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196 is made at each end, and such stones are called (Hejjar l'takhem), the stones of the boundary. To remove such stones while the crop is still growing or uncut is regarded as a great sin; as the one who does so robs his neighbour, not of part of the land, but of part of his crop.

Every village employs two public servants, (1) an Imam, called Khateeb, preacher (from ), whose duties are to lead the prayers, to perform the marriage ceremony, to bury the dead, and also to keep the public accounts of the village, such as the taxes, and all Government dues, the repairs of the mosque and the madafêh, guest chamber or the room or building reserved for guests.

(2), Natoor, a watchman. His duties are to be always on the look-out to see if any strangers or visitors or Government officials or soldiers are approaching the village, to take charge of their horses and to invite them into the madafêh, and to see that they are provided with food. He must also take care that no cattle of a strange village stray into the lands of the community; and that none but those belonging to the village graze in its waste lands, &c.

These two public servants are not paid wages in money, but they receive a certain number of measures of grain at the end of the harvest.

Each shaddad before housing or removing his grain from the threshing floor has to pay these measures (the quantity is agreed upon at the time of the division of the land) to the Khateeb and to the Natoor.

In addition to this payment, a plot of land is at the time of the division of the land allotted to each of the above and as generally neither of them possesses plough or ox, they either hire someone to plough and sow the land for them, or the faddan of all the village devote a day or part of a day to plough and sow these fields or pieces of land for the Khateeb and the Natoor as a gratuity. The size of each of these plots is sufficient for sowing five or seven sa'â of wheat, about $2 1⁄2$ to 3 bushels.

Such a piece of ploughed land is called, shkara, hired, i.e., ploughed by hire.

Sometimes, too, a villager who is unable to be a regular shaddad is given a plot of land for which he hires a yoke of oxen and labour, and it is called a shkara.

Oxen are the animals mostly used for ploughing. Sometimes an ox and an ass are yoked together, but this is only done when it cannot be avoided, and is regarded as unjust. Horses and mules are also used, seldom on the plains but frequently on the hills.

Camels are often employed for drawing the plough on the plains in the southern part of Palestine, chiefly by the Bedouin.


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Rh I have on several occasions seen a man or a woman attached to a plough pulling side by side with a donkey.

The ameeriyeh arable lands pay two kinds of taxes:—

1., Meeree, a yearly tax payable in money, the same as for mulk, being from 3 to 5 per cent, on the valuation. This tax must be paid whether the lands be cultivated or not.

If cultivated it is collected by the Khateeb and village elders from the shaddadeen in proportion to the number of their fadadeen. If the land is left fallow or uncultivated for one reason or another, then it is collected from all the male inhabitants of the village equally. If part be cultivated and the rest kept fallow, then those who cultivate pay a proportion of the tax, and the rest is collected from all the male inhabitants (including the cultivators) equally.

This money tax is paid directly into the Imperial treasury.

2., A'shar, the tenth or tithe of all the produce.

This tax is farmed out by the Government to the highest bidder, who in addition to the bribes which he must give to the officials in order to secure the purchase, has to pay a much larger sum than the actual value of the tithe or tenth of the produce if honestly collected. The tithe owner,, A'shar, is then expected to proceed to the village so soon as the harvest commences, but no villager is allowed to begin harvesting until the arrival of the A'shar or his representative. The A'shar, however, delays going to the village so long as he possibly can, and he creates all kinds of difficulties in order to force the cultivators to compound with him for a fixed quantity of grain and other produce of the land in lieu of the fair tithe or tenth.

On arriving at a village, which he does with a host of servants, he for the first four or five days does nothing on the plea of fatigue, illness, or other excuse, and the community is obliged to provide him and his servants and horses with food all the time.

He then starts by making a list of all the shaddadeen and the number of the faddan of each one. He then rides round all the fields and professes to be surprised at the amount of the crop, exclaiming—though in reality it may be half the average—"This is the heaviest crop I have ever seen. What a wonderfully plentiful year this is!" when probably it is anything but that.

He then returns to the village and calls all the shaddadeen together, with the Khateeb and the elders at their head. He then takes the list he has made and addresses one of the shaddadeen, "Oh, so and so," naming him, "What a marvellous crop of wheat and barley you have in your mawaress. Wonderful! How bountiful God has been to you. Praise be to Him." The natural reply given by the shaddad thus addressed as well as by all present is, "El Hamdu l'Illah. Thanks be to God." "Well," continues the 'Ashar, "I am glad you all agree with me that this is a plentiful year. Now how much do you think," addressing the

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198 shaddad, "will your entire crop, barley and wheat, &c., amount to in measures (sa̓âs) when threshed," and adds, before the shaddad has time to answer, "I think so many"—naming an amount five or six times as great as it could under even the most favourable circumstance produce.

There is then a general outcry from all the shaddadeen, "Yes it is a blessing however much or little, but it can never make the amount you state."

This farce is gone through several times, and over several days, until either one party or the other is wearied out. The villagers—that is each shaddad—sometimes agree to pay a fixed quantity of grain or other produce in place of the legal tenth. The ’Ashar then departs, but leaves a servant to watch that no grain is removed from the threshing floor after it has been brought there and threshed, until the quantities agreed to be paid by each shaddad have been delivered to him.

Sometimes the villagers hold out and refuse to compound, and the ’Ashar then places several of his servants to watch that all the grain (in the straw as harvested) is brought to the threshing floor. When all the harvesting is done, the straw still unthreshed as brought from the field belonging to each shaddad is put up by him, the shaddad, into what he considers ten equal stacks. The ’Ashar is then asked to choose one stack. This he does, but refuses for some days to have it threshed and winnowed (which the shaddad is bound to do for him) and until this is done the shaddad is not allowed to touch his own stacks.

After a day or two, the ’Ashar goes round to look at all his stacks representing the tithe, and having made the inspection he then calls his men and orders them to prepare their horses and bring him his own to leave the village immediately, "I have been robbed of more than half of each stack belonging to me" (totally untrue, because the stacks given for the tithe have all been removed to another part of the threshing floor at a distance from the stacks belonging to the shaddadeen, and have been closely watched night and day by the servants of the ’Ashar). "I am going to put my case into the hands of the authorities." In the end the villagers each and all agree to pay a certain number of measures of grain, &c., in addition to the division already made, i.e., the stack already set apart for the ’Ashar. When this has been threshed and winnowed and a quantity sufficient for the supplementary amount agreed upon as above has been delivered, camels are provided by the villagers at their own expense to carry the grain of the ’Ashar to the chief town in the district. The ’Ashar then clears out together with his servants, and the shaddadeen proceed with their own work of threshing, &c.

I may add that I can safely say from close observations I have made during nearly ten years' farming in the Sharon plains near Ramleh, that the amount collected by an ’Ashar rarely, if ever, averages under one third of the whole crops, instead of the legal tenth, viz., 33 per cent, instead of 10 per cent.

The very word ’Ashar is an opprobrious term, and an extortionate


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Rh merciless man is generally likened to a 'Ashar, and held up to execration just as were the Publicans of old.

A great many strangers from the hill country go down to the villages on the plains during harvest time; the men to help to reap and the women and children to glean. Gleaning is only allowed in all the fields after the sheaves have been removed.

Sometimes, but only in very special cases, permission is given to glean between or among the sheaves. See Ruth ii, 15, "Let her glean even among the sheaves."

In some villages the custom of leaving at the close of the general harvest a part of the mawaress unreaped is still in vogue. This is called Jaru'âa,, the portion for the widow, the fatherless and the strangers, who are all allowed to gather the standing grain for themselves.

III. , wakuf, or wakf, stopped—dedicated, not transferable, inalienable, or lands devoted towards the maintenance of a mosque or religious institution.

Most of the wakuf lands were ameeriyeh lands the revenues of which were devoted by Sultans or other rulers since the time of the Mohammedan conquest for the maintenance of a particular mosque or makam, such as the mosque of Omar, the tomb of David at Jerusalem, the mosque over the tomb of Abraham at Hebron, &c.

The revenues consist of similar taxes to those on ameeriyeh lands, viz., a money tax and a tithe, and are collected in the same way as above described, but instead of being paid into the Imperial Treasury they are paid into the wakuf treasury which distributes the revenues to the various institutions. The Imperial Government has, however, now taken over the control of the wakuf treasury and looks after the outlays itself.

No ameeriyeh land can be made wakf, but by the will of the Sultan himself. Mulk lands or houses can be so dedicated.

Arable wakuf lands are held by the villagers in exactly the same way as the arable ameeriyeh lands, viz., in musha'â.

an old volume, published in 1736, with no author's name, entitled "A Journey from Aleppo to Damascus." The date of the journey is not given, but the details of the route from place to place seem to be made


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200 out with some care. The author on his way passed "Hamah," or Hamath, and the following is from his description of that place:—

"Before the Door of a Masjed or Mosk, which stands opposite to the Castle, there is erected a very beautiful Marble Pillar, with the Figures of Men, Birds, and other Animals, cut in demi Relievo. There is a very pleasant garden by the River Side belonging to this Mosk, full of Orange Trees. Hamah is governed by a Basha" (p. 31).

The italics and capitals are given as in the original. Short as the description is, it leaves small room to doubt but the "Pillar" had on it a Hittite inscription; and if it should chance that it has not been burned down to make lime, it may still be found by some explorer. Even the mention of it is in itself good evidence, helping to confirm the hopes of those that believe we have only to dig in that quarter and an ample crop of Hittite monuments will be the reward of such operations.

Some time ago I sent the quotation in to Dr. Wright, to see if he had any knowledge of it, or of the "Marble Pillar." He wrote back recommending that the quotation should be given in the Quarterly Statement, and inclosed the following letter to be published along with it:—

"Your find tends to confirm what I am constantly urging, that a rich harvest awaits the explorer in Hittiteland. All the inscriptions that I copied at Hamah were on basalt—"ill-cooked" basalt, as the natives called it. I saw nothing of the kind on any marble. "Figures of men, birds, and other animals, cut in demi Relievo," point unmistakably to a Hittite inscription, though I should have feared that "a very beautiful Marble Pillar" indicated a later origin than the rude inscriptions on porous basalt. . . . . ..

