Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

DURING 19 CENTURY: ARABIA 715
to Meshhed c Ali and Baghdad. 1 The value of the lively
and entertaining narrative is enhanced by a number of fine
woodcuts. Sir
Wilfred and his
wife had a better
opportunity
than
their predecessors
(excepting Doughty,
whose work,
however, was not
published until
eight years later)
to survey and
describe
the region ;
especially
measurements
their
o f
altitudes make a
real addition to
our
geographical
knowledge.
Only f o r
sake
the
of completeness
we here refer
to the tour made
from June to September,
1879, by
Shapira, the Jewish
antiquity dealer from Jerusalem, who gained a certain
notoriety in connection with the well-known Moabite and
other forgeries. He first travelled from Aden to San'a,
whence he made a trip to 'Amran, about twelve hours north-
1 " A Pilgrimage to Nedjd, the Cradle of the Arab Race. A Visit to the
Court of the Arab Emir and ' Our Persian Campaign ' " (the latter being described
only in vol. ii.,pp. 113—232), 2 vols., London, 1880 (2d edition,
1881).
Azab
Halfway between Aden and San l a]