The main feature of the salt region of Usdum is a low range of hills near the southwest corner of the Dead Sea, extending in a southeasterly direction for about five miles, and made up mainly of salt rock. This rock is soft and friable, and, under the influence of the heavy winter rains, it has been, without doubt, from a period long before human history, as it is now, cut ever into new shapes, and especially into pillars or columns, which sometimes bear a resemblance to the human form.
An eminent clergyman who visited this spot recently speaks of the appearance of this salt range as follows:
"Fretted by fitful showers and storms, its ridge is exceedingly uneven, its sides carved out and constantly changing;... and each traveller might have a new pillar of salt to wonder over at intervals of a few years."(428)
(428) As to the substance of the "pillars" or "statues" or "needles" of salt at Usdum, many travellers speak of it as "marl and salt." Irby and Mangles, in their Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Syria, and the Holy Land, chap. vii, call it "salt and hardened sand." The citation as to frequent carving out of new "pillars" is from the Travels in Palestine of the Rev. H. F. Osborn, D. D.; see also Palmer, Desert of the Exodus, vol ii, pp. 478, 479. For engravings of the salt pillar at different times, compare that given by Lynch in 1848, when it appeared as a column forty feet high, with that given by Palmer as the frontpiece to his Desert of the Exodus, Cambridge, England, 1871, when it was small and "does really bear a curious resemblance to an Arab woman with a child upon he shoulders", and this again with the picture of the salt formation at Usdum given by Canon Tristram, at whose visit there was neither "pillar"
nor "statue." See The Land of Israel, by H. B. Tristram, D. D., F. R.
S., London, 1882, p. 324. For similar pillars of salt washed out from the mud at Catalonia, see Lyell.
Few things could be more certain than that, in the indolent dream-life of the East, myths and legends would grow up to account for this as for other strange appearances in all that region. The question which a religious Oriental put to himself in ancient times at Usdum was substantially that which his descendant to-day puts to himself at Kosseir. "Why is this region thus blasted?" "Whence these pillars of salt?" or "Whence these blocks of granite?" "What aroused the vengeance of Jehovah or of Allah to work these miracles of desolation?"
And, just as Maxime Du Camp recorded the answer of the modern Shemite at Kosseir, so the compilers of the Jewish sacred books recorded the answer of the ancient Shemite at the Dead Sea; just as Allah at Kosseir blasted the land and transformed the melons into boulders which are seen to this day, so Jehovah at Usdum blasted the land and transformed Lot"s wife into a pillar of salt, which is seen to this day.
No more difficulty was encountered in the formation of the Lot legend, to account for that rock resembling the human form, than in the formation of the Niobe legend, which accounted for a supposed resemblance in the rock at Sipylos: it grew up just as we have seen thousands of similar myths and legends grow up about striking natural appearances in every early home of the human race. Being thus consonant with the universal view regarding the relation of physical geography to the divine government, it became a treasure of the Jewish nation and of the Christian Church--a treasure not only to be guarded against all hostile intrusion, but to be increased, as we shall see, by the myth-making powers of Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans for thousands of years. The spot where the myth originated was carefully kept in mind; indeed, it could not escape, for in that place alone were constantly seen the phenomena which gave rise to it. We have a steady chain of testimony through the ages, all pointing to the salt pillar as the irrefragable evidence of divine judgment. That great theological test of truth, the dictum of St. Vincent of Lerins, would certainly prove that the pillar was Lot"s wife, for it was believed so to be by Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans from the earliest period down to a time almost within present memory--"always, everywhere, and by all." It would stand perfectly the ancient test insisted upon by Cardinal Newman,"
Securus judicat orbis terrarum."
For, ever since the earliest days of Christianity, the ident.i.ty of the salt pillar with Lot"s wife has been universally held and supported by pa.s.sages in Genesis, in St. Luke"s Gospel, and in the Second Epistle of St. Peter--coupled with a pa.s.sage in the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, which to this day, by a majority in the Christian Church, is believed to be inspired, and from which are specially cited the words, "A standing pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul."(429)
(429) For the usual biblical citations, see Genesis xix, 26; St. Luke xvii, 32; II Peter ii, 6. For the citation from Wisdom, see chap. x, v. 7. For the account of the transformation of Lot"s wife put into its proper relations with the Jehovistic and Elohistic doc.u.ments, see Lenormant"s La Genese, Paris, 1883, pp. 53, 199, and 317, 318.
