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(Heb. Ashdoth' hap-Pisgah', àִùִׁãּåֹú äִôִּñְâָּä , ravines of Pisgah; Sept. Á᾿óçäώè [ ôὴí ] ÖáóãÜ , and Á᾿ó . ôὴí ëáîåõôήí ), apparently the water- courses running from the base of Mount Pisgah, which formed the southern boundary of the territory of Sihon, king of the Amorites ("Springs of Pisgah," Deu_4:49); transferred as a proper name in Jos_12:3; Jos_13:20; Deu_3:17). SEE PISGAH. This curious and (since it occurs in none of the later books) probably very ancient term in the two passages from Deuteronomy forms part of a formula by which, apparently, the mountains that enclose the Dead Sea on the east. side are defined. Thus in iii, 17, we read, "the 'Arabah' also (i.e. the Jordan valley) and the 'border,' from Cinnereth (Sea of Galilee) unto the sea of the 'Arabah,' the Salt Sea, under Ashdoth hap-Pisgah eastward;" and so also in 4:49, though here our translators have chosen to vary the formula for English readers. The same intention is evident in the passages cited from Joshua; and in 10:40, and 12:8, of the same book, Ashdoth is used alone- "the springs," to denote one of the main natural divisions of the country. The only other instance of the use of the word is in the highly poetical passage, Num_21:15, "the 'pouring forth' of the 'torrents,' which extendeth to Shebeth-Ar." This undoubtedly refers also to the east of the Dead Sea. Doubtless, like the other topographical words of the Bible, it has a precise meaning; but whether it be the streams poured forth at the foot of the mountains of Moab, or the roots or spurs of those mountains, or the mountains themselves, it is impossible, in our present ignorance of the country east of the Dead Sea, to determine with certainty.
Ashdoth-Pisgah
This expressive term is now well ascertained to designate the springs known as Ayun Musa (Fountains of Moses) in the valley leading to the foot of Nebo or Jebel Neba on the north. They are thus described by Tristram (Land of Moab, p. 348 sq.). SEE PISGAH.
"There are two fountains, or rather two groups of springs, bursting from the foot of a tall line of cliffs. The first group run for a short distance over a shelf of rock, shaded by some old fig-trees. A few yards farther on several smaller springs issue from fissures in the cliffs, soon unite their streams on a broad shelf of rock, and then form a pretty cascade about twenty-five feet high.
The second of the twin 'Springs of Moses' bursts from a deep horizontal tunnel in the rock, about fifteen inches in diameter. The volume of water is greater than that of the. other spring; and both fountains and streams are clear as crystal. This stream joins the other, after the cascade, by a series of smaller leaps." (See following page.)