1867.7 巴勒斯坦和西奈半岛的比较地理学

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BOOKS
The Comparative Geography of Palestine and the Sinaitic Peninsula
JULY 1867 ISSUE
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BY CARL RITTER. Translated and adapted to the use of Biblical Students by WILLIAM L. GAGE. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1866. 4 vols.
AMERICAN critics have found fault with Mr. Gage, as it seems to us somewhat too strongly, for certain features of this work. He has been blamed for adapting it “ to the use of Biblical students,” as though thereby he must necessarily tamper with scientific accuracy of statement,—for too much condensation, and for too little, — for omitting Ritter’s maps, — and for certain incongruities of figures and measurement. It has also been said, that the book itself, being fifteen years old, is already antiquated, and that many recent works, not mentioned by Ritter, or at least not adequately used, have modified our knowledge of Palestine since his day. But, after all, these critics have ended by saying that the work is a good and useful one, and by awarding credit to Mr. Gage for his fidelity, industry, and accuracy in his part of the work. So that, perhaps, the fault-finding was thrown in only as a necessary part of the duty of the reviewer; for fault-finding is, ex officio, his expected function. A judge ought always to be seated above the criminal, and every author before his reviewer is only a culprit. The author may have given years to the study of the subject to which his reviewer has only given hours. But what of that? The position of the reviewer is to look down, and his tone must always be de haut en bas.

We do not, ourselves, profess to know as much of the geography of Palestine as Professor Ritter, probably not as much as Mr. Gage. Were it not for the sharp-eyed critics, we should have wholly missed the important verification of the surface-level of Lake Huleh. We have in past years studied our “Palästina,” by Von Raumer, and followed the careful Dr. Robinson with gratitude through his laborious researches. But we must confess that we are grateful for these volumes, even though they have no maps, and cannot but think it honorable in Mr. Gage to prefer to publish the book with none, rather than with poor ones. We see no harm in adapting the work to the use of Biblical students, by abridging or omitting the topics which have no bearing on the Bible history. No one else is obliged to purchase it, and the warning is given beforehand.
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These four volumes contain a vast amount of interesting and important matter concerning Sinai and Palestine. The journals of travellers of all times are laid under contribution, and you are allowed often to form your own judgments from the primitive narratives. You are like one sitting in a court and hearing a host of witnesses examined and cross-examined by able counsel, and then listening to the summing up of a learned judge. It is easy to see how much more vivid such descriptions must be than a dry résumé without these accompanying pièces justificatifs.

The first of the four volumes concerns the peninsula of Mount Sinai. It gives the history of all the travels in that region, and the chief works concerning it from the earliest time; the routes to Mount Sinai; the voyages of Hiram and Solomon through the Red Sea to India ; an interesting discussion of the name Ophir ; the different groups of mountains in this region; the Bedouin tribes of the peninsula, and of Arabia Petræa ; and a full account of Petra, the monolithic city of Edom.
The second volume begins with a comparative view of Syria, and a review of the authorities on the geography of Palestine. Then follows an account of the Land of Canaan and its inhabitants before the conquest by the Israelites, and of tire tribes outside of Palestine who remained hostile to the Israelites. We next have an account of the great depression of the Jordan Valley, the river and its basin. Chapters on the sources of the Jordan, the Sea of Galilee, the caravan road to Damascus, and the river to the Dead Sea, and an account of the travellers who have surveyed the region, follow, —with an Appendix, in which is contained a discussion of the site of Capernaum, and Tobler’s full list of works on Palestine.
Vol. III. contains chapters on the Mouth of the Jordan ; the Dead Sea ; the Division among the Ten Tribes; an account of Judæa, Samaria, and Galilee; the routes through the Land; and several scientific essays.
Vol. IV. gives a full account of Jerusalem, ancient, mediæval, and modern ; a discussion of the holy places; an account of the inhabitants ; the region around Jerusalem ; the roads to and from the city ; Samaria ; and Galilee;—concluding with an index of subjects, and another of texts.
On the whole, we must express our gratitude to Mr. Gage for his labor of love, in thus giving us the results of the studies of his friend and master on this important theme. Students of the Bible and of Syrian geography can nowhere else find the matters treated so fully and conscientiously and exhaustively discussed as here.
As the principal objection made to the translation of Mr. Gage is that it omits Ritter’s maps, it is proper to state that Professor Kiepert declared them to be worthless ; that the publisher declined an offer to sell five hundred sets, lying on his hands, to the Clarks of Edinburgh, because he could not conscientiously recommend them. Inasmuch as good Bible maps of Palestine are to be had everywhere, and as Robinson’s are sold by themselves in a little volume, the student does not seem to have much reason to complain.
The past quarter of a century has not added much to our knowledge of Palestine. Stanley, Bonor, Stewart, Lynch, Tobler, Barclay, De Saulcy, Sepp, Tristam, Porter, Wetystein, the Due de Luyner, and others, have travelled and written, but the mysteries remain mysteries still.