Never was chain of belief more continuous. In the first century of the Christian era Josephus refers to the miracle, and declares regarding the statue, "I have seen it, and it remains at this day"; and Clement, Bishop of Rome, one of the most revered fathers of the Church, noted for the moderation of his statements, expresses a similar certainty, declaring the miraculous statue to be still standing.
In the second century that great father of the Church, bishop and martyr, Irenaeus, not only vouched for it, but gave his approval to the belief that the soul of Lot"s wife still lingered in the statue, giving it a sort of organic life: thus virtually began in the Church that amazing development of the legend which we shall see taking various forms through the Middle Ages--the story that the salt statue exercised certain physical functions which in these more delicate days can not be alluded to save under cover of a dead language.
This addition to the legend, which in these signs of life, as in other things, is developed almost exactly on the same lines with the legend of the Niobe statue in the rock of Mount Sipylos and with the legends of human beings transformed into boulders in various mythologies, was for centuries regarded as an additional confirmation of revealed truth.
In the third century the myth burst into still richer bloom in a poem long ascribed to Tertullian. In this poem more miraculous characteristics of the statue are revealed. It could not be washed away by rains; it could not be overthrown by winds; any wound made upon it was miraculously healed; and the earlier statements as to its physical functions were amplified in sonorous Latin verse.
With this appeared a new legend regarding the Dead Sea; it became universally believed, and we find it repeated throughout the whole medieval period, that the bitumen could only he dissolved by such fluids as in the processes of animated nature came from the statue.
The legend thus amplified we shall find dwelt upon by pious travellers and monkish chroniclers for hundreds of years: so it came to be more and more treasured by the universal Church, and held more and more firmly--"always, everywhere, and by all."
In the two following centuries we have an overwhelming ma.s.s of additional authority for the belief that the very statue of salt into which Lot"s wife was transformed was still existing. In the fourth, the continuance of the statue was vouched for by St. Silvia, who visited the place: though she could not see it, she was told by the Bishop of Segor that it had been there some time before, and she concluded that it had been temporarily covered by the sea. In both the fourth and fifth centuries such great doctors in the Church as St. Jerome, St. John Chrysostom, and St. Cyril of Jerusalem agreed in this belief and statement; hence it was, doubtless, that the Hebrew word which is translated in the authorized English version "pillar," was translated in the Vulgate, which the majority of Christians believe virtually inspired, by the word "statue"; we shall find this fact insisted upon by theologians arguing in behalf of the statue, as a result and monument of the miracle, for over fourteen hundred years afterward.(430)
(430) See Josephus, Antiquities, book i, chap. xi; Epist. I; Cyril Hieros, Catech., xix; Chrysostom, Hom. XVIII, XLIV, in Genes.; Irenaeus, lib. iv, c. x.x.xi, of his Heresies, edition Oxon., 1702. For St. Silvia, see S. Silviae Aquitanae Peregrinatio ad Loca Sancta, Romae, 1887, p.
55; also edition of 1885, p. 25. For recent translation, see Pilgrimage of St. Silvia, p. 28, in publications of Palestine Text Society for 1891. For legends of signs of continued life in boulders and stones into which human beings have been transformed for sin, see Karl Bartsch, Sage, etc., vol. ii, pp. 420 et seq.
About the middle of the sixth century Antoninus Martyr visited the Dead Sea region and described it, but curiously reversed a simple truth in these words: "Nor do sticks or straws float there, nor can a man swim, but whatever is cast into it sinks to the bottom." As to the statue of Lot"s wife, he threw doubt upon its miraculous renewal, but testified that it was still standing.
In the seventh century the Targum of Jerusalem not only testified that the salt pillar at Usdum was once Lot"s wife, but declared that she must retain that form until the general resurrection. In the seventh century too, Bishop Arculf travelled to the Dead Sea, and his work was added to the treasures of the Church. He greatly develops the legend, and especially that part of it given by Josephus. The bitumen that floats upon the sea "resembles gold and the form of a bull or camel"; "birds can not live near it"; and "the very beautiful apples" which grow there, when plucked, "burn and are reduced to ashes, and smoke as if they were still burning."
