of the steps taken to secure the treasure is not perfectly plain, since the Bedouins, so intimately concerned in the affair, after beginning negotiations in an amicable spirit, ended with a lamentable quarrel, in the course of which the stone was reduced to fragments.

It appears that the discoverer of this stone was the Rev. F. Klein, a German in the service of the English Church Missionary Society, who, in 1868, made a journey to Jebel Ajloon and the Belka, and, August 19th, arrived at Dibân (ancient Dibon) about one hour north of the Wady Majeb (Arnon). He tells us that, for the sake of his friend Zattam, son of the Sheik of the famous Beni-Sachr, under whose protection he traveled, he was received in the most friendly way by the tribe of the Beni-Hamîdeh, encamped near Dibân. Carpets were spread in the tent of the Sheik and coffee prepared with all the usual ceremony. And while they were engaged with the entertainment, Zattam informed him that, among the ruins of Dibân, scarcely ten minutes from the present encampment, was an interesting stone with an inscription that no one heretofore had been able to read. Mr. Klein was at once filled with impatience, but was unable to persuade Zattam to leave his couch and narghilee. Accordingly the Sheik of Beni-Hamîdeh, who spoke of the stone as one of the wonders of the region, volunteered to show him the way; declaring what was perfectly true, namely, that no European had yet looked upon the treasure. Mr. Klein says:

"When I came to the spot where this precious relic of antiquity was lying on the ground, I was delighted at the sight, and at the same time greatly vexed I did not come earlier, in order to. have an opportunity of copying at least a good part of the inscription, which I might then under the protection of Zattam have done without the least molestation. I, however, had time enough to examine the stone and its inscription at leisure, and to copy a few words from several lines at random, chiefly with a view, on my return to Jerusalem, to ascertain the language of the inscription, and prevail on some friends of science to obtain either a complete copy of the inscription, or, better, the monument itself.

"The stone was lying among the ruins of Dibân perfectly free and exposed to view, the inscription uppermost. I got four men to turn it round (it was a basaltic stone, exceedingly heavy) in or

der to ascertain whether there was no inscription on the other side, and found that it was perfectly smooth and without any inscription or other marks. What time was left me before sunset I now employed in examining, measuring, and making a correct sketch of the stone, besides endeavoring to collect a perfect alphabet from the inscription."

On his return to Jerusalem, he showed the sketch and parts of the inscription to Dr. Peterman, who took immediate steps to secure the stone for the Museum of Berlin. An Arab was engaged as a negotiator, but the greedy Bedouins put insuperable obstacles in the way. Another agent was appointed without success; and finally the Moabites made an effort to excite competition among the Franks at Jerusalem, among whom was Captain Warren, Agent of the Palestine Exploration Society. But, on hearing that the Prussian Consul had already commenced negotiations, designed to secure the stone for the Prussian Government, he of course did not feel at liberty to concern himself about it until the Spring of the next year, when he learned with surprise that nothing had been done to get a "squeeze" of the Stone. Being called away in July, he was still unable to take any action beyond writing to England on the subject.

But M. Genneau, the French Consul at Jerusalem, suspecting that the Stone was one of great importance, employed several agents to obtain "squeezes," and also contracted to pay about £375 for it, though it had previously been promised to the Prussians for a far less sum. As a consequence, the Moabites became excited, while the Governor of Nablûs also desired to obtain possession of the prize, and thus secure the money for himself. When therefore M. Genneau's agent, Yegaub Caravace, reached the ground, fighting had already taken place; and next the Moabites, in their anger, made a fire under it, threw on water, and so broke it up, afterwards distributing the various fragments among the different families to place in the granaries, and serve as favorable charms to win a blessing upon their corn. When Captain Warren was returning to Jerusalem, the following November, he learned the melancholy fact of its destruction, and was presented with one of the fragments, by an Adwân, who brought the news. Thus the oldest known Semitic lapidary record yet discovered, after standing unharmed 2700 years, was finally destroyed

through the bad management of those who should have left the Prussian Consul to secure the stone.

The relic thus fought over and destroyed, was of black basalt, about three feet five inches high and one foot nine inches in width and thickness, rounded both at top and bottom to nearly a semi-circle, notwithstanding, Professor Rawlinson teaches in his Article in the Contemporary Review (August, 1870,) that the stone was square at the bottom. The inscription consisted of thirty-four straight lines one inch and a fourth apart.

It has already been stated, that during the negotiations to secure the stone, M. Genneau secured a "squeeze." For this purpose he sent an Arab with two horsemen, furnishing him with the needed material to make the impression. While the Arab, Yegaub Caravace, was taking the impression, the Moabites engaged in a fight about the ownership of the stone, and consequently the squeeze was imperfectly done and saved with difficulty in seven crumpled fragments. Captain Warren also sent his Adwân, and obtained impressions of the two largest fragments of the stone, now unfortunately broken, together with the twelve small pieces of the stone itself. Impressions of other fragments were afterwards obtained, and finally the text was restored as we have seen it in the so-called fac-similes. The work of reconstruction. was performed chiefly by M. Genneau, who, it is generally conceded, has accomplished his task in a most scholarly manner, though he does not explain the particular methods employed. He has, since the outset, issued two revised texts with elaborate notes. But, with all the study and care bestowed, the text is imperfect. There are still wanting thirty-five entire words, fifteen half words and eighteen letters. Nearly two-thirds of the stone, consisting of thirty-eight fragments, are in the possession of M. Genneau and the Palestine Exploration Society.

