting before us of bread
and milk, it was fully an hour before we could tear ourselves away from
our gossiping hostess, but at last we set off again up the hill spur, and then
began once more zigzaging downwards. A final scramble brought us
into a small amphitheatre debouching on to the river, the slopes of which
were covered with the curious shrub called by the Arabs " Yenbut," its
long fleshy green twigs or leaves, of the thickness of crotchet needles,
brushing against our faces as we pushed our way through the tangle.

The bed of the Zerka, at this season only some three yards broad, and
barely a foot deep, is bordered with the " Daflah," or oleander, still
showing an occasional pink flower among its dark green leaves. The sides
of the gorge in which the river runs are here extremely steep, in places almost
perpendicular, and while further to the west, down the river, the valley
appears to open out, up eastward the mountains on either hand closed in
more and more, till in the extreme distance the stream makes its
way out of a gigantic cleft where high precipices would seem almost to
meet a thousand feet above the water. At the spot where we now
crossed, the Wady Zerka has a level pebbly bottom above two hundred
yards across, which during the freshets must be almost totally submerged.
Riding straight across this we proceeded to pick out a torrent bed among
the many that cut through the cliffs overhanging the river on the south,
and after half-an-hour's climb up a very steep wady, we were again on the
high uplands, whence, looking back over the gorge, we could trace our
late route among the hills of Jerash. Continuing on through a broad
upland valley dotted with trees, before long there appeared a small village
of mud cabins, — among which was a blacksmith's shop in full blast, —
clustering together under the shade of a grove of oaks, many of them of
no inconsiderable size. The place is called Aluk, and is situated about
two miles distant from the Zerka, due south of the spot at which we came
across the river. From Aluk the road towards 'Amman first runs due
east for a couple of miles over the upland, crossing every now and again
the head of some wady running down towards the left into the gorge of
the Zerka ; and finally, bearing round towards the south, crosses a hill
shoulder from which back over the gorge and the hills the white dome of
Neby HCid can be made out in the far distance. The country over which
we were now travelling may be described as a rolling upland cultivated in
patches by the Bedouin, and in places overgrown by brushwood, scrub
oak, and yanbut. Among these hollows and hills we frequently lost our
way ami wandered about till set on the right path by chancing to stumble

ACCOUNT OF A SHOKT JOUKNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 171

on some small camp of black tents, occupied by the women who were
herding the camels in the absence of their lords.

Several times in this part of the country we passed " Arab circles " of
small boulder stones, and on one occasion, under a hue Butin tree, came
on what was evidently the tomb of a much respected sheikh, to judge
from the corn measures and the plough which had been deposited within
the circle of the shrine for safe keeping. About four miles from AMk,
and roughly to the south-east of it, topping a low hill over which lies the
road, are the ruius of a building that was originally constructed of squared
stones, but of which nothing is now traceable except the general rectan-
gular plan. The place is known by the name of Sarruj, and is used by
the people as a storing place for grain. Some Arabs who were here,
occupied in cleaning corn, invited us to go on to a large encampment of
their tribe, the Beni Hasan, which they pointed out in a hollow a mile
further off. Here the black tents, fifteen in number, and of the largest
size, were pitched in two lines facing east. On stopping to inquire and
aive the news, we were requested by the sheikh to administer relief to an
unfortunate Arab who lay at the back of the tent suffering from failing
breath, in what appeared the last stage of consumption, a disease that is
said to be of no uncommon occurrence among the Bedouin. The case,
however, as far as we could judge, was beyond the reach of medicine, and
there was no physician among us, so with expressions of sympathy, and
a few general directions as to the patient's comfort, we took leave and
continued our way up over a hill to the south-east, from whence was
overlooked a broad shallow valley, not unlike that in which is situated
Jerash. This valley, the drainage of which is towards the north, runs up
at a very slight gradient in a direction almost due south, for over six
mdes. It is called by the Bedouin of the Beni Hasan, Wady Khalla, or
Khalli, and affords good pasture to their herds, which find water at
several shallow wells that occur in its bed. The sheep and goats that are
here met with are of a remarkably fine breed, large in size and having
heavy fleeces. The bell-weather of each flock is distinguished by a sort of
crown of gaudily coloured feathers attached to the back of the neck just
behind the ears, the wool in its neighbourhood being further dyed red
with henna. As we proceeded up this valley, which is everywhere dotted
with oak trees and thorn, there appeared a ruin on the right hand, high
up the slope of the hills shutting in the valley from the west, where by
our glasses we could perceive, as we thought, the remains of walls. It is
known by the names of Khurbet-er-Rumaneh and Khurbet-el-Bireh, but
being much pressed for time it was found impossible to visit the spot,
which, further, our guide assured us, was at the present day but little
more than a heap of stones. A short distance beyond, where we lost sight
of the ruin, the valley takes a sharp turn to the right, and then back
into a south-westerly direction, which following we soon after turned up
into a branch wady coming in from the west, and happily came to the
main encampment of the Beni Hasan, it being already two hours
after midday. Here twenty-four long black tents, pitched in double row,

172 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

took up the whole of the floor of the wady, and to that of the sheikh,
conspicuous by its superior size, we proceeded to pick our way over the
tent ropes, and made ourselves the recipients of Bedouin hospitality.

