an Arab encampment has been, though they certainly cannot be taken for
Arab remains. The large enclosures intended for important personages,
and the hearths or fire-places, can still be distinctly traced, showing
conclusively that it is a large deserted camp. In the neighbourhood,
but beyond the camp area, are a number of stone heaps, which, from
their shape and position, are probably burial places without the camp,
though none have yet been examined.
Between the Tih wilderness and Judea, is the Negeb or “South Country”
of Scripture, now a deserted and barren wilderness, but shown by
Professor E. H. Palmer to be full of the most interesting traces of
former inhabitants and cultivation. In the Scripture narrative of the
wanderings we read about Kadesh Barnea, where Miriam died, and whence
the spies went up to Eshkol and obtained the grapes. The identification
of Kadesh Barnea had long been difficult and disputed, until it was
discovered, in the year 1840, by Dr Rowlands to be _’Ain Gadis_ (or
_Qades_) in Jebel Magráh, on the south-west frontier of the Negeb. The
name _Gadis_ is identical in meaning and etymology with the Kadesh
of the Bible, while the word _’Ain_ means a fountain; so that Kadesh
Barnea can scarcely be said to have changed its name. The place is a
picturesque oasis, and from under a ragged spur of solid rock, regarded
by Rowlands as “the cliff” smitten by Moses, there issues an abundant
stream. Professor Palmer, visiting the district some thirty years
after, failed to find this great spring, but it was discovered again by
Rev. F. W. Holland in 1878, and by Dr Clay Trumbull of America in 1881;
and Dr Trumbull’s book on Kadesh Barnea is now the fullest source of
information.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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