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HE substance of the following pages has often been presented to the public in the form of lectures on the Moabite Stone, delivered in many towns of Eng

land on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund. This little treatise does not lay claim to much originality, inasmuch as the subject matter has been drawn from every available source, but chiefly are we indebted to the learned labours on the subject of Monsieur Clermont Ganneau, Rev. F. A. Klein, Captain Warren, Emanuel Deutsch, George Grove, Esq., Professor Weir, Captain Burton, Professor Wright, Dr. Davidson, Professor G. Rawlinson, author of "The Moabite Stone" in "The Recovery of Jerusalem," Dean Walsh, and Canon Tristram. Neither indeed can it boast of deep scholarship, for although it aims at more than a superficial exposition of the stone, yet the knowledge brought to bear on the subject is the fruit of other men's labours. The transliteration of the primitive alpha

bet found on the inscription into the square Hebrew characters used at present does not seem necessary in order to understand and appreciate the teaching of this ancient monument. This treatise is not designed for critical scholars, and, therefore, we think it desirable not to introduce the modern square letters, which, strictly speaking, are Chaldaic and not Hebrew, but rather to apply ourselves to the study of the primitive characters found on the stone, characters which furnish an alphabet exactly the same as the old Hebrew, and are, moreover, the original forms of nearly all the alphabets used by modern European nations. We have endeavoured, as far as possible, to harmonize the apparently conflicting accounts connected with the discovery of the monument and the efforts made to secure it, while we leave our readers to judge for themselves respecting the degree of praise or censure to be given to those gentlemen engaged in the matter. An attempt has been made to bring out into bold relief the chief gains to paleography and revealed religion; and by fitting together the pith of what may be called the literature of the Stone, we have endeavoured to present to our readers an unbroken record of this triumphal tablet, its story, and its teaching. Our earnest wish is that the perusal of these pages may tend to strengthen Faith, animate Hope, and increase veneration for the Sacred Volume.

THE BRITISH MUSEUM, 1878.

CHAPTER I.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE STONE.

N the summer of 1868 the Rev. F. A. Klein, a native of Prussia, an Anglican clergyman, and for many years the representative of the Church Missionary Society at Jerusalem, made an expedition for his pleasure through some of the districts on the eastern side of the Jordan.

Having passed over the region of Jebel Ajloon (the hilly part of Gilead) and visited es-Salt (Ramoth Gilead), he undertook a journey through the Belka, the district lying between the Jabbok and Arnon.

The greedy, wild character of the inhabitants renders a tour in those parts one attended with considerable danger, and on this account Mr. Klein was accompanied by a native chief called Zattam, who acted in the threefold capacity of guide, protec

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tor, and friend. Zattam was the son of the famous Fendi-l-Fäiz, Sheikh of the powerful tribe of the Beni Sachr, and consequently the party continued their journey without any molestation from the tribes through which they passed. On the 19th August, at a spot about three miles north of the Wadi Mojeb (Arnon), they arrived at the encampment of a tribe called the Beni Hamîdé. The roving Arabs had spread their tents at a place about ten minutes' walk from the ruins of Dhibân,the ancient Dibon of the Bible; and in a most friendly way received Zattam and his friends. Mr. Klein says "That carpets and cushions were spread in the tent of the Sheikh, and coffee was prepared with all the ceremonial of Bedouin etiquette. Before the operation of preparing and drinking coffee had been terminated, my friend Zattam, who was always most anxious to make my tour as pleasant and interesting as possible, had informed me that there was among the ruins of Dhibân, scarcely ten minutes from our encampment, a most interesting stone with an ancient inscription on it, which no one had ever been able to decipher, which he would take me to see. As sunset was drawing near I was anxious to be off at once, but Zattam was not to be persuaded to get up from his soft couch and leave off smoking his narghilee, while I was burning with a desire to see the inscription, which the Sheikh of the Beni Hamîdé also described to me as one of the wonders of the

region, which no Frank had yet seen, and which he now had offered to show me as a mark of honour to his friend Zattam, and to me who was travelling under his protection. I, of course, took this for what it was in general meant to be, a Bedouin compliment calculated to bring out a nice bakshish. Still, I afterwards ascertained that his assertion as to no European having, before me, seen the stone was perfectly true; none of the distinguished travellers in those parts had ever seen or heard of it, or they would not have shunned trouble and expense to secure this treasure. I am sorry to find that I was also the last European who had the privilege of seeing this monument of Hebrew antiquity in its perfect state of preservation. When I came to the spot where this precious relic of antiquity was lying on the ground, I was delighted at the sight, and at the same time greatly vexed that I did not come earlier, in order to have an opportunity of copying, at least, a good part of the inscription, which I might then, under the protection of Zattam, have done without the least molestation. I, however, had time enough to examine the stone and its inscription at leisure, and to copy a few words from several lines at random, chiefly with a view on my return to Jerusalem to ascertain the language of the inscription, and prevail on some friends of science to obtain either a complete copy of the inscription, or, better, the monument itself. The stone was lying among the ruins of Dhibân perfectly free and

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