[p.442] extremity of the sea they again approach, and leave between them
a valley similar to the northern Ghor, in shape; but which the want of
water makes a desert, while the Jordan and its numerous tributary
streams render the other a fertile plain. In the southern Ghor the
rivulets which descend from the eastern mountains, to the S. of Wady
Szafye, or El Karahy, are lost amidst the gravel in their winter beds,
before they reach the valley below, and there are no springs whatever in
the western mountain; the lower plain, therefore, in summer is entirely
without water, which alone can produce verdure in the Arabian deserts,
and render them habitable. The general direction of the southern Ghor is
parallel to the road which I took in coming from Khanzyre to Wady Mousa.
At the point where we crossed it, near Gharendel, its direction was from
N.N.E. to S.S.W. From Gharendel it extends southwards for fifteen or
twenty hours, till it joins the sandy plain which separates the
mountains of Hesma from the eastern branch of the Red sea. It continues
to bear the appellation of El Ghor as far as the latitude of Beszeyra,
to the S. of which place, as the Arabs informed me, it is interrupted
for a short space by rocky ground and Wadys, and takes the name of Araba
(Arabic), which it retains till its termination near the Red sea. Near
Gharendel, where I saw it, the whole plain presented to the view an
expanse of shifting sands whose surface was broken by innumerable
undulations, and low hills. The sand appears to have been brought from
the shores of the Red sea by the southerly winds; and the Arabs told me
that the valley continued to present the same appearance beyond the
latitude of Wady Mousa. A few Talh trees (Arabic) (the acacia which
produces the gum arable), Tarfa (Arabic) (tamarisk), Adha (Arabic), and
Rethem (Arabic), grow among the sand hills; but the depth of sand
precludes all vegetation of herbage. Numerous Bedouin tribes encamp here
in the winter, when the torrents produce a copious supply of water, and
a few
[p.443] shrubs spring up upon their banks, affording pasturage to the
sheep and goats; but the camels prefer the leaves of the trees,
especially the thorny Talh.
The existence of the valley El Araba, the Kadesh Barnea, perhaps, of the
Scriptures, appears to have been unknown both to ancient and modern
geographers, although it forms a prominent feature in the topography of
Syria and Arabia Petræa. It deserves to be thoroughly investigated, and
travellers might proceed along it in winter time, accompanied by two or
three Bedouin guides of the tribes of Howeytat and Terabein, who could
be procured at Hebron. Akaba, or Eziongeber, might be reached in eight
days by the same road by which the communication was anciently kept up
between Jerusalem and her dependencies on the Red sea, for this is both
the nearest and the most commodious route, and it was by this valley
that the treasures of Ophir were probably transported to the warehouses
of Solomon.
Of the towns which I find laid down in DAnvilles maps, between Zoara
and Aelana, no traces remain, Thoana excepted, which is the present
Dhana. The name of Zoar is unknown to the Arabs, but the village of
Szafye is near that point; the river which is made by DAnville to fall
into the Dead sea near Zoara, is the Wady El Ahhsa; but it will have
been seen in the above pages, [t]hat the course of that Wady is rather
from the east than south. I enquired in vain among the Arabs for the
names of those places where the Israelites had sojourned during their
progress through the desert; none of them are known to the present
inhabitants. The country, about Akaba, and to the W.N.W. of it, might,
perhaps, furnish some data for the illustration of the Jewish history. I
understand that M. Seetzen went in a straight line from Hebron to Akaba,
across the desert El Ty; he may perhaps, have collected some interesting
information on the subject.
[p.444] The following ruined places are situated in Djebal Shera, to the
S. and S.S.W. of Wady Mousa; Kalaat Beni Madha (Arabic), Atrah (Arabic),
a ruined tower, with water near it, Djerba (Arabic), Basta (Arabic), Eyl
(Arabic), Ferdakh (Arabic), with a spring; Anyk (Arabic), Bir el Beytar
(Arabic), a number of wells upon a plain surrounded by high cliffs, in
the midst of Tor Hesma. The caravans from Wady Mousa to Akaba make these
wells their first station, and reach Akaba on the evening of the second
day; but they are two long days journeys of ten or twelve hours each. At
the foot of Hanoun are the ruins of Wayra (Arabic), and the two deserted
villages of Beydha (Arabic) and Heysha (Arabic). West of Hanoun is the
spring Dhahel (Arabic), with some ruins. In that neighbourhood are the
ruined places Shemakh (Arabic) and Syk (Arabic).
We were one hour and a half in crossing the Araba, direction W. by N. In
some places the sand is very deep, but it is firm, and the camels walk
over it without sinking. The heat was suffocating, and it was increased
by a hot wind from the S.E. There is not the slightest appearance of a
road, or of any other work of human art in this part of the valley. On
the other side we ascended the western chain of mountains. The mountain
opposite to us appeared to be the highest point of the whole chain, as
far as I could see N. and S.; it is called Djebel Beyane (Arabic); the
height of this chain, however, is not half that of the eastern
mountains. It is intersected by numerous broad Wadys, in which the Talh
tree grows; the rock is entirely silicious, of the same species as that
of the desert which extends from hence to Suez. I saw some large pieces
of flint perfectly oval, three to four feet in length, and about a foot
and a half in breadth.
After an hour and a half of gentle ascent we arrived at the summit of
the hills, and then descended by a short and very gradual declivity into
the western plain, the level of which although higher