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diff --git a/old/65497-0.txt b/old/65497-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 952cfb9..0000000 --- a/old/65497-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11901 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Buried Cities and Bible Countries, by George -St. Clair - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Buried Cities and Bible Countries - - -Author: George St. Clair - - - -Release Date: June 4, 2021 [eBook #65497] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BURIED CITIES AND BIBLE -COUNTRIES*** - - -E-text prepared by MFR, Karin Spence, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 65497-h.htm or 65497-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/65497/65497-h/65497-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/65497/65497-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/buriedcitiesbibl00stcl - - - Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8 - text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should - consult the html version or the original page images noted - above. - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - A caret character is used to denote superscription. A - single character following the caret is superscripted - (example: Edwr^d). - - - - - -BURIED CITIES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES. - - - [Illustration: - - _Frontispiece._ - - RUINS OF A GALILEAN SYNAGOGUE (KEFR BIRIM). - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - - -BURIED CITIES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES - -by - -GEORGE ST CLAIR, F.G.S. - -Member of the Society of Biblical Archæology; -Member of the Anthropological Institute, and Ten Years Lecturer -for the Palestine Exploration Fund. - -Second Edition - - - - - - -London -Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. Ltd. - -Imported by -Thomas Whittaker -2 & 3 Bible House -New York - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - CHAP. PAGE - - PREFACE 9 - - I. EGYPT AND THE BIBLE-- - - 1. The Rosetta Stone. Decipherment of the Egyptian - Hieroglyphs 11 - - 2. Kings and Dynasties of Egypt 16 - - 3. The Finding of the Mummies 19 - - 4. Egyptians in Palestine before the Exodus. Wars with - the Hittites 27 - - 5. Semites in Egypt before the Oppression. The - _Tell-el-Amarna_ Tablets 40 - - 6. Israel in Egypt 47 - - 7. Buried Cities 54 - - 8. Biblical Sites in Egypt 57 - - 9. The Route of the Exodus 76 - - 10. The Wilderness Wanderings 81 - - II. PALESTINE EXPLORATION-- - - 1. Palestine generally 86 - - 2. Physical Features of Palestine 88 - - 3. The Dead Sea 99 - - 4. The Cities of the Plain 104 - - 5. “Lot’s Wife” 112 - - 6. The Natural History of Palestine, as dependent on its - Physical Geography 114 - - 7. The Topographical Survey of Western Palestine 121 - - 8. Israel’s Wars and Worship considered in connection with - the Physical Features of the Country--The Conquest and - Wars 125 - - 9. The Sacred Sites 161 - - 10. The Method of the Survey, and Incidents of the Work 171 - - 11. The East of Jordan 183 - - - III. JERUSALEM-- 203 - - 1. The City as it is 204 - - 2. The Sieges of the City and Fortunes of its Walls 220 - - 3. Excavations in Jerusalem 227 - - 4. Jerusalem as it Was: The Hills and Valleys 249 - - 5. Jerusalem as it Was: The Walls and Gates of the City 259 - - 6. Incidents of the History better realized now 277 - - 7. Sieges of the City understood through improved - Knowledge of the Topography 293 - - IV. GOSPEL HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF PALESTINE EXPLORATION-- - - 1. Christ in the Provinces 300 - - 2. Christ in the Capital 325 - - V. MESOPOTAMIA AND THE BIBLE-- - - 1. Assyria 340 - - 2. Babylonia 357 - - 3. How the Writings were Read 370 - - THE VANDALISM OF ORIENTALS 375 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - Ruins of Synagogue _Frontispiece._ - - Mummies of Seti I. and Rameses II. 25 - - Hittite Portraits 32 - - Hittite Inscription 37 - - Map of Nile Delta and Sinai Desert _To face_ 57 - - Meridional Section through Palestine 90 - - Geological Sketch-Map 95 - - Generalised Geological Section 97 - - Map of Palestine _To face_ 125 - - Site of Gath 154 - - Plan of Jerusalem 205 - - Plan of Noble Sanctuary _To face_ 212 - - Robinson’s Arch--the Spring Stone 228 - - Robinson’s Arch--Section 230 - - Wilson’s Arch 232 - - South Wall of Noble Sanctuary 234 - - Deep Shaft at south-east Angle 235 - - Ancient Pottery--Jar Handles 236 - - Ancient Pottery--Vase 236 - - Masons’ Marks 237 - - East Wall of Noble Sanctuary 239 - - Plan of Siloam Tunnel 242 - - Shafts at Virgin’s Fountain 245 - - Rock-Site of Jerusalem 251 - - Schick’s Line of Second Wall 263 - - Nehemiah’s South Wall (St Clair) 268 - - Outline Plan of Jerusalem 334 - - Map of Mesopotamia _To face_ 340 - - Assyrian Winged Bull 347 - - Black Obelisk 348 - - Sennacherib before Lachish 350 - - Behistun Rock Inscription 371 - - - - - PREFACE. - - -This book contains a description of some of the most important -modern discoveries bearing upon the Bible, the selection being made -to meet the wants of those who have no time to follow the course of -exploration, and no taste for technical details. The preparation of -such a volume has often been urged upon me by those who have listened -to my lectures on Palestine Exploration. - -In such a work accuracy is of more value than originality; and -therefore I have not hesitated to gather information from the best -sources, and to use it freely. The authorities and sources will be -found in a list at the end of each chapter; and thus, while due -acknowledgment is made, the reader will know where to go to for further -information. - -In one chapter, indeed--that relating to the topography of Jerusalem -in Scripture times--I do venture to state my own views, and give my -own map of localities; but it is only because my special study of the -subject seems to justify my confidence, and compels me to differ from -other writers. - -I desire to express my special obligation to the Committee of the -Palestine Exploration Fund for allowing the use of their plates for the -illustrations of this volume; to Herr Schick of Jerusalem, for leave -to use his plan of the Second Wall, to Wilfrid H. Hudleston, M.A., -F.R.S., for the geological sketch-map and section, and to W. Harry -Rylands, F.S.A., Secretary to the Society of Biblical Archæology, for -the special favour of an original drawing from one of the Hamath stones. - - GEORGE ST CLAIR. - - [Illustration: - - To face p. 72 - - SKETCH MAP - - shewing position of Land and Sea during the PLUVIAL period. - - _By permission of the Committee of the Palestine Exploration - Fund._ Edwr^d Weller lith. - - _London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co._] - - - - - BURIED CITIES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - EGYPT AND THE BIBLE. - - - I. _The Rosetta Stone: Decipherment of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs._ - -To all who are interested in the ancient history of mankind, the -decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphs is a fact of the highest -importance. As early as the fourth dynasty, and probably as early -as the first, the Egyptians possessed the art of writing; but for -thousands of years before the present century the hieroglyphs had -become a dead language, which nobody could read. Temples and tombs in -the valley of the Nile contained records which might be of surpassing -interest; but the clue to them was lost, and the riddle remained -unguessed. At length a discovery was made which began to open the -way, and has proved to be one of the most remarkable events in the -intellectual history of Europe. - -In the year 1799, when Napoleon’s army was in Egypt, a French artillery -officer, by name Boussard, while engaged in certain works on the -redoubt of St Julian, at Rosetta, discovered a large slab of black -granite, bearing a triple inscription. The first or upper part was in -hieroglyphs, the middle one was in the enchorial or popular character, -and the lower one in Greek. The hieroglyphic text was partly broken -away and lost, but the other two were nearly complete. The Greek text -showed that the monument was designed by the priests of Memphis, in -honour of the Pharaohs, and particularly of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who was -reigning at the time when the decree was made (198 B.C.). The -monument stood originally in the temple of Tum, the god of the setting -sun; and there were to be copies of it in other places. - -Among other things, the priests say of Ptolemy that “he was pious -towards the gods, he ameliorated the life of man, he was full of -generous piety, he showed forth with all his might his sentiments of -humanity.” He lightened taxation, so that the people might have plenty; -he released prisoners and the defendants in law suits; he ordered -that the revenues of the temples, whether in provisions or money, -should remain what they had been. As to the priests, he commanded -that they should pay no new promotion fees, that those who had been -obliged to make an annual voyage to Alexandria should be free from -the obligation; and that what had been neglected in temple services -should be re-established. Naturally the priests were grateful, and they -ordered this testimonial of recognition to be engraved upon stone, in -the sacred characters of Egypt, in the vernacular, and in Greek. - -All this was speedily made out from the Greek text, and it was thus -clear that the other two forms of the inscription must be of the same -purport. Here then at last was a key to the long-lost language of the -hieroglyphs. The value of the monument was at once perceived, and after -having been copied it was set apart and packed up. The victory of the -English at Alexandria, and the surrender of the city in 1801, placed -the Rosetta Stone in the hands of Mr W. R. Hamilton, the British -Commissioner, one of the most distinguished and zealous scholars of the -day. The treasure was despatched to England, and has found a fitting -resting-place in the British Museum. - -This seemingly insignificant stone (says Baron Bunsen) shares, with -the great and splendid work, “La Description de l’Egypte,” the honour -of being the only result of vital importance to universal history, -accruing from a vast expedition, a brilliant conquest, and a bloody -combat for the possession of Egypt. The men of science and letters who -accompanied Napoleon’s army in Egypt, employed themselves actively -in collecting the precious materials for that great work on the -antiquities, the topography, natural history, &c., of that wonderful -country. When the work appeared, the monuments that it contained, and -the learned commentaries by which they were accompanied, aroused the -general attention of the European public to Egyptian research, which -had been previously all but abandoned. This collection comprised -not only the most important monuments of Egypt, but also the great -funereal papyrus, and other Egyptian records of the highest value. -But the monuments were mute, the hieroglyphics could not be read, and -the riddle of the sphinx still remained unsolved. Attempts had been -made, but without much success, and it was the Rosetta Stone which, -in reality, unloosed the tongue of both monuments and records, and -rendered them accessible to historical investigation. This stone was -the mighty agency which, by the light it shed on the mysteries of the -Egyptian language and writing, was to enable science to penetrate -through the darkness of thousands of years, extend the limits of -history, and even open up a possibility of unfolding the primeval -secrets of the human race. - -As engraved copies of the Rosetta Stone became common in -Europe--for which object the English scholars had provided without -delay--confidence was entertained that the hieroglyphs would be -deciphered. One of the earliest workers was Dr Thomas Young. - -However (says Mariette), we must not imagine that the deciphering of -hieroglyphs by means of the Rosetta Stone was accomplished at the first -trial, and without groping in the dark. On the contrary, the savants -tried for twenty years without much success. At last Champollion -appeared. Prior to him people thought each of the letters that compose -hieroglyphic writing was a _symbol_; that is, that in every single -one of these letters a complete _idea_ was expressed. The merit of -Champollion consisted in proving that Egyptian writing contains signs -which express _sounds_; in other words, that it is _alphabetic_. He -noticed that wherever in the Greek text the proper name _Ptolemy_ is -met with, there may be found, at a corresponding place of the Egyptian -text, a certain number of signs enclosed within an elliptic ring. -From this he concluded (1) that the names of kings were indicated, -in the hieroglyphic system, in a sort of escutcheon, which he styled -a _cartouche_; (2) that the signs contained in the cartouche must be -letter for letter the name of Ptolemy (Ptolemaios). - -Even supposing the vowels omitted, Champollion was already in -possession of five letters--P.T.L.M.S. Again, Champollion knew, -according to a second Greek inscription, engraved on an obelisk of -Philae, that on this obelisk a hieroglyphic cartouche is visible which -must be that of Cleopatra. If his first reading was correct, the P, -the L, and the T of Ptolemy must be found again in the second proper -name; while, at the same time, this second proper name would furnish K -and R. Although very imperfect as yet, the alphabet thus revealed to -Champollion, when applied to other cartouches, put him in possession of -nearly all the other consonants. - -Thenceforth he had no need to hesitate concerning the _pronunciation_ -of signs; for, from the day this proof was furnished, he could certify -that he possessed the Egyptian alphabet. But now remained the language; -for pronouncing words is nothing, if we know not what they mean. Here -Champollion’s genius could soar. He perceived that his alphabet, -drawn from proper names and applied to words of the language, simply -furnished _Coptic_. Now Coptic, in its turn, is a language which, -without being so well explored as Greek, had for a long time been -not less accessible. (It was a spoken language until the sixteenth -century, and three spoken dialects remained, sufficiently resembling -the old Egyptian to enable all the grammatical forms and structure to -be examined.) Therefore the veil was completely removed. The Egyptian -language was only Coptic written in hieroglyphs; or, to speak more -correctly, Coptic is only the language of the ancient Pharaohs, -written in Greek letters. The rest may be inferred. From sign to sign -Champollion really proceeded from the known to the unknown, and soon -the illustrious father of Egyptology could lay the foundations of this -beautiful science, which has for its object the interpretation of the -hieroglyphs. - -Further, as remarked by Dr Birch, Egyptologists have patiently traced -word after word, through several thousands of texts and inscriptions, -until they have found its correct meaning. It was ascertained at -length that almost every word consists of two portions--hieroglyphs to -represent the sound, followed by hieroglyphs expressing its general or -specific meaning. Provided with these materials the enquiry advanced. -The result is that we are gradually recovering a knowledge of the -history of Egypt and the religion of its people, from a time long -anterior to the birth of Moses down to the latest period of the empire. -The hieroglyphs reveal a rich literature, including not only the annals -of the empire, but books on ethics, romances, works on mathematics, -medicine, morals, legal and other reports; while the great religious -work is the Book of the Dead. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Egypt’s Place in Universal - History.” By Christian C. J. Bunsen. “The Monuments of Upper - Egypt.” By Auguste Mariette-Bey. “The Monumental History of - Egypt.” Rede Lecture. By S. Birch, LL.D.] - - - 2. _Kings and Dynasties of Egypt._ - -It will be useful to give here a table of Egyptian Dynasties, so that -when we come to speak of Israel in Egypt the reader may have some -idea of the long antecedent history of the Empire, and the political -circumstances of the time. Unfortunately we must be content at present -with approximate dates, for the records of the Egyptians are not dated, -and the chronology is but very imperfectly known. - - - _Table of the Egyptian Dynasties._[1] - - +---------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+---------+ - | | | |Approx- |Approx- | - | | | |imate |imate | - | | | |Date, |Date, | - | Dynasty. | Capital. | Modern |according|according| - | | | Name. |to |to | - | | | |Mariette.|Wiede- | - | | | | |mann. | - +---------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+---------+ - | THE OLD EMPIRE. | - | | - | I. Thinite |This | Girgeh | 5004 | 5650 | - | II. Thinite |This | Girgeh | 4751 | 5400 | - | III. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 4449 | 5100 | - | IV. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 4235 | 4875 | - | V. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 3951 | 4600 | - | VI. Elephantine |Elephantinê | Geziret- | | | - | | | Assouan | 3703 | 4450 | - | VII. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 3500 | 4250 | - | VIII. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 3500 | 4250 | - | IX. Heracleopolite|Heracleopolis| Ahnas el- | | | - | | | Medineh | 3358 | 4000 | - | X. Heracleopolite|Heracleopolis| Ahnas el- | | | - | | | Medineh | 3249 | 3700 | - | XI. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 3064 | 3510 | - | | - | THE MIDDLE EMPIRE. | - | | - | XII. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 2851 | 3450 | - | XIII. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | ... | 3250 | - | XIV. Xoite |Xois | Sakha | 2398 | 2800 | - | | - | | - | THE SHEPHERD KINGS. | - | | - | XV. Hyksos |Tanis (Zoan) | San | 2214 | 2325 | - | XVI. {Hyksos |Tanis | San | ... | 2050 | - | {Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | ... | ... | - | XVII. {Hyksos |Tanis | San | ... | 1800 | - | {Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | ... | ... | - | | - | | - | THE NEW EMPIRE. | - | | - | XVIII. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 1700 | 1750 | - | XIX. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 1400 | 1490 | - | XX. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 1200 | 1280 | - | XXI. Tanite |Tanis | San | 1100 | 1100 | - | XXII. Bubastite |Bubastis | Tel Bast | 960 | 975 | - | XXIII. Tanite |Tanis | San | 766 | 810 | - | XXIV. Saite |Sais | Sa el-Hagar | 753 | 720 | - | XXV. Ethiopian |Napata | Mount Barkal| 700 | 715 | - | XXVI. Saite |Sais | Sa el-Hagar | 666 | 664 | - | XXVII. Persian |Persepolis | ... | 527 | 525 | - |XXVIII. Saite |Sais | Sa el-Hagar | ... | 415 | - | XXIX. Mendesian |Mendes | Eshmun er- | | | - | | | Român | 399 | 408 | - | XXX. Sebennyte |Sebennytos | Semenhûd | 378 | 387 | - +---------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+---------+ - -In the time of Moses the Egyptian power had already passed its zenith -and begun to decay. There had been an Old Empire, with the City of -_This_ for its first capital and Menes as its first king. Dynasty had -succeeded dynasty, during perhaps two thousand years, and the capital -had been changed several times, when the Middle Empire came in, and the -kings ruled from Thebes and afterwards from Xois. There had now been -fourteen dynasties altogether; and the power of the kingdom was so -far weakened that it was unable to keep out the invader. The Shepherd -Kings, coming from Midian, or perhaps from Mesopotamia, established -themselves in the Delta, and held possession for several centuries. -Their conquest, however, did not extend to Upper Egypt, and so the -native dynasties reigned contemporaneously, enthroned at Thebes, while -the Hyksos kings were seated at Zoan. - -It was probably towards the close of the Hyksos period that Joseph was -made governor of Egypt, under the latest of the Shepherd Kings. The -seventeenth dynasty saw the last of these foreigners, and after their -expulsion the New Empire began, near the end of the eighteenth century -before Christ. The eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties included several -monarchs of great renown; and as the Israelitish sojourn falls chiefly -within this period, it will be useful to give here a chronological list. - - -_Monarchs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, with approximate -dates, according to Brugsch._ - - Eighteenth Dynasty. B. C. - - Aahmes, Amosis; its founder 1700 - Amenhotep I. (Amenophis) 1666 - Thothmes I. (Thotmosis) 1633 - Thothmes II. and his sister-wife Hatshepsu 1600 - Thothmes III. - Amenhotep II., Son of Thothmes III. 1566 - Thothmes IV. 1533 - Amenhotep III., Son of Queen Mutemna 1500 - Amenhotep IV., afterwards called Khuenaten 1466 - - Nineteenth Dynasty. - - Rameses I. 1400 - Seti I. (Sethos) Menephtah 1366 - Rameses II. (Sesostris) Miamun 1333 - Menephtah II. (Menepthes) 1300 - Seti II. Menephtah III., son of Menephtah II. 1266 - Setnakht-Merer-Miamun II. 1233 - -Rameses II. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression; and the Israelites left -Egypt in the reign of his successor, Menephtah. - - - 3. _The Finding of the Mummies._ - -In 1878 the Khedive Said Pasha authorised Professor Maspero to found -a Museum at Boulak (a suburb of Cairo), for the reception of all the -antiquities found in the country and calculated to throw light on -Egyptian history. Under the successive direction of Professor Maspero -and Professor Grébaut the collection has become one of the most -valuable and most instructive in the world. - -In 1881 the museum was enriched by the most important archæological -discovery of modern times. On the 5th of July of that year a cave in -the plain of Deir el-Bahari, near Thebes, was explored, and its rich -contents were bodily removed to Boulak. They consisted of mummies of -kings, queens, and princesses, and other persons of distinction, with -numerous articles of clothing, papyri, vases, &c. Hieratic inscriptions -on the coffins of several of the kings gave the date of the transfer -of the bodies from their original sepulchres in the valley of Bab el -Malook, near Luxor, to this pit or tomb, and also of the periodical -inspection to which the depôt was subjected. The cave is proved to be -the tomb of the Priest-Kings of Amen, the usurpers of the throne of the -Ramessides, from Her-Hor to Pinotem III. - -The reason for bringing so many kings of different dynasties into this -tomb is not accurately known; but the following circumstances afford -ground for reasonable conjecture. - -“After Rameses II., the last great warrior of Egypt, had laid aside -his javelin and bow, in the fourteenth century before Christ, luxury -and indolence were followed by their usual concomitants, poverty and -discontent. The artizans and labourers, instead of joining in one -common effort to improve the condition of the country, had recourse -to violence and robbery. The pillage of the tombs for the sake of -their precious contents became a common practice, and in the reign -of Rameses IX., of the twentieth dynasty, about the eleventh century -before the birth of Christ, an inquiry was instituted to ascertain the -extent of the depredations. The robbers were arrested and arraigned, -and several of them were condemned to die by their own hands--a common -mode of punishment in ancient Egypt. It was discovered likewise that -the tombs of the Pharaohs, which had hitherto been respected, were, -like the rest, subjected to danger.” - -The preservers, however, were at work as well as the robbers; the -priests of the Egyptian Church appear to have shielded the remains of -many of the great kings, by hiding them so effectually that they were -never found again until the third quarter of the present century. - -“It was an extraordinary discovery, not only for Egyptian archæology, -but likewise for Egyptian history, and the fortunate discoverer was -Professor Maspero, chief conservator of the Egyptian Museum at Boulak. -The discovery came about in the following manner. For some years past, -so far back as the time of Mariette, it had been observed that objects -of value and interest, tablets, papyri, &c., had found their way into -the museums of Europe, and some into private hands. There exists a law -in Egypt, that tombs and cemeteries are not to be explored except by -direct permission of the Khedive, and all traffic in objects of archaic -interest is strictly forbidden. Nevertheless a kind of contraband -was in existence, the actual source of which was unknown. Another -observation had also been made, namely, that the large majority of the -objects were of about the same period, and seemed to have a common -origin. When His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, was in Egypt, -he was presented by a certain Mustapha Aga of Thebes, with a valuable -papyrus, which the Prince has very generously deposited in the British -Museum. It was subsequently ascertained that the document in question -is only half a papyrus (this curious discovery is due to the acute -research of Miss Amelia B. Edwards, one of the Honorary Secretaries of -the Egypt Exploration Fund), the other, the hinder half, being in the -possession of the Museum of the Louvre at Paris. The Prince of Wales’ -papyrus was written for a queen, Notem Maut, related to the great -priest-king of the twenty-first dynasty, Her-Hor--possibly his wife, -but more probably his mother. Another, and a remarkably fine papyrus, -was bought by Colonel Campbell in 1876, for the large sum of £400. The -latter had evidently been obtained from the mummy of the High Priest -Pinotem, descendant of Her-Hor. The coincidence was striking, and led -Professor Maspero to the conclusion that a tomb of the priest-kings -was in the possession of the Arabs of the district of Thebes, a class -of persons who live in the tombs, and gain a living out of the produce -of their search. Suspicion quickly pointed to the parties implicated. -The chief, Ahmed Ab-der-Rassoul, one of five brothers engaged in the -traffic of antikas (antiques), was arrested, and shortly afterwards -another of the brothers made a confession and conducted the authorities -to the hiding-place in which all these treasures were concealed. - -“Near the site of an old temple, known as Deir el-Bahari, at the foot -of a rugged mass of precipitous rock, so hidden from view that it might -be passed by a hundred times without being seen, was a perpendicular -shaft, 35 feet deep, and 6 feet in diameter. At the bottom of the -shaft, in its western corner, was an opening a little more than 2 feet -high and 5 feet wide, the entrance of a narrow passage tunnelled in -the rock. This passage or tunnel led due west for 25 feet, and then -turned abruptly to the north for 200 feet, ending in an oblong chamber -260 feet long, the entire length of the tunnel being nearly 500 feet. -Throughout the whole of this extensive area the floor was encumbered -with coffins and funereal gear, packed together so closely that for -some distance it was necessary to crawl upon hands and feet to make -any progress. The collection within this strange hiding-place consisted -of sarcophagi, coffins, mummies, funereal furniture, and funereal -ornaments, the gathered fragments of four or five dynasties, more -particularly the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twenty-first, -comprehending a period of more than five hundred years, and ranging -between the eighteenth and twelfth centuries before Christ.... - -“It was a hot forty-eight hours’ work, under the burning sun of Egypt, -to bring all those objects to the surface, and a toilsome labour, -enlisting the services of three hundred Arabs, to convey them to Luxor, -and subsequently to pile them on the deck of the Museum steamer which -had journeyed up the river to receive them. The passage down the river -partook of the character of a funeral ovation: women with dishevelled -hair ran along the banks uttering shrieks and funereal chants, others -threw dust upon their heads, men discharged guns, and the funeral of a -defunct monarch of to-day could not have excited more apparent emotion.” - -The coffins and mummies included the following:-- - -RASKENEN, king of Upper Egypt, a descendant of the old Theban -royal race, but at this time tributary to the Hyksos or Shepherd kings. -According to the Sallier papyrus in the British Museum, he quarrelled -with the Hyksos monarch Apopi, in reference to the cession of an -important well. This brought about the overthrow and expulsion of the -Hyksos, who had ruled the country for five centuries. According to the -same authority, Joseph arrived in Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh -Nub (B.C. 1730), and rose to honour under Apopi. - -AAHMES I., founder of the eighteenth dynasty. - -AMENHOTEP I. (_Amenophis_), coffin and mummy. - -THOTHMES I.--The coffin was occupied by the mummy of a priest-king, -Pinotem, of the twenty-first dynasty. The mummy of Thothmes was not -found. - -The first known representation of a horse occurs on a monument of this -reign; and it is supposed that the horse was introduced into Egypt from -Asia about this time. - -THOTHMES II.--The coffin and mummy were both found. Thothmes -II. reigned but a short time. - -THOTHMES III., one of the most famous of Egyptian kings. He -continued his predecessors’ offensive movements against the Hyksos -and their allies, and extended his conquests as far as the Tigris. -In his reign Egypt was at the pinnacle of its greatness. The walls -of his magnificent temple at Karnak are covered with inscriptions -recounting his triumphs, and giving a list of the countries and peoples -conquered by him. A stela of black granite found at Karnac, and now in -the Egyptian National Museum, contains a poem in celebration of the -victories of this king. The coffin and mummy found were broken. - -HATSHEPSU, the great woman-king, sister and wife of Thothmes -II. Becoming regent for her younger brother, Thothmes III., she assumed -a king’s dress and masculine style. Neither the coffin nor the mummy -were found. But it was the practice of the Egyptians in embalming to -take out the intestines and preserve them separately; and the liver of -Hatshepsu was discovered enclosed in a cabinet of wood, inlaid with -ivory, which was marked with her name. - -RAMESES I., founder of the nineteenth dynasty, was found -placed in a coffin of the fashion of the twenty-first dynasty, from -which the name of the original owner had been carefully scraped off. - -SETI I., his successor (coffin and mummy). The superb alabaster -sarcophagus of this monarch was already in the Soane Museum, in -Lincoln’s Inn Fields. When Belzoni discovered it in 1817, in the -original sepulchre in the valley of the kings at Thebes, he was -astonished to find the mummy and coffin gone. When the mummy of this -Pharaoh was unrolled it was found that the body was long, fleshless, -of a yellow-black colour, and had the arms crossed upon the breast. -The head was covered with a mask of fine linen, blackened with bitumen, -which it was necessary to remove with scissors. This operation brought -to view the most beautiful mummy-head ever seen in the museum. The -sculptors of Thebes and Abydos did not flatter this Pharaoh when they -gave him that delicate, sweet, smiling profile which is known to -travellers. After a lapse of thirty-two centuries the mummy retains -the same expression which characterised the features of the living -man. Seti I. must have died at an advanced age. The head is shaven, -the eyebrows are white, the condition of the body points to more -than three-score years of life; thus confirming the opinion of the -learned, who have attributed a long reign to this king. Seti I. built -the Hall of Columns in the Great Temple of Ammon, at Karnac. There -exist numerous remains also at Koorneh, Abydos, and elsewhere, of the -extensive and magnificent buildings which he erected with the aid of -the conquered Semites, among whom the Israelites must probably be -included. During his reign a great canal, the first of its kind, was -completed, connecting the Nile with the Red Sea. - - [Illustration: SETI I.] - -RAMESES II., the renowned soldier, son of Seti I., known to -the Greeks as Sesostris. The oppression of the Israelites, probably -begun by Seti I., was continued under Rameses II. In the sixth year -of his reign, however, Moses was born. The mummy of Rameses II. was -found deposited in a coffin of the twenty-first dynasty, like that of -Rameses I. This gave rise to doubts as to which particular Rameses -was enclosed, but on unwrapping the mummy an inscription was found, -explaining that the original coffin had been accidentally broken, and -leaving no doubt that this was Rameses II. Most striking, when compared -with the mummy of Seti I., is the astonishing resemblance between -father and son. The nose, mouth, chin, all the features are the same, -but in the father they are more refined than in the son. Rameses II. -was over six feet in height, and we see by the breadth of his chest -and the squareness of his shoulders that he must have been a man of -great bodily strength. Professor Maspero, in his official report, -describes the body as that of a vigorous and robust old man, with white -and well-preserved teeth, white hair and eyebrows, long and slender -hands and feet, stained with henna, and ears pierced for the reception -of ear-rings. Rameses II. reigned sixty-six years, and was nearly a -hundred years old at the time of his death. He exhibited great zeal as -a builder, and was a patron of science and art. It was he who built the -Ramesseum at Thebes, and presented it with a library. He also built the -Pylons and Hall of Columns of the Temple of Luxor, and a score of minor -temples in Egypt and Nubia, and made the marvellous rock-cut temples at -Abousimbel. - - [Illustration: RAMESES II.] - -Rameses II. was succeeded by his thirteenth son, Meneptah II., who -continued the oppression of the Israelites, and pursued them when they -were escaping. - -Besides all these monarchs, there were found in the strange repository -at Deir el-Bahari, coffins and mummies of Rameses III. (of the -twentieth dynasty), the last of the great warrior kings of Egypt, -Pinotem I., and Pinotem II., priest-kings of the twenty-first dynasty, -and several queens, princes, and notabilities of the same periods. An -affecting story, which brings home to us very vividly the universal -kinship of humanity, is revealed by the contents of the coffin of -Makara, wife of King Pinotem, of the priest-king dynasty. A little -coiled-up bundle lay at the feet of the Queen, her infant daughter, -in giving birth to whom she gave likewise her life. Thus, and so -touchingly, are we led to participate in the affliction of the sick -chamber of three thousand years ago. Already had the still-born babe of -a queen received a name, Mautemhat, the firstling of the goddess Maut, -wife of Amen; and not a name alone, for she is born to a title strange -to our ears, namely, “principal royal spouse.” - - [_Sources and Authorities_:--The _Times_ newspaper, 4th - August 1881. The _Times_ newspaper, 25th June 1886. “Egyptian - Mummies,” lecture by Sir Erasmus Wilson; Kegan Paul, Trench & - Co., 1883.] - - - 4. _Egyptians in Palestine before the Exodus._ - -When the tribes of Israel were preparing to pass over Jordan, they were -told that they were going to possess nations greater and mightier than -themselves, a people great and tall, whose cities were fenced up to -heaven (Deut. ix. 1; i. 28). Of these early inhabitants of Palestine, -the spies had reported that Amalek dwelt in the land of the South; the -Hittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwelt in the mountains, and -the Canaanite dwelt by the sea and along by the side of Jordan (Num. -xiii. 29). We have indeed an enumeration of seven nations dwelling in -Palestine at this time, and a testimony to their might:--“The Hittite, -the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the -Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than -thou.” (Deut. vii. 1). In these passages it is plainly implied that the -peoples who occupied Palestine before the Israelitish invasion were in -an advanced state of civilisation. Until lately we have known little -or nothing about them, beyond the information which these Scripture -passages afforded; but now at last the veil is beginning to lift. - - - _The Hittites._ - -As there were seven “nations” in Canaan, and the land itself is no -larger than Wales, it was long supposed that each of the “nations” -was but a small tribe, and was too insignificant to make any figure -in history. But we have lately learned that if this was the rule, -the Hittites were an exception to it. They were a great people, or -perhaps a great confederacy or empire, spread over a vast region in -northern Syria and some of the adjacent countries. Their dominion -extended more or less over Asia Minor, and the influence of their art -and culture reached even into Greece. Their capital was Carchemish, -on the Euphrates, the site of which city was discovered a few years -ago by Mr Skene, English Consul at Aleppo, and again, two years later, -by Mr George Smith, as he was returning from Assyria. The place is -now called Jerablus. Another centre of Hittite power was Kadesh, on -the Orontes, a city which appears to be referred to in the Bible, for -it has been maintained that where Joab and the captains “came to the -land of Tahtim-hodshi” (2 Sam. xxiv. 6), it should be rendered “the -land of Kadesh of the Hittites,” this being the northern border of -David’s kingdom at that time. A list of places in Palestine conquered -by Thothmes III., and engraved on the walls of his temple at Karnac, -includes the name of Kadesh. It is situated where the Orontes flows -into the lake of Homs (still called the lake of Kadesh) and had been -a sacred city of the Amorites before it was conquered by the Hittites -about 1400 B.C. [Rev. H. G. Tomkins, in “Records of the Past.” -New Series, vol. v.] The Hittites were thus seated in a region north of -Palestine proper; but they appear to have had colonies in the country, -and it is these isolated settlements which are classed with the small -nations of Canaan by the Bible writer. When Abraham, at Hebron, -required a parcel of earth in which to bury his wife Sarah, he bought -it of Ephron the Hittite; whence it is clear that there were Hittites -owning land in the south. From the mention of Hebron in association -with Zoan in Numbers xiii. 22, it is even suspected that the Shepherd -Kings who reigned in Zoan were a dynasty of Hittites. At any rate the -Hittites were a powerful people, able to hold their own both against -the Egyptians and against the Assyrians, and did so in the region of -Carchemish for a thousand years. - -Thothmes III., “the Egyptian Alexander,” who accomplished thirteen -campaigns in twenty years, and made Egypt the centre of history, -invaded Palestine and gained a victory at Megiddo over the king of -Kadesh and his allies. “They fled, head over heels, to Megiddo, with -terror in their countenances, and left behind their horses and their -gold and silver chariots, and were drawn up, with ropes to their -clothes, into this town, since the people had closed the gates of the -said town on account of the deeds of the king.” “The miserable king -of Kadesh” and the miserable king of Megiddo would not have escaped -in this way, only that the Egyptian warriors relaxed the pursuit and -engaged in plunder. The Pharaoh was beside himself. However, the -warriors captured the tent of the miserable king, in which his son was -found. Then they raised a shout of joy and gave honour to Amon, the -lord of Thebes, who had given to his son Thothmes the victory. After -this the neighbouring kings came together to worship before Pharaoh, -“and to implore breath for their nostrils.” And then came the children -of the kings and presented gifts of silver, gold, blue-stone, and -green-stone; they brought also wheat, and wine in skins, and fruits -for the warriors of the king, since each of the Kitti [Hittites] had -taken care to have such provisions for his return home. Then the king -pardoned the foreign princes. - -A catalogue of the booty includes 3401 living prisoners, 83 hands, 2041 -mares, 191 foals, 6 bulls, one chariot, covered with plates of gold, of -the king of ..., 892 chariots of his miserable warriors, one beautiful -iron armour of the hostile king, one beautiful iron armour of the king -of Megiddo, 200 accoutrements of his miserable warriors, 602 bows, 7 -tent-poles covered with plates of gold from the tent of the hostile -king. Pharaoh’s warriors had also taken as booty ... bulls, ... cows, -2000 kids, and 20,500 white goats. - -A catalogue is also given of persons and things which Pharaoh -afterwards carried off as his property, including 39 noble persons, 87 -children of the hostile king and the kings allied with him, 5 marina -(lords), 1596 men and maid-servants, 105 persons who gave themselves up -because of famine. Besides these prisoners there were taken precious -stones, golden dishes, and many utensils of this sort, a large jug with -a double handle, 97 swords, 1784 lbs. of gold rings which were found -in the hands of the artists, 969 lbs. of silver rings, one statue with -head of gold, 6 chairs and footstools of ivory and cedar wood, 6 large -tables of cedar wood inlaid with gold and precious stones, one staff -of the king worked as a kind of sceptre entirely of gold, one plough -inlaid with gold, many garments of the enemy, &c., &c. - -These catalogues enable us to form some estimate of the degree of -perfection in art and refinement which had been arrived at in Northern -Palestine and Syria before the Israelitish invasion. Lists are also -given of the towns conquered and the peoples made to submit. Remarking -upon these, Brugsch justly says that what gives the highest importance -to the catalogue is the undisputed fact that more than three hundred -years before the entrance of the Jews into the land of Canaan, a great -league of peoples of the same race existed in Palestine under little -kings, who dwelt in the same towns and fortresses as we find stated on -the monuments, and who for the greater part fell by conquest into the -hands of the Jewish immigrants. Among these the King of Kadesh, on the -Orontes, in the land of the Amorites--as the inscriptions expressly -state--played the first part, since there obeyed him, as their chief -leader, all the kings and their peoples from the water of Egypt (which -is the same as the Biblical brook which flowed as the boundary of -Egypt) to the rivers of Naharain, afterwards called Mesopotamia. - -After the death of Thothmes III. the Hittites recovered their -independence, and their importance grew from year to year, in such a -way that even the Egyptian inscriptions mention the names of their -kings in a conspicuous manner, and speak of their gods with reverence. -Seti I. came to the throne of Egypt about two centuries after the -death of Thothmes, and with him the martial spirit of Egypt revived. -Seti drove back the Syrians who had invaded his frontier, and pursued -them as far as Phœnicia, where he overthrew with great slaughter “the -kings of the land of Phœnicia.” He probably suspected the Hittites -of abetting his enemies, for, from the overthrow of the Phœnicians, -he advanced against Kadesh, professedly as “the avenger of broken -treaties.” The battle scene is represented on the north side of the -great temple of Karnak, where Pharaoh is shown as having thrown to the -ground the Hittites, and slain their princes. - -Rameses II. was first associated with his father on the throne, and -afterwards succeeded him. The great battle of his reign was fought -against the Hittites at Kadesh, and was an event of first-class -importance. The King of the Hittites had brought together his forces -from the remotest parts of his empire, and was aided by allies and -satraps from Mesopotamia to Mysia, and from Arvad in the sea. The -Egyptian advance followed the coast line, through Joppa, Tyre, -Sidon, and Beyrout. On the cliff by the Dog River, Rameses cut his -bas-reliefs, and then appears to have advanced up the valley of the -Eleutherus. Bringing his army before Kadesh, a great battle was fought, -in which the Egyptians claim to be the victors; but at one point of the -struggle the Pharaoh was surrounded and in the greatest danger, and at -the close of the fighting a treaty was signed as between equals. - -On the great temple at Ibsamboul there is a picture of the battle -of Kadesh, nineteen yards long by more than eight yards deep. In -this great battle scene there are eleven hundred figures, and among -these there is no difficulty in recognizing the slim Egyptians and -their Sardonian allies, with horned and crested helmets, and long -swords, shields, and spears. “The hosts also of the Hittites and of -their allies are represented” (says Brugsch) “with a lively pictorial -expression, for the artist has been guided by the intention of bringing -before the eyes of the beholder the orderly masses of the Hittite -warriors, and the less regular and warlike troops of the allied -peoples, according to their costume and arms. The Canaanites are -distinguished in the most striking manner from the allies, of races -unknown to us, who are attired with turban-like coverings for the -head, or with high caps, such as are worn at the present day by the -Persians.” Conder also remarks that the one race is bearded, the other -beardless, and that this battle picture gives us most lively portraits -of the Hittite warriors in their chariots, and of their walled and -tower-crowned city, with its name written over it, and its bridges over -the Orontes. The Hittites have long pigtails, and their Chinese-like -appearance is very remarkable. - - [Illustration: HITTITES (ABOU-SIMBEL). (_By permission of - Messrs C. Philip & Son._)] - -Pentaur of Thebes, the poet-laureate of Egypt, had accompanied Rameses -in this expedition, and he celebrated the achievements of the day in a -poem which has come down to us in several editions. It is found on a -papyrus roll, and again in conjunction with splendid battle scenes, on -the walls of temples at Abydos, Luxor, Karnak, and Ibsamboul. - -This prize poem of Pentaur’s was written three thousand two hundred -years ago, and is the oldest heroic poem in the world. “It may be -relied upon,” says Dr Wright, “as the earliest specimen of special war -correspondence.” Besides this narration there is a simple prose account -of the same battle, and this is followed by a copy of the treaty of -peace which established an offensive and defensive alliance between the -empire of the Hittites and Egypt. - -I here insert a few incidents from the prize poem of Pentaur, written -two years after the battle of Kadesh. Reading between the lines of -the boastful hieroglyphs, it is clear that the Hittites must have -maintained their ground in the battle, for their king, who, at the -beginning of the fight, is “the _vile_ king of the Hittites,” and “the -_miserable_ king of the Hittites,” towards the close of the battle -becomes “the _great_ king of the Hittites.” - -According to Pentaur, the Hittites and their allies covered mountains -and valleys like grasshoppers, and no such multitude had ever been -seen before.... Pharaoh was young and bold, he seized his arms, he -armed his people and his chariots, and marched towards the land of the -Hittites.... Arab spies were caught, who told Pharaoh that the Hittite -army was in the neighbourhood of Aleppo; but “the miserable king of the -Hittites” was all the time lying in ambush with his allies north-west -of Kadesh. They rose up and surprised the Egyptians. Pharaoh’s retreat -was cut off. In this crisis he prayed to his god and father, Amon, and -was assisted to perform prodigies of valour. He hurled darts with his -right hand and fought with his left; the two thousand three hundred -horses were dashed to pieces, and the hearts of the Hittites sank -within them. The King of the Hittites sent eight of his brother kings -with armed chariots against Pharaoh; but six times he charged the -unclean wretches, who did not acknowledge his god; he killed them, none -escaped. Pharaoh upbraided his worthless warriors, who had left him to -fight the battle single-handed, and promised that on his return to -Egypt he would see the fodder given to his pair of horses which did not -leave him in the lurch. - -The battle was renewed the following morning and went sore against the -Hittites. Then the hostile king sent a messenger to ask for peace, -and to say that the Egyptians and the Hittites ought to be brothers. -Pharaoh assembled his warriors to hear the message of “the great king -of the Hittites,” and by their advice he made peace, and returned to -Egypt in serene humour. - -On the outer wall of the temple of Karnak we find inscribed the treaty -of peace which was made on this or a later occasion, and the terms of -the offensive and defensive alliance entered into. It is related that -Kheta-sira, King of the Hittites, sent two heralds, bearing a plate of -silver, upon which the treaty was engraved. The treaty is between the -Grand-Duke of Kheta, Kheta-sira, the puissant, and Rameses, the great -ruler of Egypt, the puissant. The arrangement is sanctioned by the Sun -and by Sutekh, the chief gods respectively of Egypt and Kheta. There -is to be peace and good brotherhood for ever--he shall fraternize with -me and I will fraternize with him. The Grand-Duke of Kheta shall not -invade the land of Egypt for ever, to carry away anything from it, nor -shall Ramessu-Meriamen, the great ruler of Egypt, invade the land of -Kheta for ever, to carry away anything from it. If Egypt is invaded by -some other enemy, and Pharaoh sends to Kheta for help, the Grand-Duke -is to go, or at least to send his infantry and cavalry; and he is, of -course, to look for reciprocal aid. If emigrants or fugitives pass -from one country to the other they are not to find service and favour, -but to be given up; nevertheless, when taken back, they are not to be -punished as criminals. In support of the provisions of the treaty the -parties thereunto invoke “the thousand gods of the land of Kheta, in -concert with the thousand gods of the land of Egypt.” Whosoever shall -not observe the provisions of the treaty, the gods shall be against -his house and family and servants; but to whomsoever shall observe them -the gods shall give health and life--to his family, himself, and his -servants. - -“In such a form,” says Brugsch, “were peace and friendship made at -Ramses, the city in Lower Egypt, between the two most powerful nations -of the world at that time--Kheta in the east, and Kemi (Egypt) in the -west.” - -Following upon the conclusion of this treaty we have a happy dynastic -alliance. Kheta-sira, the great king of the Hittites, appeared in -Egypt in Hittite costume, accompanied by his beautiful daughter, and -Pharaoh made this princess his queen. A memorial tablet at Ibsamboul -speaks of this as a great, inconceivable wonder--“she herself knew not -the impression which her beauty made on thy heart”--and we may fairly -infer that her influence contributed to the international friendship -which lasted as long as Rameses lived. We do not know the native name -of the Hittite princess, but the name given her on her marriage was -Ur-Maa-Noferu Ra. - -Since it has become evident that the Hittites were a great people, -and not a petty local tribe like the Hivites or the Perizzites, -scholars have naturally turned again to the Bible references to see -what they really imply. On careful examination the Bible passages are -seen to be all consistent with the idea that the Hebrew writers were -well acquainted with the power and greatness of the Hittites. Their -greatness is nowhere denied; on the contrary there are some passages -which seem plainly to imply it. When Solomon imported horses and -chariots from Egypt, he sold them to the kings of Syria and to “all the -kings of the Hittites” (2 Chron. i. 16). Again, when Ben-hadad, king of -Syria, was besieging Samaria, and the Syrians were smitten with panic, -believing that they heard “a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, -even the noise of a great host,” what nations did they suppose were -alone able to send great hosts into the field with horses and chariots? -They said one to another, “Lo, the King of Israel has hired against -us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians” (2 Kings -vii. 6). Further--to take an instance nearer to the age of Rameses -II.--when the future wide inheritance of Israel is promised to Moses -and to Joshua, the description runs thus:--“From the wilderness and -this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the -land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of -the sun”--words which had been regarded as a pictorial exaggeration, -but which may now be looked upon as literally accurate (Deut. xi. 24; -Josh. i. 4). - -Exploration and research are now making us acquainted with Hittite -works of art and with inscriptions in the Hittite character and -language; while, as already stated, we have Egyptian portraits of their -soldiers on the Temple wall at Ibsamboul. - -Burckhardt the traveller was perhaps the first to discover and describe -a Hittite inscription. He gives an account of a stone which he saw -in a wall in the city of Hamath, which was covered with hieroglyphs -differing from those of Egypt. The discovery was without result at -the time; but when the stone had been seen again, with four others, -in 1870, by the American visitor, Mr J. A. Johnson, interest began to -be aroused. Similar stones have been found at Carchemish, at Aleppo, -and in various parts of Asia Minor. Some have been removed to the -Museum at Constantinople, some are in the British Museum, and some -inscriptions remain on rock faces irremovable. A very good collection -of illustrative plates will be found appended to Dr Wm. Wright’s -“Empire of the Hittites.” The Hittite hieroglyphs cannot yet be -deciphered, although Dr A. H. Sayce and Major Conder may be said to -have made a promising beginning. The inquiry has been aided a little by -a short inscription in Hittite and Cuneiform characters, engraved on -a convex silver plate, which looked like the knob of a staff or dagger, -and is known as the boss of Tarkondêmos. We shall probably have to wait -for the discovery of some longer bi-lingual inscription before much -progress can be made. Meanwhile Major Conder finds much reason to think -that the affinities of the Hittites and their language were Mongolian. -The inscriptions of course are quite a mystery to the Asiatic folk in -whose districts they are found, and they attribute magical virtues to -some of them. The particular stone figured above was very efficacious -in cases of lumbago: a man had only to lean his back against it and he -was effectually cured. - - [Illustration: - - HAMATH INSCRIPTION (HITTITE). (_Specially drawn by W. Harry Rylands, - F.S.A._)] - -We know something of the religion of the Hittites from their invocation -of the gods in their treaty with Rameses II. They adored the sun and -moon, the mountains, rivers, clouds, and the sea. But their chief -deity was Sutekh, “king of heaven, protector of this treaty,” supposed -by Brugsch to be a form of Baal, but who is more likely to have been -allied to Set or to Dagon. We cannot suppose that their worship was -purer than that of the nations round about them; but it may not have -been less pure, nor their life less moral. The appeal to the King of -Heaven to protect a treaty is admirable so far as it goes. To what -height they could sometimes rise in their conceptions of duty is -pleasantly shown if, as seems possible, that beautiful passage in Micah -vi. 8 is to be attributed to them--“What doth the Lord require of thee -but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” The -prophet quotes the sentiment from Balaam, and gives it as Balaam’s -answer to the question of Balak, king of Moab, who had sent for him -to curse Israel. A conversation took place which may be set forth as -follows:-- - -_King_--Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before -the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves -of a year old? - -_Prophet_--Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten -thousands of rivers of oil? - -_King_--Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of -my body for the sin of my soul? - -_Prophet_--He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the -Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk -humbly with thy God?[2] - -In the Book of Numbers we find that Balaam had been sent for from -another country, and came from the city of Pethor. Now, in the temple -of Karnak, Thothmes III. gives a list of two hundred and eighteen towns -in Syria and Aram, which he claims to have conquered, and among them -we find Pethor. It was a city on the Upper Euphrates, not far from -Carchemish, and so was well within the circle of the Hittite dominion. -Balaam, then, may be regarded as a Hittite, or as belonging to the -Hittite confederacy,[3] and since the text quoted shows his idea of the -Divine requirements, it indicates the standard of duty which had been -arrived at by some among that people. - -The rock inscriptions prove that the Hittites possessed a written -language, and this is further shown by their engraved treaty sent to -Rameses II. They appear even to have possessed a literature, for the -Egyptian records mention a certain Khilp-sira as a writer of books -among the Hittites. One of their cities in the south of Palestine was -called Kirjath-Sepher, or Book-Town, so that the place must have been -noted for writings of some kind. - -The fact that the copy of the treaty sent to Rameses was engraved -upon a silver plate, with a figure of the god Sutekh in the middle, -shows that the Hittites were an artistic people also. In fact their -civilisation was far advanced. “They had walled towns, chased metal -work, chariots and horses, skilled artificers. They could carve in -stone, and could write in hieroglyphic character. All this wonderful -cultivation they possessed while Israel as yet was hardly a nation. -Thus the Bible account of the Canaan overrun by Joshua is fully -confirmed by monumental evidence.”[4] - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“A History of Egypt under the - Pharaohs.” By Henry Brugsch-Bey. “The Empire of the Hittites.” - By William Wright, D.D. “The Hittites: the Story of a - forgotten Empire.” By A. H. Sayce, LL.D. “Transactions of the - Society of Biblical Archæology.”] - - - 5. _Semites in Egypt before the Oppression._ - -If, as seems probable, the Pharaoh of Joseph was Apepi, the last of the -Shepherd Kings, and the Pharaoh of the Oppression was Rameses II., the -third king of the nineteenth dynasty, we have a period of nearly three -centuries between Joseph and the “new king who knew not Joseph.” The -period appears to be much too long to make the expression “new king” -seem natural, while at the same time a shorter period would hardly -leave room for the descendants of Jacob to multiply and become a danger -to Egypt. This perplexity is removed by the recent discovery of ancient -writings under the extensive ruins existing at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper -Egypt--a site about midway between Minieh and Siout, and on the eastern -bank of the Nile. From these documents it appears that Semites were -in great favour with Amenhotep IV. (Amenôphis), the last king of the -eighteenth dynasty, whereas the new dynasty that succeeded abominated -this foreign influence. - -In the latter part of the eighteenth dynasty friendly relations -prevailed between Egypt and Mitanni or Nahrina (Aram Naharaim, Judges -iii. 8), a Mesopotamian district which lay opposite to the Hittite -city of Carchemish. Amenôphis III. married a wife from the royal house -of Mitanni; and the offspring of this marriage--Amenôphis IV.--in his -turn married Tadukhepa, daughter of Duisratta, the Mitannian king. -He was thus doubly drawn to look favourably upon the Mitannian form -of faith, which, like that of the Semites, included the adoration of -the winged solar disk. Meantime the Egyptian conquest of Palestine, -whose petty kings and governors now ruled as satraps for the Egyptian -monarch, had paved the way for strangers from Canaan and Syria to rise -into favour at Pharaoh’s court. Amenôphis IV. surrounded himself with -Semitic officers and courtiers, thus offending the nobles of Egypt; -and by forsaking the ancient religion of his country, brought about a -rupture with the powerful priesthood of Thebes. Forced to go forth, -the “heretic king” built a new capital on the edge of the desert to -the north. Here he assumed the name of Khu-en-Aten, “the glory of the -solar disk,” while his architects and sculptors consecrated a new -and peculiar style of art to the new religion, and even the potters -decorated the vases they modelled with new colours and patterns. - -“The archives of the empire were transferred from Thebes to the new -residence of the king, and there stored in the royal palace, which -stood among its gardens at the northern extremity of the city. But -the existence and prosperity of Khu-en-Aten’s capital were of short -duration. When the king died he left only daughters behind him, whose -husbands assumed in succession the royal power. Their reigns lasted -but a short time, and it is even possible that more than one of them -had to share his power with another prince. At any rate it was not -long before rulers and people alike returned to the old paths. The -faith which Khu-en-Aten had endeavoured to introduce was left without -worshippers, the Asiatic strangers whom he and his father had promoted -to high offices of State were driven from power, and the new capital -was deserted never to be inhabited again. The great temple of the -solar disk fell into decay, like the royal palace, and the archives of -Khu-en-Aten were buried under the ruins of the chamber wherein they had -been kept.” - -It is these archives which have now come to light, and which furnish -such extraordinary information concerning the state of Egypt and -Palestine in the century before the Oppression. In the winter of 1887 -the fellahin of Egypt, searching for nitrous earth with which to -manure their fields, discovered some three hundred ancient tablets -inscribed with Babylonian cuneiform writing. The tablets are copies of -letters and despatches from the kings and governors of Babylonia and -Assyria, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Eastern Cappadocia, of Phœnicia -and Palestine, exchanging information with the Pharaoh of Egypt, or -making reports as to the state of the country they governed. Among -the correspondents of the Egyptian sovereigns were Assurynballidh -of Assyria and Burnaburyas of Babylonia, which thus fix the date of -Khu-en-Aten to about 1430 B.C. This shows incidentally that -the Egyptologists have been quite right in not assigning the Exodus -to an earlier period than 1320 B.C., that is to say, the reign of -Menephtah, the son and successor of Rameses II. - -At the date of the despatches Palestine and Phœnicia were garrisoned -by Egyptian troops, and their affairs were more or less directed by -Egyptian governors. But in some cases the native prince was allowed -to retain his title and a portion of his power. Thus Jerusalem (which -was then called Uru-’Salim--the seat or oracle of the god Salim, it -is supposed, whose temple stood on the mountain of Moriah)--was ruled -over by Ebed-tob. He appears to have been a priest rather than a king, -since he tells us that he was appointed by an oracle of the god; and -in that case the state over which he presided would be a Theocracy. Dr -Sayce considers that an unexpected light is thus thrown on the person -and position of Melchizedek. He was priest of El-Elyon, the “Most -High God,” and king only in virtue of his priestly office. His father -therefore is not named. [“Records of the Past.” New Series, vol. v.] -There were as yet no signs of the Israelites coming into the land. But -the Canaanite population was already threatened by an enemy from the -north. These were the Hittites, to whom references are made in several -of the despatches from Syria and Phœnicia. After the weakening of the -Egyptian power, in consequence of the religious troubles which followed -the death of Khu-en-Aten, the Hittites were enabled to complete their -conquests in the south, and to drive a wedge between the Semites of -the East and the West. With the revival of the Egyptian empire under -the rulers of the nineteenth dynasty the southward course of Hittite -conquest was checked; but the wars of Rameses II. against the Hittites -of Kadesh on Orontes desolated and exhausted Canaan and prepared the -way for the Israelitish invasion. Phœnicia seems to have been the -furthest point to the north to which the direct government of Egypt -extended. At any rate the letters which came to the Egyptian monarch -from Syria and Mesopotamia were sent to him by princes who called -themselves his “brothers,” and not by officials who were the “servants” -of the king. - -It is wonderful to find that in the fifteenth century before our era, -active literary intercourse was carried on throughout the civilised -world of Western Asia, between Babylonia and Egypt and the smaller -states of Palestine, of Syria, of Mesopotamia, and even of Eastern -Cappadocia. And this intercourse was carried on by means of the -Babylonian language and the complicated Babylonian script. It implies -that all over the civilised East there were libraries and schools, -where the Babylonian language and literature were taught and learned. -Babylonian in fact was as much the language of diplomacy and cultivated -society as French has been in modern times, with the difference that -whereas it does not take long to read French, the cuneiform syllabary -required years of hard labour and attention before it could be -acquired. There must surely have been a Babylonian conquest. In fact, -Mr Theo. G. Pinches now finds, from a text of about B.C. 2115 -to 2090, that Animisutana, king of Babylon at that time, was also king -of Phœnicia among other places. [“Records of the Past” New Series, vol. -v.] - -One of the facts which result most clearly from a study of the tablets -is that, not only was a Semitic language the medium of literary -intercourse between the Pharaoh of Egypt and his officers abroad, but -that Semites held high and responsible posts in the Egyptian Court -itself. Thus we find Dudu, or David, addressed by his son as “my -lord,” and ranking apparently next to the monarch; and there are in -the Egyptian National Collection not only letters written by officials -with Egyptian names, like Khapi or Hapi (Apis), but with such Semitic -names as Rib-Addu, Samu-Addu, Bu-Dadu (the Biblical Bedad) and Milkili -(the Biblical Malchiel). A flood of light is thus poured upon a period -of Egyptian history which is of high interest for the student of the -Old Testament. In spite of the reticence of the Egyptian monuments, we -can now see what was the meaning of the attempt of Amenophis IV. to -supersede the ancestral religion of Egypt. The king was in all respects -an Asiatic. His mother, who seems to have been a woman of strong -character,--able to govern not only her son, but even her less pliable -husband,--came from the region of the Euphrates, and brought with her -Asiatic followers, Asiatic ideas, and an Asiatic form of faith. The -court became Semitised. The favourites and officials of the Pharaoh, -his officers in the field, his correspondents abroad, bore names which -showed them to be of Canaanite and even of Israelitish origin. If -Joseph and his brethren had found favour among the Hyksos princes of an -earlier day, their descendants were likely to find equal favour at the -court of “the heretic king.” - -We need not wonder, therefore, if Amenophis IV. found himself compelled -to quit Thebes. The old aristocracy might have condoned his religious -heresy, but they could not condone his supplanting them with foreign -favourites. The rise of the nineteenth dynasty marks the successful -reaction of the native Egyptian against the predominance of the Semite -in the closing days of the eighteenth dynasty. It was not the founder -of the eighteenth dynasty (Aahmes, who drove out the Hyksos) but the -founder of the nineteenth dynasty that was “the new king who knew not -Joseph.” Ever since the progress of Egyptology had made it clear that -Rameses II. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression, it was difficult to -understand how so long an interval of time as the whole period of the -eighteenth dynasty could lie between him and that “new king,” whose -rise seems to have been followed almost immediately by the servitude -and oppression of the Hebrews. If Aahmes began the Oppression, how was -it that a whole dynasty passed away before the Israelites cried out? -The tablets of Tell-el-Amarna now show that the difficulty does not -exist. Up to the death of Khu-en-Aten the Semite had greater influence -than the native in the land of Mizraim. - -How highly educated this old world was we are but just beginning to -learn. But we have already learned enough to discover how important -a bearing it has on the criticism of the Old Testament. It has long -been tacitly assumed by the critical school that the art of writing -was practically unknown in Palestine before the age of David. Little -historical credence, it has been urged, can be placed in the earlier -records of the Hebrew people, because they could not have been -committed to writing until a period when the history of the past had -become traditional and mythical. But this assumption can no longer be -maintained. Long before the Exodus Canaan had its libraries and its -scribes, its schools and literary men. The annals of the country, it -is true, were not inscribed in the letters of the Phœnician alphabet -on perishable papyrus; the writing material was imperishable clay, the -characters were those of the cuneiform syllabary. Though Kirjath-Sepher -(_i.e._, Book-Town) was destroyed by the Israelites, other cities -mentioned in the Tell-el-Amarna tablets, like Gaza, or Gath, or Tyre, -remained independent, and we cannot imagine that the old traditions of -culture and writing were forgotten in any of them. In what is asserted -by the critical school to be the oldest relic of Hebrew literature, -the Song of Deborah, reference is made to the scribes of Zebulon “that -handle the pen of the writer” (Judges v. 14); and we have now no longer -any reason to interpret the words in a non-natural sense, and transform -the scribe into a military commander (an officer who arranges men in a -row instead of arranging letters and words). Only it is probable that -the scribes still made use of the cuneiform syllabary, and not yet of -the Phœnician alphabet. At all events the Tell-el-Amarna tablets have -overthrown the primary foundation on which much of this criticism was -built, and have proved that the populations of Palestine, among whom -the Israelites settled, and whose culture they inherited, were as -literary as the inhabitants of Egypt or Babylonia. - -But apart from such side-lights as these upon ancient history, the -discovery of the Tell-el-Amarna tablets has a lesson for us of -momentous interest. The collection cannot be the only one of its -kind. Elsewhere, in Palestine and Syria as well as in Egypt, similar -collections must still be lying under the soil. Burnt clay is not -injured by rain and moisture, and even the climate of Palestine will -have preserved uninjured its libraries of clay. Such libraries must -still be awaiting the spade of the excavator on the sites of places -like Gaza, or others whose remains are buried under the lofty mounds -of Southern Judea. Kirjath-Sepher must have been the seat of a famous -library, consisting mainly, if not altogether, of clay tablets -inscribed with cuneiform characters. As the city also bore the name of -Debir, or “Sanctuary,” we may conclude that the tablets were stored in -its chief temple, like the libraries of Assyria and Babylonia. When -such relics of the past have been disinterred--as they will be if they -are properly searched for--we shall know how the people of Canaan -lived in the days of the Patriarchs, and how their Hebrew conquerors -established themselves among them in the days when, as yet, there was -no king in Israel. - - [The information contained in this section is derived almost - exclusively from the writings of Dr A. H. Sayce, who has - taken a chief part in England in the decipherment of the - Tell-el-Amarna inscriptions. See “Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch.” - “Records of the Past.” New Series, vols, ii., iii., iv., and - v.; “Victoria Institute Annual Address, 1889.” See additional - facts in the _Contemporary Review_, Dec. 1890, and opinions in - Naville’s _Bubastis_. For later excavations at Tell-el-Amarna, - by Mr Flinders Petrie, see the _Academy_, 9th April 1892. For - a suggestion by Conder that the tablets are in the Phœnician - or Amorite language and writing of that time, see _Quarterly - Statement_, July 1891.] - - - 6. _Israel in Egypt._ - -We have seen how well the general political circumstances in Egypt -and Palestine, in the centuries before the Exodus, supplement the -Bible narrative, explaining on the one hand why the Israelites were -oppressed, and showing on the other how Canaan was prepared for their -easy conquest. But while the fact that Rameses II. was the Pharaoh for -whom Israel built “treasure cities” is demonstrated beyond reasonable -contradiction, it is remarkable that the inscriptions do not say -anything about the Israelites. We must suppose, with Brugsch, that the -captives were included in the general name of foreigners, of whom the -documents make very frequent mention. It would be satisfactory, no -doubt, to find upon some contemporary Egyptian monument, a record of -the arrival of Jacob, or the tasks imposed upon the Israelites, or the -destruction of Pharaoh’s host in the Red Sea. But the Egyptians were -not accustomed to record their defeats, and as to the labours imposed -upon the Israelites, they were but a matter of course in the case of -captives. - -But short of direct mention, the Egyptian monuments and records -afford ample confirmation to the Biblical account of the Sojourn. -The Scripture references to Egyptian manners and customs are, in all -respects, accurate; and this absolute accuracy could only result from -actual contact and intimate acquaintance. - -The Bible history of Abraham implies that when he visited Egypt, driven -thither by famine, that country was already under a settled government, -having a king, and princes who acted as the king’s subordinates. It -requires us to believe that the king was called Pharaoh, or by some -name or title which conveyed that sound to Hebrew ears. And further, -it assumes that Egypt was so fruitful and so prosperous, as to be a -granary for surrounding nations in years of famine. On all these points -the Bible is in harmony with what we learn from other sources. - -Again, according to Genesis xii. 12, Abram feared for Sarai his wife, -lest the Egyptians should take her from him, and should kill him in -order to make the proceeding safer. The possibility of such a thing -being done by a people so civilised and cultured as the Egyptians has -sometimes been doubted: but M. Chabas has called attention to a papyrus -which actually states that the wife and children of a foreigner are -by right the lawful property of the king. In the “Tale of the Two -Brothers” also--an Egyptian romance of the days of Seti II.--we are -told that the king of Egypt sent two armies to bring a beautiful woman -to him, and to murder her husband. - -In this same tale of The Two Brothers the wife of the elder solicits -the love of the younger in almost exactly the same way that the wife -of Potiphar tempts Joseph. The whole story of Joseph agrees minutely -with what we learn of Egypt from her own records. The outward details -of life, the officers of the court, the traffic in slaves, the visits -for corn, are all pictured on temple walls and stone slabs. No feature -in the Bible narrative is out of harmony with what we know of the -country from other sources. “Potiphar” appears to be a good Egyptian -name, and Egyptologists have pointed out that its probable equivalent -in hieroglyphs signifies “Devoted to the Sun-god.” Joseph’s new name, -Zaphnath-paaneah, means “Storehouse of the house of Life,” and was -given to him when he entered Pharaoh’s service, just as a new name -was given to the Hittite princess when she became Pharaoh’s wife. The -king’s absolute authority appears abundantly from Herodotus, Diodorus -and others. He enacted laws, imposed taxes, administered justice, -executed and pardoned offenders at his pleasure. He had a bodyguard, -which is constantly seen on the sculptures, in close attendance on -his person. He was assisted in the management of state affairs by the -advice of a council, consisting of the most able and distinguished -members of the priestly order. His court was magnificent and comprised -various grand functionaries, whose tombs are among the most splendid -of the early remains of Egyptian art. When he left his palace for any -purpose, he invariably rode in a chariot. His subjects, wherever he -appeared, bowed down or prostrated themselves.[5] The civilisation of -the Egyptians, even at a period long before the Israelitish Sojourn, -comprised the practice of writing, the distinction into classes or -castes, the peculiar dignity of the priests, the practice of embalming -and of burying in wooden coffins or mummy cases, the manufacture and -use of linen garments, the wearing of gold chains, and almost all the -other points which may be noted in the Bible description. - -In Genesis xl. 20, Pharaoh held a feast on his birthday, and the chief -butler being restored to favour, gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. -We know from the Rosetta Stone that as late as the reign of Ptolemy -Epiphanes it was customary to make great rejoicing on the king’s -birthday, to consider it holy, and to do no work on it. That it should -be a day on which pardons were granted as an act of grace, is more -than probable. Cups such as the king would have taken his wine from -are portrayed on the monuments; baskets such as the baker would have -carried his bakemeats in are used even unto this day, and may be seen -in the British Museum. Before Joseph entered the royal presence he -shaved himself and changed his raiment: and here, again, the monuments -and profane history offer us illustrations. The Egyptians only allowed -their hair to grow during the times of mourning, and to neglect the -hair was considered very slovenly and dirty. When a man of low station -had to be represented, the artist always drew him with a beard. The -British Museum possesses Egyptian razors of various shapes; and in a -tomb at Beni-Hassan the act of shaving is actually represented. - -With regard to the seven years of famine, it is true that Egypt was -less likely to suffer in this way than the countries round about; yet -still, when the inundation of the Nile fell below the average, it was -liable to this scourge. History tells of numerous cases in which the -inhabitants have suffered terribly from want, and several famines are -even mentioned on the monuments. Professor Rawlinson refers us to -a case which furnishes a near parallel to the famine of Joseph. In -A.D. 1064 a famine began in Egypt which lasted seven years, -and was so severe that dogs and cats, and even human flesh, were eaten; -nearly all the horses of the Caliph perished, and his family had to fly -into Syria. - -When Jacob goes down into Egypt, he is advised to tell Pharaoh that he -and his sons are keepers of cattle, so that the land of Goshen may be -assigned to them, shepherds being an abomination unto the Egyptians. -The Egyptian contempt for herdsmen appears plainly on the monuments, -where they are commonly represented as dirty and unshaven, and are -sometimes even caricatured as a deformed and unseemly race. When Jacob -dies, his body is embalmed by the physicians, forty days being taken -up with the processes, and seventy days being spent in mourning. The -methods of embalming are described by Herodotus and Diodorus, and it -is stated that in preparing the body according to the first method the -operators commenced by extracting the brain and pouring in certain -drugs. Then they made an incision in the side of the body with a sharp -Ethiopian stone, and drew out the intestines, filling the cavity with -powder of pure myrrh, cassia, and other fragrant substances, and sewing -up the aperture. This being done, they salted the body, “keeping it in -natron during seventy days,” after which they washed it and wrapped -it up in bands of fine linen smeared on their inner side with gum. -Remarking upon the number of days, seventy or seventy-two, mentioned -by the two historians, Sir Gardner Wilkinson says there is reason to -believe it comprehended the whole period of the mourning, and that the -embalming process only occupied a portion of it. - -Subsequently to the burial of his father, Joseph himself died, and -his body also was embalmed. At some later period there arose a king -who knew not Joseph. This monarch is generally supposed to be Rameses -II., and if the identification were correct, the indications of his -character afforded by the Book of Exodus agree exactly with what the -monuments reveal concerning that haughty oppressor; but, as already -stated, the reference is probably to Rameses I. The slavery of the -Israelites was of a kind to which all hostile or conquered people were -reduced by the Egyptians. Thothmes III., during his many campaigns, -brought to Egypt unnumbered prisoners of every race, and made them -labour like convicts on the public works, under the superintendence of -architects and overseers. On the walls of a chamber in a tomb at Thebes -there is a very instructive pictorial representation of such forced -labour, and the Asiatic countenances of the workers strongly resemble -those of the Hebrew race. The date is too early, and we may suppose -them to belong to some other nation of the Semitic family; but the -picture none the less shows the method of working under taskmasters. -Some carry water in jugs from the tank hard by; others knead and cut -up the loamy earth; others, again, by the help of a wooden form, make -the bricks, or place them carefully in long rows to dry; while the more -intelligent among them carry out the work of building the walls. The -hieroglyphic explanations inform as that the labourers are captives -whom Thothmes III. has carried away to build the temple of his father -Amon. They explain that the baking of the bricks is a work for the -new building of the provision house of the god Amon of Apet (the east -side of Thebes), and they finally declare the strict superintendence -of the steward over the foreigners. The words are--(Here are seen) -the prisoners which have been carried away as living prisoners in -very great numbers; they work at the building with active fingers; -their overseers show themselves in sight, these insist with vehemence, -obeying the orders of the great skilled lord [the head architect] who -prescribes to them the works, and gives directions to the masters; -(they are rewarded), with wine and all kinds of good dishes; they -perform their service with a mind full of love for the king; they build -for Thothmes III. a holy of holies for (the gods), may it be rewarded -to him through a range of many years. - -The overseer speaks thus to the labourers at the building: “The stick -is in my hand, be not idle.” - -Some of the captives thus set to labour by Thothmes belonged to -a people called the Aperiu; and in the days of Rameses II. they -are mentioned as still in a condition of servitude, quarrying and -transporting stone for the great fortress of the city of Paramessu or -Tanis. - -Diodorus tells us that Rameses II. put up an inscription in each of his -buildings, saying that it had been erected by captives, and that not -a single native Egyptian was employed on the work. Again, this king -manufactured bricks for sale, and, by employing the labour of captives, -was enabled to under-sell other makers. The use of crude bricks baked -in the sun was universal throughout the country for private and for -many public buildings, and the dry climate of Egypt was peculiarly -suited to those simple materials. They had the recommendation of -cheapness, and those made three thousand years ago, whether with or -without straw, are even now as firm and fit for use as when first put -up. When made of the Nile mud or alluvial deposit they required straw -to prevent their cracking; but those formed of clay taken from the -torrent beds on the edge of the desert held together without straw; and -crude brick walls frequently had the additional security of a layer of -reeds or sticks placed at intervals to act as binders. