222 iiEPORT— 1872. 



off, I am convinced that it is not the site of the ancient Dibon, but of Korcha. 

 My reasons for this conclusion are as follows : — i. In all the eight passages 

 of the Bible Avherein the name Dibon occurs (Numb. xxi. 30 ; xxxii. 3, 34 ; 

 Josh. xiii. 9, 17 ; Isa. xv. 2 ; Jer. xlviii. 18, 22), no data are given to fix its 

 exact site. The christening, therefore, of these ruins by the name Diban, on 

 the part of the Arabs, like the naming of many other localities, has been 

 suggested by Biblical explorers, ii. The Moabite triumphal pillar which was 

 found here gives us the direct information that Mesha erected it at Korcha, 

 a city which this monarch built. As no one who will examine the enor- 

 mously heavy fragments of this huge block of basalt, with its delicate inscrip- 

 tion, will suppose that it has been brought here intact from another place 

 without the inscribed letters being injured, the spot where it was found must 

 be the site of its original erection. And, iii., between this place and the 

 stream Valeh, an hoiu-'s distance, there are several old ruins, the names of 

 which our Bedouin guide could not tell. One of these is most probably 

 Dibon, 



After a careful investigation of this ancient site, we left to cross the north- 

 Arnonic portion of Moab. Our route was now to have been over the upland. 

 Going in a north-westerly direction, we passed several ruins, and crossed the 

 stream Valeh, about an hour from what is called Dibon. From this place, 

 instead of pursuing the usual course, due north over the highland, our Bedouin 

 took us westward, right over the range of mountains to Mayin, or what is sup- 

 posed to be Callirrhoe. In this charming valley, to the hot springs of which 

 Herod the Great resorted during his last illness, we pitched our tents close to 

 the encampment of the Awazim tribe, to whose protection we were recom- 

 mended by Abou Zadam of the Bene Sachar. 



Early in the morning, February 17th, we left for the Jordan, escorted by 

 Abou Wardy, the Sheikh of the Awazim. lie, too, led us across the range 

 of mountains instead of by the usual upland road. The most remarkable and 

 significant part of my experience, bearing on the value of the information 

 obtained from the Bedouins, I gained on this part of mj' journey. In looking 

 at a map of Palestine, it will be seen that this range of mountains has played 

 a most important part in the history of the Jews. From these heights Balak 

 king of Moab, and Balaam the prophet of Baal, beheld the Israelites en- 

 camped on the Plains of Moab. From here Moses the great lawgiver saw the 

 promised land : here he died and was buried. Hero we passed across the 

 very spot marked on the maps as Pisgah and Nebo. 



We had with us, from the Arnon to Mayin or Callirrhoe, a Bedouin who 

 ■w;a8 a native of Northern Moab, the tvhole extent of which is onlj- about 

 twenty miles in length and as many in width. The fact that he was the 

 only companion of Zadam, the magnate of the Bene Sachar, and that with 

 this chief he was to be our guide for more than a month, sufficiently shows 

 that he was no ordinary man of his tribe. From Mayin again to the 

 Plains of Moab and the Jordan wc had with us the Sheikh of the Awazim 

 himself, who was not only born and brought up in the neighbourhood, but 

 is the chief of the whole district. Yet neither tlic second in command of the 

 Bene Sachar nor even the chief himself of the Awazim could tell us a single 

 name of gorge, valley, mountain, or ruin between Diban and the Jordan. 



The reason of it is simply this. In Palestine, which has been visited by 

 pilgrims ever since the fourth century, who came in search of the places 

 wherein the events connected with the life of our Saviour have transpired, 

 the law of demand and supply has brought to the surface whole regions 

 which would otherwise never have been named. Those who came thousands 



