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WADY MOUSA.
old books of the infidels who lived on the spot) in order to be able
afterwards, at his ease, to command the guardian of the treasure to
set the whole before him. It was of no avail to tell them to follow
me and see whether I searched for money. Their reply was, of
course you will not dare to take it out before us, but we know
that if you are a skilful magician you will order it to follow you
through the air to whatever place you please.” If the traveller
takes the dimensions of a building or a column, they are persuaded ¬
that it is a magical proceeding. Even the most liberal minded
Turks of Syria reason in the same manner, and the more travellers ¬
they see, the stronger is their conviction that their object
is to search for treasures, “ Maou delayl'(a), “ he has indications ¬
of treasure with him,” is an expression I have heard a
hundred times.
On the rising ground to the left of the rivulet, just opposite to
the Kaszr Bent Faraoun, are the ruins of a temple, with one column ¬
yet standing to which the Arabs have given the name of Zob
Faraoun (), i. e. hasta virilis Pharaonis; it is about thirty
feet high, and composed of more than a dozen pieces. From
thence we descended amidst the ruins of private habitations, into
a narrow lateral valley, on the other side of which we began to ascend ¬
the mountain, upon which stands the tomb of Aaron. There
are remains of an ancient road cut in the rock, on both sides of
which are a few tombs. After ascending the bed of a torrent for
about half an hour, I saw on each side of the road a large excavated ¬
cube, or rather truncated pyramid, with the entrance of a tomb
in the bottom of each. Here the number of sepulchres increases, and
there are also excavations for the dead in several natural caverns.
A little farther on, we reached a high plain called Szetouh Haroun
), or Aaron's terrace, at the foot of the mountain upon
which his tomb is situated. There are several subterrancan sepul¬
