{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_65497/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_65497","id":"gutenberg_65497","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65497","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Antiquities","Bible -- Geography","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Ancient","Category: History - Religious","Extinct cities","Jerusalem -- History","Palestine -- Description and travel"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustrations.\n See 65497-h.htm or 65497-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/65497/pg65497-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/65497/65497-h.zip)\n\n\n Images of the original pages are available through\n Internet Archive. See\n https://archive.org/details/buriedcitiesbibl00stcl\n\n\n Some characters might not display properly in this UTF-8\n text file (e.g., empty squares). If so, the reader should\n consult the html version or the original page images noted\n above.\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n A caret character is used to denote superscription. A\n single character following the caret is superscripted\n (example: Edwr^d).\n\n\n\n\n\nBURIED CITIES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES.\n\n\n [Illustration:\n\n _Frontispiece._\n\n RUINS OF A GALILEAN SYNAGOGUE (KEFR BIRIM).\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\n\nBURIED CITIES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES\n\nby\n\nGEORGE ST CLAIR, F.G.S.\n\nMember of the Society of Biblical Arch\u00e6ology;\nMember of the Anthropological Institute, and Ten Years Lecturer\nfor the Palestine Exploration Fund.\n\nSecond Edition\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon\nKegan Paul, Trench, Tr\u00fcbner & Co. Ltd.\n\nImported by\nThomas Whittaker\n2 & 3 Bible House\nNew York\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS.\n\n\n CHAP. PAGE\n\n PREFACE 9\n\n I. EGYPT AND THE BIBLE--\n\n 1. The Rosetta Stone. Decipherment of the Egyptian\n Hieroglyphs 11\n\n 2. Kings and Dynasties of Egypt 16\n\n 3. The Finding of the Mummies 19\n\n 4. Egyptians in Palestine before the Exodus. Wars with\n the Hittites 27\n\n 5. Semites in Egypt before the Oppression. The\n _Tell-el-Amarna_ Tablets 40\n\n 6. Israel in Egypt 47\n\n 7. Buried Cities 54\n\n 8. Biblical Sites in Egypt 57\n\n 9. The Route of the Exodus 76\n\n 10. The Wilderness Wanderings 81\n\n II. PALESTINE EXPLORATION--\n\n 1. Palestine generally 86\n\n 2. Physical Features of Palestine 88\n\n 3. The Dead Sea 99\n\n 4. The Cities of the Plain 104\n\n 5. \u201cLot\u2019s Wife\u201d 112\n\n 6. The Natural History of Palestine, as dependent on its\n Physical Geography 114\n\n 7. The Topographical Survey of Western Palestine 121\n\n 8. Israel\u2019s Wars and Worship considered in connection with\n the Physical Features of the Country--The Conquest and\n Wars 125\n\n 9. The Sacred Sites 161\n\n 10. The Method of the Survey, and Incidents of the Work 171\n\n 11. The East of Jordan 183\n\n\n III. JERUSALEM-- 203\n\n 1. The City as it is 204\n\n 2. The Sieges of the City and Fortunes of its Walls 220\n\n 3. Excavations in Jerusalem 227\n\n 4. Jerusalem as it Was: The Hills and Valleys 249\n\n 5. Jerusalem as it Was: The Walls and Gates of the City 259\n\n 6. Incidents of the History better realized now 277\n\n 7. Sieges of the City understood through improved\n Knowledge of the Topography 293\n\n IV. GOSPEL HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF PALESTINE EXPLORATION--\n\n 1. Christ in the Provinces 300\n\n 2. Christ in the Capital 325\n\n V. MESOPOTAMIA AND THE BIBLE--\n\n 1. Assyria 340\n\n 2. Babylonia 357\n\n 3. How the Writings were Read 370\n\n THE VANDALISM OF ORIENTALS 375\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n\n PAGE\n\n Ruins of Synagogue _Frontispiece._\n\n Mummies of Seti I. and Rameses II. 25\n\n Hittite Portraits 32\n\n Hittite Inscription 37\n\n Map of Nile Delta and Sinai Desert _To face_ 57\n\n Meridional Section through Palestine 90\n\n Geological Sketch-Map 95\n\n Generalised Geological Section 97\n\n Map of Palestine _To face_ 125\n\n Site of Gath 154\n\n Plan of Jerusalem 205\n\n Plan of Noble Sanctuary _To face_ 212\n\n Robinson\u2019s Arch--the Spring Stone 228\n\n Robinson\u2019s Arch--Section 230\n\n Wilson\u2019s Arch 232\n\n South Wall of Noble Sanctuary 234\n\n Deep Shaft at south-east Angle 235\n\n Ancient Pottery--Jar Handles 236\n\n Ancient Pottery--Vase 236\n\n Masons\u2019 Marks 237\n\n East Wall of Noble Sanctuary 239\n\n Plan of Siloam Tunnel 242\n\n Shafts at Virgin\u2019s Fountain 245\n\n Rock-Site of Jerusalem 251\n\n Schick\u2019s Line of Second Wall 263\n\n Nehemiah\u2019s South Wall (St Clair) 268\n\n Outline Plan of Jerusalem 334\n\n Map of Mesopotamia _To face_ 340\n\n Assyrian Winged Bull 347\n\n Black Obelisk 348\n\n Sennacherib before Lachish 350\n\n Behistun Rock Inscription 371\n\n\n\n\n PREFACE.\n\n\nThis book contains a description of some of the most important\nmodern discoveries bearing upon the Bible, the selection being made\nto meet the wants of those who have no time to follow the course of\nexploration, and no taste for technical details. The preparation of\nsuch a volume has often been urged upon me by those who have listened\nto my lectures on Palestine Exploration.\n\nIn such a work accuracy is of more value than originality; and\ntherefore I have not hesitated to gather information from the best\nsources, and to use it freely. The authorities and sources will be\nfound in a list at the end of each chapter; and thus, while due\nacknowledgment is made, the reader will know where to go to for further\ninformation.\n\nIn one chapter, indeed--that relating to the topography of Jerusalem\nin Scripture times--I do venture to state my own views, and give my\nown map of localities; but it is only because my special study of the\nsubject seems to justify my confidence, and compels me to differ from\nother writers.\n\nI desire to express my special obligation to the Committee of the\nPalestine Exploration Fund for allowing the use of their plates for the\nillustrations of this volume; to Herr Schick of Jerusalem, for leave\nto use his plan of the Second Wall, to Wilfrid H. Hudleston, M.A.,\nF.R.S., for the geological sketch-map and section, and to W. Harry\nRylands, F.S.A., Secretary to the Society of Biblical Arch\u00e6ology, for\nthe special favour of an original drawing from one of the Hamath stones.\n\n GEORGE ST CLAIR.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n To face p. 72\n\n SKETCH MAP\n\n shewing position of Land and Sea during the PLUVIAL period.\n\n _By permission of the Committee of the Palestine Exploration\n Fund._ Edwr^d Weller lith.\n\n _London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Tr\u00fcbner & Co._]\n\n\n\n\n BURIED CITIES AND BIBLE COUNTRIES.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n EGYPT AND THE BIBLE.\n\n\n I. _The Rosetta Stone: Decipherment of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs._\n\nTo all who are interested in the ancient history of mankind, the\ndecipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphs is a fact of the highest\nimportance. As early as the fourth dynasty, and probably as early\nas the first, the Egyptians possessed the art of writing; but for\nthousands of years before the present century the hieroglyphs had\nbecome a dead language, which nobody could read. Temples and tombs in\nthe valley of the Nile contained records which might be of surpassing\ninterest; but the clue to them was lost, and the riddle remained\nunguessed. At length a discovery was made which began to open the\nway, and has proved to be one of the most remarkable events in the\nintellectual history of Europe.\n\nIn the year 1799, when Napoleon\u2019s army was in Egypt, a French artillery\nofficer, by name Boussard, while engaged in certain works on the\nredoubt of St Julian, at Rosetta, discovered a large slab of black\ngranite, bearing a triple inscription. The first or upper part was in\nhieroglyphs, the middle one was in the enchorial or popular character,\nand the lower one in Greek. The hieroglyphic text was partly broken\naway and lost, but the other two were nearly complete. The Greek text\nshowed that the monument was designed by the priests of Memphis, in\nhonour of the Pharaohs, and particularly of Ptolemy Epiphanes, who was\nreigning at the time when the decree was made (198 B.C.). The\nmonument stood originally in the temple of Tum, the god of the setting\nsun; and there were to be copies of it in other places.\n\nAmong other things, the priests say of Ptolemy that \u201che was pious\ntowards the gods, he ameliorated the life of man, he was full of\ngenerous piety, he showed forth with all his might his sentiments of\nhumanity.\u201d He lightened taxation, so that the people might have plenty;\nhe released prisoners and the defendants in law suits; he ordered\nthat the revenues of the temples, whether in provisions or money,\nshould remain what they had been. As to the priests, he commanded\nthat they should pay no new promotion fees, that those who had been\nobliged to make an annual voyage to Alexandria should be free from\nthe obligation; and that what had been neglected in temple services\nshould be re-established. Naturally the priests were grateful, and they\nordered this testimonial of recognition to be engraved upon stone, in\nthe sacred characters of Egypt, in the vernacular, and in Greek.\n\nAll this was speedily made out from the Greek text, and it was thus\nclear that the other two forms of the inscription must be of the same\npurport. Here then at last was a key to the long-lost language of the\nhieroglyphs. The value of the monument was at once perceived, and after\nhaving been copied it was set apart and packed up. The victory of the\nEnglish at Alexandria, and the surrender of the city in 1801, placed\nthe Rosetta Stone in the hands of Mr W. R. Hamilton, the British\nCommissioner, one of the most distinguished and zealous scholars of the\nday. The treasure was despatched to England, and has found a fitting\nresting-place in the British Museum.\n\nThis seemingly insignificant stone (says Baron Bunsen) shares, with\nthe great and splendid work, \u201cLa Description de l\u2019Egypte,\u201d the honour\nof being the only result of vital importance to universal history,\naccruing from a vast expedition, a brilliant conquest, and a bloody\ncombat for the possession of Egypt. The men of science and letters who\naccompanied Napoleon\u2019s army in Egypt, employed themselves actively\nin collecting the precious materials for that great work on the\nantiquities, the topography, natural history, &c., of that wonderful\ncountry. When the work appeared, the monuments that it contained, and\nthe learned commentaries by which they were accompanied, aroused the\ngeneral attention of the European public to Egyptian research, which\nhad been previously all but abandoned. This collection comprised\nnot only the most important monuments of Egypt, but also the great\nfunereal papyrus, and other Egyptian records of the highest value.\nBut the monuments were mute, the hieroglyphics could not be read, and\nthe riddle of the sphinx still remained unsolved. Attempts had been\nmade, but without much success, and it was the Rosetta Stone which,\nin reality, unloosed the tongue of both monuments and records, and\nrendered them accessible to historical investigation. This stone was\nthe mighty agency which, by the light it shed on the mysteries of the\nEgyptian language and writing, was to enable science to penetrate\nthrough the darkness of thousands of years, extend the limits of\nhistory, and even open up a possibility of unfolding the primeval\nsecrets of the human race.\n\nAs engraved copies of the Rosetta Stone became common in\nEurope--for which object the English scholars had provided without\ndelay--confidence was entertained that the hieroglyphs would be\ndeciphered. One of the earliest workers was Dr Thomas Young.\n\nHowever (says Mariette), we must not imagine that the deciphering of\nhieroglyphs by means of the Rosetta Stone was accomplished at the first\ntrial, and without groping in the dark. On the contrary, the savants\ntried for twenty years without much success. At last Champollion\nappeared. Prior to him people thought each of the letters that compose\nhieroglyphic writing was a _symbol_; that is, that in every single\none of these letters a complete _idea_ was expressed. The merit of\nChampollion consisted in proving that Egyptian writing contains signs\nwhich express _sounds_; in other words, that it is _alphabetic_. He\nnoticed that wherever in the Greek text the proper name _Ptolemy_ is\nmet with, there may be found, at a corresponding place of the Egyptian\ntext, a certain number of signs enclosed within an elliptic ring.\nFrom this he concluded (1) that the names of kings were indicated,\nin the hieroglyphic system, in a sort of escutcheon, which he styled\na _cartouche_; (2) that the signs contained in the cartouche must be\nletter for letter the name of Ptolemy (Ptolemaios).\n\nEven supposing the vowels omitted, Champollion was already in\npossession of five letters--P.T.L.M.S. Again, Champollion knew,\naccording to a second Greek inscription, engraved on an obelisk of\nPhilae, that on this obelisk a hieroglyphic cartouche is visible which\nmust be that of Cleopatra. If his first reading was correct, the P,\nthe L, and the T of Ptolemy must be found again in the second proper\nname; while, at the same time, this second proper name would furnish K\nand R. Although very imperfect as yet, the alphabet thus revealed to\nChampollion, when applied to other cartouches, put him in possession of\nnearly all the other consonants.\n\nThenceforth he had no need to hesitate concerning the _pronunciation_\nof signs; for, from the day this proof was furnished, he could certify\nthat he possessed the Egyptian alphabet. But now remained the language;\nfor pronouncing words is nothing, if we know not what they mean. Here\nChampollion\u2019s genius could soar. He perceived that his alphabet,\ndrawn from proper names and applied to words of the language, simply\nfurnished _Coptic_. Now Coptic, in its turn, is a language which,\nwithout being so well explored as Greek, had for a long time been\nnot less accessible. (It was a spoken language until the sixteenth\ncentury, and three spoken dialects remained, sufficiently resembling\nthe old Egyptian to enable all the grammatical forms and structure to\nbe examined.) Therefore the veil was completely removed. The Egyptian\nlanguage was only Coptic written in hieroglyphs; or, to speak more\ncorrectly, Coptic is only the language of the ancient Pharaohs,\nwritten in Greek letters. The rest may be inferred. From sign to sign\nChampollion really proceeded from the known to the unknown, and soon\nthe illustrious father of Egyptology could lay the foundations of this\nbeautiful science, which has for its object the interpretation of the\nhieroglyphs.\n\nFurther, as remarked by Dr Birch, Egyptologists have patiently traced\nword after word, through several thousands of texts and inscriptions,\nuntil they have found its correct meaning. It was ascertained at\nlength that almost every word consists of two portions--hieroglyphs to\nrepresent the sound, followed by hieroglyphs expressing its general or\nspecific meaning. Provided with these materials the enquiry advanced.\nThe result is that we are gradually recovering a knowledge of the\nhistory of Egypt and the religion of its people, from a time long\nanterior to the birth of Moses down to the latest period of the empire.\nThe hieroglyphs reveal a rich literature, including not only the annals\nof the empire, but books on ethics, romances, works on mathematics,\nmedicine, morals, legal and other reports; while the great religious\nwork is the Book of the Dead.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cEgypt\u2019s Place in Universal\n History.\u201d By Christian C. J. Bunsen. \u201cThe Monuments of Upper\n Egypt.\u201d By Auguste Mariette-Bey. \u201cThe Monumental History of\n Egypt.\u201d Rede Lecture. By S. Birch, LL.D.]\n\n\n 2. _Kings and Dynasties of Egypt._\n\nIt will be useful to give here a table of Egyptian Dynasties, so that\nwhen we come to speak of Israel in Egypt the reader may have some\nidea of the long antecedent history of the Empire, and the political\ncircumstances of the time. Unfortunately we must be content at present\nwith approximate dates, for the records of the Egyptians are not dated,\nand the chronology is but very imperfectly known.\n\n\n _Table of the Egyptian Dynasties._[1]\n\n +---------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+---------+\n | | | |Approx- |Approx- |\n | | | |imate |imate |\n | | | |Date, |Date, |\n | Dynasty. | Capital. | Modern |according|according|\n | | | Name. |to |to |\n | | | |Mariette.|Wiede- |\n | | | | |mann. |\n +---------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+---------+\n | THE OLD EMPIRE. |\n | |\n | I. Thinite |This | Girgeh | 5004 | 5650 |\n | II. Thinite |This | Girgeh | 4751 | 5400 |\n | III. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 4449 | 5100 |\n | IV. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 4235 | 4875 |\n | V. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 3951 | 4600 |\n | VI. Elephantine |Elephantin\u00ea | Geziret- | | |\n | | | Assouan | 3703 | 4450 |\n | VII. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 3500 | 4250 |\n | VIII. Memphite |Memphis | Mitrahenny | 3500 | 4250 |\n | IX. Heracleopolite|Heracleopolis| Ahnas el- | | |\n | | | Medineh | 3358 | 4000 |\n | X. Heracleopolite|Heracleopolis| Ahnas el- | | |\n | | | Medineh | 3249 | 3700 |\n | XI. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 3064 | 3510 |\n | |\n | THE MIDDLE EMPIRE. |\n | |\n | XII. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 2851 | 3450 |\n | XIII. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | ... | 3250 |\n | XIV. Xoite |Xois | Sakha | 2398 | 2800 |\n | |\n | |\n | THE SHEPHERD KINGS. |\n | |\n | XV. Hyksos |Tanis (Zoan) | San | 2214 | 2325 |\n | XVI. {Hyksos |Tanis | San | ... | 2050 |\n | {Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | ... | ... |\n | XVII. {Hyksos |Tanis | San | ... | 1800 |\n | {Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | ... | ... |\n | |\n | |\n | THE NEW EMPIRE. |\n | |\n | XVIII. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 1700 | 1750 |\n | XIX. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 1400 | 1490 |\n | XX. Diospolitan |Thebes | Luxor, &c. | 1200 | 1280 |\n | XXI. Tanite |Tanis | San | 1100 | 1100 |\n | XXII. Bubastite |Bubastis | Tel Bast | 960 | 975 |\n | XXIII. Tanite |Tanis | San | 766 | 810 |\n | XXIV. Saite |Sais | Sa el-Hagar | 753 | 720 |\n | XXV. Ethiopian |Napata | Mount Barkal| 700 | 715 |\n | XXVI. Saite |Sais | Sa el-Hagar | 666 | 664 |\n | XXVII. Persian |Persepolis | ... | 527 | 525 |\n |XXVIII. Saite |Sais | Sa el-Hagar | ... | 415 |\n | XXIX. Mendesian |Mendes | Eshmun er- | | |\n | | | Rom\u00e2n | 399 | 408 |\n | XXX. Sebennyte |Sebennytos | Semenh\u00fbd | 378 | 387 |\n +---------------------+-------------+-------------+---------+---------+\n\nIn the time of Moses the Egyptian power had already passed its zenith\nand begun to decay. There had been an Old Empire, with the City of\n_This_ for its first capital and Menes as its first king. Dynasty had\nsucceeded dynasty, during perhaps two thousand years, and the capital\nhad been changed several times, when the Middle Empire came in, and the\nkings ruled from Thebes and afterwards from Xois. There had now been\nfourteen dynasties altogether; and the power of the kingdom was so\nfar weakened that it was unable to keep out the invader. The Shepherd\nKings, coming from Midian, or perhaps from Mesopotamia, established\nthemselves in the Delta, and held possession for several centuries.\nTheir conquest, however, did not extend to Upper Egypt, and so the\nnative dynasties reigned contemporaneously, enthroned at Thebes, while\nthe Hyksos kings were seated at Zoan.\n\nIt was probably towards the close of the Hyksos period that Joseph was\nmade governor of Egypt, under the latest of the Shepherd Kings. The\nseventeenth dynasty saw the last of these foreigners, and after their\nexpulsion the New Empire began, near the end of the eighteenth century\nbefore Christ. The eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties included several\nmonarchs of great renown; and as the Israelitish sojourn falls chiefly\nwithin this period, it will be useful to give here a chronological list.\n\n\n_Monarchs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties, with approximate\ndates, according to Brugsch._\n\n Eighteenth Dynasty. B. C.\n\n Aahmes, Amosis; its founder 1700\n Amenhotep I. (Amenophis) 1666\n Thothmes I. (Thotmosis) 1633\n Thothmes II. and his sister-wife Hatshepsu 1600\n Thothmes III.\n Amenhotep II., Son of Thothmes III. 1566\n Thothmes IV. 1533\n Amenhotep III., Son of Queen Mutemna 1500\n Amenhotep IV., afterwards called Khuenaten 1466\n\n Nineteenth Dynasty.\n\n Rameses I. 1400\n Seti I. (Sethos) Menephtah 1366\n Rameses II. (Sesostris) Miamun 1333\n Menephtah II. (Menepthes) 1300\n Seti II. Menephtah III., son of Menephtah II. 1266\n Setnakht-Merer-Miamun II. 1233\n\nRameses II. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression; and the Israelites left\nEgypt in the reign of his successor, Menephtah.\n\n\n 3. _The Finding of the Mummies._\n\nIn 1878 the Khedive Said Pasha authorised Professor Maspero to found\na Museum at Boulak (a suburb of Cairo), for the reception of all the\nantiquities found in the country and calculated to throw light on\nEgyptian history. Under the successive direction of Professor Maspero\nand Professor Gr\u00e9baut the collection has become one of the most\nvaluable and most instructive in the world.\n\nIn 1881 the museum was enriched by the most important arch\u00e6ological\ndiscovery of modern times. On the 5th of July of that year a cave in\nthe plain of Deir el-Bahari, near Thebes, was explored, and its rich\ncontents were bodily removed to Boulak. They consisted of mummies of\nkings, queens, and princesses, and other persons of distinction, with\nnumerous articles of clothing, papyri, vases, &c. Hieratic inscriptions\non the coffins of several of the kings gave the date of the transfer\nof the bodies from their original sepulchres in the valley of Bab el\nMalook, near Luxor, to this pit or tomb, and also of the periodical\ninspection to which the dep\u00f4t was subjected. The cave is proved to be\nthe tomb of the Priest-Kings of Amen, the usurpers of the throne of the\nRamessides, from Her-Hor to Pinotem III.\n\nThe reason for bringing so many kings of different dynasties into this\ntomb is not accurately known; but the following circumstances afford\nground for reasonable conjecture.\n\n\u201cAfter Rameses II., the last great warrior of Egypt, had laid aside\nhis javelin and bow, in the fourteenth century before Christ, luxury\nand indolence were followed by their usual concomitants, poverty and\ndiscontent. The artizans and labourers, instead of joining in one\ncommon effort to improve the condition of the country, had recourse\nto violence and robbery. The pillage of the tombs for the sake of\ntheir precious contents became a common practice, and in the reign\nof Rameses IX., of the twentieth dynasty, about the eleventh century\nbefore the birth of Christ, an inquiry was instituted to ascertain the\nextent of the depredations. The robbers were arrested and arraigned,\nand several of them were condemned to die by their own hands--a common\nmode of punishment in ancient Egypt. It was discovered likewise that\nthe tombs of the Pharaohs, which had hitherto been respected, were,\nlike the rest, subjected to danger.\u201d\n\nThe preservers, however, were at work as well as the robbers; the\npriests of the Egyptian Church appear to have shielded the remains of\nmany of the great kings, by hiding them so effectually that they were\nnever found again until the third quarter of the present century.\n\n\u201cIt was an extraordinary discovery, not only for Egyptian arch\u00e6ology,\nbut likewise for Egyptian history, and the fortunate discoverer was\nProfessor Maspero, chief conservator of the Egyptian Museum at Boulak.\nThe discovery came about in the following manner. For some years past,\nso far back as the time of Mariette, it had been observed that objects\nof value and interest, tablets, papyri, &c., had found their way into\nthe museums of Europe, and some into private hands. There exists a law\nin Egypt, that tombs and cemeteries are not to be explored except by\ndirect permission of the Khedive, and all traffic in objects of archaic\ninterest is strictly forbidden. Nevertheless a kind of contraband\nwas in existence, the actual source of which was unknown. Another\nobservation had also been made, namely, that the large majority of the\nobjects were of about the same period, and seemed to have a common\norigin. When His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, was in Egypt,\nhe was presented by a certain Mustapha Aga of Thebes, with a valuable\npapyrus, which the Prince has very generously deposited in the British\nMuseum. It was subsequently ascertained that the document in question\nis only half a papyrus (this curious discovery is due to the acute\nresearch of Miss Amelia B. Edwards, one of the Honorary Secretaries of\nthe Egypt Exploration Fund), the other, the hinder half, being in the\npossession of the Museum of the Louvre at Paris. The Prince of Wales\u2019\npapyrus was written for a queen, Notem Maut, related to the great\npriest-king of the twenty-first dynasty, Her-Hor--possibly his wife,\nbut more probably his mother. Another, and a remarkably fine papyrus,\nwas bought by Colonel Campbell in 1876, for the large sum of \u00a3400. The\nlatter had evidently been obtained from the mummy of the High Priest\nPinotem, descendant of Her-Hor. The coincidence was striking, and led\nProfessor Maspero to the conclusion that a tomb of the priest-kings\nwas in the possession of the Arabs of the district of Thebes, a class\nof persons who live in the tombs, and gain a living out of the produce\nof their search. Suspicion quickly pointed to the parties implicated.\nThe chief, Ahmed Ab-der-Rassoul, one of five brothers engaged in the\ntraffic of antikas (antiques), was arrested, and shortly afterwards\nanother of the brothers made a confession and conducted the authorities\nto the hiding-place in which all these treasures were concealed.\n\n\u201cNear the site of an old temple, known as Deir el-Bahari, at the foot\nof a rugged mass of precipitous rock, so hidden from view that it might\nbe passed by a hundred times without being seen, was a perpendicular\nshaft, 35 feet deep, and 6 feet in diameter. At the bottom of the\nshaft, in its western corner, was an opening a little more than 2 feet\nhigh and 5 feet wide, the entrance of a narrow passage tunnelled in\nthe rock. This passage or tunnel led due west for 25 feet, and then\nturned abruptly to the north for 200 feet, ending in an oblong chamber\n260 feet long, the entire length of the tunnel being nearly 500 feet.\nThroughout the whole of this extensive area the floor was encumbered\nwith coffins and funereal gear, packed together so closely that for\nsome distance it was necessary to crawl upon hands and feet to make\nany progress. The collection within this strange hiding-place consisted\nof sarcophagi, coffins, mummies, funereal furniture, and funereal\nornaments, the gathered fragments of four or five dynasties, more\nparticularly the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twenty-first,\ncomprehending a period of more than five hundred years, and ranging\nbetween the eighteenth and twelfth centuries before Christ....\n\n\u201cIt was a hot forty-eight hours\u2019 work, under the burning sun of Egypt,\nto bring all those objects to the surface, and a toilsome labour,\nenlisting the services of three hundred Arabs, to convey them to Luxor,\nand subsequently to pile them on the deck of the Museum steamer which\nhad journeyed up the river to receive them. The passage down the river\npartook of the character of a funeral ovation: women with dishevelled\nhair ran along the banks uttering shrieks and funereal chants, others\nthrew dust upon their heads, men discharged guns, and the funeral of a\ndefunct monarch of to-day could not have excited more apparent emotion.\u201d\n\nThe coffins and mummies included the following:--\n\nRASKENEN, king of Upper Egypt, a descendant of the old Theban\nroyal race, but at this time tributary to the Hyksos or Shepherd kings.\nAccording to the Sallier papyrus in the British Museum, he quarrelled\nwith the Hyksos monarch Apopi, in reference to the cession of an\nimportant well. This brought about the overthrow and expulsion of the\nHyksos, who had ruled the country for five centuries. According to the\nsame authority, Joseph arrived in Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh\nNub (B.C. 1730), and rose to honour under Apopi.\n\nAAHMES I., founder of the eighteenth dynasty.\n\nAMENHOTEP I. (_Amenophis_), coffin and mummy.\n\nTHOTHMES I.--The coffin was occupied by the mummy of a priest-king,\nPinotem, of the twenty-first dynasty. The mummy of Thothmes was not\nfound.\n\nThe first known representation of a horse occurs on a monument of this\nreign; and it is supposed that the horse was introduced into Egypt from\nAsia about this time.\n\nTHOTHMES II.--The coffin and mummy were both found. Thothmes\nII. reigned but a short time.\n\nTHOTHMES III., one of the most famous of Egyptian kings. He\ncontinued his predecessors\u2019 offensive movements against the Hyksos\nand their allies, and extended his conquests as far as the Tigris.\nIn his reign Egypt was at the pinnacle of its greatness. The walls\nof his magnificent temple at Karnak are covered with inscriptions\nrecounting his triumphs, and giving a list of the countries and peoples\nconquered by him. A stela of black granite found at Karnac, and now in\nthe Egyptian National Museum, contains a poem in celebration of the\nvictories of this king. The coffin and mummy found were broken.\n\nHATSHEPSU, the great woman-king, sister and wife of Thothmes\nII. Becoming regent for her younger brother, Thothmes III., she assumed\na king\u2019s dress and masculine style. Neither the coffin nor the mummy\nwere found. But it was the practice of the Egyptians in embalming to\ntake out the intestines and preserve them separately; and the liver of\nHatshepsu was discovered enclosed in a cabinet of wood, inlaid with\nivory, which was marked with her name.\n\nRAMESES I., founder of the nineteenth dynasty, was found\nplaced in a coffin of the fashion of the twenty-first dynasty, from\nwhich the name of the original owner had been carefully scraped off.\n\nSETI I., his successor (coffin and mummy). The superb alabaster\nsarcophagus of this monarch was already in the Soane Museum, in\nLincoln\u2019s Inn Fields. When Belzoni discovered it in 1817, in the\noriginal sepulchre in the valley of the kings at Thebes, he was\nastonished to find the mummy and coffin gone. When the mummy of this\nPharaoh was unrolled it was found that the body was long, fleshless,\nof a yellow-black colour, and had the arms crossed upon the breast.\nThe head was covered with a mask of fine linen, blackened with bitumen,\nwhich it was necessary to remove with scissors. This operation brought\nto view the most beautiful mummy-head ever seen in the museum. The\nsculptors of Thebes and Abydos did not flatter this Pharaoh when they\ngave him that delicate, sweet, smiling profile which is known to\ntravellers. After a lapse of thirty-two centuries the mummy retains\nthe same expression which characterised the features of the living\nman. Seti I. must have died at an advanced age. The head is shaven,\nthe eyebrows are white, the condition of the body points to more\nthan three-score years of life; thus confirming the opinion of the\nlearned, who have attributed a long reign to this king. Seti I. built\nthe Hall of Columns in the Great Temple of Ammon, at Karnac. There\nexist numerous remains also at Koorneh, Abydos, and elsewhere, of the\nextensive and magnificent buildings which he erected with the aid of\nthe conquered Semites, among whom the Israelites must probably be\nincluded. During his reign a great canal, the first of its kind, was\ncompleted, connecting the Nile with the Red Sea.\n\n [Illustration: SETI I.]\n\nRAMESES II., the renowned soldier, son of Seti I., known to\nthe Greeks as Sesostris. The oppression of the Israelites, probably\nbegun by Seti I., was continued under Rameses II. In the sixth year\nof his reign, however, Moses was born. The mummy of Rameses II. was\nfound deposited in a coffin of the twenty-first dynasty, like that of\nRameses I. This gave rise to doubts as to which particular Rameses\nwas enclosed, but on unwrapping the mummy an inscription was found,\nexplaining that the original coffin had been accidentally broken, and\nleaving no doubt that this was Rameses II. Most striking, when compared\nwith the mummy of Seti I., is the astonishing resemblance between\nfather and son. The nose, mouth, chin, all the features are the same,\nbut in the father they are more refined than in the son. Rameses II.\nwas over six feet in height, and we see by the breadth of his chest\nand the squareness of his shoulders that he must have been a man of\ngreat bodily strength. Professor Maspero, in his official report,\ndescribes the body as that of a vigorous and robust old man, with white\nand well-preserved teeth, white hair and eyebrows, long and slender\nhands and feet, stained with henna, and ears pierced for the reception\nof ear-rings. Rameses II. reigned sixty-six years, and was nearly a\nhundred years old at the time of his death. He exhibited great zeal as\na builder, and was a patron of science and art. It was he who built the\nRamesseum at Thebes, and presented it with a library. He also built the\nPylons and Hall of Columns of the Temple of Luxor, and a score of minor\ntemples in Egypt and Nubia, and made the marvellous rock-cut temples at\nAbousimbel.\n\n [Illustration: RAMESES II.]\n\nRameses II. was succeeded by his thirteenth son, Meneptah II., who\ncontinued the oppression of the Israelites, and pursued them when they\nwere escaping.\n\nBesides all these monarchs, there were found in the strange repository\nat Deir el-Bahari, coffins and mummies of Rameses III. (of the\ntwentieth dynasty), the last of the great warrior kings of Egypt,\nPinotem I., and Pinotem II., priest-kings of the twenty-first dynasty,\nand several queens, princes, and notabilities of the same periods. An\naffecting story, which brings home to us very vividly the universal\nkinship of humanity, is revealed by the contents of the coffin of\nMakara, wife of King Pinotem, of the priest-king dynasty. A little\ncoiled-up bundle lay at the feet of the Queen, her infant daughter,\nin giving birth to whom she gave likewise her life. Thus, and so\ntouchingly, are we led to participate in the affliction of the sick\nchamber of three thousand years ago. Already had the still-born babe of\na queen received a name, Mautemhat, the firstling of the goddess Maut,\nwife of Amen; and not a name alone, for she is born to a title strange\nto our ears, namely, \u201cprincipal royal spouse.\u201d\n\n [_Sources and Authorities_:--The _Times_ newspaper, 4th\n August 1881. The _Times_ newspaper, 25th June 1886. \u201cEgyptian\n Mummies,\u201d lecture by Sir Erasmus Wilson; Kegan Paul, Trench &\n Co., 1883.]\n\n\n 4. _Egyptians in Palestine before the Exodus._\n\nWhen the tribes of Israel were preparing to pass over Jordan, they were\ntold that they were going to possess nations greater and mightier than\nthemselves, a people great and tall, whose cities were fenced up to\nheaven (Deut. ix. 1; i. 28). Of these early inhabitants of Palestine,\nthe spies had reported that Amalek dwelt in the land of the South; the\nHittite, the Jebusite, and the Amorite dwelt in the mountains, and\nthe Canaanite dwelt by the sea and along by the side of Jordan (Num.\nxiii. 29). We have indeed an enumeration of seven nations dwelling in\nPalestine at this time, and a testimony to their might:--\u201cThe Hittite,\nthe Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the\nHivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than\nthou.\u201d (Deut. vii. 1). In these passages it is plainly implied that the\npeoples who occupied Palestine before the Israelitish invasion were in\nan advanced state of civilisation. Until lately we have known little\nor nothing about them, beyond the information which these Scripture\npassages afforded; but now at last the veil is beginning to lift.\n\n\n _The Hittites._\n\nAs there were seven \u201cnations\u201d in Canaan, and the land itself is no\nlarger than Wales, it was long supposed that each of the \u201cnations\u201d\nwas but a small tribe, and was too insignificant to make any figure\nin history. But we have lately learned that if this was the rule,\nthe Hittites were an exception to it. They were a great people, or\nperhaps a great confederacy or empire, spread over a vast region in\nnorthern Syria and some of the adjacent countries. Their dominion\nextended more or less over Asia Minor, and the influence of their art\nand culture reached even into Greece. Their capital was Carchemish,\non the Euphrates, the site of which city was discovered a few years\nago by Mr Skene, English Consul at Aleppo, and again, two years later,\nby Mr George Smith, as he was returning from Assyria. The place is\nnow called Jerablus. Another centre of Hittite power was Kadesh, on\nthe Orontes, a city which appears to be referred to in the Bible, for\nit has been maintained that where Joab and the captains \u201ccame to the\nland of Tahtim-hodshi\u201d (2 Sam. xxiv. 6), it should be rendered \u201cthe\nland of Kadesh of the Hittites,\u201d this being the northern border of\nDavid\u2019s kingdom at that time. A list of places in Palestine conquered\nby Thothmes III., and engraved on the walls of his temple at Karnac,\nincludes the name of Kadesh. It is situated where the Orontes flows\ninto the lake of Homs (still called the lake of Kadesh) and had been\na sacred city of the Amorites before it was conquered by the Hittites\nabout 1400 B.C. [Rev. H. G. Tomkins, in \u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d\nNew Series, vol. v.] The Hittites were thus seated in a region north of\nPalestine proper; but they appear to have had colonies in the country,\nand it is these isolated settlements which are classed with the small\nnations of Canaan by the Bible writer. When Abraham, at Hebron,\nrequired a parcel of earth in which to bury his wife Sarah, he bought\nit of Ephron the Hittite; whence it is clear that there were Hittites\nowning land in the south. From the mention of Hebron in association\nwith Zoan in Numbers xiii. 22, it is even suspected that the Shepherd\nKings who reigned in Zoan were a dynasty of Hittites. At any rate the\nHittites were a powerful people, able to hold their own both against\nthe Egyptians and against the Assyrians, and did so in the region of\nCarchemish for a thousand years.\n\nThothmes III., \u201cthe Egyptian Alexander,\u201d who accomplished thirteen\ncampaigns in twenty years, and made Egypt the centre of history,\ninvaded Palestine and gained a victory at Megiddo over the king of\nKadesh and his allies. \u201cThey fled, head over heels, to Megiddo, with\nterror in their countenances, and left behind their horses and their\ngold and silver chariots, and were drawn up, with ropes to their\nclothes, into this town, since the people had closed the gates of the\nsaid town on account of the deeds of the king.\u201d \u201cThe miserable king\nof Kadesh\u201d and the miserable king of Megiddo would not have escaped\nin this way, only that the Egyptian warriors relaxed the pursuit and\nengaged in plunder. The Pharaoh was beside himself. However, the\nwarriors captured the tent of the miserable king, in which his son was\nfound. Then they raised a shout of joy and gave honour to Amon, the\nlord of Thebes, who had given to his son Thothmes the victory. After\nthis the neighbouring kings came together to worship before Pharaoh,\n\u201cand to implore breath for their nostrils.\u201d And then came the children\nof the kings and presented gifts of silver, gold, blue-stone, and\ngreen-stone; they brought also wheat, and wine in skins, and fruits\nfor the warriors of the king, since each of the Kitti [Hittites] had\ntaken care to have such provisions for his return home. Then the king\npardoned the foreign princes.\n\nA catalogue of the booty includes 3401 living prisoners, 83 hands, 2041\nmares, 191 foals, 6 bulls, one chariot, covered with plates of gold, of\nthe king of ..., 892 chariots of his miserable warriors, one beautiful\niron armour of the hostile king, one beautiful iron armour of the king\nof Megiddo, 200 accoutrements of his miserable warriors, 602 bows, 7\ntent-poles covered with plates of gold from the tent of the hostile\nking. Pharaoh\u2019s warriors had also taken as booty ... bulls, ... cows,\n2000 kids, and 20,500 white goats.\n\nA catalogue is also given of persons and things which Pharaoh\nafterwards carried off as his property, including 39 noble persons, 87\nchildren of the hostile king and the kings allied with him, 5 marina\n(lords), 1596 men and maid-servants, 105 persons who gave themselves up\nbecause of famine. Besides these prisoners there were taken precious\nstones, golden dishes, and many utensils of this sort, a large jug with\na double handle, 97 swords, 1784 lbs. of gold rings which were found\nin the hands of the artists, 969 lbs. of silver rings, one statue with\nhead of gold, 6 chairs and footstools of ivory and cedar wood, 6 large\ntables of cedar wood inlaid with gold and precious stones, one staff\nof the king worked as a kind of sceptre entirely of gold, one plough\ninlaid with gold, many garments of the enemy, &c., &c.\n\nThese catalogues enable us to form some estimate of the degree of\nperfection in art and refinement which had been arrived at in Northern\nPalestine and Syria before the Israelitish invasion. Lists are also\ngiven of the towns conquered and the peoples made to submit. Remarking\nupon these, Brugsch justly says that what gives the highest importance\nto the catalogue is the undisputed fact that more than three hundred\nyears before the entrance of the Jews into the land of Canaan, a great\nleague of peoples of the same race existed in Palestine under little\nkings, who dwelt in the same towns and fortresses as we find stated on\nthe monuments, and who for the greater part fell by conquest into the\nhands of the Jewish immigrants. Among these the King of Kadesh, on the\nOrontes, in the land of the Amorites--as the inscriptions expressly\nstate--played the first part, since there obeyed him, as their chief\nleader, all the kings and their peoples from the water of Egypt (which\nis the same as the Biblical brook which flowed as the boundary of\nEgypt) to the rivers of Naharain, afterwards called Mesopotamia.\n\nAfter the death of Thothmes III. the Hittites recovered their\nindependence, and their importance grew from year to year, in such a\nway that even the Egyptian inscriptions mention the names of their\nkings in a conspicuous manner, and speak of their gods with reverence.\nSeti I. came to the throne of Egypt about two centuries after the\ndeath of Thothmes, and with him the martial spirit of Egypt revived.\nSeti drove back the Syrians who had invaded his frontier, and pursued\nthem as far as Ph\u0153nicia, where he overthrew with great slaughter \u201cthe\nkings of the land of Ph\u0153nicia.\u201d He probably suspected the Hittites\nof abetting his enemies, for, from the overthrow of the Ph\u0153nicians,\nhe advanced against Kadesh, professedly as \u201cthe avenger of broken\ntreaties.\u201d The battle scene is represented on the north side of the\ngreat temple of Karnak, where Pharaoh is shown as having thrown to the\nground the Hittites, and slain their princes.\n\nRameses II. was first associated with his father on the throne, and\nafterwards succeeded him. The great battle of his reign was fought\nagainst the Hittites at Kadesh, and was an event of first-class\nimportance. The King of the Hittites had brought together his forces\nfrom the remotest parts of his empire, and was aided by allies and\nsatraps from Mesopotamia to Mysia, and from Arvad in the sea. The\nEgyptian advance followed the coast line, through Joppa, Tyre,\nSidon, and Beyrout. On the cliff by the Dog River, Rameses cut his\nbas-reliefs, and then appears to have advanced up the valley of the\nEleutherus. Bringing his army before Kadesh, a great battle was fought,\nin which the Egyptians claim to be the victors; but at one point of the\nstruggle the Pharaoh was surrounded and in the greatest danger, and at\nthe close of the fighting a treaty was signed as between equals.