DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0171
KHUREITUN.
H5
are indeed in a labyrinth. What seemed from Frank Mountain to be continuous ranges, on
closer acquaintance prove to be seamed on all sides diagonally with mountain torrent beds,
leaving blocks rather than ridges standing between valleys of soft white marl sprinkled with
flints, and the pebbly watershed (now, of course, dry) in the centre. Here trees never can
have grown, and the expression "wood of Ziph " ought rather to be rendered "thickets."
In tracing this theatre of some of the most eventful scenes of David's early life, we have
still the Tell Zif to fix the locality. David's earliest refuge after his flight from the court of
Achish was the Cave of Adullam, which, as we have noted, was on the western slopes of
POOLS OF SOLOMON.
Now called El Burak—the tanks. The castle above them is occupied by a few soldiers for protection against the Bedouins.
the central mountain range, guarding the rich corn valley of Elah. Thence he moved south
to Keilah on the same range, and then crossed to the neighbourhood of Ziph, where he
had his interview with Jonathan. Close to Ziph, Lieut. Conder has discovered the ruins of
Khoreisa and the valley of Hiresh, which exactly answer to the Hebrew word rendered
" wood" in our Bible. Then again, by the treachery of the men of Ziph, David had to fly
to the wilderness (Jashimon), i.e. the great desert plateau we have been describing above
the shores of the Dead Sea. The hill Hachilah, his stronghold, is by Lieut. Conder placed
at El Kolah, where the hilly desert and the southern wilderness meet; and it is curious to
note that some caves on the north side of the hill retain the name of the " Caves of the
20
H5
are indeed in a labyrinth. What seemed from Frank Mountain to be continuous ranges, on
closer acquaintance prove to be seamed on all sides diagonally with mountain torrent beds,
leaving blocks rather than ridges standing between valleys of soft white marl sprinkled with
flints, and the pebbly watershed (now, of course, dry) in the centre. Here trees never can
have grown, and the expression "wood of Ziph " ought rather to be rendered "thickets."
In tracing this theatre of some of the most eventful scenes of David's early life, we have
still the Tell Zif to fix the locality. David's earliest refuge after his flight from the court of
Achish was the Cave of Adullam, which, as we have noted, was on the western slopes of
POOLS OF SOLOMON.
Now called El Burak—the tanks. The castle above them is occupied by a few soldiers for protection against the Bedouins.
the central mountain range, guarding the rich corn valley of Elah. Thence he moved south
to Keilah on the same range, and then crossed to the neighbourhood of Ziph, where he
had his interview with Jonathan. Close to Ziph, Lieut. Conder has discovered the ruins of
Khoreisa and the valley of Hiresh, which exactly answer to the Hebrew word rendered
" wood" in our Bible. Then again, by the treachery of the men of Ziph, David had to fly
to the wilderness (Jashimon), i.e. the great desert plateau we have been describing above
the shores of the Dead Sea. The hill Hachilah, his stronghold, is by Lieut. Conder placed
at El Kolah, where the hilly desert and the southern wilderness meet; and it is curious to
note that some caves on the north side of the hill retain the name of the " Caves of the
20