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'WKi 


T,     ■     I    >"rr 


THE  J.  PAUL  GETTY  MUSEUM  LIBRARY 


PALESTINE 
EXPLORATION  FUND. 


Patron— THE    KING. 


Oua  rte  rly   St  a  te  inent 


FOR     1901 


3^ 


LONDON: 

PUBLISHED      AT     THE      POUND'S      OFFICE, 
38,     CONDUIT     STREET,     W. 


•     ••     •  •»   •  •     • 


lOKDON : 

TIARhrsON    Ayr*    POXS.    PHTXXEnS    TX    ORDTNAHT    TO    niS    MAJESTY, 

ST.    MAKTIX'S    LANE. 


-^HF  J  PAUL  GETTY  CENTER 
LIBRARY 


INDEX 

TO 

NAMES     OF     THE    AUTHORS    AND    OF    THE    PAPEfiS 
CONTRIBUTED    BY    THEM. 


Baldensperger,  P.  J.,  Esq. —  PAaE 

Woman  in  the  East ..             66,167,252 

Bliss,  F.  J.— 

"Notes  oil  t\w  Jammrj  Quarterly  iitatemeHt        ..          ..  ..  307 

Cady,  Et'v.  Putnam — 

Exploration  of  tlio  VVady  Mdjib  from  the  Dead  Sea     ..  ..  44 

Note  on  the  same  by  Sir  Charles  Wilson,  K.C.B.           . .  . .  49 

Conder,  Colonel  C.  R.,  R.E.— 

Note  on  Greek  Inscriptions  from  Sandahaunah              . .  . .  59 

Jar-handle  Inscriptions        . .           . .           . .           . .           . .  . .  63 

Note  on  Dolmens      . .           . .           . .           . .           . .           . .  . .  409 

The  Site  of  Calvary 409 

Cre,  Pere  Leon — 

Discovery  at  the  Pool  Bethesda    . .          . .          . .          . .  . .  163 

Dickson,  John,  Esq.,  H.B.M.  Consul — 

A  Eecently-diseovered  Mosaic  at  Jerusalem        ..          ..  ..  233 

Gunneau,  Professor  Clermont-,  LL.D. — 

Greek  Inscriptions  from  Tell  Sandahannah         ..          ,.  ..  54 
Archteological  and  Epigraphic  Notes  : — 

1.  Seal  of  the  Leper  Hospital  of  St.  Lazarus,  Jerusalem  ..  109 

2.  Ehodian,  not  Jewish  Amphora-handles      ..           ..  ..  114 

3.  Inscription  from  the  Columbarian  es-Siik  . .          . .  . .  116 

4.  B  Oman  Inscriptions  on  a  Jerusalem  Aqueduct      ..  ..  118 

5.  Greek  Inscriptions  from  Beersheba. .          ..          ..  •.  1-2 

6.  The  Land  of  Promise,  Mapped  in  Mosaic  at  Madeba  ..  235 

7.  The  Cufic  Inscription   in  the  Basilica  of  Constantiiie  and 

the  Destruction  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  by 

the  Caliph  Ilakem    . .          . .          . .          . .          . .  . .  246 

8.  Betomarsea-Maioumas,  and  "  the  matter  of  Peor  "  . .  369 

9.  Hebrew  Inscription  in  Mosaic  at  Ivefr  Keuna        . .  . .  251,  374 


40519 


IV 


GeU,  Rev.  Canon — 

The  Site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 

Excui-jiiifi  on  tlie  Resurrection  on  the  Hy])othesis  that  it  took 
place  from  a  Tomb  similar  in  construction  to  the  ''  Tombs 
of  the  Kinps,"  and  in  that  A'^icinity 

Ilanaucr,  Rev.  T.  E. — 

The  Ruin  at  Khurbet  Beit  Sawir  . . 


PAGE 

299 


413 


305 


Hill,  Gray,  Esq.— 

The  Ruin  at  Khiirbet  Beit  Sawir  . . 

Macalister,  R.  A.  Stewart,  M.A.— 

Es-Suk  :   Tell  Sandiihannah  

Notes  on  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's  "  Archseolofrical  Researches 

in  Palestine  "     . . 
Mosaics  from  the  Mount  of  Olives 

Aiiipliora-haiidk's  with  Greek  Stamp.s  from  Tell  Sandaliannali 
The  Rock-cut  Tombs  in  Wady  er-Rababi,  Jerusalem    . .  1 

The  Rock  Cuttings  of  KhTirbct  el-'Ain     . . 
Tlie  Rock-cut  Chapel  at  Beit  Leyi 

Tomb-Kohl 

The  es-Suk  Inscription 

On  a  Sepulchral  Cist  nt  ar  Tell  Sandahannah 

On  Certain  Antiquities  in  the  neiglibourhood  of  Beit  Jibrin 

The  Birak  esh-Sliinanir 

A  Note  on  West  Palestinian  Dolmens 

Addenda  to  tlie   List  of    Rliodian   Stamped  Jar-handles  from 

Tell  Sandahannah 
The  Nicophorieh  Tomb 

MacColl,  Rev.  Canon — 

The  Site  of  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre    . . 

Masterman,  Dr.  E.  W.  Gurney — 

The  Ruin  at  Khurbet  Beit  Sawir  . . 

Murray,  Rev.  A.  S.,  LL.D. 

Note  on  Greek  Inscriptions  from  Sandahannah  . .  . .  . .  59 

Nies,  Rev.  James  B.,  Pli.l).- 

Notes  on  a  Cros?  Jordan  Trip  made  October  23rd  to  November 

7th,  1899  362 

Offord,  Joseph,  M.S.B.A.— 

Note  on  the  Winged  Figures  upon  the  Jar-handles  discovered 

by  Dr.  Bliss 64 

Rouse,  W.  H.  D.,  Esq.— 

Note  on  Greek  Inscriptions  from  Sandahannah  ..  ..  ..  60 

Schick,  Dr.  Conrad — 

Ancient  CJiurches  in  the  Muristan            ..  ..           ..           ..  •'^1 

Kubeibeli  (Emmaus)           ..          ..          ••  ••          •■            .  165 

A  Recently  Discovered  Mosaic  at  Jerusalem  . .           . .           . .  233 

Hill    of    "  Jeremiah's    Grotto,"    called     by  General     Gordon 

"Skull  Hill" ..  * 402 


407 

11 

19 
24 

25,  121. 

45,  215 
159 
226 
280 
230 
231 
390 
391 
394 

394 
397 

273 
305 


Segnll,  Ilov.  Joseph —  *  page 

A  Druze  Talisman    ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  .,  4.0G 

Smith,  Profossor  Goorge  Adam — 

Notes  of  a  Joiirnev  throiigli  Haiiran,  witli  Inscriptions  Found 

by  the  Way 310 

Vincent,  Father — 

The  Tombs  of  (lie  Prophets  at  Jerusalem  ..  ..  .,  SOO 

Wallis,  W.  Clarlson,  E.-q.— 

Note  on  the  lligli  Place  at  Petra 65 

Watson,  Colonel  C.  M.,  C.M.G.— 

The  Measurement  of  Eggs  ..  ,.  ..  ..  ..  ,,  203 

Wilson,  Major-General  Sir  Charles,  K.C.E.,  F.R.S.,  E.E.— 

Notices  of  Foreign  Publications    . .  . .  . ,  91,  205,  308,  419 

Wright,  Professor  Theodore  F.,  Ph.D.— 

Jar-handle  Inscriptions       .,           ..           ..  ..  ..  ..  GO 

Jar-hiindle  Stamp  at  Cambridge,  U.S.A.  . .  . .  . .  . .  250 

A  Crusading  Ir.scription      ,.           ..           ,,  ..  .,  ..  407 

Zeller,  Rev.  John — 

The  Bcdawm  185 


a  2 


VI 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIOXS. 


To.\er  of  David,  with  the  New  Carriage  Entrance  beside  the  Jaffa  Gate 

and  the  Recently-ereetod  Drinking  Fountain 
Plan  of  es-Suk,  'iell  Sandlmnnali    . . 
Sections  of  cs-Siik,  Tell  Sanduliunnah 
Inscriptions,  Greek, _&c.        . .  . .  . .  . .  . .  . .        14 

Cross    . . 

Mosaics  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  . . 

Callirrhoe  River  (Wady  Zerka  Ma'ahi)  entering  the  Dead  Sea,  showiu 

Trees  Growing  in  the  Sea 
Mouth  of  the  Eiver  Arnon  (Wady  MOjib) 
Boat  and  Baggagi^  on  Camel 
Eastern  Shore  of  the  Dead  Sea 
Plan  of  Church  of  Sta.  Maria  Major  in  Muristan 
Section  of  Church  of  Sta.  Maria  Major  in  Muristan 
Inscriptions  (Greek),  to  Illustrate  M.  Ganneau's  Paper 
Greek  Stamps  on  Jsir-handles 
Coin  with  Figure  of  Six  Wings 
Seal  of  the  Leper  Hospital   . . 
Plan  Showing  Postern  in  North   Wall  of  Jerusale.n,  and  Position  of 

Ilaret  el-Birket  . . 
Ehodiau  Jar-iiandlfS. .  ..  ,.  ..  .. 

Greek  Inscriptions  from  the  Columbarium  es-Suk 
Tell  Saiidalranr.ah  Excavations  :  Seals  from  Greek  Amphora-handles 
Khodian  Stamped  Amphora  . . 

Plms  of  Ruck-cut  Tombs  in  Wady  er-Rababi 
Discovery  of  the  Pool  Bethesda 
Plan  of  Churcli  at  Kubeibch 
Plan  of  Kubeibeh  and  Neighbourhood 
Plans  and  Sections  of  Tombs  iu  Wady  cr-Rababi 
Rock-cut  Chapel  at  Beit  Lcyi 
Sepulchral  Cist  near  Tell  Sandahauiiah     . . 
Mosaic  Recently  Discovered  at  Jerusalem. . 
Plan  .Showing  Position  of  Same 
Hebrew  Inscription  iu  Mosaic  at  Kefr  Keuna 
I)r.  Schick's  Plan  of  Ancient  Jerusalem 

Dr.  Rosen's  Plan  Showing  Limits  of  Debris  North  of  Jerusalcui 
Ruin  at  Kh.  Beit  Sawir 
Tombs  of  the  Propliets 
Sections  of  the  Same . . 


19, 


PAGE 

1 
10 

13 
20 
21 
24 


44 
44 
47 
47 
50 
53 
54,56 
62 
64 
109 


14 


113 
115 
116 
125 
144 
157 
164 
165 
166 
210-225 
227 
232 
233 
234 
251 
294 
300 
306 
311 
314 


vu 


Tlie  late  Sir  WaltLT  r.i'saiit 

Falls  at.  Tell  osh-ShiiiaU 

Mouuineut  of  Sety  1  at  Toll  osli-Sliiliab   .. 

luiljrussion  of  Cylinder  Soul 

Greek  Inseriptioii  in  Wall  al  'tell  el-'Ash'ary 

Altar  at  Tell  el-'Aslrary 

Remains  of  Walls  on  Toll  el-'Ash'ary      . . 

Lower  Line  of  Rouglily-lievvn  Banall.  Stones  on 

G-reek  Inseription  at  Sheikh  Miskin 

Inseription  on  Roman  Milestone  near  Yajuz 

Grailiti  in  Caves  under  "  a  Tell  "  . . 

Plan  of  Ancient  Chureli  at  Kefr  Keiina   . . 

Stono  in  Wall  near  Tell  Sandahaniiah 

"  Standard  or  Flag  of  the  Partridges  " 

Plan  and  Section  of  Tomb  on  Nicophorieh 

Sarcophagi  in  Tomb  on  Nicophorieh 

Section  of  Groiuul  between  the  City  Wall  an 

Grotto" 

A  Druze  Talisman  . . 
Crusading  Inscription 
Plan  of  "  Tombs  of  the  Kings  "     , . 


Tell  el- 


Ash'a 


Hill 


of  "Ju 


■emiul 


PAGE 
31'J 
315 

317 
350 
3.J3 
351 
356 
357 
3G1 
3G5 
367 
387 
391 
394 
100 
401 

405 
406 
408 
414 


Vlll 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Abu  Ghosh,  Benedictines  at,  210. 

Anicrii-an  School  of  Research,  5. 

Amphora  Handles  with  Greek  Stamps, 
25-43,  125-143.  395. 

Ancient    Churches    in    the    Muristan, 
51. 

Annual  Meetin-;,  ;J24. 

Antiquities  near  Beit  Jibi'ln,  39U. 

Aqueduct  from  the  Virgin's  Fountain, 
321. 

Aqueduct  near  the  Nablus  Road,  3. 

Aqueduct,  Solomon's  Pools  to  Jerusa- 
lem, Repair  of,  319. 

Archteolotrical  and  Epigraphic  Notes 
on  Palestine.— 1.  Seal  of  the 
Crusading  Period,  from  the  Leper 
Hospital,  109  ;  2.  Rhodian,  and 
not  Jewish,  Amphora  Handles,  11-4  ; 
3.  Inscri]Mion  from  the  Colum- 
barium at  es-Suk,  110  ;  4.  Roman 
Inscriptions  on  a  Jerusalem  Aque- 
duct, 118 ;  5.  A  Greek  Inscription 
from  Beershebit,  122  ;  6.  The  Land 
of  Promise  mapped  in  Mosaic  at 
Madeba,  235  ;  7.  The  CuQc  Inscrip- 
tion in  the  Basilica  of  Constantine. 
24fi  ;  8.  Betomarsca-Maioumas,  and 
"  the  Matter  of  Peor,"  369  ;  9.  Tht' 
Hebrew  Mosaic  of  Kefr  Kenna, 
374. 
Armenian  Convent,  Antiquities  in,  2. 

Baalbec,  Excavations  at,  4. 

Balance  Sheet  and  Treasurer's  State- 
ment, lOfi. 

Bedawin,  The. — Bedawni  illustrating; 
the  Bible,  closely  connected  with 
the  Jews,  Antiquity  of  their  Lan- 
guage, 185  ;  Probably  came  from 
Mesopotamia,  186  ;  Antiquity  of 
Nomad  Life,  its  Privations,  187 ; 
The  Camel,  their  Old  Fame  as 
"Warrior  and  Poets,  188  ;  The 
Desert,  its  Character  and  Influence, 


190;  Samoom,191;  Principal  Plants 
of  the  Desert,  192  ;  Principal  Tribes 
in  Sviia,  Manner  of  Travelling  and 
F.ucamping,  193;  The  Tent,  194; 
Tent  Life,  Diet,  195  ;  Religion, 
196  ;  Fatalism,  Morals,  197 ;  War- 
fare, Stealing  Expeditions,  198 ; 
How  the  Bedawin  Cheat  their 
Creditors,  199  ;  Samples  of  Honesty, 
202. 

Beersheba,  Government  Building  at,  4. 

Betlilehem,  Crvpt  under  tjie  Basilica, 
100. 

Birak  esh-Shinanir,  391. 

Carriage  Road,  Jerusalem  to  Nilblus,  2. 
Casts    of   the    Objects   found   in   the 

Excavations,  98. 
Caves  near  Beit  Jibrin,  162. 
Census  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  99. 
Chapel,  Rock-cut,  at  Beit  Leyi,  226. 
Clock  Towers  in  Galilee,  99. 
Crusading  Inscription,  407. 

Dead  Sea,  Currents  in,  102. 

Dead  Sea  Observations,  4. 

Deir  el-Arb'ain,  100. 

Dcir  ez-Zeitun,  Vault  near,  100. 

Dolmens  in    Western   Palestine,  394, 

409. 
Dominican  Grounds,  Tombs  in,  21. 
Druze  Talisman,  406. 
Dyeing  Business,  101. 

Erloserkirche,  51. 

Errata,  142. 

Es-Suk. -The    Cave,    11;    Details   of 

Galleries,  &c  ,  12-19. 
Excursus  on  the  Resurrection,  413. 

Firman,  Application  for  a  New,  98. 

Firman,  ICxpiration  of,  4. 

Foi-m  of  Bequest,  9,  106,  318,  323. 


IX 


G-ormiin  Post  Office  in  Joru?iiloin,  2. 
German  Scliool  of  Arcli.ToIoKy,  C>. 
Golgodin    and    Mie    iloly    Sepulelire, 

Tlie  Sile  of,  273-290,  319. 
Graffili  in  tlic  Staircase  to  llie  Clinpel 

of  lleleiKi,  v.). 
Greek   Inscriptions  from  'J'oll   Sandn- 

hannnli,  54,  59. 


Haifa,  Eiot  a(,  2. 

Haxiran  and  Syrian  Expedition,  102. 

lTe1)rew  Inscription  in  Mosaic  at  Kefr 

Kennii,  251. 
High  Place  at  Petra.  Note  on,  65. 
Holy    Sepiilclire    and    Golgotha,    Tlie 

Site  of,  273-299. 
Holj  Sepnichre,  Site  of,  299-305. 


Inscription  at  es-Rnk,  230. 

In.script  ion,  Hebrew,  at    Kefr   Kennn. 

251. 
Inscri])tions  on  Jar-lnindles,  60-64. 


Jaffa  Gate,  New  Entrance,  1. 
Jeremiah's  Grotto,  402. 
Jerusalem,  Fountain  at,  1. 
Jerusalem,  Scarcity  of  Water  at^,  319. 


Kli.  el-"'Ain,  Passages  at,  11. 
Kii.  el-'Ain,  Eock-cuttings  at,  159. 
Kii.  Beit  Sawir,  305,  407. 
Kubeilieli  (Kmmaiis),  IfJS,  210. 


Magic  Lead  Figures,  58. 
Mar  Hanna,  52. 
Maria  Latina  Major,  51. 
Maria  Latinn  Minor,  51. 
Measurement  of  Eggs,  203. 
Mosaic   at   Jerusalem,   Recently   Dis- 
covered, 233. 
Mosaic  at  Kefr  Kenna,  6. 
Mosaics  from  the  Mounts  of  Olives,  24. 
Mugliaret  Abu  Haggein,  159. 
Muristan,  Alterations  in,  3. 
Museum  in  Jerusalem,  209. 


Nicophorieh  Tomb,  397. 

Notes  and  News. — New  Entrance  near 
the  Jaffa  Gate,  1  ;  Antiquities  and 
Ancient  Church  in  the  Armenian 
Convent,  Carriage  Road  Jerusalem 
to   Nablus,   German   Post  Office  in 


Jerusalem,  Riot  at  Haifa,  2  ;  Altera- 
tions  in  the  Muristan,  Ancient 
Aqueduct,  near  the  Nftblus  Road,  3  ; 
Now  Government  Building  at  Beer- 
sheha.  Excavations  at  Baalbec, 
Expiration  of  tlie  Tell  es-Safi 
Firman,  Observation  of  Head  Sea 
Levels,  4 ;  American  School  for 
Research,  &c.,  5  ;  German  School 
of  Archaeology,  Di.scovery  of  Mosaic 
at  Kefr  Kenna,  6  ;  Arrival  of 
Duplicates  of  the  Objects  Found, 
A]iplication  for  a  New  Firman,  9S  ; 
Observation  of  Sea  of  Tiberias 
Levels,  Clock  Towers  in  Galilee, 
Small-pox  in  Tiberias,  Visit  of 
Russian  Pilgrims,  Census  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  Rainfall  at  Jeru- 
salem, 99 ;  Vault  near  Heir  cz- 
Zeitun,  Crypt  beneath  the  Basilica 
at  Bethlehem,  Imperial  Ottoman 
Post  at  Jericho,  Deir  cl-Ai-b'ain, 
100;  Kh.  Beit  Sawir,  Rainfall  in 
Palestine,  319  ;  Water  Supply  for 
Jerusalem,  101,  211;  Dyeing  busi- 
ness, 101  ;  Currents  in  the  Dead 
Sea,  Expedition  through  Syria  and 
the  Hauran,  102  ;  Room  set 
apart  in  Jerusalem  for  the  Objects 
Found  in  the  Excavations,  209  ; 
Rebuilding  of  a  Church  at  Ku- 
beibeh,  210  ;  Benedictines  at  Abu 
Ghosh,  210  ;  Golgotha  and  the 
Holy  Sepulchre,  Scarcity  of  Water 
in  Jerusalem,  319  ;  the  Well  Sirah, 
Large  Lemons  at  Tannur,  New 
School  at  Christ  Church,  320. 

Notes  on  a  Cross-Jordan  Trip  in  1899. 
— Haifa  to  Beisan,  Beisan  to  Umm 
Keis  (Gadara),  362;  Bella,  Jirm 
el-Moz,  Roman  Road,  Milestones, 
Kul'at  Rabadh,  363;  Ajlun,  Ain 
Jenneh,  Jerash,  Reimiin,  es-Salt, 
364  ;  Roman  Milestones,  Yajuz, 
Amman,  Hebi'ow  Inscription,  365  ; 
Kasr  es-Sahel,  Gazelles,  Kh.  Luban, 
a  Tell,  366  ;  Inscriptions  in  a  Cave, 
367  ;  Mashita,  368. 

Notes  on  a  Journey  through  the 
Hauran. — Gadara  to  Tell  esh- 
Shihilb,  340;  Tell  esh-Shihab,  Dis- 
covery of  Monument  of  Sety  1, 344  ; 
El-Miizeirib.  350  ;  Tell  el-'Ash'ary, 
351  ;  Tell  'Ashtarah,  359. 

Notes  on  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's 
"  Archaeological  Researches,"  vol.  i, 
19. 

Notes  on  the  January  Quarterli/ 
Statement,  307. 


Noticos  of  Foreifjn  Publications. — 
•'  Roviw  Hihlique,"  vol.  ix,  1900, 
91  ;  vol.  X,  jmrt  1.  1901,  205; 
part  2,  309  ;  part  3,  422  ;  "  Zcit- 
schrift  dos  Deutsclion  Paliistina 
Vereins,"  vol.  xxii,  1899,  92  ;  vol. 
xxiii.  parts  3  and  4.  205  ;  vol.  x::iv, 
part  1,  1901;  "  Mittlunliingen  und 
Xadiriolitcn  des  Deiitschoii  Pal. 
Verein?,"  1S99-1900.  93  ;  "  Rccuoil 
d'Archeologic  Oricntale,"  vol.  iv, 
1900,  93;  vol.  iv,  parts  9  and  10, 
205;  11-16,  308;  parts  17-21, 
422 ;  "  Excavations  at  the  Sanctuary 
of  Nazareth,"  94 ;  "  Le  Mont 
Thabor,"  20fi;  '•  Antour  de  la  Mer 
Morte,"  206  ;  "  Flavins  Josephus', 
Jiidischer  Krieg,"  308;  "La  Mon- 
tague de  la  Galilee,"  308  ;  "  Palas- 
tinischer  Diwan,"  419  ;  "  (Euvres 
Completes  de  Fl.  Joseplie,"  421  ; 
"  A  Byzantine  Mosaic  at  Jeru- 
salem," 423. 


Obiluary.— Death  of  Her  :Majesty 
Qneen  Victoria,  96;  Mr.  H.  A. 
Harper,  1  ;  Mr.  Basil  Woodd 
Smith,  Rev.  H.  Falschecr,  98; 
Sir  Walter  Besant,  207. 


Pool,  Bethesda,  Discovery  at,  163. 


Rainfall  at  Jernsaleni,  99,211. 

Rainfall  at  Tiberias,  211. 

Rainfall    in    Palestine   and    the    new 

Water  Supply  for  Jerusalem,  101, 

319. 
Roman  Remains,  159. 
Russian  Pilgrims.  "N'isit  of,  99. 


School  at  Christ  Church,  321. 
Sepulchral  Cist.  231. 
Sirah,  The  Well,  320. 
Site  of  Calvary,  409. 
Swastika,  IGl." 

Taunur,  Large  Lemons  at,  321. 
Tiberias,  Observations  at,  99. 
Tiberias,  Small-pox  in,  99. 
Tomb-Kohl,  230. 
Tombs  of   the  Prophets,  Inscriptions 

iu,  22,  309. 
Turkisli  Post  at  Jericho,  100. 

Wady  'Arrub,  101,  211. 

Wady  M6jib,  Exploration  of. — Jordan 
to  th(!  Zerka  Ma'ain,  44  ;  Pure 
Sulphur,  Lumps  of  Bitumen, 
Streams  of  Hot  Water,  Callirrhoe, 
Tlie  Arnon,  45  ;  Tlie  Ascent  of  the 
Arnon,  46-47  ;  Various  Experi- 
ences, 48 ;  Strong  Currents,  The 
Oil,  Breakers,  Barometric  Pressure, 
Disappearance  of  Rujm  el-Balir,  49. 

Wady  er-Rababi,  Rock-cut  Tombs 
in,  21,  145-158,  215-226. 

Water  Supply  for  Jerusalem,  101,  211, 
319. 

Woman  in  the  East. — Every-day  Life, 
66 ;  Training  the  Children,  75 ; 
Sickness  and  Death,  79  ;  Religion 
and  Practice,  84;  Concluding  Rc- 
markB,  88 ;  The  Bedawhi  Woman, 
167;  The  Household,  169;  The 
Women,  172  ;  Marriage,  173  ; 
Legend  of  Abu  Zaid,  177;  Every- 
day Life,  252 ;  Loading  Women, 
256;  The  Egypt ian  Woman,  258; 
General  Life,  262  ;  The  Oip.iji/  .- 
General  Description,  268  ;  The 
Women,  269;  Origin,  272. 


(To  I'nci  p.    I. 


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QUARTKKLY    StATKM  KN  T,    JaNI:aI!Y,    1901.] 


THE 

PALESTINE    EXPLORATION    FUND. 


NOTES   AND    NEWS. 

We  regret  to  record  the  death  of  ^[r.  H.  A.  Harper,  who  had 
for  many  years  been  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Fund.  Mr.  Harper  was  well  known  by  his  pictures  of 
scenes  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  numerous  illustrations  to  articles 
for  books  and  magazines.  His  "  Illustrated  Letters  to  My 
Children  from  the  Holy  Land,"  "  Walks  in  Palestine,"  and  ''  The 
Bible  and  Modern  Discoveries,"  have  had  a  large  circulation. 
The  latter  is  included  in  the  publications  of  the  Fund. 


Dr.  Schick  has  sent  the  following  notes  : — 

1.  The  1st  of  September,  1900,  was  the  twenty-fifth  annivei'sary 
of  the  Sultan's  accession  to  the  thi'one,and  the  event  was  celebrated 
thi'oughout  the  empire  by  flags  and  other  decorations,  and  illumi- 
nations in  the  evening.  Several  of  the  chief  towns  also  erected 
some  monument  in  honour  of  His  j\lajesty  and  as  a  remembrance 
of  the  day.  I  hear  that  in  Nablus  they  have  put  up  a  clock  which 
strikes  the  hours,  and  in  .laff'a  a  fountain  at  the  harbour.  In 
Jerusalem  a  fountain  has  been  placed  on  the  space  of  ground 
created  at  the  Jaffa  Gate  by  filling  up  the  castle  ditch,  to  make  a 
wide  entrance  for  the  German  Emperor  two  years  ago.  This 
fimntain  is  to  be  supplied  with  water  from  cisterns,  which  will 
be  made  close  by  in  the  ditch.  In  the  meantime,  water  from  Bii- 
Eyub  is  brought  up  by  the  people  of  Selwan.  Coming  towards 
the  city  from  the  west,  one  sees  this  fountain  or  drinking  jdace 
(Sabil)  in  front  of  him  as  a  new  domed  building  glittering  in  gold 
and  leaning  against  the  grey  walls  of  the  castle.     It  is  round  in 

A 


•_J  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

*y\ptif  but  belii'i.l  a  S'igceut  is  cut  off  to  give  room  bt'twecn  it  and 
the  cattle  'val-  for  sv  man  to  fill  it  with  water.  Outside  are  four 
piojocting  pillarE  of  red  stone  with  mouldings,  and  over  them 
the  dome '.with'  t-tie  never-failing  gilded  crescent.  The  basin 
containing  the  water  is  fujniished  with  about  a  dozen  taps,  and  to 
each  tap  a  drinking  cup  is  fixed  by  a  chain.  The  diameter  of  the 
buihling  is  about  8  or  9  feet,  and  the  whole  height  about  25  feet. 
It  is  built  of  red  and  white  stones  alternately. 

On  the  same  day  the  Greek  Convent  opened  their  new  fountain 
in  the  Muristan,  and  the  Armenian  Convent  a  movable  (me  in 
the  place  before  the  entrance  to  their  large  Convent,  which  in  the 
evening  was  illuminated  with  electric  light. 

2.  "When  invited  to  see  some  antiquities  in  the  Armenian 
Convent,  I  made  use  of  the  opportunity  to  see  also  their  library, 
which,  to  my  astonishment,  is  in  an  old  church,  similar  to  those  I 
reported  upon  in  the  Quarterly  Statement,  1895,  p.  :^21,  and  else- 
where. 

3.  The  carriage  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Nablus,  for  such  a 
long  time  designed,  is  now  being  actually  made.  The  work  began 
about  four  weeks  ago,  under  the  superintendence  of  an  Armenian, 
who  has  come  from  Constantinople  for  the  purpose.  Some  Jerusalem 
Effendis  had  tried  to  have  the  road  carried  over  'Ain  Sinia,  but  in 
vain,  as  this  village  is  situated  in  a  deep  valley,  and  the  line  of  the 
new  road  is  to  be  kept  as  much  as  possible  on  the  high  ground, 
and  as  nearly  as  may  be  on  a  level.  The  work  is  already  done 
between  Jerusalem  and  liireli,  whence  a  branch  will  be  made 
to  Ramallah. 

4.  In  one  of  my  reports  I  mentioned  that  a  German  post-office 
had  been  established  in  Jerusalem,  and  this,  as  it  seems,  gave 
occasion  for  a  French  office  also  to  be  opened,  and  people  speak 
already  also  of  a  Russian  and  an  English  one. 

5.  At  Haifa  there  was  recently  a  dangerous  riot.  At  the 
landing  stage  made  two  years  ago,  near  the  German  colony,  for 
the  landing  of  the  German  Emperor,  people  are  accustomed  to 
take  sea  baths,  as  the  spot  is  convenient  for  the  purpose.  Certain 
hours  are  appointed  for  females,  and  as  it  happened  that  young 
men  from  Haifa  assembled  there  at  this  time,  the  Mudir  (or 
Governor)  of  Haifa  stationed  a  sentinel  there  to  send  them  off. 
But,  instead  of  obeying,  they  began  to  beat  the  soldier,  and  as  he 


IS-QTES   AND    NEWS.  3 

hiul  no  eai'tridc^cs  for  liis  guu,  and  could  not  dufcml  himself,  ho 
ran  to  the  nei,<,'hbouriug  German  Hotel.  The  mob  followed  and 
broke  the  windows  with  stones,  on  seeing-  which  the  Germans  of 
the  colony  came  out  well  armed  and  the  mob  fled.  At  the  time 
there  were  in  the  hotel,  as  guests,  some  high  Turkish  officers,  and 
they  telegraphed  to  'Akka  for  soldiers,  who  came  after  a  few 
hours  and  made  many  prisoners.  An  investigation  is  now  being 
made,  and  it  is  spread  abroad  that  the  Christians  are  about  to  kill 
the  Moslems  !  Others  say  the  affair  is  owing  to  the  jealousy  of 
the  French  against  the  Gei^mans. 

6.  The  Armenian  Convent  have  bought  a  piece  of  ground 
north  of  the  north-east  corner  of  the  city,  or  Burj  Laklak,  and 
intend  to  make  some  excavations  there.  They  asked  me  what 
they  would  be  likely  to  find.  This  I  could  not  say,  but  advised 
them  to  begin  and  they  would  certainly  find  something. 

7.  The  Greeks  are  making  great  alterations  in  their  part  of  the 
Muristan,  and  many  ancient  remains  will  be  destroyed  or  buried 
deep  under  the  new  buildings.  The  new  plan  is  east  of  the 
"  CroAvn  Prince  Frederick  Street,"  already  made,  from  which  three 
broad  streets  will  run  in  a  westward  direction  and  be  crossed  by 
two  diagonal  streets,  the  whole  forming  at  the  point  of  intersec- 
tion an  open  space  or  square  from  which  the  new  streets  will 
radiate.  In  the  centre  of  this  open  space  is  the  recently-made 
fountain  alluded  to  above. 

In  disrgfinof  for  foundations  north  of  the  Church  of  Mar 
Hanna  a  narrow  street,  or  lane,  with  steps,  was  found  leading 
past  the  lower  church  and  further  eastward,  how  far  I  cannot  say. 

8.  In  making  the  carriage  road  to  Nablus  an  ancient  aqueduct 
has  been  discovered,  cut  in  rock  10  feet  deep,  2  feet  wide  at  the  top, 
and  a  little  narroAver  at  the  bottom.  It  is  roughly  worked.  The 
lowest  part  contains  fine  sand-like  earth,  over  which  is  common 
red  earth  without  stones,  and  above  this  stones  of  all  sorts.  It  is 
covered  by  strong  flat  stones,  and  was  cleared  on  the  top  for 
about  30  feet  in  a  direction  south  and  north.  It  is  north  of 
Wady  al-Joz,  at  the  level  2,555'8  on  the  Ordnance  Survey  plan 
iTTooo-  It  would  be  interesting  to  clear  it  out  to  some  depth  and 
ascertain  where  it  comes  fi^om.  The  late  Geneial  Gordon  had 
always  the  idea  that  the  water  of  the  spring  at  Birch  had  once 
been  brought  to  Jerusalem,  bringing  it  iu  connection  with  the 

A  2 


4  NOTES   AND    NEWS. 

aqueduct  from  the  north,  excavated  by  me  some  years  ago,  aud 
laid  down  in  the  new  edition  of  the  Ordnance  Survey  map  tt-s^o 
aud  in  Sir  C.  Warren's  Portfolio,  Nos.  IV  and  XXXVII,  and  the 
recently  issued  reduced  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  showing  in  red  recent 
discoveries.  On  the  northern  slope  of  Wad}-  al- Joz  is  to  be  seen 
on  the  surface  a  rock-cutting  as  if  the  aqueduct  had  come  out  hei'e. 
It  is  in  the  line  of  some  cuttings  on  the  southern  slope  opposite, 
as  if  these  were  the  continuation  of  it.  If  this  were  so  a  bridge  or 
elevated  aqueduct  about  70  to  80  feet  above  the  ground  would 
have  been  needed  to  cross  the  valley. 


Dr.  Bliss  writes  that  a  new  Kaimakamiyeh  (Lieutenant- 
(Jovernorship)  has  been  established  at  Beersheba.  An  architect 
proceeded  there  from  Gaza  in  a  carriage,  sending  men  ahead  to 
smooth  certain  rough  places  on  the  road.  The  drive  back  he 
accomplished  in  four  hours.  In  building  the  new  Government 
House  material  from  tlie  ruins  is  being  utilised.  The  cai-riage 
road  to  Xablus  is  progressing. 


Excavations  at  Baalbec,  under  a  two  years'  permit  granted  to 
the  German  Emperor,  have  been  going  on  for  three  months.  At 
present  the  work  is  confined  to  clearing  out  the  debris,  which 
stands  to  a  considerable  height  above  the  original  ground  levels 
of  the  temples.  A  series  of  Arab  houses  has  been  excavated, 
showing  that  at  one  period  the  walls  of  the  great  enclosure  Avere 
used  to  protect  a  small  settlement. 


The  Firman  for  excavations  at  Tell  es-Safi  and  its  neighbour- 
hood having  expired  at  the  end  of  October,  Dr.  Bliss  has  prepared 
a  general  snmuiary  of  the  two  years'  work,  which  will  be 
published  subsequently,  and  Mr.  Macalister  has  returned  to 
England,  bringing  with  him  numerous  plans  and  drawings  oi 
the  objects  found. 

Observation  of  Dead  Sea  L'cels. — ^fr.  Macalister  reports  as 
follows:  — 

"  In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  Committee  I  visited 
Jericho  on  October  8th,  1900,  and  on  the  following  day  proceeded 
to  'Ain  Feshkah. 


NOTES   AND    NEWS.  5 

"After  ii  short  searcli  1  .succeeded  in  liiidin*^'  a  rock  which 
combines  all  the  requisite  characteristics  for  selection.  It  is  ji 
boulder  standing  sheer  out  of  the  water  to  a  height  of  about 
tiU  feet,  with  a  smaller  rock  in  front  of  it  that  affords  convenient 
standing  ground  for  taking  ob.servations,  but  is  so  situated  that 
it  does  not  preyent  a  plummet  or  tape-measure  being  dropped 
perpendicularly  to  the  surface  of  the  water  from  the  mai-k  which 
1  caused  a  stonenuison  to  make  on  the  face  of  the  rock. 

"  This  mark  is  a  horizontal  line,  8  or  9  inches  long,  with  the 
initials  PEF  beneath  it.  The  line  at  the  time  when  it  Avas  cut 
was  exactly  14  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  sea  (determined  by  a 
common  tape-measure).  Time,  10  a.m.,  October  9th,  1900.  This 
may  be  taken  as  the  first  observation  of  the  contemplated  series. 

"The  rock  in  question  has  the  additional  advantage  of  being 
easily  found.  Southward  from  'Ain  Feshkah  stretches  a  rank 
growth  of  reeds  along  the  margin  of  the  sea.  This  row  of  reeds 
is  interrupted  near  its  southern  end  by  the  rock,  wliich  is  the  only 
break  in  the  growth.  To  reach  the  mark  it  is  necessary  to 
scramble  round  the  south  end  of  the  rock. 

"Dr.  Mastermau,  of  Jerusalem,  accompanied  me,  and  he  is 
therefore  acquainted  with  the  spot." 


With  reference  to  the  projected  American  School  for  Oriental 
Study  and  Research  in  Palestine,  Professor  Theodore  F.  Wright 
sends  the  following  information  : — 

"  The  American  School  at  Jerusalem  is  foixnded  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  American  schools  in  Athens  and  Rome.  All  are 
fostered  by  the  American  Institute  of  Arclia^ology,  wliich  is  a 
large  organisation  with  branches  in  the  larger  cities.  The 
students  Avill  be  graduates  of  colleges,  and  probably  also  of 
theological  seminaries,  which  have  a  three-years'  course  in 
addition  to  the  four  years  of  collegiate  instruction.  About 
twenty  of  these  seminaries  have  united  in  a  small  annual  con- 
tribution, which  gives  them  the  privilege  of  sending  a  student 
who  will  receive  instruction  free.  Of  course,  special  students 
will  also  be  admitted.  The  director  will  be  selected  from  tlie 
contributing  institutions,  and  will  be  changed  yearly  for  the 
present.  A  modest  beginning  in  hired  quarters  will  be  made 
as  soon  as  a  Firman  is  obtained,  and  to  this  the  first  director  is 
giving  his  attention.     What  the  school  ma}'  become  by  growth 


6  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

it  is  impossible  to  say.  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  excavation 
Avill  be  attempted  in  due  time,  Americans  having  been  very 
successful  in  Greece.  The  prime  object  is  study  of  the  languages 
of  the  Bible  lands,  their  fauna  and  flora,  and  the  life  of  their 
inhabitants,  iu  order  to  gain  the  Oriental  point  of  view  foi- 
future  studies.  If  excavation  is  attempted  it  will  be  thorough, 
examining  the  whole  length,  breadth,  and  depth  of  a  Tell,  as  is 
now  being  done  by  Americans  in  Babylonia  with  the  best  results." 


It  is  understood  that  also  a  German  School  of  Archasology 
is  about  to  be  established  in  Jerusalem. 


We  understand  that  the  German  Palestine  Society  has 
obtained,  through  the  German  Embassy  at  Constantinople,  the 
sanction  of  the  Porte  to  the  completion  of  the  survey  of  the 
country  east  of  Jordan  by  Dr.  Schumacher,  and  that  the  German 
Government  have  given  the  Society  a  grant  of  2.5,000  marks 
(£1,250).  We  congratulate  the  German  Society  on  their  good 
fortune,  and  wish  Dr.  Schumacher  every  success  in  carrying  out 
this  important  work. 

The  Committee  are  glad  to  learn  from  Dr.  Bliss  that  the  state 
of  his  health  has  very  materially  improved  during  the  last  few 
months,  and  that  he  is  now  better  and  stronger  than  at  any  time 
since  the  excavations  which  are  just  completed  were  begun. 


M.  Clermont-Ganneau  has  kindly  promised  to  contribute  to 
the  Quarterly  Statement  notes  on  the  important  discovery  of  a 
Hebrew  inscription  in  Mosaic  at  Kefr  Kenna,  reported  in  the 
"  Comptes  rendus  des  Seances  de  I'Academie  des  Inscriptions 
et  Belles-lettres,"  and  on  the  Roman  inscription  which  has  been 
found  on  the  "  high  level  "  aqueduct  near  Jerusalem. 


The  concluding  volume  of  Professor  Ganneau's  "Archjeo- 
logical  Researches  in  Jerusalem  and  its  Neighbourhood"  has 
been  published  and  issued  to  subscribers.  This  completes  the  set 
of  four  vols,  as  advertised  under  the  title  "  Survey  of  Palestine." 
There  are  only  six  sets  left  of  the  first  250  copies  of  this  valuable 
work.      Those   Avho   wish   to    secure   a   set  at  £7  7s.  before  the 


NOTES   AND    NEWS.  7 

price  is  raised  should  fill  up  the  form  and  send  it  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Fund. 

Li  order  to  make  up  complete  sets  of  the  "  Quarterly  Statement;' 
the  Committee  tvill  he  very  glad  to  receive  any  of  the  hack  numbers. 


Dr.  Bliss's  detailed  account  of  his  three  years'  work  at 
Jerusalem,  published  as  a  separate  volume,  with  the  title 
"  Excavations  at  Jerusalem,  1894-1897,"  and  copiously  illustrated 
with  maps  and  plans,  may  be  procured  at  the  office  of  the  Fund. 
Price  to  subscribers  to  the  work  of  the  Fund,  8s.  Qd.,  post  free. 

The  "Flora  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Sinai,"  by  the  Rev. 
George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  Beirut,  Syria,  containing  descriptions  of 
all  the  Phaenogams  and  Acrogens  of  the  region,  and  illustrated 
by  441  woodcuts,  may  be  had  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  price  21s. 


The  income  of  the  Society  from  September  2r)th,  1900,  to 
IJecember  22nd,  1900,  was— from  Annual  Subscriptions  and 
Donations,  including  Local  Societies,  £880  9s.  Id.  ;  from 
Lectures,  £1  Os.  Od.  ;  from  sales  of  publications,  &c., 
£160  Os.  6d. ;  total,  £1,041  9s.  Id.  The  expenditure  during  the 
same  period  was  £772  10s.  lOd.  On  December  22nd  the  balance 
in  the  Bank  was  £248  14s.  llc^. 


Subscribers  in  U.S.A.  to  the  work  of  the  Fund  will  please 
note  that  they  can  procure  copies  of  any  of  the  publications  from 
the  Rev.  Professor  Theo.  F.  Wright,  Honorary  General  Secretary 
to  the  Fund,  42,  Quincy  Street,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


J,  Sparke  Auicry,  Esq.,  has  kindly  consented  to  act  as  Honorary  Local 
Secretary  for  Asliburton  in  place  of  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Barton  Lee,  resigned. 

The  price  of  a  complete  set  of  the  translations  published  by  the  Palestine 
Pilgrims'  Text  Society,  in  13  volumes,  with  general  index,  bound  in  cloth, 
is  £10  10*.  A  catalogue  describing  tlie  contents  of  each  volume  can  be  had 
on  application  to  the  Secretary,  38  Conduit  Street. 

The  Museum  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  38  Conduit  Street  (a  few  doors 
from  Bond  Street),  is  open  to  visitors  every  week-day  from  10  o'clock  till  5, 
except  Satui'days,  when  it  is  closed  at  2  p.m. 


,S  NOTES   AND    NEWS, 

It  may  be  well  to  mention  that  plans  and  photographs  alluded  to  in  the 
reports  from  Jerusalem  and  elsewhere  cannot  all  be  published,  but  all  are 
preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Fund,  where  they  may  be  seen  by  subscribers. 


"Wliile  desiring  to  gire  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. 

Tourists  are  cordially  invited  to  visit  the  Loan  Collection  of  "Antiques" 
in  the  Jeeusalem:  Association  Room  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund, 
opposite  the  Tower  of  David,  Jerusalem.  Hours :  8  to  12,  and  2  to  6. 
Maps  of  Palestine  and  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  publications  are  kept  for 
sale. 


Photographs  of  Dr.  Schick's  models  (1)  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  (2)  of 
the  Herodian  Temple,  (3)  of  the  Haram  Area  during  the  Christian  occupation 
of  Jerusalem,  and  (4)  of  the  Haram  Area  as  it  is  at  present,  have  been  received 
at  the  office  of  the  Fund.  Sets  of  these  photographs,  with  an  explanation  by 
Dr.  Sclxick,  can  be  purchased  by  applying  to  the  Secretary,  38  Conduit 
Street,  W. 

Branch  Associations  of  the  Bible  Society,  all  Sunday  Schools  within 
the  Sunday  School  Institute,  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and  the  Wesleyan 
Sunday  School  Institute,  will  please  observe  that  by  a  special  Eesolution  of  the 
Committee  they  will  henceforth  be  treated  as  subscribers  and  be  allowed  to  pur- 
chase the  books  and  maps  (by  application  only  to  the  Secretary)  at  reduced 
price. 

The  Committee  will  be  glad  to  receive  donations  of  Books  to  the  Library 
of  the  Fund,  which  already  contains  many  works  of  great  value  relating  to 
Palestine  and  other  Bible  Lands.  A  catalogue  of  Books  in  the  Library  will 
be  found  in  the  July  QuarterU/  Statement,  1893. 


The  Coaunittee  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  following  : — 

"Le  Mont   Thabor,  Notices  Historiques  et  Descriptivcs   by  P.   Barnabe, 

O.F.M."     From  Dr.  Conrad  Schick. 
"  Autour  de  La  Mer  Morte."     From  the  Author,  Lucien  Gautier. 
"  Moriali."     From  the  Author,  Andrew  J.  Gregg,  A.B.,  T.C.D. 
"  Census  of  Cuba,  1899."     From  the  War  Department,  U.S.A. 


For  list  of  authorised  lecturers  and  their  subjects  write  to  the  Secretary. 


Subscribers  who  do  not  receive  the  Quarterly  Statement  regularly  are  asked 
to  send  a  note  to  the  Acting  Secretary.     Great  care  is  taken  to  forward  each 


NOTKS    AM.)    NKWS. 


number  lo  those  who  are  entitled  to  receive  it,  but  changes  of  addi'ess  and 
other  causes  occasionally  give  rise  to  omissions. 


Form  ok  Bkqukst  to  thi-;  Palkstixk  Exploijation  Fim-. 
I  give  to  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  London,  the  sum  of 


to  be  applied  towards  the  General  Work  of  the  Fund  ;  and  I  direct  that  the 
said  sum  be  paid,  free  of  Legacy  Duty,  and  that  the  Keceij)t  of  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  shall  be  a  sufficient  discharge  to  my 
Executors. 


f  Signature_ 

I 
M^itnesses  ■{ 


I 


Note. — Three  Wifne.^se-t  are  necessarq  in  the  Uniied  States  of  America , 
Ttvo  suffice  in  Great  Britain. 


Platk  I. 


11 


REPORTS   BY  R.  A.  STEWART    MACALISTER,   M.A. 


l._"Es-SOh,"  Tkli.  Sandahannah. 

Tm:  cave  known  :is  ^'Es-Suk" — the  market — has  already  been 
described  in  the  volumes  of  the  Survey  and  in  Condor's  "Tent 
Work  "  (p.  275  of  the  smaller  edition)  ;  but  hitherto  no  complete 
set  of  measured  i)lans  and  elevations  of  this  singular  excavation 
has  been  prepared. 

This  columbarium  is  in  character  entirely  different  from  the 
other  caves  of  the  district.  It  is  true  that  associated  with  it 
is  a  group  of  chambers  of  the  usual  roughly  circular  type  ;  but 
there  seems  to  be  every  probability  that  this  association  is 
accidental,  and  that  the  cave  is  to  be  treated  as  an  independent 
excavation.  A  reduced  plan  of  these  associated  chambers  is  given 
on  Plate  I,  Fig.  a. 

The  present  entrance  is  through  a  square  hole,  about  5  feet 
across  and  6  feet  deep,  which  opens  into  the  top  of  a  large 
irregular  chamber  much  blocked  with  debris.  This  is  about  80  feet 
across.  At  one  side  there  are  ti'aces  of  rows  of  niches,  showing 
that  the  chamber  has  been  used  as  a  columbarium.  Immediately 
opposite  to  these  niches  is  the  entrance  to  a  narrow  creep- 
passage.  Though  creep-passages  are  common  elswhere  in  the 
neighbourhood — notably  at  Khurbet  el-'Ain — this  is  the  only' 
existing  specimen  in  the  50  or  60  labyrinthine  excavations  on 
the  slopes  of  Tell  Sandahannah.  The  passage  is  o  feet  acro.ss, 
2  feet  8  inches  high,  and  33  feet  long.  A  drop  of  4  feet  leads 
to  the  level  of  the  floor  of  a  lobby,  from  which  two  circular 
chambers  open.  These  are  to  the  left  of  the  end  of  the  passage  ; 
to  the  right  there  seems  to  have  been  an  exit,  now  blocked. 
Of  these  chambers,  the  diameter  of  one  is  about  19  feet,  that 
of  the  other  15  feet.  The  latter,  which  is  sunk  below  the  level  of 
the  floor  of  the  lobby,  is  appi-oached  by  a  staircase  with  a  parapet, 
now  ruined.  A  shalloAV  pit,  7  feet  i)  inches  by  3  feet  7  inches, 
is  sunk  in  the  floor,  opposite  the  door.  Between  these  two 
chambers  an  irregular  hole  now  gives  access  to  the  "  Sdk " 
itself. 

If   oue  trifling  example  be  excoplcd,  connecting  two'  chambers   ou   tlie 
north-ca$t  slope. 


12  RErOKTS   BY    E.    A.    .STEWAItT   MACALISTEl!. 

Tlu'  excavation  is  a  long  tunnel,  with  two  transepts  crossing 
it  at  regular  intervals,  the  whole  being  covered  with  a  flat  roof. 
The  workmanship  and  accurate  setting-out  of  the  entire  colum- 
barium are  admirable.  The  walls  are  in  three  stages,  recessed 
each  behind  that  below  it.  The  lowest  stage  is  a  plain  plinth  ; 
the  two  upper  stages  ai'e  divided  by  pilasters  into  sunk  panels, 
each  containing  rows  of  loculi  for  cinerary  urns. 

The  axis  of  the  tunnel  lies  practically  X.N.W.  and  S.S.E.; 
the  entrances,  ancient  and  nindern,  are  all  at  the  southern  end. 

The  original  entrance  seems  to  have  been  at  the  south  end  of 
the  western  wall  of  the  main  gallery.  It  runs  inwards  for  a  little 
over  7  feet,  bending  regularly  from  a  western  to  a  southern  direc- 
tion. There  are  bolt  holes  in  the  jambs  of  the  doorway  into  the 
columbarium.  Inward,  7  feet  from  this  doorway,  is  another,  2  feet 
S  inches  across  and  3  feet  6  inches  high,  behind  which  the  passage 
runs,  always  trending  upwards,  for  6  feet  4  inches,  at  the  end  of 
which  length  it  is  blocked.  There  is  a  small  cell,  3  feet  3  inches 
deep,  -i  feet  3  inches  across,  and  3  feet  7  inches  high,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  passage  close  to  the  block.  In  addition  to  these 
entrances  there  is  a  hole  in  the  ceiling  in  each  of  the  crossings, 
and  one  at  the  southern  end,  outside  the  limits  of  the  columbarium, 
and  communicating  with  it  by  a  break  in  the  south  wall. 

The  loculi  are  semicircular  headed,  neatly  formed,  and  carefully 
spaced  out.  In  the  northern  end  panels  on  each  side,  middle 
stage,  the  surface  of  the  panel  shows  marks  of  red  lines,  blocking- 
it  into  squares  to  secure  correct  setting  out ;  the  loculi  are  cut  in 
alternate  squares  in  every  second  row.  Apparently  this  blocking 
was  drawn  to  obtain  a  guiding  rule  in  measurement  rather  than 
foi-  mere  mechanical  assistance,  as  it  does  not  occur  in  any  other 
panel  whose  original  surface  remains  unweathered.  One  of  the 
plain  squares  has  a  circle  marked  upon  it  with  a  compass  :  a 
similar  circle  reappears  in  two  other  places  in  the  excavation,  as 
though  the  squai-e  in  question  had  been  selected  as  a  standard 
and  referred  to  occasionally.  Internally  the  loculi  expand  slightly 
in  width,  and  their  inner  end  slopes  forward. 

Dktails. — A.  Main'  Gallkrv. — The  plinth  or  bottom  stage  of 
the  walls  is  almost  everywhere  covered  by  debrii^,  and  is  not 
noticed  in  the  section  given  in  the  Survey  volume.  It  is 
7  feet  G  inches  in  height.  The  passage,  at  the  plinth  stage,  is 
4    feet    8^    inches    broad.        The     middle     stage    is    set    back 


KEroKTs  i;y  i;.  a.  stkwaut  .macalistei:. 

Platk  II. 


13 


''.I 


KEPOltTS    BY   i;.    A.    STEWAKT    MACALISTER. 


I  foot  :)  inches  behind  the  plinth,  and  is  7  feet  4  inches  high; 
the  top  stage  is  set  back  1  foot  beliind  the  middle  stnge,  and 
is  about  7  feet  2  inches  high,  but  the  roof  is  not  of  uniform 
height  tliroughout.  The  ccM'ling  has,  almost  throughout  its 
length,  been  badly  fractured.  Throughout  the  walls  have  been 
carefully  smoothed,  apparently  Avith  wooden  combs. 

Length  of  section  of  gallei-y  north  of  north  transept 

Breadth  of  north  transept 

Length  of  section  of  gahory  between  transepts 

Breadth  of  south  transept 

Length  of  section  of  gallery  south  of  south  transept 


ft. 

in. 

.      26 

2 

3 

11 

.      24 

11 

.      13 

10 

.      24 

3^ 

.      93 

U 

Total  length  of  main  gallery 
There  is  but  one  inscrii3tion  in  the  whole  columbarium,  which 
was  found  by  Dr.  Masterman,  of  Jerusalem,  and  myself.  Under 
almost  every  one  of  the  loculi,  when  the  original  surface  of  the 
rock  survives  there  are  scratches  and  weather-marks,  some  of 
which  have  a  tantalisingly  graffito-like  appearance,  but,  after 
protracted  and  careful  examinations  of  these,  I  was  forced  to 
abandon  the  idea  that  they  had  any  significance.  The  inscription 
referred  to  is  in  the  upper  right-hand  corner  of  the  middle  panel 
at  the  northern  end,  and  runs  as  follows  : — 

Fig.  1. 


A'isl  IKAT  E 


//^^  /  -?  J 


^"•"    kaAtj  coKci  Luoi, 

A 


-'/"/ 


\/ 


karct 


m 


IlEPOKTS    JIV    i;.    A.    STKWAKT   MACALISTEU. 


in 


"I,  1).  [or  L.]  Nikateides  think  this  a  beautiful  cave."  This 
rt'calls  tlio  "  Eg'o  Tanuarins  vidi  et  niii-avi  "  scrawled  all  over-  flio 
Tombs  of  the  Kiii^^s  at  Luxor.  The  use  as  a  substantive  of 
the  feminine  of  the  adjective  a-^io'v,  in  its  secondary  sense  of 
"  hollow,  concave  "  (see  Liddell  and  Scott,  ed.  maj.  suh  voce)  is 
noteworthy.  The  use  of  an  initial  seems  also  curious ;  I  am  not 
certain  whether  the  point  following  it  be  accidental  or  intentional. 
The  loculi  are  arranged  on  the  following  scheme.  Throughout, 
the  middle  stage  contains  5  rows  in  each  panel,  and  the  upper 
stage  from  .3  to  5.  The  divisions  between  the  panels  are 
vertically  above  one  another.  In  the  following  scheme  the 
inner  row  of  figures  represents  the  panels  of  the  middle,  the 
outer  row  those  of  the  upper  stage.  The  formula  "  •")  of  4  " 
means  "  5  rows  of  4  loculi  "  : — 


O     O 

^5  >0 


4  of  4 

5  of  3 

4  of  4             4  of  4 

5  of  4             5  of  4 

5  of  4 
5  of  5 

SECTIOX    OF    GALLERY 
NORTH    OF   KOBTU    TRANSEPT 

?.  JO  9 

f   JO    f 

f  JO  cj             t  JO  t' 
t  JO  t             t  JO  t 

9  JO  g 
f  JO  S 

Total        334 


f  JO 
8  JO 


f  JO  S 
f  JO  C 


t  JO  s 

t  JO  S 


8  JO 

f  JO 


5  of  4 
5  of  5 

5  of  4             5  of  4 
5  of  4             5  of  4 

5  of  4 
5  of  3 

SECTION     OF     GALLEtil 
BETWEEN    TKAN3E1>TS. 

Total        310 


5  of  4 
r,  of  3 

5  of  4 

.5  of  4 

5  of  4 
5  of  4 

[5  of  4] 
5  of  3 

SECTION   OF    GALLERY 
SOUTU    OF    SOUTH    TRANSEPT. 

8   JO   S 

f  JO  S 

f  JO   fj 
t  JO  2 

f  JO  S 
f  JO  9 

8  JO  S 

Lf  JO  s] 

C<  ti 


s,s. 


Total        347 

o,  05  (originally) 

991 


The  panels  in  brackets  are  those  which,  owing  to  the  presence 
of  entrances,  are  imperfect.  In  the  end  panel  the  first  two  loculi 
of  the  three  upper  rows  are  removed  ;  on  the  east  side  the  end 
loculi  only  are  left.     These  lost  loculi  are  included  in  the  total 


IG 


REPOIITS    BY    IJ.    A.    STEWAllT   MACALISTER. 


•riven  above,  but  not  the  absent  two  in  each  of  the  upper  foui 
rows  of  the  west  side,  as  they  probably  never  had  any  existence, 
tliis  beinp;  the  position  of  the  original  entrance. 

The  following'  alterations  and  mutilations  have  at  some  time 
been  made  iu  this  gallery: — 

(1)  Norflwni  Section. — Corner  pier  between  gallery  and 
ti'ansept,  on  west  side,  hacked  away.  End  loculus  of  second 
row,  middle  stage,  broken  into  the  wall  of  tran-sept.  Square 
hole  cut  through  the  space  between  the  first  loculi  in  the  third 
and  fourth  row  in  the  same  panel. 

(2)  Middle  Section. —  (An  error  in  setting  out,  whereby  the 
numbers  of  the  loculi  in  opposite  panels  do  not  correspond,  will 
be  noticed).  Deep  holes  cut  between  the  tirst  loculi  of  rows  4  and 
5,  and  between  the  second  loculi  of  the  same  rows,  in  the  northern 
panel,  top  row,  east  side.  Top  panels  on  east  side  much  decayed. 
Pier  between  the  first  two  northern  panels  on  the  west  side  cut 
away  along  with  part  of  the  adjacent  loculi  of  the  second  panel. 
A  long  rectangular  slot  cut  away  in  the  top  of  the  southern  panel 
in  the  middle  stage  on  each  side,  carrying  away  the  tirst  two  loculi 
in  the  top  row  aiid  part  of  the  adjoining  pier  (on  the  west  side 
extending  beyond  the  pier  and  carrying  away  the  last  loculus 
of  the  next  panel).  These  slots  are  obviously  intended  for  some 
sort  of  barrier,  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  its  purpose. 

(8)  Southern  Section. — A  hole  cat  through  the  first  loculus,  top 
row,  eastern  side.  Set-off  below  middle  stage  partly  cut  away  at 
northern  end. 

B.  Xoiri'H  Tr.vnskpt. — The  western  half  is  laid  out  as  in  the 
main  gallery,  on  the  following  scheme  : — 


5  of  4 

5  of  4 

5  of  4 

5  of  4 

.-)  of  :i 

.",  of  4 

."  ol'  4 

.")    oi      .") 

—   "* 

•-r  ■— 

I'S  1- 

5:  i"  9 

t    JO    i.' 


i'  .l-J  C 
!■  .10  S 


1-  .1" 
f  J" 


V  JO  s 


Total,  370. 


No  othe)'  portion  of  the  transepts  is  similarly  laid  out.  On  the 
northern  side  the  second  and  third  loculus  of  the  third  row,  middle 
stage,  outside  panel,  have  been  partly  run  together  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  intermediate  block,  and  a  hole  is  cut  through  tlie 
western  pilaster  of  the  same  i)anel.     There  is  a  similar  hole  in  tlie 


EEPORTS   BY   E.   A.   STEWART   MACALISTER. 


17 


opposite  piei'  to  the  west.  In  the  face  of  tlic  next  pilaster  there  is 
a  shallow  depression  as  though  for  a  barrier,  near  its  top  ;  there  is  a 
similar  de])rt'ssion  in  the  opposite  pilaster.  In  the  end  panel,  middle 
row,  a  cupboard  has  been  formed  by  knocking  together  the  second 
and  third  loculi  of  the  two  upper  rows.  There  is  a  liolo  broken 
through  the  top  of  the  fourth  loculus  in  the  second  row.  Giaflito- 
like  scratching  is  visible  throughout  this  part  of  the  transept. 

The  hole  in  the  ceiling  at  the  crossing  is  rectangular,  not  quite 
centered.     It  was  covered  with  long  stones,  one  of  which  remains. 

The  eastern  half  has  no  middle  stage  except  in  its  end  wall ; 
in  the  middle  of  the  set-off  is  a  step,  and  there  are  two  rude  foot- 
holes  below  it.  The  upper  stage  is  corbelled  out,  not  set  back,  in 
the  sides  of  the  transept.  On  the  corbel  at  the  eastern  end  are 
five  marks  as  though  loculi  had  been  blocked  out,  but  never  com- 
pleted ;  the  same  feature  is  to  be  noticed  at  the  northern  side  of 
the  lower  end  panel.  There  is  a  circle  between  the  second  and 
third  loculi  of  the  fifth  row,  third  panel,  on  the  north  side.  On 
the  back  of  the  south-west  corner  pier,  lower  stage,  are  more 
marks  like  loculi  blocked  out. 

In  the  plain  surface  that  occupies  the  place  of  the  two  lowest 
stages  on  the  south  side  are  two  niches,  one  round  headed  and 
8  feet  high,  with  a  little  round  liole  in  the  wall  above  it;  the 
other,  west  of  it,  has  a  pointed  top,  and  is  6  feet  in  height. ^  The 
only  features  on  the  north  side  are  a  rough  round  hole,  10  inches 
in  diameter,  and  a  small  bridged  niche  (i.e.,  a  niche  with  an  uncut 
bar  of  rock  running  across  it)  at  the  piesent  level  of  the  ground. 
The  breadth  of  this  portion  of  the  transept,  behind  the  corner- 
piers,  is  11  feet  1^  inches.  Length  of  western  half,  26  feet  1  inch  ; 
breadth  of  main  gallery,  4  feet  8^  inches ;  length  of  eastern  half, 
27  feet  0|  inch.     Total  length  of  transept,  57  feet  10  inches. 

The  loculi  are  arranged  in  the  eastern  half  of  this  transept  on 
the  following  scheme  :  — 


5  of  4 

5  of  4 

5  of  i 

5  of  4 

o  o 

■ 

Total,  210 

t  JO  2 

f  io  9 

f  JO    Q 

f  P  9 

Total  in  trausept,  580 

'  Tlie  heiglits  are  inferred  from  the  relation  between  the  tops  of  these 
niches  to  the  set-off  between  the  two  lower  stoges.  But  possibly  they  do  not 
extend  to  the  floor  of  the  excavation. 


B 


18 


REPORTS    BY    R.    A.   STEWART   MACALISTER. 


C.  SoCTii  Tkansept. — The  western  half  has  loculi  in  the 
upper  st;ige  of  the  sides  and  both  stages  of  the  end.  In  the 
lower  portion,  north  side,  six  bridged  niches  have  been  cut,  as 
well  as  a  small  niche  with  a  triangular  head,  1  foot  4  inches 
across,  2  feet  3  inches  high.  The  bridges  of  the  bridged  niche 
are  all  horizontal.  The  Avestern  panel  on  the  sides  is  not  enclosed 
between  pilasters,  as  the  frieze  is  returned  up  the  pier  between 
it  and  the  next  panel.  Between  the  two  middle  panels  the 
ceiling  drops  by  a  step,  on  the  vertical  face  of  which  is  a  row 
of  seven  loculi.  Under  the  lower  end  panel,  but  not  centered, 
is  a  square  niche ;  at  the  right-hand  corner  is  a  large  niche 
1  foot  9^  inches  high,  2  feet  2  inches  across,  1  foot  deep,  with 
a  small  horizontal  bi-idged  niche  beside  it.  On  the  south  side 
are  four  niches  irregularly  disposed  over  the  surface.  There  are 
other  tool-marks  here,  but  none  of  any  importance.  The  scheme 
of  loculi  is  : — 


4  of  4 


4  of  4 


5  of  4 


5  of  4 


o  o 


Total,  189. 


t  JO  t 


f   JO   f 


f-  JO  S       i 


t  JO  S 


The  upper  part  of  the  hole  through  the  roof  at  the  crossing 
is  built  round  with  large  stones.  There  are  no  corner  piers  in 
this  transept. 

In  the  eastern  half  the  loculi  are  again  confined  to  the  upper 
stage.  The  inner  section  of  this  part  of  the  south  transept  is 
screened  off  by  two  large  piers  ;  on  the  left  (northern)  pier, 
outer  face,  is  a  large  square  niche,  partly  broken  through  ;  on 
the  face  is  a  small  niche  for  a  light  (?),  and  through  the  inner 
edge  a  hole  is  drilled.  There  are  four  marks  like  blocked-out 
loculi  on  the  inner  surface.  In  the  opposite  pier  is  a  drilled  hole 
con*esponding  to  that  just  noticed,  and  above  are  deep  grooves 
appaiently  connected  with  a  fastening. 

Length  of  western  half  of  south  transept,  26  feet  8^  inches 
(average)  ;  width  of  main  gallery,  4  feet  8^  inches  ;  length  of 
eastern  half,  20  feet  5  inches  to  the  piers  +  8  feet  3  inches 
(average)  between  the  piers  and  the  wall.  Total  length  of  south 
transept,  60  feet  I  inch.  This  transept  is  not  set  out  so  regularly 
as  the  rest  of  the  excavation. 


iiKPoirrs  i;y  i;.  a.  stewaut  macalister. 


19 


TI18  loculi  fall  into  the  following  scheme  :  — 


1  5  of  4 

4  of  4 

4  of  4         :J  of  4 

f  J"  5 



f    JO    f 

f,  JO  f,         f  P  2 

eo 

0 

Total,  146 

Oi 

Total  iu  transept,  335 

Total  number  of  loculi :  991  +  580  +  335  =  1,906. 


II. — Notes  on  M.  Clermoxt-Ganneau's  "  Archj;ological 
Reseakciies  in  Palestine,"  Vol.  I. 

In  the  course  of  studying  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's  volume  in 
Jeiusalem  I  have  from  time  to  time  put  together  the  following 
notes : — 

P.  90,  line  15.     (?)  For  "  Qi^-OOOS  "  read  "  O-^-OOS." 
P.   103.     Facsimiles   of  the  graffiti  on   the  south  wall  of  the 
staircase  to  the  Chapel  of  Helena,  prepared  from  rubbings,  are 
here  given.     The  first  (Fig.  2)  is  read  by  M.  Clerraont-Ganneau 

Fig.  2. 


Fig.  3. 


i- 


^' Justinus    Veronensis.*'       The    length    of    the     principal    line     is 
1   foot  7  inches.     The  second   (Fig.  3)  reads  Fra.  Cristofonis  ili 

B  2 


20 


REPORTS   BY   R.    A.    STEWART   MACALISTER. 


Liica,  1600,  with  an  incomplete  inscription  and  five  crosse"? 
above.  The  length  of  the  principal  line  is  2  feet  5^  inches. 
On  the  opposite  wall  of  the  staircase,  on  one  of  many  stones 
diapered  over  with  crosses  (near  the  foot  of  the  stairs),  are  a 
few  Armenian  letters.  I  know  nothing  of  Armenian,  but  give 
a  facsimile  (Fig.  4)   for    what  it  may  be  worth.     I   searched  in 

Fig.  4. 


r-  O 


_  » 


vain  for  the  graffito  reported  on  tho  column  of  the  Virgin's 
Vaults. 

P.  151,  line  14.  For  "  bases  "  real  "capitals."  The  bases  of 
these  columns  are  Byzantine  capitals  derived  from  those  of  the 
Corinthian  order.  The  stems  are  ugly  modern  (?)  twisted  shafts, 
without  any  sort  of  merit. 

P.  271.  The  small  "doorway  cither  built  of  stone  or  hewn 
out  of  the  rock,  with  mouldings,"  is  the  door  of  an  ordinary  rock 
tomb  with  arcosolia,  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  leading  to  the 
"  Tombs  of  the  Judges."  It  is  entirely  hewn  from  the  rock. 
There  is  a  large  and  conspicuous  cross  in  the  tympanum  over 
the  door. 

With  regard  to  the  tomb  figured  on  this  page,  I  have  to 
observe  that  it  is  Avell  known  to  me,  and  that  I  have  often 
visited  it.  It  is  the  last  of  the  series  of  tombs  immediately  by 
the  east  side  of  the  road  lerxdinj;  from  Jerusalem  to  the  "  Tombs 


llErORTS   BY    IJ.   A.    STEWART   MACALISTKK. 


21 


of  the  Jud^'CR."  I  cannot  persuade  myself  that  the  scarped  rock- 
\valls  in  which  tlie  present  entrance-door  is  cut,  ever  enclosed 
fi  covered  chamber,  or  that  the  north  and  west  walls  of  such  a 
<  hamber  ever  had  any  existence.  There  are  no  fractures  in  the 
existing'  rock  surfaces  denotini;-  the  positions  of  former  walls  or 
roof.  It  is  merely  a  vestibule,  such  as  is  found  in  so  many  other 
tombs  of  this  necropolis,  formed  to  give  a  sufficient  surface  for 
the  formation  of  the  enti-ance-door.  Nor  can  T  follow  M.  Clcrmont- 
Oanneau  in  calling  the  trough  in  the  south  wall  of  this  vestibule 
;i  converted  arcosolium.  It  is  only  5  feet  long,  and  thei-efore 
could  not  have  contained  a  body.  It  is  simply  the  receiving  vat 
of  a  small  olive-press,  the  pressing  vat  of  which  is  cut  in  the  top 
of  the  rock-scarp.  The  long  vertical  channel  joining  the  two  is  a 
curious  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  unique  feature.  The  tomb  itself 
consisted  of  two  chambers,  the  outer  being  a  small  porch ;  but 
the  partition  has  been  quarried  away,  and  the  whole  obscured  by 
plaster,  nhich  has  been  spread  thickly  on  the  wall  in  order  to 
turn  the  cutting  into  a  cistern.  The  tomb-chamber  contains  two 
kokira  and  two  arcosolia.  On  the  right-hand  (south)  side  of  the 
doorway,  just  under  the  level  of  the  lintel,  is  a  small  cross  of  this 
pattern  (Fig.  5). 


Fio. 


y. 


P.  291.  Dr.  Bliss  and  I  visited  this  cave,  but  we  found  that 
exploration  is  no  longer  possible.  It  has  been  annexed  by  tanners, 
and  is  filled  with  their  apparatus  and  refuse  from  their  work. 

P.  423.  The  tombs  in  the  Dominican  Grounds,  and  also  one 
or  two  in  the  Wady  er-Rababi,  show  a  place  for  ihe  head  and 
.shoulders  of  the  coipse.     A  downward  step  at  the  end  of  a  kok- 


22  REPORTS   BY   R.   A.    STEWART   MACALISTER. 

grave,  such  as  tbat  figured  on  p.  424,  is  also  found  in  the  Wady 
er-Rababi. 

P.  508.  The  "  little  cones  of  hard  stone  "  are  no  doubt 
spindle-whorls.     Many  of  these  were  found  in  the  e.vcavations. 

P,  511.  A  miniature  lamp,  such  as  that  figui'ed  on  this  page, 
exists  in  the  Museum  at  Jerusalem.  There  is  another  in  Jerusalem 
in  private  possession. 

Pp.  345-380.  This  section,  devoted  to  the  "  Tombs  of  the 
Prophets,"  was  to  me  the  most  interesting  in  the  whole  book,  and 
1  compared  it  carefully  with  my  own  observations  on  the  site. 
Unfortunately  the  plan  adopted  by  the  author  is  not  correct ;  the 
two  galleries  ai-e  not  concentric,  but  intersecting  at  the  position  of 
the  second  subsidiary  chamber.  The  plan  in  Murray's  Guide 
shows  this  with  sufficient  accuracy.  The  "  change  of  direction," 
of  which  M.  Clermont-Ganneau  gives  a  special  diagram  (p.  361),  is 
in  reality  the  point  of  intersection  between  the  two  galleries.  It 
is  thus  evident  that  the  extra  gallery,  A,  cannot  be  a  completion 
of  the  circle,  as  suggested  on  p.  348. 

The  Russians,  into  whose  hands  the  souterrain  lias  fallen,  have 
renewed  tlie  plaster  and  covered  it  with  a  hard  brown  varnish  of 
some  sort.  This  has  the  desired  effect  of  preventing  the  addition 
of  new  graffiti,  but  it  also  obscures  and  renders  partly  illegible  the 
delicate  ancient  inscriptions.  No  fragments  of  pottery  are  now 
to  be  found  in  the  plaster ;  from  the  description  the  sherds 
collected  by  M.  Clermont-Ganneau  seem  to  be  Roman. 

There  are  27  kokim  in  the  main  galleries  :  16  in  the  east  part 
of  the  first  gallery,  five  between  the  snbsidiai'y  chambers,  one 
between  the  second  chamber  and  the  intersection  of  the  galleries, 
and  five  in  the  west  part  of  the  second  gallery.  There  is  no 
evidence  for  any  additional  kokim.  The  kokim  in  the  second 
subsidiary  chamber  are  correctly  given  in  the  plan  reproduced 
in  the  "  Archgeological  Researches,"'  but  there  is  an  extra  kok 
in  the  first  chamber — wrongly  developed  in  the  plan  given  in 
Murray's  Guide  into  an  additional  chamber. 

The  following  are  tlie  inscriptions  as  they  now  exist  : — 

1.  Cross — not  seen. 

2.  APR AnC— identified:  no  cross. 

Between  2  and  3.      Illegible  inscrijition — not  seen. 
3    ANTIOXOC  I  BOCTPHNOC— identified. 

4,  5.   NotliinL'-  visible. 


REPORTS   BY    It.    A.    STEWART   .MACALISTER.  23 

G.  ONHCI[  alono  visible.  Traces  of  second  line  effaced  by 
varnish. 

7.  1A[  fdono  visible.      Plastcf  restored.      No  cross. 

8.  <|>AU)PIANOC  ACT ATOC— identified.  I  read  flie 
antepenultimate  letter  T,  as  the  horizontal  bar  is  carried  behind 
the  uprig-ht. 

9.  A  lars^e  A,  which  looks  old,  at  some  height  ahove  the 
o-vave,  alone  visible.     No  cross. 

10.  Illegible  remains  of  inscri])tion  traceable. 

11.  Nothing  now  visible.  Plaster  restored,  and  a  graffito 
(to  me  unintelligible)  deeply  cut  upon  it. 

12.  Two  lines  of  writing  above  this  grave  badly  scratched 
i.ud  illegible.  Probably  that  read  BEI0Y  |  NIKH,  though  T 
cannot  follow  the  reading.     No  inscription  between  11  and  12. 

13.  Nothing. 

14.  A  bewildering  mass  of  graffiti,  none  legible. 

15.  16.  Nothing.  The  "Fl  above  15  or  16"  not  found  with 
certainty  ;  there  is  something  like  it  above  16. 

(Here  is  the  first  subsidiary  chamber) 
17-21.  Nothing.     Crosses  scratched  here  and  there. 
(Here  is  the  second  subsidiary  chamber) 

22.  r€AAC I OY— identified.  The  C  is  now  broken.  The 
marks  intei-fering  with  the  A  have  disappeared. 

(Here  the  passages  intersect.     The  remaining  holcim  are  in  the 

second,  passage) 

Between  22  and  23.  Al  A  A— identified.  The  cross-bar  in 
the  first  letter  is  too  faint  to  be  part  of  the  inscription. 

23.  (a)  AIA<l)OPI— uot  seen.  (j3)  ENGAAE  KITE  alone 
ti'aceable  ;  the  rtMnainder  effaced  by  varnish. 

24.  0APCI     EYGHPI    |    OYA€IC     A0ANATOC— 

identified. 

25.  The  inscription  read  6IPINH  identified.  To  my  e^  e  it 
looks  more  like  ]HPTYC,  but  perhaps  no  two  people  would 
ngree  on  any  reading. 

26.  Nothing. 

27.  Large  incised  cross — identified. 

The  inscription  ]AU)POC,  &c.,  I  could  not  find. 

There  is  a  peculiar  arched  recess  which  I  have  not  seen  alluded 
to  in  any  description  of  the  souterrain  that  I  have  read.  It  is  on 
the  south  wall   of  the   second  gallery,  between  the  long   central 


24 


EEPOUTS   BY   E.   A,    STEAVAKT   MACALISTER. 


gallery  nnd   the  continuation  of  the  first  gallery.     An  aceurale 
plan  of  the  "  Tombs  of  the  Prophets  "  is  still  a  desideratum. 

It  is  convenient  here  to  mention  the  following  small  points  : — 

The  mason's  mai'k  23-14  occurs  on  a  stone  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  staircase  in  David's  tower.     It  shows  diagonal  dressing. 

One  step  in  the  staircase  of  David's  tower  is  formed  of  the  base 
of  a  small  pair  of  Gothic  engaged  columns,  and  shows  characteristic 
moulding  at  the  corner. 


HI. — Mosaics  from  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

The  accompanying  sketch  shows  the  design  of  two  small 
fragments  of  mosaic  recently  found  on  the  top  of  the  Mount 
of  dives,  or  rather  of  the  col  connecting  it  with   the  summit 


1§1=^^ 


I 


w^ 


Mosaic  on  (he  Mount  of  OLms  ,TirLU5al£tn 


AMl'IIORA    HANDLES   FROM    TKLL   SANDAITANNAII.  25 

of  Jebel  Batn  el-Hatva.  The  fragments  are  about  a  foot  or  so 
uiiclerfroiuul,  and  are  just  above  the  enclosure  in  Avhicli  lies  the 
entrance  to  the  "  Tombs  of  the  Prophets." 

The  first  fragment  is  coloured  black  on  white.  The  second 
has  the  following  scheme  :  — Ground,  and  portions  of  triangles  and 
lozenges  not  shaded  in  the  diagram,  white  ;  shaded  portions  of 
triangles  and  lozenges,  blue  and  purple  alternately;  dots,  also 
border,  purple. 


AMPHORA   HANDLES,   WITH    GREEK    STAMPS,  FROM 
TELL    SANDAHANNAH. 

By  R.  A.  Stewart  Macalistek,  M.A. 

The  following  tabular  list  contains  the  material  necessary  for  a 
discussion  of  the  jar-handles  with  Greek  stamps,  recently  found  at 
Tell  Sandahannnh,  together  with  a  few  (indioated  in  the  catalogue 
by  II)  from  Tell  ej-Judeideh.  Some  were  found  in  the  excava- 
tions, but  the  large  majority  were  picked  up  on  the  surface  of  the 
Tell.  The  only  examples  of  this  type  of  handles  known  to  me  to 
have  previously  been  found  in  Palestine  are  two  reported  in  Pro- 
fessor Clermout-Ganneau's  "  Archaeological  Researches,"  vol.  ii, 
and  one  or  two  found  in  the  excavations  at  Jerusalem. 

Without  access  to  catalogues  of  similar  collections  from  other 
places,  it  would  be  impossible  to  enter  into  a  complete  analysis  of 
these  inscriptions.  Indeed,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  such  an 
investigation  Avould  be  germane  to  the  purposes  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,  as  the  connection  of  these  jar-handles  with 
Palestine  is  accidental  only.  They  belonged  to  jai^s  containing 
wine  exported  from  Rhodes  to  the  city  now  represented  by  Tell 
Sandahannah,  and  might  just  as  well  have  been  despatched  to, 
and  discovered  in,  any  other  country  with  which  the  Rhodian 
merchants  had  dealings.  A  few  words  therefore  are  alone 
necessary  to  explain  the  principles  followed  in  the  catalogue. 

Ou  Plate  P  is  shown  an  almost  perfect  amphora  bearing  peals 
on  its  handles,  which  fortunately  was  found  in  the  Tell  Sanda- 
hannah excavation.  This  may  be  taken  as  a  type  of  the  vessels 
distinguished  by  these  stamps.  Plate  11^  gives  a  selection  of  the 
most  representative  seals,  showing  varieties  of  devices,  types  of 

^  See  (Quarterly  Slatement,  April,  1901. 


2G  AMPHORA   HANDLES,    AVITII    GREEK    STAMPS, 

lettoriiiLj',  &c.  At  the  t(-p  of  the  same  plate  is  a  scrii  s  of 
iilpbabets,  by  aid  of  which  mi  approximate  representation  oF  the 
seal  can  be  reconstructed  when  no  drawing  has  been  fuinished; 
the  last  column  in  the  catalogue  gives  the  necessary  reference  to  the 
alphabet  to  be  selected.  It  should  be  noticed  that  Alphabet  VTI 
has  no  real  existence  as  an  alphabet,  being  composed  of  abnormal 
forms  that  occur  once  or  twice  only  ;  and  that  when  alternative 
forms  are  given  for  a  letter  in  any  alphabet,  the  first  is  always  to 
be  selected  unless  the  second  be  specified  (in  this  form — tv  VII-). 

The  following  svmbols  are  affixed  to  the  current  numbers  : 
*,  to  denote  that  the  seal  indicated  was  found  in  duplicate; 
J,  Avhen  two  seals  are  similar,  but  not  impressed  from  the  same 
stamp — the  difference  usually  lying  in  varying  width  of  interspaces 
of  letters,  or  such  minor  points,  but  no  seals  have  been  suppressed 
from  the  catalogue  as  being  duplicates  unless  complete  identity 
was  demonstrated  ;  t,  when  an  illustration  of  the  seal  is  given  on 
Plate  II  (reference  to  the  illustration  will  be  found  in  the  last 
column)  ;   ||,  when  the  seal  comes  from  Tell  ej-Judeideh. 

The  particulars  given  of  the  shape  and  size  of  seals  will 
enable  investigators  to  identify  duplicates  in  other  collections, 
and  thereby  point  conclusions  as  to  the  range  of  the  trade  of 
Rhodes  at  different  periods.  The  seals  are  generally  either 
rectangular  or  oval  (sometimes  circular^.  One  (241)  is  lozenge- 
shaped.  The  device  in  the  majority  of  cases  is  either  the  rose 
or  the  Helios-head,  both  emblematic  of  Rhodes.  When  the 
inscription  surrounds  the  device  on  an  oval  seal  the  bottoms  of 
the  letters  are  almost  always  turned  towards  the  device  ;  when  the 
contrary  happens  to  he  the  case,  the  words  "  reading  outAvards  " 
are  added  in  the  sixth  column  of  the  catalogue. 

I^o  pains  have  been  spared  to  secure  accuracy  in  the  transcripts 
of  the  inscriptions.  The  entire  series  has  been  examined  micro- 
scopically three  times  over,  each  letter  being  considered  separately 
in  cases  of  doubt.  Restored  letters  are  added  in  brackets  ;  when 
a  doubt  exists  as  to  the  reading  a  query  is  added.  When,  by 
measurement  or  otherwise,  the  number  of  letters  lost  from  a  lacuna 
can  be  approximately  estimated,  the  absent  characters  are  indicated 
by  a  like  number  of  asterisks.  Refei'ence  to  the  column  headed 
"  Condition  of  Seal  "  will  always  determine  the  reason  for  the 
existence  of  a  lacuna.  Tiie  inscriptions  are  arranged,  so  far  as 
possible,  in  the  aljihibetical  order  of  the  proper  names  they 
contain   (1-226).      A    small   class   of    three,  which  seem  to  bear 


Fi;OM    TKLL   .SANDA1IAN>,'AH.  27 

the  names  of  montlis  onlj,  followsi  (227-229).  Of  the  remaindoi', 
230-293  consist  of  those  which,  from  the  loss  of  initial  ki  ters, 
cannot  be  reduced  io  alphabetical  order;  they  are  given  in  the 
diminishing^  onU'r  of  the  number  of  letters  remaining  or  to  be 
restored  with  eortaintj  in  the  inscription;  and  291-306  contain 
those  added  to  the  hst  since  the  catalogue  was  drawn  up. 

The  inscriptions  consist  invariably  of  a  proper  name  in  the 
genitive  case,  preceded  or  not  by  tW,  and  usually  followed  by 
the  name  of  a  month.  The  precise  significance  of  this  formula 
is  still  a  matter  of  contention  among  specialists.  The  inscriptions 
an>  printed  in  lines  exactly  as  they  appear  in  the  originals  ;  the 
only  alteration  I  have  introduced  being  the  division  into  words. 

A  few  special  jioints  may  be  noted  in  individual  handles, 
such  as  the  back-to-back  arrangement  of  the  letters  in  6,  130, 
21-4,  the  boustrophedon  inscription  58,  and  the  inversion  of  the 
A  in  254  :  the  inversion  of  the  formula  (month  preceding  name) 
in  16,  110,  154,  the  addition  of  the  word  MHXOS  in  o3  :  the 
spelling  HATPOMIOY  in  60:  the  specification  of  the  names  in 
63,  135,  195,  238,  257,  258  (possibly  also  248),  as  being  those 
of  "  priests  "  (El  I'  lEI'EOS,  sic,  never  EHI  lEPEQS  or  E<I)'  lEFEOv). 
Epigraphically,  perhaps  the  most  interesting  detail  is  the  ©-shaped 
theta  in  93.  Also  of  interest  is  the  gradual  degradation  of  a  blazing 
torch  into  a  <I>-like  figure  in  the  seals  inscribed  2nKPATE\  i;  (see 
Figs.  38,  39,  40,  in  Plate  11)  ;  in  fact  I  believe  it  has  actually  bten 
read  as  <|i  in  the  publication  of  an  example  of  the  type  of  Fig.  40 
found  elsewhere, 

A  few  handles  have  subsidiary  .seals  beai'ing  a  symbol,  possibly 
referring  to  the  quality  of  the  wine — this  is  merely  a  guess. 
These  are  shown  in  Plate  II,  Figs,  55,  56,  57.  These  belong 
respectively  to  Nos.  17,  197,  and  217,  Fig.  53  is  of  similar  type, 
but  is  not  accompanied  by  an  inscription,  and  has  therefore  no 
place  in  the  catalogue. 

'  These  examples  are  vatlier  doubtful.  From  the  stamps  inscribed 
riANAMOT  a  second  line  seems  to  have  been  intentionally  erased — in  one, 
faint  traces  appear  in  the  seal  suggesting  this.  The  seal  here  read 
EIII   APTAMITIOT  is  very  badly  executed  and  possibly  is  to  be  read  thus — 

^     APTAMI 
Tl()\ 

a  name  being  lost  in  the  upper  line.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  to  read 
No.  162  "  2MIN0IOY,"  the  inscription  running  continuously  on  an  endless 
band,  but,  as  the  interspace  before  the  M  is  longer  than  the  others,  I  have 
preferred  tlie  reading  given  in  the  catalogue. 


29, 


A:^IPIIOnA    HANDLES,    WITH    GREEK    STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


t  Illustrated. 


Ko.        Shape  of  Seal. 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Derice. 


I 


1  Rectangular . 


3 
4 

5 
6 

7t 


10 
lit 

12 
13 
14 

15 
16 


xl-5 


Eadly    stamped,   end   broken 
cff. 

End  broken  off 


X 1  -6       I   Cliipped,    mucli     worn,    end 
broken  off. 
3-2x1  I  Much  worn 


3 -9  xl-5 


Perfect 


3  -25  X  1  -5  Badlj  stamped 


Oval  . .  . .         3  -2  X  2  -8 

Kectangular..         3 -1x1 -4 


Perfect  . . 


3  -05  X  1-G5     1  Faint 


X  1  'Go 
3 -5x1 -4 


Badly  stamped 
Indistinct 


X  1  -9         End  broken  off 


Eose 
Ilelios  head 

Dotted  square 


•  •  • « 


Cornucopia 


Oval  . . 

Eectangular . . 


17  Circular 

18  Rectangular, 


4  -G  X  1  -45 
3-25X 

2 -85x2 -6 
4Gxl-3 

2  "75  diam. 
xl-3 


Second  line  flaked 
Bottom  flaked  off 


•  •  *  • 


Worn 


Sliglitly  disintegrated 

Beginning  broken  off,  middle 
smeared. 


Rose 


Rose 


>  A  se.il  bearing  this  name  has  been  found  at  Pergamon. 


FROM   TET.L    SAND  All  ANN  AIL 


29 


I  From  similar,  but  not  idonticnl,  stamps.         1|   From  Tell  (-j-JiKloidcli. 


Position  of  Iii'^crip- 

tion  relntivoly  to 

Device. 


Surrounding 
To  right    . . 

Inside 


To  left 


Surrounding 


Surrounding 


Inscription. 


Elni  Af 
]   in[P  ? 

Eni  A[ 
KAP[NEIOT 

AFA  *  N0E[ 

[AFAGITOA  ?]0P02 
nANAMOT 

ArA0OKAET2 ' 

JLOI0N[iWS"I 
ArA0OKAET2 

ArHMONOS 

Eni  AFAOT 
MBPOTOT 

ArOPANAKTO 
KAPNEIOT 

aen;;t?]ei[e? 

A0ANO 
AOTOT 

Eni  ATf 
2MIC[2' 

Eni  A12XINA 
TAK]IN0IOT 

AKTAPn 
N02 

[  ] 

AAANIKOT 

AAAIOT 
AAEHANAPOT 

Eni  AAEHIMAXOY  AVTAMTOY  (sic) 

[E]ni  [AA*?]  ...  02 

[T]AKIN[0IOT] 


Alpliiibot  and 

other  l<;pii;;raphic 

Nutes. 


II. 


III. 


Doubtful  ; 

read- 

ing  utifprt 

ain. 

I,    minute 

letter 

ing. 

I  ;  0,  0  IV. 

IV. 

See  Fig.  1. 

See  Fig.  2. 

IV. 


I,     large     letters. 

N  reversed. 
See  Fig.  3. 


Ill ;   a,  i-i,  s  VII. 

V. 

I,  lettering  croolied. 

I ;   0,  lY. 

T. 

VI. 
I. 


2  Probably  2MIN0IOV  :  but  the  letter  after  I,  which  is  fracture  1,  is  curved  like  C,  and, 
if  N,  must  have  been  of  peculiar  form. 


30 


AMPHORA    HANDLES,    WITH    GREEK    STAMPS, 

*  roiuul  in  (liiplitvite. 


t  Illustrated. 


No.      I  Shape  of  Seal. 


21 


22 


23 


2i 


19  Rectangular 

20t 


Oval 


25       !  Rectangular 

I 

26t        Oval  .. 

27       1  Rectangular 

28 

29     : 

30 

I 

31t 
32 

33  Oval  .. 

34  Uectangular 

35 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


Condition  of  Seal. 


X  1 '2       I  End  broken  off 
3  "o  X  1  '5  Beginning  badly  stanii^ed 


3 -3  X  1  -2 


3-9x2 

3 -3x2 -7 
3 -6x1 -8 


2-3x 


4 -ex  1-55 


2 -65x1 -8 


3 -4  X  1-2 


Worn  and  faint 


o'l  X  1  -5  Chipped 


Top  smeared  slightly , 

Smeared  and  worn 
Badly  stamped. . 


2  •9x2-45        Worn     .. 
3-2x2  Top  line  battered 


Bottom  badly  stamped 


X  1  -5  Begiiming  broken  off 


End  smeared  and  worn 


Perfect 


Much  worn 


Badly  stamped 


3 -0x1-55     i  Worn 


Device. 


Wreath 


Rose 


Rose 


Helios  head 
Rose      . . 

•  •  •  • 

t  •  •  • 


FROM   TELL   SANDAIIANNAH. 


31 


X  From  siiiiilar,  but  not  idiMitical,  stiiinpa.  ||    Fi-din  Tr]]  ej-Jiidcidcli 


Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion reliitively  to 
Device. 

Inscription. 

Alj)liabet  and 

Otlier  Epigrapli  c 

Notes. 

. . 

AMTN[ 

I ;  a  II. 

Device  in  a  dovetail 
tag  at  right,  end 
of  seal. 

[A]MTNTA 

Eni   AN**IAA 
DANAMOT 

See  Fig.  4. 
I? 

Eni   ANAHANAPOT 

nANAMofr] 

AET[TEPOTJ 

I;   SIII,  oIV. 

A  stroke  under  MI 
in  second  line. 

Eni   ANAPIA 
APTAMITIOT 

IV;    aVlI,  £  VI. 

Surrounding 

Eni  ANAPONIKOT  AAAIOT 

I  ;  5  III. 

•  • 

[AN© '12 

OAnMor 

2MIN0IOT 

VI ;   0  I. 

Surrounding 

ANTirONOT 

See  Plate  I. 



[ANTX  ?]AP02 
AFPIANIOT 

I;  oil. 



AnOAAO 

[                 ] 

IV. 

[En]  I  APATO*A 
NEY2' 

I ;  0  IV. 

EHI  APH** 
TIAA  *  *  * 

VI   reversed    and 
cai-elessly  written. 

Em  API 

ET*PO 

See  Fig.  5. 

To  rig  lit 

Em  API 

MN[A  y  *  * 

I? 

Surrounding 

API2  ###■*#*  ivjoT 

I  reversed. 



Em  API2T*  »*** 
[                                   ] 

I. 

API2T  *  *  02 
0E2MO<1>OP;OT 

I. 

'  A  seal  with  this  name  has  been  found  in  Cjprus. 


32 


AMniORA    HANDLES,   WITH   GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


t  Illustraled. 


No. 


'    Siz3  of  Seal, 
Shape  of  Seal.  '  in 

centimetres. 


Condition  of  Seal. 


36 
37 
33 


Rectangular 


Circular 


39*t     Rectangular 


40 


41 


42J 


43: 

44J 

45*1 

46: 

47: 

48t 
•10 


Oval  .. 

Reetanfjular 


Oval  .. 
Rectansular 


5D:i|      Oval  .. 

5i:  I    „  .. 

I 

52         R;>etangular 

53:     i  Oval  .. 

5 1         Roctan^ular 


xl-2 


2  S  (Ham. 


Badly  stamped  . . 

Top  and  end  chipped  . . 
Worn  and  slightly  flaked 


3  8  X  1  '5         Worn 

X  1  --lo        Worn  ;  end  broken  off 


3  1  X  2  -9 
3-5xl-5 
2-7x1  -2 
xl-3 
3 -3x1 -4 
2Sjx  1G 
3-8xlG5 
x31 
4-65x2 

3x2-8 
3x2-8 

4-5x1  -45 

2-55x2-3 

3-8    xl-0 


Much  worn 

Perfect  . .  . .  . . 

Worn     . . 
End  broken  off 
Perfect  . . 

,,       •  •  .  • 

Slightly  fractured 
Badly  stamped  and  scaled 
Badly  stamped  and  smeared 

Perfect . . 
Slightly  flaked . . 

Badly  stamped  and  worn 

Slightly  smeared 
Perfect 


Device. 


Rose 


Stars      . . 


Rose 


n 


li.s  head 


Rose 


.    Star 


FIJOM    TKl.I.   SAN'nAHANNAir. 

From  «\mil«r.  but  not  id?ntir«l.  (^tjinijM*.         11  From  ToJl  ei-.Ti;do;«loli, 


Position  of  Inforip- 

tion  roUtivoly  to 

Device. 


Surrounding  (resid- 
ing outwards). 


»tK<»r<  in  t  no  corners 
of  the  sc;»l. 


sSurrv^undinj 


Siirroundiug 


Surrounding 


Surrounding 


Insi'ription. 

apict;;a 

APICTA^ 
En  j   .\  PISTAKOT  APTAMITIOT 

A 
AP12TAPXOT  ' 

ArPlANTOT 
API2TE£ 

Eni   .\P1ST1  *  *  *  *  l.i\-»T   2M  JNaiOT 

APirTir.Nos 
.\pimr.N'02 

•■VPISTir.NOS 

APimr.NOS 
APimnNos 

.\PI2TinN-02 

Eni   [AP12  TOrENEVS   HAN   AMCT: 

Eni    APl^TOj 

TEXEYi 

nANAMOT 

AP12TOK.\Er5 

APirT0K.VET5 

rMBH 


Eni  APinx^' 


lNKP 


u: 


llAA    nANAMrOTl 


[Em  API  CT04>ANEVC  mhnoc  aptamjtiov 


Eni  API 

2Tr.N02 
K.\PNE10V 


Alpli.Hhct  nn  \ 

other  Kpicniphio 

Xot<»ji. 


IV  reversed. 

IV. 

\  :  oU. 

>>,'  Ki^  fi. 

IV 

I? 

1. 

1,    luinulo    letter- 
ing. 
VI. 

I:  oTV. 

I.    nuiiute    letter- 
ing. 
1:   olV. 

•NVitf  Fig.  8. 

VT  esiTvlesslv-  exc- 
cuteil. 

T. 
1. 

I;  0 IV,  but  l*rger. 

^>e  Fig.  9. 
II  with  fini.H's. 


•  I  do  njt  understand  the  A— :^  above  and  beloir  the  name. 


31 


AMPHOKA    HA^^DLES.    WITH    CKKKK   STAMPS, 

*  FouB(l  in  duplicate. 


t  Illustrated. 


No. 

Shape  of  (Seal. 

Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 

Condition  of  Seal.          ' 

D( 

;vice. 

55 

Oval  .. 

2 -Ox  2 -7 

Much  v\orn  and  chipped 

•  • 

Rose 

•  •                    •   > 

56 

Rectangular. . 

3  45  X  1  -3 

Perfect 

•• 

.. 

. . 

57 

>> 

3 -4x1 -25 



■• 

.. 

58t 

)»           *  ■ 

3-9,xl-5 

Toji      badly      stamped 
chipped. 

and 

■  • 

. . 

59 

Oval  .. 

3  -35  X  2  -9 

Chipped  and  llaked 

, . 

Rose 

60 

Rectangular. . 

3  65x1-55 

Worn     . . 

•• 

61t 

Oral  .. 

3 -25x2 -9 

Perfect 

,   , 

Rose 

•  •                    •  • 

62 

Rectangular. . 

3-9x1  -5 

Slightly  vom    . . 

•  • 

•• 

•  •                    •   • 

63t 

Oval  .. 

2-55x2  -25 

Perfect 

*  • 

Rose 

•  •                    •  • 

64t 

Circular 

2-7  diaoi. 

Fractured  and  chipped 

•• 

j> 

•  •                    •  • 

65 

Rectangular. . 

3-9x1   15 

Perfect  . . 

•• 

•• 

.. 

66 

Circular 

2  -8  diam. 

Slightly  smeared 

< 

Rose 

•  •                    •  • 

67 

)) 

2-5      „ 

Lettering  scratched     . . 

•  • 

Helios 

head 

68t 

Oval  .. 

•• 

Badly  stamped  —  fragment 

only 

(?) 

•  ♦                   •  • 

69 

Rectangular. . 

2x1 

Badly  stami)ed  at  end 

•• 

•  • 

•  •                    •  • 

70t 

»           •  ■ 

3-7x1 

l""ractured  and  battered 

•  • 

Wreath . . 

7it: 

» 

3  -55  x  1    1 

Worn     . . 

•  • 

>i 

•  •                    •  • 

72J 

»)           ■  • 

X  1  -55 

Worn,  end  broken  off 

•  • 

•  •                   •  • 

73 

Oval  .. 

3-6x2  -85 

Worn     . . 

*  • 

Rose 

.. 

74 

}}     •  •          • . 

3  X  2  4 

Much  worn,  top  daked 

•• 

>> 

•  •                   •  • 

FUO.M   TELI.   SANDAIIANNAH.  35 

X  From  similar,  but  not  identical,  stamps.         ||  From  Toll  cj-Judeidch. 


Position  of  Inscrip- 

Alphabet and 

tion  relatively  to 
Device. 

Inscn'ipiion. 

other  Kpigraphic 

Notes. 

Surrounding 

["Eni  AP]M02IA[A' 

I. 



Eni  APM02IAA 

IV    with    finials ; 

AFPIANIOY 

a  V,  s  I. 

Eni  APM02IAA 

IV    with    finials 

nANAMOT 

a  V,  s  I. 

.. 

Eni   A!'PT?]I 

MOT 

YOIAAA 

See  Fig.  10. 

Surrounding  (read- 

Em AP[XE]MBP  ***  nANAMOT 

I. 

ing  outwards). 

. . 

En[l  APlXIAA 

Ill     carelessly 

MOT 

written. 

BATPOMIOT 

Surrounding 

Eni  APXIAAIAA  AIO20TOT 

/See  Fig.  12. 



EHI   APXIAAIAA 

I;    ttIII. 

TAKIN0IOT 

Surrounding 

En'    IEPEn2  [A]PXOKPATET2 

See  Fig.  18. 

» 

AC^  *  *  lAA  AIO[C]©TOT 

See  Fig.  13;  note 

<p-\ike  d. 



ATTAAOT 

I  ;    «    VII,     0    11 
[very     small     in 
comparison  with 
other  letters]. 

Surrounding 

Eni  ATTOKPATET2  0E2M[O*OPIO]T 

VI;  evil. 

>>                   •  • 

A<I>02 

I. 

ft                   •  • 

BION  (anchor  following) 

S'eeFig.  11.   • 

Binc 

IV  reversed  ;  t  I, 

To  left       .. 

BPOMIOT 

a.  VII. 
I? 

,, 

BPOMIOT 

-See  Fig  14. 



BPOMl[OT] 

I. 

Surrounding 

Eni  roprnNGS  takinoiot 

II. 

)j                   •  • 

AA[MO]K[A]ET2 

I. 

'  A  seal  with  this  name  has  been  found  in  Telos. 


G  2 


r.G 


AMl'IIORA    HANDLES,   Willi    CKEEK    STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


;.3fo.      I  Shape  of  Seal. 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


"~* 

71': 

M 


x2-8 

2  -85  X  2  -5 

2'8x2-t3 

2 -Ox  2 -8 


Condition  of  Seal. 


0\:il  . .  . .  !  X  2  -8  AVorn,  partly  fractured 

Badly  stamped. . 
Worn     . . 
Badly  stamped 
Half  broken  away 

Rectangular..         4  7x2  05     1  End  worn 


2  -7  X  1   (35        Perfect  . 


,v2  Oval  .. 

^;;  Ili'ftanguiar 

M 
«5t 

■s(; 


ss 

'.•i»t: 
02: 

yat 

94  Ov:il 


3  ax  2  -95 

4  5  X  1  •io 
4-2  X  1-8 

X  lo 

xl-3 


Much  worn 
Sliglitly  iibrudid 
Worn  and  flaked 
Beginning  broken  off 

End  broken  off 


3-2x0  9  Perfect 


3 -7  xl-3 
3  'bo  x 

4 -05x1 -7 
5   1  xll5 
3  -8  X  1  •  G 

x2-7 


Worn     . . 
j  Bottom  badly  stamped 

Sliglitly  worn  . . 
Worn  and  battered    '. . 
Worn     . . 
Perfect 

Half  broken  nwaj 


+  Illustrated. 


Device. 


Rose 


Rose 


. .     Square  frame 


Uncertain 

Helios  head 
Anchor  . . 


Rose 


rUD.M     TKI.L    SAMtAIIANNAlI. 


X  From  similar,  but  not  ideiitioal,  stamps.  ''    From  Tell  cj-JiHli'.i'rli. 


I'ositioii  of  Iiiscrip- 

tidii  relatively  to 

l)e\ivc. 


Surronndiii'i 


Siirroiiiuliug  (read- 
ing outward). 


Inside 


To  right 

To  lel'l 
Above 


Sunounding 


luscription. 

[Eni]    AAMOKAETS   APTAMJTIOT] 

AAMOKPATET2 

AAMOKPATEr2 

AAMOKPATET2 

A[AMOKPATE]T5 

Eni    AAMOKPA 

TET2 

2MIN0I[OT] 

Eni   AA 
NM0N02 

AA20*IAOT 

AIOAOTOT 

AIOKA[H2j 

AIOKAH2 

APTAMI 

AIOK[AH2l 
2iMINL0IOTj 

AIOT 


AIO*ANTOT 

AI2KOT 

[  J 

AI2KOT 

APAKONTIAA 

APAKONTIAA 

AP-POOEOT 


AA       r- 

EN       ANf 


Alpliabi'L  and 

Other  Kpigraplii-e 

^Notes. 


I. 

I;  0  TV. 

I. 

T  ;    o  1  V. 

I. 

VlJl. 


V;  /istraigld.st.lcd, 
horizontal  bur.-ot 
s  diverjring.  , 

III;   si. 

IV;    5  VII..    ,    . 
V. 

See  Fig.  15. 

Similar  to  ?^C^. . 

I ;  right  b:ir  of  5 
projects  as  in 
A'li,  but  M 
straight  ami 

finialled. 

[carelessly  written. 

IV;    sIV-'. 

See  Fig.  r>j. 

See  Fig.  Hi. 

Similar  to  JU . 

See  Fiir.  17 :  note 
<^-shaped  9. 

VI. 


:J8 


AMPHORA   HANDLES,   WITH    GREEK   STAMPS, 


*  Found  in  duplicate. 


t  Illustrated. 


No. 


I    Size  of  Seal, 
Shape  of  Seal,  i  in 

I     centimetres. 


95       j  Rectangular . 
56      i  „  , 

07 


9s*n 

100 


»- 


101         Oval  .. 


102t        Circular 


103  1  Oval  .. 

104  I  Rectangular 


Oral  ., 


105t 
106tl 
407 
108 

109 


not 

111         Oval 
112 


Rectangular 


Condition  of  Seal. 


1  7  X  0  7         Perfect  . . 

2  G  X  12  Badlj  stamped. 

4  "1  X  1  oo        Perfect  . . 


3  8x1 -75     i 


4-4xl-7 


2 -7x2 -5 


2  'So   diam. 


2-75x1 -7 

3 -05x2 -6 

3  -4  X  2  -9 

3x2-7 

3x1-7 

x2-5 

xl-65 
3-2x2-9 
x2-55 


Very  badly  stamped 


3  15x1  -3  Stamp  slipped 


Badly     stamped     and     disin- 
tegrated. 
Rather  worn     . . 


iluch  -worn 
Slightly  worn    . 
Chipped 
>> 

End  broken  off 

))  I) 

Much  worn 


Device. 


Helios  head   on 
stand. 


Caduceus 
Caduceus 


Stamp  slipped  slightly  . .     Rose 


Lettering  slightly  chipped     . .     Rosette 


Rose 


Helios  head 


)>  ?5 


Rose 


Rose 


Centre    and    most     of     edge  i     (?) 
flaked  away.  I 


FKOM    TKLL   SANDATIANNAII. 
X  From  similar,  but  not  itlontii-iil,  stiuiips.  ||   From  Tell  cj-Jtidoidoh. 


89 


Position  of  Iiisorip- 

fion  roliitively  to 

Device. 


To  right 


A  bore 


Above 


Surrounding 


Surrounding 


Above 

Surrounding 


Inscription. 


EPMO 

[E2  *  »  A]  ? 
2TAAMO 

Eni   ETAA 

MOT 

APTAMITIOY 

ETKAEI 
TOT 

e;t1k[ae]it[ot] 


Eni  ETKAET2 
Eni  ETKAET2  2MINOIOT  (-tic) 

n 

Eni  ETM  ATIAA 
*P 

Eni  ET*PA  **«**#* 

Em   ET* 
PANOP 

ET-I>[PAN0]P02 

ET<I'PAN0P02 

ZHNl**0?]2[A?] 

pj    *    #    *    »    *    K: 

KAA  *  *  m 


HP[ 

[ 


] 


0A[PrHAIOT] 

hpakaeito[t] 

En[l   0ANO  ?]A0T0T   TAKIN0IOT 
Eni  0AP2  »#******»*****f 


Alphabet  and 

other  Epignipliic 

Notes. 


Similar  to  58. 

V;  t  vir. 

See  Fig.  10. 


Similar  to  Fig.  19; 
the  writing  ia 
one  line,  and 
the  caduceus 
smaller. 

VI,  horizontal 
linos  of  (T  slightly 
expanding. 

I:  tr  11. 


See  Fig.  2X 

I? 
■  VII T,  )■  V,  0  vir. 

,  VI? 
See  Fig.  51. 
I. 

I  I? 

I 

T,  a  VII.  e  VIP. 


See  Fig.  21. 

I,    minute   letter- 
ing. 
VI. 


40  AMPIIOKA   HANDLES,   WITH    GKEKK    STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


t  Illustrated. 


No. 

Shape  of  Seal. 

Size  of  Seal, 

in 
cent. metres. 

Condition  of  Seal. 

Device. 

net 

Eetkmgulur . . 

3-5  X 1-5 

Slightly  chipped 

iu*t 

)>            •  • 

3-6  X  1  -5 

Stamp  slightly  slipped 

.  • 

115 


IIG 


117 


3  -15  X  1  -05        Chipped  and  worn 


4  oo  X  1  G  Slightly  rubbed 


118* 

?»                    •  * 

119t 

.. 

120 

M 

121tli   , 

1 

122* 

i 

1 

123 

»>            • ' 

124: 

Oi 

al  . . 

i25*:ii 

Cirrular 

12G 

E 

ectangular .. 

127 

>)             •  • 

X  1  -J  End  broken  oEf 

4*75  xl'o  End  worn 

3  -8  X  1  '4  Worn     . . 

3  G  X  1  •?  End  fractured  . 


Square  frame 
Star 


X  1  oo        Badly  stamped  and  fractured      Bull's  head 

4  X  1  05     '  Slightly  worn Ciiduceus 

X  1  •.")  Viry  faint,  and  fractured       ..       .. 


x3 

2  -8  diani. 
4-5x1 -3 


Worn,  ilaked.  and  fnic lured  . .     Rose 

Slightly  smeared  on  edge       . .  ;       „ 

Slightly  worn ^*prig  of  plant 


128  Circular 


Badly   stamped,    end    broken 

off. 


2  '55  d!am.        Flaked 


Rose 


li;oM     IKI.I.    SANDAIIANNAir. 


4r 


From  siiuiliir,  but  not  identical,  Mtii'ii)>-i.  i|   Fri-in   Tell  oj-.Iudcidc 


'of<itio)i  of  Inscrip- 
tion relatively  to 
Device. 


Jnscvipfion. 


Alphabet  unil 

oilier  Kpigraphic? 

Notes. 


Inside 
To  left 


Device  in  centre  of 
lower  line. 

Above 


Surrounding 


To  left 


Eni   0AP2inOAIO2 
KAPNEIOT 

Kni   «AP2inOAI02 
HANAMOT 
AETTEPOT 

0  EK?]A*  *NAP02 
[ArP]lANIOT 

Eni  0EP2AN 

APOT 

2MIN01OT 


Eni    [0?]E2Tr 

lKaJpneio^tJ 

IA20N02 

KAPNEIOr 
lEPOKAH 

Eni   IEPONO[2] 

AA^AIOTJ 

+  IAAN0Er[ 
MOP  — [ON  ^ 

IMA' 

INT[ 
nANAM[OT] 

innoKPATET[2] 

innOKPATETS 

I2IAnP0Y 

i2Nr 

AINl  A? 


See  Fig.  7. 


See  Fig.  22. 


YI. 


V,  earelesslv 

written  ;  iiori- 
zontal  of  a. 
straight  and  n])- 
rights  of  ju  ver- 
tical. 

I;  the  "e"  a  blind 
point,  jjossibly  j^ 
mere  word-sepa- 
rator. 

I. 

See  Fig.  50. 


II. 

See  Fig.  51. 

See  Fig.  24. 
II  ?  reverseJ. 

I,  small  letters. 

I,  large  letters. 

I. 

YI  reversed. 


Surrounding 


K 


#  j(i  #*#####  # 


AAI 


»  »  * 


'  A  seal  bearing  t!;i*  name  Las  been  found  at  Pcrgamon. 


42 


AMlilORA    HANT)I.E>,    WVTU    (MtEEK    RTAMPS, 

*  Foimd  in  diiplicafce. 


t  rilustrated. 


Shape  of  Seal. 


Rot'tangulap , 


Oval   .. 

Circular 

Rectangular 


Oval  ., 


Rectangular 


Size  of  Seal, 
in 

cputimetres." 


2f;  X 


3-2x1 


2 -Ox  1  -2 


Coiuliticn  of  Seal. 


1x0  -05        P.- r feet 

3  1x  1-3  Worn 

3 -8x1 -7       '.„  

4  X  1  "65  Stamp  slipped  . . 

1 -Sox  0-9  Perfect 

2-8x17  „ 

2-9x2-5  Worn 

2  -7  (Hum.  Fractured  and  flaked  . 

X  1  -6  End  broken  off 

3  '25  X  1  4  Worn,  end  broken  06. 

2  -65  X  2  -4  Worn 

4x1-6  Worn  and  flaked 


Bottom  flaked  . . 


Bottom  badlj  stamped 


Perfect 


X  1  -2  Badly  stamped. . 


2-4x1  -2.3        AVorn 


Dev'ce. 


Stars      . . 

Helio.s  head 
Rose 


Helios  lifad 


Rose 


(To  be 


FKOM    TKT.L   SANPATIAXNAH. 
From  sinular,  Imt  not.  idoiitical,  stiuup-!.  !'    From  Tell  cj-JiKloidfli. 


4:'. 


asifion  of  Inscrip- 
tion relatively  to 
Device. 

lii«crij)tiion. 

Alpliabet  and 
other  Kpigraphic 
Notes. 

KA 

I  \'  reversed. 

VVIXVd     [no  room  for  the  E  of  EFIl ' 
niKAAAIK 

.SVf  Fig.  23. 

Eni  KAAAIKPATIAA 
nANAMOT 

Ill,    verjr   minute 
lettering. 

stars  in  corners  of 

Feal.  as  in  Fig.  6 

•  •                       •  • 

KAAAIOT2 

KAEAN 
AKTOT 

III. 

See  Fig.  25. 

Co  right ;    all    in- 
side square  frame. 

Eni  KAE 
APXOT 

See  Fig.  48. 

Surrounding 

En'   lEPEnS  KAEAPXOT 

VIII  reversed. 

»»                   •  ■ 

[k]aeitomaxot 

IV  ;   6,  VI. 



Eni   KA[EIT] 

OMAXO  T] 

BAAPOMlb[T] 

VI,   TT   VII. 

?o  right     . . 

Eni  KAE 

nNTMO[r] 

VIII. 

Surrounding 

2A 

See  Fig.  26. 

•  •                   ■  *                   •  • 

Em   KPATIAA 
AAAIOT 

I. 

KPEON 
TO[2] 

IV  ;     »  I ;     large 
coarse  letters. 

KPE0NT02 
TAKIN0IOT 

IV  ;   0  I. 

•  •                    <  •                   •  • 

KPE0NT02 
TAKIN0IOT 

IV;   ol. 

. 

[En]l   KTAOT 
ATPIANI 

See  Fig.  27. 



AE*  *  *  * 

or 

AP[T  ?]  *  #  * 

VI. 

mti  lined.) 


44 


EXPLORATIOX    OF     THE    AVADY    MOJTB    FR0:M    THE 

DEAD    SEA. 

Uy  the  Rev.  Plixam  Cady. 

Ix  an  article  on  'Tlie  Dead  Sea,"  publislied  in  the  Qnarterli/ 
Sfntenient  of  July  last,  the  author,  Gray  Hill,  Esq.,  say.s  that  a 
careful  examination  and  good  photographs  of  the  east  coast  would 
be  interesting.  He  warns  against  the  attempt,  however,  until  the 
Dead  Sea  is  provided  with  a  suitable  steamer  or  a  properly 
equipped  sailing  vessel. 

In  Februaiy.  1898,  I  made  this  voyage  in  Avhat  I  believe  to  be. 
the  smallest  boat  that  ever  sailed  those  waters.  I  also  secured 
photographs  of  this  east  shore  and  of  the  Wady  Mojib  (Arnoii). 
I  have  inquired  and  read  diligt  ntly,  and  cannot  find  that  tlu^ 
Arnon  has  been  explci'ed  since  Lieutenant  Ljnch's  expedition  in 
1848.  Neither  is  there  record  that  Lynch  or  anyone  else  has  ever 
followed  the  river  up  as  far  as  it  is  possible  to  go  from  the  Dead 
Sea.  The  fact  that  I  did  this  and  secured  the  only  photographs 
that  have  ever  been  taken  there  or  along  the  east  coast,  is  my 
excuse  for  this  article  and  the  accompanying  illustrations. 

My  boat  w^as  12  feet  long,  with  a  flat  bottom  and  square  stern^ 
a  mere  skiff  made  of  thin  wood  and  poorly  constructed.  I  engaged 
two  men  to  accompany  me,  and  when  we  settled  into  our  places 
there  was  little  room  for  provisions  and  the  tin  of  water.  Our 
small  tent  was  left  behind. 

We  started  from  the  moutli  of  the  Jordan  on  tlie  morning  of 
February  9tli.  As  the  boat  was  not  built  for  spcfnl  our  progress 
was  slow,  and  we  kept  close  to  the  shore  for  .safety's  sake. 
Lieutenant  Lynch  gives  no  detailed  account  of  the  coast  from  the 
Jordan  to  the  Zerka  Ma'aiii  (Callirrhoe).  A  short  description, 
especially  with  i-eference  to  landing  })laces,  may  be  of  some  value 
to  future  expliirei's. 

Leaving  the  Jordan  at  6.50,  we  followed  the  north  shore 
toward  the  ^loab  mountains.  Landing  is  ea.sy  anywhere  along 
the  broad  beach.  Wu  passed  many  trees  of  considerable  size 
standing  out  in  the  water  GO  feet  from  the  shore.  They  were 
encrusted  with  salt  and  looked  ghastly  in  the  early  light.  At 
8.30  we  passed   the  first  of  the  sei-ies  of   headlands  on  the  ^Ioal> 


{To  face  ;>.  44. 


Calltrrttok  Eiver  (W.  Zerka  M'aain)  entering  the  Dead  Sea, 
SHOWING  treb;s  growing  in  the  sea  and  concealing  the 
entrance  of  the  river. 


Mouth  ok  the  River  Arnon  (Wady  Mujib). 

(From  Photographs  by  Rev.  Putnam  Cadi/.) 


'     •  »       • 

,     ,    '       t 
c     *  c  < 


KXPLORATION  OF  TIIF;  \\'\\>\'  MO.lin  FliOM  THK  DEAD  SEA.         45 

slioro.  They  extend  out  several  Iiundi-etl  yanl.s  and  iire  about 
lialf  ii  mile  apart.  Between  are  beautiful  coves  with  clean  gravel 
beaches  alnn<i^  which  we  towed  our  boat.  At  9.15  we  passed  a 
<,'ood  stream  of  sweet  water.  Along  the  shore  we  found  pieces  of 
pure  sulphur  as  large  as  one's  fist,  and  lumps  of  bitumen  as  large 
;is  a  man's  head.  They  burned  like  tar  when  thrown  into  our  fire 
:ii  niglit.  At  10  we  tirst  noticed  a  strong  current  setting  toward 
I  lie  north.  This  we  observed  all  the  way  down  the  coast.  At 
10. ;W  we  passed  a  deep  and  wild  wady,  in  which  were  many  palm 
trees.  From  this  point  to  the  Anion  the  cliffs  come  close  to  the 
water's  edge,  and  there  are  few  landing  places.  At  11  we  came 
to  a  large  wady  with  a  long  and  broad  beach.  A  stream  flows 
into  the  sea.  The  water  tasted  slightly  of  sulphur,  but  we  readily 
drank  it.  In  half  an  hour  we  passed  a  gorge  in  which  were  palm 
trees  clinging  to  the  rocks  at  different  inaccessible  heights.  The 
c-liffs  now  appeared  in  most  beautiful  and  brilliant  colours — red, 
white,  yellow,  green,  and  black.  AVe  saw  many  streams  of  hot 
water  flowing  down  the  mountains.  From  several  the  steam  arose 
in  clouds  so  that  we  could  trace  their  course  far  up  the  cliffs.  Oil 
poured  out  from  the  j-ocks  and  covered  considerable  areas  of  the 
•sea.  Instead  of  falling  from  the  oars  in  drops,  the  water  fell  in 
iilmy  sheets  as  if  it  were  pure  oil.  At  1.15  we  passed  a  good 
landing,  and  at  2.80  reached  the  Callirrhoe.  From  this  point  to 
the  Arnon  the  coast  has  been  sufficiently  described  by  Lynch. 
Between  these  streams  I  noted  but  four  landing  places.  Of 
course  if  the  sea  were  smooth,  one  could  climb  out  upon  the  rocks 
at  many  points.  But  I  am  speaking  of  places  where  it  is  po.ssible 
to  pull  the  boat  out  of  the  reach  of  breakers  and  to  camp. 

We  reached  the  Arnon  at  noon  on  the  second  day.  This  river 
enters  the  sea  through  a  chasm  whose  cliffs  tower  up  to  a  great 
height.  My  photograph  will  give  a  better  idea  of  its  beauty  and 
grandeur  than  words  can  picture.  The  I'ock  is  of  rich  red  sand- 
.stone,  and  is  worn  into  fantastic  shapes.  We  spent  some  time  in 
looking  at  the  relief  figures  of  eagles,  wolves,  elephants,  &c.,  that 
were  so  distinct  and  accurate  that  we  could  scarcely  persuade 
ourselves  they  were  not  the  work  of  man.  An  immense  delta 
extends  out  into  the  sea  several  hundred  feet,  and  trees  and  bushes 
grow  beyond  this  where  the  water  is  more  than  5  feet  deep.  The 
chasm  is  about  100  feet  wide,  and  runs  east  for  450  feet.  Then  t 
turns  sharply  to  the  south.     We  found  the  stream  40  feet  wide 


40         KXl'LOKATION  OF  THE  WADV  MO.IIB  FKOM  THE  DEAD  SEA. 

and  \  foot  deep.  It  follows  the  north  whH  closely,  so  that  it  is 
impossible  to  ascend  on  that  side;  but  there  is  a  wide  margin 
alono-  the  soiath  side,  although  one  must  force  his  way  through 
thick  bushes  and  small  trees.  Just  before  reacliing  the  sharp 
turn  spoken  oE  above,  we  had  to  climb  and  crawl  over  immense 
masses  of  rock.  We  hoped  to  be  able  to  look  around  the  angle, 
but  when  -within  a  few  feet  of  it  were  stopped  by  the  precipitous 
shelvino-  ott"  of  the  rock  into  a  deep  pool  that  extends  around  the 
turn.  From  our  position  30  feet  above  the  surface  we  could  look 
down  into  the  clear  depths  and  see  many  fishes,  from  8  inches  to 
10  inches  long,  swimming  about. 

As  I  was  wondering  how  I  might  be  able  to  get  around  that 
tin-ii  and  explore  tlie  unknown  territory  beyond,  it  occui'red  to 
me  that  my  small  boat  might  be  made  available.  I  returned  to 
the  shore  and  brought  the  craft  to  the  mouth  of  the  chasm.  Just 
above  this  is  a  swift  rapid,  with  the  water  tumbling  over  the 
rocks.  Then  comes  the  pool  extending  around  the  turn.  We 
stripped  ourselves  for  wading,  and  by  much  hard  work  succeeded 
in  getting  the  boat  into  the  pool.  This  was  a  somewhat  dangerous 
til  ill"-  to  attempt,  as  the  swift  current  pounded  her  against  the 
rocks.  If  anything  should  happen  to  one's  boat  between  the 
Ai'non  and  Callirrhoe.  it  would  be  impossible  to  proceed  along  the 
coast.  I  think  it  would  also  be  impracticable  to  climb  the  cliffs 
to  the  ^Nloab  tablelands.  If  there  are  passes,  they  are  known  only 
to  the  Bedouin. 

My  excitement  was  intense  as  I  paddled  around  the  turn  and 
looked  beyond.  I  discovei'ed  that  the  chasm  immediately  narrows 
to  14  feet,  with  the  water  rushing  down  furiously  ;  15  yards  more 
ami  the  wild  rushing  stream  compelled  us  to  get  out  of  the  boat 
and  wade.  Here  the  chasm  was  only  4  feet  wide  and  the  sky  a 
strip  of  blue  far  above.  For  a  long  time  we  had  heard  the  sound 
of  falling  water,  and  now  the  roar  was  deafening.  We  could 
scarcely  carry  on  a  conversation.  Being  confined  to  a  narrow 
channel  and  coming  down  a  steep  descent,  the  water  nearly 
knocked  us  off  our  feet,  and  the  stones  were  sharp  and  unfriendly. 
We  went  on  foot  perhaps  "JO  yards  when  a  wilder  rush  of  the 
stream  brought  us  to  a  stop.  Leaning  around  an  angle  a  glimpse 
was  caught  of  falling  water.  No  idea  could  be  gained  of  its 
height,  but  from  the  sound  it  must  be  great.  In  summer  it  might 
be  possible  to  reach  the  foot  of  this  fall,  but  I  doubt  it.     Then, 


(ro<fae^  pt  47.)c , 


C  k 


Boat  and   Baggage  on  Camel. 


Eastern  Shore  of  the  JJead   Sea. 

{FroM  Photograplu  by  Rev.  Putnam  Cody.) 


KXPLOKATION  OF  TllK  WAKV  MOJIIi  FIJO.M  TIIK  DEAD  SEA.         -^7 

too    who   would  risk    a   voyage  on   this    Sea  of    Death  uihUt   tlie 
biu-ning  rays  of  a  niidsuniraer  snn  ? 

By  the  facts  I  discovered  J  am  led  to  ei  rreet  several  statements 
made  by  Lieutenant  Lynch.  Jle  says  that  he  "  walked  and  waded 
up  some  distance  and  found  the  passage  of  the  same  uniform  width, 
turning  every  L50  or  200  yards  gradually  to  the  south-east" 
("Expedition  to  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  .Torrl an,"  sixth  edition, 
revised,  p.  o<)8).  This  statement  proves  that  he  never  went  up 
the  river  150  yards.  As  I  liave  shown,  at  that  point  it  makes  a 
sharp  turn  to  the  south  and  immediately  narrows  to  14  feet. 
Within  15  yards  beyond  this  turn  it  narrows  to  4  feet,  and 
gradually  turns  again  to  the  east.  Twenty  yards  n^ore  and 
progress  is  stopped.  These  last  measurements  are  only  approxi- 
mate, but  they  are  not  far  out  of  the  way.  One  may  be  pardoned 
for  not  being  accurate  in  his  observations  when  he  has  to  light 
every  moment  to  maintain  a  foothold. 

The  fact  that  Lynch  never  went  up  the  chasm  far  enough  to 
look  around  the  sharp  turn  is  made  certain  also  by  his  statement 
that  he  "  walked  and  waded."  The  deep  pool  that  extends  away 
around  the  turn  is  hollowed  out  of  the  rock  and  must  have  been 
there  50  years  ago.  In  some  places  it  is  so  deep  that  my  oar, 
supplemented  with  the  length  of  my  arm,  could  not  touch  bottom. 
The  pool  must  have  been  even  deeper  when  he  explored  the  river, 
for  his  figures  give  a  volume  of  water  more  than  as  large  again 
than  I  found  it.  He  tells  us  that  he  reached  the  Arnon  at 
5.25  p.m.  and  explored  it  that  evening.  From  this  also  it  is 
evident  that  his  examination  was  superficial.  Of  course  the 
supposition  that  it  is  impossible  to  descend  the  Arnon  to  the  shore 
is  correct. 

A  phenomenon  on  the  Dead  Sea  that  intei'ested  me  may  not 
be  out  of  place  here.  On  three  successive  nights  at  about  7.30, 
when  no  air  was  stirring,  a  heavy  breaker  would  suddenly  come 
pounding  on  the  beach.  After  an  interval  another  would  come, 
and  then  a  perfect  bombardment  would  follow  for  an  hour.  Uj) 
to  this  time  the  sea  would  be  perfectly  quiet,  and  during  and  after 
it  no  air  stirred.  At  the  Callirrhoe  I  was  lying  on  the  beach 
asleep  Avhen  the  first  breaker  came  in.  At  first  I  thought  it  was 
some  wild  beast  crashing  through  the  jungle.  Daring  the  other 
nights  we  spent  on  the  sea,  the  wind  was  blowing  a  gale,  so  that 
we  could  not  tell  whether  it  was  a  regular  occurrence  or  not. 


48        EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WADY  MOJIB  FROM  THE  DEAD  SEA. 

On  the  return  journey  we  experienced  the  same  dangers  tliat 
liave  been  met  by  all  wlio  liave  tried  to  explore  the  Dead  Sea. 
In  his  article  Mr.  Hill  says  that,  he  sailed  durin^f  the  night,  as  then 
the  sea  was  calmer.  I  was  driven  to  the  same  thing  and  rowed 
"between  the  hours  of  one  and  four  in  the  morning.  Even  then  the 
«ea  was  rough  and  we  had  to  meet  each  wave  just  right  to  keep 
onr  boat  afloat.  Our  faces  and  hands  were  sore  from  the  watei", 
■our  clothing  stiff  and  greasy,  and  our  shoes  cracked  and  open. 
'♦Safety  compelled  us  to  keep  out  from  the  shore  to  escape  the 
•counter-seas.  Often  the  wind  increased  when  no  landing  place 
■was  near,  and  we  had  narrow  escapes.  When  we  finally  reached  a 
beach  the  men  jumped  overboard  just  before  we  struck  and  kept 
■the  boat  from  dashing  against  the  rocks,  while  1  threw  the 
provisions  ashore  and  then  leaped  with  the  tin  of  water. 

One  morning  I  was  aroused  by  a  severe  cliill.  Remembering 
that  every  expedition  had  suffered  through  sickness  or  death,  I 
awoke  the  men  and  we  started,  hoping  to  reach  the  Jordan  and 
■escape  from  the  Sea  of  Death.  The  wind  increased,  and  at  four 
o'clock  the  waves  literally  threw  us  upon  the  north  shore.  In  an 
hour  it  commenced  to  rain,  and  great  banks  of  cloud  poured  down 
■over  the  Judean  hills.  The  men  went  in  search  of  a  Bedouin 
camp  and  returned  in  an  hour  with  a  camel.  Loading  our 
ljas:2:as:e  and  boat  on  his  back  off  we  went  through  rain  and  mud 
to  the  tents.  My  experiences  with  Sheikh  Kuftan  of  the  Beni 
Sakhr  tribe  during  the  two  days  and  nights  that  the  storm  kept 
•me  in  his  tent,  and  my  journey  overland  opposite  Jericho,  ending 
in  the  loss  of  my  boat  before  the  camel  carried  it  to  the  Jordan, 
would  form  a  separate  nai'rative. 

If  this  little  contribution  to  a  better  knowledge  of  the  topo- 
graphy of  the  Moab  shore  and  of  the  Wady  Mojib  is  of  an}'  value, 
I  shall  feel  repaid  for  my  work.  My  devout  wish  is  that  the  Sea 
of  Death  may  be  kinder  to  future  exjilorers  than  it  has  been  to  my 
j)redecessors  and  to  me. 

Amsterdam,  N.Y.,  U.S.A., 

September,  1900. 


EXI'LORATIOX  OF  THE  WADY  .MO.Iin  FIJOM  TIIK  DFAI)  SEA.        49 

Note  hy  Ma.iou-Gkxeral  Sir  Chakles  Wilson. 

The  Rev.  Putnam  Cary,  in  liis  interesting  account  of  a  boat  journey  to 
Wruly  MGjib,  mentions  three  points  iu  connection  with  the  Dead  Sea 
which  show  liow  desirable  it  is  that  there  should  be  a  moio  complete 
study  of  tliat  remarkable  lake  than  we  have  at  present. 

(1)    The    strong    current    setting    towards     the    north    which    was 
"  observed  all  the  way  down  the  coast."      It  would  be  interesting  to 
ascertain  whether  this  is  a  constant  oirrent  due  to  subterranean  attluents  ; 
to  unequal  barometric  pressure  ;  or  to  wind  action.     In  the  first  case  the 
salinity  of  the  water  llowing  north  would  probably  be  less  than  that  of 
the  water  outside  the  current.     (2)  The  oil  which  "])oure(l  out  from  the 
rocks  and  covered  considerable  areas  of  the  sea,"  before  reaching  Callinhoe. 
The  nature  of  the  oil,  its  exact  source,  and  the  conditions  under  which  it 
exutles  from  the  rock,  deserve  examination.     Inflammable  oil  floating  on 
the  surface,  if  accidentally  lighted,  would  produce  the  phenomena  noticed 
by  Mr.  Gray  Hill  iu  1899  {Quarterly  Statement,  1900,  ]).  27G).     (3)  The 
breaking  of  waves  on  the  shore  for  about  one  hour,  fi'om  7.30  ]).m.,  on 
three  successive  nights  when  no  air  was  stirring.     This  may  perhai)s  have 
been  something  in  the  nature  of  the  seiches,  or  disturbances  of  level,  to 
which  the  Lake  of  Geneva  is  subject.     These  disturbances  are  attributed, 
])rincii)ally,  to  difl'erences  of  barometric  pressure  in  different  parts  of  the 
lake.     Unfortunately  we  do  not  know  what  the  barometric  pressure  is  at 
different  points  on  the  shore  of  the  lake.     That  it  is  not  the  same  at  the 
two  ends  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  probable,  and  the  great  uprush  of  heated 
air,  said  to  be  of  daily  occurrence,  which  I  noticed  at  Tufileh,  in  Edom, 
seems  to  indicate  that  great  changes  of  pressure  take  place  after  sunset. 
How  far  the  sluggish  water  of  the  Dead  Sea  responds  to  differences  of 
pressure  and  the  influence  of  such  differences  on  the  less  dense  water 
on  the  surface  at  the  north  end  of   the  lake  are   interesting   subjects 
for  inquiry.     It  may  be  long  before   a   systematic  examination   of  the 
lake  can  be  undertaken,  but  meantime  I  hope  we  may  have  many  more 
papers  of  such  interest  as  that  forwarded  by  Mr.  Cary. 

M.  Clermont-Ganneau  has  drawn  my  attention  to  the  remarks  on 
the  level  of  the  Dead  Sea  in  the  early  editions  of  Frere  Lievin's  "  Guide 
to  the  Holy  Land,"  and  in  the  account  of  the  Due  de  Luynes's  exploration 
of  the  lake  in  1864.  It  appears  that  Frere  Liuvin  walked  to  the  island 
twice  in  1860,  that  in  1861  the  water  was  up  to  his  horse's  knees,  and 
that  after  1863  he  was  obliged  to  swim  out  to  it.  This  indicates  a  slow, 
continuous  rise  of  level,  and  seems  to  exclude  the  hyj)othesis  of  sudden 
volcanic  action.  M.  Louis  Lartet,  the  distinguished  geologist  who 
accompanied  the  Due  de  Luynes,  amongst  other  interesting  remarks 
on  recent  variations  of  level,  points  out  that  very  slight  causes  would 
produce  great  changes  in  the  form  and  superficial  extent  of  the  lake. 
Amongst  those  causes  he  includes  a  succession  of  exceptionally  dry 
or  rainy  seasons,  the  silt  brought  down  by  the  Jordan  and  other  affluents, 
and  slight  earth  movements  which  escape  detection. 

D 


50 


CROWN      PRifJCE       FHIDL 


RICK       STREET     (NEW) 


THE    ANCIENT    CHURCHK8    IN    THE    MURISTAN.i 
By  Ur.  Conrad  ScrnrK. 

1  x  •'  Notes  ami  News  "  I  have  reported  changes  wliich  are  being 
made  in  the  western  part  of  the  Maristan,  which  belongs  to  the 
Greek  Convent.  The  buildings  which  are  to  be  erected  will 
liopclossly  cover  up  whatever  remains  of  ancient  structures  may 
exist  beneath  the  present  surface,  and  I  send  lierewith  a  plan  of  a 
large  churcii,  restored  ffom  discoveries  I'ecently  made,  which  once 
stood  over  the  large  cistern  discovered  by  Sir  Charles  Warren 
in  1867. 

The  place  contained  three  churches,  two  of  which  have  been 
known  for  a  long  time,  and  the  third,  or  I'cmains  of  it,  were  found 
l)y  the  excavations  of  the  Greeks  a  few  years  ago.  The  eastern 
church,  the  latest  built  of  the  three,  has  now  been  rebuilt  as  the 
German  "  Erlliserkirche,"  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  describe  it 
here.  It  was  the  Mai-ia  Latina  minor,  not  major,  as  it  has 
been  hitherto  considered. 

The  second  or,  as  it  is  now  proved,  the  Maria  Latina  major,  was 
found  25  metres  distant  south-west  of  it,  and  just  over  the  tanks 
Sir  Charles  Warren  discovered  in  the  year  1867,  and  described  in 
"  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem,"  p.  272.  Of  the  southern  (smaller) 
apse,  as  well  as  of  the  large  or  middle  one,  two  courses  of  masonry- 
had  been  preserved,  whereas  the  northern  apse  had  disappeared, 
and  in  its  place  a  cistern  mouth  was  found.  There  were  also  ;i 
few  basements  of  the  former  piers  still  in  situ,  as  also  some  parts 
of  the  walls,  so  that  the  plan  of  the  church  could  be  restored  {see 
Plan).  Several  very  fine  large  carved  capitals  were  also  found, 
not  of  pillars  but  of  piers,  aud  the  best  preserved  of  these  may  b.,- 
still  seen.  Small  marble  pillai-s  were  on  the  edges  of  the  apses  in. 
situ.  The  workmanship  of  all  this  was  better  than  on  the  first 
mentioned  chui'ch.  In  plan  and  size  both  churches  were  very 
nearly  the  s;uiie.  Some  other  carved  stones  were  also  found, 
similar  to  those  at  the  northern  entrance  of  the  Erloserkirche,  and 
at  a  spot  indicating  that  also  this  church  had  an  entrance  at  its 
north  side.     Under   the  northern  side  aisle   cisterns  wei-e   found, 

'  Tliis   is   p;irt  of  a  larger  essay  hy  Dr.   Seliick  on   tlie  Muristan  and  it^ 
liistorj,  which  it  i.s  intended  to  publish  subsequently. 

D  2 


,»_ 


^  THE   ANCIENT   CHURCHES   IN   THE   MURISTAN. 


bat  it  was  not  so  under  the  southern  aisle,  where  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  crypt  in  two  stories,  one  above  the  other.  A  stair 
leading  down  into  this  crypt  has  not  yet  been  found.  As  south  of 
it  new  foundations  were  being  dug,  the  workmen  came  upon  a 
stone  sarcophagus,  the  lid  of  which  is  gone,  proving  that  also  this 
part  had  been  a  crypt.  As  the  Erloserkirche  and  its  predecessor 
had  in  the  soath-west  corner  a  bell-tower,  so  it  probably  w-as  here, 
as  th9  very  strong  piers  and  the  great  masonry  below  (Sir  C. 
Warren's  southern  little  cistern)  show. 

The  third  church  is  the  well  known  Mar  Hanna   (John  the 
Baptist)   in  the  south-west  corner  of    the   place,  consisting  of   a 
church  underground,  and  over  it  another  church   above  ground. 
So  it  was  even  in  ancient  times  ;  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  churches 
ill  Jerusalem,  much  older  than  the  two  others  mentioned.     In  the 
Qiiarterhj  Statement,  1899,  p.  43,  is  a  plan  and  some  sections  of  the 
lower  church,  by  Mr.  A.  C.  Dickie,  A.R.T.B.  A.,  showing  that  under 
its  flooring  is  a  kind  of  crypt.     It  is   clear  that  once  the  under- 
ground church  stood  free   round  about,  perhaps  with  a  prolon- 
gation towards  the  west,  as  the  chief  entrance  door  was  on  the 
south  side.     On  the  side  of  the  present  stair  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  narthex  is  a  triangular-shaped  mass  of   masonry  which  may 
have  been  made  by  the  Crusaders  to  get  a  basement  for  a  bell- 
tower.     The  church    itself  was    Byzantine,   even   the   upper  one, 
which  at  a  later  period  was  destroyed  and  again   rebuilt.     That 
there  were   three  churches  on  the  place,  each  with  a  bell-tower 
(hence  also  Mar  Hanna  had  one)  is  proved  by  a  drawing  made  about 
1150,  and  published  in  the  "  Zeitschrift  des  Deutschen  Palastina- 
Vereins,"  1891,  p.  137,  showing  in  one  line,  beside  the   hospital, 
the  three  churches — Ecclesia  St.  John,  Ecclesia  Maria  ad  Latinam 
major,  and  Ecclesia  Maria   ad  Latinam  minor,  each  with  a  bell- 
tower. 


'IIIK    ANCIENT   CHURCHES    IN   THE    MUKISTAX. 


53 


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ROYAL  PTOLEMAIC  GREEK  INSCRIPTIOXS  AND  MACIC 
LEAD  FIGURES  FROM  TELL    SANDAHANIS^AH. 

By  Professor  Clekmont-Ganneal'. 

{Translated  by  permission  from  the  "  Comptes  Rendus  des  Seances 
de  VAcade'mie  des  Inscriptions  ef  Belles-Lettres."  Seance  da 
19  Octohre,  1900.) 

In  the  course  of  the  excavations  carried  out  for  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund  at  Tell  Sandahannah,  Dr.  Bliss  discovered, 
among  other  objects  of  interest,  a  fragment  of  Greek  inscription, 
of  which  he  gives  a  sketch, ^  accompanied  by  some  explanations, 
but  the  true  historic  value  of  which  he  seems  to  me  not  to  have 
suspected. 

This  fragment  consists  of  three  lines  engraved  on  a  quarter  of 
a  "  column  "  having  a  radius  of  about  14^  inches.  The  text  is 
mutilated  on  the  left  and.  incomplete  below. 


"  The  inscription,"  Dr.  Bliss  says,  "  mentions  a  king  and  a 
queen,  probably  the  local  sovereigns ;  the  name  of  the  queen  is 
missing;  the  name  of  the  king  is  an  indeclinable  word;  if  this 
followed  the  Semitic  triliteral  law,  it  was  'I't'ji'c/,  in  which  case 
the  preceding  three  letters  represent  the  termination  of  some 
Gieek  word,  such  as  x"V^")  "^i  which  the  genitive  depended.  A 
thorough  but  unsuccessful  search  was  made  for  the  rest  of  the 
inscription." 

After  having  examined  the  sketch  published  in  the  report  of 
Dr.  Bliss,  I  believe  it  is  possible  to  prove  that  we  have,  in  reality, 

1  Quarterly  Statement,  1900,  p.  334. 


GREEK    INSrifllTlONS    Fl'.OM    TELL   .SAXDAIIANNAH.  'in 

a  fragment  of  a  cylindrie  base,  wliich  served  as  the  pedestal  of  a 
>tatae  of  a  queen  of  E-rjpt,  answering  to  tlie  name  of  Arsiuue. 

Avsinoe,  sister  and  wife  of  Ptolemy  II  Philadelpliiis,  seems 
excluded,  tl  priori,  by  tlie  surname  which  appears  in  part  at  the 
commencement  of  line  2,  and  which  can  hardly  be,  as  we  shall  see, 
other  tliaji  [0(,\o7rf<T]()/)«  or  [0(\o;t))T]o/u(.  There  remain  Ar&inoe, 
sister  and  wife  of  Ptolemy  IV  Philopafor,  and  Arsinoe,  daughter 
of  Ptolemy  XI  Auletes  and  sister  of  the  famous  Cleopatra.  Under 
reserve  of  the  paleographic  indications,  upon  which  I  have  not 
ventured  to  form  an  opinion  fi-om  a  simple  view  of  the  sketch  of 
]Jv.  Bliss,  I  am  inclined  to  regard  this  Arsinoe  as  identical  with 
the  wife  of  Ptolemy  IV.  The  historical  circumstances'  are  in 
favour  of  this  conjecture.  In  effect,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
this  queen  of  Egypt  was  present-  with  her  bi"other  and  husband 
at  the  celebrated  battle  of  Raphia,  where  Antiochus  the  Great 
was  defeated  in  217.  Raphia,  now  Refah,  south  of  Gaza,  v/as 
at  the  southei^n  frontier  of  Judea,  consequently  in  a  region 
near  Eleutheropolis  and  Marissa — the  ancient  Maresha,  Moreshat 
— which  is  believed  to  have  been  situated  at  Tell  Sandahannah. 
In  any  case,  this  last  point  is  situated  on  the  way  to  Jerusalem, 
where  Ptolemy  went  after  this  victory,  which  gave  Syria  to  him 
for  a  time,  and  where  he  even  desired  to  offer,  if  we  may  believe 
the  Third  Book  of  Maccabees,  thank-ofi'erings  in  the  Jewish  Temple. 

Would  it  be  on  this  occasion  that  the  statue  of  Tell  Sanda- 
hannah was  raised  in  honour  of  the  queen  ?  In  this  case  one 
might,  under  the  paleographic  reservation  indicated  above,  propose 
the  following  restoration  of  the  fragment  in  question  : — 

^B(iai\i(T(rfti'  'ApcFJii'oiji',  fi(-/(t\>]i' 
[Qcitu  ?    <I>(Xo7r«7j(o)/>«,  Tiji'  ('(  (iaai\6W9 
\_YlTo\c/^iat'ov  K(nj  /SafTiXiacrijv  [Bc/)c)'/-J 
[[v/y9,  Oeti'i'  tl  ci>'jtTwi' J 

[ ] 

[The  queen  Arsinlne  great  [goddess  Philopat'\or,  daughter  of  the  king 
[Ptolemy  and'\  of  the  queen  [Berenice  the  gods  Euergetes  .  .  .  .] 

'  Cf.  Maccabees,  Book  III,  cli.  1.  It  is  needless  to  remark  that  this  find, 
thus  interpreted,  imparts  an  clement  not  to  be  despised  into  the  question  so 
much  debated  of  tlae  fiistorical  credibility  wliicli  it  is  right  to  accord  to  the 
lliird  Book  of  Jlaccabees. 

-  It  is  said  by  tlie  Book  of  Maccabees  tliat  Arsinoe  even  per-onally  played 
a  sufficiently  energetic  part  in  tlie  affair  of  Raphia,  which  at  one  moniciit 
threatened  to  turn  out  very  badly  for  the  Egyptians. 


53 


(;1;KKIC    IXSCiaiTlOXd    FK.M    tell   SA-XDAUAXNAn. 


Ill  supporf  of  tliis  conjecture  I  deduce  an  argument  from  tlie 
fact  that  in  the  same  excavation  there  was  exhumed  a  small 
fragment  of  nnother  description  in  wliich  one  recognises  without 
difficulty  tlie  name  of  R(7><'/'/[v.  .  .  ]. 


T  suppose  that  this  second  fraorment '  helongs  to  the  similar 
dt'dicatiou  of  a  statue  of  Ptolemy  IV  Philopator,  which  formed  tlie 
felloe  to  that  of  his  si^ter  and  wife,  the  Queen  Arsinoe.  The  two 
heroes  of  the  day  of  Raphia  would  have  been  represented  side  by 
side.  This  second  (dedication,  althongh  almost  totally  destroyed, 
could  then  be  restored  entirely,  thanks  to  that  of  the  statue 
of  Arsinoe,  attempted  above,  almost  as  follows  : — 

[BAZfAEA  HTOAEMAION  MEfAN  0€ON  <t>IAOnATOPA] 
[TON  Er  BAZIAEHZ  HTOAEMAIOY  KAI  BAZIAIZZHZ] 
BEPENI  KHZ  eEHN  EYEPrETUN ]- 

[The  kivg  Flolemy  the  <jrcat,  god  Fhilopalor,  son  of  the  king  Ptolemy 
and  of  the  queen']  BEItENI[ce  the  gods  Euergetes. 

This  is  not  all.  Besides  these  two  fragments  Dr.  Bliss  has 
exhumed  a  third  woi'ded  thus  : — 


rxp 


'   Tt  would  be  very  importoiit  to  know  if  tluse  few  Icttcri  were  cnj;r^vod  on 
ft  ftoiie  vitli  a  cuived  or  a  (lur  surfiu'C. 

•  Tl.c  original  text  was  iierhajis  arranged  in  four  line?. 


(.IKKEK    INSUKU'TloNS    li;i'M    TKLL    SAXDAIIANNAH.  o7 

Followint,^  the  development  of  my  liypothesis  I  would  incline 
to  restore  : — 

[SvoVf/Jv    Kix'nwi'O'i 
['A7ro'\A](t'i'(  (v^(>'jl' 

"  [Scopa]s,  son  of  Cratoi\,  to  Apollo  [addresses  his]  prayer." 

The  name  of  Scopus  would  afford  just  the  number  of  letters — 
five — required  by  the  extent  of  the  gap  which  results  from  tlio 
obvious  restoration  on  line  2.  Tf  one  admits  this  reading  : 
Scojjan,  this  personage  would  be  no  other  than  the  famous 
general  of  Ptolemy  IV,  afterwards  of  Ptolemy  V  Epiphanes,  who, 
after  having  conquered  Judea  and  even  a  part  of  Coelesyria  for 
bis  masters,  ended  by  being  defeated  by  Antiochus  the  Great  at 
Paneas,  the  sources  of  the  Joi'dan.  He  invokes  Apollo.  Wliy 
Apollo  y  Because  this  was  the  god  jjar  excellence  of  the  Seleu- 
cids,  even  the  ancestor  of  the  dynasty.  The  act  was  quite  in 
accordance  Avith  the  idea,  so  deeply  rooted  and  so  generally 
spread  among  the  ancients  that,  to  obtain  victory,  it  was 
necessary  above  all  to  gain  for  one's  cause  or  at  least  to 
conciliate  the  (jod  of  the  enemy.  The  formula  cvx^v  seems  to 
imply  rather  a  prayer  addressed  to  the  divinity  than  thanks  for 
a  prayer  already  granted.' 

This  conjecture,  risky  as  it  may  appear,  for  it  only  rests  on  a 
very  precarious  epigraphical  basis — the  sujma  which  terminates 
thousands  of  Greek  names — agrees  well  enough  with  the  interpre- 
tation which  I  proposed  for  the  two  other  fragments  found  besido 
this  one.  The  principal  difficulty  which  runs  counter  to  it  is  that 
the  historians,  who  nevertheless  tell  us  at  sufficient  length  about 
the  General  Scopas,  have  not  preserved  for  us,  so  far  as  I  know, 
the  name  of  his  father.  Could  this  unknown  name  have  been 
Kraion  f  Until  the  contrary  is  proved,  there  is  no  reason  why 
we  should  not  suppose  it ;  some  later  find  may  perhaps  one  day- 
permit  us  to  affirm  it. 

I  take  this  opportunity  to  add  a  few  observations  upon  a 
whole  group  of  objects  of  a  very  different  kind,  which,    coming 

'  One  dttaii  to  be  noted  wliich  is  not  unimportaut  is  tliiit  tliis  fragnieht  of 
insc-iiption  is  cut  upon  tlie  base  of  a  statue  whicli  should  reprt'sent  a  colossal 
eatjh,  of  wbich  there  remains  only  one  of  the  claws.  This  eagle— the  eagle  of  the 
Ptolemies  ('/.  their  coins)  ? — was  it  not  there  as  a  symbol  of  victory,  of  tlic 
victoiy  jjraycd  for,  perhaps  even  of  the  victory  obtained,  if  one  does  not  insist 
too  much  on  the  absolute  value  of  tb.c  word  ii'X'l''  ? 


58  GKEEK    INSCRIPTIONS    IKOM   TELL   SANDAHANNA.IL 

out  of  the  same  excavations  at  Sandahaunab,  have  remained  an 
archjeological  enigma.  These  are  16  little  figures  of  men  and 
women  in  lead,  2  to  3  inches  in  height,  very  rougiily  execute(1.' 
and  of  a  most  bizarre  aspect.  Tliey  are  mere  strips  ol"  lead  cut 
into  shape,  as  silhouettes.  The  personages,  all  nude,  with  one 
exception,  are  represented  in  strange  and  distorted  positions,  as  if 
they  were  writhing  in  suffering  and  torture.  They  have  all, 
without  exception,  the  peculiarity  of  having  the  hands  and  feet 
laden  with  bonds  and  fetters  designedly  complicated.  Sometimes 
the  hands  are  bound  in  front  on  the  breast,  sometimes  behind 
tlie  back.  The  bonds  which  tie  them  are  formed  of  thick  wire 
of  lead,  of  iron,  or  of  bronze. 

Dr.  Bliss  see.s  here  simply  the  representation  of  "  captives." 
This  explanation  is  not  very  satisfactory,  and  raises  all  sorts  of 
objections.  I  propose  quite  a  different  one  ;  it  was  suggested  to 
me  by  another  find  of  Dr.  Bliss — a  find  which  seems  to  me  to 
have  an  intimate  connection  with  these  figures  uuperceived  until 
now. 

