(in the plural), which is
corrected, somewhat arbitrarily, in 1 Chron. x. 10 iato "in
the house of Dagon" (B.V.); it is possible that it was the
temple at Gaza, Gaza being the chief of the Philistine
towns.

The people of Jabesh-Gilead, who had never forgotten how Saul had saved
them from the Ammonites, hearing the news, marched all night, rescued
the mutilated remains, and brought them back to their own town, where
they burned them, and buried the charred bones under a tamarisk, fasting
meanwhile seven days as a sign of mourning.*

* 1 Sam. xxxi. It would seem that there were two narratives
describing this war: in one, the Philistines encamped at
Shunem, and Saul occupied Mount Gilboa (1 Sam. xxviii. 4);
in the other, the Philistines encamped at Aphek, and the
Israelites "by the fountain which is in Jezreel" (1 Sam.
xxix. 1). The first of these accounts is connected with the
episode of the witch of Endor, the second with the sending
away of David by Achish. The final catastrophe is in both
narratives placed on Mount Gilboa and Stade has endeavoured
to reconcile the two accounts by admitting that the battle
was fought between Aphek and "the fountain," but that the
final scene took place on the slopes of Gilboa. There are
even two versions of the battle, one in 1 Sam. xxxi. and the
other in 2 Sam. i. 6-10, where Saul does not kill himself,
but begs an Amalekite to slay him; many critics reject the
second version.

[Illustration: 330.jpg THE HILL OF BETHSHAN, SEEN FROM THE EAST]

Drawn by Boudier, from photograph No. 79 of the _Palestine
Exploration Fund._

David afterwards disinterred these relics, and laid them in the
burying-place of the family of Kish at Zela, in Benjamin. The tragic end
of their king made a profound impression on the people. We read that,
before entering on his last battle, Saul was given over to gloomy
forebodings: he had sought counsel of Jahveh, but God "answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets." The aged Samuel had
passed away at Ramah, and had apparently never seen the king after
the flight of David;* Saul now bethought himself of the prophet in his
despair, and sought to recall him from the tomb to obtain his counsel.

* 1 Sam. xxv. 1, repeated 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, with a mention
of the measures taken by Saul against the wizards and
fortune