I>visioa Section V * Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/fromniletoneboOOhosk ■ MAY 7 1913 & ^GICAL From the Nile to Nebo A Discussion of the Problem and the Route of the EXODUS y FRANKLIN E. HOSKINS, D.D. SYRIA MISSION, BEIRUT, SYRIA WITH 85 ILLUSTRATIONS PHILADELPHIA The Sunday School Times Company 1912 Copyright, 1912, by Franklin E. Hoskins, D.D. TO JOHN EHRICH PARMLY and the others of my classmates and friends who have upheld me with their gifts and prayers for more than a quarter of a century of my life in Syria, the Promised Land of the Israelite and the Home Land of the Christian, I dedicate this volume as a token of my sincere respect and imperishable affection. % CONTENTS PAGE Foreword . 1 1 Introductory . 15 I. — The Problem and Route of the Exodus . 19 II. — Egyptian Chronology Before and After the Exodus . 27 III. — The District of Sinai . 36 IV. — From the Ocean to Suez . 47 V. — The Springs of Moses . 56 VI. — From the Wells of Moses to Elim . 62 VII. — The Date of the Exodus . 74 VIII. — The Route from Pithom and Raamses to Sinai . 90 IX. — From Elim to Maghareh . 104 X. — The Turquoise Mines of Sinai . 116 XI. — The Bethel Stones, the Cave Shrine and the Temple of Serabit . 130 XII. — Rephidim and the Wady Feiran . 143 XIII. — The Oasis of Feiran — the “Pearl of Sinai” . 153 XIV. — The Numbers of the Children of Israel . 163 Parti. The Difficulties . 163 Part 2. The Solution of the Difficulties . 172 XV. — The Problem of the Mountain of the Law . 189 XVI. — From the Oasis of Feiran to the Monastery of Saint Kath¬ arine at Sinai . 199 XVII. — The Monastery of Saint Katharine at Sinai . 205 XVIII. — The Problem as Related to the Documents . 213 Part 1. The Division of the Documents . 213 Part 2. The Evolutionary Hypothesis . 218 Part 3. The Purpose of the Pentateuch . 224 Part 4. The Present State of the Documentary Hypothesis 226 XIX. — Ascent of Jebel Musa . 237 XX. — The Soul of the Hebrew Race . 244 XXI. — The Biblical Atmosphere of Sinai . 247 XXII. — The Rainfall and Water-supply in Sinai . 251 XXIII. — Kadesh Barnea and the “Desert of the Wanderings” . 256 XXIV. — Aaron’s Hill, Kibroth Hattaavah and the Desert . 268 XXV. — The Oasis of Hazeroth . 279 XXVI. — From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber . 286 XXVII. — How We Entered Turkey . 298 XXVIII. — From Akaba to Ma’an. . . 313 XXIX. — The Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway . 324 XXX. — The Rock City of Petra . 329 XXXI. — Kadesh Barnea, Mount Hor, Edom and Moab . 339 XXXII. — Madeba, Moses and the Mosaic Map . 349 XXXIII.— Nebo . 355 Appendix I. — Desert Temperatures . 363 Appendix II. — Passages of Scripture Specially Referred to . 364 Index . 367 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Monastery of St. Katharine at Sinai . Frontispiece 2. Cairo — the Modern Mistress of the Nile . Facing page 26 3. The Great South Arch at Karnak . 30 4. Our Sinai Cameleers and Sheikh Hammadi . 44 5. Our Sinai Cameleers Around the Campfire . 44 6. General View of Suez . 48 7. The Springs of Moses . 58 8. Sinai Camel Express . 62 9. Camels “Afraid of Wetting Their Feet” . no 10. Away from the Sea to the Wilderness of Sin . no 11. Caravan Crossing the Wilderness of Sin . 112 12. Gateway at Hanak el-Lagm . 112 13. Maghareh — Tartir ed Dhami Peak . 118 14. Maghareh — Mountain View Eastward . 118 15. Maghareh — Ancient Turquoise Mines . 120 16. Maghareh — One of the Mines Recently Worked . 120 17. The Oldest Monument in Sinai . 130 18. Figures of Sopdu and Amenemhat III . 132 19. Model of the Temple at Serabit . 134 20. Stele of Hor-ur-ra in XII Dynasty Approach . 136 21. Oasis of Feiran — Wady Feiran . 146 22. Oasis of Feiran — Site of Ancient City . 146 23. Oasis of Feiran — Wady Aleyat . 154 24. Oasis of Feiran — Looking East . 154 25. Water and Shade . 156 26. Dwellers in the Oasis . 156 27. An Ancient Tomb and Shrine . 158 28. Tombs and Graveyard Among the Palms . 158 29. Palm Trees Crowding the Valley . 160 30. Feiran — el Muharrad Site of Monastery . 160 31. Sediment of Ancient Lake . 162 32. Distant View of Jebel el Biut . 162 33. El Buwaib — Eastern Entrance to the Oasis . 190 34. Serbal with its Jagged Ridge . 192 35. Serbal Seen from Wady Selaf . 192 36. Wide Space and Jebel el-Biut . 194 37. Wide Space Among the Mountains . 194 38. Plain of er Rahah and “Mountain of the Law” . 196 39. Backward View from Nagb el Hawa . 198 40. Another View in Nagb el Hawa . 198 41. Nagb el Hawa — Granite Boulders . 200 42. Jebel es Sufsafeh — “Mountain of the Law” . 202 43. “Mountain of the Law” from Above . 202 44. Plain of er Rahah seen from the “Mountain of the Law” . 204 45. Monastery of St. Katharine and Gardens . 206 7 8 List of Illustrations 46. Pilgrim’s Certificate . Facing page 208 47. Monastery Seen from the Mountain Stairway . 236 48. Plain of the Cypress and Chapel of Elijah . 240 49. In the Heart of Sinai . 240 50. The Only Door to the Monastery . 240 51. A Bit of Sinai’s Rugged Shoulder . 240 52. Pilgrim Gate and Stairway . 242 53. Aaron’s Hill . 268 54. Tomb of Neby Salih . 268 55. A Wig of Stone . 276 56. The “Hill of the Hajj” Pilgrims . 276 57. The “Hill of the Hajj” Pilgrims . 278 58. The Oasis of Hazeroth — Our First Glimpse . 278 59. The Oasis of Hazeroth — White Sands and Colored Walls . 282 60. The Oasis of Hazeroth . 282 61. Steep Descent into the Oasis . 284 62. Natural Gateway to Hazeroth . 284 63. Pharaoh’s Island . 296 64. The Oasis, Town and Gulf of Akaba . 296 65. Listening to the Sultan’s Message at Ma’an . 324 66. The Meeting and Parting of the Old and New . 326 67. The Halt for the Sunset Prayer . 328 68. Petra — The Gorge of the Sik . 330 69. Petra — Pharaoh’s Treasury — Temple of Isis . 332 70. Petra — The Deir — or Monastery . 334 71. Petra — High Place — “Mazzabah” . 336 72. Petra — Sacrificial Block and Altars . 338 73. Aaron’s Tomb on Mount Hor . 340 74. Tafileh from the South . 342 75. Ahsa Canyon . 344 76. The Valleys of the Arnon Looking East . 346 77. Descent into the Arnon Canyon . 348 78. Diban — the Moabite Stone . 350 79. Moab — “What Travellers Do” . 352 80. Moab — “What a Few People Do” . 352 81. Moab — “What Most People Do” . 352 82. Madeba — General View . 354 83. Madeba — Modern Greek Church . 356 84. Madeba — Remains of the Famous Map . 358 85. Jerusalem Camp . 360 PLATES Plate I. — Camping Places and Elevations . Facing page 24 Plate II. — Mount Nebo and Vicinity . 378 Map at End of Volume . 378 ABBREVIATIONS A. C. — “ Auchincloss’ Chronology of the Holy Bible.” Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1910. B. A. E. — “Breasted’s History of the Ancient Egyptians.” Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1910. E. and W. A. — ‘‘Egypt and Western Asia,” King and Hall. S. P. C. K., London, 1907. G. H. B.— “Hours With the Bible,” Geikie. Allen, New York, 1887. H. D. B. — “Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible,” 5 volumes. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1906. J. V. and P. — “Jordan Valley and Petra,” Libbey and Hoskins. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1905. P. D. E. — “Desert of the Exodus,” Palmer. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1872. P. R. S. — “Researches in Sinai,” Petrie. John Murray, London, 1905. T. H. E. — “ The Historic Exodus,” Toffteen. Luzac & Co., London, 1909. T. K. B. — “Kadesh Barnea,” Trumbull. Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1884. 9 FOREWORD This book has grown out of a life plan of the author to study the Bible where it was produced, to read its stories and review its events where they occurred. A residence of twenty-eight years in Syria has given me opportunities for repeated journeys to all parts of the Holy Land, to the country east of the Jordan, to Edom, Moab, and Petra.1 More recent journeys have carried me into the Desert of the Exodus. A knowledge of the Arabic language, ac¬ quired during the past twenty-four years while a member of the Syria Mission, has opened the storehouse of cus¬ toms, traditions and inner life of the people. Ten years’ laborious study upon the text and references of the Arabic Bible, in the Land of the Book itself, have yielded pleas¬ ant fruits of interpretation, which are not easily accessible to those who have been obliged to study it in foreign lands and foreign languages. Acquaintance with many of the scholars and explorers of the last quarter of a century has enabled me to follow their investigations and theories with pleasure and with ease. And finally, an extensive review of the best modern literature on the Pentateuch are the preparation and qualifications I have for the task. Almost everything I have ever read or studied has been weighed and modified by intimate and extended knowledge of the land and its people at the localities of the events themselves. The greatest volumes ever produced on the Holy Land are Robinson’s “ Biblical Researches ” and Thomson’s 1 See “Jordan Valley and Petra.” 11 12 Foreword “ Land and the Book.” Dr. Robinson’s “ Researches ” were the fruit of thirty years’ preparation at home in the United States and of personal travels in the Holy Land in 1832, 1852 and 1856. His travelling companion and co-laborer on his first two trips was the Rev. Eli Smith, D. D., and on his third trip Dr. Smith and Dr. Wm. Thom¬ son, and to them, with Dr. Robinson, the Christian world is under lasting obligation. Robinson’s “ Researches ” have been the source and authority for all the guide-books and most of the encyclopedia articles during the past fifty years. Dr. Thomson’s “ Land and the Book ” has done more to familiarize the Christian world with the Holy Land and the Bible than any other hundred books ever written. Now, Dr. Eli Smith, followed by Dr. C. V. A. Van Dyck, were the translators of the modern Arabic Bible. It has been my supreme privilege to follow their footsteps, al¬ beit afar off, in adding something to the value of that great translation. It was also my privilege to know Dr. Thomson toward the end of his life when he was revis¬ ing his volumes for the last time. And it will be another greater privilege if in this volume I can add, in the light of later research, some small increment to the real knowl¬ edge of the Bible. After I had written more than half of its contents in a form that would have delighted the makers of a cyclopedia and other books of reference, it occurred to me that I was writing something that my children would not read and which might prove unattractive to my classmates and friends to whom I have dedicated the volume. I had carefully divided the subject matter into two main divi¬ sions, the Problem and the Route, but I then decided to weave the whole material into the story itself, discuss¬ ing the various problems and theories and hypotheses, as it were, by the way. It is a pleasure to see so much of our former volumes, Foreword i3 “ The Jordan Valley and Petra,” made use of by Bible dictionaries and even by the new Encyclopedia Britannica, but it will be a greater pleasure if I can give to my children and my friends and to perhaps some other students of the Bible some common-sense clues which will enable them to find their way pleasantly and successfully through the mazes of theories and hypotheses and controversies which, in every age, seem to mass themselves around the Bible. So I shall discuss the matter of chronology the moment we reach Egypt. The date of the Exodus I will review when we spend a Sabbath at Elim under its palm trees. The important question concerning the number of people who went out in the Exodus I will take care of when we reach the Oasis of Feiran, and I shall leave the matter of the documents and their theories for some quiet hours in the famous Library of the Convent on Mount Sinai. I shall make no apology for frequent repetition of some of the more important ideas whenever they will throw additional light or receive greater confirmation from the facts or problems under special consideration. I shall not hesitate to sug¬ gest where the hasty reader may skip a chapter if he wishes simply to follow the narrative or the Problem, and in this way I trust that I may get both my children and my friends safely through the volume. Of the eighty-five illustrations, five are reproduced by permission of Professor W. M. F. Petrie, from his “ Re¬ searches in Sinai,” twelve are the joint work of Professor Libbey and the author, two by Professor Myers and the author, fifty-eight from original photographs by the author, and the remaining eight from sources indicated on the photos themselves. My sincere thanks are due to Professors Libbey and Hoskins, of Princeton University, and to Professor W. Horace Hoskins, of the University of Pennsylvania, for their assistance in putting this volume through the press. INTRODUCTORY A few years ago a young woman about to visit the Holy Land called on an old lady friend who loved her Bible and read it frequently from beginning to end, and told her that she soon hoped to see Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Galilee and all the places associated with the life of Christ. The old lady put down her work, removed her silver- rimmed spectacles and exclaimed: “Well now! I knew all those places were in the Bible, but I never thought of them being on the earth!” It may, therefore, interest many of the readers of this volume to know that the Desert of the Exodus has an actual existence upon the face of the earth, and that the Route of the Exodus is being mapped and studied and photographed by enthusiastic scholars and travelers with results as interesting and as brilliant in their way as at¬ tended the modern exploration of the Holy Land and Egypt ... It brings the doings of the Children of Israel in the Pentateuch much closer to modern life when we realize that the Route of the Exodus is cut in its first section by the Suez Canal (see map, p. 378), one of the greatest human enterprises on our planet; that the Mecca Pil¬ grimage Railway follows that Route in its upper stretches from a point near the Red Sea, Zalmonah, northward for more than a hundred miles through Edom and Moab ; and again, from Rabbath Ammon another 62 miles to Edrei, once the capital of Og, King of Bashan (Num. 21: 33), but 15 i6 Introductory now a railroad center where the three lines from the sea- coast at Carmel, from Damascus and from Mecca meet. Many will be surprised to learn that a telegraph wire now stretches through the desert from Suez to Tor, a little port just below Mount Sinai; that another wire connects Damascus via Ma’an, with Akaba opposite Ezion Geber on the Red Sea; that a steam launch now navigates the Dead Sea and the Jordan River below Jericho, and that tourist agencies have added “ Sinai and the Desert of the Exodus, Edom and Moab ” to their wall signs and tourist routes. Many journeys reaching through many years in the Holy Land and the trans- Jordan country preceded this latest journey through the Desert of the Exodus. It came through the kindness of the Rev. John F. Goucher, D. D., the founder of Goucher College, Baltimore, who was also accompanied by Mr. S. Earl Taylor, of New York, in the spring of 1909. We followed the Route of the Children of Israel from Egypt through the Sinaitic Peninsula, Mount Seir, Edom and Moab, Amman and the Jabbok, to the Jordan and Jericho. It was a journey for me of 85 days, in which we traveled 1900 miles; not a big record until the reader realizes that 109 hours of the journey we accomplished on camels, the slowest mode of locomo¬ tion in the Orient — less than three miles an hour — and another 162 hours on horses, at a little more than four miles an hour. The desert section of about 1000 miles on camels and horses occupied 40 days — a day for each year of the Exodus. We enjoyed perfect health and came home without a single accident or loss to any member of our large caravan. Through the desert we had as many as 22 camels and 16 cameleers, while on our way from Akaba to Petra we had a guard of 19 soldiers, which, with our muleteers and camp servants, made 33 persons, while the horses, mules, camels and donkeys numbered 38, or 71 thirsty mouths to be pro- Introductory 17 vided for in a land where water was more precious than gold. Out of twenty camps between Suez and Akaba, ten were absolutely waterless. Twice the camels went three days’ journey without a drop of water, and once they were forced to go four days’ journey to the next watering-place. We camped literally within the Old Testament, pitch¬ ing our tents thirty-two times between the Nile and the Jordan. It was a physical review of some of the greatest events and characters in human history. There was a strange thrill in dating letters from “ The Jabbok, Genesis 32: 22,” where Jacob wrestled with the Angel; from “ The Nile, Gen. 41:1,” where Joseph first came into contact with Pharaoh; from “ Sinai, Exodus 33: n,” where Jeho¬ vah spake with Moses face to face, and from “ Nebo, Deut. 34: 6,” in the land of Moab, where Moses had his only view of the Promised Land, where “ the angels of God upturned the sod” for that lonely and unknown grave. While it cannot be insisted upon too sharply that the Exodus is no imaginary journey, there is a sense in which the dear old lady was right, for so many of these events and places belong to the geography of the human soul in its exile, its bondage, its wanderings, its glimpses of the Promised Land and its return to home and heaven at last. Crossing the Suez arm of the Red Sea and journeying “ three days in the wilderness,” we spent a quiet Sabbath among the palms of Elim (Ex. 15: 27) and drank from its springs of water. Another six days’ journey carried us along “ by the Red Sea, through the wilderness of Sin,” past Rephidim to Mount Sinai, on whose sublime summit we spent a part of our second Sabbath. Another five camps carried us down from Sinai past Hazeroth, through the Wilderness of Par an, and well up along the coast of the Gulf of Akaba to Elath and Ezion Geber. Crossing the great cleft of the Arabah, south of the Dead Sea, we climbed into the mountains of Edom, and from the summit of the tradi- 2 i8 Introductory tional Hor had, like Aaron, our first glimpse of the Prom¬ ised Land. Then followed a series of camps by the Arnon, along the breezy plateau of Moab, culminating in a never- to-be-forgotten Sabbath on Nebo itself, with its matchless view embracing so much of all succeeding Bible history, not to mention Greece and Rome and the empires lasting till the present hour. For over against the sky line, neg¬ lecting every other feature in the wide expanse as seen from Nebo, rises the Mount of Olives, where Russia, Aus¬ tria, Germany and the other Christian nations of the West are still striving for possession of the Promised Land, while the real owners, the Jews, are scattered over the face of the earth. It is a small and unimportant looking land upon a map of the world and yet so great in human history. After Nebo came some lovely camps by the quiet waters of Jabbok, among the woody glades of Gilead, on the “ stormy banks ” of the Jordan, which marks the close of the Exodus and the beginning of the conquest of Canaan. FROM THE NILE TO NEBO CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND THE ROUTE OF THE EXODUS The problem of the Exodus involves (i) a discussion of Chronology and (2) the date of the Exodus, (3) a glance at the documents and their theories which bear upon the historicity of the movement, and (4) a definite opinion concerning the number of people who went out on this famous journey. These involve some knowledge of the historical background of the Exodus as seen in Egypt, Sinai and Syria at the dates agreed upon. And those who have not followed closely the course of exploration and investigation will be amazed at the flood of light that has been let in upon all that section of human history. The Problem, necessarily difficult in itself, has been complicated by a misreading of the Bible, by the confu¬ sion of mental processes and ideas which belong to other lands and centuries, by absolute misconceptions gained through art and song, and by the exaggeration of a num¬ ber of subsidiary and minor problems which vanish with the first breath of the desert air. Many are apt to think of the Children of Israel as spending forty years on the road to Canaan, but, as a matter of fact, “ thirty-nine of these years were spent in camp, and only one year was con¬ sumed in covering the entire journey of 1 100 miles between Raamses and the River Jordan.” Others are apt to think of the Exodus as having occurred in such a remote and 19 20 From the Nile to Nebo vaguely indefinite past that we can never know anything accurate of its exact location in time. While authorities have differed to the extent of ioo or even 200 years, yet it is certain that each fresh examination of the problem in the light of the most recent discoveries brings us closer to the actual dates. There are great difficulties in settling all dates for events the other side of the Christian era, but the data for Bible dates are superior to all other human records. Scholars have followed up ingenious clues, have made such good use of known astronomical facts and the known sequence of Jewish feasts that they venture to fix not only the year, but even the month and the day when the Children of Israel left Raamses in the land of Egypt, and also the date of the crossing of the Jordan and their en¬ trance into the Promised Land.1 Great confusion of thought has gathered round the words “ miracle ” and “ supernatural.” As a recent writer2 has well said: “ Everything we admire is literally a miracle ,” and among primitive peoples of all nations almost anything unusual was taken as “ a sign and a wonder.” “To most ages of mankind there has been no dividing line between the natural and the non-natural; so much is inexplicable to the untrained mind that no trouble was taken to define whether an event would happen in the natural course or not.” We modern thinkers have practically abolished the distinction between the “ natural ” and the “ super¬ natural.” We now distinguish sharply between the co-natural and non-natural, and have almost refused to use the word supernatural because of the confusion of mind occasioned by its mistaken uses. “ A strong east wind drives the Red Sea back; another wind blows up a flock of quails; cutting a rock brings a water supply to view, and the writers of these accounts record such matters as wondrous benefits of the timely action of natural causes.” 1 Auchincloss, April 19, 1477, and March 21, 1437 B. C. 2 Petrie, “Researches in Sinai,” p. 201. The Problem and the Route of the Exodus 21 Modern believers in Divine providence— and no one in our day can accept either the blind chance theory of the universe or that we are helpless automata — see incon¬ testable evidence of God’s care in the coincidence of these wonderful events with the desperate needs of the Children of Israel. With more light from many sources we shall modify our conceptions of many of these occurrences, but the facts will stand as long as the granite cliffs of Sinai. The passage of the Akaba arm of the Red Sea at the outset, the appearance of the quails, and the crossing of the Jordan forty years later, are by no means the greatest difficulties and wonders of the Exodus. Those who have wandered over the sand dunes of the desert, have lost themselves among the shallow lagoons and have watched the rise and fall of the tides among the inlets about Suez, will have little difficulty in conceiving what may have hap¬ pened in combination with “ a strong east wind.” There is good authority for an entire stoppage of the flow of the Jordan river by a landslide near Tell ed Damieh during the 13th century,1 and those who saw people walk across the brink of Niagara Falls when the river-bed was left almost dry by reason of an ice-gorge above will not tarry long on the passage of the Jordan. After we left Elim and were approaching the sea-coast one of our cameleers suddenly rushed ahead of us some twenty-five yards, and in a minute or two returned with a live quail in his hands which he had just caught. This event, occurring at the very region where the Children of Israel were so abundantly fed by the flocks of quails wearied by their flight over the Akaba arm of the Red Sea, was a wholly unexpected exemplification of the phenomena of the Bible. It was the same east wind blowing over the same sheet of water into the same maze of valleys that brought 1 A. D. 1267. See “Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly,” July, 1895, pp. 253-261. 22 From the Nile to Nebo us our quail so weary as to be easily secured by the Bedawy of to-day. There is abundant confirmation from other sources that our experience was by no means unique. The Bible record is complete as to the Route of the Exodus, but many fail to realize this because the history of the journey is scattered through six of the Old Testa¬ ment books, the record changing back and forth from one place to another nearly a hundred times. Mr. W. S. Auchincloss, C. E., in his little booklet, “To Canaan in One Year,”1 has made a scholarly and valuable contribu¬ tion to the Problem of the Exodus in assembling and harmonizing all the Bible references and illustrating the Route by an Itinerary Map. In order to bring out the names of places with greater clearness he has omitted the mountain ranges and gorges, but “ in plotting the line of march both their location and the gradients overcome have been carefully taken into account, hence the course shown is topographically correct.” This map and its ac¬ companying letter press was one of the most valuable books of reference that we carried into the wildeness. For convenience we will divide the Route into four sec¬ tions: (i) Raamses to Sinai, (2) Sinai to Akaba, (3) Akaba to Kadesh Barnea and return, and (4) Akaba to Jericho. In general, it may be said that the first section of the route from Raamses to Sinai is known perfectly, and the recovery of most of the ancient names is simply a matter of time. The last section of the route from Elath on the Gulf of Akaba to Jericho is also well known, and it is of enchanting interest to note that all the most prominent towns mentioned in the books of Exodus and Numbers retain their ancient names to this present hour. Ma’an, Dibon, Madeba, Heshbon, Amman, Edrei, Kenath, Salchad and Jericho are all found on our modern maps and are well- known towns to travellers in that region. It is perhaps not too much to say that finally nine-tenths of all the names 1 D. Van Nostrand Company, Murray Street, New York. The Problem and the Route of the Exodus 23 will be recovered, clinging to the ruins, the valleys and the mountains of that region. The section of the Route between Sinai and Ezion Geber is now well known, but because it is an almost uninhabited desert the recovery of these ancient names has not yet progressed very far. But we have great pleasure in printing with Chapters XXV and XXVI some almost unique views of Hazeroth and the country about Ezion Geber. The Loop section of the Route between Ezion Geber and Elath is the least well-explored portion. It contains the well-known names of Kadesh Barnea and Mount Hor, where Aaron died. Thirty-eight years of the journey were spent about Kadesh Barnea, and it is here if anywhere that actual remains of the Exodus will some day be found. The site of Kadesh Barnea has been made the subject of dispute, but it is more than probable that the modern Ain Kadis, with its copious spring, several wells and pools, is really the ancient Kadesh. An equally vigorous dispute still continues concerning the identification of Mount Hor. Some accept the Jebel Madurah, not far from Kadesh, but tradition as old as Josephus, accepted by Jerome and sup¬ ported by the unanimous traditions of the Muhammadan and Jewish writings, identify Mount Hor with the Jebel Neby Harun, about six miles south of Petra.1 The Petra Mount Hor is by far the most imposing mountain (5900 feet), and the view from its summit embraces much more of the Promised Land than Aaron could have seen from Jebel Madurah. Out of about eighty place names on or near the route as plotted by Mr. Auchincloss, at least forty are known and identified with all certainty; ten more are tentatively located; another ten have been conjectured, leaving only twenty of minor importance that are practically lost. Ancient names often itinerate with the changing currents 1 See “ Jordan Valley and Petra,” Libbey and Hoskins, Vol. II, p. 243. 24 From the Nile to Nebo of human life about a certain locality, so that many of the names uncertain or lost will be picked up clinging to natural features or obscure ruins. A number of the camping-places of the Children of Israel were named from events occurring within the camp and may have left no trace in the wilderness. No account of the Route that I have had access to gives any clear account of the wide range of elevations met and overcome by the Children of Israel between the Nile and the Jordan at Jericho. Professor Libbey and I called at¬ tention to this matter in “ The Jordan Valley and Petra ” (Vol. I, p. 34) concerning the East Jordan section of the Route, and here in the Sinai section we met with the same interesting surprise. The Sinai range, lifting itself to over 8500 feet, carried the Children of Israel to camps at Sinai, 5200 feet above the sea. Then followed a great drop again to the Akaba arm of the Red Sea, followed by a rise to over 5600 feet again, before we struck the great trans- Jordan rifts which are so striking in the fourth and last section of the Route. The Children of Israel lived eleven months at Sinai, over 5000 feet above the sea, and this fact may have given rise to the strange suggestion, wholly unsupported, that the manna was snow, which they had never before seen. The elevation of Kadesh Barnea (Ain Kadis) is not given in any volume that I have had access to, but its climate must be much nearer that of Egypt than the climate of Sinai. A glance at plate I (facing this page) will give in graphic form a clearer idea of what is meant. The dotted line represents the general height of our course, and the black bars, our camping-places . The heavy black dotted line at the Ahsa and the Arnon represents the extreme depth of these rifts, where they empty their streams into the Dead Sea. The Sinai section gives almost exactly the Route of the Israelites, excepting Kadesh Barnea. The Edom portion c > ose* Jl ELI NF KB El 3uO*A» ei a nww : akaba 0011 JERI DA N CHO R IV O ABU IB A J/DUE'H J ARl'OIW Phar r\rf GUWAl . — £ JPROS s a f(A/V\P ijvAOY IUP A/W- RF« i, AH S Ha: NTAl fL-B N HE/, JWAI SEl E Rot shim /no nastet*' 7TAS J w/ PE TR/Ui r A P H I L £ H DIE AW-^ MkoEE A M/A A ES-SfcLT MAA « EF AK— a «* CRfS A EBO H n AT-’ S- «S/4/v TERS xVATE RSHEC -I ED FU tv A f Lf Has*. A/Ai N EL N 0 KB EL _ ■'VATfc-F^KEn NIJI 5EL- cr rtEBO S 00 L ~ - _ _ A / O At* HAW AS E5HTR TCP i:bel of msiK 6500 The Problem and the Route of the Exodus 25 gives the heights overcome, but not the stations, while the Moab section again combines the elevations and the well-known stopping places, the Arnon, Dibon, Madeba, Nebo, the Jabbok and Jericho. From Suez to Sinai repre¬ sents a rise of 5200 feet, then a steep drop to sea-level. The climb from Akaba to the highlands of Edom is a steep one, and while the Route of the Israelites did not include our ascent and descent to Petra, it did include the crossing of the titanic rifts of the Ahsa and the Arnon, and the final plunges through the Jabbok and below the sea-level to the Jordan, close to the Dead Sea. Between the highest point (5700 feet) in Edom and the Jordan is a range of over 7000 feet of perpendicular changes, which include a variety of climate, vegetation and atmosphere that includes almost as much as one of the larger continents would give us. Hence the fullness of Bible imagery from the shadows of the rock in a weary land to the storm of rain and hail, thunder and lightning and snow which sweep over the mountains of Edom in the winter.1 Taking my stand on the historicity of the Exodus, I am just as clear that there was only one route possible for such a mass of people, that it was settled absolutely by the water, and that, contrary to the common conception, it was along a well-known Route of Antiquity, an old road from Egypt to Edom, Arabia and Mesopotamia. The Route fits the documents as the key fits its own lock. Many of the difficulties and controversies stand or fall with the numbers of the Israelites. We claim to throw a new light on this problem. The two and a half or three million estimate must give place to much more reasonable figures, and with this change come other interesting results. That the Route was not simply a passing track in the wilderness, either before or after the Exodus, can be gath¬ ered from some of the antiquities picked up along the line, 1 See “Jordan Valley and Petra,” Vol. II, p. 12, for a storm in Edom. 26 From the Nile to Nebo which are only a foretaste of what we may hope to see in coming years. The turquoise mines at Maghareh, a new Semitic ritual at Serabit and a new language in Semitic script used by the Syrian miners — all before the Exodus. Then in later times one of the most famous Bible manu¬ scripts (the Sinai tic), picked up in the old monastery at Sinai. Then the wonderful picture of ancient life at Petra, with its High Places dating from pre-Exodus times, the best and only ones in existence; the Moabite Stone of Dibon and the Mosaic Map at Madeba are enough to kindle the expectation and imagination of all who love the Bible. These are facts that affect both Christian and Jew. No one has felt more keenly than the latter the ruthless way in which self-appointed critics have attempted to tear away the heart of Hebrew history as it throbs with memories of the bondage and the desert back to the Prom¬ ised Land. All believers in the mission of the Hebrew people — that standing miracle of human history — have a living interest in this problem, and it is for these I write. Let us, then, in imagination transport ourselves to the mysterious country of the Nile, and take a glance back¬ ward through the gate of chronology into the morning of human history, and trace in outline the connection be¬ tween Egypt and Sinai before we start on our actual journey. Cairo, the modern Mistress of the Nile, with the famous Mosque of Muhammad Ali and the Citadel in the foreground ■4k CHAPTER II EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXODUS The average traveller from the United States or the western parts of Europe, whenever he is about to leave home to journey in the East, carries with him a number of loosely defined conceptions according to which the most important questions of the universe are in some way con¬ nected with automobiles, aeroplanes and political parties, but when once he has passed the Straits of Gibraltar and touches any of the shores of the Mediterranean Sea he is forced to abandon his complacent disregard of the remote past, and acknowledge that both he and his modern prob¬ lems are but a small and insignificant portion of the long ages of human history. Ben Jonson remarked years ago that the end of all travel was to see the shores of this wonderful inland sea. When the traveller sets foot in Egypt he has left behind him almost everything this side the Christian Era, and is face to face with customs and types of men who form unbroken links between the present hour and all the millenniums of human history. Ancient kings and peoples speak to him in the carving of a finger-ring, the pattern of a bracelet, the actual stones and scarabs of a necklace. A thousand inscriptions on obelisk, temple gate, temple walls, tombs, sphinx and pyramids which line the banks of Father Nile, call the careless parvenu to stop and think. Here the problems of life are not the automo¬ bile and aeroplane, but the great problems of time as it Note. — Those who wish to follow out the archaeological phases of the Problem of the Exodus may read Chapters VII, XIV and XVII in connec¬ tion with this. 27 28 From the Nile to Nebo flows, like the waters of the Nile, through all human his¬ tory. Hence in Egypt every problem of the past is in some way related to chronology. About the sixth century A. D., when the Christian Era was invented, we cross the frontier which divides the modern from the ancient world. Seated upon the oldest Christian ruins in Egypt, the Monastery at Bawit, we look back and down a long and unbroken vista of new discov¬ eries stretching through more than twenty-five centuries. Then the great stream divides. The Egyptian arm ex¬ tends unbroken through another 2000 years, while the larger Babylonian arm swings off eastward to a still more remote past. Within this great stream of Time lie at least 7000 years of human history, and it has been the dream and effort of scholars in all ages to erect time-marks along its banks by means of which they would slowly work their way back to the remotest sources of human life and ac¬ tivity. The Greeks gave us the name “ chronology ” for the science of time, but both the Egyptians and the Baby¬ lonians worked at the problem for thousands of years be¬ fore the Greek people was born. Every chronological system proposed requires some fixed event or point in time from which all other dates may be reckoned. We are all more or less familiar with the interesting history of our Christian Era which begins with the birth of Christ, and of our custom of dating all history A. D. and B. C., but few recall the fact that this system was not invented until the sixth century, by one Dio¬ nysius Exiguus, and was several hundred years coming into general use. Fewer still are aware of the fact that per¬ haps a score of other eras have been invented and made use of and abandoned, most of which lie between the foun¬ dation of Rome, A. U. C. 753 B. C., and the Muhammadan era dating from the Hegira, or flight from Mecca to Medina, A. D. 622. China, India, Chaldea, Tyre, Antioch and Constantinople all had their eras; so had Alexander, Egyptian Chronology Before and After the Exodus 29 Caesar, Augustus and the Seleucidae. These are all now located in history and reduced to the common era, the era of Christ, the era of the Incarnation, when heaven touched the earth in the person of the Son of God. The Jews have made in comparatively modern times an era of their own in which they have erroneously fixed the foundation of the world as 5672 years ago. The Old Testament contains a great many chronological notices, but, as a whole, no chronological system. An attempt seems to have been made at one time to use the Exodus as a starting-point. The notices in Gen. 15: 13, Ex. 12: 40 and 1 Kings 6: 1 seem to belong to calculations connected with such an era. If ever human research can fix the date of man’s appear¬ ance upon this planet, then we shall have solved one of the most fascinating problems of the intellectual life of man. The fixing of the date of the Exodus is a much more simple problem because, as we shall see later, it lies more than half-way down the stream of human history. Looking back into the most ancient world we are sure of several great facts. There were two primal civilizations. As early as 4000 B. C. there existed a high state of civilization in both Babylonia and Egypt. Then for 2000 years each of these great civilizations marched upon its own solitary way without meeting the other. There is no hint of any collision between them as late as 2500 B. C., nor does either of them betray the slightest knowledge of the other’s ex¬ istence. As early as 3750 B. C., in far away Babylonia, we see Naram-Sin crossing the mountains of the East to con¬ quer Elam and to invade the Sinaitic Peninsula, then called the Land of Magan. But this event is unheard of and unrecorded in the annals of Egypt, where her most ancient kings were standing round the shrine of Nekhen, the cradle of the Egyptian monarchy. Not until the period of the Kassite kings (about 2000 B. C.) did Babylon and Assyria establish direct relations with Egypt, and from 30 From the Nile to Nebo that time forward the influence they exerted upon one another was continuous and unbroken. Now, chronology was not by any means an unknown science among the Babylonians. The great lack, however, is the absence of any known fixed starting-point. Yet we do not despair of some day finding some fixed date and some important cross-reference to Egyptian or Biblical history. “ In the later periods of Babylonian history tablets were dated1 in the year of the king who was reign¬ ing at the time the documents were drawn up, but this simple system had not been adopted at the early date period. In the place of this we find that each year was cited by the event of the greatest importance which occurred in that year. This event might be the cutting of a canal, when the year in which this took place might be referred to as 4 the year in which the canal named Aikhegal- lu was cut ’ ; or it might be the building of a temple, as in the date formula, 4 the year in which the great temple of the Moon-god was built ’ ; or it might be the conquest of a city, such as 4 the year in which the city of Kish was de¬ stroyed.’ Now it will be obvious that this system had many disadvantages. An event might be of importance for one city, while it might never have been heard of in another district. Thus it sometimes happened that the same event was not adopted throughout the whole country for designating a particular year, and the result was that different systems of dating were employed in different parts of Babylonia. Moreover, when a particular system had been in use for a considerable time it required a very good memory to retain the order and period of the various events referred to in the date-formulae, so as to fix in a moment the date of a document by its mention of one of them. In order to assist themselves in their task of fixing dates in this manner the scribes of the I Dynasty of Baby¬ lon drew up lists of the titles of the years, arranged in 1 “ E. and W. A.,” p. 241. The Great South Arch at Karnak. One of the great stone books of the Nile Egyptian Chronology Before and After the Exodus 31 chronological order under the reigns of the kings to which they referred. Some of these lists have been recovered, and they are of the greatest assistance in fixing the chronology while at the same time they furnish us with considerable information concerning the history of the period of which we should otherwise have been in ignorance.” This Babylonian system reminds us of the system we sometimes employ when we refer to the period “ before the war ” in the United States, or “ before the massacre ” in Syria (i860), “ before the Reformation ” in Europe, or “ before the days of Magna Charta” in England. If these events were not clearly fixed by our present system of chronology they would soon become very shadowy and indefinite. It is from Egypt, however, that we obtain the most fascinating facts concerning the chronology of the ancient world. The written records of Egyptian civilization go back fully 4000 years B. C. They consist of the monu¬ ments which have been carefully studied now for a hundred years, the history of Manetho, a priest in the days of Ptolemy I (305-285 B. C.), who wrote a history in the Greek language, and the Turin Papyrus of Kings. These stone books of Father Nile include lists of kings inscribed on temples and tombs at Abydos, Karnak and Sakkara, which date, fortunately for our purpose, from the XVIII and XIX Dynasties, and give the names of seventy-six, sixty-one, and forty-seven kings respectively. Private tombs give supplementary and, in many cases, more ac¬ curate dates and facts. The public monuments are not always above suspicion. On one of the gates at Deir el- Bahari the jealous Thotmes III chiselled out HatshepsuEs name in the royal cartouches and inserted his own in its place, but he forgot to alter the gender of the pro¬ nouns in the accompanying inscription, which therefore reads: “ King Thotmes III, she made the monument to her father.” Fine examples of this lack of truthful- 32 From the Nile to Nebo ness are found in all ages, as evidenced by inscriptions in Jerusalem. If poor old Manetho should rise from his unknown grave he could open libel cases in every civilized country of the earth and take advantage of the copyright laws of all ages. He has been praised, abused, made fun of, and somehow cannot be gotten rid of. He is like the siege of Troy. On the whole, the most recent discoveries make Manetho a much more trustworthy witness than his hostile critics have hitherto been willing to reckon him, and it is not at all im¬ possible that some day he will rise, like the city of Troy, and give the lie to generations of parvenus who have presumed to question his statements. Old Manetho di¬ vided the long succession of Pharaohs into thirty royal houses or dynasties, and these have been so long employed in modern study of Egyptian history that it is now im¬ possible to dispense with them. Moreover, his work has perished and naught but an epitome of it exists as pre¬ served by the Latin writer Julius Africanus and Eusebius, with some extracts in Josephus. The Turin Papyrus of Kings has also been a subject of controversy. It is in a pretty dilapidated condition. Originating from the Ramesside period, it probably enumerated when complete all the kings from the I to the Hyksos Dynasty. The attempt to fix the chronological data in these written documents and to bring them into chronological order is a task that extended over the whole of the 19th century. The problem is to get at the date of the first king of the I Dynasty. Every one has some interest in the question whether Menes founded the kingdom of Egypt five thou¬ sand years before Herodotus, or at only half that distance of time. We know perfectly well that the Persians con¬ quered Egypt in 525 B. C. and put an end to the XXII Dynasty. There were then two processes of working backward, one is by what has been called “ dead reckoning/’ Egyptian Chronology Before and After the Exodus 33 and the other by astronomical calculations based upon the Egyptian calendar, which is now fairly well known.1 The process of “ dead reckoning ” is that of simply adding the known or supposed length of all the kings’ reigns, and thus reaching the initial date of each dynasty in the series. This process of “ dead reckoning ” along the Nile seems to have been attended with as many dangers as the same process is usually attended with over a stormy sea, under a sunless sky and along a rocky coast. The dates assigned by various scholars differ more than 2000 years, Borch making it as remote as 5702 B. C., and Tofif- teen as late as 3285 B. C.,2 when the first Pharaoh mounted the throne. Astronomical calculations are intricate mathematical deductions based upon the well-known laws and facts of astronomy which are mentioned in the documents of ancient Egyptian history. It is of interest to note that when the dwellers in the Nile valley failed to find on the earth any changeless starting-point for their chronological system, like the Christians of the sixth century, they lifted their eyes to the heavens and found the changeless among the changeable. The Christians chose the one moment and the day when the heavens touched the earth in the birth of the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Egyptians, realizing the vagueness of changing heat and growth, and seeking some connection between the sun and the stars, “ adopted the first appearance of a star in the glow of sunrise,” and chose for their star of observation the brightest 1 The civilization of the Delta discovered the year of 365 days in the 43d century B. C. and gave us the earliest fixed date in the history of the world, 4241 B. C. “B. A. E.,” p. 35. 2 Borch . B. C. 5702 Lepsius . B. C. 3892 Unger . B. C. 5613 Bunsen . B. C. 3623 Brugsch . B. C. 4455 Breasted . B. C. 3400 Lauth . B. C. 4157 Toffteen . B. C. 3285 (Petrie, 5510. Myers, 4500-3700.) 3 34 From the Nile to Nebo of all the stars, which they called Sothis, which is none other than our Sirius or the Dog Star. And this rising of Sirius in the dawn just before the sun became the begin¬ ning of the Egyptian New Year. Censorius again says: “ The beginnings of these years are always reached from the first day of that month which is called by the Egyptians Thoth, which happened this year (239 A. D.) upon the 7th of the Kalends of July (June 25 th); for a hundred years ago from the present year (i. e., 139 A. D.) the same fell upon the Kalends of August (July 2 1st), on which day Canicula (Sirius) regularly rises in Egypt.”1 This is the primal fixed date in Egyptian chronology from which flow some interesting conclusions. Like all other ancient peoples, they made use of the moon to mark the months, but where we put an extra day in the calendar “ the Egyptians ignored the leap year and counted only 365 days.” Then, noting that the months were always slipping farther behind the seasons, the ripen¬ ing fruit and the harvests, these facts were recorded until other generations noted that again the months were catch¬ ing up until they coincided with the records of a thousand years before. The authority for this is Censorius, writing in 239 A. D. that “ the Egyptian civil year has only 365 days, without any intercalary day, whence the quadren- nium so adjusts itself that in the 1461st year the revolution is completed.”2 Thus the Egyptian New Year’s day of the months — 1 st of Thoth — coincided in 139 A. D. with the fixed as¬ tronomical feature of the rising of Sirius in the dawn just before the sun, which was July 2 1st. Now from this astronomical occurrence tables can be worked out for any day of the year of our Christian era. For example, the 1st of Thoth corresponded with our 23d of November in 1099 A. D., 362 B. C. 1822, 3282 and 4742 B. C., where l“P. R. S.” p. 165. 2 Ibid., p. 164. Egyptian Chronology Before and After the Exodus 35 the period of revolution between these dates is the 1461 years above referred to. The next step has been to collect the astronomical data from the Egyptian documents and monuments, and the first important one is a note on the back of the medical Ebers papyrus, where it is stated that Sirius rose on the 9 th of Epiphi in the 9th year of Amenhotep. Referring those who wish to follow out the calculations to Petrie’s “ Researches in Sinai ” (p. 166), I need to observe only the most important fact that this confirms beyond a per- adventure the important date of 1580 B. C. as the begin¬ ning of the XVIII Dynasty, which is almost the oldest date in Egyptian history which is universally accepted by scholars. Its peculiar importance to us lies in the fact that it falls about one hundred years before the date of the Exodus, and therefore brings that event well within the limits of accepted and accurate chronology. But more of this later. CHAPTER III THE DISTRICT OF SINAI The Exodus was out of Egypt and into Sinai, so that, fascinating as it would be to remain in the Land of the Nile, our path lies over the border. Sinai in its largest sense is that V-shaped section of land between what we now designate as the continents of Africa and Asia. Its base, resting upon the Mediterranean Sea, may be given as a line running due east from Port Said for a distance of 1 7 5 miles and almost touching the southern end of the Dead Sea. Its two sides then would measure 275 miles, and stretch southward to this apex, splitting the Red Sea into the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akaba. The area of this region would then roughly be about 24,000 square miles. Sinai Peninsula proper, as we shall see later, in¬ cludes only about 10,000 square miles. Curiously enough this district has at times belonged to Asia and at other times to Africa. Its northern section along the sea is the ancient Sirbonian Bog, an almost im¬ passable morass of mud and quicksand. The central sec¬ tion is an elevated desert plateau seared by dry ravines, while in the apex of the southern section is a sublime cluster of mountain peaks which are known as Sinai. Now this whole V-shaped section has at times been a barrier between the civilization of the Nile and the Eu¬ phrates, but much more often a bridge over which races, languages, civilization, envoys, nomads and armies have passed and repassed between the nations of antiquity. Through this desolate region ran east and west some of the great roads which connected these nations, the remains of which may some day be dug from beneath the shifting 36 The District of Sinai 37 sands. In modern times this region again comes into prominence by the cutting of the Suez Canal, this time from north to south, as a highway from ocean to ocean. But its greatest and imperishable fame rests upon . the Exodus, when the Children of Israel came out of Egyptian bondage into their supreme destiny as a nation, called of God to be the bearers of saving truth to the whole human race. Fascinating chapters and volumes have recently been written throwing light upon the origin and relations of the great nations of antiquity. The stories of their ways and their struggles for supremacy and their passing away, such as are embodied in the three great volumes of Mas- pero, which have for their titles the “ Dawn of Civiliza¬ tion,” “ The Struggle of the Nations,” and “ The Passing Away of the Nations,” most of which began and was in progress about the time of the period we are considering. Looking backward, the whole consensus of accepted research assigns a great place to the Semitic or Arabic race. Many lines of evidence point to Arabia as the home of the Semites, and Arabia in human history has been like the mysterious sources of the Nile, the human fountain from which wave after wave of humanity has issued, changing the face of the world. The first emigration of Semites from Arabia into Egypt seems to have taken place in Neolithic times, and to have entered the country by this bridge-like district of Sinai. It left its impress at Helio¬ polis in the early religious cultus, and also stamped its essential Semitic character unmistakably upon the lan¬ guage of the African people in Egypt.1 The second wave of Semites moved from Arabia in the centuries following 3000 B. C. This wave took into Babylonia the Dynasty of Sargon, because there are many evidences now of Semitic influences in the Euphrates Valley which synchronize with the founding of the Phoene- cian cities on the coast of the Mediterranean. 1 “ Bible World,” January, 1910. 