and afterwards Herod the Great, but they have now for many ages ceased to exist as a distinct people.

The prophecies concerning Moab are numerous and remarkable: "There are," says Keith, "abundant predictions which refer so clearly to its modern state, that there is scarcely a single feature peculiar to the land of Moab, as it now exists, which was not marked by the prophets in their delineation of the low condition to which, from the height of its wickedness and haughtiness, it was finally to be brought down. The whole country abounds with ruins; and Burckhardt, who encountered so many difficulties in so desolate and dangerous a land, thus records the brief history of a few of them; 'The ruins of Eleale, Heshbon, Medaba, Meon, Dibon, Aroer, still subsist to illustrate the history of the Beni Israel:' and it might with equal truth have been added, that they still subsist to confirm the inspiration of the Jewish Scriptures, or to prove that the seers of Israel were the prophets of God; for the desolation of each of these very cities was the theme of a prediction. Everything worthy of observation respecting them has been detailed, not only in Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, but also by Seetzen, and more recently by Captains Irby and Mangles, who, along with Mr. Banks and Mr. Legh, visited this deserted district.

"Mount Nebo was completely barren when Burckhardt passed over it, and the site of the ancient city had not been ascertained: 'Nebo is spoiled.' None of the ancient cities of Moab now remain as tenanted by men. Kerek, which neither bears any resemblance in name to any of the cities of Moab, which are mentioned as existing in the time of the Israelites, nor possesses any monuments which denote a very remote antiquity, is the only nominal town in the whole country, and in the words of Seetzen who visited it, 'in its present ruined state it can only be called a hamlet; and the houses have only one floor.'

"The most fertile and populous province in Europe, (especially any situated in the interior of a country like Moab,) is not covered so thickly with towns as Moab is plentiful in ruins, deserted and desolate though it now be. Burckhardt enumerates about fifty ruined sites within its boundaries, many of them extensive. In general they are a broken down and undistinguishable mass of ruins; and many of them have not been closely inspected. But in some instances, there are the remains of temples, sepulchral monuments, the ruins of edifices, constructed of very large stones, tracks of hanging gardens; entire columns lying on the ground, three feet in diameter, and fragments of smaller columns; and many cisterns cut out of the rock. But not one of the ancient cities of Moab exists as tenanted by man.

"Among the ruins of El Aal (Eleale) are a number of large cisterns, fragments of buildings, and foundations of houses. At Heshban (Heshbon) are the ruins of a large ancient town, together with the remains of a temple and some edifices. A few broken shafts of columns are still standing; and there are a number of deep wells cut in the rock. The ruins of Medaba are about two miles in circumference. There are many remains of the walls of private houses constructed with blocks of silex, but not a single edifice is standing. The chief object of interest is an immense tank or cistern of hewn stones, which as there is no stream at Medaba,' Burckhardt remarks, might still be of use to the Bedouins, were the surrounding ground cleared of the rubbish to allow the water to flow into it; but such an undertaking is far beyond the views of the wandering Arabs. There is also the foundation of a temple built with large stones, and apparently of great antiquity, with two columns near it. The ruins of Diban (Dibon),

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situated in the midst of a fine plain, are of considerable extent, but present nothing of interest. The neighbouring hot wells, and the similarity of the name, identify the ruins of Myoun with Meon, or Beth Meon of Scripture. Of this ancient city, as well as of Araayr (Aroer), nothing is now remarkable but what is common to them with all the cities of Moab-their entire desolation. The extent of the ruins of Rabba (Rabbath Moab), formerly the residence of the kings of Moab, sufficiently proves its ancient importance, though no other object can be particularized among the ruins except the remains of a palace or temple, some of the walls of which are still standing; a gate belonging to another building; and an insulated altar. There are many remains of private buildings, but none entire. There being no springs on the spot, the town had two birkets, the largest of which is cut entirely out of the rocky ground, together with many cisterns."

