LIBRARY OF PRINCETON FEB - I 2005 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY V, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/landofmoabtravelOOtris_O -4 <0 LIBRARY OF PRINCETON FEB - I 2005 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY r j j _ . - ' 9uZtdrv Kirbet el M'U Scumak v. lamcvnv GM ibbezurrv GhafL ~ Betli Ho£la . >: Aitv Mcybv Tfienfb Eeshbdn Lesbbon a, Zopkim, Fis^ Nebozhj ''l&feir JieiycLb y Mas iub dybh [I Klu •>tdL Jebgl \uYeiniyeh Hxrpjm el Mtmajehal ^Nimriin*? JSfemeirah' k, Ras Riii • // \ii. ■ A&O'dJUm' 3z6rJ\ureitun r^'f *• ; 'Method' 'Madin J uban\’ MnhkhjCna.lt JebruL ’ Itfodeh, 35 °30' , MqdelebtU f A'Ermicju » ^SaxYieiijjdj 'JML&scLehh _ 1 Hrrrplt/ ;/At* oi* Rabbatli Mo ah LS, Rabba MAP OF HO A B SHEWINC THE ROUTE OF THE RES'? ILB.TRISTUAJE to accompany' “THE LAND ofMOAB” ,%Eb Batkr'a Scale of English Statcrte Miles . 35° 30' Easu a! Greenwich THE LAND OF MO AB TRAVELS AND DISCOVERIES ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE DEAD SEA AND THE JORDAN. • • BY / H. B. TRISTRAM, M.A. L.L.D., F.R.S., HOS. CANON OF DURHAM. WITH A CHAPTER ON THE PERSIAN PALACE OF MASHITA By JAS. FERGUSSON, F.R.S. WITH MAP: AND * ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. L. BUXTON AND R. C. JOHNSON. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, 1873. All riyhts ctre reserved. - -J ♦ PREFACE. ♦o* The circumstances under which the expedition, the results- of which are narrated in the following pages, was undertaken, are sufficiently explained in the first chapter. The object was a careful ’ examination of the present state of a country frequently referred to in the Old Testament Scriptures, and intimately con¬ nected with Jewish history, but which has not been traversed at leisure by any explorer since the fall of the Boman empire. That the journey has produced some results which may justify us for having disregarded the advice so earnestly given by the Palestine Exploration Fund to persons about to explore — Don’t ! “ To those who propose to raise any private expedition, Ave would say, Wait !” * — it is hoped will be admitted on a perusal of the narrative. The recovery of several ancient sites ; the careful verification of Machaerus, the scene of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and martyrdom ; the very interesting discovery of Zoar, with the valuable illus- * ‘Our Work in Palestine,' p. 328. b IV PREFACE. tration it affords of the careful accuracy of the Scriptural narrative in the minutest details ; the finding of a palace of Chosroes, with its sumptuous architecture, and the ray of light it casts upon one of the most obscure periods of later Eoman history — these certainly were enough to reward the most sanguine explorer. Even apart from these principal discoveries, there is scarcely a passage in Holy Writ, in which Moab is mentioned, which was not in some degree illustrated during the journey ; and the glowing prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, the allusions of Amos and Zephaniah, the story of the wars of Sihon, of Jeph- thah, and of Joab, must ever be read with deepened interest by those who have noted their marvellous coincidences with the state of the country as we now see it. Arab society also is in a more primitive and simple state than where affected by intercourse with other nationalities in the rest of Syria. The Beni Sakk’r are true Midianites in all their habits : the minor tribes reproduce perhaps the nearest parallel to the state of Canaan at the time of the Israelitish con¬ quest, which can be found existing at the present day. I must take this opportunity of expressing my deep sense of my obligations to the friends who have assisted me in the work : — to Mr. Fergusson, for his solution of the problem of the Persian palace, and PREFACE. v for the valuable contributions, both by pen and pencil, to its architectural history, which enrich the volume ; to my friend and fellow-traveller, Mr. Klein, for the sagacity and forethought which en¬ sured the success of our journey; and to my zealous and indefatigable young brothers of the tent, whose enthusiasm and happy tempers lightened every labour, ' and whose only rivalry was in promoting the objects of our expedition. To Messrs. Buxton and Johnson I owe all the illustrations of the volume, selected from the splendid series of 180 photographs which they secured and generously placed at my disposal. One of our party is now beyond the reach of my thanks — William Amherst Hayne, of saintly memory, suddenly, within the last few days, removed, at what seemed to be the dawn of a career of rare promise. He lived in his Bible, and clung to its promises ; and now in a foreign land his body rests, awaiting in Christ a glorious resurrection. Greatham Yicarage, February , 1873. View of the Mountains of Moab from Jerusalem — Previous ex¬ peditions — Messrs. Palmer and Tyrwhitt Drake — British Association — Companions — Mr. Klein — Preliminary negotia¬ tions — The Adwan — Preparations at Jerusalem — The Ta’a- mirah — Arab chicanery — Muleteer in prison — Start for the South — Bethlehem — Volunteer escort of Ta’amirah — Hebron — Our first bivouac — Old friends — Sheikh Hamzi, an Arab attorney — Fruitless negotiations — Mosque and bazaars at Hebron — A Jewish interior — Abou da Houk and the Jehalin — Diplomatic difficulties — A Kerak guide — Signature of a con¬ tract — Payment of deposit — Storm under canvas — Route from Hebron . . . . . . . . . Page 1 CHAPTER II. Route from Hebron to Engedi — Yakin — Forest of Ziplr — Kirbet Zadoud — Ka’abineh camp — Hospitality — Arab coffee — Un¬ expected flood in the night — Effect of sudden rains — Change of flora — Wady el Glrar — El Husasah, Hazziz — Cliff of Ziz — Steep pass — Descent to Engedi — Rich botany — Rashayideh Arabs — A Bedouin fantasia — Ornithology of Engedi — Camp under Sebbeh ( Masada ) Wady Seyal — Lifeless desolation — Wady Makheras — Visit to the fortress of Masada — Ancient Jewish synagogue — Contrast with the synagogues of Galilee — Acoustic phenomenon — Remarkable Aurora — Route to Jebel Usdum — Ford to the Lisan — View of Mount Hor — Curious Arab custom — Oasis of Zuweirah — Lateness of the season 19 CHAPTER III. An early start — Effect of the sun on the mountains — Sudden thunderstorm — A salt cavern — Marl deposit on the salt rnoun- vm CONTENTS. tain — Its origin — Elevation of the New Bed Sandstone — Position of the Salt Rock — Crossing the Sebkha — Alarm of marauders — Frontier of Moab — Sudden apparition of enemies — A threatened skirmish — Naked warriors — Our guide stripped — The Beni Atiyeh — A treaty made — March through the wood — Difficulties of exploration — A costly guard — Vegetation of the Safieh — Ancient remains — Kesr el Bushariyeh — Old mill — Moslem burying ground — Remains exposed — Boundary of Moab — Brook Zered — Suphah • — V ariety in the vegetation of the Safieh — Horsemen from Kerak — Son of the Mudjelli — Petty thefts — A mule on its trial — Return of the Jehalin Page 38 CHAPTER IV. From the Safieh to Kerak — Wady Gra’hhi — Ford of the Stinking River — Nemeirah — The waters of Nimrim : their real position — Not identical with Nemeirah — Poor ruins — The brook of the willows — Wady Asal — The shoulder of the Lisan — Wady Dra’a — View of the Lisan — Contrast of the geology of the east and west sides of the Dead Sea — A charming glen — Mezra’ah, Zoar — Disputed identity with Dra’a — A turbulent guard — Nocturnal alarms — Splendid sunrise — Attempted robbery — Successful extortion — Ascent to Kerak — Magnificent gorge — Geological studies — Basaltic streams — El Kubboh — Crusading traditions — Raynald of Chatillon — Panoramic view of the Dead Sea — Bedouin camps and shepherds — Wady R’seir — Wady of Kerak — Rugged ascent — Strange access to a city — Tunnel in the rock — Arrival at Kerak .. .. .. .. 55 CHAPTER V. Kerak — A natural fortress : its height, position, form, area, for¬ tifications — Accessible only by tunnels — The Castle of Bybars — The Great Castle : its shape, moat, cistern, crypt chapel, gateways — Occupation of castle by Ibrahim Pasha — Water- supply — Mosque — Ancient basilica — Our camp in the Castle of Bybars — Greek schoolmaster — A friend in need — Kerak interior — Roman pavement — Ancient bath — Antiques and coins — Christian quarter — Greek church — School and Bibles — Threats of the chiefs — Ransom demanded — Find ourselves prisoners — Messenger to Jerusalem — Every man his own thief- CONTENTS. ix catcher — Value of pork — Daoud’s stratagem. — Midnight inter¬ view — Welcome aid — Arrival of the Beni Sakk’r, Sheikh Zaclam — The tables turned — A Sunday under arrest — Arabic service — Greek Christians — Demands on the Hakeem — View from the castle wall — Eolations of Kerak and the Beni Sakk’r — Excursion under guard — Our letter discovered — Kenewed threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 70 CHAPTER VI. Excursion to the south of Kerak — Ivureitun — The twin towns — Kiriathaim — The highlands of Moab — Euined cities — Azizah — Wine presses — M’hkeileh — J ubah — Boman road — Mahk’- henah — Cisterns — Modeh — Eoman milestones — Mesh’had — Mad in — Theniyeh — Arabic names — Kerak, Kir Moab or Kir Hareseth — Obstinacy of the Mudjelli — Visit to the Council — Diplomacy about ransom — Arab manoeuvres — Off at last — Tre¬ mendous storm — Koad to Kabba — Kakina — Roman road — Arrival at Rabba — Camp in a tank — Description of Rabba — Roman temples — Basaltic stones — The Kerak men again — Daoud’s ingenuity for the horse’s corn — Robbery of the letter carrier — Bad news — Mr. Klein recalled .. .. .. 98 CHAPTER VII. From Rabba to the Arnon — Visit from the Hamideh — Characters of Zadam and Sahan — Ibu Tarif — Present from Mr. Drake — Ibn Tarif’s attention — Roman wayside temple — Missdelih — Hameitat, the ancient Ham — Kasr Rabba — Beit el Kurm — Large temple — Ar and Areopolis — A pillar letter-box in the waste — News from Jerusalem — Troops on the move for our rescue — The Mudjelli returns — Restoration of Mr. Klein’s letter — Shihan — Curious enclosure of basalt — Sihon and the Amorites — The view from Jebel Shihan — Muhatet el Haj — Jahaz — Descent to the Arnon — Basaltic dyke — Traces of Roman road — Ruined forts — “ The city in the midst of the river” — Rugged ascent — A mountain pass in the darkness — Dreary camp on the uplands — Mr. Klein’s departure — Aroer — Topography of the Arnon — Ride to Dhiban — Its ruins — The Moabite Stone — Conjectures as to its original position — Means of its preservation — An oil-press — Identity of Dhiban with Dibon .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 115 X CONTENTS. % CHAPTER VIII. From Dibon eastwards — Beni Sakk’r flocks and herds — The plain of the Vineyards — Bhibuyeh — The ruins of Um Rasas — Its walls — Abundance of game — Wild cats — Beni Sakk’r camp — Considerate neighbours — Deep tank — The Raven’s home — Um Rasas, within the walls and without — Three ruined churches — Apses still remaining — Arches and streets — Amphi¬ theatre — Isolated mortuary tower — Church in the plain — Quaint tradition and legend — Freedom of the desert — Intense cold — Animal life of the plains — M’Seitbeh — Ancient block¬ houses — Wady Butm — Letters from the brigade — A long Sunday’s ride — Crossing the Themed — Visit to Zadam’s tent — Westward ho! — Rumours of the troops — Ajermeh camp — Ride in the dark — A Turcoman guide — The camp — Reception by the Pasha — Depositions taken down — A bitter night — Beiram — Grand salute — Speculations on Kerak .. Page 138 CHAPTER IX. Return from the Wady Na’ur to Um Rasas — Royal entertainment by the Ajermeh — Our horses keep Beiram — Coffee drinking — Sherouan’s many calls — Wandering tramps — A beggar’s hospi¬ tality — Return to our tents — Reports of a buried stone _ Zadam’s account of the Black or basalt country eastward — El Hliurreh — Stone cities — Eastward ho ! — Mirage on the plains — Gazelle-hunt — The Hadj road — Khan Zebib — Description of the ruined khan — Traces of earlier buildings — Remains of a Doric temple — Labyrinth of cisterns — Prsehistoric remains — Cairns — A vain pursuit after the stone of Rasas . . . . 160 CHAPTER X. Departure from Um Rasas — Dlira’a — The Themed — R’mail — A riverside camp — Zafaran — A military keep — Supplies running short — Start for the north-east — Kasr el Herri — Surveying — Roman road— Um Weleed — Extent of Um Weleed — Sara¬ cenic Khan — Roman city — Streets — Large court or Pr*e- torium Gateway — Doric temple — Date of these cities — No clues to the ancient name — Um el Kuseir — Large caverns _ Ziza _ Interesting remains — Roman military station — Magnificent CONTENTS. xi tank — Elaborate system of irrigation in olden time — Large vaulted fort — Burial place aloft — Ibrahim Pasha’s garrison — Other forts destroyed — Remains of Cuphic inscriptions — Fine Christian church — Variety of wild animals and birds — Return of convoy from Jerusalem — Evening bells — A fugitive — Stripped by the Anizeh — The Ibex-hunter — Honesty of our men and of the Turkish soldiers — Sunday’s rest — Mohammedan criticism on Christian inconsistency . . . . . . Page 175 CHAPTER XL The Palace of Masliita — Ride fromZiza — Limestone knolls rising above the plain — Their geological origin — Gradual formation of the table land — Hadj road — Palace suddenly in sight — First impressions — Description of the palace — Outer wall — Bastions — Gorgeous facade — Octagonal bastions — Gateway — Delineations of animals and birds — Inner area — Inhabited por¬ tion — Its plan — Rich gateway — Corinthian capitals — Arch overthrown by earthquake — Long inscriptions — Nabathean or Pelvic ? — Peculiar bricks — Large open hall — Vaulted roof — Inner doorway — Peculiar capitals — Large inner domed hall with alcoved recesses — Inner chambers — Construction of the outer wall — Hollow bastion — The palace never finished — The builders interrupted — No local tradition of its origin — Probably Chosroes II. of Persia its builder, a.d. 614 — Campaign of Chos- roes — Conquest of Syria — Capture of Jerusalem — Sudden reverse — Advance of Heraclius, a.d. 624 — The whole east recon¬ quered by Rome, a.d. 632 — Irruption of the Saracens — Final devastation of the country — Its disappearance from history — Sassanian origin of the palace confirmed by its architecture — Mr. Fergusson’s opinion — El Ah’la . . . . . . 195 CHAPTER XII. Second visit to Mashita — Expedition to Kustul — Imperial eagle — Interesting character of the remains of Kustul — Castel¬ lated temple — Corinthian pilasters — Nabathean inscriptions — Larger castle — Vaulted chambers and massive bastions — A Greek altar exhumed — Walls for collecting water — Ivustul- Castellum — Thenib — Eujum Hamam — Views of the Belka — Southward migration of the Beni Sakk’r — Move camp towards the west — Azabarah — Jebel Jelul — Magnificent panorama — • Xll CONTENTS. Sufa — Trained falcons — Women water-drawers — Arrival at our camp — Visit from Fendi y Faiz — Entertainment of the great Sheikh — Photographing of the princes — Escort of the Hadj — Parting with Sahan — Delay at Habis — Descent of the Wady Habis — Junction with the Zerka Main — Contrast between the highlands of Moab and the mountains Page 216 CHAPTER XIII. Change from the highlands — The Hamideh — Lords of high and low degree — Septs and political divisions of the Hamideh — Their habits and character — Ornithology of the glens — The Callirrhoe — An evening’s fishing — Geology - of the Zerka Ma’in — Basaltic streams — Descent to the hot springs — The baths of Herod — Hamideh camp — Nubian slave — A sulphur hot bath — Descriptions of Josephus and Pliny — Ptolemy’s geography — Sulphur terraces — Rapid deposits — Basalt and limestone — Palm-groves — Temperature of the springs— Natural formation of tunnels — 'Primitive vapour bath — Arab tradi¬ tions — Legend of King Solomon — Sacrificial rites — Strange plants — The shrub of Josephus — The sulphur plant — Oro- banches — Butterflies and rare birds — Ibex — Sunday at Callirrhoe — Amateur physician — Venison and butter — Hami- d eh horned cattle .. .. .. .. .. .. 230 CHAPTER XIY. Visit to Machserus — Delays at starting — Superstitions and obsti¬ nacy of muleteers — Wady Z’gara — Deep gorge — Fine landscape — Ruins of Machserus — The town — Roman road — Fortress — Citadel — Dungeons — The Baptist’s prison — Pliny’s account — History of Machserus — Josephus’s description — The Mac¬ cabees — Herod the Great — Fabled plant — Siege by L. Bassus — Identity of the castle with the Baptist's prison — Hamideh hos¬ pitality — Fresh butter — Grand panorama — Stone circles — Expedition to Attarus — Horses lost and found — A wooded district — View — Jebel Attarus — Kureiyat — Identity with Kiriathaim — Attarus and Ataroth . . . . . . . . 253 CHAPTER XY. Visit to Zara, the ancient Zareth-Shahar — Volcanic soil — Rich botany — Descent to Dead Sea — Ancient road — Scouts ahead CONTENTS. xm — False alarm — Beni Sakk’r and their camels — Vegetation and springs of Zara — Hebrew city — Baths, hot and cold — Birds — Along the shore — Rugged path — Month of the Callirrhoe — Romantic glen — The Ibex-hunter — A rough scramble — W ater- fall — Home at last — Sunday in the gorge — The Ibex and its habits — Unsuccessful hunt — 'The hakeem — Medical cases — Ornithology of the Callirrhoe — Our postman robbed — Topo¬ graphy of the district .. .. .. .. .. Page 278 CHAPTER XVI. Departure from Callirrhoe — Night alarm — Horses stolen — Pur¬ suit — Camp fires — Wild seclusion — Ascent to the Highlands — Primaeval remains — Dolmens — Corn-fields — Gazelle — Ma’in, Baal-Meon — Balaam’s progress with Balak — His stations — Medeba — Pigeons — Alarm of shepherds — Farewell to the Hamideh — A Beni Sakk’r farmer — Tenure of land — History of Medeba — Its citadel — Isolated columns — Inscriptions — Colonnaded square — Churches — Immense reservoir — Richness of the soil — Part with old friends — Letter from the Ad wan — A Jericho naturalist — Endless villages . . . . . . 297 CHAPTER XVII. The north-west corner of Moab — Its many ravines — Wheat culti¬ vation — Belka Arabs — Maslubeiyeh — Splendid panorama — Dolmens — Jedeid — Nebbeli — Its identity with Nebo — View of Moses — Ancient authorities — Zi’ara — Interesting ruins — Balaam’s view — Identity of Zi’ara and Zoar — Position of the Cities of the Plain — Arguments for placing them north of the Dead Sea — Mr. Grove’s inference — Ayun Moussa — Springs of Moses — Picturesque glen — Cascades — M’Shuggar — Ajer- meh and other tribes — Heslibon — Adwan camp — Elealeli — Night search for camp — Goblan’s welcome — His character — Tragic crime .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 318 CHAPTER XVIII. The Wady Heshban — Goblan’s affection — Married beneath him — Botany of north-west Moab — Ancient tablets and tombs — Changed features of scenery — Circle of Dolmens — Cairn — Descent to the Ghor — Ghawarineh camp — Old acquaintances — Beth- XIV CONTENTS. Haran — Night-watch — Excursion down the coast — Beth Jesi- moth — Camp of Israel — Wady Jerifeh — Ain Suwaineh — Vegetation of the shore — Wady Ghadeimeli — Clear atmosphere — Rich colouring — Wady Ghuweir — Arab battle-field — Fal¬ cons — Our path blocked — Palm-groves — A halt — Ornithology — An Arab collector — Gale of wind — The tents carried off — A sound sleeper — Ride to the Jordan — Ferryboat — Return to civilisation — Jericho — Our old camping-ground — Bethany in spring — Entry into J erusalem — Our wanderings ended Page 343 CHAPTER ON THE PERSIAN PALACE OF MASHITA. By James Fergusson, F.R.S. .. .. 367 Appendix A. — Aurora at Sebbeh. By R. C. Johnson .. 386 Appendix B. — Account of a Curious Physical Phenomenon witnessed at Ziza. By R. C. Johnson .. .. .. 387 Appendix C. — On the Flora of Moab. By the late W. Amherst Hayne, B.A., Trinity College, Cambridge .. 389 LIST OF ILLUSTRATION'S''' -*o*- External Facade, Palace of Mashita . . . . Frontispiece. No. Page 1. Sebbeh, and Dead Sea • • • . 30 2. Arab Skirmish . . to face 43 3. Tunnel Entrance, Kerak • • , , 69 4. Castle Walls, Kerak • • • • 72 5. Our Camp, Kerak . . to face 74 6. Crusaders’ Fort, Kerak • • • • 75 7. Kerak Housetops • • • • 79 8. Ancient Lamp found at Kerak • • • • 97 9. Ruins of Dhiban . . , , 133 10. Oil-press • • 136 11. Sketch of Um Rasas . . . to face 143 12. Christian Tower, Um Rasas . . to face 145 13. Khan Zebib • • • • 171 14. Sculptured Entablatures, Khan Zebib • • • . 173 15. Plan of Temple, Um Weleed • • • • 180 16. ZlZA, FROM THE DISTANCE . . • . 183 17. Tank at Ziza . . 184 18. Pigeon-hole Stones, Ziza • . • • 188 19. Cuphic Inscriptions, Ziza • • 189 20. Interior of Ruined Palace . . . . 198 21. Gateway of Palace . . 199 22. Octagon Tower . . 200 23. Fallen Arch • • • . 201 24. Plan of Palace, Mashita . . to face 204 25. El Kustul . . . . 218 26. Panorama, Upper Zerka Ma’in . . to face 230 27. Rocks at Entrance of Zerka Ma’in . . . . 235 28. Plan of Mach^krus . • • • • 260 XVI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. No. 29. Terebinth Tree on Attarus . SO. The Zerka Ma’in . . S 1 . Si ARA . a .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32. Mouth of the Calltrrhoe S3. Dolmen . . . . . . . . ... 34. Columns at Medeba 35. Temple at Medeba 36. Palm-trees by the Dead Sea . . . . . .to face 37. Inner Palace of Masliita, from within the outer Gateway . . . . . . . . . . to face 38. Elevation of West Wing Wall of external Facade of Palace at Mashita . . . . . . to face 39. Elevation of one Compartment of Western Octagon Tower at Mashita . . . . . . . . to face 40. Tak Kesra Page 273 274 283 286 301 310 312 356 368 371 373 374 41. Church at Tourmanin . . . . . . . . . . 381 THE LAND CHAPTER I. View of the Mountains of Moab from Jerusalem — Previous ex¬ peditions — Messrs. Palmer and Tyrwhitt Drake — British Association — Companions — Mr. Klein — Preliminary negotia¬ tions — The Adwan — Preparations at Jerusalem — The Ta’a- mirah — Arab chicanery — Muleteer in prison — Start for the South — Bethlehem — Volunteer escort of Ta’amirah — Hebron — Our first bivouac — Old friends — Sheikh Hamzi, an Arab attorney — Fruitless negotiations — Mosque and bazaars at Hebron — A Jewish interior — Abou daHoukand the Jehalin — Diplomatic difficulties — A Kerak guide — Signature of a con¬ tract — Payment of deposit — Storm under canvas — Route from Hebron. Who that has stood outside the walls of Jerusalem, or on the Mount of Olives, has not gazed with wistful interest on those blue hills, rising with clear outline beyond the thin haze which overhangs the deep hidden lake of salt, nor wondered what the land of Moab might reveal ? Those hills which look so near, yet are in reality so inaccessible, have whetted the curiosity of many a traveller. When, fourteen years ago, the writer first visited the Holy Land, he almost registered the vow, that some¬ time or other he would make the attempt to explore what then was practically a sealed region. On his p> 2 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. second visit be was only partially successful. His first attempt by the southern route was baffled by the feuds of the Arab tribes, and a later effort from the north enabled him only to touch the fringe of the country, as far as Heshbon and Nebo. At length the discovery of the famous Moabite stone drew more attention to the exploration of Moab than the country had hitherto received. Dr. Porter had only ventured to hint that research among its bleak highlands and lawless tribes might reward the adventurous explorer ; but the almost accidental discovery of the monolith was a pledge that the anti¬ quities of Moab must certainly repay investigation. Accordingly after Professor Palmer and Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake had, under the auspices of the Pales¬ tine Exploration Fund, completed their daring and perilous examination of the desert of the Tib, they continued their researches in the spring and summer of 1870, into the Land of Moab, from the northern border of Edom or Petra. Their attention wTas chiefly directed to the search after Phoenician inscriptions. Owing partly to the lateness of the season and the extreme heat of the weather, and partly to difficulties among the tribes, they did not at¬ tempt to examine the highlands south of the Arnon, the true country of the ancient Moabites, and never included in the allotment of Israel ; but skirting the coast of the Dead Sea till they passed the shoulder of the Peninsula of the Lisan, they then turned up the country under the protection of the Hamideh, Chap. I. PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS. 3 crossed the ravine of the Arnon at the usual spot, and made a bold dash eastwards, as far as Urn Rasas. Then returning hastily, they made their way to the low lying fertile plain of the Seisaban at the north-east end of the Dead Sea, where they crossed the Jordan and re-entered western Palestine. This journey was comparatively barren of. results, though it added something to our topographical knowledge. Professor Palmer reported his sojourn in Moab expen¬ sive and unsatisfactory. He examined every known “written stone” in the country, and the conclusion at last forced itself upon him, that above ground at least, there does not exist another Moabitish stone. Still it was felt that apart from the question of inscriptions, a careful survey might probably add much to our topographical knowledge, and at least decide the position of many ancient sites, marked at random on the present maps. The British Association, at its meeting in Edin¬ burgh in 1871, renewed a former grant of 1007 and doubled it, appointing a Committee “for the purpose of undertaking a Geographical exploration of the country of Moab.” Stimulated by this grant, an expedition was organized in the autumn of 1871, which sailed from England on the 10th January 1872, via Brindisi and Alexandria, and landed at Jaffa, January 22nd. The party was ably reinforced by Mr. C. Louis Buxton, Trinity College, Cambridge, whose camera illustrated the results of the expe¬ dition with about 80 excellent photographs, and b 2 4 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. whose gun did good service ; Mr. R. C. Johnson of Liverpool, experienced as astronomer, surveyor, and photographer, to whose camera we are also indebted for upwards of 100 admirable stereoscopic views, and to whom I owe almost the whole of the map which accompanies this journal ; Mr. W. A. Hayne, Trinity College, Cambridge, our indefatigable bota¬ nist, who has supplied the chapter on the Botany of Moab, and Mr. Mowbray Trotter, Trinity College, Cambridge, to whose prowess we were indebted for many a meal. At Jerusalem we were joined by our invaluable friend Mr. Klein. Negotiations had been carried on through the kind assistance of the Rev. F. A. Klein, Church Missionary Society’s representative at Jerusalem, with the sheikhs of the Transjordanic tribes, before our arrival, and especially with Fendi y Faiz, the sheikh of the Beni Sakk’r, but his son, Sheikh Zadam, on whose escort the party relied for the north of Moab, did not arrive during our detention of a few days at Jerusalem. The Adwan, who claim the exclusive convoy of travellers north of Heshbon, but whose inability to introduce any one into the Highlands of Moab, I had experienced in my former journey, having heard of our plans, sent us a very polite letter, expressing their anxiety to see their old friend again, denouncing the treachery of the Beni Sakk’r, and wound up with the assurance that if they caught Zadam, attempting to cross the Jordan to meet us, his blood should flow for the Chap. 1. ABAB NEGOTIATIONS. 5 trespass. We were not a little amused afterwards to find that while indulging in those grandiloquent threats, Sheikh Gobi an was actually negotiating a matrimonial alliance between his daughter and the son of his rival, a scheme prompted, as we were gravely assured, far more by personal admiration than by the contingent prospect of political advantages. We replied politely by a special messenger to our friends of the Adwan, that we intended to enter the country, not by the north, through their territory, but from the south, that our intention was merely to meet the Beni Sakk’r near Kerak, and that we should with pleasure call at the Adwan’s encamp¬ ments in the spring. But still, to go round by the south end of the Dead Sea demanded an escort. Messengers were despatched to find the sheikh, either of the Ta’- amirah or the Jehalin, the tribes who claim the suzerainty of the district west of the Dead Sea, and waiting their arrival various preparations had to be made. Through Mr. Klein’s aid, dragoman, ser¬ vants, horses and mules had been provisionally en¬ gaged, but these had to be seen and tried, and many a trick was attempted, both with regard to bipeds and quadrupeds. Groceries and provisions of every kind had to be laid in for two months, since Moab itself is absolutely destitute of supplies, even of corn, and only kid and game could be counted on as procurable on the spot. We were not quite prepared to follow the advice of a would-be explorer, G THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. whose experience bad never gone beyond bis study or a railway station, and wbo suggested that we were needlessly encumbering ourselves, for that sugar, coffee and rice might be procured more easily in the villages of Moab ! At length, after a delay of three days, a delegate from the Ta’amirah presented himself and volun¬ teered a guard of his tribe round the south end of the Dead Sea. The contract was drawn out and approved at the Consulate ; but we waited in vain for the sheikh to put in his appearance and seal it, and on the 29th January we started for Hebron, free from the annoyance of an escort. In a safe country like that between Jerusalem and the south end of tbe Dead Sea, any company more troublesome than that of a backsbiesh-craving es¬ cort, such as those corrupted by intercourse with Europeans, it is impossible to conceive. You halt for a moment to examine some desolate heap, and the ragged crowd surround you, jabbering and pro¬ ducing pieces of pottery or smooth pebbles, and demanding backshiesh as for some newly discovered treasure. You turn aside after a covey of wild partridges running up the hill, and your nimble guard rushes wildly in front, yelling and shrieking, and puts up the birds far out of shot. You are attracted by some bright flower in a cranny, and before you can dismount, your Arabs, ever alert at the wrong time, have cropped the petals, and hand you the fragments of the plant, amazed at your want Chap. I. ARAB CHICANERY. 7 of gratitude, as you despairingly throw down the worthless handful. At the very moment of starting, we narrowly escaped another vexatious delay. The animals of our convoy belonged to various owners, who accom¬ pany their property, and at the last moment our best riding horses and their masters were missing. We soon discovered that our chief muleteer had been suddenly pounced upon by the soldiers, and taken to prison for an alleged debt. The creditor had taken no steps to enforce his claim until the last moment, when, astutely guessing that we would not willingly be detained, but would rather pay ourselves, than incur further loss of time, he had timed his arrest as cleverly as though he had been a Whitby electioneerer. Off I had to tramp to the Consulate at the other end of Jerusalem, whence fortified by a letter from the Consul, and the com¬ pany of a cavass in full accoutrements, I proceeded to the Kadi, shewed that the debt was disputed, and having signed a bond that I would not pay the man his wages until the case was decided, presented myself at the prison, the doors of which at once opened and the man was set free. The matter in litigation proved to be a case of horse warranty, as perplexing to a Turkish Kadi, as to an English jury, and eventually nothing came of it. Unlike the road to Jaffa, that to Bethlehem has undergone no improvement of late years, nor has the extension of suburb, so marked on the former 8 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. road, extended to the southward of Jerusalem. A Bethlehem Christian Bedouin, who had attached himself to us as a sort of intermediator in various negotiations, was our companion, and we cantered onwards to Bethlehem, only drawing rein for a short time to pause at Bachel’s tomb. We could not pass Bethlehem, without revisiting the grand old church of the Nativity, the shrine, the so-called manger, St. Jerome’s cell and shrine. Everything we found in much better repair than eight years ago, chiefly owing to liberal Russian expenditure. The Church Missionary Schools have been abandoned, and handed over to the Berlin mission, which has a large esta¬ blishment here. After a hasty inspection of the sights and run¬ ning the gauntlet of the sellers of beads and scallopshells, and other backshiesh-hunters, more importunate in Bethlehem than anywhere else, we pushed on southwards, and overtook our party at the Pools of Solomon, where they had halted. These vast cisterns were not nearly so full of water as when I had visited them before in the rainy season. The lower one was all but empty, revealing the perfect cement on its sides and bottom, and the staircase, by which, when the water was let out, the workmen could descend to repair the plaster. Various inlets into the pool to re¬ ceive the drainage on either side, were shewn, and the cement was all as smooth and unchipped as on the day when it was laid on. The second pool as Chap. I. RIDE TO HEBRON. 9 well as the first was still full of water, and a little flock of teal was paddling unconcerned on its sur¬ face. Just before descending the hill to the Pools, the mounted chief of the Ta’amirah suddenly accosted us. In vain we assured him that an escort was needless, that we were well armed, and intended to find the J ehalin south of Hebron. Our determination to dispense with the services of Falstaff’s ragged regiment was in vain. No sooner had we started from the Pools, than the wild fellows were thrown out on all sides and formed a skirmishing front all the way to Hebron. Even when we pushed at a canter across the little plains, the footmen, without an apparent effort, were always in advance, and effectually precluded the chance of a shot at a partridge, or the sight of a gazelle. Well as I knew the road, I think the pleasure of revisiting these sacred scenes, imprinted on the memory, is more intense than that of the first sight as a stranger. Bethshur, Halhul, Kamah of Judah, and other desolate sites sustained our interest as we rode through them. At Mamre, by the ruins of Constantine’s massive Basilica, we made a detour to the right, in order to shew to the younger members of the party the- great terebinth tree, which now does duty for Abraham’s oak, long since perished. The hills looked bare and bleak as a winter without rain could make them, for the spring flowers had not yet begun to shew; but the last two miles of 10 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. our road led us by narrow paths through vineyards with their vines carefully trained, each fenced with a low stone wall surrounding it; and in many of them the watch-tower often referred to in Scripture, at the upper end, a heap of brushwood on the top of it, the bedding of the sentry during the grape-season. y Near the wicket-gates we might see the ass that was to carry the labourer home, tied up to a vine, “ Binding his ass’s colt unto the choice vine.” We had passed our convoy of mules some miles before, and it was dark before they arrived at the camping ground. Now the inexperienced critic who remonstrates at the number of followers in an eastern journey might find the use of having twenty men to picket, set up tents, and prepare for the night. It was past 8 o’clock before we sat down, under a lovely moonlit sky, to dine. Picturesque and bright was our first bivouac ; to the majority of the party their first night under canvas. We dwelt among the tombs in the Moslem cemetery, on the slope rising to the south of Hebron. The lights glimmered fit¬ fully among the houses of the city on the opposite slope, and occasional bursts of rough music and firing of guns told of a marriage being celebrated. Our arrival had brought many new and old acquaintances around us. One man constituted himself waterbearer to the camp ; another, running messenger ; while the Governor politely sent a soldier to offer us a guard for the night. We thanked his Excellency for his kind consideration, but assured Chap. I. AN ARAB ATTORNEY. 11 his envoy we were well able to provide for our own safety ; a reply which sent him back not a little crestfallen, since a guard meant, of course, a back- shiesh suited for the acceptance of a governor. The Ta’amirah volunteers, determined not to lose sight of us, quietly sat down for the night by our camp-fire, with their matchlocks across their knees, listening incredulously to the assurance that we were not their brothers, nor in their keeping. Among our earliest visitors was Sheikh Hamzi, the Arab lawyer of Hebron, and who had been my com¬ panion for many weeks on my former visit, unchanged, save that his beard was more blanched; oppressive in his attentions, and palpable, as of old, in his intrigues. He did us good service, however, and sent at once to the camp of the Jehalin on the way to Beersheba, to request the attendance of the Sheikh Abou da Houk, the son and namesake of our former guardian, now deceased, to come and make an arrangement with us for an escort to Kerak. Various other old companions in travel came to claim acquaintance. One after another, either a great man, or his hench¬ man, appeared at the tent door, and sat down, dropping their slippers, and sometimes venturing beyond the threshold, in the hope of a cup of coffee or a pipe. It was not easy to get rid of our friends, and midnight was approaching, when we were com¬ pelled to call in the aid of our servants to tell them, what we could not according to the rules of politeness say for ourselves, that we must be left alone for prayers, 12 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. and to retire to bed. At length we retired, with the mule-bells tinkling incessantly, and the horses, asses, and muleteers, inside their pickets, mingled in a confused circle round our three tents. The night was cold enough, with the thermometer at 35° Fahr. The next morning dawned brightly, with Venus peeping down through a crevice by the tent door, and before daylight all was astir, and a crowd sur¬ rounded us. The day was given to diplomacy, and a weary one it was. Scenes, strange and unwonted to western eyes, fascinate everywhere the novice in eastern travel ; but the various events of this day far exceeded in humour and quaintness the ordinary episodes of tent life. Hamzi was early afoot, and in the doorway before we were dressed. Some new intrigue we were quite sure to have from the clever Arab attorney and money-lender, who holds half the Sheikhs of Judsea under his thumb. He is very cautious, however, in negotiating about Moab. He remembers how, for once in his life, he was out¬ witted there, when accompanying Palmer and Drake ; they had entrusted to him all their cash ; and the old man had allowed himself (for he is an arrant coward), to be bullied out of every piastre of it by the Moabite Bedouin, and afterwards had to refund. He came now to recommend the Ta’amirah as joint guides with the Jehalin, which meant double back- shiesh from us, and a liberal percentage on both for himself ; but, in spite of his oppressive politeness, I was stupid, and Mr. Klein imperturbable. Chap. I. A JEWISH INTERIOR. 13 After breakfast we set out with a Moslem Hebronite to visit the outside of Machpelah, and the other lions of the place. There has certainly been a marvellous improvement in the manners of Hebron since our last visit. The visits of the Prince of Wales, and of Mr. Fergusson, and their admission within the very sacred building itself without any heaven-sent calamity as the result of the profanation, have perhaps checked fanaticism ; but, at least, they have found that Europeans are profitable visitors. We were admitted a few steps up the Mosque stairs, and this without any of the scowls and curses which met me on my former visit. We were afterwards very civilly conducted round the outer walls, made their circuit, and on the high ground on the north side were allowed to get on to the roof of a side chapel, and to peer through an opening in the dome into the mosque below, where we could only see one tomb, with a lamp suspended over it. Wandering afterwards in the bazaar, we invested in some jars of native quince jam, and were accosted by a Jew, who offered us wine for sale, and invited us to his house, curiously concealed, up alleys and dark entries. Rude, but scrupulously clean, was the menage. The upper part of the large room, which formed the dwelling, was raised five steps above the rest, and here we were entertained. The host’s fair wife, for the family were Russian Jews, spread a clean white table-cloth, and produced glasses and a bottle of wine. The only more private part of 14 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. the house was a portion above the dais/ partially partitioned off, where sat the daughter, a pretty Jewess, at her needlework, and showing by her glances her interest and curiosity. When we had completed our purchase of excellent wine of Eschol, and returned to our tents, another diplomatic scene occurred. Aboirda Houk and some Jehalin, had arrived, but the Ta’amirah spearmen still sat impassive round our camp, in silent array, loth to lose the charge of such golden travellers. Sternly Mr. Klein told them they were not engaged ; still they sat imperturbable and motionless. The sun was shining brightly, and, without their knowledge, some capital photographs of the groups were secured. Later in the day we attempted a walk towards Debir and the “ Upper and Nether Springs,” (Judg. i. 1 5,) but after some hours were fain to hurry back on the threatening appearance of the sky, the wind having gone round to the west, and clouds rapidly banking up. We had scarcely returned before we had to encounter one of the least agreeable ex- periences of tent life in a storm of wind and rain, such as southern latitudes only know. Everythin 2: was made snug and taut as speedily as possible ; trenches dug round the tents, boxes piled one on another under canvas, mules and horses with corn- sacks and chaff hastily hurried off to the shelter of the Khan ; but still the motley crowd of Hebronites hung around us, wet to the skin, but with curiosity not yet damped. Chap. X. DIPLOMATIC DIFFICULTIES. 15 Intrigue meantime had been hard at work. We had offered Abou da Houk 2500 piastres to take us safe to Kerak. He felt inclined to accept it, but the Hebron Bismarck, Hamzi, withdrew him, and got him into conference with the Ta’amirah sheikh. He soon returns with Hamzi and the others, says it must be £50 (6000 piastres) ; Mr. Klein throws back his hands in horror ; Daoud, our head man, vociferates his orders to the muleteers to pack up for Jerusalem. Hamzi turns affectionately to kiss me ; I sternly turn aside, and will not even look at him, as I sit on my bedding. Another sederunt of the groups aside, under the lee of another tent, though it is now pouring with rain. At length they come back and announce to Mr. Klein “ tayib “ very well,” without the slightest movement of a muscle. He quietly raises his head from his book, and asks for the seal of the sheikh, which is handed to him. Daoud meantime has been playing his little game, telling the Jehalin that if they get a high price, he, as dragoman, must tax it for his share ; but if they accept a smaller sum he should let them off, and look to us for his percentage. But Abou da Houk has taken fright at the threat that we should cross the Jordan by the north route, and so save him all further trouble. Knowing the fickle¬ ness of the Arab mind, Mr. Klein had demanded his seal as a pledge till the contract could be drawn up. The other chiefs of the Jehalin also draw their rings from their fingers in obedience to his example. 16 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. At once a messenger is despatched for a pro¬ fessional scribe, and a sheet of paper duly stamped with the Imperial monogram, on which the im¬ portant deed is to be drawn; for even the Turks have learned the value of stamp duties to the ex¬ chequer. The pair (Abou and his uncle Selameh) retire, meanwhile, to take counsel with Hamzi, and return to say they repent of their bargain, and must have 1200 piastres additional. But the crafty Hamzi has outwitted himself, and Mr. Klein is large in indignation, and firmly refuses to surrender the pledged seals. They grumble, but remain seated in the tent doorway. The scribe soon arrives, — an intelligent, pleasant-looking, well-dressed Turk, — drops his red shoes, and seats himself just inside the tent with his inkhorn and reed-pen. We are all inside, sitting on the carpets in a circle round the walls, Mr. Klein alone on a camp-stool in front, while the other high contracting parties sit uncon¬ cernedly under their hoods outside. Daoud standing behind the scribe, keenly watches every word as he writes it down on the paper spread on his knee. The Jehalin outside look, under the rain, their wildest and their dirtiest, and most uncomfortable ruffians to meet in an unfriendly wray. Hamzi, cunning and well-dressed as ever, has by his side the disappointed Ta’amirah sheikh. Every word of the contract is discussed and pertinaciously wrangled over; the young sheikh alone feeling it dignified to maintain silence. Hamzi pertinaciously suggests amendments, Chap. 1. AN AEAB CONTRACT. 