CALLISTHENES
84
CALNEH
of the same name in the valley of Callirriiofi, in which we think he most be wrong, since there ia not apace for a town in the vallej as fkr as we saV it. That Herod most have had some lodging when he yisited these springs is tme, and there are sofficient remains to prove that some sort of buildings have been erected.'' Ac- cording to Josephns, the fortress of Macheros, wliich was rebuilt by Herod, was upon this hot-water stream, and not far from the fountains. It is supposed that John the Baptist was imprisoned and beheaded in this fortress, and that the feast was also made at Biachaarus, which, besides being a strong-hold, was also a palace, built by Herod the Great, and that Herod himself was now on his route toward the territory of Aretas, with whom he was at war. The ruins of this fortress still exist (Josephus, Ant. zvii, 6, 5; xviii, 5, 2; War, i, 88, 6). The Zurka Main, which empties itself into the Dead Sea, visited and described by Seetzen (Reiset ii, 886 sq.), iB described as a sweet and thermal stream, and is doubtless the outlet of the hot streams of Cal- lirrhoft (Bitter, Erdk. xv, 672, 678). Lieut Lynch, who explored it in 1848, says: **The stream, twelve feet wide and ten inches deep, rushes in a southerly di- rection with great velocity into the sea. Temperature of the afar, 70^; of the sea, 78^; of the stream, 94°; one mile of the chasm, 95°. It was a little sulphure- ous to the taste. The stream has worn its bed through the rock, and flows between the perpendicular sides of the chasm, and through the delta, bending to the south, about two ftirlongs, to the sea. The banks of the stream along the delta are fringed with canes, tam- arisks, and the castor-bean. The chasm is 122 feet wide at the mouth, and for one mile up, as for as we traced it, does not lessen in width. The sides of the chasm are about eighty feet high where it opens upon the delta, but within they rise in altitude to upward of 150 fioet on each side, where the trap formation is exhibit- ed. In the bed of the chasm there was one stream, on the south side, eight fieet wide and two deep, and two small streams in the centre, all rushing ^wn at the rate of six knots per hour. There were no boulders in the bed of the ravine, which in the winter must, throughout its width and high up the sides, pour down an impetuous flood. The walls of the chasm are loffy and perpendicular, of red and yellow sandstone, equal- ly majestic and imposing,^ but not worn in such iSuitas- tilc shapes nor of so rich a hue as those of the Amon. Waded up about a mile, and saw a fsw date-palm-trees growing in the chasm. The turns about 200 yards apart, at first gently rounded, but subsequently sharp and angular. There was a succession of rapids, and a cascade of fiour, and a perpendicular fall of five or six feet. A little above the rapid trap shows over sand- stone. The current was so strong Uiat, while bathing, I could not, with my feet against the rock, keep ttom being carried down the stream ; and, walldng where it was but two fiBet deep, could with difficulty retain a fbothold with my shoes off. At 7 P.M., bathed first in the sea and afterward in the stream— a most delicious transition from the dense, acrid water of the sea, which made our innumerable sores smart severely, to the soft, tepid, and refreshing waters of the Callirrhod" (Exp6- diioHy p. 871). See also Labsa.
Callis'thenes (KaKKiaOkvfiCy a firequent Greek name), a partisan of Nicanor, who was burnt by the Jews on the defisat of that general in revenge for his guilt in setting fire to "the sacred portals" (2 Mace viii, 88).— ^mith, s. v. See Nioamob.
CalUatos. See Cauztus I.
Calmet, Auousmis, a learned Benedictine, of the congregation of St. Yannes, bom at Mesnil-la-Horgne Feb. 26, 1672. He studied at Breuii, and after having pronounced the vows in Oct., 1689, he proceeded to make his course of philosophy at the abbey of St. Evre, and afterward devoted himself to Hebrew, which he studied under Fabre, a Reformed divine. In 1704 he
passed to the abbey of Munster, where he taag^ ^ young mo^ks ; and lectures which he there read to them formed tl>e basis of liis " Coomientaries <m the Old and New Testaments,'* which lie wrote in Lttii, but translated into French, and published in 1707 aad I7I6, in 28 volumes 4to. This work was followed hj his Eistoire Samte de PAndem et Nomeam TatamU History of the Old and New Testaments (Paris, 171^, 2 vols. 4to), and his celebrated DictUmary cfikt BSk In 1718 he was made abbot of St Leopold's at Ktncv, and ten years after he was removed to the abbey rf S6nones, where he died (hmving refused a Ushoprie a partamt) Oct. 25, 1757. His Life was written br Fang6, his nephew (1768, 8vo), where a complete Ik of his numerous works will bie found. The best t^ tion (French) of ih9£>ktitmikxk«kkUifigueHcri^ la Bible is that of Paris, 1780 (4 vols. foL). Thebeit English editions are those of 1798 (4tQ, with additkw) and of 1847 (edited by Taylor, 5 vols. 4to). BkQm- mefUaire UtUral tuar Umt let Uartt de VAnden et da Aioi> vecnt Tettament (reprinted at Paris, 1718, 26 vols. 4to, also 9 vols, fol.) was abridged, and published io 17 vols. 4to, at Avignon, 1767-1778; also translated into Latin, with the Diteertaiiom, by Manse <Wirceb. 17^ 19 vols. 4to). Calmet's Dictumarg of the BQfle hu, as- til lately, farmed the basis of all subsequent woits of the same kind. The best abridgment is that of Bob. inson, whose additions are perhaps, to the modem rto- dent, of more value than the original work.— Buy. Uhiv. vi, 559; Landon, Ecclee, Did, ii, 497. See Dio- Tion ABIES (Biblical).