38 From the Nile to Nebo The third wave of the Semites from Northern Arabia brought the first or Hammurabi Dynasty into Babylonia. The theory that this dynasty was not purely Babylonian was started years ago, and based upon a study of the forms of the names which were borne by the kings and their courtiers. It proved to be a strong dynasty. The new blood and energy infused into the already existing civiliza¬ tion of Babylonia found its greatest representative in the famous Hammurabi, who reigned for a period of forty-three years. Much discussion has taken place concerning Hammurabi’s date, but a recently discovered royal chrono¬ logical tablet makes it not earlier than 2100 and possibly as late as 1900 B. C. His remarkable civil code of 280 laws, recently discovered in the ruins of Susa, ranks among the most remarkable finds of human history. This code anticipates by almost a thousand years many of the be¬ liefs which underlie the Old Testament laws. If, as now seems probable, the Semitic origin of the Hammurabi Dynasty is established, this code in a wholly unexpected fashion confirms the Biblical view which assumes that the Semitic race were, in God’s providence, the depository of the earliest revelations and laws centuries before their codification by Moses at Sinai for the distinctly Hebrew people. A careful study of Hammurabi’s code in com¬ parison with the Mosaic code suggests the relation of the mediaeval Christian Church with that of the Reformation. The question of the actual contact and relation of these two codes will be dealt with later on in connection with the documents bearing upon the Exodus. The fourth wave of Semites issuing from Arabia carried the Arameans into Syria and Mesopotamia, and their kindred tribes, the Hebrews, Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites, into Palestine some time prior to 1500 B. C. The date bearing upon the identification of the Khabiri or Habiri of the monuments with the Hebrews is a question too in¬ tricate and involved for such a volume as this aims to be, The District of Sinai 39 but it may be remarked that the Jewish or Hebrew race, examined from the Biblical side, shows clearly that it was mixed in its origin and subjected to a great variety of out¬ side influences. It was clearly Arab or Bedawin at first under Mesopotamian influences. It then lived for a period among the Syrians, and here it seems to have been when mentioned by the monuments. It was then drilled and disciplined by the Egyptians and in the Exodus, and later absorbed various kindred peoples of the desert and of Palestine. In all probability this remote ancient history and the origin of peoples was very similar to what has taken place in the centuries of which we have most com¬ plete records. At 5000 B. C. there were at least five different races living contemporaneously in Egypt. The same was true at the time of the Exodus, in the time of Christ, and in the present day. The Arabs, Turks, Arme¬ nians, Greeks and Europeans are simply a different combina¬ tion from what has perhaps been true in all ages. The im¬ portant point for us to bear in mind is the existence and great influence of the Semitic blood which existed and which has so marvelously survived, in God’s providence, the vicis¬ situdes of all the ages in the Hebrew people of to-day. The fifth and last wave of the Semites from Arabia be¬ gan to move forth in the centuries just before the Christian era and culminated in the great conquests of Elam. But this lies outside the sphere of our present investigation because it came some centuries after the Exodus. Thus, Sinai, while belonging to Egypt, has always been Semitic; racially, Sinai has been the bridge before any political con¬ tact has been established. It has often been remarked that Syria and Palestine lay between the two great civilizations on the Nile and the Euphrates, and must have been profoundly influenced by both. What is true in general concerning Syria and Pales¬ tine is also true in a peculiar way concerning the wider district of Sinai. Generally speaking, Babylonian civili- 40 From the Nile to Nebo zation was older than Egyptian, but investigators are now coming to recognize a still more ancient stratum than the Babylonian, which they have named Sumerian; and it is also recognized that the Sinai district, with its most ancient Semitic people, was in some way the bridge between Babylonian and contemporaneous Egyptian life, and this period seems to coincide with the existence of the Semitic kings in Babylonia and the Hyksos, or Bedawin, or Arab rulers in Egypt. For a period of almost two thousand years these civilizations marched, as it were, each upon its solitary way without meeting the other. Eventually the two roads converged and their point of meeting was Petra and Sinai. Among the really fascinating discoveries and one which bears in a marvelous way upon the conditions of the an¬ cient world in Syria immediately before the Exodus, was the discovery of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, which have opened a new chapter in the history of the human race, because they contain information previously undreamt of and which Egyptologists had never dared to hope would be recovered. Stranger than the information itself, how¬ ever, is the fact that all the outside or foreign correspond¬ ence of the Egyptians was at that time carried on in the cuneiform or Babylonian language, which diplomatically in those days seems to have been like the French of the present day, used by nations who possessed an entirely different mother tongue. Politically, as has already been remarked, the Sinai region was for centuries the barrier between the civilization of the Euphrates and the Nile Valley. When it became the bridge it assumed a new importance, and from that time forward was coveted and possessed by either one or the other of these great civiliza¬ tions. Twenty years ago the common statement concerning the district could have been summed up in the following words : for over four thousand years the Egyptians had more or The District of Sinai 4i less dominated Sinai, but the degradation of their kings under the later Ramessides and subsequent to the Exodus let this side of their territory finally slip from their power, but the most recent discoveries in Babylonia have put an entirely different face upon this problem. From a stele found recently at Susa, accounts of which were published in 1907 only, is thrown a new and strange light upon the district. According to this stele it was called the land of Magan, and this new text records the fact that Naram- Sin as early as 3750 B. C., or about the time of the third Egyptian Dynasty, made an expedition in which he de¬ feated Manium, the lord of that region. A reference to such an expedition had been noted years ago on a clay tablet from Ashur-bani-pahs library at Nineveh, but contained no names. This more recent discovery gives the name of the conquered ruler of Sinai and other details of the campaign. Naram-Sin also records the fact that he cut blocks of stone in the mountains there and trans¬ ported them to his own city of Agade. This stone turns out to be the famous green diorite of Sinai. From these blocks were cut statues of himself, and the inscription referred to was found upon the base of one of these statues. Later kings made use of the same hard diorite from the Sinaitic Peninsula, and from the inscriptions preserved upon them have been ascertained the names of the build¬ ings in which they were originally placed. Later kings of that same dynasty, notably Tjeser and Snefru, the last king of the dynasty, also invaded Sinai; and this whole series of inscriptions gives no hint of any collision between Babylonians and Egyptians at that time, nor does either of them betray the slightest knowledge of one another’s ex¬ istence. From Egyptian monuments it is now well known that Semerkha, of the I Dynasty, entered Sinai and inscribed his name upon the rocks, but the regular annexation, so to speak, of Sinai to Egypt took place under the Memphites 42 From the Nile to Nebo of the III Dynasty. What this means chronologically can be grasped when we realize that this occupation of Sinai from both directions took place before the build¬ ing of the pyramids by the three great kings of the IV Dynasty, Khufu, Khafra, and Menhaura, at Ghizeh near Cairo, and a thousand years before the birth of Abraham and more than 1500 years before the Exodus. Details of the Egyptian occupation, as seen in the religious charac¬ ter of Horeb and the turquoise mines at Maghareh, will be dealt with in later chapters. The point to be empha¬ sized here and borne in mind is the fact that this “ wilder¬ ness ” or “ desert ” of Sinai was better known to the Babylonians and the Egyptians three thousand years be¬ fore Christ than it has been to the Christian world during the last thousand years. Hence it need not be wondered at that the exploration and investigations of the last ten years have treated the whole archaeological world to a series of most delightful surprises. SINAI PROPER GEOGRAPHICALLY Synchronizing with the invention and development of the automobile, a number of archaeological investigators have been devoting much time and effort to the careful study of the great roads of antiquity, and no modern dictionary of Biblical or archaeological facts is now com¬ plete without articles on this important subject. There is little doubt concerning the fact that these ancient nations communicated with each other in peace and war almost wholly by land. References to these great roads of antiquity have been collected from all ancient literature, and a map of the ancient East, after tracing the well- known ancient and modern route from the Delta to a point near Ismailieh, gives three possible ancient roads across the Sinai district; the most northern one passes northeast within fifty or a hundred miles of the coast straight to the ancient Beersheba; the second, almost due The District of Sinai 43 east to a location named Aboda, where it forks, the north¬ east branch proceeding to Beersheba and to the southeast of Elath; the third branch from Ismailieh swings southeast and across the desert to Elath — this corresponds to the modern pilgrimage route from Suez to Akaba, which some have recently suggested or supposed to have been the route of the Children of Israel. But like many other sec¬ tions in the East, the apparently short and direct route has not been followed except by the swiftest dromedaries or couriers. This can be clearly illustrated by the postal routes of Egypt or of the Turkish Empire. For example, there has been for many years a dromedary post between Damascus and Bagdad to which the lonely rider, on his fast dromedary and carrying the minimum amount of pro¬ visions and water, makes straight across the desert and in nine days reaches his destination; but the ordinary route for travellers and merchants of all kinds is the road which swings northward and completely around the northern end of the Syrian Desert through Hums, Hama, Aleppo, striking the Euphrates at Deir Bekr, and following that stream with its life and verdure for more than three times the nine days’ journey of the swift dromedary. Exactly the same thing was true in ancient times in Sinai; instead of the apparently short route across the pathless and water¬ less desert, the real route for travellers and merchants, as also the Children of Israel, led southeast along the sea¬ shore and up among the mountain peaks, and then north¬ east to Elath, where roads again divided, leading through Petra to Syria and southward to the Arabian Peninsula. This Peninsula of Sinai, within which lies the first two sections of the Route, is the triangular region between the two arms of the northern end of the Red Sea. A line drawn from Suez to Akaba, a distance of 150 miles through the desert, forms the northern side of the triangle. The other two sides are bounded by the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akaba. The Gulf of Suez, the longer arm, sweep- 44 From the Nile to Nebo ing toward the southeast for a distance of about 200 miles, lies in the trough-like depression which separates Africa from Asia, and, together with the Suez Canal, forms one of the greatest waterways of the earth. The other arm, the Gulf of Akaba, extends north by west for 140 miles, being a continuation of the most remarkable rift upon our planet, that of the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley.1 The area of this triangle, the peninsula proper, is little less than 10,000 square miles. It is one vast desert, relieved by a few oases along the sea-coast and deep among the net¬ work of rocky valleys. In the north and along both sea- coasts are vast stretches of sand, which forever shift before the winds from land and sea. Further onward are stony plateaus and great wastes of sand glistening with salt. But just south of the center of the peninsula, like a great lighthouse between two continents, rises the huge granite range of Sinai to a height of over 8500 feet. Geologically this mass of primeval gneiss and granite, or “ in more pre¬ cise terminology, of colorless quartz, flesh-colored felspar, green hornblende and black mica,” is one of the most im¬ pressive sights of our earth. Since the days of creation these crystalline masses have undergone no geological change, but have reared their summits above the ocean from the beginnings of time unaffected by the transitions that have so completely changed the face of our planet elsewhere. Only at their base do these venerable moun¬ tains show any trace of alteration, where the waves and the winds of the ages have crunched and ground their fadeless elements into the colored sands which filled the geological gulfs and bays of the Jordan rift, and made possible the beauties of Petra &nd all that region. Rising majestically from their encircling setting of desert and sea the whole mass is cleft and rifted and shattered into a fascinating tangle of sublime valleys, towering cliffs, awful precipices and magnificent peaks, which roll like billows far up into 1 See “Jordan Valley and Petra,” Vol. I, p. 137. Our Sinai Cameleers : from the Sheikh Hammadi is the third man standing right, wearing a white turban When the day was over — around the camp-fire The District of Sinai 45 the crystalline blue of the heavens. Long before the days of the Exodus this range was known as Horeb, or the mountain of God, and into this maze of divine handiwork the Children of Israel were led forty days or more after they quitted the bondage of Egypt on the banks of the Nile. Here among these sublime valleys and majestic granite peaks they remained eleven months while Moses, under God’s own guidance, transformed the mass of Hebrew slaves into Israel, the Chosen People, the miracle of human history.1 Of course, these mountain peaks and valleys have been incrusted with legends and shrines, but somewhere here within a little circle of thirty miles took place many of the most important transactions of human history in closest contact with God. The announcement of the Covenant, the manifestation of God’s presence, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the setting up of the Tabernacle are events that loom large in the history and destiny of the race. Here among the indescribable beauties and gran¬ deur of these granite mountains Moses, guided by God, evolved a civil code and established a complete form of religious worship. There are no fossils in the rocks of Sinai, interesting though these wornout garments of other living creatures in other ages may be. It is no accident that the promulgation of the Divine Law, the funda¬ mental principles of all the best moral and legal systems of the world, is linked with the oldest geological formation of our planet. There is a magnificent correspondence between the granite cliffs of Sinai and the unchangeable walls of moral truths. The peninsula of Sinai is a desert in which its dwindling inhabitants wander in search of water and food. All told, the Bedawin do not number more than 6000 souls. They are divided into four main tribes, and are headed, not ruled over, by sheikhs, who represent their followers before the 1 Exodus 19:40. 46 From the Nile to Nebo Government and who act as judges and referees in the never-ending disputes. These Bedawin dwell in miserable tents which are always pitched in lonely valleys and away from the routes of passers-by. When travellers enter the peninsula the news spreads by means as mysterious as the wireless, and hungry fellows with their lean camels hasten from every tribe and wrangle for days and weeks over the right and privilege to share in the transport. Our group of sixteen (Fig. 4) was led by Sheikh Hammadi, the third man from the end on the right, dressed in white. He was wide awake and got about as much work and as good service out of such raw material as any one could have expected. Their habits of life, their never-ending conversation, their preparation for the night within the circle of their camel harness around a little fire (Fig. 5) was a fascinating study. The peninsula has always been thinly populated be¬ cause scantily supplied with water and means of subsistence. The present population would average only one person to every two square miles,1 and live largely upon their trade with Egypt and the escort of Greek pilgrims to Sinai. Politically, they now belong to Egypt. They are all tent dwellers, even though they build stone huts at certain of the oases where they gather for a month at the time of the date harvest. It is not too much to say that the only permanent habitations in the peninsula are the fortress monastery at Sinai and its dependency at Tor, on the Red Sea, and these are occupied by Ionian Greek monks. 1 Switzerland, 200 to the square mile; New Jersey, 250; Alabama, 10. CHAPTER IV FROM THE OCEAN TO SUEZ Reference has already been made to the fact that while the story of this volume is woven round a particular journey, the contents of that story are the garnered results of many journeys in Bible Lands and many years’ contact with its people and problems. The first event of this particular trip1 was one that thrilled the world. Dr. Goucher and Mr. Taylor left New York on January 22, 1909, in the White Star “ Re¬ public.” Early the next morning in a dense fog off the island of Nantucket the “ Republic ” was struck amidships by the Italian liner “ Florida.” Both ships were shat¬ tered to the sinking point. The appalling cry for help was flashed out into the surrounding space encircling the earth, and the civilized world waited breathless while a dozen great ships went pounding through the dense fog following like sleuth hounds the “ C. Q. D.” (Come! Quick! Danger!) of tireless “ Jack ” Binns, who kept up that ceaseless exchange of wireless messages through twelve perilous hours until more than 1500 souls were rescued from the “ Republic ” and the “ Florida,” and were safe on board the “ Baltic,” returning to New York. The peril 1 As far as the author was concerned it meant 1900 miles: Beirut to Egypt . 277 Camels, 109 hours to Sinai and Rail in Egypt . 288 Akaba. Camels . 350 Horses, 162 hours from Akaba Horses . 650 to Jerusalem and Safed. Rail in Syria . 235 Carriage and boat . 100 1900 February 2d to April 28th, 1909. 47 48 From the Nile to Nebo was great, the rescue was fine, but Dr. Goucher and Mr. Taylor were not among those who decided to postpone their trip on account of that accident. We heard the news of the shipwreck in Beirut on Tuesday, and just two days later came a cablegram from Dr. Goucher, saying that he would meet me in Cairo on the Tuesday agreed upon, February nth. They slept one night in the United States, scraped together a partial outfit of clothing and photographic material and sailed the next day for England. By taking the fast Indian mail train from London across the Conti¬ nent to Brindisi they succeeded in reaching Cairo on the original date agreed upon, despite the thrilling experience of the “ Republic.” But that did not end our connection with the ill-fated steamer. After the rescue the “ Republic ” was towed toward Martha’s Vineyard, but sank a few miles from the land, and with her went down the most important part of our outfit, two Whitman saddles, the whole photo¬ graphic supply of instruments, plates and films (Mr. Taylor saving only the best lenses in his pockets), rifles, shot-guns and all the ammunition, together with clothing and a hundred little necessaries for such a trip. Dr. Goucher and Mr. Taylor were able to replace only a small part of these as they passed through London and across the Continent. After reaching Cairo we searched in vain for rifles and car¬ tridges, and all through the trip mourned for the Winches¬ ters which are still resting beneath the blue waves of the Atlantic. A day went in Cairo in interviews with Naoum Beg Shucair, of the Intelligence Department of the Soudan. He had journeyed extensively in the Sinai Peninsula and was well acquainted with the Bedawin sheikhs and the customs of the country. He explained very carefully certain of the routes, the places where we would certainly find water, and directed our attention to some of the more important problems of the region. He also introduced General View of Suez— Largely made ground among the shallows of the sea From the Ocean to Suez 49 us to the Bishop of Sinai and gave us letters to the Abbot of the Monastery of St. Katharine. Other results of this day’s interviews were a permit from the War Department and letters to Sheikh Musa Bu Nasir, the highest sheikh of all the Bedawin tribes of the Peninsula. It was a great surprise to us all to find out how success¬ fully the present Egyptian Government has prohibited the importation of modern rifles and ammunition. We made use of every friend we possessed in the city and could get no trace of a rifle of any kind that could be bought or bor¬ rowed, except a cumbrous heavy rifle which some traveller had used for elephant hunting in Central Africa. We did purchase another American repeating shot-gun and an abundant supply of cartridges for the same. After another day at the Pyramids, where we viewed the extensive excavations and secured some fine photographs of the Pyramids and their desert surroundings, we returned to the Boulac Museum, where we carefully inspected a number of inscriptions which had recently been brought by the Egyptian authorities from the turquoise mines at Maghareh, where they had remained upon the face of the cliffs since the days of the I, III, V and XII Dynasties. Our dragoman, Milhem, had meanwhile completed the contract with the Bishop’s agent for twenty-one camels which were to carry us and our outfit from Suez to Sinai and Akaba. The tents and our personal outfit, with a por¬ tion of the provisions, had already started across the desert between Cairo and Suez. The main part of our provisions and water were taken in at Suez itself, and the first supply of oranges and dried fruits had been sent down direct from Beirut. The train from Cairo to Suez is a very comfortable mode of travelling and its luncheon car provided us with good provender at the noon hour. We reached Suez about 4 o’clock in the afternoon and spent another fruit¬ less two hours in visiting every gunshop in the town, hop- 4 5° From the Nile to Nebo ing that we might find a second-hand rifle of some kind that would be of use to us in the desert. When Robinson visited Suez in 1838 it was a miserable, squalid town of 1200 Muhammadans and 150 Greek Chris¬ tians, who drank from a fortified well called Bir Suweis, or from the water-skins of camels who tramped back and forth across the head of this gulf to the “ Springs of Moses ” on the Arabian coast, then an hour’s journey away. Robin¬ son’s remark about it now reads strangely: “ The present arrangements for making it the point of communication between Europe and India by means of steam navigation of the Red Sea may probably give to it an impulse, but it can never become more than a mere place of passage which both the traveller and the inhabitant will hasten to leave as soon as possible.” This sage remark has proved true to the letter. It was the terminus of an ancient canal. It was developed in recent times by the opening of the Fresh¬ water Canal (1863) when the sweet waters of the Nile again reached the town via Ismailia.1 It gave its name to the great Suez Canal in 1869 and has now an extensive system of harbors and quays (Fig. 6). Reference has already been made in the figure of a bridge to the part played by the Sinai district and the Peninsula in human history. In a still more wonderful way human history and human enterprise have attached themselves to the two narrow strips of land which we know as the Isthmus of Suez and Panama, because the Isthmus of Panama is destined to play as great a part in the future of the world as the Isthmus of Suez has in the past. France tried to exit them both. England completed Suez, and the United States will complete Panama. Many and mighty have been the migrations of the human race across this narrow neck of land between Asia and Africa, and it is not to be wondered at that the most momentous of all human migrations should be found athwart of this great meeting- population, 1897, 17,173. From the Ocean to Suez 5i place of land and sea and human history. Barring the Panama Canal as belonging to the future, the Suez Canal at this moment is the greatest enterprise on this planet, and in the not distant future lines of international railway enterprise linking the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, combined with this great canal, may keep the Isthmus of Suez still in the van as the scene of the greatest human enterprise. Certainly the eyes of the nations are already upon it. We might easily connect this enterprise of the Suez Canal with the Exodus by asking the simple question as to whether the Children of Israel were obliged to cross a canal in their escape from the bondage of Egypt, but we have a much better reason than this, because the canal, between its inception and completion, furnishes a striking illustration of the vicissitudes and difficulties con¬ nected with a hundred other human enterprises which puzzle and fascinate students and archaeologists along the banks of the Nile. Far out in the sea at Port Said stands a superb statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, a Frenchman who, in the eyes of the world, is popularly spoken of as the originator and maker of this greatest human enterprise, and, in this respect, he looms as large as some of the Pharaohs and kings of Egypt whose names are connected with the pyramids and monuments along the Nile. When, however, we begin to search the records of antiquity we find that the idea of forming this connecting link between sea and sea is of very ancient origin and its author really unknown. It is not at all impossible that a primitive progenitor of this modern water-way may have been crossed by the Israelites in their flight. Some classical writers say it was first planned by Sesostris or Raamses II, and later undertaken byDarius I. The consensus of writers referred to makes it almost cer¬ tain that a water connection for small vessels between the two seas was formed as early as 600 B. C. and existed for a period of about 1400 years, after which it was allowed 52 From the Nile to Nebo to fall into disuse. Strabo (63 B. C. to 24 A. D.) says this ancient canal was supplied with water wholly from the Nile, and that the water of that river flowed through the whole length of the canal into the Red Sea. Baron R. Tott (1785) quotes the ancient historian Diodorus (A. D. 50), who speaks of the existence of certain portions of this early work and its having been abandoned in consequence of the threatened inundation of Egypt , which involves the fallacy of the supposed difference between the two seas, and which fallacy played such an important part eighteen centuries later. Arabic historians of the Moslem conquest of Egypt mention the fact that the canal was restored and remained open more than a century, until the time of a certain Mansour. According to another Arabic writer, Mas’udi, the famous Haroun er Rashid projected a canal, which means a reopening was made of the old canal, across the isthmus, but was persuaded that it would be dangerous to lay open the coast of Arabia to the Greek navy; therefore the project was abandoned. This idea of connecting the seas and the more or less successful at¬ tempts lingered in the memories of the human race in just the same way as the broken banks and line of the canal remain to this present hour on the isthmus. Every traveller crossing the isthmus to-day in the railway line which now stretches from Port Said to Suez will have pointed out to him in the desert stretches of banks of the ancient canal which are still five or six feet high and parallel to each other at a distance of thirty or forty yards apart. Those who know the history of the sweet water canal, which at this present day carries the water of the Nile to the town, of Suez, are also acquainted with the fact that long stretches of the ancient canal were used in making this sweet water canal, which of necessity preceded the building of the great canal itself through the waterless desert. Historically, the next great character who entertained the idea of building this maritime canal was Napoleon I. From the Ocean to Suez 53 He sent his surveyors across the isthmus, but abandoned the enterprise in consequence of their report (1798) which placed the surface of the Red Sea nearly thirty feet higher than that of the Mediterranean, reviving again the ancient fear referred to by Diodorus, that such a canal opened from the Red Sea would result in the inundation of Lower Egypt. It was not until forty-three years later (1841) that this fallacy was finally exploded and the mistake cor¬ rected by British officers sent out for that purpose. The overland mail route from England to India by way of Suez was opened in 1837. The Peninsular and Oriental steamer service began a few years later, and in 1857 a railway was opened in Cairo through the desert. This line was abandoned in favor of the railway which follows the canal from Suez to Ismailia and Port Said, and then ascends the Wady Tumeilah to Zakazik, whence branches divert to Cairo and Alexandria. It was not until fifty years later (in 1849) that Ferdi¬ nand de Lesseps, another Frenchman, began a thorough examination of the isthmus, profiting by the British cor¬ rection of the great mistake in the report of the engineers in 1798. Then followed one of the romances of human history in which wisdom and folly seem to have played their parts to a wondering world. The indomitable cour¬ age and foresight of de Lesseps partially overcame the doubts and credulity of the financial and commercial world. Work on this modern canal began April 25, 1859, and a little more than ten years later, November 16, 1869, the canal was opened for navigation, having cost about £20,000,000 ($100,000,000). The original stockholders paid for 400,000 shares @£20 . £8,000,000 In 1867-68 another loan was contracted of . . . .£4,000,000 Repayment in 50 years. Again, in 1871, another sum was obtained of . . . £800,000 Repayable in 30 years. 54 From the Nile to Nebo The remaining £6,200,000 was furnished by the Khedive. It is between 95 and 100 miles long, traversing Lake Minzaleh, Lake Timsah and the Bitter Lakes, which prior to the cutting of the Suez end of the canal were a great waterless cavity between two seas. Its opening was marked by a series of fetes and celebrations which rivalled the stories of the Arabian Nights. The spend¬ thrift Khedive of Egypt made an exhibition of folly that will perhaps never be repeated in human history. It is said that he spent more than £4,200,000 in enter¬ taining the nations of the earth who came as his guests. Now the fact to be emphasized here, which can be paralleled in the history of so many Egyptian enterprises, is that while the idea dates back to an unknown author in very ancient times, and while it is equally certain that primitive canals were built and operated through many centuries before and since the Christian era, and while the same enterprise haunted the great brain of Napoleon I, it was carried through in our day by the brave Frenchman whose statue stands in the sea at Port Said. And it was completed by British capital and to-day is mainly owned by the British Government. Here we have the ancient Egyptian, Darius the Persian, Trajan the Roman, Haroun Rashid the Arab, Napoleon and de Lesseps backed by France, and, finally, British gold, all entering into the con¬ ception and completion of this greatest of enterprises. It has proved one of the best investments in history. In 1875 the British Government acquired 177,000 of the shares owned by the Khedive for the sum of £4,000,000, and to-day they are worth at least £20,000,000. It revolutionized the main lines of European traffic. Its opening coincided with the introduction of ocean-going screw steamers. It has restored to the Mediterranean Sea and countries a share in the commerce of the world such as they had not possessed since the Middle Ages. Its story has played a From the Ocean to Suez 55 great role in the hopes and visions of those who are pressing for greater enterprise at Panama. Number of vessels. Tonnage. Receipts. 1870 . 486 654,915 £206,373 1880 . 2026 4,344,519 1,629,577 1890 . 3389 9,749,129 2,680,436 1899 . 3607 13,815,992 3,652,751 1905 . 4115 18,308,498 4,554,672 1908 . 3795 19,110,831 4,390,235 1910 . 45 33 23,055,380 CHAPTER V THE SPRINGS OF MOSES Captain Peck of the Khedieval Steamship Company had kindly taken care of our mail and the packages be¬ longing to our medical outfit, and assisted us in filling our water barrels with filtered Nile water. The next morning we were obliged to visit the Passport Office at Port Tewfik, and from thence we were directed to the War Office where our pass for travelling in Sinai was countersigned by Falconer Bey, who also gave us a permit for our one Winchester and two shot-guns and revolvers. At the Custom House they also refunded a French pound which I had paid as a deposit on my rifle and shot-gun when I entered the country at Port Said. While we were at¬ tending to these various matters our heavy baggage had been sent across the canal, and we with our light baggage and guns entered a boat about i o’clock p. m. and sailed slowly across the canal. After fully an hour in the unwieldy Egyptian boat, and having picked our way past the various buoys and lines of piling, we came to the wooden landing-place of esh Shatt, from which a path leads up to an elaborate quaran¬ tine station, with every facility for isolation and disin¬ fection and a good water-supply from the Nile. About eight camels and as many cameleers stood on the sandy shore ready to pounce upon our hand luggage the moment it was lifted from the boat. The camels were kneeling upon the earth about a hundred yards away, and there at once followed a running fight between our boat and the ships of the desert. Some of the swarthy Arabs were 56 The Springs of Moses 57 eager to secure a rider for a particular camel, others were eagerly desirous of securing a load of light hand luggage which was being placed in hampers of netted rope. They pulled each other, abused each other, elbowed each other and seemed about to break out into a deadly quarrel. We took a hand in the struggle and very quickly had them separated, with the exception of one or two couples who continued their battle across the unbloody sands. Later on in the journey we came to understand the meaning of this struggle, because these cameleers come from the various tribes of the Peninsula and have quarreled for centuries over the transportation of pilgrims to Sinai. When the fight was completed and we had chosen our riding camels, there were two disconsolate Bedawin who started off without either rider or loads for their animals. We could hear them shouting vengeance on their more fortunate comrades, and the discussion concerning this first encounter was extended through the following sixty hours, by night and by day, until we threatened to dismiss the whole lot of them if they did not postpone their settle¬ ment of it. Our plan was to reach the Springs of Moses, where we were to find our tents all pitched and our loads of baggage which had been taken across the canal earlier in the day. So we began our first stage of camel riding, and after the usual interesting attempts to mount the skittish creatures, we succeeded, and at once set off on the two and a half hours’ journey through the desert. It is said to be six and a half miles from our landing-place to the Springs of Moses, and the route lies along the raised sea bed which stretches from the present shore back to the foot of the great limestone plateau of Tih. We passed on the left the quarantine for the Russian pilgrims, who still make the journey to Sinai and back on their pilgrimage in the Holy Land. We noted at several points where the flints are covered, the surface of the sand had been swept back on either side, 58 From the Nile to Nebo leaving a fairly clear road between the two ridges, and we at once tried to realize that we were moving along one of the oldest roads upon our planet. It is almost certain that turquoise hunters tramped along this road eight thou¬ sand years ago, and that conquerors of the various Egyp¬ tian dynasties, together with miners of all ages, had preceded the tribes of Israel. Since the Christian era, and more especially during the last thousand years, it has been the road along which hosts of pilgrims have marched. After about two hours the sandy plain lifted somewhat, and, just at sunset, we found ourselves on a ridge looking down upon the first oasis of the desert. These so-called Springs of Moses form an oasis of luxuriant vegetation, which is little more than half a mile in circumference. The oasis is divided up into four irregular sections or gar¬ dens, each of which is surrounded by its own prickly pear hedge. There are perhaps altogether some three hundred date palms and a great quantity of tamarisks, which make it a favorite stopping-place for the camels. These springs well up through the sand and are retained in large pools, the largest of which is a pear-shaped cavity some fifty or sixty feet in length. The water flows slug¬ gishly toward the sea. The area of irrigation from these springs is increased by the use of sweeps; at the end of each is an oil tin, by means of which they lift the water into little channels on the higher side of the pools. The whole lot of these gardens is worth perhaps 500 liras English, and there is a continual fight to keep the sand from blowing in and ruining every attempt at cultiva¬ tion. The solitary palm tree, also often referred to as standing upon a mound some ten minutes toward the south, no longer exists, because the sands driven by the desert winds, acting as a sand blast, cut the trunk com¬ pletely through and it now lies fallen. The mound on which this solitary palm stood for so many years is about 15 feet high and more than 100 feet across. On its sum- a; H r-> O C/3 5— I O cn le. The greater part of it is now in St. Petersburg. 212 From the Nile to Nebo It contains the whole of the New Testament complete, together with the Epistle of Barnabas and a large part of the Shepherd of Hermas. It was discovered by Tischen- dorf and dates from about 400 A. D., and is surpassed by the Codex Vaticanus alone in age and authority. Several of the leaves are preserved at the Leipzig University Li¬ brary under the name Codex Friderico-Augustanus, but the greater part was purchased from the monastery by Alexander II for 8000 francs in 1869. The discovery and loss of this great treasure to the monastery here made the monks more jealous than ever of the books that remain. They have scores of duplicates of certain early Greek manuscripts of prayer books. Dr. Goucher greatly de¬ sired to purchase one of these, and though we tried every means possible in Cairo and afterward at the Monastery he did not succeed. And here, according to promise, I give some account of the problem of the documents of the Old Testament, and especially of those forming the Hexateuch. Those who find this too dry for their taste may pass on at once to Chapter XIX and begin the ascent of Jebel Musa. CHAPTER XVIII THE PROBLEM AS RELATED TO THE DOCUMENTS PART I.— THE DIVISION OF THE DOCUMENTS Among the most interesting results of archaeology is the assured fact that all the great nations of antiquity had written records of their own laws, history and institutions. We are constantly amazed at the abundance of these rec¬ ords as indicated by the discoveries of fragments of their ancient libraries and government records such as those recently unearthed at Tel el-Amarna in Egypt and some of the mounds in Babylonia. Reference has already been made (p. 29) to the written records of Egypt which extend back to the dates prior to 4000 B. C., and it is now known that papyrus was used in Egypt as early as 3580 B. C., and that true alphabetic letters were in use there 2500 years before their use by any other people. The written records of Babylonia extend to as remote, if not more re¬ mote, periods of human history. It would not be strange, therefore, if we should take for granted that the Children of Israel possessed documents which had their origin in the earliest periods of their history as a people. Years ago we were accustomed to speak of the Penta¬ teuch, which was a term to include the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In more recent years Joshua has been added to this list and we are now accustomed to speak of the Hexateuch meaning the first six books of the Bible. The book of Genesis touches more problems in science, archaeology, and history than any other book of the Old 213 214 From the Nile to Nebo Testament and, we might well add, any other book in the world. Its name, as is well known, was given from the first written word from the manuscript roll in which the book was preserved. Other rolls of the ancient Hebrew libraries took their names from the first word or paragraphs in those rolls, and the names thus casually given do not always prove to be an accurate index to the contents of the book. It is well known to careful students that if the three books, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, had been included in one of the ancient rolls instead of three, we might have divided them much more suitably, though very unequally, as follows: (i) Exodus i to 18 would be entitled “The Exodus from Egypt to Sinai/’ (2) Exodus 19 to Numbers 10: 10 would be entitled “The History of the Children of Israel at Sinai,” (3) Numbers 10: n to 36: 13 would be “The History of the Exodus from Sinai to the Jordan.” The book of Deuteronomy would then be a sort of biog¬ raphy of Moses in which the writer speaks of Moses as having reviewed the whole history of the Children of Israel, pointing out to them many lessons of God’s providence and repeating in varied form all the laws and commandments by means of which the Hebrew children of the Egyptian bondage were transformed into the Hebrew nation and the people Israel. And the book of Joshua gives the history of the actual entrance into the promised land, its conquest, its survey and its division among the tribes of Israel, thus completing the history of God’s chosen people, as they un¬ derstood it, from the foundation of the world to the begin¬ ning of the Hebrew monarchy. Taking this section of the Bible as a whole under the title of the Hexateuch, scholars have bestowed upon it during the last hundred years an amount of study which far exceeds all that was ever bestowed upon it since it was first written. Among the greater results is the fact that documents were certainly used in the preparation of the Hexateuch. Whatever we may think about dates assigned The Problem as Related to the Documents 215 to these documents, or however we may be troubled about the thousand and one fantastic structures built upon this cardinal fact, we are bound to recognize this result of modern critical research, that the Hexateuch makes use of several older documents ; in fact, this claim is so well estab¬ lished that we must accept it in order to gain any clear understanding of this portion of the Holy Scriptures. It is a well-known fact which is easily verified in our Bible that, owing to the difficulty of consulting the originals when they existed only in the cumbrous rolls of manuscript, where the first word or paragraph was 50 or 100 feet away from some other paragraph needed in the heart of the roll, writers and speakers very often quoted from memory, and no account was taken of minor variations so long as the sense of the passage referred to was retained. Many also are in danger of forgetting the well-known fact that in these ancient manuscripts there is no assistance to the reader such as wre derive from the use of capital and small letters, but all the ancient writings were in letters of uniform size and shape. In the more ancient writings there is not only a total lack of chapter and verse divisions, but no pretence of punctuation. Quotation marks do not exist. Whenever one author made use of passages from another there is rarely any clue to the fact of its being a quotation. Start¬ ing with the premise that documents were used in preparing the Hexateuch, a thousand investigators in the course of a few years invented a whole vocabulary of signs and terms and epithets which were as unintelligible to the ordinary reader as the most abstruse treatise in mathematics or the higher problems in physics and astronomy. Now it is not my purpose in this book to enter into any lengthy discus¬ sion of the endless series of intricate problems which have been evolved and manufactured by those who have run riot in their speculations and investigations. But even the ordinary reader must in these days know something about P, J, E, D. P stands for the document written by the 2l6 From the Nile to Nebo priestly writer or writers. This document is said to be a review of Israel’s history in the interests of the priest¬ hood. Everything in the most ancient history or tradi¬ tions of the Children of Israel that would substantiate the claims of the priesthood and the ceremonial law is seized upon and made the most of. According to this conception it parallels what might be designated as “papal” (or pa¬ pistic) histories of the Christian Church written, say, in the year 1200, which endeavor to push origins of the papacy back into the 3d century and seize upon every incident or document that could be made to point in that direction. Or, to take an example from a non-Christian faith, Moslem writers, while knowing in a general way that the religion of Islam dates from the person of Muhammad, have ex¬ tended their claims for their faith back into the most remote history, and solemnly assert that Adam and Moses and David, and even Christ himself, were good Moslems. J and E are documents whose distinction from each other depends originally upon the two words used for God; J is the Jahvistic document in which the name Jahveh (Je¬ hovah) is the name mainly used to designate God, while E is the Elohistic document, wherein the name Elohim is used to designate the divine being. D, as mentioned above, refers mainly to the book of Deuteronomy, and the Greek origin of the name points to a repetition of the Law. In the original documentary hypothesis the leading test was this varied use of the Divine names, and it is still, generally speaking, the simplest and most general. But as investigation proceeded it was seen and pointed out that none of the four documents or writers was entirely con¬ sistent in the use of the divine names, and this speedily led to the exuberant growth of theories and documents, until at the present time in sober commentaries there are in use at least nine of these cabalistic signs which attempt to distinguish at least nine documents or fragments with hints and references to a possible extension of their number The Problem as Related to the Documents 217 and intricacies. With the growth of these intricacies, many of which are fantastic, if not absurd, there is a growth of honest, wholesome sense. It was pointed out years ago that the attempt to differentiate these great documents, using the name of God as the sole test, was a very precarious operation, and every year has weakened the faith of scholars in this as a supreme test. Perhaps one of the best criticisms ever made upon this feature of the documentary hypothesis is the argument from analogy as exemplified in a modern hymn-book. According to the consensus of scholars of all types of thinking, the dates of the Old Testament manuscripts all lie somewhere within a period of 1200 years, say from 1500 to 300 B. C. Now it happens that our modern books of Christian hymns cover a period of about the same length, because while our English language in its present form dates back, say, 1000 years, the older forms of English easily add another two or three hundred years, and it is well known that many of our most beautiful modern hymns are translations from the Latin and the Greek, which extend still farther back into early Christian history. If, now, we should attempt to separate into categories all our famous Christian hymns and determine their age solely by the use of the names of God in them, we would be attempting to do what has been done with the manuscripts of the Old Testament. According to this theory, we should select all the hymns which have no reference to the Trinity and assign them a date prior to the great Church Councils which settled that doctrine. We should next select all the hymns which have no reference to the divine-human nature of Christ, and date those prior to the great monotheistic controversy. We should then select all the hymns which make use of the divine name Jehovah and give them a date different from all the hymns which make use of the simpler English name Lord, and the still larger collection which make use of the 2l8 From the Nile to Nebo one name God. We might then proceed to isolate other hymns according to their use of the various names for Jesus Christ. Similarly, we might follow out other lines of historical and archaeological research, and in the end the result would be a mixture of follies, absurdities and impos¬ sibilities which would violate every dictum of common sense. And the comparison is by no means an unfair one, because there are running through the mass of our standard hymns great dividing lines, which separate the pietistic from the evangelistic and the Latin from the Greek con¬ ceptions of Christianity. To use a still homelier illustration concerning our accept¬ ance of the four main documents embodied in the Hexa- teuch, we might refer to the well-known facts of phrenology and the vagaries which attached themselves to that branch of knowledge some 40 or 50 years ago. We all agree that in general the low brow and the cunning eye denote the crim¬ inal type, and that the high brow and the regular features, the intellectual type, that the square jaw and the thick neck indicate brute strength and determination; but when the enthusiastic phrenologist maps out every human head into regular blocks like the city squares of Philadelphia, we are not willing to follow. There are many good people with low brows and unprepossessing faces and there are many intellectual looking scoundrels. So there is a point where wholesome common sense steps in and calls a halt, and we certainly have reached this point in discussions of the documentary hypothesis. The whole tendency to-day is to limit the proposition to its broad outlines and to discourage seeking after the fantastic and impossible. PART II.