Jerome, who in the Onomasticon merely translates the words of Eusebius, gives us in another work the definite specification, that Gath, one of the five cities. of Philistia, was situated near the borders of Judea, on the way from Eleutheropolis to Gaza, and was then a very large village. He does not mention the distance at which it lay from either of these cities; nor whether it still bore the name of Gath; thus leaving it uncertain, after all, whether this specification is any thing more than a conjecture of his own.

No subsequent mention of Gath or its position occurs in history or in the accounts of Palestine; and we sought in vain for any present trace of the name throughout the whole region. On our return from Gaza to Beit Jibrîn, we took the road by es-Sukkarîyeh and el-Kubeibeh, because these villages were much spoken of; and we thought perhaps traces of antiquity might be found there, from which at least a presumption might be drawn as to the site of Gath. But, as already related, we found nothing to authorize even the slightest conjecture. Another road somewhat further north passes through the villages el-Fâlûjy and 'Arâk el-Menshiyeh, which we did not visit, although they were in sight. We could not learn that they contain any remains of antiquity.

The Gath which Eusebius and Jerome place at five Roman miles north of Eleutheropolis towards Diospolis, appears to be the same with Gath-Rimmon, a Levitical city in the tribe of Dan,' which the same writers describe as lying twelve miles from Diospolis towards Eleutheropolis. The distance from Eleutheropolis accords well with the site of Deir Dubbân,

1) Hieron. Comm. in Mich. i. 11, "Geth una est de quinque urbibus Palaestinae, vicina Judaeae confinio, et de Eleutheropoli euntibus

Gazam nunc usque vicus vel maximus."

2) Josh. xix. 45. xxi. 24. 1 Chron. vi. 69.

near which we first fell in with the remarkable excavations of this region. From that place to Beit Jibrîn we travelled not quite two hours, by a somewhat winding road.' The distance to Lydda, however, must be more than four hours, or twelve Roman miles.

Another ancient city which lay not far from Eleutheropolis, was Maresha, the Maresa or Marissa of Josephus, situated in the plain of Judah and afterwards fortified by Rehoboam.2 Here Asa defeated the immense host of Zera the Ethiopian; and Judas Maccabaeus, after having captured Hebron from the Idumeans, descended by way of Maresha, which he laid desolate, to Ashdod.3 After various changes of masters, it was at length rebuilt and fortified by Gabinius; but was again destroyed by the Parthians during their irruption against Herod. In the days of Eusebius and Jerome the ruins of Maresha were shown "in the second mile" from Eleutheropolis. The direction is not given; but from all the circumstances, it would seem probable, that Eleutheropolis (at first Betogabra) had sprung up after the destruction of Maresha, and had been built with its materials. Assuming Beit Jibrîn as the site of Eleutheropolis, we were led to suppose at the time, that the foundations we discovered on the southeastern part of the remarkable Tell south of the place, were remains of Maresha.

1) See above p. 352, seq. 2) Josh. xv. 44. 2 Chron. xi. 8. 3) 2 Chron. xiv. 9, 10. Joseph. Antiq. XII. 8. 6. Comp. 1 Macc. v. 65-68, where as Reland shows, Maresa should be read for Samaria; Palaest. p. 889. Comp. p. 365, above.

4) Jos. Antiq. XIV. 5.3. XIV. 13. 9.

5) Onomast. art. Masera, Maρησά.

6) If we may assume with Reland, that the Betaris of Josephus is

The spot is admirably

for Begabris (Betogabra), as Rufinus read it in his copy, (Joseph. B. J. IV. 8. 1. Reland Palaest. pp. 626, 628; comp. p. 360, Note 1, above,) then this village, which Vespasian captured in Idumea, would seem to have sprung into note after the destruction of Maresha, as related in the text; and grew up into the later and more renowned Eleutheropolis. That the Idumea of Josephus extended thus far, will be immediately shown in the text; p. 424.

adapted for a fortress; it lies about a Roman mile and a half from the ruins of Beit Jibrîn, that is, within the second mile, though certainly not two miles distant. Nowhere else in the vicinity could we find or hear of any trace of ruins.'

Somewhere in the vicinity of Eleutheropolis lay also the village of Moresheth, the birth-place of the prophet Micah.2 The name Moresheth-Gath under which it once occurs, seems to imply that it was near to Gath; Eusebius and Jerome place it eastward of Eleutheropolis; and the latter writer in another place remarks, that it was still a small village near that city. In the journey of Paula, Jerome again speaks of the village in connexion with the fountain of Samson, as having formerly contained the sepulchre of Micah, where was now a church. This latter circumstance seems not improbably to refer to the ruined church of Santa Hanneh, twenty minutes S. S. E. of Beit Jibrîn, close by which are the ruined foundations of a village, which may or may not be ancient. In this case Jerome would appear either to have confounded Maresha and Moresheth; or else the one lay perhaps upon the hill, and the other in the valley north, between the church and the excavated sepulchres. That they were two distinct places, appears, partly from the difference of the names, which come from different roots; and partly from the fact, that the prophet Micah mentions them together. More difficult is it to account in any case for the epithet Gath.