\n\nOn the great temple at Ibsamboul there is a picture of the battle\nof Kadesh, nineteen yards long by more than eight yards deep. In\nthis great battle scene there are eleven hundred figures, and among\nthese there is no difficulty in recognizing the slim Egyptians and\ntheir Sardonian allies, with horned and crested helmets, and long\nswords, shields, and spears. \u201cThe hosts also of the Hittites and of\ntheir allies are represented\u201d (says Brugsch) \u201cwith a lively pictorial\nexpression, for the artist has been guided by the intention of bringing\nbefore the eyes of the beholder the orderly masses of the Hittite\nwarriors, and the less regular and warlike troops of the allied\npeoples, according to their costume and arms. The Canaanites are\ndistinguished in the most striking manner from the allies, of races\nunknown to us, who are attired with turban-like coverings for the\nhead, or with high caps, such as are worn at the present day by the\nPersians.\u201d Conder also remarks that the one race is bearded, the other\nbeardless, and that this battle picture gives us most lively portraits\nof the Hittite warriors in their chariots, and of their walled and\ntower-crowned city, with its name written over it, and its bridges over\nthe Orontes. The Hittites have long pigtails, and their Chinese-like\nappearance is very remarkable.\n\n [Illustration: HITTITES (ABOU-SIMBEL). (_By permission of\n Messrs C. Philip & Son._)]\n\nPentaur of Thebes, the poet-laureate of Egypt, had accompanied Rameses\nin this expedition, and he celebrated the achievements of the day in a\npoem which has come down to us in several editions. It is found on a\npapyrus roll, and again in conjunction with splendid battle scenes, on\nthe walls of temples at Abydos, Luxor, Karnak, and Ibsamboul.\n\nThis prize poem of Pentaur\u2019s was written three thousand two hundred\nyears ago, and is the oldest heroic poem in the world. \u201cIt may be\nrelied upon,\u201d says Dr Wright, \u201cas the earliest specimen of special war\ncorrespondence.\u201d Besides this narration there is a simple prose account\nof the same battle, and this is followed by a copy of the treaty of\npeace which established an offensive and defensive alliance between the\nempire of the Hittites and Egypt.\n\nI here insert a few incidents from the prize poem of Pentaur, written\ntwo years after the battle of Kadesh. Reading between the lines of\nthe boastful hieroglyphs, it is clear that the Hittites must have\nmaintained their ground in the battle, for their king, who, at the\nbeginning of the fight, is \u201cthe _vile_ king of the Hittites,\u201d and \u201cthe\n_miserable_ king of the Hittites,\u201d towards the close of the battle\nbecomes \u201cthe _great_ king of the Hittites.\u201d\n\nAccording to Pentaur, the Hittites and their allies covered mountains\nand valleys like grasshoppers, and no such multitude had ever been\nseen before.... Pharaoh was young and bold, he seized his arms, he\narmed his people and his chariots, and marched towards the land of the\nHittites.... Arab spies were caught, who told Pharaoh that the Hittite\narmy was in the neighbourhood of Aleppo; but \u201cthe miserable king of the\nHittites\u201d was all the time lying in ambush with his allies north-west\nof Kadesh. They rose up and surprised the Egyptians. Pharaoh\u2019s retreat\nwas cut off. In this crisis he prayed to his god and father, Amon, and\nwas assisted to perform prodigies of valour. He hurled darts with his\nright hand and fought with his left; the two thousand three hundred\nhorses were dashed to pieces, and the hearts of the Hittites sank\nwithin them. The King of the Hittites sent eight of his brother kings\nwith armed chariots against Pharaoh; but six times he charged the\nunclean wretches, who did not acknowledge his god; he killed them, none\nescaped. Pharaoh upbraided his worthless warriors, who had left him to\nfight the battle single-handed, and promised that on his return to\nEgypt he would see the fodder given to his pair of horses which did not\nleave him in the lurch.\n\nThe battle was renewed the following morning and went sore against the\nHittites. Then the hostile king sent a messenger to ask for peace,\nand to say that the Egyptians and the Hittites ought to be brothers.\nPharaoh assembled his warriors to hear the message of \u201cthe great king\nof the Hittites,\u201d and by their advice he made peace, and returned to\nEgypt in serene humour.\n\nOn the outer wall of the temple of Karnak we find inscribed the treaty\nof peace which was made on this or a later occasion, and the terms of\nthe offensive and defensive alliance entered into. It is related that\nKheta-sira, King of the Hittites, sent two heralds, bearing a plate of\nsilver, upon which the treaty was engraved. The treaty is between the\nGrand-Duke of Kheta, Kheta-sira, the puissant, and Rameses, the great\nruler of Egypt, the puissant. The arrangement is sanctioned by the Sun\nand by Sutekh, the chief gods respectively of Egypt and Kheta. There\nis to be peace and good brotherhood for ever--he shall fraternize with\nme and I will fraternize with him. The Grand-Duke of Kheta shall not\ninvade the land of Egypt for ever, to carry away anything from it, nor\nshall Ramessu-Meriamen, the great ruler of Egypt, invade the land of\nKheta for ever, to carry away anything from it. If Egypt is invaded by\nsome other enemy, and Pharaoh sends to Kheta for help, the Grand-Duke\nis to go, or at least to send his infantry and cavalry; and he is, of\ncourse, to look for reciprocal aid. If emigrants or fugitives pass\nfrom one country to the other they are not to find service and favour,\nbut to be given up; nevertheless, when taken back, they are not to be\npunished as criminals. In support of the provisions of the treaty the\nparties thereunto invoke \u201cthe thousand gods of the land of Kheta, in\nconcert with the thousand gods of the land of Egypt.\u201d Whosoever shall\nnot observe the provisions of the treaty, the gods shall be against\nhis house and family and servants; but to whomsoever shall observe them\nthe gods shall give health and life--to his family, himself, and his\nservants.\n\n\u201cIn such a form,\u201d says Brugsch, \u201cwere peace and friendship made at\nRamses, the city in Lower Egypt, between the two most powerful nations\nof the world at that time--Kheta in the east, and Kemi (Egypt) in the\nwest.\u201d\n\nFollowing upon the conclusion of this treaty we have a happy dynastic\nalliance. Kheta-sira, the great king of the Hittites, appeared in\nEgypt in Hittite costume, accompanied by his beautiful daughter, and\nPharaoh made this princess his queen. A memorial tablet at Ibsamboul\nspeaks of this as a great, inconceivable wonder--\u201cshe herself knew not\nthe impression which her beauty made on thy heart\u201d--and we may fairly\ninfer that her influence contributed to the international friendship\nwhich lasted as long as Rameses lived. We do not know the native name\nof the Hittite princess, but the name given her on her marriage was\nUr-Maa-Noferu Ra.\n\nSince it has become evident that the Hittites were a great people,\nand not a petty local tribe like the Hivites or the Perizzites,\nscholars have naturally turned again to the Bible references to see\nwhat they really imply. On careful examination the Bible passages are\nseen to be all consistent with the idea that the Hebrew writers were\nwell acquainted with the power and greatness of the Hittites. Their\ngreatness is nowhere denied; on the contrary there are some passages\nwhich seem plainly to imply it. When Solomon imported horses and\nchariots from Egypt, he sold them to the kings of Syria and to \u201call the\nkings of the Hittites\u201d (2 Chron. i. 16). Again, when Ben-hadad, king of\nSyria, was besieging Samaria, and the Syrians were smitten with panic,\nbelieving that they heard \u201ca noise of chariots, and a noise of horses,\neven the noise of a great host,\u201d what nations did they suppose were\nalone able to send great hosts into the field with horses and chariots?\nThey said one to another, \u201cLo, the King of Israel has hired against\nus the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians\u201d (2 Kings\nvii. 6). Further--to take an instance nearer to the age of Rameses\nII.--when the future wide inheritance of Israel is promised to Moses\nand to Joshua, the description runs thus:--\u201cFrom the wilderness and\nthis Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the\nland of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of\nthe sun\u201d--words which had been regarded as a pictorial exaggeration,\nbut which may now be looked upon as literally accurate (Deut. xi. 24;\nJosh. i. 4).\n\nExploration and research are now making us acquainted with Hittite\nworks of art and with inscriptions in the Hittite character and\nlanguage; while, as already stated, we have Egyptian portraits of their\nsoldiers on the Temple wall at Ibsamboul.\n\nBurckhardt the traveller was perhaps the first to discover and describe\na Hittite inscription. He gives an account of a stone which he saw\nin a wall in the city of Hamath, which was covered with hieroglyphs\ndiffering from those of Egypt. The discovery was without result at\nthe time; but when the stone had been seen again, with four others,\nin 1870, by the American visitor, Mr J. A. Johnson, interest began to\nbe aroused. Similar stones have been found at Carchemish, at Aleppo,\nand in various parts of Asia Minor. Some have been removed to the\nMuseum at Constantinople, some are in the British Museum, and some\ninscriptions remain on rock faces irremovable. A very good collection\nof illustrative plates will be found appended to Dr Wm. Wright\u2019s\n\u201cEmpire of the Hittites.\u201d The Hittite hieroglyphs cannot yet be\ndeciphered, although Dr A. H. Sayce and Major Conder may be said to\nhave made a promising beginning. The inquiry has been aided a little by\na short inscription in Hittite and Cuneiform characters, engraved on\na convex silver plate, which looked like the knob of a staff or dagger,\nand is known as the boss of Tarkond\u00eamos. We shall probably have to wait\nfor the discovery of some longer bi-lingual inscription before much\nprogress can be made. Meanwhile Major Conder finds much reason to think\nthat the affinities of the Hittites and their language were Mongolian.\nThe inscriptions of course are quite a mystery to the Asiatic folk in\nwhose districts they are found, and they attribute magical virtues to\nsome of them. The particular stone figured above was very efficacious\nin cases of lumbago: a man had only to lean his back against it and he\nwas effectually cured.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n HAMATH INSCRIPTION (HITTITE). (_Specially drawn by W. Harry Rylands,\n F.S.A._)]\n\nWe know something of the religion of the Hittites from their invocation\nof the gods in their treaty with Rameses II. They adored the sun and\nmoon, the mountains, rivers, clouds, and the sea. But their chief\ndeity was Sutekh, \u201cking of heaven, protector of this treaty,\u201d supposed\nby Brugsch to be a form of Baal, but who is more likely to have been\nallied to Set or to Dagon. We cannot suppose that their worship was\npurer than that of the nations round about them; but it may not have\nbeen less pure, nor their life less moral. The appeal to the King of\nHeaven to protect a treaty is admirable so far as it goes. To what\nheight they could sometimes rise in their conceptions of duty is\npleasantly shown if, as seems possible, that beautiful passage in Micah\nvi. 8 is to be attributed to them--\u201cWhat doth the Lord require of thee\nbut to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.\u201d The\nprophet quotes the sentiment from Balaam, and gives it as Balaam\u2019s\nanswer to the question of Balak, king of Moab, who had sent for him\nto curse Israel. A conversation took place which may be set forth as\nfollows:--\n\n_King_--Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before\nthe high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves\nof a year old?\n\n_Prophet_--Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten\nthousands of rivers of oil?\n\n_King_--Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of\nmy body for the sin of my soul?\n\n_Prophet_--He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the\nLord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk\nhumbly with thy God?[2]\n\nIn the Book of Numbers we find that Balaam had been sent for from\nanother country, and came from the city of Pethor. Now, in the temple\nof Karnak, Thothmes III. gives a list of two hundred and eighteen towns\nin Syria and Aram, which he claims to have conquered, and among them\nwe find Pethor. It was a city on the Upper Euphrates, not far from\nCarchemish, and so was well within the circle of the Hittite dominion.\nBalaam, then, may be regarded as a Hittite, or as belonging to the\nHittite confederacy,[3] and since the text quoted shows his idea of the\nDivine requirements, it indicates the standard of duty which had been\narrived at by some among that people.\n\nThe rock inscriptions prove that the Hittites possessed a written\nlanguage, and this is further shown by their engraved treaty sent to\nRameses II. They appear even to have possessed a literature, for the\nEgyptian records mention a certain Khilp-sira as a writer of books\namong the Hittites. One of their cities in the south of Palestine was\ncalled Kirjath-Sepher, or Book-Town, so that the place must have been\nnoted for writings of some kind.\n\nThe fact that the copy of the treaty sent to Rameses was engraved\nupon a silver plate, with a figure of the god Sutekh in the middle,\nshows that the Hittites were an artistic people also. In fact their\ncivilisation was far advanced. \u201cThey had walled towns, chased metal\nwork, chariots and horses, skilled artificers. They could carve in\nstone, and could write in hieroglyphic character. All this wonderful\ncultivation they possessed while Israel as yet was hardly a nation.\nThus the Bible account of the Canaan overrun by Joshua is fully\nconfirmed by monumental evidence.\u201d[4]\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cA History of Egypt under the\n Pharaohs.\u201d By Henry Brugsch-Bey. \u201cThe Empire of the Hittites.\u201d\n By William Wright, D.D. \u201cThe Hittites: the Story of a\n forgotten Empire.\u201d By A. H. Sayce, LL.D. \u201cTransactions of the\n Society of Biblical Arch\u00e6ology.\u201d]\n\n\n 5. _Semites in Egypt before the Oppression._\n\nIf, as seems probable, the Pharaoh of Joseph was Apepi, the last of the\nShepherd Kings, and the Pharaoh of the Oppression was Rameses II., the\nthird king of the nineteenth dynasty, we have a period of nearly three\ncenturies between Joseph and the \u201cnew king who knew not Joseph.\u201d The\nperiod appears to be much too long to make the expression \u201cnew king\u201d\nseem natural, while at the same time a shorter period would hardly\nleave room for the descendants of Jacob to multiply and become a danger\nto Egypt. This perplexity is removed by the recent discovery of ancient\nwritings under the extensive ruins existing at Tell-el-Amarna in Upper\nEgypt--a site about midway between Minieh and Siout, and on the eastern\nbank of the Nile. From these documents it appears that Semites were\nin great favour with Amenhotep IV. (Amen\u00f4phis), the last king of the\neighteenth dynasty, whereas the new dynasty that succeeded abominated\nthis foreign influence.\n\nIn the latter part of the eighteenth dynasty friendly relations\nprevailed between Egypt and Mitanni or Nahrina (Aram Naharaim, Judges\niii. 8), a Mesopotamian district which lay opposite to the Hittite\ncity of Carchemish. Amen\u00f4phis III. married a wife from the royal house\nof Mitanni; and the offspring of this marriage--Amen\u00f4phis IV.--in his\nturn married Tadukhepa, daughter of Duisratta, the Mitannian king.\nHe was thus doubly drawn to look favourably upon the Mitannian form\nof faith, which, like that of the Semites, included the adoration of\nthe winged solar disk. Meantime the Egyptian conquest of Palestine,\nwhose petty kings and governors now ruled as satraps for the Egyptian\nmonarch, had paved the way for strangers from Canaan and Syria to rise\ninto favour at Pharaoh\u2019s court. Amen\u00f4phis IV. surrounded himself with\nSemitic officers and courtiers, thus offending the nobles of Egypt;\nand by forsaking the ancient religion of his country, brought about a\nrupture with the powerful priesthood of Thebes. Forced to go forth,\nthe \u201cheretic king\u201d built a new capital on the edge of the desert to\nthe north. Here he assumed the name of Khu-en-Aten, \u201cthe glory of the\nsolar disk,\u201d while his architects and sculptors consecrated a new\nand peculiar style of art to the new religion, and even the potters\ndecorated the vases they modelled with new colours and patterns.\n\n\u201cThe archives of the empire were transferred from Thebes to the new\nresidence of the king, and there stored in the royal palace, which\nstood among its gardens at the northern extremity of the city. But\nthe existence and prosperity of Khu-en-Aten\u2019s capital were of short\nduration. When the king died he left only daughters behind him, whose\nhusbands assumed in succession the royal power. Their reigns lasted\nbut a short time, and it is even possible that more than one of them\nhad to share his power with another prince. At any rate it was not\nlong before rulers and people alike returned to the old paths. The\nfaith which Khu-en-Aten had endeavoured to introduce was left without\nworshippers, the Asiatic strangers whom he and his father had promoted\nto high offices of State were driven from power, and the new capital\nwas deserted never to be inhabited again. The great temple of the\nsolar disk fell into decay, like the royal palace, and the archives of\nKhu-en-Aten were buried under the ruins of the chamber wherein they had\nbeen kept.\u201d\n\nIt is these archives which have now come to light, and which furnish\nsuch extraordinary information concerning the state of Egypt and\nPalestine in the century before the Oppression. In the winter of 1887\nthe fellahin of Egypt, searching for nitrous earth with which to\nmanure their fields, discovered some three hundred ancient tablets\ninscribed with Babylonian cuneiform writing. The tablets are copies of\nletters and despatches from the kings and governors of Babylonia and\nAssyria, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Eastern Cappadocia, of Ph\u0153nicia\nand Palestine, exchanging information with the Pharaoh of Egypt, or\nmaking reports as to the state of the country they governed. Among\nthe correspondents of the Egyptian sovereigns were Assurynballidh\nof Assyria and Burnaburyas of Babylonia, which thus fix the date of\nKhu-en-Aten to about 1430 B.C. This shows incidentally that\nthe Egyptologists have been quite right in not assigning the Exodus\nto an earlier period than 1320 B.C., that is to say, the reign of\nMenephtah, the son and successor of Rameses II.\n\nAt the date of the despatches Palestine and Ph\u0153nicia were garrisoned\nby Egyptian troops, and their affairs were more or less directed by\nEgyptian governors. But in some cases the native prince was allowed\nto retain his title and a portion of his power. Thus Jerusalem (which\nwas then called Uru-\u2019Salim--the seat or oracle of the god Salim, it\nis supposed, whose temple stood on the mountain of Moriah)--was ruled\nover by Ebed-tob. He appears to have been a priest rather than a king,\nsince he tells us that he was appointed by an oracle of the god; and\nin that case the state over which he presided would be a Theocracy. Dr\nSayce considers that an unexpected light is thus thrown on the person\nand position of Melchizedek. He was priest of El-Elyon, the \u201cMost\nHigh God,\u201d and king only in virtue of his priestly office. His father\ntherefore is not named. [\u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d New Series, vol. v.]\nThere were as yet no signs of the Israelites coming into the land. But\nthe Canaanite population was already threatened by an enemy from the\nnorth. These were the Hittites, to whom references are made in several\nof the despatches from Syria and Ph\u0153nicia. After the weakening of the\nEgyptian power, in consequence of the religious troubles which followed\nthe death of Khu-en-Aten, the Hittites were enabled to complete their\nconquests in the south, and to drive a wedge between the Semites of\nthe East and the West. With the revival of the Egyptian empire under\nthe rulers of the nineteenth dynasty the southward course of Hittite\nconquest was checked; but the wars of Rameses II. against the Hittites\nof Kadesh on Orontes desolated and exhausted Canaan and prepared the\nway for the Israelitish invasion. Ph\u0153nicia seems to have been the\nfurthest point to the north to which the direct government of Egypt\nextended. At any rate the letters which came to the Egyptian monarch\nfrom Syria and Mesopotamia were sent to him by princes who called\nthemselves his \u201cbrothers,\u201d and not by officials who were the \u201cservants\u201d\nof the king.\n\nIt is wonderful to find that in the fifteenth century before our era,\nactive literary intercourse was carried on throughout the civilised\nworld of Western Asia, between Babylonia and Egypt and the smaller\nstates of Palestine, of Syria, of Mesopotamia, and even of Eastern\nCappadocia. And this intercourse was carried on by means of the\nBabylonian language and the complicated Babylonian script. It implies\nthat all over the civilised East there were libraries and schools,\nwhere the Babylonian language and literature were taught and learned.\nBabylonian in fact was as much the language of diplomacy and cultivated\nsociety as French has been in modern times, with the difference that\nwhereas it does not take long to read French, the cuneiform syllabary\nrequired years of hard labour and attention before it could be\nacquired. There must surely have been a Babylonian conquest. In fact,\nMr Theo. G. Pinches now finds, from a text of about B.C. 2115\nto 2090, that Animisutana, king of Babylon at that time, was also king\nof Ph\u0153nicia among other places. [\u201cRecords of the Past\u201d New Series, vol.\nv.]\n\nOne of the facts which result most clearly from a study of the tablets\nis that, not only was a Semitic language the medium of literary\nintercourse between the Pharaoh of Egypt and his officers abroad, but\nthat Semites held high and responsible posts in the Egyptian Court\nitself. Thus we find Dudu, or David, addressed by his son as \u201cmy\nlord,\u201d and ranking apparently next to the monarch; and there are in\nthe Egyptian National Collection not only letters written by officials\nwith Egyptian names, like Khapi or Hapi (Apis), but with such Semitic\nnames as Rib-Addu, Samu-Addu, Bu-Dadu (the Biblical Bedad) and Milkili\n(the Biblical Malchiel). A flood of light is thus poured upon a period\nof Egyptian history which is of high interest for the student of the\nOld Testament. In spite of the reticence of the Egyptian monuments, we\ncan now see what was the meaning of the attempt of Amenophis IV. to\nsupersede the ancestral religion of Egypt. The king was in all respects\nan Asiatic. His mother, who seems to have been a woman of strong\ncharacter,--able to govern not only her son, but even her less pliable\nhusband,--came from the region of the Euphrates, and brought with her\nAsiatic followers, Asiatic ideas, and an Asiatic form of faith. The\ncourt became Semitised. The favourites and officials of the Pharaoh,\nhis officers in the field, his correspondents abroad, bore names which\nshowed them to be of Canaanite and even of Israelitish origin. If\nJoseph and his brethren had found favour among the Hyksos princes of an\nearlier day, their descendants were likely to find equal favour at the\ncourt of \u201cthe heretic king.\u201d\n\nWe need not wonder, therefore, if Amenophis IV. found himself compelled\nto quit Thebes. The old aristocracy might have condoned his religious\nheresy, but they could not condone his supplanting them with foreign\nfavourites. The rise of the nineteenth dynasty marks the successful\nreaction of the native Egyptian against the predominance of the Semite\nin the closing days of the eighteenth dynasty. It was not the founder\nof the eighteenth dynasty (Aahmes, who drove out the Hyksos) but the\nfounder of the nineteenth dynasty that was \u201cthe new king who knew not\nJoseph.\u201d Ever since the progress of Egyptology had made it clear that\nRameses II. was the Pharaoh of the Oppression, it was difficult to\nunderstand how so long an interval of time as the whole period of the\neighteenth dynasty could lie between him and that \u201cnew king,\u201d whose\nrise seems to have been followed almost immediately by the servitude\nand oppression of the Hebrews. If Aahmes began the Oppression, how was\nit that a whole dynasty passed away before the Israelites cried out?\nThe tablets of Tell-el-Amarna now show that the difficulty does not\nexist. Up to the death of Khu-en-Aten the Semite had greater influence\nthan the native in the land of Mizraim.\n\nHow highly educated this old world was we are but just beginning to\nlearn. But we have already learned enough to discover how important\na bearing it has on the criticism of the Old Testament. It has long\nbeen tacitly assumed by the critical school that the art of writing\nwas practically unknown in Palestine before the age of David. Little\nhistorical credence, it has been urged, can be placed in the earlier\nrecords of the Hebrew people, because they could not have been\ncommitted to writing until a period when the history of the past had\nbecome traditional and mythical. But this assumption can no longer be\nmaintained. Long before the Exodus Canaan had its libraries and its\nscribes, its schools and literary men. The annals of the country, it\nis true, were not inscribed in the letters of the Ph\u0153nician alphabet\non perishable papyrus; the writing material was imperishable clay, the\ncharacters were those of the cuneiform syllabary. Though Kirjath-Sepher\n(_i.e._, Book-Town) was destroyed by the Israelites, other cities\nmentioned in the Tell-el-Amarna tablets, like Gaza, or Gath, or Tyre,\nremained independent, and we cannot imagine that the old traditions of\nculture and writing were forgotten in any of them. In what is asserted\nby the critical school to be the oldest relic of Hebrew literature,\nthe Song of Deborah, reference is made to the scribes of Zebulon \u201cthat\nhandle the pen of the writer\u201d (Judges v. 14); and we have now no longer\nany reason to interpret the words in a non-natural sense, and transform\nthe scribe into a military commander (an officer who arranges men in a\nrow instead of arranging letters and words). Only it is probable that\nthe scribes still made use of the cuneiform syllabary, and not yet of\nthe Ph\u0153nician alphabet. At all events the Tell-el-Amarna tablets have\noverthrown the primary foundation on which much of this criticism was\nbuilt, and have proved that the populations of Palestine, among whom\nthe Israelites settled, and whose culture they inherited, were as\nliterary as the inhabitants of Egypt or Babylonia.\n\nBut apart from such side-lights as these upon ancient history, the\ndiscovery of the Tell-el-Amarna tablets has a lesson for us of\nmomentous interest. The collection cannot be the only one of its\nkind. Elsewhere, in Palestine and Syria as well as in Egypt, similar\ncollections must still be lying under the soil. Burnt clay is not\ninjured by rain and moisture, and even the climate of Palestine will\nhave preserved uninjured its libraries of clay. Such libraries must\nstill be awaiting the spade of the excavator on the sites of places\nlike Gaza, or others whose remains are buried under the lofty mounds\nof Southern Judea. Kirjath-Sepher must have been the seat of a famous\nlibrary, consisting mainly, if not altogether, of clay tablets\ninscribed with cuneiform characters. As the city also bore the name of\nDebir, or \u201cSanctuary,\u201d we may conclude that the tablets were stored in\nits chief temple, like the libraries of Assyria and Babylonia. When\nsuch relics of the past have been disinterred--as they will be if they\nare properly searched for--we shall know how the people of Canaan\nlived in the days of the Patriarchs, and how their Hebrew conquerors\nestablished themselves among them in the days when, as yet, there was\nno king in Israel.\n\n [The information contained in this section is derived almost\n exclusively from the writings of Dr A. H. Sayce, who has\n taken a chief part in England in the decipherment of the\n Tell-el-Amarna inscriptions. See \u201cProc. Soc. Bib. Arch.\u201d\n \u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d New Series, vols, ii., iii., iv., and\n v.; \u201cVictoria Institute Annual Address, 1889.\u201d See additional\n facts in the _Contemporary Review_, Dec. 1890, and opinions in\n Naville\u2019s _Bubastis_. For later excavations at Tell-el-Amarna,\n by Mr Flinders Petrie, see the _Academy_, 9th April 1892. For\n a suggestion by Conder that the tablets are in the Ph\u0153nician\n or Amorite language and writing of that time, see _Quarterly\n Statement_, July 1891.]\n\n\n 6. _Israel in Egypt._\n\nWe have seen how well the general political circumstances in Egypt\nand Palestine, in the centuries before the Exodus, supplement the\nBible narrative, explaining on the one hand why the Israelites were\noppressed, and showing on the other how Canaan was prepared for their\neasy conquest. But while the fact that Rameses II. was the Pharaoh for\nwhom Israel built \u201ctreasure cities\u201d is demonstrated beyond reasonable\ncontradiction, it is remarkable that the inscriptions do not say\nanything about the Israelites. We must suppose, with Brugsch, that the\ncaptives were included in the general name of foreigners, of whom the\ndocuments make very frequent mention. It would be satisfactory, no\ndoubt, to find upon some contemporary Egyptian monument, a record of\nthe arrival of Jacob, or the tasks imposed upon the Israelites, or the\ndestruction of Pharaoh\u2019s host in the Red Sea. But the Egyptians were\nnot accustomed to record their defeats, and as to the labours imposed\nupon the Israelites, they were but a matter of course in the case of\ncaptives.\n\nBut short of direct mention, the Egyptian monuments and records\nafford ample confirmation to the Biblical account of the Sojourn.\nThe Scripture references to Egyptian manners and customs are, in all\nrespects, accurate; and this absolute accuracy could only result from\nactual contact and intimate acquaintance.\n\nThe Bible history of Abraham implies that when he visited Egypt, driven\nthither by famine, that country was already under a settled government,\nhaving a king, and princes who acted as the king\u2019s subordinates. It\nrequires us to believe that the king was called Pharaoh, or by some\nname or title which conveyed that sound to Hebrew ears. And further,\nit assumes that Egypt was so fruitful and so prosperous, as to be a\ngranary for surrounding nations in years of famine. On all these points\nthe Bible is in harmony with what we learn from other sources.\n\nAgain, according to Genesis xii. 12, Abram feared for Sarai his wife,\nlest the Egyptians should take her from him, and should kill him in\norder to make the proceeding safer. The possibility of such a thing\nbeing done by a people so civilised and cultured as the Egyptians has\nsometimes been doubted: but M. Chabas has called attention to a papyrus\nwhich actually states that the wife and children of a foreigner are\nby right the lawful property of the king. In the \u201cTale of the Two\nBrothers\u201d also--an Egyptian romance of the days of Seti II.--we are\ntold that the king of Egypt sent two armies to bring a beautiful woman\nto him, and to murder her husband.\n\nIn this same tale of The Two Brothers the wife of the elder solicits\nthe love of the younger in almost exactly the same way that the wife\nof Potiphar tempts Joseph. The whole story of Joseph agrees minutely\nwith what we learn of Egypt from her own records. The outward details\nof life, the officers of the court, the traffic in slaves, the visits\nfor corn, are all pictured on temple walls and stone slabs. No feature\nin the Bible narrative is out of harmony with what we know of the\ncountry from other sources. \u201cPotiphar\u201d appears to be a good Egyptian\nname, and Egyptologists have pointed out that its probable equivalent\nin hieroglyphs signifies \u201cDevoted to the Sun-god.\u201d Joseph\u2019s new name,\nZaphnath-paaneah, means \u201cStorehouse of the house of Life,\u201d and was\ngiven to him when he entered Pharaoh\u2019s service, just as a new name\nwas given to the Hittite princess when she became Pharaoh\u2019s wife. The\nking\u2019s absolute authority appears abundantly from Herodotus, Diodorus\nand others. He enacted laws, imposed taxes, administered justice,\nexecuted and pardoned offenders at his pleasure. He had a bodyguard,\nwhich is constantly seen on the sculptures, in close attendance on\nhis person. He was assisted in the management of state affairs by the\nadvice of a council, consisting of the most able and distinguished\nmembers of the priestly order. His court was magnificent and comprised\nvarious grand functionaries, whose tombs are among the most splendid\nof the early remains of Egyptian art. When he left his palace for any\npurpose, he invariably rode in a chariot. His subjects, wherever he\nappeared, bowed down or prostrated themselves.[5] The civilisation of\nthe Egyptians, even at a period long before the Israelitish Sojourn,\ncomprised the practice of writing, the distinction into classes or\ncastes, the peculiar dignity of the priests, the practice of embalming\nand of burying in wooden coffins or mummy cases, the manufacture and\nuse of linen garments, the wearing of gold chains, and almost all the\nother points which may be noted in the Bible description.\n\nIn Genesis xl. 20, Pharaoh held a feast on his birthday, and the chief\nbutler being restored to favour, gave the cup into Pharaoh\u2019s hand.\nWe know from the Rosetta Stone that as late as the reign of Ptolemy\nEpiphanes it was customary to make great rejoicing on the king\u2019s\nbirthday, to consider it holy, and to do no work on it. That it should\nbe a day on which pardons were granted as an act of grace, is more\nthan probable. Cups such as the king would have taken his wine from\nare portrayed on the monuments; baskets such as the baker would have\ncarried his bakemeats in are used even unto this day, and may be seen\nin the British Museum. Before Joseph entered the royal presence he\nshaved himself and changed his raiment: and here, again, the monuments\nand profane history offer us illustrations. The Egyptians only allowed\ntheir hair to grow during the times of mourning, and to neglect the\nhair was considered very slovenly and dirty. When a man of low station\nhad to be represented, the artist always drew him with a beard. The\nBritish Museum possesses Egyptian razors of various shapes; and in a\ntomb at Beni-Hassan the act of shaving is actually represented.\n\nWith regard to the seven years of famine, it is true that Egypt was\nless likely to suffer in this way than the countries round about; yet\nstill, when the inundation of the Nile fell below the average, it was\nliable to this scourge. History tells of numerous cases in which the\ninhabitants have suffered terribly from want, and several famines are\neven mentioned on the monuments. Professor Rawlinson refers us to\na case which furnishes a near parallel to the famine of Joseph. In\nA.D. 1064 a famine began in Egypt which lasted seven years,\nand was so severe that dogs and cats, and even human flesh, were eaten;\nnearly all the horses of the Caliph perished, and his family had to fly\ninto Syria.\n\nWhen Jacob goes down into Egypt, he is advised to tell Pharaoh that he\nand his sons are keepers of cattle, so that the land of Goshen may be\nassigned to them, shepherds being an abomination unto the Egyptians.\nThe Egyptian contempt for herdsmen appears plainly on the monuments,\nwhere they are commonly represented as dirty and unshaven, and are\nsometimes even caricatured as a deformed and unseemly race. When Jacob\ndies, his body is embalmed by the physicians, forty days being taken\nup with the processes, and seventy days being spent in mourning. The\nmethods of embalming are described by Herodotus and Diodorus, and it\nis stated that in preparing the body according to the first method the\noperators commenced by extracting the brain and pouring in certain\ndrugs. Then they made an incision in the side of the body with a sharp\nEthiopian stone, and drew out the intestines, filling the cavity with\npowder of pure myrrh, cassia, and other fragrant substances, and sewing\nup the aperture. This being done, they salted the body, \u201ckeeping it in\nnatron during seventy days,\u201d after which they washed it and wrapped\nit up in bands of fine linen smeared on their inner side with gum.\nRemarking upon the number of days, seventy or seventy-two, mentioned\nby the two historians, Sir Gardner Wilkinson says there is reason to\nbelieve it comprehended the whole period of the mourning, and that the\nembalming process only occupied a portion of it.\n\nSubsequently to the burial of his father, Joseph himself died, and\nhis body also was embalmed. At some later period there arose a king\nwho knew not Joseph. This monarch is generally supposed to be Rameses\nII., and if the identification were correct, the indications of his\ncharacter afforded by the Book of Exodus agree exactly with what the\nmonuments reveal concerning that haughty oppressor; but, as already\nstated, the reference is probably to Rameses I. The slavery of the\nIsraelites was of a kind to which all hostile or conquered people were\nreduced by the Egyptians. Thothmes III., during his many campaigns,\nbrought to Egypt unnumbered prisoners of every race, and made them\nlabour like convicts on the public works, under the superintendence of\narchitects and overseers. On the walls of a chamber in a tomb at Thebes\nthere is a very instructive pictorial representation of such forced\nlabour, and the Asiatic countenances of the workers strongly resemble\nthose of the Hebrew race. The date is too early, and we may suppose\nthem to belong to some other nation of the Semitic family; but the\npicture none the less shows the method of working under taskmasters.\nSome carry water in jugs from the tank hard by; others knead and cut\nup the loamy earth; others, again, by the help of a wooden form, make\nthe bricks, or place them carefully in long rows to dry; while the more\nintelligent among them carry out the work of building the walls. The\nhieroglyphic explanations inform as that the labourers are captives\nwhom Thothmes III. has carried away to build the temple of his father\nAmon. They explain that the baking of the bricks is a work for the\nnew building of the provision house of the god Amon of Apet (the east\nside of Thebes), and they finally declare the strict superintendence\nof the steward over the foreigners. The words are--(Here are seen)\nthe prisoners which have been carried away as living prisoners in\nvery great numbers; they work at the building with active fingers;\ntheir overseers show themselves in sight, these insist with vehemence,\nobeying the orders of the great skilled lord [the head architect] who\nprescribes to them the works, and gives directions to the masters;\n(they are rewarded), with wine and all kinds of good dishes; they\nperform their service with a mind full of love for the king; they build\nfor Thothmes III. a holy of holies for (the gods), may it be rewarded\nto him through a range of many years.\n\nThe overseer speaks thus to the labourers at the building: \u201cThe stick\nis in my hand, be not idle.\u201d\n\nSome of the captives thus set to labour by Thothmes belonged to\na people called the Aperiu; and in the days of Rameses II. they\nare mentioned as still in a condition of servitude, quarrying and\ntransporting stone for the great fortress of the city of Paramessu or\nTanis.\n\nDiodorus tells us that Rameses II. put up an inscription in each of his\nbuildings, saying that it had been erected by captives, and that not\na single native Egyptian was employed on the work. Again, this king\nmanufactured bricks for sale, and, by employing the labour of captives,\nwas enabled to under-sell other makers. The use of crude bricks baked\nin the sun was universal throughout the country for private and for\nmany public buildings, and the dry climate of Egypt was peculiarly\nsuited to those simple materials. They had the recommendation of\ncheapness, and those made three thousand years ago, whether with or\nwithout straw, are even now as firm and fit for use as when first put\nup. When made of the Nile mud or alluvial deposit they required straw\nto prevent their cracking; but those formed of clay taken from the\ntorrent beds on the edge of the desert held together without straw; and\ncrude brick walls frequently had the additional security of a layer of\nreeds or sticks placed at intervals to act as binders.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--Brugsch\u2019s \u201cEgypt under the\n Pharaohs.\u201d Wilkinson\u2019s \u201cAncient Egyptians.\u201d Birch\u2019s \u201cEgypt\u201d\n (Series, Ancient History from the Monuments). G. Rawlinson\u2019s\n \u201cHistorical Illustrations of the Old Testament.\u201d E. A. Wallis\n Budge, \u201cDwellers on the Nile.\u201d M. E. Harkness, \u201cEgyptian Life\n and History.\u201d]\n\n\n 7. _Buried Cities of the East--Preliminary._\n\nIf the buried cities of the East had been altogether destroyed and\nlost, and we possessed only a brief record of their disappearance, the\nsubject might not possess much interest for us, and there would be no\nmaterial for writing a book. But we are now witnessing a resurrection\nof some of them, and are recovering a story of the past, such as\nrevived Egyptian mummies might be able to tell. Nay, not only Egyptians\nwho walked about--\n\n \u201cIn Thebes\u2019s streets three thousand years ago,\n When the Memnonium was in all its glory,\u201d\n\nbut Chaldean shepherds who watched the stars and were perhaps the\nfirst to give names to the signs of the Zodiac. The ancient relics and\nrecords which are now being recovered from Egypt, Palestine, Assyria,\nand Babylonia, revive forgotten stories of human struggle, and furnish\nmaterial for new chapters in the history of Art, Science, Laws, and\nLanguage, of Mythology, Morals, and Religion. They also throw frequent\nside lights upon the Bible narrative, and enable us to compare the\nIsraelites more fairly with their contemporaries and predecessors.\n\nThe catastrophes which led to the partial destruction, and the eventual\nburial of the cities of the East must have seemed nothing less than\npure calamities at the time; but one of the results has been the\nprovidential preservation of the remains for the enlightenment of\nthe present generation. When a buried city is unearthed, it serves\nto confute the scepticism which had been growing up, and to rectify\nthe errors which had found their place in books of history. We are\nfamiliar with the fact that the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii\nwere overwhelmed--the former by streams of lava, the latter by\nshowers of ashes, pumice, and stones, from the crater of Vesuvius,\nin A.D. 79. The existence of those cities had come to be\ndoubted, and for ages they were spoken of as \u201cthe fabulous cities;\u201d\nnevertheless, after sixteen centuries, they were brought to light,\nand they present us with a picture of Roman life, such as history by\nitself could never have supplied. The site of Pompeii had always borne\nthe name of _Civita_, or the city; and in 1748, a Spanish colonel\nof engineers, having heard that the remains of a house had been\ndiscovered, with ancient statues and other objects, obtained leave\nto excavate. In a few days his labours met with encouraging reward,\nand eventually about one third of the ancient city was uncovered. We\nmay now walk about in Pompeii, observing how its houses were built,\nand how its streets were paved. We see the ruts worn by the wheels\nof chariots, we note the public fountains, the temples, the theatre,\nwhich would seat 10,000 people. We notice the corn-mills in the bakers\u2019\nshops, the vats in the dyers\u2019 shops, and in private houses we observe\nwith interest the many articles of domestic use. Excepting that the\nupper stories of the houses have been destroyed--either burnt by the\nred-hot stones, or broken down by the weight of matter which fell\nupon them--\u201cwe see a flourishing city in the very state in which it\nexisted nearly eighteen centuries ago--the buildings as they were\noriginally designed, not altered and patched to meet the exigencies of\nnewer fashions; the paintings undimmed by the leaden touch of time;\nhousehold furniture left in the confusion of use; articles, even of\nintrinsic value, abandoned in the hurry of escape, yet safe from the\nrobber, or scattered about as they fell from the trembling hand, which\ncould not pause or stoop for its most valuable possessions: and in some\ninstances, the bones of the inhabitants, bearing sad testimony to the\nsuddenness and completeness of the calamity which overwhelmed them.