Chap. 6.] Great Value of Water. 41 The custom of leaving the principal supply of water without the walls of the more ancient cities, is remarkable; and the reason for it has not yet been satisfactorily explained. The water which supplied Alba Longa, lay in a very deep glen, and was therefore scarcely defensible; but the springs of the Scamander at Troy, of Enneacrunus at Athens; of Dirce at Thebes, and innumerable others, prove that such instances were common.a When David waged war against the Ammonites, his success, according to Josephus, was chiefly owing to his general cutting off their waters, and especially those of a particular well. Antiq. vii, 1. Mardonius stopped up the Gargaphian fountain, which supplied the Grecian army with water, an act which brought on in its vicinity, the famous battle of Platea, in which he was slain, and the power of Persia in Greece finally prostrated. A remarkable instance of the labor and perseverance of ancient soldiers, in cutting off a well or fountain from besieged places, is given by Cæsar in his Commentaries on the War in Gaul. viii, 33. 3. To prevent the water from being stolen; which could scarcely have been prevented at wells with curbs, for they could not then have been concealed. We must bear in mind that the extreme scarcity of water in the east, required a vigilant and parsimonious care of it; and hence continual quarrels arose from attempts to purloin it, or to take it by force. 'And the herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, the water is ours.' Gen. xxvi, 20. This kind of strife, says Dr. Richardson, between the different villagers, still exists, as it did in the days of Abraham and Lot. It was customary for shepherds to seize on the wells before others came, lest there should not be sufficient water for all their flocks, and it was at an occurrence of this kind, that Moses first became acquainted with Zipporah and her sisters. Jos. Antiq. ii, 11. "Nearly six hours beyond the ruined town of Kournou, and two beyond the dry bed of a small stream called El Gerara, [the brook of Gerar?] we were surprised at finding two large and deep wells, beautifully built of hewn stone. The uppermost course, and about a dozen troughs for watering cattle disposed round them, of a coarse white marble; they were evidently coeval with the Romans. Quite a patriarchal scene presented itself as we drew near to the wells; the Bedouins were watering their flocks; two men at each well letting down the skins and pulling them up again, with almost ferocious haste, and with quick savage shouts." Lindsay's Trav. Let. 9. The scarcity of water in those countries has from the remotest times made it an object of merchandise.-" Ye shall also buy water of them for money that ye may drink." Deut. ii, 6, 28. And Jeremiah-" we have drunken our water for money." Lam. v, 4. See Ezekiel, iv, 16, 17. This value of water may be perceived in the negotiation of Moses with the king of Edom, for a passage through that country. He pledged himself that his countrymen would not injure the fields or the vineyards; "neither," says he, "will we drink of the waters of the wells;" and in a subsequent proposition, he adds, "if I and my cattle drink of thy waters, then I will pay for it." Num. xx, 17, 19. It is we think evident from the text, that the great quantities of water which such a host would require, was the principal objection urged by the people of Edom; they were afraid, and very naturally too, that a million of souls might drain all their wells while passing through the land, a calamity that might prove fatal to themselves. Brooks and rivers, were dried up by the army of Xerxes as he advanced towards Greece. It may be observed here, that when in 1811, Burckhardt discovered a Gell's 42 Wells covered by large Stones. [Book I. Petra, the long lost capital of Edom, an intense interest was excited among the learned men of Europe, and several hastened to behold the most extraordinary city of the world; a city excavated out of the rocks, whose origin goes back to the times of Esau, the father of Edom,' and which had for more than a thousand years, been completely lost to the civilized world. But the natives swore, as in the times of Moses, they should not enter their country, nor drink of their water, and they threatened to shoot them like dogs, if they attempted it. It was with much difficulty and danger, that Burckhardt at length succeeded in obtaining a glimpse of this singular city. He was disguised as an Arab, and passed under the name of Sheik Ibrahim. The difficulty and danger of a visit to Petra, is now however in a great measure removed by the present Pasha, Mahommed Ali. From the custom of concealing many ancient wells, we learn the important fact, that machines for raising the water could not have been attached to, or permanently placed near them. As these, as well as curbs or parapets projecting above the ground, would have betrayed to enemies and strangers their location. When the woman at Bahurim secreted David's spies in the well belonging to her house, and "spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon;" 2 Sam. xvii, 19, her device could not have succeeded, if a curb had enclosed its mouth, or if any permanent machine had been erected to raise the water from it; as these would have indicated the well to the soldiers of Absalom, who would certainly have examined it, because wells were frequently used as hiding places in those days. There is a tradition in Persia that one of the Armenian patriarchs, was concealed several years in a well, during the persecution of the Christians under Dioclesian and Maximinian; and was privately relieved by the daily charity of a poor godly woman.' Fryer, 271. When Ali the fourth Caliph of the Arabians, marched with ninety thousand men into Syria, the army was in want of water. An old hermit, whose cell was near the camp, was applied to; he said he knew but of one cistern, which might contain two or three buckets of water. The Caliph replied that the ancient