DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5074#0115
WILDEKNESS OF JUDiEA.
101
peculiar dignity (Gen. iv. 1), and a wife does not bear the
name of her husband, but that of her son. We used to
be amused to hear the English Consul's wife always ad-
dressed by the natives as " Om (mother of) Iskender "—
her eldest boy's name being Alexander—and they would-
inquire from her after the child as " Abou Jacobi," his
father's name being James.
The road from Hebron soon changed from dreary
hills to absolute desert, with nothing particular to look
at save the openings of a few caves here and there, the
scenes, doubtless, of many of the adventures and es-
capes of David during his wanderings in the "wilderness
of Judaea." One cave was fronted with columns, and
we regretted not being able to examine it: the Arabs
call it " the mother of bells," and seemed to regard
it with interest and respect—so that it may contain
some remains of interest. The word here translated
tvildemess or desert should not be misunderstood to mean
a sterile place —the root of the original Hebrew word
midbar means to conduct, to lead, and describes an open
country fit for the pasturage of flocks : they were fre-
quently fit for cultivation, but were left open for the occu-
pation most congenial to the early Israelite. Soon after, we
came to Tell Ziph, the site of the city whose inhabitants
tried to betray David into the hands of Saul, and in
half an hour more to Carmel, where there are ruins
of some interest—an old tower of the same masonry as
the Tower of Hippicus, and the remains of several
churches and other ruins of some extent. It was in
this place that Amaary I. king of Jerusalem, occu-
pied, in a.d. 1172, so saith the Chronicle, the identical
dwelling-house of JSTabal, the churl whose beautiful Abi-
gail became afterwards the wife of David!
h 3
101
peculiar dignity (Gen. iv. 1), and a wife does not bear the
name of her husband, but that of her son. We used to
be amused to hear the English Consul's wife always ad-
dressed by the natives as " Om (mother of) Iskender "—
her eldest boy's name being Alexander—and they would-
inquire from her after the child as " Abou Jacobi," his
father's name being James.
The road from Hebron soon changed from dreary
hills to absolute desert, with nothing particular to look
at save the openings of a few caves here and there, the
scenes, doubtless, of many of the adventures and es-
capes of David during his wanderings in the "wilderness
of Judaea." One cave was fronted with columns, and
we regretted not being able to examine it: the Arabs
call it " the mother of bells," and seemed to regard
it with interest and respect—so that it may contain
some remains of interest. The word here translated
tvildemess or desert should not be misunderstood to mean
a sterile place —the root of the original Hebrew word
midbar means to conduct, to lead, and describes an open
country fit for the pasturage of flocks : they were fre-
quently fit for cultivation, but were left open for the occu-
pation most congenial to the early Israelite. Soon after, we
came to Tell Ziph, the site of the city whose inhabitants
tried to betray David into the hands of Saul, and in
half an hour more to Carmel, where there are ruins
of some interest—an old tower of the same masonry as
the Tower of Hippicus, and the remains of several
churches and other ruins of some extent. It was in
this place that Amaary I. king of Jerusalem, occu-
pied, in a.d. 1172, so saith the Chronicle, the identical
dwelling-house of JSTabal, the churl whose beautiful Abi-
gail became afterwards the wife of David!
h 3