The Identification of Succoth and Penuel

Palestine Exploration Quarterly ISSN: 0031-0328 (Print) 1743-1301 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypeq20 The Identification of Succoth and Penuel Selah Merrill To cite this article: Selah Merrill (1878) The Identification of Succoth and Penuel, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 10:2, 81-88, DOI: 10.1179/peq.1878.10.2.81 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/peq.1878.10.2.81 Published online: 20 Nov 2013. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 3 View related articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ypeq20 Download by: [Universite Laval] Date: 06 May 2016, At: 23:21 SUCCOTH AND PENUEL •. 81 took away from the holy city" the golden altar, and the candlestick of light, and all the vessels thereof, and the table of the shewbread • • • and the veil (TO ICaTo:rrETacrp.a) ••• " This is confirmed by Josephus, according to whom Antiochus "did not spare even the veils made of fine' linen and scarlet" (" Antiq. Jud.," xii. 5. 2). Pausanias said that Antiochus dedicated (U.lI~(J1J"ElI) his oriental veil in the Temple of Olympia. It was the custom to adorn temples with similar trophies. But there is more. Pausanias minutely explains that the 1rapa1rETo.crp.a, or curtain of the sanctuary of Olympia, in place of rising up to the roof as, for instance, that of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, was dropped to the ground from above by means of ropes. He might have spared himself a good deal of trouble by stating at once that it was not a 1ro.pa1rETacrp.a, but a ICaTa7rETacrp.a (down-curtain),; i.e., he might have used the word always employed by Josephus and in the texts of the Maccabees to designate the Jewish veil. St. Matthew also says that the veil (ICaTa7r~Tacrp.a) was rent, l1.lICcJ(}fV EWS ICc!TCcJ. Again, to whom did Antiochus dedicate the Temple of Jerusalem- plundered and defiled by him? To Olympian Zeus (2 Mace. vi. 2), We need not be astonished, therefore, if he hung up the veil of the Jewish Temple in that of the Olympian Zeus. Are not always the spoils of the conquered deities consecrated to the victorious' deities? (Cf. the sacred utensils of Jehovah consecl'ated to Chemosh by Mesha, king of Moab.) If the veil of the Olympian and~that of the Jewish Temple are identical instead of being similar, the argument which I thought to draw from an analogy to establish an affinity must be set aside. On the other hand, we obtain a result important in quite another way. There are not two objects to be compared, but two deities placed side by side. I think the foregoing reflections are of a kind to draw special atten- tion to the excavations now being conducted at Olympia. Should, for instance, any discovery be made bearing upon Syrian rites, religions. and antiquities, I for one should not be surprised. - Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 23:21 06 May 2016 C. CLERMONT GANNEAU. THE IDENTIFIOATION OF SUaOOTH AND PENUEL. (Reprinted from the "AthencewJl, " by permission of the PIJ'oprietors.) ANDOVER, MAss., U.S. THESE places are mentioned in the Bible in connection with such men and events as to make their identification· a matter of peculiar interest and importance. But before I give the facts which my recent researches have brought to light, it will be necessary to correct an error into which two Biblical scholars no .less eminent than Mr. Grove in 82 SUCCOTH AND PENUEL. England and, Dr. Robinson in Apierica haye fallen. .Burckhardt, i~ a passage'which refers to the west bank of the Jordan, makes the. state~ Inent~-",Near where we crossed, to the south, are therulls bf Sukkot." This has been mIsunderstood as referring to some ruin on the east of the river.. But it will be noticed that after Burckhardt had crossed the river, he gives the nameS of ali wadies, rmlls, or tCHnb.sbetween·the ' crossing and the Zerka or Jabbok, and among theril Sukkot is not mentioned. Burckhardt did not hImself Visit SiIkkot. In the Leis't£re Hour for 1874, p. 599, Rev.W. Wright, forme~ly of Damascus, appears to take It for granted that Burckhiudt's Sukkot was on. the east of the river.. He says,-:-" Jerome places Succoth east o£the Jordail,opposite Scythopoiis; at:the place .where BUrckhardt fotilid iis tiJ.ins."Dr. Robinson aild :Mr.Van de'Velde viEd.teda place on the west of the river, abou.tten miles south of Beisan, which they call" Sakut." Tills Dr. Robinson labours to identify with the Sticcoth of the Bible. :Mr.Grove thinks this piace is "entirely distinct both. ill .name arid position froin that of Bu.tckbardi,'; while in my Judgment they are identical. But ind.ependentlyof these ,vriters I can testify that in the portion of the v~lley opposite Beisanthete. are no