The strong contrast between the ancient and the actual state of Moab is exemplified in the condition of the inhabitants as well as of the land; and the coincidence between the prediction and the fact, is as striking in the one case as in the other: "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels and break their bottles." (Jerem. 48. 12.) The Bedouin (wandering) Arabs, are now the chief and almost the only inhabitants of a country once studded with cities. They prevent any from forming a fixed settlement who are inclined to attempt it; for although the fruitfulness of the soil would abundantly repay the labour of settlers, and render migration wholly unnecessary, even if the population were increased more than tenfold, yet the Bedouins forcibly deprive them of the means of subsistence, compel them to search for it elsewhere, and in the words of the prediction, literally "cause them to wander." "It may be remarked generally of the Bedouins," says Burckhardt, in describing their extortions, "that wherever they are the masters of the cultivators, the latter are soon reduced to beggary by their unceasing demands."

"O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth." (Jerem. 48. 28.) "Whether flocks lie down in the city without any to make them afraid, or whether men are to be found dwelling in the rocks, and are 'like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth,' the wonderful transition in either case, and the close accordance, in both, of the fact to the prediction, assuredly mark it in characters that may be visible to the purblind mind, as the word of that God before whom the darkness of futurity is as light, and without whom a sparrow cannot fall unto the ground."

Mr. Robinson, who visited this district since Burckhardt, gives us some interesting particulars of the ruined cities of Moab. At Ammon, the ancient capital of the Ammonites, he says, "Our attention was first attracted to a large theatre excavated in the side of the eastern hill, and opening towards the river. The diameter is one hundred and twenty-eight feet, exclusive of the depth of the theatre itself, (eighty-eight feet each way,) making it the largest theatre known in Syria. There are forty-two rows of seats, of stone, fourteen inches high, and twenty broad, divided into three portions by two open galleries. The first division nearest the stage has twelve steps with five cunei, the second fifteen steps with five. There are subterraneous passages in the wings, opening into these galleries of communication. At the top in the centre of the broad pathway, is a deep square recess with niches on each side. Before the

theatre and between it and the stream, are the remains of a beautiful colonnade. Eight columns, fifteen feet high, are standing, with Corinthian capitals and entablature entire. There are the shafts of eight other columns. There might have been fifty altogether when entire. Above the theatre, and south-east of it, are some further remains, which, owing to the impatience of our guides, we were unable to examine with the leisure they required; it is difficult to say of what they originally formed a part. Below the great theatre, but more to the south, is another smaller one, perhaps for musical representations. The exterior form of the building is square, though that of the area within, where are the seats, rising from bottom to top, is semi-circular, and enclosed by a high wall. It was formerly covered in, but the roof has fallen, and chokes up the interior, so as to render it difficult to determine what might have been its original destination.

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'Returning to nearly opposite the great theatre, to the west side of the river, we come to the remains of a temple, the interior wall of which alone remains, having an entablature of several niches adorned with sculptures. Before the building stand the shafts of several columns, three feet in diameter. Its date appears to be anterior to that of the other buildings of Ammon, and its style of architecture much superior. Whilst endeavouring to decipher an inscription almost effaced, Hatib, who had been watching me for some time, approached, and seizing my arm with one hand, and raising the other up to heaven, indicating that there was no other witness but God and ourselves, begged me to tell if I had found a treasure, and if so, it would be a solemn secret between

us.

Of course he was not satisfied with the answer I | gave him, and he evinced his displeasure and impatience in a variety of ways, and finally, by giving the signal to depart. Burckhardt says, 'It is a general opinion amongst the people, that inscriptions indicate hidden treasure, and that by reading or copying them, a knowledge is obtained where the treasure lies.'"

At Madeba Mr. Robinson describes a "large cistern, one hundred and thirty yards, by one hundred and fifteen deep, surrounded by a thick wall, well built. The ruins here are about half an hour in circumference, chiefly found on the crest of a round hill, and in the plain below extending westward. Not a single edifice is left standing, though there are some fragments of a temple on the west side, built of large blocks of stone, apparently of high antiquity." At Hesban, he says, "The ruins of a considerable town still exist, covering the sides of an insulated hill, but scarcely a single edifice is left entire. The view from the summit is very extensive, embracing the ruins of a vast number of cities, standing at short intervals from one another."

MOAB, PLAINS OF. In the narrative of the journeyings of the Israelites, we read that from Dibon Gad they removed to Almon Diblathaim, and next pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo: "And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho." (Numb. 33. 48.)

