flowing past us in the gentlest manner, and diffusing, as its ancient name Pharpar imports, verdure and fertility all around."-Bible in Palestine.

THE HAURAN.

BOSZRA OF HAURAN-ASHTAROTH--EDREI-KENATH, OR NOBAH.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"THE east side ye shall measure from Hauran.”Ezek. xlvii. 18.

"The Haurán is mentioned in Ezekiel, in connexion with the eastern boundary of the land of Israel. It is the later Auranitis. It is divided into three districts, viz., En-Nakrah, which is the most productive, El-Lejah, which is covered with a stony soil and with heaps of rocks interspersed with small patches of meadow, and El-Jebel, which is almost entirely mountainous.

Esh

meskin is the present capital of the Haurán. The whole province is full of ruined villages, built almost entirely of hewn stone, of the time of the Romans. Among the ancient sites within its borders which have been identified, are those of Edrei, one of the cities of Og, king of Bashan; of Ashtarah, or Ashtaroth, mentioned in Joshua in connexion with the preceding; of Busrah, the Bostra of the Greeks and Romans, and the capital of Arabia Provincia (though not the Bozrah of Edom), the ruins of which are very considerable; of Kenath of Numbers, probably Canatha, one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, which is placed by Eusebius near Bostra, &c. ... East of Jebel Haurán is the minor district of Bathaniyah, perhaps a portion of the Scripture Bashan.

"The Ardh-el-'Ajlún' is the district south of Jaulán, and west of the Haurán. From the view we had of it from different heights west of the Jordan, I can easily understand the accounts which are given of its pastoral

beauty and fertility. I am rather surprised that among the various identifications which have been made of late years, both of the towns and districts of the Holy Land, the etymological fact seems to have been overlooked, that the Ardh-el-'Ajlún is simply the corresponding Arabic of the Hebrew, 'the land of Eglon,' without the change of a single letter. I am somewhat inclined to associate it with the memory of Eglon the king of Moab,' to whom the Israelites were subservient for eighteen years.”—WILSON's Lands of the Bible.

BOSZRA OF HAURAN.

"AMONG the cities of the Hauran, the ruins of which are considerable and interesting, is Boszra, the Bostra of the Greeks and Romans, and which has by many been regarded as the Bozrah of Edom; but this appears unlikely, from the fact that the Hauran Bozra lies far beyond the limits of the Idumean territory. The Bozrah of Edom may probably be looked for at Busaireh, a village situated about midway between Kerek and Petra. (See Bozrah of Edom.) Of the Boszra of Haurán, the principal ruins are, the remains of a temple situated on the side of a long street which runs across the whole town, and terminates at the western gate. There are four most beautiful columns in front of this temple. A triumphal arch, and a very large reservoir, almost perfect, with a staircase leading down to the water, and a large castle, also claim the attention of the visitor. The environs of the town are covered with ruins, among which a number of fine roses grow wild."1-See BURCKHARDT.

1 There is still another Bostra, which is situated near Banias, north of the sea of Galilee, and therefore properly belongs to the geography of Palestine.

D

ASHTAROTH-EDREI.

SCRIPTURE NOTICES.

"THEN we turned, and went up the way to Bashan : and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.”—Deut. iii. 1.

"All the kingdom of Og in Bashan, which reigned in Ashtaroth, and in Edrei, who remained of the remnant of the giants for these did Moses smite, and cast them out."-Joshua xiii. 12.

The ruins of Ashtaroth (Ashtareh) have but lately been discovered.

"Tel'Ashtereh is a large mound, partly natural, partly artificial, in the midst of a vast plain.

"The circumference of Tel'Ashtereh is more than half a mile, and its height from fifty to one hundred feet. Its base is formed of trap-rock, and its upper part is covered with a peculiar dark ash-coloured soil, mingled with stones and fragments of ancient pottery, such as are invariably found on sites of the most ancient places in Syria. Near the base of this hill, ancient foundations of massive stones, hewn and unhewn, can be distinctly traced.

"In the soil of the surrounding plain, numerous fragments of stone and pottery show that it is the site of an ancient town, of which this Tel or mound was once probably the Acropolis. Its summit presents an irregular surface, now partly occupied by stone enclosures, thrown up by the Arabs to form sheep-folds. From the base of the mound, there gush forth copious and neverfailing springs of excellent water; which form a small reedy pool and marsh, affording an ample supply for any large flocks and herds. In July 1846, there were upwards of 20,000 camels and more than 50,000 goats grazing there; as the fine pastures of the surrounding

plain attract vast numbers of Arabs thither during the summer months. Upwards of 10,000 of them then lay encamped round the base of the mound, and between it and Nawa."-Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.

KENATH OR NOBAH.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"AND Nobah went and took Kenath . . . and called it Nobah, after his own name."-Num. xxxii. 42. (Judges viii. 11. 1 Chron. ii. 23.)

"Kanouat is situated upon a declivity on the banks of the deep Wady Kanouat, which flows through the town, and whose steep banks are supported by walls in several places. To the south-west of the town is a copious spring.

"There are a number of high columns on a terrace, at some distance fromt he town, enclosing a square, within which is a row of subterranean apartments. The terrace is ten feet high, with a broad flight of steps leading up to it. The whole ground upon which the ruined habitations stand, is overgrown with oak-trees which hide the ruins.

"The circuit of this ancient city may be about two miles and a half or three miles. From the spring, there is a beautiful view into the plain of the Haurán, bounded on the opposite side by the mountain of the Heish, now covered with snow. The principal building in the town is on the banks of the Wady, and is approached by a paved street, which lies along its deep bed... there are also some broken statues of idols. There were only two Druse families at Kanouat, who were employed in cultivating a few tobacco-fields."-See BURCKHARDT'S Syria, &c.

"On opening the ruins of Palmyra, as seen from the Valley of the Tombs, we were much struck with the picturesque effect of the whole, presenting altogether the most imposing sight of the kind we had ever seen; and it was rendered doubly interesting, by our having travelled through a wilderness destitute of a single building, and from which we suddenly opened upon these innumerable columns and other ruins on a sandy plain, on the skirts of the desert; their snow-white appearance, contrasted with the yellow sand, produced a very striking effect. Great, however, was our disappointment, when, on a minute examination, we found that there was not a single column,