It  is  this.  Dr.  Bliss  has  also  e.'^humed,  at  the  same  jdace, 
50  tablets  in  soft  stone  bearing  Gi*eek  inscriptions.^  These 
tablets  are  not  yet  published.  Only  Professor  Sayce  has  been 
able  to  glance  at  them,  and  he  limits  himself  to  saying  briefly 
that  thev  contain  mao^ical  charms  and  incantations^  If  this  is 
so,  would  it  not  be  permissible  to  suppose  that  these  little  lead 
figures  represent  the  persons  against  whom  the  incantations  were 
directed  ?  We  know  that  lead  was  in  ancient  times  the  chosen 
metal  of  tho.se  who  were  addicted  to  sorcery.  We  know,  above 
all,  that  witchcraft  consisted  essentially  in  the  act  of  hindini 
magically  by  supernatural  means  the  victim  of  it  ;  the  verb 
ica-Ta?,e7v  is  the  verb  consecrated  to  the  forms  of  defixiones.  We 
would  have  here,  then,  in  our  little  figures,  so  carefully  and  com- 
placently bound,  a  very  curious  plastic  repi-esentation  of  this 
fundamental  conception  of  ancient  black  art,  and  the  first 
example  of  a  practice  which  recalls  in  more  than  one  respect 
that  of  the  spells  of  the  Middle  Ages.^ 

'  See  Plate,  p.  332,  op.  cit. 

"  Four  of  tlieni  bear,  it  is  said,  inscrij^tions  in  Hebraic  characters. 

•'  Oj).  cit.,  p.  37(5. 

■*  It  is  possible  that  lead  was  chosen  as  material  for  the  figures  because  of 
its  fusibility ;  these  figures  were  pjrhaps  destined,  like  the  wax  images  of  the 
t-pell-bouud,  to  be  finally  melted  iu  some  magic  ceremony. 


NOTES     ON     GREF.K     INSCRIPTIONS     FROiM 
SAN  D  AH  ANNA  H. 

I.— By  A.  Stuart  Muruav,  LL.D. 

Arsinoc.   the   Gnat. 

In   the   October    Qjiartcrhj    Statement,    p.   33-L,    there    is    a    Greek 
inscription  whirli  1  would  read  coiijecturally  thus:  — 

KItlj     /3afTl\lfTfTlj<f 

"  Arsinoe  the  Great.     Gift  of  tlio  King  and  Queen." 

The  piUar  on  which  the  inscription  occurs  was  apparently  the 
base  of  a  statue  of  Arsinoe,  who  is  here  styled  "  the  Great,"  a 
title  not  unfrequently  applied  to  the  Ptolemaic  kings.  The 
inscription  accordingly  belongs  to  the  Seleucid  ruins,  and  is  of 
great  importance.     A  paper  impression  of  it  is  highly  desirable. 

Inscription  No.  2,  on  p.  335,  records  an  offering,  not  by  Crato, 
but  bv  a  son  of  Crato. 


II  —By  Colonel  C.  R.  Conder,   R.E. 

Berenice. 

The  dedication  to  Apollo  connected  with  the  name  of  Queen 
Berenice — found  at  Tell  Sandahannah — is  in  characters  which  may 
isily  be  supposed  as  late  as  the  Herodian  period.  I  do  not 
know  on  what  grounds  it  is  attributed  to  the  Seleucid  age. 
"  Queen  Berenice  "  was  the  sister  of  Agrippa  II,  before  whom 
St.  Paul  appeared  at  Csesarea.  There  is  nothing  strange  in  her 
being  connected  with  a  pagan  text,  since  the  Herodians  erected 
temples  to  pagan  gods.  Sandahannah,  I  believe,  really  means 
"St.  John"  and  not  "St.  Anne,"  for  it  is  close  to  Beit  Jibrin, 
which,  ill  the  twelfth  century,  belonged  to  the  Knights  of 
St.  John. 


(' 


GO  JAll-IIANDLE  INSCRIPTIONS. 

Ill._r;y  W.   H.   D.  Rouse,  Esq. 

The  word  Kfja-ioi>ov  iu  the  inscription  on  p.  335  of  tlie  Quarterly 
Statement  for  1900  is  not  the  name  of  the  dedicator,  which  must 
be  in  the  nominative.  The  last  letter  of  it  (v)  appears  just  before 
K/ja'-a-j/o?,  "son  of  Craton." 

RuGiiv,  October  Ulh,  1900. 


JAR-HANDLE    INSCRIPTIOXS. 

I. — By  Professor  Theouokh    F.  Wkk.ht,  Ph.D. 

The  inscribed  jar-haudies  which  have  been  found  iu  excavating 
Tell  es-Safi  and  neighbouring  sites  could  not  i-eceive  adequate 
attention  in  the  field  while  the  work  was  going  on,  and  should 
now  come  befoie  students  at  their  homes,  especially  if  they  have 
access  to  other  handles  of  like  character.  I  offer  a  few  remarks 
on  the  subject,  and  hope  that  others  will  contribute  what  they 
know : — • 

1.  This  is  not  a  new  subject  or  a  recent  one.  The  Qnarterhj 
Statement,  No.  7,  1S69-1S70,  has  on  p.  372  an  unsigned  note 
■which  speaks  of  jar-handles  found  by  (then)  Captain  Warren,  "all 
of  which  Avere  stamped  with  the  same  mark — apparently  an  eagle, 
rudely  designed."  They  bore  letters  "similar  to  those  of  the 
Moabite  Stone."  Three  of  these  handles  were  read  by  Dr.  Birch, 
of  the  British  Museum,  and  are  given  in  English  as  "  Le  Me  LeK 
ZePHa — LeK  Shat— LeK,"  showing  that  they  were  similar  to  those 
found  by  Dr.  Bliss  as  regards  the  first  -svord.  No  doubt  the 
author  of  "  Underffround  Jerusalem"  referred  to  this  when  he 
wrote  on  p.  422  of  that  woik : — 

"  At  this  angle  [the  south-east  corner  of  the  wall,  near  bottom 
of  the  80  fei.-t  shaft]  were  found  those  pottery  jar-handles  on 
■which  is  impressed  a  winged  sun  or  disc,  probably  the  emblems 
of  the  Sun-Crod;  around  this  are  chai-acters  which  denote  that 
this  pottery  was  made  for  royal  use.  Now  this  is  the  south-east 
corner  of  Solomon's  Palace,  and  what  more  natural  than  that 
some  of  the  pottery  from  the  palace  should  here  accumulate?  " 


JAK-llANIiI.H    INSCIMI'TIONS.  01. 

The  hanilles  seem  to  have  received  little  further  study  until  jin 
article  of  seven  pacfes  Avas  printed  by  .T.  Baker  (ireene  in  Quarfrrhj 
Statement,  October,  1881,  p.  304,  with  a  very)  thoi'ough  study  of 
the  "  vase-handles  discovered  some  years  since  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Temple  wall  at  Jerusalem."  Mr.  Greene  says  that  no  satis- 
factory explanation  lias  fo  far  been  given.  He  finds  the  characters 
"  Phoenician  and  similar  to  those  on  the  Moabite  Stone."  Taking 
np  the  most  legible  one  he  confirms  the  readinr^  of  1870  as 
L  M  L  Ch  (K)  Zs  P  H.  He  then  considers  M  li  Cli  to  mean 
Moloch,  "  the  Sun-God/'  or  Melccli,  king.  He  does  not  think 
that  Zs  P  H  refers  to  a  person  or  place,  but  at  length  argues 
that  Moloch  Z  P  H  means  the  w^atcbfulness  of  the  god,  from 
HD!?-  The  initial  7  means  "  dedicated  to,"  and  he  notes  that  in 
1  Kings  xi,  7,  and  in  2  Kings  xxiii,  10,  the  same  letters  are  used, 
meaning  an  altar  "  to  Moloch."  He  concludes  that  tlie  vases  or 
jars  were  dedicated  to  !Molochtho  watchful. 

Mr.  Greene  then  considers  "  the  dove  with  outstretched  wing's." 
Was  tliii  the  emblem  of  the  San-God?  He  does  not  show  this, 
but  argues  that  the  prevalence  of  Baal  worship  before  the  exile 
justifies  liis  inference. 

2.  The  question  of  the  exact  meaning  is  not  yet  settled.  The 
writers  to  Avhom  reference  has  been  made  were  working  toward  a 
conclusion,  but  presented  only  suggestions.  To  one  the  symbol 
Avas  a  dove,  to  another  an  eagle,  to  another  a  Avinged  sun  or  disc, 
to  Dr.  Sayce  it  is  a  beetle,  and  he  seems  to  regard  it  as  the  winged 
scarab  (Quarterly  Statement,  April,  1900,  p.  170).  In  the  cut  on 
]i.  13  of  Quarterly  Statement,  January,  1900,  the  beetle  is  clearly 
seen  "  with  pronounced  articulations,"  although  Mr.  Macalister 
registers  a  doubt  on  one  point  of  the  identification  with  the  flying 
scarabajus  beetle,  namelj^,  the  curvature  of  the  Aving-case.  It 
now  seems  to  me  that  Dr.  Bliss  was  not  on  the  right  course  in 
seeking  at  first  the  names  of  individual  owners  in  these  inscrip- 
tions, and  I  feel  with  i\Ir.  Greene  that  they  were  votive  inscrip- 
tions to  Moloch  or  Baal.  That  the  final  word  is  the  name  of  a 
place,  Hebron,  Ziph,  and  the  like,  seems  plain,  as  Dr.  Bliss 
believes;  but  the  symbol  needs  further  stud}-. 

We  know  that  these  places  were  on  the  Philistine  border  and 
not  fur  from  Ekron,  where  the  worship  of  Beelzebub  flourished. 
The  first  chapter  of  2  Kings  shows  Ahaziah  looking  to  this  god. 
The   word  l"\2"f  is   very  lit'le  used,  but  the   word  "27^  is   more 


(52  JAR-HANDLE   INSCRIPTIONS. 

common,  and  is  regarded  by  some  scholars  as  meaning  the  dog-fly 
(so  the  LXX),  and  by  others  as  meaning  a  beetle  (authorities  in 
"  Speaker's  Commentary  on  Exodus,"  viii,  21,  and  appended 
essay  on  Egyptian  words,  p.  490  of  vol.  i).  There  is  a  sugges- 
tion here  of  the  "  Lord  of  Flies,"  which  may  merit  further 
investigation. 

3.  It  would  be  useful  to  make  as  complete  a  study  as  possible 
of  other  jar-handles.  The  thickest  part  of  the  pottery,  they  have 
been  well  preserved  when  the  rest  was  broken  up,  and  have  much 
to  tell  of  early  times.  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  so  far  in 
America  any  handles  as  old  as  those  recently  found  by  the  Fund, 
but  it  appears  from  the  first  extract  that  the  Fund  had  already 
in  its  possession  a  number- as  old,  and  others  may  have  obtained 
them  while  in  Palestine.  Two  have  lately  come  under  my  eye, 
both  orio-inally  procured  by  Dr.  Selah  Merrill,  and  both  having 
Greek  inscriptions. 

A  is  in  the  Semitic  Museum  of  Harvard  University,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  has  a  circular  stamp  one  inch  in  diameter. 

The  stamp  overran  the  space  at  the  lower 
side  so  that  three  or  four  letters   are  lacking. 
It  seems  easy  to  read  O  MEPAZ  I  EPEHZ, 
the  common  designation  of  the  high  priest  of 
the  Jews,  as  in  Hebrews  x,  21.     The  remain- 
ing letters  may  give  the  last  half  of  the  name 
of  the  high  priest,  but  the  first  part  is  want- 
ing.     Possibly    the    Ishmael    who    preceded 
Annas  may  be  meant.     The  symbol  is  either  the  bundle  of  palm, 
myrtle,   and    willow    (Leviticus  xxiii,  40),   or  the  three    ears    of 
barley  of  the  Passover. 

B  is  in  the  museum  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover, 
Massachusetts,  the  home  of  Dr.  Merrill.  It  is  rectangular  and, 
except  for  the  break  at  the  right  lower  corner,  where  the  handle 
was  bruised,  is  in  excellent  condition. 

ETTI 
MOP'. 

I   read    this   EHI    KAAAIZTOY    MOPOY,       for  the   sake 


.TAK-IIANDLK    INSCi;il'T[OxNS.  ()'.] 

of  (ho  most  fortunate  destiii}'."  Tiic  symbol  seems  to  indicate  the 
Avorsliip  of  tlie  bull  or  calf  "vvliicli  began  for  Israel  with  Aaron's 
iipostasy  and  was  established  in  the  northern  kinn;dom  l)y 
.ler()l)oani. 

The  votive  character  of  this  inscription  is  evident.  The  other 
inscription  bearing  the  title  "high  priest"  is  not  remote  from 
the  idea  of  a  gift  to  the  Temple.  It  may  be  that  the  handles 
latel}'  found  by  Dr.  Bliss  will  prove  also  to  have  votive  inscrip- 
tions, and  to  connect  themselves  with  the  idolatrous  days  of 
Israel. 

II.— By  Colonel  C.  R.  Condei;,  R.E. 

The  new  inscription  JlU^uJ^  *7v?37  appears  to  nic  to  open  up 
ihe  question  of  translating  the  texts  on  the  Hebrew  jar-handles, 
discovered  by  Dr.  Bliss,  once  more.  The  previous  names,  Hebi-ou, 
Ziph,  and  Shochoh,  were  those  of  towns ;  but  there  is  no  town  or 
ruin  in  Palestine  now  known  bearing  the  name  Mamshafh.  No 
such  name  of  a  place  occurs  in  the  Bible,  or  in  any  of  the  various 
lists,  ancient  and  medii^val,  that  ai'e  known. 

The  word  evidently  comes  from  the  root  HU^TD  "  to  draw 
forth,"  as  Moses  was  drawn  from  the  Nile.  It  seems  to  me  that, 
if  the  words  'Tt'^T'  are  explained  "  To  Moloch,"  the  meaning 
becomes  clear,  viz.,  "  Dedicated  to  the  Moloch  v^dio  presides  over 
the  water  that  will  be  drawn  by  means  of  this  jar."  The  other 
texts  would  be  dedications  to  the  local  Molochs  of  Hebron,  Ziph, 
and  Shochoh,  intended  to  preserve  the  jars  fi-om  injury.  The 
interest  attaching  to  these  texts — which  otherwise  only  admit  of 
rather  forced  explanations,  since  either  the  property  of  various 
local  kings  occurs  in  towns  not  belonging  to  them,  or  else  the 
King  of  Jerusalem  is  mentioned  on  jars  of  a  very  ordinary 
description — will  then  consist  in  the  late  survival  of  Moloch 
worship  (pei'haps  to  500  jj.C.)  in  the  country  towns  of  Judea. 


64 


notp:  on  the  winged  figures  upon  the  jar- 
handles    DISCOVERED    BY    DR.   BLISS. 

By  JosEPU  Offord,  M.S.B.A. 

In  reference  to  the  remarks  and  engraving  publlsLed  in  the 
October  Quarterly  Statement,  p.  379,  Mr.  E.  J.  Pilcher  has  kindly 
lent  me  for  publication  this  coin,  which  presents  a  figure  with 
f-ix  wings  closely  allied  to  the  personage  upon  the  Baalnathan 
seal.  It  is  a  bronze  coin  of  Gebal  (Byblos),  bearing  on  tlie 
reverse    a   full-length    representation    of    Kronus    (El)   with    six 


wino-s  as  described  by  Sanchoniathon.  Above  and  beneath  tli3 
deity  is  the  Phoenician  inscription,  nil^lp  Tl^7-  "Of  Gebal 
the  Holy."  Whilst  around,  in  Greek,  BA2IAE0S  ANTIOXOY, 
s-.hows  it  was  of  the  era  of  the  Antiochoi ;  Mr.  Pilcher  suggesting 
A.  Sidetes  (137-125  B.C.).  The  lamed  of  the  left-hand  Phoenician 
text  has  united  with  the  staff  in  the  deity's  hand.  On  his  head 
is  the  crown  of  Lower  Egypt,  with  a  peculiar  crest. 

In  the  "  Comptes  Rendus "  of  the  French  Academy,  1900, 
p.  181,  M.  Gauckler  describes  some  metallic  bands  discovered  at 
Carthage,  of  which  he  furnishes  photographs.  In  No.  98,  for  the 
last  figure  but  one,  Fig.  18  of  the  upper  register  of  personages, 
lie  describes  a  ''  Monstei"  with  human  limbs,  female  breasts,  and 
a  horned  liead ;  with  six  wings."  It  is,  however,  difficult  to  see 
this  repre.sentation  upon  the  photograph ;  no  doubt  it  is  more 
visible  upon  the  original.  He  terms  it  a  Moloch.  The  figure  of 
Cyrus  at  Pasargadae  given  by  Dieulafoy  has  si.\  wings  and  a  head- 
dress, which  may  be  the  origin  of  the  symbolic  die  upon  the 
Gebal  coin. 


G.") 


NOTE  ON  THE  HIGH  PLACE  AT  PETRA. 

By  W.  Clarksox  Wallis,  Esq. 

I  VKXTLiKK  to  make  a  sngg-estion  as  to  the  object  of  the  sunken 
area  of  the  Hij^h  Place  at  Petva,  of  which  an  interesting-  desciip- 
tion  is  given  in  the  October  Quarterly  Statement  by  Dr.  Curtis.s. 
I  notice  that  Mr.  Macalistcr  sujrgests  that  it  was  a  place  "  set 
;ipart  foi"  worshippers."  This  may  very  likely  have  brcn  the  case, 
though  one  scarcely  sees  why  it  shoahl  have  been  apparently 
carefully  levelled  and  sank  to  a  depth  of  15  to  18  inches  in  the 
rock  only  for  this  purpose.  May  it  not  also  have  been  intended 
ns  a  means  for  collecting  water  ?  The  suggestion  comes  to  mo 
from  having  noticed  a  somewhat  similar  device  iu  more  than  one 
place.  I  remember  an  old  castle  in  Sicily,  for  instance,  -where 
a  Dortion  of  the  courtyard  is  carefully  cemented,  and  the  levels  so 
ari-ano-ed  that  rain-water  should  be  drained  into  a  cistern.  It 
seems  to  me  that  in  the  case  of  the  High  Place  at  Petra  water 
might  be  required  for  ablutions  and  other  ceremonial  purposes, 
and  the  depressed  area  in  question  might  have  been  intended  to 
collect  it. 

The  plan  shows  a  "  drain,"  though  it  is  not  indicated  where  it 
leads  to.  There  is  also  a  rock-hewn  "  vat,"  but  I  do  not  notice 
that  there  is  any  connection  between  it  and  the  "  area."  If  there 
should  be  any  receptacle  to  receive  the  water  from  the  "  drain," 
or  if  there  should  be  a  drain  between  the  area  and  the  "  vat," 
I  think  that  my  theory  as  to  the  purpose  of  the  depression  would 
be  a  very  probable  one. 

Pei'haps  those  who  have  visited  the  place  can  say  if  any  light 
can  be  thrown  on  these  points,  and  whether  the  levels  admit  of 
the  suggestion  being  valid.  It  is  even  possible  a  movable  receptacle 
might  have  collected  the  water  from  the  "drain." 

In  the  article  "Tanks  Inside  the  Sanctuar}^"  p.  217  of  the 
Jerusalem  "Memoirs,"  several  of  the  tanks  under  the  Haram 
area  are  described  as  having  "surface  conduits"  for  collecting 
water  from  the  rock  surface  or  pavement.  This  seems  to  be 
a  somewhat  analogous  case  if  the  theory  as  applied  to  the  High 
Place  at  Petra  is  correct. 

Brighton. 


OG 


AVOMAN    IN    THE    EAST. 

By  Phii.ii>  J.  Baldexsperger,  Esq. 
{Continued  from  '■'•  Quarterly  Statement,''  1900,  ().  190.) 


Chapter  VII. — Every-day  Life. 

The  newly-married  couple  are  the  talk  of  the  village  for 
several  days,  the  wedding  criticised  or  praised  till  everyone 
is  acquainted  with  the  details.  The  woman's  duty  now  begins  ; 
she  has  a  family  responsibility.  Most  of  her  doings  have 
already  been  stated  in  Chapters  IT  and  III.  The  water  is 
always  brought  in  by  the  woman  carrying  the  s-kin  water- 
bottle  on  her  back,  or  else  the  earthenware  jar  on  her  head  ;  a 
large  jar  is  placed  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  and  the  skin  bottle 
is  emptied  into  this.  If  the  husband  possesses  a  flock  or  cattle, 
the  milking  business  is  generally  the  work  of  the  woman,  aided 
by  the  shepherds  ;  she  dexterously  holds  the  milk  jug  and  one  leg 
of  the  goat  or  sheep  between  her  knees  and  draws  the  milk  from 
both  teats  alternatively.  If  the  village  is  near  a  town  the  woman 
carries  the  milk  to  clients,  or  for  sale  on  the  market,  and,  alas  ! 
here,  as  all  the  Avorld  over,  this  market  milk  is  often  doubled  in 
(|uantity  by  watei-  and  often  whitened  by  an  ingredient.  Those 
villagei's  who  frequent  the  towns  are  more  corrupt  and  foul- 
raouthed  than  their  more  secluded  country  sisters  ;  they  are  ready 
to  swear  "  God  and  the  prophets  !  "  for  the  purity  and  freshness 
of  their  article.'^,  no  matter  how  far  away  from  truth  it  may  be. 
My  father,  who  generall}-  bought  or  received  the  milk  from  the 
railkwoman,  said  one  day  to  her:  "Now,  look  here,  be  careful 
another  time  at  least  to  put  in  clean  and  sv:eet  water."  The  milk- 
woman  swore  that  they  "  always  take  it  from  Job's  well."  Job's 
well  is  a  deep  well  near  Jerusalem.  AVhen  Jerusalem  Avants 
water — which  happens  as  often  as  rains  are  rare  during  the  winter 
—  the  people  of  Siloam  near  by  take  the  water  from  it  in  skin 
bottles  on  their  donkeys'  backs  to  the  Jerusalem  market  for  sale. 
'IMiis  is  trie  only  sweet  water  then  to  be  had  in  abundance.  Siloam 
has  another  fountain  with  brackish  water,  which  is  utilised  only 
when  none  from  Job's  well  can  be  had  in  years  of  drought.  The 
milkwoinan  was  ever  fiftcr  ashamed  of  her  unheeded  confession. 


WOMAN    IN    THE.  EAST.  67 

Wheie  tliey  have  plenty  of  milk,  the  "woinan's  cliicf  work  is  to 
carry  it  daily  into  tlio  market  in  small  jugs.  As  the  Arabs  are 
very  fond  of  sour  milk,  tliis  is  sold  in  every  Arabic  town. 
iJalf-a-dozen  or  more  of  such  small  jugs  are  put  together  in  the 
wicker-work  basket  and  carried  to  the  market  on  the  head. 
The  Avomen  are  veiy  dexterous  in  carrying  loads  on  their  heads 
iinil  keeping  them  in  equilibrium.  Everything,  except  the 
l)abics  and  the  skin  water-bottle,  is  carried  on  their  heads.  If 
the  milk  is  not  sold  in  the  town,  on  account  of  the  distance, 
it  is  made  into  butter  or  cheese.  The  milk  is  put  in  a  skin 
bottle,  which  is  blown  up  with  the  liqnid  in  it  and  tied  up 
fast ;  this  is  to  give  an  empty  space  to  facilitate  the  churning. 
The  bottle  is  now  suspended  to  three  sticks  attached  together 
and  forming  a  coverless  tent ;  the  bottle  is  held  by  the  womaa 
sitting  down  and  rocked  to  and  fro  for  an  hour  or  so  till  the 
batter  is  made.  When  a  sufficient  quantity  of  butter  is  made  it 
is  either  sold  fresh  in  the  market  by  the  woman,  who  takes  everv 
saleable  thing,  as  hens,  pigeons,  eggs,  milk,  vegetables,  to  form 
a  load  worth  the  journey,  or  else  it  is  stored  away,  eitlier  for 
home  use  or  to  be  sold  as  cooking  butter.  Sainn  is  indis- 
pensable to  the  townspeople  and  always  fetches  a  good  price. 
This  is  the  butter  cooked  till  no  watery  part  remains,  saffron 
being  added  to  give  it  a  yellow  colour.  It  is  liked  best  thus  and 
keeps  for  months.  If  there  is  any  very  large  quantity  of  sa-znu 
it  is  put  into  skin  bottles  and  sold  in  the  bazaars  by  the  men  ; 
women  always  sell  small  quantities.  When  the  butter  is  taken 
out,  the  skimmed  milk  is  used  as  food  by  the  members  of  the 
family.  The  skimmed  milk  is  put  into  a  sack,  and  after  the 
\<-ater  has  dropped,  the  remaining  substance  is  made  into  small 
cakes,  well  salted,  and  put  to  dry  in  the  sun.  These  small 
white  cakes  are  sold  when  dry,  and  when  no  fresh  sour  milk 
can  be  had,  or  are  used  in  the  famih^  They  resemble  pebbles, 
and  when  wanted  for  food  are  put  into  a  wooden  basin  with 
water  and  rubbed  till  they  ax-e  dissolved.  In  this  way  the  water 
dried  out  by  the  sun  is  again  added,  and  the  sour  milk  is  eaten 
with  almost  the  same  relish  as  when  it  was  fresh. 

The  fig  trees  which  belong  to  the  family  are  put  in  charge  of 
the  women  as  soon  as  the  first  fruits  begin  to  ripen.  A  hut  is 
built  in  the  fig  garden,  and  the  whole  family  remove  to  this  hut 
during  the  summer  months,  not  only  from  the  villages  but  also 
from  many  minor  towns,  as  Hebron,  Gaza,  Ramleh,  Lydda,  and 
others.     The  women  daily  gather  the  figs  and  put  them  to  dry 

E   2 


08  WOMAN   IN    THE    EAST. 

on  red  emtli  in  tlie  snn,  in  a  sliut-up  space,  to  in-eveiit  tlie  dogs, 
chickens,  or  children  walking  over  or  eating  the  fruit  by  day,  and 
to  keep  away  the  jackals  and  foxes  by  night.  This  is  certainly 
the  happiest  time  in  the  year  for  the  women  and  girls.  With 
their  loud  rolling  notes  they  sing  from  moi-ning  to  night.  Very 
often  one  girl  sings  a  line,  and  another  in  the  next  garden  one, 
or  even  across  the  valley  on  the  .^lope  of  the  opposite  mountain, 
a  firl  continues  the  second  line  and  so  on.  The  dried  figs 
are  stored  away  for  winter  food.  In  some  places  where  they 
have  too  many  for  the  family  use,  they  sell  them  in  the  markets 
cf  Jerusalem  and  Jaffa.  Long  garlands  of  dried  figs  are  put  on 
a  string,  weighing  together  seven  or  eight  pounds.  This  is  a 
speciality  of  some  villages  north  of  Jerusalem,  as  Bethel,  Gibeon, 
Ram-Allah,  Nazareth,  and  its  villages.  Es  Salt  is  renowned  for 
its  fifjs  and  raisins. 

About  November  the  olives  begin  to  ripen,  and  though  the 
men  have  here  the  more  difficult  task  of  taking  or  beating  down 
the  fruit  an  active  part  is  reserved  to  the  women,  who  whilst 
gathering  the  fruit  from  the  ground,  say  or  sing  verses  or 
repetitions  of  two  lines,  always  repeated  by  one  part  of  the 
workers  whilst  the  other  part  take  breath.  "  Oh,  olives,  become 
citrons,"  i.e.,  as  big  as  citrons,  is  repeated  a  dozen  or  more  times, 
then  another  sentence  is  raid  till  one  of  the  party  has  hit  a  better 
idea;  all  the  while  the  berries  are  gathered  in  the  baskets,  and 
thence  into  the  goat's-hair  sack,  never  without  calling  on  the 
"  name  of  the  Lord "  to  prevent  the  Jan  eating  part  of  the 
olives.  The  olives  are  taken  to  the  oil  mill  by  the  men,  as  the 
village  itself  often  has  no  mill.  The  first  olives  falling  prema- 
turely to  the  ground  are  gathered  by  the  women  alone,  and  ar<J 
crushed  on  a  flat  rock  with  a  stone  and  then  put  in  water  to 
extract  the  oil ;  this  is  the  finest  oil  that  can  be  had.  This  mode 
of  beating  the  fruit  is  most  primitive  and  ancient.  Such  oil 
Moses  commanded  the  children  of  Lsrael,  in  Exodus  xxvii,  20,  to 
bring  for  the  use  of  the  light  in  the  tabernacle;  it  is  said  there 
'•  beaten  oil,"  which  answers  well. 

From  time  to  time  the  women  and  girls  go  together  to  bring 
home  Avood  or  whatever  fuel  tihey  can  find.  This  is  considered 
by  most  as  a  kind  of  picnic;  they  go  singing  up  and  down 
between  the  rocks  and  bushes,  and  every  one  is  busy  gathering  as 
big  a  bundle  as  she  feels  she  can  well  carry  home  on  her  head, 
often  many  miles,  for  Palestine,  and  e.«pecially  Judea,  is  now  quite 
denuded  of  forests— thorn,  thyme,  or  sage  bushes  often  being  the 


■WOMAN    IX   THE    EAST,  GO 

only  "  wood  "  tiicy  Lrin^'  lioiuc.  Whilst  on  their  way  iiouie  (lie 
mountains  re-echo  a<,'-ain  and  again  with  their  meri-y  voices, 
though  to  the  Occidental's  unaccustomed  ears  it  sccins  like 
wailing,  still  it  is  full  ol"  joy  and  life.  They  are  quite  free  on 
these  err.in  Is,  as  being  almost  the  only  time  when  they  are 
(expected  to  he)  quite  abandoTied  to  themselves  and  unol)servcd 
by  any  man. 

The  songs  liere  al.so  ai^e  often  improvised  on  the  existing  tunes, 
comet imes  they  may  be  in  connection  with  what  is  done,  some- 
times romantic  adventures,  princely  honours;  the  load  of  wood  is 
turned  into  costly  presents,  they  themselves  are  tui'ned  into 
fairies,  and  so  forth.  The  beloved  comes  forth  to  meet  her 
(though  he  never  dovs,  in  fact),  and  has  a  camel  and  slave  to 
serve  her.  These  all  show  how  the  present  population  have 
thoroughly  changed  in  gallantry  towards  their  women,  which 
lives  071  only  in  their  pootrj.^ 

The  bundles,  according  to  tlie  nature  of  the  material,  are  often 
liigher  than  the  women  themselves.  Large  circular  bundles, 
sometimes  not  thicker  than  two  feet,  nicely  arranged,  are  cai-ried 
home  by  long  files  of  women.  In  the  plains,  where  wood,  bn.shes, 
and  even  straw  is  wanting,  the  fuel  consists  of  cattle  manure. 

Charcoal  is  seldom  used  by  tlie  Fellahin.  If  they  are  char- 
coal burners  themselves  the  coals  are  taken  to  the  towns  for 
sale  whei'e  alone  charcoal  is  burned.  In  the  country  thoy  burn 
exclusively  w^ood  oi'  thorns  for  cooking,  and  manure  iov  the  oven  ; 
whilst  in  the  towns  wood  or  thorns  are  burned  in  ovens,  and 
charcoal  in  the  k-itchen.- 

As  in  the  fig  gardens,  so  also  tliose  possessing  vineyards  go  to 
live  there  from  tlie  moment  the  gi-ape  berries  begin  to  look  like 

*  The  Hon.  Mr.  Justice  Ameer  Ali,  in  an  nrticle  in  "  The  Nineteenth 
Century  "  for  M<iy,  1899,  shows  tljnt  the  degradation  of  the  Moslem  woman 
is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  He  states  that:  "  Ahnost  to  tlie  end  of 
the  twelfth  century  women  mixed  with  men  with  dignity  and  self-respect, 
lield  reunions,  gave  concerts,  and  received  visitors."  Of  the  lady  Sukaina, 
wlio  was  a  grand-daughter  of  Fatima,  he  says:  "Slie  gave  the  tone  to  the 
cultured  society  of  licr  age.  Tlie  reunions  in  her  house  of  the  poets,  scholars, 
jurists,  and  other  distinguished  people  of  both  sexes,  became  the  mode!  for 
similar  social  gitl.erings  at  tlie  residences  of  other  ladies  of  fashion." 
Mr.  Justice  Ali  states  that  Kadlr  the  Abbasside  promulgated  the  edict 
forbidding  wonum  to  appear  in  public  without  the  hiirka,  and  adds  significantly, 
"  and  with  tint  commenced  tlie  decadence  of  Islam." 

•  Chavcoal  is  also  used  in  the  towiis  in  tlie  iii  niHI,  or  chafing-d:y'i,  for 
wanning  rooms. 


70  WO^FAN   IN   THE    EAST. 

grapes,  for  the  Arabs  in  general  almost  prefer  the  green  unripe 
grapes  to  the  rips  ones.  Green  grapes  always  find  a  ready 
market,  being  used  either  for  dyeing  wool,  together  with  the 
necessai'y  colour  (the  acid  of  the  grapes  fixes  the  colour),  or  else 
they  are  sold  for  flavouring  the  food  or  eaten  raw. 

Hebron,  a  Mohammedan  town,  is  all  surrounded  by  vineyards, 
and  the  best  Palestine  grapes  grow  there.  Here  the  townspeople 
become  Fellahiu  during  the  summer,  living  in  the  vineyards,  and 
are  occupied  all  the  time.  Where  the  grapes  are  not  sold  to  Jews 
or  Christians  of  Jerusalem  (in  Hebron  itself  only  Jews  live 
besides  the  Mohammedans),  the  grapes  when  ripe  ai'e  cooked  in 
laro-e  kettles  after  having  been  crushed  in  rock-cut  reservoirs,  from 

C^  CD  7 

which  the  sweet  juice  flows  into  a  second  reservoir,  reminding  us  of 
the  "brooks  of  honey"  mentioned  by  Job  xx,  17.  The  juice 
gathered  is  boiled  during  several  hours,  and  these  molasses  are 
very  much  in  request  amongst  all  classes  of  the  population.  Tlie 
women's  part  in  this  work  does  not  go  beyond  bringing  the 
grapes  and  preparing  the  jars  to  receive  the  molasses  and  grape 
conserve.  The  merchants  of  Hebron  go  about  from  village  to 
villyge  selling  this  grape  treacle  to  the  Fellahiu,  who  put  it  awa^^ 
for  the  winter  months. 

Life  in  the  vineyards  in  the  summer  months  is  certainly  a  time 
when  a  good  deal  of  care  is  done  away  with.  It  is  pleasant 
living,  fruits  to  eat,  no  house  sweeping,  and  all  kinds  of  house- 
work reduced  to  the  least.  The  second  chapter  of  the  Song  of 
Solomon  is,  perhaps,  the  best  example.  It  is  like  living  amongst 
the  Fellahiu,  feeling  with  them,  to  read  it,  and  remark  the 
details.  The  vines  vvith  the  tender  (unripe)  grape  give  a  good 
.smell.  "Take  heed  of  the  foxes  that  destroy  the  vine  ....  a  roe 
on  the  mountains  of  Bother." 

Solomon  had  certainly  passed  days  and  nights  in  the  vineyards 
of  Bether,  where  I  never  remember  to  have  passed  without  seeing 
gazelles  roaming  about  on  the  mountains. 

Where  they  keep  bees,  the  women  take  an  active  part  in 
harvesting  the  honey.  A  man  is  usually  the  bee-master  for  the 
Avhole  district,  having  all  the  paraphernalia  appertaining  to  bee- 
culture,  consisting  of  a  jar-bee-smoker,  a  mask,  leather  gloves  and 
boots,  and  a  large  knife  to  cut  out  the  comb.  The  cut  out  combs  are 
handed  over  to  the  women,  who  press  out  the  honey  between  their 
hands  in  a  dark  room,  and  with  heaps  of  manuie  burning  before 
the  door  to  keep  away  the  bees,  which  still  may  try  to  enter.  The 
pressed  out  comb-balls,  dripping  with  honey,  are  washed  as  clean 


WOMAN    IX    TIIR    EAST.  71 

as  possible,  the  comb  reduced  t(j  wax,  wliilsl  the  rsweefc  water  of 
the  wasliings  is  boih-d,  flour  being-  added  all  the  time,  till  the 
whole  is  almost  as  thick  as  honey.  It  is  now  poured  on  laid-ont 
sheets,  and  left  to  dry  for  a  day  or  two.  Pine-seeds  are  strewn 
on  the  paste  as  long  as  it  is  still  Avarm  and  soft.  This  sweet, 
known  as  "  nialban,"  when  dry  has  the  appearance  of  very  light- 
coloui-ed  loatlier.  It  can  easily  be  torn,  and  is  either  sold  or 
stored  away  for  winter  food.  Usually  it  is  eaten  in  winter-evening 
assemblies,  after  a  game  or  story-telling.  It  is  saleaale  only 
where  the  women  are  experts  in  manufacturing  it.  Small  bee- 
keepers keep  it  generally  for  family  use.  The  crushed  and  pressed 
combs  are  put  into  sacks  and  boiled  in  water.  The  Avax  always 
finds  a  ready  market.  Pure  wax  candles  are  sold  by  the  thou.sand 
in  Jerusalem,  about  the  Church  of  tlie  Holy  Sepulchre  and  the 
Mosque.  Those  sold  to  Christians  are  ornamented  with  scenes 
of  the  passion,  death,  and  resurrection  of  Christ ;  whilst  Moham- 
medan pilgrims  only  buy  such  as  have  no  images  whatever.  The 
Christian  candles  are  many-coloured,  and.  the  Mohammedans' 
usually  dirty  white,  and  offered  in  the  sanctuaries  as  a  vow  for 
the  recovery  from  sickness,  deliverance  from  accidents,  safe  arrival 
home  again  after  a  long  journey. 

The  vow  in  the  fashion  of  Samuel's  mother's  vow  is  not  so 
usual — at  least,  not  among  the  Mohammedans.  Christians  dedicate 
their  children  to  such-and-such  a  saint.  For  example,  a  child 
may  be  dedicated  to  Saint  Francis  for  a  year  or  two — the  boy 
then  wears  a  monk's  hood  for  the  time  ;  whilst  Mohammedans  and 
Christians  vow  to  saints  or  prophets  in  case  of  help,  a  quantity 
of  wax  candles,  olive  oil  to  bui'n  in  the  sanctuary,  or  a  sacrifice 
of  a  kid  or  lamb.  Thus  the  person  vowing  may  say :  "  O  ever- 
green Green  One"  (St.  George  of  the  Cliristians),  "I  offer  you 
a  lamb  and  two  pounds  of  pure  Avax  candles  if  thou  savest  me 
from  this  water,"  if  in  danger  of  being  disowned.  Or:  "  If  thou 
savest  my  boy  from  the  small-pox,  0  Prophet  Reuben,  I  offer  thee 
a  lamb  and  three  pounds  of  oil."  These  vows  are  made  by  both 
.sexes  alike,  and  are  often  fulfilled  months  or  years  afterwards  ;  as 
long  as  the  person  has  the  intention  of  holding  his  promise,  there 
is  no  harm  in  putting  it  off  till  a  favourable  occasion.  As  they 
are  very  expensive,  as  many  as  possible  of  the  friends  and  relations 
ai'e  invited. 

Having  received  one  day  from  the  mother  of  a  boy  who  had 
recovered  from  the  small-pox  an  invitation  to  assist,  we  started 
to   the   Greek   Chui-ch  of   St.   George,   though    the  vowcr  was   a 


72  WOMAN   IN   THE   EAST. 

^lohammcclaii.     The  men  v/itli  firearms  were  firing  all  tlio  w:iy  ; 
the  women,  in  their  best  cluthes — excepting  the  mother,  who,  as  a. 
-widow,   never   put  on  any   g:iudy  apparel — were  sinking  all  the 
while.     AVhen  we  arrived  at  the  chnrch  and  convent,  which  is  also 
an  asylum  for  lunatics,  the  abbot,  as  the  custom  is,  gave  the  kettles 
and  wood  to  prepare  the  sacrifice.     The  men  killed  tlie  lamb  in 
the    courtyard  of  the   convent,  and  cooked  it,  except  the   head, 
feet,    liver,   lungs,    and    skin,    which    belong    to    the    convent   as 
tax.      A  kettle  of   rice  is  now   boiled,   and  all  is   served  in  the 
large  wooden  dishes  (hatie).     Before  the  food  is  ready  tlie  men 
and   women  all  touch  the  huge  iron  chain  which  is  fixed  in   the 
wall   of  the  church,  and  to  which  lunatics  are  chained,   and  are 
supposed  to  be  healed,  after  a  stay  of  several  days  or  weeks,  by 
the  influence  of  St.  George.     The  chapel  is  opened,  and  everybody 
visits  the  sanctuary.     Now  the  women  dance  nnd  sing  in  front  of 
the  chapel  during  several  hours.     The  abbot  receives  a  small  sum 
of  money  for  his  services,  lending  the  kettle  and  the  wood,  besides 
the  meat  already  mentioned.     Tlie  abbot  was  about  seventy  years  ' 
of  age,  and,  like  all  Greek  abbots  in  Palestine,  talked  only  broken 
Arabic.     Notwithstanding  his  nge,  he  calmly  stood   the  shouting 
and  shooting  within  the  walls  of  the  convent   as  quietly   as  the 
thousands  of  pigeons  nestling  all  along  the  old  convent  walls  iu 
crevices  and  holes,  old  jars  and  boxes  hung  up  for  tlie  purpose. 
Everybody  seemed  impassive  and  accustomed  to  these  cei-emonies, 
and  went  on  with  their  duties  as  if  nobody  was  there.     Tlie  abbot 
took  us  up  to  his  reception-room,  put  a  table  and  plates  at  our 
disposal,    and   bade    us    partake   of    the    sacrifice    in    liis    rooms. 
Coffee  was    served   afterwards,  and,  the  vow  thus   having    been 
performed,  the  whole  company  Avent  home  singing  and  shooting, 
as  they  came. 

Vows  are  sometimes  either  forgotten  or  neglected,  and  the 
folio iving  fable  illustrates  this  class  : — "  A  fox  was  roaming  about 
the  mountains,  looking  for  a  lizard  liei-e  and  a  bird  there,  when  all 
of  a  sudden  two  hounds  were  on  his  track.  He  ran  hard  for  hi.s 
life,  but,  being  almost  overtaken,  he  said  :  '  O  Prophet  Saleh,  if 
thou  rescuest  me  from  these  dogs,  I  will  give  thee  a  measure  of 
lentils  and  a  wax  candle  for  thy  sanctuary.'  At  once  the  hound.s 
lost  his  track,  and  the  fox  drew  breath.  After  trotting  awhile  he 
said  to  himself:  'I'm  a  good  runner  anyhow,  and  have  escaped 
those  dogs.  It  is  true  T  vowed  ;  but  then  .1  aa\  no  farmer,  and 
produce  no  lentils,  nor  do  I  own  any  b?cs  to  give  the  prophet  wax 
candles.'     He  had  hardly  finished  this  soliloquy,  when   suddenly 


t— .> 


WOMAN   IX   THE   EAST.  t-> 

the  liouuds  veappeai-etl.  The  fox  again  ran  as  fast  as  ho  couhl, 
and  said  :  '  0  prophet,  lake  your  measure  and  follow  me  ;  I'll  give 
you  the  lentils  at  once.'      So  he  was  again  saved." 

During  tlic  liarvest  the  women  pick  out  the  best  sti-aws  they 
can  linil.  and  l)ind  them  into  bundles;  in  their  leisui-e  hours  they 
make  baskets,  trays,  and  the  like  for  the  household  furniture, 
Some  of  the  straws  are  coloured  green  or  red,  and  symmetrically 
woven  into  the  work,  designed  generally  in  curves  or  broken  lines. 
Some  are  very  dexterous  in  nniking  these  trays,  and  produce  a 
certain  quantity  for  sale,  for  they  always  find  a  ready  market. 

Almost  every  woman  or  girl  gleans  wheat  or  barley  for  her 
own  benefit,  if  her  time  is  not  wholly  taken  up  by  her  husband,  or 
brother,  or  father.     The  gleaned  bundles  are  nicely  arranged,  and 
put  in  a  heap  beside  the  other  corn  ;  on    account  of  their  being 
particularly  fixed    up    and    fast  tied  together,    these  bundles  are 
easily  recognised  and  respected  by  everyone.     The  women  in  their 
spare  time  knock  out  the  grain   with  a  stone,  and  store  it  away 
or  sell   it  at  once  jn    the    neighbourhood    of  the    threshing-tioor 
to  travelling  grain-merchants.     If,  as  in  many  cases,  the  family 
be   short    of    flour,    she    is    supposed    to    lend    them    this    gi-ain 
for  the  time  being  for  family  use  ;  but  seldom,  if  ever,  -will  she 
receive  it  back  again  if  she  doe-^  not  take  it  by  force.     If  she  sells 
it,  the  money  is  put  on  her  head-dress,  or,  if  a  widow,  lent  out  on 
intei-est  or  used  for  her  own  wants.     As  already  remarked,  the 
wonnxn's  purse  is  quite  separate  from  that  of  the  whole  family. 
In  some  cases,  also,   she  Avill  invest  her  money  in  live  stock — 
sheep,  goats,  cows,  or  the  like,   which  are  a  continual  source  of 
])rofit,  as  on  no   account  will   she  pay   anything  for  stable  rent 
or  shepherd,  unless  the  whole  herd  be  her  own.     In  this  last  case 
the  husband  henctits  by  the  milk,  cheese,  butter,  and  a  sacrifice 
from  time  to  time.     This  arrangement  is  tolerated  by  the  husband, 
to  a  certain  degree,  as  it  discharges  him  of  many  obligations,  such 
as  paying  the  tax,  for  sheep  and  goats  have  to  ]>ay  a  Government 
tax  of  about  15  cents,  a  head  ;  besides,  the  husband  is  considered 
poor,  and  unable  to   contribute  to    municipal    wants,  though    he 
])ersonally  benefits  to  a  great  extent. 

Sacks  of  goats'  hair  and  carpets  of  wool,  saddle-bags,  baby- 
sacks  (in  which  the  women  carry  the  babies  on  their  backs  when 
going  on  errands),  and  the  like  are  all  woven  by  the  women  ;  they 
are  not  all  experts  in  this,  but  generally  such  as  either  possess 
herds  themselves,  or  whose  husbands  or  next-of-kin  are  shepherds. 
The  woman  works  at  a  fixed  price  per  yard,  and  is  generally  fed 


74  WOMAN    IX   THE    EAST. 

by  the  parfy  to  -wlinm  the  carpet  belongs  as  long  as  the  work 
lasts.  The  apparatus  is  of  the  most  primitive  kind.  Most 
women  and  girls  can  spin,  and  they  may  be  seen  all  about  the 
towns  spinning  as  they  walk.  A  bundle  of  wool,  or  wool 
and  hair,  is  rolled  round  the  right  arm,  and  the  little  distaff  is 
spun  continually  on  an  uplifted  knee  as  they  walk  along,  thus 
spinning  tlie  threads  for  the  future  carpet  or  sack.  The  carpet 
manufacture  itself  is  also  very  simple.  Four  pegs  are  driven  into 
the  ground  at  the  proper  distance,  according  to  the  quantit}-  of 
tbread  ready,  but  seldom  over  a  yard,  and  a  third  in  breadth, 
whilst  the  length  may  be  many  yards.  Two  thick  sticks  form  the 
beginning  ond  the  end,  fastened  against  the  pegs  mentioned.  The 
threads  Hre  now  drawn  across  fi'ora  end  to  end  and  one  touching 
the  other,  necessarily  in  an  upper  and  a  lower  row.  A  flat  piece 
of  wood  several  inches  wide  and  well  polished,  usually  of  oak, 
is  passed  between  the  throa,ds,  dividing  them  or  changing  the 
position,  pushing  the  upper  down  and  the  lower  up.  This  shuttle 
is  not  always  used;  the  ball  of  thread  is  simply  rolled  in  an  oval 
shape,  and  thus  passes  to  and  fro.  To  fasten  the  cross-threads, 
the  woman  has  a  gazelle-horn,  the  point  of  wdiich  is  slightly 
filed  to  form  a  hook,  and  thus  pulls  each  thread  backwards  into 
position.  The  operation  takes  less  time  to  do  than  to  describe  in 
words,  although,  as  the  whole  work  is  very  long,  it  may  take 
some  weeks  to  make  a  cai'pet.  As  the  work  is  always  done  in  the 
open  air,  and.  must  rtmain  in  position,  a  man  generally  sleeps 
by  it  at  night,  to  watch  against  mischief  or  thieves,  The  woman 
is  only  responsible  by  day  ;  she  is  never  expected  to  watch  by 
night. 

All  the  woman's  earnings  are  liei"  private  property.  Though 
in  some  cases  her  husband  furnishes  her  witli  necessary  clothing, 
in  most  cases  she  buys  it  herself.  She  has  also  to  furnish 
the  oil  fcr  lighting  the  house  from  her  own  money,  and  she 
knows  well  how^  to  calculate  what  may  belong  to  her  husband 
and  what  to  her.  On  returning  from  market  the  women  sit 
down  with  their  empty  baskets  and  square  up  the  accounts 
before  going  to  their  homes.  In  her  spare  time  the  woman 
mends  and  also  makes  the  clothes  for  herself,  husband,  and 
children.  It  is  true  it  does  not  require  very  much  skill,  as 
the  whole  consists  in  a  kind  of  very  large  shirt  with  very  wide 
sleeves;  thus  a  few  inche;?  more  or  less  does  not  matter,  and  the 
merchant  of  whom  the  sheeting  and  shirting  are  bought  knows 
exactly  how  many  yards  are  wanted  for  a  suit.      The  men  are  all 


WOMAN    IX    THE    EAS'I".  75 

clot  lied  in  :i  white  shirt  or  gown,  which  is  lor  the  most  part  oF 
the  year  the  only  elothiug  they  wecar;  towards  winter  a  second 
gown,  either  yellow  or  red-sti-iped,  is  worn.  Women  are  Jilways 
(dotheil  iu  blue — a  long  blue  shirt  or  gown  of  coarse  sheeting, 
hanging  down  to  the  feet,  and  witli  vei-y  wide  sleeves  form  her 
every-day  clothing.  Dirty  clothes  are  generally  carried  to  the 
nearest  running  water;  sometimes  this  is  far  from  the  village, 
and  where  there  are  only  wells,  watei-  must  bo  drawn;  but 
seldom  are  things  washed  with  warm  water.  In  houses  where 
they  have  cows  or  camels  a  second  hand-mill  for  breaking  the 
vetches  is  to  be  found,  and  the  woman  also  prepares  these,  which, 
after  being  broken,  are  slightly  wetted  so  as  to  render  tliem  soft, 
and  when  the  camels  or  cows  come  homo  in  the  evening  after  a 
day's  labour  they  tind  their  supper  awaiting  them. 

The  woman  is  called  by  her  name  and  the  name  of  her  father; 
never  does  the  name  of  the  husband  api)ly  to  the  wife.  Thus,  if 
the  woman's  name  be  Fatme  and  her  father's  name  'Ali,  she  will 
be  called  Fatme  'Aii  as  long  as  she  is  watliout  children  ;  as  soon  as 
she  has  a  child  she  will  be  called  after  the  name  of  her  eldest  son 
or  daughter  if  she  has  no  son.  If  her  son.  be  Eh'mad,  she  will 
be  called  Im  Eh'mad,  that  is  "  mother  of  Eh'mad."  This  is 
the  politest  way  of  calling  a  woman;  if  she  has  no  children  she 
can  even  be  called  "  Mother  of  'Ali,"  her  father's  name. 

CnAPTER  Yill. — Training  the  Children. 

This  is  a  most  neglected  matter,  at  least  in  my  opinion.  It 
is  more  of  a  let-it-alone  sj'stem  than  anything  else.  Boys  are 
more  left  to  their  own  free  will  than  girls,  and  they  are  even 
taught  to  curse  and  to  swear  when  they  can  only  just  pronounce 
the  first  words.  As  a  matter  of  course,  when  only  one  boy  is  iu 
the  family  he  is  the  tyrant,  and  his  will  dominates  over  all. 
When  there  are  more  than  one,  and  perhaps  some  girls,  then 
necessarily  the  parents  are  more  severe,  and  sometimes  administer 
brutal  correction;  there  is  nothing  like  a  kind,  systematic 
bringing  up.  As  with  all  illiterate  people,  amusement  of  some 
sort  mast  be  had,  and  the  children  natui ally  form  one  source  of 
general  amusement.  They  are  considered  mosb  clever  when  they 
can  abuse  the  bystanders  or  the  squatters  in  the  circle  of 
visitors.  No  wonder,  then,  if  the  stran^-er  ridinar  throucrh  a 
village  finds  himself  assailed  by  the  younger  generation,  cursing, 
and    even    throwing    stones     for    nothing    more    than    their    own 


76  WOMAN   IN    THE    EAST. 

childish  amusement.  This  is  rarely  done  to  Arab  strangers.  l)ut 
is  reserved  for  Occidentals,  as  these  are  considered  in  all 
Mohammedan  countries,  and  more  so  in  out-of-the-way  phices, 
to  be  mortal  enemies.  The  boys  and  girls  of  six  to  ten  years 
old  keep  the  kids  and  lambs  round  about  the  village.  ^V'he^ 
the  girls  are  older,  but  not  after  puberty,  they  may  also  be 
shepherdesses,  if  the  family  have  no  boy.  But  after  puberty  a  boy 
is  taken,  who  may  at  the  same  time  serve  as  shepherd  for  seven 
ye.irs  and  receive  a  girl  for  his  wages,  as  Jacob  did  witli  Laban. 
Thus  in  a  family  where  thei-e  are  more  boys  than  necessary  for  the 
wants  of  the  familv,  one  or  two  mav  be  sent  to  serve  outside,  and 
villages  which  are  near  towns  send  their  boys  to  work  in  the  stone 
quarries  or  at  mason's  yards.  Mohammedan  girls  are  kept  at 
home  till  they  niaii-y,  but  some  villages  near  Jerusalem  have 
begun  to  send  their  daughters  as  servant  girls  to  the  town. 
Amongst  the  Christian  population  of  Bethleliem,  llaniallah,  and 
some  other  places,  girls  are  regularly  found  in  the  houses  of 
Occidentals  as  cook.'?,  or  the  like. 

A  servant  girl  from  Bethlehem,  staying  as  cook  in  a  I'rench 
hotel  at  Jaffa  (illiterate,  as  they  generally  are),  one  day  received  a 
letter  from  her  i.iother,  and  though  fully  acquainted  with  the 
contents  several  days  before  receiving  it,  as  the  letter  was  written 
in  p'j.blic,  the  girl  brought  the  letter  to  me  and  asked  me  to  read 
it.  She  told  me  her  mother  wanisd  two  wooden  bowls  and  a 
trunk.     The  letter  was  worded  thus  : — 

"  From  Bethleliem  io  Jaffa. 

''3rd  Kovemher,  1891. 

"  Eastern  calendar. 

"To  the  most  honoured  and  excellent  lady  the  respected  C'atliei'ina, 
God  liveth  and  endureth  for  ever.  Amen  ! 
"After  having  settled  on  the  principal  question,  that  is,  your 
dear  health  and  security,  which  is  with  us  the  essential  cause  of 
writing,  and  the  occasion  of  our  prayers  ;  firstly,  if  your  question 
about  us  be  admitted,  we  are,  God  be  praised,  in  perfc  ct  happiness, 
and  do  nothing  but  ask  about  you  and  the  security  (d'  your  health 
which  is  with  us  the  essential  cause  of  writing,  and  the  occasion 
of  prayer.  Secondly,  that  you  send  to  ask  us  why  we  never 
answer,  seeing  'by  the  Almighty  God'  we  have  sent  you  four 
answers,  two  by  the  post  and  two  by  the  camel  drivers,  nor  do  we 
know  what  is  the  matter  that  they  never  arrived.  After  that  we 
assure  you  that  we  are  continually  pleased  with  you,  and  ask  the 


WOMAN'   IN   THE   EAST.  77 

Vir.^iii  the  motlior  of  tbo  beloved,  tliat  you  imxy  soon  be  unikd 
with  us,  by  the  help  of  the  Lord  Ciir'st.  Then  your  brothers, 
EHas  and  Jirius,  salute  you  with  many  salutations,  and  your 
sisters,  Sultany  and  Maria,  are  in  perfect  health  and  salute 
you.  You  havo  sent  to  ask  about  the  health  of  ,!osoph,  your 
brother's  son;  he  is,  to  God  bo  praise,  in  all  lieaith  and 
KPeurity,  so  you  must  not  be  troubled  at  all.  Also  we  ask  of  you, 
onr  beloved  and  honoured  daughter,  to  send  us  two  wooden  bowls, 
without  mistake,  by  the  kind  camel  driver,  my  contentment  rest 
on  you.  I  alt^o  announce  to  you  that  we  have  let  tlie  house  to 
Aziz,  the  son  of  'Otallah  Ody,  and  he  sends  you  salutations,  and 
cv^'n  Khaleel  'Otallah  salutes  yon,  and  your  brother,  P]lias,  salutes 
you,  and  begs  yon  to  send  him  a  Hungarian  trunk,  like  the  trunk 
of  Tufaha,  the  daughter  of  your  uncle,  Jirius.  For  its  price  is 
from  us,  and  when  you  will  face  us  wo  will  repay  you  its  price. 
"What  we  now  want  wo  have  told  you,  and  if  you  want  anything 
tell  us.     God  liveth  and  endureth  ! 

"  Praying  for  you.  In  the  honoured,  holy  and  blessed  N^ativity 
Chui'ch,  Helwy. 

"  The  writer  of  these  words,  your  uncle's  son,  Salamy,  salutes 
you  with  many  salutations,  may  you  live  and  endure. 

"  To  be  addressed  to  the  esteemed  and  honoured  Mister  Based, 
whose  presence  may  it  live.     Jirius  and  Khaleel. 

"  'Otallah  salute  him,  and  from  his  baud  to  be  rendered  to  the 
excellent  lady  the  respected  Catherina." 

On  account  of  their  going  to  European  mission  schools  many 
Christian  villagers  are  brighter,  cleaner,  and  more  up  to  the  times, 
though  despised  by  the  more  austere  Mohammedans,  who  either 
never  go  to  aiiy  schools  at  all,  or  else  go  to  the  village  schools, 
which  have  been  instituted  of  late,  and  are  intended  to  be  obligatory 
under  penaltj'  of  paying  a  certain  sum  for  those  who  do  not  attend; 
this  last  object  is  never  missed  by  the  greedy  officials,  ever  ready 
to  take  advantage  of  the  slightest  money-making  occasion.  A 
teacher  is  appointed  to  every  village  by  the  Government  to  oppose 
the  Christian  mission  schools.  j\Ionths  and  months  may  pass  ere 
this  unfortunate  schoolmaster  receives  his  pay,  but  as  the  school 
children  have  to  furnish  him  with  a  certain  quantity  of  bread  and 
whatever  they  may  happen  to  possess,  he  is  at  least  kept  from 
starving. 

In  and  about  the  house  the  countrywoman  is  more  of  a 
personality  than  her  sister  of  the  town.     She  has  all  the  h'.  use- 


78  WOMAN   IN    THE   EAST. 

hold  affairs  necessarily  under  her  control,  as  the  husband  is  of  lea 
absent  for  days  and  even  Aveeks.  Beinj^  never  veiled,  like  the 
townswoman,  slie  can  step  in  and  out  freely,  look  aft-^r  the 
animals,  and  to  some  extent  give  information  to  her  husband,  and 
at  least  stronjifly  influence  him  in  regard  to  his  business  witli 
strangers. 

When  visitors  come  the  elder  girls  and  wife  are  to  keep  aside, 
bringing  only  the  food ;  but  they  never  entertain  male  visitors. 
Female  visitors  are  very  rare,  except  on  solemn  occasions — as 
births,  deaths,  marriages,  and  in  these  cases  they  are  received 
only  by  the  w^omen.  The  younger  children,  boys  or  girls,  of 
course,  come  to  sit  down  in  their  father's  lap  and  listen  to  what  is 
said,  or  partake  of  the  food  with  the  strangers.  Women  come 
and  congratulate  when  a  child  is  born,  as  has  already  been 
mentioned.  When  the  children  grow  older,  a  boy  of  twelve  or 
more  is  utterly  out  of  his  mother's  control.  Girls  are  influenced 
a  few  years  longer,  but  obedience  is  next  to  unknown  ;  yet  there 
exists  a  natural  reciprocal  dependence  which  makes  the  families 
very  intimate,  especially  as  regards  the  family  interests.  Thus 
a  child  of  seven  or  eight  will  defend  the  family  rights  like  a 
grown-up  person  among  Occidentals.  Their  living  in  one  room 
and  assisting  in  all  conversations  explains  how  they  are  so  soon 
versed  in  all  family  incidents,  and  can  even  keep  secrets ;  for 
necessarily  their  bloody  feuds  often  oblige  them  to  have  secrets. 
Even  before  a  boy  arrives  at  the  age  of  puberty  he  may  receive 
a  turban,  which  he  gets  either  when  he  marries  or  even  before, 
on  a  feast  day.  If  the  proud  father,  anxious  to  show  off  his 
offspring,  hands  him  a  turban,  it  is  wonderful,  if  not  amusing, 
to  see  the  little  man  of  ten  or  twelve  years  old  squatting  down 
gravely  for  the  first  time,  seemingly  conscious  of  the  new  era 
of  life  now  dawning  upon  him. 

Then,  also,  the  sexes  separate  in  their  play,  which  up  to  this 
first  growing  out  of  childhood  had  been  in  common. 

Still,  brothers  and  sisters  protect  each  other  for  the  causes 
already  mentioned,  tlie  family  circle  is  holy,  and  every  inmate 
is  considered  of  one  flesh.  Thei'efore,  also,  the  mother,  though 
very  much  esteemed  by  her  children,  still,  in  family  matters, 
may  be  wholly  sacrificed  for  the  sake  of  her  family,  who  are 
perhaps  on  bad  terms. 


WOMAN    IX    TIIK   EAST.  TO 


Chapter  IX. — Sicknkss  and  Ukatii. 

When  a  j)rrsou  is  reported  to  be  seriously  ill,  tlio  iodui  is 
soon  filled  witli  noisy  visitors — men,  women,  and  children;  if  it 
is  winter,  a  fire  is  made,  fillint,'  the  room  Avith  dense  smoke, 
whilst  all  kinds  of  remedies  are  discussed  by  all  and  every  one 
at  a  time,  so  that  the  person  interested  may  hear  a  portion  of 
this  remark  and  another  of  that.  Fresh  visitors  pour  in,  the 
others  leave,  and,  in  fact,  such  a  sick  room  is  easily  recognised 
by  its  beehive  appearance,  where  continually  some  are  going 
and  some  are  coming.  They  are  not  in  the  least  sympathetic 
with  the  sick;  they  talk  of  his  malady  in  the  harshest  way,  or 
draw  him  into  their  conversation,  however  disagreeable  this 
may  be,  and  coffee-drinking  and  pipe-smoking  are  continually 
indulged  in. 

No  matter  how  contagious  the  sickness,  none  refrain  from 
visiting.  They  have  sometimes  doctors  of  their  own,  but  gene- 
rally this  is  the  priest,  who  writes  a  few  mysterious  nonsensical 
words,  and  may  give  this  to  the  patient  to  swallow,  or  put  under 
his  pillow,  and  so  forth.  Barbers  are  the  doctors  in  more  serious 
cases,  and  they  either  give  purgatives  or  bleed  the  patient.  Yet, 
again,  the  national  remedy  is  fire  applied  to  any  part  of  the  body 
and  in  very  difFerent  ways  —  either  simply  with  burning  lint, 
or  with  a  red-hot  iron  or  nail  applied  to  the  crown  of  the  head, 
to  the  arm,  temple,  and  so  forth.  Efficacious  as  the  fire  remedy 
may  be  in  some  cases — as,  for  instance,  a  venomous  bite — yet  they 
do  not  apply  it  then,  as  they  believe  the  bite  is  burning  already, 
and  fire  would  make  matters  worse.  European  doctors  are  called 
for  in  extreme  cases,  and  are  also  paid  highly ;  but  doctors' 
prescriptions  are  never  followed  fully,  they  follow  them  partially, 
and  should  the  remedy  not  produce  immediate  benefit  it  is  at  once 
discarded,  and  the  doctor  called  a  humbug.  Hygienic  rules  are 
still  more  difficult  to  be  enforced,  thus  rendering  the  doctor's 
task  difficult,  if  not  impossible.  Nature,  as  everywhere  else,  helps 
more  surely  and  rapidly.  Strained  nerves  are  unknown,  and  so  is 
punctuality. 

They  are  subject  to  the  same  ills  as  are  foreigners,  with  this 
difference — that  the  foreigner  more  surely  gets  the  intermittent 
fever  and  is  harassed  by  it,  whilst  the  indigenous  inhabitants 
may  sometimes  escape  from  it,  according  to  the  position  of  the 
village  and  the  occupation,  whether  they  stay  at  home  or  are 
obliged  to  go  to  the  low   lands  during  the  summer  months.     The 


80  WOMAN   IX    THE    EAST. 

plains  of  Sharon,  Jtzreel,  and  tlie  Jordan  Valley  are  terrible 
centres,  especially  the  last-named.  In  the  year  1874  I  passed  two 
months  there  with  several  hundi-ed  Fellahin  of  the  Judean 
mountains  ;  I  do  not  think  that  a  single  person  escaped  the 
fever,  and  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  lost  their  lives.  Though 
more  than  twenty  years  have  jiassed  I  still  feel  the  effects. 

Thev  live,  however,  to  an  old  age  too,  as  in  northern  climes. 
It  has  often  been  supposed  that,  as  they  really  begin  life  so  very 
much  earlier  than  Occidentals,  they  die  earlier  too.  But  though 
ihey  do  not  count  their  age,  and  if  asked  will  reply  :  "God  alone 
can  know  "  ;  still  tlie  age  can  be  discovered  by  periods  which 
they  point  out.  I  have  known  many  very  old  ])eople  of  eighty 
or  ninety,  and  above.  Thus  it  inay  be  safe  to  say  that  the  average 
is  the  .same  as  everywhere  else.  Great  events  in  Palestine  history, 
which  impressed  themselves  on  the  minds  of  the  people,  are: 
—  Buonaparte's  war  in  I79S  ;  the  first  Jerusalem  revolt,  1820; 
Grecian  war.*,  1820-30:  Egyptian  invasion  and  government, 
1830-40;  Crimean  War,  1855-58;  Christian  massacre  in  the 
Lebanon,  1860;  Locusts  in  18C6-G7;  and  so  forth. 

A  moslem  of  either  sex  when  dying  is  turned  with  the  face 
towards  the  Kibleh,  i.e.,  where  the  religious  feelings  are  concen- 
Trated  at  Mecca,  and  if  any  strength  or  presence  of  mind  be  left, 
the  dviiig  person  says:  "I  witness,  that  there  is  but  one  God, 
and  that  Mohammed  is  the  prophet  of  God."  Everybody  present 
witnesses  the  same.  As  soon  as  he  or  she  is  dead,  the  moUah 
is  called  for  a  man,  and  the  midwife  for  a  woman.  The  corpse 
is  wholly  washed  by  one  of  the  abovenamed  persons,  with  soap 
and  water,  the  performer  chaunting  slow  and  melancholy  chaunts 
all  the  time  :  "  Tliere  is  but  one  God,  and  ^lohammed  is  God's 
prophet.  God!  Prayer  be  to  Him  and  salatation."  As  at  the 
burial  of  Jesus,  new  shirting  is  bought,  and  when  all  the  issues 
have  been  stopped  with  cotton,  the  corpse  is  wrapped  in  this 
shroud  and  wholly  sewed  up.  No  woman  may  look  at  the  face 
of  a  man  after  his  burial  ablution,  except  such  as  could  never  have 
expected  to  marry  him,  that  is,  his  mother,  sister,  or  daughter. 
His  own  wife  is  divorced,  either  because  he  pronounced  a  divorce 
himself,  or  else  by  the  fact  of  his  death  ;  in  consequence,  a  look 
from  her,  who  is  now  a  marriageable  woman,  would  be  considered 
as  adultery.  The  same  applies  to  a  man  in  the  case  of  a  deceased 
woman.  When  the  body  is  washed  it  is  clean  and  ready  to  enter 
into  judgment. 

The   body   is   always    carried    by   men   on   a   litter   or   in   a 


WOMAN    IX    TlIK   EAST.  81 

carpet  towards  tlic  mosque,  where  it  is  pnt  down  for  awhile,  the 
men  chauntinix  all  the  time  in  two  parties:  "There  is  but  one 
<i()d,"  Ae.  ;  whilst  one  parly  chaunts,  the  other  takes  breath. 
When  the  body  is  put  down,  the  whole  assembly  of  men  sit 
down  round  about  in  front,  (he  women  further  off.  The  priest 
reads  chapters  of  the  Koran,  and  when  this  is  done  they  take  up  the 
body,  and  jn-oceed  chaunting  to  the  cemetery.  The  women  follow 
behind,  crying  and  shouting  and  singing;  the  next  of  kin  and 
friends  with  dishevelled  hair  and  no  head-cloth  on;  the  clothes 
are  rent  from  top  to  almost  bottom  (but  for  decency's  sake,  as 
they  have  only  this  one  on,  they  sew  it  up  in  large  stitches,  to  show 
that  it  was  rent).  They  put  earth  on  the  head,  and  sometimes  their 
faces  are  blnekened  with  soot.  Though  they  are  reproved  occa- 
sionally by  the  men,  and  bade  to  be  quiet,  as  it  is  sinful  to  mourn, 
jet  this  goes  on,  the  warnings  or  threatenings  being  unheeded. 

The  grave  is  very  shallow,  the  body  is  placed  between  two 
rows  of  larce  stones,  and  covered  with  flat  stones  above,  thus 
orming  a  space  in  which  the  dead  may  move,  if  asked  to  do  so 
after  the  burial  is  over.  It  is  believed  by  Mohammedans  that 
when  the  body  is  alone  in  the  grave  he  or  she  awakes,  and 
sits  up,  and  says :  "  God  !  have  I  died  ?  "  Then  they  see  two 
•executors  of  justice  —  Nakir  and  Nekeer — armed  with  clubs, 
fiercely  looking  at  the  person.  In  front  is  Roman,  the  examining 
ivngel.  He  interrogates  about  the  good  and  bad  deeds  done 
<luring  lifetime;  of  course,  here  is  no  denial,  and  for  the  good, 
Roman  shows  the  most  shining  face  nnd  widens  the  grave,  whilst 
for  the  wicked  he  shows  an  ugly  face,  and  the  grave  becomes 
so  narrow  as  to  make  the  bones  crack  in  crossing  each  other. 
For  every  bad  deed,  moreover,  the  executoi'S  give  two  stripes 
with  all  their  might.  Good  deeds  are  almsgiving  during  lifetime, 
und  all  other  virtues.  After  this  examination  the  person  lies 
<lown  to  die  again,  and  the  soul  of  the  ]\Iohammedan  goes  to  the 
Well  of  Souls  at  Jerusalem,  whilst  the  Christians  or  Jews  at 
once  go  to  the  devil,  all  awaiting  the  judgment  dny,  which  is  to 
take  place  on  the  platform  of  Mount  Moriah  before  the  Temple. 

Whilst  the  grave  is  being  prepared  the  priest  and  all  the 
people  sit  down,  the  priest  chaunting  all  the  while.  The  men  are 
solemn,  but  the  women  now  and  then  give  vent  to  a  shout,  and 
are  energetically  called  on  to  be  quiet.  "  May  God  curse  them,"  the 
men  will  say;  nevertheless,  this  has  no  effect  whatever  on  the 
svoraen.  As  soon  as  the  grave  is  covered  all  men  embrace  each 
other  as  a  token  of  reconciliation  for  all  wrongs  they  may  have 

F 


82  WOMAN    IN    THE   EAST. 

done  each   other.     All  male  iclatives  are  iuvited  to  a  supper  b}- 
oue    of  the    relatives    of    the    departed,    no    matter    whether    the 
departed  be  man,  woman,  or  child.     The  supper  differs  in  nothing 
from  a  wedding   supper,  except  that  the  women   do  not  sing  or 
dance  ;  yet  it  is  not  true  that  the}'  are  glad  when  a  person  dies,  as 
has  been  represented  by  some  writer.s.     Some  have  pretended  the 
joy  to  be  on  account  of  the  supper  to  follow,  yet  again  many  are 
under  the  impression  that  the  ^lohammedans  are  glad  when  they 
have  dead  friends  because  they  know  them  to  be  in  Pai-adise.    They 
I'eally  do  believe  that  all  true  believers  are  admitted  into  etei*nal 
joy  and  luxury  of  all  kinds,  uianufacturirig  their  happiness  as  they 
expected  it  to  have  been  on  earth  if  Avcalth  could  have  given  it, 
but  from  this  belief  to  joy  for  the  departure  of  a  dear  person  is  a 
great  way  off,  in  spite  of   all  their  stoicism.     An  Arab   proverl) 
says:  "A  day  on  earth  is  worth  more  than  oue  thousand  below." 
This  says  more  than  heaps  of  commentaries.     They  ah-^o  believe 
in  purgatory.     The  pious  go  directly  to  Paradise,  and  generally 
sucli    as    die    on    Friday,    but    those    that    have    done   any    deed 
needing  expiation  must  suffer  in  the  most  cruel  way  for  a  time. 
A  h'gend  about  a  woman  gives  an  idea  of  what  this  purgatory 
is    like: — "A  Avoman    had   a  sou   verj  dangerously    ill,    and    she 
vowed  that  if  he  should  recover  she  would  leave  the  world  for 
seven  day.s.     When  the  son  actually  recovered  she  did  not  know 
how  to  fulfil  her  vow,  so  she  went  to  one  well-versed  in  law  and 
I'eligion,  and  asked  him  how  she  could  perform  her  vow.     He  told 
her  that  she  must  be  buried  seven  days  ;  so  she  was  buried,  but 
had  food  and  air  to  support  her.     As  soon  as  the  burial  was  over,  a 
round  opening  was  seen  in  her  grave,  by  which  celestial  air  entered. 
She  ventured  out  and  saw  people  in  torture.      Some  were  hanged 
by  their  eyelashes,  others  by  the  ears,  others  upside  down,  and  they 
were    receiving    flogging.-;.     She  also   saw  a   woman   of  her  own 
village  hanged  by  her  hair-plaits.     The  tormented  woman  smelt 
the  earthly  smell,  and  asked  her  if  she  would  go  back.     When  she 
had  told  her  how  she  was  only  temporarily  buried  she  begged  her  to 
tell  her  husband,  who  was  still  living,  that  she  had  stolen  money 
from  him  and  hid  it  in  a  certain  place,  and  that  he  should  look  for 
the  money  and  forgive  her,  as  without  his  forgiveness  she  would 
continually  be  tortured.     Accordingly  when  the  :seven  days  were 
over,  the  buried  woman  was  disinterred  and  came  back,  but  nobody 
would  acknowledge  her,  as  purgatory  air  had  wholly  blackened  her. 
When  at  length  they  were  induced  to  believe  it  was  herself,  and 
liad  been  told  what  sufferings  await  the  wicked  beyond  the  tomb, 
and  especially  when  she  told  the  man  about  his  wife's  message,  they 


WOMAN    IN    THE    EAST.  83 

li(;li(>vi;(l   in  ilit'.se  (liiiigs,  and  also  now  know  what  it  is  to  be  dead 
and  buried." 

The  day  after  burial  the  women  a.spemble  early  in  the  morniriir 
arid  go  to  the  grave,  where  they  wail,  now  quietly  weeping  for  th(; 
dead,  now  with  dishevelled  hair  jumping  and  dancing  in  a  circle, 
holding  each  other's  hands.  From  time  to  time  they  loose  the  hands, 
and  while  hop})iiig  strike  themselves  in  the  face  with  both  hands  at  a 
time,  three  or  four  times  in  succession.  Having  wailed  for  the  space 
of  an  hoar  they  go  home,  to  begin  again  the  next  morning,  till  tiie 
following  Thursday.  On  this  day  oil-cakes  are  made  and.  ei^te^l 
at  the  cemetery  by  everyone  present.^  Men  never  join  in  these 
wailings.  Thus  the  wailing  goes  on  seven  consecutive  Thursdays,  or 
until  the  great  Thursday  of  the  dead,  which  is  in  Spring,  about  the 
(rreek  Easter.  This  duty-day  is  obligatory  to  everybody.  Food 
of  all  kinds  is  carried  to  the  tombs  and  eaten  by  everyone.  This 
practice  is  common  to  Christians  and  Mohammedans,  townspeople 
and  villagers.  They  carry  the  food  according  to  wealth  in  greater 
or  lesser  quantities  to  be  given  to  all  present.  The  food  is  called 
"  Mercy,"  and  nobody  is  expected  to  refu.se.  When  I  was  a  small 
boy  I  remember  the  quantities  of  food  the  Jerusalem  people  had  at 
tiie  entrance  of  the  cemetery.  Usually  there  was  cooked  wheat, 
well  sweetened  with  honey,  which  the  won^en  distributed,  giving  the 
passers  a  big  spoonful,  or  throwing  it  into  the  pails  of  the  beggars 
who  flock  around  the  cemeteries  on  Thursdays.  This  food  dis- 
tributing, as  its  name  implies,  is  made  to  implore  mercy  for  the 
repose  of  the  departed. 

The  women  go  about  with  rent  garments  for  months,  or  even 
year^,  according  to  the  degree  of  affliction.  Some  do  not  wash 
the  white  head-cloth  as  long  as  they  are  afflicted,  others  do  not 
even  wash  their  own  faces.  This  last  practice  is  the  more  striking 
amongst  the  Christians  of  Bethlehem,  because  they  are  particularlv 
careful  about  the  cleanliness  of  theii  clothes,  and  the  whiteness  of 
the  head-cloth. 

Mohammedan  men  never  show  by  any  outward  and  visible 
sign  the  real  affliction  caused  by  a  death  ;  all  show  is  considered 
sinful,  though  some  are  as  sorry  as  they  can  be.  A  young  man 
had  two  wives,  one  very  ugly,  who  had  sons  and  daughters,  but 
wa3  not  loved  in  spite  of  this.     His  second  wife  was  beautiful,  ami 

^  Eating  at  Graves. — This  is  also  an  ancient  and  widespread  custom..    Jt 
appears  to  originate  in  the  idea  of  feeding  the  spirits  of  the  deacl,'wl\o  can  be 

nourished,  as  it  were,  on  the  ghostly  part  of  the  food  eaten  by  tlir  livinir 

C.  R.  C. 


8-1:  WOMAN    IN    THE    EAST. 

liad  ail  only  tlauglitor.  Being  very  pretty,  this  child  was  the  pet 
<if  the  family,  at  least  the  half  of  the  family  which  was  on  the 
side  of  the  beautiful  wife.  Wiien  the  girl  was  about  three  years 
aid  she  got  the  whooping  cough  and  died.  The  disconsolate  father 
was  angry  with  Providence,  and.  thus  expressed  himself  :  "  God  left 
me  my  stupid,  ugly  son,  but  my  good  and  wise  daughter  was  too 
good  for  this  world.  I  think  the  world  is  only  made  for  the  foolish 
to  live  on,  the  clever  are  taken  away  prematurely." 

Another  case  of  a  man  who  lost  his  wife,  and  whom  I  assisted, 
shows  the  deep  sorrow  which  men  feel,  and  even  show,  on  some 
occasions.  When  the  corpse  was  brought  and  laid  down  in  front 
(tf  the  tomb,  a  kind  of  ossuary,  the  husband  objected  for  fear  of 
t!ie  rains  entering  in  and  wetting  her.  He  told  the  assembly  that 
he  had  lost  his  own  self;  though  he  had  many  grown  up  sons  and 
married  daughters,  he  considered  them  all  not  even  worth  i-epeating 
their  names. 

Several  men  tried  to  console  him  in  some  way  or  other,  but  to 
no  effect. 

Now  Ibrahim,  the  husband  of  the  deceased,  said:  "Carefully 
put  her  alone  ;  don't  mingle  the  bones  of  the  other  dead  with 
hers." 

One  of  the  assembly  said  :  "At  the  resui-rection  all  creation 
will  be  gathered,  and  there  will  be  no  fear  about  the  indi- 
vidualities ;  every  bone  will  go  to  its  owner,  no  matter  how 
dispersed  they  may  be." 

Says  Ibrahim :  "  Don't  talk  nonsense ;  this  is  the  priest's 
invention.  1  think  that  all  flesh  is  as  grass :  it  withers,  decays, 
and  will  never  be  i^estored  to  its  primitive  form." 

One  of  the  assembly:  "This  is  blasphemy;  we  all  know  that 
the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  true,  and  you  will  meet  her  again." 

Ibrahim  answered :  "  Good  people,  then  I  am  an  unbeliever, 
and  if  God  had  anything  to  do  with  it,  or  power  to  do  so,  he  would 
have  spared  my  Avife.  For  myself  I  see  and  know  she  is  dead  for 
ever  and  ever." 

Chapter  X, — Keligion  a\d  Practice. 

Whether  among  Christians  or  Mohammedans,  religious  life  does 
not  extend  beyond  keeping  the  feasts  and  fasts,  and  in  very  rai'e 
cases  also  saying  prayers.  Application  in  practical  life  of  any 
precept  is  almost  unknown.  And  especially  women,  who  consider 
themselves  inferior  to  men,  are  convinced  that  as  long  as  the  men 
do  not  show  by  their  deeds  what  a  pure  and  holy  life  represents, 


WOMAN    IN     11  IK    KAST. 


85 


women  are  exempt  from  every  religions  practice,  or  nitlicr  they 
do  not  think  at  all  about  it. 

Crimes,  such  as  murder,  theft  oP  the  burj-'larious  order,  ..r 
incest,  are  really  considered  sinful,  ])ut  outside  this  the  everyday 
incidents— minor  thefts,  lying:,  !ni(l  slandering— are  not  considered 
such  crime^i  as  can  throw  a  shadow  on  a  person's  character. 

In  the  liiblc  women  are  mentioned  veiy  often,  and  their 
religious  feelings  must  have  been  very  much  the  same  as  those  of 
the^modern  FallAha  if  we  except  a  few  here  and  there.  We  can 
very  well  follow  their  lives  iuul  classify  them  as  now  into  towns- 
Avomen,  Fellahin,  and  Bedawin. 

As  already  mentioned  the  feasts  and  fasts  of  Ramadan  are 
kept  by  the  women  as  Avell  as  by  the  men.  Prayers  are  also  said 
by  a  few.  Two  principal  feasts  are  observed— the  Thursday  of 
the  dead  may  be  excepted,  for  this  is  considered  a  duty  day. 

The  feast  of  Bairam  lasts  for  three  days  after  the  thirty  days' 
fasting,  when  clothes  are  renewed.  To  the  prayer  everybody  then 
comes  in  his  best  clothes.  At  this  feast  every  head  of  a  family  kills 
a  goat  or  sheep  and  eats  it  with  his  friends  and  relatives.  The 
greeting  on  the  feast  days  is  :  "May  you  be  in  peace  (or  present 
Avithout  infirmity)  every  year  "  ;  and  the  answer  :  "  And  you,  too, 
in  peace  " ;  this  is  exchanged  by  everybody.  The  women  do  not 
stretch  out  the  bare  hand,  but  cover  it  with  tbeir  long  sleeves, 
and  bow  down  to  kiss  the  hand  of  tlie  mar. 

The  second  feast  is  held  sixty^five  days  later.  According  to 
Mohammedan  tradition,  this  is  the  feast  held  in  commemoration 
of  Abraham's  sacrifice  of  his  son  Ishmael  on  Moriah.  The  centre 
of  the  feasting  is  on  Mount  'Arafat,  near  Mecca,  whither  thousands 
and  thousands  of  sacrifices  are  brought  by  the  pilgrims,  and  as 
every  pilgrim  brings  a  sacrifice,  it  is  evident  that  a  very  small 
quantity  of  the  meat  can  be  eaten.  Immeasurable  heaps  of  meat 
aie  left  to  putrify  and  poison  the  whole  neighbourhood.  Though  the 
Government  employs  men  to  bury  the  remaining  meat,  and  though 
a  certain  class  of  pilgrims  from  Central  Africa  and  the  Soudan 
remain  there  and  dry  the  meat  and  live  ou  it  for  a  year,  still 
it  is  not  possible  to  destroy  all  the  blood  and  skins  and  so  fortli, 
or  to  prevent  the  whole  region  being  filled  with  a  pestiferous  odour, 
and  diseases  of  all  kinds  are  carried  home  into  all  countries 
inhabited  by  Islam.  During  this  great  feast  everyone  at  home 
also  sacrifices,  and  portions  of  meat  are  sent  to  the  relatives, 
usually  to  a  daughter  or  sister  married  in  another  village.  Olive 
twigs  are  stuck  around  the  door-posts  as  a  sign  of  peace,  and  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifice   is  sprinkled   on  the  posts  and   the   lintel. 


SC  WOMAN    IX    THE    KAST. 

The  niollah,  wlio  is  the  only  literate  person  in  tlie  village,  reads 
chapters   of  the   Koran  before    tbe  whole   assembly  attar  bavinw- 
■said  prayers.     Most  of  tbe  features  of  this  feast  bave  evidently  been 
banded  down  from  generation  to  generation.     Ibe  blood  sprinkling 
dates  as  far  back  as  tbe  departure  from   Egypt.     Tbe  sending  of 
portions  is  found  in  Nebemiab,  together  with  the  reading  of  the 
law  :  Ezra  then  opened   tbe   book  and  tbe  people  listened  atten- 
tively, lifted  up  their  bands  and  bowed  tbeir  beads.     Just  as,  after 
the  prayer,  Nebemiab   commanded  the  people  to  bring   portions 
to  tbera  for  whom  nothing  is  prepared,  tbe  Fellabin  carry   tbe 
portions  to  all  relatives   and  friends.     Years  ago,  wben  I  lived  in 
tbe  village  of  certain  Mobammedans,  almost  every  family  sent  me 
portions,  tbougb  not  a  Mohammedan  ;  and  we  all  were  considered 
as  wortby  of  receiving  the  sanctified  food.    Thougb  it  is  meant  only 
for  believers   in   their  faith,   tbe    people   never  considered  us  as 
thorongb    infidels,    as    we    always   respected    tbeir   feelings    and 
assisted  at  sucb  of   tbeir  religious  ceremonies   as   allowed  of  our 
being   present.     Tbe   native   Cbristians  are  called  Nazarenes   by 
tbe  Mobammedans,  wbilst  Europeans  in  general  are  called  Franks. 
Tbose  wbo  have  more  to  do  witb  European  and  native  Cbristians 
make  tbis  a  marked  difference,  but  in  out-of-tbe-way  places,  sucb 
as   bave  no   contact   witb  strangers,  call    all    non-Mobammedans 
liufar  or  infidels.     Tbeir  law  leaves  a  margin  for  tbe  Cbristian  as 
long  as  be  lives,  t".*^.,  be  is  not  accursed  by  law,  for  be  may  convert 
bimself  on  bis  death-bed,  wbilst  tbe   dead    Christian  is  accursed, 
as  baving  departed  tbis  life  without  passing  into  Islam.     A  Jew 
is  accursed  Avbile  alive,  for  a  Jew  can  only  become   Mohammedan 
after   baving   previously  become  a  Cbristian,   and    tben    turning 
Mobaniniedatl.     Wherefore  the  Koran  says  :  "  Cursed  be  tbe  dead 
of  tbe  Christians,  and  cursed  be  the  Jews."     The  aversion  Islam 
has   towards    images    and   pictures,  witb    wbicb    most    Christian 
chu robes  are  decorated,  and  to  tbe    cross  surmounting  religious 
edifices  is  a   great   obstacle   against   conversion    to    Christianity. 
But  tbe  most  serious   obstacle,  besides  the  mystery  of  tbe   Holy 
Trinity — as  against  tbeir  one  God — and  a  single  wife  in  marriage, 
is  tbe  rivalry  of  tbe  different  churches,  and  the  manifold  pitiful 
quarrels  iu  wbicb  they  are  often  engaged. 

Be  it  (said,  to  tbe  shame  of  many  Christian  churches,  that  they 
even  buy  their  converts  with  money  and  promises,  and,  what  is 
yet  more  sad  to  confess,  that  the  churches  buy  their  adherents 
from  each  other — that  is,  take  them  away  from  one  church  into 
anotben  jMohammedans  are  rarely  converted  in  Palestine.  The 
few   who   bave    been   made   Christians   are   such  ^s   have   been 


WOMAN    IX    TIIK   EAST.  87 

brought  np  as  orphans  in  CMiristiiin  schools.     As  an  instance  of 
such    reherious   traffic   I    knew    a    fiill-i'rown   man    with    wife   and 
children  receive  money  one  day  from  a  priest  of  another  chnrch 
to  become  one  of  his  flock.     Accordingly  Christian  A  for  a  trifle 
of  about  20  dollars  become.-?  Christian  B.     After  a  lapse  of  nine 
months  he  returned  to  his  old  ci-eed,  and  on  beinp^  questioned  why 
he  no  more  assisted  at  Divine  service  he  said:   "I  think  it  hns 
been  long  enough  to  assist  at  your  services  for  nine  months  for 
20  dollars,  but  if  it  please  you  I  will  continue  another  month,  and 
1  hope  you  will   have  nothing  to  claim  after  that."     This  traffic, 
which    is   carried   on    very    largely    in   all    Christian    centres    in 
Palestine,  has  lamed  the  efforts  of  the  real  Christian,  who  tries  to 
show  by  his  works  and  example  what  an  honest  Christian  life  is 
expected   to  be.      Piiests    are    considered  by  the  natives  as   sly 
persons,  be  they  Mohammedans  or  Christians.     The  legend  goes 
that  a  Christian  priest  on  his  way  to  town  met  the  devil,  and  as 
they  walked  together  the  priest  proposed  that  they  should  cany 
each  other  by  turns,  that  as  long  as  the  rider  could  say  fara-lavi, 
he  was   to    continue   to  ride ;    the  devil,  being    the   more    polite, 
offered  his  shoulders  to  the  priest,  who  readily  accepted.     As  they 
proceeded  the  priest  went  on  saying  tara-lam  till  they  neared  the 
town.     The  devil  then  said:  "  Please  excommunicate  me,"  but  the 
priest  refused  for  some  time ;  on  the  devil's   insisting,   he  finally 
granted  it   and  excommunicated  him,   but   as   to    the    cause    the 
devil  said :   "  If  ever  I  carry  a  priest  again,  then  let  me  be  excom- 
municated."    This  is  to  show  how  they  believe  the   priest  slyer 
and  more  mischievous  than  the  devil  himself.     Such  anecdotes  or 
legends  abound  among  the  people. 

The  Fellahin  have  the  same  belief  about  the  underground 
dwellers  as  the  townspeople.  The  Jinn  lurk  everywhere  and 
take  advantage  of  the  forgetful  housekeeper.  In  general  the 
same  ghosts  and  ogres  are  thought  to  exist  as  those  in  which 
townspeople  believe. 

Shrines  or  tombs  of  prophets  and  saints  are  visited  either  ''n 
special  feast  days  for  the  said  saint  or  to  accomplish  a  vow  as 
jibove  described.  The  tomb  of  the  prophet  Moses,^  near  the  Dead 
Sea,  and  that  of   the  prophet    Reuben  near  the  Mediterranean, 

'  The  Grave  of  Mosp.s. — This  shrine  {Nehy  Musa)  is  a  great  place  ».£ 
Moslem  pilgrimage  in  .'spring.  The  peculiar  bituminous  shwlc  close  by  burns 
like  coal.  The  legend  of  the  transference  of  the  shrine,  no  doubt,  is  intended 
to  meet  objections  that  Moses  really  died  and  was  buried  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  Jordon  Yalley  in  Moab.— C.  R.  C. 

F    3 


83  "WOMAN    IX    THE   EAST. 

soiitli    of  Jaffa,  are  visited — tlic  first    in   Passion  week   and   the 
second  in  September. 

It  is  said : — When  Moses  "tvas  old,  Ozrain,  the  Angel  of  Death, 
appeared  to  him  and  announced  to  him  his  deatli,  but  Moses 
entreated  of  him  to  allow  hiin  at  least  to  say  bis  prayers  before 
death  ;  Ozi-ain  consented,  and  ]\[oses  asked  bim  to  wait  awhile 
till  he  had  performed  his  ablution.  Having  gone  out,  Moses  went 
into  the  wilderness,  and  the  Angel  of  Death  lost  sight  of  him. 
Six  years  went  by  and  Moses  Avas  still  wandering  away  in  a 
straight  line  from  Jerusalem,  Then  he  saw  two  men  making 
a  grave  (they  were  Ozrain  and  an  angel),  so  Moses  greeted  them  : 
''  Peace  be  with  you,"  and  they  answered  :  "  And  to  you  peace." 
"  What  are  you  about  ?  "  said  Moses.  "  Well,"  answered  the 
Angel  of  Death,  "  we  are  digging  a  grave  for  a  man  exactly  of 
your  stature,  and  as  we  lost  his  measure  Avill  you  kindly  descend 
and  see  if  it  is  right  Y  "  Moses  consented,  and  lay  down.  Ozrain 
asked  him  :  "  Are  you  comfortable  on  all  sides '?  Is  the  grave 
wide  enough?"  Moses  answered  in  the  affirmative.  "Well 
then,  please  remain  in,  for  you  are  the  man."  Moses  begged  for 
time  to  say  a  prayer,  and  gave  his  word  of  honour  not  to  escape, 
and  it  was  granted  him.  Moses  now  earnestly  prayed  to  God  and 
said :  "  Why  am  I  to  die  so  far  away  from  Jerusalem  in  a 
wilderness,  seeing  this  place  is  six  years'  distant  from  Jerusalem, 
and  there  is  neither  sanctuary  nor  are  there  inhabitants  ?  "  God 
said:  "That  is  my  business,  henceforth  nobody  shall  go  to  Mecca 
on  pilgrimage,  but  shall  visit  thy  tomb;  the  yeai's'  distance  I  will 
change  into  hours,  and  the  very  stones  I  will  cause  to  become 
fuel."  In  fact  God  himself  transported  the  tomb  to  a  spot  six 
hours'  distant  from  Jerusalem,  and  as  the  region  is  desert  the 
stones  were  turned  into  bitumen.  Thus  pilgrims  can  pcrforui 
their  pilgrimage  and  can  burn  this  material. 

CnAPTi:[:  XI. — Coxcj.UDiXG   IIi:.marks. 

When  a  man  comes  back  fi'om  Mecca,  or  from  some  other 
journey,  or  has  done  his  four  or  five  years  of  military  service, 
obligatory  to  all  able-bodied  men,  the  Avomen  meet  him  singing, 
and  though  the  man  gives  his  hand  to  shake  hands  a  woman  mnst> 
always  cover  hers  with  the  big  sleeve  and  kiss  the  man's  hand. 
In  busy  places,  as  at  Siloam,  near  Jerusalem,  the  man,  woman,  and 
children  lead  something  of  a  family  life,  as  being  absorbed  in 
business  on  the  one  hand,  and  often  secluded  from  obligatory 
causes,    distance    of    houses,    and    so    forth.       The   covering    of 


WOMAN    IN    TIIK    KAST.  80 

(lie  li!ind  is  l)ucan,so  a  wom.'ui  is  over  ('insidcjicd  :is  uiiclcaii, 
and  the  bowing  and  kissing  as  a  sign  oF  inrerioi-ity-  Amongst 
villiigers  no  pi-efixes  to  names  or  titles  ;ii-o  used,  except  for  m. 
mollali,  dervish,  or  mayor  of  the  viUage.  who  i.s  invariably  called 
.Sheikh,  whilst  politeness  bids  the  ase  of  many  terms.  For  elder 
men  or  women,  uncle  or  aunt  is  used  before  tlie  name,  and  foi- 
young  persons  of  the  same  age  ''  brother  "  or  "  sister"  is  prefixed, 
whilst  for  children  or  persons  very  much  younger,  "  my  son  "  or 
■■  my  daughter  "  is  prefixed.  When  they  address  townspeople  or 
powerful  liedawin  Sheikhs,  they  will  address  the  men  fis  "  my 
lord  "  or  the  women  as  "  my  lad}',"  as  Abigail  in  her  distress, 
when  she  saw  David,  lighted  ott'  her  ass,  and  said  :  "  Upon 
me,  my  Lord,  u|ion  me  let  this  iniquity  be."  Never  may  a 
woman  respecting  herself  and  the  man  she  meets  j^emain  on  the 
ass,  but  like  Abigail  must  alight  from  any  animal  she  is  riding, 
liebekah  also  when  seeing  Isaac  from  afar  came  down  from  the 
camel  and  walked. 

Before  slavery  was  alxjlishod  in  Turkey,  late  in  the  seventies, 
wealthy  Pellahlu  often  possessed  slaves  whoin  they  bought 
from  slave  dealers  who  had  brought  them  from  the  Soudan. 
In  187J  I  saw  such  a  string  of  slaves  driven  past  the  village 
of  Urtas  ;  a  Fellah  bought  one  of  the  slaves  for  £T20  (about 
b5  dollars),  but  the  slave  lied  a  few  days  afterwards  aiul 
was  never  heard  of  again.  Another  who  had  been  bought  in 
Urtas  more  than  forty  years  before  had  stayed  with  his  master, 
and  they  grew  so  attached  to  each  other  that  when  I  knew  him 
he  had  been  married  by  his  mastei-,  and  on  the  death  ef  his 
master  had  inherited  one-fifth  of  the  property,  receiving  an  equal 
share  with  the  four  sons.  He  had  married  a  black  girl,  and  their 
children  again  married  black  men  and  women  of  the  same  origin, 
that  is,  liberated  slaves.  The  old  man  and  his  children  talketl 
Arabic  very  Avell,  but  the  woman  had  been  brought  to  Palestine 
by  American  settlers,  who  died,  and  she  married  in  Urtas;  though 
she  knew  no  other  language,  she  never  leaimed  to  talk  Arabic 
jiroperly,  always  confounding  tlie  genders  and  the  numbers. 

On  afternoons,  when  the  principal  work  is  done  about  the  house 
and  yard,  the  women  of  the  quarter  assemble  together  to  chat  about 
one  thing  or  another,  and  more  is  often  said  than  is  necessary. 

The  Fallaha  is  very  inquisitive.  The  story  goes  : — One  day  a 
Fellah,  whilst  killing  a  man,  was  asked  by  the  man  wdio  was  being 
murdered  to  stop  a  moment ;  the  murderer  listened,  when  the  dying 
man  said  :  "  My  murder  will  be  known."  The  murderer  said  :  "  But 
111  bury  you  belosv  this  huge  heap  of  stones,  and  it  will  not  even  be 


90  AVOMAN    ]X   THE    EAST. 

fouiul  out  tliat  you  arc  murdei-ed  at  all,  seeing  we  are  far  away  from 
any  human  being.'  "  But,"  said  the  dying  man,  showing  a  thorn- 
bush  flying  past,  carried  by  the  wind  :  "  The  thorn-bush  will  repeat 
the  news."  He  was  killed  and  buried.  In  the  villngo  he  could 
not  be  traced,  and  was  forgotten.  Years  passed  by,  and  the 
murderer  one  day  looking  out  of  his  window  saw  a  fhorn-busli 
flying  past,  carried  b}-  the  wind.  He  smiled  ;  his  wife  asked  him 
what  he  was  smiling  at,  but  he  would  not  say,  till,  finally,  he  said 
he  had  remembered  something  that  happened  on  a  day  like  that, 
when  a  thorn-bush  was  carried  by  tlie  wind,  and  that  made  him 
smile:  but  the  daughter  of  Eve  insisted  on  knowing  all  about  it. 
At  length  he  told  her,  but  begged  her  to  keep  it  secret,  and 
both  laughed  at  such  foolishness.  One  day  the  man  and  woman 
had  a  dispute,  and  from  harsh  words  they  began  fighting,  till  the 
woman  shrieked  out  so  that  everybody  could  hear:  "  He  is  going 
to  murder  me  as  he  did  X,  under  the  heap  of  stones,  in  such 
and  such  a  place,  and  of  course  a  thorn-bush  will  reveal  every- 
thing." Quick  as  lightning  the  news  spread,  and  the  murderer 
was  punished  for  his  crime  by  being  killed.  Therefore  the 
proverb :  "  Dirt,  son  of  dirt,  who  tells  a  secret  to  a  woman." 

Living  in  the  country  where  no  artisans  live,  we  had  alway.s 
tools  of  all  kinds  to  repair  or  make  many  articles,  especially  Avood- 
work.  The  women  of  the  villa"e  alwavs  had  this  and  that  to 
jueud.  Though  I  never  refused  to  do  anything  that  I  thought 
myself  capable  of  doing,  and  without  ever  asking  the  least 
remuneration,  but,  on  the  contrary,  even  furnishing  nails  and 
pieces  of  board  into  the  bargain,  they  would  be  greatly  astonislied 
if  by  chance  I  declared  a  Avork  impossible  for  me  to  accomplish, 
and  even  show  a  certain  annoyance  if  all  was  not  punctually  done 
at  a  given  time.  We  had  even  to  be  doctors  and  dispensers — of 
course  in  light  matters.  Jiut  many  a  time  we  had  to  cure  fevers, 
sore  eyes,  and  the  like;  and  when  an  animal  had  a  broken  leg 
1  was  supposed  to  be  enough  of  a  surgeon  to  put  things  into  order 
again.  In  many  cases  I  had  ver^'  good  success,  and  just  these 
successes  made  them  believe  that  where  I  failed  it  was  through 
Ijad  will. 

I  am  now  far  away,  but  am  sure  my  return  amongst  these 
villagers  would  be  greeted  by  feasts  and  songs,  as  was  the  case 
when,  after  an  absence  of  live  years,  I  returned  once  before. 
Certainly  the  women  showed  their  gi-eatest  joy — dancing  and 
singing  in  honour  of  my  return  througli  whole  nights. 

{To  he  continued.) 


91 


NOTICES    OV    FOREIGN    PUBLICATIONS. 

Revue  Uibli(p'e,\o\.  ix,  1000  ;  published  by  the  Practical  School  of  Bihlical 

Studies  at  the  Uoniiiiicau  Monastery  of  St.  Stephen,  .Jerusalem. 

PfeiiK  L.\ORANGE,  the  Superior  of  the  Monastery,  discusses  the  route  of 

the  Israelites  from  Goshen  to  the  Jordan.     The  passage  of  the  Red  Sea 

is  placed  at  the  Sei-apeuni,  and  the  pvo])osed   route,  after  leaving    Wadi 

(iliarandel,  runs  by  the  Ihhhct  cr-Ramle  (Wilderness  of  Sinj  to  Jebel  ilUsd 

(Sinai).      'J'hence  by  ^Ain  Jludhera  (Hazeroth)  and  the  Nagh  el-Mimd 

to  'Ain  Kadis  (Kadesli),  and  thence  across  the  et-Tih  desert  to  Eziongeber, 

near  the  Gidf  of  'Akaba.     From  this  point  the  route  runs  uj)  the  ^Araba  to 

'Ain  el-Weibe  (Oboth),  and  thence  by  KImrbet  ^A'i  (fje-Abarim),  between 

W.  el-Hesi  and  Kerak,  to  Dhiban  (Dibon)  and  the  Jordan.     Portions  of 

the  et-Tih  desert  have  not  been  sufficiently  explored  to  enable  anyone  to 

express  a  definite  o])inion  upon  the  route.     But  it  seems  to  me  that  Pere 

Lagrange  has  not  succeeded   in  solving  the  many  difficulties  connected 

with  it,  and  that  he  has  not  given  sufficient  weight  to  the  argument  that 

the   Israelites,  with  their  wheeled  transjiort,  would  have  followed  the 

easiest  road  through  the  country,  especially  from  Eziongeber  to  Dibon. 

Pere  Lagrange  also  contributes  an  article  on  Deborah  {\\  ^lOOf),  in  which 

he  adopts  the  view  that  the  Kedesh  of  Barak  was  at  Tell  Abu  Kadeis, 

between  Lejjnn  and  Ta^annuk.     The  campaign  of  Sisera  against  Barak  is 

further  discussed  by  M.  Marmier  (p.  594  /),  who  identifies  Hazor  with 

Teiasir,  and  Harosheth  with  Khurbet  Yerzeh,  makes  Tell  Abti  Kadeis  the 

.•site  of   Sisera's  death,  and  places  Kedesh   near  Mount  Tabor.      These 

identifications  seem  somewhat  hazardous. 

Pere  H.  Vincent,  who  closely  watches   all  discoveries  at  Jerusalem, 
notices   a   small   church  of  which  the  Armenians  have   found   remains 
between  the  Sion  Gate  and  the  so-called  "  House  of  Caiaphas"  (p,  118). 
He  also  gives  a  description,  with  plan,  sections,  and  sketches  (p.  451/,  603), 
of  the    Ydknbieh,  a   mosque   close   to,  and   immediately   east  of,  Christ 
Church,  wiiich  was  formerly  the  Church  of  St.  James-the-Less.  Mr.  Schick's 
plan  {Quarterly  Statement,  October,   1895)  is  corrected,  and  it  is  main- 
tained that  no  part  of  the  church  is  older  than  the  time  of  the  Crusades. 
He  also  describes  the  tomb  oa  Mount  Scopus,  and  the  ossuaries  with  Greek 
and  Hebrew  graffiti  which  were  found  in  it  (p.  106,  and  comments  by 
M.  Clermont-Ganneau,  p.  308),  and  gives  a  plan  and  sections  of  the  tomb, 
and   ])hotographs  of    "  scpieezes  "  of  the   ornament   and   graffiti  on   the 
ossuaries.     A  short  notice  of  this  tomb  by   Mr.   Ilornstein   is  given   in 
Quarterly  Statement,  1900,  p.  75.     There  are  also  notices  of  the  remains  of 
a  church  found  in  the  Muristan  in  the  position  assigned  to  the  Church  of 
>St.  Mary  Latin-the-Less  (]).  117);  and  of  four  Greco-Roman  sarcophagi 
found  in  a  tomb  in  the  grounds  of  the  Alliance  Israelite,  north-west  of 
the  city  (p.  603,  plan,  sections,  and  sketches). 

There  are  also  papers  by  M.  Sehlumberger  (]i.  427)  on  a  variety  of  the 
-seal  of  the   old  Abbey  of  St.  Ma)T  La'. in,  which  is  compared  with  that 


92  NOTICES    OF   FOREIGN   I'UBLICATIONS. 


• 


attached  to  a  document  dated  29th  October,  1267,  in  the  Archives  of 
Malta  ;  by  Pore  Sejonrnu  (p.  119),  on  a  curious  mosaic  found  at  Hum,  in 
the  Haurdn,  wliich  he  believes  represents  a  mathematical  division  of  the 
circle,  but  is  consideied  by  M.  Coguat  to  be  foi-  a  game  of  hop-scotch  ; 
by  M.  van  Berchem  (p.  288),  on  an  Arab  epitaph,  dated  14th  November, 
1£08,  found  in  the  grounds  of  the  Dominican  Monastery  ;  by  M.  Michon 
(p.  9')/),  on  the  inscription  copied  by  Mr.  Hornstciu  at  Ba'albek 
{(Quarterly  Statement,  1900,  p.  74) ;  and  on  two  fragments  of  tiles  stamped 
with  the  emblems,  a  galley  and  wild  Iwar,  of  Legion  X  Fretensis,  from 
the  collection  of  Baron  Ustinov  (see  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's  comments, 
]).  307)  ;  by  P.  Germer  Durand,  on  inscriptions  fi'om  Damascus,  Gerasa,  &c. 
Each  number  of  the  "  Revue  "  contains  an  appreciative  notice  of  the 
excavations  carried  out  for  tlie  Fund  by  Dr.  Bliss  and  Mr.  Macalister ; 
and  there  is  a  very  favourable  review  (p.  463)  of  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's 
"  Aichseological  Kesearches"  lately  published  by  the  Fund. 


Zeitschrift  des  Beutschen  Paliistiaa   Vereins,  vol.   xxii,   1899. 

TuE  volume  opens  Avith  a  memoir,  by  Professor  Kautzsch,  on  tiie  life 
and  work  of  the  late  Dr.  Socin,  who  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
German  Palestine  Society.  Professor  Socin  was  perhaps  best  known  in 
this  country  by  the  excellent  handbook  to  Syria  and  Palestine  which  he 
wrote  for  Baedeker's  .series,  and  by  his  articles,  Palestine,  Syria,  &c.,  in 
the  ninth  edition  of  the  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica."  He  was  a  sound 
scholar,  a  man  of  engaging  personality,  and  an  ideal  scientific  traveller. 
Almost  his  last  work  was  the  revision  of  his  valuable  list  of  Arabic 
place-names  in  Palestine,  and  of  his  reading  of  the  Siloam  inscription 
for  the  present  volume  (p.  18  /f). 

Amongst  other  ijajiers  are  Professor  Hartmann's  geogiaphical  and 
historical  notes  on  that  part  of  the  Syrian  Desert  which  lies  between 
Damascus,  Aleppo,  Palmjra,  and  er-Eakka.  The  notes,  based  in  part  on 
])ersonal  observatio)],  are  an  important  addition  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
district.  Dr.  Schumacher's  description  (p.  178  f,  and  map)  of  the 
changes  in  the  Jauhin  and  Hauran  since  his  survey  in  1884-86. 
Interesting  details  are  given  with  I'egard  to  the  Jewish  colonies  on 
the  Upper  Jordan,  and  the  Rothschild  colonies  in  Jaulan,  and  to  the 
rapid,  widespread  destruction  of  the  ruins  of  Gadara  by  the  fellahin. 
Dr.  C.  Mommert's  paper  (j).  105)  on  the  orientation  of  Arculfs  plan 
of  the  Zion  Church  in  the  seventh  century.  The  writer  holds  that, 
according  to  early  tradition,  the  place  where  the  Virgin  died 
was  south-east  of  the  Coenaculum,  and  not  north-west  of  it,  in  the 
ground  presented  by  the  Sultan  to  the  German  Emperor.  Dr.  Fries's 
paper  (p.  118)  on  the  most  recent  investigations  into  the  origin  of  the 
Phoenician  alphabet,  in  which  it  is  maintained  that  the  Phoenician 
characters  were  derived  from  the  Mykenean,  and  were  imported  into 
Palestine  B.C.  1500-1000,  and  that  their  names  were  taken  from  those 
of  the  early  cuneiform  symbols.     Dr.  Sobeinheim's  account  of  his  journey 


NOTICES   OF    FOREIGN    PUBLICATIONS.  9:1 

fiuiii  Palmyra  to  Seleiniyeh  with  the  phice-names  in  Arabic  characters, 
and  a  table  of  altitudes.  Dr.  Christ's  article  (p.  65)  on  the  lily  of  the 
Bible  ;  aud  two  papers  by  Dr.  Schick— one  suppoiting  the  view  that 
'Ain  Kdn7n,  aud  not  Vutta,  was  the  birthplace  of  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
and  the  other  niaintainiug  that  Christ  entered  Jerusalem  on  Palm 
Sunday  by  the  "Golden  Gate,"  and  not,  as  Dr.  Sepp  holds,  by  the 
"  Double  Gate." 

Vol.  xxiii,  parts  1,  2,  1900.— Professor  Ilartniann  continues  his 
valuable  notes  on  the  Syrian  Desert,  and  gives  a  sketch-map  of  the 
countrv  showing  the  Roman  and  early  Arab  roads  and  towns.  Dr.  Chri.st 
contributes  a  review  of  Dr.  Post's  standard  work  on  the  "  Flora  of  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  Sinai." 

Mittheilungen  und  Nachrichten  des  Beutschcn  Pal.  Vereins,  1899-1900. 
The  volume  contains  a  series  of  interesting  letters  written  by  Dr. 
Schumacher  during  his  survey  of  part  of  'Ajlan  in  1898,  with  view^s  of 
))laces  not  hitherto  photographed  ;  a  short  account  by  Baron  Briinnow 
of  his  journey  east  of  Jordan,  with  copies  of  the  inscrijjtions  which  he 
collected,  and  photographs— one  of  a  tomb  he  discovered  at  el-Kahf, 
south  of  'Amman  ;  a  note  on  Beersheba,  where  there  are  now  two  sakiehs, 
ei'ected  by  a  sheikh  of  the  'Azazime  Bedawin,  for  raising  water  from  the 
wells,  and  a  khan. 

1900-01,  No.  1.— Dr.  Sellin  continues  the  account  of  a  journey  in 
Palestine  made  in  1899,  aud  discusses  various  sites,  amongst  others  Ai, 
which  he  places  at  et-Tell,  and  Bethaven,  identified  with  Khnrhet  el-Jir. 
Dr.  Schumacher  publishes  inscriptions  from  J  crash  and  its  vicinity. 


liemeil   d" Arche'ologie    Orientale,  par  C.   Clekmont-Gankeau,  M.L,  &c., 

vol.  iv,  parts  1-8,  1900. 

A  NOTICE  of  the  contents  of  each  part  of  M.  Ganneau's  valuabK- 
'•  Recueil "  is  published,  on  its  issue,  in  the  Quarterly  Statemcit,  and 
attention  is  drawn  here  only  to  articles  which  are  directly  connected 
with  Palestine.  In  his  first  two  papers  the  author  discusses  the  .stamped 
Jewish  jar  handles,  and  inscribed  Jewish  weights,  nearly  all  of  which 
liave  been  found  during  the  excavations  of  the  Fund.  In  form  ;;nd 
dimensions  the  jars,  probably,  were  not  unlike  the  large  Phoenician  ami 
( !arthaginian  jars,  and  they  were  distinguished  from  the  amphoras  <>f 
Hellenic  make  by  their  short  thick  handles,  which  probably  served  as 
rings  for  the  passage  of  ro])es.  The  handles  are  divided  into  two  groups 
— those  stamped  with  the  four-winged  solar  disc,  and  those  with  the  four- 
winged  scarabaeu.s.  The  inscriptions  may  be  translated  :  (for  the  service 
--equivalent  to  our  O.H.M.S.),  of  the  King,  Hebron,  &c.,  and,  perhap.s^ 
were  intended  to  indicate  that  the  jars  had  a  certain  capacity.  The  form 
of  the  lettei-s  seems  to  show  that  they  are  earlier  than  the  Exile,  but  mueh 
later  than  the. time  of  Rehoboam.  They  may  have  been  made  at  royal 
IMjtteries,  the   existence  of  which  seems  probable  from    1  Chron.  iv,  23. 


04  NOTICES   OF  FOREIGN   rUBLICATIOXS. 

( )f  the  five  knowu  iTiscribed  weights,  th^t  ohia.ined  from  Samaria  by  Dr. 
Chaplin  is  the  oldest,  and  dates  from  a  period  when  Assyrian  influence 
was  strong  in  Palestine.     The  others  are  later  and  Egyptian  in  form. 

The  Levitical  town,  Mepltaath  (v).  57),  known  to  Euscbius,  and 
probably  the  Mesa  (MefaV)  of  the  Notitia,  appears  to  be  Meifa'a,  a 
village  in  the  Belka  mentioned  in  the  Mardsid  (a.d.  1300).  This  name 
may  still  linger  as  Kluirbet  Meifa'a.  In  Lcs  trots  Karak  de  Syne,  a 
correction  of  Mr.  le  Strange's  translation  of  a  passage  in  the  Marasid 
("Palestine  under  the  Moslems,"  p.  480)  is  proposed,  and  some  interesting 
information  is  given  with  regard  to  Kerak  of  Moab.  In  discussing 
(p.  66)  the  original  Greek  of  the  Latin  version  of  the  story  of  the  fielding 
of  the  rp.Iics  of  St.  Stephen,  M.  Ganneau  takes  the  exopyla  of  the  Greek  to 
be  one  of  the  heaps  of  refuse  outside  Jerusalem  upon  which  Stei^hen's 
body  was  thrown,  and  "  the  Kedar,"  which  indicates  the  position  of  the 
heap,  to  be  the  mutilated  name  of  an  unknown  place  near  the  city. 
Another  view,  that  of  Pure  Lagrange,  is  that  exopyla  simply  means  out- 
side the  gate,  and  that  the  gate  was  the  one  leading  to  Kedar,  near 
J^amascns.  The  Cedar  of  the  Latin  version  was  probably  the  origin  of 
the  transference  of  the  scene  of  Stephen's  martyrdom  to  the  Cedron  valley, 
with  which  the  word  has  nothing  to  do.  Recently  discovered  inscriptions 
in  Palestine  and  Syria  are  also  discussed. 


At  the  Congress  of  Christian  Archa;oloqy  in  Rome  last  spring  an 
interesting  discussion  arose  with  regard  to  the  celebrated  fourth  century 
mosaic  in  the  Church  of  St.  Pudentiana,  which  is  figured  in  Di  Rossi's 
great  work,  in  Spithovers  Roman  mosaics,  and  in  Mr.  Jetfery's  pamphlet 
on  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem.  A  suggestion  of  Ptjre  Grisar  that 
the  Roman  edifices  in  the  background  were  the  great  churches  erected  by 
Constantine  at  Jerusalem  appears  to  have  found  general  acceptance. 


A  Report  of  the  Recent  Excavations   atid  Explorations  conducted  at  the 
Sanctuary  of  Nazareth,  by  Br.  Vlaminck,  O.F.M.,  Jerusalem. 

The  excavations  showed  that  tlie  "  Holy  House,"  before  it  was  trans- 
ported to  Loretto,  stood  upon  the  rock  in  front  of  the  "  Grotto  of  the 
Annunciation  "  ;  that  that  gi'otto  had  three  apses  ;  and  that  the  altai",  now 
standing  in  front  of  the  north  apse,  was  originally  in  the  east  aj)se,  which 
was  decorated  with  mosaic.  Amongst  the  discoveries  were  the  opening 
by  which  alone  the  grotto  received  light,  and  was  reached  from  the  "  Holy 
House";  a  chamber,  10  feet  squai-e,  to  the  west  of  the  "Chapel  of  the 
Angel,"  with  a  floor  of  mosaic,  on  which  appears  the  name  of  Deacon 
Kononos,  of  Jerusalem,  in  Greek  characters  ;  a  tomb  with  an  .ante- 
chamber floored  with  mosaic  ;  an  ancient  rock-hewn  staircase  leading  to 
the  "House  of  St.  Joseph"  ;  and  a  pier  of  the  old  basilica  on  which  an 
Armenian  pilgrim,  called  James,  had  scratched  his  name.  The  report  is 
accompanied  by  plans  of  the  church,  the  grotto,  and  the  mosaics. 

c.  w.  w. 


Qdarterly   Statement,  April,  1901.] 


THE 

PALESTINE    EXPLORATION    FUND. 


NOTES   AND    NEWS. 


In 

HER     MAJESTY 

BORN 

OF  THE   PALESTINE  EXPLORAT 

DEPARTED    THIS 

ifttrmoriiim. 

VICTORIA 

FOUNDATION  IN  ISe.'i. 

V    22,   1901. 

'     QUEEN 

MAY    24,    1819. 
PATRON 

ION   FUND   FROM   ITS 

LIFE   JANUAR^ 

Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty,  of  liappj  and  blessed  memory, 
was  among  the  first  who  started  the  work  of  exploration  and 
excavation  in  Palestine  bj  contributing  one  hundred  pounds 
towards  the  Fund  at  its  inception,  and  has  continued  from  that 
day  to  this  our  Patron.  For  the  Queen  always  recognised  that 
the  primary  object  of  the  Fund  was  to  aid  in  making  the  Bible 
better  known  and  understood  by  a  systematic  study  of  the 
archaeology,  natural  history,  and  physical  geography  of  the 
Holy  Land,  and  of  the  manners,  customs,  and  arts  of  its  inhabi- 
tants. And  it  was  because  anything  that  directly  or  indirectly 
serves  to  throw  light  upon  the  sacred  page  is  thus  earnestly 
and  perseveringly  sought  for  and  fearlessly  welcomed  by  the 
Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  come  it  from  what  source  it  may, 
that  Her  Majesty  was  pleased  to  evince  her  continued  interest 
in  its  operations.  Even  before  the  inception  of  these,  the  present 
King,  by  Her  Majesty's  desire,  visited  the  Holy  Land  in  the 
spring  of  1862,  under  the  guidance  of    Dean   Stanley,  who  was 

G 


96  NOTES   AND   NE^YS. 

afterwards  one  of  the  founders  of  our  association.  And  the 
subsequent  visits  to  Palestine  of  so  many  members  of  the  Royal 
Family,  in  order  that  they  might  thus  be  afforded  an  opportunity 
for  the  better  appreciation  of  the  history  and  records  of  our 
relio-ion,  were  due  to  Her  Majesty's  initiative.  At  her  corona- 
tion the  Queen  received,  as  her  ancestors  had  done  for  six 
generations,  from  off  the  altar  at  "Westminster  Abbey,  by  the 
bands  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Bible  "  as  the  most 
valuable  thing  that  this  world  affords,"  and  with  the  charge 
from  his  lips  :  "  Here  is  Wisdom,  tliis  is  the  Royal  Law ;  these 
are  the  lively  oracles  of  God.  Blessed  is  he  that  readeth  and 
they  that  hear  the  words  of  this  book,  that  keep  and  do  the 
thing's  contained  in  it.  For  these  are  the  words  of  eternal  life, 
able  to  make  you  -wise  and  happy  in  this  world,  nay  wise  unto 
salvation,  and  so  happy  for  evermore,  through  faith  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus,  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever."  And  when  his 
successor  in  the  See  of  Canterbury  in  18S5  presented  in  the 
name  of  Convocation  a  copy  of  the  revised  version  to  the  Queen, 
she  wrote  that  "  she  must  congratulate  those  who  had  laboured 
so  anxiously  and  so  successfully,  and  assured  the  Archbishop 
and  Convocation  of  the  deep  interest  with  which  she  would 
read  these  sacred  volumes."  These  were  no  empty  words.  The 
effect  of  the  study  thus  referz^ed  to  was  daily  and  practically 
manifested  in  Her  Majesty's  exemplary  life.  Instances,  too, 
of  the  Queen's  happ}"  application  of  Scripture  are  before  the 
public  in  the  choice  of  the  texts  that  are  quoted  on  the  monu- 
ments she  erected  to  her  relatives  and  personal  friends.  Under 
the  medallion  of  Dean  Stanley  that  faced  Her  Majesty  in  the 
private  chapel  at  Windsor  Castle  is  engraved,  "  Now  abideth 
faith,  hope,  charity,  these  three ;  but  the  greatest  of  these  is 
charit}'^ "  (1  Cor.  xiii,  13).  On  the  brass  erected  in  the  same 
place  to  Sir  John  Cowell's  memory,  Ps.  xv,  i,  2 — "  Lord 
who  shall  abide  in  Thy  Tabernacle,  who  shall  dwell  in  Thy 
holy  hill.  He  that  walketh  uprightly  and  worketh  righteousness, 
and  speaketh  the  truth  in  his  heart."  On  that  to  Sir  Charles 
Grey,  Ps.  xxxvii,  .37 — "Mark  the  perfect  man,  and  behold  the 
upright,  for  the  end  of  that  man  is  peace,"  and  Rev.  xiv,  13. 
On  that  to  Sir  Thomas  Biddulph,  St.  Matt,  xxv,  23.  On  that 
to  Sir  Charles  Phipps,  Pro  v.  x,  7 — "  The  memory  of  the  just 
is  blessed."     On  that  to  Sir  Henry  Ponsonby,  1  St.  Peter,  ii,  17; 


NOTES   AND    NEWS.  97 

and  en  Dean  Wellesley's,  2  Tim.  ii,  19.  But  perliups  the  most 
impressive  and  aptly  chosen  of  all  is  that  on  the  monument 
in  the  nave  of  St.  George's  Chapel,  to  the  blind  and  exiled  King : 
"Here  rests  iji  peace  among  his  kindred,  the  Royal  family  of 
England,  Geoi'go  the  Fifth,  King  of  Hanover.  Horn  at  Berlin, 
27th  May,  1819;  died  at  Paris,  12th  June,  1878."  "  Keceiving 
a  kingdom  which  cannot  he  moved."  "  In  Thy  light  shall  lie 
see  light." 

The  following  resolution,  passed  at  a  meeting  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Fund,  was  signed  by  the  Archbishop  of 
CanteJ'bury,  as  President,  and  transmitted  by  His  Grace  to  the 
Home  Secretary  : — 

"  That  the  Pi-esident,  Committee,  and  Members  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund,  of  which  Society  the  late  venerated 
Queen  and  Empress  was,  from  its  foundation  in  1865,  the 
Patron,  desire  to  express  their  profound  sense  of  the  loss 
sustained  by  the  nation  in  the  death  of  its  beloved  Sovereign 
Queen  Victoria  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  beg  most  respect- 
fully to  tender  their  heartfelt  sympathy  to  their  Majesties 
the  King  and  Queen,  and  other  members  of  the  Royal 
Family,  in  this  heavy  bereavement.  Furthermore,  they 
respectfully  desire  to  offer  the  expression  of  their  sincere 
loyalty  to  his  Most  Gracious  Majesty  upon  his  accession  to 
the  Throne  of  his  ancestors,  and  to  express  their  hope  that 
the  reign  of  His  Majesty  King  Edward  VII  may  be  long, 
happy,  and  prosperous." 

Signed   on    behalf    of   the  Committee  -> 

and     Members     of     the     Palestine  >  F.  Cantuar,  President. 
Exploration  Fund  J 

By  the  death  of  Mr.  Basil  Woodd  Smith  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee loses  a  zealous  and  kind  fellow-worker,  and  the  Fund 
a  good  friend.  Mr.  Woodd  Smith  was  for  some  thirty  years 
Chairman  of  the  Hampstead  Bench  of  Magistrates,  and  actively 
interested  himself  in  the  welfare  of  that  neighbourhood.  For 
many  years  he  served  on  the  Committee  of  the  Bible  Society, 
as  he  did  also  on  the  Boai'd  of  Managers  of  the  Royal  Institution. 
It  Avas,  indeed,  mainly  due  to  him  that  the  use  of  their  lecture 
tb.eatre  was    granted  to  the    Palestine   Exploration    Fund  for  its 

G  2 


98  NOTES  AND   NEWS. 

Aunual  General  Meetings  on  several  occasions.  Mr.  Basil  Woodd 
Smith,  with  his  many  and  wide  interests,  his  useful  activity, 
his  scholarly  instincts,  and  his  genuinely  kind  simplicity,  was 
a  good  type  of  the  cultured,  unaffected,  English  gentleman  to 
Avhose  voluntary  effort  this  country  owes  so  much.  He  died  at 
St.  Leonards  on  January  27th,  after  an  illness  of  some  months* 
duration,  in  his  70th  year. 

It  is  with  deep  regret  that  we  have  to  announce  the  death 
of  the  Rev.  H.  Falscheer,  of  the  Church  Missionaiy  Societ}-,  at 
Nablus,  on  February  12th  last.  Mr.  Falscheer,  whose  missionary 
labours  at  Nablus  are  well  known,  was  always  ready  to  place  his 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  district  and  the  people  at  the  disposal 
of  the  officers  employed  by  the  Fund.  In  1866  he  cordially 
assisted  Sir  C.  Wilson  and  the  late  Major  Anderson  during  their 
excavations  on  Mount  Gerizim ;  and  his  tact  and  inflaence  enabled 
them  to  secure  pliotographs  of  part  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch 
and  its  case.  He  also  gave  ready  assistance  to  Sir  C.  Warren 
and  Colonel  Conder.  During  his  40  years'  residence  amongst  the 
most  unruly  people  in  Palestine  he  won  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  every  one,  whether  Christian,  Moslem,  or  Samaritan. 


Through  the  courtesy  of  His  Excellency  Hamdy  Bey,  the 
director  of  the  Imperial  Museum  at  Constantinople,  the  Com- 
mittee have  received  duplicates  of  some  of  the  objects  found 
during  the  recent  excavations  of  the  Fund.  The  duplicates 
include  Jewish  and  Rhodian  stamped  jar-handles,  some  of  the 
curious  little  figures  in  lead  which  M.  Clermont-Ganneau  supposes 
Avere  intended  to  represent  persons  against  whom  incantations 
were  directed  {Quarterly  Statement,  1901,  p.  58),  lamps,  and 
pottery  of  various  ages.  All  are  being  placed  in  the  Museum 
of  the  Fund,  at  38,  Conduit  Street. 


The  Committee  have  applied  for  a  firman  to  enable  the  Fund 
to  continue  its  excavations  in  Palestine,  and  they  hope  to  be  in 
a  position  to  publish  full  details  with  regard  to  further  operations 
in  the  July  Quarterly  Statement. 


The  Committee  have  pleasure  in  announcing  that  M.  Clermont- 
Ganneau,  whose  valuable  contributions  to  the  work  of  the  Fund 


NOTES   AND   NEWS.  99 

are  woU  known,  has  kindly  promised  to  supply  a  series  of 
archa'ological  and  epig'rapliic  notes  to  the  Quarterhj  Statement. 
The  lirdt  notes  of  the  series,  which  will  he  found  in  this  number, 
include  two  of  great  interest — one  on  the  hitherto  unknown  seal 
of  the  Leper  Hospital  of  St.  Lazai'us,  the  other  on  inscriptions 
found  on  the  "  high  level  aqueduct  "  at  Jerusalem. 


Dr.  Torrance,  in  forwarding  the  "meteorological  observations 
taken  at  Tiberias  during  the  year  1900,  informs  us  that  a  mark 
has  been  made  on  the  sea  wall,  and  that  the  level  of  the  lake 
is  noted  every  month.     Already  the  lake  has  risen  32  inches. 

An  easterly  gale  of  unprecedented  velocity  occui'red  on 
January  25th  and  2Gth  of  this  year,  and  destroyed  several  por- 
tions of  the  ancient  wall  on  the  lake  shore,  as  well  as  some 
houses  built  near  the  shore.  The  inhabitants  do  not  remember 
having  experienced  such  a  storm  before. 

In  commemoration  of  the  Sultan's  semi-jubilee,  clock  towers 
have  been  erected  in  most  of  the  towns  in  Galilee,  but  as  yet  lao 
clocks  have  been  placed  in  them. 

Small-pox  has  been  raging  in  Tiberias  and  in  many  other 
towns  in  Palestine  for  some  months  past.  Most  of  the  people  in 
Tiberias  have  been  vaccinated. 

On  February  17th  Tiberias  was  visited  by  430  Russian 
pilgrims,  male  and  female,  who  came  on  foot  from  Jerusalem. 


Dr.  Schick  has  sent  the  following  notes  :  — 

Quarantine  against  Egypt  has  been  removed,  and  travellei's 
are  beginning  to  arrive  in  Palestine. 

By  order  of  the  Porte  there  is  to  be  a  census  this  year  through- 
out the  Ottoman  Empire. 

Thei'e  has  thus  far  been  a  deficiency  in  the  rainfall  at  Jerusalem 
this  winter.  Great  anxiety  is  felt  for  the  crops.  The  water  in 
the  cisterns  is  low,  and  it  is  feared  that  all  building  operations 
will  have  to  be  stopped,  and  many  labourers  thrown  out  of  work. 
Towards  the  end  of  January  there  Avas  a  heavy  fall  of  snow, 
which  lay  on  the  ground  for  two  days. 

In  the  Armenian  quarter  of  Jerusalem,  not  far  from  the  Zion 
Gate  (Bab  en-Neby  Daiid),  is  the  Armenian  convent,  Deir  ez- 
Zeitun,  with  a  church   which  is  regarded  as  the  house  of  Annas, 


100  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

the  father-in-law  of  Caiaphas.  Near  this  place  the  Armenians 
have  shown  me  a  lon*^  tunnel-like  vault  in  which  a  number  of 
Franciscan  monks  took  refuge  in  124-1  when  the  Kharezmians 
took  the  city  b}-  storm  and  destroyed  the  church  and  monastery 
of  Ziou. 

About  30  years  ago  I  had  to  make  a  model  of  the  Church  of 
the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem,  on  a  scale  of  yV,  for  the  Armenian 
Patriarch.  Whilst  doing  this  I  found  that,  besides  the  caves 
usually  shown  to  travellers  and  noticed  in  guide  books,  there  was 
a  crjpt,  with  square  pillars  and  low  arches,  beneath  the  basilica. 
It  Avas  so  full  of  bones  and  mould  that  I  was  obliged  to  creep 
on  my  hands  and  knees,  and  did  not  go  very  far.  But  I  could 
see  by  the  light  of  my  candle  that  the  crypt  was  of  great  size, 
and  it  seemed  to  me  to  extend  the  whole  length  of  the  church. 
The  crypt  must  have  been  used  as  a  Christian  place  of  burial  for 
many  centuries.  1  think  I  should  mention  this  fact  lest  it  be 
overlooked. 

The  Imperial  Ottoman  Post  has  opened  a  branch  office  at 
Jericho. 

Bir  es-Seb'a,  Beersheba,  has  been  made  the  headquarters  of  a 
kaza,  under  a  Kaimakam ;  barracks  and  other  buildings  have 
been  erected  near  the  wells,  and  a  small  garrison  has  been 
quartered  in  the  place  to  control  the  Bedawin. 

The  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauer  writes  that  on  December  5th  last  he 
visited  the  ruin  near  Hebron,  known  as  Deir  el-ArVatn,  with 
Dr.  Masterman  and  Professor  Torrey,  the  Director  of  the 
American  School  of  Archaeology  at  Jerusalem.  On  entering 
the  south-east  court  of  the  ruin  they  found  that  part  of  the 
apse  of  a  chapel  or  small  church  had  been  recently  uncovered. 
The  south  wall  of  the  Deir  is  built  across  the  apse,  and  several 
stones  cut  into  a  curve  and  apparently  belonging  to  the  apse 
are  built  into  the  wall.  Outside  the  Deir,  within  which  is  the 
reputed  tomb  of  Jesse,  and  a  little  distance  from  its  south-west 
angle,  are  tAvo  or  three  courses  of  cyclopeau  masonry  which 
possibly  foi'med  part  of  a  tower.  These  remains  do  not  seem  to 
be  specially  mentioned  in  any  description  of  the  place. ^ 

'  In  Baedeker's  "  Handbooli  "  the  Deir  is  said  to  consist  of  "  old  cvclopean 
walls  and  modern  buildings."- — Ed, 


NOTES  AND    NEWS.  101 

On  February  ]r)tli  ]\lr.  llanancr  and  I^r.  ^[asterman  visited 
the  ruin  described  in  l^alestine  Exploration  Fund  "Memoirs," 
vol.  iii,  p.  351,  as  Ijiug-  about  half  a  mile  to  the  south  of  Khurbet 
Beit  Sawir.  It  is  about  350  paces  west  of  the  twentieth  kilometre 
stone  on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Hebron,  and  consists  of  the 
west  and  south  walls  of  a  square  building  with  14-metre  sides. 
The  west  wall,  of  wliich  portions  of  six  courses  remain,  lies  due 
north  and  south.  The  south  wall,  which  also  had  six  courses,  is 
almost  entirely  overthrown — "  the  great  slabs  of  which  it  was 
Imilt  standing  on  edge  in  parallel  lines  in  the  ground."  There 
are  no  traces  of  a  north  wall,  and  bat  slight  indications  of  an  east 
wall.  The  building  commands  an  extensive  view  in  all  direc- 
tions. Mr.  Hanauer  and  Dr.  Masterman  suggest  that  the  two 
walls  may  have  supported  an  earth  platform,  and  that  the 
building  was  a  "  high  place  "  for  sacrifice  which  was  intentionally 
destroyed.  Four  photographs  of  the  ruin  were  forwarded  with 
Mr.  Hanauer's  letter. 


From  a  correspondent :  — 

The  rainfall  in  Palestine  is  much  below  the  average  this 
season,  less  than  15  inches  having  fallen  up  to  March  10th 
inclusive.  In  Jerusalem  drinking  water  is  already  running  short, 
and  there  are  serious  apprehensions  that,  unless  the  last  rairi.s 
of  the  season  are  copious,  the  crops  will  greatly  suffer. 

It  is  reported  that  the  municipality  of  Jerusalem  have 
received  from  the  Ottoman  Government  permission  to  bring 
water  to  the  city  from  Wady  'Arrub  and  its  neighbour- 
hood, and  that  steps  have  alieady  been  taken  to  interest 
European  capitalists  in  the  undertaking,  and  to  raise  the 
requisite  funds. 

The  dyeing  business  in  Jerusalem  has  long  been  in  the  hands 
of  Moslems,  although,  according  to  Benjamin  of  Tudela,  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  carrying  on  this  trade,  at  the  time  of  his 
visit,  was  purchased  from  the  King  of  Jerusalem  for  a  yearly 
rent  by  Jews,  who  lived  under  the  Tower  of  David.  A  recent 
visitor  to  the  Holy  City  notes  that  on  a  wall  exactly  opposite 
to  the  gate  of  the  Castle,  which  includes  the  "  Tower  of  David," 
there  is  now  a  board  announcing  in  the  Hebi'ew,  Arabic,  German, 


102  NOTES   AND    NEWS, 

Frencli,  and  Russian  languages  that  the  djeing  establishment  of 
a  Jew  is  close  by. 

The  Rev.  Putnam  Cady  writes  with  reference  to  the  current  in 
the  Dead  Sea  : — 

"Major-General  Sir  Charles  Wilson,  in  his  note  on  my  article 
on  the  Dead  Sea  published  in  the  Januai-y  Quarterly,  says  that  it 
would  be  interesting  to  ascertain  the  cause  of  the  strong  current 
that  sets  toward  the  north.  It  occurred  to  me  that  the  millions 
of  tons  of  water  rushing  daily  down  the  Jordan  and  going  with 
such  terrific  force  out  into  the  sea  might  make  a  strong  ciirrent 
down  the  centre  of  the  lake.  Striking  El-Lisan  and  the  southern 
shore  this  misrht  be  turned  back  asfain  to  follow  the  east  and  west 
shores  northward.  Lieutenant  Lynch's  '  Expedition  to  the  Dead 
Sea  and  the  Jordan'  (6th  edition,  revised)  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  he  observed  this  northward  current  while  at  Ain  Jidy. 
P.  291 :  '  Observed  some  branches  of  trees  floating  about  a  mile 
from  the  shore  towai-d  the  north,  confirming  our  impression  of  an 
eddy  current."  Again  on  p.  295,  observing  from  the  same  point : 
'  We  again  noticed  a  current  setting  to  the  northwai'd  along  the 
shore,  and  one  farther  out  setting  to  the  southward.  The  last 
was  no  doubt  the  impetus  given  by  the  Jordan,  and  the  former  its 
eddy  deflected  by  Usdum  and  the  southern  shore  of  the  sea.'  " 


The  Rev.  Professor  Theo.  F.  Wright  (Hon.  General  Secretary, 
U.S.A.)  writes  : — 

"  A  quiet  but  very  important  expedition  has  been  made  through 
Syria  and  the  Hauran  at  the  expense  of  four  gentlemen  of  New 
York.  The  I'oute  was  mainly  that  traversed  by  De  Vogiie  in 
1861-1862,  but  some  places  not  visited  by  him  were  included. 
Although  German  archaeologists  have  done  something  in  this 
field,  it  has  lain  for  the  most  part  neglected  oa  account  of  law- 
lessness and  the  scarcity  of  water.  The  expedition  carefully 
attended  to  correcting  the  map,  to  the  collection  of  inscriptions, 
and  to  the  study  of  architectural  remains. 

"  Entering  Syria  at  Alexandretta  in  Octobei",  1899,  the  expedi- 
tion went  northward  and  eastward  for  eight  weeks,  visiting  all 
the  towns  seen  by  De  Vogiie  and  30  others.  Many  new  inscrip- 
tions were    found.       Many  churches   were    found,  and   these    in 


NOTES   AND    NEWS.  103 

sonio  uninliabited  towns  were  in  excellent  condition.  Going  on 
throni^li  Aleppo  to  the  Euphrates  the  expedition  continued  its 
work  until  compelled  by  wintry  weatlier  to  return  and  rest  two 
inonlhs  at  Beirut. 

"  In  ^larcli,  1900,  the  expedition  started  again,  being  joined  by 
Dr.  George  E.  Post,  and  going  southward  of  its  previous  field, 
keeping  on  to  Palmyra  and  then  back  through  the  Hauran. 
Inscriptions  were  collected  in  '  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Syrian, 
Palmyrean,  Nabata)an,  Safaitic,  and  Kufic,'  to  the  number  of 
some  400  in  all,  half  of  these  altogether  new.  Seven  new 
inscriptions  were  found  in  Palmyra.  The  inscriptions  in  some 
cases  seemed  to  the  explorers  to  have  been  erroneously  taken  by 
Waddington. 

"  The  work  was  completed  in  June,  1000,  but  one  of  the  party 
remained  to  prosecute  anthropological  studies.  The  others, 
having  returned  to  America,  are  at  work  at  Princeton  University 
in  preparing  a  full  report,  which  will  jDrobably  be  ready  next 
year.  The  expedicion  was  authorised  by  His  Excellency  Hamdy 
Bey,  and  was  helpful  to  the  Imperial  Museum  at  Constantinople, 
as  it  certainly  will  be  to  scholars." 


A  subscriber  offers  for  sale  a  complete  set  of  the  "  Memoirs  " 
of  the  Survey  of  Western  Palestine  in  8  vols.,  comprising: — 
"Memoirs"  (3  vols.),  "Name  Lists,"  "Jerusalem,"  "Special 
Papei-s,"  "Fauna  and  Flora,"  "Index";  also  one  Great  Map  in 
Portfolio  (1  inch),  one  Old  Testament  Map,  one  New  Testament 
Map,  one  Water  Drainage  Map,  one  Portfolio  of  Jerusalem  Plates. 
"All  in  a  very  good  condition." 


The  concluding  volume  of  Professor  Ganneau's  "  Archa30- 
logieal  Researches  in  Jerusalem  and  its  Neighbourhood"  has 
been  published  and  issued  to  subscriber's.  This  completes  the  set 
of  four  vols,  as  advertised  under  the  title  "  Survey  of  Palestine." 
There  are  only  three  sets  left  of  the  first  250  copies  of  this 
valuable  work.  Those  who  wish  to  secure  a  set  at  £7  7s. 
before  the  price  is  raised  should  write  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Fund. 


The    "  Flora    of    Syria,    Palestine,    and    Sinai,"    by    the    Rev. 
George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  Beirut,  Syria,   containing   descriptions  of 


104  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

all  the  Phaenogams  and  Acrogens  of  the  region,  and  illustrated 
by  441  -woodcuts,  luay  be  had  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  pvice  2\s. 


In  order  to  make  up  complete  sets  of  the  "  Quarterly  Statement,'' 
the  Committee  tviU  he  very  glad  to  receive  any  of  the  back  numbers. 


The  income  of  the  Society  from  December  22nd,  1900, 
to  March  22nd,  1901.  was — from  Annual  Subscriptions  and 
Donations,  including  Local  Societies,  £582  85.  l\d.  ;  from 
Lectures,  £10  bs.  4cZ.  ;  from  sales  of  publications,  ttc, 
£143  9s.  lOrZ. ;  total,  £736  4s.  \d.  The  expenditure  during  the 
same  period  was  £445  19s.  od.  On  March  22nd  the  balance  in 
the  Bank  was  £538  19s.  Id. 


Subscribers  in  U.S.A.  to  the  Avork  of  the  Fund  will  please 
note  that  they  can  procure  copies  of  any  of  the  publications  from 
the  Rev.  Professor  Theo.  F.  Wright,  Honorary  General  Secretary 
to  the  Fund,  42,  Quincy  Street,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


The  price  of  a  complete  set  of  the  translations  published  bj  the  Palestine 
Pilgrims'  Text  Society,  in  13  volumes,  with  general  index,  bound  in  clotli, 
is  £10  10*.  A  catalogue  describing  the  contents  of  eacli  volume  can  be  had 
on  application  to  the  Secretary,  38  Conduit  Street. 


Tlie  Museum  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  3S  Conduit  Street  (a  few  doors 
from  Bond  Street),  is  open  to  visitors  every  week-day  from  10  o'clock  till  5, 
except  Saturdays,  when  it  is  closed  at  2  p.m. 


It  may  be  well  to  mention  that  plans  and  photographs  alluded  to  in  the 
reports  from  Jerusalem  and  elsewhere  cannot  all  be  published,  but  all  are 
preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Fund,  where  they  may  be  seen  by  subscribers. 


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


ToUEiSTS  are  cordially  invited  to  visit  tlie  Loan  Collection  of  "Antiques" 
in  the  Jerusalem  Association  Room  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund, 
opposite  the  Tower   of   David,  Jerusalem.      Hours  :    8    to   12,    and   2   to   6. 


NOTES   AND   NEWS.  105 

Maps  of  Palestine  and  ralostine  Exploration  Fund  publications  are  kept  for 
sale. 


Photographs  of  Dr.  Schick's  models  (1)  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  (2)  of 
the  Herodian  Teni]ilo,  (3)  of  the  Ilarani  Area  during  tlie  Cliristian  occupation 
of  Jerusalem,  and  (4)  of  the  llaram  Area  as  it  is  at  present,  have  been  received 
at  the  office  of  the  Fund.  Sets  of  these  photographs,  witli  an  explanation  by 
Dr.  Schick,  can  be  purchased  by  applying  to  the  Secretary,  38  Conduit 
Street,  W. 


Branch  Associations  of  the  Bible  Society,  all  Sunday  Schools  witliin 
the  Sunday  School  Institute,  the  Simday  School  Union,  and  the  Wesleyan 
Sunday  School  Institute,  will  please  observe  that  by  a  special  Resolution  of  the 
Committee  they  will  henceforth  be  treated  as  subscribers  and  be  allowed  to  pur- 
chase the  books  and  maps  (by  application  only  to  the  Secretary)  at  reduced 
price. 


The  Committee  will  be  glad  to  receive  donations  of  Books  to  the  Library 
of  the  Fund,  whicli  already  contains  many  works  of  great  value  relating  to 
Palestine  and  other  Bible  Lands.  A  catalogue  of  Books  in  the  Library  will 
be  found  in  the  July  Quarterly  Statement,  1893. 


The  Committee  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  following  : — 

"  Eecueil  d'Archeologie  Orientale."  Tome  IV,  Livraison  9,  July. 
Sotniiiaire  : — §  19.  Les  inscriptions  dii  tombcau  de  Diogene  a 
el-IIas.  §  20.  Les  inscriptions  Nos.  2197  et  2491  Waddington. 
§  21.  Le  martyre  dc  Saint  Leonee  de  Tiipoli.  §  22.  Heron 
d'Alexandrio  et  Poseidonios  le  Stoicien.  §  23.  Inscriptions  de  la 
necropole  juive  de  Joppe.  Livraison  10,  September  to  December, 
1900.  Sommaire : — §  23.  Inscriptions  de  la  necropole  juive  de 
Joppe.  §  24.  La  reine  Arsinoe  et  Ptolemee  IV  Philopater  en 
Palestine.  §  25.  L'envoiitement  dans  I'antiquite  et  les  figurines 
de  plomb  de  Tell  Saudahauna.  §  26.  Sccau  phenicien  au  r.om  do 
Gaddai.  §  27.  Inscriptions  grecques  de  Syrie.  From  the  Author, 
Ch.  Clermont-Ganneau. 

"  The  G-reat  Mosque  of  the  Omeiyadcs,  Damascus."  From  the  Author, 
E..  Phene  Spiers. 

"Flavins  Josephus  Judischer  Kricg."  By  Dr.  Philipp  Kohout,  Professor 
in  Linz.     From  the  publisher,  Quirin  llaslinger,  Linz. 

From  Dr.  Kingston  Fox  :  — 

'•  Memorable  Remarks  upon  the  Jewish  Nation."     1786. 

"A  Religious  Journey  in  the  East  in  1850  and  1851."     By  the  Abbe  de 

St.  Michon. 
"  Melanges  dc  Littcraturc  Orientale."     Par  M.  Cardonne.     1788. 
•  Journal    of   a   Tour   in    the    Holy    Land."      18il.      By    Lady   Francis 

Egerton. 


106  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

"  Travels  in   Upper  and  Lower  Egypt."     By  Vivant  Deuon.     In  2  vols. 

1802. 
"  Letters  on  Egypt."     By  Savary.     In  2  vols.     1786. 
"  Two  Discourses  and  a  Sermon."     By  Dr.  Claudius  Buchanan.     ISll. 
'■  Damas  et  le  Liban,  1861,  Journal  d'un  voyage  a." 

'•  Eastern  Europe  and  Western  Asia  in  1861-3."     By  H.  A.  Tilley.     1864. 
'■  The  ilassacres  in  Syria."     By  J.  L.  Farley.     2nd  edit.     1861. 
•'  A  Journey  due  East."     By  Chr.  Cooke.     1876. 

"  Visit  to  Holy  Land,  Egypt,  and  Italy."   By  Ida  Pfeiffer.   2nd  edit.    1853. 
"  Correspondance  d'Orient."     In  6  vols.     1830-31.     Par  M.  Michaud  et 

M.  Poujoulat.     1835. 
*•'  Bocharti  Opera."     In  2  vols.     1682. 

"  Neale's  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Asia  Minor."     In  2  vols.     2nd  edit.     1852. 
"  Carlisle's  Diary  in  Turkish  and  Greek  Waters."     4th  edit.     1854. 
"  Farley's  Two  Years  in  Syria."     1858. 
"  Hamer  L.  Dupuis  on  the  Holy  Places."     1856. 
"  A  Field  Officer  of  Cavalry's  Diary  of  a  Tour  through  South  India,  Egypt, 

and  Palestine."     1823. 
"  Countess  Hahn-hahu's  Travels  and  Letters  from  the  Orient."     2nd  edit. 

1845. 
"  Morison — Voyage  en  Italic,  Egypte,  Ai-abie,  Syrie,  et  Greee."     1704.    4to. 


For  list  of  authorised  lecturers  and  their  subjects  write  to  the  Secretary. 


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


Form  of  Bequkst  to  the  Pale.stixe  Exploration  Fuxd. 
I  give  to  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  London,  the  sum  of 


to  be  applied  towards  the  General  Work  of  the  Fund;  and  I  direct  that  the 
said  sum  be  paid,  free  of  Legacy  Duty,  and  that  the  Eeceipt  of  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  sliall  be  a  sufficient  discharge  to  my 
Executors. 

Signature 

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Witnesses  ■{  

I 

I 

Note. — Three  Witnesses  are  necessary  in  the  United  States  of  America ; 
Two  suffice  in  Great  Britain. 


NOTES   AND   NEWS. 


107 


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NOTES    AND    NEWS. 


THE    TREASURER'S    STATEMENT. 

The  income  of  tlie  Fund  during  the  rear  1900  amounted  to  £2,529  6s.  lid., 
which  was  contributed  under  the  following  headings  : — 

From  Donations  and  Subscriptions,  £1,999  7s.  5id.;  from  Lectures, 
£11  OS.  6d.;  from  sales  of  publications,  £518  13s.  ll^d.  At  the  end  of  1899 
there  was  a  balance  in  the  bank  of  £211  5s.  4c?.,  which  included  £41  lis.  6d. 
paid  in  advance  for  1900,  making  the  total  available  balance  £2,770  12s.  3d. 

On  comparing  these  sums  with  those  of  1899  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
subscriptions  are  less  by  £82  10s.  Od.,  and  sales  of  publications  by  £91  5s.  Od., 
nearly. 

The  expenditure  during  the  same  period  was : — 

On  exploration,  mainly  carried  on  at  Tells  Safi,  Judeideh,  andSandalmnnali, 
descriptions  of  which  appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Statement,  £1,063  9s.  Od. 

On  printing,  binding,  including  the  Quarterly  Statement,  £391  Os.  3d. 

On  maps,  lithographs,  illustrations,  photographs,  &c.,  £209  7s.  0\d., 
which  included  a  reprint  of  the  12  and  20-sheet  Old  and  Xew  Testament  maps, 
collotype  print,  &c. 

Against  these  two  sums  (£600  7s.  Z\d.),  the  Fund  received  £518  13s.  llirf. 

On  advertising,  insurance,  stationery,  &c.,  £fe9  12s.  0|rf. 

On  postage  of  the  Quarterly  Statement,  books,  maps,  &c.,  £131  12s  Id. 

On  the  management,  which  includes  salaries,  wages,  office  rent,  gas,  coals, 
&c.,  £594  3s.  lid. 

The  balance  in  the  Bank  on  December  31st,  1900,  was  £291  7s.  lid. 


Assets. 

Balance  in  Bank,  Decem- 
ber 31st,  1900.. 

Stock  of  Publications  in 
hand,  Surveying  In- 
struments, Show  Cases, 
Furniture,  &c. 

In  addition  there  is  the 
valuable  library  and 
the  unique  collection  of 
antiques,  models,  &c. 


291 


11 


Liabilities. 

£    s.     d. 
Printers'  Bills  and  Current 

Expenses  . .  . .     605  10     4 


Waltee  Mokeisox,   Treasurer. 


109 


AECII.EOLOGICAL   AND    EPIGPiArHIC    XOTES 

TALESTIXE. 


ON 


]}y  Professor  Cler.mont-Gaxneau,  ]\I.I. 

1.  Seal  of  the  Crusading  Period,  from  the.  Leper  Ilospited  of 
St.  Lazarus  at  Jerusa/cui. — Father  Paul  de  S.  Aiu;naii,  of  the 
Jerusalem  provinco  of  the  Franciscan  order,  has  lately  acquired 
from  a  felhlh  a  very  curious  hid/a  of  lead  of  tlie  Crusading- 
period.  He  has  been  good  enough  to  send  me  casts  and  photo- 
graphs of  it.  He  believes,  and  with  good  reason,  that  it  is  the 
hitherto  unknown  seal  of  the  Leper  Hospital  at  Jerusalem, 
placed  under  the  invocation  of  S.  Lazarus. 