On approaching the Asphaltic Lake, the distance between the two chains of mountains by which Palestine is traversed is greatly increased, leaving between them and the river, on the east, the plains of Moab, and on the west the large plain of Jericho. This plain is very extensive, probably eighteen miles in extreme length, by a breadth of seven or eight miles. It is bounded externally by mountains, which form a kind of bow, bending westward in their course from north to south; of this bow the Jordan is as the chord. Beyond the river east

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ward are other mountains, as high or higher than these, and still more distant from the river, the whole making the plain appear as the arena of an amphitheatre, and particularly well suited for the assembling and numbering of a large body of people. Accordingly in it took place that enumeration of the Israelites from which the Book of Numbers derives its name. (Numb. ch. 26.)

MOLADAH, i was a city in the south of the tribe of Judah, (Josh. 15. 26,) but it was given up to the tribe of Simeon. (Josh. 19. 2; 1Chron. 4. 28.) It was repeopled on the return from the captivity. (Nehem. 11. 26.)

MOLE. In our version of Leviticus 11.30, in the enumeration of unclean animals, the word wan tinshemeth, has been translated "mole;" but Bochart has shown that it signifies the cameleon, and he conjectures with great reason, that the word hholed, translated "weasel," in the preceding verse, is the correct word for the mole. The Arabic name is khuld, the similarity of which with the Hebrew name hholed, is strongly in favour of his supposition.

Moles are met with in Palestine in the common fields and gardens, and are commonly destroyed on account of the damage they commit. Their extreme abundance on the plain of the coast is remarked by Hasselquist, who declares that he "had never seen any ground so cast up by moles as in the plains between Rama and Jaffa. There was scarcely a yard's distance between each mole

hill."

The mole, of which there are seven species, (Talpa Europæa, &c.,) is a small quadruped of the insectivorous order; it is generally between five and six inches long, and is covered with glossy black hair. It is admirably formed for its habits of underground life. The breadth, strength, and shortness of the fore-feet, which are inclined sideways, answer the use as well as form of hands; to scoop out the earth, to form its habitation, or to pursue its prey. Had they been longer, the falling in of the earth would have prevented the quick repetition of its strokes in working, or have impeded its course; the oblique position of the fore-feet has also this advantage, that it flings all the loose soil behind the animal.

The form of the body is not less admirably contrived for its way of life; the fore part of it is thick and very muscular, giving great strength to the action of the forefeet; enabling it to dig its way with amazing force and rapidity, either to pursue its prey or elude the search of the most active enemy. The form of its hind parts, which are small and taper, enables it to pass with great facility through the earth that the fore-feet had flung behind; for had each part of the body been of equal thickness, its flight would have been impeded, and its security precarious. The smallness of the eyes (which gave occasion to the ancients to deny it the sense of sight) is to this animal a peculiar happiness: a small degree of vision is sufficient for an animal ever destined to live underground; had these organs been larger, they would have been perpetually liable to injuries by the earth falling into them; but nature, to prevent that inconvenience, has not only made them very small, but also covered them very closely with fur. Anatomists mention, besides these, a third very wonderful contriv ance for their security; and inform us, that each eye is furnished with a certain muscle, by which the animal has power of withdrawing them, or exerting them according to its exigencies. The mole is amply recompensed for the dimness of its sight by the great perfection of two other senses, those of hearing and smelling;

may

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The mole breeds in the spring, and brings forth four or five young at a time; it makes its nest of moss, and that under the largest hillock, a little below the surface of the ground. The mole is observed to be most active, and to cast up most earth, immediately before rain, and in the winter before a thaw, because at these times the worms and insects begin to be in motion, and approach the surface. On the contrary, in very dry weather, this animal seldom or never forms any hillock, as it penetrates deep after its prey, which at such seasons retires far into the ground. The underground passages formed by the burrows of the moles, are generally connected with a sort of chamber, in which the nest is made, and the young deposited. The moles often traverse these passages to and from their nests; and which probably act as traps, where worms, beetles, and grubs, which constitute their chief food, are often caught by them. In gardens and corn-fields, moles often do much damage by loosening the earth at the roots. In meadows they also do some injury, but there they assist also in draining the land. The quantity of grubs, beetles, and worms which they consume is very great and very beneficial. They have been accused of eating the seed and roots of plants; but it is very uncertain whether they feed on either.

