Niebuhr Calls
It Faran, And I Have Heard Some Bedouins Pronounce It As If It Were
Written [Arabic, Giving It Nearly The Sound Of Fyran.]]
“It is one of the towns of the Amalakites, situated near the borders of
the sea of Kolzoum, upon a hill between two mountains; on each of which
are numberless excavations, full of corpses.
It is one day’s journey
distant [in a straight line] from the sea of Kolzoum, the shore of which
is there called “the shore of the sea of Faran;” there it was that
Pharaoh was drowned by the Almighty. Between the city of Faran and the
Tyh are two days journey. It is said that Faran is the name of the
mountains of Mekka, and that it is the name of other mountains in the
Hedjaz, and that it is the place mentioned in the books of Moses. But
the truth is, that Tor and Faran are two districts belonging to the
southern parts of Egypt, and that it is not the same as the Faran
(Paran) mentioned in the books of Moses. It is stated, that the
mountains
[p.618] of Mekka derive their name from Faran Ibn Amr Ibn Amalyk. Some
call them the mountains of Faran others Fyran. The city of Faran was one
of the cities belonging to Midian, and remained so until the present
times. There are plenty of palmtrees there, of the dates of which I have
myself eaten. A large river flows by. The town is at present in ruins;
Bedouins only pass there.”
Makrizi is certainly right in supposing that the Faran or Paran
mentioned in the Scriptures is not the same as Feiran; an opinion which
has been entertained also by Niebuhr, and other travellers. From the
passage in Numbers xiii. 26, it is evident that Paran was situated in
the desert of Kadesh, which was on the borders of the country of the
Edomites, and which the Israelites reached after their departure from
Mount Sinai, on their way towards the land of Edom. Paran must therefore
be looked for in the desert west of Wady Mousa, and the tomb of Aaron
which is shewn there. At present the people of Feiran bury their dead
higher up in the valley, than the ancient ruins in the neighbourhood of
Sheikh Abou Taleb. There is no rivulet, but in winter time the valley is
completely flooded, and a large stream of water collected from all the
lateral valleys of Wady el Sheikh empties itself through Wady Feiran
into the gulf of Suez near the Birket Faraoun.
We rode for one hour from Feiran, and then stopped near some date trees
called Hosseye [Arabic], where are several Arab huts, and where good
water is found. Here I remained the rest of the day, as I felt very much
the effect of yesterday’s exertions. In the evening all the females
quitted the huts to join in the Mesámer, in which I also participated,
and we kept it up till long after midnight.
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