. Arthur and Fritz Kahn Collection 1889-1932. Kahn, Fritz 1888-1968; Kahn, Arthur David 1850-1928; Natural history illustrators; Natural history. An Altar for el-Shaddai. Author Hill draws on Imagination to describe the vale of Shittim, location of the wicked cities of the piain, Sodom and Gomorrah, though with benefit of modern geological research. "A pall of thin, grey haze hov- ered ominously over the valley and the smell of sulphur filled the air. There were places. . wherp naphtha oozed from the ground, slimy and flammable. There was I' also asphalt (bitumen) for the gathering . . Pe
. Arthur and Fritz Kahn Collection 1889-1932. Kahn, Fritz 1888-1968; Kahn, Arthur David 1850-1928; Natural history illustrators; Natural history. An Altar for el-Shaddai. Author Hill draws on Imagination to describe the vale of Shittim, location of the wicked cities of the piain, Sodom and Gomorrah, though with benefit of modern geological research. "A pall of thin, grey haze hov- ered ominously over the valley and the smell of sulphur filled the air. There were places. . wherp naphtha oozed from the ground, slimy and flammable. There was I' also asphalt (bitumen) for the gathering . . Petroleum gases and light fumes of sulphur often hung on the air ^bove the piain ..." Through Canaan ran an enor- mous geological fault, and a shift in this, it is thought, touched off an internal ex- plosion of petroleum gas which in tum sent tons of flaming asphalt, marl, salt and limestone high into the air to descend on the helpless cities as brimstone and fire out of heaven, from the Lord, The Canaanites worshiped an earth-god, Baal, and Abraham presumably joined in some of their Community rites and festi- vals. But Abraham heard the voice of bis own God in the high places. On the Amorite mountain of Ebal, between the city of Luz (later called Beth-el) and the ruins of an older city called Ai, Abraham set up bis first altar. "While other men," writes Author Hill, "turned to the moon's light, the shadow of rocks, the sanctity of caves, the bounty of water holes, or to the protection of river and sun, to find their manifestations of God, more and more often Abraham found himself . . lifting his eyes to the mountains and his heart to him whom the Canaanites often called el'Shaddai, *the Mountain One.' " It was probably on a high place that Abraham made the everlasting covenant of his people with the Lord and received ^ God's instructions to revive the ancient' Canaanite rite of circumcision as a token of participation in that covenant. And it^ was also
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