patriarchs had dug wells in that neighborhood. The hermit said there was a tradition of a well whose mouth was closed by a stone of an enormous size, but no person knew where it was. Ali caused his men to dig in a spot which he pointed out, and not far from the surface, the mouth of the well was found.a and Where wells were too well known to be concealed, as those in the neighborhood of towns, villages, &c. they were sometimes secured by large stones placed over them, which required the combined strength of several persons to remove. A great stone was upon the well's mouth; and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the sheep, put the stone again upon the well's mouth.' Gen. xxix, 2, 3. The Mahommedans have a tradition that the well at which Moses watered the flocks of his father-in-law, was covered by a stone which required several men to remove it. It is indeed obvious large stones only could have been used, for small ones could not extend across the wells, which were frequently of large diameter. Jacob's well is nine feet across, and some were larger The curb round the well Zemzem at Mecca, is ten feet in diameter. "Another time we passed an ancient well," says Lindsay, Let. 10," in an excursion from Jerusalem to Jericho and the Dead Sea, its mouth sealed with a large stone, with a hole in the centre, through which a Martigny's History of the Arabians, ii, 49. Chap. 6.] Roman and Grecian Curbs. 43 we threw a pebble, but there was no water, and we should have been sorry had there been any, for our united strength could not have removed the seal." Notwithstanding the precautions used, shepherds were often detected in fraudulently watering their flocks at their neighbors' wells, to prevent which, locks were used to secure the covers. These continued to be used till recent times. M. Chardin noticed them in several parts of Asia. The wells at Suez, according to Niebuhr, are surrounded by a strong wall to keep out the Arabs, and entered by a door 'fastened with enormous clamps of iron.' In Greece as in Asia, those were fined who stole water. When Themistocles during his banishment was in Sardis, he observed in the temple of Cybele a female figure of brass, called 'Hydrophorus' or Water Bearer, which he himself had caused to be made aud dedicated out of the fines of such as had stolen the water, or diverted the stream. One of the Greek emperors of Constantinople issued an edict A. D. 404, imposing a fine of a pound of gold for every ounce of water surreptitiously taken from the reservoirs.b And a more ancient ruler remarked that 'stolen waters are sweet.' Proverbs, ix, 17. The ancient Peruvians had a similar law. Curbs or parapets were generally placed round the mouths of wells in the cities of Greece and Rome, as appears from many of them preserved to the present time, as well as those discovered in Pompeii and Herculaneum. The celebrated mosaic pavement at Preneste, contains the representation of an ancient well; by some authors supposed to be the famous fountain of Heliopolis. Montfaucon and Dr. Shaw have given a figure of it. The curb is represented as built of brick or cut stone. Curbs were generally massive cylinders of marble and mostly formed of one block, but sometimes of two, cramped together with iron. Their exterior resembled round altars. Those of the Greeks were ornamented with highly wrought sculptures and were about twenty inches high. Roman curbs were generally plain, but one has been found in the street of the Mercuries at Pompeii, beautifully ornamented with triglyphs. To these curbs Juvenal appears to allude: Oh! how much more devoutly should we cling And not a marble near the spot were seen. Sat. iii, 30 Badham. That Roman wells were generally protected by curbs, appears also from a remark of the elder Pliny: " at Gades the fountain next to the temple of Hercules, is enclosed about like a well." B. ii, 97. Dr. Shaw mentions several Roman wells with corridors round, and cupolas over them, in various parts of Mauritania. Trav. 237. Mr. Dodwell describes the rich curb of a Corinthian well, ten figures of divinities being carved on it. Such decorations he says were common to the sacred wells of Greece. In various parts of Asia and Egypt, the finest columns have been broken and hollowed out to serve as curbs to wells; and in some instances, the capitals of splendid shafts may be seen appropriated to the same purpose. Although such scenes are anything but pleasant to the enlightened traveler, the preservation of valuable fragments of antiquity has been secured by these and similar applications of them. They certainly are less subject to destruction, as curbs of wells, than when employed, like the fine Corinthian capital of Parian marble, which Dr. Shaw observed at Arzew,' as a block for a blacksmith's anvil.' Trav. 29, 30. b a Plutarch's Life of Themistocles. Hydraulia, p. 232. Lon. 1835. 44 Description of ancient Wells. [Book I. CHAPTER VII. Wells concluded: Description of Jacob's well-Of Zemzem in Mecca-Of Joseph's well at CairoReflections on wells-Oldest monuments extant-Wells at Elim-Bethlehem-Cos-Scyros-Heliopolis -Persepolis-Jerusalem-Troy-Ephesus-Tadmor-Mizra-Sarcophagi employed as watering troughs -Stone coffin of Richard III used as one-Ancient American wells-Indicate the existence in past times of a more refined people than the present red men-Their examination desirable-Might furnish (like the wells at Athens,) important data of former ages. A description of some celebrated wells may here be inserted, as we shall have occasion to refer to them hereafter. Jacob's well, is one of the most ancient and interesting. Through a period of thirty-five centuries it has been used by that patriarch's descendants, and distinguished by his name. This well is, as every reader of scripture knows, near Sychar, the ancient. Shechem, on the road to Jerusalem, and has been visited by pilgrims in all ages. Long before the christian era, it was greatly revered, and subsequently it has been celebrated on account of the interview