ruiiis, nor, further, ate there anywhere on the eastern side of the river any rums bearing the :hallieof Buccothorany.name ihat might correspond to It.. As to Dr. RobiIlson's view; that· the Biblical Succoth ,vas on the west of the rIver, all theia~ts seelIl:to .prove the opposite. In the divIsion of the cotiIitry under Joshua, Succoth was dilotted to the tnbe of Gad, and hence must certainly have been on the east of the rivet. Jeroirie seems to kllow bf a iowri nfifuedSuccotl1which was "beyond the Jordap..;' The TitIlniitl iii itEJphysidai divisionsof Perea adopts those of the Bible, namely, . "Beth natam, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, alid Zaphom,'; which makes Succdth a di$t1ibt as well a,s a town, tLildfixes it on tlie east. of the river. Agahi; in Gideorl's ptlt'suH of Zebah and- Zalmuriila, it· ~as after ,hehad crossed the jordan, gomg south and east, that :h~ dameto Succoth. Mr. Grove is right in sayiiIg that the "Sakut'; 6f Rbbillson is tob far .Ii~tt~, nild efit1t~lyortt..of the way of any rout~ leading from the Jabbok to Shechefii.. This w:dter's oonclusiollj derived Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 23:21 06 May 2016 from Genesi~xxxii. 30 and xxxiii. 18, that Succoth lay between Penuel (on the Jabbok) and 8hechem, is correct and important, and must be borne in mind in discussing this question. It is necessary also to remember the physical divisions which the' Bible makes of the .v~lleyeast of the riverj and whichar~ repeated, as I have said, in t'Pe Talmud; namely; "Beth Haram, .Beth Nimrah, and SuccC)th." ;Beth lIaralD. is the vast oasis of the Shittim plain at the no~~~e~d.,of ,~h~,peadS~~. B.eth,Nimrah is the vast oa~isimmediately n9rtll ?f,t~e,S~tt.i~ pla~, an~ w~ich appef;tr:sto be re'ally a part of it wll~~ loo~e~".a~fro.~. ,the ..ne~ghbouring .hiUsl. Froin .Wady. Nimrm Iiorth~a~d. to the .Jabbok.there are no io~tains or streams, and that p;b:r.H~n,of ~he v~~.t.~Y.i~.eritirelr.d~sotateai;i~ba~ten, ~xcept during the ramy season. About the mouth of the Jabbok there is a plain of great SUCCOTH: AND PENUEL. 83 exten~ and iertillty, and this is the Succoth region of the Talmud, and here, if anywhere, we are to seek for the Succoth of Jacob, and Gideon, and Jerome. But have we any clue as to the precise locality ,vhich bore the nalne of Succoth: I think we have, and, further, I think that this interesting Biblical site can be identified beyond any reasonable dispute. The Talmud states definitely thatin its time Succoth was called "Ter'alah," and in the great plain north of the J abbok, about one mile from the stream, and about three. miles from. ,,,here the river leaves the hi~ls, there is a large mound or tell, ,vhich bears the name of Der'ala. The let~ers correspond to those. of the Hebre,v word, except that t. in Hebrew becomes cl in Arabic, a change of very. frequent occurrence. 'rhere are places in other sections of the country bearing the na:rn.eof Der'ala, but in this case the fact of its being found in this particular locality, considered in connectibiI with the testImony of the Talmud; is more. than a coincidence. Adjoining this tell is a smaller one, a kind of shoulder, on which there are at present some ruins., with a few coi~m~s. The principal mound is so thlckly covered ,Vith broken pottery that it could be raked into heapsi I pi~ked up as I passed over the tell as many as twenty specimens o~ different kiIids and' qualities of pottery ~ On one side of the tell some animal had burrowed, ,vhich enabled. me to' exaInine the soil for at least four feet below the surface, and I·was si1r- prised to fihd that the broken pottery extended, all through it. , :t wa,s ' anxious to niake so~e cuttings into the Inound, but had neither time nor means to ,do so., The :Beaa,~ill living in that region have a tr~ditldn that a city existed upon that mound in ancient times. This'I mention inctdeht~lly, attaching to it no special weight. Among the facts brought ioii~htin this regiondliHilg my researches is that of a' ford or cross- ihg of the J"abbok, some ,distance to the east of Tet Del"ala'" but beforE; the hi11s are reached, Which bears the name of'" Mashra'.a Calutan,;' i.e., Canaan's Crossing.' Ca:tlaan may here be a man's name, or the name bf the eotlhtry, and the words may mean ic the crossing which leads to 9ari;aaIi." But either way this' discovery is very interesting and important, ,because; as I shall soon show, the course' or Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 23:21 06 May 2016 the J abbok IS the only feasible toute by which the caravans of commerce iuC1 the swarms bf :M:ldiaiiHesfroin the east and south coriid' reach' the couiltry of the Hebtevvs ont~e ,w.est.of the Jord~l.

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