The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-06-16
"rhe M0Hfpite RtOne.'


Capt. Renczynski has written an inter-
estihg book on ''Fhe last of the Anakim in
the Land OF Moab," in which he gives
some particulars as to his studies of the i'll
scrlptlon on the famous Moabitc stone. In
August, 1868, the Rev. F. Klein, of the
Church Missionary society, while in the
Land Of Moab, near Dibon, was informed
by an Arab that near by there was black
3asalt stone inscribed with ancient charac-
tcrs. Upon going to the locality indicated
he found lying among the ruins a stone
about three feet ten inches high, two feet
broad and Id inches thick, rounded ut top
and bottom, and containing thirty-four
lines OF inscription running across the stone
\lein at this time did not appreciate
Hrtancc Of tho discovery, and he
>,cd few words from the stone.
Ii vcr, took measures to secure the
stone Ior the Berlin museum, but made
little progress with his negotiations. A
few weeks aftcrward Capt. Warren, the
agent of the Palestine Exploration fund,
was informed OF the existence OF the stone,
but he took no action in the matter, know
ing that the Irussian consul was cndcavor-
ing TO secure it. In the beginning of the
following year Capt. Warren was astonlshcd
to learn, as was also nj. Clcrmont Ganneau,
OF the French consulate at Jerusalem, that
no copy or "squcZe' of the inscription had
been taken. Towards the close of the year
1907 the latter not only sent men TO obtain
squeZcs, who quarrelcd IN the presence of
the Arabs, but offered 1916 for the stone,
whereas t8O had already been promised
by the Prussian government, and accepted
by those who claimed the ownership of the
stone. at this stage the government of
Nablus demanded the prize for itself,
and the hloabites, exasperat ed at his raDa.
city, sooner than give it up put fire
under it and threw cold water on it., and
so broke 1t, and then distributed the bits
among the different families, to be placed
i'll the granarics and act as blessings upon
the corn; for they said that without the
stone blight would fall upon their crops."
After immense trouble nj. Clcrmont-G Gan
neau recovered some twenty of these frag-
mcnts, containg 6l3 letters, while several
small pieces were acquired by the Palestine
exploration fund. These fragments. when
united, were found to contain G69 words.
out Of total Of |, 100 which the complete
stone must have contained. The greater
part of the missing letters were recovered
from the squcZCs taken before the stone
was broken by the ruthless Moabites, $50
that only thlrty-flvc words, fifteen hals-
words and eighteen lcttcrs-less than one
seventh of the whole-rcman to be sup
piled from conjecture" With reference TO
the characters engraved on the stone, the
general opinion is that they are Ph9pican,
also called Samaritan, such as were used
by the Jews before the captivity. DIR.
Gidsburg, who has executed a translation
of the Inscriptions says that these charac.
ters were common B. c. 700 to all the
races of western Asia, and were used IN
Nineveh, Phmnicla, Jerusalem, Samaria,
Moab, Cilicia and Cyprus. With reference
to the inscription on the stone itself, it may
be stated that it records some remarkable
events in the reign of Mesha, King of Moab,
who is mentioned in the second book of
Kings Gil., 4. 81, and who had rebclled
against Israel after the death of Ahab. The
first part OF the inscription larrates the cir
which led to the stone being
erected, while the second part relates to
the public works undertaken by Mcsha
after he had overcome his Jewish foes. and
the third part celebrates his victory over
the Edomitcs. The rendering of Capt.
Rcnczynski represents the result of "ninc
years toll and labor"