'Arabah. Having passed these hills, we left the Wady and kept along their northern base until 1 o'clock. The moon had now gone down; we therefore stopped, and spreading our canvass and carpets on the sand, lay down to rest, and slept for three hours peacefully and sweetly.

MOUNTAINS OF EDOM.

WE had thus left behind us the mountains of Edom, which we had seen in part; and we should have been glad, had time and circumstances permitted us to see more. The structure of the chain, where we saw it, has already been described; at the base low hills of limestone or argillaceous rock; then the lofty masses of porphyry constituting the body of the mountain; above these, sandstone broken up into irregular ridges and grotesque groups of cliffs; and again further back and higher than all, long elevated ridges of limestone without precipices. East of all these, stretches off indefinitely the high plateau of the great eastern desert. We estimated the height of the porphyry cliffs at about 2000 feet above the 'Arabah; the elevation of Wady Mûsa above the same is perhaps 2000 or 2200 feet; while the limestone ridges further back probably do not fall short of 3000 feet. The whole breadth of the mountainous tract between the 'Arabah and the eastern desert above, does not exceed fifteen or twenty geographical miles.

The character of these mountains is quite different from those on the West of the 'Arabah. The latter, which seemed to be not more than two thirds as high, are wholly desert and sterile; while these on the East appear to enjoy a sufficiency of rain, and are covered with tufts of herbs and occasional trees. The Wadys

too are full of trees and shrubs and flowers; while the eastern and higher parts are extensively cultivated and yield good crops. The general appearance of the soil is not unlike that around Hebron; though the face of the country is very different. It is indeed the region of which Isaac said to his son Esau: "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above." 1

This tract of mountains, south of the district of Kerak (the ancient country of Moab), and separated from the latter by the Wady el-Ahsy, is at the present day spoken of as divided into two districts; though we did not learn that this arises from any regulation of the government. The northern bears the name of Jebâl, "Mountains;" beginning at Wady el-Ahsy and terminating towards the South, according to Burckhardt, at Wady el-Ghuweir. Yet the southern boundary would seem not to be very definitely assigned; for esh-Shôbek, although it lies south of that Wady, was sometimes spoken of to us, as belonging to Jebâl. The largest place in Jebâl is Tufîleh.

South of Wady el-Ghuweir follows the district eshShérah; extending, so far as we could learn, indefinitely towards 'Akabah on the South, and including properly Shôbek, Wady Mûsa, Ma'ân, el-Humeiyimeh, and other places.3

28.

1) Gen. xxvii. 39; comp. vs. 27, the ancient name of this district.

2) Travels p. 410.-This name corresponds to the ancient Hebrew Gebal (b) and the Roman Gebalene, which Eusebius and Jerome describe as a part of Idumea, and sometimes put for Idumea itself. Ps. lxxxii. 8. Onomast. arts. Idumea, Allus, Gethaim, etc. Reland Palaest. p. 82-84.

3) The form esh-Sherah has no relation to the Hebrew Seir ()

on

The Hebrew word means 'hairy' and is written with 'Ain, which never falls away; while the Arabic name signifies a tract, region.' Compare Gesenius, Notes Burckhardt, p. 1067.-Both Edrisi and Abulfeda apply the name eshSherah to all the mountains south of Kerak as far as to Ailah; Edrîsi par Jaubert I. pp. 337, 338. Abulfed. Tab. Syr. ed. Köhler p. 13. Tab. Arab. ed. Hudson p. 20.

The region el-Hismeh, the country of the Ma'âz mentioned above, was here also described as a sandy tract with mountains around it on the East of 'Akabah; but not itself a mountain nor a separate district, as reported by Burckhardt. Yet the Arabs would be very likely in pointing out the adjacent mountains to speak of them as Jebel Hismeh or Tûr Hismeh; although all our guides, both of the 'Amrân from 'Akabah and of the Haweitât from near Ma'ân, uniformly denied the existence of any such name as applied to a mountain.'

The chief tribe of Bedawîn in the district of Jebâl are the Hejâya. Besides these, there is also a branch of the Ka'âbineh, who dwell in the region of Wady elAhsy, and sow near a well called el-Malîh. They were now at enmity with the Jehâlîn; although their relatives west of the Dead Sea, are the allies of the latter tribe, and intermarry with them.

