The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-21 00:00:00

THE MOABITE STONE.

Mr. Grove has forwarded to the Pail Maq Gazette a nar-
rative of the discovery of the remarkable Moabite relic
Which has recently lien brought to light. The account
is written by Dr. Klein, a Prussian clergyman. who has
been for many years in the service of the Church Mis-
sionary Society at Jerusalem. This gentlemansays : "It
was on the 19th of August, 1868, that in the course of a
journey I undertook to Jebl Ajloon and the Belka I ar-
rived at Diaan (ancient Dibon), about one hour to the
north of the Wadi Mojeb (Anion). For the sake of my
friend and protector Zattam, the son of the famous Fendi-
l-Faiz,*Scheich of the Beni Sachr, who accompanied me, I
• was received in amost friendly way by a tribe of the Beni
Hamide, encamped near Diban. Carpets and cushions
were spread in the tent of the Scheich, and coffee pre-
pared with all the ceremonial of Bedouin etiquette.
before- the operation of preparing and drinking coffee had
been terminated, my friend Zattam, who was always
most anxious to make my tour as pleasant and in-
teresting as possible, had informed me that there was
among the ruins of Dibi.n, scarcely ten minutes from
our encampment, a most interesting stone with an
ancient inscription on it which no one had ever
been able to decipher, which he would take me
to see. As sunset was drawing near I was anxious to
be off at once, but Zattam was not to be pursuaded to get
up from his soft couch and leave off smoking his nar ghilee.
while I was burning with a desire to see the inscription,
which the Scheich of the Beni-Hamide also described to
me as one of the wonders of this region, which no Frank
had yet seen, and which he now had offered to chew me as
a mark of honour to his friend Za` tam and to me who was
travelling under his protection. I, of course, took this for
what it was in general meant to be —a Bedouin compli-
ment calculated to bring out a nice bakshish. Still I
afterwards ascertained that his assertion as to no European
having before me seen the stone wes perfectly true ; none
of the distinguished travellers in those parts had ever seen
or heard of it, or they would not have shunned trouble and
expense to secure this treasure. lam sorry to find I was
also the last European who had the privilege of seeing this
monument of Hebrew antiquity in its perfect state of pre-
servation ; and it is for tins reason I think the few obser-
vations I am able to offer on the subject may be wel-
come to those who take an interest in this important
discovery.. When I came to the spot where this
precious relic of antiquity was lying on the ground I
was delighted at the sight, and at the same time greatly
vexed I did not come earlier, in order to have an oppors
tunity of copying atleast a good part of the inscription,
which I might then under the protection of Zattam
have done ' without the least niolestation. I how-
ever, had time enough to examine the stone and its
inscription at leisure, and to copy a few words from seve-
ral lines at random, chiefly with a view, on my return to
Jerusalem, to as certain the language of the inscription,
and prevail on some friends of science to obtain either a
cbfnplete copy-of the inscription, or better, the monument
itself. The stone was lying among the ruins of lliban
perfectly free and exposed to view, the inscription upper-
most. 'I got four men to turn it round (it was a
basaltic stone, exceedingly heavy) in order to
ascertain whether there was no inscription on
the other side, and found that it was perfectly
smooth and • without any inscription or other marks.
What time was left me before sunset I now employee in
examinins, measuring, and making a correct sketch of the
stone, besides endeavouring to collect a perfect alphabet
from the inscription. According to my correct measure-
ment on the spot, the stone had-1 metre 13 centimetres
in height, 1 in• Are 70 centimetres in breadth, and 1 metre
35 centimkres in thickness, and, according to my calcu-
lation, had thirty-four lines ; for the two or three
upper lines were very much obliterated. The stone
itself was in a most perfect state of preservation, not
one single piece being broken off, and it was only from
great age and exposure to the rain and sun that certain"
parts, especially the upper and loWer lines, had somewhat
suffered. On my return to Jerusalem I shewed my
sketch and parts of the inscription to Dr. Petermann, of
Berlin, who I knew took great interest in archaeological
researches, and he was delighted at the information, and
immediately took the necessary steps to acquire the
Moabite monument for the Berlin Museum. A young
clever Arab at Salt was entrusted with the business of
transacting the matter with the Bedouins at Diban, but
the difficulties he met and the aaeediness of the Arabs
put an insuperable obstacle in his way. The services of
another native were subsequently engaged, but also with-
out, success. The matter, being thus necessarily entrusted
to the hands of natives, of course then ceased to
be a secret, a other parties also heard of it and exerted
themselves will. laudable zeal and energy to obtain, if not
the stone itself, at least a copy of it; and one cannot too
highly praise the zeal, energy, and tact of M. Ganneau
and Captain Warren, who have, through their exertions,
preserved to the learned world parts at least of this most
valuable monument of Hebrew antiquity, and who, I sin-
cerely trust, will ultimately succeed in obtaining and
deciphering the whole inscription. Scheich Zattam has
since informed me that he had in his possession a small
idol made of brass with similar characters upon it, which
I have, however lately been informed was sent to
Nablous, and sold there. Whether this is true or not I
know-not. But most assuredly a scientific expedition to
Moab is a great desideratum, and could not but greatly
enrich our knowledge of Hebrew archaeology."

PARLIAMENTARY INCIDENTS.—The opening•of the
Parliamentary campaign at Melbourne, according to the
latest accounts, seems to have been marked by one or two
unusually, interesting incidents. On the first day the
House met, Mr. G. P. Smith, the Attorney-General of
the last M'Culloch Administration, took offence at a
remark by Dr. Macartney (of South Gipps Land), to
the effect that there. would some day be a settlement of
accounts between them, and replied that he was
reedy to kick the hon. member when he pleased.
Upon. this he was threatene i by the. Chief Secretary
with a vote of censure, and accordingly withdrew the
offensive expression. Nevertheless, meeting Dr. Macartney
that same evening in. one of the lobbies of the louse, he
struck that gentleman a blow; but upon the matter being
brought before the House and strong measures being
hinted at unless an humble apology was offered, Mr:
Smith humbly apologised, and the offence was overlooked.
To add to the troubles of the House, on the very same
evening of the apology, Mr.' Frazer, of Creswick, a mem
ber of the Opposition, came into the Chamber in "a dis-
graceful condition,"—indeed, from the account given in the
Argun, it is to be feared that the hon. member was in an
advanced state of intoxication, for it is statet,that
he " almost immediately commenced interrupting
the proceeding and insulting; member after member in a
manner which, indulged in in almost any other place.
would have earned for him a well-deserved and severe
peisonal chastisement, or would have led to his being con-
signed to the care of a constable." This line of conduct
not unnaturally led to-expostulations from the Speaker,
and entreatic from his friends that he would ba quiet or
leave the Chamber. Mr. Frazer at first seems to have
declined to follow either of the two courses -suggested ;
and it was' not until he- had been "named"' by the
Speaker and threatened by the Chief Secretary that he
would be given into the custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms
that after another disorderly scene be allowed one of his
4lowls to load Ill= ftaa 211,;q qxvoltri