1) Benjamin of Tudela places Maresha at Beit Jibrîn itself; Itin.

par Baratier p. 101. "Sed ejus auctoritas tanti non est," is the remark of Reland, p. 890.

2) Mic. i. 1. Jer. xxvi. 18. Moresheth-Gath, Mic. i. 14.

3) Onomast. art. Morasthi. Hieron. Comm. in Mic. Prol. "Ad Michaeam de Morasthi, qui usque

hodie juxta Eleutheropolin urbem. Palaestinae, haud grandis est viculus."

4) Ep. 86, ad Eustoch. Epitaph. Paulae, p. 677. ed. Mart. "Ut refocillatus videam Morasthim, sepulchrum quondam Michaeae prophetae, nunc Ecclesiam."

5) Mic. i. 14, 15.

It appears from history, that during or soon after the Jewish exile, the Edomites spread themselves throughout the South of Judea, which they continued to occupy, and which consequently is included under the name of Idumea by Josephus and later writers. Judas Maccabaeus captured from them Hebron, Marissa, and Ashdod; and John Hyrcanus, after taking Adora and Marissa, compelled the Idumean inhabitants of the whole region to conform to the laws and customs of the Jews. Jerome also in speaking of the Idumeans, calls them Horites, and makes them dwell within the borders of Eleutheropolis. Now we know, that the original inhabitants of Idumea proper were actually Horites, that is, Troglodytes, "dwellers in caverns," or under ground; who, although dispossessed by the Edomites, continued to live among the latter, and apparently became with them one people. It is for this reason, probably, that Jerome thus calls the whole nation Horites; adopting however a different signification of the word, "the free," in order (by a Rabbinic conceit) to make out a Hebrew etymology for the later name Eleutheropolis. Yet it is also possible, that the Edomites were called Horites in Palestine in the original acceptation of the word; for Jerome also asserts, that Idumea, or the whole southern region from Eleutheropolis to Petra and Ailah, was full of habitations in caves; the inhabitants using subterranean dwellings on account of the great heat.-Does not this language suggest the idea, that

1) Joseph. Antiq. XII. 8. 6. XIII. 9. 1. Comp. 1 Macc. v. 6568. Josephus speaks expressly of Hebron as in Idumea; B. J. IV. 9. 7. He says too that Idumea was round about Gaza; c. Apion.

II. 9.

2) "In finibus est 'ElevegonоLos, ubi ante habitaverant Horraei, qui interpretantur liberi, unde

ipsa urbs postea sortita vocabulum est;" Comm. in Obad. vs. 1.

3) Gen. xiv. 6. Deut. ii. 12, 22. Gen. xxxvi. 20, 21.

4) See at the close of Note XXXII, end of the Volume.

5) Comm. in Obad. vs. 5, 6, "Omnis australis regio Idumaeorum de Eleutheropoli usque ad Petram et Ailam (haec est posses

Jerome is here alluding in part to the singular excavations which we discovered near Deir Dubbân, and which were so particularly numerous around Beit Jibrîn or Eleutheropolis? May we perhaps suppose, that the Idumeans brought with them their habits of life, and preferred to excavate for themselves here dwellings under ground in the soft limestone rock? It did not indeed occur to us at the time, that possibly this had been the object of these caverns; but it might well have been the case; for they were all dry, and in general well lighted. We needed candles only in exploring those on the south side of the Tell near Beit Jibrîn; and even these may not improbably have once received light by openings now filled up.-I do not wish to be considered as here advancing an hypothesis; but merely as bringing forward a suggestion, which may deserve consideration.'

May 23d continued. The village of Idhna lies just across the water-shed at the head of the valley we had ascended. Just beyond it, another larger valley, Wady el-Feranj, comes from the S. E. and running by the place towards the N. W. ultimately passes down to Beit Jibrin, forming with others the broad valley which there comes in on the north side. The present Idhna is a small village, divided into two parts by a short Wady or gully running into Wady elFeranj. Each part has its separate Sheikh with his Kusr or tower; and the inhabitants are divided into two parties, according as they live north or south of the water-course. In all civil broils, the Sheikhs with their followers usually take different sides.

sio Esau) in specubus habitatiunculas habet; et propter nimios calores solis, quia meridiana provincia est, subterraneis tuguriis utitur."

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54

1) See the account of these various caverns, not less than five different clusters in all, pp, 353, 362, 395-398.