"All the same you have made a real discovery, and some person should re-discover your column. 'A late Hittite inscription, on a beautiful marble column,' might contain a key that would save much violent lock-picking."

marble fragment from Jebail, of which Mr. F. J. Bliss sends a photograph to the April number of the Quarterly Statement, bears a striking likeness to the image of the Ephesian Diana, of which there is an antique statue in the Naples Museum, engraved in Falkener's "Ephesus," Fairbairn's "Bible Dictionary," &c. This image has the form of an Asiatic idol rather than of a Greek statue. It has many beasts (quam Græci vocant. Jerome), to signify the All-Mother, Nature; and below is shaped like a mummy. The bands and panels, the few inches of drapery, and the protruding toes are found in the statue


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Rh just as in the fragment from Jebail. The symbols of lions and oxen are also found on the statue, though not in the same positions as in the fragment.

Is it not likely that the fragment, instead of being a mere pillar or caryatid, is part of a similar statue of the Ephesian Diana?

2em

21st May.

had occasion to remark how much Western Palestine differs from Syria and the country east of Jordan in the matter of rude stone monuments and of ancient pagan bas-reliefs. Little pottery images of Ashtoreth, at Gezer and Lachish, are almost the only Canaanite remains found in the West until Roman times, and the dolmens occur only in Upper Galilee and at Banias. The same is remarkable as to ancient Greek texts. In Bashan we have many dating back to the first century A.D. Those collected during the course of the Survey in the West were few, and appear to be mostly of the Byzantine and mediæval periods. It may be convenient to collect them together.

1–4. At Banias are four well-known texts (Waddington, 1891–1894), that of Agrippa dating from 222 while another (1893) speaks of the Priest of Pan, and the two others (1891–1892) of the son of Lysimachus.

5. At Deir Dughiya, with Maltese crosses, is in honour of John the Baptist, perhaps as late as the twelfth century.

6. At Shakra, with the Jerusalem cross, is by a deacon, in honour of Holy Procopius, and seems clearly to be of the twelfth century.

7. At Masûb, in honour of the Prophet Zachariah, by certain canons, has been imperfectly copied, but is also mediæval.

8. At Marûn er Râs, is too badly copied to be read.

9. At Shefa Amr, on a Christian tomb, "Lord Christ help Sal . . .. and have mercy on his child." This is, perhaps, early, as the name of Christ is spelt.

10. At Sheikh Ibreik over a tomb,.

11. At Bel'ah. Looking again at my original note book I find that there are traces of the letter, so that it reads. The last three letters are not, as Mr. Drake thought, the date, but the monogram peculiar to Syria, "Christ born of Mary," which was used before the fourth century. This tomb also is, therefore, Early Christian.

12. At El Habs. "In memory of George," is mediæval, and belongs to a hermitage.


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202 13. ’Akrabeh, is partly defaced, but clearly Christian, and apparently funerary.

14. At El Mughâr, appears to be Byzantine, and is too fragmentary to read.

15. At Tell Jezar is believed to be ancient, occurring with the Hebrew text of the Hasmonean age.

16. At Shafat. The milestone, with the names of Trajan and Nerva, has the mile distance from Jerusalem in Greek.

17. At Amwâs, on a church pillar,, with the Samaritan text, "Blessed be His name for ever," is of the Byzantine age.

18. At Kuriet S'aideh the dedication of Martin the Deacon with a Greek cross, appears to be of the twelfth century A.D.

19. At Deir el Kelt. Greek-Arab bilingual, dedicating the monastery. Also twelfth century. I do not here add the mediæval painted texts at Kuruntul and Kusr Hajlah, which I copied, and have given in the memoirs. The writing in this ease is twelfth or thirteenth century work.

20. At Deir Belah. Dedication by Apollodorus at his own expense—Byzantine, belonging to a chapel.

20a. Gaza. "Domesticus to the son of Domesticus"; a funerary text.

21. Gaza, translated by M. C. Ganneau, records the facing of some building with stone by Alexander the Deacon, and begins with the verse: "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof" (Psalm xxiv, 1). It was discovered in 1877.

22. At Sheikh Bâshed, a fragment, apparently a mediæval Christian tomb.

23. Hebron. The well-known text in the mosque: "Holy Abraham help thy servant . .. and Agathemeros, and Ugia, and . .. and Tomasia, and Ablabia, and Anastasia."

24. Hebron outer court.

25. Khoreisa. " This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter in thereat" (Psalm cxviii, 20), over the door of a chapel. Byzantine period.

26–34. Jerusalem. Given in the memoir, are all Christian, and, in two cases only, seem earlier than the fourth century. To these a few more have been added of late from the Northern Cemetery—Jewish and Byzantine, none older apparently than the fourth century.

35–39. In Wâdy Rabâbeh. Texts of the monks and nuns of St. Sion, and that of Thecla Augusta (about 890 A.D.).

40. The inscription on the mediæval font at Bethlehem, dedicated by "those of whom the Lord knows the names."

At the site of Abila I copied in 1873 several inscriptions which were not, I believe, previously known. They are tombstones with the names of Lucius, Archelaus, Phêdistus, and Antonia and Philander, On one of


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Rh them occur the words and this spelling of the name of Christ seems usually to be earlier than the fourth century.

East of Jordan, Greek texts are also uncommon south of Bashan. The dedication of the temple at Philadelphia, and the two important texts at Gerasa (Christian) are among the earliest known. Prof. Ramsay has kindly translated the text which I discovered at Philadelphia.

"Aurelius Victorianus did honour to Gaius Julius Victor (Junianus?) of the tenth legion Fretensis Gordiana."

This is therefore one of the memorials of Roman officers, common in Bashan, and belongs to the third century A.D.

With exception of a few scattered letters, the only other text which I found in Gilead was at Umm el Buruk, where "Antonius Rufus set up to himself at his own expense" a winged tablet which is partly defaced.

The abundance of texts in Bashan, and in Syria, seems to show that about the Christian era the Decapolis must have had a much larger Greek population than existed in Western Palestine; and in the Byzantine age the Greek population seems to have been either stronger, or more civilised than that of Southern Palestine, both in Northern Syria and in Bashan and Northern Gilead.

has given us a clear account of his excavations, and has shown the antiquity of this site. The Tell occupies about two acres, and seems to have been the fortress of the town. The study of the inscriptions does not disagree with the dates assigned to the pottery, but seems to forbid the supposition that the place was abandoned in 500 B.C. If, as I have proposed, this be the site of Lachish, we have in the Onomasticon the statement that it was still a town in the fourth century A.D., and in the Book of Nehemiah we find it inhabited at least as late as 445 B.C. (Neh. xi, 30), while some of the pottery may be as late as 350 B.C. The Greek inscription appears to me to be clearly later than 300 B.C., and I believe Prof. Ramsey would assign it a yet later date. Anyone acquainted with the Greek texts of the time of Psammetichus (600 B.C., or later) will recognise how much later that found at Tell el Hesy must be, and the Hebrew jar handle should, I believe, be dated about 400 B.C.

The scarabs are evidence of the earliest but not of the latest date assignable. They may have been kept for centuries before they were lost, and one of Amenophis II (1540 B.C.) occurs much higher up than the Zimridi tablet (1480-40 ). Such considerations lead me to propose some slight modifications in the dates proposed by Mr. Bliss, and to carry down the history of the Tell to at least the Hasmonean age, when the 2em


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204 Greek influence began to be so strongly felt in Palestine, and perhaps even later.

At the bottom of the Tell we have bronze implements of early date, judging from the percentage of the tin, and a tablet dating from the 14th century when the Canaanites inhabited the site. The layer of charcoal and lime dust may perhaps represent the burning of the city by the 'Abiri or Hebrews. Then follows a depth of 20 feet in which scarabs occur, from the 18th down to the 22nd dynasty, carrying the history to Solomon's time; and with these a Phœnician text which may be about the same date or later. Above this level the Greek pottery begins to appear, and the Hebrew text and the Greek, which carries us perhaps through the period of restoration under Nehemiah, and down to the third century B.C. The Greek pottery continues to some ten feet beneath the surface, after which only mud buildings seem to underlyunderlie [sic] the Arab graves. The negative evidence of finding no coins might be contradicted by further excavation in the remaining two-thirds of the mound.

The discovery of the bones of a buffaloe (Jamûs) at great depth is curious. This Persian animal is generally thought not to have been introduced into Palestine until after the Moslem conquest of Persia. Either this conclusion is wrong, or the bones have been buried or worked down from above, or they belong to some other species, not that now found in the country.

Dr. Sayce appears to acknowledge that the Zimridi tablet is difficult to read, and that his translation is not certain. The reason why that which I have offered differs so much from his is, that my study of the cast led me to suppose that the signs were in many cases not those which he gives, as will be seen in the facsimile copy. His first line seems to me too long for the tablet, but these are points which study of the original, by a careful and experienced specialist, alone could decide.

The most remarkable of the scarabs is Fig. 115; and, having by the kindness of Mr. Bliss been enabled to study the original, I can bear witness to the faithful character of the copy. He appears to me to be probably correct in representing the lowest emblem in the middle row as a hawk with the double crown of Egypt, and the emblems above it would in this case be probably of Egyptian origin. But the emblems at the sides do not appear to be Egyptian, and are very like Hittite.

They occur vertically in the text, that here shown to the left being at the top, and they may be compared as follows, beginning from the left:—

No. 1 is like the tall hat, which I believe to have had the sound Ko or Ku, and the meaning "king" in Hittite.

No. 2 is just like the Hittite and Cypriote Mo, for the demonstrative or the first person singular in Hittite.


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 No. 3 is a bud as in Hittite, the Cypriote Bu or Pu—a demonstrative pronoun.

No. 4 is like the Hittite and Cuneiform emblem Dim, which occurs on the bilingual of Tarkondemos.

