BETH-GAMUL (SrN House of the weaned [camel-house, Furst] ; Sept. obcos l'aiitc.6X). This place is only once mentioned in the Bible (Jer. xlviii. 23). It is said to be in the plain country' of Moab, or more literally `in the land of lifishor.' Along the eastern side of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, runs a mountain ridge of uniform elevation, having an altitude of about 300o feet above the valley. On its summit is a great plateau, which extends, with a gentle slope, far eastward, till it joins the desert of Arabia. This is the Mishor, the cha racter and boundaries of which will be considered elsewhere. [MrstioR]. Some would confine it to a narrow strip along the brow of the ridge overhang ing the Dead Sea ; and they affirm that all the towns enumerated by Jeremiah are there to be sought for. But for this there is no evidence, and the words of the passage are opposed to it—' Judg ment is come upon the land of Mishor . . . upon Bethgamul . . . and upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near' (Jer. xlviii. 21-24). These three cities still exist, not very far distant from each other, on the north-eastern section of the Mishor ; and they retain their old names in an Arabic form. The writer saw them all, and
visited two of them (Bozrah and Kerioth). The town of Um-el-7emdl, which seems to be,' with out reasonable doubt, the modern representative of Beth-gamul, stands in the open plain, some eight or ten miles south-west (not north-west as represented on Van de Velde's map) of Bozrah. It is one of the most remarkable places in Syria. It was visited for the first time in 1858 by Mr. C. Graham. It is surrounded by walls, and contains many massive houses, such as are found in the towns of Bashan. They are built of large blocks of basalt, roughly hewn ; the roofs are formed of long slabs of the same material ; and the doors and gates are all of stone ! These buildings are evidently of remote antiquity ; and though the place has been deserted for many cen turies, the houses, streets, and walls, seem as if the town had been inhabited until within the last few years. Looking at this large deserted town, and the utter desolation of the surrounding plain, we can truly say with the prophet, judgment is come upon the land of Mishor, and upon all the cities of Moab far and near' (Carob. Essays, r858 ; Your. Geog. Soc., vol. xxviii).—J. L. P.