Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 112, December 20, 1851 / A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.

When found, make a note of. —CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
VOL. IV.—No. 112.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20. 1851.
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The difficulty of deciding the antiquity of the famous inscriptions in the deserts of Arabia, would be considerably diminished if we could ascertain the earliest mention of the valley now known as Wady Mokatteb. What I am about to submit to the readers of the NOTES AND QUERIES , is not a presumptuous or rash suggestion, but an idea diffidently entertained, and cautiously and maturely considered.
It is not at all improbable that that valley, with its surrounding rocky chronicles, was first mentioned by Moses, the first delineator of the great wilderness. The mention I allude to is to be found in Numbers, xi. 26. The passage, as it occurs in the English version, runs thus:
But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad; and the Spirit rested upon them, and they were of them that were written.
The original words of the last clause are but the two following:—