书籍
巴勒斯坦和西奈半岛的比较地理学
1867年7月号
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作者：卡尔-里特。由WILLIAM L. GAGE翻译并改编为圣经学生使用。纽约。D. Appleton & Co. 1866。4卷。
美国评论家对盖奇先生的这部作品的某些特点进行了指责，在我们看来，这种指责有些过于强烈。他被指责为 "适应圣经学生的使用"，仿佛这样他就必须篡改陈述的科学准确性，--因为浓缩太多，也因为浓缩太少，--因为省略了里特的地图，--因为某些数字和测量的不协调。还有人说，这本书本身已经有15年的历史，已经过时了，而且许多最近的作品，里特没有提到，或者至少没有充分使用，自他的时代以来，已经改变了我们对巴勒斯坦的认识。但是，这些批评家最后都说，这部作品是一部好的、有用的作品，并对盖奇先生在他的那部分工作中的忠诚、勤奋和准确性给予了肯定。因此，也许挑剔只是作为评论家职责的一个必要部分；因为挑剔是他理所当然的职能。法官应该总是坐在罪犯之上，而每个作者在他的评论者面前都只是一个罪犯。作者可能花了多年时间研究这个问题，而他的评论者却只花了几个小时。但这又如何呢？审稿人的立场是俯视，他的语气必须始终是高高在上的。

我们自己并不自称像里特教授那样了解巴勒斯坦的地理情况，可能也不像盖奇先生那样了解。如果不是目光敏锐的批评家，我们应该完全错过对胡莱湖表面水平的重要验证。在过去的几年里，我们研究了冯-劳默写的 "Palästina"，并怀着感激的心情跟随细心的罗宾逊博士完成了他辛苦的研究。但我们必须承认，我们很感谢这些书，尽管它们没有地图，而且我们不能不认为盖奇先生宁愿在没有地图的情况下出版这本书，也不愿意用糟糕的地图来出版，这是值得尊敬的。我们认为通过删减或省略与圣经历史无关的主题，使这部作品适合圣经学生使用，并无害处。其他任何人都没有义务购买它，而且事先已发出警告。
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这四卷书包含了大量有关西奈和巴勒斯坦的有趣而重要的内容。各个时代的旅行者的日记都有贡献，而且经常允许你从原始的叙述中形成自己的判断。你就像坐在法庭上，听到许多证人被能干的律师盘问和交叉盘问，然后听着博学的法官总结。不难看出，这样的描述一定比没有这些附带说明的干巴巴的概述要生动得多。

四卷中的第一卷是关于西奈山半岛的。它介绍了该地区所有旅行的历史，以及从最早的时候起有关该地区的主要作品；通往西奈山的路线；希兰和所罗门通过红海前往印度的航行；对欧菲尔这个名字的有趣讨论；该地区的不同山脉群；半岛和阿拉伯佩特拉的贝都因人部落；以及对佩特拉--以东的单体城市的全面介绍。
第二卷以对叙利亚的比较研究开始，并对巴勒斯坦的地理学权威进行了回顾。然后是关于迦南地及其居民在被以色列人征服之前的情况，以及巴勒斯坦以外对以色列人仍有敌意的轮胎部落的叙述。接下来我们将介绍约旦河谷的巨大洼地、河流及其盆地。接下来是关于约旦河的源头、加利利海、通往大马士革的商队之路、通往死海的河流等章节，以及对勘察该地区的旅行者的介绍，还有一个附录，其中包含对迦百农遗址的讨论，以及托布勒关于巴勒斯坦的全部著作清单。
第三卷包含关于约旦河口、死海、十个部落的划分、对犹大、撒玛利亚和加利利的描述、穿越该地的路线和几篇科学论文的章节。
第四卷全面介绍了耶路撒冷的情况，包括古代、中世纪和现代；对圣地的讨论；对居民的介绍；耶路撒冷周围的地区；进出该城的道路；撒玛利亚；以及加利利；最后有一个主题索引和一个文本索引。
总的来说，我们必须对盖奇先生的爱心之举表示感谢，他将他的朋友和主人对这一重要主题的研究结果提供给我们。研究圣经和叙利亚地理的学生在其他任何地方都找不到像这里这样全面、认真和详尽地讨论的问题。
由于对盖奇先生的译本提出的主要反对意见是它忽略了里特的地图，因此应该指出，基佩特教授宣布这些地图毫无价值；出版商拒绝了向爱丁堡的克拉克出售他手中的500套地图的提议，因为他不能认真地推荐这些地图。由于到处都能买到好的巴勒斯坦圣经地图，而且罗宾逊的地图是以小册子的形式出售的，所以学生似乎没有什么理由抱怨。
在过去的四分之一个世纪里，我们对巴勒斯坦的了解没有增加多少。斯坦利、博诺尔、斯图尔特、林奇、托布勒、巴克利、德索尔西、塞普、特里斯坦、波特、韦特斯坦、鲁伊纳等人都进行了旅行和写作，但这些谜团仍然是谜团。