(B)  (A) 

On  one  of  the  sides  (b)  is  engraved  the  figure  of  a  bishop  or 
ndtred  abbot,  holding  a  crosier  in  his  left  hand  and  giving  his 
blessing  with  his  right.  On  the  other  side  (a)  is  a  leper,  his 
head  encowled  in  a  sort  of  bonnet  with  hanging  ear-pieces ; 
his  face  bears  the  marks  of  his  terrible  disease,  and  in  his  riglit 
hand  he  brandishes  the  triple  clapper  or  rattle  ^  with  which  he 
was  bound  by  the  sanitary  rules  of  the  period  to  give  warning 
of  his  approach,  and  put  people  on  their  guard  against  a 
dangerous  contact.     His  left  hand  is  placed  against  his  breast. 

The  legend,  which  is  partly  defaced,  seems  as  if  it  ought  to 

read  : — 

A.  +  Sigillum  [?  d(oniii-':i)  lepro^sorvin. 

B.  +  S{ancti)  Lazari  \J  dc  Ihc\rusalcm. 

'  Compare,  for  example,  the  "  Custom "  of  Ilainault  (revised  in  1183), 
"  Coutumier  General,"  vol.  ii,  p.  36.  This  document  speaks  also  of  a  "  hat," 
probably  of  special  shape. 


no         AP.CH.IIOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

For  the  restoration  of  the  word  domns  I  rely  upon  the 
official  (jualifications  of  the  establishment,  as  they  are  given  in 
contemporary  documents,  of  which  I  shall  speak  hereafter. 
Considering  the  small  extent  of  the  lacuna,  I  suppose  that  the 
word  was  in  the  contracted  form  1)'.  Father  Paul  de  S.  Aignan, 
who  has  the  advantage  of  having  the  original  before  him,  is 
inclined  rather  to  read  \^H]{os'pitii).  I  am  unwilling  to  accept 
this  reading,  because  the  term  liospitium  does  not  appear  in  the 
official  documents.  On  the  other  side  he  proposes  to  read 
Lazari [  G'\ivitatis\_S'\anctae  Jerusalem . 

The  convent  of  lepers  of  St.  Lazarus  of  Jerusalem  must  not 
lie  confounded  with  the  abbey  of  St.  Lazarus  of  Bethany,  which 
was  a  convent  for  nuns  founded  under  this  invocation  Ijy  Queen 
Melisenda,  sister  to  Fulke  I.  We  know  the  seal  of  this  latter 
establishment  by  a  copy  of  moderate  merit  made  by  I'auli ;  ^ 
it  is  altogether  different :  on  one  side  there  is  a  representation 
of  the  Piaising  of  Lazarus,  with  the  legend  Besuscitatio  Lazari  ; 
on  the  other  is  the  portrait  of  the  Abbess  Judith  (Joette,  sister 
to  Melisenda  ?)  with  the  legend  Ahatissa  Juditta. 

We  know^  from  the  Assises  de  Jerusalem  (p.  417)  that  the 
House  of  the  Lepers  at  Jerusalem  was  managed  by  a  magister, 
"  le  maistre  de  Saint  Ladre  des  Mesiaux,"  who  was  a  suflrasfan 
of  the  patriarch  of  the  Holy  City.  We  must  suppose  that  he 
was  a  dignitary  invested  with  an  ecclesiastical  character,  like 
the  archbishop  of  the  Ermins  (Armenians)  and  the  archbishop 
of  the  Jacobins  (Syrians),  in  company  with  whom  his  name 
appears,  and  who  are  also  reckoned  as  suffragans  of  the 
patriarch.  Perhaps  it  is  he  whom  we  ought  to  recognise  in  the 
figure  with  the  mitre  and  the  crozier  who  appears  on  our  hidla,^ 
unless  he  be  the  capcllaiuis  of  the  order,  who  is  mentioned,  as 
well  as  the  raagister,  in  the  documents  which  I  am  aliout  to 
quote.     Or  is  it  the  patriarch  himself  ? 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  tnagistcr  of  St.  Lazarus  is  men- 
tioned in  the  very  last  line  of  the  Assises  dc  Jer%isalem,  after  even 
the  spiritual  representatives  of  the  native  religious  communities, 

'  Pauli,  "  Codice  diplomatico,"  PI.  II,  No.  20.  I  owe  this  reference  to  my 
learned  colleague,  M.  Scliluinberger. 


ARCILIiOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGHAPIIIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE.         1  ]  1 

as  though  lie  liimsolf  were  in  some  sort  put  in  quarantine  like 
the  poor  wretches  of  whom  he  was  in  charge.  Nevertheless, 
the  establishment  over  which  he  presided  was  of  great  im- 
portance, as  is  proved  by  a  fragment  of  the  Cartulary  of  the 
Order,  dating  from  the  thirteenth  century,  which  is  preserved 
among  the  archives  of  the  Order  of  St.  Maurice  and  St.  Lazarus 
at  Turin.'  This  document  confirms  the  passage  in  the  Assises  cle 
Jencsalcjn,  and  also  gives  us  valuable  hints  as  to  the  organisation 
and  resources  of  the  institution.  I  quote  the  following  para- 
graphs, wOiich  may  throw  some  light  on  the  legends  on  uur 
bulla : — 

"Domus  leprosorum  Sancti  Lazari  (No.  1);  ecclesia  S. 
Lazari  et  conventus  infirmorum  (|ui  miselli  vocantur  (No.  2) ; 
infirmi  S.  Lazari  secus  muros  Jerusalem  (No.  5) ;  donius  beati 
Lazari  Jerosolimis — ecclesie  S.  Lazari  capellanus  (No.  6) ; 
fratres  S.  Lazari  extra  muros  Jerusalem  leprosi  (No.  7) ;  leprosi 
de  S.  Lazaro  (No.  8) ;  leprosi  S.  Lazari  (No.  9) ;  S.  Lazari 
leprosi  fratres  (No.  10)  ;  conventus  S.  Lazari  infirmorum  de 
Jerusalem,  Bartholomeo  ipsorum  existente  magistro  (No.  11) 
fraternitas  leprosorum  domus  S.  Lazari  in  Jerusalem  (No.  30) ; 
leprosi  qui  manent  extra  portam  civitatis  sancte  Jerusalem 
(No.  32)  ;  domus  leprosorum  S.  Lazari  Jerosolimitani  (No.  33)  ; 
frater  Gualterus  de  Novo  Castello  magister  domus  S.  Lazari  in 
Jerusalem  et  conventus  ejusdem  donius  (No.  34)."  '•^ 

We  know  already  from  a  passage  in  "La  Citez  de  Iherusalem" 
(§  xv),  that  the  House  of  Lepers  of  St.  Lazarus   was  situated 

'  Published  by  M.  de  Marsy  in  tlie  "  Archives  de  I'Orient  Latin,"  toI.  ii,  B, 
p.  121,  sqq.  It  contains  some  forty  charters  and  letters,  ranging  from  1130 
to  1248. 

-  We  see  by  No.  13  that  there  was  also  at  Tiberias  a  "  liouse  of  lepers," 
organised  on  the  jjlan  of  that  at  Jerusalem  :  "  ecclesia  beati  Lazari  de  Tiberiade 
et  fratribus  ibidem  commorantibus "  ;  the  document,  which  is  dated  1154,  is 
signed,   '  Fratre  et  magistro  pauperum  S.  Lazari  existente." 

I  take  this  opportunity  of  remarking  incidentally  that  the  editor,  M.  de 
Marsy,  has  misunderstood  the  expression  "octo  cereos  nil  rotularum,"  which 
occurs  in  iS'os.  37  and  38.  He  translates  this  by  "  eight  wax  candles  of  four 
rolls  of  wax."  Rotula  in  this  case  is  not  the  Latin  word  which  he  imagines  it 
to  be,  but  a  transcript  of  the  Arabic  word  rotol,  the  name  of  a  weight;  it  should 


be  "  eight  candles  weighing  four  rotols." 


H 


112         ARCH^OLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

outside  and  close  against  the  wall  enclosing  the  city,  between 
the  Kasr  JCdud  and  the  Damascus  Gate,  near  a  postern  which 
was  named  after  the  establishment :  "  A  main  destre  de  la 
porte  Saint  Estene  estoit  la  maladrerie  de  Iherusalem  tenant  as 
murs.  Tenant  a  la  maladrerie  avoit  une  posterne,  c'on  apeloit 
la  poterne  Saint  Lasdre." 

This  notice  agrees,  as  the  reader  will  see,  with  the  state- 
ments in  the  Cartulary,  and  likewise  with  the  remarks  of 
Theoderich,^  although  the  latter  does  not,  perhaps,  speak  with 
the  same  degree  of  accuracy. 

Another  allusion,  from  a  far  less  commonly  known  source, 
is  given  us  in  the  Estoirc  iT Evades,,  p.  82.-  It  is  in  the  account 
of  the  investment  of  Jerusalem  by  Saladin  ;  the  line  of  invest- 
ment reached  from  the  Tower  of  David  up  to  the  Gate  of  St. 
Stephen  :  "  De  lez  la  maladrerie  des  femes  et  par  devant  la 
maladrerie  des  homes."  We  gather  from  an  important 
difference  of  reading  in  the  MSS.  that  the  w^omen's  hospital 
stood  beside  the  Tower  of  David  (the  Kal'a),  while  the  men's 
was  beside  St.  Stephen's  Gate,  that  is,  the  Damascus  Gate. 
This  is  the  only  evidence  which  we  have  as  to  the  existence  of 
a  special  establishment  for  leprous  women,  distinct  from  that 
for  men  and  at  a  considerable  distance  from  it,  although, 
perhaps,  connected  with  it  in  the  sense  of  being  imder  the 
same  management.  This  fact  is  worth  notice.  It  is,  however, 
tlie  men's  lazar  house  in  wdiich  we  are  specially  interested,  and 
the  more  so  because  it  raises  a  topographical  question  of  much 
importance :  the  position  of  the  postern  of  St.  Ladre,  otherwise 
called  St.  Lazarus. 

This  question  of  topography  has  been  frequently  discussed 
by  Tobler''  and  subsequent  writers,  and  has  been  solved  in 
various  ways.     Of  late  it  has  been  proposed  ■*  to  fix  the  site  of 

1  Palestine  Pilgrims'  Text  Society,  vol.  v  (p.  43,  §  xxvi).  According  to 
Theoderich's  account,  one  must  regard  the  establishment  of  the  lepers  as 
extending  to  a  considerable  distance  to  the  south-west,  seeing  tliat  he  places  it 
at  the  -western  angle  of  the  city. 

2  Bee  also  p.  97,  "  porte  de  joste  Saint  Ladre." 

^  Tobler,  "  Top.  von  Jerusalem,"  vol.  i,  p.  172  ;  "  Dentblattcr,"  p.  414. 
■•  Palestine  Exploration    Fund,    Quarterly   Statement,  1880,   p.   64;    1895, 
p.  30.      See  the  plans  of  mediffival  Jerusalem  in  ♦^.he  various  volumes  of  the 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  AND  EriGRArHlC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 


113 


this  postern,  wliieli  seems  to  correspond,  not,  as  has  heen  some- 
times said,  to  the  gate  Bdh  er-Hahheh  of  Mujir  ed-Din,  hut 
rather  to  the  gate  Dei?'  cs-Serh  (?)  of  the  same  author,  at  a  point 
in  the  city  wall  ahout  540  feet  from  tlie  Damascus  Gate,  in  a 
south-westerly  direction. 


This  is  not  the  opinion  of  Fatlier  St.  Aignan,  who  proposes 
to  place  this  postern  some  560  feet  further  to  the  south-west. 
He  is  in  a  peculiarly  favourable  position  for  the  examination 
of  tliis  topographical  question,  for  the  Franciscans  some  years 
ago  purchased  the  land  to  the  north  of  their  monastery  up  to 
and  beyond  the  city  wall.  The  result  of  excavations  under- 
taken l»y  them  along  the  angle  which  the  wall  forms  at  this 
point,   looking   to   the   north-east,  has    been    to    establish    the 

Palestine  Pilgrims'  Text  Society,  and  tlic  new  Plan  of  Jerusalem,  on  the  scale 
of  Wro.  published  in  October,  1900. 

H  2 


il4        ARCHAEOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

existence,  at  a  depth  of  two  metres  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  of  an  arch  leading  through  the  wall.  This  arch  is 
built  of  stones  bearing  the  diagonal  tool- marks  which  I  long 
ago  proved  to  be  characteristic  of  the  work  of  Crusaders. 
The  upper  part  of  this  arch  has  hitherto  alone  been  disinterred, 
the  space  where  the  door  once  stood  having  been  made  use 
of  at  some  uncertain  epoch  for  the  passage  of  a  sewer  which 
drains  this  quarter  of  the  town.  This  would  be  the  true 
Postern  of  St.  Lazarus  of  the  Crusaders. 

In  a  charter  of  the  year  1177^  mention  is  made  of  the 
high  road  which  leads  from  the  House  of  the  Lepers  of 
St.  Lazarus  towards  the  "  lake  "  of  Legerius,  from  which 
another  road  branched  off  to  St.  Stephen's  Church.  The 
position  of  this  pool,  on  the  north  side  of  Jerusalem,  has  not 
hitherto  been  fixed.  Its  memory,  however,  is  possil)ly  preserved 
by  tradition,  in  the  form  of  a  curious  survival  which  has  been 
opportunely  noted  by  Father  Paul  de  St.  Aignan.  Ancient 
legal  Arabic  documents,  or  hvchans,  give  the  singularly  sugges- 
tive name  of  Hdret  el-Birlxh,  "  the  street "  or  "  quarter  of  the 
pool,"  to  a  piece  of  ground  situated  about  1,000  feet  due  north 
of  the  supposed  site  of  the  postern  of  St.  Lazarus.  Here, 
indeed,  is  a  piece  of  evidence  which  may  perhaps  lead  to  the 
solution  of  this  little  topographical  problem. 

I  nmst  add  that  I  have  sometimes  been  tempted  to  ask 
whether  the  Lacus  Legcrii  may  not  really  be  identical  with  the 
"  great  cistern  of  the  Hospitallers,"  mentioned  by  Theoderich 
(§  xxvi),  which  lay  just  Ijetween  the  hospital  for  lepers  on 
one  side  and  St.  Stephen's  Church  on  the  other,  before  one 
came  to  the  north  (Damascus  ?)  Gate. 

2.  Rhodian,  and  not  Jewish  Amphora-handles. — The  two 
stamped  amphora-handles,  which  Professor  Wriglit  has  brought 
to  notice,^  althougli  they  undoubtedly  came  from  Palestine 
have  no  connection  with  tlio  liistory  and  religion  of  the  Jews. 
They  are  simply  Rhodian  jar-handles,  like  those  that  I  obtained 

1  De  Eoziere,  "Cartulairc  del'Eglisc  du  St.  Sepulcre,"  No.  168  :  "Stratum 
regiiim  que  ducit  a  domo  leprosorum  S.  Lazari  versus  lacum  Legerii." 

2  quarterly  Statement,  1901,  p.  62. 


ARCIL-EOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGUAl'HIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE.         115 

years  ago  at  Jerusalem  and  Jaffa,'  and  those  which  have  been 
found  in  sncli  niunUers  during  the  excavations  of  ])r.  Bhss  at 
Sandahannah  and  Tell  cj-Judeideh.  The  first  lias  in  its  centre 
the  flower  emblematic  of  Kliodes  (the 
rose,  or  rather  the  flower  of  tlie  wild 
pomegranate,  ^oKaixniov).  The  legend 
should  reallv  read 


[EH'  or    E<1>']    lEPEHZ   A{P)MOZIAA 

"Under  the  priest  Haruiosilas." 

It  may  be  remarked  that  the  name  Harmosilas,  with  the 
letters  complete  and  the  same  emblematic  flower,  occurs  on 
three  of  the  Sandahannah  series  of  lihodian  handles."  We 
have  here,  then,  a  simple  Ehodian  priest  acting  as  magistrate, 
and  not  a  high  priest  of  the  Jews,  Ishmael,  or  another. 

The  legend  of  the  second 
handle  is  not  a  wish-for-good- 
luck,  but  another  name  of  a 
lihodian  magistrate,  in  this  case 
a  civilian.     It  should  read 

Eni   KAAAIZTOY  MOP[MIOZ] 

"  Under  Kallistos  son  of  Mormis." 

The  name  of  this  magistrate,  qualified  by  the  same  patro- 
nymic, had  already  been  noticed  on  handles  notoriously 
lihodian,^  associated  with  the  same  symbol — the  bull's  head 
— which  has  consequently  nothing  to  do  with  the  calves  of 
Aaron  and  Jeroboam.* 

-  Clermont-Ganneau,  "  Archajol.  Researches  in  Palestine,"  ii,  148,  149. 

-  Quarterli/  Statement,  1901,  pp.  34,  35  ;  Nos.  55,  56,  57. 

^  Dnniont,  "  Inscriptions  CV-ramiqucs  de  Grece,"  p.  292  ;  Nos.  127,  128. 
Perhaps  the  same  patronymic  M0P[MI02]  should  be  restored  on  the  Rliodian 
handle  from  Tell  ej-Judeideh  (No.  121,  pp.  40,  41,  of  the  List  of  the  Quarterli/ 
Statemenl),  vvliich  has  also  the  same  device,  "  the  bull's  head." 

*  Similar  criticisms  on  Professor  Wright's  paper  have  been  received  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Fund  from  Pere  Hugues  Vincent,  of  St.  Stephen's  Biblical 
School  at  Jerusalem,  and  one  of  the  most  constant  contributors  to  the  '"  lievue 
Biblique";  and  from  Mr.  Macalister. — [Ed.] 


IIG         ARCH.EOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

3.  Thi:  Inscription  from  the  Colurnhariuni  cs-Suk  at  Tell 
Sandahannah. — The  Greek  inscription^  discovered  b}''  Mr. 
Macalister  on  one  of  the  walls  of  this  remarkable  cave  is  of 
great  interest.  To  judge  by  the  character  of  the  writing,  it  may 
belong  to  a  period  before  the  Christian  era,  and  this  would  give 
us  a  piece  of  chronological  evidence  to  determine  the  date  both 
of  this  cave  and  of  the  similar  caves  of  this  district ;  but  with 
regard  to  this  matter  we  must  bear  in  mind  certain  counter- 
indications  which  I  shall  mention  presently. 


A-M  ;KAt 


Ifi  <y  /   2  3 


Mr.  Macalister  proposes  to  read  and  translate  it  as  follows  : — 


"  I,  D.  [or  L.]  Nikateides  think  this  a  beautiful  cave.' 


^If^U]     KuXl]    COKEl    eflOt, .  }itKC 

A 


According  to  him,  it  is  a  sort  of  visiting-card,  in  the  style  of 
"  Ego  Januarius  vidi  et  miravi,"  which  is  scrawled  all  over  the 
Tombs  of  the  Kings  at  Luxor.  I  do  not  think  that  this 
interpretation  is  tenal^le.  Tlie  Greek  word  2tyu,r;  never  has  the 
meaning  of   "  cave ''    which    'Mv.   Macalister   attributes   to   it. 


'  For  /■/.  in  the  scale  in  the  cut  read  in. 


AllCILEOLOGICAL  AND  EPIORAPIIIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE.      -117 

Si/z?;  is  a  female  propcv  name,  well  known  from  other  sonrces, 
and  meanino-  etymologically,"  snnb-nose."  Tlie  true  translation 
of  this  little  inscription  is  "  Sim(N  seems  pretty  to  me,  &c."  Ft 
is  nothino-  more  than  a  lover's  greeting,  written  according  to  a 
form  of  which  Greek  epigraphy  furnishes  numerous  examples  : 

0  Setva  KaX6^ ;  //  Selva  Ka\i],  KoXi]  SoKel,  &c.  I  even  find  ou  a 
painted  vase  in  the  Campana  collection  (Corpus  Inscr.  Graec. 
No.  8035)  a  greeting  in  exactly  the  same  fashion,  and  actually 
in  honour  of  a  namesake  of  our  Simd  (the  letters  and  spelling 
are  archaic):   ^IME  KAV  E,  S//i>;  koX-v- 

The  personage  who  felt  himself  thus  impelled  to  write  the 
name  of  his  sweetheart  on  the  subterranean  cavern  which  he 
visited,  and  to  proclaim  his  passion  in  a  place  which  does  not  seem 
very  suitable  for  such  a  purpose,  was  perhaps  some  soldier  on  his 
travels,  or  it  may  be  in  a  garrison  in  the  country.  The  simple 
sentimentality  of  "Tommy"  belongs  to  all  ages  alike.  The 
name  borne  by  our  man  offers  certain  difficulties,  A.  NIKA- 
TElAyi 

We  have  liere  oljviously  a  name  of  patronymic  form,  as 
shown  by  the  termination  eihr]<;  =  L8r]<i.  Nt/caretS?/?  (derived 
from  Nt/cj?Ta9)  seems,  certainly,  a  very  plausible  reading ;  only, 

1  doubt  whether  it  would  be  written  Nt«:aTeiS[(6)t]  in  the 
dative,  as  Mr.  jMacalister,  not  indeed  without  hesitation,  reads 
it.  I  should  prefer  to  read  either  'NiKarelSlrj'],  regarding  the 
final  I  as  the  right  hand  limb  of  an  H  ;  or  even  NiKaTei8[r]]i, 
with  the  iota  ascri])t.  This  latter  reading  would  imply  a 
sufficiently  remote  date,  but  still  one  which,  on  the  whole,  would 
not  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  period  to  which  the  writing 
apparently  belongs  (compare,  for  instance,  the  archaic  form  of 
the  Z  and  the  Ms), 

A  more  important  matter,  1)ecause  of  the  chronological 
inferences  which  it  may  imply,  is  the  question  raised  by  the 
group  A.,  which  precedes  NIKATEIA^I.  If  the  actual 
reading  were  certain,  one  coukl  only  interpret  this  sigluin  as 
an  abbreviation  for  some  Pioman  2Jra'7ionicn  such  as  Aou/cio?. 
This  would  tend  considerably  to  bring  down  the  date  of  the 
inscription,  and  might  perhaps  disagree  with  the  pakeographic 
evidence  which  it  contains ;  but,  on  the  otJier  liand,  it  might 


118         ARCILEOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPIIIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

suit  the  archcieological  view  of  the  matter  better,  for  the  internal 
arrangement  of  the  cave  strongly  reminds  one  of  the  Eoman 
colnmharia.  We  may,  however,  remark  that  the  reading  A.  is 
anything  bnt  sure.  Mr.  MacaHster  himself  does  not  seem 
certain  as  to  whether  the  dot  is  intentional  or  accidental,  and, 
as  to  the  letter,  he  hesitates  as  to  whether  it  be  A  or  A .  Under 
these  circumstances  it  is  permissiljle  to  enquire  M'hether 
ANIKATEIA|^|:I  might  not  be  the  proper  reading,  regarding 
the  A  as  an  integral  part  of  the  proper  name  ;  'Avt/c-aretST?? 
(  =  'AviK7]TiS'ri<;)  would  1)0  derived  c|uite  regularly  from  the 
proper  name  ^AviKriTo<;  {  =  KviKaro<;),  which  actually  exists. 
The  question  evidently  is  not  without  importance,  and  it  is 
greatly  to  be  wished  that  one  could  have  a  good  squeeze  which 
would  enable  it  to  l)e  decided. 

If  it  were  decided  according  to  my  second  hypothesis,  that  is, 
if  we  are  to  read  'AvLKarelSiji;  without  any  prcenomen  after  the 
Roman  fashion,  and  if  we  can  get  over  the  objection,  which 
I  admit  is  a  serious  one,  of  the  Roman  origin  of  the  columbaria, 
one  would  be  led,  considering  the  palaiographic  character  of  the 
text,  which  might  easily  go  as  far  back  as  the  end  of  the  third 
century  B.C.,  to  admit  that  Anikatides  may  have  belonged  to  one 
of  the  armies  which  met  at  the  battle  of  Raphia  in  217  B.C.,  who 
are 'proved  to  have  visited  Sandahanna  by  the  official  Ptolemaic 
inscriptions  whose  true  date  and  meaning  I  have  lately  been 
endeavouring  to  establish  (cf.  Quarterly  Statement,  1901, 
p.  54/). 

4.  Roriian  Inscriptions  on  a  Jerusalem  Aqucdnct. — Father 
Germer-Durand,  of  the  convent  of  Augustin  monks  of  the 
Assumption  of  our  Lady  of  France,  at  Jerusalem,  who  has 
already  rendered  such  great  services  to  the  epigraphy  of  tlie 
Holy  Land,  has  just  discovered  a  series  of  Roman  inscriptions, 
carved  along  an  ancient  Jerusalem  aqueduct,  whose  construction 
has  been  successively  attributed  to  Solomon,  Pontius  Pilate,  and 
Herod.  It  follows  from  these  inscriptions  that  this  aqueduct, 
which  is  remarkable  from  an  engineering  point  of  view  as 
containing  a  siphon,  was  really,  at  any  rate  for  a  certain 
portion  of  its  extent,  constructed  in  195  A.D.,  in  the  reign  of 


AliCH/KOLOGlCAL  AND  I'.l'Ti Il.'Al'HK '  NOTES  ON  TALESTINE.         119 

Soptiiuius  Severus,  by  the  luiliLiuy  engineers  of  the  Tenth 
Legion,  at  that  time  quartered  in  Jerusalem.  I  can  do  no 
better  than  reproduce  the  interesting;  letter  which  he  has  been 
good  enough  to  write  to  me  upon  this  suliject: — 

Jerusalem,  December  Zrd,  1900. 

....  We  have  just  discovered  a  series  of  Latin  iMScriptioiis  on  a 
conduit  which  in  former  times  brought  spring  water  to  Jerusalem.  Tliis 
conduit  appeal's  in  the  English  maj)  under  the  name  of  the  "  high  level 
aqueduct,"  to  distinguish  it  from  another  on  a  lower  level,  which  has 
been  frequently  restored  in  times  more  nearly  apjiroaching  our  own. 

In  one  part  of  its  course'  this  aqueduct  formed  a  siphon,  and 
consisted  of  a  series  of  p)erforated  blocks  of  stone,  firmly  fitted  together 
so  as  to  form  a  tube  with  an  interior  diameter  of  no  less  than  0"40  metre 
(15i  inches).  This  fine  work,  which  has  long  ago  been  allowed  to  fall 
into  ruin,  has  been  broken  at  sevei-al  j)oints,  and  many  of  the  per- 
forated stones  have  been  utilised  as  cistern  mouths.-  Such  as  have  been 
broken  have  either  been  left  where  they  lay  or  built  into  dry  stone  walls. 

It  was  in  one  of  these  walls  that  we  found  by  chance  our  first  inscrip- 
tion. Its  interpretation  ottered  some  difficulties.  I  have,  not  without 
hesitation,  published  a  version  of  it  in  the  Echos  dJOrient  for  October, 
1900,-'  of  whicli  I  send  you  a  copy.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  this  version 
approved  or  corrected  by  com])etent  scholars.  Convinced  by  this  dis- 
covery that  the  Titianus  inscription  was  not  the  only  one,  we  examined 
the  v.'hole  length  of  the  conduit,  and  found  more  than  we  had  venturetl 
to  hope  for. 

Our  most  precious  discovery  is  that  which  gives  the  date  of  the  work, 
which  we  can  find  from  the  consulate.  This  inscription  runs  thus — its 
style  is  cursive  rather  than  lapidary  : — 

C05.  ICLEMENT?i5 

Co;^n)sule  I(ulio)  Ciement(e). 

It  was  in  195,  in  the  reign  of  Septimius  Severus,  that  Julius  Tineius 
Clemens  held  the  post  of  consul,  together  with  Scapula  Tertullus.  The 
cursHS  honorum  of  this  personage  is  known  to  us  from  an  inscription 
carved  on  the  Memnon  colossus.  The  aqueduct  with  the  siphon,  then, 
was  built  about  80  years  after  the  founding  of   Aelia  Capitolina,  and  this 

'  In  the  viciuity  of  Rachel's  so-called  Tomb,  whicli  perliaps  only  represents, 
as  I  have  tried  to  show  ("Recucil  d'Archool.  Orient.,"  vol.  ii,  p.  13-i  ^.)  the 
tomb  of  Archelaus  mentioned  by  St.  Jerome. — [Cl.-G.] 

•  That  is  for  drawiiig  water. — [Ed.] 

^  On  p.  y  Father  Germer-Durand  proposes  to  read  STITIANIP 
>:{umpti bus)  or  s{umptu)  Tifiatii  pr((efecii).  A  photogra]ih  of  this  inscription 
accompanies  liis  letter.  Comparison  witli  other  inscriptions  of  the  same 
character  sub:-cquently  discovered  suggest  a  different  reading  to  him  now — 
c{e»turio)iis)  Titiani  pirapositi  ?). — [CI.-Ct.] 


120         AKCH.IilOLOGlCAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

fine  work  must  not  be  attributed  either  to  the  kings  of  Judah,  or  Herod, 
or  Pontius  Pilate,  but  to  the  engineers  of  the  Tenth  Legion  (Fretensis), 
who  were  in  charge  of  the  public  works  of  the  colony. 

As  a  subsidiary  proof,  here  are  three  other  inscrijitions,  discovered 
at  various  i)oints  along  the  conduit.  Each  of  them  bears  the  name  of 
a  centurion,  who,  no  doubt,  was  the  gang-master  in  charge  of  a  body 
of  workmen.  The  first  inscription  is  carefully  carved,  and,  although 
mutilated,  confims  the  date  given  by  the  consulate  by  the  shape  of 
its  letters.     It  runs  thus  : — 

7  CLO-SAT?^^ 

C(enturionis)  Clo(dii)  Sat(urnini). 

The  two  other  names  are  carved  with  less  care  :  the  shape  of  the 
letters  reminds  one  of  the  inscription  which  mentions  the  consulate. 
One  need  not  be  surprised  at  this,  for  all  these  inscriptions  were  intended 
to  be  buried  in  a  thick  mass  of  rubble  masonry.  None  of  them  were 
originally  visible,  and  their  discovery  is  due  to  the  partial  destruction  of 
the  conduit.     Here  is  a  copy  of  them  : — 

7  SEVERI 

C(enturionis)  Severi. 

The  third  name  had  been  so  badly  written  that  it  was  repeated  lower 
down,  in  a  more  coi-rect  fashion. 

7  vEr"n 

VERI 

C(enturionis)  Veri.' 

It  looks  as  if  the  stonecutter  had  at  first  made  use  of  Greek  letters, 
as  did  some  stonecutters  in  the  catacombs  at  Eome. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  obtain  the  originals  of  these  two  last 
inscri]:>tions,  but  the  first  three  have  been  placed  in  the  Museum  of 
Notre-Dame  de  France,  which  already  contains  a  number  of  valuable 
pieces  of  evidence  which  throw  light  upon  both  historic  and  prehistoric 
times  in  Palestine. 

Father  Germer-Durand's  important  discovery  reminds  me 
of  certain  facts  which  seem  to  have  an  interesting  connection 
with  it. 

I  will  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  in  1850  M.  de  Saulcy,^ 
when  examining  the   ruins  of   this  same   aqueduct,  which   is 

'  Perhaps  we  ought  to  emend  this,  as  in  the  preceding  inscription,  into 
(Severi)  ?— [Cl.-G.] 

-  De  Saulcy,  "Voyage  autoMr  de  la  nier  morte,"  vol.  i,  p.  136,  and  Athis, 
PI.  XLII,  No.  6. 


ARCH.EOLOGICAL  ANH  KI'ICKAI'IIIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE.         121 

called  l)y  the  Arabs  Kaiiat  el-Chullar/  "  the  Aqueduct  of  the 
Infidels,"  discovered  in  tliis  same  region,  close  to  Rachel's 
so-called  Tomb,  on  one  of  the  blocks  forming  the  casing  of 
the  conduit,  the  solitary  word  STROSI,  cut  in  Latin  letters 
10  centimetres  high  (o-9  inches).  The  shape  of  the  letters 
seemed  to  him  to  point  to  the  twelfth  century,  und  he  was 
disposed  to  see  in  it  the  name  of  some  Italian  Crusader, 
belonging  perhaps  to  the  illustrious  Strozzi  family.  To-day 
it  is  permissible  to  ask  whether  this  Inief  inscription,  which 
is  susceptible  of  quite  a  different  interpretation,  may  not  be 
one  of  the  group  discovereil  by  Father  Germer-Durand,  whose 
cursive  writing  is  capable  at  first  sight  of  deceiving  one  as  to 
their  real  age. 

In  any  case,  it  is  to  this  group  without  doubt  that  we  must 
refer  another  inscription,  on  the  sul)ject  of  which  I  have  found 
in  one  of  my  old  note  books  the  following  note : — 

Bethleheni— on  a  fragment  of  atone  from  the  aquednct.  From  a 
rough  copy  sent  in  1877  to  M.  Arsene  Darmesteter,  which  he  sent  on 
to  me  in  that  year  :  some  letters  out  of  which  I  think  I  can  make — 

7  QVART  .  •  •  {centuria)  quarta  ? 
One  might  also  read  c{enturionis)  Quart{ini)  ? 


Moreover,  it  may  be  that  the  fragments  of  hewn  stone ^  seen 
by  Berggren  on  the  road  from  Bethlehem  to  Jerusalem,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Rachel's  Tomli,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  line  of 
this  same  aqueduct,  on  which  he  traced  the  words  TITI,  and 
EL  •  •  •  AVREL,  belong  to  this  same  epigraphic  group. 

With  regard  to  the  very  elaborate  system  of  aqueducts  of 
\-arious  periods,  which  brought  water  to  Jerusalem  from  the 
plenteous  springs  which  lie  to  the  south  of  the  Holy  City 
(Wady  el-'Arrub  and  Wady  el-Biar),  and  especially  with  regard 
to  the  aqueduct  which  has  just  given  us  this  series  of  Roman 
inscriptions,  the  reader  is  referred  to  tlie  plans  and  technical 

*     \iSl\    i  "  ;Iaj.  witli  the  countrified  proiumciation  ^    =  ch. 

-  Berggren,  "  Guide  fram;;iis-;irabo  vuli^niro,"  vol.  4(56.  Conipiire  A.  Seholz, 
"  Reise,"  &e.,  1822,  p.  1{)2  :  7  EL  •  AVREL  •  "'"^  "  Auttariuni  additiuiienl.  ad 
C.I.L.,"  vol.  iii,  No.  1328.  The  passage  from  Scliolz,  quoted  in  the  "  Auctarium," 
iiad  been  pointed  out  by  me  to  I'rof.  Aiomniscn,  and  also  tl)nf  from  Berggren. 


122         Ai;CH.?-:OLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

observations  of  Sir  Charles  Wilson,  "  Ordnance  Survey,"  1865, 
pp.  80  et  seq.,  Plates  VII  and  XXVIII,  and  to  Schick,  in 
the  "  Zeitschrift  des  deutschen  Palaestina-Vereins,"  vol.  i, 
pp.  132-170,  with  plan. 

As  I  pointed  out  some  time  ago,^  it  is  this  truly  remarkable 
system  of  waterworks,  extending  as  far  as  Teku'a — the  ancient 
Tekoa — .some  15  kilometres  south  of  Jerusalem,  that  Belia 
ed-I)in,  in  his  account  of  the  council  of  war  held  by  the 
Crusaders  under  Eichard,  Carar  de  Lion,  speaks  of  under  the 
name,  at  first  sight  rather  surpri!>ing,  of  "  the  river  (nahr)  of 
TekCi'a." 

5.  A  Greek  Inscription  from  Bcerslieha  and  the  Gcrar  Question. 
— During  a  recent  journey  in  Palestine,  M.  Sellin  -  obtained  a 
short  Greek  inscription  which  seems  to  deserve  special  atten- 
tion from  the  certainty  of  its  'provenance.  It  came,  in  fact,  from 
excavations  made  at  the  famous  Beersheba  in  tlie  extreme 
south  of  Palestine,  by  natives  in  search  of  building  material 
for  the  steam  mill,  Ijarrack,  hotel,''  &c.,  which  are  being  erected 
on  the  patriarchal  site.  It  is  a  small  fragment  of  a  fine  quadran- 
gular slab  of  white  alabaster.  ]\I.  Sellin  copied  the  following 
characters,  Ijut  only  gives  them  typographically: — 

On  the  small  side  : 

KAI  H 

On  the  large  side  : 

ZEWCLIA^YANy 

HIV 

I  propose  to  read 

Kat  7] [?  virep  dva7rxv^(a)eco'i  ^L\(o)vavov 

.  .  .  .  rjL  ^ 

The  one  point  certain  is  tlie  name  1i\ovau6<;,  which  is  not 
without  interest,  for  it  at  once  reminds  us  of  the  celebrated 
Silvauus,  "  the  father  of  the  monks,"  who  founded  an  important 
monastery  at  Gerar,  "  in  the  torrent."    Xow,  as  I  tried  to  show  * 

1  "  fitudes  d'archc'ologie  orientale,"  ii,  pp.  i;5.j,  KJf). 
''  "  Mitth.  und  Nachr.  des  D.  Pal.  Verems,'  1S99,  p.  9. 
»  "  ]\Iitth.  und  Nadir,  des  1).  P.il.  Yereins,"  1899,  p.  30. 
^  "  Rec.  d'arch.  or.,"  iii,  pp.  237-2J0. 


ARCII/EOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGKAPHIC  NOTES  ON   PALESTINE.        123 

.sniuL'  lime  ago,  Genu- should  be  looked  for,  not  as  is  usually  done 
iu  the  vicinity  of  Gaza,  at  Unnu  -Jerar,  hut  in  Lhc  (Urection  of, 
and,  perhaps,  close  to,  Bir  es-Seba'.  Without  going  so  far  as 
to  idenlil'v  the  Silouanos  of  the  inscription  with  the  founder  of 
the  niduastery,  whose  epitaph  we  should  tlicu  have,  we  may 
ask  whether  we  have  not  here  a  namesake,  either  one  of  his 
successors  or  a  simple  monk  Ijelonging  to  the  community. 
Possibly  we  shovdd  restore  the  tirst  line:  koI  7][r^ov^evov].  Tn 
any  case,  the  numerous  remains,  columns,  slabs  of  marble,  &c., 
turned  up  with  this  fragment,  during  the  recent  excavations  to 
the  north  of  the  Bir  es-Seba'  wells,  might  well  be  explained 
l>y  the  hypothesis  that  they  are  the  ruins  of  the  Monastery  of 
Silvanus.  That  would  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  obscure 
question  of  the  site  of  Gerar.  To  make  the  matter  certain 
it  would  be  necessary,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  to  find  in  that 
district  a  name  representing  Aplda,  a  village  near  the  Monastery 
of  Silvanus,  and  consequently  of  Gerar.  I  recommend  this 
desideratum  to  the  attention  of  future  explorers  in  that  region. 


124 


a:\iphora  handles,  with  greei^ 

J3y  R.  A.  Stewar' 
{Co7iti7iued 


Fouud  iu  duplicate. 


t  Illustratec 


No.         Shape  of  Seal. 


146  Rectangular 

147 


148 
149 

150* 

151*t 

152 

153t 

154 

155 
156 

157 

158 

159+ 


Circular 
Rectangular 


Oval 


Rectangular. 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


Condition  of  Seal. 


3-4xl-5 


xl-3 

3x1-5 

2-8x  1  -4 

3 -2x1 -5 
2 -ex  2 -3 


Device. 


Badly   stamped,    end    broken     (?)  Small  cornei 

off.  only  appearing 

X  1  '7  Nearly  all  flaked  away 


2 '6  diam.         Slightly  worn  . 
3-I5xl-5 


3  "4  X  1  '5         Badly  stamped 


Slightly  worn 


4  "2  X  1  -6  Badly  stamped 


3 -1x1 -9         Worn 


Worn  ;  end  broken  off 


Perfect 


Smeared 


Rose 


Dotted      square 
frame. 


4  '4  X  0  '9       I  Badly  stamped  and  abraded  . . 


Rose 


125 


STAMPS,  FROM   TELL    SANDAHANNAH. 

Macalistee,  M.A.  .     . 

from  p.  43.) 

From  similiir,  but  not  identiriil,  stjimji-i.  1'    From  Tell  ej-Judfidcli. 


(sition  of  Inscrip- 
ion  relatively  to 
Device. 


ibove 


lurroundin'T 


nside 


Surrounding 


Inscription. 


AT2inN[ 

M[ 
A[ 

MArNHPOS  nANAMOY 

MAP2TA 
nANAMO 

MAP5TA 
2MIN0IOY 

MAP2TA 
TAKIN0IOY 

TAKIN0IOT 
MAP2TA 

MAP2TA2 
nANAMOT 

0E2[MO<i'OPIOYj 

MEN[ 

MENEKPATET2 
MENI 

nno2 

MENT0P02 
AAAIOT 

MENnN02  [nANA]MOr 


MIAA[2] 


Alphabet  and 

other  Epigraphic 

]S'otes. 


I. 
III. 

I  reversed. 
Similar  to  157. 

Similar  to  155. 

See  Fig.  29. 

Similar  to  155. 

See  Fig.  28. 

VI. 

I. 

V;    i,  tYII. 

IV. 


IV,  with  sliglit 
tendency  to- 

wards character- 
istics of  VIII. 
Reversed. 

IV  large  lettering. 


126 


AMPHORA    HANDLES,    AVITH    GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Foiiiul  ill  dui)lioate. 


No.        Shape  of  Seal. 


160+        Rectangular 

i<3i: 


162 
163 

164 

165t 

166 

167 

168* 

169 

170t 

171 

172 

173t 

174 

175 

1761 

177 

178t 


Oral 


Eectangular 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


•4x 
4-1x1 -15 

2 -7x2 -5 


2  -65  X  1  -7 

3-15x  1-2 

3 -ex  1-3 
4-3x1  -2 
4 -5  X  1-5 

2-5x1 

4-1  xl-7 

2-4x1-2 

3-5x1-5 


3  -5  X  1  -6 
3 -9  X  1-4 
3-9x1-5 
3-6x1  -5 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Badly  stamped  and  abraded 


Slightly  worn   . . 


X  1  -6         End  broken  off. 


3-4x1-1  Bottom  line  smeared  . , 


Slightly  worn  . . 

Broken  in  f  wo  . . 

Chipped 

Worn     . . 

Badly  stamped  and  chipped 

Top  smeared     . . 

Perfect . . 


t  Illustrated 


Device. 


Acorn  ? 


Rose 


Helios  liead 


Anchor  ? 


,,      (stamp  slipped  slightly) 


4x1-5  Worn  and  slightly  flaked 


Per/ect  . . 
Slightly  Worn 
Perfect . . 
Worn     . . 


.     Blazing       torch 
(cf.  Fig.  38). 


. .     Rose 


*  A  seal  bearing  this  name 


FROM   TELL   SANDAHANNAII. 
I  From  similar,  but  not  identical,  stamps.  ||  t'rora  Tell  cj.Judeifleli. 


127 


Position  of  Inscrij)- 

tiou  i-elativoly  to 

Device. 


To  left  :  a  line 
drawn  under  in- 
serijJtion. 

Sux*roundiu2 


To  right  :  a  dotted 
square  round  all. 


Above 


To  left 


Abo 


ve 


Inscrijjtion. 


MIAA[2] 
MIA[A2] 

MIN0IOT2 

MIP[ 

Z[ 
*[ 

nANAMO 

[MOA?]T 

En  I   MT 
TmN02 

Eni  MTTinN 

oc 

[MO?]KAET2 

NANI02 

NE[MI?]OT 
AFPIANIOr 

Eni   NH 

cinoTor 

Eni   NIKA2ArOPA 
APTAMITIOT 

NIKO 
2TPATOT 

Eni  HENO<I>ANEY2  1 
METAFEITNTOT 

Em  HENO 

*nNT02 

ArPIA[NIO]T 

OAYMnor 

ONA2IOIKOT 
ONA2IOIKOT 
nA[T2A]NIA 


Alphabet  and 

other  Epigraphic 

Notes. 


IV  large  lettering. 


IV;  :Vir,M  with 
uprights  curved 
inward. 

VI. 


See  Fig.  31. 
IV  ;  a>  VII-. 

viir. 

I. 

V;  fj.  with  straight 
vertical. 

See  Fig.  30. 
II. 


IV. 

<r  VI. 

See  Fig.  33. 

Ill 

;  a,  0,  I. 

11 

first  0  large 

I. 

I. 

ir. 

has  been  found  at  Pergamon, 


128  AMPHOEA    HANDLES,   "WITH   GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


t  Illustrate.!. 


Xo. 

Shape 

of  Seal. 

Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 

Condi 

179: 

Eectangulai- . . 

3 -2x1 -55 

^Yol•n     . . 

ISO 

J'           •  • 

2-8xl-5 

■  Perfect  . . 

181 

ji           *  • 

3  -35  X  1  -4 

End  flaked 

182 

.,           ■ . 

2  5  X  1  -5 

Perfect  . . 

183 


184  Oval  .. 

185  j  Kectangulav . 

186  ! 
187 

188*t     Circular 
189       i 


190         Rectangular 


lOJt 
192 

193 


104* 
195 


x3 

xl-45 

3x1-7 


3  "2  diani. 
2  -7  diam. 
2-9x1  -65 

4-3x  1-6 
4-1x2-2 


Device. 


Rose 


4-4x1-4         Beginning  siueaved 


Badly  stamped  and  Avorn 


Much  worn,  beginning  broken 
off. 


Rose 


Bottom  slightly  smeared 
4x1-5  Top  smeared     . . 


Bottom  smeared 
Perfect  . . 

Worn     . . 


3  o  X  1  -4       '  Worn  and  chipped 


4 -5x1 -8         Worn 

3  -2  X  1  '3       I  Stamp   slipped,   and   reading 
]       verv  difficult. 


Helios  heai 
Rose 

Sword    . . 


Stars 


'  A  seal  bearing  this  name 


FKO.M   TELL   SANDAHANNAir. 
J  From  similar,  but  not  identical,  stamps.         ||  From  Tell  oj-Judoideli. 


129 


Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion relatively  to 
Device. 


Above 


Surroimdiug 


Inscription. 

nAT2ANIA' 
nATSANIA 

nATSANIA 

En  I   HAT 
2ANIA 

En  I  nAYSANLA 
0E2MO*OPIOT 


[EniH  n]AT2AN[lA  2MI]N[0]IOT 

E[ni  nE[*  00?]  EOT 
BAAPOMIOT 


Em  nEi 

0IAAA 


Al  pi  label  and 
otlier  Epigraphic 

Js'otes. 


II. 

II,  minute  letter- 
ing. 
V. 

II  without  finials ; 
V  VII. 

I,  second  a  VII. 
The  6th  of  the 
first  line  shows 
traces  of  having 
been  corrected 
from  something 
else. 

I ;  0  II. 


(?)• 


VI. 


Surrounding 

Em  [nEl]2I 

2TPATOT 

AAAIOT 

Em  nOATAPATOT  AP[TAMITIO 

T] 

VIII,  second  verti- 
cal of  IT  slightly 
sliorter  than 
first. 

^'ee  Fig.  35. 

.,                   . . 

Em  nOATKPA°  2MIN0IOT 

nOATX 

APM02 

Ill ;     (T,    1  ;     0,    6 

small. 
V;     TT    as    in    II, 

without  finials. 

Above 

P0AnN02 

See  Fig.  34. 

Below 

P0AnN02 

Similar  to  194. 

,  ,                    ,  ,                    ,   , 

Em  2***Va 

* 

I;  oil. 

[        ] 

0E2MO*OPIOT 

Stars  in  corners  of 
seal,  as  in  Fig.fi. 

2APAnmN02 

En"   IEPEn2  [2IMYAEINOT?] 
AAAIOT 

I. 

II,  very  minute. 

las  been  found  at  Pergamon. 


130  AMPHORA   HANDLES,   WITH   GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate.  t  Illustrated. 


No. 

193t 

197 

198 

199 

200 

201t 

202 
303t 

204 

205t 

206t 

207 

208»t 

209 

210t 

211 
212t 
213t 
214 


Shape  of  Seal 


Rectangular 


Circular 
Rectangular 


Oval 


Rectangular 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


3 -1x1 -2 


3-25xl-4 


xO-8 


xl-0 
4 -8x2  15 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Device. 


Slightly  worn 


Worn 


End  broken  off 


Toji   and    bottom   flaked    off, 
end  broken. 

B:idlv   stamped,   end   broken 
off". 

Badly  stamped. . 


Helios   head  on 
stand. 


Line  and  dot 
under  X  as 
shown. 

Helios  head  on 
stand. 


Human     figure 
on  pedestal. 


2  -7  diam.         Worn Rose  . . 

Badly  stamped  and  smeared  . .  ,  Bunch  of  grapes 


X  1  -5  Beginning  broken  off  . . 

3 -85x1 -4  Perfect 

X  1  -Q  Beginning  broken  off  . . 

3  -8  X  1  G  Worn 

X  1  --l  Worn  ;  beginning  broken  off 

4  65  X  1  •  9  Badly  stamped  and  broken 

3  -6  X  1  -5  Worn 

2  -5  X  2  -2  Slightly  broken 

2  •4x2-1  Slightly  worn   .. 

7x1-1  End  badly  stamped     . . 

4x1-4  Worn     . .  . .   ' 


Blazing  torcl; 


Caduceus 

Rose 
Bird  flying 


'  Seals  bearing  this  name  have  been  found  at  Telos  and  ^'^isyro8. 


FKOM    TELL   SANDAIIANNAII. 


i;3i 


From  siniihtr,  hut  not  identical,  stamps. 


From  Tell  cj-Jiidcidcli 


Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion relativclj'  to 
Device. 


To  right 


To  right 


To  left       . . 

Surrounding 
To  ri<rht    . . 


Device  iiiider  end 

of  name. 
To  left       . . 

Device   above  end 

of  inscription. 
To  left 

Above 


Surrounding 


In.scription. 


Eni  2IMY 
AEINOT 

Em  2I[MTAEI]N0T 
TAKIN0IOT 

2INX[I? 

Eni  2n[ 

XA[P  ? 

Eni  2TA2[ 
<I>OTTl[ 

2TINOMOT 

HMIOTTOT 

[2MIN0IO  ?]T 

2TPATONIKOT 

2n*** 

BOT 

Eni  2nAAMOT' 
JAArEITNTOT 

2nKPATET2  ^ 
[2nKPATET]2 

2nKPATET2 
[2nKPATjET2 

2n2IK.\ET2 

Em  2n2nAT0T 

TAKIN0IOY 
2nTHPIAA 
2nTHPIX02 
2nTHPIX02 
XOI0NIMVX 

Em  TEinN 


Alphabet  and 

otlier  I'lpigraphio 

Notes. 


-See  Fig.  32. 
IV. 


I ;  Intersection  of 
X  high  up. 

IT. 


IV;   <ri\'. 
See  Fig.  36. 


See  Fig.  37. 

Similar  to  Fig.  33, 
N  reversed. 

See  Fig.  38. 

See  Fig.  39, 

I. 

See  Fig.  40. 

VIII. 

See  Fig.  49. 

I. 

See  Fig.  41. 
See  Fig.  42. 
VIII :  V   reversed. 


A  seal  bearing  this  name  (associated  with  2w5auoii)  has  been  found  at  Telos. 


132 


AMPHORA  HANDLES,   WITH   GREEK   STA:\IPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


No. 

Shape  of  Seal. 

215 

Rectangular . . 

216 

>j          •  • 

217 

Circular 

218 

Rectangular . . 

219 

Circular 

220 

Rectangular . . 

221 

» 

222t 

j> 

223 

)j 

224 

)) 

225 

)i 

Rectangular 


Rectangular. 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Rectangular . . ;       3  •  5  x  1  G  Badlv  stamped  and  worn 

i 

4-4  X  1-9  Worn 

2  "7  dium.  Fractured 

4  X  2  •!  1  Top  slightly  smeared  . . 

2  -9  diam.  Much  battered. . 
3'lxl*45        Perfect.. 
3-1  X  1  -G  Much  worn 

3-lx  1'4  Perfect 

4x1-7  Slightly  worn   . . 

2-6  X  1-7  Perfect 


2x0-3 
2-9x2  -3 


Worn 


t  Illustrated. 


Device. 


Rose 


Rose       . . 

Helios  head 
Wreath  . . 


Rose 


Seals  hearing  names  of  months 


4-3x1-2  Worn 


3 -6  X  1-1 

3  •  G  X  1  3         Slightly  chipped 


Seals  ivhich  cannot  be 


X  4  "9         Worn  and   flaked,"  beginning 
broken  off. 


(?) 


'  Seals  bearino;  this  name  have  been  found  at  Rhodes  and  at  Pergamon. 


FROM   TELL  SANDAHANNAII. 


isn 


I  From  siinihir,  but  not  idoiitical,  stamps.  ||   From  Tell  ej-Jiuleklcli. 


Position  of  Inscrip-  , 
tion  relatively  to 
Device.  ] 


Inscription. 


Alplmbct  and 

otlier  Epigraphic 

Notes. 


SurroundinK 


Surrounding 


To  right ;  all  in  a 
square. 

To  left ;  lettering 
in  square  com- 
partment. 


Surrounding 


TIMA  <*  *  OT 


Eni  TIMOAIKOT 
.^rPIANIOY 

TIMO[0E]OT 

Eni  TIMO 

0EOT 

AAAIOT 

[T?]I20T  *  KAEn2 

TOXO 

Eni  * 

[ei?]aa 

AAAIOT  ' 
*IAA1N10Y 

Eni  *IAOAAMOY 
AAAIOT 

Em  •i'l 

AnNIAA 

XPH 
XP[T2H]MOT 


VI,  with  tendency 
lo  characters  of 
VIII. 

VI  ;   a,  VII. 


I. 
VIII. 

I. 

IV. 

IV. 

See  Fig.  43. 

11. 

VI. 

IV  reversed. 
I. 


only  (see  introductory  remarks). 


Em  APTAMI 
TIOT 

nANAMOT 

HANAMOT - 


VIII     carelessly 
written. 

IV. 

IV. 


reduced  to  alphabetic  order. 
To  left      . . 


]AETIH2 

]aeottot 

]MHNI02 

]AnoMriP  *  *  * 


IV  ;  <T  VI  with 
curved  horizon- 
tal bai's  ;  w  VII". 


Thei-e  has  been  a  second  line,  which  has  been  intentionally  effaced  from  the  stamp. 


134  AMPHORA   HANDLES,   ^VITH    GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  dujilicate.  t  Illustrated. 


Xo. 


231 

232 

233 
234 

235 

236 
237 

238t 
239 

240 

241t 
242 

243 

244 

245 


Size  of  Seal, 
Shape  of  Seal.  I  in 

!    centimetres. 


Kectangular . .         4  '4  x  1  '45 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Top  smeared    . . 


„  ..       2 -75x1 -4  Cliippcd 

Oval  . .  . .         2  -8  X  2  -6       |  Worn  and  flaked 

j 

Eectangular . .  x  1  "60  Top  smeared,  end  broken  off. . 


OtuI  .. 


Rectangular . , 


4 -8x1 -75 


x2-2 


Fractured  and  ^rorn    . . 


Worn  and  defaced 


4  X  2  "2  Badly  stamped  and  worn 


Oval  ..  ..        Six  i  Fractured  and  scaled . . 

Rectangular. .  |     2  75  x  1  -45     '  Badly  stamped  and  flaked 


Beginning  lost,  bottom  badly 
stamped. 


Device. 


Rose 


Rose 


Rose 


Lozenge- 
shaped. 

Rectangular . 


5  X  Worn  and  defaced 


Top  cliii^ped,  end  fractured  . . 


X  1  '6         Both  ends  broken  off 


X  1  9  Badly  stamped  and  indefinite 


Oval 


2  -9  X  2  -5 


Sprig  of  plant 


Badly  stamped  and  worn       ..     Rose 


FROM   TELL   SA^'DA1IANNAH. 


13i 


;  From  similar,  but 

not  identical,  8tani]>s.              ||   From  Tell  ej-Judcidt'l 

. 

Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion rclatiToiy  to 
Device. 

Inscription. 

Aliiliabet  and 

other  Epigrapliic 

Notes. 



E[ni               ] 
0IOT  TA 
KIN0IOT 

VIII. 



*  *  NA.aNIAA 
Ar[PIA]NIOT 

Ill  ;  0  II. 

Surrounding 

]0P02A[2  ?  AP]TAMI[TI0T] 

I. 

.. 

Ef                 ] 
0EAIAH[      ] 
2MIN0IO[T] 

I ;  e IY\ 



#  #   »    #    «    if;   *    jyj^ 

NIOT 
TAKIN0IOT 

VIII. 

Surrounding 

]nN02  0E2M[O*OPIOr] 

C              A?] 
[          ]AAIM 
AMAPyiTOT 

V reversed;  ^uwith 
straight  verti- 
cals. 

VI;  oIV.  The -J. 
may  be  a  tri- 
dent. 

Surrounding 

[En'   IE]PEn[2  *  *]MNArOP[ 

See  Plate  I. 



E[ni  ******]T2 
BAAP[OMIOTj 

VI. 

. . 

]**   nATTON 
]TET2 

*  2A  *  *  *  IN  *  * 

I. 



]npoT 

APTA[MITIOY] 

See  Fig.  44. 

. . 

AlNn[N  ?          ] 
OY  AAA[IOT] 

I. 

]nANA[ 

lOT 
AAAI[0Y 

I. 

To  left       . . 

[— TTNOKOTNT] 

[TIOT]               ? 
[                      ] 

(?) 

Surrounding 

Eni  [ 

T[AKIN0IOT 

X 

I. 

loG  AMPHOIIA    HANDLES,    WITH    GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicatt\ 


t  lUustratciI. 


Size  of  Seal, 
No.      I  Shape  of  Seal.  in 

'  centimetres. 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Device. 


2-46 

Oval  . . 

247 

Rectangular . . 

248 

Oval  . . 

249 

J. 

250 

Rectangular. . 

251 

„ 

252 

n               '  ' 

253 

)> 

254 

)i               •  • 

255 

»> 

256 

>j 

257 

Circular 

2-Sx  Half  broken  off 


Rose 


x2-9         Badly  stampeci. .  ..  ..    Helios  head 

Badly  stamped,  half  broken  off    Rose 
Badly  stamped,  top  broken  . . 


x2-7 


xl-6 


xl-6 


xl 


Stamp      slipped,      beginning 
broken  off. 


Beginning  broken  off 


Worn,  beginning  broken  off  . 


3'7xl-7         Chipped 


X  1  -2       '  Worn 


Helios    head  on 
stand. 


Badly  stamped 


257 

Circular 

2 '5  diam. 

Worn     . . 

Rose 

258 

Rectangular., 

End  and  bottom  broken  off   . . 

.. 

259 

)) 

X  1  -35 

Worn 

Sprig 

of  plant  . 

260 

11 

Bottom  badly  stamped,  begin- 
ning broken  off. 

•• 

261t 

>t 

xl-G 

Beginning  broken  off  . . 

•• 

262 

>)           •  • 

•• 

Badly  stamped. . 

FUO.M   TELL   SANDAIIANXAir. 


1  .".7 


From  similar,  hut  not  itleutical,  stainps 


From  Toll  oj-JiidoiiU'li. 


Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion ri'latively  to 
Device. 


Surrounding,  read- 
iuij  outwards. 


Surrounding 


To  rijiht    . , 


Surrouudins; 


To  left 


Inseripl  ion. 


]ETAKOT  AA[AIOY 

]EIMA 
AAAIOY 

[Eni  ##***•£  ?]prn2[  *  #  *  *  *  ys  ?] 


E[  ]  TAP[M?]A[P    -0]T 

]0I«* 
2M[IN0IOT 

]KAETP 
]TEY2 

]N 

2M[IN0I 
]   EIAA 


]APXO 
]HPET 


H 

1  + 


AVAIOT 

Eni  *  *  *  * 

Em  [** 

KAEIAA[ 
A?]BOTA[n? 

[  ] 

En'  iEPEn2  ***** 

En'  iEPEn2 

[  ] 

Eni  [ 

MHAOT 

M 
1lE2       EIOT 

[  J 

{reading  uncertain). 

[  ] 

2MIN0IOY 


Alpliabct  and 

otlier  Epi|irui)Lic 

Notes. 


I. 

vm. 

Kerersed. 

I. 

I  ;   0,  II. 

VI. 


YI  ;  oblique  lines 
ofoand  A.  curving 
outwards. 

VI;  0,  IV. 


I  See  Fig.  45. 
Similar  to  177. 


III. 


I  reversed. 

Similar  to  5S,  re- 
versed. 

II;  bar  of  H  ob- 
lique sliglitly. 

VIII 


See  Fig.  46. 

IV;      T,      VI,      o 
Asbaped. 


oS 


AMPHORA   HANDLES,   WITH    GREEK    STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  dniilicate. 


t  Illustrated. 


Xo.        Shape  of  Seal. 


Size  of  Seal, 

in 
centimetres. 


203       I  Kectanfirular. , 


264 
265 
266 

267 

268 

269 

270 
271 

272 
273 

274 

275 
276 
277 

278 
279 

280 
281 


Oval  .. 

Rectangular . . 


Oval  . . 
Circular 
Rectangular . 

Oval  .. 
Rectangular. 


xl-7 


X  1*45 


Condition  of  Seal. 


Beginning  broken  off  . . 


Fragment  only. . 

Worn,  beginning  broken  off  . . 

Badly      stamped,     beginning 
broken  off. 


Device. 


Rose 


4-7x1 


xl-3 


Top  line  effaced 


Beginning  and  top  broken  off 


Beginning  broken  off;    much 
worn. 


X  1  '15     ,  Beginning  broken  off 
Badlv  stamped. . 


xl-65 
5 -5x1 -45 


Beginning  broken  off  . . 
Mucli  ■svorn 


xl-3       •  Worn,  end  broken  off. 


2-8  diam. 
xl-5 

x2-4 
xl-4 

4  X  1  o 
xl-3 


Chipped  and  fractured  . ,       (?) 

Fractured  and  flaked  . .  . .     Rose 

Beginning  broken  off  . . 

I 
Fragment  only. .  . .  . .     Rose 

Much  worn 

Much  abraded  . . 

Worn,  beginning  broken  off  . . 


FltOM   TKLL   SANDAHANNAII. 


1  39 


From  similar,  but  not  identical,  stamps. 


From  Tell  ej-Judcideh. 


Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion I'clatiroly  to 
Device. 


Surroundins 


Surroundins; 


Surroundinn; 


Inscription. 


]2n0Ai 

]BOT 

]   ANAPOY  A[ 

r 

]_PAMIOT 

]KPATET2 

[                  ] 

[                   ] 
nANAMOT 

]2 
]TAPATO 

JIAT 
]0T2 

]AANIOT 

ap:'']hnia[ 

]ni2TOT 

£###t^«i»### 

[I?]^T0N[ 

]KPATH[ 

******  NIKOY 

]N02 

[       ] 
JOT 

]«***2A2MO[ 

]  *  •  *  Tr.N02 

^PO— 
*         A 

BPO?]MIOT 

Al  pi)  abet  and 

other  Kpigraphii 

Notes. 


I;   0,0  IV. 

I. 

I. 

VI. 

V. 

VI. 

III. 

IV. 

I. 

VI;    TT  VII. 

I. 


IV;  0  III.    Large 
letters. 

I. 

I;    oil. 
I;    0  II. 


I  reverse.l :  2ud  <r 

VII. 
IV. 


(?) 
IV. 


140 


283 


AMPHOEA   HANDLES,   WITH   GREEK    STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate. 


Size  of  Seal, 
Xo.        Shape  of  Seal.  in 

centimetres. 


282  Rcetanjjulav  . .       2  -85  x 


xl-1 


284 

))                      *  • 

X  1  -0 

285 

J) 

•• 

286 

(?)    ..          .. 

•• 

287 

Kectangulai-. . 

xl 

288 

)) 

X  1  65 

289 

Oral  .. 

230 

,,     . . 

•• 

291 

Rectangular . . 

xl-7 

2921 

» 

2-9xl-l 

293 

j> 

xl-65 

Condition  of  Seal. 


t  Illustrated. 


Device. 


Top  hadlv  stamped     . . 


Beginning  badly  stamped  and        . . 
disintegrated. 

Beginning  broken  off . .  . .     Small  fragment 

only  remaining. 
Flaked,  end  broken  off 

Yery  badly  stamped    . . 

Beginning  broken  off  . . 


Badly  stamped  and  flaked 
Badly  stamped 
Beginning  broken  off  . . 
Perfect  . . 
Badly  stamped  and  worn 


Eose 


Acorn 


AonENDA. 


29  i 

Rectangular . . 

x2-4 

Badly   stamped,    end    broken 
off. 

*  •                    ■  ■ 

295 

jj 

5  -1  X  1  -2 

Badly  stamped 

.. 

296 

» 

x2-l 

,1            )) 

.. 

297 

Oval.. 

2  -56  X 

i>            )> 

Rose 

298 

Rectangular . . 

xl-3 

End  broken  off 

•  «                    •   • 

299 

Circular 

2  ■'}  diam. 

Badly  stamped  one  side 

Cornucopi 

.300 

Rectangular. . 

xl-6 

End  broken  off 

.. 

TTJni    TELL    SAM)A1L\.\.\A1L 


141 


From  similar,  but  nob  identical,  stamps.         1|  From  Tell  ej-Judeidch. 


.'osition  of  Inscrip- 
tion rolafively  to 
Device. 


Below 


Surrounding  (read 

ing  outwards). 
Siirrounding 


To  right     . , 


Inscription. 

Alphabet  and 

other  Epigrupbic 

Notes. 

[         ] 
MNOT 

V. 

»«*°P02 
A 

IV;   oIII. 

A?Jn[A? 

I. 

*  *  *  IAA[ 

III. 

]OAN[ 

III. 

]I2 

VI. 

]0T 

V  VIT. 

r     ] 
[     ] 

]nE[ 

]T2 

illegible 
illegible  (two  lines) 


Reversed. 

I  reversed  ;    large 
letters. 

See  Fig.  47. 


Surrouudin<r 


Surroundinsf 


Addenda. 
Eni  APi[ 

KOT 
AFPIANIOT 

ATCAn 

*H2I 
KAET2 

]ANOr 

KErT[ 

AIONY2IOT 

Eni  HEN0*ANET5 
APTAMITIOV 


VI  ;    a   V ;    care« 
lessly  written. 


;  s  C-shaped  ; 
large  bold  letters. 
;  large  bold 
letters. 


;  large  letters. 


Similar  to  173. 


142  AMPHORA    HANDLES,   WITH    GREEK   STAMPS, 

*  Found  in  duplicate.  t  Illustrated 


Size  of  Seal, 

No. 

Shape  of  Seal. 

in 

Condition  of  Seal. 

Device. 

centimetres. 

301 

Eectangular . . 

Badly  stamped 

302 

)i           •  • 

3 -15x1 -3 

Worn     . . 

303 

- 

4-3xl-7 

Top  smeared     . . 



304 

4 -8  V  1-65 

Chipped 

Bunch  of  grapea 

305 

)5                      •  ' 

X  1  '5 

End  broken  off 



306 

n                '  ■ 

Worn 

3&7 

))                •  ' 

2-3x1 -8 

Much  worn 

Cadueeus  ?     anc 
rose  ? 

Ebrata. 

January  "  Quarterly  Statement." 

In  Fig.  1,  p.  14  ante,  for  "  ft."  in  the  scale,"  read  "  in." 

P.  27,  line  29,  for  "  55,  56,  57,"  read  "  56,  57,  58." 

P.  39,  last  column.  No.  106,  for  "  51,"  read  "  52." 

P.  49,  for  "  Eev.  Putnam  Carv,"  read  "  Rev.  Putnam  Cady." 


FROM   TELL    SAND  All  ANN  AH.  143 

X  From  similar,  Init  not  idontieal,  stamps.  |l    From  Tell  cj-Jiuloidoh. 


Position  of  Inscrip- 
tion reliitivcly  to 
Di'vice. 

Inscription. 

Alpliabet  and 
other  Epigraphic 
Notes. 



AIONT2l[OT] 

[ArP]lAN[lOT] 

III. 



2AKPATH 
0E2MO*OP 

Similar  to  Fig.  27. 

•  • 

En[l  API]2 

TOMAXOT 

APTAMITIOT 

TIL 

To  right    . . 

AIONT2I02 

IIL 



[M]AP2TA 
[ArPjIANIOT 

Similar  to  Fig.  29. 

Eni  AFE 

2TPATOT 

TAKIN0IOT 

I. 

(?).. 

inscription  not  traceable 

See  Fig.  5-1. 

144 


AMPHORA   HANDLES,   WITH    GKEEK    STAMPS. 


Plate  I  (see  January  '  Quarterly  Statement" p.  25) 

TELL  5ANDAHANNAH  EXCAVATION      ttf   (— f  t-f  tJ   'IS 
RHODIAN  5TAMPED  AMPHORA    ' 


145 


THE     ROCK-CUT     TO:\IBS     IX    WADY 

JERUSALEM. 


ER-RABABI, 


By  R,  A.  Stewart  Macalistek,  M.A. 

(Coniinncd  from  the  ''Quarterly  Statement,"  July,   1900,  p.  248.) 

27.  Tlie  angle  of  a  tomb-chamber  of  which  tlie  rest  has  been 
quarried  away.  Portions  of  two  sides,  respeclively  8  feet  and 
()  feet  4  inches,  remain  together  wiHi  fi-ngments  of  the  roof.  The 
bottoms  of  the  walls  have  been  qnairied  ouf,  and  with  them  tAvo 
loculi  in  the  longer  side.  In  this  side  are  red  marks  resembling  a 
painted  inscription:  two  strokes,  much  like  the  uprights  of  an  H, 
are  especially  conspicuous.  These  are,  however,  mere  red  veiuings 
in  the  stone. 

The  five  following  tombs  are  on  or  near  the  top  of  the  hill, 
above  the  level  of  the  preceding  series,  but  to  the  east  of  it : — 

28.  (Plan  X). — A  single  chamber  tomb:  two  steps  lead  down 
from  the  door  to  the  floor  of  the  chamber.  Round  two  sides  of 
the  chamber  is  a  raised  bench,  2  feet  high,  and  on  a  level  Avith  the 


k2 


140 


THE   ROCK-CUT  TOMBS   IN   WADY   ER-EABABI. 


upper  surface  of  this  beucli  is  an  arcosolium  in  each  of  the  sides 
not  occupied  by  the  door.  These  arcosolia  have  depressions  for 
the  head,  like  the  benches  in  No.  28  already  described.  On  the 
face  of  the  bench,  at  its  southern  end,  is  inscription  No.  9. 

29.  (Plan  XI). — A  very  roughly  executed  tomb.  It  consists  of 
a  four-sided  vestibule  open  to  the  north,  in  the  centre  of  whose 
floor  is  a  block  of  stone  2  feet  4^  inches  by  3  feet  6  inches  by 
2  feet,  most  pi'obably  the  stone  that  blocked  the  door  of  the  tomb- 
chamber.  The  floor  of  the  latter  is  at  a  level  of  2  feet  8  inches 
below  that  of  the  vestibule.  There  are  three  large  deep  irregular 
kokim.  Part  of  the  east  side  has  been  repaired  by  building,  the 
rock  being  rotten ;  this  part  is  blackened  in  in  the  plan. 

30.  (Plan  XII). — An  irregularly  cut  group  of  two  chambers. 
The  door  is  coarsely  moulded.  Both  chambers,  as  may  be  seen 
from  the  plan,  are  crooked,  and  in  their  floors  are  four-sided 
depressions,  1  foot  2  inches  deep  in  the  outer,  2  feet  in  the 
inner  chamber.  The  roof  of  the  outer  chamber  is  6  feet  above 
its  floor,  that  of  the  inner  5  feet  2  inches.  The  rock  in  the  west 
side  of  the  outer  chamber  is  fractured  ;  on  the  south  side  is  a 
niche,  2  feet  G  inches  high.  There  are  no  graves  of  any  kind  in 
the  excavation. 


SCALE 

in  o  I   i  i  ^  s  0  ^  ■^  9 

hrrt     i— I     I— I     M     M    \for)(.-y.lll 


31.  (Plan  XIII). — A  ruined  tomb,  fallen  in,  and  in  winter  full 
of  water.  The  chamber  is  11  feet  long,  9  feet  broad.  There  is  a 
raised  bench,  3  feet  broad,  on  the  south  side  of  the  chamber. 
There  are  three  kokim,  two  pointing   south,  one  pointing  Avest ; 


THE  ROCK-CUT   TOMBS   IN   WADY  ER-RABABI.  147 

the    latter   is   very   Avide,   and,    no   doubt,  was    intended   for  tlie 
reception  of  more  than  one  body. 

32.  Just  over  the  monastery,  a  large  natural  cave,  30  feet  deej) 
and  25  feet  across.  It  has  been  artificially  enlarged  :  there  are 
traces  of  working  at  the  inner  end.  In  the  roof  is  a  cylindrical 
shaft,  noAv  blocked  np. 

The  following  series  of  tombs  are  at  the  level  of  the  row 
ending  with  No.  27,  and  immediately  below  N"os.  29-32  : — 

33.  A  small  opening  in  the  rock,  the  top  of  which  alone  is 
visible.     It  is  certainly  artificial,  but  may  be  a  mere  quarry. 

ok  (Plan  XIV^). — A  large  cave,  with  two  openings,  but  so  much 
destroyed  by  quarrying  that  an  exact  plan  would  be  useless.  The 
chief  feature  remaining  is  a  shaft  3  feet  7  inches  diameter,  cut 
vertically  through  the  pier  separating  the  two  doors. 

35.  A  small  hole,  perhaps  merely  a  quarry. 

36.  A  larger  hole  of  similar  character.  The  tooling  visible  here 
and  there  seems  better  than  would  be  expected  in  a  mere  quarry. 

37.  An  irregular  hole,  9  feet  across,  7  feet  deep.  At  both  the 
east  and  the  west  sides  are  openings  reduced  by  the  accumulation 
of  debris  to  mere  slits,  through  which  chambers  are  visible. 

38.  (Plan  XV;  Tobler,  13;  Baedeker,  13a).— The  elaborate 
cave  known  as  Ferdus  er-Rum.  The  vestibule  is  quarried  away : 
in  the  east  side  is  the  spring  of  an  arch  like  the  vault  of  an 
arcosoliura,  but  this  could  scarcely  have  been  sepulchral,  as  the 
bench  under  the  arch  must  always  have  been  in  the  open  air. 
The  door  is  small,  but  as  it  is  remarkably  irregular  for  a  system 
of  tomb-chambers  otherwise  carefully  finished,  it  must  originally 
have  been  even  smaller  and  subsequently  rotighly  enlarged.  To 
the  east  of  the  doorway  the  wall  of  the  vestibule  is  covered  with  a 
diaper  of  little  crosses,  the  work  of  pilgrims  to  the  "  Aceldama." 

The  first  chamber  is  a  quadrangular  room  with  domed  roof. 
Doorways,  the  design  of  which  is  shov.'n  in  the  cut,  lead  into 
subordinate  chambers,  each  with  two  sunk  bench  graves.  (The 
letters  in  the  cut  refer  to  corresponding  letters  on  the  plan  and 
indicate  the  position  of  each  door.)  The  doorway  on  the  east  side 
has  been  half  quarried  away,  and  the  chamber  into  which  it  leads 
bx^eaks  into  an  irregular  natural  cavity  in  the  rock.  There  is  also 
a  deep  kok-grave  to  the  south  of  the  Avestern  subsidiary  chamber, 

Not  published. 


148 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS   IN'   WAUY   ER-RABABI. 


and  opposite  it  the  door  of  what  may  be  described  as  a   "  false 
kok." 


■■/}y 


This  "false  kok"  forms  a 
portion  of  the  elaborate  system 
of  defence  by  which  it  was  hoped 
the  inner  chambei'  would  be  pro- 
tected from  spoliation.  It  is 
evident  that  a  rolling  stone  ran 
in  front  of  the  entrance  to  the 
inner  chamber,  and  that  it  was 
held  in  position  by  a  block  which 
could  be  manipulated  in  the  little 
secret  chamber  to  which  the  false 
kok  gives  access.  The  rolling 
stone  itself  was  concealed  by  a 
long  slab  of  stone,  now  dis- 
appeared, which  no  doubt  was 
ornamented  Avith  a  completion 
of  the  panelling  of  the  blank 
doorway  shown  on  the  plate. 
When  this   slab  was  in  position 


iiSiiW 


a  XV 


by.y 


c)^y 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS   IX   WADV   ER-IIAIIABI.  ]  40 

the  sepulchre  wouhl  present  the  uppearance  of  a  single  main 
chamber,  with  two  side  tomb-chambers  and  two  kokim  ;  and 
having  a  mock  door  in  the  back  wnU,  imitating  the  "  prac- 
ticable "  side  doors,  and  completing  a  uniform  scheme  of 
ornamentation.  "Whether  thieves  were  ever  put  '•  off  the  scent " 
by  these  elaborate  devices  we  cannot  saj- ;  rolling  stone  and 
cover  slab  have  disappeared,  and  the  door  now  stands  open  to 
give  admission  to  the  second  chamber.  This  13  similar  to  the 
first,  but  on  a  slightly  smaller  scale;  there  are  two  side  tomb- 
chambers,  as  in  the  first  room,  and  the  doors  are  of  the  same 
•character  as  those  already  met  with.  There  is,  however,  no 
attempt  at  concealing  the  entrance  to  the  inner  members  of  the 
sepulchre.  The  ceiling  of  the  second  chamber  is  domed  like  that 
ot  the  first 

A  long  passage  leads  downwards  to  the  third  and  last  chamber. 
The  first  half  of  this  passage  is  higher  and  wider  than  the  second, 
and  contains  a  sunk  bench  tomb  on  each  side.  The  innermost 
chamber  is  qnite  plain,  and  contains  three  arcosolia.  The  floor  is 
covered  with  rubbish.  Except  the  dimensions,  which  are  figured 
■on  the  plate,  there  is  nothing  to  be  said  about  this  room. 

39.  (Plan  XVI,^  mentioned  in  Tobler  under  18). — Fragment  of 
a  tomb,  destroyed  by  quarrying.  One  arcosolium  is  left,  2  feet 
10  inches  high.  The  ceiling  of  the  chamber  is  1  foot  10  inches 
above  the  top  of  the  arcosolium. 

40.  (Plan  XVII;  Tobler,  13b,  c  ?).— A  complicated  system 
■arranged  in  three  storeys.  The  outer  chamber,  or  pair  of 
chambers,  have  been  laid  open  by  quarrying.  The  large,  open 
outer  chamber  to  the  east  has  six  shalloAV  kokim  (the  centi-al 
kok  on  the  south  side  remarkably  wide),  probably  very  much 
shortened  by  cutting  back  the  walls.  In  the  north-east  corner 
is  a  hole,  as  though  for  tying  horses,  drilled  through  the  pro- 
jecting angle  of  rock.  The  western  open  chamber  has  seven 
kokim,  one  of  which  is  converted  into  a  passage  to  the  inner 
chambers.  This  is  another  method  of  deceiving  Avould-be  thieves. 
The  chamber  at  the  end  of  the  passage  is  four-sided,  having  on 
the  north  one  kok,  on  the  west  an  arcosolium,  and  on  the  south 
a  kok  and  an  entrance  to  another  chamber.  The  entrance  to  the 
chamber  itself  is  on  its  eastern  wall.  The  southern  door  leads 
to  a  room  having  on  its  floor  a  sunk  grave  rebated  for  cover-slabs, 

'  Not  published. 


150 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS    IN    WADY   ER-RABABI. 


and  additional  graves  in  the  south  and  east.  The  northern  kok 
breaks  into  the  roof  of  a  chamber  with  an  independent  entrance, 
now  blocked ;  it  was  probably  made  for  convenience  in  clearing 
away  the  loose  debris  resulting  fi-om  the  woi-k  of  cutting  out  the 
chambers.  (But  was  it  found  open  by  Tobler?  His  descrip- 
tions  seem  to  imply  this,  but  they  are  rather  confused.)  This 
separate  entrance  is  directed  eastward  ;  there  is  a  kok  to  the  north 
and  another  to  the  south,  and  westward  a  passage  and  two  kokim. 


vZlj^^t^^ 


DvjmScr  01  X.Pua-. ^5ectfln 


The  passage  has  a  bench-grave  on  each  side ;  it  leads  into  a  fine 
chamber  with  a  step  surrounding  it.  There  are  two  arcosolia, 
and  in  the  west  one  kok.  A  door  to  the  west  connects  this 
chamber  with  another,  similar  to  it  and  with  arcosolia  similarly 
disposed,  but  without  kokim.  Another  door  near  the  north  end 
of  the  eastern  side  of  the  first  of  these  two  chambers  communi- 
cates by  two  steps  downward  with  a  small  chamber  having  one 
arcosolium. 

41.  (Plan  XVIII). — This  is  a  large  cave  which  has  been  much 
injured  by  quarrying.  One  kok  alone  remains  uninjured.  At  its 
end  is  a  square  hole  which  communicates  downward  with  a  small 
chamber  having  three  sunk  bench-graves.  Its  floor  is  4  feet 
10  inches  below  the  level  of  the  kok  serving  as  an  approach,  and 
the  height  of  its  roof  above  the  floor  is  5  feet  7  inches.  Here, 
again,  we  see  an  example  of  a  secret  room  hidden  in  an  unlikely 
place  ;  Professor  Clermont- Ganneau  reports  similar  examples 
from  Wady  Yasul.  There  are  remains  of  two  other  kokim :  a 
curious  window-opening  beside  the  door,  2   feet  3   inches   above 


TIIK   ]{OCK-CUT   TOMBS   IN    AVADY    ElMUBAW. 


151 


the  present  level  of  the  floor  of  the   chamber,  and   a  commnnica- 
tion  with  the  well-known   charnel-house  called  "Aceldama,"  next 


1«  P    I     2     .1    4   /    «    7    B    «   >o 


wti    i-i    i-r-p=r 


to  be  described.     The  floor  of  the  latter  is  9  feet  4  inches  below 
the  level  of  the  tomb  under  discussion. 

42.  (Plan  XIX). — This  is  the  gi'oup  of  tombs  which  in  the 
Crusaders'  period  was  united  under  one  roof  to  form  a  cemetery 
or  charnel-house  for  the  bones  of  pilgrims  who  died  at  Jerusalem. 
It  consists  of  a  passage,  scarped  through  the  rock,  running  east 
and  west,  and  having  tomb-chambers  excavated  on  the  south  side. 
A  good  description,  with  plan,  was  communicated  by  Dr.  Schick 
to  the  Quarterly  Statement  some  years  ago,  and  it  is  necessary 
for  me  only  to  refer  to  this  article,  and  to  indicate  a  few  supple- 
mentary details.  The  plan  deduced  from  my  measurements  is 
less  regular  than  that  prepared  by  Dr.  Schick,  and  we  restore  the 
tomb-chambers  (which  have  suffered  severely  from  quarrying) 
rather  differently.  This  will  easily  be  understood  by  anvone 
familiar  with  the  site,  as  tlie  indications  that  remain  are  meagre, 
and  not  very  distinctive.  There  is,  however,  no  doubt  that  there 
was  a  door  at  «,  as  its  top  still  i-emains  {see  the  separate  sketch). 
This  seems  to  me  to  require  the  restoration  of  the  passage  behind 
it,  as  indicated  on  the  plan  by  a  broken  line.  The  elevation,  h, 
shows  the  grounds  for  restoring  the  small  chamber  with  arcosolia 


152 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS    IX   WADY    ER-RA.BABI. 


and  kokim.  At  c  are  five  well-cut  crosses  of  differeat  sizes,  with 
expanding  ends  to  the  arms,  but  the  Armenian  inscription  reported 
by  Tobler  is  no  longer  to  be  seen.  In  the  south-west  corner  is  the 
entrance  to  tomb  Xo.  41. 

In  the  plan  masonry  is  hlacJiened  in,  rock  is  hatched,  features  of 
the  vault  (holes,  &c.)  are  dotted,  restorations  are  indicated  by  a 
broken  line.     The  reverse  direction  of  the  hatching  at  the  corner 

THE  CH.\H,N EL- HOUSE 


doorway  indicates  that  the  kok  there  shown,  as  well  as  the  kokim 
associated  with  it,  are  at  a  lower  level  than  the  doorway  itself. 

43.  A  little  north  of  the  charnel-house  ;  a  rectangular  chamber, 
of  which  the  back  wall  alone  remains  perfect.  It  is  10  feet  8  inches 
long.     This  is  nearly  full  of  rubbish. 

44.  East  of  the  above  ;  a  chamber,  much  choked  with  debris, 
7  feet  8  inches  by  7  feet  G  inches,  having  two  kokim  running  east 
and  west,  close  to  the  back  wall.     These  are  respectively  G  feet 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS    IX    WADV    EH-RABABI.  153 

iind  7  feet  3  inches  long.  The  longer  of  these  kokim  is  2  feet 
9  inches  broad  and  '2  feet  8  inches  high,  and  is  covered  with 
■a  vaulted  roof. 

Tobler  describes  an  elaborate  system  about  20  paces  north  of 
Aceldama.     Strange  to  say,  I  searched  in  viiin  for  this. 

45.  (Plan  XX^). — This  tomb  is  at  the  side  of  the  new  road 
leading  up  to  the  monastery  of  the  Aceldama.  It  consists  of 
■one  chamber,  irregular  in  shape.  6  feet  6  inches  high,  with  ;i 
bench  of  maximum  heiyht  1  foot  6  inches  round  two  sides.  An 
irregular  fracture  inteiTupts  the  bench  on  the  east  side,  and 
behind  it  is  a  crooked  cavity  6  feet  deep  and  5  feet  maximum 
width.  This  may  be  a  natural  hole.  In  the  middle  of  the  west 
side  is  a  sunk  grave  2  feet  deep,  6  feet  6  inches  long,  and  2  feet 
across  ;  and  at  the  north  end  of  the  same  side  is  a  small  chamber 
■5  feet  long,  3  feet  broad,  and  2  feet  7  inches  high.  The  entrance 
door  is  raised  about  2  feet  above  the  floor.  Over  it,  on  the  exterior 
iace  of  the  rock,  is  inscription  No.  10. 

46.  A  chamber  10  feet  long,  6  feet  bi'oad,  recessed  behind 
a  vestibule  nearly  full  of  stones.  It  is  much  destroyed  by 
•quarrying. 

47.  This  tomb  has  been  turned  into  a  cess-pit,  and  the 
•entrance  is  blocked  Avith  stones.  Above  the  door  is  inscription 
No.  11. 

The  nine  tomb  systems  following  (48-56)  are  contained  within 
the  precincts  of  the  modern  Greek  naonasteiy  of  Aceldama,  and 
are  adapted  for  various  purposes  in  connection  with  it : — 

48.  A  small  chamber,  nearly  full  of  rubbish ;  all  that  is  left  of 
a  system  that,  in  addition,  possessed  at  least  one  kok.  It  has 
nearly  all  been  removed,  in  order  to  make  room  for  a  pathway. 

49.  (Plan  XXI^). — This  excavation  is  now  the  wine  cellar  of 
the  monastery.  Its  members  are: — (1)  A  vestibule,  10  feet 
7  inches  across  ;  over  the  doorway  leading  into  the  chambei" 
beyond  it  is  a  single  red  spot,  probably  the  sole  relic  of  an 
inscription.  (2)  A  chamber,  10  feet  2  inches  by  9  feet  11  inches, 
^vith  three  arcosolia  and  one  kok.  (8)  A  chamber,  6  feet  by 
7  feet  6  inches,  at  a  lower  level,  approached  by  a  short  flight  of 
steps.  In  this  chamber  are  two  kokim  beside  the  entrance  to  the 
staircase,  two  arcosolia  (one  on  each  of  the  side  walls),  and,  on 
the  back  wall,  a  niche  and  a  passage  that  communicates  with  some 

^  Not  published. 


154 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS    IX   "WADY   EK-UABABI. 


place    outside    the    monastery — perhaps    tomb    Xo.    47.       This 
passage  is  therefore  securely  closed  with  fixed  iron  bars. 

50.  (Plan  XXII;  Tobler,  10;  Baedeker,  9).— An  elaborate 
but  much-injured  excavation,  part  of  -wbicli  is  now  the  monastexy 
chapel.      The  doorway  has  been  restored  in  modern   masonry ; 


~Ti/- 


-LTS- 


-U-J- 


-jv- 


-xj— 


-irj- 


-J-JT 


JJL 


llill     I     I     L 


CXX/^ 


above  it  is  a  frieze  divided  by  diglyphs  into  eight  metopes  (Fig.  c), 
containing  wreatbs  and  rosettes.  The  vestibule  has  been  covered 
with  modern  painting,  which  destroys  nearly  all  traces  of  the 
ancient  decoration.  The  only  visible  remains  of  the  latter  are  a 
red  line  with  black  spots  in  the  cornice,  and  the  letters  A — U) 
in  the  spandrels  of  the  inner  doorway. 

The  east  wall  of  the  first  chamber  has  been  cut  away,  and  an 
extension  has  been  made  so  as  to  give  space  for  the  chapel.  Of 
the  ancient  wall  paintings  that  once  covered  the  plastered  rock- 
surface,  very  little  remains  ;  time,  the  vandalism  of  former  Fellah 
inhabitants,  and  modern  restoration,  have  all  had  their  share  in 
obliteratinerthem.  The  few  relics  consist  of  a  border  round  the 
ceiling  in  red  and  green  (Fig.  h),  which  enclosed  five  almost  full-size 

_, fio-ures  (these  have  been  completely 

repainted),  and  the  tops  of  square 
I  panels  that  no  doubt  once  also  con- 
bxxi/  taiued  figures,  which,  owing  to  the 
destruction  of  the  plaster,  have  disappeared.  The  broken  east 
wall  shows  the  top  of  an  arcosolium. 

To  the  right  of  the  entrance  is  the  name  of  a  saint,  which 
formerly  explained  a  now  destroyed  figui'e,  and  tliere  was  a 
similar  inscription  on  the  north  wall ;  but  both  are  now  too  much 
battered  to  be  legible.  On  the  east  face  of  the  remaining 
fragment  of  the  east  wall  are  also  traces  of  painting. 

Behind  the  present  chapel  is  a  long  irregular  chamber,  that 
has  apparently  been  considerably  interfered  with  ;  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  the  present  is  the  original  plan,  though  the  lai^er 


^^r^-^^^^ 


THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS   IN    WADY   ER-IIABABI. 


loo 


cannot  be  restored  with  certainty.  On  the  western  side  an 
arcosoliura  has  been  broken  away  to  form  a  recess  for  a  row  of 
stalls  ;  further  south  is  a  recess  with  a  now  blocked  shaft  running 
upwards  from  its  ceiling.  In  the  centre  of  the  floor  is  the 
entrance  to  a  cistern,  now  used  as  one  of  the  water  stores  of  the 
monastery.  On  the  east  side  is  a  quadrangular  space  partly 
recessed  in  the  wall,  and  sunk  about  I  foot  below  the  level  of  the 
floor;  on  its  eastern  side  are  two  kokirn,  blocked  up,  and  on  the 
south  side  a  door  communicating  with  a  small  chamber  containing 
two  arcosolia  and   three   kokim — two   which  are  rather   shallow 


SCALE 
1ILC  S  iO  If 

HHHhHHHHI-t  HTtm  for  XX.II -Ti^^l'l 


recesses,  under,  one  behind  the  arcosolium  in  the  southern  wall. 
From  this  chamber  a  curved  passage  gives  access  to  another,  now 
much  broken,  and  used  as  a  store  and  lumber  room.  There  are 
traces  of  painting  on  the  walls  of  the  quadrangular  space  (figures 
in  outline,  indefinite  fragments  only  left),  and  in  the  small  tomb- 
chamber  (a  few  red  and  black  lines,  apparently  part  of  a  figure  in 
outline,  on  the  eastern  arcosolium ;  some  plain  red  crosses  on  the 
southern). 

Returning  to  the  first  chamber,  and  proceeding  southward,  we 
enter  by  an  arched  doorway  into  a  chamber  7  feet  b}-  6  feet 
9  inches,  containing  two  ai'cosolia — one  on  the  east,  one  on  the 
south — with  two  kokim  under  each.  In  the  wall  behind  the 
"arcosolium  on  the  eastern  side  are  two  niches. 


156 


THE   KOCK-CUT   TOMBS   IX    WADY   ER-RABABI. 


51.  (Plan  XXIII). — A  flight  of  steps  downward  gives  access 
to  a  chamber  3  feet  across,  8  feet  7  inches  long.  On  each  side  is 
a  sunk  tomb  in  an  arcosolium.  Behind  is  a  square  chamber, 
havins-  a  raised  bench  all  round,  doubled  on  the  north  side.  This 
has  four  kokim  on  the  west  wall  with  a  double  arcosolium  above 
them  ;  the  latter  detail  is  new  to  me.  On  the  cast  side  are  two- 
kokim ;  on  the  south  two  kokim  and  a  passage  with  an  arcosolium 
on  each  side. 

52.  (Plan  XXIV).— Two  | 
rooms    at    least,    broken    to- 
gether to   form   a  bedroom  : 
in  one  side  is  a  niche  with  a 
plain  moulding.      Behind  is 
a    chamber,   intact,   7   feet  5 
inches    square.      It   contains 
on    the   west    side    an    arco- 
solium with  a  niche  behind 
it ;  on  the  south,  two  kokim  ; 
on    the    east  an   arcosolium, 
having  a  kok  below  it,  two 
at  riffht  angles  to    the  wall 
behind  it,  and    one  running 
parallel    to    the    wall    south- 
ward from   it ;    on    the    east 
of    the   latter  is   a  grave-recess,   and  at  the   south   end   a  niche. 
Thei-e    are    fragments    of   one    or    two    handsome    ossuaries    (the 
principal   design  on  which   is  shown  on 
Fig.  a)  lying  in  this  chamber. 

53.  A    large     square    room,    much 
injured  by  quarrying.     It  is  18  feet  by 


.<,©' 


15  feet   8    inches.       At    the    end   is   an  "^^.'Ol 
arcosolium.       A  bench  runs   round  the        '®'' 
wall,  and  underneath  is  a  cistern.     Over 
the  entrance  is  inscription  No.  12. 

5-i.  The  entrance  portion  of  this  tomb  has  been  greatly 
modified  to  form  the  kitchen  of  the  monastery.  A  chamber 
remains  intact  at  the  back,  and  contains  two  arcosolia  and  four 
kokim. 

55.  This  tomb,  now  the  wood  store  of  the  monastery,  is 
peculiar  among  those  of  this  grolip  in  possessing  kokim  only. 
There  are  three  on  the  south,  three  on  the  west  side. 


THE   KOCK-CUT   TOMBS   IN    AVADY    ER-RABABI. 


1.- 


oi 


56.  (Plan  XXV  ;  Tobler,  8  ;  Baedeker,  8).— This  is  by  far  the 
most  elaborate  tomb  system  in  Wacly  er-Rababi.  It  is  at  a  lower 
level  than  the  others,  and  its  porch  has  been  inpi-eniously  ada])ted 
in  the  substructures  of  the  monastery.  The  graves  have  been 
filled  with  skulls  and  other  bones  taken  from  tlie  charnel-house 
and  the  other  tombs  in  the  neig'libourhood. 


O      .     S  :  ■■'  /O  /6/t 

EHHHHHHED  fir^ia^ 

M     M     M     l-rn    fira.i, 


a. 

y 

i 

'        /    1 

0 

't 

1 

1 

.-■J 

sti^Tfe^i^^r 'i 


Before  the  entrance  is  a  distyle  portico,  such  as  exists  in  a  few 
of  the  most  costly  of  the  tombs  near  Jerusalem.  The  other 
examples  known  to  me  are: — (1)  The  tomb  of  Queen  Helena; 
(2)  the  tomb  of  the  Beni  Hazer ;  (3)  a  little-knowu  tri-cameral 
tomb  of  unknown  appropriation,  south  of  the  "  Tombs  of  the 
Judges  "  ;   (4)  a  tomb,  conspicuous  in  a  valley  north-east  of  the 


158  THE   ROCK-CUT   TOMBS    IX    W.VDY    ER-RABABI. 

"  Tombs  of  the  Judges,"  where  the  pillars  have  long  been  removed, 
though  the  portico  remains.  In  this  tomb  the  walls  of  tlie  portico 
are  blocked  in  imitation  of  drafted  masonry'. 

A  doorway  of  peculiar  design,  Fig.  h,  witli  a  lofty 
triangular  pediment  and  two  side  pilasters,  gives  access  to  a 
chamber  between  10  and  11  feet  square,  with  a  domed  roof 
such  as  we  already  met  with  in  Ferdus  er-Riim  (No.  38). 
To  the  west  are  two  side  chambers,  each  with  two  arcosolia ;  these 
have  round-headed  doorways,  with  a  half-column  between  them. 
Fig.  a  shows  the  elevation  of  this  side  of  the  chamber.  The 
eastern  side  is  similar,  but  the  northern  of  the  two  chambers 
leads  to  a  complicated  system  consisting  of  five  rooms  wdth  kokim 
and  arcosolia.  The  south  side  of  the  first  chamber  also  shows  two 
doorways.  That  on  the  east  leads  to  a  room,  G  feet  9  inches  by 
7  feet  2  inches,  with  a  sunk  grave  in  the  centre  of  the  floor — 
the  only  grave  in  the  cemetery  that  in  shape  follows  the  general 
outlines  of  a  human  body — an  arcosolium  eastward,  and  another 
northward,  with  above  it  the  entrance  to  a  smaller  chamber  havinsr 
two  arcosolia.  The  western  side  door  leads  to  a  chamber,  7  feet 
4  inches  by  8  feet  8  inches,  the  ceiling  of  which  is  covered  with 
crosses  smoked  by  pilgrims.  This  has  three  arcosolia,  one  in  each 
of  the  walls  not  containing  the  doorway,  and  in  the  floor  an 
opening  giving  admission  by  steps  downward  to  another  chamber, 
7  feet  2  inches  square,  having  subsidiary  chambers  eastward  and 
westw^ard,  with  two  arcosolia  in  each. 

There  are  tw^o  ossuaries  in  the  entrance  chamber.  One  of 
these  has  an  inscription  scratched  upon  its  cover;  it  is  in  square 
Hebrew  letters,  but  so  defaced  that  I  could  make  nothing^  of  it. 

In  front  of  the  enti'ance  portico  is  a  rock-hcAvn  court,  with 
two  recesses  on  the  eastern  side,  and  in  the  south-west  ang-le 
the  entrance  to  another  tomb  svstem.  This  consists  of  a  vesti- 
bule  with  a  staircase  leading  downward  into  a  four-sided  chamber 
having  subsidiary  chambers  with  arcosolia,  one  in  each  of  the 
sides  not  containing  the  doorway.  The  chamber  on  the  side 
opposite  the  doorway  leads  to  a  further  chamber  (unfinished), 
4  feet  10  inches  by  5  feet  9  inches,  presenting  no  feature  of 
.interest. 

I  cannot  recognise  Tobler's  No.  9. 


'JD' 


(To  he  continued.') 


ir,o 


THE    ROCK-CUTTINGS    OF   KHURBET    EL-'AIK 

By  R.  A.  Stewart  Macalister,  M.A. 

Khurbet  el-'Ain  is  the  name  given  to  a  hill  by  the  side  of  Wady 
ej-Judeideh,  immediately  opposite  to  the  Tell  of  the  same  name. 
Between  it  and  the  next  hill  (Khurbet  Medawwir)  runs  the  road 
from  Wady  ej-Judeideh  to  Dcir  en-Nakhkhas.  Near  the  side  of 
this  road,  at  its  junction  with  the  Wady,  there  ai'e  certain  frag- 
inents  of  pillars  and  other  architectural  remains  of  the  Roman 
period,  which  tradition  asserts  to  be  the  remains  of  a  fountain 
('at')?)  that  once  existed  here,  and  from  which  the  liill  derives 
its  name.  The  building,  whatever  it  was,  has  become  completely 
disintegrated,  most  of  its  stones  having  been  removed  for 
boundary  marks  and  other  purposes  ;  it  is  now  quite  impossible 
to  recover  its  plan  or  design. 

Among  some  half-dozen  pits  of  the  common  bell-shape,  a  few 
columbaria,  rock-cut  graves,  and  tomb-chambers  with  kokim,  is  a 
number  of  rock-cuttings  which  yield  to  none  in  interest  or  variety. 
I  have  foun^  no  group  more  worthy  of  careful  study  and  richer  in 
promise  of  instruction ;  and,  therefore,  have  thought  it  Avorth 
while  to  prepare  a  short  preliminary  account  of  the  three  most 
important.  Full  details  and  measurements,  with  plans  (precluded 
by  their  necessary  size  from  appearing  in  the  Quarterly  Statement) 
will  be  given  in  the  section  on  rock-cuttings  in  the  forthcoming 
memoir  on  the  recent  excavations. 

I. — The  first  of  the  three  that  I  have  selected  tor  present 
notice  is  situated  on  the  summit  of  the  col  connecting  Khurbet  el- 
'Ain  with  the  next  hill  to  the  south.  It  is  called  Mughdret  Abu 
Haggein  (  .^~w)  by  the  natives:  a  nnme  which  seems  to  mean 
"  Cave  of  the  Father  of  two  truths,"  though  its  application  is 
beyond  my  comprehension.  There  ai-e  two  types  of  labyrinth 
among  the  Shephelah  caves.  In  tlie  first,  of  which  the  Great 
Souterrain  at  Tell  Zakariya  is  an  excellent  example,  the  chambers 
communicate  one  with  another  either'  directly  or  less  frequently  by 
intervening  passages.  In  the  second  a  long  creep-passage  is  the 
backbone  of  the  system,  and  subsidiary  passages  and  chambers 
radiate  fi'om  it  on  each  side. 

L 


IGO  THE   nOCK-CUTTINGS    OF   KHURBET   EL-'AIX. 

!Mugliaret    Abu    Hao-geha    is    an    admirable    .spcciiiieii    of    tl-e 
second,  which  is  much  the  rarer  type. 

CHAMBEli    A 

* 


KVI  L'AXiE    *    CHAMBKR    B 


CHAIJBEK     C 
PASSAGE    A    *    CHAMBKU.    1)    *    PASSAGE    B 

As  a  temporary  substitute  for  a  plan,  which  cannot  be  reduced 
satisfactorily  to  the  size  of  tlie  Quarterly  Statement,  the  above 
diagram  (based  on  a  system  adapted  from  Tobler's  plans  of  rock- 
tombs)  is  offered  iu  elucidation  of  the  description.  The  entrance 
is  a  downward  sloping  passage,  open  to  the  sky.  At  its  lower 
■end  are  three  doorways  (represented  by  stars),  each  leading  into 
;a  chamber.  These  chambers  communicate  internally  as  well : 
indeed,  the  external  entrances  to  A  and  B  are  now  blocked. 
Beyond  Chamber  C  is  Chamber  D,  which  has  four  little  sub- 
sidiary cells  opening  off  from  it  (not  indicated  in  the  diagram) 
and  two  passages.  Passage  A  is  69  feet  long;  four  small  cells 
open  off  it  in  its  course,  as  well  as  a  subsidiary  passage,  com- 
municating by  a  further  subordinated  passage  with  a  tifth  cell. 
The  main  passage  terminates  in  a  chamber  of  considerable  size, 
having  four  small  cells  opening  off  it.  Passage  B  is  open  for 
95  feet  of  its  length,  after  which  it  is  blocked.  Eight  cells  open 
from  it.  A  sudden  drop  downwards  in  its  floor  seems  to  be  meant 
to  put  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  invaders. 

The  cave,  therefore,  consists  of  three  large  main  chambers 
(B,  C,  D)  and  one  smaller  (A)  ;  of  main  lines  of  passage  open 
for  a  total  length  of  161)  feet ;  of  one  large  chamber  and  21  small 
cells  subordinated  to  the  main  chambers  and  passages ;  as  well  as 
of  certain  subsidiary  galleries.  Besides  the  open  entrance,  nine 
doorways,  apparently  ancient  entrances,  are  visible  at  various 
places  inside,  blocked  up  ;  these  were  probably  merely  holes  made 
f(jr  convenience  in  removing  waste  material. 

II. — This  is  a  bell-shaped  pit  of  the  ordinary  pattern  ;  but  it 
is  distinguished  by  its  great  size,  and  by  the  complicated  history 


TIIK    i:OCK-CUTTINGS   OK    KFIUUBET    Et.-'AIN.  101 

written  (Hi  iis  walls,  IVoiu  otlioi's  of  the  ty|)e.  The  di'|>th  is 
60  feet,  the  diameter  at  the  bottom  40  feet.  The  bottom  is 
accessible  by  a  staircase. 

The  most  reraai-kable  featiii'e  of  the  cave  is  a  great  cross 
2}attee,  cut  neatly  on  the  wall  at  jx  height  of  about  30  feet  from 
the  on'ound.  This  must  either  have  been  made  when  the  cave 
was  being  made,  or  else  have  been  cut  with  the  aid  of  a  ladder  or 
scaffolding.  The  former  view  would,  of  course,  date  the  cave  in 
post-Christian  times,  and  therefore,  bj  analogy,  all  like  it  as 
well — a  conclusion  which  to  me  seems  all  but  inconceivable. 
Five  other  crosses  are  scattered  over  the  wall  in  more  accessible 
situations. 

In  any  case,  whatever  the  date  of  the  cave  may  be,  the.'<o 
crosses  attest  a  Christian  occupation  ;  and  a  subsequent  non- 
Christian  occupation  as  a  columbarium  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  t'.vo  of  these  crosses  are  interfered  with  by  the  encroachment 
of  loculi.  In  all  there  are  4-i5  holes  for  urns  cut  in  the  walls  of 
the  cave. 

There  are  two  characters  scratched  high  up  on  the  wall,  near 
the  enti'ance,  which  merit  attention.  The  first  of  these  resembles 
a  character  in  the  West  Asiatic  hieroglyphs  ;  it  is  the  letter  like 
the  handle  of  a  bucket,  which  occurs  three  times  in  line  1  of  the 
tirst  three  Hamath  inscriptions  as  figured  in  Wright's  "  Empire  of 
the  Hittites."  The  difference  between  this  character  and  the 
Khurbet  el-'Ain  symbol  lies  in  the  loops,  which  ai-e  open  in  the 
latter,  closed  in  the  former.^  The  other  syinboi  is  more  interesting. 
It  is  a  Swastika,  witii  the  lower  arm  developed  into  a  spiral 
surroundinj?  the  fio-ure.  This,  I  believe,  is  the  first  Swastika  vet 
found  in  the  Phoenician  arch.'^ological  area;  it  is  common  in 
districts  under  Mycenoean  and  Greek  influence,  but  has  hitherto 
been  regarded  as  foreign  to  Phoenician  and  native  Egyptian  art  or 
symbolism. 

It  is  only  fair  to  mention  that  the  credit  of  first  noticing  this 
very  interesting  pair  of  symbols  belongs  to  a  promising  youthful 
archaeologist,  Master  J.  Palmer  (son  of  my  friend  Mr.  R.  G. 
Palmer,  late  of  Jerusalem),  who,  during  a   visit  to   the   explora- 

'  In  column  D,  line  2,  of  the  first;  Jorabis  inscription  (op.  cif.),  a  form 
of  this  letter  appears  more  nearly  resembling  the  eliaraeter  in  question.  But 
I  do  not  suggest  that  we  have  a  specimen  of  the  West  Asiatic  liieroglypln- 
at  Khurbet  el-'Ain,  whicli  is  probably  too  fur  sontJi  for  such  a  discovery.  The 
comparisons  are  merely  intended  to  be  descriptive,  not  explanatory. 

l2 


162  THE   ROCK-CUTTINGS   OF   KHURBET   EL-'AIX. 

lion  camp,  gave  me  mucb  useful  assistance  in  measuring  these 
caves. 

III. — Of  all  tlie  120  or  130  caves,  large  and  small,  which  I 
examined  in  the  district  round  Beit  Jibrin,  none  appeared  to  me 
more  interesting  than  the  third  of  those  selected  for  the  present 

notice. 

It  consisis  of  a  long  hall,  47  feet  in  length,  and  maintaining 
a  fairly  uniform  breadth  of  IS  or  19  feet,  approached  by  a 
vestibule,  or  rather  open  passage,  sloping  downwards.  Round 
the  hall  is  arranged  a  series  of  rooms — mostly  .small  cells — 
opening  off  its  sides  by  well-made  square  doorways,  which  have 
been  prepared  for  wooden  frames  ;  there  are  in  all  14  of  these  cells 
connected  with  the  main  hall,  beside  a  large  number  of  shallow 
niches.  One  of  these  chambers,  on  the  west  side,  is  connected 
by  a  short  tunnel  (now  blocked  with  stones)  with  a  series  of  four 
chambers,  one  of  them  a  great  room  of  bell  shape,  about  40  feet 
in  depth. 

In  the  south-west  corner  of  the  principal  hall  is  a  passage, 
raised  3  feet  7  inches  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  which, 
after  passing  through  a  very  low  and  narrow  doorway,  ends  at 
the  foot  of  a  straight,  steep,  narrow  staircase,  of  a  form  quite 
unique  in  these  caves.  There  are  20  steps,  ranging  in  tread  from 
5^  to  8  inches,  and  in  rise  from  13  to  20  inches.  The  top  of  the 
.staircase  is  blocked  up  ;  but  two  passages  open  off  the  left-hand 
side  wall,  near  the  top  ;  the  upper  passage  is  short,  and  leads 
to  a  small  system  of  three  cells;  the  lower  winds  for  about 
50  feet,  after  which  it  suddenly  comes  to  an  end  in  a  block.  Not 
impossibly  it  would  end  in  a  raised  doorway,  inaccessible  Avithout 
:i  lono-  ladder,  to  be  seen  in  the  Avail  of  the  large  bell-chamber 
already  described. 

One  more  interesting  feature  of  tlie  main  hall  deserves  careful 
consideration.  This  is  a  cupboard  above  a  kind  of  apse  in  the 
centre  of  the  east  wall.  It  is  a  receptacle  of  small  size — 
1  foot  3  inches  to  1  foot  5  inches  in  all  dimensions,  and  therefore 
could  not  have  held  many  or  large  objects,  but  these  must  have 
been  of  considerable  intrinsic  value,  as  the  cupboard  was  closed 
with  a  board,  carefully  secured  in  position  by  a  heavy  beam. 
The  sockets  for  all  these  are  visible  in  the  rock ;  and  it  is 
interesting  to  notice  that  for  extra  security  the  board  must  have 
been  slightly  warped,  so  as  to  fit  more  tightly. 


DISCOVEKY   AT   THE   POOL   BETIIESDA.  IG.'J 

111  my  opinion  the  caves  at  Khurbet  ol-'Aiu  are  of  much 
o-i'cator  interest,  than  even  the  colossal  excavations  of  Beit  Jibriii  ; 
and  of  the  series  on  this  liill  none  can  compete  in  imjiortance  with 
that  now  described. 

Close  by  it  is  another,  oE  A'ery  similar  type,  but  not  nearly 
so  extensive. 


DISCOVERY    AT    THE    POOL    BETHESUA. 

By  Pi:i;E  Li':ox  Crk. 

Ix  the  Quarterly  Statement  for  1888  (pp.  115-134)  there  is  a 
description,  with  plan  and  sections,  by  Dr.  Schick,  of  the  twin 
pools  near  the  Charch  of  St.  Anne,  which  are  called  by  the  earlier 
historians  of  the  Crusades  Piscina  Probatica  or  Bethesda.  Ihe 
pools,  then  recently  discovered,  were  only  partially  examined ; 
and,  as  more  than  half  of  them  lie  beneath  private  Moslem 
houses,  complete  exploration  is  still  impo.ssible.  It  was  thought, 
however,  that  something  more  might  be  done,  and  in  1899  the 
Committee  of  the  Fund  placed  a  small  sum  at  the  disposal  of  the 
"White  Fathers"  wlio  had  conducted  the  previous  excavations. 
The  result  has  been  the  discovery  of  the  outlet  of  the  western  pool, 
and  of  the  drain  connected  with  it. 

Pere  Leon  Cre,  to  whose  initiative  the  work  of  exploration  is 
due,  writes  that  when  the  south  part  of  the  western  pool  was 
cleared  of  rubbish  they  noticed,  against  the  south  wall,  two 
masses  of  rock  which  resembled  the  piers  that  support  the  sluice- 
gates of  European  reservoirs.  Digging  between  these,  they  found 
a  channel  2  feet  11^  inches  wide  and  deep,  and  then  a  rock-hewn 
opening,  3  feet  3;^  inches  high,  in  the  south  wall,  at  a  depth  of 
G2  feet  4  inches  below  the  present  level  of  the  ground.  Beneath 
this  opening  was  another,  1  foot  7^  inches  square,  which  allowed 
the  pool  to  be  emptied  for  cleansing  purposes.  Passing  through 
the  opening,  they  found  themselves  in  a  high  passage  with  rock 
sides,  which  was  roofed  with  large  flag-stones,  and  at  the  bottom 
of  the  shaft  by  which  men  jmssed  up  and  down,  by  means  of 
small  foot-holes  cut  in  the  rock,  to  open  or  shut  the  sluice-gate. 
Beyond  the  shaft  the  passage  was  covered  with  stalactites,  which 
wainscoted  its  rocky  sides  or  hung  in  rows,  like  petrified  snakes. 


1G4 


DISCOVERY   AT   THE   POOL   BETHESDA. 


from  tlie  joints  between  the  covering  flag-stones.  When  the 
hardened  mud,  which  covered  the  floor  to  a  depth  of  about 
o  feet  3^  inches,  was  cleared  away,  they  found  two  rock-hewn 
steps  of  1  foot  3|  inches,  then  a  third  5  feet  3  inches  high,  and 
a  fourth,  all  leading  down  to  a  di-ain,  of  which  only  the  crown  of 
the  semi-circular  covering  arch  was  visible.  The  vault  is  well 
preserved,  and  is  formed  by  five  parallel  lines  of  voussoirs,  each 
7-87  inches  wide,  but  varying  in  length,  the  maximum  being 
a  dimension,  3  feet  6h  inches,  met  wnth  in  previous  excavations  in 
the  pool.  The  bottom  and  sides  of  this  fine  di-ain,  which  was 
followed  for  182  feet  from  north  to  south,  are  of  rock.     Father 


Subsoil  of  modern  houses 


-  .;  Unexplored^ 


Cre  estimates  that  the  Birket  Israil  was  only  131  feet  distant 
from  the  point  at  which  they  were  obliged  to  stop.  Here  the 
channel  was  filled  up,  apparently  from  another  source,  and  a 
larger  drain  ran  east  towards  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 

Dr.  Schick  writes  that  the  western  pool,  which  at  the  time 
of  his  previous  report  was  full  of  soil,  has  been  cleared,  and  that 
the  level  of  its  floor  is  about  54  feet  below  the  level  of  the  street 
leading  to  St.  Stephen's  Gate.  The  pool  is  a  little  wider  than  it 
is  shown  on  liis  1888  plan,  and,  like  that  to  the  east,  from  which 
it  is  separated  by  a  rock  wall  27  feet  high,  has  rock-hewn  sides  on 
the  south  and  west,  and  masonry  on  its  north  side.  Dr.  Schick 
believes  that  both  pools  extend   100  feet  further  to  the  north,  and 


KUBEIBEII    (EMMAUS). 


10;' 


that  the  hii'go  passage  and  drain  wi'vc  made  wlicn  the  pools 
were  excavated.  He  says  that  the  outlet  of  tho  pool  is  undo-  the 
point  where  there  is  a  drain  (mai-ked  13  on  ilie  Fection,  Plate  2, 
Quarterly  Sfatewent,  1888,  p.  118),  and  that  its  floor  is  on  the 
same  level  as  the  overfln-\v  duct  of  the  Birket  Tsrail  shown  on 
Sir  C.  "Warren's  section  (Plate  XVI,  ''  Jerusalem  Portfolio  of 
Plans,  &c."). 


KUBEIBEH    (EMMAUS). 

Abridged  from  a  Paper  by  Dk.  C.  Schick. 

Ix  vol.  iii  of  the  "Memoirs"  of  Western  Palestine,  p.  130,  there 
is  a  description  of  Knbeibeh,  and  of  the  remains  near  it  of  an 
earlier  village  and  church.  Since  the  publication  of  the  "Memoirs" 
the  church  has  been  rebuilt,  and  much  else  has  been  done.      I  am 


Scale. 


I£^ 


now  able  to  forward  copies  of  complete  plans  of  the  church,  and 
of  the  ancient  site.  The  original  church  contained  a  hnilding 
Avhich  was  apparently  older  than  itself,  and  this  has  been  restored, 
and  is  called  the  house  of  Cleopas  (Luke  xxiv,  29,  30).  The  walls 
of  the  church,  curiously  enough,  are  not  in  line  with  those  of 
the  house.  This  building  gives  the  church  a  peculiar  appearance, 
and  I  have  seen  nothing  like  it  except  the  Coenaculum  whicii, 
as  the  house  in  which  the  Last  Supper  of  the  Lord  was  eaten, 
was  included  in  the  Byzantine  Church  of  Zion.     Whether,  as  in 


1G6 


KUI3KICEH     (EMMAUS). 


that  case,  the  house  of  Cleopas  originally'  had  two  storujs  is 
unkr.owii.  The  rnediceval  house  had  onh-  one  storey,  and  a  single 
chamber  17  feet  wide  and  46  feet  long,  wliich,  I  think,  consisted 
oriffinallv  of  two  rooms  that  were  thrown  into  one  when  the 
Bj'zantine  Clmrch  was  restored  b}'  the  Crusaders.  It  \vas  sup- 
posed that  the  church  was  built  by  the  Crusaders,  as  thei'e  is 
no  notice  of  an  eai'lier  church  or  of  the  identification  of  Kubcibeh 
with  the  Emmaus  of  Luke  in  Byzantine  times.  But  the  discovery 
of  part  of  a  Byzantine  mosaic  pavement,  and  other  details, 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  Crusaders  only  restored  an  earlier 
Church. 

West   of    the    church    is    the    new    Franciscan    Monastery   of 
Italian  monks,  which  includes  a  hospice  and  a  boarding  school. 


1.  Monastery. 


2.  CnrECH. 


3.  EoMAN  Villas. 


4.  Pool. 


This  place  and  the  church  Avere  bought  by  a  French  lady  and 
given  to  the  Franciscans  in  1862  in  the  hope  and  belief  that  it 
Avas  Emmaus.  Thei-e  was  much  opposition  to  this  view  at  the 
time,  and  in  1863  I  was  asked  to  measure  the  distance  from  the 
gate  of  Jerusalem  to  the  ruins  of  the  monastery  by  three  routes — 
via  Nebi  Samwil,  Beit  Iksa,  and  Beit  ITlma.  I  found  tlie  average 
distance  to  be  37,600  feet,  or,  at  606  feet  to  the  furlong,  62  fur- 
longs. As  John  states  (xi,  18)  that  Bethanj^  "  was  nigh  unto 
Jerusalem,  about  15  furlongs  off,"  I  measured  the  distance  from 
St.  Stephen's  Gate  to  the  fii'st  house  in  Bethany  along  the 
(carriage)  road  to  Jericho,  and  found  it  to  be  9,300  feet,  or 
15i  furlongs.     Four  times  this  distance  being  62  furlongs,  I  felt 


WOMAN    IN    TIIK    KAST.  1G7 

certain  that,  so  far  as  distance  was  concerned,  Kubeibeli  miglit  be 
rcg-avded  as  Emmaus. 

The  plan  of  the  site  sliows  that  the  ancient  road  from  Jaffa  to 
Jei'iisaU'iii  passes  behind  the  monastery  and  ahjn^  tlie  nortli  sideuf 
the  cliurch,  where  it  is  paved.  Eastwards,  towards  Jernsaletn,  the 
remains  of  three  Roman  vilhis  have  been  found,  anil  further  east 
there  are  I'uins  in  an  olive  grove  adjoining  the  village.  From 
tliis  ancient  site  a  road  descends  northward  to  the  valley  and 
a  spting,  called  'Ain  el-Ajab  (the  wonderful,  or  where  wonders 
happened),  which  is  5^  furlongs  distant.  I  have  also  measured 
the  road  to  the  plain  as  far  as  el-Burj,  and  of  this  I  will  write 
another  time.  West  of  the  monastery,  in  ground  jmrchased  a 
few  years  ago  by  German  Roman  Catholics,  are  also  ruins  ;  and 
south  of  the  church  is  a  pool,  80  feet  Avide  and  120  feet  long,  of 
which  the  depth  is  not  known.  Towards  the  south  and  east  the 
view  is  limited,  hut  to  the  north  and  west  it  is  extensive,  Jaffa 
and  the  sea  being  seen.  The  air  is  ver}'  good,  and  the  place  fit 
for  recreation  or  a  chaiiye  of  air. 


AVOMAN    IN    THE    EAST. 

By  Pill  1.1  r  J.  Baldensperger,  Esq. 
(Continued  from  '''■  Quarterly  Statement,"  1901,^;.  90.) 


PART    III.— THE    BEFJAWIX   WOMAX. 

Ch-'vpteu  1. — General  Description. 

Tin:  third  type  of  Eastern  woman  is  represented  by  the 
modern  Bedawin  woman,  very  probably  unchanged  through 
thousands  of  years.  Just  as  Sarah,  Abraham's  wife,  lived  in 
tents  about  two  thousand  years  before  Christ,  we  meet  tiie 
same  way  of  living  amongst  the  nomads — a  continual  I'oaming 
about  from  the  north  to  the  south,  from  the  east  to  the  west. 
The  tent  is  pitched  where  there  is  plenty  of  pasturage  for  the 
herds  and  camels,  and  where  Avater  is  to  be  had.  As  Abraham 
and  Lot  had  manj'  tlocks  and  herds  and  tents,  the  laud  was  not 
able  to  support  them  all,  and  they  parted.  The  ti-ibcs  also  of  the 
Bedawin   live   in   definite  districts,   else   there   would   be    eternal 


168  WOMAN    ]X    THE   EAST. 

strife  among  the  berLlsuien.  Owing  to  tliis  class  being  alwa^'s 
either  in  the  sun  or  in  the  black  tents,  they  are  always  dark. 

A  Bedawin  settlement  is  composed  of  three  or  more  tents, 
generally  placed  in  a  line  or  a  square,  according  to  number. 
When  there  are  enough  tents,  to  form  a  square,  a  large  space  is 
left  in  the  centre;  the  ropes  of  the  tents  cross  each  other,  and 
close  the  camp  all  around,  leaving  only  one  entrance. 

The  women  are  clothed  in  huge  gowns  or  shirts  of  a  very  dark 
bine  colour ;  the  sleeves  ai"e  very  long  and  wide,  and  the  dresses 
are  a  good  deal  too  long,  so  that  the  women  trail  their  skirts  far 
behind  or  gather  half  of  the  length  in  front,  hanging  it  down 
from  above  the  girdle.  The  head-cloth  is  all  of  the  same  stuff  and 
colour,  wrapped  round  the  head  anrl  hanging  down  on  both  sides. 
As  if  darkness  would  not  be  made  complete  by  the  dark  clothes, 
sunburnt  faces,  and  black  tents,  they  are  revy  often  tattooed  in 
dark  blue  round  the  mouth,  and  often  the  lips  are  deeply  tinged 
with  blue. 

Certainly  this  class  is  the  most  purely  original  race,  into 
which  no  foreign  blood  has  been  admitted,  as  among  the  towns- 
people and  Fellahin  ;  for  they  are,  in  spite  of  their  roaming  life, 
most  scrupulous  about  their  pedigree.  Intermarriage  with  Fellahin 
is  rare,  and  if  in  some  tribes  strangers  are  admitted,  still  they  are 
partially  discarded,  or  the  next  marriage  is  again  concluded  with 
a  stranger. 

The  tent  is  always  long,  in  most  cases  the  Avhole  front 
side  open,  and  usually  towards  the  east.  They  call  the  tents 
"  hair-houses,"  as  they  are  made  of  goats'  hair,  spun  and  woven 
by  the  women  themselves  in  long  strips  not  over  a  yard  in 
breadth,  and  Avhen  sufficient  pieces  are  ready  they  are  sewn 
together  with  thick  hair-threads.  The  tent  is  pitched  on  one 
central  pole,  the  two  side  poles  north  and  south — the  fore  and  the 
hind  foot.  For  the  common  Bedawin  there  is  a  single  tent,  in 
which  all  live  together ;  but  the  more  wealthy  have  the  tent 
divided  by  a  separation  of  the  same  stuff,  marking  off  what  is 

called  the  mc/hram,  ^_:^s,<,  or  women's  apartment,  into  which  men 

are  not  allowed  to   go.      The   separation  itself    is   called  raenad, 

Sj<x.<-     When  guests  are  announced,  they  go  to  separate  guests' 

tents  if  the  encampment  is  considerable  enough  to  have  such  ; 
but  if  only  a  few  tents  form  the  whole  encampment,  the  guests 
are  received  in  the  tent  proper,  whilst  the  women  go  into  the 
secluded  part,  just  as  Sarah  also  hid  herself  when  the  angel  came 


WOMAN    IN   THE   EAST.  1  GO 

to  visit  Abraham  and  Corctold  tlu'  liirtli  of  Isaaf.  Loii<,^  i-oitcs 
;ne  I>()iintl  to  all  pole-tops  except  tlie  central  one,  ;ind  pe^^s  are 
driven  info  the  gronud  at  some  distance  in  ])i'(iper  piopoi-tion. 
r)\ving-  to  the  eternal  moving,  the  narrow  space,  and  the  lew 
wnnts,  tlie  "house  of  hnir"  is  never  over-filled  with  useless 
articles. 

Ch.^pter  II. — I'm;  Household. 

Necessarily  the  household  fuinitnre  is  reduced  to  such  articles 
as  are  strictly  wanted.  Mats  or  carpets  are  to  be  found  in  every 
tent,  as  these  are  of  jirime  necessity,  forming  the  bedding  (for 
they  cannot  sleep  on  mother  earth,  though  they  are  not  very  far 
above  it),  and  a  few  cushions  and  covers  complete  the  bedroom 
articles.  As  with  the  townspeople  and  peasants,  these  articles 
are  rolled  up  and  put  away  during  day-time,  being  spread  out 
only  in  case  visitors  of  importance  come  to  the  tents.  The  skin 
water-bottle  is  one  of  the  most  precious  articles  to  be  found  in 
the  house.  As  the  regions  in  which  they  encamp  are  generally 
devoid  of  trees  and  bushes,  the  liottest  part  of  the  country  is 
chosen  in  winter,  away  from  water,  and  in  summer  a  slight 
elevation,  but  always  in  desolate  places,  or  at  least  where  there  are 
no  villages.  The  water  is  very  often  miles  away,  and  the  women 
can  be  seen  toiling-  home  carrying  the  water  either  on  their  own 
backs  or  on  the  backs  of  their  donkeys.  In  Palestine  the  Beilawin 
women  wear  a  heavy  black  veil  covering  the  nose  and  month 
and  hanging  down  in  front,  so  that  only  the  eyes  can  be  seen 
sparkling,  black,  and  piercing  with  their  disdainful  looks.  Next 
in  importance  to  the  bottle  is  the  wooden  bowl  to  make  the 
dough  ;  the  tanned  goat  or  kid  skin,  sewed  up  sack  fashion,  to 
hold  the  Hour  ;  and  the  inevitable  hand-mill  to  grind  the  corn. 
A  few  kitchen  utensils,  a  s;nall  pot  or  two  and  a  Avooden  ladle, 
or  sometimes  an  iron  pan,  complete  the  household  furniture. 
Everj'thing  appertaining  to  cotfee-making  is  owned  by  the  whole 
settlement.  It  is  usually  in  the  house  of  the  Sheikh,  or  else 
in  the  guests'  tent,  and  goes  round  according  as  this  one  or  that 
one  may  want  the  whole  set.  The  grain  stored  away  which 
some  half-agricultural  tribes  may  possess  is  put  in  pits  in  some 
isolated,  out-of-the-way  spot  where  no  stranger  will  ever  venture, 
as  the  whole  region  is  considered  something  like  the  private 
[)roperty  of  the  tribe,  and  loafers  ai-e  not  admitted.  Thus  thefts 
are  very  rare.  Small  quantities  of  grain,  flour,  cheese,  and  butter 
are  always  in  the  house  under  the  absolute  control  of  the  woman. 


170  WOMAN    IX   THE   EAST. 

Tlie  baby  is  generally  in  a  home- made  Lammock  hanging  across 
tlie  tent  from  the  front  to  the  back  pole,  and  "svhen  the  mother 
moves  or  goes  on  an  errand  the  baby  is  carried  in  its  hammock 
on  her  back.  A  circulai-  concave  pan,  without  handles,  is  used 
to  bake  the  bread  on,  the  hollow  side  turned  to  the  fire,  which  is 
built  up  in  front  of  the  tent  between  two  stones,  usually  in  such 
a  place  as  is  out  of  the  Avay  of  the  pi'evailing  ^Yinds,  to  prevent 
the  smoke  fillinof  the  tent.  During:  I'ains  or  bad  weather  the  whole 
family  huddle  ai'ound  a  central  fire,  and  this  is  tlie  most  uncom- 
fortable time  in  the  Bedawin  life.  As  most  Bedawin  live  iii  the 
deserts,  they  retire  as  far  south  as  possible,  to  avoid  rigorous 
winters  or  to  have  the  least  possible  rain.  Those  of  the  moun- 
tainous districts  of  Jerusalem — that  is,  those  in  the  desei't  of 
Judea — go  towards  the  Dead  Sea  district  after  having  ploughed 
and  sowed  their  lands.  The  women  always  have  their  poultry- 
yards,  and  when  they  are  about  to  start  they  bind  the  chickens' 
feet  the  night  befoi'e  leaving,  and  on  the  journey  these  are  either 
simply  laid  across  the  loads  on  donkeys  or  camels,  or  else  the 
women  carry  them  in  a  Avickerwork  basket  on  the  head.  Arrived 
at  their  new  settlement,  the  fowls  are  set  loose  at  once,  and,  like 
their  mistresses,  seem  accustomed  to  this  roaming  life,  for  no 
sooner  are  their  legs  untied  than  they  run  round  about  the  half- 
tinished  settlement  as  if  they  had  never  known  another  spot. 
A  small  chicken-house,  so  low  that  a  child  must  creep  in  to  fetch 
the  eggs,  is  soon  built,  and  into  it  the  fowls  I'etreat  as  soon  as 
it  is  evening,  to  avoid  being  eaten  by  the  ever-ready  foxes  and 
jackals,  who  seem  to  be  acquainted  with  the  camping  grounds. 
When  the  tent  is  pitched,  a  small  furrow  is  dug  all  round,  to 
prevent  the  rain  running  in. 

The  donkeys,  cows,  and  dogs  are  almost  always  left  to  the 
women  to  look  after,  and  when  the  donkeys  and  cows  are  driven 
out  to  pasture  they  are  kept  by  the  smaller  girls  and  boys.  The 
dogs  always  remain  by  their  mistresses,  who  never  forget  to  feed 
them  with  Avhatever  they  may  have  themselves,  either  dry  bi'ead 
or  a  bit  of  bread  and  butter,  or  the  remains  of  some  milk.  After 
iSupper  to  strangers  the  bones  are  preserved  for  the  dogs,  who 
have  always  names,  such  as  "  Lion  of  the  Night,"  "  Young  Pigeon," 
"  Peacock,"  "  Tiger,"  and  so  on. 

The  further  away  from  towns  the  fewer  wants,  and  the  less 
to  do.  When  they  live  near  towns,  as  in  the  plain  of  Sharon, 
where  Jaffa  and  Gaza  can  be  reached  very  easily,  and  where 
minor  towns  also  require  many  requisites  which  they  themselves 


"WOMAN    IN    TlllO    EAST.  171 

do  not  jH'oduce,  they  find  ready  sale  foi'  those  products  tlioy  msiv 
liave.  sncli  as  milk,  cheese,  butter,  chickens,  and  efi^gs,  oi-,  in 
liarvest-tinie,  grain.  As  with  the  Fcllaliin,  so  also  with  tin; 
Hedawhi,  it  is  the  women  who  cany  the  articles  to  market,  and 
hrinof  hack  sweets  or  cloth  foi-  their  dress.  In  all  the  Arab 
towns  tliere  are  dyers  wlio  dye  the  shirting  blue,  and  long 
strips  may  be  seen  hanging  around  the  streets  from  the  tops 
of  the  houses.  This  dyeing  Ijusincss  is  now  carried  on  by  the 
Moliammedan  and  Christian  townspeople.  In  centuries  gone  by  it 
seems  to  have  been  mostly  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews.  Benjamin  of 
Tudela,  who  visited  Palestine  whilst  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Crusaders,  enumerates  the  names  of  the  Jews,  and  he  states 
tliat  Tuany  were  dyers,  especially  in  Judea,  or  Southern  Palestine. 
In  every  small  town  and  in  iTiany  villages  he  met  Jewish  dyers. 

In  the  far  away  desert  the  Bedawin  seldom,  if  ever,  allow  their 
women  to  come  to  towns :  most  of  those  of  the  southern  tribes 
Iiave  never  so  much  as  seen  villagers  or  strangers,  except  chance 
travellers  as  they  passed  along  the  road.  ]Many  years  ago  when 
T  lived  in  the  Jordan  Valley,  on  ground  rented  from  the  Bedawin 
(if  the  Tiger  tribe  of  the  'Adwan,  one  day  as  I  Avas  hunting 
in  the  thicket,  four  women,  when  they  caught  sight  of  me, 
shrieked  and  fled,  calling  out  lor  help.  I  tried  to  get  near 
them,  and  explained  to  them  that  I  was  a  European  settler  living 
for  the  time  with  their  tribe,  and  that  I  was  out  pigeon-shooting 
and  would  do  them  no  harm,  but,  on  the  contrary,  would  Iir  glad 
enough  to  be  left  in  peace  by  them  and  their  people.  Thickly 
veiled,  and  with  throbbing  hearts,  they  approached  and  wondered 
what  was  the  matter  with  me,  why  I  had  such  a  white  skin,  and 
timidly  a  damsel  stretched  out  her  hand  to  feel  if  I  was  really 
flesh  and  blood.  Having  talked  intelligibly  in  Arabic  to  them 
they  were  reassured,  but  owned  that  on  having  first  caught  sight 
of  me  they  thought  they  saw  a  spectre,  as  I  was  wholly  dressed  in 
white,  with  a  white  head-cloth,  and  had  besides  white  hands  and 
face,  though  a  little  sunburnt,  which  was  not  distinguishable  at  a 
distance,  and  in  the  first  moment  of  their  terror.  For  a  very 
short  time  the  women  of  the  tribe  remained  in  the  plains,  but 
as  soon  as  the  summer  heat  began  they  retired  into  the  cooler 
districts  of  the  mountains  of  ]\loab.  The  Bedawin  woman  who 
remained  with  us  was  tattooed  all  over  her  face,  and  having 
married  a  Fellah,  she  had  done  away  with  the  veil,  which  is  very 
troublesome  for  women,  but  as  Bedawin  women  have  only  half  or 
not  even  so  much  work  to  do,  they  are  quite  accustomed  to  the 
veil  and  take  life  very  easy. 


17U  WOMAN   IN    THE    EAST. 

Chapter  III.— The  AVomex. 

The  Bedavvijeh,  as  Avell  as  tlie  townswoniau  and  the  Fallaha, 
has  her  duties,  though  on  a  smaller  scale  than  the  two  others.  Still 
she  has  to  look  to  ever3'thing  concerning  the  househohl,  and  as 
a  niothei'  to  bring  up  her  children,  no  matter  how  small  this  duty 
may  be,  for  in  early  life,  when  the  children  can  run,  they  are 
either  almost  or  quite  naked  by  day,  so  that  the  mother  has 
neither  mending  nor  sewing  to  do.  Of  course  this  is  not  the  case 
in  the  winter  months,  neither  can  it  be  applied  to  all  children,  for 
the  babies  all  have  diapers  and  all  kinds  of  rags,  and  as  long  as 
they  cannot  run  and  warm  themselves  have  to  be  kept  Avarm  br 
some  kind  of  clothing,  w^hilst  the  grown-up  children  must  be 
decently  clothed,  be  they  boys  or  girls.  Here  also  the  girls  are 
sent  out  as  shepherdesses,  but  never  out  of  the  family.  The 
clothing  of  the  women  is  not  adapted  to  very  active  work,  like  the 
clothes  of  the  towuswomen;  the  Bedawiyeh  loses  herself  in  cumber- 
some Avrappings  and  windings.  In  the  first  place,  the  whole  dress 
is  very  wide,  a  girdle  holds  it  in  position  round  the  waist,  but  the 
rest  comes  out  and  dangles  about  on  all  sides.  The  sleeves  cau 
be  turned  round  the  body  several  times,  the  head-cloth  hangs 
down  to  a  considerable  distance  after  having  been  twisted  round 
the  head.  The  thick  black  veil,  as  already  mentioned,  is  orna- 
mented with  coins  hanging  all  round  the  edge,  at  the  same  time 
holding  the  lower  part  of  the  veil  in  position,  as  it  is  otherwise 
loose  at  its  lower  part.^  The  top  is  fixed  in  the  middle  by  u  thread 
or  bead-row  going  up  between  the  eyes  and  tied  to  the  plaits  of 
the  hair  behind,  and  also  to  the  right  and  left  behind  the  ears  like 
spectacles ;  and  is  fastened  behind  the  head.  Enormous  earrings 
of  silver,  Avhich  are  in  reality  attached  to  the  head-gear,  and  in 
nowise  touch  the  ear,  encircle  the  eai'S  and  hang  down  almost  to 
the  shoulders.  iN'ose-rings,  bracelets,  finger  I'ings,  as  well  as  rows 
of  coins,  hang  on  the  head.  Such  cumbersome  every-day  clothing 
is  not  fitted  for  Avork,  like  that  of  the  Fallaha,  who  can  tuck 
up  her  clothes  to  the  knees  and,  with  bare  legs,  go  to  work.  The 
Bedawy  woman  is  hardly  ever  in  a  hurry,  sweeping  the  way  as 
she  moves  slowly,  or  is  seen  sti'etching  about  the  floor  of  her 
tent  in  search  of  one  or  other  of  the  house  articles  which  she  may 
want,  all  these  being  very  close  together,  so  that  she  has  hardly 

'  Dress. — Tlie  Eedawin  women  in  the  eastern  deserts  are  much  less  accus- 
tomed to  wear  veils  than  those  in  the  Jordan  Valley,  or  in  the  west  of 
Palestine.— C.  E.  C. 


-WOMAN-  IX  THE  EAST.  17;-; 

ever  t(i  ^et  up  to  fetch  them.  Her  duty  depends  on  tlie  woi-k 
i>r  her  husband;  if  Ihey  are  half  agricultural  Bedawin,  naturally 
eiioiii^li  a  good  deal  more  of  work  falls  also  to  the  woman,  and 
iu  many  things  her  general  duty  does  not  differ  from  that  of  her 
l^'i'llah  sister.  But  where  the  Bedawin  are  of  the  robber  or 
lierdsmen  tribes  the  woman  has  hardly  anything  to  do  out  of  the 
tent,  except  fetching  the  water,  or  washing;  which  last  is  verv 
much  simplified  on  account  of  the  colour  of  the  clothes,  and  also 
because  the  clothes  are  veiy  little  soiled  when  there  is  little 
work  to  perform.  The  women  as  they  advance  in  ago  generallv 
smoke  and  drink  coffee,  and  try  to  emancipate  themselves ;  this 
is  very  true  of  widows.  Bedawin  women  are  very  fond  of  the 
soot  adhering  to  the  inside  of  tobacco-pipe  stems,  they  push  in 
a  long  straw  and  suck  off  the  soot,  using  it  veiy  much  as  tobacco 
is  used  in  chesving.'  Also  thpy  practice  chewing  gum.  The 
Bedawin  of  some  northern  districts  use  no  veils,  but  have  their 
faces  simply  framed  round  about  with  the  dark  head-cloth. 

Chapter  IV. — Marriage. 

The  marriage  customs  of  the  Bedawin  very  much  resemble 
thase  of  the  Fellahin,  but  there  are  some  differences.  The  girl 
among  them  also  is  never  consulted  about  the  man  she  is  to  take, 
but  she  has  simply  to  obey  the  head  of  the  family,  whilst  a 
widow  may  either  accept  or  refuse  the  proposed  husband. 

The  men  do  not,  as  with  the  townspeople  and  villagers, 
accompany  the  bride  in  procession  ;  the  Avomen  only  accompany 
lier  to  the  tent  of  her  bridegroom.  As  the  Bedawin  generally 
have  no  priests  of  their  own,  the  religious  part  is  wholly  omitted. 
Having  agreed  as  to  the  price  and  received  the  greatest  part,  on 
the  day  of  the  wedding  the  father  of  the  bride  and  the  bride- 
groom perch  on  stones,  and  the  father,  presenting  a  straw  to 
the  bridegroom,  says :  "  Did  you  accept  my  daughter  ?  "  The 
bridegroom,  holding  the  straw,  says  :  "  I  did."  Again  the  father 
presents  the  straw  and  says  :  "  By  God's  and  his  proj^het's  year  ?  " 
The  bridegroom,  holding  the  straw,  representing  the  season, 
^answers  :  "  Yes,  may  she  be  blessed,"  and  he  takes  the  straw,  and 
sticking  it  into  his  head-dress,  the  marriage  knot  is  lied.- 

'  Si/io/iiiir/. — It  is  also  romartable  tliat  the  pure  Bedawin  do  not  smoke  as  a 
rule — probably  because  it  is  dillleult  to  get  tobacco. — C.  K.  0. 

-  Marriage. — The  custom  among  the  Terabcen,  and  others,  for  the  bride 
iiiul  her  companions  to  run  away  from  camp  and  to  assault  the  bridegroom  with 


174  WOMAN    IX    THE    EAST. 

Second  marriages  and  divorces  are  just  as  easily  managed  as 
with  othei'S.  And  the  same  style  of  songs  are  sung;  it  is  very 
likely  even  that  most  of  the  songs  are  of  Bedawin  origin.  The 
women  also  sing  in  the  name  of  the  bridegroom  : — 

O  charmer  !  a  precious  girdle  is  always  around  you, 

Wind  me,  too,  about  you,  my  charinincj  one,  seven  or  eight  turns. 

Good  people,  should  I  die,  in  the  liouse  let  me  be  buried, 

Beside  her  I'll  rest  as  a  martyr,  and  be  saved  from  the  fire  (of  hell). 

0  girl !  with  the  big  earrings. 

With  the  long,  trailing  clothes, 

Tate  away  your  girdle  and  sleep  quietly, 

1  am  watching  the  enemy,  for  you  there  is  no  fear 

The  eves  are  also  blackened  with  hold,  as  with  the  others,  and 
the  feast  and  sonars  and  firing  are  carried  on.  The  bride  remains 
seven  days  hid  in  the  tent,  and  she  may  not  pass  over  running- 
water,  which  would  carry  away  her  progeny,  if  ever  she  has  any. 

Though  the  Bedawin  themselves  will  not  admit  that  love- 
making  or  flirtation  is  easy  to  be  carried  on  in  the  wide  open 
plain,  seeing  that  every  movement  can  be  observed  by  the  whole 
camp,  yet  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  they  find  ways  and  times  to 
manifest  their  preference.  Lovemaking  like  that  of  Occidentals, 
is  prohibited,  still,  as  has  been  repeatedly  mentioned,  cases  of 
real  love  are  met  with,  and  especially  among  the  Bedawin,  whose 
open-air  life  and  contemplation  of  Nature  give  them  more 
poetic  feelings  than  those  of  the  ever  shut-up  Madaniyeh,  expecting 
to  be  surprised  with  the  veil  off  at  the  turning  of  any  corner, 
or  of  the  ever-busy  Fallaha,  too  much  occupied  with  her  continual 
duties.  The  Bedawiyeh  has  a  far  better  hiding  place  than  the 
others,  it  is  just  the  endless  space  open  to  all  sides  which  is  free 
to  her  as  well  as  to  her  lover,  if  she  have  one,  and  the  shadows 
of  night  kindly  draw  a  veil  all  round  and  shut  out  indisci-eet 
eyes,  and  the  darker  the  night  the  easier  the  excuse.  B'or  the 
tovvnswoman  has  nothing  to  seek  out  of  her  house,  and  cannot 
without  suspicion  go  out  into  the  street ;  and  the  Fallaha,  though 
less  watched  than  the  townswoman,  is  known  all  about  the  village, 
and  as  the  smallest  village  has  streets  she  or  her  lover  may 
be  met,  even  though  it  be  night.  But  not  so  with  the  Bedawiyeh  ; 
outside  the  camp  is  the  endless  plain,  without  streets,  and 
consequently  with  a  good  deal  less  chance  of  being  surprised. 

stones  when  lie  follows,  is  also  one  of  those  taking  its  rise  in  ideas  of  proper 
modesty.  Nor  is  sucii  conduct  peculiar  to  Bedawin,  as  it  may  be  found 
sometimes  even  among  townspeople. — C.  K.  C. 


WOMAN    IN    THE  -EAST.  175 

If  family  prejudices  or  otliei-  causes  hinder  an  alliance, 
and  the  couple  be  too  deeply  attaclicd  to  each  other,  they  plan 
iiu  escape.  The  elopement  happens  either  in  the  evening  or 
before  daylight,  the  lover  leading  the  way,  but  usually  a  mile  or 
so  ahead  for  safety.  For  if  tiie  pair  were  caught  together 
one  or  both  might  be  killed  before  even  having  been  given 
time  for  justification,  but  if  they  are  separate,  they  can  deny 
having  anything  to  do  with  one  another,  and,  .should  Bedawin 
justice  be  appealed  to,  no  punishment  can  be  inflicted  on  eithcj- 
of  the  two  if  they  have  not  been  taken  in  a  very  intimate 
moment,  and  this  has  to  be  witnessed  by  at  least  two  trust- 
worthy witnesses.  An  elopement,  therefore,  is  a  very  risky 
act.  Should  they  succeed  in  their  plans,  they  pass  by  the 
next  tribe  or  go  round,  hiding,  if  possible,  by  daylighi,  ami 
proceeding  only  by  night,  as  the  pursuers  are  sure  to  be  on 
the  road,  and  before  they  have  settled  in  some  tribe  thej-  may 
lie  overtaken  and  mishandled.  But  when  they  have  journeyed 
during  two  or  three  nights  they  come  into  a  camp,and  declare 
themselves  man  and  wife,  and  beg  hospitality.  The  Bedawin 
always  accept  new  settlers,  especially  full-grown  men,  as  they  are 
an  increase  of  strength  for  war,  though  war  may  not  be  projected, 
nor  even  probable  for  years  to  come.  The  Bedawin  live 
continually  ready  for  an  emei-gency,  and  no  able  men  of  the 
tribe,  or  stranger  that  is  within  the  gates,  will  shrink  if  the  least 
danger  is  threatening.  The  number  of  armed  men  in  a  camp 
or  tribe  is  alwavs  considered,  and  the  more  the  armed  men  the 
surer  the  prospect  of  peace,  unless  by  increase  they  become 
themselves  the  aggressors.  When  a  year  or  more  has  passed 
since  the  elopement,  and  the  parents  have  found  out  the  retreat 
of  the  enamoured  couple,  they  may  send  messengers  to  try  and 
bring  them  back  again,  after  consenting  to  the  marriage  and 
declaring  it  lawful.  The  parents  of  the  man  pay  a  certain 
sum,  generally  less  than  the  price  would  have  been — somewheie 
between  80  and  100  dollars— a  number  of  silk  gowns  are  given 
to  the  male  relatives,  and  an  atonement  sacrifice  is  eaten,  both 
parties  swearing  they  are  contented.  Thus  the  coujtle  may 
timidly  return.'  Yet,  in  most  cases  they  will  not  accept  any 
reconciliation.  Neither  the  deeply  humiliated  family  of  the 
woman,  who  will  swear  not  to  rest  till  blood  has  washed  away 
the  family  stain,  nor  the  man  himself,  who,  though  they  mny 
swear  forgiveness  to  him  and  make  brotherhood  with  him,  is 
never  sure  of  his  life,  as  the  family  may  be  very  great,  and  one 

M 


176  WOMAN   IX   THE   EAST. 

or  other  of  the  relatives  may  not  have  been  present  at  the 
reconciliation,  and  consequently  be  free  not  to  recognise  the 
foro-iveness.     It  is  wiser  never  to  come  back  ! 

Just  as  with  tlie  Fellahin,  the  Bedawin  woman  is  not  allowed 
illegitimate  friendship  with  any  man,  under  penalty  of  death. 
Although  Bedawin  law  does  not  allow  a  man  to  be  killed  for 
simple  suspicion,  yet  if  a  woman  should  denounce  a  simple 
attempt  on  the  part  of  any  man  the  consequences  are  terrible. 
A  woman  of  the  Tarabeen  Bedawin  was  attacked  by  Tayaha 
Bedawin,  the  consequence  was  a  conflagration  among  all  the  tribes, 
inanv  vears'  war  and  numberless  dead,  and  the  Government 
had  to  interfere  to  separate  the  belligerents.  If  I  am  correct, 
the  enmity  began  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  decade,  and  no 
Bedawy  to  this  date  ventures  into  the  district  of  the  opposite 
party  for  fear  of  being  killed — "  they  have  blood  between 
them."  1 

On  October  20th,  1888,  a  girl  of  the  Ta'amry  Bedawin  went 
out  into  the  fields  gathering  wood  ;  two  young  men  of  the  village 
of  Bethfajar,  in  whose  neighljourhood  the  camp  was  set  up,  met 
her  in  the  field  and  tried  to  abuse  her.  The  girl,  shrieking  at 
the  top  of  her  voice,  rushed  into  the  camp,  shouting:  "  To  arms  ! 
Your  honour  is  soiled ;  in  daytime  your  girls  are  violated !  " 
Without  losing  a  moment  all  the  men  sprang  to  their  arms,  and 
after  rapid  examination,  in  a  body  went  against  the  village, 
carrying  off  everything  that  belonged  to  the  whole  family,  of 
whom  four  men  were  severely  wounded  in  their  precipitate  retreat. 
Herds,  flocks,  camels,  aud  donkeys  were  driven  away,  every 
portable  object  carried  off;  others  were  destroyed,  and  the 
.Bedawin  reti-eated  in  triumph,  living  for  the  next  few  weeks 
on  the  stolen  herds.  The  quai'rel  was  not  arranged  till  the 
Government  had  sent  out  soldiers,  and  after  having  made  the 
Bedawin  surrender  what  was  left  of  their  booty,  took  the  two 
young  men  to  Jerusalem  to  be  imprisoned,  and  in  course  of  time 
to  be  judged  guilty  or  set  free.  The  almighty  Majidi  (in  lieu  of 
the  dollar)  arranges  most  differences  with  the  Government  officials, 
and  the  accused,  often  enough  innocent,  are  imprisoned  ;  twenty 
times  for  one  the  real  culprits  escape  any  punishment  at  all. 

'  Ta'amry. — While  the  Terabeen  and  Tajahji  are  true  Bedawin,  as  are  the 
Jahalin,  the  Ta'amry  appear  to  have  been  Fellahin  who  liave  taken  to  the 
desert  life.  They  are  said  to  have  ooine  from  Beit  Ta'amir,  near  Bethlehem, 
and  they  wear  turbans,  vrhile  all  other  Bedawin  tribes  wear  the  Kufeya  or 
head  shawl  — C.  R.  C. 


WOMAN    IN    THE  'EAST.  177 

CiiAi'Tf:R  V. — Legend  of  Ahu  7^a\d.^ 

A  Bedawiii  chief  in  Niij'd,  in  Arabia,  had  a  wife,  Khadra,  who 
had  l)orne  a  daughter,  Shiha,  and  then  ceased  to  have  children, 
This  chief,  Risk,  was  very  sorry,  but  would  not  divorce  his  wife. 
Khadra  one  dny  went  to  a  fountain  to  wash,  wlien  slie  saw  a 
black  bird  pounce  on  other  birds,  killing  some  and  scattering 
many.  She  prnyed  to  Grod :  "Oh,  my  Lord,  hear  my  petition, 
make  me  conceive  and  bear  a  sou,  who  shall  drive  the  knichts 
before  him  as  does  this  bird  the  other  birds,  and  thouah  he  be 
;is  black  as  this  bird."  Her  prayer  was  heard,  and  she  bad 
a  black  son. 

Ser'han,  the  father  of  the  Bedawin  Sultan  Hassan,  then  came 
to  visit  Kisk,  and  sang  : — 

Brino;  forth  the  new-born,  let  us  give  him  gifts. 
May  we  be  ever  increasing  for  a  day  of  need. 

The  happy  father  presents  the  cliikl,  but  Ghanem,  the  father  of 
Zohrab,  says : — 

Say,  Risk  !  this  child  is  not  from  our  stock, 

But  from  the  stock  of  vile  slaves, 

I  swear  by  my  conscience,  O  Risk,  this  is  a  stranger, 

And  he  even  resembles  our  negro,  Nirjan. 

The  exasperated  father  says  : — • 

Witness,  all  ye  present,  liis  mother  is  divorced, 

Divorced,  though  all  judges  and  learned  men  be  against  me. 

And  turning  to  his  wife  he  continues  : — 

Break  down  thy  tent,  O  Khadra,  load  it,  and  be  quick, 

Take  with  thee  tliy  maids  and  all  tliy  goods, 

May  the  entrance  to  thy  tent  be  forbidden  to  me, 

Though  thou  be  decorated  with  pearls  as  thick  as  my  thumb. 

