NomoredifficultywasencounteredintheformationoftheLotlegend，toaccountforthatrockresemblingthehumanform，thanintheformationoftheNiobelegend，whichaccountedforasupposedresemblanceintherockatSipylos：itgrewupjustaswehaveseenthousandsofsimilarmythsandlegendsgrowupaboutstrikingnaturalappearancesineveryearlyhomeofthehumanrace。Beingthusconsonantwiththeuniversalviewregardingtherelationofphysicalgeographytothedivinegovernment，itbecameatreasureoftheJewishnationandoftheChristianChurch——atreasurenotonlytobeguardedagainstallhostileintrusion，buttobeincreased，asweshallsee，bythemyth-makingpowersofJews，Christians，andMohammedansforthousandsofyears。Thespotwherethemythoriginatedwascarefullykeptinmind；indeed，itcouldnotescape，forinthatplacealonewereconstantlyseenthephenomenawhichgaverisetoit。Wehaveasteadychainoftestimonythroughtheages，allpointingtothesaltpillarastheirrefragableevidenceofdivinejudgment。Thatgreattheologicaltestoftruth，thedictumofSt。VincentofLerins，wouldcertainlyprovethatthepillarwasLot’swife，foritwasbelievedsotobebyJews，Christians，andMohammedansfromtheearliestperioddowntoatimealmostwithinpresentmemory——“always，everywhere，andbyall。”ItwouldstandperfectlytheancienttestinsisteduponbyCardinalNewman。”Securusjudicatorbisterrarum。”
For，eversincetheearliestdaysofChristianity，theidentityofthesaltpillarwithLot’swifehasbeenuniversallyheldandsupportedbypassagesinGenesis，inSt。Luke’sGospel，andintheSecondEpistleofSt。Peter——coupledwithapassageinthebookoftheWisdomofSolomon，whichtothisday，byamajorityintheChristianChurch，isbelievedtobeinspired，andfromwhicharespeciallycitedthewords，“Astandingpillarofsaltisamonumentofanunbelievingsoul。”[429]
[429]Fortheusualbiblicalcitations，seeGenesisxix，26；St。
Lukexvii，32；IIPeterii，6。ForthecitationfromWisdom，seechap。x，v。7。FortheaccountofthetransformationofLot’swifeputintoitsproperrelationswiththeJehovisticandElohisticdocuments，seeLenormant’sLaGenese，Paris，1883，pp。
53，199，and317，318。
Neverwaschainofbeliefmorecontinuous。InthefirstcenturyoftheChristianeraJosephusreferstothemiracle，anddeclaresregardingthestatue，“Ihaveseenit，anditremainsatthisday“；andClement，BishopofRome，oneofthemostreveredfathersoftheChurch，notedforthemoderationofhisstatements，expressesasimilarcertainty，declaringthemiraculousstatuetobestillstanding。
InthesecondcenturythatgreatfatheroftheChurch，bishopandmartyr，Irenaeus，notonlyvouchedforit，butgavehisapprovaltothebeliefthatthesoulofLot’swifestilllingeredinthestatue，givingitasortoforganiclife：thusvirtuallybeganintheChurchthatamazingdevelopmentofthelegendwhichweshallseetakingvariousformsthroughtheMiddleAges——thestorythatthesaltstatueexercisedcertainphysicalfunctionswhichinthesemoredelicatedayscannotbealludedtosaveundercoverofadeadlanguage。
Thisadditiontothelegend，whichinthesesignsoflife，asinotherthings，isdevelopedalmostexactlyonthesamelineswiththelegendoftheNiobestatueintherockofMountSipylosandwiththelegendsofhumanbeingstransformedintobouldersinvariousmythologies，wasforcenturiesregardedasanadditionalconfirmationofrevealedtruth。
InthethirdcenturythemythburstintostillricherbloominapoemlongascribedtoTertullian。Inthispoemmoremiraculouscharacteristicsofthestatuearerevealed。Itcouldnotbewashedawaybyrains；itcouldnotbeoverthrownbywinds；anywoundmadeuponitwasmiraculouslyhealed；andtheearlierstatementsastoitsphysicalfunctionswereamplifiedinsonorousLatinverse。
WiththisappearedanewlegendregardingtheDeadSea；itbecameuniversallybelieved，andwefinditrepeatedthroughoutthewholemedievalperiod，thatthebitumencouldonlyhedissolvedbysuchfluidsasintheprocessesofanimatednaturecamefromthestatue。
Thelegendthusamplifiedweshallfinddweltuponbypioustravellersandmonkishchroniclersforhundredsofyears：soitcametohemoreandmoretreasuredbytheuniversalChurch，andheldmoreandmorefirmly——“always，everywhere，andbyall。”
