* The name Qodshu-Kadesh was for a long time read Uatesh, Badesh, Atesh, and, owing to a confusion with Qodi, Ati, or Atet.  The town was identified by Champollion with Bactria, then transferred to Mesopotamia by Bosollini, in the land of Omira, which, according to Pliny, was close to the Taurus, not far from the Khabur or from the province of Aleppo:  Osburn tried to connect it with Hadashah (Josh. xv. 21), an Amorite town in the southern part of the tribe of Judah; while Hincks placed it in Edessa.  The reading Kedesh, Kadesh, Qodshu, the result of the observations of Lepsius, has finally prevailed.  Brugsch connected this name with that of Bahr el-Kades, a designation attached in the Middle Ages to the lake through which the Orontes flows, and placed the town on its shores or on a small island on the lake.  Thomson pointed out Tell Neby-Mendeh, the ancient Laodicea of the Lebanon, as satisfying the requirements of the site.  Conder developed this idea, and showed that all the conditions prescribed by the Egyptian texts in regard to Qodshu find here, and here alone, their application.  The description given in the text is based on Conder’s observations.

[Illustration:  206.jpt THE DYKE AT BAIIK EL-KADES IN ITS PRESENT CONDITION]

     Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph.

A dyke running across the Orontes above the town caused the waters to rise and to overflow in a northern direction, so as to form a shallow lake, which acted as an additional protection from the enemy.  Qodshu was thus a kind of artificial island, connected with the surrounding country by two flying bridges, which could be opened or shut at pleasure.  Once the bridges were raised and the gates closed, the boldest enemy had no resource left but to arm himself with patience and settle down to a lengthened siege.  The invader, fresh from a victory at Megiddo, and following up his good fortune in a forward movement, had to reckon upon further and serious resistance at this point, and to prepare himself for a second conflict.  The Amorite chiefs and their allies had the advantage of a level and firm ground for the evolutions of their chariots during the attack, while, if they were beaten, the citadel afforded them a secure rallying-place, whence, having gathered their shattered troops, they could regain their respective countries, or enter, with the help of a few devoted men, upon a species of guerilla warfare in which they excelled.

The road from Damascus led to a point south of Quodshu, while that from Phonicia came right up to the town itself or to its immediate neighbourhood.  The dyke of Bahr el-Kades served to keep the plain in a dry condition, and thus secured for numerous towns, among which Hamath stood out pre-eminently, a prosperous existence.  Beyond Hamath, and to the left, between the Orontes and the sea, lay the commercial kingdom of Alasia, protected from the invader by bleak mountains.*