Palestine Exploration Quarterly ISSN: 0031-0328 (Print) 1743-1301 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ypeq20 Notes on Bible Geography Colonel C. R. Conder To cite this article: Colonel C. R. Conder (1905) Notes on Bible Geography, Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 37:1, 69-74, DOI: 10.1179/peq.1905.37.1.69 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/peq.1905.37.1.69 Published online: 20 Nov 2013. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 6 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: 23 April 2016, At: 02:46 ,NOTES' ON BIBLE GEOGRAPHY. 69 found in" the Wady el-I{elt, possibly ancient Cherith, "where also Elijah (the forerunner of John) livi3d for a time. Even when Jesus ,vas led by the Spirit into thfJ wilderness, tradition locates it in the same region. Ho,v long John stayed here ,ve do not know, but it may have been sever~l years. The reason that he left this place, it can only be suggested, ,vas either that the brook pecame dry, or that the rulers in Jerusalem, ,vhom he had. pronounced to be a ~'generation of vipers," 'vere about to take measures to stop his preaching. He went then to the other side of the Jordan, which was not under the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin, but under King Herod Archelaus, who "liked him and heard hinl gladly" (Mark vi, 20). At Bethabara (John i, 28), or at the ford of the Jordan, very marty people passed there, so he could.proclaim his message to many .. 8. Resurne and conclusion. Fronl the above paragraphs it will, I think, be clear that neither Jerusalenl, nor Bethlehem, nor Hebron can be the city of Judah in w'hich John the Baptist was born; moreover it cannot be Juttah, since neither its name nor its history lend any support. On the other hand; in 'Ain Karim we have the support of the name, the tradition, the history, and the locality, viz., in the mountain or hill country. Hence in these circumstances there can belittle question that the required site can only be 'Ain I{arim. NOTES ON BIBLE GEOGRAPHY. By Colonel C. R. CONDER,R.E., D.C.L., LL.D. (Continued from "Quevderly Statement," 1904, p. 388.) Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 02:46 23 April 2016 II.-ZARETAN. THIS site, which seems to have given great difficulty to the later Hebrews and to the Greek translators, is important in connection ,vith the question of the stoppage of the Jordan on the occasion of the first entry of the Hebrews, under Joshua, into Western Palestine. It "is generally allo,ve~ that the passage must have occurred on the line between Shittim (Gh&J'es Seisaban), and Gilgal (Jiljulieh), opposite Jericho, and thus near the present ford called lIfakhai!et Ifajlah, from the town Beth Hoglah (near 'Ain lJajlah), . or otherwise El Mish1"ah (or .El Jlfashr'ah), which appears to mean 70 NOTES ON BIBLE GEOGHAPHY. "the watering place." But as to the point of obstruction of the river itself, it is described as ~/'very far off, by Adam the city that is beside Zaretan," and Adam is generally placed at Ed DaJnieh, about 20 miles further up the river, nleasuring from the for(1. This, as has been before noticed in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, was also the place ,vherean actual obstruction of the river is stated by an Arab 1vriter to have occurred in the thirteenth century A.D. Zaretan, therefore, is to be sought in this vicinity. '\lhether the city Adaln was the same as Admah (Gen. xiv, 2) may be doubtful, but, both were in the Oiccar or Jordan Valley.! The name Zaretan does not occur in the Vatican 1\1S.of the Septuagint, where, h01vever, the reading is very evidently corrupt and impossible. Zartanah (1 Kings iv, 12) seenlS to be the same place as Zaretan (LXX reads ~€(Tae(tv), and is noticed in connection with one of Solomon's provinces, roughly coinciding with the tribal lot of Issachar. Baana ruled in "Taanach and n1egiddo; and all Beth Shean, what is near Zartanah, below Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abel ~Ieholah ('Ain IJelweh), as far as the ford of Jokneam" (Tell .{[eimun)-the latter being at the foot of Carmel. Again, ,ve find Zarthan (1 Kings vii, 46) noticed in connection with the "clay ground (LXX, 7TaX€l 7~S' ry~S') between Succoth and Zai'than"; or, as we nlight read, "the fat soil of the red land," or even" the fat soil of Adamah." The site of Succoth i~ usually placed at Tell Denll(t (following the Talmudic identification), east of Jordan, and just north of the Jabbok River, and therefore not far fronl Ed Dftrnieh. This again places Zarthan just where Zaretan is to be sought. The LXX reads ~€tP(t in this passage. 