\u201d[6]\n\nRemains of Roman London are found 16 or 17 feet underground, in the\nneighbourhood of the Bank of England and the Mansion House, although\nLondon has not been buried in volcanic ashes. Rome itself is a buried\ncity, for the capital of modern Italy stands upon the ruins of the\ncity of the C\u00e6sars. In Eastern countries the site of an ancient city\nis sometimes occupied by a squalid village, which is its degenerate\nsuccessor; in other instances the site is quite deserted, and only\na _tell_ or mound remains to call attention to it. Ancient sites\nhave also occasionally become submerged beneath the waters of seas\nor lakes. Thus the Lake of Aboukir in Egypt was drained lately, in\norder to reclaim the area for cultivation, and when the floor was laid\nbare from the water, there appeared everywhere traces of streets, of\nstone-covered ways, and of fields for tillage marked out by lines of\nshells.\n\nProfessor Maspero describes the process by which Egyptian temples\nbecome buried. \u201cJust as in Europe during the Middle Ages the population\ncrowded most densely round about the churches and abbeys, so in Egypt\nthey swarmed around the temples, profiting by that security which the\nterror of his name and the solidity of his ramparts ensured to the\nlocal deity. A clear space was at first reserved round the pylons\nand the walls; but in course of time the houses encroached upon this\nground, and were even built up against the boundary wall. Destroyed and\nrebuilt, century after century, upon the self-same spot, the _d\u00e9bris_\nof these surrounding dwellings so raised the level of the soil that the\ntemples ended for the most part by being gradually buried in a hollow,\nformed by the artificial elevation of the surrounding city. Herodotus\nmentions this of Bubastis, and on examination it is seen to have been\nthe same in many other localities. At last, when the temple had been\nthrown down and was forsaken, the rubbish covered it up, and so the\nruins have been preserved to reward the modern explorer.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: EGYPT & PENINSULA OF SINAI\n\n _London; Kegan Paul, Trench, Tr\u00fcbner & Co._\n\n _F. S. Weller, F.R.G.S._]\n\n\n 8. _Biblical Sites in Egypt._\n\nIt is justly remarked by Rev. Greville J. Chester that there is\nscarcely a better or more striking commentary upon the prophets of\nIsrael than the present condition of the ancient Biblical cities of\nLower Egypt. For information regarding these cities--or what remains\nof them, buried in the soil--we are largely indebted to the Egypt\nExploration Fund, which was founded in 1883, for the purpose of\npromoting historical investigation in Egypt, by means of systematically\nconducted explorations. Particular attention is given to sites which\nmay be expected to throw light upon obscure questions of history and\ntopography, such as those connected with the mysterious Hyksos period\n(the period of the Shepherd Kings), the district of the Hebrew Sojourn,\nthe route of the Exodus, and the early sources of Greek art. Explorers\nhave been sent out every season, and each year has been fruitful in\ndiscoveries. The objects of antiquity discovered are first submitted\nto the Director and Conservators of the National Egyptian Museum; and\nthose which can be spared are divided between the British Museum and\nthe Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A.\n\n_Excavations at San._--San, in the north-eastern part of the Delta, is\nthe Tanis of the Septuagint and the Greek historians, and the Zoan of\nthe Bible. At the time of the Exodus Zoan was the capital of Egypt, and\nthe Pharaoh resided there. The wonders wrought by Moses and Aaron are\nreferred to by the Psalmist as having been manifested in the field of\nZoan (Psalm lxxviii. 43). We are told that Hebron was built only seven\nyears before Zoan (Num. xiii. 22), and therefore, since Hebron was\nflourishing in Abraham\u2019s time, Zoan also must have been a very ancient\ncity.\n\nThe modern village of San is a small collection of mud hovels, situated\non the banks of a canal, which was once the Tanitic branch of the\nNile. Near the village there are huge mounds which contain a ruined\ntemple and other ancient remains. The place has been to a large extent\nexplored by Mr W. M. Flinders Petrie, and the Memoir containing his\ninteresting results is published by the Egypt Exploration Fund.\n\nRameses II., the Pharaoh of the Oppression, seems to have fixed upon\nZoan and made it a new capital, because by its position it commanded\nthe northern route to Syria and placed the king, after the conquest\nof that country, in easy communication with all his dominions. It was\nalso close to the very centre of the Hyksos rule, which was only lately\nended.\n\nThe Hyksos were the so-called Shepherd Kings, who appear to have come\nfrom the Arabian desert, or perhaps beyond, and established themselves\nin Lower Egypt at a period when native rule was weak. \u201cThe monuments\nof the Hyksos are among the most curious in Egypt; and it is to San\nthat we owe the greater number of those brought to light. They are all\ndistinguished by an entirely different type of face from any that can\nbe found on other Egyptian monuments, a type which cannot be attributed\nto any other known period; and it is therefore all the more certain\nthat they belong to the foreign race. Another peculiarity is that they\nare without exception executed in black or grey granite. The Hyksos\nonly held the Delta, and occasionally more or less of Middle Egypt,\nand so they had no command of the red granite quarries of Assouan,\nwhich remained in the power of the native rulers. Whether the black\ngranite came from Sinai or from the Hammamat district is not certain.\u201d\nMr F. Ll. Griffith, the coadjutor of Mr Flinders Petrie, mentions\nseveral interesting monuments of a kind peculiar to this people. One\nis a group of two men, with bushy plaited hair and long beards: they\nstand with a tray of offerings in front of them, on which lie fishes,\nwith papyrus plants hanging round. The details are beautifully worked,\nthe flowers and buds being most delicately wrought. The black granite\nsphinxes made by the Hyksos have been often described. They have the\nflat, massive, muscular, lowering face, with short whiskers and beard\naround it, the lips being shaven; and the hair is in a mat of thick,\nshort locks descending over the whole chest, a style copied from the\ngreat sphinxes of the twelfth dynasty. It is a curious fact that\nthe inscriptions on Hyksos sphinxes, &c., are always in a line down\nthe right shoulder, never on the left. Mr Petrie suggests that this\nhonouring of the right shoulder by this Semitic people is analogous to\nthe particular offering of the right shoulder continually enjoined in\nthe Jewish law.[7] The Egyptians missed this idea, and inscribed either\nside indifferently, showing no preference for the left, although that\nwas their side of honour.\n\nHere at San, or Tanis, was discovered the famous Stone of San or Decree\nof Canopus, which is now preserved in the National Museum of Egypt. It\nbears the text of a decree made by the priests of Egypt, assembled at\nCanopus (which was at that time the religious capital of the country)\nin the ninth year of Ptolemy Euergetes (B.C. 254). It ordains\nthe deification of Berenice, a daughter of Ptolemy\u2019s just dead, and\ncreates a fifth order of priests, to be called Euerget\u00e6, for the\nbetter paying of divine honours to the king and queen. The chief value\nof the monument consists in the circumstance that the inscription is\ntri-lingual, the characters being hieroglyphic (sacred), demotic (those\nof everyday business), and Greek (the chief language of foreigners in\nEgypt); so that, like the Rosetta Stone, it is of great use in helping\nscholars to decipher the Egyptian monuments. There is a plaster cast\nof this stone in the British Museum.\n\nMr Griffith finds that the early monuments of Tanis are suggestive of\nhaving been brought by Rameses II. to adorn his new capital. The truth\nabout the age of Tanis can only be ascertained when deep excavations\nare made in the mound itself, or a sufficient examination of the\nextensive cemeteries has been carried out. But while the explorer is\nwaiting, the cemeteries are in danger of being worked out by the Arabs,\nand the tombs are being destroyed for the sake of amulets to sell to\ndealers and travellers.\n\n_Tell Nebesheh_--About eight miles S.E. of Tanis (modern San) is the\nlow mound of Tell Nebesheh, originally known as Tell Farun--_i.e._,\nthe mound of Pharaoh, because of the great monolith shrine called Ras\nFarun, or Pharaoh\u2019s Head. Here Mr Petrie found, among other things,\nthe remains of a temple, the altar of which contained important\ninscriptions. They were engraved by a certain \u201cchief of the chancellors\nand royal seal-bearer,\u201d whose name and further titles are effaced. This\nperson was one of a series of officials whose titles were singularly\nparallel to the English Lord High Chancellor and Lord Privy Seal. The\naltar appears to belong to the Hyksos period, and it is suggested by\nMr Petrie that these officials--who were so powerful that one of them\nactually appropriated for his inscriptions the royal monuments in a\npublic temple--were native Egyptians, the Hyksos conquerors being\nonly a military horde, without much civil organization, or organizing\ncapacity, and taking over as they found it the native bureaucracy, who\nmanaged all the details of the needful administration of the country.\nSo there appears to have been a series of viziers, men who acted for\nthe king over the treasury and taxes, and over the royal decrees and\npublic documents, bearing the king\u2019s seal.\n\nAfter some further discussion of the position and importance of these\nviziers, Mr Petrie says that yet one further document may be quoted\nas giving and receiving light on this question: the account of Joseph\nin the Book of Genesis undoubtedly refers to the Hyksos period, and\nthere we read, \u201cLet Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and\nset him over the land of Egypt\u201d--not, let Pharaoh give orders to his\nown officers. \u201cAnd Pharaoh said unto Joseph.... Thou shalt be over\nmy house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled:\nonly in the throne will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto\nJoseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh\ntook off his signet-ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph\u2019s hand,\nand arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about\nhis neck; and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had;\nand they cried before him, \u2018Abrech;\u2019 and he set him over all the land\nof Egypt.\u201d Here we read of the investiture of a vizier under the\nHyksos, creating him royal seal-bearer, and giving him the honour of\nthe second chariot. This we now see was not an extraordinary act of an\nautocrat, but the filling up of a regular office of the head of the\nnative administration.\n\n_Excavations at Tell Basta_, the ancient Bubastis. A little to the\nsouth of Zagazig, Mr Naville and Mr Griffith have made important\ndiscoveries. Bubastis was the seat of the worship of Bast or Pasht,\nthe cat-headed goddess, whose temple is described by Herodotus as the\nmost beautiful in Egypt. It was surrounded, he tells us, by a low wall,\nhaving figures engraved upon it. Here, accordingly, in April 1887, our\nexplorers began their work, in the rectangular depression surrounded on\nall sides by the mounds of houses, which must have been higher than the\ntemple. In a short time they disclosed the site of a grand hypostyle\nhall, strewn with fallen monolithic columns of twelfth dynasty\nworkmanship, and a hall without columns, but lined, as it should seem,\nwith elaborate bas-relief sculptures representing a great religious\nceremony, and containing tens of thousands of minutely-executed\nhieroglyphic inscriptions. The columns and the architraves of the\nhypostyle hall, though of an earlier period, are emblazoned with the\novals of Rameses II. (nineteenth dynasty). The inscriptions of the\nfestival hall commemorate Osorkon II., of the twenty-second dynasty,\nand his Queen Karoama. Besides the two historical landmarks thus\ndetermined, various blocks bearing the names of Usertesen III. and Pepi\nMerira testified to the existence of the edifice not only in the days\nof the first great Theban Empire, but in the very remote age of the\nPyramid kings of the sixth dynasty. At the same time a small tentative\nexcavation at the western extremity of the site yielded the name and\ntitles of Nectanebo I., of the thirtieth and last native dynasty. Such\nbeing the outcome of but four weeks\u2019 labour at the close of the season,\nit seemed reasonable to hope for important results when the excavations\nshould be resumed. This hope was more than fulfilled in 1888. As the\nwork in this instance was not carried on in the desert, but quite near\nto a busy railway station, many travellers visited the place. The\nscene was curiously picturesque. \u201cHere, grouped together on the verge\nof the great cemetery of Sacred Cats, are the tents of the officers\nof the Fund; yonder, swarming like bees at the bottom of the huge\ncrater-like depression which marks the area of the temple, are seen\nsome three to four hundred labourers--diggers in the trenches and pits,\nbasket-carriers clearing away the soil as it is thrown out, overseers\nto keep the diggers at work, \u2018pathway-men\u2019 to keep the paths open and\nthe carriers moving, gangs of brawny \u2018Shayal\u00een,\u2019 or native porters,\nharnessed together by stout ropes, and hauling or turning sculptured\nblocks which have not seen the light for many centuries; girls\nwith bowls of water and sponges, to wash down the carved surfaces\npreparatory to the process of taking paper \u2018squeezes;\u2019 and small boys\nto run errands, help with the measuring tapes, and keep guard over the\ntents and baggage. With so many hands at work and so many overseers to\nkeep them going, it is not wonderful that the excavations make rapid\nprogress. The two large pits which were opened last season are now\nthrown into one, and are being enlarged from east to west, following\nthe axis of the structure. The sides are also being cleared, and\nbefore another month shall have expired the whole temple--of which,\napparently, not one stone remains upon another--will be visible from\nend to end. Its entire length is probably about 700 or 800 feet; but\nmeasurements, of course, are as yet purely conjectural.\u201d\n\nAmong the discoveries at this second exploration was a third hall,\ndating from the reign of Osorkon I., the walls of which were sculptured\nwith bas-reliefs on a large scale, representing the king in the act of\nworshipping Bast and the other deities of the city. It appears that one\ngreat divinity honoured here was Amon; and another was the god Set.\n\nIt had not been suspected that Bubastis was the site of an important\nHyksos settlement; but from the type of the statues and other things\nwhich have been found, that turns out to have been the case.\n\nThe chronographers have preserved the names of several of the Hyksos\nkings, recording them as follows:--Silites (or Salatis), Beon,\nApachnas, Tannas (or Tanras), Asseth, and Apophis (in Egyptian,\nApepi). Mariette, in his very successful excavations at Tanis, found\nthe name of Apepi written on the arm of a statue, although the statue\nwas of older date. Mr Naville has found, at Tell Basta, a colossal\nstatue which he takes to be the statue of Apepi. It is now in the\nBritish Museum. This is particularly interesting, because Syncellus\nrelates that Apepi was the king in whose reign Joseph rose to the\nhigh position described in Genesis. One remarkable object found at\nTell Basta is part of a seated statue, upon which the royal name reads\n\u201cIan-Ra,\u201d or \u201cRa-Ian.\u201d The name is new to us, but when Mr Naville\nwent over to Boulak, where the Museum of Antiquities then was, and\nshowed a copy to Ahmed Kemal-ed-Deen Effendi, the learned Mohammedan\nofficial, he exclaimed at once--\u201cYou have found the Pharaoh of Joseph.\nAll our Arab books call him Reiyan, the son of El Welid.\u201d European\nscholars do not place absolute reliance on Arab chronicles, which\nare often fanciful; yet it is remarkable that the statue of Ian-Ra,\nJoseph\u2019s king, according to the Arabs, should be found at Tell Basta,\nin close proximity to the statue of Apepi, Joseph\u2019s king, according\nto Syncellus. Mr Naville distinguishes Ian-Ra from Apepi, and thinks\nhe is the same as Ianias or Annas, mentioned by Josephus as the fifth\nking out of six. Mr Naville has also found at Tell Basta the names\nof twenty-five Pharaohs who were known already, including Cheops and\nChephren, the builders of the pyramids, about 3700 B.C.\n\nThat Joseph served a Hyksos king has long been accepted by the majority\nof Egyptologists as a very probable hypothesis, both chronologically\nand from the internal evidence of the Biblical narrative. The Arab\nwriters represent the Hyksos as Amalekites of Midian. Mr Naville agrees\nwith those who think they came from Mesopotamia, and already possessed\na high degree of civilisation and culture.\n\nBubastis seems to have been a favourite place of residence with the\nShepherd Kings; and thus Joseph would be but a short distance from his\nbrethren in the land of Goshen, where they looked after the king\u2019s\nherds of cattle.\n\n_Saft-el-Henneh or Goshen._--In more than one season Mr Naville carried\non operations to discover the locality of Goshen, which had always been\nmatter of conjecture and controversy. He has come to the conclusion\nthat Goshen was a city a little to the east of the modern Zagazig,\nand situated in a district of the same name. The land of Goshen may\nbe described as a district roughly triangular in shape, with its apex\nto the south; having Zagazig at its north-west angle, Tel-el-Kebir\nnorth-east, and Belbeis at the lower extremity. The town of Goshen\nappears to have been at Saft-el-Henneh, nearly half-way between the\neastern and western points of the triangle. Here we find the name Tel\nFak\u00fbs, the Phakusa of the Greeks, and apparently the same as Kesem,\nGesem, or Goshen. Saft-el-Henneh itself is a large village, standing in\nthe midst of a country peculiarly fruitful, corresponding thus to \u201cthe\nbest of the land,\u201d which was given to the Israelites.\n\n\u201cAt the first glance,\u201d says Mr Naville, \u201cone sees that Saft-el-Henneh\nstands on the site of an ancient city of considerable extent. The whole\nvillage is constructed on the ruins of old houses, many of which are\nstill to be seen on the south side.\u201d\n\nThe monuments discovered at Saft include a colossal statue, in black\ngranite, of Rameses II., which, probably, belonged to a temple of some\nimportance; and a shrine of Nectanebo II., with a dedicatory hymn, and\nthe information that the place where the shrine was erected was called\nKes.\n\nThe Book of Genesis tells us that Goshen was a pasture land. We\nmay thence infer that it was not thickly inhabited, and not yet\norganized into a province with its capital, its temples, its priests,\nand its governor. Since then the name is absent from the earliest\nEgyptian lists of provinces--namely, those of Seti I. and Rameses\nII. (the Pharaoh that oppressed Israel)--Mr Naville maintains that\nthe hieroglyphic records which simply omit the name, and the Bible\nnarrative which incidentally shows us the reason why, are remarkably in\naccord.\n\n_Heliopolis._--No excavations have yet been undertaken at Heliopolis,\nthe City of the Sun, which is situated some nine miles from Cairo\nin a north-easterly direction. It was a very ancient city, of great\ncelebrity as a seat of the worship of the sun god _Ra_, whose symbol\nin the form of the living bull Mnevis, was there kept and cared for\nand reverenced. In the Bible the city is called On or Beth Shemesh.\nJoseph probably served Potiphar in this city; and Pharaoh afterwards\ngave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, a priest of On. There\ncan be little doubt, either, that Moses, who was learned in all the\nwisdom of the Egyptians, was educated at this seat of learning. We\nmust believe, therefore, that he often looked upon the six obelisks\nwhich stood in front of the temple of Ra--one of which remains to this\nday--for they had been erected centuries before his birth. Four of them\nwere set up by Thothmes III. and his family, about 1600 years before\nthe Christian era, and the other two by Usertesen I. upwards of 3000\nyears B.C. Two of the Thothmes obelisks were at a later period\ntransferred to Alexandria, to adorn the approach of a magnificent\ntemple erected in honour of the C\u00e6sars; and it is one of these two\nwhich has become known as Cleopatra\u2019s Needle and now stands on the\nThames Embankment. The one obelisk which remains at Heliopolis is the\noldest object of the kind in the world.\n\nScarcely anything is now to be seen of the city itself. It no doubt\nserved as a handy quarry to the builders of Cairo; but since the\nsurviving obelisk is buried 3 or 4 feet in Nile mud, it is not\nimprobable that many small objects of antiquarian interest are buried\nalso. Moreover, the sides of the vast enclosure in which the temple was\nsituated are still marked by mounds or walls of crude brick, and these,\non the north side, have their continuation in the ruins of the ancient\ntown. Here are frequently found scarab\u00e6i or images of the sacred\nbeetle, with other sacred images, emblems in porcelain, and other\nantiquities, so that apparently the place would repay a systematic\nsearch.\n\n_Tell Defenneh_, the Biblical Tahpanhes.--In June 1886 Mr Flinders\nPetrie had the felicity to discover \u201cPharaoh\u2019s House,\u201d to which\nJeremiah was brought, after the calamities in Judea, and where he hid\nthe great stones, as a symbolical act, in the mortar of the brickwork.\nIt lies in the sandy desert bordering on Lake Menzaleh, about two\ndays\u2019 journey from San, some hours distant on the one hand from the\ncultivated Delta, and on the other hand from the Suez Canal. Here in\nthe midst of the plain are the brick ruins of a large building; and on\nthe first evening of his arrival in the district Mr Petrie heard to his\nsurprise that the building was known as the _Kasr el Bint el Yehudi_,\nor the Palace of the Jew\u2019s daughter. Obviously this might refer to\nthe daughter of King Zedekiah who accompanied Jeremiah in his exile;\nand there could now be no doubt that Defenneh represented the ancient\nDaphnai and Tahpanhes. It was a frontier fortress or advanced post, to\nguard the great highway into Syria.\n\nBy the associations of Tahpanhes we are at once carried to Scripture.\n\u201cThe children of Noph and Tahpanhes have broken the crown of thy head\u201d\n(Jer. ii. 16). This was after the slaying of Josiah, the deposition\nof Jehoahaz, the setting up of the tributary Jehoiakim, and the\nremoval of Jehoahaz into Egypt--events which marked the first period\nof intercourse between Jews and Greeks. \u201cThis intercourse, however,\nwas soon to be increased; three years later, Nebuchadnezzar invaded\nJudea, and all who fled from the war would arrive at Tahpanhes in\ntheir flight into Egypt, and most likely stop there. In short, during\nall the troubles and continual invasions and sieges of Jerusalem, in\nB.C. 607, B.C. 603, and B.C. 599 (in which a wholesale deportation of\nthe people took place), and, above all, in the final long siege and\ndestruction of 590-588 B.C., when \u201cthe city was broken up,\u201d and all the\nmen of war fled, every one who sought to avoid the miseries of war, or\nwho was politically obnoxious, would naturally flee down into Egypt.\nSuch refugees would necessarily reach the frontier fort on the caravan\nroad, and would there find a mixed and mainly foreign population,\nGreek, Ph\u0153nician, and Egyptian, among whom their presence would not be\nresented, as it would be by the still strictly protectionist Egyptians\nfurther in the country. That they should largely, or perhaps mainly\nsettle there would be the most natural course; they would be tolerated,\nthey would find a constant communication with their own countrymen, and\nthey would be as near to Judea as they could in safety remain, while\nthey awaited a chance of returning.\n\n\u201cThe last and greatest migration to Tahpanhes is that fully recorded\nby Jeremiah, which gives us the pattern of what doubtless had been\ngoing on long before. After Nebuchadnezzar had retired with his spoils,\nGedaliah, the governor whom he set up, was quickly slain, the country\nfell into anarchy, and all the responsible inhabitants who were left\nfled into Egypt to avoid the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar. \u2018Johanan the\nson of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant\nof Judah, that were returned (from all nations, whither they had been\ndriven), to sojourn in the land of Judah; the men, and the women, and\nthe children, and the king\u2019s daughters [Zedekiah\u2019s], and every person\nthat Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, had left with Gedaliah\nthe son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and\nBaruch the son of Neriah; and they came into the land of Egypt; for\nthey obeyed not the voice of the Lord: and they came even to Tahpanhes\u2019\n(Jer. xliii. 5-7).\u201d This migration was undertaken in spite of the\nwarnings of Jeremiah.\n\nPharaoh Hophra, the reigning monarch in Egypt, had been an ally of King\nZedekiah\u2019s, and so he placed at the disposal of his friend\u2019s daughter\nthe palace in this frontier fortress of Tahpanhes, which had been a\nroyal residence sometimes. Here we may suppose the fugitives would\nhave been comparatively contented, and thought themselves safe, only\nthat Jeremiah vehemently prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would come and\ndestroy the place. This, according to Josephus, he did--\u201cHe fell upon\nEgypt, ... and took those Jews that were there captives, and led them\naway to Babylon; and such was the end of the nation of the Hebrews\u201d\n(Ant. ix. 7). Josephus is not always believed, and it has even been\ndenied in recent years that Nebuchadnezzar was ever in Egypt at all.\nBut a recently discovered inscription tells us that he was in the\ncountry, and penetrated as far south as Assouan;[8] and now at last Mr\nPetrie discovers the palace to have been plundered, dismantled, and\nburnt, apparently in fulfilment of Jeremiah\u2019s prediction.\n\nThe existing remains of Tahpanhes are extensive, and show that the\nancient city was a large one. Under the corners of the chief buildings\nwere found _plaques_ of metal and of stone, engraved with the cartouche\nof Psammetichus I.; and under the south-east corner the teeth and bones\nof an ox, sacrificed at the ceremony when the building was founded.\nAmong the antiquities found are beautiful painted Greek vases, plaques,\n&c., of gold, silver, lead, and copper, articles of carnelian, jaspar,\nand lapis lazuli.\n\nA most interesting thing is the finding of the brickwork or pavement\nspoken of in Jeremiah xliii. 8. \u201cThen came the word of the Lord unto\nJeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in thine hand, and\nhide them in mortar in the brickwork which is at the entry of Pharaoh\u2019s\nhouse in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; and say unto\nthem, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold I will\nsend and take Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babylon, my servant, and will\nset his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread\nhis royal pavilion over them, &c.\u201d This brickwork or pavement at the\nentry of Pharaoh\u2019s house has always been misunderstood, and served as a\npuzzle to translators. \u201cBut\u201d (says Mr Petrie) \u201cas soon as the plan of\nthe palace began to be recovered, the exactness of the description was\nmanifest. On the north-west of the fort was a great open air platform\nof brickwork, such as is now seen outside all great houses, and most\nsmall ones, in Egypt. A space is reserved outside the door, generally\nalong the side of the house, covered with hard beaten mud, edged with\na ridge of bricks if not much raised from the ground, and kept swept\nclean. On this platform the inhabitants sit when they wish to converse\nwith their neighbours or the passers-by. A great man will settle\nhimself to receive his friends and drink coffee, and public business\nis generally transacted there. Such seems to have been the object of\nthis large platform--a place to meet persons who would not be admitted\nto the palace or fort, to assemble guards, to hold large _lev\u00e9es_,\nto receive tribute and stores, to unlade goods, and to transact the\nmultifarious business which in such a climate is best done in the open\nair. At the same time the actual way into the palace was along a raised\ncauseway which rose at the back of this platform.\n\n\u201cThis platform\u201d (continues Mr Petrie) \u201cis therefore unmistakably\n\u2018the brickwork or pavement which is at the entry of Pharaoh\u2019s house\nin Tahpanhes.\u2019 Here the ceremony described by Jeremiah took place\nbefore the chiefs of the fugitives assembled on the platform, and here\nNebuchadnezzar \u2018spread his royal pavilion.\u2019 The very nature of the\nsite is precisely applicable to all the events. Unhappily, the great\ndenudation which has gone on has swept away most of this platform, and\nwe could not expect to find the stones whose hiding is described by\nJeremiah.\u201d\n\nAnother discovery, made some years ago, looks like evidence that\nNebuchadnezzar actually came to Tahpanhes. A native sold to the\nBoulak Museum three cylinders of terra cotta, such as would be used\nfor foundation memorials, the text on them being an inscription of\nNebuchadnezzar\u2019s referring to his constructions in Babylon. These\ncylinders were said to come from the Isthmus of Suez, but it is\nstrongly suspected that they were found at Defenneh, after the platform\nhad become denuded.\n\n_Tell-el-Yahoudeh_, the Mound of the Jew.--This place should be\ninteresting to us, if only from the fact that a temple was built here,\nwhich some have fancied would be the counterpart of the Temple at\nJerusalem. If any considerable remains of the temple can be found, they\nmay assist materially the right understanding of the descriptions which\nhave come down to us of the more important structure on Mount Moriah.\n\nTell-el-Yahoudeh is about twenty miles from Cairo, on the way to\nIsmailia, near the Moslem village of Shibeen-el-Kanater, and is\nsupposed to be the city of Onias. Josephus tells us that at the time of\nthe conquest of Judea by Antiochus Epiphanes, Onias, son of the high\npriest, fled from the persecution, and took refuge in Egypt (B.\nC. 182). Onias, feeling encouraged by a prophecy of Isaiah\u2019s that\na time should come when there would be \u201can altar to the Lord in the\nmidst of the land of Egypt\u201d (Isaiah xix. 19), begged the Egyptian king,\nPtolemy Philometor, to grant him permission to build a temple, on the\nsite of a deserted shrine or fortress. The request was granted, and\nOnias built a small city, after the model of Jerusalem, and a temple,\nafter the pattern of the temple of Solomon.\n\nThe mound now existing measures about half a mile from east to west,\nand a quarter of a mile from north to south, and has the appearance\nof a fortress. It has been more or less ransacked at various times;\nbut would probably still repay a thorough exploration. In the absence\nof a full investigation there remains a little doubt about the\ngenuineness of the site; but Professor Sayce, on one occasion, found\nhere a fragment of stone, bearing two ancient Hebrew letters; and the\ndecisive proof that it was a Jewish settlement has been furnished by\nthe discovery of a Jewish cemetery, about one mile further east in the\ndesert. The ground there, for the length of more than half a mile,\nis quite honeycombed with tombs. Here and there a body was found _in\nsitu_, and there were no traces of embalming, nor any ornament of any\nkind, but invariably a brick under the head, which was a distinctive\nmark of Jewish burials. A few tablets had escaped the general\ndestruction, and the names which they contained fully confirmed the\nconclusion suggested by the mode of burial: \u201cEleazar\u201d was one name\nand is purely Jewish: some others were Jewish with a Greek ending, as\nSalamis, Nethaneus, Barchias; and others still were Greek names of\nfrequent use among the Jews, as Aristobulos, Onesimas, Tryphania.\n\n_Tell-el-Maskhuta_ or Pithom-Succoth.--The Pharaoh who enslaved the\nIsraelites appears to have been Rameses II., son of Seti I., of the\nnineteenth dynasty. This dynasty only began with Rameses I., the\ngrandfather of Rameses II. The store cities built by the Israelites\nwere called Raamses and Pithom; and when the Exodus took place the\nstarting point was Rameses and the first resting-place Succoth (Ex.\ni. 11; xii. 37). None of these places were known, and it had hardly\nbeen suspected that Pithom and Succoth were so closely associated\nas they are now found to be. But the site of Pithom has lately been\ndiscovered. We all remember Kassassin, where Sir Garnet Wolseley halted\nthe British troops, in the campaign of 1882, just before that silent\nmidnight march to storm Arabi\u2019s entrenchments. It is twelve miles west\nof Ismailia on the Suez Canal. Close by Kassassin is a low mound called\n_Tell-el-Maskhuta_, the Mound of the Statue. Here, at the end of the\nlast century, was found a red granite monolith, representing Rameses\nII. sitting between the two solar gods Ra and Tum. In 1860 M. Paponot\u2019s\nmen came across another monolith, and it is probable that the pair\nstood symmetrically at the entrance of some edifice. Further excavation\nbrought to light two sphinxes in black granite, placed also on each\nside of the avenue; and then, farther on, a shrine or _naos_ in red\nsandstone, and a large _stele_ in red granite, lying flat. All these\nmonuments had been dedicated to the god Tum.\n\nThe excavations recently made by M. Edouard Naville, of Geneva, are\ndescribed in his Memoir written for the Egypt Exploration Fund, from\nwhich Memoir we glean the following interesting information. The city\nwas called Pi Tum, which means the house or abode of Tum (the god of\nthe setting sun), and the surrounding district was called Thuku or\nThukut, which is equivalent to Succoth. It is a mere philological\naccident that the Hebrew language has a word succoth, signifying\n_tents_. The inscriptions appear to show that it was Rameses II. who\ncaused the city to be built; and in this they do but confirm the view\npreviously entertained by Egyptologists. Pithom was both a store city\nand a fortress, and so was surrounded by very thick walls, part of\nwhich are yet preserved. The civil city of Thuku extended all round the\nsacred buildings of Pithom. We have first of all a square area enclosed\nby enormous brick walls, the space within being equal to 55,000 square\nyards. In the south-west angle is a small temple. The wall enclosure\nis honeycombed with rectangular chambers, well built, the bricks being\nof Nile mud, and united by mortar. It is a curious fact that some of\nthe bricks contain straw, while others are without. These chambers M.\nNaville believes to be the granaries into which Pharaoh gathered the\nprovisions necessary for armies about to cross the desert, and perhaps\nfor caravans and travellers, who were on the road to Syria.\n\nPithom, according to the Coptic version of the Scriptures, was the\nplace where Joseph went up to meet Jacob--\u201cnear Pithom, the city in the\nland of Rameses\u201d (Gen. xlvi. 28). It is true that the LXX., supported\nby Josephus, make Heroopolis to be the meeting-place; but it is not\nunlikely that Heroopolis was a later name for Pithom itself. The Greeks\nwere succeeded by the Romans, traces of whose habitations are to be\nseen on all sides.\n\nWhen the Romans levelled the ground for their camp, they destroyed\nwithout mercy an immense number of inscriptions, which would have\nbeen most precious to us now. Of those which remain, by far the most\nimportant is the great tablet of Philadelphus, measuring 4 feet 3\ninches, by 3 feet 2 inches, which was found near the _naos_. It is\nstated in the inscription that the king ordered it to be erected\n_before his father Tum, the great god of Succoth_. It records what\nwas done for Pithom by the king, and his queen and sister Arsinoe. We\nlearn from it that Pithom and the neighbouring city of Arsinoe, which\nthe king founded in honour of his sister, were the starting points of\ncommercial expeditions to the Red Sea; and that from thence one of\nPtolemy\u2019s generals went to the land of the Troglodytes, and founded\nthe city of Ptolemais \u0398\u03b7\u03c1\u03b9\u1ff6\u03bd, for the special purpose of\nfacilitating the chase of elephants. And it was to Heroopolis that the\nships brought the animals (so that if Heroopolis was Pithom, and Pithom\nwas Maskhuta, the navigable water must have extended farther northward\nthan it does at present). We learn also that close to Pithom there was\na city called Pikerehat, or Pikeheret, apparently the Pi-ha-hiroth\nmentioned in the narrative of the Exodus.\n\nIt was suggested by the late Dr Birch that the Israelites, besides\nbuilding store cities, were compelled, like convicts or captives of\nwar, to labour on the forts of Tanis, and on the line of the great wall\nwhich protected Egypt on the north-east. This long wall extended from\nPelusium southwards, and had been built to keep out the tribes of the\ndesert and other invaders from the Asiatic side. From the \u201cAdventures\nof Sinuhit,\u201d a narrative dating from the twelfth dynasty, it appears\nto have been of very early construction; for the fugitive there says,\n\u201cI reached the walls of the prince, which he has constructed to repel\nthe Sittiu and to destroy the Nomiu-Shaiu; I remained in a crouching\nposture among the bushes, for fear of being seen by the guard,\nrelieved each day, which keeps watch from the summit of the fortress:\nI proceeded on my way at nightfall.\u201d[9] The wall appears to have been\nrenovated by Seti I. and Rameses II., and strengthened by forts, built\nafter the Canaanite models which the Pharaohs had seen in the course\nof their campaigns. The Egyptians, not content with appropriating the\nthing, appropriated also the name, and called these frontier towers by\nthe Semitic name of _Magdilu_ or Migdols. In a later reign, an officer\nwho had been sent to recapture two runaway slaves, reports that he did\nnot overtake them until he had got beyond the region of the wall, to\nthe north of the Migdol of King Seti Menephtah.[10]\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cBiblical Sites in Lower Egypt.\u201d\n By Greville J. Chester, B.A., in the Survey Memoirs, P. E.\n Fund. \u201cTel-el-Yahoudeh.\u201d By Prof. T. Hayter Lewis, F.S.A.,\n in Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch\u00e6ol., vol. vii. \u201cThe Store-City of\n Pithom.\u201d By M. Naville, Egypt Exploration Fund. \u201cGoshen.\u201d By\n M. Naville, E. E. Fund. \u201cDaphnae.\u201d By W. M. Flinders Petrie,\n E. E. Fund. \u201cTanis.\u201d By W. M. Flinders Petrie, E. E. Fund.\n Murray\u2019s Handbook, \u201cEgypt.\u201d]\n\n\n 9. _The Route of the Exodus._\n\nAs Succoth was the first station of the Israelites in leaving Egypt,\nand we now know the locality, we begin to be able to trace their\nroute. Starting from Rameses--a city not yet identified, but perhaps\nnear the present Zagazig[11]--two courses were open to them. They\nmight go northward, past the city of Zoan, and then skirt the coast\nof Philistia--the route generally taken by the great conquerors, and\nby much the nearer way. But there were objections against taking it,\nfor \u201cit came to pass in the course of those many days that the king\nof Egypt died\u201d (Exod. ii. 23), and the new Pharaoh, Menephtah, son\nand successor of Rameses II., was holding his Court at Zoan at this\ntime,[12] and had his chariots and his horsemen about him. Nor must we\nforget the great wall and its fortresses, which in that direction would\nbar the way. \u201cIt was a wall,\u201d says Mr Poole, \u201ccarefully constructed,\nwith scarp and counter-scarp, ditch and glacis, well manned by the\nbest troops, the sentinel on the ramparts day and night.\u201d Prudence\nwould seem to say that this route should not be attempted. The course\nactually taken appears to have been from Rameses eastward, along\nthe valley Tumilat and the line of the canal which had been made by\nSeti I. They then encamped at Succoth, probably for the same reason\nthat the British encamped there in 1882, namely, that there was\nabundance of forage and water, and a defensible position. The next\nstation was \u201cEtham, in the edge of the wilderness,\u201d northward from\nPithom-Succoth, we may suppose, for they seem to have been marching\n(perhaps for a feint) as though they would take the short route through\nthe Philistine country. But then they received the command to \u201cturn\nback and encamp before Pi-ha-hiroth, between the Migdol and the sea,\nbefore Baal-Zephon, over against it by the sea.\u201d They obeyed, and to\nunderstand the course they actually pursued, we must take into account\nsome recent geological discoveries. It is not the aim of the present\nwriter to put forth original views of his own, but rather to explain\nthe conclusions arrived at by the ablest investigators. In accordance\nwith this design, it will be desirable here to introduce a paragraph\nfrom Major Henry Spencer Palmer, who shared with Colonel Sir Charles\nWilson the command of the Sinai Survey Expedition.\n\n\u201cThe character and scene of the Red Sea passage--the greatest event\nwhich ancient history records--have in all ages been the subject of\ncontroversy, according to the variously proposed systems of topography,\nand the extent to which men have admitted or denied the operation of\nmiraculous agency. Some, holding to the strict interpretation of such\npassages as, \u2018The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and\ntheir left\u2019 (Exod. xiv. 20), \u2018The floods stood upright as an heap\u2019 (Ps.\nxv. 8), \u2018He made the waters to stand as an heap\u2019 (Ps. lxxvii. 15), have\ninferred that the deep sea must have been literally parted asunder,\nand that through the chasm thus formed the Israelites passed, with a\nsheer wall of water on either side of them. By such, the scene of the\npassage has been fixed at six, ten, fifty, and even sixty miles below\nSuez, and the position of the city of Rameses has been varied to meet\nthe several theories as to the crossing place. The advocates of these\nviews, apparently anxious to aggrandise the miracle to the utmost, and\ndiscarding from fair consideration the physical agency which Scripture\nexpressly mentions as the direct means by which the passage was made\npracticable, have, however, overlooked or evaded the difficulty of\nexplaining how the fugitives, with their flocks and herds, could have\ntravelled over the sharp coral rocks, and vast quantities of seaweed\nwhich cover the sea-bottom at these points. The obvious difficulty\nalso, that a short way below Suez, the breadth of the sea becomes too\ngreat for the passage to have been effected within the limits of time\ngiven in the narrative, without some preternatural acceleration of\nspeed, of which Scripture gives no hint or mention, has never been met\nsatisfactorily. There is the yet greater difficulty that a wind strong\nenough to have produced upon deep water the extraordinary effect which\nis supposed, would have been much too violent for any man or body\nof men to have stood up against it. Lastly, there is the impossible\nsupposition that Pharaoh and his host would have been mad enough to\nrush to their doom in this fearful chasm.\u201d\n\nOf late years, however, the theory of a deep-water passage has\nbeen practically abandoned. Modern critics prefer an intelligent\ninterpretation, according to known natural laws, of the words of Exodus\nxiv. 21, 22, which lay stress upon the _east wind_ as the direct\nnatural agent by which the sea bottom was for the time made dry land.