17 which Mr. Klein as determinately resists. Finally, the document is finished ; but, meantime, the sun has set in a lurid glare, and a tremendous thunder¬ storm bursts forth. It is by the light of the in¬ cessant flashes that the last sentences are written, but the imperturbable Arabs move not. And now for the sealing. Mr. Klein hands the rings to Daoud, who carefully moistens them in the inkhorn, and applies them to the paper. One of the chiefs has forgotten his seal, so Daoud takes the man’s fore¬ finger, wets it in the inkhorn, and gravely presses it on the document. Then come the attesting witnesses, and finally, during a terrific peal of thunder, the final solemn words are added “ God is the best witness.” Then come appeals for backshiesh, food, and other customary encroachments on the strict letter. We finally conclude a codicil that a sum of 250 piastres is to be paid by us to the Sheikh of the Beni Atiyeli, a tribe of very bad repute, said to be on a marauding expedition from the frontiers of Egypt in the south, in case we unfortunatelv fall in with them in the v Ghor es Safieh ; and it is understood we start in the morning for Engedi. And now we think we see our way clear to Moab. Alter agreeing on the contract, some amusing pre¬ cautions had to be taken. Half the money was to be paid in advance ; and before the solemn sealing, the napoleons were delivered by me to our drago¬ man, counted out by him, then placed one by one, by him, in the palm of Abou da Houk, while our c 18 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. I. representative held the said palm open, and then turned the gold pieces on to the ground, in the centre of the circle, where they had to remain till all was completed. The storm cleared before sunrise, and, after des¬ patching a crowd of medical consultees, we could enjoy a bath, al fresco, in the pools left by the last night’s rain. Our road to Engedi was the next question. There are two known routes, one the northerly, joining the track from Bethlehem to Tekoa, Wolcott’s route; the other, taken by Robinson and Smith, going south to Kurniul (Carmel) and Maon, and thence turning due east. Finding the district between these two a blank on the maps, we determined to try to cut across this wilderness. All declared there was no such road, but we determined to make one, and our muleteers and guides at length gave way. ( 19 ) CHAPTER II. Route from Hebron to Engedi — Yakin — Forest of Zipli — Kirbet Zadoud — Ka’abineli camp — Hospitality — Arab coffee — Un¬ expected flood in the night — Effect of sudden rains — Change of flora — Wady el Ghar — El Husasah, Hazziz — Cliff of Ziz — Steep pass — Descent to Engedi — Rich botany — Rashayideh Arabs — A Bedouin fantasia — Ornithology of Engedi — Camp under Sebbeh ( Masada ) Wady Seyal — Lifeless desolation — Wady Makheras — Visit to the fortress of Masada — Ancient Jewish synagogue — Contrast with the synagogues of Galilee — Acoustic phenomenon — Remarkable Aurora — Route to J ebel Usdum — Ford to the Lisan — View of Mount Hor — Curious Arab custom — Oasis of Zuweirah — Lateness of the season. At length we quit Hebron, and turn our backs on the outskirts of civilization. We found our new route perfectly practicable, though very rough, and without much to interest. The first part of it lay across the wilderness of Ziph. The ground was very hilly, with narrow valleys of rich loam, which were all rudely cultivated for wheat, without fences. These open fields are the property, partly of the Hebronites, but chiefly of the Ta’amirah, who, with a ready mar¬ ket at Jerusalem, have begun to find agriculture profitable, and are condescending to till the soil. We left Kurmul on our right, near enough to recon¬ noitre its fine old castle through our glasses. On the left we saw here and there in the distance a few straggling trees, lonely witnesses of the forest that once existed there, and continued as late as the time c 2 20 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IT. of the Crusades. Here and there a covey of rock- partridges ran up the rugged sides of the hills ; and twice we espied gazelle browsing on the young wheat in the valleys. The sportsmen were at once in pur¬ suit, but we were not destined to have venison for supper that night. After leaving the remains of Yakin, none of the places, or rather sites and desolate heaps which we passed, are marked in any of the maps, and only one wady, Wady el Ghdr. We proceeded nearly due east, sighting Beni Naur on our left to the north, where were a few scattered trees, and visiting the castle called Kirbet Yakin, a curious ruin, with a cistern, and a well long since dry. Within was a sort of square inner chamber, over the doorway of which was let in an old quoin, on which was cut an Arabic inscription. On this spot we found ourselves exactly on the watershed of the Mediterranean and Dead Seas ; and now ended all cultivation in the bottoms of the wadys, and the traces of the olden terraces which had hitherto uninterruptedly furrowed their sides. We had entered the true wilderness. How far the forest of Ziph extended it is not easy to say, but there are traces of it, in an occasional tree, and there seems no reason, from the nature of the soil, why the woods may not have stretched nearly to the barren sandy marl, which overlies the limestone for a few miles west of the Dead Sea. We passed but few ruins, — Um Halassah, nothing Chap. II. ARAB HOSPITALITY. 21 more than a small village, and Kirbet Zadoud. Up and down the bare rocky hills we passed, till just before sunset, in a little grassy hollow, we came, much to our surprise, on an encampment of Ka’abineli Arabs, the tribe whose home is between the south end of the Dead Sea and Petra, and with whom I recalled a not very agreeable rencontre, when in my former visit we had to capture several of them as they attempted to plunder our camp. Now all their flocks and herds were with them, and they wTere, of course, pacifically disposed. Here, there¬ fore, we at once determined to camp, on the slope a few hundred yards above them. As hospitality demanded, we rode down straight to the Ka’abineh camp. The sheikh was away, but a headman promptly invited us into his tent. We dismounted, left our arms piled outside, and stooped, or rather, almost crept, under the black camel’s hair roof. The description of our entertainment may serve for that of many a subsequent one during our expe¬ dition. Picture a parallelogram of canvas quite black, and with a roof only three or four feet above the ground, one side turned lengthways against the wind, the other opening into a sort of square sur¬ rounded by similar abodes, a fire of broomsticks in the centre, with the smoke and ashes blowing into everyone’s face ; all our party squatted on their hams, or sitting on their heels with spurs on, and their costumes diversified by those of their Arab hosts ; the tent full to overflowing. An ancient in THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. 92 — t — j the centre holds a little flat pan with coffee berries over the flame, and stirs them with a stick, then with great care pounds the roasted coffee in a mortar, turns it with his hand into a little tin pot of boiling water ; then letting it simmer for a minute or two, turns it over into a second, and lets that simmer in turn, and when it threatens to boll over, pours the beverage into three handleless, saucerless blue china cups, which form the company store of the household. He carefully inquires from an Arabic-speaking Howadji, which is the sheikh of the party, sips his cup to show that its contents are not of a baneful nature, and then courteously hands it and its fellows to the chief guests; the rank and file being supplied in their turn, as the cups become empty. Dusk is falling on us, and the little fire sends up light as well as warmth from its grateful embers, as we sit on, and gather through our dragoman some stories of the adventures and wanderings of our hosts from Petra, their original home. As we left the Ka’abineh camp, a return visit was invited and promptly promised, with the hint that a little raw coffee would be an acceptable present. A more truly pastoral scene can scarcely be imagined than the trooping home of the sheep, goats, and a few camels from the hills at nightfall. Our camps were snugly ensconced in a sort of basin towards which the hills gently sloped on all sides. From every side the flocks appeared, almost simultaneously, led by the shepherd, often a little boy ; the goats and Chap. II. EFFECT OF SUDDEN RAINS. 23 sheep, generally in parallel lines, gambolling after him, as he sang an Arab stave, and the proud bell¬ wethers keeping close to his heels, making music from their tinkling necks. The rain, which had considerately kept off all day, made up for its complaisance at night. With a sim¬ plicity not very creditable to experienced campmen, we had .neglected the trenching of our tents. The whole slope on which we had pitched became a shallow stream, and we awoke before daybreak to find a river flowing through the camp, over and under our waterproofs indiscriminately. Camp moving in the rain is a dreary business, but it had to be done, and the party had a stock of good-humour and readiness to enjoy everything, from coffee and stale brown bread, in the open, for breakfast, to the minor amusements of horse-catching, and vain efforts with wet guns. It rained for the greater part of the day, lifting occasionally, but never sufficiently to show the sky. At least we had the fortune to see what can have fallen to the lot of but few European travellers, the bare ragged hill-sides, and the deep ravines of the wilderness of Judah, covered with torrents, and rolling down tiny cascades from every rock, while each valley was a pool of water. The tremendous force of sudden rain on a thirsty, stony soil was well exemplified ; and the rapidity with which the loosened stones and large fragments of rock, split by the com¬ bined action of sun and water, were hurried down 24 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. the tiny glens, scooped out many a channel, and gathered ever-increasing masses of debris in the course of the torrents. So easily disintegrated is the soft limestone of these wadys, that the rain of a few hours, probably the first heavy down-pour since last winter, did more to deepen and widen the channels than the storms of several years could effect on a Northumbrian hill-side. No geologist could watch the effect of this storm without being convinced that in calculating the progress of denu¬ dation, other factors than that of time must be taken into account, and that denudation may proceed most rapidly where rains are most uncertain. The gradual change of the flora is worthy of notice. From the moment of our crossing this watershed, the vegetable mould, which more or less scantily covers the country on the Mediterranean side, dis¬ appears; perhaps because this soil is due to the primeval forest, while the forest did not extend eastwards of the crest. This I merely throw out as a conjecture : but though vegetation instantly becomes more sparse, it only gradually changes its character ; until by the time we have reached the crest of the cliffs overhanging Engedi, there is scarce a plant identical with those of the neighbourhood of Hebron; and though the altitude has not diminished more than 1000 feet, the flora is strictly of the desert type, such as is found south of Beersheba, and in the Ti’h. During our ride we crossed and followed for a short time the wadys Aboul Hayad and Mudabab- Chap. II. CLIFF OF ZIZ. 25 flakk’r, neither of which are laid down in the maps, and both of them insignificant ravines, then the Wady el Ghar, which is very deep and rugged, certainly the most important in the drainage of the district. Finally we crossed the Wady Dal’al, not marked in the maps, a feeder of the Wady Sudeir from the S.W., and soon reached the top of the pass down to Engedi-, riding across a piece of table-land called El Husasah, i.e., Haz-ziz — the cliff of Ziz (2 Chron. xx. 16). Our ride must have been across the wilderness of Jeruel (id.) of which name we caught no trace in the Bedouin nomenclature : and some one of those desolate heaps, now nameless, which we passed before reaching it, must have “the watch tower in the wilderness” (2 Chron. xx. 24), from which the invasion of the hordes of marauders from the south was signalled. This pass and cliff of Ziz seems to have been, even from the days of Chedorlaomer and Abraham, the one ascent by which invaders from the south and east, after doubling the south end of the Dead Sea, entered the hill country of Judaea. Up to Engedi they could march without interruption, by the shores of the sea below : and though there are several openings south of Engedi, by which troops could easily make the ascent into the upper country, yet any of them would necessitate a long march across a rough and almost waterless wilderness. Practically, then, Ziz was the key of the pass. To the north of it the shore line is impracticable 26 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. even for footmen, and there are no paths by which beasts conlcl be led up. Hence the old importance of Hazezon-Tamar, or Engedi, which is still the route by which the trade between Jerusalem and Kerak is carried on, and by which the former city obtains its supplies of salt. The clouds lifted just as we reached the crest, and we looked down on the grand panorama of the sea, and the line of the Moab Mountains beyond ; while the steam rose up from the oasis of Engedi at our feet, literally smoking from the unwonted moisture. At the risk of being accused of suffering from “ Holy- land on the brain,” by those who can only measure grandeur by bigness ; and who can see nothing to enjoy in Hermon or Lebanon, because they are only 10,000 feet high, and do not reach the Alps or the Himalayas ; I must confess that few landscapes have impressed me more than the sudden unfolding of the Dead Sea basin, and its eastern wall, from the top of this pass. The path is a mere zigzag, chiefly artificial, cut out of the side of the precipices, but occasionally aided by nature. We dismounted and led our horses carefully down the rugged and winding staircase ; those who were in front inwardly uneasy lest any of those behind, or rather above us, should dislodge a stone, and hurl us to the bottom. The descent by , our barometer was about 1800 feet. The pass is just at the inner edge of the semi¬ circular wall of cliff, which spanning a chord of about Chap. II. RASHAYIDEH ARABS. 27 three miles from the Wady Sudeir to Wady Areyeh, embraces a horse-shoe plain, that gently slopes to the shore. 300 or 400 feet from the bottom is a break in the cliff; it becomes a rugged slope, and at the base of a rock the copious warm fresh spring of Ain Jidy (Engedi), i.e ., “the fountain of the kid,” bursts forth amidst an oasis of tropical vegetation. Here that quaint asclepiad the osher, the jujube, the beautiful parasite Lonicera indica, and a host of strange semi-tropical plants send our botanist into an ecstacy of delight. There were still three hours of daylight, which were usefully spent by the botanists and naturalists gun in hand. The Rashayideh, the tribe who claim and who cul¬ tivate the oasis, were encamped not far off, and busily occupied in weeding their young wheat. They have not many visitors, and I was very soon recognized and greeted by several of them as an old friend. The Rashayideh are a very small and weak, and therefore, prudently, an un warlike tribe, contriving to keep on good terms with both Jehalin and Ta’amirah, and oc¬ casionally rather heavily laid under tribute by both. Like the Ghawarhineh, they are partly agricultural, though not substituting the hut for the tent ; and are of a decidedly different type of countenance from the Jehalin, whom they far surpass in good looks, and, as I found on my previous visit, in quick-witted in¬ telligence. They willingly lent a hand to gather forage for our horses, and after we had bestowed on them and on our Jehalin guard a supper of rice, 28 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. they rewarded us with a capital “fantasia,” or Arab dance and recitative, round our camp fire, which they continued till far into night. The entertainment was on this wise : a string of eight Bedouin of the two tribes appeared before the door of the “ great ” or dining tent, under the eaves of which the Howadji were accommodated with camp- stools. Ranged in a line, one acted as master of the ceremonies (for band there was none), and led off in a monotonous chant, taken up by others one by one, and then joined in by all in chorus, their bodies bending to the ground, hands clapping, and feet moving half a step forwards in regular time, till within a few inches of the noses of the spectators, when, with grinning rows of ivory gleaming out of the dark night, they yelled and retreated. A Chinese lantern of cloth supplied the place of gas, a railway reading lamp did duty for footlights. The interlude consisted of guttural roars or growls, such as may be heard any day in the Zoological Gardens, shortly before the feeding-time of the carnivora. The various acts sang the praises of the illustrious guests and their mountaineering feats, the botanist as “ the Father of Cabbage,” being duly honoured with special mention. The grand finale of each scene was a thrilling whoop, described by a huntsman present as a grand “ view-holloa,” but voted by all to be inimitable. The firing of matchlocks, and illuminations of magnesium wire, were prominent features in the piece, thus successfully put on the — Chap. II. DESOLATE MASADA. 29 we cannot say boards — but, the sand and stones which took their place, at Engedi for the first time on February 2nd, 1872. The greater part of the next day was spent in revisiting the most interesting sites of desolate Engedi, especially the fine caves up the Wady Sudeir, with their stalagmites and luxuriant tresses of maiden-hair fern. The access is not easy, and in¬ volved so much scrambling, that it was not surprising that some travellers who have been here since my first visit, had failed in discovering the caves. Many small birds were making the oasis their winter quar¬ ters, and I was fortunate enough to obtain a pair of a new or undescribed species of warbler, something like the Sardinian warbler of South Europe, and which has been named Sylvia melanothorax , Black- throated warbler (‘Ibis,’ 1872, p. 296). In the afternoon we bid farewell to the Rashayideh, the successors of the Kenites of Engedi, and followed our mules along the shore, intending to camp and spend our Sunday under Sebbeh, the celebrated ancient fortress of Masada. With the exception of one or two sulphur hot springs close to the edge of the lake, the ride is the most uninteresting pos¬ sible, utterly devoid of life, and with the cliffs and mountains rising upwards of 2000 feet sheer, glaring- red in the sunlight, and the soft marl deposit at their base, of a monotonous, dazzling whiteness. This part of the shore more truly reaches the popular notion of the desolation of the Dead Sea than any other. 30 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. We found our tents pitched not very far from the shore, bv the side of the bed, if bed it may be called, No. 1. SEBBKH. DEAD SEA FROM OUR CAMP. of the Wady Seyal, or “ Acacia Valley,” and at least two miles from the base of the hills, which could only be reached through a labyrinth of soft marl, scooped, torn, and furrowed by winter torrents into every fantastic shape in which wild fancy could have moulded matter; ruins, and crumbling castles, flat- topped mamelons, square forts, cairns, pinnacles, and tide-washed rocks, all made of this crumbling white and very salt deposit, so soft that it was very difficult anywhere to climb them. Yet not a plant nor a Chap. II. SEBBEH. 31 bird could be seen, save here and there in the low bed of the wady a tuft of some salt-loving plant, and a gnarled acacia. A solitary desert hare, with body not larger than a rabbit, and ears one-third longer than our hare’s, was occasionally started, and was speedily lost in the labyrinth. We soon felt the change of temperature implied in being 1300 feet below the level of the sea. The night was sultry, and more so was the day, happily the day of rest. After morning service in our tent, I had the pleasure of revisiting Sebbeh, and recalling once more on the spot the tragic history of Masada. The fortress will well repay many a visit ; and I was especially interested in refreshing my memory, while enjoying the sanguine hope of soon seeing the sister castle of Machserus, yet more closely bound up with both Jewish and inspired history. We did not attempt the eastern face, but felt that the quiet zigzag round to the western shoulder by the Roman causeway, was more within a Sabbath-day’s journey. I am not about to describe afresh what I have already described, and what others who followed me (one of whom left for us his pocket hand¬ kerchief, marked C. M.) have still more accurately depicted. We corrected our barometric observa¬ tions of the height of the fortress, which is 1250 instead of 1500 feet as I had erroneously cal¬ culated it. The great cistern at the south end we found, in spite of the late rains, to be empty, doubtless from the stoppage of the conduits, which 32 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chai\ II. can still be seen. Near the top we noticed two openings into the cliff, hewn through the native rock at the south face, and which a pair of lanner falcons and several pairs of owls had found most convenient as affording secure access to their nests in the roof, while the hyaenas had been using the broken steps down which we scrambled. The comparatively perfect building in the centre of the enclosure, and which I in common with others, for want of a better term, have spoken of as the chapel,* seems most probably to have been the synagogue of the fortress. As there is no trace of any Christian occupation, historical or architectural, and as the building seems undoubtedly contemporary with the rest of the constructions, we may fairly adopt this conjecture ; especially as on close examination of the contiguous chamber to the north, there are traces of its having been fitted as a bath, doubtless for the ceremonial ablutions, while the. other chamber would be for the use of students of the holy books. If this be so, this is certainly the most ancient synagogue preserved to our days, and the only one prior to the capture of Jerusalem by Titus. All those so admirably illus¬ trated in the papers of the Palestine Exploration Fund by Captain C. W. Wilson, R.E.,f in Galilee, were presumably erected after the return of the Jews in the time of Hadrian, with, let us hope, the excep- * ‘ Land of Israel,’ 2nd Edit., p. 313. f ‘Palestine Exploration Fund Statement,’ 18G9, p. 37. Chap. II. ACOUSTIC PHENOMENON. 33 tion of that at Tel Hum. If this building were a synagogue, it differs from those in Galilee in being- placed east and west, instead of north and south (although that at Irbid is almost a rectangle) ; and in the absence of columns. Both these variations may •J be simply caused by the difference of conditions between a fortress chapel, constructed for the wants of a garrison in a confined space, and a house of worship in an open village or town. While on the fortress, we descried a party of Arabs descending the gorge of Nemriyeh towards our camp, and our guides, keener-sighted without, than we with, our field glasses, pronounced them to be the company of our old friend Harnzi of Hebron, on their way to reinforce our escort ; and on our return we found our old tormentor and protector overflowing as usual with poetical civilities. The acoustic properties of these clear regions have often been spoken of. We had here a wonder¬ ful instance. Hayne had remained behind for an hour, when we started for the ascent of Masada. When at the top, we saw him on his way to join us at the foot of the next cliff, about 500 yards from the base of the rock of Masada, and 1250 feet below us ; yet at this immense distance of over 600 yards, we not only carried on a conversation with him, but, as he proved, on joining us, he could hear several of our remarks to each other. We found abundance of water in the gullies, west of Sebbeh. On our way back, I noticed a pair of the beautiful and rare 34 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. wheatear, Saxicola monacha, which I never found elsewhere, except on the salt mountain of Jebel Usdum, but which is also found on the dreary steppes of Nubia and Abyssinia. We sat up rather late after evening service, attracted by a magnificent aurora borealis, a sight unwonted in these latitudes. I never remember, even in the north of England, to have seen one so brilliant, and so persistent in its colouring. It was all orange-red, with grand streaks intensifying the rays occasionally, but no green or pale rays.* The Arabs, to our great surprise, seemed very little attracted, and certainly not, as we might have expected, alarmed by it. On our questioning them, they said they had seen it sometimes before, and that the last time was when the French and Germans were going to fight. We asked them if they thought it was a portent. They said, they did not know, but they believed it had to do with the north country, and not with themselves. We were in¬ terested some weeks afterwards to find by the European papers, that we, down by the Dead Sea, had not been alone in our admiration of the extra¬ ordinary northern lights of 4th February 1872, but that they had attracted great attention, not only in Europe, but even in Egypt, far up the Nile. From Sebbeh the route to Jebel Usdum is along the shore.j * See Appendix A. t I was able to correct, or at least to alter, the orthography of one or two names. There are seven wadys from Sebbeh to the Chap. II. VIEW OF MOUNT HOE. 35 When just opposite the opening of Wacly Hatrura, Selameh pointed out to me the exact spot, where he, when a youth, had forded across to the Lisan. From his age, this may have been 60 or 70 years ago. There must have been considerable changes since then in the currents of the Dead Sea, for Lynch’s soundings show a maximum of 3 fathoms, or 18 feet : no one, according to Arab testimony, has attempted this feat for many years, yet Selameh avows he did it on his camel, which would make the maximum depth 8 feet. Just at the crest of the headland “ Mersed, ” which we crossed, and where there is no wady whatever, we observed a curious Arab custom. It is just at the point where Van de Yelde’s and my own maps show that the cliffs come quite close to the sea, leaving no beach whatever, and where we have to mount the shoulder of the headland. On S.W. angle of the sea, and none of these hear names which can be referred to an earlier time than the Arabic language. They are Wady Safsaf, “the willow valley,” erroneously marked “Hafhaf;” Eubt-el-Jamus, “ the binding of the heifer Senin, “ broom Urn el Bedun, “ the mother of the Ibex Hatrura, Umbaghek, “ the mother of the cow,” and Mejd. These names sufficiently show that no tradition of olden time has shaped the nomenclature. I was amused at an instance of the way in which names may become in¬ terpolated. One of our party, eager to collect information, asked old Selameh the name of the headland on our right. At the same moment a pair of sand grouse were flushed. “ K’tar k’tar ” exclaimed our guide, looking on game as far beyond names in importance, and down went Wady el Kattar in the note book. Nor was this enough, for a second time in the same journal, did Wady el Kit ter, evoked under like circumstances, appear. D o 36 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. II. reaching the crest of the shoulder, the distant mountains of Edom come in view, and among these, very distinctly, Jebel Haroun, “ Mount Aaron, ” the Mount Hor of the Scripture, and a sacred spot of the Moslems. Every rock and boulder of the rugged steep by the track was piled with small stones. No devout Bedouin will pass that way without adding to the pile ; for every traveller, when he first catches sight of the holy mountain, must according to custom, place there his “ stone of witness.” We had another instance of the tenacity of old Scriptural customs, in the way in which, as of old, names are given. One of our Jehalin guard was called Khideir, i.e.f “ watering place.” On Mr. Klein asking him how he came to have so strange a name, he told us he was born as his mother was going with her pitcher to the watering place, and first saw the light at the “ Khideir,” Passing Wady Nejd, we soon reached the turn towards the east, and riding across the open scrubby plain, which forms the oasis of Zuweirah, reached the N.W. shoulder of Jebel Usdurn, the “Salt Mountain, ” where we were to camp, favoured by some fine acacia or “ seyal ” trees. Grievous was the disappointment of our botanist. I had promised him here a rich harvest. On my former expedition, we had collected here in the very same week of the year, more than 70 species of plants in flower. The gravel was then literally carpeted with colour ; now scarcely a blade of green or a blossom could be seen. Chap. II. LOT’S WIFE. 37 The lateness, or the non-arrival of the rains, had made all the difference between barrenness and fertility. Oil strolling along the edge of the moun¬ tain, I was struck by the change which the short period of eight years had made in several well remembered spots, how sundry isolated fragments of salt, or “ Lot’s wives ” had been washed away, and other pinnacles had been detached by the rains to take their places. Turning round the northern corner of Jebel Usdum by Kas Hish (the Sodom of De Saulcy, but merely the remains of a small fort for the protection of the salt workers), we enter on the “ Yale of Salt.” ( 38 ) CHAPTER III. An early start — Effect of the sun on the mountains — Sudden thunderstorm — A salt cavern — Marl deposit on the salt moun¬ tain — Its origin — Elevation of the New Red Sandstone — Position of the Salt Rock — Crossing the Sebkha — Alarm of marauders — Frontier of Moab — Sudden apparition of enemies — A threatened skirmish — Naked warriors — Our guide stripped — The Reni Atiyeh — A treaty made — March through the wood — Difficulties of exploration — A costly guard — Vegetation of the Safieh — Ancient remains — Kasr el Bushariyeh — Old mill — Moslem burying ground — Remains exposed — Boundary of Moab — Brook Zered — Suphali — Variety in the vegetation of the Safieh — Horsemen from Kerak — Son of the Mudjelli — Petty thefts — A mule on its trial — Return of the Jehalin. It was important to have an early start, in order to get into the Safieh, or south-east oasis of the Dead Sea, in good time, and our people who had not forgotten our chidings for many previous delays, determined to rouse us betimes, and accordingly served coffee, and began to loosen tent pegs at 3.30 a.m. We would not risk a late start by sending them back to bed, but took their practical joke as a matter of course. Brightly burnt our four watch fires as we sauntered about. Mr. Johnson took the opportunity of a clear starlit sky, to make obser¬ vations for latitude and longitude. A little after 4 o’clock the crescent moon rose over the mountains of Moab ; and the sun had scarcely cast the gloaming Chap. TIL A SALT CAVERN. 39 of approaching dawn over the eastern peaks, when before 6 o’clock we were off, and began to round the north end of Jebel Usdum. At 6.30 the sun rose, and its effect on the western face of the Moab mountains in front, and on the sea beneath them, was very wonderful. A deep greenish mist seemed to wrap the lower parts, gradually melting into a dark red higher up, and the few fleecy clouds were gilded. Soon a change came over all , and the rolling peals and black masses in the SAY. warned us of a coming storm. We could not hurry on. We were now in the most desolate and dreary corner of that desolate shore, without one trace of vegetable life, not even a stray salsola, or salicornia, to relieve the flat sand beds. The sand and loam of the shore was deep and heavy, our horses sank at each step above the fetlocks, and not until we were wet through, could we turn to the Salt Mountains on our right, and ride into a salt cavern, or rather tunnel. The bottom was dry and dusty. We dis¬ mounted, and explored it with wax-matches, when suddenly a sound of waters overhead, and in a few minutes a stream of salt mud was rushing along the cavern to the sea. The storm was not of long continuance, and grandly it rolled northwards up the lake in a black mass, leaving us in sunshine. I had time here to notice and consider some points about the mountain and its formation. Some fine perpendicular sections were displayed from top to bottom, the salt having 40 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. cleft perpendicularly. The whole ridge of pure rock- salt, perhaps 200 feet high, is covered by a layer of chalky marl and natron, about 50 or 60 feet thick. •j * I have often wondered how this was formed, and used to imagine it had been uplifted on the top of the salt, and that the position of the ridge was due to local elevation. But it seems to me now, from some facts I noticed during the sudden rain, that the superincumbent mass is simply the earthy matter, left on the top by the action of water, which has in the course of ages washed all the soluble salts into the sea, leaving only this detritus or sediment. The process is actually going on, and may be seen on any of the detached blocks, which have been disintegrated from the mass, and which, clear and transparent at first, soon became covered, but only on their top, with this earthy deposit. How many ages must have been requisite to wash away by gentle rain-action salt enough to leave 50 feet of marly sediment on the ridge ! I see no signs of any upheaval of the ridge. The mass would rather appear to have been left, owing to the superior hardness of the salt, when the torrents from the south scooped out the whole southern Sebkha, and swept all its soft loam and chalk into the sea, while the torrents of the Mahawat and Zuweirah performed the same office less completely on its western side ; the gravel and sand being there 50 feet higher than the mud on the eastern side. This theory would leave the whole salt mass below •/ Chap. III. ALARM OF MARAUDERS. 41 the old level of the marl deposits, which fringe the base of the cliffs all down the western shore, and also the shoulder of the Lisan on the eastern side. Again, our observations in Moab showed us that the new red sandstone cannot be far beneath the sur¬ face on the western side, because there has been a manifest upheaval along the whole line, and the new red sandstone is uniformly displayed under the eocene limestone, which overlies it to a depth of about 200 feet more than the whole height of the western range. Assuming then the equal deposition of the chalky limestone on either side, the rock salt must be lying on the new red, at a depth of more than 200 feet below the surface. Thus the salt deposit of the Jordan valley is similar in its nature and geo¬ logical position to the salt rocks of Cheshire, and the new red sandstone of England, At 9 a.m. after 3 hours, we reached, within a mile, the south end of the Salt Mountain, and finding the bottom firmer, immediately turned due east to cross the Sebkha, or desolate sand swamp. Heavy work we found it, after the rain, and for safety we had to keep close to our mules, for this is “ no man’s land.” Great alarm was expressed by our guards on detect¬ ing a party of men in the far distance on the plain south of Usdum. However, wonderful as are their powers of vision, our field glasses beat them for once, and we were able to reassure them, by telling them that of the seven one only had a gun, and that they were driving two black cows or donkeys. We found 42 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. afterwards that they were a party of cattle lifters, who had stolen two cows from the Safieh in the night. We crossed the shallow beds of the Kuseib, the Jeib, the Ghurundel, and other lesser drains from the Akabah, whose united contributions to the waters of the lake are very small; and before 11 o’clock we reached the Wady Tufileh, a mere ditch with muddy banks, without a particle of vegetation, with a strip of narrow', greasy sandy plain beyond, and then at the distance of 200 to 250 yards, a line of thick dense canebrake, the commencement of the Safieh, the exact boundary line between ancient Edom, where we were, and Moab. As we rode up to the deep muddy bank, ready to ford, a tall mounted Arab with a long spear dashed from a narrow opening in the reeds ; and, in an instant, about 150 wild armed Bedouin deployed from the canebrake, and spread themselves along the narrow plain on the other side, gesticulating, and wildly brandishing their weapons. They were a savage looking lot, more like Maoris, or Fiji islanders, than any western race, as they yelled and capered, evidently meaning mischief, and stripped for the fight, for the Bedouin, unless mounted, always go naked into battle. Some had guns, some spears, a few huge swords, and many only most formidable clubs, or maces with a round spiked head. We were bewildered for the moment, and I feared the Safieh was destined to be, for the second time, a turning point for me. Suddenly our gallant old •- V — - - - - — \ •# t Chap. 111. ARAB SKIRMISH. 43 sheikh, Selameh, dashed across the stream, to parley with the single mounted horseman, a fine-looking, wild fellow, clad in a sheepskin coat with the woolly side in, and painted yellow. Several shots were fired harmlessly from the other side, but none in. return from ours. As the old sheikh mounted on the opposite bank, his horse sank in the mud, and rolled over ; in an instant- he was dragged out by the ruffians, his gun and all else taken from him, and he was lost to our sight in the melee. Some of the foe now waded across to where we were standing in line by the edge, apparently aiming at capturing some of the mules behind. One of our Jehalin footguard, a fine young Bedouin, who was my special companion, and had been also with me on my former expedition, tried to push them back, and was instantly felled senseless to the ground, by the butt end of a gun, which cut his cheek to the bone. Another fellow came up, as if to despatch him with his club, but was held back by his own party. Old Hamzi now came to the front on foot, assured us that it was a tribal quarrel, and that we had nothing to do with the fray, and, barelegged, waded across in great excitement, when he too was lost in the yelling crowd. Daoud, our dragoman, next spurred his horse across, but fell, and before he could recover his footing, his outer clothing, belt, satchel, and money¬ bag were stripped from him ; but he still held on tenaciously to Hayne’s gun, which he was carrying. 44 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IH. In a moment his saddle-bags, which contained the luncheon of the party, were emptied, but he suc¬ ceeded in recovering his horse, and was the only mounted man of our side across. Another Jehalin who ventured over was felled ; but Daoud, who throughout behaved with admirable coolness, had evidently by this time got the chieftain’s ear, and a long and vociferous discussion ensued, which we anxiously watched. To fight would have been mad¬ ness; we had no cover, no possible retreat, and were overwhelmed by numbers ; so we kept back our muleteers and guards, and patiently awaited the event. It turned out that the tribe were the dreaded Beni Atiyeh, a new tribe from Arabia, who have only recently taken to marauding in this part of the country, and have the worst possible reputation. With them were a few of the Ma’az from Orak, south of Kerak, a tribe of similar habits, and also of the Ghawarhineh, the proper inhabitants of the Safieh, and who by themselves are by no means an unmanageable or dangerous tribe, though, from their climate, more degraded than any of the highland clans to the eastwards. These Beni Atiyeh had a blood feud with the Ta’amirah, whom they supposed we had taken with us, but none with the Jehalin. Well was it now for us that we had steadily refused the advances of the Ta’amirah at Hebron. At length the yellow-coated horseman and Daoud rode back together towards us. The sheikh cried Chap. III. ARAB SKIRMISH. 45 out, “ The Christians are my friends ; the Ta’amirah only are my enemies.” H.amzi, lifting up his hands, swore loudly that not a Ta’amirah was with us, and the horseman, galloping along the line of his savage followers, ordered them hack. Reluctantly, and with many a significant gesture, the naked horde, baulked of their prey, fell back a little, and we crossed. Meantime an angry debate arose between our sheikh, Selameh, and theirs, doubtless as to the amount of backshiesh, which we left them to settle. We now formed in file, and slowly and cautiously proceeded, the Beni Atiyeh sheikh leading the van, those who cared more for their personal safety than for the loss of the baggage, or of any stray mules, accompanying him ; while the rest of the party formed a rear-guard, and kept a sharp look¬ out on the sumpter animals ; no easy task through three miles of tangled brushwood and thicket, with the wild and naked warriors swarming on all sides, endeavouring to scare any stray mule to the right or left, when two minutes would have sufficed for the partition of the booty. At length we reached a small open space near the Ghawarhineh camp, where we were ordered to pitch. Carefully we formed a cordon, to keep off the won¬ dering and still rather irritated crowd. From the treacherous character of our hosts, we took care to keep an armed guard, relieved at intervals during the night, round our camp, grateful indeed for the Providence which had preserved us so far in safety, 46 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. and joining with heartfelt gratitude in the 23rd Psalm, as we lay down for our first night within the boundaries of Moab. The next day was devoted to a careful examina¬ tion of the few traces of antiquity in the Safieh. This was not easily accomplished, as our wild hosts would not suffer us to move out alone, and demanded extravagant backshiesh for a guard of honour of eight horsemen, which they insisted were necessary for our safety. Time was more precious than money, and we had to submit to this extra extortion. Mounting our horses, we first of all turned S.E. from our camping-ground, towards the principal ruins of the Safieh. Our leader was the Sheikh of Ghawarhineh, Dabbour, who informed us he had acted in the same capacity for Messrs. Palmer and Drake. The ground is nowhere completely cleared, but cultivated in patches, hemmed in with dense and impenetrable clumps of Zizvphus, and Seyal Acacia trees, with other thorny shrubs, arranged in a natural park-like fashion. Few other trees were to be found in this part, and no palm-tree of any kind. We soon reached the Seil es Safieh, a tolerably sized stream, with a gravelly bed, here flowing in a northerly direction, and receiving little affluents from the east. On the other side of the stream the vegetation was different, and the soil not the rich marshy loam which covers the plain from the stream to the sea, but lighter and gravelly. The thickets were not so close, and the osher-tree ( Calotropis Chap. III. THE SAFIEH. 