— THE EVOLUTIONARY HYPOTHESIS Not many years ago a large part of the thinking and scientific world was carried away by the fascinating doc¬ trine of evolution, which in the enthusiastic expectation of its holders was the long lost key to a thousand important The Problem as Related to the Documents 219 problems. The origin of life, of all living creatures, the origin of man were supposed to be cleared up for ever, and the Creator of the universe was to be relieved of all re¬ sponsibility for things as they are. Given the spark of life, which may have floated in from some other planet, in one atom of protoplasm and “we do the rest.” Now, while we believe that the principle or process of evolution has as legitimate a place in the universe as the law of gravitation, it broke down completely in the attempt to explain the origin of species and became almost a laughing stock when applied to explain the origin of man. It was once thought to be a question of one “missing link,” but later careful re¬ view has revealed the facts of many missing links ; in fact, there are no links at all. Science after science brought in its verdict against the universal solvent of all the stub¬ born facts of Creation. Such a remote science as chemistry said the final word against the possibility of the physical relationship of man with the ape family. Chemistry can analyze the blood of man and a hundred animals and never err in assigning each drop to its proper heart, and it tells us that there is no more possibility of consanguinity be¬ tween the man and the ape than there is between the man and the lion; they are forever radically and irrevo¬ cably distinct and different. Indeed, chemistry separates man from all other animal creation by a distance almost infinitely greater than that which exists between the lowest forms of animal life and the lion. After this much abused doctrine was relegated to its proper place in biology, it was stealthily introduced into many another department of knowledge where it can never rightly apply. It came into religion, an old foe with a new face, under the name of naturalism , and the natural man is ready to embrace it for about the same reasons as the savage tribes of Africa embrace Islam instead of Chris¬ tianity. As a doctrine, naturalism, otherwise evolution, claims that all religious truth is derived from a study of 220 From the Nile to Nebo nature without any supernatural revelation, and that all religious life is a natural development, unmarked by any supernatural influences. Shortly after the rise of the documentary hypothesis of the Hexateuch, many investigators began to rear fantastic structures upon this modest hypothesis, and modern ex¬ ponents of the evolutionary hypothesis, under the guise of naturalism, rushed in to apply their method. In the hands of these later investigators the old docu¬ mentary hypothesis has been modified into an evolutionary hypothesis. The method of procedure has been on the principle that a document representing a simpler form of religion and society is earlier, and one that presents more complex forms, later. They at once ruled out the possi¬ bility of Moses having anything to do with the authorship of these documents, and proceeded by inspection to assign dates to each of the four. Accordingly, the J document would represent the religious and social conditions of Israel about 856 to 800 B. C., the E document representing the somewhat later development, say, 800 to 750 B. C., the D document, the conditions surrounding the reforms under Josiah, 621 B. C., and the P document, the conditions which prevailed under Ezra and Nehemiah when they promul¬ gated “The Book of the Law” in 444 B. C. According to this theory the oldest of these four documents was written at least 550 years after the Exodus took place, and the most recent of the four about a thousand years. It fol¬ lows, then, that the authors projected their writings back into the remote past, each one seeking facts to substan¬ tiate his view of the religious condition of Israel at the time of writing. It was speedily pointed out that there were hundreds of passages which could not, in fair laws of criticism, be referred to the dates assumed, and then began the more minute dissection of these larger documents into what was claimed to be their component parts, until, instead of four The Problem as Related to the Documents 221 main documents, there are at least nine, with the possibilities of this number being increased. This process was contin¬ ued until the results remind one of the cycles and epicycles which drove the ancient astronomers almost mad, until the Ptolemaic system was almost beyond the power of any ordinary mind to understand ; all of which was cleared and swept away when once the center of the universe was trans¬ ferred from the earth to the sun. If Moses were living to-day he would have a much harder time in getting through this documentary and evolutionary theory than he had in getting through the wilderness. The process of dissection and multiplication was continued until the results nullified and contradicted each other to such an extent that Moses as an historical character was abandoned, the route of the Exodus and the Exodus itself denied all standing as his¬ tory. The same process of dissection and multiplication and absurdity has recently reached its ultima thule in the denial of the historical character of Jesus Christ. The same process of reasoning and method of procedure would an¬ nihilate every well-known character in history. This evolutionary hypothesis, like many another theory born or made in Germany, is destined to live 35 or 40 years and then die. Very frequently such theories are shorter lived in Germany, but continue to flourish in other countries long after they are dead in Germany. So, for about 40 years, this class of critics have been wandering in this wilderness of their own making, and they will continue to wander so long as they insist upon reading so much “into” the Bible that was never there. In plain English, it is a delusion into which many of the most distinguished of modern scholars seem to have fallen, and from which no one but the historical Moses can deliver them. This attempt to separate the fragments of older documents and locate them chronologically according to the simpler or more complex forms of religious or social life is a test even more dangerous than that of distinguishing the 222 From the Nile to Nebo original documents according to their use of the Divine names. Able scholars are following up these delusive deductions and undoing as rapidly as possible the evil which has already resulted. If this were the place for such discussions, one might give a hundred shining examples of where they have failed to face the real problems, where they have glossed over difficulties and where they have been absolutely incor¬ rect and mistaken. This same process which they have claimed as valid in dealing with the Old Testament docu¬ ments would not be tolerated or possible in dealing with problems which lie this side of the invention of printing, because they would be so speedily detected and exposed. A good example of this kind is furnished by the work of a recent critic, named Wilhelm Scherer, in an article entitled “Faust’s Erster Monolog” (Faust’s First Monologue). It was printed first in the “Goethe Jahrbuch” (Goethe Year Book), Vol. VI, 1885, and was subsequently published in a volume which appeared in 1886 under the title Wil¬ helm Scherer: “Aufsatze fiber Goethe” (Essays on Goethe). The article exists only in German and deals with a passage in the second part of Faust, which Scherer claimed was the amalgamation of two different passages, one written in Goethe’s youth and the other later, with the line of cleavage clearly traceable. But the evidence of Goethe’s residuum is overwhelming that the whole passage was written at one time in Goethe’s later life. A still more striking example is connected with the at¬ tempt to deal with the code of Hammurabi on this evolu¬ tionary basis. According to the critics, the Mosaic code is a growth and accumulation of laws and customs and usages, some of which may have existed at the time of Moses, but which was thrown into its present form at the dates referred to, i. e ., after 800 B. C. But Hammurabi’s code, differing in very important respects, resembling in still more important respects, was in existence at least 800 The Problem as Related to the Documents 223 years before the date of the Exodus, that is, 900 years be¬ fore the Mosaic code was put into its present shape by Moses himself or his immediate contemporaries. Ham¬ murabi’s reign, according to the most recent and accurate calculation, began about 1975 B. C. The discovery of this code and its publication has brought consternation into many schools of higher critics. In the first place, it sheds an interesting light on the older dates assigned to the documents of the Hexateuch, because it is shown with rea¬ sonable conclusiveness that while the influence of Ham¬ murabi’s code on the making of the Mosaic code was pos¬ sible in the 15th century at Sinai, it was impossible in the 8th century at the time claimed by the evolutionary hy¬ pothesis as the date of those manuscripts. Secondly, it de¬ feats the supposition that once prevailed, which claimed the impossibility of such a code as the Mosaic existing in the days of Moses because the whole state of the Children of Israel and the surrounding nations would not allow of it legally or intellectually. Thirdly, a careful study of the code of Hammurabi shows clearly that it, 900 years before the Exodus, was not the result of any continuous evolution of the law in a homogeneous and progressive people, but an adaptation of widely distinct systems, because a large part of its stipulations take for granted the existence of an aristocracy and of several grades of people. This aristoc¬ racy clung to many primitive ideas of justice in their deal¬ ing with the lower grades of subjects, while employing the higher code in their dealings with each other. Another curious inference, which seems almost forced upon us, is this, that the whole situation as revealed by the code of Hammurabi points to an aristocracy, presumably a recent infusion of a wilder Semitic race, which had amal¬ gamated with an ancient and already partly Semitic people. This inference, in turn, throws a curious light upon the origin of the Mosaic code, which, according to all credible and reasonable deductions, was not the creation of Moses’ 224 From the Nile to Nebo brain, but the codification of ideas and customs extending far beyond his day into the remote past of the progenitors of the Semitic people. The lack of any signs of incomplete¬ ness in Hammurabi’s code relieves us of all responsibility requiring us to justify the possibility of the Mosaic code at the date claimed for it at Sinai, and in the plains of Moab beyond, during the period of the Exodus. PART III.— THE PURPOSE OF THE HEXATEUCH Once again the difficulties of this whole situation are relieved by a return to simple, wholesome common sense in dealing with all the facts involved. The documentary hy¬ pothesis places before us vividly the apparent discrepancies in the different documents and gives some explanation thereof, however unsatisfactory such explanation may prove to be. We do not claim that it does “remove” all the difficulties and contradictions or inconsistencies which seem to exist, but we do claim that every advance in real knowledge concerning the period of the Exodus is throwing an immense amount of light upon all these problems. But, while waiting for this increasing light and confir¬ mation of Biblical records, we relieve our minds com¬ pletely of anxiety or disturbance by recurring at all times to the real purpose of the Hexateuch. The unbroken tra¬ ditions of all the Hebrew literature and records is that Moses was the founder of the Hebrew faith, and the Hexa¬ teuch in its present form bears on its face the evidence of having been compiled for the sole purpose of recording God’s dealings with men. It does not assume to be a treatise of history, geography, biography or any other science. We cannot, therefore, expect to find in it exact scientific terminology and method. An historical or a geographical misunderstanding in our Hexateuch may thus be freely admitted where the avowed purpose is solely to record the transactions which have happened between God and man. It is not contrary to any orthodox belief The Problem as Related to the Documents 225 in the doctrine of inspiration to admit the human factor in the composition of the Bible records, because inspiration, after all, is the self-revelation of God through the Holy- Ghost to many minds, and Holy Writ is a more or less perfect record of that self-revelation. It is not at all in¬ conceivable that, when the documents of an earlier age came to be incorporated into one, after the lapse of many centuries, this process should have caused more or less confusion; that the records of different events which were similar might easily be regarded as different accounts of the same event, or that the different accounts of a single event might become separated and regarded as records of distinct events. All this is possible when we regard the books of the Hexateuch as compiled under the inspiration of God the Holy Ghost, solely for the purpose of recording God’s revelation of himself. The moral and spiritual tone of the book is the best evidence of its own inspiration, but we may also add that its extraordinary truthfulness to human nature and to Oriental life creates an impression in favor of its trustworthiness at all points; the consistency of its contents with the subsequent history and religious thought of later Hebrew history helps to confirm this im¬ pression. The fact of inspiration, however, once admitted on the higher level of moral and spiritual tone, rightly carries influence over into details of fact, and turns the balance on the side of truthfulness and trustworthiness in all minor details. The attitude of a very large number of critics to-day, who stand about the Hexateuch ready to dissect and divide and destroy, resemble a gathering of botanists and chemists and physicists quarreling over the remains of some beau¬ tiful rose or flower. The chemist has crushed it to an un¬ recognizable pulp, in which he searches for the protoplasm and the pigments which were its life and beauty as a flower; the botanist has torn it into shreds searching for its pistils, its stamens, its seed, in order to stretch it upon the frame of 15 226 From the Nile to Nebo his procrustean system; while the physicist, objecting to the chemist’s suggestion concerning the pigments, argues in regard to the various theories of light in the production of color — all for the time being have lost every pleasurable conception of the beauty of the rose as a flower. So it seems that the critics of the Hexateuch wander away from the purpose of this unique record of God’s revelation to man. But we are thankful to God that 999 out of every thousand readers of the Hexateuch are much more concerned with the beauty of its purpose and meaning, rather than with the mistaken, if not hostile, criticism of its parts, and when pressed by still another class of critics who demand the reason for our belief in its inspiration, we may answer : “We do not deny the ‘existence’ of light, the ‘effects’ of light, and the ‘transmission’ of light, because we cannot prove the existence of the ‘ether’ which science has pos¬ tulated as the medium through which light waves are brought into contact with our mechanical organ of vision, and through that, by some unknown process, into our seeing and thinking soul. No more shall we deny the existence of God, His power of self-revelation, His contact with the human soul, because we cannot explain the mode of inspiration, which is the ‘ether’ of the thinkable, reas¬ onable, religious life of man.” PART IV.— THE PRESENT STATE OF THE DOCUMENTARY HYPOTHESIS It has already been remarked that the writers or com¬ pilers of the Old Testament documents made no use of quo¬ tation marks, even when they quoted the exact words of earlier documents which were in their hands at the moment of writing. In fact, there are many reasons to believe that in handling these ancient documents they regarded them as too sacred and too precious to be altered in their smallest details; they therefore transcribed them in their entirety, making no attempt to reconcile trifling or even more im- The Problem as Related to the Documents 227 portant variations; hence their instinct and practice in thus transcribing literally now proves to be one of the greatest possible advantages to modern critical studies. If, as according to more extreme writers, the J document dates from the 9th century B. C., and the E document from the earlier part of the 8th century, and D from 621 B. C., about the time of Josiah, and P in its main stock from the age of Ezekiel and the exile, 570 B. C. ; and taking their date of the Exodus as 1230 B. C., then it follows that P was written 560 years after the Exodus; E, 400; and J, 300. The Bible account of the Exodus then would be as though one of our living historians should write the finest account of Columbus and his enterprise, his voyage and his discovery of America, and that this in time should be adopted as the true national account. According to this theor}/ some pious soul might easily write to-day a “Blessing of Columbus,” including in his supposed forecast all the characteristics which we pleasantly attribute to the “Yankee” of the East, the “Colored South” and the “Wild and Woolly West,” but which characteristics, instead of being prophecies, are simply the recorded results of observation made during the 400 years which have elapsed since the discovery of the New World. We are all familiar from childhood with the Biblical phrase “the Law and the Prophets” so often used by Christ and other writers of the New Testament. In order to free our minds from certain misconceptions which cling to the books of the Old Testament, as now divided and named, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuter¬ onomy and Joshua, we must think of the Hexateuch as one great document called the “Law.” As already re¬ ferred to, the present names and divisions are largely acci¬ dents connected with the ancient division of manuscripts into rolls that could be handled and named from their first word or paragraph. Now, within this combination of documents there are references to still other documents, as 228 From the Nile to Nebo can be learned by looking into any concordance under the word “book.” Genesis 5: 1 is the first case in point: “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” It is clear that this marks the beginning of some more ancient document embodied in .what we call the book of Genesis. But while the begin¬ ning is clearly marked, there is great difficulty to say just where the ancient “book” ends. The phrase “these are the generations of” is repeated ten times in Genesis and nowhere else in the Hexateuch, so it has been suggested that these sections formed an ancient “book of genealo¬ gies” which has been called the Toledo th book. Exodus 17 : 14 records a cardinal fact, where Moses is told to “Write this for a memorial in a book” for Joshua. This may be the beginning of the “Law of Moses.” Exodus 24 : 7 mentions the “book of the covenant,” which is thought to be a reference to the ten commandments only. Num¬ bers 5 : 23 directs the priest to write the curses in a book. Numbers 21:14 makes a definite reference to another “book of the wars of the Lord.” Deuteronomy has nine references to the “book of the law,” this “book of the law,” which is reasonably referred to the document itself which we know as Deuteronomy. Joshua refers to the “book of the law,” which we may reasonably suppose to be the book referred to in Exodus 17 : 14, and to which book Joshua makes additions when the people made a new covenant at She- chem (Joshua 24: 26). In Joshua 18: 19 the spies de¬ scribed the promised land “by cities in seven parts in a book,” which is the survey recorded in Joshua. In Joshua 10: 13 there is a reference to the “book of Jasher,” of which we now have no trace. So here are at least 2 2 references with¬ in the Hexateuch to at least six different books. One of these books was clearly a book of genealogies, another was “of the wars of the Lord.” That referred to in Exodus 17: 14 is clearly the original book of the law, of which the “book of the Covenant” may or may not have been an I The Problem as Related to the Documents 229 Integral part. Now it is perfectly reasonable and simple to think of two or a half-dozen written rolls in the hands of Moses, guarded with jealous care and passed on to Joshua, who added to them until they found a final resting-place in Shechem and other sanctuaries in the Promised Land. Some of these may have been lost, and one of them at least was found when the temple was cleaned in the days of Josiah, as recorded in 2 Kings 22:8 and 2 Chronicles 34: 15. We have already pointed out the fact (p. 76) that there is no difficulty involved as to the art of writing, neither is there any as to the materials. Skins were used before parchment came into general use at the time of the XII Dynasty (3400-1800 B. C.), and it is certain that both were well known and in general use for many hundred years before the Exodus. When we step from the Hexateuch into the historical books the references to “ books” are multiplied a hundred¬ fold, and many of them come to have the value of technical terms, such as “The Shepherd of Hermas” or the “Teach¬ ing of the Twelve Apostles” or the “Code of Hammurabi” would to us. Taking, then, the scriptural term, “the law of Moses” or “the law of Jahweh,” as embodying the most important subject in the Pentateuch or Hexateuch, scholars have sought for the “code” or “codes” as the most important item in these documents, and thus the most recent investi¬ gation becomes easily intelligible to the lay mind. That designated by the “code” is seen to be the core of the reve¬ lation, and the document as a whole includes other histor¬ ical matter woven about the code. Regarding what has preceded as explanatory, I now pro¬ pose to give briefly what I understand to be the most reasonable and substantial results of this later investiga¬ tion. There are still many variations and difficulties to be solved, but the main results are reasonably sure. The apparent conflict at certain important points can well 230 From the Nile to Nebo be left for later light, which is sure to come, taking the re¬ sults of the past ten years as an index for the coming dec¬ ade. Those who wish to follow the more intricate state¬ ments of these problems will do well to read the brilliant book already referred to, Toffteen’s “Historical Exodus,” from page 63 and onward. Taking the documents in their accepted order chrono¬ logically, the following are some of the tangible results: The chief contents of the document designated P are now supposed to be made up of the original “Toledoth,” or “book of genealogies,” and another document called “the book of the law of Jahweh.” As already referred to, such a book of genealogies is mentioned in Genesis 5:1, and the formula “these are the generations of” occurs ten times in Genesis and does not occur elsewhere in the Pentateuch. In regard to the date of P, it cannot be assigned to the exilic or post-exilic periods because it was in part the basis of the reforms of Josiah, 621 B. C. It was appealed to in the time of Hezekiah, circa 700 B. C., and was apparently well known to the prophets of that time, Amos and Isaiah. It seems to have been the basis of a missionary propaganda by the Levites in the time of Jehoshaphat, circa 873 B. C., and was well known to his father Asa. Solomon and even David worshipped on the basis of its rules and, finally, Saul carried out his reforms on the basis of its laws. The conclusion, then, seems unavoidable that the P document and code existed in written form as early as the time of Saul and Samuel. No claim can be made regarding its completeness; here and there it is fragmentary to such an extent that it would give no sense if read by itself. Its peculiarity of language and apparent purpose warrants the suggestion that it may be a literary product of the tribe of Levi. Out of at least seven different documents, of which frag¬ ments appear in the Hexateuch, none of them is complete except the original D, which is our Deuteronomy. It is The Problem as Related to the Documents 231 more than probable that this is the document referred to many times as the “law of Moses,” and is the substance of what was given in the plains of Moab near Madeba, just before Nebo. By common consent it has been identified as the lawbook found in the 18th year of Josiah, 622-621 B. C., and it is part of the critical hypothesis that the D document is older than the P document, for the internal evi¬ dence seems to point that way. Being a unit in itself, it presents a peerless subject for testing the theories and hy¬ potheses concerning documents. The identification of this document with the law book found by Josiah, together with other evidence, external and internal, makes it ex¬ tremely probable that as a document it dates back to the time of Joshua (1407), bringing it within just 70 years of the date of the Exodus. The E document, by the consent of all modern critics, is older than D, mainly because the laws and institutions of its code belong to a more primitive state of society. Technical terms having already been found justifying the identification of parts of P with the “Law of Jahweh” and D with the “Law of Moses,” it is suggested that the E code is the “Law of Elohim,” mentioned in Joshua 24: 26, 27, and of which the “Book of the Covenant,” con¬ taining Exodus 20: 2-17 and Exodus 21-23, was a Part. Reference has already been made to the fact that more careful investigation has largely obliterated the differences between the J documents, and since the J code, if there be one, is only one- sixth of the length of the E code, and both claim to belong to the same time and occasion, there¬ fore the conclusion is inevitable that both go back, as the Bible itself asserts (Exodus 17: 14), to a period 40 years before D, which means that the law of Elohim is the E code given at Sinai or Horeb. “The E document is not a document, but a collection of fragments of what was once a document ; that the code, too, is not a complete code, but also fragmentary, and es- 232 From the Nile to Nebo pecially wanting in the “ statutes” which once belonged to it, but which have been lost ; that the E code provided for a non-Levi tical priesthood; that in the period of the judges and the early monarchy the presence of this non- Levitical priesthood shows the general use of the E code all over Israel; that it is probable that at the division of the kingdom the E code with its non-Levitical priesthood became peculiarly the law of the Northern Kingdom; and that the E code shows a remarkable similarity to the code of Hammurabi. In all of these things we can find no con¬ tradiction, but, on the contrary, confirmation, and the con¬ clusion that the E document is to be assigned to a date much earlier than that generally given by the critics, and that quite probably it belongs to the time when it purports to have been delivered, namely, the stop at Horeb, when Moses and the people received it at Yahweh’s hands.”1 There may be no J code in the Hexateuch, but only fragments of a J document. If any J code ever existed it seems to have been dropped in favor of the E code at some compilation made in after years. It is admitted on all hands that in large sections of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers and Joshua, J and E have been so completely fused to¬ gether that it is now impossible to divide them. Relating the same history and the same events, their separation could satisfy nothing but a literary curiosity. So it comes to pass in the matter of the documents, as in the chronology, that the larger numbers of documents and fragments are being reduced and brought within the limits set by the Bible itself. As, in the past, neither side of the radical controversialists has won the victory; the truth has been found somewhere between them and not exactly what either contended for. But every extension of real knowledge enhances the value of the Bible, increases its beauty and approves its substantial accuracy even in unimportant details. As for its inspiration I turn to the lToffteen’s “Historical Exodus,” p. 117. The Problem as Related to the Documents 233 19th Psalm, and say that when I can be led to believe that man built the sun and arranged the heavens, then I can believe also that these most ancient Biblical documents are a record of human brain-work unaided by the spirit and presence of God. The contents, the problems, the teachings, the claims, the facts have no counterpart in merely human productions. Having said so much, I can now say without fear of being misunderstood that the imperfections of human handiwork cling to the mechanical book. There probably never ex¬ isted a perfect manuscript, any more than there now exists a perfect Bible in any language. And our knowledge of that ancient Hebrew language is not so complete as we once proudly supposed it to be. The wider study of kin¬ dred Semitic tongues, especially the Arabic, has enlarged the circle of the unknown. The difficulties are not found in its peculiar alphabet, nor in the flection of the words, nor yet in the syntax of the language. One of the greatest difficulties lies in the meaning and sometimes conflicting meanings that Hebrew words possess. This is not hard to understand when we remember that the written docu¬ ments extend over an interval of at least 1200 years and some of the embedded fragments may go back much farther. To attempt to construe the whole Old Testament as though the language were all from one period or division of the Hebrew people must result in many real difficulties. We know something of the changes inevitable in every living language from the shorter history of our own, which has had all the immeasurable advantages of printing to keep our tongue from confusion. The varied meanings of the simplest Hebrew words can easily be understood and illustrated from any Arabic dictionary, where the same difficult development has taken place. Then, too, the study of the Babylonian and Egyptian languages brings into view another important considera¬ tion. Just as Hebrew life and history and religion were in- 234 From the Nile to Nebo fluenced and modified by the great surrounding nations, so also their language bears within it the influences and echoes of many languages through those many centuries, just as English bears the marks of its complex origin and contact with every other language of the Christian era. Some of our simpler scholars take for granted now and then that all such questions can be settled by the “dictionary,” forgetting for the moment that we are working in a region where all dictionaries fail us and where we are continually securing fresh facts which must modify and change the dictionaries themselves. The best dictionaries at any period are always somewhat behind the best information available, and are in every case the views of a limited num¬ ber of scholars in that field. Historicity I am ready, therefore, to record my conviction that the Biblical stories of the Exodus are reliable even to the most minute details, except where later compilers have blundered or copyists have miscopied or misunderstood the meaning of the words they used. This means that I heartily agree with those who are convinced1 that the Biblical account of the Exodus is “ absolutely historical in the best sense of the word and trustworthy in its evidence, even to de¬ tails, contrary to the usual modern hypothesis.” Critics seated thousands of miles away in distance and three thousand years later in time have formulated doubts and queries, have raised imaginary difficulties, which vanish into thin air when the observant traveller enters the al¬ most changeless peninsula of Sinai with his Bible in his hand. Some have gone so far as to deny that the inspired writers had the Sinai region in mind. Nothing could be more grotesque and farther from the truth. The Bible writers plainly knew that country as well as George ^offteen’s “Historical Exodus,” p. 279. The Problem as Related to the Documents 235 Washington ever knew the country between Boston and Yorktown, and the writer, after 26 years in Bible lands and many journeys into these more remote portions, would record his conviction that the geography of the Bible fits the land as the key fits the lock, and each succeeding generation of men will realize this more clearly. Results t Now there are three ways of studying these ancient records: (1) The dogmatic way, where people take a stand upon their childhood memories and imaginations and seem unable to accept any other view. (2) The simple text reading and text matching method, which is carried to im¬ possible conclusions under some one ruling idea, e. g., making the use of the names of God the main determining idea. (3) The vital way, that is, truth set in the light of daily life and the real records of human society. Linking the Land with the Book, as did Dr. Thomson 40 years ago, will again produce an overwhelming impression that the book fits the life and the land and man’s relations to God. Too much has been made of the composite nature of the Pentateuch and of wholly erroneous conclusions drawn from fragmentary data. The best Egyptologists now accept Moses as an historical character, and his education in Egypt makes it certain that he and those about him were well ac¬ customed to writing. They also accept the fact that the Israelites sojourned in Egypt and that an Exodus from there to Palestine took place. The duplications and variations in the text of Genesis and Exodus, once the despair of the literalists, now are seen to be the strongest proofs that written documents were before the editors of the Hexa- teuch, and that they were so ancient and revered that no unification was to be tolerated. It is now agreed that some of the Israelites must have been trained for the office of overseer and that these overseers would naturally prepare 236 From the Nile to Nebo registers of their own Hebrew people. They would thus have been fairly well acquainted with the elements of Egyptian administration. Now all these extra-Biblical assumptions or results are amply justified by a fair reading of the Biblical records themselves. The converging of all these many lines of in¬ vestigation and argument centres in the accuracy, the truth¬ fulness, the reasonableness of the record of the Exodus, and gives abundant promise of still more satisfactory results in coming years. view of the Monastery from a point on the “stairway CHAPTER XIX ASCENT OF JEBEL MUSA But the greater shrine in connection with the Monastery of St. Katharine is the ascent of Jebel Musa, which rises 2350 feet above the Monastery. The “Shrine of the Burn¬ ing Bush” is supposed to be the oldest part of the ancient church, and outside the shrine, carefully fenced with wood and wire, is planted a bush “of the same variety ,” as the old Abbot said with a twinkle in his eye. We were each given two leaves from this precious plant, which must have a fabulous value in the eyes of the Russian pilgrims. Leaving the Monastery by the only possible door (Fig. 50), we passed through the courtyard and out of another door just beyond the upper right-hand corner of the Mon¬ astery wall (Frontispiece), and up the rough slope at an angle of about 45 degrees and into the darker shadow at the upper left-hand section of the picture. We were ac¬ companied by Brother Gabriel, a young monk who spoke considerable Arabic, and two of the Monastery servants, who carried a luncheon for us and some candles and oil for the various shrines on the mountain. The pilgrim “certificate” (Fig. 46) and some old travel records speak as though a continuous and unbroken stairway led from the shrine to the top of the mountain and make mention of 3000 steps. There may be fully 3000 blocks of stone which have been placed by human hands, but the stairs are by no means uniform or continuous. There are great stretches where none are needed, but there are also great cliffs and slopes of the jagged granite where progress would be ex¬ ceedingly dangerous and even impossible without the 237 238 From the Nile to Nebo stairs built by the hands of the pilgrims. There are no stairs on the rough slope between the Monastery and where the path enters the deep shadow (Frontispiece), but from that point upward for fully 1000 feet none but an ibex could climb without the stairs. We began our ascent at 7.30 A. m. and it required two and a half hours of steady climbing to reach the summit. The day was somewhat hazy, and through the haze the mountains loomed up in a wonderful way. In about half an hour we made our first halt at a little spring in the rocks. It is a little pocket in the solid granite into which trickles a tiny rill of clear, cold water. The Arabs say Moses here tended the sheep of Jethro whom they call Shu’aib, but the monks declare that it issued from the rock in consequence of the prayers of the holy Abbot Sangarius. While resting here I took one of those chance snaps with my camera, hardly expecting any result in the early morning light, and on my return to Beirut was surprised to see this gem of a photo (Fig. 47) come out upon the film. It gives what may be termed the back side of the Monastery, while the Panorama 45 and the Frontispiece give the front. By carefully comparing the three the reader will gain a little of the atmosphere of this sublime valley where these rugged, splintered granite precipices, fully 1000 feet high, frown at each other across the narrow space in which this lonely monastery has stood for fully 1300 of the 3300 years which have elapsed since the Children of Israel passed that momentous year somewhere within a few hours of this spot. After another half-hour above the mountain spring, we reached a rude chapel dedicated to the Virgin, where Brother Gabriel lighted tapers and offered incense, as he did in the other chapels and shrines beyond. The story connected with it concerns one of the Oriental pests — the fleas. It is said that the monks once found the monastery so infested that they meditated upon abandoning it. True Ascent of Jebel Musa 239 to their devotion toward the sacred mountain, they decided to make a final visit to its summit, when lo! in this rocky ravine the Virgin suddenly appeared, promising them free¬ dom from the pest of fleas, an abundance of pilgrims, and that the plague should never visit them again. Hence the shrine to her memory. At the top of the steep ascent leading out of this ravine (Fig. 52) stands one of the two pilgrim portals, where in other days the pilgrim was stopped and confessed on his way to the holy mountain. Beyond this opens out the Plain of the Cyprus (Fig. 48), a wide space in the very heart of the mountain, in which is still a tree or two, ex¬ tensive tanks for water and considerable remains of ancient buildings. It is enclosed by bold and barren masses of rock and reddish-brown and gray pinnacles of the hardest granite. To the north rise the dome heads of Ras es-Suf- safeh, the famous peak overlooking the Plain of er Rahah (see Figs. 42 and 43). To the south rises the highest peak of Sinai, the Jebel Musa, which we had not before really seen from any point. Its head is fully a mile distant from the Cyprus tree and at least 700 feet higher up. Not many yards away is another rude building which con¬ tains the chapels of Elijah and Elisha. Its position can be seen on the left edge of the Figure 48, which contains the Cyprus tree. In the chapel of Elijah and near the altar the monks show a hole just large enough for a man’s body, which they suppose is the cave in which the prophet dwelt while visiting Horeb. The final climb is up a steep slope which has been relieved of its difficulty by another stretch of the same rude stairway of perhaps a thousand steps, made by sliding hundreds of blocks and plates of granite into line and propping them where necessary by smaller stones. Before we reached the top a fairly cool wind was sweeping the summit and we took refuge for a time in the small chapel. The summit is a small area of some 80 feet in diameter, where stands 240 From the Nile to Nebo the dilapidated chapel once divided between the Greeks and Latins. Across a rocky space stands a ruined mosque where it is said the Arabs smear the blood of their sacrifices on the door. It was hopelessly unclean at our visit. Under the mosque is a grotto and near the chapel the re¬ mains of an apse, whose church seems to have extended to and to have included or enclosed the grotto itself. Such a church is mentioned by the pilgrim Silvia in the 4th century, when the grotto was supposed to be the place where Moses stood when the glory of the Lord passed by (Exodus 32: 22). Certainly the spot is sublime enough for any such event. The view, however, is not an impressive one compared with what travellers tell of the view from Serbal. It is another instance of the fact noted before, that it is not al¬ ways the highest point of the mountain from which we ob¬ tain the finest view. There are too many nearer peaks which shut out the view, while a few miles away to the south, apparently a few thousand yards, rises Jebel Kath¬ arine, a thousand feet higher than Musa. It is, however, a wild and imposing outlook over the mountain chain and peaks and deep valleys. In clear weather the Red Sea and even the greater part of the Gulf of Akaba can be seen. It was with difficulty that we made out the waters of the Gulf of Akaba, and we saw nothing of the Red Sea by reason of the mists. Ras es Sufsafeh was clear and sharp beneath us toward the north. We had here a much better view of a curious building on one of the peaks toward the Red Sea — the Chateau of Abbas Pasha — the story of which is told by Palmer as follows: “The foreground of this portion of the landscape is composed of monster masses of rugged granite, which glow like burnished copper in the sunlight. Among the forest of peaks may be distinguished a mountain, Jebel Tini- yeh, with a small white edifice upon its highest point. This is the half-finished palace of the late Abbas Pasha, Plain of the Cyprus and Chapel In the heart of Sinai of Elijah The only door to the Convent A bit of Sinai’s rugged shoulder Ascent of Jebel Musa 241 Viceroy of Egypt, who carried his mania for bricks and mortar even into the wilds of Sinai. Reckless debauchery had begun to tell upon the Pasha’s constitution, and his medical advisers ordered him to try the desert air. He accordingly set out with a number of troops, and took up his quarters at the Convent of St. Katharine. Feeling the beneficial effects of the pure mountain air, he determined to build a palace in the neighborhood; and, in order to ascer¬ tain which was the most salubrious situation, he adopted the following original expedient: Joints of fresh meat were exposed on all the accessible mountain tops around, and that on which the flesh should remain for the longest time without corruption was to be declared the healthiest spot. The choice fell upon Jebel Tiniyeh; a road to the summit was constructed with great labor, and the foundations of this palace were laid. But before the building had pro¬ gressed very far, his highness changed his viceregal mind, and, being influenced by the fables of the monks, decided to dwell upon the holy mountain itself, and so enjoy the benefit of Moses’ special protection, as well as the advantages of the climate. As a preliminary measure, a road was commenced over a spur of the northern end of the mountain (Jebel Musa) at the mouth of the convent valley. This again was abandoned, and the road now known as The Pasha’s Road’ was ultimately constructed at the southeastern end of the block, and still forms the most convenient ap¬ proach to the summit. Bedawin tradition furnishes us with the sequel to the story. ‘The Pasha,’ the Arabs say, ‘went up to the mountain by the road which he had himself made. But his heart was full of evil designs, and he wished to desecrate the sanctity of the place. Wherefore our Lord Moses caught him before he reached the summit, and shook him sorely, so that he came down again in a terrible fright, cursed the land and all that were therein, and made the best of his way back to Egypt.’ Within a few weeks of his return to Cairo he was murdered by a mameluke, 16 242 From the Nile to Nebo whom he had discovered in an intrigue with one of the ladies of his harem ; but the unfinished palace stands upon the mountain still — a strange memorial of human fickle¬ ness and folly.” Abbas Pasha commenced a road from Tor on the Red Sea via Wady Hebran, but it was never completed. His camel track up Jebel Musa from the end of the Convent Valley to a point within 500 feet of the summit still proves serviceable, for it is up this winding road that the monks still bring lime and timbers to keep the rude chapels in repair. Among other dry stories of Abbas Pasha is one told by the monks, who say that during his stay at the Convent he was so much impressed with the sanctity of the “Shrine of the Burning Bush” that he preferred saying his daily prayers upon its soft-carpeted floor rather than pros¬ trate himself upon the hard pavement of the whitewashed mosque. After an hour or more on the summit we felt like doing justice to Brother Gabriel's luncheon, which was composed of bread, olives, caviare, halawy, good water, mastique and coffee. Then we made our way down, loath to leave such a sublime spot so high above the burning sands of the seashore, so far away from the cares of civilization and so close to the centuries of the remote world of Moses and the Exodus. It cost us two and a half hours of climbing to mount the 2700 feet above our camp, but we made our way down easily in one hour and twenty minutes, having lifted and lowered our own frames through this 5400 feet on our noiseless and overtired leg muscles. Later in the afternoon the Economos Eugenios and Brother Gabriel came by invitation to our tents for a cup of tea a la frangaise, and a pleasant visit it proved to be. The elder of the two told us the story of Arabi Pasha’s rebellion in 1882, and the plan of certain Moslems at that time to attack and demolish this ancient monastery and Jebel Musa, Pilgrim Gate and a bit of the Stairway Ascent of Jebel Musa 243 thus wipe out the last trace of Christian occupation in the peninsula. I was leading him on to get his version of Palmer’s sad death at that time, but he was not allowed to complete the story because Sheikh Hammadi, the head of our cameleers, came to announce the arrival of Musa Bu Nasir, the sheikh of the sheikhs of the whole of the Sinai tic Peninsula. It was he to whom Naoum Beg Shucair had given us letters of introduction and which letters we had sent by one of his relatives from near el Buwaib. When the old man and his retainers came slowly forward we were greatly impressed by his face and eagle eye ; his unusually large figure, though bent with age, his bearing as a prince of this ancient desert and his splendid clothing and beautiful sword. He would have made a perfect artist study for the patriarch Abraham. He took his place at our table and, to¬ gether with his son, was served with tea and almost every sweetmeat in our canteen. He made profuse apologies for not having come sooner his two days’ journey on camels, but we assured him that we would inform our British friends in Egypt that nothing had been left undone for our safety and comfort in Sinai. He remained for two days in the courtyard of the Monastery and made all the arrangements for our caravan to Akaba. Mr. Taylor attempted a photograph of the truly picturesque circle under the trees in front of our tents, but the shadows in that valley fall early and I have yet to learn how successful he was. Some of the monks had attempted to teach his son to read, so that he was almost the only man of the tribes who could do anything with a book. We gave him an Arabic Bible, turning down the leaves at the story of Moses and Sinai, which he promised to read. In doing so we were again im¬ pressed with the fact of Arabic etiquette, according to which the son never opens his mouth in the father’s pres¬ ence unless commanded to do so in answering a question. CHAPTER XX THE SOUL OF THE HEBREW RACE Sinai is, without doubt, the birthplace of the soul of the Hebrew people, that standing miracle of human history. Now the soul of a people usually lives at home, and each succeeding century of sorrow and struggle and suffering renders more hallowed and sacred the shrines at which the soul of the nation kneels. The soul of the Hebrew people, conceived in Egyptian bondage, born among the sublimities of Sinai, carried them through the Exodus, the conquest, the occupation of the Promised Land, the glories of the monarchy and out again into exile. And all the centuries of human history since then seem but to repeat this cycle of bondage, deliverance, promised land, great exaltation and then exile. It wras so among the heathen nations of antiquity, it seems to be destined to be so among the nominal Christian nations of the modern world, except in the lands where English is spoken and Evangelical Chris¬ tianity is the form of faith — England and the United States. Other nations and peoples have lived and flourished and passed away for ever. Other peoples have been driven from ancestral homes and in the course of centuries have com¬ pletely forgotten their origin and history. But here is a people scattered over the earth to-day, citizens of many nations, yet still fired and inspired by inextinguishable memories of the bondage in Egypt, the Exodus, the Promised Land, the Monarchy and the Exile; suffering, struggling, succeeding, failing, and still longing for and expecting deliverance, and all its greatness, its knowledge of God, its mission of law and prophecy and promised re- 244 The Soul of the Hebrew Race 245 demption for the race dating back to Sinai. What can be the secret of this superhuman mission to the sons of men? When we cast off the last link of our multiplex connec¬ tions with the modern world at Suez and turned our camels’ faces to the desert, we willingly abandoned ourselves to the charm and spell of this most remote Old Testament world with a hope that we might fathom some of the soul quali¬ ties of the Hebrew people. After many days in that desert and nights beneath its stars it would seem as though I could never again shake myself free from the smell of the desert, the swing of the camel, the loneliness of those awful peaks in Sinai, the helplessness of these hungry Arabs, and the mystery of that Hebrew soul born amid these surround¬ ings. It must have been that some “light that never was, on sea or land” shined into that Hebrew soul with more than “the consecration and the poet’s dream” to bear them through the necessities of their pathetic history. It has been said that the soul of a people is “an inward life of ideals, sentiment, ruling passions, embodying itself in an outward life of forms, customs, institutions, relations — a process as vital, as spontaneous, as inevitable as the growth of a child into a man.” And frequently that soul can best be seen and understood by looking through the eyes of nature. Now the ideals, sentiments, ruling passions of the Hebrew soul were at Sinai, in God’s providence, fused and crystallized into the laws, customs, and worship which have been the outward covering of that soul through all Hebrew history. And undoubtedly the silence, the loneli¬ ness, the isolation, the adamantine fiber of that primeval granite entered into their conceptions of God and has kept them separate, lonely and sublimely faithful to their ideals through the centuries. Why they clung so faithfully to Moses and failed to listen to that “greater than Moses” of their own blood is only one of the mysteries of their history. For fully 1300 years Christians have kept their 246 From the Nile to Nebo shrines for them in Sinai and the Holy Land, with the unde¬ fined, inextinguishable hope that some day the ancient people would come back from their long bondage and exile of 2000 years among the nations of the earth, and find in the idealized and spiritualized Promised Land the goal of their hope and expectation — the Messiah whom somehow they failed to recognize 1900 years ago. Christian nations will gladly give them back their ancestral home, their temple and their city. Will they accept it? And if the Christian peoples of the earth wish to blot out the dark stains of persecution and misunderstanding of the Hebrew race and to study once again the mission and ideals of that ancient race, then Hebrew and Christian must go again to Sinai and kneel together in the presence of their common God. Then whatever be the flippant conception of the igno¬ rant traveller concerning the life and habits of the monks at Sinai, over their blundering and imperfect faith — per¬ haps no more blundering and imperfect than the lives of the best of us, considering our light and opportunity — will be thrown the robe of perfect charity and a crown, be¬ cause they will not have kept their vigil of thirteen centuries in vain. CHAPTER XXI THE BIBLICAL ATMOSPHERE OF SINAI While the making and setting up of the Tabernacle at Sinai does not properly fall within the discussion of this book, I cannot refrain from pointing out several important facts which in turn open up lines of argument bearing upon the historicity of the Exodus. (i) The materials of the Tabernacle are wholly those from Egypt and Sinai, and not from Arabia, Palestine or farther north and east. The Egyptians have in all ages been famous tent-makers and are to the present day. And what we call the “tabernacle” was really a “tent,” as the Revisers of our English Bible have clearly shown in the use of “tent” instead of “tabernacle.” No simpler dwelling can well be imagined, and its amplification and decoration for a religious center is wholly along Egyptian lines inside and out. (2) The Shittim wood, out of which the boards, tables, etc., of the Tabernacle were formed, is the only wood suitable for such purposes found in Sinai. Its name in Arabic is Seyyal. Now Seyyal is a derivation from the Hebrew-Arabic root “ sayl ” or “seil” meaning “torrent” or “water- spout.” Hence the Seyyal is the torrent tree , the characteristic tree of the desert wadis of Sinai, et Tih and the region of the Dead Sea. Its1 wood is heavier than water, exceeding hard, with fine grain, yellow near the sap and brown at the heart. It is never attacked by insects and is, therefore, eminently suited for furniture in a climate where insects commit such ravages as in the desert and in Palestine. The trunks of the Seyyal tree are frequently two feet thick. The value of its timber is on 1 “ H. D. B.,” Vol. I, p. 507. 247 248 From the Nile to Nebo account of its durability. It makes excellent charcoal and is, moreover, the tree which yields the famous gum Arabic. (3) Copper was being mined by the Egyptians at Wady Nasb above Wady Baba (p. 113) before and after the Exodus. (4) One of the old objections raised against the making of the Tabernacle at Sinai was the matter of the “badgers’ skins” which formed one of the coverings. As a matter of fact, badgers, found in moderate numbers in Palestine and Syria, are almost unknown in Sinai, certainly not plentiful enough in all these districts to furnish skins enough for a covering as large as that of the “tabernacle.” Such skins would, moreover, be too light for the rough desert life, and still less fitted for sandals (Ezek. 16: 10), where the same word and skin are mentioned. But it has long been known that the Hebrew word Tahash, as well as the same word in Arabic, means “dolphin,” and the Revised Version of the Bible has rightly changed the translation of “badgers’ skins” to “seal-skins,” meaning “porpoise-skins.” This particular porpoise, called by the Arabs “dugong,” is found in great numbers up and down the arms of the Red Sea, and especially in the Gulf of Akaba. Its flesh is eaten, but the most important part is the skin, which is tanned and made into the leather which our Sinai cameleers wore in the shape of sandals. There would not have been the slightest difficulty in procuring enough of these dolphin skins to make just such a covering as was required for the “tabernacle.” So here also the geography and sea-pro¬ ducts of the peninsula exactly fit the requirements for the making of the Tabernacle. And the climate of Sinai and the desert beyond, especi¬ ally in Edom and Moab, certainly required this extra heavy- leather covering in order to protect the finer inner coverings of red rams’ skins, of goats’ hair and the still more precious Oriental tapestry covered with the figures of the mystic Cherubim and woven in colors of the richest dyes, violet The Biblical Atmosphere of Sinai 249 and purple and scarlet. Curreliy, a modern traveller in Sinai,1 tells of snow and intense cold in Sinai, when the water in their tanks froze to a thickness of over an inch during the night. Palmer tells of snow and intense cold just above Petra,2 and Professor Libbey and I experienced a memorable storm in Edom.3 (5) I am also convinced for a number of good reasons that after the Children of Israel had made good their escape from Egypt and were actually in the district of Sinai, there would be no reason why they should not have backward communications with Egypt and easily secure everything that they might need from that source in the making of the Tabernacle. The actual distance for messengers or lightly laden animals would have presented no bar. That all the Children of Israel went out at one time in the Exodus is against reason and fact. A papyrus4 still gives us the names of the civil and military officers charged, in the reign of Rameses III, about a hundred years after the Exodus, with the oversight of 2083 Hebrews residing at On, who were descendants of some who did not wish or who failed to escape at the earlier date. Bezaleel, meaning “the shadow of God,” was the man chosen to do the art work of the “tabernacle” (Exodus 31: 2), and some curious light has been thrown upon his profession by the discovery of splendid specimens of the Egyptian jewellers’ art in the days of the XII Dynasty at Deir el Bahari. We know the name of the chief artist of Mentuhotep’s reign.5 He was called Mertisen, and he thus describes himself on his tombstone from Abydos, now pre¬ served in the Louvre: “I was an artist skilled in my art. I knew my art, how to represent the forms of going forth and returning, so that each limb may be in its proper place. I knew how the figure of a man should walk and the car- 1 “ P. R. S.,” pp. 231, 237. 