, 1876-08-13
6ODOM AND GOMORRAH.

I HOA AMI ~OH1O1klLAH.
! THE "TEL" SYSTEM IN PALESTINE.
Inc London dnaenRnm OF late date contains a
long and interesting article from the pen OF
seiah Merrill, descriptive OF his explorations in
Palestine. A part Of it is as follows:
| have feeling that what call the tel svsteu of
nc Jordan Valley has never been dwelt upon OF
developed y it deserves to be. In the Tigris and
Euphratss Valleys, city, in the Assyrian and
built In the Old Testament eties IN are "s,en ss;
eral times mentioned az stumbling upon monpds. or
@ @1els, especially In connection with tie lowlanas
The Canaanites lay along the Jordsn VALLEY
tNumb., xiii, 29). but it is not to be supposed
thst they built their habtatlons the fiat land in
the world to suppose that they would occupy fho
tss os mounds, and II these did not already exist
th; tnat they wond construct them before building
Of tels is about Lake Aulcn, or Merom, rune Of
which are artificial since the supporting walls com
poxSa o. gaeat powders a'd in regular tiers
succoth region Il understand that there was both
~ toTn ,na and district sailed sueeoth) Just north
there Is Tel el HANNA, which has ruins unon it.
At the mouth Of Wady Rajib, about ono hour
Whc aad hn5 bsa nSEh ss Of the }a6ok i Tel
mouth q Wady Zerka, IN the great plain Of the
Jordan Valley, which at this point is very wide, is
Iei Dee ALA. On which arc ruins, with some re-
mains OF columns. Five or six miles northwest of
this is Tel e Mzar, and one hour northwest Of this
again ia Tel e. sadiyeh. the latter remarkable
covered with
qualities that they could easy be raked into heaps
BESIDES these there are Others and among them
low the succoth plain. south OF where the Jabbok
enters the Jordan, and In the plain Of the lower
Ghor II could cut into two or three of these
fcls cond prove or dltproye certain thing which
although very plausible only matters OF the
ory. But cannot describe these mounds infinitely,
teresting group which on the great Shittim pnin.
At the northeast corner Of the Dead Sen. Here are
five tells, all Ut which hare ruins upon them SUM
portancc. Tel Ni1nral IL the most northern. and
o ha1 been en-, de1t,sd "a S;e th T., Beth Ninrah Five
my observations only corroborate the sug-
sestionss Of others, that this h identical with
the Beth Aram OF Joshua, Kill, 81. stnl further
where there are ruins There are sufficient reasons
for identifying this with the Eeth Jeshi1noth OF
-that is, between it and the Joedaa-ttere are no |
mounds or ruins OF any kind. The Israelitc. in |
their last @ @sncamRment lay along from Beth Jcshi
Fran, this latter place, sometimes called Shittim,
md in Josephus time Abila, the spies went forth
}e5eho Eric This place as north Of Beth Aram
reasons, which cannot mention here in detail.
should locate Abel shittim at Tel Kefrein. This
used by the modern Arabs. This name is ..Tellcs
Shasab," II: e., the Tel OF Drinking, or the place
where good water is abundant. The Hebrew word
implies ample supply Of water East Of lei
ke1ren and TIL CT Rama are two other important
teis. e. namely, Tel q Hammsm, where there are
on the first syllable, ek), where are some Of the
oldest ruins that Il have yet seen in the country.
count either OF ts meaning or origin, except they
say that both the and the place are very old
lhe word , has, in faet, no meaning in Arabic,
'risin and Specification appears to be the He
'rew word ''katan., which means ''little, . or
the little one. This signidcatlon is appropriate
inonn that the Phrnicians had cities bearing the
lame katanu or katane The situation OF this tel !
noticeable from the fact of its being in the plain
Ike ittc ety to sy1 wheh s Il Lot oii ed
tx was in tie plain, aud doomed to destruction
rith the rest but was spared because Lot who had
ot time to flee to the mountain, wished to make it
troyed were at the north end Of the Dead Sea- this
'cl El;tanu would be exactly in the direction TINT
.ot would take if his intention was to hasten to the
hills for safety, and the distance also
with the time allowed the fugitive, |
amely, from dawn to sunrise. The fatal objec-
e city, is that they several times too far from
he scene Of the disaster, whether the cities are
eced ut the south or at the north end Of the Dead
wish 1t understood that do not propose to con .
royert the theory OF 3ny with regard to this
cxel question, bnt simply to state as briefly as :
areful observations upon the ground during the :
lonths OF March and April, 1s7G. It is nowhere t
ated in the Bible that these cities submerged
nd their sites are not to be looked for at the bot.
,m OF the Dead Sea. Again, it la established | (
eyond dispute that the surface Of the Dead Sea | +
az never les than it is at present During past
resent limits Consequently the theory That the | I
,allow water south Of the peninsula, Or FL Lisan,
t the southern end Of the sea there is great y
1T marsh, and only narrow belt OF fertile land
stseen it and the mountains. Besides, at that c
i'd there no tells on which cities could have n
zen built, and only very insignificant ruins !,
i've sites only are requred and at the north end !, !,
the sen there is vast fertile plain, with four ~
lins, and one place besides has no marked tel, v
1t where thsIe are ruins, l. NIL; &; suwemeh
ates that the sites Of these cities were destroyed
decd, one of the doomed Cities which was close r.
the others. was saved. 1t s reasonable to sup e,
'se that these sites were afterward built upon, d
st in the case Of burned city in modern . .
te. provided it is AT eligible one. In the tmc Of n
oscs and Joshua, which was five centuries nearly ! y
ter the time oi Lot, We find cities. upon this fe
ain whose sitcs % we are able to identity beyond Il
cupied from the remotest tines At the period 81
st referred TO- the nost southern Of these cities
ion, to- which the present Arabic name,
Suweimeh, i. e.,. dry land, desolatc place, cor
a. xsS ns y the e he
" fat from being appropriate; hence would Of
ggcst that they may have retained during thirty hf
forty centuries the impression produced upon ~
: national mind by the great catastrophe. But
ercvcr S0dom and Gomorrah are 1na1y sc
lated. five sites must be provided for. o. o.
IT OF which shall represent the four III
les that we're destroyed, and one which
lst be in the same plain with the rest, and very =.
ar them, and also nearer the mountain than the ot
,ers, to represent the little city" to which Lot L.
l for temporary refuge, The fact that one Ile Ri
~ word has been substituted for another, iden- -.
al with it in meaning, j. e., Kuran for Zoar ye
sht not to be urged as an objection to Identifying
Ektanu with the site Of The - little city, Pro-
led all the other circumstances OF the point II
it as the proper one. II this Tel il taken to
IT. it will make inteiligibIe what is sad Of Lot -
en- he stood with Abraham on hill near Bethel D.
looked down the Jordan Valley toward the | an
I'D Sea tGen. xiii. 10y. As this verse il rem | m
ed in our English bible. the meaning is not | T :
y clear; but it will become SO if one will read a.
the middle portion OF the verse as II parenthc- | s.
as follows: ''And Lot lifted up his eyes and
,cd all the pfain Of the Jordan {that it was we'll of
tered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed M
lom and Gomorrah even the Garden OF the nF
3D. like tho land Of Egypt until thou comest to *
ar." The last clause qualities the first, Lot ~ ~
all the plain OF the Jordan far as Zoar, or ~
Ill you come to Zoar. Zoar the limit OF the az
" in that direction, and lnrs: be the north tic
OF Ike Dcad Sea; for N, hn.nan vision unless IL