The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-04 00:00:00

A SUPPLEMENT TO THE BIBLE.

The Journal Officiel contains an account, several
columns long, of the discovery and character of the in-
scribed Moabitish monolith, recently discovered in the
ancient territory of Moab, near the Dead Sea. The
writer of the article is the French gentleman who dis-
covered the stone,
and made some attempts to get a com-
plete copy of the inscription before it was broken by the
jealous and superstitious Arabs. The language of
the inscription is almost pure Hebrew, and the arrange-
ments of the words into verse, &c., suggests the
exact counterpart of an inedited chapter of the Biblical
Book of Kings. This is not to be wondered at when
it is remembered that the Moabites, as indicated by the
Book of Genesis and in other places, were near akin to
the Hebrews, and in constant iNtercourse with them,
friendly or hostile from the first appearance of the People
on the borders of the Promised Land. The Scriptures,
in fact, contain numerous traces of a near con-
nection between the Moabites and the Israelites. Ruth,
for instance, was a Moabitish woman. The author of this
inscription was a Moabitish Mesa, who, after the revolt
of the ten tribes shook off the yoke of Israel, and though
Joram, King of Israel, and Josaphat, King of Judea,
waited to subdue him, they were not successful. The .
inscription on the monolith is nothing else but a veritable
proclamation of Mesa glorifying his deeds, and praising
the supremacy of Chamos, the Jehovah of the Moabites.
It commences :—" I am Mesa, King of Moab ; my
father reigned thirty years, and I reigned after my father.,'
It then goes on to thank the Lord for the protection
which he unceasingly accorded to His servant, " whom
he sheltered from all attacks, and to whom he gave
repose." Mesa proceeds to recite the oppressions which
Moab had endured from Israel,alludes to the great revolu-
tion which led to the revolt of the ten tribes, recalls the
usurpation of Omri the father of Achab, and incidentally
refers to the construction (probably reconstruction) of the
Moabite cities of Beth Baal; Meon, and Kiriathaim,
re-conquered from the territory seized by the tribe of
Reuben. Then follows an account of the fight at
Kir and the capture of great spoils, including an object
not specified, which he consecrated at Keroth " before the
face of Chamos." This battle probably took place in the
campaign of the combined expedition of Joram andJ osaphet.
Messa next mentions some of the incidents of a campaign
against the King of Israel. Ili this passage, as in the
others, the phraseology is strikingly biblical. " And
Chamos said, Go take dominion over Israel. . . went
in at night, and fourght with him from the rising of the
sun to mid-day." He slew 7,000 men in his battle, and
made sacrifices to Astar-Chamos, the feminine emanation
of Chamos. He adds, that after he carried off the sacred
vessels of Jehovah, he consecrated them " before the face
of Chamos." This passage probably relates to
the incursion of the combined Moabites and Ammo-
nites against Josaphat, mentioned in Chronicles 2,
chapter xx., although the Hebrew account speaks
of the total defeat of the invaders. " The
King of Israel," continues Mesa, " built the city of
Yahas (a Rubenite town) and dwelt there when I made
war against him, And he fled before Chamos. . . ."
Those words relate to the invasion of the ancient terri-
tory of Moab, in which the tribe of Ruben had estab-
lished itself, and the expulsion therefrom of the Israelites.
Next comes a long and pompous description of the cities
built by Mesa in the newly-annexed territory, and the
establishment of garrisons therein ; as well as of the
cities of Yahas, Beth Molech, Arser, Beth Bamoth, Beser,
Beth Diblathaim, Heronaim, Dibon, &c, which he "levelled
to the ground." The inscription ends with an account of
a battle at Horonaim, under the order of Chamos, and
by the mention of a year which is apparently that of the
erection of the monolith. That year must be some few
years later than 897 8.C., for the latter is the date of
the death of Achab and the revolt of Mesa. The in-
scription will be 27 centuries old, and is thus one of the
oldest as well as one of the most interesting known to
antiquarians.

TICE MILITA UV SYSTEM IN BAVA ItlA.—The dis-
cussion of the Government bill for an extraordinary mili-
tary credit has been concluded in the Bavarian Chambers,
the proposals of the committee being adopted almost
unanimously. The War Minister made a speech oppos-
ing the reduction of -the time of active service. " The
Bavarian army," he said, " should be of a strength equi-
valent to that of the other German armies. A change of
system, while the reforms have hardly begun to bear
fruit, would be the disorganisation of the army. Bavaria
cannot get the start in the introduction of the militia
system."

Vine Deal boatmen are remanded, charged with
hiving boarded a Dutch pilot cutter in the Down, and
th19312t6111,