The Northern Ḥeǧâz/Appendix 5
APPENDIX V
THE SITE OF ḲADEŠ
The first mention of Ḳadeš is in Genesis, 14: 7, where there is a description of the march of the allied Babylonian kings. The kings went from north to south along the fields east of the Dead Sea, then through the Seʻîr range as far as Êl Pârân, and, passing around ʻÊn Mišpaṭ (i. e. Ḳadeš), reached the deep-set lowland of Siddîm, where they defeated the allied kings of the settlements situated by the Dead Sea. We identify the lowland of Siddîm with the southern border of the Dead Sea, and Êl Pârân with the later Elath and the present settlement of al-ʻAḳaba, at the northern end of the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba. There is no reason why the kings, having reached Êl Pârân (al-ʻAḳaba) in the rift valley of al-ʻAraba, should have entered afresh the high western plateau, thence to descend with difficulty to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. They could have taken the open road northward through al-ʻAraba, for they must have known that both in the rift valley and on its south-eastern and western borders they would find the numerous encampments of refugees from the Seʻîr range and herdsmen with goats and sheep from the western range; for, during the rainy season, the latter are very prone to linger with their flocks in this warm and well watered region. Thence the kings could easily have dispatched smaller bands to the western range against the Amalekites and Amorites, while they themselves with the main body of their army could have approached the settlements near the Dead Sea, whose owners refused them tribute. After a victorious battle they did not enter either the western or the eastern plateau but, passing round the Dead Sea, hastened with their booty and prisoners northward along the Jordan and did not turn aside until they were beyond the Lake of Tiberias. Thence they proceeded in a northeasterly direction to Damascus. We know the location of Siddîm, toward which the kings proceeded: it is at the northern extremity of al-ʻAraba. We identify Êl Pârân, which they reached, with the settlement of al-ʻAḳaba at the southern extremity of the same rift valley, and we are not aware of any reason why the kings should have left this valley. We must therefore suppose that they proceeded from Êl Pârân (al-ʻAḳaba) northward to the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. Along this road they reached ʻÊn Mišpaṭ (i. e. Ḳadeš), and therefore we must locate ʻÊn Mišpaṭ near al-ʻAraba between Êl Pârân and the lowland of Siddîm.
According to Numbers, 13: 17, Moses sent out spies to view the Promised Land. Starting from Pârân they searched the land from the wilderness of Ṣin as far as Rehob and finally returned (Num., 13: 21, 26) to the wilderness of Pârân and Ḳadeš. From this it would seem that Ḳadeš must have been situated on the borders, or at least near the borders, of the wildernesses of Pârân and Ṣin. As we know from other passages that the wilderness of Pârân extended as far as the northern extremity of the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba and that the wilderness of Ṣin extended along the southern border of the Promised Land (which, according to Joshua, 11: 17, stretched as far as the Ḥalaḳ mountain) we must locate Ḳadeš eastward of the Ḥalaḳ mountain near the rift valley of al-ʻAraba. We thus arrive near the ruins of Petra on the watershed of the Dead Sea and Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba. We identify the wilderness of Pârân with the southern portion of al-ʻAraba, through which water flows into the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba, while we assign the northern part, through which water flows into the Dead Sea, to the wilderness of Ṣin, placing Ḳadeš on the border line of these two wildernesses near Petra.
Deuteronomy, 1: 2, refers to the transport route leading from Ḥoreb to Ḳadeš Barneʻa; it is there designated as the road to Seʻîr, and the journey along it from Ḥoreb to Ḳadeš Barneʻa is said to take eleven days.
Deuteronomy, 1: 19, mentions the same road as the road to the mountains of the Amorites, and it is there said to lead through a “great and terrible wilderness.”
These two statements are of importance to us, because, knowing the exact situation of the mountains of the Amorites to the southwest of the Dead Sea and of Seʻîr to the south-southeast of the same sea, we may, from the mountains of the Amorites by way of Seʻîr, define the direction in which we must seek Ḳadeš Barneʻa. The ruins of Petra, in the neighborhood of which we locate Ḳadeš Barneʻa, are situated precisely on the route from the Amorite mountains by way of Seʻîr to the south-southeast.
The road to Seʻîr, or the road to the Amorite mountains, passed through a “great and terrible wilderness” and thus could not have entered the populated mountain range but must have passed round it at its western foot between it and the wilderness of Pârân to the west. Along the western foot, of the aš-Šera’ range there actually leads an ancient transport route from south to north via Petra through the an-Namala pass (about twenty kilometers north of Petra [Wâdi Mûsa]; see Musil, Karte von Arabia Petraea) into the ʻAraba and farther in a north-northwesterly direction to the Amorite mountains. From Mount Ḥoreb along this road to Ḳadeš Barneʻa is eleven days’ march. We locate Mount Ḥoreb by the šeʻîb of al-Ḫrob in the northeastern part of the al-Hrajbe table-land, and place Ḳadeš in the vicinity of the ruins of Petra. From the šeʻîb of al-Ḫrob to Petra is nearly two hundred and twenty kilometers, so that one day’s march would amount to about twenty-two kilometers. That is the distance covered in one day by the caravans with merchandise and by the migrating tribes during a lengthy journey.