\n\nMajor Palmer mentions the presence of marine shells in the Bitter Lake\nas showing that it was formerly filled with salt water from the Gulf\nof Suez. He says further:--\u201cThis communication subsequently became\nbroken by the gradual elevation of the neck of land eleven miles long\nwhich now separates the lakes from the head of the gulf--an interesting\nfulfilment of the prophecy in Isaiah xi. 15--\u2018and the Lord shall\nutterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea.\u2019 Darius, about B.C.\n500, restored the connection by cutting a canal through the isthmus,\nwhich after a period of disuse was reopened by Ptolemy Philadelphus,\nabout B.C. 250. Traces of Darius\u2019s canal are still seen, in\na very perfect state, though its bed has since risen above the level\nof high water in the gulf. If, as can hardly be doubted, there was a\nconnection, at least tidal, between the lakes and the gulf at the time\nof the Exodus, the only course eastward from Egypt which would have\nbeen ordinarily practicable for the march of hosts, must have passed\nto the north of the Great Bitter Lake, crossing the belt of dry ground\nwhich, interrupted only by the Timsah and Ballah Lakes, extends between\nit and the Menzaleh Lake, and the Children of Israel must have been\nfollowing one such route when, at Etham, they were directed to turn and\nencamp before Pi-ha-horoth.\u201d\n\nThese views of Major Palmer\u2019s are shared by M. Naville, by Sir\nWm. Dawson, and others, and have been decisively confirmed by the\ngeological survey of the region. In 1883 the Committee of the Palestine\nExploration Fund sent out Professor Hull, the eminent geologist,\naccompanied by Major Kitchener, R.E., and other competent men, and\nthis party investigated the geology of Lower Egypt, of the Desert of\nSinai, the Valley of the Arabah, and the southern portion of Palestine.\nThe results were very remarkable. It appears, for instance, that at a\ndistant period of the past the waters of the seas, lakes, and gulfs\nof all this region stood some two hundred feet higher than they do\nnow--the proof being found in the fact that at the height of two\nhundred feet the limestone rocks have been bored into by the well-known\n\u201cshell-fish,\u201d the pholas, while the sands and gravels at that height\ncontain shells and corals and crinoids, of the same species as those\nwhich still inhabit the waters of the Gulf of Suez. With the waters at\nthat height the whole of Lower Egypt would be submerged, together with\nextensive tracts on either side of the Gulf of Suez. But this occurred\nin the distant past, probably many ages before mankind dwelt in these\nregions at all. There was, however, a more recent period, as the land\nslowly rose out of the waters--and Professor Hull thinks it may have\ncoincided with the time of the Exodus--when the waters were just 26\nfeet higher than they are at present, and then, although Lower Egypt\nwould not be submerged, the Gulf of Suez must have extended northward\nas far as the Bitter Lakes, making an arm of the sea about a mile wide\nand 20 or 30 feet deep.\n\nIt is suggested by M. Naville that the Israelites, when they turned\nback from Etham, came down on the western side of this arm of the sea,\nand got into a defile, so that they appeared to be caught in a trap.\nPharaoh thought so, and said, \u201cThey are entangled in the land, the\nwilderness hath shut them in;\u201d and so he pursued them, and thought to\nobtain an easy victory. But Moses had clear knowledge of what he was\nto do. Although the waters of the gulf were for the most part 20 or 30\nfeet deep, and quite impassable, there was one place (near the present\nCh\u00e2luf) where they were quite shallow, where the land now is 26 feet\nhigher than the waters, and where, at that time, reeds were growing.\nThis part of the gulf was a shallow sea of reeds: and what the Hebrew\nBible really says is that the Israelites crossed the sea of reeds--_yam\nSouph_[13]--which was the former extension of the Red Sea northwards.\nThis place was so shallow that when the north-east wind blew,\nco-operating with a retreating tide, it was liable to be rendered dry;\nand because the tribes of the Desert used then to rush in, through this\ntemporary gateway, and carry off the cattle, and plunder the fertile\ndistrict around Pithom, the Pharaohs had established a watch-tower\nhere--one of their Migdols. The Israelites \u201cencamped between the Migdol\nand the sea:\u201d then the north-east wind arose and made the passage dry,\nso that they were able to pass over. Their God had made a way for them.\nIf this explanation, which is now very generally received, should be\nfinally established, it must for ever silence all objections as to the\ncredibility of this part of the Scripture narrative.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cThe Store-City of Pithom.\u201d By\n M. Naville, Egypt Exploration Fund. \u201cSinai.\u201d By Major H.\n Spencer Palmer, R.E. \u201cThe Desert of the Exodus.\u201d By Prof. E.\n H. Palmer. \u201cSinai and Palestine.\u201d By Dean Stanley. \u201cEgypt and\n Sinai.\u201d By Sir J. Wm. Dawson.]\n\n\n 10. _The Wilderness Wanderings._\n\nAll questions regarding the actual route of the Israelites and the\ntrue Mount Sinai were carefully studied during the Ordnance Survey\nof the Sinai Desert in 1868-9. The expedition was conducted by Major\nHenry Spencer Palmer, R.E., and Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, R.E., and\nthe results were published in 1872, by authority of the Treasury, in\nfive massive folio volumes. It may be fairly said that this expedition\nvindicated the accuracy of the Bible narrative; for the late Prof. E.\nH. Palmer, who was one of the party, and kept his own daily journal as\nthey went along, assures us that the Bible narrative reads exactly like\na daily journal kept by a member of a travelling party. A traveller\nbegins by setting down his first impressions, which are often corrected\nin his later notes as the result of further experience; and Palmer\npointed to such evidences of authenticity in the Bible story.\n\nThe results of the Survey of Sinai only concern us here so far as they\nrelate to discoveries of ruins and relics of the past.\n\nThe mining district of the peninsula of Sinai became subject to\nEgyptian rule at a very early time--probably some 3200 years before the\nChristian era--and the sculptured records of their occupation spread\nover a period of some 2000 years. On tablets at the mouth of one of the\ncaves at Magh\u00e1rah, King Senefru and his successor Cheops (who built the\nGreat Pyramid) are represented, the one conquering a shepherd of the\nEast, the other striking to the earth an Asiatic foe. \u201cOn the opposite\ncliffs\u201d (says Major Palmer) \u201care the remains of the ancient settlement,\ncomprising the dwellings of the miners, who probably were prisoners\nof war, and the barracks of their military guards. Flint and stone\nimplements, such as arrow-heads and spear-heads, flint chisels and\nknives, and rude hammer-heads of green-stone, are found amongst these\nruins.\u201d\n\nAt Sar\u00e1bit el Kh\u00e1dim, ten or twelve miles further inland, where a new\nfield of mining was discovered about the time that Magh\u00e1rah began to\nshow signs of exhaustion, there are ruins of two temples, built of\nwell-cut stone, without mortar, the walls and vestibule being covered\nwith Egyptian scenes.\n\nBut we are chiefly concerned to know whether any traces eremain of\nthe Israelitish Sojourn, and especially any of a character to throw\nadditional light on Scripture. Of course a wandering people, dwelling\nin tents, would not leave evidence of their passage in buried cities;\nand what we have rather to look for is deserted camps. One such camp\nat least is reasonably identified now as Kibroth Hattaavah, where the\npeople were fed with quails (Num. xi. 33). The Scripture narrative\nsays that they journeyed thence to Hazeroth, and abode there. About\nthirty miles north-east of Jebel Musa, at a spot called _Erweis el\nEbeirig_, are some old stone remains to which a legend attaches\nwhich very strikingly recalls the Scripture statement, and may very\npossibly contain some grain of truth. \u201cThese ruins\u201d (say the Arabs)\n\u201care the remains of a large pilgrim or Hajj caravan, which in remote\nages stopped here on the way to Hazeroth, and was afterwards lost\nin the Tih, and never again heard of.\u201d Hazeroth, the name of which\nstill survives in \u2019Ain Hudherah, is fifteen miles further on towards\n\u2019Akabah. The B\u00e1diet et Tih is by interpretation the wilderness of the\nwanderings, and is a sort of peninsula of higher ground which projects\ndown into the Sinai desert from the north. Major Palmer tells us that\nthe ruins at Erweis el Ebeirig form a class by themselves, differing\nfrom all other ancient remains hitherto found in the peninsula. Though\nthere are a few stone houses, the remains consist chiefly of a great\nnumber of small enclosures of stone, mostly circular, and extending\nover several square miles of country. The stones are not set on end;\ntheir arrangement is not unlike that which may be seen on spots where\nan Arab encampment has been, though they certainly cannot be taken for\nArab remains. The large enclosures intended for important personages,\nand the hearths or fire-places, can still be distinctly traced, showing\nconclusively that it is a large deserted camp. In the neighbourhood,\nbut beyond the camp area, are a number of stone heaps, which, from\ntheir shape and position, are probably burial places without the camp,\nthough none have yet been examined.\n\nBetween the Tih wilderness and Judea, is the Negeb or \u201cSouth Country\u201d\nof Scripture, now a deserted and barren wilderness, but shown by\nProfessor E. H. Palmer to be full of the most interesting traces of\nformer inhabitants and cultivation. In the Scripture narrative of the\nwanderings we read about Kadesh Barnea, where Miriam died, and whence\nthe spies went up to Eshkol and obtained the grapes. The identification\nof Kadesh Barnea had long been difficult and disputed, until it was\ndiscovered, in the year 1840, by Dr Rowlands to be _\u2019Ain Gadis_ (or\n_Qades_) in Jebel Magr\u00e1h, on the south-west frontier of the Negeb. The\nname _Gadis_ is identical in meaning and etymology with the Kadesh\nof the Bible, while the word _\u2019Ain_ means a fountain; so that Kadesh\nBarnea can scarcely be said to have changed its name. The place is a\npicturesque oasis, and from under a ragged spur of solid rock, regarded\nby Rowlands as \u201cthe cliff\u201d smitten by Moses, there issues an abundant\nstream. Professor Palmer, visiting the district some thirty years\nafter, failed to find this great spring, but it was discovered again by\nRev. F. W. Holland in 1878, and by Dr Clay Trumbull of America in 1881;\nand Dr Trumbull\u2019s book on Kadesh Barnea is now the fullest source of\ninformation.\n\nMr Holland\u2019s record of the Sinai Survey Expedition is printed at the\nend of the volume on the \u201cRecovery of Jerusalem,\u201d published by the\nPalestine Exploration Fund. Mr Holland endeavours to trace the route\nof the Israelites, to fix the stations, to identify the spot where the\nbattle of Rephidim was fought, and to make more intelligible the entire\nstory. Traditions of the passage of the children of Israel through\nthe country are common enough, he says. The physical conditions of\nthe country are such as to render it quite possible that the events\nrecorded in the Book of Exodus occurred there. The route of the\nIsraelites has not indeed been laid down with absolute certainty, but\nmuch light has undoubtedly been thrown upon it by the explorations that\nhave been made. Mr Holland concludes by declaring that \u201cnot a single\nmember of the expedition returned home without feeling more firmly\nconvinced than ever of the truth of that sacred history which he found\nillustrated and confirmed by the natural features of the desert. The\nmountains and valleys, the very rocks, barren and sun-scorched as they\nnow are, seem to furnish evidences, which none who behold them can\ngainsay, that this was that \u2018great and terrible wilderness\u2019 through\nwhich Moses, under God\u2019s direction, led His people.\u201d\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cExplorations in the Peninsula\n of Sinai.\u201d By Rev. F. W. Holland (in volume on the \u201cRecovery\n of Jerusalem\u201d). \u201cSinai.\u201d By Major H. S. Palmer. \u201cThe Desert\n of the Exodus.\u201d By Professor E. H. Palmer. \u201cThe Desert of the\n Tih.\u201d By Prof. E. H. Palmer (in the volume of Special Papers,\n P. E. Fund.)]\n\n [Nothing is said in this section about the Sinaitic\n Inscriptions, because it has long ago been settled by scholars\n that they are Nabathean pilgrim texts of the third and fourth\n centuries, A.D., written by travellers who were then\n visiting the Sinai convent and the hermitage of W\u00e2dy Feir\u00e2n,\n and the traders who passed from Petra on the way to Egypt.\n They were first read by Beer in 1840, and the authoritative\n work upon them is that of Levy in 1860. In 1868-9, Prof. E.\n H. Palmer confirmed their results. For further references see\n Major Conder in _Quarterly Statement_, Jan. 1892.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n PALESTINE.\n\n\n 1. _Palestine generally._\n\nIt will be a useful preliminary to our study of Palestine if we give\nhere a short list of the expeditions sent out by the Committee of the\nPalestine Exploration Fund.\n\nWe were already greatly indebted to many explorers--Dr Robinson,\nBurckhardt, Van de Velde, &c., for the geography, and M. Lartet for the\ngeology, but there had never been any organised party in Palestine,\nproperly equipped for a scientific survey. In 1864 Jerusalem was\nproperly surveyed by Captain Wilson, R.E., at the expense of Lady\nBurdett Coutts, and an excellent map of the city was published. Then\nthe happy idea occurred to Mr George Grove, at that time Secretary\nof the Crystal Palace Company, but also known for his topographical\narticles in Dr Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the Bible,\u201d that the time was\nripe for a systematic survey of the entire country. His energy brought\ntogether an influential company at a public meeting in Willis\u2019s\nRooms, on the 22nd June 1865, the Archbishop of York being in the\nchair, and a Society was at once formed. The Archbishop of York was\nelected President, Mr George Grove, Hon. Secretary, and the first\nCommittee included the names of the Duke of Argyll, the Earl of\nShaftesbury, A. H. Layard, M.P., Walter Morrison, M.P., Dean Stanley,\nSir Henry Rawlinson, Rev. H. B. Tristram, F.R.S., and others equally\ndistinguished. The Archbishop, in his opening address, laid down the\nprinciples on which the work of the Society should be based--namely,\nthat it should be a scientific society, carrying out its work in\na scientific way, and should abstain from controversy. To these\nprinciples the Society has steadily adhered, and it has been (as it has\ncalled itself) \u201cA Society for the accurate and systematic investigation\nof the arch\u00e6ology, topography, geology, and physical geography,\nnatural history, manners, and customs of the Holy Land, for Biblical\nillustration.\u201d\n\nThe first expedition was sent out in 1866, under Captain Wilson, R.E.,\nand Lieutenant Anderson, R.E., and landed at Beyrout. During six months\nthis party carefully probed the country from Damascus to Hebron,\nand finally made its report in favour of commencing excavations at\nJerusalem.\n\nIn 1867 Lieutenant Warren, R.E., was despatched to Jerusalem, with a\nparty of non-commissioned officers, to commence the excavations. This\nwork was continued until 1870. In 1868 the Moabite Stone was discovered\nby Rev. F. Klein, and in 1870 M. Clermont Ganneau, an arch\u00e6ologist\nemployed by the Society, found an inscribed stone belonging to Herod\u2019s\ntemple.\n\nTo the same year 1870 belongs the Survey of Sinai, conducted by Major\nH. S. Palmer and Captain Wilson, and to 1871 Professor E. H. Palmer\u2019s\njourney through the Desert of the Tih (or Wilderness of the Wanderings).\n\nThe Survey of Western Palestine was begun in 1872; and when, in a\nshort time, Captain Stewart came home invalided, his place was taken\nby Lieutenant Conder, who continued the work during a series of\nyears. Meantime, in 1874, M. Clermont Ganneau went out on another\narch\u00e6ological mission.\n\nIn 1877 the Survey, which had been interrupted by an attack on the\nparty, at Safed, was resumed by Lieutenant Kitchener, who had been\nConder\u2019s chief helper, and was completed satisfactorily.\n\nIn 1880 the great map of Western Palestine was published; and in 1881\nConder commenced the Survey of Eastern Palestine, which, however, the\nTurks did not allow to be completed.\n\nA geological expedition left England in October 1883, under Professor\nEdward Hull, F.R.S., Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland.\nLieutenant-Colonel Kitchener, who accompanied him, surveyed the Wady\nArabah.\n\nIn 1885 and later years, extensive tracts of country have been surveyed\nby Herr Schumacher, especially in the Jaulan.\n\nFollowing upon these various explorations, the Society has poured out\nan incessant stream of publications, maps, and photographs, and its\nofficers have published important books on their own account.\n\n\n 2. _Physical Features of Palestine._\n\n\u201cThe main object of the Survey of Palestine may be said to have been\nto collect materials in illustration of the Bible. Few stronger\nconfirmations of the historic and authentic character of the sacred\nvolume can be imagined than that furnished by a comparison of the \u2018Land\nand the Book,\u2019 which shows clearly that they tally in every respect.\nMistaken ideas and preconceived notions may be corrected; but the\ntruth of the Bible is certainly established on a firm basis, by the\ncriticisms of those who, familiar with the people and the country,\nare able to read it, not as a dead record of a former world or of\nan extinct race, but as a living picture of manners and of a land\nwhich can still be studied by any who will devote themselves to the\ntask.\u201d--_Major Conder._\n\nLet us begin our present study of the Holy Land by fixing in our\nminds a clear notion of its general physiography. Two ranges of hills,\nrunning from north to south, one on either side of the river Jordan,\nstand out as a principal feature of the country. The western range\nis between 2000 and 3000 feet high, and the eastern range about 1000\nfeet higher. The Jordan, gathering its waters from three sources,\nbut chiefly from a spring issuing from a cave at Banias, at the base\nof the Anti-Lebanon, about 1000 feet above the ocean level, descends\nrapidly, and at a distance of 12 miles passes through the marshy swamp\ncalled Lake Huleh, generally identified with the Scriptural Waters of\nMerom. \u201cLake Huleh\u201d is 4 miles long, and is very nearly at the same\nlevel with the Mediterranean. The Jordan was not known to pass through\nthis swamp as an actual stream until Mr J. Macgregor, in his _Rob Roy_\ncanoe, navigated his way through the reeds. Descending with the stream\n(\u201cJordan\u201d means _the Descender_), we come, at a further distance of\n10\u00bd miles, to the Lake of Galilee, and here we are 682 feet below the\nMediterranean. The lake is 12\u00bd miles long, and nearly 8 miles wide at\nits broadest part. Between the Lake of Galilee and the Dead Sea the\ndistance, as the crow flies, is 65 miles; but the stream is so tortuous\nthat Lieutenant Lynch found it, in navigation, to be 200 miles. In\nthe course of this distance Lynch passed down twenty-seven rapids\nwhich he considered \u201cthreatening,\u201d besides a great many more of lesser\nmagnitude. The Dead Sea itself is 1292 feet below the Mediterranean,\nthough the level varies by a few feet according as Jordan overflows or\nruns low. Its length is 47 miles and its breadth about 10 miles. It has\nno outlet to the south, but gets rid, by evaporation from the surface,\nof all the water poured into it. Thus the Jordan occupies a gorge which\nis deep as well as wide, and is, together with its lake basins, the\nmost remarkable depression of the kind on the face of the earth. As\nremarked by Mr Ffoulkes, it is a river that has never been navigable,\nflowing into a sea that has never known a port--has never been a\nhighway to more hospitable coasts--has never possessed a fishery--a\nriver that has never boasted of a single town of eminence upon its\nbanks.\n\n [Illustration: MERIDIONAL SECTION, WESTERN PALESTINE.\n\n (_Reduced from Mr Trelawney Saunders\u2019 Section by W. H. Hudleston._)\n\n _Lower Galilee_ _Upper Galilee_\n _Hills of Samaria_\n _Mountains of Jud\u00e6a_]\n\nNorth of the Dead Sea the Valley of the Jordan widens out into an\nextensive flat called the Kikkar or the Round, the Plain of the Jordan.\nNorthwards of this again, the low ground of the Jordan Valley extends\nfor several miles on either side of the stream, the hills now drawing\ncloser, now opening wider. Following the low ground northward, we\nby-and-bye find an opening to the left, the western range of hills\nbeing broken in two by the Valley of Jezreel and the Great Plain\nof Esdraelon. We may continue our journey westward, and round the\npromontory of Mount Carmel, where the road is close to the sea, and\nthen southward through the Plain of Sharon into the Plain of Philistia,\nand onward to the desert of Sinai. Thus it is possible to travel all\nround without once climbing the hills: so that this central region is\nlike an island, with plains around it instead of the ocean. It was, in\nfact, still more isolated, by having a second separating ring around\nthe first; for on the west was the Mediterranean Sea, navigated by the\nPh\u0153nicians, who were peaceably disposed; on the south and east were\nextensive deserts, and on the north were the mountains of Lebanon,\nsending down their roots to the sea-coast. There was, however, a way\nthrough Canaan, from Egypt to Mesopotamia, by the coast route and\nthrough the passes of the Lebanon.\n\nThe hills of Western Palestine do not afford much level table-land,\nfor the torrents running off on either side, into the sea westward\nand into the river eastward, cut the ground into deep gorges; these,\nover-lapping at their sources, leave a central wavy ridge, and if we\ntravel from north to south anywhere but along this ridge we may have\nto cross torrent-beds 1000 feet deep. The eastern range is cut by\ngorges even more formidable, of which the principal are the Arnon, the\nJabbok, and the Hieromax.\n\nThe hills of Western Palestine consisted of grey rock, and were\ncomparatively bare and infertile; the plains were gorgeous with\nflowers, and rich with corn-fields. Beyond the plain of Esdraelon was\nwild scenery of mountain and forest. The eastern hills were green with\nforest and pasture; in the central region were the forests of Gilead;\nnorth of Gilead was rich pasturage for wild herds of cattle--the \u201cbulls\nof Bashan;\u201d in the south was rich pasturage too, and the king of Moab\nat one time was a sheep-master, paying as tribute the wool of 100,000\nlambs and 100,000 rams (2 Kings iii. 4).\n\nFrom Dan in the north to Beersheba in the south, the country measured\nonly 140 miles, and from the Jordan to the sea only some forty or\nfifty: a small country, even when we include the eastern hills,\nyet sufficient for the tribes of Israel at that time; and in parts\nextremely fruitful, a land of milk and honey.\n\nDan was a natural point for a northern limit, since there the ascent\nof Mount Hermon begins, and there we have one of the sources of the\nJordan. The city was situated on an isolated cone, and the modern name\nof it is Banias. On the north side of it there rises a cliff 100 feet\nin height, and at the foot of this is a cave, which was a sanctuary\nof the god Pan. Two niches in the cliff side contain inscriptions in\nhonour of Pan. From the worship of this deity the city was called\nPanias or Panium. Its Biblical name was probably Baal Gad. In the time\nof Josephus the waters of the Jordan burst forth from the cave itself,\nbut now they issue at the foot of a heap of rubbish in front of the\ncavern, in numerous tiny rills, which soon unite and form a river. The\nCastle of Banias is one of the most splendid ruins in Syria. It was\nsurveyed and planned by Colonel Kitchener in 1877. Remains of columns\noccur in the village of Banias, and Major Conder suspects that the\nCrusaders who fortified the place may very probably have destroyed the\nheathen temple and used the pillars in their masonry.\n\nAbout an hour\u2019s distance south of Banias is a mound called _Tell el\nKady_ (the heap of Dan), and here we have another source of the Jordan.\nTell el Kady is one of the most romantic and picturesque spots in the\ncountry, abundantly watered, and overlooking the broad valley of the\nUpper Jordan, with mountain peaks and ridges to north, east, and west.\nA group of dolmens recently discovered at this spot may be thought to\nhave some connection with the ancient worship.\n\nBeersheba (the _well of swearing_, or the _well of the seven_) was\none of the oldest places in Palestine, and is about as far south as\na place can be without actually being in the desert. There are at\npresent on the spot two principal wells and five smaller ones, and\nthey are among the first objects encountered on entering Palestine\nfrom the south. Conder found the principal well to be 12 feet 3 inches\nin diameter, and over 45 feet deep, lined with a ring of masonry to a\ndepth of 28 feet. The sides of all the wells are furrowed by the ropes\nof the water-drawers; but one discovery was made which was rather\ndisappointing, namely, that the masonry is not very ancient. Fifteen\ncourses down, on the south side of the large well, there is a stone\nwith an inscription in Arabic, on a tablet dated, as well as could be\nmade out, 505 A.H., that is 1117 A.D. The wells have no parapets, and\na traveller might easily walk into them unaware. Round the two which\ncontain water there are some rude stone water troughs, which may be of\nany age.\n\nThese being the limits of the country, let us return again to a\nconsideration of its physical aspects.\n\nThe physical features of the country naturally depend upon its\ngeological formation. The ranges of hills, east and west of Jordan,\nare formed almost entirely of beds of cretaceous limestone, which were\nonce continuous. The Jordan Valley coincides with a line of fault; that\nis to say, the rocky strata cracked in an irregular line from north to\nsouth, and the country west of this fault sank down bodily, so that the\nhigher strata of rocks on that side abut now against the lower strata\non the eastern side. With this depression to begin with, the rains and\ntorrents have gradually sculptured the valley into its present form.\n\nThe maritime district of Palestine, stretching from the base of Carmel\nsouthwards by Joppa and Gaza to the Desert of Beersheba, consists of\na series of low hills from 300 feet to 400 feet high, separated by\nvalleys and alluvial plains extending inland to a varying distance.\nThe coast line is bordered by a line of sand-hills, which, when\nunrestrained by some physical barrier, are ever moving inland with\ndisastrous effect. The district is largely composed of beds of sand and\ngravel, which have once been the bed of the outer sea; while along the\nline of many of the rivers and streams a deposit of rich loam of a deep\nbrown colour covers considerable areas, and yields abundant crops of\nwheat and maize to the cultivators.\n\nProfessor Edward Hull, the eminent geologist, who was commissioned by\nthe Palestine Exploration Society to investigate the geology of the\nDesert and the Holy Land, reported the results to the Committee, in\nan elaborate Memoir, in which he treats of the maritime district, the\ntable-land of Western Palestine and the Tih Desert, the depression of\nthe Jordan Valley and its continuation southward to the Gulf of Akabah,\nthe elevated plateau east of Jordan, and the mountainous tract of\nthe peninsula of Sinai. Utilising the labours of his predecessors,\nRusseger, Fraas, Lartet, Vignes, &c., he sometimes confirms their\nresults, and sometimes adds to our knowledge.\n\n [Illustration: GEOLOGICAL SKETCH MAP\n of\n SINAI & PALESTINE\n\n (_based chiefly upon the Maps of M.M. Lartet, Hull & Zittel_.)\n\n _The figures represent deviations above the sea level in English\n feet; those with a minus mark represent depressions\n below sea level._]\n\nBy the kindness of Mr W. H. Hudleston, F.R.S., and Secretary of\nthe Geological Society, I am able to illustrate this chapter with a\ngeological map based chiefly on the maps of Lartet, Hull, and Zittel.\nTo a great extent it tells its own story regarding the features of\nthe country, and the rocks and formations of which the region is\nconstructed. The oldest rocks occupy the greater portion of the\nSinaitic peninsula, as well as the mountains bordering the Gulf of\nAkabah, and extending northward along the eastern side of the Wady\nel Arabah. They consist of granitic, gneissose and schistose rocks,\namongst which have been intruded great masses of red porphyry, dark\ngreen-stone, and other igneous rocks in the form of dykes, veins,\nand bosses. These rocks are probably among the oldest in the world.\nAfter these ancient rocks had been consolidated they were subjected\nto a vast amount of erosion, and were worn into very uneven surfaces,\nover which the more recent formations were spread; first filling up\nthe hollows with the lower strata, and ultimately covering even the\nhigher elevations as the process of deposition of strata went on. The\noldest of these formations is the Red Sandstone and Conglomerate,\nwhich Professor Edward Hull calls the \u201cDesert Sandstone\u201d formation.\nIt forms a narrow strip along the margin of the old crystalline\nrocks. It is capped with the fossiliferous limestone of the Wady\nNash, which shows it to belong to the Carboniferous period--in fact\nto be the representative of the Carboniferous Limestone of Europe and\nthe British Isles. It is also found east of the Arabah Valley and\namongst the mountains of Moab east of the Ghor. This is succeeded by\nanother Sandstone formation, more extensively distributed than the\nformer. It belongs to a much more recent geological period, namely,\nthe Cretaceous; and is the representative of the \u201cNubian Sandstone\u201d of\nRoziere, so largely developed in Africa, especially in Nubia and Upper\nEgypt. This is succeeded by the Cretaceous and Nummulitic Limestone\nformations, which occupy the greater part of the map, forming the great\ntable-land of the Tih, from its western escarpment to the borders of\nthe Arabah Valley, and stretching northward throughout the hill country\nof Judea and Samaria into Syria and the Lebanon.\n\nOn the east of the Jordan Valley the Cretaceous Limestone forms the\ntable-lands of Edom and Moab: as far north as the Hauran and Jaulan,\nwhere the limestone passes below great sheets of basaltic lava. The\nCretaceous Limestone represents the Chalk formation of Europe and the\nBritish Isles.\n\nAlthough the Cretaceous Limestone belongs to the Secondary period,\nand the Nummulitic Limestone to the Tertiary, they are very closely\nconnected in Palestine, as far as their mineral characters are\nconcerned; and they both contain beds or bands of flint and chert.\n\n [Illustration: GENERALISED GEOLOGICAL SECTION ACROSS PALESTINE.\n\n _o_, Level of the Mediterranean: _a_, bed of the maritime plains;\n _m_, old lacustrine deposits of the Dead Sea basin; _n_, deposits\n now forming beneath the Dead Sea; _p_, tufaceous deposits of hot\n springs; _h_, basalt.]\n\nThe Cretaceous Limestone underlies nearly the whole of the Jordan and\nArabah Valleys, although concealed by more recent deposits, and is\nbroken off along the line of the great Jordan Valley fault against\nolder formations. In other words, on the west we have strata of the\nage of the English chalk, which dip down very suddenly towards the\ncentre of the valley. On the east we have the Nubian Sandstone, with\nhard limestone above it geologically coeval with our greensand. It\nis entirely owing to the presence of this leading line of fracture\nand displacement, and the subsequent denudation of strata, that this\ngreat valley exists, and that the eastern side is so mountainous and\ncharacterised by such grand features of hill and dale.\n\nThese limestones pass under a newer formation of Calcareous Sandstone\nin the direction of the Mediterranean, a formation probably of Upper\nEocene age, and called by Hull the \u201cCalcareous Sandstone of Philistia.\u201d\n\nThe formations next in order consist of raised beaches and sea-beds\nalong the coast, and of lake-beds in the Ghor and Jordan Valley; and\nthese bring us, geologically, much nearer to our own time.\n\nNot only do the physical features of a country depend upon its\ngeological formation, but it cannot be questioned that the character\nand mode of life of the inhabitants are moulded or modified by the\nphysical features. It is remarked by Professor Edward Hull that the\nmild patient character of the Egyptian cultivator befits the nature of\nthat wide alluvial tract of fertile land which is watered by the Nile.\nThe mountainous tracts of the Sinaitic peninsula, formed of the oldest\ncrystalline rocks of that part of the world, have become the abode of\nthe Bedouin Arab, the hardy child of nature, who has adapted himself\nto a life in keeping with his wild surroundings. The great table-land\nof the Tih, less rugged and inhospitable than the mountainous parts\nof Sinai and Serbal, supports roving tribes, partly pastoral, and\ngradually assimilating their habits to the Fellahin of Philistia and\nof Palestine, who cultivate the ground and rear large flocks and herds.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the\n Bible.\u201d Survey of Western Palestine, Memoir on the\n Geology. Dr Edward Hull. \u201cThe Geology of Palestine.\u201d\n Wilfred H. Hudleston, F.R.S. \u201c_Rob-Roy_ on the Jordan.\u201d\n John Macgregor.]\n\n\n 3. _The Dead Sea, Salt Sea, or Sea of Lot._\n\nIt is pointed out by Sir George Grove that the name \u201cDead Sea\u201d never\noccurs in the Bible, and appears not to have existed until the second\ncentury after Christ. It originated in an erroneous opinion, and\nthere can be little doubt that to the name are due in a great measure\nthe mistakes and misrepresentations which were for so long prevalent\nregarding this lake, and which have not indeed yet wholly ceased to\nexist. In the Old Testament it is called the Salt Sea, and the Sea of\nthe Plain (Arabah). By the Arabs it is called El Bahr Lut (the Sea of\nLot).\n\nThe Salt Sea lies in the deepest part of the great Jordan-Arabah\ndepression, and the ground rises to the south of it, as well as in all\nother directions. It was shown, in fact, by Colonel Kitchener\u2019s survey\nof the Arabah that the bed of the valley, for the most part, is raised\nabove the level of the Gulf of Akabah. From the border of the Dead Sea\nsouthward the ground rises but little for 10 miles, but then begins to\nrise rapidly, so that at a distance of about 40 miles it is as high\nas the sea level at Akabah; and 29 miles further south it is 660 feet\nabove that level.\n\nThe Jordan Valley, as already stated, coincides with a great fault\nin the strata. This had been recognised by Lartet, Tristram, Wilson,\nand others; and Professor Hull has traced the continuation of this\nfracture, at the base of the Edomite mountains along the Arabah Valley.\nHe agrees with Lartet in thinking that the waters of the Jordan Valley\nhave not flowed down into the Gulf of Akabah since the land emerged\nfrom the ocean. The disconnection of the inner waters from the outer is\na very ancient event, dating back to Miocene times.\n\nThe River Jordan, throughout its course, from the Sea of Tiberias to\nthe Salt Sea, cuts its channel through alluvial terraces, consisting\nof sand, gravel, and calcareous marl, which sometimes contain shells,\nsemi-fossilised, but of species still living in the lakes of Tiberias\nand Huleh. These terraces are continuous round the shores of the\nSalt Sea, and between the base of the cliffs of Jebel Karantul, near\nJericho, and the fords of the Jordan, three of them may be observed,\n\n the first being at a level of 650 to 600 feet,\n the second \" \" 520 to 250 \" ,\n the third \" \" 200 to 130 \"\n\nand below the last named is the alluvial flat, liable to be flooded on\nthe rise of the waters. The upper surfaces and outer margins of these\nterraces indicate successive stages, at which the waters have rested in\nsinking down to their present level. Originally they reached a level\nsomewhat over that of the Mediterranean, and at that time a great\ninland lake extended from Lake Huleh southwards into the Arabah Valley,\nits length being about 200 miles.\n\nIn the Jordan Valley, the upper terrace, at the foot of the hills, is\ncalled the Ghor, and it is to be distinguished from the Zor, or bottom\nof the valley, in which the channel of the river, cut still deeper,\nmeanders.\n\nThe Salt Sea itself is enclosed on all sides by terraced hills, except\ntowards the north, where it receives the waters of the Jordan. In\nrising gradually out of the ocean, the region appears to have rested\nseveral times at successive levels, and the sea left its mark in\ndeposits of marl, gravel, and silt. Beyond the southern end of the\nSalt Sea the banks of the Ghor rise in the form of a great white\nsloping wall, to a height of about 600 feet above the plain, and are\nformed of horizontal courses of sand and gravel, resting on white marl\nand loam. This mural wall sweeps round in a semicircular form from side\nto side of the Ghor. The upper surface is nearly level (except where\nbroken into by river channels), and from its base stretches a plain\ncovered partly, over the western side, by a forest of small trees and\nshrubs, and partly by vegetation affording pasturage to the numerous\nflocks of the Arabs, who settle down here during the cooler months of\nthe year. It is impossible to doubt that at no remote period the waters\nof the Salt Sea, though now distant some 10 miles, washed the base of\nthese cliffs, and a rise of a few feet would submerge this verdant\nplain, and bring back the sea to its former more extended limits.\n\nFrom this position also, the white terrace of Jebel Usdum--\u201cthe salt\nmountain\u201d where the Crusaders wrongly placed Sodom--is seen projecting\nfrom the sides of the loftier limestone terraces of the Jud\u00e6an hills.\nTowards the east, similar terraces of whitish alluvial deposits are\nseen clinging to the sides of the Moabite hills, or running far up the\ndeep glens which penetrate the sides of the great table-land. In these\nterraces, the upper surfaces of which reach a level of about 600 feet\nabove the waters of the Salt Sea, we behold but the remnants of an\nancient sea-bed, which must originally have stretched from side to side.\n\nEight hundred feet higher than these terraces there are others\ncomposed of marl, gravel, and silt, through which the ravines of\nexisting streams have been cut; and this indicates that the level of\nthe Salt Sea stood at one time 100 feet higher than the waters of the\nMediterranean stand now.\n\n_Origin of the saltness of the Dead Sea._--It has been generally\nrecognised that the waters of lakes which have no outlet ultimately\nbecome more or less saline. Of these the most important in the old\nworld are the Caspian, the Sea of Aral, Lakes Balkash, Van, Urumiah,\nand, lastly, the Dead Sea, or as it was originally called, \u201cthe Salt\nSea.\u201d \u201cThe Caspian,\u201d says Professor Hull, \u201cowing to its great extent\nand other causes, is but slightly saline; but that with which we have\nhere to deal is the most saline of all. It is probable that the water\nof the ocean itself has become salt owing to the same cause which has\nproduced saltness in the inland lakes, as it may be regarded as a mass\nof water without an outlet. The cause of the saltness in such lakes I\nnow proceed to explain.\n\n\u201cIt has been found that the waters of rivers contain, besides matter\nwhich is in a state of mechanical suspension, carbonates of lime and\nmagnesia, and saline ingredients in a state of solution; and as those\nlakes which have an outlet, such as the Sea of Galilee, part with their\nwaters and saline ingredients as fast as they receive them, the waters\nof such lakes remain fresh. It is otherwise, however, with regard to\nlakes which have no outlet. In such cases the water is evaporated as\nfast as it is received; and as the vapour is in a condition of purity,\nthe saline ingredients remain behind. Thus the waters of such a lake\ntend constantly to increase in saltness, until a state of saturation\nis attained, when the excess of salt is precipitated, and forms beds\nat the bottom of the lake. The contrast presented by the waters of the\nSea of Galilee on the one hand, and those of the Dead Sea on the other,\nthough both are fed by the same river, is a striking illustration of\nthe effects resulting from opposite physical conditions. In the former\ncase, the waters are fresh, and abound in fishes and molluscs; in the\nlatter, they are so intensely salt that all animal life is absent.\n\n\u201cThe increase of saltness in the waters of the Dead Sea has probably\nbeen very slow, and dates back from its earliest condition, when its\nwaters stretched for a distance of about 200 miles from north to\nsouth....\n\n\u201cThe excessive salinity of the waters of the Dead Sea will be\nrecognised from a comparison with those of the Atlantic Ocean. Thus,\nwhile the waters of the ocean give six pounds of salt, &c., in a\nhundred pounds of water, those of the Dead Sea give 24\u00b757 pounds in the\nsame quantity; but in both cases the degree of salinity varies with the\ndepth, the waters at the surface being less saline than those near the\nbottom....\n\n\u201c_As to the depth of the waters_:--The floor of the Dead Sea has been\nsounded on two occasions: first, by the Expedition under Lieutenant\nLynch in 1848, and secondly, by that under the Duc de Luynes. In the\nformer case the maximum depth was found to be 1278 feet; in the latter\n1217 feet, being close approximations to each other. We may therefore\naffirm that the floor of the lake descends to nearly as great a\ndepth below its surface as the surface itself below the level of the\nMediterranean Sea.\n\n\u201cThe section given by Lynch indicates that the place of greatest depth\nlies much nearer the Moabite than the Jud\u00e6an shore, and the descent\nfrom the base of the Moabite escarpment below Jebel Attarus and between\nthe outlets of the W\u00e2dies Mojeb and Zerka Ma\u00efn, is very steep indeed.\nThe deepest part of the trough seems to lie in a direction running\nnorth and south, at a distance of about 2 miles from the eastern bank;\nand while the ascent towards this bank is rapid, that towards the\nJud\u00e6an shore on the west is comparatively gentle. The line of this deep\ntrough seems exactly to coincide with that of the great Jordan Valley\nfault. From the bottom of the deeper part, the sounding line brought up\nspecimens of crystals of salt (sodium-chloride), and it can scarcely be\ndoubted that a bed of this mineral, together with gypsum, is in course\nof formation over the central portions of the Dead Sea.\u201d\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cMemoirs of the Survey:\n Geology\u201d, Dr E. Hull. Smith\u2019s \u201cDict. of Bible.\u201d \u201cTent Work in\n Palestine.\u201d By Major Conder, R.E.]\n\n\n 4. _The Cities of the Plain._\n\nThere is now a general consent that Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and\nZeboim were situated north of the Dead Sea, in the Kikkar or Plain of\nthe Jordan. There are old maps which represent these cities as situated\nat the bottom of the Dead Sea waters, and yet enveloped in flames!\nPopular ignorance imagines that the bitumen which rises to the surface\nof the waters is a relic of the agency which effected the destruction.\nAnd until recently even the best scholars supposed the cities to lie\nbeneath the shallow part of the sea, south of the Lisan peninsula.\nAll such theories are disproved by the geological investigation,\nwhich shows that the Dead Sea is much older than any date which can\nbe assigned to the destruction of the cities, and that the surface of\nthe water has been constantly diminishing in area and sinking to lower\nlevels.\n\nThere is nothing in the Bible which should lead us to look for the\ncities south of the Dead Sea, where the Crusaders placed them, or east\nof it, or anywhere but north and in the Kikkar. When Abraham and Lot\ntalked together concerning the disputes between their herdsmen, and\ndecided to go different ways with their flocks, \u201cLot lifted up his eyes\nand beheld all the Plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered ...\nuntil thou comest unto Zoar.