28 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES. 



allotted to the tribe of Reuben. It was during 

 this survey that Capt. Conder visited and iden- 

 tified the 'site of the ancient Hittite capital of 

 Kadesh. Three places had been indicated as 

 possibly occupying the locality of this city : 

 Antioch, Eraesa (the modern Horns), and an 

 island in the middle of the long lake near 

 Horns. Capt. Conder gained satisfactory evi- 

 dence that the real site was not at either of 

 these places, but was at a spot now called 

 Kedes, on the river Orontes, south of Horns. 

 T\vo pictorial representations of Kadesh are 

 given on the Egyptian monuments, in connec- 

 tion with the documents relating to the wars 

 between Rameses II and the Hittites ; one, 

 which is slightly injured, on the walls of the 

 Ramesseum at Thebes, and another at Aboo 

 Simbul, fifty-seven feet by twenty-five feet in 

 dimensions, showing the battle of Kadesh. All 

 the features of the scene, as depicted in these 

 views by contemporary artists, correspond with 

 the situation examined by Capt. Conder, while 

 no agreement was found between them and 

 the other situations. The features of the place 

 also correspond with the requirements of the 

 textual descriptions of the battle ; and the very 

 name of the mound by which the ruin stands 

 Neby Mendeh the surveyor observes, re- 

 calls the Egyptian war-god Mentu, or Mando, 

 whom Rameses is said in the poem of the 

 Pentaur to have invoked during the battle. The 

 supposed situation in the lake was visited, and 

 found not to fulfill any of the conditions of the 

 problem. On the way between these two 

 places, the party passed a curious inclosnre 

 which is called the "Ark of Noah." Accord- 

 ing to the Koran, the Tannur, at Oven, south 

 of Kadesh, was the spot whence the flood is- 

 sued and whither it returned. This " Ark of 

 Noah " is an earthen inclosure about three 

 hundred yards square, with mounds at the an- 

 gles, which may mark the place of corner 

 towers, and is surrounded by a ditch forty feet 

 deep and wide. The building within lies with 

 its angles to the cardinal points. At Tyre, a 

 Phoanician votive tablet to Moloch Astarte 

 was unearthed, and a text in eight lines, in- 

 voking a blessing from Baal, Lord of Heaven. 

 The temple of Melkarth was apparently one 

 hundred feet wide and one hundred and eighty 

 feet long, with three walls and a peristyle. It 

 faced north of northeast, and its pillars were 

 only eighteen inches in diameter. Among re- 

 main- on the site were those of two altars 

 similar to those of the so-called "libation- 

 tables " of the Egyptians. One of them had 

 an eagle carved on the side, and in its upper 

 surface were sunk two flat basins, a foot square 

 anI a few inches deep. The other altar was 

 plain, and had a single basin of the same size 

 as those in the former altar. A peculiar dis- 

 tinction is remarked between the altars of the 

 Egyptians, I'hn-nicians, and Moabites, and those 

 of the Israelites, that the former have been 

 artificially prepared, and contain libation-ves- 

 sels, while the latter were required to be made 



ARCTIC EXPLORATION. 



of earth, or of stone on which no tool should 

 be lifted. Before he was finally driven from 

 the Moabite country, Capt. Conder succeeded 

 in surveying nearly five hundred square miles 

 of territory, discovered seven hundred rude 

 stone monuments, and obtained a volume of 

 notes, plans, and drawings, with forty photo- 

 graphs. Among the spots explored were the 

 "Springs of Moses," the ancient "Ashdoth 

 Pisgah," and the "Ridge of Nebo," the height 

 of which was measured to be 2,648 feet. 

 Here, at the "Field of Zophim," as well as at 

 Banuth, Baal, and Peor, which was identified 

 with a spot now called Minyeh, were found 

 ancient stone monuments that appear to have 

 been arranged in sevens, recalling how at each 

 of these places, Balak, with Balaam, built seven 

 altars. Passing the ancient Rabbath Ammon, 

 where are distinguished the ruins of the Roman 

 city of Philadelphia, dating from the second 

 century, the party came, in the Wady es Sir, 

 upon the ancient trans-Jordanic Tyre, where 

 were found, in the spot now known as the 

 Arak- el-Emir, or the Prince's Cliff, traces of 

 the cave fortifications that were erected by 

 Hyrcanus, when, after the death of his father 

 Joseph, he was obliged to retire from Jerusa- 

 lem before the superior force of his brothers. 



The Empire of the Hittites. Recent discover- 

 ies relating to the Hittites, and pointing to the 

 former existence of a great empire of that 

 people, were mentioned in the "Annual Cy- 

 clopedia" for 1882. The Hittites are often 

 referred to in the Bible ; they appear, under the 

 name of the Kheta, on the Egyptian monu- 

 ments, as formidable rivals and afterward as 

 friends of the Egyptians, in the nineteenth 

 dynasty, and under the name of the Khatti 

 on the Assyrian monuments; and are probably 

 the same as the K^TEIOI enumerated by Homer 

 among the allies of Priam. Numerous remains 

 of hitherto unexplained origin that have been 

 found in parts of Asia Minor and Syria, are 

 now attributed to them. Among them are 

 gigantic statues and steles, and inscriptions, 

 which it has not yet been possible to decipher. 

 Some of these inscriptions, called the Hamath 

 inscriptions, from the place where they were 

 found, have engaged the attention of anti- 

 quaries for several years. Two capitals of the 

 Hittites have been identified, at Carchemish, on 

 the Euphrates, and at Kadesh, on the Orontes, 

 both of which are mentioned in the Egyptian 

 or Assyrian records contemporaneous with the 

 period of Hittite power. All that has been 

 ascertained respecting these people and their 

 empire, together with an exposition of the 

 conclusions that have been deduced from the 

 known facts, has been collated and set forth 

 in a book on " The Empire of the Hittites," 

 by TV. Wright (London, 1884). 



ARCTIC EXPLORATION. The Greely Expedi. 

 tion. The commission appointed in December, 

 1883 (see "Annual Cyclopedia," 1883, p. 424), 

 to consider plans for a new expedition for the 

 relief of Lieut. A. TV. Greely and his party of 