^  Alu  Zaid. — Tliis  story  is  well  known  in  Palestine,  not  only  as  printed  in 
books,  but  also  localised  in  various  places,  as,  for  instance,  at  the  "  Dish  of 
Abu  Zaid,"  in  the  plain  of  Siiittim,  east  of  Jordan — a  huge  .stone  eviiiidi-r. 
The  e]nc  poem,  liowever,  cannot  be  older  than  700  .\.D.,  as  it  notices  the  Beiii 
Hilal,  or  "  sons  of  the  crescent,"  in  Tunis.  As  regards  Queen  Martlia,  she 
miglit  possibly  be  Martina,  the  widow  of  the  Emperor  lleraclius,  wlro  ruled 
the  Greek  Empire  in  611  A.D.,  after  liis  dei'eat  by  Omar  and  Ins  de«itli.  Slie 
was  deposed  and  mutilated  in  the  same  year.  But  she  was  the  onlv  ruliu" 
queen  likely  to  be  known  to  Arabs,  for  there  was  no  Latin  queen  of  Jerusalem. 
The  epic  appears  to  belong  to  the  age  of  the  great  Moslem  conquest  of  Svria  in 
Omar's  time,  632-638  a.X).,  and  Abu  Zaid  may  be  connected  with  the  famous 
Moslem  general,  Zaid,  of  that  age.  The  route  of  the  Beni  Hilal  was  that 
taken  by  Omar's  general,  Abu  'Obeidah. — C.  R.  C. 

m2 


178  WO-MAN    IN    THE   EAST. 

Sorrowful  Khadra  leaves  the  camp  and  goes  toward  Mecca  to 
her  relatives,  but  on  the  way  she  changes  her  mind,  and  goes  to 
Zah'lan,  the  fierce  enemy  of  the  Beni  Hilal,  the  tribe  she  had  just 
left,  and  thus  reasons  to  herself:  "If  I  go  to  my  relatives,  and  say 
t  am  offended,  they  Avill  perliaps  blame  me,  and  if  I  say  my 
husband  has  beaten  me,  it  is  not  true ;  I  will  go  to  Zali'lan 
and  bring  up  my  child  as  a  warrior,"  She  is  received  by  Zah'lan, 
and  the  young  Barakat  (blessing,  so  called  for  the  blessing)  grows 
up  in  the  art  of  war.  One  day,  while  at  war  with  his  father's  tribe, 
he  shows  his  prowess  by  killing  forty  warriors  in  single  combat. 
His  own  father  now  goes  to  war  A\4th  him,  and  in  the  wars  the 
hero  always  has  a  beautiful  girl  behind  him  to  attract  the  eye  of 
the  opponent.  Risk  took  his  daughter  Shiha.  When  the  two 
warriors  meet,  every  time  that  Barakat  lifts  the  sword  to  strike 
his  father  something  supernatural  holds  it  back.  Suddenly  Shiha 
calls  out  to  her  brother :  "  Hold ;  this  is  your  father ;  cursed 
l;e  the  Sheikh  w-ho  brought  you  up."  But  Risk  scolds  her, 
saying:  "Are  you  becoming  like  your  mother?  And  will  you 
flirt  with  our  enemies  ?  "  But  Shiha  insists,  and  says  :  "  This 
is  my  brother,  who  has  been  sent  away  and  was  brought  up  by 
Zah'lan."  And  she  continues  :  "  Try  his  dexterity ;  if  he  be  able 
to  catch  three  apples  on  horseback,  you  will  find  out  that  it  is 
my  brother  by  father  and  mother."  Having  consented,  Risk 
gets  three  apples,  and  throws  the  first,  which  Barakat  catches 
at  the  point  of  the  spear,  the  second  he  catches  in  his  stirrup, 
and  the  third  in  his  hand. 

Shiha  now  utters  a  cry  of  joy,  with  ululations.  Barakat 
comes  nearer  to  know  the  cause,  and  she  tells  him  :  "  This  is  your 
father  whom  you  are  fighting  "  ;  so  Barakat  throws  himself  down, 
and  having  rubbed  his  nose  with  dog's  grass  feigns  being  dead, 
the  nose  bleeding,  but  he  runs  home  and  lalls  before  his  mother, 
and  expects  to  hear  whose  son  he  is,  in  her  w\ailing.  Khadra  at 
once  assembles  the  women  and  maidens,  and  they  wail  after 
Khadra : — 

Say  after  me,  ye  maidens,  the  tale  of  Barakat. 

liarakat  died,  he  was  the  progeny  of  the  wealthy, 

1'liy  kiudrcd,  O  Barakat,  rejected  thee,  and  left  thee  to  me, 

But  Zah'lan  brought  thee  up,  thou  son  of  honour, 

For  your  father  is  Risk,  and  your  uncle  Ser'han  ! 

Barakat  having  heard  these  words,  sits  up,  and  says  :  "  Is  it 
true,  mother?  Is  Risk  really  my  father?"  As  she  answei's  in 
the  affirmative,   he  is  astonished   to   be  with    the   enemies.     She 


WOMAN    IX   THE   EAST.  170 

4 

tolls  liiiu  how  all  came  about,  and  entreats  Iiim  to  <^o  and  capture 
his  father.  Havinp^  done  so,  Risk  is  brousfht  before  his  wife,  but 
at  first  sight  of  her  he  advances  bareheaded  and  barefoot, 
repenting  for  wlmt  hv  had  done.  When  the  news  had  spread 
Zah'Ian  falls  down  dead,  and  Kisk  j-etutns  to  his  tribe,  with 
Khadra  and  his  black  son  and  slaves,  and  having  inci-cased  the 
ti'ibe,  the  name  of  Barakat  is  changed  into  that  of  Abu  Zaid,  "the 
Father  of  Increase,"  '  and  also  Salanu'.  Famine  had  now  spread 
amongst  the  tribe,  and  they  decided  to  send  out  spies  to  discover 
a  new  country,  where  they  might  find  food  for  their  herds  and 
water  for  all. 

Abu  Zaid  is  chosen  to  accompany  the  sons  of  his  sister  Shiha. 
Shiha  sings  a  farewell  song  to  the  travellers,  something  like  this: — 

Shiha  bids  yoii  farewell,  Shiha  tells  you, 

Go  in  peace,  ye  nobles  of  the  Arabs. 

I  warn  you  make  no  fire  in  the  open  field, 

For  fire  is  visible  and  attracts  from  afar  ; 

I  warn  you  not  to  sit  among  the  people, 

For  in  the  assembly  the  Evil  Eye  may  be  ; 

I  warn  you  not  to  sit  behind  high  walls, 

For  the  mason  builds,  but  foundations  may  fail ; 

I  warn  you  not  to  go  before  an  unjust  ruler, 

Though  Abu  Zaid  has  always  sly  answers  ; 

I  warn  you  if  you  pass  any  market 

Send  Yunis  to  buy,  he  is  quick  to  come  back. 

Having  sbarted  on  their  journey,  as  they  pass  the  Plain  of 
Jezreel,  in  Palestine,  and  are  invited  by  an  Arab  chief,  the  people 
wonder  why  the  strangers  honour  the  negro  most  of  all,  but  they 
explain  to  them  that  he  is  no  real  negro,  and  is  oidy  born  black 
by  accident,  and  not  being  able  to  convince  them,  an  old  chief, 
Mansour  (the  Victorious),  comes  and  tells  them  in  rhymes  all 
he  knows  about  this  man  and  his  family,  and  sings : 

I  knew  your  mother,  O  Salame, 

Before  your  father  took  her  to  his  house, 

And  seven  years  your  mother  was  barren, 

But  going  to  wash  at  a  fountain  one  day, 

With  plenty  of  slaves  and  maidens  around  her, 

High  up  in  the  heavens  a  bird  slie  espied, 

Who  drove  before  him  all  other  birds; 

Though  the  bird  was  black,  she  prayed  for  the  like 

And  the  Lord  of  tlie  Throne,  O  Salame, 

Did  not  reject  her  desire. 

'  This   part  has   been   published    bj'   me    in    the    Quarterli/   Stulement  of 
the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  for  October,  189-i. 


ISO  AVOMAN   IN   THE    EAST. 

They  now  continue  theii'  way,  and  Laving  arrived  at  Tunis, 
in  North  Africa,  they  find  the  land  very  good.  Yunis,  the 
youngest  son,  had  his  mother's  necklace  of  pearls  to  sell  when 
they  should  be  in  need.  But  being  very  costly  it  was  reported 
to  the  Eegent's  daughter;  when  she  saw  Yunis  she  fell  in  love 
with  him,  and  having  bidden  him  enter  the  palace,  she  shut  him 
up,  and  Avould  no  more  let  him  go. 

Abu  Zaid  has  to  go  back  alone  to  Arabia,  abandoning  the 
three  prisoners.^  Having  told  the  tribe  of  the  goodness  of  the 
land,  they  start  on  a  Thursday,  having  given  notice  to  all  such 
women  as  are  not  of  the  tribe  to  remain  in  their  native  land  if 
they  choose  to  do  so. 

As  in  the  wanderings  of  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness, 
so  the  Beni  Hilal  fight  their  way  through  at  times,  or  pass  in 
peace  at  times.  Having  come  into  the  Jordan  Valley,  with  their 
clothes  all  tattered  and  torn,  they  water  their  flocks  at  the  River 
Jabbok.  Klele,  a  Bedawin  girl,  having  seen  Jazie,  the  sister  of 
Sultan  Hassan,  and  she  being  very  fair,  is  jealous,  and  says  : — 

Don't  drink  from  our  waters,  our  tribe  will  be  defiled, 

If  you  don't  draw  back,  my  brother  Slibeeb,  the  kniglit,  will  smite  you. 

But  the  beautif  q1  Jazie  answers  : — 

We  will  drink  from  your  waters  and  will  wallow  in  your  blood, 
Till  the  waters  be  turned  as  red  as  lienua. 

Again  Klele  answers  : — 

By  God !  I'll  go  to  Shbeeb,  my  brother,  and  tell  him  the  insult  you  offer, 
By  God  !  I'll  tell  him  that  you  are  enemies  of  the  Keis. 

But  Jazie  again  says  : — 

Don't  exult,  O  Klele,  for  we  are  guests  for  one  night, 
To-morrow  we  are  going,  and  will  camp  far  away. 

But  Klele  runs  and  tells  her  brother,  who  is  fiirions,  and 
comes  on  horseback.  Havinar  challensred  the  tribe  to  war,  the 
first  duel  is  to  be  fought  with  Sultan  Hassan  ;  and  his  sister  Jazie 
is  the  attraction-woman  accompanying  him.  Having  taken  his 
lands,  the  wanderers  now  pass  the  Jordan,  and  come  to  Khafaye, 
a  chief  in  the  Plain  of  Jezreel.  As  soon  as  he  sees  Jazie  he  falls 
in  love  with  her,  and  bids  all  the  tribe  remain  his  guests  for  two 
long  months.     When  the  two  months  were  over  the  Beni  Hilal 

'  Only  the  particulars  coaceming  more  especially  the  women  are  here  told, 
to  show  how  the  women  are  treated  and  accounted  of  in  their  songs  and  in 
by -gone  tales. 


WOMAN    IN    THE   EAST.  181 

wanted  to  proceed,  but  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  Jazie,  for 
neither  do  they  want  to  leave  he^•  to  Khafaye  nor  do  they  know 
how  to  refuse  him  her  luiiid.  Salanie  Abu  Zaid,  always  ready 
at  tricks,  says  :  "We  will  move,  and  during  the  day  the  Sultan 
Hassan  and  Khafaye  will  he  out  a  hunting,  and  coming  homi; 
late  in  the  evening  and  tired,  he  will  onlv  look  for  the  entrance  of 
his  tent,  where  is  a  great  mullein  plant."  This  plant  they  put 
in  a  wooden  bowl  and  carry  it  with  them,  putting  it  down  before 
his  tent  every  night;  so  during  twelve  days  they  deceive  him, 
and  have  now  journeyed  far  south  and  nenrly  to  tho  pjgyptian 
frontier.  Now  .they  again  consult  each  other,  and  Fay:  "We 
mnst  get  rid  of  Khafaye  now,  either  kill  him  directly  or  else  ask 
him  to  fight  for  his  life."  But  Jazie,  who  had  reciprocated 
his  love,  wishing  to  save  his  life,  sings  to  him  :- 

If  thou  listen  to  me.  Shukur,  go  buck  to  thy  country, 

For  whoever  goes  back  to  his  country  shall  live. 

A  ■watermelon  ripens  only  on  its  stock, 

And  without  its  mother  no  cat  is  brought  up. 

They  broiigiit  you  here,  but  they  have  sworn 

That  sliould  you  venture  further  south  than  Arisli 

Your  flesh  would  surely  be  given  to  the  birds. 

My  heart  aches  in  me,  O  Shareef  Hashem,  my  heart  aches  in  me,  I  may  not  live. 

I  made  you  a  house  in  every  camp,  and  in  everj-  camp  I  have  left  some  food,' 

One  only  camp,  oh  Prince,  have  I  forgotten, 

O,  my  heart  aches  in  me,  may  I  not  live. 

Shukur  understands  and  journeys  backwards,  living  on  the 
bread  he  finds  in  every  camp.  The}^  now  besiege  Jerusalem,  for 
they  remember  the  sanctuary,  and  ask  the  Christian  Queen 
^Eartha  to  let  them  pray  and  go  on.  But  Queen  Martha  refuses, 
her  father  having  been  killed  in  battle  by  them,  and  she  has  power 
over  seven  species  of  Jinn.  Yet,  having  lost  sevei-al  knights,  she 
is  desolate,  and  offers  herself  in  marriage  to  a  victorious  knight, 
thus : — 

When  she  had  heard  the  singing.  And  filled  tiie  wine-cup  to  the  briiu, 

She  turns  her  face  to  him,  And  says,  "  Take,  drink  this,  O  Barandi. 

Drink  Mie  gift  from  the  hand  of  a  maiden,  Prink  it  and  bo  it  whulcsunie  to  thee, 

And  if  tliou  be  angry,  turn  round,  With  my  own  hands  will  I  give  thee  drink, 

And  wilt  thou  kill  the  one  named  Zohrab,  And  Hassan  the  chief  of  the  tribes  ? 

And  also  young  B'dair  of  age  to  fight.     This  is  my  wish,  O  Dikias, 

I  am  not  angry  after  all,  And  pray  forgive  me  altogether, 

And  if  thou  preferrest,  before  war.  We  will  marry  at  once." 

'   She  had  left  a  loaf  of  bread  in  every  camp  they  passed,  and  buried  it  under 
the  ashes. 


182  WOMAN    IN    THK    EAST. 

This  kniorht  now  goes  to  war,  and  is  also  overcome,  but 
Jerusalem  still  does  not  surrender;  so  Abii  Zaid  has  to  find  out 
by  I'use  how  he  can  enter  the  city.  Disguised  as  a  monk  he  comes 
before  the  Queen,  who  is  a  geomancer,  and  finds  out  that  this 
monk  is  none  other  than  Abu  Zaid  himself,  and  when  he  is  con- 
fronted she  tells  him  : — 
O  Abu  Zaid,  how  great  is  thy  activity,  Carrying  a  saddle-bag,  and  acting  your 

ass  I 
You  put  on  a  monk's  hood,  O  Salame,  Beni  Hilal  will  be  troubled  without  you, 
But  I  will  make  a  show  of  your  deatli,  and  torture  you  before  dying, 
AVliilst  your  tribe  will  be  in  consternation,  the  Christian  maids  will  be  drinking 

wine. 

Having  imprisoned  Abu  Zaid  ho  finds  a  way  to  escape,  and 
kills  the  Queen,  and  carries  the  new's  to  his  tribe.  They  now 
visit  Jerusalem,  and  then  go  on  to  Tunis,  where  they  find  tribes  of 
their  country  in  possession  before  them  ;  after  fighting  for  a  long 
time  uselessly  they  are  allowed  to  remain  in  the  environs.  The 
Regent's  daughter  looks  out  of  her  palace,  and  seeing  the  knights 
discouraged,  says: — 

Strip  off  your  beards  and  hand  the  spears  to  women, 

Give  us  your  turbans  and  take  our  veils,  If  we  overcome  them,  we'll  torture  the 

women. 
But  shoidd  we  be  overcome,  oin-  excuse  is,  we  are  women. 

Of  course  the  offer  is  rejected  with  disdain,  and  the  fighting 
of  duels  goes  on.  A  knight,  'Akel,  who  has  been  victorious  in 
many  duels,  is  continually  on  the  battle-field,  and  does  not  leave  it 
even  by  night.  A  Tunisian  girl,  daughter  of  the  Knight  Imtawe', 
begs  of  her  father  to  be  taken  as  the  eoticer  in  the  fight  against 
'Akel,  but  in  reality  she  is  in  love  with  him,  because  of  his 
renown  as  a  warrior,  so  when  they  arrive  on  the  battle-field 
Imtawe'  calls  his  adversary,  and  'Akel  answers : — 

Here  I  am,  thou  who  hast  called  me,  I  am  Kola's  son ! 
To-day  in  the  battle-field  thou  wilt  leave  me  thy  spoil. 

The  daughter  of  Imtawe'  now  lifts  up  her  veil,  but  'Akel 
goes  on  : — 

0  girl,  cover  your  lips,  though  beautiful,  I  have  plenty  of  beauties, 
Had  I  desired  any,  I  could  have  married  one  of  our  own  girls. 

1  have  the  "  Perfume  of  Pockets,"  Abu  Ali's  daughter. 
Her  beauty  makes  one  forget  to  fast  in  Ramadan. 

So  saying,  he  pounces  on  his  adversary  and  says  :  — 

Go  for  them  :  be  the  dust  their  doom. 
The  Angel  of  Death  is  floating  above  them. 


WOMAN    IN    THE    KAST.  18.'^ 

'Akel  having  killed  Imtawe',  tlu-  girl  says  :  "  I  am  free  now, 
take  Tiie  for  tliy  legitimate  wife."  But  'Akel  says  :  "  Not  before  I 
reign  over  all  the  West."  So  she  gathers  the  girls  of  Tunis  to 
mourn  her  father,  and  says  before  them  : — 

Say  with  me,  ye  daughters  of  God,  say  Anieu ! 

May  Tunis  to-inorrow  suiti'ikIim'  to  Ilola'.s  sou  ! 
May  ye  all  by  to-morrow  be  nmrried  to  'Akel, 
May  ye  all  have  the  desire  to  be  in  his  lap. 
Ye  girls !  if  only  you  ooiild  catch  sigh*;  of  'Akel, 
His  beautiful  plaits,'  as  tliey  touch  his  costly  bed. 
Ye  girls  !  if  only  you  could  have  a  glimpse  of  'Akel, 
His  right  hand  adorned  with  a  ring  of  gold. 
Ye  girls  of  Tunis  !   should  you  only  see  'Akel, 
His  dainty  plait  hangs  at  his  right  side  I 

In  spite  of  the  mourning  due  to  her  father,  she  has  no  words 
but  for  'Akel.  'Akel  continues  to  fight  till  he  is  also  finally  killed 
and  crushed  by  the  feet  of  the  horses,  and  is  onl}'  known  by  the 
ring  on  his  finger. 

As  the  siege  of  Tunis  is  always  carried  on,  the  besieged  are 
anxious  what  will  be  the  issue.  The  Khalife's  daughter,  Sa'ada, 
who  still  retains  the  three  princes  as  prisoners,  looks  out  of  her 
palace  on  the  battle-field  lying  before  her,  and  seeing  one  of  the 
mighty  knights,  she  calls  to  him  : — 

Good  morning  to  you  !  O  father  of  Moses, 
O  Lion,  brought  up  in  a  chosen  place. 

Zohrab,  father  of  Mqses,  the  terrible  knight,  says  : — 

Good  morning,  you  fair,  may  this  dawn  be  only  upon  us, 

For  your  friends  no  pleasure  is  coming. 

Go,  maiden  !  go,  tell  your  father.     Let  him  meet  the  -warrior  at  once. 

Sa'ada  goes  quickly  and  tells  her  father  : — 

My  father !  come  quickly,  the  flower  of  chivalry, 
A  knight  is  calling  this  morning  for  you, 
The  blade  of  his  spear  is  a  terrible  beauty. 
He  rolls  as  a  mountain  detached  from  the  earth. 

Zennti,  the  Khalife,  tells  his  daughter  : — 

O  Sa'ada  !  I  hate  the  meeting  of  Zohrab,  son  of  Ghaneni. 
Just  as  a  young  camel  refuses  the  load. 
O  Sa'ada  !  I  know  the  terrible  spear  of  this  knight, 
Three  days'  journey  oflf  I  have  seen  its  light ! 

After  many  duels  finally  Zenati  is  killed,  and  Ben  Glianem  is 
Regent  and  marries  Sa'ada,  but  the  Beni  Hiliil  conspire  against 

'  The  plaited  locks  of  his  hair. 


18-i  WOMAN   IX   THE    EAST. 

him.  and  in  an  invitation  to  feast  after  his  victory  they  decide 
his  death.  Xofalich,  the  sister  of  Zohrab  Ben  Ghanem,  is  married 
to  one  of  them,  and  knowing  all  about  the  conspiracy,  she  writes 
this  letter  to  her  brother  : — 

I  tell  you,  mr  biotlier,  don't  answer  the  invitation 

To  the  Wad-el-Doli  ;  I  tell  you,  my  brother,  don't  come, 

Though  your  loads  encumber  you,  I  pray  you  don't  come  ! 

Abu  Zaid  has  woven  a  web  of  deceit ! 

The  weaver  himself  is  confused  at  it. 

But  Zohrab  did  not  listen  to  this  warning,  and  at  the  supper 
he  narrowly  escaped  death,  yet  took  his  revenge  later  on. 

When  Zohrab  stuns  Abu  Zaid,  this  latter  dying,  calls  for  Jazie 
the  beautiful,  witli  tlie  black  eyes,  and  says: — - 

I  liave  two  sons  and  Sultan  Hassan  has  one. 

0  Jazie,  take  the  orphans  and  return  to  the  East, 
Go  far  from  the  Zughby,  the  false  swearer  Zohrab, 
His  oath  he  has  broken,  he'll  always  be  false  ! 

Jazie  takes  the  children  -eastwards,  without  any  worldly  goods, 
in  her  love  for  them  and  the  slain  heroes.  Having  always  taught 
them  the  art  of  war,  riding,  and  fighting,  when  they  are  grown 
up  she  returns  to  Tunis.  Zohrab,  though  very  old,  is  challenged 
to  come  down  that  they  may  avenge  their  father's  death.  Zohrab 
.sends  his  son  Grhanam,  but  he  dares  not  go,  and  Zohi-ab  says, 
alluding  to  Breke',  the  son  of  Sultan  Hassan  and  Jazie  : — 

Even  if  thou  livest,  O  Grhanam,  tliy  life  is  no  gain  ! 
Thy  mother  has  borne  thee  without  any  pain. 
Hadst  thou  spent  thy  time  hunting,  as  Breke'  had  done, 
Hadst  thou  ridden  on  horses,  with  lance  and  with  sword, 
Thou  wouldst  have  been  worthy  of  thy  father's  fame. 
See  these  adversaries,  how  well  tliey  are  trained, 

1  overcame  Jazie,  the  mother  of  Mohammed, 

I  made  her  wear  wool,  after  she  had  worn  silk  ! 

Zohrab  now  conies  down,  and  is  captured  and  tortured  by 
Jazie  ;  before  dying,  he  says  :  — 

Hold  your  uncouth  tongue,  O  Jazie, 
All  these  wars  liave  been  for  you. 
All  knights  killed,  and  the  beardless  left. 
Shame  for  ever  be  on  you. 

Zohiab  is  killed,  and  there  is  peace. 

{To  he  continued.) 


185 

THE    BEDAWiN. 

{A  Lecture  delivered  at  Jerusalem.') 
By  the  Rev.  John  Zkller. 

TiiK  subject  of  my  lecture  this  evening  concerns  ;i  poojile  liy  whom  we 
ai'e  more  or  less  surrounded  liere  in  Jerusalem,  and  whom  we  have  6ften 
occasion  to  meet  on  our  journeys,  namely,  the  Bedawin. 

BedavAn  illustrating  the  Bible.— They  are  particularly  interesting  to 
us,  for  Abraham  was  a  nomad  like  them,  and  so  were  the  Israelites  in 
tlie  desert  and  for  some  time  after  the  conquest  of  Canaan.  Abraham 
is,  moreover,  the  recognised  ancestor  of  the  tribe  of  Koreish,  and  of 
Mohammed,  tlirougli  Islimael,  and  of  many  of  the  Bedawin  tribes  existing 
to  the  present  day.  The  life  and  manners  of  the  Bedawin  are  therefore 
calculated  to  illustrate  the  most  ancient  part  of  our  Bible,  which  other- 
wise would  be  most  incomprehensible,  for  tlu-  life  of  the  nomad  patriarchs 
and  the  wanderings  of  Israel  in  the  desert  present  the  greatest  contrast 
with  our  European  customs,  and  we  cannot  wonder  that  Colenso  found 
in  the  book  of  Genesis  so  many  statements  which  seemed  to  hiin  incom- 
))atible  with  his  own  ideas.  Though  closely  connected  and  related  to  the 
Jews,  the  Bedawin  still  present  in  many  respects  the  greatest  contrasts 
with  them. 

Bedatotn  are  closely  connected  loith  the  Jews  but  their  destinies  are 
widely  dijfereyit. — Whilst  the  Jews  were  dispersed  among  all  nations 
and  countries  of  the  world,  and  had  to  adopt  all  possible  languages  and 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  the  nations  among  whom  they  lived,  the 
Bedawin  to  the  greater  jjart  remained  in  their  ancient  habitation,  the 
tlesert,  which  nobody  envies  them.  The  language  of  the  Bedawin  has 
but  little  changed  since  3,000  years,  and  their  customs  have  remained 
much  the  same.  It  is  a  most  remarkable  circumstance,  clearlv  showiiiij 
the  wonderful  providence  of  God,  that  these  two  peoples,  Jews  and 
Arabs,  under  such  widely  different  circumstances  have  been  preserved 
for  thousands  of  years  to  be  the  witnesses  to  the  truth  of  revelation, 
whilst  other  ancient  peoples  like  the  Egyptians,  the  As.syi-ians,  the 
Pluenicians,  and  even  Greeks  and  Romans  have  vanished  from  the 
face  of  the  earth.  And  yet  in  sjiite  of  the  difference  there  are  ])eculiar 
points  of  similarity  between  Israelites  and  Arabs.  First  of  all  with 
regard  to  religion,  for  both  are  the  representatives  of  monotheism. 
Secondly  with  regard  to  langziage. 

Antiqriity  oj  their  Language. — A  comparison  between  the  different 
Semitic  languages,  the  Hebrew,  the  Aramaic,  the  Syriac,  the  Assyrian, 
and  the  Arabic,  has  led  to  the  conviction  that  the  Arabs  have  preserved 
most  of  the  original  tyjje  of  the  Shemites  in  language  and  manners. 
If  a  Bedawy  buried  2,000  years  ago,  could  rise  from  his  tomb  anil 
visit  the  tents  of  his  ti-ibe  in  the  desert  at  the  present  day,  he  would 


18G  THE   BEDAWix. 

not  fiiiil  much  change  in  their  customs,  and  might  even  converse  with 
them  iu  his  own  tongue. 

In  the  poetry  and  the  life  of  the  Bedawin  in  tlie  sixtli  century  after 
Christ  we  have  still  a  faithful  reflection  of  Bedawin  life  2,000  years 
before  Christ,  and  the  more  we  study  these  old  poems,  the  more  we 
see  that  these  Arabs,  more  than  any  other  people,  reflect  the  life  of 
the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  notwithstanding  the  2,600  years  which  lie 
between  them.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  different  Semitic 
races  whose  language  is  reduced  to  words  formed  by  three  radicals 
are  all  belonging  to  the  .same  origin.  In  all  Semitic  languages 
'■'^assaza'  means  to  be  strong;  "  abada,"  to  apprehend;  "  asam"  to 
bind  ;  "  dammun"  blood  ;  "  mautun"  death  ;  '■'•  jamehm^''  camel  ; 
'''■bassahin"  onion  ;  "  duhabun"  gold. 

The  conservative  element  which  is  expressed  in  the  religion  and  in 
the  customs  of  all  Shemites  naturally  exists  also  in  their  language  and 
explains  wh.y  the  backbone  of  the  language,  the  three  radicals,  have 
been  preserved  intact  from  the  oldest  time  to  the  present.  This  strongly 
conservative  element  rests  on  the  character  of  the  desert  country  in 
which  the  Bedawin  live,  for  the  peninsula  of  Arabia  has  for  thousands 
of  years  been  barred  from  contact  with  other  nations,  on  the  north  by 
the  desert,  and  on  the  three  other  sides  by  the  sea. 

They  jjrobably  came  from  Mempotamia  to  Arabia. — A  great  Oriental 
scholar,  "  Schrader,"  makes  the  suggestion  that  Arabia  was  the  original 
habitation  of  all  Shemites,  but  this  idea  is  opposed  to  the  old  tradition, 
according  to  which  the  Arabs  immigrated  from  Mesopotamia,  and  their 
language  shows  that  Arabia  could  not  have  been  the  cradle  of  the 
Shemites.  Certain  names  of  animals  which  are  common  in  Mesopotamia, 
and  in  more  northern  countries  (but  not  in  Arabia)  have  become  obsolete 
or  have  changed  their  meaning  in  Arabic,  for  instance,  the  old  Semitic 
word  "  Dibbun,"  bear  ;  "  rimun,"  wild  ox  ;  "  nimnm"  panther.  Other 
animals  which  are  only  to  be  found  in  Arabia  bear  names  which  are 
unknown  in  the  other  Semitic  languages,  for  instance,  "  iVaam"  ostrich  ; 
''^jerboa"  ;  and  similar  evidence  can  be  adduced  from  the  names  of 
trees,  for  instance,  "  tamrun "  or  "  diHa,"  date  tree.  Thus  it  is  clear 
that  animals  and  plants  peculiar  to  Arabia  could  not  bear  the  same 
appellation  in  all  Semitic  languages,  but  generally  the  Arabs  borrowed 
the  name  of  an  animal  similai'  to  the  same  in  the  north,  for  instance,  the 
stag  they  call  Baker  el  walishy. 

The  conservative  character  of  the  Bedawhi  is,  in  the  third  place, 
clearly  shown  by  their  genealogy.  Aral)  historians  (Abd  ul  Feda  and 
Ebn  Chaldun)  divide  their  nation  in  three  classes  : — Arab  Badkh,  or 
extinct  Arab.s,  as  the  tribes  of  Aad,  Thamfid,  Sohar,  Tasem,  Wabar, 
Dessem,  Jedis.  Secondly,  the  Arab  el  Arabak,  or  original  Arabs,  who 
derive  their  origin  from  Kahtan,  who  is  the  Joktan  of  our  Bible  the 
son  of  Shem.  (Kalitan  was  the  son  of  Eber,  the  son  of  Salah,  the  son 
of  Arjjhaxad,  the  son  of  Shem,  the  son  of  Noah.)  Thirdly,  Arab  Musta- 
arabeth,  the  descendants  of  Ishmail,  who  is  the  ancestor  of  the  tribe  of 


TIIK    HKDAWIN,  187 

Koielsli  and  M<>liaiiiim'(|.  Isliiiiail  iiianicd  tlie  daugliter  of  Kl  .Modad, 
a  descendant  of  Kahtan.  From  Isliiuad  to  Ednfm  the  Arabs  reckon 
fii,dit  generations,  from  Ednan  to  "Malek  the  Koreishy  there  are  also 
i'iij;lit  _i,'ent'rations,  and  from  them  to  Moliammed  we  liave  ten  <:(t'nerations. 
Not  less  than  tifty  kiiij;s  of  Yemen  are  said  to  l»e  the  descx-ndants  and 
successors  of  Kahtan,  and  many  of  the  present  Bedawiu  tribes  belong 
to  the  Arab  el  Arabah.  Some  of  the  Arab  nations  mentioned  in  the 
Bible'  may  siill  be  recognised  iu  existing  tribes  ;  in  fact,  there  is  nothing 
clearer  than  the  purity  of  their  descent  from  Kahtan  and  Ishmad. 

Antiquity  of  Nomad  Life. — No  doulit  nomad  life  was  a  very  ancient 
form  of  existence  ;  involuntai'ily  we  think  of  Abel,  who  was  a  keeper  of 
sheep.  As  long  as  this  occupation  was  carried  on  in  fruitful  and  rich 
territoiies,  as  in  Mesopotamia,  it  may  have  had  great  charms  and  attrac- 
tions ;  but  now  the  Bedawin  is  the  inliabitant  of  the  desert,  and  we  can 
liardly  have  an  idea  of  the  hardships,  the  dangers,  and  the  monotony  of 
desei't  life.  Arabia,  though  four  times  as  large  as  Germany,  does  not 
contain  a  single  river,  and  could  therefore  never  obtain  the  cultivation  of 
other  countries.  But  why  does  tlu-  Bedawy  reject  all  temptation  to 
settle  or  try  to  obtain  a  more  comfortable  existence  /  Why  does  he 
stick  to  the  desert  though  he  is  endowed  with  superior  intellectual 
(pialities  and  is  by  no  means  a  savage  1  Have  not  his  ancestors,  at  the 
spi'ead  of  Islam,  conquered  the  richest  countries  of  the  world  from 
India  to  Spain,  and  obtained  riches  .such  as  no  other  conquerors  enjoyed  ? 
The  following  story  may  serve  to  answer  these  questions  : — 

Its  Privations. — A  traveller  once  lost  his  way  in  the  desert  and  came 
at  last  to  a  Bedawtn  tent  where  he  asked  for  some  food  from  an  old 
woman  whom  he  found  there.  She  immediately  went  and  caught  some 
serpents  which  she  baked  and  presented  to  him,  and  driven  by  hunger  he 
ate  them.  Being  extremely  thirsty  he  asked  for  water  antl  she  went 
with  him  to  a  ditch  the  water  of  which  was  bitter  ;  yet  he  could  not  help 
drinking  of  it  on  account  of  the  violence  of  his  thirst.  When  he 
expressed  his  astonishment  tiiat  she  and  her  people  were  living  in  such 
extreme  circumstances  the  woman  asked  him  :  "Tell  me,  have  you  a 
Sultan  who  rules  over  you  and  oppresses  you,  and  who  takes  your 
wealth  and  destroys  the  offender  ;  a  ruler  who,  if  he  desires,  turns  you 
out  of  your  house  and  eradicates  you  utterly?"  When  the  traveller 
answered  that  might  sometimes  liappen  the  old  womau  rejoined  :  "If  so, 
by  Allah,  your  dainty  food  and  elegant  life  and  all  your  comforts  united 
to  oppression  and  tyranny  are  a  penetrating  poison,  whilst  our  poor  food 
with  liberty  is  health  and  strength.  Hast  thou  not  heard  that  the 
greatest  blessings  are  liberty  and  health  I  "  and  the  Arab  ])oet  says  : 
"There  is  no  hand  but  God's  hand  is  above  it,  and  no  oppressor  that  shall 
not  meet  with  an  oppressor." 

1  Gren.  XXV,  12.  These  are  the  names  of  the  sons  of  Islimael :— Nebajolh, 
Kcdar,  Adbeel,  Mibsam,  Mishma,  Duinah,  Massa,  Iladad,  Tenia,  Jetur,  Naphish, 
Kedemah. 


188  THE   BEDAWIX. 

The  Camel. — Another  reason  why  the  Bedawy  clings  to  the  desert  is 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  animal,  which  alone  makes  a  life  in  the  desert 
possible,  namely,  the  camel,  from  which  the  Bedawy  derives  his  principal, 
sometimes  his  whole,  subsistence,  and  which  is  his  constant  companion. 
However  necessary  other  domestic  animals  may  be  for  ?<s,  certaiiilv  the 
camel  is  for  the  Bedawy  everything,  and  we  cannot  be  astonished  that  it 
possesses  in  his  eyes  beauties  which  we  cannot  discover  in  it.  It  is, 
indeed,  wonderful  in  how  short  a  time  imme;ise  distances  can  be  traversed 
by  a  good  camel.  But  a  principal  reason  for  keej)ing  to  the  desert  is 
contained  in  the  words  about  Ishmael  which  fully  characterise  all 
Bedawin  :  "  His  hand  shall  l)e  against  everyone  and  everyone's  hand 
against  him,"  for  the  ingrained  propensity  of  robbing  and  \'engeance  has 
no  doubt  ever  been  the  greatest  curse  of  Bedawin  life. 

An  important  question  now  forces  itself  upon  us,  namely  this  :  What 
has  preserved  the  Bedawin  amidst  their  incessant  strife  against  mi.sery 
and  want,  and  amidst  their  bloodshed  and  wars  from  sinking  into  the 
state  of  a  .savage  and  utterly  barbarous  people  ? 

It  seems  that  two  imjjortant  circumstances  prevented  this.  First  we 
find  anions  them  up  to  the  present  day  the  patriarchal  system  of  govern- 
ment, and  connected  with  it  a  great  love  for  their  ancestors  and  an 
excessive  pride  about  the  purity  of  their  race. 

Their  old  fame  as  Warriors  and  Poets. — Secondly,  and  perhaps 
principally,  it  is  the  gift  of  poetry  which  elevates  their  character  and 
preserves  their  better  C(ualities  even  under  the  most  adverse  circum- 
stances. This  gift  they  brought  with  them  (like  the  Hebrews)  as  a  flower 
from  Paradise,  and  such  care  they  took  of  it  that  it  continued  to  blossom 
eveu  in  the  arid  sands  of  the  desert.  The  retentive  memory  of  the 
Oriental  has  served  to  bring  down  to  our  days  the  ancient  poem.s  of  tlie 
Arabs,  though  the  art  of  writing  them  did  not  originate  before  the 
tifth  century  after  Christ.  In  the  oldest  collection  of  poems,  called  the 
'•'  Muallakat,"  we  have  the  poems  of  Amr  el  Keis,  Tarafa,  Zoheir,  Lebid, 
Antar,  tShanfary,  Amer  ebn  Koltum,  Xabra,  and  Harith.  The  grandeur 
and  wildness  of  the  desert  have  impressed  these  poems  with  such  a  fii-e  of 
jjassion  and  a  depth  of  sentiment  that  the  scholars  who  ai-e  best  able  to 
judge  (as,  for  instance,  Noeldeke  and  Riikert)  do  not  hesitate  to  class 
them  with  the  greatest  poets,  with  Homer  and  Virgil.  For  as  we  feel  in 
Homer's  songs  the  fresh  air  of  pristine  life  of  man,  as  we  can  penetrate 
through  the  song  of  the  Niebelungen  into  the  spirit  of  old  German 
life,  so  we  realise,  through  the  old  Arab  poets,  Bedawin  life  in  its  close 
connection  with  nature,  its  narrowness  and  grandeur,  its  stern  manliness, 
and  its  romance.  These  poems  show  us  warriors  of  iron  character,  men  of 
undaunted  courage,  whose  only  law  is  their  own  will  and  their  honour, 
stern  wild  men,  who  endure  the  greatest  privations  and  know  how  to 
meet  death  bravely  ;  and  yet  they  love  justice  and  truth,  they  are  ever 
ready  to  assist  the  weak  and  needy,  they  are  hospitable  and  liberal  to  a 
fault.  The  Arab  poet  says  :  "  I  will  wipe  off  with  the  sword  the  insult, 
and  may  the  decree  of  God  bring  upon  me  whatever  it  will."     Another 


Till-:  bedawIn  ■  189 

poet  says:  "He  is  no  inun  who  sIumIh  no  lij^'ht  around  and  leaves  no 
tnace  on  earth  behind  liini.'  Aiiotlier  collection  is  that  of  Urwa  b. 
•  Ahvard  ami  tlie  Dlwrui  of  Aim  Talib  and  the  J)t\van  of  Abu  I'Aswad 
Abd  Allah. 

The  Haniasa  of  Abu  Tanimani  is  another  coUeetion  of  moie  than  a 
thousand  poems  from  many  hundred  poets,  and  about  45  female  poets. 
A  somewhat  later  collection  is  the  Kitab  el  Aghani  and  other  poetical 
works.  These  Bedawtn  w'ei'e  comnionly  unable  to  read  or  write,  but  the 
purity  of  their  language  is  such  that  they  easily  make  poems,  whicli  if 
written  down  by  others  are  found  to  be  grammatically  correct ;  and  so 
jjowerful  was  the  memory  of  these  Bedawin  that  one  of  them  could  bet  with 
his  guests  that  he  would  recite  to  them  Kasidas  fiom  100  different  poets, 
all  of  them  bearing  the  name  of  Annu,  which  was  a  common  name  then. 

As  the  ancient  Hellenes  had  their  yearly  poetical  and  gymnastic 
contests  at  Olympia,  so  the  Arabs  gathered  together  at  the  yearly  fair 
of  Ukaz  (a  town  south  of  Mecca)  from  all  ]jarts  of  Arabia  to  hear  the 
recitations  of  their  poets,  and  the  Aiab  warrior  knew  of  no  greater 
honour  than  to  have  his  valour  and  liberality  extolled  in  verses  v/hich 
were  known  and  repeated  all  over  the  desert. 

It  is  related  that  when  Kaab  ebn  Zoheir  recited  one  of  his  poems  in 
the  presence  of  the  pro[)liet  Mohannufd  the  latter  was  so  pleased  that  he 
took  off  his  mantle  and  put  it  on  Kaab's  shoulder.  Moawyia,  the 
Calif,  afterwards  offered  Kaab  10,000  dirhems  of  silver  foi-  it,  but  he 
would  not  part  with  it,  and  he  got  it  at  last  after  Kaab's  death  for 
20,000  dirhems.  This  is  the  green  mantle  which  at  first  the  califs  of  the 
Omayiads,  and  then  the  Abassides,  inherited  as  their  greatest  ti'easure, 
and  which  was  burned  at  the  capture  of  Bagdad  by  the  Tartars  in  the 
year  653  of  the  Hedjira. 

The  stern  character  of  the  Arab  warrior,  whereby  he  bears  privation 
and  misforttine  with  stoic  resignation  if  he  can  only  revenge  himself  or 
his  friends,  has  its  opposite  j)ole  in  tender  and  passionate  feelings  for  his 
relatives  and  companions.  Judging  from  Arab  poems,  tears  seem  to  flow 
in  Arabia  in  gi'eater  abundance  than  elsewhere  in  the  world.  It  is 
related  of  the  celebrated  poet  Mutammini,  when  reciting  a  poem  on  the 
death  of  his  noble  brother  Malik,  that  he  could  not  speak  from  weejiing, 
and  afterwards  got  blind  in  consequence  of  his  grief.  Who  shovdil  think 
that  constant  wax-fare  and  shedding  of  blood  could  leave  room  for  softer 
feelings  !  And  yet  it  is  a  fact  that  most  of  the  poems  in  honour  of  the 
dead  begin  with  expres.sing  a  most  touching  regret  at  .seeing  the  old, 
well-known  site  of  the  Arab  encampment  forsaken.  We  should  not 
expect  this  from  a  nomad  with  whom  the  constant  change  of  locality 
has  become  as  it  were  a  second  nature. 

I  cainiot  omit  to  mention  here  that  at  the  time  of  Mohannued  many 
tribes  of  Jewish  oiigin  lived  in  Arabia  who  had  adojjted  the  Arabic 
language  and  Arabic  customs  (as  far  as  they  did  not  interfere  with  their 
religion).  One  of  the  most  respected  warriors  and  poets  at  that  time 
was  the  Jew,  Samuel  Ebn  Adyia,  who  lived  in  the  strong  castle  El  Ablag, 


190  THE   BEDAWiX. 

near  Teiina.  This  foitress  was  the  refuge  of  the  persecuted  and  needy, 
and  his  name  was  a  proverb  among  the  Arabs  foi'  faithfuhiess  and 
trutb.    Tliey  used  to  say  :  I  swear  you  fidelity  and  love  as  that  of  Savitiel^ 

i\j^A^\   ^^4^   fli«.     Ami-a  el  Kais,  the  poet,  had  deposited  with  him 

his  ti'easures  (namely,  five  celebrated  suits  of  armour  inherited  from  the 
Kings  of  Hymiar),  and  Samuel  sacrified  the  life  of  his  son  (who  fell  into 
the  enemy's  hands)  i-ather  than  betray  his  trust. 

We  Ciinnot  fail  to  acknowledge  that  the  heroism  of  the  old  Arab 
is  the  heroism  of  a  noble  race,  not  content  with  sordid  motives  or 
viUgar  impulse.  Whatever  glory  may  be  attached  to  the  blow  sti'uck 
by  a  vigorous  arm,  this  material  superiority  is  far  from  suppressing  or 
destroying  the  superiority  derived  from  intelligence.  The  accomjjlished 
Arab  warrior  combines  both  in  his  person,  and  is  almost  always  a  poet  (as, 
for  instance,  Antar).  The  Ai'ab  chieftain  is  not  only  the  leader  in  battle, 
but  also  the  ruler  and  judge  of  his  tribe,  and  will  never  be  able  to  obtain 
much  influence  if  he  is  not  wise  in  council  and  clever  in  speech.  To 
speak  well  is  an  essential  pait  of  the  chivalrous  and  ideal  perfection  of 
an  Arab  chief,  because  the  best  means  of  leading  the  stubborn  and 
proud  Bedawin  is  by  persuasion. 

It  is  striking  what  close  similaritv  exists  between  the  state  of  Arab 
life  1,000  years  ago  and  the  feudal  system  and  the  life  of  English  and 
Continental  barons  and  knights  during  the  same  period.  We  must 
acknowledge  that  these  Arabs  were  at  that  time  by  no  means  inferior  to 
Germans  or  English,  or  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to 
conquer  half  the  Christian  world  or  to  overcome  the  innumerable  hosts 
of  the  Crusaders.  But  the  immense  difference  between  European  society 
as  it  is  now  and  the  wretched,  degraded  condition  to  which  the  Bedawin 
have  sunk,  shows  with  undeniable  evidence  what  we  owe  to  Christianity, 
and  that  Christ  alone  is  able  ta  elevate,  to  change,  and  to  regenerate  the 
natural  man.  But  it  is  time  for  us  to  leave  the  condition  of  Bedawin 
life  as  it  ap])ears  from  old  poems  and  traditions,  and  describe  the  modern 
Bedawin. 

The  Desert. — We,  living  in  Palestine,  are  on  the  south  and  the  east 
suriounded  l\y  deserts  nearly  as  vast  in  extent  as  the  Mediterranean, 
but  few  of  us  have  seen  these  countries.  Let  me,  tlierefoi'e,  give  you 
an  idea  of  what  the  desert  is. 

Its  Cliara'cter  and  Influence. — We  will  accompany  Mr.  Palgrave  on  his 
journey  from  Maan,  south  of  Kerak,  to  the  Jowf,  wliich  is  a  five  days' 
journey  to  the  east,  in  which  not  a  drop  of  water  is  to  be  found.  He 
says  : — 

"On  either  side  extended  one  weary  plain  in  a  black  monotony  of 
hopelessness.  Only  on  all  sides  lakes  of  mirage  lay,  mocking  the  eye 
with  their  clear,  dece])tive  outline,  whilst  here  and  there  some  basaltic 
rocks,  cropping  up  at  random  througl)  the  level,  were  maguified  by  the 
refraction  of  the  heated  atmosphere  into  the  semblance  of  a  fantastic 
crag  or  overhanging  mountain.     Dreary  land   of  death,  in  whicli   even 


THE   BEDAVVIN.  191 

the  face  of  an  enemy  was  almost  a  relief  amid  such  utter  solitude.  But 
for  five  whole  days  the  little,  dried-up  lizaid  of  the  plain,  that  looks  Jis  if 
he  never  had  a  drop  of  moisture  in  liis  ugly  body,  and  the  jerboa.4, 
or  field  rat  of  Arabia,  were  the  oidy  liviiiff  creatures  to  console  our 
view. 

"And  now  began  a  march,  during  whicli  we  might  almost  have 
repented  of  our  enterprise,  had  sucii  a  sentiment  been  any  longer  possible 
or  availing.  Day  after  day  found  us  urging  our  camels  to  their  utmost 
pace,  for  15  or  16  hours  together  out  of  the  24,  under  a  well-nigh  vertical 
sun,  with  nothing  either  in  the  landscape  around  or  in  the  companions 
of  our  way,  to  relieve  for  a  moment  the  eye  or  the  mind.  Then  an 
insufiicient  halt  for  rest  or  sleep,  at  most  of  two  or  three  hours,  soon 
interrupted  by  the  oft-repeated  admonition,  'If  we  linger  here  we  all  die 
of  thirst,'  sounding  in  our  ears,  and  then  to  remount  our  jaded  beasts 
and  piish  them  on  through  the  dark  night,  with  the  constant  probability 
of  attack  or  plunder  from  roving  marauders. 

"Our  order  of  march  was  thus  : — Long  before  dawn  we  were  on  our 
way,  and  paced  on  till  the  sun,  having  attained  about  half-way  between  the 
horizon  and  the  zenith,  assigned  the  moment  of  alighting  for  our  morniufr's 
meal.  This  being  ended,  we  had  again,  without  loss  of  time,  to  resume 
our  way  from  mirage  to  mirage,  till,  flaming  over  all,  from  heat  to  heat, 
the  day  decreased,  and  about  an  hour  before  sunset  we  would  stagger  off 
our  camels  as  best  we  might,  to  prepare  an  evening  feast  of  precisely  the 
same  description  as  that  of  the  forenoon,  or  more  often,  lest  the  smoke  of 
our  fire  should  give  notice  to  some  distant  rover,  to  content  ourselves 
with  dry  dates  and  half  an  hour's  rest  on  the  sand." 

Samoom. — Then  comes  the  shelook,  or  sirocco,  of  the  Syrian  waste  : — 
"  It  was  about  noon,  and  such  a  noon  as  a  summer  solstice  can  offer  in 
the  unclouded  Arabian  sky,  over  a  scorched  desert,  when  abrupt  and 
burning  gusts  of  wind  began  to  blow  by  fits  from  tiie  soutii,  wliile  the 
oppressiveness  of  the  air  increased  every  moment,  till  my  comj>anion  and 
myself  mutually  asked  each  other  what  this  could  mean  and  what  was  to 
be  the  result.  We  turned  to  enquire  of  Salem  (the  Bedawin  chief),  but 
he  had  already  wrapped  up  his  face  in  his  mantle,  and,  bowed  and 
crouching  on  the  neck  of  his  camel,  replied  not  a  word.  His  comrades, 
the  two  Sherarat  Bedawin,  had  adopted  a  similar  position  and  were 
equally  silent.  At  last,  after  i-epeated  interrogations,  Salem,  instead  of 
replying  directly  to  our  questioning,  pointed  to  a  small  black  tent,  provi- 
dentially at  no  great  distance  in  front,  and  said,  'Try  to  reach  that  ;  if 
jou  can  get  there  we  are  saved.'  He  added,  '  Take  care  that  your  camels 
do  not  stop  and  lie  down  '  ;  and  then,  giving  his  own  several  vigorous 
blows,  relapsed  into  muflled  silence. 

"  "We  looked  anxiously  towards  the  tent ;  it  was  yet  100  yards  off  or 
more.  Meanwhile,  the  gusts  blew  hotter  and  more  violent,  and  it  w:is 
only  by  repeated  efforts  that  we  could  urge  our  beasts  forward.  The 
horizon  rapidly  darkened  to  a  deep  violet  hue,  and  seemed  to  draw   in 

N 


192  THE    ]5EDAWiX. 

like  a  curtain  on  every  side,  while  at  the  same  time  a  stiHing  Llast,  as 
though  from  some  enormous  oven  opening  right  on  our  ])ath,  blew  steadily 
uiuler  the  gloom  :  our  camels,  too,  began,  in  spite  of  all  we  could  do,  to 
turn  round  and  round,  and  bend  their  knees,  preparing  to  lie  down. 
The  samoom  was  fairly  upon  us.  Of  course  we  had  followed  our  Arabs' 
example  by  mutflingour  faces,  and  now  with  blows  and  kicks  we  forced 
the  staggering  animals  forward  to  the  only  asylum  within  reach.  So 
dark  was  the  atmosphere  and  so  burning  the  heat  that  it  seemed  that 
hell  had  risen  from  the  earth  or  descended  from  above.  But  we  were 
yet  in  time,  and  at  the  moment  when  the  worst  of  the  concentrated 
poison  blast  was  coming  round,  we  were  already  prostrated  one  and  all 
within  the  tent,  with  our  heads  well  wrapped  up— almost  suffocated, 
indeed— Init  safe,  while  our  camels  lay  without  like  dead,  their  long 
necks  stretched  out  in  the  sand,  awaiting  the  jjassing  of  the  gale.'' 

Were  it  not  for  the  oases  which  are  found  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
extensive  deserts,  it  would  be  impossible  even  for  the  boldest  Bedawin  to 
traverse  these  regions.  During  the  winter  many  jmrts  of  the  desert  are 
covered  with  some  vegetation,  and  the  rain-water  gathers  in  certain 
hollow  localities,  so  that  not  only  the  herds  of  camels  find  pasturage  and 
water,  but  also  the  Bedawin  can  obtain  some  subsistence  beside  their 
camels'  milk. 

Principal  Plants  of  the  Desert.— There  are  several  plants  growing  in 
the  Wady  Sirrhan,  north  of  the  Jowf,  which  yield  food  to  the  Bedawin. 
There  is  the  sarnah,  a  small  tufted  jjlant  with  juicy  stalks,  and  a  little 
oval  yellow-tinted  leaf.  The  flowers  are  of  a  brighter  yellow,  with  luany 
stamens  and  pistils.  When  the  blossoms  fall  off  there  remains  in  the 
place  of  each  a  four-leaved  capsule,  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  pea,  and 
this  when  ripe  opens,  to  show  a  mass  of  minute  reddish  seed  of  the  size 
of  poppy  seeds,  resembling  reddish  sand  in  feel  and  appearance,  but 
farinaceous  in  substance.  These  seeds  are  collected  and  used  instead  of 
rice  or  flour.  Another  plant  is  the  misaA  bush,  which  attains  2  or  3  feet 
in  height,  is  woody,  with  small  and  pointed  leaves  of  a  lively  green,  and 
a  little  red,  star-like  flower.  This  in  June  gives  place  to  a  berry, 
resembling  in  size,  colour,  and  taste  our  own  red  currant,  though 
inferior  to  it  in  flavour,  while  its  sweetness  predominates  too  much  over 
its  acidity.  With  the  poorer  Bedawin  sanidh  and  misad,  and  a  mush- 
room, called  kemma  or  kemmage,  are  considered  luxuries,  but  the  richer 
tribes  always  have  a  supply  of  wheat  and  dates.  The  camels'  favourite 
food  is  a  shrub  called  ghada.,  which  covers  some  parts  of  the  desert. 

No  domesticated  animals,  beside  the  camel,  find  their  sustenance  in 
the  desert,  and  most  Bedawin  tribes  keep  their  flocks  of  goats  and  sheep 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  cultivated  ground  where  they  can  find  pasture. 
Only  their  horses  accomj^any  them,  and  are  fed  with  camels'  milk. 
Naturally  the  bai-renness  of  the  territory  stands  in  perfect  analogy  with 
the  more  or  less  degraded  condition  of  the  Bedawin  inhabiting  it ;  and 
the  same  is  the  case  with  regard  to  the  variety  of  domesticated  animals 


IIIH    HEDAWiN.  in:; 

possessed  Ity   tlie  Tk'dawin.      Fur  the  trilies  who  li;ive  tlic  l)cst  and  tlie 
greatest  number  of  liorses  are  far  superior  to  those  having  only  camels.' 

Principal  Tribes  in  Syria. — Let  me  now  give  you,  in  a  condensed 
form,  an  idea  of  the  principal  Bedawtn  tribes. 

We  can  divide  the  dwellers  in  tents  into  two  classes,  namely,  such  as 
are  settled  within  a  certain  closely  circumscribed  territory,  and  the  large 
wandering  tribes.  I  must  confine  myself  to  the  countries  in  our  neigh- 
bourhood, and  shall,  therefore,  not  mention  the  Bedawtn  south  of  Jebel 
Shomar,  or  north  of  the  Euphrates. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  country  north-east  of  Palestine.  The  large 
Syrian  desert  between  the  Jordan  and  the  Euphrates  is  the  home  of  the 
great  wandering  tribes  of  the  Anese.  In  winter  they  live  in  the  desert, 
and  come  in  the  summer  to  Palmyra  and  Damascus.  They  are  the 
descendants  of  VVayl,  and  according  to  their  tradition  they  have  wonder- 
fully multiplied  in  consequence  of  a  peculiar  blessing  given  to  their 
ancestor.  They  comprise  the  Wald  Ali,  the  Hessenne,the  Beshr,  and  the 
Eualla  and  Shalan,  who,  however,  live  south  of  the  Hauran.  These  rich 
tribes  comprise  about  10,000  horsemen  and  about  100,000  camels. 

Another  powerful  tribe,  at  present  the  principal  lords  of  the  Belka, 
which  is  considered  the  paradise  of  the  Bedawtn,  on  account  of  its 
l)eautiful  pastures,  are  the  Beni  Sahher,  said  to  descend  from  the  Beni 
Abs.  They  are  the  enemies  of  the  Anese,  and  wander  between  the 
Belka  and  the  Jowf.  They  muster  about  700  horsemen  and  20,000  camels. 
These  large  wandering  tribes,  also  called  Ahl  el  Shemal,  which  spend  the 
winter  in  the  desert,  look  down  with  contempt  on  the  smaller  ti-ibes 
which  live  within  a  certain  circumscribed  territory  near  cultivated  land, 
and  under  the  control  of  the  Turkish  Government.  They  even  refuse 
them  the  name  of  Aral)  or  Bedawin. 

This  second  class  contains  a  great  many  tribes.  The  Syrian  Bedawin 
are  : — El  Mawaly,  el  Hadadeyne,  el  Turkoman,  Arab  Baalbek,  Arab  el 
Bekaa  Esaleib,  Abl  el  Jebeil.  In  the  Hauran  there  are  the  Fuheily,  the 
Arab  el  Ledja,  Arab  Jolan,  el  Adwan  in  Moab,  and  el  Sirhrm  to  the 
south  of  Hauran.  South  of  the  Belka  are  the  Ahl  el  Kebly,  to  whom 
belong  the  Sherrarat,  the  Hawayetat,  and  the  Beni  Atyieh  ;  these  live 
between  Wadi  Sirhan  on  the  east,  and  Wadi  Moosa  on  the  west.  Farther 
south  in  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai,  or  Jebel  Tor,  are  the  Towara  Arabs,  and 
in  our  own  neighbourhood,  betAveen  Hebron  and  Gaza,  the  Tayaha,  the 
Azazme,  the  Heteymah.  The  Ta§.mera  are,  as  we  all  know,  the  princii»al 
tribe  south  of  Jerusalem,  alread}'  showing  a  transition  state  between 
Bedawtn  and  Fellahtn. 

Manner  of  Travelling  and  Encamping. — Let  me  now  describe  to  you 
the  manner  in  which  the  wandering  Bedawtn  travel  and  encamp. 

'  We  find  among  some  of  the  Bedawhi  tribes  opulence,  and  among  other? 
tlie  greatest  possible  poverty.  The  Arabs  of  Wady  Moosa  are  so  poor  that  they, 
from  utter  want  of  clothing,  are  obliged  to  cover  themselves  at  night  with  sand, 
while  many  a  sheikh  from  the  Anese  possesses  200  to  500  camels. 

N    2 


194  THE   BEDAWIN. 

It  was  in  the  year  1863  that  I  met  a  large  detachment  of  the  Anese, 
the  Sbii,  in  the 'desert  east  of  the  Ledja.  Their  order  of  march  was  this  : 
A  party  of  five  or  six  well-mounted  horsemen,  armed  with  lances  adorned 
with  tufts  of  black  ostrich  feathers,  preceded  the  tribe  about  four  miles  as 
a  reconnoitring  party  ;  the  main  body  occ:u]>ied  a  line  of  at  least  three 
miles  in  front ;  first  came  some  armed  horsemen  and  camel-riders  with 
long  muskets,  spears,  and  swords,  at  100  or  150  paces  from  each  other, 
extending  along  the  whole  front  ;  then  followed  the  she-camels  with  their 
young  ones,  grazing  in  wide  ranks  during  their  march  upon  the  wild 
herbat^e.  Behind  them  walked  the  camels  loaded  with  the  tents  and 
provisions,  and  last  came  the  women  and  children  mounted  on  camels, 
having  saddles  made  in  form  of  a  cradle,  or  nest,  with  curtains  to  screen 
them  from  the  sun.  The  men  indiscriminately  rode  alongside  and  amidst 
the  whole  body,  but  most  of  them  in  front  of  the  line,  and  some,  riding 
on  camels,  led  horses  by  the  halters.  Occasionally  we  met  an  Arab  with  a 
falcon  on  his  hand  covered  with  its  leather  cap. 

The  Tent.— The  tent  is  called  "  beit,"  it  is  made  of  black  goats'  hair  ; 

the  pieces,  each  not  quite  a  yard  in  breadth,  are  joined  together  to  make 

.a  sufficient  breadth  for  the  tent.     The  length  varies  from  20  to  80  feet. 

Each  single  tent  has   nine  poles,  called  "  'amood,"  the  highest  of  which 

scarcely  ever  exceeds  10  feet.     At  the  middle  pole  is  the  partition  for  the 

women,  the  men's  apartment  being  on  the  left  side  on  entering  the  tent, 

and  the  women's  on  the  right.     In  the  men's  apartment  the  ground  is 

generally  covered  with  a  Persian  or  Bagdad  carpet,  and  the  wheat  sacks 

and  camel  bags  are  piled  up  round  the  middle  pole.     The  waterskin  and 

the  wooden  cotfee  mortar  are  never  wanting  in  this  part.     The  women's 

apartment  is  the  receptacle  for  all  the  rubbish  of  the  tent,  the  cooking 

utensils,  butter,  and  waterskins,  &c.    All  these  things  are  laid  down  near 

the  pole,  called  "  hadera,"  where  the  slave  sits  and  the  dog  sleeps  during 

the  day.     No  man  of  good  reputation  would  sit  there.     On  the  forepost 

of  the   men's    apartment   hangs    a   corner  of  the    tent    covering,  called 

"roffe,"  which  serves    for  wiping    hands  before  or   after  dinnei'.     The 

furniture  of  the  tent  consists,  first  of  all,  of  the  women's  saddle  in  the 

form  of  two  inmiense  wings  attached  to  the  middle  part,  having  the  form 

of  a  nest.     Each  of  these  two  wings  is  formed  of  two  poles  covered  with 

red  tanned  camel  skins,  and  adorned  with  tassels,  and  large  enough  to 

afford  space  for  a  person  sleeping  in  it  at  full  length,  whilst  the  middle 

part    serves  as  a  receptacle  for  the  little  children.     When    riding,  the 

sheikh's  ladies  hang  strings  of  various  colours  and  cloth  cuttings  round  the 

saddle  from  one  wing  to  the  other,  which  gives  to  the  marching  camel  a 

most  wonderful  a})pearance.     The  whole  looks  like  a  canoe  put  across  the 

■camel's  back,  or  like  an  immense  bird  with  outstretched  wings.      It  is 

clear   that  such  extensive    saddles    can  only  be  used    in  the  desert  ;  it 

would  be  impossible  to  travel  with  them  in  narrow,  mountainous,  and 

rocky  countries,  or  to  pass  with  them  through  a  forest.     The  pack-saddle 

is  called  "hodaju,"  the  men's  saddle  "shadad." 

When  the  place  of  encampment  is  reached  the  sheikh  puts  his  spear  in 


THE   BEDAWi^r.  105 

the  ground,  and  at  once  tlie  tonts  are  pitched  according  to  old-establislicd 
rules,  witliout  disorder  or  dispute. 

In  the  year  1870  the  Rualla  Arabs,  a  tribe  of  tlie  Anese,  were  forced 
to  come  to  the  j)lain  of  Esdraelon  on  account  of  the  drouglit  in  tlie 
Hauran.  It  was  most  magnificent  to  see,  from  the  top  of  Mount  Kafsy, 
this  rich  plain  literally  covered  with  thousands  of  camels  and  with  thu 
black  tents  of  these  wild  people,  and  to  hear  the  peculiar  shouts  of  the 
shepherds  whereby  they  directed  the  march  of  the  camels,  and  the  songs 
or  zagharit  of  the  women.  But  after  they  had  left,  not  a  blade  of  grass 
or  a  bit  of  straw  was  left  in  the  whole  plain. 

Tent  Life. — Let  us  examine  the  inmates  of  the  tent.,  their  occupation 
and  character.  The  salutation  of  the  Bedawln  is  simply  saldm  'aleik 
or  marhaba,  and  then  follow  the  usual  questions  :  keif  el  hot.  The 
clothing  of  the  poor  is  simply  a  long  shirt  with  long  sleeves  ;  the  same  is 
white  with  the  men,  and  of  green  or  bluish  colour  with  the  women,  who 
wear  it  so  long  that  it  trails  on  the  ground,  and  the  sleeves  also  reach 
down  to  their  ankles.  Over  the  shiit  the  men  wear  the  brown  and 
white  striped  ''ahai,  or  in  winter  a  sheepskin  jacket.  On  the  head  they 
wear  the  heffijieh  and  a  cord  of  camel's  hair  called  the  akdl.  Often  in 
travelling  they  cover  their  faces  with  the  keffyieh  so  that  only  the  eyes 
are  visible.  Men  and  women,  when  coming  to  towns,  wear  big  boot^of 
red  leather. 

The  Anese  are  distinguished  by  their  long  tresses  of  hair,  which  they 
rarely  cut ;  they  call  them  kervan.  All  the  women  tattoo  their  lips, 
chin,  arms,  hands,  and  feet  with  blue  dye,  and  generally  wear  glass 
bracelets  of  various  colours.  The  ladies  of  some  Anese  tribes  wear  silver 
rings  in  their  ears  and  noses,  and  carry  silver  bracelets  and  silver 
chains  round  the  neck.  Bedawln  are  rarely  over  5  feet  2  or  3  inches  in 
height,  their  features  are  good,  their  noses  often  aquiline,  and  finely 
chiselled,  their  deep-set  and  dark  eyes  sparkle  from  under  their  l)ushy 
black  eyebrows  with  a  fire  unknown  in  northern  climes,  their  beard  is 
short  and  thin,  but  the  black  hair  of  the  head  is  abundantly  thick,  and 
their  teeth  are  always  white  as  pearls.  The  women  of  the  northern 
Bedawln,  especially  the  Anese,  are  handsome  and  graceful,  but  those  of 
the  south  are  very  ugly.  Their  complexion  varies  from  yellow  to  nearly 
black.  Cleanliness  is,  of  course,  not  to  be  expected  in  the  Arabs,  with 
whom  water  is  too  expensive  an  article  to  be  wasted  for  the  unnecessary 
purpose  of  washing  ;  if  need  be,  they  use  sand,  or  rub  themselves  all 
over  with  butter,  and  the  women  use  even  a  stranger  kind  of  pomade, 
which  I  certainly  would  not  recommend. 

Diet— Their  diet  consists  of  milk  and  lehen  of  camels  or  goats,  and 
unleavened  bread,  either  baked  very  thin  on  a  round  sheet  of  iron,  called 
sdj,  or  in  cakes  baked  on  stones.  Only  when  guests  appear  a  goat  or  a 
young  camel  is  killed  and  served  with  rice  or  Imryhul.  A  luxury  with 
them  are  dates  with  butter,  or  a  heap  of  thin  cakes  of  bread  jnletl  upon 
one  another  like  pancakes  and  swinmiing  in  melted  butter.  This  dish  is 
called  fateeta.     Coffee  is,  of  course,  the  favourite  beverage,  and  is  most 


1^6  Tin:  BEDAWix. 

carefully  roasted  and  prepared  iu  the  manner  well  known  to  you.  They 
serve  their  dishes  always  so  very  hot  tliat  it  requires  much  practice  to 
avoid  burning  one's  lingers,  for  even  spoons  are  quite  unknown. 

The  only  art  known  among  Bedawin  is  spinning  and  M-eaving  of 
camel  and  goat's  hair  for  preparing  tents,  Itags,  and  halters,  and  the 
tanning  and  dying  of  camel  skins,  either  with  pomegranate  peels  or  with 
the  roots  of  a  desert  herb  called  verk.  These  skins  are  used  for  girdles 
and  to  cover  the  saddles.  In  the  Belka  the  Bedawlu  gather  the  soap 
(kali)  plant,  and  prepare  from  it,  by  burning,  the  potash,  or  kali,  which 
tliey  sell  to  the  soap  manufacturei's  at  Damascus,  Naljlus,  and 
Jerusalem. 

Beside  some  copper  pans  and  trays  they  only  have  wooden  bowls  and 
wooden  trays  or  baties.  The  rest  of  their  furniture  consists  of  their  tent- 
pegs  and  a  large  wooden  hammer,  called  matraka,  all  of  which  are  easily 
cariied  in  a  bag. 

In  his  tent  the  Bedawy  is  a  most  indolent  and  lazy  creature.  His 
only  occupation  is  feeding  the  horses  or  milking  the  camels  iu  the 
evening,  and  now  and  then  he  goes  out  with  his  hawk.  A  man,  hii-ed 
for  the  purpose,  takes  care  of  the  herds  and  flocks,  while  wife  and 
daughters  peiform  all  domestic  business.  The  women  grind  the  corn  in 
a  handmill,  or  pound  it  in  a  mortar,  and  prepare  butter  from  the  milk 
by  shaking  it  in  a  skin.  Occasionally  they  work  at  the  loom,  but  their 
principal  business  is  to  fetch  water,  which  they  sometimes  have  to  carry 
long  distances  on  their  back.  On  them  also  falls  all  the  work  connected 
with  the  pitching  and  striking  of  the  tents. 

You  may  easily  imagine  that  scientific  pursuits  are  incomjiatible  with 
Bedawln  life.  Books  are  unknown  with  them.  Among  1,000  Arabs 
only  one  can  read,  and  still  fewer  know  how  to  write.  These  accom- 
plishments are  considered  unworthy  of  a  good  warrior.  When  I  spoke 
to  a  Rualla  chief  about  the  great  advantage  of  relieving  the  monotony  of 
desert  life  by  reading,  he  said  he  would  be  glad  to  receive  a  schoolmaster 
for  his  boys  if  I  would  guarantee  that  they  would  be  able  to  read  the 
Koran  within  the  space  of  one  month  ;  and  when  I  thought  this  impos- 
sible he  would  not  hear  any  more  of  my  suggestion.  Yet  they  are  as 
enthusiastic  admirers  of  poetry  as  their  ancestors  were,  and  there  is 
scarcely  an  Arab  sheikh  who  does  not  know  some  poems  by  heart. 
When  Saleh  el  Jerwan,  from  the  Beui  Sahher,  was  mortally  wounded  in 
the  Valley  of  the  Jordan  he  made,  just  before  expiring,  a  poem  expres- 
sing exactly  the  same  sentiments  of  submission  to  the  divine  decree,  of 
love  to  his  family,  and  of  eternal  hatred  against  his  enemies,  as  one 
finds  expressed  in  the  old  poems.  After  his  funeral  the  food  for  the 
guests  was  cooked  over  a  fire  kindled  upon  1(5  skulls  of  his  enemies. 
Fendi  el  Fai.s,  the  sheikh  of  the  Beni  Sahher,  Mho  died  in  18T9,  was 
buried  in  Saleh's  grave  at  llama,  in  the  Ghor  ojiposite  to  Jericho. 

Rdujion. — In  matters  of  religion  Bedawln  are  very  indifferent  Moham 
medans.     During  the  course  of  12  centuries  Mohammedanism  seems  to 
have  made  little  or  no  impression  on  them,  either  for  good  or  evil.     That 


THE   UEHAWIN.  197 

it  was  e(|ually  inetl'ectual  in  tliis  regard  at  tlu;  period  of  its  very  first 
estal)lishnient  we  learii  from  the  KorAii  itself,  and  from  early  tradition 
of  an  authentic  character. 

We  read:— "Amir  El>ii  Tufeil,  shcikli  of  the  mi;,dity  trilu-  of  flie 
Beni  Anitr,  resolved  with  two  of  his  friends  to  travel  to  Medina  in  order 
to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  prophet  Molianimed.  After  liaving  saluted 
him  Amir  asked  the  jnophet  :  '  Will  you  be  my  friend  ? '  '  No,'  answered 
Mohammed,  'unless  you  believe  in  the  unity  of  God,  who  lias  no  com- 
panion.' Then  Amir  asked  :  '  But  will  you  make  me  your  successor  if  J 
become  a  Moslem  ? '  Mohammed  answered  :  '  The  W(jrld  is  the  Lord's 
and  He  gives  power  to  rule  to  whom  He  pleases.'  '  Then,'  rejoined  Amir, 
'  I  receive  the  Islam  if  you  take  the  government  over  the  inhabitants  <jf 
towns  and  leave  me  to  be  ruler  over  all  Bedawlu.'  The  projthet  refu.sed 
this  also,  and  Amir  said:  'What  benefit  shall  1  tlien  derive  from 
becoming  a  Moslem  i"  Mohammed  said  :  'It  gives  you  the  community 
of  all  true  believers.'  But  Amir  answered  :  '  I  stand  not  in  need  of  this,' 
and  left  him,  threatening  him  with  war." 

The  Bedawin  of  the  present  day  do  not  show  any  aversion  against 
the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God  or  to  the  prophet  Mohammed,  but  they 
seem  incapable  of  receiving  or  retaining  any  serious  religious  intlueuces 
or  definite  forms  of  thought  and  practice.  "  Unstable  as  water,  thou 
shalt  not  excel,"  seems  to  be  the  character  of  most  of  the  Bedawin. 
They  know  little  of  Moliammedan  worship  with  its  prostrations  and 
rehearsals,  its  ablutions  and  rites  ;  usually  they  say  :  "  Our  sheikh  prays 
for  us  all."  They  care  nothing  for  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  except  in 
the  way  of  demanding  their  share  of  the  zurra  paid  by  Government,  or 
in  the  way  of  plundering  the  pilgrims  ;  they  are  indifferent  to  the  fast 
of  Eamadan,  but  they  devoutly  slaughter  a  lamb  or  a  camel  on  the  toml) 
of  their  kinsmen.  The  desert,  like  the  vast  expan.se  of  the  sea,  is  cal- 
culated to  impress  on  the  mind  the  unity  and  power  of  God,  anil 
therefore  we  find  with  the  Arabs  the  stereotype  exclamation,  "  Allah 
Akbar:"  God  is  great.  Involuntarily  one  feels  in  the  desert  the 
•presence  of  God,  for  it  teaches  more  than  anything  else  what  it  is  to  be 
alone— alone  with  God.  Therefore  in  the  first  centuries  of  our  era  many 
thousands  of  Christians  became  Eremites  in  the  deserts  of  Egyi)t  and 
Syria.  Such  asceticism  is  based  on  the  great  and  undeniable  truth,  that 
we  are  only  able  to  realise  the  invisible  and  eternal  things  of  God  in 
proportion  as  we  ai-e  weaned  from  the  material  things  and  cares  of  this 
visible  world. 

Fatalism.— '^wi  one  doctrine  of  Islam  exercises  a  great  and  con- 
stant influence  on  a  Bedawy's  life,  and  this  is  the  doctrine  of  fatalism. 
This  doctrine  stands  in  singular  affinity  with  the  dangers  encountered 
in  the  desert  and  with  the  uncertainty  of  an  Arab's  life.  Necessarily 
it  must  produce  great  recklessness  and  indifference  regarding  the  changes 
of  fortune  and  precautions  against  death. 

J/omZs.— Bedawin  morals  are  equally  lax.  "Dogs  are  l)etter  than 
we  are,"   is  a  common   expression   of  theirs  ;  and   Palyrave  gives  them 


198  THE   BEDAWix. 

credit  for  having  in  this  regard  spoken  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and 
nothing  but  the  truth.  But  I  believe  that  with  regard  to  morals  there 
is  among  the  different  Bedawln  tribes  as  wide  a  difference  as  there  is 
among  other  classes  of  Oriental  society,  and  any  infringement  on  the 
sanctity  of  the  harem  would  at  once  be  revenged  by  them. 

Warfare.  —  The  general  character  of  Bedawtu  cannt)t  be  better 
described  than  in  the  words  of  the  angel  to  Ishmael's  mother  :  "  And 
he  will  be  a  wild  man  ;  his  hand  will  be  against  every  one,  and  every 
man's  hand  against  him,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethi-en."  It  is  remarkable  how,  even  to  this  day,  every  Bedawy 
sustains  these  characteristics  of  his  ancestor  Ishmael.  They  are  at  war 
with  all  agriculturists  within  their  reach,  and  they  are  constantly  at 
war  among  themselves.  The  Arabs  say  : — "  Our  father  Adam  had  three 
sons — one  was  a  hunter,  the  other  a  farmer,  and  the  third  a  Bedawy, 
who  received  from  Adam  the  camel  to  live  by.  However,  the  camel 
died,  and  the  Bedawy  came  to  father  Adam  and  said  :  '  My  camel  died, 
what  .shall  I  do  now,  on  what  shall  I  live  ? '  '  Go,  answered  father  Adam, 
and  live  by  what  you  can  get  from  your  brethren.' "  Another  Bedawy 
said  to  me  when  I  exjalained  to  him  the  great  advantages  of  a  peaceful 
life,  "  How  shall  a  Bedawy  get  his  livelihood  without  his  spear  and 
sword  ?  We  have  old  enemies  among  other  tribes  ;  if  they  have  taken 
away  our  camels,  we  must  somehow  or  other  regain  them  or  die 
from  hunger." 

Disputes  among  different  Bedawln  tribes  generally  arise  about  the 
water  and  pasture.  They  T)egin  with  the  .shephei-ds  and  end  with  the 
death  of  some  sheikh,  which  must  of  course  be  revenged.  But  even 
in  a  fight  among  the  larger  tribe-s,  in  which  thousands  on  each  side  are 
engaged,  the  loss  of  life  is  insignificant.  In  October,  1878,  the  Beni 
Sahher  had  a  battle  with  the  Rualla  in  the  Hauran,  in  Avhich  a  large 
number  of  horsemen  and  camel-riders  was  engaged.  As  usual,  one  of 
the  best  mounted  chiefs  in  full  armour  gallops  into  the  empty  space 
between  the  two  parties  and  challenges  the  sheikhs  of  the  enemies  till 
one  of  them  accepts  the  duel  and  is  thrown  from  his  horse.  Then  some 
of  his  friends  come  to  his  assistance  and  an  irregular  combat  begins, 
which,  however,  is  generally  restricted  to  the  horsemen.  In  this  battle 
the  Beni  Sahher  were  victorious,  killed  70  of  the  opposite  ])arty  and 
gained  18  mares,  but  they  were  not  able  to  take  any  camels  or  tents. 
It  is  affirmed  that  the  old  law  of  blood-revenge  (thdr)  gives  to  these 
battles  a  much  milder  character,  as  tlie  Bedawln  do  not  like  to  bring 
upon  themselves  personally  the  avengers,  even  in  the  case  of  victory. 

Stealing  Expeditions. — The  most  fiequent  form  of  warfare  is  the 
ghazUy  with  the  object  of  surprising  the  enemy  and  taking  their  tents 
and  camels.  But  if  such  an  expedition  on  a  larger  scale  is  not  practicable 
there  is  always  a  number  of  jjoorer  Bedawin  thirsting  after  renown  and 
gain  of  ]}lunder.  Then  the  expedition  proceeds  in  the  following  systematic 
manner.  The  hardmy,  or  robber,  who  is  never  on  horseback,  selects  two 
trustworthy  comjianions  ;  besides  their  weapons,  in  which  the  club  plays 


TIIK    ]i  ED  A  WIN.  191) 

the  principal  part,  they  take  some  provisions,  consisting,'  of  salt  and  floni- 
in  a  l)af^  Towards  niidnit^lit  tliev  roacli  the  tent  wliicli  they  intend  to 
attack.  One  of  them  <foes  first  behind  the  tent,  and  w lien  attacked  by 
the  dogs,  he  flees  in  order  to  remove  them  from  the  scene  of  action.  At 
the  same  time  the  second  cuts  the  ropes  fiom  the  camels'  knees,  and 
drives  them  away,  whilst  the  third,  standing  at  the  oj)ening  of  the  tent, 
is  prepared  to  strike  anyone  on  the  head  who  should  venture  out.  I  f 
the  attack  is  discovered  and  one  of  the  robbers  made  a  prisoner,  he  is 
asked  what  he  came  for ;  and  after  having  confessed,  he  is  obliged 
foniially  to  renounce  the  right  of  the  dakheel  (suppliant).  Then  he  is 
fettered  with  a  horse-chain  and  i)ut  at  full  length,  in  a  hole  dug  in  the 
middle  of  the  tent  with  tied  up  arms  and  his  locks  pinned  to  the  ground, 
lu  this  position,  as  one  buried  alive,  he  remains  till  he  is  able  to  jtay 
the  ransom  for  his  life,  which  generally  costs  him  all  his  jtroperty. 
Often  a  friend  guarantees  for  him,  and  it  is  considered  an  unpardonable 
diso-race  if  the  robber  cheats  this  fi'iend  who  became  his  suretv.  From 
ancient  times  it  has  been  considered  the  greatest  honour  and  distinction 
among  all  Bedawln  to  obtain  the  name  of  being  a  daring  and  successful 
robber. 

Not  many  Bedawtn  sheikhs  die  a  natural  death  ;  at  least,  most  of 
those  I  knew  personally  were  killed — for  instance,  Mohammed  el  Duhy, 
Sheikh  of  the  Wald  Ali ;  Gendsh,  Sheikh  of  the  Mowally  ;  Feisal,  Sheikh 
of  the  Shaian;  Eubbah,  Sheikh  of  the  Sakker,  killed  in  1858  by 
the  Adwan  ;  and  Moutlak,  his  brother,  killed  by  the  same  in  1870; 
Mohammed  el  Moosa,  Sheikh  of  the  Sbeh,  killed  by  the  Koords  in 
1868— and  if  one  of  them  dies  a  natural  death  from  lingering  illnes.s 
[or  suddenly]  they  ascribe  it  to  poison  given  by  the  Turks  [or  some 
other  enemies],  as  in  the  case  of  Akyle  Agah,  and  of  Fendi  el  Fais, 
Sheikh  of  the  Beni  Sahher. 

How  the  Bedmohi  Cheat  their  Creditors. — Dulaiim  ben  Murra 
Aljuhani : — "  God  permitted  me  to  succeed  in  a  good  purchase  at  a 
time  when  money  was  most  scarce.  He  (the  merchant)  bent  the 
fingers  of  his  hand  to  reckon  (on  his  fingers,  of  course)  his  amount  of 
profit,  without,  however,  reckoning  how  long  I  should  make  him  wait 
for  the  payment.  He  may  be  glad  if  instead  of  the  gain  he  expects, 
he  receives  a  small  part." 

Suhaib  ben  Nibras  :—"  Often  have  I  for  days  and  days  jmt  off"  a 
creditor  whose  eyes  grew  yellow  from  vexation,  whose  face  wa.s  in 
constant  sweat  from  desire  after  payment.  For  it  is  the  lot  of  every 
creditor  who  is  stingy  or  too  hard  in  his  demands,  to  have  everything 
denied  by  the  debtor.' 

Hanif  ben  Qu'air  Alabsi :— "  My  enemies  rejoice  at  my  debts,  as  if 
none  of  them  had  ever  got  into  debt  l)efore  me.  But  by  making  more 
debts  I  will  continue  to  enrage  them  so  that  they  almost  perish. 

Atirga  ben  Mihrag  Alhilah  :— "  I  brought  the  stufi"  away  with  me,  so 
nice,  black  and  white,  whilst  the  coins  which  I  ought  to  have  iKiid  for 
it  remained  hid  in  mv  sleeve.     And  he  took  u])  a  piece  of  paper,  looked 


200  THE   BEDAWIN. 

at  the  witnesses,  and  countetl  with  botli  hands  how  mueh  money  I  shoid 
have  to  pay  him  after  the  hipse  of  a  certain  time.  But  I  believe  that  we 
shall  never  see  each  other  again  1  And  Abaid  put  a  seal  and  names 
of  witnesses  and  wrote  a  title  deed  about  it,  which  will  cause  him  nuuh 
lamentation.  This  is  how  1  treat  those  wretches,  for  I  see  in  them 
nothing  but  a  help  for  the  time  of  need." 

Tarif  ben  Manzur  Alasadl  : — "  After  we  had  the  money  from  Yahya 
ben  Yabir  in  our  hands,  I  said  one  morning  to  my  friend  Hisu — for  he 
told  me  all  his  secrets,  as  I  told  him  mine — '  Does  Yahya  demand  that 
we  keep  our  conditions,  thovigh  he  raged  like  a  madman  against  our 
money  when  we  bargained  ? '  This  merchant  of  Alkufa  must  not  suppose 
that  we  are  not  clever  enough  to  undei-stand  the  reckoning  he  made  on 
his  slate.  But  I  promised  enormous  profit,  and  then  he  turned  away  not 
suspecting  that  he  would  lose  all.  Let  Yahya,  therefore,  not  hope  that 
anything  will  be  restored,  for  the  madman  has  thrown  his  things  into 
the  depth  of  a  raging  sea." 

Awaif  Alquwafi  Alfazari  : — "  I  told  you  to  guess,  O  sons  of  Lahta, 
where  I  should  be  in  the  turmoil  of  trouble.  Now  seek  me  if  you  can  ! 
Fie  upon  you  and  upon  the  understanding  between  youi-  libs  (according 
to  Bedawin  ideas  the  understanding  has  its  seat  in  the  heart),  how  could 
you  depend  upon  me  and  my  religion  i  For  with  regard  to  religion  and 
good  reputation  I  am  the  poorest  of  men," 

Abdallah  ben  Alabras  Alasadi : — "  I  am  gentle  as  long  as  my  creditor 
is  gentle,  but  I  keep  my  debts  so  long  that  my  miu-derer  will  still  find 
them.  Day  and  night  I  put  the  creditor  oti"  till  he  at  last  gets  tired  of 
me  and  is  glad  if  he  gets  back  any  part  of  the  debt  without  profit." 

Wabr  ben  Mu'awiya  Alasadt  : — "  I  have  alw'ays  in  readiness  for  my 
creditors  a  shaip  sword  and  a  splendid  club  of  Arsan  wood  ;  a  thick  club 
with  a  great  knob  jjrepaied  for  the  merchants  of  Almadin.  Yes,  by  thy 
grandfathei",  when  the  time  for  payment  comes,  and  my  liver  feels  not 
inclined  to  pay,  I  will  rejiay  him  with  a  stick  of  Arsan  wood,  so  heavy 
that  it  hurts  the  arm  to  lift  it." 

Abu 'muabbes  Aluquaili  : — "Little  I  cai'ed  for  Saiyar  and  his  shouting, 
when  on  my  flight  I  had  the  well  Sirar  between  him  and  me.  He  had 
followed  me  with  great  diligence,  and  spread  his  ])aper  in  the  market 
jilace  before  a  number  of  old  men  who  had  left  their  business  to 
investigate  my  ati'air,  as  if  I  had  done  them  injury.  They  swoi*e  by 
God  that  I  should  not  get  away  as  long  as  I  owed  him  one  piece  of  gold. 
In  their  foolishness  they  Avanted  to  hold  me,  but  I  invented  a  trick  and 
.said  : — '  To-morrow  I  expect  some  goods,  and  I  therefore  invite  you  to 
meet  me  at  the  house  of  Ibn  Habbar.'  But  I  only  fixed  this  meeting 
to  cheat  them,  so  that  my  ijromise  and  the  not  keeping  of  the  same  n)ight 
save  me.  When  my  feet  at  length  found  oppoi'tunity  foi-  flight  1  did 
not  stop  running  and  galloping.  When  they  saw  that  T  was  escajiing 
at  the  utmost  .speed,  so  that  not  even  a  bird  could  have  caught  me,  they 
said  to  their  comrade  : — '  Leave  him  alone,  thou  canst  not  oveitake  him  ; 
come  Ijack  with  us  and  may  all  Bedawin  go  to  hell  !'     Yes,  Saiyar,  truly 


TiiK  i;i;i>A\vix.  201 

some  tiiiio  will  elapse  before  I  pay  you,  ami  so  you  luul  licttt-r  fold  \c,iii- 
papei'  aiul  keep  it  well  from  the  mice  !  " 

Swearing. — "For  some  time  I  refused  when  they  asked  me  to  swear 
an  oath,  so  that  the  fools  might  sup}jose  I  was  to  be  ti'usted.  When 
they  heard  my  refusal  they  imagiiu'd  that  the  idea  of  swearing  was 
cutting  my  veiy  heart,  and  they  did  not  know  that  my  oath  was 
prepared  long  ago  to  free  my  neck  from  the  burden  of  del)ts." 

Musannin  ben  Uwaimir  Alasadt  : — "They  asked  me:  'Will  you 
swear 't '  and  I  said  in  haste  :  '  God  jjreserve  me  from  swearing  an  oath.' 
When  T  saw  that  the  peojjle  believed  that  I  would  not  swear  out  of  deep 
con\'iction  and  fear  of  God,  and  realised  that  if  I  swore,  witnesses,  ])apei', 
and  seals  would  all  be  vain,  I  swore  an  oath  that  the  mountains  burst  as 
stones  which  warriors  throw  from  their  slings." 

"  God  saved  my  young  camel  from  the  hand  of  the  Emir  by  a  false  oath 
which  thou  happily  foundest  out,  without  its  bringing  thee  to  hell  fire." 

"  .Swear  a  false  oath,  and  if  thou  aftei'wards  feai'est  misfortune,  repent 
and  turn  again  to  the  merciful  Forgiver  of  sins." 

However,  we  must  leave  this,  the  darkest  part  of  Arab  life,  and  turn 
to  the  brighter  side  of  the  picture. 

If  you  meet  a  true  son  of  the  desert  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  you 
will  at  once  recognise  him,  not  only  by  his  dark  features,  his  piercing 
eyes,  and  his  plaited  locks  of  hair,  but  also  by  his  long  strides  and 
dignified  motions.  You  see,  however,  that  he  feels  ill  at  ejuse  within 
a  walled  city,  and  you  would  not  like  to  fall  into  his  hands  in  the  open 
country  when  he  is  mounted  on  his  mare  and  carries  his  spear  in  his 
hand.  But  at  the  sight  of  his  black  tent  you  may  be  sure  of  perfect 
safety,  whoever  you  are.  There  he  is  the  best  and  most  generous  of 
hosts,  and  will  spare  no  pains  or  expenses  to  make  you  as  comfortable  as 
possible. 

It  is  related  of  Amir  Ebn  Tufeil,  of  the  Beui  Amir,  that  his  herald 
used  to  call  out  at  the  great  fair  of  Ukat  :  "  Anyone  needing  a  beast  of 
burden  may  find  it  with  Amir.  Anyone  hungry  may  come  to  him. 
Anyone  needing  protection  wall  find  safety  with  him."  I  do  not  think 
that  the  mightiest  in  Europe  would  dare  to  make  in  real  earnest  such 
invitations  and  promises.  It  is  told  that  a  king  once  sent  his  vizier  to 
a  Bedawy,  who  possessed  the  fleetest  nuire  of  the  desert,  in  order  to  ask 
him  for  it.  But  when  the  vizier  arrived  at  the  Arab's  tent,  he  found  him 
in  most  reduced  circumstances.  As  he  had  no  food  to  give,  and  as  no 
animal  remained  with  which  he  could  treat  his  guests,  the  Bedawy  killed 
his  mare  for  them.  After  dinner  the  vizier  spoke  to  him  of  the  request 
of  the  king,  upon  which  the  Bedawy  told  him  that  he  and  his  retinue 
had  just  eaten  the  mare,  and  in  proof  of  it  he  produced  its  fresh  skin. 

From  the  oldest  times  to  the  present  all  Arab  poets  extol  the  virtue 
of  hospitality  and  liberality,  and  even  the  dimensions  of  the  mansaf,  or 
tray  on  which  the  meat  is  served,  is  not  forgotten  in  their  songs.  The 
prophet  Mohammed,  returning  from  the  Battle  of  Bedr,  is  said  to  have 
rested  in  the  shade  of  the  mansaf  of  an  Arab,  and  at  present  the  mama] 


202  THE   BEDAWiN. 

of  Mohammed  Ebn  Esmeir,  Sheikh  of  the  Wald  Ali,  is  considered  the 
biggest,  and  its  owner  the  most  liberal  and  honoured  of  men.  In  the 
year  1863  I  travelled  with  some  friends  to  the  Hanrrin,  and  met  the  Beni 
Sahher  east  of  Um  Keis,  encamped  in  a  beautiful  oak  forest.  Our  caravan 
contained  40  mules  and  horses  and  20  men,  but  the  Arabs  nevertheless 
declared  that  we  were  their  guests  ;  no  provisions  were  to  be  unpacked 
and  no  fire  to  be  lighted  by  us.  We  were  at  once  invited  to  Abdullah 
Ahmed's  tent,  and,  after  having  partaken  of  his  hosjutality,  we  wished 
to  retire.  But  he  declared  that  we  had  only  got  our  breakfast,  and  we 
had  to  remain  till  we  had  had  luncheon  and  dinner,  and  thus  we  were 
obliged  in  the  course  of  two  hours  to  go  through  three  meals. 

Samples  of  Honesty. — Let  me  now  give  you  some  instances  of  honesty, 
which  is  not  unfrequently  found  among  the  Arabs. 

A  merchant  from  Nazareth,  who  had  bought  sheep  from  the  Sherrarat, 
paid  by  mistake  four  piastres  too  much  ;  but  after  he  had  gone  a  distance 
of  10  miles  he  observed  a  Bedawy  following  and  calling  him.  "When  he 
asked  his  desire,  the  Bedawy  said  :  "  You  have  paid  me  four  piastres  too 
much,  and  I  only  came  to  return  what  is  yours." 

Another  instance  : — -Two  merchants  went  to  the  SherrarS,t  to  buy 
goats.  After  they  had  bought  a  number  from  this  tribe,  one  of  the 
merchants  went  to  another  party  of  Bedawin  to  buy  more.  The  Sherrar&t 
meanwhile  struck  their  tents  and  travelled  towards  the  south,  but  the 
host  of  the  merchants  remained  with  his  guest  on  the  spot  waiting  for 
the  return  of  the  other  man,  and  when  the  same  at  last  arrived  he  showed 
no  signs  of  vexation,  but  treated  him  with  the  greatest  attention.  Mean- 
while the  Sherrarat  had  gone  so  far  south  that  the  Bedawy  could  no 
more  ovei'take  them,  and  had  to  remain  for  a  whole  year  in  that  country 
waiting  for  the  return  of  his  tribe. 

Again  : — A  man  lost  a  lamb,  which  a  Bedawy  found  and  exchanged 
for  an  ewe,  which  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  had  several  joung  ones. 
When  he  at  last  met  with  the  owner  of  the  lamb,  he  returned  to  him  the 
sheep  he  had  gained,  and  excused  himself  that  he  had  occasionally  drunk 
of  their  milk, 

Palgrave,  who  does  not  flatter  the  Bedawin,  says  that  he  did  not  lose 
two  pounds'  worth  during  his  whole  journey  through  Arabia. 

But  though  there  is  no  doubt  a  good  deal  of  honesty  i)i  the  desert, 
yet  it  is  certain  that  the  Bedawin  who  come  in  contact  with  townspeople 
often  use  all  their  cunning  in  order  to  cheat  them.  We  have  quite 
a  number  of  old  poems  written  by  Arabs,  who  with  delight  describe  the 
manner  in  which  they  cheated  their  creditors. 

I  am  afraid  my  time  is  alieady  too  far  spent  to  describe  more  of 
the  peculiarities  and  strange  customs  of  the  Bedawin,  of  their  stern 
demeanour,  and  reluctance  to  smile  or  laugh,  or  to  speak  of  their  quaint 
and  original  way  of  speech. 

In  reviewing  what  has  been  said  about  the  character  of  the  Bedawin, 
we  are  oVjliged  to  acknowledge  that  it  contains  great  contrasts.  As  we 
find  in  the  middle  of  the  desolate  desert  the  oasis,  with  all  the  riches 


THE    MKASURE.MEXT   QF    EGGS.  20:> 

of  a  liixiiiiant  vegetation,  so  we  fiud  with  the  Arab  uiiboiUKleil  libertv 
and  t-ruel  despotism  ;  great  instability  and  inconsistency  and  great  tenacity 
in  ])reserving  their  old  ways  and  customs  ;  a  clear  intellect  and  reasoning 
power,  with  wild  fancies  and  deep  sentiment  ;  lasting  love  and  lasting 
hatred  ;  egotism  of  the  worst  kind  and  trne  devotion  ;  robbery  and 
liberality;  honesty  and  treachery;  childlike  simplicity  and  deep  cunnin<f. 
But  one  thing  is  certain  :  if  the  Bedawy  remains  what  he  now  is,  he 
will  be  a  great  hindrance  to  cultivation  and  to  progress  in  the  f^ast  ;  for 
where  the  Bedawln  wander  no  tree  grows  and  no  corn  can  be  raised, 
and  their  ravages  are  as  fatal  to  agriculture  as  those  of  the  locusts.  But 
should  it  not  be  possible  to  reclaim  these  restless  wanderers,  drifting  to 
and  fro  in  the  desert  without  higher  object,  without  home,  and  without 
the  hope  of  a  better  life  after  death  ?  Are  not  the  sons  of  Ishmael  also 
the  sons  of  Abraham  ?  Do  not  their  traditions  constantly  remind  them 
of  the  holy  example  of  Him  who  by  faith  obtained  the  promise  ?  Did 
not  the  Apostle  Paul  first  preach  the  Gospel  in  Arabia,  and  were  not  the 
Arab  tribes  of  Lai,  Taghleb,  Tennooh,  and  Bedr  once  Christians  !■  It  is 
the  Apostle  Paul  who  also,  with  regard  to  the  Arabs,  pronounced  the 
memorable  words:  "God  has  concluded  all  in  unbelief,  that  He  mi"ht 
have  mercy  on  all."  And  we  have  the  sure  promises  of  God  that  the 
Arabs  also  will  come  to  the  light  which  arose  on  Mount  Zion  :  for  "  th« 
dromedaries  of  Midian  and  all  the  flocks  of  Kedar  shall  be  gathered  unto 
the  Lord  ;  and  even  the  desert  shall  be  changed,  and  shall  blossom  like 
the  rose." 


THE    MEASUREMENT    OF    EGGS. 

By   Colonel    C.   M.   Watson,    C.M.G.,   R.E. 

It  is  stated  in  the  Talmud  that  a  log  contained  six  eggs  {see 
Zackerraann's  "  Jiidische  Maass-System,"  who  quotes  Peah  1,6, 
Terumot  43,  3,  Erubin  83,  a).  Colonel  Conder,  in  "  The  Handbook 
to  the  Bible,"  p.  01,  states  that  the  mean  capacity  of  an  egg  is 
4  cubic  inches,  and  hence  makes  the  log  24  cubic  inches,  but  he 
does  not  say  how  he  measured  the  eggs,  or  whether  thej  were 
English  or  Syrian  eggs. 

In  order  to  check  Colonel  Conder's  measui'ement  I  have 
Tueasured  a  considerable  number  of  English  egg?,  and  the  result 
is  not  in  accord  with  his  statement.  I  found  that  the  most 
accurate  way  was  to  measure  carefully  the  volume  of  the  amount 
•of  water  displaced  by  an  egg.  This  is  more  convenient  than 
measuring  the  volume  of  the  content  of  the  egg,  and  gives 
almost  exactly  the  same  result.     Here,  for  example,  is  one  experi- 


204 


THE    MEASUREMENT   OF    EGGS. 


meut  of  the  measurement  of  eight  eggs  taken  at  random.  Each 
es-cr  was  measured  tAvo  or  three  times.  They  are  arranged  in 
order  of  size  : — 


Egg  No 

1     .. 

2 

3     .. 

4     .. 

5     . . 

6     .. 

7     .. 

8     .. 

\lean  , . 

4-04 

cubic 

inches 

3-78 

)» 

5> 

3-62 

,. 

?> 

3-40 

)i 

5> 

3-33 

■>■> 

'? 

3-22 

)5 

5) 

3-07 

^. 

>) 

2-88 

5? 

>> 

'-*-43 

I  found  that  an  egg  measuring  above  4  cubic  inches  is  large 
even  for  an  English  egg,  and  as  Syrian  eggs  are  smaller,  Colonel 
Conder's  measurement  cannot  be  accepted  as  correct.  It  appears 
therefore  very  improbable  that  the  log  was  equal  to  the  total 
contents  of  six  eggs,  and  it  is  more  likely  that  the  statement 
was  intended  to  mean  that  the  log  was  a  vessel  which  Avould 
hold  six  unhrolcen  eggs.  An  English  pint  vessel  holds  con- 
veniently six  unbroken  English  eggs,  so  that  if  this  was  intended 
the  log  should  be  somewhat  smaller  than  an  English  pint.  This 
is  confirmed  by  the  statement  in  Maimonides  that  the  log  was 
a  measure  equal  to  4  x  4  x  2^  digits — the  digit  being  the 
longer  digit.  The  longer  digit  was  the  twenty-fourth  part  of 
the  Babylonian  cubit  of  about  21  inches,  and  therefore  equal  to 
•875  inch.  This  would  give  a  log  of  28"9  inches,  which  is  probably 
much  nearer  the  truth  than  24  inches  as  given  by  Colonel  Conder. 
An  English  pint  =  34'66  cubic  inches. 

Zuckermann  gives  the  log  as  =  the  Xestes  =  27"694  French 
cubic  inches  =  33'548  English  cubic  inches  {see  p.  10).  But  this 
is  based  on  the  proposition  that  the  log  was  exactly  equal  to  the 
Xestes  and  that  the  volume  of  the  latter  is  accurately  known. 
He  gives  no  proof  of  either,  so  that  the  assertion  cannot  be  regarded 
as  definite.  On  the  whole,  it  would  seem  that  until  it  is  proved 
what  sized  eggs  are  referred  to  by  Maimonide.s,  and  whether  they 
were  broken  or  unbroken,  the  value  of  "  6  eggs  =  1  log  "  is  not 
of  much  lielp  in  determining  the  volume  of  the  latter  measure. 


20i 


NOTICP]S   OP   FOREIGN"    PUBLIC ATIOXS. 

liecueil  d'Archmlogie  Orientale,  vol.  i\,  parts  !J  and  10. — M.  (lamieau 
coinraents  more  fully  on  the  inscriptions  from  the  Jewi.sli  necropoli.s 
at  Jaffa,  in  the  collection  of  nanm  Ustint>w,  wliicii  were  cO()ie(l 
1)y  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauei'  and  publislu'd  in  Quarterhf  SOttement,  IDOO, 
pp.  110-123.  The  author  is  inclined  to  think  that  in.scription  No.  8  is 
of  Jewish  origin  and  connected  with  the  I'estoration  of  a  syna<(ogue,  and 
finds  in  it  tlie  name  Jacob  as  well  as  Lazarus.  The  Barbabi  of  No.  10  is 
conipai'ed  with  the  Talmudic  name,  Ben  Babi,  and  the  name  Bafius  in  an 
inscription  from  ArsM.  In  No.  18  Upea^vrepos  is  not  a  title,  but  is  used  in 
the  sense  of  "  elder,"  as  opposed  to  "  younger,"  and  the  inscription  may  be 
translated  :  "Here  lies  Isaac  the  elder,  of  Tarsus  of  Cappadocia,  linen 
merchant." 

Zeitsckrift  des  Deutschen  PaJilstina  Vereins,  vol.  xxiii,  parts  3  and  4. — 
Professor  Dr.  M.  Hartniann  completes  his  valuable  contributions  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  Syrian  desert,  and  gives  a  very  useful  index  f)f  place- 
names.  There  is  also  an  interesting  paper  by  Dr.  Graf  von  Miilinen  on 
the  registration  of  land  in  Turkey,  which  explains  the  classification  of 
lands  as  laid  down  by  the  law  of  April  2ist,  1858,  the  technical  terms  in 
use,  and  the  method  of  dealing  with  landed  jDroperty  under  the  various 
regulations  that  have  been  issued.  The  steps  which  have  to  be  taken  to 
purchase  and  register  a  plot  of  land  in  Turkey  are  illustrated  by  a  com- 
plete statement  of  a  case  vvhich  occurred  near  Jatta.  Amongst  other 
matters  the  purchaser  had  to  make  a  declaration  before  a  notary  that  he 
Would  allow  no  Jews,  whose  residence  in  Palestine  is  forbidden,  to  live  on 
tlie  land,  and  that  he  would  build  no  church,  school,  hospital,  or  dis- 
jjensary  without  previous  permission. 

Remie  Bihliiiue^  1901,  part  1. — Father  Hugues  Vincent  gives  the 
results  of  his  exhaustive  examination  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Prophets  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  with  a  plan  and  sections.  It  is  proposed  to  publish 
a  full  notice  of  his  article  in  the  July  Statement.  Father  Vincent  agrees 
with  M.  Clermont-Ganueau  in  considering  that  the  tomb  is  of  Christian 
origin,  and  not  a  readaptation  of  a  Jewish  tomb. 

A  fragment  of  an  inscribed  Roman  milestone,  No.  Ill  on  the  Jerusaleni- 
Neapolis  Road,  has   been  found  near   Sh'afftt.      The   stone    bears    two 
texts  : — 
Imp{erator)    Nervlci]    aug{ustus),    po)it{ifc.v)    m[ax(imHs)]    trihua[iciae) 

po^t^cstatis)  .  .  .  .  ,  and 
[^ImpY.erator)  Caesar  [Trajlanus  aup{mtns)  .... 

Both  the  inscribed  milestones  previously  discovered  on  this  road,  V 
and  probably  XXV,  bear  the  names  of  Marcus  Auvelius  and  Verus,  who 
apparently  lepaired  the  road  made  by  Trajan,  and  perhaps  commenced 
by  Nerva.     Nos.  Ill  and  V,  being  exactly  two  Roman  miles  apart,  are 


206  NOTICES   OF  FOKEIGN   PUBLICATIONS. 

probably  iu  their  original  position,  and  a  measurement  of  three  miles 
back  from  the  former  places  the  point  of  origin  south  of  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  near  the  centre  of  Jerusalem. 

A  plan,  section,  sketch,  and  details  are  given  of  the  remains  of  the 
Church  of  St.  Mary  Latin-the-Less  which  have  been  recently  destroyed 
during  the  building  operations  of  the  authorities  of  the  Greek  Church 
in  the°western  half  of  the  Muristan.  The  three  apses,  well  preserved  when 
uncovered,  and  recalling  the  fine  masonry  of  the  Church  of  the  Samaritan 
woman  at  Nablus,  have  been  pulled  down  to  make  room  for  the  founda- 
tions of  new  shops  ;  and  of  the  lateral  walls  seen  during  the  excavations 
there  is  no  longer  a  trace.  This  lamentable  and  needless  destruction  of 
the  remains  of  historic  buildings,  hitherto  preserved  by  accumulations  of 
rubbish,  is  greatly  to  be  regretted.  (A  brief  notice  of  this  Church  by 
Dr.  Schick  will  be  found,  ante  p.  51.) 

Le  Mont  Thahor,  notices  historiques  et  descriptives,  by  Father  Barnabe, 
of  Alsace,  O.F.M.  Paris,  1900,  8vo,  pp.  176.— A  monograph  on  Mount 
Tabor,  in  four  parts.  Part  I  deals  with  the  history  of  the  mountain 
from  the  earliest  period  to  its  fortification  by  Josephus,  a  portion 
•of  whose  walls  is  said  to  have  been  discovered.  Part  II  is  a  strong 
plea  iu  favour  of  the  tradition  that  Mount  Tabor  was  the  scene  of 
the  Transfiguration.  The  author  contests  the  view  that  the  summit 
-was  occupied  by  a  tow^n  before  the  time  of  Christ.  Part  III  gives  a 
pretty  complete  history  of  Tabor  from  its  occupation  by  Tancred, 
in  1099,  to  the  present  day.  Part  IV  contains  a  description  of  the 
mountain,  of  the  view  from  it,  and  of  the  ruins  recently  found  on  its 
summit.  The  interesting  remains  of  the  great  Church  with  three  aisles,  a 
■rock-hewn  crypt,  a  baptistery  and  two  chapels,  and  of  the  other  buildings 
imcovered  by  the  Franciscans  are  fully  treated.  But  the  account  of 
the  ruins  in  the  possession  of  the  Greek  Church  is  less  satisfactory. 
'The  book  is  illustrated  with  photographs  of  Mount  Tabor  and  of  the 
xuins  on  its  summit  ;  and  there  are  a  plan  showing  the  results  of  the 
.excavations,  and  a  map  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Autour  de  la  Mer  Morte,  by  Ldcien  Gautier.     Geneva,  1901,  8vo.— 

A  pleasantly  written   account   of  a  journey   round   the   Dead   Sea   in 

March,  1899.     M.  Gautier  travelled  via  Hebron,  Engedi,  and  the  Ghor 

^s-Safieh   to  Kerak,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem    by  Lejj(in,   er-Rabba, 

Medeba,  Meshetta,  and  Jericho.     The  notices  of  the  country  and  people 

.are  good,  and  there  is  an  interesting  description  of  a  freshet,  after  heavy 

rain,  in  the  Wady  Mojib — a  great,  dusky-brown  wave  coming  down  the 

valley  and  carrying  everything  before  it.     In  an  Appendix  M.  Gautier 

gives  the  original  of  his  article  on  the  Dead  Sea  in  the  "  Encyclopedia 

Biblica."     The  book  is  illustrated  with   photo- lithographs,  and   one  of 

these  shows  the  "  white  line  "  of  foam  stretching  from  N.  to  S.  on  the 

-surface  of  the  lake  which  was  first  noticed  by  ^Jolyneux  in  1847. 

c.  w.  w. 


Quarterly  Statement,  July,  1901.] 


THE 

PALESTINE    EXPLORATION    FUND. 


NOTES   AND    NEWS. 

The  Kixg  has  graciously  conveyed  to  the  Arclibishop 
of  Canterbury,  the  President  of  the  Fund,  His 
Majesty's  consent  to  ]:)ecome  Patron  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund  in  succession  to  Her  Late  Majesty 
Queen  Victoria. 


With  deep  regret  we  record  the  death,  at  the  age  of 
64  years,  of  Sir  Walter  Besakt,  Knt.,  Honorary  Secretary 
of  the  Fund,  which  took  place  at  his  residence,  Frognal  End, 
Hampstead,  on  Sunday,  June  9th,  1901. 


The  Treasui^er  of  the  Fund  communicates  the  following  :  — 

"  Many  of  our  subscribers,  when  they  read  of  the  death  of  Sir 
Walter  Besant,  must  have  felt  that  they  had  lost  a  personal 
friend.  He  was  a  man  of  Avide  culture,  of  wide  knowledge,  and 
of  con.siderable  administrative  ability,  and  he  had  the  gift  of 
sympathy.  Those  who  formed  an  acquaintance  with  him  soon 
found  themselves  treating  him,  and  being  treated  by  him,  as  if 
they  were  old  friends.  This  natural  gift  of  inducing  others  to 
speak  without  reserve  must  have  greatly  helped  him  in  planning 
his  many  novels,  for  we  know  from  his  own  evidence  that  the 
characters  in  them  were  modelled  on  men  and  women  whom  he 
had  met.     And  this  gift  of  sympathy,  of  securing  friends,  was 

0 


208  NOTES   AND    NEWS. 

one  of  the  faculties  "wliicli  made  liim  so  valuable  an  official  of  the 
Palestine  Exploration  Fund.  He  was  of  a  generous  temper,  ever 
ready  to  give  thought  and  time,  when  time  meant  money  to  so 
active  a  writer,  to  help  others,  to  give  sound  advice,  or  to  further 
useful  work.  It  is  suffi^cient  to  mention  the  People's  Palace  and 
the  Authox's'  Society  as  examples  of  his  unselfish  activity  on 
behalf  of  the  interests  of  other  men. 

"  But  it  is  as  the  Secretary  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund 
that  we  have  in  this  place  to  deplore  his  death. 

"  In  the  early  days  of  the  Fund  the  Acting,  as  well  as 
Honorary,  Secretary  was  Mr.  George  Grove,  afterwards  Sir 
George  Grove.  Mr.  Grove  was  a  man  of  great  ability,  of  many- 
sided  knowledge,  of  untiring  energy,  and  strong  self-reliance  ; 
indeed,  his  fault  lay  in  this  latter  quality,  for  he  was  always  ready 
to  take  up  any  subject  which  appealed  to  his  feelings  without 
resrard  to  the  other  calls  on  his  time.  The  work  of  the  Fund 
suif  ered ;  it  became  necessary  to  engage  a  paid  secretary,  and  in 
a  fortunate  hour  for  the  Fund,  Mr.  William  Lethbridge,  who  was 
then  a  reader,  and  afterwards  a  partner,  in  the  firm  of  W.  H. 
Smith  and  Son,  recommended  Mr.  Besant  for  the  post. 

"  Mr.  Besant,  after  taking  a  high  degree  at  Cambridge,  had 
gone  as  a  professor  to  the  college  in  the  Mauritius.  His  health 
broke  down,  and  he  returned  to  England.  On  becoming  connected 
with  the  Fund,  he  showed  his  administrative  ability  at  once. 
Order  was  introduced  into  the  office,  work  proceeded  smoothly. 
He  soon  substituted  a  Quarterly  Statement  in  the  place  of 
occasional  papers. 

"  It  was  i^artly  his  work  that  the  Fund  began  to  publish 
books,  and  it  was  certainly  due  to  his  tact  and  knowledge,  and 
to  the  tact  and  knowledge  of  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon,  who  was  long 
the  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee,  that  almost  every  book 
I^ublished  by  the  Fund  has  been  a  commercial  success,  as  well  as 
an  important  contribution  to  our  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Land. 

"  His  genial,  simple  manners  and  quiet  humour  charmed 
visitors  to  the  office,  and  he  was  possessed  of  no  ordinary 
amount  of  common  sense.  All  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee  recognised  the  value  of  his  suggestions  and  counsel. 

"  Of  late  years  increasing  literary  work,  and  his  many  other 
engagements,  took  up  most  of  his  time,  but  he  was  always  ready 
to  help  as  with  his  counsel  when  any  complication  arose. 

"  The  successful  working  of  the  Fund  has  been  in  no  small 


:n'Otes  and  xi.;\vs.  joO 

degree  due  to  him,  and  has  led  to  the  systematic  examination  hy 
other  societies  and  explorers  of  countries  famous  in  the  (31d 
World.  And  thus,  while  Ave  in  particular  can  best  appreciate 
the  value  of  his  work,  his  influence  has  had  a  fai-ther  reachin"- 
effect  than  the  special  work  of  our  Fund." 

Colonel  C.  R.  Conder  writes  : — 

"  Sir  Walter  Besant  was  so  well  known  that  it  is  only  because 
lie  was  one  of  my  earliest  and  kindest  friends  that  I  ask  space 
for  a  few  words.  I  believe  that  the  success  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund  was  mainly  due  to  his  appreciation  of  all 
that  is  best  in  England,  and  to  his  knowledge  of  English 
character,  and  sympathy  with  the  love  of  the  Bible  in  England. 
I  knew  him  well  since  1872,  and  not  only  admired  his  energy  and 
ability,  but  most  highly  appi-eciated  his  kindness,  patience,  and 
tolerance  of  differences  of  opinion.  His  work  was  invaluable  to 
the  Society,  and  he  was  one  able  fully  to  understand  both  the 
truth  and  the  beauty  of  the  Bible,  and  practically  to  carry  out  in 
London  the  lessons  he  learned  from  the  Gospel." 


The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  General  Committee  will  be  held 
at  the  Office  of  the  Fund,  38  Conduit  Street,  on  Tuesday, 
July  16th,  at  4  p.m. 

Dr.  F.  J.  Bliss  writes  : — 

"  It  will  interest  the  readers  of  the  Quarterly  Statement  to 
hear  that  the  majority  of  the  objects  found  in  our  excavfitions 
are  now  arranged  in  a  small  museum.  A  large  room  in  the 
Government  School,  just  inside  Herod's  Gate,  has  been  set  apart 
for  the  purpose  by  Ismail  Bey,  the  local  Dii-ector  of  Public 
Instruction.  Last  autumn  I  numbered  the  objects  selected  for 
exhibition  and  made  a  catalogue,  but  owing  to  the  lack  of  proper 
cases  no  arrangement  could  then  be  made.  On  my  return  last 
month  I  was  gratified  to  find  that  Ismail  Bey  had  obtained 
a  grant  from  Constantinople  which  had  enabled  him  to  secure 
four  large  cases  with  glass  on  the  four  sides.  These,  with  the 
two  cases  already  in  the  I'oom,  have  now  provided  ample  room  for 
the  objects.  Case  'No.  1  contains  101  examples  of  pre-Israelite 
pottery,  including  specimens  from  Tell  el-Hesy.  It  was  a  grati- 
fication to  find  that  these  had  been  preserved  by  the  authorities 
for  over  10  years.     In  case  No.  2  we  have  116  examples  of  Jewish 

.J  2 


210  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

pottery,  includiiio-  a  series  of  the  stamped  jar-liaiidles.  Case 
No.  3  coutains  184  specimens  of  Seleucidaii  wai'e.  In  the  lower 
shelf  of  each  case  may  be  found  the  duplicates  (unnumhered), 
which  in  the  case  of  the  Seleucidan  period  are  very  numerous. 
Case  No.  4  is  marked  '  Miscellaneous,'  and  besides  examples  of 
pottery  figurines,  human  and  animal,  contains  various  objects  in 
bronze,  iron,  bone,  and  stone.  In  Cases  5  and  G  are  exhibited 
the  scarabs,  gems,  tablets,  coins,  and  glass  objects.  The  majorit}- 
of  the  coins,  as  well  as  the  gi'eater  proportion  of  the  objects  in  the 
beautiful  glass  collection,  were  placed  in  the  museum  by  Ismail 
Bey.  For  the  classification  of  the  coins  the  museum  is  indebted 
to  Dr.  Selah  Merrill,  U.S.  Consul. 

''  The  unique  character  of  this  small  museum  is  obvious.  It 
contains  the  only  full  collection  from  which  the  history  of 
Palestinian  pottery  may  be  studied  from  pre-Israelite  to  Roman 
times.  Ismail  Bey  hopes  that  he  will  soon  receive  authorit}-  to 
appoint  a  guardian,  print  the  catalogue,  and  throw  open  the 
museum  to  the  public  for  a  small  fee.  The  position  will  be 
convenient  for  travellers,  as  the  museum  can  be  visited  after 
the  inspection  of  the  Church  of  St.  Anne  and  the  Pool  of 
Bethesda  by  making  a  very  small  detour  from  the  main  road 
going  north  from  St.  Stephen's  Grate." 


In  the  Api'il  number  of  the  Quarterly  Statement,  p.  165,  it  is 
stated  that  the  church  at  Kubeibeh  has  been  rebuilt  since  the 
publication  of  the  "  Memoirs."  Dr.  Schick  writes  that  this  is  not 
quite  coi'rect,  as  the  rebuilding  of  the  church,  which  was  begun 
about  three  years  ago,  was  stopped  owing  to  questions  respecting 
the  building  in  its  interior  (called  "  House  of  Cleopas  "),  which 
have  never  yet  been  settled. 


Dr.  Schick  reports  that  the  Benedictines,  who  are  now  in 
possession  of  the  church  at  Abu  Ghosh,  are  about  to  restore  it 
for  a  sanctuar}'  and  station  for  pilgrims. 


He  also  mentions  that  "  until  now  (April  29th)  we  look  to 
heaven  in  vain  for  rain.  Very  often  there  have  been  Avinds  and 
clouds,  as  if  rain  would  come,  but  they  have  passed  without  rain. 
I   am  told  that  the  railway  has  already  begun  to  bring  water  to 


NOTES   AND    NEWS.  211 

the  station,  and  that  people  may  •^•o  there  and  buy  it  at  a  very 
reasonable  price."  Dr.  Masterman,  writing  on  ]\Iay  20th,  stated 
that  tliree  qaai-ters  of  an  inch  had  fallen  within  thi-ee  or  foui- 
days  with  great  benefit  to  the  country. 

On  April  1st  Dr.  Torrance  reported  that  only  12G7  inches  oi 
rain  had  fallen  at  Tiberias,  and  that  fears  were  entertained  of 
great  distress  throughout  the  coimtiy.  l.ocusts  also  had  appeared 
at  Tiberias  and  on  the  coast. 


In  connection  with  the  Imperial  concession  to  the  raunici})ality 
of  Jerusalem  to  bring  water  from  Wady  'Arrub  to  that  city. 
Dr.  Schick  reports  that  there  is  also  on  foot  a  scheme  to  construct 
an  aqueduct  fi'om  the  Euphrates  across  the  Syrian  desert  to 
Medina  and  Mecca,  and  that  he  had  been  asked  to  report  on  the 
feasibility  of  this  being  done.  The  result  of  his  investigations, 
so  far  as  the  maps  at  his  disposal  afforded  information,  was  that, 
in  his  opinion,  the  thing  is  impossible.  The  projectors  of  this 
scheme  assert  that  Alexander  the  Great  had  an  idea  of  carrying 
out  such  a  work. 


The  Committee  have  applied  for  a  firman  to  enable  the  Fund 
to  continue  its  excavations  in  Palestine,  and  they  hope  soon  to 
be  in  a  position  to  publish  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  full  details 
with  regard  to  further  operations. 


The  Committee  have  pleasui*e  in  announcing  that  M.  Clcrnumt- 
Ganneau,  whose  valuable  contributions  to  the  work  of  the  Fund 
are  Avell  known,  has  kindly  promised  to  supply  a  series  of 
archa3ological  and  epigraphic  notes  to  the  Quartcrhj  Statemeni. 
Tlie  first  notes  of  the  series  appeared  in  the  April  numbei-. 


A  subscriber  offers  for  sale  a  complete  set  of  the  •'  Memoirs "' 
of  the  Survey  of  Western  Palestine  in  8  vols.,  comprising: — 
"Memoirs"  (3  vols.),  "Name  Lists,"  "Jerusalem,"  "Special 
Papers,"  "Fauna  and  Flora,"  "Index";  also  one  Great  !Map  in 
Poi'tfolio  (1  inch),  one  Old  Testament  Map,  one  New  Testament 
Map,  one  Water  Drainage  ^lap,  one  Portfolio  of  Jerusalem  Plates. 
"All  in  a  very  good  condition." 


212  NOTES   AND    NEWS. 

The  concluding  volume  of  Professor  Ganneau's  "Archaeo- 
logical Researches  in  Jerusalem  and  its  Neighbourhood"  has 
been  published  and  issued  to  subscribers.  This  completes  the  set 
of  four  vols,  as  advertised  under  the  title  "  Survey  of  Palestine." 
There  are  only  two  sets  left  of  the  first  250  copies  of  this 
valuable  work.  Those  who  wish  to  secure  a  set  at  £7  7s. 
before  the  price  is  raised  should  write  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Fund. 

The  "Flora  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Sinai,"  by  the  Rev. 
George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  Beirut,  Sj'ria,  containing  descriptions  of 
all  the  Phaenogams  and  Acrogens  of  the  region,  and  illustrated 
by  441  woodcuts,  may  be  had  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  price  21s. 


In  order  to  mahe  up  complete  sets  of  the  "  Quarterly  Statement,'' 
the  Committee  will  be  very  glad  to  receive  any  of  the  back  numbers. 


The  income  of  the  Society  from  March  22nd  to  June  20th, 
1901,  was — from  Annual  Subscriptions  and  Donations,  including 
Local  Societies,  £175  5s.  2d.  ;  from  Lectures,  nil;  from  sales  of 
publications,  &c.,  £132  6s.  Id. ;  total,  £307  lis.  9d.  The  expen- 
diture during  the  same  period  was  £482  lis.  1^.  On  June  20th 
the  balance  in  the  Bank  was  £364  Os.  od. 


Subscribers  in  U.S.A.  to  the  Avork  of  the  Fund  will  please 
note  that  they  can  procure  copies  of  any  of  the  publications  from 
the  Rev.  Professor  Theo.  F.  Wright,  Honorary  General  Secretary 
to  the  Fund,  42,  Quincy  Street,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


Rev.  Wm.  Ronaldson,  390,  Castle  Street,  Dunedin,  Otago,  has 
kindly  consented  to  act  as  Honorary  Local  Secretary,  in  place  of 
Mr.  Herbert  Webb,  resigned. 


•»* 


The  Committee  will  be  glad  to  communicate  with  ladies  and 
■entlemen  willing  to  help  the  Fund  as  Honorary  Secretaries. 


The  price  of  a  complete  set  of  the  translations  published  by  the  Palestine 
Pilgrims'  Tc-xt  Society,  in  13  volumes,  with  general  index,  bound  in  cloth, 
is  £10  10*.  A  catalogue  describing  the  contents  of  each  volume  can  be  had 
on  application  to  the  Secretary,  38  Conduit  Street. 


NOTES   AND   NEWS.  213 

Tlio  Museum  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  33  Conduit  Street  (si  fi-w  door* 
from  Eond  Street),  is  open  to  visitors  every  week-day  from  10  o'clock  till  5, 
except  Saturdays,  when  it  is  closed  at  2  ytMi. 


It  may  be  well  to  mention  that  plans  and  pliotograplis  alluded  to  in  the 
reports  from  Jerusalem  and  elsewhere  cannot  all  be  published,  but  all  are 
preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Fund,  where  they  may  be  seen  by  subscribers. 


While  desiring  to  give  publicity  to  proposed  identifications  and  other 
theories  advanced  by  officers  of  the  Fund  and  contributors  to  tlie  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. 


Tourists  are  cordially  invited  to  visit  the  Loan  Collection  of  "Antiques" 
in  the  Jekusalem  Association  Room  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund, 
opposite  the  Tower  of  David,  Jerusalem.  Hours  :  8  to  12,  and  2  to  6. 
Maps  of  Palestine  and  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  publications  are  kept  for 
sale. 


Photographs  of  Dr.  Scliick's  models  (1)  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  (2)  of 
the  Herodian  Temple,  (3)  of  the  Haram  Area  during  the  Christian  occupation 
of  Jerusalem,  and  (4)  of  the  Haram  Area  as  it  is  at  present,  have  been  received 
at  the  office  of  the  Fund.  Sets  of  these  photographs,  with  an  explanation  by 
Dr.  Schick,  can  be  purchased  by  applying  to  the  Secretary,  38  Conduit 
Street,  W. 


Branch  Associations  of  the  Bible  Society,  all  Sunday  Schools  within 
the  Sunday  School  Institute,  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and  the  Wesleyan 
Sunday  School  Institute,  will  please  observe  that  by  a  special  Resolution  of  the 
Committee  they  will  henceforth  be  treated  as  subscribers  and  be  allowed  to  pur- 
chase the  books  and  maps  (by  application  only  to  the  Secretary)  at  reduced 
price. 

The  Committee  will  be  glad  to  receive  donations  of  Books  to  the  Library 
of  the  Fund,  which  already  contains  many  works  of  great  value  relating  to 
Palestine  and  other  Bible  Lands.  A  catalogue  of  Books  in  the  Library  will 
be  found  in  the  July  Quarterly  Statement,  1893. 


The  Committee  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  following  : — 
"  Jerusalem  :  a  Practical  Guide   to  Jerusalem  and  its  Environs."     From 

the  Author,  E.  A.  Reynolds-Ball,  B.A. 
"  Voyage  Archeologique  au  Safa  et  dans  le  Djebel  cd-Druz."     Par  Rene 
Dussaud  ct  Frederic  Macler.     Avec  1   Itineniire,    17   Planches  ot  12 
Figures.     From  the  Editor,  Ernest  Leroux,  28,  Rue  Bonaparte,  Paris. 


•214  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

"Among  the  Mountains,  in  tlie  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  Waldensia,  and 
Maharaslitra."     From  tlie  Author,  the  Kev.  Canon  Gell,  M.A. 

"A  Journey  from  Aleppo  to  Jerusalem,  a.b.  1697."  By  Herr  Maundrell, 
M.A.,  late  Fellow  of  Exeter  College  and  Chaplain  to  the  Factory  at 
Aleppo.     From  Aubrey  Stewart,  Esq.,  ^M.A. 

"  My  Tour  in  Palestine  and  Syria."  Eyre  and  Spottiswoode,  1899.  From 
the  Author,  F,  H.  Deverell. 

"  La  Montague  de  la  Galilee."  From  the  Author,  Rer.  P.  Earnabc, 
d' Alsace,  O.F.M. 

"  Eecueil  d'Archeologie  Orientale."  Tome  IV,  Livraisons  11,  12,  13, 
January  to  March.  Sommaire  : — §  27.  Inscriptions  grecques  de 
Syrie  (suite  et  fin).  §  28.  Le  Zeus  Madbachos  et  le  Zeus  Bomos 
des  Semites.  §  29.  Le  dieu  Monimos.  §  30.  Les  uoms  nabateens 
Thomsache  et  Abdadousares.  §  31.  Nouvelles  inscriptions  uabateeunes. 
§  32.  L'inscription  sinaitique  des  trois  Augustes.  §  33.  L'annee 
sabbatique  des  Nabateens  et  I'origine  des  inscriptions  sinai'tiques  et 
safaitiques.  §  34.  Sceaux  et  poids  a  legendes  semitiqucs  du  Ashmolean 
Museum.  §  35.  L'insci-iption  pheuicienne  de  Tortose.  §  36.  Sur 
quelques  inscriptions  puniques  du  Musee  Lavigerie.  §  37.  Un  neocore 
palmyrenien  du  dieu  'Azizou.  §  38.  Les  inscriptions  I'omaines 
de  I'aqueduc  de  Jerusalem  (a  suivre).  Livraisons  14,  15,  April. 
Sommaire : — §  38.  Les  inscriptions  romaines  de  I'aqueduc  de 
Jerusalem  (suite  et  fin).  §  39.  Sur  quelques  noms  propres  puniques. 
§  40.  Le  mot  punique  Mu  chez  Plaute.  §  41.  Le  nom  pbenicien 
Banobal  et  l'inscription  de  Memphis.  §  42.  Epitaphe  d'un  archer 
palmyrenien.  §  43.  Sur  quelques  noms  propres  juifs.  §  44.  ApoUon 
Mageirios  et  le  Cadmus  pbenicien.  §  45.  Le  Pbenicien  Theosebios 
et  son  Toyage  a  Pouzzoles.  §  46.  La  belle  Sime  d'Eleutlieropolis. 
§47.  Les  poteries  rhodienues  de  Palestine  (a  suivre).  Livraison  16, 
May.  Sommaire  : — §  47.  Les  poteries  rhodienues  en  Palestine  (suite 
et  fin).  §  48.  Un  sceau  des  Croisades  appartenant  a  la  Leproserie  de 
Saint-Lazare  de  Jerusalem  (pi.  I,  D,  E).  §  49.  Le  ti-oue  et  I'autel 
chez  les  Semites.  §  50.  Le  peuple  des  Zakkari.  §  51.  Sur  quelques 
cachets  israelites  archai'ques  (a  suivre). 


For  list  of  authorised  lecturers  and  their  subjects  write  to  the  Secretary. 


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


Erratum. 

Quarterly    Statement,    1900— p.    343,    six    lines    up,    for   "penholder"    read 

"  pan  handle." 


215 


REPORTS    BY    K.    A.    STKWART    ^IACALIST1<]U,    M.A. 


1.  The  Rock -Cut  Tombs  in  Wady  er-Rababi,  Jerusalem. 

(Concluded   from    the    "  Qnarterhj    Statement" 
April,  1901,  p.  158.) 

Thk  ten  tombs  which  lollow,  aucl  complete  the  series  of  tombs  in 
the  valley,  are  east  of  the  monastery.  They  are  arranged  in  three 
rows  :  six  are  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice  above  the  valley,  three 
on  the  rocky  platform  behind  the  top  of  the  precipice,  and  one 
remaining  in  the  back  wall  of  rock  behind  the  platform.  We 
shall  take  these  in  I'everse  order  : — 

57.  The  back  wall  of  rock,  behind  the  platform  on  which  the 
monastery  is  now  built,  is  tunnelled  with  several  caves  which 
appear  natural,  and  it  seems  also  to  have  had  more  than  one 
system  of  tombs  in  it.  Only  one  of  these  remains,  and  even  this 
is  much  injured  by  the  quairying  pi'ocesses  that  have  completely 
destroyed  the  others.  Two  chambers  are  left,  one  of  large  size, 
having  one  kok  on  the  west,  two  on  the  south,  and  two  remaining 
■on  the  east ;  the  entrance,  Avhich  is  broken  open  and  of  which  no 
original  features  are  left,  was  to  the  north.  There  is  a  small 
dooi-  to  the  south  giving  admission  to  a  small  chamber,  perfect 
but  much  clogged  up  Avith  stones  and  rubbish,  measuring  9  feet 
4  inches  by  9  feet  ()  inches.  There  are  nine  kokim  in  this 
chamber — three  in  each  side  not  occupied  by  the  door. 

58.  This  and '  the  following  tomb  are  under  the  walls  of 
the  monastery.  It  is  a  single-chambered  tomb  with  kokim, 
seven  in  number.  One  of  these  is  of  the  extraordinary  length 
of  12  feet  4  inches:  Another  has  a  depression  in  its  floor, 
filled  with  rubbish,  i)ossibly  a  secret  entrance  to  some  subsidiary 
ch  ambei". 

59.  This  tomb  is  beside  the  last.  It  consists  of  four  chambers. 
The  entrance  chamber  has  but  one  kok,  on  the  south  side  ;  beside 
this  is  the  dooi-way  of  a  chamber  at  the  back,  containing  three 
kokim  on  the  east,  two  on  the  south,  and  a  blocked  doorway  (?) 
on  the  west.     There  is  a  shallow  niche  over  the   central  kok  on 


216 


EEPORTS    P.V    i;.    A.    STEWART    MACALISTER. 


the  eastern  side.  To  the  west  of  the  entrance  chamber  is  a  room 
with  two  kokim  on  the  south  and  two  on  the  west  ;  this  chamber 
has  an  iivdependent  entrance  from  without.  To  the  east  of  the 
entrance  chamber  is  an  extension  leading  downwards  to  a  small 
chamber  having  three  arcosolia,  one  on  each  of  the  sides  not 
occupied  by  the  door. 

60.  (Plan  XXYI;  Tobler,  8 ;  Baedeker,  3).— Architecturally 
this  is  the  most  interesting  of  the  excavations  of  the  Wady  er- 
Rababi.  It  consists  of  two  principal  chambers,  and.  one  lower 
chamber,  with  the  usual  square  vestibule  at  the  entrance. 


A--- 


XXV) 


The  first  detail  that  calls  for  attention  is  the  pair  of  remark- 
able apses  at  the  west  end  of  the  rock  wall  in  which  the  entrance 


REPORTS    i;V    l;.    A.    STKWART    MACALISTKI;. 


217 


is  cut.  The  purpose  of  those  is  quite  obscure  to  me,  and  T  have 
never  seen  anything  like  them  anywhere  else.  Pero  Vincent  has 
informed  me  that  notliing*  similar  is  to  bo  found  nearer  than 
Petra. 

The  vestibalc  is  much  broken  and  badly  repaired  by  rougii 
stone  walling,  which  has  been  erected  in  order  to  make  this 
beautiful  tomb  serve  the  ignoble  purpose  of  a  cow-house. 
Remains  of  an  ornamental  alcove  over  the  door  show  that  the 
entrance  had  considerable  pretensions  to  architectural  effect. 
Half  the  vestibule  roof  is  now  broken  away  and  i-eplaced  by  built 
stoue.  The  walls  are  blackened  with  smoke,  but  the  outlines  of 
some  painted  ornaments  are  just  traceable  under  the  dirt  on  the 
western  wall. 

A  step  downward  leads  into  the  principal  chamber.  This  has 
evidently  served  some  other  purpose  besides  that  of  a  tomb ;  I 
have  no  doubt  that  Tobler  is  right  in  regarding  it  as  a  chapel 
with  tomb  accessories.  There  is  an  apse  at  the  eastein  end, 
lighted  by  a  (now  blocked)  shaft.  In  the  western  wall  are  three 
kokim,  two  of  which  were  concealed  by  a  movable  slal)  which 
bore  a  completion  of  the  false  door  that  encloses  the  central  kok  ; 
compare  the  similar  device  for  concealment  that  we  have  found 
at  Ferdus  er-Rum,  already  described. 


0.i^}j^  i^f  UrUrar.^c 


^>£^7/V..^<:'''' 


The  roof  is  domed  and  shows  a  rosette,    deeply  sculptured,- 
occupying  its  whole  surface. 


218 


REPORTS   BY   R.   A.    STEWART   MACALISTER. 


A  sunk  passage  to  the  -west  of  tlie  entrance  leads  to  a  small 
cliamber  under  the  vestibule  having  two  arcosolia.  There  is  a 
kok  in  the  corresponding  position  on  the  other  side,  also  extending- 
under  the  vestibule. 

The  south  wall  of  the  principal  chamber  was  ornamented  with 
panelling,  but  it  is  much  broken  and  so  smoke-blackened  that  the 
details  are  very  difficult  to  make  out.  A  large  doorway  in  the 
middle  of  this  wall  gives  admission  to  the  inner  chamber  which 
contains  two  arcosolia,  having  kokim  extending  inwards  from 
their  northern  ends,  and  Avitli  slightly  ornamented  faces  (.*ee  the 
section),  and  two  kokim  in  the  south  wall,  one  of  which  expands 
into  a  small  square  chamber. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  adaptation  of  this  catting  as  a 
chapel  may  belong  to  a  later  period  than  its  use  as  a  tomb.  This 
might  be  indicated  by  what  appears  to  be  an  imperfect  kok  in 
the  centre  of  the  apse  at  the  east;  but  this  is  doubtful,  as  it  is 
not  at  the  same  level  as  the  adjoining  kokim,  and  therefore  may 
be  an  aumbry. 

Except  the  meagj-e  remains  in  the  vestibule,  every  trace  of  the 
frescoes  mentioned  by  Tobler  has  disappeared. 

The  remaining  tombs  are  on  the  edge  of  the  rocky  precipice 
east  of  the  monastery. 

61.  (Plan  XXVII;  Tobler,  7;  Baedeker,  7).— Close  to  the 
monastery  wall  an  open  landing  or  vestibule  has  been  quarried 
in  the  edge  of  the  pi-ecipice,  with  doors  on  the  three  sides.  That 
to  the  east  opens  into  a  square  chamber  with  the  usual  three 
arcosolia:  there  is  a  kok  running  under  the  southward  bench. 
Over  tlie  door  to  this  chamber  is  a  large  round-headed  niche,  and 


at  its  side  are  two  others  of  smaller  size.  The  central  door 
admits  to  a  square  chamber,  approached  by  steps,  being  sunk 
below  the  level  of  the  vestibule.     This  chamber  has  a  bench  or 


EEPOKTS    T?V   ];.    A.    STE"\VAftT   MACALI.STKU. 


210 


step   running-  round    tlic   walls   ami   six    kokiin,    disposed    in   tlu- 
manner  shown  on  the  plan.     The  low  level  of  this  chamber  seems 


to    corroborate    Professor     Clcrmout-G.mueau's    sugg-ested    inter- 
pretation of  the  inscription  (No.  13)   wliicli  is   painted  over  the 


220  KEPOKTS   BY   E.   A.   STEWAIIT  MACALISTER. 

door.  This  of  course  involves  the  abandoning  of  the  reading 
a'-ia-tpov  at  the  end  of  the  second  line,  though  it  is  consistent  with 
all  the  traces.^  There  is  a  raised  kok  or  similar  shaft  to  the  right 
of  the  doorway  leading  to  this  chamber.  On  the  west  side  is 
a  roaghlj-quari'ied  chamber  with  one  arcosolium  and  one  kok. 
Over  the  arcosolium  are  two  holes  broken  through  the  rock- wall, 
which  are  either  windows  to  the  chamber,  or  else  attempts  at 
kokim  that  were  started  here  owing  to  a  miscalculation  of  the 
thickness  of  wall.  The  latter  suggestion  is  barely  credible ;  and 
as  we  have  already  found  a  window  in  the  41st  tomb  of  this 
series,  and  will  find  a  well-made  one  in  N'o.  62,  there  is  nothing 
incredible  in  the  fornier  hypothesis.  Windows  are  very  rare  in 
rock-cut  tombs.  One  well-known  example  is  in  the  so-called 
"  Garden  tomb"  under  the  so-called  "Gordon's  Calvary." 

Beside  the  door  of  the  last-mentioned  chamber  is  inscription 
No.  14. 

62.  (Plan  XXVIIl ;  Query,  Tobler,  6  ;  Baedeker,  6.  Tobler's 
description  seems  very  inexact). — A  deep  vestibule,  no  less  than 
20  feet  long  on  the  western  side,  gives  access  by  a  fine  high, 
moulded  doorway  to  a  chamber  that  has  suffered  considerably 
from  quarrying.  Its  most  noticeable  features  are  the  peculiar 
window  (at  B  on  the  plan)  already  referred  to.  This  has  been 
closed  at  some  time  by  a  movable  board,  turning  on  a  horn,  and 
secured  by  bars,  the  sockets  for  which  remain.  There  is  a  round- 
headed  drip-mould  over  the  opening.  In  this  first  chamber  are 
two  arcosolia,  singularly  shallow  and  low  ;  though  of  the  proper 
length,  their  smallness  in  other  dimensions,  and  their  exposed 
situation,  makes  it  doubtful  Avhether  they  were  ever  intended  for 
the  reception  of  bodies  :  but  it  is  difficult  to  assign  any  other 
explanation  of  their  existence.  To  the  left  of  this  chamber  is 
a  smaller  cell,  with  kokim,  so  blocked  with  rubbish  that  it  is 
next  to  impossible  to  enter  and  measure  it.  Behind  is  a  square 
chamber,  absolutely  without  features,  except  one  blocked  kok  in 
the  south  wall ;  and  a  sunk  passage,  opening  below  the  south  wall 
and  communicating  with  a  chamber  that  has  been  adapted  as 
a  cistern :  the  walls  are  jjlastered,  and  a  water  groove  has  been 
cut  running  along  the  side  of  the  plain  square  chamber  already 

^  I  see  that  Tobler  noticed  tliis  iuscription  in  liis  account  of  the  tombs,  but 
be  recovered  a  few  letters  only,  just  suflicient  to  identify  it — 

ro..  1  €P...  N  .. .  r I  vn  ... 


UEPORTS   BY   i;.   A.    STEWAirr   MACALISTER. 


o-;o 


KEPORTS   BY   1!.    A.    STEWAUT    MACALISTEi:. 


described.     This  chamber  cannot  therefore  be  entered  except   in 
summer.     It  will  be  found  to  contain  three  arcosolia. 

63.  (Plan  XXIX;  Tobler,  5;  Baedeker,  5).— This  is  another 
tomb  of  the  type  exemplified  by  No.  r>l  :  a  central  open  vestibule 


with  a  number  of  independent  single  chambers  opening  off  it. 
The  vestibule  is  irregular  in  the  present  case,  and  possibly  has 
been  added  to  from  time  to  time  as  occasion  required.  As  in  the 
case  of  No.  61,  the  north  side  of  the  vestibule  is  the  edge  of  the 


REPORTS   BY   R.    A.    STEWAItT   MACALISTEK.  22'A 

precipice.  Commencinfr  on  the  east  and  workintr  round,  wo  find, 
first,  an  irregular  cl)aml)er,  with  an  arcosolium  on  the  norlli  and 
on  the  south  ;  there  was  also  another  on  the  east,  the  cmls  (jf 
Avhich  i-emaiu  ;  but  a  passage  has  at  some  time  been  cut  tlirough 
it,  interrupting  it.  There  is  a  kok  under  the  arcosolium  to  tlie 
north  of  this  passage,  and  possibly  this  passage  is  an  adaptation  of 
another.  Unfortunately  the  suggestion  did  not  occur  to  me  till 
after  I  had  left  Jerusalem,  so  that  I  was  unable  to  test  it  by 
examining  the  pick  mai"ks.  Next  to  this  chamber  comes  a  flight 
of  steps,  four  or  five  in  number,  overgrown  with  earth  and  grass ; 
these  formed  the  original  approach  to  the  vestibule.  Next  comes 
a  small  square  chamber,  containing  no  features  that  I  could 
observe ;  as  it  was  full  of  rubbish  and  the  door  was  almost  quite 
blocked  up  at  the  time  of  my  visit,  I  was  unable  to  measure  it. 
We  then  come  to  a  fine  moulded  doorway,  behind  which  is  a 
smaller  door  opening  into  a  room  Avith  arcosolium  and  two  kokim 
under  it  on  the  south  side,  and  on  the  north  the  blocked  sunk 
entrance  to  another  chamber  that  must  extend  under  the  vesti- 
bule. After  this  we  reach  an  irregular  extension  of  the  vestibule 
westward,  perhaps  a  late  addition  to  the  system,  whicli  has  on  the 
south  a  niche,  and  on  the  west  a  chamber,  having  two  kokim  in 
each  of  the  sides  not  occupied  by  the  door,  and  in  addition  an 
ai'cosolium  on  the  west  and  south  sides  over  the  kokim.  Last 
comes  another  chamber,  also  too  full  of  rubbish  at  the  time  of  my 
visit  to  be  measured,  but  containing  arcosolia,  one  on  each  of 
three  sides  ;  under  that  to  the  west  are  three  kokim.  Over  the 
door  of  the  latter  chamber  is  inscription  No.  14.  This  has  been 
cleaned  since  I  saw  and  described  it  first,  and  it  now  appears  (as 
Tobler  noticed)  that  the  incised  letters  were  picked  out  in  red. 

64.  (Plan  XXX;  Tobler,  2;  Baedeker,  2).— This  is  a  single 
chamber  with  four  kokim  and  a  niche,  disposed  as  shown  on  tho 
plan  on  next  page.  In  the  north-west  corner  is  a  rectangular 
sunk  depression. 

65.  Remains  of  a  moulded  door,  all  that  is  left  of  a  chamber 
that  has  fallen  in ;  the  ruins  have  become  full  of  earth,  and  are 
concealed  by  grass.  The  chamber  measured  about  11  feet  ">  inches 
by  9  feet.  This  may  be  Tobler's  No.  4,  described  by  him  as  a 
buried  chamber  with  10  kokim  towai-ds  the  east. 

66.  (Plan  XXXI;  Tobler,!;  Baedeker,  1).— A  tomb  consist- 
ing of  three  chambers  one  behind  another.  The  first,  which  has  a 
fine  moulded    door,  is   of   the  nature  of  a  vestibule,  and  has  no 

r 


224 


KEPOETS   BY   11.   A.    STEWAUT   MACALISTER. 


features ;  the  second  has  six  kokim,  three  on  each  of  the  sides 
not  occupied  by  doorways ;  the  thiid  is  of  the  common  type,  with 
three  arcosolia. 

This  completes  the  series  of  tombs  existing  in  the  Wady  er- 
Rababi.  It  is  probable  that  they  belong  to  widely  different  dates, 
thouo-h  there  is  little  to  help  us  in  assigning  a  period  to  any  of 
them.  The  very  late  date  that  has  been  fixed  upon  this  cemetery 
— ninth  or  tenth  century — rests  mainly  on  the  false  reading  that 


"T- 


connects  the  Abbess  Thecla  of  inscription  14  with  the  Princess 
Tbecla  Augusta;  this  identification  cannot  be  maintained.  Some 
of  the  tombs,  like  Ferdus  er-Rum  and  the  elaborate  excavations 
now  inside  the  Aceldama  Monastery,  I  believe  to  date  from  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  relying  on  a  com])arison  between 
them  and  a  small  but  similar  tomb  north  of  the  city,  which, 
having  a  Hebrew  inscription  upon  it,  is  presumably  older  than 
70a.d.  The  tombs  which  show  Christian  inscriptions  or  symbols 
must  naturally  be  of  later  date,  but  it  is  remarkable  that  none  of 


KEPORTS   BY    K.    A.    STEWAUT   MACALISTER. 


225 


these  more  ornate  tombs  display  any  such  marks.  Tho  diaper  c.f 
crosses  outside  the  door  of  Ferdus  cr-Rum  has,  of  course,  nothing 
to  do  with  its  original  purpose. 

The  signs   of  reappropriation  (in  the  "  cliipel,"  No.  GO)  and 
of  extension  and    alteration   (in  No.  (J3)   seem  to  nhow  that  we 


cannot  place  all  this  series  of  mouunieuts  in  tlic  latest  period  of 
tomb-cutting.  The  date  on  the  tomb  of  Pachoniios  would  be  more 
valuable  if  we  knew  for  certain  to  what  era  it  is  calculated. 

But  one  thing  is  clear:    that  no   ileductions    can    be   drawn 
respecting  the  date  of  a  rock-tomb  from  its  plan  or  from   the 

r  2 


226 


REPORTS   BY   R.    A.   STEAVART   iMACALISTER. 


nature  of  the  graves  it  contains.     Kokim  and  arcosolia  seem  to 
have  been  used  quite  indifferently  at  the  same  periods. 

As  an  appendix  to  this  paper  T  give  revised  measurements 
(for  Avhich  I  have  been  requested)  of  the  rock-tomb  north  of 
Jerusalem   that    I    described    some    time    ago    in    the    Quarterly 

Statement : — 


Kokim. 

Xorth. 

Soutli. 

East. 

West. 

ft.  ins. 

ft.  ins. 

ft.  ins. 

ft.  ins. 

ft.  ins. 

Vestibule   . . 

— 

10     7* 

11     2 

17     Oh 

IG     9^ 

Chamber  II 

— 

(broken) 

13     9 

13     3 

12     9 

»       III 

6    51 

7     8 

7  lU 

7    9 

7    9k 

„        IV 

6     5i 

7     9 

8     3 

7  10 

7  11 

„         V 

6    7 

8     Oh 

7  Hi 

8    2h 

8     2 

Passage 

■  • 

7  feet  U  h 

iclies  long. 

Chamber  VI 

■ 

7     43 

7     6 

7  10 

7    7 

I  have  attempted  to  draw  no  nietrological  inferences  from 
these  or  other  measurements.  Before  such  speculations  arv^ 
entered  upon,  it  is  necessary  to  assure  ourselves  that  these  rough 
excavations  were  not  cut  more  or  less  by  "  rule  of  thumb "  ; 
and  in  the  majority  of  cases  I  cannot  feel  convinced  that  this  was 
not  the  method  employed. 


2.  On  a  Rock-cut  Chapel  at  Beit  Levi. 

In  examining  the  literature  of  the  rock-cuttings  of  the 
Shephelah,  my  attention  was  arrested  by  the  following  passage 
in  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's  "  Archaeological  Researches,"  vol.  ii, 
p.  444 : — 

"  At  E'rak  Abu  'l-'Amed  ....  thei'e  are  some  graffiti  and 
curious  symbols  on  one  of  the  inner  walls,  which  would  be  worth 
copying.     We  had  no  time  to  do  this." 

Desirous  of  examining  these  symbols,  I  asked  one  of  our 
workmen,  who  had  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  local 
topography,  if  he  was  acquainted  with  the  cave  in  question. 
He  assured  me  that  he  knew  it  well.  T  put  myself  under  his 
guidance,  and  he  brought  me  to  a  cave  under  the  mound  bearing 
the  uninteresting  ruins  of  Beit  Leyi,  which  he  assured  me  was  the 
cave  I  wanted  ;  but  I  could  find  nothing  on  its  walls  except  some 


REPORTS   BY   i;.    A.    STEWAU'r    MACALISTEK. 


227 


BET  LEYI  :  ROCK- CUT  CHAPEL 


//A' 


Ism  I    '      1 


V 1  /'  'A 


iMmm 


Lid 


/'o/i'    > 

Nidu  atJI 


*-^ft-**  ■»■•-» 


!     +1+1 


J  ■   ■•         •     « ■     > 
Croiics  ■itD 


Icy  — 


.i^ 


/T^^  alE 


<^ 


<^'^ 


K.:^^^^^ 


228  REPOItTS    BY    li.    A.    STEWAUT   MACALISTER, 

crosses  with  bifid,  and  others  with  crosslet,  ends  to  the  arms — the 
former  a  common  type  in  this  neighbourhood,  T  examined 
sevei'al  other  caves  that  I  saw  close  by,  in  the  hope  that  in  one 
of  these  the  marks  which  I  was  seeking  might  be  found,  but 
without  result,  and  was  forced  to  give  up  the  search.  Some  days 
afterwards  my  guide  came  to  me  and  placidly  informed  me  that 
none  of  the  caves  we  had  visited  was  the  genuine  'Arak  Abu 
'l-'Amed,^  and  that  he  was  in  a  position  to  show  the  right  cave  to 
me.  Unfortunately  our  stay  at  Sandahannah  was  at  the  time 
rapidly  drawing  to  a  close,  and  no  other  opportunity  jiresented 
itself. 

I  am  therefore  unable  to  say  anything  of  the  graffiti  found 
by  M.  Clermont-Ganneau ;  but  my  journey  was  not  altogether 
fruitless,  for  one  of  the  caves  turned  out  to  be  a  remarkably 
interesting  little  rock-cut  chapel,  which  seemed  to  me  well  worth 
measuring  and  describing. 

The  plan  and  details  are  shown  in  the  accompanying  plate. 
It  consists  of  a  four-sided  nave,  no  doubt  meant  to  be  rectangular, 
with  an  aisle-like  extension  northward,  and  a  shallow  apse  at  the 
eastern  end.  The  entrance  is  at  the  Avest.  The  excavation  has 
long  been  used  as  a  sheepfold,  and  the  floor  is  covered  to  within 
5  feet  of  the  roof  with  rubbish  and  dirt.  The  tooling  of  the  walls 
is  rather  different  from  that  commonly  found  in  the  rock-cuttings  ; 
on  the  south  side  it  resembles  that  of  the  Romanesque  chamber  in 
'Arak  el-Khel,  but  on  the  north  the  surface  is  not  so  smooth. 
The  west  wall  is  broken  away,  and  its  place  is  supplied  by  loose 
stones.  The  apse  is  shallow  and  wide  ;  the  sweep  of  the  curve  is 
not  regular. 