\u201d It was clearly shown by Sir George Grove,\nin Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the Bible,\u201d that the Plain of the Jordan\nhere spoken of is not the Arabah, in which the Dead Sea reposes, but\nthe Kikkar or \u201cRound\u201d of country north of it. The position of Abraham\nand Lot at the time was on a mount east of Bethel; and as the site of\nBethel is known, it was not difficult to find the mount east of it. It\nwas reasonably identified by Rev. Canon Williams, and his conclusions\nwere confirmed in 1865 by Colonel Sir C. Wilson. It has been shown that\nif the cities had been south of the Dead Sea, human vision could not\npossibly have extended so far, to distinguish anything. But north of\nthe sea, in the Round or Plain, Lot would be able to perceive them.\nAccordingly, when the friendly conference ended, he journeyed eastward\nfrom the mount near Bethel, in order to reach his new home in Sodom.\n\nThe vision of Lot had extended across the plain, to Zoar and no\nfarther, because the plain was bounded by the high mountains of Moab.\nDr Tristram believes that he has identified Zoar, the fifth city of\nthe Plain, the \u201clittle city\u201d to which Lot fled after the convulsion.\nStanding on Mount Nebo, he detected the ruins a little in front of him,\nalmost in a line with Jericho. The ruins were on a low brow of ground,\nand thus correspond to the description that Lot rested in this city\non his way to the mountains, and afterwards went up into the mountain\nand dwelt in a cave. The ruins are still called Ziara, which does not\ndiffer much from the Greek spelling \u0396\u03c9\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1, nor very widely\nfrom the Hebrew.\n\nIs it possible to discover any relics of the four larger cities?\nAlthough destroyed by fire, they may not have been utterly annihilated,\nany more than Pompeii; but if their remains are hiding beneath the\ndust, the dust keeps its secret well. Major Conder rode day by day\nover almost every acre of ground between Jericho and the Dead Sea, and\ncould not detect any mound or sign of a buried city. The whole was a\nwhite desert, except near the hills, where rich herbage grows after\nthe rains. The time of year was most favourable for such exploration,\nbecause no long grass existed to hide any ruins. But in all that plain\nhe found no ruin, except the old monastery of St John and a little\nhermit\u2019s cave.\n\nThis description leaves out of account a remarkable group of _tells_,\nor mounds of earth and rubbish, strewn over with ruins, existing in\nthe neighbourhood of Jericho. They are seven in number, and one of\nthem is not far from Elisha\u2019s Fountain, now called _Ain es Sultan_.\nOne would imagine that the exploration of these mounds might yield\nvaluable results; but nobody undertakes the work. It is true that some\nexcavations made by Sir Charles Warren only proved the existence of\nsun-dried bricks; and because the mounds occur generally where the\nsoil is alluvial, Conder regards them as piles of refuse bricks, and\nnothing more; but Sir J. W. Dawson, on visiting the place, noticed\nnumerous flint chips in the mound, and Sir C. Warren, when presiding at\nmy Guildford lecture, publicly expressed the opinion that many small\nobjects of great interest would probably be found if the stuff were\nsifted.\n\nBut if the ruins of the Cities of the Plain are not discoverable, their\nnames appear to linger in the district, slightly disguised as Arabic\nwords, and applying to portions of the ground.\n\nConder justly remarks that the cities would probably be situated near\nfresh-water springs, and the great spring of \u2019Ain Feshkhah, on the\nnorth-west of the Dead Sea, is a probable site for one of them. The\ngreat bluff not far south of the spring is called Tubk \u2019Amriyeh by\nthe Bedawin, and the neighbouring valley Wady \u2019Amriyeh. This word is\nradically identical with the Hebrew Gomorrah, or Amorah as it is spelt\nin one passage (Gen. x. 19), meaning, according to some authorities,\n\u201cdepression,\u201d according to others, \u201ccultivation.\u201d\n\nAdmah means \u201cred earth,\u201d a description which would hardly apply to the\nground near the Dead Sea. But there is no reason why all the four\ncities should be close to the Dead Sea. A convulsion overthrowing\ncities near the Sea would probably be felt a long way up the Jordan\nValley, owing to the line of fault. Conder has pointed out, too, that\nthe term Kikkar is applied in the Bible to the Jordan Valley as far\nnorth as Succoth. A \u201ccity Adam\u201d is noticed in the Book of Joshua as\nbeing beside Zaretan; the name Ed Damieh applies to the neighbourhood\nof the Jordan ford east of Kurn Surtabeh, about 23 miles up the valley;\nand it has always seemed possible to Conder that Adam and Admah were\none and the same. I would add a suggestion of my own in support of the\nview that Admah was some distance up the Jordan Valley. The passage\nGen. x. 19 describes the boundary of Canaan, beginning at Sidon,\nfollowing the coast line to Gaza, striking thence eastward to the Plain\nof the Jordan, and then proceeding up the Jordan Valley to Dan or\nLasha--and the passage may be freely rendered thus,--\u201cAnd the border\nof the Canaanite was from Sidon; thence you go towards Gerar, as far\nas Gaza; thence you go toward Sodom; then by Gomorrah and Admah and\nZeboim, unto Dan.\u201d[14] As Gerar was beyond Gaza southward, the boundary\nonly went toward it; and as Sodom was beyond Jordan eastward, the\nboundary only went toward Sodom; there was no need to say it stopped\nat the river, for that was obvious. It then follows the course of the\nriver from the Dead Sea to the source of the stream. And then the\nnorthern boundary is known without description. If this rendering holds\ngood, then Gomorrah was north-west of the Dead Sea, on a line joining\nGaza with Sodom; and the boundary of the Canaanites, after reaching\nGomorrah, touched Admah and Zeboim, and continued northward to the\ngrotto at Banias.\n\n_Zeboim_ means \u201chyenas,\u201d and is identical with the Arabic Dub\u2019a. For\nthis reason Conder asks whether it may not have been situated at the\ncliff just above the plain, near the site of Roman Jericho, for that\nis now called Shakh ed Dub\u2019a, \u201clair of the Hyena.\u201d If I am right in\nmy reading of Gen. x. 19, Zeboim should be northward of Admah--unless\ntwo names so often coupled together may have their order transposed.\nGrove reminds us that the Valley of Zeboim (the name spelt a little\ndifferently) was a ravine or gorge apparently east of Michmas,\ndescribed in 1 Sam. xiii. 18. It appears to be overlooked in the\ndiscussion that Zeboim is mentioned in Nehemiah xi. 34, in the same\ngroup with Hadid, Lod, and Ono, among the places occupied by the\nchildren of Benjamin, while in Neh. vii. 37, these three places are\nnamed between Jericho and Senaah. But if the Lod in this passage is to\nbe regarded as Lydda in the Plain of Sharon, the grouping of the places\naffords us no guidance.\n\n_Sodom_ alone, as Conder goes on to say, remains without a suggestion,\nand he finds no trace of it west of the Jordan. He notes, however, that\nthe word Siddim is apparently the same with the Arabic _Sidd_, which is\nused in a peculiar sense by the Arabs of the Jordan Valley as meaning\n\u201ccliffs\u201d or banks of marl, such as exist along the southern edge of the\nplains of Jericho, the ordinary meaning being \u201cdam\u201d or obstruction.\nThus the Vale of Siddim might well, so far as its name is concerned,\nhave been situated in the vicinity of the northern shores of the Dead\nSea.\n\nDr Selah Merrill, in his \u201cEast of the Jordan,\u201d also discusses the site\nof the Cities of the Plain. He says:--\u201cSince Zoar was one of them, a\nhint as to their situation may be derived from Gen. xiii. 10, where\nLot and Abraham are represented as standing on a hill near Bethel, and\nlooking down the Jordan Valley towards the Dead Sea. As this verse\nis rendered in our English Bible, the meaning is not clear; but it\nwill become so when all the middle portion of the verse is read as a\nparenthesis, as follows: \u2018And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the\nPlain of Jordan (that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord\ndestroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the\nland of Egypt), until thou comest to Zoar.\u2019 The last clause qualifies\nthe first. Lot saw all the Plain of Jordan as far as Zoar, or \u2018until\nyou come to Zoar.\u2019 Zoar was both the limit of the plain and the limit\nof vision in that direction, so far as the land was concerned.\u201d\n\nDr Merrill then shows that nothing could have been distinguished at the\nsouthern end of the Dead Sea; and quotes early writers to show that\nZoar existed near the northern end.\n\nRegarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, it is not sufficient\nto say briefly that it was a miracle, and assume that no further\nexplanation can be given. A rain of brimstone and fire is spoken of,\nand it is legitimate to look for the source of it. With the instance\nof Pompeii in our minds it is natural to suggest volcanic agency,\nespecially as the region north-east of the Dead Sea affords evidence\nof volcanic action. But Sir J. W. Dawson (a well-known American\ngeologist), in his volume on \u201cEgypt and Syria,\u201d ingeniously argues\nfor a petroleum explosion. The \u201cslime pits\u201d spoken of as abounding in\nthe Vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 10), he regards as petroleum wells, and\nthen traces a parallel as follows:--\u201cRegions of bitumen, like that of\nthe Dead Sea, are liable to eruptions of a most destructive character.\nOf these we have had examples in the oil regions of America. In a\nnarrative of one of these now before me, and which occurred a few\nyears ago, in the oil district of Petrolia, in Canada, I read that a\nborehole struck a reservoir of gas, which rushed upward with explosive\nforce, carrying before it a large quantity of petroleum. The gas almost\nimmediately took fire, and formed a tall column of flame, while the\nburning petroleum spread over the ground and ignited tanks of the\nsubstance in the vicinity. In this way a space of about fifteen acres\nwas enveloped in fire, a village was burned, and several persons lost\ntheir lives. The air flowing toward the eruption caused a whirlwind,\nwhich carried the dense smoke high into the air, and threw down burning\nbitumen all round.\n\n\u201cNow, if we suppose that at the time referred to, accumulations of\ninflammable gas and petroleum existed below the Plain of Siddim, the\nescape of these through the opening of a fissure along the old line of\nfault might produce the effects described--namely, a pillar of smoke\nrising up to heaven, burning bitumen and sulphur raining on the doomed\ncities, and fire spreading over the ground. The attendant phenomenon\nof the evolution of saline waters, implied in the destruction of Lot\u2019s\nwife, would be a natural accompaniment, as water is always discharged\nin such eruptions; and in this case it would be a brine thick with mud,\nand fitted to encrust and cover any object reached by it.\u201d\n\nAn important note, with reference to the destruction of the Cities of\nthe Plain, appears in the statement in Gen. xiv., that the Vale of\nSiddim had bitumen pits or wells, and that these were so abundant or\nimportant as to furnish a place of retreat to, or to impede the flight\nof, the defeated kings of Sodom and Gomorrah. These bitumen pits have\ndisappeared, unless their remains are represented by the singular pits\ndescribed by Dr Merrill as occurring near Wady Nimrim. Their existence\nin the times of Abraham would bespeak a much greater abundance of\nbituminous matter than that now remaining; and it is possible that the\neruption which destroyed the Cities of the Plain may have, to a great\nextent, exhausted the supply of petroleum.\n\n\u201cThere is no reason to think\u201d (adds Dr Dawson) \u201cthat the destruction\nof Sodom and Gomorrah was connected with any important change in\nthe limits of the Dead Sea, though it is highly probable that some\nsubsidence of the valley took place, and may have slightly affected\nits levels relatively to the Jordan and the sea; but it would appear\nfrom Deut. xxix. 23, that the eruption was followed by a permanent\ndeterioration of the district by the saline mud with which it was\ncovered.\u201d\n\nIn the _Theological Monthly_ for May 1890, Rev. James Neil declares\nthat no bitumen pits are to be found anywhere in the neighbourhood of\nthe Jordan. The pits spoken of by Dr Selah Merrill were connected with\naqueducts, and used for purposes of irrigation. But the asphalt thrown\nup from the bottom of the Dead Sea may have been employed to render\nsuch pits watertight, and to that extent they would be slime pits. He\nshows that such pits do exist in the Jordan Valley, extending across\nit in long lines just north of the supposed site of some of the Cities\nof the Plain; and it is a very curious fact that the Bedawin, who are\nunacquainted with their nature and purpose, have a legend connecting\nthem with a great battle.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith\u2019s \u201cDict. of the Bible.\u201d\n \u201cTent Work in Palestine.\u201d Major Conder, R.E. \u201cThe Land of\n Moab.\u201d Rev. Canon Tristram, F.R.S. \u201cEast of Jordan.\u201d Dr Selah\n Merrill. \u201cEgypt and Syria.\u201d Sir J. W. Dawson.]\n\n\n 5. \u201c_Lot\u2019s Wife._\u201d\n\nIn connection with the destruction of Sodom, the Bible mentions the\nfate which overtook Lot\u2019s wife, who \u201cbecame a pillar of salt.\u201d In the\nBook of Wisdom also we read of the waste land that smoketh, and plants\nbearing fruit that never come to ripeness, and a standing pillar of\nsalt--a monument of an unbelieving soul (Wisd. x. 7). Josephus also\nsays that he had seen it (Ant. i. 11, 4). The Arabs have legends on\nthe subject; and travellers now and again describe the pillars of salt\nwhich have been pointed out to them, and to which the legends attach.\nThe stories are by no means modern. Major Conder, in his \u201cSyrian Stone\nLore,\u201d brings into brief compass the notions of the Fathers of the\nChurch on the subject. From an early period \u201cLot\u2019s wife\u201d is mentioned\nas standing by the western shores of the Dead Sea, and Antoninus Martyr\nis careful to combat the idea that the pillar of salt was destroyed\nthrough its being constantly licked by animals. Clemens Romanus had\nseen it; Iren\u00e6us also (IV. xxxi. 3) mentions \u201cLot\u2019s wife\u201d as a pillar\nstill standing. (Quoted by Kitto, Cyclop\u00e6d. \u201cLot.\u201d) So does Benjamin\nof Tudela, whose account is more than usually circumstantial; and in\nlater times Maundrell and others. It seems possibly to be the natural\npinnacle, now called Karnet Sahsul Hameid, to which these writers\nrefer. The feminine nature of this statue was supposed to be still\nperceptible, in spite of petrification.\n\nPerhaps the best account of \u201cLot\u2019s wife\u201d is to be found in E. H.\nPalmer\u2019s \u201cDesert of the Exodus,\u201d where a coloured plate helps the\nrealisation.\n\n\u201cWhile with the Ghaw\u00e1rineh\u201d (says Palmer) \u201cwe had heard strange rumours\nthat \u2018a statue\u2019 called \u2018Lot\u2019s wife\u2019 existed on the eastern shore of\nthe Dead Sea, but none of them had ever seen it, or could give us a\nsatisfactory description of it. Making cautious inquiries amongst the\nBeni Hamideh, we found that the statement was correct, and after some\nlittle trouble, guides were procured who offered to conduct us to the\nspot.... Our path led us to another plateau, about 1000 feet above\nthe Dead Sea, and on the extreme edge of this was the object of which\nwe were in search--Bint Sheikh Lot, or \u2018Lot\u2019s wife.\u2019 It is a tall\nisolated needle of rock, which does really bear a curious resemblance\nto an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder. The Arab legend of\nLot\u2019s wife differs from the Bible account only in the addition of a\nfew frivolous details. They say that there were seven Cities of the\nPlain, and that they were all miraculously overwhelmed by the Dead\nSea as a punishment for their crimes. The prophet Lot and his family\nalone escaped the general destruction; he was divinely warned to take\nall that he had and flee eastward, a strict injunction being given\nthat they should not look behind them. Lot\u2019s wife, who had on previous\noccasions ridiculed her husband\u2019s prophetic office, disobeyed the\ncommand, and, turning to gaze upon the scene of the disaster, was\nchanged into this pillar of rock.\n\n\u201cTravellers in all ages have discovered \u2018Lot\u2019s wife\u2019 in the pillars\nwhich atmospheric influences are constantly detaching from the great\nmasses of mineral salt at the southern end of the Dead Sea, but these\nare all accidental and transient. The rock discovered by us does not\nfulfil the requirements of the Scriptural story, but there can be no\ndoubt that it is the object which has served to keep alive for so many\nages the local tradition of the event.\n\n\u201cThe sun was just setting as we reached the spot; and the reddening\norb sank down behind the western hills, throwing a bridge of sheeny\nlight across the calm surface of the mysterious lake. As we gazed on\nthe strange statue-like outline of the rock--at first brought out into\nstrong relief against the soft yet glowing hues of the surrounding\nlandscape, and then mingled with the deepening shadows, and lost amid\nthe general gloom as night came quickly on, we yielded insensibly to\nthe influence of the wild Arab tale, and could almost believe that\nwe had seen the form of the prophet\u2019s wife peering sadly after her\nperished home in the unknown depths of that accursed sea.\u201d\n\n\n 6. _The Natural History of Palestine, as dependent on its\n Physical Geography._\n\nThe gradual elevation of the countries of Egypt and Palestine, inferred\nby Professor Hull from the geological facts, appears to be borne out\nby a comparison of the fishes which inhabit respectively the Lake of\nGalilee and the lakes of south-eastern Africa.\n\nJosephus, after describing in glowing language the beauty and\nfruitfulness of the country of Gennesaret, says, \u201cFor besides the\ngood temperature of the air, it is also watered from a most fertile\nfountain. The people of the country call it Capharnaum. Some have\nthought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the Coracin\nfish as well as that lake does which is near to Alexandria.\u201d[15] The\ntruth turns out to be much stranger than Josephus imagined, for the Sea\nof Galilee can claim affinity by its fishes with the Victoria Nyanza.\nRev. Canon Tristram, who more than any other traveller has studied\nthe natural history of the Holy Land, has made the comparison in some\ndetail, and made out the relationship of the fishes beyond doubt. He\ndeclares that of all the forms of life in Palestine the fishes are the\nmost interesting. There are no fishes in the Dead Sea; but there are\nfishes, chiefly Cyprinid\u00e6, or of the perch tribe, in the little streams\nand rivers close to the Dead Sea. \u201cI have seen the date palm absolutely\ndipping its fronds into the Dead Sea as it hung over--for on the east\nside the date palm is very luxuriant. On the eastern shores there is\nas wonderful an exuberance of vegetable life as will be found anywhere\non the face of the earth. The plants are like hot-house plants growing\nwild. In the warm waters entering to the sea there are small fishes of\nvarious species. We found thirteen new kinds of fishes in the Jordan\nand its affluents. Dr G\u00fcnther of the British Museum kindly described\nthem in a paper in the \u2018Proceedings of the Zoological Society of\nLondon,\u2019 and certainly such a discovery amply repaid our search.\n\n\u201cI wish now to point out the conclusions come to from these fishes,\nfor they are really the climax of the physical geography of the Jordan\nValley. The fishes found in the Sea of Galilee not only belong for the\nmost part to species different from those found in any stream flowing\ninto the Mediterranean, but they belong frequently to different genera.\nSome years before, I brought home the type specimen of a fish, the only\nspecies I could find in some salt lakes of the Sahara, and Dr G\u00fcnther\ndeclared it to be not only a new species but a new genus. I remember\nSir Charles Lyell observing, \u2018You have got there the last living\nrepresentative of the Saharan ocean.\u2019 We found in the Sea of Galilee\nthree more species of the same genus, but each distinct. Speke brought\nback two species of the same family from the Nyanza, and Dr Kirk has\ndescribed several from the Zambezi and the neighbouring region.\n\n\u201cNow we may see what this amounts to. We have got the same genus of\nfishes represented in a variety of specific types from the Sea of\nGalilee and the Jordan that are found in the feeders of the Nile,\nand in the Central African lakes down to the Zambezi. The conclusion\nis natural that all these fishes come from a common origin, and that\nduring the Tertiary period there was a chain of fresh-water lakes,\nextending to the lakes in Africa, similar to the chain of lakes in\nNorth America.\n\n\u201cWe find in Palestine forty-three species of fishes, of which only\neight belong to the ordinary ichthyological fauna of the Mediterranean\nrivers. But these belong to the rivers of the coast. In the Jordan\nsystem only one species out of thirty-six belongs to the ordinary\nMediterranean fauna, viz., _Blennius lupulus_. Two others, _Chromis\nniloticus_ and _Clarias macracanthus_, are Nilotic. Seven other\nspecies occur in other rivers of South-Western Asia, the Tigris,\nEuphrates, &c. Ten more are found in other parts of Syria, chiefly in\nthe Damascus lakes, and the remaining sixteen species of the families\n_Chromid\u00e6_, _Cyprinodontid\u00e6_, and _Cyprinid\u00e6_, are peculiar to the\nJordan, its affluents, and its lakes. This analysis points at once to\nthe close affinity of the Jordan with the rivers of Tropical Africa.\nThe affinity is not only of species, but of genera, for _Chromis_\nand _Hemichromis_ are peculiarly Ethiopian forms, while the other\nspecies are identical with, or very closely allied to, the fishes\nfrom other fresh waters of Syria. But the African forms are a very\nlarge proportion of the whole, and considering the difficulty of\ntransportation in the case of fresh water fishes, the peculiarities of\nthis portion of the fauna are of great significance.\n\n\u201cThe fluviatile fishes claim special attention, dating, as they\nprobably do, from the earliest time after the elevation of the country\nfrom the Eocene ocean. In the _Foraminifera_, mentioned above as found\nin the Dead Sea sand, such as _Gr. capreolus_, we have the relics of\nthe inhabitants of that early sea. But of the living inhabitants we\nmust place the Jordanic fishes as the very earliest, and these, we have\nseen, form a group far more distinct and divergent from that of the\nsurrounding region than in any other class of existing life. During\nthe epochs subsequent to the Eocene, owing to the unbroken isolation\nof the basin, there have been no opportunities for the introduction\nof new forms, nor for the further dispersion of the old ones. These\nforms, as we have seen, bear a striking affinity to those of the\nfresh-water lakes and rivers of Eastern Africa, even as far south as\nthe Zambezi. But the affinity is in the identity of genera, _Chromis_\nand _Hemichromis_ being exclusively African, while the species are\nrather representative than identical.\n\n\u201cThe solution appears to be that during the Meiocene and Pleiocene\nperiods the Jordan basin formed the northernmost of a large system of\nfresh-water lakes, extending from north to south, of which, in the\nearlier part of the epoch, perhaps the Red Sea, and certainly the\nNile Basin, the Nyanza, the Nyassa, and the Tanganyika lakes, and\nthe feeders of the Zambezi, were members. During that warm period, a\nfluviatile ichthyological fauna was developed suitable to its then\nconditions, consisting of representative, and perhaps frequently\nidentical species, throughout the area under consideration.\n\n\u201cThe advent of the glacial period was, like its close, gradual.\nMany species must have perished under the change of conditions. The\nhardiest survived, and some perhaps have been gradually modified to\nmeet those new conditions. Under this strict isolation it could hardly\nbe otherwise; and however severe the climate may have been, that of\nthe Lebanon, with its glaciers probably corresponding with the present\ntemperature of the Alps at a proportional elevation (regard being had\nto the difference of latitude), the fissure of the Jordan being, as we\ncertainly know, as much depressed below the level of the ocean as it is\nat present; there must have been an exceptionally warm temperature in\nits waters in which the existing ichthyological fauna could survive.\u201d\n\nSuch facts as these tell us that Palestine is not to be regarded as a\nEuropean country, but rather as an African outlier, while it has also\nstrong affinities with Asia, as proved by others of these fishes. In\nfact, it stands in the midst between three continents, and is, in a\nvery important sense, the centre of the world. Dr Tristram, our best\nauthority in this department, shows us how Palestine contains an\nepitome of the life of the world, and does so just because it includes\nalmost every variety of climate.\n\nLinn\u00e6us said that we know more of the botany and zoology of farther\nIndia than we do of those of Palestine. It is pleasant to reflect\nthat, to some extent, this reproach has been removed. It always\nentered into the plans of the Palestine Exploration Society to study\nthe natural history of the Holy Land; and although they have not been\nable to equip and maintain a party of naturalists, charged with this\nbusiness alone, some of their officers have gathered interesting facts\nincidentally. Other inquirers, like Rev. Wm. Houghton and Mr Thaddeus\nMason, have been usefully engaged on the same work. Mr H. Chichester\nHart, who accompanied Professor E. Hull through the Arabah and Southern\nPalestine, has written an interesting volume on \u201cThe Animals mentioned\nin the Bible.\u201d But it is to Rev. Dr Tristram we are chiefly indebted.\nThe Memoirs of the Survey include a magnificent volume on the \u201cFauna\nand Flora of Western Palestine,\u201d in which he works out his valuable\nseries of investigations, and besides giving facts and details, treats\nthe subject in a large philosophical way, as he does also in his\nlectures. \u201cYou have on Lebanon and Hermon,\u201d he says, \u201ca climate like\nthat of the Alps, or two-thirds of the way up Mont Blanc. You have on\nthe tops of Lebanon and Hermon an almost arctic climate, and you have a\nfauna and a flora (animals and plants) corresponding to that climate.\nYou know that when you descend a coal-pit 1300 feet deep you get into\na very warm temperature indeed. Now the Dead Sea is 1300 feet below\nthe level of the Mediterranean, and the consequence is that you have\naround the Dead Sea a tropical or sub-tropical climate, and you have\nsub-tropical products.\n\n\u201cAt the northern end of the Holy Land you find yourself at the starting\npoint of the Jordan, which, being 1000 feet above the Mediterranean at\nthe grotto of Banias, descends so rapidly that it is only a few feet\nabove the sea level at Lake Huleh. Mount Hermon rises abruptly from its\nbase near Lake Huleh (the ancient Waters of Merom). Although Hermon is\nonly 10,000 feet high, I am not aware of any mountain which rises so\nsuddenly or so directly from its base. Take, for instance, Chamounix.\nIf you want to go to the top of Mont Blanc, you know that Chamounix is\nmany hundred feet above the platform of the Mediterranean. It is true\nthat Mont Blanc is many thousand feet higher than Mount Hermon, but\nfrom its immediate base it is not so high. When you get up to the Grand\nMulets you are not so far from the summit of Mont Blanc as you are at\nLake Huleh from the summit of Hermon. The consequence of this is that\nyou have brought together in that spot a greater contrast of produce,\nanimal and vegetable, than I have found anywhere else. You have the\narctic climate of the north on the tops of the mountains, and a\ntropical climate in the Jordan Valley, where, in the month of January,\nI have been glad to sleep in the open air, the thermometer never being\nbelow 80\u00b0 at midnight. At the east and south you have the dry sandy\ndesert; so that you have four distinct climates within view of each\nother. I can stand on any of the hills of Judea and see the snow-capped\ntops of Hermon and Lebanon, and look over this vast desert eastward and\ndown to the seething tropical valley of the Dead Sea.\n\n\u201cNow, with all that, there is nothing in the physical character of that\ncountry which is striking or phenomenal, as people would call it. It\nis about the most commonplace and ordinary country in the world that I\nhave ever seen. There are no startling features, but there is endless\nvariety in it, and I cannot help thinking that there is something very\nprovidential in the extraordinary variety which is brought together\nwithin a district of the Holy Land, which is not so large as the six\nnorthern counties of England; because I remember that it was chosen\nas the country in which was written a Book, which was to be for the\nteaching and guidance of all mankind in every country and in every\nage; and I know no spot in the world in which there could have been\nfound brought together so many phenomena of Nature, maritime and\ndesert, mountain and plain, hill and valley, tropical, temperate, and\narctic, as are brought together there within the space of a few miles.\nAnd when I remember that that Book was to be for the teaching of all\nmen, for all time, I feel that there is something providential in that\nordering of circumstances which led to the selection of the only spot,\nas far as we know, in the whole world, in which there is such a great\nvariety of objects for the illustration, comparison, and elucidation\nof Holy Writ as in that country of the Holy Land. Often, when I have\nbeen in that country, on one of its hills, and have noticed the variety\nof scenery brought into my view at one time, I have thought to myself,\n\u2018What would the Bible have been if its pages had been written by men\nwho had lived only in the monotonous valley of the Nile? What would\nthey have been able to pen in the way of illustration which would\nhave come home to the heart of the English peasant?\u2019 Again, if that\nBook were written by men who were only familiar with the phenomena of\nArabian deserts, how could it have come home to those who dwell on the\nsea? Had it been written by inhabitants of tropical India, how would\nit have come home to those who are familiar with \u2018snow and frost and\nvapour, fulfilling His will?\u2019 In fact, there are illustrations taken\nfrom every kind of natural phenomena, and yet none of them are very\nmarked or startling.\u201d\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cPalestine in its Physical\n Aspects.\u201d Rev. Canon Tristram, F. R. S. Survey Memoirs: \u201cThe\n Fauna and Flora.\u201d Rev. Canon Tristram. \u201cThe Animals mentioned\n in the Bible.\u201d Henry Chichester Hart, B.A., F.L.S.]\n\n\n 7. _The Topographical Survey of Western Palestine._\n\nBefore we can properly understand the history of any country we must\nhave before us an accurate map, showing its physical features of\nmountain, plain, and river, and the relative positions of its cities\nand important places. This is true in an unusual degree in the case of\nPalestine, a country peculiar in its physical contrasts, and for more\nthan a thousand years the home of a peculiar people. The sacred books\nof other religions--consisting greatly of rhapsodies, prayers, and\ndevotions--might have been written as well in one country as another;\nbut the Bible contains the history of a particular people, occupying\na definite district of country, fighting their battles, making their\njourneys, and singing psalms oft suggested by their surroundings. It is\nabsolutely necessary for the student of Hebrew history to make himself\nacquainted with Palestine geography and topography. \u201cThe history\nassumes everywhere a knowledge of the country, and the writer never\nstops to explain where the scene of every episode occurs, except to\nname it as a spot already known.\u201d Yet, until lately, no accurate map\nof the country could be obtained--because no scientific survey had\nbeen carried out. Bible towns and villages had disappeared, and their\nsites were not known. The visitor to Palestine, consulting Murray\u2019s\n\u201cHandbook\u201d as his best guide, found long columns of \u201cplaces mentioned\nin Scripture, but not yet identified\u201d--Admah, Adullun, Debir, Edrei,\nGallim, &c., &c. In going up from Jaffa to Jerusalem he was shown a\nbrook, and told that David there selected the five smooth stones before\nhis combat with Goliath; but the brook was in the wrong locality.\nDown by the Jordan he found the grave of Moses on the wrong side of\nthe river. In Galilee he was perplexed how to decide between two\nrival sites for Cana, especially as the water-pots connected with the\nmarriage feast were to be seen at both places. General uncertainty\nattended his footsteps throughout.\n\nThe people who did most to bring about this confusion in regard to the\nsacred sites were the Crusaders. Knights and priests of the twelfth\ncentury, arriving in Palestine, were strangers in the country, and\nalthough enthusiastic they were ignorant and illiterate. They used to\nland at Athlit, and journey thence to Nazareth or to Jerusalem, fixing\nas many places _en route_ as they could. Athlit itself they regarded\nas the ancient Tyre! Meon, the home of Nabal, they fixed close by,\nbecause Mount Carmel was not far off, and Abigail came from Carmel.\nThey did not recognise that the Carmel of Abigail and Nabal was a city\nin the south of Judah. Knowing that Capernaum was a fishing town, they\nplaced it on the Mediterranean coast and identified it with a fortress\nof their day, now the village called Kefr Lam. These three places,\nwhich were shown to the religious devotee as soon as he landed, are in\nreality many days\u2019 journey apart. Caipha (Haifa) was shown as a place\nwhere Simon Peter used to fish. Shiloh was south of Bethel, and was\nin fact the mountain now called Nebi Samwil. Sychar and Shechem were\none and the same place. \u201cThe Quarantania or Kuruntul mountain\u201d (says\nConder) \u201chas, from the twelfth century down, been shown as the place\nwhere our Lord retired for the forty days of fasting in the desert.\nNear to it the Crusaders also looked for the \u2018exceeding high mountain\u2019\nwhence the Tempter showed our Lord \u2018all the kingdoms of the world and\nthe glory of them\u2019 (Matt. iv. 8). Saewulf tells us that the site of\nthis mountain was 3 miles from Jericho. Fetellus places it north of\nthat town and 2 miles from Quarantania. The measurements bring us to\nthe remarkable cone called the Raven\u2019s Nest. The story is wonderfully\ndescriptive of the simplicity of men\u2019s minds in the twelfth century,\nfor the summit of the \u2018exceeding high mountain,\u2019 whence all the\nkingdoms of the world were to have been seen, is actually lower than\nthe surface of the Mediterranean, and it is surrounded on every side by\nmountains more than double its height.\u201d\n\nTradition having been shown to be untrustworthy, when unsupported\nby other evidence, a general uncertainty prevailed with regard to\nScripture places. No traveller could believe what his guide or guide\nbook told him, and no student could have confidence in his map. The\nlabour of investigation was beyond the power of private individuals;\nand no Government and no Society had ever sent out an organized\nexpedition. But now happily this reproach is removed. The Committee\nof the Palestine Exploration Fund were able to send out Major Conder,\nR.E., and Colonel Kitchener, R.E., and these officers, with their\nlittle party, spent seven years in carrying out a triangulation survey\nof the entire country west of the river Jordan. As a result of their\nlabours, followed up by much patient work at home, we are now presented\nwith a magnificent map of Western Palestine, on the scale of one inch\nto the mile, as beautifully and accurately executed as the ordnance\nmap of England, with every road and ruin marked, and every conspicuous\nobject filled in; with the hills and mountains correctly delineated and\nshaded, with the rivers and brooks all running in the right directions;\nwith every vineyard, every spring of water, and almost every clump of\ntrees set down in its place, and with thousands of names that never\nappeared on a Palestine map before. Moreover, while there are six\nhundred and twenty-two Scripture names of places west of the Jordan,\nand out of these three hundred and sixty were missing, the surveyors\nhave succeeded in finding one hundred and seventy-two of these. A\nreduced map, on the scale of three-eighths of an inch to the mile, has\nbeen prepared, and contains the Old Testament names and New Testament\nnames conspicuously marked, while other forms of the map show the\nwatershed and physical features of the country, or give the divisions\nof the land and the Arabic names of places in use to-day.\n\nThere could be no better aid in studying the Scriptures than to\nhave such maps by our side; for whether we read of the marching and\ncounter-marching of armies; of the positions taken up before a battle;\nof the direction taken by the retreating foe; the sites selected for\nplaces of worship; the journeys of prophets of the Old Testament, or of\nJesus and his disciples in the New, so much depends upon the relative\npositions of places, and their distances one from another, that we\nnecessarily lose a part of the meaning, and miss a portion of the\nenjoyment unless we have a correct map by our side.\n\nThe best modern map of the Holy Land, previous to that prepared by the\nPalestine Exploration Fund, was the work of Van de Velde, a careful\nand scientific traveller and scholar. Van de Velde not only took\nobservations himself, but laid down on his map all the observations\nmade by previous travellers. Yet, when at the annual meeting of the\nPalestine Exploration Fund in 1886, a portion of Van de Velde\u2019s map\nwas shown on an enlarged scale, side by side with the same portion\nof the Society\u2019s map, similarly enlarged, the contrast was striking.\nThe first, with its hills roughly sketched in, its valleys laid down\nroughly, and its inhabited places, villages, or ruins, gave all that\nwas known of this piece of country before the Survey. It was on such\na map as this, the best at the time, because the most faithful, that\nthe geographical student had to work. There was little use, from a\ngeographical point of view, in consulting previous books of travel,\nbecause Van de Velde had gleaned from them all their geographical\nfacts. Yet hardly any single place was laid down correctly; none of the\nhill shading was accurate; the course of the rivers and valleys was\nnot to be depended upon; the depression of the Lake of Galilee was\nvariously stated; distances were estimated by the rough reckoning of\ntime taken from place to place; and the number of names was only about\neighteen hundred, whereas the large map of the Palestine Exploration\nSociety contains ten thousand.[16]\n\n [Illustration: PHYSICAL MAP of PALESTINE]\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cTent Work in Palestine.\u201d Major\n Conder, R. E. \u201cTwenty-one Years\u2019 Work in the Holy Land.\u201d P. E.\n Fund. \u201cQuarterly Statements of the P. E. Fund.\u201d]\n\n\n 8. _Israel\u2019s Wars and Worship, considered in connection\n with the Physical Features of the Country._\n\n\n _The Wars._\n\nNow that we possess a detailed and accurate map of the Holy Land we are\nin a position to study with advantage the conquest of the country by\nJoshua, and to appreciate the motives of strategy and policy displayed\nin the successive phases of Israel\u2019s wars and worship.\n\nThe twelve tribes, coming out of the wilderness, encamped in the Plain\nof the Jordan, opposite Jericho. While they rested there, Balak,\nking of Moab, alarmed by their numbers, and uncertain as to their\nintentions, sent to Mesopotamia for Balaam, to come and curse them.\nBalaam ascended Mount Peor (sacred to Baal Peor, _i.e._, Baal the\nOpener) and was constrained to bless them, and speak of them as \u201ca\npeople that dwell alone--not reckoned among the nations\u201d (Num. xxiii.\n9).\n\nUnder Moses the Israelites conquered the country east of Jordan. The\ngorge of the Arnon, 2000 feet deep, and with almost perpendicular\nsides, was a natural boundary for the Moabites. Sometimes, indeed,\nthey possessed territory north of it; but since it would take a\ntraveller several hours to cross at the easiest parts, it was a natural\nboundary. The district between the Arnon and the Jabbok, Moses wrested\nfrom Sihon, king of Heshbon. And then, with the aid of the Ammonites,\nhe conquered the country north of the Jabbok, from Og, the king of\nBashan. These lands were not divided among all the tribes of Israel,\nbut were given to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh as their\nportion, for it was planned and intended that the country west of the\nJordan should be conquered and given to the rest.\n\nThe country west of Jordan was occupied by the Amorites and the\nCanaanites--that is, as some suppose, by the Highlanders of the\ncentral hills, and the Lowlanders of the plains around. But these\npeoples appear to have been subdivided, so that, together with the\ntribes of the Lebanon, we read of the Jebusite and the Girgashite, the\nHivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite and the\nHamathite, as well as Zidon and Heth (Gen. x. 15); and, in another\nplace, of the Kenite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, the Hittite,\nthe Perizzite, and the Rephaim (Gen. xv. 19). Of all these \u201cnations\u201d we\nare told by St Paul that seven were eventually destroyed, and Israel\nreceived their land for an inheritance (Acts xiii. 19).\n\nIt was not the object of Joshua in the first place to conquer the\n\u201cnations\u201d in the plains, but rather those in the hills. It is true\nthat the hills were comparatively barren and infertile, while the\nplains were exceedingly fruitful; but the hill country offered\ncounter-balancing advantages. Compared with the Egyptians, who\nsometimes invaded Syria, the Israelites were small and weak, and their\ngreatest security would be in the hill fastnesses. More immediately\nalso, they have to consider that they are but a nation of foot\nsoldiers, while the Canaanites of the plains possess chariots and\nhorses. In any case, if they can once gain possession of the hills, it\nmay be easier thence to conquer the plains at their leisure, than it\nwould be for them by-and-bye to conquer the hills, with the plains as\ntheir base of operations.\n\nThey approach the river opposite Jericho, and prepare to cross. The\nspot is very well known, and it is where the pilgrims now go to bathe.\nAt this part the Jordan is ordinarily a brown, rapid, swirling stream,\nsome 20 yards across, fringed with a jungle of tamarisk, cane, and\nwillow, in which the leopard and the wolf find their hiding place. The\nstream often runs low and is easily fordable in two or three places\nhereabout. When we remember that the spies sent by Joshua had crossed\nand recrossed without difficulty a few days before, we might suppose\nthat Joshua intended to march the entire army over at the fording\nplaces, at low water, were we not told that at this season the Jordan\noverflowed all its banks, it being the time of barley harvest. The\nJordan, it is recorded, was divided--\u201cThe waters which came down from\nabove stood and rose up in one heap a great way off from Adam, the\ncity which is beside Zarethan: and those that went down toward the Sea\nof the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off: and the people\npassed over right against Jericho\u201d (Josh. iii. 16). Major Conder has\ndiscovered the name Zarethan, still in use, applied to a district 3\nmiles west of Bethshan; and on examining the gorge of the Jordan at\nthis part, a good way north of \u201cAdmah\u201d or _Damieh_, he found that the\nlower cliffs approach in places so close to one another that a very\nlittle would dam up the river. In that event, in place of a shallow\nstream some 20 yards across, a lake would be formed nearly a mile in\nwidth, and the waters would have to rise to a height of 50 feet before\nthey overflowed the barrier and descended again to the south. But\nwhether in this way the bed of the Jordan was rendered dry while the\nIsraelites passed over, is a question upon which, of course, opinions\nwill differ.