THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE. 193 



Lieut.-Colonel Mackinlay : I feel sure I speak for all members 

 of the Institute when I express our grateful thanks for the excellent 

 paper which Sir Charles Warren has given us ; it is particularly 

 interesting to us during this time of war. 



On pages 185 and 186 he tells us of roads from Egypt to Palestine. 

 May I ask what was the probable route of the Magi just after the 

 Nativity, supposing they came from Babylon 1 Was there a route, 

 say, down the Valley of the Jabbok, coming more directly to 

 Jerusalem, than the road through Damascus 1 What were the 

 means of crossing the Jordan 1 Were there any bridges in Bible 

 times 1 How many fords are there in the part between the Lake of 

 Galilee and the Dead Sea 1 Are these fords impassable during the 

 annual overflow 1 If so, for about how long 1 Do caravans cross 

 the Syrian desert at all seasons of the year, or do they stop during 

 the hot weather 1 



Eeferringto page 177 of the paper, there can be no doubt that the 

 star Smaiyeh, seen in September, 1882, to be approaching the Moon, 

 was the planet Venus. It is known from the Nautical Almanac^ 

 1882, that Venus was at its nearest to the Moon (1° 48' distant) 

 on the 16th September in that year. As the planet was then very 

 brilliant, this near approach would certainly attract attention. Had 

 Jupiter been in a like position it would also have been noticeable, 

 but it was distant from the Moon at that time, and no fixed star is 

 sufficiently bright to call for general remark under similar 

 conditions. 



Sir Charles tells us that Smaiyeh is the star within the crescent 

 in the Turkish e nsign. This device is not to be found in other 

 Mohammedan countries, but it was adopted by the Turks when they 

 took Constantinople. It had previously been the symbol of that 

 city for many hundreds of years, the crescent and the star appear- 

 ing in the coinage of Byzantium ; the crescent (crescens) of the 

 waxing Moon indicating increasing light, and the planet, as Morn- 

 ing Star, heralding the rising of the Sun — both inspiriting ideas. 

 The Byzantines, in their turn, had adopted these symbols from the 

 Babylonians. 



In the British Museum are Babylonian boundary stones with 

 figures of the Sun, Moon, and Istar (the planet Venus) cut on 

 them. It is noteworthy that the Moon is represented by a crescent, 

 s.nd that Istar is made as large as the ciiief luminaries, thus shewing 



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