On  the  south  wall,  at  A  on  the  plan,  is  a  niche,  apparently  for 
a  statue,  with  a  plug-hole  to  secure  it  at  the  back.  There  are 
attempts  at  moulding  on  the  sides  of  the  niche.  At  the  side  of 
the  niche  a  cross  was  cut,  now  partly  hacked  away ;  and  at  the 
top  there  seems  to  have  been  another,  which  has  been  entirely 
destroyed.  At  B  is  a  plain  niche,  apparently  for  a  light ;  it  has  a 
semi-circular  top,  and  measures  1  foot  5  inches  by  1  foot  5  inches 
by  7  inches  in  depth.     At  C  is  a  similar  niche  or  light-hole. 

On  the  north  wall,  at  D,  arc  two  crosses  with  l)ilid  ends  to 
the  arms. 

In  the  centre  of  the  apse  a  figure  subject  has  been  cut,  in  a 

'  From  the  map  1  see  that  the  care  is  quite  close  to  Beit  Leyi,  but  I 
somehow  miseed  it. 


KEPOHTS   by    II.    A.    STRWAKT    MACALISTEK.  2*J9 

sunk  paiu'l,  but  it  has  boon  nearly  destroyed  l)y  Fellah  iconoclasts. 
On  the  plate  is  given  a  copy  of  what  reniaius,  with  dimensions 
figured  ;  this  is  a  facsimile  of  a  drawing  made  on  scale  paper  on 
iho  spot.  It  is,  perhaps,  hazardous  to  offer  a  suggestion  on  the 
subject  of  this  engraving.  The  lower  portion  seems  evidently 
intended  for  drapei'y,  and  the  few  fragments  that  remain  are, 
perhaps,  not  wholly  inconsistent  with  a  figure  of  the  Virgin  and 
Ohild.  In  making  this  suggestion  1  am  possibly  influenced  by 
the  fact  that  there  are  persistent  rumours  of  the  existence  some- 
where among  the  caves  of  Beit  Jibrin  and  its  neighbourhood  of  an 
engraving  of  a  woman  and  her  child — no  one  could  say  where, 
though  I  made  particular  enquiries.  All  attempts  at  localising 
stories  of  figures  engraved  on  the  walls  of  caves  filtered  down  to 
the  well-known  oranies  in  'Ai^ak  el-lNIa,  which  were  the  only  such 
graffiti  to  which  any  natives  I  interrogated  were  able  to  point. 
Appai'ently  they  were  not  aware  of  two  similar  figures  which  I 
found  for  myself  in  the  Sandahannah  caves.  The  veoman  and 
child  stoiy  (immensely  exaggerated  beyond  anything  I  heard) 
was  told  to  M.  Clermont-Gannoau  by  one  Ya'kiib  BanayOt,  and 
by  him  localised  in  a  certain  Mugharet  esJi-Shsms.  I  made  several 
enquiries  after  this  cave  of  the  sun,  but  got  so  many  different 
answers  about  it  that  I  gave  up  the  search  for  it  in  despair. 
Everyone  knew  it  well,  of  course,  but  no  two  agreed  as  to  whether 
it  was  close  beside  Beit  Jibrin,  or  two  hours'  journey  from  it, 
west  or  south  from  it ;  or  whether  it  was  a  small  ruined  hole  filled 
up  with  its  own  tVibris,  or  an  immense  excavation  of  the  Beit 
Jibrin  type. 

Returning  to  the  Beit  Leyi  chapel,  it  should  be  mentioned 
that  the  panel  containing  the  figure  is  I  foot  G  inches  below 
the  roof,  and  3|  inches  above  the  present  surface  of  the  ground. 
Thei'e  is  a  small  plain  cross  scratched  on  the  wall  to  the  left 
of  it. 

The  other  caves  visited  by  me  at  Beit  Leyi  are  as  follows : — 

(1)   Large  cave  with  five  chambers  of  the  ordinary  type;  three 

crosses  and  some  niches  on  the  walls. 
(2,  3)  Uninteresting  caves,  one  adapted   as   an   olive  or  wine 

press. 
(4)  Irregular  four-sided  chamber,  16  paces  by  11  aci'oss,  with 

a  number  of  shallow  cells  (like  wide,  short  kokim)   all 

round. 


230  liEPOUTS  BY  It.  A.  ste\vai;t  :macalistek. 

(5)  Two  irregular  chambers,  of  common  type,  united  by  a 
passage. 

(G)  Large  excavation  supported  by  three  pillars ;  several  grain 
pits  sunk  in  its  floor.  There  is  a  doorway  raised  some 
height  above  the  ground,  approached  by  a  dangerous 
series  of  foot-and-hand  holes ;  this  no  doubt  leads  to  an 
extension  of  the  cave,  which,  however,  I  did  not  explore. 


3.  Tomb-Kohl. 


Among  the  objects  found  in  the  tombs  briefly  referred  to  in  the 

Quarterly  Statement  for  October,    1900,  p.   337,   and  to  be   more 

fully  described  in  the  forthcoming  memoir,  was  a  minute  fragment 

of   a  glass   vase,  containing  a  small   quantity  of   black    powder, 

apparently  Kohl.     An   analysis  of  this  powder,  and  of  the  scrap 

of  glass  enclosing  it,  was  kindly  undertaken  b}-  Mr.  J.  E.  Purvis, 

assistant  to  the  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Cambridge  University. 

He    reports    as    follows : — "  The    glass   vessel  I    found    to   be   an 

ordinary  silicate,  which  had  become  devitrified  and  coloured  by 

oxide  of  iron,  the  iron  being  probably  in  the  sand   (silica)  used 

in  the  manufacture  of  the  glass.     The  contents  were  principally 

finely  divided  lead  along  with  some  dirt."      There  was  no  trace  of 

antimony  in  the  composition,  which  thus  appears  to  have  been  a 

cheap  imitation  of  the  cosmetic  prepared  for  purposes  of  sepulture. 

Further,  Mr.  Purvis  reports  : — "  Between  the  contents  and  the 

glass,  and  forming  a  thin  coating  to  the   glass,  was  a  greenish 

layer   of    a   copper   compound,    probably    a   basic    carbonate    of 

copper."     As  no  copper  appears  either  in  the  glass  or  its  contents 

this   must    have    been  independent   of    both,   and  it  seems   most 

probable  that  there  was  originally  a  thin  sheet  of  copper  foil  in 

which  the  Kohl  was  wrapped  up  for  sale  or  storage.     The  packet, 

foil  and  all,   was  deposited  in  the  glass  vessel ;   but  the  foil  has 

disappeared,  and  its  existence  can  be  demonstrated  by  chemical 

tests  only. 

4.  The  es-Suk  Insceiption. 

I  must  thank  Professor  Clei-mont-Ganneau  for  his  valuable 
comments  on  my  reading  of  this  inscription  (Qiiarterhj  Statement, 
1901,  ]).  llGj.  I  did  not  leave  it  without  considering  the  trans- 
lation which  he  proposes  ;  had  I  known  of  the  existence  of  Sime 


|;KIu1;ts    1;V    K.    a.    STKW'Airr    MACAMSTKlt.  2oi 

as  ;i  proper  uaiuu  I  iiii^^lit  probably  not  havu  I'ojecLtnl  it  so  easily, 
but  I  am  obliged  to  confess  tliat  I  was  either  niiawai-c  of  or  liacl 
forgotten  tlie  fact  that  such  a  name  is  to  be  found.  Taking  om^ 
as  an  adjective,  tlic  inscription  "the  snub-nosed  girl  seems  i)rctty 
to  me,"  appeared  a  much  less  likely  sentiment  to  bo  found 
scribbled  in  a  burial-place  than  an  expression  of  appreciation  of 
the  obvious  symmetry  and  beauty  of  the  cave  itself.  I  knew, 
of  course,  that  in  taking  m^iij  as  a  noun  =  cava,  1  was  assuming 
a  (iTTd^  Xef'/of.iei'oi',  and  that  this  was  a  weak  point  in  my  rendering; 
though  ("iT'ti^  \€'^(n/[tcifn  are  not  unknown  in  readings  generally 
accepted  without  question. 

As  to  the  use  of  (tijuov  in  the  sense  of  "hollow,"  Liddell  and 
Scott  give  two  apposite  quotations  :  y  '•(a(ni)/t  twv  iicniTrvwv  ff//*'/ 
from  Xenophon's  Cyropa'deia  and  x"i'  '^'/'V  from  Athenieus. 
However,  taking  i^^/oy  as  a  proper  name,  I  have  no  difliculty  in. 
accepting  Professor  Clcrmout-Ganneau's  interpretation. 

I  think,  however,  that  the  name  of  Sime's  admirer  cannot  be 
'AfiKurcic/js,  as  I  carefully  examined  the  first  letter  in  order  to  see 
if  it  could  unite  with  the  following  characters  to  make  anything 
articulate.  In  my  opinion,  we  are  restricted  to  \//.y/t(<c*/v,  witli 
a  preceding  initial. 

There  is  a  squeeze  of  the  inscription,  which  1  took  and 
forwarded  to  the  Fund  office  some  time  ago. 


5.  On  a  Sepulchral  Clst  jseau  Tell  Saxdahannah. 

Tn  the  Quarterly  Statement  for  July,  1900,  p.  222,  I  dcscribctl 
a  dolmen  which  I  found  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bet  Jibrin,  and 
which  was  then  the  first  example  of  a  mcgalithic  sepulchral  monu- 
ment discovered  in  Western  Palestine.  1  have  since  had  the  gooil 
fortune  to  find  another,  of  a  different  type  and  in  many  respects 
even  more  interesting,  which  lies  in  a  valley  about  a  quarter  of  au 
hour's  walk  south  of  Tell  Sandahannah. 

It  lies  by  the  side  of  a  road,  which  has  been  levelled  uj)  to  the 
top  surface  of  its  eastern  end  ;  the  whole  of  the  western  end  is 
above  ground.  It  consists  of  a  chamber,  GO  centimetres  (2  feet) 
high,  1"9H  metres  (G  feet  G  inches)  north  to  south,  1G7  mt^tres 
(5  feet  G  inches)  east  to  west,'  built  up  of  snrall  boulders;  the 
three  at  the  western  end  of  the  chamber  are  of  larger  size  than 

'  The  orientatiou  is  sliglitly  south  of  cast. 


232 


KEPOitTs  i;y  k.  a.  stewakt  macalistek. 


the  others.  Upon  these,  and  on  the  sides  of  tlie  cliamber,  rest 
two  threat  stones,  about  2"15  metres  (sh'ghtly  over  7  feet) 
long,  91  centimetres  (3  feet)  broad,  and  32  centimetres 
(1  foot  7  inclies)  deep.  There  is  a  space  between  them 
oO  centimetres  (1  foot  8  inches)  wide.  In  this  space,  about 
the  middle,  is  intercepted  an  irregular  stone  which  apparently 
has  accidentally  fallen  or  been  thrown  into  its  present  position  ; 
and,  at  the  eastern  end,  a  stone  91  centimetres  (3  feet  long), 
50  centimetres  (1  foot  8  inches)  broad,  and  of  the  same  depth  as 
the  cover  stones,  which  certainly  is  part  of  the  original  design  of 


Top 


Sec/ ion  /?3 


the  monument.      The  outline  of  the  chamber  is  represented  by 
dotted  lines  in  the  cut. 

Most  interesting  of  all,  in  the  centre  of  the  upper  surface  of 
the  latter  stone  is  a  small  cap-mark,  1"78  centimetres  (7  inches) 
broad,  and  1"52  centimetres  (G  inches)  deep.  It  seems  quite 
reasonable  to  assume  that  this  cup  is  a  receptacle  for  offerings 
to  the  shade  of  the  deceased,  as  has  been  assumed  by  Professor 
Montelius  and  other  .archaeologists  of  univer.sal  reputation,  in  the 
case  of  similar  markings  found  in  association  with  similar  monu- 
ments in  other  parts  of  the  world. 


■••   '•     ••• 


•«       •       ••        •         ••••       •       »        « 


•  •  •  •    •  ■, 

•  •     •  •    . 

•  •••    •  • 


•  •      »    «    • 


•••••■       • 


»       c         t  < 


(T<k  Tai  ;5/253o 


;:>&>5?s?&;:^»se<i^j'S^^ 


Mosaic  recently  discovered  at  Jerusalem. 

(From  a  Coloured  DroAciiig  riio.de  by  Fathers  Vincent,   Belan,  and  Savigxac,  of  the 

Dominican  Convent  at  Ji^rv.sahm.) 


23:3 


A  RECENTLY-DISCOVERED   MOSAIC  AT  JERUSALEM  ^ 

By  Dr.  Coni;ad  ScnicK  and  John  Dickson,  Esq.,  H.B.M.  Consul, 

Jerusalem. 

Tn  1894  a  fine  mosaic  was  found  in  digging  foundations  for  a  new 
house  north  of  the  city,  and  Dr.  Bliss  and  I  reported  on  it  in  the 
Qnart.erhj  Statement,  1894,  p.  257.  Towards  the  end  of  ^larch 
last  a  similar  one  was  discovered  nearer  to  the  town,  in  the 
ground  of  the  Jewish  Colony,  generally  called  Nissim  Ruck's 
Colony.  The  proprietor  of  the  ground,  wishing  to  dig  in  order  to 
build  a  cistern  for  his  hou^se  close  by,  came,  scarcely  3  feet  under 
the  surface,  to  this  fine  mosaic  pavement.  He  did  not  destroy  it, 
but  told  others  about  it,  and  so  people  came  to  see  it,  and  a 
negotiation  for  buying  it,  or  to  find  means  to  get  part  possession 
in  it,  arose,  and  in  consequence  it  became  more  and  more  difficult 
for  others  to  see  it.  However,  copies  and  photographs  were 
taken,  and  of  the  latter  I  forward  herewith  a  print.  The  mosaic 
is  laid  out  in  various  colours,  aiid  represents  Orpheus,  and  below 
him  Pan  and  a  centaur,  surrounded  with  a  fine  frame,  around 
which  is  a  kind  of  twisted  ornament  of  branches  of  plants 
enclosing  various  figures  with  their  faces  directed  to  Orpheus; 
then  comes  again  an  outer  frame.  Beneath  are  three  other 
frames,  one  in  the  middle  containing  two  women,  with  an 
inscription  in  Greek  letters  around  them,  "  Theodosia "  and 
"  Georgia."  The  frames  to  the  right  and  left  contain  simply  a 
plain,  flat  surface.  The  whole  is  between  10  and  12  feet  long, 
and  seems  to  have  been  the  flooring  of  a  music  room.  The  two 
women  were  once  most  likely  celebrated  singers.  The  design  is 
pagan,  still  the  work  itself  may  be  Christian  of  the  second  or 
third  century,  as  in  the  Early  Church  such  symbols  were  often 
used.  The  Dominican  brethren  made  a  coloured  copy  of  the 
mosaic  on  a  large  scale,  so  that  even  each  little  square  of  stone 
can  be  recognised.  They  showed  it  to  me,  and  1  found  it  exceed- 
ingly  nice,  and  advised  them  to  multiply  it  by  lithography,  but 
they  said  it  would  be  too  expensive,  so  I  do  not  know  wliat  they 
will  do. 

'  A  fuller  account  of  tliis  mosaic  will  appear  in  a  future  number  of  V\e 
Quarlerly  Statement, 


2U 


A    KECENTLY-DISCOVERED   MOSAIC   AT   JERUSALE.\r. 


The  site  is  GUO  feet  uorth  of  tlie  present  city  wall,  west  of  the 
Damascus  Gate.  I  cacloso  a  tracing  of  part  of  the  Plan  of 
Jerusalem  recently  edited  by  the  Fund,  showing  the  position  of 
these  mosaics.  The  newly-found  one  is  about  500  feet  south-west 
of  that  discovered  in  1891;,  which  had  an  Armenian  inscription. 


Plan  showing  Position  of  Mosaics. 


Mv.  Consul  Dickson  writes  that  this  mosaic  "  represents 
Orpheus,  life  size,  playing  upon  his  harp,  surrounded  by  several 
animals,  all  in  beautiful  colours  and  gi-aceCul  attitudes.  It  seems 
to  be  a  work  of  art  of  high  order.  There  is  also  a  head  of 
Jupiter  and.  of  Minerva  at  the  corners  of  the  square  containing 
Orpheus.  Below  these  figures  there  are  two  other  figures  of 
women  with  an  inscription  in  Greek  around  them,  an  exact  copy 
of  which  I  enclose.  It  is  easily  road,  and  I  think  the  mosaic 
must  be  Christian." 

The  mosaic  is  now  covered  up  with  earth. 


235 


AlICIIyEOmCJirAL    AND    KI'KJIJAI'irn'    XOTKS    ox 

PALEST  INK. 

By  Professor  Cleiimont-Gaxnkau,  M.I. 

G.   I'he  Land  of  Promise,  majyj^ed  in  Musaic  nt  M(l,h:h((. It  will 

be  remembered  that  S(jme  years  ago  the  sensational  discovery 
was  made  at  ]\iAdel)a,'  in  the  land  of  Moal),  of  an  e.xtraoi'dinary 
monument,  which  nntil  now  is  unique  of  its  kind  lli.it  of  ;i 
large  mosaic  pavement,  which  had  l)eIonged  to  an  ancient 
basilica,  and  which  represented  on  a  large  scale  a  veritalilc 
map  of  Palestine  ns  it  was  in  the  P.yzantinc  period.  This 
is  acknowledged  by  all  to  b(»  an  invaluable  document  from  a 
geograpliical  and  archaeological  point  of  view. 

It  has  already  been  the  object  of  numerous  works  desi<rned 

to  elucidate  its  interpretation,  which  is  often  (h'lliruU this  vast 

mosaic  having  suffered  much,  and  many  parts  of  it  lieing  ov(mi 
entirely  destroyed. 

M,  A.  Schulten  has  just  issued  a  study  in  a  njumuir,-  which, 
to  judge  by  its  size,  would  seem  to  be  exhaustive  of  the  matter. 
Unfortunately,  it  is  far  from  being  so,  and,  after  iia\  ing  read 
it,  one  experiences  a  certain  feeling  of  disaj)pointment.  One 
may  say  that  apart  from  certain  rectifications  of  details,  and 
notwithstanding  a  great  display  of  erudition  on  ccrhiin  other 
points — already  lirought  to  light  elsewluu'i^ — the  essential 
([uestions  raised  by  the  mosaic  have  not  liccn  advanced  a 
step  further. 

M.  Schulten  endeavours  to  demonstrate  at  length  that  the 
map  of  Madeba  depends  closely  for  its  topography  on  the 
Onomasticon  of  Eusebius.  This  is  ]iot  a  new  fact;  Pere 
Lagrange,  in  his  excellent  little  memoir,  had  from  the  (jutset, 
in  this  respect,  made  the  necessary  and  sullicient  remaiks. 
AVith  regard  to  this,  M.  Sclndten  discusses  the  (piestion 
whether,  outside  the  text  of  the  Onomasticon,  thei-e  would  not 

'  Quarterly  Statement,  1897,  pp.  167,  213-225  (Clerinont-Gannoau) ;  p.  239 
(Sir  Cliarles  Wilson). 

-"Die  Mosaikkarfce  von  IMadaba,"  &e.  (Alihaiull.  di-r  K.  Gesellscli.  dcr 
Wiesensch.  zu  Gccttingen),  Berlin,  IWO;  ILII  pj).  Uu,  3  tut'. 


236       AECH.EOLOGICAL   AND   EPIGRAPIIIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE. 

have  been,  accom}>aii}-ing  the  cuuiplutc  work  of  Euscbius,  a 
figure  map  whicli  miglit  liave  served  as  a  model  to  the  maker 
of  the  mosaic  of  INIudeba,  and  he  decided  in  the  negative.  He 
refused  to  see  in  tlie  Karaypacj^T],  of  wliich  Eusebius  speaks 
in  his  introduction,  a  map  of  Palestine  in  the  geographical 
sense  of  the  word ;  for  liim  this  word  means  the  simple 
enumerative  list  of  localities  to  the  exclusion  of  all  topo- 
graphical resemblance,  either  made  by  Eusebius  or  borrowed 
liy  him  from  some  anterior  source.  This  is  far  from  being 
demonstrated.  St.  Jerome,  who  would  naturally  have  had 
before  him  a  complete  copy  of  the  Onomasticon,  which  he 
translated  into  Latin,  speaks  expressly  of  a  clwrographirt  and 
of  a  piditra.  It  is  easy  to  say,  with  M.  Scliulten,  that 
St.  Jerome  is  mistaken  as  to  the  exact  value  of  the  terms 
employed  l)y  Eusebius.  M.  Kubitschek'  has  raised  serious 
objections  against  this  conclusion.  For  my  part,  until  more 
fully  informed,  I  consider  that  the  hypothesis  of  the  existence 
of  an  Eusebian  map  and,  consequently,  of  a  possible  connec- 
tion between  this  map  and  that  of  the  mosaic,  is  not  ausgc- 
schlosseii,  as  they  say  in  German.  ]\I.  Scliulten  applies  himself, 
on  the  other  hand,  to  proving,  by  a  minute  discussion,  that 
there  is  no  direct  connection  between  the  map  of  Madeba  and 
the  more  ancient  mediieval  maps  of  the  Holy  Land  which  have 
come  down  to  us.  No  one  that  I  know  of  has  liad  such  an  idea, 
and  it  is,  perhaps,  wasting  much  time  and  trouble  to  refute  it 
at  such  length.  One  would  have  preferred  to  see  the  author 
occupy  himself  more  with  the  topographical  and  other  questions 
raised  by  the  examination  of  the  map  itself.  Although  he  declines 
on  principle  to  treat  these  problems,  abandoning  them,  a  little 
disdainfully,  to  those  whom  he  calls  "  theologians,"  he  is  led  to 
do  it  several  times,  but  not  always  in  a  very  happy  or  very 

'  "  Die  Mosaikkarte  Palastinas"  (Mitth.  d.  K.  K.  Gcogr.  Gescllsch.  in  Wicn, 
1900,  pp.  335-380).  Althougli  of  more  modest  diuieusions  than  M.  Sehulten's 
large  memoir,  Professor  Kubitseliek's  dissertation  is  superior  to  it  in  many 
respects,  notably  from  the  point  of  view  of  bibliographical  inl'ormation  con- 
cerning previous  works  ;  it  has,  besides,  the  advantage  of  being  accompanied  by 
an  excellent  index  to  the  topographical  names  of  the  map — an  index  the  absence 
of  which  makes  itself  keenly  felt  in  M.  Schultcu's  work,  which  is  full  to  the 
extent  of  being  rather  diffuse. 


ARCII^'ROLOGICAL   AND    El'IGKArHIC    N*OTES   ON    PALESTINE.       2.'i7 

iKncl  w;iy.  It  appc.us  to  iiic  tlmt  \u'.  is  (.'Diiiplctely  i^^iioriiut 
of  the  little  work  wliich  I  once  inildished  hero  and  ol.sewhcre ' 
on  tlu;  map  of  Mildcba.  I  regret  this,  because  the  perusal  of  it 
ini^ht  have  saved  him  from  some  errors,  omissions,  or  repetitions. 
I  will  permit  myself  to  bring  to  notice  some  of  them  rapidly, 
reproducing  for  convenience  sake  the  numlx'rs  which  he  has 
given  to  the  localities,  and  adding  on  occasion  some  new 
observations. 

No.  IG.  ['Xv]x<^p  V  v^v  •  •  •  XX^P""  ^^  ^^^^  restores  either 
[Sf]%%w/3a  or  [Ao-]%;\;&)/?a,  \^i\(xv\)Q(o)P"''  ^^^^  second  name  of 
Sychar,  one  must  compare  for  the  vowelling  the  Samaritan 
form  1"i;:Di^  n'^'lp,  Kariat  'AsKUi;,  employed  concurrently  witli 
the  form  '\2'DV,  'Askar." 

No.  23.  The  identity  of  'AXwi/  'ATad(=\eah)  with  the 
"  area  Atad  "  of  St.  Jerome  (Genesis  1,  10),  the  equivalent  of 
whicli  is  wanting  in  our  manuscripts  of  Eusebius,  as  well  as 
the  singular  localisation  at  Beth  Hoglah,  had  been  already 
pointed  out  and  estaljlished  by  me  (Quarterly  Statement, 
1897,  p.  220). 

No.  29.  It  is  by  no  means  demonstrated  that  Vocj)vd  figures 
on  the  map  as  representing  NaJicl  Eakol.     Eusebius   himself 

'  "  Recucil  d'Arclicologie  Orientalc,"  vol.  ii,  pp.  161-175.  Tlie  omission 
appears  so  much  the  more  singular  that  M.  Scliulten  refers,  for  the  kleinere 
Lilteratur  on  the  question,  to  the  "  Comptcs-Rendus  de  rAcadeniie,"  1802, 
p.  141.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  is  only  a  quotation  from  second  hand, 
made  to  acquit  his  conscience  ;  it  is  materially  erroneous — the  date  1892  should 
be  changed  to  1897.  And,  besides,  the  references  contained  in  tlie  note  to 
which  it  points — and  which  are  mine — concern  only  the  arclia-ological  discoveries 
made  at  Madeba  before  that  of  the  mosaic. 

^  "  Chronique  Samaritainc,"  ed.  Neubauer,  "Journal  Asiatique,"  1860, 
Nov.,  pp.  463,  464;  cf.  p.  462,  and  also  pp.  431,  436.     I  will  remark  in  this 

connection  that  the   Arabic  gloss   (p.  462),      J'jtll    jLwr!!  =  n3r'?yn«n:nO. 

compared  with  the  other  gloss  (p.  434),  IDD^^JL**.^,  tends  to  confirm  tlio 

etymological  resemblance  wliich  I  made  formerly  for  the  name  of  this  pliu;e 
("  ArehsDolog.  Researches  in  Pal.,"  vol.  ii,  p.  335).  Moreover,  this  form 
"13D''  may  serve  to  explain  how  there  is  introduced  in  the  counso  of  time  the 
prosthetic  'Ain  in  this  name  of  a  place.     It  would  not  be  impossible  that  the 

modern    S-jmJ:-   was   a   contraction    of   a   scries   of  successive    forms,  such   as 

"IDD  \^V '  "13D''  py.  "the  spring  of  Sycliar,"  being  given  considering  the 
importance  of  the  spring  which  exists  in  this  place. 


238       ARCH/EOLOGICAL   AND   EriGRAPIIIC    NOTES    ON    PALESTINE. 

makes  the  most  express  roscivation ^  ics])i'cUiig  the  tradition 
related  hy  him.  Besides,  the  map  inscribes  many  localities  to 
which  one  does  not  attach  any  Biblical  connection. 

No.  43.  ]\I.  Schulten  transcribes  here  and  elsewhere  TiStOpa, 
although  the  original  has  clearly  TiBipda,  a  form  much  more 
probable  in  itself.  I  do  not  think  that  this  is  a  printer's  error, 
because  (p.  93)  he  transcribes  expressly  Gidithra} 

Nos.  48,  49.  On  the  possible  identifications  of  0epao-7rt? 
and  B€To/ieXjT]^t<;  (correct  BerofjieX'ye^i'i),  .S'.v;  my  observations 
(I.e.,  p.  218,  219). 

'No.  51.  The  identification  of  Ka epovra  with  Kaptad 

Tapeta  is  most  arbitrary.  Krfr  Rut,  which  I  had  proposed  {I.e., 
\).  220),  would  agree  as  well  for  the  position,  and  much  better 
for  the  name. 

No.  56.  Ez/eTa/3a  =  ni5  p  of  the  Talmud  {I.e.,  p.  221). 

No.  58.  \^a(^'\ap€a,  between  Lydda  and  [Betjodegana, 
could  not  correspond  in  position  to  the  Sar<ifia  of  Antonin  of 
Plaisance,  near  Ascalon,  which  is  very  far  from  there.  I 
propose  to  identify  it  with  Sajiriych  (Silfriyeh),  which  is 
precisely  between  Lydda  and  Beit  Dejan. 

No.  65.  (Ascalon.)  It  is  necessary  to  restore  as  I  have 
shown  {I.e.,  pp.  221,  222)^:  \tmv  rpitov  '^.  fiapTvpo)\v  AlyvTrricov, 
and  to  recognise  there  the  mention  of  the  sanctuary  of  the  three 
famous  Egyptian  martyrs  of  Ascalon,  whoso  history  Eusebius'* 
himself  has  related. 

No.  66.  AKKa[po)v]  ?}  vvv  AK[apQ)v'Q.  It  is  hardly  probable 
that  the  autlior  of  the  mosaic  would  have  given  the  modern 
form  to  the  name  if  it  had  differed  from  the  ancient  form  only, 
as  M.  Schulten  admits,  by  the  absence  of  a  simple  Kaj^pa ;  I 
would  rather  believe  the  difference  should  be  in  the  termination, 
Mv,  which  was  perhaps  already  dropped   iu    the  vulgar  tongue, 

^   ZrjTUTat  St  fi  aAr]0i)s  6  \uyos  (s.T.  4>dpayK  Biirpvoj). 

-  M.  Kubitsclick,  op.  c,  index,  has  also  ailopted  tliis  form,  FiSiflpa,  whic-h 
nothing  justifies. 

•'  Preceded,  perhaps,  by  the  article,  to,  wliich,  followed  by  the  genitive, 
generally  designates  sanctuaries  on  the  map. 

•*  "  History  of  the  Martyrs  in  Palestine,"  od.  Cureton,  p.  ?,h  Cf.  Antonin 
de  Plaisance  (Greyer,  "  Itinera  Ilieros.,"  p.  180) :  "  ibi  (Ascalon)  requiescunt 
tres  fratres  martyres  Aegyptii viilgariU'r  Aegyptii  voeantur." 


ARCH^OLOGICAL   AND    EPIGRAPHIC   NOTKS   OX    PALESTINK.       230 

thus  forming  a  prelude  to  the  present  Aral)ic  f.jrm  •A/cer. 
Perhaps  AK[Kapa],  AK[apa],  or  even  A[Kap].  witln.iit  flreek 
terniination.^ 

No.  70.  T  have  shown  (i.e.,  p.  221)  that  Sa(f)Lea  was  no 
other  than  Tell  es-Safi^,  and  I  have  discussed,  iu  this  con- 
nection, the  origin  of  this  termination  ida  =  Uha  Aramean 
=  Xch  Arabic,  which  is  found  in  MwSt^a  (Modin,  No,  52) 
=  ]\Iodiith(a)  =  El-Mcdieh} 

No.  80.  M.  Schulten  rejects,  with  reason,  the  restoration 
TO  Tov  djLov  A[cot]  ;  but  that  which  he  has  sul)stituted 
(\4)[apMv']  (this  would  be  Mount  Hor),  has  against  it  the 
distance  and  the  orientation  in  comparison  with  Segor,  without 
considering  that  the  first  letter  of  the  name  seems  to  be  A 
rather  than  A. 

No.  84.  BrjTOfiapaea  17  koI  Maiov/j.a<;.  This  enigmatical 
locality,  situated  to  the  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  has  nothing  in 
common  with  Mappiaaa,  as  Pere  Lagrange  supposed,  nor  with 
MatouSo?,  as  M.  Schulten  supposes. 

M.  Biichler^  has  just  demonstrated  by  combining  in  the 
happiest  fashion  the  teachings  of  the  classic  authors  willi  those 
of  the  Bible,  the  Talmud,  and  the  Midrashim,  that  Byjrop.apaea 
is  no  other  than  the  transcription  of  nn^D  rV2,  Beit  Marzcaji 
{cf.  Jeremiah  xvi,  5);  that  Marzeah,  or  Marzeiha,  means,  like 
Maioumas,  a  great  Syrian  feast  of  licentious  nature,  and  that 
this  double  denomination  must  apply  in  this  case  on  the  map 
to  the  place  where  popular  tradition  located  the  famous  scene 
of  the  fornication  of  Israel,  when  they  allowed  tliemselves  to 
be  initiated  by  the  beautiful  daughters  of  Moalj  into  the 
impure  rites  of  Baal  Peor.* 

No.   86.  The   explanation   of   Yipaaihiv  by   I\pa{L)(Tlh{L)ov, 

'  Like  Bsr^axap  (No.  69). 

-  Cf.  Susifclia  (Talmud)  =  Susieb  =  Hippos  (of  the  Decapolis). 

='  "  Revue  des  Etudes  Juives,"  1901,  p.  125. 

■*  I  propose  to  return  elsewhere  more  in  detail  to  this  very  interesting 
question.  I  will  limit  myself  for  the  present  to  recalling  that  I  had  already 
established  ("  Eecueil  d'Arcb.  Orient.,"  iii,  pp.  28,  20;  rf.  ii,  j).  390,  n.  2). 
the  existence  amongst  the  Phoenicians  of  a  great  religious  ceremony,  called  also 
Marzeah,  in  the  Tarif  des  Sacrifices  of  Marseilles,  and  in  the  Decret  Phenicien 
of  the  Pireus. 

Q 


2-iO       ARCH.^OLOGICAL   AXD   EPIGRAPHIC   NOTES   OX   PALESTINE. 

Prcesidiurn,  had  already  been  given  Ly  nie  (I.e.,  p.  222).  As  for 
the  identification  of  this  locahty  with  Aila,  on  the  Eed  Sea, 
proposed  by  ]\I.  Sehnlten,  it  is  topographically  inadmissible. 

No.  90  (pp.  25  and  102).  The  author  does  not  seem  to 
have  perceived  that  the  Bersahe  of  the  mediaeval  maps  repre- 
sents, in  reality,  Beit  Djihrin,  in  consequence  of  an  identifica- 
tion arbitrary  but  current  amongst  the  Crusaders. 

I  would  merely  call  attention  to  the  localities  in  the  region 
of  Gaza,  which  M.  Schulten  registers  without  comment,  and 
respecting  which  he  might  have  found  in  my  notice  useful 
observations  :  No.  93,  OpBa ;  No.  94,  ^wrt?  (too  often  altered 
into  PwTt?);  No.  103,  fiya:  No.  104,  l.eava;  No.  Ill,  EBpacv, 
&c.  The  identity  of  ^avaOa  (No.  113)  with  the  (datada  of 
Sozomenos  (III,  24)  had  been  established  by  me^  even  long 
before  the  cUscovery  of  the  mosaic,  which  has  come  to  fully 
confirm  ray  hypothesis,  as  Father  Lagrange  has  already  proved 

(p.  15). 

I  will  conclude  these  observations  here  and  leave  on  one 
side  that  part  of  the  map  which  comprises  Lower  Egypt, 
wishing  to  limit  myself  to  Palestine,  properly  so-called.  I  will 
only  recur  to  some  important  points  which  have  been  in- 
sufficiently treated,  or  even  totally  neglected  by  M.  Schulten. 

He  has  omitted,  one  does  not  know  why,  to  represent  in 
his  study  a  small  detached  fragment  of  the  mosaic,  belonging  to 
the  northern  region,  and  bearing  the  legend  AFBAP.-  Father 
Lagrange  had  proposed  to  recognise  in  this  localit}'  the  irerpa, 
Wxa^apcov  or  'A;^a?a/37;,  which  Josephus^  places  in  Upper  Galilee. 
The  names  do  not  appear  to  me  to  agree  well,  and  I  would 
prefer  to  see  in  the  'Ay^ap  of  the  mosaic  the  town  of  Tdtapa  or 
Vatapwd,  of  which  the  same  Josephus  speaks  several  times,* 
and  which  should  be  found  also  in  Galilee ;  the  Alpha  would 
Ije  prosthetic,  and  would  imply  an  original  form  ;  Gahdr  ( G'hdr, 
Afjhdr). 

•  "  Etudes  d'Archeologie  Orientale,"  vol.  ii,  p.  9,  and  following. 

-  Fragment  A,  near  the  second  northern  pillar  in  the  plan  accompanying  tlie 
memoir  of  Father  Lagrange,  p.  3. 

3  "  Bellum  Jud.,"  ii,  20,  6  ;  of.  "  Vita  Jos.,"  §  37.  This  is  probably  the 
'Akbarah  of  the  Talmud. 

■*  "  A'ita  Jos.,"  §  10,  25,  45,  17.     The  ethnic  is  ra^aprjvoL 


AUCH/EOLOGICAL  AND   EPIfiKAPHIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE.       241 

Some  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  great  mosaic  ma]) 
Father  Germer-Durand^  noticed  an  isolated  fragment  of  it, 
which  did  not  allow  one  to  divine  its  purely  geographical 
character,  or  to  suspect  the  imposing  Mdiole  to  which  it 
belonged  ;  it  contained  the  name  of  Zatovkdiv,  and  the  remains 
of  the  benediction  of  Zebulun  by  Jacob  (Genesis  xlix,  13) : 
"  Zebulun  shall  dwell  at  the  haven  of  the  sea,  and  his  border 
shall  be  unto  Zidon." 

I  was  the  first  to  show  {I.e.,  p.  215)  that  this  enigmatical 
fragment  made  an  integral  part  of  the  map,  and  tliis  has  been 
confirmed  by  Father  Lagrange.-  M.  Schulten  speaks  of  it  very 
incidentally  (p.  48),  and  without  (pioting  his  predecessors,  as 
is  his  custom ;  but  he  appears  to  completely  ignore  the  existence 
of  another  fragment,  the  connection  of  which  with  the  map  I 
had  at  the  same  time  pointed  out,  and  which  is  at  least  as 
important,  for  it  remains  until  now  the  most  northerly  point  on 
this  map.  This  fragment  had  likewise  been  published  with  the 
preceding  one  by  Father  Germer-Durand  {l.c.),^  who,  for  the 
rest,  was  quite  mistaken  as  to  its  signification.  It  is  composed 
of  these  three  lines  : — 

CAP€<l>0A  .  MAKPAKtO 

OrC!T€KH 

HHM€PA€K€INH 

Father  Germer-Durand  saw  there  a  woman's  name  Sarcpldha 
Macraco  (diminutive  of  Macrina),  followed  by  6'yaneKr],  for 
d^vT6KT]  {o^vroKo^;),  adjective  making  allusion  to  a  "  happy 
deliverance,"  and  perhaps  by  a  date.  Already,  when  nothing 
was  yet  known  of  the  existence  of   the  mosaic  map,  I  had 

'  "  Revue  Bibliquc,"  1895,  p.  588.  Ho  sliould  Imve  published  this  frugnient 
as  early  as  1890  (?)  in  the  "  Cosmos"  (number  of  the  11th  October),  according 
to  a  reference  made  by  Father  Lagrange,  which  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify. 

^  Fragment  B  of  his  plan  {I.e.,  cf.  p.  13).  At  times  this  fragment  had  itself 
been  much  mutilated,  and  reduced  to  the  commencements  of  lines  :  ZA  .  .  . 
and  KHC. 

•*  This  fragment ,  and  the  preceding  one,  have  been  published  by  Father 
Germer-Durand,  not  from  notes  made  by  him  on  tiic  spot,  but  from  more 
or  less  exact  copies  taken  by  the  missionaries  of  the  Latin  Patriarchate. 

Q2 


242       AllCII^OLOGICAL   AND   EPIGRAPHIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE. 

proposed,  on  the  contrary,  to  recognise^  in  this  fragment  the 
name  of  tlie  town  of  Sarephtlia,  and,  not  without  some  hesita- 
tion, to  restore  ^laKpd  KOi[jiri\  "  long  village,"  in  comparing  a 
passage  from  the  "  Life  of  Peter  the  Iberian  "  (Syriac  document 
of  the  fifth  century),  a  passage  in  which  I  had  shown  that  the 
locality  called  «n2n«  «nnp,  "long  village/'  could  only, 
according  to  the  context,  represent  the  town  of  Sarephtha. 
This  last  conclusion  has  been  fully  verified  by  the  discovery  of 
the  mosaic  map,  as  I  immediately  pointed  out  {I.e.,  p.  216,  n.  1),- 
remarking  that,  since  then,  one  might  maintain  the  reading  of 
the  Syriac  text  without  making  the  correction  wdiich  I  had 
proposed,  the  "long  village"  being  really  the  new  name  or 
surname  of  Sarephtha.  I  would  propose  to-day  to  restore  thus 
all  the  reading  of  the  map  : — 

lapecfiOa  [17]  Ma/cpa  Kco[fiT)] 
6{7rov)  TeK{v)[ov  rjyepOrjf  iv  t-] 
y  rjfjLepa  eKelvrj. 

*'  Sarephtha,  or  Long  Village,  where  (a)  child  has  been  resuscitated  (?) 

in  that  day." 

The  legend,  thus  re-established,  would  recall  the  famous 
miracle  of  Elijah  at  Sarephtha  (1  Kings  x\di,  9-24).  It  is 
quite  in  the  style  of  those  scattered  in  profusion  over  the  rest 
of  the  map.  The  corrections,  of  an  entirely  paleographical 
order,^  are  authorised  by  the  uncertainty  of  the  only  copy  that 
we  possess. 

And  now  a  word  on  a  last  question,  a  capital  question 
which  dominates  all  the  others,  and  which  all  those  who  have 
occupied  themselves  with  the  map  of  Madeba  have  asked 
without  being  able  to  answer  it.  What  is,  then,  the  origin 
of  this  extraordinary  work  ?      What  is  its  object  ?      To  what 

'  "  Etudes  d'Archeologie  Orieubile,"  vol.  ii  (December,  1895),  p.  18,  n.  4. 

-  Cf.  "  Coniptes-Rendus  de  rAcadeinie  des  Inseriptious,"  seance  of  the  12th 
March,  1897,  pp.  144-145. 

^  OrCI  =  OnOY,  T€KH  =  T€KN  .  The  mosdiste  employs  the 
relative  adverb  ottov  as  well  as  the  absolute  adverb  €v9a;  compare,  for 
example,  €pr]fji,o<i  l^lv  ottov  KaTe7r€fJi(j>6r)  to  fidvva,  "  the  desert  of  Siual, 
where  the  manna  was  sent." 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  AND   EPIGKAPIIIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE.       24:? 

need  or  to  what  preconceived  notion  does  it  respond  ?  Wliat 
was  the  idea  in  fixing  thus  upon  tlie  pavement  of  the  basilica 
of  Madeba  a  representation  of  tlie  Holy  Land  as  faithful  and 
as  detailed  as  the  means  of  the  period  permitted  ?  This  is 
a  veritable  enigma,  the  solution  of  which  is  still  to  be  found. 

M.  Schulten  is  not  embarrassed  by  so  little.  It  is  prol)- 
ably,  he  says,  the  votive  offering  of  some  pilgrim,  in  gratitu<lo 
for  the  happy  accomplishment  of  his  journey  in  the  Holy  Land. 
It  will  be  confessed  that  the  answer  is  a  little  crude.  One  can 
hardly  explain,  on  this'  hypothesis,  why,  among  so  many  other 
basilicas  where  he  might  have  had  the  work  executed — to  com- 
mence with  those  of  Jerusalem — the  pilgrim,  if  pilgrim  there 
was,  should  have  chosen  just  the  church  of  a  remote  town  at 
the  bottom  of  the  land  of  Moah.     Votive  offering  of  a  pilgrim — 

or  of  some  quite  other  personage — the  thing  is  possible 

But  why  Madeba  ?  The  whole  thing  lies  there,  in  my  opinion, 
and,  as  it  is  said  that  a  question  well  put  is  half  answered, 
cannot  the  solution  be  the  following  ?  It  is,  of  course,  a  pure 
conjecture  that  I  am  about  to  risk,  but  one  is  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  imagination  when  all  information  fails. 

What  it  is  necessary  to  consider  before  all  is  the  position  of 
Madeba.  I  am  struck  by  one  fact — it  is  that  Madeba  is 
situated  close  to  Mount  Nebo ;  it  was  in  the  Byzantine  period 
the  most  important  town  which  stood  in  those  regions  where 
the  great  memory  of  Moses  still  lingered.  It  was  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  that  the  leader  of  Israel  received 
from  Jehovah  the  order  to  climb  the  summit  of  Pisgah,  where 
he  was  to  die,  and  to  contemplate  in  one  supreme  vision  in 
all  its  extent  this  land  of  Canaan,  the  Land  of  Promise,  which 
was  to  belong  to  his  people,  but  where  he  was  not  himself 
allowed  to  enter  (Genesis  xxxii,  41-52 ;  xxxiv,  1-8 ;  cf.  iii, 
27,  28;  Numbers  xxvii,  12,  13). 

Might  it  not  be,  perhaps,  this  geographical  picture,  which 
was  virtually  unrolled  under  the  eyes  of  Moses,  that  it  was 
intended  to  reproduce  in  the  mosaic  of  the  V)asilica  of  Madeba, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  neighbouring  town  to  this  memorable 
scene  ? 

It  is  certain  that  this  episode  Avas  familiar  to  the  Byzantine 


244       ARCHAEOLOGICAL   AND   EPIGUAPHIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE. 

artists.  I  cannot  just  now  completely  verify  the  matter,  not 
having  at  hand  the  precious  Guide  to  the  Pictures  of  Mount 
Athos  '  ;  1  mt  I  notice  in  the  mosaics  of  the  basilica  of  Ste.  Maria 
Majeure  (Garucci,  pi.  ccxx,  3)  the  significant  mention  of  the 
following  scene  : — "  Moses  sees  the  Promised  Land  from  the 
mountain."  Why  should  they  not  have  had  the  idea  of  showing 
in  a  realistic  way  the  thing  itself  that  Moses  saw,  quite  close 
to,  if  not  at  the  place  itself,  where  he  saw  it  ?  Xothing  was  at 
the  time  more  tempting  or  more  logical. 

One  could,  at  all  events,  on  this  hypothesis  explain  the 
care  with  which  the  author  of  the  mosaic  indicates  the  distri- 
bution of  the  territory  according  to  the  tribes  of  Israel  and 
the  mention  of  the  various  benedictions,  not  only  of  Jacob 
(Genesis  xlix)  but  also  of  Moses  -  (Genesis  xxxiii),  concerning 
the  said  tribes.  It  is  true,  one  may  say  that  on  this  point 
the  mosdiste  only  followed  the  indications  of  the  Onomasticon, 
which  has  visibly  served  him  as  a  guide  for  the  whole ;  but  it 
is  necessary  to  recognise  that  the  affair  must  have  had  a  par- 
ticular interest  for  him,  as  he  has  not  thought  proper  to  suppress 
those  long  Biblical  quotations  which  are  written  all  over  the 
map,  and  which  singularly  complicated  his  already  so  arduous 
task. 

One  could  thus  explain  equally  well  why  this  map 
comprises  not  only  the  Promised  Land  properly  so-called,  but 
also  Lower  Egypt ;  tliat  is  to  say,  the  scene  of  the  high  deeds 
of  Moses  and  the  events  preceding  the  Exodus,  which  took 
place  in  this  region. 

*  I  have  just  made  the  verification.     It  is  negative. 

'  This  is  the  case  on  the  map  for  the  benediction  of  Benjamin  (Deuteronomy 
xxxiii,  12)  ;  for  that  of  Ephruim  (Joseph)  the  passage  in  Deuteronomy 
(xxxiii,  13)  accompanies  the  passage  in  Genesis  (xUx,  26).  For  Dan,  the 
mosdiste  quotes  the  Song  of  Deborah  (Judges  v,  17),  but  the  legend  is 
incomplete  and  it  admitted,  perhaps,  also  the  benediction  of  Moses.  For  Judah 
and  Simeon  the  legends  are  unfortunately  destroyed.  As  for  tlie  names  of  the 
other  tribes,  they  are  totally  missing  in  consequence  of  the  ravages  which  the 
mosaic  has  undergone. 

It  is  necessary  to  remark,  on  the  one  hand,  that  tlie  benedictions  of  Moses 
immediately  precede  in  the  Biblical  account  the  scene  of  the  vision  of  the 
Promised  Land,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  it  is  the  symmetrical  counterpart 
of  the  benedictions  of  Jacob. 


AUCH-TIOLOGICAL   AND    EPIGUAPHIC    NOTES   ON    PALESTINE.       245 

T  (In  not  hide  from  myself  that  more  tlian  one  ohjection 
may  be  made  to  this  way  of  lo(jking  at  it.  It  is  not,  it 
will  be  said,  for  example,  Palestine  such  as  Moses  could  have 
contemplated  it  from  the  suuimit  of  Nel)o  which  is  repre- 
sented on  the  map ;  it  is  a  Palestine  relatively  quite  modern, 
the  Christian  and  Byzantine  Palestine  contemporaneous  wilh 
the  author  of  the  mosaic.  Granted  ;  Itut  it  is  necessary  to 
take  into  account  the  constant  endeavour  of  the  mosdute  t<> 
recall  for  each  locality  the  principal  recollections  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Above  all,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  vision 
of  Moses  is  a  veritable  vision  in  the  ideal  sense  of  the  word — 
a  supernatural  vision,  not  subject  to  the  material  conditions  of 
time  and  space.  It  is  certain  that  it  is  humanly  impossible  to 
the  ordinary  eye  to  perceive  from  the  height  of  Xebo  all  the 
extent  of  country  that  Moses  is  reputed  to  have  viewed. 
Jehovah  had  removed  for  him  the  limits  of  space.  Why,  in 
tlie  mind  of  the  Christian  anthor  of  the  mosaic,  should  He 
not  have  also  removed  those  of  time,  and  unveiled  to  the 
Hebrew  law-giver  the  Palestine  of  the  future  at  the  same 
time  as  that  of  the  present  ?  There  is,  after  all,  nothing 
inadmissible  in  this  naive  conception  of  the  reality. 

Another  objection,  more  specious : — The  map  is  orientated 
to  the  east ;  that  is  to  say,  that  Palestine  unrolled  itself  to  the 
eyes  of  a  spectator  who  turned  his  back  on  the  Mediterranean. 
The  point  of  view  is,  then,  the  inverse  of  that  which  Moses 
must  have  had  from  his  point  of  oljservation  on  Nebo.  To  this 
it  may  be  replied  that  in  such  matters  the  ancients  did  not 
allow  themselves  to  be  impeded  by  the  logical  ideas  which 
prevail  in  our  time ;  that  formerly  the  general  custom  was 
to  orientate  to  the  east,  and  that  tiie  author  of  the  mosaic 
conformed  to  this  custom  even  when  it  disagreed  with  the 
particular  object  he  had  in  view ;  that  probably,  besides, 
he  was  not  the  real  designer  of  the  map  executed  by  him- 
self ;  that  he  only  had  to  fix  on  the  ground  of  the  basilica 
of  Madeba  a  pre-existing  map — that  of  Eusebius  or  of  some 
other — constructed  according  to  the  ordinary  principles  of  his 
time ;  that  he  judged  it  useless  to  modify  the  orientation  of  it 
in  order  to  adapt  it  to  his  personal  point  of  view,  a  delicate 


246       ARCH.EOLOGICAL  AND   EPIGRAPHIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE. 

operation  which  ^YOukl  have  singularly  complicated  his  task, 
which  perhaps  surpassed  his  topographical  capacity,  and  of 
which  he  possibly  did  not,  moreover,  perceive  the  necessity. 
It  sufficed  him  to  have  reproduced  at  his  best  a  map  current 
at  his  period,  and  the  essential  elements  of  which  are- visibly 
borrowed  from  the  Onomasticon  of  Eusebius.  What  would 
properly  belong  to  him,  if  the  hypothesis  which  I  have  just 
sketched  has  any  foundation,  is  simply  the  fact  of  his  having 
chosen  this  special  subject  to  connect  it  with  the  local 
remembrance  of  the  vision  of  Moses. 

7.  The  Cafic  InscriiJtion  in  the  Basilica  of  Constantinc  and 
the  destruction  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  hj  the 
Ccdiph  Hdkem. — Some  years  ago  there  was  discovered  at 
Jerusalem,  at  the  east  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,. 
a  fine  Cufic  inscription  engraved  on  one  of  the  blocks  in  situ  of 
a  wall  which  made  part  of  the  famous  Martyrion,  constructed 
by  Constantine.  I  then  devoted  to  this  document  an  extensive 
study,^  in  which,  after  having  deciphered  and  interpreted  the- 
text,  I  tried  to  show  that  it  must  have  been  connected  with  a 
certain  Mosque  of  Omar,  of  which  Eutychius  tells  us,  and 
which  the  Moslems  had  erected,  to  the  great  displeasure  of  the 
Christians,  in  the  very  vestibule  of  the  basilica  of  Constantine,. 
at  the  place  where  Omar,  having  entered  as  a  conqueror  into 
Jerusalem,  and  conducted  by  the  patriarch  Sophronios  in  person, 
had  desired  to  make  his  prayer.  I  showed  the  important 
consequences  which  resulted  from  this  datum  in  connection 
with  the  archaeological  and  topographical  problem  so  much 
discussed  of  the  buildings  raised  by  Constantine  on  the  reputed 
site  of  the  Passion. 

•"Recueil  d'Archeologie  Orientalc,"  vol.  ii,  pp.  330-362,  §  70;  "La 
basilique  de  Constatitin  e(,  la  mosque  d'Omar  a  Jerusalem  "  ;  cf.  ibid.,  p.  406,  and 
Tol.  ii,  p.  88.  M.  Tan  Berchem,  with  whom  I  had  communicated,  and  who  had' 
adopted  the  historical  arguments  brought  forward  by  me,  has  published  an. 
interesting  notice  on  the  question,  which,  after  having  appeared  in  the- 
"Mitiheil.  und  Nachr.  des  deutschen  Pakvstina-Vereins "  (1897,  pp.  70-78), 
has  been  reproduced  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  (1898,  pp.  86-93)  ;  cf.  ibid., 
1897,  p.  302,  a  short  note  by  P.  Golubowich,  who  was  quite  mistaken  as  to  the- 
date  and  the  value  of  the  inscription. 


ArvCH^OLOGICAL   AXD   EPIGKAnilC   NOTES   ON    I•ALESTIN^:.       L'47 

Nevertheless,  more  than  one  point  still  remained  undecided, 
amongst  others,  an  essential  point,  that  of  knowing  from  what 
autliority  really  emanated  this  rescript,  rigorously  forbidding  to 
the  Christians  access  to  the  Mussulman  sanctuary,  formerly 
taken  from  their  own  sanctuary.  What  could  have  been  this 
authority  designated  by  the  inscription  as  El  Jladlirat  d-Mutah- 
hara,  literally  "  The  Pure  Majesty  "  ?  Does  it  refer  to  a  Caliph, 
and,  if  so,  to  a  Caliph  Abasside  or  I'atimite  ?  To  what  period 
could  we  trace  this  official  text,  the  formulas  of  which  were,  to 
us,  without  precedent  or  analogy  ? 

I  have  just,  by  the  merest  chance,  come  across  a  documents 
which,  in  a  very  unforeseen  manner,  brings  us  tlie  answer  to 
these  questions. 

I  was  lately  looking  over  the  translation  which  is  being 
given  us  by  M.  Bouriant  ^  of  the  great  work  of  Makrizi  on  the 
topographical  and  historical  description  of  Egypt,  when  I 
happened  upon  a  passage  which  struck  me  vividly,  and  which 
I  reproduce  below  as  given  by  the  translator.  It  is  borrowed 
by  Makrizi  from  an  earlier  chronicle,  that  of  El-Mesihi.  It 
refers  to  an  incident,  otherwise  without  interest  for  the  solution 
of  the  question,^  which  took  place  in  Cairo  during  the  course 
of  the  month  of  Eab'i  I,  in  the  year  415  of  the  Hegira  (]May- 
June,  1024) : — 

In  consequence,  these  merchants  went  to  complain  to  His  Purity,  that 
is  to  say  to  the  Emir  of  the  Believers  El  Taher  li  'azaz  din  allah  Aboii 
-1  Hassan  Aly  ben  Hakem  bi  'amr  allab,  who  gave  to  the  lieutenant  of 
the  kingdom  ....  instructions,  according  to  which  the  merchants  were 
required  to  pay  the  customary  rent  of  each  year. 

It  is  this  expression,  His  Purity,  which  arrested  my  attention. 
I  asked  myself  immediately  whether  this  title,  thus  rendered 
by  tlie  translator  and  given  to  the  Caliph,  son  and  successor 

'  Bouriant,  "  Memoircs  ....  de  la  Mission  Archuologiquc  Fran<;ai*e  an 
Caire,"  vol.  xvii,  fasc.  2  (1900),  p.  filO.  This  meritorious  work,  wlien  it  is 
tinislied,  will  render  real  service.  It  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  it  should  be 
spoiled  by  sufficiently  serious  or  inadvertent  errors — above  ail,  in  that  ■which 
concerns  names  of  places  (I  speak  principally  of  those  of  Syria,  which  are  too 
often  badly  transcribed). 

"  It  is  in  connection  with  a  kind  of  popular  procession  which  seems  to  have 
taken  place  annually  at  the  place  called  "  Prison  of  Joseph." 


248       AECILEOLOGICAL   AND   EPIGRAPHIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE. 

to  the  celebrated  Hakem,  might  not  correspond,  perchance,  to 
an  oricrinal  form  i"  i-^^  i'..£i>!^  El-Hadhrat  el-Mv.tahhara, 
that  is  to  say,  to  the  title  of  enigmatical  authority  figuring  in 
our  Cufic  inscription. 

Unfortunately  I  do  not  possess  the  Arabic  text  of  the  work 
of  Makrizi,  printed  in  Cairo,  and  as  it  was  during  the  Easter 
vacation,  the  libraries  where  I  could  consult  it  were  shut. 
I  thought  then  of  having  recourse  to  the  kindness  of  my 
learned  confrere  and  friend,  M.  van  Berchem,  of  Geneva,  and 
I  wrote  him  a  line  asking  him  to  be  so  good  as  to  verify  the 
matter  by  his  copy. 

The  reply  was  not  long  in  coming,  and  I  had  the  very 
lively  satisfaction  of  seeing  that  it  fully  confirmed  my  pre- 
vision. 

Here  are,  in  effect,  according  to  the  extract  that  M.  van 
Berchem  sends  me,  the  identical  terms  of  which  the  Arabic 
author  makes  use  ^: — 


o- 


This  is  categorical.  We  have  then,  henceforth,  the  certainty 
that  this  title  of  El-Hadhrat  el-Mutahhara,  which  figures  in  our 
inscription,  was  a  specific  title  of  the  Fatimite  Caliphs,  a  title 
which  we  did  not  know  until  now.  It  is  very  probable  that  it 
was  not  invented  for  the  particular  use  of  the  son  of  Hakem, 
and  that  Dhalier  had  inherited  this  designation  from  his  father. 
Did  Hakem  himself  get  it  from  his  father  or  from  his  father's 
predecessors,  or  did  he  create  and  grant  it  to  himself  under 
the  influence  of  the  mystical  madness  which  caused  him  to 
commit  so  many  extravagances  ?  Hilkem  has  been  accused, 
we  know,  by  his  contemporaries  even  of  having  laid  claim 
to  being  God,  or  at  least  an  emanation  from  the  Divinity. 
Assuredly  such  a  title,  if  he  really  bore  it,  was  well  qualified  to 
give  rise  to  the  equivocation,-  and  to  contribute  to  accredit  and 

•  Makrizi,  "  Khitat,"  i,  p.  207,  1.  23. 

-  I  will  return  on  another  occasion  to  tliis  delicate  theological  question  with 
regard    to    certain    rerj    curious    texts,    where    the    expression    El-Hadhrat 


AUCILEOLOGICAL   AND   EPIGRAPHIC   NOTES   ON   PALESTINE.       249 

to  propagate  accusations  of  this  kiinl.  The  (luestioii,  (:r)ii- 
sidered  from  tliis  particular  point  of  view,  is  not  wantin«,'  in 
interest,  but  until  more  fully  informed  we  have  no  means  of 
solving  it.  Tt  is  already  much  to  Ije  ahle  to  .say,  now,  that 
Dhaher,  and,  in  all  probability,  his  father,  Hakem,  ]>ore  this 
unusual  title. 

It  is  a  veritable  ray  of  light  which  is  shed  on  this  point - 
until  now  so  obscure,  of  our  inscription.  We  can  now  .say  that 
the  title  El-Hadhrat  cl-Mutahhara  there  designates  a  Caliph, 
and  a  Fatimite  Caliph,  to  the  exclusion  of  an  Aba.sside.  I  had 
formerly  discussed  the  pros  and  cons,  and,  without  rejecting 
the  first  hypothesis,  I  rather  inclined  towards  the  second.  1 ' 
is  on  the  side  of  the  first  that  the  balance  now  seems  to  incline. 
I  will  not  repeat  all  the  various  arguments  which  I  had  my.self 
indicated^  as  capal)le  of  being  invoked  in  favour  of  it.  It  will 
suffice  to  say  that  they  assume  a  new  and  singular  force. 

Not  only  are  we  compelled  henceforth  to  admit  that  the 
rescript  aimed  at  by  the  inscription  has  for  its  author  a 
Fatimite  Caliph,  strictly  speaking,  the  son  of  Hakem,  at  least ; 
but,  if  one  takes  into  account  the  political  circumstances, 
the  chances  are  that  this  Caliph  may  be  no  other  than 
Hakem  himself,  the  destroyer  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  who  Ijy 
this  act  of  vandalism  stirred  the  indignation  of  Western 
Cliristianity,  and  in  the  end  provoked  the  first  Crusade. 
Already  so  interesting  in  other  respects,  as  I  have  shown,  our 
inscription,  whether  it  is  placed  a  little  before  or  a  little  after 
the  destruction,  with  which  it  must  have  an  intimate  connec- 
tion, would  thus  become  a  historical  document  of  the  first 
order,  since  it  would  belong  in  some  measure  to  the  prologue 

■el-Mufahhara  appears  to  designate  au  entity  of  Divine  nature,  notably  in  a 
passage  in  a  treatise  of  religious  controversy  by  Elias,  of  Nisibis,  wliieli  has 
been  pointed  out  to  me  by  Father  Eonzevalle,  and  where  it  seems  to  be  applied 
to  God.  I  will  limit  myself  for  the  moment  to  quoting  this  topical  passage 
from  the  "  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  tiie  Druses,"  by  De  Sacy  (i,  p.  224) : 
"  The  Lord,  the  God  Hilkem,  the  Hoh'  One,  will  show  himself  in  all  the  purity 
of  his  greatness  exempt  from  attributes."     Cf.  ibid.,  p.  22G,  note,  the  expressions 

Ll^K^i^Jl  J<sj-<»  y^wjjJill  J«civ-C5  i.^-iaJ^  U^-^1  applied  to  Hikem  in 
the  Druse  documents. 

I  See,  notably.  I.e.,  pp.  509,  310,  u.  2,  311,  325,  332-333,  33G. 


250  JAR-HANDLE   STAMP   AT   CAMBEIDGE,   U.S. 

of  the  great  drama  of  the  struggle  carried  on  for  centuries 
between  the  Cross  and  the  Crescent  in  the  very  land  in  which 
the  beliefs  which  they  symbolised  had  their  common  root. 


JAR-HANDLE    STAMP    AT    CAMBRIDGE,   U.S. 

By  Professor  T.  F.  Wright. 

Facsimile  of  insci'iption  on  a  jar-handle  at  Cambridge, 
Mass.  The  last  letter  but  one  may  be  a  combination 
of  O  and  N,  but  all  the  others  are  plain — • 

M€NTOPOS  YAKIN0IOS    i    |nOS. 


MGNT 
OPOSYA 
KIN0IOS 


The  second  word  in  Quarterly  Statement  January  lists 
is  always  genitive. 


The  inscription  on  the  Cambridge  jar-bandle  contains  the 
name  of  the  eponymous  governor  Mentor,  also  found  in  No.  157 
of  the  Tell  Sandahannab  series.  The  circumstance  that  the  name 
of  the  month  is  in  the  nominative  and  not  in  the  genitive  is  a 
deviation  from  the  ordinary  formula  which  does  not  affect  its 
meaning,  and  is  interesting  chiefly  for  its  great  rarity.  I  have 
examined  all  the  lists  of  Rhodian  jar  inscriptions  accessible  to  me, 
and  find,  out  of  about  a  thousand  or  more,  but  one  to  compare 
Avitb  it.  This  is  an  item  in  the  great  Perg'amon  series 
(No.  912  in  Frankel's  "  Inschriften  von  Pergamon  ")   and  reads  : 

€n   l€P€n(Z)  I  APIZTO(AA)MOY  |  HANAMOZ. 

The  reading  on  the  Cambridge  seal  must  be  YAKIN0IOZ. 

not  -INOZ. 

R.  A.  S.  M. 


r^u 


m 


251 


"<>«( 


m 


^rf'""«.«.^«; 


i>k'»nrTli^?!3-' 


HEBREW    INSCRIPTIOX     IX 
MOSAIC  AT  KEFR  KEXXA. 

Professor    Cu;rmoxt  -  Gax.veau    has 
communicated    to    the   Academy    of 
Jnacriptions,   accompanied    by    some 
explanations,  an  exceedingly  carious 
mosaic  discovered  last  year  at  Kcfr 
Kenna,  in  Galilee,  containing  a  long 
inscription    in    the    square    Hebrew 
chai-acter.       In   anticipation    of     the 
detailed  memoir  which   M.   Ganneau 
is    about    to    write    on    this    subject 
specially   for   the    October    Quarterly 
Statement,  we  publish  now  the  repro- 
duction of  this  monument,  which  is 
unique  of  its  kind. 


252 


WOMAN    IX    THE    EAST. 

By  Philip  J.  Baldensperger,  Esq. 

{Concluded  from  "  Quarterly  Statement,''  1901,  p.  184.) 


Chapter  VI. — Every-iuy  Life. 

As  already  mentioned,  when  they  are  near  towns  the  Bedawin 
women  flock  to  the  market  and  sell  their  products — especially  milk, 
for  such  as  have  great  droves  of  cows,  goats,  &c.^ ;  hut  when  they 
are  further  away — and  this  is  generally  the  rule — the  women  turn 
the  milk  into  butter,  make  the  butter  into  samn,  that  is,  cook 
the  butter  till  the  watery  parts  are  evaporated.  And  they  look 
after  home  affairs  generally,  the  children  forming,  of  course, 
their  chief  care.  When  the  baby  is  quite  young  it  is  exposed 
during  forty  days  to  sunshine,  with  its  eyes  heavenwards,  which 
is  said  to  fortify  eyesight  for  ever.  If  it  cannot  stand  this  treat- 
ment it  is  not  fit  for  this  hard  life,  though  they  do  not  add  this 
last  sentence  ;  yet  there  is  a  kind  of  selected  breeding,  on  the 
principles  of  the  Spartan  laws  and  the  natural  laws  of  the 
"  survival  of  the  fittest."  Where  the  tribe  is  of  an  agricultural 
turn  of  mind,  the  boys  at  an  early  age  are  shepherds  or  help  the 
parents  in  tilling  the  ground,  whilst,  where  they  are  not  agricul- 
tural, hunting  and  robbing  are  learnt.  The  BedaAvin  disdain  the 
"  dirty  Fellah  "  and  the  "  pale  townsmen  "  as  profoundly  as  one 
creature  can  disdain  another.  They  are  exceedingly  proud,  and 
the  women  are  as  shy  towards  strangers  as  those  of  the  towns. 

Badawy  means  "  desert  man  "  ;  and  of  this  name  they  are  as 
proud  as  Baron  or  Count  in  Europe  of  his  descent.^  Being  always 
out  in  the  open  air,  or  under  the  light  tent,  they  fear  buildings 
as  if  they  were  ever  on  the  eve  of  falling.  They  dread  towns 
and  government,  being  independent ;  though  laws  of  their  own 
regulate  the  discipline  of  the  tribe,  as  good  a  discipline  as  can  be 

1   Coics. The  pure  desert  tribes,  such  as  the  Beni-Sakhr  and  'Anazeli,  have 

usually  no  cattle,  but  only  horses,  donkeys,  and  camels. — C.  K.  C. 

-  Bedaioin. — This  -word  is  a  Tulgar  plural  of  Bedawi — a  "  man  of  the 
desert."  My  experience  is  that  it  is  only  used  by  the  settled  population,  and 
much  disliked  by  the  nomadic  Arabs.  I  was  once  reproached  by  one  of  these 
for  calling  him  a  Bedawi.  Thoy  call  themselves  'Arab,  and  are  proud  of  pure 
descent  from  the  tribes  of  Arabia. — C.  R.  C. 


WOMAN    I.N    TJIE   EAST.  or,;> 


soo 


imagined  in  any  place.  Of  course  this  applies  to  them  in  their 
tribes — their  liand  being  against  every  man  and  every  man's 
hand  against  tliem,  jast  as  was  i)romised  to  their  forefather 
Tshmael ;  so  it  is  natural  that  they  should  avoid  buildings,  or 
even  sleeping  in  unknown  places. 

Though  filthy  in  many  ways,  still  I  think  them  clean  in 
their  customs  if  compared  with  the  Fellahin,  who  have  genei-ally 
water  at  their  dis})osal,  which  is  very  often  miles  away  from  the 
Bedawin  camp.  The  camp  is  moved  when  it  has  become  full  of 
fleas ;  sometimes  they  move  away  not  more  than  a  mile,  in  many 
cases  they  move  many  miles,  except  in  regions  where  they  have 
not  much  space  and  Avhere  the  tribe  is  very  small.  For  around 
all  sea-coast  towns  of  Palestine  and  Syxna — from  Gaza  in  the  south, 
by  Jaffa,  Ramleh,  Lydda,  Cajsarea,  Caifa,  and  Acre,  in  the  Carmel 
^ay ;  Tyre,  Sidon,  and  to  Beyrout,  in  the  north— there  are  small 
tribes  of  minor  importance  who  call  themselves  Bedawin,  havino- 
mostly  Bedawin  customs,  living  in  tents,  because  this  exempts 
them  from  military  life.  They  do  not  wear  the  turban,  but  the 
flying  head-cloth,  held  to  the  head  by  a  double  cord  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  Bedawin.  Yet  they  have  lands  which  they  cultivate 
either  in  shares  with  some  proprietor  of  the  town  or  some  saint, 
and  they  have  droves  of  coavs  and  buffaloes,  which  wallow  in  the 
swamps  of  the  rivers,  and  are  almost  as  savage  as  their  Bedawin 
lords. 

The  greater  tribes  arc  generally  very  little  under  Government 
control,  and  roam  about  the  plain  of  Jezreel  in  the  centre  of 
Palestine,  retreating  towards  Gilead  and  Bashan  in  case  of  need  ; 
others  have  all  the  northern  Syrian  desert  from  Damascus  to 
Bagdad  ;  some  occupy  the  east  of  Jordan  plains  and  mountains 
of  Moab  and  Ammon,  and  are  the  terror  of  all  southern  Palestine. 
The  Tayaha  and  the  Terabeeu  of  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  would 
never  have  been  under  the  Turkish  rule,  few  as  thev  are,  had 
they  :iot  disagreed  amongst  themselves,  and  carried  on  petty 
wars  for  a,  number  of  years. 

Some  of  the  women  of  these  tribes,  especially  in  the  north, 
who  flock  to  the  markets,  have  more  gaudy  dresses,  and  many 
have  done  away  with  the  veil,  so  strictly  bidden  by  their  primitive 
laws.  High  red  boots  may  also  be  seen  amongst  some.  Especially 
among  the  Bedawin  women  are  tattoo  marks  yet  to  be  seen  on  the 
face,  though,  as  already  remarked,  other  classes  also  have  this 
custom.  The  face  is  marked  with  divert  figures,  lines,  itc,  tattooed 
in   blue.      These   markings   are  as  old  as  human  history,  for  in 


254  WOMAN   IX   THE   EAST. 

Leviticus  xix,  28,  we  read :  "  Ye  shall  not  make  any  cuttings  in 
your  flesli  for  the  dead,  nor  pi'int  any  marks  upon  you."  Pro- 
hibited to  the  Jews,  the  practice  was  carried  on  by  the  nations 
all  around.  Judaism  could  not  crush  those  old  customs.  On  the 
other  hand,  as  they  are  allowed  by  the  more  tolerant  Islam,  their 
minutest  details  have  been  maintained  side  by  side  with  the  three 
-great  religions  of  Palestine  proper — Judaism,  Christianity,  and 
Islam.  Illiterate  generally,  the  Bedawin  probably  followed  more 
or  less  indiliei*ently  the  prevailing  religion,  as  it  benefited  their 
commerce  or  simply  suited  their  convenience.  And  none  of  these 
creeds  have  ever  really  influenced  them  in  the  least.  They  were 
friends  and  foes  -with  the  Cauaanites,  had  several  wives  like 
Abraham,  when  they  could  afford  it,  kept  herds,  and  were  hunters 
or  robbers.  During  the  heroic  age  of  the  Maccabees  they  became 
as  Jews  but  continued  to  talk  Arabic,  sometimes  became  Christians 
in  the  latter  years  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  and  subsequently 
fervent  defenders  of  Islam  during  several  centuries.  The  exploits 
of  the  wild  crusader,  Renaud  de  Chatillon,  made  them  change  the 
name  only.  As  Christians  they  still  went  on  robbing  and  killing, 
■wearing  ever  the  same  style  of  dress ;  always  fond  of  horses  and 
arms,  while  the  coat-of-mail  of  the  Crusaders  was  very  attractive 
to  them,  and  when  Islam  was  lord  again  they  again  became 
Mohammedans.  They  pray  and  even  fast  sometimes,  like  other 
Mohammedans,  but  the  further  away  from  towns  the  less  they 
observe  any  religious  rites  at  all.  Superstitious  as  all  others,  they 
believe  more  in  signs  and  traditions  than  in  actual  religious  laws 
and  ordinances.  In  fact,  they  care  very  little  even  for  the  Moham- 
medan religion,  to  which  most  of  them  now  claim  to  belong,  a 
very  few  beyond  the  Jordan  excepted,  who  belong  to  the  Greek 
Church.  They  have  their  saints  and  prophets,  and  it  is  usually 
round  the  tombs  of  these  that  they  have  their  cemeteries.^ 

Rachel's  tomb  near  Bethlehem,  for  example,  is  the  burial 
ground  of  the  Ta'amry  Bedawin  of  the  wilderness  of  Judea,  and 
Avhen  a  person  dies,  no  matter  how  far  away,  sometimes  near  the 
Dead  Sea,  a  distance  of  more  than  twenty  miles,  the  dead  person 
is  transported  on  camelback,   hanging  in  a  carpet    on    one  side, 

'  Religion. — One  tribe  is  known  (in  the  desert  of  Judah)  as  Jahalin  or 
"ignorant,"  a  term  which  strictly  means  Arabs  before  Islam  was  preached. 
The  Eedawin  have  very  little  knowledge  of  Moslem  beliefs,  but  Islam  originated 
among  them.  Before  the  time  of  Mohammed  most  of  them  were  Pagans,  but 
some  had  become  Christians  and  some  Jews  by  religion,  even  in  Arabia,  while 
others  were  "  encjuircrs  "  of  no  fixed  creed.— C.  K.  C. 


WuMA.N    IN    TIIK    KAST.  2'*^^ 

\\\\\\st  eavtli  in  a  sack  forms  the  counter-balancf  on  the  oth«'r. 
'I'lic  Bcdawinof  the  plains  of  Phih'stia  trans|)ori  tlicirdcad  to  near 
the  shrine  of  the  pro])het  Saloh,  near  Raniloh.  The  l)nrial  and 
nioiirniug  do  not  differ  from  those  of  the  other  chasses  ;  but  on 
account  of  distance  they  cannot  visit  the  tombs  on  Thursdays, 
and  instead  visit  them  occasionally,  when  they  pass  noai-  by 
cliiuice,  and  if  possible  on  the  Thursday  of  the  dead.  In  sonn- 
tribes  it  is  customary  for  the  women  to  cut  a  tress  of  their  hair 
and  fix  it  on  the  tomb,  as  a  token  of  love  for  the  departed. 
The  tombs  are  not  tended  with  the  same  care  as  those  of  the 
townspeople,  who  sometimes  have  inscriptions  cut  and  plant 
trees  or  flowers  in  their  cemeteries ;  but  neither  the  Fellahin 
nor  the  Bedawin  plant  flowers  on  theii-  graves,  excepting  those 
wild  frequently  mix  with  the  towns]icople. 

.\.  woman  of  the  Bedawin  had  lost  her  only  son,  about  ten 
years  of  age.  After  the  usual  compliments  of  condolence,  I 
told  her  God  can  give  her  another  son,  a  compliment  often  used 
in  such  circumstances.  "No,"  says  the  desolate  mother,  "if  God 
"wished  to  give  me  another,  he  would  not  have  taken  this  one." 
Having  no  more  hopes  to  get  any  others,  some  mollah  told  her 
that  she  should  go  with  her  husband  and  hand  in  hand  dip 
themselves  seven  times  in  the  ^Mediterranean  Sea,  repeating 
tlie  Fattiha.  She  took  her  husband  and  she  dipped  seven  times, 
but  the  husband  afterwards  confessed  to  me  secretly,  that  he  so 
much  dreaded  dipping,  that  he  only  feigned  doing  so,  making  his 
wife  dip  and  he  looking  on,  like  the  clown  in  the  circus,  feigning 
to  stand  on  his  head  and  looking  only  at  his  companion,  who 
expects  all  the  time  his  comrade  to  do  the  same.  Very  generally 
speaking  the  Bedawin  women  are  the  liveliest  and  quickest  of  the 
three  classes  of  native  women.  The  townswoman  with  her  slow 
aristocratic  walk,  as  they  call  it,  looks  with  disdain  on  the 
European  or  American  lady  walking  quickly,  "  like  a  servant  iu 
a  hurry." 

"Wild  and  rude  as  they  may  be,  it  is  but  fair  to  say  that 
w  omankind,  even  among  the  sands  and  thorn-bushes  of  the  Jordan 
valley,  have  a  kinder  feeling  than  men.  I  have  lain  sick  and 
wanting  nursing  in  towns,  in  villages,  and  in  the  Bedawin  tent, 
and  they  all  did  their  utmost  to  make  me  forget  the  seclusion, 
each  one  as  much  as  could  be  expected  from  them,  and  according 
to  the  degree  of  their  knowledge. 

In  the  plain  of  Jericho,  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  I  had 
grown  quite  friendly  with  a  Bedawin  woman,  and  one  day  when 


256  WOMAN    IX    THE    EAST. 

the  cai'avan  from  Jerusalem  ;in  ived  and  brought  us  neither  news 
nor  victuals  from  home,  my  Bedawin  friend  took  an  okl  rag  and 
blackened  it  with  soot,  and  said:  "  This  is  the  letter  I  shall  send 
to  Jerusalem,  the}-  will  know  -well  enough  that  we  are  in  the  most 
miserable  state  that  can  be  imagined."  And  wlien  at  length  the 
long  expected  victuals  and  ammunition  an-ived,  this  wild 
Bedawiyeh  divided  them  into  equal  parts  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan,  giving  me  a  part,  as  if  we  had  gained  booty  from  some 
passing  traveller. 

Chapter  VIT. — Leading  Women. 

That  when  women  choose  to  rule,  they  well  knew  how,  is  trae 
of  the  Bedawin  woman  as  well  as  of  any  other,  and  perhaps  to  some 
degree  she  is  more  imperious  than  any  other  woman  in  Islam. 

My  old  Bedawin  friend  in  the  plain  of  Jericho  was  a  widow 
and  had  an  only  son,  aged  about  22.  We  had  rented  their  lands 
to  sow  wheat  and  barley,  with  a  family  of  Fellahin.  Although 
the  young  man,  ^iohammed-et-Talak,  had  to  ai'range  the  contracts 
and  so  on  in  Jerusalem,  yet  at  home  his  mother  wholly  commanded 
him.  And  even  in  my  pi'esence  she  beat  him  and  scolded  him  till 
he  simply  cried,  and  contrary  to  the  habits  of  the  Fellahin,  said : 
"  She  is  my  mother,  and  I  have  to  obey  her,  and  receive  her 
chastisement."  Im-Mohammed,  the  old  v/oman,  would  sit  down, 
without  a  veil,  smoking  her  big  pipe,  and  giving  orders,  at  the 
same  time  emphaticallj^  striking  the  ground  with  her  pipe,  as  much 
as  to  say  :  "  So  will  I  have  it."  And  when  the  young  man  one 
day  showed  impatience,  she  told  him  :  '"  Sure,  you  chickeri,  I  shall 
retreat  to  the  mountains,  and  see  what  will  become  of  you."  On 
such  occasions  he  again  became  quite  tame,  and  promised  to 
follow  her  instructions. 

Another  Bedawin  widow,  in  the  plain  of  Philistia,  was  very 
wealthy,  possessing  300  or  400  cows ;  this  fact  alone  gave  her 
superiority,  and  everything  regarding  the  community  was 
discussed  with  her  and  even  to  a  certain  degree  bad  to  be 
ratified  by  her.  I  was  very  much  surprised  that  she  should 
not  have  gone  to  the  expense  of  erecting  a  stable  of  some  kind 
for  her  cattle,  to  protect  them  against  thieves  or  rain  or  the  heat  of 
the  sun.  Of  thieves  she  was  not  afraid,  as  for  the  rain  she  thought 
this  was  God's  will,  and  besides,  building  expenses  were  too  great,, 
no  matter  how  primitive  the  building  might  be.  Very  soon 
after  my   interview  with   her,  a  heavy  rain  swept  over  the  canqv 


WOMAN    IN     I  UK    KAST.  257 

and  the  whole  region,  and  in  that  very  night  she  is  said  to  have 
lost  three-fourtlis  of  her  cattle.  Stoically  she  bore  this  loss,  and 
like  the  Bedawin  Job,  hearing  of  his  losses,  she  also  said:  "The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hatli  taken  away,  blessed  be  the  name 
of  the  Lord." 

A  legend  of  an  old  Bedawin  woman  su  independent  that  she 
even  braved  the  seasons  is  told  of  Febrnaiy  24th. 

Having  had  much  rain  during  February,  the  old  Bedavviyeh, 
to  spite  the  month,  put  herself  and  tents  in  a  mountain  pass  in 
the  wilderness  of  Jnda^a,  and  said  :  "  February,  tlie  roarer,  is  past ; 
I'll  kick  him  a  hundred  times,  for  I  and  mv  coats  are  saved  from 
his  waters  "  ;  but  February,  whose  reputation  is  known,  and  of 
whom  it  is  said :  "  February,  the  roarer,  climbs  and  kicks,  but 
summer's  odour  is  iTi  him,"  was  furious  at  the  woman  who  had 
thus  abused  him,  and  said  to  his  cousin,  March  :  "  Please  give  me 
three  days,  I  have  only  four  left ;  we  can  make  the  waters  flow- 
once  more."  Februarv  and  March  thus  agreed,  and  during  seven 
days  there  was  unceasing  rain.  When  the  weather  was  fine  again 
and  the  sun  shone  on  the  camp  of  the  old  Bedawij-eh,  not  even  a 
trace  of  it  was  left.  The  terrible  waters  had  washed  her  away  with 
her  tents  and  goats  and  all  appurtenances,  and  the  dead  bodies 
alone  were  found  floating  about  the  Dead  Sea.  These  three 
days  are  therefore  called  the  borrowed  days,  as  February  had 
borrowed  them  from  March. 

Some  Bedawin  women  also  enter  holy  orders,  but  this  does 
in  nowise  exclude  marriage,  as  for  the  nuns  in  monasteries.  A 
woman  may  be  born  holy,  and  in  this  case  she  is  believed  to  woi-k 
miracles.  A  Bedaw}^  in  Philistia,  very  badly  sick  with  the 
malarial  fever,  and  whom  I  could  not  help  any  more  than  I  coukl 
help  myself,  being  badly  taken  with  it  too,  told  me  the  only 
remedy  for  this  was  to  go  to  the  Darwishy  of  the  Hrari  family. 
"God's  party — ya  Hrari,"'  is  an  exclamation  ahvaj-s  used  when 
the  name  of  any  holy  person  is  pronounced.  She  was  expecteil 
to  heal  the  sick  by  a  mixture  of  herbs,  a  secret  of  her  own. 

'   d^iW    ,11:=^,    I.'    c'-ll\    J.Jw — Skael  Illah  i/arijcil  Allah— is  fiu  oxL'Uma- 

Hon   used  by  every   Moliammedan  when  the  name  of  any  holy  man  is   pro* 

nouneed.     .iLi — to  lift  up;  to  take  away  from  tlic  place.     The  Bedawin  .-juy 

lljlj — iShdl — to    move    camp.       The    Uedawin   decamped — , .  »J\   aJLi)  — 

Shalat  el'Aralj.  Thus  it  means  "from  the  (same)  camp,"  or  ''Hfted  up  by 
the  same  movement  of  departure,"  i.e.,  "  tlie  party " ;  and  ''  Shael  Illah  ya 
rijal  Allah"  would  be  "  (Respect  before)  God's  compauioue  (ye)  men  of  Cod." 

p  9 


258  WOMAN   IN   THE   EAST. 

Another  woman  of  holj  orders,  known  under  the  name  of  the 
••  prophet's  foal,"  walked  about  for  years,  begging  or  asking  alms 
without  pronouncing  a  single  word,  but  neighing  like  a  young  foal. 
This  is,  of  course,  understood  by  all  believers.  Dr.  Chaplin,  for 
many  yeai-s  a  physician  in  Jerusalem,  says  :  "  This  is  a  peculiar 
nervous  affection,  not  very  uncommon  among  girls  born  in 
Palestine,  which  seems  to  compel  those  labouring  under  it  to 
o-o  about  imitating  the  sounds  made  by  animals." 

A  holy  woman  of  renown,  said  to  have  lived  somewhere  about 
the  fourteenth  centui-y  of  our  era,  only  known  by  the  name  of 
"Daughter  of  Bari,"  and  wdio  had  drunk  of  the  jug  of  Paradise 
water,  which  entitles  everybody  to  become  holy,  was  so  ambitious 
that  she  tried  to  drink  the  Avhole,  leaving  nothing  for  some  of 
her  companions,  who  were  already  holy  too.  She  was  so  beautiful 
that  she  had  to  wear  seven  veils,  laid  on  each  other  tile-fashion, 
the  lowest  being  shortest.  It  is  known  that  no  Derwish  may 
look  at  a  woman  lest  he  lose  his  holiness,  unless  he  be  so  well 
proved  in  virtue  as  to  withstand  all  evil  thoughts.  As  she  had 
taken  the  sacred  jug,  three  of  the  leaders  of  holy  orders  went  to 
take  back  the  jug,  but  at  her  beauty  had  to  withdraw.  The 
fourth  one,  by  the  name  of  Bedawy,  now  came  iu  old  ragged 
clothes,  with  vermin  all  about  him ;  of  course  she,  being  a 
Derwdsha,  at  once  could  read  bis  thoughts.  He  now  came  and 
asked  for  the  jug,  but  would  not  be  moved  by  her  beauty,  so  she 
uplifted  one  veil,  which  discovered  a  part  of  her  neck,  without 
effect ;  a  second  veil  was  lifted,  discovering  her  chin ;  still  it  was 
useless.  Finally,  she  asked  him  to  marry  her,  but  not  only 
would  he  hear  nothing  about  it,  but  even  ordered  the  earth  to 
swallow  her  deeper  and  deeper,  till  on  the  fourth  summons  she 
ordered  a  servant  to  get  the  holy  jug  and  give  it  to  the  Bedawy. 


PART  IV.— THE  EGYPTIAN  WOMAN. 
Chapter  I. 

As  regards  the  Egyptian  woman  it  must  be  understood  that  I 
attempt  only  a  general  description  of  her  as  she  lives  in  Palestine. 
Though  Palestine  really  borders  on  Egypt,  still  the  great  sandy 
desert  lying  between  has,  in  many  instances,  given  another 
character  to  their  respective  peoples.     The  Egyptians  in  Palestine 


AVOMAN    IN    TUK:  EAST.  209 

have  .sc;tt-led  in  the;  fouiitry  succcssivol}' ;  tlie  l"]<i)  ])li;ui  ritalias 
trying-  from  time  to  time  to  colonise;  Palestine  wilii  their  own 
subjects,  as  beint;'  <>F  a  more  submissive  character  than  the 
independent  Palestine  mountaineer,  ever  ready  to  I'evolt.  Tin; 
last  great  attempt  was  made  by  Mohammed  Ali,  founder  of 
the  present  d^-nasty  of  the  Khedives  of  Kgypt,  who  sent  a 
force  to  invade  Palestine  in  18.")1  under  the  command  of  his 
son,  Ibrahim  Pasha.  Duinng-  the  nine  years  following/,  while 
the  Viceroy  Avas  absolute  master,  he  established  colonies  all 
about  the  plains  of  Philistia,  Sharon,  and  Jezreel.  Their  descen- 
dants still  remain,  having  kept  their  own  customs  to  a  certain 
degree,  as  well  as  their  laniiiiage,  or  rather  dialect,  wliieh, 
however,  is  now  fast  becoming  merged  in  the  Palestinian. 

The  Egyptian  is  a  separate  type,  resembling  the  flat-nosed  and 
thick-lipped  Afi-ican  to  a  certain  degree,  but  not  black  as  most 
African  nations  are.  He  is  a  real  link  between  the  Caucasian 
and  the  Negro.* 

Naturally  those  transplanted  to  Palestine,  either  by  order 
of  the  Viceroy  or  voluntarily,  are  mostly  of  the  agriculturist  class, 
as  commercial  men  have  much  better  chances  in  Egypt  than  in 
Palestine.  The  blue  dress  worn  by  the  women  is  less  wide  than 
that  of  the  Bedawin,  and  a  little  wider  than  the  Fallaha's.  It  is 
covered  with  a  white  or  dark  head-dress,  with  a  heavy  black  face- 
veil  attached  to  the  head  like  that  of  the  Bedawin,  but  instead  of 
being  short,  like  the  Bedawin,  so  as  to  cover  only  the  lips  and 
chin  with  dangling-  coins,  the  Egyptian  veil  hangs  down  to  the 
breast,  and  coins  are  sewn  at  the  bottom  to  hold  it  in  place.-  The 
genei-al  character  of  the  Egyptian  woman  is  softer  than  that  of  the 
three  other  classes  of  women  already  described  ;  she  is  more  polite, 
and  will  more  readily  answer  even  a  stranger.  The  tounswoman 
is  scandalised,  or  fears  the  appearance  of  her  husband  or  of  some 

'  Type. — The  Egyptian  tjpe  is  i-ather  that  of  the  ancient  Egjjitians  before 
2000  B.C.— a  race  distantly  connected  with  the  Semitic  peoples.  Tl)e  Copts 
alone  pi-esei-ve  the  old  language.  'J'he  Arabic  which  is  spoken  bv  E^iyptian 
Moslems  is,  iu  some  respects,  nearer  to  tliat  of  Arabia  tlian  to  that  of  Svria. 
Syrian  is  considered  the  more  elegant  dialect,  but  the  Egyptian  Arabic  descends 
tVom  the  time  of  the  Moslem  conquest. — C.  R.  C. 

-  Egyptiutis. — In  Ashdod  especially  the  Egyptian  dre.-s  may  be  observed, 
but  the  colonies  of  1831-1840  spread  even  to  Galilee,  and  the  name  Kefr  Musr, 
or  "Egyptian  hamlet,"  still  applies  to  a  village  in  the  Valley  of  Jezreel,  near 
Beisan.  The  Egyptian  veil  is  distinguished,  not  only  by  its  length,  but  by  Ihc 
peculiar  fastening  of  metal  (usually  brass)  which  connects  it  to  the  head-dress 
in  the  middle,  between  the  eyes. — C.  K.  C. 


260  WOMAN    IX    THE   EAST. 

indiscreet  visitor,  and  will  therefore  be  rather  unpolite  with  yon. 
The  Fallaha,  thinking  that  yoa  are  mocking  her  language  and 
costume,  will  thei-efore  remind  you  of  your  business  ;  the  Bedawiyeh 
will  indignantly  point  to  the  men  as  if  to  say  :   "  If  you  have  any- 
iliing  to  say  go  there  and  leave  me  in  peace."     The  Egyptian  may 
even   answer  you  with  expressions  like  "  my  eye,"  "  my  heart," 
and  "  my  life,"  though  the  Egyptian  husband  may  be  as  jealous  as 
any  other  in  the  East.       Perhaps  the  simple  fact  that  they  are 
stran2:ers  in   the   land    makes    a    difference    in    their    behaviour. 
They   are   not  masters.     Whether  they  live  in  the  towns  or  in 
the  country  they  are  more  or  less  given  to  occupations  connected 
with    agriculture.      Round    about    Jaffa   they   are  dairy    Avomen, 
and    in    the    villages   they    are    Fellahin,  but  do   not   call  them- 
selves by   this  name  in  Palestine,  and   do  not   easily  intermarry 
with  natives.     The  Palestine   Fellah  is   as  proud  of  his  pedigree 
as  the   Bedawin,  and  if  you  ask  him    or  her  whether  they   are 
related    to  so  and   so    he    will    say :    "  N'o,    they   are    Egyptians, 
whilst  we   are  Fellahin."     Genei'ally   speaking,  they   also  say  in 
talking  of  an  Egyptian  :  "  With  my  respects  to  yourself,  she   (or 
he)   is  an    Egyptian."     This  same   contempt  is   almost  as  old  as 
history.     In  Numbers  xii,  I,  we  read:   "And  Miriam  and  Aaron 
spake  against  Moses  because  of  the  Etltiopiau u-oman  whom  he  had 
married:  forhe  had  married  Sin  Ethiopiau  ivoman."    After  showing 
why  they  spoke  against  Moses,  the  w)-iter  seems  to  excuse  them  in 
the  last  sentence,  which  means  as  much  as  "  it  is  true  he  did  take 
such   a  woman."     This  sentence  shows  us  that  already  in  those 
remote  times   it  was  considered  degrading   for  the  Israelites  to 
enter  into  unions   with   the  Africans.       At  a  later  period  many 
Israelites  took  Canaanite  wives,  though  it  was  against  their  laws, 
pjven  men  like  Samson  took  daughters  of  the  Philistines. 

The  plain  of  the  Philistines  being  the  highway  to  Egypt,  with 
Gaza  as  the  last  city,  it  is,  as  might  be  expected,  very  much 
peopled  by  Egyptians.  And  even  whole  villages  of  Egyptians 
exist  in  the  same  plain,  the  people  of  which  do  not  mingle  with 
the  Fellahin  save  now  and  then,  and  always  with  repugnance. 
In  the  towns  of  Gaza,  Jaffa,  Ramlch,  and  Lydda  there  are  very 
important  Egyptian  settlements,  for  the  most  part  such  as  were 
fixed  in  the  country  by  the  great  soldier,  Ibrahim  Pasha,  from 
I8ol-40.  An  Egyptian  woman  living  in  Lydda  is  blessed  with 
worldly  goods,  and  with  the  honourable  name  of  Sit  Ikhwetha, 
that  is,  "  Lady  of  her  brothers."  For  many  years  this  important 
lady    not    only    ruled    amongst    her    own    family,    but    even    had 


WOMAN    IX    'IIIK  .KAST.  2GI 

iiillucMioc  on  the  wliole  town.  Slic  used  to  go  to  the  Government 
Hall,  wlicnce  women  are  excluded,  imprison  this  one  and  loose 
that  one,  and  the  Governors  of  Lydda  and  Jaila  trembled  when 
she  wanted  anything-.  But  in  most  eases  she  had  no  need  of  help 
from  anyhody.  She  simply  enforeed  her  will  on  those  witii  whom 
tshe  had  to  do.  Her  sons  and  relatives  had  no  wish  or  will  of  their 
own,  for  she  arranged  everything.  In  marriage  affairs  she  would 
prescribe  this  woman  to  that  man,  as  respected  her  relatives.  But 
as  everything  has  an  end  in  this  woi-ld,  the  riches  which,  it  is 
said,  had  been  unjustly  accumulated  in  the  Egyptian  wars  of 
ISoO— R)  gave  out:  process  after  process  was  lost,  and  in  her  old 
age  she  even  had  to  endure  arrest  and  imprisonment.  Although 
the  old  Turkish  law  forbade  imprisonment  of  women,  the  husbands 
having  to  undergo  that  penalty,  the  new  law  allows  money  to  be 
claimed  from  women,  and  in  serious  cases  imprisonment  of  women 
in  the  house  of  some  honourable  citizen  of  the  town.  Women 
generally  are  talked  of  with  contempt  as  inferiors,  and  many  will 
not  even  admit  that  they  have  an  immortal  soul  like  the  men. 
But  though  they  be  beaten  by  husbands  or  brothers,  on  the  other 
hand  the  women  aie  considered  holy,  and  the  title  Walie  may 
be  interpreted  "  Saint,"  as  woman  has  the  holiest  of  duties  to 
peiform,  such  as  bearing  and  rearing  children,  and  making 
the  bread.  Then  again  another  expression  for  woman  is  "  the 
weaker  rib,"  and  this  prevents  any  stranger  who  respects  himself 
from  lifting  his  hand  against  women,  even  if  lie  should  be 
attacked.  Women  are  to  be  avoided  in  all  cases  ;  and,  as  Abimelech 
was  half  killed  by  a  woman  at  the  siege  of  Thebez,  and  asked  his 
armour-bearer  to  slay  him  "  lest  they  say  a  woman  slew  him," 
Avith  the  same  feeling  such  a  fate  is  avoided  nowadays.  I  remember 
i\,  man  killed  by  a  stone  from  the  hand  of  a  woman  in  a  general 
skirmish  in  the  village  of  Abu  Ghosh  ;  and  his  name  was  ever 
iifterwards  mentioned  with  contempt :  "  Ah  !  such  an  one  who 
was  killed  by  a  woman."  A  young  man  who  had  beaten  his 
mother  was  repi-oved  by  his  uncle  for  the  deed,  and  she  left  her 
son  to  live  with  that  uncle,  but  needing  her  very  much  in  the 
house,  and  to  save  his  honour,  the  son  came  and  asked  me  if 
I  Avould  be  arbitrator  to  bring  her  back.  W^e  went  together, 
and,  having  drunk  coffee,  explained  our  mission.  The  uncle 
reproved  the  nephew  somewhat  in  these  terms:  "  Your  mother 
who  bore  you  and  brought  you  up  when  your  father  died 
remained  a  widow  to  help  you  to  succeed  in  life;  how  dare  your 
criminal  hand  touch  not  only  the  Saint  but  :i  per.son.  who,  though 


262  WOMAN    IX    THE    EAST. 

old,  is  not  abandoned  bj  everybody.  By  the  most  raiglity  God, 
by  the  mercifal  God,  oh  Ethman,  this  same  Amrie  that  you  see 
wrinkled  and  ragged,  if  you  do  not  respect  her  and  obey  her  I 
will  foi'bid  to  go  back  to  you.  She  is  happy  in  my  house  : 
may  she  be  on  my  eyes  and  on  my  head,  and  if  I  have  nothing 
to  feed  her  with,  let  her  sit  on  iny  right  shoulder  and  eat  my 
flesh,  and  when  there  is  nothing  h;ft,  let  her  change  shoulders 
and  begin  eating  my  left."  Of  course,  the  son  promised  every- 
thing, and  they  both  went  home  and  lived  again  as  happy  as 
before,  without  a:oing:  to  the  extravagance  of  shoulder  eatinar. 

Chapter  II. — General  Life. 

Religion  and  superstition,  as  may  well  be  expected,  are  in  the 
same  degree  of  development  in  Egypt  as  in  Palestine.  In  Egypt 
the  people  are  Mohammedans  and  Copts ;  these  last  have  been 
Christians  from  the  remotest  ages,  before  the  invasion  of  Egypt 
by  the  Arab  Moslems.  A  small  colony  of  Copts  live  in  Jerusalem, 
and  have  their  own  church  and  khan,  a  kind  of  hostelry  in 
which  the  pilgrims  of  their  church  live  when  visiting  the  Holy 
City  at  Easter. 

Egypt  is  supposed  to  be  full  of  holy  men  of  all  kinds,  and  of 
evil  spirits,  whilst  Palestine  is  the  home  of  the  pi'ophets,  not  to 
be  confounded  with  simple  saints  of  historical  reputation  only. 
Among  EgyjDtian  women,  more  even  than  amongst  the  others,  the 
most  extra vasrant  beliefs  as  to  o-hosts  are  found. 

The  ceremonies  of  birth,  marriage,  divoi-ce.  burial,  and 
mourning  are  not  very  different  from  those  ah-eady  descril}ed 
and  need  not  be  repeated.  Cradle  songs  are  customary  among' 
them  all  to  lull  the  baby  to  sleep,  often,  of  course,  improvised,  as 
was  this  one  to  a  little  girl  :  — 

Helwe  died,  Helwe  is  dead.     No  1  by  Allali,  slie  livotli  still. 

She'll  grow  up  and  eat  her  bread,  tliiit  might  stick  right  in  her  tliroat. 

In  naming  the  child  the  Egyptians  make  a  small  difference  ; 
instead  of  naming  immediately  after  birth  they  follow  the  .ludaic 
custom,  and  give  its  name  on  the  seventh  chiy.  The  child  is  washed 
and  salted,  as  among  others,  and  then  a  copper  basin  is  put  above 
its  head,  which  the  midwife  knocks  with  a  stick  to  test  whether 
the  child  is  fearless.  If  it  gets  frightened  it  Avill  always  be  a 
coward  ;  if,  on  the  conti-ary,  it  is  not  afraid,  the  midwife  asks  the 
father:  "How  will  you  name  it?''     The  father  gives  the  name 


AVO.MAN    IN    TlIK    1,:a.sT.  liG.". 

■  ^loliamined  "  or  "  Aish}',"  oi-  wliati'ver  lie  miiy  choose  ;  then  tliu 
)jiid\vife,  giving  u  knock  again  on  llic  cojiimt  basin,  sajs  :  "Do 
you  hear?  Your  name  is  Mohanimed,"  or  •' Aisiiy/"  as  Ihc  lather 
has  named  tlie  ehild.  If  it  is  a  l)(.y  it  is  cii-eujiicised  weeks, 
months,  or  yeai's  afterward;  no  particular  age  is  fixed  for  this 
ceremony.  In  general  it  is  very  expensive,  as  they  have  to  invito 
all  friends  and  relatives  to  the  feast,  so  it  is  put  off  to  some 
favourable  date  when  they  may  have  money  to  spare,  or  iov 
some  procession  which  they  care  to  attend,  thus  increasing  the 
solemnity.  Before  they  are  married  the  women  go  about  without 
the  veil,  or  simply  throw  it  back,  especially  when  out  to  fetch 
water  in  the  big  jar. 

Like  the  others  an  Egyptian  woman  may  have  to  live  with  two 
or  more  other  women  as  the  wives  of  one  husband.  Thev  call  them- 
selves  diirra,  that  is  "  rival,"  a  name  which  exists  only  among  the 
Orientals.  My  "  rival  "  is  not  here,  is  equivalent  to  •'  the  wife  of 
my  husband  is  not  here."  The  rivals  almost  always  hate  each 
other,  as  is  very  natural.  When  they  are  too  poor  to  have 
separate  houses  they  live  in  one  and  the  same  room.  I  have  even 
known  an  old  man  who  lived  in  a  house  with  his  two  wives  and 
his  son.  and  his  son's  two  wives.  Of  course  it  wonld  be  verv 
hazardous  to  state  that  they  lived  in  perfect  unity,  yet  it  is  hard 
even  for  an  Egyptian  Fellah  to  be  harsh  always  to  his  wives,  and 
these  two  families  lived  on  side  by  side  for  many  yeai-s,  stoically 
bearing  the  burden  of  their  laws ;  and  though  this  one  was  now  a 
little  more  favoured,  ov  now  that  one,  according  to  the  mood  and 
temper  of  one  or  the  other,  it  is  still  remarkable  how  few  quarrels 
they  had.  Four  different  women  in  one  household,  and  almost 
eveiy  instant  tliey  might  be  wanting  the  same  article  I  My 
brother  and  I  rode  up  to  these  Egyptians  in  the  phiiu  of 
Sharon,  where  they  were  gai-deners,  and  as  it  was  very  late  in  the 
evening  my  brother  proposed  to  stop  there  for  the  night.  Being 
summer  it  was  too  warm  to  be  indoors,  so  the  women  brouo-ht 
carpets  and  we  were  seated  below  the  huge  mulberry  trees.  To 
begin  with  we  asked  for  a  jug  and  basin  to  wash  ourselves.  The 
whole  family  were  sitting  or  lying  around.  We  received  the 
philosophical  answer  that  the  water  always  flowed  at  the  well. 
thus  rendering  jug  and  basin  superfluous — evidently  it  was  less 
troublesome.  Next  we  asked  for  a  box  to  put  some  barley  in  for 
the  horses,  but  this  seemed  as  su})ertluous  as  the  jug.  They 
never  bought  any  barley,  their  animals  had  the  plain  to  feed  on.  ajul 
though  grass  is  not  as  nourishing  as  barley,  their  mules,  though  veiy 


1>64  WOMAN    IX    TllK    EAST. 

thill,  still  lived,  and  in  consequence  a  box  was  altogether  a  luxury 
to  keep.      AVhen  I  read  the  late    news  of    the  Italo-Abyssinian 
campaio-u    it  was   hoped    that    Menelek  would    be   soon   reduced 
through  want  of  food  and  of  porters  for  his  considerable  army. 
After  the  terrible  battle  of  Abba-Garima  on  February  29th,  1S9G, 
and  the  following  days,  in  which  the  Italians  lost  nearly  10,000 
men,  the  prisoners,  or  such  as  could  escape,  reported  wonderful 
facts;  for  whilst  the  Italian  army   had  to  carry  food  for  them- 
selves   and   for  their  animals,   and  still   went  into  the   battle    in 
despair,  almost  dying  of  hunger,  the  Abyssinians  carried  nothing 
with  them  and  still  were  better  off,  and  the  numerous  mulea  of 
the   Choan  army  lived  on  the  fields  and  came  into  action  more 
vio-orouslv   than    their  fellow  mules  in  the  Italian  army,  accus- 
tomed  to  better  food,  but  for  the  time  deprived  of  any  at  all.     As 
it  became  dark  sitting  under  the  mulberry  trees  we  asked  for  a 
light  by  which  to   unpack   our   saddlebags    and    partake    of    our 
victuals.     This  was  more  than  our  host  expected  to  hear.     What 
in  the  wide  world  did  he,  living  most  of  the  time  in  the  open  air, 
want  a  light  for  ?     The  moon  was  quite  light  enough  for  him  and 
his    families,   and  when   there  was    no   moon    they  went   to    bed 
earlier  and  by  turns  they  watched,  being  much  exposed  to  thieves 
and   robbers.     We   left    off    asking    for  anything,   but  soon    felt 
enough    of    one    of   the    Egyptian  plagues    still    extant    in    these 
countries ;    Heas    innumerable    invaded  our  bodies    and  I'est  was 
impossible.     I  have  been   out   very   often   and  had   to   share  the 
bedding  of    the    Fellahin,  and  still  I   am  inclined  to  give  some 
credit  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  "  Vale  of  Yearning,"  as  the  place 
is  called  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Vale  of  Sorek, 
from  their  belief  that  the    Snltait  of  the  fleas  has  taken  his  abode 
there.     At  all  events  if  he  himself  is  absent  his  hosts  are  there, 
and    remind   you    of    a    visit    to    their   court    for    a    long    time 
afterwards. 

Two  of  the  women,  one  a  wife  of  the  father  and  one  a  wife 
of  the  son,  were  almost  of  the  same  age;  the  elder  woman  was 
very  old,  being  the  mother  of  the  only  son.  The  old  father 
married  the  second  wife  in  order  to  have  more  children,  and  so 
did  the  son.  His  first  wife  had  sons  and  daughters,  but  they  died, 
so  he  married  a  second  woman  to  have  children.  These  four 
women  had  to  help  their  husb.'iiuls  in  the  gardens,  watering  and 
tilling,  but  they  never  had  much  work  to  do,  and  led  a  very  idle 
life,  dreaming  away  existence.  In  a  village  near,  altogether 
inhabited  by  Egyptians,  settled  there  for  half  a  century  or  more, 


WOMAN    IX   TIIK    KAST.  L'Ik) 

lilu  \v;is  vi'iy  iniu-li  tli«  i-iniie.  As  to  tiic  morality  of  tlio  women 
in  general,  their  reputation  wus  as  bad  as  could  be.  Delilah's 
home  has  also  sjiread  Delilah's  eharaeter  broadcast  amongst  these 
Kyvptians. 

These  women  shriek  and  scream  at  the  funerals,  waving  their 
handkerchiefs  ;  and,  though  ]\rohammed  forbids  mourning  alto- 
gether, it  is  curious  to  see  how  women  have  stamped  this  law 
under  their  feet,  not  at  all  minding  the  swearing,  cursing,  or 
begging  of  the  husbands  to  leave  off  because  it  is  very  sinful. 
Why  men  have  accepted  the  command  of  Mohammed,  and  why 
women  have  not,  is  perhaps  to  be  explained  by  a  kind  of  egotism. 
Death  of  any  member  of  the  family  is  a  grief  to  anj-one,  and 
perhaps  the  woman — who,  after  all,  is  the  echo  of  the  family — is 
silently  allowed  to  let  the  sorrow,  which  is  hidden  by  the  man,  be 
expressed  loudly  and  vehemently — oftenest  at  the  burial,  or  after 
the  virtues  of  the  departed  have  been  loudly  recited  in  presence  of 
the  assembly  of  women.  That  the  departed  was  "  the  camel  of  the 
house "  is  a  A'ery  general  expression.  In  their  extravagance  in 
telling  the  praise  of  the  departed  the  most  curious  pet  names  are 
invented,  and  at  the  same  time  the  dulness,  stupidity,  and  all  bad 
qualities  of  those  remaining  are  given  in  contrast  to  the  bright- 
ness, cleverness,  and  virtues  of  the  departed.  All  this  is  said  in 
a  half-singing,  half-wailing  tone,  intermingled  with  individual 
shrieks  on  the  highest  notes.  Some  are  real  mourners,  some  are 
simply  feigning  as  friends,  or  are  i)aid  waiters.  The  hair  is  torn, 
and  the  black  veil  in  many  cases  is  changed  for  a  white  one 
during  mournino-. 

•J  O 

There  are  different  kinds  of  mourning  songrs  for  men  or  fc>r 
women  ;  riches  or  love  form  the  principal  subject  : — 

O  seller  of  corals,  come  down  with   your  articles,  Here  is  a  fair  one  about  to 

•O  seller  of  corals,  bring  the  bowl  and  come  down.'     Fatuu',  the  beautiful,  is 
■waiting  for  vou. 

All  such  singing  is  thought  fine,  and  is  gay  to  their  ears,  yet 
always  has  a  wailing  tone  to  ours  ;  and  even  as  to  the  words, 
.some  sorrowful  event  is  always  mingled  with  the  more  joyous 
ones. 

In  years  gone  l)y,  when  the  agriculturists  were  not  yet 
accustomed  to  serve  in  the  army,  and  were  pressed  to  be  soldiers, 
the  departure  of  the  recruits  was  always  a  very  sad  event.     They 

'  Feigning  the  dead  i)erson  to  be  waiting  only. 


2CG  ■  WOMAN    ]N    THE   EAST. 

were  generally  bound  together  by  fours,  and  led  by  soldiers  as 
prisoners  of  war  to  their  barracks,  and  thence  sent  to  remote 
provinces.  Such  columns  of  young  men  were  usually  accompanied 
by  nearly  as  many  women,  shrieking  and  tearing  their  hair,  very 
much  like  the  behaviour  at  a  funeral.  In  modern  times  the 
military  life,  as  in  all  Eui-opean  .States,  has  become  obligatory  for 
all,  and,  as  they  well  know  that  enlisting  does  not  of  necessity 
mean  being  killed  in  battle,  the  fuss  about  the  departure  is  less. 

An  Egyptian  soldier's  song,  full  of  all  kinds  of  episodes  from 
a  soldier's  life,  still  shows  how  woman  is  foremost  in  his  mind, 
and  though  really  a  Mussulman  soldier  can  only  imagine  kissino: 
his  bride  oi'  wife  publicly,  in  the  song  it  is  mentioned  as  though 
it  were  really  done  : — 

Born  in  Galiub,  since  my  bn-th,  sixteen  times  liave  I  so'T'n  tlie  Nile's  waters 

overflow  our  fields, 
And  I  had  a  neiglibour,  Sheikli  Abdelhei,  whose  daughter's  face  was  known 

only  to  nie  : 
Nothing  could  be  compared  to  tlie  beauty  and  tenderness  of  Fatme, 
Her  eyes  were  as  big  as  coffee  cups,  and  lier  body  was  firm  witli  the  vigour  of 

youth. 
We  had  one  heart,  and  were  free  from  jealousies,  ready  to  bo  united, 
But  Allah  curse  the  military  inspector  who  bound  my  two  hands, 
For,  together  with  many  more,  we  were  marched  off  to  the  camp. 
I  wa.s  poor,  and  thus  had  to  serve,  nothing  could  soften  the  inspector's  heart, 
Tlie  drums  and  the  trum]3ets  daily  soon  made  me  forget  my  cottage  and  the 

wheel-well  on  the  Nile, 
But  notliing  could  make  me  forget  the  bright  8un  and  tlie  life  of  my  eyes,  ni}^ 

poor  abandoned  Fatme. 
They  gave  me  new  clothes,  a  gun  and  a  cartridge  box. 

They  made  me  turn  to  the  riglit,  then  to  the  left,  and  kejit  my  foot  in  suspense  : 
I  soon  learned  the  di.fcront  salutations  with  my  gun,  and  was  finely  drilled. 
I  was  sent  off  with  my  regiment  to  Mecca,  where  I  saw  the  sacred  Kaabu. 
We  fought  many  a  battle  with  the  enemies  of  our  propliet,  to  him  be  praise. 
After  roaming  about  the  rocks  and  mountains  I  was  sanctified  by  my  visit  to 

Mecca,  and  am  now  a  pilgrim,  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  Haji. 
One  day  I    was    promoted    corporal,   and   after   three   years'    wars  we    were 

Re-shipped  to  Egypt,  and  1  deliglited  to  see  my  sacred  river. 
In  tlie  camp,  near  Galiub,  liow  my  heart  beat  to  be  so  near  Fatme, 
Yea,  yet  afraid  of  going  there,  for  fear  of  finding  a  change. 
Then  I  got  tlie  fever,  and  was  taken  into  the  hospital  to  European  doctors. 
They  were  worse  than  tlie  ague — for  tliey  foi'bade  me  my  accustomed  food. 
And  very  likely  they  sold  my  rations — may  Allah  curse  them  ! 
Dying  from  hunger  and  sorrow,  I  was  given  a  horrible  medicine, 
The  smell  alone  inspired  fear,  and  made  me  more  sick. 
I  had  the  cup  at  my  lips,  when  a  j^iercing  cry  penetrated  my  soul, 
And  I  distinctly  heard  her  voice,  crying,  "  Hassan  !  my  eye ! "' 


WOMAN    IN   Till':    EAST.  207 

1  lluiiK  my  cup  at  the  mirsc,  and  new  strength  (lew  into  uiy  veiim. 

I  WHS  healed,  and  those  idiot -i  think  it  was  their  drng  that  did  it. 

T  asked  at  once  to  leave  the  hospital,  and  it  was  granted  to  me. 

I  Hew  into  Fatme's  arms,  who  awaiteil  nie  inipatientiv, 

And  after  many  caresses  she  told  nie  how  she  had  fouud  jue. 

She  had  many  diflleidties  in  entering  the  cam]!,  and  heard  strange  words. 

At  the  gate  the  sentinel  told  her  "  Dour,"  and  as  she  continued  he  stopped  her, 

Till  !in  officer  came  and  (|ue8tioned  her, 
And  she  said  :  "  Give  me  my  love  Hassan,  absent  these  three  rears." 
But  the  officer  turned  round,  and  thought  she  had  lost  her  senses. 
She  liad  to  retire,  and  happily  met  the  sister  of  my  sergeant. 
Who  knew  I  was  in  the  hospital,  and  that  T  was  seriously  ill. 
Eut,  swifter  than  the  gazelle,  the  light  of  my  life  came  near  the  hospital 
And  called  in  at  the  window  :  "  Hassan  !  my  eye  !  my  heart  I  " 
And  full  of  joy  I  carried  her  about  the  camp,  and  presented   her  to  all  my 

superiors,  leaving  out  none,  from  the  colonel  down  to  the  sergeant. 
I  received  my  dismissal,  to  return  to  Galiub  and  to  marry. 
Old  Abdelhei  was  awaiting  us,  to  bless  us.     God  be  praised ! 

The  Arabs'  poetry  i.s  mostly  fiction,  but,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
above  verses,  what  they  tliink,  whom  they  love,  what  they  feel, 
can  best  be  given  in  long-drawn-out  notes.  Sadly  the  singer  puts 
her  hand  to  one  side  of  the  head,  bent  as  if  she  were  wailino',  and 
with  heartrending  tones  will  sing  of  love  or  war. 

The  Egyptians  are  called  "  Masarwy  "  in  Palestine — that  is, 
inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Masr,  the  native  name  of  Egypt.  The 
Christians  of  Egypt — that  is,  the  old  Egyptians — are  known  by 
the  name  of  Copt.  These  Copts  are  the  real  transmitters  of  old 
Egyptian  traditions.  One  example  will  suflBce  to  show  how  they 
have  transmitted  old  customs,  or  rather  kept  them  alive  : — 
Herodotus  says  that  whosoever  killed  a  cat,  even  involuntarily, 
was  put  to  death.  It  is  strictly  believed  amongst  the  modern 
Moslems  and  Copts  in  P^gypt  that  a  cat  is  holy,  and  she  cannot  be 
killed,  or  vengeance  will  sooner  or  later  fall  on  the  person  who 
has  committed  the  deed.  Therefore  the  proverb  says  :  "  The 
crime  committed  on  a  cat  will  never  be  pardoned";  and  by 
dozens  will  they  tell  stories  about  persons  who  have  killed  cats 
becoming  blind  or  ending  their  lives  in  misery. 


2G8  AVO.MAN    IN    THE    EAST. 

PART    v.— THE    GIPSy. 
Chaptek  I. — Gexkral  Desckiptkix. 

This  class  of  inhabitants,  known  under  the  name  of  "  Nowar,"" 
is  certainly  the  most  despised  by  every  one.  They  are  the  real 
pariahs  of  society.  To  call  a  person  a  "  Nury  "  for  a  man  oi^ 
"Nurie"'  for  a  woman,  expresses  at  once  the  meanest  title  and 
the  greatest  contempt  for  any  person  that  a  Palestinian  or 
Syrian  can  imagine. 

They  have  a  language  of  their  own,  of  Central  Asiatic 
origin,  and  though  they  all  talk  the  Arabic,  yet  they  have  a  letter 
"  k "  which  they  pronounce  very  sti-ongly,  and  by  Avhich  the 
gipsy  is  immediately  recognised.  Probably  they  have  always 
had  very  little  attachment  to  any  country,  for  they  live  in  tents- 
like  the  Bedawtn,  but  are  always  found  round  about  towns  or 
wealthy  villages,  where  they  can  easily  earn  a  living.  They  are 
generally  blacksmiths,  and  as  the  villages  have  no  others,  they 
are  Avelcome  guests.  The  ii'onwork  is  always  put  away  for  the 
"  Xowar's  "  arrival. 

In  Palestine  they  profess  Mohammedanism,  though  in  reality 
they  have  very  little  religion  at  all.  They  keep  the  feasts 
and  fasts  if  the  occasion  suits  them,  and  bury  their  dead  in 
the  cemetei-y  nearest  to  the  place  where  they  are  temporarily 
living. 

They  are  mostly  darker  than  the  Bedawin,  ahvays  black- 
haired,  and,  like  all  the  tent-living  people,  are  very  thin  as  they 
gi'ow  older.  The  young  bu^^s  and  girls  are  fatter,  and  the  young 
women  are  often  even  good-looking. 

They  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  Sheikh  of  their  own 
election,  ruling  in  or  about  Gaza,  and  the  Government  makes  him 
responsible  for  crimes,  for  paying  of  tithes,  and  so  forth. 

The  gipsies  living  in  tents  are  considered  as  Bedawin,  and 
never  serve  in  the  army.  Generally  speaking,  they  are  great 
cowards,  and  have  no  arms,  though  they  are  almost  always  out 
of  doors.  They  pitch  their  tents  next  to  the  most  important 
approaches  of  the  towns,  and  whilst  the  men  put  up  the  anvil, 
light  the  charcoal  fire,  and  put  the  belloAvs  in  motion,  and  by 
forging  .some  old  iron  advertise  their  arrival,  the  women  go  about 
from  house  to  house  begging  for  bread  or  whatever  they  can  get, 
occasionally  stealing,  if  they  find  unguarded  homes. 


WijMAN    IN    'I'lIK   KAST.  l!(.i!> 


C]iAiTi;i:   ]1.— Thi:  Wm.mkx. 


The  women  are  geiierally  dressed  in  bine  like  the  Soutlic-ru 
Palestine  Fellahin,  but  have  soiuewhsit  aiu])ler  clothes.  '^IMiey 
have  braeeU'ts,  earrings,  and  uoseriiif^s,  and  have  the  licad 
tied  I'ound  with  a  kind  of  turban  of  blue,  this  being  the  veil. 
They  more  readily  than  any  othei-  class  wear  niiy  <-lotlung  that 
they  may  receive. 

Besides  the  guttural  "  k  "  already  mentioned  as  peculiar  in 
their  speech,  they  all  have  a  particular  movement  of  the  hips 
in  walking,  so  that  this  kind  of  throwing  the  hips  right  and  left 
whilst  walking  is  called  the  gipsy  walk.  Whilst  the  Palestinian 
generally  carries  her  child  of  two  or  thi'ee  years  on  the  shoulder 
as  before  stated,  the  Nurie  carries  her  child  on  the  hip,  distorting 
her  body,  or,  rather,  forming  a  kind  of  obtuse  angle  with  her 
own  body  to  afford  a  seat  to  the  heavy  baby.'  The  dowry  in 
7narriage  is  generally  made  np  of  a  certain  number  of  donkeys, 
which  the  bridegroom  has  to  give  to  the  bride's  family,  and  the 
ceremonies  are  as  short  as  possible.  Then  again,  they  are  very 
cautious  towards  sti-angers,  and  seem  to  surround  themselves 
with  as  much  mystery  as  possible,  being  ever  on  their  guard 
for  fear  of  being  known,  as  they  generally  have  either  done 
something  they  ought  not,  or  are  ready  to  plunder  and  steal,  and 
thus  had  better  conceal  themselves. 

The  women  are  tattooed  on  the  face,  arms,  legs,  and  often  on 
the  whole  body  ;  this  tattooing  very  much  serves  their  purpose, 
as  they  are  often  supposed  to  possess  .supernatural  qualities 
as  sorcerers  and  geomancers.  As  they  wander  about  the  country 
and  see  all  classes  of  people,  they  ai-e  naturally  physiognomists, 
and  can  tell  by  the  looks  of  a  person  either  what  he  wishes, 
or  to  some  degree  guess  at  the  ti'oubles  he  has. 

An  old  geomancer,  tattooed  literally  from  head  to  foot,  was 
sitting  down  at  the  roadside  near  Jaffa,  and  had  diawn  squares 
and  angles  in  the  sand  befoi'e  her.  I  had  lost  my  brother  a  short 
time  before  and  was  about  to  leave  Palestine,  but  was  not  quite 
sure  what  I  should  do  ;  thus  a  woman  like  that  old  geomancer 
could  probably  read  in  my  face  that  I  had  troubles  of  different 
kinds,  besides  knowing  that  Europeans  generally  go  back  to  their 

'  Carrying  Children. — The  Gipsies  came  iVoni  Scinde,  in  Lulia,  and  tlioir 
language  is  the  Scinde  dialect,  from  the  original  Sanskrit.  It  is  remarkal>le 
that  they  preserve  the  Indian  custom  of  carrying  the  cliild  on  tlic  hip.  wliih' 
Arabs  carry  it  on  the  back  or  shoulder. — C.  K.  C. 


L'70  ^vf)MA^■  ix  'I'iik  kast. 

country  sooner  or  later.  It  is  no  wonder  that  slie  told  me  many 
things  which,  to  the  more  simple-minded,  appear  wonderful  if 
not  supernatural.  1  had  often  seen  her  sitting  there,  and 
wondered  what  kind  of  prediction  she  might  have  in  store  for 
persons  with  Avhom  she  certainly  did  not  very  often  come  in 
contact.  I  rode  up  to  her  and,  without  dismounting  from  ray- 
horse,  threw  her  a  coin,  and  asked  her  "My  lot"  for  some  time 
to  coiue.  She  had  half  a  dozen  shells  of  diffei-eut  shapes,  and 
threw  them  into  the  figures  drawn  on  the  sand.  Then  picking 
them  up,  she  said  :  "  You  have  a  great  sorrow  just  past  you,  and, 
like  a  black  star,  it  has  fixed  itself  on  your  foi-ehead,  and  only 
time  and  patience  can  take  this  away.  A  letter  is  coming  to  you 
from  over  the  seas  calling  you  to  leave  this  country  and  cross 
home  in  a  steamer,  for  which  you  will  be  glad  temporarily  only, 
for  you  will  not  receive  what  yoa  are  awaiting,  but  the  struggle 
for  life  will  be  heavy  upon  you  for  some  years  to  come  ;  and 
vou  will  not  be  satisfied  until  at  least  ten  years  are  passed." 
I  now  prepared  to  ride  away,  when  she  opened  her  clothes  in 
front  and  showed  me  all  her  upper  bod}-  absolutely  tattooed,  and 
taking  out  a  bag,  she  went  on  :  "I  have  here  a  very  precious 
stone  which  I  brought  from  Mecca,  this  is  to  be  rubbed  in  oil,  and 
by  some  other  formulas  that  I  w'ill  tell  you  about,  //  yon  give  me 
one  dollar,  it  will  almost  wipe  away  the  black  star  from  between 
your  eyes."  Of  course  in  this  they  are  quite  the  same  as  all  people 
of  the  clairvoyant  family,  in  whatever  part  of  the  world  they 
may  exercise  their  tricks  ;  the  soothsaying  and  prophesying  is 
always  a  vague  expression  of  some  things  you  like  to  hear  or  are 
likely  to  undergo,  in  some  way  or  other,  and  after  having  excited 
the  curiosity  of  the  credulous,  they  easily  find  scores  of  people 
who  readily  pay  a  relatively  small  sum  for  "  some  more  know- 
ledge." Nor  is  it  the  exclusive  peculiarity-  of  Orientals,  or  of 
these  pariahs  of  Palestine  humanity — for  a  statistician  has  found 
that  in  Paris,  one  of  the  most  progressive  cities  in  Europe,  not 
less  than  250,000  persons  are  said  to  consult  the  ''  modern  Avitches 
of  Endor  "  yc^arly,  and  such  witches  make  a  good  living,  be  they 
in  the  East  or  in  the  West. 

The  feminine  congress  held  in  Paris  in  1895-96  is  supposed 
to  be  an  outcome  of  nineteenth  century  Occidental  civilisation. 
But  Avoman  in  these  loAvest  conditions  of  humanity  is  certainly 
more  of  an  individual,  having  her  own  say  and  sway  in  her 
humble  tattered  tent,  being  more  a  helpmate  and  companion  to 
her  husband  than  in  many  supposed  civilised  societies. 


"WOMAN    rX    THE    EAST.  271 

As  with  the  Bedawiu,  the  woman  must  answer  for  licr 
husband,  and  often  keep  the  tent  wlien  lie  is  away,  or  go  out 
on  errands  when  he  is  busy  repairing  some  plough  or  hatchet, 
so  naturally  she  is  forced  to  represent  the  man  in  his  absence. 
Again,  as  they  are  usually  very  poor  and  never  remain  more  than 
a  few  days  in  one  place,  they  cannot  afford  to  have  more  than  one 
tent  for  the  whole  family,  consisting  of  ten  or  twelve  persons. 
Consequently,  no  place  is  reserved  for  this  or  that  member. 
No  privileges  are  allowed  ;  it  is  simply,  perhaps,  the  right  of 
migiit,  and  as  might  sometimes  means  finding  the  easiest  way  of 
enabling  a  family  to  live,  the  woman  has  her  great  share  by 
begging  and  bringing  home  the  necessaries.  I  have  also 
observed  elder  women,  especially,  forging  in  lieu  of  the  men  on 
an  emergency. 

Besides  being  georaancers,  soothsayers,  or  house  (tent)  wives, 
they  are  often  dancers,  for  in  this  they  are  very  dexterous.  When 
they  dance  in  public  they  put  on  a  coloured  petticoat,  and  with 
the  castanets  at  the  tips  of  their  fingers,  perform  very  much 
in  the  style  of  Occidental  ballet  dancers,  though  not  with  the 
same  agility,  but  they  could  probably  be  trained  to  do  so,  if  they 
had  a  series  of  lessons.  Very  often  the  dancer  has  a  tambourine, 
with  cymbals  all  round  it,  thus  timing  herself  by  the  sound. 
They  have  often  two  names,  one  for  the  Arabic  population,  taken 
from  the  favourite  names  of  Islam,  as  Fatmey,  Aishy,  Hamdy ; 
and  also  names  of  animals,  as  "  She- wolf  " ;  or  even  of  fruits,  as 
"Peach,"  and  so  on. 

They  never  intermarry  with  any  other  class  of  people,  probably 
because  of  mutual  repulsion.  jMohammedan  law  forbids  inter- 
marriages with  them,  for  they  are  "  forty  times  "  unclean.  This 
probably  points  to  the  fact  that  in  centuries  past  they  were  not 
Mohammedans.  Islam  leaves  many  such  questions  without  an 
answer.  For  all  Mohammedans  ai'e  equal — no  matter  in  what 
condition  or  of  what  nation.  But  the  same  case  presents  itself 
as  an  enigma  in  another  question.  Mohammed  has  promised  a 
number  of  huris  in  Paradise,  and  it  is  not  difficult  for  God  to 
create  such,  out  of  nothing.  But  what  becomes  of  the  soul  of 
the  woman  who  was  a  believer  on  earth  ?  Some  believe  her 
soul  immortal,  some  not.  If  immortal,  where  is  her  place  in 
Paradise  ?  If  not,  why  does  she  pray  and  fast  when  on  earth  ? 
And  why  is  she  to  be  buried  like  every  other  believer  ? 


272  WOMAN   IN    THE    EAST. 


Chapter  III. — Origin. 

The  name  of  Nowjir  is  said  to  have  been  given  tliem  when 
they  were  building  the  Kaaba,  in  Mecca — which  is  called  the 
"  Imnowara,"  that  is,  "the  enlightened,"  whence  they  received 
the  name  of  "  Lighters."  ^  They  say  they  came  away  from  the 
Xajd,  in  Arabia,  Avith  the  Beni  Hilal  (the  story  of  which  exodas 
has  been  partly  related  in  Part  III),  and  when  in  Palestine  they 
fought  against  their  own  tribe.  As  two  leaders,  Zeer  and  Jassas, 
being  cousins,  were  each  striving  to  be  the  head  of  the  tribe,  the 
Gipsies  of  to-day  held  with  their  leader  Jassas,  and  therefore  they 
also  call  themselves  "  Arabs  of  Jassas  " ;  but  they  were  overcome 
by  the  mightier  Zeer,  who,  after  a  decisive  victory,  laid  a  curse 
on  them  to  ride  donkeys  perpetually,  wherefore  they  always  use 
donkeys,  but  say :  "  Cursed  be  the  father  of  the  Zeer,  who 
condemned  us  to  ride  donkeys,"  But  Jassas  said  he  had  the 
victoiy,  and  condemned  the  party  of  the  Zeer  to  plough  and 
hold  the  handle  all  their  lives;  wherefore  the  Fellahin,  condemned 
by  Jassas  to  hold  the  handle,  say :  "  Cursed  be  the  father  of 
Jassas,  who  made  us  guide  the  handle." 

It  is  traditional  to  say :  "  You  arrive  like  the  Gipsies,"  when 
you  arrive  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  The  Gipsies  have  their 
excuse  in  this — that  they  have  no  arms,  are  consequently  very  timid, 
almost  cowards,  so  they  always  leave  a  place  only  in  the  morning 
or  at  noon,  to  arrive  at  the  next  station  again  at  noon,  or,  at  least, 
long  before  sunset,  as  they  have  to  look  out  in  the  new  locality 
for  a  good  camping  place,  and  for  the  most  necessary  supplies. 

They  believe  themselves  to  come  from  Egypt,  and  they 
resemble  the  present  Egyptian  population  a  good  deal,  but  their 
language  is  not  Egyptian.  The  inhabitants  of  Palestine  call 
them  Zoot,  or  Nowar,  but  they  call  themselves  Dome,  and  also 
Nowar,  as  above-mentioned.  They  believe  in  good  and  evil  spirits, 
like  others ;  especially  do  they  fear  the  "  horned  owl,"  who  is  a 
disguised  witch,  and  very  fond  of  the  children.'-     A  white  flag  is 

'  Nowch:— This  is  the  plural  of  Nuri.  I  have  always  hetird  it  explained  as- 
connected  with  AVir,  "  fire,"  rather  than  with  Xur,  "light,"  as  meaning  persons 
who  worked  with  fire,  that  is  to  say,  "  smiths." — C.  R.  C. 

-  The  Horned  Owl.— This  is  a  remarkable  superstition,  because  in  Hebrew 
Liliih  is  the  horned  owl,  and  is  also  the  name  of  the  female  demon  who  steals 
children.  Why  this  should  be  found  among  gipsies  rather  than  natives,  it  is 
dillieult  to  understand.  The  small  owl  {Biimeh)  is  sacred  to  the  Fellahin  in. 
Palestine.— C.  K.  C. 


THE   SITE   OF   CIOLGOTIIA   AND    THF.    IIO[,V   SErULCIIRE.        273 

hoisted  on  the  tent  where  the  visit  ot"  tlie  owl  is  mostly  feared,  to 
prevent  her  coming.  They  have  the  liveliest  children  that  can  be 
imagined.  In  tlie  big  camps  in  the  plain  of  Philistia,  round 
Ramleh  and  Lydda,  I  have  often  seen  groups  of  boys  and  girls 
of  four  to  ten  yeai'S  run,  jump,  and  dance,  stripped  naked,  and 
as  soon  as  strangers  passed  by,  swift  as  lightning  wi-a])  them- 
selves in  a  rag  or  old  cloak,  run  after  the  passers  by,  and  ask 
for  alms.  No  sooner  were  the  strangers  gone  than  they  would 
fling  off  their  rags  and  continue  their  interrupted  play. 

Thei'e  are  other  settlers  and  inhabitants  of  Palestine  and 
Syria,  but  in  describing  these  five  very  different  populations  and 
distinct  classes  a  fair  view  of  manners  and  customs  has  been 
given,  and  in  many  cases  these  very  much  resemble  those  of 
Bible-times. 

On  the  market  place  inside  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  can  be  seen 
the  daily  life  of  that  town  :  the  Fellaha  women  selling  their 
cauliflowers  and  other  vegetables  ;  men  with  camels  loaded  with 
roots  for  fuel ;  townspeople,  Bedawin,  Jews  with  their  long 
gowns  and  slippers,  Europeans,  and  at  the  gate  of  the  citadel 
the  Turkish  soldiers — a  gathering  of  many  nations. 


THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY 

SEPULCHRE. 

By  the  Rev.  Canon  MacColl. 

I  HAVE  said  elsewhere  that  the  case  of  the  traditional  site  of  Golgotha 
as  against  the  new  claimant  "is  not  a  case  of  strong  evidence  against 
weak,  but  a  case  of  overwhelming  evidence  against  none."  In  tlie 
following  pages  I  shall  endeavour  to  make  good  that  assertion  ;  and  I 
begin  with  a  few  preliminary  observations. 

Til'-'  advocates  of  the  new  site  disdain  the  superfluous  task,  as  they 
deem  it,  of  disproving  the  authenticity  of  the  traditional  site.  They 
assume,  and  some  of  them  have  declared  publicly,  that  no  ]iersoii  of 
common  sense  and  competent  knowledge  can  for  a  moment  believe  in 
the  authenticity  of  the  traditional  site.  Tlie  number  and  cla.ss  of  persons 
who  are  thus  proved  destitute  of  common  sense  and  adequate  knowledge 
are  somewhat  remarkable.  The  "Speaker's  Commentary "  was  edited 
and  writen  by  eminent  scholars,  and  it  ileclares  :  "  The  evidence  in 
supi)ort  of  the  traditional  site  is  strong,  and  appears  conclusive."  The 
most  recent  authoritative  American  ijronouncement  on  the  subject  wa.s 

S   2 


274   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

published  in  1896.  Its  title  is  "The  People's  Bible  History,  prepared  in 
the  Light  of  Eecent  Investigations,  by  some  of  the  foremost  thinkers  in 
Europe  and  America.  Edited  by  Rev.  Geo.  C.  Loriuier,  LL.D.,  -svith 
an  Introduction  by  the  Eight  Hon.  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  M.P." 
There  ai'e  18  contributors,  belonging  to  various  religious  denominations, 
including  from  England,  besides  Mr.  Gladstone,  such  names  as  Profe.ssor 
Sayce,  Eev.  Dr.  Moore,  editor  of  "  The  Christian  Commonwealth,"  the 
Dean  of  Canterbury,  Professor  Agar  Beet,  D.D.,  of  the  Wesleyan  College, 
Eichmond.  According  to  this  authority,  "  the  evidence  available  jjoints 
to  the  acceptance  of  the  ordinary  tradition,  and  to  the  belief  that  this 
church  does  mark  the  2)lace  where  the  Lord's  body  was  laid "  (p.  683). 
To  i^ass  from  collective  authorities  to  individual  writers,  it  is  necessary 
to  take  samples  out  of  a  multitude.  The  late  Eev.  George  Williams's 
"  Holy  City "  (two  vols.,  published  in  1845)  disposed  entirely  of  the 
elaborate  guess-work  and  slip-shod  reasoning  of  Dr.  Robinson  as  well  as 
of  the  fantastic  jjaradox  of  Mr.  Fergusson.  Mr.  Williams's  masterly 
monograph  is  the  result  of  some  years'  careful  researches  on  the  spot. 
The  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  his  book  made  a  sensation. 
Those  who  had  accepted  without  inquiry  Dr.  Robinson's  confident  dog- 
matism, especially  in  Germany,  acknowledged  themselves  converted  by 
Mr.  Williams's  book.  Dr.  Schultz,  who  devoted  the  leisure  of  three 
years  as  Prussian  Consul  in  Jerusalem  to  the  study  of  its  topography 
and  archaeology,  came  to  the  same  conclusion  as  Mr.  Williams,  to  whom 
he  owned  some  obligations  in  a  volume  on  the  subject.  German  scholars 
then  took  the  matter  up  with  the  thoroughness  which  is  characteristic  of 
them,  and  decided  by  a  preponderance  which  amounts  to  moral  vmanimity 
in  favour  of  the  traditional  site.  Let  one  example  suffice.  In  a  learned 
work  published  five  years  after  Williams's  "Holy  City"  (Berggren,  Leipzig, 
1854)  I  read  :— 

"  Overlooking  the  fact  that  tradition  is  often  worthy  of  attention,  there  is 
every  possible  positive  reason  why  we  should  seek  Golgotha  at  once,  and  only 
there,  where  the  tradition  places  it.  Neither  the  Old  World  nor  the  New 
has  any  good  ground  for  doubting  the  common  opinion  regarding  the  Holy 
Sepulchre." 

He  goes  on  to  argue  (what  subsequent  explorations  have  demonstrated) 
that  the  city  extended  considerably  from  the  south  to  the  north  and  north- 
west, while  the  third  wall,  built  some  ten  years  after  the  Crucifixion, 
enclosed  in  this  quarter  a  considerable  piece  of  ground,  very  sparsely 
peopled  westward,  which  bore  henceforward,  or  at  least  after  Hadrian's 
change  of  Jerusalem  into  an  Italic  colony  under  the  name  of  x*Elia 
Capitolina,  the  name  of  the  "  New  Jerusalem." 

Dx-.  Alfoi'd,  a  man  of  keen  and  practised  critical  faculty,  says 
(Greek  Test.,  vol.  i,  270),  after  examining  the  arguments  on  both  sides  : 
— "  As  regards  the  situation,  Williams  has  made  a  very  strong  case  for  the 
commonhj -received  site  of  Calvary  and  the  Sepulchre."  The  italics  are 
Dean  Alford's. 


THE   SITE  OF   GOLGOTHA  AND   THE   HOLY   SEPULCHRE.        275 

Fiulav,  the  illustrious  historian  of  the  Greek  Revolution  and  tlie 
Byzantine  Empire,  arrived  at  the  authenticity  of  the  traditional  site  by  a 
new  process  of  reasoning',  to  which  I  sliall  refer  |)resently,  and  which  he 
considers  so  conclusive  as  to  dispense  altogether  with  arclueological 
arguments.     His  conclusion  is  : — 

"  If  history  can  prove  any  facts  by  collateral  evidence,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  it  has  proved  that  Constantine  could  not  possibly  have  been  mistaken  in 
identifying  the  site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  that  the  Christians  cannot 
have  transferred  the  site  [as  Fcrgusson  imagined]  from  the  spot  fixed  on  by 
him  in  his  time.  We  may  consequently  rest  perfectly  satisfied  that,  when  we 
view  the  marble  tomb  now  standing  in  the  Church  of  the  Restirrection  at 
Jerusalem,  wc  really  look  on  the  site  of  the  Sepulchre  that  was  hewn  in  the 
rock  in  the  place  where  Jesus  was  crucified."  > 

Dr.  Stapfer,  ])rofessor  in  the  Protestant  Theological  Faculty  of  Paris, 
writes : — 

"  We  accept  as  authentic  the  traditional  site  assigned  to  Calvary  and 
the  Holy  Sepulchre.  This  opinion  is  general  to-day  among  the  learned." 
("  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ,"  p.  50,  Engl.  Transl.,  London,  1886.) 

The  bibliography  apjjended  to  Dr.  Stapfer's  volume  shows  that  lie 
has  mastered  the  modern  literature  on  this  subject,  including  the 
publications  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund. 

Another  Protestant,  a  Swiss  savant,  who  went  to  Jerusalem  in  1875 
on  purpose  to  investigate  the  question  on  the  spot,  having  previously 
compared  the  arguments  for  the  old  site  and  the  new  respectively,  says 
that,  while  sentiment  and  prejudice  inclined  his  mind  to  the  latter, 
historical  and  topographical  evidence  forced  him  to  accept  the  traditional 
site.  ("  Voyage  en  Terre  Sainte,"  par  Felix  Bovet,  pp.  127-230,  Paris, 
1876.) 

My  next  appeal  is  to  the  distinguished  archaeologists  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund.  My  first  witness  is  General  Sir  Charles  Warren, 
G.C.B.,  K.C.M.G.,  F.P.S.,  R.E.  There  is  no  one  to  whom  we  are  more 
indebted  for  the  light  thrown  on  the  topography  of  ancient  Jerusalem. 
He  was  formerly  in  charge  of  the  exploration  at  Jei'usalem,  and  exhibited, 
as  the  publications  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  show  abundantly, 
extraordinary  diligence,  perseverance,  and  intuitive  insight,  w/iich 
resulted  in  some  valuable  discoveries.  He  has  at  ditlerent  times  jMiblished 
his  reasons  for  believing  on  archieological  and  historical  grounds  in  the 

'  Mr.  Finlay's  argument,  in  brief,  is  tluit  the  Eoman  Ordnance  Survey, 
especially  about  the  time  of  Constantine,  was  so  perfect  that,  if  there  had 
been  the  smallest  doiibt  about  the  site  of  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  a 
reference  to  the  map  would  settle  the  matter.  Fields,  trees,  prominent  objects 
were  clearly  marked  on  these  maps,  copies  of  which  were  kept  in  the  Imperial 
archives  in  Eome,  in  the  provincial  capitals,  and  for  local  use.  Joseph's  villa 
and  garden  would  luxve  beeu  on  the  map,  and  certainly  so  famous  a  place  as 
Golgotha.     (Finlay's  "  Hist,  of  Greece,"  i,  App.  III.) 


276    THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

authenticity  of  tlie  traditional  site.  It  will  suffice  to  refer  here  to  his 
convincin.fj  refutation  of  Mr.  Fergussou  in  his  masterly  volume,  "The 
Temple  or  the  Tomb,  giving  further  Evidence  in  favour  of  the  Authen- 
ticity of  the  Present  Site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,"  &c.  (London  :  Bentley, 
1880). 

M}'  next  witness  is  Dr.  Schick,  who  knows  more  about  the  topo- 
graphy of  Jerusalem  than  any  man  living.  He  has  himself  related 
in  a  former  Quarterly  Statement  (for  April,  1893)  how,  after  many  years' 
unbelief  iu  the  traditional  site,  he  was  converted  by  evidence,  which  he 
considers  decisive,  into  a  believer.  But  he  is  far  too  modest  to  parade 
his  own  special  qualifications  as  an  expert  on  the  topography  of  Jerusalem. 
A  German  Protestant  by  birth,  and  by  profession  an  architect,  he  went 
to  Jerusalem  55  years  ago,  and  has  been  constantly  exercising  his  pro- 
fession in  the  Holy  City,  generalh'  in  the  employment  of  the  Turkish 
Government,  and  also  of  the  Society  for  the  Conversion  of  the  Jews. 
More  recently  he  has  done  a  good  deal  of  excavation  for  the  Russian 
Government ;  and  it  is  this  which  has  led  him  to  the  discovery,  as  he 
believes,  of  remains  of  the  second  wall,  just  within  the  traditional  site 
of  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  He  has  lived  in  Jerusalem  con- 
tinuously for  55  years,  and  has  made  the  archaeology  of  the  city,  and 
latterly  of  the  holy  places  in  particular,  a  matter  of  special  study.  He 
has  thus  had  unique  opportunities  for  verifying  his  osvn  and  others' 
theories  ;  for  the  altering  and  pulling  down  of  old  houses  and  the 
building  of  new  ones  have  greatly  changed  the  exterior  aspect  of 
Jerusalem  during  the  last  55  years.  So  that  an  architect  whose  vision 
covers  that  interval,  and  who  himself  superintended  most  of  the  changes, 
has  obviously  an  unrivalled  advantage  in  that  respect  over  all  competitors. 
Colonel  Conder  refers  to  him  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Not  only  has  this  careful  and  patient  workman  erected  many  houses 
in  the  city,  but,  his  professional  ability  being  fully  recognised  by  the  Turks, 
he  has  been  constantly  consulted  by  the  Government,  and  has  had  oppor- 
tunities of  examining  buildings  in  every  part  of  Jerusalem.  All  this  valuable 
information  remained  stiil  unapplied  to  the  use  of  antiquarians.  I  gave 
Mr.  Schick  the  Ordnance  Survey  map  on  which  Major  [now  Major-General  Sir 
Charles]  "Wilson,  K.E.,  has  shown  all  the  present  levels  in  the  city,  and  he 
kindly  undertook  to  mark  accurately  every  spot  where,  from  digging  founda- 
tions and  examining  levels,  &c.,  he  was  able  to  give  the  depths  below  the 
surface  at  which  the  native  rock  was  reached." 

He  goes  on  to  acknowledge  his  own  obligations  to  Dr.  Schick,  es])ecially 
in  finding  levels  and  contours  in  Jerusalem  {see  Conder's  "  Tent  "Work  in 
Palestine,"  vol.  i,  p.  349). 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  Dr.  Schick's  unique  knowledge  of 
modern  Jerusalem,  extending  over  more  than  half  a  century,  enables 
him  tr.  detect  topographical  indications  and  suggestions  where  the  most 
accomplished  arclneologist,  who  did  not  possess  Dr.  Schick's  prolonged 
experience,  would  see  nothing.     This  was  forcibly  impressed  on  myself 


THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEI'l'LCHlIE.   277 

■during  my  last  visit  to  Jerusalem.  Jtr.  Schick  was  good  enough  to 
conduct  me  along  the  course  which  he  believes  the  second  wall  to  have 
taken.  We  started  from  the  point  where  all  authorities  place  tlic 
l)eginning  of  the  second  wall,  and  made  our  way  to  the  Russian 
excavations,  which  Dr.  Schick  superintended,  in  the  vicinity  of  tlu- 
Holy  Sepulchre.  Every  door  was  open  to  so  well-known  and  respected 
n  man,  and  an  official  of  the  Government  in  addition,  and  the  inmates 
gladly  removed  pieces  of  furniture  to  let  my  guide  show  me  portions 
of  ancient  Jewish  masonry  embedded  in  tlie  walls  of  the  houses.  He 
believed — and  his  belief  seemed  to  me  well  founded — that  these  pieces 
of  ancient  Jewish  masonry  were  parts  of  the  second  wall.  The  course 
was  irregular,  curving  in  and  out,  thus  corresponding  to  the  form  of  the 
second  wall  as  we  learn  from  other  sources.  Dr.  Schick  told  me,  with 
.some  ])athos,  that  if  his  quiescent  prejudice  against  the  traditional  site 
had  not  dominated  his  mind  for  the  lirst  37  years  of  his  lesidence  in 
Jerusalem,  he  believed  he  could  prove  to  other  minds  the  coui-se  of  the 
second  wall  as  plainly  as  it  is  now  present  to  his  own  mind.  Much  of 
the  evidence  which  his  memory  recalled  was  now  obscured  or  obliterated. 
On  the  whole,  the  undoubting  belief  in  the  traditional  site  of  a  convert 
iind  an  expert  of  Dr.  Schick's  long  experience  must  be  admitted  to  be 
<i  very  w-eighty  piece  of  evidence. 

Another  of  the  experts  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  is  ^I.  Cler- 
mont-Ganneau,  for  many  years  attached  to  the  French  Consulate  in 
Jerusalem,  and  now  Professor  of  Sinaitic  Archaeology  at  the  Sorboune. 
Uis  rei)Utation  is  world-wide,  and  his  contributions  to  the  archaeology  of 
Palestine  are  voluminous  and  valuable.  His  opinion  will  be  found  at  the 
•end  of  this  article. 

Another  eminent  authority  is  Sir  Charles  "Wilson,  K.C.B.,  K.C.M.G., 
F.R.S.,  R.E.,  at  one  time  Ordnance  Surveyor  of  Jerusalem  and  the 
Peninsula  of  Sinai.  He  is  of  opinion  "  that  no  certain  trace  of  the 
second  wall  has  been  found."  As  far  as  visible  evidence  goes,  "that 
wall  may  have  included  or  excluded  the  site  of  the  Church.  Either  is 
quite  possible,  but  nothing  certain  is  known."  This  leaves  the  histoi'ical 
t;vidence,  to  which  I  shall  presently  appeal,  untouched.  But  although 
Sir  Charles  Wilson  is  unable  to  prove  that  the  second  wall  passed  inside 
the  traditional  site,  he  feels  equally  unable  to  prove  the  contrary,  and  he 
sees  strong  arguments  in  favour  of  the  traditional  site.  ''  To  my  mind," 
he  says,  "  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  its  favour  is  that  it  was 
never  disputed,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  the  early  days  either  by  Jews  or 
heathen.  Surely  when  Julian  w^as  rebuilding  the  Temple,  and  Cyril 
was  boldly  denouncing  tiic  attemi)t  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  the  Emjjeror  would  have  indulged  in  one  of  his  sneering 
remarks  if  there  had  been  any  doubt  with  regard  to  the  authenticity 
of  the  sites." 

That  is  an  argument  hard  to  upset.  Sir  (liarles  Wilson's  own  candid 
conclusion  is  :— "  I  am  satisfied  to  think  when  I  am  in  tlie  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  that  I  am  standing  near  the  spots  which  were  believed 


278   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

in  the  fourth  centuiy  to  be  the  scenes  of  the  Crucifixion  and  Burial." 
I  am  quoting  from  a  letter  to  myself. 

One  eminent  authority  connected  with  the  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund,  and  one  only,  can  be  quoted  against  the  authenticity  of  the 
traditional  site.  Colonel  Conder,  unless  he  has  changed  his  mind  within 
the  last  seven  years,  is  a  convert  to  Dr.  Robinson's  "  pious  fraud  "  theory. 
He  has  evidently  not  gone  deep  into  the  historical  evidence,  and  his  own 
contribution  to  the  theory  crumbles  to  pieces  on  close  scrutiny,  as  I  shall 
endeavour  to  prove. 