There is a passage in the prophet Isaiah, (2. 20,) which has caused considerable discussion; it reads thus: “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats." (See BAT.) The Hebrew word for "moles," as our version gives it, ishhaphar-phiroth, which Gesenius says, "according to Jerome may be understood indifferently of mice or moles, from hhaphar, to dig. The context almost requires an animal which might be parallel with bat, but the interpretations of the ancients are very discordant." The Septuagint renders it μatalos, vanities. By some it is rendered "pits or holes;" but it is more generally understood of animals which dig pits, particularly "moles," rats, mice. If some specific animal is intended, perhaps the mole, rat, or spalax of the Greeks, which is found in Palestine and Syria, may be admitted as offering a probable alternative. These animals are of the rat kind, in the order of the Rodentia, or gnawers; and are remarkable for their blindness, since the eye is not visible till the skin is stripped off. The blind rat, or mole-rat, is larger than the common rat, and has a fine hair of an ash colour.

MOLOCH, Moxox, or Molech, or Milcom, or Melchom, a god of the Ammonites, to whom human victims were offered. (1 Kings 11. 7.) Moses in several places forbids the Israelites, under the penalty of death, to dedicate their children to Moloch, by making them pass through the fire in honour of that god. (Levit. 18. 21; 20. 2, et seq.) It is unquestionable that the heathen actually burnt their children in honour of this deity, but from the terms of this prohibition, some writers have supposed that the Hebrews did not go to such a frightful length of cruelty: some are of opinion that they contented themselves with making their children leap over a sacred fire to Moloch, this being a ceremony used among the heathens of conse

Mr. Christmas, in his Universal Mythology, gives us the following statement respecting this deity:-" Moloch was, as is well known, worshipped under the form of a calf or an ox, and represented the sun, the king of heaven; Moloch signifying a king. Under which name the Canaanites, in very early times, adored this luminary, and suffered their children, as soon as they were born, to be exposed to the scorching heat of his fiery rays. They looked on this custom as a purification, which was not only holy, but also healthy. But as superstition, when it once gets the upper hand, knows no bounds, so the priests of Moloch were ever adding new ceremonies to these. They kindled two fires before the image of this god, through which they caused the children to pass. Nor did they stop here; it followed by degrees that children, especially when there happened to be many in a family, were sacrificed to the great tutelary god Moloch, and actually burnt in honour of him. And that these unfortunate and miserable burnt offerings might not move the bystanders to pity by their dreadful cries, the inhuman priests made use at their hellish ceremonies of trumpets and drums, and other deafening noises, so that the despairing shrieks and piteous moans of the wretched children could not be heard. From this noise and clamour, the valley in which these inhuman cruelties were perpetrated was called 'The Vale of Tophet,' which is as much as to say, 'The Vale of the sound of drums and cymbals. This idol was provided with seven recesses or cupboards in the image itself, to receive the various offerings of his worshippers. In the first was placed the meal, in the second the doves, in the third a sheep, in the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and in the seventh a child, which, according to most writers, was burnt therein. It has been conjectured, and with the greatest probability, that Moloch and Saturn were the same deity. Saturn, whose worship was most renowned among the Carthaginians, a people of Phoenician descent, was represented by a metallic idol, whose hands were stretched out together, with a downward inclination; so that, when the customary offering of a child was placed in the arms, it fell into a pan or brazier of glowing charcoal, which stood at the feet of this cruel idol, and was quickly consumed. There is nothing more certain or more famous in all antiquity, than the human sacrifices offered to Saturn, not only in Carthage, but in many other places."

In the corrupt periods of the Jewish kingdom, this idol was erected in the valley south of Jerusalem, called the valley of Hinnom, and in part of the valley called Tophet, so named from the drums toph, tophim, which were beaten to prevent the groans and cries of the children sacrificed from being heard. (Isai. 30. 33; Jerem. 7. 31,32; 19. 6-14.) According to the Rabbins, the image was made of brass, sitting on a throne of the same metal, adorned with a royal crown, having the head of a calf, and his arms extended to receive the hapless children offered to him.