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--Brugsch’s “Egypt under the - Pharaohs.” Wilkinson’s “Ancient Egyptians.” Birch’s “Egypt” - (Series, Ancient History from the Monuments). G. Rawlinson’s - “Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament.” E. A. Wallis - Budge, “Dwellers on the Nile.” M. E. Harkness, “Egyptian Life - and History.”] - - - 7. _Buried Cities of the East--Preliminary._ - -If the buried cities of the East had been altogether destroyed and -lost, and we possessed only a brief record of their disappearance, the -subject might not possess much interest for us, and there would be no -material for writing a book. But we are now witnessing a resurrection -of some of them, and are recovering a story of the past, such as -revived Egyptian mummies might be able to tell. Nay, not only Egyptians -who walked about-- - - “In Thebes’s streets three thousand years ago, - When the Memnonium was in all its glory,” - -but Chaldean shepherds who watched the stars and were perhaps the -first to give names to the signs of the Zodiac. The ancient relics and -records which are now being recovered from Egypt, Palestine, Assyria, -and Babylonia, revive forgotten stories of human struggle, and furnish -material for new chapters in the history of Art, Science, Laws, and -Language, of Mythology, Morals, and Religion. They also throw frequent -side lights upon the Bible narrative, and enable us to compare the -Israelites more fairly with their contemporaries and predecessors. - -The catastrophes which led to the partial destruction, and the eventual -burial of the cities of the East must have seemed nothing less than -pure calamities at the time; but one of the results has been the -providential preservation of the remains for the enlightenment of -the present generation. When a buried city is unearthed, it serves -to confute the scepticism which had been growing up, and to rectify -the errors which had found their place in books of history. We are -familiar with the fact that the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii -were overwhelmed--the former by streams of lava, the latter by -showers of ashes, pumice, and stones, from the crater of Vesuvius, -in A.D. 79. The existence of those cities had come to be -doubted, and for ages they were spoken of as “the fabulous cities;” -nevertheless, after sixteen centuries, they were brought to light, -and they present us with a picture of Roman life, such as history by -itself could never have supplied. The site of Pompeii had always borne -the name of _Civita_, or the city; and in 1748, a Spanish colonel -of engineers, having heard that the remains of a house had been -discovered, with ancient statues and other objects, obtained leave -to excavate. In a few days his labours met with encouraging reward, -and eventually about one third of the ancient city was uncovered. We -may now walk about in Pompeii, observing how its houses were built, -and how its streets were paved. We see the ruts worn by the wheels -of chariots, we note the public fountains, the temples, the theatre, -which would seat 10,000 people. We notice the corn-mills in the bakers’ -shops, the vats in the dyers’ shops, and in private houses we observe -with interest the many articles of domestic use. Excepting that the -upper stories of the houses have been destroyed--either burnt by the -red-hot stones, or broken down by the weight of matter which fell -upon them--“we see a flourishing city in the very state in which it -existed nearly eighteen centuries ago--the buildings as they were -originally designed, not altered and patched to meet the exigencies of -newer fashions; the paintings undimmed by the leaden touch of time; -household furniture left in the confusion of use; articles, even of -intrinsic value, abandoned in the hurry of escape, yet safe from the -robber, or scattered about as they fell from the trembling hand, which -could not pause or stoop for its most valuable possessions: and in some -instances, the bones of the inhabitants, bearing sad testimony to the -suddenness and completeness of the calamity which overwhelmed them.”[6] - -Remains of Roman London are found 16 or 17 feet underground, in the -neighbourhood of the Bank of England and the Mansion House, although -London has not been buried in volcanic ashes. Rome itself is a buried -city, for the capital of modern Italy stands upon the ruins of the -city of the Cæsars. In Eastern countries the site of an ancient city -is sometimes occupied by a squalid village, which is its degenerate -successor; in other instances the site is quite deserted, and only -a _tell_ or mound remains to call attention to it. Ancient sites -have also occasionally become submerged beneath the waters of seas -or lakes. Thus the Lake of Aboukir in Egypt was drained lately, in -order to reclaim the area for cultivation, and when the floor was laid -bare from the water, there appeared everywhere traces of streets, of -stone-covered ways, and of fields for tillage marked out by lines of -shells. - -Professor Maspero describes the process by which Egyptian temples -become buried. “Just as in Europe during the Middle Ages the population -crowded most densely round about the churches and abbeys, so in Egypt -they swarmed around the temples, profiting by that security which the -terror of his name and the solidity of his ramparts ensured to the -local deity. A clear space was at first reserved round the pylons -and the walls; but in course of time the houses encroached upon this -ground, and were even built up against the boundary wall. Destroyed and -rebuilt, century after century, upon the self-same spot, the _débris_ -of these surrounding dwellings so raised the level of the soil that the -temples ended for the most part by being gradually buried in a hollow, -formed by the artificial elevation of the surrounding city. Herodotus -mentions this of Bubastis, and on examination it is seen to have been -the same in many other localities. At last, when the temple had been -thrown down and was forsaken, the rubbish covered it up, and so the -ruins have been preserved to reward the modern explorer.” - - [Illustration: EGYPT & PENINSULA OF SINAI - - _London; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co._ - - _F. S. Weller, F.R.G.S._] - - - 8. _Biblical Sites in Egypt._ - -It is justly remarked by Rev. Greville J. Chester that there is -scarcely a better or more striking commentary upon the prophets of -Israel than the present condition of the ancient Biblical cities of -Lower Egypt. For information regarding these cities--or what remains -of them, buried in the soil--we are largely indebted to the Egypt -Exploration Fund, which was founded in 1883, for the purpose of -promoting historical investigation in Egypt, by means of systematically -conducted explorations. Particular attention is given to sites which -may be expected to throw light upon obscure questions of history and -topography, such as those connected with the mysterious Hyksos period -(the period of the Shepherd Kings), the district of the Hebrew Sojourn, -the route of the Exodus, and the early sources of Greek art. Explorers -have been sent out every season, and each year has been fruitful in -discoveries. The objects of antiquity discovered are first submitted -to the Director and Conservators of the National Egyptian Museum; and -those which can be spared are divided between the British Museum and -the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A. - -_Excavations at San._--San, in the north-eastern part of the Delta, is -the Tanis of the Septuagint and the Greek historians, and the Zoan of -the Bible. At the time of the Exodus Zoan was the capital of Egypt, and -the Pharaoh resided there. The wonders wrought by Moses and Aaron are -referred to by the Psalmist as having been manifested in the field of -Zoan (Psalm lxxviii. 43). We are told that Hebron was built only seven -years before Zoan (Num. xiii. 22), and therefore, since Hebron was -flourishing in Abraham’s time, Zoan also must have been a very ancient -city. - -The modern village of San is a small collection of mud hovels, situated -on the banks of a canal, which was once the Tanitic branch of the -Nile. Near the village there are huge mounds which contain a ruined -temple and other ancient remains. The place has been to a large extent -explored by Mr W. M. Flinders Petrie, and the Memoir containing his -interesting results is published by the Egypt Exploration Fund. - -Rameses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression, seems to have fixed upon -Zoan and made it a new capital, because by its position it commanded -the northern route to Syria and placed the king, after the conquest -of that country, in easy communication with all his dominions. It was -also close to the very centre of the Hyksos rule, which was only lately -ended. - -The Hyksos were the so-called Shepherd Kings, who appear to have come -from the Arabian desert, or perhaps beyond, and established themselves -in Lower Egypt at a period when native rule was weak. “The monuments -of the Hyksos are among the most curious in Egypt; and it is to San -that we owe the greater number of those brought to light. They are all -distinguished by an entirely different type of face from any that can -be found on other Egyptian monuments, a type which cannot be attributed -to any other known period; and it is therefore all the more certain -that they belong to the foreign race. Another peculiarity is that they -are without exception executed in black or grey granite. The Hyksos -only held the Delta, and occasionally more or less of Middle Egypt, -and so they had no command of the red granite quarries of Assouan, -which remained in the power of the native rulers. Whether the black -granite came from Sinai or from the Hammamat district is not certain.” -Mr F. Ll. Griffith, the coadjutor of Mr Flinders Petrie, mentions -several interesting monuments of a kind peculiar to this people. One -is a group of two men, with bushy plaited hair and long beards: they -stand with a tray of offerings in front of them, on which lie fishes, -with papyrus plants hanging round. The details are beautifully worked, -the flowers and buds being most delicately wrought. The black granite -sphinxes made by the Hyksos have been often described. They have the -flat, massive, muscular, lowering face, with short whiskers and beard -around it, the lips being shaven; and the hair is in a mat of thick, -short locks descending over the whole chest, a style copied from the -great sphinxes of the twelfth dynasty. It is a curious fact that -the inscriptions on Hyksos sphinxes, &c., are always in a line down -the right shoulder, never on the left. Mr Petrie suggests that this -honouring of the right shoulder by this Semitic people is analogous to -the particular offering of the right shoulder continually enjoined in -the Jewish law.[7] The Egyptians missed this idea, and inscribed either -side indifferently, showing no preference for the left, although that -was their side of honour. - -Here at San, or Tanis, was discovered the famous Stone of San or Decree -of Canopus, which is now preserved in the National Museum of Egypt. It -bears the text of a decree made by the priests of Egypt, assembled at -Canopus (which was at that time the religious capital of the country) -in the ninth year of Ptolemy Euergetes (B.C. 254). It ordains -the deification of Berenice, a daughter of Ptolemy’s just dead, and -creates a fifth order of priests, to be called Euergetæ, for the -better paying of divine honours to the king and queen. The chief value -of the monument consists in the circumstance that the inscription is -tri-lingual, the characters being hieroglyphic (sacred), demotic (those -of everyday business), and Greek (the chief language of foreigners in -Egypt); so that, like the Rosetta Stone, it is of great use in helping -scholars to decipher the Egyptian monuments. There is a plaster cast -of this stone in the British Museum. - -Mr Griffith finds that the early monuments of Tanis are suggestive of -having been brought by Rameses II. to adorn his new capital. The truth -about the age of Tanis can only be ascertained when deep excavations -are made in the mound itself, or a sufficient examination of the -extensive cemeteries has been carried out. But while the explorer is -waiting, the cemeteries are in danger of being worked out by the Arabs, -and the tombs are being destroyed for the sake of amulets to sell to -dealers and travellers. - -_Tell Nebesheh_--About eight miles S.E. of Tanis (modern San) is the -low mound of Tell Nebesheh, originally known as Tell Farun--_i.e._, -the mound of Pharaoh, because of the great monolith shrine called Ras -Farun, or Pharaoh’s Head. Here Mr Petrie found, among other things, -the remains of a temple, the altar of which contained important -inscriptions. They were engraved by a certain “chief of the chancellors -and royal seal-bearer,” whose name and further titles are effaced. This -person was one of a series of officials whose titles were singularly -parallel to the English Lord High Chancellor and Lord Privy Seal. The -altar appears to belong to the Hyksos period, and it is suggested by -Mr Petrie that these officials--who were so powerful that one of them -actually appropriated for his inscriptions the royal monuments in a -public temple--were native Egyptians, the Hyksos conquerors being -only a military horde, without much civil organization, or organizing -capacity, and taking over as they found it the native bureaucracy, who -managed all the details of the needful administration of the country. -So there appears to have been a series of viziers, men who acted for -the king over the treasury and taxes, and over the royal decrees and -public documents, bearing the king’s seal. - -After some further discussion of the position and importance of these -viziers, Mr Petrie says that yet one further document may be quoted -as giving and receiving light on this question: the account of Joseph -in the Book of Genesis undoubtedly refers to the Hyksos period, and -there we read, “Let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and -set him over the land of Egypt”--not, let Pharaoh give orders to his -own officers. “And Pharaoh said unto Joseph.... Thou shalt be over -my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: -only in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto -Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh -took off his signet-ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, -and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about -his neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; -and they cried before him, ‘Abrech;’ and he set him over all the land -of Egypt.” Here we read of the investiture of a vizier under the -Hyksos, creating him royal seal-bearer, and giving him the honour of -the second chariot. This we now see was not an extraordinary act of an -autocrat, but the filling up of a regular office of the head of the -native administration. - -_Excavations at Tell Basta_, the ancient Bubastis. A little to the -south of Zagazig, Mr Naville and Mr Griffith have made important -discoveries. Bubastis was the seat of the worship of Bast or Pasht, -the cat-headed goddess, whose temple is described by Herodotus as the -most beautiful in Egypt. It was surrounded, he tells us, by a low wall, -having figures engraved upon it. Here, accordingly, in April 1887, our -explorers began their work, in the rectangular depression surrounded on -all sides by the mounds of houses, which must have been higher than the -temple. In a short time they disclosed the site of a grand hypostyle -hall, strewn with fallen monolithic columns of twelfth dynasty -workmanship, and a hall without columns, but lined, as it should seem, -with elaborate bas-relief sculptures representing a great religious -ceremony, and containing tens of thousands of minutely-executed -hieroglyphic inscriptions. The columns and the architraves of the -hypostyle hall, though of an earlier period, are emblazoned with the -ovals of Rameses II. (nineteenth dynasty). The inscriptions of the -festival hall commemorate Osorkon II., of the twenty-second dynasty, -and his Queen Karoama. Besides the two historical landmarks thus -determined, various blocks bearing the names of Usertesen III. and Pepi -Merira testified to the existence of the edifice not only in the days -of the first great Theban Empire, but in the very remote age of the -Pyramid kings of the sixth dynasty. At the same time a small tentative -excavation at the western extremity of the site yielded the name and -titles of Nectanebo I., of the thirtieth and last native dynasty. Such -being the outcome of but four weeks’ labour at the close of the season, -it seemed reasonable to hope for important results when the excavations -should be resumed. This hope was more than fulfilled in 1888. As the -work in this instance was not carried on in the desert, but quite near -to a busy railway station, many travellers visited the place. The -scene was curiously picturesque. “Here, grouped together on the verge -of the great cemetery of Sacred Cats, are the tents of the officers -of the Fund; yonder, swarming like bees at the bottom of the huge -crater-like depression which marks the area of the temple, are seen -some three to four hundred labourers--diggers in the trenches and pits, -basket-carriers clearing away the soil as it is thrown out, overseers -to keep the diggers at work, ‘pathway-men’ to keep the paths open and -the carriers moving, gangs of brawny ‘Shayalîn,’ or native porters, -harnessed together by stout ropes, and hauling or turning sculptured -blocks which have not seen the light for many centuries; girls -with bowls of water and sponges, to wash down the carved surfaces -preparatory to the process of taking paper ‘squeezes;’ and small boys -to run errands, help with the measuring tapes, and keep guard over the -tents and baggage. With so many hands at work and so many overseers to -keep them going, it is not wonderful that the excavations make rapid -progress. The two large pits which were opened last season are now -thrown into one, and are being enlarged from east to west, following -the axis of the structure. The sides are also being cleared, and -before another month shall have expired the whole temple--of which, -apparently, not one stone remains upon another--will be visible from -end to end. Its entire length is probably about 700 or 800 feet; but -measurements, of course, are as yet purely conjectural.” - -Among the discoveries at this second exploration was a third hall, -dating from the reign of Osorkon I., the walls of which were sculptured -with bas-reliefs on a large scale, representing the king in the act of -worshipping Bast and the other deities of the city. It appears that one -great divinity honoured here was Amon; and another was the god Set. - -It had not been suspected that Bubastis was the site of an important -Hyksos settlement; but from the type of the statues and other things -which have been found, that turns out to have been the case. - -The chronographers have preserved the names of several of the Hyksos -kings, recording them as follows:--Silites (or Salatis), Beon, -Apachnas, Tannas (or Tanras), Asseth, and Apophis (in Egyptian, -Apepi). Mariette, in his very successful excavations at Tanis, found -the name of Apepi written on the arm of a statue, although the statue -was of older date. Mr Naville has found, at Tell Basta, a colossal -statue which he takes to be the statue of Apepi. It is now in the -British Museum. This is particularly interesting, because Syncellus -relates that Apepi was the king in whose reign Joseph rose to the -high position described in Genesis. One remarkable object found at -Tell Basta is part of a seated statue, upon which the royal name reads -“Ian-Ra,” or “Ra-Ian.” The name is new to us, but when Mr Naville -went over to Boulak, where the Museum of Antiquities then was, and -showed a copy to Ahmed Kemal-ed-Deen Effendi, the learned Mohammedan -official, he exclaimed at once--“You have found the Pharaoh of Joseph. -All our Arab books call him Reiyan, the son of El Welid.” European -scholars do not place absolute reliance on Arab chronicles, which -are often fanciful; yet it is remarkable that the statue of Ian-Ra, -Joseph’s king, according to the Arabs, should be found at Tell Basta, -in close proximity to the statue of Apepi, Joseph’s king, according -to Syncellus. Mr Naville distinguishes Ian-Ra from Apepi, and thinks -he is the same as Ianias or Annas, mentioned by Josephus as the fifth -king out of six. Mr Naville has also found at Tell Basta the names -of twenty-five Pharaohs who were known already, including Cheops and -Chephren, the builders of the pyramids, about 3700 B.C. - -That Joseph served a Hyksos king has long been accepted by the majority -of Egyptologists as a very probable hypothesis, both chronologically -and from the internal evidence of the Biblical narrative. The Arab -writers represent the Hyksos as Amalekites of Midian. Mr Naville agrees -with those who think they came from Mesopotamia, and already possessed -a high degree of civilisation and culture. - -Bubastis seems to have been a favourite place of residence with the -Shepherd Kings; and thus Joseph would be but a short distance from his -brethren in the land of Goshen, where they looked after the king’s -herds of cattle. - -_Saft-el-Henneh or Goshen._--In more than one season Mr Naville carried -on operations to discover the locality of Goshen, which had always been -matter of conjecture and controversy. He has come to the conclusion -that Goshen was a city a little to the east of the modern Zagazig, -and situated in a district of the same name. The land of Goshen may -be described as a district roughly triangular in shape, with its apex -to the south; having Zagazig at its north-west angle, Tel-el-Kebir -north-east, and Belbeis at the lower extremity. The town of Goshen -appears to have been at Saft-el-Henneh, nearly half-way between the -eastern and western points of the triangle. Here we find the name Tel -Fakûs, the Phakusa of the Greeks, and apparently the same as Kesem, -Gesem, or Goshen. Saft-el-Henneh itself is a large village, standing in -the midst of a country peculiarly fruitful, corresponding thus to “the -best of the land,” which was given to the Israelites. - -“At the first glance,” says Mr Naville, “one sees that Saft-el-Henneh -stands on the site of an ancient city of considerable extent. The whole -village is constructed on the ruins of old houses, many of which are -still to be seen on the south side.” - -The monuments discovered at Saft include a colossal statue, in black -granite, of Rameses II., which, probably, belonged to a temple of some -importance; and a shrine of Nectanebo II., with a dedicatory hymn, and -the information that the place where the shrine was erected was called -Kes. - -The Book of Genesis tells us that Goshen was a pasture land. We -may thence infer that it was not thickly inhabited, and not yet -organized into a province with its capital, its temples, its priests, -and its governor. Since then the name is absent from the earliest -Egyptian lists of provinces--namely, those of Seti I. and Rameses -II. (the Pharaoh that oppressed Israel)--Mr Naville maintains that -the hieroglyphic records which simply omit the name, and the Bible -narrative which incidentally shows us the reason why, are remarkably in -accord. - -_Heliopolis._--No excavations have yet been undertaken at Heliopolis, -the City of the Sun, which is situated some nine miles from Cairo -in a north-easterly direction. It was a very ancient city, of great -celebrity as a seat of the worship of the sun god _Ra_, whose symbol -in the form of the living bull Mnevis, was there kept and cared for -and reverenced. In the Bible the city is called On or Beth Shemesh. -Joseph probably served Potiphar in this city; and Pharaoh afterwards -gave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, a priest of On. There -can be little doubt, either, that Moses, who was learned in all the -wisdom of the Egyptians, was educated at this seat of learning. We -must believe, therefore, that he often looked upon the six obelisks -which stood in front of the temple of Ra--one of which remains to this -day--for they had been erected centuries before his birth. Four of them -were set up by Thothmes III. and his family, about 1600 years before -the Christian era, and the other two by Usertesen I. upwards of 3000 -years B.C. Two of the Thothmes obelisks were at a later period -transferred to Alexandria, to adorn the approach of a magnificent -temple erected in honour of the Cæsars; and it is one of these two -which has become known as Cleopatra’s Needle and now stands on the -Thames Embankment. The one obelisk which remains at Heliopolis is the -oldest object of the kind in the world. - -Scarcely anything is now to be seen of the city itself. It no doubt -served as a handy quarry to the builders of Cairo; but since the -surviving obelisk is buried 3 or 4 feet in Nile mud, it is not -improbable that many small objects of antiquarian interest are buried -also. Moreover, the sides of the vast enclosure in which the temple was -situated are still marked by mounds or walls of crude brick, and these, -on the north side, have their continuation in the ruins of the ancient -town. Here are frequently found scarabæi or images of the sacred -beetle, with other sacred images, emblems in porcelain, and other -antiquities, so that apparently the place would repay a systematic -search. - -_Tell Defenneh_, the Biblical Tahpanhes.--In June 1886 Mr Flinders -Petrie had the felicity to discover “Pharaoh’s House,” to which -Jeremiah was brought, after the calamities in Judea, and where he hid -the great stones, as a symbolical act, in the mortar of the brickwork. -It lies in the sandy desert bordering on Lake Menzaleh, about two -days’ journey from San, some hours distant on the one hand from the -cultivated Delta, and on the other hand from the Suez Canal. Here in -the midst of the plain are the brick ruins of a large building; and on -the first evening of his arrival in the district Mr Petrie heard to his -surprise that the building was known as the _Kasr el Bint el Yehudi_, -or the Palace of the Jew’s daughter. Obviously this might refer to -the daughter of King Zedekiah who accompanied Jeremiah in his exile; -and there could now be no doubt that Defenneh represented the ancient -Daphnai and Tahpanhes. It was a frontier fortress or advanced post, to -guard the great highway into Syria. - -By the associations of Tahpanhes we are at once carried to Scripture. -“The children of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head” -(Jer. ii. 16). This was after the slaying of Josiah, the deposition -of Jehoahaz, the setting up of the tributary Jehoiakim, and the -removal of Jehoahaz into Egypt--events which marked the first period -of intercourse between Jews and Greeks. “This intercourse, however, -was soon to be increased; three years later, Nebuchadnezzar invaded -Judea, and all who fled from the war would arrive at Tahpanhes in -their flight into Egypt, and most likely stop there. In short, during -all the troubles and continual invasions and sieges of Jerusalem, in -B.C. 607, B.C. 603, and B.C. 599 (in which a wholesale deportation of -the people took place), and, above all, in the final long siege and -destruction of 590-588 B.C., when “the city was broken up,” and all the -men of war fled, every one who sought to avoid the miseries of war, or -who was politically obnoxious, would naturally flee down into Egypt. -Such refugees would necessarily reach the frontier fort on the caravan -road, and would there find a mixed and mainly foreign population, -Greek, Phœnician, and Egyptian, among whom their presence would not be -resented, as it would be by the still strictly protectionist Egyptians -further in the country. That they should largely, or perhaps mainly -settle there would be the most natural course; they would be tolerated, -they would find a constant communication with their own countrymen, and -they would be as near to Judea as they could in safety remain, while -they awaited a chance of returning. - -“The last and greatest migration to Tahpanhes is that fully recorded -by Jeremiah, which gives us the pattern of what doubtless had been -going on long before. After Nebuchadnezzar had retired with his spoils, -Gedaliah, the governor whom he set up, was quickly slain, the country -fell into anarchy, and all the responsible inhabitants who were left -fled into Egypt to avoid the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar. ‘Johanan the -son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant -of Judah, that were returned (from all nations, whither they had been -driven), to sojourn in the land of Judah; the men, and the women, and -the children, and the king’s daughters [Zedekiah’s], and every person -that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah -the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and -Baruch the son of Neriah; and they came into the land of Egypt; for -they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: and they came even to Tahpanhes’ -(Jer. xliii. 5-7).” This migration was undertaken in spite of the -warnings of Jeremiah. - -Pharaoh Hophra, the reigning monarch in Egypt, had been an ally of King -Zedekiah’s, and so he placed at the disposal of his friend’s daughter -the palace in this frontier fortress of Tahpanhes, which had been a -royal residence sometimes. Here we may suppose the fugitives would -have been comparatively contented, and thought themselves safe, only -that Jeremiah vehemently prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would come and -destroy the place. This, according to Josephus, he did--“He fell upon -Egypt, ... and took those Jews that were there captives, and led them -away to Babylon; and such was the end of the nation of the Hebrews” -(Ant. ix. 7). Josephus is not always believed, and it has even been -denied in recent years that Nebuchadnezzar was ever in Egypt at all. -But a recently discovered inscription tells us that he was in the -country, and penetrated as far south as Assouan;[8] and now at last Mr -Petrie discovers the palace to have been plundered, dismantled, and -burnt, apparently in fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prediction. - -The existing remains of Tahpanhes are extensive, and show that the -ancient city was a large one. Under the corners of the chief buildings -were found _plaques_ of metal and of stone, engraved with the cartouche -of Psammetichus I.; and under the south-east corner the teeth and bones -of an ox, sacrificed at the ceremony when the building was founded. -Among the antiquities found are beautiful painted Greek vases, plaques, -&c., of gold, silver, lead, and copper, articles of carnelian, jaspar, -and lapis lazuli. - -A most interesting thing is the finding of the brickwork or pavement -spoken of in Jeremiah xliii. 8. “Then came the word of the Lord unto -Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in thine hand, and -hide them in mortar in the brickwork which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s -house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; and say unto -them, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will -send and take Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, my servant, and will -set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread -his royal pavilion over them, &c.” This brickwork or pavement at the -entry of Pharaoh’s house has always been misunderstood, and served as a -puzzle to translators. “But” (says Mr Petrie) “as soon as the plan of -the palace began to be recovered, the exactness of the description was -manifest. On the north-west of the fort was a great open air platform -of brickwork, such as is now seen outside all great houses, and most -small ones, in Egypt. A space is reserved outside the door, generally -along the side of the house, covered with hard beaten mud, edged with -a ridge of bricks if not much raised from the ground, and kept swept -clean. On this platform the inhabitants sit when they wish to converse -with their neighbours or the passers-by. A great man will settle -himself to receive his friends and drink coffee, and public business -is generally transacted there. Such seems to have been the object of -this large platform--a place to meet persons who would not be admitted -to the palace or fort, to assemble guards, to hold large _levées_, -to receive tribute and stores, to unlade goods, and to transact the -multifarious business which in such a climate is best done in the open -air. At the same time the actual way into the palace was along a raised -causeway which rose at the back of this platform. - -“This platform” (continues Mr Petrie) “is therefore unmistakably -‘the brickwork or pavement which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house -in Tahpanhes.’ Here the ceremony described by Jeremiah took place -before the chiefs of the fugitives assembled on the platform, and here -Nebuchadnezzar ‘spread his royal pavilion.’ The very nature of the -site is precisely applicable to all the events. Unhappily, the great -denudation which has gone on has swept away most of this platform, and -we could not expect to find the stones whose hiding is described by -Jeremiah.” - -Another discovery, made some years ago, looks like evidence that -Nebuchadnezzar actually came to Tahpanhes. A native sold to the -Boulak Museum three cylinders of terra cotta, such as would be used -for foundation memorials, the text on them being an inscription of -Nebuchadnezzar’s referring to his constructions in Babylon. These -cylinders were said to come from the Isthmus of Suez, but it is -strongly suspected that they were found at Defenneh, after the platform -had become denuded. - -_Tell-el-Yahoudeh_, the Mound of the Jew.--This place should be -interesting to us, if only from the fact that a temple was built here, -which some have fancied would be the counterpart of the Temple at -Jerusalem. If any considerable remains of the temple can be found, they -may assist materially the right understanding of the descriptions which -have come down to us of the more important structure on Mount Moriah. - -Tell-el-Yahoudeh is about twenty miles from Cairo, on the way to -Ismailia, near the Moslem village of Shibeen-el-Kanater, and is -supposed to be the city of Onias. Josephus tells us that at the time of -the conquest of Judea by Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias, son of the high -priest, fled from the persecution, and took refuge in Egypt (B. -C. 182). Onias, feeling encouraged by a prophecy of Isaiah’s that -a time should come when there would be “an altar to the Lord in the -midst of the land of Egypt” (Isaiah xix. 19), begged the Egyptian king, -Ptolemy Philometor, to grant him permission to build a temple, on the -site of a deserted shrine or fortress. The request was granted, and -Onias built a small city, after the model of Jerusalem, and a temple, -after the pattern of the temple of Solomon. - -The mound now existing measures about half a mile from east to west, -and a quarter of a mile from north to south, and has the appearance -of a fortress. It has been more or less ransacked at various times; -but would probably still repay a thorough exploration. In the absence -of a full investigation there remains a little doubt about the -genuineness of the site; but Professor Sayce, on one occasion, found -here a fragment of stone, bearing two ancient Hebrew letters; and the -decisive proof that it was a Jewish settlement has been furnished by -the discovery of a Jewish cemetery, about one mile further east in the -desert. The ground there, for the length of more than half a mile, -is quite honeycombed with tombs. Here and there a body was found _in -situ_, and there were no traces of embalming, nor any ornament of any -kind, but invariably a brick under the head, which was a distinctive -mark of Jewish burials. A few tablets had escaped the general -destruction, and the names which they contained fully confirmed the -conclusion suggested by the mode of burial: “Eleazar” was one name -and is purely Jewish: some others were Jewish with a Greek ending, as -Salamis, Nethaneus, Barchias; and others still were Greek names of -frequent use among the Jews, as Aristobulos, Onesimas, Tryphania. - -_Tell-el-Maskhuta_ or Pithom-Succoth.--The Pharaoh who enslaved the -Israelites appears to have been Rameses II., son of Seti I., of the -nineteenth dynasty. This dynasty only began with Rameses I., the -grandfather of Rameses II. The store cities built by the Israelites -were called Raamses and Pithom; and when the Exodus took place the -starting point was Rameses and the first resting-place Succoth (Ex. -i. 11; xii. 37). None of these places were known, and it had hardly -been suspected that Pithom and Succoth were so closely associated -as they are now found to be. But the site of Pithom has lately been -discovered. We all remember Kassassin, where Sir Garnet Wolseley halted -the British troops, in the campaign of 1882, just before that silent -midnight march to storm Arabi’s entrenchments. It is twelve miles west -of Ismailia on the Suez Canal. Close by Kassassin is a low mound called -_Tell-el-Maskhuta_, the Mound of the Statue. Here, at the end of the -last century, was found a red granite monolith, representing Rameses -II. sitting between the two solar gods Ra and Tum. In 1860 M. Paponot’s -men came across another monolith, and it is probable that the pair -stood symmetrically at the entrance of some edifice. Further excavation -brought to light two sphinxes in black granite, placed also on each -side of the avenue; and then, farther on, a shrine or _naos_ in red -sandstone, and a large _stele_ in red granite, lying flat. All these -monuments had been dedicated to the god Tum. - -The excavations recently made by M. Edouard Naville, of Geneva, are -described in his Memoir written for the Egypt Exploration Fund, from -which Memoir we glean the following interesting information. The city -was called Pi Tum, which means the house or abode of Tum (the god of -the setting sun), and the surrounding district was called Thuku or -Thukut, which is equivalent to Succoth. It is a mere philological -accident that the Hebrew language has a word succoth, signifying -_tents_. The inscriptions appear to show that it was Rameses II. who -caused the city to be built; and in this they do but confirm the view -previously entertained by Egyptologists. Pithom was both a store city -and a fortress, and so was surrounded by very thick walls, part of -which are yet preserved. The civil city of Thuku extended all round the -sacred buildings of Pithom. We have first of all a square area enclosed -by enormous brick walls, the space within being equal to 55,000 square -yards. In the south-west angle is a small temple. The wall enclosure -is honeycombed with rectangular chambers, well built, the bricks being -of Nile mud, and united by mortar. It is a curious fact that some of -the bricks contain straw, while others are without. These chambers M. -Naville believes to be the granaries into which Pharaoh gathered the -provisions necessary for armies about to cross the desert, and perhaps -for caravans and travellers, who were on the road to Syria. - -Pithom, according to the Coptic version of the Scriptures, was the -place where Joseph went up to meet Jacob--“near Pithom, the city in the -land of Rameses” (Gen. xlvi. 28). It is true that the LXX., supported -by Josephus, make Heroopolis to be the meeting-place; but it is not -unlikely that Heroopolis was a later name for Pithom itself. The Greeks -were succeeded by the Romans, traces of whose habitations are to be -seen on all sides. - -When the Romans levelled the ground for their camp, they destroyed -without mercy an immense number of inscriptions, which would have -been most precious to us now. Of those which remain, by far the most -important is the great tablet of Philadelphus, measuring 4 feet 3 -inches, by 3 feet 2 inches, which was found near the _naos_. It is -stated in the inscription that the king ordered it to be erected -_before his father Tum, the great god of Succoth_. It records what -was done for Pithom by the king, and his queen and sister Arsinoe. We -learn from it that Pithom and the neighbouring city of Arsinoe, which -the king founded in honour of his sister, were the starting points of -commercial expeditions to the Red Sea; and that from thence one of -Ptolemy’s generals went to the land of the Troglodytes, and founded -the city of Ptolemais Θηριῶν, for the special purpose of -facilitating the chase of elephants. And it was to Heroopolis that the -ships brought the animals (so that if Heroopolis was Pithom, and Pithom -was Maskhuta, the navigable water must have extended farther northward -than it does at present). We learn also that close to Pithom there was -a city called Pikerehat, or Pikeheret, apparently the Pi-ha-hiroth -mentioned in the narrative of the Exodus. - -It was suggested by the late Dr Birch that the Israelites, besides -building store cities, were compelled, like convicts or captives of -war, to labour on the forts of Tanis, and on the line of the great wall -which protected Egypt on the north-east. This long wall extended from -Pelusium southwards, and had been built to keep out the tribes of the -desert and other invaders from the Asiatic side. From the “Adventures -of Sinuhit,” a narrative dating from the twelfth dynasty, it appears -to have been of very early construction; for the fugitive there says, -“I reached the walls of the prince, which he has constructed to repel -the Sittiu and to destroy the Nomiu-Shaiu; I remained in a crouching -posture among the bushes, for fear of being seen by the guard, -relieved each day, which keeps watch from the summit of the fortress: -I proceeded on my way at nightfall.”[9] The wall appears to have been -renovated by Seti I. and Rameses II., and strengthened by forts, built -after the Canaanite models which the Pharaohs had seen in the course -of their campaigns. The Egyptians, not content with appropriating the -thing, appropriated also the name, and called these frontier towers by -the Semitic name of _Magdilu_ or Migdols. In a later reign, an officer -who had been sent to recapture two runaway slaves, reports that he did -not overtake them until he had got beyond the region of the wall, to -the north of the Migdol of King Seti Menephtah.[10] - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Biblical Sites in Lower Egypt.” - By Greville J. Chester, B.A., in the Survey Memoirs, P. E. - Fund. “Tel-el-Yahoudeh.” By Prof. T. Hayter Lewis, F.S.A., - in Trans. Soc. Bib. Archæol., vol. vii. “The Store-City of - Pithom.” By M. Naville, Egypt Exploration Fund. “Goshen.” By - M. Naville, E. E. Fund. “Daphnae.” By W. M. Flinders Petrie, - E. E. Fund. “Tanis.” By W. M. Flinders Petrie, E. E. Fund. - Murray’s Handbook, “Egypt.”] - - - 9. _The Route of the Exodus._ - -As Succoth was the first station of the Israelites in leaving Egypt, -and we now know the locality, we begin to be able to trace their -route. Starting from Rameses--a city not yet identified, but perhaps -near the present Zagazig[11]--two courses were open to them. They -might go northward, past the city of Zoan, and then skirt the coast -of Philistia--the route generally taken by the great conquerors, and -by much the nearer way. But there were objections against taking it, -for “it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king -of Egypt died” (Exod. ii. 23), and the new Pharaoh, Menephtah, son -and successor of Rameses II., was holding his Court at Zoan at this -time,[12] and had his chariots and his horsemen about him. Nor must we -forget the great wall and its fortresses, which in that direction would -bar the way. “It was a wall,” says Mr Poole, “carefully constructed, -with scarp and counter-scarp, ditch and glacis, well manned by the -best troops, the sentinel on the ramparts day and night.” Prudence -would seem to say that this route should not be attempted. The course -actually taken appears to have been from Rameses eastward, along -the valley Tumilat and the line of the canal which had been made by -Seti I. They then encamped at Succoth, probably for the same reason -that the British encamped there in 1882, namely, that there was -abundance of forage and water, and a defensible position. The next -station was “Etham, in the edge of the wilderness,” northward from -Pithom-Succoth, we may suppose, for they seem to have been marching -(perhaps for a feint) as though they would take the short route through -the Philistine country. But then they received the command to “turn -back and encamp before Pi-ha-hiroth, between the Migdol and the sea, -before Baal-Zephon, over against it by the sea.” They obeyed, and to -understand the course they actually pursued, we must take into account -some recent geological discoveries. It is not the aim of the present -writer to put forth original views of his own, but rather to explain -the conclusions arrived at by the ablest investigators. In accordance -with this design, it will be desirable here to introduce a paragraph -from Major Henry Spencer Palmer, who shared with Colonel Sir Charles -Wilson the command of the Sinai Survey Expedition. - -“The character and scene of the Red Sea passage--the greatest event -which ancient history records--have in all ages been the subject of -controversy, according to the variously proposed systems of topography, -and the extent to which men have admitted or denied the operation of -miraculous agency. Some, holding to the strict interpretation of such -passages as, ‘The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and -their left’ (Exod. xiv. 20), ‘The floods stood upright as an heap’ (Ps. -xv. 8), ‘He made the waters to stand as an heap’ (Ps. lxxvii. 15), have -inferred that the deep sea must have been literally parted asunder, -and that through the chasm thus formed the Israelites passed, with a -sheer wall of water on either side of them. By such, the scene of the -passage has been fixed at six, ten, fifty, and even sixty miles below -Suez, and the position of the city of Rameses has been varied to meet -the several theories as to the crossing place. The advocates of these -views, apparently anxious to aggrandise the miracle to the utmost, and -discarding from fair consideration the physical agency which Scripture -expressly mentions as the direct means by which the passage was made -practicable, have, however, overlooked or evaded the difficulty of -explaining how the fugitives, with their flocks and herds, could have -travelled over the sharp coral rocks, and vast quantities of seaweed -which cover the sea-bottom at these points. The obvious difficulty -also, that a short way below Suez, the breadth of the sea becomes too -great for the passage to have been effected within the limits of time -given in the narrative, without some preternatural acceleration of -speed, of which Scripture gives no hint or mention, has never been met -satisfactorily. There is the yet greater difficulty that a wind strong -enough to have produced upon deep water the extraordinary effect which -is supposed, would have been much too violent for any man or body -of men to have stood up against it. Lastly, there is the impossible -supposition that Pharaoh and his host would have been mad enough to -rush to their doom in this fearful chasm.” - -Of late years, however, the theory of a deep-water passage has -been practically abandoned. Modern critics prefer an intelligent -interpretation, according to known natural laws, of the words of Exodus -xiv. 21, 22, which lay stress upon the _east wind_ as the direct -natural agent by which the sea bottom was for the time made dry land. - -Major Palmer mentions the presence of marine shells in the Bitter Lake -as showing that it was formerly filled with salt water from the Gulf -of Suez. He says further:--“This communication subsequently became -broken by the gradual elevation of the neck of land eleven miles long -which now separates the lakes from the head of the gulf--an interesting -fulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah xi. 15--‘and the Lord shall -utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea.’ Darius, about B.C. -500, restored the connection by cutting a canal through the isthmus, -which after a period of disuse was reopened by Ptolemy Philadelphus, -about B.C. 250. Traces of Darius’s canal are still seen, in -a very perfect state, though its bed has since risen above the level -of high water in the gulf. If, as can hardly be doubted, there was a -connection, at least tidal, between the lakes and the gulf at the time -of the Exodus, the only course eastward from Egypt which would have -been ordinarily practicable for the march of hosts, must have passed -to the north of the Great Bitter Lake, crossing the belt of dry ground -which, interrupted only by the Timsah and Ballah Lakes, extends between -it and the Menzaleh Lake, and the Children of Israel must have been -following one such route when, at Etham, they were directed to turn and -encamp before Pi-ha-horoth.” - -These views of Major Palmer’s are shared by M. Naville, by Sir -Wm. Dawson, and others, and have been decisively confirmed by the -geological survey of the region. In 1883 the Committee of the Palestine -Exploration Fund sent out Professor Hull, the eminent geologist, -accompanied by Major Kitchener, R.E., and other competent men, and -this party investigated the geology of Lower Egypt, of the Desert of -Sinai, the Valley of the Arabah, and the southern portion of Palestine. -The results were very remarkable. It appears, for instance, that at a -distant period of the past the waters of the seas, lakes, and gulfs -of all this region stood some two hundred feet higher than they do -now--the proof being found in the fact that at the height of two -hundred feet the limestone rocks have been bored into by the well-known -“shell-fish,” the pholas, while the sands and gravels at that height -contain shells and corals and crinoids, of the same species as those -which still inhabit the waters of the Gulf of Suez. With the waters at -that height the whole of Lower Egypt would be submerged, together with -extensive tracts on either side of the Gulf of Suez. But this occurred -in the distant past, probably many ages before mankind dwelt in these -regions at all. There was, however, a more recent period, as the land -slowly rose out of the waters--and Professor Hull thinks it may have -coincided with the time of the Exodus--when the waters were just 26 -feet higher than they are at present, and then, although Lower Egypt -would not be submerged, the Gulf of Suez must have extended northward -as far as the Bitter Lakes, making an arm of the sea about a mile wide -and 20 or 30 feet deep. - -It is suggested by M. Naville that the Israelites, when they turned -back from Etham, came down on the western side of this arm of the sea, -and got into a defile, so that they appeared to be caught in a trap. -Pharaoh thought so, and said, “They are entangled in the land, the -wilderness hath shut them in;” and so he pursued them, and thought to -obtain an easy victory. But Moses had clear knowledge of what he was -to do. Although the waters of the gulf were for the most part 20 or 30 -feet deep, and quite impassable, there was one place (near the present -Châluf) where they were quite shallow, where the land now is 26 feet -higher than the waters, and where, at that time, reeds were growing. -This part of the gulf was a shallow sea of reeds: and what the Hebrew -Bible really says is that the Israelites crossed the sea of reeds--_yam -Souph_[13]--which was the former extension of the Red Sea northwards. -This place was so shallow that when the north-east wind blew, -co-operating with a retreating tide, it was liable to be rendered dry; -and because the tribes of the Desert used then to rush in, through this -temporary gateway, and carry off the cattle, and plunder the fertile -district around Pithom, the Pharaohs had established a watch-tower -here--one of their Migdols. The Israelites “encamped between the Migdol -and the sea:” then the north-east wind arose and made the passage dry, -so that they were able to pass over. Their God had made a way for them. -If this explanation, which is now very generally received, should be -finally established, it must for ever silence all objections as to the -credibility of this part of the Scripture narrative. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“The Store-City of Pithom.” By - M. Naville, Egypt Exploration Fund. “Sinai.” By Major H. - Spencer Palmer, R.E. “The Desert of the Exodus.” By Prof. E. - H. Palmer. “Sinai and Palestine.” By Dean Stanley. “Egypt and - Sinai.” By Sir J. Wm. Dawson.] - - - 10. _The Wilderness Wanderings._ - -All questions regarding the actual route of the Israelites and the -true Mount Sinai were carefully studied during the Ordnance Survey -of the Sinai Desert in 1868-9. The expedition was conducted by Major -Henry Spencer Palmer, R.E., and Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, R.E., and -the results were published in 1872, by authority of the Treasury, in -five massive folio volumes. It may be fairly said that this expedition -vindicated the accuracy of the Bible narrative; for the late Prof. E. -H. Palmer, who was one of the party, and kept his own daily journal as -they went along, assures us that the Bible narrative reads exactly like -a daily journal kept by a member of a travelling party. A traveller -begins by setting down his first impressions, which are often corrected -in his later notes as the result of further experience; and Palmer -pointed to such evidences of authenticity in the Bible story. - -The results of the Survey of Sinai only concern us here so far as they -relate to discoveries of ruins and relics of the past. - -The mining district of the peninsula of Sinai became subject to -Egyptian rule at a very early time--probably some 3200 years before the -Christian era--and the sculptured records of their occupation spread -over a period of some 2000 years. On tablets at the mouth of one of the -caves at Maghárah, King Senefru and his successor Cheops (who built the -Great Pyramid) are represented, the one conquering a shepherd of the -East, the other striking to the earth an Asiatic foe. “On the opposite -cliffs” (says Major Palmer) “are the remains of the ancient settlement, -comprising the dwellings of the miners, who probably were prisoners -of war, and the barracks of their military guards. Flint and stone -implements, such as arrow-heads and spear-heads, flint chisels and -knives, and rude hammer-heads of green-stone, are found amongst these -ruins.” - -At Sarábit el Khádim, ten or twelve miles further inland, where a new -field of mining was discovered about the time that Maghárah began to -show signs of exhaustion, there are ruins of two temples, built of -well-cut stone, without mortar, the walls and vestibule being covered -with Egyptian scenes. - -But we are chiefly concerned to know whether any traces eremain of -the Israelitish Sojourn, and especially any of a character to throw -additional light on Scripture. Of course a wandering people, dwelling -in tents, would not leave evidence of their passage in buried cities; -and what we have rather to look for is deserted camps. One such camp -at least is reasonably identified now as Kibroth Hattaavah, where the -people were fed with quails (Num. xi. 33). The Scripture narrative -says that they journeyed thence to Hazeroth, and abode there. About -thirty miles north-east of Jebel Musa, at a spot called _Erweis el -Ebeirig_, are some old stone remains to which a legend attaches -which very strikingly recalls the Scripture statement, and may very -possibly contain some grain of truth. “These ruins” (say the Arabs) -“are the remains of a large pilgrim or Hajj caravan, which in remote -ages stopped here on the way to Hazeroth, and was afterwards lost -in the Tih, and never again heard of.” Hazeroth, the name of which -still survives in ’Ain Hudherah, is fifteen miles further on towards -’Akabah. The Bádiet et Tih is by interpretation the wilderness of the -wanderings, and is a sort of peninsula of higher ground which projects -down into the Sinai desert from the north. Major Palmer tells us that -the ruins at Erweis el Ebeirig form a class by themselves, differing -from all other ancient remains hitherto found in the peninsula. Though -there are a few stone houses, the remains consist chiefly of a great -number of small enclosures of stone, mostly circular, and extending -over several square miles of country. The stones are not set on end; -their arrangement is not unlike that which may be seen on spots where -an Arab encampment has been, though they certainly cannot be taken for -Arab remains. The large enclosures intended for important personages, -and the hearths or fire-places, can still be distinctly traced, showing -conclusively that it is a large deserted camp. In the neighbourhood, -but beyond the camp area, are a number of stone heaps, which, from -their shape and position, are probably burial places without the camp, -though none have yet been examined. - -Between the Tih wilderness and Judea, is the Negeb or “South Country” -of Scripture, now a deserted and barren wilderness, but shown by -Professor E. H. Palmer to be full of the most interesting traces of -former inhabitants and cultivation. In the Scripture narrative of the -wanderings we read about Kadesh Barnea, where Miriam died, and whence -the spies went up to Eshkol and obtained the grapes. The identification -of Kadesh Barnea had long been difficult and disputed, until it was -discovered, in the year 1840, by Dr Rowlands to be _’Ain Gadis_ (or -_Qades_) in Jebel Magráh, on the south-west frontier of the Negeb. The -name _Gadis_ is identical in meaning and etymology with the Kadesh -of the Bible, while the word _’Ain_ means a fountain; so that Kadesh -Barnea can scarcely be said to have changed its name. The place is a -picturesque oasis, and from under a ragged spur of solid rock, regarded -by Rowlands as “the cliff” smitten by Moses, there issues an abundant -stream. Professor Palmer, visiting the district some thirty years -after, failed to find this great spring, but it was discovered again by -Rev. F. W. Holland in 1878, and by Dr Clay Trumbull of America in 1881; -and Dr Trumbull’s book on Kadesh Barnea is now the fullest source of -information. - -Mr Holland’s record of the Sinai Survey Expedition is printed at the -end of the volume on the “Recovery of Jerusalem,” published by the -Palestine Exploration Fund. Mr Holland endeavours to trace the route -of the Israelites, to fix the stations, to identify the spot where the -battle of Rephidim was fought, and to make more intelligible the entire -story. Traditions of the passage of the children of Israel through -the country are common enough, he says. The physical conditions of -the country are such as to render it quite possible that the events -recorded in the Book of Exodus occurred there. The route of the -Israelites has not indeed been laid down with absolute certainty, but -much light has undoubtedly been thrown upon it by the explorations that -have been made. Mr Holland concludes by declaring that “not a single -member of the expedition returned home without feeling more firmly -convinced than ever of the truth of that sacred history which he found -illustrated and confirmed by the natural features of the desert. The -mountains and valleys, the very rocks, barren and sun-scorched as they -now are, seem to furnish evidences, which none who behold them can -gainsay, that this was that ‘great and terrible wilderness’ through -which Moses, under God’s direction, led His people.” - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Explorations in the Peninsula - of Sinai.” By Rev. F. W. Holland (in volume on the “Recovery - of Jerusalem”). “Sinai.” By Major H. S. Palmer. “The Desert - of the Exodus.” By Professor E. H. Palmer. “The Desert of the - Tih.” By Prof. E. H. Palmer (in the volume of Special Papers, - P. E. Fund.)] - - [Nothing is said in this section about the Sinaitic - Inscriptions, because it has long ago been settled by scholars - that they are Nabathean pilgrim texts of the third and fourth - centuries, A.D., written by travellers who were then - visiting the Sinai convent and the hermitage of Wâdy Feirân, - and the traders who passed from Petra on the way to Egypt. - They were first read by Beer in 1840, and the authoritative - work upon them is that of Levy in 1860. In 1868-9, Prof. E. - H. Palmer confirmed their results. For further references see - Major Conder in _Quarterly Statement_, Jan. 1892.] - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - PALESTINE. - - - 1. _Palestine generally._ - -It will be a useful preliminary to our study of Palestine if we give -here a short list of the expeditions sent out by the Committee of the -Palestine Exploration Fund. - -We were already greatly indebted to many explorers--Dr Robinson, -Burckhardt, Van de Velde, &c., for the geography, and M. Lartet for the -geology, but there had never been any organised party in Palestine, -properly equipped for a scientific survey. In 1864 Jerusalem was -properly surveyed by Captain Wilson, R.E., at the expense of Lady -Burdett Coutts, and an excellent map of the city was published. Then -the happy idea occurred to Mr George Grove, at that time Secretary -of the Crystal Palace Company, but also known for his topographical -articles in Dr Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” that the time was -ripe for a systematic survey of the entire country. His energy brought -together an influential company at a public meeting in Willis’s -Rooms, on the 22nd June 1865, the Archbishop of York being in the -chair, and a Society was at once formed. The Archbishop of York was -elected President, Mr George Grove, Hon. Secretary, and the first -Committee included the names of the Duke of Argyll, the Earl of -Shaftesbury, A. H. Layard, M.P., Walter Morrison, M.P., Dean Stanley, -Sir Henry Rawlinson, Rev. H. B. Tristram, F.R.S., and others equally -distinguished. The Archbishop, in his opening address, laid down the -principles on which the work of the Society should be based--namely, -that it should be a scientific society, carrying out its work in -a scientific way, and should abstain from controversy. To these -principles the Society has steadily adhered, and it has been (as it has -called itself) “A Society for the accurate and systematic investigation -of the archæology, topography, geology, and physical geography, -natural history, manners, and customs of the Holy Land, for Biblical -illustration.” - -The first expedition was sent out in 1866, under Captain Wilson, R.E., -and Lieutenant Anderson, R.E., and landed at Beyrout. During six months -this party carefully probed the country from Damascus to Hebron, -and finally made its report in favour of commencing excavations at -Jerusalem. - -In 1867 Lieutenant Warren, R.E., was despatched to Jerusalem, with a -party of non-commissioned officers, to commence the excavations. This -work was continued until 1870. In 1868 the Moabite Stone was discovered -by Rev. F. Klein, and in 1870 M. Clermont Ganneau, an archæologist -employed by the Society, found an inscribed stone belonging to Herod’s -temple. - -To the same year 1870 belongs the Survey of Sinai, conducted by Major -H. S. Palmer and Captain Wilson, and to 1871 Professor E. H. Palmer’s -journey through the Desert of the Tih (or Wilderness of the Wanderings). - -The Survey of Western Palestine was begun in 1872; and when, in a -short time, Captain Stewart came home invalided, his place was taken -by Lieutenant Conder, who continued the work during a series of -years. Meantime, in 1874, M. Clermont Ganneau went out on another -archæological mission. - -In 1877 the Survey, which had been interrupted by an attack on the -party, at Safed, was resumed by Lieutenant Kitchener, who had been -Conder’s chief helper, and was completed satisfactorily. - -In 1880 the great map of Western Palestine was published; and in 1881 -Conder commenced the Survey of Eastern Palestine, which, however, the -Turks did not allow to be completed. - -A geological expedition left England in October 1883, under Professor -Edward Hull, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland. -Lieutenant-Colonel Kitchener, who accompanied him, surveyed the Wady -Arabah. - -In 1885 and later years, extensive tracts of country have been surveyed -by Herr Schumacher, especially in the Jaulan. - -Following upon these various explorations, the Society has poured out -an incessant stream of publications, maps, and photographs, and its -officers have published important books on their own account. - - - 2. _Physical Features of Palestine._ - -“The main object of the Survey of Palestine may be said to have been -to collect materials in illustration of the Bible. Few stronger -confirmations of the historic and authentic character of the sacred -volume can be imagined than that furnished by a comparison of the ‘Land -and the Book,’ which shows clearly that they tally in every respect. -Mistaken ideas and preconceived notions may be corrected; but the -truth of the Bible is certainly established on a firm basis, by the -criticisms of those who, familiar with the people and the country, -are able to read it, not as a dead record of a former world or of -an extinct race, but as a living picture of manners and of a land -which can still be studied by any who will devote themselves to the -task.”--_Major Conder._ - -Let us begin our present study of the Holy Land by fixing in our -minds a clear notion of its general physiography. Two ranges of hills, -running from north to south, one on either side of the river Jordan, -stand out as a principal feature of the country. The western range -is between 2000 and 3000 feet high, and the eastern range about 1000 -feet higher. The Jordan, gathering its waters from three sources, -but chiefly from a spring issuing from a cave at Banias, at the base -of the Anti-Lebanon, about 1000 feet above the ocean level, descends -rapidly, and at a distance of 12 miles passes through the marshy swamp -called Lake Huleh, generally identified with the Scriptural Waters of -Merom. “Lake Huleh” is 4 miles long, and is very nearly at the same -level with the Mediterranean. The Jordan was not known to pass through -this swamp as an actual stream until Mr J. Macgregor, in his _Rob Roy_ -canoe, navigated his way through the reeds. Descending with the stream -(“Jordan” means _the Descender_), we come, at a further distance of -10½ miles, to the Lake of Galilee, and here we are 682 feet below the -Mediterranean. The lake is 12½ miles long, and nearly 8 miles wide at -its broadest part. Between the Lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea the -distance, as the crow flies, is 65 miles; but the stream is so tortuous -that Lieutenant Lynch found it, in navigation, to be 200 miles. In -the course of this distance Lynch passed down twenty-seven rapids -which he considered “threatening,” besides a great many more of lesser -magnitude. The Dead Sea itself is 1292 feet below the Mediterranean, -though the level varies by a few feet according as Jordan overflows or -runs low. Its length is 47 miles and its breadth about 10 miles. It has -no outlet to the south, but gets rid, by evaporation from the surface, -of all the water poured into it. Thus the Jordan occupies a gorge which -is deep as well as wide, and is, together with its lake basins, the -most remarkable depression of the kind on the face of the earth. As -remarked by Mr Ffoulkes, it is a river that has never been navigable, -flowing into a sea that has never known a port--has never been a -highway to more hospitable coasts--has never possessed a fishery--a -river that has never boasted of a single town of eminence upon its -banks. - - [Illustration: MERIDIONAL SECTION, WESTERN PALESTINE. - - (_Reduced from Mr Trelawney Saunders’ Section by W. H. Hudleston._) - - _Lower Galilee_ _Upper Galilee_ - _Hills of Samaria_ - _Mountains of Judæa_] - -North of the Dead Sea the Valley of the Jordan widens out into an -extensive flat called the Kikkar or the Round, the Plain of the Jordan. -Northwards of this again, the low ground of the Jordan Valley extends -for several miles on either side of the stream, the hills now drawing -closer, now opening wider. Following the low ground northward, we -by-and-bye find an opening to the left, the western range of hills -being broken in two by the Valley of Jezreel and the Great Plain -of Esdraelon. We may continue our journey westward, and round the -promontory of Mount Carmel, where the road is close to the sea, and -then southward through the Plain of Sharon into the Plain of Philistia, -and onward to the desert of Sinai. Thus it is possible to travel all -round without once climbing the hills: so that this central region is -like an island, with plains around it instead of the ocean. It was, in -fact, still more isolated, by having a second separating ring around -the first; for on the west was the Mediterranean Sea, navigated by the -Phœnicians, who were peaceably disposed; on the south and east were -extensive deserts, and on the north were the mountains of Lebanon, -sending down their roots to the sea-coast. There was, however, a way -through Canaan, from Egypt to Mesopotamia, by the coast route and -through the passes of the Lebanon. - -The hills of Western Palestine do not afford much level table-land, -for the torrents running off on either side, into the sea westward -and into the river eastward, cut the ground into deep gorges; these, -over-lapping at their sources, leave a central wavy ridge, and if we -travel from north to south anywhere but along this ridge we may have -to cross torrent-beds 1000 feet deep. The eastern range is cut by -gorges even more formidable, of which the principal are the Arnon, the -Jabbok, and the Hieromax. - -The hills of Western Palestine consisted of grey rock, and were -comparatively bare and infertile; the plains were gorgeous with -flowers, and rich with corn-fields. Beyond the plain of Esdraelon was -wild scenery of mountain and forest. The eastern hills were green with -forest and pasture; in the central region were the forests of Gilead; -north of Gilead was rich pasturage for wild herds of cattle--the “bulls -of Bashan;” in the south was rich pasturage too, and the king of Moab -at one time was a sheep-master, paying as tribute the wool of 100,000 -lambs and 100,000 rams (2 Kings iii. 4). - -From Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, the country measured -only 140 miles, and from the Jordan to the sea only some forty or -fifty: a small country, even when we include the eastern hills, -yet sufficient for the tribes of Israel at that time; and in parts -extremely fruitful, a land of milk and honey. - -Dan was a natural point for a northern limit, since there the ascent -of Mount Hermon begins, and there we have one of the sources of the -Jordan. The city was situated on an isolated cone, and the modern name -of it is Banias. On the north side of it there rises a cliff 100 feet -in height, and at the foot of this is a cave, which was a sanctuary -of the god Pan. Two niches in the cliff side contain inscriptions in -honour of Pan. From the worship of this deity the city was called -Panias or Panium. Its Biblical name was probably Baal Gad. In the time -of Josephus the waters of the Jordan burst forth from the cave itself, -but now they issue at the foot of a heap of rubbish in front of the -cavern, in numerous tiny rills, which soon unite and form a river. The -Castle of Banias is one of the most splendid ruins in Syria. It was -surveyed and planned by Colonel Kitchener in 1877. Remains of columns -occur in the village of Banias, and Major Conder suspects that the -Crusaders who fortified the place may very probably have destroyed the -heathen temple and used the pillars in their masonry. - -About an hour’s distance south of Banias is a mound called _Tell el -Kady_ (the heap of Dan), and here we have another source of the Jordan. -Tell el Kady is one of the most romantic and picturesque spots in the -country, abundantly watered, and overlooking the broad valley of the -Upper Jordan, with mountain peaks and ridges to north, east, and west. -A group of dolmens recently discovered at this spot may be thought to -have some connection with the ancient worship. - -Beersheba (the _well of swearing_, or the _well of the seven_) was -one of the oldest places in Palestine, and is about as far south as -a place can be without actually being in the desert. There are at -present on the spot two principal wells and five smaller ones, and -they are among the first objects encountered on entering Palestine -from the south. Conder found the principal well to be 12 feet 3 inches -in diameter, and over 45 feet deep, lined with a ring of masonry to a -depth of 28 feet. The sides of all the wells are furrowed by the ropes -of the water-drawers; but one discovery was made which was rather -disappointing, namely, that the masonry is not very ancient. Fifteen -courses down, on the south side of the large well, there is a stone -with an inscription in Arabic, on a tablet dated, as well as could be -made out, 505 A.H., that is 1117 A.D. The wells have no parapets, and -a traveller might easily walk into them unaware. Round the two which -contain water there are some rude stone water troughs, which may be of -any age. - -These being the limits of the country, let us return again to a -consideration of its physical aspects. - -The physical features of the country naturally depend upon its -geological formation. The ranges of hills, east and west of Jordan, -are formed almost entirely of beds of cretaceous limestone, which were -once continuous. The Jordan Valley coincides with a line of fault; that -is to say, the rocky strata cracked in an irregular line from north to -south, and the country west of this fault sank down bodily, so that the -higher strata of rocks on that side abut now against the lower strata -on the eastern side. With this depression to begin with, the rains and -torrents have gradually sculptured the valley into its present form. - -The maritime district of Palestine, stretching from the base of Carmel -southwards by Joppa and Gaza to the Desert of Beersheba, consists of -a series of low hills from 300 feet to 400 feet high, separated by -valleys and alluvial plains extending inland to a varying distance. -The coast line is bordered by a line of sand-hills, which, when -unrestrained by some physical barrier, are ever moving inland with -disastrous effect. The district is largely composed of beds of sand and -gravel, which have once been the bed of the outer sea; while along the -line of many of the rivers and streams a deposit of rich loam of a deep -brown colour covers considerable areas, and yields abundant crops of -wheat and maize to the cultivators. - -Professor Edward Hull, the eminent geologist, who was commissioned by -the Palestine Exploration Society to investigate the geology of the -Desert and the Holy Land, reported the results to the Committee, in -an elaborate Memoir, in which he treats of the maritime district, the -table-land of Western Palestine and the Tih Desert, the depression of -the Jordan Valley and its continuation southward to the Gulf of Akabah, -the elevated plateau east of Jordan, and the mountainous tract of -the peninsula of Sinai. Utilising the labours of his predecessors, -Russeger, Fraas, Lartet, Vignes, &c., he sometimes confirms their -results, and sometimes adds to our knowledge. - - [Illustration: GEOLOGICAL SKETCH MAP - of - SINAI & PALESTINE - - (_based chiefly upon the Maps of M.M. Lartet, Hull & Zittel_.) - - _The figures represent deviations above the sea level in English - feet; those with a minus mark represent depressions - below sea level._] - -By the kindness of Mr W. H. Hudleston, F.R.S., and Secretary of -the Geological Society, I am able to illustrate this chapter with a -geological map based chiefly on the maps of Lartet, Hull, and Zittel. -To a great extent it tells its own story regarding the features of -the country, and the rocks and formations of which the region is -constructed. The oldest rocks occupy the greater portion of the -Sinaitic peninsula, as well as the mountains bordering the Gulf of -Akabah, and extending northward along the eastern side of the Wady -el Arabah. They consist of granitic, gneissose and schistose rocks, -amongst which have been intruded great masses of red porphyry, dark -green-stone, and other igneous rocks in the form of dykes, veins, -and bosses. These rocks are probably among the oldest in the world. -After these ancient rocks had been consolidated they were subjected -to a vast amount of erosion, and were worn into very uneven surfaces, -over which the more recent formations were spread; first filling up -the hollows with the lower strata, and ultimately covering even the -higher elevations as the process of deposition of strata went on. The -oldest of these formations is the Red Sandstone and Conglomerate, -which Professor Edward Hull calls the “Desert Sandstone” formation. -It forms a narrow strip along the margin of the old crystalline -rocks. It is capped with the fossiliferous limestone of the Wady -Nash, which shows it to belong to the Carboniferous period--in fact -to be the representative of the Carboniferous Limestone of Europe and -the British Isles. It is also found east of the Arabah Valley and -amongst the mountains of Moab east of the Ghor. This is succeeded by -another Sandstone formation, more extensively distributed than the -former. It belongs to a much more recent geological period, namely, -the Cretaceous; and is the representative of the “Nubian Sandstone” of -Roziere, so largely developed in Africa, especially in Nubia and Upper -Egypt. This is succeeded by the Cretaceous and Nummulitic Limestone -formations, which occupy the greater part of the map, forming the great -table-land of the Tih, from its western escarpment to the borders of -the Arabah Valley, and stretching northward throughout the hill country -of Judea and Samaria into Syria and the Lebanon. - -On the east of the Jordan Valley the Cretaceous Limestone forms the -table-lands of Edom and Moab: as far north as the Hauran and Jaulan, -where the limestone passes below great sheets of basaltic lava. The -Cretaceous Limestone represents the Chalk formation of Europe and the -British Isles. - -Although the Cretaceous Limestone belongs to the Secondary period, -and the Nummulitic Limestone to the Tertiary, they are very closely -connected in Palestine, as far as their mineral characters are -concerned; and they both contain beds or bands of flint and chert. - - [Illustration: GENERALISED GEOLOGICAL SECTION ACROSS PALESTINE. - - _o_, Level of the Mediterranean: _a_, bed of the maritime plains; - _m_, old lacustrine deposits of the Dead Sea basin; _n_, deposits - now forming beneath the Dead Sea; _p_, tufaceous deposits of hot - springs; _h_, basalt.] - -The Cretaceous Limestone underlies nearly the whole of the Jordan and -Arabah Valleys, although concealed by more recent deposits, and is -broken off along the line of the great Jordan Valley fault against -older formations. In other words, on the west we have strata of the -age of the English chalk, which dip down very suddenly towards the -centre of the valley. On the east we have the Nubian Sandstone, with -hard limestone above it geologically coeval with our greensand. It -is entirely owing to the presence of this leading line of fracture -and displacement, and the subsequent denudation of strata, that this -great valley exists, and that the eastern side is so mountainous and -characterised by such grand features of hill and dale. - -These limestones pass under a newer formation of Calcareous Sandstone -in the direction of the Mediterranean, a formation probably of Upper -Eocene age, and called by Hull the “Calcareous Sandstone of Philistia.” - -The formations next in order consist of raised beaches and sea-beds -along the coast, and of lake-beds in the Ghor and Jordan Valley; and -these bring us, geologically, much nearer to our own time. - -Not only do the physical features of a country depend upon its -geological formation, but it cannot be questioned that the character -and mode of life of the inhabitants are moulded or modified by the -physical features. It is remarked by Professor Edward Hull that the -mild patient character of the Egyptian cultivator befits the nature of -that wide alluvial tract of fertile land which is watered by the Nile. -The mountainous tracts of the Sinaitic peninsula, formed of the oldest -crystalline rocks of that part of the world, have become the abode of -the Bedouin Arab, the hardy child of nature, who has adapted himself -to a life in keeping with his wild surroundings. The great table-land -of the Tih, less rugged and inhospitable than the mountainous parts -of Sinai and Serbal, supports roving tribes, partly pastoral, and -gradually assimilating their habits to the Fellahin of Philistia and -of Palestine, who cultivate the ground and rear large flocks and herds. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith’s “Dictionary of the - Bible.” Survey of Western Palestine, Memoir on the - Geology. Dr Edward Hull. “The Geology of Palestine.” - Wilfred H. Hudleston, F.R.S. “_Rob-Roy_ on the Jordan.” - John Macgregor.] - - - 3. _The Dead Sea, Salt Sea, or Sea of Lot._ - -It is pointed out by Sir George Grove that the name “Dead Sea” never -occurs in the Bible, and appears not to have existed until the second -century after Christ. It originated in an erroneous opinion, and -there can be little doubt that to the name are due in a great measure -the mistakes and misrepresentations which were for so long prevalent -regarding this lake, and which have not indeed yet wholly ceased to -exist. In the Old Testament it is called the Salt Sea, and the Sea of -the Plain (Arabah). By the Arabs it is called El Bahr Lut (the Sea of -Lot). - -The Salt Sea lies in the deepest part of the great Jordan-Arabah -depression, and the ground rises to the south of it, as well as in all -other directions. It was shown, in fact, by Colonel Kitchener’s survey -of the Arabah that the bed of the valley, for the most part, is raised -above the level of the Gulf of Akabah. From the border of the Dead Sea -southward the ground rises but little for 10 miles, but then begins to -rise rapidly, so that at a distance of about 40 miles it is as high -as the sea level at Akabah; and 29 miles further south it is 660 feet -above that level. - -The Jordan Valley, as already stated, coincides with a great fault -in the strata. This had been recognised by Lartet, Tristram, Wilson, -and others; and Professor Hull has traced the continuation of this -fracture, at the base of the Edomite mountains along the Arabah Valley. -He agrees with Lartet in thinking that the waters of the Jordan Valley -have not flowed down into the Gulf of Akabah since the land emerged -from the ocean. The disconnection of the inner waters from the outer is -a very ancient event, dating back to Miocene times. - -The River Jordan, throughout its course, from the Sea of Tiberias to -the Salt Sea, cuts its channel through alluvial terraces, consisting -of sand, gravel, and calcareous marl, which sometimes contain shells, -semi-fossilised, but of species still living in the lakes of Tiberias -and Huleh. These terraces are continuous round the shores of the -Salt Sea, and between the base of the cliffs of Jebel Karantul, near -Jericho, and the fords of the Jordan, three of them may be observed, - - the first being at a level of 650 to 600 feet, - the second " " 520 to 250 " , - the third " " 200 to 130 " - -and below the last named is the alluvial flat, liable to be flooded on -the rise of the waters. The upper surfaces and outer margins of these -terraces indicate successive stages, at which the waters have rested in -sinking down to their present level. Originally they reached a level -somewhat over that of the Mediterranean, and at that time a great -inland lake extended from Lake Huleh southwards into the Arabah Valley, -its length being about 200 miles. - -In the Jordan Valley, the upper terrace, at the foot of the hills, is -called the Ghor, and it is to be distinguished from the Zor, or bottom -of the valley, in which the channel of the river, cut still deeper, -meanders. - -The Salt Sea itself is enclosed on all sides by terraced hills, except -towards the north, where it receives the waters of the Jordan. In -rising gradually out of the ocean, the region appears to have rested -several times at successive levels, and the sea left its mark in -deposits of marl, gravel, and silt. Beyond the southern end of the -Salt Sea the banks of the Ghor rise in the form of a great white -sloping wall, to a height of about 600 feet above the plain, and are -formed of horizontal courses of sand and gravel, resting on white marl -and loam. This mural wall sweeps round in a semicircular form from side -to side of the Ghor. The upper surface is nearly level (except where -broken into by river channels), and from its base stretches a plain -covered partly, over the western side, by a forest of small trees and -shrubs, and partly by vegetation affording pasturage to the numerous -flocks of the Arabs, who settle down here during the cooler months of -the year. It is impossible to doubt that at no remote period the waters -of the Salt Sea, though now distant some 10 miles, washed the base of -these cliffs, and a rise of a few feet would submerge this verdant -plain, and bring back the sea to its former more extended limits. - -From this position also, the white terrace of Jebel Usdum--“the salt -mountain” where the Crusaders wrongly placed Sodom--is seen projecting -from the sides of the loftier limestone terraces of the Judæan hills. -Towards the east, similar terraces of whitish alluvial deposits are -seen clinging to the sides of the Moabite hills, or running far up the -deep glens which penetrate the sides of the great table-land. In these -terraces, the upper surfaces of which reach a level of about 600 feet -above the waters of the Salt Sea, we behold but the remnants of an -ancient sea-bed, which must originally have stretched from side to side. - -Eight hundred feet higher than these terraces there are others -composed of marl, gravel, and silt, through which the ravines of -existing streams have been cut; and this indicates that the level of -the Salt Sea stood at one time 100 feet higher than the waters of the -Mediterranean stand now. - -_Origin of the saltness of the Dead Sea._--It has been generally -recognised that the waters of lakes which have no outlet ultimately -become more or less saline. Of these the most important in the old -world are the Caspian, the Sea of Aral, Lakes Balkash, Van, Urumiah, -and, lastly, the Dead Sea, or as it was originally called, “the Salt -Sea.” “The Caspian,” says Professor Hull, “owing to its great extent -and other causes, is but slightly saline; but that with which we have -here to deal is the most saline of all. It is probable that the water -of the ocean itself has become salt owing to the same cause which has -produced saltness in the inland lakes, as it may be regarded as a mass -of water without an outlet. The cause of the saltness in such lakes I -now proceed to explain. - -“It has been found that the waters of rivers contain, besides matter -which is in a state of mechanical suspension, carbonates of lime and -magnesia, and saline ingredients in a state of solution; and as those -lakes which have an outlet, such as the Sea of Galilee, part with their -waters and saline ingredients as fast as they receive them, the waters -of such lakes remain fresh. It is otherwise, however, with regard to -lakes which have no outlet. In such cases the water is evaporated as -fast as it is received; and as the vapour is in a condition of purity, -the saline ingredients remain behind. Thus the waters of such a lake -tend constantly to increase in saltness, until a state of saturation -is attained, when the excess of salt is precipitated, and forms beds -at the bottom of the lake. The contrast presented by the waters of the -Sea of Galilee on the one hand, and those of the Dead Sea on the other, -though both are fed by the same river, is a striking illustration of -the effects resulting from opposite physical conditions. In the former -case, the waters are fresh, and abound in fishes and molluscs; in the -latter, they are so intensely salt that all animal life is absent. - -“The increase of saltness in the waters of the Dead Sea has probably -been very slow, and dates back from its earliest condition, when its -waters stretched for a distance of about 200 miles from north to -south.... - -“The excessive salinity of the waters of the Dead Sea will be -recognised from a comparison with those of the Atlantic Ocean. Thus, -while the waters of the ocean give six pounds of salt, &c., in a -hundred pounds of water, those of the Dead Sea give 24·57 pounds in the -same quantity; but in both cases the degree of salinity varies with the -depth, the waters at the surface being less saline than those near the -bottom.... - -“_As to the depth of the waters_:--The floor of the Dead Sea has been -sounded on two occasions: first, by the Expedition under Lieutenant -Lynch in 1848, and secondly, by that under the Duc de Luynes. In the -former case the maximum depth was found to be 1278 feet; in the latter -1217 feet, being close approximations to each other. We may therefore -affirm that the floor of the lake descends to nearly as great a -depth below its surface as the surface itself below the level of the -Mediterranean Sea. - -“The section given by Lynch indicates that the place of greatest depth -lies much nearer the Moabite than the Judæan shore, and the descent -from the base of the Moabite escarpment below Jebel Attarus and between -the outlets of the Wâdies Mojeb and Zerka Maïn, is very steep indeed. -The deepest part of the trough seems to lie in a direction running -north and south, at a distance of about 2 miles from the eastern bank; -and while the ascent towards this bank is rapid, that towards the -Judæan shore on the west is comparatively gentle. The line of this deep -trough seems exactly to coincide with that of the great Jordan Valley -fault. From the bottom of the deeper part, the sounding line brought up -specimens of crystals of salt (sodium-chloride), and it can scarcely be -doubted that a bed of this mineral, together with gypsum, is in course -of formation over the central portions of the Dead Sea.” - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Memoirs of the Survey: - Geology”, Dr E. Hull. Smith’s “Dict. of Bible.” “Tent Work in - Palestine.” By Major Conder, R.E.] - - - 4. _The Cities of the Plain._ - -There is now a general consent that Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and -Zeboim were situated north of the Dead Sea, in the Kikkar or Plain of -the Jordan. There are old maps which represent these cities as situated -at the bottom of the Dead Sea waters, and yet enveloped in flames! -Popular ignorance imagines that the bitumen which rises to the surface -of the waters is a relic of the agency which effected the destruction. -And until recently even the best scholars supposed the cities to lie -beneath the shallow part of the sea, south of the Lisan peninsula. -All such theories are disproved by the geological investigation, -which shows that the Dead Sea is much older than any date which can -be assigned to the destruction of the cities, and that the surface of -the water has been constantly diminishing in area and sinking to lower -levels. - -There is nothing in the Bible which should lead us to look for the -cities south of the Dead Sea, where the Crusaders placed them, or east -of it, or anywhere but north and in the Kikkar. When Abraham and Lot -talked together concerning the disputes between their herdsmen, and -decided to go different ways with their flocks, “Lot lifted up his eyes -and beheld all the Plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered ... -until thou comest unto Zoar.” It was clearly shown by Sir George Grove, -in Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” that the Plain of the Jordan -here spoken of is not the Arabah, in which the Dead Sea reposes, but -the Kikkar or “Round” of country north of it. The position of Abraham -and Lot at the time was on a mount east of Bethel; and as the site of -Bethel is known, it was not difficult to find the mount east of it. It -was reasonably identified by Rev. Canon Williams, and his conclusions -were confirmed in 1865 by Colonel Sir C. Wilson. It has been shown that -if the cities had been south of the Dead Sea, human vision could not -possibly have extended so far, to distinguish anything. But north of -the sea, in the Round or Plain, Lot would be able to perceive them. -Accordingly, when the friendly conference ended, he journeyed eastward -from the mount near Bethel, in order to reach his new home in Sodom. - -The vision of Lot had extended across the plain, to Zoar and no -farther, because the plain was bounded by the high mountains of Moab. -Dr Tristram believes that he has identified Zoar, the fifth city of -the Plain, the “little city” to which Lot fled after the convulsion. -Standing on Mount Nebo, he detected the ruins a little in front of him, -almost in a line with Jericho. The ruins were on a low brow of ground, -and thus correspond to the description that Lot rested in this city -on his way to the mountains, and afterwards went up into the mountain -and dwelt in a cave. The ruins are still called Ziara, which does not -differ much from the Greek spelling Ζωαρα, nor very widely -from the Hebrew. - -Is it possible to discover any relics of the four larger cities? -Although destroyed by fire, they may not have been utterly annihilated, -any more than Pompeii; but if their remains are hiding beneath the -dust, the dust keeps its secret well. Major Conder rode day by day -over almost every acre of ground between Jericho and the Dead Sea, and -could not detect any mound or sign of a buried city. The whole was a -white desert, except near the hills, where rich herbage grows after -the rains. The time of year was most favourable for such exploration, -because no long grass existed to hide any ruins. But in all that plain -he found no ruin, except the old monastery of St John and a little -hermit’s cave. - -This description leaves out of account a remarkable group of _tells_, -or mounds of earth and rubbish, strewn over with ruins, existing in -the neighbourhood of Jericho. They are seven in number, and one of -them is not far from Elisha’s Fountain, now called _Ain es Sultan_. -One would imagine that the exploration of these mounds might yield -valuable results; but nobody undertakes the work. It is true that some -excavations made by Sir Charles Warren only proved the existence of -sun-dried bricks; and because the mounds occur generally where the -soil is alluvial, Conder regards them as piles of refuse bricks, and -nothing more; but Sir J. W. Dawson, on visiting the place, noticed -numerous flint chips in the mound, and Sir C. Warren, when presiding at -my Guildford lecture, publicly expressed the opinion that many small -objects of great interest would probably be found if the stuff were -sifted. - -But if the ruins of the Cities of the Plain are not discoverable, their -names appear to linger in the district, slightly disguised as Arabic -words, and applying to portions of the ground. - -Conder justly remarks that the cities would probably be situated near -fresh-water springs, and the great spring of ’Ain Feshkhah, on the -north-west of the Dead Sea, is a probable site for one of them. The -great bluff not far south of the spring is called Tubk ’Amriyeh by -the Bedawin, and the neighbouring valley Wady ’Amriyeh. This word is -radically identical with the Hebrew Gomorrah, or Amorah as it is spelt -in one passage (Gen. x. 19), meaning, according to some authorities, -“depression,” according to others, “cultivation.” - -Admah means “red earth,” a description which would hardly apply to the -ground near the Dead Sea. But there is no reason why all the four -cities should be close to the Dead Sea. A convulsion overthrowing -cities near the Sea would probably be felt a long way up the Jordan -Valley, owing to the line of fault. Conder has pointed out, too, that -the term Kikkar is applied in the Bible to the Jordan Valley as far -north as Succoth. A “city Adam” is noticed in the Book of Joshua as -being beside Zaretan; the name Ed Damieh applies to the neighbourhood -of the Jordan ford east of Kurn Surtabeh, about 23 miles up the valley; -and it has always seemed possible to Conder that Adam and Admah were -one and the same. I would add a suggestion of my own in support of the -view that Admah was some distance up the Jordan Valley. The passage -Gen. x. 19 describes the boundary of Canaan, beginning at Sidon, -following the coast line to Gaza, striking thence eastward to the Plain -of the Jordan, and then proceeding up the Jordan Valley to Dan or -Lasha--and the passage may be freely rendered thus,--“And the border -of the Canaanite was from Sidon; thence you go towards Gerar, as far -as Gaza; thence you go toward Sodom; then by Gomorrah and Admah and -Zeboim, unto Dan.”[14] As Gerar was beyond Gaza southward, the boundary -only went toward it; and as Sodom was beyond Jordan eastward, the -boundary only went toward Sodom; there was no need to say it stopped -at the river, for that was obvious. It then follows the course of the -river from the Dead Sea to the source of the stream. And then the -northern boundary is known without description. If this rendering holds -good, then Gomorrah was north-west of the Dead Sea, on a line joining -Gaza with Sodom; and the boundary of the Canaanites, after reaching -Gomorrah, touched Admah and Zeboim, and continued northward to the -grotto at Banias. - -_Zeboim_ means “hyenas,” and is identical with the Arabic Dub’a. For -this reason Conder asks whether it may not have been situated at the -cliff just above the plain, near the site of Roman Jericho, for that -is now called Shakh ed Dub’a, “lair of the Hyena.” If I am right in -my reading of Gen. x. 19, Zeboim should be northward of Admah--unless -two names so often coupled together may have their order transposed. -Grove reminds us that the Valley of Zeboim (the name spelt a little -differently) was a ravine or gorge apparently east of Michmas, -described in 1 Sam. xiii. 18. It appears to be overlooked in the -discussion that Zeboim is mentioned in Nehemiah xi. 34, in the same -group with Hadid, Lod, and Ono, among the places occupied by the -children of Benjamin, while in Neh. vii. 37, these three places are -named between Jericho and Senaah. But if the Lod in this passage is to -be regarded as Lydda in the Plain of Sharon, the grouping of the places -affords us no guidance. - -_Sodom_ alone, as Conder goes on to say, remains without a suggestion, -and he finds no trace of it west of the Jordan. He notes, however, that -the word Siddim is apparently the same with the Arabic _Sidd_, which is -used in a peculiar sense by the Arabs of the Jordan Valley as meaning -“cliffs” or banks of marl, such as exist along the southern edge of the -plains of Jericho, the ordinary meaning being “dam” or obstruction. -Thus the Vale of Siddim might well, so far as its name is concerned, -have been situated in the vicinity of the northern shores of the Dead -Sea. - -Dr Selah Merrill, in his “East of the Jordan,” also discusses the site -of the Cities of the Plain. He says:--“Since Zoar was one of them, a -hint as to their situation may be derived from Gen. xiii. 10, where -Lot and Abraham are represented as standing on a hill near Bethel, and -looking down the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea. As this verse -is rendered in our English Bible, the meaning is not clear; but it -will become so when all the middle portion of the verse is read as a -parenthesis, as follows: ‘And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the -Plain of Jordan (that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord -destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the -land of Egypt), until thou comest to Zoar.’ The last clause qualifies -the first. Lot saw all the Plain of Jordan as far as Zoar, or ‘until -you come to Zoar.’ Zoar was both the limit of the plain and the limit -of vision in that direction, so far as the land was concerned.” - -Dr Merrill then shows that nothing could have been distinguished at the -southern end of the Dead Sea; and quotes early writers to show that -Zoar existed near the northern end. - -Regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not sufficient -to say briefly that it was a miracle, and assume that no further -explanation can be given. A rain of brimstone and fire is spoken of, -and it is legitimate to look for the source of it. With the instance -of Pompeii in our minds it is natural to suggest volcanic agency, -especially as the region north-east of the Dead Sea affords evidence -of volcanic action. But Sir J. W. Dawson (a well-known American -geologist), in his volume on “Egypt and Syria,” ingeniously argues -for a petroleum explosion. The “slime pits” spoken of as abounding in -the Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 10), he regards as petroleum wells, and -then traces a parallel as follows:--“Regions of bitumen, like that of -the Dead Sea, are liable to eruptions of a most destructive character. -Of these we have had examples in the oil regions of America. In a -narrative of one of these now before me, and which occurred a few -years ago, in the oil district of Petrolia, in Canada, I read that a -borehole struck a reservoir of gas, which rushed upward with explosive -force, carrying before it a large quantity of petroleum. The gas almost -immediately took fire, and formed a tall column of flame, while the -burning petroleum spread over the ground and ignited tanks of the -substance in the vicinity. In this way a space of about fifteen acres -was enveloped in fire, a village was burned, and several persons lost -their lives. The air flowing toward the eruption caused a whirlwind, -which carried the dense smoke high into the air, and threw down burning -bitumen all round. - -“Now, if we suppose that at the time referred to, accumulations of -inflammable gas and petroleum existed below the Plain of Siddim, the -escape of these through the opening of a fissure along the old line of -fault might produce the effects described--namely, a pillar of smoke -rising up to heaven, burning bitumen and sulphur raining on the doomed -cities, and fire spreading over the ground. The attendant phenomenon -of the evolution of saline waters, implied in the destruction of Lot’s -wife, would be a natural accompaniment, as water is always discharged -in such eruptions; and in this case it would be a brine thick with mud, -and fitted to encrust and cover any object reached by it.” - -An important note, with reference to the destruction of the Cities of -the Plain, appears in the statement in Gen. xiv., that the Vale of -Siddim had bitumen pits or wells, and that these were so abundant or -important as to furnish a place of retreat to, or to impede the flight -of, the defeated kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. These bitumen pits have -disappeared, unless their remains are represented by the singular pits -described by Dr Merrill as occurring near Wady Nimrim. Their existence -in the times of Abraham would bespeak a much greater abundance of -bituminous matter than that now remaining; and it is possible that the -eruption which destroyed the Cities of the Plain may have, to a great -extent, exhausted the supply of petroleum. - -“There is no reason to think” (adds Dr Dawson) “that the destruction -of Sodom and Gomorrah was connected with any important change in -the limits of the Dead Sea, though it is highly probable that some -subsidence of the valley took place, and may have slightly affected -its levels relatively to the Jordan and the sea; but it would appear -from Deut. xxix. 23, that the eruption was followed by a permanent -deterioration of the district by the saline mud with which it was -covered.” - -In the _Theological Monthly_ for May 1890, Rev. James Neil declares -that no bitumen pits are to be found anywhere in the neighbourhood of -the Jordan. The pits spoken of by Dr Selah Merrill were connected with -aqueducts, and used for purposes of irrigation. But the asphalt thrown -up from the bottom of the Dead Sea may have been employed to render -such pits watertight, and to that extent they would be slime pits. He -shows that such pits do exist in the Jordan Valley, extending across -it in long lines just north of the supposed site of some of the Cities -of the Plain; and it is a very curious fact that the Bedawin, who are -unacquainted with their nature and purpose, have a legend connecting -them with a great battle. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith’s “Dict. of the Bible.” - “Tent Work in Palestine.” Major Conder, R.E. “The Land of - Moab.” Rev. Canon Tristram, F.R.S. “East of Jordan.” Dr Selah - Merrill. “Egypt and Syria.” Sir J. W. Dawson.] - - - 5. “_Lot’s Wife._” - -In connection with the destruction of Sodom, the Bible mentions the -fate which overtook Lot’s wife, who “became a pillar of salt.” In the -Book of Wisdom also we read of the waste land that smoketh, and plants -bearing fruit that never come to ripeness, and a standing pillar of -salt--a monument of an unbelieving soul (Wisd. x. 7). Josephus also -says that he had seen it (Ant. i. 11, 4). The Arabs have legends on -the subject; and travellers now and again describe the pillars of salt -which have been pointed out to them, and to which the legends attach. -The stories are by no means modern. Major Conder, in his “Syrian Stone -Lore,” brings into brief compass the notions of the Fathers of the -Church on the subject. From an early period “Lot’s wife” is mentioned -as standing by the western shores of the Dead Sea, and Antoninus Martyr -is careful to combat the idea that the pillar of salt was destroyed -through its being constantly licked by animals. Clemens Romanus had -seen it; Irenæus also (IV. xxxi. 3) mentions “Lot’s wife” as a pillar -still standing. (Quoted by Kitto, Cyclopæd. “Lot.”) So does Benjamin -of Tudela, whose account is more than usually circumstantial; and in -later times Maundrell and others. It seems possibly to be the natural -pinnacle, now called Karnet Sahsul Hameid, to which these writers -refer. The feminine nature of this statue was supposed to be still -perceptible, in spite of petrification. - -Perhaps the best account of “Lot’s wife” is to be found in E. H. -Palmer’s “Desert of the Exodus,” where a coloured plate helps the -realisation. - -“While with the Ghawárineh” (says Palmer) “we had heard strange rumours -that ‘a statue’ called ‘Lot’s wife’ existed on the eastern shore of -the Dead Sea, but none of them had ever seen it, or could give us a -satisfactory description of it. Making cautious inquiries amongst the -Beni Hamideh, we found that the statement was correct, and after some -little trouble, guides were procured who offered to conduct us to the -spot.... Our path led us to another plateau, about 1000 feet above -the Dead Sea, and on the extreme edge of this was the object of which -we were in search--Bint Sheikh Lot, or ‘Lot’s wife.’ It is a tall -isolated needle of rock, which does really bear a curious resemblance -to an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder. The Arab legend of -Lot’s wife differs from the Bible account only in the addition of a -few frivolous details. They say that there were seven Cities of the -Plain, and that they were all miraculously overwhelmed by the Dead -Sea as a punishment for their crimes. The prophet Lot and his family -alone escaped the general destruction; he was divinely warned to take -all that he had and flee eastward, a strict injunction being given -that they should not look behind them. Lot’s wife, who had on previous -occasions ridiculed her husband’s prophetic office, disobeyed the -command, and, turning to gaze upon the scene of the disaster, was -changed into this pillar of rock. - -“Travellers in all ages have discovered ‘Lot’s wife’ in the pillars -which atmospheric influences are constantly detaching from the great -masses of mineral salt at the southern end of the Dead Sea, but these -are all accidental and transient. The rock discovered by us does not -fulfil the requirements of the Scriptural story, but there can be no -doubt that it is the object which has served to keep alive for so many -ages the local tradition of the event. - -“The sun was just setting as we reached the spot; and the reddening -orb sank down behind the western hills, throwing a bridge of sheeny -light across the calm surface of the mysterious lake. As we gazed on -the strange statue-like outline of the rock--at first brought out into -strong relief against the soft yet glowing hues of the surrounding -landscape, and then mingled with the deepening shadows, and lost amid -the general gloom as night came quickly on, we yielded insensibly to -the influence of the wild Arab tale, and could almost believe that -we had seen the form of the prophet’s wife peering sadly after her -perished home in the unknown depths of that accursed sea.” - - - 6. _The Natural History of Palestine, as dependent on its - Physical Geography._ - -The gradual elevation of the countries of Egypt and Palestine, inferred -by Professor Hull from the geological facts, appears to be borne out -by a comparison of the fishes which inhabit respectively the Lake of -Galilee and the lakes of south-eastern Africa. - -Josephus, after describing in glowing language the beauty and -fruitfulness of the country of Gennesaret, says, “For besides the -good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile -fountain. The people of the country call it Capharnaum. Some have -thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the Coracin -fish as well as that lake does which is near to Alexandria.”[15] The -truth turns out to be much stranger than Josephus imagined, for the Sea -of Galilee can claim affinity by its fishes with the Victoria Nyanza. -Rev. Canon Tristram, who more than any other traveller has studied -the natural history of the Holy Land, has made the comparison in some -detail, and made out the relationship of the fishes beyond doubt. He -declares that of all the forms of life in Palestine the fishes are the -most interesting. There are no fishes in the Dead Sea; but there are -fishes, chiefly Cyprinidæ, or of the perch tribe, in the little streams -and rivers close to the Dead Sea. “I have seen the date palm absolutely -dipping its fronds into the Dead Sea as it hung over--for on the east -side the date palm is very luxuriant. On the eastern shores there is -as wonderful an exuberance of vegetable life as will be found anywhere -on the face of the earth. The plants are like hot-house plants growing -wild. In the warm waters entering to the sea there are small fishes of -various species. We found thirteen new kinds of fishes in the Jordan -and its affluents. Dr Günther of the British Museum kindly described -them in a paper in the ‘Proceedings of the Zoological Society of -London,’ and certainly such a discovery amply repaid our search. - -“I wish now to point out the conclusions come to from these fishes, -for they are really the climax of the physical geography of the Jordan -Valley. The fishes found in the Sea of Galilee not only belong for the -most part to species different from those found in any stream flowing -into the Mediterranean, but they belong frequently to different genera. -Some years before, I brought home the type specimen of a fish, the only -species I could find in some salt lakes of the Sahara, and Dr Günther -declared it to be not only a new species but a new genus. I remember -Sir Charles Lyell observing, ‘You have got there the last living -representative of the Saharan ocean.’ We found in the Sea of Galilee -three more species of the same genus, but each distinct. Speke brought -back two species of the same family from the Nyanza, and Dr Kirk has -described several from the Zambezi and the neighbouring region. - -“Now we may see what this amounts to. We have got the same genus of -fishes represented in a variety of specific types from the Sea of -Galilee and the Jordan that are found in the feeders of the Nile, -and in the Central African lakes down to the Zambezi. The conclusion -is natural that all these fishes come from a common origin, and that -during the Tertiary period there was a chain of fresh-water lakes, -extending to the lakes in Africa, similar to the chain of lakes in -North America. - -“We find in Palestine forty-three species of fishes, of which only -eight belong to the ordinary ichthyological fauna of the Mediterranean -rivers. But these belong to the rivers of the coast. In the Jordan -system only one species out of thirty-six belongs to the ordinary -Mediterranean fauna, viz., _Blennius lupulus_. Two others, _Chromis -niloticus_ and _Clarias macracanthus_, are Nilotic. Seven other -species occur in other rivers of South-Western Asia, the Tigris, -Euphrates, &c. Ten more are found in other parts of Syria, chiefly in -the Damascus lakes, and the remaining sixteen species of the families -_Chromidæ_, _Cyprinodontidæ_, and _Cyprinidæ_, are peculiar to the -Jordan, its affluents, and its lakes. This analysis points at once to -the close affinity of the Jordan with the rivers of Tropical Africa. -The affinity is not only of species, but of genera, for _Chromis_ -and _Hemichromis_ are peculiarly Ethiopian forms, while the other -species are identical with, or very closely allied to, the fishes -from other fresh waters of Syria. But the African forms are a very -large proportion of the whole, and considering the difficulty of -transportation in the case of fresh water fishes, the peculiarities of -this portion of the fauna are of great significance. - -“The fluviatile fishes claim special attention, dating, as they -probably do, from the earliest time after the elevation of the country -from the Eocene ocean. In the _Foraminifera_, mentioned above as found -in the Dead Sea sand, such as _Gr. capreolus_, we have the relics of -the inhabitants of that early sea. But of the living inhabitants we -must place the Jordanic fishes as the very earliest, and these, we have -seen, form a group far more distinct and divergent from that of the -surrounding region than in any other class of existing life. During -the epochs subsequent to the Eocene, owing to the unbroken isolation -of the basin, there have been no opportunities for the introduction -of new forms, nor for the further dispersion of the old ones. These -forms, as we have seen, bear a striking affinity to those of the -fresh-water lakes and rivers of Eastern Africa, even as far south as -the Zambezi. But the affinity is in the identity of genera, _Chromis_ -and _Hemichromis_ being exclusively African, while the species are -rather representative than identical. - -“The solution appears to be that during the Meiocene and Pleiocene -periods the Jordan basin formed the northernmost of a large system of -fresh-water lakes, extending from north to south, of which, in the -earlier part of the epoch, perhaps the Red Sea, and certainly the -Nile Basin, the Nyanza, the Nyassa, and the Tanganyika lakes, and -the feeders of the Zambezi, were members. During that warm period, a -fluviatile ichthyological fauna was developed suitable to its then -conditions, consisting of representative, and perhaps frequently -identical species, throughout the area under consideration. - -“The advent of the glacial period was, like its close, gradual. -Many species must have perished under the change of conditions. The -hardiest survived, and some perhaps have been gradually modified to -meet those new conditions. Under this strict isolation it could hardly -be otherwise; and however severe the climate may have been, that of -the Lebanon, with its glaciers probably corresponding with the present -temperature of the Alps at a proportional elevation (regard being had -to the difference of latitude), the fissure of the Jordan being, as we -certainly know, as much depressed below the level of the ocean as it is -at present; there must have been an exceptionally warm temperature in -its waters in which the existing ichthyological fauna could survive.” - -Such facts as these tell us that Palestine is not to be regarded as a -European country, but rather as an African outlier, while it has also -strong affinities with Asia, as proved by others of these fishes. In -fact, it stands in the midst between three continents, and is, in a -very important sense, the centre of the world. Dr Tristram, our best -authority in this department, shows us how Palestine contains an -epitome of the life of the world, and does so just because it includes -almost every variety of climate. - -Linnæus said that we know more of the botany and zoology of farther -India than we do of those of Palestine. It is pleasant to reflect -that, to some extent, this reproach has been removed. It always -entered into the plans of the Palestine Exploration Society to study -the natural history of the Holy Land; and although they have not been -able to equip and maintain a party of naturalists, charged with this -business alone, some of their officers have gathered interesting facts -incidentally. Other inquirers, like Rev. Wm. Houghton and Mr Thaddeus -Mason, have been usefully engaged on the same work. Mr H. Chichester -Hart, who accompanied Professor E. Hull through the Arabah and Southern -Palestine, has written an interesting volume on “The Animals mentioned -in the Bible.” But it is to Rev. Dr Tristram we are chiefly indebted. -The Memoirs of the Survey include a magnificent volume on the “Fauna -and Flora of Western Palestine,” in which he works out his valuable -series of investigations, and besides giving facts and details, treats -the subject in a large philosophical way, as he does also in his -lectures. “You have on Lebanon and Hermon,” he says, “a climate like -that of the Alps, or two-thirds of the way up Mont Blanc. You have on -the tops of Lebanon and Hermon an almost arctic climate, and you have a -fauna and a flora (animals and plants) corresponding to that climate. -You know that when you descend a coal-pit 1300 feet deep you get into -a very warm temperature indeed. Now the Dead Sea is 1300 feet below -the level of the Mediterranean, and the consequence is that you have -around the Dead Sea a tropical or sub-tropical climate, and you have -sub-tropical products. - -“At the northern end of the Holy Land you find yourself at the starting -point of the Jordan, which, being 1000 feet above the Mediterranean at -the grotto of Banias, descends so rapidly that it is only a few feet -above the sea level at Lake Huleh. Mount Hermon rises abruptly from its -base near Lake Huleh (the ancient Waters of Merom). Although Hermon is -only 10,000 feet high, I am not aware of any mountain which rises so -suddenly or so directly from its base. Take, for instance, Chamounix. -If you want to go to the top of Mont Blanc, you know that Chamounix is -many hundred feet above the platform of the Mediterranean. It is true -that Mont Blanc is many thousand feet higher than Mount Hermon, but -from its immediate base it is not so high. When you get up to the Grand -Mulets you are not so far from the summit of Mont Blanc as you are at -Lake Huleh from the summit of Hermon. The consequence of this is that -you have brought together in that spot a greater contrast of produce, -animal and vegetable, than I have found anywhere else. You have the -arctic climate of the north on the tops of the mountains, and a -tropical climate in the Jordan Valley, where, in the month of January, -I have been glad to sleep in the open air, the thermometer never being -below 80° at midnight. At the east and south you have the dry sandy -desert; so that you have four distinct climates within view of each -other. I can stand on any of the hills of Judea and see the snow-capped -tops of Hermon and Lebanon, and look over this vast desert eastward and -down to the seething tropical valley of the Dead Sea. - -“Now, with all that, there is nothing in the physical character of that -country which is striking or phenomenal, as people would call it. It -is about the most commonplace and ordinary country in the world that I -have ever seen. There are no startling features, but there is endless -variety in it, and I cannot help thinking that there is something very -providential in the extraordinary variety which is brought together -within a district of the Holy Land, which is not so large as the six -northern counties of England; because I remember that it was chosen -as the country in which was written a Book, which was to be for the -teaching and guidance of all mankind in every country and in every -age; and I know no spot in the world in which there could have been -found brought together so many phenomena of Nature, maritime and -desert, mountain and plain, hill and valley, tropical, temperate, and -arctic, as are brought together there within the space of a few miles. -And when I remember that that Book was to be for the teaching of all -men, for all time, I feel that there is something providential in that -ordering of circumstances which led to the selection of the only spot, -as far as we know, in the whole world, in which there is such a great -variety of objects for the illustration, comparison, and elucidation -of Holy Writ as in that country of the Holy Land. Often, when I have -been in that country, on one of its hills, and have noticed the variety -of scenery brought into my view at one time, I have thought to myself, -‘What would the Bible have been if its pages had been written by men -who had lived only in the monotonous valley of the Nile? What would -they have been able to pen in the way of illustration which would -have come home to the heart of the English peasant?’ Again, if that -Book were written by men who were only familiar with the phenomena of -Arabian deserts, how could it have come home to those who dwell on the -sea? Had it been written by inhabitants of tropical India, how would -it have come home to those who are familiar with ‘snow and frost and -vapour, fulfilling His will?’ In fact, there are illustrations taken -from every kind of natural phenomena, and yet none of them are very -marked or startling.” - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Palestine in its Physical - Aspects.” Rev. Canon Tristram, F. R. S. Survey Memoirs: “The - Fauna and Flora.” Rev. Canon Tristram. “The Animals mentioned - in the Bible.” Henry Chichester Hart, B.A., F.L.S.] - - - 7. _The Topographical Survey of Western Palestine._ - -Before we can properly understand the history of any country we must -have before us an accurate map, showing its physical features of -mountain, plain, and river, and the relative positions of its cities -and important places. This is true in an unusual degree in the case of -Palestine, a country peculiar in its physical contrasts, and for more -than a thousand years the home of a peculiar people. The sacred books -of other religions--consisting greatly of rhapsodies, prayers, and -devotions--might have been written as well in one country as another; -but the Bible contains the history of a particular people, occupying -a definite district of country, fighting their battles, making their -journeys, and singing psalms oft suggested by their surroundings. It is -absolutely necessary for the student of Hebrew history to make himself -acquainted with Palestine geography and topography. “The history -assumes everywhere a knowledge of the country, and the writer never -stops to explain where the scene of every episode occurs, except to -name it as a spot already known.” Yet, until lately, no accurate map -of the country could be obtained--because no scientific survey had -been carried out. Bible towns and villages had disappeared, and their -sites were not known. The visitor to Palestine, consulting Murray’s -“Handbook” as his best guide, found long columns of “places mentioned -in Scripture, but not yet identified”--Admah, Adullun, Debir, Edrei, -Gallim, &c., &c. In going up from Jaffa to Jerusalem he was shown a -brook, and told that David there selected the five smooth stones before -his combat with Goliath; but the brook was in the wrong locality. -Down by the Jordan he found the grave of Moses on the wrong side of -the river. In Galilee he was perplexed how to decide between two -rival sites for Cana, especially as the water-pots connected with the -marriage feast were to be seen at both places. General uncertainty -attended his footsteps throughout. - -The people who did most to bring about this confusion in regard to the -sacred sites were the Crusaders. Knights and priests of the twelfth -century, arriving in Palestine, were strangers in the country, and -although enthusiastic they were ignorant and illiterate. They used to -land at Athlit, and journey thence to Nazareth or to Jerusalem, fixing -as many places _en route_ as they could. Athlit itself they regarded -as the ancient Tyre! Meon, the home of Nabal, they fixed close by, -because Mount Carmel was not far off, and Abigail came from Carmel. -They did not recognise that the Carmel of Abigail and Nabal was a city -in the south of Judah. Knowing that Capernaum was a fishing town, they -placed it on the Mediterranean coast and identified it with a fortress -of their day, now the village called Kefr Lam. These three places, -which were shown to the religious devotee as soon as he landed, are in -reality many days’ journey apart. Caipha (Haifa) was shown as a place -where Simon Peter used to fish. Shiloh was south of Bethel, and was -in fact the mountain now called Nebi Samwil. Sychar and Shechem were -one and the same place. “The Quarantania or Kuruntul mountain” (says -Conder) “has, from the twelfth century down, been shown as the place -where our Lord retired for the forty days of fasting in the desert. -Near to it the Crusaders also looked for the ‘exceeding high mountain’ -whence the Tempter showed our Lord ‘all the kingdoms of the world and -the glory of them’ (Matt. iv. 8). Saewulf tells us that the site of -this mountain was 3 miles from Jericho. Fetellus places it north of -that town and 2 miles from Quarantania. The measurements bring us to -the remarkable cone called the Raven’s Nest. The story is wonderfully -descriptive of the simplicity of men’s minds in the twelfth century, -for the summit of the ‘exceeding high mountain,’ whence all the -kingdoms of the world were to have been seen, is actually lower than -the surface of the Mediterranean, and it is surrounded on every side by -mountains more than double its height.” - -Tradition having been shown to be untrustworthy, when unsupported -by other evidence, a general uncertainty prevailed with regard to -Scripture places. No traveller could believe what his guide or guide -book told him, and no student could have confidence in his map. The -labour of investigation was beyond the power of private individuals; -and no Government and no Society had ever sent out an organized -expedition. But now happily this reproach is removed. The Committee -of the Palestine Exploration Fund were able to send out Major Conder, -R.E., and Colonel Kitchener, R.E., and these officers, with their -little party, spent seven years in carrying out a triangulation survey -of the entire country west of the river Jordan. As a result of their -labours, followed up by much patient work at home, we are now presented -with a magnificent map of Western Palestine, on the scale of one inch -to the mile, as beautifully and accurately executed as the ordnance -map of England, with every road and ruin marked, and every conspicuous -object filled in; with the hills and mountains correctly delineated and -shaded, with the rivers and brooks all running in the right directions; -with every vineyard, every spring of water, and almost every clump of -trees set down in its place, and with thousands of names that never -appeared on a Palestine map before. Moreover, while there are six -hundred and twenty-two Scripture names of places west of the Jordan, -and out of these three hundred and sixty were missing, the surveyors -have succeeded in finding one hundred and seventy-two of these. A -reduced map, on the scale of three-eighths of an inch to the mile, has -been prepared, and contains the Old Testament names and New Testament -names conspicuously marked, while other forms of the map show the -watershed and physical features of the country, or give the divisions -of the land and the Arabic names of places in use to-day. - -There could be no better aid in studying the Scriptures than to -have such maps by our side; for whether we read of the marching and -counter-marching of armies; of the positions taken up before a battle; -of the direction taken by the retreating foe; the sites selected for -places of worship; the journeys of prophets of the Old Testament, or of -Jesus and his disciples in the New, so much depends upon the relative -positions of places, and their distances one from another, that we -necessarily lose a part of the meaning, and miss a portion of the -enjoyment unless we have a correct map by our side. - -The best modern map of the Holy Land, previous to that prepared by the -Palestine Exploration Fund, was the work of Van de Velde, a careful -and scientific traveller and scholar. Van de Velde not only took -observations himself, but laid down on his map all the observations -made by previous travellers. Yet, when at the annual meeting of the -Palestine Exploration Fund in 1886, a portion of Van de Velde’s map -was shown on an enlarged scale, side by side with the same portion -of the Society’s map, similarly enlarged, the contrast was striking. -The first, with its hills roughly sketched in, its valleys laid down -roughly, and its inhabited places, villages, or ruins, gave all that -was known of this piece of country before the Survey. It was on such -a map as this, the best at the time, because the most faithful, that -the geographical student had to work. There was little use, from a -geographical point of view, in consulting previous books of travel, -because Van de Velde had gleaned from them all their geographical -facts. Yet hardly any single place was laid down correctly; none of the -hill shading was accurate; the course of the rivers and valleys was -not to be depended upon; the depression of the Lake of Galilee was -variously stated; distances were estimated by the rough reckoning of -time taken from place to place; and the number of names was only about -eighteen hundred, whereas the large map of the Palestine Exploration -Society contains ten thousand.[16] - - [Illustration: PHYSICAL MAP of PALESTINE] - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Tent Work in Palestine.” Major - Conder, R. E. “Twenty-one Years’ Work in the Holy Land.” P. E. - Fund. “Quarterly Statements of the P. E. Fund.”] - - - 8. _Israel’s Wars and Worship, considered in connection - with the Physical Features of the Country._ - - - _The Wars._ - -Now that we possess a detailed and accurate map of the Holy Land we are -in a position to study with advantage the conquest of the country by -Joshua, and to appreciate the motives of strategy and policy displayed -in the successive phases of Israel’s wars and worship. - -The twelve tribes, coming out of the wilderness, encamped in the Plain -of the Jordan, opposite Jericho. While they rested there, Balak, -king of Moab, alarmed by their numbers, and uncertain as to their -intentions, sent to Mesopotamia for Balaam, to come and curse them. -Balaam ascended Mount Peor (sacred to Baal Peor, _i.e._, Baal the -Opener) and was constrained to bless them, and speak of them as “a -people that dwell alone--not reckoned among the nations” (Num. xxiii. -9). - -Under Moses the Israelites conquered the country east of Jordan. The -gorge of the Arnon, 2000 feet deep, and with almost perpendicular -sides, was a natural boundary for the Moabites. Sometimes, indeed, -they possessed territory north of it; but since it would take a -traveller several hours to cross at the easiest parts, it was a natural -boundary. The district between the Arnon and the Jabbok, Moses wrested -from Sihon, king of Heshbon. And then, with the aid of the Ammonites, -he conquered the country north of the Jabbok, from Og, the king of -Bashan. These lands were not divided among all the tribes of Israel, -but were given to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh as their -portion, for it was planned and intended that the country west of the -Jordan should be conquered and given to the rest. - -The country west of Jordan was occupied by the Amorites and the -Canaanites--that is, as some suppose, by the Highlanders of the -central hills, and the Lowlanders of the plains around. But these -peoples appear to have been subdivided, so that, together with the -tribes of the Lebanon, we read of the Jebusite and the Girgashite, the -Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite and the -Hamathite, as well as Zidon and Heth (Gen. x. 15); and, in another -place, of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, the Hittite, -the Perizzite, and the Rephaim (Gen. xv. 19). Of all these “nations” we -are told by St Paul that seven were eventually destroyed, and Israel -received their land for an inheritance (Acts xiii. 19). - -It was not the object of Joshua in the first place to conquer the -“nations” in the plains, but rather those in the hills. It is true -that the hills were comparatively barren and infertile, while the -plains were exceedingly fruitful; but the hill country offered -counter-balancing advantages. Compared with the Egyptians, who -sometimes invaded Syria, the Israelites were small and weak, and their -greatest security would be in the hill fastnesses. More immediately -also, they have to consider that they are but a nation of foot -soldiers, while the Canaanites of the plains possess chariots and -horses. In any case, if they can once gain possession of the hills, it -may be easier thence to conquer the plains at their leisure, than it -would be for them by-and-bye to conquer the hills, with the plains as -their base of operations. - -They approach the river opposite Jericho, and prepare to cross. The -spot is very well known, and it is where the pilgrims now go to bathe. -At this part the Jordan is ordinarily a brown, rapid, swirling stream, -some 20 yards across, fringed with a jungle of tamarisk, cane, and -willow, in which the leopard and the wolf find their hiding place. The -stream often runs low and is easily fordable in two or three places -hereabout. When we remember that the spies sent by Joshua had crossed -and recrossed without difficulty a few days before, we might suppose -that Joshua intended to march the entire army over at the fording -places, at low water, were we not told that at this season the Jordan -overflowed all its banks, it being the time of barley harvest. The -Jordan, it is recorded, was divided--“The waters which came down from -above stood and rose up in one heap a great way off from Adam, the -city which is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the Sea -of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people -passed over right against Jericho” (Josh. iii. 16). Major Conder has -discovered the name Zarethan, still in use, applied to a district 3 -miles west of Bethshan; and on examining the gorge of the Jordan at -this part, a good way north of “Admah” or _Damieh_, he found that the -lower cliffs approach in places so close to one another that a very -little would dam up the river. In that event, in place of a shallow -stream some 20 yards across, a lake would be formed nearly a mile in -width, and the waters would have to rise to a height of 50 feet before -they overflowed the barrier and descended again to the south. But -whether in this way the bed of the Jordan was rendered dry while the -Israelites passed over, is a question upon which, of course, opinions -will differ. - -When the tribes are safely across they encamp at a place called Gilgal. - -An important success in the way of identifying Scripture sites has been -the recovery of Gilgal. Robinson had heard the name Jiljûlieh, but -had not been able to fix the site. In 1865 a German traveller (Herr -Schokke), more fortunate, was shown the place, at a mound about a -mile east of the modern Jericho; and Major Conder succeeded in fixing -the spot. Just west of the ruins grows a magnificent old tamarisk -tree, conspicuous from a distance. South-east of the tamarisk is an -oblong tank, measuring about 100 feet by 80 feet; and near this about -a dozen small mounds. The mounds are called Telleilât Jiljûlieh (the -little hillocks of Gilgal), and the tank is named Birket Jiljûlieh -(the Pool of Gilgal). “The Bedawin of the district,” says Conder, -“have a well-known tradition regarding the site of Jiljûlieh. Over the -coffee and pipes in the evening, after the day’s work was done, they -related it to us. By the old tamarisk once stood the City of Brass, -which was inhabited by Pagans. When Mohammed’s creed began to spread, -Aly, his son-in-law, ‘the lion of God,’ arrived at the city, and rode -seven times round it on his horse Maimûn. The brazen walls fell down, -destroyed by his breath, and the Pagans fled, pursued by the Faithful -toward Kŭrŭntŭl; but the day drew to a close, and darkness -threatened to shield the infidels. Then Aly, standing on the hill which -lies due east of the Kŭrŭntŭl crag, called out to the sun, -‘Come back, O blessed one!’ And the sun returned in heaven, so that the -hill has ever since been called ‘the Ridge of the return.’ Here stands -the Mukâm, or sacred station of Aly, and here also is the place where -Belâl ibn Rubâh, the Muedhen of the Prophet, called the Faithful to -prayer after the victory.” - -Such is the legend, in which we see the fall of Jericho mixed up with -the battle of Aijalon, and assigned to Mohammedan heroes instead of to -Joshua. - -Quite apart from the facilities of a ford, there was a good reason why -the Israelites should cross the Jordan where they did. The hill country -of Western Palestine is much broken by gorges, which serve not only as -torrent beds after the rains, but as passes to the central plateau. -The principal pass is by that great gorge, the continuation of the -Wady Kelt, which runs to the north of Jericho and up to Ai and Bethel. -Joshua intends to ascend by this pass. But there is an obstacle in the -way. Just at the foot of the hills--where the springs issue forth and -make a beautiful oasis--is the city of Jericho, “walled up to heaven.” -This is the key to the pass, and it would be bad generalship to rush -past the place and leave it in the rear. So Jericho, “the city of palm -trees,” was besieged and taken. - -Modern Jericho is not a city of palm trees, but a very poor village, -of mud huts and black tents, standing amid low vineyards. For the -convenience of travellers, indeed, an excellent hotel has lately been -opened--the “Jordan Hotel”--but the proprietor has been disappointed in -his neighbours; the peasantry will not do a good day’s work for good -wages, he cannot even get fruit and garden stuff from them, and every -requisite has to be brought down from Jerusalem. - -The site of Jericho has shifted considerably since Scripture times, -for the Bible city was near the Sultan’s Spring--Elisha’s Fountain--at -the foot of the pass, the only natural position, whereas the present -village is at a distance from the spring. Some Russian excavations in -the neighbourhood have brought to light shafts, columns, and lintels, -lamps, jars, rings, and weapons, some indication of former splendour. - -The next city in the way of the invaders was Ai. We learn from the -narrative that Ai had Bethel on the west of it, and a plain in the -front or on the east, while there was a valley on the north side, and -low ground on the west between Ai and Bethel. With these particulars it -should be possible to identify the site. Sir Charles Wilson examined -the district in 1865, and confirmed the opinion of Rev. Canon Williams -that there is only one spot which answers to the description. “The -description applies in a very complete manner” (says Conder) “to the -neighbourhood of the modern village of Deir Diwan, and there are -here remains of a large ancient town, bearing the name Haiyan, which -approaches closely to Aina, the form under which Ai appears in the -writings of Josephus. Rock-cut tombs and ancient cisterns, with three -great reservoirs cut in the hard limestone, are sufficient to show this -to have been a position of importance. To the west is an open valley -called ‘Valley of the City,’ which, gradually curving round eastward, -runs close to the old road from Jericho by which Joshua’s army would -probably advance. To the north of the site there is also a great -valley, and the plain or plateau on which the modern village stands, -close to the old site, expands from a narrow and rugged pass leading up -towards Bethel, which is 2 miles distant on the watershed.” - -Ascending from Jericho the path at one point enters upon the plain in -front of Ai, so that no army on its way to Bethel could afford to leave -Ai behind. Joshua took the city by stratagem, and we can see every step -of the proceeding. Marching troops up the northern valley, he placed an -ambush in the depression west of the city. The main body of his troops -attacked in front and presently feigned a retreat, drawing the men of -Ai after them till the city was empty. Then, at a given signal from -Joshua--who had posted himself on the hills to the north and could -be seen by both sections of his army--the ambush rose up and fired -the city, the men retreating turned back to fight, and the men of Ai, -caught “between two fires,” became utterly demoralised. - -Bethel itself is now called Beitin. The site is known but with the -exception of a church of crusading date, and a tower, there are no -ruins of any importance. On a hill to the east is a stone circle, -consisting of large and small boulders. - -After the victory at Ai a rapid march was made to Shechem, where, upon -the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, the tribes assembled to hear the -reading of the Law and to pronounce their “amens” after the blessings -and the curses. It has been questioned whether they could hear one -another at the distance apart of these two mountain tops; but they -would hardly be on the mountain summits, for there is a natural -recess in the hills, with natural benches in the limestone rock, an -amphitheatre which might seem to have been formed for the purpose. -Modern travellers have stood in the midst of that valley and heard -their companions on either side reading the Law, and they assure us -that those who were reading could hear one another’s voices with -sufficient distinctness to take up the verse, each where the other left -off. - -Shechem is now called Nablous--a corruption of the Roman Neapolis, -by which name it was rebaptized--and is a considerable city. The -Samaritans, now reduced in numbers to about one hundred and sixty -individuals, all told, live in this city, and none are found elsewhere. -In their synagogue they preserve several old copies of the Pentateuch, -and one of them, which is kept in a silver case and jealously guarded, -they declare to have been written by Abishua, the great-grandson -of Aaron. On a stone built into a tower near the synagogue is an -inscription--the oldest known in the Samaritan character--which it -was formerly impossible to read, because the inscription is upside -down in its place, and the investigator had to dangle on a rope and -hold his head downwards. But here we see the advantage of photography: -the picture was obtained in the camera, and the inscription when -turned right way up was seen to be the Samaritan version of the Ten -Commandments. - -After the solemn ceremony of reading the Law at Shechem the Israelites -under Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal. But by this time the -news of their victories had spread, the neighbouring cities became -alarmed, and all the kings throughout an extensive district gathered -together to fight against them. Meantime the wily Gibeonites, wearing -“old shoes and clouted,” and pretending to be ambassadors from a far -country, came to Joshua and succeeded in making a treaty of alliance, -offensive and defensive. After three days the deception was found out; -but it was held that the covenant must be kept, and when the kings of -Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon--“the five kings of -the Amorites”--went and encamped against Gibeon, Joshua went up from -Gilgal all the night to raise the siege. He came upon them suddenly, -and a terrible battle took place, which deserves to rank among the -decisive battles of the world. The conflict raged before Gibeon, and -the defeated kings were pursued, with continued slaughter, to higher -ground (the ascent of Beth-horon) and then to lower ground (the going -down of Beth-horon), as they vainly sought to escape down the Valley -of Aijalon into the Plain of Philistia. According to the poetical book -of Jasher,[17] quoted by the historian, “the sun stood still upon -Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Aijalon,” and lengthened out the -day until Joshua had defeated his foes utterly. The five kings were -found hidden in a cave at Makkedah, and were imprisoned there till the -pursuit was over and Joshua had leisure to decide their fate. - -Makkedah has been identified by Colonel Sir C. Warren as being _El -Mughar_--“the cave”--a little south-west of Ekron. Conder tells us that -this is a remarkable place, and one of the most conspicuous sites in -the plain. A promontory of brown sandy rock juts out southwards, and at -the end is the village climbing up the hill-side. The huts are of mud, -and stand in many cases in front of caves; and from these caves the -modern name is derived. It is worthy of notice, he says, that this is -the only village in the Philistine plain at which he found such caves. - -Joshua made his victory complete, by overthrowing Libnah, Lachish, -Eglon, Hebron, and other cities in succession, “utterly destroying all -that breathed,” until the centre and the south of the hill country were -altogether in his power. - -In the spring of 1890, a _firman_ having been obtained, Mr Flinders -Petrie went to excavate at _Umm Lakis_ and _Ajlan_, the supposed sites -of Lachish and Eglon, two of the five strongholds of the Amorites -(Josh. x. 5). As soon as he arrived and could examine the ground, he -saw, from his Egyptian experience, that the two sites named were only -of Roman age and unimportant; while _Tell Hesy_ and _Nejileh_ in the -same neighbourhood promised better results. _Tell Hesy_ is a mound of -ruins 60 feet high and about 200 feet square, and one side of it has -been washed away by the stream, so that a clear section is afforded -from top to base. The generally early age of it was evident from the -fact that nothing later than good Greek pottery was found at the top -of it, while near the middle, and from that to three-quarters of the -height, was found Phœnician ware, which is known in Egypt to date -from 1100 B.C. The foundation seems to date from about 1500 -B.C., agreeing nearly with the beginning of the Egyptian raids -under Thothmes I. - -The actual remains of _Tell Hesy_ consist of a mound which is formed of -successive towns, one on the ruins of another, and an enclosure taking -in an area to the south and west of it. This enclosure is nearly a -quarter of a mile across in each direction, and is bounded by a clay -rampart still 7 feet high in parts, and in one place by a brick wall. -This area of about 30 acres would suffice to take in a large quantity -of cattle in case of a sudden invasion; and such was probably its -purpose, as no buildings are found in it, and there is but little depth -of soil. The city mound is about 200 feet square, and rests on natural -ground 45 to 58 feet above the stream in the _wady_ below. The earliest -town here was of great strength and importance, the lowest wall of all -being 28 feet 8 inches thick, of clay bricks, unburnt; and over this -are two successive patchings of later rebuilding, altogether 21 feet of -height remaining. “Such massive work” (says Mr Petrie) “was certainly -not that of the oppressed Israelites during the time of the Judges; it -cannot be as late as the Kings, since the pottery of about 1100 B.C. -is found above its level. It must, therefore, be the Amorite city, and -agrees with the account that ‘the cities were walled and very great’ -(Num. xiii. 28), ‘great and walled up to heaven’ (Deut. i. 28), and -also with the sculptures of the conquests of Rameses II. at Karnak, -where the Amorite cities are all massively fortified.” - -Mr Petrie feels little doubt that _Tell Hesy_ is Lachish and _Tell -Nejileh_, 6 miles south of it, Eglon. There are no sites in the country -around so suited to the importance of Lachish and Eglon as these two -_tells_; they command the only springs and water-course which exist in -the whole district, and it is certain that the positions must have -been of first-rate importance from the time of the earliest settlements. - -Above the Amorite wall at _Tell Hesy_ Mr Petrie finds 5 feet of -dust and rolled stones corresponding to the barbaric period of the -Judges; then a wall 13 feet thick, probably belonging to Rehoboam’s -fortifications of Lachish (2 Chron. xi. 9), and above this successive -rebuildings until the city is finally destroyed about 500 B. -C. The mound is full of potsherds, and the good fortune of such a -grand section as that of the east face from top to bottom, affords at -one stroke a series of all the varieties of pottery extending through -a thousand years. “We now know for certain,” Mr Petrie says, “the -characteristics of Amorite pottery, of earlier Jewish, and later Jewish -influenced by Greek trade, and we can trace the importation and the -influence of Phœnician pottery. In future all the _tells_ and ruins of -the country will at once reveal their age by the potsherds which cover -them.” - -Lachish, with its wall 28 feet in thickness, is a specimen of the -Amorite cities which Joshua overthrew in the south. - -But now the kings of the north are alarmed, and Jabin king of Hazor -gathers together the tribes of the Lebanon. He calls to his assistance -the kings of the Jordan Valley, the kings of the Sharon Plain, with -the Jebusites and all who are willing to come. The battle takes place -near the Waters of Merom. The Canaanites are furnished with chariots -and horses, and the Israelites, being without such helps, are prudently -posted on the hills. We read that Joshua “fell upon” the foe, down the -slopes, and drove them before him, on the west as far as to Zidon, -and on the east to the valley of Mizpeh: he burned their chariots, -hamstrung their horses, and again “left none remaining.” So now the -north as well as the south of the hill country is subdued; Joshua -settles four tribes in these northern districts, and the Sea of Galilee -becomes a Hebrew lake. - -There is no need any more to come back all the way to Gilgal, for no -foe is left to dispute their occupation anywhere, and the armies only -return as far as Shiloh, in the centre of the hills, and there set -up “the Tent of Meeting.” Nor is there need any longer to detain the -two and a half tribes from the east of Jordan who have come across to -assist in the conquest. So the soldiers of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh -are sent back to their homes. “And when they came to the region about -Jordan that is in the land of Canaan” they built there an altar--“a -great altar to see to,” and which was afterwards called “Ed” or -Witness. Their brethren were so indignant at this action--regarding -it as heathen worship, and rebellion against the God of Israel--that -they thought of going to war against them. However, they prudently sent -envoys to demand an explanation, and the explanation was perfectly -satisfactory. - -Where was this altar of Ed, so conspicuous from afar? If we stand in -the Jordan Valley near Jericho, and look northwards, we cannot fail to -see, at a distance of 20 miles, a conical peak called _Kurn Surtabeh_, -standing out like a bastion at the eastern end of a chain of blue -hills. This peak is 1500 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, -and 2500 feet above the Jordan, near to it. From the top of it one -may see the Dead Sea to the south, the Sea of Galilee to the north, -the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim in the centre. According to the -Jewish Talmud this mountain was a beacon station, where the fires were -lighted, in connection with fires on the Mount of Olives, to signify -the advent of the new moon. Conder, some years ago, pointed out that -this mountain would be in the path which the two and a half tribes -should naturally take in going from Shiloh to their home in Gilead, the -fords of the Jordan being a little way north of it. On the top of this -almost inaccessible peak he found some huge masonry work of ancient -character, which he was inclined at the time to regard as remnants -of the altar. And when the identification seemed to be thus nearly -complete, it appeared to be confirmed by the discovery that the north -side of the mountain, the only accessible side is called “the Ascent of -Ed.” But the identification was disputed. - -It was pointed out that Josephus says the altar was on the east side of -Jordan, and that the Scripture narrative makes the tribes to cross the -river at “the passage of the Children of Israel,” which is supposed to -describe the Jericho ford and not the ford at Damieh. For these reasons -Conder now regards his idea as “only a conjecture.” - -It may be reasonably questioned, however, whether the identification -should be given up. We are told in Joshua xxii. 10, that the altar, so -high to look to, was in “the region about Jordan that is in the land -of Canaan”--“in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region -about Jordan, on the side that pertaineth to the Children of Israel.” -The historian takes pains to distinguish between the two sides of the -river, and if one side pertained to the Children of Israel more than -the other, it was surely not the eastern side. Moreover, the altar -was in the land of Canaan, and the eastern boundary of Canaan was -the Jordan itself (see Gen. x. 19, and page 107 of this volume). The -altar was “in the forefront of the land of Canaan,” at the extreme -of its eastern side, and therefore close by the Jordan. The Hebrew -faced the rising sun, and spoke of the south as the right hand, the -north as the left, so that his forehead or forefront was to the east. -It was apparently because the supposed idolatrous altar was set up -on territory belonging to the western tribes that those tribes felt -so insulted. The east of Jordan was unclean, but the western country -was “the possession of the Lord.” “Come across”, they said, “into the -Lord’s land, if you will; but if you come, do not build rebel altars” -(v. 19). Further, the object of the two and a half tribes, according -to their apology and explanation, was to have a memorial in that -western land from which the Jordan seemed to cut them off. - -Two and a half tribes being settled east of Jordan, three tribes north -of the Plain of Esdraelon, and one in the Plain itself, the remainder -of the country is divided between the remaining five tribes and a half. - -In the Book of Joshua the boundaries of the tribes are given with the -greatest minuteness, but it was impossible for us to trace them with -any accuracy before the topographical survey was carried out. Many of -the villages by which the border lines passed were lost, in some cases -the sites were displaced; but as soon as these things were rectified -the boundaries could again be drawn. - -The blessing which Jacob pronounced upon his sons, according to -Gen. xlix., was true to the position of the tribes in their several -districts; and their position determined in some degree their conduct -and their fortunes. When Joshua dismissed the two and a half tribes, -they went away to their tents: living on those green hills east of -Jordan, they remained for a long time a pastoral people. Reuben, -bordering on Arabia, and being “unstable as water,” became hardly -distinguishable from an Arab tribe. Gad, of whom Jacob said, “a troop -shall press upon him,” was subject to attacks from troops of Bedouin -plunderers. Divided from their brethren by the great gorge of the -Jordan, the eastern tribes were separated also in their fortunes. -The three northern tribes of Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali were also -partially cut off by the great plain of Esdraelon. They got into -communication with the northern nations from whom they were less -separated geographically, and they entered into alliance with Phœnicia. -Solomon gave away twenty of their cities to Hiram, king of Tyre, -apparently thinking that the allegiance which was so nearly gone, -might as well be parted with altogether. These northern tribes, like -those east of Jordan, seldom came to the assistance of their brethren -in any great crisis. When Deborah required help from all quarters -she had to complain that Asher “sat still at the haven of the sea,” -and Reuben “sat among the sheep-folds, to hear the pipings for the -flocks.” In the south--in a country half a desert, the lair of wild -beasts--Judah “couched as a lion,” and it was dangerous to rouse him -up. Ephraim, the most powerful of the tribes, secured to himself the -choicest portion of the hill country. Manasseh, with territory on -both sides of the Jordan, was “a fruitful bough by a fountain, whose -branches run over the wall.” Little Benjamin, situated between the -two powerful tribes of Ephraim and Judah, knew not which to be guided -by, and was at last torn asunder in the effort to follow both. Yet -Benjamin, on whose eastern border we still find a valley, called the -Wolf’s Den, was “a wolf that ravineth” and often “devoured the prey.” -Issachar “saw the land that it was pleasant”--namely, the fruitful -plain of Esdraelon,--and “bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a -servant under task-work,” cultivating the ground. - -The tribe of Levi had no district of country assigned to it, but in -place thereof forty-eight cities, scattered throughout the tribes. Of -these cities two have been identified by the agents of the Palestine -Exploration Fund. - -The recovery of the site of _Gezer_ we owe to M. Clermont Ganneau. -It is in the lowland district, and off the road to the right as one -goes up from Jaffa to Jerusalem, about 8 miles past Ramleh. The modern -name, _Tell Jezer_, represents the Hebrew exactly. Gezer had been a -royal city of the Canaanites; and it was in a position commanding one -of the important passes. The Levitical cities had around them a margin -of 1000 cubits. In 1874 M. Ganneau was shown by the peasantry a rude -inscription deeply cut in the flat surface of the natural rock. It -appears to be in Hebrew letters, and to read “Boundary of Gezer.” He -afterwards found a second, similar to it; and from their position he -judges that the city lay four-square, and had its angles directed to -the cardinal points of the compass. It was this city of Gezer which was -reconquered from the Philistines by Pharaoh, and handed over to Solomon -as a dowry with his daughter. - -We owe to Major Conder the discovery of another of these Levitical -cities, namely, the royal city of Debir, south-west of Hebron, together -with the “upper and nether springs of water” (at a distance), which -Caleb gave to his daughter, on the occasion of her marriage (Judges -i. 15). The modern name is Dhâheriyeh, and the place is evidently an -ancient site of importance, to which several old roads lead from all -sides. Another name for this place was Kirjath-Sepher, which means -Book-Town; so that it must have been noted for books or writings of -some kind. - -In tracing the boundaries of the tribes the surveyors found reason to -look upon the Book of Joshua as “the Domesday Book of Palestine.” The -towns in a district are all mentioned together, and in such consecutive -topographical order that many Scripture sites could be identified from -this very circumstance. The tribal boundaries are shown to be almost -entirely natural, namely, rivers, ravines, ridges, and the watershed -lines of the country. It is a remarkable fact, however, that while -the descriptions of tribal boundaries and cities are full and minute -in the territory of Judea, and scarcely less so in Galilee, they are -fragmentary and meagre within the bounds of Samaria. There is no -account of the conquest of Samaria, nor does the list of royal cities -include the famous Samaritan towns of Shechem, Thebez, Acrabbi, and -others. No list of the cities of Ephraim and Manasseh is included in -the topographical chapters of the Book of Joshua, nor any description -of the northern limits of Manasseh, and only a very slight one of the -southern border, where that tribe marched with Ephraim. - -Thus far, in our description of Joshua’s conquest, we have seen how -his good generalship secured possession of the hills--the central -hills only, and not the plains. The Canaanites still dwelt in the -plains round about. The Philistines held the south-west. The Phœnicians -were secure in the north. The outlying nations of Edom and Moab were -undisturbed. In this condition things remained for a long time; and the -Israelites, occupying the hills only, were not likely to become a race -of sailors. Nor did they desire it, if we may judge from such notices -of the sea as occur in the Bible, for they seem to show the awe with -which the writers regarded its rolling waves. And besides, the coast -was not suited for it. The principal harbour was Tyre; but that was in -Phœnicia, which was hardly to be included in Palestine. South of Tyre -we have Accho, Caipha, and Joppa; but these are by no means good and -convenient as ports. Accho is the best, but has been the least used, -although Napoleon considered it “the key of Palestine.” It was to -Joppa that the Phœnicians brought timber in rafts for the building of -Solomon’s Temple; and thence it was carried by road to Jerusalem. It -was at Joppa that Jonah found a ship going to Tarshish, and took his -passage. - -If the sea coast was little available for the Israelites, the Jordan -was still worse: a narrow, shallow, rocky stream, ending in the Dead -Sea, it led to nowhere, and was useless for purposes of commerce. - -Naturally the capitals of the country were inland--Jerusalem in the -centre of the hills, and afterwards Shechem. The main road of the -country ran from south to north, along the watershed, the backbone of -highest ground. But since the hills were comparatively unfruitful, -the dwellers there suffered more in times of famine than the dwellers -in the plains. In times of war they had some advantage, and preferred -to fight from the hillsides, as they did not possess chariots and -horses, and could have found no use for them. Their enemies said of -them,--“their God is a God of the hills; He is not a God of the plains!” - -Accordingly, the enemies of Israel sought to entice them to fight in -the plains, and sometimes partially succeeded. The Plain of Esdraelon -became a great battle field. The Great Plain, as distinguished from the -Plain of Acre, the Valley of Jezreel, and others which are continuous -with it, measures about 14 miles by 9. It is described by Conder as one -of the richest natural fields of cultivation in Palestine, or perhaps -in all the world. “The elevation,” he says, “is about 200 to 250 feet -above the sea, and a Y-shaped double range of hills bounds it east -and west, with an average elevation of 1500 feet above the plain on -the north-east. On the north-east are the two detached blocks of Neby -Duhy (Little Hermon) and Tabor, and on the north-west a narrow gorge -is formed by the river Kishon, which springs from beneath Tabor, and, -collecting the whole drainage of this large basin, passes from the -Great Plain to that of Acre. On the east of the plain the broad Valley -of Jezreel gradually slopes down towards Jordan, and Jezreel itself -(the modern Zerin) stands on the side of Gilboa above it. On the west -are the scarcely less famous sites of Legis, Taanach, and Joknean, -while the picturesque conical hill of Duhy, just north of the Jezreel -Valley, has Shunem on its south slope, and Nain and Endor on the north. -Thus seven places of interest lie at the foot of the hills east and -west; but no important town was ever situated in the plain itself.” - -The first great struggle in this plain was against Sisera, captain of -the host of Jabin, king of Canaan, who came with nine hundred chariots, -and threatened the Israelites near the sources of the Kishon. The -topography of the Scriptural episode of the defeat and death of Sisera -has been hitherto very little understood. The scene of the battle has -often been placed in the south-west of the great Esdraelon plain, and -the defeated general has been supposed to have fled a distance of 35 -miles over the high mountains of Upper Galilee. But this is contrary -to what we know of the general character of the Biblical stories, the -scenes of which are always laid in a very confined area. The kings of -Canaan assembled in Taanach and by the waters of Megiddo, but it was -not at either of these places that the battle was fought. Sisera was -drawn to the river Kishon (Judges iv. 7), and the conflict took place -in the plain south-west of Mount Tabor. - -The forces of the Israelites were posted on the side of Mount Tabor. -At a signal from Deborah they rushed down the slope and attacked the -foe. At that moment a terrible storm from the east sent sleet and hail -full into the face of the enemy. They turned and fled along a line at -the base of the northern hills, where a chain of pools and springs, -fringed with reeds and rushes, marks, even in the dry season, the -course of the Kishon. The rain converted the volcanic dust of the plain -into mud, and clogged the wheels of the chariots. The water pouring -down from the hills swelled the stream, and “the river of Kishon swept -them away, that ancient river the river Kishon.” The remainder fled -to Harosheth, now only a miserable village (_El Harathiyeh_), named -from the beautiful woods above the Kishon at the point where, through -a narrow gorge, the stream, hidden among oleander bushes, enters the -Plain of Acre. - -The flight of Sisera himself was in an opposite direction--to the Plain -of Zaanaim, or rather Bitzaanaim, “the marshes,” _i.e._, the marshy -springs east of Tabor--the neighbourhood of _Bessum_. The Kedesh -of the passage is probably a site so called south of Tiberias; and -the tent of Heber the Kenite would thus have been spread on the open -plateau within 10 miles of the site of the battle. - -The next great struggle in this plain was one upon which the Survey -of Palestine has thrown some new light, enabling us to follow the -fugitives in their retreat, and to fix some sites which are named in -the narrative. The fruitfulness of the Great Plain has been, in our -own times and all through the ages, an irresistible attraction to the -Bedouin from the east of Jordan. Pressed by war or famine, they have -crossed the Jordan at the fords near Beisan, poured up the Valley -of Jezreel, and covered the plain with their tents and camels. The -peaceful husbandmen have laboured, only to be periodically plundered -and oppressed. Thus in 1870 only about a sixth part of the beautiful -corn land was tilled, and the plain was black with Arab “houses of -hair.” But the Turks wrought a great and sudden change; they armed -their cavalry with the Remington breech-loading rifle, and the Bedouin -disappeared as if by magic. In 1872 nine-tenths of the plain was -cultivated, nearly half with corn, the rest with millet, sesame, -cotton, tobacco, and the castor-oil plant. It was, of course, to be -expected that when external troubles had weakened the Government, -the lawless Nomads would again encroach and levy toll as before. -Accordingly, in 1877, Fendi el Fais and the Sukr Arabs once more -invaded the plain and levied blackmail on the luckless peasantry. -Thus it has ever been; for the history of Palestine seems constantly -to repeat itself from the earliest period recorded, in a recurring -struggle between the settled population and the Nomads. - -Some time after the days of Barak and Deborah, the historian tells -us, “the children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of -the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven -years.” These marauders from the east came across the Jordan, bringing -their cattle and their camels, and pitching their black tents. They -came as locusts for multitude, eating up the fruitful country and -levying tribute on the villages, all the way round to Gaza. The -Israelites fled in alarm, taking refuge in the mountains, and existing -in dens and caves. No sustenance was left them, either for sheep, -or ox, or ass; and “Israel was brought very low because of Midian.” -Perhaps they might have borne the oppression longer, only that their -lives were not safe from the sword, and they smarted under losses -inflicted on their families. In some petty struggle, perhaps it was, -in which one brother came to the assistance of another, that seven -fine young men, sons of Joash of Abiezer, were put to death by Zeba -and Zalmunna the Chiefs of Midian. But there was one son left, whose -name was Gideon, and he was a man of valour. He felt this oppression -to be insupportable: the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and after -destroying the altar of Baal in his native place, he blew a trumpet, -and raised a revolt. His own tribesmen (the men of Menasseh) gathered -to his standard, and the men of the northern tribes also, even Asher -assisting on this occasion. - -Gideon “pitched beside the Spring of Harod, and the camp of Midian was -on the north side of them, in the valley.” The Bible narrative appears -to show that the spring was in the neighbourhood of Gilboa, being -towards the south of the Valley of Jezreel. “It is very striking,” says -Conder, “to find in this position a large spring with the name ’_Ain -el Jem’ain_,’ or ‘fountain of the two troops’ and there seems no valid -objection to the view that this is the Spring of Harod.” - -Gideon went down upon the enemy in the midnight darkness, leading -three hundred men, who carried concealed torches, as well as trumpets. -The sudden sounding of trumpets and flashing of lights spread -consternation among the Midianites; they fought suicidally, every -man’s hand was against his brother, and they fled down the Valley of -Jezreel. It was some 10 miles or more to the fords of the Jordan. At -the fords they divided, Zeba and Zalmunna, the sheikhs, passing over, -while Oreb and Zeeb, the lesser chiefs, continued their journey on the -western side. Presumably they were hoping to get across at the great -ford opposite Jericho; but Gideon sent word to the men of Ephraim -to intercept them, and they did so. Gideon himself crossed at the -northern fords, pursuing Zeba and Zalmunna, as far as Karkor, and when -he had captured them he brought them back to Penuel. “Then said he to -them, ‘What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor?’ And they -answered, ‘As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children -of a king.’ And he said, ‘They were my brethren, the sons of my mother: -as the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.’” - -The men of Ephraim “slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the -winepress of Zeeb.” These two names signify the _Raven_ and the -_Wolf_--not unnatural names for the chiefs of Nomad tribes--and Conder -has discovered these names in the Jordan valley, a little north of -Jericho. There is a curious conical chalk hill called ’_Osh el Ghurab_, -the “Raven’s Peak,” and near to it a lesser hill with a valley, known -as _Tuweil edh Dhiab_, the “Wolf’s Den.” The executions, if they took -place on these elevations, would be in sight of all the people in the -plain; and afterwards the heads were carried across to Gideon, who was -now beyond Jordan. - -But victory was not always given to the Israelites in the Plain of -Esdraelon. In the days of King Saul the Philistines, having been twice -beaten in the hills, determined to try their fortune in the plains. -Under the leadership of Achish, king of Gath, they marched northward, -round the promontory of Carmel, and took up their position at Shunem, -under “Little Hermon.”[18] Saul was posted on Mount Gilboa, but had -no confidence in his strength. In his distress, indeed, he actually -paid a night visit to the witch of Endor, although Endor was north of -“Little Hermon,” and he had to go past the Philistine camp to reach -it. The next morning the battle went against him: the Israelites -were positively driven up the slope of Gilboa and slaughtered on the -heights, which should have been their natural battle-ground. David, -when he heard of it, felt the humiliation of it, or at least the depth -of the misfortune, and his dirge for Saul and his son opens with the -words, “Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the -mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath” (2 Sam. i.). - -The head of Saul was sent round to Ashdod, to the temple of Dagon, the -Philistine Fish-god. The armour of Saul was dedicated to the goddess -Ashtoreth, in the city of Bethshan, not very far from the scene of -the battle. We may judge that Bethshan was still in possession of the -Canaanites. The bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to the wall -of Bethshan. But the men of Jabesh Gilead, east of Jordan, a city -which Saul had once befriended (1 Sam. xi.), came across in the night -and took them away. After burning them in Jabesh, they buried the -bones under a tamarisk tree; and thence, at a later opportunity, David -fetched them away and buried them in the family tomb in Benjamin. - -We read in Scripture of “Bethshan and her daughter towns” as belonging -to the tribe of Manasseh (1 Chron. vii. 29). A black mound at the -modern Beisan represents the Bethshan or Bethshean of the text. On -this natural fortress stood the citadel. The ruins have been planned -by Conder; and his drawings will be found in the Memoirs of the -Survey. Not far from Beisan are the ruins of a Roman bridge across the -Jordan--the highway to Gadara. In the plain of Beisan, as we learn from -Mr Trelawney Saunders, are twenty-four _tells_, scattered all over the -upper and lower terraces. They still bear distinctive names; and Mr -Saunders feels no doubt that they are the sites of former habitations, -scenes of domestic happiness and abundant wealth. Moreover, he surmises -that the life and happiness of the district may be restored almost -as rapidly as they were obliterated, when once the civilisation and -power of the West becomes conscious of the connection between Oriental -prosperity and that of its own manufacturing populations. “These -_tells_,” he says, “probably mark the substantial and lordly centres of -villages, the latter more or less extensive, and readily levelled with -the ground. They denote the populous character of the region, when a -strong government restrained the plundering Ishmaelites, and protected -instead of robbed people. The _tells_ are more indicative of a large -population than the remains of such a ‘splendid’ and ‘noble’ city as -Beisan, when it was either Jewish Bethshan or heathen Scythopolis; with -its dominating citadel, temples, hippodrome, theatre, baths, monument, -and bridge.” If there be any truth in this view of the matter we may -expect interesting results from an exploration of these _tells_. Conder -describes the locality as one of the best watered in Palestine, and (in -April) literally streaming with rivulets from some fifty springs. - -The death of Saul brought David to the throne. But David had previously -gone through an adventurous experience, the story of which is -intimately connected with localities that are mentioned, and requires -a knowledge of the topography fully to appreciate. “The desert of -Judah,” says Conder, “was no doubt as much a desert in David’s time as -it is now. Here he wandered with his brigand companions as ‘a partridge -on the mountains.’ Here he may have learned that the coney makes its -dwelling in the hard rocks. Here, in earlier days, he tended the sheep, -descending from Bethlehem, as the village shepherds of the present day -still come down, by virtue of a compact with the lawless Nomads, and -just as Nabal’s sheep came down from the highlands under agreement with -the wild followers of the outlaw born to be a king. I do not know any -part of the Old Testament more instinct with life than are the early -chapters of Samuel which recount the wanderings of David. His life -should only be written by one who has followed those wanderings on the -spot; and the critic who would imbue himself with a right understanding -of that ancient chronicle should first with his own eyes gaze on the -‘rocks of the wild goats’ and the ‘junipers’ of the desert.” - -Conder declares that we have now so recovered the topography of -David’s wanderings that the various scenes seem as vivid as if they -had occurred only yesterday. First, we have the stronghold of Adullam, -guarding the rich corn valley of Elah; then Keilah, a few miles -south, perched on its steep hill above the same valley. The forest of -Hareth lay close by, on the edge of the mountain chain where Kharas -now stands, surrounded by the “thickets” which properly represent the -Hebrew “Yar”--a word wrongly supposed to mean a woodland of timber -trees. - -Driven from all these lairs, David went yet further south to the -neighbourhood of Ziph.... The treachery of the inhabitants of Ziph, -like that of the men of Keilah, appears to have driven David to a yet -more desolate district, that of the Jeshimon, or “Solitude,” by which -is apparently intended the great desert above the western shores of the -Dead Sea, on which the Ziph plateau looks down. As a shepherd-boy at -Bethlehem, David may probably have been already familiar with this part -of the country, and the caves, still used as sheep-cotes by the peasant -herdsmen, extend all along the slopes at the edge of the desert. - -East of Ziph is a prominent hill on which is the ruined town called -Cain in the Bible. Hence the eye ranges over the theatre of David’s -wanderings: the whole scenery of the flight of David, and of Saul’s -pursuit, can be viewed from this one hill. - -The stronghold chosen by the fugitive was the hill Hachilah, in the -wilderness of Ziph, south of Jeshimon. “This, I would propose” (says -Conder) “to recognise in the long ridge called El Kôlah.... On the -north side of the hill are the ‘Caves of the Dreamers,’ perhaps the -actual scene of David’s descent on Saul’s sleeping guards.” - -Pursued even to Hachilah, David descended farther south, to a rock or -cliff in the wilderness of Maon, which was named “Cliff of Division” -(1 Sam. xxiii. 2-8). Here he is represented as being on one side of -the mountain, while Saul was on the other. Now, between the ridge of -El Kôlah and the neighbourhood of Maon there is a great gorge called -“the Valley of Rocks,” a narrow, but deep chasm, impassable except by -a detour of many miles, so that Saul might have stood within sight of -David, yet quite unable to overtake his enemy; and to this “Cliff of -Division” the name _Malâky_ now applies, a word closely approaching the -Hebrew Mahlekoth. The neighbourhood is seamed with many torrent-beds, -but there is no other place near Maon where cliffs, such as are to be -inferred from the word Sela, can be found. “It seems to me pretty -safe, therefore” (says Conder) “to look on this gorge as the scene of -the wonderful escape of David, due to a sudden Philistine invasion, -which terminated the history of his hair-breadth escapes in the South -Country.” - -To return to Adullam. The famous hold where David collected “every -one that was in distress and every one that was in debt, and every -one that was discontented,” was, according to Josephus, at the city -called Adullam (Ant. vi. 12, 3). This city was one of the group of -fifteen situated in the Shephelah or Lowlands (Josh. xv. 35). The term -Shephelah is applied to the low hills of soft limestone which form a -distinct district between the maritime plain and the central line of -mountains. M. Clermont Ganneau was the first explorer who found the -name Adullam still in use; but Major Conder also, on finding it among -the names which Corporal Brophy had collected, set out to examine the -site. - -The great Valley of Elah (Wâdy es Sunt) is the highway from Philistia -to Hebron; and divides the low hills of the Shephelah from the rocky -mountains of Judah. Eight miles from the valley-head stands Shochoh, -and Wâdy es Sunt is here a quarter of a mile across: just north of -this ruin it turns round westward, and so runs, growing deeper and -deeper, between the rocky hills covered with brushwood, becoming -an open vale of rich corn land, flanked by ancient fortresses, and -finally debouching at the cliff of _Tell es Safi_. About 2½ miles south -of the great angle near Shochoh there is a very large and ancient -terebinth--it is from _elah_ the “terebinth” tree that the valley gets -its name--and near it are two ancient wells, with stone water troughs -round them. South of the ravine is a high rounded hill, almost isolated -by valleys, and covered with ruins, a natural fortress, not unlike the -well-known _tells_ which occur lower down the valley of Elah. “This -site seems to be ancient” (says Conder), “not only because of the -wells, but judging from the caves, the tombs, and the rock quarryings -which exist near it.” - -Below the hill, and near the well, there are ruins which are called -_’Aid el Ma_, and this is radically identical with the Hebrew Adullam. -“But if this ruined fortress be, as there seems no good reason to -doubt it is, the royal city of Adullam, where, we should naturally -ask, is the famous cave? The answer is easy, for the cave is on the -hill. We must not look for one of the greater caverns, such as the -Crusaders fixed upon in the romantic gorge east of Bethlehem, for such -caverns are never inhabited in Palestine; we should expect, rather, -a moderate-sized cave, or (considering the strength of the band) a -succession of ‘hollow-places.’ The site of Adullam is ruinous, but not -deserted. The sides of the tributary valley are lined with rows of -caves, and these we found inhabited, and full of flocks and herds. But -still more interesting was the discovery of a separate cave on the hill -itself, a low, smoke-blackened burrow, which was the home of a single -family. We could not but suppose, as we entered this gloomy abode, -that our feet were standing on the very foot-prints of the Shepherd -King, who here, encamped between the Philistines and the Jews, covered -the line of advance on the corn fields of Keilah, and was but 3 miles -distant from the thickets of Hareth. - -“The hill is about 500 feet high.... There is ample room to have -accommodated David’s four hundred men in the caves, and they are, as we -have seen, still inhabited. - -“It is interesting to observe that the scene of David’s victory over -Goliath is distant only 8 miles from the cave at _’Aid el Ma_.” - -When David became king of all Israel, he made it his first great -object to capture Jerusalem. There might be several reasons for this. -In the first place, his capital hitherto had been Hebron, a city -which was not sufficiently central. Secondly, the border line between -Judah and Benjamin ran right through Jerusalem; the city was partly -in the territory of one tribe, partly in the other; Saul was a man of -Benjamin, while David belonged to Judah; so that there were jealousies -between these two tribes, which might be healed if David could make the -city his capital. Thirdly, Jerusalem had proved itself to be a strong -city, well-nigh impregnable. Joshua had not taken it, as he took the -other cities of the Gibeonite league--it has defied the arms of Israel -for four or five centuries--and therefore, if David can capture it, -he will possess a redoubtable stronghold. Jerusalem, therefore, was -besieged and taken. Secure in Jerusalem, David extended his conquests -on every side, subduing Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, and -Midianites; placing garrisons in the towns of Syria, and even extending -his rule as far as the river Euphrates. Of all these countries -Philistia alone comes into the survey of Western Palestine. - -Gaza, the capital of Philistia, still exists as an inhabited city, and -is very picturesquely situated, having a fine approach down a broad -avenue from the north. It rises on an isolated hill, about 100 feet -above the plain, and bristles with minarets. The population is given -by Conder as eighteen thousand, including sixty or seventy houses -of Greek Christians. The town is not walled, but the green mounds -traceable round the hill are probably remains of the ancient enclosure. -The new mosque, built some forty or fifty years ago, is full of marble -fragments, from ancient buildings which were principally found near -the sea-shore. East of the Serai is the reputed tomb of Samson; and -south-east of the city is a hill called the Watch-tower, to which -place, according to tradition, Samson carried the gates of Gaza. A -yearly festival of the Moslems is held there. - -North-east of Makkedah, Ekron still stands, on low rising ground--a -mud hamlet, with gardens fenced with prickly pears. Conder says there -is nothing ancient here. - - [Illustration: TELL ES SAFI. (Site of Gath?) (_By favour of - the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -At Azotus, or Ashdod, one of the Philistine cities, is a large mound, -with columns cropping up out of the ground on the outskirts of it. -Mr Trelawney Saunders, the geographer, has described the site in his -“Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.” Ashdod, on a hillock -(alt. 140 feet), at the western end of the plain of Zeita, is now -separated from all that remains of its port, by sand-downs 3 miles in -breadth. The site is occupied by the present village of Esdud, with -eighteen hundred people, but the remains of this primeval city, once so -strong and mighty, are so few and insignificant that one is tempted to -suppose the greater part of the city may be buried beneath the sands. -If so, they may be in a superior state of preservation, and would -perhaps repay for digging out. - -Gath, the birth-place of Goliath, has long been a lost city, but is now -reasonably identified with _Tell es Sufi_ at the mouth of the _Wady_ -or water-course which runs from near Hebron, past Adullam and Shochoh, -and westward towards Ashdod. It is the site of the Crusading fortress -of Blanche Garde, which was built in 1144 A.D. as an outpost -for defence against the people of Ascalon. It is now a mud village with -olives beneath it, standing on a cliff 300 feet high, which is burrowed -with caves. The Rev. Henry George Tomkins takes _Tell es Sufi_ to be -the “mound of Safi,” and regards Safi as a personal name. In a learned -paper in the _Quarterly Statement_, October 1886, he argues that Safi -was a brother of Goliath’s, and if so this is an additional reason for -regarding _Tell es Sufi_ as Gath. - -Ascalon, “the bride of Syria,” is still called Askalon. The -fortifications and walls are in ruins, and the site of the city is a -garden planted with fruit trees and vegetables. The walls are the ruins -of battlements, erected by Richard Lionheart in 1191 A.D., -in place of those destroyed by Saladin, and doubtless with the same -materials. They are half buried by the great dunes of rolling sand -which are ever being blown up by the sea breeze from the southward. -The whole interior of the site is covered with rich soil, to a depth -of about 10 feet, and the natives find fragments of fine masonry, -shafts, capitals, and other remains of the old city, by digging into -it. Of Herod’s beautiful colonnades nothing now remains. The Crusaders -had little respect for antiquities, and the innumerable granite pillar -shafts which are built horizontally into the walls are no doubt those -originally brought to the town by Herod. - -Conder says, “We heard a curious tradition at Ascalon. A tomb had been -opened by the peasantry, near the ruin, some thirty years ago. Under a -great slab, in the eastern cemetery, they found a perfectly preserved -body, with a sword by its side, and a ring on its finger. The dead eyes -glared so fiercely on the intruders that they let fall the slab; and as -one of the party soon after died, they came to the conclusion that it -was a _Nebi_ or Prophet whom they had disturbed, and the place has thus -become surrounded with a mysterious sanctity.” - -In the days of David’s grandson the kingdom of the Israelites divided -in two, and began the new phase of its existence as the parallel -monarchies of Israel and Judah. The disruption, it may be said, was -owing to the fact that Ephraim envied Judah, and Judah vexed Ephraim. -Naturally, the split, when it came, took place along a line between -these two powerful tribes and right athwart the tribe of Benjamin. -Benjamin was torn asunder--Jericho and Bethel going to the northern -kingdom, while other towns went to the south. Jerusalem continued to be -a capital, but it was now the capital of the kingdom of Judah only; and -Shechem was chosen as the capital of the northern kingdom, which was -called Israel. - -But these northern monarchs had their pleasant summer residences as -well, corresponding to Windsor or Versailles. One of these was Samaria, -another was Tirzah, a third was Jezreel. - -The Samaria of the present day is a large and flourishing village of -stone and mud houses, standing on the hill of the ancient Samaria. -The most interesting ruins now to be seen there are those of Herod’s -colonnade to the west of the modern village. The colonnade seems to -have surrounded the whole city with a kind of cloister, which was 60 -feet wide, and the pillars 16 feet high. The city of Samaria of the Old -Testament has disappeared. But the kings of Israel were buried here, -and the ancient tombs may yet perhaps come to light. - -Tirzah, famous for its beauty, is the only Samaritan town mentioned -among the royal cities taken by Joshua. Conder finds it in the present -mud hamlet of Teiasir. It was delightfully situated on a plateau where -the valleys begin to dip suddenly towards Jordan. - -Conder found numerous rock-cut sepulchres burrowing under the houses; -and he thinks that some of them are probably those of the early kings -of Israel, before the royal family began to be buried in Samaria. - -Jezreel is now called Zerin, and the site of Ahab’s palace is now a -village, surrounded by heaps of rubbish. The position of Zerin is -remarkable. On the south the ground slopes gently upwards towards the -site, and on the west also the place is accessible. But on the north -the ground is extremely rugged and falls rapidly, and on the east -occurs a saddle separating the high point on which the town stands -from the Gilboa chain, the road ascending from the valley and the -neighbourhood of ’Ain Jalud. The top of the hill is 284 feet above -this spring, which is visible beneath. Thus the site is naturally -strong, except on the south-west. It is conspicuous from the plain, and -it commands a view down the valley to Beisan and the trans-Jordanic -ranges. Major Conder, climbing up to the village, was struck by the -absence of any traces of antiquity. But the houses stand on a mound of -rubbish, and in this a great number of ruined cisterns exist. - -Ahab from his palace in Jezreel looked down upon Naboth’s vineyard. -There seem to be no vineyards in the neighbourhood now; but on the east -and south-east there are rock-cut wine-presses on the rugged hills, -where no doubt the “portion of the field of Naboth” and his vineyard -are to be placed. The commanding position of the place would also -enable Joram’s watchmen, looking down the Valley of Jezreel, to observe -the two horsemen sent forward by Jehu coming up from Bethshan--the -dust raised, the gleam of their armour--and Jehu himself following and -“driving furiously.” It was by “the fountain which is in Jezreel” that -Saul had pitched before the fatal battle of Gilboa. - -Here at Jezreel, with Mount Carmel in the distance, we are reminded -that the sacrifice which Elijah offered did not take place on the point -of Mount Carmel nearest the sea, as commonly imagined, but much nearer -to Jezreel, on a part of the range where our explorers discovered a -perennial spring, that would supply the prophet with water when the -rest of the country was dry. Stationed at this spot, he might see the -palace of Jezebel in the city of Jezreel. From this position he sent -his servant a few minutes’ distance, to the highest point of the range, -where he could overlook the sea and perceive the little cloud rising. -Then said Elijah, “Get thee down, Ahab, there is a sound of abundance -of rain”--get thee down Ahab, or the river of Kishon will sweep thee -away! Elijah himself, amidst the rushing storm, ran before the chariot -of the monarch, down the slope, and as far as the entrance of Jezreel. -And soon thereafter, fearing Jezebel’s threats, he journeyed swiftly by -the north and south road, nor stopped till he got to Beersheba. This is -the extremity of Judah, and here he leaves his servant behind him and -plunges into the wilderness, for he is going to “Horeb, the Mount of -God,” to seek a revelation. - -Elijah was commissioned to call Elisha to be his successor; and Elisha -in his turn made frequent resort to Mount Carmel. When the Shunamite -woman came to him there, her journey lay across the plain, and he could -see her approaching (2 Kings iv. 24). Shunem, now called _Sulem_, -stands on the southern slope of _Neby Duhy_ (Little Hermon), and is -only a mud hamlet, with cactus hedges and a spring. West of the houses -there is a beautiful garden, cool and shady, of lemon trees, watered -by a little rivulet, and in the village is a fountain and trough. -Westward the view extends as far as Carmel, 15 miles away. Thus the -whole extent of the ride of the Shunamite woman, under the burning -noon-tide sun of harvest-time, is visible. Conder remarks that if the -houses of that time were no larger than the mud-cabins of the modern -village, it was not a great architectural undertaking to build a little -chamber for the prophet; and the enumeration of the simple furniture -of that chamber--the bed (perhaps only a straw mat), the table, the -stool, and the lamp--seems to indicate that it was only a little hut -that was intended. Another point may be noted: how came it that Elisha -so constantly passed by Shunem? The answer seems simple; he lived -habitually on Carmel, but he was a native of Abel Meholah, “the Meadow -of Circles,” a place now called _’Ain Helweh_, in the Jordan Valley, to -which the direct road led past Shunem down the Valley of Jezreel. - -Before we leave the Plain of Esdraelon, which is also called the -Plain of Megiddo--and because of its typical character as the field -of great battles, is used in the Apocalypse as the scene of the great -final struggle, _Ar-Mageddon-_--let us glance at the fruitless effort -of Josiah, king of Judah, to stop the march of Pharaoh Necho. It was -in the last days of the Jewish monarchy, when the northern kingdom -had been already destroyed, that Palestine was first exposed to the -disastrous fate which involved her in so long a series of troubles -from this time forward--that of being the debatable ground between -Egypt and the further East; first under the Pharaohs and the rulers -of Babylon; then under the Ptolemies and Seleucidae. “In the days of -Josiah, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, went up against the king of -Assyria to the river Euphrates” (2 Kings xxiii. 29), possibly landing -his army at Accho (says Dean Stanley), more probably, as the expression -seems to indicate, following the track of his predecessor Psammetichus, -and advancing up the maritime plain till he turned into the plain of -Esdraelon, thence to penetrate into the passes of the Lebanon. King -Josiah, in self-defence, and perhaps as an ally of the Assyrian king, -went against him. Josiah would march by the watershed road, northward -from Jerusalem, and descend into the plain, perhaps by Dothan. The -engagement took place in “the Valley of Megiddo” (2 Chron. xxxv. 22). -The Egyptian archers in their long array, so well known from their -sculptured monuments, shot at King Josiah, as he rode in state in his -royal chariot, and he was sore wounded, and placed in his reserve -chariot, and carried to Jerusalem to die. Dean Stanley remarks that all -other notices of the battle are absorbed in this one tragical event, -and the exact scene of the encounter is not known. - -The position of Megiddo is not fixed very definitely in the Bible -narrative. But a broad valley (as we see above) was named from the -city, and the “waters of Megiddo” are also spoken of. Major Conder -believes he has found the place and the name, in the large ruined site -of Mujedda, at the foot of Gilboa--a mound from which fine springs -burst out, with the broad valley of the Jalud river to the north. -Otherwise Megiddo has been located on the _Mukuttà_, near _Lejjun_. Mr -Trelawney Saunders considers it an objection to Conder’s site that it -is separated from the river Kishon and the town of Taanach, and cannot -be made to fit in with the account of Ahaziah’s flight from Jezreel (2 -Kings ix. 27). The king, having been smitten at “the going up to Gur,” -near Ibleam, fled to Megiddo, where he died. But if Megiddo were in -the Plain of Bethshean he would hardly be likely to do this, seeing -that Jehu his enemy made his furious advance upon Jezreel through that -plain. Besides, he fled by the way of the “garden house,” En-gannim -(the modern _Jenin_); the garden-like character of which spot is still -preserved--and _Jenin_ would not be on the route between _Zerin_ and -_Mujedda_. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Tent Work in Palestine.” Major - Conder. “Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.” By - Trelawney Saunders. “Survey of Western Palestine.” P. E. Fund. - “Twenty-one Years’ Work in the Holy Land.” P. E. Fund.] - - - 9. _Sacred Sites of the Hebrews._ - -In order to pass in review the sites selected by the Israelites for -places of worship, it will be convenient to go back to the time when we -find the tribes encamped at Gilgal, on their first entrance into the -country. - -That Mount Sinai should remain sacred after the giving of the Law was -to be expected; and we have just now seen that its sacredness could -attract Elijah after many centuries. The Israelites, when they left -the wilderness, and came to sojourn in the outskirts of Moab, were -attracted by the shrine of Baal-Peor; but they were made to feel that -this was wrong, and the ambassadors of the western tribes refer to it -as a warning when they expostulate with their brethren about the altar -called Ed (Joshua xxii. 17). In passing over into Canaan, they carried -the Lord’s tabernacle with them; where that rested was holy ground, and -it was not intended that any rival site should be tolerated. - -The ark of the covenant--the chest which contained the agreement or -treaty between Jehovah and his people--was set down at Gilgal, the -tabernacle or holy tent was erected over it, and Gilgal became a sacred -place. Afterwards, when the hill country had been conquered, the ark -and tabernacle were brought to Shiloh, and then Shiloh became a sacred -place. Shiloh is now called _Seilun_, and here the ruins of a modern -village occupy a sort of _tell_ or mound. The position of the place -is remarkably retired, shut in between high, bare mountains. A deep -valley runs behind the town on the north, and in its sides are many -rock-cut sepulchres. “The site being so certainly known,” says Conder, -“it becomes of interest to speculate as to the exact position of the -tabernacle. Below the top of the hill, on the north of the ruins, -there is a sort of irregular quadrangle, sloping rather to the west, -and perched above terraces made for agricultural purposes. The rock -has here been rudely hewn in two parallel scarps for over 400 feet, -with a court between, 77 feet wide and sunk 5 feet below the outer -surface. Thus there would be sufficient room for the court of the -tabernacle in this area. From the Mishna we learn that the lower part -of the tabernacle erected at Shiloh was of stone, with a tent above. -There are, however, two other places which demand attention as possible -sites, one being, perhaps, a synagogue, the other a little building -called the ‘Mosque of the Servants of God.’” - -According to the Jews, the ark and tabernacle remained at Shiloh three -hundred and sixty-nine years--so long that Shiloh was regarded as only -second to Jerusalem in sanctity. In the disastrous days of Eli the ark -was sent into the battlefield and captured by the Philistines, who -carried it to Ashdod, to the temple of Dagon. When Dagon fell down -before it they sent it away again, and it was, after some adventures, -recovered by the men of Kirjath Jearim. Eventually David brought it to -Mount Zion, and then Zion became a sacred place. Solomon said, “the -places are holy whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come” (2 Chron. -viii. 11), and on that account he brought up the daughter of Pharaoh -out of the City of David (which is Zion, 1 Kings viii. 1), unto the -house that he had built for her. The ark never went back to Shiloh -after Eli sent it away. The tabernacle, however, appears to have -remained there for some time, and so Shiloh remained sacred in some -degree. - -Soon, however, even the tabernacle would appear to have been removed -from Shiloh, for although we have no direct mention of its removal, -we seem to find it in other places. Samuel, the successor of Eli, -judged the people, and on important occasions called the solemn -assembly and offered sacrifices. He was accustomed to do this at three -different places, which in his day were revered as sacred. One of -these was Gilgal, rendered sacred by the first resting of the ark: and -although the ark and tabernacle had been removed, and sanctity was to -be transferred along with them, yet it is not easy to obliterate the -sanctity of a place from the tradition and practice of the people. -Another of these three places was Bethel, where Jacob had seen his -vision of the ladder with angels ascending and descending, and had -been constrained to say, “This is the house of God and the gate of -Heaven.” The third place at which Samuel called assemblies and offered -sacrifices was not Shiloh, as we might suppose it would be, but one of -the many places called Mizpeh. We do not know where this Mizpeh was. -Conder is inclined to identify it with _Neby Samwil_--the Mount of -the Prophet Samuel, a conspicuous conical hill, 4 or 5 miles north of -Jerusalem; and as Mizpeh means a watch-tower, there is plausibility in -this suggestion. We do not know whether the tabernacle was pitched at -either of these three places in Samuel’s day: we do not know why Samuel -should be content to regard three different places as holy; but it is -not altogether impossible that the tabernacle was carried from one -meeting-place to another, and made each one holy in turn. - -A little later we seem to find the tabernacle nearer to Jerusalem. -When David is fleeing from King Saul, and taking the road from Rama in -Benjamin to Gath in the land of the Philistines, he comes to Nob, to -Ahimelech the priest, and is permitted to eat the shewbread (the holy -bread exhibited before the Lord in the sanctuary), and to carry off -the sword of Goliath, which had been laid up as a trophy. So here we -have the priests, the shewbread, and the tabernacle at Nob. As to the -locality of Nob, Dean Stanley follows Mr Thrupp in fixing it on the -northern summit of the Mount of Olives, and Mr Thrupp reminds us that -David brought the head of Goliath to Jerusalem, before the city itself -was captured (1 Sam. xvii. 54). David, in fleeing from Rama to Gath, -could hardly find a shorter or more convenient route than that which -took him past Jerusalem. - -This position for Nob is confirmed by Isaiah’s graphic and detailed -description of the advance of the Assyrian invader (Isaiah x. 28):-- - - He comes to Ai, passes through Migron, - At Michmash deposits his baggage; - They cross the pass, Geba is our night station: - Terrified is Ramah, Gibeah of Saul flees. - Shriek with thy voice, daughter of Gallim; - Listen, O Laish! Ah! poor Anathoth! - Madmeneh escapes, dwellers in Gebim take flight. - Yet this day he halts at Nob: - He shakes his hand against the mount, daughter of Sion, - The hill of Jerusalem. - -“In this passage” (says Sir Charles Wilson), “if it has a meaning--and -I cannot suppose that it has not--the prophet describes, in such detail -that it is difficult to believe he is not describing an actual event, -the march of an Assyrian army upon Jerusalem; and we may be quite -certain that, with his knowledge of the country, and writing as he did -for those who were equally well acquainted with it, he would describe -a line of march, which, under certain conditions, an army would -naturally follow if its special object were the capture of Jerusalem. -The conditions to which I allude are the passage of the great ravine -at Michmash, and encampment for the night at Geba; why this route -was selected in preference to the easier road along the line of -water-parting we have no means of ascertaining, and it does not affect -the question.” - -“Of the places mentioned by Isaiah, we know, with a considerable -degree of certainty, the positions of Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Gibeah, -and Anathoth; of the others nothing is known. From Geba to Nob was -evidently a day’s march in the progress of the army; and the order -in which the villages are mentioned leads us in the direction of -Jerusalem. If, as I believe, the passage means that the Assyrian -warrior was leading an army from Geba against Jerusalem, and that his -progress was suddenly arrested at Nob, we must seek a site for Nob on -the road between these two places, and I cannot imagine a more natural -one than some place in the vicinity of that Scopus whence, in later -years, Titus and his legions looked down upon the Holy City.” - -Doeg, the Edomite, who happened to be present when Ahimelech gave -David the sword, informed Saul, and Saul, who was mad with suspicion, -slew all the priests and utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Nob. -But even after the destruction of the sanctuary by his violence the -sanctity of the summit of Olivet was still respected. It was necessary, -however, to remove the tabernacle from the scene of so much bloodshed, -and perhaps it was immediately removed to the high-place of Gibeon, -where we find it in the early part of Solomon’s reign. - -The state of things at the beginning of the reign of Solomon is -described in 1 Kings iii.--“The people sacrificed in the high places, -because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those -days. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was -the great high place.” We learn from 2 Chron. i. that at Gibeon was -the Tent of Meeting (the tabernacle) which Moses had made in the -wilderness. Moreover, the brazen altar made by the inspired artist in -the wilderness was there before the tabernacle, and Solomon and the -congregation sought unto it, and offered a thousand burnt offerings -upon it. - -Thus far, then, we have at least half a dozen sacred places, venerated -in turn, and more or less acknowledged simultaneously,--namely, Gilgal, -Bethel, Shiloh, Mizpeh, Nob, and Gibeon. To these we must add Zion, to -which David brought the ark, setting it up in the tent which he had -prepared for it, though _the_ tent, time-honoured and sacred, was at -Gibeon (2 Sam. vi. 17; 1 Chron. i. 4-6). - -The ark, however, did not remain in “the city of David, which is Zion;” -for when the temple was built upon Mount Moriah, the ark was brought -up into the oracle of the house, with much sacrificing of sheep and -oxen, and the Tent of Meeting was brought along with it (1 Kings -viii.). Mount Moriah was now God’s holy mountain, and it was intended -to concentrate all public worship at the Temple. Even previously -it had been the law that the high places of the heathen should be -discarded, and irresponsible sacrifice in the open field should be -discountenanced, and that every man who had sacrifices to offer should -bring them to the tabernacle, wherever the tabernacle might be located -at the time (Levit. xvii. 1-6; Deut. xii. 1-6). So, now that the -permanent temple had superseded the wandering tent, it was ordered, of -course, that all sacrifices and public worship should take place on -Mount Moriah. “For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height -of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all -of them, serve Me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will -I require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with -all your holy things” (Ezek. xx. 40). - -Nevertheless, during the years of David’s reign, and until the temple -was built, the ark resting on Zion conferred sanctity on that mountain. -Psalms of David, and others written at that time, would of course make -reference to Zion and not yet to Moriah. - - “In Salem also is his tabernacle, - And his dwelling-place in Zion.” - Psalm lxxvi. 2. - -And even after the ark had been carried up to the Temple, Mount Zion -would retain its sanctity by tradition; or perhaps the name Zion would -be extended so as to include Moriah, as they may in truth be related as -the slope and the summit of the same hill.[19] - -His foundation is in the holy mountains, - - “The Lord loveth the gates of Zion - More than all the dwellings of Jacob.” - Psalm lxxxvii. 1. - -So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy -mountain. (Joel iii. 17 and Zech. viii. 3). - -Human nature would not be what it is if theory and practice always -went hand in hand. Laws may be good, but universal obedience to them -cannot always be secured. Solomon himself, who had built the temple, -and by bringing the Tent of Meeting into it, had disestablished Gibeon, -set the example, in his later years, of recognising afresh other -high places and the gods of the heathen. Having married “women of -the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites,” besides -the daughter of Pharaoh, he doubtless thought it only an enlightened -toleration to let them worship in their own way, and as a logical -consequence he supplied them with the means, and perhaps occasionally -accompanied them to their respective places of worship. “For Solomon -went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,” and “did build a -high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is -before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of -Ammon. And so did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and -sacrificed unto their gods” (1 Kings xi.). - -We see in this passage that the site selected as the high place for -Chemosh was on the Mount of Olives--perhaps the place where Nob had -stood, a site which had the tradition of sanctity already. - -Many later kings imitated Solomon, and declined to regard Jehovah -as the only God, or the holy mountain at Jerusalem as the only high -place possessing sanctity. It was hardly to be expected that the -people should be more faithful than their kings; and the after history -furnishes many examples of lapses into heathen worship, and periodical -reforms attempted by such kings as Josiah and Hezekiah. It was not -convenient for the more distant tribes north of Esdraelon or east of -Jordan to come up to Jerusalem to worship. Added to this consideration -there was the local shrine, and time-honoured tradition in its favour. -Just as in our own country Ripon cathedral is built over St Wilfrid’s -Saxon church, and St Paul’s cathedral on the site of a heathen temple, -so on the part of the Israelites there was a disposition to keep to the -old spots. What wonder if there was, besides, a frequent adherence to -the old forms of worship? - -The tribes east of Jordan worshipped eastern gods--Peor, Chemosh, -Milcom. Gad worshipped the god of Fortune (Isaiah lxv. 11), and was -named after that deity. Josephus spells the name of Reuben as _Reubel_ -(Ρουβελος), and Bel was one of the eastern gods. Manasseh had a -sanctuary in the city of Golan. From the east of Jordan came Jephthah, -who made a rash vow like a heathen, and kept it, although it involved -human sacrifice. - -Beyond Esdraelon we have Kadesh Naphtali, a heathen sanctuary adopted -by the Israelites as a city of refuge, but apparently without any -entire suppression of the original worship. The place is now called -_Kedes_, and among the ruins found by the explorers are those of a -temple with a figure of an eagle on the lintel, besides richly executed -scroll-work of vine-leaves, bunches of grapes, a stag, and a bust -(possibly of Baal). There were also places called Beth-shemesh (House -of the Sun) scattered up and down the country. - -At the disruption of the kingdom, Jeroboam, fearing that his subjects -would be attracted to the religious festivals at Jerusalem, established -two other centres. One of these was Bethel, convenient for the southern -part of his kingdom, and sacred already, because there Abram had -builded an altar, and Jacob had seen his vision, and Samuel had called -solemn assemblies. The other was Dan, convenient for the northern part -of his kingdom, and sacred again, already, for here, in the time of the -Judges some colonists from the tribe of Dan had set up a graven image -and established a priesthood. Besides, it was probably a sanctuary of -the Phœnician inhabitants whom the Danites displaced; and, as we have -seen in a previous chapter, the heathen god Pan came to be worshipped -here. Thus we see that Jeroboam selected religious centres which -combined traditional sanctity with geographical convenience. - -When the tribes of the northern kingdom were carried into captivity, -and the Assyrian conquerors brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah, -and from Avva, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the -cities of Samaria (2 Kings xvii. 24), the foreigners, or the mixed -population which sprung up, fixed upon Mount Gerizim as their sacred -high place. But Mount Gerizim already possessed a traditional sanctity, -for the ark and tabernacle had accompanied Joshua to Shechem; the -tribes had assembled on the twin mountains to hear the reading of the -Law; and in earlier time Abram had builded an altar hereabout, the -first altar to Jehovah in all the Holy Land. - -Thus there were many high places in Palestine, and there was much -disputing as to which should have the pre-eminence, the jealousy -reaching its height in the later centuries in the rival claims of -Gerizim and Jerusalem. No final solution was possible excepting that -which Jesus Christ gave to the woman of Samaria. “The hour cometh, and -now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit -and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God -is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and -truth.” (John iv. 23). Local centres lose their special sanctity -because “every place is holy ground.” The Temple at Jerusalem might -be destroyed--probably soon would be--but within a marvellously short -period the spiritual temple would take form. For such true teaching -Jesus Christ was crucified and Stephen stoned. - - * * * * * - -It was a matter of much interest to Major Conder to find out if -possible where the mountain of the scape-goat was situated. According -to the Law of Moses the scape-goat was led to the wilderness, and there -set free. “This was not, however, the practice of the later Jews. A -scape-goat had once come back to Jerusalem, and the omen was thought so -bad that the ordinary custom was modified, to prevent the recurrence of -such a calamity. The man who led the goat arrived at a high mountain -called Sook, and there was at this place a rolling slope, down which he -pushed the unhappy animal, which was shattered to atoms in the fall.” -The district where this was done was called Hidoodim, and the high -mountain Sook. Sook was 6½ English miles from Jerusalem, as reckoned -by the ten tabernacles which divided the messenger’s path into stages -of 2000 cubits. Conder identifies the place in the neighbourhood of -the convent of St Saba. At the required distance from Jerusalem is the -great hill of _El Muntâr_, the highest point of a ridge of mountains -running north and south. The rest of the ridge is called _El Hadeidûn_; -and beside the ancient road from Jerusalem is a well called _Sûk_. -From this high ridge the victim was yearly rolled down into the narrow -valley beneath, at the entrance of the great desert, which first -unfolded itself before the eyes of the messenger as he gained the -summit half a mile beyond the well of Sûk. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--Colonel Warren, Colonel Wilson, - &c., in the _Quarterly Statements_, P. E. Fund. “Tent Work in - Palestine.” Major Conder. “Sinai and Palestine.” Dean Stanley.] - - - 10. _The Method of the Survey, and Incidents of the Work._ - -At the commencement of the Triangulation Survey a base line was -measured, near Ramleh, on the Jaffa plain, and this was afterwards -checked by a second line measured on the Plain of Esdraelon. The method -of work employed is described by Major Conder, both in his “Tent Work” -and in his volume called “Palestine.” The camp, consisting of three -or four tents, was pitched in some convenient central position, by a -town or village. Thence the surveyors were able to ride 8 or 10 miles -all round, and first visited a few of the highest hill-tops. As each -was found satisfactory, or one near it preferred, they built great -cairns of stones, 8 or 10 feet high, and whitewashed them to make them -more conspicuous. This work took about five days. When the points -were chosen, five more days were consumed in revisiting them with the -theodolite, which travelled in its box bound to the back of a mule, -the muleteer perched behind it; and with it went the saddle bags, -holding lunch, the chisel and hammer for cutting the broad arrow on the -summits of the hills, the hatchet for hewing down trees and copses. -From two to four hours were spent at each point, fixing the position of -every prominent object, tree, village, white dome or minaret visible -within 10 miles. “The names were collected” (says Conder) “from the -peasant who accompanied the party, and as the afternoon shadows began -to lengthen, we slowly wound down the hill-side, a rough-looking -cavalcade, preceded by our Bashi-bazouk in his red boots, armed to -the teeth, and followed by the non-commissioned officers, who had -become well accustomed to their stout little Syrian ponies, whilst the -pack-mule and guide came last. We all wore revolvers and the native -head-dress, the Bedawin _Kufeyeh_ or shawl, a sure protection from -sun-stroke and substitute for an umbrella. Our appearance was therefore -an extraordinary compound of European and Bedawin, which is often, -however, assumed by the Turkish officials in travelling, and thus -attracted less attention.” - -The theodolite work over, and the fixed points laid down, the filling -in of the detail followed. The two non-commissioned officers divided -the work between them, and Major Conder took alternate days with each, -to enable him to do the hill sketching and examine the geology. In open -country they found the daily riding pleasant, but when the hills were -precipitous and the valleys deep and stony, the labour was very severe. -Starting at eight, resting at noon, returning at sunset, and sleeping -immediately after dinner, the days sped by with wonderful rapidity, and -the Survey spread gradually over the country. - -The old cultivation was traced by the wine-presses, olive-presses, -ruined terraces, and rude garden watch-towers. Ancient sites were -recognised by their tombs, cisterns, and rocky scarps. In seeking to -identify sites the greatest care was exercised: it was laid down that -the site must show traces of antiquity; it must be known to the natives -under its original name, or a modification of that name; its position -must suit the known accounts of the place; and the measured distances -must lend confirmation. - -The new map was to include every object that has a name, and the name -itself was to be correctly given. But here was a difficulty. How are -names to be accurately ascertained in Palestine? The natives are -perverse, or they suspect you of designs against their country, and -they purposely mislead you. On the other hand, they are obliging, and -if you express a hope that you have found a Scripture site, which -you name, they will confirm your impression that it is so. Or it may -be that you yourself are deficient in Arabic, and after being at the -greatest pains to inquire the name of a site, find that the name you -have noted down signifies “a heap of stones.” A story is told of -a European traveller who asked his guide the name of a place, and -received the reply--_Mabarafsh_. Carefully marking it on the sketch-map -of his route, he by-and-bye inquired concerning a second site which -he did not recognise, and received the same reply--_Mabarafsh!_ Of -course it is possible that names should be repeated, as in England we -have several Newports, Nortons, and Hamptons; but _Mabarafsh_ actually -means, “I don’t know!” A wise suggestion was made that travellers and -surveyors should always get the sheikh of the village to write down the -name correctly in Arabic; but, unfortunately, only one sheikh in ten -can write at all, and he cannot spell correctly. - -The plan adopted by the Survey party was one which guarded as far as -possible against all mistakes. It is described by Major Conder in “Tent -Work,” where he speaks as follows of his inquiries in the neighbourhood -of Hebron. “My party now consisted of three non-commissioned officers; -and Lieutenant Kitchener was expected to join me in about a month. We -had with us eleven natives, including Habib the head man, a scribe, a -second valet, two grooms, the cook (a villain who only sat and watched -his boy cooking), two muleteers, and two Bashi-bazouks; the party -was thus at its full strength composed of only sixteen persons, with -nine horses and seven mules.... By night a guard was provided by the -sheikh of the village. Four guides were hired, who received a shilling -a day, a mule to ride, and breakfast. The information which they gave -the Surveyors was written down from their mouths by the scribe, an -intelligent young Damascene recommended by Mr Wright. Thus correctness, -both of pronunciation and of locality, was ensured, and the names -were checked by every means in our power. Besides obtaining names -from the local guides, inquiry was made of peasants, and generally of -several peasants separately. No leading questions were put, nor were -either guides or peasants allowed to suppose that one name would be -more acceptable than another. Such was the daily routine. The parties -left by eight a.m. and returned by five p.m.; dinner was at sunset, -and from about eight to eleven, or even until midnight, I studied, -after the day’s work, the topography of the district. This labour was -not unrewarded, for one might easily have passed over many places of -interest had one not known the points to which Mr Grove and other -scholars required special attention to be directed.” - -Fortunately in Palestine the ancient names retain their hold very -tenaciously, and reassert themselves after all the efforts of -conquerors to displace them. Thus the town of Bethshan (or Bethshean) -which in Greek and Roman times became Scythopolis, is to-day again -known to the natives as _Beisan_. _Tell-el-Kadi_, at the foot of -Mount Hermon, signifies in Arabic the “heap of the Judge;” but in -Hebrew the word for judge is _Dan_, and this is the mound of Dan, -the northern extremity of the land whose length was measured “from -Dan to Beersheba.” Shiloh is now called _Seilun_, and no site is -more certain. Almost every important site retains its Biblical name. -The pretentious titles, Eleutheropolis, Nicopolis, &c., have quite -vanished, and the old native names of these cities, _Beth Gubrin_, -_Emmaus_, &c., are those by which they are now again known. An -important exception, however, is _Nablous_ (corrupted from Neapolis) -for the ancient Shechem--a change which may perhaps be traced to Jewish -hatred of the name of Shechem. - -Tradition also is valuable as confirming the identification of sites, -although it might be insufficient if it stood alone. In the case -of Jacob’s Well, near Nablous (Shechem), the Hebrew and Samaritan -traditions, the Mohammedan and Christian traditions, all agree. -There is agreement also about the grotto at Bethlehem, under the -Church of the Nativity, as the place of Christ’s birth. There can be -no question that the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham -bought for a burial place, is that which is now covered by the great -mosque at Hebron. And here again we have that valuable consent of -traditions--Jewish, Christian, and Moslem--which seems to distinguish -the true sites from those less genuine concerning which two or more -discordant traditions have arisen. The Prince of Wales, Dean Stanley, -and a few other Europeans have been admitted into the mosque; but -it seems very doubtful if any living being has ever descended into -the mysterious cavern beneath the floor since the Moslem conquest -of Palestine. The surrounding wall of the mosque is also one of the -mysteries of Palestine, and a monument inferior only to the Temple -Enclosure at Jerusalem, which it resembles in style. - -The Temple Area at Jerusalem is still a sanctuary; and the Tower -of Antonia maintains its military character in the present Turkish -barracks. In Palestine we find a Mohammedan mosque where a Christian -church used to be--and built from the same materials. The church in -its time had followed a Jewish synagogue. Throughout the country for -thousands of years the people have gone on living in the same way -and in the same place, and calling the places by the same names. The -name of almost every village is Hebrew, and each stands on the great -dust-heap into which the ancient buildings have crumbled. The Hebrew -names are retained, and are scarcely changed since the days of Abraham, -because the peasantry are really Semitic in descent. - -In those parts of the country which are seldom visited by Europeans the -natives were much astonished to see the Survey party at work. At one -place called _Baka_ (in the Sharon district) the great gig umbrella -over the theodolite attracted much attention, and the chief delight -to elderly men was a peep through the theodolite telescope. “What do -you see, O father?” cried the less fortunate who crowded round the -observer. “I see Hammad and his cows, two hours off, as if he were -close here!” replied the delighted elder. - -It was a common notion that the English intended to take the country, -the Survey being only preparatory to that step. The land was being -parcelled out, and cairns erected on the high mountains where the chief -men would build their houses. The surveyors were looking for crosses -cut on the ruins, and intended to claim ownership of all such places. -Most of the peasantry believed they were seeking for hid treasure, -which by incantation would be wafted to England. Sometimes they dug -for gold under the cairns; often they pulled them down, and had in -consequence to be imprisoned. A shepherd saw the party levelling, and -had a vague idea they were making a railway, “Will you let the sea -into Jordan?” he asked, “or will the steamships go on wheels?” “The -best idea” (says Conder) “was that we were sent by the Sultan to see -what villages had become ruinous, and to remit their taxes. We were -favourites then!” - -The work of the Survey was not carried out without frequent -discomforts. For instance, the Bukei’a plain is good corn land, “but -seems to have a bad natural drainage, and our mules floundered in deep -bogs, sometimes up to their girths. Farther north we began to descend -a long valley, and came on a different kind of country, a basaltic -outbreak appeared, and cliffs tilted in every direction; the valley bed -was strewn with fragments of hard basalt. Passing over a bare ridge we -descended into a most desolate valley where a muddy stream was flowing. -We had ridden 15 miles, and it now began to rain again. We found to our -dismay that this was where we had to camp, as no other supply of water -existed in a position central to the new work. We soon made a still -more unpleasant discovery. The valley was full of clear springs, but -they were all tepid and salt. If the Survey was to be done at all, it -appeared that we should have to drink brackish water for ten days or -more. Here, then, we sat down on the wet grass, in a driving drizzle of -rain, by the brackish stream: not a soul was to be seen, either Bedawi -or peasant, and it was evident that food would have to be brought from -a distance. The mules soon arrived with our tents and beds, which -though soaked with rain, we set up on the bare ground. Of course all -the party were cross, and thought themselves injured. I had a very bad -cold and rheumatism, and Habib had tic-douloureux. The Arabs looked -wretched; but I was glad they should have their share of the hardships, -for, unlike our Abu Nuseir friends at Jericho, they were the most lazy -and good-for-nothing tribe we had come across.” - -Again, at the miserable little hamlet of _El B’aineh_--between -Lake Tiberias and the Mediterranean--they found the inhabitants all -fever-stricken from the malarious exhalations of the great swamp, -which even as late as July extended over half the plain. The place -was evidently unhealthy, and they were tortured by armies of huge -mosquitoes, rendering sleep impossible at night. Attacks of fever were -frequent. “Once or twice” (says Conder) “the fit came on while I was -riding, and I can imagine nothing more disagreeable than to be 10 miles -from home on a rough road, with a fever headache.” - -One night the Sukr Arabs tried to steal the horses, but the big dog -gave a sharp bark, and the thieves were seen and fired on just as they -reached the tethering rope. In another place, when the dog had been -left behind, a thief came into the tents, ripped up the saddle-bag -containing the provisions and took them all with him, besides the tin -washing-basin, and the plates, bread, chickens, and barley from the -servants’ tents--all being noiselessly and neatly accomplished in about -ten minutes. The next morning the party were without food. - -But there were worse things than these to endure. In the district of -David’s wanderings Corporal Brophy was attacked by four cowherds, who -abused him as a “pig,” and threatened to stone him. He had, indeed, -some difficulty in escaping. “The first really serious attack on the -party” (says Conder), “though not the last nor the worst, was made near -Mount Carmel. Sergeant Black was quietly surveying near the village of -_El Harithiyeh_, where, as it appeared afterwards in evidence, a fete -or ‘fantasia’ was being held. The young men were firing at a mark, and -one or more turning at right angles, deliberately fired at the sergeant -on the neighbouring hill. He must have been in no little danger, as he -brought home two bullets which had fallen near him.” - -On the 10th July 1875 a very serious attack was made upon the whole -party, and it is a marvel that any of them escaped with their lives. -Fatigued with a long and arduous march, and a final ascent of 2000 -feet, they chose a camping ground north of _Safed_, a town which lies -in a saddle of the high mountains of Upper Galilee and looks down -on the lake. The tents were about half way up when Major Conder, -resting on his bed, in shirt-sleeves and slippers, heard angry voices -in altercation. Looking out, he saw to his astonishment a sheikh, -evidently a man of good position, engaged in throwing stones at Habib, -who, with his hands spread out, was calling the bystanders to witness -the treatment he underwent. Conder advanced to demand an explanation; -but the sheikh, who was mad with passion, strode up to him, seized -him by the throat and shook him, meantime pouring out unintelligible -words. Major Conder had been accustomed to be treated with respect, -even by the highest officials in the country; and he felt that if he -submitted to this insult he would lose his influence with the natives -for ever, so he knocked the man down. He got up and returned to the -attack, with one arm behind him. Conder knocked him down a second time, -and as he fell observed in his hand a knife with a blade a foot long. -Conder’s party consisted of five Europeans and ten Maronites, and when -the latter heard news of the insult received by their “Kabtân,” they -came running up, quite beside themselves, and soon seized the sheikh, -took his knife away, and bound his arms behind his back. The sheikh -cried out, “Where are my people?” and the Moslem bystanders began to -throw stones. Conder’s servants were running to the tents for arms, -for they had eight revolvers ready for use, besides three shotguns -and a rifle. Their “captain,” however, was wiser; he had the sheikh -immediately released, and sent Habib at once to the Governor of the -town. But the crowd presently numbered about three hundred, and all -the more violent engaged in hurling stones. Lieutenant Kitchener was -struck more than once, and a muleteer was knocked over. The cries which -Christians in Palestine have good reason to dread, associated as they -are with memories of bloodshed, were now raised by the mob--“Allah! -Allah!” and “Din! Din! Mohammed!” the cry of the Damascus massacres. -Presently a number of fully-armed men came running down the hill-side, -all relatives and retainers of the sheikh, who indeed, it afterwards -appeared, was no less a person than ’Aly Agha ’Allân, a near relative -of ’Abd el Kâder himself. “I advanced at once” (says Conder) “to meet -these assailants, and singled out two men, one a white-bearded elder -with a battle-axe, the other a tall man with a club. They addressed -me with many curses, and the old man thrust the battle-axe against -my ribs; but it was a wonderful instance of the influence which a -European may always possess over Arabs, that they allowed me to take -them by the arms and turn them round, and that on my telling them to -go home, with a slight push in that direction, they actually retreated -some little way. Meantime a most extraordinary figure appeared--a -black man with pistols in his belt, brandishing a scimitar over his -head, and bellowing like a bull. He was the Agha’s slave, and bent on -revenge; seeing him so near, and seeing also a gun pointed at my head, -I retreated to the tents. I could not help laughing, even at so serious -a juncture, when I found myself supported by Sergeant Armstrong, who -stood at ‘the charge’ armed with the legs of the camera-obscura! I now -saw that Lieutenant Kitchener was opposing another group to my right -front, and went forward to him, when I was greeted with a blow on the -forehead from a club with nails in it, which brought the blood in a -stream down my face. The man who wielded it raised it once more, in -order to bring it down on the top of my skull, but luckily I was too -quick for him, and ducked my head close to his chest. The blow fell -short upon my neck, but even then it stunned me for the moment, and I -staggered.” - -All the party were wounded, and as they were averse to using fire-arms, -they at last “bolted over thistles and stone-walls to a hill-side some -hundred yards away, and stood there in suspense and anxiety.” They were -much surprised to hear no more the cries of the crowd; but soon learned -that the Governor had sent a body of soldiers, and they were safe, at -least for the moment. They returned to camp, and held their ground for -the night, in spite of the threat of ’Aly Agha that he would come back -and cut their throats. Next morning they marched out in good order, -with four mounted guards, and made for the coast. Arriving at Acre they -laid the affair before the Pacha, and telegraphed to Constantinople; -for it would have been unsafe to attempt to continue their work until -the assailants had been punished. Such was the attack at Safed. It was -due to the insolence of one man, accustomed to overbear and bully the -few Christians who pass through the town, and to the fanaticism of the -Moslem population. - -The strain upon the Europeans had been too much for health. Excitement, -fatigue, pain, and anxiety, added to malarious poison imbibed in the -swamps, brought on a severe attack of fever. For twenty-four hours -Major Conder was not expected to recover. Lieutenant Kitchener also -soon succumbed, and the rest followed. They lay in their beds in the -Carmel convent, and Sergeant Armstrong nursed them. Truly, as Conder -remarks, the Survey of Palestine was no holiday work. - -The Committee who organized the Survey and the officers who carried it -out deserve our gratitude, for they have conferred a lasting benefit -upon Palestine travellers and upon all students of the Bible. We have -now a map by which a traveller can find his way. Dr Robinson and other -explorers of that day used to describe the position of a place by -saying it was two hours east from the last, and then one and a quarter -hours north-west; but we now have exact distances. We have a map which -helps us to understand Bible narratives of personal journeys or the -march of armies. We can now see which route _must_ have been followed; -we can pursue step by step the Scripture events. We are certain now -that the Bible could not have been written in any other country under -heaven. - -Before the Survey the Sea of Galilee was variously computed as being -from 300 feet to 600 feet below the Mediterranean: it is now fixed -at 682. The courses of the affluents of the Jordan are found to be -entirely different from those previously shown. Only four fords of the -Jordan were known and marked on the maps, whereas we now have more -than forty. Villages have had to be transferred from one side to the -other of the great boundary valleys. Scores and scores of Scripture -sites, wrongly placed or altogether lost, have been found and fixed. -And the finding of the sites has enabled the surveyors to trace -accurately the boundaries of tribes and provinces. How was it possible -to understand the Bible history unless we knew the situation of towns, -the boundaries of tribes, the fords and passes and valleys which were -open to foreign invaders? How could we understand it unless we knew -the routes of wayfarers and the way of commerce? These things have now -at last been ascertained, and with accuracy. When the base line which -was measured on the Jaffa plain was checked by a line measured on the -plain of Esdraelon, it was found to be perfectly satisfactory; and the -closing line when calculated in 1876 at Southampton had a margin of -only 20 feet, which is an invisible distance on the one inch scale. It -may be claimed for the Survey that the new discoveries are almost as -numerous as all those of former travellers put together; and nothing -so great has been done for the right understanding of the Old and New -Testaments since the translation of the Scriptures into the vulgar -tongue. - - [_Authorities and Sources (Western Palestine)_:--“Survey - Memoirs of Palestine Exploration Fund.” “Tent Work in - Palestine.” By Major Conder. “Palestine in its Physical - Aspects.” Rev. Canon Tristram. “Sinai and Palestine.” By Dean - Stanley. “Twenty-One Years’ Work in the Holy Land.” Published - by the P. E. Fund. “Memoir on the Geology.” Dr Ed. Hull. - “Mount Seir.” Dr Ed. Hull. “Introduction to the Survey.” - Trelawney Saunders. “Quarterly Statements of P. E. Fund.” - Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible.” “_Rob Roy_ on the Jordan.” - John Macgregor.] - - - 11. _The East of Jordan._ - -It would be well if the topographical survey could be extended so as -to cover all the ground occupied by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and -the half tribe of Manasseh. It is true indeed that the East of Jordan -is less intimately bound up with the Scripture narrative than the West, -yet still there are ninety-six places east of Jordan mentioned in -the Bible--Dr Selah Merrill estimates that there are two hundred and -forty--and it would be an advantage to have them all identified. On the -east side, also, the country is much more thickly strewn with ruins -than on the west; and although the so-called “giant cities” of Bashan -may not deserve that name, yet is the region full of Roman towns, of -Nabathean and Arab texts scrawled on the rocks, of Greek temples and -Greek inscriptions, and of dolmen groups yet older. - -In the absence of detailed trigonometrical survey of the whole region, -the map published by the Palestine Exploration Society in 1890 is the -best that could be compiled from all sources. The sources available -were--Van de Velde’s map as a general basis; the route maps of later -travellers; the work of the American Palestine Exploration Society as -reported in their “Statements;” Major Conder’s survey of 500 square -miles in the land of Moab in 1881 and 1882; and lastly, surveys made by -Herr Schumacher in the Hauran and the Janlan. - -_Bashan_: the territory of the half tribe of Manasseh. As an -illustration of the abundance of the ancient remains east of Jordan, Dr -Selah Merrill, the archæologist of the American Exploring Expedition, -says that every one who has visited _Kanawat_ is amazed at the number -and variety of the ruined buildings, castles, temples, churches, -convents, theatre, bath, palaces, reservoirs, underground apartments -or vaults, costly tombs, and still others which have never been fully -examined. Dr J. L. Porter found here what he calls a colossal head -of Astarte, sadly broken ... with the crescent moon (which gave to -this goddess the name _Karnaim_ or two-horned) still on her brow. Mr -Tyrwhitt Drake secured a stone at this place which was thought to be -part of an altar, upon two opposite sides of which were the features of -Baal and Astarte, boldly cut in high relief upon the closest basalt, -with foliage, showing the artistic hand. - -One’s first impression is that all the antiquities are of Roman times -and date only from the early centuries of the Christian era. This is -indicated not only by the style of architecture but by the considerable -number of inscriptions, which form an almost continuous chain from -the first century to the fourth. They belong to the Emperors Marcus -Aurelius, Lucius Aurelius Verus, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Alexander -Severus, &c. - -These Roman cities became converted to the religion of Christ, and then -not only were the sanctuaries of paganism transformed into Christian -sanctuaries, but new churches were erected adapted to the new worship; -houses, palaces, and tombs were built; even entire cities were founded. -At length all these Christian cities were abandoned at the same -time--probably at the epoch of the Mohammedan invasion--and since then -they have not been touched. Except that earthquakes have thrown to the -ground many of the walls and columns, they lack only beams and planks, -or they would be perfect edifices, which soon might be made habitable -again. - -But how intensely interesting the exploration of the district becomes -when we learn that underneath these towns of Roman date are the -dwellings of the earlier inhabitants! For example, _Burak_ is a city -of the Hauran which has been identified with the episcopal city -Constantia, founded, it is supposed, or at least embellished, by -Constantine. But Rev. W. Wright tells us that while the houses seem -to stand on a mound of black earth, they are in reality built on the -foundations of houses of a more remote antiquity. In one place he -descended to a depth of 16 or 18 feet, to see some pottery which had -lately been discovered, and he found the walls at that depth formed -of enormous undressed and unsquared stones, unlike the stones of the -superstructure, which are small in size and have been better prepared -for the walls. “Nor will it be doubted” (he says) “that beneath that -raised mound are buried the remains of one of the ‘three-score cities’ -that once existed in Bashan, and which still exist under changed -circumstances, sometimes under different names.” - -At another place, called _Dra’a_, Dr S. Merrill desired to explore -the underground caves or chambers which were known to exist, and the -sheikh sent his son as a guide. They went through several chambers, -galleries, and avenues, and then entered a small room, and followed a -passage leading out of it that had been cut in the solid rock. Soon -they were obliged to go on their hands and knees, and after proceeding -about thirty yards the guide came upon a human skeleton, at which he -was so shocked that he refused to go any farther, and the party were -obliged to return. How the skeleton came there was a mystery: some wild -beast may have dragged a body to the place, or a murder may have been -committed, or some person may have been trying to explore the caverns -and failed to find his way out. _Dra’a_ ought to be a rich field for -excavations, because at least three cities exist there, one beneath -another. The present Arab buildings and heaps of filth are, for the -most part, on the top of a Greek or Roman city, as is evident from the -walls which are exposed in a multitude of places, and the masons’ marks -which appear on them. And the Roman town appears to rest on one still -older, in which bevelled stones were used. But whether there are two or -three cities above ground, there is certainly a large one beneath them, -entirely excavated in the rock on which the upper cities stand. - -The underground dwellings at this place had been visited some years -before by Dr J. G. Wetzstein, and he also was prevented from making a -thorough exploration; for when his attendant’s light went out he was so -impressed with a sense of the danger they would be in if both lights -went out together, that he thought it prudent to retreat. But he had -seen a good deal. After passing a difficult passage he found himself -in a broad street which had dwellings on both sides of it, and whose -height and width left nothing to be desired. Farther along there were -several cross streets, and soon after they came to a market-place, -with numerous shops in the walls, exactly in the style of the shops -that are seen in Syrian cities. After a while they turned into a side -street, where a great hall attracted his attention, the roof formed of -a single slab of jasper, and supported by four pillars. Dr Wetzstein -speaks of this remarkable place as “old Edrei, the subterranean -labyrinthine residence of King Og.” - -Herr Schumacher has also visited this underground city of _Dra’a_ or -_Ed Der’aah_, and describes it, giving plans, in his work, “Across the -Jordan.” He regards such cities as the work of the earliest inhabitants -of Hauran, the so-called giants of Scripture. He was assured by the -sheikh Naif, and by many others, that this underground city extends -below the whole of _Ed Der’aah_. - -Although the chambers and passages were ventilated, the question -arises, why any people should choose to live in such gloomy seclusion -instead of in the light of day? Mr Schumacher’s conjecture is that -they did ordinarily live in the daylight, and that these subterranean -places were hollowed out in order to receive the population in time -of danger. They were thus prepared to stand a siege, as long as their -magazines were filled with food, their stables with cattle, and their -cisterns with water. If, however, the enemy had found out how to cut -off their supply of air, by covering up the air-holes, the besieged -would have been compelled to surrender or perish. Another circumstance -also might have proved disastrous--if armies of wasps found their way -into the underground city the inhabitants would be driven out. Some -writers think that this occurrence is actually spoken of in Exodus -xxiii. 28--“And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive -out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee;” and -Deut. vii. 20--“Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among -them, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before -thee”--_they that are left, and hide themselves_! - -Herr Schumacher and Mr Laurence Oliphant find many names and traditions -which lead them to regard the country of Western Hauran as probably -the land of Uz. “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job” -(Job i.). The old village of _Sheikh Sa’ad_ is a spot which from the -most ancient times has been held sacred to the memory of Job (_Neby -Ayyub_). We find there the ruins of the Monastery of Job (_Deir -Ayyub_), much venerated by the ancient people of the Hauran. At the -south-eastern extremity of the long low hill upon which the village -is built, and elevated about 40 feet above the surrounding plain, is -the “Rock of Job,” which stands now in a mosque. Here, so says the -legend, Job sat when he was leprous, and received his friends. The rock -is a monolith of basalt, 7 feet high and about 4 feet broad, and on -its surface are some illegible letters. There may be no truth in the -legend; but it serves to show how closely the name of Job is associated -with this region. - -About half a day’s journey due east from Bethshan is a place called -_Mahneh_, which several writers, on account of the similarity of name, -have been inclined to identify with Mahanaim, where Jacob met the -two companies of angels, and where David sojourned during Absalom’s -rebellion. A mound exists here, and Dr Tristram picked up some pieces -of old pottery, scattered about, so that it might be worth while to -excavate: but we must look elsewhere for Mahanaim. - -Mahanaim must have been some little distance north of the Jabbok, -because Jacob came to it before he crossed that stream. It must have -been in or near the Jordan Valley, for Jacob, in his prayer at that -place, says, “With my staff I passed over this Jordan,” language which -would not have been used if the Jordan were not within sight. The city -was assigned to one of Solomon’s commissariat officers (1 Kings iv. -14), from which we may infer that it represented a district. These -conditions appear to point to _Khurbet Suleikhat_, a large ruined -city at the mouth of _Wady Suleikhat_, 9 miles north of the Jabbok. -If we fix Mahanaim here we can understand why the name is in the dual -form--the two Mahans or camps--for the ruins lie on both sides of the -stream which here runs down the _Wady Suleikhat_ into the Jordan. -_Khurbet Suleikhat_ is some 300 feet above the plain, and among the -foot-hills, in such a way that it overlooks the valley, while the -road running north and south along the valley passes nearly a mile -to the west of it. A watchman from a tower could see to the north a -considerable distance, also clear across the valley to the west, and -down the valley to the south a long stretch, nearly or quite to the -point where the Jabbok and the Jordan unite, at the foot of _Kurn -Surtabeh_. - -We can now understand the account of the messengers who bore the news -of Absalom’s death to David. The battle between Joab and Absalom took -place a little to the south-east of Mahanaim. Josephus says that Joab -“put his army in battle array over against the enemy in the great -plain where he had a wood behind him” (Antiq. vii. 9, 8, and 10, 1-5). -Absalom’s men were routed, and fled through the forests and valleys, -pursued by David’s men. The battle was scattered over the face of all -the country (2 Sam. xviii. 