\n\nWhen the tribes are safely across they encamp at a place called Gilgal.\n\nAn important success in the way of identifying Scripture sites has been\nthe recovery of Gilgal. Robinson had heard the name Jilj\u00fblieh, but\nhad not been able to fix the site. In 1865 a German traveller (Herr\nSchokke), more fortunate, was shown the place, at a mound about a\nmile east of the modern Jericho; and Major Conder succeeded in fixing\nthe spot. Just west of the ruins grows a magnificent old tamarisk\ntree, conspicuous from a distance. South-east of the tamarisk is an\noblong tank, measuring about 100 feet by 80 feet; and near this about\na dozen small mounds. The mounds are called Telleil\u00e2t Jilj\u00fblieh (the\nlittle hillocks of Gilgal), and the tank is named Birket Jilj\u00fblieh\n(the Pool of Gilgal). \u201cThe Bedawin of the district,\u201d says Conder,\n\u201chave a well-known tradition regarding the site of Jilj\u00fblieh. Over the\ncoffee and pipes in the evening, after the day\u2019s work was done, they\nrelated it to us. By the old tamarisk once stood the City of Brass,\nwhich was inhabited by Pagans. When Mohammed\u2019s creed began to spread,\nAly, his son-in-law, \u2018the lion of God,\u2019 arrived at the city, and rode\nseven times round it on his horse Maim\u00fbn. The brazen walls fell down,\ndestroyed by his breath, and the Pagans fled, pursued by the Faithful\ntoward K\u016dr\u016dnt\u016dl; but the day drew to a close, and darkness\nthreatened to shield the infidels. Then Aly, standing on the hill which\nlies due east of the K\u016dr\u016dnt\u016dl crag, called out to the sun,\n\u2018Come back, O blessed one!\u2019 And the sun returned in heaven, so that the\nhill has ever since been called \u2018the Ridge of the return.\u2019 Here stands\nthe Muk\u00e2m, or sacred station of Aly, and here also is the place where\nBel\u00e2l ibn Rub\u00e2h, the Muedhen of the Prophet, called the Faithful to\nprayer after the victory.\u201d\n\nSuch is the legend, in which we see the fall of Jericho mixed up with\nthe battle of Aijalon, and assigned to Mohammedan heroes instead of to\nJoshua.\n\nQuite apart from the facilities of a ford, there was a good reason why\nthe Israelites should cross the Jordan where they did. The hill country\nof Western Palestine is much broken by gorges, which serve not only as\ntorrent beds after the rains, but as passes to the central plateau.\nThe principal pass is by that great gorge, the continuation of the\nWady Kelt, which runs to the north of Jericho and up to Ai and Bethel.\nJoshua intends to ascend by this pass. But there is an obstacle in the\nway. Just at the foot of the hills--where the springs issue forth and\nmake a beautiful oasis--is the city of Jericho, \u201cwalled up to heaven.\u201d\nThis is the key to the pass, and it would be bad generalship to rush\npast the place and leave it in the rear. So Jericho, \u201cthe city of palm\ntrees,\u201d was besieged and taken.\n\nModern Jericho is not a city of palm trees, but a very poor village,\nof mud huts and black tents, standing amid low vineyards. For the\nconvenience of travellers, indeed, an excellent hotel has lately been\nopened--the \u201cJordan Hotel\u201d--but the proprietor has been disappointed in\nhis neighbours; the peasantry will not do a good day\u2019s work for good\nwages, he cannot even get fruit and garden stuff from them, and every\nrequisite has to be brought down from Jerusalem.\n\nThe site of Jericho has shifted considerably since Scripture times,\nfor the Bible city was near the Sultan\u2019s Spring--Elisha\u2019s Fountain--at\nthe foot of the pass, the only natural position, whereas the present\nvillage is at a distance from the spring. Some Russian excavations in\nthe neighbourhood have brought to light shafts, columns, and lintels,\nlamps, jars, rings, and weapons, some indication of former splendour.\n\nThe next city in the way of the invaders was Ai. We learn from the\nnarrative that Ai had Bethel on the west of it, and a plain in the\nfront or on the east, while there was a valley on the north side, and\nlow ground on the west between Ai and Bethel. With these particulars it\nshould be possible to identify the site. Sir Charles Wilson examined\nthe district in 1865, and confirmed the opinion of Rev. Canon Williams\nthat there is only one spot which answers to the description. \u201cThe\ndescription applies in a very complete manner\u201d (says Conder) \u201cto the\nneighbourhood of the modern village of Deir Diwan, and there are\nhere remains of a large ancient town, bearing the name Haiyan, which\napproaches closely to Aina, the form under which Ai appears in the\nwritings of Josephus. Rock-cut tombs and ancient cisterns, with three\ngreat reservoirs cut in the hard limestone, are sufficient to show this\nto have been a position of importance. To the west is an open valley\ncalled \u2018Valley of the City,\u2019 which, gradually curving round eastward,\nruns close to the old road from Jericho by which Joshua\u2019s army would\nprobably advance. To the north of the site there is also a great\nvalley, and the plain or plateau on which the modern village stands,\nclose to the old site, expands from a narrow and rugged pass leading up\ntowards Bethel, which is 2 miles distant on the watershed.\u201d\n\nAscending from Jericho the path at one point enters upon the plain in\nfront of Ai, so that no army on its way to Bethel could afford to leave\nAi behind. Joshua took the city by stratagem, and we can see every step\nof the proceeding. Marching troops up the northern valley, he placed an\nambush in the depression west of the city. The main body of his troops\nattacked in front and presently feigned a retreat, drawing the men of\nAi after them till the city was empty. Then, at a given signal from\nJoshua--who had posted himself on the hills to the north and could\nbe seen by both sections of his army--the ambush rose up and fired\nthe city, the men retreating turned back to fight, and the men of Ai,\ncaught \u201cbetween two fires,\u201d became utterly demoralised.\n\nBethel itself is now called Beitin. The site is known but with the\nexception of a church of crusading date, and a tower, there are no\nruins of any importance. On a hill to the east is a stone circle,\nconsisting of large and small boulders.\n\nAfter the victory at Ai a rapid march was made to Shechem, where, upon\nthe mountains of Ebal and Gerizim, the tribes assembled to hear the\nreading of the Law and to pronounce their \u201camens\u201d after the blessings\nand the curses. It has been questioned whether they could hear one\nanother at the distance apart of these two mountain tops; but they\nwould hardly be on the mountain summits, for there is a natural\nrecess in the hills, with natural benches in the limestone rock, an\namphitheatre which might seem to have been formed for the purpose.\nModern travellers have stood in the midst of that valley and heard\ntheir companions on either side reading the Law, and they assure us\nthat those who were reading could hear one another\u2019s voices with\nsufficient distinctness to take up the verse, each where the other left\noff.\n\nShechem is now called Nablous--a corruption of the Roman Neapolis,\nby which name it was rebaptized--and is a considerable city. The\nSamaritans, now reduced in numbers to about one hundred and sixty\nindividuals, all told, live in this city, and none are found elsewhere.\nIn their synagogue they preserve several old copies of the Pentateuch,\nand one of them, which is kept in a silver case and jealously guarded,\nthey declare to have been written by Abishua, the great-grandson\nof Aaron. On a stone built into a tower near the synagogue is an\ninscription--the oldest known in the Samaritan character--which it\nwas formerly impossible to read, because the inscription is upside\ndown in its place, and the investigator had to dangle on a rope and\nhold his head downwards. But here we see the advantage of photography:\nthe picture was obtained in the camera, and the inscription when\nturned right way up was seen to be the Samaritan version of the Ten\nCommandments.\n\nAfter the solemn ceremony of reading the Law at Shechem the Israelites\nunder Joshua returned to the camp at Gilgal. But by this time the\nnews of their victories had spread, the neighbouring cities became\nalarmed, and all the kings throughout an extensive district gathered\ntogether to fight against them. Meantime the wily Gibeonites, wearing\n\u201cold shoes and clouted,\u201d and pretending to be ambassadors from a far\ncountry, came to Joshua and succeeded in making a treaty of alliance,\noffensive and defensive. After three days the deception was found out;\nbut it was held that the covenant must be kept, and when the kings of\nJerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon--\u201cthe five kings of\nthe Amorites\u201d--went and encamped against Gibeon, Joshua went up from\nGilgal all the night to raise the siege. He came upon them suddenly,\nand a terrible battle took place, which deserves to rank among the\ndecisive battles of the world. The conflict raged before Gibeon, and\nthe defeated kings were pursued, with continued slaughter, to higher\nground (the ascent of Beth-horon) and then to lower ground (the going\ndown of Beth-horon), as they vainly sought to escape down the Valley\nof Aijalon into the Plain of Philistia. According to the poetical book\nof Jasher,[17] quoted by the historian, \u201cthe sun stood still upon\nGibeon and the moon in the valley of Aijalon,\u201d and lengthened out the\nday until Joshua had defeated his foes utterly. The five kings were\nfound hidden in a cave at Makkedah, and were imprisoned there till the\npursuit was over and Joshua had leisure to decide their fate.\n\nMakkedah has been identified by Colonel Sir C. Warren as being _El\nMughar_--\u201cthe cave\u201d--a little south-west of Ekron. Conder tells us that\nthis is a remarkable place, and one of the most conspicuous sites in\nthe plain. A promontory of brown sandy rock juts out southwards, and at\nthe end is the village climbing up the hill-side. The huts are of mud,\nand stand in many cases in front of caves; and from these caves the\nmodern name is derived. It is worthy of notice, he says, that this is\nthe only village in the Philistine plain at which he found such caves.\n\nJoshua made his victory complete, by overthrowing Libnah, Lachish,\nEglon, Hebron, and other cities in succession, \u201cutterly destroying all\nthat breathed,\u201d until the centre and the south of the hill country were\naltogether in his power.\n\nIn the spring of 1890, a _firman_ having been obtained, Mr Flinders\nPetrie went to excavate at _Umm Lakis_ and _Ajlan_, the supposed sites\nof Lachish and Eglon, two of the five strongholds of the Amorites\n(Josh. x. 5). As soon as he arrived and could examine the ground, he\nsaw, from his Egyptian experience, that the two sites named were only\nof Roman age and unimportant; while _Tell Hesy_ and _Nejileh_ in the\nsame neighbourhood promised better results. _Tell Hesy_ is a mound of\nruins 60 feet high and about 200 feet square, and one side of it has\nbeen washed away by the stream, so that a clear section is afforded\nfrom top to base. The generally early age of it was evident from the\nfact that nothing later than good Greek pottery was found at the top\nof it, while near the middle, and from that to three-quarters of the\nheight, was found Ph\u0153nician ware, which is known in Egypt to date\nfrom 1100 B.C. The foundation seems to date from about 1500\nB.C., agreeing nearly with the beginning of the Egyptian raids\nunder Thothmes I.\n\nThe actual remains of _Tell Hesy_ consist of a mound which is formed of\nsuccessive towns, one on the ruins of another, and an enclosure taking\nin an area to the south and west of it. This enclosure is nearly a\nquarter of a mile across in each direction, and is bounded by a clay\nrampart still 7 feet high in parts, and in one place by a brick wall.\nThis area of about 30 acres would suffice to take in a large quantity\nof cattle in case of a sudden invasion; and such was probably its\npurpose, as no buildings are found in it, and there is but little depth\nof soil. The city mound is about 200 feet square, and rests on natural\nground 45 to 58 feet above the stream in the _wady_ below. The earliest\ntown here was of great strength and importance, the lowest wall of all\nbeing 28 feet 8 inches thick, of clay bricks, unburnt; and over this\nare two successive patchings of later rebuilding, altogether 21 feet of\nheight remaining. \u201cSuch massive work\u201d (says Mr Petrie) \u201cwas certainly\nnot that of the oppressed Israelites during the time of the Judges; it\ncannot be as late as the Kings, since the pottery of about 1100 B.C.\nis found above its level. It must, therefore, be the Amorite city, and\nagrees with the account that \u2018the cities were walled and very great\u2019\n(Num. xiii. 28), \u2018great and walled up to heaven\u2019 (Deut. i. 28), and\nalso with the sculptures of the conquests of Rameses II. at Karnak,\nwhere the Amorite cities are all massively fortified.\u201d\n\nMr Petrie feels little doubt that _Tell Hesy_ is Lachish and _Tell\nNejileh_, 6 miles south of it, Eglon. There are no sites in the country\naround so suited to the importance of Lachish and Eglon as these two\n_tells_; they command the only springs and water-course which exist in\nthe whole district, and it is certain that the positions must have\nbeen of first-rate importance from the time of the earliest settlements.\n\nAbove the Amorite wall at _Tell Hesy_ Mr Petrie finds 5 feet of\ndust and rolled stones corresponding to the barbaric period of the\nJudges; then a wall 13 feet thick, probably belonging to Rehoboam\u2019s\nfortifications of Lachish (2 Chron. xi. 9), and above this successive\nrebuildings until the city is finally destroyed about 500 B.\nC. The mound is full of potsherds, and the good fortune of such a\ngrand section as that of the east face from top to bottom, affords at\none stroke a series of all the varieties of pottery extending through\na thousand years. \u201cWe now know for certain,\u201d Mr Petrie says, \u201cthe\ncharacteristics of Amorite pottery, of earlier Jewish, and later Jewish\ninfluenced by Greek trade, and we can trace the importation and the\ninfluence of Ph\u0153nician pottery. In future all the _tells_ and ruins of\nthe country will at once reveal their age by the potsherds which cover\nthem.\u201d\n\nLachish, with its wall 28 feet in thickness, is a specimen of the\nAmorite cities which Joshua overthrew in the south.\n\nBut now the kings of the north are alarmed, and Jabin king of Hazor\ngathers together the tribes of the Lebanon. He calls to his assistance\nthe kings of the Jordan Valley, the kings of the Sharon Plain, with\nthe Jebusites and all who are willing to come. The battle takes place\nnear the Waters of Merom. The Canaanites are furnished with chariots\nand horses, and the Israelites, being without such helps, are prudently\nposted on the hills. We read that Joshua \u201cfell upon\u201d the foe, down the\nslopes, and drove them before him, on the west as far as to Zidon,\nand on the east to the valley of Mizpeh: he burned their chariots,\nhamstrung their horses, and again \u201cleft none remaining.\u201d So now the\nnorth as well as the south of the hill country is subdued; Joshua\nsettles four tribes in these northern districts, and the Sea of Galilee\nbecomes a Hebrew lake.\n\nThere is no need any more to come back all the way to Gilgal, for no\nfoe is left to dispute their occupation anywhere, and the armies only\nreturn as far as Shiloh, in the centre of the hills, and there set\nup \u201cthe Tent of Meeting.\u201d Nor is there need any longer to detain the\ntwo and a half tribes from the east of Jordan who have come across to\nassist in the conquest. So the soldiers of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh\nare sent back to their homes. \u201cAnd when they came to the region about\nJordan that is in the land of Canaan\u201d they built there an altar--\u201ca\ngreat altar to see to,\u201d and which was afterwards called \u201cEd\u201d or\nWitness. Their brethren were so indignant at this action--regarding\nit as heathen worship, and rebellion against the God of Israel--that\nthey thought of going to war against them. However, they prudently sent\nenvoys to demand an explanation, and the explanation was perfectly\nsatisfactory.\n\nWhere was this altar of Ed, so conspicuous from afar? If we stand in\nthe Jordan Valley near Jericho, and look northwards, we cannot fail to\nsee, at a distance of 20 miles, a conical peak called _Kurn Surtabeh_,\nstanding out like a bastion at the eastern end of a chain of blue\nhills. This peak is 1500 feet above the level of the Mediterranean,\nand 2500 feet above the Jordan, near to it. From the top of it one\nmay see the Dead Sea to the south, the Sea of Galilee to the north,\nthe mountains of Ebal and Gerizim in the centre. According to the\nJewish Talmud this mountain was a beacon station, where the fires were\nlighted, in connection with fires on the Mount of Olives, to signify\nthe advent of the new moon. Conder, some years ago, pointed out that\nthis mountain would be in the path which the two and a half tribes\nshould naturally take in going from Shiloh to their home in Gilead, the\nfords of the Jordan being a little way north of it. On the top of this\nalmost inaccessible peak he found some huge masonry work of ancient\ncharacter, which he was inclined at the time to regard as remnants\nof the altar. And when the identification seemed to be thus nearly\ncomplete, it appeared to be confirmed by the discovery that the north\nside of the mountain, the only accessible side is called \u201cthe Ascent of\nEd.\u201d But the identification was disputed.\n\nIt was pointed out that Josephus says the altar was on the east side of\nJordan, and that the Scripture narrative makes the tribes to cross the\nriver at \u201cthe passage of the Children of Israel,\u201d which is supposed to\ndescribe the Jericho ford and not the ford at Damieh. For these reasons\nConder now regards his idea as \u201conly a conjecture.\u201d\n\nIt may be reasonably questioned, however, whether the identification\nshould be given up. We are told in Joshua xxii. 10, that the altar, so\nhigh to look to, was in \u201cthe region about Jordan that is in the land\nof Canaan\u201d--\u201cin the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region\nabout Jordan, on the side that pertaineth to the Children of Israel.\u201d\nThe historian takes pains to distinguish between the two sides of the\nriver, and if one side pertained to the Children of Israel more than\nthe other, it was surely not the eastern side. Moreover, the altar\nwas in the land of Canaan, and the eastern boundary of Canaan was\nthe Jordan itself (see Gen. x. 19, and page 107 of this volume). The\naltar was \u201cin the forefront of the land of Canaan,\u201d at the extreme\nof its eastern side, and therefore close by the Jordan. The Hebrew\nfaced the rising sun, and spoke of the south as the right hand, the\nnorth as the left, so that his forehead or forefront was to the east.\nIt was apparently because the supposed idolatrous altar was set up\non territory belonging to the western tribes that those tribes felt\nso insulted. The east of Jordan was unclean, but the western country\nwas \u201cthe possession of the Lord.\u201d \u201cCome across\u201d, they said, \u201cinto the\nLord\u2019s land, if you will; but if you come, do not build rebel altars\u201d\n(v. 19). Further, the object of the two and a half tribes, according\nto their apology and explanation, was to have a memorial in that\nwestern land from which the Jordan seemed to cut them off.\n\nTwo and a half tribes being settled east of Jordan, three tribes north\nof the Plain of Esdraelon, and one in the Plain itself, the remainder\nof the country is divided between the remaining five tribes and a half.\n\nIn the Book of Joshua the boundaries of the tribes are given with the\ngreatest minuteness, but it was impossible for us to trace them with\nany accuracy before the topographical survey was carried out. Many of\nthe villages by which the border lines passed were lost, in some cases\nthe sites were displaced; but as soon as these things were rectified\nthe boundaries could again be drawn.\n\nThe blessing which Jacob pronounced upon his sons, according to\nGen. xlix., was true to the position of the tribes in their several\ndistricts; and their position determined in some degree their conduct\nand their fortunes. When Joshua dismissed the two and a half tribes,\nthey went away to their tents: living on those green hills east of\nJordan, they remained for a long time a pastoral people. Reuben,\nbordering on Arabia, and being \u201cunstable as water,\u201d became hardly\ndistinguishable from an Arab tribe. Gad, of whom Jacob said, \u201ca troop\nshall press upon him,\u201d was subject to attacks from troops of Bedouin\nplunderers. Divided from their brethren by the great gorge of the\nJordan, the eastern tribes were separated also in their fortunes.\nThe three northern tribes of Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali were also\npartially cut off by the great plain of Esdraelon. They got into\ncommunication with the northern nations from whom they were less\nseparated geographically, and they entered into alliance with Ph\u0153nicia.\nSolomon gave away twenty of their cities to Hiram, king of Tyre,\napparently thinking that the allegiance which was so nearly gone,\nmight as well be parted with altogether. These northern tribes, like\nthose east of Jordan, seldom came to the assistance of their brethren\nin any great crisis. When Deborah required help from all quarters\nshe had to complain that Asher \u201csat still at the haven of the sea,\u201d\nand Reuben \u201csat among the sheep-folds, to hear the pipings for the\nflocks.\u201d In the south--in a country half a desert, the lair of wild\nbeasts--Judah \u201ccouched as a lion,\u201d and it was dangerous to rouse him\nup. Ephraim, the most powerful of the tribes, secured to himself the\nchoicest portion of the hill country. Manasseh, with territory on\nboth sides of the Jordan, was \u201ca fruitful bough by a fountain, whose\nbranches run over the wall.\u201d Little Benjamin, situated between the\ntwo powerful tribes of Ephraim and Judah, knew not which to be guided\nby, and was at last torn asunder in the effort to follow both. Yet\nBenjamin, on whose eastern border we still find a valley, called the\nWolf\u2019s Den, was \u201ca wolf that ravineth\u201d and often \u201cdevoured the prey.\u201d\nIssachar \u201csaw the land that it was pleasant\u201d--namely, the fruitful\nplain of Esdraelon,--and \u201cbowed his shoulder to bear, and became a\nservant under task-work,\u201d cultivating the ground.\n\nThe tribe of Levi had no district of country assigned to it, but in\nplace thereof forty-eight cities, scattered throughout the tribes. Of\nthese cities two have been identified by the agents of the Palestine\nExploration Fund.\n\nThe recovery of the site of _Gezer_ we owe to M. Clermont Ganneau.\nIt is in the lowland district, and off the road to the right as one\ngoes up from Jaffa to Jerusalem, about 8 miles past Ramleh. The modern\nname, _Tell Jezer_, represents the Hebrew exactly. Gezer had been a\nroyal city of the Canaanites; and it was in a position commanding one\nof the important passes. The Levitical cities had around them a margin\nof 1000 cubits. In 1874 M. Ganneau was shown by the peasantry a rude\ninscription deeply cut in the flat surface of the natural rock. It\nappears to be in Hebrew letters, and to read \u201cBoundary of Gezer.\u201d He\nafterwards found a second, similar to it; and from their position he\njudges that the city lay four-square, and had its angles directed to\nthe cardinal points of the compass. It was this city of Gezer which was\nreconquered from the Philistines by Pharaoh, and handed over to Solomon\nas a dowry with his daughter.\n\nWe owe to Major Conder the discovery of another of these Levitical\ncities, namely, the royal city of Debir, south-west of Hebron, together\nwith the \u201cupper and nether springs of water\u201d (at a distance), which\nCaleb gave to his daughter, on the occasion of her marriage (Judges\ni. 15). The modern name is Dh\u00e2heriyeh, and the place is evidently an\nancient site of importance, to which several old roads lead from all\nsides. Another name for this place was Kirjath-Sepher, which means\nBook-Town; so that it must have been noted for books or writings of\nsome kind.\n\nIn tracing the boundaries of the tribes the surveyors found reason to\nlook upon the Book of Joshua as \u201cthe Domesday Book of Palestine.\u201d The\ntowns in a district are all mentioned together, and in such consecutive\ntopographical order that many Scripture sites could be identified from\nthis very circumstance. The tribal boundaries are shown to be almost\nentirely natural, namely, rivers, ravines, ridges, and the watershed\nlines of the country. It is a remarkable fact, however, that while\nthe descriptions of tribal boundaries and cities are full and minute\nin the territory of Judea, and scarcely less so in Galilee, they are\nfragmentary and meagre within the bounds of Samaria. There is no\naccount of the conquest of Samaria, nor does the list of royal cities\ninclude the famous Samaritan towns of Shechem, Thebez, Acrabbi, and\nothers. No list of the cities of Ephraim and Manasseh is included in\nthe topographical chapters of the Book of Joshua, nor any description\nof the northern limits of Manasseh, and only a very slight one of the\nsouthern border, where that tribe marched with Ephraim.\n\nThus far, in our description of Joshua\u2019s conquest, we have seen how\nhis good generalship secured possession of the hills--the central\nhills only, and not the plains. The Canaanites still dwelt in the\nplains round about. The Philistines held the south-west. The Ph\u0153nicians\nwere secure in the north. The outlying nations of Edom and Moab were\nundisturbed. In this condition things remained for a long time; and the\nIsraelites, occupying the hills only, were not likely to become a race\nof sailors. Nor did they desire it, if we may judge from such notices\nof the sea as occur in the Bible, for they seem to show the awe with\nwhich the writers regarded its rolling waves. And besides, the coast\nwas not suited for it. The principal harbour was Tyre; but that was in\nPh\u0153nicia, which was hardly to be included in Palestine. South of Tyre\nwe have Accho, Caipha, and Joppa; but these are by no means good and\nconvenient as ports. Accho is the best, but has been the least used,\nalthough Napoleon considered it \u201cthe key of Palestine.\u201d It was to\nJoppa that the Ph\u0153nicians brought timber in rafts for the building of\nSolomon\u2019s Temple; and thence it was carried by road to Jerusalem. It\nwas at Joppa that Jonah found a ship going to Tarshish, and took his\npassage.\n\nIf the sea coast was little available for the Israelites, the Jordan\nwas still worse: a narrow, shallow, rocky stream, ending in the Dead\nSea, it led to nowhere, and was useless for purposes of commerce.\n\nNaturally the capitals of the country were inland--Jerusalem in the\ncentre of the hills, and afterwards Shechem. The main road of the\ncountry ran from south to north, along the watershed, the backbone of\nhighest ground. But since the hills were comparatively unfruitful,\nthe dwellers there suffered more in times of famine than the dwellers\nin the plains. In times of war they had some advantage, and preferred\nto fight from the hillsides, as they did not possess chariots and\nhorses, and could have found no use for them. Their enemies said of\nthem,--\u201ctheir God is a God of the hills; He is not a God of the plains!\u201d\n\nAccordingly, the enemies of Israel sought to entice them to fight in\nthe plains, and sometimes partially succeeded. The Plain of Esdraelon\nbecame a great battle field. The Great Plain, as distinguished from the\nPlain of Acre, the Valley of Jezreel, and others which are continuous\nwith it, measures about 14 miles by 9. It is described by Conder as one\nof the richest natural fields of cultivation in Palestine, or perhaps\nin all the world. \u201cThe elevation,\u201d he says, \u201cis about 200 to 250 feet\nabove the sea, and a Y-shaped double range of hills bounds it east\nand west, with an average elevation of 1500 feet above the plain on\nthe north-east. On the north-east are the two detached blocks of Neby\nDuhy (Little Hermon) and Tabor, and on the north-west a narrow gorge\nis formed by the river Kishon, which springs from beneath Tabor, and,\ncollecting the whole drainage of this large basin, passes from the\nGreat Plain to that of Acre. On the east of the plain the broad Valley\nof Jezreel gradually slopes down towards Jordan, and Jezreel itself\n(the modern Zerin) stands on the side of Gilboa above it. On the west\nare the scarcely less famous sites of Legis, Taanach, and Joknean,\nwhile the picturesque conical hill of Duhy, just north of the Jezreel\nValley, has Shunem on its south slope, and Nain and Endor on the north.\nThus seven places of interest lie at the foot of the hills east and\nwest; but no important town was ever situated in the plain itself.\u201d\n\nThe first great struggle in this plain was against Sisera, captain of\nthe host of Jabin, king of Canaan, who came with nine hundred chariots,\nand threatened the Israelites near the sources of the Kishon. The\ntopography of the Scriptural episode of the defeat and death of Sisera\nhas been hitherto very little understood. The scene of the battle has\noften been placed in the south-west of the great Esdraelon plain, and\nthe defeated general has been supposed to have fled a distance of 35\nmiles over the high mountains of Upper Galilee. But this is contrary\nto what we know of the general character of the Biblical stories, the\nscenes of which are always laid in a very confined area. The kings of\nCanaan assembled in Taanach and by the waters of Megiddo, but it was\nnot at either of these places that the battle was fought. Sisera was\ndrawn to the river Kishon (Judges iv. 7), and the conflict took place\nin the plain south-west of Mount Tabor.\n\nThe forces of the Israelites were posted on the side of Mount Tabor.\nAt a signal from Deborah they rushed down the slope and attacked the\nfoe. At that moment a terrible storm from the east sent sleet and hail\nfull into the face of the enemy. They turned and fled along a line at\nthe base of the northern hills, where a chain of pools and springs,\nfringed with reeds and rushes, marks, even in the dry season, the\ncourse of the Kishon. The rain converted the volcanic dust of the plain\ninto mud, and clogged the wheels of the chariots. The water pouring\ndown from the hills swelled the stream, and \u201cthe river of Kishon swept\nthem away, that ancient river the river Kishon.\u201d The remainder fled\nto Harosheth, now only a miserable village (_El Harathiyeh_), named\nfrom the beautiful woods above the Kishon at the point where, through\na narrow gorge, the stream, hidden among oleander bushes, enters the\nPlain of Acre.\n\nThe flight of Sisera himself was in an opposite direction--to the Plain\nof Zaanaim, or rather Bitzaanaim, \u201cthe marshes,\u201d _i.e._, the marshy\nsprings east of Tabor--the neighbourhood of _Bessum_. The Kedesh\nof the passage is probably a site so called south of Tiberias; and\nthe tent of Heber the Kenite would thus have been spread on the open\nplateau within 10 miles of the site of the battle.\n\nThe next great struggle in this plain was one upon which the Survey\nof Palestine has thrown some new light, enabling us to follow the\nfugitives in their retreat, and to fix some sites which are named in\nthe narrative. The fruitfulness of the Great Plain has been, in our\nown times and all through the ages, an irresistible attraction to the\nBedouin from the east of Jordan. Pressed by war or famine, they have\ncrossed the Jordan at the fords near Beisan, poured up the Valley\nof Jezreel, and covered the plain with their tents and camels. The\npeaceful husbandmen have laboured, only to be periodically plundered\nand oppressed. Thus in 1870 only about a sixth part of the beautiful\ncorn land was tilled, and the plain was black with Arab \u201chouses of\nhair.\u201d But the Turks wrought a great and sudden change; they armed\ntheir cavalry with the Remington breech-loading rifle, and the Bedouin\ndisappeared as if by magic. In 1872 nine-tenths of the plain was\ncultivated, nearly half with corn, the rest with millet, sesame,\ncotton, tobacco, and the castor-oil plant. It was, of course, to be\nexpected that when external troubles had weakened the Government,\nthe lawless Nomads would again encroach and levy toll as before.\nAccordingly, in 1877, Fendi el Fais and the Sukr Arabs once more\ninvaded the plain and levied blackmail on the luckless peasantry.\nThus it has ever been; for the history of Palestine seems constantly\nto repeat itself from the earliest period recorded, in a recurring\nstruggle between the settled population and the Nomads.\n\nSome time after the days of Barak and Deborah, the historian tells\nus, \u201cthe children of Israel did that which was evil in the sight of\nthe Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian seven\nyears.\u201d These marauders from the east came across the Jordan, bringing\ntheir cattle and their camels, and pitching their black tents. They\ncame as locusts for multitude, eating up the fruitful country and\nlevying tribute on the villages, all the way round to Gaza. The\nIsraelites fled in alarm, taking refuge in the mountains, and existing\nin dens and caves. No sustenance was left them, either for sheep,\nor ox, or ass; and \u201cIsrael was brought very low because of Midian.\u201d\nPerhaps they might have borne the oppression longer, only that their\nlives were not safe from the sword, and they smarted under losses\ninflicted on their families. In some petty struggle, perhaps it was,\nin which one brother came to the assistance of another, that seven\nfine young men, sons of Joash of Abiezer, were put to death by Zeba\nand Zalmunna the Chiefs of Midian. But there was one son left, whose\nname was Gideon, and he was a man of valour. He felt this oppression\nto be insupportable: the spirit of the Lord came upon him, and after\ndestroying the altar of Baal in his native place, he blew a trumpet,\nand raised a revolt. His own tribesmen (the men of Menasseh) gathered\nto his standard, and the men of the northern tribes also, even Asher\nassisting on this occasion.\n\nGideon \u201cpitched beside the Spring of Harod, and the camp of Midian was\non the north side of them, in the valley.\u201d The Bible narrative appears\nto show that the spring was in the neighbourhood of Gilboa, being\ntowards the south of the Valley of Jezreel. \u201cIt is very striking,\u201d says\nConder, \u201cto find in this position a large spring with the name \u2019_Ain\nel Jem\u2019ain_,\u2019 or \u2018fountain of the two troops\u2019 and there seems no valid\nobjection to the view that this is the Spring of Harod.\u201d\n\nGideon went down upon the enemy in the midnight darkness, leading\nthree hundred men, who carried concealed torches, as well as trumpets.\nThe sudden sounding of trumpets and flashing of lights spread\nconsternation among the Midianites; they fought suicidally, every\nman\u2019s hand was against his brother, and they fled down the Valley of\nJezreel. It was some 10 miles or more to the fords of the Jordan. At\nthe fords they divided, Zeba and Zalmunna, the sheikhs, passing over,\nwhile Oreb and Zeeb, the lesser chiefs, continued their journey on the\nwestern side. Presumably they were hoping to get across at the great\nford opposite Jericho; but Gideon sent word to the men of Ephraim\nto intercept them, and they did so. Gideon himself crossed at the\nnorthern fords, pursuing Zeba and Zalmunna, as far as Karkor, and when\nhe had captured them he brought them back to Penuel. \u201cThen said he to\nthem, \u2018What manner of men were they whom ye slew at Tabor?\u2019 And they\nanswered, \u2018As thou art, so were they; each one resembled the children\nof a king.\u2019 And he said, \u2018They were my brethren, the sons of my mother:\nas the Lord liveth, if ye had saved them alive, I would not slay you.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe men of Ephraim \u201cslew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the\nwinepress of Zeeb.\u201d These two names signify the _Raven_ and the\n_Wolf_--not unnatural names for the chiefs of Nomad tribes--and Conder\nhas discovered these names in the Jordan valley, a little north of\nJericho. There is a curious conical chalk hill called \u2019_Osh el Ghurab_,\nthe \u201cRaven\u2019s Peak,\u201d and near to it a lesser hill with a valley, known\nas _Tuweil edh Dhiab_, the \u201cWolf\u2019s Den.\u201d The executions, if they took\nplace on these elevations, would be in sight of all the people in the\nplain; and afterwards the heads were carried across to Gideon, who was\nnow beyond Jordan.\n\nBut victory was not always given to the Israelites in the Plain of\nEsdraelon. In the days of King Saul the Philistines, having been twice\nbeaten in the hills, determined to try their fortune in the plains.\nUnder the leadership of Achish, king of Gath, they marched northward,\nround the promontory of Carmel, and took up their position at Shunem,\nunder \u201cLittle Hermon.\u201d[18] Saul was posted on Mount Gilboa, but had\nno confidence in his strength. In his distress, indeed, he actually\npaid a night visit to the witch of Endor, although Endor was north of\n\u201cLittle Hermon,\u201d and he had to go past the Philistine camp to reach\nit. The next morning the battle went against him: the Israelites\nwere positively driven up the slope of Gilboa and slaughtered on the\nheights, which should have been their natural battle-ground. David,\nwhen he heard of it, felt the humiliation of it, or at least the depth\nof the misfortune, and his dirge for Saul and his son opens with the\nwords, \u201cThy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places! How are the\nmighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath\u201d (2 Sam. i.).\n\nThe head of Saul was sent round to Ashdod, to the temple of Dagon, the\nPhilistine Fish-god. The armour of Saul was dedicated to the goddess\nAshtoreth, in the city of Bethshan, not very far from the scene of\nthe battle. We may judge that Bethshan was still in possession of the\nCanaanites. The bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to the wall\nof Bethshan. But the men of Jabesh Gilead, east of Jordan, a city\nwhich Saul had once befriended (1 Sam. xi.), came across in the night\nand took them away. After burning them in Jabesh, they buried the\nbones under a tamarisk tree; and thence, at a later opportunity, David\nfetched them away and buried them in the family tomb in Benjamin.\n\nWe read in Scripture of \u201cBethshan and her daughter towns\u201d as belonging\nto the tribe of Manasseh (1 Chron. vii. 29). A black mound at the\nmodern Beisan represents the Bethshan or Bethshean of the text. On\nthis natural fortress stood the citadel. The ruins have been planned\nby Conder; and his drawings will be found in the Memoirs of the\nSurvey. Not far from Beisan are the ruins of a Roman bridge across the\nJordan--the highway to Gadara. In the plain of Beisan, as we learn from\nMr Trelawney Saunders, are twenty-four _tells_, scattered all over the\nupper and lower terraces. They still bear distinctive names; and Mr\nSaunders feels no doubt that they are the sites of former habitations,\nscenes of domestic happiness and abundant wealth. Moreover, he surmises\nthat the life and happiness of the district may be restored almost\nas rapidly as they were obliterated, when once the civilisation and\npower of the West becomes conscious of the connection between Oriental\nprosperity and that of its own manufacturing populations. \u201cThese\n_tells_,\u201d he says, \u201cprobably mark the substantial and lordly centres of\nvillages, the latter more or less extensive, and readily levelled with\nthe ground. They denote the populous character of the region, when a\nstrong government restrained the plundering Ishmaelites, and protected\ninstead of robbed people. The _tells_ are more indicative of a large\npopulation than the remains of such a \u2018splendid\u2019 and \u2018noble\u2019 city as\nBeisan, when it was either Jewish Bethshan or heathen Scythopolis; with\nits dominating citadel, temples, hippodrome, theatre, baths, monument,\nand bridge.\u201d If there be any truth in this view of the matter we may\nexpect interesting results from an exploration of these _tells_. Conder\ndescribes the locality as one of the best watered in Palestine, and (in\nApril) literally streaming with rivulets from some fifty springs.\n\nThe death of Saul brought David to the throne. But David had previously\ngone through an adventurous experience, the story of which is\nintimately connected with localities that are mentioned, and requires\na knowledge of the topography fully to appreciate. \u201cThe desert of\nJudah,\u201d says Conder, \u201cwas no doubt as much a desert in David\u2019s time as\nit is now. Here he wandered with his brigand companions as \u2018a partridge\non the mountains.\u2019 Here he may have learned that the coney makes its\ndwelling in the hard rocks. Here, in earlier days, he tended the sheep,\ndescending from Bethlehem, as the village shepherds of the present day\nstill come down, by virtue of a compact with the lawless Nomads, and\njust as Nabal\u2019s sheep came down from the highlands under agreement with\nthe wild followers of the outlaw born to be a king. I do not know any\npart of the Old Testament more instinct with life than are the early\nchapters of Samuel which recount the wanderings of David. His life\nshould only be written by one who has followed those wanderings on the\nspot; and the critic who would imbue himself with a right understanding\nof that ancient chronicle should first with his own eyes gaze on the\n\u2018rocks of the wild goats\u2019 and the \u2018junipers\u2019 of the desert.\u201d\n\nConder declares that we have now so recovered the topography of\nDavid\u2019s wanderings that the various scenes seem as vivid as if they\nhad occurred only yesterday. First, we have the stronghold of Adullam,\nguarding the rich corn valley of Elah; then Keilah, a few miles\nsouth, perched on its steep hill above the same valley. The forest of\nHareth lay close by, on the edge of the mountain chain where Kharas\nnow stands, surrounded by the \u201cthickets\u201d which properly represent the\nHebrew \u201cYar\u201d--a word wrongly supposed to mean a woodland of timber\ntrees.\n\nDriven from all these lairs, David went yet further south to the\nneighbourhood of Ziph.... The treachery of the inhabitants of Ziph,\nlike that of the men of Keilah, appears to have driven David to a yet\nmore desolate district, that of the Jeshimon, or \u201cSolitude,\u201d by which\nis apparently intended the great desert above the western shores of the\nDead Sea, on which the Ziph plateau looks down. As a shepherd-boy at\nBethlehem, David may probably have been already familiar with this part\nof the country, and the caves, still used as sheep-cotes by the peasant\nherdsmen, extend all along the slopes at the edge of the desert.\n\nEast of Ziph is a prominent hill on which is the ruined town called\nCain in the Bible. Hence the eye ranges over the theatre of David\u2019s\nwanderings: the whole scenery of the flight of David, and of Saul\u2019s\npursuit, can be viewed from this one hill.\n\nThe stronghold chosen by the fugitive was the hill Hachilah, in the\nwilderness of Ziph, south of Jeshimon. \u201cThis, I would propose\u201d (says\nConder) \u201cto recognise in the long ridge called El K\u00f4lah.... On the\nnorth side of the hill are the \u2018Caves of the Dreamers,\u2019 perhaps the\nactual scene of David\u2019s descent on Saul\u2019s sleeping guards.\u201d\n\nPursued even to Hachilah, David descended farther south, to a rock or\ncliff in the wilderness of Maon, which was named \u201cCliff of Division\u201d\n(1 Sam. xxiii. 2-8). Here he is represented as being on one side of\nthe mountain, while Saul was on the other. Now, between the ridge of\nEl K\u00f4lah and the neighbourhood of Maon there is a great gorge called\n\u201cthe Valley of Rocks,\u201d a narrow, but deep chasm, impassable except by\na detour of many miles, so that Saul might have stood within sight of\nDavid, yet quite unable to overtake his enemy; and to this \u201cCliff of\nDivision\u201d the name _Mal\u00e2ky_ now applies, a word closely approaching the\nHebrew Mahlekoth. The neighbourhood is seamed with many torrent-beds,\nbut there is no other place near Maon where cliffs, such as are to be\ninferred from the word Sela, can be found. \u201cIt seems to me pretty\nsafe, therefore\u201d (says Conder) \u201cto look on this gorge as the scene of\nthe wonderful escape of David, due to a sudden Philistine invasion,\nwhich terminated the history of his hair-breadth escapes in the South\nCountry.