by the Arabian geographers they are both called
the 'Arabah; the native Arabs also still call by the name of Ghuwair, or
little Ghor, a space at the southern extremity of the water.

In the Hebrew Bible also, the northern part is called 'Arabah, as in
Joshua iii. 16, where it is said the Israelites crossed "the sea of
'Arabah, namely, the sea of salt." In 2 Sam. iv. 7, the murderers of
Ish-bosheth went all night from Mahanaim to Hebron along the 'Arabah,
this was clearly not south of the Dead Sea. Josh. xii. i., "From the
river Arnon to mount Hermon, and all the 'Arabah on the east," going
northwards; this is explained in the 3d verse as "the 'Arabah, (beginning
at Hermon,) unto the sea of Chinnereth, (sea of Tiberias) on the east,
and unto the sea of the 'Arabah, the sea of salt, on the east." The same
words occur also in Deut. iii. 17, and iv. 49. That the present Arab
'Arabah on the south of the Dead Sea bore the same name, may be seen in
Deut. ii. 8, where Moses speaks of "the way of the ''Arabah' from Elath,
and from Ezion-gaber."

Therefore, according to Hebrew and Arabic authorities, the 'Arabah and
Ghor form one line from the Lebanon to the Red Sea.

2. The Book of Job takes cognisance of the river Jordan, and describes
river scenery in the land of Edom, _i.e._, south of the Dead Sea.

3. No lake existed in that locality before the catastrophe of Sodom,
although a river may have traversed it. This I deduce from the march of
the army of Chedorlaomer, shortly previous to that catastrophe, (Gen.
xiv.) After the taking of Seir and Paran, he crossed the valley to
Hazezon-Tamar, which is Engedi, (2 Chron. xx. 2,) and the confederates
were met by the kings of the plain in the vale of Siddim. And I have
heretofore shown that this is utterly impossible to be done with the
present lake in the way. The words, therefore, of Gen. xiv. 3 obviously
signify, as given in the Latin Vulgate and in Luther's German, "the vale
of Siddim, which is _now_ the Salt Sea."

The inference from all these points is, that between the time of
Chedorlaomer and Moses, some tellural convulsions took place which
impeded the course of the river towards the Dead Sea, and thereby formed
the present lake. There is no mention of a river in the lower 'Arabah
during the wanderings of the Israelites under the leading of Moses.

It is another matter to discuss whether the overthrow of the guilty
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is connected with