InthetwofollowingcenturieswehaveanoverwhelmingmassofadditionalauthorityforthebeliefthattheverystatueofsaltintowhichLot’swifewastransformedwasstillexisting。Inthefourth，thecontinuanceofthestatuewasvouchedforbySt。
Silvia，whovisitedtheplace：thoughshecouldnotseeit，shewastoldbytheBishopofSegorthatithadbeentheresometimebefore，andsheconcludedthatithadbeentemporarilycoveredbythesea。InboththefourthandfifthcenturiessuchgreatdoctorsintheChurchasSt。Jerome，St。JohnChrysostom，andSt。CyrilofJerusalemagreedinthisbeliefandstatement；henceitwas，doubtless，thattheHebrewwordwhichistranslatedintheauthorizedEnglishversion“pillar。”wastranslatedintheVulgate，whichthemajorityofChristiansbelievevirtuallyinspired，bytheword“statue“；weshallfindthisfactinsisteduponbytheologiansarguinginbehalfofthestatue，asaresultandmonumentofthemiracle，foroverfourteenhundredyearsafterward。[430]
[430]SeeJosephus，Antiquities，booki，chap。xi；Epist。I；
CyrilHieros，Catech。，xix；Chrysostom，Hom。XVIII，XLIV，inGenes。；Irenaeus，lib。iv，c。xxxi，ofhisHeresies，editionOxon。，1702。ForSt。Silvia，seeS。SilviaeAquitanaePeregrinatioadLocaSancta，Romae，1887，p。55；alsoeditionof1885，p。25。Forrecenttranslation，seePilgrimageofSt。
Silvia，p。28，inpublicationsofPalestineTextSocietyfor1891。Forlegendsofsignsofcontinuedlifeinbouldersandstonesintowhichhumanbeingshavebeentransformedforsin，seeKarlBartsch，Sage，etc。，vol。ii，pp。420etseq。
AboutthemiddleofthesixthcenturyAntoninusMartyrvisitedtheDeadSearegionanddescribedit，butcuriouslyreversedasimpletruthinthesewords：“Nordosticksorstrawsfloatthere，norcanamanswim，butwhateveriscastintoitsinkstothebottom。”AstothestatueofLot’swife，hethrewdoubtuponitsmiraculousrenewal，buttestifiedthatitwasstillstanding。
IntheseventhcenturytheTargumofJerusalemnotonlytestifiedthatthesaltpillaratUsdumwasonceLot’swife，butdeclaredthatshemustretainthatformuntilthegeneralresurrection。
Intheseventhcenturytoo，BishopArculftravelledtotheDeadSea，andhisworkwasaddedtothetreasuresoftheChurch。Hegreatlydevelopsthelegend，andespeciallythatpartofitgivenbyJosephus。Thebitumenthatfloatsuponthesea“resemblesgoldandtheformofabullorcamel“；“birdscannotlivenearit“；and“theverybeautifulapples“whichgrowthere，whenplucked，“burnandarereducedtoashes，andsmokeasiftheywerestillburning。”
IntheeighthcenturytheVenerableBedetakesthesestatementsofArculfandhispredecessors，bindsthemtogetherinhisworkonTheHolyPlaces，andgivesthewholemassofmythsandlegendsanenormousimpulse。[431]
[431]ForAntoninusMartyr，seeTobler’seditionofhisworkintheItinera，vol。i，p。100，Geneva，1877。FortheTargumofJerusalem，seecitationinQuaresmius，TerraeSanctaeElucidation，Peregrinatiovi，cap。xiv；newVeniceedition。ForArculf，seeTobler。ForBede，seehisDeLocisSanctisinTobler’sItinera，vol。i，p。228。Foranadmirablestatementofthemediaevaltheologicalviewofscientificresearch，seeEicken，GeschichtedermittelalterlichenWeltanschauung，Stuttgart，1887，chap。vi。
InthetenthcenturynewforceisgiventoitbythepiousMoslemMukadassi。SpeakingofthetownofSegor，nearthesaltregion，hesaysthatthepropertranslationofitsnameis“Hell“；andofthelakehesays，“Itswatersarehot，evenasthoughtheplacestoodoverhell-fire。”
Inthecrusadingperiod，immediatelyfollowing，allthelegendsburstforthmorebrilliantlythanever。
ThefirstofthesenewtravellerswhomakescarefulstatementsisFulkofChartres，whoin1100accompaniedKingBaldwintotheDeadSeaandsawmanywonders；but，thoughhevisitedthesaltregionatUsdum，hemakesnomentionofthesaltpillar：
evidentlyhehadfallenoneviltimes；theolderstatueshadprobablybeenwashedaway，andnonewonehadhappenedtobewashedoutoftherocksjustatthatperiod。
Buthismisfortunewasmorethanmadeupbythetriumphantexperienceofafarmorefamoustraveller，halfacenturylater——RabbiBenjaminofTudela。