47 procera) was the feature of the tangle. All along the course of the Safi eh the stream is tapped by little conduits on its left bank, so that the whole Ghor can be turned into a watered meadow, as is practised by the same tribe at Jericho. The culti¬ vators were only now beginning to turn on the water for their little patches of corn, tobacco, and indigo. There seems a well-arranged system by which the riparian proprietors exercise their rights of “ water privilege ” in rotation, each being allowed to tap the Seil in turn, but only for so many days. Three days’ water is sufficient to clothe a barren stubble with a rich green hue. The little streamlets are led off carefully westwards, from patch to patch, until the supply is exhausted. We kept on the left bank of the Seil till we reached the ruins. The remains, though extensive, are very poor and disappointing. On a slightly rising slope are strewn a mass of loose stones, covering several acres, with a few fragments of walls, many solid foundations, and a few portions of round columns. The name given to these ruins, Sheikh ’Aisa, affords no clue whatever to any ancient name. Unlike the ruins of western Palestine, the city has been constructed of soft sandstone exclusively, and this has been much weathered, and reduced often to a state of complete disintegration. The sandstone is never found west of Jordan, as nowhere, west of the great fissure, has the eocene chalk been sufficiently elevated to show the underlying formation. The fragments of 48 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. columns were all plain ; none fluted, and we could find no inscriptions, and only one sculptured stone, probably of Christian origin, for the central ornament was a Greek cross. There were no traces which could indicate the date of the buildings, and cer¬ tainly there was not the slightest vestige of any fortification, or even of a wall surrounding the straggling village. Fortification we could not ex¬ pect to find, as the position is one peculiarly defence¬ less, and the very last which would have been selected in the times of ancient warfare as a frontier fortress. We have probably here merely the re¬ mains of a Roman village in the more peaceful days of the early empire. A few hundred yards higher up are some far more perfect ruins, called Kasr el Bushariyeh, of a much later date, not earlier than the crusading or early Saracenic times. These had been pointed out to me before, as the Tawahin es Suhkar (Sugar Mills), but Pabbour assured us that the true sugar mills were north of the Lisan, in which his report agrees with Burckhardt’s information. There have evidently been water-mills of some kind here, and there are two stone-lined and covered channels by which the water has been guided to turn undershot wheels. These, with the sluices, are in perfect preservation. There is a massive gateway, built of dressed stone with pointed arches. But this original building has been largely added to by mud-built walls, and it seems as though the mills had been abandoned, and . Chap. III. MOSLEM BURYING-GROUND. 49 the whole converted into a khan by the later addi¬ tions of earthen walls. On the gateway are many tribe marks, carved like those on the fortress of Masada, which, from their comprising the signs of Mars and Venus ( $ and 9 ) have been imagined to be astronomical symbols. Round these ruins is the cemetery of the neighbouring tribe. The bodies are merely placed in the bank of drifting sand, and so lightly covered that we saw the bleached and withered forms of two women, with their ordinary clothes on, lying exposed on the surface. Our guards had sufficient civilization to feel ashamed of this exposure, and to make apologies for it as acci¬ dental from the high winds. A little way above the Kasr is the third ruin, decidedly Moslem in its origin, and called el Mush- nekk’r, or “ the gallows ; ” not that any gibbet is there, though skulls dug out of the graves by the hyaenas strew the ground. There appears to have been a Mohammedan wely here, but I could find no traces one could fairly assign to a Christian chapel. About half an hour further south the Wady Feifeh comes in, and this was the limit of our southward exploration. Beyond it is Wady Tufileh, which we had crossed before entering the Safieh. The Wady Feifeh, we were informed, receives the Wady el Ahsa, in which are hot springs. The wady seems to change its name more than once during its course, or at least several branches to have different E 50 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. names. It is the recognised boundary between the districts of Kerak and Petra, i.e., between the ancient Moab and Edom, and has with every probability been suggested as the “ brook (or wady) Zered ” (Deut. ii. 14), or Zared (Numb. xxi. 12), the limit of the proper term of the Israelites’ wanderings. Mr. Palmer, who explored the upper valleys of the S.E. of the Safieh far further than we were able to do, followed up the Wady Siddiyeh for some distance, and traced the fertilizing Seil Gerahi flowing into it. We were not able to trace the junction, but were assured that the Siddiyeh flowed into the Eeifeh, which we had crossed lower down. We found that the belt of fertile, well-watered soil, extends far further south than has usually been recognized. For about six miles south of the ex¬ tremity of the Dead Sea the fertile Ghor stretches, sheltered under the mountains, which feed it with sweet rivulets ; and parted off by a sharp line from the desolate sand plain, without any blending belt of half desert scrub ; till it contracts to a point, beyond the entrance of the Gharundel into the Sebkha. An exactly similar extension may be noted in the Seisa- ban, at the N.E. end of the Dead Sea. It has been suggested that the Safieh and this boundary are alluded to in Numb. xxi. 14, where the authorised version reads, “ What He did in the Eed Sea, and in the brooks of Arnon ; or, as “ the Eed Sea ” is rendered in the margin, “ Vabeh in Suphah,” i. 6., the Safieli. Whether the Hebrew na-lD is represented Chap. III. EXAMINATION OF THE SAFIEH. ,51 by the Arabic I must leave to orientalists to decide, but there seems at first sight a probability in the conjecture. It was evident our guards were anxious to show us all they could, as every ruin meant backshiesli, and it was equally certain that no other remains could be traced in the south of the Ghor. They spoke of many further north, by the shore, which we after¬ wards saw, but shook their heads and waved their fingers at the idea of finding anything but wild boar southwards. Having returned to camp, we next set out on foot to examine a section of Safieh from east to west, i. e., from the river to the Head Sea. It was a barren expedition for the naturalist, sportsman, and botanist. Instead of the teeming abundance of game and plants found on my last visit, there was no vegetation except the park-like wilderness of trees and shrubs, and bare clearings, hard and dry, covered with “ dhurra,” or millet stubble. Game there was none, except a few of the large Indian turtle-dove, for the pot ( Turtur risorius). We roamed about, attended by a half-naked crowd of savages, who would have made short work of the property of any one they had caught out of sight of the rest of the party ; yet even thus we were glad to escape from our tents, which all day long were surrounded and often entered, by gaping crowds, perpetually raising wrangles, and stealing anything on which they could lay their hands. » 52 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. We observed that the Ghor consists of several distinct zones of vegetation. First, the gravelly slope under the hills, of which the osher-tree was the characteristic feature, and which produced but scanty undergrowth. Next, the rich park-like land, the most considerable portion of all, in which are the patches of cultivation, yielding barley, wheat, millet, tobacco, and especially indigo, the wealth of the district. The sugar-cane has long since disap¬ peared. Then comes a belt of scrub, affording only browsing for goats : after it, a thin strip of large tufts of a very tall reedy grass : parallel to this the next belt was a mass of rushes ; and from this to the water’s edge was an impenetrable cane-brake, of considerable width, in a deep swamp, completely barring all access to the shore, and swarming with wild boar, the tracks of which were seen in every direction, perfectly secure in their retreat. On our return to camp we found a new excite¬ ment. The son of the Mudjelli, or Governor of Kerak, had come down with 20 horsemen, and was sitting in our tent. It seemed he had been sent for, or had come unasked, in consequence of hearing of yesterday’s affair, for local news travel with strange rapidity in Arab lands, and had ridden down in one day. The chieftain was, of course, profuse in his promises, depicted in grave terms the danger of remaining here, and the impossibility of going to Kerak without a guard. He of course must escort us himself, and has brought a guard for the purpose, Chap. TIL AMUSING ATTEMPT AT EXTORTION. 53 a very great nuisance, as we at once saw, pre¬ cluding all hope of leisurely examining the country, and making any observations and sketching extremely difficult. But there was no help for it, and we must part with our good Jehalin men, and our oily old friend Hamzi, as the Kerak people insist on their return. Among other amusing attempts at extortion was the following. One of our mules had kicked a boy who was tormenting it. The boy was not much the worse, as we saw ; but in the evening some men came up, very angrily demanding money, in fact a deodand, for the boy’s life, as they said he was dying. Mr. Klein and I offered to go and see him, but this was refused ; in fact the urchin was in the crowd at the time. Mr. Klein reasoned with them. “ Who kicked the lad ? ” — “ The mule.” “ Was any one riding or leading the mule at the time?” — “ No.” “ Then it was the act of the mule alone ? ” — “ Yes.” “ Well, then, we have nothing to do with it, and as the mule belongs to Jerusalem you cannot punish him here, but must send him to Jerusalem, and let the Pasha put him in prison till the lad recovers.” This logic at least amused and silenced them. Mr. Klein was in all such cases an inimitable Arab diplomatist, thoroughly understanding the humours of the people, and with the rare tact, patience, and self-possession that only a long expe¬ rience of the East can impart. February 8th. — In the morning, though we made 54 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. III. an early start, it was not without an effort that we were able to escape the extortion and almost forcible plunder of the tribes. The only exceptions amidst the general onslaught were our honest Jehalin guard, from whom we had now to part, and who, satisfied with their agreement, remained by our side to keep off intruders, to the very moment of our start, when we bade them farewell, and handed to them our letters for England. I have always found the Jehalin, if not a very intelligent, at least an honest and faithful tribe, and have never, during the weeks I have spent amongst them, had a single article stolen by them : and with all his faults there are many worse friends, and less trusty in the time of need, than old Hamzi, the Hebrew money-lender and Arab attorney. ( 55 ) CHAPTER IV. From tlie Safieh to Kerak — Wady Gra’hhi — Ford of the Stinking- River — Nemeirah — The waters of Nimrim: their real position — Not identical with Nemeirah — Poor ruins — The brook of the willows — Wady Asal — The shoulder of the Lisan — Wady Dra’a — View of the Lisan — Contrast of the geology of the east and west sides of the Dead Sea — A charming glen — Mezra’ali, Znar — Disputed identity with Dra’a — A turbulent guard — Nocturnal alarms — Splendid sunrise — Attempted robbery — Successful extortion — Ascent to Kerak — Magnificent gorge — Geological studies — Basaltic streams — El Kubboh — Crusading traditions — Raynald of Chatillon — Panoramic view of the Dead Sea — Bedouin camps and shepherds — Wady R’seir — Wady of Kerak — Rugged ascent — Strange access to a city — Tunnel in the rock — Arrival at Kerak. The first part of the route from the Safieh to Kerak was not very interesting, dependent, as the district is, upon the rains and the letting in of the waters, for its beauty. The scene was picturesque enough as we threaded our way through the forest. A strong escort of the Beni Atiyeh, with objects of their own, had joined our Kerak guard to see us safely to the hills ; and a score of mounted spear¬ men, with their lances gleaming and quivering over the trees, led the van. The Glior, or cultivateable belt, about four miles wide at our camp, rapidly contracts, and the strip, between the mountains and the sea, soon narrows to a width of two miles. Each of the different zones or 56 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IV. belts of vegetation disappears in turn. First we lost the rich park-like wood, then the rushes, then the cane-brake, till finally there was only a barren salt marsh, without vegetation, to the sea ; and a gravelly dry scrub, with a few acacia trees here and there, above it, to the foot of the mountains. Near the north end of the Safieh we passed, an hour after starting, the ruins of Um el Hashib, small and insignificant, and which can never have been more than a village, without anv trace of a fort. In 20 minutes more, soon after leaving the fer¬ tile land, we crossed the seil or Wady Gra’hhi, beyond which the plain is barren. Gra’hhi has been suggested as convertible with Korcha, which name occurs on the Moabite stone. About half an hour further on we forded a deep muddy ditch, Nahr Murwhashah, i.e., “ Stinking River,” well so named, in the foetid mud of which many of the mules stuck fast, as well as some of the horse¬ men, who had to be carried across on men’s backs. Beyond the Stinking River begins a sebkha, or salt- marsh, far more disagreeable than that at the south end of the sea. The shore is fringed with drift-wood encrusted with salt, a thin incrustation of salt covers the plain ; but here and there are shallow pools filled with vegetable matter, and the black mud under the salt-decaying crust smells horribly. After the Seil Haneizir is the Wady N’meirak ; the mountains here more closely approach the sea, and the crest facing N’meirali is called Jebel Orak. Very Chap. IV. “ THE WATERS OF N1MRIM.” 57 near tlie ruins, but a little above them, are the remains of an old fort, which must have commanded the road, named merely Kirbet es Sheikh. The ruins of N’meirah (i.e. “ the leopard ”) are rugged and stony, of several acres in extent, among a set of wide torrent beds, riven by winter floods, and, till closely examined, the site looks merely a slightly elevated space. It has usually been assumed that this N’meirah is identical with the biblical Southern Nimrim, or Nim- rim of Moab (“the Waters of Nimrim”), Is. xv. 6; Jer. xlviii. 34 ; as the northern Beth Nimrah is with Beit N’meir on the Jordan. But though the wady be the same, yet the expression, “ Waters of Nimrim,” would seem to refer rather to the springs or sources higher up, than to a spot in the dreary plain near the sea. In corroboration of this, Mr. Klein ascer¬ tained from an intelligent Kerak Christian, who was among our guard, that high up in the mountains near the source of the Wady N’meirah, there are the ruins of an old city like those of the other Moabite towns of the highlands, bearing the very name of the “ Springs of N’meirah,” and with many watered gardens still cultivated. Not far from the course of the N’meirah, also in the mountains, another wady was pointed out to Mr. Klein, which throws light on another Scriptural site not hitherto identified. Immediately after the mention of Nimrim, we find (Is. xv. 7) “ The brook of the willows,” or as it is in the margin, “The valley of the Arabians;” the 58 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IV. Hebrew consonants for willows and Arabians being identical. Bnt besides the Wady Safsaf, to the north of Kerak, noted by Irby and Mangles, and also pointed ont to ns when we were travelling north¬ wards, Mr. Klein had pointed ont to him another wady a little to the south of this, bearing the iden¬ tical name of the “ Wady of the Willows.” This being towards the southern frontier, would meet all the requirements of the problem. In four and a half hours from the time of leaving the Safieh we reached the Wady Asal, or “Honey Kiver,” a pleasant and sweet stream, and now began to ascend the shoulder of the peninsula of the Lisan. We climbed for more than an hour up a water-riven gorge, cut through a mass of marl and debris, the old deposit of the lake. The scene was grand, though sternly desolate and lifeless. Not a scrap of vegetation, not even a straggling salicornia could be seen. About the middle of the neck of the Lisan we crossed the upper stream of the Wady Weideh, which runs out on the south side of the peninsula, and in which the date-palm grows abundantly. Rising still higher, and turning nearly due east, after crossing the Weideh, we came to the Wady Dra’a, in a very deep ravine, which runs out into the north bay of the Lisan. We pitched our camp close to the ruins of Dra’a, from which the wady is named, on a platform overhanging the ravine, sloping back from which was a wide plain with scanty herbage, Chap. IV. GEOLOGY OF THE LISAN. 59 and many gnarled acacia-trees. Our ride had occu¬ pied little more than eight hours, and our baro¬ metric readings showed that we had risen 650 feet above the Dead Sea, though we were still 650 feet below the sea level. From the hill just behind our tents we had a splendid view over the whole peninsula of the Lisan, a scene of utter desolation, one mass of water-worn cuttings through salt-marl, without a trace of vege¬ tation, while the nooks at the north-east and south¬ east angles beneath it smiled with luxuriant green. Beyond, stretched the whole western edge of the Dead Sea for near 40 miles, but far inferior in gran¬ deur to the eastern side. Close above us towered the mountains of Moab, red and white, relieved by streaks of green. Geologically the east side is very different from the Judaean hills. The whole range is here, except- i ing superficially, new red sandstone, a formation which nowhere appears on the other side. There is also a good deal of igneous superficial basalt, and in several places porphyritic dykes are shewn. The bare red sandstone rocks are often worn into fantastic shapes, and in one place on a pro¬ jecting platform, as we ascended to Dra’a, the illu¬ sion of a ruined castle was complete. Near the mouth of one wady, about two hours north of the Safieh, I found large masses of greenstone, and huge boulders of puddingstone, with granite pebbles embedded. The height to which the salt-marl 60 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IV. reaches on the shoulder of the Lisan, is not a little puzzling. Its elevation, as it leans against the base of the Judaean hills from Jericho down to the Akabah, never reaches more than 400 feet. On the east side it only appears at the Lisan, and on its shoulder we find it piled to the height of nearly 500 feet. Yet there is no other indication of the old level of the sea, during the period of its deposition, having been at this height. I can only conjecture that the upheaval of the eastern range must have continued during this period, probably while the basaltic eruptions which occurred only on the east side were in force, and that the marl here, on the shoulder, away from the action of the water, was raised, whilst it was all washed off from the sides of the precipitous sandstone ranges. Turning to the nearer foreground, nothing could be more lovely than the glen beneath us, deep, and densely wooded with poplar, date-palms, oleanders, and semi-tropical herbage, overhanging a perennial stream swarming with fish. Truly a living fountain is a wondrous blessing in a dry and thirsty land. There was evidence here of former high cultivation, in care- fully cemented channels of masonry running from higher levels of the stream, and partly excavated, partly built on the sides of the ravine, which had, like little mill-races, conveyed the stream to the higher grounds above the glen. Another relic of a past civilization was pointed out to us in the distance, where, at about two Chap. IY. DRA’A SUGGESTIVE OF ZOAR. 61 hours’ journey to the north-west, we could make out with our field-glasses Mezra’ah, or at least the black camp of Ghawarineh, which our guides told us was on the very spot, and where are stated to be the old Tawahin es Suhkar, or “ Sugar Mills.” But as Mr. Palmer visited Mezra’ah (he having taken the lower track, where we began to ascend to Dra’a) and does 'not mention them, they may be merely a repetition of those in the Safieh, ordinary water* mills. The ruins of Dra’a itself are mean and almost obliterated, excepting some on a brow overhanging our camp, and which seem to mark the position of the keep or citadel, for the protection of the town just below it. Little more of the town is left than a featureless heap of weathered sandstone, the artificial position of which is only proved when, turning over the exposed blocks, we find the dressed and squared blocks beneath. There are also many irregular lines of foundations levelled down to the surface of the plain, and many fragments of bricks and pottery strew the ground. The chief interest attaching to this spot arises from its supposed identification by some writers with the Zoar of the Bible and ancient history. The mediaeval writers, with one or two excep¬ tions, place Zoar, as far as we can gather by a comparison of their accounts, on the road from the south end of the Dead Sea to Kerak, and at some little distance from the lake, in a spot abounding 62 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IV. with palm-trees. It was an episcopal see under the Archbishop of Petra, and its bishops sat in the Council of Chalcedon (a.d. 451), and in the Synod of Constantinople (a.d. 536). It was in the province of Palestina Tertia, which included Kerak and Areo- polis. No great violence is done to orthography in imagining a change from the guttural Hebrew Zoar fW) to the guttural Arabic Dra’a (acjA). It is difficult to place the Zoar of these writers anywhere else than here. But the name exists elsewhere, and we found on the plains eastward of Main, another ruined city, with the remains of churches and other considerable buildings, also called Dra’a. This latter may more probably be the bishopric of Eusebius. Still, admitting the identity of this Dra’a with the Christian and mediaeval Zoar, it seems impossible on any reasonable theory also to identify it with the Zoar of Scripture. There is no imaginable situ¬ ation in which we can place the cities of the plain, that will meet the conditions of the problem, if this be Bela or Zoar, as it would be too far distant from any of them. But this need not cause much diffi¬ culty, as there are very many instances, several of which have been already referred to, where the same name is applied to sites and wadys on opposite sides of the sea, and generally to those nearly in the same parallel of latitude. It would very well harmonize with ordinary usage if there were another Zoar at or near Engedi, as has been Chap. IV. A TURBULENT GUARD. 63 conjectured from Deut. xxxiy. 3, and other pas¬ sages. Archaeological speculations were sadly interrupted by the disturbances raised by our savage guard, and which were kept up incessantly through the night. We had given them money to buy themselves a goat for supper, from a camp of Arabs near us. The two brothers of the young Mudjelli kept the money, and there was a free fight over the matter at our tent doors, with knives and pistols drawn. This was at length appeased, and the chief, for security from his friends, made our servants’ tent his sleeping- place. During the night, our ruffian companions kept amusing themselves by firing off guns from time to time close to our ears. Meantime, a lurking thief had cut the pickets of the horses, and was quietly leading off Haynes’s steed, when he was de¬ tected and stopped by a muleteer, fortunately more on the alert than the Keraki. With all this we had but little sleep, and before sunrise we went down to the stream, and, uuder the dense shade of the oleanders, had a delicious bathe. I then climbed, before the sun had overtopped the eastern mountains, to the brow of the platform above our camp, among the heaps of old Zoar. The view was magnificent in stern grandeur. The whole Lisan in its desolate expanse was spread at our feet, and the sun, whose rays had not yet touched us in the shadow of the mountains, was gilding the tops of the western ridge of the Dead Sea with a golden 64 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. TV. pink, and with a rich grey blue the range of the mountains of Judah behind them. As Mr. Palmer truly says, “ The colouring of the Dead Sea and its neigh¬ bourhood, when the atmosphere is clear, is simply magnificent.” We could trace the course of the Wady Kerak to the north of us, where it rifts the shoulder of the Lisan from east to west; and then turning sharply northwards, after it has been, as it appeared to us, joined by the Wady Dra’a, it opens out into a wide plain of acacia scrub with abundant pasturage. A perennial stream runs through it, fringed with a border of date-palms and oleanders, the source of life and wealth to the district, now called the Mezra’ah. There was a very large camp of Beni Atiyeh, and herds of goats close below us, and through our glasses we could descry much more extensive camps in the Mezra’ah, which was powdered over with scattered flocks and herds. And now began a scene. Seventy pounds was required for the expenses of the horsemen from Kerak, which must be paid and distributed at once. The spearmen and mounted gunners stood round us, and the climax came when the young Mudjelli rode up threateningly to the head muleteer, and drawing his sword, forbade a mule to be loaded till his de¬ mand had been met, intimating, that in case of further delay, he should turn upon us the Beni Atiyeh from the camp below. We were fairly in the trap ; there was nothing for it but to yield, and at length, under protest, and telling them they were Chap. IV. ASCENT TO KEEAK. 65 highwaymen, we were glad to reduce the sum to 25 napoleons on account. The ascent from Dra’a to Kerak occupied five and a quarter hours steady riding without a halt. At Dra’a we were 650 feet below the sea level, and by our barometer we measured the ascent thence to Kerak to be 3720 feet, making that city 3070 feet above the Mediterranean. Everywhere the gorges up which we climbed were deeply riven : and the pro¬ spects wide and vast, with deep chasms and towering precipices, quite equalled Alpine scenery in their effect under a bright sun, though very different in character. The rich colouring of red, black, and white, with green patches, was exquisite, and geolo¬ gical formation almost effects here what snow and ice do for Alpine scenery.* * The ascent was also a good geological study. We had left the post-tertiary marl below Dra’a, and then for a little distance east¬ ward the red sandstone is superficial, but is soon covered by the limestone, the same as that of Western Palestine. The superin¬ cumbent limestone was not conformable with the sandstone in its stratification. Another point of importance is that for seven or eight miles from the shore eastward, the strata dip to the west at an average angle of 60° ; while further east, so far as I could ascertain where the sections are shown, I noticed that the strata are nearly or quite horizontal. I was pleased to find my former theory of the synclinal dip of the Jordan valley thus corroborated in the only part where 1 had not hitherto had an opportunity of making obser¬ vations, especially as the agencies which formed the valley seem to have been in more active operation in this part of it than in any other. The limestone was in many places strangely contorted, and this chiefly in the neighbourhood of the basaltic outbreaks which frequently disturb the stratification on the east side, but of which no trace is found westwards in the lower Jordan. When we had F 66 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IV. On the wayside is a ruined fort, hitherto unnoticed, and called El Kubboh. There is a pointed arch, and the character of the architecture is Crusading, cor¬ roborating the local tradition which makes it the stronghold of a Christian sheikh of the olden time. The position is admirable as a key of the pass, and well suited for a robber chieftain, for this was the only practicable route to Kerak by the south, the other path from Usdum up the Wady Tufileh being too rugged for baggage animals. One could not but recall here the times of the Talisman, and the romantic story of the wild chief¬ tain of the crusading outposts, Raynald of Chatillon, Lord of Kerak. Doubtless some of his minions held this post, and wielded their power with as few scruples as did their lord, when, issuing from his keep of Kerak, he sacked the Damascus caravan in time of peace. It was this act of lawless wrong which exas¬ perated Saladin to the wars of the last Crusade, after his vain demands of redress from Kaynald. Soon followed the final and fatal battle of Hattin (5th July, 1187), when the doom of the Crusades was sealed in sight of Gennesareth, and Kaynald himself, with the King of Jerusalem and the Grand Master of the Templars, were among the captives. The perfidious chieftain was slain in cold blood by the conqueror, risen 2000 feet, the average thickness of the limestone seemed to he about 1500 feet, and from this point its denudation westward begins. Chai>. IV. CRUSADING TRADITIONS. G7 who had sworn to avenge his wrongs with his own hands; and in three months Jerusalem opened its gates to the Saracen. Still, with all his excesses, there is a halo of romance about this daring Frank, who so long held his outpost on the very frontier of Arabia, unsupported by any base for supplies, nearer than J erusalem. And this rugged pass, too, and the open desert of the Sebkha, were his only line of communication with the world behind him. Shortly after Kubboh we passed an outcrop of basalt through the limestone, 2050 feet above the Dead Sea, the sandstone being now far below us. Here we paused. Jebel el Haditha, a bold peak, towered to the south. We stood on the crest of a range of terraces, with a panorama of the Dead Sea before us. The whole Lisan, with Points Molyneux and Costigan, plainly marked, lay between. Jebel Usdum, Sebbeli, Engedi, and the brown ridge of Judaean mountains, Hebron, and the hills about Jerusalem, were all in sight ; while, on the other side, we looked down into the tremendous Wady of Kerak, some 1800 feet of nearly sheer precipice on the opposite side, the lower 500 feet being red sand¬ stone, with the upper part white chalk and limestone, pleasantly relieved by the beading of black lines of flint. To the south was pointed out the “ Wady of the Willows,” and among other names that of Moch- rath, one of the unidentified names occurring on the Moabite stone. Hence our road was up the south side of the Wady 68 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IV. Kerak. We defiled in long line up a narrow pass among rocks, with many green patches, where goats seemed to be hanging to the mountain side, as they browsed in single file. A dozen resolute men behind these rocks mmht arrest the march of an army. The O * valley gradually widened above, and here and there among the green patches, Bedouin tents, looking like black spots on the steep sides, could be detected. Many of these belong to the Kerak people, a large portion of whom camp out with their herds during the summer months. Here the bottom of the wady, which was still very narrow, began to be cultivated with olives, figs, pomegranates, and a few vineyards and patches of corn. We halted at a platform formed by the opening of the Wady B’seir, and in which a pretty little spring bubbles out among the grass. Close to this spot a number of men suddenly appeared, yelling and shouting on the rocks above us, but though they proved to be only shepherds, who wanted to know our business and our destination, we saw how neces¬ sary an armed guard was in such a place to secure the baggage from plunder, as all whom we met carried firelocks. Soon Kerak stood towering before us, with its line of wall and splendid castles, the southern one being of very great extent. We had now to descend into the valley, in order to ascend the opposite cliff to reach the city. It was almost an hour’s climb from the stream to the tunnel entrance of Kerak, and this Chap. IY. TUNNEL ENTRANCE TO KERAK. 69 on a zigzag path along the side of a rugged slope, strewn with boulders, and so steep that in places NO. 3. TUNNEL ENTRANCE TO KERAK. it was scarcely possible to sit our horses. When near the top of the cone the path abruptly turns into an arched tunnel, up which we stumble in the darkness for more than 80 yards, and then emerge into the open space or market of Iverak. ( 70 ) CHAPTER V. Kerak — A natural fortress: its height, position, form, area, for¬ tifications — Accessible only by tunnels — The Castle of By bars — The Great Castle: its shape, moat, cistern, crypt chapel, gateways — Occupation of castle by Ibrahim Pasha — Water supply — Mosque — Ancient basilica — Our camp in the Castle of Bybars — Greek schoolmaster — A friend in need — Kerak interior — Boman pavement — Ancient bath — Antiques and coins — Christian quarter — Greek church — School and Bibles — Threats of the chiefs — Ransom demanded — Find ourselves prisoners — Messenger to Jerusalem — Every man his own thief- catcher — Value of pork — Daoud’s stratagem — Midnight inter¬ view — Welcome aid — Arrival of the Beni Sakk’r, Sheikh Zaclam — The tables turned — A Sunday under arrest — Arabic Service — Greek Christians — Demands on the Hakeem — View from the castle wall — Relations of Kerak and the Beni Sakk’r — Excursion under guard — Our letter discovered — Renewed threats. Before relating onr adventures at Kerak it may be well to attempt some description of this remarkable fortress, of which, until recently, the concise journal of Burckhardt, and the modest and singularly accurate narrative of Irby and Mangles, were the only easily accessible records, since both De Saulcy and Lynch have dismissed Kerak very shortly. The position is so strong by nature that it would be seized upon as a fortress from the very earliest times. A lofty brow pushes forwards to the west with a flattened space on its crest, a sort of head, behind which the neck at the south-east contracts, and gives it the Chap. Y. FORTRESS OF KERAK. 71 form of a peninsula, at the same time that the isth¬ mus, if I may so call it, rapidly slopes down, before rising to reunite to its shoulder the vet loftier hill to the east. The platform of Kerak stands 3720 feet above the sea level, yet on all sides it is commanded, some of the neighbouring heights being over 4050 feet high (barometric). It is, however, severed every¬ where, excepting at the neck, and also in a less degree at the N.W. angle, from the encircling range. Two deep wadies, from 1000 to 1350 feet deep, with steeply scarped or else rugged sides, flank it north and south, the Wady Hammad to the south, and Wady Kerak to the north, which unite about a mile to the west of the city, and form the ravine which we ascended. The escarpment of the third side of the triangle is formed by the Wady Kobeisheh, which, starting from the depression of what I have called the neck, rapidly descends to the Wady Kerak. The platform of the city, thus surrounded, is tolerably level, by art or nature, measuring from 800 to 1000 yards on each face of the triangle, the N.E. side being the longest. The whole place has formerly been surrounded by a strong wall, of which a considerable portion remains everywhere. In no place did I observe it to be entirely demolished, while in some parts it is still perfect. The wall, with its smoothly-sloped facing, fills up any irregu¬ larities in the native rock, which is scarped a con¬ siderable way down, especially at the angles, with a 72 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. very well-executed revetment wherever requisite. This lower portion of the work appears to be older than the Crusading or Saracenic times, and the wide shallow bevel suggests the Herodian, or a yet earlier X’O. 4. KERAK CASTLE WALLS, WEST SIDE. epoch. The upper part of the foi tress is claimed by the Mohammedans in several inscriptions, which are palpably of later date than the structures them¬ selves. There have been originally only two entrances to Kerak, one to the north-west, the other on the Chap. Y. TUNNEL ENTRANCE TO KERAK. 73 further side, and both through tunnels in the side of the cliff, emerging on the platform of the town. Of late years paths have been made oyer the ruinous walls in two places, but these can only be scrambled over by foot passengers. They are both on the N.E. face. To an enemy Kerak is utterly inaccessible, except by the winding paths at the western and N.E. sides. The road from the east, by which we travelled, suddenly turns as we are under the N.W. castle, and is cut to a great depth immediately under the angle, while the great castle wall, with loopholes and parapets, towers straight up its whole width, leaving anyone approaching by this great rock-hewn ditch at the mercy of the garrison. Having passed through this cutting, we turn sharply to the left, and creep along the rugged path, completely exposed to those above, and where horse¬ men or footmen can only mount slowly in single file, till we enter a tunnel, the gateway of Kerak, ap¬ parently partly natural, but with a well-built pointed arch over its entrance, above which a stone, manifestly of a later date, with an Arabic inscription, has been let into the face of the rock. The inscription is only partially defaced, but has not, I believe, been yet translated. Mr. Buxton obtained an admirable pho¬ tograph of this tunnel entrance. The arch is certainly older than the Saracenic occupation, and Mr. Eergusson has expressed his decided opinion that, though slightly pointed, it is yet Roman. The tunnel continues winding, and steeply ascend- 74 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. Y. ing for 80 paces, when we suddenly emerge, and find ourselves on the open platform of the town, very near the N.W. castle. This tower, which is called the Castle of Bybars, or of “ El Melek,” from an Arabic inscription of great size let into its wall, ascribing the erection to “El Melek” (the King) Bybars, is a massive wall, forming three sides of a trapezium, the long wall stretching 90 yards, and each of the flanking or re-entering walls extending in an obtuse angle from it for 15 yards. At the inner extremity of these walls are still more lofty towers, in which are staircases. The wall is 27 feet thick in its lower stories. The upper stories are studded with long loopholes, and an open ledge for the defenders to communicate along the whole. The arched loopholes and chambers are now for the most part converted into rude storehouses, built up with rough masonry, and the ledges, some 100 feet high, are the favourite lounge of the boys and men of Kerak. Above this the wall contracts, there are loopholes again ; and a platform outside, without battlements, runs along near the top, about seven feet wide. The stones for this enormous construction have evidently been obtained from the great rock-hewn fosse below, up which we rode, and which has been a most convenient and inexhaustible quarry, thus doubly increasing the strength of the place. The inscription running along the inner face, attributing the building to By bars, is flanked on either side by two lions rampant, which seem part of OUR CAMP IN KERAK. Chap. V. CRUSADERS’ CASTLE. 75 the original structure, which the inscription is not ; (for the stones do not fit well, and one has been inserted by the ignorant workmen upside down). These lions, apparently older than the Arabic letters, suggested to us the idea that they are possibly part of the Crusaders' work, not removed by Saladin or Bybars. The fort at the N.E. is comparatively insignificant, as the natural fortress was there inaccessible. But far NO. 6. KERAK. CRUSADERS’ FORT. more important and extensive is the great castle at the southern angle. This being the most exposed point, owing to the shallowness of the Wady Kobei- 76 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. sheh, has been the most carefully fortified. It is cut off from the shoulder of the adjoining hill by an immense scarped ditch, just as is the other castle ; but there is no passage this way, and a wall of native rock has been left at each end, so as to form in fact a gigantic cistern. Beside this, there is an immense hewn ditch 100 feet wide. The outer wall of this castle is constructed on the same principle as the N.W. tower, but of much greater thickness and height, its outer length being 87 yards. But this is as it were only the flanking work of a great fortress, for such this castle is, entirely inde¬ pendent of the town, from which it is separated on the north by a wide and deep ditch, now much filled in with rubbish. It forms an irregular quadrilateral, the northern side towards the city being nearly double the length of the south wall, and its width across being from 220 to 250 yards. The interior of this block is one mass of vaults, arches, and galleries, all of most massive construction, with ap¬ parently only two open courtyards. The most interesting portion of the building, and one which tells the history of its construction, is a crypt chapel, with an eastern apse, 90 feet long. It is reached by descending a circular staircase, which lands us half way down the side of the chapel ; and there is also a staircase leading to the roof, over which have evidently been other buildings. There are four very small narrow lancet windows high up, and lamps must certainly have been required for worship here. Chap. V. ASSAULT OF IBRAHIM PASHA. 77 1 Some fragments of columns are built sideways in the wall, and also some remains of inscriptions. There are many patches of fresco still to be seen on the walls, but all in a state of sad decay. None of the figures can be traced entire. There was one head of a saint, with a corona, left on the plaster. Besides the chapel, there are long ranges of build¬ ings-like casemates, magazines and barracks, story above story, most solidly vaulted. These seem to have been four- or five stories, or perhaps more, in height, but the upper parts are now much ruined. The different gateways, with all their appliances of defence on the side of the town, still remain, and it was necessary to pass through three of these in order to reach the central court. Under the great crypts are numerous vaulted and cemented reser¬ voirs, capable of containing an ample supply of water for a long siege. Altogether, the great castle of Kerak is by far the grandest monument of crusading energy now existing. It was built under King Fulco, by one of the predecessors of Kaynald of Chatillon, about a.d. 1131, and strengthened under the auspices of Godfrey of Boulogne, and in a.d. 1183 it baffled the assaults of Saladin. The castle has more than once proved its invul¬ nerability against attacks from the town ; while on the other hand its possessors have found its defences turned to their own defeat. Thus Ibrahim Pasha, during his conquest of Syria, in a.d. 1844, was never able to take Kerak, whose proud boast is that it yet 78 THE LAND OP MOAB. Chap. Y. remains a virgin city. Yet his troops occupied this castle for months, and finally, compelled by starva¬ tion to evacuate it, were for the most part slaugh¬ tered on the other side of the Wady Kobeisheh. Between the two great fortifications of Kerak theie is understood to be still an underground communication, and there are deep wells sunk in the castle. F or the supply of water for the civil inhabitants, not only do deep wells and arched cisterns abound everywhere ; but there is an enor¬ mous open reservoir very near the Castle of Bybars, apparently, from its massive masonry, of Boinan wot k, which, at the time of our visit, was partly filled with watei. Ihere are also some fine perennial spiings in the sides of the valleys close below, four of which are near the town, and most copious. Ain bat a is used, close to its source, for turning water¬ mills. Among the other antiquities of .Kerak the most interesting is a ruined mosque, which has evidently been previously a basilica. The roof is gone, and the building is now used as a Moslem cemeterv, but the pillars and arches remain. The doorway is pointed, 01 Saracenic, and the upper part of the aich is filled in with masonry, which has once been covered with Christian symbols. These have been chiselled out, and an Arabic inscription inserted, but the Moslems have left two symbols, viz., the' cup sculptured on each side of their inscription, attesting the former use of the place as a Christian church. Chap. Y CASTLE OF BYBARS 79 So soon as we emerged from the tunnel into Kerak we were directed by the chief to camp within the Castle of Bybars. The locality was certainly in itself a favourable one. The present inhabited part of Kerak does not extend very near it, and we were at least securely sheltered from the west, though XO. 7. KERAK HOL'bLTOFS. scarcely prepared for the pitiless north wind which afterwards swept in eddies round the open court. Soon our tents were got up, while an eager crowd of men and boys watched our proceedings from the 80 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. ledges of tlie fortress overhead, and looked curiously down, as we toiled away with our men at clearing the great stones, to drive in the pegs. The mules and horses were picketed for security under the wall within the line of tents. Our view towards the great castle at the other end of the place was unin¬ terrupted, as the scattered town consists entirely of flat mud-roofed houses, so constructed as to appear all underground, with no streets or lanes between them, and distributed in such a way that it is some¬ times difficult to know whether we are walking on the ground or over a house. We had scarcely arrived when a young man of pleasing countenance, in a shabby Greek ecclesias¬ tical costume, came forward and was affectionately greeted by Daoud and Mr. Klein. He was the master of the Greek Christian school, a native of Kerak, and had been educated at the convent of the Holy Cross at Jerusalem, where he was a frequent visitor of Mr. Klein ; very well disposed, a student of his Bible, and well inclined to Protestantism. He was a youth of thought and study, in which he stands here indeed alone. He was accompanied by the priest, a dull, heavy-looking man, much inferior to him in every way. He offered to lionize us, and advised our starting at once. We, having reason to suspect coming difficulties, felt no time was to be lost, left tent-pitching and unpacking to our people, and were off without delav. We walked direct to %! the great castle, followed and jostled by scowling Chap. Y. KERAK INTERIOR. 