THE RUINED CITIES OF PALESTINE, ETC. 



19 



tor a reinforcement and the presence of the King himself, in 

 consequence of which David went in person and captured the 

 citadel, with an immense quantity of spoil. In the third century 

 B.C. the city was rebuilt by Ptolemy Philadelphus, King of 

 Egypt, and called Philadelphia, under which name it is fre- 

 quently mentioned by Greek and Roman writers. There are 

 the remains of a large Christian church in the lower city. 



The exterior walls of the citadel are constructed of large 

 stones closely jointed, without cement, bearing in places the 

 marks of high antiquity. The most interesting building on the 

 citadel hill appears to be a specimen of the Sassanian architecture 

 of Persia, probably dating from the same period as the Dome 

 of the Rock at Jerusalem. The panelling and scroll-work on 

 the walls is very beautiful and perfect, closely allied to Assyrian 

 work. These buildings form a link between the Byzantine 

 architecture and that of Persia. 



We next reach what is evidently the site of Medaba, a city 

 of the Moabites, taken by Joshua and given, with its plain, 

 to the tribe of Reuben (Num. xxi, 30 ; Josh, xiii, 9, 16). It 

 was on the plain east of the city that Joab defeated the combined 

 forces of Ammon and Syria, avenging the insult offered to the 

 ambassadors of King David (1 Chron. xix). 



Madeba was recaptured by the Moabites at the Captivity, 

 and is therefore included in the prophetic curse pronounced 

 upon Moab in Isa. xv, 2. It was an important fortress during 

 the rule of the Maccabees, and it became an episcopal city in 

 the early centuries of our era. Here was discovered a large 

 tesselated map of Palestine. 



Not far from Madeba is Dibon, which is now nothing more 

 than a shapeless mass of ruins, but obtained a new celebrity 

 in 1868 by the discovery of the Moabite Stone, containing a 

 long inscripton in which is recorded some of the acts of that 

 King Mesha who is mentioned in 2 Kings iii. The inscription 

 is in the old Phoenician character, and appears to be of the age 

 of Mesha. The stone was unfortunately broken by the Arabs, 

 but most of the fragments are now in the Louvre. 



Mount Nebo runs out westward from the plateau with a 

 narrow ridge, at the end of which is the summit, Pisgah, and 

 the ascent to this ridge is Sufa or Zophim. Here we stand on 

 a site rendered memorable by two important events connected 

 with the history of the Israelitish occupation of Canaan. Hither 

 Balak brought Balaam to curse the people (Num. xxii-xxiv), 