RabbiBenjaminfindsnewevidencesofmiracleintheDeadSea，anddevelopstoastillhigherpointthelegendofthesaltstatueofLot’swife，enrichingtheworldwiththestatementthatitwassteadilyandmiraculouslyrenewed；that，thoughthecattleoftheregionlickeditssurface，itnevergrewsmaller。
AgainathrillofjoywentthroughthemonasteriesandpulpitsofChristendomatthisincreasing“evidenceofthetruthofScripture。”
TowardtheendofthethirteenthcenturythereappearedinPalestineatravellersuperiortomostbeforeorsince——CountBurchard，monkofMountSion。HehadtheadvantageofknowingsomethingofArabic，andhiswritingsshowhimtohavebeenobservantandthoughtful。NostatueofLot’swifeappearstohavebeenwashedcleanofthesaltrockathisvisit，buthetakesitforgrantedthattheDeadSeais“themouthofhell。”
andthatthevapourrisingfromitisthesmokefromSatan’sfurnaces。
Theseideasseemtohavebecomepartofthecommonstock，forErnoul，whotravelledtotheDeadSeaduringthesamecentury，alwaysspeaksofitasthe“SeaofDevils。”
NearthebeginningofthefourteenthcenturyappearedthebookoffarwiderinfluencewhichbearsthenameofSirJohnMandeville，andinthevariouseditionsofitmythsandlegendsoftheDeadSeaandofthepillarofsaltburstforthintowonderfulluxuriance。
Thisbooktellsusthatmassesoffierymatterareeverydaythrownupfromthewater“aslargeasahorse“；that，thoughitcontainsnolivingthing，ithasbeenshownthatmenthrownintoitcannotdie；and，finally，asiftoprovetheworthlessnessofdevouttestimonytothemiraculous，hesays：“Andwhoeverthrowsapieceofirontherein，itfloats；andwhoeverthrowsafeathertherein，itsinkstothebottom；and，becausethatiscontrarytonature，IwasnotwillingtobelieveituntilIsawit。”
Thebook，ofcourse，mentionsLot’swife，andsaysthatthepillarofsalt“standsthereto-day。”and“hasarightsaltytaste。”
Injusticehasperhapsbeendonetothecompilersofthisfamousworkinholdingthemliarsofthefirstmagnitude。Theysimplyabhorredscepticism，andthoughtitmeritorioustobelieveallpiouslegends。TheidealMandevillewasamanofovermasteringfaith，andresembledTertullianinbelievingsomethings“becausetheyareimpossible“；hewasdoubtlessentirelyconscientious；
thesolemnendingofthebookshowsthathelistened，observed，andwroteunderthedeepestconviction，andthosewhore-editedhisbookwereprobablyjustashonestinaddingthelaterstoriesofpioustravellers。
TheTravelsofSirJohnMandeville，thusappealingtothepopularheart，weremostwidelyreadinthemonasteriesandrepeatedamongthepeople。Innumerablecopiesweremadeinmanuscript，andfinallyinprint，andsotheoldmythsreceivedanewlife。[432]
[432]ForFulkofChartresandcrusadingtravellersgenerally，seeBongars’GestaDeiandtheFrenchRecueil；alsoHistoriesoftheCrusadesbyWilken，Sybel，Kugler，andothers；seealsoRobinson，BiblicalResearches，vol。ii，p。109，andTobler，BibliographiaGeographicaPalestinae，1867，p。12。ForBenjaminofTudela’sstatement，seeWright’sCollectionofTravelsinPalestine，p。84，andAsher’seditionofBenjaminofTudela’stravels，vol。i，pp。71，72；alsoCharton，vol。i，p。180。ForBorchardorBurchard，seefulltextintheReyssbuchdessHeyligenLandes；alsoGrynaeus，Nov。Orbis，Basil，1532，fol。
298，329。ForErnoul，seehisL’EstatdelaCitedeHierusalem，inMichelantandReynaud，ItinerairesFrancaisesau12meet13meSiecles。ForPetrusDiaconus，seehisbookDeLocisSanctis，editedbyGamurrini，Rome，1887，pp。126，127。ForMandevilleI
havecomparedseveraleditions，especiallythoseintheReyssbuch，inCanisius，andinWright，withHalliwell’sreprintandwiththerareStrasburgeditionof1484intheCornellUniversityLibrary：thewholestatementregardingtheexperimentwithironandfeathersisgivendifferentlyindifferentcopies。
ThestatementthathesawthefeatherssinkandtheironswimismadeintheReyssbuchedition，Frankfort，1584。Thestory，likethesaints’legends，evidentlygrewastimewenton，butisnonethelessinterestingasshowingthegeneralcredulity。Sincewritingtheabove，IhavebeengladtofindmyviewofMandeville’shonestyconfirmedbytheRev。Dr。Robinson，andbyMr。GageinhiseditionofRitter’sPalestine。