'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎520] (609/905)

520
THE GHAW-ARINEH.
[CHAP. XX.
Productions
of the Ghaw-
arineh.
Situation of
Kerak.
of and quite to the limits of Moab. Stretching along the
southern and eastern shore of the Dead Sea, there is another
level tract called the Ghaw-arineh, which is lower than the
former, and is celebrated for the cultivation of tobacco ; one
portion, the Ghor-el-Mezrah, projects so far that at times this
part of the Dead Sea is fordable. In general the tract is
covered with quite a forest composed of the Osher 1 and
other trees already noticed, 2 amidst which are clusters of
huts constructed with reeds and rushes, or canes, forming
square-shaped villages; about these are fields of tobacco
and grain, with some pasture land. 3 The principal set
tlement of the Ghaw-arineh is close to the southern extremity
of the Dead Sea, and the situation of the village Ghor-el-
Szafe corresponds with that of Zoar. 4 Indigo is a common
production of the Ghor; it produces also a kind of honey, and
Assal Berouk manna. 5
From the banks of the river Arnon a Roman road runs south-
westward to Bei't Kerim, a ruined city with a temple of remote
antiquity, 6 and numerous tanks. 7 The road or causeway
proceeds in the same direction to Rabba, where it terminates.
This appears to have been the site of the capital, Ariel of Moab,
or Rabbath Moab, afterwards Areopolis, whose remains consist
of a ruined temple, two cisterns, and several buildings, public
and private, within a circumference of about two miles. 8
About ten miles southward of the ancient is the modern
capital of Kerak, once Ker-Moab, and at a later period Cha-
racmoba. It occupies a steep hill surrounded by a deep and
narrow valley, which is itself encircled with mountains. The
town has ruinous walls and towers, and some inscriptions, with
a castle at its western extremity, and an entrance excavated in
the rock ; 2 but some fragments of granite columns are the only
remains of antiquity. Kerak is still a bishoprick, and it has
1 Asclepias gigantea vel procera.—Dr. Robinson's Biblical Researches, &c.,
vol. II., pp. 235, 236. 2 See above, p. 404,
8 Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, p. 391. Also Irby and Mangles' Travels,
p. 307. 4 Burckhardt's Travels, p. 391. 5 Ibid., p. 392.
6 Ibid., p. 376. 7 Irby and Mangle's Travels, p. 458.
8 Ibid., p. 277. 9 Ibid., p. 361.