Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions

Visit from the Sheikh of the Jehâlîn, and bargain for
Further delay; shuffling conduct of Elias, 96.-May 26th.
Way to Carmel, 97. Ascend the ridge beyond, pros-

Delays at Hebron, 95.
camels and guides, 95, 96.
Camels arrive; departure, 96.

pect towards the south, 97. Country of the Jehâlin, 98. Encamp over Sunday, 98.

Notices of the Jehâlîn, 98, 99.-May 27th. Visitors in our tent, 99, 100. Engage

five Haweitât, 100.

May 28th. New guides and camels, Arab dilatoriness, 100. Difficulty about a

head-guide, 100, 101. We at length set off, 101. Tell 'Arâd, ancient Arad, 101.

Rujeim Selâmeh and view, 102. Upper ez-Zuweirah, 103. Wide prospect over the

Dead sea and southern Ghôr, 103. First descent, lower tract of chalky hills, 104.

Second descent; ez-Zuweirah, fort and reservoirs, 104. Wady ez-Zuweirah; encamp
in a side valley, 104, 105. Our guides less intelligent than those from the Tawarah,
105, 106.

May 29th. Follow down Wady ez-Zuweirah to the shore, 106. Sunrise upon the

Dead sea, 106. Zuweirah has no relation to Zoar, which lay on the east of the sea,

106, 107. Hajr or Khashm Usdum (Sodom), a mountain of fossil salt, 107-110.

Bathe in the sea, 110. Deep cavern in the mountain, 110. Alarm at an approaching

party, 110. We prove the strongest, and our Haweitât begin to plunder; remon-

strances, 111. S. W. corner of the sea, 111. This end of the sea very shallow, and a

flat extends far to the south, 112. Eastern part of the Ghôr (Sâfieh) fertile and well-

watered, 112, 113. Range of cliffs crossing the Ghôr further south, an offset or step to

the 'Arabah beyond, 113. Already known that the waters of the 'Arabah flow north-

wards, 113, 114.-We keep along the western side of the Ghôr; character, salt rills,

114, 115. 'Ain el-Beida, 115. S. W. corner of the Ghôr, Wady el-Fikreh, 116. Keep

along the base of the transverse line of cliffs, 116. 'Ain el-'Arûs, 117. Wady Ghŭrůn-

del and ruins, Arindela, 117. Haweitât breakfast, 117, 118. Mouth of Wady el-Jeib,

the drain of the 'Arabah, 118. Proceed up this deep broad chasm, 118, 119. Eve-

ning halt, romantic desert scene, 119, 120. Results of the day, 120. "Ascent of

Akrabbim," 120.

May 30th. Night-travel, 121. Leave Wady el-Jeib, desert of the 'Arabah, 121.

Rocks Humra Fedân, and Wady Ghuweir, 121. Halt at 'Ain el-Buweirideh, 122.

Violent Sirocco, 122. Routes up to Wady Mûsa, 122, 123. Base of the mountains,

porphyry cliffs, 123. Romantic pass of Nemela, 123, 124. Juniper trees, 124. En-

camp at the top of the pass, 124.-May 31st. View from the brow of the mountain;

the 'Arabah, the western desert, Wady el-Jerâfch, Mount Hor, etc. 124, 125. Region

of Nemela, 125, 126. Sandstone formation, 126. Oleanders, 126. Sîk or chasm,

with a sculptured tablet, 126. Plain Sutûh Beida, village Dibdiba, 127. Poverty of

inhabitants, 127. Way to Eljy, 127, 128. Saracenic fortress, 128. Eljy, 128. 'Ain

Musa and brook, 129.

Arrival at the valley; tomb on the right, 129. Enter the valley; commencement

of the street of tombs, 129. Monolithic tombs, like those in the valley of Jehoshaphat,

129, 130. Tomb with pyramids, 130. Entrance of the Sik, 130. Arch across the

chasm, 130. Width of the chasm and height of the sides, 130, 131. Oleanders, chan-

nels, pavement, 131. Magnificence of impression, 131, 132. The Khůzneh, character

and imposing effect, 132, 133. Interior, 133. Tombs beyond the Khůzneh, 183.

Singular ornament, 133. Amphitheatre, 134. View from it, 134. Encamp; the ob-

iect of our visit, 134, 135.-Area of the ancient city on both sides of the brook, 135.

Remains of a temple and bridges, 135. Triumphal arch, 135. Kusr Far'ôn, a late

structure, 135. Zub Far'ôn, column of a temple, 136. The whole area once occupied

by a city of houses built of stone, 186.-Western wall of cliffs with tombs, 136. Springs

flowing off into a western chasm; its character, 137.

Laborde's delineations correct, but convey no good general idea of the whole, 138.

The ancient city not enclosed by perpendicular rocks on all sides, 138. Perpendicular

cliffs only on E. and W. 138. Nature of the ground N. and S. of the brook, 138, 139.