So  much  then  as  to  the  jaunty  allegation  of  the  literary  advocates  of 
the  new  Golgotha  and  Sepulchre,  that  no  one  dowered  with  common 
sense  and  moderate  knowledge  can  believe  in  the  authenticity  of  the 
traditional  site  !  Ignorance  of  one's  own  ignorance,  said  Plato,  is  the 
worst  of  all,  for  it  bars  the  way  to  knowledge.  He  who  thinks  he 
knows  all  has  no  motive  for  further  inquir}'.  "  I  have  not  been  able,'' 
says  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  in  the  "  Westminster  Gazette  "  of  May  4th 
last,  "  to  discover  any  evidence  whatever  of  the  traditional  site  except  a 
foolish  dream  of  the  Empress  Helena  in  a.d.  326."  That  gives  us  the 
measure  at  once  of  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes's  reading  on  the  subject,  and 
an  explanation  of  his  scorn  for  those  who  still  believe  in  the  traditional 
site.  But  the  great  protagonist  of  the  new  site  is  Mr.  Haskett  Smith. 
He  was  allowed  unfortunately  to  use  the  authority  of  Murray's  "  Hand- 
book for  Syria  and  Palestine  "  for  disseminating  all  over  the  woild  his 
romance  on  this  subject.  Every  traveller  reads  Murray's  "  Handbooks," 
and  it  is  a  just  tribute  to  their  general  accuracy  that  their  statements 
are  commonly  accepted  without  question.  But  for  the  respectable 
sponsorship  of  Murray's  "  Handbook  "  the  egi'egious  ab-surdities  of  the 
spurious  site  would  have  killed  it  at  the  birth.  All  the  evidence  for  it 
is  given  in  Murray's  "Handbook."  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  indeed, 
has  told  us  that  he  "  was  at  Jerusalem  last  year,  and  studied  the  whole 
question  minutely  on  the  spot.  The  nature  and  result  of  my  investiga- 
tions, he  adds,  "  were  published  in  a  careful  article  in  the  '  Methodist 
Times' of  March  28th  last"  ("Westminster  Gazette,"  May  4th,  1901). 
I  sent  for  that  article,  and  fomid  that  it  was  nothing  more  than  an 
epitome  of  Mr.  Haskett  Smith's  article  in  Murray's  "Handbook."  I 
prefer,  therefore,  to  go  to  the  original  soiirce  of  this  myth  and  examine 
Mr.  Haskett  Smith's  arguments  seriatim.  He  begins  in  the  high 
pontifical  tone  to  which  the  impugners  of  the  traditional  site  have 
accustomed  us  : — 

"  There  is  little  to  prove  its  claim  beyond  the  ecclesiastical  tradition  of 
centuries,  besides  the  miraculous  vision  which  Helena,  the  mother  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  is  supposed  to  have  had  ....  On  the  other  hand,  the 
whole  locality  has  been  shown  bj  the  best  authorities  to  have  been  unsuitable."' 

I  have  already  given  the  reader  some  specimens  of  the  opinions  of 
"the  best  authorities";  and  as  for  "the  miraculous  vision  of  Helena," 
which  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Huglies  calls  "  a  foolish  dream,"  let  it  suffice  to. 


THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SErULCHRE.   279 

say  here  that  authentic  history  knows  imtliing  of  it.  Having  tlm.s 
magisterially  dismissed  the  evidence  for  tlie  traditional  site  into  tlie 
shadowy  realm  of  dreams  and  fable,  ^Ir.  TTaskett  Smith  proceeds  to  give 
the  readers  of  Murray's  "Haudl)Ook''  the  evidence  for  the  spuriinis  site, 
which  he  prefaces,  suo  more,  with  the  observation  that  "  it  is  sufhcient  to 
say  that  the  arguments  in  favour  of  this  site  ai"e  so  strong  as  to  be 
practically  convincing  to  the  unprejudiced  mind."  Let  the  reader  judge. 
Here  are  the  arguments  : — 

(1)  "  The  tomb  has  never  been  finished,  and  yet  has  been  occupied." 
I  have  examined  the  tomb  several  times  in  the  company  of  experts, 
including  Dr.  Schick,  and  I  assert  that  the  tomb  was  bevoud  all 
question  finished.  Dr.  Schick  was  present  at  the  opening  of  the  tomb 
34  years  ago,  and  found  then  i/i  situ  the  stone  slabs,  the  absence  of  which 
now  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  alleges  in  proof  that  the  tomb  was  never  finished. 
And  even  if  it  could  be  proved  that  tlie  tomb  never  had  lieen  finished, 
what  then  ?  The  original  narrative  does  not  say  tliat  Joseph's  tomb  had 
never  been  finished  ;  it  implies  the  contrary. 

(2)  "It  has  been  occupied  for  one  burial,  and  one  burial  only." 
Mr.  Haskett  Smith  is  a  genial  gentleman.  I  met  him  in  Egypt,  and 
afterwards  in  Syria,  and  I  asked  him  how  he  knew  that  the  tomb  had 
been  occupied  for  "one  burial  only."  He  was  told  so  by  "an  eminent 
chemist,"  who  assured  him  that  the  fact  was  capable  of  chemical 
demonstration.  I  wished  to  get  the  name  and  address  of  that  chemist, 
but  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  was  in  a  great  hurry,  being  in  charge  of  a  party 
of  ladies  whom  he  was  conducting  on  a  pilgrimage  to  the  tomb. 
Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  savs  ditto,  ditto  to  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  : — "  It 
is  evident  that  it  was  originally  intended  to  contain  loculi  for  several 
bodies,  but  only  one  of  these  was  ever  completed  and  used.  The  rest,  for 
some  reason  (I  think  an  obvious  one),  were  never  finished  and  never 
occupied  "  {see  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes's  "  Careful  Article,"  in  "  Methodist 
Times"  of  March  28th,  1901).  As  a  matter  of  fact,  when  the  tomb  wa.^ 
opened  it  was  full  of  human  bones  and  the  mould  of  decomposed  bodies. 
So  Dr.  Schick,  who  was  present,  told  me,  and  Colonel  Conder  has  borne 
similar  testimony  in  a  letter  to  the  "Times"  dated  "September  24th, 
1892."  "The  tomb  was  excavated,"  he  .«ays,  "in  1873,  and  I  then 
explox-ed  it,  and  fomul  in  it  the  remains  of  the  bones  of  a  large  number 
of  persons,  and  two  red  painted  crosses  on  the  walls,  which  had  the  form 
of  a  Latin  cross,  and  could  not  be  earlier  than  the  twelfth  century.  The 
tomb  was  close  to  a  large  Crusading  hospice,  and  I  have  no  iloubt  that  it 
was  used  for  the  burial  of  pilgrims." 

(3)  "  It  was  constructed  about  the  time  of  Christ,  being  Herodiau  in 
character."  Again  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  echoes  ditto: — "The  con- 
struction "  satisfied  him  that  the  tomb  "  was  the  projierty  of  a  '  rich  man,' 
who  was  a  Jew  of  the  "time  of  Christ,  as  its  character  is  Herodian."  Let 
Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  settle  that  with  his  own  infallible  authority — 
when  he  hapi)ens  to  be  on  his  side — Colonel  Conder. 

(4)  "  Though  built  for  a  Jew,  it  has  been  an  object  of  sacred  reverence 


280   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

to  the  early  Christians,  for  it  has  been  used  as  a  place  of  Christian 
worship,  and  is  surrounded  by  Christian  tombs."  The  proximity  of 
Christian  tombs  is  just  as  applicable  to  any  other  tomb  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  there  is  not  a  scrap  of  evidence  that  it  was  used  as  a  place  of 
Christian  worshij). 

(5)  "  It  occupies  a  position  with  regard  to  the  hill  beside  it  which 
accords  with  the  Gospel  narratives."  Just  as  applicable  to  several  other 
tombs. 

(G)  "  The  frescoed  cross,  with  the  sacred  monograms,  still  faintly  to 
be  traced  on  the  east  wall,  and  evidently  of  an  age  about,  if  not  quite 
coeval  with,  the  first  century,  connects  the  tomb  most  intimately  with 
Clirist."  On  the  contrary.  Colonel  Conder  is  unquestionably  right  in 
saying  that  the  cross  is  Latin  and  mediaeval.  Any  tyro  in  ecclesiology 
could  tell  Mr.  Smith  that  no  example  of  this  cross  is  found  within  many 
centuries  of  Christ's  death.  The  alleged  copy  of  the  cross  which 
Mr.  Haskett  Smith  gives  in  his  pamphlet  is  quite  incorrect  and  most 
misleading. 

(7)  Mr.  Smith  next  advances  "  one  of  the  most  remarkable  corrobora- 
tions of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  which  has  perhaps  been  ever  exhibited." 
In  St.  John  xx,  5,  we  read  that  St.  John,  "  stooping  down  and  looking  in, 
saw  the  linen  clothes  lying."  In  this  spurious  tomb  there  is  a  small 
window  opposite  the  loculus  in  which  Mr.  Smith  alleges  the  body  of 
Christ  to  have  lain.     He  ))roceeds  : — 

"  In  no  ordinary  tomb  would  it  have  been  possible  to  see  from  the  outside 
to  the  bottom  of  the  locv.lus.  But  iu  this  tomb,  by  leaning  forward  and 
peering  through  this  opening,  one  can  see  quite  clearly  to  the  very  bottom 
of  this  receptacle." 

Mr.  Haskett  Smith  assumes  here  that  our  Lord's  tomb  had  a  window 
in  the  rock  opposite  the  loculus  where  his  body  lay.  The  fact  is  that  this 
window  is  exceptional,  and  did  not  exist  originally  in  this  tomb.  Next, 
in  the  authentic  Holy  Sepulchre,  as  in  other  rock  tombs  of  the  kind,  the 
door  leading  from  the  outer  chamber  to  the  burial  cave  is  so  low  that  one 
must  stoop  down  to  enter,  and  by  thus  stooping  down  it  would  be  quite 
easy  to  see  whatever  was  laid  on  the  depression,  generally  a  few  inches, 
which  formed  the  loculus.  But  the  most  astounding  part  of  Mr.  Smith's 
argument  is  his  assertion  that  the  apostle,  stooping  down  and  looking 
through  this  very  window,  saw  the  linen  clothes  lying  at  the  bottom  of 
the  trough— some  3  feet  in  depth.,  and  therefore  intended  for  more  than 
one  body,  as  Dr.  Schick  has  rightly  observed — which  forms  the  loculus. 
But  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  cannot  be  accurate  even  in  trivial  details.  It  is 
7wt  possible  to  see  to  the  bottom  of  the  loculus  by  any  amount  of  peering 
through  the  window.  I  made  the  experiment  with  a  gentleman — an 
English  architect  who  had  been  in  Jerusalem  six  months  before  I  met 
him  studying  its  archaeology.  AVe  laid  a  white  handkerchief  in  the 
loculus,  and  peered  in  succession  through  the  window  Avithout  being  able 
to  see  the  handkerchief   till   it  was  raised  about   18  inches    from   the 


THE   SITE   OF   GOLGOTHA   AND    TII'R    HOLY   SEPULCHRE.        281 

bottom.  And  so  far  fnun  Iteiii^ir  oblige«l  to  "stoop  ilowii,"  1  was  obli;,'LMl 
to  i)lace  a  stone  belnw  tlie  window  before  I  coidd  bring  my  eyes  to  a  level 
with  it,  while  my  coni])anion,  who  is  over  G  feet,  was  obliged  to  siand  erect 
before  be  could  sec  tliiduoh.  But  tlie  most  incomprehonsible  jiart  of 
Mr.  Smith's  argument  remains.  There  is,  or  was  tlien,  a  lieap  of  rul)bisli 
underneath  the  window  on  which  the  looker  stood.  Eemove  that  rubbi.sh, 
which  of  course  was  not  there  originally,  and  the  sill  of  the  window  is 
quite  10  feet  from  the  ground  !  "  How  could  St.  John,"  I  asked  Dr. 
.Schick,  "  stoop  down  to  look  through  that  window  l  "  "  How,  indeed," 
he  answered,  "unless  he  brought  a  ladder  with  him?"  Here,  too, 
Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes,  in  his  "Careful  Article,"  has  caught  the 
infection  of  Mr,  Haskett  Smith's  wonder-working  imagination,  and  has 
drawn  the  same  inference  from  the  same  figment. 

(8)  The  knoll  which  we  are  asked  to  accept  in  place  of  the  traditional 
Golgotha  "  is,"  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  tells  us,  "held  as  an  accursed  spot  ;  and 
Jews,  when  they  im.ss  it,  spit  and  throw  stones  in  its  direction,  uttering  at 
the  same  time  the  following  imprecation  :  '  Cursed  be  he  that  destroyed 
our  nation  liy  aspiring  to  be  the  King  thereof.'  "  "  An  ancient  Jew  "  told 
Mr.  Smith  that  "  this  is  the  formula  generally  employed  "  by  Jews  when 
they  pass  the  place.  I  tried  hard,  but  in  vain,  to  find  any  trace  of  tiiis 
"  ancient  J  ew,"  or,  indeed,  of  any  Jew  in  Jerusalem  who  ever  heartl  of 
this  formula  and  custom.  I  applied  for  information,  among  others,  to 
the  Eev.  J.  E.  Hanauer  (himself  a  Jew  by  race),  wdio  has  spent  all  Ids 
life  in  Palestine  except  during  the  period  of  his  education  aljroad.  He 
has  worked  for  years  as  a  missionary  among  the  Jews,  and  is  a  learned 
man  withal,  and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  customs  and  traditions 
of  the  Jews  in  Palestine.     Here  is  his  answer  :  — 

"Jerusalem,  3faif  5///,  1893. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  bee;  to  state  that  ujy  inquiries,  both  amongst  Jews  and 
Hebrew  Christians,  have  utterly  failed  in  eliciting  any  informatiou  confirmatory 
of  tlie  statement  of  Mr.  Haskett  Smith,  that  the  Jew  spits  in  the  direction 
El  Heidemiyeli  as  he  passes  near  it,  and  mutters  to  himself  the  accustomed 
curse,  '  Cursed  be  he  who  destroyed  our  nation  by  aspiring  to  be  the  King 
thereof.'  I  am  myself  almost  certain  that  the  '  ancient  Jew,'  from  whom 
Mr.  Haskett  Smith  derived  his  information,  shaped  his  story  so  as  to  suit  (he 
wishes  of  liis  questioner.  That  the  Jews  identify  El  Heideuuyeh  with  the 
Beit  Ha  Sckelah  [place  of  stoning]  is  certain.  My  recent  inquiries  have 
afforded  me  fresh  opiJortunity  for  verifying  this. 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

"  J.   E.   HiNArBR." 

(9)  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  has  one  more  argument  "  which  almost  settles 

the   que.stion,"    namely,    "  two    memorial   stone.s,"   on   one    of    which    is 

inscribed,    "Buried   near   his    Lord";    on    the   other,    "To   Xouus   and 

Oiu'simus,  deacons  of  the  Church  of  the  Witness  of  the  Resurrection  of 

•Christ."      Mr.  Smith's   inference   is   that  there  was   an  early  Christian 

>Church  close  to  "  Gordon's  tomb  "  bearing  the  title  which  he  quotes,  and 


282   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

that  Nonus  and  Onesinius  were  deacons  of  it.  But  the  only  Church  in 
Jerusalem  which  ever  bore  the  title  of  "  the  Martyry  of  the  Eesurrection  " 
is  that  which  occupies  the  traditional  site.  Mr.  Smith's  last  argument 
does  therefore  "  settle  the  question  "  against  him.  "  Near  his  Lord  "  is, 
of  course,  a  relative  term,  meaning  any  part  of  Jerusalem  or  its  environs. 
Such  are  the  ai'guments  on  which  Mr.  Haskett  Smith  bases  his 
astounding  assertion  that  "there  is  actually  not  a  link  missing  in  the 
chain  of  evidence  which  connects  this  tomb  with  the  sepulchre  of  Christ." 
Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  thinks  the  evidence  so  overwhelming  that  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  write  : — 

"  I  was  so  conTinced  that  this  was  indeed  '  the  place  where  the  Lord  lay/ 
that  if  an  angel  had  suddenly  appeared  I  should  not  have  been  at  all  surprised, 
but  should  have  turned  to  him  with  eager  confidence  and  exclaimed,  '  That 
is  wliere  my  Lord's  body  rested  from  Friday  to  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
was  it  not  ? '  I  coiild  not  resist  the  desire  to  place  my  poor  body  on  the 
very  spot  on  which  the  Sacred  Body  once  rested.  For  a  space  T  lay  there  flat 
on  my  back." 

I  respect  and  honour  the  sentiment  which  prompted  Mr.  Hughes's 
action.  Let  the  reader,  who  has  now  all  the  so-called  evidence  before 
him,  judge  whether  Mr.  Hughes's  fervent  faith  rested  on  a  single  scrap  of 
tangible  proof.  Nor  is  this  all.  Not  only  is  there  no  evidence  for  the 
spurious  site,  but  there  is  demonstrative  evidence  against  it.  There  is  a 
general  agreement  among  the  defenders  and  impugners  of  the  traditional 
site  that  the  rocky  mound  which  the  believers  in  the  spurious  site  have 
selected  for  their  Golgotha  was  the  Jews'  place  of  public  execution. 
This  is  enshrined  in  the  eai-ly  tradition  which  caused  a  church  dedicated 
to  St.  Stephen  to  be  erected  there,  and  which  gave  the  name  of 
St.  Stephen's  Gate  to  that  now  known  as  the  Damascus  Gate.  Indeed, 
Mr.  Haskett  Smith  and  his  disciples,  including  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes, 
make  a  point  of  their  "  skull-hill "  being  the  ancient  i)lace  of  stoning. 
The  fact  is  the  corner-stone  of  their  case.  But  a  little  reflection  would 
have  shown  them  that  to  prove  that  the  "  skull-hill "  was  the  Jews'  place 
of  stoning  is  in  fact  to  prove  that  it  could  not  have  been  Golgotha. 
"  Now  in  " — not  near — "  the  place  where  He  was  crucified  there  was  a 
garden,  and  in  the  gaixlen  a  new  sepulchre  wherein  was  never  man  yet 
laid.  There  they  laid  Jesus"  (St.  John  xix,  41-2).  Now  it  is  simply 
inconceivable  that  "  a  rich  man  of  Arimathtea,"  who  was  also  "  a  councillor 
of  honourable  estate,"  "a  good  man  and  a  righteous,"  and  a  member  of 
the  Sanhedrin  as  well  (St.  Luke  xxiii,  51),  should  have  had  his  villa  and 
garden  abutting  on  the  accursed  place  of  public  execution.  The  fact  that 
"  in  the  place  where  He  was  crucified  there  was  a  garden  "  belonging  to 
a  member  of  the  Sanhedrin  is  alone  a  decisive  proof  that  it  was  not  a 
place  of  public  execution  ;  therefore  not  the  so-called  "  skull-hill." 

Whence  then  the  name  ?  St.  Matthew  calls  it  "  a  place  called  Golgotha, 
that  is  to  say,  a  place  of  a  skull."  St.  Mark  says  that  "  they  brought 
Him  to  Golgotha,  a  place  which  by  interpretation  means  a  place  of  a 


TlIK    SITE   OF   GOLGOTHA    AND    TlIK    HOLY    .SEl'ULCIIKK.         283 

skull."  St.  John  says  that  "  Jesus  went  forth  into  a  place  called  that  of 
a  skull."  St.  Luke  says  elliptically  that  "  thev  came  to  the  place  called 
ii  skull." 

It  is  plain,  then,  that  for  some  reason  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the 
Gospels  Golgotha  was  a  marked  feature  in  the  topograi)hy  of  Jerusalem. 
The  Jewish  Evangelists,  Matthew,  Mark,  and  John,  naturally  gave  their 
Greek  readers  the  meaning  of  the  word — "  the  place  of  a  skull."  Plainlv 
therefore  the  name  was  not  deriveil  from  any  [teculiarit}-  in  the  place 
itself.  The  genitive  case  precludes  that  suggestion.  The  three  Evangelists 
clearly  imi)ly  in  their  explanation  some  story  of  a  skull  distinct  from 
the  place  itself.  On  the  other  hand,  St.  Luke,  a  Gentile  by  birth,  an 
educated  traveller'  and  man  of  the  world,  and  writing  for  Gentiles,  did 
not  think  it  necessary  to  encumber  his  narrative  with  explanations  of 
Jewish  words,  and  therefore  simjily  translated  the  Hebrew  Golgotha  into 
its  Greek  equivalent. 

We  may  dismiss  at  once  then  two  explanations  of  Golgotha.  It  did 
not  derive  its  name  from  being  a  place  of  public  execution."  No  skulls, 
few  or  many,  could  have  been  lying  about;  for,  in  the  first  jdace,  the 
Jews  put  criminals  to  death  by  stoning,  not  by  decapitation  ;  in  the 
next,  all  bodies  had  to  be  buried  before  sundown.  Nor  did  it  derive  its 
name  from  its  likeness  to  a  human  skull.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  iloes  mention 
that  suggestion,  but  only  to  dismiss  it.  "There  is  no  evidence,"  as  Sir 
Charles  Wilson  says,  "  that  'the  place  called  Golgotha'  was  a  hill,  or 
that  it  derived  its  name  from  a  topographical  feature "  ;  "  and  artists, 
unmindful  of  truth-telling  photographs,  have  supplied  the  'skull'  of  the 
nineteenth  century  Golgotha  with  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth."  (Letter  from 
Sir  C.  Wilson,  in  " Times"  of  October  2nd,  1893.)  In  a  letter  to  myself  a 
few  weeks  ago  Sir  Charles  Wilson  says  : — - 

"As  regards  the  spurious  site,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  tomb 
belonged  to  the  series  of  tombs  in  the  Dominican  grounds,  which  are  only 
separated  from  it  by  a  few  yards,  and  that  it  was  probably  (.'hristian.  It 
also  seemed  to  me^that  the  cliff"  below  what  is  called  'skull-hill'  did 
not  exist  at  the  time  of  the  Crucifixion,  and  that  the  so-called  '  eye- 
sockets  '  were  not  then  in  existence,"  l^eing,  in  fact,  the  etiect  of  quarrying 
*'  after  the  Great  Siege." 

'  Mr.  Smith,  of  Jordanhill,  in  his  very  interesting  monograph  on  "  The 
Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,"  argues  with  great  plausibiUty  that 
St.  Luke  was  a  ship's  surgeon  by  profession. 

-  It  must  be  remembered  that  our  Lord  was  put  to  u  Konian  death  by 
a  Roman  governor  with  a  guard  of  Roman  soldiers  under  a  Roman  centurion. 
The  Romans  had  no  place  of  execution  in  Jerusalem.  Crucifixion  was  a 
punishment  which  they  often  inflicted  on  the  Jews,  sometimes  in  the  streets 
-of  the  city.  Pilate  would  have  paid  no  heed  to  the  Je\vi#ii  law  forbidding 
to  execute  inside  the  wall,  for  he  and  others  violated  it.  That  he  was  over- 
ruled to  fulfil  the  type  here  we  know  from  Ileb.  xiii,  12.  But  he  chose 
Golgotha  for  the  crucifixion  for  the  purpose  of  insulting  them,  not  in  order 
to  fulfil  their  law. 


284   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

I  have  myself  walked'  over  and  round  the  "  sknll-hill "  several  times,, 
and  saw  no  more  resemblance  to  a  skull  than  is  to  be  seen  in  any  number 
of  mounds  in  a  rocky  country.  I  have,  however,  seen  pictures  and 
photographs  considerably  touched  uj),  so  as  to  give  some  likeness  to 
a  skull.  But  if  the  cavities  in  which  prejudiced  eyes  see  a  likeness  to 
eye-sockets  did  not  exist  at  the  time  of  the  Crucifixion,  the  misnomer 
loses  even  the  shadow  of  i)lausibility. 

The  real  truth,  however,  is  that  Golgotha  derived  its  name  from  au 
old  Jewish  tradition,  which  said  that  a  skull  was  found  there  in  ancient 
days  which  was  identified  by  Solomon's  wisdom  as  the  skull  of  Adam, 
whose  body  was  believed  to  be  buried  there.  For  this  tradition  there  is 
a  cloud  of  witnesses  whose  testimony  must  be  regarded  as  conclusive. 
Here  are  some  specimen  quotations.     Origen  says  : — 

"  The  Hebrews  have  a  tradition  about  the  Place  of  the  Skull,  viz.,  that  the 
body  of  Adam  was  bm-ied  there  :  that  as  in  Adam  all  die,  in  Christ  should  all 
agrain  be  made  alive." 

Epiphanius  : — 

"  Since  the  skiiU  of  the  first  man  was  found  there,  there  also  his  remains- 
were  buried,  and  for  this  reason  the  place  where  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
crucified  received  the  surname  of  the  Place  of  a  Skull." 

Athanasius  : — 

"  Nowhere  else  did  He  suffer,  nowhere  else  was  He  crucified,  but  at  the 
Place  of  a  Skull,  which  the  doctors  of  the  Hebrews  say  was  Adam's  Sepulchre."' 

Basil  : — 

"According  to  the  traditions  of  the  Jews  ihe  skull  of  Adam  was  found 
there,  and  they  also  say  that  Solomon  recognised  it  by  his  surpassing  wisdom. 
For  this  reason  they  also  say  that  place  is  called  the  Place  of  a  Skull." 

Ambrose  : — 

"  There  [Golgotha]  is  Adam's  sepulchre ;  that  He  [Christ]  might  raise  up 
that  dead  man  through  His  cross.  Where,  therefore,  is  the  death  of  all  in 
Adam,  there  is  the  resurrection  of  all  in  Christ." 

In  his  exposition  of  St.  Matthew  (Lib.  x)  he  refers  to  the  tradition  of 
the  Jews  on  this  point. 
Jerome  : — 

"  Tradition  has  it  that  in  this  city  [Jerusalem],  nay,  more,  on  this  very 
spot,  Adam  lived  and  died.  Tiic  place  where  Our  Lord  was  crucified  is  called 
Calvai-y  because  the  skull  of  the  primitive  man  was  buried  there.  So  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  Second  Adam,  that  is  the  blood  of  Christ,  as  it  dropped  from 
the  cross,  washed  away  the  sin  of  the  buried  protoplast,^  the  first  Adam;  and 
thus  the  words  of  the  Apostle  were  fulfilled :  '  Awake  thou  that  sleepest  and 

'  See  "Book  of  "Wisdom,"  vii,  1,  wlierc mortal  man  is  described  as  aTz6yo\'os 
irpu)TOir\affTov. 


THE   SITE   OF   GOLGOTHA   AND    THE    HOLY   SEPULCHRE.        2S'5 

oriso  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  sliaH  pive  tlieo  liij;ht.'  "     (Paula  and   Kustocli, 
"  Ad.  Marccll.,"  Ep.  46.) ' 

Let  it  be  venietnbered  tliat  some  of  tlie  writers  wlmiii  1  liave  fpKjted 
{e.g.,  Origeu  in  the  East,  ami  Tertulliaii  in  tiie  West),  wrote  lung  before 
Constantine's  recovery  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  their  words  imply  tliat 
({olgotha  was  then  a  place  well  known  to  both  Jews  and  Christians. 
There  is  not  a  hint  or  suspicion  of  the  site  being  lost,  not  a  doubt  as* 
to  its  locality  and  the  origin  of  the  name.  Origen,  moreover,  was- 
perfectly  familiar  with  the  topography  of  Palestine  and  Jerusalem,  anci 
thoroughly  vei'sed  in  Hebrew  lore.  We  may  take  it  then  as  absolutely 
certain  that  Golgotha  was  so  called  because  Adam's  skidl  was  believed  to 
have  been  found  there,  and  to  lie  buried  with  his  body.  The  passage 
from  St.  Paul  (Eph.  v,  14)  referred  to  above  by  St.  Jerome  is  a  quotation  ; 
but  the  Apostle  does  not  indicate  its  source.  It  is  poetical  in  structure 
and  the  reference  to  Christ  indicates  a  Christian  origin.  It  is  doubtless 
H  ((notation  from  one  of  the  "hymns  and  spiritual  songs,"  of  which  the 
Apostle  makes  mention  elsewhere,  and  it  embalms  an  amalgamation  of 
Jewish  and  Christian  tradition,  namely,  that  some  of  the  second  Adam's 
blood  percolated  thi'ough  the  ground,  or  through  the  fissure  in  the  rock, 
and  touched  the  body  of  the  first  Adam,  who  was  thus  one  of  those  who 
r(«e  from  the  dead,  as  related  in  St.  Matthew  xxvii,  52,  h'i. 

Golgotha  was,  therefore,  to  Jew  and  Christian  alike  one  of  the  holiest 
spots  on  earth.  The  Jew  believed  it  to  be  the  burial  place  of  the  first 
man,  and  the  spot  predestined  to  be  the  scene  of  the  victory  over  the 
Evil  One  promised  to  the  Woman's  Seed.  He  believed  it  also  to  be  the 
scene  of  the  arrested  sacrifice  of  his  son  by  the  Father  of  the  Faithful.- 
Here  then  we  have  a  clue  to  the  triple  crucifixion  oji  Golgotha.  The 
Jews  forced  Pilate,  against  his  conscience  and  his  wife's  warning,  to 
crucify  a  man  whom  he  had  publicly  pronounced  innocent,  and  whose 
mysterious  words  bewildered  and  awed  the  superstitious  and  pusillani- 
mous Procurator.  The  threat  to  denounce  him  to  Csesar  as  a  fautor  of 
sedition  cowed  the  wretched  man  into  obedience  to  the  frenzied  cries  of 
"  Crucify  Him  !  "  But  the  iron  of  humiliation  entered  into  the  proud 
Roman's  soul,  and  he  determined  on  revenge.  And  what  revenge  so 
triumphant  as  to  crucify  his  tormentors'  Victim,  with  a  I'obber  right  and. 
left  of  Him,  on  sacred  Golgotha,  with  the  mock  trilingual  title,  which 
infuriated  them,  over  His  head  ?  Hence  the  emphasis  with  which  the 
Evangelists  tell  that  the  Crucifixion  was  on  Golgotha,  where,  according 
to  the  hymn  quoted  by  St.  Paul,  the  New  Man  met  the  Old  and  revived 

^  Cf.  also  Tcrtullian,  "Adv.  Marc,"  ii,  p.  883.  I  liavc  given  the  above 
quotations  in  the  original,  with  references,  in  an  article  on  "  The  Site  of 
Golgotha  "  in  the  "  Contemporary  Review  "  of  February,  1893. 

-  The  nan-ative  in  Gen.  xxii  does  not  say  that  the  sacrifice  of  Isaac  was 
to  take  place  on  Mount  Moriah,  but  "'on  one  of  the  mountains"  in  "the 
Land  of  Moriah."  Moriah  thus  appears  at  that  time  to  have  embraced  the 
whole  amphitheatre  of  hills  which  surrounded  Jerusalem. 


286    THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

him  by  His  life-giviug  blood.  To  the  iniuds  of  the  early  Hebrew  Chris- 
tians, therefore,  Golgotha  presented  no  picture  of  executed  criminals  or 
hideous  fisjure  of  death  with  its  eyeless  skull,  but  a  place  sacrosanct  in 
their  national  traditions  which  the  malice  of  the  Jews  and  the  vindictive- 
ness  of  Pilate  had  unknowingly  conspired  to  fulfil.  Golgotha  was  thus 
a  place  of  which  the  vicinity  would  naturally  be  coveted  by  rich  Jews  of 
distinction  and  piety  for  their  villas  and  gardens  and  family  tombs. 

It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  Golgotha  was  a  place  which  would  not 
easily  pass  out  of  the  memories  either  of  the  Jews  or  Hebrew  Christians. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  principal  objections  against  the  traditional 
site.     A  learned  supporter  of  the  spurious  site  writes  as  follows  : — 

"  As  to  the  tradition  of  '  more  than  fifteen  centuries,'  what  is  it  worth 
in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  at  and  after  the  Siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus 
the  Christians  fled  from  the  city,  and  the  Jewish  population  were  either  slain 
or  carried  captive;  so  that  for  perhaps  a  century  or  more  tradition  was 
absolutely  broken,  while  the  whole  interior  of  the  city  was  reduced  to  ruins 
and  most  of  the  old  landmarks  were  erased  ?  "  ^ 

"The  Jewish  population  either  slain  or  carried  captive,"  forsooth  ! 
when  within  about  60  years  they  reconquered  their  metropolis  and  most 
of  the  strongholds  of  Palestine,  and  held  their  own  for  two  years  against 
the  might  of  the  Roman  Empire.  And  as  to  the  Christians'  flight  to 
Pella  beyond  the  Jordan,  the  exile  lasted  only  about  two  years.  After 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem  many  of  them  returned  to  the  city,  and  their 
ecclesiastical  organisation  then,  as  is  evident  from  Eusebius,  continued 
without  interruption.  Moreover,  even  those  who  abode  at  Pella  till  the 
reign  of  Trajan  "enjoyed,"  as  Gibbon  (i,  p.  461)  says,  "the  comfort  of 
making  frequent  visits  to  the  Holy  City,"  including,  doubtless,  pilgrim- 
ages to  the  sacred  shrines  of  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Yet  we 
are  assured  by  objectors  to  the  traditional  site,  from  Robinson  dow^nwards, 
that  both  Jews  and  Christians  were  excluded  from  the  Holy  City  from 
the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus  to  the  reign  of  Constantine  !  After 
the  insurrection  under  Bar-Cochebas  the  Jews  were  forbidden  and 
forcibly  prevented  from  approaching  the  city  within  a  distance  of  seven 
miles.  That  prohibition  lasted  for  some  centuries,  though  Constantine 
relaxed  it  so  far  as  to  allow  the  Jews,  oli  certain  conditions,  to  behold  the 
Holy  City  from  the  neighbouring  bills.  But  the  Christians  of  Palestine 
were  exempted  from  the  edict  of  proscription.     "They  elected  Marcus 

for   their  bishop,  a  prelate  of  the  race  of  the  Gentiles At  his 

persuasion  the  most  considerable  part  of  the  congregation  renounced  the 
Mosaic  law,  in  the  practice  of  which  they  had  persevered  for  a  centuiy. 
By  this  sacrifice  of  their  habits  and  prejudices  they  purchased  a  free 
admission  to  the  colony  of  Hadrian  "  (Gibbon,  i,  461). 

But  "  the  city  was  reduced  to  ruins  and  most  of  the  old  landmarks 
were  erased."  How  curious  that  able  men  should  make  random  assertions 
without  taking  the  trouble  to  verify  them,  and  that,  too,  in  a  matter 

1  Letter  to  the  "  G-uardian  "  in  December,  1892,  from  Professor  Hull. 


TliK    SIT1>:    OF    COLGOTIIA    AND    •IIIK    IIOLV    SKITLCIIIIK.         'JST 

where  so  much  (lei)eii(ls  on  e.xaet  accuracy.  The  clestiuctioii  uf  .Icnisali'iii 
was  jiot  nearly  so  tliorouufli  as  many  iniii<^ine.  .Joaephiis  tells  ns  that 
Titus  ^ave  orders  to  spare  the  ])rincipal  towejs  whichdefeuded  Jerusalem, 
as  a  lasting  proof  of  the  strength  of  the  fortitications  which  rost  him  so 
much  labour  and  blood  to  mastci'.  Titus,  niort'over,  left  the  whole  nf  tin- 
Hdrth-western  part  nf  the  cit}'  ccjuiparatively  uninjured,  ami  repaired  the 
Ijreaches  in  the  wall  to  protect  the  garrison  wliich  remained  to  guard  his 
conquest.  That  quarter  of  the  city,  therefore,  underwent  no  material 
change,  and  it  is  there  that  the  traditional  site  lies.  The  garrison  left  by 
Titus  consisted  of  the  tenth  legion,  s(Mne  squadrons  of  cavaliy,an(l  several 
cohorts  of  infantry.  A  quarter  of  the  city  where  such  a  body  of  troops 
could  be  lodged  cannot  have  been  seriously  demolished,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  either  Golgotha  or  the  Holy  Sepulchre  under- 
went any  change  at  all. 

Nor  was  the  traditional  site  affected  by  the  subsequent  rebellion  of  the 
Jews  and  tlie  reca])ture  and  more  complete  destruction  of  the  Holy  City. 
Some  10  years  after  our  Lord's  crucifixion  Agrippa  built  the  third  wall, 
leaving  a  wide  and  thinly-peopled  space  between  it  and  the  second  wall 
on  the  north-western  side.  This  we  may  infer  from  the  fact  that  Titus 
had  during  the  siege  a  large  Itody  of  troops  encamped  in  this  space 
between  the  two  walls.  To  blot  out  the  rebellious  city  from  the  page  of 
history,  and  to  disgust  the  Jews  with  it  for  ever,  the  Roman  authorities 
did  two  things  :  they  demolished  the  inliabited  part  of  the  old  city — the 
city  within  the  second  wall  ;  transformed  what  remained  into  an  Italic 
colony,  and  gave  it  a  Roman  name,  which,  however,  never  took  root,  and 
the  city  outside  the  second  wall  was  commonly  called  "  New  Jerusalem  " 
— an  important  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence,  as  we  shall  see  presently. 
The  second  thing  that  the  Roman  authorities  did  was  to  erect  a  temple 
to  Jupiter,  with  two  idol  statues,  on  the  site  of  the  temple  of  Jehovah, 
and  a  temple  with  statue  to  Venus  (the  Hebrew  Astarte)  over  Golgotha, 
the  second  sacred  shrine  of  the  Jews.  The  statues  of  Jupiter  were  still 
standing  {71  situ  while  Constantine's  Basilica  over  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was 
in  building,  and  Roman  coins,  with  inscription  and  picture,  attest  the 
existence  of  the  temple  of  Astarte  over  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
That  temple  remained  till  it  was  removed  by  Constantine's  oider.  So 
that,  in  matter  of  fact,  there  never  has  been  any  hiatus  in  the  evidence 
for  the  traditional  site.  Except  during  the  two  years'  siege  by  Titus, 
Jerusalem  has  never  been  without  a  Christian  community.  The  huge 
mound  of  earth  which  was  piled  over  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
as  a  foundation  for  the  idol  temple  did  indeed  conceal  Golgotha  and  the 
Sepulchre  ;  but  it  also  marked  the  site  in<Uxbitably.  We  have  thus  two 
pieces  of  evidence,  each  of  them  sufficient  to  attest  the  site — a  resident 
('hristian  community  without  break,  and  a  conspicuous  lieathen  temjile 
over  the  traditional  site. 

This  is  the  state  of  facts  on  which  we  are  assured  that  all  knowledge 
of  the  genuine  site  of  the  Holy  Sepvdchre  w;is  lost  between  a.d.  70  and 
A.D.  18G7,  when  it  was  discovered  and  verified  by  a  chain  of  evidence  in 

T 


288   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

wliicli  "  there  is  uctually  not  a  link  missing.''     That  evidence  is  in  its 
integrity  before  the  reader.     And  the  propoimders  and  supporters  of  this 
amazing  assertion   wave   aside,   as   persons   either   grossly  ignorant   or 
incapable  of  weighing  evidence,  all  who  believe  in  the  traditional  site. 
They  are  assumed  to  be,  like  Constantine  and  the  Christians  of  Palestine 
in  A.D.  326,  the  victims  of  "  a  j^ious  fraud,"  practised  by  Bishop  Macarius 
of  Jerusalem  and  some  clerical  confedei'ates  at  that  date.     A  gentleman 
writing  against  myself  on  this  subject  eight  years  ago  declared  that  "  the 
age  of  Constantine  and  Helena  was  one  in  which  religious  credulity  ran 
mad."     And  Mr.  Hugh  Price  Hughes  has  recently  infoi-med  the  readers 
of  the  "Westminster  Gazette"  (in  a  letter  dated  May  13th)  that  "the 
fourth  century  "  was  "  a  very  ignorant  and  superstitious  century."     One 
is  obliged  to  say,  with  all  courtesy,  that  assertions  like  these  prove  the 
writers  to  have  no  real  knowledge  of  the  literature  or  intellectual  history 
of  the  age  which  they  thus  characterise.     If  we  take  the  period  embraced 
by  the  united  ages  of  Helena  and  Constantine,  it  contains  such  a  galaxy 
of  illustrious  names  in  almost  every  depaitment  of  learning  and  intel- 
lectual eifort  as  no  period  of  Christian  history  within  the  same  limits  of 
time  can  show.     It  embraces  names  like  Origen  and  Tertullian  at  the 
one   end,  with    the   towering  names   of   Augustin   and   Jerome  at  the 
other,  and  in  the  list  are  Athanasius,  the  two  Cj^rils,  Basil,  Gregor\' 
of  Nyssa  and  Gregory  of   Naziauzus,  Chrysostom,  the  two    Eusebiuses, 
Ambrose,  and  a  host  of  others.     It  was  an  age  also  remarkable,  not  for 
credulity,  but  for  critical  inquiry.     Arian  and  his  followers — a  brilliant 
band  intellectually— aided  by  all  the  intellectual  forces  of  Paganism,  were 
finally  marshalled  by  the  Emperor  Julian  against  Christianity.     Never 
in  the  history  of  Christianity  has  there  been  such  a  trial  of  strength, 
exhibiting  such  varied  skill  and  resource  in  offence  and  defence,  as  there 
was  then  between  the  assailants  and  defenders  of  Christianity.     "  Pious 
fraud,"  indeed !    when  there  was  a  legion  of  keen  critics — Pagan,  Jew, 
and  heretic — to  pounce  on  any  weak  spot  in  the  armour  of  Christianity. 
Was  the  sneering  and  agile-minded  Julian — who  took  Jews  as  well  as 
Pagans  under  his  patronage  in  his  fanatical  campaign  against  Christianity 
— likely  to    endure   in   silence   Cyril's   denunciations,    delivered   in   the 
Chui'ch  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  against  the  Emperor's  attempt  to  rebuild 
the  Temple,  if  he  could  have  pointed  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  400  yards 
distant,  as  "  a  pious  fraud  "  ?     For  if  fraud  there  had  been  it  was  then 
too  fresh  to  escape  detection.     The  silence  of  Julian  and  his  malevolent 
allies  in  Palestine  is  the  best  proof  that  there  was  no  case  against  the 
traditional  site. 

The  one  authentic  account  of  the  recovery — not  "  discovery,"  for  it 
was  never  lost — of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  that  of  Eusebius,  Bishop  of 
Ctesarea,  in  Palestine,  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  what  he  relates.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  writers  of  that  or  of  any  age,  and  one 
of  the  least  credulous  of  mankind.  He  possessed  the  historical  faculty  in 
an  eminent  degree,  and  was  of  a  cauti(nis  and  critical,  not  to  say  sceptical, 
temper  ;  so  cautious,  indeeti,  was  he  that  he  accepted  the  Nicene  definition 


THE   SITH   OK   GOLGOTHA    AND    TIIK    HOLY   SKPULCHItK.        2.SII 

of    t'hiist's    Divinity    with    iciiutanco,    .iiid    \v;i.s   .siispccti'd    of    luaiiin«( 

towanls   semi-Arianism.     Ami  his  reputation    for   critical  sa^'acity  and 

historical  accuracy  lias  risen  with  our  fuller  knowled;,'e  of  those  times. 

The  joint  editors  of  the  Apocryphal  (iospel  and   Kevelation  of  St.  Peter 

(Canon  Annitagc  Robinson  and  Mr.  James)  pay  a  well-deseived  tribute 

to  his  accuracy  and  critical  acumen,  and  refer  to  him  as  "  the  Father  of 

Church  History,"  "  who  seems  so  well  to  have  divined  what  would  be  of 

interest   to   readers  who  lived  1&  centuries  later  than    his  own   time'' 

(p.    15).      Eusebius  gives  the   ])articulars  of   the   recovery   of  the   Ilolv 

SepuIcJire   in    his   "Life    of    Constantine "  (eJiaps.   xxvi-xlvi),    which    I 

have    summarised    as    follows    in    my   article    in    the   "  Contemiiorarv 
Eeview"'  : — 

"The  statement  of  Eusebius  is  that,  in  tlie  year  after  the  Nicene 
Council,  Constantine,  moved  by  a  Divine  impulse,  after  establishing 
peace  throughout  his  empire,  determined  to  do  honour  to  the  site  of  otn- 
Lord's  resurrection,  and  accordingly  commanded  a  churcli  (fVKTTjpiou)  to 
be  built  there.  Neither  here  nor  elsewhere  in  tlie  liistorian's  narrative 
is  there  the  slightest  indication  that  thei'e  was  any  doubt  as  to  the  piecise 
locality.     Eusebius  proceeds  : — 

"'This  cave  of  salvation  (Vo  aMTqpiov  iivrpov)  certain  impious  and  godless 
persons  had  thought  to  remove  entirely  from  the  eyes  of  men,  supposing  in 
their  folly  that  they  should  bo  able  effectually  to  obscure  tlie  truth. 
Accordingly,  with  immense  labour  they  brought  a  quantity  of  earth  from 
a  distance  {iiaBtv)  and  covered  up  the  whole  place.  Then,  having  raised 
this  to  a  moderate  height,  they  paved  it  with  stone,  concealing  the  divine  cave 
(jb  Qilov  (h'Tpov)  beneath  this  huge  moimd.' 

"On  this  mound,  he  goes  on  to  say,  they  erected  a  shrine  for  an 
iilolatrous  statue  of  Venus,  'and  offered  detestable  oblations  there  on 
profane  and  accursed  altars.'  '  These  devices  of  impious  and  wicked  men 
against  the  truth  had  prevailed  for  a  long  time,  nor  had  any  of  the 
governors,  or  military  commanders,  or  even  any  of  the  Emperors  them- 
selves, ever  yet  appeared  who  had  courage  to  abolish  these  daring 
impieties,  except  our  Prince,  befriended  by  God.'  Here  we  have  a  proof 
that  the  site  of  Golgotha  And  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  the  purpose  of  the 
mound  were  known  all  along  to  the  llomau  authorities.  By  Constant ine's 
order  the  temple  and  statue  were  dostioyed.  But  '  the  Empei'or's  zeal 
did  not  end  there.'  He  ordered  'the  materials,  stones  and  timber,  to  be 
carted  as  far  as  possible  from  that  quarter.'  He  also  ordered  '  that  the 
ground  itself  should  be  dug  up  to  a  considerable  depth,'  so  that  the  soil 
brought  thither  might  be  removed  '  to  a  far  distant  place.'  '  And  when 
another  level  appeared  instead  of  the  former— viz.,  the  ground  which  lay 
l)elow — there  at  length  appeared,  beyond  all  hope,  the  solemn  and  all- 
holy  witness  (/xapTvpiov)  of  the  Saviour's  resurrection  ;  and  thus  the  cave, 
a  holy  of  holies,  imaged  the  Saviour's  revival,  and,  after  being  sunk  in 
darkness,  came  to  light  again,  and  to  those  who  witnessed  the  sight 
presented  a  numifest  history  of  the  wonders  which  had  then  been  done, 

T  2 


290   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

witnessing  by  facts  more  eloquentl>   than  by  any  voict-  the  i\'suiTectiou 
of  the  Saviour.' " 

Not  a  word  does  Eusebius  say  about  any  discovery  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  by  means  of  miracle  or  Divine  interposition.  His  narrative 
implies  throughout  that  the  site  was  known  to  everybody.  ,He  does 
say  that  the  I'ecovery  was  Ijeyond  all  hope  (nap'  fXirlda  Traa-av)  ;  and  Con- 
stantine's  letter  to  Macarius  (given  by  Ensebius)  speaks  of  the  recovery 
of  the  Sepulchre  as  "  this  marvel "  (toC  $avfj.uTos  tovtov).  But  the  meaning 
is  plain.  The  object  of  Hadrian  having  been  to  desecrate  and  efface  a 
sacred  Jewish  shrine,  it  might  well  seem  a  "  marvel "  "  beyond  all  ho])e  " 
that,  when  the  temple  and  artificial  mound  were  removed,  the  Sepulchre 
was  found  intact.  Not  a  word  or  hint  does  Eusebius  drop  of  any  miracle 
connected  with  the  recovery  of  the  Sepulchre.  He  does  not  say  a  word 
about  Helena  in  this  connection,  though  he  says  that  she  built  a  church 
at  Bethlehem  and  another  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  He  is  equally  silent 
about  the  discovery  of  the  crosses.  Authentic  history  says  nothing  about 
the  discovery  of  the  site  of  the  Sepulclu'e  by  Helena.  Eusebius  declares 
repeatedly  and  emphatically,  and  Constantine's  own  letter  confirms  him, 
that  the  desire  to  recover  the  Sepulchre  originated,  from  a  Divine 
impulse,  in  the  Emperor's  own  mind  long  before  he  cairied  out  his  wish- 
Three  histoiians  (Socrates,  Theodoret,  and  Sozomen),  writing  a  century- 
later,  relate,  with  substantial  agreement,  that  Helena,  "  divinely  moved 
in  her  dreams"  (Socr.,  Lib.  J,  c.  xiii),  made  a  journey  to  Jerusalem  in 
her  old  age  (about  80),  and  became  thus  the  bearer  of  Constantine's  (her 
son's)  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  commissioning  him  to  erect  a 
splendid  chuix-h  over  tlie  Sepulchre  regardless  of  cost.  Helena  does  not 
appear  to  have  known  accurately  the  details  of  Hadrian's  endeavour  to 
efface  all  trace  of  Golgotha,  and  Socrates  relates  that  on  her  arrival  in 
Jerusalem  she  eagerly  inquired  where  the  Sepulchre  was.  "  But  when 
she  was  informed  of  the  facts  "  she  had  the  idol  removed  and  the  mound 
cleared  away,  when  three  crosses  were  found  in  the  Sepulchre,  with  the 
titulus  over  the  Saviour's  cross  lying  detached.  Helena  "•  was  not  a  little 
distressed "  by  the  uncertainty  as  to  which  was  the  true  cross.  "  Not 
long  afterwards  "  the  doubt  was  resolved  by  the  applicatioii  of  the  three 
crosses  to  the  body  of  a  woman  in  Jerusalem  who  was  seriously  ill.  Two 
crosses  touched  her  in  vain  ;  but  the  touch  of  the  third  cross  cured  hei'. 
Theodoret  (Lib.  i,  c.  xviii)  and  Sozonieu  (Lib.  ii,  c.  1)  agree  with  Socrates. 
In  no  single  account  is  there  the  slightest  reference  to  any  dream,  vision^ 
or  miracle  ancillary  to  the  recovery  of  the  Sepulchre.  They  all  agree 
that  the  site  was  well  known,  though  there  was  fear  that  the  Sepulchre 
might  have  been  destroyed  in  the  construction  of  the  superincumbent 
mound  and  temple.  The  oidy  miracle  mentioned  is  the  cure  of  the  sick 
woman  by  the  touch  of  the  cross,  and  to  that  Eusebius  makes  no  allusion. 
And  to  dismiss  that  miracle  contemptuously  is  hardly  philosophical  when 
men,  who  do  not  believe  in  Christianity,  accept  the  e\idence  for  the 
miracles  of  Port  Eoyal  and  the  stigmata  of  Louise  Latour.  I  shoulil 
have   thought,   too,    that   the   recollection    of  a   passage  in  Holy  Writ 


TIIK    SITE    OF    MOLCOTIIA    AND    Till.:    IIULV    SKl'llj  IIKK.         2(jl 

(Acts  xix,  11,  1-2)  would  have  rostiaiiieil  Mr.  nu<,'li  Piici'  Jfuglios  from 
■til  iusimiation  and  a  sneer  wliieli  others  nii^ht  turn  ajjainst  wliat  he 
leveres.  I  am,  liere,  however,  concerned  only  to  sliow  that  the  solitary 
miracle  related  in  (his  rouncit ion  has  nntliinir  to  do  with  the  recovery 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  is  not  even  nieutioiu'd  by  the  eminent  ami 
cautious  historian  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  what  he  relates. 

And  now  I  proceed  to  another  link  in  the  chain  of  evidence  for  the 
traditional  site  which  of  itself  goes  far  to  settle  the  question.  In  his 
"Life  of  Constantine"  (Lih.  iii,  c.  :^2),  Eusebius  .says  that  "on  the  very 
spt)t  whicli  witnessed  tlie  Saviour's  suH'erings  a  new  Jeru.salem  was  built 
over  against  the  olil  {di/TnTpiiaanos  rf]  TidXai),  so  celebrated,  which,  .since 
the  foul  stain  of  guilt  brought  on  it  by  the  murder  of  the  Lord,  had 
experienced  the  last  extremity  of  desolation,  the  etl'ect  of  <livine 
judgment  on  its  impious  peoj)le.  It  was  opposite  this  city  that  the 
Emperor  now  began  to  rear  a  ti'ophy  of  the  Saviour's  victory  over  death." 
This  alone  seems  to  me  decisive  of  the  controversy.  The  "  New 
Jerusalem ""  was  the  city  outside  the  second  wall.  Constantine's  churcli 
was  in  the  "  New  Jerusalem,"  "over  again.st  the  old,"  which  crucified  the 
Lord  "  without  the  gate." 

It  seems  that  the  revolt  under  Hadrian  resulted  in  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  inside  the  second  wall.  The  passage  just  quoted  from 
Eusebius  implies  this,  and  it  remained  in  ruins  still  later.  For  Jerome 
speaks  of  that  part  of  Jerusalem  in  his  day  as  reduced  to  cinders  and 
ashe.s.i 

Those  who  repeat  iiobiuson's  coarse  and  absurd  imputation  of  "pious 

'  Eefen-iiig  to  the  gates  of  Sion,  whicli  David  "  loved  above  all  tlie 
tabernacles  of  Jacob,"  Jerome  says:  "  Nou  eas  portas  quas  hodic  ceriii\nus 
in  favillam  et  einerem  dissolutas  "  ("  Ep.  Ad.  Eustocli.  Epitaph.  Pauhu  " — 
Erasmus's  Basle  folio  edition  of  1565,  torn,  i,  p.  172).  I  give  these  particulars 
because  an  editorial  note  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  Hadrian  so  eidarged 
^'Elia  Capitolina  ("  New  Jerusalem  ")  towards  the  north  that  the  places  of 
the  Resurrection  and  Crucifixion,  ''  which  had  formerly  been  outside  the 
walls,"  were  in  the  time  of  Jerome  surrounded  by  a  wall,  i.e.,  the  third  wall 
{ut  loca  Eesin-rectionis  ct  inventa>  erucis,  qua  prius  cntra  moenia  fuerant 
;etate  divi  Hierouynii,  septentrionali  uiiu'o  circumdarentur,  ut  ij)se  testatur 
alibi).  From  his  use  of  the  plural  (loca)  Jerome  evidently  believed  that 
the  Cross  was  not  found  in  tlu^  Se})ulchre,  hut  in  some  cave  at  Golgotha, 
which  is  more  probable.  The  luiclean  instruments  of  death  had  of  course  to 
be  hurriedly  hidden  away  before  sundowu,  and  there  is  nothing  improbable 
in  their  recovery  during  the  excavation  of  A.u.  326.  The  course  of  the  second 
wall,  we  thus  know,  was  visible  in  Jerome's  time,  and  his  testimony  as  an  eye- 
witness to  its  being  then  inside  the  traditional  site  is  surely  conclusive. 
Eucherius  visited  Jerusalem  about  a.d.  430,  and  describes  it  minutely,  and 
especially  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  He,  too,  says  plainly:  "These 
places  are  seen  outside  Mount  Siou,  where  a  knoll  of  scanty  size  stands  on 
the  north"  {see  "Survey  of  Western  Palestine:  Jerusalem,"  p.  18).  15ut 
outside  Mount  Sion  means  outside  the  second  wall,  which  enclosed  Sion. 


292        THE   SITE   OF   GOLGOTHA    AXP   THE    HOLY   SEPULCHRE. 

fraud  ■' fail  to  see  tlie  extraordinary  inversion  of  reasoiuut;- wliicli  their 
accusation  involves.  Persons  who  wish  to  palm  oft"  a  pious  fraud  try  to 
impart  verisimilitude  to  their  invention.  They  choose  what  is  piobable 
and  plausible,  not  what  is  violently  ini])robable.  If  Macarius  and  liis 
supposed  confederates— assuming  for  argument's  sake  the  site  to  have 
been  lost^had  wished  to  gain  credence  for  their  alleged  fraud,  would 
they  not  have  fixed  it  outside  what  was  then  the  exterior  wall  ?  They 
knew  that  Golgotha  was  outside  the  wall  at  the  time  of  the  Crucifixion  : 
why  did  they  select  a  site  inside  the  wall  ?  Only  one  answer  is  j)0ssible  : 
the  genuine  site  was  known  to  everybody.  "We  may  confidently  apply 
Tertulliau's  axiomatic  paradox  to  their  choice  :  credo  qina  impossibile. 
The  choice  was  an  imjiossible  one  except  on  a  basis  of  absohite  certainty. 

I  must  hurry  over  some  further  pieces  of  evidence.  Cyril,  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  delivered  his  Catechetical  Lectures  in  Constantine's  Basilica. 
He  testifies  that  in  his  time  "there  was  a  garden  where  Christ  wa< 
crucified,"  "  for  though  it  was  much  adorned  by  the  gifts  of  the  Emperor, 
yet  it  was  formerly  a  garden,  and  the  evidence  and  remains  of  this 
continue  (crv^jSoXa  tovtov  ^evei  Koi  X€i(f)ava).''  '  This  is  a  most  important 
fact.  For  by  Jewish  law  no  gardens  were  allowed  inside  the  walls  of  the 
old  city,  with  one  exception — a  rose  gaiden,  which  dated  from  the  tin)e 
of  the  i^rojihets.- 

There  is  evidence  that  Joseph's  garden  remained  as  Cyril  describes  it 
for  centuries  afterwards.  Saint  Williliald  was  in  Jerusalem  about  .\.D. 
722.  He  visited  Golgotha  and  Constantine's  Church,  and  reports  that 
"  they  were  formerly  outside  of  Jerusalem."     "  And  near  at  hand  is  the 

garden  in  which  was  the  sepulchre  of  our  Saviour  cut  in  the  rock 

The  bed  on  which  our  Lord's  body  rested  stands  within  the  rock  on  the 
north  side,  to  the  right  of  a  man  entering  the  Sepulchre  to  pray."  ^ 

A  Moslem  traveller,  'Ali  of  Herat,  describing  the  Holy  Places  in  a.d. 
1173,  says  that  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection  "  of  old  lay  outside  the 

city The  Christians  have  in  this  ])Iace  the  rock  which  they  say 

was  split,'  and  from  beneath  which  Adam  rose  up,  because  it  stood  under 
the  place  of  the  Crucifixion,  as  they  relate.  They  have  also  here  the 
garden  of  Joseph,  surnamed  As  Siddik  (the  Truthful),  which  is  much 
visited  by  pilgrims."  ^  "We  must  distinguish  here  between  what  this 
Moslem  writer  reports  as  the  belief  of  the  resident  Christians  iUid  his 
own  observation.  The  church-enclosed  tomb,  he  asserts  on  the  evidenc 
of  his  own  eyes,  was  in  "  the  garden  of  Josejih  '"  ;  which  proves  that  it 
was  then  outside  the  second  wall,  since  no  gardens  were  allowed  inside. 

'  "  Catecb.,"  xir,  5. 

-  Stapfer,  pp.  53,  62.     See  also  Babjloiiian  Talniud,  Bnha  Kammn,  c.  vii. 

•'  "Survey  of  Weitern  Palestine:  Jerusalem,"  p.  2it. 

''  A  natural  rent  right  down  the  rock  of  Golgotliu  from  the  spot  where- 
tradition  puts  the  Cross  i§  plainly  visible.  If  any  rocks  wore  i-ent  in  syrapatliy 
•with  that  great  tragedy — as  Christians  will  find  no  difficulty  in  believing  — 
certainly  the  rock  of  Golgotha  must  have  been  one  of  them. 

^  "  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,"  p.  208. 


Tin:   SITK   OF   GOLUOTIIA    AND    Till;    HOLY    SEPULCHIii:.        2i)3 

Til  the  year  122"),  after  tlie  recovery  of  Jerusalem  by  Saladiii,  aiiDtlnT 
Moslem  traveller  of  the  name  of  Yakut  gives  an  account  of  the  Holy 
Seiailchre  : — 

"It  stands,"  be  says,  "in  the  middle  of  (lie  city,  and  a  wall  surrounds  il. 
There  is  here  the  tomb  which  the  Christiiuis  cull  Al  KayAmali  (the  Anastasis) 
because  of  their  belief  that  the  Resurrection  of  the  Messiah  took  place  here." 
It  "  stood  anciently  without  the  town  ....  There  is  here  a  rock  which 
they  say  was  split,  and  Adam  arose  from  it;  for  the  Crucifixion  took  place 
on  the  summit  of  the  same.  The  Christians  have  also  in  this  sjjot  the  (iardcii 
of  Josepli  the  Trutld'ul,  and  visitation  is  made  thereto."' 

Ilei'e,  again,  we  have  the  independent  testimony  of  a  Moslem  eye- 
witness to  the  existence  of  the  garden  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and, 
Iherefore,  to  the  site  being  then  clearly  outside  the  second  wall. 

Colonel  Conder  has  thrown  much  valual)]e  light  on  the  archaeology  of 
Palestine,  especially  eastward  of  the  Joidan,  and  I  gratefully  acknow- 
ledge my  own  obligations  to  him.  But  the  exploration  of  Jerusalem  has 
been  mainly  the  work  of  Sir  Charles  Warren  and  Sir  Charles  Wilson, 
and  Colonel  Conder's  strictures  on  the  traditional  site  lack  the  evidence  of 
research  and  care  which  are  apparent  in  his  work  generally.  He  appears 
to  have  relied  chiefly  on  Eobinson,  a  most  untrustworthy  guide,  and  he  is 
led  astray,  like  so  many  others,  by  assuming  that  Golgotha  was  the  Jews' 
place  of  public  execution.  It  is  probably  on  Robinson  that  he  relies  when 
he  tells  ns  that  "  Eusebius  gives  a  long  description  of  the  growth  of  New 
Jerusalem,  to  account  for  the  position  of  Constautine's  site  almost  in  the 
heart  of  the  town."-  What  Eusebius  describes  is  not  the  growth  of  New 
Jerusalem,  but  the  building  of  Constantine's  Church  in  the  New  Jerusalem, 
and  as  to  its  length,  it  occupies  15  lines  of  Greek.  He  says  expressly  that 
the  Church  was  iv  fieaa  of  the  cit}',  at  the  dividing  line  between  the  new 
city  outside  the  second  vvall,  and  the  old  which  lay  in  ruins  within. 

But  Colonel  Conder  otiers  two  arguments  of  his  own  against  the 
traditional  site  which  I  must  now  briefly  examine.  The  first  is  that 
Josephus  says  that  the  second  wall  "  encireled  the  north  quarter  of  the 
city,"  whereas  the  exclusion  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  would  require  the 
wall  to  be  serpentine.  His  second  objection,  which  he  regards  as  decisive 
of  the  controversy,  is  that  the  exclusion  of  the  traditional  site  would 
require  the  second  wall  to  run  in  part  through  a  valley  ;  and  : — 

"  No  military  man  will  suppose  for  a  moment  that  the  wall  of  a  fortress 
could  have  been  constructed  in  a  deep  valley  and  commanded  from  without 
by  high  ground  immediately  near.  Fortresses  stand  on  hills,  not  in  deep 
valleys."^ 

But  Colonel  Conder  strangely  forgot  that  this  is  not  a  question  of  a 
fortress  wall  but  of  a  city  wall.     The  citiidel  of  Jerusalem  had  a  wall 

'  "  Palestine  under  the  Moslems,"  pp.  208-9. 
-  "  Tent  Work  in  Palestine,"  p.  302. 
•'  "  Tent  Work,"  p.  lOi. 


294   THE  SITE  OF  GOLGOTHA  AND  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 

of  its  own,  ami  on  its  rocky  height  defied  all  the  efforts  of  the  Israelites 
to  take  it  from  its  Jebusite  inhabitants  till  the  reign  of  David.'  But  the 
Israelites  ot<upied  the  rest  of  the  city,  and  surrounded  it  with  a  fortified 
wall.  If  Colonel  Conder  had  looked  at  his  Bible  he  would  have  found  a 
complete  answer  to  both  his  objections  (2  Chron.  xxvi,  9).  The  Septua- 
gint   describes  exactly  the  coui-se  of  the  second  wall  as  given    in    the 


ii;   Siloam 


^       /J 


I — S  .Towers  qC Huijq  Uzzi^Ux^ 


Scale 


accompanying  map  showing  the  line  of   which    Dr.  Schick    believes  he 
has  discovered  tiaces  : — 

"And  Ozias  built  towers  in  Jerusalem,  and  fortified  them  at  the  gate 
of  the  corner,  and  at  the  gate  of  the  valley,  and  at  the  angles."-     Here 


'  1  Chron.  xi,  4-6. 

-  Kot  wKoSonTjaiv  'O'iias  irvpyos  ir  'UpovffaKi'iiJL,  Ka'i  iirl  ri/v  ■KvKt]v  rtji  ywvias 
Kai  liri  ri)v  ■Kv\r)v  t>)s  (papayy/xos ,  kuI  tiri  tHjv  yuiinuj}',  Ka'i  Kariffx^ot. 


TUK   SITK   OK    GOLCOTIIA    AND    TIIK    IIOTA'    SKI'Cr.CHHK.        29r» 

we  liave  des.  ribed  exactly  tlu'  angular  i-our.si-  of  Dr.  Schick's  maj),  witli 
tlif  abni]>t  bend  eastwanl  at  "  tlie  corner,"  where  the  traditional  site  is. 
•Of  this  Biblical  descrii)tion  Tacitus  gives  us  a  remarkable  conliiination  in 
Ills  account.  <if  the  siege  by  Titu.s.  1  had  bettfr  ([uote  the  passage  in  the 
original  : — 

"  Sod  urbem  arduam  situ  opera  niolesqiie  firinaveraiit  quis  rcl  j'^'tn't  xcilis 
mnnlrciliif ;  nam  duos  coUes  (i.e.,  Akra  and  Sioii)  i  in  men  sum  cditos  claudebanl 
.iiiii-i  per  arlrm.  uhUqui  ant  retrovsus  simiali,  ui  latera  oppugnantium  ad  ictus 
pafescpreiit ;  e.vfrema  rupi.i  abrup/a  :  el  lurres,  vhi  mons  jurisset,  in  sexaginta 
pedes,  infer  dere.ra  in  centenos  vicenosqiie  attollebantiir,  mil  a  specie,  ac  procul 
iutuentibws  pares  :  alia  intus  moenia,  regiie '  circumjecta,  conspicuoque  I'astigio 
I  arris  Antonia."- 

Here  we  have  specific  and  denionsti-ative  evidence  that  the  very  con- 
ditions and  pecub"anties  in  the  course  of  tlie  second  wall,  which,  according- 
to  Colonel  Conder,  tlie  traditional  site  requires,  and  which  he  think.s  .so 
impossible  as  to  disprove  absolutely  the  truth  of  tlie  tradition,  did,  in 
fact,  characterise  the  second  wall.  Never  did  objection  more  completely 
establish  the  position  it  assailed  and  destroy  the  cause  which  it  was 
.summoned  to  support.  The  wall,  says  the  historian,  was  made  to  run 
/'.igzag  for  a  military  reason,  namely,  to  enable  the  defenders  to  take 
assailants,  who  attacked  at  close  (juarters,  in  flank  and  rear  as  well  as 
ill  front.  Tacitus  says  distinctly  that  even  the  low  grounds  were 
■efliciently  protected  by  a  fortified  wall.  I  wonder,  moreover,  that  it 
did  not  occur  to  Colonel  Conder  that  wherever  the  course  of  the  second 
wall  may  be  fixed  it  must  cross  the  valley  of  the  Tyropoeon,  which  was 
much  deeper  at  the  time  of  the  Crucifixion  than  now.  There  is  nothino- 
in  Colonel  Conder's  argument  from  Josephus's  use  of  the  word  "  encircle." 
The  verb  tyKVKkia  is  constantly  used,  like  its  English  equivalent,  in 
the  sense  of  enclosing.  Sir  Charles  Warren's  explorations  convinced 
him,  as  his  convinced  Dr.  Schick,  that  ''in  the  time  of  Pilate"  ''there 
was  an  indented  wall  bounding  the  northern  portion  ;  the  site  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  being  in  the  re-entering  angle  irithout  the  wall,  past 
which  ran  the  main  thoroughfare  from  Jerusalem  to  Jafla  and  Ciesarea.'"' 
Following  this  quotation  is  a  bit  of  criticism  so  important  that  I  must 
give  it  in  Sir  Charles  Warren's  own  words  :— 

'■  It  is  Avortliy  of  mention  tiiat  the  walls  of  the  present  Church  of  the  Holv 
Sepulchre,  vvhicli,  in  all  probability,  stand  on  the  lines  of  the  former  walls,  are 
built  square  with  the  west  wall  of  the  Haram  area  [the  site  of  the  old  Temjde], 
that  old  wall  ascribed  to  the  time  of  Herod.  It  is  fuitlicr  to  be  remarked  tliat 
a  lino,  drawn  tVuiu  a  point  u  few  fool  iiortli  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  perpendicular 
to  the  old  west  wall  of  tiio  Hiiraui  area,  passes  tln-oiigh  tjio  remains  of  the 
portico  (ascribed  to  ConstaiUine)  »tiU  existing  in  the  market  street,  and  runs 
straight  down  one  of  the  principal  thoroughfares,  the  AkabAt  at  Takijeli,  to  I  lie 

'  i.e.,  the  Asmoncan  dynasty,  and  afterwards  the  Herodean. 
-  "  Hist.,"  Lib.  V,  c.  1*1. 

^  "The  Temple  mid  tlie  Tonili."  p.  ;!7. 


206        THE   SITE   OF    GOLGOTHA   AND    TIIF,    HOLY   SEPULCHRE. 

catf  of  tlic  Inspector  in  the  Harain  area.  It  luaj  be  naturallj  inferred  from 
this  that  this  street  existed  when  the  site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  first  built 
ever  by  Coustantine,  and  that  advantage  of  the  position  was  taken  to  give  his 
portico  one  of  the  finest  prospects  that  could  be  desired,  a  view  iipoii  and  over 
tlie  Temple  area,  and  up  to  the  Mount  of  Olives." 

This  tallies  exactly  with  the  passage  i)i  Eusebiu.s  describing  Constan- 
tine's  Church  as  built  in  the  New  Jerusalem  "  right  over  against  the  old." 
Sir  Charles  Warren  continues  : — 

*'  This  street  is,  in  many  parts,  cut  in  the  rock  and  appears  to  be  one  of  the 
old  streets  of  Jerusalem.  If  so,  it  would,  from  its  position,  have  been  the 
]n-incipal  thoroughfare  from  the  Antonia,  Temple,  and  market  of  the  Lower 
Citv  to  Jaffa  and  Csesarea.  The  city  gate  wonld  have  stood  where  Constantiue's 
])ortico  was  afterwards  built,  and  now  remains,  and  the  thoroughfare  beyond  the 
wall  would  have  passed  close  to  the  present  [traditional]  site  of  the  Crucifixion." 

This  harmonises  in  all  particulars  with  the  Gospel  narrative  :  the 
procession  along  the  "Via  Dolorosa"  to  Golgotha  ;  the  seizure  of  Simon 
of  Cyrene  coming  in  from  the  country  along  the  principal  thoroughfare 
to  the  market  i^lace  ;  the  passers-by  railing  at  Jesus  from  the  highway, 
a  few  paces  from  Golgotha  ;  and  the  jeering  priests  and  scribes  and 
elders,  not  mingling  with  the  rabble  outside  the  wall  for  fear  of  defile- 
ment (St.  John  xviii,  28),  but  flinging  their  insidts  at  Him  from  tlie  w-alt 
across  the  road. 

To  this  may  be  added  a  corroborative  piece  of  evidence  furnished  by 
Eusebius  in  his  "Theophany'"  (book  iii,  Sec.  61,  English  translation  of 
Syriac  version,  j).  199)  : — - 

"  The  grave  itself  was  a  cave  which  had  recently  been  hewn  out ;  a  cave 
that  had  now  been  cut  out  in  a  rock,  and  which  had  experienced  (the  reception 
of)  no  other  body.  For  it  was  necessary  that  it,  which  was  itself  a  wonder, 
should  have  the  care  of  that  Corpse  only.  For  it  is  astonishing  to  se*  even  this 
rock,  standing  out  erect  and  alone  in  a  level  land,  and  having  only  one  caveni 
within  it;  lest,  had  there  been  many,  the  miracle  of  Him  who  overcame  death 
sliould  have  been  obscured." 

It  is  plain  from  this  that  the  Holy  Sepidchre  was  outside  the  .second 
wall  in  the  time  of  Eusebius.  Coustantine  levelled  the  slope  of  the 
garden  round  about  the  Sepulclire  to  enable  him  to  enclose  it  witliin  his. 
Basilica. 

Arculfus,  Bishop  of  (4aul,  vi.sited  Jerusalem  about  a.d.  68(i,  and  he 
gives  a  most  interesting  account  of  Golg(jtha  and  the  Sepulchre.  He 
describes  the  tomb  as  ''  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  7  feet  in  length,  and  rising 
[i.e.,  the  loculus]  3  i^alms  above  the  floor."  It  was  "broad  enough  to 
hold  one  man  lying  on  his  back."  "  Internally  the  stone  of  the  rock 
remains  in  the  original  state,  and  still  exhibits  the  mark  of  the  work- 
man's tools.  Its  colour  is  not  uniform,  but  a]ipears  to  be  a  mixture  of 
white  and  red."  "The  exterior  is  covered  with  choice  marble  to  the  very 
roof,  which  is  adorned  with  gold.'' 


THE  sitp:  ok  (ioujotii.v  and  Tin:  holy  sEi'iii.ciii;i;.      i'!)7 

I  may  add  that  while  St.  Mark  xvi,  5,  confirms  the  gemiiiieness  of  the 
traditional  toiib,  it  is  fatal  to  the  s)niiious  one,  where  the  loculus  is  nri 
the  left  of  a  person  enterinjf. 

One  more  little  item  of  evidence  may  be  jL,'iven  before  I  conclude. 
On  a  piece  of  stone  which  Dr.  Schick  found  among  the  rlehris  wliich 
he  unearthed  near  the  Holy  Sepulchre  aie  the  letter.s  IMP  .  .  . 
PART  .  .  .  This  Dr.  Schick  considers,  with  great  probability,  to  be 
part  of  the  w-ords  Imperator  Parthicus.  Hadrian  was  one  of  the  few 
Roman  Emperors  who  bore  that  title,  and  the  mutilated  words  are  pro- 
bably a  portion  of  the  dedicatory  inscription  on  the  temple  which  he 
built  to  Vemis  over  the  traditional  site. 

I  have  by  no  means  exhausted  the  evidence;  but  I  have  exhan.sted 
my  sjjace,  and  I  leave  the  reader  to  judge  whether  I  have  made  good  my 
thesis  that  this  is  not  a  case  of  strong  evidence  ajrainst  weak,  but  of 
overwhelming  evidence  against  none.  Not  a  scrap  of  evidence  which  a 
lawyer  or  logician  would  look  at  is  adducible  in  favour  of  the  sjjurious 
.site,  and  not  a  single  arch;eological  or  historical  authority  can  be  cited 
in  its  favour.  All  the  experts  of  the  Palestine  Plxploration  Fund — e.g.. 
Sir  Charles  Warren,  Sir  Charles  Wilson,  Dr.  Chaplin,  Colonel  Conder, 
M.  Clermont-Ganneau — think  it  iindeserviuj;  of  serious  arccument.  I 
have  heard  from  several  of  them  on  the  subject. 

I  wrote  to  ask  M.  Clermont-Canneau's  o]jiuion  on  the  controversy  as 
to  the  authenticity  of  the  traditional  site  and  its  modern  rival,  telling  him 
that  I  was  going  to  write  on  the  subject.  I  received  a  courteous  reply, 
in  which  he  said,  inte)'  alia,  that  iu  his  view  "  two  questions  dominate 
the  situation  : — (1)  The  second  wall  ought  to  be  east  of  the  Sepukhre  ; 
(2)  there  were  genuine  Jewish  sepulchres  on  the  traditional  site  of  an 
age  not  later  than  the  time  of  Christ."  On  these  two  points  M.  Clermont- 
(ranneau  is  supported  by  all  the  experts.  The  existence  of  these  ancient 
tombs  is  another  piece  of  hardly  disputable  evidence  that  the  traditional 
site  is  outside  the  second  wall,  since  burials  were  not  allowed  within. 
I  asked  M.  Clermont-Ganneau's  permission  to  publish  his  letter,  and,  at 
the  same  time  coi-rccting  an  obvious  slip  of  the  pen — "  I'ouest  "  for  "  Test." 
I  received  the  following  reply.  In  his  previous  letter,  M.  Clermont- 
Ganneau  expressed  his  surprise  at  "  the  infatuation  "  which  induced  so 
many  of  the  British  public  to  believe  in  "  Gordon's  tomb,"  adding  that 
Gordon  was  no  authority  on  topography  or  archaeology.  The  readers  of 
the  Quarterhf  Statements  will  not  need  to  be  told  that  M.  Clermont- 
Ganneaa  is  one  of  the  first  living  authoiities  on  the  topography  and 
archfpology  of  Palestine.  He  is  now  Professor  of  Palestinian  Arcluvology 
at  the  Sorbonne  : — 

"1,  AVENI"E    DE   l'AlMA, 

"  Paris,  15  Jkui,  1901. 

"  Clier  Monsieur, — C'onime  tous  I'arcz  justement  suppose,  c'est  par  suite 

d'un  lapsus  calami  que  j'ai  mis   ' oiiest '  pour  'est'  dans  la  petite   note  en 

reponse  a  votrc  question.     Eicn   (ju'elle  contienne  en  gros  ma  fa^on  de  voir 

sur  la  question,  je  ne  crois  pas  qu'elle  soit  sufllsante  pour  meritcr  I'lionnour 


298        THE   SITE   OF   GOLGOTHA   AXD   THE    HOLY    SEl'ULCHItE. 

d'etre  citoe  iextueUement  dans  votre  article.     A'ous  pourriez  tout  simplemcnt 

dire  en  deux  mots  que  je  me  suis  toujours  range  dans  le  camp  de  ccux  auxquels 

vous  apportoz  I'appui  de  vos  conclusions  personnclles.     J'ai  toujours  ete  d'avis 

que  le  Hammam-el-Batrak  represcnte  une  partic  du  fosse  qui  courrait  a  I'ouest 

le  second  mur ;  c'est  aussi,  si  je  iie  me  trompe,  I'opiuion  que  Schick  a  formulee 

lui-meu:c   plus   tard,    en   I'otayant    d'iui porta utes    constatations   faites   sur   le 

terrain  mcnic.     J'espere  que  votre  article  paraitra  dans  le  prochain  Statement, 

et  \e  mc  propose  de  le  lire  avcc   tout   I'interet  qui  merite  cette  importante 

question. 

"  Veuillez    agreer,   clier   Monsieur,    I'assurauce   reiteree    de   mes   meilleurs 

sentiments, 

"  Clermont-GtAnneau." 

All  who  have  really  exaruiued  the  evidence  will  share  M.  Clermont- 
Ganneau's  wonder  at  "  the  infatuation "  M-hich  has  accepted,  in  lieu 
of  the  tra<litional  site,  a  site  for  which  no  rational  argument  can 
be  produced.  And  this  fact  has  an  aspect  more  serious  tluin  an 
arclutolo^'ical  blunder.  Here  we  find  a  number  of  excellent  persons, 
all  good  and  pions,  and  some  of  them  able,  intelligent,  well-read, 
allowing  their  emotions  or  their  jirejudices  to  reject  what  must  at  least  be 
considered  as  exceedingly  strong  evidence  in  favour  of  the  traditional 
site,  and  believing  in  the  authenticity  of  a  site  on  behalf  of  which  they 
genuinely  believe  that  they  possess  irrefragable  evidence,  whereas,  in 
matter  of  fact,  they  possess  none.  This  is  a  serious  injury  to  the  cause 
of  our  holy  religion.  There  are  those  who  will  say — who,  in  fact,  have 
said — "  Behold  an  illustration  of  the  evidence  on  which  the  Eesurrec- 
tion  of  Christ  was  believed  under  the  influence  of  unreasoning  and 
emotional  enthusiasm  !  "  I  implore,  therefore,  those  who  have  encouraged 
and  still  support  this  extraordinary  illusion,  to  examine  the  facts  in  the 
dry  light  of  reason  and  evidence  before  they  proceed  further.  I  learn, 
to  my  amazement,  that  they  have  already  given  £2,000  for  a  plot  of 
ground  which  is  intrinsically  not  worth  £20,  and  that  they  are  now 
asking  for  £3,000  more  to  keep  this  "  site  "  in  order  and  give  a  salary  of 
£70  a  year  to  a  caretaker  I  If  this  is  persevered  in  one  thing  is 
inevitable.  The  believers  in  "Gordon's  tomb  "  will  never  again  be  able 
to  accuse  the  Eoman  Church  of  "  pious  frauds."  For  neither  Lourdes, 
nor  La  Salette,  nor  the  Holy  House  of  Loretto  rests  on  a  more  complete 
absence  of  evidence  for  and  a  more  complete  mass  of  evidence  against 
it  than  does  the  mound  Ijeyond  Jeremiah's  Grotto  which  is  pointed  out 
by  credulous  enthusiasts  as  the  site  of  the  Crucifixion  and  Eesurrection. 

One  more  illustration  of  the  carelessness  with  which  the  suppoi'tei-s 
of  the  spurious  site  have  jumped  to  their  conclusion  must  be  noted  here, 
because  1  have  only  just  received  authentic  confirmation  of  my  own 
recollection.  Mr.  Price  Hughes  says,  in  his  "Cai-eful  Article,"  that  "  the 
trough  or  groove  in  which  the  circular  stone  [that  closed  the  tomb] 
revolved  has  been  laid  bare.  That  rolling  stone  was  at  least  5  feet 
in  diameter. '  I  felt  convinced  on  reading  this  that  Mr.  Price  Hughes 
had  made  a  mistake.     But  wishing  to  be  (|uite  sure,  I  wrote  to  Jerusalem 


TIIK    SITE   OF   Till",    lloLV    SKm/'IIIiE.  2'.)0 

to  Dr.  Schick  for  inforiuation.  I  liave  just  icct-ivetl  his  answer,  in 
whicli  he  says  : — "It  was  not  with  a  ruuml  or  niillstone-like  slune,  Imt 
with  a  reguhir  door,  witli  lock  antl  Iiinges,  tliat  this  tomb  was  (.lused,  as 
can  l)i>  clearly  seen."  The"troiig]i  or  groove"  that  Mr.  Price  Hughes 
has  mistaken  for  the  receptacle  of  a  circular  stone  dooi'  is,  in  fact,  one  of 
the  grooves  in  which  the  slabs  were  fixed  for  the  recej)tacie  of  other 
bodies.  The  absence  of  these  slabs  is  Mr.  Hughes's  proof  (following 
Mr.  Haskett  Smith)  that  the  tomb  was  never  finished.  But  the  slabs 
were  in  situ,  and  the  tomb  was  full  of  bones  and  mould  when  it  was 
first  insi^ected  by  Dr.  Schick,  showing  not  (jnly  that  the  tnmb  was 
finished,  but  that  it  was  full  of  human  remains.  As  the  tomb  stands, 
it  is  not  Jewish  at  all,  but  indubitably  Christiaii,  and  long  subscipient 
to  the  time  of  Christ. 


OX    THE    SITE    OF    THE    HOLY    SEPULCHRE. 

By  Eev.  Francis  Gell,  M.A.,  Hector  of  Ripple,  Hon.  Canon  of  Worcester 
Cathedral,  and  Chaplain  to  tlie  Loid  Bishop  of  Worcester. 

We  are  witnessing  a  recrudescence  of  the  old  controversy  as  to  the  real 
site  of  Golgotha,  and  we  shall,  perhaps,  be  told  that  it  is  a  sign  of  the 
tlecay  of  faith.  It  has  been  remarked  that,  as  true  faith  in  the  Divine 
person  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ebbed  and  flowed,  the  ebb  has  always  been 
marked  by  an  almost  feverish  desire  to  find,  what  will  probably  never  be 
f(jund  in  our  time,  the  exact  spot  Avhere  the  greatest  ciime  man  ever 
committed  was  perpetrated,  and  the  greatest  deliverance  man  ever 
experienced  was  accomplished. 

Of  late  years  the  saintly  eminence  of  Gordon,  backed  by  the  topical 
knowledge  of  Conder,  has  given  currency  to  a  theory  which  has  a  certain 
sort  of  plausibility.  On  the  other  hand,  the  revived  ecclesiasticism  of 
the  day  has  contended  against  it  with  some  ingenuity,  and  polished  uj) 
the  Old  arguments  for  the  traditional  site,  which  has  at  least  the 
advantage  of  ancient  prescription  in  its  favour,  if  it  has  nothing  else. 

Otto  Thenius,  in  1849,  was,  I  believe,  the  first  to  suggest  that  the 
striking  mound  just  outside  the  Damascus  Gate  was  the  true  place  of  the 
Crucifixion  ;  and  Gordon,  holiest  of  soldiers,  who  was,  unfortunately, 
neither  an  Orientalist  nor  a  topograj)her,  adopted  this  theory.  Like  the 
sweet  singer  who  composed  those  tripping  verses,  sung  by  every  English 
child  the  world  over,  "There  is  a  green  hill  far  away,  outside  a  city 
wall,"  he  fell  into  the  venerable  blunder  of  suppo.sing  that  Calvary  was  a 
hill  ;  and  the  children  who  .sang  that  simple  ditty  grew  up  to  belie\e 
that  it  must  be  a  hill  just  outside  the  existing  city  wall  ;  and  have  thus 
been  prepared  to  accept  witli  acclamation  from  a  Christian  hero  and  a 
diligent  and  learned  explorer,  what  1  venture  to  call  the  Gordnu  myth. 


300 


THE   SITE   OF   THE    IIOLV   SEPULCHKE. 


W'c  liear  of  large  subscrii^tious  paid  down  to  keep  the  favoured  spot  from 
desecration,  and  of  fervent  believers  who  are  pi-epared  to  pa}'  three  or 
four  times  its  value  to  become  its  possessors.  If  those  ladies  and  gentle- 
men have  actually  parted  with  their  money,  I  can  scarcely  liope  to 
convince  them  of  the  improbability  of  their  theory  ;  but  having  given 
nearly  two  months  to  the  careful  study  of  the  site  of  Calvary  on  the  spot, 
and  some  years  of  reading  and  reflection  upon  it  since,  I  may  beg  the 
many  reasonable  persons  who  are  interested  in  the  topography  of 
Jerusalem  to  entertain,  at  least  with  patience,  a  few  consideiations  from 
one  who  is  not  swept  away  by  prepossessions,  and  who  does  not  feel  sure 
even  of  the  site  which  he  believes  has  most  to  say  for  itself. 


COOrBET 


One  of  the  earliest  and  soundest  archaeologists  in  Jerusalem,  when  I 
resided  there,  was  Dr.  Rosen,  the  Prussian  Consul.  He  entered  with 
kindly  zest  into  my  investigations,  and  suggested  a  line  of  ai-gument 
wliich  was  quite  new  to  me,  but  which  my  Indian  experience  at  once 
accepted  as  sound.  He  had  noticed  that  wherever  ground  has  been 
thickly  covered  by  buildings  the  soil  itself  testifies  unmistakably  to  the 
fact.  Applying  this  test  to  the  suburbs  of  Jerusalem,  he  constructed  a 
chart,  a  copy  of  which  accompanies  this  paper,  showing  that  the  northern 
suburb  of  the  city  extended  considerably  beyond  and  all  round  the  knoll, 
el-Heidliemiyeh — now  generally  christened  "  Gordon's  Calvary."  As  far 
as  it  goes  this  argument  proves  that  the  place  was  at  the  time  of  the 


THK    SITE   OF   THE    HOLY    SEPLLCHKE.  :j01 

t'rucitixion  iu  tlie  middle  of  a  large  and  populous  suburb.  We  kuow 
that  every  ve<tige  of  buildin<,'  there  v,-a»  afterwards  razed  t<.  tlie  inc'ind  ; 
but  the  tell-tale  soil  still  testifies  to  the  fact  that  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  ground  within  the  thinl  wall  built  by  Agrippa  11  or  12  years  after- 
wards to  protect  it,  was  then  covered  by  buildings  to  accommodate  the 
vast  crowds  who  assembled  at  the  Passover. 

There  is  i«ome  conflict  of  testimony  as  tu  the  numbers  usually  present 
at  that  time  in  and  near  Jerusalem.  Josephus  has  been,  perliaps,  too 
much  discredited  by  reason  of  his  patrioti'j  exa<.'gei-ation  ;  but  careful 
calculations  have  estimated  the  normal  jjopulation  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
time  of  Christ  at  70,000,  which  would  certainly  be  doubled  or  treble<l 
<lnring  the  Feast  days  ;  so  that  however  largely  we  may  discount  the 
two  or  three  millions  of  the  Jewish  historian,  there  remains  a  popidation 
far  Ijeyond  the  capacities  of  the  old  city,  unless  the  i>eople  stood  upon  each 
others  heads.  97,000  are  said  to  have  been  made  captive  Ijy  Titus,  and 
40,000  more  were  set  at  liberty,  and  yet  that  was  at  a  time  when  every 
soul  who  could  escape  out  of  the  doomed  city  had  fled.  Such  multitudes 
could  never  have  been  crammed  into  that  part  of  the  city  behind 
the  second  wall,  wherever  it  was,  especially  when  the  great  northern 
plateau  presented  unlimited  means  for  expansion.  I  think  any  unpre- 
judiced person  reading  the  history  of  the  siege  woidd  gather  that  a  large 
s|jace  intervened  between  tlie  tliiid  and  second  walls,  and  as  Dr.  Rosen's 
Terrainkai-te  shows,  a  good  deal  of  the  eastern  part  of  it  was  not  built 
upon.  T'jbler,  no  mean  authority,  believed  the  third  wall  reached  north- 
ward nearly  to  the  tomb  of  Helena  of  ,^diabene,  to  give  room  for  the 
90  tower.'-,  2(Ki  cubits  apart,  which  stood  upon  it;  alnwst  all  traces  of  which 
appear  to  have  been  swept  away.  Is  it  in  the  least  degree  probable  that 
the  place  of  execution  selected  by  Pilate,  or  his  centurions,  for  the  three 
cros-ses,  would  liave  been  in  the  very  middle  of  a  thickly  po]iulated  suburb 
of  fanatical  Jews  i  Even  supposing  that  the  knoll  had  not  been  utilised 
for  some  shrine  (and  we  know  tliat  subsequently  a  Byzantine  church 
>tood  upon  it),  would  it  have  been  in  the  least  likely  that  such  a  place 
would  have  been  desecrated  by  the  disgraceful  punishment  of  criminals 
condemned  by  Roman  law  ?  We  forget  how  terribly  disgraceful,  and 
even  obscene,  that  punishment  was,  because  to  us,  "  the  shameful  cross  " 
now  symbolises  the  highest  point  of  Divine  self-sacrifice.  Moreover,  we 
have  it  from  Dr.  Chaplin  that  the  knoU  was  a  place  of  Jewish  execution 
by  stoning,  and  in  the  Talmud  is  called  Beth-ha-sekela,  But  our  L<jrd 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  Roman  executioners  ;  and  the  place  of  Jewish 
executions,  even  if  it  could  be  proved  that  it  was  .so  then,  would  have 
been  the  last  place  where  the  Roman  law  would  have  been  carried  out. 
This  consideration  should  give  the  advocates  of  this  locality  pause.  But 
the  final  and,  to  my  mind,  conclusive  argument  against  it,  is  the  univers.'il 
and  scriptural  conviction  that  the  Crucifixion  fulfilled  the  type  to  which 
the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  refers  (xiii,  11,  12),  and  that  the 
direction,  "  without  the  camp,"  in  Leviticus  iv,  11,  12,  21,  meant  without 
the  city   which  represented  it.      Thus  independently  of  all  arguments 


;]02  THE    SITE   OF   THE    HOLY    SEPULCHRE. 

drawn  from  the  direction  of  the  walls  (which  lead,  as  we  knew,  to  an 
interminable  wrangle),  but  merely  on  the  showing  of  Dr.  Rosen's  ma]) 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  inhabited  city  did  extend,  in  our  Lord's 
time,  to  the  northward  of  the  j^iesent  wall,  and  we  are  driven  to  the 
conclusion  tliat  we  must  look  for  the  jjlace  of  Crucifixion,  and  of  the 
sepulchre  outside  the  city  somewhere  on  that  northern  plateau. 

In  1865  I  ]iointed  out  to  Dr.  Oobat,  the  then  Bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
and  to  Dr.  Barclay,  that  the  Levitieal  ritual  required'  that  the  carcase  of 
the  burnt  offering,  represented  in  antitype  by  the  Crucifixion,  should  be 
consumed  north  of  tlie  :dtar.  The  Bishop  at  once  adopted  the  inference, 
and  told  me  that  when  he  first  knew  the  city,  there  were  considei'able 
remains  of  tombs  on  the  north  side,  near  the  slope  into  the  Kedron 
Valley,  which,  Avhen  he  returned  as  bishop,  had  been  broken  open  or  lost 
sight  of.  I  am  glad  to  see  that  such  an  authority  as  Sir  Charles  Wilson, 
in  the  new  edition  of  the  "  Dictionary  of  tlie  Bible,"  adojits  the  opinion 
that  the  northern  plateau  is  the  most  probable  site  for  the  sepulchre. 

Of  course,  if  these  alignments  are  sound  they  dispose  of  what  is  called 
the  "traditional"  site.  In  full  view  of  all  that  has  been  so  ably  said  in 
defence  of  that  site,  the  fatal  oljjections  of  Dr.  Robinson  are  unanswered. 
The  facility  with  which  the  transference  of  holy  sites  was  made,  in  very 
early  times,  is  known  to  all  students  of  history  (see  a  valuable  article  by 
Mr.  Simpson  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  for  January,  1879),  the  total  lack 
of  the  "  topographical  instinct,"  as  proved  by  many  instances,  in  days  when 
few  could  read  oi'  write — and  the  absolute  subjection  of  reason  to  faith 
in  those  who  could — incline  all  who  have  no  prepossession  to  think 
St.  Willibald  was  not  far  wrong  when  he  said  that  Helena  had  "arranged" 
that  the  place  which  was  formerly  outside  should  be  inside  th-  city  :  (see 
"Hodceporicou,"  XVIII,  Pilgrims'  Text  Society,  p.  19),  and  in  that  age  who 
could  possibly  object  to  it  \  Similar  "arrangements,"  for  the  sake  of  con- 
venience, are  met  with  everywhere.  What  but  convenience  ruled  the 
"  invention  "  of  the  ci'oss,  together  with  the  tablet  which  Pilate  wrote  to 
affix  ujjon  it,  and  "  arranged  "  the  stone  of  unction  and  the  ]>illai-  of  the 
fiagellation,  and  all  the  rest  of  it  ?  And  when  the  pious  custodians  had, 
without  any  idea  of  fraud,  "  arranged  "  objects  and  places  of  interest  to 
their  liking,  a  wealth  of  legendary  association  clustei-ed  round  them,  and 
it  became  worth  no  one's  while  to  dispute  them.  Why  sliould  any  one 
do  so  %  The  facts  were  the  really  important  things.  The  exact  places 
where  they  wei'e  enacted  was  a  very  small  matter.  So  we  get  venerable 
churches,  built  in  impossible  places,  yet  purporting  to  be  on  the  very 
spots  ;  and  venerable  "  fathers  "  by  the  score  proving  that  they  had  seen 
the  localities  two  or  three  hundred  years  afterwards,  and  had  no  doubt 
whatever  about  it  ;  till  now  it  becomes  difficult  to  plead  for  strict 
adherence  to  the  only  reliable  documentary  evidence  we  have,  and  to 
insist  on  squaring  our  topography  with  fair  inferences  from  history  and 
the  Holy  Scriptiu-es. 

Let  me  enumei'ate  some  of  tlie  essentials  for  the  iilentific;>tinn  of  the 

»  Lev.  i,  10-11 ;  iv,  21. 


TiiK  siTK  nv  rm;  ]\o\A\  sivrri.riii;K.  30:] 

true  sepulchre  ;  and  I  do  not  tliiiik  those  who  have  clo^elv  stiulie.l  the 
matter  will  demur  to  any  one  of  them  : — 

1.  It  must  he  ill  a  lianh'ii.     St.  .loliii  xix,  41. 

2.  It  must  be  Iiewn  out  of  tlie  lock.     St.  Mattliew  xxvii,  (i(3. 

3.  It   must   be   the   tomb  of  a  rich  Jew   of   tlie    Jlerodian    period 

St.  Matthew  xxvii,  57,  &<•. 

4.  It  must  be  close  to  the  place  of  the  Crucitixion.     St.  John  xix,  41. 

5.  It  must  be  near  a  high   road.     St.   Matthew  xxvii,  3!>,  41 ';  St. 

Mark  xv,  29  ;  St.  Luke  xxiii,  26. 
<>.  It  must  have  been  quite  new,  and  therefore  would  have  had  then 
no  loculi  or  kokim.     St.  John  xix,  41  ;  St.  Luke  xxiii,  53. 

7.  The  place  of  the  Crucifixion,  which  was  close  to  it,  must  be  where 

it  could  be  .seen  "  afar  off."     St.  Matthew  xxvii,  55. 

8.  It  must   be  clearly  outside  all    the   inhabited    jiarfs  r.f   the  city. 

Hebrews  xiii,  11. 
!).  The  tomb  must  be  a  chamber  in  which  at  least  five  people  at  ojie 
time  could  move  about  and  converse.     St.  Luke  xxiv,  4,  ]o. 

10.  It  must  be  closed  by  a  great  rolling  stone.     St.  Matthew  xxviii, 

2,  4  ;  St.  Mark  xvi,  4,  &c. 

1 1.  It  must  be  "  nigh  unto  the  city  "  (St.  John  xix,  20),  but  far  enough 

for  persons  coming  to  it  and  going  from  it,  to  miss  each  other 
on  the  way  (compare  the  various  visits  to  the  tomb). 

12.  The   tomb  must  be  so  constructeil  that  a  person  close  to  it  must 

stoop  down  in  order  to  look  into  it.  ,See  St.  John  xx,  11  ; 
St.  Luke  xxiv,  12. 
J 3.  And  yet  so  that  persons  sitting  "over  against  it,"  ie.,  at  some 
distance,  could  see  into  it,  and  oltserve  "how  the  body  of  Jesus 
was  laid"  in  it.  St,  Matthew  xxvii,  61  ;  St.  Luke  xxiii,  55  ; 
St.  Mark  xv,  47. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  indications  given  us  iu  Scrijjture  to  guide  us 
as  to  the  kind  <.f  sepulchre  which  received  the  dead  body  of  our  Lord 
and  from  which  he  was  raised  on  the  third  day.  There  "may  be  more  ; 
but  these  are  enough  to  give  a  high  probability  to  any  tomb  which' 
combines  them  all.  Over  500  rock  tombs  have  lieen  carefully  examined  bv 
the  agents  of  the  Fund  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem.  They  need 
not  be  compaied,  because  Sir  Charles  Wilson  says  in  his  pajier  (Qiiarterlif 
Statement  for  1869,  p.  67),  with  which  I  concur,  that  the  most  complete  of 
all  yet  discovered  is  the  Kubur  es-Saladeen.  This  tomb  has  gone  through 
many  vicissitudes  and  been  called  by  different  names.  In  "Joseph  us  "it 
is  called  the  Monument  of  Helena,  Queen  of  Adiabene,  a  Jewish  proselyte 
who  adopted  it,  and  whose  sarcophagus  was  "  appropriated  •'  by  De  Saulcv 
in  1803,  and  is  now  in  the  Louvre.  The  tomb  is  now  called  the  Tombs 
of  the  Kings,  probably  because  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  king  was 
ever  buried  in  it.  As  a  typical  Jewish  tomb  of  the  time  of  Herod, 
however,  it  has  a  special  value  for  us,  containing,  iu  a  condition  of  more 
or  less  preservation,  all  tlie  foiu-  members  of  a  ri'.h  man's  tomb  of  that 

U 


•  > 


04  THE   SITE   OF   THE   HOLY  SEPULCHRE. 


period.  i.<?.,  first,  a  garden  ;  secondly,  a  vestibule  or  ante-cluiiuber  ;  thirdly, 
ail  embahuino-  chamber ;  and  fourthly,  loculi,  arcosolia,  or  kokim,  exca- 
vated as  they  were  required  by  deaths  in  the  family  or  friends  of  the 
owner — the  whole  called  the  sepulchre.  As  that  in  which  our  Lonl 
was  buried  was  just  dug,  "  wherein  never  before  man  was  laid,"  it  would, 
at  that  time,  have  had  no  additional  chamber  or  loculi. 

Armed  with  these  tests,  my  very  first  object  on  reaching  Jerusalem 
was  to  applv  them  to  Tombs  of  the  Kings,  which  I  need  not  describe,  as 
thev  have  been  carefully  described  by  our  agents.  Leaving  the  Bab 
el-Aumd  by  the  great  north  road,  I  easily  found  the  excavated  gai'den 
near  the  road  side,  approached  by  25  steps  down  to  a  doorway  through  a 
wall  of  rock.  There  was  the  vesti1>ule  with  the  tank  for  water  required 
for  the  ablution — there  the  3-foot  square  entrance  below  the  level  of  the 
floor  of  the  vestibule — there  the  greater  part  of  the  rolling  stone  by  which 
the  entrance  was  closed  ;  and  there,  on  the  ai^chitrave,  not  only  the 
triglyphs  and  patene  of  the  Debased  Doric  of  the  Herodian  period,  Ijut 
the  grapes  in  the  central  meto])e,  indicating  that  the  tomb  originally 
belonged  to  a  rich  Jew.  Entering  the  chamber,  I  found  it  19  feet  square, 
surrounded  by  a  stone  ledge  or  seat,  except  wliere  the  rock  wall  has  been 
since  pierced  by  doorways  to  other  chambers. 

These  observations  disposed  of  Xos.  1,  2,  3,  5,  7,  8,  9,  10,  11,  and  14. 
There  remained  12  and  13.  As  to  12,  it  was  clear  after  trial  that  a 
person  near  the  entrance  or  in  the  vestibule,  must  stoop  to  see  into  the 
tomb  chaudjer.  But  the  women  "  sat  over  against  the  sepulchre,"  and 
from  that  point  "  beheld  how  the  body  was  laid."  Leaving  the  excavated 
garden  I  ascended  on  to  tlie  plateau,  and  seating  myself  on  the  north- 
western side  of  the  excavation  I  found  I  could  see  through  the  3-foot 
squar-e  opening  into  the  embalming  chamber,  in  the  middle  of  which 
I  desired  my  servant  to  lie  down  ;  but  it  was  too  dark  to  see  much 
of  him  till  I  called  to  him  to  take  off  his  dark  1)lue  embroidered 
jacket,  and  as  soon  as  he  did  so,  and  lay  in  his  white  shirt,  I  could 
distinctly  see  "how  his  body  was  laid."  The  tomb  being  new,  the 
paving  slab,  which  was  ultimately  to  conceal  the  entire  entrance,  had 
not  been  laid  over  the  opening  in  tlie  floor  of  the  vestibule.  It  was 
therefore  possible  for  the  Jews  to  see  the  Governor's  seal  aflixed  to  the 
rolling  stone.  This  disposed  of  tests  Nos.  12  and  13,  and  the  facts  were 
so  striking  in  their  undesigned  coincidence  with  the  New  Testament 
narrative,  that  at  that  time  I  had  no  doubt  I  was  looking  on  the  spot 
where  the  bc)dy  of  Jesus  bad  lain.  T  do  not  feel  sure  of  it  now,  but  ever 
since  I  have  felt  assured  that  if  that  tomb  is  not  the  tomb,  it  must  have 
been  one  in  that  neighbourhood,  and  similar  to  it.  It  is  not  above  seven 
minutes'  walk  from  the  place  where,  according  to  Eosen,  Josephus, 
Tobler,  &c.,  the  city  suburb  extended  in  our  Lord's  time.  It  is  near  a  high 
road,  and,  though  I  altogether  repudiate  the  cockaureiiess  of  some  of  our 
friends,  it  has  a  stronger  claim  than  any  other  existing  sepulchre  to  the 
honour  of  having  been  the  mortuary  chamber  in  which  our  Lord's  body 
was  temporarily  laid.     But  certainty  is  forbidden  us  ;  good  reasons  for 


TIIK    i;riN    AT    Kin'f.-KET.   RKIT   SAAVIl;.  'SO') 

wliicii  .lie  not  far  to  seek.  Meaiitiiiic  we  inav  well  utilise  Hit-  Iii-ljt 
it  affords  us  in  realisinj;'  tlic  most  iin|)nit.int  eve  ul  that  ever  took  j»lace 
in  the  wurld. 

God  forbid  that  in  tins  faitliiess  ai;e  I  shoulil  speak  scornfully  even 
of  erroneous  beliefs.  I  can  never  fori^et  how,  on  one  occasion,  1  climhed 
to  the  top  of  that  canopy  (is  it  a  baldachino  ?)  covering  the  traditional 
tonil),  and  lay  there  for  an  hour  or  more  nnobsei-ved  ;  j^'aziu'^-  down 
through  the  open  work  I  saw  ^n-ouj)  after  <fi-oup  of  frowsy  pilgrims  from 
the  farthest  corners  of  Russia,  pressing  as  near  as  they  could  get  to  the 
tond)  slab  to  pour  out  their  sorrows,  while  streaming  tears  poured  down 
l)rown  cheeks — not  of  women  only,  but  of  hardy  men,  whose  passionate 
devotion  shamed  my  own  cold  heart,  because  they  believed,  what  I  knew 
was  a  fable,  that  their  dear  Lord  and  mine  had  been  buried  in  that  tiny 
marble  cabinet,  which  monks  pei'suaded  Constantine  and  Helena  had 
been  the  sepulchre  of  Christ. 


THE   RUIN   AT    KHUliBK'i'    BEIT    SAWIK. 

By  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauer  and  Dr.  E.  W.  Gurney  Mastermax. 

Wr  are  sending  some  photographs  taken  by  us  when  on  a  visit  to 
a  ruin  north  of  the  nevr  carriage  road  to  Hebron,  just  before  the 
said  road  turns  south  to  El  Arrub,  and  situated  some  350  paces 
from  the  road  itself,  near  the  20th  kilometre  stone  from  Jerusalem. 

The  photographs  ai-e  not  a  great  success,  as  the  day  was  a  bad 
one,  and  a  fine  rain  was  actually  falling  when  they  were  being 
taken,  but  they  show  in  a  general  view  the  megalithic  nature  of 
the  remains  to  which  we  wish  to  call  attention. 

In  the  "Memoirs,"  vol.  iii,  p.  351,  under  the  heading  "  Khfirbet 
Beit  Sawir,"  the  ruin  is  thus  referred  to  : — "  About  half  a  mile  to 
the  south  "  (i.e.,  of  Kliurbet  Beit  Sawir)  "  is  an  ancient  tower, 
visible  from  the  Hebron  Road  ;  it  is  22  paces  square,  and  consists 
of  large,  roughly-squared  stones  8  or  9  feet  long,  5  feet  wide,  and 
1  fooi  4  inches  thick.  The  stone  is  much  worn,  and  there  is  no 
trace  of  mortar.  The  tower  has  fallen  over  to  the  south,  and  on 
that  side  is  a  large  cistern,  the  mouth  partly  closed  by  a  slab  like 
those  in  the  tower.  This  tower  has  an  appearance  of  great 
antiquity.  Some  three  or  four  cour.ses"  (there  are  still,  as  the 
photographs  show,  six  in  the  westei-n  wall)  "  remain  in  the  walls," 
which,  according  to  our  measurements  of  January  9th,  1901,  form 
two  sides  of  a  squai'e  of  14  metres  outside  and  12"50  inside. 

U  2 


306 


THE   KUIN   AT   KHURBET   BEIT   SAWIlt. 


With  the  general  description  given  in  the  "  ^Memoirs  "  wc  are 
in  agreement,  but  it  seems  to  us  tliat  the  ruin  is  worthy  of  a  more 
detailed  study. 

In  the  first  place,  the  orientation  of  the  building  is  interesting, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  exactly  to  the  points  of  the  compass  ;  or,  to  be 
more  accurate,  the  only  wall  standing,  viz.,  the  west  one,  shown 
in  the  photographs,  runs  exactly  north  and  south.  The  south 
wall  is  ahnost  entirely  thrown  down,  the  great  slabs  of  which  it 
was  built  standing  on  edge  in  parallel  lines  on  the  ground,  but  it 
is  evident  that  it  was  bailt  at  right  augles  to  the  west  wall.     This 


south  wall  shows  clear  traces  of  having  been  of  six  courses,  all  of 
which,  except  the  lowest,  having  been  shot  out  one  beyond  the 
other  down  the  slight  declivity,  and  looking  at  first  sight  like  the 
broken  ends  of  a  sei'ies  of  limestone  strata.  Of  the  north  wall 
not  a  trace  remains,  and  of  the  east  wall  only  the  slightest 
indications.  Indeed,  according  to  the  very  massive  way  the  other 
sides  have  been  built,  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  there  ever  had 
been  walls  on  these  two  sides.  It  is,  however,  possible  that  such 
was  the  case,  as  the  building  is  on  a  hill-slojie,  the  lowest  part 
being  the  south-west  corner,  and  the  highest  where  the  north-east 


NOTES  ON  Tin;  "  QrAi(TEi;;.v  statkment."  .".07 

coiner  was.  and  so  it  is  possible  that  (lie  two  wall.--  supported  an 
earth  platform.  'I'lie  huildino-  is  hii;h  up  on  a  hill-side,  aiul 
<;ommands  au  extensive  view  in  all  directions,  as  well  as  over- 
lookinsi'  the  valley  below.  Tt  is  doubtless  e.vtreniely  ancient  and 
primitive,  and  we  would  su}4'<>;e8t  that  it  may  have  been  a  "  hi<^li 
place"  or  "hill  sanctuary"  for  sacrifice,  and,  furthermore,  that 
the  way  the  south  side  has  been  thrown  down  wf)uld  make  us 
think  that  this  "  IJamiih  "  had  been  intentionally  destroyed. 


NOTES  ON  THE  JANUARY  "QUARTERLY  STATKMENT." 

P.  54. — M.  Clermont-Ganneau's  conjectural  identification  of  the 
inscription  found  at  Tell  Sandahannah  in  three  incomplete  lines, 
with  a  dedication  to  Queen  Arsinoe,  is  very  interesting.  It  should 
be  observed,  however,  that  in  my  brief  account  (October  Quarterhj 
Statement,  p.  339)  I  noted  that  the  letters  NO  (in  the  incomplete 
word  read  Arsinoe  by  M.  Ganneau)  "  are  interpolations  made 
after  the  stone  was  defaced,  as  they  are  thinner  in  character  than 
the  rest  of  the  inscription,  and  are  sharply  cut  over  traces  of 
other  letters."  The  nature  of  these  letters  may  be  seen  in  the 
two  squeezes  I  now  send,  though  their  palimpsest  character  does 
not  clearly  appear.  It  is  possible  I  may  be  wrong  in  the  latter 
conjecture,  bat  as  I  expect  to  be  in  Jerusalem  in  May,  I  shall 
study  the  original  afresh  and  try  to  obtain  better  squeezes. 

P.  58. — M.  Ganneau's  suggestion  that  the  small  lead  figures, 
bound  with  coils  of  iron,  bronze,  or  lead,  were  intended  to  repre- 
sent the  victims  of  incantation,  was  not  new  to  us.  Our  report 
was  written  under  great  pressure  immediately  after  the  excava- 
tions were  closed,  and  we  were  obliged  to  confine  ourselves  mainly 
to  description.  1  called  these  figures  "captives,"  from  tlu- 
alternative  theory  that  they  i-epresented  votive  offerings  after 
a  battle.  The  view  adopted  by  M.  Ganneau  appears  to  nie  on 
the  whole  to  be  the  more  probable. 

K.  J.  B. 


:JOS 


NOTICES    OF    FOREIGN    PUBLICATIONS. 

Flavins  Josephus\  Jiidischer  Krieg,  by  Professor  Doctor  Philipp  Kohodt, 
Linz,  1901. — A  German  translation  of  the  "  History  of  the  Jewish  War," 
l>y  Josephiis,  from  the  most  recent  text.  The  most  notable  feature  of  tlie 
book  is  tlie  space,  one-third  of  the  whole  wcn'k,  devoted  to  arch:eological, 
historical,  and  topographical  notes  and  comments.  There  is  also  a  very 
useful  index.  The  translator  has  made  much  use  of  German  publications, 
especially  of  Dr.  Schick's  monograph  on  the  Temple,  and  of  his  papers  in 
the  "  Zeitschrift  des  Deutsehen  Paliistina  Vereius. ' 

La  2Iontagne  d<;  la  Galilee,  oil  le  Seigneur  appanU  aux  A/jotres 
(Matthew  xxviii,  16)  est  le  Mont  Thabor,  by  Father  Barnab6,  d' Alsace, 
O.F.M.,  Jei'usalem,  1901. — This  is  an  attempt  to  prove  that  Mount 
Tabor  is  the  mountain  in  Galilee  upon  which,  according  to  Matthew 
xxviii,  16,  Christ  ajjpeared  to  the  eleven  disciples  after  his  resurrection. 
The  proposed  identification  first  appeal's  in  the  record  of  the  pilgrimage 
of  Theodosius  (525  a.d.),  but  tlie  tradition  that  the  mountain  of  the 
Apparition  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  Transfiguration  was  ))robably 
earlier.  Although  the  conclusions  cannot  always  be  accepted.  Father 
Barnabe  has  done  good  service  by  bringing  together  passages  from  early 
writers  which  bear  upon  the  subject.  He  also  shows  clearly  the  untrust- 
worthy nature  of  the  traditions  that  have  gathered  round  the  spot  on 
the  ridge  of  Olivet  which  is  now  called  Viri  Galilei  or  Mans  Galilea. 
The  book  is  a  companion  to  the  author's  "  Mount  Tabor,"  previously 
noticed. 

Recueil  <X Archeologie  Orientale,  vol.  iv,  parts  11-16,  by  M.  Clermont- 
Ganneau,  M.I.,  Paris,  1901. — Translations  of  four  of  the  articles  have 
already  appeax'ed  in  the  Quarterly  Statement:  "The  Eonian  Inscriptions 
of  the  Jerusalem  Aqueduct  "  ;  "  The  beautiful  Sime  of  Eleutheropolis  "  ; 
"  Rhodian  Pottery  in  Palestine  "'  ;  and  "  The  Seal  of  the  Leper  House  of 
St.  Lazarus  at  Jerusalem."  In  "  Le  Zeus  Madbachos  et  le  Zeus  B6mos 
des  Semites,"  p.  164,  M.  Ganneau  points  out  that  the  Amei'ican  expedi- 
tion to  Noi'thern  Syria  has  confirmed  a  previous  suggestion  of  his,  that 
the  word  Madbachos  is  connected  with  the  Aramaean  Madhah,  "  altar  "  ; 
and  that  Zeus  Madbachos  is  equivalent  to  Zeus  Bomos.  In  "  Le  trone 
et  I'autel  chez  les  Semites,"  p.  247,  the  author,  whilst  favouralily  noticing 
a  paper  by  Father  Lagrange  in  the  "Ilevue  Biblique,"  pp.  216-251,  1901, 
examines  the  meaning  of  the  motah  of  the  great  Nabatiean  God,  in  the 
expression  "  Dusares  and  his  motab."  He  suggests  that  the  }/(oto&  may 
have  been  the  black  square  stone  of  Petra,  upon  which  sacrifices  were 
offered  and  libations  were  poured,  and  which  i)assed  in  anticjuity  as  a 
personification  of  the  deity  who  was  in  some  sense  incorporated  with  it. 
M.  Ganneau  asks  whether  this  stone  was  not  at  once  the  altar,  and  throne 
— the  niotab — of  Dusai'es,  perfectly  distinct,  at  least  at  first,  from   his 


NOTICES   OK    FOltElON    iri;i,|(  ATlU.NS.  I'.Ol) 

personality.  Following  upon  this  it  is  not  impossible  that  popular 
superstition  fuded  by  admitting  the  real  presence  of  the  god,  and  by 
identifying  him  with  his  own  motid).  hi  "  Le  periple  d.-s  Zakkari," 
p.  250,  M.  Ganneau  discusses  the  origin  of  the  Zakkari,  mentioned  in  the 
"Papyrus  Golcnischeff,"  who  formed  part  of  the  in-e-Israelite  jiopulation 
of  Palestine,  and  apparently  lived  on  the  coast  near  ( 'armel,  possibly  at 
Dor.  It  is  proposed  to  connect  them  with  the  Dacharenoi,  mentioned  by 
Stejjhen  of  Byzantium,  and  to  consider  thera  as  forming  part  of  the 
ethnic  grou]),  known  later  as  Nabatii-an.  They  have  po.ssibly  left  a 
trace  of  their  jjresence  in  Palestine  in  the  common  jilace-name  Bhihriu, 
and  perhaps,  also,  in  Zakarfya.  M.  Ganneau  throw.s  out  an  ingenious 
suggestion  that  the  Shalmn,  Shalamu,  or  Shalimu  (C.T.S.,  ii,  197),  may 
have  belonged  to  the  Nabattean  grouj),  and  have  once  lived  near  Jeru- 
.salem,  which  perhaps  bears  a  trace  of  their  name. 

Revue  Bihllque,  vol.  x,  part  2,  li)OI. — The  number  contains  a  learned 
])aper  on  sacred  stones  and  enclosures,  "  Enceintes  et  pierres  sacrees," 
by  Father  Lagrange,  the  Superior  of  the  Dominican  -Monastery  of  St. 
Stephen,  at  Jerusalem.  The  paper  forms  part  2  of  the  writei-'s  "  Etudes 
sur  les  religions  Somitiques,"  and  deserves  perusal  by  students  of  the 
Bible.  Justice  cannot  be  done  to  it  in  a  brief  notice.  Father  Vincent, 
in  his  article  on  "  Piude  Stone  Monuments  in  Western  Palestine,"'  shows 
that  Colonel  Conder's  broad  generalisation  that  no  dolmens,  menhirs,  or 
ancient  circles  have  been  discovered  in  Judiiea  needs  modification.  He 
describes  a  number  of  dolmens  and  ruile  tombs  that  have  been  found  on 
tlie  eastern  slope  of  the  ridge  of  Palestine,  between  Tekoa  on  the  south 
and  Bethel  on  the  north.  The  paper  is  well  illustrated  by  plans, 
sections,  and  sketches,  and  is  a  valuable  addition  to  our  knowledge  of 
primitive  remains  in  Palestine. 

Zeitschrift  des  Deutschen  PalHstiua  \''(>reins,  vol.  xxiv,  part  1,  1901. — 
Pi'ofessor  Doctor  Rohricht  jMiblishes  a  lecord  of  the  journey  of  Duke 
Henry  of  Saxony  to  Jerusalem  in  1498.  ,  There  is  little  that  is  new  in 
the  diary,  but  the  information  respecting  the  ownership  of  the  Holy 
Places  at  that  period  is  not  without  interest.  Dr.  Littmann  gives  an 
Arabic  list  of  the  Bedawi  tribes  east  of  Jordan,  with  transliteration  and 
notes  ;  and  Herr  Bauer  gives  an  interesting  and  useful  list  of  the  vax'ious 
articles  of  clothing  and  ornament  which  are  iji  use  amongst  the  Arabs  of 
Palestine. 

C.  AV.   \\'. 

The  Tombs  of  the  Prophets,  "■  Kabilr  el-^Anbid,"  at  Jerusalem,  by 
Father  Vincent  "(from  the  "  Revue  Biblique,"  x,  p.  72  f,  1901).— The  sill 
of  the  enti'ance  must  be  about  3o0  metres'  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground.     As  the  rock  falls  away  very  rapidly  at  this  ))oint  three  or  four 

^  The  measurements  are  given  in  metres.  On  tlie  plan  and  sections  there 
are  scales  of  feet  and  mf'tres. 


olO  NOTICES   OI'   FOlfEK.X    rUBLlC.VTIONS. 

steps  were  apparently  sufficient  to  rearh  the  interior.  The  eight  steps 
restored  in  M.  Schick's  plan'  lepresent  neither  the  original  condition  nor 
the  few  rude  steps  in  the  rubbisli  -which  now  obstructs  the  passage.  On 
the  outside  no  truce  can  be  seen  of  any  arrangement  for  closing  the 
entrance.  The  doorway  exca.vated  in  the  solid  rock  is  continued  in  the 
form  of  a  passage  which  has  a  mean  length  of  ^"65  meti-es,  and  an 
internal  width  of  1"60  metres.  This  passage  was  closed,  at  two-thirds  of 
its  length,  by  a  swing  door,  too  large,  jirobably,  to  have  been  of  stone  ; 
the  positions  of  the  hinges  and  bolts  can  still  l)e  seen.  Judging  from  the 
marks  they  have  left  on  the  rock,  the  latter  were  of  iron.  After 
traversing  the  passage  one  enters  an  almost  circular  chamber  which  has 
a  mean  diameter  of  7  metres.  Here  the  attention  is  at  once  arrested  by 
the  character  of  the  ceiling  which,  instead  of  being  horizontal,  slopes 
upward,  following  the  natui'al  lie  of  the  rock,  and  at  one  point  approaches 
tlic  surface  .so  closelv  that  the  thin  roof  has  fallen  in.  The  ceilins:  is 
pierced  also  by  an  artificial  aperture,  roughly  circular,  which  has  a  major 
axis  of  riO  metres,  and  has  no  symmetrical  connection  with  the  rotunda 
to  which  it  now  gives  light.  The  walls  of  the  vestibule  have  preserved 
large  fragments  of  that  coating  of  ]jounded  brick  and  broken  pottery 
which  is  still  used  in  Palestine,  under  the  name  hamra,  to  make  cisterns 
watertight.  The  depth  of  the  chamber  cannot  be  ascertained  at 
jiresent  on  account  of  the  earth  which  has  come  in  through  the  roof  and 
entrance.  But  a  precious  detail  has  been  supplied  by  a  sn)all  excavation 
recently  made  by  the  guardian — an  opening  of  the  transverse  galleries, 
of  which  one  only  saw  the  arched  head,  has  really  a 'minimum  height  of 
2'50  metres.  Without  having  the  complete  regularity  which  has  been 
u'iven  to  them  in  tlie  plans,  these  galleiies  form,  as  it  were,  three  radii, 
perpendicular  to  each  othei-,  of  a  large  arc  which  should  liaAC  its  centre 
at  the  point  where  the  two  major  axes  of  the  rotunda  cut  each  other  at 
right  angles.  The  opening,  A,-  which  faces  the  entrance  is  only  from 
2'O.j  metres  to  2*10  metres  wide,  but  as  it  lengthens  its  width  increases, 
and  at  a  depth  of  9*10  metres,  where  it  abuts  on  a  wall  of  rock,  it  is 
3-15  metres  wide.  The  passage  B  has  a  width  of  2-32  metres  at  its 
mouth,  and  of  2'25  metres  where  it  ends  in  a  rock-w^all  at  a  depth  of 
8'32  metres.  C,  of  whicli  the  opening  is  2'20  metres  witle,  has  a  depth  of 
9'35  metres,  and  a  terminal  width  of  nearly  2'80  metres.  A  semi-circular 
gallery,  of  which  the  width  varies  from  r70  metres  to  TSo  metres, 
connects  the  ends  of  the  three  radii.  But  its  course,  fairly  regular 
between  A'  and  C,  is  abruptly  broken  nearly  midway  between  A'  and  B'. 
Tobler's  jjlan  attempted  to  show  this  deviation  which  had  been  correctly 
observed  by  De  Saulcy  and  represented  on  his  plan.  JTrom  the  middle 
of  A'  the  gallery  i)reserves  its  normal  course  for  9%30  metres  ;  the  curve 
then  suddenly  straightens  for  2-7.")  metres,  to  commence  afresh,  almost 

'   Qp.arferh/  Statement,  1883,  p.  128^". 

-  Tlie    plan    and    sections    made    by    Fntlier   Vincent   are   reproduced   by 
permission  from  the  '■  Revue  Biblique." 


NOTICES   OF    FOHKICiX    Cnuic ATIONs. 


:;ii 


;it  a  light  angle,  .-iiul,  after  a  distance  of  some  .")  metres,  to  become  neajly 
circular  again  until,  fj-?')  metres  further  on,  it  meets  \V.  The  total  lu-ight 
of  the  great  gallery  in  nearly  uniform,  and  2-r>r,  metres  fiom  the  present 
tldc.r  lint-.  \vlii(h  ruunot  lie  nnnli  .ilxtve  the  rock.  A  lining,  less  laatinrr 
th.iii   the  /(a//(/-«,  covers  tiie  walls  au<l  the  clli|.ti<-al  arch.      It   is  applied 


C     2      •*      6      a       .'O 

I — t — I — 1 — 1 — 1 1 . . 1 I 


-J 1 


Z3 Metres 


in  coats  more  or  less  thick  so  as  to  correct  the  inequalities  of  the  roULihly 
dressed  walls. 

A  second  gallery,  concentric  with  the  outer  one,  connects  and  almost 
bisects  the  large  radii.  Its  width  varies  from  TCJO  metres  to  1"80  mCtrea. 
It  has  a  similar  lining,  and  opens  directly  into  the  outer  gallery  in  the 


312  NOTICES   OV  rOKElGX   PUBLICATIOXS. 

sector,  A>  B',  whilst  in  the  other  sector  the  two  galleries  are  connected  by 
another  very  short  laclius  (1-60  metres  long  and  I'SO  metres  wide). 

In  front  of  the  point  at  which  the  inner  gallery  meets  the  radius, 
("  (■',  there  is  another  passage,  E,  which  runs  olF  almost  at  a  right 
angle,  and  is  1-85  metres  wide  and  4-20  mitres  long.  Here  all  symmetry, 
such  as  it  is,  ends.  M.  de  Saulcy's  plan  gives  least  erroneously  the 
curious,  complicated  arrangement  of  this  part  of  the  sepulchral  vault. 
The  drawing  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  is  wrong.  A  passage,  very 
irregularly  cut,  with  a  mean  height  of  070  metre,  a  width  of  0-60  metre, 
and  a  length  of  6-20  metres,  turns  away  to  a  chamber  which  opens  out  at 
a  level  much  above  that  of  the  passage  itself.  The  chamber,  which 
contains  tombs,  gives  access  to  a  second  room  that  looks  as  if  it  had  never 
been  finished.  A  fracture,  probably  recent,  in  one  of  the  walls  of  the 
latter  places  it  in  communication  with  a  cistern  that  opens  into  the 
]jassage,  E,  through  another  opening.  Opposite  these  chambers  the 
jjassage  is  much  higher,  and  runs  on  in  zigzags,  difficult  of  explanati<ju, 
through  rock  that  becomes  more  and  more  friable.  Along  the  walls  are 
traces  of  "  trough "  graves.  The  over-thin  roof  has  fallen  in  at  two 
points,  and  it  seems  clear  that  tombs  hewn  in  the  surface  of  the  rock 
were  broken  into  when  this  long  tunnel  was  cut.  After  several  changes 
of  direction  the  gallery  ends  at  the  boundarj'-  wall  of  the  Paissian 
property,  by  the  side  of  the  road.  The  stone  was  evidently  too  soft  for 
a  continuation  of  the  work.  Eobinson'  had  already  noticed  this,  and 
remarked  that  the  air  in  the  gallery  was  pure.  Beyond  the  entrance  to 
E  there  is  no  lining  of  hamra,  not  even  in  the  two  chambers,  the  walls 
of  which  are  dressed  with  perhaps  more  care  than  those  of  the  principal 
]jart  of  the  tomb. 

The  irregular  orientatiim  of  the  tomb  was  necessitated  by  the  lie  of 
the  rock — if,  indeed,  those  who  excavated  it  cared  about  orientation.  But 
before  inquiring  into  the  origin  of  the  tomb  we  must  complete  the  state- 
ment of  facts  tliat  throw  light  upon  it.  These  are  of  two  kinds — the 
technical  details  connected  with  its  construction,  and  the  inscriptions 
found  in  it.     Let  us  return  to  the  entrance. 

The  situation  of  the  outer  door  with  refei'ence  to  the  vestibule,  and 
the  form  of  the  latter,  seem  to  indicate  a  later  adaptation  of  tliat 
chamber  to  a  purpose  not  originally  intended.  One  cannot  well  explain, 
as  an  entrance  to  a  subterranean  tomb,  that  opening,  tacked  on,  a.s  it 
were,  to  a  wall,  and  necessitating  an  inconvenient  flight  of  several  steps. 
Why  was  not  the  floor  lowered  by  continuing  the  outer  passage  to  the 
slope  of  the  hill  ?  or,  if  it  was  thought  necessary  to  lower  the  level  of  the 
vestibule  so  as  to  reach  a  better  bed  of  rock,  why  was  the  useless  task 
undertaken  of  raising  the  roof  in  accordance  with  the  lie  of  the  rock  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  compromise  its  stability  i  The  opening  at  one  end  of 
the  roof  is  too  much  out  of  harmony  with  the  other  details  to  have  been 
placed  there  for  lighting  purposes.     All  becomes  clear  if  the  hypothesis 

^  "  liibl.  Res.,"  Lonilon,  Murray,  1856,  vul.  iii,  p.  254. 


NOTiCKs  OF  1'\)1;kI(;n   ri'ni.KATiiiNs.  :;i:; 

(if  M.  (  'It-nnont-Gainioau  be  adoijtt'd,  tliat  tlie  n^Lunda  was  an  old  ciHteni 
sek'cU'd  as  the  starting  jxiint  for  a  lar^^e  burial  phui-.  Tli,.  ori<,'inal 
mouth,  being  rendered  useless  by  tlie  construction  <»f  an  entrance,  was 
enlarged  so  as  to  give  light.  The  ciicnlar  form  is  comparatively  comiiK.n 
in  cisterns,  and  there  is  no  need  to  attiiliute  to  it  a  Canaanite  oi'igin. 

No  tomb  has  been  found  in  the  vestibule,  nor  in  the  perpendicular 
])assages,  and  the  great  gallery  must  be  reached  to  find  the  io/li„i,  or 
tombs  cut  ])erpendicularly  into  the  face  of  the  rock.  Let  us  enter  bv 
jKissage  1>,  which  is  the  most  obstructed,  for  earth  has  fallen  in  through  a 
fracture  in  the  roof.  At  B'  (d)  in  the  north  wall,  M.  (ianneau  has 
l)oiuted  out  the  commencement  of  a  gallery  which  might  complete 
"  the  symnjetry  of  the  circular  plan  "  ("  Archl.  Ees.,"  p.  348),  and 
contain  undisturbed  tombs.  No  clearance  has  been  made  since  ;  tin- 
rubbish  must,  on  the  contrary,  have  increased,  for  we  could  not  confirm 
the  existence  of  the  supposed  gallery.  One  would  have  to  presume  that 
it  was  at  a  much  lower  level  than  the  other  galleries,  for,  about  two 
metres  l)elow  their  roofs,  its  o])eniug  is  not  visible.  Moreover,  the  com- 
pletion of  the  circular  plan  would  be  ditKcult  <m  account  of  the  raj)id  fall 
of  the  rock,  and,  in  any  case,  it  would  have  been  irregular  in  the  o])posite 
section  towards  the  passage  H  In  the  absence  of  ])roofs,  which  could  be 
easily  supplied  by  excavation,  it  would  be  simpler  to  admit  the  existence 
of  one  or  moi'e  kokim.  The  series  of  visible  tombs  commences  near  this 
point.  The  mouths  of  the  loculi  are  on  a  level  w'ith  the  floor  and  very 
low,  the  mean  being  0'45  metre,  and  they  have  a  nearly  uniform  width 
of  ()'65  metre.  Their  heads  are  slightly  curved,  but  they  show  no  traces 
of  i-abbets  to  receive  flat  closing  stones.  I  only  noticed  one  case,  the 
western  loculus  of  chamber  F,  in  which  that  mode  of  closure  could  have 
existed.  The  "  ovens"  {L-oktm)  iim  into  the  rock  at  right  angles.  They  aie 
excavated  with  little  care,  and,  apparently,  widen  or  contract,  accoiding 
to  the  greater  or  less  resistance  which  the  rock  offered  to  the  miner. 
They  have  never  had  a  coating  of  hamra.  Their  mean  length  is  about 
1-95  metres,  and  they  are  usually  slightly  rounded  at  the  end.  A  detail, 
hitherto  not  pointed  out  and  perhaj^s  of  some  importance,  is  their  unusual 
<lei)th,  and  their  division  into  three  floors  by  insets  in  the  rock  that 
appear  to  have  carried  slabs  of  stone.  The  sketches  published  in  the 
great  Avork  of  the  English  engineers  ("  Ordnance  Survey  of  Jeru.salen)," 
Plate  XXIV,  Nos.  6,  7)  only  give  this  arrangement  aiiproximately.  It 
is  not  always  apparent  in  the  present  state  of  the  necropolis,  l)ut  nearly 
everywhere  traces  of  it  can  be  seen,  and  in  some  tombs  it  is  quite  clear. 
It  reminds  one  of  the  Koman  catacombs  with  their  loculi,  each  containim,' 
a  body,  arranged  in  tiers  one  above  the  other.  Admitting  the  existence 
of  some  means  of  closing  the  loculus  when  filled,  one  might  readily 
suppose  that  each  grave  of  the  Kabtir  el-'-Aiihid  received  several  bodies 
one  above  the  other — two  at  least  and  perhaps  three.  This  detail,  quite 
probable,  is  of  value  for  the  later  discussion  on  the  origin  of  the  toml). 
It  is  urther  the  only  instance  known  to  me  in  Palestine  of  a  tomb  si> 
arranged.     At  most  one  might  comjiare  ir.  with  that   known  at  .Terusalem 


:314 


NOTICES   OF   FOKEIGX    TUBLICATIONS. 


.'IS  the  "  tomb  of  St.  Simon,"  aiui  in  the  Gi'eek  Orthodox  Church  as 
Kutamun.  Yet  the  analogy  would  be  imperfect,  for  there  is  here  only 
a  single  inset  to  carry  a  slab  on  which,  perhaps,  rubble  masonry  was 
piled  to  protect  the  body.  One  might  cite  the  Xabatiiean  tombs  at 
Ft'tra  which  have  in  some  cases  been  closed  by  three  slabs,  one  above  the 
other,  but  the  intervals  between  them  were  filled  with  masonry.  It  was 
a  pi'ecautionary  measure,  added  to  many  others  to  mislead  treasure- 
hunters,  and  preserve  the  inviolability  of  the  tomb.  If  this  had  been 
done  in  the  Tombs  of  the  Prophets  some  traces  of  the  masonry  would 
have  been  left.  In  any  case  the  precaution  would  have  been  useless,  as 
the  position  of  the  tomb  was  in  no  way  concealed  on  the  outside. 


lOMCTREi 


The  openings  of  tlie  kCikhn  are  as  a  rule  0"6")  metre  wide,  but  in 
some  rare  exceptions  they  are  oniy  0"55  metre.  Their  distribution 
along  the  wall  is  very  vinequal,  especially  from  B'  to  D.  Beyond  this 
they  are  0"8()  metre,  0"75  metre,  and  ()"70  metre  apart.  Intervals  of 
0'65  metre  and  of  1  metre  ai'e  very  rare.  At  o,  where  the  gallery  makes 
.such  an  abrupt  turn,  one  expected  to  find  a  kol\  but  nothing  can  be  seen 
except  a  shallow  cutting  in  the  rock.  Perhaps  the  work  was  abandoned 
when  it  was  found  that  there  was  scmie  risk  of  l)reaking  into  the 
adjoining  tomb  in  the  main  gallery.  Had  the  chambei',  which  opens 
at  D,  any  bearing  on  the  deviation  in  the  course  of  the  semi-circulai* 
pas.sage  which,  up  to  this  point,  is  regular  ?  Schick  thought  so.  He 
considers  this  chamber  to  be  "of  Jewish  origin  and  jirobably  older  than 
other  portions  of  the  tomb."  '     The  {)lan  which  he  gives  would  prove  the 

'  Quarterly  Statemeni,  1893,  p.  131.  He  had,  bowcvcr,  previously 
remarked  that  the  round  form  is  Canaanite,  and  the  square  Jewish.  The 
chamber  should  thus  be  later  than  tlie  gallery. 


MniCKS    OF    rollHlGN    I'l.lilJUATlUNS.  'MT, 

contrary,  for  it  shows  that  the  Ivtliti  wviv  arrai)j,'e<l  with  I  lie  'rieatt-st 
care,  so  that  they  .sliouUl  not  break  thiouj^li  thi,-  lower  tonil)  or  tlie  wall 
oi  the  passage,  which,  liowever,  w:is  afterwards  broken.  'J'heie  is, 
however,  no  eontradiction  between  tlie  text  and  the  plan,  for  the  ]>\:in  at 
this  point  is  inaccurate.  M.  de  Saulcy,  struck  by  this  peculiarity  of  the 
sepulchre,  found  a  reason  for  it  which  would  liave  Ix-eii  siiftiriciit  if  it 
had  been  real.  "At  this  point,-"  he  wrote,  "the  rock-wall,  thanks  to  the 
presence  of  beds  of  flint,'  were  so  difficult  to  cut  that  tiie  ^'eneral  idea 
was  abandoned.  Foui-  rude  irregular  steps  were  cut  in  the  rock,  and  led 
to  a  small  s([uare  chamber  with  2-30-mutre  sides.  The  walls  of  the  latter 
are  pierced  by  five  'oven'  tombs"  ("Voyage  Autour  <le  la  Mer  Mortc," 
p.  284).  Whether  tlie  rude  steps  are  cut  in  the  rock  is  doubtful— a  few 
blows  with  a  jiick  would  sliow  ;  1)ut  I  could  not  see  the  beds  of  Hint. 
The  soft,  fine-grained  wliite  limestone  was  visible  everywhere.  After  a 
clo.se  examination,  it  seemed  to  me  most  probable  that  the  chamber  was 
excavated  at  the  same  time  as  the  remainder  of  the  tomb.  Its  pre- 
existence,  which  would  account  for  the  cliange  in  tlie  direction  of  the 
gallery,  raises  serious  difficulties,  of  which  the  princi])al  one  arises  from 
the  arrangement  of  the  l:6l-lm.  The  rock-wall  on  the  side  of  the  "allerv 
being  only  a  metre  thick,  the  "oven"  tondi  on  that  side,  already  shorter 
than  usual,  enters  the  wall  at  an  angle  so  as  not  to  break  throufdi  it. 
The  two  tombs  on  the  east  are  regular,  whilst  that  to  the  south,  which  is 
blocked  up,  may  be  the  door  of  another  chambei-,  or  the  exit.  The 
rudimentary  excavation  on  the  west  can  only  be  an  abandoned  attempt 
to  make  a  tomb.  Was  the  rock  too  bad  or  did  some  circumstance  iirevent 
the  completion  of  the  operation  I  I  think  it  was  .stojjped  through  fear  of 
breaking  into  the  adjoining  tomb  at  a  lower  level.  The  form  of  the 
chamber  is  another  objection  to  its  prior  existence.  Its  laro-e  sides  are 
2"15  metres  and  2'33  metres,  but  it  is  not  regular.  Its  heirrht  rarelv 
exceeds  1  metre,  and  its  original  entrance  would  have  to  be  jjlaced  at  the 
opening  on  the  south,  which,  considering  its  position  on  the  hill,  would 
have  been  a  bad  arrangement.  Let  us  ho[)e  that  a  small  excavation  mav 
some  day  throw  light  on  the  subject.  Meantime  we  ma)',  if  we  like, 
imagine  an  alteration  of  the  chamber  to  coiniect  it  with  the  new  Iiurial 
place  of  which  it  had  so  inconveniently  deranged  the  pl.ui.  This  hvixi- 
thesis  would  account  foi- the  apiiearance  of  the  locidi  <m  the  north  and 
west. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  view  that  the  chamber  and  the  galleries  have 
the  same  origin  meets  the  difficulties  to  wdiich  allusion  has  been  niatle. 
Others  doubtless  exist.  It  is  necessary  to  find  a  reason  for  the  turn  in 
the  gallery  or  say  that  it  was  the  result  of  accident.  It  is  also  necessary 
to  justify  the  inconvenient  access  to  the  chamber,  and  its  position  at  this 
point  rather  than  at  another.  Without  sjiending  more  time  on  a  question 
which  may  be  .solved   to-morrow  by  research,  let   us  lay  stres>,  upon   the 

'  Gunneau  (•' Arclil.  Eci.,'  p.  332),  meutious  tliosc  llintsi,  or  toinctliinjj 
like  tlicm,  to  explain  tlie  elbow  matle  by  tlie  gallery,  but  ho  puts  forward 
no  hypothesis. 


316  NOTICES  01''  foi:ei<;n   I'UIJlicatioxs. 

fact  that  the  Q;raves  are  as  niuneious  a.s  pussiibk',  ami  that  little  care  was 
taken  in  making  them. 

The  chamber,  which  opens  at  the  end  of  the  passage  A  A',  has  the 
same  cliaracteristics.  The  ))as.sage,  2"10  metres  long,  which  leads  to  it, 
looks  like  a  lengthened  "  oven  "  tomb.  At  the  bottom  of  the  passage, 
which  was  closed  by  a  large  door  0'62  metre  wide,  there  is  a  rectangnlar 
chamber  3"10  metres  by  2*75  metres.  Its  height  is  not  uniform,  and  it 
is  ditiiciilt  to  give  it  accurately  on  account  of  the  fractures  in  the  i-oof 
and  the  dtbris  which  covers  the  tloor.  The  walls  are  imjjerfectly  dressed, 
even  if  one  attributes  to  later  deterioi'atiou  the  large  hollows  which 
exist  in  places.  Thei-e  are  two  loculi — one  opposite  the  entrance 
which  has  a  depth  of  1"70  metres,  and  one,  which  is  larger  and  a 
little  less  irregulai',  in  the  west  wall.  M.  de  Saulcy's  plan  gives  onh' 
the  lirst,  and  M.  Schick's  only  the  second.  The  latter,  who  has 
written  "  Jewish  tomb ''  in  the  other  chamber,  marks  this  simply  as 
''  untinished." 

No  tomb  is  visible  in  the  rock-masses  isolated  by  the  intersection  of 
the  galleries.  There  may,  however,  be  some  which  are  still  concealed 
by  the  rubbish.  Towards  the  middle  of  the  inner  gallery  a  kind  of 
high,  wide  niche  has  been  cut  in  the  Avail.  The  Arabs,  from  its  form, 
call  it  lu.'ihid,  "  apse,"  and  the  bench  of  rock  which  it  surmounts  mastabah. 
It  is  curious  that  this  unexplained  recess  has  not  received  the  more 
appropriate  title  raihrdh.  Is  it  to  be  regarded  as  an  indication  of  some 
religious  cult  I  The  group  of  tombs  rf)iuid  the  chamber  F  might  well 
be  earlier  than  the  semi-circular  sejDulchre.  Evidence  of  this  might  be 
found  in  the  sudden  break  in  the  passage  E,  and  its  change  of  character 
to  pass  round  known  tombs,  which  had  to  be  spared  if  it  were  only  for 
fresh  interments.  The  form  of  the  tombs  also  j^resents  some  peculiari- 
ties. I  have  already  mentioned  the  mode  of  closing  the  western  loculus 
of  the  first  chamber.  One  might  add  the  slightly  better  dressing,  the 
stone  bench  in  front  of  the  walls,  and  the  "  tiough  "  grave  of  the  inner 
chamber.  It  is  true  that  this  last  feature,  combined  with  the  somewhat 
oval  form  of  the  room,  might  be  opposed  to  the  indications  of  an  eai'lier 
date.  The  plan  shows  the  relations  of  this  chamber  to  the  entrance  to 
the  ne<ro])olis.  If  the  kuklm  were  I'eplaced  by  "  trough  "  graves  and 
the  wall  of  the  chamber  was  not  straightened,  was  not  this  from  fear  of 
injuring  the  entrance'^  Every  theory  has  its  difficulties.  Perhaps  some 
new  fact  might  be  obtained  if  the  small  eastern  opening  of  F  were 
cleared  out.  It  has  not  the  usual  appearance  of  an  "  oven  "  grave,  and 
it  may  give  access  to  a  smaller  sepulchral  chamber,  or  to  a  better  con- 
cealed tomb.  The  I'emains  of  burials  \'isible  in  the  long  passage  have 
been  noticed  already,  and  do  not  forward  the  solution  of  the  prolilem 
connected  with  the  necropolis.  There  is  nothing  to  lie  gathered  from 
some  small   fragments  of   glass  and   ])ottery   which    I   collected  in  the 

M.  Clermont-Ganneau  was  the  first  to  collect  and  interpret  the 
inscriptions.      Attention   had   been  called  to  them   l)y  Waddington  and 


XOTICK.S   01'    I'dltKIcX    l'i;iil.lC.VTIoNS.  ;;,[- 

Di-  Vogiiu,'  who,  in  1862,  discovered  a  (rreek  ^-/-a/tVo,  ;t II, I  ,,i.c  in  i.ttlnM- 
old  Helnvw.  M.  (Janneaii,  In  spite  of  his  eHorts,  coidd  only  read  jiait  of 
llie  graffiti.  After  an  interval  of  25  years,  the  dilK<iilty  has  1),-,mi 
increased  l)y  the  injury  which  the  necropolis  lias  suffered.  An  luifi.r- 
tiinate  circumstance  has  now  niadi-  it  aliii..>i  inipossil.lr  ti>  read  them. 
When  the  Russians  bought  the  tonih,  the  dews  jih-aded  the  inscriptions 
in  their  huiguage  on  the  walls  as  a  jirescriptive  title  in  their  favour,  and 
it  was  decided  to  cut  these  claims  short.  A  new  coating  was  fiven  to 
the  lining  of  Immra,  and  this  effaced  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  other 
(iraffiti.  The  old  texts,  which  are  lightly  cut,  suffered  much,  but  they 
have  not  been  destroyed.  By  degrees  the  new  coat  of  plaster  has  beeii 
covered  with  other  names,  and  as  it  falls  in  dust  the  large  slender  letters 
reappear.     By  a  discreet  use  of  brushes  one  is  able  to  clear  them. 

Father  Vincent  gives  each  loculus  a  number,  lieginning  at  C.  Xos.  1 
to  16  are  between  C'-A'  ;  17  to  21  between  the  two  chandjers,  22  just 
beyond  chamber  D,  and  23  to  27  in  the  last  branch  of  the  gallery.-  The 
author  gives  M.  Ganneau's  readings  ("  Archl.  Res.,"  i,  pp.  342  #'),  with 
notes  upon  those  which  have  not  lieen  destroyed.*  He  states  that  his 
examination  of  the  tomb,  and  the  corrections  he  has  been  able  to  )iiake 
in  its  plan,  confirm  M.  Ganneau's  theory.  The  KahiXr  pJ-^Anhid  is  not  an 
ancient  Jewish  sepulchre,  appropriated  and  developed  l)y  Christians,  but 
a  tomb  excavated  in  the  fourtli  or  fifth  century  of  our  era  bv  some 
foreign  association  at  Jerusalem,  for  those  of  its  members  who  died  in 
the  Holy  City.  An  abandoned  cistern  was  probably  selected  as  the  place 
for  commencing  the  excavation,  and  a  semi-circular  form  was  given  to  it 
so  as  to  obtain  a  larger  number  of  graves.  The  same  idea  led  to  the 
adoption  of  the  koMm  characteristic  of  Jewish  tombs  in  preference  to 
the  usual  Christian  arcosolia.  There  is  no  proof  that  the  pohiandnum 
was  originally  used  by  a  Jewish  institution,  and  that  it  oidy  became 
Christian  property  at  a  later  period. 

C.  W.  W. 

>  "Le  Temple  de  Jerusalem,"  p.  132  and  PI.  37,  No.  2,  and  "  Inscriptions 
Gr.  et  Lat.  do  Syrie,"  No.  1'J03a.  Tlie  prior  notice  of  M.  de  Saulcy,  who 
writes  of  very  ancient  Hebrew  texts  mixed  with  Egyptian  demotic,  cannot  be 
taken  seriously. 

-  Counting  only  the  JcoJcini  in  the  senii-circular  galiei-y  ami  neglecting  tliose 
ill  the  chambers,  the  number  visible  is  27. 

^  See  Mr.  Maealister's  note  on  the  present  state  oC  the  inscriptions  in 
Qcarlerli/  Statemenf,  1901,  p.  22. 


o 


18 


Form  ok  Bequest  to  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund. 
I  give  to  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  London,  the  sum  of 


to  be  applied  towards  the  General  Work  of  the  Fund  ;  and  I  direct  that  the 
said  sum  be  paid,  free  of  Legacy  Duty,  and  that  the  Receipt  of  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  sliall  be  a  sufficient  discharge  to  my 
Executors. 


Si g nature  _ 


r- 
I 

Witnessex  -j  _ 
I 

l- 


'SOTY..— Three  Witne.ises  are  necessary  in  the  United  States  of  America; 
Tito  suffice  in  Great  Britain. 


>  >  »   >    1  >  * 


t  t  c  c  < 

C  I 

<  C  I 

C  1 

c  c  c  < 


t        c  t 


[Froi\t(Sfiicce. 


(Froiii  11  jilii'tn  bti  M'Ssrs.  Alfred  Ellis  end  Wafer;; 

Siu  Wai/ikk  Bksant,  Knt. 


QUAKTLKLY    Sj  ATKMKNT,    0(T(  i|!i;i;,    1901.*] 


THE 

PALESTINE    EXPLORATION    FUND. 


NOTES   AND    NEWS. 

The  next  Quarterh/  Sfatoaent  will  contain  the  opening  portion 
of  a  paper  on  "  Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre,"  by  Sir 
C.  Wilson.  The  paper  will  include  translations  from  early 
writers  who  have  noticed  the  two  Holy  Places,  and  an  examina- 
tion of  the  various  theories  which  have  been  advanced  with 
resrai'd  to  them. 


The  following-  information  respecting  the  water  supply  of 
Jerusalem,  extracted  from  private  correspondence,  may  be  of 
interest  to  the  subscribers  to  the  Fund  :  — 

The  deficiency  in  the  rainfall  in  Palestine  last  winter  led  to 
suck  a  serious  scarcity  of  water  at  Jerusalem,  that  the  municipality 
of  the  city  appealed  to  the  Sultan  for  assistance.  His  Imperial 
Majesty  at  once  ordered  that  £TG,000  should  be  set  apart  from 
the  revenues  of  the  "Evkaf  "  to  meet  the  cost  of  brimrinsr  water 
in  iron  pipes  to  Jerusalem  from  the  "  Sealed  Founttiin,"  near 
Solomon's  Pools.  The  work  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of 
M.  Franghia,  a  Greek  engineer,  who  has  ordered,  througli  a 
German  merchant  in  the  city,  20,000  metres  of  pipe  from  Belgium. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  when  the  work  will  be  completed,  but  in 
any  case  the  water  will  only  be  brought  to  the  Haram  esli-Sherif. 
and  the  lower  pai't  of  the  town,  and,  though  good  in  (juality,  it  will 
be  insufficient  in  quantity. 

Meantime,  to  alleviate  the  distress  amongst  the  ]>o()r,  the 
municipality,  at  the  suggestion,  we  believe,  of  Mr.  John  Dickson, 
H.B.M.'s  Consul  at  Jerusalem,  have  made  a  contract  with  tlie 
Railway  Company  to  bring  water  in  tanks  from  "  Philip's 
Fountain,"  or  froni  the  spring  at  Welejeh.      Instead,  however,  of 

X 


J20  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

building  a  reservoir  close  to  the  station  and  fittinj^  it  with  half  a 
dozen  brass  taps,  ihey  have  bnilt  a  small  cistern  by  the  side  of  the 
road  near  the  lowei-  ])Ool,  Birket  es-Sultan.  The  water  is  con- 
ducted i"rom  the  tank  wagons  at  the  station  to  the  cistern  by  a 
('arden  hose  and  is  thou  pumped  up  again  and  sold  to  the  poor  for 
one-third  piastre  the  skin.  This  has  been  a  great  boon  to  the 
poor. 

Notes  by  Dr.  C.  Schick  :— 

1.  Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  water  in  the  city,  the  fellahin  have 
bef>un  to  brintr  water  in  skins  laid  on  donkeys  from  the  various 
springs  at  some  distance  round,  as  from  Lifta,  'Ain  Karim,  'Ain 
Yalo,  and  'Ain  Haniyeh  on  the  one  side,  and  from  'Ain  Fara 
and  El  Bireh  on  the  otlier ;  also  carriages  bring  water  from 
El  Bireh  1  in  largo  boxes,  tinned  inside  and  properly  covered. 
The  two  following  works  have  been  undertaken  by  the  local 
authorities  : — 

(a)  In  the  south-western  corner  of  the  lower  ]>ool  or  Birket 
es-Sultan,  in  the  upper  ])art  of  the  "Valley  of  Hinnom,"  west  of 
the  city,  a  cistern,  about  40  feet  long  and  13  feet  wide  inside, 
has  been  l)uilt.  By  means  of  pipes  or  waterproof  hose  water 
from  the  spring  of  Walejch,  near  liittir,  which  is  higher  than 
the  railway,  is  conveyed  to  large  vessels  on  railway  trucks  and 
brought  to  the  station  at  Jerusalem,  whence  it  is  allowed  to  run 
through  similar  pipes  or  hose  into  this  new-made  cistern,  and  an 
oflico  has  been  opened  for  the  sale  of  this  water  at  a  cheap  and 
fixed  price. 

(b)  The  old,  woiai-out  earthen  pii)es  of  the  aqueduct  from 
Solomon's  Pools  are  to  be  removed,  and  replaced  by  iron  ones  of 
about  4  inches  (or  more)  in  diameter,  but  tliis  will  not  be  of  any 
service  this  year. 

2.  My  son-in-law  made  recently  a  tour  with  his  family  to 
Hebron  and  stayed  a  few  days  there.  He  told  me  the  springs 
there  are  veiy  scanty  and  some  even  dry,  but,  to  his  astonishment, 
he  found  water  in  the  so-called  house  of  Abraham  at  "  Uaniet  el- 
Khalil."  Some  people  are  now  living  there,  and  the  ground  round- 
about is  laid  out  for  gardens  and  cultivated.  It  seems  that  at 
the  bottom  or  on  the  sides  of  the  tine  round  well  there  there  is 

'  As  tlie  earrliigc  road  to  this  place  has  been  lluislied  about  four  weeks. 


NOTES    AND   NEWS.  321 

a  spring,  wliicli  must  be  perennial,  as  it  is  not  dried  np  in  suih 
a  dry  season  as  the  present.  I  think  it  may  be  Bor  Ha.ssirah 
("  the  well  of  Sirah,"  2  Samuel  iii,  26),  as  'Ain  Sara  is  too  near 
Hebron. 