which the Savior had with the woman of Samaria near it. Its location according to Dr. Clarke is so distinctly marked by the Evangelist, and so little liable to uncertainty from the circumstances of the well itself, and the features of the country, that if no tradition existed for its identity, the site of it could hardly be mistaken. The date of its construction may, for aught that is known to the con trary, extend far beyond the times of Jacob; for we are not informed that it was digged by him. As it is on land which he purchased for a residence, "of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem," and was in the vicinity of a Canaanitish town; it may have been constructed by the forme owners of the soil, and probably was so. The woman of Samaria when conversing with the Savior respecting it, asks Art thou greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, his children and cattle?" John, iv, 12. She does not say he dug it. This famous well is one hundred and five feet deep, and nine feet in diameter, and when Maundrell visited it, it contained fifteen feet of water. Its great antiquity will not appear very extraordinary, if we reflect that it is bored through the solid rock, and therefore could not be destroyed, except by an earthquake or some other convulsion of nature; indeed wells of this description, are the most durable of all man's labors, and may, for aught we know, last as long as the world itself. one. The well Zemzem at Mecca, may be regarded as another very ancient It is considered by Mahometans one of the three holiest things in the world, and as the source whence the great progenitor of the Arabs was refreshed when he and his mother left his father's house. 66 She saw a well of water, and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad to drink." Gen. xxi, 19. This well, the Caaba and the black stone, were connected with the idolatry of the ancient Arabs, centuries before the time of Mahomet. The Caaba is said to have been built by Abraham and Ishmael, and it is certain that their names have been connected with it from the remotest ages. Diodorus Siculus, mentions it as aThis stone like those of the Hindoos and the one mentioned in Acts, xix, "fell down from heaven" and is probably a meteorite. Chap. 7] Well Zemzem. 45 being held in great veneration by the Arabs in his time. [50, B. C.] The ceremonies still performed, of "encircling the Caaba seven times, kissing the black stone, and drinking of the water of the well Zemzem," by the pilgrims, were practices of the ancient idolaters, and which Mahomet, as an adroit politician, incorporated into his system, when unable to repress them. The conduct of the pilgrims when approaching this well and drinking of its water, has direct reference to that of Hagar, and to her feelings when searching for water to preserve the life of her expiring son. If we reflect on the infinite value of wells in Syria-on the jealous care with which they have always been preserved-that while they afforded good water, they could never be lost-that Mecca is one of the most ancient cities of the world, the supposed Mesa of the scriptures, Gen. x, 30, -and that this well is the only one in the city, whose waters can be drunk :-we cannot but admit the possibility at least, that it is the identical one, as the Arabs contend, of whose waters, Ishmael and his mother partook. 66 We are not aware that any modern author has had an opportunity of closely examining it; it being death for a christian to enter the Caaba. Burckhardt visited the temple in the disguise of a pilgrim, but we believe he had not an opportunity to ascertain any particulars relating to its depth, &c. Purchas, quoting Barthema, who visited Mecca in 1503, says it is 'three score and ten yards deepe," [210 feet,] "thereat stand sixe or eight men, appointed to draw water for the people, who after their sevenfold ceremonie come to the brinke," &c. Pil. p. 306. In Crichton's History of Arabia, Ed. 1833. Vol. ii, 218, this well is said to be fifty-six feet to the surface of the water. The curb is of fine white marble, five feet high, and seven feet eight inches in its interior diameter. In the 317th year of the Hegira, the Karmatians slew seventeen thousand pilgrims within the circumference of the Caaba, and filled this famous well with the dead bodies; they also carried off the Black Stone. JOSEPH'S WELL.-The most remarkable well ever made by man, is Joseph's well at Cairo. Its magnitude, and the skill displayed in its construction, which is perfectly unique, have never been surpassed. All travelers have spoken of it with admiration. This stupendous well is an oblong square, twenty-four feet by eighteen; being sufficiently capacious to admit within its mouth a moderate sized house. It is excavated (of these dimensions,) through solid rock to the depth of one hundred and sixty-five feet where it is enlarged into a capacious chamber, in the bottom of which is formed a basin or reservoir, to receive the water raised from below, (for this chamber is not the bottom of the well.) On one side of the reservoir another shaft is continued, one hundred and thirty feet lower, where it emerges through the rock into a bed of gravel, in which the water is found. The whole depth, being two hundred and ninety-seven feet. The lower shaft is not in the same vertical line with the upper one, nor is it so large, being fifteen feet by nine. As the water is first raised into the basin, by means of machinery propelled by horses or oxen within the chamber, it may be asked, how are these animals conveyed to that depth in this tremendous pit, and by what means do they ascend? It is the solution of this problem that renders Joseph's well so peculiarly interesting, and which indicates an advanced state of the arts, at the period of its construction. A spiral passage-way is cut through the rock, from the surface of the ground to the chamber, independent of the well, round which it winds with so gentle a descent, that persons sometimes ride up or down upon |