No 5 is the tall vase not uncommon in the Hittite, to which I have proposed to give the sound Pe, and to regard it as the nominative definite.

We should thus obtain the reading Ko-mo bu Dim-pe, "Of my king this (is) the seal." This would indicate a Hittite population at Lachish about 1500 B.C. or earlier, who were subject to an Egyptian overlord, and added a native inscription to the royal seal. There is nothing improbable in this view, when we remember that the Hittites lived not far off at Hebron in the time of Abraham, and that the Hyksos are thought to have belonged to the same stock, and adored the same God (Set) worshipped by the Hittites. This seal may be the oldest object found at Tell el Hesy.

4th June, 1894,

 NOTES ON HERR VON SCHICK'S PAPER ON THE JERUSALEM CROSS.

representation of the Jerusalem Cross is not correct. The crosslets are plain, and the crutches of the central cross are much longer.

It is not improbable that this cross was older than the Crusades, for it has the Greek not the Latin form.

A number of crosses of all forms will be found in the "Survey Memoirs," chiefly Greek, and taken from lintel stones in monasteries and chapels; but none of them have the crutch form. The Calvary Cross (see Deir ul Kal'ah) is not noticed by Mr. Schick, and I only found it once.

If the so-called Crux Ansata of Egypt (the Ankh or symbol of life held in the hand of deities) be really a cross, it should not be forgotten that the Maltese cross is found hung, with other charms, to the neck of Assyrian Kings, whose statues are in the British Museum. The Anchorites' crosses from Egypt have not the Jerusalem form. Of the


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206 other crosses given, specimens will be found in each case in the "Memoirs."

The explanation of Constantine's Cross or Labarum is not that usually accepted. The ordinary explanation of this emblem, which is common in Syria, from the fourth century downwards, is that it betokens the name of Christ. It is remarkable, however, that this sign is also older than Christianity, and appears on a coin of Herod the Great. Mr. Schick has not given us any specimen of a Jerusalem Cross in Palestine earlier than the Crusades.

It seems to me unproven that this form of cross was "first used" by the Armenians. Supposing that the date of the monastery in question is as old as the ninth century, it does not follow that the crosses in question are. One of them resembles the Maltese cross—that of the Knights of St. John; the other has the Latin form. The Crusaders were allied to the Armenians in the twelfth century, though the history of the Frank families in Syria shows that it is an over-estimate to say that "most of them" married Armenians. Some did, but most of the nobles brought wives from Europe, and some married Greeks. The offspring of such semi-oriental marriages were never highly esteemed.

In the thirteenth century the Templars and Hospitallers were established in Armenia, the court of the Kings of Armenia adopted Frank fashions, and some of the Armenian ecclesiastics followed the King in professing obedience to the Pope. The Legate was received for a time, but a reaction afterwards set in, and the Templars, the Legate, and the Roman Catholic priests, were expelled from Armenia. It was probably during this period—the middle of the thirteenth century—that the Jerusalem and Maltese crosses were adopted in Armenia. The Templar's cross was the red Latin Cross on a white field. The Hospitallers wore black (the Domenican colour) with the white Maltese Cross. The Jerusalem Arms (or on Argent) were false heraldry according to later rules, which indicates the antiquity of this coat. The fylfot is a widely spread emblem. It occurs on a statue from Troy, 1500 B.C. In India it is the Buddhist Swastica or "wheel of the law." It is found in the catacombs very early. It occurs on dolmens in Cornwall, and on bells in Yorkshire—as a charm against thunder. It is "Thor's Hammer" among the Norse; but that it is a cross seems doubtful.

2nd June, 1894.


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Rh

P. 102. The Phœnicians do not seem to have reached England or the Canaries before about 600 B.C. The texts in the latter islands are Numidian, and not very ancient.

P. 106. The texts at Quarantana are in characters of the 12th or 13th century A.D.

P. 119. The fragment from Gebal resembles the well-known type of the Cybele or Diana of Ephesus. Ribadda of Gebal was the son of a Phœnician King. He was not an Egyptian, but a native tributary prince. He wrote not 13 but 50 letters in the Tell Amarna collection.

P. 127. The idea that Moslems had a peculiar odour, removed by baptism, is found as early as 1432 in the travels of Sir Bertrandon de la Brocquière, speaking of the Turks in Asia Minor.

P. 127. The translation of the fellah songs and sayings in this valuable paper seems to be sometimes incorrect, and fails to show their force—and sometimes their sadness. The rhymes naturally are lost in translation. The following renderings may be worthy of consideration, in cases where the meaning seems least to be brought out:—

Like many marriage songs this is mysterious.

P. 135. The song appears to be a regular war song, such as is common in Palestine.

P. 136. The customs (like others in Palestine) recall very primitive ones all over Asia, which antiquaries call survivals of "Marriage by Capture"—a real or simulated fight for the bride.

P. 138. The proverb, "Snake and stick," occurs in Samaritan literature as "Snake and cane."


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208 P. 139. The "untying the shoe" is very interesting in connection with the Levirate ceremony of "loosing the shoe," which is not confined to the Jews. The shoe is intimately connected with weddings in the mythology and folk-lore of all Asiatics.

P. 141. The dirge of a hunter seems modern in form.

The woman's dirge appears to run—

P. 137. The tales of heroes sung at marriages would be very interesting to collect: in some cases they are probably taken from books, such as are read in the Lebanon, but if they are merely oral they might be valuable.

The war song which records the news being sent to Damascus to a "King" seems to be probably ancient, going back to the 8th or 9th


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Rh century, when the Khalifs ruled in Damascus, or at least to the times of Nûr ed Din and Saladin when ruling there. The tribal wars between the Fellahin and the Arabs of Kerak, and beyond Jordan, continued, however, till the present century, as I have shown in the Memoirs—"Taiyibeh"(Vol. III).

pp. 268 and 269 of the Quarterly Statement for October, 1890, will be found an account, with illustration by Dr. Chaplin, of a stone mask obtained by him from Er Ram, and which Professor Petrie believed to be "of Canaanite origin."

The same curious object forms the subject of an interesting note by the late Rev. Greville J. Chester on p. 84 of the Quarterly Statement for January, 1891. He says that he had "seen several of somewhat similar make, but of pottery, found near Um Rit, in Northern Syria," and that he thinks that one "representing a bearded head, is in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford." He supposes these objects to be Græco-Phœnician, and "perhaps of votive character,"

Major Conder takes up the very interesting discussion on p. 186 of the Quarterly Statement for April, 1891, and refers to the mention of the stone-mask in the "Memoirs," vol. iii, p. 438, and to its having been shown him by Dr. Chaplin. He does not think that it could ever "have been used as a real mask," and it "seems" to him "that it might be of any date from the twelfth century A.D. backwards."

This seems to me to be all that has been put forward in the Quarterly Statement concerning this most curious relic, which I have often examined and thought over when, during Dr. Chaplin's absence from Jerusalem, it was kept for safety in the London Jews' Society's Mission Library at Jerusalem, and I would take the liberty of hazarding a suggestion concerning it and the pottery masks mentioned by Mr. Chester and similar ones which I have seen in a collection of "antiques" at Jerusalem, and among antiquities offered for sale by dealers at Jaffa.

The readers of the Quarterly Statement will forgive me for reminding them of the remarkable and interesting classic pagan custom of suspending "oscilla" or "little faces" of Logreus—Dionysos—Bacchus in the vineyards, "to be turned in every direction by the wind, because it was supposed that whichever way they looked they made the vines in that quarter fruitful."—"Virgil," Georg. ii, 388-392.

On p. 846 of the second edition of Smith's "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities" will be found two figures: one being the representation of a beautiful "oscillum" of white marble, which, it is stated, is in


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210 the British Museum; and the other being copied from an ancient gem (Maffei. "Gem. Ant." iii, 64), and representing "a tree with four oscilla hung upon its branches." From the noun "oscillum" was derived the verb "oscillo," meaning to swing, which is the root of our English words oscillate, oscillation, &c.

Here at Jaffa I am shut out from the possibility of reference to all but a few of the back numbers of the Quarterly Statement, but I think that in one of Herr Schumacher's reports there occurs the mention (with illustration) of one of these masks.

A couple of years ago, at the time of the Greek excavations inside and close to the rock-cut tomb with sculptured grape-clusters, &c., at the traditional Aceldama, popularly called "The Retreat of the Apostles," though identified half a century ago by the late Dr. Schulz as the monument of Ananus, I one day visited a small Jewish settlement on the traditional Hill of Evil Counsel. A fellah who met me there offered me some beads, &c., which he said he had picked up whilst working on the said excavations, and of his own accord told me the following legend, which I record—firstly, because it seems to me to contain an undoubted reference to the freaks of the mad Fatimite Khalifeh II Hakim bi amr illah, whom the Druzes worship as a deity, but of whom, as far as I am aware, no traditions have hitherto been found to exist in the folk-lore of Southern Palestine, and secondly, because Mr. Bliss, to whom I recently told the strange story on the spot it referred to, suggested that it would not be deemed valueless if offered for the pages of the Quarterly Statement:—

"A long time ago, when Palestine was under the Egyptian Government, the caves in Wad el Rababeh were inhabited by a great number of monies and holy men who spent their time in fasting and prayer. Now it happened that the Governor in Egypt— "El Hakim bi Musr"—needed money, and, therefore, sent orders to the Mutasarrif (Governor) of El Kuds to make everybody pay a tax. The Mutasarrif and Mejlis wrote back to say that it was impossible to do so, seeing that there were such large numbers of poor but holy men who, though Christians, lived like dervishes in the caves, and who, as they earned nothing, could not pay the sum demanded of each of them. On receiving this news the Governor of Egypt ordered his secretary to write back the order  "Number the men," but, whether through carelessness or wickedness Allah knows, the secretary wrote a  instead of a  in the word for "number," and so


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Rh the order read اخصوا الرجال i.c., "Mutilate the men." This cruelty was literally carried out. The sufferers all died in consequence, and were buried where they had lived, and the human bones now found in the caves in Wady Kababeh are theirs." The fellah who related this could neither read nor write.