Excavations and architecture; their multitude, 139. Most conspicuous tombs on tha

east, 140. Character of the rocks, reddish sandstone, 140, 141. Varying teints, like

watered silk, 140. Two styles of architecture mingled, Egyptian and Roman-Greck,

141. The excavations not originally made for dwellings, 141, 142. Some of them

temples, 142.-Silence and solitude of this city of the dead, 142, 143. Feast and

mirth of our Arabs, 143.

June 1st. Foreign Arabs, the Ma'âz, now in these mountains, 143. Sheikh of

Wady Musa arrives, 143. Visit to the Deir, 143–145. Probably a temple, 145.-

Sheikh of Wady Mûsa demands a present, etc. 145. I go again to the Khŭzneh, 145.

Noise of guns; Arab quarrel; Arabs sent to bring us back, 145, 146. Sheikh turns

out to be the noted Abu Zeitûn, 146. Discussions and disputes, 147-149. We deter-

mine to return the way we came, giving up Mount Hor, 149. Attempt to go towards

Mount Hor; defiance, 149. Our departure unexpected to the Sheikh, 150. He sends

after us to return, 150. Comes after us himself, 150. We proceed on our way, 151.

His demand a new thing, 151. His fear of Muhammed 'Aly was our protection, 151.

Regret at not visiting Mount Hor, 152. Descent to el-'Arabah, 152. Night-travel;

danger of being overtaken and plundered, 153. Midnight halt and rest in the middle

of the 'Arabah, 158.

MOUNTAINS OF EDOM, 154. Formation, height, character, 154. Divisions;

Mountains of Moab, Jebal esh-Sherah, 154. El-Hismeh, 155. Tribes of Bedawîn,

155. The Haweitât, 155, 156. Fellâhîn of the mountains, 156. Historical Notices

of this region, the ancient Edom and Arabia Petræa, 156–163. Often visited by the

crusaders, 163–165. Since then forgotten, 165.-Ancient towns: Macharus, 166.

Rabba, Rabbath Moab, 166. Kerak, Charac Moab, 166. Tüfileh, Tophel, 167.

saireh, Bozrah, 167. Ghǎrăndel, Arindela; Dhâna, Thana, 168. Ma'ân; Úsdakah,

Zodocatha, 168. El-Humeiyimeh, 168.

el-Bu-

PETRA, Heb. Sela, the capital of Arabia Petræa, 168. Historical notices, 169, 170.

Suddenly vanishes before the Muhammedan conquest, 170. Identity of Petra with

Wady Musa, proofs, 171-173. Oblivion, 173.

June 2d. Proceed across the 'Arabah to 'Ain el-Weibeh, 173, 174. Character and

position, 174, 175. Probable site of Kadesh, 175, 176. Marauding expedition recently

encamped here, 176. Roads from el-Weibeh, 176. Our Arabs take a wrong one,

176, 177. Their ignorance, 177. Return to their usual road, 177. Ascend to the

first step or offset of the mountains, drained by Wady el-Fikreh, 177, 178. A more

formidable ascent before us, 178. Three passes up the same, 178. The hill Madŭrah;

legend of the Arabs, visited by Seetzen, 179, 180. Pass es-Săfah, difficult; ancient.

road, Zephath? 180, 181. Evening; we continue to ascend gradually through a very

broken region, 181, 182. Encamp, excessively fatigued, 182. Other passes, es-Sufey

and el-Yemen, 182.

WADY EL-'ARABAH. Extent, names, character, 183. Depression of the middle

and northern part, the Dead Sea and Lake of Tiberias, 183. Water-shed, 184. For

the most part a desert, 184. Fountains in it, 184, 185. Roads, 185. Unknown to

occidental geographers, 185. Mentioned in Arabian writers, 186. Is the Arabah

(plain) of the Hebrew Scriptures, 186. Its existence unsuspected in modern times

until the present century, 187.

THE DEAD SEA AND CATASTROPHE OF THE PLAIN, 187. A lake existed here

before the destruction of Sodom, 188. Probably less extensive than the present Dead
sea, 188. The cities and fertile plain were on the south, 188. Slime-pits or sources
of bitumen, 188. Present c`aracter of the southern part of the sea, 189. This may

have been formed by some convulsion of nature destroying the fertile plain, 189. Per-

haps by earthquakes or volcanic action, 190, 191. The bitumen may have accumu-

lated into an extensive stratum, like the Pitch lake of Trinidad, and thus have been

inflamed, 190. Barrenness would be caused by the masses of fossil salt, 190. Letter

of Leopold von Buch, 191, 192.

APPROACH OF THE ISRAELITES TO PALESTINE, 192. Route to 'Ain el-Hŭdhera,

192. Did not pass on the west of Jebel 'Arâif, 193. Impassable mountainous tract

on the western border of the 'Arabah, 193. They must have reached Kadesh through

the 'Arabah, 193. Position of Kadesh, 193–195. Not at el-'Ain in the western des-

ert, 194. n. Twice visited by the Israelites, 194, 195. Their wanderings, 195.

Their supply of food and water a constant miracle, 195.

June 3d. Alarm of a marauding party behind us, 196. We proceed across the