81 crowds, who repeatedly asked if we expected to be allowed to see the Castle without paying for it; but several native Christians (of whom there are variously estimated to be from 800 to 1600 in Kerak) joined us, and we took no notice of our persistent tormentors. After visiting and hastily noting down the features of the Castle, the schoolmaster pointed out to us the course of the connecting tunnel between the two castles, driven through the rock on the south side, just above the massive escarpment. We then crossed to the Moslem quarter. He beckoned us to follow him into a house. We descended a sort of sloping rubbish heap into a narrow alley. A Iverak house is entered by a low doorway four feet high, generally arched, of dry stones, but often with a massive lintel, taken from some more ancient building. This doorway opens into a small and filthy courtyard, with numbers of projecting stones, on each of which a little conical cake of cow-dung is placed to dry — the only fuel of treeless Kerak. Underneath these runs along one side, a long trough formed of dried mud, the manger for goats and donkeys. An¬ other door, four feet high, opens into the principal room, the living room of the family. It has neither windows nor chimney, and is roofed by a succession of dry stone arches, with slabs or rafters laid across them. Exactly in the centre is a large saucer-shaped scallop of mud, the fireplace and oven, and the fumes from which have no other exit than the door. G 82 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. Y. I need not say how blackened are the faces and everything else in this smoke-trap. Opening out of this room are several dark cells, some of them evidently the crypts of the more ancient city, — the storehouses of the family. Furniture there is none. All sit and sleep on the floor. We soon found out why the schoolmaster had brought us into this house. The floor of the hovel was a beautiful tesselated pavement of marble, quite perfect, with the marble bases of some old columns still in their places at the edge of the pavement. Only the centre of the pattern had been broken up to make way for the hearth. It was probably part of some Roman baths, for in the next house were the remains of the marble bath room, which now formed the yard, with the water-pipes still protruding from the walls. We had several other proofs of Roman occupation brought to us in the course of our stay. Mr. Klein had presented to him by one of the Christians, two very fine and perfect Roman lamps, which he kindly gave me, and I purchased several imperial coins of gold and silver, besides a gold medal of Helena. The gold coins were all sold to me for rather less than their value as old gold. I also collected about 50 much worn brass coins, from Hadrian down to the Byzantine Maurice, and two silver pennies of Baldwin, king of Jerusalem. We also obtained a few cameos, to which the finders did not attach much value, and which were all chipped. Chap. V. THREATS OF THE CHIEFS. 83 The present Christian quarter is to the north of the town, and there we visited the Greek church, a solid respectable building, with two aisles and an apse, and massive square pillars like an old Norman church. At the west end of the nave is a well in the floor, still used. On the rood-screen were several very creditable Byzantine pictures of saints, witli little lamps burning in front of them, and smaller copies hung below for the votaries to kiss. There is a neat enclosure outside the church, and another at the west end, where are the priest’s rooms and the school, a plain building with matting along one side of it — its only furniture. The Church Mis¬ sionary Society had supplied some of the school books, psalters and testaments, and I noticed two well-used large Arabic Bibles, with the Bible Society’s stamp on their covers. The schoolmaster much de¬ sires an Arabic Bible with marginal references, which is expensive, and we gladly promised to send him one on our return to Jerusalem. When we returned to camp, we found our troubles begun ; the people crowding round, no keeping the head men out of our tents, an intrusion for which we paid heavily in fleabites all night ; and the young Mudjelli assuming a threatening tone. Other travellers had paid handsomely for going over the Castle, and what right had we to start off without waiting for him and arranging terms? He must have a large sum for our assurance in going over his place. He roundly cursed the Greek priest and g 2 84 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. the Christians, and forbade them to come near ns : an injunction he signally failed in carrying out. 600Z. is the lowest sum he will take, and it is very moderate. De Saulcy, the Due de Luynes, and M. Mauss, the only visitors they have had, paid at a much higher rate. “ But,” we reply, “ we are not princes, and will not pay like princes ; indeed, we cannot.” “Then,” said he, “the chief will shut his eyes with grief, while evil men rob your baggage and horses.” Meantime our mules had been, in our absence, removed to the public khan, so that, as far as they were concerned, we were at his mercy. “ Then,” cried Mr. Klein, “ we will go to the Pasha.” “ What can Pashas do here ? We are lords here, and care less than nothing for Pashas or Sultans.” To his 600Z. he held firm. Even if we had had the money, we felt that payment would be no security against further demands, but we had it not. Eventually he announced that we were prisoners in our tents, and an armed guard was set to prevent our going beyond the little space between our tents and the w*all. But while the young Mudjelli was playing his game in our tent, another part of the drama was enacted in the next. Mr. Klein had contrived to send a messenger for the Greek schoolmaster, wTlo, with a trusty native Christian, had stolen round the corner unperceived, and entered the tent. The character of the old father was discussed: “Oh, while his sons are robbers, lie too has a belly as large as a tent, but then he has understanding wide Chap. Y. THIEF-CATCHING IN THE EAST. 85 as the ocean;” implying that he was too prudent ever to resort to personal violence. We were thank¬ ful to feel that, at least, these were a different class from the lawless freebooters of the Safieh. It was arranged that a secret messenger should be found and despatched at once to the English Consul at Jerusalem ; and a sign was agreed on, that the man chosen should bring the priest’s string of beads with him in the night. Long, and in undertones, did Mr. Klein and the Greeks talk, while Trotter and Johnson patrolled to see that no eavesdroppers were near, and the rest of our party kept our young gaoler in parley in the other large tent. I entered, sat down, and apparently intent on a map before me, indited on a foolscap sheet the letter to the Consul, recounting our difficulty, and the tricks of the man who was eying me, and little suspecting my employment. At length Klein came in, and we understood the coast was clear. There was no further occasion to detain our keeper, so we began to talk loudly at him in English, on which he took his departure, telling us he should expect the money to be ready in the morning. Arab experiences were the topic of the evening, when our tormentors had retired. Mr. Klein told a good story illustrative of the practice of the country, “ Every man his own thief-catcher.” His horse, a very valuable one, had been stolen from his stable at Jerusalem, and not a trace of it could be found, nor a shade of suspicion as to who was the thief. 86 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. Some little time afterwards he learned that his horse had been seen among the Beni Hassan in Gilead. Sending across Jordan, he opened com¬ munications with Goblan, the well known Sheikh of the Ad wan, and the neighbour of the Beni Hassan, for its recovery, promising him a reward of 10/. The Adwan reconnoitred the district secretly for some days, and at length discovered the camp, where the thief (a man of Lifta, a village near Jerusalem,) had taken refuge. He then rode over with a party of armed horsemen shortly before nightfall. They made out the tent before which the horse was picketed ; and, still unseen, concealed themselves carefully for the night in the forest. The sun had not risen, when in the gloaming the Adwan made a dash into the camp, and cut the pickets. Four of them rushed into the tent, seized the culprit, tied him across the horse, and gallopped off into the forest before the Beni Hassan knew what was up. Arrived at their own camp, they stripped the man naked, beat him severely, and left him a whole day under a broiling sun pegged to the ground. Next day they let him crawl off, and soon brought the horse to Jerusalem, where they received their reward. “ Mountain never meets mountain, but man and man may meet,” was a favourite Arabic proverb of Daoud’s, meaning that it is best to part friends with everybody, with a view to future contingencies. Hence Daoud’s unwearied civility to the most irri- Chap. V. MIDNIGHT INTERVIEW. 87 tating schemers. He used it well in his courteous Eastern phrase, when yesterday he took leave of the Sheikh of the Beni Atiyeh, and, writing his name down in his pocket-book, assured him he should remember him, and recommend future travellers to his good offices. Daoud was generally up to the occasion. Mean¬ ness is an especial vice of Kerak. Not only did the young sheikh not send us the kid which etiquette required, when he was returned to his own land, after his dinner with us yesterday ; but, after leaving our tent to-night, he condescended to go to the kitchen tent and demand a supper. Daoud baffled him by saying, “ Yes, the cook is just cutting up the pork.” “Ugh, but there is some rice.” — “ Yes, and putting the bits on the rice.” This was not the first time that Hayne’s flitch of bacon had done us good service, for before leaving Jerusalem, slices were cut off and distributed in the several boxes of sugar, rice, coffee, and the like, so as to defile their contents in the eyes of good Moslem thieves. While we were together at prayers late in the evening, we heard the guard’s challenge, but no reply. It was pitch dark, for the moon had set, and soon the rattle of beads was heard under the eaves at the back of the tent. Mr. Klein slipped out, and when our worship was concluded, and we had com¬ mitted ourselves to a Covenant Father’s care in a strange land, we went to the other tent, where the two were sitting in darkness. With a careful patrol 88 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. Y. round, a candle was lighted, and I produced the letter, which the Christian carefully concealed in the lining of his garment, together with a sovereign, and, of course, an extra piece for backshiesh ; with a promise of a dollar extra for every day he should be away, short of ten days, the usual time for going and returning from Jerusalem. He then started unperceived — not even our Christian servants were in the secret, — and went out to sleep in the moun¬ tains for a few hours, assuring us that by daybreak he would be miles away from Kerak ; and thus, after a day of rare interest and excitement, the party retired to their couches or sheepskins. The first news of the next morning was from the Greek schoolmaster, who arrived early to say that the messenger with the letter had got away ini safety, and was supposed to have gone to his family camp in the hills ; but better still, that Zadam, son tj of Fendiy Faiz the great Sheikh of the Beni Sakk’r, was only seven hours off. Mr. Klein at once de¬ spatched a secret messenger, begging his immediate presence. Soon after, arrived a servant of the head-*'' man, to say that he did not wish us to be close prisoners, and that as long as we did not visit the city, we might ride out under proper guard, and see whatever part of the country we wished. But Mr. Klein knew the Arab character too well to allow this to pass. “ No,” exclaimed he in energetic tones in Arabic, in the hearing of all the men that sat on the wall, “ they know they have committed a crime Chap. V. THE TABLES TUBNED. 89 in confining us here, and insulting us; they are afraid, and so they send a message : let them come and fetch us out.” It reminded Gne of St. Paul’s experience at Philippi (Acts xvi. 37). We remained, therefore, still under guard till noon, when the old Mudjelli arrived in person to pay us a visit of state, preceded by a negro mounted herald and a troop of spearmen, and surrounded by the magnates of the place. But with them was Zadam, the Beni Sakk’r Sheikh, with his young brother, a bright youth of fourteen. At once he dis¬ mounted, and greeted Mr. Klein as an old friend. It appeared he had been unavoidably detained, but had acted on our letter, and had arrived at Jeru¬ salem only an hour after we left for Hebron. But he had made amends for his delay, and produced a contract, signed and sealed by him in the presence of the English Consul, by which he had agreed to be our guard, and to take us through all the country north of Kerak for forty days, for the moderate sum of 60Z. sterling. He had calculated the time we should be on the road, and had come, expecting our arrival about this time. Thus all the future of our expedition was made smooth, if only we could manage the neighbourhood of Kerak itself. The old Mudjelli entered and sat down next Zadam. Now was our turn. We recapitulated, through Daoud, the indignities to which we had been exposed ; how his son had acted the brigand, and how at that very moment we were prisoners. 92 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. six women to form his congregation, all belonging to the Greek Church. They are very ignorant, but from Bible teaching are Protestants in heart, have some knowledge of the truth, and thirst for more. The schoolmaster is fond of study, thoughtful, and his great desire is to go to England to complete his edu¬ cation. There were earnest requests for a catechist ; and if the roads were safe, life and property secure, and regular communications open with Salt in Gilead, where the Turkish government is now firmly established, a native catechist might be sent at once, were there funds for the purpose. Some of the people, even now, prefer not to have their children baptized in the Greek Church, but send them to Salt when there is a missionary on circuit there. The great value, however, of Kerak as a mission station would be the opportunity of free intercourse with the Bedouin, which is most difficult on the west side, where, on the complaint of the Moslem religious authorities, the Christian school established among the Ta’amirah has been broken up ; and where the Turks are afraid of the Bedouin becoming more troublesome if they become more enlightened. On the east there would be at least no official jealousy to interpose. The afternoon was much occupied with temporal works of mercy. Looked upon as a hakeem, I had a stream of visitors. I had some difficulty in screw¬ ing my courage to use a bistory in a surgical case, and to open an abscess in a youth’s leg. Happily Chap. V. VIEW FROM THE CASTLE OF KERAK. 93 there was no artery in the way, and I saved my credit, and also the young man’s life, who was going on well three days afterwards. There were ladies’ cases. Even the old Mudjelli came, and said his fifth and favourite wife was very ill since a mishap ; but when I told him I could not prescribe without seeing the patient, and also parenthetically enquired how he came to have five instead of four wives, he hastily turned the subject. We climbed to the top of the castle overhead, and on the top of the wall outside, sat down and read. We looked at Jerusalem 50 miles off, as the crow flies, across the lake, but plainly visible through our glasses. The Kussian buildings, the mount of Olives, and, further south, Bethlehem, were easily recognized. The view at sunset was splendid, a wonderful glow of red, yellow, and green, over the range of Judaea, and the old moon just in the arms of the new. Again came the Mudjelli, handling and asking for inkstands, paper, opera glasses, pistols, or what¬ ever he could lay his fingers on, and sorely trying our patience. After his third or fourth departure, Zadam came in and suggested an early start. We explained that we wished to explore the southern district before turning north, and suggested that he should go and return for us in a few days. With a quiet smile and inimitable pantomime, he told us that if he did leave us, the Mudjelli would “filch, filch, filch,” putting out his long slender fingers 94 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. V. towards each of ns, and then drawing them quietly together, and gathering them in. It was plain that it was only the awe of Zadam’s presence that gave us our present quasi-liberty. Zadam also hinted that he did not like to stay much longer in the quarters of his vassal, on whom, of course, be and his retinue had to sponge. Mr. Klein, who had been diligently collecting topographical information, and had catalogued about 60 names of places round, and chiefly to the south of Kerak, found very few names that promised to be of scriptural or historical interest. He thought that one long day’s ride might suffice to work a radius south of Kerak, to the extent of 15 or 20 miles ; so we agreed to go in two days, and persuaded Zadam and his brother to be our guests for the rest of our stay here. Trotter’s little spare tent was set up for them, rough bedding found, and their horses picketed with ours. The relations of the Mudjelli and the Beni Sakk’r are curious. The former is a Turkish appointed governor, ranks as a colonel in the Turkish army, and draws pay as such from the Imperial Treasury ; being of course answerable for the taxes, due from the district. The latter is also under Turkish domi¬ nion, but only as a vassal, owing feudal allegiance, and may be called on to bring so many hundred horsemen into the field when required. Practically the Beni Sakk’r are an independent tribe, yet Kerak pays to them a regular tribute annually, to protect themselves and their flocks from pillage, very much Chap. Y. EXCURSION FROM KERAK. 95 as the towns of south Judah used to send “ presents” to David during his wanderings. The tribute paid is in kind, barley, wool, &c. It is felt prudent but hu¬ miliating by the Keraki, who recall the time when they were held above the proudest of the Bedouin. In the evening Zadam and his brother dined with l > > i ) 1 f t i t i us. They endured the trying ordeal of an European dinner with truly Oriental patience, and Zadam shewed much shrewdness in his quiet imitation of everything he saw us do, and much skill in the handling of those, to him, novel weapons, a knife and fork. He admitted, however, that he had seen them before, as he had visited Alexandria and Cairo when taking some Arab horses as a present to the Viceroy of Egypt, and had travelled in a railway train. He one day asked Mr. Klein whether he thought the Queen of England would give him a present, if he took her a fine Arab horse as a gift. One day we took advantage of a lull in the storm, and finding that we might ride out with our guards where we would, Mr. Klein planned an admirable route with me to several of the southern cities of Moab, the topographical results of which will be given further on. The rest of the party did good work, Buxton, Hayne and Johnson, toiling all day at measuring, sketching and photographing among the castles and ruins of Kerak, which, for once, they were permitted to do, with no greater annoyance than an unmannerly crowd about them. After nine hours’ absence we returned, to find there 96 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. Y. was to be no more peace for us. The fact of our having sent a letter to Jerusalem had eked out, and in a storm of rage the Mudjelli and his band hurried to our camp. His brother going into the tent and finding Mr. Klein alone, told him plainly with Arabic euphemism, he would have him assassinated whenever a favourable opportunity should occur. Klein begged to refer him to those who had written the letter. I was next taxed, and replied, that, as we had no money here, we were obliged to send to Jerusalem to tell our wants. Did he suppose we would carry 600Z. about with us ? It was vain ; the curses were only louder. I was obliged in turn to try a little browbeating, and through Daoud told him with angry and scornful gestures, that if a hair of Mr. Klein’s head were touched, he should pay for it to the Pasha of Nablous. As for the Greeks, to whose quarter, we learned, he had been, to curse the Greek schoolmaster, and to vow vengeance on every Christian who had been near us, so soon as we should be gone, Daoud took care to tell him in the ears of his people, that he shook like a sheep before the Moscov (Russians) and that he dared not hurt one child under the wing of the Patriarch. (The Greek Patriarch makes him a yearly present for his pro¬ tection of his people.) Soon there was a pause, as the Mudjelli ceased cursing, and stooped down to say his prayers. Scarcely calmed by his devotions, he told us he wanted no strangers in his country, who could not pay like gentlemen. We told him we Chap. Y. FUTILE THREATS. 07 should leave to-morrow. He turned round to the crowd and announced that he should only permit us to leave by the way we came, and that he should turn us back into the Safieh. This was too much for Sahan, Zadam’s boy-brother, who leapt up, snapped his fingers in the face of the old bully, and laughed at the notion of making his brother's friends go back to Safieh. Zadam also hinted deli¬ cately that any injury to us might lead to the Kerak cattle straying into Beni Sakk’r pastures. At last they departed, leaving a guard over our tents, lest we should escape in the night. XO. 8. ANCIENT LAMP, FOUND AT KERAK. H CHAPTER VI. Excursion to the south of Kerak — Kureitun — The twin towns — Kiriathaim — The highlands of Moab — Ruined cities — A zizah — Wine presses — M’hheileh — Jubah — Roman road — Mahk’- benah — Cisterns — Modeh — Roman milestones — Mesh’had — Madin — Theniyeh — Arabic names — Kerak, Kir Moab or Kir Hareseth — Obstinacy of the Mudjelli — Visit to the Council — Diplomacy about ransom — Arab manoeuvres — Off at last — Tre¬ mendous storm — Road to Rabba — Rakim — Roman road — Arrival at Rabba — Camp in a tank — Description of Rabba — Roman temples — Basaltic stones — The Kerak men again — Daoud’s ingenuity for the horse’s corn — Robbery of the letter carrier — Bad news — Mr. Klein recalled. Before taking our final leave of Kerak, it may be well to give shortly the results of our surveying expedition among the ruins to the southwards. We left by the N.E. side of the city, riding through the Christian quarter, and, scrambling over a gap in the* broken wall, led our horses down a zigzag path, into the ravine of the Wady Kerak. At this point the depth of the gorge rapidly diminishes, as, making a partial circuit of the city, we come out, after twenty minutes, under the great castle, cross first a brow, and then the Wady Tziatin, where the soldiers of Ibrahim Pasha were slaughtered in attempting to cut theii way from the castle. Here Ibrahim Pasha planted his mortars and bombarded the place. The wady of Kerak soon begins to widen from £ Chap. VI. KIRI A TH AIM TWIN TOWNS. 99 ravine to a more open valley. Ancient terraces are everywhere to be traced ; and here and there, little green, saucer-like, level halting-places, with soft, rich herbage, where the Keraki were making their summer camp, while their goats depastured the rugged hill¬ sides. In forty-five minutes after starting, we reached the crest of the opposite hill, and could overlook Kerak, with the gorge down to the Dead Sea, up which we had ridden a week before ; and a part of the sea itself, while the mountains of Judaea formed the back¬ ground. Even without a glass, we could distinctly make out Jerusalem. The spot had a few ruins and wells, and is called Jelamet es Subbha. It was only twenty minutes’ ride from this place to the first of the twin towns of Kureitun, perhaps a Kiriathaim of Scripture, but not the Kiriathaim of Eeuben. Here are the remains of two towns close to¬ gether, with a gentle hollow of not more than half a mile from crest to crest between them, bearing the same name, and thus illustrating the significance of the dual termination in the Hebrew Kiriathaim. One description might suffice for all these Moabite ruins. The town seems to have been a system of concentric circles built round a central fort, and outside the buildings the rings continue as terrace walls, the gardens of the old city. The terraces are continuous between the twin hillocks, and intersect each other at the foot. There are several wells, now half choked and dry, in each, and the ground is full of small caverns, especially under the buildings, carefully h 2 100 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. YI. cemented, which have been the reservoirs of each house. We find here no arches standing, but the remains of many, in the buttresses from the vaults, shewing that stone had been exclusively used in the domestic constructions. We had now got on to the Plateau or Highlands of Moab, on the crest of wThat looks from the other side to be a range of mountains, but which is in reality the edge of a high tableland, about 4000 feet above the Dead Sea valley, and which gently rises tc the eastward for about 25 miles, where a barren limestone range of no great height forms anothei watershed, and is the conventional frontier of Arabia The ravines to the westward, which, as we ascendec from the Dead Sea, have been so conspicuous £| feature, become now in their earlier course men ] gentle valleys, with rounded rolling hills, none o l them so steep as those of central Judaea. Wheneve: the limestone is elevated above the rich vegetable soil, it is honeycombed with caves, all once utilizer as water cisterns. The wTells are countless, anc not confined to the old cities only, showing that th< Israelites must have had *no little labour to sto] them all with stones (2 Kings iii. 25). The soil o the plains is a rich friable loam, covered with smal stones, which shield the tender roots from the sun and which is capable of producing anything. Ever knoll is covered with shapeless ruins, while not tree is to be seen through the whole country, ex cept here and there a terebinth, always among th r II 1 Chap. YI. OLD TOWNS OF MOAB. 101 )f! i debris of some ancient site. The ruins consist merely of heaps of squared stones, with here and there the traces of an arch (while north of the Arnon the remaining arches are countless), and walls of squared and well fitting stones, which apparently were erected without mortar. From Kureitun we turned S.S.W. and in ten minutes were on the mound of ruins, called Kirbet Azizah. The remains are extensive, and with very many wells. Among other traces of older and better times, I came upon a winepress, hewn in the rock, two troughs hewn out of the native rock, with a perforated partition left between them. The grapes were thrown into the upper trough, and there trodden by the feet of the winepressers, the juice draining through the holes into the lower receptacle. The presses are exactly similar to those so numerous in western Palestine. For ages, however, the threat against Moab has been fulfilled : “ gladness is taken away and joy out of the plentiful field ; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting : the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.” (Is. xvi. 10.) To the left of Azizah runs the Wady M’hheileh, in which there is a remarkable large, open reservoir formed out of a natural cavity. Fifteen minutes brought us from Azizah to Kirbet Nekad, with ruins like the former on a knoll ; and in eighteen minutes more we reached Hhoweiyeh, a much more 102 the LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI. extensive place with many wells. The old Avails covered a considerable space of ground, but there are no arches left standing. The herbage here was luxuriant, and close to the ruins was a camp of herdsmen and their families, dependants on Kerak. Twenty-two minutes’ quick riding across a level plain, brought us to Jubah, Avhich must have been a small place, but the masonry very solid. There is here another capacious natural cistern, enlarged by art. Here we came upon the old Roman road, very distinctly marked by the lines of two parallel Avails close together, unbroken as far as the eye could reach, and running over the plain due south. We cantered along the side of the old military way, in a wide shallow valley of very rich earth. Fourteen minutes Avas enough to bring us to Mali- k’henah, the Mahanna of Irby and Mangles’ Journal. The remains are in a better state of preservation than any of those we had yet visited in the course of our ride. The plan of many of the buildings, and especially of an old Byzantine Church, can b©| distinctly traced. It stands on a slightly elevated mamelon, covering several acres. Not only are there the usual number of old wells, as though there had been one for every house, according to the command given by Mesha in the Moabite stone, make for yourselves every man a cistern in his house, ” but there are many caves Avhich have been used as dAvellings, and several crypt houses quite j perfect. Large dressed stones were lying about in i Chap. YI. ROMAN ROAD. 103 3 all directions. The only present inhabitants were 3 Greek partridges ; but though we found no Bedouin § here, both the caves and arches had lately been i inhabited by men and flocks. In many of the caves was the raised platform or “ mastaba ” for sleeping 1 on, formed of earth, at the further end, and several i fragments of sheepskin coverlets and garments, e as well as fodder, were strewn about. We could not 1 see Kerak from Mahk’henah, but the road close to I, it could be distinguished with the glass. It has been 1 suggested that Mahk’henah is the Arabic equivalent e for “ Mochrath ” mentioned on the Moabite stone l, as the place from which Mesha repeopled Ataroth r, after he had exterminated its former Israelitish inhabitants. Five minutes west of this was a small ruin, , apparently of a fort and a village, which we visited, i called Jeljul (Djellgood of Irby and Mangles, or p Djeldjoun of Burckhardt.). From Mahk’henah we 1 crossed, in a S.S.W. direction, a splendid rich plain, e full of the traces of ancient enclosures and vineyards, 1 now a waste like the rest of Moab. After a smart ride e of thirty-five minutes, we reached Modeh. (Monthe of i] Burckhardt, Harnata or Mote of Irby and Mangles.) J Here on two contiguous knolls have been two sister towns exactly like Kureitun. They were , | united at the bottom of the hills, and apparently were enclosed by a a common wall. We were again on the traces of the Boman road, and came across two milestones, one broken, the other still in situ. f 104 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI. Among the mins were three terebinth trees, the solitary representatives of timber we met with in our whole ride, nor is there a vestige of scrub on the hills anywhere. Modeh was our south-western limit in this excur¬ sion. From it we turned, and set out due N.E. towards the ruins of Mesh’had (Machad of Irby). Near it is Abou Taleb’s tomb, a tall, crumbling mass of masonry supported on arches. Biding north¬ wards another half hour, we came on a narrow wady, into which we descended by a rugged path, and found ourselves at the deep well, called Beer Madin from the city on the top of the hill beyond. The well is a natural cave, many feet down, and fed apparently by some subterranean spring. We des¬ cended by steps hewn in the rock, and found the water pure, cold, and delicious. We afterwards scrambled down two similar wells in the same wady. A few half broken troughs, some of them formed of old sarcophagi, were by the mouths of the wells, and contained water for our horses, kindly left there for the next traveller by some considerate, unselfish water-drawer. This was a piece of practical bene¬ volence we could thoroughly appreciate, for we had ourselves nothing to draw with. After resting here a few minutes, we were again in the saddle, and a steep climb of 15 minutes brought us to the ruins of Madin on the crest of a hill, not, like the other cities, on a gentle knoll in a plain. We seemed now to have left the level Chap. VI. KIR MOAB. 105 plateau which extended far east and south, while to the west we begin here to re-enter the rugged defiles of which Kerak is the key. The ruins are rather extensive, and more perfect than any others we exa¬ mined in this ride, squared stones of considerable size, and many old house walls still standing appa¬ rently at their original height, built of dressed stones without any trace of mortar. Several sarco¬ phagi were lying about ; one had been used as the lintel for an old doorway, and there were sculptured fragments of the Koman period, and broken oil presses. Jebel Shihan stood out clearly, bounding the northern horizon. From Madin to Tlieniyeh, the last ruin we visited was an hour’s ride, and another hour brought us back to Kerak.* No chain of evidence happily can be less open to cavil than that which identifies Kerak with Kir-Moab * We had also noticed, during the day, Mouriyeh (Meraa of Burckhardt), Hamad, Suhl, and Nachal (Netchill of Irby). From the Kerak people we obtained, through Mr. Klein, the names of many other sites known to them, some of which seem to be the Arabic representations of Hebrew names. Among them are Dim- nah (quere the Dimon of Isaiah ?) though, for want of a known site, Dimon has been commonly held, by an ingenious but far fetched interpretation, to be a synonym of Dibon, Lubeirah, Sum- rah, Yaroud, Beter, Hadadah, Rakun, Z’erar, Hhomoud, Azour, and others. These were given us with very definite directions. Other places of which we obtained the names without precise identification were Dadras, Um Hayh, el Ainah, Fulkhah, Dubbak? Tzzar, Bedthan, Keriyeh, El Fityan, En Sheynesh, Misnar, ’Arn’rah el Bourdan, Sahdouneh, N’assit, Gh’marein, Hlirofillat, Hadjfeh, Alayan, Tzemakiyeh, Oneim, and ed D’lalhyeh. These all remain for some future explorer to identify. 106 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI. (Is. xv. 1) or Kir Haresh or Hareseth (Is. xvi. 7, 11), Kir Heres (Jer. xlviii. 31), or Kir Haraseth (2 Kings iii. 25). It was the castle, “ Kir,” as distinguished from the metropolis “Ar” of the country, i.e. Kab- bath Moab,the modern Kabba. The Targum translates all these names u Kerakah ” identical with the modern name* The Crusaders mistook it for Petra, and gave to its bishop that title, which the Greek Church has still retained, but the name in the vernacular has continued unchanged. No wonder, as we look down from the neighbouring heights upon it, that the combined armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom could not take it, and that “ in Kir Haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it and smote it ” (2 Kings iii. 25), but to little purpose. The population of Kerak is said to be 8000 of whom 1600 are Christian. There could not have been anything like that population at the time of our visit, but then the greater part of the people and their families were camping in the country with their flocks and herds. Our patience was now exhausted. Four days under surveillance was enough, and duly escorted, a de¬ putation consisting of Daoud and myself, paid an early visit next day to the Mudjelli. In the centre of the town we stepped down into a courtyard, and * As Kerak Moab it is mentioned by Ptolemy, Steph. Byz., and other writers. Chap. VI. VISIT TO THE SENATE. 107 > thence into the large cavernous chamber, which s formed the council chamber of the city. The whole 1 assembly, perhaps 30 in number, were sitting in • solemn conclave with their pipes, round the great ® saucer-shaped hearth, about one yard and a half wide, 1 containing smoking embers, for it was very cold. I No one rose to salute me, nor did the Mudjelli even l lift his eyes as I stood. Determined to take the r bull by the horns, 'at Daoud’s whisper, I stepped £ forward, pushed one of the sitting elders aside, and t strode in front of the chief in my boots and spurs, i Still no one moved till I made room for myself at t the upper end of the circle, and took my seat in the t place of honour by the Mudjelli on the ground. On ) this a box was brought from behind, and a cushion spread on it for me. Daoud stood by me, and through f | him I spoke many civil words, said I had come to I return the state visit paid us seven days ago, as we were going to leave this morning, and wished to part } friends, and to thank him for the security to our i j persons we had enjoyed under his government. Not a word in reply. Another civil speech and still no sign. At length some of the elders broke silence, and advised their chief to part with the Christians as ! friends, and to let them go in peace. A long con¬ ference ensued among them in under tones. At the proper moment Daoud broke in, embraced the Mudj¬ elli on his knees, and whispered long in his ear. Still no word. At length seeing that no coffee was coming, I rose and said I hoped he would come soon to our 108 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI tents to say farewell, and that we should wait for him there. He then actually half-rose and bowed, and gave me a salaam. When we got back to camp, Uaoud prognosticated success, as the old man had whispered to him, “ Ho not let the Howadji give me money in the sight of my people.” The great man shortly appeared on horseback with a long retinue ; and dismounting entered our tent with some of his chief followers. He and I had a private interview in the second tent, and as he emerged, at once the word was passed to strike tents and load the mules. Never were orders more promptly obeyed. In an hour and a quarter all was packed. The morning’s lowering sky now turned to a hurri¬ cane, and before the mules were quite ready, rain fol¬ lowed the wind, such rain as I have seldom seen. We started a little in advance of our baggage, intending to leave by the eastern exit, but the storm of rain and hail became so fierce that o.ur terrified horses refused to move, and wheeled round unable to face the blast. Under the lee of the Greek Church we had to sit on our trembling steeds, soaked to the skin. The elements might have combined with the people to detain us. When the violence of the squall abated, we rode back to the castle. To our relief the site of our camp was desolate. The mule¬ teers, for once in earnest to be off, had tahen shelter in the tunnel, whence they were now winding down the steep by which we had entered. Under a succes- Chap. YI. DEPARTURE FROM KERAK. 109 sion of drenching showers, we passed the mules, and a ride of 4J- hours through very heavy country brought us to our camp at Rabba, with no further inconvenience beyond our soaking, than the ordinary difficulties of mules objecting to ford little swollen torrents, or dislodging their burdens from their backs at the most inconvenient turnings. On the way we passed the ruins of Suweiniyeh, Duweineh, Rakim, and Mekhersit. The different aspect of the country to the south of Kerak and of this northern plain, suggests a reason why the cities are so much more crowded in the former. The most especial feature of that district is the number of “ tells,” little hillocks or mamelons of rocks rising like an irregular eruption over the plain. The northern plain is without these excrescences. Their great value in the eyes of the former inhabitants would seem to have been the facility for utilizing or excavating an unlimited number of tanks. In a land where the population must have been chiefly depen¬ dent on the rains for their supply, they preferred to settle in spots where their facilities for water-storage were unlimited. We soon came on the old Roman road running due north and south, with its pavement still there, though broken up, and often the flagstones set on edge by time and weather, with the two parallel lines of walls flanking it. This ruined street we followed without incident, until under the drenching rain we were glad to reach our arranged quarters for the 110 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI. night, at Eabba, the old Ar, or Rabbath Moab, and the Areopolis of the Greek and Roman writers, so named from the resemblance in sound between Ar IB / i and wAp?7?, or Mars. Jerome distinctly identifies them. Since Rabba is so close to the northern fron¬ tier of trans-Arnonic Moab, and as there is no trace of any city of importance between it and the river, it is easy to understand how in Numbers xxi. 15, Ar is spoken of as if it were the northern border. The place selected for camp sounds a questionable one under a deluge of rain: the bottom of an im¬ mense tank or reservoir, some 60 yards by 50 in extent, and though largely choked up with the litter and manure of the animals which have been folded here for ages, perhaps to the depth of 20 feet, it was still in some places 30 feet below the upper surface. In the sides, rather high up, were large open caves, where our guards and muleteers comfortably ensconced themselves and a few of the horses. Our tents were pitched on the porous mass of goats’ dung, which rapidly absorbed the water, and gave us a tolerably dry surface. Though not sheltered from the rain, we were safe from the wind, and our tents were not rocked by the storm. We were at peace at last, though bitterly cold, and my sheepskin bed had been rolled by a mule in a torrent, and was a mere damp sponge. To sleep in a mackintosh and damp bedding over it is a severe trial, with the thermometer close to the freezing-point. Rain compelled us to remain another day in the Chap. YI. PRE-ROMAN REMAINS. Ill cistern. There was, however, enough to explore in the ruins of Rabba, though the weather forbade pho¬ tographing. The place seems to have been square, with the Roman road almost intersecting it from north to south, and the course of the main street may be traced. Unlike the ruins we have previously visited, Rabba bears all the marks of a city of the late Roman period, with abundant traces of an earlier epoch. The Roman town seems to have been about three- quarters of a mile each way. There are several huge grass-grown mounds, evidently the tombs of some important buildings, which might well repay exca¬ vation. One temple has two Corinthian columns standing, and portions of several others, with two arches. There are also two other large open tanks, but all else is only a mass of walls, broken down fragments of carved work, and Corinthian capitals; broken sarcophagi here and there, blocks of basalt, 5 vaults and arched cellars of all sizes, some being still used by the Arabs as folds, sleeping-places, and store-houses, and in some of which were myriads of rock-doves. These vaults are countless. The Romans have evidently used in their construction many carved stones from yet earlier edifices. The material of the city is limestone. But we found many blocks of basalt, which must have been brought from Shihan, several miles off, built into the walls and arches, some of them finely faced, and others carved, telling of a still more ancient Moabite 112 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI city. Among the blocks of basalt thus used, wert fragments of architraves and entablatures. Severa of the sarcophagi were of basalt also, but withoul sculpture. At the eastern end of the city are the remains of a large square building, which seems, by some bases left in situ, to have had a colonnade round a central court, probably the praetorium. We were not vet rid of our Kerak tormentors. i * though out of their power. They found our coffee and tobacco good ; and their camp was too near ours for our comfort. The Mudjelli and his horde kept hovering about all day, sponging upon us for break¬ fast and every other meal, and filching the barley of our muleteers for their own horses. However, in this matter, the muleteers are not scrupulous about steal¬ ing from each other’s nosebags, for mules can tell no tales. There is, however, a mode of detecting it. Mr. Klein, who rode his own mare, asked Daoud this morning if he was quite sure she always got her allowance. “ Oh yes,” he replied, “ the muleteers often steal from one another, and rob their friends’ horses, but I can always find out if your mare has been cheated.” “ How ? ” “ 1 always put some pebbles in with the barley, seven or eight, and count exactly how many I put in. The mare never eats the pebbles, and if any one steals barley, he is sure to take two or three pebbles with it. If I find the pebbles short in the morning I make hard words, and they cannot tell how I know, and so they let alone cheating her.” Chap. VI. ROBBERY OF THE LETTER CARRIER. 