{{c|{{fs|105%|{{sc|{From the Reports of the sittings of the "Société de Géographie," Nos. 17-18, 1893.)}}}}}}

of the principal objects of the long journey which I made in Syria during the summer of 1890, was the study of the deep fauna of this lake. Up to that time scarcely anything was known of it except the molluscs, and especially the fish, and the considerable number of these last caused it to be anticipated that waters so swarming with fish would harbour a rich population of inferior animals. These anticipations have not been deceived, but this is not the place to narrate the zoological results of my researches; let it suffice me to say that, thanks to a special kind of dredge, I have been able to study with much care the bathymetric distribution of the organisms which live in the lake. This study promised to be especially interesting in the great depths described by Lortet (820 feet), and by Macgregor, after Armstrong (935 feet). Now, these depths I have never been able to find, although for six days I traversed the lake in every direction, carrying my researches principally towards the points which M. Lortet himself kindly indicated to me before my departure from France.

Reluctantly I had to abandon my soundings, promising myself to clear up the question on my return. This has not been easy, and has demanded on the one hand long bibliographical researches, on the other a whole correspondence with Messrs. Armstrong and Lortet. The problem is not yet quite elucidated, but I think I have reduced it to its lowest terms, and a few casts of the lead will be sufficient to settle it definitely. In my efforts to explain it I have had occasion to notice several errors which little by little have been credited, and which it is necessary to cause to disappear from science. A few words of history are necessary in order to state properly the facts of the question.

In the month of August, 1847, Lieutenant Molyneux, of the English navy, succeeded by dint of great efforts in conveying a boat from Haifa to Tiberias; for two days he navigated the Lake of Gennesaret, occupying


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212 himself with topography and hydrography. Then the daring explorer, abandoning himself to the current of the Jordan, descended the river as far as the Dead Sea, which he likewise studied from the hydrographical point of view. Unfortunately, Molyneux had been so exhausted by the unhealthy and torrid climate of the Ghôr, that he died almost immediately after having rejoined his ship at Beyrout, before having been able to put in order the materials which he had collected. This death was so much the more regrettable that the observations of Molyneux on the depth of the Lake of Tiberias—to speak only of the subject which occupies us—constituted the first scientific documents collected on the question; they have also remained the only ones until to-day, as we shall see.

Replying by precise facts to the old legends, which were prevalent as to the considerable depth of the Lake of Tiberias, Molyneux, by a series of soundings made in all directions, demonstrated that in no part did the depth of the lake exceed 120 to 156 feet, or 36m·55 to 47m·55.

Lieutenant Lynch, who, the following year, at the head of an American mission, performed exactly the same journey as Molyneux, descending like him the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea, only crossed over the Lake of Tiberias at the southern mouth of the river, deferring until his return the hydrographic observations which he proposed to make there. As too often happens, these projects were never put into execution, and the American expedition re-passed the lake without stopping there. In his account. Lynch limits himself to saying that the greatest known depth of the lake is 27·5 fathoms or 165 feet (50m·30). This number is evidently inspired by the observations of Molyneux; only in consequence of a typographical error they have printed 165 instead of 156, inverting the order of the two last figures.

Some years later Van de Velde's large map, "Map of the Holy Land," appeared; in the Lake of Tiberias is shown a series of fifteen soundings, varying from 10 fathoms (60 feet, or about 18 metres) to 26 fathoms (156 feet, or about 47 metres); these soundings, Van de Velde himself tells us, have been reported after Molyneux. In the face of the frankness of this indication, above all in the presence of the stated fact that Lynch never made a single cast of the lead in the Lake of Tiberias, it is difficult to


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Rh explain the error into which Macgregor has fallen when he writes, "My Map VII represents the Lake of Tiberias reduced by the pantograph to the scale of half-an-inch, after a photograph of the unpublished map of the Ordnance Survey, drawn up by Sir C Wilson and Major Anderson in 1866... The soundings are in feet after Van de Velde, who borrowed them from Lynch."

Macgregor does not appear to be very familiar with bibliographic researches, for a little further on (p. 369, note 2) he relates at fall length how Lynch in spite of his desire was not able to make the least sounding in the Lake of Tiberias. He says besides as much of Molyneux (p. 422), who, he asserts, did not examine the lake, but passed at once southwards to begin the Jordan.

Naturally there resulted from these badly digested readings a whole series of confusions, of which the following extracts will give an example:—

Sometimes the lake would have a depth of 156 feet (Map No. VII, facing p. 338, "Rob Roy"; this is the number of Molyneux);

Sometimes of 165 feet (p. 369); this is Lynch's number; Sometimes of 160 feet (p. 423?); Sometimes lastly of 936 feet (p. 363) or of 156 fathoms (p. 424), which is the same thing.

This last number, so different from the others, is given only in the seventh edition of 1886: we will see further on the origin and the explanation of it.

In short, no traveller since Molyneux had made the least sounding in the Lake of Tiberias, when there appeared in 1883 the excellent work of Lortet, who spent long days on this beautiful sheet of water, going over it and dredging it in every direction, in order to study its icthyological fauna. Without undertaking soundings properly so-called, this able naturalist in the course of his dredgings collected some interesting observations on the nature and the depth of the bottom which he explored: "The depth of the lake, which is inconsiderable, is on an average scarcely more than 50 to 60 metres; however, towards the middle of the large north basin I have several times dredged at depths of 250 metres without the line showing any sensible drift."

The passage from Macgregor, which I quoted above, based on a communication from Mr. Armstrong, seemed to come to the support of this assertion: the depth ascertained in 1886 is 936 feet.


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214 Also, before my departure for Syria I bad asked M. Lortet for the fullest information as to the exact site of these great depths, intending to explore them from the zoological point of view with much care. According to the directions which the learned Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Lyons willingly gave me, my researches were to be especially carried on in the northern portion of the basin, in a line with the Wady Semakh and facing the northern mouth of the Jordan: it is, in fact, in the axis of the river that I found—in accordance with Molyneux—the most considerable depth.

But in spite of the most patient endeavours I found it impossible to discover the depths described by Lortet; in vain I traversed in every direction the northern portion of the lake, crossing and recrossing my line of soundings, the lead never marked more than 42 metres.

These soundings were made according to six principal axes:—

1st. From Tiberias to the northern mouth of the Jordan; 2nd. From Tiberias to Wady Fik; 3rd. From Hammam to Wady Semakh; 4th. From the northern mouth to the southern mouth of the Jordan; 5th. From the northern mouth of the Jordan to Wady Semakh; 6th. From the northern mouth of the Jordan to Wady Fik.

I have given them on the accompanying map, which is the reproduction, reduced by photography (the scale being given in metres), of Macgregor's map, No. VII; only some slight modifications have been made in the outline according to Schumacher's recent traces (The Jaulân, loc. cit.). The study of this document will show, I think, that depths of 250 metres could scarcely have escaped my investigations. Certainly these soundings have not the positive value which they would have had if they had been made by a professional man, and I have not marked scientifically the precise point of every line, but I operated as carefully as possible, with the aid of a compass and chronometer. It will be observed also that nearly always my figures agree with those which are given, after Molyneux and Van de Velde, on Macgregor's map, and which are indicated in upright figures on the accompanying map. Besides my results positively confirm the statements of the fishermen, who, in response to all my questions, did not cease to assert that the maximum depth of the lake did not exceed 40 metres, and that it was necessary to seek for it towards the middle of the lake between Tiberias and Wady Semakh.


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Rh Before publishing these facts I made a point of submitting them to Messrs. Armstrong and Lortet, asking the first to let me know from what source he drew his information, and begging the second to re-examine thoroughly the notes of his travels. With the best grace Mr. Armstrong

had the kindness to accede to my request, and this is what he wrote me finally: "I am much obliged to you for having drawn my attention to the depths of the Lake of Tiberias, as they figure, p. 363, in 'Rob Roy on the Jordan.' The map I consulted appeared to indicate the soundings


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Rh

Is got by laying down the cut-out forepart, and sweeping from A to X, using G as a pivot, and making A to X 4 inches, and draw side of underside from X to C. Now make star a pivot, and sweep from K to S, and mark off 4 inches; draw a line from X to S, and reduce to the size of the waist by means of V's as illustrated, making T U V W about 1 inch above line S X. Come out from R to Y from 1 to 2 inches, and take out Y to correspond in quantity with the two fishes from the forepart, taking out the surplus length from M to Y in a V upwards, as illustrated by dotted line at M. Complete the outline of undersides by the topsides, making it rather hollower at the bottom, as shown by the dotted lines. A fish may be taken out of topsides, as illustrated by dot and dash line from I, if a very clean-fitting lap is desired. If more room is desired over the seat of undersides, increase the quantity from A to X and K to S, which will have the same effect as an increased seat angle would to trousers, the principle involved in this Train being very similar to those employed in trousers cutting generally. Care must be taken to locate the knee correctly, and, if found possible, it will be as well to take a measure from waist to knee when in the saddle, and then apply it from I to M, which may increase or reduce the distance from M to I. The same hint we have previously given for the making of Trains will apply with equal force to this, so that it will be quite unnecessary for us to again repeat them here.

Of all the odds and ends the ladies' tailor has to know how to produce, there is probably none of more general usefulness than the shaped skirt band, as it admits of such general application. Hence we give a simple system for producing such. The measures necessary are: the depth of band, the size of waist, and the size of seat, which for the present we will say are 7 deep, 24 waist, 40 seat; seat measure taken about 7 inches below waist. Commence by drawing line O, 7, 0, 12 at right angles; from to 7 is 7 inches; come out 1, and draw line from to 1; from O to 12 is half waist, from which sweep up to 5½, using point as the pivot; from 12 to 5½ is one-third of the difference between waist and seat, and draw top from 5½ to by a gradual hollow; to get the run of the front come up from 5½ to 11, as much as from 12 to $5 1⁄2$, and then draw the front from 5½ to A at right angles to O 11, making the length to agree with measure taken, and complete by adding on a button-stand wherever it is desired, in the manner illustrated at O 1.

