Page:Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894.djvu/187

Rh repeat now what I said then, viz., that Millo might be found by sinking one shaft in the Tyropœon Valley and driving a gallery north and south. And then would follow the discovery of the Stairs of the City of David, and the Sepulchres of the Kings.



Dr. J. Hamlyn Hill's newly-issued "Diatessaron of Tatian," translated from the Arabic, there are two passages bearing on interesting and disputed points of Palestinian topography.

It has been proposed to locate Kazin of Josh, xix, 13, at Kefr Kenna. Major Conder pointed out as an objection (Quarterly Statement, 1892, p. 206) that Kazin should appear in Arabic as Kaḑin. In a footnote (p. 60) Dr. Hill gives Qatîna as the form in the Arabic of Tatian of the Cana of John ii. If this is so, and if it should be confirmed by the ancient Syriac MS. recently discovered at Sinai, will it not go far to prove the identification of both Kazin and the Cana of John's Gospel with Kefr Kenna?

The other point is perhaps equally interesting. In Mat. xv, 39, the R.V. properly reads "Magadan" for the "Magdala" of the "Authorised." Ewald suggested that "Magadan" represents "Megidon," the Megiddo of the V.T. In Dr. Hill's Tatian the form in the text is "Magheda," which confirms Ewald's conjecture. Is Dalmanutha (Mark viii, 10) the same? Dr. Thomson suggested Ed Delemîyeh; Ewald that it might be a Galilean pronunciation of, a town which, as he says, "must be sought in Southern Galilee." He would identify the parts of Dalmanutha with South-Western Galilee, no doubt because he accepted the traditional site of Megiddo at El Lejjûn.

Some years ago I quoted from Brugsch, "Egypt under the Pharaohs," the words of the "Mohar" recounting his travels: "The ford of Irduna (Jordan), how is it crossed? Teach me to know the passage in order to enter into the city of Makitha (Megiddo) which lies in front of it" (Ed. 1891, 305). These words certainly imply a position near the Jordan, far nearer than El Lejjûn, and agree better with Major Conder's proposal to place Megiddo at Mujeddâ, south of Bethshean (Beisan). If "the borders of Megiddo" and "the parts of Dalmanutha" are equivalent terms, as they seem to be, this also would, I think, require a locality in South-Eastern Galilee, rather than South-Western, for the language of both Gospels suggests that the locality was near our Lord's landing-place from the boat in which he crossed the Sea of Galilee. Such criticism may seem to rest on small points and mere turns of phrases, but such evidence is of value, if concurrent, because it is the unconscious testimony of persons speaking of what they are familiar with; at least till the spade decide, we must make the most of it.