\u201d\n\nTo return to Adullam. The famous hold where David collected \u201cevery\none that was in distress and every one that was in debt, and every\none that was discontented,\u201d was, according to Josephus, at the city\ncalled Adullam (Ant. vi. 12, 3). This city was one of the group of\nfifteen situated in the Shephelah or Lowlands (Josh. xv. 35). The term\nShephelah is applied to the low hills of soft limestone which form a\ndistinct district between the maritime plain and the central line of\nmountains. M. Clermont Ganneau was the first explorer who found the\nname Adullam still in use; but Major Conder also, on finding it among\nthe names which Corporal Brophy had collected, set out to examine the\nsite.\n\nThe great Valley of Elah (W\u00e2dy es Sunt) is the highway from Philistia\nto Hebron; and divides the low hills of the Shephelah from the rocky\nmountains of Judah. Eight miles from the valley-head stands Shochoh,\nand W\u00e2dy es Sunt is here a quarter of a mile across: just north of\nthis ruin it turns round westward, and so runs, growing deeper and\ndeeper, between the rocky hills covered with brushwood, becoming\nan open vale of rich corn land, flanked by ancient fortresses, and\nfinally debouching at the cliff of _Tell es Safi_. About 2\u00bd miles south\nof the great angle near Shochoh there is a very large and ancient\nterebinth--it is from _elah_ the \u201cterebinth\u201d tree that the valley gets\nits name--and near it are two ancient wells, with stone water troughs\nround them. South of the ravine is a high rounded hill, almost isolated\nby valleys, and covered with ruins, a natural fortress, not unlike the\nwell-known _tells_ which occur lower down the valley of Elah. \u201cThis\nsite seems to be ancient\u201d (says Conder), \u201cnot only because of the\nwells, but judging from the caves, the tombs, and the rock quarryings\nwhich exist near it.\u201d\n\nBelow the hill, and near the well, there are ruins which are called\n_\u2019Aid el Ma_, and this is radically identical with the Hebrew Adullam.\n\u201cBut if this ruined fortress be, as there seems no good reason to\ndoubt it is, the royal city of Adullam, where, we should naturally\nask, is the famous cave? The answer is easy, for the cave is on the\nhill. We must not look for one of the greater caverns, such as the\nCrusaders fixed upon in the romantic gorge east of Bethlehem, for such\ncaverns are never inhabited in Palestine; we should expect, rather,\na moderate-sized cave, or (considering the strength of the band) a\nsuccession of \u2018hollow-places.\u2019 The site of Adullam is ruinous, but not\ndeserted. The sides of the tributary valley are lined with rows of\ncaves, and these we found inhabited, and full of flocks and herds. But\nstill more interesting was the discovery of a separate cave on the hill\nitself, a low, smoke-blackened burrow, which was the home of a single\nfamily. We could not but suppose, as we entered this gloomy abode,\nthat our feet were standing on the very foot-prints of the Shepherd\nKing, who here, encamped between the Philistines and the Jews, covered\nthe line of advance on the corn fields of Keilah, and was but 3 miles\ndistant from the thickets of Hareth.\n\n\u201cThe hill is about 500 feet high.... There is ample room to have\naccommodated David\u2019s four hundred men in the caves, and they are, as we\nhave seen, still inhabited.\n\n\u201cIt is interesting to observe that the scene of David\u2019s victory over\nGoliath is distant only 8 miles from the cave at _\u2019Aid el Ma_.\u201d\n\nWhen David became king of all Israel, he made it his first great\nobject to capture Jerusalem. There might be several reasons for this.\nIn the first place, his capital hitherto had been Hebron, a city\nwhich was not sufficiently central. Secondly, the border line between\nJudah and Benjamin ran right through Jerusalem; the city was partly\nin the territory of one tribe, partly in the other; Saul was a man of\nBenjamin, while David belonged to Judah; so that there were jealousies\nbetween these two tribes, which might be healed if David could make the\ncity his capital. Thirdly, Jerusalem had proved itself to be a strong\ncity, well-nigh impregnable. Joshua had not taken it, as he took the\nother cities of the Gibeonite league--it has defied the arms of Israel\nfor four or five centuries--and therefore, if David can capture it,\nhe will possess a redoubtable stronghold. Jerusalem, therefore, was\nbesieged and taken. Secure in Jerusalem, David extended his conquests\non every side, subduing Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, and\nMidianites; placing garrisons in the towns of Syria, and even extending\nhis rule as far as the river Euphrates. Of all these countries\nPhilistia alone comes into the survey of Western Palestine.\n\nGaza, the capital of Philistia, still exists as an inhabited city, and\nis very picturesquely situated, having a fine approach down a broad\navenue from the north. It rises on an isolated hill, about 100 feet\nabove the plain, and bristles with minarets. The population is given\nby Conder as eighteen thousand, including sixty or seventy houses\nof Greek Christians. The town is not walled, but the green mounds\ntraceable round the hill are probably remains of the ancient enclosure.\nThe new mosque, built some forty or fifty years ago, is full of marble\nfragments, from ancient buildings which were principally found near\nthe sea-shore. East of the Serai is the reputed tomb of Samson; and\nsouth-east of the city is a hill called the Watch-tower, to which\nplace, according to tradition, Samson carried the gates of Gaza. A\nyearly festival of the Moslems is held there.\n\nNorth-east of Makkedah, Ekron still stands, on low rising ground--a\nmud hamlet, with gardens fenced with prickly pears. Conder says there\nis nothing ancient here.\n\n [Illustration: TELL ES SAFI. (Site of Gath?) (_By favour of\n the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nAt Azotus, or Ashdod, one of the Philistine cities, is a large mound,\nwith columns cropping up out of the ground on the outskirts of it.\nMr Trelawney Saunders, the geographer, has described the site in his\n\u201cIntroduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.\u201d Ashdod, on a hillock\n(alt. 140 feet), at the western end of the plain of Zeita, is now\nseparated from all that remains of its port, by sand-downs 3 miles in\nbreadth. The site is occupied by the present village of Esdud, with\neighteen hundred people, but the remains of this primeval city, once so\nstrong and mighty, are so few and insignificant that one is tempted to\nsuppose the greater part of the city may be buried beneath the sands.\nIf so, they may be in a superior state of preservation, and would\nperhaps repay for digging out.\n\nGath, the birth-place of Goliath, has long been a lost city, but is now\nreasonably identified with _Tell es Sufi_ at the mouth of the _Wady_\nor water-course which runs from near Hebron, past Adullam and Shochoh,\nand westward towards Ashdod. It is the site of the Crusading fortress\nof Blanche Garde, which was built in 1144 A.D. as an outpost\nfor defence against the people of Ascalon. It is now a mud village with\nolives beneath it, standing on a cliff 300 feet high, which is burrowed\nwith caves. The Rev. Henry George Tomkins takes _Tell es Sufi_ to be\nthe \u201cmound of Safi,\u201d and regards Safi as a personal name. In a learned\npaper in the _Quarterly Statement_, October 1886, he argues that Safi\nwas a brother of Goliath\u2019s, and if so this is an additional reason for\nregarding _Tell es Sufi_ as Gath.\n\nAscalon, \u201cthe bride of Syria,\u201d is still called Askalon. The\nfortifications and walls are in ruins, and the site of the city is a\ngarden planted with fruit trees and vegetables. The walls are the ruins\nof battlements, erected by Richard Lionheart in 1191 A.D.,\nin place of those destroyed by Saladin, and doubtless with the same\nmaterials. They are half buried by the great dunes of rolling sand\nwhich are ever being blown up by the sea breeze from the southward.\nThe whole interior of the site is covered with rich soil, to a depth\nof about 10 feet, and the natives find fragments of fine masonry,\nshafts, capitals, and other remains of the old city, by digging into\nit. Of Herod\u2019s beautiful colonnades nothing now remains. The Crusaders\nhad little respect for antiquities, and the innumerable granite pillar\nshafts which are built horizontally into the walls are no doubt those\noriginally brought to the town by Herod.\n\nConder says, \u201cWe heard a curious tradition at Ascalon. A tomb had been\nopened by the peasantry, near the ruin, some thirty years ago. Under a\ngreat slab, in the eastern cemetery, they found a perfectly preserved\nbody, with a sword by its side, and a ring on its finger. The dead eyes\nglared so fiercely on the intruders that they let fall the slab; and as\none of the party soon after died, they came to the conclusion that it\nwas a _Nebi_ or Prophet whom they had disturbed, and the place has thus\nbecome surrounded with a mysterious sanctity.\u201d\n\nIn the days of David\u2019s grandson the kingdom of the Israelites divided\nin two, and began the new phase of its existence as the parallel\nmonarchies of Israel and Judah. The disruption, it may be said, was\nowing to the fact that Ephraim envied Judah, and Judah vexed Ephraim.\nNaturally, the split, when it came, took place along a line between\nthese two powerful tribes and right athwart the tribe of Benjamin.\nBenjamin was torn asunder--Jericho and Bethel going to the northern\nkingdom, while other towns went to the south. Jerusalem continued to be\na capital, but it was now the capital of the kingdom of Judah only; and\nShechem was chosen as the capital of the northern kingdom, which was\ncalled Israel.\n\nBut these northern monarchs had their pleasant summer residences as\nwell, corresponding to Windsor or Versailles. One of these was Samaria,\nanother was Tirzah, a third was Jezreel.\n\nThe Samaria of the present day is a large and flourishing village of\nstone and mud houses, standing on the hill of the ancient Samaria.\nThe most interesting ruins now to be seen there are those of Herod\u2019s\ncolonnade to the west of the modern village. The colonnade seems to\nhave surrounded the whole city with a kind of cloister, which was 60\nfeet wide, and the pillars 16 feet high. The city of Samaria of the Old\nTestament has disappeared. But the kings of Israel were buried here,\nand the ancient tombs may yet perhaps come to light.\n\nTirzah, famous for its beauty, is the only Samaritan town mentioned\namong the royal cities taken by Joshua. Conder finds it in the present\nmud hamlet of Teiasir. It was delightfully situated on a plateau where\nthe valleys begin to dip suddenly towards Jordan.\n\nConder found numerous rock-cut sepulchres burrowing under the houses;\nand he thinks that some of them are probably those of the early kings\nof Israel, before the royal family began to be buried in Samaria.\n\nJezreel is now called Zerin, and the site of Ahab\u2019s palace is now a\nvillage, surrounded by heaps of rubbish. The position of Zerin is\nremarkable. On the south the ground slopes gently upwards towards the\nsite, and on the west also the place is accessible. But on the north\nthe ground is extremely rugged and falls rapidly, and on the east\noccurs a saddle separating the high point on which the town stands\nfrom the Gilboa chain, the road ascending from the valley and the\nneighbourhood of \u2019Ain Jalud. The top of the hill is 284 feet above\nthis spring, which is visible beneath. Thus the site is naturally\nstrong, except on the south-west. It is conspicuous from the plain, and\nit commands a view down the valley to Beisan and the trans-Jordanic\nranges. Major Conder, climbing up to the village, was struck by the\nabsence of any traces of antiquity. But the houses stand on a mound of\nrubbish, and in this a great number of ruined cisterns exist.\n\nAhab from his palace in Jezreel looked down upon Naboth\u2019s vineyard.\nThere seem to be no vineyards in the neighbourhood now; but on the east\nand south-east there are rock-cut wine-presses on the rugged hills,\nwhere no doubt the \u201cportion of the field of Naboth\u201d and his vineyard\nare to be placed. The commanding position of the place would also\nenable Joram\u2019s watchmen, looking down the Valley of Jezreel, to observe\nthe two horsemen sent forward by Jehu coming up from Bethshan--the\ndust raised, the gleam of their armour--and Jehu himself following and\n\u201cdriving furiously.\u201d It was by \u201cthe fountain which is in Jezreel\u201d that\nSaul had pitched before the fatal battle of Gilboa.\n\nHere at Jezreel, with Mount Carmel in the distance, we are reminded\nthat the sacrifice which Elijah offered did not take place on the point\nof Mount Carmel nearest the sea, as commonly imagined, but much nearer\nto Jezreel, on a part of the range where our explorers discovered a\nperennial spring, that would supply the prophet with water when the\nrest of the country was dry. Stationed at this spot, he might see the\npalace of Jezebel in the city of Jezreel. From this position he sent\nhis servant a few minutes\u2019 distance, to the highest point of the range,\nwhere he could overlook the sea and perceive the little cloud rising.\nThen said Elijah, \u201cGet thee down, Ahab, there is a sound of abundance\nof rain\u201d--get thee down Ahab, or the river of Kishon will sweep thee\naway! Elijah himself, amidst the rushing storm, ran before the chariot\nof the monarch, down the slope, and as far as the entrance of Jezreel.\nAnd soon thereafter, fearing Jezebel\u2019s threats, he journeyed swiftly by\nthe north and south road, nor stopped till he got to Beersheba. This is\nthe extremity of Judah, and here he leaves his servant behind him and\nplunges into the wilderness, for he is going to \u201cHoreb, the Mount of\nGod,\u201d to seek a revelation.\n\nElijah was commissioned to call Elisha to be his successor; and Elisha\nin his turn made frequent resort to Mount Carmel. When the Shunamite\nwoman came to him there, her journey lay across the plain, and he could\nsee her approaching (2 Kings iv. 24). Shunem, now called _Sulem_,\nstands on the southern slope of _Neby Duhy_ (Little Hermon), and is\nonly a mud hamlet, with cactus hedges and a spring. West of the houses\nthere is a beautiful garden, cool and shady, of lemon trees, watered\nby a little rivulet, and in the village is a fountain and trough.\nWestward the view extends as far as Carmel, 15 miles away. Thus the\nwhole extent of the ride of the Shunamite woman, under the burning\nnoon-tide sun of harvest-time, is visible. Conder remarks that if the\nhouses of that time were no larger than the mud-cabins of the modern\nvillage, it was not a great architectural undertaking to build a little\nchamber for the prophet; and the enumeration of the simple furniture\nof that chamber--the bed (perhaps only a straw mat), the table, the\nstool, and the lamp--seems to indicate that it was only a little hut\nthat was intended. Another point may be noted: how came it that Elisha\nso constantly passed by Shunem? The answer seems simple; he lived\nhabitually on Carmel, but he was a native of Abel Meholah, \u201cthe Meadow\nof Circles,\u201d a place now called _\u2019Ain Helweh_, in the Jordan Valley, to\nwhich the direct road led past Shunem down the Valley of Jezreel.\n\nBefore we leave the Plain of Esdraelon, which is also called the\nPlain of Megiddo--and because of its typical character as the field\nof great battles, is used in the Apocalypse as the scene of the great\nfinal struggle, _Ar-Mageddon-_--let us glance at the fruitless effort\nof Josiah, king of Judah, to stop the march of Pharaoh Necho. It was\nin the last days of the Jewish monarchy, when the northern kingdom\nhad been already destroyed, that Palestine was first exposed to the\ndisastrous fate which involved her in so long a series of troubles\nfrom this time forward--that of being the debatable ground between\nEgypt and the further East; first under the Pharaohs and the rulers\nof Babylon; then under the Ptolemies and Seleucidae. \u201cIn the days of\nJosiah, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, went up against the king of\nAssyria to the river Euphrates\u201d (2 Kings xxiii. 29), possibly landing\nhis army at Accho (says Dean Stanley), more probably, as the expression\nseems to indicate, following the track of his predecessor Psammetichus,\nand advancing up the maritime plain till he turned into the plain of\nEsdraelon, thence to penetrate into the passes of the Lebanon. King\nJosiah, in self-defence, and perhaps as an ally of the Assyrian king,\nwent against him. Josiah would march by the watershed road, northward\nfrom Jerusalem, and descend into the plain, perhaps by Dothan. The\nengagement took place in \u201cthe Valley of Megiddo\u201d (2 Chron. xxxv. 22).\nThe Egyptian archers in their long array, so well known from their\nsculptured monuments, shot at King Josiah, as he rode in state in his\nroyal chariot, and he was sore wounded, and placed in his reserve\nchariot, and carried to Jerusalem to die. Dean Stanley remarks that all\nother notices of the battle are absorbed in this one tragical event,\nand the exact scene of the encounter is not known.\n\nThe position of Megiddo is not fixed very definitely in the Bible\nnarrative. But a broad valley (as we see above) was named from the\ncity, and the \u201cwaters of Megiddo\u201d are also spoken of. Major Conder\nbelieves he has found the place and the name, in the large ruined site\nof Mujedda, at the foot of Gilboa--a mound from which fine springs\nburst out, with the broad valley of the Jalud river to the north.\nOtherwise Megiddo has been located on the _Mukutt\u00e0_, near _Lejjun_. Mr\nTrelawney Saunders considers it an objection to Conder\u2019s site that it\nis separated from the river Kishon and the town of Taanach, and cannot\nbe made to fit in with the account of Ahaziah\u2019s flight from Jezreel (2\nKings ix. 27). The king, having been smitten at \u201cthe going up to Gur,\u201d\nnear Ibleam, fled to Megiddo, where he died. But if Megiddo were in\nthe Plain of Bethshean he would hardly be likely to do this, seeing\nthat Jehu his enemy made his furious advance upon Jezreel through that\nplain. Besides, he fled by the way of the \u201cgarden house,\u201d En-gannim\n(the modern _Jenin_); the garden-like character of which spot is still\npreserved--and _Jenin_ would not be on the route between _Zerin_ and\n_Mujedda_.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cTent Work in Palestine.\u201d Major\n Conder. \u201cIntroduction to the Survey of Western Palestine.\u201d By\n Trelawney Saunders. \u201cSurvey of Western Palestine.\u201d P. E. Fund.\n \u201cTwenty-one Years\u2019 Work in the Holy Land.\u201d P. E. Fund.]\n\n\n 9. _Sacred Sites of the Hebrews._\n\nIn order to pass in review the sites selected by the Israelites for\nplaces of worship, it will be convenient to go back to the time when we\nfind the tribes encamped at Gilgal, on their first entrance into the\ncountry.\n\nThat Mount Sinai should remain sacred after the giving of the Law was\nto be expected; and we have just now seen that its sacredness could\nattract Elijah after many centuries. The Israelites, when they left\nthe wilderness, and came to sojourn in the outskirts of Moab, were\nattracted by the shrine of Baal-Peor; but they were made to feel that\nthis was wrong, and the ambassadors of the western tribes refer to it\nas a warning when they expostulate with their brethren about the altar\ncalled Ed (Joshua xxii. 17). In passing over into Canaan, they carried\nthe Lord\u2019s tabernacle with them; where that rested was holy ground, and\nit was not intended that any rival site should be tolerated.\n\nThe ark of the covenant--the chest which contained the agreement or\ntreaty between Jehovah and his people--was set down at Gilgal, the\ntabernacle or holy tent was erected over it, and Gilgal became a sacred\nplace. Afterwards, when the hill country had been conquered, the ark\nand tabernacle were brought to Shiloh, and then Shiloh became a sacred\nplace. Shiloh is now called _Seilun_, and here the ruins of a modern\nvillage occupy a sort of _tell_ or mound. The position of the place\nis remarkably retired, shut in between high, bare mountains. A deep\nvalley runs behind the town on the north, and in its sides are many\nrock-cut sepulchres. \u201cThe site being so certainly known,\u201d says Conder,\n\u201cit becomes of interest to speculate as to the exact position of the\ntabernacle. Below the top of the hill, on the north of the ruins,\nthere is a sort of irregular quadrangle, sloping rather to the west,\nand perched above terraces made for agricultural purposes. The rock\nhas here been rudely hewn in two parallel scarps for over 400 feet,\nwith a court between, 77 feet wide and sunk 5 feet below the outer\nsurface. Thus there would be sufficient room for the court of the\ntabernacle in this area. From the Mishna we learn that the lower part\nof the tabernacle erected at Shiloh was of stone, with a tent above.\nThere are, however, two other places which demand attention as possible\nsites, one being, perhaps, a synagogue, the other a little building\ncalled the \u2018Mosque of the Servants of God.\u2019\u201d\n\nAccording to the Jews, the ark and tabernacle remained at Shiloh three\nhundred and sixty-nine years--so long that Shiloh was regarded as only\nsecond to Jerusalem in sanctity. In the disastrous days of Eli the ark\nwas sent into the battlefield and captured by the Philistines, who\ncarried it to Ashdod, to the temple of Dagon. When Dagon fell down\nbefore it they sent it away again, and it was, after some adventures,\nrecovered by the men of Kirjath Jearim. Eventually David brought it to\nMount Zion, and then Zion became a sacred place. Solomon said, \u201cthe\nplaces are holy whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come\u201d (2 Chron.\nviii. 11), and on that account he brought up the daughter of Pharaoh\nout of the City of David (which is Zion, 1 Kings viii. 1), unto the\nhouse that he had built for her. The ark never went back to Shiloh\nafter Eli sent it away. The tabernacle, however, appears to have\nremained there for some time, and so Shiloh remained sacred in some\ndegree.\n\nSoon, however, even the tabernacle would appear to have been removed\nfrom Shiloh, for although we have no direct mention of its removal,\nwe seem to find it in other places. Samuel, the successor of Eli,\njudged the people, and on important occasions called the solemn\nassembly and offered sacrifices. He was accustomed to do this at three\ndifferent places, which in his day were revered as sacred. One of\nthese was Gilgal, rendered sacred by the first resting of the ark: and\nalthough the ark and tabernacle had been removed, and sanctity was to\nbe transferred along with them, yet it is not easy to obliterate the\nsanctity of a place from the tradition and practice of the people.\nAnother of these three places was Bethel, where Jacob had seen his\nvision of the ladder with angels ascending and descending, and had\nbeen constrained to say, \u201cThis is the house of God and the gate of\nHeaven.\u201d The third place at which Samuel called assemblies and offered\nsacrifices was not Shiloh, as we might suppose it would be, but one of\nthe many places called Mizpeh. We do not know where this Mizpeh was.\nConder is inclined to identify it with _Neby Samwil_--the Mount of\nthe Prophet Samuel, a conspicuous conical hill, 4 or 5 miles north of\nJerusalem; and as Mizpeh means a watch-tower, there is plausibility in\nthis suggestion. We do not know whether the tabernacle was pitched at\neither of these three places in Samuel\u2019s day: we do not know why Samuel\nshould be content to regard three different places as holy; but it is\nnot altogether impossible that the tabernacle was carried from one\nmeeting-place to another, and made each one holy in turn.\n\nA little later we seem to find the tabernacle nearer to Jerusalem.\nWhen David is fleeing from King Saul, and taking the road from Rama in\nBenjamin to Gath in the land of the Philistines, he comes to Nob, to\nAhimelech the priest, and is permitted to eat the shewbread (the holy\nbread exhibited before the Lord in the sanctuary), and to carry off\nthe sword of Goliath, which had been laid up as a trophy. So here we\nhave the priests, the shewbread, and the tabernacle at Nob. As to the\nlocality of Nob, Dean Stanley follows Mr Thrupp in fixing it on the\nnorthern summit of the Mount of Olives, and Mr Thrupp reminds us that\nDavid brought the head of Goliath to Jerusalem, before the city itself\nwas captured (1 Sam. xvii. 54). David, in fleeing from Rama to Gath,\ncould hardly find a shorter or more convenient route than that which\ntook him past Jerusalem.\n\nThis position for Nob is confirmed by Isaiah\u2019s graphic and detailed\ndescription of the advance of the Assyrian invader (Isaiah x. 28):--\n\n He comes to Ai, passes through Migron,\n At Michmash deposits his baggage;\n They cross the pass, Geba is our night station:\n Terrified is Ramah, Gibeah of Saul flees.\n Shriek with thy voice, daughter of Gallim;\n Listen, O Laish! Ah! poor Anathoth!\n Madmeneh escapes, dwellers in Gebim take flight.\n Yet this day he halts at Nob:\n He shakes his hand against the mount, daughter of Sion,\n The hill of Jerusalem.\n\n\u201cIn this passage\u201d (says Sir Charles Wilson), \u201cif it has a meaning--and\nI cannot suppose that it has not--the prophet describes, in such detail\nthat it is difficult to believe he is not describing an actual event,\nthe march of an Assyrian army upon Jerusalem; and we may be quite\ncertain that, with his knowledge of the country, and writing as he did\nfor those who were equally well acquainted with it, he would describe\na line of march, which, under certain conditions, an army would\nnaturally follow if its special object were the capture of Jerusalem.\nThe conditions to which I allude are the passage of the great ravine\nat Michmash, and encampment for the night at Geba; why this route\nwas selected in preference to the easier road along the line of\nwater-parting we have no means of ascertaining, and it does not affect\nthe question.\u201d\n\n\u201cOf the places mentioned by Isaiah, we know, with a considerable\ndegree of certainty, the positions of Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Gibeah,\nand Anathoth; of the others nothing is known. From Geba to Nob was\nevidently a day\u2019s march in the progress of the army; and the order\nin which the villages are mentioned leads us in the direction of\nJerusalem. If, as I believe, the passage means that the Assyrian\nwarrior was leading an army from Geba against Jerusalem, and that his\nprogress was suddenly arrested at Nob, we must seek a site for Nob on\nthe road between these two places, and I cannot imagine a more natural\none than some place in the vicinity of that Scopus whence, in later\nyears, Titus and his legions looked down upon the Holy City.\u201d\n\nDoeg, the Edomite, who happened to be present when Ahimelech gave\nDavid the sword, informed Saul, and Saul, who was mad with suspicion,\nslew all the priests and utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Nob.\nBut even after the destruction of the sanctuary by his violence the\nsanctity of the summit of Olivet was still respected. It was necessary,\nhowever, to remove the tabernacle from the scene of so much bloodshed,\nand perhaps it was immediately removed to the high-place of Gibeon,\nwhere we find it in the early part of Solomon\u2019s reign.\n\nThe state of things at the beginning of the reign of Solomon is\ndescribed in 1 Kings iii.--\u201cThe people sacrificed in the high places,\nbecause there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those\ndays. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was\nthe great high place.\u201d We learn from 2 Chron. i. that at Gibeon was\nthe Tent of Meeting (the tabernacle) which Moses had made in the\nwilderness. Moreover, the brazen altar made by the inspired artist in\nthe wilderness was there before the tabernacle, and Solomon and the\ncongregation sought unto it, and offered a thousand burnt offerings\nupon it.\n\nThus far, then, we have at least half a dozen sacred places, venerated\nin turn, and more or less acknowledged simultaneously,--namely, Gilgal,\nBethel, Shiloh, Mizpeh, Nob, and Gibeon. To these we must add Zion, to\nwhich David brought the ark, setting it up in the tent which he had\nprepared for it, though _the_ tent, time-honoured and sacred, was at\nGibeon (2 Sam. vi. 17; 1 Chron. i. 4-6).\n\nThe ark, however, did not remain in \u201cthe city of David, which is Zion;\u201d\nfor when the temple was built upon Mount Moriah, the ark was brought\nup into the oracle of the house, with much sacrificing of sheep and\noxen, and the Tent of Meeting was brought along with it (1 Kings\nviii.). Mount Moriah was now God\u2019s holy mountain, and it was intended\nto concentrate all public worship at the Temple. Even previously\nit had been the law that the high places of the heathen should be\ndiscarded, and irresponsible sacrifice in the open field should be\ndiscountenanced, and that every man who had sacrifices to offer should\nbring them to the tabernacle, wherever the tabernacle might be located\nat the time (Levit. xvii. 1-6; Deut. xii. 1-6). So, now that the\npermanent temple had superseded the wandering tent, it was ordered, of\ncourse, that all sacrifices and public worship should take place on\nMount Moriah. \u201cFor in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height\nof Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all\nof them, serve Me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will\nI require your offerings, and the first fruits of your oblations, with\nall your holy things\u201d (Ezek. xx. 40).\n\nNevertheless, during the years of David\u2019s reign, and until the temple\nwas built, the ark resting on Zion conferred sanctity on that mountain.\nPsalms of David, and others written at that time, would of course make\nreference to Zion and not yet to Moriah.\n\n \u201cIn Salem also is his tabernacle,\n And his dwelling-place in Zion.\u201d\n Psalm lxxvi. 2.\n\nAnd even after the ark had been carried up to the Temple, Mount Zion\nwould retain its sanctity by tradition; or perhaps the name Zion would\nbe extended so as to include Moriah, as they may in truth be related as\nthe slope and the summit of the same hill.[19]\n\nHis foundation is in the holy mountains,\n\n \u201cThe Lord loveth the gates of Zion\n More than all the dwellings of Jacob.\u201d\n Psalm lxxxvii. 1.\n\nSo shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy\nmountain. (Joel iii. 17 and Zech. viii. 3).\n\nHuman nature would not be what it is if theory and practice always\nwent hand in hand. Laws may be good, but universal obedience to them\ncannot always be secured. Solomon himself, who had built the temple,\nand by bringing the Tent of Meeting into it, had disestablished Gibeon,\nset the example, in his later years, of recognising afresh other\nhigh places and the gods of the heathen. Having married \u201cwomen of\nthe Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites,\u201d besides\nthe daughter of Pharaoh, he doubtless thought it only an enlightened\ntoleration to let them worship in their own way, and as a logical\nconsequence he supplied them with the means, and perhaps occasionally\naccompanied them to their respective places of worship. \u201cFor Solomon\nwent after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,\u201d and \u201cdid build a\nhigh place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is\nbefore Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of\nAmmon. And so did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and\nsacrificed unto their gods\u201d (1 Kings xi.).\n\nWe see in this passage that the site selected as the high place for\nChemosh was on the Mount of Olives--perhaps the place where Nob had\nstood, a site which had the tradition of sanctity already.\n\nMany later kings imitated Solomon, and declined to regard Jehovah\nas the only God, or the holy mountain at Jerusalem as the only high\nplace possessing sanctity. It was hardly to be expected that the\npeople should be more faithful than their kings; and the after history\nfurnishes many examples of lapses into heathen worship, and periodical\nreforms attempted by such kings as Josiah and Hezekiah. It was not\nconvenient for the more distant tribes north of Esdraelon or east of\nJordan to come up to Jerusalem to worship. Added to this consideration\nthere was the local shrine, and time-honoured tradition in its favour.\nJust as in our own country Ripon cathedral is built over St Wilfrid\u2019s\nSaxon church, and St Paul\u2019s cathedral on the site of a heathen temple,\nso on the part of the Israelites there was a disposition to keep to the\nold spots. What wonder if there was, besides, a frequent adherence to\nthe old forms of worship?\n\nThe tribes east of Jordan worshipped eastern gods--Peor, Chemosh,\nMilcom. Gad worshipped the god of Fortune (Isaiah lxv. 11), and was\nnamed after that deity. Josephus spells the name of Reuben as _Reubel_\n(\u03a1\u03bf\u03c5\u03b2\u03b5\u03bb\u03bf\u03c2), and Bel was one of the eastern gods. Manasseh had a\nsanctuary in the city of Golan. From the east of Jordan came Jephthah,\nwho made a rash vow like a heathen, and kept it, although it involved\nhuman sacrifice.\n\nBeyond Esdraelon we have Kadesh Naphtali, a heathen sanctuary adopted\nby the Israelites as a city of refuge, but apparently without any\nentire suppression of the original worship. The place is now called\n_Kedes_, and among the ruins found by the explorers are those of a\ntemple with a figure of an eagle on the lintel, besides richly executed\nscroll-work of vine-leaves, bunches of grapes, a stag, and a bust\n(possibly of Baal). There were also places called Beth-shemesh (House\nof the Sun) scattered up and down the country.\n\nAt the disruption of the kingdom, Jeroboam, fearing that his subjects\nwould be attracted to the religious festivals at Jerusalem, established\ntwo other centres. One of these was Bethel, convenient for the southern\npart of his kingdom, and sacred already, because there Abram had\nbuilded an altar, and Jacob had seen his vision, and Samuel had called\nsolemn assemblies. The other was Dan, convenient for the northern part\nof his kingdom, and sacred again, already, for here, in the time of the\nJudges some colonists from the tribe of Dan had set up a graven image\nand established a priesthood. Besides, it was probably a sanctuary of\nthe Ph\u0153nician inhabitants whom the Danites displaced; and, as we have\nseen in a previous chapter, the heathen god Pan came to be worshipped\nhere. Thus we see that Jeroboam selected religious centres which\ncombined traditional sanctity with geographical convenience.\n\nWhen the tribes of the northern kingdom were carried into captivity,\nand the Assyrian conquerors brought people from Babylon, from Cuthah,\nand from Avva, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and placed them in the\ncities of Samaria (2 Kings xvii. 24), the foreigners, or the mixed\npopulation which sprung up, fixed upon Mount Gerizim as their sacred\nhigh place. But Mount Gerizim already possessed a traditional sanctity,\nfor the ark and tabernacle had accompanied Joshua to Shechem; the\ntribes had assembled on the twin mountains to hear the reading of the\nLaw; and in earlier time Abram had builded an altar hereabout, the\nfirst altar to Jehovah in all the Holy Land.\n\nThus there were many high places in Palestine, and there was much\ndisputing as to which should have the pre-eminence, the jealousy\nreaching its height in the later centuries in the rival claims of\nGerizim and Jerusalem. No final solution was possible excepting that\nwhich Jesus Christ gave to the woman of Samaria. \u201cThe hour cometh, and\nnow is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit\nand truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers. God\nis a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and\ntruth.\u201d (John iv. 23). Local centres lose their special sanctity\nbecause \u201cevery place is holy ground.\u201d The Temple at Jerusalem might\nbe destroyed--probably soon would be--but within a marvellously short\nperiod the spiritual temple would take form. For such true teaching\nJesus Christ was crucified and Stephen stoned.\n\n * * * * *\n\nIt was a matter of much interest to Major Conder to find out if\npossible where the mountain of the scape-goat was situated. According\nto the Law of Moses the scape-goat was led to the wilderness, and there\nset free. \u201cThis was not, however, the practice of the later Jews. A\nscape-goat had once come back to Jerusalem, and the omen was thought so\nbad that the ordinary custom was modified, to prevent the recurrence of\nsuch a calamity. The man who led the goat arrived at a high mountain\ncalled Sook, and there was at this place a rolling slope, down which he\npushed the unhappy animal, which was shattered to atoms in the fall.\u201d\nThe district where this was done was called Hidoodim, and the high\nmountain Sook. Sook was 6\u00bd English miles from Jerusalem, as reckoned\nby the ten tabernacles which divided the messenger\u2019s path into stages\nof 2000 cubits. Conder identifies the place in the neighbourhood of\nthe convent of St Saba. At the required distance from Jerusalem is the\ngreat hill of _El Munt\u00e2r_, the highest point of a ridge of mountains\nrunning north and south. The rest of the ridge is called _El Hadeid\u00fbn_;\nand beside the ancient road from Jerusalem is a well called _S\u00fbk_.\nFrom this high ridge the victim was yearly rolled down into the narrow\nvalley beneath, at the entrance of the great desert, which first\nunfolded itself before the eyes of the messenger as he gained the\nsummit half a mile beyond the well of S\u00fbk.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--Colonel Warren, Colonel Wilson,\n &c., in the _Quarterly Statements_, P. E. Fund. \u201cTent Work in\n Palestine.\u201d Major Conder. \u201cSinai and Palestine.\u201d Dean Stanley.]\n\n\n 10. _The Method of the Survey, and Incidents of the Work._\n\nAt the commencement of the Triangulation Survey a base line was\nmeasured, near Ramleh, on the Jaffa plain, and this was afterwards\nchecked by a second line measured on the Plain of Esdraelon. The method\nof work employed is described by Major Conder, both in his \u201cTent Work\u201d\nand in his volume called \u201cPalestine.\u201d The camp, consisting of three\nor four tents, was pitched in some convenient central position, by a\ntown or village. Thence the surveyors were able to ride 8 or 10 miles\nall round, and first visited a few of the highest hill-tops. As each\nwas found satisfactory, or one near it preferred, they built great\ncairns of stones, 8 or 10 feet high, and whitewashed them to make them\nmore conspicuous. This work took about five days. When the points\nwere chosen, five more days were consumed in revisiting them with the\ntheodolite, which travelled in its box bound to the back of a mule,\nthe muleteer perched behind it; and with it went the saddle bags,\nholding lunch, the chisel and hammer for cutting the broad arrow on the\nsummits of the hills, the hatchet for hewing down trees and copses.\nFrom two to four hours were spent at each point, fixing the position of\nevery prominent object, tree, village, white dome or minaret visible\nwithin 10 miles. \u201cThe names were collected\u201d (says Conder) \u201cfrom the\npeasant who accompanied the party, and as the afternoon shadows began\nto lengthen, we slowly wound down the hill-side, a rough-looking\ncavalcade, preceded by our Bashi-bazouk in his red boots, armed to\nthe teeth, and followed by the non-commissioned officers, who had\nbecome well accustomed to their stout little Syrian ponies, whilst the\npack-mule and guide came last. We all wore revolvers and the native\nhead-dress, the Bedawin _Kufeyeh_ or shawl, a sure protection from\nsun-stroke and substitute for an umbrella. Our appearance was therefore\nan extraordinary compound of European and Bedawin, which is often,\nhowever, assumed by the Turkish officials in travelling, and thus\nattracted less attention.\u201d\n\nThe theodolite work over, and the fixed points laid down, the filling\nin of the detail followed. The two non-commissioned officers divided\nthe work between them, and Major Conder took alternate days with each,\nto enable him to do the hill sketching and examine the geology. In open\ncountry they found the daily riding pleasant, but when the hills were\nprecipitous and the valleys deep and stony, the labour was very severe.\nStarting at eight, resting at noon, returning at sunset, and sleeping\nimmediately after dinner, the days sped by with wonderful rapidity, and\nthe Survey spread gradually over the country.\n\nThe old cultivation was traced by the wine-presses, olive-presses,\nruined terraces, and rude garden watch-towers. Ancient sites were\nrecognised by their tombs, cisterns, and rocky scarps. In seeking to\nidentify sites the greatest care was exercised: it was laid down that\nthe site must show traces of antiquity; it must be known to the natives\nunder its original name, or a modification of that name; its position\nmust suit the known accounts of the place; and the measured distances\nmust lend confirmation.\n\nThe new map was to include every object that has a name, and the name\nitself was to be correctly given. But here was a difficulty. How are\nnames to be accurately ascertained in Palestine? The natives are\nperverse, or they suspect you of designs against their country, and\nthey purposely mislead you. On the other hand, they are obliging, and\nif you express a hope that you have found a Scripture site, which\nyou name, they will confirm your impression that it is so. Or it may\nbe that you yourself are deficient in Arabic, and after being at the\ngreatest pains to inquire the name of a site, find that the name you\nhave noted down signifies \u201ca heap of stones.\u201d A story is told of\na European traveller who asked his guide the name of a place, and\nreceived the reply--_Mabarafsh_. Carefully marking it on the sketch-map\nof his route, he by-and-bye inquired concerning a second site which\nhe did not recognise, and received the same reply--_Mabarafsh!_ Of\ncourse it is possible that names should be repeated, as in England we\nhave several Newports, Nortons, and Hamptons; but _Mabarafsh_ actually\nmeans, \u201cI don\u2019t know!\u201d A wise suggestion was made that travellers and\nsurveyors should always get the sheikh of the village to write down the\nname correctly in Arabic; but, unfortunately, only one sheikh in ten\ncan write at all, and he cannot spell correctly.\n\nThe plan adopted by the Survey party was one which guarded as far as\npossible against all mistakes. It is described by Major Conder in \u201cTent\nWork,\u201d where he speaks as follows of his inquiries in the neighbourhood\nof Hebron. \u201cMy party now consisted of three non-commissioned officers;\nand Lieutenant Kitchener was expected to join me in about a month. We\nhad with us eleven natives, including Habib the head man, a scribe, a\nsecond valet, two grooms, the cook (a villain who only sat and watched\nhis boy cooking), two muleteers, and two Bashi-bazouks; the party\nwas thus at its full strength composed of only sixteen persons, with\nnine horses and seven mules.... By night a guard was provided by the\nsheikh of the village. Four guides were hired, who received a shilling\na day, a mule to ride, and breakfast. The information which they gave\nthe Surveyors was written down from their mouths by the scribe, an\nintelligent young Damascene recommended by Mr Wright. Thus correctness,\nboth of pronunciation and of locality, was ensured, and the names\nwere checked by every means in our power. Besides obtaining names\nfrom the local guides, inquiry was made of peasants, and generally of\nseveral peasants separately. No leading questions were put, nor were\neither guides or peasants allowed to suppose that one name would be\nmore acceptable than another. Such was the daily routine. The parties\nleft by eight a.m. and returned by five p.m.; dinner was at sunset,\nand from about eight to eleven, or even until midnight, I studied,\nafter the day\u2019s work, the topography of the district. This labour was\nnot unrewarded, for one might easily have passed over many places of\ninterest had one not known the points to which Mr Grove and other\nscholars required special attention to be directed.