The second inscription, which is understood to be near the former, ❝ab altero latere" says Orelli, is as follows:

Dr. De Forest.

PROSALVTE

IMPAVGANTONI

NIETVERIMVO

LVSIVSMAXIMVS

LEGXVIEP

OVIOPERIIN

STITVTVS

be wrong.

Orelli, No. 4998.

PRO SALVTE

IMP. AVG. ANTONI

NI ET VERIM. VO
LVSIVS MAXIMVS

1. LEG. F. F.

QVI OPERI IN

STITIT V. S.

"In the third line, Orelli exhibits VERI IM. VO; but this must It cannot be Veri Imperatoris; for it would be usage to write IMP before the name, not IM after it. M. is therefore here for Marcus.

"In the fifth line the two copies differ very much. Orelli has 1. LEG. F. F. The first mark, a T without the horizontal part on the right, he explains as standing for Tribunus; but Dr. De Forest's siglum is, which often stands in inscriptions to denote Centurio. Next follows in Orelli LEG. F. F. that is, as he explains it, Legionis Flaviae Firmae. Dr. De Forest's copy gives XVI. EP after LEG. It is worthy of remark, that if we suppose Dr. De Forest to have copied XVI. correctly, and then put F. F. in the place of EP. all will be clear. M. Volusius becomes a centurion of the sixteenth Legion Flavia Firma or Flavia Fidelis. By the former epithets this legion is designated in Orelli's Inscr. 90 and 364; and by the latter in 3393. "In the sixth line Orelli has QVI for OVI, and no doubt correctly. "In the last line Orelli's copy, with greater correctness, has INSTITIT V. S. i. e. perhaps: qui operi institit, voto suscepto.”

Hence, the inscription written out in full, may be read as follows:

Pro salute | Imperatorum Augustorum Antoni | ni et Veri Marcus Vo | lusius Maximus | Centurio Legionis XVI Flaviae Firmae [Fidelis] | qui operi institit voto suscepto.

Such are the inscriptions. The first thing that strikes us is the flourish of trumpets in the longer one in behalf of the emperors Antoninus and Verus and their Propraetor of Syria Julius Verus, at the expense of the Abilenians! Another remark is, that the first inscription, of itself and apart from the remains, does not necessarily fix the site of Abila upon that spot. Had the inscription commemorative of a like cutting near the mouth of the Nahr el-Kelb, contained a similar clause relative to the inhabitants of Beirût, it would by no means follow that the ancient Berytus was situated at the mouth of the river Lycus.

1848.]

Name of the Village at Abila.

89

The date of the inscriptions is fixed very nearly by the imperial title Armeniacus, assumed on occasion of the triumph held by both emperors after the subjugation of Armenia by Verus. This triumph took place in A. D 166, and Verus died in A. D. 169. scription, at least, falls within this interval.

The first in

A copy of the inscriptions was also communicated by Dr. De Forest to the Rev. Mr. Graham, Scottish Missionary in Damascus; by whom they were transmitted to the Rev. Dr Wilson, author of the "Lands of the Bible"; in which work they appear in a corrected form, though not collated with the copy of Orelli. The main differences are the following. The seventh line of the first inscription is made to read: LEG. PR. PROVINC, that is, PR. for proconsul evidently by conjecture. Again, the fifth line of the second inscription reads LEG. XVI. F. F, the siglum, being omitted; while in the sixth and seventh lines the readings OVI and INSTITVTVS are retained. In this inscription also the lines are differently divided. Dr Wilson, who himself passed that way, "did not stop to examine the tombs, or aqueducts, or ruins which he observed from the road at the Sûk Wady el-Barada."1

It is proper to state, that there is some confusion among travellers in respect to the name of the village which now occupies the site of Abila. The best authorities give it as above es-Sûk Wady el-Barada, i. e. the Market of Wady el-Barada. But Burckhardt, usually a good authority, calls this place simply es-Sûk; and gives the name of Sûk Barada to a village an hour and a quarter further down the river. Half an hour below Huseinîyeh, apparently the Fâris Zeid of Mr. Smith's lists and the El-Ekfaire el-Feite of Buckingham.2 Burckhardt himself remarks, that "Sûk (market) is an appellation often added to villages which have periodical markets;" and his error (for such it seems to be) probably arose from this circumstance. It is true that G. Robinson and Russegger both speak of such a lower village Sûk Barada;3 but their whole context shows that they were merely writing out from Burckhardt (the latter perhaps also from Berghaus' Map); and not from any notes or observations of their own. The same is the case with the Itinerary of Berggren, appended to his Travels in the Swedish original.4

Lands of the Bible, II. p. 373, 374.

* Burckh. Travels in Syr. p. 2. Bibl. Res. in Pal. III. App. p. 147. Buckingh. Arab tribes, p. 389.

3 G. Robinson' Travels, etc. II. p. 113. Russegger's Reisen, I. p. 723.

4 Resor, etc. III. Itin. p. 39.

P. S. This article was already completed, as above, when I found, in the recent work of Krafft on the Topography of Jerusalem,1 another copy of the inscriptions in question, made by that writer in 1845; accompanied by a somewhat more definite account of the spot where they are found.

According to this account in passing down from Zebedâny, before the traveller issues from the narrow gorge as he approaches the village Sûk Wady el-Barada, there is near the bridge and high up on the northern declivity a portion of the rock hewn to an inclined surface, sixty paces long, upon which the inscriptions are found, each of them twice. ... Still higher on the mountain is a channel cut through the rock for the water,-an immense Roman work, which protected this important road to Damascus from any further fall of the mountain. A little below this, towards the village, and in the same northern mountain, is an ancient necropolis, and several sepulchres with well executed sculptures.