1 The cities of the plain (Ciccar) are usually sought near the Dead Sea. It Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 02:46 23 April 2016 is, however, remarkable that near the Damieh we find several names suggesting a connection, such as Talat 'Am'l'ak, "Ascent· of Gomorrah," south of ~urn ~urtubeh; TVddy Saddek (answering radically to the Yalleyof Siddim); and Wdd.lj el-lfumr, "the valley of bitumen" (if. "slime pits," Gen. xiv, 10). Moreover, we have an ancient Salem in the hills immediately to the west, and Salem seems to have been near Sodom (Gen. xiv; 17, 18, 21). The only objection to putting the cities of the plain so far north seems to be found in Gen. xix, 28, as .A.braham "looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah" from Hebron. The great battle (Gen. xiv, 10) might have occurred near Admah, ~s the kings "went out" (8), but Sodom itself should lie somewhat further south, and near Jordan, on account of distance from Zoar (Tell Shagh~tr) (see Gen. xix, 15-23). It shou.ld be noticed in this connection that the sun must be high before it lights the Jordan Yalley and Zoar. NOTES ON BIBLE GEOGRAPHY. 71 In the corresponding passage in Chronicles (2 Chron. iv, 17) the casting of the Temple vessels is said in like manner to have occurred in the CiCCCtf or Jordan Valley, in the clay lands (or fat lands of Adamah), between Succoth and Zeredathah (LXX Yap1JOaBll); so that either we have a copyist's error for Zarthan (which name is ,,;the better established, as occurring in three passages), or the dath -of'the later Hebre,v stands for danath, and Zardanah for Zartanah. In the first place ,ve nlust distinguish this site from two others, ,vith which it has sonletimes, been confused. One of theIn is - Zereda, the honle of Jeroboanl, ,vhich ,vas in ~lount Ephrailll (1 I{ings xi, 26). It seems likely'to have heen the present $u.nlah, south-west of Gophnah. The Septuagint (Vatican text) gives '2:,aptplt, not only in this passage but also in the additional passage, after verse 24, which is not found in the Hebrew. If Sarira were the true reading ,ve nlight think of the ruin of /jJarrra, just east of Shiloh, as being in I\Iount Ephraim; but this can hardly be the proper position for Zaretan. The village of $m'nt, west of Shechenl, is not in the lot of Ephrainl, and appears inadnlissible for either of the ancient sites. The second site to be distinguishe~ is Zererath (Judges vii,- 22), w-here we read of the flight of the ~1idianites do,vn the valley of Jezreel, "as far as Betl1-shittah (Shattah), towards Zererath, as far as the lip (or terrace) of Abel J\leholah." This place is therefore too far north} as AbellYleholah appears to have been at 'Ain lfehveh. The name Zererath appears to mean" pebbles" or "loose stones" (Arabic $(tTCt-r). Close to 'A in Ifelweh is the ford called esh-Sherc~r (" the rapids ~"), and though it is not very likely that the Hebre,v letter Tsacle ,vould be replaced by the Arabic Shin, yet it is not inlpossible that Zererath and Sherar may be connected, since the Jordan near here is full of stones at the rapids. Abel I\Ieholah is noticed yet again as the Downloaded by [Universite Laval] at 02:46 23 April 2016 home of Elisha (1 I{ings xix, 16) who, on his journeys to Carmel, used thus naturally to pass Shunem (1 I{ings iv; 8), near which ,vas his house at Ophel (" the to,ver," 1 I{ings v, 24), probably the present'Afuleh. To return to Zaretan: the -nanle, it may he noted, does not appear to be translate able in Hebre,v, and this may be the reason ,vhy it seems to have puzzled scribes and translators. ',The Assyrian language may perhaps throw light on the word (l.n.,~), and so help~ the identificatioIl. In Assyrian taT/in has the meaning of "great" or " strong," being directly borrowed from the- Akkadian t(tn, or clan, 72 NOTES ON BIBLE GEOGRAPHY. "rhich has that meaning, and which compares "Tith the Turkish root ton, meaning "thick." This ,vord occurs even in the Bible, Tartan (2 I(ing xviii, 17; Isaiah xx, 1) being the Assyrian tar-tanu, derived from the Akkadian tar-dan, or "great chief," and being, as is well known, a military title. If "lyesupposed, therefore, the first element (,~) to come fronl the root .,~~ (as in the case of the ,yord "~'.