MR. TRISTRAM'S LAND OF MOAB.* Mn. TRISTRAM was perfectly justified
by results in disregarding the advice which, as he tells us in his preface, the Palestine Exploration Fund gives to private adventurers,—" Don't I " That he made any great discoveries in Biblical geography or history cannot be affirmed. "The careful verification of Machaerus, the scene of John the Baptist's imprisonment and martyrdom," is one of his claims, and the description of his visit to this place is certainly one of the most interesting passages in his volume. But Machaerus stands prominently out in the history of the last Jewish War of Independence, in the course of which it stood a siege of considerable length. Josephus describes it with sufficient accuracy, and its identity has never been seriously questioned. About the site of Zoar, Lot's city of refuge, there has been more debate, some placing it at the northern and others at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. That the writer of the account was thinking of some locality at the northern end can scarcely be doubted, for otherwise, as Dr. Tristram points out, be would not have included it among "the Cities of the Plain," an expression applicable only to the valley of the Jordan as it may be supposed to have anciently existed. That the modern Ziaro represents the ancient Zoar is at least probable, but we cannot affect to consider
the question to be of that importance which our explorer is inclined to give to it. The origin and authenticity of the Mosaic history must be determined by other and larger considerations, and even the demonstrated identity of the two names would contribute nothing towards the settlement of the question. That there was a Zoar somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea can scarcely be doubted (for how else should the name appear in the narrative?), but the narrative gets no support from the fact. Other sites Dr. Tristram identifies more or less successfully with names that occur in the Scripture accounts of Moab, but the sites themselves are singularly barren of interest. The great discovery of the Moabite Stone gave a promise of other results of exploration which has not been fulfilled. The ruins, which are so frequent throughout the country, are shapeless masses of stone, which are utterly silent about all that we would learn from them, and of which, except that they leave on the beholder a general impression of antiquity,
it is impossible even to conjecture the age.
But Mr. Tristram had the good-fortune, if we may so speak of what was really the result of persevering industry, of making a discovery which, though not in any way connected with Biblical knowledge, is of singular interest, and is enough to give him a permanent reputation as an explorer. He happened, not far from the Eastern border of Moab, to catch sight of a pile of buildings in the distance, not unlike hundreds of others there that he had seen before, and which his guides declared to be a khan built by Saladin, and not to contain anything remarkable. The policy of leaving nothing unvisited was, however, steadily adhered to, and for once, at least, it was amply rewarded. The " khan " turned out to be a ruined palace. Here is part of Mr. Tristram's description :-
"We were at first perfectly bewildered by the variety and magnifi- cence of the architectural decorations. The richness of the arabesque carvings, and their perfect preservation, are not equalled oven by those of the Alhambra, though in somewhat the same style. The whole con- sists of a largo square quadrangle, facing due north and south, 170 yards in extent on each face ; with round bastions at each angle, and five others, semicircular, between them. on the E., N., and W. faces, all, like the wall, built of finely-dressed, bard stone. But it is on the south face that the resources of Eastern art have been most lavishly expended. There are hero six bastions, besides the corner ones ; for the fretted front, which extends for 52 yards in the centre of the face, has a bold octagonal bastion on either side of the gateway. This gate- way is the only entrance to the palace, and on either side is the most splendid facade imaginable, of which our photographs alone can convey a correct idea. The wall is 18 feet high, and covered with the most elaborate and beautiful carving, nearly intact, and hardly injured either by time or man. On the flat wall itself runs a largo pattern, like a continued W, with a large rose boss between each angle. These stand out boldly from the plane of the wall. Every inch of their sur- face, and all the interstices, are carved with fretted work, representing animals, fruit, and foliage, in endless variety. The birds and beasts are fully represented, and not, as in Arab sculpture, melting into fruit or flowers, but correctly drawn. There are upwards of 50 animals in all sorts of attitudes, but generally drinking together on opposite sides of the same vase. Lions, winged lions, buffaloes, gazelle, panthers, lynx, men; in one case a man with a basket of fruit, in another a man's head with a dog below ; peacocks, partridges, parrots, and other birds; more than 50 figures stand in line, with vases, on the west side of the gateway. All are enclosed in cornices and mouldings of conven- tional patterns, and tho interstices filled in with very beautiful adapta- tions of leaves."
* Tke Lant I of Moab. Travels and Discoveries on the East Side of Me Dead Sea and the Jordan. By H. B. Tristram, M.A., LL.D., F.A.S. London : John Murray. 1873.
But it is the history more than the intrinsic beauty of the building that makes the discovery so remarkably interesting. The ruined
palace of Mashita (Mashita is just to the left of the pilgrims' road to Mecca) is a memorial, the most considerable memorial in
existence, of a remarkable episode in history. Few readers of Gibbon will have forgotten the brilliant pages in which he relates the victorious career of Chosroes II., "who from the long disputed banks of the Tigris and Euphrates extended to the Hellespont and the Nile, the ancient limits of the Persian monarchy." It is to Chosroes that evidence which has convinced the judgment of Mr.
Fergusaon points as the builder of the Moabite ruin. Even the site of the splendid palace which that monarch erected in his own country can scarcely be identified, but the passing whim for a hunting-box in one of his newly acquired kingdoms has left a more permanent memorial of his taste and profusion. It is the builder, says Mr. Tristram, rather than the conqueror who destroys,
and since the days of Cbosroes no builder has set his foot in the land of Moab. Another evidence of the origin of the erection is found in its unfinished state. The new Persian Empire came to a close as abrupt as was its beginning, when the sudden energy of Heraclius once more vindi- cated the supremacy of Roman arms. Chosroes had to leave un- finished his Syrian country-house, which it is more than probable he never occupied, and which he possibly never saw. "We searched carefully," says Mr. Tristram, "but in vain for any sculptured fragments among the debris, and could only come to the conclu- sion that the builders had been suddenly interrupted, and had left unfinished tbe decorative part of their plan," a conclusion which limits exactly the facts as history records them.
Mr. Tristram's volume is a very pleasant and readable story of travel, told by one who is an old hand at the work, who keeps his ears and eyes open, and has the art of skilfully describing what he observes. We may note as especially interesting passages the visit to the summit of Pisgah and to " Herod's Bath," the remark- able hot springs of Calirrboe. With an anecdote of Arab ingenuity we shall take our leave of a delightful book: —
"Mr. Klein, who rode his own mare, asked Daoud this morning if he was quite sure she always got her allowance. 'Oh yes !' he replied, the muleteers often steal from one another, and rob their friends' horses, but I can always find out if your mare has been cheated?— ' How ?'—'I always put some pebbles in with the barley, seven or eight, and count exactly how many I put in. The mare never oats the pebbles, and if any one steals barley, he is sure to take two or three pebbles with it. If I find the pebbles short in the morning I make hard words, and they cannot tell how I know, and so they let alone cheating her."
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