South of the Emim, in the rose-red mountains of Seir, afterwards
occupied by the Edomites, came the Horites, whose name is generally
supposed to be derived from a Hebrew word signifying "a cave." They have
therefore been regarded as Troglodytes, or cave-dwellers, a savage race
of men who possessed neither houses nor settled home. But it is quite
possible to connect the name with another word which means "white," and
to see in them the representatives of a white race. The name of Hor is
associated with Beth-lehem, and Caleb, of the Edomite tribe of Kenaz, is
called "the son of Hur" (1 Chron. ii. 50, iv. 4). There is no reason for
believing that cave-dwellers ever existed in that part of Palestine.

The discovery of the site of Kadesh-barnea is due in the first instance
to Dr. Rowlands, secondly to the archaeological skill of Dr. Clay
Trumbull. It is still known as 'Ain Qadîs, "the spring of Qadis," and
lies hidden within the block of mountains which rise in the southern
desert about midway between Mount Seir and the Mediterranean Sea. The
water still gushes out of the rock, fresh and clear, and nourishes the
oasis that surrounds it. It has been marked out by nature to be a
meeting-place and "sanctuary" of the desert tribes. Its central
position, its security from sudden attack, and its abundant supply of
water all combined to make it the En-Mishpat or "Spring of Judgment,"
where cases were tried and laws enacted. It was here that the Israelites
lingered year after year during their wanderings in the wilderness, and
it was from hence that the spies were sent out to explore the Promised
Land. In those days the mountains which encircled it were known as "the
mountains of the Amorites" (Deut. i. 19, 20). In the age of the
Babylonian invasion, however, the Amorites had not advanced so far to
the south. They were as yet only at Hazezon-tamar, the "palm-grove" on
the western shore of the Dead Sea, which a later generation called