First came the customary thimbleful of coffee — roasted, pounded, and
boiled up in our presence ; then followed a more substantial repast of
excellent new Arab bread — resembling thick pancakes — which was
seasoned by being dipped bit by bit in a bowl of melted butter ; then
coffee once more, and in an hour we were on our road again, haVing given
our hosts the latest items of political news, and received from them in
return minute directions as to the path. Returning back into the main wady,
the track runs up it some little way, and then turning south-west crosses a
low shoulder. From this point there is one road leading almost due west,
up a wady, going direct to es Salt, while that towards Amman keeps on in
a south-westerly direction over the rolling country, and cuts across many
minor wadies that run down from the east. Near the point of bifurcation
of these two roads there is a small clump of Butni or Terebinth trees, at
the foot of which are lying the shafts of two broken columns. The larger
of them is a monolith some 9 feet long, and is cut out of the piece in such
a manner that the base, 4 feet high and about 2 feet in diameter, tapers
down to the shaft of half this size, the whole being very neatly executed
in white limestone. A mile further on again, where the road runs along
the western slope of a shallow wady, we passed fragments of six more
broken columns of about the same size as the above, but since no further
trace of any temple or building was to be seen in the neighbourhood, one
is lead to the supposition that these fragments have at some period been
transported hither from the great centre of ruins at Yajuz. We were now
travelling along a raised causeway, the remains of a Roman road, running
over the undulating plain, which is covered here and there by patches of
corn land, and after a couple of miles our horses began to stumble among
stones of Yajuz ; but as the sun had already gone down, archaeology was
out of the question, and it was necessary to discover, without further delay,
the whereabouts of the Bedouin camp in which it was our intention to
pass the night. Turning, therefore, off the road at right angles towards
the west, a goatherd directed us to a slight depression in the plain where,
after twenty minutes riding, we came suddenly on about a dozen tents of
the Beni Adwan, and without unnecessary ceremony pressed ourselves on
the hospitality of the somewhat surly sheikh. The night was bitterly cold,
and, what between the wind and the fleas, and the extremely confiding
nature of the ewes, who, for warmth's sake, were always trying to in-
sinuate themselves beneath our blankets, sleep was fitful. Further, and
as usual, till far into the night, our Arab friends discussed in strident tones
politics and finance, for, as every traveller knows to his cost, these worthies
have such a habit of sleeping at odd hours during the day, that at night
being wakeful, they are sadly addicted to interminable discoursings.
Discomfort only ceased with the dawn-chill, and, being up betimes, when
the sun rose in splendour over the rolling uplands, here in most parts
covered with the growth of a plant resembling heather, we were already on

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 173

our way back to the road into Yajuz, out of which we had turned the night
before.

At the entrance of the ruins is a large clump of some of the finest Tere-
binth trees that ever I came across. In their immediate neighbourhood is
a large Arab cemetery, the most prominent tomb of which is that of Nimi
ibn Gobelan, a sheikh of the Adwan, whose death, according to the inscrip-
tion on tbe headstone, took place a.h. 1238, i.e., some sixty and odd years
go. His memory is still held in awe among the Bedouin, as is proved by
the numerous ploughs and other farm implements that lie round his tomb,
left there for safe keeping, as in a sanctuary. One of the Adwan, our host
of the previous night, who accompanied us a short distance on our journey,
informed me that this spot is known under the name of A'deyl, and is
considered distinct from Yajuz, the ruins of which extend from it east-
wards for more than a mile. These ruins, now known by the Arabs und( r
the above name, have been so fully described in their respective works by
Mr. Oliphant and Dr. Merrill 1 that further details may be deemed super-
fluous. It is noteworthy, however, that all attempts at identification seem
to have failed, although the extensive remains of carved Byzantine capitals,
squared blocks, and the foundations of numerous edifices which crowd both
sides of this broad upland valley would lead us to conclude that there must
have existed here a very populous town during the Grteco-Roman period.
It may be worth noting that in the lists of the Arab geographers there is
no mention of the name Yajuz ; nor was there in the days of the Caliphate,
so far as I can discover, any considerable town that agrees in point of
situation with the site of these ruins. The caves with which the hill slopes
are honeycombed are still used by the Adwan as granaries, but apparently
no settled inhabitants are found in the neighbourhood.

