The Moabite Stone.—
One of the most interesting of the series of lectures
which are delivered fortnightly at the Museum was given on Friday night by
the Rev. the Dean of Perth, on the subject of “The Moabite Stone.” His
Excellency the Governor, Sir Gerald Strickland, presided over an unusually
large audience. Facing his hearers the lecturer had hung a facsimile cast
of the stone in question, and at the outset of his remarks pointed out how
the original had been broken in pieces and had had to be put together. It
was Mesha, King of Moab, who had, 850 years before Christ, caused the
inscription to be placed on the stone. The stone was discovered in the
year 1868, by a Prussian traveller whilst exploring the mines of the old
world city of Dibon, on the east of the Dead Sea. Before negotiations
could, however, be completed for the purchase of the stone, the Arabs got
hold of it. They believed it to possess magical properties, and the story
goes they first heated it and then poured cold water on it so that it
cracked into fragments, many of which they carried off. With the exception
of a few pieces, the fragments were afterwards collected and put together.
The inscription, of which the lecturer gave as full a translation as
possible, was practically a history of all the victorious battles fought
and won by the king, leaving out those which he had lost. At the
conclusion of the address His Excellency thanked Dean Latham for his most
entertaining remarks. The story of the breaking of the stone reminded him
of what he had read concerning miners of olden days, whose implements were
of brass and other softer metals. In order to break their stone they were
wont to light big fires upon it, and when it was thoroughly heated to pour
cold water on it. The Arabs of recent days appeared to employ the same
method of breaking stones. A vote of thanks to His Excellency, who, in
reply, stated that at he would rather attend one of those lectures than a
ball, or theatre, or such like entertainment, concluded the proceedings.
The next lecture will be by Mr. Chitty Baker, on the subject of “How
Plants Grow.”