These are sometimes used in making a foundation, by joining a piece of straight or slightly sloped material on at the bottom, as is illustrated on Diagram 87, from line 7 20 downwards, the back being pleated on. The advantage of this method is the thinness round the waist and hips, as by this means all V seams or fulness are avoided. It is a most useful pattern in many ways—such, for instance, as fashioning the drapery, illustrated on figures on diagrams; putting point 5½ to the front of skirt and A to 7; shaping the top by 5½ 0, and continuing over the hips from to 20, when the extra length of side is pleated in to form the folds, as illustrated. This, however, is merely one of its uses. It may be used to cut the top edge of the flaps for jackets of the Newmarket type, and in the case of short skirts it may be used for them; but we have no doubt our readers will soon find the uses to which it may be put, so we will pass on to deal with

The measures necessary for this are: length of front, side and back, size of waist taken tightly, and size of hips taken rather easily, about 7 inches down from the waist. These would probably stand, 39½, 40, 41; 24, 40, and are applied as follows: Draw line 40, 20; from to 20 is half seat; from to 7 is 7 inches always, and from to 40 is the length of front, plus ½ inch; come in from to 1 1 inch, and drop it ½ inch, and draw a line from 1 through 7, which finds the centre crease edge of front; of course it is not imperative that this should be on the crease, but when cut from Italian cloth it may be so with advantage; make from ½ to 4 one-eighth of waist; now come in from 20 to 19 one inch, and draw line from 19 through 20 to find run of the side; now if it is desired to get it smaller round the bottom edge, come in less from 19, but on no account reduce the size from 7 to 20, as that must be retained in order to provide room for the seat; now reduce the top to one and a half inches less than half waist by means of V's, as illustrated; though, in making, we prefer to arrange the two back ones by pleats, rather than by cutting the V's out; as by that means any variation in the size of the hip is provided for. The front drapery illustrated on right hand figure on diagram 87, is arranged just the same as. this, the back V's being generally dispensed with, and the fulness put in to the band at side. If it is desirable to have a seam down the side of foundation; the V at 9½ may be continued through to the bottom as illustrated by dot and dash line; indeed, all the V's may be done in this way if seams are desired to introduce effect. We now come to the back foundation.


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216 in fathoms instead of giving them in feet, as in Map VII of the 'Rob Roy,' p. 338. Hence the error: the multiplication of 156 by 6, in order to turn fathoms into feet, gave me in fact 936 feet. I have informed the editors of it, so that it shall disappear from the next edition."

From this quarter the question is completely cleared up. There remains M. Lortet's observation on the exact value of which it is impossible to pronounce. "In spite of the fourteen years which have elapsed," writes the learned professor, "I remember very well that this cast of the lead, which astonished me so much, must have been made quite close to the place which I denote by the letter L on your sketch. Unfortunately I did not verify it; the waves being enormous and the wind very high we were obliged to take refuge in Wady Semakh. But, I repeat, a single observation, made under such conditions, cannot contradict your measurements, which are so numerous and so precise."

Evidently it is quite possible that there may be a kind of very limited abyss at the point indicated by M. Lortet; quite recently M. Delebecque, the engineer, who occupies himself so actively with the hydrographic study of our French lakes, has described an abyss of this kind in the Lake of Annecey; this well, called the Boubiôz, sinks abruptly more than 80 metres in the subsoil of the lake, while the neighbouring depths scarcely exceed 20 to 30 metres. I think, however, that more precise observations would be necessary to confirm the existence of a similar peculiarity in Tiberias.

In a general way, we may affirm that the Lake of Tiberias is not a deep lake, and that the depth of the water scarcely exceeds 40 to 45 metres, according to the season, the monthly variations being considerable enough, in consequence of the very active evaporation in this over-heated basin. The greatest depths are found in the axis of the Jordan and almost towards the meridian of the lake; the eastern side is steeper, the land being less extended there than on the other shore, and one reaches quickly enough depths of 25 to 30 metres.

The study of the temperatures of the lake comes to the support of what the soundings demonstrated to me. There will be found below the results of a series of thermometrical observations made by means of a Negretti and Zarabra thermometer, the frame of which was constructed by Dumaige, following the pattern adopted by Mr. Milne-Edwards on the "Travailleur" and on the "Talisman," and by H. H. the Prince of Monaco on the "Hirondelle."

I have also condensed in the form of a synoptic table the summary of my observations on the temperatures of the lake:—


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Rh {| align=center !rowspan="2"| —— !! 29th April. !!colspan="2"| 30th April. !!colspan="2"| 1st May. !!colspan="3"| 2nd May. !! 3rd May. !!colspan="3"| 4th May. ! 10h morning. !! 8h morning. !! 9h morning. !! 8h morning. !! 9h 45m morning. !! 8h 45m morning. !! 2h 30m evening. !! 9h evening. !! 8h morning. !! 7h morning. !! 8h 30m morning. !! 10h morning. ! !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! ° !! °
 * Air in the shade || 76.10 || 73.40 || 74.84 || 74.30 || 76.64 || 74.75 || 83.84 || 69.80 || 76.10 || 77.45 || 82.40 || 84.65
 * Surface || 70.25 || 71.15 || 71.15 || 73.40 || 73.40 || 73.40 || 79.25 || 69.35 || 72.50 || 74.30 || 75.65 || 75.65
 * 16.4 feet || .. || .. || .. || 71.15 || .. || .. || 71.15 || .. || .. || .. || .. || ..
 * 32.81 " || .. || .. || .. || 67.64 || .. || .. || 68.18 || .. || 69.44 || .. || .. || ..
 * 49.21 " || .. || .. || .. || 61.70 || 62.15 || .. || .. || .. || 63.05 || .. || .. || ..
 * 65.62 " || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 59.00 || .. || .. || ..
 * 82.02 " || 59.00 || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || ..
 * 98.43 " || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 59.00 || .. || .. || ..
 * 131.24 feet || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 58.10 || 58.10 || .. || ..
 * }
 * 65.62 " || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 59.00 || .. || .. || ..
 * 82.02 " || 59.00 || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || ..
 * 98.43 " || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 59.00 || .. || .. || ..
 * 131.24 feet || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 58.10 || 58.10 || .. || ..
 * }
 * 98.43 " || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 59.00 || .. || .. || ..
 * 131.24 feet || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || .. || 58.10 || 58.10 || .. || ..
 * }
 * }


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 THE TAILORS METHOD

Of making up a garment is so widely different to that followed by the dressmaker, that many of the Students have said it has been one series of surprises to them, to see one detail after another worked out in such a vastly different Way to what they have been accustomed; methods which at once assert their superiority so conclusively, that they ask themselves however they could have overlooked it; and there is no longer any wonder in their minds, how it is the tailor produces such vastly superior results to the dressmakers. This is indeed one of the special and important features in our Academy for Lady Students, that they may acquire the practical part, or making up of garments by tailor methods as well as the Cutting. Our Lady Students are of course expected to be able to sew, we do not undertake to teach that; but those who have some knowledge of dressmaking, can acquire the art of putting garments together in tailor fashion.

THE RANGE OF GARMENTS' We teach is very wide, embracing every garment worn by Ladies, now usually made by tailors, and garments also outside this range. For instance, many of our Lady Students this season have requested lessons in cutting bodices for evening wear ; others have asked for the divided skirt, instructions in each case being imparted in detail. Many of the Ladies avail themselves of the opportunity afforded them of attending the daily lecture, delivered to our ordinary students, especially when such subjects as "Art in relation to Tailoring," or " Ladies' Tailoring," are being dealt with, and have expressed themselves highly pleased with the practical applications of art to the various forms and complexions.

OUR TERMS

Are as follows: For six daily Lessons, 2 guineas. For 12 daily Lessons, 3 guineas. For 25 daily Lessons, £5. 50 daily Lessons, £10, or 75 daily Lessons, £12 10s. These Lessons need not necessarily be consecutive, though we very much prefer them to be as continuous as possible, as the Student makes much more rapid progress when the Lessons are continued without interruption. We shall be pleased to advise any Lady as to the probable number of Lessons she would require to make herself proficient in this art ; most of our Lady Students accomplish all they require in twelve Lessons.

WHAT OUR STUDENTS ACCOMPLISH.

Many of our Lady Students are now occupying the most important positions in the various Technical Colleges throughout the country, and our Diploma is the best passport to the County Council appointments, which are now becoming available for Ladies all over the country. Others of our Students are in business for themselves, or holding good positions in the leading houses in the various centres of fashion. We append a few testimonials received from recent Students and which will tell their own tale:

" I am pleased to say I have benefitted from your judicious care in teaching me, and I thank you very much for your patience. Should I have an opportunity of recommending the I shall not fail to do so."—October 15th, 1891. B. P.

" I tender my best thanks for the very careful instruction which you have given me, and I feel that 1 have had special attention to enable me to have completed the course in so short a time." July 28, 1891. E. S.

" On completion of my term of Tuition I tender you my best thanks for the special attention paid me, having greatly benefitted from the instruction and Lectures under such able and patient teachers." E. C. G.

DO WE SEND OUT TEACHERS

Is a question that has been often asked, and to this we reply that arrangements can be made to do this, full particulars of which we shall be pleased to forward on application.


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218 Several interesting facts will be shown by the consideration of this document:—

1st. The great range of the variations of surface temperatures in the same day under the influence of the burning sun of Syria; thus, on May 2nd the temperature on the surface was: 73°·4 at 8.45 in the morning; 79°·25 at 2.30 p.m., and 69°·35 at 9 p.m., a coolness of 6 degrees in six hours and a half, a coolness parallel to that of the air above and caused by the action of a strong breeze from the north-west.