113 re ■al We had another instance of Kerak villainy to-day. In the afternoon, a poor fellow came in, not only half-perislied with cold, hunger, and wet, but with his garments in rags, and his limbs bruised and beaten. Mr. Klein recognised him at once as a Bethlehem acquaintance. He told, trembling and quaking, how he had been sent from Jerusalem by Mrs. Klein with letters for her husband, by way of Jericho and Heshbon. He had left Jerusalem before our mes¬ senger could have arrived, and therefore knew nothing of our plight at Kerak. It seems that an hour and a half north of Kabba, the son of the Mudjelli and others were lying in wait for our messenger. He inquired innocently where we were, confessed to having letters for us, and, on n( his refusal to give them up, was severely beaten, and i: the packet taken from him by force. The man ^ happened to know the chief by sight. The scoun- ^ drels had actually had their breakfast at our tents 61 just before, and thus used our camp as a station to prevent our sending or getting news. Their violence was an utter mystery to the poor Bethleliemite, who ould not understand their object, and only by chance bund out where we were. He could tell no more han that he knew lie was the bearer of bad news, hat Mr. Klein’s eldest boy was very ill, and he elieved the letter was to ask him to return. But where is the letter ? The Mudjelli is actually n our camp, but treats the matter with indifference, nd says in a couple of days his son may turn up. i 114 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VI. Mr. K feels there is no time to be lost, and, con¬ sulting with Zadam, determines that we shall all cross the Arnon together to-morrow, and camp on the northern brow. We shall then be in the Beni Sakk’r land, and in perfect safety, and Mr. Klein will push on alone, with a servant of Zadam’s, who will be quite sufficient guard where he is known, and the Beni Sakk’r all powerful. To us the loss of Mr. Klein was very grievous, and most grateful must every one of the party ever feel for his kind, energetic, and invaluable aid. To his tact, patience, and skill in dealing with the natives we owed altogether our passage without loss through the Safieh, and our survey of Kerak for a compara¬ tively trifling blackmail : while the whole of the more important part of the expedition, that north of the Arnon, so successfully carried out, was due to the thorough trust and friendship which Zadam had for him. Mr. Klein’s perfect knowledge of the Arabic vernacular was of the greatest value in ascertaining the names of places while he was with us, and has enabled us to add so many names to the map of southern Moab. Another of our party took advan¬ tage of Mr. Klein’s escort to return home. ( 115 ) CHAPTER VII. *! From Rabba to the Arnon — Yisit from the Hamideh — Characters of Zadam and Sahan — Ibn Tarif — Present from Mr. Drake — Ibn Tarif ’s attention — Roman wayside temple — Missdelih — Hameitat, the ancient Ham — Kasr Rabba — Beit el Kurm — Large temple — Ar and Areopolis — A pillar letter-box in the waste — News from Jerusalem — Troops on the move for our rescue — The Mudjelli returns — Restoration of Mr. Klein’s letter — Shihan — Curious enclosure of basalt — Sihon and the Amorites — The view from Jebel Shihan — Muhatet el Haj — Jahaz — Descent to the Arnon — Basaltic dyke — Traces of Roman road — Ruined forts — “The city in the midst of the river” — Rugged ascent — A mountain pass in the darkness — Dreary camp on the uplands — Mr. Klein’s departure — Aroer — Topography of the Arnon — Ride to Dhiban — Its ruins — The Moabite Stone — Conjectures as to its original position — Means of its preservation — ■ An oil-press — Identity of Dhiban with Dibon. The journey from Rabba to the north bank of the Arnon is some eight hours by Arab computation. Just before starting, a Beni Hamideh sheikh, Ibn Tarif, appeared. He began by presenting testi¬ monials from Palmer as his introduction, and his eye brightened when I told him that Drake, as well as Palmer, was a friend of mine, and that I was the bearer of a ring, as a present from his old visitor. Mr. Drake’s ring and a sovereign were amply suffi¬ cient to appease his appetite. But, in spite of the greed of the Arab character, I believe that an 116 THE I; AND OF MOAB. Chap. VII. attested friend of these gentlemen, even without a backshiesh, would not fare badly at the hands of Ibn Tarif. Unfortunately, as he told us, his power of serving them was not equal to his will. I am quite sure that, if he could, he would have made any number of Moabite stones to oblige them, for he remarked, with a solemn sigh, that it was not evenj written stone that would please them. He volunteered to escort us, and to take us a round before reaching the Arnon, as he knew the whole country — a suggestion which met with Zadam’s prompt approval, for he himself, and his men, knewr but little of the names of the sites in this immediate neighbourhood, out of their own territory. We arranged that Ibn Tarif should accompany us on a short detour to the top of Jebel Shihan, and that we should meet the mules and the rest of the party at the brow of the Arnon ravine. We rode out of the city of Rabba on the west side, and turning to the right, in a few minutes struck the Roman road, which bisects the city from south to north, and stretches across the plain, straight as an arrow. We followed its course by its side the greater part of the day. The space between the two parallel walls, five yards, is generally filled in by the fallen stones of the walls, but in many places the pavement remains exposed, though for the most part its stones have become displaced by the action of time and weather. Along this stretch of road I found three Roman mile- Chap. VII. HAM AND CHEDORLAOMER. 117 stones prostrate, one of them with the inscription exposed, but defaced. A mile from Rabba, a tolerably perfect little Roman temple abuts on the road on the left. The bases of the columns of the portico remain in situ , and the shafts lie broken and prostrate by them. The adytum at the west end is only partially ruined, and the lower cornices are still remaining. Half an hour further, on the east side of the road, are the stony heaps of another ruined tower, not marked in any of the maps, called Missdehh. It bears the stamp of great antiquity, and is without any traces of remains of Greek or Roman archi¬ tecture. A few minutes later, on the same side of the Roman road, are ruins of similar character, but of much greater extent, called by Ibn Tarif, Ham- eitat. They are the same as those called by Palmer Ham-mat, or Animah, and are laid down in all the maps as the remains of the ancient Ham, mentioned in Gen. xiv. 5, as the place where Chedorlaomer defeated the Zuzims. Schwartz is the proposer of this identification, which, although the place does not occur in after-history, is justified by several ingenious arguments. The Zuzims appear to be the same as the Zamzummim, whose seat was in the region after¬ wards occupied by Ammon, not far from this, and separated only by a wide, plain country, without any natural obstacles. Again, the Samaritan version has Lasha, i.e. Callirrhoe in Moab, a little to the north ; and lastly, the Targums read Henita, still 118 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII. more closely identical with the modern names given to Mr. Palmer and ourselves. Immediately after Hameitat, perhaps three and a half or four miles from Eabba, are very extensive later ruins, with a tine temple partly standing, the west walls and the portion towards the west forming a conspicuous object and landmark from afar. It is the one feature on the plain north of Eabba, just as one solitary terebinth tree to the westward of the road is the single feature between Kerak and Eabba. We had seen it long before reaching Eabba, two days since. It was called by some of our guides Kasr Eabba, i.e. “ the Castle of Eabba by others Beit el Kurm, 44 the House of the Vineyards,” both which names have been given to former travellers. The latter is evidently derived from the traces of vinevards in the lon^ naked lines of stones to the east. Kasr Eabba has been a magnificent and massive temple, and there are very faint traces of any other buildings about it. It has apparently stood alone, with perhaps a few chambers for attendants near it — the temple of vAp?7? (Mars), with which god the Syrians confused the name of “ Ar.” The whole enceinte within the block of great squared stones, some of them six feet by three, is strewn with immense fragments of columns, none of them fluted, and with Corinthian capitals and friezes. From the cracks in the standing walls, it would seem to have been shattered by an earthquake, rather than over*: Chap. VII. NEWS FROM JERUSALEM. 119 thrown by man. We measured about a dozen por¬ tions of columns ; all are of the same diameter, four feet eight inches, as if the shafts had not tapered at all. There had been a few, but very few, blocks of granite employed in the building. Alas, as at Rabba, the clouds and elements combined against the photographers, and all their plates failed. It has been suggested by Irby, that this Beit Kurm is the temple of Atargatis Carnion, or Carnaim (1 Macc. y. 43; 2 Macc. xii. 21). This, however, is undoubtedly the same as Ashteroth Karnaim of Gen. xiv. 5, where Chedorlaomer smote the Rephaims. Jerome says this place was above Sodom ; and again, that the name was applied in his day to two villages between Adara and Abila. The identification must remain, so far, a mere conjecture. The top of the west wall is easily climbed, and forms a capital look-out post over the wide plain. We descried something in the distance, and the sports¬ men unslung their guns for an eagle, but, on ap¬ proaching, found that the object was a man’s head peering above the highest angle of the temple. He recognised us at once, and came down from his perch. It was our messenger returning from Jerusalem with the Consul’s letter. Fortunate it was that he had concealed himself, for, from this very place had issued yesterday the Kerak men, who had robbed and beaten the bearer of Mr. Klein’s letter, who was now with us, glad of Mr. Klein’s protection on his return. Happily, they were now off the scent, and had outwitted 120 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. YII. themselves by their violence to Mr. Klein’s casual messenger. Mr. Moore’s letter was most satisfactory, The tele¬ graph had been used to Nablous, Damascus, and Beirut, the Pasha had been seen at Jerusalem, and aid was by this time on the way in the shape of troops for our release. Our zealous Consul had in¬ deed taken prompt measures. He advised us not to pay the ransom, but to wait a few days, as the sol¬ diers would be immediately despatched from EsSalt. Fortunately they will find their services unnecessary. Having given the messenger a good backshiesh, .and charged him to keep the matter secret, we left Kasr Babba at 10 a.m. Our mules and , some of the party now took the straight course by the Roman Road to the descent of the Arnon, passing the ruins of Er Riha, “ Jeri¬ cho,” (another instance of binomenclature, a dupli¬ cate name occurring on the east side), which we could see about two miles ahead, while we struck off to the right to ascend Jebel Shihan, the highest point of the plateau. Our Ahimaaz must have had a very near run, for half a mile further on we saw a distant camp of black tents, and the Mudjelli and some horsemen sallied from them, and galloped towards us. They coolly told us they had Mr. Klein’s letter, and would surrender it for a pound. We inquired if they had the face to ask to be paid for robbing and beating our messenger. After some parley, the letter was handed Chap. VII. PRIMAEVAL ENCLOSURES. 121 over without payment. The scoundrels had by this time calculated that the reply could not have been got so soon from Jerusalem, and that pro¬ bably their booty was worthless ; for they were very anxious to find out from Daoud if we had heard from the Consul. Poor Mr. Klein’s worst fears were confirmed. There was a note from the physician to say that his son was stricken with diphtheria, and that there was, humanly speaking, no hope for him. Forty-five minutes after leaving Kasr Rabba we crossed the gentle depression which marks the begin¬ ning of Wady Ghurreh. We had passed the ruins of Mejdelein, i.e. “ the two Migdols,” or towers, close to us, on our left. The country was all a level, * rolling plain, very heavy after the rain, ploughed and sown in patches here and there, the rest sprinkled with herbaceous plants, and tufts of grass and stones, much as a neglected fallow might be at home, for the Arabs take one crop, and then leave the spot fallow for three or four years, while they scratch up the next patch. Sand-grouse, dotterel, and plover, golden and Asiatic, were in plenty, but rose wildly out of shot, and I saw some of the graceful black- winged stilt, allured by the shallow pools left here and there by the rains. From the slope of the Wady Ghurreh, we struck on another Roman or earlier road, or rather a branch of the road before named, leading straight up to the top of Shilian, For exactly half an hour, led by Ibn 122 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII. Tarif, we cantered, till, by a very gentle and easy slope, we readied the summit. For some way before reaching the foot of the hill, and all up its southern slopes, but not its northern, is a wide extent of very singular remains, countless small enclosures, which may have been fields, gardens or yards, all formed of blocks of basalt, not squared, and no limestone, which is the native rock, employed. They reminded me of some of the so-called Cyclopean remains in the Hauran or Bashan ; and the basalt blocks have evidently been selected with great care. They cover many acres, and the city of Sihon must have been, with these suburbs, of great extent. The old road up the hill, by which we followed, has also had its two walls of basalt, carefully fitted, and parts of them still standing in a few places. The walls are like those of the other roads, five yards apart. The use of the basalt, unless it has been taken from the adjoining enclosures, would seem to intimate an earlier date than the military occupation of Borne. The enclosures, at least, must be of earlier date, and if not pre-historic, at least pre-Roman. The mind is carried back to that antique warrior, whose memory is preserved in the name of the hill, Sihon, king of the Amorites, the first who vainly dashed himself against the divinely protected hosts of Israel ; and as we read the tradition handed down by Josephus, of the Amorites endeavouring to escape for shelter to their walls, and then the mass of them struggling in their thirst to get down to the Arnon for water, and Chap. VII. PANORAMA FROM SHIHAN. 123 slaughtered in their confusion, we are led to fancy that perhaps this hill marks the battle-field — that it was behind that labyrinth of black stone walls the Amorites sought to shelter themselves, and the plain between this hill and the brow of Arnon’s bank is that across which they strove to escape, in their headlong rush to the river. On the top of the hill has evidently been the keep or fortress of the town, which is spread round the central ruin. It has been built chiefly of limestone, with blocks of basalt occasionally, the debris of more ancient buildings. There are the remains of a Eoman temple, some broken shafts and Ionic capitals, and several very large domed cisterns or matamoros, which have been carefully cemented. Two of these have evidently been in great part natural caves utilized and enlarged. There were also several deep wells, all now dry and half choked. The place is now used as a cemetery by the Hamideh, and some of the more recent burials were marked by tresses of plaited hair, votive offerings hung on sticks stretched length¬ ways on the grass ; while others had ragged shirts, fragments of clothing, and shepherds’ staves as offerings. The view from Shihan was almost a panorama. We could see two stretches of the Dead Sea, north and south of Engedi, separated by an intervening ridge, which breaks the line of the mountains of Judah. The Mount of Olives and Bethlehem could be seen with the field -glass. Beyond Kerak stretched i1 124 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. YII. the range towards Petra and Mount Hor ; to the east was the vast plain undulating to the Belka ; while to the north the main features were two great clefts or gorges. The nearer gorge, apparently just belo.w us, afforded a magnificent peep — a sheer and winding cleft in the level plateau, extending to the sea on one side, and to the horizon on the other. This was the reach of the Wady Mojib, the ancient was the broken valley of the Cal- lirrhoe, now the Zerka Main. After taking angles, and exploring the ruins, we descended in a north-eastern direction by another ancient road, riding at a smart pace, and in twenty-five minutes passed through the ruins of Bal’hua, perhaps the poorest and most featureless we have seen, and all levelled with the soil. After this, seventy minutes more of slow and heavy riding through wet and un¬ sound ground, rendered more treacherous than usual by the washing in of the burrows of the mole-rat — (Sjoalax typhlus), which does duty, at least in the making of runs and molehills, for the common mole, but excavates much larger tunnels — we reached Kirbet es Sum’hra, a mere castle, apparently of Sara¬ cenic origin, near Muhatet el Haj, the remains of a city of yet older date than the castle, and identified by many with the “ Jahaz,” or “ Jahazah,” of Scrip¬ ture, the scene of the battle between Israel and Sihon. This identification would harmonize very well with the name of Shihan, given to the hill, and Arnon. Beyond Chap, VII. THE PASS OF THE ARNON. 125 with Josephus’ tradition of the details. But there is a difficulty which seems to me insurmountable, viz., that Jahaz was in the allotment of Reuben (Josh, xiii. 18), and was one of the Levitical cities (1 Chron. vi. 78). Now few boundary lines are more clearly laid down than that of the Arnon dividing Reuben from Moab. We can scarcely, therefore, suppose that a city on the south plateau was ever held by Israel. Eusebius puts it between Medeba and Dibon, a more probable location. All we can gather from Isaiah and Jeremiah is, that it was in the “ Mishor,” or highland plain. Before arriving at Sum’hra, we came up with our convoy in sorry plight. Heavy ground, wet bottoms of mire and water, with little treacherous bogs, had brought down mule after mule, and a mile an hour was a good pace over what, in ordinary weather, would have been good galloping ground. Sometimes three together would be lying helpless and immove¬ able, with their burdens in the mud. Here we bid farewell to our Hamideh guide, Ibn Tarif. The ravine of the Arnon does not show till we are close upon it. In this treeless land a fair-sized terebinth, just at the edge where the path begins to descend, was a conspicuous guide-post ; and certainly without it a stranger might search long for the track. The rolling slopes come close to the precipitous descent, the plain being perfectly level on either side, breaking away abruptly in limestone precipices to a great depth. No idea of the rift can be formed 126 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chat, VII. till the very edge is reached. As far as we could cal¬ culate by observation, the width is about three miles from crest to crest ; the depth by our barometers 2150 feet from the south side, which runs for some distance nearly 200 feet higher than the northern edge. This may possibly be accounted for by the fact, that on the south edge is a bold basaltic dyke or stream over- lying the limestone, while the north is destitute of basalt. The boulders have rolled down the slopes in wild fantastic confusion, and add much to the effect and grandeur of the southern bank. We were much struck by the contrast between the two sides, and this impression was confirmed when, next day, we viewed the southern from the northern edge. The protrusion of the basaltic dyke has been subsequent to the formation of the wady, and the continued de¬ taching of its fragments has made the slope less pre¬ cipitous, giving a variety to the colouring and the vegetation, wanting on the other side. The northern bank, on the contrary, looked an almost unbroken precipice of marly limestone, faintly tinged with the green hue of a very sparse vegetation, and occasionally protruding cliffs and needles, shining pink in the sunbeams. No search could detect at this distance any path, or apparent possibility of a path, up the rugged terrace in front. Though indeed not very difficult, except among the basaltic boulders, the path was not easily made out on the south side, even when upon it. Once it has Chap. YII, DESCENT TO THE ARNON. 127 been chariot road, and as we descended the zig-zag we frequently met with its traces, and the piers of the Roman (?) bridge at the bottom still stand in the stream. An almond-tree was in full blosspm near the top, tufts of asphodel and gorgeous scarlet ane¬ mones pushing out among the stones, told of a dif¬ ferent climate from that we had left, where scarce a symptom of spring could as yet be seen. Free, now, from every annoyance, in the land of friends, careless whether we met Beni Sakk’r or Hamideh, both alike being safe allies, we enjoyed the freedom of our scramble down this wild pass; nowhere was the path anything like the cliff of Ziz. Only at the upper part, where the track descends among a torrent of basaltic boulders, was it prudent to dismount from our goat-like horses. Pigeons and partridges abounded, and the younger members of the party left their horses, or were left by them, to find their own way, and went on foot throughout. One of them was landed aloft with each foot on a boulder, as his horse pushed between them, and pass¬ ing from beneath him, scrambled whinnying after the leaders in front, taking his own short cut to the bottom, and leaving his rider astride. Steep as the descent looks, yet, when in it, it proves to be rather a rugged water-worn ravine than a precipi¬ tous cliff. A faint shade of budding green tints the slopes, and in a few days will evidently clothe the whole brown surface. Three quarters of an hour down, we passed an old fort in ruins, with broken 128 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII. columns strewn about. A little above this was a broken Roman milestone, and two others lower down. Twenty minutes after this fort, we passed another of larger size, with fragments of shafts, bases in situ , and many old foundations, some of them crossing the old Roman way, which here was very distinct. In other places, what seemed to be the foundations of buildings must have been walls of masonry, built across the path, to prevent the torrents from washing away its material. In the steeper parts of the pass, many piles of stones were heaped on the boulders, said, by Burck- hardt, to be provided as missiles for travellers in case of attack ; but, more probably, only placed there to guide him on his way, as we have noticed elsewhere. The arch of the bridge, which Irby describes, has now disappeared, and only the base is left. The mules were behind us ; and, after a bathe, and a draught of the Arnon, we paused to enjoy the rich tropical vegetation and genial warmth of this great depth. Water never fails ; the pools were full of fish ; the dark green oleanders were budding for bloom. Above the Roman bridge are some faint remains of early buildings ; perhaps “ the city that is in the midst of the river” (Joshua xiii. 16). At least, it is scarcely possible that such exuberant vegetation, with perennial moisture, should have remained unappropriated in the time of Israels greatness ; and, whether the place so vaguely spoken Chap. VII. MOUNTAIN PASS IN THE DARKNESS. 129 of were above or below the fords ; — “ cities ” or villages there were sure to be in the midst of the “river” or wady. The ascent we calculated at 1,900 feet, 250 feet lower than the other side, While daylight lasted it was a lovely ride, with the views changing at every turn, and the path comparatively easy. Partridges really swarmed ; the lovely little Hey’s partridge, with its delicate plumage ( Ammoperdix heiji), on the lower and warmer part of the pass, and higher up the fine Greek partridge {Gaccabis saxatilis), giving out his cheery “ chuckor ” “ chuckor ” from the top of every rock and boulder. An abundant supply for supper was easily secured. Nearer the top, the path, though free from the basalt boulders which encumber the south side, was perilous enough in the dusk. We could not make way as we had calculated. Dismounting, and leaving our horses to find the path, while we held on to their tails, we debouched on the bleak plain, a few hundred yards west of Ara’ar, the desolate heap which marks the Biblical Aroer. Bitter and cold swept the wind ; shelter there was none ; but here we must camp. The mules were an hour behind, and must get over the precipices as best they might, by the aid of a young moon, which had happily just risen. No water, no wood. No fear of our horses straying now ; they are too tired. We left them to themselves. Out with our knives, wre cut such little brushwood as we could, scraps of K 132 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII. our camp, across a bleak and dreary plain, we reached Dhiban, the ancient Dibon, in exactly half an hour. We had abundant leisure, as the baggage had been sent on with a guide directly across the plain to Um Rasas, our next camp ; and our road was across a hard plain, without a gully or a wady the whole way. Dhiban is quite as dreary and featureless a ruin as any other of the Moabite desolate heaps. With its waterless plain the prophecy is fulfilled — “ Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst ; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds ” ( Jer. xlviii. 18). Singularly appro¬ priate, too, is the denunciation on Aroer, in the next verse, when we stand on its site just by the edge of the arterial highway of Moab, and look down on the pass of which this place commands so complete a view — “ 0 inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy ; ask him that fleeth and her that escapeth, and say, What is done ? ” Like Kiriathaim and so many other Moabite towns, Dibon is a twin city, upon two adjacent knolls, the ruins covering not only the tops, but the sides, to their base, and surrounded by one common wall. Close under both knolls, on the west, runs a little wady, in which, after the late rains, we found a puddle of water here and there ; and beyond the wady the even plain ceases, and the country be¬ comes rocky and undulating. All the hills are Chap. VII. RUINS OF DIRON. 13 3 limestone, and there is no trace of any basalt, but what has been carried here by man. Still there are many basaltic blocks, dressed, and often with marks of lime on them, evidently used in masonry ; and we No. 9. RUINS OF DHIBAN, WHERE THE MOABITE STONE WAS FOUND. found a few traces of carvings on other stones. The place is full of caverns, cisterns, vaulted under¬ ground storehouses, and rude semi-circular arches, like the rest. The basalt would seem to have been the favourite material of the earlier Cyclopean builders, as in Bashan, and then to have been used up by the con¬ structors of the later town, which cannot be much 134 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII. earlier than Korean, at least in the portions above ground. We went to see the spot where the famous Moabite stone or monolith of King Mesha was found. It is quite within the old city walls, and near what, we presume, was the gateway, close to where the road has crossed it. Very near this spot it was afterwards buried, when the dispute about its proprietorship arose among the Hamideh, and it was then, as is too well known, broken by one party of the rival claimants. From all we heard from Mr. Klein, its first discoverer, and, alas, the only Euro¬ pean who has ever seen it entire, and from what Zadam pointed out to us of its position, it seems to me highly improbable that the stone has been for 2,500 years exposed to the light of day, still less that it could have been originally set up in the spot where Mr. Klein saw it lying, with the inscription uppermost. I do not presume to guess where “ Korcha ” was, nor where the stone was erected by King Mesha ; but, seeing that all the basalt blocks must have been brought here from some distance, and that there are many others at Dhiban many times the size and weight of this tablet (for though it has been called “ this huge block of basalt,” it only measured three and a half feet by two feet) ; it seems most reasonable to conjecture that it had been removed from its original position, and used up as building material by the Komans or some of their Chap. VII. THE MOABITE STONE. 135 predecessors, who were ignorant of, or indifferent to, its import ; and that, after lying embedded and secure for ages, it has, through the progress of dila¬ pidation, or by earthquake, been thrown down, or fallen from its place, and the carefully-preserved inscriptions been again exposed to day.* We must bear in mind that the original Moabites disappear from history after the sweep of Nebu¬ chadnezzar’s conquests. With them probably dis¬ appeared the knowledge of the Phoenician character, for we find abundance of Nabathtean inscriptions of a date apparently older than the Roman conquests, but scarce any unquestioned Phoenician. It would be strangely out of keeping with Oriental habits and ways, if the new-comers had had any reverence for the lajfidary records of their predecessors, still more so, if, unable to decipher these records, they had respected them. On the top of one of the knolls there is still a * From the appearance of the ruins near, and from the replies of the Arabs to my inquiries, I cannot but believe that the exposure of the celebrated monolith dates only from the earthquake of 1st January, 1837. This earthquake was the most destructive of any on record in Syria, and caused a fearful sacrifice of human life at Safed in Galilee, where several thousand persons were buried under he ruins. As far as we can trace it, the axis of the disturbance must have passed very near Dibon. Many of the Arabs remember a terrific earthquake which occurred when they were children, and which overthrew many columns and arches in the old cities. Con¬ sidering the comparative freshness of the inscription on the Mo¬ abite stone, it may probably have been exposed for not more than the last thirty-five years. 136 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII block of masonry, apparently the keep or castle. Here we photographed and took careful observations with sextant and compass to fix our position. Two known points from Dhiban were Jebel Attarus and Jebel Shihan. Trotter meantime, in hunting about the ruins, distinguished himself by discovering a new Moabite stone. It was a block of basalt two feet five inches high, hollowed and perforated inside to the shape of an hour-glass, and with a massive boss protruding on either side. Its use was not at first divined ; but, not far off, he afterwards found, in the bed of the wady, the stone which had fitted into the upper cup, and which proved it to have been an oil¬ crushing press. The upper stone was also of basalt. Happily there was no inscription on it about which to be inconveniently dog¬ matic, so it was satisfactorily Xo. 10. OIL PRESS. i *1,1 i agreed that it might have been the altar on which Mesha offered up his son on the walls of his capital. The smaller fragment was laboriously carried half a mile up the hill to be pre¬ served as a trophy, when it was found that the camera-bearing donkey had gone on, and the stone is left for more enterprising explorers. The identification of Dibon and Dhiban cannot be questioned. The place was known to Eusebius and Jerome under the name Dabon or Dibon, and is Chap. YII. IDENTITY OF DIBON AND DHIBAN. 137 spoken of by them as Kcopbrj irapLpLeyeOrjs irapa rov 9 Apvcovdv . That Jerome meant on the north side of the Arnon is clear, for lie adds, that it was in that country originally Moabite, then taken by Sihon, and wrested from him by Israel. The fact of its being three miles retired from the brow of the valley, when we note that there are no intervening features, is not sufficient to raise a difficulty from the expression, “ by the side of the Arnon.” The name was first recorded in modern times by Seetzen, the pioneer of Moabite exploration. From some passages in Scrip¬ ture, where Dibon is mentioned (Is. xv. 2 ; Jer. xlviii. 18), “ come down,” &c., it would seem to have been “ a high place,” yet Burckhardt observes that “it is situated in a low ground of the Koura.” But, looked upon from the east , it is on high ground, though low from the western ridge, and being placed on two hills, the first that rise from the east, the cry “ come down ” would be exceedingly applicable. A similar discrepancy occurs in the description of Medeba, said, by a very careful and accurate ob¬ server, who did not visit it, but saw it from the west, to be in a hollow, whereas it is really on a hill. ( 138 ) CHAPTER YIII. From Dibon eastwards — Beni Sakk’r flocks and herds — The plain of the Vineyards — Rhibuyeh — The ruins of Um Rasas — Its walls — Abundance of game — Wild cats — Beni Sakk’r camp — Considerate neighbours — Deep tank — The Raven’s home — Um Rasas, within the walls and without — Three ruined churches — Apses still remaining — Arches and streets — Amphi¬ theatre — Isolated mortuary tower — Church in the plain — Quaint tradition and legend — Freedom of the desert — Intense cold — Animal life of the plains — M’Seitbeh — Ancient block¬ houses — Wady Butm — Letters from the brigade — A long Sunday’s ride — Crossing the Themed — Visit to Zadam’s tent — Westward ho! — Rumours of the troops — Ajermeh camp — Ride in the dark — A Turcoman guide — The camp — Reception by the Pasha — Depositions taken down — A bitter night — Beiram — Grand salute — Speculations on Kerak. From Dibon, we set our face towards the wilderness, looking eastward on the “ Mishor,” or “ plain coun¬ try” of Moab (Jer. xlviii. 21). Without mules to look after, without fear of molestation or demands for black mail, with a bright sun and a fresh breeze, a cool day with floating clouds ; with the party in high spirits and perfect harmony, with the sense of entering upon a piece of new country, nothing could be more enjoyable than the ride across the grass country parallel with one of the feeders of the Arnon, the Seil Lejum. The country differs from that south of the river, in the absence of occasional cultivation. East of Chap. VIII. FROM DIBON EASTWARDS. 139 Dibon no plough disturbs the soil, and, consequently, the ground is firmer, and there is a nearer ap¬ proach to turf in the character of the herbage. The whole of it, far as the eye could reach or glass sweep, was dotted with flocks and herds of sheep and goats, each small flock with their attendant shepherd, often a child ; but the tents (“ Beit char,” i.e. home¬ stead), invisible, until in some little depression of a very few feet, we would suddenly ride close upon a group of low black specks of camels’ hair, the homes of the Beni Sakk’r. The tribe was now all distributed over this district, while the early spring grass was shooting, which in the summer is here completely burnt up. Here one can well understand the reproach of Deborah, “ Why abodest thou among the sheep-folds, to hear the bleatings of the flocks ? ” No wonder, with such a country, that the sheep- masters elected to remain on this side of Jordan. In twenty minutes after leaving Dhiban, we found ourselves riding up a shallow depression, scarcely to be called a valley, with traces of terraces and walls, now grass-grown ridges, running across it every few hundred yards up the hill-sides. Upon inquiring what these meant, we could get no explanation, but were told the valley was called “ Kurm Dhiban,” i.e. the Vineyards of Dibon. The depression was about three miles long. The name has been preserved by men who probably never saw a vine in their lives, and who had no idea of the meaning of the old “ dykes ” as they might be called : an instance of the persistency 140 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII. of Semitic nomenclature. But mom, it was an interest¬ ing illustration of a trivial expression in the book of Judges. When Jephthah, in his war against the Am¬ monites, defeated them on this plain, we read (Judg. xi. 33), “ He smote them from Aroer even till thou come to Minnith, even twenty cities, and unto tb q plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter.” Here, then, exactly in the route which it was most likely a defeated army of Ammonites from the east would take, the struggle having been at Aroer, the name remains, though in another language, identical in signification. Where Minnith was we know not. It has been suggested that it may be Menjah , a site said to be seven miles east of Heshban, but of which name or place we could find no trace, on the spot assigned to it, or elsewhere. But, at least, there are traces here which attest the appropriateness of the name, “ Plain of the Vineyards.” An hour east of Dibon is Bujum Selim, a shapeless mass of ruins, on a small knoll. To the north of us, one mile and a quarter distant, were the ruins of Rhibuyeli, and two very distant ruins were also pointed out to us, Kasr el Alakhi and Kasr Azizi. We made a detour toRhibuyeh, which seems to have been little more than a large block house, round which a few huts may have clustered. Far ahead we could see our bourne, marked by a tall square tower on the plain, with a long mass of ruin crowning a ridge a little to the south of it. This was Um Rasas, a large, solidly built, square Chap. VIII. UM KASAS. 141 city, far more perfect than anything we have before seen. The walls of the old city are still entire and intact for a part of their height, and had an imposing appearance as we neared them from the west. In order to reach our camp we had to wind round ' the walls, and as we sharply turned a corner Zadam cleverly shot a very large wild cat ( Felis caligata ), an animal I had once seen, but never procured, in Palestine. We afterwards obtained another specimen. Snugly sheltered on a slope, under the eastern wall of the city, we found our camp, tents already pitched, and the Union Jack dying. A few yards behind us, close to the walls, were a row of half-a-dozen tents of Beni Sakk’r shepherds ; and very convenient neighbours ; ready to supply guards by night and guides by day, while their docks supplied us with milk and lamb whenever needed, for the moderate price of about a dollar a lamb. Unlike our guardians at Kerak, these people were too well-bred ever to intrude, or even sit about our tents. Never during our sojourn with them had we once to complain of the slightest breach of good manners. Strange as must have been our ways and doings to them, our privacy was strictly respected. They were always ready to do any little friendly office, and if rewarded by a cup of coffee, sat as long as politeness required, and then rose and withdrew, and yet many of them had never before spoken with an European. A few yards below us was a large open reservoir, about dO yards by 18 inside, and very deep. A flight 142 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII. of steps in one corner enabled the water-carriers to de¬ scend about 30 feet, to the surface of the water, which still remains to some little depth inside. Happily the staircase was too steep to allow the animals to go down and wallow in our only supply of drinking water, as they did elsewhere. The masonry of this tank was Homan or earlier, and it has apparently been originally domed, the youssoirs of the arches lying now at the bottom of the cistern. We found two other great cisterns, outside the town, of at least equal size. One of them still contains water, and has the vaulted roof yet entire. There is the opening in the centre, now used, not so much by man, as by pigeons (the common blue rock dove), kestrels, ravens, jackdaws, aiid owls, who resort thither to quench their thirst, and the pigeons and owls also to roost. Our arrival was an annoyance to the ravens, for they evidently preferred the open tank in front of our tents, but finding some of the party continually about, and the muleteers on the steps with their skins, the old ravens would put in a vigorous protest, croak indignantly and omin¬ ously for a few moments at the further end of the tank, and then shuffle off to the other reservoir. As we made Um Rasas our headquarters for a week, and divided ourselves into two or three parties each day, the place and neighbourhood were pretty well ransacked. Um Rasas itself can be better understood by a sketch than by description. The walls have evidently been repaired at some later date * _ Chap. VIII. UM RASAS. 141 city, far more perfect than anything we have before seen. The walls of the old city are still entire and intact for a part of their height, and had an imposing appearance as we neared them from the west. In order to reach our camp we had to wind round the walls, and as we sharply turned a corner Zadam cleverly shot a very large wild cat {Felis caligata), an animal I had once seen, but never procured, in Palestine. We afterwards obtained another specimen. Snugly sheltered on a slope, under the eastern wall of the city, we found our camp, tents already pitched, and the Union Jack dying. A few yards behind us, close to the walls, were a row of half-a-dozen tents of Beni Sakk’r shepherds ; and very convenient neighbours ; ready to supply guards by night and guides by day, while their docks supplied us with milk and lamb whenever needed, for the moderate price of about a dollar a lamb. Unlike our guardians at Kerak, these people were too well-bred ever to intrude, or even sit about our tents. Never during our sojourn with them had we once to complain of the slightest breach of good manners. Strange as must have been our ways and doings to them, our privacy was strictly respected. They were always ready to do any little friendly office, and if rewarded by a cup of coffee, sat as long as politeness required, and then rose and withdrew, and yet many of them had never before spoken with an European. A few yards below us was a large open reservoir, about 80 yards by 18 inside, and very deep. A flight 144 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VII J. other churches, or what seem to have been churches, are to be found in the S.W. quarter, but they are now completely ruined. In all of the three first named the apse remains, except the roof. Two have also the apses of the side aisles still standing. In the central apse of one, the Greek crosses on the bosses of the bead line along the architrave still remain very distinct, alternating with sculptured knots or figures. Close to the central church we found a large slab with a Greek cross of some size, deeply engraved on its face. On several of the lintels still standing were carved crosses and other sculp¬ tures, which we photographed. Standing over the ruins it was easy to trace the shape of the churches, and even the marks of the elevations at the east end. In one of them there are the old pillars of the side aisles still lying, and the enceinte of the walls and of a porch, so that little more than the roof is needed in the way of restora¬ tion. It was strange indeed to come across these silent witnesses of a great population, and that a Christian, one, in this lonely wilderness, where only wild Ishmaelites pasture, and where we were but the second party of European visitors since the Crusades. Man has given place to partridge, of which the numbers had not perceptibly diminished by the end of a week, though they had supplied our large party with two plentiful meals daily. This fine bird ( Caccabis saxatilis ) would never be found on these plains but for the ruins. Strictly a rock bird, and ' *f i 1 * TOWER NEAR UM RASAS. Chap. VIII. WILD ANIMALS. 