One of the halves of the metal cylinder is very curious, and deserves more attention than it has received at the hands of Biblical archæologists. It is of silver, about two feet six inches long, by ten or twelve inches in diameter, and is covered with embossed work with a descriptive legend attached to each portion. I procured a rubbing from Yacoub, and on my return to England found that it had been photographed by the Palestine Exploration Fund. Yacoub said that it was a plan of the Temple and its furniture; on examination, however, it proves to be the Tabernacle of the Wilderness. Mr. Van Straalen, successor to Mr. Deutsch at the British Museum, has been good enough to examine it for me, and reports that the letters are Samaritan, not later than the fourth century, and probably older. Some of the lettering he has been unable to decipher. The annexed engravings show the cylinder and a translation of the inscriptions, so far as they are yet read. On the outer rim are a series of numbers running from one to sixty. These probably refer to the posts, which appear to have been numbered so as to avoid confusion and delay in the erection of the Tabernacle on its arrival at the camping-ground. The instructions given to Moses “in the Mount,” were, that there should be twenty boards on each side, but at the corners were to be two boards additional. At the end, behind the most holy place, were to be six boards. Nothing is said about the entrance, which apparently was to be left open.[200] Posts, however, would be needed to sustain the framework with its covering. This would give 24 + 24 + 6 + 6 = 60, the numbers shown in the plan. We then find the names of the twelve tribes. These are given not according to patriarchal seniority or tribal precedence, but in the order of the encampment and march, as recorded in the Book of Numbers. Judah, Issachar, and Zebulon are on one side. These tribes formed the vanguard of the army, and were followed on the march by the Tabernacle itself. Then came Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. As soon as they “set forward” they were followed by the ark, which was thus in the midst of the people whether marching or camping. Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin come next; then Dan, Asher, and Naphtali bring up the rear.[201]