2nd. The relatively inconsiderable depth of the zone subject to diurnal variations is scarcely 15 metres, not more than in the Lake of Geneva, where the mean temperature of the air above is, however, very much lower. Thus, at Tiberias the temperature of the water, which is 67°·4 to 69°·44 at 32·8 feet in depth, falls rapidly to the number of 61°·70 to 63°·05 at 49·21 feet in depth.

3rd. The uniform temperature (59°) of the deep beds, between 65 feet and 131·24 feet; it is only in neighbourhoods of this last level that the thermometer shows a slight diminution of 0°·9 to 58°·1.

This last fact requires that we should pause an instant; Forel has demonstrated that if we put on one side the figures of the upper bed of 10 metres in depth, which is influenced by the temperature of the air above, we prove that the water of the deep beds gets heated much more quickly in the shallow lakes. Now, if we compare our results with those obtained by the learned Swiss professor, we shall see that the number of 58°·1 for a level of 131·24 feet is much higher than the average number observed in the Swiss lakes, a number which oscillated during the summer of 1880, for instance, between 41°·36 and 46°·4. This last temperature was taken in the Lake of Morat, the one which, as regards depth, most resembles the Lake of Tiberias. The adjoining table will make these facts clearer:—


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Rh Lastly, a final table will enable us to compare the figures for a surface temperature nearly equal in two places.

It is evident—what we have said of the Lake of Morat is enough to show it—that the difference in depth between the two basins is not sufficient to explain the divergence of nearly 7 degrees, which we ascertained between the temperature of the waters of the Lake of Tiberias and that of the waters of Lake Leman at a level of 40 metres.

A certain number of factors come into play to promote this divergence:—

1st The latitude, which is much further south at Tiberias, which causes its average temperature to be much higher than that of Geneva for example.

2nd. The altitude: Lake Leman is at + 1,230 feet, the Lake of Gennesaret at—682 feet; we know the stifling heat which prevails in the deep valley of the Ghôr, not only at Tiberias, but even more perhaps at Huleh, the altitude of which is, however, greater. M. Deshays, chief of the cultivation of the Jewish colony of Jessod-Hamaila, recently installed on the eastern shore of the Lake of Huleh, has assured me that in summer the thermometer frequently rises above 50 degrees, and that several times he had noted temperatures of 55 degrees. Also the water of the Jordan, after having been much heated in this superficial reservoir (5 to 6 metres in depth at the most) arrives in the Lake of Tiberias with a much higher temperature than that of the Rhone at its entrance into the Leman.

3rd. The continuous flow into the Lake of Tiberias of a series of thermal springs, the principal of which are—

Others must certainly have their source in the lake itself: it is thus that about 2 or 3 kilometres oft' 'Ain-Tâbghah, on the imaginary line which joins this latter locality to Tiberias, the captain of my boat, an old


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 Commenting on the experiments of Sir Isaac Newton with the iron pyrometer, Amontons devised similar ones. Assuming that the temperature increased in arithmetical progression throughout a rod of iron 59 inches long, he obtained the following results.

In his paper published in the "Mémoirs de Paris" (1703, p. 50) Amontons makes the oracular statement "heat is the soul of nature, and it is very important for physicists to be able to measure it accurately."

Fourteen years later, Jakob Hermann, a mathematical physicist of Basle, seeking to make thermometrical readings independent of corrections for barometric pressure, proposed to close the tubes of Amontons' air thermometers by fusing the upper ends; this form of


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 , who for 30 years has traversed the lake in every direction and in all weathers, showed me a place where iii winter fish abound because the waters are warmer there than anywhere else; this is evidently the point of emergence of a sub-lacustrine tributary stream.

On the whole these thermometrical observations, incomplete as they are, tend to confirm what the soundings had already demonstrated, to show that the general features of the Lake of Tiberias are those of a shallow lake, the maximum low-water mark of which scarcely exceeds 40 to 50 metres. If there exists opposite the Wady Semakh—at the point indicated by Lortet—an abyss 250 metres in depth, it can only be a narrow shaft with precipitous walls. The question, I repeat, is now clearly stated, and cannot fail to be soon settled.

THE HÆMATITE WEIGHT, WITH AN INSCRIPTION IN ANCIENT SEMITIC CHARACTERS, PURCHASED AT SAMARIA IN 1890 BY THOMAS CHAPLIN, ESQ., M.D.

{{center|{{fs|105%|{Reprinted from the {{sc|Academy,}} by the kind permission of the Editor.)}}}}

London, October 20th, 1893.

before leaving Europe, I have had the good fortune to receive a lesson in the methods of that "higher criticism," which we poor Englishmen are told to accept humbly from the Germans.

"Scientific criticism" has long since decided that the Song of Solomon was composed several centuries after the date to which it lays claim, and one of the proofs of its lateness is found in the little word shel "of." This, it has been revealed to the critics, had no existence in Hebrew before the Exile. Three years ago, however. Dr. Chaplin, when visiting the site of Samaria, purchased a small hæematite weight, which had just been found there, containing an inscription in two lines. The letters are very distinct, and were accordingly read without any difficulty by Dr. Neubauer and myself. I gave the reading in the Academy, and Dr. Neubauer published his translation of it elsewhere, of which Professor Driver has subsequently made use.

But unfortunately the word shel occurred in it, and as the letters belonged to the seventh or eighth century this was awkward for the critics. "Scientific criticism," however, soon found a way out of the difficulty. First of all, the genuineness of the object was denied; and when this argument failed, it was asserted that the reading of


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Rh Dr. Neubauer and myself was wrong. Stupid Englishmen, who are not "scientific critics," might suppose that the denial and assertion were made after a careful examination of the original object. But such a proceeding is not at all in accordance with the methods of the "higher criticism," and might have inconvenient results for "scientific" theories. So an imperfectly-executed cast was obtained, and those who had seen the original were informed that the cast was much to be preferred to it. As it happens, the part of the weight where the word shel is engraved is somewhat worn, and the cast has consequently failed to reproduce all the lines of the letters.

Fortunately, the weight is in the possession of Dr. Chaplin; and as he now resides in England, those who care to do so will have little difficulty in convincing themselves that the reading of the inscription which I have given is correct.

Of course the "scientific critics" will prefer what Professor König in his recently published "Einleitung in das Alte Testament," p. 425, calls the "authentische Nachbildung," and will maintain with him that the same text is repeated in both lines of the inscription. In this way the obnoxious shel can be got rid of, and the dogmas of the critics remain intact. Plain people like myself, however, have a foolish preference for facts.

2em

Christchurch, Oxford, October 23rd, 1893.

I am sorry to trouble you; but I cannot refrain from entering a protest against the injustice of Professor Sayce's letter in the Academy of last week, on the inscribed weight obtained by Dr. Chaplin on the site of Samaria.

The facts of the case, omitting what is irrelevant, are simple. The inscription in question was read by Professor Sayce in 1890 (Academy, August 2, p. 94) as containing the Hebrew particle shel, and was referred by him, on account of the form of the characters, to the eighth century B.C. As the use of shel at this period harmonised with the early date to which (upon other grounds) I assigned the Song of Songs in my "Introduction" (1891), I mentioned the fact, giving a reference to Professor Sayce's letter in the Academy, as well as to one by Dr. Neubauer, which appeared simultaneously in the Athenæum. Professor König in his "Einleitung in das Alte Testament" (1893), p. 425, states that he procured an "authentische Nachbildung"—by which, I suppose, he means a cast—of the inscription from the Palestine Exploration Fund in London, which he submitted to the eminent Semitic palæographer, Professor Euting, of Strassburg, who read the inscription differently, and declared that in his opinion it did not contain the particle shel. Professor König adds that his own judgment of the inscription agrees with that of Professor Euting.

Upon the strength of these facts, Professor Sayce brings a series of


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222 charges against the "higher criticism"—of prejudice and an obstinate refusal to listen to facts—which I cannot think that the circumstances at all justify. For Professor Euting, who is the chief authority for questioning the reading shel, though distinguished for his palæographical knowledge and acquaintance with Semitic inscriptions, is quite unknown as a critic; and of all the men in Germany (or elsewhere) who are "critics," Professor König, as those who have read any of his writings well know, is one of the most honest, exact, and painstaking that could be named, and the very last man to go with the stream, or to adopt a view, unless he had satisfied himself by independent personal investigation that it was adequately borne out by facts.

According to Professor Sayce, however, Professor König, finding the shel inconvenient for his theory of the date of the Song (though why he should have done so, seeing that it occurs in Jonah and is common in post-Biblical Hebrew, it is difficult to see), and being addicted to the slovenly methods of the "higher criticism," which has no regard for facts, and is never at the pains to examine original objects, was determined at all costs to get rid of the "obnoxious" word; "so an imperfectly executed cast was obtained, and those who had seen the original were informed that it was much to be preferred to it."

All that is here attributed to Professor König is destitute of foundation in fact. As though either Professor Euting (whom Professor Sayce, strangely, does not mention at all), or Professor König, would work wittingly upon an imperfect copy, or adopt such an unworthy procedure as is attributed to them, for the purpose of evading or suppressing the truth! Even if it be the case (as it very probably is) that the cast used by Professors Euting and König was one which imperfectly represented the original, the blame (if their reading of the inscription should on this ground have been incorrect) rests, surely, not on the two German scholars, but on the authorities of the Palestine Exploration Fund, who sup]:)lied them (as they afterwards, I presume, supplied me) with the imperfect facsimile.

I cannot imagine why Professor Sayce could not have written to say simply (if the facts so required it) that the two German scholars had misread the inscription in consequence of their having been supplied with an imperfect copy, instead of gratuitously employing the occasion for indulging in acrimonious taunts and baseless insinuations.

2em

 October 26th, 1893.

In der Nr. vom 21 Oct. hat Herr Prof. A. H. Sayce eine Stelle meines Buches "Einleitung in das Alte Testament, mit Einschluss der Apokryphen u. der Pseudepigraphen Alten Testaments" (Bonn, 1893) angegriffen. Die uns gemeinsame Liebe zur geschichtlichen Wahrheit zwingt mich, auch meinerseits zu dieser Sache das Wort zu ergreifen.