115 found all over the steep hill-sides and cliffs of Syria everywhere ; — on the plains, wet or dry, it is never found. We never put it up on these rolling downs, though food abounds; but there is not a ruined heap in the country where they are not plentiful, and almost packed. In the ruins also, besides the wild cat, Trotter trapped the root-eating mole, or Spalax, and a pair of a beautifully marked Gerbille, with a fine squirrel-like tail (? Melio mela- nurus), which we had not previously met with. The jackal and the fox were both of them at home here, in labyrinths which must be to them a perfect paradise. Outside the walls all is grass-grown, but the suburbs have been extensive, and may be traced for some distance. We could not identify any temples, but soon found that our own camp was evidently under the lee of an old amphitheatre, now entirely covered with turf, and probably only an earthen erection at first. Close by, were the mounds of the circus, within wrhich was our camp. By far the most interesting ruin of Um Basas, and indeed second to few in the country, was “ the tower of the Christian Lady,” the landmark we had seen from far. It stands about one mile and a quarter N. of Um Rasas, beyond a number of old cisterns. Its purpose seems marked, not only by the Christian symbols sculptured in many places upon its face and the niches, but by the ruins of a church close by, of which the apse remains. The traditions that cling 146 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII. to it would point to its being a mortuary tower. Though square, its position reminded me very much of that of the round towers of Ireland, close to the churches. The inside of the tower is completely choked up with fallen masonry, as though there had been a staircase and other work inside, which has been shattered down by an earthquake, of which there are also traces in the crack outside. There is some very neat sculpture and ornament about the eaves of the tower, and on a plinth lower down. There are various legends connected with this tower, one of which has been related . by Mr. Palmer, but as it was told us pretty much to the same effect by Zadam I may venture to repeat it. It is, that the Christian sheikh of the neighbourhood had been warned that his son would be devoured by a wild beast on the night of his marriage. Accordingly, when he was betrothed to the fairest maiden of the country, the lather built this tower for his son’s security, and to it he and his bride retired for the wedding night. In the morning the son had been devoured, and the bride, who, being in reality a ghoule, had assumed the form of a wild beast, flew away from the top of the tower. Another legend is to the effect that before the Christians were driven out by the faithful, they deposited enormous treasures in the top of this tower, and left it in the care of a Jinn. This Jinn has prevented its being overthrown by earthquakes, while all round has fallen, and has filled up the Chai\ YIII. LEGEND OF THE TOWER. 147 staircase, so that none can ascend. Our party, how¬ ever, were openly accused of having dealings with the Evil One, and many of the Arabs declared that when Buxton and Johnson went to photograph the tower, they were seen looking over the battlement, and had been lifted up there by the sprite. The tale spread, and Zadam himself, intelligent though he be, firmly believed it, remarking that the Jinn might guard and prevent the Bedouin from touching the treasure, yet that Westerners, having greater minds, might overcome the guardian spirit of the place, and get it out. News travels fast in the desert. Late in the evening a spearman reined up at our door, to tell his sheikh that he had heard that the Turkish troops had started from Es Salt for Kerak, and were only about three hours off, that they had orders to take out the Europeans, that they were to find Zadam, and hand them over to his keeping. So official action had been prompt on this occasion. The calm security and delicious sensation of freedom was very grateful to the new found brothers of Beni Sakk’r. They were evidently much exer¬ cised in mind by the ways and manners of their new relatives, who began the day by improvising a bath, spreading a mackintosh sheet in a hole in front of the tents, and sponging al fresco, while the hoar frost yet covered the ground. It was cold ; the thermometer was down to 27° in the night. All the morning the Arabs sat on the grassy slope of the old arnphi- l 2 148 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII. theatre, but at a respectful distance from our camp. The photographers had enough to do at home all day. Arrears of journal and cat-skinning occupied us till the afternoon, when Hayne and I had a splendid gallop across the downs for five or six miles due east, to a ruined castle we had sighted, named by the Arabs M’Seitbeh. The characteristics of these great rolling plains impress themselves upon one, as we ride over them day after day — grass in the hollows, and a low grey- green scrub on the slopes, chiefly a wormwood {Arte- misium), strongly scented when crushed. Stones and ruined foundations of walls are scattered in the lower valleys — sometimes the terraces too remaining, — but no more of the vineyards that once abounded. Cisterns are hewn in the rocks. Channels, dams, and sluices once were there, but are not more than faintly outlined now. Innumerable white snails with the thickest of shells, and red caterpillars like those of the Emperor moth, with myriads of larks — the skylark, crested lark, short-toed, calandra, and others — in combined flocks fattening themselves upon them. Here and there a flock of rock-doves fluttering from a cistern ; a covey of partridge from a ruin ; a pair of Egyptian vultures battening on the offal from a recent camp ; flocks, herds, and camels, a few horses and asses, with attendant shepherds and shep¬ herdesses ; and a little cluster of black tents in some dell, with a dog or two prowling and hoarsely bark¬ ing at passers by, whilst a few children squat about Chap. VIII. ANCIENT BLOCK HOUSES. 149 the doors, — these are the only living features. ‘‘ Be¬ hold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.” “ Joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab ; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses : none shall tread with shouting.” (Jer. xlviii. 12, 33.) As for the ruins themselves, their only inhabitants are the wild cat, the jackal, the fox, the mole, and such like, to be trapped but not seen. The kirbet, or castle, of M’Seitbeh itself is a keep raised on a solid platform of masonry, about 22 yards square, on the top of a low hillock ; it formed a block house in the centre of an open square, surrounded by a wall, and reached by steps which yet remain. Of the outer walls only the old founda¬ tions are left. Below, there is a large open cistern, measuring 30 yards by 14 outside, and similar to that at our camp at Urn Rasas, with plenty of water in the bottom, 30 feet below the surface. There have been many enclosures in the neighbourhood, and the old vineyards have extended far even beyond this. Not a bit of desert or barren land was visible in this grand panorama, and the camels, sheep, and goats, marked the whole sweep of the glass with black patches. Evening was coming on as we galloped back over the grassy plain, enjoying intensely the sense of security and peace ; countless herds of goats, sheep, 150 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII. and camels betokened the wealth of the Beni Sakk’r ; and little curls of blue smoke, rising here and there, revealed where, unsuspected, behind many a knoll, and in many a dell or gentle slope, the women of the tents of Kedar were preparing the coffee or the evening meal.* 18th February. — We had calculated on a quiet Sunday, undisturbed by either business, alarms, or intrigues, and when we turned out at sunrise had no idea of the ride before us. Before 7 a.m. a tall negro appeared with a letter, and orders to wait for an answer. The letter was addressed to me at Kerak or elsewhere, by Mr. Selami, of the English Consulate, dated from Salt two days previously, and with the startling news that he was there with the * Among other expeditions made from Um Rasas was one to the Wady Butm or “ Terebinth Valley,” in a direction W.N.W., first going two miles south to visit the conspicuous castle of Kirbet Jemail, from which bearings were taken. Its remains are a few arches of the same date as those of Um Rasas, and one well marked cave or “ matamoros ” still used for storing grain, supported by a pillar in the centre. The old roads leading up to it are more clearly marked than at Um Rasas. The neighbouring slopes have been covered with vineyards, and water rested in an open rock pool. Hence N.W. to Sfayet Khazal, i. e. the Rock of the .Gazelle (the Ghazaleh of Palmer), where the Wady Butm was first struck. There was water, in pools, but not running, in the Wady. The ruined fort stands on a mound nearly isolated by the winding of the valley. Next, about one mile and a half west of Sfayet Khazal, is Kirbet el Butm, on a steep liill-side, almost a cliff, in the same wady. Kasr Zafaran, which we afterwards visited, was well seen from hence. Next was Kirbet Rujum, on a tributary valley bearing the same name. All were on the left or southern side of the watercourses, which, running westwards, finally drain into the Arnon. Chap. VIII. A LONG SUNDAY’S RIDE. 151 Pasha of Nablous, who had been sent by order of the Pasha of Damascus, and that the troops, horse and foot, with two brass guns, Avere to march next morning for Kerak to set us free. Mr. Selami added that he had brought 60QZ. in cash for ransom, and was determined no force should be used till he had got us safely out, when the Turks might do what they pleased. I shortly replied, telling him of our peaceable departure, and our camp in the wide Belka, under the spear of Zadam. Strange how neAYS travels in the wilderness, but the messenger had heard of our whereabouts on his road, and had struck 20 miles east at once. As soon as he had had food Ave despatched him with our reply. The messenger had scarcely gone, when Ave felt that the efforts made for us required an immediate and prompt acknoAvledgment ; and that, though it was Sunday, and the ride might be very long, yet courtesy demanded that we should at once in person Avait on the Pasha, and apprise him of our position, lest the troops should have a needless and costly march on our account. After breakfast the maps were studied, and Ave calculated, that having left Salt on Saturday, the soldiers ought not to be very far from Heshban on Sunday night. We now felt the want of our counsellor Zadam, who had gone to keep Beiram. It was decided that Trotter and I should go, with Daoud as interpreter, to find the troops, our horses being the best and freshest. We took also with us a Beni Sakk’r horseman, 152 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII- Sherouan, a ragged dervish, and, with strange incon¬ sistency, a great warrior also, who boasts of having slain 30 men in fight with his own hands — an eccle¬ siastical warrior worthy of the crusades. He is withal a meek quiet-looking man, who never talks, and never pushes into the tents. But, more to the pur¬ pose, he is the best local topographer, and sure of his own knowledge of all the plain country. We had to prepare for being out three days, and for sleeping in the open. All being nearly ready, we let down the tent door, had a short morning ser¬ vice, and at 10*30 were in the saddle. Young Sahan insisted on joining us, as we should pass close by his brother’s camp. We took a course N.N.E., and crossed the Wady Themed and the Wady Shobek exactly at their junction. A little way down the Wady Themed was a ruined castle called M’Deineh. One rolling down after another, and we descended into the Wady el Jiddreh, the banks of which were fringed with the most luxuriant soft herbage, water in all the pools of its bed, and old gnarled terebinths in thick succession, fringing it everywhere, sheltered under the upper banks. We now found ourselves among bolder scenery than we had expected on the Plateau of Moab, — cliffs of some height, with many open caves in them, and several nests, both of the griffon vulture and the lanner falcon ; and soon reached Zadam’s tents in the Griffon or N’ssour Valley. The camp was a modest one, as the bulk of the Chap. VIII. VISIT TO ZADAM’S TENT. 153 tribe are now far east, but a party of elders were gathered with their young seigneur. Nothing could exceed the dignity and stateliness of the young sheikh in his own tent — “an awful don” T. pronounced him. He came to meet us, even held the stirrup as I dismounted, and conducted us to his open tent, where already carpets and cushions had been spread for us, and such carpets ! — the richest Persian, quite new, into which we sank as we sat down. We ex¬ plained shortly our errand ; and that we could not stay for dinner. He assented reluctantly, but young Sahan rushing out, soon returned with a large bowl of cold sheep’s head and rice, which we ate while coffee was preparing. Coffee over, we started again. On and on we rode, with the range of Nebbeh and Heshban in front of us, up and down the gentle acclivities, and always on rich, though neglected soil. Everywhere the traces of past cultivation, sometimes patches of present. The ground is just beginning to be carpeted with its spring dress. In the slightest depression there is the richest velvet green, and the most stony slopes have bulbs, cyclamen, and iris, bursting forth, and young grass, which promises to be meadow in a fort¬ night, giving them a delicate hue. On ascending a brow anywhere, countless flocks and herds dotted the landscape ; and camels in scattered order, browsing, and lifting their tall necks, fringed the horizon. Yet not a tent could be seen, save when on a sudden we happened to descend on a camp hidden in some 154 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap VIII. sloping wady, where herbage and wrater were near. The shepherds are just now more scattered than at any other time of the year, water is plentiful, and the ewes and she-goats, dropping their lambs and kids, require close attention. Numbers of young camels, many only a few days old, were stalking with their dams ; and we actually saw a young camel, about three days old, so far forget the dignity of its kind as to skip about, and lead its growling and chiding mother a race, as she vainly attempted to keep it solemnly by her side. It was the first time I ever detected a symptom of playfulness in a camel. Clouds of dot¬ terel got up every now and then ; and once a large solitary wolf rose within shot, and walked quietly away, seeing, no doubt, that we had no guns. We put up vast packs of sand grouse, which rose wild and fast as pigeons. Wherever we rode, we could see shepherds hurriedly stalking forth ahead, so as to intersect our path, and, if possible, stop us and ask the news. Guided by reports gathered here and there, we turned north to find the camp of the Ajermeh Arabs. Old Sherouan our guide got into spirits now, and several short gallops took us across a grassy plain, towards the shoulder of a hill, where we could see flocks and herds rapidly converging, as the sun was setting. Night had fallen on us ere we reached the camp, a very large one, and by the sheikh’s tent, marked by the spear with its tuft of ostrich feathers, we drew up, and inquired for the soldiers. Several Chap. VIII. THE PASHA’S KECEPTION. 155 irregular horsemen came out ; and we found our day was not yet at an end ; their camp was in the Wady Na’ur, three hours north of us, and these had only been sent in advance to collect provisions and camels for transport. Our Beni Sakk’r declared he could go no further, for his horse was done up, and the Turkish officer obligingly lent us a wild mounted spearman, a Kurd, who could speak a very little Arabic, to guide us to head-quarters. The moon was kindly in the zenith, and without dismounting we passed on. The compass showed N.N.W., and the pole-star kept steadily just to the right of the horses’ heads, so we felt we could not be far out. From the plain we soon rose among bare, rocky, Judaean-looking hills, and wearily plodded our way, three miles an hour, till our guide exclaimed, “ Ah ! there are the cypress trees ; we are not far ! ” We soon wound down a rather steep descent, and on a sward, sloping down to a little stream, there gleamed in the moonlight the long-sought camp. We felt ourselves really the heroes of an Abyssinian expedition on a small scale, as we heard the cavalry bugles, and responded to the sentry’s challenge. There were 33 large white tents, and a number of black Arab ones, stretched in regular order below us, while many a watch-fire cast a gleam of lurid light on the lines of picketed horses. We asked for the Pasha, and were conducted past a couple of brass howitzers to one of two tents over¬ looking the camp. A very stout, elderly Turkish 156 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII. gentleman sat on a pile of cushions at the further end of the tent, with his tray of dinner on the ground before him. He politely handed a cigarette from a silver case, and through Daoud, who stood deferen¬ tially at the tent door, while we sat on the cushion by his side, congratulated us on being out of our difficulties. We insisted upon retiring till His Excel¬ lency had supped, and were ushered into the other tent, which belonged to his staff, two colonels and two other officers. In a few minutes an orderly brought in a dinner tray, and we, who had been fasting since the fore¬ noon, and had been 10 hours in the saddle, were not sorry to see it. The service was exactly the same as the Pasha’s — a large dish of rice, some hot poached eggs, sardines, a well-oiled salad, cheese and native bread. Coffee followed when we had done justice to the tray, and we were waiting our summons to the Pasha, when Mr. Selami, of the Consulate, arrived. He had heard that we were at Um Rasas, had gone that morning to find us, and after four hours’ ride was turned back by some Arab shepherds, who told him they had seen us riding in search of the soldiers. Our explanations were brief: Mr. Selami’s saddle-bags, heavy with ransom money, had just been deposited in the tent, when we were summoned to the presence to make our official statement. The secretaries sat on the ground with their ink- horns. Between them and the Pasha, on another carpet, sat Mr. Selami, and on the other side the e Chap. VIII. A BITTER NIGHT. 157 Pasha, opposite him, Trotter and myself, utterly tired out. An orderly in the doorway, and the two colonels smoking their narghilies on the Pasha’s left, com¬ pleted the group. A tedious process was the taking of depositions. Name, country, route to Jerusalem, dates, objects of journey, and various other prelimi¬ naries had to be asked by the Pasha in Turkish, translated by Selami into French, replied to by me in the same, then re-translated into Turkish, apd in that language written down by the scribes. Then came the historic version of the Kerak difficulties, from the Safieh to the robbery of Mr. Klein’s letter. The tedious process lasted till long past midnight, when the nodding pair were dismissed with a cour¬ teous bow, and were told the depositions would be ready to sign in the morning. To the other tent we retired, with Mr. Selami and the secretaries, to share it with the colonels. The tent sides were open for six inches up, the wind blew keen, the thermometer was below the freezing- point, and we had no coverlets. We turned our saddles up for pillows, wrapped our heads in our waterproofs, but before daybreak the cold was past endurance. At dawn we turned out, not for washing or toilet, with a thick rime on the grass, thankful that we had taken the precaution of bringing camphor and laud¬ anum in our pockets, which we mixed with the wel¬ come hot coffee. To-day was Beiram, the New Year’s Day of the Moslems, and we had just been summoned to the Pasha’s tent, when the order was given to fire 158 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. VIII a salute from the howitzers, which was at once done, to the amazement of the crowd of Arabs. The artillery¬ men seemed well-drilled, and went creditably through their exercise. Our depositions were now produced in fair copy, read over, translated to us, and then signed and sealed by me in duplicate. The Pasha offered us two cavalry soldiers for the rest of our sojourn in the country, but we modestly declined, feeling it far better to show all confidence in the Beni Sakk’r, than to seem to distrust either Zadam’s power or his good faith. Of course, after our declining this offer, the Govern¬ ment had no further responsibility, but we felt we were on safe ground through all the Beni Sakk’r and Hamideh country, and the result proved that we were right. The Pasha then dictated letters to Zadam, thank¬ ing him for his good management, to Ibn Tarif of the Hamideh, commending us to his good offices, and also an open firman to all, to be used when occasion might require. Nothing could exceed his courtesy and consideration. He told us he should have to wait at Na’ur for several days, as he had sent at midnight to Nablous, to telegraph thence to Damascus for instructions, and must await the reply. How¬ ever, he had countermanded provisionally the 500 men who were to follow him from Nablous. The whole of this advance guard consisted of 170 infantry, 120 cavalry, two field-pieces, and 150 mounted irregulars. We were asked many questions about Kerak, where Chap. VIII. SPECULATIONS ON KERAK. 159 the staff, at least, evidently wished to go ; but they told us they possessed no plans of the place, and knew nothing of it. We explained the approaches as best we could. Whether the troops should be sent on to Kerak, was no affair of ours, but certainly it was an excellent opportunity of teaching a lesson to a quasi¬ independent chief, who has been the oppressor of the country for years, under the pretext of holding it for the Sultan; and who wrings out of the hapless people a sum tenfold that which he pays into the Imperial treasury. Es Salt shows what . may be done by securing a settled government, even though it be a Turkish one. When I visited Es Salt eight years ago, it was much in the same state as Kerak is now, and life and property were insecure in the whole of Gilead. The difficulties to travellers were as great as in Southern Moab, and extravagant black¬ mail was levied by all the petty sheikhs. Now that the Pasha of Damascus has placed a gar¬ rison there, the fellahin are better off, trade has quadrupled, and the country is as safe for Euro¬ peans as Western Palestine. With a garrison at Kerak,* and the Beni Sakk’r conciliated, as at present, the Imperial Government could hold the coast of the Dead Sea as easily as it holds the Lebanon. _ * While these sheets are in the press (March, 1873), we learn that the Turks have thrown a garrison into Kerak. ( ICO ) CHAPTER IX. Beturn from the Wady Na’ur to Um Basas — Boyal entertainment by the Ajermeh — Our horses keep Beiram — Coffee drinking — Sherouan’s many calls — Wandering tramps — A beggar’s hospi¬ tality — Beturn to our tents — Beports of a buried stone — Zadam’s account of the Black or basalt country eastward — El Hhurreh — Stone cities — Eastward ho ! — Mirage on the plains — Gazelle-hunt — The Hadj road — Khan Zebib — Description of the ruined khan — Traces of earlier buildings — Bemains of a Doric temple — Labyrinth of cisterns — Prehistoric remains — Cairns — A vain pursuit after the stone of Basas. We left the Turkish camp without a guide, and, in two hours, passed some extensive ruins on a low' hill, called by the shepherds SamaJc. From it an old Roman road was distinctly marked, leading down the hill and across the next wide upland. In three hours and five minutes we reached the Ajermeh camp. The soldiers were all gone. We had met some men driving lambs across the plain for the troops, and had the satisfaction of learning from them, what Daoud was loth to believe, but what the Ajermeh afterwards confirmed, that the soldiers paid for all they took, or at least gave receipts, to be allowed from the next payment of tribute. We dismounted at the camp, the largest w^e had yet seen, and where two tents were marked by the spear and tuft of ostrich feathers, as the homes of Chap. IX. AJERMEH ARABS. 161 the sheikhs. We at once asked to buy barley for our horses, but were told they had none, and must send miles for it. Barley, we replied, we must have, if we waited three hours for it, and suiting the action to the word, we dismounted. They then invited us into the great tents, for they too were keeping Beiram, the New Year’s festival of the Moslems. The tent was full, but a clean carpet was spread for us at the upper end. Daoud now produced the three nose-hags from under his ’abb’eyeh, and, with a knowing look, handed them to a bystander, as much as to say, “ No humbug ; the horses must keep Beiram too.” The man took them, and soon returned with barley enough for two days. Meantime guests came crowding in, for the day is spent in visiting neighbouring camps, and eating the substitute for yule cake. Every one who came in, except ourselves, was kissed from four to seven times on the cheeks, by each of the circle, who rose to greet him. A huge wooden bowl was brought, with hot boiled mutton, swimming in the Belka substitute for Algerian couscousou — a sort of coarsely-ground wheat- meal, boiled with milk and butter. We were quite ready for breakfast, and plied our fingers very well, the Arabs being actually civilized enough to apolo¬ gize for having no spoons or forks for the Franghi. We caused great interest, and no alarm, to a number of toddling youngsters of two years old and upwards, who examined our clothes with much curiosity, and were won by a supply of raisins, with which Mr. 162 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IN. Selami had filled our pockets at starting. As soon as we had finished, the bowl was passed on to other guests, and quickly cleared, when another, and an¬ other, made its appearance. Meantime Daoud, the hero of the hour, recounted the Ilerak affair to the eager listeners, who thought we had got cheaply off from such a set for 60 gold pieces. My revolver was handed round, and, by their careful handling, they showed that they were no strangers to the weapon. As an instance of the way news travel, we were informed that our mule¬ teers, who had started for Salt two days ago to buy barley, had long since gone back to our camp, as they had bought a supply at such and such a price, from the S’khoor Arabs on the way. The coffee was an elaborate affair, and it was the best coffee I ever tasted. The beans were produced in the husk, beaten out, then winnowed with the hand, roasted and pounded before the fire at which we were warming our toes, and, for the first time for 18 hours, were enjoying sensation. This coffee is brought overland from Mocha, and is perfumed and fragrant. No less than three cups were supplied to each, and we needed no pressing. As our horses had now fed, we left, grateful for the hospitality so cordially afforded by those who would certainly have robbed us, had we not been under the Beni Sakk’r shield. These Ajermeli are a wealthy tribe, and more given to agriculture than most of the nomads. The long tracts of corn we had Chap. IX. KEEPING BEIRAM. 163 passed through, and also the wide extent of arable land stretching from hence to Heshban, is chiefly cultivated by them and their slaves, and they sell much to the southern ’Anizeh, with whom they have friendly relations. We pursued a S.E. direction for the first hour, across plains all under tillage for wheat and barley, and at 2*30 p.m., after an hour and 35 minutes, passed not far south of the extensive ruins of Ziza. How our guide, old Sherouan, whom we had picked up again at the Ajermeh camp, led us across a feature¬ less country for 26 miles up and down sloping dells, we could scarcely make out. Still, by compass, he was always true, though the day was cloudy, with a bitterly cold wind. To every black tent, espied from afar, our guide made a detour, and he and Daoud, while we jogged on, levied toll everywhere, — kid, camel’s flesh, or a bowl of milk ; for every caller must be fed to-day. From all quarters the shep¬ herds came striding in advance, to intercept us and ask the news. On one piece of bleak plain, we came upon the most tattered fragment of a tent I ever saw. It concealed nothing, and revealed the most abject poverty, even for Bedouin. Yet even here was a large heap of brushwood collected, and the skin of a freshly-killed camel stretched on the ground, while the flesh was being boiled on the embers. Our dervish rode up, had his chat and lump of boiled meat. The people were not Beni Sakk’r, but a small family of wander- m 2 164 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IX. ing beggars, man, wife, and three children ; and had no sheep or goats, only half-a-dozen camels. Yet one of these six had they killed for Beiram, and every shepherd within hail must partake of their hospitality for two days. I learned for the first time that even among the Bedouin there are, besides the gipsies, whom we several times met pursuing the same arts of tinkering, fortune-telling, and conjuring, as in England, a class of begging tramps, belonging to no tribe, but wandering where they will, too poor to be robbed, and living on the alms of the shepherd tribes. At length, just at sunset, we reached the Wady Themed, and knew we were not far from camp. Eor the first time to-day we had a gallop, and soon espied by moonlight the tall tower of Urn Kasas, a mile and a quarter from our tents, which we reached at 6 "30 p.m. Beiram was being kept in due style at 17m Rasas, to the expenditure of our powder ; and one of our muleteers had a narrow escape, from the bursting of his great horse-pistol, the blame of which was, of course, laid on the English powder. Zadam had just returned, bringing with him the skin of a very line cheetah, or hunting-leopard, which one of his brothers had shot, as a present for me. Supposing I would use it as a saddle-cloth, he had unfortunately cut off the head and part of the tail. It was the only beast of the kind we heard of being- killed while in the country ; but we several times came across traces of the leopard, in the ravines lower down. The cheetah, on the contrarv, seems Chap. IX. CONJECTURES ON UM RASAS. 165 to be confined to the open country, where it preys on the gazelle. In the morning a mounted Arab, with a long spear, a very fine-looking fellow, rode hotly down to camp, and, dismounting, strode to our tent door, just within which Zadam was seated. With fierce gesticulations he asked what business we had here, told us that his tribe were the rightful owners, and that his gunners would come down at night, and shoot us all. Zadam never moved a muscle, but quietly eyed him, and when he had spent his breath, told him to go to his tent. He then explained to us that the man was the skeikh of a small subject tribe, whose domicile was in this district, and probably wanted a little backsheish, which we were by no means to give, as it was not our business. They had a long conference in the little tent, and the man rode off. It seemed that our visitor had heard of our search¬ ing the ruins, though nothing had been said by 11s, and Zadam had kept our counsels ; and that his object was to get a backsheish for a “ black written stone,” which one of his men had found here, and buried in the ground. I saw afterwards in Jerusalem a squeeze said to have been taken from this stone, and which is in the possession of the Rev. D. Stuart Hodge, of Beirut, who has kindly forwarded to me a copy. Whether it be genuine or not I have no means of judging. I can only aver that the evidence is in favour of there having been a black written stone at Um Rasas. The link, that can indisputably prove 166 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IX. that the squeeze is a copy of the Um Rasas stone, is the difficulty. Dr. Birch of the British Museum, than whom there cannot be a better authority, assured me that he has utterly failed to make any sense of the inscription, and that some of the charac¬ ters are not such as he should have expected to find in a monument of so early a character. No inscription has yet been found which reveals to us the ancient name of Um Rasas. The modem Arabic name gives no clue, meaning simply “ the mother of lead,” and is explained by the local tradition that lead (probably leaden pipes) has been found in dig¬ ging here. But its remains prove that it must have been an important town in the Roman Province of Arabia. The Peutinger Tables throw no light on this subject, as they give nothing between Philadelphia (i.e., Rabbath Ammon) and Rabba or Areopolis — 62 miles. Nor can I trace any clue in the Itinerary of Antonine. But in the lists of the stations of the Roman Army given in the 4 Notitia,’ we find, among many other names belonging to this immediate district, such as Ziza, Areopolis, Bostra, Castra Arno- nensia, the sentence 44 Ala prima Valentiana Thama- thde.” We have no other record or trace of the name. But may it not linger still in the Wady Themed close by ? Themed and Thamatha would certainly be Latin and Arabic equivalents, and though not on the Wady Themed, Um Rasas is certainly nearer to it than any other ruins of importance which we visited. Professor Palmer has suggested to me that Chap. IX. VOLCANIC REGION. 167 possibly the M epcov of Eusebius, an archiepiscopal see, may be identical with Kasas. (See ‘Desert of the Exodus,’ vol. ii., p. 500.) Zadam gave us some interesting accounts of the country due east of this, which he has often traversed. We are here about 12 miles west of the Hadj road. Beyond the ruins of Khan Zebib, which we are about to visit, and which is close to the road, he assures us there are no ruins whatever in the “ white country that there are hills of no great height beyond it, and then ground like this plain for three days, very little water, no rivers, but good pasture in the rainy season, becoming scantier as we proceed- eastward. After the three days’ journey across the “ white ” or limestone country, is a region of black basalt, a “ land of black stones.” This he describes as being two very long days’ journey across, and he thinks, but is not sure, it is about three days’ journey from north to south. This volcanic region he calls El Hhurreh. It is, he says, clebateable land between the southern ’Anizeh and the Beni Sakk’r, and the latter never cross it while the former are there. Besides these two tribes, there are sundry small bands of “ very bad men,” who live there always, and steal camels whenever they can. They are outlawed by both. The country itself he describes as being exactly like the Hauran, which he knows very well, and as full of ruined cities, built of black stone. He described with good pantomime, how he had often swung the stone doors, which are 168 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IX. still hanging in their sockets. Water can be found in various places in deep narrow nullahs. Beyond this black stone country, eastward, are two days more of white ground; hilly, but with good camel pasture, and then begins a desert with nothing in it but antelopes and wild cows (Bekk’r el wash), i.e., from his description of their horns, the oryx antelope and the bubale. Mr. Drake afterwards informed me that be had heard a similar description of this black country, under the same name of El Hhurreh, when travel¬ ling with Captain Burton, north-east of Damascus, and there seems no reason to doubt the account. If it be so, here is certainly a rich field for adven¬ turous exploration, by any one in search of new ground. We asked Zadam if he could himself con¬ duct travellers over it. He said he could easily do so at the proper time of year, but it would require preparation, and he would be sorry, on account of the outlaws, to go with a less force than 70 spearmen. These, he said, would be enough to overawe any robbers in the country. 21st Feb. — At sunrise, the cry was, “Eastward ho ! ” to visit the Hadj road, and explore the ruins of Zebib, which we had seen from M’Seitbeh. For two hours we rode up and down the rolling grass plains. Save a foxhunt, after a reynard who started under our horses’ feet, and showed himself as great an adept at doubling as his English cousins, the ride so far had been without incident. The clouds now Chap. IX. A STRANGE MIRAGE. 169 lifted, and we saw the watery mist rolling on before us, to make a vain effort to moisten the sandy wastes of Arabia. Two prominent landmarks were here conspicuous, Jebel Jiahl, about two miles from Khan Zebib, east half south, and Jebel Suaga, bearing south-east per¬ haps ten miles distant. For nearly an hour we rode up the course of the Wady Shobek, very shallow and wide. It is the channel for the reception of the drainage of a level plain many miles in extent, sur¬ rounded on three sides by ranges of inconsiderable elevation. The scenery now changed. The sun shone on a dead level plain without a stone, with only here and there a small tuft of artemisium about four inches high ; and a little plant now and then appearing, roused to life by the recent rains, for the plain had evidently been but lately a wide lagoon. It runs some four miles further to the low rocky hills. A strange mirage was before us, which lifted the distant objects, and elevated every little tuft into a tree, and the sparse blades of grass into a jungle ; while the horses, inspirited by the unwonted smoothness of the expanse, galloped gaily on, and trees sank to tufts, and jungle melted into grass, an inch or two high, as we neared it. We might look in vain for the expected temples and pillars — poorer and poorer did the ruins appear, as we approached them. A herd of gazelle were sighted, some 40 or 50 in 170 THE LAND OF MOAI3, Chap. IX. number, trotting quietly along. We spread ourselves out. Trotter and Daoud, the only ones armed, dashed like wild Indians to the front, while we spurred on, on either side, to turn the herd if need be. We nearly headed them as they trotted to the left, and then the huntsmen galloped to the head of the herd, and fired, but too far and hurried. The gazelles became alarmed now, and the speed of the horses was no match for them. But the incident had brought us far on our way, and we were near the ruins. We had to rein in. We might have been galloping across a deeply-ridged fallow. For about a quarter of a mile in width, every three or four }Tards was a deep wide rut, all in parallel lines. We were crossing the Hadj road. Files of hundreds of camels, slowly following each other in the weary tramp to Mecca, had, in course of ages, worn the hard surface of the desert into these deep furrows. Just beyond this strange weird-like road, strewn with the bleached bones of camels all along its course ; where the hills begin to rise, we were at Khan Zebib. The mirage had indeed been deceptive. A large ruined Khan, with arches and gateways, and a few Greek remains beyond, on a series of mounds, were all that struck us at first sight. It may be observed that all the maps place the Hadj road at this point about 11 miles too far west, each writer following his predecessor. This is easily accounted for, as the Arabs speak of the road as on the Chap. IX KHAN ZEBIB 171 1 other side of Um Rasas. We were soon able to take onr sextant and compass observations for Khan Zebib, so as to fix its exact position, having many known points, Shikan, Um Rasas, &c., in view. The Khan itself is an interesting specimen of the NO. 13. KHAN ZEBIB. Saracenic architecture of earlier and better days, though now allowed, by the slovenly carelessness of the Moslems, who never repair anything, however convenient or useful to them, to become a hopeless, roofless ruin. Certainly, as Zadam observed, it is 172 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IX. not the business of the Bedouin to repair these places, as it is not they who would use them ; and the central government, he shrewdly added, would have to send more soldiers than workmen for the task. Such is the progress of disintegration, material and political, in these lands. Zebib has evidently been built with the mate¬ rials of an earlier city, and Christian churches have supplied their stones, to shelter the pilgrims to Mohammed’s shrine. It is a massive square en¬ closure, there having been semicircular towers or buttresses on each of the four sides, for strength and defence. The gateways in the centre of the east and west walls open into a large square, round which were arched chambers, six on the north, five on the south, and four on each of the other sides. The outside walls of the Khan have once been carefully cemented, but, excepting a few fragments, it is only on the north face that the plaster remains. All the inner doorways are entire, some of the lintels being sculptured stones from Christian edifices, of which we secured several good photographs. Many of the other stones used up in the building were scratched with curious ornamentation, such as I have not else¬ where seen, but which may probably be late Byzan¬ tine work. Beyond the Khan eastward were several hillocks, with the remains of Greek buildings of much earlier date and much more careful masonry. Of one temple, a massive angle is left, still partly standing. Chap. IX GREEK TEMPLE. 173 One building puzzled us, though its plan was very- evident, and it must have been a small temple. It was a square of 1 1 yards. There had been a door No. 14. SCULPTURED ENTABLATURES, ZEBIB. to the east, and apparently another to the south (though this may have been a niche), completely broken away. The east and west walls had had finely - dressed double Doric pilasters, and many columns and Doric capitals were lying about, though where the pillars had stood we could not make out. There had been many finely-sculptured lintels ; and numbers of stones with very pretty lacework of various patterns, apparently friezes or entablatures, strewed the ground around. Wells were in abund¬ ance, half-choked and now dry, and a number of natural caves, or perhaps old subterranean quarries utilized, into which we crept, and found some with 174 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. IX. arches and carefully vaulted roofs, pillars and walls, all alike cemented, and making an irregular set of chambers of considerable extent. From the plaster¬ ing, they must have been intended for great water cisterns, but now they are silted up to within a few feet of the roof, and are used as folds and sleeping- places by the wandering Bedouin. In such a cave David might easily have escaped Saul’s notice, as he entered to take rest. Walking up the hill, a little further east than what I may call the Greek city, we came upon a number of artificial mounds and circles of stones. Though afterwards, in the western mountain range of Moab, we often noticed such remains, yet this was the first time I had observed unquestionable evidence of the cairns of the primaeval inhabitants. We longed for tools and time, to dig and open a cist, where perhaps we might find ornaments and flint imple¬ ments. But we could only note these faint traces of aborigines, before the basalt-building inhabitants came in. As we were returning, Trotter noticed a peculiar stone construction in a wall, and we found that the stones on the top of the wall had been formed into a sort of rude sarcophagus for a body, but the jackals had contrived to drag out all of it, except the skull, between the interstices. ( 175 ) I CHAPTER X. Departure from Um Rasas — Dhra’a — The Themed — R’mail — A riverside camp — Zafaran — A military keep — Supplies running short — Start for the north-east — • Ivasr el Herri — Surveying — Roman road — Um Weleed — Estent of Um Weleed — Saia- cenic Khan — Roman city — Streets — Large court or Prae- torium Gateway — Doric temple — Date of these cities — No clues to the ancient name — Um el Kuseir — Large caverns — Ziza — Interesting remains — Roman military station — Magnificent tank — Elaborate system of irrigation in olden time — Large vaulted fort — Burial place aloft — Ibrahim Pasha’s garrison — Other forts destroyed — Remains of Cuphic inscriptions — Fine Christian church — Variety of wild animals and birds — Return of convoy from Jerusalem — Evening bells — A fugitive — Stripped by the Anizeh — The Ibex-hunter — Honesty of our men and of the Turkish soldiers — Sunday’s rest — Mahommedan criticism on Christian inconsistency. We had now pretty well explored the district of Um Rasas, and moved our quarters on February 22nd, without any definite route fixed. Going N.W. by N., after an hour, we rode through the ruins called Dhra’a, a Moabite city of the very oldest type, merely ruined heaps and foundations, with no trace of arches. It occupies the southern slope of a hill. Can this be the Zoar spoken of by Eusebius ? The occurrence of the name here, so far inland, may cast some light on the confusion in the references to the situation of Zoar. But the discovery of Zi’ara (Oh. xvii.) seems to dispose of the claims of these Bhra’as to be Biblical sites. 