180 REPORT—1874. 
Kings upon Sodom and the conquests of Israel under Moses. Questions of im- 
portance arise in connexion with those events, Are there any traces, monumental 
or traditional, of the aboriginal races ? or can the line of conquest be followed ? 
The ancient inhabitants had some very marked characteristics; they were to a 
large extent migratory ; they were subject to wild outbursts of passion ; they were 
celebrated for unbounded hospitality ; they had a peculiar costume and a peculiar 
accent. It is therefore important to inquire whether there be any thing in the 
physical features, natural resources, or geographical position of the country that 
would account for these characteristics, or whether any of them still exist. 
The author proposed to show the conclusions he had arrived at upon these and 
other points, while giving a sketch of his recent journey. He left Jerusalem on 
18th April, but was unable to cross the Jordan at Jericho, because, as stated by 
Joshua, the river at that season “ overfloweth all his banks.” He travelled up the 
plain to Damich, and crossed a ferry beside the ruins of the Roman bridge, over 
which ran the ancient road from Neapolis to Geraxa and Philadelphia. He showed 
that the dress of the people beyond the river is different from that of the Western 
tribes, and of a more primeval type; their pronunciation of certain words is also 
different. He ascended Jebel Osha, the highest peak of the Gilead range, and 
identified it with Mizpah, where Jephthah assembled the Transjordanic tribes. 
He also showed that Hs-Saet is the Ramoth Gilead of the Bible. He travelled 
south to Arak-el-Emir, and described the remarkable excavations and classic ruins 
of the palace of Hyrcanus. Thence he went to Heshbon, and pointed out how it 
commanded the passes from the plateau of Moab to the Jordan valley, thus ren- 
dering it necessary for Moses to ask permission of Sihon to pass through his 
territory. The western brow of the plateau is deeply furrowed, and the projecting 
peaks near Heshbon formed those “ heights of Pisgah” which looked “ towards 
Jeshimon,” 7%. e. “the desert” beyond the Dead Sea. He described the ruins of 
Nebo, showing that it was a town which gave its name in ancient, as it does in 
modern, times to some peaks around it. One of these peaks bears a name which 
is probably a corruption of Pisgah, and the view from it is similar to that described 
in the account of Moses’s death. The author went to Rabbath Ammon over a table- 
land rich in pastures and dotted with ruined towns. He urged the importance of 
excavations at Rabbah as likely to be productive of interesting archeological 
discoveries. He travelled thence to Gerasa, through the semicircular region of 
mountains skirted by the ravine of the Jabbok, and illustrating the statements in 
the Bible regarding the strength of the borders of the Ammonites. He suggested 
Neby Had, a noted sanctuary between the ford of the Jabbok and Gerasa, as the 
probable scene of Laban’s covenant with Jacob, and proposed to identify Gerasa 
with the long lost Mahanaim. From Gerasa he made an adventurous journey 
through an unknown region to the plain of Hauran, following the line of an ancient 
road ; and he gave reasons for believing that this was the route by which Abraham 
and Jacob entered Palestine, and by which Moses invaded Bashan. He denied the 
identity of Dera with the Edrei of Og, maintaining it to be the Adraha of the 
Peutinger Tables, and followed the Roman road there laid down to Bozra. Thence 
he went north to Jebel Hauran, visiting its old cities, and describing their archi- 
tecture. He argued that some of the private houses in those cities are much older 
than the Greek temples beside them, giving measurements of a few of the massive 
stone doors. Here were two colossal heads of Astarte, with the crescent on the 
forehead which give that deity the name found in Genesis, Ashteroth-Karnaim. 
The ruined temples and palaces of Siah contain inscriptions bearing the names of 
Herod the Great and Agrippa; and there is one in Nabathean characters of a very 
remarkable type, apparently recording the erection of a statue to a certain Malkath 
about 30 B.c. From Kenath he crossed the plain of Bashan to Mezarib, and then, 
turning southward, passed over the northern ridge of Jebel Ajlin, visiting several 
cities of Decapolis, and finally crossing the Jordan valley to Bethshean. In con- 
clusion, the author strongly urged the importance ofa regular survey of the whole 
country, as calculated to illustrate Biblical geography and archeology. 