3.  Some  friends  made  recently  a  tour  to  Beit  Atab  and  its 
neigbbourliood,  and  they  told  me  that  in  the  gardens  at  'Ain 
el-Tanniir  thei-e  are  such  large  and  fine  lemons  as  scarcely  will 
be  found  elsewhere  .south  of  Jaffa. 

4.  On  the  premises  of  Christ  Church  they  are  now  digging 
foundations  for  a  new  school  building,  and  have  found  the  rock 
in  the  narrow  laue  north  of  the  church,  about  40  feet  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  or  somewhat  lower  than  it  was  found  l)y 
me  at  the  minister's  house,  which  is  attached  to  the  north  side  of 
the  church.  Hence  it  appears  that  the  original  surface  of  the 
rock  sloped  northwards.  Hitherto  nothing  of  importance  has  been 
found. 


A  notice,  by  Dr.  ^fasterman,  of  an  interesting  discovery 
recently  made  by  the  villagers  of  Siloam  has  come  to  hand  as  we 
were  going  to  press.  Our  readers  may  remember  that  Dr.  Schick, 
ft  few  3'ears  ago,  traced,  for  some  distance,  the  course  of  an 
aqueduct  in  the  valley  of  the  Kidron,  which,  he  believed,  carried 
the  water  of  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  to  Siloam  before  the 
rock-hewn  tunnel  that  now  connects  the  spring  with  the  pool 
was  made.  The  villagers,  working  under  one  of  the  men,  Jum'aa, 
trained  by  Dr.  Bliss,  have  found  the  upper  part  of  an  aqueduct, 
apparently  connected  with  that  discovered  by  Dr.  Schick,  near 
the  spring,  and  Dr.  Masterman  and  Mr.  Hornstein  have  followed 
its  coui"se  downward  for  176  feet.  Excavations  are  beiusr  con- 
tinued,  and  it  is  expected  that  further  discoveries  will  be  made. 
Dr.  Masterraan's  notice,  with,  it  is  hoped,  additional  information, 
will  be  published  in  the  next  Quarterly  Statement. 


The  "  Flora  of  Sp-ia,  Palestine,  and  Sinai,"  by  the  Rev. 
George  E.  Post,  M.D.,  Beirut,  Syria,  containing  descriptions  of 
all  the  Phaenogams  and  Acrogens  of  the  region,  and  illustrated 
by  441  woodcuts,  may  be  had  at  the  office  of  the  Fund,  price  21.<. 


In  order  to  make  up  complete  sets  of  the  "  Quarterly  Statement,^' 
the  Committee  tcill  be  very  glad  to  receive  any  of  the  back  numbers. 

.\  '2 


322  NOTES   AND   NEWS. 

The  income  of  the  Society  from  June  20th  to  September  21st, 
1901,  was — from  Annual  Subscriptions  and  Donations,  including- 
Local  Societies,  £157  O.s.  Id.  ;  f i-om  Lectures,  nil ;  from  sales  of 
publications,  &c.,  £9G  95.  \(l. ;  total,  £253  9s.  8(^  The  expen- 
diture during  the  same  period  was  £381  9i'.  8rf.  On  September 
21st  the  balance  in  the  Bank  was  £236  Os.  3(Z. 


Subscribers  in  U.S.A.  to  the  work  of  the  Fund  will  please 
note  that  they  can  procure  copies  of  any  of  the  publications  from 
the  Rev.  Professor  Theo.  F.  Wright,  Honorary  General  Secretary 
to  the  Fund,  42,  Quincy  Street,  Cambridge,  Mass. 


The  Committee  will  be  glad  to  communicate  with  ladies  and 
gentlemen  willing  to  hel}^  the  Fund  as  Honorary  Secretaries. 


The  price  of  a  complete  set  of  the  translations  published  by  the  Palestine 
Pilgrims'  Text  Society,  in  13  volumes,  with  general  index,  bound  in  cloth, 
is  £10  lO.s.  A  catalogue  describing  the  contents  of  each  volume  can  be  had 
on  application  to  the  Seci-etary,  38  Conduit  Street. 


The  Museum  at  the  ofSce  of  the  Fund,  38  Conduit  Street  (a  few  doors 
from  Bond  Street),  is  open  to  visitors  every  week-day  from  10  o'clock  till  5, 
except  Saturdays,  when  it  is  closed  at  2  p.m. 


It  may  be  well  to  mention  that  plans  and  photographs  alluded  to  in  the 
reports  from  Jerusalem  and  elsewhere  cannot  all  be  published,  but  all  are 
preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Fund,  where  they  may  be  seen  by  subscribers. 


While  desiring  to  give  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. 


ToUKiSTS  are  cordially  invited  to  visit  the  Loan  Collection  of  "Antiques"' 
in  the  Jeeusalem  Association  Room  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund, 
opposite  the  Tower  of  David,  Jerusalem.  Hours :  8  to  12,  and  2  to  6. 
Maps  of  Palestine  and  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  publications  are  kept  for 
sale. 

Photographs  of  Dr.  Schick's  models  (1)  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  (2)  of 
the  Herodian  Temple,  (3)  of  the  Haram  Area  during  the  Christian  occupation 
of  Jerusalem,  and  (4)  of  the  Haram  Area  as  it  is  at  present,  have  been  received 
at  the  office  of  the  Fund.     Sets  of  these  photographs,  with  an  explanation  by 


NOTES   AN'I)    N1<:W.S.  .'joy 

Dr.    Schiflf,    can    bo    punliago.l    hy    applviiii,'    lo    tlie    Sec-rotary,    38    Conduit 
Street,  W. 


Branch  Associations  of  tlio  Bible  Society,  all  Sunday  Schoole  witJiin 
the  Sunday  School  Institute,  the  Sunday  School  Union,  and  the  Weslcyan 
Sunday  School  Institute,  will  please  observe  that  by  a  special  Resolution  of  the 
Committee  they  will  lienceforth  be  treated  as  subscribers  and  be  allowed  to  pur- 
chase the  books  and  maps  (by  application  only  to  the  Secretary)  at  reduced 
price. 


The  Committee  will  be  glad  to  receive  donations  of  Books  to  tlie  Library 
of  the  Fund,  which  already  contains  many  works  of  great  value  relating  to 
Palestine  and  other  Bible  Lands.  A  catalogue  of  Books  in  the  Library  will 
be  found  in  the  July  Quarterit/  Statement,  1893. 


The  Committee  acknowledge  with  thanks  the  following  : — 
"Recueil  d'Archt'ologie  Orientale."  Tome  IV,  Livraisons  17,  18,  19,  20, 
21,  June  to  August.  Sommaire  :— §  51.  Sur  quelques  cachets 
israclites  archaiques  (suite  et  fin).  §  52.  Dolmens  et  monuments  de 
picrres  brutes  en  Palestine.  §  53.  Bostra  et  son  mur  d'enceinte 
nabateen.  §  54.  Sur  quelques  uoms  de  vetements  chez  les  Arabes  de 
Palestine.  §  55.  Urne  punique  avec  inscription  a  I'encre.  §  56.  La 
carte  de  la  Terre  Promise  d'apres  la  mosaique  de  Madeba.  §  57.  La 
destruction  du  Saint-Sepulcrc  par  le  calife  Hakem  et  inscription 
coufique  de  la  basilique  de  Constautin.  §  58.  Inscription  romaine  de 
Niha.  §  59.  Le  droit  des  pauvres  et  le  cycle  pentaeterique  chez  les 
Nabateens.  §  60.  Les  ccrfs  mangeurs  de  serpents.  §  Gl.  Xotes 
de  mythologie  semitique.  §  02.  La  stele  phenicienne  d'Amrith 
(a  suivre).     From  the  Author,  Ch.  Clermont-Ganneau. 


Form  ov  Bequkst  to  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund. 

I  give  to  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  London,  the  sum  of 


to  be  applied  towards  the  General  Work  of  the  Fund  ;  and  I  direct  that  the 
said  sum  be  paid,  free  of  Legacy  Duty,  and  that  the  Receipt  of  the  Treasurer 
of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  shall  be  a  8ufficient  discharge  to  my 
Executors, 

Signature 

r 

Witnesses  \ 

I 

L 


Note. —  Three  Witnesses  are  neiessari/  in  the  United  States  of  America  i 
Two  suffice  in  Qreat  Britain. 


324 


ANNUAL  MEETING. 

The  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Fund  was  held  at  No.  38  Conduit 
Street,  W.,  on  Tuesday,  July  16th,  1901,  Mr.  Walter  Morrison  in 
the  chair.  There  were  present : — Yiscount  Sidmouth,  Dr.  Chaplin, 
Rev.  "\Vm.  Henry  Rogers,  D.D.,  Professor  Hull,  Mr.  J.  D.  Crace,. 
Mr.  W.  H.  Rylands,  Mr,  H.  C.  Kay,  Mr.  Herbert  Bentwich,  and 
others. 

The  Secretary  having  read  the  notice  convening  the  meeting. 
The  Chairmax  announced  that  lettei'S  had  been  received  from 
the  following  gentlemen  regretting  their  inability  to  attend : — 
Mr.  James  Glaisher,  Major-General  Sir  Charles  W.  Wilson,  the 
Dean  of  Westminster,  Canon  Tristram,  Professor  George  Adam 
Smith,  Mr.  James  Melrose,  Mr.  D.  MacDonald,  Rev.  W.  F.  Bii-cb^ 
Mr.  F.  D.  Mocatta,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Harrison. 
The  Chairman  read  the  Annual  Report : — 

Gentlemen, 

In  resigning  the  office  to  which  they  were  elected  at  the  last 
Annual  Meeting,  your  Executive  Committee  have  the  honour  to 
present  the  following  Report : — 

They  have  held  twenty-one  meetings  for  the  transaction  of 
business. 

Since  our  last  Annual  Meeting  the  Fund  has  had  to  deplore 
the  death  of  Her  Most  Gracious  Majesty  Queen  Victoria,  who  had 
been  Patron  of  the  Society  from  its  origin,  and  was  one  of  the 
earliest  contributors  to  its  funds.  The  late  Queen  recognised  that 
the  primary  object  of  the  Fund  was  to  aid  in  making  the  Bible 
better  understood  by  a  systematic  study  of  the  archa3ology,  natural 
history,  and  physical  geogi'aphy  of  the  Holy  Land,  as  well  as  the 
manners  and  customs  of  its  inhabitants,  and  it  was  because  the 
Palestine  Exploi'ation  Fund  sought  to  carry  on  such  investigations 
that  Her  Majesty  gave  it  her  patronage  and  support. 

It  is  with  much  satisfaction  that  the  Executive  Committee  are 
enabled  to  announce  that  the  King  has  been  graciously  pleased  to 
accede  to  the  request,  submitted  to  His  Majesty  by  the  President, 
that  he  would  become  Patron  of  the  Fund  in  succession  to  Her 
late  Majesty. 


ANNUAL   MKKXIXG.  :j2r» 

Tho  Committee  liave  also  fo  lament  (lie  In.s.s  by  deatli  of 
the  following'  members  of  the  General  Committee,  namely — -the 
Marquessof  Bute,  K.T.,  the  Bishop  of  liondon  (  Di.  ('reighton),  Sir 
H.  W.  Acland,  K.C.B.,  Mr.  Arthur  H.  ileywood;  and  the  follow- 
ing members  of  the  Executive  Committee,  namely — Sir  Walter 
Besant,  Mr.  Henry  A.  Harper,  and  ]\Ir.  Basil  Woodd  Smith. 

The  death  of  Sir  Walter  Besant  is  esiioeially  lamented,  on 
account  of  his  long  connection  with  the  Fund  as  Secretary  and 
Honorary  Secretary,  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  all  the  detail.s 
of  its  management,  his  sincere  and  deep  interest  in  its  work,  and 
the  cheerful  readiness  with  which  he  always  gave  his  advice  and 
help  when  appealed  to. 

The  excavations  at  Tell  Sandahannah  wci e  brought  to  a  close 
on  August  31st.  The  Firman  having  expired  shortly  afterwards, 
Dr.  Bliss  had  the  surface  of  the  Tell  restored  to  its  original 
condition,  and  then  proceeded  to  Beyrout,  whilst  Mr.  Macalister 
returned  to  England. 

Portions  of  their  reports  and  plans  have  aj)peared  from  time 
to  time  in  the  Quarterly  Statements  of  the  Fund,  and  they  are  at 
present  engaged  in  preparing  a  full  account  of  the  excavations  at 
Tell  Zakariyji,  Tell  es-Safi,  Tell  ej-Judeideh,  and  Tell  Sandahannah 
under  the  recent  Firman.  The  woi'k  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  published 
early  next  year.  It  will  form  a  companion  volume  to  the 
"Memoirs,"  and  will  contain  over  100  full-sized  ])lates  of  plans, 
pottery,  &c.,  besides  woodcuts.  The  specimens  of  pottery  have 
been  dravv^n  to  scale  by  Mr.  Macalister,  and  will  form  a  guide  to 
the  classification  of  future  finds  of  pottery  in  Palestine. 

At  Tell  Sandahannah  the  foundations  of  a  small  walled 
Seleucidan  town  were  laid  bare  and  planned,  with  its  gates, 
streets,  houses,  reservoirs,  &c.  During  the  progress  of  the  works 
some  fine  specimens  of  lamps,  vases,  and  jars,  three  important 
fragments  of  Seleucidan  inscriptions,  50  stones  with  in.sciiptions 
in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  a  group  of  small  figures  in  lead  were 
found.  Casts  of  the  stones  have  been  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Professor  Wiiusch,  of  Breslau,  who,  in  a  preliminary  report 
respecting  them,  writes  : — 

"  In  spite  of  all  lacunar,  these  stones  furnish  us  with  sufficient 
information  to  enable  us  to  declare  their  general  meaning.  It 
was  an  ancient  Greek  practice  for  a  man  wlio  conceived  himself 


326  ANNUAL   MEETING. 

to  have  suffered  wroiii>'  to  tleposit  ;i  statement  of  the  facts  of  the 
case  in  some  sauctuaiy,  tlius  making  a  sort  of  appeal  to  the  god 
from  whose  inexorable  justice  he  hoped  to  receive  satisfaction. 
The  existence  of  this  custom  is  proved  by  numberless  documents, 
the  earliest  of  which  is  the  papyrus  of  Artemisia,  dating,  perhaps, 
from  the  third  century  n.C.  (see  Thompson's  '  Handbook  of 
PaliBography,'  p.  119),  Avhich  has  at  last  been  printed  in  the 
'  Corpus  Tnscr.  Attic.,'  App.,  p.  xxxi.  In  this  papyrus,  which  she 
deposited  in  the  Temple  of  Serapis,  Artemisia  informs  the  god 
that  the  father  of  her  children  refused  to  see  about  the  burial  of 
their  little  daughter.  '  When  he  has  done  justice  to  nie  and  to 
his  children  in  tbis  matter,  then  all  shall  be  well ;  but  should  ho 
do  injustice  to  me  and  his  children  in  this  matter,  then  may 
Serapis  and  the  other  gods  forbid  that  either  his  children  shall 
bury  him  or  that  he  shall  bury  his  parents.'  And  as  in  this  case 
the  appeal  to  Heaven  works  out  into  a  curse  on  the  sinner,  so  also 
in  the  Bruttian  lead  tablet  ('  C.I. A.,'  App.,  p.  ix),  on  which  a 
woman  informs  the  goddess  (probably  Hecate)  that  she  has  been 
robbed,  and  the  thief  shall  never  have  a  quiet  moment  until  she 
restores  to  the  goddess  what  she  has  stolen. 

"  A  whole  collection  of  such  lead  tablets  has  been  brought  to 
light  of  late  by  the  excavations  in  Cnidus,  They  were  first  pub- 
li.shed  by  Newton,  in  'A  History  of  Discoveries  at  Halicarnassus, 
Cnidus,  and  Branchidic,'  vol.  ii,  part  2,  p.  719,  and  lately  in  the 
'  C.I. A.,'  App.,  p.  X.     The  first  of  these  tablets  runs  thus : — 

"'A  vow  of  Antigone  to  Demeter,  Kore,  Pluto,  and  to  all  the 
gods  and  goddesses  of  Demeter's  court.  If  I  have  given  poison  to 
Asclepiades,  or  have  the  thought  of  doing  him  any  evil,  or  if  I 
have  given  oue  of  the  temple  women  a  mina  and  a  half  to  send 
him  out  of  the  world,  then  may  Antigone  be  consumed  with 
inward  fire  until  she  comes  to  Demeter  and  confesses  her  sin,  and 
may  Demeter  not  be  gracious  unto  her,  but  rack  her  with  grievous 
torments.' 

"  The  inscribed  stones  from  Tell  Sandahannah  belonsf  to  the 
same  categor}-.  The  exact  formula  of  the  curse  we  do  not  know  ; 
but  we  do  know  well  the  matters  wherein  the  Avriters  were 
injured." 

An  application  for  a  new  Finnnn  to  examine  a  well-known 
site  was  sent  through  the  Foreign  Office  on  February  26th.     The 


ANNUAL    MKKTINC.  327 

Committee  liave  reason  to  liope  llial  slioitly  a  f.-ivoiirahlu  replj  will 
be  received.  Mr.  Macjilister,  who  lias  already  i-endered  ji^ood 
service  to  the  Fund,  will  lie  in  oliarp^e. 

Some  interesting  observations  by  Gray  Hill,  Ks(j.,  on  tlie  i-iso 
and  fall  of  the  waters  of  the  Dead  Sea,  which  were  recoi-ded  in 
the  July  Quarterly  Statement  of  last  year,  have  jy^iven  rise  to 
considerable  curiosity  with  rej^ard  to  the  oiMgin  and  nature  of 
th(i  fluctuations  of  level  in  the  surface  oP  the  Deail  .Sea.  The 
Committee,  at  the  suggestion  of  Sir  C.  Wilson,  instructed 
Mr.  Macalister  to  cut  a  mark  on  a  rock,  washed  by  the  waters  of 
the  lake,  from  which  the  level  of  the  surface  could  be  measured 
and  its  monthly  fluctuations  ascertained.  On  October  9th,  1900, 
Mr.  Macalister  cut  a  horizontal  mark  on  a  rock  near  'Ain  Feshkah, 
at  a  height  of  14  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  lake  on  that  day. 
Monthly  observations  liave  been  taken  since,  and  the  results  will 
be  published  when  the  observations  for  a  year  have  been  received 
and  compared  with  those  taken  at  Tiberias  and  with  the  rainfall. 

Dr.  Torrance  has  made  a  similar  mark  at  Tiberias,  and  has 
made  arrangements  for  monthly  observations  of  the  rise  and  fall 
of  the  sui'face  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee. 

Apart  from  reports  of  the  systematic  researches  of  the  Officers 
of  the  Fund,  the  Quarterly  Statements  contain  valuable  reports 
and  articles  by  well-known  scholars  and  explorers. 

Mr.  F.  B.  Welch  has  contributed  a  paper  on  "  The  Influence 
of  the  ^gean  Civilisation  on  South  Palestine  ";  Dr.  Samuel  Ives 
Curtiss,  a.  description  of  a  "  High  Place  and  Altar  at  Petra," 
which  was  rediscovered  by  Professor  G.  L.  Robinson,  Ph.D.,  of 
Chicago  ;  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Hanauer,  an  account  of  the  discovery  of 
ancient  "  Rock-hewn  Vats  near  Bir  Eyiib,"  and  other  papers  ; 
Mr.  Jeunings-Bramley,  a  descriptioTi  of  "  Sport  among  the 
Bedawin";  the  Rev.  Putnam  Cady,  a  valuable  account  of  an 
"Exploration  of  the  Wady  Mojib  from  the  Dead  Sea"';  the 
Rev.  John  Zeller,  a  "  Lecture  on  the  Bedawin." 

Mr.  P.  Baldensperger's  interesting  papers  on  "Woman  in  the 
East"  have  been  concluded,  and  Dr.  Schick  has  contributed 
articles  on  "  The  Ancient  Churches  in  the  Muristan,"  ''  Kubeibeh," 
by  some  supposed  to  be  the  ancient  Emmaus,  and  many  para- 
graphs for  "  Notes  and  News." 


o 


28  ANNUAL   MEETING. 


M.  Clermont- Ganneau  has  coraraenced  his  series  of  Archaeo- 
logical and  p]pigraphic  Notes,  and  the  following  have  already  been 
published : — 

].  Seal  of  the  Leper  Hospital  of  .St.  Lazarus,  Jerusalem. 
2.  Rhodian  not  Jewish  Amphora  Handles.  3.  Inscription  from 
the  Columbarium  es-Siik.  4.  Roman  Inscriptions  on  a  Jerusalem 
Aqueduct.  5.  Greek  Inscription  from  Beersheba.  G.  The  Land 
of  Promise,  mapped  in  mosaic  at  Madeba.  7.  The  Cufic  Inscrip- 
tion in  the  Basilica  of  Constantine  and  the  Destruction  of  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  by  the  Caliph  Hakcm. 

During  the  regrettable  illness  of  the  Chairnum,  Mr.  Glaisher^ 
Sir  Chai'les  AVilsou  has  acted  as  Vice-Chairman.  He  has  also 
contributed  notices  on  foreign  publications  and  other  matters  to 
the  Quarterlij  Statement. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  His  Excellency  Hamdi  Bey,  the 
Director  of  the  Imperial  Museum  at  Constantinople,  the  Com- 
mittee have  received  duplicates  of  some  of  the  objects  found 
during  the  recent  excavations  of  the  Fund.  The  duplicates 
include  Jewish  and  Rhodian  stamped  jar-handles,  some  of  the 
curious  little  figures  in  lead  which  M.  Clermont-Ganneau  supposes 
wore  intended  to  repi'esent  persons  against  whom  incantations 
were  directed  {Quarterly  Statement,  1901,  p.  58),  lamps,  and 
pottery  of  various  ages.  All  have  been  placed  in  the  Museum  of 
the  Fund  at  38  Conduit  Street. 

The  small  Library  and  Museum  of  the  Fund  at  Jerusalem  has 
recently  been  moved  to  a  lai'go  room  in  St.  George's  College, 
which  has  most  kindly  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Fund 
by  the  Right  Rev.  G.  Popbam  Bl^th,  D.D.,  Anglican  Bishop  i» 
Jerusalem,  acting  for  the  Anglican  College  Council. 

Since  the  last  Annual  Meeting  59  names  have  been  added  to 
the  list  of  subscribers,  and  118  have  been  lost  through  death  and 
other  causes. 

Our  warmest  thanks  are  due  to  the  honorary  local  secretaries 
for  their  generous  help  in  collecting  and  forwarding  subscriptions 
to  the  office  of  the  Fund. 

The  following  is  the  Treasurer's  Statement,  Avhich  was  pub- 
lished with  the  Balance  Sheet  in  the  April  number  of  the 
Quarterly  Statement :  — 


ANNUAL   MKETINO. 


320 


THP:    TREASURER'S    STATEMENT. 

Tlic  iiicoiiic  (if  tlic  Fund  during  tlic  year  1900  amounted  to  £2,521)  6*.  llr/., 

uliich  \v;is  (■(iiiliubulcd  under  tlic  t'ldlowiiii;  hciulings  : — 

From  Doiiiitious  and  Subscrijitions,  ,Cl,!t'.tO  7«.  5i(/.  ;  from  Li'i^turc", 
£11  5a-.  ChL;  I'rom  sales  of  publieations,  £518  V.ix.  \li<L  At  the  end  of  IHtCJ 
tlicre  was  a  balance  in  the  bank  of  £241  5*.  -id.,  wliicli  included  £tl  11*.  M. 
|)nid  in  advance  for  1900,  making  the  fcolal  available  balance  £2,770  ]2.».  M. 

On  eoniparing  these  sums  with  those  of  189'J  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
subscriptions  arc  less  by  £82  10*.  Od.,  and  sales  of  publieations  by  £91  5s.  Od., 
nearly. 

The  expenditure  during  the  same  period  was: — 

On  exploration,  mainly  carried  on  at  Tells  Safi,  Judeiileli,  and  Sanilabaunah, 
descriptions  of  which  appeared  in  the  Quarfcrlj/  kStatemcnl,  £1,063  9.v.  Od. 

On  printing,  binding,  including  the  Quarterly/  Statement,  £301  0*.  3rf. 

On  nuips,  lithographs,  illustrations,  photographs,  &e.,  £200  l-i.  Old., 
which  included  a  reprint  of  the  12  and  20-sheet  Old  and  IS'cw  Testament  maps, 
collotyi)e  print,  &e. 

Against  these  two  suma  (£600  7*.  S^d.).  the  Fund  received  £518  13*.  lljrf. 

On  advei-tising,  insurance,  stationery,  &c.,  £?9  12.y.  Oirf. 

On  postage  of  the  Quart crli/  Statement,  books,  maps,  &c.,  £131  12.*.  Id. 

On  the  management,  which  includes  salaries,  wages,  ofRcc  rent,  gas,  coaU, 
cS!c.,  £594  3.9.  lid. 

The  balance  in  the  Bank  on  December  31st,  1900,  was  £291  7*.  Wd. 


Assets. 

Balance  in  Bank,  Decem- 
ber 31st,  1900. . 

Stock  of  Publications  in 
hand,  Surveying  In- 
struments, Show  Cases, 
Furniture,  &c. 

In  addition  there  is  tlie 
valuable  library  and 
the  unique  collection  of 
antiques,  models,  &c. 


£       .V.  d. 

291     7  11 


Liabilities. 

£    *.     d. 

Printers'  Billsand  Current 

Expenses  . .  . .     605  10     4 


Waltee  Moruison,  Treasurer. 


The  amount  received  from  America  through  the  Ilev.  I'rofcssor 
Theodore  F.  Wright,  Honorary  Geuenil  Secretary,  was  from — 

Z      .S-.     d. 
Subscriptions    .  .  .  .  . .  •  •  •  •      '-l*^     ^     ^' 

Sales  of  publications  . . 


31  15     4 


Total 


'J  11    !•■ 


330  ANNUAL   MEETING. 

The  Chaih.man. — The  first  business  which  we  have  is  to  con- 
sider the  Report,  and  T  have  to  ask  the  gentlemen  present  to  be 
good  enough  to  adopt  it.  It  is  with  great  regret  tliat  I  find 
I  have  to  take  the  chair  to-day.  You  are  probably  aware  that 
]\Ir.  Glaishei-  is  getting  well  on  in  years,  and  we  are  very  sorry 
that  illness  prevents  his  being  present  heie  with  us  to-day.  All 
the  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  recognise  the  very 
great  services  which  he  has  rendered  to  the  Fund.  He  has 
been  a  most  admirable  Chairman  from  every  point  of  view,  very 
attentive  and  constant  in  his  attendance  on  the  Committees,  and 
doing  a  great  deal  of  work  outside  the  Committee  meetings.  He 
is  a  man  well  known  in  the  scientific  world,  known  all  over 
Europe,  and  we  of  the  Executive  Committee  recognise  fully 
his  administrative  ability,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  was  able 
to  make  things  go  well.  From  the  tone  of  his  letter  we  hope 
that  he  will  be  again  able  to  attend  our  meetings. 

Sir  Charles  Wilson  is  away  in  Wales,  and  so  my  colleagues  on 
the  Executive  Committee  have  been  good  enough  to  ask  me  to 
take  the  chair  to-day  as  being  the  oldest  member  present  on  the 
Committee  and  also  as  Treasurer  of  the  Fund.  I  am  sure  you 
will  agree  with  us  in  deploring  the  loss  of  Sir  Walter  Bcsant. 
When  this  Fund  was  first  established  Mr.  George  Grove  was  our 
honorary  secretary.  Some  of  you  will  recollect  Mr.  Grove  as 
a  man  of  very  great  ability,  with  a  large  amount  of  energy  and 
activity.  The  chief  defect  which  he  felt  in  the  constitution  of 
the  universe  was  that  there  were  only  24  hours  in  the  day. 
Mr.  Grove  had  that  unbounded  energy  which  led  him  to  be 
always  ready  to  take  up  any  work  in  which  he  felt  an  interest. 
He  was  secretary  of  the  Crystal  Palace  Company,  which  was 
quite  a  big  undertaking,  and  as  it  was  in  difficulties  it  gave  him 
a  great  deal  of  harassing  work,  and  at  that  time  he  had  a  number 
of  other  interests.  Also  the  remainder  of  us  who  were  on  the 
Executive  Committee  were  all  men  who  Avere,  and  are,  busy  in 
different  ways,  and  it  became  necessary  to  appoint  some  one,  on  a 
salary,  who  would  be  able  to  give  continuous  attention  to  the  work. 
I  remembei-,  and  T  mention  it  as  an  illustration  of  Mr.  George 
Grove's  willingness  to  undertake  work,  that  when  the  book  called 
"  The  Recovery  of  Jerusalem  "  was  being  written  he  gaily  agreed 
to  edit  it,  and  as  an  editor  of  tlie  "  Dictionary  of  the  Bible  "  he 
was  about  the  best  man  to  fulfil  that  task.     The  time  passed  on 


ANNUAL    MEKT1N(;.  3:51 

and  on,  and  wc  were  under  cuntnicl.  to  deliver  tluiL  Ijook  hy 
a  certain  date  to  the  pnblisliei-.  At  the  hist  moment  Mr.  Grove 
said  it  was  utterl^y  impossihlc  tor  him  lo  do  it.  As  there  was 
nobody  else  on  the  Committee  <i»  do  it  af  (lu-  time,  it  was  tlirown 
upon  me,  and  in  10  days  I  had  to  edit  that  book,  and  conse- 
quently was  compelled  to  work  at  it  10  or  12  hour.s  a  day. 
First  of  all,  I  had  to  cut  down  the  papers  to  about  one-third 
of  their  bulk  in  order  to  reduce  them  to  the  limited  space  to  be 
occupied.  I  also  had  to  reduce  all  the  transliteration  of  tiio 
Arabic  names  to  the  common  denominator,  thereby,  of  course, 
offending  every  one  of  the  writers. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Besant  came  home  from  Mauritius,  where 
he  had  been  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  Koyal  Collej,''c,  and 
was  appointed  Secretary  to  the  Fund.  His  {lerfect  knowledj^e  of 
French  was  of  much  service  to  us.  He  Avas  a  man  of  much 
ability,  and  soon  brought  the  affairs  of  the  Fund  into  order. 
He  established  a  regular  system  of  accounts,  and  started  the 
Quarterly  Statement.  He  had  the  literary  gift  which  enabled 
him  with  ease  to  throw  off  a  number  of  papers  and  prefaces, 
and  other  literary  work,  in  the  most  satisfactory  way  to  us 
and  to  the  members  of  the  Society.  And  then  also  we  had 
great  advantages  from  his  nature  ;  his  was  a  strong  and  simple 
character,  and  he  had  the  gift  of  sympathy ;  everybody  got 
on  well  with  him.  He  had  a  great  knowledge  of  men,  which 
must  have  stood  him  in  good  case  in  his  profession  of  novelist, 
and  he  seemed  to  have  the  gift  of  extracting  information 
in  a  quiet  way,  so  that  one  found  oneself  almost  insensibly 
obliged  to  give  up  everything  one  knew  of  the  matter  in  hand. 
Owing  to  his  other  avocations  Sir  Walter  was  not,  in  his  later 
years,  regular  in  his  attendance  here  in  the  Committee  Room  ; 
but  Ave  could  always  rely  upon  him  whenever  we  Avere  in 
difficulties  and  Avhenever  we  Avanted  tlie  advice  of  a  sensible, 
intelligent,  and  capable  man.  His  loss  is  very  great.  It  was 
not  until  he  had  satisfied  himself  that  Mr.  George  Armstrong 
was  capable  of  taking  his  place  that  he  discontinued  attending 
our  meetings. 

I  ouffht  to  mention  that  Canon  Dalton  is  one  of  the  most 
regular  attendants  and  valuable  members  of  the  Committee.  He 
is  unable  to  be  present  to-day  because  he  is  accompanying  his  old 
pupil,  Prince  George,  on  his  visit  to  the  Colonies;  but  wc  hope 


332  ANNUAL   MEETING. 

that  when  he  comes  back  agaiu  he  will  show  as  much  energy  and 
zeal  ill  the  work  of  the  Fund  as  he  has  done  in  the  past. 

With  regard  to  the  General  Report,  you  will  see  that  we  have 
been  still  engaged  in  excavating  the  different  .sites  in  the  Holy 
Land.  We  have  been  urged  from  time  to  time  to  continue  our 
excavations  at  Jerusalem,  but  there  seems  to  be  more  prospect  of 
useful  work  being  done  in  the  very  numerous  Tells  which  are 
fouTid  scattered  over  tlie  surface  of  the  country.  The  difficulty, 
of  course,  is  to  select  sites,  but  we  are  gradually  getting  together 
the  materials  for  greatly  increasing  our  knowledge  of  the  land 
and  of  the  habits  of  the  people  in  ancient  times.  Profes.sor 
Wiinsch  is,  I  understand,  about  the  highest  authority  on  the 
subject  of  the  ancient  Greek  inscriptions  which  have  been  found, 
and  you  will  agi*ee  that  the  extracts  from  his  letter  which  I  have 
read  are  very  interesting  indeed.  We  have  applied  for  a  ncAV 
Firman,  but  our  experience  of  the  Turkish  Government  is  very 
similar  to  the  experience  which  some  of  us  have  had  of  other 
Governments  as  well.  It  takes  a  long  time  to  e;et  their  decision 
upon  any  subject  whatever.  We  have  a  good  friend  at  Constan- 
tinople, His  Excellency  Hamdi  Bey,  who  takes  a  very  deep  and 
intelligent  interest  in  archaeological  work,  and  I  can  only  express  a 
hope,  as  the  Committee  have  also  done,  that  we  shall  receive  shortly 
a  favourable  reply.  As  soon  as  we  get  the  Firman  we  shall  trust 
our  w'ork  to  Mr.  Macalister,  who  has  already  done  good  service 
to  the  Fund  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  Bliss.  Mr.  Macalister 
has  learned  Arabic,  and  has  a  good  working  knowledge  of 
archfBology.  You  will  observe  that  we  state  our  hope  that  when 
the  new  volume  of  "  Memoirs  "  on  the  excavations  at  these  sites  is 
published,  it  will  form  a  standard  guide  for  the  classification  of 
future  finds  of  pottery  in  Palestine. 

I  think  we  owe  to  Professor  Flinders  Petrie  the  systematic 
ari'angement  of  pottery  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  date.  Of 
course,  other  people  besides  Professor  Flinders  Petrie  have  seen 
that  there  are  differences  in  pottery,  and  that  there  are  different 
kinds  belonging  to  different  ages ;  but  Professor  Flinders  Petrie 
was  the  first  to  carry  on  the  study  of  this  pottery  in  a  systematic 
way.  Dr.  Bliss  was  Professor  Flinders  Petrie's  pupil,  and  was 
sent  to  Egypt  for  six  months  to  study  under  him  the  methods  of 
excavation,  and  especially  the  way  of  identifying  the  age  of 
pottery.      No    doubt   our    new   book    will    be   of    great  value    to 


ANNUAL   MEETING.  33.") 

scliolars  iu  all  countries.  I  do  not  know  that  T  have  any  otlier 
remarks  to  make,  bat  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  luiir  :iuy  obser- 
vations on  the  Report. 

Viscount  SiDMOUTH. — 1  should  like  to  ask  whetlier  the  powei'.s 
of  the  late  Firman  ai'C  exhausted. 

The  Chairman'. — Yes.  The  powers  of  the  Firman  wero 
exhausted  at  the  end  of  October  last. 

Viscount  SiOMoDTTT. — I  suppose  no  further  excavations  ran  be 
made  without  a  further  Firman  ? 

The  Chairman.  I  think  not.  It  has  always  been  our 
experience  that  it  takes  several  months  to  get  a  Firman. 

Viscount  SiDMOUTH. — I  shall  be  very  happy  to  move  the 
adoption  of  the  Report. 

Professor  Hull. — I  shall  be  pleased  to  second  it. 
The  Report  was  carried  unanimously. 

The  Chairman. — It  is  proposed  by  the  Executive  Committee  to 
place  on  the  General  Committee  Professor  Macalistcr  and  Mr. 
Charles  Francis  Fellowes. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Crace.— I  will  move  that. 

Mr.  Rylands. — I  shall  be  glad  to  second  it. — Carried. 

The  Chairman. — We  ask  you  to  elect  as  members  of  the 
Executive  Committee  the  following  gentlemen  : — Dr.  Thomas 
Chaplin,  Colonel  C.  R.  Conder,  J.  D.  Crace,  Canon  Dalton, 
Dr.  Ginsbnrg,  James  Glaisher,  Professor  A.  JMacalistei-,  Walter 
Morri.son,  Professor  Flinders  Petrie,  Joseph  Pollard,  W.  H. 
Rylands,  Professor  Sayce,  Canon  Tristram,  Lieut. -General  Sir 
Charles  Warren,  Colonel  Watson,  Major-General  Sir  Charles  W. 
Wilson,  Dr.  W.  Aldis  Wright,  with  power  to  add  to  their 
number.  We  should  very  much  have  liked  to  put  upon  the 
Executive  Committee  some  younger  men.  We  are  all  of  us 
getting  on  in  years,  and  would  be  very  glad  to  find  some  3'ounger 
men  who  are  more  or  less  in  touch  with  modern  Palestine — 
gentlemen  who  speak  Arabic,  who  know  Hebrew,  and  who  have 
travelled  in  Palestine  preferably.  It  is  rather  a  burden  to  some  of 
us  to  come  up  and  attend  the  meetings.  For  instance,  I  have  to 
come  all  the  way  from  Yoi'kshire. 

Professor  Hull. — I  have  great  pleasure  in  moving  that  these 
gentlemen  bo  invited  to  form  the  Executive  Comtniltee. 


334  ANNUAL   MEETING. 

Mr.  Bextwich.  I  .sbcall  have  much  pleasure  in  seconding  that. 
It  seems  to  me  it  is  an  advantage  to  get  new  men  into  the 
Executive  Committee  from  time  to  time,  especially  when  we  find, 
according  to  the  Report  which  you  read,  Sir,  that  the  number  oi: 
subscribers  has  decreased  by  death  or  otiier  unavoidable  causes, 
and  the  numbei'S  have  not  been  made  up  by  new  comers.  The 
introduction  of  new  interests  into  the  Executive  Committee  may 
be  a  means  of  interesting  others,  and  of  increasing  the  income  of 
the  Fund. 

The  CuAiK-MAN. — I  think  all  societies  ai'e  sufferino-  iu  the 
same  way.  It  is  due  to  the  great  number  of  Funds  which  are 
asking  for  subscriptions.  For  instance,  the  Queen  Victoria  Fund, 
and  the  Fund  which  has  been  got  up  for  our  countrymen  in  South 
Africa. 

The  proposition  Avas  cari-ied  unanimously. 

The  Chairman. — We  must  fill  up  the  vacancy  caused  by  the 
death  of  Sir  Walter  Besant.  I  intended  to  ask  ^-ou  if  you 
would  appoint  our  friend  Mr.  J.  D.  Crace  as  Honorary  Secretary 
for  the  next  year.  He  has  been  iu  Palestine,  and  knows  a 
great  deal  about  the  subject.  He  is  an  enei-getic  man,  and 
one  of  our  most  regular  attendants  on  the  Committee.  I  do  not 
think  we  could  find  a  better  man.  Mr.  Crace  says  he  would  be 
willing  to  act  as  Honorary  Secretary,  at  all  events  for  a  year,  if 
you  were  to  appoint  him ;  and  he  hopes  that  during  the  year 
some  younger  man  can  be  found  who  will  be  willing  to  take  an 
energetic  interest  in  the  work.  Mr.  Crace  has  got  his  work  to  do 
in  the  world  as  Avell  as  most  of  us.  I  have  pleasure  in  proposing 
Mr.  Crace  as  Honorary  Secretary. 

Dr.  Chaplin. — I  shall  be  glad  to  second  that. 

The  resolution  was  carried  unanimously. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Crace. — I  have  to  thank  the  General  Committee  for 
putting  so  much  confidence  in  me.  What  you  have  heard  of 
Sir  Walter  Besant  is  enough  to  make  any  man  backward  in  under- 
taking the  duties  of  Honoi'ary  Secretary  even  for  a  year.  In 
mentioning  the  term  a  year,  I  feel  strongly  it  is  most  essential 
that  we  .should  get  in  young  blood,  not  only  on  the  General  (com- 
mittee, but  that  the  general  interest  of  younger  men  should  be 
enlisted  in  the  objects  of  the  Fund.  I  think  we  i-equire  to  make 
considerable  effort  to  get  into  closer  touch  with  the  Universities 


ANNUAL  MEETIIJfG.  335 

for  one  thing.  There  are  a  ^reat  many  men  coming  oat  of  the 
Universities  now  Avho  are  greatly  interested  in  things  archaeo- 
logical, and  who  are  full  of  enthusiasm  and  energy.  And  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  we  might  get  into  touch  with  some  of  these 
men  and  induce  thnm  to  make  the  work  of  the  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund  an  object  of  interest. 

The  Chairman.— That  is  a  good  idea,  and  if  anybody  can 
suggest  any  names  we  shall  be  very  happy  to  consider  them.  I 
suppose  we  have  power  to  add  to  our  numbers.  Certainly  if  we 
could  get  the  right  sort  of  men  it  would  be  an  advantage.  But 
we  want  to  get  people  who  can  and  will  attend. 

I  have  now  to  move  that  a  cordial  vote  of  thanks  be  given  to 
Dr.  Bliss,  Mr.  Macalister,  and  Dr.  Schick,  to  Mr.  Armstrong,  our 
Acting  Secretary,  and  to  the  Editor  of  the  Quarterly  Statement,  for 
the  work  they  have  done  for  the  Fund  in  the  past  year.  We  have 
just  had  a  letter  from  Professor  George  Adam  Smith,  describing 
the  great  respect  and  affection  in  which  Dr.  Bliss  was  held  bv 
the  woi'kpeople  he  employed. 

Mr.  Bentwich.— I  should  like  to  be  allowed  to  second  that.  I 
have  personally  had  the  privilege  of  benefiting  by  the  assistance 
which  Dr.  Bliss  was  always  ready  to  give  to  visitors  to  the  Holy 
City.  Although  I  and  my  party  were  perfect  strangers  to  him,  he 
showed  the  greatest  interest  in  evoking  interest  from  us,  and  that 
interest  which  he  did  evoke  has  remained  with  all  the  party  who 
were  with  me,  several  of  whom  became  subscribers  to  the  Fund. 
I  think  Dr.  Bliss  has  had  the  interest  of  the  Fund  at  heart,  and 
has  induced  a  living  interest  in  many  people  who  previously  had 
no  knowledge  of  the  marvellous  work  which  is  being  done  by  the 
representatives  of  the  Fund  on  the  spot.  I  am  glad  also  that  that 
feature  is  being  continued  in  a  niaz'ked  degree  by  his  successor, 
Mr.  Macalister,  who  not  only  does  the  work  of  the  Fund,  but 
who  is  always  glad — I  speak  from  experience — to  follow  up  the 
smaller  interests  of  individuals  who  have  inquiries  to  make  on 
the  spot,  and  to  interest  others  in  the  work  which  the  Fund 
is  carrying  ou.  I  am  sure  that  this  vote  will  be  unanimously 
accorded,  and  I  think  it  a  high  privilege  to  be  able  to  bear 
testimony  to  the  valuable  work  Avhich  is  being  done,  and  to  the 
intei  est  which  at  the  same  time  is  being  drawn  to  it. 

The  resolution  was  carried. 

Y 


336  ANNUAL   MEETING. 

The  Chairman.  I  hope  Mr.  Macalister  will  be  able  to  say  a 
few  words. 

;Mr.  Macalister  read  the  following  notes  which  he  had 
prepared  : — 

"  I  may,  perhaps,  be  permitted  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon 
the  site  that  has  been  selected  for  examination,  and  to  attempt  to 
forecast  what  we  may  expect  to  find  there.  It  has  several  times 
been  impressed  upon  the  Society  that,  as  compared  with  the 
neighbouring  countries,  Palestine  may  be  described  as  archaeo- 
logically  poverty-stricken.  The  almost  total  absence  of  inscrip- 
tions older  than  the  Ptolemaic  period  is  especially  disappointing. 
This  may  be  ascribed  partly  to  the  alleged  indifference  of  the 
Jewish  nation  to  historical  records,  partly  to  climatic  causes.  But 
it  is  to  me  inconceivable  that  the  meagre  Siloam  inscriptions 
should  be  the  solitary  record  of  the  monarchy  remaining  to  our 
time  in  the  country.  I  feel  convinced  that  somewhere  steles  of 
great  importance  remain  to  be  found,  and  they  are  at  least  as 
likely  to  lie  buried  in  the  ruins  of  the  selected  site  as  anywhere 
else.  One  such  historical  document  would  pi'obably  be  the 
greatest  prize  that  could  fall  to  the  Palestinian  explorer. 

"  But  exen  if  we  were  unable  to  expect  so  important  a  discovery, 
there  are  many  problems  whose  solution  would  be  a  reward  nearly 
as  ample.  Such  is  the  question  of  the  disposal  of  the  dead  in 
Pre-Israelite  and  early  Israelite  times,  upon  which  all  light  has 
so  far  been  obstinately  withheld.  A  careful  special  search  will,  it 
is  hoped,  be  made  for  the  cemetery  of  the  Pre-Israelite  town  ou 
the  selected  site.  This  question  is  of  great  importance,  and  on  its 
solution  hangs  the  solution  of  other  problems  relating  to  the 
ethnological  affinities  of  the  Pre-Israelite  tribes  of  Palestine. 

"Among  the  other  questions  that  call  for  solution,  upon  which 
the  excavation  of  such  a  place  as  the  selected  site  might  be 
expected  to  throw  light,  may  be  mentioned  :  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  influence  exerted  by  Mycena?an  and  also  by  Egyptian 
culture  on  the  art  of  Palestine ;  the  period  of  the  introduction  of 
iron,  a  metal  seemingly  unknown  in  the  earliest  periods  of  Pre- 
Israelite  occupation  ;  and  the  development  of  various  implements 
— knives,  arrow-heads,  &c. — which  it  may  be  found  possible  to 
trace  out  in  detail,  much  as  the  development  of  pottery  has  been 
systematised  by  Drs.  Petrie  and  Bliss.     At  the  selected  site,  also, 


ANNUAL   MEETING.  .  337 

wc  are  so  far  west  that  we  may  possibly  hope  to  advance  one 
or  two  steps  in  itadinL,^  tlie  riddle  of  the  Philistines — their 
ethnolof^ical  position,  and  their  historical  connexion  with  the 
country. 

"  Unless  the  surface  indications  are  misleading,  or  have  been 
wrongly  intcrpi-eted  by  me,  I  should  say  that  there,  if  anywhere, 
light  on  Biblical,  arclueological,  ethnological,  perhaps  I  may  add 
philological,  questions  may  be  expected ;  and  if  the  two  years' 
exploration  permitted  by  the  Ottoman  Government  pass  without 
material  additions  to  our  knowledge,  I  for  my  ^lart  will  be 
grievously  disappointed. 

"  I  may,  in  conclusion,  mention  one  or  two  departments  ot 
work  other  than  excavation  which,  as  they  do  not  require  a 
Firman,  can  be  prosecuted  at  any  time,  and  may  be  regarded 
conveniently  as  '  lioliday  tasks,'  to  be  undertaken  when  the  time 
of  year  does  not  permit  active  excavation.  One  very  important 
work  is  the  testing  of  the  identification  of  sites.  Many  identifica- 
tions, resting  for  the  most  part  on  similarity  between  ancient  and 
modern  names,  have  been  propounded  and  universally  accepted, 
which  will  probably  have  to  be  reconsidered.  Since  these  identi- 
fications were  suggested  a  new  criterion  of  accuracy  has  been 
developed  :  this  is  the  chronological  scale  deducible  from  the 
knowledge  we  have  gained  of  the  histoi-y  of  pottery  in  Palestine, 
a  knowledge  to  which  our  excavations  recently  closed  have  con- 
tributed a  very  large  proportion.  An  identification  can  now  no 
longer  be  maintained  if  it  involve  an  epoch  different  from  the 
period  of  the  potsherds  found  strewed  on  the  site  which  happens 
to  be  under  discussion. 

"  I  may,  perhaps,  be  pardoned  if  I  refer  also  to  a  branch  of 
field  work  in  which  I  have  taken  special  interest :  ]  refer  to  the 
comparative  study  of  rock-cut  tombs.  During  the  last  year  of 
the  recent  Firman  I  explored  and  made  a  report,  as  exhaustive  as 
I  could,  on  the  tombs  in  the  so-called  Valley  of  Hinnom.  There 
are  otiier  groups  of  tombs  near  Jerusalem  and  elsewhere  as 
interesting  as  these,  and  possibly  the  study  of  them  may  lead  to 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  history  of  this  branch  of  architecture 
(if  I  may  so  term  it)  than  we  can  claim  to  possess  already.  I  may 
also  remind  you  that  one  result  of  the  systematic  study  which 
I  gave  to  the  Valley  of  Hinnom  tombs  was  the  re-discovery  of 
two   inscriptions   which   had   been    eadly   misread,    and   for  some 

Y   2 


338  ANNUAL   MEETING. 

30  or  40  years  completely  lost  sight  of,  notwithstanding  the 
special  searches  that  had  been  made  for  them.  I  would  not  risk 
the  charge  of  egotism  by  referring  to  this,  were  it  not  that  I  wish 
to  illustrate  the  possibility  that  epigraphic  novelties  may  still  be 
hoped  for  even  in  so  w^ell  ransacked  a  district  as  Jerusalem  and 
its  neighbourhood.  My  only  fear  is  lest  by  over-riding  this  hobby 
of  my  own  I  weary  the  readers  of  the  Quarterly  Statement. 

"I  have  onl}'  to  add  my  sincere  thanks  for  your  kind  words 
about  myself,  and  to  express  the  hope  that  when  the  coming 
season  is  over  I  may  claim  to  have  deserved  them." 

The  Chairman'. — There  are  a  number  of  casts  and  photographs 
in  the  room  of  things  which  have  been  discovered,  which,  perhaps, 
gentlemen  would  like  to  have  explained  to  them. 

Mr.  Guy  le  Strange. — I  hope,  before  we  part,  you  will  allow 
me  to  submit  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Morrison  for  presiding 
to-day,  and  for  all  that  he  has  done  as  Honorary  Treasurer 
during  the  past  year.  We  have,  I  suppose,  had  a  rather  bad  year, 
like  every  other  society,  and  if  we  are  in  a  favourable  financial 
position,  I  am  sure  that  is  greatly  due  to  Mr.  Morrison's  care. 

Viscount  SiDMOUTH. — I  would  like  to  second  that.  I  am  very 
glad  of  the  opportunity  of  meeting  Mr.  Morrison  again  after  the 
many  years  since  we  first  came  into  contact.  I  am  sure  we  are 
much  indebted  to  him  for  taking  the  chair  on  this  occasion,  and 
I  hope  that  he  will  continue  the  office  of  Treasurer. 

I  also  wanted  to  ask  a  question.  Three  or  four  years  ago 
some  very  interesting  remarks  were  made  here  about  availing 
ourselves  of  whatever  information  could  be  had  from  the  few  who 
are  now  left  of  the  Samaritan  race  ;  I  think  I  saw  it  stated  that 
not  more  than  140  or  150  of  them  were  left.  The  susre'estion 
was  made  here  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  obtaininsr  whatever 
information  could  be  had  from  the  manuscripts,  or  at  any  rate 
from  the  traditions  which  still  remain  amonsr  them. 

Mr.  H.  W.  Rylands.— I  think  the  Chief  of  the  Tribe  was  over 
here  five  or  six  years  ago,  when  I  met  him.  He  sent  four  or  five 
sons  over  here  at  different  times  to  be  educated.  I  met  him  at 
the  house  of  the  Jewish  Rabbi,  and  there  the  Jews  did  have 
communication  with  the  Samaritans.  He  was  a  fine,  bijr  tall 
man,  six  feet  two  in  height. 


ANNUAL   MEETING  339 

Viscount  SiDMOuTH.— I  tliink  it  was  suf^gested  at  the  time  I 
speak  of  that  we  should  put  oursi'lvcs  into  communication  with  a 
native  medical  man,  who  would  have  fri'cater  opportunities  of  con- 
versation with  the  females,  so  that  he  could  obtain  from  them 
information  not  to  be  had  from  tlie  men.  It  was  supposed  that 
the  native  medical  men  were  the  only  persons  who  could  get  into 
conversation  with  them.  I  do  not  know  whether  any  report  has 
been  founded  upon  that. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Ckace. — I  think  the  articles  which  have  been  comin" 
out  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  are  partially  due  to  communications 
of  that  kind.  I  think  a  good  deal  of  that  information  has  been 
obtained  through  the  native  doctors. 

Dr.  CiiAi'Lix. — I  have  been  accjuainted  with  the  Samaritans 
for  nearly  40  years,  and  quite  recently  I  saw  the  son  of  their  Chief 
Rabbi.  From  him  I  learned  what  is  a  very  curious  fact :  that, 
although  the  Samaritans  had  dwindled  in  number  to  about  150 
some  time  ago,  yet  within  the  last  few  years  they  have  increased 
slightly,  so  that  there  are  now  nearly  200  of  them.  They  are 
very  poor.  The  member  of  their  community  who  came  over 
here  some  years  ago  is  no  longer  living.  The  Chief  Rabbi 
is  an  intelligent  man,  very  amiable,  and  of  course  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  the  Samaritan  litei^ature  and  the  traditions 
of  his  people.  I  do  not  think  there  is  very  much  in  the 
traditions  of  the  Samaritans  that  differs  from  the  traditions 
of  the  people  around  them,  at  all  events  as  regards  the  social 
and  family  life.  They  themselves  maintain  and  believe  that  they 
are  really  of  Israelite  origin,  although  I  think  I  am  not  wrong  in 
saying  that,  on  the  whole,  the  Jews  do  not  regard  the  Samaritans 
as  their  brothers,  and  that  is  rather  in  accordance  with  the 
Scriptural  account.  There  is  an  English  medical  missionary 
residing  at  Xablus,  who  no  doubt  could  tell  us  much  about  their 
traditions. 

The  meeting  then  terminated. 


340 


NOTES    OP   A    JOURXEY   THROUGH    HAURAX,    WITH 
INSCRIPTIONS    FOUND    BY   THE   WAY. 

By  Professor  George  Adaji  Smith,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

In  May  last,  with  a  compau}"  of  friends,  I  made  a  journey  from 
Tiberias  through  Hauran  to  Damascus.  My  chief  objects  were  to 
revisit  Gadara,  to  see  Ibdar  and  Abila  of  the  Decapolis,  and  to 
examine  the  supposed  sites  of  'Ashteroth  Karnaim,  on  Tell 
el-'Ash'ary  and  Tell  'Ashtarah.  The  following  are  my  notes  by 
the  way.  They  are  partly  a  record  of  the  changes  apparent  since 
my  last  journey  in  1891,  partly  an  account  of  some  ne-vv  inscrip- 
tions which  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  find,  including  an  impor- 
tant monument  of  Sety  I  of  Egypt,  in  Tell  esh-Shihab,  and  partly 
some  evidence  as  to  'Ashteroth  Karnaim. 

I. — From  Gadara  to  Tell  esh-Shihab. 

On  May  1st  we  struck  our  tents  at  Semak,  at  the  south  end 
of  the  Lake  of  Galilee,  and  after  a  visit  to  the  neifrhbourinsr  ruins 
of  Kerak  (Taricheae  r),  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Jordan,  we  rode 
to  the  hot  baths  of  Hammi,  in  the  gorge  of  the  Yarmuk  below 
Mukes  (Gadara).  We  reached  these,  not  by  the  usual  road  up 
the  course  of  the  Yarmuk,  but  across  the  spurs  of  the  Jaulan 
plateau  to  the  north.  The  spurs  hold  one  or  two  clusters  of 
ruins — of  small  villages  and  a  tower.  They  are  bare  and  water- 
less, but  in  a  few  of  the  depressions  on  their  surface  are  small, 
poor  fields,  cultivated  to-day  b}-  the  inhabitants  of  Fik.  The 
view  down  the  Jordan  valley  is  magnificent:  the  eye  follows  the 
course  of  the  Yarmuk  from  its  issue  from  the  hills  to  its  junction 
with  the  Jordan. 

We  reached  the  Hammi  at  12.40.  It  was  the  end  of  June 
when  I  visited  these  famous  baths  in  1891,  and  then  they  were 
being  used  by  only  a  few  Arabs.  But  on  this  visit,  in  the  season 
for  the  baths,  the  peninsula  on  whioh  they  lie  was  alive  with 
patients  and  their  attendants,  chiefly  Jews,  with  some  Turkish 
officials  from  Irbid,  and  one  army  colonel.  Teats  and  booths  of 
branches  clustered  round  the  hotter  springs.  We  had  to  wait 
our  turn  for  entering  the  large   pool  on   the  north-west;  in  this 


NOTES    OF    A   JOUKNKV   TIIUOUCH    HAUISAN.  I'Al 

the  temperature  of  tlie  water  is  103° ;  tliut  of  the  air  at  2  p.m. 
was  89°  in  the  shade. 

We  climbed  up  to  Mukes  in  the  afternoon.  Tlie  slopes  are 
much  more  cultivated  than  in  If^'Jl.  Thi.s  chanf,'e  somewhat 
prepared  us  for  alterations  on  the  plateau  above  ;  but  no  one  who 
knew  the  latter  in  past  years  can  visit  it  now  without  disappoint- 
ment. Mukes  has  greatly  inci-eased,  but  at  tlie  expense  of  the 
remains  of  Gadara.  I  need  not  e^o  into  particulars.  Schumacher 
has  described,  in  the  "  Zeitschrift "  of  the  German  Palestine 
Society  for  1900,  the  complex  of  dwellings  and  barns  which  the 
village  Sheikh  has  built  on  the  top  of  the  plateau.  Content,  till 
a  few  years  ago,  to  live  in  the  tombs  to  the  east  of  the  ancient 
city,  the  villagers  have  now  the  ambition  to  build  houses  for 
themselves,  and  have  iTsed,  and  are  using,  the  ruins  of  the  latter, 
and  especially  the  .ctones  of  the  two  arapliitheatres,  for  that 
purpose.  It  is  one  of  the  many  proofs  with  which  our  journey 
provided  us,  that  if  the  ancient  sites  of  Palestine  are  to  be 
explored  and  the  civilisations  they  contained  brought  to  light, 
this  must  be  done  as  soon  as  possible.  Every  year  means  irre- 
coverable loss.  May  the  fact  impress  itself  upon  all  subscribers  to 
our  Fund  ! 

On  the  2nd  of  ilay  (temperature  at  6  a.m.  65°)  Ave  struck 
east,  at  8.45,  along  the  ridge,  upon  the  old  Roman  road.  The 
basalt  pipes  of  the  conduit,  which  I  saw  in  great  numbers  in  1891, 
have  nearlj  all  disappeared.  The  soil,  though  still  cultivated,  is 
very  shallow.  Every  year  the  fine  oak  woods  are  being  thinned. 
At  10  we  left  the  Irbid  road  whei-e  it  begins  to  descend  to  the 
south-east  (temperature  75°  with  slight  breeze)  and,  striking 
E.N.E.,  passed  at  10.10  the  large  oak  which  stands  conspicuous 
in  the  wood.  At  10.25  the  wood  was  behind  us,  and  in  front  a 
long  bare  plateau  sloping  up  slowly  to  the  east.  Hatim  lay  below 
us  to  the  south,  and  beyond  it  Irbid,  which,  with  Beit  Ras,  had 
stood  out,  from  the  earlier  stages  of  our  march,  clear  against  the 
south-east  sky,  but  was  now  sunk  almost  invisible  against  the 
dark  backofround  of  the  Jebel  Kafkafa.  We  reached  the  top  of 
the  slope  at  10.45  :  hewn  stones,  a  sarcophagus,  and  much 
pottery,  a  clear  view  of  the  Jaulfiu  Hills  and  Hermou,  with 
Samar  in  the  near  north.  From  the  top  the  ground  slopes  gently 
down  towards  Ibdar,  which  I  visited  in  order  to  see  if  there  is 
any  evidence  for  my  proposal   to  identify  it  with   the  Lidebir  of 


342  NOTES   OF  A   JOUKNEY  THROUGH   HAUKAX. 

Joshua  xiii,  26,  the  I,o-debar  of  Griitz's  emendation  of  Amos  vi,  13. 
Ibdar,  though  slightly  under  the  level  of  the  neighbouring 
plateaus,  lies  on  the  edge  of  a  plateau  of  its  own.  The  present 
village  clusters  upon  the  top  of  the  precipitous  side  of  a  deep 
"Wady  (300  to  400  feet  deep)  at  the  junction  of  the  latter  with  the 
Wady  Saniar.  There  are  a  few  ancient  hewn  stones,  and  a 
number  of  caves.  It  is  a  strong  and  commanding  position. 
To  the  south,  from  the  other  side  of  the  Wady  el-'Arab  (in  its 
upper  portion  Wady  el-Ghafr),  Gilead  slopes  up  to  the  distant 
horizon.  To  the  south-east  Beit  Ras  is  conspicuou.",  commanding 
the  head  and  southern  end  of  a  rido-e  runningr  south  from  the 
main  plateau  on  which  tlie  road  eastward  from  Mukes  runs.  To 
the  north  Hermon  is  clear  and  the  country  between.  Altogether 
the  place  is  suitable  for  such  a  frontier-fortress  between  Gilead 
and  the  Aramean  territory,  as  Lo-debar  was.  It  lies  near  the 
road  from  Hauran  to  Gadara — which  I  still  tliink  may  have  been 
Ramoth-Gilead — and  the  Jordan. 

At  11.40  we  descended  into  the  Wady  'Ain  et-Turab,  close 
beside  the  'Ain  and  a  rich  grove  of  oleanders.  Striking  up  the 
Wady  E.N.E.  we  reached  the  watershed  at  12,  and  in  five  minutes 
more  we  began  to  descend,  almost  due  north,  the  Wady  el-Kueilby, 
reaching  the  'Ain  el-Hrebi  at  12.45.  Schumacher  has  sufficiently 
described  this,  the  most  important  spring  in  the  district,  in  the 
"  Zeitschrift "  of  the  German  Society,  vol.  xx  (1897),  p.  184, 
where  he  makes  the  valuable  suggestion  that  the  aqueduct 
running  from  the  east  into  Gadara  was  supplied  from  el-Hrebi, 
and  was  not  connected,  as  is  usually  supposed,  with  the  Kauatir 
Fira'un  at  Edre'i. 

We  left  the  'Ain  at  2.30  (temperature  82°)  and  following  the 
Wady,  on  the  sides  of  which  are  many  ancient  tombs,  we  arrived 
at  the  col  on  which  the  ruins  of  Tell  Abil  lie,  before  3.  These 
display  all  the  importance  which  Schumacher  assigns  to  them 
("  Abilaof  the  Decapolis,"  published  by  the  Palestine  Exploration 
Fund  in  1889),  and  nothing  need  be  :idded  to  liis  descriptions. 
The  sti'ong  and  well-watered  site,  the  architectui'al  remains  on  the 
two  hills  on  either  side  of  the  col,  the  colo.ssal  wall  of  solid 
masonry  on  the  east  face  of  the  northern  hill,  the  heavy  dam 
across    the    Wady    Kueilby,'    with    its    vaulted    sluice,    and    the 

'  The  ridge    composed  of  the  two  hills  with  the   col  between  them  runs 
north  and  eoutli,  parallel  to  tlie  Wady. 


NOTES   OF   A   JOURNEY   THKOUCII    HAUUAN.  343 

neighbouring  cemeteries  assure  one  (even  (Mi  a  liuriied  visit  like 
ours)  of  the  fact  that  we  have  here  a  great  Greek  site,  similar 
in  its  situation,  atid  in  (he  remains  wliicli  occupy  it,  to  the  other 
niembors  of  the  Decaj)olis. 

Leaving  Tell  Abil  at  3.40,  we  entered  at  4  a  small  Wady 
running  north  into  the  Wady  esh-Shellale,  just  opposite  to 
ed-Dnebe.  The  Wady  esh-Sliellale  is  one  of  the  most  imposing 
among  even  the  gorges  of  Syria.  Where  we  broke  upon  it, 
it  lies  over  1,000  feet  deep,  and  at  the  top  (according  to 
Schumacher)  is  about  two  kilometres  broad.  The  lofty,  steep 
sides  had  all  their  yellow  colour  brought  out  by  the  still  high 
afternoon  sun.  At  the  bottom,  also  in  sunshine,  lay  in  brilliant 
contrast  a  long,  pink  ribbon  of  oleanders  masking  the  bed  of 
the  stream.  On  the  southern  side  the  path  is  very  rugged 
and  steep  ;  one  cannot  ride,  and  can  hardl}'  lead  a  hoi-se  either 
up  or  down.  Our  pack  mules  crossed  the  Wady  much  higher 
up.  It  is  a  permanent  frontier,  impassable  in  winter,  and  in 
summer  impregnable  against  a  vigilant  defence.  Its  waters 
descend  to  the  Yarmuk  by  a  series  of  catai-acts  —  hence  its 
name.  Along  with  the  Yarmuk,  and  curving  as  its  upper  course 
does  to  the  south,  it  cuts  off  the  district  of  'Ajlun  from  that 
of  Hauran,  and  in  ancient  times  must  have  formed  the  usual 
frontier  between  Gilead  and  Bashan,  Israel  and  Aram. 

We  reached  the  bottom  of  the  Wady  at  4'. 30,  and,  leaving  it 
a  few  minutes  before  5,  arrived  on  the  plateau  on  the  opjiosite 
side  about  5.25.  Striking  east  across  the  extremely  fertile  plain, 
very  different  from  the  barren  hills  to  the  south  of  the  Wady, 
we  passed  'Amrawa  at  5.40,  crossed  the  Wadies  esh-Shomfir  and 
el-Meddan,  and  reached  our  tents  by  Tel!  esh-Shihab  at  6.30. 

The  route  we  had  followed  all  day  is  the  most  direct  between 
Mukes  and  Tell  esh-Shihab,  both  of  them  important  towns  in 
ancient  times,  and  it  passes  Tell  Abil  or  Abila  of  the  Decapolis. 
Yet  it  can  hardly  have  ever  been  a  main  line  of  traffic  between 
Gadara  (with  the  Jordan  Valley)  and  Hauran.  The  depth  and 
ruggeduess  of  the  Wady  esh-Shelhlle  forbid  this,  and  after 
striking  off  the  Gadara-Irbid  road  (see  above)  we  were  mainly 
on  local  paths.  The  only  traces  of  a  highway  were  between  Tell 
Abil  and  the  Wady  esh-Shellale;  the  only  ancient  remains  were 
in  the  short  Wady  leading  to  the  latter.  We  must,  therefore, 
believe  that  the  great  Roman  roads  between  Gadara  and  Hauran 


344       NOTES  OF  A  JOURNEY  THROUGH  HAURAN. 

did  not  pass  Abila  but  swung  round  raoi'e  to  the  south  and  east. 
The  significance  of  the  district  about  Abil  and  immediately 
south  of  the  Wady  esh-Shelh'ile  was  rather  military.  Wetzstein 
("  Reisehericht,"  149)  relates  how  in  1858  a  Bedawin  tribe, 
retreating  from  the  north,  made  a  stand  here:  their  pursuers 
being  checked  by  the  Wady  Shelhile  and  gorges  of  the  Yarmuk, 
and  retiring  after  two  days  had  convinced  them  of  the  impregnable- 
ness  of  the  position  of  their  enemies.  Which  incident  illustrates 
the  ancient  contests  on  this  ground  between  Aram  and  Israel. 

II. — Tell  esh-Shihab  and  the  Discovery  of  a  Second  Egyptian 

Monument  in  Hauran. 

Tell  esh-Shihab,  one  hour  E.S.E.  of  Mnzeirib,  occupies 
a  strong  and  picturesque  position  on  a  promontory  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  Wady  el-Meddan  with  the  Wady  Tell 
esh-Shihab  (or  Wady  et-Tell)',  just  opposite  the  high  cataract  by 
which  the  waters  of  the  Wady  el-Bajjeh  pour  into  the  Wad}' 
et-Tell.  The  village  is  said  to  be  the  lowest  in  Haui'an,  standing 
a  little  over  1,000  feet  above  the  sea ;  the  neighbourhood  forms  a 
gathering  place  of  waters.  In  deep,  rapidly-falling  beds  five  or 
six  Wadies  concentrate  to  form  in  the  Wady  et-Tell  the  upper 
course  of  the  Yarmuk  ;  the  Wady  esh-Shellale  draining  the 
Eastern  'Ajliin  from  as  far  south  as  the  Jebel  Kafkafa ;  the 
almost  parallel  Wady  esh-Shomar,  springing  from  the  Zumal 
range  of  hills,  passing  Er-Ramtheh  and  entering  the  Wady 
et-Tell  near  'Amrawa  ;  the  Wady  el-Meddan,  or  lower  course  of 
the  Wady  ez-Zedi,  whose  tributaries  rise  on  the  south-west  slopes 
of  the  Jebel  ed-Druz  and  flow  united  past  Edre'i  ;  the  Wady 
edh-Dhahab  (formed  of  winter  brooks  draining  the  west  face  of 
the  Jebel  ed-Druz),  which  runs  into  the  Wady  el-Meddan  above 
Tell  esh-Shihab  ;  the  Wady  Ziguani  (P)  ;  and  the  Wady  el-Bajjeh 
draininiif  the  lake  at  Muzeirib.- 

From  all  this  it  is  obvious  that  Tell  esh-Shihab  must  always 
have  been  a  site  of  great  importance.  The  cataract  gives  water- 
power  for  a  large  number  of  mills,  to  which  grain  is  brought  from 

'  Ihe  name  Wady  Ziguani  was  gi^eu  (o  me  for  tlie  portion  of  this  Wady 
above  and  east  of  Tell  esh-Shihab. 

^  The  courses  of   tliese   Wadies  have  for  tlie  first   time   been   accurately 
determined   by  Mr.  Schumacher  {see  the  "  Zeitschrift  des  Deutscb.  Paliistin 
Vereins,"  xx,  91  Jf,  with  map;  xxii;  map  of  Golan  and  West  Hauran). 


NOTKS   OF   A   .lOUllXKV   TlllvOrclI    IIAIIIAN'. 


34.". 


a  o-reat  distance,'  and  these,  along  with  rich  f,'arden8  by  tlie  watcr- 
conrscs  and  a  stretch  of  fertile  wheiit-fields,  secure  for  <he  largo 
village  a  considenililc  jMosperitj.  Its  sheikhs  to-day  belong  to  a 
i)o\verful  house,  and  are  reputed  vrry  lich  ;  nearly  all  the  villagers 
look  happy  and  eoinforrable.  Tlie  Wadies  et-Tell  and  el-Meddan 
protect  the  village  by  their  cliffs  and  steep  banks  on  all  sides 
except  the  east,  where  the  level  approach  is  crossed  by  ancient 
fortifications,  still  well  preserved.'-    One  may  believe  that  a  strong 


Falls  at  Tell  esh-Shihab. 


and  well-stocked  fortress  always  existed  here.  At  the  same  time 
Tell  esh-Shihab  does  not  now  lie,  and  cannot  ever  Lave  lain,  on  a 
main  line  of  road.  There  are  too  many  deep  gorges  about  it. 
The  traffic  from  Gadara  to  Damascus  must  have  swung  round  to 
the  south  and  east.     Any  visitor  to  tlie  district  can  see  why  the 

'  Scluuiiaclior  speaks  of  a  iiuu-li  used  raad  to  the  mills  from  Dcr'fit  (i.e  , 
Edre'i)  down  the  Wady  oz-Zc  li  ("  Z.  1).  P.  V,"'  xx,  12<t). 

2  See  Schumachers  "Across  tlie  Jordan"  (published  hv  the  Palestiue 
Exploration  Fund),  p.  200,  with  a  section  of  the  wall. 


346  NOTES   OF   A   JOURNEY   THEOUCxH    HAURAX. 

great  roads  from   Damascus,  Xawa   and    el-Merkez,  Der'at  (i.e. 
the    ancient   Edre'i),  tlie   Jebel   'Ajlun,  and   Gadara  concentrate 
rather  upon  the  less  healthy  and  less  fertile  site  of  Muzeirib,  one 
hour  east  of  Tell  esh-Shihab,  for  round  Mazeii^b  the  Wadies  are 
shallow,  and  the  country  almost  flat. 

The  name,  Tell  esh-Shihab,  "  Mound  of  the  "Warrior,"  is 
purely  Arabic,  and  gives  no  clue  to  its  ancient  designation.  One 
naturally  seeks  for  a  stronghold  so  important  among  the  towns 
taken  in  this  I'egion  by  Judas  Maccabeus  on  his  march  to  relieve 
the  Jews  who  were  settled  east  of  Jordan  (1  Mace.  v).  Bnhl 
("  Geog.  des  Alt.  Pal.,"  250)  identifies  it  with  the  Raphon  of 
1  Mace.  V,  37,  and  Josephus,  "  Antt."  xii,  8,  4  (=  Raphana  of 
the  Decapolis,  Pliny,  "  Hist.  Xat."  v,  16).  There  is  something 
to  be  said  for  this  identification.  Timothens,  having  been  defeated 
by  Judas,  presumably  to  the  south-east  of  Tell  esh-Shihub  in  the 
latitude  of  Bosra,  fled  north  and  gathered  another  army  "beyond 
the  brook"  (1  Mace,  v,  37),  Gr.  x^i^appov^.  If  the  latter  be 
taken  in  its  strict  designation  of  "winter-stream"  it  cannot  be 
the  perennial  stream  flowing  from  Muzeirib,  and  descending  the 
cataract  at  Tell  esh-Shihab,  but  one  of  the  other  Wadies 
menlioned  above  which  are  dry  in  summer.  It  is  not  necessary, 
however,  to  take  the  terra  so  strictly,  and  the  other  points  given 
in  connection  with  Raphon  suit  Tell  esh-Shihab.  For  when 
Judas  crossed  "  the  brook,"  from  the  side  on  which  Raphon  was 
and  defeated  Tiraotheus,  the  soldiers  of  the  latter  fled  to  Karnaim, 
i.e.,  'Ashteroth  Karnaim,  sites  for  which  have  been  sought  at 
Tell  el-'Ash'ary,  about  six  miles  north  of  Tell  esh-Shihab,  and  Tell 
'Ashtarah,  four  miles  further  on.  Raphana  has  been  identified 
with  Kapitolias,  on  the  ground  that  Pliny's  list  of  the  Decapolis 
contains  the  former  but  omits  the  latter,  while  Ptolemy's  omits 
the  former  but  contains  the  latter.  According  to  the  Itinerarium 
Antonini  Kapitolias  lay  on  the  direct  road  from  Gadara  to 
Damascus  ;  according  to  Ptolemy,  norih-cast  of  Gadara  on  the 
same  latitude  as  Hippos  ;  and  according  to  the  Peutinger  Table, 
on  the  road  from  Gadara  to  Edre'i,  16  Roman  miles  from  either 
of  them.  Now  Tell  esh-Shihab  fulfils  only  some  of  these 
conditions.  It  is  19  Roman  miles  from  Gadara,  and  less  than 
12  from  Der'at  {i.e.,  Edre'i)  ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  it  can  hardly 
have  lain  on  any  of  the  direct  military  and  commercial  roads 
through  Hauran.   Buhrs  identification,  therefore,  remains  insecure. 


NOTES    01'    A    JOUKNKV    Tlli;(*I(  III    IIAKlIAN. 


347 


Nor  is  there   another  much   hotter.      One  is   indeed  tempted   to 
snsfgest  Karnaim  or  Karnion  itself.     Thi.s  vva.s  ditticult  to  approach 

Clil     TIjlf     TTUl'TWr     riCl>     TOTTlOl'     rTTfJ'f>7//Trt      (2    IMaCC.    xll,    21)    ",     wlljlo     if     it 

bo  identical,   as  is   probable,   with  one   of  the  Aslitoreths  of   tlie 
"  Onomasticon,"  it  lay  nine  Hdumn  niile.s  frt'iii  the  other,  wliich  is 


^^:^\ 


MOXUMENT    OF    SeTY    I    AT    TeLI.   KSU-ShIHAB. 

approximately  the  distance  between  Tell  'Ashtarah  and  Tell  esh- 
Shihab;  and,  besides,  lay  between  Abila  of  the  Deeapolis  and  Edre'i, 
which  Tell  esh-Shihfib  may  roughly  be  described  to  do.  But 
there  are  other  data  for  Karnaim  which  do  not  suit  Tell  esh- 
Shihab,  and  on  the  whole  we  must  confess  ourselves  at  fault 
with  regard  to  the  ancient  equivalent  of  the  latter.  Yet  see 
below,  p.  360. 


348 


NOTES    OF   A   JOUKXEY   TUliOUGH   HAUKAX. 


Mr.  Schumaclier  "  could  discover  neither  inscriptions  nor  carved 
stones  "  at  Tell  esh-Shiliab,^  and  I  do  not  know  of  any  mentioned 
by  other  travellers.  We  made  a  strict  inquiry,  and  were  at  first 
met  with  the  usual  denials.  Then  we  were  led  to  a  faded  and 
fragmentary  Greek  inscription  on  tlie  north-west  of  the  village, 
on  wliicli  we  could  only  make  out  the  following  letters:  — 

<I)  A  B 

\  E  ()  T 

A  A  T  K 

E  T  K  E 

But  we  called  afterwards  on  the  Sheikh,  and  in  answer  to  our 
questions  after  "  written  stones  "  lie  led  us  to  the  courtyard  of 
a  liouse,  w'here,  let  into  the  mud  wall,  we  saw  a  black  basalt  slab 
with  Egyptian  carving  upon  it.  We  took  a  photograph,  a  repro- 
duction of  which  is  given  on  p.  347. 

The  lower  portion  of  the  slab  has  been  broken  off.  What 
remains  is  about  3  feet  from  top  to  bottom,  and  a  little  over  that 
from  one  side  to  the  other.  All  I  was  able  to  make  out  from 
a  list  of  Egyptian  cartouches  was  that  it  contained  the  cartouche 
of  Sety  I.  On  my  arrival  in  London  the  photograph  was 
examined  by  Mr.  Percy  Newberry  and  Mr.  Herbert  Thompson. 
The  latter  wrote  me  as  follows  : — 

"  It  is  undoubtedly  of    Sety  I,    his  cartouche  being  written 


O 
■  """ 


,  e.g.,  at  Karnak,  as  well  as 


name  is  given  in  the  usual  form 


Besides,    his    other 


=  Sety,  beloved  of  Ptah. 


Above  the  names  are  the  titles  '  Loi'd  of  the  two  lands'  and  '  Lord 
of  glories  (?)  '  (the  last  word  is  applied  to  the  rising  of  the  sun 

its  exact  meaning:  in  the 


and  to  the  king  ascending  the  throne 


Across  Jordan,"  p.  203. 


NOTES   OF  A   JOURNEY    TIIKOUGII    IIAUKAN.  :U9 

title  is  iincertain).  Below  are  tlio  words  '  Giving  life  like  Ra.' 
The  king  (on  the  right)  is  holding  up  two  libation  vessels  before 
Amen,  whose  name  Avith  some  titles  is  inscribed  before  hitn. 
Behind  staiuls  the  goddess  Mut,  with  her  name." 

The  stone  is  of  no  little  importance  in  connection  with  the 
oonqnests  of  the  Pharaohs  on  the  east  of  Jordan.  Only  one  other 
Egyptian  monument  has  been  discovered  in  Hauran — the  so-called 
Job's  stone  in  Sheikh  Sa'd  (about  1,000  yards  north  of  el-Merkez, 
the  seat  of  the  Hauran  Government)  with  a  figure  of  Ramses  II, 
son  of  Sety  I  {see  Erman  in  "  Z.  D.  P.  V.,"  xiv,  142/,  xv,  205/). 
But  long  before  both  Sety  and  Ramses,  Thothraes  III  had 
marched  through  Hauran.  Not  only  does  the  list  of  liis  con- 
quests contain,  in  No.  13,  Damascus  (as  well  as  some  places  on 
the  Lebanon),  but  in  Nos.  28  to  31  we  find  the  succession 
A-s-ti-iM-tu  ("  Records  of  the  Past,"  second  series,  v,  45  ; 
cf.  Ashtarti,  Bezold  and  Budge.  "  The  Tell  el-Amarna  Tablets 
in  the  British  Museum,"  43,  64),  Anau-Refaa,  Makata,  and  Luisa. 
Astiratu  is  usually  taken  for  'Ashteroth  Karnaim,  Refjui  for 
Raphon,  and  Luisa  for  Laish  or  Dan.  May  not  Maketa  be  the 
Maked  of  the  campaign  of  Judas  Maccabeus  (1  Mace,  v,  26,  36)  ? 

Unfortunately  the  Sety  stone  at  Tell  esh-Shihab  has  had  the 
lower  end  broken  off:  on  which  some  record  of  Sety's  conquests 
may  have  been  inscribed.  I  made  inquiries  about  it,  but  none 
of  the  Tell  esh-Shihab  people  could  tell  me  anything  about  it. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose,  however,  that  the  monument  has 
been  far  removed  from  its  original  site.  The  villagers  said  to 
me  that  it  had  been  found  at  Tell  esh-Shihab ;  it  is  of  the  stone 
of  the  district,  and  it  is  so  heavy  that  it  could  not  easily  have 
been  carried  for  any  distance. 

In  "  Asien  u.  Europa  "  W.  Max  Miiller  says  that  "  Sety  waged 
war  upon  a  much  more  limited  territory  [in  Syria]  than  is  usually 
supposed"  (p.  199,  cf.  p.  55);  that  "the  names  of  the  towns 
conquered  by  Sety  are,  without  exception,  those  of  the  plain 
of  the  Kishon  and  Western  Galilee  to  the  foot  of  Lebanon  " 
(p.  200)  ;  and  that  Sety  "  succeeded  only  in  a  modest  expan.sion 
[of  Egyptian  conquest]  on  the  coast  of  Southern  Phoenicia" 
(p.  276).  But  if  this  stone  in  Tell  esh-Shihfib  belongs  to  the 
east  of  Jordan,  and,  from  what  is  said  above,  it  is  hardly  possible 
to  think  otherwise,  Sety,  like  Thothmes  and  Ramses,  mu.st  have 
ci'ossed  the  Jordan  and  made  some  conquests  in  Hauran. 


350        NOTES  OF  A  JOURNEY  THROUGH  HAURAN. 

At  Tell  esli-Shihab  I  also  obtained  a  cylinder  seal  and  a  coin. 
The  seal  produces  an  impression  Ij  inches  long  by  about  f  inch 
broad.  It  is  of  rough  workmanship,  hardly  (I  am  told  by  those 
who  know)  Babylonian,  but  more  probably  an  early  Palestinian 
imitation  of  Babylonian  work.  There  are  three  human  figures, 
from  the  head  (with  some  kind  of  headdress)  to  the  hips — one 
figure  to  the  one  side  and  two  to  the  other,  of  an  object  like  an 
artificial  tree  ;  thus  : — 


The  coin  is  silver  (perhaps  only  plated),  on  the  one  side  a  lion 
rampant,  with  the  legend  round  the  rim :  confidens  •  Dxo  •  NON  • 
iiOVETUR  •  16-86  ;  and  on  the  other  a  coat  of  arms,  a  small  lion 
rampant  at  the  foot,  and  the  legend:  ???  bel  •  campen — MO' 
ARGCivi  ? —  A  hole  bored  in  the  top  shows  this  to  have  formed 
part  of  a  woman's  headdress.  At  Banias  I  purchased  a  silver  coin 
like  this  one,  i.e.,  identical  on  one  side,  except  for  the  date,  1696, 
and  on  the  other  with  the  legend:  foe  •  belg  •  west — mo  •  AEG  • 
PRO  •  COi  ?. 

III.— El-Muzeirib. 

From  Tell  esh-Shihab  we  rode  over  in  something  less  thau  an 
hour  to  Muzeirib.  The  railway  has  come  here  since  my  last  visit 
in  1891,  and  Muzeirib  is  the  terminus  of  the  narrow  gauge  line 
which  runs  south  from  Damascus  more  or  less  parallel  to  the 
great  Hajj  road.  There  is  little  change  in  the  village  itself,  but 
the  sight  of  a  railway  station  and  of  engines  on  a  landscape  which 
was  hitherto  associated  only  with  Arab  markets  and  the  gathering 
of  the  Meccan  pilgrimage  is  sufficiently  strange.  The  lake  was 
much  shrunk,  partly  from  the  clearing  of  the  Wady  el-Bajjeh, 
mentioned  by  Schumacher  ('"  Z.  D.  P.  V.,"  xx,  167),  and  partly 
because  of  the  drought  of  last  spring.  ]^o  moi'e  ancient  remains 
were  discovered  in  the  construction  of   the  railway;    the  Greek 


NOTES  OF  A  JOURNEY  THROUGH  HAURAN.       351 

inscriptions  in  the  castle  are  less  deciplierable  than  ever.  Tho 
long  Arab  use  of  the  place  in  connection  with  the  Hajj  has 
destroyed  all  chance  of  discovering  its  ancient  name.  Yet  tlio 
abundance  of  good  water  (not  in  the  lake,  which  is  brackish,  but 
in  the  stream,  which  feeds  the  latter  from  the  Rus  el-'Ain),  tho 
concentration  of  several  ancient  lines  of  road  across  the  level 
neighbourhood,  and  the  large  basalt  blocks  on  the  island,  as  if 
from  some  pre-Mohanimedan  fortifications,  prove  that  the  site 
must  always  have  been  one  of  importance.  Buhl  ("  Geog.,"  249) 
has  proposed  Mnzeirib  for  the  first  Ashtaroth  of  Ensebius 
("  Ouomasticon,"  'A«tt«/W'^)  ;  and  it  suits  so  far  the  data  for  tlie 
latter:  six  Roman  miles  from  Edre'i,  and  nine  (it  is  actually  eight) 
from  Tell  'Ashtarah,  if  this  be  the  other  Ashtaroth  {'AtnuftwO 
Knpvaeifi)  of  the  "  Onomasticon."  But  it  does  not  suit  the  descrip- 
tion of  Karnion  or  Karnaim  (presumably  one  of  the  Ashtaroths) 
given  in  2  Mace,  xii,  21,  for  it  is  not  "  difficult  to  get  at  by  reason 
of  the  narrowness  of  all  the  places";  nor  does  2  Mace,  xii,  21,  make 
any  mention  in  connection  with  Karnion  of  the  lake — the  most 
prominent  feature  of  Muzeirib.  But  2  Mace,  xii,  13,  speaks  of  a 
lake  two  stadia  broad  near  Caspis,  or  Caspin  (the  Casphor  or 
Casphon  of  1  Mace,  v,  36  :  /taff0o  of  Jos.,  "  Antt."  xii,  8,  3)  ;  and 
till  further  evidence  is  found  we  cannot  but  identify  el- Muzeirib 
with  this  town  captured  by  Judas  before  he  advanced  (from  the 
south)  upon  Karnaim. 

IV. — Tell  el-'Ash'art. 

From  Muzeirib  we  rode  N.N.W.  by  the  main  road  for 
el-Merkez  and  Nawa.  About  a  mile  and  a  half  before  it  reaches 
the  bridge  across  the  Wady  el-'Ehreir  we  struck  west  from  it  over 
fields  to  Tell  el-'Ash'ary,  which  had  been  visible  for  a  long  time 
across  the  plain.  The  ride  from  Muzeirib  took  rather  less  than 
an  hour. 

Tell  el-'Ash'ary  is  a  long  mound,  running  from  north-east  to 
south-west  upon  the  edge  of  the  deep  gorge  of  the  Wady  el-'Ehreir 
(which  is  here  called  the  Wady  Tell  el-'Ash'ary).  The  east  face 
of  the  mound  rises  about  90  feet  above  the  plain  ;  the  west  sinks 
precipitously  for  at  least  double  that  depth  into  the  gorge.'  Tho 
summit  is  broad,  for  the  most  part  flat,  but  with  an  appreciable 

1  Oliphimt,  "  Land  of  Gilead,"  88,  savs  the  gorge  is  500  feet  deep.     This  is 
certainly  exaggerated,     lie  gives  a  sketch. 

Z 


352  NOTES   OF   A   JOURNEY  THROUGH   HAURAN. 

decline  from  norfcli  to  south.  Schumacher  gives  the  height  as 
1,551  feet  above  the  sea.'  The  view  is  magnificent.  Looking  west 
and  south  the  foreground  is  occupied  by  tlie  precipitous  gorge, 
with  the  stream  brawling  down  its  rocky  bed,  and  dividing  round 
a  long  islet  just  below  the  mound.  Beyond  are  the  green  orchards 
and  vineyards,  the  red-tiled  offices  and  arboricultural  school  of 
the  Jewish  colony  of  Jillin.  The  summit  of  Tabor  is  visible  in 
the  extreme  south-west  over  the  east  hills  of  Galilee.  Jebel 
'Ajlun  fills  all  the  south,  and  Jebel  ed-Druz  the  south-east,  from 
which  the  eye  is  carried  northward  on  the  clea^r  line  of  the  Leja  to 
the  hills  south  of  Damascus.  There  was  a  haze  in  the  north,  but 
above  it,  like  the  edge  of  a  cloud,  lay  the  long  silver  line  of 
Hermon's  snows.  Nearer  were  the  volcanic  peaks  of  northern 
Hauran  and  Jaulan.  The  mound  Tell  'Ashtarah  stood  up  from 
the  plain  about  five  miles  to  the  north,  and  beyond  it  the  govern- 
ment buildings  at  el-Merkez. 

The  water  supply  of  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  is  good.  Besides  the 
perennial  stream  at  the  bottom  of  the  Wady  el-'Ehreir,  a  good 
spring  rises  near  the  south-east  corner  of  the  mound.  The  water 
flows  past  the  south  end  on  a  shallow  bed  with  oleanders,  and 
over  a  small  cascade  into  the  great  gorge.  There  is  also  here  a 
hollow,  said  to  be  a  marsh  in  winter,  which  is  called  the  Bahret 
el-'Ash'ary  ;  it  is  surrounded  by  ruins. 

The  most  superficial  review  of  the  mound  reveals  the  remains 
of  architecture  of  different  styles  and  ages.  To  begin  with  the 
present  inhabitants — Schumacher  in  1884  found  about  150 
inhabitants  in  about  50  dwellings  on  the  north  of  the  mound.- 
They  were  diminished  in  numbers  and  had  removed  to  the  west 
slope  when  he  made  his  second  visit.^  We  found  but  two  or 
three  poor  negro  families  in  huts  constructed  from  the  old  ruins. 
The  whole  of  the  ancient  basalt  buildings  on  the  plateau  have 
been  abandoned,  except  the  few  still  used  as  folds  and  stables.  A 
.  good  deal  of  the  building  dates  from  Arab  times,  as  is  proved 
from  the  way  in  which  carved  Greek  stones  stand  in  it  upside 
down  ;  compare  also  the  Arabic  inscription  given  by  Schumacher,* 
and  the  native  legends  (quoted  by  him)  of  the  former  greatness 
of  the  place. 

1  "  Across  Jordan,"  p.  208.  On  the  map,  "  Z.  D.  P.  V.,"  xxii,  p.  179, 
472  metres.  ^  "  Across  Jordan,"  p.  203. 

3  "  Z.  D.  P.  v.,"  XX,  p.  167.  "  Across  Jordan,"  p.  206. 


NOTES  OF  A  JOURNEY  THROUGH  HAUUAX. 


353 


Goiiif^  behind  the  Ai-ab  period  we  Kiid  several  fine  spocitncns 
of  the  domestic  architecture  characteristic  of  Hanraii  duritiL,' 
Roman  and  Byzantine  epochs,  and  in  especial  one  building  com- 
posed of  the  usual  parallel  arches  with  cross-beams  of  stone.  We 
saw  tlie  Tonic  capital,  sketched  by  Sithumacher.'  Hut  there  ai-e 
many  other  hewn  stones  of  the  same  age,  and  similar  to  those 
one  meets  with  in  the  cities  of  the  Decapolis.  I  turned  over 
several  carv^ed  with  a  broad  lip,  exactly  like  those  forming  the 
seats  of  the  Amphitheatx-e  in  Gadara,  and  there  are  two  or  thi-ee 


Q-HEEK    IxVSCKiPTioN   IN   Wall    AT   Tell    el-'Ash'ary.      (In  the  Mull  the 
inscription  lies  upside  down.     In  this  reproduction  it  lias  been  reversed.) 

of  the  upright  stone  water-pipes  for  raising  water,  with  their 
conical  stone  stoppers  (?).  Schumacher  mentions  no  Greek 
inscriptions.       We    came     upon    four,    two    very    fragmentary — 

ANNIANAY-       ^^^^^         EY<l>ANOY 
0PAKIAA  """'        NCYNTAILT 

and  two  larger  ones,  which  we  both  copied  and  photogi-aphed. 
Reproductions  are  here  given  of  the  photographs. 

1  "  Across  Jordan,"  p.  204,  -  The  name  occurs  also  in  Wadd.,  1959. 

z  2 


354 


NOTES   OF   A   JOURNEY    THROUGH    HAURAX. 


The  fii'st  of  them  (see  p.  353),  built  upside  down  into  a  wall, 
appears  to  I'ead  : 

GCTIToYCpAADYl 
T^HPIACAnDAAi^L^j     N 
UjC^^IIMEn^lCpTUJ 
ONPlu/v 


Altak  at  Tell  el-'Asii'aey. 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  slab  (of  basalt)  was  not  perfectly 
planed  wlien  the  letters  Avere  carved  upon  it;  some  faults  in  it 
disturb  the  regularity  of  the  latter.  I  do  not  think  there  is  any 
letter  between  the  initial  T  of  the  second  line  and  the  following  H. 
The  Omega  of  the  second  line  also  appears  to  be  divided  into  two 
parts  by  the  intervening  roughness. 


NOTES   OF   A   JOURNEY   TIIllOUCII    HAUUAN.  355 

If  we  take  the  first  two  lettoi-.s  of  tho  first  line  to  be  the  last 
of  the  word  AUTOKPATOPOZ,  we  liuve  an  inscription  of 
the  reign  of  Titus,  and  ore  of  tho  earliest  of  Greek  inscriptions 
in  Hauran.  in  18I>1  1  discovered,  a  few  miles  away  at  Taffas,  an 
inscription  from  tlie  brief  reign  of  Otho.  This  one,  from  the  time 
of  Titus,  records  the  erection  of  an  altar  (see  the  fragmentary 
lower  line,  where  we  may  read  tot  liwfiou),  and  the  deity  is  Apollo. 

The  other  inscription,  also  of  a  dedication  of  an  altar,  is  on 
the  altar,  which  lies  on  its  side  in  a  court  of  one  of  the  liouses  on 
the  top  of  the  plateau  (p.  354).  I  copied  what  was  legible  of  it 
under  the  glaring  sun,  and  have  made  out  the  rest  from  tho 
photograph  by  aid  of  a  glass.  The  letters  are  smaller  and  much 
ruder  than  those  of  the  other  : — 

YHEPCtOTHPIACKAIAIAMONHZ 
TIToYAIAIoYAAPIANOY 
^NTtON€INOYCEBACToY6YCE 
BOYCKAITOYCYNnANToCAY 
TOYOIKoY 

nAM4-IAOCEY??NIOY 
BOYAOYTHZAETEXIANH 
KYPIATONBWMONEKTCON 
IAIWNKAT€Y?HNANHrEI 

PEN 

Line  1. — The  Omega  of  awrij/xav  is  defective ;  cp.  with  first 
four  lines  an  inscinption  from  the  same  reign  at  Kebran  in  the 
Quarterly  Statement  for  1895,  p.  353  ;  Waddington,  '2'2S6. 

Line  4. — (tui^ — not  avfi-Trui/ro^  ;  cp.  Waddington,  2212. 

Line  7. — liov\ovrfj<i  (sic).  AET  may  be  All.  There  ia  a  mark 
after  what  I  read  as  X.  It  may  be  a  letter,  and  with  the  X  may 
have  originally  made  M. 

Line  9. — The  x  ^^  ^J^X'/"  ^^  illegible. 

Translation — "  For  the  siifety  and  duration 
of  Titus  Aelius  lladriauus 
Antuuiuus  Augustus  Pi- 
us and  all  lii- 
8  house 
Pamplulos  (son  of)  ??? 

a  councillor  in  the  4th  year 

to  ibe  Mistress  tlie  tilt.ir  at  liis  own 
expense,  in  fullilnienl  of  a  vow,  erect- 

el." 


356 


NOTES    OF   A   JOURNEY   TIIUOUCIII    IIAURAN. 


Here,  then,  from  the  reign  of  Antoninns  Pius  we  have  another 
altar,  and  to  a  goddess.  The  last  word  of  the  seventh  line,  which 
reads  EXIANH  (=  viper)  as  I  trace  it,  may  be  the  name  of  the 
town  or  of  the  goddess. 

These  inscriptions  prove  that  in  the  first  and  second  Christian 
centuries  there  was  on   Tell   el-'Ash'ary  a  town   and  sanctuary. 


Eemains  of  Walls  ox  Tell  EL-'Asu'AKr.     (The  latest  wall  is  that 

on  the  skj-liiif.) 

The  ruins  round  the  pool  may  be  (as  Schumacher  suggests)  those 
of  a  Naumachy  such  as  we  find  in  the  remains  of  some  of  the 
Decapolis  ;  while  from  the  north  of  the  mound,  as  fai-  as  the 
bridge  over  the  Wady  el-'Ehreir,  there  runs  an  ancient  (Roman  ?) 
causeway.     Schumacher   also  traced  the  ruins  of  mills  and  canals 


NOTES   OF   A   JOURXKY    TIIKOrcH    IIALKAN. 


357 


"nearly  as  far  as  el-'Ajam}',  one  and  a  quarter  miles  away  to  tlie 
soatli-west."  ^ 

There  are  also  remains  scattered  over  the  plain  to  the  east. 
All  these  probably  date  from  a  large  and  prosperous  city  in  the 
time  of  the  Antonines. 

But  the  human  history  of  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  must  have  stretched 
much  further  back.  The  eastern  face  of  the  mound  once  carried 
a  great  wall  of  unhewn  and  very  roughly  hewn  basalt  blocks, 
mostly  large,  with  a  kind  of  tower  thrown  forward  on  the  slope. 


Lower  Line  of  Koughly-hewn  Basalt  Stokes  ox  Tell  EL-'Asn'ART. 

Above  this  line,  on  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  mound,  a 
curving  wall  of  hewn  stones  runs  up  towards  the  plateau.  We 
thought  also  that  we  detected  the  traces  of  a  third  wall  mentioned 
by  Schumacher ,2  but  would  limit  his  statement  that  all  three 
walls  "have  the  appearance  of  great  antiquity"  to  the  lowest  nnd 
heaviest  line  of  rough  basalt  blocks.  The  second  line  running 
up  towards  the  plateau  seemed  to  me  of  the  same  age  as  the  bulk 


1  « 


Across  Jordan,"  p.  207. 


-  Ihid.,  p.  liO-i. 


358        NOTES  OF  A  JOURNEY  THROUGH  HAURAN. 

of  the  architecture  on  the  latter.  About  it  and  lower  down  the 
slope  were  scattered  a  great  number  of  stones,  similar  to  what 
are  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  Decapolis,  i.e.,  with  a  planed  face, 
but  behind  it  rough  and  diminishing  in  size. 

The  lower  line,  on  the  other  hand,  appears  older,  and,  as  if  it 
belonged  to  a  ruder  civilisation.  The  stones  are  larger,  and  as  I 
have  said,  unhewn  or  roughly  hewn.  They  resemble  walls  found 
on  old  Canaanite  sites  in  other  parts  of  Palestine,  and  sometimes 
vaguely  described  as  "  Amorite."  Whether  they  be  really  so,  it 
is  impossible  to  determine  ;  but  they  form  an  interesting  proof 
(observable  elsewhere  in  Hauran)  that  while  Porter's  claim  for 
considering  the  basalt  architecture  of  Hanran  to  belong  to  the 
earliest  times,  is  unjustified — because  this  is  obviously  of  the 
Roman  period — the  architecture  in  question  is  often  founded  on 
the  remains  of  older  civilisations.  Some  photographs  of  the 
walls  on  the  east  and  south  face  of  the  mound  are  reproduced  on 
pp.  356,  357. 

It  remains  now  to  consider  whether  there  are  any  grounds  for 
the  theory  of  Laurence  Oliphant^  and  Schumacher,^  that  Tell 
el-'Ash'ary  is  one  of  the  two  Ashtaroths  of  Eusebius  and  the 
'Ashteroth  Karnaim  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  two  explorers 
found  their  identification  (1)  on  the  fact  that  the  place  was  held 
sacred  in  Mohammedan  times,  and  was  a  Greek  sanctuary  and 
fortress;  (2)  on  the  name;  and  (3)  on  the  statement  that  "the 
double  peak  of  the  southern  mount  of  the  hill,  formed  by  the 
depression  running  from  north  to  south,  would  make  the  appella- 
tion of  '  Karnaim  '  or  '  double-horned  '  extremely  appropriate,  and 
this  feature  must  have  been  still  more  distinct  before  the  depres- 
sion was  tilled  in  by  the  rubbish  and  detritus."^  G.  F.  Moore 
("J.  B.  L.,"  1897,  156_^')  also  explains  \\(TrapwO  Ka/jfaei/j.  as  the 
"  Astarte  of  the  two-peaked  mountain."  In  a  Talmudic  discussion 
as  to  the  constructions  for  the  Feast  of  Booths,  it  is  said  that 
'Ashteroth  Karnaim  was  situated  between  two  mountains  which 
gave  much  shade  ("  Succa,"  2a  ;  cf.  Neubauer,  "  Geog.  du 
Talmud,"  246). 

To  take  the  third  of  these  reasons  first — it  is  hard  to  say  what 
shape   the   southern  end  of  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  might   assume,  if  it 

'  "  Land  of  Gilead,"  88^. 
2  "Across  Jordan,"  p.  2u7. 


3    i( 


Ibid.,  p.  208. 


NOTES  OF  A  JOURNKY  THROUGH  HAURAN.       359 

were  thoroughly  excavated  to  its  original  levels.  But  at  present 
there  is  neither  proof,  nor  promise,  of  the  discovery  of  two 
such  promontories  or  peaks  as  would  suggest  the  name  two-horned 
for  a  town  on  this  site.  Indeed,  tlie  whole  suggestion  that  the 
two  horns  refer  to  the  geographical  features  of  the  position  of 
'Ashteroth  Karnaim  is  very  doubtful.  Much  more  probably  tlie 
title  was  originally  that  of  the  goddess  herself,  derived  not  from 
the  horned  moon,  but  from  some  head-dress  which  her  image  wore 
("  Encycl.  Biblica,"  i,  338).  Nor  can  any  ground  for  identifica- 
tion be  found  in  the  name  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  (^  .jtSJ]^  This  has, 
it  is  true,  three  of  the  letters  of  the  goddess's  name,  JL^j;,  but 
they  lie  in  a  different  order,  and  they  omit  the  medial  t,  which  is 
found  in  all  other  instances  of  her  name.  As  to  the  first  reason, 
that  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  is  the  site  of  a  Mohammedan  sacred  place 
and  Greek  sanctuary,  that  is,  as  we  have  seen,  certain,  but  it  is 
equally  true  of  countless  other  sites  in  Hauran.  We  may, 
therefore,  conclude  that  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  Tell 
el-'Ash'ary  was  once  'Ashteroth  Karnaim.  If  the  name  which  I 
cannot  understand  on  the  seventh  line  of  the  longest  inscription 
be  that  of  the  goddess  to  whom  the  altar  was  raised,  it  does  not 
at  all  look  like  a  Greek  equivalent  of  'Ashtoreth. 

We  left  Tell  'Ash'ary  at  2.50,  and,  by  the  line  of  ancient  cause- 
way running  north-east,  reached  the  bridge  over  Wady  'Ehreir, 
here  a  broad  shallow  stream,  at  3.15.  We  left  the  bridge  at  3.27. 
Just  beyond  it  lies  the  base  apparently  of  a  Roman  milestone. 
At  3.43  we  were  crossing  a  very  shallow  and  green  Wady,  with  a 
still  and  muddy  puddle  surrounded  by  rushes.  To  this  our  guide 
(from  el-Muzeirib)  gave  the  name  of  'Ain  el-mit — "dead  spring." 
At  4.3  we  crossed  Wady  'Abu  Yabis  (according  to  our  guide ; 
Schumacher,  Wady  el-Yabis— "  the  dry  Wady"),  a  mere  trickle  of 
water;  and  at  4.10,  Schumacher's  Wady  el-Lebwa,  or  "  Wady  of 
Lions  "  (according  to  our  guide,  Wady  Umm  Tireh,  or  Imtireh). 
By  4.35  we  were  at  Tell  'Ashtarah. 

V. — Tell  'Ashtak.\h. 

This  is  a  lower  mound  than  Tell  el-'Ash'ary.  It  lies  on  the 
plain,  with  a  spring  on  the  east  end— Riis  el-'Ain— and  a  small 
stream   flowing  round  the  south,  not  mentioned  by  Schumacher  in 


o 


60       NOTES  OF  A  JOUKNEY  THROUGH  HAURAN. 


"Across  Jordan"  (209),  nor  given  on  his  map  ("  Zeitscli.  des 
Deutsch.  Paliist.  Vereins,"  xxii,  179).  A  little  distance  to  the  west 
is  the  larger  stream,  Moyet  en  Neby  'Ayjub.  On  Tell  'Ashtarah 
there  is  no  trace  of  the  Hauran  architecture  of  the  Roman  and 
Byzantine  epochs.  The  stones  of  the  ruins  are  all  mnch  worn 
and  resemble  those  of  the  older  remains  on  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  {see 
above,  p.  358).  On  the  top  of  the  Tell  they  have  been  gathered  ta 
make  slieepfolds.  But  on  the  southern  edge  the  line  of  a  large 
square  building  is  still  plain  above  the  grass,  which  covers  the 
plateau,  and  from  which  the  old  stones  and  some  potsherds  (grey 
and  bevelled)  peep  out.  There  are  remains  of  a  surrounding  wall 
not  only  (as  Schumacher  points  out)  "  along  the  southern  and 
south-western  foot  of  the  hill,"  but  also  on  the  eastern  slope.  The 
stones  are  large  and  coarsely  hewn. 

We  have  here,  then,  a  site  deserted  in  Roman  times,  but 
occupied  by  a  town  in  earlier  ages.  The  name  Tell  'Ashtarah 
(if-LiLc.)  at  once  suggests  'Ashtaroth.  What  else  could  it  have 
come  from  ?  The  town  need  not  have  been  so  insignificant  as 
some  have  supposed.^  If  it  was  confined  to  the  mound  it  would 
still  be  as  large  as  many  famous  fortresses  of  the  earliest  times. 
By  the  Roman  times  the  inhabitants  may  have  removed  to  Sheikh 
Sa'd,  two  miles  distant,  where  undoubtedly  Eusebius-  and 
Jerome^  place  one  of  their  Ashtaroths.  But  the  name,  though 
repeated  there,  may  easily  have  clung  also  to  its  original  position 
and  so  continued  to  the  present  day. 

The  balance  of  the  evidence  for  the  site  of  'Ashteroth  Karnaim 
is  thus  in  favour  of  Tell  'Ashtarah.  Tell  el-'Ash'ary  is  excluded, 
and  if  there  was  a  second  Ashtaroth,  as  Eusebius  and  Jerome  say, 
nine  Roman  miles  from  Sheikh  Sa'd,  it  must  be  sought  for  about, 
or  in,  Tell  esh-Shihab. 

We  left  Tell  'Ashtarah  at  4.55,  and  reached  in  half  an  hour 
el-Merkez,  where  the  government  of  Hauran  is  still  located,  the 
purpose  of  moving  it  to  Sheikh  Miskin  (mentioned  by  Schumacher) 
having  not  yet  been  fulfilled.  Leaving  this  at  5.50  we  passed  the 
'Ain  el-Lebwa  at  G.'20,  with  a  ruin,  and  pool  with  reeds.  Tempera- 
ture at  sunset  69°.  At  7.10  we  passed  the  Wady  with  a  strong 
stream,  on  which  stands  Tell  esh-Sheikh  Hamad,  but  it  was 
already  too   dark  to  examine  the  great  walls  which  rise   on  this 

'  Cf.  Wetzstein,  "  Reisebericht,"  p.  109. 
^  Onomasticon. 
3  Vita  St.  Paul®. 


NOTES   OF   A   JOURNEY   TIIROUOII    IIAUKAN. 


3G1 


mound.      Forty  minutes  atterwards   wo  rode    into   our   camp  at 
Sheikh  ;^^iskul. 

Sheikh  ^liskin  (pronounced  usually 'k  ^li.skin)  appears  to  have 
grown  much  since  I  was  here  in  1891.  There  was  a  good  deal  of 
goods  traffic — grain  going  out,  timber  and  cloth  coming  in  at  the 
railway  station,  whichj'is  the  station  not  only  for  el-^Ierkez  and 
Sheikh  Sa'd,  but  forj  most  of  the  villages  between  the  railway 
and  the  Lejfi.     Temperature  at  1.30  p.m.  83°  in  shade. 


Gebek  Insceiption  at  Sheikh  Miskin, 

I  append  a  photograph  of  an  inscription  in  the  Sheikh's  house. 
It  is  not  given  in  Waddington's  collection.     Tiie  letters  are  in 

relief  : — 

OYMEXPICTPATIA^flpJC€U)CAn€ 

NIMENOYAniANu'forCPACOBACC 

EICAAAATO0AYMACTONOTIOYA6N 

OrOCHeiAXAPICAAAArPAMMATU) 

In  conclusion  I  desire  to  express  the  obligations  of  travellers 
in  this  region  to  the  accurate  surveys  of  Mr.  Schumacher.  The 
photographs  given  above  are  by  two  of  my  students  :  Messrs. 
Hartzell  and  Paterson. 


362 


NOTES  OX   A   CROSS   JORDAN  TRIP   MADE  OCTOBER 
23rd   to    NOVEMBER    7th,  1899. 

By  the  Rev.  James  B.  Nies,  Ph.D. 

Starting  from  Haifa  with  the  Rev.  M.  Linton  Smith,  Mr.  Robert 
Hensman,  and  two  mukaris  as  companions  we  reached  Beisan  at 
the  end  of  the  first  day.  We  passed  the  night  at  the  railroad 
house,  and  early  next  morning,  provided  by  the  Mudir  of  Beisan 
with  a  soldier  and  a  letter  to  the  Sheikh  of  Umm  Keis,  we  rode 
toward  the  Yarmuk  via  the  Jisr  el-Mujamia,  and  reached  the  hot 
springs  el-Hammeh  about  noon.  A  pariah  dog  who  had  attached 
himself  to  our  party,  on  seeing  the  crystalline  pool,  plunged  in 
befoi-e  we  could  prevent  him.  The  rapidity  with  which  he 
emerged  from  the  bath  was  laughable.  He  evidently  did  not 
enjoy  ablutions  at  119°  Fahr.  In  spite  of  this  warning,  however, 
we  followed  his  example,  and  found  that,  with  a  little  care,  we 
could  endure  the  heat.  After  luncheon  and  an  inspection  of  the 
ruins,  which  are  those  of  an  important  bathing  establishment  of 
Roman  times,  we  ascended  the  steep  mountain  to  the  south.  We 
arrived  at  Umm  Keis  about  one  hour  after  leaving  the  baths.  On 
the  way  up  we  had  several  charming  views  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee, 
at  one  point  being  able  to  see  its  whole  extent. 

As  the  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  call  attention  to  a  few 
things  which  seem  to  have  been  overlooked  by  former  travellers, 
I  will  not  detain  the  reader  with  any  description  of  this  place,  and 
will  only  say  that  the  evil  appearance  of  its  people  caused  us  to  be 
glad  that  we  had  both  a  soldier  and  a  letter  from  the  Mudir. 
We  were  given  rice,  milk,  and  some  bedding,  and,  after  passing 
several  hours  in  the  vermin-infested  den  which  is  called  the  guest 
house,  we  had  breakfast  and  were  ready  to  start  at  3  a.m. 

As  our  soldier  had  taken  no  barley  for  his  horse,  we  were 
delayed  by  his  attempt  to  awaken  the  Sheikh.  At  3.30  we  were 
on  our  way  to  Pella,  descending  into  the  Wady  el-Arab,  and  then 
took  our  course  along  the  Jordan  Valley,  which  we  reached  in 
two  hours — two  dark  and  dismal  hours,  during  which  we 
walked,  leading  our  horses  through  fields  and  over  many  rough 
places. 


NOTES   ON   A   CROSS   JUl:UAN    Ti;ll'.  363 

Nothing  could  excoed  the  dclif^htfiil  coolness  of  the  Jordan 
Valley  at  the  dawn  of  this  day,  but  these  pleasant  impressions 
were  soon  to  be  dissipated,  for  as  the  sun  rose  higher  and  higher 
the  heat  eventually  became  so  oppi-essive  that  we  hailed  with 
uncommon  pleasure  the  turn  toward  the  east,  which  was  to 
bring'  us  to  Fahil  or  Pella.  A  view  of  the  ruins,  a  bath  in  the 
delicious  waters  of  the  Jirm  el-Moz,  luncheon,  and  we  were  again 
on  our  way,  for  it  was  our  purpose,  if  possible,  to  reach  Ajlun 
that  day.  As  the  Jordan  Valley  was  intolerably  hot,  we  asked 
our  soldier  whether  he  knew  a  road  over  the  mountain  by  which 
we  could  reach  our  destination.  He  answered,  "  Yes,"  and  wo 
determined  to  take  that  instead  of  the  one  recommended  by 
Dr.  Schumacher,  who  had  kindly  given  us  the  benefit  of  his 
experience  in  the  East  Jordan  country. 

We  first  proceeded  westward  from  the  springs  at  Pella  along 
the  Jirra  el-Moz  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Then  we  rounded 
the  hill  along  the  side  of  which  we  were  riding,  and,  proceeding 
in  a  south-east  direction,  entered  a  valley  from  Avhich  we  could 
not  see  Fahil.  In  a  few  minutes  we  came  upon  a  number  of 
i-ock-hewn  tombs,  some  with  stone  doors  still  in  place.  I  am 
thus  particular  in  order  that  future  explorers  may  not  miss  the 
way  which  will  undoubtedly  lead  them  to  the  old  Roman  road 
from  Pella  to  Jerash.  We  soon  found  undoubted  proofs  of  this 
road.  Within  the  next  two  hours  we  passed  no  less  than  six 
Roman  milestones,  together  with  considerable  patches  of  ancient 
pavement.  Merrill  speaks  of  this  road,  but  he  does  not  mention 
having  seen  the  milestones.  Guy  le  Strange  was  unable  to  find 
it,  because  he  went  up  the  wrong  Wady.  We  first  travelled 
north-east  then  east,  Halaweh  lay  on  our  right  at  some  disttince, 
and  we  passed  through  Ba'aun,  reaching  Ajlun  at  6  p.m.,  having 
been  14^  hours  under  way  from  Umm  Keis. 

Next  day,  October  26th,  we  made  a  hasty  trip  to  Kul'at 
Rabadh,  which  lies  to  the  west  of  Ajlun,  overlooking  the  valley. 
We  had  hardly  left  the  town  when  a  drenching  rain  overtook  us, 
and  caused  us  to  lose  all  hope  of  seeing  the  sun  rise  from  this 
commanding  point.  We  pressed  on,  however,  in  the  hope  of 
findine:  somethinsf  at  the  castle  which  would  rciiav  us,  and  we 
were  not  disappointed  in  this.  Like  Kaukab  el-Hawa  and  the 
castle  at  Salt,  this  impressive  ruin  deserves  a  much  more  careful 
examination  than  it  has  yet  received.     We  found  sculptuivd  on 


364  NOTES   ON   A    CROSS    JORDAN   TRIP. 

one  of  its  arches  the  figures  of  fighting  cocks,  and  a  little  beyond 
this  other  ornamentation  never  seen  on  Arab  buildings.  ,  In 
addition  to  this,  the  outer  face  of  the  rock-hewn  moat  is  greatly 
weather  worn,  differing  in  this  respect  from  the  sharp,  clean  cut 
stonework  of  the  castle.  The  moat  is  undoubtedly  much  older 
than  the  castle. 

We  left  Ajlun  at  10  under  the  guidance  of  one  of  our  mukaris, 
Mohamed  Silwani,  who  had  been  over  the  road  before,  as  we  had 
dismissed  the  soldier.  We  were  bound  for  Jerash,  and  took  the 
road  through  'Ain  Jenneh.  In  about  an  hour  and  a  half  we  came 
upon  three  Roman  milestones,  two  of  which  were  insci'ibed,  but 
we  did  not  stop  to  copy  them,  as  this  is  a  frequented  road,  and  we 
felt  certain  it  had  already  been  done.  An  hour  later  we  passed 
through  Suf,  and,  following  the  valley,  we  reached  Jerash  in 
another  hour.  Tbe  rest  of  this  day  and  the  morning  of  the 
following  were  consumed  in  looking  over  the  ruins.  I  would 
like  to  call  attention  to  the  tier  of  seats  on  the  right  hand  near 
the  stage  as  one  faces  the  auditorium  of  the  large  theatre.  The 
seats  are  all  numbered  with  Greek  letters,  and  a  complete  copy 
should  be  made. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  27th  we  rode  along  the  crest  of  the 
mountain  in  full  view  of  the  Jabbok,  to  pay  a  visit  to  Reimun, 
and  settle  for  ourselves  the  possibility  of  finding  there  the  site  of 
Ramoth  Gilead.  We  inquired  and  examined  carefully,  but  found 
all  the  usual  signs  of  the  site  of  a  great  city,  such  as  ruins, 
tombs,  and  pottery,  wanting. 

Early  next  morning  we  took  the  road  over  the  Jabbok  for 
Salt,  where  we  were  hospitably  entertained  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wilson,  of  the  C.M.S.  On  the  30th  we  set  out  for  Amman, 
intending  to  see  Yajuz  on  the  way,  and  in  four  hours,  at 
10.40  a.m.,  reached  that  place.  In  the  Arab  cemetery,  under 
the  huge  and  ancient  terebinth  trees,  we  found  not  only  interesting 
Roman  ruins,  but  modern  cromlechs  and  dolmens,  together  with 
altar  stones  for  sacrifices.  One  of  these  contained  five  cup  holes 
connected  by  channels  for  the  flow  of  blood.  One  of  the  terebinths 
I  measured,  and  afterwards  found  that  Selah  Merrill,  in  1875,  had 
measured  the  same  tree.  Merrill  found  it  to  measure,  at  a  height 
of  4  feet  above  the  ground,  16  feet  6  inches.  My  measure  at  the 
same  place  was  16  feet  9  inches.  It  has  thus  increased  its 
circumference  3  inches  in  25  years.     If  such  measurements  may 


NOTES  ON  A  CROSS  JORDAN  TRIP.  365 

4 

safely  be  used  for  chronological  purposes,  we  could  venture  to 
say,  without  any  other  evidence,  that  this  place  was  a  ruin  in  the 
tenth  century,  for  the  tree  we  both  measured  has  a  largo  hewn 
block  belonging  to  ruins  incorporated  in  its  trunk. 

Leaving  Yajuz,  we  took  a  southerly  direction,  and  in  20  minutes 
came  upon  five  pieces  of  Roman  milestones  with  inscriptions.  As 
three  of  these  were  in  a  field  some  60  feet  from  the  road  partially 
buried  and  used  as  boundary  stones  by  the  native  farmers,  we  felt 
certain  they  had  not  been  copied.  Two  of  these  needed  excava- 
tion, so  that  we  obtained  only  one  good  copy,  made  by  the 
Rev.  M.  Linton  Smith.  I  called  the  attention  of  the  Dominicans 
to  these  stones  last  year,  and  hope  by  this  time  they  have  been 
copied. 

6  1  MPCaesSM  ARC 
AVRELlVS^j^i^i^l^TON  I  NVS 

p  I V  s  Feci  mmmB^  H  I  c  V  s  /v 

B  R  I  T  A  N  N  I  C^^:^ O  N  T  I  F 
MAX    TRI  B^^l^^AP 

COS        III        T 

OF  FVRNI 

The  copies  we  obtained  of  the  other  two  in  the  field  were  not 
satisfactory.  One  of  them  seems  to  contain  a  place-name  and 
may  lead  to  the  identification  of  the  Roman  name  of  Yajuz, 

We  reached  Amman  at  2  p.m.,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  inspect 
the  citadel  and  other  ruins.  In  the  evening  we  arranged  with  an 
Arab  Christian  of  Fuhes,  named  Salim  Suleiman,  for  the  trip  to 
Medaba  via  Mashita.  He  proved  an  excellent  guide,  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  country,  perfectly  honest,  and  on  good  terms 
with  the  Beni  Sakr  Arabs. 

On  October  28th,  at  5.30  a.m.,  we  left  Amman  for  Mashita, 
riding  in  a  southerly  direction.  At  6.45  we  passed  a  large  under- 
ground, rock-hewn  cavern,  with  a  num.ber  of  kokim  large  enough  to 
accommodate  sarcophagi.  At  7  o'clock  we  passed  Umm  el-Kheran. 
Our  guide  here  told  us  he  knew  of  a  fine  ruin  four  hours  to 
the  east,  named  Wukka.  Seven  minutes  later,  on  a  hill  to 
the  riffht,  is  a  town,  the  name  of  which  was  given  to  us  as 
Abasiyeh.  We  were  now  going  S.  by  E.  Here  Salim  told  us  of 
a  place  named  Juadie,'  where  there  is  a  long  Hebrew  inscription. 
1  Possibly  the  el-Yadudeh  of  the  Palestine  Exiilonition  Fund  map. 


366  NOTES   ON  A   CEOSS   JORDAN   TRIP. 

We  unfortunately  failed  to  ask  him  how  he  knew  the  characters 
to  be  Hebrew,  as  he  had  told  ns  no  travellers  had  yet  visited 
the  place.  At  7.30  our  road  led  us  past  Kasr  es-Sahel,  J..s>^!l^^  . 
At  8  o'clock  we  rode  into  a  village  of  Beni  Sakr  Arabs.  Our 
guide  had  a  talk  with  the  Sheikh  Suelmi,  and  borrowed  from 
him  a  rifle.  He  was  a  small,  thin  individual,  with  parched  skin 
and  black,  bead-like  eyes.  Uninvited  he  accompanied  us  on  a 
very  lean  mare,  which  he  rode  bareback,  wearing  a  single  spur 
attached  to  one  of  his  naked  heels.  "We  had  reason  to  feel 
thankful  for  his  company,  as  he  and  Salim  varied  the  monotony 
of  this  part  of  our  journey  by  an  Arab  tournament,  and  by  chasing 
the  frequent  herds  of  gazelle.  "Within  two  hours  we  must  have 
seen  200  of  these  graceful  animals,  in  bunches  varying  from  10  to 
40.  Our  Arabs  had  an  exciting  time,  though  they  did  not 
capture  a  single  prize. 

At  8.18  o'clock  we  passed  Kb.  Luban  on  the  right,  and  at  10 
the  Hajj  road,  a  few  minutes  later  coming  to  a  sudden  drop  in 
the  plain.  Below  us  in  the  desert  to  the  south,  at  a  distance  of 
15  or  20  minutes,  lay  the  ruins  of  Mashita.  Before  descending, 
our  guide  pointed  toward  the  east,  along  the  elevation  on  which 
we  were  standing,  to  a  small  hill.  He  called  it  "  a  Tell,"  and  said 
that  it  contained  a  number  of  large  caves.  "We  determined  to  see 
them,  and  in  15  minutes  reached  the  place,  which  we  found 
deserted,  but  with  the  ruins  of  former  rude  dwellings  on  top. 
Around  the  sides  Avere  a  number  of  large  caves  which  seemed  for 
the  most  part  natural,  though  the  limestone  here  is  very  friable 
and  may  have  corroded.  These  caves  had  been  turned  into 
sheepfolds  by  building  round  their  mouths  low,  dry  walls  of  stone, 
many  of  the  blocks  of  which  were  hewn  and  evidently  brought 
from  neighbouring  ruins.  Upon  some  of  these  I  found  the 
following  graffiti : — 


LI  C 


:iJ7 


o. 


No.  3  sesm?  to  l)j  a  L:-X'n3  ;  ■!•  in  15  1  thoiij^lit  wa-.m,  but  both 
the  Sheikh  and  t'le  g  lidj  a-i-surel  nio  thej  at-j  no',  :i:i(],  as  tlies' 
had  no  hosit  uicy  in  telling-  ni)  later  th:i  vai'ioas  t.ib^s  to  whiuli 
the  many  was:n  at  Mishita  belono^,  I  have  no  doubt  they  niea:it 
what  thev  said.  Tliev  thoa^rht  tliem  ancient  words  or  letter.s. 
As  there  has  thus  fir  been  found  absolutely  no  evidence  rej^Hvdin<r 
the  mysterious  ruin  of  ths  des:»rt,  I  g^ive  them  in  t\\r  hope  tliat 
they  may  lead  to  so;n  •  clu'%  though  I  coafess  I  am  able  to  make 
nothing'  out  of  ai'y  oF  ilicm. 

As  we  stood  on  tlu;  suuunit  of  the  "  Te'l  "  an  1  lo  ik  d  toward 
the  ruins  in  the  plain  1  reuiarked  to  the  Sh'jikh  :  '•  Hunak 
Mashita  "  ('■  You  ler  is  Ma-iliita '").  He"ans\vered  at  one  .•  :  •'  Iju. 
la,  hunak  mush  ]M  ishita,  hunak  Khan.  Hatha  Tell  ^lasliita  " 
("  No,  no,  yonder  is  not  .Mashita,  yo  ider  is  tlu-  Khiii.  This  is 
Tell  Mashita  ";.  I  then  iMjuircd  elosoly  froru  both  the  Sht-ikli 
and  the  guide  whether  this  distin-jtiou  is  aUv:iys  made  by  the 
Arabs,  and  was  answered  in  the  atlijunative. 

]\riy  we  not  veuturo  to  hope  tint  this  gives  us  a  clue  to  tlie 
origin  of  those  puz/ding  ruins  "r*  ICspeei.dly  when  we  take  iiit.> 
consideration  that,  iu  additiuu  to  the  caves,  therj  is  at  least  im  • 
very  large  roek-hewu  cistern  in  "-TJl  M  is'iita."  Tuis  hill,  full 
of  large  caves  ami  cist.-nis,  is  close  to  the  llijj  r.);id.  It  ileriv«'d 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  ailbr  led  s'.;elier  not  ouly  to  the 
Arabs  but  to  the  Mecca  pilgrim^.  lb  was  pr/oably  at  one  time  a 
station  of  the  Hajj.     Its  cistern   (the  one  I  saw)   is  Lirge  ennug'.i 

■2  A 


368  NOTES    ON   A   CKOSS   JORDAN    TKIP. 

to  supply  all  the  water  needeJ  by  tlie  pilgrims,  and  Amman  is 
near  enough  to  have  supplied  other  necessities.  What  more 
natural,  therefore,  than  that  this  place  should  be  selected  b\'  one 
of  the  Oraei3-ad  or  'Abba>ide  Khalifs  for  a  m:ignilicent  khan  to 
accommodate  the  Hnjj  ?  AYe  know  it  was  considered  a  pious 
duty  by  the  early  Khalifs  to  accompany  the  annual  pilgfim 
caravan,  and  that  some  of  these  did  much  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  the  pilgrims. 

Leaving  the  Tell  we  rode  rather  rapidly  toward  the  ruins,  as  I 
recollect  it,  in  a  S.E.  by  S.  direction,  and  entered  the  building 
from  the  north  side.  The  place  has  been  so  thoroughly  described 
by  Tristram,  who  supposes  it  to  be  a  palace  built  by  Chosroes  II, 
and  by  Selah  Merrill,  who  claims  it  is  a  Byzantine  monastery  or 
church,  that  practically  nothing  remains  to  be  said  of  its  archi- 
tecture and  wonderful  carvings.  More  recently  a  writer  in 
^'  Harper's  Magazine  "  fancifully  ascribes  it  to  the  love  of  Ferhad 
and  Shirin.  If,  after  sucli  masterl}-  discussion,  I  may  venture  a 
suggestion  or  two  which  seems  to  favour  a  dlft'erent  view,  I  wish 
first  to  say  that  the  basket  capitals,  the  arches,  and  the  carvings 
seem  to  be  in  favour  of  Bjzmtine  or  Persian  work,  and  this  would 
be  not  only  possible  but  probable,  it  the  place  was  constructed  by 
the  oi'der  of  ona  of  the  early  Khalifs;  for  it  is  well  known 
that  these  depended  on  Greek  and  Persian  artists.  The  20  towers 
of  the  ruin  seemed  to  me  merely  ornamental,  and  there  is  nothing 
to  show  that  the  place  was  intended  for  a  fortress.  Neither  is 
there  anything  to  show  that  it  was  intended  as  a  monastery.  Its 
ornate  and  costly  architeoturj  precludes  the  theory  that  it  was 
erected  as  a  mere  hunting  lodge.  On  the  otJier  hand  its  great 
courtyard,  its  cisterns,  and,  above  all,  its  vicinity  to  the  Hiijj 
r.jjid  seem  !o  favour  the  explanation  of  the  Beiii  Sakr  Sheikh, 
that  it  was  built  for  a  khan  but  never  finished,  poss'.bly  because 
of  the  death  of  the  Khalif  who  had  conceived  it.' 


'  Dr.  Nies'  notice  of  Tell  Masbila  is  of  miicli  interest,  iiiid  iucrjases  the 
probability  that  the  celebrated  mini  are  these  of  a  klian,  which  I  have  else- 
where ascribed  to  the  eelebrateJ  .'Seljuk  Sultan  ilelik  Sha'i,  — C.W.W. 


:!G') 


AKCILEOLOGICAL    AX!)    EI'KIKAI'II  K  '    X(  )TKs    ox 

i'ALK.STIXK. 

Dy  Piofessor  Clei!.mont-Ganneau,  M.I. 

8.  Bctomarsca-Maioumcis,  and  "the  matter  of  I'eor"  (Xumbers 
XXV,  18).— As  T  have  already  explained  (p.  2:39),  M.  Biiehler 
seems  to  liave  successfully  proved  that  the  lucality  which 
a])pears  iu  the  mosaic  map  of  Madeba  under  tlie  puzzling  name 
of  Br]To/j,apaea  i)  koI  Matof/ia<?  represents  the  site  whereon  the 
tradition  of  the  period  placed  the  famous  scene  of  the  whoredom 
of  Israel  with  the  daughters  of  Moab. 

We  may  henceforth  take  the  following  facts  as  certain  : — 
(1)  BrjTCfiapaea  is  the  exact  trapscription  of  nn!2!  IV2,  L'cif 
Marzeah,"  the  house  of  the  Marzeah";  (2)  the  Marzeah  was  a  great 
popular  Syrian  festival,  of  a  more  or  less  licentious  character ; 
(3)  the  Talmudic-Midrashic  texts  use  this  very  expression 
{Marzihhn  m  tlu"  plural)  to  designate  the  impure  rites  of  Baal 
Peor,  into  which  the  children  of  Israel,  when  encamped  at 
Shittim,  allowed  tliemselves  to  be  initiated ;  (4)  finally,  the 
word  Maionmas,  which  is  given  on  the  map  as  equivalent 
{-q  Koi)  to  Bdomarsea,  is  nothing  more  than  the  Greek  term  for 
the  orgiastic  Marzeah,  beloved  by  the  Syrians,  a  term  which 
the  Midrash  and  the  Talmud  knew  very  well  iu  its  Greek 
foini  (D':^'!'^;^)  aud  used  tliemselves  as  the  proper  equivalent  of 
Marzeah. 

Although  the  question  appears  to  me  to  be  thus  solved,  and 
very  ingeniously  solved,  as  touching  the  main  i>()int,  there  are 
still  some  matters  which  require  to  be  cleared  uj)  or  completed. 

In  the  first  place,  to  begin  witli,  there  is  a  topographical 
difficult}',  wliich  I\I.  Biiehler  has  perhaps  passed  over  too 
lightly.  He  thinks  that  the  position  assigned  to  lietomarsea 
in  the  mosaic  map  agrees  well  enougli  with  that  given  to 
]jaal  Peor  by  the  current  tradition,  and  especially  l»y 
Eusebius's  Onomasticon  (opposite  to  Jericlio,  10  miles  ab,)ve 
Livias). 

2  A  2 


370       AKCn.-EOLOGICAL   AND    EPIGRAPIIIC   NOTES   ON    PALESTINE 

"We  may  be  permitted  to  hold  a  different  opinion  on  this 
point.  Even  takinj];  into  account  the  liberties,  sometimes 
considerable,  which  the  mosaic  map  takes  with  regard  to  the 
relative  position  of  various  places,  one  must  admit  that 
Betomarsea,  on  the  contrary,  does  not  appear  at  all  in  the 
district  in  which  one  would  look  for  it,  assuming  what  it  is 
supposed  to  stand  for.  It  is  undeniable  that  it  is  brought, 
I  think  puT-posely,  very  close  to  Kerak  ([Xapjax  M(y/3a),  at  a 
comparatively  enormous  distance  from  Jericho,  and  also  very 
far  from  the  region  of  the  map,  now  destroyed,  wliere  Mount 
Nebo  and  its  environs,  including  Madeba  itself,  should  figure. 

How  are  we  to  explain  such  an  anomaly  as  this,  which 
accordinjT  to  the  strict  rules  of  criticism  might  form  a  grave 
objection  to  the  conjecture,  an  excellent  one  in  my  opinion,  of 
]\I.  Biichler  ?  I  incline  to  believe  that  in  this  matter  the  maker 
of  the  mosaic  map  merely  followed  an  intentional  'S'ariant  of 
the  local  legend  of  Madeba,  which  was  careful  to  put  away, 
by  transporting  it  to  a  distance,  a  memory  which  was  injurious 
to  the  good  fame  of  the  country,  and  clashed  with  the  other 
glorious  memories  of  which  it  was  proud.  The  country  quite 
simply  got  rid  of  this  place  of  ill  fame,  to  the  benefit  or 
the  detriment  of  its  neighbours  further  to  the  south,  folklore 
usually  employs  these  rough  and  ready  methods,  and  in  the 
present  case  we  must  not  forget  that  the  reputation  of  the 
town  itself  was  in  a  manner  at  stake,  where  this  grandiose 
map  was  constructed,  intending,  perhaps,  as  I  have  endeavoured 
to  prove,  to  illustrate  the  vision  of  the  Holy  Land  as  seen  by 
Moses  from  the  top  of  Mount  Xebo. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  I  sliall  point  out  a  curious  enougli  fact, 
although  belonging  to  a  relatively  late  period,  in  which  one 
may  perhaps  find  some  evidence  of  the  topographical  variation 
of  the  legend.  An  ancient  Jewish  writer,  who  knew  Palestine 
well,  having  sojourned  and  travelled  there  i'or  many  years, 
Esthori  ha-Parchi,  a  contemporary  of  Abu'l  Feda,  when 
descriljing  the  land  of  ]\loab  from  nortli  to  south,  expresses 
himself  thus,  after  mentioning  Dilion,  the  Anion,  and  Babbat : 
"  From  Argob  (corr.  Arnon)  you  proceed  to  the  liill  point  of 
Pisrjah,  i.e.,  ]\Ioab,  called   El   Kcralc ;    two   days   south    from 


ARCIL-l'OLOGICAL   AND    Kri(;i;AlilIc    NOTES   ON    PALESTINK.       371 

ris;;;ili  is  Mount  Seir,  culled  El  Siiauliek."  '  Here  then  we  find 
Pist^'ah  identified  with  Keiak  itself.     This  is  as  <:ood  cvidcMice 

as  the  loc.disatinn  of  Vcnv  hy  our  iiia]i  in  the  neij^hlKjurhood  of 
that  town  ;  one  may  even  .say  that  it  is  veiy  nearly  the  same 
fact  stated  in  dil'lerent  terms. 

Here  is  another  observation.  'I'he  Sifre  and  the  parallel 
passages  quoted  by  M.  Ihiehler  say  that  at  llic,  time  of  the 
ibrniealion  of  Israel  ihc  Aninionites  and  (he  ]\Ioabites  set  up 
tents  and  booths,  ki>])l  liy  their  loose  young  women,  finni 
r>eth  ha-Yeshimoth  to  the  Mountain  of  Snoiv.    The  Moiinialii  of 

Snoiv  i'^'J'^rs  "111^)  is  the  nanu^  ordinarily  given  by  the  Talmud 
ami  the  Targunis  to  ^Mount  Hermon.  As  ]\I.  iWichler  justly 
points  out,  it  is  inadmissibh;-  that  an  agadist  in  the  second 
eenturv  a.d.  should  have  made  such  a  senseless  statement  as 
that  this  kind  of  fair,  with  its  various  attractions,  sliculd  have 
extended  as  far  as  Mount  Hermon.  Assuredly  he  did  not  mean 
that  nuiuntain.  Ibil,  in  that  case,  what  aie  we  to  understand 
by  this  (  ]M.  JUlehler  has  made  no  answer  to  this  question, 
which,  nevertheless,  has  an  interest  of  its  own.     I  am  disposed 

to  think  that  the  reading  i^j'rn,  t(i^ga,  "  snow,"  is  the  result  of 
a  copyist's  error,  and  I  wonder  whether  the  original  reading  may 
not  have  been  t^^CD  =  nJlL^^,  J'is[/ali ;  the  emendation  would  be 
sufficiently  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  pakeography  (il  =  Z, 
7  =  D  [triangular]),  and  even  the  great  fame  of  ]\Iount  Hermon 
^vould  have  sen.sibly  helped  to  alter  the  original  word.  We  thus 
find  ourselves  exactly  in  the  place  which  we  want,  and,  wliat- 
ever  fantastic  variations  there  may  be  in  details,  the  Talmudic 
tradition,  a  different  one  from  that  local  tradition  which  grew 
u])  in  the  course  of  succeeding  centuries  at  jMadeha  IVom  the 
interested  motives  which  I  have  conjectured,  agrees  well  with 
the  topographic  data  which  appear  in  tlu^  IJilile  narrative,  and 
the  conclusions  at  which  modern  criticism  has  in  general 
arrived  :  IJeth  ha-Yeshimoth  =  .Sueimeh  ;  Neho  and  Pi.^gah  = 
Neba  and  Sia'dia. 


o" 


'  Zur.z,  in  "The  Itinciary  of  Etiblji  Boiijamiu  of  Tiuldii,"  l>v  Aslur,  vol.  ii, 
|).  405. 

-  HoAvcver,  if.  Xcuuaiar  ("  Gcograpliie  du  Tahmul,"  p.  39)  ha?  pasfed 
-over  tliis  diflirultv. 


372         AP.CII.EOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAI  HIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

As  for  Poor,  one  is  ^a-eatly  tempted  to  follow  Colonel  Conder 
in  placing  it  beside  'Ain  ^[inyell.     Anyhow,  I  see  no  necessity 
for  separating,  as    lie  would  do,  this  place,  the  scene  of   the 
episode  of  Balaam,  from  the  scene  of  the  impure  rites  of  Peor, 
by  putting  the  latter  at  Shittim,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  very 
camp  of  the  Israelites,  in  the  valley  of  the  Jordan \:  it  is  more 
natural  to  suppose  that  the  guilty  parties  allowed  themselves 
to  be  enticed  2  into  the  sanctuary  of  Baal  Peor  itself.     If  we 
admit  this  view  of  the  matter,  may  we  not   make  something 
out  of  the  suggestive  enough  name  in  this  connection  of  Tal'at 
el-Bcnut,  "  the  ascent  of  the  girls,"  which  is  borne  at  this  day 
by  the  conspicuous  knoll  adjacent  to  'Ain  el-Minyeh  and  its 
ancient  monuments  of  unhewn  stone  ?      This  spot,  at  which 
tradition  perhaps  fixed  the  memory  of   the  loose  conduct  of 
the  girls  of  ]\loab,  is  not  more  than  seven  miles  from  ]\Iadeba, 
to  the  south-west. 

Finally,  there  is  one  remaining  point  whicli  T  think  that 
I  ought  to  press.  As  I  have  before  incidentally  noted  (Quarterly 
Statement,  p.  239,  note  4),  I  had  already  shown  elsewhere  that 
the  Phoenician  word  nn^,  which  hitherto  had  remained 
uninterpreted,  is  closely  connected  with  the  identical  Hebrew 
word,  and  in  the  two  Phoenician  inscriptions  in  which  it 
occurs  must  bear  the  meaning  of  "  sacred  festival,"  "  great 
religious  feast."  The  appearance  of  the  Moabite  Marzeah 
gives  this  interpretation  an  unexpected  confirmation,  at  the 
same  time  that  it  receives  a  certain  amount  of  light  from  it 

itself. 

The  great  Punic  Tariff  of  Sacrifices  ("Corp.  Inscr.  Sem.," 
Xo.  165,  1.  IG),  after  having  settled  the  conditions  of  offerings 
made  by  individuals,  begins  to  speak  of  those  made  in  common 
by  collective  groups  which  it  defines  as  curia,  pViratria,  and 
marzeah  elim.  This  last  group,  I  stated,  must  represent  one 
of  those  associations,  so  common  in  classical  antiquity,  whose 

'  Tlic  dramatic  inc-ident.  of  Zimri  and  the  Midianite  woman  Cozbi,  whom 
he  brought  into  hi-  own  tent,  and  cons(  quentlj  into  the  c.imp  at  Sliittim,  was 
nn  isolated  case  and  an  exceptional  one,  as  appears  from  the  context  itself. 
Compare  Numbers  xxt,  6  to  18. 

-  Xuuibers  xxv,  2. 


ARCHAEOLOGICAL  AND  El'IdFUrillC  NOTKS  ON  I'AI.KsTIXI.:.         ijy.'-J 

members  assembled  for  tbeir  rclii^Moiis  "  ii,uapes  "  or  love  feasts, 
whicb,  wlien  we  take  into  consideration  the  teniporanicnt  ami 
the  sensual  rites  of  Eastern  peoples,  might  easily  (lorrcnerate 
into  orgies  ad  mnjorcm  dci  (jlorinm.  The  runic  Jfarzcah  was 
a  regular  thiasos.  Now,  it  is  striking  to  observe  that  the 
Biblical  expression  ni")^  rS^^  (deremiah  xvi,  .".),  which  is 
accurately  represented  l)y  the  transcription  l^rjTofiapaea  on 
the  mosaic  map,  is  appositely  rendered  in' the  LXX  vmsion  by 
diaao^^}  Probably  the  Punic  Marzcah  resembled  the  ^^loabite 
Marzeah  in  its  least  commendable  features. 

The  second  example  of  the  Phoenician  word  Marzeah  occurs 
at  the  beginning  of  the  groat  Decree  of  the  Phoenician  com- 
munity of  Piraeus  :  p!i*  Di^S  15  T\^^1  WTsrh  -A  2^2,  "the  fourth 
day  of  Marzeah,  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  people  of  Sidon."' 
It  lias  been  generally  believed  that  in  this  formula  of  date 
compared  with  those  which  we  already  know,  Marziah  could 
only  be  the  name,  hitherto  unknown,  of  one  of  the  months 
in  the  Phoenician  calendar.  I  expressed  some  doubt  as  to  this 
view,  pointing  out  that  in  that  case  the  name  of  the  month, 
if  it  were  really  a  month,  ought  to  be  preceded  by  the  deter- 
minative word  TTS^,  "  month,"  a  word  which  is  never  absent 
from  the  ordinary  formula3.  On  one  hand,  this  omission  is 
significant;  on  the  other,  the  new  meaning  which  I  had  been 
brought  to  attribute  to  the  word  nn'2!  in  ihe  Punic  Tariff  of 
Sacrifices  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Marzeah  of  the 
Decree  of  the  Piraeus  was  perhaps  not  the  name  of  a  month, 
but  rather  the  name  of  some  great  Phoenician  religious 
solemnity  which  lasted  for  at  least  four  days,  and,  recurring 
at  fixed  periods,  might  consequently  serve  as  well  as  the 
mention  of  a  month  to  determine  a  date  precisely :  "  the  4th 
clay  of  the  Marzeah,"  and  not  "  of  i\f arzeah." 

With  regard  to  this  extremely  important  ([ucsti«>n  of  the 
great  periodical  festivals,  either  annual  or  ([uadrennial, 
celebrated  by  the  ancient  peoples  of  Syria,  I  shall  confine 
myself    to   referring   the   reader  to  my  special  essay  on  this 

'  Although  from  the    Helrew   context  it  seems  rather  to   refer  to  son.e 
funeral  ceremony. 
2  The  year  96  b.c. 


:J74      arc'ii.cological  and  kpigkapiiic  notes  ox  talestine. 

subject  1  ('-rcciieil  d'Arelu'ologie  Orientalc,"  vol.  iv,  pp.  289- 
:>19  :  "Lo  droit  des  p.iuvres  et  le  cycle  pentac'ti'rique  cliez  les 
Xabute'eus").  It  will  be  enough  for  nie  here  to  mention  this 
fact,  which  Kinnects  the  Phoenician  Marzcah  yet  more  closely 
with  the  Moal)ite  Marzeali,  pointing  out  that  they  had  really  the 
character  of  a  great  religious  institution  of  rxireme  popularity 
among  the  Semitic  races. 

In  the  special  essay  just  quoted,  I  think  that  I  have 
succeeded  in  })roving  the  existence  among  the  Syrians  of  a 
great  (puuhvnnial  festival,  regulated  hy  a  pentaetcric  cycle  (=  a 
period  of  four  years),  which,  singularly  enough,  coincides 
chronologically  with  the  Olympic  cycle,  year  for  year.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  give  reasons  for  this  coincidence.  1  may  add 
that  the  year  15  of  the  Sidonian  era  in  the  Phoenician  Decree 
of  Piraeus,  that  is  to  say,  the  year  DU  v.r.,  agrees  exactly  with 
the  first  year  of  the  ITlst  Olympiad,  and  consequently  with  one 
(jf  the  I'estival  years  of  the  Syrian  pentaeteric  cycle.  We  may 
infer  from  this  that  the  Phoenician  Marzcah  was  perhaps  not 
an  annual  least,  hut  that  it  too  was  a  (piadrennial  one.  Can 
this  also  have  been  the  case  with  the  Moabite  Marzcah,  or  at 
any  rate  with  that  alluded  to  in  the  Talmudic  tradition  and 
the  tradition  of  the  mosaic  map  '. 

0.  The  Ilehrctn  Mosaic  of  Kefr  Keniia.-—l\\  the  cours3  of 
last  year  on  extremely  interesting  archteological  discovery  w^as 
made  at  Kel'r  Kenna,  an  xVrab  Ailla.ge  in  Galilee,  which  an 
ancient  and  possibly  true,  though  nnu'h  disputed,  tradition 
identities  with  the  famous   Cana  of  the  CJospels."'     It  consists 

•  See  also  ibid.,  pp.  226-237  :  "  Le  Plijircien  llieoscbios  dc  Sarepta  et  son 
TOjnge  a  Ponzzoles." 

-  See  tlic  illuslratioii  in  llui  Q"'ir/erfi/  Slalement,  p.  251. 

^  Among  tlie  testimonies  of  !i  date  anterior  to  llie  Crusades,  that  of 
Antoninus  of  PLicentia  alone  can  be  regarded  as  sulliciertly  explicit  to  be 
able  to  sway  tlie  balance  in  favour  of  tliis  identification.  He  distinctly  places 
the  Cana  of  the  Gospels  between  Diocoesarea  (Scplioris)  and  Nazareth,  at  a 
distance  of  three  miles  from  the  former  town  (Thcodosijs  reclions  it  five)  ;  he 
states  that  he  saw  there  two  of  the  water  pots  wherein  was  wrought  tlie  miracle 
of  the  chan.'inj'  the  water  into  wine,  and  also  that  he  carved  his  parents'  name 

... 

in   the  sanctuary.     It  is  a  pity  that  we  have  not  been  able  to  find  this  com- 
memorative inscription,  which  would  have  settl-jd  the  question.     I  may  remark 


AllCFLEOLOGICAL  AND  F.l'I  IKMMIIC  NOTES  ON   I-ALKSTINK.         .''.7') 

of  a  lai<j;o  iiu).saic  pavement  cuntaiiiiug  a  faiily  lung  inserip- 
lidii  ill  aiii'iciit  siiuiirc-  ircbvcw  <'liai'act('rs.  It  is  Uie  first 
iiis('ii[)ii()U  of  this  kind  wliiili  has  Iteun  I'oiiinl  uj)  Id  the 
present  day.  There  is,  indeed,  the  great  niosaie  of  Xaron/ 
iu  Tunisia,  which  assiiretlly  once  adorned  the  llnor  of  an 
iineient  Jewish  syna^fogue,  as  is  proved  l)y  the  characteristic 
symbols-  and  inscriptions  which  it  contains  ■'' ;  hut,  all  theses 
inscriptiiuis  are  in  Latin,  whereas  that  at  Kcfr  Kenna  is  in 
Hebrew. 

This  niosaie  was  discovered  by  the  Franciscans  in  the  course 
of  some  researches  made  by  them  in  the  interior  of  a  cha])ol, 
which -they  bnilt  some  years  ago  at  Kefr  Kenna,  on  the  ruins 
of  an  ancient  basilica  which  is  ]iarlly  covered  by  their  convent. 
Father  rionzovalle.  of  Iknrut,  has  been  good  enough  to  send  me 
a  photograph  lium  which  the  engraving  given  above  on  p.  251 
has  been  made.  Although  the  photograph  is  good  enough  in 
itself,  the  deciphering  of  the  text  is,  nevertheless,  an  arduous 
task,  owing  to  various  circumstances.  The  letters,  which  are 
l)hotographed  oblicpiely,  are  out  of  shape  because  of  the  per- 
.spective.-*  Moreover,  they  have  been  somewhat  carelessly 
executed  by  the  maker  of  the  mosaic,  perhaps  of  Greek 
extraction,  who  may  not  have  been  very  familiar  with  this 
sort  of  writing,  and  merely  reproduced  mechanically  a  model 
text  which  he  could  not  read.  Finally,  the  mosaic  has  suffered 
much  from  the  injuries  of  time  and  the  hand  of  man.  In 
.spite  of  all  these  difliculties  I  think  that  I  have,  nevertheless, 

in  tliis  coniioction  tliat,  in  1835,  in  (lie  ruin-  of  an  anrient  chnrcli  of  tlie 
Panagliia  at  Klutcii,  in  i'lioci:),  a  lar-e  slab  of  grey  marble  was  diseoverea 
bearing  a  Groc-k  insci-ip'iou  in  sixtli-cenliiry  lettering,  wliieh  rnns.  thus:— "Ihis 
tfcjnc  comes  from  Cana  of  Galilee,  where  Our  l.ord  Jesus  Christ  turned  the 
water  into  wine."  This  stone  must  have  been  brought  to  Greece  from  the 
Holy  Land  by  some  pious  pilgrim  who   was  more  or  less  contemporary  with 

Antoninus. 

1  At  Hanimara  LIf,  neir  Tunis.  See  "  Kevuo  Archeologiquc,"  18S3, 
pp.  157  and  234-;  1884,  p.  273,  Tl.  VII-XI. 

-  Seven-branched  candlestick,  lulab,  &e. 

•'  "Sand  I  tjinagoga  Na:on  ....  areosinngogi,"  Ac. 

•=  One  can  realise  the  extent  of  this  distortion  of  the  letters  by  the  angle 
formed  by  the  lines  of  the  border  and  of  the  intercoUimnation?,  which,  of 
course,  must  be  parallel  in  the  original. 


oTG       arcii.f.olooical  and  ErinRAniic  notes  ox  Palestine. 

made  out  pretty  satisfactorily  all  that  is  left  of  this  precious 
text.  In  order  to  clear  up  the  doubts  which  still  remain 
about  certain  points  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  access  to 
an  exact  copy  of  it,  but  this  I  have  not  hitherto  been  aide  to 
obtain. 

The  inscription  originally  contained  at  least  two  columns, 
I  and  11,  separated  by  a  vertical  line,  and  set,  perhaps,  in  a 
large  frame  with  triangular  lappets,  of  which  I  think  I  can 
still  discover  some  traces  at  the  right  hand  extremity.  This  is 
my  reading: — 

II.  1  I. 

5  -^n  ncv  rj^  ir^i  ^ 


•>•>•} 


(IT)''  6  ^"1:11  ni^^n  -^n  ain:n  ^ 

.    ?  ?  - 


«??  ?????» 

In  pious  remembrance  ;  Yoseli  (=  Joseph)  the  son  of  Tanhfim,  the 
son  of  Bitah  (?),  and  liis  sons,  who  have  made  (/)  this  TBLH  ;  which  will 

be  for  a  blessing  for  them This  T[BLH  ?]....    blessing 

for  '  (?)  [tliem,  or :  for  ever  ?]. 

The  wanting  is  the  square  Hebrew  alphabet  of  the  first 
centuries  of  our  era :  the  language  is  the  Hebrew  with  a 
tendency  to  tlie  Aramaic,  sometimes  far  from  correct,  which 
was  also  in  use  amongst  the  Jews  at  the  same  period. 