176 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. After a short day’s ride, we came upon the ruins of an old fortress on the Themed. R’mail stands 300 feet above the river. The plain below was now covered with herbage dense and rank. Here we descended, and on the velvet turf, close to some large pools in the bed of the stream, our tents were pitched, and the animals turned loose, to graze at will within the natural amphitheatre. Here we spent two days, surveying and exploring the ruins within reach, Zafaran and others. Our supplies were now getting low, and our convoy three days overdue from Jerusalem. In the larder things looked serious. No more rice, cheese had given out some days, the brandy was getting low, the cakes of chocolate could be counted, only two more boxes of sardines, and one plate of figs. Worst of all, the flour was at an end, and there was nothing to cook with, but a little green brushwood, collected with great pains from a distance. Plenty of lamb and buttermilk, partridge and pigeon ad libitum , and tea, coffee, and Liebig to stand a siege. But meat and Liebig, without bread or vegetables, was trying diet already, and without fuel to boil the kettle, the prospect was worse for the future. To add to the dark look-out, we were at the last packet of candles. Preparations were accordingly made, and at day¬ break next morning a convoy of muleteers and five mules, under the guard of a Beni Sakk’r spearman, were despatched two days’ journey, to Es Chap. X. EASE EL HERRI. 177 Salt, to purchase whatever the markets of Gilead might afford, and to return to a camp vaguely defined, somewhere to the N.E. of our present one, but of which some wandering shepherd on the way would doubtless be able to give them in¬ formation. The thermometer in the night fell to 28°, max. 35°. Next day, Zadam advised us to move to Ziza, where he promised we should find very fine ruins, never yet visited by any European. It was only a six hours’ journey across the plains. Leaving the tents still standing and the muleteers dawdling, we set out due north with our sheikh and Daoud, who bore the camera and photographic stand packed on his saddle. We were now traversing a watershed, the whole district being the fruitful mother of infant wadys, up and down which we rode transversely, all of them running due east and west. We passed Zafaran again, but did not stop, and in half an hour reached Kasr el Herri, on the summit of a high knoll, commanding almost a panorama. On a lower tell, connected with this hill by a sloping shoulder, are extensive shapeless ruins, much grass-grown, called Kirbet el Herri, the old town, of which this Kasr was the citadel. Kasr el Herri is simply a keep, or strong square fortress, with a large space enclosed round it, like the others already described ; the inside of the keep, like Zafaran, filled in with stones. Among these was a hole, into which 178 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. we scrambled, and found it to be a hyaena’s lair, with a collection of bones, chiefly camels’, but also live or six human skulls, and many thigh bones, rifled from Arab graves. The old Roman road can be easily traced here, marked by the evenness and regularity of the par¬ tially turf-covered lines of stones. The pavement has long since disappeared, and its stones have become upturned, angular, and shapeless, like the rest. Following the line of this road, after a smart ride of 35 minutes across a plain, we reached Um Weleed, “ Mother of Children.” Um Weleed is a most interesting as well as ex¬ tensive ruin, and, though marked in the maps, I cannot find that it has been visited by any previous traveller. It is on an old Roman road, and its remains appear to belong to three distinct epochs. Like all the towns of the “Mishor,” or Plain of Moab, it stands on a “tell,” or mamelon. Within the walls it is more than half a mile from west to east, considerably less from north to south. There are many caves, and traces of scattered houses, out¬ side the city wall, which can everywhere be very clearly traced. Beginning from the S.W., on which side we approached it, there stands, isolated, below the com¬ mencement of the ancient city, a Saracenic khan. It is similar to that of Zebib, but much more per- iect, though smaller, and, like it, is built from the materials of more ancient edifices. It seems pro- Chap. X. UM WELEED. 179 bable, that along the course of the old Roman road, there passed here a branch line to the Hadj road from Damascus to Mecca, for the accommodation of pilgrims west of the Jordan, for whom this would be the easiest route. Above the Khan are large grass-grown mounds, covering old ruins, and now used as favourite Arab burying-places, with the sheepskin coat of the de¬ ceased stretched over his grave. Among these mounds an amphitheatre can be very distinctly traced. Passing eastward, within the walls, the ruins become distinct, and less covered with turf. The streets are plain, some of them still arcaded with a succession of semicircular arches, perhaps of a late Roman date, which are still standing; with the large flat slabs of stones laid for a roof from arch to arch, and now used as houses and folds by the tribes that occasionally camp here. Many portions of massive wall are of Roman rustic-dressed stone. I found in one place the inverted scallop-shell of a niche built into a later wall, and many cornice stones so employed. It would seem from this, as though the place had been inhabited since the Roman times, and yet these walls, with the architectural fragments, looked of an earlier and better date than the khan. Near the east end of the city we found a large open space, well paved with large square slabs, still perfect and clear, and surrounded by ruins and n 2 180 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. broken pillars, with a few fragments of capitals ; as if it had once been encircled by a colonnade. It was 41 paces by 38 in extent inside, and may have been the old ayopa, or forum. Immediately beyond was the line of the east wall of the city, built of Roman rustic-dressed stone, and the central gateway and street, still plainly to be traced. N c No. 15. PLAN OF TEJ1PLE, UM WELEET*. a. Door. b. Nicue. c. Door or niche, remains too broken to decide. d. d. Four pilasters, formed of one column, and not twin ones, as at Zebib. e. Bases of columns in situ. f. No bases left, but Doric capitals of four pillars lying on the ground, besides those of pilasters, of which three are there. g. Sloping debris, evidently the ascent to the door. Just beyond the gate is a Doric temple, 12 yards Is. to S., by 10 yards E. to W. The door of the temple faced east, and, in the centre of the south wall, is a small semicircular niche or apse for the image. Inside the doorway the bases of two columns remain in situ; and four plain Doric capitals, and Chap. X. TEMPLE OF UM WELEED. 181 portions of shafts are lying about. This temple is exactly similar in all its arrangements to the old Doric temple near Khan Zebib. Are these the remains of an ancient Chemosh, or Baal-worship ? We found afterwards several similar temples in various stages of ruin, all of them outside a city, always at its east end, and with the door to the east, and always Doric, whenever the architecture could be determined. What is the date of these cities, all so like each other ? They are unquestionably far older than the early Saracenic, as we may see by the ruined khans ; centuries less weathered, and less hoary in hue. Must they not be at least Maccabean, as the Roman would be far nearer the Saracenic? It is worthy of note, that we searched here in vain for any traces of a Christian church, or Christian traces of any kind. The most uniform and remarkable feature about all these towns, is the vast number of wells, all now dry ; and of huge cisterns or underground store¬ houses, some for water, and others with a bell-shaped neck and small mouth, for storing corn. Nowhere are they more noticeable than here. Not only the place, but its environs, are honeycombed with them. Some are still used by the Bedouin occasionally, for secreting corn : and to others, which must have been old quarries, utilized and cemented for reservoirs, they have broken side entrances, to give access to their flocks for shelter. 182 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. The name of Um Weleed, like Um Rasas, is another of the vernacular Arabic appellations, which gives no clue to its history or old designation. Yet to judge from its remains it mnst have been amongst the largest and most important, perhaps sixth or seventh, of the towns of the Belka. Not a trace of an inscription did we see ; nor, carefully as written stones are looked after by the Arabs, did we hear a whisper of one, either black or white. All we could do further here, was to take the bearings for our map. From Um Weleed, along the Roman road, to Um el Kuseir, was only 25 minutes’ quiet riding over an easy plain. There is no ruined bridge, as marked in all the maps, between these two places, nor is there any wady for a bridge to span ; but there is in one place a piece of old wall, which has been constructed to collect and direct the water coming down the sloping valley in flood times, and this the Arabs called, to us, the “jisr,” or bridge. Um el Kuseir is one of the most conspicuous land¬ marks of the district, situated on a high tell. A strong massive tower, of which much more remains than of its neighbours, stands boldly out. Below, as usual, is the town, not so large as Um Weleed, and much more ruined. Our new camp was at Ziza. Here at last we have lighted upon a spot, about which there can be no controversy as to its ancient name, unchanged in a single Letter. It must, in the later Empire, have Chap. X ROMAN CITY OF ZIZA 183 been one of the most important places of Eoman Arabia. Its name occurs in the ‘Notitia,’ imme¬ diately before that of Areopolis, as one of the chief military stations of the Province. “Equites Dalma- tici Ulyrieiani Ziza .” Z.1ZA, i’KOM THE DISTANCE. We found our camp charmingly situated on a low flat plain, below a ruin-covered ridge, by the side of an immense tank of solid masonry, measuring 140 yards by 110 yards. The bottom was still filled with water, and, from the surface of the water to the edge of the tank, was 17 feet 6 inches. Just behind our 184 THE LAND OF MOAB Chap. X tents were the steps leading clown to the water, wide and easy, so that horses could easily go up and down. The masonry was simply magnificent. The courses were about two feet each, and many of the single stones six feet in length. The construction is still quite perfect, excepting a stone here and there in the Xo. 17. TANK. AT Z1ZA. rim, which is recessed back, so as to leave an inside pathway all round. But the most interesting por¬ tion of all, is the very ingenious contrivance by which the tank has been supplied with water. It is sunk at the angle of a shallow wide valley, just below the rising ground on which the town stood. Chap. X. ANCIENT TANK. 185 At its north-east angle, above the top of the tank, are very perfect sluice-gates of massive masonry. In a line with the sluice-gates, and also at right angles with them, are great walls, with a solid earthen embankment behind them. The wall at right angles extends some way, and then the embankment is carried on in the same line, continuouslv, across the plain, so as to dam back the water, which, during the occasional floods, would come down the valley, if the very shallow and wide depression may, by cour¬ tesy, be so termed. Higher up, in the middle of the embankment, are another set of sluice-gates, for letting off the waste water after the tank was full. The whole system, and the artificial sluices, Buxton remarked, were precisely similar in plan to what he had observed in the ancient works for irrigation, both in India and Cevlon. But this tank has suffered the •/ fate of the stupendous works of Ceylon, of which it is the pigmy representative. In the course of ages of neglect, the rich loamy soil has been carried down with the rains, and has filled up the wide valley for several feet, choking up the access to the lower sluices ; and the water has burst its way through into its old channel, by the side of the upper sluice. In the higher parts of the valley there are massive stone breastworks, backed by earthen embankments, to turn the water from other depressions into this central one. Such works as this easily explain to us the enormous population, of which the ruined cities 186 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. give evidence. Everywhere is some artificial means of retaining the occasional supplies of rain-water. So long as these precious structures remained in order, cultivation was continuous, and famines un¬ known. But their efficient maintenance was de¬ pendent on the supremacy of a domestic govern¬ ment, sufficiently strong to enforce systematic in¬ dustry for the common good, on the part of these scattered populations, and to secure to all of them the peaceable fruit of their labours. This authority was annihilated by the Islamite invasion. The Moslems did not wantonly destroy the means for artificial irrigation ; but, if they did not, as seems too probable, at once exterminate the indigenous population, they at least paralyzed all organization for the common good ; robbed the people of eyery security for the peaceable enjoyment of their industry, until a succession of wars had reduced them all to the position of nomads ; and left the miserable rem¬ nant of a dense and thriving nation entirely dependent on the neighbouring countries for their supply of corn ; a dependence which must continue till these border lands, under a settled central government, are secure from the inroads of the predatory bands of the East. But to return to the ruins of Ziza. The tank does not appear to have been ever directly protected by defensive works. It was the offspring of an era of general security, when the safety, implied by Imperial rule, seemed a sufficient return for works of public utility ; when the plain was swept only by the Chap. X. SARACENIC CASTLE. 187 defensive troops of the Dalmatian cavalry, who could water at all times at the reservoir. The line of circumvallation is half a mile distant, but in the intervening space are two conspicuous buildings, the only ones which catch the eye at a distance, and which stand in bold relief against the horizon, being on the crest of a ridge, elevated con¬ siderably above the depression in which the tank has been excavated. The first and largest of these buildings, apparently of Saracenic origin, consists of a solidly built fort, 23 yards by 19, with a parallelogram attached, 16 yards by 7. Both were built, as it would appear, about the same period, and with materials taken from older edifices, many of the stones being sculptured ; some of them, by the Greek crosses chiselled on them, being apparently taken from Byzantine churches. One stone in the front wall bears in relief a sculpture of two chariots with horses. The roof of the lower story in each building is still perfect, a fine arched vault, but with no aperture for light, except from the door. Here, during the period of our stay, our muleteers, with our 40 beasts, were all comfortably housed. The attached parallelogram contains another perfect vaulted chamber, opening only from the great chamber; and the staircase leading to the upper story, which is entire, with the exception of the roof. Semicircular arches still span it in two places, and it has many loopholes and narrow arched windows. There are also several side chambers 188 THE LAND OF MOAB Chap. N entire, and the whole has been fitted for engines of war. This upper floor is now utilized as an Arab cemetery, perhaps as a place of security from the hyaenas. In one corner there had been a recent burial, with a sprinkling of earth, and great stones heaped over the body. The clothes of the deceased were laid by his grave. Another staircase led to the No. 18. ZIZA. PIGEON-HOLE STONES. roof, and we could walk all round the building on the broad massive wall. This castle, we are told, was occupied, during the war of Mehemet Ali, by a gar¬ rison of Egyptians, left here by Ibrahim Pasha, who did much damage to the ruins of Ziza, and wantonly destroyed a very perfect building in the town, and several perfect Christian churches. Zadam assured Chap. X. EGYPTIAN INVASION. 189 us that, before the Egyptian invasion, the large build¬ ings inside the town had their roofs entire, and were often used as places of shelter. The other castle, to the east of this, is apparently of the Roman age, and has been reduced to a ruinous state by the troops of Ibrahim Pasha. The external walls alone remain, with a conspicuous inner niche, No. 19. ZIZA. CUPHIC INSCRIPTIONS. alcoved in the south face. It looks like an old temple utilized, first as a fort, and then as a mosque. In it is a beautifully carved lintel, of very rich late Byzan¬ tine, or perhaps Persian work ; and other sculptured stones are built in, as well as some fragments of Cuphic inscriptions. 190 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. Eastward from the two castles, on a higher ridge, extend the ruins of Roman Ziza. They are, in cha¬ racter, a repetition of those of Um Weleed, but more extensive. Near the western end is a fine Saracenic building, quite perfect up to Ibrahim Pasha’s time. The gateway still remains, with its richly carved fa9ade. There are several semicircular niches in the walls, and fragments of Cuphic inscriptions appear in many places on the courses. Several carved crosses, capitals, pieces of frieze ; an olive mill, made of hard basalt, with the solid cone of lava, which fitted into the cup for crushing the berries ; and pieces of sarco¬ phagi strew the ground. The oil-press was, in every respect, like the one we found at Dhiban. But by far the most interesting ruin is one of the Christian churches, placed, like all the others we have noticed, in the east quarter of the city. There is a large apse left entire, and, on the south side, another shorter aisle, the apse being about three yards short of the other. There are indications of another aisle to the north, but, from the way in which the ruins are heaped, this could not be certainly ascertained. A colonnade has separated the centre from the aisle, and stones, sculptured with crosses, and a column, are lying among the loose stones of the old arches in the interior. We were able to get a good photograph of the south wall of this church.* Next day a fugitive arrived to claim the protection * For the description of a curious atmospheric phenomenon, noticed at Ziza, see Appendix B. Chap. X. AN ARAB RAID. 191 of his Sheikh. He had been stripped by the Anizeh, who had left him with no other garment than a camel’s sack, with a hole for his head, and slits for his arms. The Anizeh had carried off 60 camels, and other stock besides, in this raid. These are to be distinguished from the well-known northern Anizeh, who roam between Damascus and Palmyra. Though of the same clan, they have distinct sheikhs, and seldom combine, for war or foray, with their northern cousins. Their territory extends far to */ the east and south-east of the Belka, and is very poor and waterless, though of immense extent. The Beni Sakk’r seem to have a chronic feud with them. Zadam was not much perturbed by the news. At least, he had still the advantage over his foes, for, in their last raid, the Beni Sakk’r had carried off 200 Anizeh camels. So the question of reprisals would probably be deferred till the great tribal conference at the end of the lambing season, next month. Zadam, however, went off for two or three days, to consult his father and brothers how best to maintain the dignity of the tribe, leaving Sahan and the victim of the Anizeh foray to be our guides in excursions. The latter we found to be quite a character. He was a celebrated Ibex hunter, and on that account was retained for the rest of our time in the country. His pantomimic description of the incidents of hunting the “ Bedoon ” (Ibex) was marvellous. With his wild rolling eyes, and a sword blade to 192 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. represent his gun, he went through the whole scene of detecting, following, stalking the ibex, till at length, sprawling on his stomach, his eyes flashed fire as he aimed the fatal shot. The acting was per¬ fect, and, not least, his silencing an imaginary loqua¬ cious brother-hunter. We had a satisfactory test of the honesty of our people, and especially of our Christian servant, Habeeb, in the state of our supplies from Jerusalem. They arrived, after a four days’ journey, without a package opened. The only levy on our stores had been four bottles of raki, by the Turkish officers, whom our convoy had met, still encamped in the Wady Na’ur, waiting for orders from Damascus. They had merely asked for some spirits in return for the hospitality they had shown us. As Habeeb apologetically remarked, “ They asked till my face was ashamed, and I gave.” It speaks,1 indeed, well for the discipline and good behaviour of Turkish troops (including, be it remembered, two squadrons of Bashi-Bazouks,) that a party of unarmed muleteers, without an European with them, should have passed the night alone by their camp, not only without the slightest attempt at pilfering, but without being even asked to surrender any portion of their stores to hose, who, in their distant march, suddenly under¬ taken, must indeed have been ill supplied with the little comforts so temptingly brought within their reach. We were only grieved that our honest men had not more generouslv ventured to offer a share of O J Chap. X. MOKAL EFFECT OF SUNDAY. 193 their masters’ provisions to those who were in the field solely on our account. Nothing in the convoy was so welcome as the sack of brown bread. The craving for light wheaten bread can only be understood by those who, like us, have had a daily diet of Arab flat barley dampers for three weeks. We were struck by the sagacity which all the wild animals showed in the matter of fire-arms, little familiar as they can be with them here. As it was Sunday, we strolled or sat down among the ruins, without our fowling-pieces, and were conse¬ quently objects of indifference. A fine fox sat and looked at us a dozen times among the stone heaps, and just walked away as we approached, keeping almost within gunshot all the afternoon. He is smaller than the English fox, with a greyish back, black breast, and very large bushy tail. This is probably the Canis variegatus of Buppell, though it seemed to resemble in its coloration Canis melano- gaster of the Italian peninsula. We frequently saw the same species in many different ruins. The Sakk’r falcon sat calmly on his favourite perch, and allowed us carefully to reconnoitre him on Sunday, while the eagle-owls, sandgrouse,and partridge showed a similar contempt for unarmed Europeans. Much as our refusal to supply powder and shot on Sunday disconcerted our young Sheikh, Salian, we found the greatest advantage in enforcing Sunday observance on all our cavalcade ; not merely in the o 194 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. X. value of the regular physical rest for the horses, but in the moral influence over the Mohammedans, who always understand and respect the consistent obser¬ vance of Christian ordinances. Rigid in their vene¬ ration for their own religious institutions, they despise those who neglect theirs, and little do many Englishmen know the contemptuous criticisms to which they are subjected by their attendants, for their thoughtless requirement of unnecessary service, on the day the Moslems know very well we hold to be “ hallowed.” ( 195 ) CHAPTER XI. The Palace of Mashita — Ride from Ziza — Limestone knolls rising above the plain — Their geological origin — Gradual formation of the table land — Hadj road — Palace suddenly in sight — First impressions — Description of the palace — Outer wall — Bastions — Gorgeous fayade — Octagonal bastions — Gateway — Delineations of animals and birds — Inner area — Inhabited por¬ tion — Its plan — Rich gateway — Corinthian capitals — Arch overthrown by earthquake — Long inscriptions — Nabathean or Pelvic? — Peculiar bricks — Large open hall — Vaulted roof — Inner doorway — Peculiar capitals — Large inner domed hall with alcoved recesses — Inner chambers — Construction of the outer wall — Hollow bastion — The palace never finished — The builders interrupted — No local tradition of its origin — Probably Chosroes II. of Persia its builder, a.d. 614 — Campaign of Chos- roes — Conquest of Syria — Capture of Jerusalem — Sudden reverse — Advance of Heraelius, a.d. 624 — The whole east recon¬ quered by Rome, a.d. 632 — Irruption of the Saracens — Final devastation of the country — Its disappearance from history — Sassanian origin of the palace confirmed by its architecture — Mr. Fergusson’s opinion — El Ah’la. Not many ruins could be descried from Ziza east¬ ward, for the low limestone range, which bounds the eastern limits of the plains of Moab, rises about 12 miles off. To the north the traces of former popula¬ tion were numerous. One pile, apparently a khan, we could distinctly make out with our glasses. Zadam had told us that it stood beyond the great Hadj road, and was, he believed, a ruined khan, built by Saladin (to whom everything great, and not clearly Christian or Roman, is here referred) ; but o 2 196 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. that it contained nothing particular, and was just like Khan Zebib, or any other isolated ruin we had seen. It was known to the Arabs merely by the name of “Um Shita,” or rather “Mashita.” The former signifying “ mother of rain or winter the latter, which is doubtless the true rendering, being simply “ winter quarters” Though assured that we should not be repaid for our labour, we had no intention of leaving any ruin unvisited, and fortunate were we, that we trusted not to Arab notions of archaeology. An early start on the morning of February 26th brought us in an hour and a quarter, after a smart canter and occa¬ sional gallop over the grassy plain, to the front of the ruin ; just after crossing the Hadj road, which, with its countless furrowed tracks, presents exactly the same characteristics as at Khan Zebib further south. The ride was diversified by the starting of two herds of gazelle, and of the desert fox ( Canis nilo- ticus), and afforded a good opportunity of noticing the mode of deposition of the rich soil of the uplands of Moab. The peculiar phenomenon of the many knolls of limestone rock rising out of the soft level plain of red earth, may be easily explained, when we watch the action of the sudden showers on the furrowed sides of the eastern range, and the sweep of sediment which comes down with the floods, and deposits a fine top-dressing on the plains. Originally the whole of the highlands must have been simply a wide terrace, about 35 miles in breadth, Chap. XI. A PALACE IX THE WASTE. 197 rugged and uneven, between this eastern range and the crest of the western mountains of Moab. Water action has, in course of ages, carried down the debris, and deposited it in the inequalities of the surface ; until it has at length left only the innumerable knolls and ridges on which all the old cities stand. Had the country been without these excrescences of rock, affording unlimited facilities for cistern exca¬ vation, and for the storing of water supplies, it is utterly impossible that it could ever have sustained, as it has done, a vast resident and agricultural popu¬ lation. With them, there is nothing requisite, beyond a settled government, and the reparation of the old cisterns and conduits, to enable a population, as dense as of old, to resume the occupation of these alluvial plains. Suddenly drawing rein in front of Mashita, after a headlong dash at a herd of gazelle across the Hadj road, we were astonished at the unexpected magnifi¬ cence of the ruins, unknown to history, and unnamed in the maps. It has evidently been a palace of some ancient prince. There is no trace of any town or buildings round it. The only remains, outside the walls, are those of a deep well near the S.W. corner. It must have stood out on the waste, in solitary grandeur, a marvellous example of the sumptuous¬ ness and selfishness of ancient princes. We were at first perfectly bewildered by the variety and magnificence of the architectural decorations. The richness of the arabesque carvings, and their perfect 198 THE LAND OF MOAB Chap. XI preservation, is not equalled even by those of the Alhambra, though in somewhat the same style. The whole consists of a large square quadrangle, facing due north and south, 170 vards in extent on each face ; with round bastions at each angle, and five No. 20. INTERIOR OF RUINED PALACE. others, semicircular, between them, on the E., N. and W. faces, all, like the wall, built of finely-dressed hard stone. But it is on the south face that the resources of Eastern art have been most lavishly expended. There are here six bastions, besides the corner ones; for the fretted front, which extends for 52 Chap. XI. GORGEOUS FACADE. 199 yards in the centre of the face, has a bold octa¬ gonal bastion on either side of the gateway. This gateway is the only entrance to the palace, and on either side is the most splendid fapade imaginable, of which our photographs alone can convey a correct No. 21. GATEWAY OF PALACE. idea. The wall is 18 feet high, and covered with the most elaborate and beautiful carving, nearly intact, and hardly injured either by time or man. On the flat wall itself runs a large pattern, like a continued W, with a large rose boss between each angle. These stand out boldly from the plane of the wall. Every inch of their surface, and all the inter- 200 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. stices, are carved with fretted work, representing animals, fruit, and foliage, in endless variety. The birds and beasts are fully represented, and not, as in Arab sculpture, melting into fruit or flowers, but cor¬ rectly drawn. There are upwards of 50 animals in all sorts of attitudes, but generally drinking together on \ opposite sides of the same vase. Lions, winged lions, 1 No 22. OCTAGON TOWEK. buffaloes, gazelle, panthers, lynx, men ; in one case a man with a basket of fruit, in another a man’s head with a dog below ; peacocks, partridges, parrots, and other birds ; more than 50 figures stand in line, with vases, on the west side of the gateway. All are enclosed in cornices and mouldings of conventional Chap. XI. GATEWAY AND AECHES. 201 patterns, and the interstices filled in with very beau¬ tiful adaptations of leaves. The side east of the gateway is without animal figures, excepting two on the panel next the gate. The fa£ade is even more delicately sculptured than Xo. *3. FALLEN AKCH. the other side, but with fruits and flowers only, fes¬ toons of vine leaves and grapes predominating. On entering the gateway, the square inside seems to have been divided into three parallelograms, the side ones 46, and the centre 66 yards in width. The two side parallelograms extend along the whole 202 THE LAND OF MOAB. Char XL length of the enclosure. The centre one has been divided into three sections. The first section is covered with the foundations of numerous chambers, well arranged on either side, 17 or 18 in number, but none of the walls rising much above the ground. They have probably been intended as guard-rooms for the soldiers. The next section has contained no buildings, but has had a large fountain on the west side ; and there are uncertain traces of another to correspond, on the opposite side. The northern and innermost block of the central parallelogram is entirely occupied by the residence itself. The entrance presents a fapade divided into three equal parts, the centre composed of a wide central gateway and two side doors. These have consisted of three archways supported by massive columns of white hard stone, almost marble, sur¬ mounted by debased Corinthian capitals. The vous- soirs of the arches have all fallen to the ground, but in perfect order, evidently overthrown by an earth¬ quake, which has shivered the columns, as shewn in the photograph. These arches have been semi¬ circular, very richly fluted, and not unlike our own late Norman work. The rest of this fa9ade, above the three lower courses, is all of brick, excepting the pillars and pilasters, which, as well as the foundation, are of stone. These courses are finely squared and dressed, and covered with long lines of inscriptions, in a character quite undecipherable by us, but still very distinct and Chap. XI. CHAMBERS OF THE PALACE. 203 unmutilated ; excepting that in many places it has been disfigured by innumerable tribe marks, cut over and between the lines of the original inscription. These later carvings, however, are all very easily distinguishable from the original record, and so appear in a photograph, from the much lighter colour of the incisions. Unfortunately, all our photographs of the inscriptions, excepting one frag¬ ment, have failed, from an accident before they were developed, and the silent story is left for some future explorer to decipher. The characters seemed to me to differ from the ordinarv Nabathean, and, so far as memory can be trusted, appear like several specimens of the Pelvic character, kindly shown me by Mr. Fergusson. The bricks, of which, above these three courses, the whole of the residential portion of the palace is con¬ structed, differ from any we met with before or since, nor have I ever found bricks of a like shape and pattern elsewhere ; though Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake tells me that, when in company with Captain Burton, he found similar tiles employed in a ruined palace N.E. of Damascus. These tiles are square and flat, of the shape of Koman tiles, but much thinner and larger, about 3 inches thick and perhaps 18 inches square. The three courses of stone continue, covered with inscriptions, all round the building : but within, the whole superstructure is of brick, excepting the pilas¬ ters and cornices, with the large stones in the angles, from which the vaulting of the roof springs. 204 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. The triple front gateway leads into a large hall, which I think has never been roofed. On either side are chambers, with lofty vaulted brick roofs still remaining, though decayed in places. The access to these chambers is not from the hall itself, but by a circuitous route, through doorways at the further extremity of the hall, right and left, which opens by arched doorways into various other chambers, from which there is access to these. In front of the hall is a wide doorway, with very massive pilasters of finely-dressed stone. The capi¬ tals of these are very elaborately carved, as shewn in the photograph, and certainly of no Greek order of architecture ; but revealing rather Persian or Egyptian ornamentation. There has been no arch above them, for they simply form the doorway into the grand chamber of the palace, which has had a massive domed roof of brickwork. The chamber is about 50 feet square in its extreme length and breadth, but its further end and two sides form three alcoved apsidal recesses ; the angles being filled in with solid brickwork, the principal support of the great crypt-like roofs, which spring from them. On the right and left of the further apsidal recess, are arched doorways, opening into chambers behind. One of these has no other exit ; the others open into a still further chamber, directly at the back of the great chamber. The dome being broken through in many places, enabled us to see very clearly the method of con- PLAN OF PALACE AT MASHITA. Chap. XI. THE BUILDING UNFINISHED. 205 struction. The spring of the vaulting of all the rooms is from a row of bricks, slightly projecting, and forming a sort of plinth, the projection being continued in the vaulting. In the arches of the doorways this projection gives them the appearance of Saracenic or horse-shoe arches, though very nearly semicircular. The first row on the face of the arch consists of the square bricks which prevail in other parts, the next of the thin rectangular tiles before de¬ scribed, set lengthways, then a row of the same thin tiles set endways, after which comes the ordinary walling. The two rows of bricks placed facevvays have been cemented, but there are only faint traces of fine plastering elsewhere. The mortar is very strong, and, between the bricks of the arches, forms conspicuous broad white bands. With the exception of the three chambers behind the central large room, all the other chambers, eleven of them on either side, have but a single access into the further angle of the great hall. Thus from any of the inner chambers it was necessary, as shown on the plan, to pass through three others before reaching the open courtyard. Turning now to the outer wall of the whole enclosure, we found the circumference perfect all round, varying from 5 to 20 feet in height. It is very carefully built of beautifully squared stones, each of the same size, and placed alternately lengthwise and across, so as to bind the whole in one solid mass. The inside and outside faces are dressed with equal exact- 206 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. ness. In the enclosing wall are cut, at irregular intervals, numerous small apertures sloping very sharply downwards. They are not defensive loop¬ holes, for they come out very near the ground, and do not expand as they descend, neither can any view be obtained through them, nor archery used. Though no traces of buildings can be observed in this part of the enciente , vet, where these apertures are made, are also large stones projecting from the wall, apparently for the purpose of supporting a flooring which has never been laid down. One thing struck us much — the very small amount of debris strewn about. Except where the brick¬ work has become dilapidated, or the walls have been overthrown (evidently, as shown by the cracks, from the effects of earthquake), the appearance of the stones is rather that of unused material than of crumbling ruin. The stone is so hard that it is very little weathered, and from the absence of ruin it seems impossible that the bastions can have been much higher than 20 feet. They are all of them solid, with one singular exception. This was the bastion, at the N.W. angle of the brick palace, which is hollow, with an access from the outer square, and has a curious little hollow excrescence attached, as if for a look-out into the country behind. The state of the external sculptured fapade proves that it was never finished. As may be seen in the photographs, several of the stones have their sculp¬ tures incomplete. The masonry has been put into its Chap. XI. INVASION OF CHOSROES. 207 place, and then carved in situ. In the portion east¬ ward several of the rose bosses are finished, and stand out above the walling, which has never been carried so high. We searched carefully, but in vain, for any sculptured fragments among the debris, and could only come to the conclusion that the builders had been suddenly interrupted, and had left un¬ finished the decorative part of their plan. Of tradition the Arabs have absolutely none ; though they have on many other ruins, for instance, on the tower of Um Rasas. The name Mashita, conveys no idea, except that it is often used as “ winter quarters ” for the flocks and herds. Of this there was abundant evidence in traces left by the heaped ordure of sheep and goats in all the vaulted chambers. We may fairly presume that, whoever were the builders, they had left no permanent im¬ pression behind them among the tales and tradi¬ tions which linger so tenaciously among the Arab tribes, and go back to the Jewish and Roman periods. The palace is no relic of Saiadin or the Khalifs, else it would be recognised as such by the Bedouin, who are eager enough to ascribe everything they can to their early heroes. Besides, the existence of the human and animal figures proves its ante-Moslem origin. But there is no trace of Christian work ; and, in the Roman times, we cannot conceive of so sumptuous and truly oriental a palace being erected in a lonely wilderness, away from cities, and from any 208 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. military road. The character also of the work, and the sculpture, point to a late date. Many of the details are decidedly Byzantine in type : and, in the exuberant decoration, we have the model of that employed in the Saracenic palaces, as in the Alhambra. We found no other ruin in the whole country which bore the slightest resem¬ blance to Mashita, either in situation, design, or execution. The whole question continued to be an insoluble mystery to us, while wre remained in the country ; and it was only on our return, that Mr. Fergusson promptly and kindly solved the problem for us, and gave the key to it ; referring it to the Sassanian dynasty of Persian kings, and to the history of Chosroes II., and fixing the date to be a.d. 614. The story of the conquests and the defeat of hosroes, the greatest prince of the Sassanian dynasty, is perhaps a nearer parallel to the conquests and overthrow of the great Napoleon, than any other event in history* Under the miserable reign of the Emperor Phocas, of infamous memory, Chosroes, with the Persian armies, overran, a.d. 611, the whole of Northern Syria and Asia Minor. He then advanced to Damascus ; and, after reposing his troops in that paradise for a season, invaded and reduced Galilee, and the region beyond Jordan, which offered him a * Gibbon, oil. xlvi. Chap. XI. FALL OF CHOSROES. stout resistance, and delayed for a time the siege of Jerusalem, which was finally taken by assault a.d. 614. “ The sepulchre of Christ and the stately churches of Helena and Constantine were consumed, or at least damaged by the flames, the devout offer¬ ings of 300 years were rifled in one sacrilegious day ; the Patriarch Zachariah and the true Gross were transported into Persia, and the massacre of 90,000 Christians is imputed to the Jews and Arabs, who swelled the disorder of the Persian march.” Egypt itself, the only province “ which had been exempt since the time of Diocletian from foreign and domestic war, was again subdued by the successors of Cyrus. Pelusium, the key of that impervious country, was surprised by the cavalry of the Persians.” His western trophy was erected, not on the walls of “ Carthage, but in the neighbourhood of Tripoli ; the Greek colonies of Cyrene were finally extirpated, and the conqueror, treading in the footsteps of Alex¬ ander, returned in triumph through the sand of the Libyan desert.” “From the long-disputed banks of the Tigris and Euphrates the reign of the grandson of Nurshivan was suddenly extended to the Helles¬ pont and the Nile, the ancient limits of the Persian monarchy.” We read that, “conscious of this fear and hatred, the Persian conqueror governed his new subjects with an iron sceptre ; and, as if he suspected the stability of his dominion, he exhausted their wealth by exorbitant tributes, and licentious rapine ; p 210 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. despoiled or demolished the temples of the East ; and transported to his hereditary realms, the gold, the silver, the precious marbles, the arts and the artists of the Asiatic cities.” “ He enjoyed with ostentation the fruits of victory, and frequently retired from the hardships of war to the luxury of the palace.” The details of his more than oriental pageantry, carefully collected by Gibbon, from contemporary writers, almost pass belief: 960 elephants, 20,000 camels, 6000 horses, as many guards, and 3000 concubines ; to say nothing of the gathered piles of precious metals ; give some idea of his lavish magnificence. It was during this transient period of splendour that the then obscure prophet of Arabia wrote a letter to the great king, inviting him to acknowledge him , Mohammed, as the prophet of God. Chosroes scornfully tore the letter, little forecasting how soon the Arabian would be master of the East. But this was not to be in his time. Yet he only held together his vast empire for 14 years. In a.d. 623, the Emperor Heraclius, with incre¬ dible daring, commenced the reconquest of the East ; and never, in her grandest days of power, did the eagle of Rome swoop more magnificently than in its dying throes; when, in the space of three years, Heraclius penetrated to the very heart of Persia; compelled Chosroes to return from a distant expedi¬ tion, to recall his troops from Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor ; captured Ispahan and Salban, and, in them, the flower of the Persian nobility and youth. Chap. XI. BUILDERS THE REAL DESTROYERS. 