From Ḳadeš, Moses (Num., 20: 14) sent messengers to the king of Edom, who were to tell him (Num., 20: 16 f.): “Behold, we are in Ḳadeš, a city in the uttermost of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country We will go by the king’s highway . . . until we have passed thy borders.” When he refused, the messengers said: “We will go by the highway: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it” (Num., 20: 19). But the king of Edom would not let them pass and threatened them with violence.—
According to this account, Ḳadeš was a city on the borders of Edom, from which it was easy to reach the royal highway passing through the land of Edom from south to north. This tallies with the vicinity of Petra, which is at the western slope of the Seʻîr range and thus on the western border of Edom. Through Petra leads a convenient transport route from south to north, and by way of the an-Namala pass there is another route to the west and northwest. This pass was and still is connected by means of the ancient transport route with the settlement of Maʻân, situated on the great trade route from southwestern Arabia northward to Phoenicia and Damascus. The connecting road crossed and still crosses near the ruins of al-Basta (seventeen kilometers southeast of Petra; see Musil, op. cit.) the royal highroad leading from the ruins of Ab-al-Lesel near Naḳb aš-Štâr via aṣ-Ṣadaḳa and at-Twâne northward. It was upon this road that the Israelites wished to proceed on their march. (See below, p. 271.)
Leaving Ḳadeš, they encamped near Mount Hor, where Aaron died and was buried, whereupon (Num., 21: 4) they went along the road to the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds) so as to pass around the land of Edom.—
The Sea of Reeds here designates the Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba. The Israelites, being unable to penetrate to the northwest into the Amorite mountains and not having obtained permission from the king of Edom to pass through his country on the royal highroad to the northeast, turned to the south, skirting around the western foot of the range of Seʻîr (Deut., 2: 1) for a long time, until finally (Deut., 2: 4) Jehovah ordered them to proceed in a northerly direction through the land of the sons of Esau dwelling in Seʻîr. Accordingly they passed through the land of the sons of Esau (Deut., 2: 8) along the highroad of ʻAraba, leading from Elath and ʻEṣjôngeber.
The Israelites thus journeyed along the western border of Seʻîr and the northern part of the region of Ḥesma. The whole of the latter region belonged to the Madianites. From Ḥesma they followed the road leading from the harbors of Elath and ʻEṣjôngeber to the north-northeast, ascended the Seʻîr range by Naḳb aš-Štâr, passed over its southwestern corner, and reached at Maʻân the above-mentioned great transport route from southwestern Arabia. Here they branched off (Deut., 2: 8) due north and made their way along the eastern border of Têmân to the wilderness of Moab, whereupon they crossed the brook of Zâred. According to Deuteronomy, 2: 14, it took them thirty-eight years to reach the stream Zâred from Ḳadeš Barneʻa. (See below, p. 272.)
We identify Mount Hor, where Aaron died and was buried, with Mount Hârûn to the south of Petra (see Musil, Umgebungskarte von Wâdi Mûsa, Petra). The accounts quoted above concerning the journey along Mount Se‘ir from Kades southward to the Sea of Reeds and thence along the ‘Araba highroad across the southwestern corner of Se‘ir to the northeast and north, agree entirely with the present routes. They thus corroborate our supposition that Ḳadeš must be located in the vicinity of Petra.
Numbers, 20: 1, records that the Israelites reached the wilderness of Ṣin and encamped at Ḳadeš, where Miriam died and was buried. Having no water, they murmured; whereupon Moses struck a rock with his rod (Num., 20: 11) and obtained an abundance of water, which was therefore known as Mê Merîba (Num., 20: 13).—
This would seem to show that the wilderness of Ṣin borders on the environs of Ḳadeš and is entirely in agreement with the position of the remoter environs of the ruins of Petra, which are situated near the watershed of the Dead and Red Seas.
Having reached Ḳadeš Barneʻa with the Israelites, Moses said to them (Deut., 1: 20): “Ye are come unto the mountains of the Amorites.” That does not mean that Ḳadeš was situated actually at the mountains of the Amorites, but that it was not far from there to this range. From the environs of Petra the mountains of the Amorites are easily visible, and by descending through the an-Namala pass into the northern part of the rift valley of al-ʻAraba, or the ancient Ṣin, it is possible in a short time to reach the land of the Amorites.