2 “ P. D. E.,” pp. 371, 372. 3 “ J. V. and P.,” Vol. II, pp. 12-16. 4 “ G. H. B.,” Vol. I, p. 18. * 5 “ E. and W. A.,” p. 331. From the Nile to Nebo 250 riage of a woman, the poising of the arm to bring the hip¬ popotamus low, the going of the runner. I knew how to make amulets, which enable us to go without fire burning us and without the flood washing us away. No man could do this but I, and the eldest son of my body. Him has the god decreed to excel in art, and I have seen the perfection of the work of his hands in every kind of rare stone, in gold and silver, in ivory and ebony.’ ’ Now since Mertisen and his son were the chief artists of their day, it is more than probable that they were employed to decorate their King’s funerary chapel. So that in all probability the XI Dynasty reliefs from Bahari are the work of Mer¬ tisen and his son. The names of the sculptor and painter of Seti I’s temple at Abydos have been recovered and that of the sculptor of some of the tombs at Tel el Amarna, but otherwise very few names of the artists are directly associated with the temples and tombs which they decorated, and of the archi¬ tects we know little more. But one of these rare items again fits into our story in the fact that the great temple at Deir el Bahari was designed by Senmut, the chief archi¬ tect of Queen Hatshepsut, and the same architect or one of his helpers or pupils may well have reared the Hanafiyehs of Hatshepsut at Serabit. Why may not Bezaleel have been one of the school of trained artists who were employed and encouraged by Queen Hatshepsut? All of which facts fill us with expectation that future discoveries will reveal a thousand interesting coincidences that we now have no clue of. Hence it is a clear and simple fact when we say that the whole atmosphere of Sinai is that of the Bible down to the most unimportant details, and that no other combina¬ tion of mountain, desert, oasis and seashore has ever been seen or discovered which meets the requirements of the narratives. The imaginary location in “Midian” ought to be assigned to the Jerahmeelites and laid decently away for ever. CHAPTER XXII THE RAINFALL AND WATER-SUPPLY IN SINAI The rainfall in Sinai does not seem to have changed since 5000 B. C. The all-important bearing of this upon the ancient population and the numbers of the Children of Israel who went out in the Exodus has already been referred to. There are at least three lines of exploration and inves¬ tigation which contribute indirect testimony of the highest possible value — flint knapping, the inscriptions in Sinai and the traces of ancient mining enterprises. A few years ago nothing was known of paleolithic Egypt, that is, the valley of the Nile in the most ancient stone age. Many writers, adopting the idea that the paleolithic days of Egypt were contemporary with the glacial age of north¬ ern Europe, took for granted that the climate of Egypt in those days must have been entirely different from that of to-day. Instead of a dry desert on either side of the Nile, they pictured those mountain plateaus as covered with forests, through which flowed countless streams to feed the dry wadis and watercourses which empty into the Nile below. “And the flints which the Paleolithic inhabit¬ ants of the plateau forests made and used were left on the now treeless and sunbaked desert surface.” But this weak conclusion has been abandoned, and the “great forests and torrential rains” have been pushed farther back in antiq¬ uity, if, indeed, they ever had an existence at all, because it is perfectly clear that the ancient flint knappers used these already barren slopes as their open-air workshops, and that the flint cores and chips and weapons lie exactly where they fell from the flint knapper’s hand, and are but bleached and patinated by ages of fierce sunlight. 251 252 From the Nile to Nebo Now, the valley of the Nile is less than 150 miles due west from the peaks of Sinai, and we certainly are justified in assuming the same climatic condition in such a closely adjacent region. Flints gathered in Sinai point to exactly the same conclusions. The paleolithic man knapped the flints where he found them. He left the chips and the use¬ less cores on the spot. Hence the constant rainfall and dense vegetation of the paleolithic age in Sinai is a myth. The inscriptions in Sinai about Maghareh and Serabit give a double testimony. The many steles of sandstone and especially the inscriptions above the ancient mines show no signs of weathering, which would, of course, be ab¬ solutely impossible in any climate with any known rainfall. But some of the steles at Serabit, in their detailed accounts of the personnel and commissariat of the royal mining expeditions, lay great stress upon the number of animals employed in bringing water, and point unmistakably to climatic conditions exactly similar to those of to-day. The valleys and strata where copper was mined in ancient times are now well known, as are also the locations of the smelting furnaces. Now, in most instances the ore was carried long distances from mine to smelter for exactly the same reason that it would need to be carried to-day, namely, to where fuel and water existed in even the most meager quantities. The debris of smelting furnaces at the plain of el Markah and Wady Gharundal are well- known instances, pointing to ancient climatic conditions as similar, if not identical, with those of to-day. References have been and will be made to the traces of tor¬ rential floods found in the great valleys of Sinai. Twenty miles below the oasis of Feiran we saw great trunks of palm trees which had undoubtedly been carried from the oasis all that distance by angry waters. Rev. F. W. Holland, visiting the Wady Selaf in 1867, witnessed a great seil or flood which carried away an Arab encampment. Forty The Rainfall and Water-supply in Sinai 253 souls, together with many camels, sheep and cattle, perished in the waters. Mr. Holland narrowly escaped losing his life. He describes the scene as “something terrible to witness; a boiling, roaring torrent filled the entire valley, carrying down huge boulders of rock as though they had been so many pebbles, while whole families swept by, hur¬ ried on to destruction by the resistless course of the flood/’ Such calamities are, happily, exceedingly rare, but their possibility is explainable. Because the mountains of Sinai, both peaks and slopes, are of bare granite, with only the most insignificant patches of soil at rare intervals about their bases, even the lightest rainfall is shed as from an iron roof, and invariably produces the dreaded sell or water-spout in some of the surrounding valleys. Much as the thirst-parched Arabs long and pray for moisture and water, they ever dread the noise of the water-spout among these mountain peaks. While in Sinai we enquired carefully of the monks con¬ cerning the rainfall, and the head of the monastery, who has lived there since 1866, a period of 43 years, told us that not infrequently there were periods of three and four years in which no rain fell. The winter of 1907-08 was one of “much snow,” but the total fall did not exceed 20 inches. Up to February 27, 1909, neither rain nor snow had fallen during the winter of 1908-09. For the benefit of those who may follow our footsteps through Sinai I may add the following suggestions as to their water-supply: We filled our water barrels at Suez from the filtered water of the Sweet-water Canal from the Nile. Our camels drank at the Wells of Moses. Three days later, at Elim, we poured the remains of the Nile water into one barrel and refilled the second from the Elim water, which was plenty good enough for cooking purposes and even for drinking had it been necessary. This supply easily carried us through two more dry camps to the Oasis of Feiran. Here we had a general cleaning up of the water barrels and From the Nile to Nebo 2 54 filled again for the one dry camp between the oasis and Sinai. At Sinai we again filled from the cleanest of the Monas¬ tery wells, and this supplied us for two more dry camps until we reached Wady el Ain. If only caravans could make an early start from Sinai they could reach Hazeroth comfortably on the second day, but the customary delays seem almost unavoidable. Camping on the sands at Haze¬ roth would be a delightful experience, even though the baggage camels might have to make a detour to get into the oasis. Another day would carry the camp to the sea¬ shore at Nuweiba, where the well in the fort is available. We filled at Wady el Ain for the three dry camps between that and Akaba. Even with the scarcity of water, we spent our Sunday in the Coral Cove Camp, because we passed Nuweiba on Friday. Had we been one day earlier we could have reached Akaba before Sunday. As it was, we used the last drop of water in camp, excepting, of course, our personal canteens, and these were also exhausted before we reached Akaba. If travellers plan to use camels between Akaba and Ma’an they need not be troubled about the water-supply. If, however, they secure mules and horses, as we did, and are accompanied by mounted soldiers, they will do well to get out of Akaba in time to cover the five hours to Ain Haldi in Wady Yetem, which lies one hour beyond the Arab burying-ground, called Abu Jiddeh. The next day they can pitch at Guwaireh, where the water-supply is meager, in case of an Arab encampment being near by or anything in the shape of a military post, as we found there. The next day will carry the camp to the great fountains of Abul Lisan, an hour beyond Fuweileh, at the top of the pass Nakb Estar. It hardly seems necessary to repeat what has been pointed out so many times, that the Route of the Children of Israel in the Exodus must have been irrevocably fixed in Sinai, The Rainfall and Water-supply in Sinai 255 in the “Desert of the Wandering/’ about Mount Hor and in Edom and Moab, by the springs and fountains and wells of water. And these, in turn, had already determined the main lines of the great roads of antiquity. But another consideration of importance can well be urged at this point. It is an instinct of the desert with bands of Arabs, great and small, to pitch some distance away from the water- supply for considerations of greater safety. We have noted the fact in connection with the little fountain at el Buwaib, and will note the same at Fuweileh in the land of Edom. The Children of Israel did apparently the same thing here at Sinai, on the supposition that the Oasis of Feiran was the rallying place for the people with their flocks and herds, while the Tabernacle was hidden in the secluded fastnesses at Sinai. The same fact will be noticed at Kadesh Barnea, where Ain Kadis is some two hours or more east of the great roads of the desert. It may also be noted here that the whole supply along the Route would be hopelessly inadequate for 3,000,000 souls and certainly most distressingly meager for the greatly reduced numbers. The finest stream of all at the Oasis of Feiran would hardly fill a ten-inch pipe at the main source, and the stream falls only 75 meters (250 feet) within a dis¬ tance of two and a half miles. The reduced numbers could have survived on the present water-supply, but not without all the difficulties and haunting memories of the Scriptural account of that immortal pilgrimage. CHAPTER XXIII KADESH BARNEA AND THE “DESERT OF THE WANDERINGS ” It has been my aim hitherto to avoid burdening the pages of this book, and the patience of the reader, with purely technical discussions of linguistic or archaeological problems. My desire is to establish the historicity of the Exodus in its larger and stronger features for the average student of the Word of God by something of the personal touch in linking the record with the locations named therein. While for years I have eagerly desired to enter what is called the Desert of the Wanderings, I have as yet been unable to do so. I have passed completely round it, looked over it from more than one mountain peak, but it still remains for me “the promised land.” Only a few months ago I contemplated a dash, but friends and ac¬ quaintances about Jerusalem and Gaza, government and civil, declared it physically impossible in the present hostile situation of the Arab tribes toward each other and toward all foreigners. But I do not for a moment despair of enter¬ ing that land and of completing what is partially accom¬ plished in this volume and the two volumes “The Jordan Valley and Petra” — the personal examination of the Route of the Exodus from Raamses to Jericho. The section from Egypt to Sinai we have covered, and in doing so have faced all the great questions centering round the Problem of the Exodus. In the following chap¬ ters we have to deal only with the Route, and as a prelim¬ inary let us make a short review of the sources of our Bib¬ lical knowledge. 256 Kadesh Barnea and “Desert of Wanderings” 257 Exodus begins with the story of the oppression of Israel in Egypt and ends with the setting up of the Tabernacle at Sinai. Eighteen chapters describe the deliverance of the Children of Israel through Moses, and the remaining twenty- two the organization of the Israelites at Sinai. Leviticus is but a portion of the priestly law and history book embedded within the Hexateuch. Its four main divisions — the manual of offerings (1-7), the consecration of the Priesthood (8-10), the laws of ceremonial purity (11-16) and the law of holiness (17-27) — deal wholly with the organization of the worship at Sinai, and give absolutely no information concerning either the problem or route of the Exodus. The book of Numbers carries on the history of Israel in the wilderness from the second to the fortieth year of the Exodus. But in addition to the picturesque narrative, which begins properly at chapter 10 and continues through to the 25th, it also contains a large amount of statistical and legal matter. The double census as given in chapters 1 to 4 and 26 has already been dealt with in Chapter XIV, on “The Numbers of the Children of Israel,” p. 163. The other most important section of the Book of Numbers, as far as we are concerned, is the Itinerary given in chapter 33- The Book of Deuteronomy, as its name indicates, is a general restatement of the whole preceding legislation in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but it also contains in narrative form a resume (chapters 1-4) of Israel’s expe¬ riences between Horeb and the Plains of Moab. Again, in chapters 27 and 29 to 34 it gives entirely new material bearing upon the meaning of God’s dealings with the Chil¬ dren of Israel in the Exodus and the death of Moses. The primary purpose of all three books, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, being a religious one, and neither his¬ torical nor, much less, geographical, all the information gained is by following the narrative backward and forward 17 258 From the Nile to Nebo with all the clues possible, and the final test the correction or corroboration of this narrative with the land itself. (See the Itinerary by Auchincloss, Chapter VIII.) For our own purposes we have divided up the Route of the Children of Israel into four sections: (I) from Rameses to Sinai, (II) from Sinai to Akaba, (III) from Akaba to Kadesh Barnea and back, and (IV) from Akaba to Jericho. The Biblical material, however, can be much more satis¬ factorily divided into three sections: (1) from Egypt to Sinai, (2) from Sinai to Kadesh and (3) from Kadesh to Jericho. These divisions in themselves reveal much of the Divine purpose. They marched from Egypt to Sinai, where they were to receive the Law. They marched from Sinai to Kadesh with the intention of attacking the Ca- naanites. Then, as a people, after the return of the spies, they rushed prematurely to their defeat at Hormah, and de¬ layed thus their entrance into the Promised Land for many years. Even so did Moses delay their escape from a bond¬ age by his hasty killing of the Egyptian (Ex. 2 : n-14). It is of great importance, however, to note when the Bible record touches these definitely planned marches from Sinai to Kadesh and from Kadesh to Jericho, the itiner¬ aries are minute and explicit and the chronology carefully recorded. But while the record of these thirty-seven unhappy, blundering and rebellious years crowded into a few sentences the echoes of that sad period, the marks of their extreme suffering are heard and seen in all the subse¬ quent centuries of Hebrew history. The chief interest, as already hinted at, centers about the Itinerary which is found in chapter 33 of the book of Num¬ bers. It enumerates forty-one stages between Rameses, the starting-point of the Exodus, and the encampment of the Israelites by the river Jordan. It is a pure accident that the forty stations therein named coincide with the forty years which the Children of Israel spent on the way. Kadesh Barnea and “Desert of Wanderings” 259 In connection with the Itinerary there are two dates: “the date of the start (‘the fifteenth day of the first month of the year’) and the date of Aaron’s death, which took place on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year and at the thirty- third station.” Now, eleven of these stations are easily assignable to the first year: those between Egypt and Sinai; nine of them certainly belong to the last year, which leaves twenty-one belonging to the thirty-eight years of the wandering. I have already referred to the fact that the distances between camping-places do not necessarily mean a single day’s jour¬ ney, but as in modern travel through these same deserts as well as is seen clearly on the Pilgrimage Route to Mecca, it is the distance between locations where water is found sufficient for the needs of the caravans accustomed to make use of those routes. There is a curious suggestion of this fact in the Itinerary itself, where certain of the verses speak of “pitching” and others of “encamping,” which corresponds exactly to the customs of the caravans. In Numbers 11:3, 35, and 33:18, 26, 30, 34, and 35, the Itinerary speaks of camps, and in fourteen intermediate locations they simply pitched. One at least of these stages between Ezion Geber and Kadesh is 70 miles long and, of course, could not have been covered in less than six or seven days. It must be borne in mind that the route and camping- places of the Children of Israel do not include a line of cities, and that many of the names, given by the Children of Israel themselves in remembrance of local happenings within the camps, are necessarily lost; sixteen are men¬ tioned nowhere outside the Itinerary. A fair number of them have been carried forward through all history and remain the same until the present day ; others had meanings known to have been translated into other languages, and it is safe to say that out of eighty place names on or near this Itinerary forty are known and identified with all certainty, 260 From the Nile to Nebo ten more are tentatively located, another ten have been conjectured, leaving only fifteen or twenty of minor import¬ ance which are practically lost. We can easily pick from the whole number a series which fixes the general line of the route, leaving only the less important locations in be¬ tween still to be identified. As we have already seen, the Fountains of Moses, Elim, Maghareh and the Oasis of Feiran, fix the Route between Egypt and Sinai, and with just as’ much certainty, Hazeroth, Kadesh Barnea and Ezion Geber fix the general line of route in the sections 2 and 3 according to our division, while Mount Hor, Ezion Geber, Ma’an, the brook Zered, the Arnon, Dibon, Madeba and Nebo fix it without a perad venture in the fourth or last section. The greatest difficulties cluster about the route from Sinai through Hazeroth to Kadesh Barnea, where the Children of Israel spent more than thirty-seven years of the period consumed between Egypt and the Promised Land. The story of the discussions concerning the southern boundary of Palestine and Kadesh Barnea is one that would fill many volumes. The Biblical references to it might be expected to exceed those of any other location, whereas, as a matter of fact, the history of those thirty- seven years is almost a blank. Many of the important events recorded in the semi historical portions of Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are referred to this period, but whether they occurred in the first, twentieth or thirty- fifth year it is impossible to say. Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, in his volume on “Kadesh Barnea,” has covered all the Biblical indications concerning the site, together with a perfect mine of information collected out of Egyptian records, rabbinical writings and early Christian name lists. But because this region has never been invaded by a for¬ eign army since the days of Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14) and because it has lain completely outside of the stream of all modern history and is possessed by suspicious, warlike Kadesh Barnea and “Desert of Wanderings” 261 and hostile Bedawin tribes, it has dropped out of notice for a period of at least 1500 years. Since the revival of learning and geographical research, travellers at rare intervals have crossed this desert tract and brought back meager and tantalizing accounts of what they saw in the way of ancient ruins, the water-supply and the more prominent features of this unknown land. The general route taken by these older travellers was the beaten track fron Sinai northward through Nakhl to Gaza, and more rarely to Hebron. All, however, give clear in¬ dications of the fact already referred to (p. 42), that this district was most certainly crossed by several of the ancient roads of antiquity, and the more recent study of the facts reported give clear indications as to the general direction and location of those ancient roads. Chedorlaomer and his invading army found space and water enough in the vicinity of Kadesh Barnea for his great invading host, and by inference this fact easily establishes what we have hith¬ erto contended for, that this district, long before the days of the Children of Israel, contained well-known roads con¬ necting Egypt with Mesopotamia. Modern discussions and investigations make it clear that out of Egypt across this isthmus and peninsula of Sinai went at least three well-known roads. That along the seacoast north was called “the way of the land of the Philistines” (Ex. 13: 17), that through the center of the isthmus and desert, looking eastward through the delta, was the “way of Shur” (Gen. 16: 7), and that across the peninsula to the head of the Gulf of Akaba, by way of Nakhl with its secondary and better watered loop through Sinai, was the “way of the Red Sea. ” Now, it is established almost beyond a peradventure that this middle road passing through what is marked on our modern maps as the Desert of the Wandering, entered the District of Kadesh Barnea and led down across the Arabah either directly to Petra or by less easy routes which climbed through well- 262 From the Nile to Nebo known passes by way of Tafileh and Kerak (Kir-Hareseth) to Edom and Moab, and then north of the Syrian desert to Mesopotamia. Among the great explorers of this district must be ranked Robinson and Palmer. Robinson stands without a peer in the investigation and identification of Biblical sites, but in the matter of Kadesh Barnea he made perhaps the only slip in all his great task. He entered that section of the world thoroughly prepared for his work by an accurate knowledge of almost all that had ever been written or re¬ corded by the writers of all lands and languages. Palmer, whose name will be for ever connected with the Desert of the Exodus, was an explorer of equal ability, but of an en¬ tirely different type. He had given little attention to the records of the past and of other explorers, and one can but wish that for the sake of results he could have had a fraction of the accurate information possessed by Robinson. He suggests the experience of a well-educated man wholly ignorant of chemistry placed for the moment in a modern laboratory and offered an opportunity of working out the problems of chemistry, with but a suggestion of the infor¬ mation and training which had brought that laboratory into existence. His journeyings in company with Lieutenant Drake through the Desert of the Exodus are fascinating, and the amount of accurate information gathered fully justifies his claim to the great fame and admiration at¬ tached to his name. He made two memorable journeys in 1868-69 and 1869-70, and has blazed the way for all future travellers who will ever study the topography of the Exodus. His great linguistic gifts, his love for life among all manner of strange people, his passion for learn¬ ing always from men rather than from books, fitted him peculiarly for this pioneer work in the Desert of the Exodus. Twelve years after his second journey, when the British Government was facing its troublesome task of subduing the rebellion of Arabi Pasha in Egypt, Palmer was asked Kadesh Barnea and “Desert of Wanderings” 263 by the Government to assist in this task. Although in poor health he responded to the call. His mission was to enter this same desert country and by his personal influence, fortified perhaps by the use of gold, to prevent the Arab tribes from joining the rebellious Egyptians, and to secure from them a supply of camels and guides for use in the Egyptian campaign. Entering the country at Gaza, he made his way safely through the Bedawin tribes to Suez, and then returning with a Captain Gill for a second visit, both he and his companion were murdered in August, 1882, under most tragic circumstances. The British Gov¬ ernment by means of a special expedition recovered their remains, which now lie buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The absolute identification of the water-supply at Kadesh Barnea is perhaps still an open question, but the question of its general location has been settled for ever. Many, many years ago the location was sought for by name, but the wretched Bedawin, knowing of the many remains of ancient buildings, which they almost invariably referred to former Christian owners, are for ever suspicious of the coming of Christian travellers from any direction, and al¬ most fiendishly opposed to the sight of a barometer, a camera, or any sort of surveying instrument. Almost by accident clues were obtained to the existence of a plain and water-supply whose names contained the long-sought- for word, which in Arabic is the exact equivalent in letter and meaning with the ancient Kadesh. The location in general is fixed and identified by a fountain which still bears the name Ain Kadis.1 This recovery and identification, as recorded in Dr. Trum¬ bull’s fascinating volume, begins with Mr. Rowland’s 1 1 will not trouble the reader with the technicalities of language involved nor with the many forms under which this modern name appears. Those who wish to study the problem of this identification through all its ramifica¬ tions, ancient and modern, will find an overflowing abundance of material and information in the volume already referred to, “Kadesh Barnea,” by Dr. H. C. Trumbull. 264 From the Nile to Nebo famous letter written in 1845 and published as an Appendix to Williams’ “Holy City,” p. 487. This letter opened a discussion which can hardly be said to be closed after a period of more than 65 years. Dr. Trumbull, who visited Sinai in 1881 and returned by way of Nakhl, conceived the idea while in that neighborhood of making a dash for the site of Kadesh Barnea in order to verify and, if possible, end the discussion which had then continued for some 35 years. He succeeded, by much ingenuity and not a little danger and expense, in reaching all three of the great foun¬ tains in that district, the easternmost one of which is now tentatively accepted as Ain Kadis. It was after his re¬ turn, however, that he took up the study of the whole problem with the carefulness and enthusiasm which have produced the memorable volume already referred to, bearing the name of “Kadesh Barnea.” Many other travellers have attempted to penetrate this district since the death of Palmer in 1882, but that event, and the subsequent punishment of Arabs who were not perhaps the guilty individuals, has increased the diffi¬ culties of the situation to such an extent that very little of real value has been accomplished. The British Govern¬ ment, pressed by the Palestine Exploration Fund and all societies and individuals interested in Biblical problems, has issued a large map, in sections, of the Sinai Peninsula, which it has compiled from the best available informa¬ tion, but which it carefully points out cannot be con¬ sidered reliable. The Boundary Commission in 1906 replaced the stones and marks destroyed by some one connected with the Turkish Government, took careful and accurate observa¬ tions of all the prominent peaks and valleys along the new boundary line, but outside of that district the positions of all other valleys and ruins and natural objects are only approximate and the drawing of the hill features is gener¬ ally conventional. The great value of this extensive and Kadesh Barnea and “Desert of Wanderings” 265 detailed map for future explorers is in the large collection of Arabic names, which have been gathered and placed close to the districts or objects to which they belong. It is certain that many of these names will furnish clues to ancient locations and fountains connected with the history of the Children of Israel, and it is devoutly to be hoped that travellers and explorers capable of making proper use of them will gain entrance and freedom of movement all through this fascinating district. The modern camera will also bring back a wealth of pictorial information. Among the results already gathered from the books of Robinson and Palmer, and other fragmentary material, are these: The southern boundary of the Promised Land, as referred to in the surveys of Joshua, certainly hinges or pivots at Kadesh Barnea, bending toward the northeast on the one end, and then westward across the isthmus on the other, and corresponds in general to the limits of the arable and agricultural district of the Negeb or South Country. The district south of this boundary line is the desert proper, and contains large sections of really mountainous district in which are found oases similar but much smaller than similar districts and oases about Sinai. Moreover, almost the whole desert, so called, shows traces of ancient cities and fortifications which may easily date to the period of the Exodus. And there dwelt the Amorites and Hivites, into conflict with whom the Children of Israel came during the period of their wanderings. The whole district is so bare and destitute of water, which necessarily includes other means of sustenance, that it fulfills admirably “that great and terrible wilderness” in which the Children of Israel spent the weariest years of their history, which ex¬ perience has always been and will always be inseparably connected with their bondage in Egypt and deliverance prior to their entrance into the Promised Land. There is little doubt also, when the light of real dis¬ covery is focused upon this section of the Route, that many 266 From the Nile to Nebo interesting facts will appear which, in turn, will modify to a greater or lesser extent our understanding and conception of that which preceded and that which followed their so¬ journ at Kadesh Barnea. And here, in this vicinity, if ever, will be found material remains in the shape of lost or mislaid weapons, utensils, jewelry or coins of the Children of Israel and their sojourn in the Wilderness. Just as the sands of Egypt have covered and kept for us the marvelous monuments of Egypt, and just as the hieroglyphics of once unknown languages have for us un¬ locked their treasures, so also this desert waste may yet reveal in hitherto unknown forms information long desired concerning this wonderful event of human history. Once again we are brought face to face with the fact that the Children of Israel were not “wanderers” in a trackless waste during the whole of the forty years. There was enough desert and enough hardship to justify every ref¬ erence made to it, but it is now clear that Kadesh Barnea was one among a number of small oases which supplied an altogether inadequate and precarious water-supply for even the reduced numbers of the Israelites. I am using oases in the sense of low valleys or pockets among the desert mountains where a small amount of moisture was collected and retained. But if present climatic conditions pre¬ vailed in those days, as we have every reason to believe, there must have been many a year in those thirty-seven when half the oases were completely dried up and the people with their flocks reduced to dire extremity. And under all circumstances, if any of the ancient inhabitants remained after the Hebrew invasion, then there must have been incessant strife over the wells and water-supply. Instead of “wandering,” in the sense “of having lost one’s way,” they roamed from district to district with their flocks, but returned sooner or later to the central encamp¬ ment at Kadesh Barnea, where, no doubt, the ark remained during most of the period. Numbers 14:33 gives the Kadesh Barnea and “Desert of Wanderings’’ 267 proper sense of the word, where the Revised Bible, as also the Arabic, places “shepherds” in the text and “wanderers” in the margin. Furthermore, the Children of Israel openly rebelled against Moses, preferred to choose another leader and return to Egypt (Num. 14:4), but for some reason abandoned this and completed the weary years about Kadesh Barnea, and from that spot made their final march around Edom to the plains of Moab and down past Nebo to the Jordan over against Jericho. With the exception of Sinai, no spot is more memorable in the history of the Exodus than Kadesh Barnea. Here, at Kadesh, Miriam died (Num. 20:1); here Korah and his company rebelled (Num. 16) and, in God’s providence, perished by sudden death. It was from Kadesh that the spies were sent in advance to view the Promised Land and to report to Moses on the natural features and the inhabi¬ tants of Canaan (Num. 13). It was at Kadesh (Num. 20) that a miraculous supply of water was obtained when ap¬ parently the ordinary fountains had dried up. If the re¬ bellion and destruction of Korah and his company was con¬ nected with an earthquake, then this event may have had something to do with the blocking up of the underground channels by the falling in of the lime-stone strata. What¬ ever may have been the cause, drought or earthquake, the restoration of the water flow was an extraordinary event, occurring at the moment of the interposition of Moses by the command of God. And in some way Moses acted at variance with the precise direction to “speak unto the rock” (Num. 20: 8) and struck it with the rod, which cost him his doom, never to enter the Promised Land, but only to see it from afar. CHAPTER XXIV AARON'S HILL, KIBROTH-HATTAAVAH AND THE DESERT We had set Tuesday, March 2d, as the day of our de¬ parture from the Monastery. On that morning I took another walk through the lower buildings of the rambling fortress-monastery in company with Brother Gabriel, who gave me some fine gnarled lumps of olive wood and a good piece of almond tree, which we sawed with no little trouble from a log in the winter wood-pile of the monks. At our final call on the Abbot we inserted our names in the visitors’ book which has been kept since 1897 only. Outside the Monastery in the courtyard was a strikingly motley scene. Sheikh Musa Bu Nasir and his son Ibrahim, Moses and Abraham, stood like statues, speaking now and then in low tones. Numberless cameleers were moving back and forth to the Monastery garden, from which they were carrying our camp bundles to the courtyard, where the loads were being made up and divided. As many as thirty were thus engaged, while fully as many more were knocking at the outer gate, seeking admission. They had gathered from all quarters of the peninsula, summoned by their own wireless telegraphy, each one claiming or hoping for a place in our caravan to Akaba. The seventeen or eighteen who had come with us from Suez had received their share from the expedition, and none but the head cameleer, Sheikh Hammadi, was to go on with us. The Prior of the Monastery was laying down the law to the Arabs and now and then signalling to the gateman to admit a few more of the hungry fellows. He also had many items of business to transact with the Arabs, who on too many 268 Aaron’s Hill, where Golden Calf stood Tomb of the Neby Salih Aaron’s Hill, Kibroth-Hattaavah and the Desert 269 occasions shunned the Monastery because of little debts, promises unfulfilled, or duties left undone. The semi-silence was oppressive and so unusual that we almost wished for the customary wrangle and noise. But in the presence of the Great Sheikh, whose single word or gesture was to determine for them the momentous matter of going with us or not, all wrangling and noise were bottled up until the caravan was fairly away from the Monastery. Hammadi, the head of the cameleers, was being charged with his duties about setting up and taking down the camp, bringing water and the round of customary services. Perhaps no one was repressing more inexpressible feelings than our dragoman, Milhem, whose pocket was deeply con¬ cerned. Between Suez and Sinai twenty-one camels had carried us and our outfit, and ordinarily we should have needed less on the next stage because certain heavy stores had been lightened by what we had consumed, but the Arabs were too much for him, and the loads were so broken up and rearranged that twenty-two camels were needed, and since every camel meant £2, Milhem was correspond¬ ingly depressed. After we had attended to our personal baggage we thought we might as well say good-bye to our Monastery friends and the Great Sheikh, and not embarrass them in their final financial discussions with our dragoman. So we bade them a formal good-bye and moved out of the enclosure with our riding camels and turned reluctantly away from the interesting scene and surroundings. A ride of some twenty minutes brought us to the mound seen in Fig. 53, which is Aaron’s Hill, the traditional site of the Golden Calf. It is guarded by a mean little building containing a tomb and the usual votive offerings of the region, bits of rags and camel trappings. From the top of this mound a most comprehensive view is obtained of the whole plain of er Rahah, and it is certain that any ceremony performed upon its summit could be plainly seen by all the people standing 270 From the Nile to Nebo in the plain before it. It is also fully as certain that any number from 100,000 to 500,000, or perhaps three times that number, could have assembled in the plain as spectators and all have been in full view of Aaron’s Hill and the “ Mountain of the Law.” It was more than two hours before Milhem and the cara¬ van appeared behind us, coming slowly down from the Monastery. When Milhem arrived it was plain from his flushed face and crestfallen air that he had had a severe tiff with the Arabs in the final adjustment of the loads and the number of camels in our caravan. We had had already a hint of the difficulties in the shape of a messenger who came for some extra pieces of gold, but Milhem’s descrip¬ tion of the difficulties and the wrangling between the prior and the Arabs and himself was worth a great deal to hear. It was the old story of a hundred different bargains and sublettings, by means of which various Arabs, by an ex¬ change of camels and exchange of cameleers, secured another trial balance in their everlasting adjustment of inter-tribal and inter-family accounts, which have been opened and tangled for a hundred years and will continue so until the whole lot of them are swept from the face of the earth. Hence it was 12 o’clock when our caravan turned out of the little valley into the great Valley Wady esh Sheikh. Here we turned to the right, between the high cliffs of Jebel Fureia on the left and the Mountain of the Cross on the right. The valley at this point is not more than a quarter of a mile wide and bears generally toward the northeast. We followed Wady esh Sheikh for about two hours until opposite the tomb of Sheikh Salih, which is one of the most sacred spots for the Arabs in all the peninsula. It is a small ugly whitewashed stone hut (Fig. 54) and, like all the other sheikhs’ tombs in Sinai, makes no pretence at structural beauty. The tomb consists of two small rooms or buildings, in one of which the coffin or tomb of the Aaron’s Hill, Kibroth-Hattaavah and the Desert 271 saint is surrounded by a wooden partition hung with cloth, on which are suspended handkerchiefs, camels’ halters and other offerings of the Bedawin. Palmer at¬ tempts to identify this Bedawin saint with Moses himself, and there are many considerations which bring this within the realm of possibilities. The meaning of Neby Salih is “the righteous prophet.” Palmer also gives an interesting account of the annual festival which takes place at the tomb and is considered the great national event of the year. The Towarah Arabs come from every quarter of the peninsula accompanied by their wives and families and spend several days in feasting and festival about the tomb.1 Several travellers have spoken in their writings as though these Sinai Arabs, while mainly Moslems, made no exhibi¬ tion of their religion in the observance of prayer or other¬ wise. Certainly we could not agree with this observation, because again and again during our intercourse with them, in fact, I might say daily, our head cameleer Hammadi led all who were willing through the regular Moslem prayers. More than twenty times during our trip I was awakened before the dawn by the voice of these men at their prayers. They did not, however, kneel at noon nor at sunset, and it may be that other travellers failing to note this exceeding early morning prayer, have made the mistaken remark referred to. Beyond Sinai the Route of the Exodus for a journey of three or four days is fixed beyond a peradventure by the configuration of the valleys, the one or two well-fixed locations and the water-supply. The route leaving Sinai trends generally northward and leaves the valley exactly at the tomb of Neby Salih. Crossing the little spur to the left of the tomb (Fig. 54), we entered the side valley of Wady es Suweiriyeh, in which, after passing a small well which never fails and two small enclosed gardens, we 1 “ P. D. E. p. 218. 272 From the Nile to Nebo climbed the narrow roadway, and in a little more than an hour reached the watershed. All the valleys through which we had passed between Suez and Sinai drained into the Gulf of Suez. Beyond this divide the waters flowed eastward into the Gulf of Akaba, and from this watershed our pathway was almost a continual descent for the next three days. Beyond this divide the aspect of the country changed instantly. We looked over into a wide plateau filled with thorn bushes and herbage where grazed hundreds of camels and thousands of sheep, lambs and she asses. There was a complete absence of the ravines and shattered rocky masses among which we had been travelling for so many days. The whole sky line took on a softer, smoother look, and the slopes and bases of the mountains lost the sharp, for¬ bidding aspect of Sinai. We had passed suddenly from the granite into the limestone formation, and an hour and a half later, at our camping-place, our barometers regis¬ tered a drop of 1400 feet below our camp in Sinai. Here, on one of the elevated stretches of this water-shed, has been discovered another interesting series of ancient in¬ scriptions. The Arabs know the spot by the name of Er Weis el Ebeirig. On the summit of a small hill is an erec¬ tion of rough stones surmounted by a conspicuous white block shaped like a pyramid, and extending for miles. The surrounding slopes are covered with small enclosures of stones.1 Palmer and Drake carefully examined this whole district, and found abundant evidence of charcoal marking ancient fire-places, settling the fact of its being a deserted camp. And outside the camp numbers of stone heaps, which from their shape and position could be nothing else than graves. Arab tradition declares these curious remains to be “the relics of a large pilgrim or Hajj caravan, who, in remote ages, pitched their tents at this spot on their way to Ain 1 “ P. D. E.,” p.212. Aaron’s Hill, Kibroth-Hattaavah and the Desert 273 Hudherah (Hazeroth) and who were soon afterward lost in the Desert of the Tih and never heard of again.” For many reasons Palmer and others believe this legend to be authentic, referring to the Israelites, and that in the scattered stones of this secluded spot we have found real traces of the Exodus. The reference to the caravan as having “lost their way,” which is the same Arabic verb through which the name Tih or “Wilderness of the Wander¬ ing” is derived, is certainly a striking fact. Description of these wanderers as a “Hajj” caravan, apparently con¬ necting them with the Moslem pilgrimage, is not a diffi¬ culty, because this very term “Hajj” has its exact counter¬ part in the Hebrew, where it means “a festival,” and is “the identical word used in Exodus 10:9 to express the ceremony which the Children of Israel alleged as their reason for wishing to leave Egypt, viz.: To hold a Feast unto the Lord in the Wilderness.’ ” We know nothing of Muhammadan caravans in modern times that have passed this way, but the Children of Israel who journeyed to Hazeroth did so, and here comes in a double confirmation, making it certain that this and no other was the Route of the Children of Israel on leaving Sinai. We have already referred to the coming of the quails across the Akaba arm of the Red Sea, which must have been about the month of May, when the quails migrate north¬ ward. The Children of Israel remained, as we know, about Sinai for a period of eleven months, and here, just a year later, they have a second experience with another migration of the same migratory birds. It is to just such a grassy and herbage-covered plateau that these great flocks of quails would naturally make their way, so that there is no good reason for the contention of the critics that the two accounts (Exodus 16: 13; Numbers 11:31-35) refer to one and the same event, because there is exactly a year between them, and, as has been shown, the location of the first event was the natural landing-place for the quails after 18 274 From the Nile to Nebo their flight over the arm of the Red Sea; so here also is another natural resting-place just beyond the bare granite mountains where the quails would naturally congregate on their migratory journey northward. Hence it is much more than probable that here occurred the event referred to in Numbers n: 31, where “there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day’s journey on this side, and a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp and about two cubits above (meaning flying two cubits above) the face of the earth. And the people rose up all that day and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he that gathered least gathered ten homers, and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. And the name of that place was called Kibroth- hattaavah; because there they buried the people that lusted.” This, then, is almost certainly Kibroth-hattaavah or the “graves of lust,” because here “ they buried the peo¬ ple that lusted.” After what has been written concerning the desolation and changeless aspect of the desert between Suez and Sinai, as well as the facts recorded at Maghareh and Serabit, of ancient ruins untouched by human hands since the 12 th century B. C., it is neither strange nor impossible that the remains of this particular camp should remain undisturbed until this present day. Had these events occurred in any of the winding valleys of Sinai, they must, of necessity, have disappeared under the drifting sands, or have been swept away for ever by the mountain torrents which devas¬ tate these valleys at more or less remote periods of time. As a matter of fact, these interesting remains are found along the reaches of the watershed just outside the granite district of Sinai, where naught but the winds and the sun- Aaron’s Hill, Kibroth-Hattaavah and the Desert 275 shine have disturbed them through all the centuries which have passed. For an hour beyond this interesting spot on the water¬ shed we continued our way among the hill tops. The backward views of the jagged granite sky line and of Sinai were grand, especially as more and more of the rolling plateau fell behind us and made a softer foreground for the weird mountain masses beyond. Leaving the water¬ shed, we struck other long sloping plains, and after an hour and a quarter along this gentle descent we reached our camp at the head of Wady es Saal. On our way down we had noted the tracks of many ga¬ zelles and toward sunset heard the familiar call of the male partridge. Shouldering both shot-gun and rifle, I took a long stroll through the hills on the left of our camp, but was not fortunate enough to get sight of either gazelle or bird. The next day, however, as we wound our way through the narrow valley, I did succeed in bagging sev¬ eral of these splendid, gamey birds. Our chief occupation in that morning ride was looking for game, watching the gradual fall of our barometers and marking the greatly changed appearance of the landscape by limestone and sandstone slopes instead of granite cliffs. About noon we faced a long hill or mountain which apparently completely blocked the widening valley as we moved toward the northeast. It was capped by a remarkable flat table-like covering of red stone, either sand¬ stone or granite, from 30 to 50 feet thick. We should like to have climbed and more carefully examined the mass. At luncheon time we found a little nook on the side of the main valley and took luncheon under the shadow of a most remarkable bit of sandstone rock. Elsewhere (p. 63) I have dwelt upon the wonderful carving power of the desert winds, when converted by means of the shifting sand into a natural sandblast, even upon the hardest granite. But in Wady es Saal we noted the same marvelous action in the 276 From the Nile to Nebo softer sandstone. In the little nook where we stopped for luncheon there was an isolated mass of whitish sandstone not less than 15 feet high, shaped like a human neck and head, over which seemed to have been thrown a Brobdig- nagian wig of reddish hair. On closer inspection it turned out to be (see Fig. 55) the most remarkable specimen of wind carving that any of us had ever seen or heard of. The softer whitish sandstone underneath had been cut away until the upper tufts of the negligent sandstone wig stood out in extremely natural relief, as can easily be seen from the shadows in the photograph. The size of the detached mass can be understood better by comparing the middle squatting figure, which is that of Milhem gathering up the remains of our luncheon. Mr. Taylor, with his wide curtained hat, is seen on the left, while Dr. Goucher was engaged in photographing the same object. Robinson1 refers to the strict honesty of the Bedawin among themselves, however little regard they may have to the rights of property in others. He instances the fact that if an Arab’s camel should die on the road and he cannot remove the load, he simply draws a circle in the sand round about and leaves it, if necessary, for months, and in passing through Wady es Saal on his way to Akaba he saw a black tent hung in a tree. His guides told him that it was there a year before and would never be stolen. At somewhere about the same spot we were surprised by seeing a- good number of charcoal bags, axes and other im¬ plements of charcoal making, hung among the trees. We naturally looked about for the owners of this property, and, seeing no one, asked the meaning of it. Our cameleers gave us practically the same answer, and added that we had met the owners of these bags a day beyond Feiran where we had seen them carrying loads of charcoal to the Suez market, and that they never hesitated leaving their 1 “ Biblical Researches,” Vol. I, p. 142. A Wig of Stone carved by the Winds “The Hill of the Hajj’’ Pilgrims Aaron’s Hill, Kibroth-Hattaavah and the Desert 277 surplus bags and tools by the wayside until they returned from their journey to Suez. We left the Wady es Saal (2985 feet) at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, where we swung eastward; bearing to the northeast we slowly climbed a rocky slope of another watershed where our barometers registered 3084 feet, and in about twenty-five minutes we began to drop from the watershed into Wady Genah, by a narrow path winding among the hillocks on either side of it. These hillocks are masses of grunstein capped with sandstone. Out of Wady Genah we passed into Wady Muarra or Murrah, a sandy region full of low ridges and dotted with hills and weird crags of various colored sandstone. Other travellers have often missed their way at this spot. The district would be a fearful one in which to meet a sandstorm such as we encountered at the Wells of Moses. Our course led over another sandy watershed and into Wady Shukaa, an open sandy plain extending to the foot of the Tih plateau perhaps an hour away, which here kept its well-known character of a cliff or wall. Swinging toward the left we gradually approached a most prominent and strange look¬ ing isolated mass of colored sandstone a mile or two away from the base of the great limestone cliff of the plateau, where our tents had already been pitched for the night (Fig. 56). The nearer we came, the more beautiful ap¬ peared this detached mountain of sandstone with our white tents gleaming at its base. Although the films for my swing camera were rapidly growing less, I took a view in the afternoon light (Fig. 57) which gives a suggestion of the mass and the surrounding plain, with the wall of the Tih plateau visible in the distance behind and to the right. This many colored mass is called Hudheibat Flajjaj, “the hill of the Hajj pilgrims,” again reminding us of the tradition which clings to Kibroth-hattaavah. It was one of the most weird and memorable camping-places in all our 278 From the Nile to Nebo journey. Waterless, silent, desolate, and yet possessing the fascinations of the desert to an overmastering degree. Again and again during the night I stepped out of my tent to enjoy the beauties of the scene. The vari-colored sandstone and our barometers had silently (from 5200 feet at Sinai to 2600 at this desert camp) told us plainly that we had reached one of the geological bays in which nature had deposited the same sandstone strata on the west side of the continuation of the Arabah as those found on the east side which contain the glories of Petra.1 These variegated strata in this isolated mass were undoubtedly of the same age and origin. It seemed like getting nearer home to find the same beautiful effects that make Petra an ineffaceable memory of beauty — “a rose red city half as old as Time.” During the afternoon and after sunrise the next day we could not but mark and enjoy what in other lands and times had seemed only a bit of poetic fancy, but was now a delicious and never-to-be-forgotten experience, ‘The shadow of this great rock in a weary land.” 1 “ J. V. and P.,” Vol. II, pp. 1 14-143. CHAPTER XXV THE OASIS OF HAZEROTH We left our camp by the “great rock” at 7 A. M. and for about an hour kept in an open valley sloping southward. Then we climbed a slope which bore nearly eastward and in half an hour entered Wady Guline, a narrow shallow valley descending to the northeast. After passing beyond a flat table-like hill (8.45 A. M.) we crossed a stony divide and into what are called Mutalia Hadrah, “the goings up to Hudherah,” a number of sand-covered slopes which narrow into a sort of pass. At 10.15 A. M., a little over three hours from our desert camp, we had another tiresome stretch over the sandy plains, and winding among weird sandstone cliffs and crags we entered the break in the lime¬ stone hills and suddenly looked down into one of the most beautiful and romantic nooks of the peninsula. It was Ain Hudherah, the Hazeroth of the Exodus (Num. n: 35, 12: 16), where Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. Here Miriam was stricken “leprous as white as snow” and “shut up without the camp seven days, and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again.” Now the exceeding great importance of this location is the fact that it fixes the Route of the Children of Israel when they left Sinai. It is the third station in the Itin¬ erary (Num. 33), and either four or five days from that mountain. The identity of the Arabic and Hebrew names is beyond question, and the distance of about eighteen hours from Sinai fits the documents as the key fits the lock And, as we shall find, the meaning of the word 279 280 From the Nile to Nebo Hazeroth (“walled enclosures”) matches the natural fea¬ tures with a nicety that surprises and delights. Many travellers, like Robinson, were led by their guides and cameleers over the rough slopes and ravines to the east without ever suspecting that at least at one point they were within fifteen minutes of the cleft through which one could view this charming specimen of an oasis and about which hang memories of this rebellious and then repentant Miriam, the sister of Moses. Those who cross the desert below and east of the oasis have noted the many “paths,” called “Mawared el Hudhera,” leading to the famous spot, and many have drunk from its limpid waters without see¬ ing it, who would have given half their journey to have entered the charming nook. As far as is known, Palmer and Holland (1870) seem to be the first Europeans who ever visited it. This fact strikingly illustrates the way in which misunderstanding and suspicion can grow up concerning the existence and location of such a fountain as Ain Kadis — Kadesh Barnea. Some traveller on good terms with his guides is shown a nook or a fountain that is absolutely denied to other travellers years afterward. We had this same experience with guides in Petra, who frequently assured us that there were no more sculptures or excava¬ tions in a certain direction, where we afterward saw some of the most interesting things in the Rock City. So I am sure that never in all our long journey did we so quickly dismount from our camels and unpack our cameras as we did that day (March 4, 1909) when we peeped through that interesting cleft in the white limestone and looked from the edge of the cliff down into the oasis of Ain Hud- herah. Panorama 58 was taken with the swing camera from a point a little lower down than where we obtained our first glimpse, and still fully half a mile away from the little oasis and at least 300 feet above it. The little patch of palm trees in exactly the center of the photo marks the location of the flowing fountain. One of our camels can The Oasis of Hazeroth 281 be seen coming round from the left toward Dr. Goucher, leaning against the rock. While below, half-way to the oasis, stands a second camel, just where the winding road emerges from the sandstone ravines and gullies down which we wound for fully half an hour before we emerged upon the white and yellow sands. Panorama 59 gives a nearer view and reveals the “ walled enclosure” feature of the oasis, which has led one recent traveller to call the gigantic cavity a “bowl of rocks.” As a matter of fact the cavity is a rough parallelogram, with the cliff rising 300 feet on three of the sides. The side from which we are looking is about 300 feet long, the longer side some 2000, and the farther end not less than 800 feet. The walls, like the cavity at Petra, are of sand¬ stone, and much of the great charm of the place is due to the brilliant coloring. These rocks, heavily stained with iron, have the effect in the brilliant sunshine of marbles on a gigantic scale. The sands beneath, the result of the mouldering rock, lose their coloring and are a brilliant yellowish white in the clear noonday light. Figure 61 gives a bit of the winding road on the way down, and Figure 62 the charming natural gateway through which we entered the beautiful oasis. Panorama 60, taken from a point over against the rocky wall, shows the double group of palm trees, perhaps 200 in all, which get their life from the fountain which eternally fights its way through the drifting white sands. Among the palm trees were the red blossoms of the pomegranate and other smaller trees and shrubs, forming a bewitching mass of beautiful green in its frame of desolation. Our barometers at the fountain registered 690 meters or about 2265 feet. Palmer,1 who saw it toward sunset, was deeply im¬ pressed with the beauty of the scene, and described how “through a steep and rugged gorge, with almost perpen¬ dicular sides, we looked down upon a wady-bed that winds X“P. D. E.,” p. 214. 