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 LADIES' TALIORING.

How Ladies may acquire

The Art of Cutting and Making

Tailor-made Garments

The Course of Tuition for Lady Students at the Tailor and Gutter Gutting Academy, 93 & 94 Drury Lane, London, W.C.

The season just passed has marked a new era in our Cutting Academy. One room has usually been set apart for Lady Students, but the increase in their numbers this year has been so marked as to render special provision for their accommodation necessary. It may interest some of our patrons, and at the same time form a reply to many enquiries we are constantly receiving, if we give a brief outline of our course of procedure generally, in our Lady Students' department. This is not rigorously followed, as the individual capacities and requirements of each Student have to be studied, so as to give to each, just that instruction which will be of the most service to them. When we state that our Students come from all ranks and classes—the professional dressmaker, the lady philanthropist who desires the knowledge so that she may help others to gain a living, the lady in private life who wishes to design and make her own garments, the lady teacher who comes here to qualify herself for the position of teacher to the various Technical Schools now being opened by the County Council; as our Lady Students embrace all these, and as each have different capacities to begin with, and different ideals to realise, each needs individual treatment.

THE FIRST LESSON

Initiates our Lady Students into the mysteries of the use of the chalk, the handling the square, tape, &c., and then we proceed with skirts in their different varieties. As many of the Students desire to work out their lessons practically, they procure some material and make up the various garments as they proceed, doing the sewing at home, and bringing the garment with them at the Academy for inspection and advice; as to the correctness of their progress.

Skirt cutting, making, and draping are soon mastered, and then they pass on to the more difficult task of bodice and jacket cutting. This needs more application and patience to master than the skirt ; but in the course of one lesson the principles are grasped, and in most cases, by the end of the second or third day, the bodice and jacket can be drafted to any measures with proficiency and ease. Then the Lady Student, if she so desires, proceeds to make up a bodice or jacket, cut by herself, and as she proceeds, all

THE MYSTERIES OF MANIPULATION

Are explained to her : the making and fitting up, sewing the scams, the putting in the bone casing, the canvas, the pressing, the stretching and shrinking, the parts to be fulled on or held tight, sleeve and collar making, and all the great and small technical details of Ladies' Practical Tailoring are fully and minutely explained as she proceeds, and when the garment is got into a satisfactory state, then follows :

A PRACTICAL LESSON IN FITTING,

Detailing the points that require to be specially noticed, the methods to follow, the mode of making alterations explained, the importance of studying customers' views emphasized, the difference of material, and then, as occasion may offer, the Instructor replies to any queries that may be put by the Lady Students, which occur to them either in connection with the lessons in Cutting, or the making or manipulating of the garments they cut, each having their own difficulties and for which they each seek a remedy.

The above is the first page of our New Prospectus of Terms and Arrangements in connection with the laddies' Branch of our Cutting Academy — which will be 6ent to any address on receipt of stamp for postage.


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Rh Als ich im Sommer 1892 den linguistischen Character des Hohenliedes untersuchte, kam auch ein Gewichtsstück in Betracht, welches Herr Dr. Med. Chaplin in Samaria gekauft hat. Die Aufschrift dieses Gewichtes war in der "Academy" (2 Aug. 1890) veröffentlicht worden. Um ein Urtheil fällen zu können, schrieb ich an Dr. Ad. Neubauer in Oxford, ob er mir nicht eine Nachbildung jenes Gewichtes verschaffen könne. Er rieth mir, dass ich mich an das Committee des deutschen Palästinavereins wenden solle. Prof. Socin in Leipzig aber gab mir den Rath, bei Mr. George Armstrong, dem Secretär des Lond. Palestine Exploration Fund anzufragen. Ich war so glücklich, die Antwort zu erhalten, dass er mir eine Nachbildung jenes Gewichtes liefern könne. Als ich dieselbe bekommen hatte, habe ich sie erst selbst untersucht. Dann habe ich sie an Hrn. Prof. Jul. Euting in Strassburg, den bekannten Erforscher der semitischen Inschriften gesandt. Sein Urtheil habe ioh wörtlich auf S. 425 meiner "Einleitung" abdrucken lassen. Das Wesent liche war, dass wir beide das Wort shel, "of" auf der Inschrift nicht finden konnten. Denn sie besteht auf beiden Seiten aus je sechs gleichen Schriftzeichen.

Ist dieses unser Verfahren gerecht beurtheilt durch Herrn Prof. Sayce?

(1) Er würdigt nicht den Umstand, dass eine Nachbildung, die ich aus dem Palestine Exploration Fund bekommen habe, mir als zuverlässig gelten durfte und musste. Denn wie konnten wir vermuthen, dass die Nachbildung wesentlich ungenau sei? Weshalb hätte der Palestine Exploration Fund eine Nachahmung, die nicht ein hinlänglich getreuer Reflex des Originals war, in seine Samnlungen aufnehmen können? Aber wir durften vermuthen, dass die Entzifferung der Aufschrift nicht gleich zuerst völlig gelungen sei. Denn dies ist schon öfter geschehen.

(2) Herr Prof. Sayce scheint uoch nicht die wirkliche Beziehung des Originals und der Nachbildung festgestellt zu haben. Denn die Nachbildung zeigt auf jeder Seite des Gewichtes die gleichen Buchstaben, und zwar je sechs. Prof. Sayce schreibt:—

"As it happens, the part of the weight where the word shel is engraved is somewhat worn, and the cast has consequently failed to reproduce all the lines of the letters."

Aber daraus, dass etwas abgebrachen ist, scheint sich nicht zu ergeben, dass die Nachbildung mehr Linien, als das Original, zeigt, und dass der Buchstabe s (sh) als zwei Buchstaben sich darstellt. Ausserdem muss auf der einen Seite gerade soviel abgebrochen sein, dass auf dieser Seite in Folge des Bruches genau dieselbe Buchstabengruppe entstand, welche auf der andern Seite ohne den Bruch zu sehen ist. Ich darf hoffen, dass ein englischer Gelehrter noch einmal das Original vergleicht und den Grad der Ungenauigkeit der Nachbildung feststellt.

(3) Herr Prof. Sayce setzt voraus, dass ich die Untersuchung jenes Gewichtes unternommen habe aus Liebe zur negativen Kritik. Ich appellire an die Gerechtigkeit der englischen Gelehrten. Meine


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224 sind in England nicht uubekannt. Ich hege die Zuversicht, dass insbesondere auch meine "Einleitung" die Solidität meiner Untersuchungen documentiren wird. Ich bin mir bewusst, dass das gleiche feurige Interesse für die geschichtliche Wahrheit mich mit Hrn. Prof. Sayce verbindet.

Prof.

In your number of October 21st, Professor A. H. Sayce has criticised a passage of my book, "Einleitung in das Alte Testament mit Einschluss der Apokryphen und der Pseudepigraphen Alten Testaments." The love of historical truth common to both of us compels me on my side also to say a word respecting this matter.

When in the summer of 1892 I examined the linguistic character of the Song of Solomon, there came into consideration a weight which Dr. Chaplin had bought in Samaria. The inscription on this weight was published in the Academy of August 2nd, 1890. In order to form a judgment respecting this weight I wrote to Dr. Neubauer, of Oxford, to ask whether he could obtain a copy of it. He advised me to apply to the Committee of the German Palestine Society. But Professor Socin, of Leipzig, recommended me to make enquiries of Mr. George Armstrong, Secretary of the London Palestine Exploration Fund. I was fortunate enough to receive the answer that he could supply me with a copy of the weight. When I received it I first examined it myself, and then sent it to Professor Julius Euting, of Strasburg, the well-known investigator of Semitic inscriptions. His judgment I had printed, word for word, on p. 425 of my "Einleitung." The essential point was that we both failed to find the word shel "of" in the inscription. For it consists on both sides of six similar characters.

Has this proceeding of ours been rightly judged of by Professor Sayce?

(1) He does not sufficiently consider the circumstances that a copy, which I had received from the Palestine Exploration Fund, I had to regard as reliable. For how could we guess that the copy was essentially inaccurate? Why should the Palestine Exploration Fund receive into its collections a facsimile which was not a sufficiently faithful reflex of the original? But we might have supposed that the deciphering of the inscription might not be at first entirely successful. For this has often been the case.

(2) Professor Sayce appears to have not yet made up his mind as to the actual relation of the original to the copy. For the copy shows on each side of the weight the same letters, six in number. Professor Sayce writes: "As it happens, the part of the weight where the word shel is engraved is somewhat worn, and the cast has consequently failed to reproduce all the lines of the letters."

But it does not appear to follow that because a portion has been broken off, the copy shows more lines than the original, and that the


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Rh letter sh presents itself as two letters. Besides this, there must be just so much broken off on the one side, that on this side, in consequence of the fracture, exactly the same group of letters appeared which on the other side may be seen without the fracture. I venture to hope that an English scholar may be able to compare the original and to decide the degree of inaccuracy in the copy.

(3) Professor Sayce presupposes that I undertook the examination of the weight out of love to negative criticism. I appeal to the justice of English scholars.

My publications are not unknown in England. I entertain the assurance that my "Einleitung," especially, will afford documentary proof of the genuineness of my examinations.

I am quite convinced that Professor Sayce and I have the same deep interest in arriving at historical truth.

18, Anerley Park, S.E., October 31st, 1893.

It was with some surprise that I read in the Academy of October 21 the statement of Professor Sayce, that the cast of the ancient Hebrew weight brought by me from Samaria, which has been circulated by the Palestine Exploration Fund, is "imperfectly executed." After very careful examination of the weight and the cast, both Mr. Armstrong, the assistant secretary of the Fund, and myself are of opinion that the cast accurately represents the inscription on the original. Of course, with such a small object and with some of the letters much worn, it may happen that not every specimen of the cast is equally perfect. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Fund I am anxious that this question should be set at rest; and in the interests of learning it is most desirable that the true reading of the inscription should be determined. I have sent the weight and cast to Professor W. Robertson Smith, of Cambridge, to be examined and reported on by him. Should Professor Driver, or any recognised authority, desire to see the original and compare it with the cast, I shall have great pleasure in endeavouring to arrange for their doing so.

