wn by Boudier, from a photograph.

Their capital, the sacred Qodshu, was situated on the left bank of the
Orontes, about five miles from the lake which for a long time bore its
name, Bahr-el-Kades.* It crowned one of those barren oblong eminences
which are so frequently met with in Syria. A muddy stream, the Tannur,
flowed, at some distance away, around its base, and, emptying itself
into the Orontes at a point a little to the north, formed a natural
defence for the town on the west. Its encompassing walls, slightly
elliptic in form, were strengthened by towers, and surrounded by two
concentric ditches which kept the sapper at a distance.

* The name Qodshu-Kadesh was for a long time read Uatesh,
Badesh, Atesh, and, owing to a confusion with Qodi, Ati, or
Atet. The town was identified by Champollion with Bactria,
then transferred to Mesopotamia by Bosollini, in the land of
Omira, which, according to Pliny, was close to the Taurus,
not far from the Khabur or from the province of Aleppo:
Osburn tried to connect it with Hadashah (_Josh_. xv. 21),
an Amorite town in the southern part of the tribe of Judah;
while Hincks placed it in Edessa. The reading Kedesh,
Kadesh, Qodshu, the result of the observations of Lepsius,
has finally prevailed. Brugsch connected this name with that
of Bahr el-Kades, a designation attached in the Middle Ages
to the lake through which the Orontes flows, and placed the
town on its shores or on a small island on the lake. Thomson
pointed out Tell Neby-Mendeh, the ancient Laodicea of the
Lebanon, as satisfying the requirements of the site. Conder
developed this idea, and showed that all the conditions
prescribed by the Egyptian texts in regard to Qodshu find
here, and here alone, their application. The description
given in the text is based on Conder's observations.

[Illustration: 206.jpt THE DYKE AT BAIIK EL-KADES IN ITS PRESENT
CONDITION]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

A dyke running across the Orontes above the town caused the waters to
rise and to overflow in a northern direction, so as to form a shallow
lake, which acted as an additional protection from the enemy. Qodshu was
thus a kind of artificial island, connected with the surrounding country
by two flying bridges, which could be opened or shut at pleasure. Once
the bridges were raised and the gates closed, the boldest enem