282 From the Nile to Nebo along between fantastic sandstone rocks, now rising in the semblance of mighty walls or terraced palaces, now jutting out in pointed ridges — rocky promontories in a sandy sea. Beyond this lies a perfect forest of mountain peaks and chains, and on their left a broad white wady leads up toward the distant mountains of the Tih. But the great charm of the landscape lies in its rich and varied coloring; the sandstone, save where some great block has fallen away and displayed the dazzling whiteness of the stone beneath, is weathered to a dull red or violet hue, through which run streaks of the brightest yellow and scarlet, mixed with rich dark purple tints. Here and there a hill or dike of green stone, or a rock of rosy granite, contrasts or blends harmoniously with the rest; and in the midst, beneath a lofty cliff, nestles the dark green palm grove of Hazeroth. This picture, framed in the jagged cleft and lit up by the evening sun, with the varied tints and shades upon its mountain background, and the awful stillness that might be seen as Egypt’s darkness could be felt, was such a landscape as none but the Great Artist’s hand could have designed.” The main stream of the fountain comes from a small tunnel, at the inner end of which is a cleft in the apparently solid rock. Outside the tunnel is also a deep open cutting for some 30 feet, and then begin the gardens where a deaf and dumb Bedawy watched the few spots sown with wheat, turning the stream from place to place until it was lost in the drifts of thirsty white sand. Because of the two groups of palms it would almost seem that there was a double fountain or some sort of a tunnel which carried the precious water across the strip of sand which lies between the two groups. The weary traveller coming upon this delightful nook from any point of the compass will never forget the sight of the wonderful little oasis. Palmer noted the remains of several well-constructed walls which he suggests point to a former and perhaps I he Oasis of Hazeroth— Note double clumps of trees. Water issues just behind largest trees in center The Oasis of Hazeroth 283 Christian occupation of the place. “The present owners, two members of the Emzeineh tribe, took us to see a large crack in the flat surface of the rock behind the spring, and called the Bab er Rum or ‘Christian’s Gate.’ They say that the ancient inhabitants opened a door in the mountain and constructed a passage through it to their own country, Rum (or Asia Minor), and, having built a city within the subterranean depths and conveyed thither an incalculable treasure, they closed it up after them by the same magical arts which had enabled them to effect an entry.” At least four well-known roads converge here in the oasis ; the one we had followed from Sinai and the one we took northward to Akaba, then through a nagb or pass up into the Tih plateau runs a trail which soon separates into two roads, one of which makes straight for Suez and the other for Gaza and the borders of Palestine. This latter road is called “derb Ghazzy,” or the Shammiyeh, that is, leading to the left when our face is toward the sunrising. Naoum Beg Shucair assured us that these two distances to Suez and Gaza were practically equal, and we received the same answer from our guides and cameleers. The Arab can often give you a relative estimate when asked at any point on a road concerning the distance to a known location in one direction and a known location in another, but he cannot give any accurate estimate in hours, much less in miles, as we measure. The importance of this matter of the roads lies in the possibility of the Children of Israel having turned into the “desert of the Wanderings” at this point, and thus of reach¬ ing Kadesh Barnea by a route other than that we were now following to Ezion Geber. Another reader may have asked, “How could even your reduced numbers of the Children of Israel ever be ac¬ commodated at such an oasis?” The answer, again, is a simple one and comes easily to one who has any real knowl¬ edge of nomad life. At Sinai I pointed out the fact that 284 From the Nile to Nebo while the Tabernacle may have stood in the Plain of er- Rahah before the ‘traditional Mountain of the Law,” the main encampment must have been at the oasis of Feiran, with perhaps smaller encampments all the way to Sinai. So here at Hazeroth, while only a small portion of the host could have encamped within “the enclosure,” there are a hundred wide spaces within a few hours’ journey of the fountain where all the Children of Israel could have abun¬ dant room. Nomads are not as dependent upon water for drinking purposes, much less for washing, as we dwellers in other lands. The most important, nay the only import¬ ant, matter is to get water for their flocks. A Bedawin has been known to live days on milk alone, but his flocks must have water. Now, with such a water-supply as at Hazer¬ oth almost any number of flocks could be cared for. For all day at such watering-places there is often an almost unbroken succession of shepherds, who lead flock after flock to the troughs, and without delay move onward and make way for others. And I can well imagine that the Children of Israel, journeying as they must have done, would have been days arriving at Hazeroth and days in leaving such a spot with their flocks. And I am fully prepared to agree that the locations mentioned in the Itinerary of Numbers 33 are in every instance the resting- places of the Ark and the Tabernacle, which, after Sinai, was the visible center of the moving host, no matter how far ahead some detachments may have gotten or how far behind others. This supposition and explanation is, to my mind, the only one and the complete one to explain the large number of stations (20 stages) between Sinai and Ezion Geber. Taberah (Numbers 11:3) and Kibroth- hattaavah are two stops between Sinai and Hazeroth, a distance of eighteen hours by camel, much of which was through a comparatively open country. But as the great host entered the narrower valleys they could not possibly move a total distance or more than three or four hours daily, Steep Descent into the Oasis Natural Gateway to Hazeroth The Oasis of Hazeroth 285 and hence fully twenty stops or stages would be made before they reached Ezion Geber, which, according to our modern camel trail, is eight days’ going from Sinai. This seems to me a much more reasonable explanation than to force the Route up into the desert plateau, where the Children of Israel must “wander” in order to get the stages in. And the reason why we have as yet picked up only four or five of the ancient names on this section of the Route is the simple fact that the locations were most of them named from local or transitory events within the host, in just the same way as we travellers name our own desert camps when we settle down in the desert away from any well-known natural objects. CHAPTER XXVI FROM HAZEROTH TO EZION GEBER The most natural and easy gateway into or out of the Oasis of Hazeroth or Hudherah is the valley of the same name, which, beginning at the oasis, slopes almost due north for some two hours (5 miles) and empties into Wady Ghazaleh. During these two hours our barometers made a drop from 690 meters (2265 feet) to 535 meters (1755 feet) at the junction of the two valleys. Then we followed Wady Ghazaleh for three hours and a quarter as it wound be¬ tween its almost perpendicular walls of sandstone until it ended in Wady el Ain, where we pitched our camp above the fountains and at an elevation of only 250 meters (800 feet) above the level of the sea. This day proved to be another of those strikingly im¬ pressive sections of our journey. The country through which we passed is a frightful desert. In some nooks of the two valleys there were herbs and shrubs, but by far the greater part was endless stretches of sand between rugged sandstone hills, completely destitute of any trace of vege¬ tation. There was not the slightest difficulty in finding the road, because it is one of nature’s own roadways. The valley of Huderah, with its wide, gently sloping stretches opening into that of Ghazaleh, whose perpendicular walls of sandstone now and then approach each other so close that in some places it might be closed by a gate. To ride for half an hour through such sublime scenery is im¬ pressive, but to keep it up for some six or seven hours, as we did that day, is to carry for ever some indelible im¬ pressions of indescribable grandeur. On the whole, the 286 From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber 287 mountains and valleys descending to the east from the great Sinai mass are much more sublimely grand and im¬ pressive than those which we ascended from the west or Suez side. Wady Ghazaleh opened finally into Wady el Ain, or Wetir, which is the great drain or trunk valley into which a perfect tangle of valleys empty themselves from the mountainous region lying between two parallel ridges of the southern range of the Tih. The upper parts of the great valley system are said to resemble Feiran in its brook and luxuriant vegetation. A road leads through this valley across the southern border of the Tih to the monas¬ tery of Sinai. Another branch of the same joins the Suez-Akaba pilgrim route for a distance and then across the desert by the same trail, as already referred to as turn¬ ing up from Hazeroth. Still another road, up the Wady el Ain, swings northeast to a point called Mafrak, or “the cross roads,” where the Hajj route and two other desert trails come together on the boundary line between Turkey and Egypt. This Wady el Ain district, with its network of valleys, will yet yield some interesting facts concerning the Exodus, because it is a great natural highway leading down from the Desert of the Wandering to the seacoast in the direction and vicinity of Ezion Geber. The amphitheater formed by the junction of Wady Ghazaleh and Wady el Ain and another valley, called Nahhailah, was a much more magnificent and impressive spot than we had any expectation of seeing. Books of travel seem more than usually confused about this vicinity, and the names on all maps still need extensive revision. Wady el Ain and Wady Wetir seem to be the same, and Robinson’s Wady es Saideh seems to be still a third name. We camped on a raised gravel bed; eastward and across from our left were a large number of palm and seyyal trees. Two or three families of poor Arabs were living among the trees, and the sole item of information I could 288 From the Nile to Nebo extract from them was that the fountain at this point was called Furtaga, a name which I have not seen recorded anywhere. Some ten minutes below our camp were three or four holes in a bed of gravel where there was really an abundance of what might be excellent water were it not for the Arabs, who run their camels into it and deposit all manner of filth about it. We filled our two barrels early in the morning and took in a minimum of uncleanness. This supply was to last us through three dry camps until we reached Akaba. We left the fountain at 8 A. m. and made our way down the winding valley, fully as grand and sublime as the Wady Ghazaleh above. At one point the whole valley was con¬ tracted between enormous masses of rock to the width of only io or 12 feet. At several points the valley doubled on itself and explained for us the meaning of some appar¬ ently well-trodden paths which led up steep slopes to ap¬ parently nowhere. They were simply short cuts by which those on foot could save a mile or two in their progress toward the sea. At one point our attention was caught and fixed (for any sign of human or vegetable life on these dreary slopes seemed miraculous) by the sight of a man running up a short cut, disappearing and then reappearing beyond in an apparently desperate attempt to get ahead of us. Our first thought was, of course, “robbers,” and we kept a sharp lookout during the next few hours. The explanation will be found a page or two farther on. At a hundred points in this winding valley we expected to get a glimpse of the sea, for our barometers were rapidly sinking and the scent of the salt water came now and then in whiffs to our doubly sensitive nostrils. It was almost three hours before we saw through the wider opening the gleam of the water, and exactly four hours to the seashore. We had climbed from Suez to Sinai (5100 feet) and the top of Jebel Musa (7363 feet), and in three and a half days From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber 289 we had come down the 5100 feet without an accident to our slow plodding camels. (See plate facing p. 24.) Our barometers, eased of their tension, settled quickly to the cipher and took a good rest along the seashore before we began to climb into Edom beyond Akaba. We were beyond the range of guide-books and nothing had prepared our eyes or minds for the sight that next greeted us along the beautiful shore of the gulf. Not more than two miles to our left and northward we saw another oasis of palm trees sitting almost in the sea, and just behind it a large square fortress-like building over which floated what we knew later to be the Egyptian flag. We had heard and seen the name Nuweibeh, but it was only a name and nothing more. As we approached our curiosity increased, until we finally dismounted among the palm trees before the door of the fort and were welcomed by the garrison and some Arabs from the neighborhood. We soon learned the story. When England entered Egypt after the bombardment of Alexandria on July n, 1882, she found that one of her duties was to see the Egyptian caravan to Mecca safely across the peninsula from Suez to Akaba. In the then unsettled state of the Arab tribes, she sent Egyptian sol¬ diers to Pharaoh’s island, Akaba, and beyond in fulfillment of her duty. When the new khedive, Abbas Pasha, suc¬ ceeded his father Tewfik in 1892 as ruler of Egypt, his boundary was named as extending from Wady Arish, “the river of Egypt,” across the peninsula to Akaba, thus bringing all Sinai under Anglo-Egyptian control. The Sultan of Turkey at once made imperial protest and claimed as Turkish territory all the country up to the banks of the Suez Canal. The British Government, without discussing the matter in public, ignored the protest, and in 1893 (1310 A. H.) erected this fort, which is about 200 feet square, with ramparts and loopholes, and has kept the Egyptian flag flying there ever since. Prior to the most 19 290 From the Nile to Nebo recent boundary dispute of 1905, as many as 300 soldiers were permanently quartered here. Since, however, the dis¬ pute was forcibly settled by Great Britain by the erection of new boundary pillars, the fort has been practically aban¬ doned, and at the time of our visit the garrison consisted of exactly three men, one cannon and the daily hoisting of the flag. But behind the men, the rusty cannon and the flag float the fleets of the greatest power in the world and no man dares molest them. When we entered the peninsula at Suez, and were given one permit to travel in Sinai for scientific research and an¬ other for our firearms, we noted the fact that both were signed by J. Falconer Bey, the War Department represent¬ ative. As we journeyed from point to point, meeting the camel patrols, we realized clearly that all Sinai was under military and not civil control. Nuweibeh was another clear indication of the situation. At this present moment (1911), with an ex-Shah and revolution loose in Persia, with battalion after battalion of Turkish troops being annihilated in Arabia, it would seem good policy to rebuild some of the ancient forts and fortresses. The Turkish Government will never subdue the Arabs by brute force. The ancient Egyptians sent many an unsuccessful expedi¬ tion against these “sand-dwellers,”1 and finally solved their problem by building a great wall and line of fortresses from Pelusium to Suez.2 The Romans had the same difficulties with the nomad Arabs, and they solved the problem by building a great wall along the tops of the mountains of Moab from near Madeba to Akaba. It will some day become the duty of Great Britain to restore order among the Arab tribes of Arabia by the firmness and justice that has restored peace and prosperity in the Soudan, and the Peninsula of Sinai may once again loom large in the world’s great drama. But this is politics. 1 “ E. and W. A.,” p. 135. 2 “ T. K. B.” p. 44. From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber 291 Inside the fort is a well of excellent though slightly brackish water, and the soldiers were very kind in helping us refill all our smaller water vessels. Then followed a bit of Oriental desert intercourse in which we joined with pleasure. One of the soldiers was from Akaba, and as they receive their pay and mail from Nakhl only once every two months, they are always on the lookout for some one to do errands. So we promised that our Sinai cameleers, -who would be returning this same way a week or so later, should see his family and bring back for him two rotls (10 pounds) of flour and 1 rotl of tobacco. We suppose he bakes his flour over a tobacco fire. On the principle that one good turn deserves another, the soldiers then made another request. By some means they had come into possession of a rather dilapidated and lame specimen of a camel. This animal they wished to send to Akaba — a three days’ journey as we were travelling. The proposition was to allow the animal to accompany our caravan, picking up its scanty living as best it could. We agreed and the lame beast was taken under our convoy. The soldiers drove it with us for a mile or so, and parted with great shouts and throwing of stones to keep the poor camel’s head in the right direction. It did not take us long to realize that the invalid would prove a drag and a great nuisance. So we held a consultation. The Arabs argued rightly that if the camel wandered or died by the way they might lose a good camel to the soldiers on their return. So we decided to despatch one of them back at once with the lame animal and thus avoid all further trouble. About an hour beyond the fort the story of the man running over the mountain short-cuts in early morning had its explanatory sequel. He saw the travellers, knew that most people like fish, and was running to join his fellow fishermen at Nuweibeh. Having taken their nets and bas¬ kets they went northward along the sea, and by the time we overtook them they had caught enough to give us two 292 From the Nile to Nebo good meals. They followed us for fully another twenty miles and continued to supply us for another day. We were glad of the change and they were abundantly satisfied with the prices we paid. During the next two days along the seashore we noted that the Gulf of Akaba was much narrower than the west¬ ern arm of the Red Sea, although it resembled it in its long blue line of water extending up through a region almost totally desolate. The mountains, too, are much higher on this eastern side of Sinai, and much more picturesque than those which skirt the Gulf of Suez. The valleys, as a rule, are not so broad, which makes the scenery grander, even though much more gloomy. The most striking difference, however, is the fact that there is not the same extent of wide desert plains along the seashore, and during the three days’ journey from the mouth of Wady el Ain I was more than ever impressed with the possibility of the Children of Israel in their journey from Hazeroth to Ezion Geber having ascended some one of the valleys, say, from Haze¬ roth itself or up Wady el Ain, to the southeastern corner of the desert et Tih and across that desert to Ezion Geber, instead of skirting the coast on the seashore. Palmer in his wanderings picked up several names which correspond with names found in the Itinerary between Hazeroth and Ezion Geber (Numbers 33: 16-35); Rissah, Haradah, Tahath and Hasmonah have their modern Arabic equivalents, and this, together with the fact of existing springs and wells along this inner route, makes it much more probable than the waterless and more difficult path over the promontories and moraines along the coast. Two modern travellers, Ruppell and Labord, took this inner route from Wady el Ain to Ezion Geber, and their careful description of it assures us of its feasibility. Our route lay along the edge of the sea. The first day carried us beyond Nuweibeh, to within three miles of a famous white cape or promontory. This cape, formed by From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber 293 a range of the Tih mountains, called Jebel Aswal, forces itself out to the water’s edge. The headland is named Ras el Burka or “veil” cape, so called from its exceeding white appearance when seen from a distance. The gulf at this point is a little over ten miles wide, and beyond the cape our route lay across a number of mud and stone glaciers which reach into the sea, whose waves are continually eating off great masses of debris, somewhat as icebergs drop from the ends of melting glaciers. At several places there are great geological bays filled with many colored Petra sandstones. At other points the granite ranges almost reach the edge of the water, and suggest a query as to whether all these colored sandstones on both sides of the Gulf of Akaba were not the result of nature’s geological grinding of the many colored granite cliffs of Sinai and the action of the sea which washed this powdered granite back into the empty cavities of the Jordan Valley. By far the most striking feature of this stretch of sea¬ shore is the abundance of shells of all shapes and colors and varieties, some as small as a pea and millions almost as large as a man’s head. Here and there were stretches of beach formed of shells alone in every stage of the crush¬ ing process, which the waves continue for ever. This fact of the abundance of shells cast up by the waters of the Red Sea fitted strangely into a brilliant remark of Professor George Adam Smith’s, and explained with a flash the reason of one of the most important modern industries of southern Palestine. His remark was to the effect that Israel as a kingdom had little to do with the shores of the Mediterranean Sea because the face of the kingdom was toward the desert, and this remark, coupled with the abundance of shells, explained what must have puzzled many another observer, as to how the modern industry of shell carving and its kindred products from the mother- of-pearl ever came into existence and made its home in the little town of Bethlehem. The seacoasts best known 294 From the Nile to Nebo and for many reasons most accessible to the Children of Israel were the shell-strewn shores of the Gulf of Akaba, where Solomon had his navies and where existed the sin¬ gle seaport, Ezion Geber, of the Hebrew nation. For the sake of those who may follow our footsteps along this seashore I add this note concerning the time consumed as camels move. We left our camp below the white cape at 7 a. m. At 9.30 we were immediately opposite the high¬ est of the two peaks of Jebel Aswal, at 10 o’clock we were in the middle of the white cape. Our guides and cameleers seemed to be confused somewhat in regard to the names of the various valleys which poured their moraines of gravel and rocks into the sea. The name Wady el Muhash be¬ longs to some valley about this headland. At n o’clock we were in the plain of Buswerah, which contains a well of salty water with five or six palm trees, one of which is a five-branched tree of the dome variety. At 1 2.30 we passed the mouth of Wady Abu Magr with its great moraine and at 2.40 p. m. our cameleers again assured us that the valley on the left was Wady el Muhash. At 4 p. m. we passed another smaller valley called el Mujebbaly and turned into a charming little cove where we spent the Sunday. We named this our Coral Cove camp. It was absolutely waterless, as was also the preceding camp below the white cape. While we rested over Sunday our cameleers drove all the camels back to the salt well in the plain of Buswerah, allowing them to graze on the scanty herbage as they went and returned. This Sunday camp of Coral Cove was as quiet and as restful as any human being could desire. With the excep¬ tion of the abundant schools of fish, which we watched from the rocks of the promontory, there was no other sign of life to be seen in any direction. We cheered the spirits of our cameleers by an extra distribution of coffee and tobacco. By hunting through our outfit we also discovered a good supply of red clay pipe bowls and little hand mirrors From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber 295 about 2\ inches in diameter. We gave one of each, a pipe and a mirror, to every Bedawy in our camp, and to see these men looking, some of them for the first time in their lives, at their own shaggy beards and furrowed faces was a sight never to be forgotten. Some of them were so surprised at what they saw in the little mirrors that their impulse was, after concealing the glass in their floating garments, to rush some twenty or thirty yards away from the camp before taking a second look, as though by so doing they could conceal from all human eyes what they them¬ selves had never seen before. The result was, that in spite of the dryness of the camp and the scantiness of their food, they were about as happy a lot of cameleers as ever pitched along the seashore. Beyond our Coral Cove camp rose a series of rocky prom¬ ontories all of granite, where even the seashore path is com¬ pelled to climb into back valleys before one can get be¬ yond this great obstruction along the seashore. This is the Jebel Sherafeh mentioned by Burckhardt. Again we left camp at 7 A. M., and not till two hours later did we again reach the open shore. At 10 o’clock we were opposite Pharaoh’s Island, which figured largely in the recent boundary dispute between Turkey and Egypt. After having destroyed the boundary pillars on the Medi¬ terranean coast at Wady el Arish, Turkish troops were sent westward from Akaba to a point on this seashore opposite Pharaoh’s Island, where they dug rifle-pits preparatory to holding the position against any who should dispute their rights of possession. This rocky island (Fig. 63) stands in the sea one-third of a mile from the shore. It is a narrow granite rock some 300 yards in length, consisting of two humps or hillocks con¬ nected by a low isthmus. The battlemented ruins run¬ ning round the whole are the remains of an Arabian fortress and, without doubt, the former citadel of Ailah, which is mentioned by the Arabian writer Abulfeda as 296 From the Nile to Nebo lying in the sea. It was besieged by Rainald of Chatillon in A. D. 1182 and was not reoccupied until after 1882, when the Egyptian Government kept some soldiers here in connection with the guarding of the Mecca caravan. The waters about this island constituted one of the ancient pearl fisheries of the Gulf, and the rude boats some¬ times seen at this point are engaged in gathering shells and the skins of the dugong, which porpoise or dolphin is abun¬ dant at the upper end of this sea. They do a little diving for pearls and easily descend to a depth of ten feet. They make use of a rude sea telescope while searching the bottom in the vicinity of the coral reefs. Not many years ago the fishermen of this vicinity were all known to be pirates when occasion offered, but since the Anglo-Egyptian Government has extended its sway over Sinai these former pirates find it safer to indulge in the trade of contraband arms. An hour beyond the island we reached the well-known well of Wady Taba. It is shaped like a funnel about ten feet deep, and up and down its rude stone walls our cam¬ eleers climbed with their rude water-skins in the attempt to water our camels, but, like many another desert well, that day’s supply of water had already been used up by the visit of some other flocks of camels, and naught re¬ mained but a thin solution of mud in the bottom of the well. This Wady Taba has for many years been regarded as the eastern boundary between Turkey and Egypt, which, cutting across the peninsula toward the northwest, to¬ gether with the Wady el Arish, formed a tolerably definite dividing line, but, after the boundary dispute already re¬ ferred to, Great Britain insisted upon a Turco-Egyptian Commission, which worked across the same stretch of country in a more scientific way and located a series of nearly 100 steel and stone pillars on the water-shed just about the wadies Arish and Taba. And there, about two miles beyond the wady, high on a rock 100 feet above the The Oasis, Town and Gulf of Akaba From Hazeroth to Ezion Geber 297 sea and close to the waters of the gulf, we saw the first of those boundary pillars, still fresh from the hands of the workmen. Its lofty location makes it distinctly visible from every direction on land and sea, and it was to us a very speaking testimony to the existence of the Power, all unseen, which watches over the granite peaks and arid deserts of the Peninsula of Sinai. Somewhere within a few miles of this desolate spot stood at least two ancient cities, those of Elath and Ezion Geber. The weight of suppo¬ sition and tradition locates Elath somewhere about Wady Taba, and this, in turn, would bring the route of the Chil¬ dren of Israel down Wady Taba on their way from Hazeroth to Ezion Geber. Ezion Geber in that case would be one of the enormous ruins beyond the new boundary pillar, some¬ where about the head of the Gulf of Akaba, where the present pilgrimage route approaches the seashore, and it is not at all improbable that future expeditions may some day discover, beyond a peradventure, the exact locations of these ancient cities. CHAPTER XXVII HOW WE ENTERED TURKEY When we crossed the Turkish boundary at Akaba I said to my companions that we had now left the territory where law and order reign and had entered the Turkish dominions; while I did not know of any particular difficulty that we might encounter, I was perfectly sure we should meet with some new and unexpected adventure. We moved slowly along the sands of the quiet gulf just opposite Pharaoh’s Island. We saw the rifle-pits which had been made by the Turkish soldiers two years before, when the British gave an ultimatum to Turkey and forced her to withdraw her soldiers from what was claimed to be Egyptian territory. As we swung round the head of the gulf we were greatly impressed with the beauty of the scene before us. The blue waters were as still as an inland lake, the sandy shore swung in a beautiful circle (Panorama 64) toward the east, where the groves of palm trees lined the shore, and through these palm trees appeared the massive walls of an ancient fortress and the poor mud-built houses of the wretched town of Akaba. Above the palm trees were seen the white tents of the military camp and far beyond rose the misty and mysterious mountains of Arabia, through which the Mecca caravans wend their way and into which the Christian traveller ventures only at the cost of his life. When we reached the point where the road from Egypt joins the caravan track which comes direct from Suez across the peninsula of the Gulf of Akaba, we noticed some commotion among the soldiers in the guard-house, and a moment later we witnessed a strange sight of a 298 How We Entered Turkey 299 race. A soldier had started on foot at the top of his speed along the sandy shore leading to the town. He was followed by another soldier riding a mule without a saddle. For a distance of nearly a thousand yards the footman suc¬ ceeded in keeping ahead, but when overtaken by the soldier on the mule he gave up the race. When we came up with the soldier on foot, we found out that they were making all speed to inform the commander of the military camp that the long-expected travellers had come. When we reached the edge of the grove of palm trees we were met by the military commander and several sheikhs of the village, who led us among the gardens and houses to what they supposed was a good camping-place by the sea below the old castle. We found the place, how¬ ever, so filthy from the rubbish and dust of the town that we quickly made up our minds that we would not pitch our tents there. After enquiries were made, we took our way through the filthier streets, to a point above the town and just opposite the military camp, where, on a stony slope, we were glad to pitch our tents for the night. While making our way from the edge of the gulf we had the next pleasant surprise of our journey. One of our trusty muleteers from Beirut came riding with a package of mail in his hands, and informed us that he and the rest of the caravan had reached Akaba just fifteen minutes before we arrived from Egypt. They were fully as glad to see us as we were to see them, and almost before our cameleers arrived with the camels our Beirut caravan made its way to the camping-place and threw down their precious loads of flour, candles, potatoes and groceries from Beirut; boxes containing more than 600 oranges from Jaffa and several hundred pounds of charcoal from Gaza. After we left Cairo this caravan had started from Beirut and made its way down the coast through Tyre and Sidon and Acca and Jaffa, then from Jaffa they journeyed to Gaza, and from Gaza to a new government center at Beersheba. Here, 3°° From the Nile to Nebo through the kindly assistance of Dr. Brigstocke of Gaza, we had provided our caravan of 8 mules, 6 horses, 2 don¬ keys and 6 muleteers, with a guard of two splendid speci¬ mens of Bedawin soldiery. They were mounted on fast camels and carried everything necessary for the long and difficult desert journey. After leaving Beersheba these Arab guides led this caravan safely through the almost waterless desert country to Akaba, arriving, as I have already said, just fifteen minutes before our caravan arrived from Egypt. This was a fine result of careful planning. To send muleteers and riding horses into the desert and so far was something of an experiment, but we had decided to make the attempt for a number of good reasons. In all the journeys of travellers through the desert of Sinai into the country about the Gulf of Akaba, the greatest difficulty has been when the Sinai Arabs reach the boundaries of the next Arab tribe, with whom they were nearly always at war or in blood feud. It was their custom to drop their loads along the shore of the sea and leave the unhappy travellers to make fresh bargains with the next tribe, who soon assembled about them like a swarm of locusts. This was always the point where the travellers were bound to sub¬ mit to the blackmailing practices of the sheikhs of Akaba. Because the British Government keeps order in the penin¬ sula up to the new boundary line, and because the Sinaitic Arabs are known to be in the protection of the Egyptian Government, they do now venture another stage into the town of Akaba, so that we had no difficulty in persuading them to carry our loads over this last stage, since we prom¬ ised to see them safely back over their boundaries again. Then, having provided our own caravan of riding horses, mules and muleteers from Beirut, we were no longer at the mercy of the scoundrel sheikhs of Akaba. When they heard of our party arriving from Egypt they, of course, expected to work all their old-fashioned tricks of the trade, but when they saw this well-set-up and well-provisioned How We Entered Turkey 301 caravan from Beirut arrive at this opportune moment they realized sadly that their hope of blackmailing us was in vain. By the time we had pitched our tents and spread out the loads from Egypt and from Beirut a good-sized crowd had gathered to see what was to be seen. The military com¬ mander returned, bringing a telegram from our friend, Consul-General Ravndal, in Beirut, telling us that much as he had desired to join us, he had not been able to do so. Then began to unfold a story which has in it elements of comedy and tragedy. Just above the military camp, with its rows of tents and paraphernalia for journeys in the desert round about, was a little group of soldiers in a different dress, and tethered beside their tentless resting-place were ten good strong mules with saddles. Before leaving Beirut I had requested our Consul-General, Mr. Ravndal, to ask the Governor- General Nazim Pasha in Damascus to send orders to the military commander in Kerak requesting an escort of soldiers to meet us at Akaba, naming the probable date of our arrival there. But somewhere among the va¬ rious departments of the Governor’s staff, the date of our arrival was lost, and at least three urgent telegrams reached the Lieutenant-Governor at Kerak, who at once despatched a guard of ten mounted soldiers. Leaving Kerak after midnight, they rode day and night over mountains and waterless desert to meet us at Akaba. Telegrams also reached the military governor to be on the lookout for us and render us every courtesy and see us safely back to Ma’an and Petra. All this preparation and telegraphing took place before I had left Beirut and before Dr Goucher and Mr. Taylor had left Brindisi. Then for forty-six days these poor soldiers sat and waited and watched for the coming of our caravan from Egypt. They were all Mos¬ lems and had come with only hasty preparation which they thought necessary for a forced ride down to Akaba and a leisurely ride back with the privileges of life in our camp. 3°2 From the Nile to Nebo During these weary forty-six days, as they told me after¬ ward, they made vows to all the saints of the Mohammedan faith if only they would hurry up and bring these missing foreigners. Most of them had been raised in sections of the country where vegetables and eggs and milk and lebn were easily obtainable, so that during these forty-six days they were sickened and nauseated by the salt fish and rich oil in which the people of Akaba cooked everything they ate. The military commander, having received word of the coming of three Americans with their caravan, had also watched and waited in vain and, finally, became nervous concerning the situation, fearing that we might have slipped past Akaba and his camp and made our way into the country alone by the Hedjaz railway, where the Arabs and the government troops had been having frequent and bloody collisions. So it came to pass that our arrival gave great joy to our own caravan, to this special squad of mounted soldiers from Kerak and to the military com¬ mander, who was glad to have us safely under his eye; but the coming of the double caravan brought only de¬ spair to the minds of the avaricious sheikhs. While our camp was being set up by our cameleers and muleteers we went to the house of the military commander and made our formal call upon him. While we were there three or four of the sheikhs of the town came slowly into the room. Knowing what was sure to be in the wind, we shortly after excused ourselves and invited the military commander to take tea with us in our tents. He followed us and spent a pleasant half-hour in conversation, joined by the telegraph operator, who soon showed his character in attempting to act as a go-between for the sheikhs. We told the military commander that it was our purpose, after readjusting our loads and repacking our baggage, to leave Akaba the following day. He at once answered that we could not possibly journey until he had received assurance that the road was safe. We answered that the Lieutenant- How We Entered Turkey 303 Governor of Kerak, at the direction of the Governor Nazim Pasha in Damascus, had already sent us ten mounted soldiers, and that if the military commander thought that this escort was too small, he knew his own business and would, of course, do what he thought necessary. His an¬ swers were anything but satisfactory, and before many hours had passed by we felt sure that he was acting in league with the sheikhs and was desirous of giving them an opportunity to employ their arts against us. After his call was over, the telegraph operator speedily made known his purpose and connection with the sheikhs by informing us that we could not journey until we had made satis¬ factory arrangements with them. This led quickly to a second call on the military commander and our interview with him soon became a warm one. He pretended that he must telegraph back and forth, and could not allow us to start until he had received orders from those with whom he was communicating. We told him that whether he re¬ ceived orders or not we intended to start just as soon as we could make ourselves ready. Then he demanded that we should give a written paper saying that we took all respon¬ sibility in the matter and absolved him from all consequence of any trouble that might happen to us by the way. We refused point-blank to give any such release. We insisted that the Turkish Government was in possession of that section of the country, and that we were under no obliga¬ tion to make any terms or conduct any negotiations with any other than government officials. He had received tele¬ grams; we carried with us and showed to him our Biyurldih, which bore the seal of the Governor- General at Damascus. We were fully identified by the telegram which he had re¬ ceived from our American Consul-General in Beirut. The Governor- General of Damascus had sent the special guard of mounted soldiers to meet us, and we absolutely and emphatically refused to submit to a single piaster of blackmail at the hands of the sheikhs of Akaba. We 3°4 From the Nile to Nebo fully accepted all responsibility for our action in the cir¬ cumstances, and if he, with the information which we did not possess, deemed a larger escort necessary, he must either provide the same or make satisfactory answer to those who would hold him responsible, and with that declaration we left him and the sheikhs to conspire while we slept peacefully in our tents. In the morning came the real tug-of-war. The sheikhs had evidently spent several hours in conference with each other, employing the telegraph operator as their go-be¬ tween with the Kologasi or commander. Our muleteers and camp followers had received word from various sources that we were not allowed to journey until we had made satisfactory arrangements with the sheikhs, but to these messages we paid no attention. It required several hours to rearrange all our loads properly, and while the men of the camp were proceeding with these matters I reopened com¬ munication with the Kologasi. He evidently was between two fires, as we well understood later, because he was threatened by the sheikhs from one side, who were willing to make some sort of disturbance, and troubled by our active preparations on the other. A number of soldiers were sent up unarmed, ostensibly to keep the crowd back, but also to prevent the starting of the muleteers. I had sent repeated messages to the Kologasi, telling him that we were loaded up and expecting to move just as soon as we could complete our preparation. About n o’clock, when we were ready to move, some of the soldiers actually seized the halters of the mules and prevented the muleteers from starting out. By that time the sun was high in the heavens and the heat pushing toward its maximum. When I realized that they were actually determined to keep our mules from moving by force, I made straight for the tele¬ graph office and there found the Kologasi and the sheikhs seated about the operator, who was busy at the end of the wire which started from there to the government center at How We Entered Turkey 3° 5 Kerak. I immediately announced my willingness to pay the threefold rate on telegrams which according to the Turkish law, gives one the right to break in upon any mes¬ sage that is being sent and even to take precedence of government business, and at once proceeded to write three telegrams, the first to Nazim Pasha, the Governor of Da¬ mascus, informing him that the local commander at Akaba refused to respect his buyuruldy which we held in our hands, and was actually detaining us with our loads in the hot sun at Akaba. The second telegram I wrote to our American Consul-General at Beirut, giving him the same word, and informing him that we should claim compensation for the delay and anything that might happen to our loads and persons. The third telegram I wrote to our Consular Agent at Damascus asking him to at once communicate with the Governor- General. Whilst I was engaged in writing these telegrams the Kologasi showed that he under¬ stood the meaning of my move. At the same time I gathered from his conversation with the telegraph operator that he was attempting to get into direct communication with the Governor at Kerak, whom we afterward found to be a most enterprising and wide-awake Circassian, who was entering jubilantly into the little comedy that was being enacted at our end of the wire. When my telegrams were ready and I made my demand with gold in my hand, the Kologasi begged me to be patient and give him a little time. Almost at this instant came a message over the wire which, the telegraph operator having put into writing, proved to be a question from the Governor at Kerak who was interrogating the wretched sheikhs of Akaba concern¬ ing our difficulty. The Governor asked why the sheikhs of Akaba were unwilling to guarantee our safe escort on the three days’ journey from Akaba to Ma’an. Then the Kolo¬ gasi paused and waited for their answer. They said that many years before they had made a treaty with the Consuls in Cairo, according to which every traveller passing through 20 3°6 From the Nile to Nebo their territory was to pay a stipulated sum for every camel furnished, and a fee of £5 each for every member of the party. It was ludicrous to watch them as they were obliged to make this confession openly after they had been beating round the bush with hints during the past eighteen hours. Then a second question came over the wire asking whether they still persisted in their refusal to grant us the safe escort referred to. At this point I interposed and de¬ manded as a right that I should be allowed to ask a question of the Governor of Kerak, and what I wished to ask was the simple question whether there were two governments in the region of Akaba or one. But the Kologasi again begged for a little time, and while he was making his answer to the Governor, I assured the sheikhs that they had put their heads, every one of them, into a noose and all that was now required was that we should pull the rope. I told them that we knew the names and history of their fathers and grandfathers and of all the tricks they had played upon travellers during the last hundred years, and now that the Turkish Government had occupied their town with a garrison, their wretched rule and trickery was at an end. We and other travellers would come into that section of the country in spite of them; if they treated us decently we would deal with them fairly, and it would be to their interest to drop their old tricks and