2em

Christ's College, Cambridge, November 6th, 1893.

The size and form of this object are accurately represented in the woodcut given by Dr. Chaplin in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, October, 1890, p. 267. Professor König ("Einleitung in das A.T.," p. 425) describes it as something like a date stone {etwa in Form eines Dattelkerns), which gives a fair general notion of the size, but misses the characteristic point of the form. The weight is, in fact, a very perfect


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226 and beautifully finished specimen of a genuine ancient type—spindle shaped with a flat oval surface in the middle of one side. I have no special acquaintance with ancient weights, and cannot say anything as to the distribution of this particular type; it is known to me by specimens from Egypt, of much larger size but similar pattern, two of which I myself purchased at Gizeh in 1891. The flattening of the middle of one side is obviously convenient as providing a surface on which the weight rests without rolling; but I imagine also that the final adjustment to the standard was made in the process of rubbing down the flat base. The whole aspect of the weight and the skill with which it is shaped and polished seem to me to be strong presumptive evidence that it is genuine. If it be spurious, it is a forgery of a perfectly novel kind, and the first efforts of forgers in a new direction are not generally happy. Of course this argument in favour of the weight does not necessarily apply to the inscription; for it is a well-known trick to put a false inscription on a genuine object with a view to enhancing its value.

2. The inscription has been studied by Professor Sayce, on the original, and by Professor Euting, the celebrated epigrapher of Strassburg, on the cast published by the Palestine Exploration Fund. The copy of this cast used by Professor Euting was sent to him by Professor König, and the results of his examination are briefly communicated by the latter in his "Einleitung," p. 425 note. On one side of the weight Professor Sayce reads and on the other. As regards the first side, Professor Euting accepts, but can find no trace of ; as regards the second, he admits that Professor Sayce's reading is possible if only were a real word and gave sense. But he urges that gives no sense, and that the last letter may be taken as  instead of ;, in which case the words on the second side are not genuine Hebrew, but the Arabic nis f, "half," in old Hebrew characters, and so necessarily spurious. To all this Professor Sayce replies that the cast is imperfect and does not represent all the lines of the original, which his opinion can only be read as he has read it.

3. In this state of the controversy a fresh examination of the original and a thorough comparison between it and the cast were clearly desirable. Through the kindness of Dr. Chaplin, I have had the use of the original for two entire days, during which I have studied it in every way, by natural and artificial light, with the naked eye and under weak and strong lenses. For the purpose of comparison I have been able to use two copies of the cast, one of which was supplied from the office of the Palestine Exploration Fund, while the other was lent me by Professor Driver. Both these copies appear to me to be excellent, and faithfully to represent every line of the inscription. On this point I entirely agree with what has been already stated by Dr. Chaplin in the Academy of November 4, from his own observation and that of Mr. Armstrong; and I may add that, at my request, my colleague Professor Bevan and Mr. F. C. Burkitt, both of whom are very competent judges in such


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Rh matters, were good enough to compare the cast with the original in the disputed place, and could detect no failure in the reproduction. Of course, the metal cast cannot perfectly represent the texture of the stone surface, and the lines are not always quite so sharp as in the original, but they are all there.

It is not asserted that there is any difference between the lines on the cast and those on the original, except in the place where Professor Sayce reads and Professor Euting cannot read that word; and as five witnesses are agreed against Professor Sayce in saying that they can see on the cast every line that appears on the original, it seems reasonable to conclude that Professor Euting with the cast, and Professor Sayce with the original, really saw the same lines, but interpreted them differently. In point of fact, neither the cast nor the original shows a complete Old Hebrew (which would have, approximately, the shape of an English W), but certain detached pieces, which must be prolonged and connected by imaginary lines before we can get out of them the one letter  which Professor Sayce desires, or the two distinct letters  which Professor Euting suggests as possible. When it comes to filling up the missing parts of letters which either were imperfectly formed from the first, or have been partly defaced by wearing, the question is not one of pure eyesight, but of eyesight and judgment combined. And here the man who has the original before him has undoubtedly a great advantage over him who uses the cast, for he is in a much better position to judge how far defacing by attrition has been carried. Professor Eating's conjecture that the place where Professor Sayce reads may originally have contained three letters, corresponding to the  or  on the other side, implies an amount of wearing sufficient to obliterate entirely several of the principal lines. But the sharpness and depth of the lines that remain, and especially the sharp definition of their terminations, together with the absence of any trace, however faint, of lost lines, appear to be fatal to this hypothesis; and I am confident that Professor Euting would never have advanced it had the original lain before him. Whether Professor Sayce's is more defensible is a question that cannot be answered without going into somewhat complicated details. The of his  seems to me to be clear enough both in the cast and in the original. Moreover, the cutting is deep and clear, showing that in this place there has been very little wearing (as might indeed be expected, since the point of the spindle would naturally be less worn than the middle), so that it is out of the question to suppose that any material part of the letter has disappeared. If it is not a it is not a letter at all. But as regards the shin (which I again ask the reader to think of as an English W), the facts are not so favourable to Professor Sayce. The two middle lines of the W are there, no doubt, and to the right of them there is a detached stroke which would do very well for the right-hand stroke of the W if only it were connected instead of detached. One might


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228 suppose that the angle of junction has been worn away, but in that case one would expect the two converging lines to thin off and become gradually weak as they approach, and this is not the case. Or, on the other hand, one might admit that the angle was never closed, but argue that this is only a piece of carelessness on the part of the engraver; which is not impossible, though hardly probable. But the real difficulty of Professor Sayce's interpretation lies in the left hand line of the supposed W. A first glance at the weight or cast does indeed show something which looks like a fragment of the upper part of the desired line. But on more careful examination under a powerful lens this fragment resolves itself into two elements (1) a clearly defined but very short cut, which has not the direction required for the left limb of a W, but rather runs parallel to the main or upright line of the ; a splintered break proceeding from the lower part of the right hand edge of this cut, and trending downwards to the right. The distinction between the true cut and the break is perfectly clear to me in the original, but of course not so clear in the cast, which does not render the toolmarks quite sharply, and does not show at all the difference of surface between a saw cut and a splintered break. After having made out the composite character of this little stroke on the original, I persuade myself that with great care and strong magnifying power I can see even on the cast that the line is partly sawn, and partly due to splintering; but the study of the cast alone would hardly suggest this distinction, and so would leave it a very open question whether the whole stroke is cut (in which case it can hardly be anything else than a fragment of the fourth arm of a W) or the whole due to a superficial fracture (in which case a W is impossible). My own opinion as to the nature of the stroke is hardly more favourable to the reading W than the view that it is wholly due to a fracture; for it is the break alone which, by trending to the right as it descends, gives the line as a whole the appearance of running in the proper direction for the fourth limb of a shin.

I am afraid that these observations on the difficulties attending both the rival interpretations leave the matter more puzzling than ever; but there is one point not hitherto noticed on which I think that I can throw some light. I am convinced that the inscriptions on the two sides of the weight are not of the same date. The whole inscription (to name it after Professor Sayce's reading) is much more worn than the  How can this have happened if the two inscriptions are contemporaneous? Not by weathering, one side being protected and the other not; for then there would be a difference in the surface texture of the two sides. But that is not the case, as can be seen by taking the points of the weight between the thumb and forefinger and gently rotating it, at the same time observing the reflections of the light that falls on the surface. The whole surface has been worn by similar agencies, producing a uniform texture and polish. At the same time, the weight has no tendency to roll over upon the more worn side; so that there is no


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Rh physical reason why one side should be more worn than the other unless the stone is greatly softer on one side, which in so small a piece of an evenly grained hæmatite may be regarded as impossible. I conclude that the second inscription was engraved after the weight was worn by use. To verify this conclusion I requested a practical physical observer to look at the stone, and after careful examination he declared that he could not understand how anyone believed the two inscriptions to be of the same age. For further verification I took a strong lens and examined the toolmarks on each side, with the result that I found the second inscription to exhibit a different and inferior technique. To a certain extent the technical inferiority of the side is manifest even on the cast; notably in the letters. But on the original the same thing appears in other letters—e.g., in the. Straight strokes, which the first artist effected by a clean and uniform sawcut, are produced on the second side by two or three cuts, made by an uncertain hand, which could not keep a single direction truly.

6. Of course, if this be so—and the matter is one on which I appeal with confidence to all who will take the trouble to examine the original with minute precision—the idea that the two inscriptions are continuous and mean "quarter of a quarter of a " (whatever the last word may mean) falls to the ground. And here I may notice another little point which possibly leads in the same direction. If the weight is set on its plane base, the second inscription is right side up, and the first is upside down, which hardly looks as if they were meant to be read continuously. At all events, it is now plain that the older inscription is complete in itself, and if it really reads, it may be best interpreted as standing for , "a quarter of full weight." This use of is Biblical, the contraction is strictly in accordance with analogy, and the phrase as a whole finds its exact parallel in the adjective wāfin "of full weight" on the glass coin weights of the Arabs.

According to old Hebrew idiom, "a quarter," without specification of the unit, can only mean a quarter shekel. Now Mr. Petrie, in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, 1890, p. 267, makes our weight 39·2 grains, which would give a shekel of 156·8 (or something more if we allow for wearing). The weight of the old Hebrew shekel is still disputed, but the balance of evidence seems to me to favour the conclusions of Professor Ridgeway, who puts it at 130 to 135 grains. In that case, our quarter is too heavy; but it came from Samaria, and we know from Amos viii, 5, that the merchants of Samaria made the ephah small and the shekel great in order to cheat their customers.

In truth Professor Sayce's reading of this side gives an interpretation so easy and good, that one is reluctant to abandon it, and wonders why he himself did not hit on it. But, as we have seen, the possibility of reading is doubtful or more than doubtful. And, if this reading is given up, it does not seem possible to make any other letters out of the group of signs without inventing imaginary supplementary lines on a scale for