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that the monument was that of a Moabite king — Mesha — who, after a brief 
record of himself and his father, tells of certain deeds of war from which he 
issued victorious ; further, that the names of Israel, Omri, Chemosh, and a 
number of well-known Moabite cities occurred up and down ; and that 
indeed the greater part of the last half of the stone was a record of the kings’ 
[re-]buildings of and improvements in these cities ; while the very defective 
end seemed once more to speak of war. If he had lifted up his warning 
voice then, he, notwithstanding all that had come between — emendations, 
chips, squeezes, dissertations, pamphlets, &c. — would still beg a little patience 
before a final and definite conclusion could be arrived at on all points, if ever 
that could be the case, inasmuch as there were some more materials extant, 
which had not as yet been taken into consideration. There was, e. g. (besides 
M. Ganneau’s not yet published corrections) a certain chip acquired by 
Captain Warren some time before his “ squeezes,” which did not figure in any 
of the known texts, and which seemed to belong to the right-hand corner — a 
matter on which a decision could only be arrived at when the other pieces 
had been brought home. Besides this, he would draw the attention of his 
hearers to certain fragmentary lines of Mr. Klein, which also appear in none 
of the materials extant, and which, if accurately copied, would be of some 
considerable import. Thus one line seemed to exhibit the word “ Batzim ” 
(runners, military executioners, “footmen” in 0. T.) in a connection which 
seemed to point to some sanguinary work after a battle, while another dis- 
tinctly read “ Tamar to [Jejricho.” There was no need to think of Tadmor. 
Tamar was the place mentioned by Ezekiel as the south-western limit of 
Palestine, and the juxtaposition of the two cities in question would be rather 
significant. But, M. Deutsch said, it was to be hoped that these lines had 
survived the original, and were among the recently-acquired new fragments, 
so that full opportunity might be given for further examination. He had 
mentioned these facts to show that everything was not settled yet, and so 
long as there was any hope of the recovery of one single scrap of material, so 
long must the final investigations remain in abeyance. 
The most important places in the Bible where reference is made to the 
^people and country of Moab are Numbers xxi. 26 ; xxii. and xxiii. ; Deut. 
ii. 9 ; Judges iii. 17 ; xi. 15, et seq. ; 1 Sam. xiv. 47 ; 2 Sam. viii. 2 \ 
2 Kings i. 1 ; iii. 4-27 ; xiii. 20 ; xxiv. 2 ; 2 Chron. xx. ; Isa. xv. ; xvi. ; 
Jer. xlviii. ; Dan. xi. 41 ; Amos ii. 1, 2. 
Note.— For much of the preceding, I am indebted to an interesting work, 
The Kecovery of Jerusalem,” published under the superintendence of the 
deservedly popular “Palestine Exploration Fund.” Those who may desire 
to know more in regard to the country of Moab, are referred to the Eev. 
J. L. Porter’s “Giant Cities of Bashan;” Mr. Grove’s article on “Moab” 
in the “Dictionary of the Bible f and to M. Deutsch’s letters in Nos. V. 
and VI. of the “ Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund.” 
It will interest many to know that the expedition to the country of Moab 
—to which I alluded during a former discussion, see vol. v., p. 408,— has 
just returned. E . p ETRIEj Er)> 