8), and probably extended to the foot-hills. -The two messengers appear to start from some point on the hills, where -Joab stood on vantage ground. “The Cushite,” an Ethiopian slave of -Joab’s, attempted to go across over deep wadies and broken ground; but -Ahimaaz, who knew the country better, struck down to the Jordan Valley, -and ran by the way of the Plain (the _Kikkar_) where he had a level and -smooth road all the rest of the way. Consequently, although he started -second, he arrived first. David sat between the two gates at Mahanaim, -and the watchman went up to the roof of the gate unto the wall, whence -he descried the messengers approaching. - -Succoth also was a city east of Jordan, for Jacob came to it before he -crossed the Jordan from the east, and Gideon passed it after he had -crossed the Jordan from the west (Judges vii. 4). From the account of -Jacob’s return it would seem to be at no great distance from Mahanaim. -But notwithstanding that Jacob had crossed the Jabbok southward before -he met Esau, and journeyed to Succoth after parting with Esau, there -is reason for placing Succoth north of the Jabbok. Jacob recrossed the -stream. The Jerusalem Talmud tells us that Succoth, one of the cities -“in the valley,” came to be called Darala; and just north of the Jabbok -we find _Deir ’Alla_, one of the most conspicuous mounds or _tells_ -in the plain, 60 feet high, and covered with broken pottery of many -colours and qualities. The site was mapped by Warren in 1868. - -The word Succoth means “tents,” and perhaps the place was named from -the tents of the Arabs so constantly seen there. The region about the -mouth of the Jabbok is fertile, with abundant grass and water, and is -very much frequented now by the powerful desert tribes for the purpose -of pasturing their flocks and herds. When Gideon, who crossed the -Jordan near _Beisan_, had followed the Midianites down the valley to -Succoth, it is said that “he went up by the way of them that dwell in -tents,” apparently some well-known route leading up the Jabbok Valley -to the eastern deserts. - -A fair interpretation of the circumstances leads to the conclusion that -Penuel was not far east of Succoth. It was a fortified city, for it had -a tower, which Gideon threatened to break down; and was regarded by -Jeroboam as an outpost, useful in the defence of Shechem (1 Kings xii. -25). Dr Merrill finds that there is but one suitable site for it, and -that is at the mounds called the “Hills of Gold,” about 4 miles east -of Jordan, in the valley of the Jabbok. The mounds are very striking -objects; they are covered with ruins, and on the eastern side are the -remains of an ancient castle. The work is not Moslem, Christian, or -Roman; the stones are unhewn blocks, and appear to date from a remote -period. - -A large district east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee was called -Decapolis, or the region of the Ten Cities. The name occurs frequently -in Josephus and other writers, and three times in the Gospels. -Immediately after the conquest of Syria by the Romans (B.C. -65), ten cities appear to have been rebuilt, partially colonised, and -endowed with peculiar privileges. One of the cities was Scythopolis, -west of the Jordan; the others included Gadara, Geraza, Philadelphia, -Pella, &c., all on the east. The region, once so populous and -prosperous, is now almost without inhabitants; and the few families -that do remain--in Scythopolis, Gadara, and Canatha--live amid the -crumbling ruins of palaces, and in the cavernous recesses of old tombs. - -Herr Schumacher has explored Abila of the Decapolis (now _Tell Abil_), -and Gadara (at _Umm Keis_), and Pella (_Fahil_). - -Pella--situated just opposite _Beisan_, on the other side of the -Ghor--is the city to which the Christian believers fled when Titus -advanced to besiege Jerusalem. Epiphanius says that “they removed -because they had been forewarned by Christ himself of the approaching -siege.” Seventy years later (A.D. 135) when Hadrian rebuilt -Jerusalem as a Roman city, and changed its name to Ælia, the Christians -again left it and sought refuge in this elegant city of Pella in the -Jordan valley. Dr Merrill is inclined to think that Christ himself -had been in Pella (for we know that he visited Perea), and met with -such favour and success as to make the city a fitting asylum for his -followers. Herr Schumacher, after describing a rock-cut chamber of -rectangular shape, having a ceiling cut in the shape of a cross vault, -with two pillars on the southern and northern walls, says, “It may -be accepted as beyond doubt that we have here a cave, once inhabited -by those Christian anchorites, who, in the beginning of the Christian -era and during the Jewish wars, found a refuge at Pella. The flooring -consisting of earth and remains of charcoal, as well as the plan of the -whole, has no sepulchral character, but rather that of a habitation; -the passages being used to secure air and afford a way of escape in -case of persecution, for these small caves, if their door entrance was -carefully shut, were hardly visible from below, and the passage still -less. The entire northern slope is honeycombed with such caves.” - -The wonder is that Pella should ever have been forsaken, it is so -favoured in position. Even after the long summer drought, the springs -gushing out among the broken columns and ruins of former splendour -are abundant enough to make fertile all the neighbouring land, which, -situated on the upper level of the Ghor, and 250 feet below the sea, -enjoys, perhaps, the finest climate, from an agricultural point of -view, that can be found in Syria. - -The capital of Perea was Gadara, a city mentioned in the Gospel -narrative of the demoniac who had his dwelling among the tombs. The -population of _Umm Keis_ may be about two hundred souls, and the people -cultivate tobacco, vegetables, and grain. Below the ground occupied by -the present village, many caves and ancient burial places have been -discovered. The ruins include a Roman theatre and what may be the -remains of a castle. - -_Gilead._--The boundary of the tribe of Gad was some few miles north -of the Jabbok, for the territory included Mahanaim; while on the south -it extended to the Arnon. The region had belonged to the Ammonites; -and it was long before they were driven out, for even after Saul was -anointed King of Israel, Nahash the Ammonite besieged Jabesh Gilead and -sought to lay a hard condition of surrender upon the Israelites there -(1 Sam. xi.). This district is the land of Gilead or “Mount Gilead” -of the Bible. It is a good land for cattle, and would be prized by -agricultural people in any part of the world. “It is not to be wondered -at,” says Dr Merrill, “that the two and a half tribes were perfectly -willing to stay on the east of Jordan. Judea has no land to compare -with it; neither has Samaria, except in very limited portions. The -surface of the country is slightly rolling, but the fields are broad -and comparatively free from stone. Here common Arab trails broaden out -into fine roads. Here are rich pasture lands and luxuriant fields of -wheat and barley, and the ignorant Bedouin who own the soil point with -pride to the green acres that are spread out beneath the sun.” - -_Amman_, called in the Bible Rabbath Ammon (Deut. iii. 11; 2 Sam. xi. -1, &c.), was the chief city of the children of Ammon fifteen hundred -years before Christ. Here the bedstead of Og, the king of Bashan, was -taken by Joab, David’s general (2 Sam. xi. xii.), and Uriah the Hittite -was killed in one of the sorties. Rabbath Ammon was rebuilt by Ptolemy -Philadelphus, king of Egypt, and its name changed to Philadelphia. -Again it was destroyed by the Saracens when they conquered Syria. The -stream of the Jabbok ran right through Rabbath Ammon, and it was called -the “City of Waters.” It was after Joab had taken the City of Waters -that he sent to David and suggested that he should come and capture the -citadel himself, lest all the glory should go to his servant. - -Major Conder regards _Amman_ as the most important ruin surveyed in -Palestine, as regards its antiquarian interest, and the best specimen -of a Roman town that he visited, except the still more wonderful -ruins of Gerasa, which yield only to Baalbec and Palmyra among Syrian -capitals of the second century of our era. The Roman remains include -two theatres, baths, a street of columns, and remains of what was once -a very great temple on the highest part of the acropolis of the city. -Several noble families must have lived in the town, as shown by the -magnificent private tombs surrounding the city. - -But the oldest remains visible at _Amman_ are the dolmens, of which, -with other rude stone monuments, there are some twenty in all. Next to -these come the old rock-cut tombs, which Conder supposes to be of the -early Hebrew period. But who knows whether there be not a buried city -underneath _Amman_? The whole region south of _Amman_, and also north -and west of it, abounds in ruins. - -_Moab._--The country south of Gilead was given to the tribe of Reuben. -It was the land of the Moabites, and a land where Moabite kings -continued to reign, notwithstanding the rights of Reuben. From this -land came Ruth, to dwell at Bethlehem with Naomi, to marry Boaz, and be -held in memory by-and-bye as the ancestress of David. Perhaps it was on -account of Ruth that David found the king of Moab willing to give safe -asylum to his aged parents, while he himself braved the dangers of the -outlaw’s life (1 Sam. xxii. 3). Yet the time came when David fought -against the Moabites and conquered them, treating the captives with a -severity which makes us suspect that there had been some act of perfidy -or insult. It has been conjectured that the king of Moab betrayed the -trust which David reposed in him, and either killed Jesse and his wife -or surrendered them to Saul. We do not know. - -The strong fortress of Moab was Kir-Haraseth, or Kir-Hareseth, or -Kir-Heres (2 Kings iii. 25; Isaiah xvi. 7, 11); and it was on the walls -of this city that King Mesha offered his son for a burnt-offering, -and by the moral effect thus produced turned the tide of battle. We -have reasonable ground for identifying Kir-Heres with the modern -_Kerak_, near the south-eastern part of the Dead Sea. The allied armies -marched round the southern end of the Dead Sea to reach it, instead -of crossing the Jordan. “No chain of evidence,” says Dr Tristram, -“can be less open to cavil than that which identifies Kerak with -Kir-Moab (Isaiah xv. 1) or Kir-Hareseth. It was the castle ‘Kir,’ -as distinguished from the metropolis ‘Ar’ of the country, _i.e._, -Rabbath Moab, the modern _Rabba_.” The Targum translates the name as -“Kerakah.” The Crusaders mistook it for Petra, and gave to its bishop -that title, which the Greek Church has still retained, but the name in -the vernacular has continued unchanged. No wonder, as we look down from -the neighbouring heights upon it, that the combined armies of Israel, -Judah, and Edom could not take it, and that “in Kir-Haraseth left they -the stones thereof; howbeit the archers went about it and smote it,” -but to no purpose. - -The position is so strong by nature that it would be seized upon as a -fortress from the very earliest times. The platform on which the city -is built is on a lofty brow, which pushes out like a peninsula and is -only connected with other ground by a narrow neck. Two deep _wadies_ -flank it north and south, with steeply scarped or else rugged sides. -There have been originally only two entrances to Kerak, and both of -them through tunnels in the side of the cliff, emerging on the platform -of the town. - -Another town--reckoned to Reuben in an ancient fragment of poetry, -but rebuilt by Gad (Num. xxi. 30, xxxii. 34,)--was Dibon. It is now -identified with _Dhiban_, on the Roman road, about 3 miles north of -the Arnon, a spot where there are extensive ruins. It is described by -Dr Tristram as being quite as dreary and featureless a ruin as any -other of the Moabite desolate heaps. “With its waterless plain,” he -says, “the prophecy is fulfilled--‘Thou daughter that dost inhabit -Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler -of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds’ -(Jer. xlviii. 18). The place is full of cisterns, caverns, vaulted -underground storehouses, and rude semicircular arches. All the hills -about are limestone, and there is no trace of any basalt but what has -been brought here by man. Still there are many basaltic blocks among -the ruins, dressed to be used in masonry.” - -It was among these ruins that the famous Moabite Stone was found in the -year 1868. It is a block of basalt measuring about 3½ feet by 2 feet, -and has upon its face thirty-four lines of writing in the character -known as Phœnician. As the language also is Phœnician--or probably -Moabite, though closely related to Phœnician, and certainly closely -related to Hebrew--there would have been no great difficulty in reading -the inscription; but, unfortunately, when the Arabs found that the -stone was valued by Europeans, they quarrelled about the possession -of it and broke it up. About two-thirds of the fragments, however, -were recovered and pieced together; besides which, a “squeeze” of the -whole had been hurriedly taken before it was broken, and from this it -was possible to fill in some of the gaps. The restored monument is now -preserved in the Louvre at Paris, and a plaster cast is to be seen in -the British Museum. The inscription shows that the monument was set -up by Mesha, king of Moab (nearly nine hundred years before Christ), -to record victories which he had gained and public works which he had -accomplished. It would appear that after the allied armies retired -from the siege of Kir-Haraseth, the fortune of war changed and went in -Mesha’s favour. The translation of the inscription is as follows:-- - -“I, Mesha, am the son of Chemosh-Gad, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My -father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I reigned after my father. -And I erected this stone to Chemosh at Korcha, a (stone of) salvation, -for he saved me from all despoilers, and made me see my desire upon -all my enemies, even upon Omri, king of Israel. Now they afflicted -Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son succeeded -him, and he also said, I will afflict Moab. In my days (Chemosh) said, -(Let us go) and I will see my desire on him and his house, and I will -destroy Israel with an everlasting destruction. Now Omri took the land -of Medeba, and (the enemy) occupied it in (his days and in) the days -of his son, forty years. And Chemosh (had mercy) on it in my days; -and I fortified Baal-Meon, and made therein the tank, and I fortified -Kiriathaim. For the men of Gad dwelt in the land of (Atar)oth from -of old, and the king (of) Israel fortified for himself Ataroth, and -I assaulted the wall and captured it, and killed all the warriors of -the wall for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and Moab; and I removed from -it all the spoil, and (offered) it before Chemosh in Kirjath; and I -placed therein the men of Siran and the men of Mochrath. And Chemosh -said to me, Go, take Nebo against Israel. (And I) went in the night, -and I fought against it from the break of dawn till noon, and I took -it, and slew in all seven thousand (men, but I did not kill) the women -(and) maidens, for (I) devoted them to Ashtar-Chemosh, and I took -from it the vessels of Yahveh, and offered them before Chemosh. And -the king of Israel fortified Jahaz and occupied it, when he made war -against me; and Chemosh drove him out before (me, and) I took from -Moab two hundred men, all its poor, and placed them in Jahaz, and took -it to annex it to Dibon. I built Korcha, the wall of the forest, and -the wall of the city, and I built the gates thereof, and I built the -towers thereof, and I built the palace, and I made the prisons for the -criminals within the walls. And there was no cistern in the wall at -Korcha, and I said to all the people, Make for yourselves, every man, -a cistern in his house. And I dug the ditch for Korcha by means of the -(captive) men of Israel. I built Aroer, and I made the road across the -Arnon. I built Beth-Bamoth, for it was destroyed; I built Bezer, for -it was cut (down) by the armed men of Dibon, for all Dibon was now -loyal; and I reigned from Bikran, which I added to my land, and I built -(Beth-Gamul) and Beth Diblathaim and Beth-Baal-Meon, and I placed there -the poor (people) of the land. And as to Horonaim, (the men of Edom) -dwelt therein (from of old). And Chemosh said to me, Go down, make war -against Horonaim, and take (it. And I assaulted it, and I took it, and) -Chemosh (restored it) in my days. Wherefore I made ... year ... and -I ...” - -In 1881 Major Conder, aided by Lieutenant Mantell, was sent out to -begin the systematic survey of Eastern Palestine. The country at that -time was very much disturbed; but the party crossed the Jordan into -Moab, and for two anxious months laboured at very high pressure. After -measuring a base-line and connecting their triangulation with that west -of the river, they worked over 500 square miles in detail. And even -after attention was drawn to their presence they were able to extend -their work over a considerable area, and they came back from the desert -with their hands full of valuable results. - -One of the most remarkable discoveries was the abundance of menhirs, -dolmens, and stone-circles. They are numbered by hundreds, whereas in -Judea and Samaria there are none, and in Galilee only half a dozen. Dr -Merrill and Herr Schumacher found them abundant also in the Jaulan and -the rest of the Hauran. According to Herr Schumacher, an examination of -many specimens in Eastern Jaulan makes it apparent (1) that the dolmens -are always built on circular terraces, which elevate them about 3 feet -above the ground; (2) that in most cases they are formed by six upright -and two covering slabs; (3) that the major axes of the dolmens all -run east and west; (4) that the western end of the dolmens is broader -than the eastern; (5) that the western end is often distinguished by -headings, one on each corner of the top slab; and (6) that they vary in -size from 7 to 13 feet in length. He finds it difficult to avoid the -conclusion that these dolmens were built originally as burial places. -The covered chamber, elevated above the ground, and shut in by slabs, -was the first beginning of a sarcophagus; and the body was laid facing -the rising sun, with its head in the west. On the other hand Major -Conder, who finds in Moab many rude stone monuments of a different -kind, bids us remember that stones may be placed on end for more than -one purpose. After examining seven hundred examples in Moab and Gilead, -he has come to the conclusion that the sepulchral theory is often quite -untenable, though we cannot deny that bodies were buried in such stone -chambers sometimes. In many cases in Moab it was certain that no mound -of earth had ever covered the stones; there was nothing but hard rock -to be found, and sometimes the structure was not large enough to cover -even the body of a child. We must turn to local superstitions in order -fully to understand the use of trilithons and dolmens. Wild as are the -legends, they preserve, in Conder’s opinion, what was once the religion -of the dolmen-building tribes. After making measured drawings of about -a hundred and fifty dolmens in Moab, it seemed to him that the purpose -of the builders was to produce a flat table-like surface, which they -perhaps used as an altar. True that the dolmens are often more numerous -in a confined area than we should expect altars to be, but we must -not forget the story of Balaam and Balak, in which seven altars are -built on the same mountain top, and again seven more on a neighbouring -mountain top. Then, as to the absence of such monuments in Judea and -Samaria, Conder suggests that they may very probably have once existed, -and may have been purposely destroyed. Israel was commanded to “smash” -the _menhirs_ of the Canaanites, to “upset” their altars, and to -destroy their images. These commands Josiah, the zealous king of Judah, -is recorded to have carried into practice. - -Who built these structures? They are very likely the surviving work of -Canaanite tribes. Herr Schumacher assigns those of the Hauran to the -same period as the subterranean cities. - -There is a curious archæological note in Deuteronomy, which speaks of -the bedstead of Og, the king of Bashan, a bedstead 9 cubits long by -4 cubits wide. The passage had very much exercised the ingenuity of -commentators, and some of them supposed it to refer to a sarcophagus of -basalt. The Bible indeed speaks of a bedstead of iron; but basalt is -a material which resembles iron in appearance, and which is actually -known by the name of iron among the Arabs, while a stone coffin might -allowably be spoken of as a bed or bedstead. But Conder says there is -no basalt at Rabbath, and thinks it doubtful if Og was likely to be -buried in a sarcophagus at all. He is disposed to render the words as -Og’s _strong throne_, instead of “iron bedstead.” A memory of Irish -dolmens suggested to him a possible connection between Og’s throne -and some rude stone monument which tradition might have indicated as -a giant’s seat, just as in Ireland dolmens are the “beds of Grain and -Diarmed,” and connected with legends of giants. It was, therefore, -very striking to find a single enormous dolmen standing alone in a -conspicuous position near Rabbath Ammon, and yet more striking that the -top stone measured 13 feet (or very nearly 9 cubits of 16 inches) by 11 -feet in extreme breadth. - -If we look for a coffin or a bedstead rather than a dolmen, it is very -striking to find that parallels exist both for bedsteads and coffins of -the same gigantic dimensions. Dr Erasmus Wilson, describing the coffins -and mummies found at _Deir-el-Bahari_, says that, “the coffin of Queen -Nefertari is gigantic in stature, measuring with its feathered crest -13 feet long. It is made of cloth-board and modelled into the shape -of a statue, resembling, with arms crossed upon the chest, one of -those architectural columns which are denominated Caryatides.” Still -more remarkable is the bedstead of the Babylonian god Bel, described -by Mr George Smith in his account of the “Temple of Bel.” After some -description of the principal buildings, he says, “In these western -chambers stood the couch of the god, and the throne of gold mentioned -by Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. The couch is -stated to have been 9 cubits long and 4 cubits broad (15 feet by 6 feet -8 inches).” These are exactly the dimensions assigned to Og’s bedstead. - -Before leaving Moab it was Major Conder’s privilege to stand where -Moses stood, and view the landscape on all sides. There can be no -doubt about the identification of Mount Nebo. It was ascertained by -Canon Tristram; it has been confirmed by Conder, who finds the field -of Zophim close by; and Sir Charles Warren discovered the ruins of the -ancient city of Nebo at its foot. Moreover, it retains the name _Neba_, -and from the summit you obtain the celebrated “Pisgah view” (Deut. -xxxiv. 1-3). Naphtali, Gilead, Ephraim, and Manasseh, Judah, and the -Negeb, or “dry land” south of Hebron, are all in sight, with the plains -of Jericho “unto Zoar.” But, according to Conder, the Mediterranean -Sea is not visible from Nebo, being hidden throughout by the western -watershed of Judea and Samaria. Dr Tristram says, in his “Land of -Moab,” “Carmel could be recognised, but we never were able to make out -the sea to the north of it; and though it is certainly possible that -it might be seen from this elevation, I could not satisfy myself that -I saw more than the haze over the plain of Esdraelon.” But even if the -waters of the “great sea” in the Bay of Haifa could be seen distinctly -from Mount Nebo, the fact would hardly be relevant, for Deut. xxxiv. -points rather to the sea south of Joppa. It is sufficient, however, -that from no other summit can you get so extensive a prospect as from -Mount Nebo. - -Conder’s work was abruptly stopped. Even when the party went out in -1881 there was great excitement in the East. A Moslem Messiah was -expected to appear in the year 1300 of the Hegira, and the war in -Egypt was brewing. The British Government had served Conder with a -notice that any expedition he might take out would be at his own risk, -and they could not be responsible for the consequences. After fifteen -months, during which the work was carried on at great risks, the -Sultan heard that English captains were surveying the land, and sent -orders for them to cease. In the same year Mr Rassam’s researches in -Mesopotamia were stopped. Finally, Conder and his party left Syria on a -steamer crowded with refugees from the Alexandria massacres. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“East of the Jordan.” By Selah - Merrill. London: Bentley & Son, 1881. “Across the Jordan.” By - Gottlieb Schumacher. Bentley & Son, 1886. “The Jaulan.” By G. - Schumacher, Bentley, 1888. “Abila,” “Pella,” and “Northern - Ajlun.” By G. Schumacher. London: Palestine Exploration - Society, 1888, 1889. “Palestine.” By Major Conder. London: - George Philip & Son, 1889. “Heth and Moab.” By Major Conder. - Bentley & Son, 1883. “The Land of Moab.” By Rev. Canon - Tristram. London: John Murray, 1873. “Unexplored Syria.” By - Burton and Drake. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872.] - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - JERUSALEM. - - -Ever since the days of David Jerusalem has been the chief city -of Palestine, and although so small a city now that it would go -conveniently into Hyde Park--and perhaps never much larger than at -present--it has been the theatre of great events, and it claims an -attentive study. Small as it was, it stood upon several hills, which -were more or less easy to defend by fortifications, and offered -some choice to the monarch desirous of building a palace, a tower, -or a temple. The variety of local features, of hill and ravine -and water-course, finds frequent mention in the history, and is -sometimes so much intertwined with the events related, that it becomes -necessary to look at the topography before we can hope to understand -the narrative. For instance, when David wrested the city from the -Jebusites:-- - -“David took the strong hold of Zion.... And David dwelt in the strong -hold, and called it the City of David. And David built round about from -Millo inward” (2 Sam. V. 7-9). - -“So he took the Lower City by force, but the Citadel[20] held out -still.... When David had cast the Jebusites out of the Citadel, he -also rebuilt Jerusalem, and named it the City of David”--Josephus, -Antiquities, vii. 3, 1-2 (Whiston’s Translation). - -Here we should like to know at least which part of Jerusalem was -called the City of David; because David built a house there, and most -of the kings of Judah were buried there. - -Again, in 1 Kings i., “Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the -Stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-Rogel,” and sought to get himself -proclaimed king. But when Nathan the prophet, and Bathsheba the mother -of Solomon, had acquainted David with the proceeding, David gave orders -to place Solomon upon the king’s mule, and “bring him down to Gihon,” -and proclaim him as king. There the trumpet was blown, the people piped -with pipes, and Adonijah and his guests heard the noise. Before we can -fully realise these scenes we must know all the localities, and how -they stood related to one another, and to the position of David’s house. - -The Old Testament history is full of such local references, and so are -the Books of the Maccabees; and perhaps most of all, the chapters of -Josephus which describe the siege of Jerusalem by Titus. Let us then -try and make ourselves acquainted with the features of the ground, and -learn to apply the names to the proper localities. - - - 1. _The City as it is._ - -_Its position._--Jerusalem is well described in Smith’s Dict. of the -Bible. It lies near the summit of the broad mountain ridge, or high, -uneven table-land which extends from the Plain of Esdraelon to the -desert of the south. This tract is everywhere not less than from -20 to 25 miles in breadth, and has a surface rocky and uneven. Its -height at Jerusalem is 2500 feet above the Mediterranean Sea; but it -continues to rise towards the south, until, in the vicinity of Hebron, -the elevation is nearly 3000 feet. The city occupies the southern -termination of a table-land which is cut off from the country round it -on the west, south, and east sides, by ravines more than usually deep -and precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the table-land, the -one on the west and the other on the north-east of the city, and fall -rapidly until they form a junction below its south-east corner. The -eastern one--the Valley of the Kedron, commonly called the Valley of -Jehoshaphat--runs nearly straight from north to south. But the western -one--the Valley of Hinnom--runs south for a time, and then takes a -sudden bend to the east until it meets the Valley of Jehoshaphat, after -which the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their -descent may be gathered from the fact that the level at the point -of junction--about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of -each--is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which -they commenced their descent. Thus while on the north there is no -material difference between the general level of the country outside -the walls and that of the highest parts of the city, on the other -three sides, so steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their -character, and so close do they keep to the promontory, at whose foot -they run, as to leave on the beholder the impression of the ditch at -the foot of a fortress, rather than of valleys formed by nature. - - [Illustration: PLAN OF JERUSALEM - - _By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._] - -The promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal -ravine--called the Tyropœon Valley, running up it from south to north, -rising gradually from the south like the external ones, till at last it -arrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass -into two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west--the Upper -City of the Jews, the Mount Zion of modern tradition--is the higher and -more massive; that on the east--Mount Moriah--is at once considerably -lower and smaller, so that, to a spectator from the south, the city -appears to slope sharply towards the east. The central valley, at about -half-way up its length, threw out a companion valley on its left or -west side, which made its way up to the general level of the ground at -the present Jaffa Gate. - -One more valley must be noted. It was on the north of Moriah, and -separated it from a hill on which, in the time of Josephus, stood a -suburb or part of the city called Bezetha, or the New-town. Part of -this depression is still preserved in the large reservoir with two -arches, usually called the Pool of Bethesda, near the St Stephen’s Gate. - -All round the city are higher hills: on the east the Mount of Olives; -on the south the Hill of Evil Counsel, rising directly from the Vale -of Hinnom; on the west the ground rises gently to the borders of the -great wady; while on the north, a bend of the ridge connected with the -Mount of Olives bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a -mile. Towards the south-west the view is somewhat more open; for here -lies the Plain of Rephaim, commencing just at the southern brink of the -Valley of Hinnom, and stretching off south-west, where it runs to the -western sea. - -This rough sketch of the _terrain_ of Jerusalem, which I take mainly -from Sir George Grove, will enable the reader to appreciate the two -great advantages of its position. On the one hand the ravines which -entrench it on the west, south, and east--out of which the rock slopes -of the city rose almost like the walls of a fortress out of its -ditches, must have rendered it impregnable on those quarters to the -warfare of the old world. On the other hand its junction with the more -level ground on its north and north-east sides afforded an opportunity -of expansion, of which we know advantage was taken, and which gave it a -remarkable superiority over other cities of Palestine, and especially -of Judah, which, though secure on their hill-tops, were unable to -expand beyond them. - -The western side of the city is more than 100 feet higher than the -eastern; but the Mount of Olives overtops even the highest part of the -city by more than 150 feet. - -_The Walls and Streets of the City._--Jerusalem is surrounded by -walls some 40 to 50 feet high, imposing in appearance but far from -strong. For the most part they were erected as they now stand by -Sultan Suleiman, in the year 1542, and they appear to occupy the site -of the walls of the middle ages, from the ruins of which they are -mostly constructed. On the eastern side, along the brow of the Valley -of Jehoshaphat, the section of the wall south of St Stephen’s Gate is -of far earlier date, and is constructed in part of massive bevelled -stones. A great stone at the south-eastern corner is estimated to -weigh more than one hundred tons; and this block is one of a course of -stones, 6 feet in thickness, which extends along the south wall for -600 feet, though not without gaps. The walls nearly resemble York and -other ancient cities in England, having steps at intervals leading up -to the battlemented breastwork; and the circuit of them, according -to Robinson and others, is something less than 2½ English miles. The -form of the city is irregular, the walls having many projections and -indentations; but it is easy to make out four sides; and these nearly -face the cardinal points. - -There are at present five open gates in the walls of Jerusalem--two -on the south and one near the centre of each of the other sides. They -all seem to occupy ancient sites, and are by name (1) the Jaffa Gate, -or Hebron Gate, on the west, to which all the roads from the south and -west converge. (2) The Damascus Gate, or Gate of the Column, on the -north, from which runs the great north road, past the Tombs of the -Kings, and over the ridge of Scopus, to Samaria and Damascus. (3) St -Stephen’s Gate, or Gate of my Lady Mary, or Gate of the Tribes, on the -east, whence a road leads down to the bottom of the Kedron, and thence -over Olivet to Bethany and Jericho. (4) The Dung Gate, or Gate of the -Western Africans, on the south, and near the centre of the Tyropœan -Valley. A path from it leads down to the village of Siloam. (5) Zion -Gate, or the Gate of the Prophet David, on the summit of the ridge of -the hill now called Zion. Besides these, there are two gates now walled -up, one being the Gate of Herod, on the north side, about half-way -between the Damascus Gate and the north-east angle of the city; the -other the Golden Gate, in the eastern wall of the Haram. The Arabs -call this the Eternal Gate, and it is sometimes called the Gate of -Repentance. - -About one-sixth of the area of the city is occupied by the Haram or -Sanctuary, on Mount Moriah, within which stands the great mosque, -called the Dome of the Rock, and where also there is ample breathing -space. - -Jerusalem is not a fine city according to western ideas. It is badly -built, of mean stone houses: and its streets and lanes are narrow, -dirty, and ill-paved. There are, however, some beautiful bits of -architecture; there are the grand walls of the temple area; and there -is, above all, the intense interest of its Scriptural associations. - -Entering the city by the Jaffa Gate we find on our right the citadel, -with the so-called Tower of David. The street right before us is now -called the Street of David, and descends eastward to the principal -entrance to the Haram. Another main street commences at the Damascus -Gate and traverses the city from north to south, passing near the -eastern end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and through the -principal bazaar, and terminating a little eastward of the Zion Gate. -These two streets divide the city into four quarters. The north-east -is the Moslem quarter, the north-west the Christian quarter, the -south-west the Armenian, and the south-east the Jewish. The Church of -the Holy Sepulchre is, of course, in the Christian quarter, where also -we have the Latin Convent, very conspicuous from its lofty position -near the north-west angle of the city. In the Moslem quarter is the -Serai or palace, and most of the Consulates, and the beautiful little -Church of St Anne. The Armenian Convent, the largest building in the -city, occupies a noble site on the south-western hill. Near it, on -the north, is the English church. But by far the most remarkable and -striking building in this quarter of the city is the Citadel, whose -massive towers loom heavily over all around them. The Jewish quarter -has no structure of note with the exception of the new synagogues. - -Jerusalem is not like Damascus, where the Moslem religion and oriental -customs are almost unmixed with any foreign element, but is a city in -which every form of religion and every nationality of east and west are -represented at one time. “So motley a crowd” (says Major Conder) “as -that which is presented daily in David Street and in the market-place -under David’s Tower, is perhaps to be found nowhere else. The chatter -of the market people, the shouting of the camel drivers, the tinkling -of bells, mingle with the long cry of the naked Santon, as he wanders, -holding his tin pan for alms, and praising unceasingly “the Eternal -God.” The scene is most remarkable in the morning, before the glare of -the sun, beating down on the stone city, has driven its inhabitants -into the shadow. The foreground is composed of a tawny group of camels, -lying down, donkeys bringing in vegetables or carrying out rubbish, -and women in blue and red dresses slashed with yellow, their dark -faces and long eyes (tinged with blue) shrouded in white veils, which -are fringed perhaps with black or red. Soldiers in black and Softas -in spotless robes are haggling about their change, or praying in -public undisturbed by the din. Horsemen ride by in red boots with red -saddles, and spears 15 feet long. The Greek Patriarch walks past on a -visit, preceded by his mace-bearers and attended by his secretary. Up -the narrow street comes the hearse of a famous Moslem, followed by a -long procession of women, in white “izars,” which envelop the whole -figure, swelling out like balloons, and leaving only the black mask -of the face-veil visible; their voices are raised in the high-pitched -tremulous ululation which is alike their cry for the dead and their -note of joy for the living. Next, perhaps, follows a regiment of sturdy -infantry marching back to the Castle, with a colonel on a prancing -grey--men who have shown their mettle since then, and fat, unwieldy -officers, who have perhaps broken down under the strain of campaigning. -Their bugles blow a monotonous tune, to which the drums keep time, and -the men tread, not in step, but in good cadence to the music. If it -be Easter the native crowd is mingled with the hosts of Armenian and -Russian pilgrims, the first ruddy and stalwart, their women handsome -and dark-eyed, the men fierce and dark; the Russians, yet stronger -in build and more barbarian in air, distinguished from every other -nationality by their unkempt beards, their long locks, their huge -fur caps and boots. Not less distinct are the Spanish, Mughrabee, -Russian, and German Jews, each marked by a peculiar and characteristic -physiognomy.” - -Ten sects or religions are established in Jerusalem, and if their -various sub-divisions are counted they amount to a total of -twenty-four, more than half of which are Christian. The late Mr C. T. -Tyrwhitt Drake gives the different races and creeds as follows:-- - - 1. Abyssinians. - 2. Armenians: (_a_) Orthodox, (_b_) Catholic. - 3. Copts. - 4. Greeks: (_a_) Orthodox, (_b_) Catholic. - 5. Jews: (_a_) Ashkenazim, (_b_) Sephardim, (_c_) Karaite. - 6. Latin or Roman Catholics. - 7. Maronites. - 8. Moslems: _Sunni_,--(_a_) Shafii, (_b_) Hanefi, (_c_) Hambeli, - (_d_) Maleki. _Shiaï_,--Metawili, &c. - 9. Protestants: (_a_) Church of England, (_b_) Lutheran. - 10. Syrians: (_a_) Jacobite, (_b_) Catholic. - -All these sects have their churches, synagogues, monasteries, hospices, -which take up no inconsiderable portion of the square half mile of -space within the city walls. Yet the population of Jerusalem was -estimated at 20,000 in 1878, and there has been further influx since. -But many of the new comers build dwellings outside the walls, and there -is now quite a large suburb on the north-west. - -_The Haram esh Sherif_, or Noble Sanctuary, on Mount Moriah, is a -large, open space, of peculiar sanctity in the eyes of all true -Moslems. Its surface is studded with cypress and olive, and its sides -are surrounded in part by the finest mural masonry in the world. At the -southern end is the Mosque El Aksa, and a pile of buildings formerly -used by the Knights Templars; nearly in the centre is a raised platform -paved with marble, and rising from this is the well-known Mosque, -Kubbet es-Sakhrah, with its beautifully proportioned dome. Within this -sacred enclosure stood the temple of the Jews; but all traces of it -have long since disappeared, and its exact position was a fiercely -contested question before the time of the recent explorations. - -The Haram is a quadrangle of about 35 acres in area. The angles at the -south-west and north-east corners are right angles, and the south-east -angle is 92° 30´. The true bearing of the east wall is 352° 30´ -(general direction). The length of the south wall is 922 feet on the -level of the interior. The west wall is 1601 feet long; the east wall, -1530 feet. The northern boundary for 350 feet is formed by a scarp of -rock 30 feet high, projecting at the north-west of the Haram. - -The modern gateways giving entrance into the interior are eleven in -number: three on the north and eight on the west. Of the ancient -gateways there were two on the south, now called the Double and Triple -Gates; while east of the latter is the mediæval entrance, known as the -Single Gate, beneath which Colonel Warren discovered a passage. On the -east wall is the Golden Gate, now closed; and two small posterns in the -modern masonry are found south of this portal. On the west wall the -Prophet’s Gateway (sometimes called Barclay’s Gate) is recognised as -the southern of the two Parbar (or Suburban) Gates, mentioned in the -Talmud; while the Northern Suburban Gate appears to have been converted -into a tank, and lies immediately west of the Dome of the Rock. (This -is Tank No. 30, Ordnance Survey.) - - [Illustration: PLAN OF THE NOBLE SANCTUARY - - SHEWING THE RESULTS OF THE RESEARCHES OF - - Col. =C. W. Wilson R.E.= &c. Col. =C. Warren R.E.= - - _By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._] - -The raised platform in the middle of the Haram enclosure has an area of -about 5 acres, and is an irregular quadrangle. The Kubbet es-Sakhrah, -or Dome of the Rock, on this platform, covers the sacred rock, which -rises 5 feet above the floor of the building, the crest being at the -level 2440 feet above the Mediterranean. The Dome of the Chain is -immediately to the east of the Kubbet es-Sakhrah. - -The Jami’a el-Aksa, or “distant mosque” (that is, distant from Mecca), -is on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the -Haram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, “praying-place of the -Aksa.” - -Entering by the gate of the Cotton Bazaar we stand within the temple -courts. Before us are the steps which lead up to the platform where -shoes must be removed; for while the outer court, like the old court -of the Gentiles, is a promenade, the paved marble platform is a sacred -enclosure, not to be trodden except barefoot. - -Over the outer arcade of the Dome of the Rock runs the great Cufic -inscription, giving the date of the erection of the building in 688 -A.D. “The Dome of the Rock” (says Conder) “belongs to that -obscure period of Saracenic art when the Arabs had not as yet created -an architectural style of their own, and when they were in the habit of -employing Byzantine architects to build their mosques.” - -From the bright sunlight we pass suddenly into the deep gloom of the -interior, lit with the “dim religious light” of the glorious purple -windows. The gorgeous colouring, the painted wood-work, the fine -marble, the costly mosaics, the great dome, flourished all over with -arabesques and inscriptions, and gilded to the very top--all this -splendour gleams out here and there from the darkness. - -And in honour of what is this beautiful chapel built? A low canopy of -rich silk covers the dusty limestone ledge round which the “Dome of -the Rock” has risen. According to Arab tradition this Rock of Paradise -is the source of the rivers of Paradise and the Foundation-stone of -the world. From this rock Mohammed ascended to heaven (here is the -impression made by the hand of the angel Gabriel, who held the rock -down to prevent it from following the prophet), and this Rock is the -Place of Prayer of all the Prophets. - -Even more mysterious than the Sacred Rock is the Sacred Well below it. -Descending a flight of steps at the south-east corner of the rock we -enter a cave, in the rocky floor of which is a circular slab of marble, -which returns a hollow sound when struck, but which is never uplifted. -The Arabs appear to regard it as the mouth of Hell, for they call it -the Well of Souls, and have a dread of the consequences if any evil -spirit should escape. It is a tradition that in the Temple the ark of -the covenant used to stand over this cave, and that it was afterwards -concealed in the cave, or below it, by Jeremiah, and still lies hidden -beneath the sacred rock. - -The ground of the Haram enclosure is honeycombed with tanks, into some -of which the water finds its way by unknown channels. One of the tanks -is called the Great Sea, and would hold 2,000,000 gallons of water; -another would hold 1,400,000, and all the tanks together 10,000,000 of -gallons at the least. This would be more than a year’s supply for the -city in its best days, a valuable resource in times of siege. - -_Solomon’s Stables._--Under the Haram area, at the south-eastern part, -are the vaults known as Solomon’s Stables--thirteen rows of vaults of -a variety of spans. They were used as stables by the Crusaders, and -the holes in the piers by which the horses were fastened may still be -seen. The name of Solomon’s Stables is supposed to have been given -by the Crusaders, who may, however, have been guided by some earlier -tradition. The vaults are in part ancient and in part a reconstruction, -probably about the time of Justinian (sixth century A.D.). - -_The Jews’ Wailing Place._--Outside the Haram, on the west, and not -very far from the south-west corner, is the Wailing Place of the Jews. -From the Jaffa Gate we may reach it by going down David Street and -through the fruit bazaar, and then turning through a by-lane. The -Wailing Place is a narrow court, in which the temple rampart happens -to be free and exposed in the Jews’ quarter. Every Friday the court is -crowded with Jews who come to read and pray, and bemoan the condition -of their temple, their holy city, and their scattered people. The scene -is striking from the great size and strength of the mighty stones, -which rise without door or window up to the domes and cypresses above, -suggesting how utterly the original worshippers are cast out by men -of alien race and faith. Here we may see venerable men reading the -Book of the Law, women in their long white robes kissing the ancient -masonry, and praying through the crevices of the stones, Russian Jews, -Spanish Jews, German Jews, men, women, and children, with gray locks, -or blue-black hair, or russet beard, and dressed variously, according -to their country--strange and unique is the spectacle! “It reminds one -forcibly” (says Conder) “of the unchanged character of the Jews. After -nineteen centuries of wandering and exile they are still the same as -ever, still bound by the iron chain of Talmudic law, a people whose -slavery to custom outruns even that of the Chinese to etiquette, and -whose veneration for the past appears to preclude the possibility of -progress or improvement in the present.” - -_Pools and Fountains of Jerusalem._--Jerusalem is at present chiefly -supplied with water by its cisterns. Every house of any size has one -or more of them, into which the winter rains are conducted by little -pipes and ducts from the roofs and courtyards. These private cisterns -are generally vaulted chambers with only a small opening at the top, -surrounded by stonework, and furnished with a curb and wheel. Many of -them are ancient. - -But besides these covered cisterns in the houses and courts, there are -many large open reservoirs in and around the city. In the upper part -of the Valley of Hinnom, west of the city, is the _Birket el Mamilla_, -often called the Upper Pool of Gihon. Lower down in the same valley, -and not far from the south-western angle of the city wall, is the -_Birket es Sultan_, frequently called the Lower Pool. Because these -pools are clearly related to one another as upper and lower, it has -been usual to assume that they are upper and lower pools of Gihon, -which seem to be referred to in 2 Chron. xxxii. 30, and elsewhere. But -although the Sultan’s Pool has been called Gihon from the fourteenth -century downwards, it is known to have been constructed by the Germans -only two centuries before, and the word Gihon means a spring-head. From -the Sultan’s Pool we may ride down the deep valley, on the south bank -of which are the traditional Aceldama and the tombs of many Christian -pilgrims, till we come to _Bir Eyub_ (Joab’s Well), where the Valley -of Hinnom unites with the Valley of Kedron. The Crusaders, who were -never too well informed, identified Joab’s Well with the Biblical En -Rogel. From this place we ride northward to the junction of the Kedron -with the Tyropœon, and there, in a verdant spot, we find the Pool of -Siloam, with dry stone walls and a little muddy water. With the village -of Siloam on our right, we ride up the Kedron Valley some 300 yards, -and arrive at the Fountain of the Mother of Stairs, also called the -Virgin’s Fountain. Descending by a flight of sixteen steps we reach a -chamber, its sides built of old stones and its roof formed of a pointed -arch. Then going down fourteen steps more into a roughly hewn grotto, -we reach the water. _Mejr ed Deir_ states that the water of this -fountain was a great test for women accused of adultery; the innocent -drank harmlessly, but the guilty no sooner tasted than they died! When -the Virgin Mary was accused, she submitted to the ordeal, and thus -established her innocence. Hence the spring was long known as the -Fountain of Accused Women. Dr Robinson imagined that this was the true -Bethesda, because the water is considered to possess healing virtue, -and every day crowds of men and women, afflicted with rheumatism and -other maladies, descend the steps and wait for the moving of the -waters. The flow is intermittent--due, it is supposed, to a natural -syphon--and the waters rise suddenly, immersing the folks, fully -clothed, nearly up to the neck. - -The water wells up in the cave, and when it has attained a height of 4 -feet 7 inches runs away through a passage near the back, into a small -tunnel, and goes to supply the Pool of Siloam. - -About 100 yards north-east of St Stephen’s Gate is the Pool of My Lady -Mary, outside the walls. - -Within the city, on your left as you enter by St Stephen’s Gate, is the -_Birket Israil_, Pool of Israel, the traditional Pool of Bethesda (but -only so since the twelfth century). It is now a receptacle for ashes -and rubbish of all kinds; but it has at some time been used for water, -for Warren found the bottom lined with concrete 16 inches thick. - -Sometimes the Virgin’s Fountain is spoken of as the only spring of -living water at Jerusalem, but it is possible, as suggested by Warren, -that another existed at the _Hammam esh-Shefa_, or Bath of Healing, in -the Tyropœon. The entrance to the fountain is by a narrow opening in -the roof of a house behind the bath. - -We need only mention further the Pool of Hezekiah, a large reservoir -which lies in the centre of a group of buildings, in the angle made by -the north side of David Street and the west side of Christian Street. -It is stated that a subterranean conduit from the _Birket el Mamilla_ -passes underneath the city wall near the Jaffa Gate, and supplies both -the Pool of Hezekiah and the cisterns of the citadel. - -In ancient times water was brought into the city by two aqueducts, the -“low level” and the “high level,” but the course of the former can -alone be traced within the walls of the city. It crosses the valley of -Hinnom a little above the _Birket es Sultan_, and winding round the -southern slope of the modern Zion, enters the city near the Jewish -almshouses; it then passes along the eastern side of the same hill, and -runs over the causeway and Wilson’s Arch to the Sanctuary. The numerous -Saracenic fountains in the lower part of the city appear to have been -supplied by pipes branching off from the main, but the pipes are now -destroyed, and the fountains themselves are used as receptacles for the -refuse of the town. This aqueduct derived its supply from the Pools of -Solomon (near Bethlehem), from _Ain Etan_, and a reservoir in _Wady -Arûb_, and still carries water as far as Bethlehem; its total length -is over 14 miles, not far short of the length of the aqueduct which -Josephus tells us was made by Pontius Pilate. - -The Pools of Solomon near the head of _Wady Urtas_ are three in number; -they receive the surface drainage of the ground above them and the -water of a fine spring known as the Sealed Fountain. The pools have -been made by building solid dams of masonry across the valley, and are -so arranged that the water from each of the upper ones can be run off -into the one immediately below it. The lower pool is constructed in a -peculiar manner, which appears to indicate that it was sometimes used -as an amphitheatre for naval displays; there are several tiers of seats -with steps leading down to them, and the lower portion of the pool, -which is much deeper than the upper, could be filled with water by a -conduit from one of the other reservoirs. - -The “high level aqueduct,” called by the Arabs that of the Unbelievers, -is one of the most remarkable works in Palestine. The water was -collected in a rock-hewn tunnel 4 miles long, beneath the bed of _Wady -Byar_, a valley on the road to Hebron, and thence carried by an -aqueduct above the head of the upper Pool of Solomon, where it tapped -the waters of the Sealed Fountain. From this point it wound along the -hills above the valley of Urtas to the vicinity of Bethlehem, where -it crossed the watershed, and then passed over the valley at Rachel’s -Tomb by an inverted stone syphon, which was first brought to notice -by Mr Macneill, who made an examination of the water supply for the -Syria Improvement Committee. The tubular portion is formed by large -perforated blocks of stone set in a mass of rubble masonry; the tube -is 15 inches in diameter, and the joints, which appear to have been -ground, are put together with an extremely hard cement. The last trace -of this aqueduct is seen on the Plain of Rephaim, at which point its -elevation is sufficient to deliver water at the Jaffa Gate, and so -supply the upper portion of the city; but the point at which it entered -has never been discovered, unless it is connected in some way with an -aqueduct which was found between the Russian convent and the north-west -corner of the city wall. - -The present supply of water is almost entirely dependent on the -collection of the winter rainfall, which is much less than has -generally been supposed, as, by a strange mistake, the rain-gauge was -formerly read four times higher than it should have been. According -to Dr Chaplin’s observations, the average rainfall during the years -1860-64 was 19·86 inches, the maximum being 22·975 inches, and minimum -15·0 inches. - -In addition to Bir Eyûb, which has been described above, the -inhabitants draw water from the Fountain of the Virgin and the Hammam -esh-Shefa. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith’s “Dictionary of the - Bible.” “Survey Memoirs,” Jerusalem volume. “The Recovery of - Jerusalem.” Sir Charles Warren. “Palestine.” Major Conder. - “Modern Jerusalem.” C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. “Walks about - Jerusalem.” W. H. Bartlett. “Quarterly Statements of P. E. - Fund.”] - - - 2. _The Sieges of Jerusalem, and the Fortunes of its Walls._ - -“In considering the annals of the city of Jerusalem,” says Mr W. Aldis -Wright, “nothing strikes one so forcibly as the number and severity -of the sieges which it underwent. We catch our earliest glimpse of it -in the brief notice of the first chapter of Judges, which describes -how ‘the children of Judah smote it with the edge of the sword, and -set the city on fire;’ and almost the latest mention of it in the New -Testament is contained in the solemn warnings in which Christ foretold -how Jerusalem should be compassed with armies, and the abomination of -desolation be seen standing in the Holy Place. In the fifteen centuries -which elapsed between these two points, the city was besieged no fewer -than seventeen times; twice it was razed to the ground, and on two -other occasions its walls were levelled. In this respect it stands -without a parallel in any city ancient or modern.” - -The first siege appears to have taken place soon after the death of -Joshua. The men of Judah and Simeon “fought against it and took it, and -smote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire” (Judges -i. 8). Josephus adds that the siege lasted some time, and that the part -of the city captured at last was “the lower,” but that the part above -them[21] was so difficult, by reason of its walls and from the nature -of the place, that they relinquished their attempt upon it. As long as -the strongest part of the city remained in the hands of the Jebusites -they practically had possession of the whole. The Benjamites followed -the men of Judah to Jerusalem, but they could not drive out the -Jebusites (Judges i. 21). A Jebusite city it remained until the days of -David. - -Jerusalem was taken by David, _circa_ 1044 B.C. He took the -castle of Zion, which is the City of David, and dwelt in the castle (2 -Sam. v. 6; 1 Chron. xi. 4). Then David built round about, from Millo -and inward, and Joab repaired the rest of the city. - -As long as Solomon lived the visits of foreign powers to Jerusalem -were those of courtesy and amity; but with his death this was changed. -Rehoboam had only been on the throne four years when Shishak, king of -Egypt, invaded Judah, and advanced against the capital. Rehoboam opened -the gates to him, and Shishak did not depart without plundering the -temple and the palace. B.C. 886. - -In the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the Philistines and -Arabians attacked Jerusalem, broke into the palace, spoiled it of all -its treasures, sacked the royal harem, and killed or carried off the -king’s wives and all his sons but one. This was the fourth siege. -B.C. 881. - -Amaziah, king of Judah, victorious over the Edomites, was foolish -enough to challenge Jehoash, king of Israel. The battle took place -at Bethshemesh of Judah, 12 miles west of Jerusalem. Amaziah was -routed, and the victorious Jehoash, after the gates of Jerusalem had -been thrown open to him, broke down 400 cubits length of wall, from -the Corner Gate to the Gate of Ephraim. (This must have been at the -north-west part of the city walls, the favourite point of attack in -after times.) B.C. 857. - -King Uzziah, after some campaigns against foreign princes, devoted -himself to the care of Jerusalem. He rebuilt the wall broken down by -Jehoash, and fortified it with towers. In Uzziah’s reign the city -suffered from an earthquake; a serious breach was made in the Temple, -and below the city a large fragment was detached from one of the hills -and rolled down the slope, overwhelming the king’s paradise or park. -B.C. 770. - -The hill above En Rogel was called Ophel, and might be otherwise -described as the slope south of the Temple. The royal palaces were -there, and it was protected by a strong wall. We have no record of -the first erection of this wall; but Jotham, the son of Uzziah, built -much upon it, and also built the upper gateway to the Temple (2 Chron. -xxvii. 3). According to Josephus, he also repaired the city walls -wherever they were dilapidated, and strengthened them by very large and -strong towers. B.C. 740. - -Before the death of Jotham the clouds of the Syrian invasion began to -gather, and they broke on the head of Ahaz, his successor. Rezin, king -of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, joined their armies and invested -Jerusalem (2 Kings xvi. 5). In a battle which took place outside the -walls Ahaz was defeated. This induced him to send to Assyria and -obtain help from Tiglath Pileser, whose vassal he became, and whose -sun-worship he adopted. B.C. 730. - -And now approached the greatest crisis that had yet occurred in the -history of the city. Hezekiah reformed the worship and declined to be -a dependent on Assyria. Sennacherib had succeeded Tiglath Pileser, and -the dreaded Assyrian army approached. Hezekiah stopped the springs -round Jerusalem, repaired the walls of the city, breaking down houses -to get the material--even raised the wall in some places up to the -towers; and built a second wall at some exposed part, and strengthened -Millo (2 Kings xx. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 3-5, 30; Isaiah xxii. 10). On -this occasion it would appear that the city escaped, but at the cost of -the treasures of the palace and the temple. B.C. 700. - -In the middle of the long reign of Manasseh Jerusalem was taken by -Assur-bani-pal, the grandson of Sennacherib, B.C. 650. - -But Manasseh, in the latter part of his reign, sought to repair and -strengthen the city. He built a fresh wall, extending “from the west -side of Gihon-in-the-valley to the Fish Gate;” and he also continued -the works which had been begun at Ophel, and raised the structure to a -very great height. B.C. 640. - -During the reign of Jehoiakim Jerusalem was visited by Nebuchadnezzar, -with the Babylonian army lately victorious over the Egyptians at -Carchemish, and it is thought that there must have been a siege, but we -have no account of it. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, -and hardly had his short reign begun before the terrible army of -Babylon reappeared before the city, again commanded by Nebuchadnezzar -(2 Kings xxiv). Jehoiachin surrendered, and the city was pillaged. -Jehoiachin being carried off to Babylon, his uncle Zedekiah was made -king; but he was imprudent enough to seek the help of Pharaoh Hophra -of Egypt, and upon this Nebuchadnezzar marched to Jerusalem again and -began a regular siege. The walls and houses were battered by rams, and -missiles were discharged into the town. After some delays a breach -was made in the north wall, and the city suffered all the horrors of -assault and sack. Zedekiah had stolen out of the city on the south -side, but was pursued and overtaken. The Babylonians burnt the Temple, -the palace, and other public buildings, and threw down the city walls. -B.C. 577. - -When Nehemiah obtained leave to return and rebuild the city of his -fathers he found heaps of disordered rubbish everywhere on the ground. -By his amazing zeal and energy he stirred up the people to work; and in -due time all the gates and walls were set up, on the old foundations. -B.C. 457. - - * * * * * - -There is no need for us to pursue the history in detail. -Further stormy periods succeed. - - B.C. - Ptolemy, son of Lagus takes Jerusalem, 305. - Antiochus the Great takes the city, 219. - Antiochus Epiphanes takes the city without siege, 170. - Antiochus Eupator takes the city, 163. - Jonathan builds a new wall, 143. - Simon takes the Akra citadel, 139. - Antiochus Sidetes besieges Jerusalem, 134. - Aretas, the Arab, besieges the city, 65. - Pompey takes the city, 63. - Antipater rebuilds the walls, 58. - Herod and Sosius take Jerusalem, 37. - - A.D. - Agrippa builds the third wall, 43. - Cestius Gallus attacks Jerusalem, 66. - Titus takes Jerusalem (fifteenth siege) and utterly - destroys it, 70. - Bar Cocheba revolts, 132. - Bar Cocheba is expelled, 135. - Rufus ploughs the temple site, 135. - Hadrian founds Ælia Capitolina, 136. - The Jews revolt and are excluded from the city, 339. - Eudoxia rebuilds the walls, 450. - Chosroes II. takes Jerusalem, 614. - Omar the Caliph takes the city, 637. - Caliph Moez takes possession of the city, 969. - Turkomans expel Egyptians from the city, 1094. - The Egyptians retake Jerusalem, 1098. - Crusaders take Jerusalem (nineteenth siege), 1099. - Walls of Jerusalem repaired, 1178. - Saladin takes Jerusalem (twentieth siege), 1187. - Saladin repairs the walls of the city, 1192. - Melek el Muazzam dismantles the walls, 1192. - Frederic II. rebuilds the walls, 1229. - Daud, Emir of Kerak, destroys the walls, 1239. - Christians obtain Jerusalem by treaty, 1243. - Soliman the Magnificent builds walls, 1542. - Muhammed Aly takes Jerusalem (no siege), 1832. - The Fellahin seize Jerusalem, 1834. - Syria and Jerusalem restored to Turkey, 1840. - -In reflecting upon such a history as this, two things become very -clear; the first is that the details of the events would be much better -understood if we had an accurate map before us; the second is that the -events themselves--the successive destructions and rebuildings--must -have changed the city considerably from what it was. Even in the city -of London the floors of Roman dwellings are found 15 or 18 feet below -the present surface of the streets. In Jerusalem, we need not be -surprised to learn, the depth of _debris_ is much greater, and since -it has accumulated chiefly in the valleys, and very nearly obliterated -some of them, it has, of course, obscured the topography. An accurate -map of modern Jerusalem is in our hands, but it does not show us what -the ancient city was like. Therefore it is not sufficient to have this -modern map before us when we read the ancient history. We read in the -history that Zedekiah fled (from his palace) through the gate between -two walls and by the way of the king’s gardens; but in modern Jerusalem -there is no king’s palace or garden and no gate between two walls. The -history describes how Nehemiah rebuilt the wall, from the Sheep Gate to -the Tower of Meah, and thence to the Fish Gate, and the Old Gate, &c., -but in modern Jerusalem we find no such places and names. We are still -worse off when we read in Josephus about Titus encamping within the -third wall, and then making a breach in the middle wall and encamping -in the middle city, and still having a wall between him and the Jews in -the Upper City: for the Jerusalem of to-day shows only one wall besides -the rampart of the temple. Naturally there has been much conjecture -concerning the ancient city, and the best authorities have differed -from one another in their ideas. It was with the hope of settling -the disputed questions as well as with the object of uncovering -antiquities, that the Palestine Exploration Society began the work of -excavation. - -It has often been said that there is not a single topographical -question connected with ancient Jerusalem which is not the subject of -controversy. This is, however, rather overstating the case, for there -are points concerning which all authorities are in accord. First, as -regards the natural features of the site, it is agreed that the Mount -of Olives is the chain of hills east of the Temple Hill, and that the -valley beneath it on the west is the Brook Kedron. It is agreed that -the Temple stood on the spur immediately west of the Kedron, and that -the southern tongue of this spur was called Ophel. It is also agreed -that the flat valley west of this spur is that to which Josephus -applies the name Tyropœon, although there was a diversity of opinion as -to the exact course of the valley, which has now been set at rest by -the collection of the rock-levels within the city. It is also agreed -by all authorities that the high south-western hill (to which the name -Zion has been applied since the fourth century) is that which Josephus -calls the hill of the Upper City, or Upper Market Place. - -The site of the Pool of Siloam is also undisputed, and the rock -Zoheleth was discovered by M. Clermont Ganneau at the present village -of _Silwan_. As regards the walls of the ancient city, all authorities, -except Fergusson, agree in placing the Royal Towers (of Herod) in the -vicinity of the present citadel, and all suppose the scarp in the -Protestant cemetery to be the old south-west angle of the city. The -Tyropœon Bridge--or stairway and arch--is accepted by all writers since -Robinson as leading to the royal cloisters of Herod’s temple, and all -plans of Herod’s temple start with the assumption that the south-west -angle of its courts coincided with the present south-west angle of the -Haram. All plans also agree in accepting the east wall of the Haram as -an ancient rampart of the city. We have thus various data to begin with -which must be considered as certain, because writers who differ on all -other points agree on these.[22] - -The “other points” upon which writers have differed may be stated as -follows:-- - -1. What was the extent of the city on the north before the destruction -of A.D. 70? - -2. What was the line of the second wall, which bounded the city on the -north, in those early times before there was any third wall, or any -need of one? - -3. What was the line of the south wall in Nehemiah’s time, and again in -the time of the siege by Titus? - -4. Which is the true Mount Zion or City of David? - -5. On what spot did the Temple itself stand within the Haram enclosure; -and what were the limits of its courts, first in Solomon’s day, and -secondly, after they were enlarged by Herod? - -6. Does the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stand upon the true site of -Calvary? - -7. What is the probable site of the royal sepulchres where David and so -many other kings lie buried? - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith’s “Dictionary of the - Bible.” “Survey Memoirs,” Jerusalem volume.] - - - 3. _Excavations at Jerusalem._ - -In the beginning of 1867 Lieutenant Warren, R.E. (now Colonel Sir -Charles Warren), began his work of excavation in Jerusalem, assisted by -several corporals of sappers, and employing native Arabs as labourers. -Scores of shafts were sunk through the accumulated rubbish, and were -always carried down to the natural rock. In cases where the miners came -upon artificial structures--arches, aqueducts, cisterns, or other works -of man--they were carefully explored and measured, and plans of them -made to scale. It was considered important to examine the underground -masonry of the Temple rampart; but as the walls are regarded as -sacred, and it was desirable not to offend the susceptibilities of the -inhabitants, this was accomplished by sinking shafts at a distance -from the wall and driving lateral galleries. Sometimes when an -unsympathising Turkish official came to inspect the works, a twist was -given to the rope as he descended, and so, having lost his bearings, -he could not be sure that he gazed upon the foundations of the Temple -when they were really shown to him. The work was continued until the -year 1870, and the results are recorded in the Jerusalem volume of the -Memoirs. Let us now glance at some of the more striking discoveries on -all the four sides of the Haram. - - [Illustration: - - SPRING STONE OF ROBINSON’S ARCH. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -_In the Tyropœon Valley._--On the west side of the Haram, about 39 -feet from the south-western angle, a great stone is seen projecting -from the wall. Dr Robinson, the American traveller, believed it to be -the spring-stone of an arch--perhaps the first arch of a bridge going -to the Upper City--but others took a different view, and the question -could only be settled by excavation. The span of the arch, as deduced -from the curve of the spring-stone, should be about 42 feet. At that -distance from the wall Warren discovered the pier of the arch, resting -on the rock at a depth of 42 feet. It is 12 feet 2 inches in thickness, -52 feet 6 inches in length (the spring-stone above ground is 50 feet) -and is constructed of long drafted stones, similar to those in the -wall, one of them being over 13 feet in length and weighing ten tons. -Three courses of stones were in place on the eastern side and two on -the western. - -To the west of the pier is a rock-hewn channel, close to the pier, with -a perpendicular scarp below the pier of 4 feet; and on the east side of -the pier the rock is scarped down nearly perpendicularly for a depth of -about 18 feet. - - [Illustration: - - ROBINSON’S ARCH (SECTION.) - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -But nearly on a level with the base of the pier, on the east side, a -pavement extends from the pier to the Haram wall; and on this pavement -rest the fallen voussoirs of the arch. Below the pavement is a mass of -_debris_, and in the bottom of the space is an aqueduct cut in the rock -nearly 12 feet deep, arched over, but with the roof crushed in at one -place by the voussoirs of a more ancient arch. - -Following the aqueduct to the south we presently come to a pool or -cistern, 16 feet in diameter; and beyond this the channel turns the -corner of the Haram and ends to-day in a drain. Following the aqueduct -to the north it brings us to another pool, and presently to a third, -this third one being partly underneath the wall of the Haram. The -channel was evidently intended to supply the city with pure water, for -after the _debris_ had accumulated, shafts were made from the pavement -before spoken of, to allow of buckets being let down. - -The chief explorers, Warren and Conder, whose matured opinion is given -in the Jerusalem volume of the Memoirs, find “no grounds for supposing -that the roadway over Robinson’s Arch led up to the Upper City, either -by steps or by a bridge; it was probably one of the suburban entrances -spoken of by Josephus. There may have been other arches in continuation -of Robinson’s Arch, but there is no indication of this existing on the -ground.” - - [Illustration: - - WILSON’S ARCH. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -Proceeding from Robinson’s Arch up the valley, we come to the Gate of -the Chain, a chief entrance to the Haram. The street running westward -from it is the Street of the Chain, and would bring us, with one little -elbow, into David Street, whence we go straight to the Jaffa Gate. But -in front of the Gate of the Chain it is found that the Street of the -Chain passes over a fine arch (now called Wilson’s Arch) 42 feet in -span, like Robinson’s Arch lower down. From an old book, called “La -Citez de Jherusalem,” we learn that the street coming south from the -Damascus Gate to the Dung Gate used to pass under this arch in the -Middle Ages. The road passing over the arch is about 80 feet above the -rock. But the rock under the western pier is 10 feet higher than under -the Noble Sanctuary, and the lowest point in the valley is about 16 -feet west of the Sanctuary wall. Westward of the pier the Street of the -Chain rests upon a Causeway, made up of a complication of structures -difficult to describe. There is a long passage or tunnel running along -under the street, which for convenience is called the “Secret Passage.” -North of this run two parallel rows of vaults, which are broken up by -more recent work, apparently Saracenic. But when the vaults were made -they interfered at one place with a very ancient chamber of drafted -stones, the “Ancient Hall,” which has all the appearance of being one -of the oldest buildings in Jerusalem. A shaft was sunk in the floor of -the chamber to a depth of 11 feet 6 inches, through rough masonry as -hard as a wall, but without finding rock. With regard to the Secret -Passage, an Arabic writer, Mejr ed Din, says that the Street of David -is “so named from a subterranean gallery which David caused to be made -from the Gate of the Chain to the Citadel called the Mihrab of David. -It still exists, and parts of it are occasionally discovered. It is -solidly vaulted.” It would, however, be unsafe to accept the Arab -writer’s opinion as to the date and use of the passage. - -As touching the original contours of the ground, it appears from the -excavations in the Tyropœon that two valleys descend, one from the -Damascus Gate, the other from near the Jaffa Gate, and that they were -originally very deep, giving the lower part of the north-western hill a -rounded and gibbous form. The accumulation of rubbish at Wilson’s Arch -is 80 feet, at Robinson’s Arch it is still more, and the true bed of -the valley passes under the Haram and comes out on the south side at a -distance of 90 feet from the south-west angle. There is a steep scarp -from the Upper City down to the present Tyropœon, and thence the rock -shelves down to the ancient valley bed. - - [Illustration: - - SOUTH WALL OF NOBLE SANCTUARY. - - (_By permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -_On the Ophel Hill._--Ophel is the southern slope of Mount Moriah; -and as we stand on the slope, looking northward, we face the south -wall of the Noble Sanctuary. Right in the middle of it is the Triple -Gate, from which the surface of the ground shelves down 22 feet to the -south-east angle, while westward it maintains its level. Yet really, -in that western part (hidden from us just now by the wall of the city) -the true bed of the Tyropœon runs out, and the depth of soil or rubbish -is 85 feet. At the Triple Gate itself the rock is found about 2 feet -below the sill; but at the south-east angle again we should have to -sink a shaft 80 feet deep to find it. Thus the original surface of -Ophel is all covered up, and its true contour disguised. Buried in the -rubbish Warren has found the Wall of Ophel, abutting on the wall of the -Sanctuary at the south-east angle. It is about 12 feet wide at the -top and 15 feet at the bottom; it runs southward for 76 feet, and then -makes a bend to the west, in which direction it extends for 700 feet, -and there ends abruptly. At the bend it is strengthened by a projecting -tower, and below the bend there are several towers, one standing out -very prominently. (_See_ Plan of Haram Area, p. 212.) - - [Illustration: DEEP SHAFT AT SOUTH-EAST ANGLE OF HARAM. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -The whole space of ground within this wall, wherever the spade was put -in, proved to be rich in antiquities of various dates. One of the most -interesting discoveries was that of a cavern with fullers’ vats, close -to the traditional spot where St James was thrown over the Temple wall -and despatched by a fuller’s baton. - - [Illustration: JAR HANDLES FROM SOUTH-EAST ANGLE. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - - - [Illustration: VASE FOUND AT S.-E. ANGLE. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -_At the South-Eastern Angle._--At this corner the wall stands about -70 feet high above the ground. At a height of 22 feet we observe the -great stone which is estimated to weigh more than one hundred tons; -and the courses below that have the appearance of being ancient work. -But we still have to go 78 or 80 feet beneath the surface to find the -foundations of the wall. It appears that the lowest or foundation -course is partially sunk in the rock at the angle. When the builders of -the Temple came to work here, they found upon the rock an accumulation -of 8 or 10 feet of fat mould, abounding in potsherds. This they cut -through in order to lay their foundation stones on the solid rock. In -the red earth were found fragments of pottery and fat-lamps, which -probably are of the earliest type of lamp used in Jerusalem. Resting -on the red earth was a layer of broken pottery, and in this was found -a rusty nail, some charred wood, and several jar handles. Some of -these last had well-defined figures impressed on them, resembling in -some degree a bird, but believed to represent a winged sun or disc, -possibly the emblem of the Sun god. On each handle, above and below the -wings, are some Phœnician letters, corresponding in one case to LMLK -ZPH, and in the other to LK SHT. At 3 feet east of the angle a hole -was discovered scooped out of the rock, and in it was found a little -earthen jar, standing upright as though it had been purposely placed -there. - - [Illustration: - - MASONS’ MARKS, S.-E. ANGLE. