Ihit the most remarkal)lc fart regarding the vale of Siddim is that stated in (jen. xiv, 3, "(V ii the Suit Se<i" (nS'sn C N'ln). The meaning of tliose words cannot be mistaken ; and we have no more grouml for (pies- tioning their genuineness than for (piestioning the gen- uineness of any other passage in (ienesis. There is abundant evidence that the book as it now stands was the production of Moses. He mav have embodied in it
authentic documents handed down from a remoter age, arranging and supplementing them as he deemed neces- sary. But his additions would be as authoritative as the documents themselves. Until we can prove from clear evidence tliat the clause was interpolated by an uninspired writer, we must regard it as an integral part of tlie Mosaic record, and we must believe that the vale of Siddim was submerged.
3. J'robdble Idenlijicution. — If we understand, there- fore, the latter clause of ver. 3 to designate a part of what was afterwards known as " the Salt Sea," then we must agree with Dr. Kobinson and others in identifying the Valley of Siddim with the enclosed plain which in- tervenes between tlie south end of the lake and the range of heights which terminate the (ihor and com- mence the Wady Arabah. This is a district in many respects suitable. In the ditches and drains of the Sabkah are the impassable channels of Gesenius. In the thickly wooded Ghor es-SJifieh are ample conditions for the fertility of Prof. Stanley. The general aspect and formation of the plain answer fully to the idea of an emek. The most careful explorations of recent trav- ellers have not brought to light a single fact calculated to overthrow this view. On the contrary, the following results of scientific research go far to establish it. At the present day there are no bitumen-pits in the plains around the Dead Sea, and time could not have effaced them had they remained above water. It has been as- certained, from masses of bitumen frequently thrown to the surface, that there must be wells of bitumen in the bed of the sea towards its southern end. Traces of what appears to have been " a shower of sulphur" have been discovered recently on the south-west shore; and with it are layers and lumps of bitumen calcined by heat. The section of the Dead Sea south of el-Lisan has been found to be very shallow — only a few feet, and in places onlv a few inches of water covering a flat, slimy plain — whereas the whole northern section is a deep and regularly formed basin. These facts would seem at least to suggest that that section of the Dead Sea which is south of the peninsula covers the region which was called in Lot's time "the vale of Siddim." Josephus states this view emphatically. His woriis {Ant. i, 9) are, "They encamped in the valley called the Wells of Asphalt ; for at that time there were wells in that spot; but now that the city of the Sodomites has disappeared, that valley has become a lake which is called Asiihaltites." See also Strabo, xvi, 764. See Sai/1' Ska ; Sodom.
Si'de (~iCi), Vnlg. Side'), a city on the coast of Pamidiylia, in lat. 3t)^ 46', long. 31° 27', ten or twelve miles to the east of the river Eurymedon. It is men- tioned in 1 Mace, xv, 23 among the list of places to which the Koman senate sent letters in favor of the Jews. See Piiasiclis. It was a colony of Cumseans. In the time of Strabo a temple of Athene stood there, and the name of that goddess associated with Ajiollo appears in an inscription of undoubtedly late times found on the spot by Admiral Hcaiifort. It is now called Kshkji Addlid. Side was closely connected with Aradus in Pho'iiicia by commerce, even if there was not a con- sideral)le Pluenician element in tlie population; for not only are the towns jilaced in juxtaposition in the passage of tlie JMaccabees (pioted above, but Antiochiis's ambas- sador to the Achiean league (Livy, xxxv, 48), when boasting of his master's navy, told his hearers that the left division was made up of men of Side and of Aradus, as the right was of those of Tyre and of Sidon, "quas gentes niillie uiKpiam nee arte nee virtute navali leipias- sent." It is possible that the name has the same root as that of Sidon, and that it (as well as the Side on the southern coast of the I'^iixine [Strabo, xii. 3]) was orig- inally a I'liieiiiiian settlement, and that the Cuma'an colony was something sul)se(|iieiit. In the times in which Side appears in history it had become a place of considerable importance. It was the station of Antio- chus's naw on the eve of the battle with the Khodiau
SIDEROMANCY
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SIDONIUS
fleet described by Livy (xxxvii, 23, 24). The remains, too, which still exist are an evidence of its former wealth. They stand on a low peninsula running from north-east to south-west, and the maritime character of the former inhabitants appears from the circumstance that the walls towards the sea were but slightly built, while the one which faces the land is of excellent work- manship, and remains, in a considerable portion, perfect even to this time. A theatre (belonging apparently to the Komau times) is one of the largest and best pre- served in Asia Minor, and is calculated to have been capable of containing more than 15,000 spectators. This is so prominent an object that, to persons approaching the shore, it appears like an acropolis of the city, and, in fact, during the Jliddle Ages, was actually occupied as a fort. The suburbs of Side extend to some distance, but the greatest length within the walls does not ex- ceed 1300 yards. Three gates led into the town from the sea, and one, on the north-eastern side, into the country. From this last a paved street with high curb- stones conducts to an agora, 180 feet in diameter, and formerly surrounded with a doul)le row of columns, of which only the bases remain. In the centre is a large ruined pedestal, as if for a colossal statue, and on the southern side the ruins of a temple, probably the one spoken of by Strabo. Opposite to this a street ran to the principal water-gate, and on the fourth side of the agora the avenue from the land-gate was continued to tlie front of the theatre. Of this last the lower half is, after the manner of Koman architects whenever the site permitted, excavated from the native rock, the upper half built up of excellent masonry. The seats for the spectators, most of which remain, are of white marble, beautifully wrought.