Next we must speak of the paleographical character of the stone, a point lately discussed in the Contemporary Review, by Professor Rawlinson. The characters used in the inscription are. those of the so-called Phenician tongue, a language and alphabet common more than seven centuries before Christ. This people, so aptly styled the English of antiquity, exhibited marvellous enterprise and great force of character, appearing equally powerful in the marts of the world's commerce and on the well-fought field.

The mode of writing, practiced by them, had at this time. spread all over Western Asia, and become established in France, as we learn, especially from the inscribed slab of Marseilles.* In

* In connection with the Moabite Stone, it is important for the better understanding of the discussion, to give both the Marseilles and Eshmunazer inscriptions. The latter will be found on a succeeding page. The Marseilles Stone was found at that place, on the ruins of a temple of Baal, in 1845. The following is the translation of the Rev. Nathan Brown, D. D., read by him, in connection with a learned paper on the Phenician literature, at a recent meeting of the New York Association for the Advancement of Science and Art.

"House of Baal. These are the requisitions for the sacrifice tribute, established for perpetual observance by Halisbaal the Ruler, son of Bodtanith, son of Bod-and Halisbaal the Ruler, son of Bodeshmun, son of Halisbaal, and the associate directors. For a bullock offered entire, whether an oblation or a whole peace offering, the priests shall have ten shekels of silver for each victim; and with the whole burnt offering they shall have in addition, the tribute of flesh, three hundred misquals (or pounds); and with the oblation, grain and fine flour, as well as the skin, viscera and feet; and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the owner of the sacrifice. For a young bullock that has horns, but does not strike with the horn or hoof, and is not used for labor, or for a stag entire, whether an oblation or a whole peace offering, the priests shall have a duty of five silver shekels, for each victim; and with the whole burnt offering they shall have in addition the tribute of flesh, pounds one hundred and fifty; and with the oblation, grain and fine flour, as well as the skin, viscera and feet, and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the owner of the sacrifice. For a ram or he goat offered entire, whether an oblation or a whole peace offering, the priest shall have one silver shekel and two gerahs for each victim; and with the oblation they shall have in addition the tribute of flesh, thirty pounds, and grain and fine flour, as well as the skin, viscera and feet; and the rest of the flesh shall belong to the owner of the sacrifice. For a lamb, or kid, or fawn of a stag, offered entire, whether an oblation or whole peace offering, the priests shall have three-fourths of a shekel of silver, and two gerahs for each victim; and with the oblation they shall have in addition the tribute of grain and fine flour, as well as the skin, viscera and feet, and the rest of the flesh belongs to the owner of the sacrifice. For all produce of the garden, whether flowers for a whole peace offering, or jujubes, or onions, the priests shall have three-fourths of a silver shekel and two gerahs for each offering, and the peace offering shall be for the priests. For every bird, or first fruits, or sacrifice of spices, or sacrifice of oil, the priests shall have two gerahs for each offering. For every oblation offered before the gods, the priests shall have grain and fine flour, and the oblation. Upon cakes, and upon milk, upon lard, and upon every offering which men shall offer there shall remain. Of every offering which a poor man shall offer, whether property or birds, nothing shall remain to the priests. Every leper or person with scurvy, and every murderer, is rejected; and every man, of that which he offers. . The man of the congregation shall give upon each sacrifice, according to the rate fixed in the regulations. The tribute which he shall bring is fixed, and he shall give according to the regulations made by the ruler Halisbaal, son of Bodtanith, and Halisbaal, son of Bodeshmun, and the associate directors. Every priest who shall exact a tribute exceeding that which is decreed in this tablet shall be punished, and he shall give to the owner of the sacrifice who presented it, double the amount in silver, of all the duties which he unjustly exacted." See also "Inscription Phénicienne de Marseilles. Nouvelle Interprétation. Par M. L. Abbé, J. J. L. Bargès. Paris, 1858."

their trading voyages they afterwards pushed on to the shores of England and Ireland, where they left their mark upon language and customs; and possibly reached America, likewise, at a time when the Northmen, the undoubted Pre-Columbian discoverers of America in the tenth century, were still unknown. Unfortunately, in America the supposed visits of the early Phenicians lack monumental proof. Yet the forms of the letters used by this people were the forms of those characters through the medium of which Ahab and Elijah may have corresponded, and in which Moses wrote the Pentateuch. These characters are the same as those of the Eshmunazar inscription, which, in interest if not in length, is the second in rank of the few specimens of Phenician literature now extant. They show that the Moabites used the same language, though the Moabite approaches nearer to the common Hebrew than the Phenician. Indeed, nearly all the words on the Moabite Stone are found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Thus the paleographic character of the inscription goes to confirm what was demonstrated two centuries ago by Bochart, and declared again by Gesenius, long before the discovery of the Eshmunazar stone fifteen years ago-namely, that the Phenician language was cognate with the Hebrew of the Old Testament.

As soon as the contents of the Moabite Stone became known, various scholars hastened to give interpretations, and crude translations were sent out from a number of sources, creating no little excitement in England, where they sounded like a "page of the Bible." These have been followed by careful revisions, and, perhaps, in the present state of the text, all has been done that can be done with profit. Any future emendations of the present text will be very likely to prove valueless. We still need a perfect transcript of the stone. Among those who have labored on the inscription, the first is M. Genneau. He was followed by the Count de Vogüé, Mr. Grove, Emanuel Deutch, Captain Warren, M. Neubauer, Professor Schlottman, Professor Nöldeke, Professor Rawlinson and others. We will give here the translation of Dr. Ginsburg, some of the parts supplied being indicated by brackets: