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BURIED CITES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES.

these places is Tell Hum, at the head of the lake, about 2 miles west of the point where the Jordan enters the lake. Here we have ruins indicating the former existence of a town hardly smaller than Tiberias; we find a regular cemetery, and within an enclosure we have the remains of a synagogue. Besides the synagogue ruins the argument in favour of this site is found in its name: Tell means a heap, such as the place has become, and Hum is the abraded form of the name Nahum. Tradition said that the prophet Nahum lived and died here, and indeed his grave was pointed out as late as the fourteenth century. The village of Nahum would be Kefr Nahum in Hebrew; Khafarnaum, as Josephus has it; Capernaum as we are familiar with it. Sir Charles Wilson is in favour of this site. On the other hand, Major Conder is in favour of Khan Minyeh, 2-1/2 miles from Tell Hum, along the shore southward, and right in the corner of the Plain of Gennesaret. Here, again, we have evidences of the former existence of a town, although we have no synagogue ruins. The name of the place, in this case also, supplies a strong argument. It appears that the Jews, who looked upon Capernaum as the home of Christ and the head-quarters of his followers, called the disciples "Sons of Capernaum;" they also nicknamed them Diviners or Sorcerers—in their language, Minai, a name often appearing in the Talmud. Khan Minyeh, then, would seem to be the town of the Minai or Sorcerers, the early Jewish converts to Christianity; and their mother town was Capernaum. An objection might seem to lie against Khan Minyeh because of its situation in the plain, while it is said of Capernaum, "And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades" (Matt. xi. 23). Such an expression might be interpreted morally; but if it is to be understood literally, then there is the suggestion that the town was not entirely