In the eighth century the Venerable Bede takes these statements of Arculf and his predecessors, binds them together in his work on The Holy Places, and gives the whole ma.s.s of myths and legends an enormous impulse.(431)
(431) For Antoninus Martyr, see Tobler"s edition of his work in the Itinera, vol. i, p. 100, Geneva, 1877. For the Targum of Jerusalem, see citation in Quaresmius, Terrae Sanctae Elucidation, Peregrinatio vi, cap. xiv; new Venice edition. For Arculf, see Tobler. For Bede, see his De Locis Sanctis in Tobler"s Itinera, vol. i, p. 228. For an admirable statement of the mediaeval theological view of scientific research, see Eicken, Geschichte der mittelalterlichen Weltanschauung, Stuttgart, 1887, chap. vi.
In the tenth century new force is given to it by the pious Moslem Mukada.s.si. Speaking of the town of Segor, near the salt region, he says that the proper translation of its name is "h.e.l.l"; and of the lake he says, "Its waters are hot, even as though the place stood over h.e.l.l-fire."
In the crusading period, immediately following, all the legends burst forth more brilliantly than ever.
The first of these new travellers who makes careful statements is Fulk of Chartres, who in 1100 accompanied King Baldwin to the Dead Sea and saw many wonders; but, though he visited the salt region at Usdum, he makes no mention of the salt pillar: evidently he had fallen on evil times; the older statues had probably been washed away, and no new one had happened to be washed out of the rocks just at that period.
But his misfortune was more than made up by the triumphant experience of a far more famous traveller, half a century later--Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela.
Rabbi Benjamin finds new evidences of miracle in the Dead Sea, and develops to a still higher point the legend of the salt statue of Lot"s wife, enriching the world with the statement that it was steadily and miraculously rene wed; that, though the cattle of the region licked its surface, it never grew smaller. Again a thrill of joy went through the monasteries and pulpits of Christendom at this increasing "evidence of the truth of Scripture."
Toward the end of the thirteenth century there appeared in Palestine a traveller superior to most before or since--Count Burchard, monk of Mount Sion. He had the advantage of knowing something of Arabic, and his writings show him to have been observant and thoughtful. No statue of Lot"s wife appears to have been washed clean of the salt rock at his visit, but he takes it for granted that the Dead Sea is "the mouth of h.e.l.l," and that the vapour rising from it is the smoke from Satan"s furnaces.
These ideas seem to have become part of the common stock, for Ernoul, who travelled to the Dead Sea during the same century, always speaks of it as the "Sea of Devils."
Near the beginning of the fourteenth century appeared the book of far wider influence which bears the name of Sir John Mandeville, and in the various editions of it myths and legends of the Dead Sea and of the pillar of salt burst forth into wonderful luxuriance.
This book tells us that ma.s.ses of fiery matter are every day thrown up from the water "as large as a horse"; that, though it contains no living thing, it has been shown that men thrown into it can not die; and, finally, as if to prove the worthlessness of devout testimony to the miraculous, he says: "And whoever throws a piece of iron therein, it floats; and whoever throws a feather therein, it sinks to the bottom; and, because that is contrary to nature, I was not willing to believe it until I saw it."
The book, of course, mentions Lot"s wife, and says that the pillar of salt "stands there to-day," and "has a right salty taste."
Injustice has perhaps been done to the compilers of this famous work in holding them liars of the first magnitude. They simply abhorred scepticism, and thought it meritorious to believe all pious legends.
The ideal Mandeville was a man of overmastering faith, and resembled Tertullian in believing some things "because they are impossible"; he was doubtless entirely conscientious; the solemn ending of the book shows that he listened, observed, and wrote under the deepest conviction, and those who re-edited his book were probably just as honest in adding the later stories of pious travellers.
The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, thus appealing to the popular heart, were most widely read in the monasteries and repeated among the people.