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -More interesting still, Warren discovered on some of the lower stones -near the south-east angle a number of marks in red paint, with two -or three characters also inscribed with the chisel. The late Emanuel -Deutsch declared them to be partly letters, partly numerals, and partly -special masons’ marks, exactly corresponding to some which he found -on the substructures of the harbour of Sidon, and the very oldest -ruins in the city of Tyre. As we know from the Bible that Solomon -employed Phœnician masons to build the Temple, this discovery was -thought at first to prove the Solomonic age of this part of the wall. -But further reflection warns us that it is not of itself sufficient; -the old alphabet might be but little changed in the days when Herod -rebuilt the Temple, and the forms of masons’ marks might be the same -with Phœnicians and with Romans. As, however, they appear to be quarry -signs, they seem to imply that the stones were shaped at the quarry, -and not upon the ground, and thus support the Scripture statement that -the Temple was erected without sound of axe or hammer. The same may -be said of the marginal drafts or bevels, which on some stones are -carried all round, on some round three sides, or only two, and exhibit -no pattern or design when we look at the wall as a whole. The quarry -whence the stones appear to have been brought is called the Cotton -Cavern; its entrance is outside the walls, east of Damascus Gate, and -it extends under the north-eastern part of the city for more than -a quarter of a mile. The cavern was not unknown in the time of the -Sultans, but it was afterwards lost sight of, until in the year 1852, -a dog scratching away the earth and stones, again uncovered the mouth -of it. In this quarry we go over ground covered with chips, we see some -blocks of stone in the rough, and others cut, and some only partially -severed from the rock. We see also the places where lamps rested to -give light to the workers. But in the fat mould at the angle of the -wall we do not find any stone chippings. - -_In the Kedron Valley_ there is an accumulation of nearly 100 feet of -loose stone chippings and other _debris_, lying against the wall of the -Sanctuary, covering all the western side of the valley, and resting at -its eastern part upon the slope of Olivet. The true bed of the Kedron -is 40 feet west of its present surface bed. On the west side of the -true bed was found a masonry wall, 3 feet thick; and at intervals, -as the rock rises other walls are encountered, built apparently for -supporting terraces. - - [Illustration: - - EAST WALL OF NOBLE SANCTUARY. - - (_By permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -From the south-east angle the foundation of the wall rises, to about -the middle of the eastern side, and then falls again, down to the -Golden Gate and beyond. The construction of the Golden Gate is still a -vexed question; it is possibly a reconstruction of comparatively late -date, but it stands on the ancient foundations of a gateway, which -in some measure correspond with those of the Triple Gate. North of -the Golden Gate the rock still falls, and the depth of rubbish in the -depression is in the deepest part 125 feet. Yet the wall is built up -from the bottom, and is carried across the depression to the higher -rock surface north of it. It extends beyond the north-east angle of the -Haram without showing any break at that point; and this seems to favour -the idea that a break may be found more to the south, where the Haram -terminated before Herod enlarged its area. In fact the masonry north -of the Golden Gate is of a rougher sort than that south of it. But it -is impossible to examine the buried portion of the east wall at all -points, because a Mohammedan cemetery covers the ground, and excavation -among the graves is forbidden. It was only by sinking shafts at a -distance from the wall, and employing a method of laborious tunnelling, -that the depth of the foundations could be ascertained. Warren’s work -hereabout has been pronounced by Sir Charles Wilson to be without a -parallel in the history of excavation. “In one shaft alone no less than -600 feet run of shaft and gallery was excavated.” - -If we might only explore freely within this cemetery Warren is -confident that we should come upon those huge stones--20 cubits long -and 6 cubits thick--which Solomon laid down on this side when he -built the temple (Josephus, Ant. xx. 9,7). One would suppose that the -present north-east angle, added by Herod, was of much later date than -the south-eastern; yet here again “Phœnician” masons’ marks are found. -Masons’ marks, however, may have a tendency to remain the same through -many ages. It is a curious fact that the red paint with which they were -put on has “run” in one instance, while still wet, and the trickling is -_upwards_ as the stone stands in the wall. This shows that the marking -was done before the stone was placed, and very likely at the quarry. - -_North of the Haram enclosure._--The excavations just referred to were -sufficient to show that a deep valley once existed to the north of the -Temple, as described by Josephus, in “Antiquities” xiv. 4, 2 and “Wars” -i. 7, 3, where he states that Pompey found it a difficult business to -fill it up. This valley commences to the north of the city wall, passes -down west of the Church of St Anne, and runs into the Kedron, past -the Sanctuary wall, at a distance of 145 feet south of the north-east -angle. The great reservoir, called the _Birket Israil_, which extends -along the northern side of the Sanctuary for 360 feet, lies across this -valley. It is 126 feet wide and 80 feet deep. The west wall of the -reservoir is rock, and the east wall is partly rock and partly masonry; -while the south wall of the pool is at the same time the north wall of -the Sanctuary. - -The excavations on all sides of the Sanctuary, and the examination -of the cisterns within the enclosure, show that Mount Moriah was -originally somewhat pear-shaped in contour, the rock shelving off on -all sides from the summit, which is now under the Dome of the Rock. At -the north-western corner, however, the rock was high, and there was a -narrow neck which joined this hill to Bezetha and made it a sort of -peninsula in form. This neck has been artificially cut through. - -_The Tunnels from the Virgin’s Fountain._--From the Virgin’s Fountain, -about 320 yards south of the Triple Gate, and on the eastern side of -Ophel, a tunnel has been excavated through the hill to the Pool of -Siloam. The distance between these two places is not much more than 300 -yards, but the tunnel winds about and its length is 1708 feet (or 569 -yards). Robinson and others had been through it, and found it difficult -to traverse, for it is necessary to go part of the way crawling on -hands and feet. Colonel Warren, accompanied by Serjeant Birtles and -a fellah, patiently explored it, taking compass bearings at every -turn, and giving us at last an accurate plan of it. It was no easy -work crawling in three or four inches of water, recording observations -with pencil and paper, and carrying candles at the same time. Nor -was the business unattended with danger, for the flow of water being -intermittent, and an unexpected flow occurring while they were in the -tunnel, it proved very difficult to keep their mouths above water. - -An inscription within this tunnel escaped the notice of all explorers -until lately, and was not detected even by Warren. - - [Illustration: PLAN OF THE SILOAM TUNNEL. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -The present Pool of Siloam measures about 55 feet, north and south by -18 feet east and west, and is about 20 feet deep. At the north end an -archway, 5 feet wide, appears, leading to a small vault, 12 feet long, -in which is a descent from the level of the top of the pool to the -level of the channel supplying it. In the year 1880 one of the pupils -of Herr Conrad Schick, the architect of the Church Missionary Society, -while climbing down fell into the water, and on rising to the surface -noticed the appearance of letters on the wall of the rock. The rock -had been smoothed so as to form a tablet about 27 inches square, which -contains six lines of writing on its lower portion. The inscription -is about 5 yards from the mouth of the channel, and is on the right -hand of an explorer entering from the Siloam end. It could hardly be -read at first, because a deposit of lime had formed over it. Dr Guthe -removed this by washing the tablet with a weak solution of hydrochloric -acid. Major Conder, with the aid of Lieutenant Mantell, expended -much labour and patience in taking a “squeeze,” sitting for three -or four hours cramped up in the water in order to obtain a perfect -copy, and repeating the experience in order to verify every letter. -Conder’s squeezes were the basis of the earliest correct representation -published in Europe. Professor Sayce, who had already visited the -tunnel and made a provisional translation of the text, was now enabled -to improve it; and the following is the translation:-- - -“1. (Behold the) excavation! Now this is the history of the excavation. -While the excavators were still lifting up - -“2. The pick, each towards his neighbour, and while there were yet -three cubits to (excavate, there was heard) the voice of one man - -“3. Calling to his neighbour, for there was an _excess_ (?) in the rock -on the right hand (and on the left?). And after that on the day - -“4. Of excavating the excavators had struck pick against pick, one -against another, - -“5. The waters flowed from the spring to the pool for a distance of -1200 cubits. And (part) - -“6. Of a cubit was the height of the rock over the head of the -excavators.”[23] - -The meeting of the two parties of excavators near the middle of the -tunnel accords with Warren’s discovery of two false cuttings, one on -either side, at a distance of 900 feet from the Siloam end. - -The inscription is in ancient characters, very much resembling those on -the Moabite Stone, but possessing certain peculiarities. It is probably -the oldest bit of Hebrew writing on stone that we possess, and opens -out a new chapter in the history of the alphabet. It gives the first -monumental evidence of the condition of civilisation among the Hebrews -in the days of their kings; and altogether it is the most important -discovery of the kind since the finding of the Moabite Stone. - -Major Conder says that the general impression resulting from an -examination of the conduit is that it was the work of a people whose -knowledge of engineering was rudimentary. It is well known that in -mining it is very difficult to induce the excavator to keep in a truly -straight line, the tendency being to diverge very rapidly to one side. -It is possible that this is the real reason of the crooked run of the -canal; but another reason may have been the comparative hardness of -the strata met in mining at a uniform level through a hill, with beds -having a considerable dip. It will, however, be observed, that, after -passing the shaft, the direction of the tunnel changes to a line more -truly directed on the Virgin’s Fountain. The excavators from the Siloam -end became aware, probably by the impossibility of seeing a light at -the head of the mine, when standing at the mouth of the tunnel, that -they were not going straight, and the only means they had of correcting -the error consisted in making a shaft up to the surface to see where -they had got to. After ascertaining this they went straight for about -140 feet, and then diverged gradually to the left; but their general -direction, nevertheless, agrees roughly with that of the rock contour, -which may be due to following a particular seam of rock. - - [Illustration: - - SHAFTS DISCOVERED AT THE VIRGIN’S FOUNTAIN. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -It is recognised by Colonel Warren that the tunnel running southward -to the Pool of Siloam was not the first tunnel excavated in connection -with the Virgin’s Fountain. A channel had previously been made from the -Virgin’s Fountain due west, for a distance of 67 feet, into the heart -of the hill, and there communicated by a shaft and corridors with the -surface. When the longer tunnel came to be made the engineers wisely -availed themselves of the channel already existing, and began their -new excavation at a distance of 50 feet from the Virgin’s Fount. The -priority of the channel running due west to the shaft appears to be -undoubted; and it is clear that whatever mistakes of direction might be -made by unscientific engineers when they had got some distance into the -hill, they never would _begin_ by working due west from the Virgin’s -Fount when their object was to make a channel south-south-west to -Siloam Pool. - -At the bottom of the shaft, which is 67 feet due west, Warren found the -rock scooped out into a basin 3 feet deep, for the water to lie in, and -at the top of the shaft an iron ring to which the rope of the bucket -could be tied. The shaft was 40 feet in height, and then the space -began to open out westward into a great cavern, there being a sloping -ascent at an angle of 45°, covered with loose stones of about a foot -cube. Warren says it was ticklish work ascending, for the stones all -seemed longing to be off, and one starting would have sent the mass -rolling, himself with it, on top of the serjeant, all to form a mash -at the bottom of the shaft. After ascending about 30 feet they got on -to a landing. The cave now opened out to south-west and north-west. -Following it in the latter direction they arrived at a passage 40 -feet long, at the far end of which was a rough wall. Creeping through -a hole in this they ascended a steep staircase for 50 feet, passed -another wall, and found themselves in a vaulted chamber. The exit at -last was on the Hill of Ophel, a few feet from the ridge, and almost -certainly, some writers maintain, within the ancient walls. The object -of the cuttings was to get a supply of water from within; and perhaps -the piles of loose stones which were found in the long passage were -intended to be thrown down the shaft if an enemy should attempt to -ascend it. In the passage were found three glass lamps of curious -construction, placed at intervals as if to light the way; and in the -vaulted chamber a little pile of charcoal as if for cooking, one of -these lamps, a cooking dish glazed inside, for heating food, and a jar -for water. Evidently the place had been used as a refuge. - -A similar arrangement for closing the entrance to a spring, and using -a secret passage from the hill above, has lately been discovered at -_El Jib_ (ancient Gibeon),[24] and only a few years ago at ’_Amman_ -(Rabbath Ammon). In connection with the latter, Conder quotes Polybius -to the effect that when Antiochus the Great besieged the forces of -Ptolemy Philopater, at _Amman_, in 218 B.C., the garrison -held out until a prisoner revealed a secret communication with a water -supply outside the walls. - -_Difficulties of the Work._--It is impossible to read the detailed -accounts of Warren’s work at Jerusalem without feeling an admiration -for the courage and patience of the explorers, and without being -sometimes amused at the ludicrous predicaments into which they -occasionally got. They have been jammed in aqueducts, wedged in chasms, -and walled up behind falling heaps of _debris_. They have had to go -down ladders too short for reascending, to squeeze down apertures that -have taken the skin off the shoulders, and have been half drowned in -cisterns at the bottom. In the Tyropœon the soil is so soaked with -sewage that it poisons the flesh wherever it touches a scratch. In the -Kedron Valley the soil is so loose that it rushes into the galleries, -almost flowing like a fluid, and drives the men out. In the Siloam -tunnel they more than once ran the risk of being drowned. In the Ophel -shaft a loose stone, weighing eight cwt., threatened momentarily to -fall upon their heads. Once when the Arab labourers had gone down a -shaft, where the ancient bed of the Tyropœon runs out, 90 feet from -the south-west angle, they had descended 79 feet when they came upon -a stone slab. They began breaking it up with a hammer, when presently -the pieces fell in, the hammer disappeared, and the men, in terror lest -they should fall into unknown depths, rushed to the surface, sought out -the serjeant, and assured him that they had found the bottomless pit! -The awful depth proved to be just 6 feet more to the solid rock! - -Warren had often to dig in people’s gardens, or to mine under their -houses, or sink shafts near to their sacred places, and it required -much tact to deal with the prejudices of the Mohammedans, and to -satisfy all claims for compensation. In the neighbourhood of Jerusalem -a piece of garden ground may belong to one man, be rented by another, -while a dozen people claim an interest in the crops that grow upon -it. Sometimes Warren’s labourers have been dragged before the judges -and threatened with imprisonment, or told that they shall be sent to -do forced labour on the Jaffa Road. When Warren was working at the -Virgin’s Fountain there was much commotion among the people of Siloam. -Work was to be resumed in the morning; but one cantankerous sheikh, -taking it into his head that Englishmen had no business out of their -own country, effectually stayed proceedings by sending a bevy of -damsels to the Fount to wash. On one occasion a Turkish officer of -Engineers, dressed in full uniform, approached, in no friendly spirit, -to examine one of the shafts. If he had chosen to give an adverse -report the work would have been stopped. He knew that Warren was in -command, but he marched magnificently past him without deigning to -notice him, and was going straight for the head of the shaft. But -Warren passed on rapidly before him, threw over the ladder which some -lady visitors had been using, blew out the light, and descended by a -rope. The Turk, hearing a crash, and seeing Warren disappear in the -darkness, was afraid that something terrible had occurred, which he did -not wish to be responsible for, and lost no time in turning his steps -away. But, after all, when we consider that the Sanctuary at Jerusalem -is as sacred to the Mohammedans as the precincts of Westminster Abbey -to ourselves, it is marvellous how much Sir Charles Warren succeeded in -effecting, and with how little friction he did it. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Quarterly Statements of P. E. - Fund.” “Recovery of Jerusalem.” Sir C. Warren. “Tent Work in - Palestine.” Major Conder.] - - - 4. _Jerusalem as it was._ - -_The Hills and Valleys._--Sir Charles Warren was the first to point -out the necessity of ascertaining the depth of the rock below the -present surface, in as many places as possible, and of referring all -the measurements to one fixed datum, the level of the sea. In the study -of the ancient topography the original appearance of the ground is the -first consideration, for although a certain amount of soil may always -have existed, still the ancient surface must have conformed far more -closely to that of the rock than does the present. - -To this work very great attention has been given, first by Warren -himself, in his exploration of numerous tanks and sinking of scores -of shafts; next by Herr Schick, who, in his professional capacity of -architect, has measured the position when sinking foundations for -houses in every quarter of Jerusalem. Contours had also been given -in the Ordnance Survey conducted by Sir C. Wilson in 1864. At length -Conder was able to take all the data and send home a plan of rock -levels for the entire city. From this he also prepared a reduced -shaded sketch of the original rock site of the town. The sketch -is here reproduced, and by the help of it the reader will find it -comparatively easy to understand Josephus’s description, as well as -the reconstruction of the ancient city which will be attempted in this -section. - -Josephus says--“The city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls, -on such parts as were not encompassed with unpassable valleys, for in -such places it had but one wall. The city was built upon two hills, -which are opposite to one another, and have a valley to divide them -asunder, at which valley the corresponding rows of houses on both -hills end. Of these hills that which contains the Upper City is much -higher and in length more direct. Accordingly it was called the Citadel -(φρούριον) by King David, but it is by us called the Upper -Market Place. But the other hill, which was called Akra, and sustains -the Lower City, is curved on both sides (ἀμφίκυρτος).[25] -Over against this was a third hill, but naturally lower than Akra, and -parted formerly from the other by a broad valley. However, in those -times when the Maccabees reigned, they filled up that valley with -earth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then took -off part of the height of Akra, and reduced it to be of less elevation -than it was before, that the temple might be superior to it. Now the -Tyropœon Valley, as it was called, and was that which we told you -before distinguished the hill of the Upper City from that of the Lower, -extended as far as Siloam.” (Wars, v. 4, 1.) - - [Illustration: - - ROCK SITE OF JERUSALEM. - - (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)] - -In the next section Josephus tells us that as the city grew more -populous it crept beyond its old limits, “and those parts of it that -stood northward of the temple and joined that hill to the city, made it -considerably larger, and occasioned that hill, which is in number the -fourth, and is called _Bezetha_ (or New City), to be inhabited also. -It lies over against the Tower of Antonia, but is divided from it by a -deep valley, which was dug on purpose, and that in order to hinder the -foundations of the Tower of Antonia from joining to this hill.” - -When we read these descriptions in the light of our plan, things become -tolerably plain. The south-western hill was the Upper City--a large -flat-topped hill surrounded with deep valleys, and having a level of -about 2550 to 2500 feet above the sea. The eastern hill is known to -be the Temple Hill, which is number three in Josephus’s description. -Bezetha (number four) is distinctly described as the hill north of the -Temple Hill, and only divided from it at one point by an artificial -cutting. The explorers have found this cutting, carried through a -narrow neck of high ground, at the north-western corner of the Haram. -Thus there is no room to question that “the second hill, which was -called Akra and sustained the Lower City” is the hill projecting down -from the north-west like a promontory, gibbous in its form. The Upper -City was divided from Akra “by a broad valley,” now partly filled up, -which was called the Tyropœon Valley, and beginning near the Jaffa -Gate, “extended as far as Siloam Fountain.” The summit of Akra is not -more than 2480 feet above sea level--considerably lower than the Upper -City--and looks lower than it is, because the whole site of Jerusalem -is tilted up from the west like an inclined plane, and because the -valleys about the Upper City are deeper. Josephus says the Akra hill -used to be higher, and sustained the Macedonian fortress called the -Akra, which dominated the Temple. Being so near and so high, it -enabled the garrison to look down into the Temple courts. They used -also to run out and molest the Jews who were passing from the Upper -City into the Temple by the western gate (Joseph. Ant. xii. 9, 3; 1 -Macc. i. 36; and Warren in “Transactions of the Society of Biblical -Archæology,” vii. 314). - -The Macedonian fortress was a thorn in the side of Jerusalem until -Simon Maccabæus captured it and demolished it. At the same time he cut -down the top of the hill itself; and perhaps it was with the material -so obtained that he filled up the valley between Akra and the Temple. -By the filling up of this valley, which it is convenient to call the -Asmonean Valley, the two hills were joined together; and it would not -be surprising if the terms “Akra” and “Lower City” soon after began to -have an extended meaning, and to embrace all the buildings on both the -hills which were now united into one. - -Having now a definite conception of the original lie of the ground, -and knowing the four hills of Jerusalem by name and location, we can -proceed to plant a few of the ancient buildings in their proper places. - -_The Temple of Solomon._--We have already seen reason for placing the -Temple over the very summit of Moriah; but we must now make our reasons -quite conclusive, and also show the limits of the Temple courts. - -In the first place the summit of the mountain is the natural position -for the Temple, rather than any position on the slope. The rock called -the Sakhrah and the Foundation-stone of the World has been sacred -from time immemorial. It seems to be referred to in Isaiah xxviii. -16--“Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, -a precious corner (stone), of sure foundation.” Ezekiel also, with -Josephus and the Talmud, all agree in placing the temple on the summit -of the mountain (Ezek. xliii. 12). - -As remarked by Dr Chaplin,[26] the question whether the “stone of -foundation” was a portion of the solid rock or a movable stone is one -of considerable interest in connection with the topography of the -Temple. If the former, it will be easy to fix with all but absolute -certainty its position, and from it as a starting-point, to lay down -the sites of the temple, altar, and courts with no more uncertainty -than the uncertain value of the cubit renders inevitable. The use -of the word _Eben_ would imply that it was a movable stone, but its -(supposed) history, as given by the Rabbis, quite removes it from the -category of ordinary stones, and represents it as the centre or nucleus -from which the world was founded. The _Toldoth Yesu_ represents it as a -movable stone, and states that King David, when digging the foundation -of the temple, found it “over the mouth of the abyss” with THE -NAME engraved upon it, and that he brought it up and placed it in -the Holy of Holies. “On the whole” (says Dr Chaplin) “it is difficult -to come to any other conclusion than that the stone which the Rabbis -write about was a portion of rock projecting three finger-breadths -upwards from the floor of the Holy of Holies, covering a cavity which -was regarded as the mouth of the abyss, reverenced as the centre and -foundation of the world, and having the ineffable name of God inscribed -upon it.” - -The statements made in the Talmud and repeated over and over again -with great accuracy by Rabbinic writers, supply us with the following -precise information: (1) The stone of foundation (in other words, the -solid rock) was the highest point within the Holy of Holies, projecting -slightly above the floor, and from it the rock sloped downwards on -all sides. (2) A “solid and closed foundation,” 6 cubits high, was -made all round the house in order to raise the floor to (within -three finger-breadths of) its summit. On the eastern side this solid -foundation was covered by steps leading down to the court, 22 cubits -below the summit on that side. We must agree with Dr Chaplin that the -summit of the Sakhrah under the great Dome of the Rock is the only spot -in the whole enclosure which answers to these data. - -The Holy House, with its courts, was not in the centre of the -enclosure, but had a position north-west of the centre. The altar -court was at a lower level than the Holy House; and lower still, by -successive descents, were the court of Israel, the court of the women, -and the court of the Gentiles. The courts being in terraces one above -another, and the Holy House at the summit, the temple was a far more -conspicuous object than is the Dome of the Rock at the present day. - -The Talmud describes the Temple area as 500 cubits square. The prophet -Ezekiel says “it had a wall round about, the length five hundred and -the breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which -was holy and that which was common” (xlii. 20). Then we are told by -Maimonides, the learned Jewish writer, that “the men who built the -second temple, when they built it in the days of Ezra, they built it -like Solomon’s, and in some things according to the explanation in -Ezekiel.” - -Taking then the centre of the Sakhrah as the centre of the Holy of -Holies, and allowing ourselves to be guided by the Talmud measurements, -which are given with great exactitude, we shall not be far wrong if we -draw the boundaries as follows:--On the north, the northern limit of -the present platform, the line of which if continued eastward would -cut the east wall of the Haram a little north of the Golden Gate. -The platform is raised 12 feet above the present general surface of -the Haram enclosure. One day when the rain had loosened a stone near -the north-eastern corner of the platform and revealed the existence -of vaults, Warren went down and took measurements; and it appears -that the northern end of the platform consists of rock which has been -scarped away perpendicularly. On the south the boundary would come to -within a few feet of the entrance of El Aksa mosque, and would fall -short of the south wall of the Haram by 300 feet. On the east and west -the boundaries would fall a little way within the present walls of the -Haram. We may reasonably conclude that the present east and west walls -of the Haram either represent walls of the Temple enclosure, or else -were built a little without them, as retaining walls for gradually -accumulating _debris_. - -When the Temple of Solomon was destroyed, with all the buildings that -surrounded it, the _debris_ would be piled up in the courts. Probably -it would never be thought worth while to remove it all from the lower -courts, but rather to cover it over and lay a neat pavement on the -surface. Spaces and corners where the rubbish was less gathered would -be filled in or built up to complete the levelling; and as the rubbish -increased, both within and without the walls, after successive sieges, -the walls themselves were further built up, to keep them of sufficient -height. It never was intended in the first instance, to build walls -up from the foundation and make them 150 feet high. By successive -changes, the result of calamities as much as the fruit of improvement, -the terraced mountain grew to be an elevated plateau, such as the -Haram enclosure is at the present day. Josephus says that when Herod -rebuilt the Temple he extended the area of the courts and made it twice -as large as it was before. With that, however, we need not concern -ourselves while we are seeking to restore the city of Old Testament -times. - -_Solomon’s Palace_ we find reasons for placing south of Solomon’s -Temple, on the slope of the terraced mountain, with its south-eastern -angle coinciding with the present south-eastern corner of the Haram. -Those deep-buried stones with the Phœnician masons’ marks upon them -may be the very foundation stones of the palace. The palace was a -great work, and occupied thirteen years in building. It was necessary -to build up at this corner, but as soon as a level was reached that -permitted the work to be carried through from east to west, the -six-feet course was laid as the true base for the more splendid -superstructure. This six-feet course extends for 600 feet westward -from the south-east angle, and gives us the limit in that direction. -Northward we are limited by the courts of the temple to 300 feet. This, -then, is where Sir Charles Warren places Solomon’s palace, and these -are the dimensions he assigns to it. Mr James Fergusson had already -been led, from architectural reasons, to consider it an oblong of 550 -feet by 300. The level of the six-feet course is 60 feet below the -summit of the mountain. A patient examination of the wall led Warren -to the conclusion that all below this great course is old work, and -that the walls of the Haram generally correspond to the description of -Josephus, in whose day the great wall of Solomon still existed. - -The Temple and the palace being thus located, there is left, beyond -the west end of the palace, a plot of ground, 300 feet square, not -enclosed at the time we are speaking of, although at the present day -it forms the south-western corner of the Sanctuary and has the mosque -El Aksa covering it. But the great depression of the Tyropœon Valley -falls just there, and it would not be raised and enclosed until a late -day. Warren says, in the “Recovery of Jerusalem”: “Our researches show -that the portion of the wall to the west of the Double Gate is of a -different construction to, and more recent than that to the east. This -is a matter of very great importance, and, combined with other results, -appears to show the impossibility of the Temple having existed at the -south-west angle, as restored by Mr Fergusson and others. The only -solution of the question I can see, is by supposing the portion to the -east of the Double Gate to have formed the south wall of Solomon’s -palace, and that to the west to have been added by Herod when he -enlarged the courts of the Temple.” - -Before this addition was made the south wall was but 600 feet in -length. The Triple Gate stood in the middle of it, and as we have seen, -it is exactly on the ridge of the hill. The sill is 38 feet below the -present level of the Sanctuary, and from the gate three avenues ascend -gently to the Sanctuary floor. May they not represent “the way by which -Solomon went up to the House of the Lord”? - -_The Wall of Ophel_, as already described, has been discovered by -Warren, and abuts against the south-eastern angle of what we are now -prepared to regard as Solomon’s palace. - -_The Tower of Antonia._--Josephus tells us that the tower which -Herod built and named in honour of Antony stood on a rock 50 cubits -high, at the north-west corner of the Temple. The rock was separated -from Bezetha by a cutting made on purpose, yet the tower was so near -to Bezetha that it adjoined the New City. At the same time it was -so near to the Temple that the south-eastern turret overlooked the -Temple courts, while passages from the tower led to the west and north -cloisters. This description is precise enough. As Conder says, there is -just such a rock fortress in the north-west part of the Haram. It is a -great scarp, with vertical faces on the south and north, standing up -40 feet above the interior court, and separated from the north-eastern -hill of Jerusalem by a ditch 50 yards broad, in which are now the Twin -Pools--the Bethesda of St. Jerome. This block of rock is “the top of -the hill” spoken of by Josephus, and occupies a length of 100 yards -along the course of the north wall of the Haram. No other such scarp -exists in or near the enclosure of the High Sanctuary. Can we then -hesitate to place Antonia here? - -Herod, after all, only repaired and strengthened this tower, for it had -been built by Hyrcanus and passed under the name of Baris before being -renamed Antonia, and even Hyrcanus was not the first at this work (page -265). - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Quarterly Statements of P. E. - Fund.” “The Recovery of Jerusalem.” Sir C. Warren. “The Works - of Josephus.”] - - - 5. _The Walls and Gates of the City._ - -“Even stone walls,” says Mr Lewin, “cannot fail to awaken some degree -of interest, when it is remembered that upon the result of the inquiry -depends the question, Where was Calvary? and where the Holy Sepulchre?” -If we desire to understand Old Testament events as well as those of the -Gospels we shall take some interest in the question of the correct line -of the walls. The walls were perambulated by Nehemiah’s two companies -on the Thanksgiving Day; certain of the gates are mentioned by name -in connection with events of the history; and our reading of the -narrative will gain in vividness if we can follow the events like those -acquainted with the ground. - -_The First Wall, or Wall of the Upper City._--Josephus says there were -three walls; but as the third or most northerly was not built until -A.D. 43, we will leave it out of account for the present. We -shall endeavour to fix the lines of the walls and the positions of the -gates as they were in Nehemiah’s time, and then we shall have those of -still earlier date, for Nehemiah only repaired walls and gates which -had been thrown down, and did not build afresh. - -Beginning at the remarkable neck of land near the present Jaffa Gate a -wall ran eastward along the northern brow of the hill, and in the line -of the Causeway, and ended at the west cloister of the Temple. This -was the north wall of the Upper City. That city had a wall all round -it; and on the west, south, and east the wall simply followed the brow -of the hill. From the Jaffa Gate it ran southward (facing westward) -along the brink of the Valley of Hinnom, by Bethso (the Hebrew term -for Dung place) to the Gate of the Essenes. At the south-west corner -of the hill an escarpment of the rock was noticed by Robinson; was -further traced by Mr Maudslay, who in 1872 found there a tower, reached -by rock-cut steps; and is clearly marked in Conder’s plan. From this -corner the wall faced the south for a while, and then, according to -Josephus, made a bend above Siloam; and this must have been, as Mr -Lewin points out, a bend up the Tyropœon Valley, along the edge of the -High Town (to the Causeway), and then back again along the edge of the -Low Town on Ophel (until it joined the Wall of Ophel discovered by -Warren). The wall from Siloam, we learn from Josephus, bending there, -faced to the east at Solomon’s Pool, and holding on as far as the -place called Ophla, joined the eastern cloister of the Temple.[27] The -eastern cloister of the Temple--_i.e._, the south-eastern angle of the -enclosure--was, in Josephus’s day, coincident with the south-east angle -of Solomon’s palace of earlier time; and the city wall which joined it -was the Wall of Ophel itself. - -According to this description Solomon’s Pool was in the Tyropœon -Valley, between the two walls of the High Town and the Low Town. -Probably at a very early period many houses were built in this valley, -and it became an intramural suburb. In view of war it would be deemed -necessary to protect it; and for its defence the most obvious plan -would be to build a dam or a wall athwart the valley. Such a work would -greatly strengthen the city itself, by preventing all access up the -valley, especially if the mound or wall was aided by a castle at the -Ophel end of it. We shall see reason to believe that the dam and the -castle were built and were called Millo and the House of Millo. The -suburb thus became immured in the city, but continued to be called the -Suburb; and we read that the west wall of the Temple enclosure had -two gates leading to the Suburb (Josephus, “Antiquities” xv. 11, 5; 1 -Chron. xxvi. 16, the gate Shallecheth). - -The course of the first wall as thus described by Josephus does not -appear to differ much from its course in Nehemiah’s time; and in all -essentials it seems to be the wall of David’s day, preserved upon -the old foundations. Josephus indeed states as much in the following -passage:--“Now of these three walls, the old one was hard to be taken, -both by reason of the valleys and of that hill on which it was built, -and which was above them. But besides that great advantage as to the -place where they were situated, it was also built very strong; because -David and Solomon and the following kings were very zealous about this -work.” - - [Illustration: SCHICK’S LINE OF SECOND WALL.] - -_The Second Wall._--The description of the second wall, given by -Josephus, is short, and may be quoted entire: “It took its beginning -from that gate which they called Gennath, which belonged to the first -wall; it only encompassed the northern quarter of the city, and reached -as far as the tower Antonia.” - -The necessity for this wall arose as follows. Through the increase of -the population a suburb had sprung up, not only in the upper reach of -the Tyropœon Valley, but on the hill beyond it. On the spur of this -hill, which projected toward the Temple, stood the Akra fortress, -but north-west of the fortress the ground was high and open, and -unprotected by any deep valley. To protect this suburb it was necessary -to carry a wall across the saddleback, sweeping round from the corner -of the High Town to the north-west corner of the eastern hill; and -this was probably done as early as David’s day. - -There is not now much difficulty in finding approximately the position -of the gate Gennath, the starting point of this wall. We observe on -Conder’s plan of the rock site that a narrow ridge runs north and -south, immediately east of the Tower of David, and separates as a -shed the broad head of the Tyropœon from the western valley. The -Tyropœon deepens very suddenly, and any wall carried across it would -of necessity be commanded by the ridge to the west of it. The only -sensible course for the builders was to carry the wall along the ridge -itself, on ground commanding all without it. Exactly along this ridge, -at its western side, a wall was discovered in the year 1885, during the -rebuilding of the Greek Bazaar. At a depth 15 feet below the present -street Dr Merrill found two layers of stone, and at some points three, -still in position; and the stones were of the same size and character -as the largest of the stones in the Tower of David opposite. Broken -Roman pottery was found in these excavations, and a stone ball, such -as the Romans used in warfare. The discovery of these foundations -enables us to lay down the second wall for a distance of 40 or 50 -yards, with accuracy.[28] Thus we know where the wall began, and where -it ended. Its intermediate course can only be ascertained by arguments -of probability, and by mapping every bit of ancient wall uncovered in -connection with building operations and the making of drains. Upon the -true course of this wall depends the answer to the question whether -the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was without the city or -within. We are contented here to adopt the line of wall arrived at by -Herr Conrad Schick, who has studied the question on the ground, who -is acquainted with every bit of ancient wall that has come to light, -and has a reason for every twist and turn and every gate and tower -here represented. It will be seen by his plan that he does not stop at -the Tower of Antonia, but continues his line of wall so as to defend -the northern and eastern sides of the Temple. This is required by -Nehemiah’s descriptions. But when Herod enlarged the Temple courts, if -not before, these portions of the wall would be interfered with--the -northern portion would be removed, the eastern portion had perhaps -become buried--and so Josephus is silent about them. - -With the course of the walls thus definitely marked out, it becomes -possible to follow the descriptions in the Book of Nehemiah, and to -identify the towers and gates and places there mentioned. - -_Nehemiah’s Night Ride to Survey the Ruins._--Jerusalem had been -destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s general, and although the Chaldeans -entered by a breach on the north side, they afterwards burnt the palace -and every great house, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem round -about (2 Kings xxv. 4). Nehemiah returned from the captivity to rebuild -the city of his fathers, and prudently decided to make first a quiet -survey of the extent of the destruction. - -In chapter ii. 13, we read, “I went out by night by the Valley Gate, -even towards the dragon’s well, and to the Dung Gate.” This Valley -Gate was at or near the Gennath Gate, at the head of the Tyropœon -Valley, and at the same time close to the Valley of Hinnom. It could -not be far from the present Jaffa Gate. The Dung Gate--Josephus’s -“Bethso”--comes between the Jaffa Gate and the south-west corner of the -city; a position also required by chap. iii. 13. “Then I went on to -the Fountain Gate and to the King’s Pool.” The Fountain Gate would be -a convenient exit from the city to a path leading down to Siloam Pool; -The King’s Pool (_el-Berekath_) was probably Solomon’s Pool, mentioned -by Josephus as being by the east face of the old wall. In after -times it would be called in Scripture the King’s Pool, because it was -appropriated and used by Solomon’s successors, just as Solomon’s Palace -is called the king’s house in Neh. iii. 25. This pool would be within -the protected suburb. Nehemiah continues, “But there was no place for -the beast that was under me to pass.” Why? Because here we have two -walls in a narrow space, and the destruction of both of them had filled -the valley with _debris_. “Then I went up by the brook (_nachal_, the -Kedron) and viewed the wall: and I turned back and entered by the -Valley Gate, and so returned.” - -_The Rebuilding of the Walls and Gates._--Nehemiah decides that the -walls can be and shall be rebuilt; and he parcels out the work among -forty-six of the principal people, who each have their retainers. -The work is sacred, and is appropriately begun by the high priest, -who naturally selects a spot near the Temple--the Sheep Gate of the -city wall, which would seem to have been about midway between the -north-eastern and north-western corners of the temple area of that -time. The description of the repairs takes us westward, or to the -left, and carries us all round the city to the same point again. “Then -Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and -they builded the Sheep Gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors -of it; even unto the tower of Hammeah[29] they sanctified it, unto the -tower of Hananel.” These two towers, we may suppose, with Mr Lewin and -Herr Schick, already occupied the site of the future Antonia. In fact -they were parts of the Baris or Castle where Nehemiah himself intends -to reside (Neh. ii. 8, where the Hebrew word is the _Birah_). - -After these towers of the Baris the various gates and places come -before us in the following order:-- - -The Fish Gate, placed in Herr Schick’s plan where the first main line -of street ran out into the country. - -The Old Gate, where the next main line of street ran out. It is where -these two roads cross one another that we get, at a later period, the -Damascus Gate set up. Streets running direct towards a city wall seem -to demand a gate in that wall to complete their usefulness. - -Next we have the Throne of the Governor-beyond-the-River. This, like -the preceding, is some structure occurring in the course of the wall. -In chap. ii. 7, 9, the phrase “beyond the river” seems to mean westward -of the Jordan, where the district was governed by a viceroy of the -king of Assyria. The viceroy lived or had lived in Jerusalem,[30] and -his castle appears to have come into the line of the second wall, in -the part which is south-east of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and -perhaps exactly at the re-entering angle. - -The Broad Wall, which is named next, was not necessarily broad in -itself. Open spaces, such as we should name Squares, were in Jerusalem -called Broads. There was one such broad space south of the Temple water -gate, on Ophel, in which the people sometimes assembled (Neh. viii. -1; Ezra x. 9). There seems to have been another near one of the city -gates, where Hezekiah addressed the people, alarmed at the approach of -Sennacherib (2 Chron. xxxii. 6). Sennacherib would approach the city -on the north-west, and the people were very likely gathered by the -Valley Gate discussing the matter, in an open space afterwards utilised -by the construction of the “Pool of Hezekiah.” The “Broad” wall might -be so called from running along one side of this broad space. It -perhaps started from the second wall at the point which Nehemiah’s -description has now reached, and extended southward to the wall of the -high town, and so constituted an inner line of defence. Nothing is said -of repairing it: perhaps it had not been thrown down; or, as an inner -wall, Nehemiah neglects it for the present, as he does also the north -wall of the Upper City. At any rate the description carries us beyond -it. At the north-west angle of the second wall there was a Corner Gate -(2 Kings xiv. 13; 2 Chron. xxv. 23), which is called also the Gate that -Looketh. A gate here would command a view of the city walls as far as -the Fish Gate on the one hand and the Valley Gate on the other. But -this gate also is passed over in the present description. - -We have next the Tower of the Furnaces, probably west of the “Pool of -Hezekiah.” The word may mean hearths furnaces, ovens, or altars; but we -cannot say to what it related. - -And then we come to the Valley Gate, which we have already seen must -have been near the present Jaffa Gate, and probably was exactly where -the present David Street passes the end of the wall discovered, by the -Greek Bazaar, in 1885. Unless a gate existed there, the street would -lose half its use. Yet there is Herr Schick’s alternative, that the -name was given to a gate south-west of the Citadel, and opening on to -the Valley of Hinnom. - -In verse 13, from the Valley Gate it is “1000 cubits on the wall to the -Dung Gate.” This forbids any identification with the present dung gate, -in the Tyropœon, and fixes within a little the position of _Bethso_. - -In verse 15, Shallun, who repairs the Fountain Gate, repairs also “the -wall of the Pool of Shelah by the king’s garden.” Allow that Shelah is -Siloam, yet this need not be a wall running down to Siloam--if we were -to take that line we should go wrong all the rest of the way--it is -the transverse wall in the same valley above. Through a gate in this -wall the Pool of Siloam would be conveniently reached from the Suburb; -and this would be the “Gate between two walls,” through which Zedekiah -fled away (2 Kings, xxv. 4; Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7). The wall was by -the king’s garden (_le_ = by or near). Shallun pursues his work along -the transverse wall eastward “unto (_ad_) the Stairs (_maaloth_) that -go down from the City of David.” So the City of David includes Ophel, -and the Stairs descend the Ophel slope westward into the bed of the -Tyropœon. - - [Illustration: NEHEMIAH’S SOUTH WALL, ACCORDING TO GEORGE ST CLAIR. - - ⁂ The contour lines represent successive steps of ten feet. The - height at the Triple Gate is 2379 feet. - - REFERENCE. - - Suggested line of wall -- -- -- - 1 Valley gate. - 2 Dung gate. - 3 Fountain gate. - 4 King’s pool. - 5 Wall of Pool of Shelah. - 6 King’s Gardens. - 7 Stairs of the City of David. - 8 Sepulchres of David. - 9 The Pool that was made. - 10 House of the mighty. - 11 Turning of the wall. - 12 The Armoury. - 13 Turning of the wall. - 14 House of Eliashib. - 15 Turning of the wall. - 16 The Corner. - 17 Turning of the wall. - 18 Tower at King’s house. (Tower that standeth out.) - 19 Water gate. - 20 Tower that lieth out. - 21 Great Tower that lieth out. - 22 Wall of Ophel. - 23 Horse gate. - 24 Houses of priests. - 25 Gate Miphkad. - 26 Ascent of the corner. - 27 Going up of the wall. - 28 House of David. - 29 Gate between two walls. - 30 Gate of the Guard (2 Kings, xi. 19). - 31 Gate of the Guard (Neh. xii. 39).] - -Verse 16, “After him repaired Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, unto the -place over against (_neged_ = in front of) the sepulchres of David.” -The wall of the Pool of Shelah was an offshoot from the wall of the -High Town, so the writer returns and continues his description of -the wall of the High Town. Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, takes up the -repairs at the Fountain Gate and works northward. He comes over against -the royal sepulchres, which are therefore on the Ophel side of the -Tyropœon, a little north of the Stairs. The entrance would have to be -low down in the valley bed to be outside the wall which protects Ophel -on the west; but there is no reason why it should not be low down. The -only doubt we need have is whether the spot marked in the plan is quite -far enough north. In either case the excavations for royal tombs were -so extensive as at length to approach the south wall of the Temple, -perhaps even to touch the wall (at a point now under the mosque El -Aksa). This is complained of by the prophet Ezekiel as a desecration. -“The house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they, -nor their kings, by their whoredom, and by the carcases of their kings -in their death; in their setting of their threshold by my threshold, -and their door-post beside my door-post, and there was but the wall -between me and them” (Ezek. xliii. 7, 8). - -Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, continues working northward “unto the -pool that was made” (_berekah_, probably the “king’s pool” of ii. 14, -and the “reservoir between two walls” of Isaiah xxii.). He goes on -“unto the house of the mighty men.” If this is the house of the king’s -bodyguard, the men of war mentioned in 2 Kings xxv. 4, we shall find -that they are conveniently placed about midway between the armoury and -the king’s house. - -In the remaining short space on the west side of the Tyropœon we have -no less than four bands of workers, indicating that the destruction -had been very great, as indeed Nehemiah found it to be when there was -no possibility of his beast getting along; and the next indication of -locality is in - -Verse 19, “the turning” of the wall, “over against the ascent to the -armoury.” The armoury, therefore, was in or near the north-eastern -angle of the suburb. - -Verse 20. We are now carried from “the turning” of the wall by the -armoury, southward, “unto the door of the house of Eliashib, the high -priest;” and we are not surprised to find his house here, for we are -close alongside the Temple courts. The workers come _unto_ the door of -Eliashib’s house, which thus seems to project westward, so as to be -quite near to the line of wall; but they only come _over against_ the -less important houses which follow. - -Verse 24. The sixth worker down this side comes to “the turning” of -the wall and “unto the corner.” The turning is not the same as the -corner; the Hebrew language uses different words for a re-entering and -a salient angle. Each of the two turnings at the causeway (vv. 19, 20) -is called a _miqtzoa_ (= a re-entering angle); but now, in v. 24, they -come to a _miqtzoa_ and to a _pinneh_ (= a projecting angle). It is to -be observed that we should not have such angles at this part but for -the vacant square which Warren’s examination of the masonry compelled -him to leave--the wall for 300 feet each way from the south-west -corner of the Haram being more recent than the rest. - -The first salient angle is passed over because the worker who begins -north of it continues his labours till he comes south of it, and so its -mention is not necessary in defining the work done. (In like manner, in -vv. 6-8, the Gate of Ephraim is passed by without mention, although, -according to xii. 38, 39, it existed between the Broad Wall and the Old -Gate; and the Corner Gate, which we know existed, is passed over by -Nehemiah.) - -Verse 25. The mention now of another re-entering angle might perplex -us, only that the same verse speaks of a “tower standing out from the -king’s upper house,” and this may easily afford the angle. - -Verse 26. We are now fairly on the Hill of Ophel, and accordingly the -workers who have been set to labour here are “the Nethinim dwelling -in Ophel.” There is also mention in v. 31 of a house of the Nethinim -near the northern end of the east wall--still outside the Temple -precincts.[31] - -As soon as the Nethinim of Ophel get far enough south to look beyond -the projecting tower and see the Triple Gate, they are stated to be -over against the Water Gate. Lewin says that “the Water Gate proper was -that of the inner Temple, to the south of the altar, and led down to -the great southern gate of the outer Temple, which was probably also -called the Water Gate.” The Nethinim find themselves at the same time -looking eastward, or their wall facing toward the sun-rising. They are -also over against the tower that standeth out. This is not the tower -mentioned in the previous verse as projecting from the king’s house, -but may perhaps be the one at the bend of the Ophel wall, discovered by -Warren. - -Verse 27. Where the Nethinim cease their work it is taken up by the -Tekoites, who presently come “over against the great tower that -standeth out,” namely, the large tower which Warren found. This -identification struck Warren himself, and he mentions it in the -“Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 295. It now wanted but a little extension -of the work to complete the junction with the Wall of Ophel, at the -point where Warren found that wall to end abruptly, and the narrative -tells us that the Tekoites effected the junction. - -Verse 28. The Ophel Wall being in good repair, is no more referred -to; but the next thing mentioned is the Horse Gate. As Warren could -not find any gate in the Ophel Wall, the Horse Gate must have been -north of it; and here it would be at a point convenient for entrance -to Solomon’s Stables, which would be under the palace, and perhaps -under the present vaults known as Solomon’s Stables. There is a depth -of about 100 feet of unexplored rubbish between the floor of Solomon’s -Stables and the rock at the south-eastern angle. The true stables may -lie buried in this rubbish. - -“Above the Horse Gate repaired the priests, every one over against -his own house.” These houses of priests are in a position exactly -corresponding with the house of Eliashib and others on the west side. -The expression “over against,” implies that the city wall which is -being repaired stands removed from the priests’ houses, which border -the Temple courts, and it would be eastward of the present Haram wall. -Herr Schick draws it so. - -Verse 29. An East Gate is referred to (_Mizrach_), not to be confounded -with the Gate Harsith, the so-called East Gate of Jeremiah xix. 2 in -the Authorised Version. It may be the Shushan Gate, which, according to -the Talmud, stood over against the east front of the Temple. - -When we come over against the Golden Gate--which Nehemiah calls the -Gate Miphkad--we are just where Warren’s tunnelling work was arrested -by a massive masonry barrier--probably a part of the ancient city -wall--50 feet east of the Haram wall. The wall was built of large -quarry-dressed stones, and was so thick that a hole made into it for -5 feet 6 inches did not go right through. A few feet north of the -Golden Gate the wall began bending north-west, as though following -the contour of the hill; and Warren was also led to suspect that the -wall is a high one, extending upward through the _debris_ to near the -surface, since immediately above it, in the road, there are some large -roughly-bevelled stones lying in the same line.[32] - -In Nehemiah’s description we are now immediately at “the ascent of the -corner” (_pinneh_, a projecting angle). There is no corner now visible -at the surface immediately north of the Golden Gate, and no ascent from -a depth. But we have seen already that the northern cloister of the -Temple would strike the east wall of the Haram a little north of the -Golden Gate, and consequently here would be the _corner_ of the Temple -courts. We have also seen that the rock now shelves down to the north, -for the valley from Herod’s Gate came out here, and at 300 feet north -of Golden Gate the rubbish is 125 feet in depth, so that from this low -ground there would be an _ascent_ in turning west. The wall itself -would go up, ascending toward the ridge of the hill. There is no more -likely spot for the elbow of the wall than that marked by the little -building called the Throne of Solomon. The great depth of the valley -here gave fearful height to the corner tower; and eastern imagination -would be not unlikely to suggest that only Solomon or the demons could -have built it. - -Having reached “the ascent of the corner,” one more band of workers -brings us to the Sheep Gate, where the description began. - -_The Route of the Processionists._--Chapter xii. affords striking -confirmation of the foregoing positions. At the dedication of the -walls two companies start from the Valley Gate and go opposite ways to -meet in the Temple. Presumably the Valley Gate was chosen to afford -journeys of about equal length; and this is another indication that the -wall did not go down to Siloam. The party going south pass the Dung -Gate, and reach the Fountain Gate. And now which way will they go? The -wall has been repaired right ahead of them, and also the wall turning -north, and they will have to choose between two routes. The Revised -Version says they went “by (_ad_) the Fountain Gate and straight -before them,” and ascended _by_ the Stairs of the City of David at -the going up of the wall (not _by_ this time, nor really “at,” but -“_in_”--_ba-maaleth le-chomah_, _i.e._, _in_ the stairway of the wall -_by_ the Stairs of David--a different stairway from the Stairs of the -City of David, which descended into the valley bed). - -Their way up these stairs and beyond carried them “above the house of -David, even unto the Water Gate.” The house of David here is close by -the king’s garden of iii. 15; and its position on the slope of the hill -suggests a reason for calling Solomon’s palace the king’s upper house -(or high house, iii. 25). Some say “the house of David” means David’s -tomb; but if that be so, it only confirms the position which I am led -to assign to the tomb. Observe also that the position required for the -Water Gate here is again that of the present Triple Gate, the same as -in iii. 26. - -It deserves particular attention that the processionists pass quickly -from the Stairs of David to the Water Gate, whereas in the rebuilding, -these two places are very wide apart, because the bend of the wall -is followed. In iii. 15, we have the Sepulchres, the Pool, the House -of the Mighty, four more bands of workers, the turning of the wall, -the armoury, the house of Eliashib, the turning, the corner, and the -outstanding tower--all between the point over against the Stairs of -David and the Water Gate; but none of these things come in the route -of the processionists. This is easy to understand if the wall makes a -bay up the Tyropœon, for then the short cut in the text corresponds -with the short cut in the plan; but it can hardly be made intelligible -on any plan which omits this bay and carries the wall down to Siloam. - -A superficial objection may be raised that the detour up the valley and -_viâ_ the causeway, avoided by the processionists, would be avoided -by Nehemiah in repairing the walls, for why should he do more than -repair the short transverse wall, when his object was speed? My reply -would be that his object was strength and safety as well as speed. The -transverse wall was no sufficient protection by itself, there being -an easy approach up the valley, but it was valuable as an addition to -the inner walls. Besides, Nehemiah had workers enough to be engaged at -all these parts at once, so that the completion of the work was not -at all delayed by repairing the two north-and-south walls of the bend -simultaneously with the cross wall, and indeed with the walls all round -the city. - -The second company, with whom was Nehemiah, started from the Gate of -the Valley simultaneously with the first; and the earliest note of -their progress is that they pass the Tower of the Furnaces and reach -the Broad Wall. We now, of course, meet with the places in the reverse -order to that in which we made their acquaintance, in following the -builders from east to west. The order then was-- - - Sheep-Gate. - Tower of the Meah. - Tower of Hananel. - Fish Gate. - Old Gate. - Broad Wall. - Tower of the Furnaces. - -Passing these now, in reverse order, we find the Gate of Ephraim -noticed, between the Broad Wall and the Old Gate. I incline to place -the Gate of Ephraim at the junction of several streets near the -north-east corner of the Muristan, and I will give two reasons. (1) -Taking the wall as drawn by Schick, a principal street of the city -going west abuts upon the wall at that point and requires a gate. -(2) A Corner Gate existed, apparently at the north-western angle of -the second wall, west of the Broad Wall; the distance between the -Corner Gate and the Gate of Ephraim was 400 cubits (2 Kings xiv. 13; -2 Chron. xxv. 23); and the place now proposed for the Gate of Ephraim -corresponds to that distance. It may be that the tower of this gate was -the throne of the governor, the viceroy of the Assyrian king. - -Nehemiah’s company having at length reached the Sheep Gate entered the -Temple courts and stood still in the Gate of the Guard. - -Thus the two companies stood on the north and south sides of the altar, -and rendered thanksgiving to God, for that an unbroken wall once more -protected Jerusalem. - -The line of wall being established, with the positions of David’s -house, the gate between two walls, &c., we are confirmed in our -conclusion that the City of David was the eastern hill and included -Ophel. We see whereabouts the royal sepulchres are likely to be found -by future excavation. We gain something immediately by being able to -follow step by step the work of Nehemiah. And this is not all, for we -obtain fresh light upon the history of the house of David at various -points. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--The author himself is responsible - for the views of Jerusalem topography set forth in this - volume. The reader who wishes to consult other writers may - find the following references useful:--“Jerusalem, a - Sketch.” By Thomas Lewin. “Siege of Jerusalem.” Thomas Lewin. - “Antient Jerusalem.” Joseph Francis Thrupp. “The Recovery of - Jerusalem.” Sir Charles Warren. Trans. Soc. Bib. Archæol., - vol. vii. (“Site of the Temple.” By Sir C. Warren). “The Holy - City.” Rev. George Williams. “The Holy Sepulchre and the - Temple.” James Fergusson, F.R.S. “Murray’s Handbook of Syria - and Palestine.” (Dr Porter). “Quarterly Statements of the - P.E. Fund” (numerous papers).] - - - 6. _Incidents of the History better realised._ - -_The Taking of Jerusalem by David_:--The king and his men went to -Jerusalem against the Jebusites, who felt so secure in their stronghold -that they mocked David by putting the lame and the blind upon the -walls as defenders. Nevertheless, “David took the stronghold of Zion; -the same is the City of David ... and David dwelt in the stronghold -and called it the City of David” (2 Sam. v.). The stronghold here -spoken of is not that which is now called the tower of David, near the -Jaffa Gate, nor is the Zion here spoken of the south-western hill. -The parallel statement in Josephus is that David “took the Lower City -by force, but the Akra held out still.” Joab, however, scaled the -fortress, the Jebusites were cast out of the Akra, and then David -rebuilt Jerusalem, renamed it the City of David, and dwelt there -(Antiq. vii. 3. 1 & 2). It is not the High Town which is here spoken -of but the Akra; and in the place where Josephus gives a general -description of the city he tells us that Akra was the hill of the Lower -City, while the Upper City was called by King David the _Phrourion_, -that is, the _hill-fort_ or _watch-post_. - -It would seem that in those early days the south-western hill was not -yet inhabited, or at any rate was not yet enclosed by a wall, although -a garrisoned watch-tower stood upon it. The highest hills are not -always deemed the best positions for a citadel or castle. It was not -so at Athens, and it is not so in Edinburgh. The Jebusite population -of Jerusalem was mostly clustered on the eastern hill. In 1879 Sir -Charles Warren said: “The strongest point, to my mind, in favour of -Ophel having been the ancient site of the Jebusite city is the fact -of the one spring of water being found there. I have carefully noted -the manner in which the Kaffirs have located themselves close to water -in their various strongholds, and I think that unless there were very -urgent reasons, the Jebusites would have located themselves near what -is now called the Virgin’s Fountain.” - -But while the eastern hill was Zion,[33] the Akra was the stronghold -of its owners and defenders, their castle occupying an advantageous -promontory defended by valleys and ditches. A castle or fort so -situated, could not, however, stand a siege, unless it possessed a -secret supply of water; and Warren has spoken of the Virgin’s Fountain -as the only spring. But there is some mystery about the _Hammam esh -Shefa_, and many, including Warren himself, are inclined to believe -it may be connected with a spring. The water is stated to be clear -and free from the impurities of rain water, and the supply is never -exhausted. The position of this “well” is in the Tyropœon Valley, in -a line between Akra and the Dome of the Rock. The entrance to the -fountain is by a narrow opening, but the shaft soon expands to about -12 feet square. At the bottom is an excavated chamber on one side, and -a passage on the other. The passage expands into a vault, beyond which -the channel becomes crooked and irregular. It appears that an ancient -conduit enters the vault at the extremity of the horizontal passage, -but its direction and source are unknown. May not some conduit have -enabled the besieged garrison of the Akra fort to draw water from this -source? - -A few years ago the Rev. F. W. Birch, arguing on the supposition that -it was the city on Ophel which Joab captured for David, suggested that -he found his way into it by the secret tunnels and shafts from the -Virgin’s Fountain. That Ophel might be captured by surprise in that -way seems likely; only it was not Ophel that Joab had to capture, but -Akra. The Lower City had all been taken, except that the Akra held out -still. If its garrison obtained water from the _Hammam esh Shefa_, may -not Joab have effected an entrance from _that_ spring? He did not have -to _get up to_ a “_gutter_,” nor yet to a “water course,” but to “reach -them by the aqueduct” (_B’Tzinnor_). - -_David’s flight and exile; the Spies._--David at first dwelt in the -stronghold (the Akra fort), but we afterwards find references to a -house which he had and which was on the Ophel slope. We have had -evidence of this in the Book of Nehemiah, and we find confirmation in -such passages as 1 Kings viii. 1-6, where the ark is _brought up_ out -of the City of David into the temple (and 2 Sam. xxiv. 18; 1 Kings ix. -24). When David decided to flee from Jerusalem because of the rebellion -of Absalom, he would go down the stairs of the City of David, pass out -by the Gate between two walls, and go through his own garden grounds; -and then, as we are told, he passed over the Kedron, ascended Olivet, -and went down to Jericho and over the Jordan. - -But he left friends behind him at his house, and it was arranged that -two sons of the priests should act as spies and bring him news (2 Sam. -xvii.). They waited outside the city, at En Rogel, and a wench went and -told them. En Rogel is now identified with the Virgin’s Fountain; and -it would not be a bad place for the spies to hide in, seeing that its -passages were dark, and communicated both with the hill and the valley. -The maid servant, descending the staircases from above, might take a -pitcher or a bucket to draw water, and so escape suspicion; the spies -below on receiving the message, could hie away over the mountain to the -Jericho road and Jordan. - -The evidence that the Virgin’s Fountain is En Rogel will increase -upon us as we proceed; but one reason may be stated here. En Rogel is -etymologically the Spring of the Fuller, and was so called, no doubt, -because fullers washed clothes at the place; but it may also be made -to mean the Spring of the Steps, because fullers trode the clothes -with their feet, and hence got their name (from _Regel_, the _foot_, -and metaphorically a _step_). The Virgin’s Fountain is now called by -the Arabs, _Ain Umm ed Deraj_, “Fountain of the Mother of Steps,” a -designation commonly supposed to refer to the two flights of steps -which lead down to it, but which may be derived by tradition from “En -Rogel.” The steps were not always there. The explorers of Jerusalem -say, “The pool seems originally to have been visible in the face of a -cliff, and the vault and steps are modern. Possibly the original exit -of the water was down the Kedron Valley.” - -_Adonijah’s Banquet at the Stone of Zoheleth._--After Absalom’s death -David returned to Jerusalem. But by-and-bye he grew old and infirm, -and then there were speculations and plots about the succession to the -throne. Adonijah thought to gain favour by assuming royal state and -showing princely generosity. He set up chariots and horsemen, and fifty -men to run before him; and he slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the -stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel. Abiathar the priest was -at the banquet, and Joab the veteran general; all was going merrily, -and the guests shouted, “God save King Adonijah!” (1 Kings i.) But -news of these proceedings was carried to David at his house on Ophel. -Bathsheba came in and told him what was occurring, and reminded him of -his oath that Solomon her son should sit upon the throne. While the -queen was yet speaking, Nathan the prophet was announced, who confirmed -the story, and inquired anxiously who was to reign. Then David called -for Zadok and Nathan, the priests, and Benaiah, the soldier, chief of -the king’s bodyguard, to go with them as the representative of force, -and indeed to take his men, and said, “Cause Solomon my son to ride -upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon (_i.e._, Siloam Pool), -anoint him there, and blow the trumpet, and say, God save King Solomon. -Then ye shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my -throne; for he shall be king in my stead.” This was done, and all the -people said, “God save King Solomon!” - -We shall realize these events better when we look at the position of -Zoheleth, the discovery of which was one of the happy results of M. -Clermont Ganneau’s investigations in 1870. Nearly in the centre of -the line along which stretches the village of Siloam there exists a -rocky plateau surrounded by Arab buildings, which mask its true form -and extent: the western face, cut perpendicularly, slightly overhangs -the valley. Steps rudely cut in the rock enable one to climb it, not -without difficulty, and so to penetrate directly from the valley to the -midst of the village. By this road, troublesome, and even dangerous, -pass habitually the women of Siloam, who come to fill their vessels -at the so-called Virgin’s Fountain. Now this passage and this ledge -of rock in which it is cut are called by the fellahin, “Ez Zehweile,” -which means “a slippery place,” or perhaps “the serpent stone.” This -was M. Ganneau’s discovery, and he knew at once the bearings of it, in -helping to fix En Rogel at the Virgin’s Fountain, and the king’s garden -somewhere in its neighbourhood. Perhaps the discovery would have been -made earlier, only that the village of Siloam, owing to the turbulence -of its inhabitants, is almost unvisited by Europeans. - -Adonijah’s feast, then, was being held at the foot of this cliff, about -70 yards across the valley from En Rogel. Solomon’s party could not -be seen because the rising ground of Ophel came between. But when the -anointing had taken place at the Pool of Siloam, and the party were -going back up the Tyropœon toward David’s house, the people piped their -music and shouted their joy till the earth rang again. The attention -of Joab was attracted by the sound of the trumpet, and he enquired, -“Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?” The truth was -learned, and then Adonijah’s guests were afraid, and rose up and went -every man his way. - -_Solomon’s Change of Residence._--Solomon would at first live in the -house of his father David, which was near the stairs which went down to -the valley bed. “And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, -and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the City of David, -until he had made an end of building his own house,” &c. (1 Kings iii. -1). “And Solomon was building his own house thirteen years.” “He made -also a house for Pharaoh’s daughter” (close to his own house) (1 Kings -vii. 1. 8). “And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the -City of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, -My wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because -the places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come” (2 Chron. -viii. 11). This incidental mention that he brought her up accords well -with the relative positions of the two palaces--David’s lower down -the slope of Ophel, the new one higher up. The same remark applies to -bringing up the ark from David’s house to the Temple. - -_The Building of Millo._--David having taken the stronghold of Zion -improved his new capital by building “round about, from Millo and -inward” (2 Sam. v. 9). What Millo was, or where it was located, has -been one of the great puzzles of Jerusalem topography. It seems, -however, to have been the great dam athwart the Tyropœon Valley. It -is possible that even the Jebusites had hit upon the device and had -constructed a dam in some rude fashion, and named it by a word of -their own language, which afterwards clung to it. Sir G. Grove, in -the “Dictionary of the Bible,” conjectures that it was the Jebusites -who first built Millo, because it is difficult to assign a meaning to -the word in Hebrew, while the Canaanites of Shechem also had a Millo -(Judges ix. 6, 20), and because David seems to find it existing and not -to build it. The statement that David built from Millo and _inward_ -suits very well the identification of Millo with the great dam which -was the outer defence of the Tyropœon, and to a great extent of Zion -itself. It is not unlikely either that the House of Millo was a castle -on the Ophel Hill, close to the eastern end of the dam, and that this -was adopted by David as a residence. He may also have strengthened both -the castle and the dam. This view of mine has now been adopted by Herr -Schick. (See _Quarterly Statement_, January 1892, p. 22.) - -But it was Solomon who so strengthened this work as to deserve the -credit of having constructed it. It was one of the great works for the -accomplishment of which he made a levy upon all parts of the kingdom -(1 Kings ix. 15). The nature of the work is indicated in 1 Kings xi. -27--“Solomon built Millo (and so) closed up the fissure (or cleft) -of the city of David his father:” either the two expressions relate -to the same work, or the two works are closely associated together. -Accordingly, before the work can be begun, Pharaoh’s daughter must -vacate the house of Millo. She came up “out of the City of David unto -her house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo” (1 -Kings ix. 24). The Israelites employed upon the work were the children -of Joseph, and their superintendent was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, -probably already acquainted with the similar work at Shechem (1 Kings -xi. 28). It is stated in the Septuagint that Jeroboam completed the -fortifications at Millo, and was long afterwards known as the man -who had “enclosed the City of David.” The work was so well done that -Jerusalem was never again attacked from this side, although previously -this side was found the most vulnerable, both by David and by the -children of Simeon and Judah in earlier time. - -If we are to find a Hebrew etymology for the name Millo, it seems to be -a noun formed in the usual way by prefixing the letter M to the Aramæan -verb _l’va_, equivalent to the Hebrew _lavah_,[34] having the meaning -to wind or twist, and used to describe stairways as well as serpents -and garlands. A dam across the Tyropœon would require the construction -of two stairways at least, one from the bed of the Tyropœon to the top -of the dam on the Ophel side, and one from the High Town down to the -dam on the west. - -_The Death of Athaliah._--This incident affords indications of locality -in beautiful agreement with Nehemiah. When this queen-mother heard -that her son, the king, had been killed by Jehu, she snatched at the -sovereignty for herself, and her policy was to slay all the seed -royal. But one little child escaped, carried off by its nurse, and -they were secreted in the Temple by Jehoiada, the high priest. In the -seventh year Jehoiada assembled the chiefs of the people in the Temple, -produced the little child Joash, stood him upon the platform (or by -the pillar) appropriated to the kings, and said, This is the rightful -heir! The chiefs shouted their joy, when Athaliah heard the noise and -rushed into the Temple to learn the cause. That she should hear so -readily and find such easy access to the Temple, accords well with the -supposition that she was living in Solomon’s palace, close adjoining -the Temple, as Warren places it. When Athaliah saw the state of things, -she cried--“Treason, treason!” But she found no friends there. The -priest said, “Have her forth--slay her not in the house of the Lord! So -they made way for her; and she went to the entry of the Horse Gate to -the king’s house; and they slew her there” (2 Chron. xviii. 15; 2 Kings -xii. 16). It is implied in this narrative that the Horse Gate was not -only by the king’s house, but that it was also the nearest point which -could be considered fairly beyond the sacred precincts; and this is in -full agreement with the position which we have assigned it. - -In the context of the passages just quoted we find that Joash is -carried “by the way of the Gate of the Guard into the king’s house.” -This gate must, of course, have been on that side of the palace -adjoining the Temple courts; it was probably due north of the Water -Gate (_i.e._, the Triple Gate), and it thus again accords with Neh. -iii. 25, where the tower standing out from Solomon’s house is said to -be “by the court of the guard.” The court of the guard may very well -have extended from the Water Gate without to the Gate of the Guard on -the Temple side of the palace. From Neh. xii. 39, it appears that there -was a corresponding Gate of the Guard at the corresponding point on the -north side of the altar. - -_The Assassination of Joash._ When Joash grew to man’s estate he made -changes which displeased his people; and the short statement is that -his slaves slew him on his bed, “at the House of Millo, that goeth down -to Silla” (2 Kings xii. 20, combined with 2 Chron. xxiv. 25). This has -been generally regarded as obscure, and some have supposed Silla to -be the same as M’sillah, a stairway at the west gate of the Temple, -north of Wilson’s Arch (1 Chron. xxvi. 16). But it is more naturally -the stairway at Millo itself. Joash was living at Beth Millo, David’s -house, and when he heard of the conspiracy he designed to flee down the -stairs and through the Gate between two walls; but being a sick man he -was being carried on a litter, as Lewin remarks, and while going down -Silla,--not while going down _to_ Silla, for there is no preposition -here in the Hebrew text--the assassins killed him. - -_The Wall destroyed by Jehoash_, king of Israel, when he came against -Amaziah of Judah, extended from the Gate of Ephraim unto the Corner -Gate, 400 cubits (2 Kings xiv. 13; 2 Chron. xxv. 23). We can now, by -aid of Herr Schick’s plan of the second wall, and our previous study of -Nehemiah, see exactly this piece of wall, south of the Church of the -Holy Sepulchre, and running east and west. - -_The Towers built by Uzziah_ were intended to strengthen the city just -in this part where it had been found to be vulnerable. He “built towers -in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the turning -of the wall, and fortified them” (2 Chron. xxvi. 9). The “turning” -here spoken of is a re-entering angle, and not improbably that one -south-east of the Church of the Sepulchre, where we find the “Throne of -the Governor” in later time. - -In the days of Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah, Jerusalem was threatened -by the allied forces of Rezin, king of Syria and Pekah, king of Israel. -Ahaz and his people were greatly perturbed, and needed a message of -advice and encouragement The word of the Lord came to Isaiah, in the -Temple, saying, “Go forth now and meet Ahaz, at the end of the conduit -of the upper pool, in the highway of the Fuller’s Field” (Isaiah vii. -3). The upper pool here spoken of is believed to be the Virgin’s -Fountain, where we find one end of a conduit which connects it with the -lower pool at Siloam. But if this is what is meant, why is the spot -not described shortly and plainly as En-Rogel, by which name it was -already known? (1 Kings i. 9). Surely it is not the pool itself which -is meant but the end of a conduit, or channel, or passage belonging to -it--the end of a passage, yet not a termination in any pool. That is -to say, it refers to the top of the shaft and stairway on the Ophel -Hill, which had been lost so long until re-discovered by Warren. This -entrance was of course known to Isaiah, and known to the king, being -close by the king’s gardens. Ahaz would reach it by going out through -the Gate between two walls, and was probably accustomed to walk there -frequently. The place spoken of is not really stated to be “_in_ the -highway of the Fuller’s Field:” in the Hebrew text the word _in_ is not -found, and the passage might be rendered--“The end of the channel of -the upper pool, the staircase of the Fuller’s Field.” This is an exact -description of the top of the shaft on the Ophel Hill. - -Here, then, we have another interesting note of locality: it appears -that the Fuller’s Field was on Ophel, and Warren’s shaft was in it. We -cannot but recall the statement of Josephus that St James was martyred -by being thrown over the outer wall of the Temple enclosure, and that -“a fuller took the club with which he pressed the clothes, and brought -it down on the head of the Just one.” It is reasonable to infer that -fullers were at work not far from the spot where St James fell. On the -slope of the Ophel Hill Sir Charles Warren discovered a cavern which -was apparently used by the fullers, for it contained vats or troughs -cut in the rock. In the earth above the cave is a drain, which is of -course more modern; and yet here were found glass and pottery, supposed -to be early Christian. - -In the days of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the stairway shaft in the -Fuller’s Field is spoken of again, and in a way that quite confirms -our previous conclusions. Sennacherib, while besieging Lachish, sent -his Tartan and his Rabshakeh with a strong force against Jerusalem, -as an easy prey. The Assyrian officers pitched their camp at the -north-west of the city, on the high ground, which was ever after known -as the “Camp of the Assyrians.” But, seeing the strength of the city, -they made no assault upon it; they sought a conference with Hezekiah -to induce him to surrender. Learning where his palace was, that is, -David’s house, on the slope of Ophel, they came and “stood at the -passage of the upper pool, which is at the staircase of the Fuller’s -Field” (2 Kings xviii. 