Crossing the Jordan, and traversing the plain of Shittim, we ascended the great sandstone spurs to camp by the Brook of Heshbon. Thence we afterwards went south, camping in the wild ravine of Wâdy Jideid, inside the curious Hadânieh circle, and again farther south, near the brink of the gorge of Callirrhoe. A rapid countermarch, which put the Turks at fault, took us thence northwards to Rabbath Ammon in Gilead.
The most remarkable feature of our work was the systematic examination of the rude stone monuments, of which we catalogued some seven hundred in all. They were known to exist east of Jordan, but it was not, I think, expected that they would prove more numerous in this region than anywhere else except in Tunis; and the contrast with their absence in Western Palestine is very remarkable.[47]
Rude stone monuments are found in many parts of Asia, in Europe, and in North Africa. They occur from Norway to Tunis, and from India to Ireland, and they still present many curious problems to the antiquarian. These questions have been complicated by the utilitarian suggestions of writers, who ignore the folk-lore which is so closely interwoven with the history of these remains. It appears, I think, clear, first, that the rude stone monuments are of very high antiquity, having probably been erected in most, if not in all cases, by the early Turanians, who in Asia, North Africa, and Europe preceded the Aryans and the Semites, and who are called by modern students Iberians even in our own islands; and, secondly, that no study of these remains can be considered complete which ignores the beliefs concerning them surviving among the peasant populations of the regions where they occur.
Rude stone monuments are known in Arabia, and have been found near Lake Van and in Persia, in the Crimea and east of the Black Sea. They occur in Greece, in Cyprus, and in Phœnicia. There is, therefore, no reason for surprise at their discovery in Galilee, in Bashan, Gilead, and Moab. The only curious fact is their absence in Samaria and in Judea. There are some peculiarities, such as the occurrence of orientated avenues, of talyots or bilithons, of single stones outside circles, and of ring-marks on rocks, familiar in our own land, but not as yet noted in Syria. I confine my remarks, therefore, to the Syrian remains, including Menhirs, or erect stones, whether single or in groups, circles or alignments; Dolmens, or monuments with a flat stone table; Stone Circles, Disc Stones, and Cup-hollows, all of which are exemplified in Moab.
It is clear that a stone may be placed on end for more than one purpose, though that purpose is generally monumental. Some enormous stones near ’Ammân, I believe, marked boundaries. Standing-stones have also been used to record events, like the Moabite Stone or the modern gravestone. Stones and stone pillars, or even cairns and heaps, have been used as memorials of a visit to some shrine, and are still so used. Other erect stones in Greece, in Chaldea, in Phœnicia, and in India are idols and lingams, worshipped as containing a spirit. In every case the explorer must consider the most probable reason for the erection of the stone. In Greece such stones—afterwards sculptured as terminal figures—marked boundaries, or were sacred emblems. Such boundary-stones occur also in Babylonia, and sacred stones are also mentioned in Chaldean temples. Jacob and Saul and other Hebrew heroes erected such memorials, and the pagan Arabs bedaubed them with blood, and offered to them their babes and daughters, and swore by them as sacred emblems.