Innumerable copies were made in ma.n.u.script, and finally in print, and so the old myths received a new life.(432)
(432) For Fulk of Chartres and crusading travellers generally, see Bongars" Gesta Dei and the French Recueil; also Histories of the Crusades by Wilken, Sybel, Kugler, and others; see also Robinson, Biblical Researches, vol. ii, p. 109, and Tobler, Bibliographia Geographica Palestinae, 1867, p. 12. For Benjamin of Tudela"s statement, see Wright"s Collection of Travels in Palestine, p. 84, and Asher"s edition of Benjamin of Tudela"s travels, vol. i, pp. 71, 72; also Charton, vol. i, p. 180. For Borchard or Burchard, see full text in the Reyssbuch dess Heyligen Landes; also Grynaeus, Nov. Orbis, Basil, 1532, fol. 298, 329. For Ernoul, see his L"Estat de la Cite de Hierusalem, in Michelant and Reynaud, Itineraires Francaises au 12me et 13me Siecles.
For Petrus Diaconus, see his book De Locis Sanctis, edited by Gamurrini, Rome, 1887, pp. 126, 127. For Mandeville I have compared several editions, especially those in the Reyssbuch, in Canisius, and in Wright, with Halliwell"s reprint and with the rare Strasburg edition of 1484 in the Cornell University Library: the whole statement regarding the experiment with iron and feathers is given differently in different copies. The statement that he saw the feathers sink and the iron swim is made in the Reyssbuch edition, Frankfort, 1584. The story, like the saints" legends, evidently grew as time went on, but is none the less interesting as showing the general credulity. Since writing the above, I have been glad to find my view of Mandeville"s honesty confirmed by the Rev. Dr. Robinson, and by Mr. Gage in his edition of Ritter"s Palestine.
In the fifteenth century wonders increased. In 1418 we have the Lord of Caumont, who makes a pilgrimage and gives us a statement which is the result of the theological reasoning of centuries, and especially interesting as a typical example of the theological method in contrast with the scientific. He could not understand how the blessed waters of the Jordan could be allowed to mingle with the accursed waters of the Dead Sea. In spite, then, of the eye of sense, he beheld the water with the eye of faith, and calmly announced that the Jordan water pa.s.ses through the sea, but that the two ma.s.ses of water are not mingled. As to the salt statue of Lot"s wife, he declares it to be still existing; and, copying a table of indulgences granted by the Church to pious pilgrims, he puts down the visit to the salt statue as giving an indulgence of seven years.
Toward the end of the century we have another traveller yet more influential: Bernard of Breydenbach, Dean of Mainz. His book of travels was published in 1486, at the famous press of Schoeffer, and in various translations it was spread through Europe, exercising an influence wide and deep. His first important notice of the Dead Sea is as follows: "In this, Tirus the serpent is found, and from him the Tiriac medicine is made. He is blind, and so full of venom that there is no remedy for his bite except cutting off the bitten part. He can only be taken by striking him and making him angry; then his venom flies into his head and tail." Breydenbach calls the Dead Sea "the chimney of h.e.l.l," and repeats the old story as to the miraculous solvent for its bitumen.
He, too, makes the statement that the holy water of the Jordan does not mingle with the accursed water of the infernal sea, but increases the miracle which Caumont had announced by saying that, although the waters appear to come together, the Jordan is really absorbed in the earth before it reaches the sea.
As to Lot"s wife, various travellers at that time had various fortunes.
Some, like Caumont and Breydenbach, took her continued existence for granted; some, like Count John of Solms, saw her and were greatly edified; some, like Hans Werli, tried to find her and could not, but, like St. Silvia, a thousand years before, were none the less edified by the idea that, for some inscrutable purpose, the sea had been allowed to hide her from them; some found her larger than they expected, even forty feet high, as was the salt pillar which happened to be standing at the visit of Commander Lynch in 1848; but this only added a new proof to the miracle, for the text was remembered, "There were giants in those days."
Out of the ma.s.s of works of pilgrims during the fifteenth century I select just one more as typical of the theological view then dominant, and this is the noted book of Felix Fabri, a preaching friar of Ulm. I select him, because even so eminent an authority in our own time as Dr.
Edward Robinson declares him to have been the most thorough, thoughtful, and enlightened traveller of that century.
Fabri is greatly impressed by the wonders of the Dead Sea, and typical of his honesty influenced by faith is his account of the Dead Sea fruit; he describes it with almost perfect accuracy, but adds the statement that when mature it is "filled with ashes and cinders."
As to the salt statue, he says: "We saw the place between the sea and Mount Segor, but could not see the statue itself because we were too far distant to see anything of human size; but we saw it with firm faith, because we believed Scripture, which speaks of it; and we were filled with wonder."