17). There they called to the king, and when -Hezekiah, consulting his dignity, deputed his Prime Minister, his -Secretary, and his Recorder to represent him, these officers spoke -from the top of the wall. The circumstances may seem to require that -the wall should extend a little more southward than the wall found -by Warren, but they seem to be good evidence that the Ophel shaft -was outside the wall, and that the king’s house was within shouting -distance of the shaft, or at any rate that the Assyrian generals -thought so. - -Jerusalem was not taken at this time; but in expectation of a siege, -Hezekiah had made great defensive preparations. For one thing he -gathered many labourers and choked up all the fountains outside the -city and stopped the flow of the brook (2 Chron. xxxii. 3). He stopped -the upper spring of the waters of Gihon and brought them straight down -on the west side of the City of David (2 Chron. xxxii. 30). He gathered -together the waters of the lower pool; he made a reservoir between the -two walls for the water of the old pool; he made a pool and a conduit -and brought water into the city (Isaiah xxii. 9, 11; 2 Kings xx. 20). -It is probable that most of these statements relate to the same piece -of work, and that work the making of Siloam Pool and the tunnel to -bring water to it from the Virgin’s Fountain. There had been an “old -pool” of Siloam, which is clearly traceable south-east of the present -one, and this was the “lower pool of Gihon;” while the Virgin’s Fount -was the “upper pool” or the “upper spring of the waters of Gihon.” -The water had previously flowed from the one to the other, by an open -channel down the Tyropœon Valley--a channel which has been struck at -some points--and this was “the brook that flowed through the midst of -the land.” The lower pool and the waters of Siloah were referred to -by Isaiah in the previous reign (that is, he speaks of the waters of -Siloah that go softly, viii. 6, and he implies a lower pool by speaking -of the upper pool). It is reasonably argued by Dr Chaplin[35] that -Siloah and Gihon were identical, and that the terms applied not only to -the spring or pool but to the canal that joined them. We may assent to -this if we keep in mind that the open canal existed before the rock-cut -tunnel. The only difficulty we have is in thinking of the new Siloam -as a reservoir between the two walls, and in understanding the use of -making the tunnel if Siloam was to be outside the city. Some writers, -therefore, suppose that the first wall of the city actually bent round -Siloam on the southward side. - -Hezekiah, besides these hydraulic works, built up all the wall that was -broken down, and raised it up to the towers; and the other wall without -(which it is just possible was south of Siloam Pool, only, even in that -case, there is a great dam across the fissure to the north of it); -and being so solicitous about this part of the city, he “strengthened -Millo, the city of David” (2 Chron. xxxii. 5). - -In the days of King Josiah we have mention of the prophetess Huldah, -and it is stated that she lived in Jerusalem, in the _Mishneh_ (or -Second Quarter). The word means second in order or in dignity, and in -the case of brothers the younger. It appears to designate that part of -the city which lay in the Asmonean Valley, a part inferior to Zion in -dignity, and younger as an inhabited district, because originally a -suburb outside the walls which encircled the hills. - -_The Capture of Jerusalem and Flight of Zedekiah._--Not to multiply -incidents, let us come now to the last king of Judah--Zedekiah. In his -day Nebuchadnezzar came up against the city, and pitched his camp, -as all had done before him, against the northern quarter. The event -to be expected in such a case is described in Zeph. i. 10. There is -first a noise from the Fish Gate at the head of the Asmonean Valley. -Of consequence there is next a howling from the Second Quarter of -Jerusalem, for the forcing of the Fish Gate has brought the invaders -into the northern “suburb.” Next, the alarm having spread, there is -a crashing from the hills on either side. Howl ye inhabitants of -Macktesh--the “Hollow,” the southern Suburb, where dwelt the men of -Tyre which brought in fish and all manner of ware (Neh. xiii. 15), and -after whom the Valley was probably named--howl ye, for all the merchant -people are undone, all they that were laden with silver are cut off. - -Nebuchadnezzar’s generals effected an entrance at the middle gate of -the north wall; and Zedekiah, as soon as he knew of it, fled away by -night with his bodyguard. Whether living in Solomon’s house or David’s, -his way would be down the Stairs of the City of David into the bed of -the Tyropœon; and then we are distinctly told that he fled by the way -of the Gate between the two walls, which was by the king’s garden (2 -Kings xxv. 4; Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7). His plan was to take the route -which David had taken when he fled from Absalom. Josephus says “that he -fled out of the city through the fortified ditch” (Antiq. x. 8, 2)--a -statement which quite supports our idea that the deep hollow “Suburb” -was defended by a transverse wall or dam. - -_Jeremiah’s Prophecy._--In order to encourage the people during the -captivity, Jeremiah predicts that Jerusalem shall be again inhabited -and its borders extended. The measuring line is to go forth over -against it upon the hill Gareb (probably the later Bezetha, north-west -of the Temple) and shall compass about to Goath (this seems to be a -sweep round the north-western, western, and south-western parts of -the city); and the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes -(_i.e._, Topheth, the broad junction of the present Hinnom and Tyropœon -Valleys), and all the fields (eastward) unto the Brook Kedron (and then -northward), unto the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east shall be -holy unto the Lord (Jer. xxxi. 28). This reference again confirms the -position we have assigned to the Horse Gate. - -Zechariah also describes Jerusalem in its length and breadth. It is -to be lifted up and inhabited from Benjamin’s Gate (the east gate of -the temple in Ezekiel’s plan, Ezek. xlviii. 32), unto the place of the -first gate (the first gate of the city, a gate near the north-east -corner--as the Hebrew language reads from right to left, so goes the -numbering here), unto the Corner Gate. This is from east to west; the -north and south extremes named by Zechariah are the Tower of Hananel -(same position as Antonia) and the king’s wine-presses (which we may -guess to be southward of the king’s garden). - -_The Locality of the King’s Garden_ is an important point in Jerusalem -topography. M. Clermont Ganneau inclines to place it on the eastern -side of Ophel; but his reason seems to be insufficient. The great -eastern valley of Jerusalem, so commonly called the Kedron, is -divided by the fellahin of Siloam into three parts, and the middle -part--extending from the south-east angle of the Haram to the junction -of valleys a little north of Joab’s well--they call _Wady Fer’aun_, -or “Pharaoh’s Valley.” M. Ganneau believes that this signifies, in -their minds, simply the _Valley of the King_, and is equivalent -to the King’s Garden.[36] M. Ganneau might claim in his favour the -statement of Josephus that Adonijah’s feast, “by En Rogel,” took place -near the fountain that was in the king’s paradise (or park).[37] But -the paradise or park was something different from the garden, and -Josephus does not use the word paradise to describe the king’s gardens -in which Uzziah was buried, but the word _kepois_.[38] It is worth -notice also that if the Virgin’s Fountain was in the king’s park, it -was almost certainly outside the city. Again, the fact that the royal -park included within it the spring of water makes it probable that the -shaft in connection with it was on the royal property also, for the -kings would hardly allow the free use of a spring which they deemed -their own. And then, if the shaft was on the royal grounds (although -that part was still traditionally called the Fuller’s Field) it would -be natural that Isaiah should find king Ahaz walking there. - -Amos prophesied in the days of Uzziah, “two years before the -earthquake” (Amos i. 1). This earthquake, although not noticed in the -history, was of a terrible character, and the people fled before it -(Zech. xiv. 5). As Josephus tells the story, it was just as Uzziah was -entering the Temple that the building suddenly started asunder; the -light flashed through, and at the same moment the leprosy rushed into -the king’s face. The hills around felt the shock, and a memorial of -the crash was long preserved in a large fragment, or landslip, which, -rolling down from the western hill, was brought to rest at the base -of the eastern hill, and there obstructed not only the roads but the -paradises of the kings. Josephus says that this occurred at the place -called Eroge, and Dean Stanley is confident that he means En Rogel;[39] -but here again it is necessary to notice that it is the king’s -paradises which are spoken of and not the king’s gardens. - -It is quite clear that the king’s gardens were near the Gate between -two walls, as mentioned in the account of Zedekiah’s flight; and it -seems certain that the Gate between two walls was in the Tyropœon. - -_7. Sieges of Jerusalem understood by the topography._--The capture -of Jerusalem by David, the investment of it by Sennacherib, and -the overthrow of it by Nebuchadnezzar have already been described. -Time would fail me to go into detail concerning all the sieges that -followed; and probably a brief treatment of two or three will be -sufficient for the reader. We desire to show how much clearer the -history becomes in the light of modern survey and investigation; and -for this purpose a few examples are enough. - -Jerusalem on three sides was protected by deep ravines, and an enemy, -looking up, saw the brow of every hill surmounted by high walls. At -first he might imagine the Tyropœon Valley was accessible from the -south, since the dam or transverse wall was lower in position than -the walls which it joined together; but no doubt the dam or wall was -strongly built. Even if he could get within it, there was the Causeway -in front and walls on either side, and he would only be in what -Josephus calls a fortified ditch. The assailants of Jerusalem--who -doubtless knew their business--always chose to assault it from the high -ground north and north-west. The king’s palace, therefore, on Ophel was -about the last place which an enemy could reach, and not until he had -broken through two or three walls. - -When Pompey advanced against Jerusalem (B.C. 64), the population was -divided. The party of Hyrcanus opened the gates to him; but the party -of Aristobulus retired to the Temple, breaking down the bridge which -communicated with the city. This may have been an arch on the site -of the present Wilson’s Arch. Pompey, having sent a garrison into the -city itself, laid siege to the Temple, purposing to assault it from the -north. He “filled up the ditch on the north side of the Temple.” That -would be the artificial cutting at the north-west corner. He filled -up the valley also, Josephus tells us (Wars, i. 7, 3), “and indeed -it was a hard thing to fill up that valley, by reason of its immense -depth, especially as the Jews used all the means possible to repel them -from their superior station.” This is the valley which Warren found, -crossing the present Haram area, falling away from the north side of -the platform to a depth of 200 feet, and passing out into the Kedron -north of the Golden Gate. Probably it was only partially filled up at -this time. Pompey then erected towers upon the bank which he had made, -and brought engines to bear; but it was not until the third month of -the siege that he made himself master of the Temple. - -In B.C. 37, Herod, like all preceding generals, pitched his -camp on the north side (Josephus, Wars, i. 17, 9). The Jews in this -warfare made mines--perhaps in the ground banked up by Pompey--and -surprised the Romans by sudden sorties from below. But the first wall -was captured in forty days--(Antiq. xiv. 16, 2. This was of course -the wall which we know as the second)--and the Lower City being thus -taken, the Jews retired into the Upper City and into the Temple. The -Upper City was taken by storm after fifteen days more. But here the -destruction ceased. Herod was going to reign in Jerusalem, and did not -wish to do more damage than was inevitable in the capture of the city. -He sought to save the Temple, and only some of the cloisters about it -got burnt down. - -Afterwards, to ingratiate himself with the Jews, Herod rebuilt the -Temple, and enlarged the precincts of it. It would seem that Solomon’s -palace had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s generals and never -rebuilt. Herod’s own palace was in the High Town. The area formerly -occupied by Solomon’s palace was now taken into the Temple precincts, -the south-west corner was raised up from its low level and added also; -and along this southern front was built a royal cloister, 100 feet -high. To make an approach to this cloister from the west, Robinson’s -Arch was erected, and if there was no viaduct from the western hill -there must have been a staircase to ascend from the valley. On the -north side also the Temple precincts were enlarged, by taking in the -ground which Pompey had raised to a higher level. The Baris or castle -in which Nehemiah had lived was reconstructed and strengthened, renamed -Antonia, and connected with the Temple. - -In another quarter Herod strengthened the city very much. The reader -will have noticed that while it was a usual thing with assailants to -attack the north wall, and take the Lower City as a preliminary to -assaulting the Upper City, yet there was one spot where the Upper -City might be approached at once from the outside. This was by the -Valley Gate, and was owing to the fact that the second wall started -from the Gennath Gate to go northward, whereas the wall of the Upper -City was prolonged westward. Herod determined to strengthen this part -of the city all the more because his own palace was in this part; so -he built three strong towers, which he named Hippicus, Phasaelus, and -Mariamne. Hippicus was at the outer angle; the base of it remains, and -is the foundation of the north-west tower of the present citadel, which -measures 45 feet square. Phasaelus remains, and is the one conspicuous -object on the right hand as the traveller enters the Jaffa Gate. It is -70 feet by 56 feet, and is solid to the height of 60 feet; the stones -are bevelled, like those round the Haram, and do not appear ever to -have been disturbed. The site of Mariamne is less certain, but it -probably corresponded with the third tower which we see marked in -almost every plan of the so-called Castle of David. - -The Jerusalem of Herod’s day was the Jerusalem which Jesus Christ would -be familiar with. - -In the year 43 A.D., Agrippa built a third wall, to enclose -the suburban dwellings which had sprung up on the north. This third -wall began at the tower Hippicus, went northward, and had a tower -called Psephinus at its north-west angle, then passed eastward “over -against” the monuments of Helena, queen of Adiabene (the so-called -“Tombs of the Kings,” half a mile out, on the great north road), then -passed by the caverns of the kings, bent southward at the tower of the -north-eastern corner, and finally joined the old wall at the valley -“called the Valley of Kedron” (Josephus, Wars, v. 4, 2). “The city -could no way have been taken if that wall had been finished in the -manner it was begun.” But Agrippa “left off building it when he had -only laid the foundation, out of the fear he was in of Claudius Cæsar.” -The wall was 10 cubits wide, and was afterwards raised as high as 20 -cubits, above which it had battlements and turrets. In the course of -the third wall, according to Josephus, there were ninety towers, as -compared with sixty in the first; and the whole compass of the city -was 33 furlongs. He also says that the ninety towers were 200 cubits -apart; but this would make the third wall alone more than 5 miles in -length, and so we judge that some mistake has crept into the text. -Therefore we shall venture to take the present north wall of the -city as representing Agrippa’s wall, notwithstanding that the entire -circumference would then be less than 33 furlongs. There seems to be -no sufficient evidence for going beyond the present wall. It is a wall -which begins at the tower Hippicus, by the Jaffa Gate. The position of -the great corner tower Psephinus seems to be indicated by the ruined -castle called _Kalat Jalud_ (Giant’s Castle), just within the present -north-west angle. The Damascus Gate is “over against” the so-called -Tombs of the Kings, for a spectator standing at the Tombs would look -down directly upon that gate. The “royal caverns” we may identify with -the Cotton Cavern, the quarry whence the kings of Judah obtained the -stone for the great buildings of the city. The entrance to them is in -the face of the scarped rock, about 300 feet east of the Damascus Gate, -and the city wall runs right across the entrance. At the north-east -corner of the present wall we find the tower which Josephus assigns -to that point--“the most colossal ruins after those at the north-west -corner.” A trench cut in the rock at the foot of the eastern wall is -deflected here, passes round the corner, and goes west; it does not go -any further north as we might expect it to do if the wall ever extended -further north. And then the wall from the north-east corner is brought -southward and joins the Haram wall, the junction not being at the -north-east angle of the Haram, but much nearer to the Golden Gate, at -the deep valley which Pompey began to fill up. We have to bear in mind -that this third wall had been built before the siege of Jerusalem by -Titus, in A.D. 70. - -Titus began by investing the city on the north and the west. The place -he selected for his attempt on the outer wall was just west of the Pool -of Hezekiah, because there the wall of the High Town was not covered by -the second wall, and he thought to capture the third wall and then at -once assault the first. - -When Titus had taken the outer wall he encamped in the north-west -part of the city between the second and third walls; and at the same -time extended his line from the “Camp of the Assyrians” to the Kedron -Valley. His attempt to storm the High Town at the uncovered portion of -the wall failed because of the strength of Herod’s towers. He then made -an attempt on the Temple platform from the north, but failed because -the valley there was deep and the Temple was strongly fortified. He -had hoped, when he took the Wall of Agrippa, to be able to assault -Antonia from the north, without taking the second wall; but it now -appeared to him that that castle might best be assaulted on the west. -These considerations induced him to attack the second wall. After -some effort, a breach was made, and the Romans entered the middle -city. They were once driven out by the Jews, and kept out for a time; -but by-and-bye they gained entrance again, and then, made wise by -experience, they demolished the second wall, or the northern part of -it, and so were able to keep their ground. - -Antonia was now assaulted on its western side; but the business was -difficult, and the struggle was long. The mounds which the Romans cast -up were undermined by the Jews and destroyed. The mines, however, -weakened the outer wall of the castle, and that fell also. The Romans -were filled with hope; but the Jews had foreseen the event, and had -run up another wall behind. The courage of the Romans was damped by -the sight of this second wall. But a few days after, they scaled -it by a night surprise, and at the same time forced their way into -Antonia through the mine under the wall. The Jews, in a panic, rushed -away into the Temple, where they were able to defend themselves as in -a fortress. But fighting now took place daily, until at length the -northern cloisters of the Temple were burnt down, the inner Temple was -assaulted, and eventually the whole fabric was reduced to ashes. - -The Jews were now crowded in the Upper City, and confined to that. -Titus held a parley with them across the bridge above the Xystus--that -is, at Wilson’s Arch--offering them terms. But they declined his -conditions, and so the siege had to go on. The Ophel quarter was now -plundered and burnt; and then a grand effort was made against the -Upper City. Mounds were thrown up, and the assault was delivered -simultaneously from several points--on the west, by Herod’s palace, on -the north-west part of the town a little east of the tower Phasaelus, -and on the north-east at the Xystus, which extended from Wilson’s Arch -southward. The strong city at last fell, and its walls and buildings -were razed to the ground. - -We know that it rose again from its ashes, and has had an eventful -history since; but it is not our purpose to follow its fortunes farther. - -In seeking to understand the descriptions given by Josephus, writers -have been much puzzled by his mention of a ravine “called the Kedron -ravine.” It could not well be the Kedron Valley itself, or it would -hardly be spoken of in this way; besides which, we are told that the -eastern portion of Agrippa’s wall joined the old wall at the ravine -called Kedron. This would be too indefinite a note of place if the wall -and the ravine ran parallel with one another. Moreover, the north-east -angle of the Temple cloisters was built over the said ravine, and -the depth was frightful (Wars, vi. 3, 2). The depth was frightful at -the angle, rather than at the eastern side. There could be no right -understanding of the references, until Sir Charles Warren’s labours -showed that a deep valley crosses the Haram north of the Golden Gate, -and contains within it the Birket Israil. It was only a “so-called -ravine” to Josephus, because the western portion had been filled up by -Pompey, and the eastern mouth was cut across by the Wall of Agrippa. -Warren’s discovery of this ravine, and demonstration of its depth, is -a glorious instance of the value of excavation work in questions of -Jerusalem topography. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--The Works of Josephus. “Siege of - Jerusalem.” Thomas Lewin. “Jerusalem, a Sketch.” Thomas Lewin.] - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - GOSPEL HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF PALESTINE EXPLORATION. - - - 1. _Christ in the Provinces._ - -In New Testament times Palestine was a Roman province, and its -divisions were no longer tribal. East of Jordan were the districts of -Perea Batanæa, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Paneas, and Gaulonitis. In this -chapter, however, we have to do chiefly with Western Palestine. On this -side the central position was held by Samaria, with Galilee north of -it, Judea south, and in the extreme south Idumea. - -The Samaritans were not pure Hebrews in blood, and not purely Jewish -in their worship. When the ten tribes of Israel had been crushed, -and their principal families carried into captivity, the Assyrian -conquerors brought men from Cuthah, Sepharvaim, and other places in -the far east, and set them down in Samaria. Of various nationalities -themselves, these people intermarried with the poorer Jews who had been -left behind, and so their descendants were of mixed blood. Naturally -also, there was at first some admixture of religious beliefs and -practices, and some confusion of dialects (2 Kings, xvii.). - -But eventually the various elements of the population coalesced, and -the Samaritans settled down as a people, speaking a language allied to -that of the Jews, and accepting the Books of Moses as their guide. But -they rejected all the later books excepting Joshua, and claimed that -Mount Gerizim was the place where it had always been intended that the -Temple of Jehovah should be built. In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah the -co-operation of the Samaritans in rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple -had been refused, and at no later period would the Jews consent to have -friendly dealings with the Samaritans. - -Nehemiah had seen the evils resulting from mixed marriages, and the -contaminating influence of foreign merchants in Jerusalem. In later -days, when Greek literature and Greek manners were spreading over -Syria, the more zealous of the Jews contended earnestly against the -corrupting innovations. The day when the Seventy Elders translated the -Law into Greek for king Ptolemy was pronounced accursed--a day of evil, -as when Israel made for itself a golden calf. The patriotic struggle -of the Maccabees was all intended to get rid of foreign influence, and -keep God’s chosen people separate. The Pharisees were a party who by -their very name claimed to be “separated,” and made it their object -to resist the slightest departure from the requirements of the Jewish -Law. Their ideas and tenets came to be generally accepted by the Jews -of Judea; and hence in the days of Christ Jerusalem was a centre of -exclusiveness, bigotry, and ceremonialism. - -The Jews of Galilee, cut off from their brethren of the south by the -interposition of Samaria, could seldom visit the Temple at Jerusalem; -they saw little of the sacrifice of bulls and goats, and learned to -worship in synagogues in a plainer way. They were in contact with the -northern nations, made alliance with Phœnicia, and did business with -men of many nationalities in the fishing towns of the Lake of Tiberias. -It is possible that through their intercourse with foreigners, a part -of their district was called “Galilee of the Gentiles;” and they seem -to have become so different in their dialect or pronunciation that -when a man from Galilee opened his mouth in Jerusalem, his speech -betrayed him. The Galileans derived at least one advantage from their -intercourse with foreigners; it made them less exclusive, and prepared -them in a degree for a religion which should be addressed to Jew and -Gentile alike. Jesus Christ, when he began his ministry, did not -address crowds in Jerusalem, nor seek disciples from among the Scribes -and Pharisees, but came into the towns of Galilee, and called fishermen -from their humble occupation. - -The prophecy in Micah led the Jews to look to Bethlehem Ephrathah as -the destined birth-place of the Messiah; and it was made an objection -to the claims of Jesus of Nazareth that his home was in Galilee. - -Bethlehem is a long white town on a ridge, with terraced olive groves, -at a distance of 6 miles from Jerusalem. Here, enclosed within the -walls of the Greek convent, is the venerable Church of the Nativity, -now parcelled out among the Greek, Latin, and Armenian monks, who -house together from necessity in different quarters of the convent. -The church, built by Helena, the mother of Constantine, is one of the -oldest in the world; and the cave beneath it under the choir is the -traditional Cave of the Nativity. It is mentioned by Justin Martyr -in the second century; and Origen, in the fourth, says that “there -is shown at Bethlehem the cave where He was born, and the manger -in the cave.” It is the only sacred place, as far as I know (says -Conder), which is mentioned before the establishment of Christianity -by Constantine; yet it is remarkable that Jerome found it no longer -in possession of the Christians. “Bethlehem,” he says, “is now -overshadowed by the grove of Tammuz, who is Adonis; and in the cave -where Christ wailed as a babe the paramour of Venus now is mourned.” - -Mr Bartlett, in his “Walks about Jerusalem,” deems the identification -of the spot at variance with probability, since, although it may -occasionally happen that caverns are used as stables in Palestine, this -one is deeper underground than would be convenient for such a purpose. -When we consider, in addition, the tendency of the monks to fix the -scene of remarkable Scriptural events in grottoes, perhaps from the -impressiveness of such spots, the presumption against the site appears -almost conclusive. - -Palestine exploration was hardly likely to throw any light on this -question, which is to be elucidated rather by a study of the causes -which led to a confusion between the traditions relating to Christ and -the legends told of Tammuz. - -The people of Bethlehem are better fed, better dressed, better off in -most respects than the people of other small towns in Palestine. The -women are remarkable for their beauty, and they wear a peculiar kind -of head-dress, adorned with rows of silver coins. It is believed that -at the time of the Crusades a good deal of intermarriage took place -between Europeans and the women of Bethlehem. The population now is -chiefly Christian. - -If we attempt to follow Joseph and Mary, returning from Egypt and -taking at first the road for Bethlehem, but changing their course when -they hear that Archelaus reigns, and withdrawing into the parts of -Galilee (Matt. ii. 23), we may suppose that they make their way to the -river Jordan, cross by the ford near Jericho, journey on the eastern -side and so avoid Samaria, and then, re-crossing by the ford near -Bethshan, make their way to Nazareth. - -Nazareth, the town in which Jesus was brought up, is also without any -Jewish inhabitants at the present day; the population is about six -thousand, of whom one-third are Moslem, while two-thirds are Christians -of the Latin, Greek, and other churches. Unfortunately they bear an -evil character for their turbulence. - -In Nazareth we are shown what purports to be the workshop of Joseph -the carpenter, but we know that this is a modern appropriation, a -Latin chapel, built only in 1859. We are asked to look at the _Mensa -Christi_, a block of rock, rudely oval, 10 feet across and 3 feet high, -in a church built in 1861, but we have no confidence that Jesus and -his disciples used it as a table. Making a stronger claim is the house -in which the Holy Family lived, or what remains of it, for the legend -says that the upper storey or the outer room was carried away by angels -through the air, and after lengthy travels was set down on the wooded -hill-top of Loretto in Italy. It is a rock-cut grotto under the high -altar of the Latin church. A wall of separation makes two chambers -of it, the outer being called the Grotto of the Annunciation, and -the inner the Grotto of St Joseph. The shaft of a red granite pillar -hanging through the roof is believed to be miraculously suspended over -the very place where the angel Gabriel stood to deliver his message. -From the inner chamber--that of St Joseph--a narrow passage, with -seventeen steps, leads up obliquely to the inmost part of the cave, a -chamber of irregular shape, traditionally supposed to be the Virgin’s -kitchen. - -Escaping from these places we inquire for that synagogue in which -Jesus received instruction when a youth, and “stood up to read” on a -memorable occasion after he had become a public teacher. But there are -no Jews in Nazareth, and so there is no need of a synagogue now. The -Greek Catholics, indeed, tell us that their chapel, in the main street, -occupies the very site of the synagogue; but we find no remains of -synagogue architecture. It occurs to us that there is one site, at all -events, the features of which could hardly be destroyed or altered, -namely, the “brow of the hill on which the city stood,” and from which -the Nazarenes intended to precipitate the great Teacher after that -scene in the Synagogue. But when we have been guided to the “brow,” -although we see before us a fearful descent of about 1000 feet--which -old Maundeville calls “the Leap of the Lord”--we observe that it is 2 -miles from the town; and we cannot understand how it can be the brow of -the hill on which the city stood. - -In this general uncertainty of things are our explorers able to do -anything for us? Yes, some little, for they are men who use their eyes, -and they point out that high up above the present town are numerous old -cisterns and tombs. The cisterns would certainly be in close proximity -to the dwellings of the people, the ancient Nazareth must therefore -have stood higher on the slope; and so the “brow of the hill” was -probably one of the cliffs now above the town. - -Conder also points out that the Virgin’s Fountain of Nazareth--also -called the Fountain of the Annunciation--should be one of the most -surely identified places. There is but one spring in the town, and -Mary must necessarily have drawn water from it like other women. The -Greeks have built their church at the place, and declare it to be the -scene of the Annunciation. Their church is dedicated to St Gabriel, and -even the Latins admit that it stands on the site where the angel first -became visible. “As in the eighth century, so now, the spring is under -the floor of the church, which is itself half subterranean. The water -is led to the left of the high altar, past a well-mouth, by which it -is drawn up for pilgrims, and so by a channel to the masonry fountain, -where it comes out through metal spouts under an arched recess broad -enough for fifteen women to stand side by side. A pool is formed below -at the trough, and here the constant succession of the Nazareth women -may be seen all day filling their great earthenware jars, standing -ankle-deep in water, their pink or green-striped baggy trousers tucked -between their knees; their heads are covered, if Moslems with the -moon-shaped tire, if Christians with a gay handkerchief or the hair -plaited in long tails. A negress in blue here and there mingles with -the crowd, which is chattering, screaming, gossiping, and sometimes -fighting. - -“The people of the town are remarkable for the gay colouring of their -dresses, and the Christian women for their beauty. Many a charming bit -of colour, many a shapely figure set off by picturesque costume, many a -dark eye and ruddy cheek have I seen in the streets or by the spring. -This beauty is peculiar to the Christians of Bethlehem and Nazareth.” - -Jesus lived at Nazareth until the time arrived for entering upon his -public work. The immediate occasion which called him forth from the -carpenter’s shop was the news that John the Baptist had begun preaching -in the wilderness of Judea. The work of the Palestine explorers has -thrown important light on the movements and mission stations of John -the Baptist. - -John appears to have begun his public work at the great ford of the -Jordan near Jericho; and there went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea -to be baptized. The Jordan at this part is a brown, rapid swirling -stream, about 20 yards across, fringed with a jungle of tamarisk and -cane and willow, in which the leopard and the wolf find a hiding place. -The tradition which says that Jesus was baptized here is at least as -old as the fourth century; the Greek and the Latin churches agree in -regard to it, and at the present day pilgrims from all churches resort -to this spot to bathe in the sacred waters. - -Our explorers see no reason to doubt this tradition, and a difficulty -which did exist they have been enabled to remove. It is stated in the -fourth Gospel (John i. 28), that John was baptizing in Bethabara beyond -Jordan, when Jesus came to him; that the Baptist bare testimony to -Christ during two days, and on the third day Jesus was minded to go -into Galilee and was present at Cana at the marriage feast. Hostile -critics of the fourth Gospel, taking the traditional scene of John’s -baptizing near Jericho--where Bethabara has usually been placed on -the maps--asserted that Jesus would have a journey of 80 miles to -accomplish in a single day to reach Cana of Galilee, and that the feat -is of course impossible. But there is really no assertion that it -was done or attempted. It is only a tradition of the fourth century -which fixes Bethabara so far south, or says that Jesus was baptized -at Bethabara. A position near Upper Galilee would suit the narrative -better as the site of Bethabara. Now the surveyors in the course of -their work marked all the fords of the Jordan, and collected all the -names. The following winter, when Major Conder was looking through the -list in order to prepare an index, he was struck with the presence of -the word _Abara_. He saw at once that the house or station at this -place would be Beth-Abara, which had thus been discovered unwittingly. -He looked it out upon the map, and found it to be one of the principal -fords of the Jordan, just above the place where the Jalud river, -flowing down the Valley of Jezreel and by Beisan, debouches into -Jordan. The distance thence to Cana would only be 22 miles. The fourth -Gospel does not say that Jesus was baptized at Bethabara, and so this -new discovery does not disturb that part of the tradition which fixes -the baptism near Jericho. Jesus, after being baptized, retired into the -wilderness, and when he returned to the world he found that John had -removed to the more northerly station, and thither he followed him. As -Jesus began to make disciples at Bethabara, the events of John i. must -have occurred after the Temptation, and so indeed they are placed in -the Gospel Harmonies (see Smith’s “Dictionary of Bible,” p. 721). - -The Revised Version reads “Bethany beyond Jordan,” instead of -Bethabara, and this is the reading of the oldest manuscripts. It is -gratuitous to suppose any confusion with Bethany near Jerusalem. -“Bathania” was a well-known form (used in the time of Christ) of the -old name Bashan, a district in Peræa or the country beyond Jordan; -and perhaps, as Conder suggests, the original reading was “Bethabara -in Bethany beyond Jordan.” We must agree with him, too, that this -identification of Bethabara is one of the most valuable discoveries -resulting from the survey. - -That John the Baptist did move from one station to another in pursuance -of his mission is shown again by the statement that after these things -John was baptizing in Ænon near to Salim, because there was much water -there (John iii. 23). Where was Ænon? It used to be assumed that it -was of course near the desert of Judea where John first preached. But -surely it would be unnecessary to tell us that there was enough water -to baptize with in the Jordan, whereas if abundance of water could be -found anywhere else in Palestine it would be somewhat remarkable. Now -such abundance is found almost in the heart of Samaria. The traveller -who rides across from the town of Samaria, passing behind Ebal, or -who follows the stony road in the magnificent gorge east of the same -mountain, finds himself gradually descending to the springs which lie -at the head of the great _Far’ah_ valley, the open highway from Shechem -to the _Damieh_ ford of the Jordan. It was up this valley that Jacob -drove his flocks and herds from Succoth to Shalem near Shechem. It -was along the banks of the stream that the “garments and vessels” of -the hosts of Benhadad were strewn as far as Jordan. It was here also -that Israel, returning from captivity (according to the Samaritans), -purified themselves before going up to Gerizim to build the temple. -But the place possesses a yet higher interest as the probable site -of “Ænon near Salem” where John was baptizing, and where a question -arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purifying (John ii. -25). The phrase “much water” might fairly be translated many waters -or many springs, and in an open valley here the springs are found. -The waters gush out over a stony bed and flow down rapidly in a fine -stream. The supply is perennial, and a continual succession of little -springs occurs along the bed of the valley, so that the current becomes -the principal western affluent of Jordan south of the Vale of Jezreel. -About 4 miles north of the head springs is a village called ’_Ainun_, -and about 3 miles south another village called _Salem_. So here we -have “Ænon near Salem,” and in between the two villages the two great -requisites for the baptism of a multitude, namely, an open space in -which the crowd could stand, and abundance of water. There are indeed -other places called Salem scattered up and down the country, but none -of them has an Ænon near to it; and there is one other place called -Ænon, but it has no Salem near to it, besides which, it is away near -Hebron, in a district quite out of the question. - -It would appear, then, that John began baptizing, in the first -instance, near Jericho, and made his appeal to Jerusalem and all Judea; -that next, remembering the other great section of the Jews in Galilee, -he removed to Bethabara in the north; and further, because the reformed -religion was not to be for the Jews alone, he entered Samaria itself -and baptized at Ænon. - -At the head-springs of Ænon we are only about 5 miles from Jacob’s -Well. Conder and others consider the identity of Jacob’s Well beyond -question, because Jewish and Samaritan tradition, Christian and -Mohammedan tradition all agree about it. The identity is further -supported by the proximity of Joseph’s Tomb, about 600 yards north of -it, a tomb venerated by the members of every religious community in -Palestine. A Christian church was built round Jacob’s Well before the -year 383 A.D., and destroyed before Crusading times, only the vault -or crypt remaining. The ruins covered up the well and hid it altogether -some few years ago; but Captain Anderson, of the Palestine Exploration -Fund, removed them and descended by a rope. The Arabs allowed the rope -to twirl and slip, so that Anderson went into a swoon, from which he -was awakened by the shock of striking the bottom. He measured the well -and found it 7½ feet in diameter and 75 feet deep. Anciently it must -have been deeper, for some of the ruins have fallen into it, and every -passing traveller throws in a stone to hear it fall. The question -arises, why there should be any well at this spot at all, seeing that -the valley (between Ebal and Gerizim) abounds in streams of water, and -there is one stream only 100 yards from the well itself? The answer -given is that the man who dug the well had no right to use the streams; -he was a stranger in the land, and felt the need of a supply of water -upon his own property. - -Jacob’s Well is one of the few spots undoubtedly rendered sacred by the -feet of Christ. When the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was baptizing -more disciples than John, Jesus left Judea for Galilee, “and he must -needs pass through Samaria. So he cometh to a city of Samaria called -Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph, -and Jacob’s Well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his -journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There -cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water,” &c. (John iv. 1-7). This -woman, we suppose, came from Sychar; but an unaccountable confusion -has grown up between Sychar and Shechem. If the woman had come from -Shechem she would have to carry her pitcher a mile and a half to the -well, passing abundant streams on the way--an apparently needless -trouble. But the early Christians used to place Sychar a mile east of -Shechem, and our explorers agree with Canon Williams and others in -identifying it with the village of ’Askar, which stands within sight -of the well, about half a mile distant, on the slope of Ebal. Yet the -Crusaders confounded Sychar with Shechem, misleading everybody who -came after; the error lasting to our own time, and reappearing even in -carefully-written books. - -The question arises, why Jesus on this occasion must needs go through -Samaria? It has been customary to reply that it was because Samaria -lay right across his path in going from Judea to Galilee. But this -does not satisfy us when we know that it was a frequent thing to cross -the Jordan and travel by the eastern route, because the Jews had no -dealings with the Samaritans. I was one day reading the Gospel of St -John very carefully in order to compare notes with a friend, and I was -struck with the meaning implied in Christ’s expression, “One soweth -and another reapeth.” Jesus says to his disciples, “Say not ye, there -are yet four months and then cometh the harvest.” We judge that he -is pointing to the rich cornfield, where the valley opens out into -the Plain of _Mukhnah_; he remarks that the corn is not ripe yet, and -the harvest is not due. Yet he says, “Behold! Lift up your eyes and -look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest. He that -reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.” He is -now referring to the spiritual harvest: the people are flocking out -of the town to listen to his teaching, they are favourably disposed -and ready to be converted. Now, why should they be so ready to listen, -seeing that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans? Christ -himself supplies the answer when he says, “Herein is the saying true, -‘One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye -have not laboured; others have laboured, and ye are entered into their -labour.’” He cannot mean that he is sowing seed now, by his preaching, -for his disciples to reap a harvest of conversions by-and-bye, for he -says, “The fields are white already unto harvest. Lift up your eyes and -look!” He recognises the truth that sowing and reaping are separated by -an interval of time, though at the Harvest-home sower and reaper may -rejoice together, as those who have laboured at different seasons for -the same result. Some Teacher, therefore, has been sowing seed among -these Samaritans before Christ came to Jacob’s Well; and who is that -likely to have been but John the Forerunner, when he preached at Ænon, -and the people of Sychar went to be baptized at the “many waters”? In -the light of this reading we may understand how the woman of Samaria -so soon grasps the fact that the Jewish stranger at the well is the -Christ that John had said was to come after him. If we read the chapter -again we shall see how it was through John’s baptizing at Ænon that -circumstances arose which made Jesus decide to go through Samaria. - -It was while John was yet at Bethabara that Jesus went to Cana of -Galilee to the wedding feast. There are two rival sites for Cana: one -is the ruin of _Kanah_, about 8 miles north of Nazareth, the supposed -site in Crusading times; the other is the village of _Kenna_, about 4 -miles north-east, which was the accredited site before the Crusaders -arrived. The traveller is shown the water-pots at either place. It -is difficult in the present instance to decide between rival claims, -but the opinion of most writers is in favour of _Kefr Kenna_, and our -explorers lean to that, partly for the reason that it is on the high -road between Nazareth and Tiberias. - -Travelling eastward to Tiberias we see a little way off the road on our -left hand a hill of rather peculiar form; it looks as though it might -be the crater of a volcano, with two stunted horns, one at either end. -This is called the _Horns of Hattin_, and is noted in history as being -the place where the Crusaders received their last crushing defeat at -the hands of Sal-a-din, the great Saracen general, in the year 1187. -But it is still more interesting to us as being the place where Christ -preached the Sermon on the Mount. The tradition which makes _Kurn -Hattin_ the Mount of Beatitudes is of Latin origin, and not older than -the twelfth or thirteenth century; but the place is so well adapted for -the delivery of a discourse to a large multitude, that in this case we -may well believe it was correctly chosen by those who first selected -it. When we are at the spot we have no difficulty in reconciling the -seemingly inconsistent statements of St Matthew, who says that the -sermon was preached on the mount, and St Mark, who says that Christ -came down from the mount, and preached in the plain. Sitting on one of -the peaks or “horns” aforesaid, Jesus might begin his discourse to his -disciples, and when a larger crowd began to gather, might descend to -the base of the peak, while still remaining on the mountain of Hattin. - -From Hattin we are soon at Tiberias, a town once beautiful and famous, -but now notorious for the filth of its streets and the activity of -its vermin. The Arabs say that the king of the fleas holds his court -there. Josephus tells us that the city was built by Herod Antipas, -and named in honour of the Emperor Tiberius. It was therefore a new -city in Christ’s day, and probably at first inhabited only by Romans, -Antipas himself having a palace there, adorned with figures of animals, -“contrary to the Jewish law.” Moreover, as it was built on the site -of an ancient burial ground, it would be regarded by the Jews as a -polluted and forbidden locality. These circumstances, taken together, -may account for the fact that Jesus Christ does not appear ever to have -entered the city. - -The former greatness of Tiberias is indicated by the extent of the -walls, 12 feet in thickness, which have been traced by Dr Selah -Merrill and by Herr Schumacher for a distance of 3 miles, on the south -side. In the course of the wall is an old castle on the summit of a -hill, 1000 feet above the town. An aqueduct, 9 miles long, brought pure -water from a distance, whereas the present inhabitants are content -to drink of the waters of the lake. Looking about in the town we -notice some traces of its former grandeur; here a magnificent block of -polished granite from Upper Egypt, there a hunting scene carved on the -surface of a hard black lintel of basalt, besides old buildings, and -broken shafts and columns half buried in rubbish. - -From Tiberias we go north, and after a ride of 3 miles reach Medjel, -which represents the Magdala of Christ’s time, and is known wherever -the New Testament is read as the home of Mary Magdalene. The village -is insignificant, being only a collection of huts and hovels; the -people are poor and degraded, and their children half naked. Travellers -approaching the place are greeted by the howling of dogs, which rush -out as though they would devour them. - -Tiberias and Medjel are the only places now inhabited about the lake, -and the visitor is impressed with a sense of deadness and desolation. -Yet the lake is beautiful, and upon its shores there were in Christ’s -time no less than nine cities, while numerous villages dotted the -plains and hills around. All the surrounding region was highly -cultivated, and the lake itself was covered with fishing boats. There -are no more than half a dozen boats now--made at Beyrout, or some other -seaport town, and brought hither on the backs of camels--but the lake -still swarms with fish. When a revolver was fired into the water at -random several fishes were killed and floated on the surface. - -The lake is surrounded by hills, except at the south end, where it -touches the Jordan Valley. These hills are at such a distance from -the water as to leave a belt of land, generally level, all round it, -which at some points broadens out into large plains, such as those of -Gennesaret and Bathia. Medjel, already mentioned, is at the southern -end of the charming Plain of Gennesaret, about which Josephus goes into -ecstasies on account of its exceeding great fertility. He speaks of -the palms and figs, olives and grapes that flourished there, and the -fish for which its streams were far-famed. The plain is but 3 miles -long by 1 mile wide, and it now looks neglected; but it might be made -a little paradise again, for the soil is as fertile as ever. “As we -journey towards the northern end” (says Dr Merrill) “we observe on our -left a strange sight. The mountain appears to have parted asunder and -left a great chasm, the walls of which are perpendicular, and full of -caves, which, not long before the birth of Christ, were occupied by -robbers, whom Herod the Great had much difficulty in subduing. Along -the bottom of that chasm, ran, in Christ’s time, the main road from -Cana of Galilee, Nazareth, Tabor, and the region of the south-west, to -the north end of the lake, and thence to Damascus. Christ would pass -along this road in going down from Nazareth to Capernaum.” - -It was probably in the Plain of Gennesaret that the multitude stood on -the land while Jesus put off in a boat to be free from the pressure of -the crowd while he addressed them (Mark iv. 1). In this neighbourhood, -also, no doubt, was spoken the parable of the net cast into the sea. - -Of all the nine cities then about the lake we should like to recover -especially the sites of Capernaum and Bethsaida. Before the Exploration -we had to be content with the vague statement that Capernaum was -somewhere north of Tiberias. We are now able to point to two sites, -and say that Capernaum was one or other of these, while these two -places are but 2½ miles apart. One of 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_, 2½ 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 headquarters 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 in the plain, but spread over the rocky -promontory to the north-east. Rev. Henry Brass explored this promontory -in the spring of 1890, and on the highest part, about 242 feet above -the lake, found “the remains of a fortification--possibly the station -of the Roman Centurion (Matt. viii. 5)--and here and there traces -of buildings, but everywhere broken pottery, showing that there was -formerly a large population. The ruins of the Khan at the junction of -the roads from Cæsarea, Jerusalem, and Perea with the great Roman road -leading north to Damascus, probably mark the very spot where Matthew -sat at the receipt of custom; and the outlying rocks at the foot of -the cliff, to this day the favourite resort of fish, indicate the spot -where Peter would naturally go to cast his hook (Matt. xvii. 27).”[40] - -Before quite dismissing Capernaum from our minds, let us inquire about -the site of Bethsaida. The name signifies House of Fisheries, and it is -recorded that Bethsaida was on the lake and had the Jordan running past -it. Before we go further let us recall what occurred after the feeding -of the five thousand. - -Jesus constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go -before him unto the other side to Bethsaida. This is St Mark’s account -(Mark vi. 45). St John, speaking of the same event, says that the -disciples entered into a boat, and were going over the sea unto -Capernaum (John vi. 17). It would appear, therefore, that Bethsaida -and Capernaum were in the same direction, looking across the lake -from the place where the disciples embarked. On the morrow, when the -multitude which had been fed found that Jesus and his disciples had -gone away, they engaged some small boats which had come from Tiberias, -and crossed over to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. They must have had some -ground for believing he had gone away in that direction: at any rate, -at Capernaum, “on the other side of the sea,” they found him, and so -we cannot doubt that the boat had landed him at Capernaum, or near it. -When, therefore, two Evangelists tell us that they came to the shore -at Gennesaret, and moored the boat there (Matt. xiv. 34; Mark vi. 53), -it seems plain that Capernaum itself was in the land of Gennesaret, -as it would be if situated at Khan Minyeh. And yet, considering that -the disciples had been instructed to go “unto the other side, to -Bethsaida,” and perhaps only deviated a little through the stress of -the storm, and landed at Capernaum, we can hardly doubt that Bethsaida -was close by. In fact the ruins at _Tell Hum_ may very well mark -the site of Bethsaida, especially as their position agrees with the -descriptions of early travellers who place Bethsaida north-east of -Capernaum. For example, Willibald (A.D. 722) says, “And thence -(from Tiberias) they went round the sea, and by the village of Magdalum -to the village of Capernaum, where our Lord raised the prince’s -daughter. Here was a house and a great wall, which the people of the -place told them was the residence of Zebedæus and his sons John and -James. And thence they went to Bethsaida, the residence of Peter and -Andrew, where there is now a church on the site of their house. They -remained there that night, and next morning went to Chorazin, where our -Lord healed the demoniac, and sent the devil into a herd of swine. Here -was a church of the Christians.” They afterwards went on to the sources -of the Jordan at Banias.[41] - -Chorazin, 2 miles north-west of _Tell Hum_, is called _Kerazeh_, a name -easily confounded with _Khersa_, in the Gadarene country east of the -lake; and this mistake Willibald appears to make. - -The question is much discussed whether there were not two Bethsaidas; -and those who believe there were, call the second one “Bethsaida -Julias,” and place it on the eastern side of the Jordan, not far from -the north end of the lake. Josephus says that Bethsaida was a village -raised to the dignity of a town by Philip the Tetrarch, who rebuilt -it and changed its name to Julias in honour of the daughter of the -Emperor. Philip built himself a tomb there, and was buried there. - -The question between _Tell Hum_ and _Khan Minyeh_ as the site of -Capernaum has been made to turn partly on the presence of synagogue -ruins at the former place and their absence from the latter. But this -can have little or nothing to do with the decision, for the best -judges believe that the synagogues date only from the second century -A.D. - -Nevertheless, the existence of synagogue ruins in Galilee is a very -interesting fact; and it is probable that those erected in the second -century would be modelled after the pattern of those which preceded -them and in which Christ, in so many instances, read and taught. The -synagogue ruins at _Tell Hum_ are a shapeless heap, but the stones -have been carefully examined and measured, and it becomes possible -theoretically to reconstruct the building. Similar ruins are found at -seven or eight other places in Galilee, and some of them--especially -those at _Kefr Birim_--are in a better state of preservation. (_See_ -Frontispiece.) Examination shows that the Jewish synagogues were not -the plain barn-like structures some people had imagined. The building -faced the south, looking towards Jerusalem, the holy city. Four rows -of columns ran from one end to the other, dividing the building into -five aisles. At Kefr Birim one synagogue was furnished with a porch. -A smaller building, at a little distance from the village, has two -lambs sculptured on the lintel of the door, and beneath them is an -inscription in Hebrew. The inscription has been thus read by Renan, -“Peace be to this place, and upon all the places of God. Joseph -the Levite, the son of Levi, put up this lintel. A blessing rest -upon his work.” At the synagogue ruins of _Nebartein_, north-east of -_Safed_, on the lintel of the main entrance, is a representation of -the seven-branched candlestick, similar to those in the catacombs at -Rome and on the rocks in the wilderness of Sinai. Here, again, is an -inscription in Hebrew. During the excavations at _Tell Hum_ synagogue -a lintel of one of the side entrances was found, and on its face a -vase--perhaps the pot of manna--and on either side a rod or reed. Along -the head is a scroll of vine leaves and grapes. The dimensions of this -synagogue were 74 feet 9 inches by 56 feet 9 inches. The material was -white limestone, brought from a distance, while the stone used at -Kerazeh was the hard black basalt of the neighbourhood. - -As already remarked, _Kerazeh_ (Chorazin), north-west of _Tell Hum_, -has sometimes been confounded with _Khersa_, which was on the eastern -side of the lake. Khersa is Gergesa, where Christ was met by the two -demoniacs coming out of the tombs (Matt. ix. 1). It is situated on the -left bank of _Wady Semakh_, and at the point where the hills end and -the plain stretches out towards the lake. Sir C. Wilson is of opinion -that there is only one spot where the herd of swine could have run -down a steep place into the lake. It is a place about a mile south of -Khersa, where the hills, which everywhere else on the eastern side are -recessed from a half to three-quarters of a mile from the water’s edge, -approach within 40 feet of it, and _there_ do not end abruptly but -descend in a steep, even slope. Some time after Sir C. Wilson’s survey, -the eastern coast was carefully examined by Mr Macgregor in his canoe, -and he came to exactly the same conclusion. - -A difficulty has arisen with regard to this locality in consequence -of the different readings in the three Gospels. In Matthew Christ is -said to have come into the country of the Gergesenes; in Luke and John -into that of the Gadarenes. The old MSS. do not give any assistance -here, but the similarity of the name Khersa to that of Gergesa is, as -Dr Thomson points out, in “the Land and the Book,” a strong reason for -believing that the reading of Matthew is correct; and we have also -the testimony of Eusebius and Origen that a village called Gergesa -once existed on the borders of the lake. Perhaps the discrepancy may -be explained by supposing that Gergesa was under the jurisdiction of -Gadara. Gadara itself, now _Umm Keis_, is a good two hours’ distance -from the lake, else here we find rock-hewn tombs which are actually -occupied by fellahin, while there do not appear to be any such at -Khersa. To meet the difficulty which might be felt from the absence -of tombs at Khersa, Sir C. Wilson has suggested that the demoniacs -may have lived in a tomb built above ground, like one still existing -at _Tell Hum_, a rectangular building, capable of holding a large -number of bodies, and which appears to have been whitewashed within -and without. It is possibly this description of tomb to which our Lord -refers in Matt. xxiii. 27, where he compares the Scribes and Pharisees -to “whited sepulchres,” beautiful in outward appearance, but within -“full of dead men’s bones.” - -Dr Merrill, speaking of Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and other -places now desolate by the Lake of Galilee, remarks that the contrast -between the present and the former condition of this region is painful -to one who knows its history. Nevertheless, he says, “this region is to -me one of the most sacred and delightful on earth. No place that men -have consecrated brings me so near to Christ as a day spent in walking -and meditating on these lonely shores.” - -“Christ also visited Perea, the country east of the Jordan. Doubtless -he followed the main road to the hot springs on the Yarmuk, and -thence to the beautiful city of Gadara, on the mountain above them. -He may have gone a little farther east, past _Capitolias_ and -_Dium_, cities belonging to the Decapolis, and turned south through a -densely populated region to Geraza, whence, by one of the two routes -before indicated, he would return to the valley after his mission -had been accomplished. It was in Perea that the ‘seventy disciples’ -were commissioned to labour, and their welcome and success must have -been unusual, for it is reported of them that they ‘returned again -with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through -thy name’ (Luke x.). The connection of our Saviour with this region -opens up an interesting field of inquiry. He may have foreseen that -in its rich cities, and among its throngs of human beings, his Gospel -was soon to triumph in a remarkable manner, for it is true that in -Bashan, a country which we are now accustomed to speak of as a desert, -Christianity, in the early centuries of our era, had one of its most -important strongholds.” - -Jesus Christ at one time, either for quietness or for safety, went away -into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and there entered into a house and -would have no man know it (Mark vii. 24). A similar reason may have led -him to visit Cæsarea Philippi (ancient Paneas and Dan) at the extreme -north-east corner of the Holy Land, where the Jordan springs forth a -full-grown stream, under the slopes of Hermon. It is generally accepted -now that Hermon, and not Tabor, was the Mount of the Transfiguration -(Luke ix. 29). Hermon was once _Shenir_, the “Shining,” a name made -appropriate by its cap of snow; and some writers imagine a connection -between this and the raiment that became white and dazzling. - -There is one remarkable natural peculiarity of Hermon still to be -noticed (says Conder) namely, the extreme rapidity of the formation of -cloud on the summit. In a few minutes a thick cap forms over the top -of the mountain, and as quickly disperses and entirely disappears. In -the accounts of our Lord’s transfiguration, we read that whilst staying -at Cæsarea Philippi, he retired with his disciples to “a high mountain -apart,” and there can be but little doubt that some part of Hermon, and -very probably the summit, is intended. From the earliest period the -mountain has been a sacred place; in later times it was covered with -temples; to the present day it is a place of retreat for the Druzes. -This lofty solitary peak seems wonderfully appropriate for the scene of -so important an event; and in this connection the cloud formation is -most interesting, if we remember the cloud which suddenly cleared away, -when they found “no man any more, save Jesus only, with themselves” -(Mark ix. 8). - -After these things it occurred, as Christ and his disciples “were on -the way to Jerusalem, that he was passing through the midst of Samaria -and Galilee” (Luke xvii. 11). Some critics have cited this text as a -proof that St Luke was ignorant of the country about which he wrote. -Seeing that Galilee is north of Samaria, they think that a journey from -north to south should rather be described as a passing through the -midst of Galilee and Samaria. Moreover, they point out that, according -to Matt. xix. 1 and Mark x. 1, Jesus did not pass through Samaria -at all, but crossed the Jordan, and travelled by the eastern route. -Notwithstanding the neatness of this indictment, it is easy to show -that St Luke’s statement may be perfectly correct. Jesus intended to -go up to Jerusalem to the feast, and as he did not share the Jewish -prejudice against the Samaritans, he contemplated going through -Samaria. He sent some of the disciples before him to prepare his way, -and they entered into a Samaritan village; but they could not succeed -in obtaining accommodation, because the object of the Master was to -go through to Jerusalem (Luke ix. 52). The chronic feeling of enmity -between Samaritans and Jews was naturally stirred into greater heat by -the sight of pilgrims going up to the festival; for then the question -was revived whether men ought to worship at Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim. -Being refused a passage through Samaria, and yet still intent upon -going up to Jerusalem, Jesus Christ would turn eastward, and journey -along the border, which led straight to the Bethabara ford of the -Jordan. Travelling thus, with Samaria on his right hand and Galilee on -his left, it is surely not incorrect to say that he was passing through -the midst of Samaria and Galilee; or, as we have it in the margin of -the Revised Version, he passed _between_. It seems to have been at one -of the border villages that he was met by ten lepers, one of whom was -a Samaritan (Luke xvii. 12); and where would he be more likely to find -Jewish and Samaritan lepers in one group than on the border line of the -two provinces? He is following this line eastward, and accordingly, -when Matthew and Mark say that he crossed the Jordan and came into the -borders of Judea, by the eastern route, it is in perfect accordance -with the statement in Luke. In further confirmation, we read in Luke -xviii. 35, as well as in the other Evangelists, that the route taken -brought Jesus through Jericho. To approach Jerusalem from Jericho was -a matter of course with the pilgrims from Galilee who had travelled by -the eastern route. - -The Jericho road was the scene of the parable of the Good Samaritan. “A -certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.” The actual descent -would be about 3000 feet; and every expression of that kind in the -Scriptures, as of “going down” or “going up,” is always true to the -features of the ground. The man “fell among thieves.” So likely a -district is it, that in the days of the Crusaders nine knights banded -themselves together to defend pilgrims going down this dangerous pass: -and hence arose the Order of Knights Templars. “There came by a priest -and a Levite.” Jericho was a sacerdotal city, and priests and Levites -were continually passing and repassing between Jericho and Jerusalem. -In going down the Jericho road the traveller has often a wide prospect -on either side; but it is, for all that, a mountain pass, with no way -of escape if one were attacked; and the Bedawin, whose black tents may -be seen in the distance, are the very fellows to attack the traveller -now, if they dared. - -The road up from Jericho brings us past Bethany--a village now of about -forty small dwellings--and over the Mount of Olives, to Jerusalem. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Tent Work in Palestine.” - Major Conder. “The Sea of Galilee.” Sir Charles Wilson. (In - vol., “Recovery of Jerusalem.”) “East of Jordan.” Dr Selah - Merrill. “Survey Memoirs.” Vol. of Special Papers. “Quarterly - Statements of P. E. Fund.” “Galilee in the time of Christ.” Dr - Selah Merrill. “Twenty-One Years’ Work in the Holy Land.” P. - E. Fund.] - - - 2. _Christ in the Capital._ - -The Jerusalem of Christ’s day was the city as it existed in the days -of Herod the Great. East and west it was no wider than at present; -southward it covered the high south-western hill and a good part of the -slope of Ophel; northward the third wall was not yet built, but there -were suburban buildings outside the second. The Temple area had been so -enlarged by Herod as to include all, or nearly all, the present Noble -Sanctuary; and there were approaches from the west, one of which led -over Robinson’s Arch. A main street from the Valley Gate led eastward -to the Temple, passing over Wilson’s Arch. Another main street, running -north and south, passed under Wilson’s Arch and Robinson’s Arch, and -led to a gate in the south wall. In the north-western part of the High -Town was Herod’s palace, with the three strong towers near the Valley -Gate which defended it. The Tower of Antonia occupied the site of the -present Turkish barracks, north-west of the Temple; and when Pontius -Pilate was governor he occupied it. Westward of the city the _Birket -Mamilla_ existed as a reservoir of water, and supplied the palace and -towers: but the _Birket es Sultan_, or so-called Lower Pool of Gihon, -had not been made. The Pool of Siloam was well known, and of course the -spring-head which supplied it. The traditional Pool of Bethesda did not -exist, but the true Bethesda--now buried under ruins--exhibited its -five porches, and was in favour as a healing fountain. For the rest we -may say that although all the valleys were deeper than they are now, -the streets and bazaars probably followed in most instances the lines -which they still preserve, and were just as narrow as they are at -present. - -In the High Town, called in Josephus’ day the Upper Market Place, there -would be an open space somewhere, actually used for a market; and here, -we may conjecture, Jesus would sometimes teach. The very circumstances -of the spot would suggest the parable of the Labourers, some of whom -stood idle till the eleventh hour. Christ also taught in the ample -spaces of the Temple courts (John vii. 14); and in the last days of his -ministry, at any rate, used to retire from the city before the gates -were closed at sunset (Luke xxi. 37). Whether he ever lodged within the -city we cannot tell, but that he had no home there and no friend in -whose house he was sure of a welcome, may perhaps be inferred from the -fact that a guest-chamber had to be engaged when he desired to eat the -Passover (Mark xiv. 12). - -_The Pool of Bethesda._--It is not doubted that when Christ told the -blind man to “Go, wash in the Pool of Siloam,” he was sending him to -the very pool which still bears that name. About the Pool of Bethesda, -“by the sheep _gate_” (John v.), there has not been the same assurance -and unanimity. The traditional pool occupies what was once a valley -north of the Temple; but as the valley itself was there when Titus -sought to attack the Temple from the north, we judge the pool to be a -later construction. The two arches at the western end of it, with their -staircases now buried in rubbish, are not the same as “five porches.” -Again, several writers have supposed that the so-called Virgin’s -Fountain might be the true Bethesda, because it is an intermittent -spring, and because the modern Jews believe the water of this pool to -be a sure cure for rheumatic complaints. They often go in numbers, men -and women together, and stand in their clothes in the pool, waiting for -the water to rise. But the Virgin’s Fountain is too far away from the -Sheep-gate to be the pool which the Evangelist refers to. - -It was pointed out some years ago by M. Clermont Ganneau that the Pool -of Bethesda should be sought near the Church of St Anne, where an -old tradition has placed the house of the mother of Mary, calling it -_Beit hanna_, “House of Anne.” This expression is exactly identical -with _Bethesda_, both expressions signifying _House of Mercy_, or -_Compassion_.[42] This anticipation has been verified; for in the -year 1888 the ancient pool of Bethesda was found a short distance -north-west of the present Church of St Anne. Certain works carried on -by the Algerian monks laid bare a large tank or cistern cut in the -rock, to a depth of 30 feet, and Herr Schick recognised this as the -Pool of Bethesda. It is 55 feet long from east to west, and measures -12½ feet in breadth. A flight of twenty-four steps leads down into the -pool from the eastern scarp of rock. Herr Schick, who at once saw the -great interest of this discovery, soon found a sister-pool, lying end -to end, 60 feet long, and of the same breadth as the first. The first -pool was arched in by five arches, while five corresponding porches ran -along the side of the pool. At a later period a church was built over -the pool by the Crusaders, and they seem to have been so far impressed -by the fact of five arches below, that they shaped their crypt into -five arches in imitation. They left an opening for getting down to -the water; and further, as the crowning proof that they regarded the -pool as Bethesda, they painted on the wall of the crypt a fresco -representing the angel troubling the water of the pool. - -All this appears to agree very well with what Eusebius says in his -“Onomasticon,” concerning a pool which he calls Bezatha--“a pool at -Jerusalem, which is the _Piscina Probatica_, and had formerly five -porches, and now is pointed out at the twin pools there, of which one -is filled by the rains of the year, but the other exhibits its water -tinged in an extraordinary manner with red, retaining a trace, they -say, of the victims that were formerly cleansed in it.” Here we have -a sheep pool, in which the sacrificial victims used to be washed, and -close by it (so that they constituted twin pools) a second, which must -have been intermittent, the very character attributed to those waters -which, at a certain season, were troubled.[43] Eusebius gives no clue -to the situation of the twin pools, but the Bordeaux pilgrim, who -visited Jerusalem in A.D. 333, after speaking of two great -pools at the side of the Temple, one on either hand as he entered -Jerusalem from the east side (apparently at St Stephen’s Gate), refers -to the twin pools as being more within the city. They “have five -porches” (he says), “and are called Bethsaida. Here the sick of many -years were wont to be healed. But these pools have water which, when -agitated, is of a kind of red colour.” - -There had been a disposition in recent years to identify these twin -pools with two souterrains or tunnels existing under the Convent of -the Sisters of Sion at the north-west corner of the Haram area, but -that fancy is now dissipated. The manner in which most of the previous -speculations have been set aside by the actual discovery of the Pool of -Bethesda is an instructive testimony to the value of excavation work in -Jerusalem. - -_A Tablet from Herod’s Temple._--Josephus, in his “Antiquities of the -Jews,”[44] after describing the cloisters of the Temple and the Court -of the Gentiles, goes on to describe the inner court, and the middle -wall of partition which divided Jews from Gentiles. He says, “Thus was -the first enclosure; in the midst of which, and not far from it, was -the second, to be gone up to by a few steps. This was encompassed by -a stone wall for a partition, with an inscription which forbade any -foreigner to go in under pain of death.” Again, in his work on the -“Wars of the Jews,”[45]--“When you go through these first cloisters, -unto the second court of the Temple, there was a partition made of -stone all round, whose height was three cubits. Its construction was -very elegant; upon it stood pillars, at equal distances from one -another, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek, and some in Roman -letters, that no foreigner should go within the sanctuary,--for that -second court of the Temple was called the Sanctuary, and was ascended -to by fourteen steps from the first court.” - -In the year 1871, M. Clermont Ganneau had the good fortune to discover -one of these pillars or tablets, partly buried in the foundations -of a building not far from the Haram area. It bears the following -inscription in Greek, in seven lines:-- - - ΜΗΘΕΝΑΑΛΛΟΓΕΝΗΕΙΣΠΟ - ΡΕΥΕΣΘΑΙΕΝΤΟΣΤΟΥΠΕ - ΡΙΤΟΙΕΡΟΝΤΡΥΦΑΚΤΟΥΚΑΙ - ΠΕΡΙΒΟΛΟΥΟΣΔΑΝΛΗ - ΦΘΗΕΑΥΤΩΙΑΙΤΙΟΣΕΣ - ΤΑΙΔΙΑΤΟΕΞΑΚΟΛΟΥ - ΘΕΙΝΘΑΝAΤΟΝ - -The translation is:--“No stranger is to enter within the balustrade -round the Temple and enclosure. Whoever is caught will be responsible -to himself for his death, which will ensue.” - -M. Clermont Ganneau remarks that the episode in the Acts of the -Apostles (xxi. 26, _et seq._) throws great light on this precious -inscription and receives light from it. Paul, after purification, -presents himself in the Temple; the people immediately rise against -him, because certain Jews of Asia believed that Paul had introduced a -Gentile--Trophimus of Ephesus--and had thus polluted the sacred place. -They are about to put him to death when the Tribune commanding at Fort -Antonia intervenes and rescues him. The people demand of the Tribune -the execution of the culprit, _i.e._, the application of the law. - -This inscription, and probably this very stone, was almost certainly -seen and read by Christ; and it would be likely to impress him -painfully with the exclusive spirit of the Jews. It certainly could not -meet with the approval of the Teacher who preached to Samaritans at -Jacob’s Well, and laboured more in the half-Gentile town of Capernaum -than in Nazareth, defending his course by quoting the example of Elijah -who went to Sarepta a city of Zidon. Christ declared himself the Light -of all the World, and the Shepherd who had other sheep not of the -Jewish fold. It was the work of Christ, before it became the work -of Paul, to break down the middle wall of partition between Jew and -Gentile. There can hardly be a question, then, that the sight of this -inscription would intensify his desire to see this Temple destroyed -and the Jewish ritual abolished, that he might rear upon its ruins a -spiritual temple for all nations. - -At the beginning of the week of his passion, Jesus Christ came up the -steep ascent from Jericho, the road bringing him at last to Bethany. -One night he halted in the village, as of old; the village and the -desert were then all alive, as they still are once every year at the -Greek Easter, with the crowd of Paschal pilgrims moving to and fro -between Bethany and Jerusalem. In the morning he set forth on his -journey. Three pathways lead, and probably always led, from Bethany -to Jerusalem; one, a long circuit over the northern shoulder of Mount -Olivet, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; another, a steep -foot-path over the summit; the third, the natural continuation of the -road by which mounted travellers always approach the city from Jericho, -over the southern shoulder, between the summit which contains the Tombs -of the Prophets and that called the Mount of Offence. “There can be no -doubt” (says Dean Stanley) “that this last is the road of the entry of -Christ, not only because, as just stated, it is, and must always have -been, the usual approach for horsemen and for large caravans, such as -then were concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three -approaches which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows. - -“Two vast streams of people met on that day. The one poured out from -the city, and as they came through the gardens whose clusters of palm -rose on the south-eastern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long -branches, as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved -upwards towards Bethany, with shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed -forth the crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and -who came testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus. -The road soon loses sight of Bethany.... Gradually the long procession -swept up and over the ridge, where first begins ‘the descent of the -Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem.’ At this point the first view is -caught of the south-eastern corner of the city.... It was at this -precise point that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude, -Hosanna to the Son of David!... Again the procession advanced. The -road descends a slight declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again -withdrawn behind the intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments, -and the path mounts again, it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a -ledge of smooth rock, and in an instant the whole city bursts into -view.... Immediately below is the valley of the Kedron, here seen in -its greatest depth as it joins the valley of Hinnom, and thus giving -full effect to the great peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its -eastern side--its situation as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It -is hardly possible to doubt that this rise and turn of the road, this -rocky ledge, was the exact point where the multitude paused again, and -‘He, when he beheld the city, wept over it.’ Nowhere else on the Mount -of Olives is there a view like this.”