In the district esh-Sherah, the Bedawîn are all Haweitât, with a few allies. This is an extensive tribe, broken up into several subdivisions, and dwelling in various and distant parts of the country. Those found in these mountains are divided into the clans Abu Rashîd, el-Jâzy, el-Bedûn, and el-'Alawîn. The last properly occupy the region towards 'Akabah; the Bedûn, as we have seen, pasture around Wady Mûsa. The Sheikh Abu Jâzy of Laborde, appears to have been the head of the division el-Jâzy; we did not learn the limits where they pasture.

The proper country of the Haweitât Abu Rashid, is around Shôbek; but they were said to be now in the region of Kerak. The spirited Sheikh Muhammed Abu Rashid, to whose fidelity and perseverance Irby

1) Burckhardt pp. 433, 440, 444. Laborde Voyage p. 63. (218.) Comp. above, Vol. I. p. 256.

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70

2) The Ebn Jarzee of Irby and Mangles, p. 391.

and Mangles and their companions were indebted for their visit to Wady Mûsa, was the head of this division. He is dead, and his clan were now governed by his sons. Closely allied with these are the 'Ammârîn, who are not themselves Haweitât, but a respectable independent tribe; although they acknowledge the Sheikh of the Abu Rashîd as their head. They live in the northern part of esh-Sherah, and to them belongs 'Ain el-Buweirideh in the 'Arabah.

The Haweitât live not only among these mountains, and along the adjacent eastern desert; but also around Muweilih and in Egypt; and some are found near Gaza. The head Sheikh over them all is Mansûr Ibn Shedîd, who resides at Cairo, and has been already mentioned. Even the Haweitât who dwell here and at Muweilih, are registered among the Arabs of Egypt.-The Bedawîn throughout these districts, and also further north, were said to be now in a state of subjection to the Egyptian government and pay an annual tribute. That of the Beni Sukhr, the preceding year, was one camel for every two tents.

In both Jebâl and esh-Sherah the Fellâhîn also are half Bedawîn; inhabiting the few villages, but dwelling likewise partly in tents, like the Ta'âmirah near Bethlehem. Such are in esh-Sherah, the Refâi'a living in and around Dibdiba; the Liyâthineh in and around Eljy; the Rawajifeh at a the Rawajifeh at a ruined place of the same name; and also the Hebâhibeh and Beni Na'îm dwelling wholly in tents. Besides these, Burckhardt mentions also the Sa'ûdîyeh and the Ja'îlât. The Fellâhîn of the Sherah are in subjection to the government, pay tribute, and furnish supplies of grain. In Jebâl the Fellâhîn are in like manner divided into several tribes; but we did not succeed in

3

1) Travels p. 383, seq. Legh May 23d. Burckhardt writes the name incorrectly Ibn Rashid, p. 417. So too Mr. Degh.

2) See the account of his being appealed to as a peace-maker, Vol. I. p. 207.

3) Travels, pp. 419, 434.

obtaining their names. Burckhardt mentions the Jawâbireh as living in Tufîleh, the Beni Hamîdeh in el-Busaireh, and the Melâhîn at Shôbek. The Fellâhs of Jebâl were at this time still in rebellion against the government; and during the last year, Sheikh Sa'id of Gaza, with the Jehâlîn and Tiyâhah, had spent two or three months in trying to subdue them. They easily got possession of the villages; but the inhabitants betook themselves to the fastnesses of the mountains, where they could not be approached.It was for this reason that our Jehâlîn guides would not venture to take us to Shôbek.2

Such are the races who now hold in possession the ancient territory of Edom. This is not the occasion to dwell upon the course of events during the many intervening centuries; yet a few notices of the leading changes which have here taken place, will serve to throw light upon the history and character of that ancient city, whose remains now constitute the chief attraction for the traveller among these mountains.

In the times of Scripture history, the mountains east of the Dead Sea were comprised in the territory of Moab; the northern border of which, towards the Amorites, was ultimately the brook Arnon, now Wady el-Môjib.3 The southern border of Moab appears to have been the brook Zered; at least this is described as the limit of the wanderings of the children of Israel in the desert, and the point where they passed over into the territory of Moab, a kindred people. The features of the country seem to show, that this was probably the Wady el-Ahsy, which now separates the district of Kerak from Jebâl, and indeed forms a natural division between the country on the North and on

1) Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, etc. pp. 405, 407, 416. 2) See p. 504 above.

3) Num. xxi. 13, 26. Judg. xi. 18. 4) Deut. ii. 13, 14, 18. Num.

xxi. 12.