211 In vain Chosroes attempted to strike a retaliatory blow at Constantinople. Baffled there, he returned to meet the triumphant Heraclius in his third expedition, at Mosul, over the ruins of Nineveh, where, on the 1st December, a.d. 627, the Romans were completely victorious : and Chosroes died miserably, a deposed fugitive, in a dungeon, by the hand, or the command, of his own son. Two years afterwards, Heraclius visited Jerusalem, and celebrated his triumph ; and all seemed fair and secure in the Eastern empire ; with every rival, not only defeated, but utterly crushed, on its frontiers. It was but a short-lived respite. In a.d. 632, the hordes of Saracen horsemen, under the command of Abou Obeidah and Caled, poured into the Roman province of Arabia, which embraced Iduma3a, Moab, and all the country east of Jordan. They speedily overran it, slaughtered its inhabitants, and captured the fortress of Bozrah, the stronghold of the country, live days’ march north of the Aruon. Up to the time of their arrival at that stronghold, we are told, they met with no resistance ; and, indeed, it is evident that none of the towns of the Plains of Moab could from their position have sustained, for more than a day, the onslaught of these warriors. From that hour the whole of this region disappears altogether from the page of history. Retired from the route of armies, it has been without fortress, town, or inhabitants, to invite a conqueror : inacces¬ sible to ordinary troops from the west, it has remained 212 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. without the record of one single event on its soil ; and its eastern plains untrodden by European foot till yesterday. Too proud to cultivate, happily too careless to destroy, the incurious Bedouin has roamed over its rich pasture-lands ; never tempted to loosen a stone, for he needs no building materials ; and content if the old cisterns and arches afford a shelter in winter for his flocks. ■v. In every land it has been the builders, rather than the conquerors, who have obliterated the remains of antiquity. The abbeys of England have been the quarries for manor houses ; the Coliseum has supplied the materials for Roman palaces; the stones of many a Syrian temple have found their place, first in a Christian church, and finally in a Moslem mosque ; but the Bedouin needs no mosque : and thus, since the first fury of the victors spent itself, time has been aided by earthquakes alone, and not by man, in the decay of the cities of Roman Arabia. Thus Mashita has remained intact. The resume of the history of Chosroes seems to solve every difficulty about the deserted palace, even apart from the architectural features which point to its chronology. Chosroes held this country for only 14 years at the utmost. Such a mere passing wave of desolating conquest, would not be likely to leave any clear or distinct traditions to linger through many generations. The building is certainly neither Jewish, Greek, Roman, nor Saracen, either in its plan or its Chap. XI. EVIDENCES OF PERSIAN WORK. 213 details. It can only, therefore, be either Persian or Arabian. We know there was a dynasty of Christian kings in Arabia after the time of Constantine, but we have no reason to believe that their power extended into this unquestioned Boman province ; and, even had it done so, it is difficult to conceive why an indigenous dynasty should ever have selected such a situation for a palace. Mr. Fergusson has pointed out, that there are details in the workmanship which can scarcely be older than the time of J ustinian ; and, at that period, the Arabian kings certainly held no sway so near the Jordan. But Chosroes is celebrated for the sumptuous palaces which he caused to be erected wherever he went ; and this palace is constructed very much on the same ground-plan as his other edifices, although the details of the workmanship are very different. He is recorded, after wintering in Damascus, to have invaded Egypt, and that with vast swarms of cavalry. This place would lie in his natural road from Damas¬ cus to the Nile, one quite as easy for horsemen as the more westerly route. We are told that he carried away many thousands of Greek and Syrian captives, whom he employed on his works. Some of these he may have employed to erect here a hunting-box, for his sojourn when he passed this way, for we know that he was passionately attached to the chase. As we have seen, the palace has been suddenly abandoned, before it could be completed. This is at once accounted for, if Chosroes be its builder, by the 214 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XI. advance of Heraclius; when lie was compelled to recall his troops from Egypt and Syria, and, of necessity, to abandon his works. The Romans lield the country but ten years longer, and a solitary building in this remote corner had little chance at that time to be mentioned by any contemporary writer. The Saracens had no object to secure, in either destroying or utilizing a defenceless, solitary, half- finished pile. ' Mr. F ergusson has pointed out several architectural details, which convince him that there is internal evidence of the palace being the work of Chosroes. He writes, “ The capitals of the outer portals of the brick palace are more like those of the golden gate¬ way at Jerusalem than any others I know, and, if they were alone, might be as old — viz., Constantine’s time. But the inner ones could not possibly be carved before Justinian’s time ; and they are even more certainly integral. It is not quite impossible, that the outer ones may have been brought from some of Constantine’s buildings at Jerusalem, which Chosroes is said to have destroyed. But this theory is by no means necessary for the date. The Corin¬ thian capital, with very slight change, lasted down to the 10th century.” A Persian architect, employing Byzantine work¬ men, might be expected to produce just such a work as this. Many of the details of the sculptured facade much resemble fragments of late Byzantine work at Constantinople, and it was from this, Chap. XI. EL AH’LA. 215 that the Saracenic style of decoration was de¬ veloped. Mashita, as well as Ziza, seems to have been pointed out from a great distance to Captain Warren (‘ Expedition East of Jordan, Palestine Exploration Fund,’ vol. i., p. 293), and we could see several known points from its walls, viz., Ziza, Jebel Shihan, Jebel Samik (whence Captain Warren saw it), Herri, and Jelul. The only ruin to the eastward was a large fort or town, about 10 miles off, N.N.E. (bearing 220°) in the hills, looking very like Um Rasas, at the foot of an oj)ening in the mountain range, and called by the Arabs Kirbet el Ah’la. We were assured there were no other ruins to be found anywhere to the eastward, and certainly the bare, verdureless hills held out no promise of discovery ; though we have ever since regretted that we did not push on to El Ah’la. ( 216 ) CHAPTER XII. Second visit to Mashita — Expedition to Kustul — Imperial eagle — Interesting character of the remains of Knstul — Castel¬ lated temple — Corinthian pi] asters — N abathean inscriptions — Larger castle — Vaulted chambers and massive bastions — A Greek altar exhumed — Walls for collecting water — Kustul- | Castellum — Thenib — Bujum Hamam — Views of the Belka — Southward migration of the Beni Sakk’r — Move camp towards the west — Azabarali — Jebel Jelul — Magnificent panorama — Sufa — Trained falcons — Women water-drawers — Arrival at our camp — Visit from Fendi y Faiz — Entertainment of the I great Sheikh — Photographing of the princes — Escort of ihe Hadj — Parting with Sahan — Delay at Habis — Descent of the Wady Habis — Junction with the Zerka Main — Contrast between the highlands of Moab and the mountains. 27th Feb. — So unexpected and interesting had been \ the discovery of Mashita that a second day was not grudged for its more accurate exploration and pho¬ tographing ; especially as Buxton found that, in the excitement occasioned by its elaborate carvings, he had taken two sets of photographs on the same plates, and, after toiling at developing till midnight, had only one good negative to show. But time was precious, and accordingly, attended by our old lance-bearing dervish, Sherouan, I set out alone to examine the rest of the ruins to the north of us, where three deserted cities could be made out ; and so to finish our map of this part of the Belka as Chap. XII. CASTLES OF KUSTUL. 217 H Bj i soon as possible, while the rest of the party revisited the Persian palace. We all began to feel the effects of the climate, and that onr camp was not in a spot conducive to health. The thermometer at 24° Fahr. at night, a lump of solid ice in our basins in the morning, and then the scorching heat of the day drawing up the moisture, made the neighbourhood of the tank, con¬ venient as it was, rather a fever trap, and pre¬ monitory symptoms warned us to move. Forty -five minutes rather quick riding, due north, across a grassy plain, with scarcely an undulation, brought us to the first ruins, called Kustul. Game was abundant on the way ; and it was curious to see flocks of mallard and pintail, feeding among the stunted scrub, in most unlikely ground for duck, who, however, seem able to accommodate themselves to circumstances. A fine imperial eagle sat quietly on the carcass of a kid till I was within 10 yards of him, showing his white shoulders in fine contrast with his dark plumage. But I had only small shot ; and though successful against the sand- grouse, which, plover-like, kept skimming past in flocks large and small, I was tantalized by fox, wolf, and wild cat, all in turn offering an easy opportunity for a rightly provided collector. This fox of the plains seems to be the same as the Egyptian. In the evening, I found that Trotter, riding in another direction, had shot on the plain a duck, which proved to be a hybrid between mallard 218 THE LAND OF MOAB Chap. XII and pintail, the facsimile of the so-called bimaco- lated duck of ‘ Yarrell’s British Birds.’ Arrived at Kustul, I found it a ruin of quite different character from any we had previously visited. There is the ordinary mass of ruins, caves, walls, and arches innumerable, extending over the No. 25. el kustul. west side of the hill : but those on the eastern side are evidently later accretions on a much earlier and more carefully built castle ; or rather on two castles, of which the northernmost and smaller is far the most perfect. It measures 30 yards by 20, and has a large semicircular bastion at the north-west corner, Chap. XII. ANCIENT DAM. 219 surmounted by a balustrade of fluted Corinthian squared pilasters ; and an inner staircase leading up to it, still remaining. Inside its south wall is a semi¬ circular niche, and two capitals of pure white marble are lying in the courtyard. This area is partially filled in with crypts of coarser and evidently later masonry. The building would seem to have been ori¬ ginally a fortified temple, and an outwork of the main castle. This stands on the crest of the hill, immediately to the south of the other, and is 84 yards square. All round it have been semicircular bastions of solid masonry, six yards in diameter, and a space of 14 yards between each. The building has been of two stories at least ; but only the lower story now remains, with the foundations, and a few arches of the rooms of the upper one. The chambers have run round the inside wall of this castle, having an open area in the centre, in which two columns are still standing. The crypt roof of the lower chamber remains, and many of the courses have Nabathean inscriptions, marred, as usual, by tribe marks. On the ground-floor have been three sets of large principal chambers, on the S.W. and N. sides ; each having a smaller room opening into it on either side, through low doorways with flat lintel heads. The chambers of the upper story had semicircular arched doorways of very solid, well-constructed masonry. The size of the lower side chambers is eight yards by six ; and of the nine main crypts, 18 yards each by 220 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XII. six yards, all opening into the central area. The entrance was in the east face ; and the old castle seems, at the date of the Christian Empire, to have been entirely built in by houses, which abut on it with arches and half arches, like those of Um Rasas, on every side. To the N.W. of the castle is a large portion of the ancient city, with the usual arches ; but also with some singular remains of Greek architecture, one probably a tomb, with elaborately carved lintels of Corinthian character. Below this again is a large square tank, in which there was still water. Tiie Beni Sakk’r shepherds, who surrounded me with much curiosity, as I took the angles from the top of the castle, assured me that they knew of a curious, inscribed stone which they had buried, but which they would show me. I accordingly accompanied them down a grassy slope to the south, where they exhumed their carved stone, which proved to be a Greek altar, of pure white marble, without inscrip¬ tion ; and the greater part of the hollowed surface at the top broken off to make pestles for their coffee mortars. In its mutilated state it was 26 inches high, and 14 in diameter, with only part of the saucer-shaped depression left in the upper part. A few minutes’ ride down the east side of the hill brought me to a massive wall in the plain, built to dam up the water in the gentle depression, which is the head of a wady running westwards. The wall is about 600 yards in length across the Chap. XII. THE REMAINS OF KUSTUL. 221 valley, and 18 feet thick. Of course it has been neglected, and the floods have broken through at the north end of the wall, and worked their way into their old channel, though water only runs after the occasional rains. There is not, however, any grand tank of masonry visible, as at Ziza, but the deposit of soft soil has here been so great, that possibly the most important parts of the old works are now buried. The buildings of Kustul were as great a problem to us as those of Mashita. From the attachment of the later arches and dwellings of the Byzantine epoch to their walls, we must place them prior to the later empire. Then the many fragments of fine white marble, certainly not indigenous, and which must have been brought, at great cost, from beyond sea, belonged to these earlier castles, which are probably either Herodian, or the work of some of the Syrian successors of Alexander. Their shape and architecture are of a character perfectly dis¬ tinct from any we elsewhere met with. The name, again, of 44 Kustul,” not an Arabic word, seems to be a corruption of the Latin “ castellum,” very naturally applied as the castle, par excellence, to a castle so markedly different from the square block houses with which the country is studded. But I can find no clue to the history of the place in either Eusebius, the 4 Itineraries,’ or the 4 Notitia.’ After taking observations to fix the site, I rode on due north, and an hour’s quick ride brought us to 222 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XII. Thenib. The buildings of Thenib cover the whole area of an isolated hill, and are much more dilapi¬ dated and ruder than those we had recently been visiting. Due north from Thenib two miles, I found another ruined heap on a hill, very like the shapeless mass at Remail, merely an old blockhouse, to which the Arabs give the name of “ Rujurn Hamam,” “ the ruins of the pigeons,” and well so named. I was now on the edge of the plain, as the hills to the north here begin to rise, forming the conventional boundary between Moab and Ammon, or between the Beika and the Ad wan country. No further ruins were reported by Sherouan in this direction, nor could any be seen among the hills north and east, so I turned my horse’s head due south to return to our camp at Ziza. From Thenib and from Kustul I had the finest views of the Beika, as this country is officially called,* which we had yet enjoyed. But, not only was the prospect wide and clear, we had also the opportunity of seeing an Arab migration. The law of * The name Beika is applied in official Turkish documents to the whole plain of Moab. But in common parlance, the slopes of the Beika mean only the cultivated land running down eastward from a line drawn between Heshban and Medeba, and inhabited by the Beika tribe of Arabs. Yet the Turks are right in giving to the Pasha of Nablous the title of ‘‘Pasha of the Beika,” for all these plains were for many generations the heritage of the Beika tribe ; who about 170 years ago were driven westward by the irruption of the Beni Sakk’r from the east, and compelled to exchange their nomadic for their present semi -agricultural life. Chap. XII. THE BELKA. 223 “ corvee,” as the French term it, renders all beasts of burden liable to be impressed for the service of an army on the march. The small brigade which had been sent for our rescue still remained waiting in the Wady Na’ur, and having already exhausted the camels and the patience of the Adwan and the Belka tribes, had sent on an intimation to the Beni Sakk’r, that they should require their aid for the transport of troops and baggage. The news spread instantly through the tribe, and without concert, each shepherd at once discovered that the pastures were exhausted, and that he must without delay move southwards and eastwards. The tribe had been distributed over the whole breadth of the northern plain, in little camps of two or three families each, during the season of lambs and kids. At once there was a general migration southward. Very wonderful was the sight. The whole plain, far as the glass could reach, was covered, not dotted, with herds of camels, goats, sheep, asses, in line and file spreading over the face of the land. The herds of Abraham, or the docks of Jacob coming from Paran, could not have equalled these innumerable hordes. On one hill slope 83 camels were counted without turning the head. There was not a cloud on the sky, and to the furthest horizon the moving lines of camels stood out in white dots. We rode past at least seven camps as we returned, each camp containing on an 224 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XII. average 12 families, and each family averaging 20 camels and 400 sheep and goats. The women were mounted on camels or asses, the men ahead, and the boys bringing up the rearguard of lambs and kids. Besides those we passed, there were thousands more, moving on the plain on all sides. At one place we saw over 100 griffon vultures congregated over the carcass of a camel, which had just dropped on its march. We charged them in the gallop, and actually rode among them before they had time to rise, but I had no ammunition. So completely were we upon them, that I struck two with my fowling- piece in the stride. Heavily stretching forward, they commenced by an ungainly run, and at last got their wings, most of them behind us, after we had ridden through them. When they did rise, they actually darkened the air, as they passed in a mass close over our heads. We had the first sign of spring to-day in the return of the hoopoe, while a swallow took refuge in our tents ; yet the thermometer was again down to 24° Fahr. My companions had completed a good day’s work at Maskita ; Hayne had measurements for an exact plan of the palace ; the photographs were successful, excepting those of the inscriptions ; and Trotter’s gun had done good service both to ornithology and the kitchen. We revisited Kustul to photograph, surrounded by a crowd of curious but most inoffensive visitors, for there was still a large camp close by. No worse Chap. XII. JEBEL JEBUL. 225 harm did they do us than emptying our skins, and leaving us waterless at luncheon, on a day as hot as the night had been cold. From Kustul we turned W.S.W., and in a quarter of an hour reached the ruins of Azabarah. The name suggests some connection with Asabaia , given in the ‘Notitia,’ in this part of the country, as the station of the first cohort of Thracians. Possibly the name yet lingers in the local tongue, and this may have been the older city ; while the garrison was stationed in the Castellum, a mile off, round which the new town gradually gathered. At Jebel Jelul we caught up the retiring migrants from the north-western pastures. Jelul is a remark¬ able hill, completely isolated, rising 300 feet above the plain, and one of the very few places where I have seen a really uninterrupted panorama. It does not seem to have been visited by any traveller, though it is marked in the maps two miles east of Heshban ; but it is in reality very far south of it. It was curious to observe on all sides of us, except the east, a double rim of hills; the outer just rising sufficiently above the inner to enable us to distin¬ guish with our glasses the most important points. Er Earn rose above Easas, Shihan beyond Attarus, and Jebel Jilad (Mount Gilead) beyond Heshban. After an hour and twenty minutes’ further ride, we reached Sufa, having passed several camps on our way. Almost every depression had beneath its shelter a camp of Beni Sakk’r pitched, halting on Q 226 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XII. their way southwards. At one of these we found that the owner was an old sportsman, and had two fine Saker falcons, well-trained and docile. They were last year’s birds, and had not yet quite completed their hunting education. We had merely halted for a draught of water, but the interest shown in his favourites soon opened the heart of the old man, proud of his pets, the ensign and crest of his tribe. Each sat on its movable perch on either side of the tent door. The Saker ( Fcdco sacer ) is much prized here, and is well known as distinct from the peregrine and the lanner, which latter our falconer assured us was a very sluggish falcon, and worthless for gazelle. He was not to be tempted to sell his birds at any price, and treated the offer of 10/. apiece with scorn. These birds, obtained, we were told, from the east, and not from the mountains of the Dead Sea, were the only trained falcons we met with. After taking our bearings, half an hour’s easy ride, down a gently undulating descent, brought us to our tents, already pitched, and the English ensign flying by a dirty pond ; but with lovely pasturage, starred with a blaze of scarlet anemone, in the Wady Habis, an affluent of the Callirrhoe. We had heard in the morning of a great honour being about to be paid us — a visit from Fendi y Faiz, Zadam’s father, and the great Sheikh of the Beni Sakk’r, whose camp was only two hours’ ride from the Habis. Daoud had gone on before, to see that Chap. XII. THE GKEAT SHEIKH. 227 proper care was taken for his reception, and with orders to kill two sheep we had bought on the way, and to get the Mocha coffee ready. A visit from a king is not an every-day occurrence, and it re¬ quired all our stock of dignity, coffee, and tobacco, to receive Fendi and his three sons all at once. On our arrival, we found the old prince there before us, his presence intimated by the number of tall spears stuck in the ground, gleaming by our tents ; while a splendid camel, with gorgeous trap¬ pings, towered above all the other beasts, and, camel¬ like, growled his dissatisfaction with all around. In front of the tents the best carpet and cushions had been spread, and there sat the grey-bearded chieftain, in all the dignity of oriental sovereignty, with a large retinue of followers respectfully squatted in a circle round him. He rose and greeted us in European mode by shaking hands, and then we all entered the tent, which had been fitted up in proper divan fashion for our visitors. He was a man of about 65, with iron-grey beard, strongly marked features, fine and prominent nose, large liquid black eyes, and rather surly expression of countenance • dressed apparently in all his ward¬ robe at once, and perspiring copiously under the oppressive weight of clothing ; armed with scimetar and pistol, the sheath, stock, and barrel of which were covered with silver work. Coffee and pipes, which had passed before we came, were repeated, and a heavy conversation of ponderous compliments passed Q 2 228 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XII. through the dragoman filter. Fendi exhibited great courtesy, and was with difficulty persuaded to stay for dinner, delicately remarking that we could be only guests in his country. Peacefully as the sun went down on this grand gathering, at the close of one of the finest and most cloudless of days ; it was no sooner dark than we heard not only of departures, but of war. Fendi y Faiz was off to conduct the Hadj for sixteen days towards Mecca, he having the guardianship of the pilgrims from the Hauran till six days south of Kerak, for which purpose he musters 700 camel-men. At the same time, Zatum was starting for the east, to re¬ venge the robbery of their camels, by a raid on the ’Anizeh, and had summoned all the horsemen of his tribe. Sahan was to go with him, to win his youthful spurs at the age of thirteen. During the night, every one of our Arabs left us to see the departure of the Hadj guard, and of the raiding party ; not even Zadam remained, and our only international representative was the dervish Sherouan. Even our pantomimic friend, the ibex- hunter, was seized with the war-frenzy, and disap¬ peared with the rest. Accordingly, we spent the morning of February 29 in riding over some neigh¬ bouring ruins, Betan el Bareil, Kirbet el Waleh, and Delailat, a little further to the east. Before 11 a.m. Zadam returned with profuse apologies. Passing the ruins of Habis in half an hour more, we had left the plains of the Belka, and entered the Chap. XII. FEATURES OF THE MOUNTAINS. 229 gorge of the Habis, now out of the Beni Sakk’r, and in the Beni Hamideh country. The ride was a most interesting one, down the gradually deepening valley, and afforded a splendid illustration of the contrast between the hill country and the pastoral uplands ofMoab, into which Reuben, with his numerous flocks and herds, soon withdrew among the sheepcotes, to hear the bleatings of the flocks : wholly indifferent, from his nomad and pas¬ toral habits, to the retention of the mountain fast¬ nesses, and the rough agricultural lands, which the Moabites, builders and husbandmen by taste and position, gradually recovered. An opposite rule to that which obtains elsewhere, holds good in this country as to the scenery of the watercourses. The valleys all begin in flat plains, as mere depressions, and increase in wildness and grandeur as they approach the wall of the Moab mountains ; and then, instead of rolling sluggishly to the end of their course, the streamlets burst through the range in a series of rapids and cascades to the very edge of the sea. ( 230 ) CHAPTER XIII. Change from the highlands — The Hamideh — Lords of high and low degree — Septs and political divisions of the Hamideh — Their habits and character — Ornithology of the glens — The Callirrlioe — An evening’s fishing — Geology of the Zerka Ma’in — Basaltic streams- — Descent to the hot springs — The baths of Herod — Hamideh camp — Nubian slave — A sulphur hot bath — Descriptions of Josephus and Pliny — Ptolemy’s geography — Sulphur terraces — Rapid deposits — Basalt and limestone — Palm-groves — Temperature of the springs- — Natural formation of tunnels — Primitive vapour bath — Arab tradi¬ tions — Legend of King Solomon — Sacrificial rites — Strange plants — The shrub of Josephus- — The sulphur plant — -Oro- banches — Butterflies and rare birds — Ibex — Sunday at Callirrhoe — Amateur physician — Venison and butter — Hami¬ deh horned cattle. The transition from the highlands to the mountains is very sudden. Climate and vegetation at once are changed. At first, at the bottoms of the valleys, are many patches of flat ground, covered with the richest herbage. In one of these opens we found a camp of Hamideh, into whose district we had now7 entered. The first sign of our proximity was a large herd of sh e-asses and their colts, animals not in favour with the more warlike Beni Sakk’r. The camp consisted of 14 families. Here Zadam halted, and had a long conversation with their sheikh. The manner of both, the non¬ chalance of the one, the cringing deference of the * \ THE UPPER ZERKA MA’ IN. Chap. XIII. THE HAMIDEH ARABS. 231 other, was an amusing illustration of the great man talking with the small one. Zadam, by his contract, was bound to conduct us through the whole of the Beni Hamideh territory, and did not wish to have the expense of their sheikh accompanying us. But the poor man, who certainly had few opportunities of backsheish, urged upon him, “ Why should you prevent my going with the Franghi, and getting a little present, when you get a large one?” Our sheikh consented at last, observing to the inferior magnate, that at least there was plenty to eat at our camp ; and telling us that the Hamideh came at his own choice, and could not demand a gift. Our new follower devoted himself henceforward most assiduously to me, as a profitable milch cow, doing the civil most oppressively, and kissing my hand on every possible occasion. Honest and in¬ offensive we found the Hamideh, one and all, but cringing and mean — in fact, with all the charac¬ terises of those who have been accustomed to be treated as an inferior race. So far from being independent, as is generally supposed, and has been stated by some writers, there is not a single sept of the Beni Hamideh (or Hamaidi, as some of them prefer to call themselves) which is not the vassal of some greater tribe. All those north of the Arnon, are the “ teba’a ” (feudal subjects) of the Beni Sakk’r, while those soutli of it, have the worse misfortune of having two masters ; being for the most part vassals of Kerak, 232 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XIII. and at the same time compelled to purchase the goodwill of their neighbours, the Beni Sakk’r, to whose marauding parties they would otherwise be continually exposed. This position has given them a servile tone and bearing, which is all the more noticeable, in contrast with the haughty bearing of the lordly Beni Sakk r. Again, there is no unity in the politics of the Hamideh. A number of petty sheikhs, each leading a few families, and loth to acknowledge any superior in their own tribe, are enabled, by the configuration of the country, to hold their several valleys in tolerable security. It is no easy matter to lift cattle across from one wady to another when once they have entered the mountain descents. But it is very easy for the lords of the highlands to sally down any ravine they please, and overrun the valleys. This position of the Hamideh partly explains the difficulties of most explorers of Moab. They have invariably gone to the wrong tribe ; and, learning that the Hamideh possess the sites of the principal ruins, have entrusted themselves to the first petty sheikh of the tribe to whom they could get access. These chieftains were each powerless beyond their own domains; and endless squabbles over paltry backsheish, and final disappointment, have been the result. Had our predecessors been as fortunate as ourselves, and got under the protection of the Suzerains of the whole country, they would have had free conduct over the lands of the vassal tribes, and Chap. XIII. THE FAIR CALLIRRHOE. 233 we should not have been the first to explore a large part of the country. We had read that the Hamideh are only semi- nomad, and inhabit huts or houses as well as tents. So far as we could ascertain, they live only under canvas throughout the year, although they do culti¬ vate patches of ground. In type they shew no difference from the other Bedouins ; there is no trace of the Syrian fellah, nor does there seem any reason, beyond the bare fact that they inhabit the same region, for supposing them to be the descendants of the ancient Moabites, Their own tradition is, that they were driven from the uplands by the Belka Arabs, who in turn have been squeezed out by the Beni Sakk’r. As we proceeded, the cliffs afforded many attrac¬ tions to artist and naturalist. A spotted eagle ( Aquila nasvia ) was sitting on her nest, beautifully in sight, but ingeniously placed out of reach. For the first time we heard the cuckoo’s note, resounding in all the glens that run down to the main gorge. The Alpine swift ( Cypselus melba) delighted us by dashing with lightning speed overhead, up and down the glen, quite safe from the assaults of fowling-piece. The botanical breast was gladdened by many a plant not seen before, as we descended into the warmer regions. The beautiful wild tulip ( Tulipa Gesneriana) was the most attractive of the spring novelties, gleaming in brightest dress from the crannies of the rocks. 234 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XIII. The little river of the Callirrhoe is here indeed “ fair-flowing,” completely buried in oleanders, un¬ der which, with difficulty, we pushed our horses, over the recent tracks of wild boar. Emerging on the other side, we rose a few feet into a little plain, knee-deep in herbage, buried in an amphi¬ theatre of hills, a lovely tenting spot. By common consent, this was the queen of camps, far beyond any we had yet enjoyed. We had descended 1400 feet to-day. The air was balmy, yet not sultry, for we were still high. A pool was soon found, completely covered by oleanders, where we had a delicious bath, the water being deep enough for a header from the rocks, and a good swim afterwards. A deep basin in the rock yielded seventeen fish to two lines in half-an-hour. Trotter had quickly extem¬ porized rod and line, and, with a few worms, drew out the unsophisticated fish as fast as he could bait his hook. Equally astonished were he and the fish. The fish were of the same species as those of the Jabbok and the Jordan, one of the Cyprinidse (Scaphiodon cajooeta, Gold.), a chub-like fish; and a delicious breakfast they afforded us. They were only second to trout, and the best river-fish, next to the Salmonidde , I ever tasted. The Arabs have a prejudice against fish, and though not holding them unclean, never think of either catching or cooking them. Great was Zadam’s amazement at the device of hook and line, by which as he said, “ the fishes catch themselves.” BASALTIC COLUMNS Chap. XIII. 235 March came in the next morning, like a cloudless June day, with a fresh breeze, thermometer 65°, and the minimum 46° in the night — a change after 24°. We had nearly 6 hours to the Baths of Callirrhoe, heavy walking, (for we determined to do it on foot), hut magnificent scenery. Three hours !e 01 * le brought us to the beginning of a basaltic torrent, where we were not sorry that our horses overtook us. At first sight the valley would seem to end here in a broad and rather arid bottom ; but really PS a narrow and rapidly deepening cleft descends from nearly half the height of the mountains on either 236 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XIII. side. Columns of pentagonal basalt, deep black, and further on, a wild gorge with the superincumbent limestone strata laid bare in perpendicular cliffs, render the track steep and circuitous. In parts of the valley the water disappears, dried up by the sun, or sinking into its shingly bed, the oleanders and the water always keeping company, and pre¬ serving each other. The irruption of basalt is marked and sudden, and seems exclusively confined to the gorge, which it would appear to have filled in, nearly to the sea, in places to the depth of 1000 feet ; while the water has afterwards worked its way through the softer adjacent limestone to its old depth. Not only has the upper limestone been always cut through, but also the red sandstone, which is continually shewing at one side or other of the gully, where the basalt is thin. The gorge soon became too narrow to be passable, the huge boulders and deep chasms forbidding even wild goats to essay its perpendicular heights ; and we turned up, not to the higher plateau, but to a lower terrace, about 1300 feet above the stream, which extends a mile or half-a-mile on each side, and then is walled in by steeply sloping mountain sides. Again we descended, by the most impossible of horse-paths ; again we mounted, after once more crossing the oleander-shaded stream, and followed for a little distance the brow of what is named the lower plateau. Chap. XIII. GORGE OF THE ZERKA MA’IN. 237 Two piles of stones, and a crooked old stick, set in one of them, form the landmark for the descent from the plateau, to the historical hot springs of Callirrhoe. Shortly before reaching this point, the waters of the Dead Sea and the whole range of the Judsean hills had come well into sight. Before, we had only had an occasional glimpse down the vista of the valley. Wild and broken, the views on this pass increase in beauty and attractiveness on acquaintance. Black basalt on the southern, white and yellow limestone, over red sandstone, on the northern side — each formation broken and furrowed in a different way — scarped rocks, and nullahs, like the canons of western America, green with waving date-palms and reeds, far down the southern exposure, and a winding line of cane-brake among rocks 1000 feet below, with one specially magnificent basaltic precipice, barring the valley on its way westwards to the Dead Sea, such are the chief features from the top. As we descended, right upon the famous baths of Herod, we looked down on a scene of strange enchant¬ ment. The iron red rock facing us, was gnarled, and contorted into fantastic shapes. The tall palms shaded an exuberant undergrowth of semi-tropical foliage. The stream itself is completely hidden by cane- brakes and oleanders, but we could see the bright cascades leaping down the rocks from the hot sulphur springs ; and the cloud of vapour rising in long lines told the temperature of the heated 238 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap, XIII. waters. The whitish fringe by the edge of each torrent indicated the sulphur with which it is charged. “ Last night’s camp was perfection, this is Paradise!” exclaimed an enthusiast, as we looked down on a little plateau in the dell, and saw the mules beginning to congregate, where the tents were to be erected for a few days’ sojourn. Before reaching the descent, allured by the birds, which had drawn me aside in their pursuit, I had left my horse and the party ; and, afterwards, wearied and thirsty, was right glad to espy some Hamideh tents, where I found two or three of our people loitering with the light animals, and enjoying an Arab gossip. A carpet was at once spread, and a bowl of soured milk brought me — a most delicious draught on a broiling day, — I reclined against a sack, and soon found I had been ushered into the women’s compartment, and was an object of great curiosity. All the little ones, from two years old and upwards, came to kiss me on both cheeks, in natural expectation of backslieish. Among them was a woolly-haired, nearly black boy, of about three years, with good, and beautifully regular features. I asked with some surprise, if he were an Arab. “ Oh yes — his mother is here — she is a Nubian slave and my husband bought her from Egypt.” The mother was at once called from her work, and introduced to me ; and, though black, she was really handsome, and the only good-looking member of the party. The elderly dame, who did Chap. XIII. A NUBIAN SLAVE. 239 the honours of the tent, stroked her affectionately on the face, and appealed to me as to her comeliness. This was the first time I had had a chance of seeing Bedouin women at leisure, and in their own home ; and though the Hamideh have not the best of repu¬ tations, we always, during our stay, found them hospitable and unsuspicious. They treated us as simple guests, and never made any difficulties or demands, beyond the very legitimate one on the tobacco pouch, which the ladies appreciated as much as their lords. Though my Nubian acquaintance here was a slave girl, she and her children (for she had a six months old babe at her breast) seemed to be on terms of perfect equality with the rest of the family. When we had reached the bottom of the pass, no easy task — the upper part nearly as steep as the cliff of Ziz, and strewn with basaltic boulders, the lower portion of our descent down the sloping sides of limestone detritus, steep as a high pitched Gothic roof — we next had to force our way through a tangle of trees and canes, and over the rough boulders left by winter torrents. Then we had to scramble over thin sulphur deposits, across hot streams, through sharp and dense cane-brakes, or to stumble over rocks, knee-deep in water as hot as could be endured. At length we descend from a little table of sulphur deposit by a few rugged crags, to a small grassy fiat, strewn with black boulders, on the north bank of the 240 THE LAND OF MOAB. Chap. XIII. river, which dashes a few feet below us. It is fringed with a dense line of waving reeds and tamarisk plumes ; while to the west, only three yards from our first tent, the largest of the hot springs skips down, in one tiny cascade after another, with a cloud of steam overhang¬ ing it, and its temperature 130° Falir., to join the river 10 yards below us. At the junction was a large fiat stone, which we constituted our bath room. On it we could undress, sponge, and take a dip (at least with our feet, if too hot for the body to bear), and then turn to the other side of the stone, and in a deep pool have a cold, or at least, cool bath. Surely this is the height of luxury, a Turkish and medicinal bath combined au nature l ! From our camp, we could see down the ravine, to its opening, down the far stretching gorge — where the hills of Judah form a background — the Frank Mountain, the chief feature, framed in a rich mould¬ ing, on the one side, of basalt columns, and on the other, of bright red sandstone. This marvellous place is historically famous as the resort of Herod the Great, who sought it in his last illness, to find relief from its medicinal baths. It is especially interesting, as having been visited by only three or four parties of Europeans in modern times. Irby and Mangles, in 1818, the Due de Luynes, in 1864, and Dr. Chaplin, of Jerusalem, with Mr. Klein, were the only travellers, who seem to have actually visited the springs. Burckhardt passed to the eastward, De Saulcy did not get so Chap. XIII. PLINY’S ACCOUNT. 241 far, and Lynch only ascended a mile from the shore. It is, however, described both by Pliny and Jose¬ phus, but very shortly. The latter (Antiq. xvii. 6) merely says that Herod “went beyond the river Jordan, and bathed himself in the warm baths that were at Callirrhoe, which, besides their other general virtues, were also fit to drink. And this water runs into the lake called Asphalitis.” * On the statement of the potability of the water, it may be observed, that, though impregnated with sulphur, we found some of the warm springs not at all nauseous, and drank of them freely, while we were there, without incon¬ venience. The water only slightly flavoured our tea. Pliny’s account is as brief, but not so accurate. Placing Machserus on the south, instead of the east side of the Dead Sea, he says, “ On the same side is the hot spring of Callirrhoe, with medicinal virtues, proclaiming in its very name, the fame of its waters” (Pliny v. 17). t This is almost the only reference of Pliny to the country east of the Dead Sea. In a subsequent paragraph, in his account of the Essenes, he inci¬ dentally shows that the contrast in fertility between the east and west sides of the lake was noticeable in his time ; for he speaks of the Jewish anchorets on the * Y\orap.ov re irepdaas ’lopSaurju, 6epp.o7s ro7s Kara KaWipoyv aurbv -rrapeSiSov, airep