'J. Paine's nexl argument is drawn from the history of Balaam and Balak immediately following the pas- sages lasl cited. After lodging at BLirjath-huzoth (Numb, xxii, 39), which Paine regards as the site of Kufeir Abi-Bed, jusl easl of the crest of Nebo, the two proceeded first to -the high places of Baal" (ver n . which the professor dei ms to be "the extremity of Je- ih, the first chief summit of Pisgah" a de- scription which, if we correctly understand the Bome- w hat confused statements, designates the outer or west- ern -t peak, as from this -the whole of Israel" could
be seen. Balaam next repaired to a point called "the top of Pisgah" i ver. 1 1 >, which Paine regards as "the third" or easternmost peak, because from il only a part of litish camp could be -ecu. Finally, the prophet ascended "the top of Peor" (ver. 28), which the pro- fessor think- was the middle or ruin-crowned peak of Siaghah, as from it the various surrounding countries there enumerated can be seen to advantage. Bui this distribution of the several localities seems rather arbi- trary. 'I'h. first name i a \ ei \ indefinite one, being identical with Bamoth-baal (Josh. xiii. 17), apparently nearer the Anion i Xuinb. xxi. 28), if nol identical w ith the Bamoth previously referred to (ver. 20) ; and surely
there are many spots in the vicinity from which "the utmost part of the people" could be seen a phrase that designates not the whole, but only the rear. In Numb. xxiii. 13, where the same expression is used, the same place is referred to, and the words must be rendered. - And Balak said to him, < Some now w ith me to another
place, win nee thou mayesl see bi nlj his extremity
canst thou see [here], and not all of him canst thou see) : and thou shah curse him for me from thei K.il. ad loc). The next locality accordingly was one commanding a view of the entire t ncampmt nt, namely. "the top ol the Pisgah" ranee, probably Jebel Neba it- self. It seems to have been much farther than Paine makes it from ISalak's previous station, for there the two adjoining emint net - are spoken of in very different phraseology ("the high-places of Baal— to a high place," Numb. xxii. 11 : xxiii, 3). As this second out- look of Balaam is called (xxiii. 14) "the Held of Zo- phim," or the watchers, Paine holds that it was Wady llaisa. which he reports as being partly under cultiva- tion; but this affords no good prospect of the "plains of Moab" eastward, such as K.il thinks the import of the name requiri ad loc. I. The third of
Balaam's posts of observation was " the top of Peor, that looketh towards Jeshimon," or the desert [of Judah] (Numb, xxiii. 28); and as the next to the last day's journey of the Israelites was " to the top of Pisgah, that looketh towards Jeshimon" I xxii. 28 I, ami as, lii.m ovi r. Most - died on the top of Pisgah, and was burit d " in a valley in the land of Moab. over against Beth-peer" (Deut XXxiv, 6), Paine concludes that ali lh.se were designations ol the same or immediately adjoining spots, thus making the ruin-crowned summit of Sia- ghah the site of the sanctuary of 1'. or. and he adduces the character of the remains a- evidence that they were an early temple, lie thinks they are not sufficiently extensive for those of the town of Nebo (q. v.), which he inclines to identify with the more considerable ruins called Kharab el-Mukheyat, a little more than a mile south of Jebel Neba.
Other collateral arguments of less moment adduced by Prof. Paine in support of his views are drawn from the name "Ashdoth-Pisgah" ( I ten i. ii. 17: iv, 49; Josh. xii. :;-. xiii. 20), which he r.nders springs of Pisgah, and identifies with those of Ayftn Musa; and from the Bible a... .nuts of Moses's death and burial. lie also
adduces the statements of later writers (Josephus,
l'.u-. bins, etc.) on these points His attempt to trace the name Pisgah in the modem Siaghah i- an obvious failure. His main conclusion that Pisgah i- a special name for a particular part of .Mount Neb... and that the mountains of Abarim arc- likewise limited to the hills immediately overhanging the north-easl end of the Dead Sea. can hardly be said to be sustained by his in- genious reasoning; and we therefore incline to the gen- erally entertained view that the reverse is true. Dr. .1. I.. Porter has still more recently travelli .1 o\ er this lo- cality, and he states, in hi- accounl of hi- journey in the London Athenaeum, that ././.</' Pfebbeh is a common name f..r many of the eminences in ihi- vicinity. He i- inclined io regard Siaghah as a relic of the name Pis- gah. Sec Nebo.
Fishtah. See 1'i.ax.
Pisid'ia (Tlimdla, etymology uncertain i was a dis- l liit of A-ia Minor, which camioi he verj l xa.ily de- fined. Bul it maj be described sufficiently bj saying that il was to the north of Pamphylia, and stretched along the range «.f Taurus. Northward ii reached to
and was partly include. 1 in Phrygia, which wa- simi- larly an indefinite <li-irict. though far re extensive.