[46] - -On one of those last days the Great Teacher, leaving the city a little -before sunset, sat on one of the rocky banks of Olivet, over against -the Temple. The mountain rises 150 feet above the level of the city; -the city has the appearance of being tilted up on its western side, so -that from the mountain you can look down into its streets. The Temple -courts would be in the foreground, with Solomon’s Porch on the eastern -side. Perhaps the 80 feet of rubbish which now rests against the wall -had not yet half accumulated; and in that case the stones which Solomon -laid down would be still visible--blocks 20 cubits long by 6 cubits -thick, and extending a length of 400 cubits. The disciples had been -calling their Master’s attention to the goodly stones and buildings of -the Temple, as they came along, and he had declared that they would one -day be thrown down; and now, sitting on Olivet he prophesies the end of -the age. - -From the Mount of Olives it was but a short way to Bethany, to spend -the night. A wild mountain-hamlet, perched on its broken plateau of -rocks, Bethany is screened by a ridge from the view of the top of -Olivet. The modern name of the village--El-Azarieh--connects it with -Lazarus, whose traditional house and grave are still exhibited, as well -as the traditional house of Simon the leper. The welcome which awaited -Christ in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus must have been very -grateful after the day’s teaching and turmoil in the noisy city. - -It is hopeless to try and identify in Jerusalem the house or the street -in which the disciples made ready the Passover for their Master. The -Garden of Gethsemane, which was visited afterwards, may probably have -been at or near the place which is now pointed out on the slope of -Olivet. - -When Christ was brought before Pilate it would be at the Tower of -Antonia, north-west of the Temple, on the site now occupied by the -Turkish barracks. - -Outside the barracks, on the north side, is the street now called the -_Via Dolorosa_, because tradition says that Christ passed along it in -going from the Judgment Hall to the place of crucifixion, marked now by -the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. - - [Illustration: OUTLINE PLAN OF JERUSALEM. - - 1 North wall of Upper City, probable course. - 2 Second wall, so drawn as to exclude the Church of the Holy - Sepulchre. - 3 Second wall, including the Church. - 4 Church of the Holy Sepulchre. - 5 Pool of Hezekiah. - 6 Citadel. - 7 Dome of the Rock (Site of the Temple). - 8 Haram-area or Noble Sanctuary. - 9 Tower of Antonia, now Turkish Barracks. - 10 Birket-Israel (Traditional Bethesda.). - 11 Jaffa Gate. - 12 Via Dolorosa.] - -_The True Site of Calvary._--The question has been much debated whether -the Church of the Holy Sepulchre occupies the true site of Calvary or -not. We know that Jesus suffered and was buried at some spot outside -the city, for it was “as they came out” that they found Simon of -Cyrene, and compelled him to go with them to bear the cross. The Church -of the Holy Sepulchre is almost in the heart of the present city; but -we have to remember that at the date of the crucifixion the third wall -was not yet built. The first question to be settled is the course of -the second wall, and the point whether it included the site of the -church or not. In this connection the discovery of a portion of the -second wall, running north-west, along by the Greek Bazaar, was very -important: only it was not followed far enough to remove all doubt. -If we adopt Herr Schick’s line for the second wall, the Church of the -Sepulchre would be outside: but this is not enough. If the site were -within the second wall it could not be Calvary; if it was outside the -wall it may be Calvary or may not. The Church is closer to the wall -than we should expect the place of execution to be; and unless Calvary -were further away there would hardly seem to be reason enough for -pressing Simon of Cyrene into service to carry the cross. - -But another discovery must be mentioned which has some bearing on -the question. A little way east of the church, on a piece of ground -belonging to the Russians, the excavators passed through the remains -of some bazaars which were known to have existed there in the middle -ages, and below these they came upon a Byzantine pavement, which -appears to be the one laid down by Constantine around the buildings -which he erected. Thus it becomes morally certain that the Church of -the Holy Sepulchre stands on the spot where Constantine built his -church, believing it to be Calvary. But between the days of Christ and -the days of Constantine there was time and room for mistake to arise. -Jerusalem was destroyed in the year 70, the Christians did not return -to it until eighty years after, and by that time it might be difficult -to identify the sacred sites. When Constantine came to build his -church he found the site occupied by a temple of Venus, a circumstance -which may argue the traditional sacredness of the site, but scarcely -the tradition that it had been the Jewish place of execution. Major -Conder says he could devoutly wish that the site may turn out not to be -genuine, because it is disgraced by the scenes that occur there. - -Passing through the doorway we enter the vestibule, in which is -the Stone of Unction, a slab of marble which is devoutly kissed by -pilgrims. Passing round it to the left, the rotunda of the church is -reached; to the right a narrow passage with small chapels runs behind -the apses of the Greek church, and here a flight of steps leads down -to the subterranean Chapel of Helena with its picturesque lighting and -heavy eighth century basketwork capitals. Beneath this, again, is the -dark cave so suggestively named the Chapel of the Invention of the -Cross. The rotunda is well lighted with a dome light blue in colour, -and covered with golden lilies and arabesques. In the centre rises the -old Chapel of the Sepulchre, dark and gloomy, of marble discoloured by -age, surmounted by a queer cupola of Italian taste, and ornamented all -along the top with gilt nosegays and modern-framed pictures. Stooping -to enter, we pass into the vestibule or Chapel of the Angel, walled -with marble slabs, and thence into the inner Chapel of the Sepulchre -itself, where the darkness is only relieved by the glowing lamps over -the altar on the tomb. The most impressive portion of the church is, -however, the nave east of the rotunda, belonging to the Greeks, with -its great screen in front of the three eastern apses. The floor is -unoccupied, save by the short column marking the “centre of the world.” -The dome above is poor, rudely whitewashed, and painted in fresco; but -the glory of the place consists in the large screen and the panelling -of the side walls.[47] - -On Sundays the Christians of various churches--Greek, Latin, Armenian, -Coptic--hold their services simultaneously, under the dome and in the -side chapels which open off it. On one occasion when I was present -the Greek patriarch was preaching under the dome of the rotunda, at -the east end of the Chapel of the Sepulchre, when suddenly the Latins -struck up their instrumental music and singing, drowning the preacher’s -voice. I was prepared to sympathise with the Greeks, when presently -they formed a procession and marched round the rotunda, passing right -through a little band of Copts who were engaged in their own way of -worship at the west end of the Chapel of the Sepulchre. This want of -consideration for the members of other churches seemed so calculated -to lead to quarrels that I was not surprised to find a hundred Turkish -soldiers drawn up in front of the church to keep the peace. This was -a fortnight before Easter. At Easter time itself, when the so-called -miracle of the “holy fire” is enacted, and Christians of all churches -struggle with one another to be the first to light their tapers at -the sacred flame, quarrels do actually arise, and the place is a -pandemonium. Woe to the owner of the taper first lit; it is snatched -from him, and extinguished by having a dozen others thrust into it. -Strong men struggle with one another, and even delicate women and old -men fight like furies. We may well join with Conder in wishing that the -evidence may finally prove Calvary to have been somewhere else. - -For some years past a site has been coming into favour, outside the -present north wall, not far from the Damascus Gate. Here is a rounded -knoll with a precipice on the south side of it, containing a cave -known to Christians as Jeremiah’s Grotto, from the tradition that -Jeremiah lived in it and composed his Lamentations there. When this -knoll is looked at from the south-east, especially from the southern -shoulder of the Mount of Olives, it appears to many observers to bear -a striking resemblance to a huge skull. As long ago as 1871, Mr Fisher -Howe of Brooklyn proposed the identification, in a little book called -“The True Site of Calvary,” published in New York.[48] Dr Chaplin and -Major Conder have given additional probability to it by bringing into -prominence the Jewish tradition which regards this knoll as the place -of public execution. When the death was by stoning, the condemned -person was hurled from the top of the cliff, which is about 50 feet -high, and if he was not killed by the fall, stones were cast at him -till he died. The place was called the House of Stoning, and Christian -tradition has regarded it as the place of the martyrdom of Stephen. -The circumstance that Jesus Christ was put to death in the Roman -manner, being crucified and not stoned, makes little difference to the -argument for the site of Calvary, since there is no reason to suppose -that Jerusalem possessed two places of execution. It may be added that -the surface of the knoll is now used as a Mohammedan burial ground; -and this may also have been its character in Jewish times. About 200 -yards west of the Grotto, Conder made the interesting discovery of an -indisputably Jewish tomb judged to belong to the centuries immediately -preceding the Christian era. It would be bold to hazard the suggestion -that this is the very tomb in which the body of Christ was laid--the -new tomb in the garden belonging to Joseph of Arimathea--yet its -position so near the old place of execution is certainly remarkable. -“Thus,” says Conder, “to ‘a green hill far away, beside a city wall,’ -we turn from the artificial rocks and marble slabs of the monkish -chapel of Calvary.” - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Tent Work.” Major Conder. “The - Recovery of Jerusalem.” Colonels Warren and Wilson. “Sinai - and Palestine.” Dean Stanley. “Walks about Jerusalem.” W. - H. Bartlett. “Quarterly Statements of Palestine Exploration - Fund.”] - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - MESOPOTAMIA AND THE BIBLE. - - - 1. _Assyria._ - -MESOPOTAMIA--“the Land between the Rivers”--is a tract of -country nearly 700 miles long, and from 20 to 250 miles broad, enclosed -between the Euphrates and the Tigris, and extending from the mountains -of Armenia to near the Persian Gulf. It is for the most part a vast -plain, but is crossed near its centre by a range of hills running -almost east and west-from Hit on the Euphrates, famous for its bitumen -pits, to Samarah on the Tigris. North of this line the country, though -dry and bare, is undulating, and rises occasionally into mountains, -while south of it the region is flat and consists of rich, moist, -alluvial land, formed by the rivers themselves. This land of alluvium -was Babylonia, and its capital Babylon; the country north of it was -Assyria, with its capital Nineveh. But the extent of both countries -varied from time to time, according to the power of various monarchs -and their successes in war. - -The beginnings of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires are lost in -obscurity, and no records exist among the people themselves accounting -for their origin. Yet the account given in the Bible agrees so well -with what is known from the records that there can be no reasonable -doubt that in it there is a true history of the rise of these two -nations, which were in after time to wield the power of the then known -world. This Biblical account, borne out and amplified as it is by the -late discoveries, forms one of the most interesting and instructive -links in the history of the human race and its progress in civilisation. - -“Taking, then, the account as it stands in the Bible,”[49] says Mr -Budge, “it appears that the descendants of Ham, the third son of Noah, -were Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. The lands of Cush and Mizraim -have hitherto been identified with Ethiopia and Egypt respectively; -Phut was regarded as doubtful, and Canaan was the country with which -we are so well acquainted from the frequent occurrence of the name in -the Bible. The identification of the first-named and most important -of these districts, the land of Cush, has been regarded by many as -unsatisfactory: for Nimrod, judging from the names of towns said to -have been founded by him, could hardly have been an Ethiopian, though, -according to the Bible story, he was a descendant of Cush.” - -Amongst the treasures of the Assyrian excavations there has luckily -been found a tablet, giving, in a list of the nations, &c., along the -Taurus range of mountains, a country bearing the name of Kusu, the same -word as is used in the inscriptions to denote the country of Ethiopia; -and from this and from other sources it is clear that two countries -of this name were known to the people of the ancient world, the one -being Ethiopia and the other Cappadocia or its immediate neighbourhood. -It seems therefore likely that Nimrod and his followers, for some -reason unrecorded, left his home in the land of Cush or Cappadocia, -and journeying in a south-easterly direction, came to the land of -Sumer or Shinar. There meeting perhaps with the Semitic population of -the country, he did not go any farther, but settled there with his -followers, and built Babylon, and Birs Nimroud, the supposed Tower of -Babel. - -In course of time the new comers began to mingle with the original -(Semitic) inhabitants of the country, and both races were obliged, -for the purpose of trade and intercourse, to learn each other’s -language, so that there must have been for several hundreds of years -two tongues in use at the same time in Mesopotamia, and it was not -until the twelfth or even perhaps the tenth century before Christ, that -the Akkadian was entirely supplanted by the language of the Semitic -Babylonians. The Norman invasion in England is a case parallel to the -above, but with this difference, that whilst the invasion of England -by the Normans was a conquest, the entry of these people (afterwards -known as Akkadians and Sumerians) into Babylonia seems to have been -otherwise; and the Babylonian language, therefore, while admitting very -many Akkadian and Sumerian words, has not suffered, with regard to the -grammatical forms, to the same extent as the English language. - -The entry of the Akkadians into Babylonia was the beginning of -civilisation in that country, for they brought with them, along with -their religion, their legends and traditions, their laws, their art, -building knowledge, agricultural skill, and that great civiliser of -nations, the art of writing. From this union of the intellectual -Akkadian race and the warlike Babylonians arose the two nations of whom -both tradition and history have preserved the record, as having been -the mightiest of the nations of the ancient world, namely, Babylonia -and Assyria, of whom so many tales are told, and whose power and high -civilisation amongst the barbarism of the early ages of the world made -so great an impression during the time of their supremacy. - -After the mingling of these two races, but long before the Akkadian -language had died out, the Babylonians, as they will be henceforth -called, sent out colonies northwards and founded the great cities of -Assyria--Ninua (Nineveh), Resin, Kalhu (Calah), Assur, &c. - -The religion of the Assyrians was derived from Babylonia, and remained -very similar to that of the latter country. Both countries worshipped -the same deities, but the Assyrians made some changes in the system, -especially in introducing the worship of Assur. Assur was worshipped -as “king of the gods,” “father of the gods,” “the deity who created -himself.” Among the other principal gods of the Assyrians were Nebo, -the god of writing; Merodach, or Bel, a companion deity to Nebo; -Shamas, the Sun-god, and Sin, the Moon-god; Ishtar, corresponding to -Venus; Nergal and Ninip, gods of hunting; Vul, the storm god, Anu, king -of heaven, and Hea, the lord of the under world. - -The government of Assyria was monarchical, and the power of the king -was absolute, though in practice his rule was tempered by the advice of -counsellors. The commander-in-chief of the army was called the Tartan, -and here was also a high officer called the Rabshakeh (2 Kings xviii. -17). Judges decided cases in the gate of the temple or the palace, and -there was an appeal from them to the governor or king. The priests were -a privileged class; they lived on the revenues of the temples and the -offerings of worshippers. The Assyrian months were lunar, and the 7th, -14th, 21st, and 28th days were Sabbaths of rest: extra work and even -missions of mercy were forbidden, certain foods were not to be eaten, -and the king was not to ride in his chariot. The laws of the country -resembled in many respects those of Israel: a father was supreme in his -household, and a husband had the power of divorcing his wife. Slavery -was in vogue, and whole families were sometimes sold together. Various -trades were practised, including weaving, dyeing, manufacture of iron -goods, copper, and bronze goods, sculpture, and building, &c. But the -most remarkable feature of Assyrian civilisation was their literature -and libraries of clay tablets, and it is to these that we owe most of -our present knowledge of this great people. - -Before the days of Moses there was friendly intercourse, as we have -seen, between Mesopotamia and Egypt. In later ages Assyria and Egypt -were frequently at war with one another. The hostile armies were -obliged to march through Palestine; and it became very difficult for -the kings of Israel and Judah to look on with equanimity and preserve a -strictly neutral attitude. Yet if they favoured one of the great powers -they of course gave umbrage to the other; besides which, Assyria, in -the days of its power, could hardly brook to leave any small kingdom -independent. At length Samaria was conquered, and its inhabitants -deported, by Shalmaneser or by Sargon; and afterwards Judea also, by -Nebuchadnezzar. - -Speaking of the captivity of Israel in Babylonia as a providential -event, a great German writer, Lessing, says,--“When the child, by dint -of blows and caresses had come to years of understanding, the father -sent it at once into foreign countries, and here it recognised at once -the good which in its father’s house it had possessed but not been -conscious of.”[50] Again he says,--“The child, sent abroad, saw other -children, who knew more, who lived more becomingly, and asked itself in -confusion, why do I not know that too? why do I not live so too? ought -I not to have been taught and admonished of all this in my father’s -house?” - -It is because of this sojourn abroad of the Jews, and the influence -of other nations upon them, that the exploration of these eastern -countries is a matter of such importance to Bible students. In Assyria, -Babylonia, and Egypt we get into by-paths of Bible history, and the old -records when unearthed, read sometimes like new chapters of the Bible. - -The land of Mesopotamia, not inaptly called a graveyard of empires and -nations, is now neglected and desolate, under Turkish misrule. “The -monotony of the landscape would be unbroken” (says Zénaïde A. Ragozin) -“but for certain elevations and hillocks of strange and varied shapes, -which dot the plain in every direction; some are high and conical -or pyramidal in form, others are quite extensive and rather flat on -the summit, others again long and low, and all curiously unconnected -with each other or with any ridge of hills. This is doubly striking -in Lower Mesopotamia or Babylonia, proverbial for its excessive -flatness. The few permanent villages, composed of mud-huts or plaited -reed-cabins, are generally built on these eminences; but others are -used as burying-grounds, and a mosque, the Mohammedan house of prayer, -sometimes rises on one or the other. The substance of these mounds -being rather soft and yielding, their sides are still furrowed in many -places with ravines, worn by the rushing streams of rain-water. The -rubbish washed away lies scattered on the plain, and is seen to contain -fragments of bricks and pottery, sometimes inscribed with arrow-headed -characters; in the ravines themselves are laid bare whole sides of -walls of brickwork and pieces of sculptured stone.” - -The Arabs never thought of exploring these curious heaps. Their -law forbids them to represent the human form either in painting or -sculpture, lest it should lead the ignorant into idolatry. They are -superstitious, and look on relics of ancient statuary with suspicion -amounting to fear, and connect them with magic and witchcraft. It is -therefore with awe not devoid of horror that they tell travellers of -underground passages in the mounds, haunted not only by wild beasts, -but by evil spirits, strange figures having been dimly perceived in -the crevices. Better instructed foreigners have long ago assumed that -within these mounds must be entombed whatever ruins and relics may be -preserved of the great cities of yore. - -The first European whose love of learning was strong enough to make -him disregard difficulty and expense, and use the pick-axe upon these -mounds, was an Englishman named Rich. This was in 1820: but Mr Rich was -not very successful, and it was literally true that up to 1842, “a -case 3 feet square enclosed all that remained, not only of the great -city Nineveh, but of Babylon itself.” In 1842 M. Botta, a French Consul -stationed at Mosul on the Tigris, began to dig, and after fruitless -labour at the mound of Kouyunjik, opposite Mosul, was directed by a -native to Khorsabad, and there, on cutting a trench, entered a hall -lined all round with sculptured slabs, representing battles, sieges, -and similar events. A new and wonderful world was suddenly opened, and -he walked as in a dream. The discovery created an immense sensation -in Europe, and the spirit of research and enterprise was effectually -aroused. - - [Illustration: MAP of the ASSYRIAN EMPIRE AND SURROUNDING COUNTRIES - - _London; Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co._ - - _F.S. Weller, F.S.G.S._] - -The investigation was soon taken up by Mr Austen Henry Layard, our own -countryman, and the objects found were brought to the British Museum, -which now boasts a splendid collection. After getting over preliminary -difficulties--the interesting story of which may be found in his -volumes on “Nineveh and its Remains”--Mr Layard obtained a grant of -money from the Museum, with full licence from the Turkish Government, -and then succeeded in organizing a band of Arabs to work willingly and -well, and from that moment made new discoveries every day. - -One morning, as he was going to the scene of operations--they were -digging in the mound of Nimroud--two Arabs galloped up to him, and -said, “Hasten, O Bey, hasten to the diggers, for they have found Nimrod -himself! Wallah, it is wonderful, but it is true; we have seen him with -our eyes! There is no God but God!” What they had seen was a sculptured -human head, which, upon removing more earth, was seen to belong to a -winged quadruped--one of those colossal “bulls” since deposited at the -British Museum. A “bull” we say, but really a monster with the body of -a bull (sometimes the body of a lion), the head of a man, and the wings -of an eagle--the Assyrian idea of the cherubim. Many of these objects -were surrounded by writing in the curious cuneiform or arrow-headed -character. - - [Illustration: WINGED HUMAN-HEADED BULL. (N.-W. Palace, - Nimrod.)] - -Besides these so-called bulls, Mr Layard found obelisks of black -basalt, with figures in low relief representing tribute being -brought to the Assyrian kings. On the black obelisk in the British -Museum--found in the central mound of Nimroud, amid the ruins of -Shalmaneser’s palace--occurs the name and figure of Jehu, king of -Israel, as bringing tribute to Shalmaneser II. (about B.C. -842). “I have received the tribute of Jehu, the son of Omri; silver, -gold, bowls of gold, chalices of gold, cups of gold, pails of gold, -lead, sceptres for the hand of the king, (and) spear-shafts.” The -mistake indeed is made of calling him “Jehu, son of Omri;” Jehu sat -upon the throne of Omri, but he was a usurper and not of Omri’s -house. The tribute bearers on this obelisk carry golden cups and -goblets, bars of the precious metals, and other valuable things. -Rev. H. G. Tomkins, speaking of these Assyrian sculptured portraits -of Jehu and his princes, says they have “strong aquiline features, -and that peculiar shrug or quirk of the nostril which gives a shrewd -and sinister look to many a Jew of London streets. In drawing one of -these familiar faces from the monument, I was ready to believe that it -belonged to a lineal ancestor of the London ‘Clo’ men.’ The bag falling -down the stooping back deepened this impression.”[51] - - [Illustration: BLACK OBELISK.] - -In addition to these things Mr Layard brought home a large number of -alabaster slabs sculptured with battle scenes, lion hunts, and the -representation of sacred trees to which winged figures are making -mysterious offerings. It was the custom of these Assyrian kings to have -the halls and chambers of their palaces lined with plain alabaster -slabs, and after each new victory to have the story engraved in a -separate room, so that in one chamber we get an account of a battle -in Babylonia, in another the story of the siege of Lachish near the -Philistine country, and so on. - -But the reader--who has no doubt visited the British Museum and looked -at all these things--may perhaps ask why we repeat the familiar story. -It is in order to give completeness to the picture, and also to induce -young visitors to the Museum to look _into_ things as well as look at -them. Where did the antiquities come from? How have the inscriptions -been deciphered? What do they say? Although many of them were brought -to the Museum years ago, the writing was not immediately read; the -process of decipherment is still going on, and hardly a year passes -without startling discoveries being made in the Museum itself. In the -year 1872 Mr George Smith there, taking up a clay tablet that had been -neglected, deciphered the inscription, and found it to be the Chaldean -story of the Flood. In 1873, going out to Assyria for the purpose, -he actually discovered the missing portion of the tablet. Such facts -are intensely interesting to the student of the Scriptures, and they -attract us to give a portion of our attention to the legends and the -literature of the Assyrians and the Chaldeans. - -Nineveh, we read, was a city of three days’ journey. It actually -extended 20 miles in length by 10 miles in breadth, and was surrounded -by a great wall upon which three chariots could be driven abreast.[52] -Within this circumference great mounds exist, as those referred to -at Nimroud, Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik. Within these mounds have been -discovered six palaces and three temples; although only one of these -buildings--the palace of Sennacherib, at Kouyunjik--is in a decent -state of preservation. The restoration of this structure by Mr J. -Ferguson, the architect, prefixed as an illustration to Layard’s -“Nineveh,” shows it to have been a very magnificent pile. A second -palace found at Kouyunjik belonged to Assurbanipal, the grandson of -Sennacherib. - - [Illustration: SENNACHERIB BEFORE LACHISH.] - -Sennacherib himself we are familiar with through the Bible. He was that -monarch who so terrified the good king Hezekiah, when he sent him a -blasphemous message and threatened to come and destroy Jerusalem. What -the Jews of Jerusalem had to fear if he should come they knew too well; -and we know now, for Sennacherib had been besieging Lachish (2 Kings -xviii.; Isaiah xxxvi.) in Palestine, and we have recovered the record -of that siege. It is inscribed on one of the bulls discovered at the -largest of the royal buildings, and shows the monarch seated on his -throne, while the writing around him says, “I, Sennacherib, the great -king, the king of Assyria, seated on the throne of judgment before -Lachish, I give permission for the slaughter.” Before him are the -miserable captives, having rings fixed into their noses or lips, with -bridles attached, so that their heads may be held facing forward while -the king puts out their eyes with a pointed instrument. Captives are -there having their tongues torn out, others being stripped naked and -flayed alive, while human heads are piled up into pyramids. - -All these tortures the Jews themselves had to fear if Sennacherib -should take Jerusalem. It was doubtless a day of terrible suspense in -the Holy City, and a night in which few dared go to sleep. But the -early morning brought the tidings that the army of Sennacherib was -destroyed, that the angel of the Lord had gone forth and slain in the -camp of the Assyrians a hundred four score and five thousand men. We -knew the Scripture story of the deliverance, but we can realise it -better now when we have the record of the siege of Lachish, and know -what fate threatened the Jews of Jerusalem. - -Moreover, we have recovered Sennacherib’s own account of this very -campaign, in which he tells us that he had taken forty-six fenced -cities in Judea, and that he shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem “like a bird -in a cage.” He forbears to tell us why he failed to capture the bird; -he glosses over the disaster which befell his army; and he seems even -to misrepresent the facts by declaring that, after this, Hezekiah sent -him splendid presents to Babylon, for the presents of Hezekiah were -sent before this, when Sennacherib was down by Lachish, and sent with -the hope of buying him off, which there was no need to do after his -retreat. - -A great difficulty in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is also -satisfactorily cleared up by these inscriptions. Sennacherib, coming -from the Philistine country to Jerusalem, would have to travel from the -south-west, whereas, in an earlier chapter, Isaiah had told us that the -Assyrian invader came down from the north, that he captured Carchemish -in his way, and conquered Damascus, and took Samaria, and then, after -crossing the gorge at Michmash, encamped at Nob, outside Jerusalem on -the north. Moreover, the prophet intimates, he is likely to take the -city; whereas, in the later chapter, he says, “He shall not take it, -nor so much as shoot an arrow against it.” It was a great difficulty, -and it appeared to be a contradiction; but it is now satisfactorily -explained, for we find from the Assyrian inscriptions that there -had been an earlier campaign, conducted by Sargon, the father of -Sennacherib, ten years before, and that he it was who actually came by -the northerly route, and did capture Carchemish, &c., on his way. There -can be no doubt that if we read the 10th chapter of Isaiah with Sargon -in our minds, and not Sennacherib, all difficulty disappears. - -In the 20th chapter of Isaiah there is an incidental mention of this -Sargon, “In the year that the Tartan (_i.e._, the commander-in-chief) -came unto Ashdod, when Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent him,” &c.; -and for twenty-five centuries this had been the only evidence that -any such monarch had lived. Not unnaturally the evidence was thought -insufficient--this isolated reference standing like a doubtful fossil -in old-world rocks--and many historians and critics wished to identify -Sargon with Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, or Esarhaddon. Some said that -Isaiah had made a mistake. But Nineveh is disinterred, and it turns -out that Sargon was a very great king, and not even the first of that -name, for there had been two Sargons, heroes of antiquity, before him. -M. Botta finds at Khorsabad the palace of Sargon; and it appears that -he was the successor of Shalmaneser, he was the father of Sennacherib, -and he reigned for seventeen years. Among the treasures which Mr George -Smith recovered from the ruins of Nineveh is the royal seal of Sargon, -with his name and date. - -As soon as Sargon ascended the throne he prosecuted the Syrian war with -vigour, keeping up the siege of Tyre, storming the city of Samaria, -and subduing the whole country of Israel. The kingdom of Samaria was -put an end to, the people being carried into captivity and spread over -the northern provinces of the Assyrian empire and in the cities of the -Medes. It appears to be Sargon who is referred to in 2 Kings xvii. 6, -and xviii. 11 (although the passages had hitherto been understood of -Shalmaneser), where “the king of Assyria” took Samaria and carried -Israel away, placing in their cities men from Babylon, from Cuthah, -from Avva and Hamath and Sepharvaim. - -In the eleventh year of Sargon the people of Ashdod in Philistia -deposed the ruler whom Sargon had placed over them, and set up a man -named Yavan, whose chief recommendation was his hostility to Assyria. -Yavan made league with Hezekiah, king of Judah, with Moab, and with -Edom, and led the Philistines to revolt. The leaguers sent an embassy -to Egypt, asking aid, and Pharaoh held out encouragements, but did not -give any assistance when the hour of danger came. Sargon, learning of -the revolt, came to Palestine; Yavan fled into Egypt, the rebellion -collapsed, and the cities of Ashdod and Gimtu were taken by the -Assyrians. Yavan ultimately delivered himself up to the king of Meroe, -or Ethiopia, who bound him and sent him in chains to Sargon. - -The expedition against Ashdod took place in B.C. 711, during -the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and is the one referred to in the -twentieth chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet denounces the conduct -of Egypt. The way in which Isaiah speaks of the Egyptians and the -Ethiopians, in this and other chapters, is remarkably justified by the -account given in the Assyrian inscriptions. Egypt is described in the -annals of Sargon as a weak power, always stirring up revolts against -Assyria, and unable to help or shield the revolters. “In those days” -(remarks Mr George Smith, from whose larger work we are here quoting) -“Egypt was truly a broken reed. The account which Sargon gives of the -turning of the fountains and water-courses to protect the city of -Ashdod strikingly parallels the similar preparations of Hezekiah (2 -Chron. xxxii.); and it is a curious fact that Hezekiah’s preparations -had been made only two years before, according to the ordinary -chronology.” - -As remarked by Mr St Chad Boscawen, the political significance of the -embassy of Berodach Baladan (2 Kings xx. 12) is at once apparent when -viewed in the light of the monumental inscriptions; and the atmosphere -of intrigue, rebellion, and stern vengeance is very clearly apparent in -the writings both of the Hebrew and the Assyrian scribe. It was this -embassy, in B.C. 712, which brought about the invasion of -Judea and the siege of Jerusalem in B.C. 711, by Sargon. The -prophecies of Isaiah (chapters x. and xi.), so long unsolved mysteries, -are now found to be clear and detailed records of this lost incident in -Oriental history. - -“Sargon” claimed descent from an ancient hero named Bel-bani; and he -assumed the name of an old Babylonian monarch--Sargon of Agadé, who was -worshipped as a demi-god--but his own name was not really Sargon. When -he stormed the city of Samaria, he carried away, he tells us, 27,000 of -the Israelites into captivity. The kingdom of Samaria was suppressed, -and those Israelites who were not deported were placed under an -Assyrian governor. Thus the Bible account of the captivity of the ten -tribes is confirmed. And as to Judah, when we come to the Babylonian -annals of the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, we find confirmation of the -statement that he destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the inhabitants of -that city into captivity. - -These, then, are some instances of the light that is being thrown upon -the Scriptures by these Assyrian writings--of the manner in which -the Bible narrative is being filled out and illustrated with new and -copious details, and on the whole, as all critics are bound to say, is -being confirmed in its statements. - -Besides Ahab and Omri, Jehu and Hezekiah, the cuneiform tablets mention -Menahem, Pekah, and Hoshea, kings of Israel; and Azariah, Ahaz, and -Manasseh, kings of Judah. Ahaz is called Jehoahaz, his name, like so -many more, being compounded with the name of Jehovah; and it would -seem that on account of his perversion to foreign worship the Bible -writers would not use the Lord’s name in such association. Further, -the kings of Assyria and Babylon spoken of in the Bible come before us -again in the cuneiform texts, with many particulars of their warlike -expeditions,--Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, -Nebuchadnezzar, &c. Tiglath-Pileser, we find, was not the first of -that name, for there had been a monarch so designated as early as -1300 B.C. In fact the real name of the later king was Pul or -Pulu, and it is doubtful whether he was the rightful heir; but when -he ascended the throne (in B.C. 745) he took the name of the -earlier conqueror, a circumstance which led the Bible writer to suppose -there were two kings. [S. A. Strong, in “Records of the Past.” New -Series. Vol. v.] - -The other palace found at Kouyunjik belonged, as stated before, to -Assurbanipal. He was the Sardanapalus of Greek writers and was a -great conqueror. His date is about 640 B.C. Mr Rassam, the -native co-worker with Mr Layard, was fortunate enough to discover -Assurbanipal’s library--the library of the Assyrian kings. The “books” -of the Assyrians differed very much from our own. They used to take -a tablet of clay, to write upon it with an iron stylus, bake it into -terra cotta, and then place the record on the library shelf. These clay -tablets were more durable than leaves of paper or rolls of parchment, -and the Assyrian records, covered up more than two thousand years ago, -are in many cases so well preserved that scholars can read them. - -As progress was made in deciphering the inscriptions, it was found -that new and remarkable light was being obtained regarding the history -and civilisation of half-forgotten empires. Collections of inscribed -tablets had been made by Tiglath-Pileser II. (B.C. 745), who -had copied some historical inscriptions of his predecessors. Sargon, -the father of Sennacherib (B.C. 722), had increased this -library by adding a collection of astrological and similar texts; and -Sennacherib himself (B.C. 705) had composed copies of the -Assyrian canon, short histories, and miscellaneous inscriptions to -add to the collection. Sennacherib also moved the library from Calah, -its original seat, to Nineveh, the capital; and Esarhaddon, the son -of Sennacherib, added numerous historical and mythological texts. All -the inscriptions of the former kings, however, were nothing compared -to those written during the reign of Assurbanipal, the grandson of -Sennacherib, who not only recorded the events of his own reign, but -collected literature from other countries, and caused translations to -be made of Babylonian records which were then ancient. Thousands of -inscribed tablets were collected and copied, and stored in the royal -library at Nineveh; and it is this royal library which has been found. - -The amount of Assyrian literature now in our possession is more -than equal to the entire contents of the Old Testament. It includes -religion, astronomy, mythology, history, geography, natural history, -royal decrees and private letters, legal decisions and deeds of sale, -lists of tributes and taxes, precepts for private life, &c. Among -the sacred legends are stories of the Creation and the Deluge. These -narratives did not originate with the Assyrians, for they received -their religious system by inheritance from the Babylonians. But neither -did they originate with the Babylonians; for we learn from their own -records that this learning and these traditions were brought into their -country by the Akkadians. - -Assurbanipal, when he made raids into Babylonia and captured a city, -would carry off the sacred writings to enrich the royal library at -Nineveh. When they were brought to Nineveh they were copied by the -priests, and they were sometimes translated into the Assyrian tongue, -although Assyrians who professed to be well educated used to learn the -Akkadian language, much as English boys learn Latin, or theological -students study Hebrew and read the writings in the original. It is -very interesting to find that these old Assyrians and these ancient -Chaldeans had their own version of the Creation, the Deluge, the -Building of Babel, &c., which they venerated as being ancient even -then, and regarded as most sacred. - -The Chaldean narratives differed in minor particulars from those in -the Bible. The Chaldean Deluge, for instance, lasted only seven days, -instead of the greater part of a year; the vessel was not an ark, but a -ship, of proper ship shape, with a pilot on board to navigate it, and -other people on board besides the family of Noah. The Chaldean Noah, -when the waters were subsiding, sent out not only a raven and a dove, -but a swallow as well; and in the end of the event he was translated -that he should not see death; and this in the Bible does not occur to -Noah, but to Enoch. Nevertheless, with these and other differences, we -have the grand fact that the cycle of narratives preserved in the early -chapters of Genesis are not mere ingenious inventions on the part of -Hebrew writers, but had their parallel in early Chaldea. The key to -their exact meaning is for the present lost; but we may hope that it -will be recovered, and then there will be an end to the controversy -between Geology and Genesis. - - - 2. _Babylonia._ - -Babylonia comprehended the country from near the Lower Zab to the -Persian Gulf, about 400 miles long; and from Elam, east of the Tigris, -to the Arabian Desert, west of the Euphrates, an average breadth of 150 -miles. - -Its history begins very early, for one of its kings--Sargon of -Accad--is believed to have reigned in 3800 B.C. The circumstance to -which we owe the discovery of this remarkable fact is thus related -in Dr Sayce’s “Hibbert Lectures”: “The last king of Babylonia, -Nabonidos, had antiquarian tastes, and busied himself not only with -the restoration of the old temples of his country, but also with -the disinterment of the memorial cylinders which their builders and -restorers had buried beneath their foundations. It was known that the -great temple of the Sun-god at Sippara, where the mounds of Abu-Hubba -now mark its remains, had been originally erected by Naram-Sin, -the son of Sargon, and attempts had been already made to find the -records which, it was assumed, he had entombed under its angles. With -true antiquarian zeal Nabonidos continued the search, and did not -desist until, like the dean and chapter of some modern cathedral, -he had lighted upon ‘the foundation stone’ of Naram-Sin himself. -This foundation-stone, he tells us, had been seen by none of his -predecessors for 3200 years. In the opinion, accordingly, of Nabonidos, -a king who was curious about the past history of his country, and whose -royal position gave him the best possible opportunities for learning -all that could be known about it, Naram-Sin and his father, Sargon I., -lived 3200 years before his own time, or 3750 B.C.” - -The date is so remote and so contrary to all our preconceived ideas -regarding the antiquity of the Babylonian monarchy, that it was not -received without hesitation; but it appears to be supported by other -evidence, and is now generally accepted. It is believed, indeed, that -the monuments found at _Tell-lo_, including statues of diorite, a -material foreign to Babylonia, are earlier still, and must be regarded -as pre-Semitic. - -It may be asked, what interest can we have in people and things so -remote? the Babylonians and their religion have long since perished, -and have no influence upon the world of to-day. To this it is replied -that through the providential circumstances of the Captivity the Jews -were brought into contact with the Babylonians; the Jewish religion -in its turn influenced Christianity, and all Christians should be -concerned to know what the Jews learned in their exile. In the view of -Hebrew prophets the Jews were “sent into foreign countries” to receive -education and discipline; the Assyrian conqueror was the rod of God’s -anger (Isaiah x. 5), and the Babylonish exile was the punishment meted -out to Judah for its sins. The captives who returned again to their -own land came back with changed hearts and purified minds, intent upon -re-establishing Jerusalem as the home of a righteous people. And they -had done something more than learn to abominate idolatry, they had been -led to weigh the value of the religious beliefs and practices of the -nations they had lived with during seventy years. - -But it was not only through the Babylonian exile that the religious -ideas of the Babylonian and the Jew came into contact with each -other. “It was then, indeed” (says Dr Sayce), “that the ideas of the -conquering race were likely to make their deepest and most enduring -impression; it was then, too, that the Jew for the first time found the -libraries and ancient literature of Chaldea open to his study and use.” -But old tradition had already pointed to the valley of the Euphrates -as the primeval cradle of his race. We all remember how Abraham, it is -said, was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and how the earlier chapters of -Genesis make the Euphrates and Tigris two of the rivers of Paradise, -and describe the building of the tower of Babylon as the cause of the -dispersion of mankind. Now the Hebrew language was the language not -only of the Israelites, but also of those earlier inhabitants of the -country whom the Jews called Canaanites and the Greeks Phœnicians. Like -the Israelites, the Phœnicians held that their ancestors had come from -the Persian Gulf and the alluvial Plain of Babylonia. The tradition is -confirmed by the researches of comparative philology. Their first home -appears to have been in the low-lying desert which stretches eastward -to Chaldea--in the very region, in fact, in which stood the great city -of Ur, the modern Mugheir. - -The earliest known kings of Shumir resided in Ur, and besides that, -it was the principal commercial mart of the country. For, strange as -it may appear, when we look on a modern map, and observe the ruins -150 miles from the sea, Ur was then a maritime city, with harbour and -docks. Through the accumulation of alluvium brought down by the two -great rivers, the Babylonian territory has steadily increased from age -to age, and the waters of the Gulf have been pushed back. There was, in -early times, a distance of many miles between the mouths of the Tigris -and Euphrates, and Ur lay very near the mouth of the latter river. The -platform of the principal mound which marks the site is faced with a -wall 10 feet thick, of red kiln-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen. -The mound has something of the shape of a pear, and measures about 2 -miles in circumference. This mound representing the town, the suburban -district is full of graves of all ages, showing the long period through -which the city flourished. - -It appears from the inscriptions found at Ur that the city was devoted -to the worship of the Moon-god Sin, frequently called “the god Thirty,” -in allusion to his function as the measurer of time by months. Here -stood the great temple of the god, which was partially explored by Mr -K. Loftus--a temple built in stages, of which two remain. The bricks of -the temple are inscribed with the name of Ur-Bagas, its founder, the -first monarch of united Babylonia of whom we know. Some of the hymns -used in the ritual service of the temple, or at any rate composed in -honour of the god, were obtained by Assurbanipal, and translated by -his scribes out of the Akkadian language into the Assyrian. One of them -begins thus:-- - -“Lord and prince of the gods who in heaven and earth alone is supreme! - -“Father Nannar, Lord of the firmament, prince of the gods! - -“Father Nannar, Lord of heaven, mighty one, prince of the gods! - -“Father Nannar, Lord of the moon, prince of the gods!” - -It was from a city where such hymns were repeated in praise of the -Moon-god that Abraham was called to rise up and go forth. With Terah, -his father, and a tribe of servants and adherents, he started for new -lands. - -The distance from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran in northern Mesopotamia -was considerable, but it lay along the line of the river and by the -common route of travel. It is remarkable that Haran, like Ur, was a -city of the Moon-god, who appears at one time to have taken primary -rank among the Babylonians. Nabonidos restored the temple at Haran, -and it is thus that he celebrates the event:--“May the gods who -dwell in heaven and earth approach the house of Sin, the father who -created them. As for me, Nabonidos, king of Babylon, the completer -of this temple, may Sin, the king of the gods of heaven and earth, -in the lifting up of his kindly eyes, with joy look upon me month by -month at noon and sunset: may he grant me favourable tokens, may he -lengthen my days, may he extend my years, may he establish my reign, -may he overcome my foes, may he slay my enemies, may he sweep away my -opponents. May Nin-gal, the mother of the mighty gods, in the presence -of Sin, her loved one, speak like a mother. May Samas and Istar, the -bright offspring of his heart, to Sin, the father who begat them, speak -of blessing. May Nuzku, the messenger supreme, hearken to my prayer and -plead for me.” - -There would seem to be as much reason for Abraham to leave Haran as -there was for his leaving Ur; and the Bible actually represents the -stay in Haran as only a stage in the migration. Canaan was the land -which God had “told him of;” and there, building altars successively -at Shechem and Bethel and in the oak-grove of Mamre, he realized that -the Lord could be approached in every place by those who worshipped in -spirit and in truth. - -Terah and Abraham had come out of Chaldea with a large family and -numerous following. “For years,” says Ragozin, “the tribe travelled -without dividing, from pasture to pasture, over the land of Canaan, -into Egypt and out of it again, until the quarrel occurred between -Abraham’s herdsmen and Lot’s, when Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan -and Abraham remained in the centre of the country. After the battle -of four kings against five, in the Vale of Siddim, when Lot was taken -prisoner, Abraham pursued the victorious army, now carelessly marching -homewards, with its long train of captives and booty, and produced a -panic among them by a sudden and vigorous onslaught. Not only was Lot -rescued, with his women folk and his goods, but all the captured goods -and people were brought back too. Chedorlaomer, of whom the spirited -Bible narrative gives us so life-like a sketch, lived, according to the -most probable calculations, about 2200 B.C. In the cuneiform -inscriptions he is called Khudur-Lagamar; and among the few vague forms -whose blurred outlines loom out of the twilight of those dim ages, he -is the second with any flesh and blood reality about him, probably the -first, conqueror of whom the world has any authentic record.” - -It is supposed that the “Amraphel, king of Shinar,” who marched with -Khudur-Lagamar as his ally, was no other than a king of Babylon, one -of whose names has been read Amarpal, while “Ariokh of Ellassar” was -an Elamite, Eriaku, brother or cousin of Khudur-Lagamar and king of -Larsam. At Larsam the Elamite conquerors had established a powerful -dynasty, closely allied by blood to the principal one, which had made -the venerable Ur its headquarters. - -Babylon was a very ancient city of Babylonia, and is first mentioned -in the inscriptions of Izdhubar,[53] a mythical hero, whose name is -connected with the Chaldean story of the Flood. It remained for some -centuries of secondary importance, but became at length the capital -of the country. The native name, Bab-ilu, signifies the Gate-of-God, -corresponding to Beth-el, the House of God, in the land of Palestine. -According to Herodotus, the city stood in a broad plain, and was an -exact square, measuring 15 miles each way. It was surrounded, he says, -by a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rose a wall 50 -royal cubits in breadth and 200 in height. In digging the moat the -alluvial clay was at once made into bricks and baked in kilns; and with -these the walls were built, the cement being hot bitumen. “On the top, -along the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single -chamber, facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse -chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates of -brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts.” - -The broad stream of the Euphrates passed through the city, dividing -it into two parts, and the centre of each division was occupied by a -fortress. In the one stood the palace of the kings, surrounded by a -wall of great strength and size; in the other was the sacred precinct -of Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure, 2 furlongs each way, with gates -of solid brass. “In the middle of the precinct,” says Herodotus, “there -was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon -which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to -eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds -round all the towers.... On the topmost tower there is a spacious -temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly -adorned, with a golden table by its side. Below, in the same precinct, -there is a second temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all -of gold.” Other historians make the circuit of the city from 45 to 48 -miles, instead of 60; and it is hardly necessary to say that modern -writers question both its extent and the height of its walls. - -The god whom Herodotus calls Jupiter-Belus was Bel-Merodach. Babylon -was called “the dwelling-place of Bel” and the “town of Marduk.” The -temple of Bel is represented by the ruin of Babil, a mound on the -eastern side of the stream. Some writers believe this to be the site -of the Tower of Babel. Others, including Sir Henry Rawlinson, have -identified the Babel tower with the ruin of Birs Nimroud, the ancient -Borsippa, on the western side of the river. Birs Nimroud is one of the -most imposing ruins in the country, standing in the midst of a vast -plain, with nothing to break the view. Sir H. Rawlinson excavated at -the site, and discovered that the tower was built in seven stages, the -material being brickwork on an earthen platform. The first stage was an -exact square, 272 feet each way, and 26 feet high, the bricks blackened -with bitumen. The higher stages were of course successively smaller, -but they were not placed in the centre of those on which they rested, -but considerably nearer to the south-western end which constituted the -back of the building. The bricks of the lowest stage being blackened, -those of the second stage were orange-coloured, of the third red, the -fourth it is supposed were plated with gold. Seven colours were used, -emblematic of the planets, and the building was called the Temple of -the Seven Spheres. On the seventh stage there was probably placed the -ark or tabernacle, which seems to have been again 15 feet high, and -must have nearly covered the top of the seventh story. This temple was -sacred to Nebo, the Babylonian Mercury, the inventor of the alphabet, -“the writer,” “the prophet,” “the author of the oracle.” Assurbanipal -is never weary of telling us, at the end of the documents which his -scribes had copied from Babylonian originals, that Nebo and Tasmit had -given him broad ears, and endowed him with seeing eyes, so that he had -written and bound together and published the store of tablets, a work -which none of the kings who had gone before him had undertaken, even -the secrets of Nebo! - -From receptacles at the corners of the stages above described, Sir H. -Rawlinson obtained inscribed cylinders, stating that the building was -the Temple of the Seven Planets, which had been partially built by a -former king of Babylon, and having fallen into decay, was restored and -completed by Nebuchadnezzar. It was at Birs Nimroud that Mr Hormuzd -Rassam found a leaf of metal with some writing on it, which proved to -be a dedication by Nebuchadnezzar to the god Nebo for his restoration -to health. If this relates to Nebuchadnezzar’s recovery from his -madness, it is an interesting confirmation of the story in the Book of -Daniel. - -“The secrets of Nebo” referred to by Assurbanipal, were astronomical -records and other writings stored up in Nebo’s temple. The religion -of the Babylonians was based on a study of the heavenly bodies, and -was so intimately connected with astronomy that it was necessary -for the priests to be astronomers. There were observatories at the -principal temples; observations of the heavens were regularly made, -and naturally the records were preserved in the temple chambers, and -became the nucleus of large libraries. It was the good fortune of Mr -Rassam to discover one of the most important of these libraries, at -Abu Hubba--about 30 miles south-east from Bagdad--on one of the canals -branching eastward from the Euphrates. Abu Hubba proves to be the -ancient Sippara, the Biblical Sepharvaim, whence some of the people -were taken, to re-people Samaria after the ten tribes of Israel were -carried away. The Hebrew name being in the dual form, and signifying -the two Sippars, we look for duality in the ruins, and we find them -actually on the two sides of the stream. Sippara, we knew from Berosus, -was a great seat of sun-worship; the temple of the god Shamas was here, -and it was here that Xisuthrus, the Chaldean Noah, was said to have -buried the records of the antediluvian world. The explorations of Mr -Rassam have restored to us the remains of the Sun-god’s temple. - -The citadel occupies the southern portion of the _enceinte_, and its -highest point on the south-west face was once on the banks of a stream, -either the Euphrates itself or a broad canal communicating with the -river. The trenches excavated in the mound soon struck the walls of a -building, and by following the line of this wall the outer face of a -large square edifice was uncovered. Trenches and shafts sunk in the -interior showed that within the outer rampart there were more than -one hundred chambers ranged round a central court. In the central -portion of the mound an important pair of chambers were found, and in -the centre of one of them a large brick altar platform, about 30 feet -square, upon which it was evident that the altar of burnt-offering -had stood, for there were charred fragments about. The axis of this -chamber was north-east and south-west, and at the north-east end a -doorway was found, leading into a smaller chamber, the floor of which -was paved with a material resembling asphalt. Under this floor Mr -Rassam discovered a terra cotta box containing three inscribed records, -namely, a stone tablet with a sculptured panel, representing the -worship of the Sun-god, and two cylinders. The cylinders were found -to bear inscriptions of Nabonidos, king of Babylon, B.C. 555, -recording the restoration of this temple in the year B.C. -550; and the stone tablet bore a long and important record of the -restoration of the temple by Nabu-abla-iddina, king of Babylon, whose -date may be given as about B.C. 852. Above the figure of the -Sun-god on this tablet were the words--“The statue of the Sun-god--the -great lord--dwelling in the House of Light, which is within the city of -Sippara.” But the statue and other objects of value had been removed. -From the cylinder of Nabonidos, as previously stated, we learn that the -temple had been restored by Naram-Sin, the son of Sargon I., in the -year 3750 B.C. It was of very great interest to find in the -lower strata of the temple area a small ovoid of pink and white marble, -bearing an inscription of Sargon I., of such archaic character as to -appear to confirm this date. - -The temple was called by many titles--as, “Palace of the God,” “High -Place,” “Dwelling of the God,” “Resting-Place of the God,”--and, -among others, the “House of God,” in Akkadian, E-Din-gira, in Semitic -Babylonian, Bit-ilu, in Hebrew, Bethel. - -The city of Akkad or Agadé, built by Sargon I., seems to have been a -part of the double Sippara, and here Sargon founded the celebrated -library which contained among its treasures a great work on astronomy -and astrology, in seventy books. Around this nucleus other writings -aggregated, and the temple of Shamas became the great record office -of the state. Mr Rassam found at Abu Hubba some thousands of tablets -relating to fiscal, legal, and commercial transactions; and it would -thus appear that all documents of this character were preserved by -the priests. A remarkable example of the careful preservation of the -writings committed to their charge was furnished in the course of the -excavations. On the south-east side of the large quadrangle was a -smaller square, in which were a series of chambers, evidently offices -of the temple. In one of these over 30,000 tablets were found stored. -They were packed by Mr Rassam as he found them, and removed to England -without any disturbance of their order; and when the cases came to be -examined it was found that the majority of the tablets were arranged -chronologically. Ranging as these tablets did from B.C. 625 -to B.C. 200, they must have lain for nearly 2000 years quite -undisturbed in the ruins. - -A Babylonian temple was also the court of justice, and as the Jewish -Sanhedrim met in the temple at Jerusalem, so did the council of the -grey-haired ones meet in the courts of Chaldean temples to answer -judgment. Dr Oppert has translated some contracts and legal decisions -relating indubitably to captive Jews who had been carried to Babylon -after the destruction of Jerusalem. One of the most interesting of them -is a law-suit commenced by a Jewish slave named Barachiel in order to -recover his freedom. The case was as follows:--Barachiel--who bears the -same name as the father of Elihu in the Book of Job (xxxii. 2-6),--had -been the property of a wealthy person named Akhi-nuri, who had sold him -to a widow of the name of Gaga, about 570 B.C. He remained -in the house of this lady as a slave, with the power of liberating -himself by paying a sum equal to his _peculium_ or private property, -which he had been allowed to acquire, like a slave in ancient Rome; but -it seems that he was never fortunate enough to be able to afford the -sum of money required. He remained with Gaga twenty-one years, and was -considered the _res_ or property of the house, and as such was handed -over in pledge, was restored, and finally became the dowry of Nubti, -the daughter of Gaga. Nubti gave him to her son and husband in exchange -for a house and some slaves. After the death of the two ladies he was -sold to the wealthy publican, Itti-Marduk-baladh, from whose house -he escaped twice. Taken the second time, he instituted an action in -order that he might be recognised as a free-born citizen, of the family -of Belrimanni; and to prove that he was of noble origin he pretended -that he had performed the matrimonial solemnities at the marriage of -his master’s daughter, Qudasa, with a certain Samas-mudammiq. Such a -performance, doubtless, implied that the officiating priest was of free -birth, and no slave or freed-man was qualified to take part in it. - -The name Barachiel, says Dr Oppert, is evidently that of a Jew. -He is called “a slave of ransom;” that is to say, not a slave who -has already purchased his freedom, but a slave who was allowed by -special laws to employ his private fortune in the work of liberating -himself. He professes to have been the “joiner” of the hands of bride -and bridegroom at a wedding which must have taken place before the -thirty-fifth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, when he still belonged to -the house of Akhi-nuri, “the seller of the slave,” as he is called at -the end of the text. - -The judges, after perusing all the evidence, do not find any proofs -that Barachiel was a man of free birth, and accordingly say to -him:--“Prove to us that you are the descendant of a noble ancestor.” -Thereupon Barachiel confesses that he is not free-born, but has twice -run away from the house of his master; as, however, the act was seen -by many people, he was afraid, and said he was the son of a noble -ancestor. “But I am not free-born,” he confesses, and then gives an -account of the events of his life. The judges decided that Barachiel -should be restored to his condition as a slave of ransom.[54] - -Such a story as this serves to show what the life of many an Israelite -may have been during the Captivity. - - - 3. _How the Writings were Read._ - -To the ordinary visitor to the British Museum, looking at the cuneiform -inscriptions--nothing but arrowhead characters variously grouped--it -seems wonderful that they should constitute a language, and incredible -that they should be read. The question is often asked, “How can we -trust the translations put before us? How do we know that they are any -more than guesses?” It may be well, therefore, to relate how the key -to the lost character was obtained, and how the decipherment proceeded -until now the translation of narrative texts can be made with as much -certainty as translations from the Hebrew of the Old Testament. - - [Illustration: BEHISTUN SCULPTURE.] - -The clue was obtained from the Behistun inscriptions, through the -energy of Sir Henry Rawlinson; and the records of the successive steps -of the discovery will be found in the _Journal of the Asiatic Society_, -in the _Quarterly Review_ for March 1847, and in such popular works -as Mr Vaux’s “Nineveh and Persepolis.” Edwin Norris and others had -laboured, and the process of deciphering cuneiform texts was already -well advanced when Sir Henry Layard and Mr Rassam discovered such -abundant treasures in the mounds on the Tigris. The inscriptions -which are now known to record the personal history of Darius, the -son of Hystaspes, are almost always in three forms of the cuneiform -character, which may be described as Persian, Median, and Assyrian, and -were addressed to different races of his subjects. The most extensive -monument of the kind is found on a rock escarpment at Behistun, on the -frontiers of Persia, a place on the high road from Babylonia to the -further east. The rock is almost perpendicular, and rises abruptly -from the plain to the height of 1700 feet, an imposing object which -must always have attracted the attention of travellers. It was known -to the Greeks, who erected on the top of it a temple to Zeus; and it -had probably been sacred to Ormazd, the supreme deity of the Persians. -High up on the face of this rock, 300 feet above the plain, there are -two tablets, one of them containing sculptured figures and nearly a -thousand lines of cuneiform character. The sculptured portion of the -rock represents a line of nine persons united by a cord tied round -their necks, and having their hands bound behind their backs, who are -approaching another of more majestic stature, who, holding up his right -hand in token of authority, treads on a prostrate body. His countenance -expresses the idea of a great king or conqueror, and behind the king -stand two guards with long spears in their hands. - -The reign of Darius was disturbed by many revolts, and the -insurrectionary attempts of many impostors and pretenders. It is these -impostors who are represented as prisoners in the sculpture, and over -the head of each figure we find his name and description. The first -one, the prostrate figure, is “Gomates, the Magian, an impostor,” who -said, “I am Bartius, the son of Cyrus; I am the King,” and so on. The -inscription is by far the largest and most important record which has -been preserved of the greatness of Darius, and of the Persian state and -system. The lines over the monarch himself would read in English as -follows:-- - -“I am Darius the king, the great king, the king of kings, the king of -Persia, the king of the (dependent) provinces, the son of Hystaspes, -the grandson of Arsames, the Achæmenian,” &c. - -It will be noticed here how the word king is repeated; as the -inscription proceeds the name Darius is repeated also. A German -scholar, Professor Grotefend, had observed that such inscriptions -generally begin with three or four words, one of which varies while -the others do not. He suspected that the word which changes would be -the king’s name--as different inscriptions would relate to different -kings--and that the other words gave the king’s titles. He felt -convinced that a word which was constantly repeated signified “king,” -and conjectured that when two kings were mentioned they were probably -father and son. Finding that the names of Cyrus and Cambyses would -not suit, because no two names in the inscription he was dealing with -commenced with the same letter, he tried others. Cyrus and Artaxerxes -seemed equally inapplicable, because of their unequal length, the -two names he was dealing with being of six letters each. The only -names remaining were those of Darius and Xerxes; and these on further -comparison appeared to agree so exactly with the characters that he -did not hesitate at once to adopt them. Having thus found out more -than twelve letters, among which were precisely those composing the -royal title, the next business was to give these names their original -Persian form, in order that by ascertaining the correct value of each -character, the royal title might be deciphered. From the “Zendavesta” -of Anquetil du Perron, M. Grotefend found that the Greek form Hystaspes -was originally represented in Persian by Gustasp, Kishtasp, or -Wistasp. The first seven letters of this name were at once discovered, -while a comparison of all the royal titles led him to the conclusion -that the three last formed the inflection of the genitive singular, -corresponding to the Latin Hystaspis. Thus did Grotefend proceed step -by step, his ingenuity and perseverance being beyond all praise. -Meantime Sir Henry Rawlinson, although stationed in Persia and cut -off in a great degree from the results of European scholarship, was -devoting himself with ardour to the study of the Behistun inscription, -and making independent progress. - -It turned out that of the three forms of arrow-headed character in -this class of inscriptions the Persian was the easiest to decipher, -being an alphabetic language, and that the other two were not purely -alphabetic. Still, a sure clue was obtained, and the key being -applied by an increasing number of investigators, the Median and the -Assyrian in the course of time yielded up their secrets. At length, -in 1857, to put the method of decipherment to a test, the inscription -of Tiglath-Pileser I. was submitted to four eminent Assyriologists, -namely, Sir H. Rawlinson, Dr Oppert, Mr Fox Talbot, and Dr Hincks, who -made translations of it independently, and sent them, under seal, to -the secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society. When they were opened and -compared it was found that they exhibited a remarkable resemblance -to one another, much greater, in fact, than could have been the case -if the method of decipherment had not been sound. Since 1857 immense -advances have been made, until now, as Dr Sayce confidently declares, -it is possible to translate an ordinary Assyrian text with as much ease -and certainty as a page of the Old Testament. - - [_Authorities and Sources_:--“Assyrian Discoveries.” By - George Smith. “The Chaldean Genesis.” By George Smith. - “Ancient History from the Monuments: Assyria.” By George - Smith. “Ancient History from the Monuments: Babylonia.” By - Rev. Dr A. H. Sayce. “Nineveh and its Remains.” H. A. Layard. - “Nineveh and Persepolis.” W. S. W. Vaux. “Guide to the - Kouyunjik Gallery.” British Museum. “The Story of the Nations: - Assyria.” By Zénaïde A. Ragozin. “The Story of the Nations: - Babylonia.” Zénaïde A. Ragozin. “Hibbert Lectures.” Dr A. H. - Sayce. “Records of the Past.” “Transactions of the Society of - Biblical Archæology.” Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible.” “From - Under the Dust of Ages.” St Chad Boscawen.] - - - - - THE VANDALISM OF THE ORIENTALS. - - -It seems to be quite providential that the calamities of cities and -the burial of treasures of art and knowledge should result in their -preservation, and contribute to the education of the world. It is -remarkable also that the explorers of the buried cities of the East -should be the Christian nations of the West, and that such a wealth -of discovery should enrich this nineteenth century. Through the -catastrophe which overwhelmed Pompeii, and preserved it under volcanic -ashes for 1700 years, we have become better acquainted with the private -life of the Romans than would have been possible by any other means. -The fugitive from Pompeii, in the hurry of escape, abandoned articles -of intrinsic value, and could not pause or stoop to pick them up; -yet they were saved from the hand of the robber that they might give -instruction to the world many centuries afterwards. The golden diadems, -ear-rings, and bracelets which Dr Schliemann found in a great silver -vase on the supposed site of Troy had been packed in the greatest -haste, and the fair owner, unable to return to them, no doubt gave them -up for lost; but she was an instrument in the hand of Providence, and -knew not what she did. By the recovery of the Assyrian royal library, -we are being informed concerning the religion and mythology, as well as -the history, of early nations, about whom we knew too little through -the ordinary channels of history. Think of Assurbanipal’s librarian at -Nineveh speculating on the ultimate destiny of the records under his -care! How could he guess that when the empire was passed away, its -kings forgotten, its gods put aside as mythical inventions, there would -come scholars from beyond the pillars of Hercules and learn to decipher -its records? - -How disappointing is it, then, to all lovers of knowledge, as well -as to all students of Bible antiquities, to know that, now, when the -existence of these treasures is known, there is too little enterprise -in our people to go and reap the harvest of them; and while we wait -they are being carelessly or wantonly destroyed! One explorer tells -of an Arab who found an entire black statue, and because it was too -heavy to carry away bodily, broke off its head and carried that away -first. Palaces and temples, when unearthed, are used as quarries for -the building stone. Limestone slabs, covered with precious sculptures -and inscriptions, are burnt for the sake of the lime. Decaying mounds -of bricks, because they contain nitre, are carted off as manure for the -fields! The following are a few instances of the vandalism which seems -to be defeating the apparent intention of Providence. - -The beautiful sanctuaries “erected by Amenhotep III. in the island of -Elephantine, which were figured by the members of the French expedition -at the end of the last century, were destroyed by the Turkish governor -of Assouan in 1822.”--_Professor Maspero._ - -The great Sphinx at Gizeh.--“The nose and beard have been broken off by -fanatics.”--_Professor Maspero._ - -Sebakh diggers ply their occupation in the midst of the mounds of the -ancient city of Thebes. “_Sebakh_, signifying ‘salt,’ or ‘saltpetre,’ -is the general term for that saline dust which accumulates wherever -there are mounds of brick or limestone ruins. This dust is much valued -as a manure or ‘top-dressing,’ and is so constantly dug out and carried -away by the natives, that the mounds of ancient towns and villages are -rapidly undergoing destruction in all parts of Egypt.”--_Miss Amelia B. -Edwards._ - -“Prisse d’Avennes relates that when he visited, in 1836, Behbeit el -Hagar, the site of the old Heb, in the Sebennyte nome, near the present -city of Mansoorah, he went away disgusted, seeing the regular trade -that was carried on in the most beautiful sculptures of the ruined -temple, which was besides used as a quarry by the inhabitants of the -spot.”--_M. Naville._ - -“When the sheikh on whose land I was excavating became reassured as to -the object of my researches, he told me that some twenty years ago a -great number of inscribed stones were unearthed on that spot [site of -Goshen]; but since that time they had disappeared, most of them having -been used for building purposes. The great number of broken pieces -which are built into the walls of the houses prove that the sheikh -spoke the truth.”--_M. Naville._ - -“At Babel there are four wells scientifically built. When Mr Rassam -cleared one of them of _debris_ he came to water at the bottom. Each -stone is 3 feet in thickness, is bored, and made to fit the one below -it so exactly that you would imagine the whole well was hewn out of the -solid rock. Yet the Arabs break up these stones for the sake of making -lime.”--_Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology_, viii. 185. - -“In 1815 Lady Hester Stanhope conducted excavations at Ascalon, and -found a colossal statue of a Roman emperor, thought possibly to have -been that of Augustus, erected by Herod. It was unfortunately broken -up by the workmen in search of treasure supposed to be concealed -within.”--Conder’s “_Syrian Stone-lore_.” - -“At Cæsarea a broad street has been laid out (by the recent immigrants -from Bosnia) which passes directly over the remains of the Roman temple -built by Herod in honour of Cæsar and of Rome (the finely dressed white -stone being turned to good account by the colonists), and over the -Crusaders’ Cathedral, the foundations and walls of which also furnish -splendid building material.”--“_Quarterly Statement_ of Palestine -Exploration Fund,” July 1884. - -“I pointed out that while the objects underground would keep a few -years longer, the march of civilisation was rapidly erasing all records -of the past above ground. The ancient ruins were being burnt into lime, -the old names were giving way to modern appellations, and the records -of the past were disappearing.”--_Colonel Sir Charles Warren._ - -“Of Memphis there is at present hardly a trace left; and other great -cities known to ancient travellers have disappeared with their -monuments. Mummy cases and coffins with most interesting inscriptions -have for centuries been used as fuel. And innumerable manuscripts -have suffered the same fate.... The tombs are convenient abodes for -Arab families, who destroy the paintings and inscriptions either by -the dense smoke of their fires or by actually pulling down walls. I -was taken to see the ‘Lay of the Harper,’ one of the most interesting -remains of Egyptian poetry, which was published a few years ago by Dr -Dumichen, but we found the walls on which the poem was written a mere -heap of ruins. But the vandalism of European and American travellers -is most fatal to the monuments. There is, or rather was, a famous -picture at Beni-hassan, which was formerly thought to represent Joseph -presenting his brethren to Pharaoh. An English lady has been heard to -request her guide to cut out for her the face of Joseph!”--_P. Le Page -Renouf._ - - - TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] From “Records of the Past.” New Series, vol. ii. - -[2] See Bishop Butler’s “Sermon on the Character of Balaam.” - -[3] Rev. H. G. Tomkins argues that he was a Semite, though in close -contact with the Hittites.--“Journal of the Anthropological Institute,” -November 1889. - -[4] Major Conder, in the “Journal of the Anthropological Institute,” -August 1889. - -[5] See the authorities given in “Rawlinson’s Historical Illustrations -of the Old Testament.” - -[6] Dyer’s “Pompeii.” - -[7] Exod. xxix. 22; Levit. vii. 32, viii. 25, ix. 21; Num. xviii. 18. - -[8] See Sayce’s “Fresh Light from the Monuments,” p. 139. - -[9] “Records of the Past,” New Series, vol. ii. - -[10] Brugsch, “History of Egypt,” vol. ii. - -[11] May it not perhaps have been a new name given to Bubastis, after -rebuilding? - -[12] M. Naville, whose excavations at Tell Basta have shown that -Bubastis was a very large city, and a favourite resort of the king and -his family, thinks it quite possible that, at the time we are speaking -of, the king was at Bubastis and not at Zoan. - -[13] Gesenius gives the meaning, “rush, reed, seaweed;” and in Exod. -ii. 3, Moses is said to have been laid in an ark of _souph_ or reeds. - -[14] In this paraphrase I render one of the _vavs_ by “then” instead -of “and.” This will be allowed me. What will be objected to is the -assumption that Lasha is Laish, especially as Lasha contains a -different radical, the _ayin_ (לָשַׁע). But the passage in Genesis -may give an archaic spelling; and as Lasha signifies “the breaking -through of waters,” it is eminently descriptive of the source of the -Jordan at Dan. To place Lasha in the south-east of Palestine, as is -done in Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” is to charge the description -in Genesis with being defective, for how are the limits of a people -defined by tracing two sides of an irregular quadrangle? - -[15] Josephus: “Wars,” iii. 10. § 8. - -[16] “Twenty-one years’ Work in the Holy Land.” - -[17] For an account of the “Book of Jasher,” see the “Literary Remains -of Emanuel Deutsch.” - -[18] Little Hermon is really a misnomer for the conical hill of Duhy -just north of the Valley of Jezreel. The mention of Tabor and Hermon -together in Psalm lxxxix. 12, has misled those who did not realize that -Tabor would be in the same line of vision with Mount Hermon, for many -observers in the south. - -[19] See the chapter on Jerusalem. - -[20] _Greek_ “Akra.” - -[21] ἡ καθύπερθεν αὐταῖς - -[22] “Survey Memoirs.” - -[23] This is Dr Sayce’s improved translation, in “Records of the Past,” -Second Series, vol. ii. The inscription has since been cut out and -stolen. - -[24] “Quarterly Statement,” Jan. 1890. - -[25] Might mean arched, or gibbous, or humped. Conder understands it -“rising to a peak.” Q. S. Oct. 1873. - -[26] “Quarterly Statement,” January 1876. - -[27] “Wars,” v. 4. 2. - -[28] “Quarterly Statement,” Jan. 1886. - -[29] In the Authorised Version it is Meah, in the Revised Version -Hammeah. It might be translated Tower of the Hundred. - -[30] Ezra iv. 16, 20; v. 3, 6; vi. 6, 8, 13; viii. 36. - -[31] The Nethinim were but servants of the Levites. - -[32] “Recovery of Jerusalem,” pp. 155-9. - -[33] Zion is only called Moriah as the hill of vision (2 Chron. iii. 1). - -[34] The resemblances are better seen in the Hebrew. - -[35] “Quarterly Statement,” April, 1890. - -[36] “Quarterly Statement,” Jan.-March 1870. - -[37] Antiq., vii. 14, 4. - -[38] Antiq., ix. 10. 4. - -[39] “Sinai and Palestine,” chap. iii. - -[40] “Quarterly Statement,” July, 1890. - -[41] “The Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 284. - -[42] “Quarterly Statement,” 1872, p. 116. - -[43] It would be legitimate to read “by the sheep-pool” instead of “by -the sheep-gate.” - -[44] xv. 11. 5. - -[45] v. 5. 2. - -[46] “Sinai and Palestine.” - -[47] Conder’s “Tent Work.” - -[48] See a paper by Rev. Charles S. Robinson, in the _Century -Magazine_, November, 1888. - -[49] Genesis x. 6. - -[50] Lessing: “Education of the Human Race.” - -[51] “Journal of the Anthropological Institute,” February, 1889. - -[52] It is right to say that some writers are not convinced that -Nineveh was 60 miles round. They regard Nimroud, Kouyunjik, &c., as so -many separate cities. - -[53] Or Gilgames. (See _Academy_, Nov. 8th, 1890.) - -[54] “Records of the Past.” New Series, Vol. i. - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - -1. Obvious spelling, printers’ and punctuation errors have been -silently corrected. - -2. Where appropriate, both hyphenated and non-hyphenated words have -been retained as in the original. - -3. Where appropriate, original spelling has been retained. - -4. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g. D^r. - -5. In chapter 3, for the numbered subsections, the number 4 was -incorrectly stated as 5. 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