1. Seetzen (ISIarch 17,1806; TJme, i, 408) seems to have been the first to suggest the Jebcl .Xttariis (be- tween theAVady Zerka-main and the Arnon, three miles below the former, and ten or twelve south of Heshbon) as the Nebo of Moses. In this he is followed (though probably without any communication) by Burckhardt (July 14, 181'2), wiio mentions it as the highest point in that locality, and therefore probably "Mount Ntbo of the Scripture." This is adopted by Irby and Mangles, though with hesitation {Trureh,d\xnQ 8, 1818).
2. Another elevation above the general summit level of these highlands is the Jehi 'Os/ki, or Aus/ki'.ot Jtbel el-Jirdd,^' the highest point in all the eastern moini- tains," " overtopping the whole of the Belka, and rising about 3000 feet above the Ghftr" (Burckhardt, July 2, 1812 : Itobinson, i, 527 note, 570).
But these eminences are alike wanting in one main essential of the Nebo of the Scripture, which is stated to have been " facing Jericho," words which in the wid- est interpretation must imply that it was "some eleva- tion immediately over the last stage of the Jordan," wliile 'Osha and Attan'is are equally remote in opjio- sitc directions, the one fifteen miles north, the other fif- teen miles south of a line drawn eastward from Jericho. Another rccpiisite fur the identification is that a view should be obtainable from the summit, corres]ionding to that prospect over the whole land which Moses is said to have had from Mount Nebo. The view from Jebel Jil'ad has been briefly described by Dr. Porter {Hand- book, p. 300). though without reference to the possibility of its being Nebo. C)f liial from Jebel Attan'is no descrip- tion is extant, for, almost incredible as it seems, none of the travellers above named, although they believed it to be Nebo, appear to have made any attempt to de- viate so far from their route as to ascend an eminence which, if their conjectures be correct, must be the most interesting spot in the world.
3. De Saulcey is the first traveller who discovered the name still extant in .J<bd Xvbbah.an eminence on the eastern shore of tlie Dead Sea, not far from its northern end (]'ot/ai/e en Torre Sainte, i, 289 sq.). The due de Luynes, however, appears to have been the first to actu- ally visit and accurately locate tlie summit (Vot/n(je, under April 13, 1864). Jlr. Tristram next visited it, and
NEBO
897
NEBUCH ADN EZZ AR
he graphically describes the outlook from its top {Land oj' Israel, p. 536 sq. ; conip. also his Lund o/Jfoab, p. 338 sq.). The place in question lies nearly four miles south- west of Hesban. Prof. Paine, of the American Exploring Party, carefully examined it, and has given a detailed report of his researches and conclusions (in the '• Third Statement" of the Am. Pal. Exploration Soc, N. Y. Jan. 1875), in which, while admitting the identity of the modern and ancient names and localities, he enters into a minute argument to prove that Pisgah was a specific title of the particular spot on which Moses stood rather than a general name of the entire range, as usually held. See Pisgah.
3. (Sept, Nff/inv ; Vulg, Nebo, Nabo.} A town on the eastern side of Jordan, situated in the pastoral country (Numb, xxxii, 8), one of those which were taken pos- session of and rebuilt by the tribe of Reuben (ver. 38), In these lists it is associated with Kirjathaim and Baal- mcon or Beon; and in another record (1 Chron. v, 8) with Aroer, as marking one extremity, possibly the west, of a principal part of the tribe. In the remarka- ble prophecy uttered by Isaiah (xv, 2) and Jeremiah (xlviii, 1, 22) concerning Moab, Nebo is mentioned in the same connection as before, though no longer an Is- raelitish town, but in the hands of Moab. It does not occur in the catalogue of the towns of Reuben in Joshua (xiii, 15-23) ; but whether this is an accidental omis- sion, or whether it appears under another name — ac- cording to the statement of Numb, xxxii, 38, that the Israelites changed the names of the heathen cities they retained in this district — is uncertain. In the case of Nebo, which was doubtless called after the deity of that name, there would be a double reason for such a change (see Josh, xxiii, 7). There is nothing positive except the name to show that there was a connection between Nebo the town and Mount Nebo. The notices of Eusebi- us and Jerome {Onomasf.) are confused, but they rather denote that the two were distinct, and distant from each other. The town (Nn/Swp, Nabo) they identify with Nobah and Kenath, and locate it eight miles south of Heshbon, where the ruins of el-Habis appear to stand at present; while the mountain {'SajSav, Nabau) is stated to be six miles east (Jer.) or west (Euseb.) from the same spot. But the former statement is certainly an error ; and hence we may presume that the town and the mountain were not distinct, especially as we tind the associated towns (Medeba and Baal-meon) in the same vicinity. In the list of places south of es-Salt given by Dr. Robinson (Bib. Ees. iii, App. p. 170) one occurs named Xeba, which may be identical with Nebo. It perhaps indicates the ruins now extant on the pres- ent Jebel NMah, or Mount Nebo (above).