welcome trav¬ ellers who would leave many a piece of gold for services they could easily render, but if they wished to keep up their old methods travellers would be obliged to bring in larger escorts of soldiers, who would receive all the gifts and benefits which would otherwise belong to them. While this conversation was going on, the telegraph oper¬ ator had taken another long message on the wire and had handed it to the Kologasi, whose face relaxed and into his eyes came a knowing sort of twinkle. He stood up and announced that it was the command of the Governor at Kerak that the sheikhs should guarantee us a safe escort, How We Entered Turkey 307 and that we were now fully authorized to take our depart¬ ure with all our caravan. Then, seizing me by the arm, he marched me outside to some distance away, and informed me that he would give me another section of this message, which was to assure me from the lips of the Governor that we were completely under his protection and he would guarantee our safe arrival against all marauders. A short section of the telegram, to which he made mysterious allusions, he said he was not privileged to make known to me at that particular stage. His whole attitude indicated a very great change in his feeling toward us, and we were greatly at a loss to understand what it meant. By this time the sheikhs made up their mind that in order to save their own face one of them must, in some way, be allowed to accompany us, because it would never do for any party of travellers to pass out of the town without being appar¬ ently under their gracious protection. When old Sheikh Ali announced that he wished to accompany us, I assured him with more feeling than ever that his presence was ab¬ solutely unnecessary; we thanked him for his thought, but insisted upon his remaining quietly in his city home. Guessing that we understood the situation, he then pre¬ sented a humble plea to be allowed to accompany us, and still we were obdurate, and finally I told him that if he went along he went entirely at his own expense, must care for his own horse, provide his own food, and expect absolutely nothing from us in any way. It is perhaps just as well to complete this story at this point and give the finale, although we are anticipating in time. Old Sheikh Ali followed us a long distance out of the town. We put our muleteers well in front of us, led by the ten mounted soldiers who had come to escort us so many days before. We followed our caravan at a little distance, accompanied by another seven soldiers on foot. The old Sheikh Ali followed at a very respectful distance, and in this order we moved slowly away from the town toward the 308 From the Nile to Nebo north , and swung slowly round the desolate slope, direct¬ ing our course toward Wady Yetem. Immediately we had left the town the Kologasi acted upon the remaining section of the telegraphic orders of the Governor at Kerak, which was to the effect that he was to arrest all the sheikhs of the town and keep them safely in prison till we had completed the three days’ journey and were safe at Ma’an. This enabled us to understand the good humor of the Kologasi when he bade us farewell. If, as we suspected, he was originally in league with the sheikhs for extracting some bakshish from us, he wTas also disappointed with the sheikhs when they found that their game would not work. It is true that we did not at any moment have any message or suggestion from him concern¬ ing bakshish, but we are perfectly sure that if the sheikhs had succeeded in their demands the Kologasi would not have been any poorer. However, we as a party had escaped from the snares of all; the next best fortune for the Kologasi was to get the sheikhs into prison, because it was perfectly sure that before they were released he would have larger stores of semmen and wheat and other eatables in his private larder. We learned of the arrest of the sheikhs at a point half-way to Ma’an, where another military camp had been temporarily established in order to pre¬ vent any sudden incursion of the Arabs from the south, where they had just massacred all the guard and officials at a railway station this side of Medina. The officer of this camp had also cut the telegraph wire and established a temporary station in one of his tents. It was here that old Sheikh Ali learned the sad fate of his brother sheikhs, and early the next morning there was a mute appeal for mercy in the shape of a little lamb tied to one of the tent- ropes. We fully understood the old man’s petition. We accepted the lamb and made a present of it to the hungry soldiers, but, at the same time, insisted on paying the old How We Entered Turkey 309 sheikh double its money value and refusing to be placated by such a paltry gift. When we reached Kerak some two weeks later, we at once called on the Governor, and he asked us, rather facetiously, how we had enjoyed our stay in Akaba. We made answer in general terms until the old gentleman clearly revealed to us that he knew the whole story from beginning to end, and then, with great guffaws of laughter, he told his side of the negotiations with the wretched sheikhs and how hugely he had enjoyed putting them into prison. He thoroughly confirmed the position we took in dealing with them, insisting with the Kologasi on the fact that the Turkish Government was now in command of all that region, and that, therefore, no travellers were to be subject¬ ed to exactions from this ancient band of robbers who had preyed for centuries on the caravans from Egypt to Kerak. Twenty-five years ago the Turkish Government had very little actual existence for a distance of five or ten miles outside Damascus. When any foreigner or traveller left that city he was practically taking his life in his hands and was under the obligation of caring for himself. If, by any means, he had acquired friends among the various Arab tribes, he could always secure trustworthy guides and travelling companions. About the year 1885 the Govern¬ ment began to push its actual sway down the highlands east of Jordan. One of the first main lines of its policy was to offer rich lands to the Circassian tribes from Asia Minor. In 1864, when Russia acquired the Caucasus, these Circassians, rather than reckon themselves in subjection to that power, chose to migrate to Turkey, and nearly the whole nation of fifteen tribes, four or five thousand people, came into Turkey. A great part of them found homes in Asia Minor, but one section served the Turkish Government well in the Bulgarian troubles of 1876-77, and when Europe decreed that they should leave the bloody plains and cities of Bulgaria, the Turkish From the Nile to Nebo 3IQ Government decided to pit them against the Bedawin of the desert, and brought many thousands of them into the country east of the Jordan, and slowly drove them, like a wedge, down the highlands until there are now not less than 50,000 of them in the various colonies. The Govern¬ ment first gave them vacant lands at Baalbec, and from this center these Circassians proceeded to explore the un¬ occupied territory east of the Jordan. The process of occupation was a simple one. The Government claims all the ancient buildings and fortresses of all ages, no matter what tribes of Bedawin may tent among them. Very often, when the ownership of the land comes into question, the Government catches the poor Arabs on the horns of a dilemma. “Who owns these lands?” “We do,” answer the Arabs. “Well, where are your tabu deeds and when did you pay your taxes?” When the sum of back taxes claimed was equal to more than the value of the land, not to mention the absolute poverty of the Arabs, their only escape was to deny their former statements and be glad enough to prove that they neither claimed nor owned the land. Then the Government notified these Circassian colonists, giving them the vacant lands, furnishing them with seed corn, yokes of oxen and freeing them from taxes and military conscription, giving them a free hand in driv¬ ing the Arabs back into the desert. This is what happened at Kuneitereh, in the Jaulan, at Jerash and Amman, in Ajlun, and at Wady Seir in Belka, just beyond the Dead Sea. As a result these Circassians, originally strong and free, continued to cherish their unrestrained love of independ¬ ence. Their colonies were joined to each other by rough wagon roads, by common language, common modes of life, ties of marriage and of united action in their relations to the Turkish Government. While serving nominal masters they held this ancient frontier of the desert, and this served the purpose of the authorities at Constantinople in extend¬ ing the sway of the Government at Damascus. How We Entered Turkey 31 1 About the same time (1885) the Government established an armed camp on an ancient Roman site, one of the cities in the Decapolis, just east of the Sea of Galilee. When this regiment of mountain soldiery had gained a sufficient foothold among the surrounding Arabs, several civil offi¬ cials were sent down from Damascus and the military au¬ thorities and their soldiers were moved another fifteen miles farther south. This process was repeated at inter¬ vals of two or three years until they reached Madeba, which is due east of Jericho. Then the camp was moved toward Kerak, the ancient Kir-Hareseth of the Bible (2 Kings 3). This city, a great natural fortress splendidly rebuilt by the Crusaders, defended by high walls above deep valleys, successfully resisted the Government for a number of years, and was finally reduced (1894) by an assault in which cannon were employed against the Arab inhabitants. During the sixteen years which have elapsed this city has revolted more than once, and in 1910 the civil officials of the garrison were obliged to take refuge in the ancient Crusader castle and await rescue at the hands of a large army sent down from Damascus. The Government, however, having occupied Kerak with a large garrison of regular soldiery, again proceeded to push a small armed camp southward. They occupied the famous Crusader castle called Shobek, and from Shobek pushed southward to Ma’an, which has since be¬ come a great railroad center in connection with the Hedjaz Railway. From Ma’an they pushed their armed camp to a place called Guwaireh, which has since proved to be the location of a Roman armed camp which held this frontier against the Bedawin tribes eighteen hundred years ago. Then from Guwaireh, only two years before our visit, the Government made its final move and pushed the armed camp into Akaba. So that when we pitched our tents above the town we were in actual contact with this armed camp of the Government, which represented the thin edge 312 From the Nile to Nebo of the wedge which it has taken the Government twenty- five years to drive into this part of the desert. The commander of the camp had levelled a large plaza above the town, on which there was space enough for a regiment of soldiers with their tents and commissariat and battery of light cannon. The camp was in the form of a hollow square, within which the regular soldiers did their daily drill and presented a great object lesson to the eyes of these lawless inhabitants, who for centuries have preyed like leeches on the Egyptian caravan which used to pass yearly on its way to Mecca. The soldiers had dug a new well in the gravelly slope above the town. Water was being drawn from it by means of a windlass and a rope not less than 40 or 50 feet long. The commander of the troops gave us permission for all the water needed in our camp, and this proved to be a great boon when we found how completely defiled the wells in the town had become through the carelessness of the wretched people and the hordes of Egyptian pilgrims once accustomed to make use of them. The special guard of ten soldiers sent by the Governor of Kerak disposed themselves about our tents, and while we took more than ordinary precautions against sneak thieves, we did sleep quietly that night in close touch with the Turkish soldiers and surrounded by our own cameleers from Sinai and muleteers from Beirut. CHAPTER XXVIII AKABA TO MA'AN Akaba, at the head of the gulf, is a beautiful spot (seen from a distance) , because of its oasis-like clusters of palm trees and the shimmering sea at their base. But the town itself is wretchedness and filth personified. Rain seldom falls here, and the dirty inhabitants drink from brackish and almost putrid wells. The old Castle or Caravansary is half in ruins and the other houses are mouldering mud heaps. If one heavy rain ever came these houses would crumble into ruins in a few hours. The head of the gulf forms a natural harbor. Almost tideless, landlocked, with an abundance of gravelly sea¬ shore. The water is beautifully clear and contains a great abundance of edible fish. Now and then an English gun¬ boat visits the town and finds safe anchorage within 200 yards of the shores. It might some day become a port of some value. At present the fortunes of the town are at a low ebb. Indian and Egyptian pilgrims land in thou¬ sands at Jeddeh, but a greatly increasing number from Per¬ sia, Russia and North Africa make for the coasts of Syria, and, after visiting Damascus, take the Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway southward along the old desert route to Medina, and make the remainder of the pilgrimage in the old-fash¬ ioned way on camels, so that during the year 1909 only a few straggling parties of the poorest Mograbies — North Africans — passed through Akaba. Hence the main oc¬ cupation of the wretched people is lost. During our encounter with the sheikhs and the military governor, we managed to examine the camp and note that 313 3i4 From the Nile to Nebo it contained about 200 soldiers of the regular army fairly well equipped with light cannon, a camel corps and all the paraphernalia of water-skins and outfit for trips into the desert. We heard of one detachment off among the Beda- wins and saw another in camp half way to Ma’an. The whole surrounding country was in a turmoil, of which we saw many signs later on. I had seen this camp four years before at Ma’an, pitched in about the same order. The low military tents formed a hollow square, inside of which were the greater part of the mules, artillery and stores. The commander was living for the time in a fairly clean room, well-built of mud bricks made on the spot. Another double room was oc¬ cupied by the telegraph station. After our unavoidable delay we were not sorry to bid the commander “Good-bye” and turn our faces northward along the Arabah. It was a superb day for views of the western side of the great rift, and as we pulled up the slope away from the town we could see northward to the region of the Dead Sea, though its waters were below the line of sight. After an hour and a half, we swung slowly to the right, and thirty-five minutes later we were well inside Wady Yetem, through which we journeyed for the next twenty- four hours. This valley in its lower reaches is little more than a ravine, but not too steep or narrow for a comfortable and fairly easy road. A little distance up this valley, at a point about two and a half hours away from Akaba, is a rather massive dyke of hewn stone called el Masadd, the Arabic word meaning a “cork” or “plug.” It stretches directly across the valley and is about 100 yards long, 8£ feet thick and in some places still about 8 feet high. The road passes through a rough break near the center of the wall. The Arabs have several insignificant traditions concerning its former use. Several explorers in the past have searched in every direction about the wall, expecting Akaba to Ma’an 3J5 to find that it was a dam for retaining the water in the valley, or possibly the path of an aqueduct, all of which speculations are completely at fault. Knowing as we do now of the existence of the great Roman Wall which ex¬ tends from the vicinity of Madeba across the mountain tops in Moab and Edom, to keep out the troublesome Arabs, this section is plainly a piece of that same wall erected at this point in this ancient roadway leading from Akaba up to the plateau above. Its Roman origin is clearly revealed by a comparison with other sections of the wall which are built of the same large roughly hewn blocks and joined with a hard Roman cement, which retains its binding character to the present hour. Having made such a late start from Akaba, together with the fact that our mules were rather heavily laden, we found it necessary to pitch our camp somewhat nearer to Akaba than we had hoped and at some distance this side of where water was said to exist. We chose a spot near an ancient Arab graveyard which bears the name of Abu Jiddeh. While waiting here for the arrival of our caravan we were able to take stock of our increasing numbers, a matter of vital importance when viewed in connection with the fact that this was also to be a dry camp, and, unfortunately for us, Milhem had sold our famous water-barrels for a song in the town of Akaba, not supposing that we should have any further need of them. Our caravan included ten soldiers who had been sent so many days before from Kerak, with nine others which the commander at Akaba had felt necessary for our safety, making nineteen soldiers in all. There were our seven muleteers, great husky fel¬ lows, six of our own party, and the crestfallen, melancholy Sheikh Ali, in all, thirty- three persons. There were fifteen horses, eighteen mules, two camels and three donkeys, thirty-eight in all, making a total of seventy-one thirsty mouths needing water. The camels belonged to two 316 From the Nile to Nebo splendid specimens of desert Arabs, who proved such faith¬ ful, useful, willing, helpful fellows that we shall never forget them. If other travellers into the desert about Kadesh Barnea or Beersheba have need of guides and can secure either or both of these men they will do well. I certainly would never visit that section of the world again without making a special effort to secure the services of these fellows. They were the men who safely piloted our Beirut caravan from Beersheba across the desert, a nine days’ journey, to Akaba, leading the well-laden mules and muleteers from desert well to desert well in safety and on time to Akaba. Our muleteers were lavish in their appreciative expressions concerning their skill, kindness and bravery. We quickly decided in Akaba to take them onward as far as Ma’an and Petra, from which point we started then due west across the Arabah and the desert to their own dwelling-place at Beersheba. They were Muhawish Ibn Salman and Omar Ibn Khalil, and may their shadows never grow less. They rode two of the finest riding camels we saw in the desert, and they carried with them an outfit of rifles, ammunition, heavy sheep¬ skin coats, guns, water-skins and bread bags, not forgetting tobacco pouches, that easily made them independent on the longest desert stretches. With this party of seventy-one thirsty mouths, not to mention the necessities of Butrus the cook and the kitchen tent, our first concern was the matter of the water. Our tents were not pitched until almost sunset, and several of our muleteers and five or six of the foot soldiers went up the valley in search of a fountain known to exist. They led with them a string of thirsty horses, mules and donkeys, but after an absence of more than two hours and a half, they came back in the darkness without having been able to find the precious water. I was greatly struck by the fact that after their long hard day of making up loads in Akaba, climbing for some six hours as they did through this arid Akaba to Ma’an 3i7 valley, they came back unmurmuring. We had water in our smaller skins and canteens to provide the supper. Along about midnight, Muhawish, without a word of sug¬ gestion from us, showed his desert training and splendid spirit of helpfulness. Taking all the empty water-skins on his camel, accompanied by one of the muleteers, he dis¬ appeared up the valley in the darkness. His desert instinct, perhaps assisted by that of his camel, enabled him to find the precious water spring fully ten minutes away from the trail in the valley, and after two hours he returned, his camel encircled with the well-filled wobbly water-skins, the swish of which awakened every thirsty human being in the camp. Almost before he could dismount he was surrounded by soldiers and muleteers, who were raising grateful petitions in the darkness for his everlasting blessing and peace. It was an act of service that raised him in the estimate of us all and for which we shall always cherish his memory. The next day (March 9th) we left camp at 7.30 a. m., and our going now on horses changes the distance covered during the hour. Roughly speaking, the camels made not more than two to two and a half miles per hour, our pack animals easily covered three miles an hour, while we, more lightly laden, on our riding animals, were frequently an hour or two ahead of them. Just an hour above our camp (at 8.30) we were opposite the little fountain for which the muleteers had vainly searched the night before. The name given to us was Ain Abu Horon, but in another recent record the Dominican fathers of St. Etienne at Jerusalem give the name as Ain Haldi. At any rate the fountain is to the right and about ten minutes above the road, good water and a running stream. While taking careful note of its character and location, we were pleasantly impressed with the fact that the country round about was no longer completely desert. Before I had remounted my horse I had bagged four fat pigeons, one partridge and a good large hare. All through the desert of Sinai I had been able From the Nile to Nebo 3i8 to shoot nothing except immediately in front of and op¬ posite to the monastery of Saint Katharine, where I took toll of a good-sized covey of partridges. But from this point in our journey onward to Jerusalem there was not a day in which we did not enjoy some game upon our table. We found the famous blue-rock pigeons everywhere; they are strong flyers and not easy to shoot on the wing. Less abundant, but still found almost everywhere, is the large beautiful plumaged partridge of Syria, one of the finest game birds in the world. In and about the rocks of Petra is another much smaller variety of brown partridge, re¬ sembling in size and appearance the ordinary quail, but in its habits and call quite plainly of the partridge family. Our barometers, readjusted at Akaba, registered 405 meters (1328 feet) in our camp at Abu Jiddeh. About three hours beyond the camp the valley gradually widens out, and an hour beyond opens into the Plain of El Mezraa, which, as its name indicates, is a cultivated section of land at an elevation of 800 meters (2624 feet) above the waters of the Gulf of Akaba. Here in this plain were recently discovered a large mile¬ stone of Trajan and, in the vicinity, several other mile¬ stones, giving at once the direction of Roman roads which centered at this spot. There is every reason to believe that the ancient Roman road from Ailah (Elath) on the coast lay in this same Wady Yetem which we have just traversed, even though we had noticed no traces anywhere except perhaps, at El Masadd, the bit of Roman wall referred to. This plain of El Mezraa opens out an hour beyond into the great plain Hismeh, which runs, generally speaking, from northwest to southeast. Our path lay diagonally across this plain toward the northeast. To our right the landscape ended in a forest of isolated peaks or small mountains of sandstone, plainly of the same formation and about the same level as the great Petra masses and the masses already referred to on the other side of the Gulf of Akaba to Ma’an 3i9 Akaba. In the center of this plain and on the line of the Sultan’s Highway is a large sandstone mass called Muhai- meh, at the base of which we saw the tents of another small military camp which we had heard of at Akaba. It was placed here to intercept bands of predatory Arabs who might be tempted to run through this country from the dis¬ trict farther south, where all was at this very time confusion and bloodshed. Before we reached this camp, however, we were pleasantly surprised by another detachment of cavalry of some nine mounted soldiers which came out quite a dis¬ tance across the plain and lined up very respectfully on our left and saluted as we came opposite them. We afterward found that they had been sent a day’s journey from Ma’an to meet us at this point. In one of the tents by the side of the sandstone peak was a little temporary telegraph office, and here the already crestfallen Sheikh Ali learned to his sorrow that his fellow sheikhs were all safely lodged in the prison at Akaba. The ruins about this peak bear the name Guwaireh. They are very plainly of Roman origin and stand at the juncture of Roman roads, one of which led directly north into Petra; the second, along which we had come, sloped downward to Akaba; the third, which marked the line of our route, led upward to the great plateau and on to Ma’an; while the fourth one extended to the southeast to the re¬ cently discovered, ancient, rock-hewn cities of Medayin Salih and unexplored locations beyond. After the arrival of our caravan and the pitching of our tents, our first great concern was again the matter of water. The fountain called Ain Guwaireh lies westward some fifteen minutes away, and, as we found to our sorrow, was totally insufficient for our needs after the soldiers and officers of the camp had satisfied theirs. The larger part of the thirty-six horses, mules and donkeys had gone without water at the camp in the valley below, and after they had been loaded in the morning the muleteers inconsiderately 32° From the Nile to Nebo failed to avail themselves of the spring at Ain Haldi, there¬ fore they reached Guwaireh in an exceedingly thirsty condi¬ tion. When they were led across the plain to the little Ain Guwaireh they found it a small muddy puddle with perhaps five or six gallons of water in the bottom. In their thirst and consternation our muleteers quarreled with our own soldiers. Meanwhile, the frantically thirsty mules and horses tramped the ground around the spring into a fright¬ ful mud hole, and they all came back to the camp hot, an¬ gry, swearing and unhappy, a striking contrast to their behavior the night before. The military commander of the camp relieved the absolute necessity of our kitchen tent by the gift of a five-gallon tin of nasty, clayey, discol¬ ored water, and the whole camp spent a troubled and weary night. The horses, without water, were unable to eat their dry food, and the next day two of them almost fainted by the way. I mention these facts to warn other travellers from Sinai against the mistake of throwing away their water-barrels before they reach the plateau above. When we awoke in the morning we found a last peace¬ offering of old Sheikh Ali tied to one of our tent-ropes in the shape of a small and rather lean lamb. After paying him double its value and delivering to him some more good advice as to how he should treat travellers in the future, we relaxed our attitude of displeasure enough to bid him a friendly farewell. I charged him to deal rightly with two small parties whom we knew would be following us, but I afterward learned that he and his crew blackmailed our two German friends to the extent of £5 each, in addi¬ tion to the prices they charged them for their camels. So far as I know we are the first party who ever succeeded in having provided themselves with another caravan of mules and horses at Akaba, and of thus escaping completely these ancient tricks upon travellers. Our road lay across this plain of Hismeh to the north¬ east for fully four hours, to the base of the final ascent to Akaba to Ma’an 321 the plateau beyond. This famous ascent along the line of the ancient Roman road is called Nagb Estar, and is truly a magnificent natural roadway, winding up, around and over great shoulders of the mountains in the very oppo¬ site direction to the valley winding through Wady Yetem. During this ascent the surrounding plain of the whole district, for many miles in every direction unrolls itself to the eyes of the delighted traveller in a superbly beautiful panorama. The ascent, itself, occupies fully an hour and a quarter, overcoming an elevation of 800 meters (2624 feet) as measured from our camp in the plain below. The forest of isolated sandstone mountains or peaks, before referred to, finally appears below us, dotting the plain as far as the eye can reach with what in many instances seem like Cy¬ clopean pyramids. During the afternoon the light of the westering sun, pouring over and between these innumerable masses of colored sandstone, produces effects of light and shade and coloring that are simply indescribable. They form such a warm coloring against the staring white cavity of the Arabah and the still hazier mountains of the Tih beyond. We were enchanted with this constantly widen¬ ing panorama, and when we reached the top of the nagb we were truly saddened at turning, possibly for ever, from such a beautiful scene. Ten minutes beyond the top of the pass we came to the ancient Fuwaileh with its ruined fortress or khan, which is plainly another station on the great Roman road which once resounded to the hoofs of Roman war horses and the clang of the Roman chariots. About an hour beyond the top of the pass is one of the finest fountains (Ain Abul-Lisan) in this East Jordan country. It lies in a beautiful grass-covered slope, and a half-dozen heads or sources send a good-sized stream down the valley for a couple of miles before it disappears in the rocks and sand. We camped on the green slope at the fountain itself and spent a delightful night, because every 21 322 From the Nile to Nebo animal and person in the camp was relieved of the thirst which had haunted us during the two days which preceded. The Arabs themselves rarely camped at this or any other fountain, preferring to quench their thirst and then seek some more secluded and safer spot an hour or more away. This fountain is famous as a rendezvous for the Bedawin tribes when gathering for a raid in this section of the country. It is large enough to support a city and water gardens on either side of the valley for several miles, but, on account of the insecurity, is absolutely destitute of any permanent occupation. Our barometers gave the eleva¬ tion for this fountain as 1510 meters (4954 feet). The journey the next day over the rolling plains of Ma’an occupied some seven and three-quarter hours for our cara¬ van, but we, accompanied by seven mounted soldiers and our two Beersheba cameleers, pushed ahead and covered the distance in about five hours. Our first call was on the Kaimakam or Governor, a Turk of exceedingly unprepos¬ sessing and sullen aspect. It being Friday, he kept us wait¬ ing for quite a while before he appeared in a dishevelled and untidy condition. He wore dark green glasses and slovenly slippers trodden down at the heel, he had neither information nor suggestion for us, and, after despatching telegrams to Beirut, we rode another hour to the railroad station at Ma’an, where we pitched our tents for the night. A few minutes after our arrival we were called upon by a gentleman who furnished a splendid contrast to this specimen of Turkish indolence and stupidity. It was our good friend Meisner Pasha, the German engineer of the Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway. Courteous, clean, scholarly and obliging, he lost not a moment in bringing us a great package of some fifty letters which had been accumulating in his care since before we left Cairo. During the next eighteen hours we had many other proofs of the kindness and thoughtfulness of this truly delightful Akaba to Ma’an 323 friend. He gave us freely all the information we sought concerning the building of the Hedjaz Railway, and in a visit to his home entertained us with a view of his extensive cabinets of European minerals and curios gathered in this part of the world. CHAPTER XXIX THE HEDJAZ PILGRIMAGE RAILWAY In the introductory chapter I noted the fact that the first stage of the Route of the Exodus was cut by the Suez Canal and its last stage by the Mecca Railway, and here, at Ma’an, we were actually in contact with this unique enterprise of modern times. It was conceived during the reign of the deposed Sultan Abdul Hamid and linked up with his most ambitious project, the realization of the Pan- Islamic idea. The first section, from Damascus to Ma’an, exactly one-third of the distance to Medina, was opened with great pomp September i, 1904, at Ma’an, on the an¬ niversary of the Sultan’s accession. Figure 65 gives a unique view of the gathering while the Sultan’s message was being read. Note the hands in the act of supplica¬ tion. Four years later a still more impressive ceremony was performed at Medina by officials from Constantinople, great dignitaries from Mecca, and a still greater gathering of the Arab tribes of Arabia. The ostensible purpose of the railway is given in its name, the Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway, and the final plan includes the joining of the Haramein, the two holy places, Mecca and Medina, with Damascus, another holy city in the world of Islam. It is supposed that 150,000 pilgrims might be reckoned upon yearly, but whether or not these expecta¬ tions have been realized it is difficult to say. In 1909 the Khedive of Egypt came via Haifa and went by rail to Me¬ dina on his pilgrimage to Mecca. A year later, in 1910, the Egyptian “mahmal” with the sacred carpet also came to Haifa and down the peninsula by this same railway to Medina. 324 Listening to the Sultan’s Message at Ma'an when the first section of the Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway was opened, September i, 1904 The Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway 325 That the railway has also a military and strategic value no one will deny. The sway of the Turkish Government in all Arabia has been strengthened and when the final link between Mecca and Jeddeh is complete, with extensions to Sanaa and other points southward, it should be much easier to subdue and control these turbulent nomad tribes. That the railroad has also a bearing upon the Egyptian problem is fully recognized. When the famous Baghdad Railway, which is now in full operation to Konia, is completed through the Taurus Mountains, as promised for 1915, it will be linked up by a branch with Aleppo. Then it will be possible to go by an unbroken rail route direct from Constantinople to Mecca, not to mention the same possibility from Berlin or Paris. The distances are not small. From Damascus to Medina is 1302 kilometers (about 840 miles). The branch from • Deraa, the old capital of Og, the king of Bashan, to Haifa and Mount Carmel is another 16 1 kilometers with a small spur of 2 kilometers, making 1465 kilometers in all, which Meisner Pasha told us had been built for a sum of 3,500,000 Turkish pounds, or 925 miles for $15,540,000, or less than $17,000 per mile. When the revolution occurred in 1908 the road still needed another 250,000 Turkish pounds to complete bridges and culverts, and was rapidly falling into disrepair. The Parliament was recently considering the possibility of a new loan of 300,000 to 400,000 Turkish pounds, with which to cancel floating debts and to con¬ struct the portion from Jeddeh to Mecca. No railroad wras ever more strangely financed, since it was well understood from the beginning that it could never succeed as an ordinary financial enterprise. It was to have been built by gifts from pious Moslems all over the world, but these were supplemented by a series of stamp and other acts inside the Ottoman Empire that are unique even in Turkish history. When the voluntary gifts, which were perhaps less than one-hundredth part of the cost required, 326 From the Nile to Nebo grew slack the Sultan began to issue Imperial Rescripts, and has kept up this process until there are stamps or im¬ posts on nearly everything in the Empire. A stamp of one piaster (4 cents) was levied upon every petition pre¬ sented to the government authorities for every conceivable purpose. Then came a house tax of 5 piasters on every house in Constantinople. Provincial governors were ex¬ pected to follow this shining example. Later on the Sul¬ tan decided upon a minimum tax of 5 piasters upon every Moslem male in the Empire, and the overloyal periodicals published articles declaring that Moslems in all lands ought to accept this call willingly and render the same tribute to their spiritual head. The Rescript gave care¬ ful directions that 5 piasters was the minimum for the poorest, but all who could were to pay according to their ability. Then the salaries of all government officials were treated to a per centum assessment, and all owners of decorations , and they are myriad, were directed to make a thank offering according to the grade of their decorations, and the scale of gifts was published in all the papers. Wood and coal were subjected to a new impost, and so was every parcel coming through every custom house in the Empire. Another Rescript directed that all the skins of all the animals slaughtered in the government slaughter¬ houses should be devoted to this holy project. The stamps were gradually extended to all commercial papers, deeds, etc., and all the foreign embassies put in their protests. The road is nominally built by the followers of the Prophet, but these stamp acts have put both the Christians and the foreigners under tribute. Almost every department of the government has been obliged to make some contribution to this pet scheme of the Sultan. There have been times of financial stringency when foreign sellers of railroad equip¬ ments have been ungracious enough to require a cash ac¬ companiment to orders for rails and rolling stock. German engineers surveyed the road, Americans supplied a large The Meeting and Parting-place of the Old Caravan and the New Railway The Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway 327 part of the rails, but the work of digging was done mainly by the battalions 0 f regular soldiers sent down along the line for that purpose. Special inducements were offered to those who would use the pick and shovel instead of the rifle • — one year of the railroad service counting as two years of their compulsory military service. So that even the mili¬ tary establishment has been affected by this marvelous project. This will explain how the 1465 kilometers have been completed at an apparently small expense. Of the first $4,740,000 collected, the largest item on the list was the $2,650,000 from the skins of slaughtered animals. At a later stage the government offered some 17,000,000 unused stamps, remnants of many issues during the past twenty-five years, for sale, and the proceeds were given to the railway scheme. It is further said, though I can¬ not vouch for the authority, that of the total $16,000,000 spent on the project up to November, 1908, about $6,000,000 came from Moslems outside the Turkish Empire. An intelligent engineer among the builders of this desert railway said to me that he admired Muhammad’s shrewd¬ ness in placing the goal of the Moslem pilgrimage in the center of Arabia. A simple numerical calculation will reveal the interesting fact that the pilgrims bring and spend not less than 10,000,000 English pounds yearly in Arabia. This and this alone furnishes a livelihood to the Arabs of Arabia and keeps them all in good fighting trim. If the present government wished to subdue completely the troublesome Bedawin, and dared to take such a step, it could do so by stopping the pilgrimage for from three to five years and at the same time cutting off the entrance of contraband arms and ammunition by way of the Red Sea and Gulf of Akaba. The railway follows the line of an ancient caravan route from Damascus into Arabia over which Muhammad jour¬ neyed as a trader with camels before he assumed the r61e of prophet. And in one of his journeys to Egypt he 328 From the Nile to Nebo passed through Sinai, as witnessed by a traditional resting- place in Wady Selaf near the Oasis of Feiran. The rail¬ road below Ma’an passes from oasis to oasis as did the ancient caravan and pilgrimage route. The Waly of Damascus had promised us a permit to go down the railway to el Ula, the farthest point open to foreigners. But while we were in Sinai some Bedawin had raided that particular station and massacred the thirty- nine employes and guards, leaving not a soul to tell the tale. This fact, in addition to the existence of a cholera cordon, where we should have been quarantined on our return journey, easily decided the matter for us. Incidentally this Pilgrimage Railway has opened up for tourists one of the most interesting, and formerly, most inaccessible, sights of the world. For one long day’s journey across the rolling plateau westward, followed by a descent from 5400 to 2000 feet, you are at the famous entrance of Petra. And thither we traced our footsteps from Ma’an. Each year as the railhead was carried farther into the desert the pilgrims were carried in trains to the railhead and then transferred to the tents and camels of the ancient caravan. It was a strange meeting and parting of the Old World and the New. See Figure 66 for a sight that we shall never be able to see again. Figure 67 gives us a good idea of the future pilgrimage as it halts for the sunset prayer. The Halt for the Sunset Prayer on the Hedjaz Pilgrimage Railway CHAPTER XXX THE ROCK CITY OF PETRA The highlands east of the Jordan River are strewn with ruins marking the rise and fall of successive civilizations — Semitic, Greek, Roman, Christian, Mohammedan and Crusader. These ruins have been preserved for the mod¬ ern explorer by the tides of nomadic life which have swept up from the Arabian desert, but at the southern end of this no-man’s land, deep in the mountains of Edom, lies one of the strangest, most beautiful and most enchanting spots upon this earth — the Rock City of Petra. Its story carries us back to the dawn of human history. When Esau parted in anger from Jacob he went into Edom, then called Mount Seir, and after dispossessing the Horites became the progenitor of the Edomites, who remained the enemies of the children of Israel for a thousand years. These Edomites had princes, or kings, ruling in the Rock City while the children of Israel were still in Egyptian bondage. Some of the darkest maledictions of the Old Testament prophets are those aimed at Edom. A GREAT “SAFE DEPOSIT0 In the days of the Nabatheans Petra became the central point to which the caravans from the interior of Arabia, Persia and India came laden with all the precious com¬ modities of the East, and from which these commodities were distributed through Egypt, Palestine, Syria and all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, for evenTyre and Sidon derived many of their precious wares and dyes from Petra. It was at that time the Suez of this part of the 329 330 From the Nile to Nebo world, the place where the East and the West met to trade and barter. It was also, in fact, a great “safe deposit,” into which the great caravans poured after the vicissitudes and dangers of the desert. Its wealth became fabulous, and it is not without some good reason that the first rock structure one sees in Petra, guarding the mysterious entrance, is still called “Pharaoh’s Treas¬ ury.” It must have been the Nabatheans who developed the natural beauties of the situation and increased the rock-cut dwellings, temples and tombs to the almost inter¬ minable extent in which they are found to-day. The palmy period of the Nabatheans extended from 150 B. C. to 106 A. D., when the Romans conquered the country and city, extended two Roman roads into it, and established the province of Arabia Petra. The Rock City was always to these regions and peoples what Rome was to the Romans and Jerusalem to the Jews. Horites, Edomites, Nabatheans and Romans have all rejoiced and boasted in the possession of this unique stronghold and most remark¬ able city of antiquity. When Rome’s power waned and the fortified camps on the edge of the desert were abandoned, no doubt the sol¬ diers were withdrawn from such cities as Petra. Then the Romanized Nabatheans or Nabatheanized Romans held their own against the desert hordes as long as they could, and went down probably about the same time as the Greek cities of the Decapolis (636 A. D.). From this time on¬ ward Petra’s history becomes more and more obscure, and for more than a thousand years Edom’s ancient capital was completely lost to the civilized world. Until its dis¬ covery by Burckhardt, in 1812, its site seems to have been unknown except to the wandering Bedawin. THE SIK, OR ENTRANCE DEFILE The entrance to the Rock City is the most striking gate¬ way to any city on our planet. It is a narrow rift or defile, Photo by Libbey and Hoskins The Rock City of Petra 33i bisecting a mountain of many hued sandstone, winding through the rock as though it was the most plastic clay. This sik, or defile, is nearly two miles long. Its general contour is a wide semicircular swing from the right to the left, with innumerable short bends, having sharp curves and corners in its general course. The width of the Sik varies from 1 2 feet at its narrowest point to 35 or 40 feet at other places. Where the gloomy walls actually overhang the roadway and almost shut out the blue ribbon of sky, it seems narrower, and perhaps at many points above the stream the walls do come closer than 12 feet. Photographs of these narrower and darker por¬ tions of the defile are impossible. Only where the walls recede and one side catches the sunlight (Fig. 68) was it possible to secure any views that would reveal the actual beauties of the place. Then no camera could be arranged to take in the whole height of the canyon. The height of the perpendicular side cliffs has been estimated at from 200 to 1000 feet. Heights, like distances, in this clear desert air are deceptive, but after many tests and observa¬ tions we are prepared to say that at places they are almost sheer for 300 to 400 feet. Seen at morning, midday, or midnight, the Sik, this matchless entrance to a hidden city, is unquestionably one of the great glories of ancient Petra. Along its cool, gloomy gorge file the caravans of antiquity — from Damascus and the East, from the desert, from Egypt and the heart of Africa. Kings, queens and conquerors have all marveled at its beauties and its strangeness. Wealth untold went in and out of it for centuries, and now for over thirteen hundred years it has been silent and deserted. PHARAOH’S TREASURY The first time we picked our way in this matchless defile, we wandered on amazed, enchanted and delighted, not wishing for, not expecting that anything could be finer • 332 From the Nile to Nebo than this, when a look ahead warned us that we were ap¬ proaching some monument worth attention, and suddenly we stepped out of the narrow gorge into the sunlight again. There in front of us, carved in the face of the cliff, half re¬ vealed, half concealed in the growing shadows, was one of the largest, most perfect, and most beautiful monu¬ ments of antiquity — Pharaoh’s Treasury1 (see Fig. 69). Almost as perfect as the day it came from beneath the sculptor’s chisel, fifteen hundred or two thousand years ago, colored with the natural hues of the brilliant sand¬ stone, which added an indescribable element to the archi¬ tectural beauty; flanked and surmounted by the cliffs, which had been carved and tinted in turn by the powers of nature ; approached by the mysterious defile — it was almost overpowering in its effect. Descriptions of the width and height and the details of this monument of antiquity may enable many to reproduce for themselves some of its striking features; but neither language, measurements nor pictures can give more than a bald idea of the temple and its charming surroundings. The secret of its magic seems to be the culmination of man’s best efforts with the powers and beauties of nature. Located at the end of a long and difficult journey, whether one comes from the valley of the Euphrates, from Sinai, from Egypt, or from any point of Syria east or west of the Jordan; set in the mountains of mystery, at the gate¬ way of the most original form of entrance to any city on our planet; carved with matchless skill, after the concep¬ tion of some master mind; gathering the beauties of the stream, the peerless hues of the sandstone, the towering cliffs, the impassable ravine, the brilliant atmosphere, and the fragment of blue sky above — it must have been enduring in its effect upon the human mind. We saw it in its desolation, a thousand years after its owners had fled — tempest, flood and earthquake having done their worst, 1 Now called by archaeologists the “Temple of Isis.” Petra — Pharaoh’s Treasury. Temple of Isis Photo by Myers and Hoskins The Rock City of Petra 333 aided by the puny hand of the wandering Arab, to mar and disfigure it— and we confess that its impression upon our hearts and memory is deathless. To portray the marvelous coloring of these masses of sandstone and to give anything like a correct view of this unique feature of Petra is something we attempt with mis¬ givings. From the moment we sighted the great castellated mass in which the city lies hidden until we took our last glimpse from the highlands above, we never ceased to wonder at the indescribable beauties of the purples, the yellows, the crimsons and the many hued combinations. Whether seen in the gloom of the Sik, or the brilliant sunshine, that seemed to kindle the craggy, bristling pin¬ nacles into colored flames, they continued to inspire our surprise. Travellers have vied with each other in their attempts to describe these beauties. After the solid colors of red, purple, blue, black, white and yellow, the never-ending combinations are best compared with watered silk or the plumage of certain birds. We shall be listened to if we say with all soberness that “the half was never told” of the effect of this many hued landscape; for we saw it glistening with the rain¬ drops after the showers, we saw it before the sunrise, we saw it under the noonday sun, and we noticed, as perhaps no one had done before us, the way in which these ancient sculptors fixed the levels of their tombs, temples and dwellings so as to make most artistic use of the more beautiful strata in the mountain walls, and we marveled again and again, in the never-ending ravines, how these ancient dwellers consciously practiced a kind of landscape gardening; where, instead of beautiful effects produced by banks of fading flowers, all was carved from the many hued and easily wrought solid stone, which took on new beauties as it crumbled away. 334 From the Nile to Nebo THE GREAT THEATER Not far from Pharaoh’s Treasury is a great theater in what may be called the Appian Way of the city. It stands among some of the finest tombs — a theater in the midst of sepulchers. The floor of the stage is 120 feet in diameter. Fully 5000 spectators could have found comfort in the thirty- three rows of seats. Here also the coloring of the sandstone is brilliant, and at certain places in the excavation the tiers of seats are literally red and purple alternately in the native rock. Shut in on nearly every side, these many colored seats filled with throngs of brilliantly dressed revelers, the rocks around and above crowded with the less fortunate denizens of the region, what a spectacle in this valley it must have been! What an effect it must have produced upon the weary traveller toiling in from the burning sands of the desert, along the shadows of the marvelous Sik, past the vision of the Treasury, and into the widening gorge that resounded with the shouts of the revelers, in the days of its ancient glory. The eastern wall of the valley, near the entrance, rises to a height of more than 500 feet. For a length of 1000 feet the face of the cliff is carved and honeycombed with excavations to a height of 300 feet above the floor of the valley. Here are found some of the most impressive ruins in the city. The Urn tomb in the center has in the rock behind it a room over 60 feet square, whose beautiful colored ceiling can be compared to a great storm in the heavens. The Corinthian tomb and temple are among the largest and most beautifully colored monuments in any of the walls. The Deir (Fig. 70) is reached by one of the great ravines, up which winds a path and stairway until an elevation of 700 feet is attained. A small plateau opening toward the south gives an extended view of Mount Hor and all the southern end of the Dead Sea depression. The spot is rt >> 4* S- O O c/5 4 CD *— Vh (^c 5 a> •k. 9 £ The Rock City of Petra 335 wholly inaccessible except by the one rocky stairway and winding path. The Deir is carved from the side of a mountain top, but not protected by any overhanging mass. It is larger than the Treasury, but not nearly so fine in coloring or design. It is impressive in its size and its surroundings, but cannot be called beautiful. Finally, if you will remember that originally the whole valley, from its beginning at the door of the Sik until its exit among the fissures at the southern end of the Dead Sea, is one huge excavation made by the powers of nature, the torrent and the earthquake; and that the hand of time, the frost, the heat and the tempest have been busy through the ages cracking, smoothing, chiseling mountain top, deep ravine and towering cliff into a myriad of fantastic forms, and that the subtler, silent agencies of Nature’s alchemy have been adding the most brilliant hues to mouldering sandstone strata, you cannot but be charmed and amazed at the result of her handiwork. Then when you enter the city by the winding valley of the Sik, gaze at the stupendous walls of rock which close the valley and encircle this ancient habitation, and mark how man himself, but an imitator of Nature, has adorned the winding bases of these encircling walls with all the beauty of architecture and art — with temple, tomb and palace, column, portico and pediment — while the mountain summits present Nature in her wildest and most savage forms, the enchantment will be complete, and among the ineffaceable impressions of your soul will be the memories of this silent, beautiful “rose- red city half as old as time.” But the connection of Petra with the Exodus comes along a religious line. There can be little doubt that the site was occupied by the king of Edom, to whom Moses sent his messengers from Kadesh Barnea, and that not a few of the Children of Israel first or last had entered the ancient city and visited the famous “High Places” 336 From the Nile to Nebo which undoubtedly existed at that day, and which still existing to-day are in many respects the most interesting sight in Petra. The main High Place1 is the most perfect specimen known to exist (Fig. 71), with its “mazzabah,” its colossal stairway, its rock-cut court, the lavers, the block of sacrifice and the two rock-cut altars (Fig. 72). This spot has been visited by travellers since Petra had been rediscovered by Burckhardt in 1812, but its real significance was not appreciated until 1881, when several Biblical stu¬ dents (Curtis, Robinson and others) called attention to its ancient origin and meaning. Professor Libbey and I had the great privilege of dis¬ covering a second “High Place” in Petra in March, 1902, and in 1905 Professor P. V. Myers and I located still a third, which we fully reported with measurements and il¬ lustrations to the Biblical World shortly after our return. From the days of Abraham to those of Solomon the Bible makes many references to the worship on the high places. It was a natural and at first an innocent impulse which led men to resort to the hills for worship. There the worship¬ pers were brought nearer to the heavens, and the separa¬ tion of those retired eminences from the scenes of the usual routine of daily occupation suggested the idea of sacredness. Sinai, Hor, Nebo, Ebal and Gerizim, Ramah and Jerusalem play an important part in the history of the religious life of the Children of Israel. The literature of other nations, and their attempts to build in the low-lying plain structures that would imitate the mountain heights, bear testimony to the same impulse and instinct. Leaving the fuller discussion of the more recondite ques¬ tions as to how far the Israelites were influenced by the example of the Egyptians at Serabit, the Moabites and the Canaanites to wider and later study, we may point out briefly some of the matters that come into prominence. That these spots were for worship, and not for ceremonies con- 1 See “ J. V. and P. Vol. II, p. 171. The Rock City of Petra 33 7 nected with the burial of the dead alone, is evidenced by the elevated location of the main High Place in Petra, and the absence of tombs anywhere within hundreds of yards of it. That the worship included the element of sacrifice is proved by the accessories of all such well-preserved locations. That they reproduce in a striking manner the main features of Israel’s tabernacle — the sanctuary, the court, the lavers, the altars, etc. — is undeniable. Now, whether the Israel¬ ites borrowed from the Moabites, or the Moabites from the Israelites, or both from another source, is, of course, an interesting question, but one of the plainest and most val¬ uable inferences lies on the surface, and is this: these high places bear the strongest testimony, along with older references in literature, to the great age of the idea and practice of sacrifice, pushing it back into the earliest periods. Whether it was animal or human, or both, will perhaps some day be known more fully. In the reign of Solomon we are suddenly confronted by an unusual development of the worship on high places. It was one of the sins of this great king that he burnt sacri¬ fices on so many of these high altars. His foreign wives induced him to build high places for “Ashtoreth, the abom¬ ination of the Zidonians; for Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom, the abomination of the Children of Ammon” (i Kings 11:1752 Kings 23: 13). In spite of the construction of the Temple, this idolatrous wor¬ ship introduced from foreign nations, and the worship of Jehovah on high places went on increasing for many years. The conflict between the two is suggested in Solomon’s days. Elijah complains that the altars of God are thrown down and neglected, and he himself burns incense on the reconstructed altar on Mount Carmel. This conflict grew sharper in the day of Asa and the kings who followed him, until the impression is sharply defined that all the wor¬ ship on these high places was idolatrous and hence illegit¬ imate. Then followed the centralizing of worship and sac- 22 33« From the Nile to Nebo rifice at the one altar in Jerusalem, and the warfare waged against all the high places in the Holy Land. The reasons for this are not far to seek. The ritual and worship at these myriad local altars, after Solomon’s accession, degenerated from the older and simpler standard, and their heathen practices had been introduced into the city of Jerusalem itself. Any reform in Jerusalem must needs have issued in a warfare against all local shrines. Hence the interesting fact, that to find the mazzeba and other accessories of this worship on high places we must go to Edom and other portions of Syria, which lay beyond the sphere of the Jewish kingdom’s influence and control. And here in Petra are certainly the most perfect specimens of these interesting remains of the centuries before the monarchy and perhaps the Exodus. Photo by Libbcy and Hoskins CHAPTER XXXI KADESH BARNEA, MOUNT HOR, EDOM AND MOAB Robinson and other scholars thought the Children of Israel might have reached Kadesh Barnea by way of Ara- bah from Ezion Geber , but I am much more inclined to think that they may have gone up via Wady el Ain or even Wady Taba and that they came down the Arabah thirty-seven years later. The main reason for this is an intelligible one. They failed to enter the Promised Land by way of Hormah, which probably corresponds to the location Sebaita, in the western extremity of the “desert of the wandering.” They afterward found the whole Nigeb or “South Country” barred against their passage, and it was perfectly natural for them to look toward the Arabah and “by the Coast of Edom.” Hence, when the people were all assembled at Kadesh for the final march, “Moses sent messengers from Kadesh” unto the king of Edom “seeking for a passage through his territory “by the King’s highway,” again sug¬ gesting the existence of well-known roads even through the country east of the Jordan. The salt morasses and the rugged shores of the western side of the Dead Sea offered no way of escape directly into the Jordan Valley. The cliffs of Moab on the east are absolutely impassable to the present day to any living creature, hence the only route was down and across the Arabah into Edom, and the messengers went in advance of the great host. Perhaps even before the surly, churlish answer came back the host moved down the great natural roadway from Kadesh and encamped before Mount Hor, undecided as to which of the great passes they would take through Edom. This route, viewed from the geographical point of view, is the most natural one possible. 