ON RECENT INVESTIGATIONS IN MOAB AND EDGM. 245 
by an equally well marked valley—the Wady el-Ithm. 
The general direction of the roads is controlled by the 
physical features, and it is comparatively easy to trace, up 
to a certain point, the zoute which the Israelites must have 
followed. There is only one road from Western Palestine to 
Edom north of the Dead Sea, and that follows the line of 
the old Roman road to Medeba. But south of the Dead 
Sea there are several roads. One leads directly to Kerak 
and Moab; another runs up Wady Musa, and passes by 
Petra, to Edom; and a third, ascending to the plateau by 
Wady el-Ithm, continues northward along or near the 
eastern boundary of Edom. Now, adopting the view that 
the Israelites endeavoured to travel by the easiest natural 
route, it seems probable that they came, in the first place, 
to the mouth of the Wady Musa with the view of passing 
through Edom to the Holy Land. The Edomites, however, 
refused the necessary permission, and the Israelites then 
marched southward, along the Arabah and up Wady el- 
Ithm, so as to avoid Fdomite territory. One of their camps 
—it is difficult to say which—must have been near the desert 
town of M‘aan, where there is, and must always have been, 
an abundant supply of water. The Israelites then journeyed 
northward, along the line of the present Haj road, by which 
the pilgrim caravans journey from Damascus to Mecca. The 
Israelites were practically confined to this route ; for if they 
had diverged to the east they would have got into the Syrian 
desert, and if they had kept more to the west they would 
have become involved in a complicated system of ravines, 
and have encountered great difficulties. By keeping to the 
Haj road they avoided the ravines, or crossed them at 
the easiest points, and were able to turn westward over the 
plateau by a very easy road to Dibon (Dhibdn). The lines 
marked out by nature for the construction of roads, and for 
the passage of large bodies of men, explain many points 
connected with the history of the country. They also 
throw light on the wars between the Israelites and the 
Moabites, upon the expeditions of the Crusaders, and upon 
the raids of that prince of freebooters, Renaud de 
Chatillon. One of the most important roads, especially 
durmg the Roman period, when it was made a great 
highway by Hadrian, was that which connected Damascus 
with the Gulf of ‘Akabah and Arabia. The Israelites, 
in their campaigns, used the roads south of the Dead Sea. 
On one occasion they passed through the wilderness of 