According to Numbers, 34: 3 ff., the southern frontier of the Promised Land is to be formed by the wilderness of Ṣin along Edom; in the east it is to proceed from the extremity of the Salt Sea, to extend in a southerly direction from the ascent of ʻAkrabîm as far as Ṣin, and to end to the south of Ḳadeš Barneʻa. From there it is to lead to Ḥaẓar Adar and farther as far as the valley of Egypt.
Ḳadeš, although it is mentioned so many times in the Pentateuch, is never included among the localities or cities of Palestine. The account just cited shows that the city of Ḳadeš lay on the very borders of the Promised Land and of Edom and, as we know from other records, at the western foot of Mount Seʻîr, which, as has frequently been stated already, extended to the south-southeast of the Dead Sea. We must not, therefore, locate Ḳadeš either to the southwest or south but to the southeast of the Promised Land; this, moreover, tallies with the situation in the environs of Petra which we have suggested. To the west of the latter is the watershed of al-ʻAraba, and near it the frontier of Palestine probably passed westward to the valley of Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. The border of the Promised Land led along the western side of al-ʻAraba, which at its northern extremity belonged to Moab, and farther south to Edom.
Genesis, 16: 7, relates that Hagar, when driven out, came to a well on the road to Šûr. According to Genesis, 16: 14, this well was situated between Ḳadeš and Bered, its name being Be’êr Laḥaj Rô’i. If the well was located on the transport route to Šûr between Ḳadeš and Bered, we must suppose that this road led from Ḳadeš to Šûr by way of Bered. Šûr, which marked the frontier of Egypt proper was protected by strong walls against the inroads of Asiatic nomads. Šûr was thus to the west, Ḳadeš to the east of the encampments of Abraham in a position which tallies with our suggestion that Ḳadeš was situated near Petra. That there were the crossroads of important transport routes in the neighborhood of Ḳadeš may be inferred from the various reports already quoted, and it is more than probable that an important transport route led thence to Egypt through the northern part of the region of Šûr. This transport route descended through the an-Namala pass into al-ʻAraba and led in a west-northwesterly direction by way of ʻAbde and al-ʻAwǧa’ to Egypt. Bered must be located on the high table-land westward from al-ʻAraba, perhaps in the ruins known as al-ʻAwǧa’ (the Crooked), because of the appearance which they present from afar. At that spot there are deep wells with good, cold water, from which the name Bered might have been derived, and it forms the last station on the road from the inhabited area to the wilderness of Šûr. Ḳadeš and Bered must have been important trading stations, otherwise the position would not have been defined with reference to them. The well of Laḥaj Rô’i, which the angel pointed out to Hagar, could not have been visited often, or Hagar would easily have found it from the footprints. It was more likely a small well in a dry river bed, into which flowed the remainder of the rain water which the gravel had protected from rapid evaporation. Such a well may be recognized by a dark patch of moist sand or gravel. If a small pit is dug in the patch, water gushes into it. Hagar could not have drunk from the deep well, as there was neither a rope nor a bucket. Possibly Laḥaj Rô’i is identical with Ammu Ṯemîle (twenty-three kilometers east of al-ʻAwǧa’; see Musil, Karte von Arabia Petraea), on the junction of the roads from ʻAbde to al-ʻAwǧa’ and from Bîr as-Sabaʻ (Beersheba) to the south.
According to Genesis, 20: 1, the transport route from Ḳadeš to Šûr was crossed also by Abraham, when he was wandering between Ḳadeš and Šûr and abode at Gerar.—From this passage, as well as from others, it is obvious that Gerar must not be located, as is often done, to the southeast of Gaza on the right bank of the stream an-Nahr in the ruins of Umm al-Ǧerâr, but much farther to the south, as the southern environs of Gaza did not belong to Šûr.
Besides the passages quoted—together with Judges, 11:16 f., where there is a brief reference to the march of the Israelites from Egypt, and Psalms, 29: 8, where the wilderness of Ḳadeš is mentioned—there is no other reference to Ḳadeš in the Old Testament. From the accounts upon which we have commented it is clear that Ḳadeš indicates the wilderness or region of Ḳadeš, the city of Ḳadeš, and even the well of Ḳadeš. It must therefore have been an extensive area, which was fertile and therefore irrigated in some parts but barren in others where there was no water. In this way we may explain the various statements which are associated with Ḳadeš in the Bible. Reference is made to the wilderness of Pârân in which Ḳadeš is situated; to the wilderness of Ṣin, in which Ḳadeš is also located; to Ḳadeš Barneʻa; to Merîbat Ḳadeš or Mê Merîba, which is also Ḳadeš. All these designations may be explained, if we place Ḳadeš in the neighborhood of the ruins of Petra. The eastern part of this neighborhood is fertile and irrigated; the western part rocky, barren, and almost devoid of water.