Of the larger inscription Krafft gives only one copy; and this is identical with that of Orelli as above given, except that in the last line but one it reads SYR instead of the SVR of Orelli. This accords with the suggestion of President Woolsey.

Of the other inscription Krafft gives both copies, as follows:

These two copies of the same inscription vary in respect to the division of the lines; and also in some points near the close; e. g. OPERE for OPERI. They show that the stone-cutter did not always do his work accurately. They thus serve to correct and elucidate each other; and further, they confirm in every particular the suggestions of President Woolsey, in his notes. In both the inscrip

tions therefore, the readings proposed by him turn out to be the true and actual readings of the inscriptions themselves.

II. CHALCIS.

The city and district of Chalcis is not indeed referred to in Scripture; but it was held by some of Herod's descendants, one of whom 'Die Topographie Jerusalem, von W. Krafft, Bonn 1846, p. 269.

1848.]

Inscription at Apamea.

91

at least is mentioned in the book of Acts. It has sometimes been regarded as identical with the Chalcis situated a few miles south of Aleppo, and now called Kinneserîn. Reland pointed out the distinction; but did not dwell upon it.2

Josephus relates that Pompey, marching southwards from his winter-quarters probably at or near Antioch, about the year 63 before Christ, razed the citadel in Apamea on the Orontes; passed through the cities Heliopolis (Baalbek) and Chalcis; and crossing the mountain which shuts in Coele-Syria, proceeded from Pella to Damascus, Antt. 14. 3. 2. Of this city and district Ptolemy the son of Mennaeus (already mentioned above) was then lord; and Josephus expressly describes it as under Mount Lebanon; Antt. 14. 7. 4. B. J. 1. 9. 2. He was succeeded by his son, the first Lysanias; whose possessions after his murder by Antony, were farmed by Zenodorus, as above related. Many years later, A. D. 41, Claudius in the first year of his reign, bestowed Chalcis on Herod, a brother of the elder [Herod] Agrippa; and gave him also the oversight of the temple at Jerusa lem, and the right of appointing the high-priests; Antt. 19. 5. 1. ib. 19. 8. 1. 3. ib. 20. 1. 3. After his death about A. D. 48, Chalcis went to his nephew, the younger Agrippa, mentioned in the book of Acts; B. 2. J. 12. 1. He held it four years, and was then transferred, with the title of king, to the provinces formerly held by Philip, his father's uncle, and afterwards by his father, viz. Batanea, Trachonitis, Abilene, and others; Antt. 20. 7. 1.

All these notices show very definitely, that the Chalcis in question was situated in the Bŭkâ'a, probably somewhere south of Ba'albek. The valley has never yet been examined with any reference to the site of this city. When this shall have been done, it is not impossible but that its position may be recovered, perhaps at Zahlah, which must always have been a point of importance; perhaps at Majdel Anjar, where Abulfeda speaks of great ruins of hewn stones.3 The district of Chalcis appears to have extended around or across the northern end of Lebanon to the sea; for Josephus speaks also of Arka as pertaining to the dominions of Agrippa; B. J. 7. 5. 1.

III. GREAT INSCRIPTION AT APAMEA.

Along with the inscriptions at Abila, as mentioned above, Dr. De Forest sent home also copies of several others found in northern Syria. These are quite fragmentary, and consist mostly of passages of Scrip2 Palaest. p. 315 sq. 3 Tab. Syr. ed Koehler, p. 20. Bibl. Res. in Palest. III. App. p. 142.

Cellarius Notit. Orb. II. p. 363, 364.

ture. The longest of them all is the one brought from Apamea, which is sufficiently defaced. It is found "in a tower in the wall of Kül'at el-Medîk, near the ruins of ancient Apamea. Above the inscription is a small figure now nearly obliterated, on whose right is a large M, and then the following inscription."

The note of President Woolsey on the above, is as follows: "It is probable that a skilful and practised hand may restore this inscription. In the second line, if we read EG for EC, and AN for M at the end, mention is made of a Parthian and Severian legion. Several legions bore these titles. Thus a first legion is called Parthica Phillipiana in inscriptions; and a third, Parthica simply. A first and several others are named after Severus.

"In the fourth line, vixit ann. L. I. [menses] III.,' seems plain.In the sixth, "maximo desiderio suorum," a common formula, occurs to mind, without seeming to suit the connection.

"The seventh line seems to contain, the name of some one, perhaps a fellow-soldier, (EC being part of LEG,) who placed the inscription,bene merenti posuit."

TOPOGRAPHY OF JERUSALEM.

Since the two articles on this subject in the numbers of this work for August and November 1846, no great change has taken place in the position of the question. Those articles have been translated into German, and published at Halle, under the supervision of Prof. Rödiger. The work of Krafft above alluded to, was published nearly simultaneously with the original articles; but, as is remarked by Rödiger in his introduction, "it follows in general so closely the results of Williams, as not to vary essentially the position of the controversy." The author of that work has at last satisfied himself on various important points. Thus he says (p. i), "The question as to the situation of the hill Akra may now be regarded as at an end;" and again (p. vii), "In respect to the hill Golgotha, the identity of the same with the spot designated by ecclesiastical tradition, can no longer be doubt