339 340 From the Nile to Nebo I have viewed and reviewed every argument advanced for the “Jebel Madurah site of Mt. Hor,” and every argu¬ ment against the traditional site, and am completely con¬ firmed in favor of Jebel Haroun, the traditional Mount Hor. Whatever may have been the “ sphere of influence” claimed or held by Edom at the time of the Exodus or later, the natural western boundary of Edom must always have been the Arabah and Mount Hor “by the border of the land of Edom” (Num. 20: 23), and fits the documents as the key fits the lock, which is by no means true of any other loca¬ tion. If, as we believe, Edom’s capital city, Petra, was then occupied by its king, dukes and people, there is abundant reason to believe that communication existed between the Children of Israel at Kadesh and Edom during the years of the “wandering,” and the descent of the Chil¬ dren of Israel from Kadesh down to the Arabah would not have given any more anxiety than is actually revealed in the churlish answer of Edom’s king. For the Children of Israel had now left the country of foreign enemies and had come into contact with their own blood relations, even though they were decidedly unfriendly. This region of Edom comes into history as Mount Seir in the days of Chedorlaomer and Abraham. It then em¬ braced the mountainous district from the Dead Sea, south of the Zered (Ahsa), to the east arm of the Red Sea; it was bounded on the east by the desert and on the west by the deep valley of the Arabah. Its principal peak was Jebel Neby Haroun, known as Mount Hor, which bears the ancient name of the region to the present day. It wras the home of the Horites, who emerge at the dawn of human history. It has been supposed that the name “Horites” means “cave-dwellers,” but it may also signify “the white race.” Professor Maspero identifies it with Khar, the Egyptian name for Southern Palestine. Some time after Jacob had fled to Paddan-aram from the anger of his brother, Esau left Isaac, his father, and made his Aaron’s Tomb on Mt. Hor Kadesh Barnea, Mount Hor, Edom and Moab 341 home in Mount Seir. Eventually his descendants dispos¬ sessed1 the Horites of Mount Seir, gaining possession of the country both by war and by marriage with the inhabitants, and the result of intermarriage was the mixed race known as the Edomites. Their kings reigned in the land of Edom at the time when the Children of Israel were in Egypt. When the Hebrews at length escaped from Egypt and reached the borders of Edom they found that the fierce fires of Esau’s anger still burned in the hearts of his de¬ scendants, and neither the king nor the people of Edom would listen to their request for permission to pass through Edom on their way to the Promised Land, although they offered to pay for both food and water which they might consume (Deut. 1 1 : 4-8) as they passed through. In order not to wage war with a kindred people the Children of Israel turned back from the borders of Edom and marched southward through the desert dowrn the Arabah, between the cliffs of the Tih on the west and the range of Edom on the east, until they reached the Red Sea, when they turned to the left. They rounded the southern end of the moun¬ tains of Edom and then marched north along the eastern border of Edom toward Moab. This churlish refusal of the Edomites was never for¬ gotten by the Israelites; though the Edomites were regarded as brethren by the law and were allowed certain privileges beyond some other nations, the hostility of the two peoples to each other disfigures all their mutual relations until the Edomites disappear for ever from history. The Edomites were conquered by David (2 Sam. 8: 14), Jehoshaphat and Amaziah (2 Chron. 25: n). In the time of Ahaz, when Pekah and Rezin made war against Judah, the Edomites invaded the land and carried off captives, and a century and a half later, when Nebuchadnezzar (587 B. C.) be¬ sieged Jerusalem, the Edomites joined in taking and sack¬ ing the city, and appropriated a portion of its territory. 1 Deut. 11:12. 342 From the Nile to Nebo Israel’s prophets never spared Edom; Joel predicts its desolation, Amos denounces judgment upon it, but foretells the ultimate incorporation of the remnant of Edom with Israel. Jeremiah makes it the subject of one of his mina¬ tory poems. Obadiah speaks of little else but the cruelty of Edom to Israel and the certainty that the Edomites will be destroyed in spite of their rocky fastnesses, their numer¬ ous allies and their far-famed wisdom. Ezekiel declares the vengeance of Jehovah that awaits it, and Malachi pro¬ nounces that its overthrow is to be perpetual. The region of Mount Hor is “paved with the good in¬ tentions” of travellers unfulfilled. Burckhardt (1811) struggled hard to ascend Mount Hor, but was obliged to halt on the little plain half-way up, without reaching the top. Neither Laborde (1827) nor Robinson (1838) was allowed to make the attempt. Many other parties since their day have seen the white tomb on its summit from afar, and sadly against their will have turned away from it for ever. But since the roads have become better known, and travellers have been able to dispense with native guides, the ascent has been made by a number who have left some records of their experiences. I have had the privilege of climbing Mount Hor at three different times and of enjoying the superb views from its lofty summit. The difficulties are not physical, but arise from the jealousy, cupidity and superstitions of the people, who claim the shrine and guard its approaches. The Bedawin who roam over the land of Edom have been described by travellers as the worst of their race. Pococke speaks of the Arabs about Akaba and the Arabah as bad people. He calls them notorious robbers, who are always at war with all others. Joliffe alludes to the district as one of the wildest divisions of Arabia. Burckhardt says that in this region he felt fear for the first and only time dur¬ ing his travels in the desert, and that this route was the most dangerous he ever travelled. He had nothing with Tafileh from the South Kadesh Barnea, Mount Hor, Edom and Moab 343 him that ought to have attracted the notice of the Bedawin or have excited their cupidity, and yet they even stripped him of some rags that covered his wounded ankles. Leigh, Banks, Irby and Mangles (1818) were told that the Arabs of Wady Musa were a most savage and treach¬ erous race, murdering pilgrims from Barbary, and acting toward all comers as the Edomites did toward the Israelites when they refused them passage through this country on the way to the Promised Land. It is a mystery why this ancient, world-old churlishness should appear in the modern dwellers, but so it is. They seem to have drawn it from the soil or to have absorbed it from the fountains. But whatever its explanation, here it is, three thousand years and more since Moses was rebuffed. Aaron’s tomb on Mount Hor is now' a Moslem shrine. Like Moses’ tomb, below Nebo, it has been coveted and fought for by Christians, and more especially by Jews, whose reverence for both these Israelite heroes is well known to the Moslems. It will be woe to the poor Jew, for many years to come, who is found within twenty-five miles of that sacred spot on Hor. Another element entering into the situation is the deeply rooted superstition connected with the tomb, ac¬ cording to which the people firmly believe that evil will surely befall, before the year is out, the wretched man who commits the sacrilege of aiding or guiding any stranger to the sacred spot at the top of the mount. It is true that their cupidity, now' and then, overcomes their fears, but the deep-rooted superstition and the dread of evil raise the price demanded. As late as 1883 the party made up of Kitchener, Armstrong and Hull paid £34 ($170) for the privilege of one day to visit Mount Hor, and afterward passing through Petra. Ordinarily the amount of bakshish depends upon the number of men who get wind of the strangers’ coming, and who reach the spot in time to claim a share. It is then “many men, many money.” When 344 From the Nile to Nebo their superstitions and cupidity have not availed, they have often thwarted parties by threatening to plunder their camp or caravans while the owners were climbing the mountain, and a party strong enough to hold its own while united, dared not subdivide itself and become an easy prey to the unscrupulous people. During my various visits I found that no matter how willing the Arabs about Petra were to serve us in camp, they would not act as guides up Mount Hor. At my first visit with Professor Libbey a certain Musa begged off from having anything to do with the ascent. He afterward compromised with his conscience and promised to meet us on top if we ever reached there. He kept his promise and appeared on the summit, but we never learned how he placated the “Neby” or the villagers, who would have killed him had they seen him. Travellers coming from Hebron or the south speak of Mount Hor as the highest mountain in sight along the route. Its mass of reddish sandstone and conglomerate “rises in a precipitous wall of natural masonry, tier above tier, with its face to the west. The base of the cliff of sand¬ stone rests upon a solid ridge of granite and porphyry, and the summit of the sandstone is somewhat in the form of a rude pyramid.” “No more grand monument could be erec¬ ted to the memory of a man honored by God, than that which Nature has here reared up. For amidst this region of natural pyramids Jebel Haroun towers supreme. . . . Jehovah passing sentence of premature death upon His servant, for a public act of disobedience, left him not to die without honor, and for ever after the most conspicuous peak in all this country has been inseparably connected with his name and stands a monument to his memory.”1 The appearance of the white-domed tomb on the sum¬ mit (Fig. 73) reminds one strongly of the similar rude buildings on the top of Jebel Musa at Sinai. The views, 1 Hull (1883). Kadesh Barnea, Mount Hor, Edom and Moab 345 beginning with the southern end of the Dead Sea, easily rival in sublime desolation the wildness of the region about Sinai. The district westward is a mass of twisted strata, impassable gorges, bottomless ravines, to the plain and desert of the Arabah, which was visible for fifty miles of its extent south of the Dead Dea. Northward lies the great Petra mass and higher plateau of Edom, and eastward great billowy masses of mountains bare and about naked of trees and verdure, only the fantastic shapes into which the mountains are weathered and the subdued glow of their coloring redeeming them from utter desolation. So that while there is a “scarcity of marked features” compared with other views in Sinai and the Holy Land, it still re¬ mains true that the outlook from Mount Hor is one of the grandest conceivable over a waste of mountain solitude and the chasm of the Dead Sea. Our barometers in 1902 reg¬ istered 4600 feet;1 adding to this 1290 feet we have a depth of 5890 feet to the waters of the Dead Sea. FOURTH SECTION OF THE ROUTE After the death and burial of Aaron at Mount Hor the Children of Israel made their way down the Arabah (Deut. 2 : 8) and began their last march toward the Promised Land. Having crossed the great depression below the Dead Sea, they once again climbed through winding valleys to the desert plateau and over heights rivalling the elevations about Sinai. They journeyed many miles along the breezy plateaus of Edom and Moab at heights between 3500 and 5000 feet. Generally speaking, the greatest heights were reached about Edom, and neglecting for a moment the great rift at the Brook Zered and the Arnon, the plateaus slope gently down to the plains of Moab to some 2500 to 2800 feet at Madeba.2 1 The height given by Kitchener in 1883 is 4580 feet, as determined by triangulation. 2 See “J. V. and P.,” Vol. I, p. 33. 34^ From the Nile to Nebo The line of march is known from many of the names which remain until this present day. Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth (Num. 33:41, 42 and 21: 10) are lost because they seem to have been the names of camps or localities of the “dukes of Edom” who correspond to our modern Arab Emirs. Iye-Aherim, “the fountains of the regions beyond,” would apply to many a series of fountains in that land. Tophel (Deut. 1 : 1) has been found in the modern Tahleh, of which a photograph is given in Figure 74. It is a great well-watered amphitheater two days beyond Petra, with splendid groves of olive trees. The “brook Zared (Zered),” the “brook of the willows,” in Isaiah 15: 7, and the “river of the wilderness,” in Amos 6 : 14, is, without doubt, Wady el Ahsa. (See Fig. 75 for a glimpse of this val¬ ley, which afterward became the southern boundary of Moab.) The brooks of Arnon, the modern Mu jib, is one of the finest canyons in the world, and the view of Figure 76 shows the plural character of the great trough toward the east. Somewhere in that vicinity the Children of Israel crossed, and, after passing through Beer, Bamoth, Jahaz and Azoer, came to Dibon (Joshua 13 : 17), which name clings to a ruin (Fig. 78) to this present hour. These ruins have been made for ever famous by the discovery of the Moabite stone. After Dibon they came into the plains of Moab around Madeba, which whole country is redolent with the memories of Moses.1 Moab2 is mentioned once in Genesis and again in the Song of Moses (Exodus 15 : 15), but its history begins in the 1 Those who wish to study more fully the present condition of Edom and Petra, Moab and Madeba, the country in which lies the fourth and last section of the Route of the Exodus, will find eight or ten fully illustrated chapters in the two volumes, “The Jordan Valley and Petra,” which the author of this volume wrote in collaboration with Professor Libbey of Prince¬ ton, and from which several of the accompanying photographs are repro¬ duced. 2 Moab was explored by Seetzen in 1808; Burckhardt, 1812; De Saulcy, 1853; Tristram, 1873; and Condor, 1885. Kadesh Barnea. Mount Hor, Edom and Moab 347 third part of the book of Numbers, chapters 21 to 36. The events of these last fifteen chapters, and those of all the book of Deuteronomy, took place in the plains of Moab. The wanderings ended when the Children of Israel crossed the Brook Zered (Num. 21 : 11-13), but several months elapsed1 before they crossed the Jordan, and all the events of this period, except the campaign against Og, King of Bashan, took place in the plains and land of Moab. The epi¬ sodes mentioned extend from the end of the wanderings to the beginning of the conquest of the Promised Land, west of the Jordan. After Sihon, King of the Amorites, and Og, King of Bashan, were overcome, Balak, King of Moab, made vain use of enchantments against Israel. He called for Balaam, son of Beor, to come and curse “this people, for they are too mighty for me,” but, instead of malediction, he heard from Balaam the glorious future of Israel (Num¬ bers 22-24). Here occurred also that sad lapse of the Israelites into idolatry (Numbers 25) at Shittim, and their entangling defilements with the Moabites whom they had conquered. Here also took place the second numbering of the people (Num. 26) after the ravages of the plague, the appointment of Joshua as successor of Moses (Num. 27), and the alloca¬ tion to two and a half tribes of territory east of the Jordan (Num. 32). Here Moses gave directions concerning the partition of the land west of the Jordan among the remain¬ ing tribes, and appointed the cities of refuge (Num. 35: 10- 34). Here, also, in the plains of Moab, Moses delivered all the final commands of the book of Deuteronomy, and after his farewell address, on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year, ascended Nebo for the last time and died. Thus in the land of Moab ends the Exodus and the wanderings, Joshua takes command, Moses dies, the Pen¬ tateuch closes and the conquest of the Holy Land begins. 1 Numbers 33 : 44-48 mentions five encampments between the east and the west borders of Moab. 348 From the Nile to Nebo The land in its present desolation, its insecurity, its lawlessness and its mournful ruins, is an open commentary, lighting up with electric flash the heavy pall of denuncia¬ tions heaped by the prophets upon the lands of Moab and Edom (Figs. 79, 80, 81). For Moab is mentioned one hun¬ dred and fifty-eight times in the Old Testament, thirty of these references occurring in one chapter in Jeremiah (chap. 48), where the fate of the land and its people is the bitterest meted out to any of Israel’s enemies. Moab’s “cities shall become a desolation without any to dwell therein, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from (Moab’s) blood.” The one gleam of sunlight over its breezy plains is the idyllic story of Ruth, the Moabitess, grandmother to King David, and in the line of “the genera¬ tions of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Descent into Arnon Canyon CHAPTER XXXII MADEBA, MOSES, AND THE MOSAIC MAP Twenty-five years ago Madebawas still a desert mound, lost in the Moab plateau. The Adwan Arabs, mentioned so often by travellers, pitched their tents and pastured their flocks about the mound and in the floor of the ancient pool, without knowing or caring that the ruins of a once flourish¬ ing city lay beneath their feet. But in 1880 some Christians from Kerak, weary of being trampled upon by the more powerful tribes and clans, in their never-ending blood feuds and pillage, resolved to quit that city and found a new colony about the mound of ancient Madeba. In turning over the soil, preparatory to erecting their rude dwellings, they came upon extensive remains of cut stone, broken pillars, ruined cisterns and fragments of ancient pavements in mosaic. Tristram, who visited the mound in 1873 before the place contained any settled inhabitants, said: “I have seen no place in the country where excava¬ tions seem more likely to yield good results,” and the re¬ sults have abundantly justified his expectations. For dur¬ ing the course of twenty-five years these modern builders have uncovered perhaps a dozen Christian churches and basilicas. Almost every ruin has yielded inscriptions which are, strangely enough, all found in the mosaic pavements of these places of Christian worship. Among the larger Byzantine inscriptions is one referring to a basilica dedicated to the Virgin. And in the floor of a small ancient church is the following injunction: “In gazing upon the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and upon Him whom she brought forth, Christ, the Sovereign King, only 349 35° From the Nile to Nebo Son of God, be thou pure in mind and flesh and deeds, in order that thou mayest, by thy pure prayers, find God Himself merciful.” When the Kerak people settled on the mound, the Latins seized a most commanding site and built a modest church and school, which now boasts a small clock- tower. Other settlers came from the surrounding country, until there were several thousand people gathered together. Then the government, some fifteen years ago, made it a govern¬ ment center and built a small serai on the ruins of a church. The Greek orthodox people, in looking for a site, seized upon the ruins of an old basilica to the northwest of the mound, and here has been made the second great dis¬ covery beyond the Jordan, if we give the first place to the Moabite Stone. The site is in a little saddle, where the roads fork toward the Jordan and Jerash, and all around are fragments of mosaic pavements, which once drained their rainfall into huge cisterns, now the largest and cleanest in Madeba. Among these neglected frag¬ ments of ancient pavements was found the precious mosaic map of the fifth century. It is now known that in 1884 a Greek monk living east of the Jordan wrote a letter to the Greek Patriarch of Jeru¬ salem, telling him of a mosaic pavement at Madeba covered with names of cities, such as Jerusalem, Gaza, Nicopolis, Neapolis, etc. The Patriarch Nicodemus made no answer, but after he was exiled and Gerasimos put in his place, the new Patriarch found the letter of the Madeba monk six years after it was written, that is, in 1890. Gerasimos, guessing that this was an important archaeological discov¬ ery, sent a master mason with orders that if the mosaic was a fine one to include it in the church which was to be built at Madeba for the use of the Greek population. The mosaic was at that time almost complete, and, by the testi¬ mony of those who saw it, contained the names of Smyrna and other towns as far away. But the stupid builder, in Diban, where the Moabite Stone was found Madeba, Moses, and the Mosaic Map 351 his great desire to build on the ancient foundations, des¬ troyed the greater part of it, and drove a pilaster right through the priceless piece that he did not completely destroy. After the mischief was done, and the greater part of the relic lost for ever, he went back to Jerusalem and reported that the mosaic did not possess the importance which had been attributed to it. It was not until December, 1896, that Father Cleopas, the librarian of the Greek Patriarchate, went to spend a few days at Jericho. His Patriarch Gerasimos, still un¬ easy about the matter, urged him to push on as far as Ma¬ deba. When he returned in January, 1897, it was with notes and sketches which proved a surprise and a delight to the archaeological world. Then — alas, it was almost too late ! — measures were taken to preserve the mutilated frag¬ ments, and draughtsmen, photographers and archaeologists all hastened to the rescue. Our photograph (Fig. 84) shows what remains of the map and the iron fence now pro¬ tecting it. Thus, to the Greek monk, to Father Cleopas and the Greek Patriarch belong the honor of having saved the fragment of this unique map of the early Christian centuries. The large church (Fig. 83) which was built over the map cost 1500 Turkish pounds, and bears on its front a terra¬ cotta medallion, the same as the one noticed at Remamin, bearing witness to the fact that much of the money came from Russia. The map originally occupied the whole width of the church, which was about 50 feet long and from 20 to 22 feet from side to side. It was drawn from east to west, and not from north to south, as is the case in maps of to-day. The point occupied by Madeba which, alas, has disap¬ peared, would have been located near the center of the present nave, in front of the main door of the church. All the northern part of the map is lost forever, except two small and unimportant pieces. The part which remains, 352 From the Nile to Nebo and in which there are also various breaks, embraces the country from Nablous to the mouth of the Nile. The orientation of the map is not exact. They took as a base the line of the seashore on the Mediterranean, and as this line runs from southwest to northeast, it follows that the axis of the map, which corresponds with the axis of the church, extended from Jaffa to Madeba, and consequently inclined visibly to the south. One cannot expect in this map either the mathematical precision or the multiplicity of details which are the merit of modern maps. It is rather a rude sketch designed to illustrate biblical history. Decorative art occupies a large place. Objects and names are traced in proportions which do not conform to any exact scale, and the perspective is wholly conventional, but it supplies a number of new iden¬ tifications. The mountains are drawn with a combination of lines and colors which do not fail to produce on the eye the effect desired. The Dead Sea is a wavy expanse of blue, enlivened by two ships of impossible proportions, but altogether picturesque. On the Jordan one sees a ferry¬ boat, whose mast slides along a boom extending from bank to bank, while gigantic fishes play in the waters. In the desert palms mark the oases and the lion pursues the gazelle. InThe larger cities, such as Jerusalem, the location of the principal streets is indicated by marking them with colon¬ nades, and the facades of the main buildings are drawn to show the general aspect, some rounded and some pointed. The smaller cities are drawn in silhouette, with their walls, battlements and principal gates. Unfortunately, most of the larger cities are badly damaged, only Jerusa¬ lem remaining in its entirety. The map contains the names of about one hundred and thirty ancient places, some of which are new to history. The geographical names are all written above their cities, and some explanatory in¬ scriptions are given below them. In the Land of Moab i. What Travelers Do. 2. What a few People do. 3. What most of the People are Doing Madeba, Moses, and the Mosaic Map 353 One of the merits of the map, unique of its kind, is the wealth of explanations. In the first place the fragment embraces, in whole or in part, the territory of the tribes of Simeon, Judah, Dan, Benjamin and Ephraim. The name of each tribe is inscribed in large red letters, and is ac¬ companied by an explanatory text taken from the Bible. In this way parts of Jacob’s blessings are worked into the design, as Zebulon has Genesis 49: 13; Ephraim, Genesis 49: 25, and parts also of the blessing of Moses. Benjamin has Deuteronomy 33:12 written beneath it, and Ephraim has Deuteronomy 33 : 13. These inscriptions will no doubt have some value in the department of sacred criticism of the Bible. Other explanations are taken literally from the Onomasticon of Eusebius. At certain points of the map these inscriptions occupy the whole of the surface, interfer¬ ing somewhat with its clearness, but no doubt serving an important purpose in the eyes of its makers. In many cases the localities are designated by two names, the ancient name and also the name in use at the era of the map. The arms of the Nile have their names written either in the streams themselves or by the sides of them. The exact date of the map is a question which will no doubt be solved satisfactorily, but from the form of the letters it certainly seems to have been made before the beginning of the sixth century. Among the places pic¬ tured is the Monastery of Saint Sapsas, on the east bank of the Jordan, and contemporaneous documents and refer¬ ences to this are dated 494 to 518. Hence we may safely call it a map of the fifth century A. D. As to the origin and purpose of this unique map, Mr. Clermont Ganneau (P. E. F., July, 1901) suggests that it may be a copy of the “picture” which St. Jerome speaks of as being found in his Onomasticon. Then, lacking further information, he calls in imagination and makes a brilliant suggestion, which by its peculiar fitness carries almost the weight of written testimony. “What,” he says, “was the 23 354 From the Nile to Nebo origin of this extraordinary work? What is its object? To what need or preconceived notion does it correspond? What was the idea of fixing thus upon the pavement of the basilica at Madeba a representation of the Holy Land as faithful and as detailed as the means of that period per¬ mitted. “What it is necessary to consider before all is the position of Madeba. I am struck by one fact; it is that Madeba is situated close to Mount Nebo; it was in the Byzantine Period the most important town which stood in those regions, where the great memory of Moses still lingered. It was in the immediate neighborhood that the leader of Israel received from Jehovah the order to climb the summit of Pisgah where he was to die, and to contemplate in one supreme vision in all its extent this land of Canaan, the Land of Promise, which was to belong to his people, but which he was not himself allowed to enter. (See Genesis 32: 41-52, 34: 1-8; compare Numbers 27: 12, 13.) Might it not be, perhaps, this geographical picture which was virtually unrolled under the eyes of Moses, that it was in¬ tended to reproduce in the mosaic of the basilica of Madeba. That is to say, in the neighboring town to this memorable scene. Why should they not have had the idea of showing in a realistic way the thing itself that Moses saw, quite close to, if not at the place itself, where he saw it? Noth¬ ing was at the time more tempting or more logical.” CHAPTER XXXIII NEBO The modern identification of Nebo has been long de¬ layed, but may now be reckoned as complete. The data for the purpose are a constantly increasing collection of facts resulting from a more careful study of the Bible narratives in the light of explorations of the vicinity, with corroborative and explanatory materials from other lands and sources. In the first place, Nebo is not a “mountain/’ in the ordinary sense of that word. When one looks from Jeru¬ salem or the highlands of Judea eastward beyond the Jor¬ dan, nothing in the shape of a peak or mountain breaks the long sky-line of the Moab plateau. And even when one journeys from the east or south over that plateau, he rises almost insensibly from the desert until he gains the highest ridges, from which he catches glimpses of the highlands of Judea, without so much as a suggestion of the deep valley of the Jordan and the Dead Sea between. But a few miles beyond the ridges the plateau breaks up into promontories or headlands slightly lower than itself, which extend far out into the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea region, afford¬ ing superb views of the valley and sea and all Western Palestine beyond. Between the dotted line representing sea-level and the waving line of Moab plateau is an eleva¬ tion of 2000 feet, and between the dotted line and the Dead Sea a depression of 1292 feet, so that seen from Jericho or the Jordan Valley or the Dead Sea, rising almost sheer in places for 3000 feet, these are really mountains. Seen from above, they are extensions of the Moab plateau. 355 3 56 From the Nile to Nebo The name “Nebo,” found only twice in the Scriptures (Deut. 32: 49, 34: 1) as referring to the mountain, is now by common consent connected with a heathen god of the Assyrians, whose worship had been extended into this East-Jordan land before the coming of the Children of Israel. Nebo, with Baal and Peor, other heathen deities, all had altars and shrines on these promontories, reaching out from the Moab plateau into the Jordan Valley. Now, these names were lost or confused many centuries ago, and it seemed as though this was another case of the prov¬ idential obliteration of the name and exact location of a much-sought site ; but in recent years the very name itself, “Neba,” has been found clinging to a knoll on the prom¬ ontory already chosen for many other reasons as the real “Mount Nebo.” Five miles southwest of Heshbon, and less than that dis¬ tance northwest of Madeba, the ridge or promontory identi¬ fied as Nebo juts from the plateau with a width of more than half a mile, and extends fully two miles westward toward Jericho. The views westward, northward and southward are superb. Two knolls attract one’s gaze and invite the seeker to their summits. The eastern one, near the base of the promontory, gives a backward view over Moab, and to this still clings the name “Neba.” The height is given as 2643 feet above the Mediterranean, that is, about 3500 feet above the Jordan in front of it. The western one, more than a mile farther out and perhaps 200 feet lower, gives the finer view of all the Jordan Valley and the land of “Canaan” beyond. This is, no doubt, “Pisgah,” as seen from the valley below. The “two views” from Nebo, that of Balak (Num. 23 : 14- 16) and that of Moses (Deut. 34: 1-4), are as accurately described as any modern guide-book could describe them. The natural features are, of course, absolutely unchanged, except in the names and unidentified localities. The “view” has been the charm for pilgrims and travellers of Madeba — Greek Church covering remains of famous Mosaic Map Nebo 357 all past ages, as curiously evidenced by the mosaic map in the Madeba church. It will continue to delight for all time to come. NEBO VIEW Not by any means does one obtain the finest view from the highest knoll or crest. At. least three levels lead out to rounded brows, and on the lowest (2360 feet) of them all, extending like a balcony out from the mountain side, do we find the spot where the Dead Sea and the South Country, “the hills and mountains of Judea, Jericho and the whole Jordan Valley, northward, as the gaze swings through the panorama.” While backward and behind one gets little but the higher summit of Nebo, which cuts off the sweep of the Moabite horizon from Heshbon eastward and south¬ ward. Two-thirds of the Dead Sea stretches its azure sheet southward, and through a break in the western mountains we do get a glimpse into the hazy depths of the “South Country,” just beyond which, all invisible, lies the “Desert of the Wandering.” Then one who knows the map of the West- Jordan country easily marks the line where the hill country of Judah lifts its darker, greener mass this side the wilderness, and as the nearer features more clearly distin¬ guish themselves, can pick out the hills overlooking Hebron and the never- to-be-mis taken flat crest of the Frank Mountain. Beyond that the eye rests fondly on little Bethlehem, sitting on the upper edge of its amphitheater in the hill side, its terraced gardens and mass of green bring¬ ing pleasure to the eye wearied with the awful desolation and grandeur of the slopes and mountains encircling the Dead Sea. Bright spots of dwellings dot the upper range between Bethlehem and the Holy City, among them Beit Jala and the Monastery of Mar Elias. Then with no background but the white sky the spires of Jerusalem stand out plainer than ever with the Russian bell- tower above them all. One 358 From the Nile to Nebo of the minarets marks the mosque of the Tomb of David on Mount Zion, around which cluster the Dome of the Rock and all the other famous sights of the city. Farther north, hills blend in blueness that lie not far from Nazareth and look down on the Sea of Galilee. Yonder is “this moun¬ tain” that our Lord glanced up to from Jacob’s Well, where he taught the Samaritan woman and the world, the lesson of worshipping the Father in spirit and in truth. Between us and the western hills winds the Jordan of His baptism, and, unconsciously, the view that Moses saw melts for us into the land of that “greater than Moses,” because per¬ haps from no other point can so many of the footsteps of the Master be traced, or so many scenes of His life be brought together, as in a single picture — Bethlehem, the Jordan, Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives carry us from His cradle to His throne. And there on that same Mount of Olives is where Russia, Austria, Germany and other Christian nations of the West are still striving for the possession of the Promised Land, while the real owners, Moses’ own people, of whom and for whom Christ came and died, are scattered over the face of the earth. The Bible itinerary (Num. 21:18-20, 33:44-47) men¬ tions five encampments between the east and west bound¬ aries of Moab. It is the last two of this series which are the important ones for us. Numbers 33 : 47 says they “en¬ camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo,” and 21: 20 says they journeyed “from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab to the top of Pisgah, which looketh down upon the desert” (or Jeshimon). Now, scholars have noted the infelicity of the translation of the latter verse: “to the valley ... to the top of Pisgah,” and have given as more correct (G. A. Smith), “to the glen that is in the field of Moab by the headland of Pisgah, which looketh out on Jeshimon.” Just “before Nebo,” that is, to the north , for the Children of Israel are journeying from the south, and in “the valley,” or “glen,” down which Madeba — Remains of the famous Mosaic Map Nebo 359 the roads to the Jordan have run from all antiquity to the present day, are the well-known fountains, still called the “Fountains of Moses.” This was where they must have halted, and not on the “top of Pisgah.” One more jour¬ ney and they “encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.” This makes every Bible reference to the “mountain” perfectly plain, and, with our most recent knowledge of the locality, settles the question forever. Alas, the vicissitudes of time ! Nebo stands changeless as it was when Moses climbed its famous headland, and is to-day as inseparably connected with his name as it has been for more than thirty centuries, but its exact location was lost to Christian view for at least twelve centuries. Madeba, a city under its changeless name in the earliest notices of Moab, existed through two thousand years of Moabite, Maccabee and Christian history, was sacked and destroyed at the time of the destructive march of Chosroes, the Persian, early in the seventh century, and disappeared from the face of the earth. For over twelve hundred years it has lain undisturbed, uninhabited, in the desola¬ tion of Moab. Only yesterday (1880) was it reoccupied and dug up from the dust of ages, to yield, among other treasures, this unique monument to the memory of Moses. Of all the nationalities and religions that have contended for the mastery of the plateau, only the Jewish, the Christian and the Moslem remain. But all three revere the memory of Moses, and every pilgrim of the future centuries — Jew, Christian and Moslem — visiting the land of Moab, to stand again in fancy with Moses on Nebo’s brow, will gladly journey from map to mountain, and link the present to the remoter past through this Christian tribute to his memory. Moses on Nebo thus becomes one of the colossal figures of human history. The man and the mount seem lifted out of space and time into the realm of thought, where they constitute, like Psalm 51, one of the shrines of the human 360 From the Nile to Nebo soul. A life of matchless service, one sin remembered, a distant view of what might have been, a lonely death, an unknown grave and heaven. THE BURIAL OF MOSES By Mrs. C. F. Alexander By Nebo’s lonely mountain, On this side Jordan’s wave, In a vale in the land of Moab There lies a lonely grave, And no man knows that sepulcher, And no man saw it e’er; For the angels of God upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there. That was the grandest funeral That ever passed on earth; But no man heard the trampling, Or saw the train go forth — Noiselessly as the daylight Comes back when night is done, And the crimson streaks on ocean’s cheek Grows into the great sun. Noiselessly as the springtime Her crown of verdure weaves, And all the trees on all the hills Open their thousand leaves; So without sound of music, Or the voice of them that wept, Silently down from the mountain’s crown The great procession swept. Perchance the bald old eagle On gray Beth-Peor’s height, Out of his lonely eyrie Looked on the wondrous sight; Perchance the lion stalking Still shuns that hallowed spot, For beast and bird have seen and heard That which man knoweth not. But when the warrior dieth, His comrades in the war, With arms reversed and muffled drum, Follow his funeral car; They show the banners taken, They tell his battles won, And after him lead his masterless steed, While peals the minute gun. ■**''*£: Jerusalem Camp — (i) A welcome visitor. (2) Letters from home Nebo 361 Amid the noblest of the land We lay the sage to rest, And give the bard an honored place, With costly marble drest, In the great minster transept Where lights like glories fall, And the organ rings, and the sweet choir sings Along the emblazoned wall. This was the truest warrior That ever buckled sword, This the most gifted poet That ever breathed a word; And never earth’s philosopher Traced with his golden pen, On the deathless page, truths half so sage As he wrote down for men. And had he not high honor — The hillside for a pall, To lie in state while angels wait With stars for tapers tall, And the dark rock pines, like tossing plumes, Over his bier to wave, And God’s own hand in that lonely land, To lay him in the grave? In that strange grave without a name, Whence his uncoffined clay Shall break again, O wondrous thought! Before the Judgment Day, And stand with glory wrapt around On the hills he never trod, And speak of the strife that won our life, With the Incarnate Son of God. O lonely grave in Moab’s land ! O dark Beth-Peor’s hill! Speak to these curious hearts of ours, And teach them to be still. God hath His mysteries of grace, Ways that we cannot tell; He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep Of him he loved so well. at APPENDIX I DESERT TEMPERATURES, FEBRUARY 18 TO MARCH U, J909 Date. T emperature. Place. Level. Feb. 18 59° F. Wells of Moses . . Sea-level. 44 i9 520 F. 44 44 a 20 53° F. Wady Sudr . 44 u 21 53° F. Elim . . 500 feet. i i 22 Tent blown down . 44 u 23 5i° F. 44 u 24 45° F. Nubk ul Budra . . 951 “ u 25 45° F. Feiran . . 1017 “ 44 26 420 F. 44 . 2050 “ 44 27 46° F. Sinai . . 5265 “ 44 28 45° F. 44 . CT8234 “ March 1 37° F. 44 . 713° “ 44 2 34° F. 44 . 4888 “ 44 3 46° F. Wady es Saal . . 4281 “ 44 4 52° F. Wady es Shukaa . . 2813 “ 44 5 62° F. Wady el Ain . . 754 “ 44 6 63° F. Jebel Aswal . 44 7 6i° F. 44 44 44 8 49° F. Akaba . 44 44 9 49° F. 44 44 44 10 43° F. Abu Jiddeh . . 1591 feet. 44 11 420 F. Guwairah . . 2952 “ 363 APPENDIX II INDEX OF BIBLE TEXTS GENESIS TEXT 5^ . 14 . 15: 13 . 16:7 . I9:i . 24:60 . 28: 10-22 . 28:12 . 3^45 . 32:22 . PAGE . 260 . 29 . 26l . l62 . 175 . 130 . 131 . 131 . 17 32:41-52 . . 354 34:1-8 . . 354 35^4 . . 131 4i:i . . i7 41 : 41-43 . . 82 4i:45,5o . . 83 48:22 . . 82 49:13,25 . . 353 TEXT PAGE l6:7 . 16:13 . l6:i4 . 16:36 . I7:i . . 92, no, 145 17:1-7 . . 147 I7:8-l6 . . 147 I7:i4 . 19 . . 214 I9:i,2 . . 92 20: 2-17 . . 231 20: 25 . . 131 21-23 . . 231 24:7 . . 228 3i:2 . . 249 32:20 . 32:22 . . 240 33:H . . 17 38:26 . . 164 EXODUS i:i8 . . 214 i : 8-12, 15-21 . . 164 1 : 11 . . 96 2:11-14 . . 258 4: 25 . . 122 10:9 . . 273 12:37 . .92, 98, 164, 166, 182 12:40 . . 29,81 13:17 . . 261 13: 20 . . 98 14:7 . . 169 14:9, i5 . . 92 14: 20-22 . 15:15 . . 346 15:22, 23, 27. . . 92 15: 23-25 . . 69 15:27 . . 17, 7i, 73 15:31 . . 112 16 . . hi 16:1 . . 92, no LEVITICUS i-7 . 8-10 . 8: 2, 26,31 . 9:4 . 10:12 . 11-16 . 17-27 . NUMBERS 1:4. • • . 1:16... 1:18. . . 1 : 20, 24 1 : 45 • • • 1:46... 2:32. . . 3 . 3:12... 364 257 257 112 112 112 257 257 164, 177 ••• I7S 173, 175 ... 182 ... 183 .... 184 164, 183 164,' 182 165, 183 . . . 169 Appendix TEXT PAGE 3^7 . 177 3:22 . 185 3^9 . 185 3^3 . l6S,l69, 185 4 . 165, 183 5:23 . 228 7:i3 . 112 10-25 . 257 10:10-36:13 . 214 10:11 . 92 11:3 . 284 n:3,34,3S . 92, 259 11:7,8 . 112 11:31 . 108 11:31-35 . 273 11:35-12:16 . 279 12:16 . 92 13 . 267 13:20,21 . 93 14:4 . 267 14:33 . 266 16 . 267 20 . 267 20:1,8 . 267 20:23 . 340 21:1,22 . 93 21- 36 . 347 21:3, 10, 11, 12, 14-19 . 93,346, 347,358 21:14 . 228 21:20 . 358 21:25,32,33 . 93 21:33 . IS 22:4 . 85 22- 24 . 347 23:14-16 . 356 25 . 347 25:1 . 93 25:14 . 182 26 . 164, 165,177, 257,347 26:51 . 164, 183 27 . 347 27: 12, 13 . 354 32 . 347 32:3,35,37 . 93 32:26,42 . 93 33 . 128, 257, 258, 279, 284 33:5 . 92 33:10 . 92 33: 12, 13 . 92,93, 128, 145 33:18, 26, 30, 34,35 . 259 33:16-35 . 92, 292 33:37 . 93 TEXT PAGE 33:41-42 . 93, 346 33:44-47 . 358 33:46 . 93 33:47 . 93 33:49,50 . 9 3 35:10-34 . 347 DEUTERONOMY i-4 . 257 1:1 . 93,346 1:46 . 93 2:1,14 . 93 2:6 . 112 2:8, 26,32 . 93,345 3:4,8,9,10,16 . 93 4:43 . 93 4:46,48 . 93 7:24 . 131 9:21 . 162 10:6,7 . 93 11:4-8,12 . 341 27 . 257 27:5 . 131 29-34 . 257 32:10 . 154 32:49 . 356 33:12,13 . 353 34:i . 356 34:i-4 . 356 34:6 . 17 3:14. •• • 4 . 4: 19. • • • 5:6 . 5:12.... 8:31,32. 10: 1-11 . 10: 13. . . 13:9, 17- 13:26, 27 13:31- • • 14:10... 18:19... 24:7.... 24: 26, 27 24:31 • - - JOSHUA . 93 . 131 . 93 . 79 . 112 . 131 . 85 . 228 . 93,346 . 93 . 93 . 79 . 228 . 93 . 131, 228, 231 . 79 JUDGES 1:17 . 93 1:21 . 85 366 Appendix TEXT 3:8-15: 6:15... ii : 16 . . 20 . PAGE . 79 . 173 . 93 4:18. . . 6:19... 7:12... 10:19. . 23:23.. I SAMUEL . 79 . 188 . 131 •173, 175 . 173 8:14... II SAMUEL . 34i 6:11... 8:31 . . . 11:17.. 22:3. . . 23:17- • I KINGS .29, 78, 79 . 13 1 . 337 . 93 . 13 1 3 . 22:8. . . 23:13- • II KINGS . 3ii . 229 . 337 TEXT 2:55- • I CHRONICLES PAGE . 96 25: II . 34: i5- II CHRONICLES - 341 . 229 19 . 5i . PSALMS • 333 • 359 15:7- • ISAIAH - 346 48 . JEREMIAH • 348 39:12. EZEKIEL • 131 6:14. . AMOS - 346 5:1... MICAH - 173 INDEX Aamu, Sinai miners, 123, 124; Syrians, pos¬ sibly Amorites, 82. Aaron, as High Priest, 170; at Hazeroth, 279; death of, 259, 345; Mount Hor, 23; tomb of, 343- Aaron’s Hill, description of, 269, 270. Abarim, 358. Abbas Pasha, chateau of, 240, 242; date as Khedive, 289. Abd ul Hamid, Mecca Railway, 324. Aboda, 43. Abraham, ignorant Bedawin, 76, 191; Jesus Christ son of, 348; locomotion, time of, 75; period of, 42, 76, 137, 243, 336. Abu Jiddeh, Arab burying ground near, 254; camp near Akaba, 315, 318. Abu Shebib, Sheikh, tomb of, 159. Abu Suweirah, fountain at, 67. Abul Lisan, our route, 254. Abydos, inscriptions, 31, 82, 250; temple of, 250. Adam, book of, 228; good Moslem, 216. Adwan Arabs, at Madeba, 349. Africa, caravans from, at Petra, 331; natives of, embrace Islam, 219; position of Sinai, 36, 43, 44, 50; quails in north, , 107 Africanus, Julius, Manetho’s writings, 32. Agade, chief city of Naram-Sin, 41. Ahsa, depression of, 24, 25. Ailah. See Elath. Ain Abu Horon. See Ain Haldi. Ain Abul-Lisan, our route, 321. Ain Haldi, our route, 254, 317, 320. Ain Hudherah. See Hazeroth. Ain Kadis, elevation, 24; distance from Kadesh Barnea,'2ss; identity with Kadesh, 23, 263, 264, 280. Ajlun, Circassians at Amman in, 3x0. Akaba, blackmail of Arabs at, 300, 301, 303, 305, 320, 342; boundary of Sinai and Egypt, 43, 289, 295, 298; description of, 313, 314, 319; guard of Turkish soldiers, 301; gulf of, 94, 158; 200, 240, 248, 261, 272, 273, 292, 293, 294, 295, 299, 318, 327; imaginary location of Sinai east of, 94; modern pilgrimage route, 43, 287, 289; our barometers at, 318; our food list at, 65, 66; pearl fishers at, 296; Robinson at, 276; Roman wall at, 290,314,315; route, 17, 18, 22, 25, 49, 64, 94, 151, 243, 254, 258, 268, 283, 288, 289, 298, 299, 300, 305, 316,318; telegraph system, 16; troops at, 211, 289, 291; Turkish government, 311, 319; water barrels sold in, 315. Alexander, era of, 28. Alexander II., purchase of Codex Sinaiticus, 311. Alexandria, body of St. Katharine carried to, 207; bombardment of, 289; railway, 53. Alush, route of C. of I., 145. Amalek (or Amalekites), route of C. of I., 145, 147. 148, 149. 152. Amarna, Tel-el, date of tablets, 84; tablets, 40, 84, 85, 86, 213. Amenhotep, Amarna letters written time of, 84; dating from, 35; time of Exodus, 84; tomb of, 139. Amen-Ra, God of temple at Deir el Bahari, 139. Amman, our route, 16, 22; Circassians at, 310- Ammonites, Palestine invaded by, 38; Mil- com god of, 337. Amorites, Amarna letters, 84; Sikima land of, 82, 265; Sihon king of, 347. Amos, documents in time of, 230; prophecy against Edom, 342. Antioch, era of, 28. “Appian Way” of Petra, 334. Arab, Arabs, attacks, 21 1; at Akaba, 289, 300, 342; at Petra, 333, 344; Bedawin, 66, 70, 72, 268; cameleers, 56, 206, 269, 270; can be Syrian, Moslem, etc., 95, 96; collect manna, 112; divided into great tribes, 96, 173, 256, 289, 290, 309, 324, 349; dugong or porpoise, 248; encampments, 191, 192, 203, 252, 255, 322; expeditions against, 290, 302, 308, 311, 319; game of Sigah, 104; guides, 300, 316; knowledge of distances, 283; knowledge of names in districts, 115, 272, 288; livelihood of, 327; patron saints of, no, 270; punishment of Arabs, 264; Towarah, 271; traditions, 146, 272, 273, 314; travellers and, 148, 149, 161; under Turkish government, 310. Arab Emirs, correspond to “dukes of Edom,” 346- Arabah, Arabs of 342; ancient road, 261; border of Edom, 340, 345; geological form¬ ation of, 278, 321; guides sent west across, 316; routes, 17, 314>i339» 34i. 345- Arabia, coast of, in relation to canal, 52; desert of, 66, 107, 149, 329; materials for Tabernacle not from Arabia, 247; monastic movement in, 157; mountains of, 298, 342; pilgrimage into center of, 327; plants of, 1x2; quails in, 107; route of Exodus, 25, 43; route from Petra, 144, 151, 158, 329; Semites from, 39; Semitic ritual of, 117; Springs of Moses on coast of, 50; tribes of, 324; Turkish government in, 324; Turkish troops in, 290. Arabian fortress on Pharaoh’s island, 295; “nome,” 138. 