The  initial  formula  is  well  known  ;  it  is  applicable  to  an 
ex  fotu  as  well  as  to  an  epitaph,  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken  we 
have  here  to  deal  with  the  former.  Observe  the  Aramaicised 
form  n^"*!  —  1Z]f  "  remembrance " :  the  j/od  is  somewhat  of 
a  surprise;  perhaps  this  spelling  has  been  influenced  by  the 
vocalisation  of  the  Hebrew  form  pl^T,  and  also  by  the  wish 

to  distinguisli  this  word  from  its  double  "^D"T  ="^3)  "male." 

The  two  first  proper  names,  HDV  and  Qin-n,  are  certain, 
and  they  are  common  Jewish  names  of  the  period.  The 
identity  of  the  abridged  popular  form  HD"!'',  Yuseh,  with  f]DV, 
Joseph,  has  long  l}een  established  beyond  the  reach  of  doubt, 

'  Or  perhaps  better,  (PDnSIS,  "  the  blessing,"  as  in  line  4. 


ARCH/EOLOGICAL  AND  F:T'T^^^\|•|IIC  NOTFIS  ON  I'ALESTINK. 


•  >  I  / 


and    we    liiul    many    examples    of    it  in    tlii.s  very  disli-ict   of 
GuliUr.' 

In  the  group  of  letters  .  .  .  'a'12,  wliidi  I'oJluw  tlic 
])atronymic  Tanlium,  one  miglit  at  iir.st  Ito  tcmphMl  to  see 
the  title  of  beribbi,  or  hcrlbi,  which  is  often  hfjrne  by  tlie 
Jewisli  doctors.  I  have  found  many  exam])lcs  of  it  in  the 
Jewish  cemetery  at  Jopi^a.-  Puit  one  would  he  inclined  in 
that  case  to  expect  to  find  the  usual  spelling  ''2"^1"';2.  "'^'^''l : 
moreover,  in  this  case  one  would  not  know  what  to  make  of 
the  remaining  letters.  It  appears  to  me,  therefore,  more 
natural  that  one  should  find  in  this  a  third  proper  name, 
preceded  by  the  word  "Xl,  "  son,"  and  continuing  the  gene- 
alogy. This  name,  HtO"'!?  ni^ll  ?^  recalls  that  of  r\'0''2,  Vti''l, 
Bitali,  Bi/o,  which  appears  in  the  ancient  Jewish  catacomb 
at  Venosa,*  and  seems  to  be  nothing  more  than  a  trans- 
scription  of  the  Latin  word  Vita  (vulgarly  spelt  Bita)-'  "  life," 
which  is  itself  the  translation  of  a  very  common  Jewish  name 
^^''"'n,'''  □*''^n,  Haiya,  Hiya,  Hayim,  &c.  (same  sense),  and  has 
also  given  rise  to  the  barbarous  proper  names  of  Bit  us  or 
Bittus.  One  may  be  somewhat  surprised,  it  is  true,  at  meeting 
in  the  midst  of  Galilee  with  a  name  so  deeply  impressed  with 
a  western  stamp.     But  this  fact  will  seem  less  surprising  after 

'  See  Renan's  "  Mission  de  Plienicio,"  y.p.  767,  76S,  770,  779.  Sofiff,  87lfi. 
I  am  teinptcd  to  see  a  new  instance  of  this  name  in  a  fragment  of  a  monumental 
inscription  from  an  ancient  synagogue  at  El-Koka,  copied  by  L.  Olijihant 
(Pal.  Exp.  Fund  Quarterly  statement,  1886,  p.  76).  Unfortunately,  t  he  copy 
is  a  very  inadequate  one.  Still,  I  think  that  I  can  read  in  ir,  alter  an  initial 
formula  analogous  to  that  of  our  mosaic,  and  ending  like  it  with  1u7  ("  in 
good  .  .  .  ."),  the  name  of  HDV,  "  Y6seh,"  followed  by  13,  "  son  of,"  and  of  a 

patronymic  name  beginning  with  •  •  •  7n,  or  perhaps  •  •  •  /H  (=['?Pn,  Ilillel  ?). 

-  CleiTBont-Ganneau,  "  Proceed,  of  the  Soc.  of  Bibl.  Arch.,"  March,  1884, 
and  "  Rocucil  d'Archeologie  Orientale,"  toI.  iv,  p.  141.     Compare  Bt]ptfii. 

''  The  second  letter  seems  a  little  long  for  a  yod,  and  might  possibly  pass  for 
a  rav  ;  but  this  a;)pcarance,  perhaps,  is  owing  to  an  accidental  dij^arrangcment 
of  the  mosaic  cubes  which  ajipears  to  have  happened  at  this  place. 

*  Ascoli,  "  Iscrizioni  di  antichi  sepolcri  giudaici  del  Napolitano,"  No.  21 ; 
cf.  Nos.  15,  18,  19. 

^  Compare  the  name  of  BiVo,  belonging  to  a  woman,  perhaps  a  Jewess,  in 
an  inscription  at  Gallipoli  ("  Corp.  luscr.  Grace,"  2014). 

"  Compare  tlie  name  X""n,  transliterated  Ei'oy  (pronounce  loj)  in  a  bilingual 
inscription  in  the  Jewish  cemetery  at  Joppn,  which  I  have  explained  elsewl  ere 
("  Recueii  d'Arch.  Orient.,"  vol.  iv,  p.  143). 


378         ARCII.EOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAnilC  NOTES  OX  PALESTINE. 

a  few  moments'  reflecti"ii  on  llie  uninteriupted  connection 
which  existed  between  the  Jewish  comninnities  disjiersed  after 
the  captivity,  from  one  end  to  tlie  other  of  the  ancient  world. 
It  is,  after  all,  quite  witliin  tlie  bounds  of  possibility  that  our 
Joseph  of  Galilee  should  have  had  a  grandfather  born  in  a 
Latin-speaking  country. 

Observe,  at  tlie  end  of  line  2,  the  Aramaicised  form, 
"^121  =  Tll^Z,  "his  sons,"  mstead  of  llie  classical  Hebrew 
form,  v:n. 

Line  ."!  must  contain  the  essential  part  of  the  inscription, 
that  is  to  say,  the  word,  preceded  by  the  feminine  demonstra- 
tive article,  HIH,^  which  defines  the  actual  work  performed  bv 
the  author  of  the  dedication,  together  with  his  children. 
Unfortunately,  this  word  is  indistinct ;  the  third  letter  is  the 
most  doubtful  one,  and  its  true  value  depends  on  the  greater 
or  less  whiteness  of  one  little  cul^e  of  mosaic.  Here  is  an 
important  verification  wldch  must  l«e  made  by  examination  of 
the  original.  It  seems  as  though  this  word,  whatever  it  may 
be,  must  be  repeated  under  the  same  conditions,  tliat  is, 
preceded  liy  the  same  demonstrative  pronoun,  nin,  in  the 
second  column  (at  the  beginning  of  line  7).  But  this  repetition 
does  not  give  us  the  least  assistance,  for  tlie  word  is  entirely 
destroyed  after  the  second  letter. 

If  the  reading,  Hv^l?,  to  wliicli  I  incline,  be  admitted,  we 
have  yet  to  decide  the  meaning  of  the  word.  There  is,  indeed, 
in  Eabbinical  Hebrew  a  substantive  identical  in  form,  ^7115, 
^^7I1I;3,  which  is  the  transcript  of  the  Latin  tabula,"  all  of  the 
meanings  of  which  have  been  preserved  in  the  Hebrew.  The 
expression  "  this  tah/ah,"  might  therefore  possiljly  mean  the 
mosaic    itself,   the    whole    of    which    formed   a  sort    of    tabula 

tesscllata.  But  it  is  also  ]V)ssiblo  tliat  riTlt^  is  derived  from 
another  Semitic  root,  721:,"  to  plunge  into  the  water,  to  bathe." 
nb""!!:,  ^^nS^rL:,  h?^12^t2,  &c,  "bath,"    more   especially  the 

'  For  XTn,  witli  a  Ileliraicised  spelling  of  Ihe  Aramaic  foiin.  "We  find 
the  same  approach  to  the  Hebrew  lonn  further  on,  in  nnD13  for  NflDI^. 

-  The  Hebrew  transcript  was  not  made  directly  from  the  Latin  tabula,  but 
indirectly  from  the  HeUeniscd  form  ra^Ka.. 


AKCH/EOLOaiCAL  AND  EPIGRAPIIIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE.         :'>79 

lustnil  Inith  for  clcansiiic;  from  ritual  iinpuritios,  and  also  tlio 
actual  baptism  to  which  Jcwisli  neophytes  were  suhjected.  In 
this  case  the  expression  would  refer,  not  to  the  mosaic  pave- 
ment itself  but  to  some  l)uildin;j;  or  hall  connected  with  a 
synagogue,  some  Jewish  baptistery/  of  whicli  our  mosaic 
possil)ly  adorned  the  iloor.  I  shall  presently  revert  to  this 
puzzling  question,  which  gives  rise  to  others  yet  more  puzzling. 

In  line  5,  the  reading  and  the  translation  A\hi<li  I  have 
given  de])end  upon  letters  which  are  partly  conjectural,  and 
indistinct  in  the  photograph.  The  formula  which  1  have  thus 
obtained  lias  the  advantage  of  agreeing  with  that  vvliicli  may  be 
read  without  a  shadow  of  doubt  upon  a  column  of  an  ancient 
Galilean  synagogue  at  El  Jish  (Gischala).-  The  word  nnDli 
seems  also  to  reappear  in  our  column  II,  1.  8,  in  a  new  formula 
which,  perhaps,  marks  the  termination  of  the  inscription, 
provided  that  it  be  not  continued  in  one  or  more  other  colunms 
which  have  been  altogether  destroyed. 

Whatever  our  interpretation  of  the  obscure  word  TBLH, 
the  key-word  of  the  inscription,  may  be,  the  first  and  most 
natural  idea  which  occurs  to  us  is  assuredly  that  this  mosaic, 
whicli  anyhow  has  nothing  of  a  funerary  character,  belongs  to 
one  of  those  ancient  synagogues  which  have  been  proved  to 

■  Nol-e  that,  in  this  respect,  naturally  on  tlie  hypotliesis  that  Kefr  Kcnna 
Tvould  1)0  the  authentic  representative  of  the  Cana  of  the  Gospel?,  St.  John 
tells  us  that  the  six  famous  "  waterpots  "  or  hydria;  of  stone  were  actually  used 
for  "  the  purification  of  the  Jews,"  Kara.  KaQapifffjibv  tGiv  lovZa'uw  (.St.  John,  ii,  6). 

2  Eenan,  op.  ciL,  p.  777  (PL  LXX,  No.  3) '.  nn3-l3  (or  jin"??)  rh  nSH,  "  may 
blessing  be  upon  him  (or  them  ?)."  According  to  Kenan,  this  inscription 
alluded  to  an  "ark''  (JIN)  ;  in  spite  of  his  unwillingness  to  believe  it,  it  may 
nevertheless  be  better  to  read  and  translate  it  pXH,  "  this." 

Now  that  I  am  dealing  with  this  matter  of  Hebrew  inscriptions  in  Galilean 
fvnagofues,  I  shall  avail  niy?elf  of  the  oppjrtunity  to  say  that  the  much- 
discussed  ins.rriptiou  at  Kefr  liir'im   {op.  cit.,  p.  764,  PI.  LXX,  No.  2)  should, 

perhaps,  read  simply  :— p  r  "12  "lTyV^5  ••  •  "  lil^azar  son  of  Youdan."  The  name 
Youdan  is  well  known  in  the  Talmudic  Onomastics,  and  T  liave  found  several 
examples  of  it,  in  Hebrew  and  in  Greek,  in  the  Jewish  cemetery  at  Joppa.  As 
for  tlie  beginning  of  the  inscription,  which  is  so  liard  to  make  out,  perhaps  we 
sliould  take  the  second  letter  for  an  ain. 

^Vith  regard  to  tlie  iiitcription  at  Safed  {op.  ciL,  p.  7.?2,  I'l.  LXX,  No.  4), 
it  seems  to  me  to  begin  with  the  words  •  ■  •  Dr;n  "in;3,  "  was  buried  on  the 
.r;h  day  of  the  n  ont'i  of  Elul,  in  the  year  ...  It  is  only  an  epitaph,  and, 
1  tliink,  of  very  recent  date. 


380         ARCH.EOLOGICAL  AND  EPIGRAPHIC  NOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

exist  in  various  places  in  Galilee.^  Tlieir  construction  dates 
from  the  earliest  centuries  of  our  era  (probably  the  second  or 
third).  Here  one  might  stop,  and  perliaps  it  would  be  wisest 
to  say  no  more. 

However,  on  thinking  the  matter  over,  1  have  conceived 
some  doubt  on  this  point,  and  this  doubt  arises,  in  the  first 
place,  from  the  substantive  and  hitherto  unique  fact  that  our 
Hebrew  inscription  is  executed  in  mosaic.  In  none  of  these 
ancient  Galilean  synagogues,  relatively  numerous  though  they 
are,  has  any  trace  of  the  existence  of  mosaic  pavements  been  dis- 
covered ;  all  of  them  are  paved  with  slabs  of  stone.  Sir  Charles 
Wilson,  who  has  made  valuable  studies  of  these  synagogues, 
remarks  particularly  ("  Special  Papers,"  p.  296)  that "  their  floors 
are  paved  with  slabs  of  white  limestone."  It  appears  that  this 
w"as  the  general  rule.^  One  may  say  that  in  Syria  mosaic  pave- 
ments, with  ornaments  and  inscriptions,  are  peculiar  to  Christian 
architecture  of  the  Byzantine  period.  A  2^'>^iori,  therefore, 
according  to  the  rules  of  true  criticism,  we  ought  to  refer  our 
mosaic,  with  its  Hebrew  inscription,  to  this  epoch.  But  then, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  we  connect  it  with  a  Jewish  synagogue, 
we  involve  ourselves  in  serious  historical  difficulties.  One  can 
easily  understand  that  under  the  Eoman  emperors  of  the  third 
century,  who  showed  themselves  tolerant,  and  in  some  cases 
decidedly  favourable  towards  ths  Jews,^  who  recognised  and 

^  At  Kefr  Bir'im,  Kasjun,  Nabartein,  el-Jisb,  Meiron,  Tel  Hum,  Kerazeli, 
Irbid,  Sufsaf,  &c.  For  an  account  of  these  synagogues,  see  Eenau,  o^.  cit., 
p.  761.  He  iuulines  to  the  third  century  of  our  era  as  their  general  date.  See 
also  the  important  researches  of  Wilson,  Kitchener,  Conder,  &c.,  in  the 
Palestine  Exploration  Fund  "  Memoirs,"  in  4to  form,  and  the  "  Special 
Papers,"  pp.  29i-305;  Qtiarterli/  Statement,  1878,  p.  32  et  seq.,  p.  123  si  seq. ; 
1886,  p.  75. 

-  I  sliall  mention  in  this  connection  a  curious  enough  passage  in  the  work  of 
the  Jcwis'i  geographer  Estliori  ha-Parchi  (Asher,  "  The  Itinerary  of  Kabbi 
Benjamin  of  Tudela,"  translated  by  Zunz,  vol.  ii,  p.  432),  who,  speaking  of  the 
ancient  synagogue  of  YA.kuk,  says ; — "  We  also  saw  there  a  synagogue  with  an 
ancient  pavement  ,  .  .  ."  Ifc  would  be  interesting  to  see  in  the  original  Hebrew 
teit,  which  I  have  not  at  hand,  what  were  the  exact  terms  used.  I  shall  point 
out  incidentally  tliat  our  Jewish  writer  {op.  cit.,  p.  401)  also  saw  at  Eeisan  tlie 
ruius  of  an  ancient  synagogue  wliich  doej  not  seem  to  have  been  noticed  by 
juo-'ern  exploi-ers  (unless  it  be  the  building  with  three  niches  which  is  cursorily 
mentioned  in  the  "  Memoirs,"  vol.  ii,  p.  109). 

^  Especially  AutoniuB  Pius  and  Alexander  Severus. 


AHCH.^OLOGICAL  AXD  EPIGIJAIMIIC  NOTHS  ON    PALESTINE.        oHl 

c6nHnii<nl  the  privileges  uf  tlie  I'aLriuicliute  of  Tiberias  whose 
spiritual  and  even  tenipunil  power,  al  least  in  financial  matters, 

extended  over  all  the  Jewish  counn unities  of  the  West one 

can  understand,  I  say,  that  in  their  days  the  Jews  had  ])erfect 
liherty  to  construct,  in  the  chief  towns  of  Galilee,  the  line 
synagogues  whose  ruins  we  admire  and  which  were  paid  for  by 
rich  olierings  brought  from  afar  by  the  activity  of  the  Apostoli. 
r>ut  as  sooii  as  Ciiristianity  rose  to  the  dignity  of  a  State 
reli''ion,  as  soon  as  Constantine  ascended  the  throne,  things 
were  entirely  altered.  Then  througliout  the  whole  extent  of 
the  Holy  Land  churches  and  basilicas  blossomed  forth.  All 
that  we  know  of  this  epoch  and  those  which  succeeded  to  it 
proves  to  us  that  Chiistian  fanaticism  would  never  have 
w  illinulv  thenceforth  suffered  the  buildiuu'  of  new  syna<TO<nies 
in  Palestine,  especially  on  a  site  connected  with  one  of  the 
most  important  events  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  that  is,  if 
Kefr  Ivenna  does  indeed  represent  Cana  of  Galilee,  which 
witnessed  the  first  miiucle  performed  by  Jesus.  We  are  thus 
led  into  a  most  embarrassing  dilemma :  on  the  one  hand, 
our  mosaic,  with  its  Hebrew  inscription,  certainly  seems  to 
lia\'e  belonged  to  a  synagogue  ;  on  the  other,  by  the  very  fact 
of  its  being  a  mosaic,  it  should  belong  to  a  period  at  which  it 
is  hard  to  admit  that  Jews  could  have  received  permission  to 
erect  in  the  Holy  Land  a  public  ])uilding  for  the  practice  of  the 
ceremonies  of  their  religion. 

There  would  be  but  one  way  by  wliich  we  could  reconcile 
these  opposites,  and  that  is  to  suppose  that  the  mosaic  of  Kefr 
Kenna  may  have  been  executed  during  the  short  period  of  respite 
from  persecution,  and  even  of  reaction,  against  Christianity, 
represented  by  the  reign  of  Julian.  We  know  how  much  this 
eui[)eror  favoured  the  Jews  out  of  hatred  to  Christianity.  If  he 
entertained  the  plan  of  allowing  them  to  rebuild  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem,  much  more  would  he  have  permitted  them  to  build 
synagogues  at  other  places  in  Lalestine,  and  the  idea  of  seeing 
one  erected,  by  way  of  an  outrage  to  one  of  the  most  cherished 
of  Christian  traditions,  on  the  very  site  of  the  Cana  of  the  Gospel, 
could  U'lt  fail  to  please  him.  On  this  hypothesis  it  would  be 
easy  to  explain  how  a  Jewish  building  came  to  be  constructed 


382         Ai;CILIi:OLOGICAL  AND  EPIGKAPHIC  KOTES  ON  PALESTINE. 

ill  the  taste  and  according  to  the  prevailing  style  of  tlie  period 
l)y  adorning  it  with  one  of  those  mosaic  pavements  which  were 
just  then  coming  into  fashion  in  Syria.  But  it  is  less  easy  to 
explain  how  it  was  that  the  Christians,  who  hecame  absolutely 
masters  of  the  situation  after  the  disappearance  of  this  final 
and  short-lived  official  adversary  of  their  faith,  tliould  not  have 
utterly  abolished  tiie  very  last  traces  of  the  Jewish  aljomination 
which  defiled  the  ground  of  one  of  their  chief  sanctuaries.  Xo 
doubt  our  mosaic  has  been  damaged,  but,  on  tlie  whole,  a 
considerable  portion  has  been  preserved,  wliich  could  not  have 
been  the  case  on  this  hypothesis. 

These  considerations,  and  others  wliich  it  would  be  tedious* 
to  enumerate,  have  led  me  to  ask  myself  whether,  in  spite  of 
appearances  to  the  contrary,  the  author  of  the  dedication  may 
not  possibly  have  been  a  converted  Jew,  and  whether  the  mosaic 
may  not  have  belonged  to  a  Christian  cliurcli.  I  will  not 
conceal  the  paradoxical  eflect  which  such  an  hypothesis  may 
have,  or  the  objections  of  all  kinds  to  which  it  would  give 
occasion.  But,  in  face  of  all  these  difficulties,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  consider  this  theory  and  see  whether  it  i.3  really  so 
incompatible  with  probability. 

St.  E])iphaniiis,  who  was,  as  we  know,  himself  of  Jewish^ 
origin,  and  who  was  an  eye  witness  of  the  official  triumph  of 
Christianity  on  the  accession  of  Constantine,  tells  ^  us  in  detail 
a  story  which  is  curious  from  every  point  of  view.  It  is. 
that  of  a  personage  who  was  in  two  respects  his  co-religionist, 
liaving  been,  like  him,  born  a  Jew  and  converted  to  Christianity. 
This  was  one  Joseph  of  Tiberias,  who  at  the  eml  <>f  his  days 
fixed  his  abode  at  Bethshean-Scythopolis,  where  St.  Epiphanius 
had  ])ersonal  relations  with  him.  Joseph  was  considerably 
older  than  St.  Epipliunius,  seeing  that  he  was  70  years  of  age 
at  the  time  wlien  tlie  latter  knew  him,  that  is,  in  a.d.  1556. 
Consequently  he  must  have  b^'cn  born  about  the  year  280. 
The  account  which  St.  Epiphanius  gives  us  of  him  offers, 
therefore,  every  guarantee  of  authenticity  and  exactitude. 

'  Born  i;bout  A.D.    .310,  at   a    village  in  the    iieigbbouiliooil   of   Eleutlie- 
ropolis. 

2  St.  Eiiiplir.nius, ''  Adv.  lia-re?.,"  coUeclio::  lligne,  tome  41,  columns  110-127. 


ARCILi:OLO<;iCAI.  ANh  KIK  IKAI'llIC  NOTES  ON  I'ALKSTINK.        ."iS:) 

This  Joseph  ori«>iuiilly,  bef(jre  his  converRion,  held  u  hi^h 
position  at  Tiberias  under  the  Jewish  patriarch  Klh'l  (HiUcl), 
who  R'sidod  in  that  town,  which  was  tlie  real  capital  of  what 
remained  of  the  Jewish  nation.  He  was  one  of  the  Ap(>sf(i/i\ 
the  assistants  of  the  patriarch.  Already  secretly  inclined 
towards  Christianity  in  consequence  of  a  train  of  circum- 
stances too  long  to  enumerate,  he  was  sent  to  (Jilicia  by 
the  patriarch  Judas,  Hillel's  successor,  to  proceed,  according.,'  to 
custom,  to  the  collection  of  (jlTerings  from  the  dewish  com- 
ninnities.  in  Cilicia  his  vocation  for  Christianity  was  confirmed 
under  the  influence  of  a  certain  Christian  bishop,  so  much  that 
his  co-religionists  were  scandalised  at  his  public  apostasy,  and 
oast  him  into  the  Cydnus  to  drown.  He  barely  escaped  with 
his  life  from  the  waters  of  the  river ;  this  escape  from  drowning 
was  for  him  a  regular  baptism.  He  definitively  abjured  the  faith 
of  his  fathers,  and  embraced  that  of  the  Christians.  Therein 
he  also  served  his  own  interests  from  a  temporal  point  of 
view.  He  was  received  with  open  arms  by  Constantine,  who 
loaded  him  with  honours  and  favours,  and  went  so  far  as  to 
bestow  upon  liim  the  dignity  of  Count,  with  all  the  advantages 
and  powers  appertaining  to  that  position.  Like  all  proselytes, 
our  newly-made  Count  of  Tiberias  displayed  the  ardoui'  of  a 
neophyte ;  he  appears  to  have  made  it  his  special  business  to 
persecute  his  former  co-religionists.  With  this  object  he  asked 
and  obtained  from  the  Emperor  authority  and  probably  also 
pecuniary  means  to  build  churches  in  Galilee,  in  the  very  midst 
of  this  last  focus  of  Judaism.  Here  it  would  be  well  to  quote 
St.  Epiphanius  literally  : — 

"  He  received  authority  to  build  a  Christian  church  at 
Tiberias'  itself,  and  also  at  Dioca^sarea,  Capernaum,  and  other 
towns."     (Col.  41 0,  §  iv.) 

"He  asked  nothing  (of  the  Emperor,  who  wa.'i  willing  to  give 
him  whatever  he  chose)  Ijcyond  the  great  favour  of  being  given 
authority  by  imperial  edict  to  build  churches  for  C'in-ist  in  the 

'  St.  Epiphanius  deseribi'3  in  detail  tliecircumstauros  wliidi  took  place  durin'; 
tlie  construction  of  tliis  church  at  Tiberias,  which  was  built  by  Count  Joseph  on 
the  walls  of  an  unfinished  temple,  tlie  Adrianeion,  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of 
the  Jews  of  the  town,  who  wished  fo  make  it  into  a  public  bath. 

1'    ]J 


384       AUCILl-OLOGICAL   AND   EPIGltAPHIC   NOTES   ON    PALESTINE. 

Jewish  towns  and  villages,  where  no  one  had  previously  been 
able  to  build,  none,  either  Greek,  Samaritan,  or  Christian^ 
bein<^  tolerated  amonarst  them.  His  chief  churches  were  built 
at  Tiberias,  Diocpesarea,  Sepphoris,  Nazareth,  and  Capernaum, 
where  the  Jews  used  to  keep  careful  watch  against  any 
foreigner  whatever  dwelling  among  them."     (Col.  420,  §  xi.) 

"He  also  built  churches  at  Dioctesarea  antl  other  towns." 
(Col.  427,  §  xii.) 

From  these  passages  arises  a  conjecture  which  temptingly 
presents  itself  to  mind,  though  I  state  it,  nevertheless,  with 
the  utmost  reserve.  Among  all  these  churches  of  Galilee,  built 
by  the  zeal  of  Count  Joseph,  to  whom  Constantino  had  given 
plenary  power,  may  there  not  have  been  one  at  Kefr  Kenna  ? 
I  do  not  wish  to  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  Yoseh  of  our 
inscription,*  whose  name  is  the  same  as  that  of  our  Joseph  (jf 
Til>erias,  is  identical  with  him,  although  indeed  this  miglit  be 
maintained,  for  we  do  not  know  the  name  of  the  latter 's  father. 
But  the  example  may  have  been  contagious;  others  of  his 
co-religionists,  finding  substantial  advantages  in  it,  may  have 
imitated  the  conversion  of  the  Jewish  ex- Apostolus,  and  may 
have  seconded  him  in  his  enterprise  of  multiplying  churches 
throughout  the  land  of  Galilee.  If  the  author  of  the  mosaic 
at  Kefr  Kenna  would  be  a  converted  Jew,  this  would  explain 
well  enough  the  singular  fact  that  a  Hebrew  inscription  should 
appear  on  a  mosaic  which  one  may  call  Christian,  both  by 
definition  and  by  situation.  If  we  grant  the  object  aimed  at 
by  Count  Josepli  and  his  possible  imitators— direct  action 
against  the  local  Jewish  element,  possibly  with  further  purpose 
of  making  conversions— the  use  of  the  Hebrew  language,  the 
very  language  of  those  against  whom  this  sort  of  crusade  was 
undertaken  in  an  architectural  shape,  would  be  quite  justified ; 
iiothin«-  could  have  Ijeeu  more  suitable  to  impress  these  stub- 
born  champions  of  the  Jewish  zealotry  in  Galilee. 

The  hypothesis,  I  adndt,  is  a  fragile  one.  It  woidd  be 
somewhat  strengthened  if  Cana  figured  in  the  list  of  the  places 
where  Count  Joseph's  activity  was  displayed.  This  town  does 
not  appear  therein,  but  we  must  remark  that  St.  Epiphanius's 


AL'Cil.lloLoCK.AI.    AND    KI'ICIIAI'IKC  .NOTKS    ON    I'AI.KSTINK.      ;'.S!."» 

list  is  not  complete,  and  that  Cana  may  perhaps  he  p<»tentiallv 
comprised  in  the  plirase  of  which  he  twiee  make.s  use,  "and 
other  towns  and  vilhiges  "  {koI  rah  aX\ai<;}.  If  tliis  wi-re  thi- 
only  (.hjection,  one  might  answer  it  hy  calling  another  witness, 
whose  testimony,  although  indirect  and  of  much  later  date,  yet 
is  of  a  kind  which  nevertheless  could  fill  up  the  blank  left  hy 
►St.  Epiphanius's  silence,  or  rather  by  his  regrettable  brevity. 
This  testimony  is  that  of  the  JJyzantine  historian  Nicephorus 
Callistus.^  This  fourteenth  century  compiler,  echoing  the 
legend  which  prevailed  in  his  time,  attributes  to  St.  Helena 
the  building  of  a  series  of  churches  whereof  certainly  many 
are  not  the  personal  work  of  the  mother  of  Constantine :  the 
Anastasis  and  the  Cranion  on  the  site  of  the  Passion,  at 
Jerusalem ;  the  church  of  the  Nativity,  at  Bethleliem ;  that 
of  the  Ascension,  on  the  Mount  of  Olives ;  that  of  the  Virgin, 
at  Gethsemane ;  that  of  the  Shepherds;  that  of  Bethany; 
that  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan :  that 
of  Elijah  the  Tishbite,  on  the  mount.  Further,  in  (Talilee,  on 
the  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  it  is  always  St.  Helena  who 
\vas  the  builder  of  the  church  of  the  Dodekathronon,  on  the 
place  where  Jesus  fed  the  4,000  men,  and  other  churches  on 
the  principal  places  in  the  district  of  Capernaum  which  are 
connected  with  the  Gospel  narrative  ;  one  at  Tiberias  itself, 
another  on  Mount  Tabor,  another  at  Nazareth,  and  lasth' 
another  at  Cana  of  Galilee.^ 

It  will  be  observed  that  among  these  churches  of  Galilee, 
with  the  building  of  which  St.  Helena  is  credited,  several  are 
identical  with  those  due  to  the  initiative  of  Count  Joseph, 
whose  work  was  done  at  precisely  the  same  period  and  in  the 
same  country.  The  list  given  by  Nicephorus  Callistus,  when 
reduced  to  its  real  historical  meaning,  may  be  regarded  as  tiie 
complement  of  that  given  by  St.  Ejjiphanius,  and  if  this  he 
true,  then  the  alleged  building  by  St.  Helena  of  the  church 
at  Cana  ought  really  to  be  attributed  to  Count  Joseph  and 
virtually  comprised  among  the  "  etc.,  etc.,"  of  St.  Epiphanius. 

'  Nicepliorus  Ciillisliis,  iligiic's  collection,  vul.  fxlvi,  column  113. 
-   Kora  St  TiiQ  TaXiKaiai:,  tv6a  6   Tou    Karai'iTuu  5i';uai)ic  ■ya/uor  iyiviro,  Kal  t'S 
o5/;/\()i'  ^orpvoiv  olios  iin]'y6.'^tTo,  oIkov  upov  iStifiaro  iripor. 

•2  I!  -2 


;I8G     ARCH.EOLOGICAL   AND    EPIGRAI'HIC    NOTES    ON    PALESTINE. 

So  theu  we  are  brought  again  to  the  hypothesis,  whoso 
strong  and  weak  points  I  have  ah'eady  discussed.  I  cannot 
myself  come  to  any  certain  decision  ;  I  leave  to  others  the  task 
of  weighing  the  pros  and  cons.  1  shall  content  myself  with 
adding  that  on  the  supposition  that  our  mosaic  had  a  Christian 
origin,  it  maybe  worth  while,  in  order  to  explain  the  mysterious 
word  TBLH,  to  bear  in  mind  the  existence  in  Christian  Aramaic 
of  a  smiilar  if  not  synonymous  word,  ^^H'^'^^t^,  ichJita,  meaning 
"  altar  "  (strictly  the  table  of  the  altar).  The  two  other  inter- 
pretations of  which  I  have  spoken,  either  fahida,  alluding  to 
the  mosaic  itself,  or  "  baptistery,"  remain  still  possible  ones  ; 
the  latter,  indeed,  would  become  exceedingly  interesting  in  case 
we  have  to  do  with  a  church  and  not  with  a  synagogue. 

To  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  we  need 
beforehand  two  pieces  of  evidence  which  we  have  not  got. 
Does  Kefr  Kenna,  or  does  it  not,  represent  the  Cana  of  the 
Gospel  ?  And,  are  the  remains  of  the  ancient  building  within 
which  the  mosaic  was  found  sufficiently  distinct  to  enable  us 
to  prove  whether  they  belong  to  a  synagogue  or  to  a  church  ? 

As  for  the  first  question,  the  topographical  one,  I  have 
nothing  to  add  to  the  many  contradictory  essays  of  which  it 
lias  formed  the  subject  up  to  the  present  time  ;  it  is  rather  the 
solution  of  the  problem  which  we  are  engaged  with  which  will 
enable  us  to  settle  this  question. 

As  for  the  second  question,  the  archaeological  one,  I  have 
as  yet  only  insufficient  data.  They  are  not,  however,  entirely 
valueless,  and  I  think  it  is  useful  to  set  them  forth  here,  while 
awaiting  the  result  of  the  more  exact  investigations  which,  let 
us  hope,  will  be  eventually  made  on  the  spot.  I  owe  them  to 
an  obliging  communication  from  Father  Paul  de  S.  Aignan, 
which  reached  me  after  I  had  written  the  above  pages.  He 
has  been  good  enough  to  send  me  a  sketch  of  the  place  {ser 
next  page),  with  some  interesting  explanations  which  I  shall 
sum  up  as  accurately  as  possible  and  comment  upon. 

A  first  glance  at  this  sketch  seems  to  show  the  existence  of 
three  churches  of  different  periods,  regularly  orientated,  and,  as 
it  were,  inscribed  one  within  the  other,  being  formed  by  succes- 
sive curtailments  of  the  size  of  the  original  building.     G  is  the 


AUCILKOLOGICAL   AND    El'IGlJArillC    NOTES   OX    I'ALKSTINK.     387 


A— A',  Street.  B— B',  Alley.  C— C,  Alley.  D,  Courtyard  of  tlie  Franciscan 
Convent.  E,  Small  convent.  F,  F',  Schools.  G,  Chapel  built  by  the 
Franciscans.  H,  Vestry.  I,  Back  vestry,  J,  Kemains  of  an  older 
church.  K,  K',  K",  Suggested  plan  of  the  original  building  successively 
reduced  to  J  and  Gr.  L,  L',  L",  Walls  of  old  church.  L— L'",  Old 
colonnade.  M — M',  Eemains  of  a  very  thick  wall  with  a  side  door. 
N — N',  Thick  wall  with  less  carefully  dressed  masonry.  O,  Original 
entrance  to  the  crypt  under  the  altar  of  the  existing  chafiel.  P,  Lustnil 
basin  or  font  (?).  Q,  Mosaic,  with  Hebrew  inscription.  K,  S,  Isolated 
fragments  of  mosaic  pavements. 

Old  church. 

Original  and   much  larger  building,  according  to  Father  Paul  do 

St.  Aignan. 


3SS     AUClI-i:OLOGICAL   AND    EPIGKAl'IIIC   XOTE.S   OX    l'Al.i:>^TINE. 

present  chapel,  Iniilt  by  tlie  Franciscans,  within  a  church  of 
greater  size,  J,  which,  though  it  bears  visible  traces  of  having- 
been  remodelled  by  the  Crusaders,  seems  nevertheless  to  belong- 
to  an  earlier  date  than  theirs.  This  church,  again,  is  enclosed 
within  the  original  one,  whose  dimensions  were  considerably 
u-reater,  K,  K',  K".  I  desire  to  state  here  tliat  the  plan  of  this 
latter  building  is  to  a  great  extent  conjectural,^  and  is  based 
upon  the  existence  of  scattered  traces  as  to  the  meaning  of 
which  opinions  may  differ ;  the  apse,  K,  especially,  is,  I 
imagine,  purely  conjectural.  If  its  existence,  with  the  normal 
ijrientation  to  the  east,  should  1)6  confirmed,  it  would  strongly 
sway  the  Ijalance  in  favour  of  the  Christian  origin  of  the 
mosaic. 

The  presence  of  fragments  of  mosaics,  which  has  been 
proved  at  the  point  E,  within  the  circuit  of  J,  and  at  the  point 
S,  beyond  its  circuit,  and  consequently  within  the  conjectural 
circuit  of  K,  is  a  very  important  fact,  provided  that  we  can 
ascertain  that  these  fragments  of  mosaic  belong  to  the  same 
period  as  the  central  Hebrew  mosaic.  Observe  also  the  bases 
of  the  ancient  range  of  columns,  L-L',  which  one  is  tempted  to 
re«-ard  as  marking  one  of  the  (three  ?)  aisles  into  which  the 
su])posed  building,  K,  might  have  been  divided.  One  of  the 
capitals  of  these  columns  has  been  found;  it  appears  that  it 
is  of  the  Corinthian  order,  and  of  good  workmanship. 

I  now  come  to  the  discovery  of  the  Hebrew  mosaic,  which 
is  situated  at  Q,  that  is  to  say,  almost  in  the  middle  of  all  this 
entanglement  of  buildings,  for  the  modern  chapel,  (r,  and  the 
intermediate  building,  J,  seem  on  the  whole  to  have  been  placed 
in  what  must  have  been  the  central  aisle  of  the  great  conjectural 
churcli,  K.  The  excavation  which  led  to  this  discovery  was 
begun  as  far  up  as  the  present  altar,  0,  at  a  spot  where  the 
remains  of  an  ancient  wall  had  previously  been  noticed.  The 
remaining  courses  of  this  wall  were  cleared  of  earth,  and  at 
a  de])th  of  about  5  feet  there  was  found  the  threshold  of  a 
door  which  must  have  led  into  a  sort  of  crypt  extending  toward 
the  west.     The  explorers   consequently  dug  in  that  direction, 

'  It  vpsts  fhicfly  on  tlie  (liscovfry  of  two  fragments  of  thick  Avails,  j^ai-allel 
to  one  another,  shown  at  M — il'  and  X — N'. 


AUCII.KOLOGICAL  AND  Eri(;i!.\I'lllc  XOTES  ON  rALKSTINK.        .".SO 

smd  near  the  spot  P  tliey  found,  in  llic  middle  ol"  ;i  kind  uf 
diiiniber,  "  an  nrn,  or  rather  a  fairly  lar;j;(^  hasin,"  ))r(»l)ubly  of 
stone,  ""although  the  material  is  not  spccilied.  I  need  not 
enlarge  on  the  importance  of  ll.is  object  as  bearing  upon  the 
various  questions  which  I  have  already  discussed.  At  this 
]»oint  the  digging  had  to  stop  in  consecpieuce  of  certain  material 
dithculties.  For  the  present  they  contented  themselves  witli 
sinking  a  shaft  a  little  further  to  tla;  west,  near  the  point  Q, 
and  it  was  there  that  they  had  tlio  good  fortune  to  come  just 
down  upon  the  Hebrew  mosaic  which  forms  the  subject  of  this 
<;ssay. 

Such  is  the  present  condition  of  these  explorations  from  an 
<irch;eological  point  of  view.  It  would  be  most  desirable  that 
they  should  be  renewed  at  the  earliest  possible  date,  and  that 
they  should  be  conducted  in  a  methodical  manner. 

T  may  add  that  during  some  building  operations  undertaken 
some  20  years  ago  (I  imagine  in  the  region  marked  E)  they 
found  a  sculptured  lintel  of  a  door,  with  vine  leaves  and  grapes, 
which  has  unfortunately  disappeared.  This  subject  of  decora- 
tion might  equally  well  belong  to  a  synagogue  as  to  a  church, 
so  that  as  far  as  this  goes  the  question  still  remains  undecided. 
The  same  applies  to  the  ornamentation  of  another  sculptured 
lintel,  whose  existence  on  the  same  spot  in  the  seventeenth 
century  is  attested  by  a  document  which  has  l)een  pointed  out 
to  me  by  Father  Paul  de  S.  Aignan.  Father  Mariano  Morone 
da  Maleo,^  who,  as  I  have  already  often  had  occasion  to  remark 
^Isewhere,^  was  so  singularly  well-informed  on  the  arcl neology 
of  the  Holy  Land,  says  that  he  saw  sculptured  al)ove  a  door  at 
the  entrance  to  the  ancient  ruined  church  of  Kefr  Kenua  three 
vases  in  which  he  wishes  to  see  the  waterpots  of  the  marriage 
of  Cana  in  Galilee.'  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  subject  of 
vases  belongs  as  nmch  to  the  symbolic  decoration  <if  Jewish  as 
of  Christian  art. 


'  ''Tci'va  Santa  uuovamcntc  illustrata,"  i,  p.  362. 
-  For  instance,  "Archaeological  Researches  in  Palestine,"  vol.  i,  p.  t>. 
•'  "Come  anche  nell'  intrare  notai  sopra  una  porta  trc  hidrie  scolpite  uella 
pictm  viva  in  menioria  clcl  niiracolo  qui  operato." 


o 


90 


REPORTS   AND   NOTKS   BY  K.  A.  S.  :\IACALISTER,  Es^. 


I. — Ox  Ckrtaix  Antiquities  in  the  Neighbourhood  of  Blit 

JiBKix. 

The  moorland  hills  around  Beit  Jibrin  are  rich  in  antiquities  of 
certain  types,  not  perhaps  in  themselves  of  great  interest,  though 
testifpng  to  a  much  larger  population  and  more  extensive  culti- 
vation than  at  present,  and  therefore  of  historical  value. 

The  majority  of  the  structures  to  which  this  note  refers  are 
circular  on  plan,  about  12  feet,  more  or  less,  in  diameter ;  they  are 
built  without  cement,  of  stones  measuring  evei-y  way  about  2  feet. 
Inside  is  always  a  floor  of  small  stone  chips  and  pebbles.  The 
majority  are  ruined  to  mere  shapeless  heaps  of  stone,  or  are  dis- 
integrated to  their  lowest  course.  In  the  wall  of  one,  part  of  the 
sill-stoue  of  a  door  was  found,  used  as  building  material. 

They  recall  the  mandtir,  or  watch-towers,  still  erected  in 
vineyards,  of  Avhich  many  examples  are  to  be  seen  near  Bethlehem 
and  elsewhere  ;  but  I  have  seen  no  modern  example  built  of  such 
large  stones  as  are  the  ancient  specimens,  nor  is  the  circular  form 
so  exclusively  selected  by  the  modern  builders.  There  is  no 
trace  of  terracing  or  other  evidence  of  cultivation  to  be  detected 
about  the  majority  of  the  structures  to  which  attention  is  here 
called,  and  if  they  be  actually  vineyard  towei-s  they  must  be  vei-y 
old.  They  exist  in  very  considerable  numbers,  and  often  are 
found  in  small  groups  of  six  or  seven.  I  trenched  across  one  at 
Abu  Haggen,  but  found  nothing.  Like  the  manatir  they  were 
doubtless  roofed  with  boughs.  It  is  possible  that  these  structures 
may  have  been  dry-stone  hovels,  like  the  bee-hive  cells  of 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  or  the  natvdmis  of  the  Sinai  peninsula. 

I  found  two  or  three  similar  structures  rectangular  on  jilan. 
The  proportion  of  this  type  to  the  circular  is  ver^-  small. 

On  the  top  of  a  conspicuous  hill  to  the  south  of  Tell  Sanda- 
liannali  is  the  foundation  of  a  building'  of  large  dry-stone  blocks. 
It  seems  to  have  been  a  watch-tower  of  some  kind,  but  there  is 

1  Plans  of  these  structures  liuve  becu  (li-iwvn,  and  are  deposited  iu  the  office 
of  the  Fund. 


HEPORT.S   AND    NOTES    liY    It.    A.    S.    MACALISTKK. 


.".91 


iiothiiiy  from  which  wo  may  dccluco  its  exact  purpose  or  its  at?e. 
There  is  a  similar  structure  on  a  hill-top  near  Tell  ej-Judeideh. 

Further,  the  hills  in  the  district  mentioned  at  the  head  of  this 
note  are  intersected  in  all  directions  by  walls  which  prol)ably 
mark  old  boundaries.  They  consist  invariably  of  rows  of  large 
round  stones  laid  side  by  side.  To  plan  them  would  be  an  endless 
ami  probably  a  profitless  labour. 

There  is  one  walP  stretching  over  a  long  low  hill  southwaids 
from  Tell  Saudahannah.  It  stops  abruptly  at  each  end  ;  and  it  is 
difticult  to  guess  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  built.     Near  the 


Stone  in  Wall  neae  Tell  Sandahannah. 

northern  end  is  iying  the  stone  here  sketched;  it  seems  to  be 
Roman,  and  prepared  for  an  inscription  which,  unfortunately, 
was  never  cut  on  it. 


II. — The  BiRAK  esh-Shixanih. 

As  a  pendant  to  the  paper  on  "'  Sport  among  the  Bedawin," 
contributed  by  Mr.  Jeunings-Bramley  to  the  Qnartcrly  Statement 
of  October,  1900,  I  present  a  plate  of  two  photographie  views 
of  a  sporting  implement  which  I  purchased  from  a  native  of 
Zakariya,  and  which  I  have  not  seen  described  elsewhere. 

It  consists  of  a  sheet  of  cloth,  about  4  feet  G  inches  I>y  .S  feet 
9  inches,  stretched  on  two  crossed  sticks  whose  ends  tit  into  little 
pockets  formed  by  sewing  over  the  edges  at  each  corner  of  the 
cloth.  The  centre  of  the  cloth  is  ingeniou.sly  tied  to  the  inter- 
section  of  the   sticks   by  gathering   it  round  a  small   pebble  and 


■\q') 


REPORTS    AND   NOTES   BV    1!.    A.    S.    MACALISTEK. 


winding  a   string   round  the   neck   of  the   pocket   enclosing  the 
pebble  ;  the  ends  of  the  string  are  then  secured  round  the  sticks. 

The  dried  skin  of  a  fox's  head  is  sewn  to  the  top  of  the  cloth, 
and  the  surface  of  the  cloth  is  ornamented  with  strokes  and  con- 
centric circles.  The  latter  are  printed  on  in  ink  by  means  of  a 
die  cut  out  of  soft  limestone  clunch.  The  palm  leaf  is  con- 
spicuous among  the  designs  ;  this  is  a  favourite  luck  sign,  painted 


over  doors  of  houses  and  worked  in  tatu  on  women's  faces.  I 
cannot,  howevei*,  discover  that  the  other  signs,  or  the  fox-head, 
have  any  other  special  meaning;  the  manufacturer's  statement, 
that  it  is  simply  to  make  the  object  eccentric-looking,  is  as  likely 
as  any  theoi'etical  explanation  to  be  correct.  When  the  designs 
are  diy  on  the  cloth  it  is  dipped  in  dirty  water  in  order  to  stain  it 
and  prevent  it  being  too  conspicuous.  * 


REPOltTS    AND    NOTKS    liV    1!.    A.    S.    M A(  AI.lSIKi;. 


.).I.J 


Fin.ally,  special  attention  must  In;  called  to  two  sjnall  holes 
cut  about  three-quarters  of  the  way  up  in  the  cloth. 

The  method  of  employment  is  as  follows  : — The  sportsman, 
intent  on  parti-idge  shooting,  crouches  hcliinil  the  widcspreiul 
cloth,  which  he  shakes  up  and  down  slic^htly.  I'Ih-  partridge  is 
alleged  to  be  a  bird  so  inquisitive  that  it  approaches  near  <o  find 
out  what  this  poculi:ir  object  is.     The  sportsmaji  can   tlicn  watch 


the   birds  with   his   eye   through  one    hole,   while   with    liis   gun 
through  the  other  he  fires  at  them. 

The  name  of  the  implement  is  BlraJc  esh-ShiiKDin:  that  is 
"'  standard  or  flag  of  the  partridges.'" 

'  The  "  flBg  of  tlie  partridges"  was  frequently  used  by  Hassan,  who  went 
with  nic  and  Mr.  Hornstein  to  Moab  in  1899.  In  my  journal  for  April  5th  of 
that  year,  I  wrote  :— "  On  the  way  up  (the  hills  east  of  Jordan)  Hassan  shot 


394  IJEPORTS   AND   NOTES   BY   ll.    A.    S.    MACALISTEK. 

III. — A  Note  ox  West  Palestinian  Dolmens. 

In  the  Quarterly  Statement  of  July,  1901,  p.  231,  I  have  spoken 
of  the  Beit  Jibrin  dolmen  as  "  the  first  example  of  a  megalithic 
sepulchral  monument  discovered  in  Western  Palestine."  I  regret 
that  Pere  Vincent's  excellent  paper  on  the  "  Rude  Stone 
Monuments  of  Western  Palestine,"  published  in  the  April 
"  Revue  Biblique,"  did  not  reach  me  till  after  my  note  had 
been  printed,  as  I  should  not  then  have  claimed  for  m^-  own 
discoveiy  the  honour  of  priority,  which  properly  belongs  to  the 
finds  of  the  Dominican  Fathers  of  Jerusalem.  I  was  unaware 
till  I  read  Pere  Vincent's  paper  that  the  Abu  Dis  and  other 
dolmens  had  been  noticed  so  long  before  the  Beit  Jibrin  monument 
was  found,  and  I  trust  I  Avill  be  forgiven  the  implied  slight  I 
have  unintentionally  cast  on  the  discoveries  of  other  investigators. 


IV. — Addenda  to  the  List  of   Rhodian    Sta.mi'ed    Jar-Handli:s 

FROM  Tell  Sandahannah. 

The  following  handles  were  found  after  the  list  published  in 
the  Quarterlij  Statement  for  January  and  April,  1901,  had  been 
despatched  to  the  Fund  office.  The  plate  of  alphabets,  <tc., 
having  been  sent  with  the  list,  and  not  being  available  for  refer- 
ence when  the  present  appendix  was  drawn  up,  the  paleographical 
details  given  in  column  8  of  the  list  could  not  be  tabulated,  and 
arc  therefore  here  omitted  : — 


a  parti'idge  with  the  aid  of  a  stalking  cloth — a  rough  representation  of  a  bird 
of  prey,  something  like  a  large  shield,  which  he  held  in  front  of  him  as  he 
advanced,  and  planted  upright  on  the  ground  when  within  shot.  The  effect 
of  the  shield  was  to  frighten  the  bird  and  keep  it  cowering  on  the  ground 
whilst  Hassan  advanced  and  finally  fired  tliroiigh  a  hole  in  the  cloth."  When 
not  in  use  the  cloth  and  two  sticks  were  carried  separately. — ^C.  W.  W. 


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lIErCiKT.S    AND    NOTES    IJV    K.    A.    S.    MACAMSTKl;.  397 

Tlicre  was  also  n  duplicate  of  No.  88,  \vlii(;li,  however,  waft  too 
worn  to  enable  me  to  detenuine  the  nature  of  the  device.  It  is 
curious  to  find  the  caduceus  in  328  associated  with  AI'.AKON'I'IA  \, 
which  at  Suudahannah  and  elsewhere,  so  far  as  I  know,  has 
always  hitherto  been  connected  with  an  anchor. 

The  reviewer  of  the  Quarterly  Statement  in  the  "  Revue 
J^ibliqui' "  has  reminded  me  that  I  have  overlooked  Guthe's  find 
oF  jar-handles  of  this  type  in  my  list  of  previous  discoveries  in 
Palestine  of  antiquities  of  this  class,  I  regret  the  oversight. 
A  jar-liaudle  from  Tell  es-Safi  must  also  be  included.  It  was 
published  in  the  Quarterly  Statement  of  October,  1899,  as  bearing 
a  Samaritau  inscription,  and  really  the  letters  look  more  like 
Samaritan  than  anything  else.  I  have  carefully  re-examined  it 
in  varying  lights,  and  have  had  to  confess  myself  beaten  by  it: 
no  doubt  it  is  a  Rhodian  handle,  though  the  inscription  is 
illegible.  It  shows  a  caduceus,  the  head  of  which  appears  in 
the  cut.  I  have  also  seen  a  handle  with  an  illegible  stamp, 
picked  up  at  Abu  Shusheh. 


V. — The  Nicophokieh  Tomb. 

The  following  notes  are  designed  to  supplement,  not  to 
supersede,  the  valuable  account  of  this  monument  contributed 
soon  after  its  discovery  by  Dr.  Schick  to  the  Quarterly  Statement 
(1892,  pp.  115  et  seq.)  :— 

I.  Kasr  el- Asafir.— Tins  small  building  is  not  described  by 
Dr.  .Schick,  being,  as  he  says,  of  no  great  interest.  It  is 
rectangular,  standing  almost  exactly  east  and  west  (prismatic 
compass  reading  of  the  long  axis  271°).  The  outcrop  of  rock 
on  which  it  is  built  is  about  7  to  8  feet  in  maximum  height 
above  the  surrounding  ground  ;  it  is  roughly  scarped.  The  door- 
way of  the  building  has  been  in  the  east  side,  but  it  is  broken 
out,  and  is  now  merely  an  irregular  hole.  At  the  west  end  is  a 
recess  with  a  well-turned  arch  over  it;  the  recess  is  2  feet  6  inches 
across  and  11^  inches  deep.  The  floor  is  choked  up  with  grass- 
grown  earth  and  stones.  The  cores  of  the  walls  are  composed 
of  .small  stones  set  in  mud,  and  are  faced  with  hammer-dressed 
roughly-squared  stones,  set  iu  cement  with  very  wide  joints 
between  them.     On   the   stones  of   the  arch  just  referred  to  are 


398  IJEPOKTS   AND   NOTES   BY   E.   A.   S.    MACALTSTER. 

marks  of  comb-dressing,  but  there  is  nowhere  else  any  trace  of 
finer  di-essing  in  the  bailding.  There  is  nothing  to  show  how 
the  buikling  was  roofed  ;  the  two  long  walls,  especially  that  on 
the  south  side,  ai'e  ruined  almost  to  their  foundations.  The 
gi-eatest  height  of  wall  remaining — at  the  east  end — is  10  feet. 
The  recess  in  the  outside  of  the  west  wall  is  probably  accidental. 

The  dimensions  ai-e  : — Length,  17  feet  8  inches ;  breadth, 
14  feet  G  inches  (internally).  Thickness  of  walls,  from  2  feet 
5  inches  to  8  feet  5  inches. 

The  building,  on  the  whole,  bears  considerable  resemblance  to 
the  small  seventh  century  oratories  on  the  western  islands  of 
Ireland  and  Scotland — that  is,  in  its  present  ruined  state.  It 
seems  from  Dr.  Schick's  plan  to  have  been  more  perfect  in  1892, 
and  to  have  had  a  rather  different  appearance.  The  analogy 
suggested  is,  of  course,  raerely  intended  as  an  aid  to  description, 
and  no  connexion  is  drawn  between  the  Kasr  and  the  buildings 
cited.  The  specimen  of  masonry  shown  in  the  drawing^  is  from 
the  inside  of  the  west  wall. 

II. — On  a  projecting  knob  of  rock,  scarped  all  round,  16  feet 
east  of  the  Kasr  el-Asafir,  is  a  cup-shaped  mark  5J-  inches  deep, 
7^  inches  acj'oss ;  and  across  a  neighbouring  and  similar  knob  is 
cut  a  channel.  These  may  be  the  remains  of  an  ancient  cup-mark 
system  destroyed  when  the  rock  was  prepared  for  the  reception  of 
the  building. 

III.  The  Rock  Scarps  oiorth  of  the  Kasr  el-Asafir  (see  plan 
facing  p.  117  of  the  Quarterly  Statement  for  1892). — Dr.  Schick's 
plan  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  this  complicated  system  of  cuttings. 
In  the  following  points  I  venture  respectfully  to  diflfer  from  him  : — 

(1)  The  shading  of  the  rock-scarp  south  and  east  of  Kasr 
el-Asafir  should  be  on  the  other  side  of  the  line. 

(2)  I  do  not  think  there  is  sufficient  evidence  for  the  existence 
of  steps  at  the  south  end  of  the  isolated  rectangular  mass  of  I'ock. 

(3)  In  the  extreme  south-east  corner  of  this  mass  of  rock  is 
a  shallow  trough,  apparently  a  rock-cut  olive  press,  partly  hidden 
by  earth. 

(4)  In  the  corner  of  the  higher  portion  of  this  mass  of  rock, 
just  north  of  the  north-west  corner  of  the  place  marked  "  formerly 

'  This  drawing  (wifcli  a  plan  of  the  building)  is  deposited  in  the  office  of 
the  Fund. 


REPORTS   AND   NOTES    HY    li.    A.    S.    .MACAM8TEU.  399 

steps,"  is  a  small  cistern,  about  W  feet  north  to  south  by  about 

8  feot  east  to  Avest,  witli  barrel-vauUod  lonf,  lined  with  cement 
throughout. 

(5)  The  "  water- channel "  indicated  west  of  the  mass  of  rock 
is  no  longer  to  be  traced  with  certainty,  having  become  clogged 
and  concealed  with  fallen  stones. 

(0)  The  lines  of  scarping  surrounding  the  isolated  mass  of 
rock  are  so  irregular  and  lacking  in  design,  that  I  cannot  feel 
satisfied  that  they  are  anything  more  important  than  an  ancient 
quarry.  The  rectangular  sinking  marked  "grave"  (6  feet 
10  inches  long,  2  feet  4  inches  across,  3  to  4  feet  deep)  seems 
to  me  merely  the  hole  from  which  a  block  or  blocks  have  been 
removed.  The  double  scarp  running  westward  from  it  consists 
of  a  low  southern  wall  1  foot  high,  a  horizontril  step  2  feet 
3  inches  wide,  and  a  deep  drop,  excavated  to  7  feet  4  inches, 
but  apparently  going  deeper. 

(7)  Beside  the  scarped  rocks  indicated  in  the  plan  there  is  an 
irregular  floor  of  limestone,  45  feet  north-west  from  the  north- 
west angle  of  Kasr  el-Asafir.  This  shows  traces  of  having  been 
artificially  smoothed,  and  is  terminated  eastward  by  a  straight 
side,  10  feet  long,  apparently  worked.  The  face  of  this  side  is 
not  vertical,  but  bevelled. 

IV.  The  Cave  under  the  Isolated  Mass  of  Eoch. — To  my  eye  this 
appears  to  be  the  artificial  enlargement  of  a  wide  and  shallow 
natural  cavern.  The  eastern  portion  shows  no  sign  of  artificial 
working;  it  is  \7  paces  or  about  ilO  feet  wide  at  the  entrance. 
The   inner   portion    is    a    roughly    rectangular   chamber,    7   feet 

9  inches  in  height  and  21  feet  4  inches  across.  The  eastern  side 
is  quite  open,  and  on  the  other  three  sides  ars  rectangular 
recesses,  extending  to  1  foot  3  inches  of  the  roof. 

V. — The  tomb-chambers,  to  which  Dr.  Schick  seems  to  have 
had  difficulty  in  obtaining  access,  have  their  long  axis  practically 
north  and  south,  the  entrance  facing  north.  There  is  a  modei-n 
iron  gate  at  the  door,  which  formerly  was  secured  by  a  large 
rolling-stone  about  6  feet  in  diameter  and  18  inches  thick.  This 
still  remains  in  the  channel  in  which  it  ran.  The  entrance  leads 
downward  by  a  slope  and  two  steps  to  a  vestibule,  13  feet  3  inches 
by  13  feet  (but  not  quite  rectangular).  A  doorway  4  feet  li  inches 
long  leads  to  a  small  room,  covered  with  a  barrel-vaulted  roof. 
This  room  is  about  7  feet  8  inches  by  5  feet  8  inches.     Tliere  are 

2  C 


400 


REPORTS   AND   NOTES  BY  E.   A.   S.   MACALISTER, 


two  side  chambers  opening  off  this  room,  and  another  chamber 
behind  it ;  the  latter  is  the  most  important  tomb-chamber,  and  in 


^• 


■rt 


^^^^^^^^ 


v-yS>X\^ 


I 


ji 


'J;i^^^^^ 


7L 
O 

V- 

LiJ 
CO    § 

Z 
< 

Q. 
.  .    § 

X 

UJ 

a: 
o 

X 

n. 
O   * 


o 


P 


1  I 


KHl'OUTS    AND   NOTES    BV    U.    A.    S.    MACALISTER. 


4U1 


it  stand  the  handsome  fsarcophagi  represented  on  tlic  While.     Tliere 
are  two  of  these  remaining:  one  is  plain,  with  siinplo   panelling 


r 


TOMB  ON   NICOPHORIEH  JERUSALEM 


SARCOPHAGI 


^dl 


I 


cA'ow  ^ 


Secti. 


o 

— 

no  f. 


rioZ. 


rr-^j. 


^B.'^ 


.y^. 

^J*' 

i-^^'" 


.^'- 


2  c  2 


402  HILL  OF  "jeeemiah's  gkotto." 

worked  on  the  sides  ;  tlie  other  has  a  floral  scroll  and  rosettes.  The 
latter  has  lost  its  cover,  and  the  loss  lias  been  supplied  with  three 
fragments  of  other  covers,  not  apparently  intended  to  be  associated 
with  the  sarcophagus  on  which  they  stand  or  with  each  other. 
The  chamber  is  2-i  feet  8  inches  long,  9  feet  8^  inches  across. 
Beyond  it  are  two  rough  chambers,  apparently  unfinished :  the 
first  has  a  bare  rock  surface  on  the  walls,  supplemented  with 
inserted  stones  when  irregular,  and  in  the  jamb  of  the  door. 
The  second  was  apparently  an  old  entrance  (perhaps  for  work- 
men), as  its  roof  consists  of  movable  blocks  of  stone,  apparently 
supporting  earth. 

The  walls  in  all  the  principal  chambers  and  passages  are  lined 
with  marble  slabs.  The  doors  were  closed  by  slabs  cut  to  fit  the 
reveals.     These  slabs  are  still  lying  about  the  tomb. 

A  sufficient  number  of  the  fragments  of  carved  stones  lying 
about  outside  the  tomb  have  already  been  published  by  Dr. 
Schick.  To  attempt  to  fit  them  into  their  places  in  a  hypo- 
thetical surface  structure  would,  I  am  convinced,  prove  a  raiher 
more  hopeless  task  than  restoration  of  the  Mausoleum  of 
Halicarnassus.  They  are  mostly  fragments  of  egg-and-tongue- 
and  other  classical  ornaments,  volutes,  acanthus  leaves,  and 
various  mouldings — nearly  all  of  a  very  debased  or  provincial 
type. 

I  prefer  to  abstain  from  speculation  as  to  the  persons  for 
whom  this  tomb  was  intended.  In  the  absence  of  insci-iptions 
all  such  speculation  is  mere  guesswork,  impossible  to  disprove 
or  to  substantiate. 


HILL    OF     "  JEREMIAH'S     GROTTO,"     CALLED    BY 
GENERAL    GORDON    "SKULL    HILL." 

By  Dr.  Conrad  Schick. 

1.  In  1842,  0.  Thenius  suggested,  on  various  topographical 
grounds,  that  this  hill  was  Calvary,  where  Christ  was  cmcified. 
In  1883  the  late  General  Gordon  came  to  the  same  conclusion 
from  quite  other  reasons.  He  founded  his  opinion  on  the  contour 
line  2,549  feet  above  the  sea  (Ordnance  Survey  of  Jerusalem, 
2-5V0  pla-n,   1864-65),  which    has   roughly    the    form  of   a  skull^ 


illLL    OF    '•  JKlM'-MIAH's    CUOTTO."  403 

although  rather  too  broad,  with  the  nose-bono  turned  towards  the 
west.'  He  was  confirmed  in  his  opinion  by  the  discovery  of  a 
rock-hewn  tomb  at  the  western  foot  of  the  hill,  which  he  declared 
was  that  of  Joseph,  and  in  a  garden.-  The  view  that  "skull" 
hill  was  Calvary  was  adopted  by  many  persons,  and  more 
especially  by  English  and  Americans.  It  was  also  opposed  by 
many  other  persons,  wlm  brought  forward  good  arguments  against 
it.  This  lessened  but  did  not  put  an  end  to  the  enthusiasm  for  the 
liill.  In  the  cliff  on  the  south-west  side  of  the  hill  there  are  two 
holes,  running  in  about  10  feet,  which  from  the  shadows  thrown 
by  the  roof  and  sides  always  look  dark.  These  holes  were  thought 
to  look  like  the  eye-sockets  of  a  skull,  and  hence  this  part  of  the 
hill  was  compared  with  a  skull.^  This  conclusion  requires  a 
great  deal  of  imagination,  for  the  two  holes  differ  greatly  in  size 
and  form.  The  Avestern  and  larger  hole  is  part  of  an  ancient 
rock-hewn  cistern,  which  became  useless  when  one  side  was  cut 
away  in  quarrying  stone.  It  is  now  a  small  cave,  retaining  the 
size  and  form  of  the  old  cistern.  The  almost  horizontal  bottom 
is  about  14  feet  wide,  the  sides  converge  as  they  rise,  and,  near 
the  top,  form  as  it  were  an  arched  roof.  The  other  hole,  about 
20  feet  to  the  east,  is  on  a  lower  level,  as  any  good  photograph 
will  show.  Drawings  and  pictures  are  "helped"  so  that  the 
holes  may  appear  more  like  the  eye-sockets  of  a  skull.  Any 
argument  based  on  them  is  rather  useless,  as  the  name  "  Kranion," 
Calvary,  or  skull,  was  probably  derived,  not  from  the  form  of  a 
hill,  but  from  the  discovery  of  a  human  skull  in  the  place.  Tradi- 
tion and  the  early  Christian  writers  say  it  was  the  skull  of  Adam. 
I  suggest  that  it  was  Goliath's  skull  which  David  brought  to 
Jerusalem  (1  Samuel  xvii,  54;  xxi,  9)  and  buried  somewhere 
close  to  and  outside  the  city,  as  it  could  not  be  buried  near  the 
Tabernacle  at  Nob,  where  he  deposited  Goliath's  sword.  It  may 
have  been  found  when  Nehemiah  rebuilt  the  Avails,  and  the  spot 
called  "the  skull  "—that  is,  the  place  where  the  remarkable 
skull  was  found. 

1  See  General  Gordon's  note  in  Quarterlj/  Statement,  1885,  p.  79. 

2  St.  Matt,  xxvii,  (50;  St.  John  xix,  41.  A  full  report  on  this  tomb  bj 
me  is  given  in  Quarterh/  Statement,  1892,  pp.  120/;  and  199. 

'  This  idea  was  repudiated  by  General  Gordon.  In  a  letter  he  writes:— 
"  '  Skull  with  caves  for  eye-sockets,'  that  is  all  one  would  get  if  one  was  foolish 
enough  to  write.     I  eay  it  is  the  contour  in  a  map  of  1864."— C.  ^\  .  W  • 


404  HILL  OF   "  jekemiah's  geotto." 

2.  The  tomb  at  the  foot  of  the  north -Avestern  part  of  the  hill 
— a  Jewish  rock-heAvn  tomb  re-used  hj  Christians — was  pur- 
chased, with  the  field  (the  supposed  garden  of  Joseph),  by  some 
English  people,  who  were  obliged  to  enclose  the  field  with  a 
boundary  wall.  When  the  wall  was  erected  they  were  compelled, 
on  the  north  side,  to  build  it  above  the  scarped  rock  in  which  the 
tomb  is  hewn.  But  on  the  east  side  they  had  to  build  it  in  front 
of  the  scarp,  and  to  dig  down  some  10  feet  for  a  foundation. 
Here,  about  the  centre  of  the  side,  the  entrance  to  a  passage, 
about  3  feet  wide  and  7  feet  high,  running  eastward  into  the 
rock,  was  discovered.  It  was  full  of  earth,  and,  as  it  was  not 
cleared,  its  object  could  not  be  ascertained.  Probably  it  led  to 
a  cave,  or  grotto  similar  to  that  to  the  east,  called  "  Jeremiah's  " 
grotto.  The  passage  could  not  be  cleared  at  the  time  for  fear  of 
raising  diflBculties  with  the  Moslems,  who  closely  watched  the 
work.  But  an  opening  was  left  in  front  of  it  in  the  new  wall,  so 
that  it  could  be  opened  and  cleared  when  an  opportunity  arrived  ; 
and  its  position  was  indicated  by  a  mark  on  the  wall  above 
ground.  On  seeing  this,  and  on  examining  the  hill  more  closely, 
I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  rock  roof  of  a  large  cavern  had 
fallen  in  and  left  the  rock  standing  u.p  for  fx'om  8  to  10  feet,  thus 
giving  the  curious  outline  of  a  human  skull  in  profile,  as  seen  in 
the  contour  line  on  the  Ordnance  Survey  map.  This  hypothesis 
explains  the  openings  by  which  the  various  small  caves  in  the 
upper  portion  of  the  rock  are  entered  from  the  west,  and  the 
absence  of  the  ai'tificial  entrances  which  they  must  have 
possessed  originally.  The  fracture  was  most  likely  caused  by 
an  earthquake,  perhaps  that  in  the  reign  of  Uzziah  (Amos  i,  1 ; 
Zechariah  xiv,  5). 

3.  It  is  generally  believed,  and  the  appearance  of  the  rock  on 
both  sides  justifies  the  belief,  that  "  skull "  hill  was  originally 
connected  with  the  height  (Bezetha)  inside  the  town,  and  that 
the  broad  trench  which  now  separates  them  is  the  result  of 
quarrying  for  stone.  Sir  C.  Warren  ("Jerusalem  Memoirs," 
Plate  XII)  gives  the  trench  an  almost  level  bed  of  rock,  but  the 
many  portions  of  the  bed  which  I  have  seen,  wlien  exposed  by 
excavation,  are  very  uneven  and  bear  the  marks  of  quarrying. 
In  some  places,  especially  near  "  skull  "  hill,  the  rock  is  much 
higher  than  in  others.  I  am  therefore  convinced  that  the  great 
trench  was  not   made  at   one  time,  but    is   rather  the    result  of 


HILL  OF  "  ,ikim;miaii's  gkotto."  40o 

quarrying  operations  spread  over  a  long  period,'  including  somo 
which  have  taken  place  during  my  own  residence  in  Jerusalem. 
The  accompanying  diagram,  based  on  Sir  C.  Warren's  Plate  XII, 

llO»tTM 
SOUTH  ^/>U  ^  ,  surf^e_accqr:d,n£.tc>y^rrfn_ -,    V^mTf^^-Mg),  yM'    -     -' 

tiner. n  ^.,  „,  schx*  b>~('/-'.7T-/y». 


2400 .    . , .  .  "  .     ^«»  . 

SCALE 

100           so            P                            100                        £00  FEET 
I   ■  ■   ■  T ][ I 

Note. — In  some  places  the  rock  rises  to  tliis  height  x  . 

explains  my  views.  I  believe  that,  as  in  the  case  of  other  ridges 
near  Jerusalem — the  ridge  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  for  instanct) — 
there  was  originally  a  depression  between  the  two  heights,  and 
not  an  elevation,  as  shown  by  the  dotted  line  in  the  diagram. 
Thus  the  square  cubits  of  stone  removed  were  far  less  than  they 
would  have  been  if  the  rock  had  risen  in  accordance  with  the 
dotted  line,  and  the  bed  of  the  trench  had  been  as  low  as  it  is 
shown  in  the  diagram.  These  remarks  have  some  bearing  on  the 
topographical  question.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  no 
proper  plan  of  Jeremiah's  grotto.  English  and  German  writers 
generally  mention  the  grotto,  and  some  of  them  notice  its 
interesting  cistern,  but  none  have  given  a  plan.^ 

Jebusalem,  June  6th,  1901. 


'  Tliis  view,  which  I  have  long  held,  is  confirmed  by  local  details  that  I 
hope  to  explain  in  a  forthcoming  paper. — C.  W.  W. 

-  Dr.  Schick  has  since  sent  home  a  plan  and  description  of  Jeremiah's 
grotto,    which    will    be    published    in   the   January    Qtiarierli/   Statement.— 

c.  w.  w. 


406 


A.   DRUZE    TALISMAN. 

By  the  Rev.  Joseph   Segall. 

The  bronze  talisman,  of  which  the  following  is  a  photograph, 
belonged  to  a  Druze.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  charm  against  the 
sting  of  a  scorpion.  The  fortunate  possessor  of  such  a  treasure 
would,  for  a  "  consideration,"  take  an  impression  of  it  on  a  piece 
of  paper  with  Arabic  ink,  as  is  generally  done  here  with  ordinary 
seals.     Such  an  amulet  would  then  be  hung  round  the  neck  of  the 


mj 


**?■'-"'  rf"^'"^^?;--  " , 


&^  spr,  ^ 


^-e*>r 


^l-'^ri  . 


person  stung,  or  possibly  the  seal  itself  would  be  pressed  against 
the  wound,  which  would  have  the  effect  of  pressing  out  the  poison 
left  by  the  sting. 

The  following  is  a  transcription  and  literal  translation  of  the 
legend  : — 


>•' 


\,:.\  .j^  I.  u! 


.\ 


"  O,  thou  Remover  of  pain,  thou  Possessor  of  cures,  thou  Discerner  of  remedies, 
thou  tliat  answerest  prayer,  hear  us  favourably,  thou  best  of  men." 


A    CItUSADING    INSCRIPTION.  407 

Of  the  four  angelic  names,  J^jJ^-j^  find  J>^\$Lx,<  (probably 
another  form  for  J.A.!l^^<)  are  well  known  in  Mohammedan 
theology,  while  the  other  two,  ^j^}^}^  and  JolL«— ;i  will  probably 
be  found  in  the  angeology  of  the  Druze  religion. 

The  numerical  figures  rovmd  the  scorpion  may  have  somi' 
mystical  signification,  or  may  possibly  be  merely  ornamental. 

Damascus. 


THE    RUTN    AT    KHtlRBET    BEIT    8AW1R. 
By  Gray  Hill,  Esq. 

Remains  like  that  depicted  under  this  name  in  the  last  numljer  of  the 
Quarterly  Statement  are  to  be  found  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan — one 
large  one,  and  if  I  remember  I'ight  a  second  smaller,  in  the  dejjre.ssed 
plain  of  El  Bukeia,  lying  between  Es  Salt  and  Jerasli,  and  several  on  or 
near  the  Haj  Road,  between  Umm  Shettah  (Mashita)  and  Er  Reutheh. 
But  in  all  these  instances  the  four  walls  of  the  quadrangle  stand  in  a 
more  or  less  complete  state. 


A    CRUSADING    INSCRIPTION. 

By  Professor  Theodore  F.  Wright,  Ph.D. 

In  the  Semitic  Museum  here  ray  attention  has  been  attracted  to  a  block 
of  marble  measuring  about  one  foot  each  way.  It  is  fragmentary,  and 
appears  to  have  been  broken  off  or  cut  out  from  a  slab.  I  can  learn 
nothing  as  to  the  history  of  it,  except  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  collection 
made  some  years  ago  in  Palestine  by  Dr.  Selah  Merrill.  It  does  not 
appear  that  he  has  anywhere  given  a  description  of  it.  The  letters,  so  far 
as  they  are  unharmed,  are  large  and  clear.  There  are  tive  lines,  of  which 
not  one  is  perfect,  but  it  is  not  likely  that  much  is  broken  off,  becau.se 
the  meaning,  as  I  apprehend  it,  does  not  require  more  than  a  letter  or 
two  in  lines  three  and  four. 

The  language  appears  to  be  old  French,  but  on  this  and  every  other 
point  I  speak  only  tentatively,  and  am  seeking  information  rather  than 
giving  it.  The  fourth  Ime  can  scarcely  be  anything  but  a  date  appro.xi- 
mating  a.d.  1250,  or  at  least  before  1290.  Moreover,  the  whole  appearance 
s  that  of  an  epitaph.  Taking  this  view  of  it,  I  would  suggest  that  the 
first  line  may  have  contained  the  word  respasse,  meaning  to  pass  to  the 
other  life,  to  die.      The  second   Hne   may  have   been  del  in  carite,  or 


408 


A    CRUSADING    INSCRIPTION. 


something  like  that,  meaning  ''  heaven  in  the  love  of."  The  third  line 
lacks  the  first  letter  only  of  nosti'e  seiguor,  our  Lord.  In  the  next  line  we 
have  (7m?,  spelled  without  the  "h,"as  in  carite  for  charite.  The  last 
line  seems  to  say  d  denii  JuU.     In  all  the  lines  something  is  lacking  at 


SZRQSQIGIK 


the  end,  and  two  of  them  are  fractured  at  the  beginning.     What  is  thus 
lost  can  be  supplied  by  conjecture  only,  but  possibly  the  five  lines  vea 
thus  when  complete  : — 

EST  RESPASSE  AU 

CI  EL   IN   CARITE 

OSTRE  SEIGNOR 

CRIST  :  M  :  CC  :  L^— 

A    DEMI  :  JUL— 

There   was  in  this  view  of   it  a  line  above — or  several  lines — now 

destroyed,  and  the  meaning  was  " passed  to  heaven  in  the  love  of 

our  Lord  Christ  [in  the  year]  125  —  ,  in  the  middle  of  July." 

I  submit  this  in  the  hope  that  more  light  can  be  thrown  by  others. 

Cambridge,  U.S,A. 


Note  by  Professor  Clermont-Ganneau. 
This  fragment  of  a  mediaeval  inscription  may  be  thus  restored 


[+   ici  gist- 


quit]respH[sa  an  I'an] 
[d]e  l'incair[nacion  n-] 
ostre  Seigno[r  iliu] 
Crist  MCCLI  .  .  . 
a  demi  iui[gnet  I] 

Ici  git  (Sire  ou  Madame)  .  .  .  qui  trepassa  en  I'an  de  I'incarnation 
(de)  notre  Seigneur  Jesus  Christ  1251  (ou  1254  ?)  a  la  ml-Juillet 
( Juignet  ?). 


THE    SITE    OF    CALVARY.  409 

It  is  more  than  ])robable  that  it  is  the  epitajili  nf  some  jxthoii  con- 
nected with  the  Crusades.  I  should  not  be  Biuprisfd  if  the  Ht<>ne 
came  from  St.  Jean  d'Acre.  Paleographically  and  epigraphically  tlie 
inscription  closely  resembles  a  tombstone  from  this  city  which  I  reported 
and  i)ublislied  in  my  "  Eapport  sur  une  Mission  on  Palestine  et  en 
Phenicie"  (1881),  i)landie  X,  ((.  Tlic  date  is  a  little  mon- recent,  1278. 
The  epitaph — that  of  Sire  Gautier  Meynebreuf — is  also  in  old  French. 


NOTE    ON    DOLMENS. 


As  regards  dolmens  in  "  Western  Palestine,"  it  seems  to  be  over- 
looked that  I  have  described  one  on  Mount  Gilboa,  and  a  group 
west  of  Banias,  and  that  others,  such  as  the  Hajr  ed-Duvim,  occur 
in  Upper  Galilee.  I  have  given  reasons  for  concluding  that 
those  in  Moab  were  not  tombs  ;  but  I  have  also  pointed  out  that 
the  modern  Arabs  erect  small  trilithons  in  connection  with  the 
circles  round  their  graves,  and  I  believe  the  nomads  west  of 
Jordan  do  the  same.  It  seems  to  be  necessary  to  distinguish 
these  monuments,  and  to  make  it  clear  that  those  recently  dis- 
covered in  the  south,  and  said  to  be  connected  with  such  graves, 
are  not  merely  quite  modern  Bedawin  structures,  such  as  would 
Bot  have  been  considered  worth  special  notice  during  the  survey. 

C.    R.    COiNDER. 


THE    SITE    OF    CALVARY. 
By  Colonel  C.  R.  Conder,  LL.D.,  R.E. 

Canon  MacColl  is  well  known  as  a  controversial  writer;  but  in 
the  present  case  he  does  not  appear  able  to  throw  any  new  light 
on  the  question  in  dispute.  He  is  pleased  to  suggest  that  within 
the  last  seven  years  I  may  have  changed  my  mind,  having 
apparently  not  read  my  article  on  Jerusalem  in  the  new 
"  Dictionary  of  the  Bible"  (Messrs.  Clarke  and  Co.).  He  recom- 
mends me  to  read  the  Bible,  which  I  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
doing  before  I  had  the  pleasure  of  making  his  acquaintance.  He 
describes  me  as  a  "  convert "  to  the  views  of  Dr.  Robinson, 
thouffh   I   am  not   aware  of  having  ever  changed   my   views  on 


410  THE    SITE    OF    CALVARY. 

this  question.  He  consider.s  that  my  writings  lack  evidence  of 
research,  and  that  I  rely  chiefly  on  Robinson,  though  he  does 
not  quote  any  evidence  with  which  I  have  not  been  acquainted, 
from  the  original  authors,  foi-  many  years  past.  In  spite  of  the 
strength  of  assertion  which  characterises  his  paper,  I  consider 
that  it  is  an  imperfect  representation  of  the  question  in  dispute, 
and  that,  in  many  respects,  it  is  misleading.  1  do  not  think 
that  much  good  is  done  by  raising  such  controversies ;  but  if 
they  are  raised  it  should  be  in  a  tone  of  moderation  and  respect 
for  the  opinion  of  others.  The  views  which  I  advocate  are  held 
by  a  large  number  of  persons,  who  have  examined  the  evidence 
with  care  and  intelligence,  and  have  reached  a  conclusion  the 
reverse  of  that  held  by  Canon  MacColl. 

I  will  only  refer  briefly  to  points  which  seem  to  me  likely  to 
mislead.  I  deny  that  Canon  Williams  disposed  of  the  arguments  of 
Dr.  Robinson,  or  that  the  opinion  of  a  German  wa-iter  in  185-i  has 
any  particular  value  now.  Canon  MacColl  mixes  up  two  distinct 
questions  :  (1)  whether  the  cliff  at  Jeremiah's  Grotto  be  the  true 
site  of  Calvary,  as  I  believe  ;  (2)  whether  the  tomb  beneath  be 
the  true  Holy  SejDulchre,  which  I  have  always  denied.  He  is 
apparently  not  aware  that  the  Jews  liad  four  different  methods 
of  execution,  and  that  they  crucified  those  whom  they  stoned. 
The  Carthaginians,  as  well  as  the  Romans,  used  also  to  crucify. 
He  should  make  further  study  of  the  Talmud  before  committing 
himself  to  his  assertions. 

Considering  the  uncleanne?s  connected  with  death,  I  cannot 
believe  that  the  "  place  of  a  skull  "  could  ever  have  been  sacred 
to  Jews,  and  Origen  must  have  referred  to  Jewish  Christians. 
St.  Paul  does  not  allude  to  the  legend  of  Adam's  skull,  nor  do 
I  know  of  any  legend  in  Jewish  writings  connecting  Adam  with 
Golgotha — 1  consider  it  most  improbable.  Pilate  delivered  over 
Our  Lord  to  the  Jews  to  crucify,  and  they  may  naturally  be 
supposed  to  have  used  the  ordinary  "  place  of  stoning."  But 
whatever  Pilate  may  have  thought  as  to  Jewish  customs,  it  is 
stated  that  Christ  suffei"ed  "  without  the  gate  "  (Heb.  xiii,  12). 

The  Christian  authorities  quoted  by  Canon  MacColl  are  all 
later  than  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  excepting  Origen,  who 
does  not  say  that  he  knew  the  site  of  Calvary,  and  TertuUian, 
who  is  only  cited.  I  have  been  carefully  through  the  works 
of  Justin  Martyr,  Irenaeus,  and  TertuUian,  in  the  hope  of  finding 


THE   SITE   OF   CALVARY.  411 

some  light  ou  the  subject,  witli  the  result  of  being  unable  to 
discover  a  single  passage  showing  that  the  site  Avas  known  to 
them.  Nor  have  I  found  such  a  passage  quoted  by  others.  Nor 
is  there  any  contempoi-ary  account  of  the  return  of  the  Christians 
to  Jernsalera  after  70  A.u.  There  are  certainly  no  coins  in  exist- 
ence -which  prove  that  a  temple  to  Venus  was  erected  "  over 
Golgotha  and  the  Holy  Sepulchre."  There  is  no  contemporary 
account  of  Helena's  visiting  Calvary,  and  Eusebius  (whether  an 
eye-witness  or  not)  does  not  explain  how  the  conclusion  was 
reached,  that  the  site  uncovered  was  the  true  one,  recovered  as  he 
says,  "beyond  all  hope." 

Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  fourth  century — and  such  men 
as  Jerome  and  Chrysostorn  had  a  very  bad  opinion  of  the  state  of 
the  Church  in  their  days — it  is  certain  that  the  views  of  Eusebius 
as  to  Bible  sites  are  as  often  wrong  as  they  are  right,  while  the 
earliest  pilgrim  (from  Bordeaux)  makes  many  mistakes,  as  when 
he  places  the  scene  of  the  Transfiguration  o]i  Olivet.  That 
Eusebius,^  Jerome,  and  others  were  wrong  in  saying  that  the 
New  Jerusalem  was  opposite  the  old  is  shown  by  the  extant 
remains  of  the  second  wall.  Jerome  does  not  refer  to  that  wall, 
how^ever,  but  to  the  wall  built  by  Hadrian.  It  is  impossible  to 
show  that  a  garden  still  existed  in  the  time  of  Cyril  or  Willibald, 
especially  if  we  are  to  believe  that  a  Pagan  temple  had  been  built 
on  the  sites.  Nor  do  these  authors  mean  us  to  understand  this. 
[  am  at  a  loss  to  understand  how  Canon  MacColl  can  suppose  this 
garden  "in"  the  place  of  Crucifixion  ("  not  near,"  he  insists)  to 
have  existed  still  in  the  thirteenth  century,  when  the  whole  space 
was  covered  by  the  Cathedral  as  now.  El  Yakiit  could  not 
desci'ibe  what  could  not  exist.  Like  the  preceding  authorities, 
he  means  that  the  site  was  believed  to  have  been  originally  in 
a  garden.  There  was,  moreover,  no  "  second  wall "  visible  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  the  Cathedral  was  inside  the  city. 

Canon  MacColl  seems  to  think  that  the  Babylonian  Mishnah 
differs  from  that  of  Jerusalem  (the  correct  citation  is,  I  believe, 
T.B.  Baba  Kama,  82a),  but  anyhow  the  evidence  of  a  writer  about 
800  A.D.,  as  to  a  rose  garden  "  in  the  time  of  the  pro{)hets,"  has 
no  value  at  all. 

The  statement  that  the  second  wall  "  must  cross  the  Tyropceon" 

'  Eusebius  does  refer  to  New  Jerusalem.    According  to  the  only  note  I  have 
at  hand,  the  passage  is  in  his  "  Life  of  Constantino  "  (iii,  33). 


412  THE   SITE   OF   CALVARY. 

shows,  unfortunately,  that  Canon  MacColl  does  not  undex-stand 
the  topograpliy  of  Jerusalem.'  This  is  exactly  the  reason  why 
I  have  always  drawn  the  second  wall  jast  -where  its  remains  have 
subsequently  been  discovered  to  exist.  The  passage  mentioned 
by  the  Canon  (2  Chron.  xxvi,  9)  is  one  frequently  quoted  in 
my  published  works  ;  but  it  does  not,  in  my  opinion,  bear  the 
consti-uction  which  he  gives,  nor  does  it  in  the  least  conflict 
with  the  line  I  have  always  proposed  for  the  wall,  nor  does  the 
Greek  text  conflict  Avith  the  Hebrew.  The  passage  from  Tacitus 
I  have  also  had  occasion  to  quote,  but  it  throws  no  fresh  light 
on  the  question.  I  consider  that  his  description  applies  well  to 
the  walls  as  I  propose  to  di^aw  them.* 

There  are  many  other  points  which  seem  to  me  to  show  that 
Canon  MacCoU  has  not  mastered  the  literature  of  his  subject,  or 
weighed  the  arguments  on  the  other  side.  It  is  certain,  from  the 
rock  levels  of  Jerusalem,  that  the  present  traditional  site  of 
Calvary  was  the  summit  of  a  rocky  knoll  rising  high  above  the 
Tyropoeon.  The  line  of  wall  as  he  draws  it  wonld  leave  this  knoll 
just  outside  the  wall,  in  a  way  which,  in  my  opinion,  no  one 
acquainted  with  ancient  fortified  sites  could  for  a  moment  think 
possible.  But  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  about  30  a.d.,  extended 
considerably  beyond  the  second  wall  on  this  side.  The  old 
difiiculty  remains,  that  the  position  is  so  central,  as  regards  both 
the  present  and  the  ancient  town,  that  even  in  the  fourth  century 
some  explanation  was  felt  to  be  necessary  to  account  for  its  not 
being  outside  the  city.  That  which  Jerome  gives,  and  which 
most  later  Christian  writers  repeat,  seems  to  me  to  have  been 
apologetic  ;  and  it  was  certaitdy  incorrect,  as  far  as  the  evidence 
of  Josephus  and  of  the  extant  remains  of  the  second  wall  are  any 
indication. 

I  do  not,  however,  suppose  that  any  argument  will  convince 
those  who  have  taken  another  view,  and  I  have  no  desire  to  enter 
further  into  controversy  on  the  subject.^ 

Ennis, /mZ^/  1-^^^  1901. 

'  I  would  uote  that  Josephus  does  not  use  the  word  given  by  Canon  MacColl 
as  meaning  to  "  enclose." 

^  He  does  not,  I  think,  refer  to  zigzags,  but  to  the  various  directions  of  the 
walls,  which  gave  flanking  (ire — on  the  north,  west,  and  south  sides  of  the  city. 

'  For  detailed  argument  on  tlie  subject,  I  beg  to  refer  to  the  last  chapters 
of  my  "  Handbook  to  the  Bible,"  and  to  my  recent  article  on  Jerusalem  in 
Dr.  Hastings's  "Dictionary  of  the  Bible." 


413 


EXCURSUS  ON  THE  RESURRECTIOX  ON  THE  HYPO- 
THESIS THAT  IT  TOOK  PLACE  FROM  A  TOM  15 
SIMILAR  IN  CONSTRUCTION  TO  THE  TOMBS  OF 
THE    KINGS,   AND    IN    THAT   VICINITY. 

By  Canon  Gell. 

Attempts  to  realise  the  actual  conditions  uiuler  which  this,  the  supreme 
event  of  human  history,  was  accomplished  have  often  been  confused  by 
want  of  a  clear  idea  of  the  particular  kind  of  tomb  in  wliich  the  body  of 
our  Loi'd  was  laiil.  The  serious  difficidty  of  harmonising  the  visits  to 
the  tomb,  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  together  with  prevailing  miscon- 
ception as  to  the  tomb  itself,  liave  combined  to  produce  a  vague  impres- 
sion as  to  what  really  took  place  detrimental  to  a  firm  belief  in  its 
historical  vei-acity. 

It  is  easy  to  deprecate  investigation,  and  to  point  to  strong  and  even 
bitter  divergencies  of  opinion,  but  when  the  angel,  seated  upon  the 
stone  he  had  rolled  back,  said  to  the  affrighted  women,  "  Come  see  the 
place  where  the  Lord  lay,"  he  gave  some  sort  of  sanction  to  our  topo 
graphical  enquiries,  while  he  struck  the  only  note  of  localism  in  religion 
which  remains  in  this  dispensation. 

In  a  former  paper  I  have  enumerated  thirteen  indicating  hints, 
gathered  from  Holy  Scripture,  pointing  to  the  locality  where  we  may 
expect  to  find  the  sepulchre,  and  suggesting  the  kind  of  sepulchre  for 
which  we  should  search.  To  my  own  mind  these  are  fully  sufficient  to 
exclude  from  consideration  both  the  traditional  site  within  the  present 
•city  and  the  recently  suggested  site  just  outside  of  it ;  but  I  have  care- 
fully guarded  myself  from  assuming  that  I  have  proved  that  the  Kubur 
es-Saladeen  was  the  actual  tomb  where,  as  in  a  mortuary  chapel,  the 
sacred  body  of  the  Lord  lay.  Indeed,  if  I  felt  as  certain  as  some 
advocates  of  other  sites  profess  themselves  to  be,  I  should  not  proclaim 
it,  lest  some  modern  disciples  of  Eusebius  and  Constantine  should  make 
it  a  place  for  pilgrimage.  All  for  which  I  contend  is  this— that  the 
indications  about  the  burial  in  Scripture  prove — not  that  this  was  the 
place,  but  that  the  jjlace  was  like  this,  and  in  this  vicinity,  and  what  I 
now  desire  to  do  is  to  show  how  the  Eesiu'rection  might  have  taken 
place,  on  the  supposition  that  it  took  place  there. 

In  order  to  make  the  matter  as  plain  as  possible  it  is  necessary  to 
i-emind  your  readers  of  the  peculiar  construction  of  this  ancient  Jewish 
burial  place,  and  to  refer  them  to  the  plan  which  accomi)anies  this  i)aj)er. 
"  In  the  place  wliere  He  was  crucilied  there  was  a  garden  "  (there  is  nothing 
about  a  "villa,"  which  has  been  imported  into  the  narrative  without 
authority)  ;  "  and  in  the  garden  a  new  sepulchre,  wherein  was  never  man 


-il4 


EXCURSUS    ON    THE    ItESURRECTION. 


yet  laid.      There  laid  they  Jesus  therefore  because  of  the  Jews'  prepara- 
tion day  ;  for  the  sepulchre  was  nigh  at  hand  "  (St.  John  xix,  41,  42). 

Thus  the  record  runs,  and  supposing  that  the  three  crosses  were  set 
up  near  the  side  of  the  great  north  road,  as  seems  not  improbable,  and 
in  strict  accordance  with  Roman  custom,  at  a  place  near  the  cross  roads 
called  Golgotha  (possibly  Jis  being  on  the  traditional  site  of  the  tomb  of 
Adam),  the  "garden  "  would  be  the  excavated  enclosure  10  or  15  yards 
from  the  crosses  and  about  20  yards  from  the  roadside.  In  the  western 
scarp  of  this  recessed  plot,  which  is  about  30  yards  square,  the  sepulchre 
was  made.  It  consisted  of  a  distyle  portico  leading  to  a  vestibule  about 
38  feet  by  16  feet,  in  the  southern  end  of  which  is  a  tank  for  the  water 
required  for  lustration  of  the  corpse,  and  below  the  level  of  the  floor  is 


tOFUt 


F                                     F 

'References. 

A. 

The  embalming  chamber.                       E. 

B. 

The  vestibule.                                          F. 

C. 

The  tank.                                                    (?■ 

D. 

The  grooTe  for  the  rolling  stone  at 

entrance.                                           H- 

Probable  place  of  stone  of  ucetion. 

The  garden. 

The  connected  passage  to  back  of 

the  rolling  stone. 
The  stone  bench. 

the  peculiar  arrangement  for  concealing  the  entrance  which  distinguishes 
this  tomb  from  all  others  now  extant  at  Jerusalem,  as  the  only  one  in 
which  the  disc  of  stone  closing  the  entrance,  remains  in  place.  The 
architrave  above  the  portico  is  still  to  be  seen  ornamented  with  the 
same  "  ill-understood  Roman  Doric,"  as  Ferguson  calls  it,  which  fixes  the 
date  of  the  tomb,  as  is  allowed  by  all  experts,  to  the  time  of  Herod, 
but  the  pyramids,  stelae,  or  cipi)i,  mentioned  by  Josephus,  are  gone. 

Approximate  figures  of  dimension  only  are  given,  because  we 
learn  from  our  Masonic  friends  that  in  all  but  one  chamber  the 
measure  which  appears  to  have  been  used  was  the  Roman  foot  of 
116  inches.  In  one  chamber  the  Jewish  cubit  of  25-2  inches  seetns 
to  have  been  adopted.  The  use  of  these  measures  is  another  proof 
of  the   date   of    the   excavation,   which   it  is   generally  supposed  was 


EXCUKSUS   OX   THE   RESUIIUECTIDX.  415 

used  in  suli^nnuMit  j'eiir.s  by  IK-Ioiia,  (^)iiceii  of  AduibL-uc.  IVr^MiPrm 
iU'gues  that  Ilerod  himself  was  buried  here  and  iii)t  at  Ilerodium.  if  ho 
lie  nnnt  -  on  my  hypolliosis — hav'e  got  the  place  from  Jose.jli  of 
Arimathea,  the  licli  and  honourable  councillor,  by  whom  it  ha  I  been 
])rei)ared  for  his  own  use.  The  prophet  Isaiah  foretold  tint  the 
Messiah's  grave  would  be  nude  "  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rii-li  in 
liis  death,"  ami  certainly  if  our  Lord  was  laid  here  Josej)h  was  rich 
enough  and  Jlerod  wicked  enough  to  fulfil  the  prophecy.  At  the  time 
of  the  crucifixion  the  tomb  had  just  been  "hewu  in  s^tone,"  so  thei-e 
would  have  been  none  of  the  additional  chambers  and  loculi  which  we 
tiiid  there  now.  The  only  chamber  required  at  first  was  what  I  may 
call  the  embalming  chamber,  which  in  this  tomb  is  about  1!)  feet  scpiare, 
and  surrounded  by  a  stone  bench.  There  would  probably  have  been 
also  a  stone  of  unction,  or  bier,  on  which  the  body  lay,  while  the  process 
of  embalming  was  being  ejected  and  the  loculus  dug.  Convenience 
makes  it  ])robable  that  the  body  was  not  deposited  on  the  floor  of  the 
chamber.  Of  course,  the  paving  slab,  which  idtimately  was  to  conceal 
tlie  entrance,  would  not  have  been  laid  down  till  the  whole  process  was 
finished.  Tlius  the  women  who  sat  "  over  against  "  the  sepidchre  could 
see  into  it,  and  there  seems  to  have  been  no  restriction  to  jirevent  any 
friends  entering  the  vestibule  or  even  going  inside  the  chamber  where 
the  body  lay  ;  so  whether  the  women  were  seated  (the  Jewish  posture 
of  mourning)  on  the  opposite  garden  wall,  as  I  thought  at  one  time,  or 
liad  entered  the  vestibule  for  closer  observation,  and  sat  near  the  further 
or  northern  end  of  it,  would  make  no  difference  to  the  fact  that  from 
outside  the  chamber  they  could  see  "  how  the  body  was  laid."  This  we 
read  they  did  l)efore  they  retired  on  the  eve  of  the  Sabbath.  The  method 
Iny  which  the  enti'ance  was  closed  has  been  often  described,  and  I  need 
not  explain  it,  except  to  observe  that  the  stone  disc,  the  greater  part 
of  which  is  now  remaining,  is  about  3  feet  in  diameter  and  1  foot  thick, 
and  sufficiently  heavy  to  justify  the  fears  of  the  wo.aien  that  without 
lielp  they  could  not  move  it  away  from  the  entrance  where  they  had 
seen  it  rolled  by  Jose]jh's  servants  on  the  Friday  evening.  The  concealed 
passage  by  which  a  man  could  get  behind  it  to  roll  it  with  a  lever  across 
the  entrance  is  itdicated  by  dotted  lines  in  the  plan.  After  a  corp.se 
had  been  embalmed  and  the  loculus  dug  it  was  sealed  up,  the  entrance 
closed,  and  then  the  paving  slabs  forming  the  floor  of  the  vestibule 
would  have  been  laid  over  all,  cemented  in  the  reveal,  and  the  entomb- 
ment was  complete.  The  only  other  feature  of  this  rcmarkal)le  tondj 
Avhich  needs  niention  is  the  means  of  access  to  the  herb  garden 
in  which  it  was  constructed.  This  was  by  a  rock- cut  staircase  of 
twenty-five  stejjs  leading  down  from  the  level  of  the  ground  above  to 
the  archway,  cut  through  a  curtain  of  ro^k  7  feet  thick,  admitting  to 
the  garden.  In  my  time  tlic  stairs  and  garden  were  encumbered  with 
rubbish,  which  has  now  been  cleared  away,  and  portions  of  the  ])illars 
■of  the  distyle  and,  as  is  conjectured,  of  the  pyramids  which  Josephus 

2d 


416  EXCURSUS   ON    THE   RESUKltECTIOX. 

meutions,  have  been  found  by  the  indefatigable  Dr.  Schick  among  the 
debris. 

Let  me  now  sujipose  that  this  was  tlie  new  tomb  of  the  Jewish 
Councillor  who  went  to  Pilate  on  that  fateful  afternoon  and  begged  the 
body  of  Jesus,  and  try  to  realise  the  scene.  The  mysterious  darkness 
had  passed  away.  The  westering  sun  is  casting  level  beams  across  that 
wonderful  landscajae,  now  comparatively  tame  and  featureless,  touching 
the  gilded  spikes  along  the  roof  of  the  great  Temple,  and  reddening  all 
the  loftier  buildings  of  the  city  with  sunset  glow,  A  few  lingering 
women  remain  near  the  crosses,  which  the  Centurion  has  just  left,  after 
handing  over  to  Joseph  legal  possession  of  the  body  of  Jesus.  Joseph 
and  Nicodemus,  with  four  or  five  servants  and  slaves,  j)roceed,  as  vapidly 
as  possible,  with  their  work  of  love.  Not  10  yards  from  the  cross — if,  as 
I  believe,  it  was  a  cross — is  the  recent  excavation  with  its  scarce  finished 
tomb.  Thither  the  whole  party  hurriedly  go,  lifting  their  precious  burden 
down  the  steps,  through  that  aiX'hway  into  the  vestibule.  At  the  cistern 
close  to  the  entrance  the  lacerated  frame  is  washed  quickly  and  carefully, 
before  being  passed  through  tlie  entrance  and  laid  on  the  bier  or  slab 
near  it,  watched  by  the  women,  as  the  heavy  jar  of  powdered  spice  is 
brought  in  by  the  slaves,  and  sufficient  quantity  used,  by  sprinkling  it 
between  the  folds  of  the  linen  cloths  and  face  napkin,  to  keep  the  body 
sweet  and  fragrant  over  the  Sabbath.  No  doubt  several  servants  were 
required  to  carry  the  spices,  to  fetch  water  for  the  lustration,  and  to 
perform  the  necessary  services  which  neither  Nicodemus  nor  Joseph 
could  have  peiformed,  on  such  a  da}',  with  their  own  hands.  At  least 
five  or  six  persons  must  have  been  moving  about,  in  the  performance  of 
these  offices,  within  the  chamber.  But  it  is  clear  that  whatever  was 
done  was  onl}'  jirovisional  ;  especially  as  the  unguents  required  to  be 
used  with  the  powdered  myrrh  and  aloes  were  not  brought  till  Sunday 
morning,  when  the  women  came  to  complete  the  embalmment. 

It  was  now  nearly  six  o'clock.  The  Sabl>ath  was  close  at  hand.  Out 
they  must  all  come  at  once,  and  one  of  the  slaves  must  roll  the  heavy  disc 
of  stone  across  the  entrance.  In  that  dark  subterraneous  tomb,  in  the 
deep  mystery  of  death,  the  body  lay,  till  the  yet  deeper  mystery  of 
resurrection  was  accomplished,  unseen  by  mortal  eyes,  in  the  first 
moments  of  the  third  day. 

It  was  Passover  time  in  Jerusalem.  The  suburb — afterwards  called 
the  New  Jerusalem — which  covered  a  large  part  of  the  plateau  north  of 
the  city,  was  crowded  with  many  thousands  of  sojourners.  Probably 
most  of  the  housts  there  were  small,  and  the  naiTow  lanes  which  led 
through  the  clustering  tenements  were  dark  and  tortuous.  The  Galilean 
disciples  would  be  lodged  there.  John  and  Peter  would  seem  to  have 
occupied  a  separate  lodging.  The  mother  of  Jesus  had  gone,  probably  to 
Bethany,  or  to  John's  house,  to  recover  from  the  shock  she  had  sustained. 
Before  the  day  dawned  Mary  of  Magdala,  with  her  friends,  hastened  to 
the  sepulchre.  If  l/hey  had  not  lodged  in  the  suburb,  tliey  could  not  have 
done  so,  as  the  city  gates  were  never  opened  till  daybreak.     They  seem 


EXCUKSUS   ON    'I'lIK    IIJ'.SI  KUKCTKjX,  -117 

to  have  known  nothing  of  what  li;i<l  li:i]i|i(!i<(|  in  (In-  intefval.  Even  the 
"great  eaith((u;ik(',"  wliich  must  have  been  limited  to  tlie  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  the  tomb,  does  not  seem  to  liave  been  noticed. 

When  they  reached  the  entrance  they  see  at  once  tliat  it  had  lieen 
vit)hxted,  and  tly  to  tell  the  rest,  bnt  Mary  qniekly  returns,  for  we  fin<l 
her  again,  alone,  in  the  vestibule,  gazing  sadly  into  the  dark  ehai'dier. 
The  entrance  lieiiig  below  the  level  of  the  d(  or,  she  had  (o  stoop  down, 
perhaps  to  kneel,  in  order  to  look  in.  She  sees,  through  her  tear.s,  two 
person.s,  seated  at  the  head  and  foot  of  the  slab,  where  slie  liad  seen  the 
body  laid.  In  the  early  light,  20  feet  or  more  below  the  level  of  tlie 
ground,  it  was  too  dark  for  hei'  to  see  that  they  were  angels.  Supposing 
them  servants  of  the  owner,  she  replies  to  their  que.stion  :  "  Wliy 
Aveei)est  thou  ? "  with  her  complaint  that  the  body  had  been  removed. 

Sufldenly  she  becomes  aware  that  someone  was  standing  in  the 
portico  behind  her.  She  turns  to  speak  to  him,  but  his  back  being  to 
the  light,  she  does  not  recognise  him  ;  and  supposing  him  to  be  the 
caretaker,  prefers  to  him  the  same  conii)laint,  ottering  to  take  charge  of 
the  body,  if  he  would  tell  her  where  it  was.  I  need  not  point  out  how 
exactly  all  this  agrees  with  the  construction  of  the  Kubur  es-Saladeen, 
Mary  of  Magdala  was  a  person  of  good  means,  and  probabl\-  feared,  lest 
our  Lord,  who  had  died  as  a  criminal,  might  be  cast  into  the  common 
pit  in  which  criminals  were  usually  buried.  This  she  was  most  anxious 
to  prevent.  His  voice  pronouncing  her  name,  undeceived  her  and  con- 
vinced her  that  it  was  not  the  gardener,  but  the  Master  himself. 

Then  follows  the  visit  to  the  empty  tomb  made  by  John  and  Peter. 
How  they  missed  the  others  on  the  way  to  or  from  the  place,  can  only  be 
explained  by  supposing  there  were  narrow  lanes  through  the  gardens 
and  suburb,  as  we  see  in  many  Oiiental  cities.  One  party  would  go  this 
way,  and  another  that.  The  asseverations  of  so  reputable  a  person  as 
Mai-y  seems  to  have  stirred  St.  John  and  St.  Peter  out  of  their  despon- 
dency. They  ran — pi'obably  it  was  only  a  very  few  minutes'  run— to  tlie 
place,  eager  to  test  the  truth  of  Mary's  story.  J(jlin  iirst,  rushes  to  the 
open  door,  but  hesitates  to  go  in.  Petei-,  who  never  hesitated,  enters, 
then  John  follows.  What  they  saw  is  described  by  St.  John  without 
comment.  His  simple  narrative  leaves  us  to  till  in  the  details,  and,  as  in 
so  nuich  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,  to  draw  the  necessary  inferences. 
In  doing  so  the  most  scrupulous  care  is  needed  lest  we  over-run  the 
record.  When  John  reached  the  vestibule  he  sees  the  tomb  is  open, 
and,  like  Mary,  he  stoops  down  to  look  in,  and  sees  the  linen  clothes, 
but  not  the  napkin,  till  Peter  enters  and  he  follows.  Then  they  both  see 
what  made  John  believe,  not  merely  that  the  body  was  gone-  that  was 
obvious— but  that  it  had  been  removed  in  some  way  that  liad  left  the 
linen  cloths  undisturbed,  and  the  face  napkin  folded  uj)  and  laid  ivside 
"in  a  place  by  itself.'  In  a  very  interesting  attempt  to  throw  .some 
light  on  the  facts  by  Mr.  Latham,  the  Master  of  Trinity  Hall,  Cam- 
bridge, the  writer  is  hampered,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  .siy  so,  by 
an  erroneous  theory  of  the  sort  of  tomb  in  which  our  I;ord  lay.     He 

2  P  -2 


418  EXCURSUS  ox  THE  KESUHRECTION. 

supposes  the  hudy  laid  in  one  of  the  arcosolia  of  a  cave  on  a  level  with 
the  grovuul,  on  which  the  sun  is  streaming  in  through  a  door  4  feet  high, 
which  would  not  have  required  a  stooping  posture  to  look  intn  it,  but 
would  have  rf(|uired  a  stone  of  euomious  diiueusion  to  close  it.  He 
thinks  tlie  napkin  lay  on  a  low  step  which  had  acte<l  as  a  pillow  for  the 
head  of  the  corpse,  aud  which,  if  it  was  like  the  representation  of  it  in  the 
illustration,  would  have  dislocated  the  cervical  vertebrte.  On  this  raised 
step,  where  the  head  had  lain,  Mr.  Latham  supposes  the  napl  i  i  lay  in 
the  form  in  which  it  had  been  bound  round  the  head  and  face  of  Jesus. 
He  bases  this  idea  on  the  word  'evrervXiyiievov,  which  he  interprets  to 
mean  "  retaining  the  twisted  form  which  had  been  given  to  it  when 
it  had  been  twined  round  the  head  of  our  Lord."  One  of  the  first  Greek 
scholai's  of  that  University  of  wdiich  Mr.  Latham  is  an  ornament,'  assures 
me  that  the  word  will  not  bear  this  meaning  ;  but  simply  means  "folded" 
or  "rolled  up."  Mr.  Latham's  object  is  to  show  that  in  the  resurrection 
there  was  no  touch  of  human  hands,  with  which  we  entirely  agree,  but 
as  angelic  hands  had  rolled  back  the  stone,  so  they  doubtless  removed  the 
face  napkin,  rolled  it  up,  and  laid  it  "  apart  in  a  place  by  itself,"  which 
surely  cannot  mean  that  it  w-as  left  in  the  same  place  and  in  the  same 
form  in  which  it  had  been  before.  And  why  the  napkin  should  have 
been  left,  by  Mr.  Latham's  theory,  "  standing  up  a  little  and  retaining 
its  rounded  form,"  when  the  linen  cloths  were,  as  he  says,  "  lying  flat," 
he  does  not  explain.  Moreover,  he  supposes  that  the  whole  of  the 
hundred  pounds  weight  of  powdered  spice  was  enclosed  in  the  cloths — 
a  supposition  both  unnecessary  and  improbable,  when  we  remember  that 
the  ointments  were  not  brought  till  Sunday,  and  recollect,  too,  the  purely 
])rovisio;;al  nature  of  what  was  hastily  done  on  Frida}'  evening.  Improli- 
abilities  are  not  necessary  to  maintain  Mr.  Latham's  position,  that  the 
appearance  of  the  cloths  was  such  as  to  suggest  an  evanescence 
of  the  body  from  out  of  them,  rather  than  a  disrobing  or  hasty  casting 
them  aside,  which  would  have  indicated  removal  of  tlie  body  by  human 
hands.  We  must  stick  as  closely  as  we  can  to  the  record.  The  linen 
cloths  w^ere  lying  "by  themselves"  (St.  Luke  xxiv,  12),  probably  on  the 
slab  fi"om  which  the  Lord  had  risen.  The  napkin,  for  some  reason  not 
stated,  was  rolk^d  up  "  apart  in  a  place  by  itself,"  i:)robably  this  was  the 
stone  bench  which  runs  round  the  chamber,  that  part  of  it  near  the  door 
not  being  visible  by  St.  John  from  outside.  Gradually,  very  gradually, 
the  stupendous  fact  dawned  upon  the  minds  of  the  Apostles  as  they  went 
pondering  and  w^ondering  home.  The  other  visits  to  the  tomb,  so  far  as 
they  throw  any  light  upon  it,  are  in  accordance  with  my  theor}',  but  I  do 
not  attempt  the  task  of  marshalling  those  visits  in  their  order— a  task 
which  would  be  profitless  in  the  ])resent  state  of  our  record.  No  doubt 
we  are  not  in  ptjssession  of  all  the  facts,  and  must  wait  for  the  solution 
of  any  difficulties  in  harmonising  those  we  have.  We  have  enough  to 
indicate  tlie  quarter  where  the  tomb  may  be  looked  for,  and  the  kind 

'  The  Master  of  Corpus. 


NOTICES   OF   FOHEIGX-  rUBLICATIOXS.  410 

of  toiiil)  it  was  ;  and  tlii'ie  is  l)ut  little  excuse  for  those  travesties  of  the 
great  event  we  often  meet  with  in  pictures  and  descriptions. 

NOTR. 

Among  the  indicia  which  I  gave  in  a  former  paper  for  identifying  the 
probable  site  of  the  sepulchre,  was  tiic  hint,  for  it  is  no  more,  airnrdetl 
l)y  the  curious  fact  that  the  Jewish  ritual  rc([uired  the  buint  sacrilice 
to  be  killed  "on  the  side  of  the  altar  northward."  Euaebius  is  blamed 
for  not  knowing  that  the  type  recpiired  that  the  sacrifice  should  be 
without  the  camp,  i.e.,  outside  the  city — but  the  indication  of  locality 
to  which  I  have  drawn  attention  has  escaped  all  our  topographei-s, 
except  Sir  Charles  Wilson  ;  though  there  seems  no  reason  why  one  type 
sliould  be  more  topographically  important  than  the  other.  Surely 
St.  Paul  applied  the  one  that  we  might  learn  how  to  api)ly  the  other. 

F.    G. 


NOTICES    OF    FOREIGN    PUBLICATIONS. 

I'aldstiaischer  Diican.^ — Dr.  iJalnian,  who  was  entrusted  by  Franz 
Delitzsch  with  the  final  revision  of  his  Hebrew  New  Testament,  has 
earned  the  esteem  and  gratitude  of  scholars  b^'his  "  Grammatik  des  .Tudisih- 
Paliistinischen  Aramaisch,''  "  Die  Worte  Jesu,"  and  other  learned  works. 
HfcX'e  he  enters  a  held  where,  in  spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  on 
Palestine,  little  of  importance  has  hitherto  been  done.  With  a  view  to 
this  undertaking  he  enjoyed  the  special  tuition  of  Dr.  Albert  Sociu 
during  the  last  winter  of  that  scholar's  life.  The  15  months,  from  March, 
181)1),  till  June,  1900,  he  spent  in  the  Orient,  studying  the  various  aspects 
of  the  people's  life.  The  desire  to  lind  illustrative  mateiial  in  connection 
with  the  recently  revived  interpretation  of  the  Song  of  Solomon,  led 
him  to  make  a  collecti(m  of  Arabic  folk  songs.  Their  importance  for  his 
main  purpose  is  oljvious.  The  life  and  thought  of  such  peoples  are  faith- 
fully reflected  in  their  jaroverbs,  their  tales,  and  especially  tluir  popular 
songs,  passed  on  from  mouth  to  mouth.  A  selection  from  his  gathering 
is  here  laid  before  us,  with  only  such  notes  as  are  needful  to  understand 
the  songs  and  indicate  the  localities  where  they  were  found.  A  fuller 
treatment  of  these  things  is  reserved  for  another  publication.  The  book 
will  be  eagerly  read  by  all  who  desire  a  thf)rough  aci]>iaintan<-e  with  the 
life  and  thought  of  the  Syrian  peoples.  Bible  students  will  hnil  welcome 
light  ou  many  interesting  problems. 

The  wide  field  from  which  the  materials  are  drawn  lends  this  volume 
a  peculiar  value.     From  Jeru.salem   to  Alejjpo,  from  Nebo  to  Dama.scu3, 

'  Paliistinisciicr  Piwivn  als  Bell  rag  ziir  Yolkskiuulo  Poliistinn?.  ccsanimelt 
luul  mit  Ubersetzung  und  ^lelodicn  lu'rau.-i^egchcn  voii  Gu:>taf  11.  Dalman. 
Lei23zig :  J.  C.  Ilinrichs'sche  Buchhandlung,  1901. 


■i20  NOTICES   OF   FOKEIGN    PUBLICATIONS. 

from  tlie  sea-shore  to  the  desert,  Dr.  Dalman  found  everywhere  willing 
helpers.  Ill  tlie  difficult  work  of  interpretation  skilful  native  assistance 
was  happily  furthc-oniing,  so  that  his  leuderings  may  be  taken  as  fairly 
representing  the  popular  sense. 

The  Arab  reckons  "  true  song"  (Shi'?-  suhlh  or  shi'r  mazhr'it)  only  such 
a.s  conform  to  tlie  16  models  of  old  Arab  jioetry.  All  others  he  describes 
as  "faulty"  {inaijldut),  or  "corrupt"  {JCisid).  This  condemns  nearly  all 
popular  songs,  and  most  of  the  contents  of  this  collection.  The  people's 
poet  allows  himself  great  freedom  in  poetic  foim,  the  number  and 
measure  of  syllables,  and  iu  manipulating  the  rhyme.  Dr.  Dalman  gives 
a  clear  and  careful  account  of  the  18  forms  of  poetry  exemplified  in  his 
collection,  with  notes  as  to  the  subjects  for  which  they  are  suited,  and  the 
localities  where  they  are  used  :  e.g.,  No.  10,  Hadi,  is  the  battle  march  of 
the  Bedawin  ;  it  is  also  used  at  marriages  by  the  peasants  in  North 
Palesti]ie.  Tlie  I'liythmic  treatment  of  the  songs  would  be  possible  only 
with  a  thorough  linguistic  commentary.  It  was  not  required  by  the  main 
purpose  of  the  work.  The  natives  could  give  no  help,  being  unused  to 
.speak  their  songs,  and  knowing  only  the  ihythm  of  the  melodies.  As  to 
rhythm,  the  melodies  go  their  own  way,  so  complicating  the  problem. 
Its  practical  solution  is  to  be  desired  ;  it  will  set  Old  Testament  metrics 
on  firmer  ground  than  is  now  occupied. 

An  interesting  account  is  given  of  Arab  music,  vocal  and  instrumental, 
with  its  peculiar  characteristics.  Striking  features  are  the  narrow 
compass  and  brevity  of  the  melodies.  One  tune-phrase,  repeated  to  every 
line,  serves  for  a  whole  song,  making  for  the  Oriental  a  pleasing  monotony 
of  which  he  uev-er  tires.  Harmony  is  never  attempted.  None  of 
Mr.  Macalister's  melodies  {Quurterli/  Statement,  April,  1900)  appears 
among  Dr.  Dalman's,  so  there  is  evideuth'  a  wide  field  to  be  reaped, 

Pronunciation  varies  in  diii'ereat  district;?.  Thus  d;  and  ;  are  some- 
times spoken  like  CU  and  J  and  sometimes  like  tuj  and   ;.     An  exact 

phonetic  ti-anscription  would  therefore  be  apt  to  mislead  as  to  the 
underlying  consonants,  unless  accomjianied  b}'  the  text  iu  Arabic  letters. 
Dr.  Ddlman  adopts,  with  two  exceptions,  a  uniform  svstem  of  equivalent 
signs  with  notes  as  to  pronunciation  in  different  localities.  The  mistaken 
dsch   used  for  _  in  so  many  German    works    is   cori-ectly  replaced  by 

y  =  French/       "i  is  represented  by  Tc,  g,  and  dsch.     It  is  often  spoken  as 

a  di-stinct  Hamza,  but  to  write  '  would  confuse  J;  with  »  and  \.     ^  is 

represented  by  k  and  tsch.  It  is  well  to  remember,  however,  that  even 
in  a  given  locality  the  pronunciation  is  not  always  uniform.  In 
Nazareth,  e.g.,    •  is  ])ronounced   both  as  fs\    and  as   ■..     On   the  east  of 

the  Jordan  r^  is  sometimes  hardy  as  in  Egy))t.  J)<j  would  be  a  better 
efjuivalent  for  soft  fji  than  ds:h ;  the  sch  sound  is  certainly  not  usual. 
Tlie  y  pronunciation  is  indistinguishable  from  hai'd  --.     For  ^,  /•,  and 

tsch  are  often  used  indifferently  by  the  same  sjjcaker,  e.g.,  S.  206,  in  the 


NDTU'lvS    OK    FiilMCKiN     IM UMCATloNS.  UL 

same  line  (five  from  fout),  \vc  luive  ikiittriiii//<c/(  ;iii(l  wajertiliii/.'.  Tlie 
vocalisiitiou  ivpreseiits  as  closely  as  possible  the  i»rnimiieiatioii  of  tliose  to 
whose  dictation  the  songs  wt-re  written. 

The  songs  are  arranged  in  groui)3  according  to  the  occasions  when 
they  are  oftenest  sung.  A  notable  contribution  is  made  to  our  know- 
led'-e.  We  can  now  hear  the  very  woi'ds  with  which  the  motlu  r  sin'.,'rt 
her  babe  to  sleep,  or  cheers  the  monotnny  of  domesiii-  routine,  in  wlii.h 
joy  is  uttered  at  festive  seasons,  and  grief  in  tin-  hmir  of  sorrow  and 
death  ;  the  songs  chanted  by  women  at  the  well  and  reapers  in  the  iicld  ; 
that  echo  through  the  vineyards  at  the  vintage,  that  entertain  the  guest 
in  m-'dCif;/  or  desert  tent  ;  the  songs  of  siiepherd,  .sailor,  camel-driver, 
and  pilgrim  ;  the  songs  of  tribesmen  moving  to  liattle,  and  also  those 
with  which  the  drinkers  spice  their  cart>use — for  Moslem  and  Christian 
drinkers  there  are,  despite  contrary  precept  and  sentiment. 

Patriotic  songs,  songs  in  jjraise  of  Nature,  and  travel  songs  there  are 
none.  Love  songs  serve  for  many  occasions.  The  bulk  of  this  collection 
deals  with  the  exi)eriences  and  humours  of  lovers,  i.i\,  of  young  men  and 
maidens  ;  very  few  directly  concern  the  bride  and  bridegroom.  .Songs 
which  describe  the  physical  charms  of  the  loved  one  deserve  consideration 
because  of  their  alKnity  with  certain  songs  in  tne  Song  of  Solomon. 
These  descriptive  songs  are  sung  at  all  times,  not  only  at  wedding:^,  and 
can  be  referred  to  the  bridal  pair  only  when  they  are  directly  inilicated. 
The  suggestion  is  that  the  Song  of  Solomon  contains  love  songs,  not 
weddinf  songs.  In  this  connection  Dr.  Dalman  points  out  that  the 
Autinnn,  not  the  Spring,  is  the  favourite  marriage  season  in  Palestine. 
The  harvest  produce  provides  tlie  dowry  for  the  bride,  and  leisure  comes 
with  the  end  of  the  threshing. 

It  is  a  peculiaiity  of  Arab  song  to  represent  the  beloved  maiden  as 
a  male,  and  poets  love  to  speak  at  times  of  "  friends  '  in  the  plural  when 
only  one  "female  friend"  is  meant.  The  Arab  holds  it  seendy  thus 
lightly  to  veil  his  love.      This  peculiarity  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind. 

For  a  work  of  sucli  nicety  and  complexity  this  is  singularly  free 
from  i)rinter's  errors.  In  the  song  "  Auf  deni  Wege  zum  Grab  eines 
Briiutigams  "  (S.  2:5),  line  4  of  the  Arabic  has  fallen  out. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  lliat  the  reception  accorded  to  thi.s  volume  will  be 
such  as  to  encourage  Dr.  Dahnan  in  tlie  prosecution  of  a  task  foi  winch 
he  is  so  admirably  e(i nipped. 

(Etm-  s  CompUts  de  Fl.  Josipka,  traduites  en  Franvais  sous  la  direction 
de  Tii.  ilEiNAcn— tome  i,  '' Anti(piit6.s  Judaupu-s,^'  liv.  1-5,  traduction  de 
J.  Weill,  Paris,  1901.— A  notice  of  this  important  work  will  be  given  in 
a  later  Quarterly  Statement.  M.  lieinach,  whilst  retaining  the  general 
revision  of  the  woik,  has  entrusted  the  translation  to  several  young 
scholars.  Four  volumes  will  be  devoted  to  the  "  Anti^piities,"  two  to  the 
''Life"  and  "  Wars,"  and  one  to  "  Against  Apion,"  a  general  inde.x,  and 
a  critical   studv  of  the   life  and    w...k   of  Josephus.     The  fir.st  volume, 

•1  1. ;'. 


422  NOTICES   OF  FOEEIGN   PUBLICATIONS. 

translate  1  hy  M.  Weill,  includes  the  first  five  books  of  the  '"'Antiquities,'' 
and  an  introduction  by  M.  Reinach. 

Rccueil  d  Archeologie  Orientate,  vol.  iv,  parts  17-21,  bv  ^I.  Clkrmoxt- 
Ganneau,  M.I.,  Paris,  1901. — Translations  of  two  of  the  articles,  "The 
Land  of  Promise  Mapped  in  Mosaic  at  Madeba "  and  "The  Cufic 
Inscrij^tion  in  the  Basilica  of  Couslantine,  &;c.,"  appeared  in  the  last 
Statement.  In  other  articles  M.  Ganneau  deals  with  the  sepulchral 
inscription  of  a  prominent  member  of  the  lloiuan  colony  of  Berytus. 
{lieiri'it),  found  at  >siha,  north-east  of  Zahle,  in  the  Lebanon  ;  the  old 
popular  idea,  mentioned  by  classical  writers,  that  stags  eat  snakes  ;  a 
Phoenician  stele  from  Amrtt,  Marathus,  on  the  Syrian  coast  north  of 
Tripoli ;  and  makes  several  additions  to  Herr  Bauer's  list  of  articles  of 
clothing  worn  bv  the  Arabs  of  Palestine.  But  the  most  iuterestinfj  article 
is  that  on  "  Le  droit  des  pauvres  chez  les  Nabateens."  The  author  shows. 
that  before  our  era  the  Nabataeans  had  great  quadrennial  festivals ;  certain 
laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  which  came  into  operation  periodically, 
and  wex-e  not  unlike  those  of  the  Sabbatic  year  of  the  Jews,  were 
connected  with  these  festivals  ;  the  year  85  of  the  era  of  Bostra 
(March  22nd,  189,  to  March  21st,  190  a.d.)  coincided  with  a  Nabatseaii 
festival  year  ;  this  fixed  date  enables  us  to  construct  the  Nabat;iean  cycle, 
and  this  cycle  corres])onds  from  end  to  end  with  that  of  the  Olympiads. 
With  less  certainty  it  is  stated  that  the  Nabattean  Acta  Diisaria  of  the 
Roman  epoch  were  quadrennial  festivals  under  the  patronage  and  name 
of  Du.sares,  the  great  national  god  of  the  Nabatoeans.  These  festivals 
apparently  coincide  with  those  of  the  Nabata?au  cycle,  and  were,  pei'haps, 
a  continuation  of  them  ;  they  characterised  years  Avhich  may  be  called 
"Dusarian"'  yeai's  ;  and  these  Lusarian  years  apparently  coincided  with 
the  years  of  the  Sebasmian  festivals  of  Damascus  and  the  Heracleaii 
festivals  of  T^'re,  which  are  expressly  qualified  as  Olympic.  The  article 
concludes  with  some  very  suggestive  remarks  and  speculations  on  the 
origin  of  quadrennial  festivals,  whether  Olympic  or  Nabatiean. 

Revue  Bihliqu?,  vol.  x,  pai-t  3,  1901. — Father  Vincent  describes  a 
mosaic  with  a  mutilated  Greek  inscription  found  at  Beit  SiirU;  2|  hours 
noi-th-we.st  of  Jerusalem.  The  inscription,  which  was  perfect  when 
found,  was  broken  up  during  a  (juarrel  l)etween  the  joint  owners  of  the 
land  before  any  one  at  Jerusalem  was  aware  of  its  discovery.  There  is 
now  oidy  suflicient  to  show  that  there  was  Christian  settlement  at  Beit 
Siirik  in  Bvzantine  times. 

North  of  Jerusalem,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  on  wiii.'h  a  colony  of 
Bokhariot  Jews  is  now  settled,  a  large  tomb  was  recently  discovered.  It 
contained  three  kinds  of  grave.s,  the  /W-,  or  "  oven  "  grave,  the  trough 
grave  covered  by  a  horizontal  slab,  and  the  bench  surmounted  by  the- 
arco.solium.  The  facade  is  decorated  in  that  composite  style  in  which 
ill-as.sorted  elements  of  Greek  architecture  are  grouped  with  conventional 
foliage  and  fruit.  This  interesting  tomb  has  been  partially  destroyed,  so 
that  Father  Vincent's  plan  and  sections  are  of  much  value. 


NOTICES  OF  FOREICN   puhlications.  423 

A  Bi)zantine  Mos  lio  at  Jerus'dem,^  In  Fiitlirr  Vin'ckxt,  of  tlie 
Doniiiiirjui  Convent  of  St.  Steplien,  Jerusalem.— On  Marcli  30tli  laj^t 
a  member  of  tlie  Jewish  coIdhv,-  settled  north-weKt  of  the  Damascus 
Gate,  discovered  a  remarkable  mosaic  pavement  whilst  di;,'f,dng  a 
trench  in  the  courtyard  of  his  house.  Ismail  Ellendi,  el-Hus.seini, 
president  of  the  moWref,  wlieii  informed  of  the  discovery,  at  once 
took  steps  to  preserve  the  mosaic,  and  reipiested  the  Dominiiaus  of 
St.  Stephen  to  examine  and  report  upon  it.  As  the  mosaic  was  cleared, 
a  copy  of  it  was  made  under  the  direction  of  Father  Lagrange.  But  at 
the  end  of  the  fii'st  day  all  work  was  suspended  pending  the  receipt  of 
instructions  from  Constantinople,  which  had  not  arrived  on  Mav  liOth. 
Soon  afterwards  the  portion  of  the  mosaic  whicii  had  been  exposed  to 
view  was  covered  with  earth,  and  it  has  not  since  been  accessible. 
Fortunately  it  was  possible,  from  pliotograplis  and  drawings,  to  prepare 
a  water-coloui'  diavving  on  a  sufficiently  large  scale  to  show  everv  detail. 
This  copy,  due  to  the  collaboration  of  Fathers  Delau,  Savignac,  and 
Vincent,  has  not  been  compared  with  the  mosaic,  and  thus  has  not 
received  the  last  touch. 

The  mosaic  is  235  yards  W.N.W.  of  the  Damascus  Gate  as  the  crow 
flies,  almost  at  the  bottom  of  the  depression  at  the  head  of  the  Tyropfeon 
Valley.  The  excavation  being  incomjilete  the  full  dimen.sions  of  the 
pavement  could  not  be  accurately  determined.  The  length  of  the  part 
exposed  is  18  feet  8  inches,  and  the  greatest  width  10  feet  6  inches.  The 
lattex",  from  the  arrangement  of  the  border  and  the  presence  of  frag- 
ments of  masonry,  is  apparently  the  actual  width,  but  the  length  may 
be  greater  tlian  is  stated.  From  tlie  fii'st  tlie  progress  of  the  excavation 
was  hampered  by  the  two  alleys  that  border  tlie  court,  or  by  the  necessity 
for  leaving  means  of  communication  between  two  blocks  of  buildings. 
The  room  containing  the  mosaic  was  built  south-west  and  north-east. 
The  north  wall,  visible  for  its  whole  length,  was  altered  at  a  recent 
period  during  the  construction  of  a  cistei'n  ;  the  south  wall  was  only 
seen  at  one  point  ;  in  the  east  wall,  althougli  it  is  in  a  \ery  dilapidated 
condition,  one  could  make  out  a  narrow  door,  1  font  1 1  inches,  whicli  it 
would  be  desirable  to  clear. 

In  spite  of  the  incompleteness  of  the  investigation,  it  is  possible  to 
take  a  general  view  of  the  subject  represented  in  the  mosaic.  At  the  first 
glance  one  notices  two  compartments  which,  although  they  form  one 
picture,  appear  to  have  nothing  in  common  in  their  nature  anil  design. 
The  jirincipal  scene  of  the  first  compartment,  6  feet  64  inches  high 
and  4  feet  wide,  is  set  in  a  frame.  Orpheus  seated,  full-face,  and 
wearing  tlie  Phrygian  cap,  plays  on  an  eleven-stringeil  lyre  which  he 
holds  in  his  hands.  Below  his  feet  the  god  Fan  and  a  centaur,  renting 
on  the  bottom  of  the  frame,  in  very  expressive  postures,  listen  to  tlie 

'  By  permission  from  the  "Revue  Biblique";  a  photograph  from  thowuter- 
colour  drawing  was  publi^lled  in  tlic  last  Qwir/er/j/  Sfafeiifiif. 

^  It  consists  of  Jewish  fa;iiilies  from  Baghda  1  an, I  tlie  Cau;.'asus,  and  is 
called  £dte  Nisiti  Bey. 


424  NOTICES   OF   FOKEIGX    rUBLlCATIOXS. 

melody.  A  Iimo  is  stjiiatted  uiuler  llie  (nitstietLliod  arm  of  Pan  in  a 
eomiciil  attitude.  Kound  the  mu.sieian  various  kinds  of  animals — a  falcon, 
a  bear,  a  pig,  a  serpent,  a  salamander,  a  jjartridge,  a  rat — artistically 
grouped  in  natural  attitudes,  are  visibly  charmed  l\v  the  tones  of  the 
h're.  A  reproduction  of  the  water-colour  drawing  would  give  a  Letter 
idea  of  the  charm  of  the  thousand  details  and  the  happy  eHeet  of  tlie 
picture.  Fan  squeezes  under  his  aim  his  syrinx,  Mhith  lias  become 
mute,  and  the  centaur  puts  his  hand  to  his  mouth  in  a  gesture  of  roguish 
naivete.  The  lat  beneath  the  lyre  raises  itself  as  if  it  were  trying  to- 
hear  better  ;  the  paitridge  turns  its  head  coquettishly  ;  the  salamander, 
held  in  by  a  stout  red  rope,  was  engaged  in  a  fight  Avith  tlie  snake  whicli 
the  charm  of  the  music  has  interrupted  abruptly.  All  the  tints  are 
bright.  The  carnations  are  rose-coloured,  sliaded  in  bi'own,  yellow,  or 
led,  and  sjjaringly  touched  up  with  white  lights  or  green  points.  The 
heads  of  hair  are  black,  mixed  with  vellow  and  blue  cubes  wliich  brine 
out  the  curls,  and  make  them  look  wavy  and  ti'ansparent.  Ori)heus 
weara  a  tunic  of  azure  blue,  with  an  embroidered  border.  A  rose- 
coloured  mantle,  fastened  over  the  right  shoulder  by  a  jirecious  clasp,  is 
tlu'own  back  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  leavincr  the  right  arm,  wliich 
plays,  free,  falls  in  wide  flexible  folds,  mai'ked  by  l)old  red  lines,  over 
the  knees  of  the  musician.  The  feet  are  shod  with  black  sandals.  Tlie 
wood  of  the  lyre  is  yellow,  artistically  shaded  ;  the  keys  are  black,  the 
strings  red.  The  snake  is  yellow  wath  blue  spots.  The  ]iig  is  (bil} 
green,  outlined  in  black  ;  the  muscles  are  white,  the  eve  I'ed.  The  fur 
of  the  bear  is  yellow  ochre  and  iron  grey  ;  the  muscles  are  e-trongly 
marked  in  dark  red  and  ruddy  brown,  the  claws  are  black.  The  coat  of 
the  salamander,  those  of  the  centaur  and  of  Pan  have  the  same  tints 
without  the  red  bands,  and  with  flashes  of  bronze  in  addition.  The 
pautliers  skin  which  falls  from  the  shoulder  of  tlie  centaur  is  pale  green 
with  black  spots.  The  pipes  of  Pan  have  tlie  tints  of  wood  and  metal. 
The  hare  is  ruddy  bi'own,  yellow,  and  white.  The  rat  is  nearly  its 
natural  colour.  Lastly,  the  bii'ds  have  a  brilliant  yellow  plumage,  drab 
wings,  and  red  feet  ;  tlie  falcon  wears  round  its  neck  a  lacli  necklace  with 
gold  locket  ;  two  small  crests  adorn  the  head  of  the  partridge.  Green 
branches  strewn  on  the  white  ground  of  the  picture  add  to  its  freshness. 
A  garland  of  lotus  flowers,'  strung  on  a  yellow  stiing,  and  elegantlv 
designed  in  four  simple  colours — blue,  yellow,  red,  and  white,  on  a  dull 
ground — encloses  the  subject,  and  this  is  surrounded  by  a  broad  belt  of 
complicated  ornament.  On  a  lich  black  ground  large  leaves,  alteinately 
greeni.sh  or  red  and  orange,  form  a  series  of  medallions  in  'which,  treated 
with  much  talent  in  a  natural,  life-like  manner,  liunian  heads,  domestic 
and  wild  animals,  plants,  and  various  objects^  stand  out  in  many-tinted 
relief.  At  the  four  angles  are  heads  which  are  piobably  symliolical  : 
the  "  river  "  head  at  the  lower  light-hand  corner  is  I'emai'kable,  but  less 

'  The  number  of  flowers  lias  been  doubled,  inadvertently,  in  the  water-colour. 

-  The  same  motif  has  influenced  Byzantine  sculptovs,  see  the  frieze  of  a 

bas-relief  oit\\c  fourth  century  at  Salonica,  in  Bayet  ("  I'Art  byzantir,"  p.  79). 


NOTICKS    OF    FOIIKION    ITm.K'.VTIONS.  4'2o 

interesting  than  tliat  of  Mercury  {'.),  placed  witli  a  cornuroifia  in  tlic 
<eutre  of  tlu'  lower  border,  and,  like  all  tlie  otiierH,  looking  at  OrplieiiH. 
Unfortunately,  two  of  these  heads  wci-e  only  jiaitly  seen.  Amongst  the 
animals  in  nine  other  medallions,  all  deserve  attention,  though  Home 
are  better  than  others  :  a  wild  horse  at  full  gallop,  whose  Inilliant  coat 
.•iind  flowing  mane  throw  it  into  relief,  a  1)m11  running,  a  ram  leaping, 
birds  at  rest — all  appear  to  listen  to  the  melodies  of  the  divine  artist. 
The  inanimate  objects  are  not  wanting  in  originality  and  interest :  a 
])umpkiu  and  a  ripened  bunch  of  pomegranates,  and  a  Inusket  overflowing 
with  fruit  (?).  The  warm,  deep  tones,  and  the  well-sustained  design  of 
the  bolder,  give  a  strong  relief  to  the  central  panel.  The  heads  hive 
very  brilliant  complexions,  and  are  of  five  or  si.x  colours— rose,  red, 
green,  blue,  and  browu.  The  colourisigof  the  fruit  admits  new  elements. 
The  (piadrujicds  are  yellow,  red,  green,  and  brown.  The  birds  exhaust 
every  shade  of  yellow,  red,  antl  blue.  Lastly,  other  borders,  the  classical 
twisted  fringe,  and  scattered  led  and  l)lack  llowers  on  a  wliite  ground, 
complete  the  width  as  far  as  it  was  seen.  It  should  be  noted  that  the 
ornament  of  the  outer  border  is  not  exactly  the  same  on  the  two  sides. 

Below  Orpheus,  but  connected  with  him  by  the  interlacement  of  tlie 
borders,  is  the  second  compai'tment  of  the  mosaic.  It  consists  of  two 
sections,  placed  one  above  the  other  without  nuich  i-egard  to  symmetry 
in  the  disposition  of  the  panels.  There  is  first  a  rectangular  panel,  rather 
less  than  2  feet  3  inches  high,  and  2  feet  2  inches  wide,  which  contains 
two  women,  full  length  and  full  face,  separated  by  a  sort  of  column,  or, 
perhaps,  candlestick.  Their  names  are  written  to  the  right  and  left  of 
the  head,  as  in  the  case  of  legends  to  miniatures  on  the  reverse  of 
Byzantine  coins,  or  on  other  mosaics.  The  names  are  Greek,  but  defective 
in  orthography  and  caligrapliy--0EU) AOCI A'  a"*!  PEtOPriA. 
The  details  of  the  costume  and  dress,  up[iarently  Byzantine,  will  lie 
e.xaniiued  no  doubt  carefully  bv  specialists.  The  hair,  treated  like  that 
of  Orpheus,  is  sin)ply  dressed  and  arranged  in  plaits  which  encii-cle  the 
face.  Theodosia  weai's  a  white  crown,  some  yellow  touches  set  off  the 
hair  of  Georgia.  The  complexion  is  a  very  delicate  rose  colour,  edged 
with  brown,  hardly  lighted  up  by  occasional  red  and  green  cubes.  Long 
clear  yellow  earrings  fall  beside  the  cheeks.  The  two  women  have 
biilliant  ornaments  in  red,  yellow-,  and  green  enamel  round  their  necks. 
(Georgia  wears  a  brown,  I'ed,  and  white  mantle,  fastened  across  tlie  breast 
iind  falling  back  over  the  shoulders  below  the  knees.  The  open  front 
•exposes  a  long  robe  ornamented  with  white  and  yellow  embroidery  on  a 
Ijlack  ground,  and  two  bands,  embididered  with  red  and  gieen  flowers  on 
a  grey,  mauve,  and  lilac  tissue,  fall  like  a  stole  from  the  girdle.  The 
hands,  crossed  on  the  breast,  support  a  green  bird  edged  with  black.  The 
mantle  of  Theodosia  is  pale  blue,  furrowed  by  brown  and  red  folds  ;  her 
robe  is  black,  embroidered  with  clear  yellow  crosses,'-  with  a  chestnut  dot 

'  Note  the  form  of  the  y  in  Viwpyia — a  new  name,  and  the  to  in  efoiSao-ia. 
-  Tlirocgli  an  error  iu  drawing,  the  crossei  are  iniperfectlv  represented  ia 
the  water-colour. 


42G  :notices  of  foreign  publications. 

as  centre.  The  right  hand,  raised  to  the  breast,  holds  a  lotus  flower,  red, 
white,  and  black  ;  whilst  the  left,  partly  lowered,  holds  an  undefined  red 
and  green  object  which  is  intermingled  with  the  folds  of  the  robe.  Tlie 
shoes  are  red  '  and  yellow,  edged  with  brown.  The  candlestick  between 
the  figures  is  black,  very  pale  blue,  and  wliite  ;  the  knot  is  blue  and 
yellow  ochre,  and  in  the  upper  part  there  are  red,  yellow,  and  green 
ornaments. 

In  spite  of  a  certain  stiffness  of  posture,  and  less  elegance  of  design 
when  compared  with  the  Orpheus  panel,  one  is  sensible  of  an  honest 
attempt  to  represent  nature  ;  at  least  there  is  none  of  the  coldness  or 
rigid  accuracy  of  compositions  in  which  conventional  types  are  used. 
Georgia  and  Theodosia  have  lived.  The  slightly  emaciated  oval  face,  and 
the  pallid  complexion  of  tlie  former,  her  less  ornately  dressed  hair,  her 
bony,  badly- shaped  hands,  and  her  less  supple  limbs,  give  her  whole 
figure  a  certain  appearance  of  age.  In  the  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
fuller  face,  the  warmer  flesh  tints,  the  more  refined  mouth,  and  the  more 
delicate  hands,  give  the  impression  of  youth.  One  would  take  tliem  to 
be  mother  and  daughter. 

The  heads  have  the  nimbus,  used  in  ancient  art  as  an  attribute  of 
gods,  emperors,  and  mythological  persons,  which  was  adojjted  apparently 
not  earlier  than  the  fourth  century-  by  Christian  artists.  In  the  follow- 
ing centuries,  when  its  use  began  to  be  general,  the  signification  of  the 
nimbus  underwent  a  change,  and  it  sometimes  became,  especiall}-  in  the 
west,  a  simple  ornamental  device.'  These  facts  must  be  taken  into 
account  when  attempting  to  establish  the  character  and  date  of  the 
monument.  According  to  Didron,  "  In  the  East  the  nimbus  is  emblematic 
of  physical  energy,  as  well  as  moral  force,  the  civil  or  political  power  as 
well  as  religious  authoritv.'"*  Were  Georgia  and  Theodosia  two  heroines, 
two  saints,  two  members  of  the  local  aristocracy,  possibly  of  the  imperial 
family,  two  superiors  of  monasteries,  or  two  deaconesses  '?  Each  of  these 
hypotheses  has  a  certain  possibility. 

To  the  right  and  left,  in  medallions  3  feet  3  inches  long,  and  1  foot 
10  inches  wide,  which  have  borders  of  varied  design,  two  blocks  of  stone 
rise  above  the  pavement.  These  stones,  which  are  1  foot  11  inches,  and 
1  foot  10  inches,  by  1  foot  1  inch  at  the  base,  are  7^  inches  high,  and 
diminish  in  size  as  they  rise.     They  off'er  a  riddle   wliich  it  would  be 

'  The  fund  amenta!  tone  is  red,  and,  according  to  a  remark  on  a  sixth 
centm-y  miniature  by  M.  KondakofF  ("  llisfoire  de  I'Avfc  byzantin,"  p.  126),  red 
shoes  forming  "  an  integral  part  of  tlie  Imperial  costume  of  Byzantium  "  at 
that  period,  "  it  was  forbidden  to  wear  shoes  of  tliat  colour  "  :  tliey  were  then 
adopted  for  the  virgin,  the  angels,  &c. 

-  Didron,  "  Iconogr:ii)hie  elircdenne,"  p.  75  ;  Perafe  "  rArcheologie 
chretienne,"  p.  44;  Kondakoff,  "  I'Arfc  bjzantiii,"  p.  GfJ. 

^  When  in  Byzantint;  miniatui'es  of  a  decadent  period,  the  nimbus  ornaments 
a  pagan  personage,  it  is  a  reminiscence  or  imitation  of  classical  art  (Kondakoff, 
op.  clt.,  p.  77). 

■*  Didron,  nn.  cIL,  p.  G7. 


NOTICES   OF    FOREIGN    rUI'.LICATlOXS.  42? 

interesting  to  solve  by  raising  one  of  them.  In  tlie  side  wall  tlit-re  i8  a 
blork  a  little  larger  than  tlie  stones,  and  in  the  same  line.  Il  h.is  a  Kinall 
moulding,  and  its  ol)ject  is  ohseiiro.  As  to  the  two  stonrs,  their  sliajied 
tops,  the  plaster  which  still  in  jiart  covers  them,  and  their  irregular  form, 
seem  to  exclude  the  idea  of  a  support  for  an  altar,  table,  or  arcade.  One 
would  preferably  suppose  them  to  1)6  ossuaries,  or  funoraiy  caskets. 
Tliere  Mould  then  be  two  tombs  ;  the  figures  of  the  central  medallion 
would  be  really  portraits,  and  the  lotus  flower  and  bird  miglit  be 
regarded  as  emblems  of  tlie  resurrection. 

Lower  down  a  last  compartment  is  divided  into  three  medallions  by 
a  large  circular  liand  in  colours,  shaded  off  like  a  rainbow,  from  deep 
blue  to  dark  red.  In  the  centre  a  lion  runs  from  left  to  riglit,  whilst  on 
one  side  a  leopard  springs  from  right  to  left,  and  on  the  other  a  dancer, 
facing  left  witli  balance  pole  in  hand,  and  mantle  flying  in  the  wind,  goes 
through  his  evolutions.  The  dancer  is  red  and  yellow,  his  shoes  are 
black,  and  his  mantle  bright  green,  olive  green,  and  yellow,  with  well- 
drawn  folds.  The  lion  is  yellow,  outlined  in  black  and  brown  ;  its  mane 
is  red  and  white,  and  the  branches  round  him  are  green,  yellow,  and 
black.  The  leopard  is  pale  green,  outlined  in  black,  with  black  and 
bright  yellow  spots.  Beneath  this  compartment  the  border  ends  with  a 
l)and  of  white  against  the  debris  of  a  wall.  This  is  evidently  the  end  of 
the  room. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  lower  compartment  is  nmch  more 
sober,  and  its  colouring  is  much  less  vivid  than  that  of  the  Orpheus  panel. 
Otherwise  there  is  in  both  pictures  the  same  accuracy  and  elegance  of 
form,  the  same  firmness  of  drawing,  the  same  taste  and  harmony  in  the 
selection  of  tints,  and  the  same  finish  in  the  workmanship.'  The  stone 
of  Palestine,  with  its  rich  tints,  has  supplied  all  the  materials.  In  the 
whole  mosaic  there  are  only  a  few  glass  cubes  in  places  where  it  was 
desirable  to  give  the  picture  more  transparency  than  could  be  obtained 
with  stone.  The  fineness  of  the  mosaic  work  favours  the  blending  of  the 
tints.  The  state  of  preservation  is  almost  perfect,  l)ut  the  pavement, 
either  from  a  blow  or  from  the  yielding  of  the  ground  under  pressure, 
has  given  way  at  two  or  three  points. 

The  principal  subject  of  the  mosaic  is  pagan  and  classical  ;  yet  it 
would  be  difficult  to  avoid  assigning  a  Christian  origin  to  it.  The 
frequent  use  of  analogous  subjects  in  the  decoration  of  the  Roman 
catacombs  shows  with  what  freedom  the  Christians  of  the  first  centuries 
utilised  the  ancient  myths  of  which  religious  symbolism  had  changed  the 
meaning  ;*  and  of  all  the  mytlis  none  was  so  transparent  as  that  of 
Orpheus  charming  the  animals  with  the  melodious  tones  of  his  lyre.  The 
fathers  of  the  Church  have  frequently  been  inspired  by  that  gracefid 

1  Tlicre  ai-e,  however,  several  instances  of  carelessness  in  this  large  subject : 
parts  treated  in  an  incomplete  or  disproportiouatc  manner  ;  a  (Icl.iil  oinittod  or 
improvable, — the  rope  of  the  salamander  attached  to  nothing;  Orpheus  s.-h'mI 
vviLbout  any  visible  trace  of  a  seat,  &c. 

2  Perati,  "I'Arclieo'ogie  chretienne,"  pp.  43,  53^. 


428  NOTICES   ox   FOREIGN   PUBLICATIONS, 

nllegorv  to  celebrate  the  happy  influence  of  Cliristian  doL-tiine  on 
huniaiiitv'  ;  and  the  painters  of  the  cataconiba  have  told  it  many  times 
in  their  frescoes."-  The  affinity  of  type  between  tlie  frescoe  of  St.  Callixtus 
and  the  mosaic  of  Jerusalem  is  very  suggestive.  If  the  presence  of  Pan 
and  the  centaur  below  tlie  feet  of  the  divine  artist  in  the  Jerusalem 
mosaic  is  not  a  part  of  the  symbolism,  it  must  be  regarded  as  a  survival 
of  ancient  art  ;  and  this  is  not  surprising  when  one  remembers  how, 
even  as  late  as  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  the  best  works  of  the  great 
Italian  artists  in  mosaic  show  the  deep  impression  of  tliese  survivals.-' 

The  complete  absence  of  Christian  emblems  in  the  mosaic  does  not 
aifect  its  attribution  to  a  comparatively  late  period.  Perhaps  it  was 
expedient  not  to  place  very  obvious  religious  symbols  in  a  pavement  that 
was  to  be  trodden  upon.  Other  pavements  have  been  found  at  Jerusalem 
in  a  style  quite  as  profane  which  could  not  be  earlier  than  the  fourth, 
and  might  be  later  than  the  seventh  century.^  It  is  to  that  period,  fifth  to 
sixth  century,  that  one  would  like  to  ascribe  the  mosaic— the  character 
of  the  two  figures,  of  the  names  Ijeside  them,  and  of  the  ornament  agrees 
with  that  idea.  Byzantine  culture  was  then  more  flourishing  at 
Jerusalem  than  at  any  other  time,  and  the  town  enjoyed  the  tranquil 
prosperity  which  the  production  of  such  a  sumptuous  work  would  imply. 
A  comparison  with  works  of  that  period  shows  points  of  contact. 
Classical  training  had  given  to  the  artists  a  style  which  is  apparent  in  all 
their  works  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  the  other.  The  mosaics 
especially  form  a  perfectly  harmonious  group,  for  according  to  Kondakofi" 
{op.  ci't.,  p.  24),  "the  mosaic  arti.st  neither  invents  new  types  nor  new 
attitudes,  nor  new  arrangement  of  draperies  ;  tlie  forms  which  he  adopts 
are,  so  to  speak,  immutable."  The  mosaic  of  Jerusalem  has  aflinities 
with  those  of  Mount  Sinai,  Ravenna,  Tyre,  and  Madaba,  but  it  is  Uiorc 
akin  to  the  celebrated  pavements  of  the  Church  of  Kabr  Hiram,  near 
Tyre,  and  of  the  Church  of  the  Virgin  at  Madaba. 

After  all  the  new  mosaic  at  Jerusalem  is  still  not  fully  uncovered,  and 

later  researches  may  disclose  unlocked  for  revelations  of  the  date.     It  is 

to  be  hoped  that  they  will  indicate  the  nature  of  the  building  of  which 

the  floor  was  so  well  decorated.     It  was  probably  the  burial  place  of  a 

wealth}'  man. 

C.  W.  W. 


'  Some  patristic  remarks  on  this  siihjccL  will  be  found  in  Martigny, 
"  Dictionnaire  des  antiqiiitSs  chrefc.,"  p.  487. 

=  Mar-icc'u,  "Elements  d'arcLoologie  chret.,"  p.  2G9 ;  '-0111110  des  cata- 
«ombes,"  p.  152. 

3  Gerspach,  "  La  mosaique,"  p.  4n  f ;  Perate,  op.  cif.,  p.  203  jf,  rf. 
fig.  135.^;  Kondakoff,  "Hist,  de  I'Art  byzantin,"  p.  103. 

•»  See  especially  the  Armenian  mosaic  on  (he  Mount  of  Olives  in  Clermont- 
Oanneau's  "  Archajol.  Researches,"  vol.  i,  p.  329,  and  that  to  the  north  of  the 
town  ("  Zeitschrift  d.  Deut.  Pal.  Yer.,"  xviii,  plate  4). 


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