After spending some time in riding in every direction over these
interesting remains, and seeking in vain for anything in the way of an
inscription or a date, we proceeded in a south-easterly direction, still over
a rolling country that showed ever and anon patches of cultivation. The
shallow wadies that the track crosses for the most part run down towards
the east, presumably into the depressed plain of El Bukeia ; however, for
some miles round the whole district here about is known under the name
of Yajuz. Half-an-hour after leaving the ruins we passed a large nameless
heap of disjointed but squared masonry, lying in the shade of some Butm
trees growing on a hill slope facing the north. From here the path,
turning up the wady towards the east, crosses some low hills, and finally
surmounting the crest, leads down into a curiously long and narrow plain :
apparently the bed of an ancient lake, as I should judge, analogous to that
which once filled the depressed plain of El Bukeia, lying some miles over
to the north-west of our present point. Wending down the slopes which,
just before reaching the level, showed successive lines of pebbly beach and
water- worn banks, we descended to the ancient lake bottom, here some
400 yards broad, and as even as a billiard table. The Arabs of the

1 " Land of Gileatl," p. 227, et seq. " East of the Jordan," p. 273, et seq.

174 ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN.

Adwan call this tract of land Hemel Belka, and cultivate the rich alluvial
soil in patches, raising crops of wheat and maize (durra). From the point
we struck it, the plain extends for the distance of about a couple of miles
due south, having an average breadth that might be estimated at a quarter
of a mile, and then bears off in a south-easterly direction, draining down
in all probability into the Zerka Valley, which, according to the maps,
curves round towards it. Where the angle occurred we came up out of
the narrow plain, and striking over the hills to the south-south-west passed
another nameless ruin, where confused heaps of masonry are crowned by a
few small, but most elegant, oval arches, which passed, once again we
found ourselves on the upland plain that trends down south towards
Amman.

The land here, after the early rains, was undergoing the process of
being ploughed and sown by the Fellahin of the Beni Adwan. At one
moment we could count above thirty yoke of oxen, and the wonted stillness
was agreeably enlivened by the shouts of the ploughmen, who, in more
than one case, were engaged in directing the capricious evolutions of
camels that had been compelled to take the place of the more docile steers.
Considering the ungainly size of the camels and the diminutive wooden
plough to which they were so clumsily harnessed, it was assuredly a marvel
of skill that the furrows ran in passably straight and parallel lines. The
camels evidently loathed the business, and to judge by the objurgations of
their drivers — who were continually calling heaven to witness that their
(the camels') clumsiness was the natural consequence of a dissolute life and
a disreputable ancestry, — the camel-men themselves were not enamoured
of their job. For a considerable time we passed patch after patch being-
ploughed in this fashion, and riding over a treeless plateau at length
struck back into the high road running south-east from Yajuz to 'Amman,
which we had left to our right in turning off to visit the ruins and the
Hemel Belka. After this, very shortly came a rather steep wady in a
cross direction, running due east, down which the path led, and in a few
minutes more we found ourselves for the second time in the Valley of the
Zerka, and the ruins of 'Amman were before us.

In these notes, however, the ruins being fully described in all the
guide books, it would be waste of time attempting to recall the wonders
of Greek architecture that have hitherto lain peacefully entombed beyond
the Jordan, but which are now given over by the Ottoman Government to be
a habitation for Circassian colonists. At the house of one of these worthies,
while being hospitably entertained with tea and new bread, I endeavoured,
but in vain, to gain some information concerning the whereabouts of the
curious subterranean city of Bahab that Mr. Oliphant, in "The Land of
Gilead," reports having heard spoken of as existing in the country to the
east of the Zerka. All we could learn was that some people had heard tell
in stories of this place, but no one at 'Amman had seen the spot or knew
of its exact position. As confirming these somewhat vague notices, it may
be, perhaps, worth while to draw attention to the account which Mokaddasi.
in the beginning of the eleventh century a.d., gives of a remarkable

ACCOUNT OF A SHORT JOURNEY EAST OF THE JORDAN. 175

cavern in these parts. After describing 'Amman, where he notes "the
( 'astle of Goliath on a hill overlooking the city, and also the tomb of
Uriyya (Uriah ?), over which stands a mosque," 1 he continues : "About a
farsakh (three miles) distant from Amman, on the border of the desert, is
the village of ar-Rakim. Here is a cave with two gates, one small, one big,
and they say that he who enters by the larger gate is unable to pass by
the smaller. On the floor of the cavern are three tombs, concerning which
Abul Fadl Muhammed ibn Mansur has related to me the following, on the
authority of Abu Bekr ibn, &c," and after giving his chain of authorities,
which reaches back to Abd Allah, the son of the Khalif Omar, he reports
how the Prophet had said that these were the tombs of certain pious men,
who, seeking shelter from the rain, had entered this cave and been shut in
by the fall of a rock which blocked up completely the entrance. The
impediment, however, was miraculously removed by the hand of the Most
High, on their calling to Heaven for aid, and every man conjuring the
Almighty, and resting his claim on the virtue of some especially pious
act performed in past times. The legend is here not to the purpose,
and is besides too long to quote in extenso, it being merely another version
of the story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, whose adventures form the
subject of a portion