367 Index 368 Arabian Nights like opening of Suer Canal, 54*. Arabic Bible, 11, 12, 243; gum Arabic, 248; inscriptions at Sinai, 144; language, 11, 136, 137. i74. 2x1, 233, 237, 263, 267, 202; MSS. at Sinai Library, 212; names of places, 265, 279; pottery, 59; race in his¬ tory, 37, 38, 39, 40; rulers in Egypt, 40; word “Elf,” 175; word “haraba,” 138; word “el Masadd,” 314; word “tahash,” 248; word “wander,” 273. Arabi Pasha, rebellion of, 242, 262. Arameans, a part of Semites, 38. Armenians, race, 39. Arnon, depth of, 24, 25, 346; modern Mujib, 346; route, 18, 260. Asa, high places of, 337; documents, 230, Ashcaroth (Ishtar), horned Semitic goddess, 132, 337- Ashur-Bani-Pal’s library at Nineveh, 41. Asia, Amarna tablets in relation to, 84; mi¬ grations from and to, 50; position of Sinai in relation to, 36, 44. Asia Minor, Circassian tribes from, 309, 3x0. Asiatic serf labor, 83. Assa, papyrus of, 76. Assyria, correspondence with Egypt, 29, 84; dates, 77, 78; inscriptions, 77. Assyrians, Nebo connected with god of, 356. Assyriologists, Amarna tablets, 85. Auchincloss, W. S., chronology of, 79, 80; to Canaan in one year, 22, 23; Israel’s itinerary by, 92, 93, 94, 258, 259. Austria, military strength, 184; on Mount of Olives, 358. Baal, shrines near Nebo, 356. Babylon, chronology, 30, 31, 77; civilization of, 29, 39 74; conquest of Naram-sin, 29, 41; correspondence of, 40, 84; Hammurabi dynasty, 38; history of, 28, 30, 31; inscrip¬ tions, 76, 213; knowledge of Sinai, 42, 90; no collision between Egypt and, 41; Semi¬ tic immigration, 38. Babylonian language, 233. Bagdad (Baghdad), dromedary post, 43; railway, 325. Balaam cursing Israel, 347. Balak, king of Moab, 85, 347; on Amarna tablets, 85; view from Nebo, 356. “Baltic,” rescue of passengers from “Repub¬ lic” and “Florida,” 47. Bamoth, route of C. of I., 346, 358. Bani-Saad, noted Arab tribe, 96. Bani-Sekhr, noted Arab tribe, 96. Barnabas, MSS. of Epistle of, 212, Bawit (Egypt), monastery at, 28. Bedawin Arabs, use for names of places, 66; collect manna, 160; honesty, 276; huts, 155, 161; in rock sculpture, 125, 142; miners, 117, 119, 120 (Retemmu), 124, 126, 127; need of water, 284; not taxed by Egypt, 161; number of , in Sinai, 45; offer¬ ings at shrines, 271; race in Egypt, 39; race influence on Hebrews, 39; roving in Sinai, 157. 33°'» Shucair’s acquaintance with, 48; sight of, 67; soldiery, 300; tradition of Abbas Pasha, 241, 242; travellers, 263, 342; tribes, 149, 261, 263, 310, 311, 322, 342; unrest among, 314, 327; workmen in Sinai, 156. Bedawy, at Hazeroth, 282; legend, 105; may be Arab, Syrian, etc., 9s, 96; presents to, 295; quails, 108; symbol of Sinai, 90, 97, 102. Beer, route of C. of I., 346. Beersheba, ancient route near, 43, 137, 150; home of our guides, 316^322; Jacob at, 130; travellers in, 316. Beit Jala, seen from Nebo, 357. Belka, Circassians at, 310. Benihassan, visit of Palestine people to, 81. Benjamin, family of, 173; on Madeba map, 35 3- Berlin, to Mecca by rail, 325. Bethel, meaning of word, 131; pillar at, 131; stones (Serabit), 130, 132, 137, 138. Bethlehem, associated with life of Christ, 15, 204, 358; Ephrate (families) thousands of Judah, 173; pearl industry of, 293; seen from Nebo, 357, 358. Bethshemesh, instance of clans (thousands), 188. Bezaleel, art work of tabernacle, 249. Bible, attack of Habiri on Jerusalem, 85; chronology of, 20, 74, 77, 79, 80, 83; clues to numbers of C. of I., 171, 182, 186; funeral of Jacob, 82; flint knives of, 122; Hebrew words translated “wander,” 92; history before and after the Exodus, 137; ideas read into, 221, 222; limits set by, 232; Madeba map, 353; manna, 111,112; mean¬ ing of word “Alaf,” 173; narrative, 224, 227, 229, 234, 250, 35s ; numbers writ¬ ten in words, 176, 180, 188; number of mid¬ wives for C. of I., 169; palm trees of Elim, 161; quails, 106; record of route, 94, 99, 115, 190, 258, 358; reference to high places, 336; reference to Marah, 70; revision of ideas, 88, 91, 108, 163, 168; statement of caravans visiting Egypt, 81; statement of Moses’ stay at Sinai, 91; texts from, on Madeba map, 353; sacred stones, 131; usage of Sinai and Horeb, 145; writer’s knowledge of Bible lands, 235. Biblical archaeology, 81; arguments, 166; knowledge, 257; phrase “Law and Proph¬ ets,” 227; problems, 264; records and double Exodus, 88; records, 146, 149, 152, 177. 213, 215, 216, 232, 236; references, 260, 359; Sinai not outside civilization, 90, 117 , 190; sites, 262; students and Petra, 336. Binns, “Jack,” wireless messages, 47. Bir Suweis, well at Suez, 50. Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal through, 54, 99. Boghaz-Koi, inscription found at, 85; old capital of Hittites, 85. Borckh, Egyptian dates, 33. Boulac Museum, inscriptions from Mag- hareh, 49. Breasted, chronology, 78. Brindisi, mail train to, 48; preparations be¬ fore leaving, 301. British, friends in Egypt, 243, and Arabi Pasha, 242; government and boundary, 21 1, 290, 298, 300; remains of Palmer and Hill, 263; map of Sinai issued by, 264; officers survey for Suez Canal, 53; share in Suez Canal, 54. British Museum, Macdonald’s squeezes, 126. Bronze age, date of, 75, 76. Burckhardt, ascent of Mt. Hor, 342; de¬ scription of Sinai, 150, 336; discovery Index 369 of Petra, 330; mentions Jebel Sherafeb, 295- . . Burning bush, chapel of, at Sinai, 207. Buswerah, route, 294. Byzantine Christian, at Madeba, 349, 354; exploitation of holy places, 206. CiESAR Augustus, era of, 29. Cairo, Abbas Pasha’s return to, 241 ; Bishop of, 205; Minister of Public Works, 127; pyramids near, 42; railway, 53. Camels, cameleers, contract for, 49, 64; death of Arabs’, 276; incidents en route, 107, 155, 159; patrols in Sinai, 290; pil¬ grimage, 67; route, 17, 56, 59, 64, 245, 291, 295, 302, 312; sandals, 248; symbol of Sinai, 90, 97; use of flint and steel, 75. Canaan, burial of Israel in, 82; date of con¬ quest, 80, 81; end of route, 168, 267, 354, 356; end of manna supply, 112; time neces¬ sary to reach, 91, Canaanites, intention of C. of I. to attack, 258; mentioned on stele of Merneptah, 87; religious influence on Israelites, 336. Cappadocia, Boghaz-koi, capital of, 85. Carmel Elijah on, 131; Mecca railway, 16. Censorius, Egyptian dead reckoning, 34. Chalcedon, Council of, Bishop of Feiran at, 157- Chaldea, era of, 28. Chatillon, Rainald of, besieged Pharaoh’s island, 296. Chedorlaomer, Kadesh Bamea, 261; Mount Seir, 340. Chemosh, god of Moabites, 337. China, era of, 28. Christ came to Moses’ people, 358; divine- human nature of, 217; good Moslem, 216; life of, 227. Christian, church and meaning of word “day,” 165; civilization, 209, 243, 282, 283; era, 28, 29, 33, 39, 54, 58, 74, 144, 158, 194, 234; history, 197, 216, 244, 351, 359; hymns, 2x7; in Turkish empire, 326; monastery on El Muharrad, 156; name lists, 260; nations, 246, 358; numbers of C. of I., 165, 171; ruins, 329, 349; tradi¬ tions, 209; travellers, 263, 298; world’s knowledge of Sinai, 42; writers and word “alaf,” 176. Christianity, evangelical, 244; monastic conception of, 157; savage tribes and, 219. Christians, colony of, at Madeba, 349; gate at Hazeroth, 283; have fought for Mos¬ lem shrines, 343; have preserved i Jewish shrines, 246. Chronology, Babylonian, 29-31; Bible, 20, 77, 78; Censorius, 34; Egyptian, 27, 28, 32; Exodus, 35 ; Old Testament, 29, 74; Sinai, 42. Circassian, Governor of Kerak a, 305; tribes, 309, 310, Cleopas (Father), librarian of Greek Patri¬ archate. 351. Codex Sinaiticus, in Sinai Library, 211. Codex Vaticanus, compared to Codex Sina¬ iticus, 212. Commandments, giving of, 45. Constantinople, era of, 28. Copper age, date of, 76. 24 Coptic, traditions re Sinai. 194; inscriptions at, 143, 144. Coral Cove Camp, our route, 254, 294, 295. Cosmas, story of Sinai inscriptions, 143. Covenant, announcement of, 45. Crusaders, castle at Kerak, 311; rebuilt Kerak, 311; ruins near Jordan, 329; spirit of, 165. Curtis, on High Places, Petra, 336. Cushite, wife of Moses, 279. Cyprus, Plain of, on Jebel Musa, 239. Damascus, army sent to Kerak, 31 1; Con¬ sular Agent at, 305; desert east of, 66,95; dromedary post, 43; end of journey, 64; Kilawun’s conquests, 209; orders, from gov¬ ernor, 301, 302, 303, 305; Mecca Railway, 15, 313. 324. 325. 327; route to, J51, 331; territory outside, 309, 311. Dan, numbers of, 182; on Madeba map, 353. Darius I, canal constructed by, 51, 54. Dates, Bible dates, 20; Egyptian, 33; Exo¬ dus, 35. David, age of, 77; a good Moslem, 216; con¬ quered Edomites, 341; grandmother of, 348; pursued by Saul, 173; tomb of, 358; worship of, 230. Dead Sea, Belka near, 310; depth of, 24, 25, 334; district of, 340; not seen from Nebo, 355, 357; on Madeba map, 352; position of in relation to Sinai, 36, 44; route, 314, 339; seen from Mt. Hor, 344, 345, 357; steam launch, 16; torrent trees of, 247. Decapolis, Turkish camp on site of, 31 1; fall of Greek cities, 330. Deir el-Bahari, gate inscriptions, 31; jewelry found at, 250; temple erected by Hatshepsut, 139. Delta, ancient route near, 42. Deraa, Mecca railway, 325. Deuteronomy, book of, 213, 214, 227, 228, 260, 347. Deuteronomy, “D” document, 216, 220, 227, 230, 257. Dibon, elevation of, 25; Exodus route, 22, 260, 346; Moabite stone of, 26, 346. Diodorus, date of Egyptian canal, 52; height of sea levels, 53. Divine Law, linked with oldest geological formation, 45. Divine providence, author’s belief in, in. Dophkah, vicinity of Maghareh, 128,129, 145- Drake, Lieut., at Sinai, 272; Palmer’s travel¬ ing companion 262. Ebal, worship at, 336. Ebers, papyrus (rising of Sirius), 35; sug¬ gestion that Maphkah is Dophkah, 128. Edom, ancient route, 262; Bedawin of, 342; climate of, 248, 249; exodus route, 24, 25, 255, 267, 339, 340, 34i, 346; king of Edom at Petra, 335, 341; our route, 16, 17, 18, 254, 289; Mecca railway, 15; Petra in, 329, 330; plateau of, 345; prophecies against, 342, 348; remains of High Places, 337; Roman remains, 315. Edomites, descendants of Esau, 341; Israel¬ ites hostility to, 341; modern Arabs like, 343; Palestine invaded by, 38, 341; Petra, 330. 37° Index Edrei, Mecca railway, 15. Egypt, annals of, 20, 76, 140, 213, 260; Arabi Pasha’s rebellion, 262, 263; arrival at Akaba from, 299; boats of, 139; cara¬ vans from, 309, 312, 331; chronology of, 27, 28; C. of I. lived on high road to, 127; C. of I. in Egypt, 341; civilization of, 29, 31, 39, 74; dynasties of, 31. 32, 35, 4D 42, 58, 76, 77, 80, 81, 83, 84, 117, 122, 123, 125, 126, 128, 133, 134, 139. 219, 249; eastern commodities brought to, 329; education of Moses in, 235; England in, 289; Exodus out of, 36, 45, 88, 91, 108, hi, iis, 162, 164, 166, 167, 182, 185, 187, 249; flesh-pots of, 111; frontier guarded by wall, 98; in paleolithic times, 251; Ishmaelites visit, 81; Israelites visit, 81; Israelites wish to return, 267; Kesem (Goshen) nome of Lower Egypt, 97; Khedive of, 324; Kilawun Caliph of, 209, 210; language of, 37, 138; materials for Tabernacle from, 103; Mohammed’s jour¬ ney to, 327; monastic movement in, 157; New Year’s day (1st Thoth), 34; owned by Turkey, 87; Pharaoh’s, 189; prehistoric, 122; quails in, 107; races living in, 39; reason for C. of I. leaving, 273; route to Canaan, 193, 256, 257, 260, 299, 300, 301; route to Sinai, 125, 137, 151; routes to Mesopotamia, 261, 262, 298, 332; ruins in, 28; smugglers, 200; threatened inun¬ dation of, 52, 53; worship, 133, 135. Egyptian aeroplanes, 75; armies, 97; bond¬ age, 214, 244, 258, 265, 329; calendar, 19, 25, 26, 33, 34, 79; chariots, 169; composi¬ tion of mining expeditions, 122, 123; con¬ ception of Suez Canal, 54; expedition against Arabia, 290; expedition against Palestine, 82; correspondence, 40,84; flag, 289; government and rifles, 49; govern¬ ment does not tax Bedawin, 161, 300; in¬ fluence on Hebrews at Serabit, 336; in¬ scriptions of Maghareh and Serabit, 117, 126, 128, 130, 141, 142, 181; Iron age, 76; jewels and jewelry, 143, 250; knowl¬ edge of Palestine, 80; knowledge of Sinai, 42, 86, 88, 296; language, 123, 233; mining and miners, 120, 122, 129, 132, 248; name of Mafkat, 129; “mahmal,” 324; name for S. Palestine, 340; name for turquoise, 117, 142; officialdom, 166; pilgrimages, 289, 296, 312, 313; postal service, 43; prince at Benihassan, 81; problem, 325; rule in Sinai, 40, 41, 42, 287; site for Rameses, g8; style of decoration for Tabernacle, 247; tent makers, 247; troops defended frontier, 99, 295, 298; trade with Bedawin, 46. Egyptology, accepts Moses as historical, 235; Amarna tablets, 85; facts of, 75, 77. Elah, singular of Elim, 71. Elam, conquest of, 29, 39. Elath, Exodus route, 22, 43; ancient route at, 43, 297, 318. El Benat, Jebel, view of, 197. El Buweib, elevation of, 193; encampments at, 255; entrance to Oasis of Feiran, 160, 16 1, 197; route, 199, 243. Elijah altar on Carmel, 131; Chapel of Jebel Musa, 239; worship on High Places, 337. Elim, description of. 72, 102, 103, 192, 193; route, 13, 17, 2i, 70, 90, 104, 260; water at, 253; Wilderness of Sin near, no; word plu¬ ral of Elah, 71. Elisha, chapel of, on Jebel Musa, 239. El Karkah, nummulitic limestone at, 105; tableland of, 105. El Markha (Markah), description of, 113; identified as Wilderness of Sin, no; route to mines, 124, 252; route through, 150. El Masadd, Roman wall at, 314, 318. El Mezraa, plain near Gulf of Akaba, 318. El Muharrad, photo from, 197; our route, 156, 159- Elohistic, “E” document, 216, 220, 227, 231, 232. England, coronation, 190; Christianity in, 244; in Egypt, 289; overland mail route from, 53; Suez Canal completed by, 50. English gunboat at Akaba, 313; language, 217, 221, 234, 244; translation of Alaf, 174, 175; translation of medbar, 154; word “wander” in Hebrew, 92. Ephraim, Joseph’s children, 177; on Madeba map, 353; numbers of tribe of, 177. Er Rahah, pl^in of, route, 205; suggestion of Robinson, 195, 196; view of, 198, 202, 203, 239, 269. Er Weis el Ebeirig, Arab name for inscrip¬ tions, 272. Esau, descendants’ anger against Hebrews, 341; went to Mt. Seir, 329, 341. Etham, camping place of C. of I., 98. Ethiopian, stone or knife, 122. Et-Tih, mountains of, 282, 287, 293, 321, 341; plateau of, 277; route across desert of, 151, 261, 273, 283, 292; torrent trees of, 247; unable to enter, 256. Et-Tor, starting point of caravans, 158. Eugenios, Prior, of Monastery of St. Kath¬ arine, 205, 211, 242. Euphrates, civilization of, 36, 39, 40; Idu- means on, 158; route to, 43, 151, 332; Semitic influence, 37, 38. Exiguus, Dionysius, his chronology, 28. Exodus, Amarna tablets and, 84; Bible his¬ tory before and after, 137, 244; Biblical accounts of, 234, 236, 257, 258; book of, 98, 169, 213, 214, 227, 228, 229, 232, 346; chronology of, 27, 35, 73, 78, 79, 80; con¬ nection with Petra, 335, 338; date of, 29, 40, 45, 80, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 220, 223, 227; desert of, 11, 15, 61, 91, 194, 262, 273; Deuteronomy written shortly after, 231; difficulties connected with, 166, 168, 174, 221, 224; double Exodus, 81, 88, 249; ends in Land of Moab, 347; historicity of, 25, 88, 247, 256; language earlier than, 117; mines worked before, 116, 127, 129; num¬ bers of C. of I., 163, 164, 170, 171, 180, 183, 186, 187, 189, 251; problem of, 19, hi; re¬ mains of, 23, 265, 287; route of, 15, 22, 24, 25,36,51, 88, 99, 118, 142, 147,184, 204, 221, 255, 256, 258, 267, 271, 324; sanctity of Horeb not acquired during, 91; Serabit connected with, 138, 142; Sinai fame rests on, 37, 242; supposed inscriptions of Is raelites during, 143. Ezekiel, “D” document, time of, 227; proph¬ ecy against Edom, 342. Ezion Geber, route, 17, 23, 259, 260, 283, 284, 287, 292, 297, 339; seaport of Hebrews, 294; telegraph system at, 16. Index 371 Faust’s Monologue, article by Scherer, 222, Feiran, ancient Idumean town, 157, 158; as camping ground, 147, 151, 196, 198; en¬ trance to valley, 150; is Rephidim, 128; Romans masters of, 157; route, 158, 196, 199, 276. _ Feiran, Oasis of, description, 154, 160, 189, 192, 193, 194; route, 260, 284; traditions of, 209, 328; water at, 198, 253, 255. Fureia, Jebel, route, 270. Furtaga, Arabs name for fountain at Wady el Ain, 288. Fuweileh (Fuwaileh), on Roman road, 321; route, 254, 255. Gabriel (Brother), Monastery of St. Kath¬ arine, 237, 238, 242, 268. Galilee, end of journey, 64; places associated with Christ, 15, 202, 204; Sea of, 358; Turkish camp east of, 311. Ganneau, Mr. Clermont, Madeba map, 353. Gaza, charcoal from, 299; friends in, 256; name on Mosaic map, 350; Palmer at, 263; route through, 150, 261, 283, 299. Genesis, book of, 213, 227, 229, 230, 232. Gerizim, worship at, 336. German, Goethe Year Book, 222; military strength, 184; scholar, Meisner Pasha, 95, 322. Germany, on Mt. of Olives, 358; theories born in, 221. Gershon, meaning of clan, a son of Levi, 177; sons of Libni and Shemei, 177. Geshem (Gesem) (Kesem), ancient names of Goshen, 97, 98. Gharundal, description of, 72; “Elim” identification of, 71, 72; journey to, 70. Gibson, Mrs., improvements in Sinai Li¬ brary, 21 1. Gideon, family (alaf), poorest in Manasseh, 173- God, above local deities, 159; choice of Holy Land, 204; found Israel, 154; Hebrews contact with, 45, 187, 194, 202, 214, 225, 245, 257; miracle of, 101, in; Moses’ guidance by, 45, 152, 344; name as test for documents, 216, 217, 218, 235; revela¬ tion, 226; word of, 256. Goshen, land of, identified, 102, 103; near Heliopolis, 84; starting-point of route, 98, 166. Goucher, Dr. John F., journey of, 47, 48; travelling companions, 16, 301. Great Britain, duty to restore order among Arabs, 290; erection of boundary pillars by, 290; military strength, 184. Greek, chapel on Jebel Musa, 239; Christians at Sinai, 157, 194, 195; cities of Decapolis, 330; conception of Christianity, 217; hymns, 217; Ionian, at Sinai, 46; inscrip¬ tions at Sinai, 143, 144; islands, quails on, 107; monk’s letter to Patriarch, 350; navy, 52; Patriarch at Jerusalem, 350, 351; pilgrims escorted by Bedawin, 46; race, 39; site of church at Madeba, 350; volumes in Sinai library, 21 1. Guwaireh, ruins at, 319; Turkish camp at, 31 1 ; water supply, 254, 319. Habir.1, coming of, to Palestine, 85. Hammadi, Sheikh, head cameleer, 46. Hamman, Jebel, view of, 69. Hammurabi, comparison between Mosaic code and code of, 38; date of, 38; in Baby¬ lonia, 38; Old Testament laws anticipated by code of, 38, 222, 223, 229. Hanak el Lagm. See Wady Tayyibeh. Haroun er Rashid, reopening canal projected by, 52, 54- Harris, J. Rendel, Dophkah (Mafkat), 128. Harun, Jebel Neby, identification with Mt. Hor, 23, 339, 340, 344. Hasmonah, route of C. of I., 292. Hat-hor, local Serabit deity, 133. 134, 137, 140. Hat-shep-sut, daughter of Thutmose I., 83, 138, 139, 140, 142; architect of, 250; her name erased, 31; sarcophagus of, 139; shrines built by, 142; temple offerings from, 135- Hawara, Biblical Marah, 69, 70. Hazeroth, description of, 279, 282, 286; meaning of word, 280; route of C. of I., 260, 273, 284, 287, 292, 297; our route, 17, 151, 354. 279. Hebrew, Hebrews, camp, 112; faith, 140, 233; festivals, 80; Habiri identified with, 38, 85; Hatshepsut patroness of, 83; history, 26, 45, 77, 88, 197, 214, 245, 258, 341; Hyksos identified with, 81; invasion of Palestine, 38; at Kadesh Barnea, 266; legislation, 194, 196; language, 233, 234; libraries, 213; MSS., 128, 224, 233; miracle of human history, 244; mission of, 26, 38, 159, 246; Moslem word “Ilajj,” 272; names of places, 279; oldest inscription, 176; over seers, 182, 235; productiveness, 183; re¬ mained in Egypt, 88, 249; seaport, 294: soul, 245; traditions, 146; word, “Alaf,’’ 172, 173, 174, 175, 187; “Horeb,” 138; “medbar,” 154; “tahash,” 248; eight words translated wander, 92. Hebron, route to, 261; seen from Nebo, 357; sight of Hor coming from, 344. Hedjaz railway, 302, 311, 322, 323, 324. Heliopolis, absence of Hebrew' records at, 84; Amenhotep ruler of, 84; Semitic impress at, 37- Herodotus, date of, 32; sacrificial rites, time of, 76- Heshbon, Nebo near, 356, 357. Hexateuch, compilers of, 163, 235; docu¬ ments forming, 212, 213, 214, 215, 218, 220, 222, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 257; numbers of C. of I. mentioned in, 164, 172, 173. 174- Hezekiah, documents in time of, 230; oldest Hebrew inscription, 176. Hismeh, route, 318, 320. Hittites, dwellers in Cappadocia, 85; Amama letters mention, 84; Stele of Memeptah mentions, 87. Hivites, dwellers in Kadesh Barnea, 266. Hobab, Amarna tablets mention, 85; father- in-law Moses, 171. Holland, Rev. F. W., travels in Arabia, 252, 253, 280. Holy Land, conquest of, 347; geographical features of, 345; Jewish shrines, 246; Madeba map, 354. Hor, ascent of, 342, 343, 344; identification of, 23, 340; route, 18, 23, 255, 260, 339; 372 Index tomb on, 343, 345; view of, 334, 345; wor¬ ship at, 336. Horeb, C. of I. at, 91, 103, 145, 152, 231, 257; description of, 189, 202; Elijah on, 239; meaning of name, 138. 145; religious character of, 42, 45. Horites. dwellers in Mt. Seir, 329, 330, 340, 341- Hormah, defeat of C. of I. at, 258, 339. Hor-ur-ra, stele of, at Serabit, 138. Hoskins, Prof. J. P., assistance of, 13, Hoskins, Prof. W. H., assistance of, 13. Hudheibat Hajjaz, near Et-Tih plateau, 277. Hudherah, Ain (Hazeroth), description of, 280, 286; Mawared el, 280; route, 279; Valley of, 286. Hull, visit to Mt. Hor, 343. Hyksos, dynasty of, 32, 40. Idumeans, before Christian era, 158. Imm Temam, valley of Sinai, 115. India, caravans from, 329; era of, 28; over¬ land mail to, 53; pilgrims from, at Akaba, 313; Suez connecting link between Europe and, 50. Ionian Greeks at Sinai monastery, 46, 21 1. Irby, experience with Arabs, 343. Iron age, transition from Bronze age, 76. Isaac, may have passed Serabit, 137; Esau left, 340. Isaiah documents, time of, 230. Ishmaelites, section of Midianites, 96; visit Egypt, 81. , Islam, Africans accept, 219; dates from Mu¬ hammad, 216; in Sinai Peninsula, 206; world of, 324. Ismailia (Ismaliyeh), ancient route near, 42, 43; fresh water canal to, 50; railway to, 53; site of Raamses near, 97. Israel, Children of, at Sinai, 249, 257; Egypt when C. of I. were in wilderness, 86; enter Palestine, 84, 92, 347, 356; encampments of, 191, 192, 193, 194, 198, 259, 284; in Canaan, 168; at Mt. of Law, 190, 232, 238; at Kadesh, 340; at Petra, 335; in Egypt, 80, 83, 87, 97, 98, 169, 235, 257, 329, 341; ancient routes, 261; built House of the Lord, 78; did they cross Canal? 51, 98; history of, 214, 216, 257, 265, 266, 329, 336; miracles of, 101, 107, 108, 273; Moses’ code. 140; murmuring of, in, 267; num¬ bers of, 163, 164, 172, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 251, 257, 283; reasons for leaving Egypt, 273; reckoning employed by, 79, 181; religious division of, 177, 221; route, 43, 4S, 58, 70, 71, 73, 92, 94, 106, 113, 114, 129, 145, 149, 150, 151, 161, 166, 254, 258, 273, 279, 283, 285, 292, 339, 345, 346, 347, 358; time of leaving Egypt, 108, 148; time required to reach Palestine, 91, 259; water supply for, 152, 160. Israel, Kingdom of, dates of, 77; condition of, 220; face of, 293. Israelites, all did not leave Egypt with Moses, 88; at Kadesh Barnea, 266; He¬ brew slaves changed to, 45, 189, 214, 258; heroes, 343; hostility to Edomites, 341, 343, 348; idolatry of, 347; influence of Ser¬ abit upon, 336; numbers of, 25, 112, 115, 151, 162, 163, 164, 169; records and docu¬ ments of, 213, 223; supposed remains of (Et Tih), 273; supposed inscriptions of (Sinai), 143; tradition of conquest of Canaan, 81. Israel’s families, 173; first bom, 186; itiner¬ ary, 92, 93; peoples and religion, contact with, 96, 140, 265. Ithamar, son of Aaron, 170. Iye Aberim, route of C. of I., 346. Jabbok, elevation of, 25; Jacob at, 17; our route, 16. Jacob at Beersheba, 130; at Bethel, 131, 137; blessing of, Madeba map, 353; Esau parted from, 329, 340; the Jabbok, 17; Mizpah, 131; location of well of, 146, 358. Jahaz, route of C. of I., 346. Jahvistic, “J” document, 216, 220, 227, 231, 232. Jasher, Book of, reference to, in Joshua, 228. Jaulan, Circassians at, 310. Jeddeh, port of, 313; railway, 325. Jehosophat, conquered Edomites, 341; documents time of, 230. Jehovah, ark of, 188; law of Jahweh, 229; name of, 217; sentence of death on Moses, 344, 354; vengeance against Edom, 342; worship of, on High Places, 337. Jerahmeelites, imaginary location of Sinai, 250. Jerash, Circassians at, 310; roads to, 350. Jeremiah, prophecy against Edom, 342; mention of Moab, 348. Jericho, Ehud dwelt in, 85; Gilgal in plain of, 1 12; Kenites went to, 92; Madeba due east of, 311; Nebo seen from, 356, 357; route, 16, 22, 25, 256, 258, 267, 359. Jerome, traditions of Mt. Hor, 23. Jerusalem, associated with Christ, 358; attacked by Habiri, 85; beseiged by Neb¬ uchadnezzar, 341; Biblical sites, 15, 194; comparisonjbetween Petra’and, 330; friends in, 256; inscriptions at, 32; Jewish wor¬ ship at, 137, 194, 336, 338; name of, on Madeba map, 350, 351, 352; Nebo seen from, 355, 357; Patriarchate, 157, 350; route, 318; V’sit of Prior Eugenios, 211. Jeshimon, near Nebo, 358. Jethro, Arab name for Shu’aib, 238; route of C. of I., 145; visit of, 152. Jewish, history, 140; kingdom, 338; pil¬ grims, 146; worship, 137, 194. Jews, era of, 29; existence of to-day, 359; covet Moses’ and Aaron’s tombs, 343; grave of Jew, 104; leaving Russia in Zionist movement, 88; owners of Promised Land, 18. Joel, prophecy against Edom, 342. Joliffe, description of Arabah, 342. Jordan, associated with Christ, 358; discov¬ eries beyond, 350; dwellers east of, 96, 151, 309. 347. 356; encampment of C. of I., 258, 267, 346, 347, 358; fountain east of, 321; on Madeba map, 352, 353. Jordan River, Exodus route, 21, 91, 359; height of, 24, 356; our route, 17, 94; pig¬ eons beyond, 65; ruins near, 329; steam launch on, 16; stoppage of, 21. Jordan Valley and Petra, geographical posi¬ tion of, 44, 354, 356; geology of, 44, 119, 293; route, 151, 332, 339; seen from Nebo, 357, 358; use of, 13, 256. Index Joseph, children of, 177; arrival in Egypt, 81, 96; date of birth, 82; Israel’s bequest to, 82; Nile, 17; resemblance between Sebek- khu and, 82, 83. Josephus, extracts from Manetho, 32; his¬ tory of Moses, 83; tradition of Mt. Hor, 23. Joshua, appointment of, 347; book of, 213, 227, 232; conquest of Canaan by, 168, 228, 265; “D” document time of, 231; men¬ tioned in Amarna tablets, 85. Josiah, “D” document, 220, 227, 229, 230, 231. Judah, families of, 173; in Canaan, 168, 169; on Madeba map, 353; seen from Nebo, 357. Judea, Nebo seen from, 355, 357. Judges, book of, 169. Justinian, Feiran presented to, 157; Fort built on Sinai by, 206, 207; no granite used to repair monastery since, 209. Kadesh Barnea, Arabic word for, 263; Chedorlaomer at, 261; elevation of, 24; our route, 22, 151, 259; route of C. of I., 92, 94, 192, 255, 258, 260, 261, 265, 266, 267, 283, 335, 339; site of, 23, 262, 264, 280; travellers in, 316; water supply at, 263, 266. Karkar, Ahab defeated at, 78. Karnak, inscriptions at, 31. Kassite Kings, 29. Katharine, Jebel, description of, 189, 240. Kenath, Exodus route, 22. Kenites, characteristics of, 96; from Kadesh Barnea, 92; section of Midianites, 96, 152. Kerak (Kir Hareseth), ancient road through, 262; caravans to, 309; Christian from, 349, 350; guard from, 302, 312; orders to Governor of, 301, 302, 305, 307, 308; re¬ built by Crusaders, 31 1; Turkish camp at, 31 1. Khabiri (Habiri), identification of Hebrews with, 85. Khafra, IV Dynasty, 42. Khar, Egyptian name for south Palestine, 34°- Khedive at Mecca, 324; opening and sub¬ sidy for Suez Canal, 54. Khufu, builder of pyramids, 42. Kibroth-Hattaaveh, route, 284; tradition, 277; quails at, 170, 274. Kilawun, Muslim Caliph of Egypt, 209. Kings, list of Egyptian, 31. Kitchener, visit to Mt. Hor, 343. Kohath, meaning of clan, 177. Korah, at Kadesh, 267. Kuneitereh, Circassians at, 310. Laborde, at Mt. Hor, 342; route of, 292. Latin, chapel on Jebel Musa. 239; Christian¬ ity at Sinai, 194; church at Madeba, 350; conceptions of Christianity, 217; hymns, 217; writer, 156. Lebanon, government taxation, 179; loco¬ motion on, 75; use of name, 145. Leigh and Arabs, 343. Lesseps, Ferdinand de, statue of, 51; sur¬ vey of, 53, 54. Levi, word clan, 177; “D” literary product of, 230. Levites, census of, 165, 168, 177, 183, 184, 373 185; preaching of, 230; priesthood, 170, 232. Leviticus, book of, 213, 214, 227, 257, 260. Lewis, Mrs., Sinai Library. 21 x. Libbey, Prof. Wm., assistance of, 13; in Edom, 249, 336, 344; photos of, 13. Libnites, meaning of clan, 177. Libyan Desert, oasis in, 153. Lot, strife between herdsmen of Abraham and, 191. Ma’an, Mecca railway, 324, 328; our Arab guidesat, 316; route, 22, 254, 260, 301, 302, 308, 322, 324, 328; telegraph at, 16; Turk¬ ish camp at, 311, 3x4, 319. Maccabee history, 359. MacDonald, Major, the work of, 115, 126, 127. Madeba, description of, 349, 350, 354, 359; elevation of, 25; map in Greek church at, 26, 350, 351, 353, 357; Moses’ law given at, 231; Nebo near, 356; route, 22, 260, 345, 346; Turkish government at, 311; wall (Roman), 290, 315. Madurah, Jebel, site of Mt. Hor, 23, 340. Mafkat, Egyptian name for turquoise, 117. Magan, land of, 29, 41. Maghareh, Dophkah or — , 128, 145, 150; ge¬ ology of, 1 19; inscriptions from, in Boulac Museum, 49, 252; mines of, 115, 117, 118, 119, 127, 129; route, 155, 193, 260, 274; sculptures, 125, 126, 127; Syrian miners at, 26; turquoise mines at, 26, 42, 116. Mahler, date of Exodus, 81. Malachi, prophecy against Edom, 342. Manasseh, Joseph’s children, 177; tribe of 177, 180; numbers of, 182. Manetho, history of, 31, 32; libels on, 32. Mangles, and Arabs, 343. Manium, Lord of the Land of Magan, 41. Marah, modern Hawara, 69, 70, 102; trav¬ ellers and water, 149. Mar Elias, monastery seen from Nebo, 357. Maspero, “Dawn of Civilization,” Struggle of the Nations, “Passing Away of the Nations,” 37; identification of Mt. Seir, 340. _ Mas’udi, Arabic writer, 52. Maximian, Emperor, torture of St. Kath¬ arine on wheel, 207, 208. McCurdy, date of Exodus, 81. Mecca, caravans, 298, 312; Hegira, 28; Pil¬ grimage railway, 15, 95; route to, 259, 289, 296, 324, 325. Medayin Salih, ancient rock hewn city, 319. Mediaeval Christian Church, comparison between Reformation and, 38. Medina, Hegira, 28; massacre near, 308; pil¬ grims at, 313; railway to, 324, 325; sur¬ vey of district, 95. Mediterranean, commerce, 54, 329; Israel little to do with, 293; on Madeba map, 352; Nebo in relation to, 356; Phcenecian cities on, 37; Red Sea, height of, in relation to, 53; Sinai in relation to, 36, 151; travel in, 27. Meissner Pasha, cost of Mecca railway, 325; engineer of, 95, 322. Memphites, annexation of Sinai by, 41. Menes, founder of Egyptian kingdom, 32, 76. Menhaura, builder of pyramids, 42. 374 Index Mentuhotep, chief artist of, 249. Merari, meaning of clan, 177; sons of, 177. Merneptah, Israel Stele of, discovered at Karnak, 87. Mertisen, artist of Egypt, 249. Mesopotamia, invasion of, by Semites, 38; route from, 25, 151, 261, 262. Midian, imaginary location of Sinai in, 250. Midianites, characteristics of, 96; general term for dwellers east of Jordan, 96, 152; land of, east of Akaba, 94. Milhem, our dragoman, 49, 64, 205, 268, 270; photo of, 276. Minzaleh, Lake, Canal through, 54. Miracle, Hebrew people a, 26, 45; what is a, 20. Miriam at Kadesh (Hazeroth), 267, 279, 280, Mizpah, pillar at, 131. Moab, ancient road to, 262; Balak, king of, 85, 347; boundary of, 346; census taken at, 178; climate of, 248; great wall in, 290; Mecca railway, 15; mentioned 158 times, 348, 358; Midianites of, 96; plains or plateau of, 223, 231, 267, 345,347,349, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359; routes, 16, 17, 18, 25, 255, 257, 339, 34i, 345, 358. Moabitess, Ruth, 348. Moabite Stone, discovery of, 350; numbers in full words, 176. Moabites, Chemosh, god of, 337; conquered by C. of I., 347; history of, 359; invasion of Palestine by, 38; religious influence on Hebrews, 336. Mohammadan era, 28; caravans, 273. Morocco, Turkey’s claim to ownership of, 87. Mosaic, authorship of Pentateuch, 76; code and Hammurabi’s, 38, 222, 223; legisla¬ tion against pillars, 140. Moses, authorship of, 220; a good Moslem, 216; a greater than, 202, 245; as leader, 45, 73, 88, 147, 171, 184, 192, 193, 196, 257, 258, 267, 279, 280, 335, 343, 347, 3541 code of, 45, 140, 222, 224, 229; dates of, 83; Deuteronomy a biography of, 214; docu¬ mentary theories and, 220; father-in-law of, ^145, 152, 171, 238; fight with Amalek, 152; foster-mother of, 135, 138, 142; golden calf, 162; historical Moses, 221; his view from Nebo, 17, 356, 357, 359, 360; knowl¬ edge of Egyptians, 138; knowledge of Sinai, 91, 127, 140, 207; Levi tribe of, 184, 185; mentioned on Madeba map, 353; memories of, 346, 354, 359; own people scattered, 358; protection of, 241; story of Sinai and, 243; St. Katharine Convent not in memory of, 208; visits Pharaoh, 84; writing, time of, 76, 228. Moses, Fountains of, camp at, near Jordan, 260, 359. Moses, Springs of, distance to Marah, 70; hurricane at, 59, 277; on Arabian coast 5°. 57> 58; route from, 70, 101; spread of rumors, 147; watch at, 253. Moslem shrines, 343; Arabs’ mainly, 271; conquest of Egypt, 52; Hajj, 272; Hegira, 187; may be Syrian, Arab, etc., 95, 96; Mecca railway built by, 325, 326; our guard, 303; pilgrimage, 327; traditions and conquest of Sinai, 194, 195, 209, 242; worship to-day, 137, 359; writers, 176, 216. Mountain of the Cross, our route, 270. Mountain of the Law, situation of, 72, 96. Mount Carmel, Elijah on, 337; railway from Deraa to, 325. Mount of Olives, location of, 146. Mount Seir, ancient name for Edom, 329, 340; Esau lived in, 341. Muhaimeh, sandstone mass at, 319. Muhair, plain of, on African coast, no. Muhawish Ibn Salman, our guide, 316. Mujib, formerly brook Arnon, 346. Muleteers of caravan, 16. Musa Bu Nasir, chief of Sinai Bedawin, 49. Musa, Jebel, description of, 189, 209, 2x2, 237, 239, 344; elevation of, 288; road over, 241, 242; traditional Mt. of Law, 195. Mutalia Hadrah, route, 279. Myers, Prof., chronology of, 74; date of Exodus, 81; visit to Petra with, 65, 336. Nabathean, at Petra, 158, 329, 330; inscrip¬ tions at Sinai, 140, 144, 158. Nablus (Nablous), Jacob’s well at, 146; name on Madeba map, 352. Nagb el Buderah, Major MacDonald’s work, 1x4. Nagb el Hawa, route, 199, 200, 201, 202. Nagb Estar, our route, 254, 321. Nahhailah, description of, 287. Nakhl, pay of Akaba troops received from, 291; route via, 158, 261; Trumbull at, 264. Naoum Beg Shucair, distance to Suez and Gaza, 283; interview with, 48; introduc¬ tions from, 161, 243. Napoleon I projected Suez Canal, 52, 54. Naram-Sin, conquests of, 29, 41. Naville, identification of Pithom with Tell el Mash-kuta, 80, 97. Nazareth, life of Christ, 204; seen from Nebo, 358. Nazim Pasha, orders from Kerak to, 301 , 303. Neapolis, name of, on Madeba map, 350. Nebi Saleh, patron saint of Sinai, 159. Nebo, description of, 355, 359; elevation of, 25, 356; Madeba near, 354; Moses on, 17, 231, 343, 347, 359; name Nebo, 356; route, 260, 267; worship at, 336. Nebuchadnezzar, burning of temple by, 78, 34i- Neby Salih, meaning of, 271. Nehemiah, “P” document, 220. Nekhen, shrine of, 29. Neolithic, date of, 74; emigration of Semites, 37- New Testament, events, 146, 190; gift of, to monks, 211; laws of rabbins, 90; MSS., 211, 227; metaphors, 91; references to manna, 112; writers, 227. Nicopolis, on Madeba map, 350. Nigeb (Negeb), south country, 265; route of C. of I., 339. Nile, antiquities of, 27, 31, 51, 251; boundary of, on Madeba map, 352, 353; civilization of, 36, 39, 40; dates, 33; distance from Nile to Jordan, 91; distance to Sinai, 252; drinking water of, 56, 253; Israel’s bondage at, 45; Joseph at, 17; land of, 26, 36; waters of, 50, 52. “Nile to Nebo” title of book decided on, 109. Nineveh, library at, 41. Nomes, administrative districts of Egypt, 97. Numbers, book of, 213, 214, 227, 228, 232, 257, 258, 260, 347. Index 375 Nuweiba (Neweibeh), military post at, 290; our route, 254, 289, 291, 292. Obadiah, prophecy against Edom, 342. Oboth, route of C. of I., 346. Og, King of Bashan, capital of, 15, 325, 347. Old Testament, books of, 213; correction of numbers, 163; dates, 77; living in spirit of, 109; MSS., 88, 211, 217, 222, 226, 227, 233; no certain sites, 190; numbers written out, 176; number of palms at Elim, 72; refer¬ ence to manna, 112. Olives, Mount of, seen from Nebo, 18, 358. Omar Ibn Khalil, our guide, 316. On, Hebrews living at, after Exodus, 249. Onomasticon, Madeba map, 353. Oreis et Temman, shrine near Wady Useyt, 105. Ottoman Empire, Mecca railway, 325. Paddan-aram, Jacob fled from, 340. Paleolithic stage of history, 74. Palestine, badgers found in, 248; boundary of, 260, 283; caravans from, visit Egypt, 81; C. of I. enter, 84, 88; civilization of, 39. 329; correspondence with Egypt, 84; Egyptian expedition against, 82; Egyptian province, 80, 84, 86; Exodus into, 235; in¬ vaded by Semites, 38; materials for taber¬ nacle not from, 247; mention of by Mer- neptah, 87; pearl industry, 293; sacred stones of, 130; seen from Nebo, 355; wor¬ ship in, 131, 132. Palmer, at Hazeroth, 280, 281, 282; at Hawara, 71; at Sinai, 126, 210, 248, 272; book of, 265, 271; death of, 243, 264; desert of Exodus, 262, 273, 292; rebellion of Arabi Pasha, 262; story of Abbas Pasha, 240. Panama, canal at, 50, 55. Pan-Islamic ideas of Abd ul Hamid, 324. Paris to Mecca by rail, 325. Pa-Soft, capital of Kesem (Goshen), 97. Patriarch, Gerasimos and Madeba map, 350, 351; Nicodemus of Jerusalem, 350. Peck, Capt., assistance of, 56. Pekah, war against Judah, 341. Pelusium, fortresses from, to Suez, 290. Peninsular and Oriental mail service, 53. Pentateuch, authorship of, 76; 164; docu¬ ments of, 81, 213, 230; end of, 347; litera¬ ture on, 11 ; misinterpretation of, 169, 235- Peor, shrine on Moab plateau, 356. Persia, caravans from, 329; pilgrims from, 313; revolution in, 290; turquoise found in, 116. Persian, Chosroes, conquests of, 359. Petra, ancient route at, 43, 144, 151, 158, 261, 318; birds of, 318; climate, 249; de¬ scription of, 119, 278, 280, 281, 318, 328, 329, 330, 331, 335; high places at, 137, 336, 338; history of, 330, 335, 340; meet¬ ing with Germans, 73; meeting-point of civilizations, 40, 329; Nabatheans at, 158; our Arab guides at, 316; our route, 25, 301; pigeons at, 66; previous visit to, 65, 256; sand-stone of, 293; travellers at, 343, 344- Petrie, Mrs., discovery of inscriptions, 141. Petrie, Prof. W. M. F., at Hawara, 71; chro¬ nology, 78, 87; discovery of Raamses, 97; height of Nagb el Buderah, 115; inscrip¬ tions at Sinai, 141 ; labor, 124; mining tools, 1 21; numbers of C. of I., 183; researches at Serabit, 123, 133, 136; at Sinai, 13. Pharan. See Feiran. Pharaoh, daughter of, 135, 138; de Lesseps as [noted as, 51; dynasties, 31; house of, 82, 127; Moses fled from, 152; of the Op¬ pression, 80, 84, 86, 164, 169. Pharaoh’s Bath, seen from Nagb el Buderah, 115. Pharaoh’s Island, at Akaba, 289, 295; our route past, 298; Turkish troops at, 295. Pharaoh’s Treasury at Petra, 330, 331, 332, 334-. Philistines, “the way of, 261. Phoenecia, papyrus chronicles in, 77; trav¬ ellers route from, 151. Pisgah, Moses’ death on, 354; view of, 356, 358. Pithom, built by C. of I., 80; identified by Naville, 80, 97; quite close to Raamses, 98; route from, to Raamses, 94; starting-point of route, 103, 166; Thku mentioned on in¬ scriptions found at, 98. Pi-Tum, ancient name of Tell el Mash-kuta, 97- Pococke, description of Akaba Arabs, 342. Port Said, de Lessep’s monument, 51, 54; position of, in relation to Sinai, 36; railway line from, 52, 53; rifle deposit returned, 56. Port Tewfik, permits from War Office at, 56. Priestly Document “P,” 215, 220, 227, 230, 231. Promised land, Christian nations in, 358; Hebrew history, 26, 88, 140, 152, 244, 246, 265, 267; journey to, 192, 229, 265, 339, 341, 343, 345, 347, 354- Ptolemaeus, Claudius, Latin writer, 156. Ptolemaic system of astronomy, 95, 221. Ptolemy I, 31. Punon, route of C. of I., 346. Pyramids, photos of, 49; iron found in Great Pyramid, 76. Quails, miracles of, 20, 21. Raamses (Rameses), town of, 19, 22, 80, 91, 94, 97, 98, 103, 164, 166, 256, 258. Raamses (Ramessu) II, canal planned by, 51; date of, 128, 134; Pharaoh of bondage, 80, 86, statue of, 97; temple of, 97. Raamses III used serf labor, 87, 249. Raamses IV expedition against Hammam, at Hammamat, 124. Ra and Turn, Egyptian solar deities, 07. Rabbath Ammon, Mecca railway, 15. Ramah, worship at, 336. Ramesside period, 32, 41. Ras Abu Zenimeh, seen from Nagb el Bude¬ rah, 1 15; tomb on, no. Ras el Burka, headland on Akaba, 293. Ras es Sufsafeh, traditional Sinai, 195; view of, 198, 203, 204, 239, 240. Rawlinson, date of Exodus, 81. Rebecca, rhetorical value of numbers, 175. Red Sea, canal from Nile to, 51, 52, 53; Akaba, arm of, 292, 340; Idumean influ- Index 376 ence at, 158; Mecca railway, 15, 327; porpoise found in, 248; route of antiquity, 261; route, 71, 109, no, 168, 189, 273, 341; seen from Jebel Musa, 240; shells of, 293- . Rekhmire, vizier of Thutmose III, 84. Remamin, medallion similar to Madeba, 351. Rephidim, battle of, 161, 167, 169, 190; Exodus route, 145, 146, 147, 149, 152, 170; Feiran, 128; our route, 17. Reterru (Rctennu), miners in Sinai, 123; natives of Palestine, 82, 123. Rezin, war against Judah, 341. Rissah, route of C. of I., 292. Robinson, Edward, book of, 265; at Hawara, 69, 71; biblical researches, 11, 12, 336, 339; exploration of Kadesh Barnea, 262; honesty of Bedawin, 276; monks of Sinai, 210; Mount Hor, 342; route of, 280, 287; site of Mt. of Law, 190, 195, 196, 203; visit to Suez, 50, 168. Roman, armed camp of Turks on, site, 311; at Petra, 330; chariots and war horses, 321; Christian occupation of Sinai, 157; Egyptian population in, times, 167; re¬ mains and roads, 59, 315, 318, 319, 321, 329; rulers of Feiran, 157. Rome, foundation of, 28; monuments of, protected, 127; Petra to Arabia what Rome was to Romans, 330. Rouella, noted Arab tribe, 96. Rowland’s letter of, 263, 264. Rum, ancient name for Asia Minor, 283. Ruppell, route of, 292. Russia, in Caucasus, 309; money from, for Madeba, 351; on Mount of Olives, 358. Russian, bell tower at Jerusalem, 357; certificates, 208; clothing, 68; in desert, 67, 70; Jews and Zionist movement, 88; military strength, 184; pilgrims, 57, 160, 237, 313; protection, 211. Ruth, story of, 348. Saint Jerome, Madeba map, 353. Saint Katharine, traditions of, 208; monas¬ tery, 156, 157, 198, 199, 203, 205, 206, 207, 210, 268, 269, 318; description of, 207, 208, 209, 212; Abbas Pasha at, 241; Bishop of Sinai at, 49; greatest shrine of, 237; MSS. at, 212; manna collected, 160; pil¬ grim certificate, 208. Saint Petersburg, Codex Sinaiticus at. 21 1; papyrus at, 77. Saint Sapsas, on Madeba map, 353. Sakkara, inscriptions at, 31, 76. Salchad, Exodus route, 22. Samaritan at Jacob’s well, 358. Samuel, book of, 169; “P” document, time of, 230; prophet and priest, 173. Sa-Nekht, Ethiopian type rock sculpture, 126. Sangarius, Abbot, spring at Jebel Musa, 238. Saracen, invasion of Sinai, 206, 208; rulers of Feiran, 157. Sarbut. See Serabit. Sarbut el Jemel, remains, 114; route of C. of I., 115. Sargon, date of, 76; Semitic immigration during his dynasty. 37. Saul, mentions kindness of Kenites, 92; “P” document existed time of, 230; pur¬ suing David, 173; reforms of, 230. Sebaita possibly corresponds with Hormah, 339- Sebek-Khu, possibly identical with Joseph, 82, 83; stele of, at Abydos, 82. Seih Sidreh, valley in Sinai, 115. “Seil,” meaning of word, 66. Seir, Mount, our route, 16. Sekmeni, name of territory about Mt. Geri- zim, 82. Seleucidae, era of, 29. Semerkha, invasion of Sinai by, 41. Semerkhet, rock sculpture in Sinai, 125. Semitic, emigration, 37, 38, 39; greatest goddess Ashtaroth, 133; language, 174, 187, 233; race in history, 37, 39, 223; ritual at Serabit, 117, 123, 130, 132, 135, 136, 140; ruins near Jordan, 329; Sinai always, „ 39- Senmut, architect of Hatshepsut, 250. Serabit (Sarbut), chisels found at, 121; ge¬ ology of, 1x9; inscriptions at, 252; mines of, 116, 117, 119, 131; route, 106, 196, 274; sacred stones of, 130, 131; Semitic ritual at, 26, 90, 138, 336; Syrian miners at, 26; temple of Hat-hor, 125, 132, 133, 134, 137, 138, 140. Serbal, Jebel, description of, 144, 150, 189, 197, 199, 240; giving of Law, 191, 195, 196; oasis at base of, 154, 156, 193; traditions of, 209. Sesostris, Canal planned by, 51; visit of Palestine people, 81. Seti I, temple at Abydos, 250. Set-Nekht, date of, 128, 134. Seyyal (Shittim), torrent tree, 247. Shalmaneser II, inscription telling of defeat of confederates, 78. Shatt (Esh Shatt), landing place on Suez Canal, 56. Shechem, Jacob’s well at, 146; Joshua’s covenant at, 228. Sheikh Ali, accompanies party, 307, 308, 315, 319, 320. Sheikh Hammadi, chief cameleer, 243, 268, 269; Moslem prayers, 271. Sheikh Musa Bir Naser, introduction to, 161 ; visit of, 243, 268, 269. Sheikh Salih, Arab sacred spot, 270. Shepherd of Hermas, MSS. of Codex Sina¬ iticus, 2x2, 229. Sherafeh, Jebel, route, 295. Shittim Wood, 247; Israelites at, 347. Shobek, Crusader castle near Kerak, 31 1. Shucair, Naoum Beg, acquaintance with Bedawin, 48; interview with, at Cairo, 48. Shur, Marah in desert of, 70; route of an¬ tiquity, 261. Sicily, quails fly from North Africa to, 107. Sihon, King of Amorites, 347. Sikima, land of Amorites, 82. Siloam, Hezekiah’s inscription, 176. Silvia, Pilgrim chapel on Jebel Musa, 240. Simeon, numbers of, 180, 182; on Madeba map, 353- Sin, Wilderness of, incidents near, 111; location, no, 111. Sinai, annexation and military control of, 41, 290, 296; Anglo-Egyptian control of, 289; Arab shrines, 270, 271, 342, 343; badgers unknown in, 248; Bethel stones Index 377 at, 131; birthplace of soul of Hebrews, 244, 245; is biblical Sinai in Peninsula? 94, 103, 250; bridge between, 36, 40, 50; cameleers, 248, 291, 312; census of C. of I., 164, 178, 182; climate of, 248, 249, 251; description of, 200, 201, 204, 265, 292; desert valleys between Suez and, 272, 274, 275, 292; earliest signs of intercourse with Egypt, 125, 128, 139; double name of, 145; elevations of peaks, 24, 25, 118, 142, 150, 155, 206, 239. 253, 278, 288, 344, 345; events in Arabia while at Sinai, 328; Exo¬ dus into, 36, 115, 267; game in, 318; geology of, 36, 41, 42, 43, 44,45, hi, n6, 119, 200, 20X ; Greeks in, 46; inhabitants of, 45, 46, 57, iQO, 243, 271; invasion of, 29, 39, 41; investigation of, 94, 167, 264, 265; Jewish shrines, 246; materials for taber¬ nacle, 170, 247, 248, 255, 257, 284; meet¬ ing with Germans, 73; Midianite hypoth¬ esis, 94, 95, 99; mines and miners of, 90, 116, 117, 122, 140, 142; mining expedi¬ tions to, 181; miracle of quails near, 107; Mohammed travelled by, 327; monastery and monks, 150, 157, 209, 210, 242, 254, 287; Mosaic code at, 222; Moses at, 17, 142, 148, 243; Moses’ knowledge of, 91, 140; MSS. at monastery, 26; pilgrims, 57, 67, 68, 146, 161, 208; quality of land, 66, 67; roads of antiquity, 42, 43, 90, 115, 261; route, 16, 17, 22, 49, 64, 90, 143, 144, 145, 160, 163, 192, 196, 199, 200, 206, 253, 254, 256, 258, 259, 260, 261, 269, 271, 272, 273, 279, 285, 320, 332; sublimities for moral law giving, 204, 244, 257; symbolic representation of, 90; torrent tree of, 247; wilderness of Sin between Elim and, no; wilderness or desert of, 42, 43, 45, 96, 139, 153, 162, 241;! worship at, 133, 138, 140, 33 6. Sinai Peninsula, changelessness of, 234; forms of religion in, 90; future of, 290; map of, 264; Naoum Beg’s journeys in, 48; intro¬ duction to, 161, 243; our food in, 65; patron saint of, 159; permits to travel in, 56, 290; position of Mt. of Law, 72, 128, 189, 191, 193, 194, iQ5, 196, 197. 198, 202, 203, 284; route of C. of I., 163, 258, 260; water and rainfall, 96, 167, 252. Sinaitic inscriptions, 143, 144, 158, 252, 272. Sirbonian Bog, north of Sinai, 36. Sirius, Egyptian Sothis, 34, 35. Smith, Prof. Geo. Adam, face of kingdom of Israel toward desert, 293. Smith, Rev. Eli, Arabic Bible, 12; linguistic help, 196. Sneferu, date of, 133, 141; first to mine in Sinai, 139; invaded Sinai, 41; story of lost jewel, 117. Solomon, date of temple, 78; navies of, 294; time of, 336, 338; worship of, 230, 338. Sopdu, God of East at Sinai, 133, 135, 136; shrine of, 139, 141. Sothis, Sirius, 34, 35. Stone age, date of, 75, 76. Strabo, Canal from Nile, 52. Succoth, Egyptian Thku(t), 98; route of C. of I., 98, 164. Suez, ancient Idumean town, 158; ancient fortresses, 290; boats at, 123; boundary of Sinai Peninsula, 43, 290; Canal, 15, 37, So, 51, 52. 53, 56, 98, 99, 324; city of, 100; food and water from, 65, 253; Gulf of, 100, 189; isthmus of, 50; mail route opened, 53; market at, 276; Palmer at, 263; Robin¬ son’s description of, 50; route, 17, 25, 43, 47, 49, 50, 60, 64, 68, 196, 268, 269, 283, 287, 288, 289, 298; shoals at, 100; time necessary for crossing flats, 168; train to, 49, 52, 53, 245; turquoise, 126; valleys be¬ tween Sinai and, 272, 274, 287; views of, 68; where the Israelites crossed, 100. Sultan of Turkey, claim on Sinai, 289; Mecca railway, 326; his highway, 3x9. Sumerian civilization, 40. Susa, Hammurabi’s code at, 38, 41. Sutu, coming of, to Palestine, 84, 85. Syria, ancient route to, 43, 263, 332; back¬ ground of Exodus, 19; badgers found in, 248; birds of, 318; coast of, 313; civiliza¬ tion of, 39, 40, 329; desert post, 43; descrip¬ tion of desert, 66; Egyptian power over, 86; invasion by Semites, 38; Kilawun’s conquests in, 209; massacre in, 31; mon¬ astic movement in, 157; sacred stones of, 130; Semitic ritual, 117, 132, 338. Syrian, can also be Arab, Moslem etc., 95, 96; miners (Aamu), 117, 123, 124, 125, 141; storehouse at Raamses, 97 Taberah, route of C. of I., 284. Tabernacle and Temple, art work of, 249; High Places resemble, 337, 338; mention of, 164, 170, 196, 198; setting up of, 247, 257, 284; turquoise omitted from breast¬ plate of High Priest, 142; word means tent, 247. Tafileh, ancient route, 262. Tahath, route of C. of I., 292. Tahutmes. See Thotmes. Tartir ed Dhami, peak of Sinai, 118. Taylor, Mr. Earl, journey of, 47, 48; photos of, 243; travelling companions, 16. Telloh, inscriptions at, 76. Tell el Mash-Kuta, identified at Pithom, 80, 97. Tell er-Retabeh, site of Raamses, 97. Temple of Isis (Pharaoh’s Treasury) at Petra, 332. Tewfik, Khedive of Egypt, 289. Thku(t), meaning Semitic word Succoth, 98. Thomson, Wm. M., Land and the Book, 12, 235- Thotmes (Thutmose or Tahutmes), I, father-in-law of Hat-shep-sut, 139; Phar¬ aoh at time of birth of Moses, 83; II, husband of Hatshepsut, 139; III, Egypt rules Palestine time of, 80, 86; erasure by, 31, 83; possible Pharaoh of Oppression, 84; pottery, time of, 141; temple of, 134, 139; used Asiatic serfs, 83. Timsah, Lake, canal cut through, 54. Tiniyeh, Jebel, house of Abbas Pasha on, 240, 241. Tischendorf discovered Codex Sinaiticus, 212. Tjesir invaded Sinai, 41. Toffteen, dates, 78, 79, 8r; “Historical Exo¬ dus,” 230. Toledoth, book, incorporated in Exodus, 228; document “P,” 230. Tor, coastguard from, 200; monastery at, 46; road from, 242. 378 Index Trajan, conception of canal, 54; milestone of, 318. Tripoli (Syria), Kilawun’s conquests, 20Q. Tristram, visit to Madeba, 349. Troy, resurrection of, 32. Trumbull, Dr. H. Clay, volume on “Kadesh Barnea,” 260, 264. Turco-Egyptian, boundary commission, 264, 296. Turin papyrus, 31, 32. Turk, governor at Ma’an, 322; may be Syrian, Arab, etc., 95, 96. Turkey, boundary of, 211, 287, 295, 296, 298; Circassians in, 310; turquoise came through, xi6, 117. Turkish, Arabs, and Circassians, 310; Em¬ pire postal service, 43; government, 298, 3°3, 309; history, 325, 327; indolence, 322; law re telegrams, 305; ownership of Egypt, Cyprus, etc., 87; race, 39; signifies Asiatic, 11 7; soldiers, 312; territory claim on Sinai, 295. Tyre, era of, 28; our supplies carried through, 299. Tyrian commerce, 158, 329. Um-Shomar, Jebel, description of, 450. Van Dyck, Dr. C. V. A., Arabic Bible, 12. Virgin, chapel of, at Sinai, 238; inscription to, at Madeba, 349. Wady Aleyat, photo of, 156. Wady Arish, boundary of Egypt, 289, 295, 296. Wady Baba (Seih Baba), copper mined near, 248; route, 1 14, 1 15. Wady Buderah, our route, 114. Wady el Ahsa, probably Brook Zered, 346. Wady el Ain, our route, 254, 286, 287, 292; route of C. of I., 292, 339; name of, 287. Wady el Amara, our route, 69. Wady el Homr, our route, 105. Wady el Muhash, route, 294. Wady el Mukattab, route, 151. Wady er Rimm, route, 199. Wady esh-Sheikh, route, 150, 199, 270. Wady es-Saal, route, 275, 276, 277. Wady es-Saideh, also called Wady el Ain, 287; and Wady Weitir, 287. Wady es Suweiriyeh, route, 271. Wady et-Hal, called Oreis et Temman, shrine near, 105. Wady Feiran, description of, 145, 150; events in, 147; oasis northern section of, 155, 156; route, 151, 199- Wady Genah, route, 277. Wady Gharundal, debris of furnaces at, 252. Wady Ghazalah, route, 286, 287, 288. Wady Guline, route, 279. Wady Hebran, road from Tor, 242. Wady Igna, valley of Sinai, 115. Wady Maghareh, description of, 118; route through, 143. Wady Muarra, route, 277. Wady Mukattab, Valley of Inscriptions, 143- Wady Musa, Arabs of, 343. Wady Nasb, Egyptian copper mines, 248. Wady Nebaa, our route, 143. Wady Seir, Circassians at, 310. Wady Selaf, Rev. W. F. Holland at, 252; Mohammed’s resting place at, 328; route, 199; view from, 197. Wady Shebeikeh, our route, 105. Wady Shellal, valley in Sinai, 114. Wady Shukaa, route, 277. Wady Sidreh, route, 143. Wady Sudr, meaning of name, 66; our route, 63, 67, 70. Wady Taba, ancient city of Elath on, 296; boundary between Turkey and Egypt, 296; near Akaba, 296; route of C. of I., 339- Wady Tayyibeh (Hanak el Lagm), doorway of, 108; mountains of, 113; our route, 106, 150; title of book, 109. Wady Tumeilah, railway past, 53. Wady Tumlat (Tumilat), site of Raamses, 97; Goshen, 166. Wady Useyt, description of, 105. Wady Werdan, our route, 67, 68, 70. Wady Wetir. See Wady el Ain. Wady Yetim, ancient road, 318, 321; our route, 254, 308, 314. Waterloo, preservation of locality, 146. Wertu, sign of bended knee, title of Joseph, 82. Williams, “Holy City,” 264. Wind cutting, stones in desert, 63. Yorktown, Washington’s knowledge of , 235. Zakazik, railway to, 53. Zalmonah, Mecca Railway, 15; route of C. of I., 346. Zebulon, Madeba map, 353. Zer, turquoise found in tomb of, 117. Zered, route of C. of I., 260, 346, 347; ancient Mt. Seir, 340. Zezemankh, magician, story of lost jewel, 117. Zidonians, goddess of, 337. Zion, Mount, seen from Nebo, 358 Zionist movement, history of, 88. Dotted line, - level of Mediterranean Sea. All within it belozu sea level. All east of waving line of Moab Plateau is 2,000 to 3,000 feet above level of Mediterranean Sea. Date Due * I imm — > P Tcffr RPR-i^ <333 ir a-A-f <§> - 1