\u201d\n\nFortunately in Palestine the ancient names retain their hold very\ntenaciously, and reassert themselves after all the efforts of\nconquerors to displace them. Thus the town of Bethshan (or Bethshean)\nwhich in Greek and Roman times became Scythopolis, is to-day again\nknown to the natives as _Beisan_. _Tell-el-Kadi_, at the foot of\nMount Hermon, signifies in Arabic the \u201cheap of the Judge;\u201d but in\nHebrew the word for judge is _Dan_, and this is the mound of Dan,\nthe northern extremity of the land whose length was measured \u201cfrom\nDan to Beersheba.\u201d Shiloh is now called _Seilun_, and no site is\nmore certain. Almost every important site retains its Biblical name.\nThe pretentious titles, Eleutheropolis, Nicopolis, &c., have quite\nvanished, and the old native names of these cities, _Beth Gubrin_,\n_Emmaus_, &c., are those by which they are now again known. An\nimportant exception, however, is _Nablous_ (corrupted from Neapolis)\nfor the ancient Shechem--a change which may perhaps be traced to Jewish\nhatred of the name of Shechem.\n\nTradition also is valuable as confirming the identification of sites,\nalthough it might be insufficient if it stood alone. In the case\nof Jacob\u2019s Well, near Nablous (Shechem), the Hebrew and Samaritan\ntraditions, the Mohammedan and Christian traditions, all agree.\nThere is agreement also about the grotto at Bethlehem, under the\nChurch of the Nativity, as the place of Christ\u2019s birth. There can be\nno question that the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham\nbought for a burial place, is that which is now covered by the great\nmosque at Hebron. And here again we have that valuable consent of\ntraditions--Jewish, Christian, and Moslem--which seems to distinguish\nthe true sites from those less genuine concerning which two or more\ndiscordant traditions have arisen. The Prince of Wales, Dean Stanley,\nand a few other Europeans have been admitted into the mosque; but\nit seems very doubtful if any living being has ever descended into\nthe mysterious cavern beneath the floor since the Moslem conquest\nof Palestine. The surrounding wall of the mosque is also one of the\nmysteries of Palestine, and a monument inferior only to the Temple\nEnclosure at Jerusalem, which it resembles in style.\n\nThe Temple Area at Jerusalem is still a sanctuary; and the Tower\nof Antonia maintains its military character in the present Turkish\nbarracks. In Palestine we find a Mohammedan mosque where a Christian\nchurch used to be--and built from the same materials. The church in\nits time had followed a Jewish synagogue. Throughout the country for\nthousands of years the people have gone on living in the same way\nand in the same place, and calling the places by the same names. The\nname of almost every village is Hebrew, and each stands on the great\ndust-heap into which the ancient buildings have crumbled. The Hebrew\nnames are retained, and are scarcely changed since the days of Abraham,\nbecause the peasantry are really Semitic in descent.\n\nIn those parts of the country which are seldom visited by Europeans the\nnatives were much astonished to see the Survey party at work. At one\nplace called _Baka_ (in the Sharon district) the great gig umbrella\nover the theodolite attracted much attention, and the chief delight\nto elderly men was a peep through the theodolite telescope. \u201cWhat do\nyou see, O father?\u201d cried the less fortunate who crowded round the\nobserver. \u201cI see Hammad and his cows, two hours off, as if he were\nclose here!\u201d replied the delighted elder.\n\nIt was a common notion that the English intended to take the country,\nthe Survey being only preparatory to that step. The land was being\nparcelled out, and cairns erected on the high mountains where the chief\nmen would build their houses. The surveyors were looking for crosses\ncut on the ruins, and intended to claim ownership of all such places.\nMost of the peasantry believed they were seeking for hid treasure,\nwhich by incantation would be wafted to England. Sometimes they dug\nfor gold under the cairns; often they pulled them down, and had in\nconsequence to be imprisoned. A shepherd saw the party levelling, and\nhad a vague idea they were making a railway, \u201cWill you let the sea\ninto Jordan?\u201d he asked, \u201cor will the steamships go on wheels?\u201d \u201cThe\nbest idea\u201d (says Conder) \u201cwas that we were sent by the Sultan to see\nwhat villages had become ruinous, and to remit their taxes. We were\nfavourites then!\u201d\n\nThe work of the Survey was not carried out without frequent\ndiscomforts. For instance, the Bukei\u2019a plain is good corn land, \u201cbut\nseems to have a bad natural drainage, and our mules floundered in deep\nbogs, sometimes up to their girths. Farther north we began to descend\na long valley, and came on a different kind of country, a basaltic\noutbreak appeared, and cliffs tilted in every direction; the valley bed\nwas strewn with fragments of hard basalt. Passing over a bare ridge we\ndescended into a most desolate valley where a muddy stream was flowing.\nWe had ridden 15 miles, and it now began to rain again. We found to our\ndismay that this was where we had to camp, as no other supply of water\nexisted in a position central to the new work. We soon made a still\nmore unpleasant discovery. The valley was full of clear springs, but\nthey were all tepid and salt. If the Survey was to be done at all, it\nappeared that we should have to drink brackish water for ten days or\nmore. Here, then, we sat down on the wet grass, in a driving drizzle of\nrain, by the brackish stream: not a soul was to be seen, either Bedawi\nor peasant, and it was evident that food would have to be brought from\na distance. The mules soon arrived with our tents and beds, which\nthough soaked with rain, we set up on the bare ground. Of course all\nthe party were cross, and thought themselves injured. I had a very bad\ncold and rheumatism, and Habib had tic-douloureux. The Arabs looked\nwretched; but I was glad they should have their share of the hardships,\nfor, unlike our Abu Nuseir friends at Jericho, they were the most lazy\nand good-for-nothing tribe we had come across.\u201d\n\nAgain, at the miserable little hamlet of _El B\u2019aineh_--between\nLake Tiberias and the Mediterranean--they found the inhabitants all\nfever-stricken from the malarious exhalations of the great swamp,\nwhich even as late as July extended over half the plain. The place\nwas evidently unhealthy, and they were tortured by armies of huge\nmosquitoes, rendering sleep impossible at night. Attacks of fever were\nfrequent. \u201cOnce or twice\u201d (says Conder) \u201cthe fit came on while I was\nriding, and I can imagine nothing more disagreeable than to be 10 miles\nfrom home on a rough road, with a fever headache.\u201d\n\nOne night the Sukr Arabs tried to steal the horses, but the big dog\ngave a sharp bark, and the thieves were seen and fired on just as they\nreached the tethering rope. In another place, when the dog had been\nleft behind, a thief came into the tents, ripped up the saddle-bag\ncontaining the provisions and took them all with him, besides the tin\nwashing-basin, and the plates, bread, chickens, and barley from the\nservants\u2019 tents--all being noiselessly and neatly accomplished in about\nten minutes. The next morning the party were without food.\n\nBut there were worse things than these to endure. In the district of\nDavid\u2019s wanderings Corporal Brophy was attacked by four cowherds, who\nabused him as a \u201cpig,\u201d and threatened to stone him. He had, indeed,\nsome difficulty in escaping. \u201cThe first really serious attack on the\nparty\u201d (says Conder), \u201cthough not the last nor the worst, was made near\nMount Carmel. Sergeant Black was quietly surveying near the village of\n_El Harithiyeh_, where, as it appeared afterwards in evidence, a fete\nor \u2018fantasia\u2019 was being held. The young men were firing at a mark, and\none or more turning at right angles, deliberately fired at the sergeant\non the neighbouring hill. He must have been in no little danger, as he\nbrought home two bullets which had fallen near him.\u201d\n\nOn the 10th July 1875 a very serious attack was made upon the whole\nparty, and it is a marvel that any of them escaped with their lives.\nFatigued with a long and arduous march, and a final ascent of 2000\nfeet, they chose a camping ground north of _Safed_, a town which lies\nin a saddle of the high mountains of Upper Galilee and looks down\non the lake. The tents were about half way up when Major Conder,\nresting on his bed, in shirt-sleeves and slippers, heard angry voices\nin altercation. Looking out, he saw to his astonishment a sheikh,\nevidently a man of good position, engaged in throwing stones at Habib,\nwho, with his hands spread out, was calling the bystanders to witness\nthe treatment he underwent. Conder advanced to demand an explanation;\nbut the sheikh, who was mad with passion, strode up to him, seized\nhim by the throat and shook him, meantime pouring out unintelligible\nwords. Major Conder had been accustomed to be treated with respect,\neven by the highest officials in the country; and he felt that if he\nsubmitted to this insult he would lose his influence with the natives\nfor ever, so he knocked the man down. He got up and returned to the\nattack, with one arm behind him. Conder knocked him down a second time,\nand as he fell observed in his hand a knife with a blade a foot long.\nConder\u2019s party consisted of five Europeans and ten Maronites, and when\nthe latter heard news of the insult received by their \u201cKabt\u00e2n,\u201d they\ncame running up, quite beside themselves, and soon seized the sheikh,\ntook his knife away, and bound his arms behind his back. The sheikh\ncried out, \u201cWhere are my people?\u201d and the Moslem bystanders began to\nthrow stones. Conder\u2019s servants were running to the tents for arms,\nfor they had eight revolvers ready for use, besides three shotguns\nand a rifle. Their \u201ccaptain,\u201d however, was wiser; he had the sheikh\nimmediately released, and sent Habib at once to the Governor of the\ntown. But the crowd presently numbered about three hundred, and all\nthe more violent engaged in hurling stones. Lieutenant Kitchener was\nstruck more than once, and a muleteer was knocked over. The cries which\nChristians in Palestine have good reason to dread, associated as they\nare with memories of bloodshed, were now raised by the mob--\u201cAllah!\nAllah!\u201d and \u201cDin! Din! Mohammed!\u201d the cry of the Damascus massacres.\nPresently a number of fully-armed men came running down the hill-side,\nall relatives and retainers of the sheikh, who indeed, it afterwards\nappeared, was no less a person than \u2019Aly Agha \u2019All\u00e2n, a near relative\nof \u2019Abd el K\u00e2der himself. \u201cI advanced at once\u201d (says Conder) \u201cto meet\nthese assailants, and singled out two men, one a white-bearded elder\nwith a battle-axe, the other a tall man with a club. They addressed\nme with many curses, and the old man thrust the battle-axe against\nmy ribs; but it was a wonderful instance of the influence which a\nEuropean may always possess over Arabs, that they allowed me to take\nthem by the arms and turn them round, and that on my telling them to\ngo home, with a slight push in that direction, they actually retreated\nsome little way. Meantime a most extraordinary figure appeared--a\nblack man with pistols in his belt, brandishing a scimitar over his\nhead, and bellowing like a bull. He was the Agha\u2019s slave, and bent on\nrevenge; seeing him so near, and seeing also a gun pointed at my head,\nI retreated to the tents. I could not help laughing, even at so serious\na juncture, when I found myself supported by Sergeant Armstrong, who\nstood at \u2018the charge\u2019 armed with the legs of the camera-obscura! I now\nsaw that Lieutenant Kitchener was opposing another group to my right\nfront, and went forward to him, when I was greeted with a blow on the\nforehead from a club with nails in it, which brought the blood in a\nstream down my face. The man who wielded it raised it once more, in\norder to bring it down on the top of my skull, but luckily I was too\nquick for him, and ducked my head close to his chest. The blow fell\nshort upon my neck, but even then it stunned me for the moment, and I\nstaggered.\u201d\n\nAll the party were wounded, and as they were averse to using fire-arms,\nthey at last \u201cbolted over thistles and stone-walls to a hill-side some\nhundred yards away, and stood there in suspense and anxiety.\u201d They were\nmuch surprised to hear no more the cries of the crowd; but soon learned\nthat the Governor had sent a body of soldiers, and they were safe, at\nleast for the moment. They returned to camp, and held their ground for\nthe night, in spite of the threat of \u2019Aly Agha that he would come back\nand cut their throats. Next morning they marched out in good order,\nwith four mounted guards, and made for the coast. Arriving at Acre they\nlaid the affair before the Pacha, and telegraphed to Constantinople;\nfor it would have been unsafe to attempt to continue their work until\nthe assailants had been punished. Such was the attack at Safed. It was\ndue to the insolence of one man, accustomed to overbear and bully the\nfew Christians who pass through the town, and to the fanaticism of the\nMoslem population.\n\nThe strain upon the Europeans had been too much for health. Excitement,\nfatigue, pain, and anxiety, added to malarious poison imbibed in the\nswamps, brought on a severe attack of fever. For twenty-four hours\nMajor Conder was not expected to recover. Lieutenant Kitchener also\nsoon succumbed, and the rest followed. They lay in their beds in the\nCarmel convent, and Sergeant Armstrong nursed them. Truly, as Conder\nremarks, the Survey of Palestine was no holiday work.\n\nThe Committee who organized the Survey and the officers who carried it\nout deserve our gratitude, for they have conferred a lasting benefit\nupon Palestine travellers and upon all students of the Bible. We have\nnow a map by which a traveller can find his way. Dr Robinson and other\nexplorers of that day used to describe the position of a place by\nsaying it was two hours east from the last, and then one and a quarter\nhours north-west; but we now have exact distances. We have a map which\nhelps us to understand Bible narratives of personal journeys or the\nmarch of armies. We can now see which route _must_ have been followed;\nwe can pursue step by step the Scripture events. We are certain now\nthat the Bible could not have been written in any other country under\nheaven.\n\nBefore the Survey the Sea of Galilee was variously computed as being\nfrom 300 feet to 600 feet below the Mediterranean: it is now fixed\nat 682. The courses of the affluents of the Jordan are found to be\nentirely different from those previously shown. Only four fords of the\nJordan were known and marked on the maps, whereas we now have more\nthan forty. Villages have had to be transferred from one side to the\nother of the great boundary valleys. Scores and scores of Scripture\nsites, wrongly placed or altogether lost, have been found and fixed.\nAnd the finding of the sites has enabled the surveyors to trace\naccurately the boundaries of tribes and provinces. How was it possible\nto understand the Bible history unless we knew the situation of towns,\nthe boundaries of tribes, the fords and passes and valleys which were\nopen to foreign invaders? How could we understand it unless we knew\nthe routes of wayfarers and the way of commerce? These things have now\nat last been ascertained, and with accuracy. When the base line which\nwas measured on the Jaffa plain was checked by a line measured on the\nplain of Esdraelon, it was found to be perfectly satisfactory; and the\nclosing line when calculated in 1876 at Southampton had a margin of\nonly 20 feet, which is an invisible distance on the one inch scale. It\nmay be claimed for the Survey that the new discoveries are almost as\nnumerous as all those of former travellers put together; and nothing\nso great has been done for the right understanding of the Old and New\nTestaments since the translation of the Scriptures into the vulgar\ntongue.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources (Western Palestine)_:--\u201cSurvey\n Memoirs of Palestine Exploration Fund.\u201d \u201cTent Work in\n Palestine.\u201d By Major Conder. \u201cPalestine in its Physical\n Aspects.\u201d Rev. Canon Tristram. \u201cSinai and Palestine.\u201d By Dean\n Stanley. \u201cTwenty-One Years\u2019 Work in the Holy Land.\u201d Published\n by the P. E. Fund. \u201cMemoir on the Geology.\u201d Dr Ed. Hull.\n \u201cMount Seir.\u201d Dr Ed. Hull. \u201cIntroduction to the Survey.\u201d\n Trelawney Saunders. \u201cQuarterly Statements of P. E. Fund.\u201d\n Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the Bible.\u201d \u201c_Rob Roy_ on the Jordan.\u201d\n John Macgregor.]\n\n\n 11. _The East of Jordan._\n\nIt would be well if the topographical survey could be extended so as\nto cover all the ground occupied by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and\nthe half tribe of Manasseh. It is true indeed that the East of Jordan\nis less intimately bound up with the Scripture narrative than the West,\nyet still there are ninety-six places east of Jordan mentioned in\nthe Bible--Dr Selah Merrill estimates that there are two hundred and\nforty--and it would be an advantage to have them all identified. On the\neast side, also, the country is much more thickly strewn with ruins\nthan on the west; and although the so-called \u201cgiant cities\u201d of Bashan\nmay not deserve that name, yet is the region full of Roman towns, of\nNabathean and Arab texts scrawled on the rocks, of Greek temples and\nGreek inscriptions, and of dolmen groups yet older.\n\nIn the absence of detailed trigonometrical survey of the whole region,\nthe map published by the Palestine Exploration Society in 1890 is the\nbest that could be compiled from all sources. The sources available\nwere--Van de Velde\u2019s map as a general basis; the route maps of later\ntravellers; the work of the American Palestine Exploration Society as\nreported in their \u201cStatements;\u201d Major Conder\u2019s survey of 500 square\nmiles in the land of Moab in 1881 and 1882; and lastly, surveys made by\nHerr Schumacher in the Hauran and the Janlan.\n\n_Bashan_: the territory of the half tribe of Manasseh. As an\nillustration of the abundance of the ancient remains east of Jordan, Dr\nSelah Merrill, the arch\u00e6ologist of the American Exploring Expedition,\nsays that every one who has visited _Kanawat_ is amazed at the number\nand variety of the ruined buildings, castles, temples, churches,\nconvents, theatre, bath, palaces, reservoirs, underground apartments\nor vaults, costly tombs, and still others which have never been fully\nexamined. Dr J. L. Porter found here what he calls a colossal head\nof Astarte, sadly broken ... with the crescent moon (which gave to\nthis goddess the name _Karnaim_ or two-horned) still on her brow. Mr\nTyrwhitt Drake secured a stone at this place which was thought to be\npart of an altar, upon two opposite sides of which were the features of\nBaal and Astarte, boldly cut in high relief upon the closest basalt,\nwith foliage, showing the artistic hand.\n\nOne\u2019s first impression is that all the antiquities are of Roman times\nand date only from the early centuries of the Christian era. This is\nindicated not only by the style of architecture but by the considerable\nnumber of inscriptions, which form an almost continuous chain from\nthe first century to the fourth. They belong to the Emperors Marcus\nAurelius, Lucius Aurelius Verus, Commodus, Septimius Severus, Alexander\nSeverus, &c.\n\nThese Roman cities became converted to the religion of Christ, and then\nnot only were the sanctuaries of paganism transformed into Christian\nsanctuaries, but new churches were erected adapted to the new worship;\nhouses, palaces, and tombs were built; even entire cities were founded.\nAt length all these Christian cities were abandoned at the same\ntime--probably at the epoch of the Mohammedan invasion--and since then\nthey have not been touched. Except that earthquakes have thrown to the\nground many of the walls and columns, they lack only beams and planks,\nor they would be perfect edifices, which soon might be made habitable\nagain.\n\nBut how intensely interesting the exploration of the district becomes\nwhen we learn that underneath these towns of Roman date are the\ndwellings of the earlier inhabitants! For example, _Burak_ is a city\nof the Hauran which has been identified with the episcopal city\nConstantia, founded, it is supposed, or at least embellished, by\nConstantine. But Rev. W. Wright tells us that while the houses seem\nto stand on a mound of black earth, they are in reality built on the\nfoundations of houses of a more remote antiquity. In one place he\ndescended to a depth of 16 or 18 feet, to see some pottery which had\nlately been discovered, and he found the walls at that depth formed\nof enormous undressed and unsquared stones, unlike the stones of the\nsuperstructure, which are small in size and have been better prepared\nfor the walls. \u201cNor will it be doubted\u201d (he says) \u201cthat beneath that\nraised mound are buried the remains of one of the \u2018three-score cities\u2019\nthat once existed in Bashan, and which still exist under changed\ncircumstances, sometimes under different names.\u201d\n\nAt another place, called _Dra\u2019a_, Dr S. Merrill desired to explore\nthe underground caves or chambers which were known to exist, and the\nsheikh sent his son as a guide. They went through several chambers,\ngalleries, and avenues, and then entered a small room, and followed a\npassage leading out of it that had been cut in the solid rock. Soon\nthey were obliged to go on their hands and knees, and after proceeding\nabout thirty yards the guide came upon a human skeleton, at which he\nwas so shocked that he refused to go any farther, and the party were\nobliged to return. How the skeleton came there was a mystery: some wild\nbeast may have dragged a body to the place, or a murder may have been\ncommitted, or some person may have been trying to explore the caverns\nand failed to find his way out. _Dra\u2019a_ ought to be a rich field for\nexcavations, because at least three cities exist there, one beneath\nanother. The present Arab buildings and heaps of filth are, for the\nmost part, on the top of a Greek or Roman city, as is evident from the\nwalls which are exposed in a multitude of places, and the masons\u2019 marks\nwhich appear on them. And the Roman town appears to rest on one still\nolder, in which bevelled stones were used. But whether there are two or\nthree cities above ground, there is certainly a large one beneath them,\nentirely excavated in the rock on which the upper cities stand.\n\nThe underground dwellings at this place had been visited some years\nbefore by Dr J. G. Wetzstein, and he also was prevented from making a\nthorough exploration; for when his attendant\u2019s light went out he was so\nimpressed with a sense of the danger they would be in if both lights\nwent out together, that he thought it prudent to retreat. But he had\nseen a good deal. After passing a difficult passage he found himself\nin a broad street which had dwellings on both sides of it, and whose\nheight and width left nothing to be desired. Farther along there were\nseveral cross streets, and soon after they came to a market-place,\nwith numerous shops in the walls, exactly in the style of the shops\nthat are seen in Syrian cities. After a while they turned into a side\nstreet, where a great hall attracted his attention, the roof formed of\na single slab of jasper, and supported by four pillars. Dr Wetzstein\nspeaks of this remarkable place as \u201cold Edrei, the subterranean\nlabyrinthine residence of King Og.\u201d\n\nHerr Schumacher has also visited this underground city of _Dra\u2019a_ or\n_Ed Der\u2019aah_, and describes it, giving plans, in his work, \u201cAcross the\nJordan.\u201d He regards such cities as the work of the earliest inhabitants\nof Hauran, the so-called giants of Scripture. He was assured by the\nsheikh Naif, and by many others, that this underground city extends\nbelow the whole of _Ed Der\u2019aah_.\n\nAlthough the chambers and passages were ventilated, the question\narises, why any people should choose to live in such gloomy seclusion\ninstead of in the light of day? Mr Schumacher\u2019s conjecture is that\nthey did ordinarily live in the daylight, and that these subterranean\nplaces were hollowed out in order to receive the population in time\nof danger. They were thus prepared to stand a siege, as long as their\nmagazines were filled with food, their stables with cattle, and their\ncisterns with water. If, however, the enemy had found out how to cut\noff their supply of air, by covering up the air-holes, the besieged\nwould have been compelled to surrender or perish. Another circumstance\nalso might have proved disastrous--if armies of wasps found their way\ninto the underground city the inhabitants would be driven out. Some\nwriters think that this occurrence is actually spoken of in Exodus\nxxiii. 28--\u201cAnd I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive\nout the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee;\u201d and\nDeut. vii. 20--\u201cMoreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among\nthem, until they that are left, and hide themselves, perish from before\nthee\u201d--_they that are left, and hide themselves_!\n\nHerr Schumacher and Mr Laurence Oliphant find many names and traditions\nwhich lead them to regard the country of Western Hauran as probably\nthe land of Uz. \u201cThere was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job\u201d\n(Job i.). The old village of _Sheikh Sa\u2019ad_ is a spot which from the\nmost ancient times has been held sacred to the memory of Job (_Neby\nAyyub_). We find there the ruins of the Monastery of Job (_Deir\nAyyub_), much venerated by the ancient people of the Hauran. At the\nsouth-eastern extremity of the long low hill upon which the village\nis built, and elevated about 40 feet above the surrounding plain, is\nthe \u201cRock of Job,\u201d which stands now in a mosque. Here, so says the\nlegend, Job sat when he was leprous, and received his friends. The rock\nis a monolith of basalt, 7 feet high and about 4 feet broad, and on\nits surface are some illegible letters. There may be no truth in the\nlegend; but it serves to show how closely the name of Job is associated\nwith this region.\n\nAbout half a day\u2019s journey due east from Bethshan is a place called\n_Mahneh_, which several writers, on account of the similarity of name,\nhave been inclined to identify with Mahanaim, where Jacob met the\ntwo companies of angels, and where David sojourned during Absalom\u2019s\nrebellion. A mound exists here, and Dr Tristram picked up some pieces\nof old pottery, scattered about, so that it might be worth while to\nexcavate: but we must look elsewhere for Mahanaim.\n\nMahanaim must have been some little distance north of the Jabbok,\nbecause Jacob came to it before he crossed that stream. It must have\nbeen in or near the Jordan Valley, for Jacob, in his prayer at that\nplace, says, \u201cWith my staff I passed over this Jordan,\u201d language which\nwould not have been used if the Jordan were not within sight. The city\nwas assigned to one of Solomon\u2019s commissariat officers (1 Kings iv.\n14), from which we may infer that it represented a district. These\nconditions appear to point to _Khurbet Suleikhat_, a large ruined\ncity at the mouth of _Wady Suleikhat_, 9 miles north of the Jabbok.\nIf we fix Mahanaim here we can understand why the name is in the dual\nform--the two Mahans or camps--for the ruins lie on both sides of the\nstream which here runs down the _Wady Suleikhat_ into the Jordan.\n_Khurbet Suleikhat_ is some 300 feet above the plain, and among the\nfoot-hills, in such a way that it overlooks the valley, while the\nroad running north and south along the valley passes nearly a mile\nto the west of it. A watchman from a tower could see to the north a\nconsiderable distance, also clear across the valley to the west, and\ndown the valley to the south a long stretch, nearly or quite to the\npoint where the Jabbok and the Jordan unite, at the foot of _Kurn\nSurtabeh_.\n\nWe can now understand the account of the messengers who bore the news\nof Absalom\u2019s death to David. The battle between Joab and Absalom took\nplace a little to the south-east of Mahanaim. Josephus says that Joab\n\u201cput his army in battle array over against the enemy in the great\nplain where he had a wood behind him\u201d (Antiq. vii. 9, 8, and 10, 1-5).\nAbsalom\u2019s men were routed, and fled through the forests and valleys,\npursued by David\u2019s men. The battle was scattered over the face of all\nthe country (2 Sam. xviii. 8), and probably extended to the foot-hills.\nThe two messengers appear to start from some point on the hills, where\nJoab stood on vantage ground. \u201cThe Cushite,\u201d an Ethiopian slave of\nJoab\u2019s, attempted to go across over deep wadies and broken ground; but\nAhimaaz, who knew the country better, struck down to the Jordan Valley,\nand ran by the way of the Plain (the _Kikkar_) where he had a level and\nsmooth road all the rest of the way. Consequently, although he started\nsecond, he arrived first. David sat between the two gates at Mahanaim,\nand the watchman went up to the roof of the gate unto the wall, whence\nhe descried the messengers approaching.\n\nSuccoth also was a city east of Jordan, for Jacob came to it before he\ncrossed the Jordan from the east, and Gideon passed it after he had\ncrossed the Jordan from the west (Judges vii. 4). From the account of\nJacob\u2019s return it would seem to be at no great distance from Mahanaim.\nBut notwithstanding that Jacob had crossed the Jabbok southward before\nhe met Esau, and journeyed to Succoth after parting with Esau, there\nis reason for placing Succoth north of the Jabbok. Jacob recrossed the\nstream. The Jerusalem Talmud tells us that Succoth, one of the cities\n\u201cin the valley,\u201d came to be called Darala; and just north of the Jabbok\nwe find _Deir \u2019Alla_, one of the most conspicuous mounds or _tells_\nin the plain, 60 feet high, and covered with broken pottery of many\ncolours and qualities. The site was mapped by Warren in 1868.\n\nThe word Succoth means \u201ctents,\u201d and perhaps the place was named from\nthe tents of the Arabs so constantly seen there. The region about the\nmouth of the Jabbok is fertile, with abundant grass and water, and is\nvery much frequented now by the powerful desert tribes for the purpose\nof pasturing their flocks and herds. When Gideon, who crossed the\nJordan near _Beisan_, had followed the Midianites down the valley to\nSuccoth, it is said that \u201che went up by the way of them that dwell in\ntents,\u201d apparently some well-known route leading up the Jabbok Valley\nto the eastern deserts.\n\nA fair interpretation of the circumstances leads to the conclusion that\nPenuel was not far east of Succoth. It was a fortified city, for it had\na tower, which Gideon threatened to break down; and was regarded by\nJeroboam as an outpost, useful in the defence of Shechem (1 Kings xii.\n25). Dr Merrill finds that there is but one suitable site for it, and\nthat is at the mounds called the \u201cHills of Gold,\u201d about 4 miles east\nof Jordan, in the valley of the Jabbok. The mounds are very striking\nobjects; they are covered with ruins, and on the eastern side are the\nremains of an ancient castle. The work is not Moslem, Christian, or\nRoman; the stones are unhewn blocks, and appear to date from a remote\nperiod.\n\nA large district east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee was called\nDecapolis, or the region of the Ten Cities. The name occurs frequently\nin Josephus and other writers, and three times in the Gospels.\nImmediately after the conquest of Syria by the Romans (B.C.\n65), ten cities appear to have been rebuilt, partially colonised, and\nendowed with peculiar privileges. One of the cities was Scythopolis,\nwest of the Jordan; the others included Gadara, Geraza, Philadelphia,\nPella, &c., all on the east. The region, once so populous and\nprosperous, is now almost without inhabitants; and the few families\nthat do remain--in Scythopolis, Gadara, and Canatha--live amid the\ncrumbling ruins of palaces, and in the cavernous recesses of old tombs.\n\nHerr Schumacher has explored Abila of the Decapolis (now _Tell Abil_),\nand Gadara (at _Umm Keis_), and Pella (_Fahil_).\n\nPella--situated just opposite _Beisan_, on the other side of the\nGhor--is the city to which the Christian believers fled when Titus\nadvanced to besiege Jerusalem. Epiphanius says that \u201cthey removed\nbecause they had been forewarned by Christ himself of the approaching\nsiege.\u201d Seventy years later (A.D. 135) when Hadrian rebuilt\nJerusalem as a Roman city, and changed its name to \u00c6lia, the Christians\nagain left it and sought refuge in this elegant city of Pella in the\nJordan valley. Dr Merrill is inclined to think that Christ himself\nhad been in Pella (for we know that he visited Perea), and met with\nsuch favour and success as to make the city a fitting asylum for his\nfollowers. Herr Schumacher, after describing a rock-cut chamber of\nrectangular shape, having a ceiling cut in the shape of a cross vault,\nwith two pillars on the southern and northern walls, says, \u201cIt may\nbe accepted as beyond doubt that we have here a cave, once inhabited\nby those Christian anchorites, who, in the beginning of the Christian\nera and during the Jewish wars, found a refuge at Pella. The flooring\nconsisting of earth and remains of charcoal, as well as the plan of the\nwhole, has no sepulchral character, but rather that of a habitation;\nthe passages being used to secure air and afford a way of escape in\ncase of persecution, for these small caves, if their door entrance was\ncarefully shut, were hardly visible from below, and the passage still\nless. The entire northern slope is honeycombed with such caves.\u201d\n\nThe wonder is that Pella should ever have been forsaken, it is so\nfavoured in position. Even after the long summer drought, the springs\ngushing out among the broken columns and ruins of former splendour\nare abundant enough to make fertile all the neighbouring land, which,\nsituated on the upper level of the Ghor, and 250 feet below the sea,\nenjoys, perhaps, the finest climate, from an agricultural point of\nview, that can be found in Syria.\n\nThe capital of Perea was Gadara, a city mentioned in the Gospel\nnarrative of the demoniac who had his dwelling among the tombs. The\npopulation of _Umm Keis_ may be about two hundred souls, and the people\ncultivate tobacco, vegetables, and grain. Below the ground occupied by\nthe present village, many caves and ancient burial places have been\ndiscovered. The ruins include a Roman theatre and what may be the\nremains of a castle.\n\n_Gilead._--The boundary of the tribe of Gad was some few miles north\nof the Jabbok, for the territory included Mahanaim; while on the south\nit extended to the Arnon. The region had belonged to the Ammonites;\nand it was long before they were driven out, for even after Saul was\nanointed King of Israel, Nahash the Ammonite besieged Jabesh Gilead and\nsought to lay a hard condition of surrender upon the Israelites there\n(1 Sam. xi.). This district is the land of Gilead or \u201cMount Gilead\u201d\nof the Bible. It is a good land for cattle, and would be prized by\nagricultural people in any part of the world. \u201cIt is not to be wondered\nat,\u201d says Dr Merrill, \u201cthat the two and a half tribes were perfectly\nwilling to stay on the east of Jordan. Judea has no land to compare\nwith it; neither has Samaria, except in very limited portions. The\nsurface of the country is slightly rolling, but the fields are broad\nand comparatively free from stone. Here common Arab trails broaden out\ninto fine roads. Here are rich pasture lands and luxuriant fields of\nwheat and barley, and the ignorant Bedouin who own the soil point with\npride to the green acres that are spread out beneath the sun.\u201d\n\n_Amman_, called in the Bible Rabbath Ammon (Deut. iii. 11; 2 Sam. xi.\n1, &c.), was the chief city of the children of Ammon fifteen hundred\nyears before Christ. Here the bedstead of Og, the king of Bashan, was\ntaken by Joab, David\u2019s general (2 Sam. xi. xii.), and Uriah the Hittite\nwas killed in one of the sorties. Rabbath Ammon was rebuilt by Ptolemy\nPhiladelphus, king of Egypt, and its name changed to Philadelphia.\nAgain it was destroyed by the Saracens when they conquered Syria. The\nstream of the Jabbok ran right through Rabbath Ammon, and it was called\nthe \u201cCity of Waters.\u201d It was after Joab had taken the City of Waters\nthat he sent to David and suggested that he should come and capture the\ncitadel himself, lest all the glory should go to his servant.\n\nMajor Conder regards _Amman_ as the most important ruin surveyed in\nPalestine, as regards its antiquarian interest, and the best specimen\nof a Roman town that he visited, except the still more wonderful\nruins of Gerasa, which yield only to Baalbec and Palmyra among Syrian\ncapitals of the second century of our era. The Roman remains include\ntwo theatres, baths, a street of columns, and remains of what was once\na very great temple on the highest part of the acropolis of the city.\nSeveral noble families must have lived in the town, as shown by the\nmagnificent private tombs surrounding the city.\n\nBut the oldest remains visible at _Amman_ are the dolmens, of which,\nwith other rude stone monuments, there are some twenty in all. Next to\nthese come the old rock-cut tombs, which Conder supposes to be of the\nearly Hebrew period. But who knows whether there be not a buried city\nunderneath _Amman_? The whole region south of _Amman_, and also north\nand west of it, abounds in ruins.\n\n_Moab._--The country south of Gilead was given to the tribe of Reuben.\nIt was the land of the Moabites, and a land where Moabite kings\ncontinued to reign, notwithstanding the rights of Reuben. From this\nland came Ruth, to dwell at Bethlehem with Naomi, to marry Boaz, and be\nheld in memory by-and-bye as the ancestress of David. Perhaps it was on\naccount of Ruth that David found the king of Moab willing to give safe\nasylum to his aged parents, while he himself braved the dangers of the\noutlaw\u2019s life (1 Sam. xxii. 3). Yet the time came when David fought\nagainst the Moabites and conquered them, treating the captives with a\nseverity which makes us suspect that there had been some act of perfidy\nor insult. It has been conjectured that the king of Moab betrayed the\ntrust which David reposed in him, and either killed Jesse and his wife\nor surrendered them to Saul. We do not know.\n\nThe strong fortress of Moab was Kir-Haraseth, or Kir-Hareseth, or\nKir-Heres (2 Kings iii. 25; Isaiah xvi. 7, 11); and it was on the walls\nof this city that King Mesha offered his son for a burnt-offering,\nand by the moral effect thus produced turned the tide of battle. We\nhave reasonable ground for identifying Kir-Heres with the modern\n_Kerak_, near the south-eastern part of the Dead Sea. The allied armies\nmarched round the southern end of the Dead Sea to reach it, instead\nof crossing the Jordan. \u201cNo chain of evidence,\u201d says Dr Tristram,\n\u201ccan be less open to cavil than that which identifies Kerak with\nKir-Moab (Isaiah xv. 1) or Kir-Hareseth. It was the castle \u2018Kir,\u2019\nas distinguished from the metropolis \u2018Ar\u2019 of the country, _i.e._,\nRabbath Moab, the modern _Rabba_.\u201d The Targum translates the name as\n\u201cKerakah.\u201d The Crusaders mistook it for Petra, and gave to its bishop\nthat title, which the Greek Church has still retained, but the name in\nthe vernacular has continued unchanged. No wonder, as we look down from\nthe neighbouring heights upon it, that the combined armies of Israel,\nJudah, and Edom could not take it, and that \u201cin Kir-Haraseth left they\nthe stones thereof; howbeit the archers went about it and smote it,\u201d\nbut to no purpose.\n\nThe position is so strong by nature that it would be seized upon as a\nfortress from the very earliest times. The platform on which the city\nis built is on a lofty brow, which pushes out like a peninsula and is\nonly connected with other ground by a narrow neck. Two deep _wadies_\nflank it north and south, with steeply scarped or else rugged sides.\nThere have been originally only two entrances to Kerak, and both of\nthem through tunnels in the side of the cliff, emerging on the platform\nof the town.\n\nAnother town--reckoned to Reuben in an ancient fragment of poetry,\nbut rebuilt by Gad (Num. xxi. 30, xxxii. 34,)--was Dibon. It is now\nidentified with _Dhiban_, on the Roman road, about 3 miles north of\nthe Arnon, a spot where there are extensive ruins. It is described by\nDr Tristram as being quite as dreary and featureless a ruin as any\nother of the Moabite desolate heaps. \u201cWith its waterless plain,\u201d he\nsays, \u201cthe prophecy is fulfilled--\u2018Thou daughter that dost inhabit\nDibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler\nof Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds\u2019\n(Jer. xlviii. 18). The place is full of cisterns, caverns, vaulted\nunderground storehouses, and rude semicircular arches. All the hills\nabout are limestone, and there is no trace of any basalt but what has\nbeen brought here by man. Still there are many basaltic blocks among\nthe ruins, dressed to be used in masonry.\u201d\n\nIt was among these ruins that the famous Moabite Stone was found in the\nyear 1868. It is a block of basalt measuring about 3\u00bd feet by 2 feet,\nand has upon its face thirty-four lines of writing in the character\nknown as Ph\u0153nician. As the language also is Ph\u0153nician--or probably\nMoabite, though closely related to Ph\u0153nician, and certainly closely\nrelated to Hebrew--there would have been no great difficulty in reading\nthe inscription; but, unfortunately, when the Arabs found that the\nstone was valued by Europeans, they quarrelled about the possession\nof it and broke it up. About two-thirds of the fragments, however,\nwere recovered and pieced together; besides which, a \u201csqueeze\u201d of the\nwhole had been hurriedly taken before it was broken, and from this it\nwas possible to fill in some of the gaps. The restored monument is now\npreserved in the Louvre at Paris, and a plaster cast is to be seen in\nthe British Museum. The inscription shows that the monument was set\nup by Mesha, king of Moab (nearly nine hundred years before Christ),\nto record victories which he had gained and public works which he had\naccomplished. It would appear that after the allied armies retired\nfrom the siege of Kir-Haraseth, the fortune of war changed and went in\nMesha\u2019s favour. The translation of the inscription is as follows:--\n\n\u201cI, Mesha, am the son of Chemosh-Gad, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My\nfather reigned over Moab thirty years, and I reigned after my father.\nAnd I erected this stone to Chemosh at Korcha, a (stone of) salvation,\nfor he saved me from all despoilers, and made me see my desire upon\nall my enemies, even upon Omri, king of Israel. Now they afflicted\nMoab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son succeeded\nhim, and he also said, I will afflict Moab. In my days (Chemosh) said,\n(Let us go) and I will see my desire on him and his house, and I will\ndestroy Israel with an everlasting destruction. Now Omri took the land\nof Medeba, and (the enemy) occupied it in (his days and in) the days\nof his son, forty years. And Chemosh (had mercy) on it in my days;\nand I fortified Baal-Meon, and made therein the tank, and I fortified\nKiriathaim. For the men of Gad dwelt in the land of (Atar)oth from\nof old, and the king (of) Israel fortified for himself Ataroth, and\nI assaulted the wall and captured it, and killed all the warriors of\nthe wall for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and Moab; and I removed from\nit all the spoil, and (offered) it before Chemosh in Kirjath; and I\nplaced therein the men of Siran and the men of Mochrath. And Chemosh\nsaid to me, Go, take Nebo against Israel. (And I) went in the night,\nand I fought against it from the break of dawn till noon, and I took\nit, and slew in all seven thousand (men, but I did not kill) the women\n(and) maidens, for (I) devoted them to Ashtar-Chemosh, and I took\nfrom it the vessels of Yahveh, and offered them before Chemosh. And\nthe king of Israel fortified Jahaz and occupied it, when he made war\nagainst me; and Chemosh drove him out before (me, and) I took from\nMoab two hundred men, all its poor, and placed them in Jahaz, and took\nit to annex it to Dibon. I built Korcha, the wall of the forest, and\nthe wall of the city, and I built the gates thereof, and I built the\ntowers thereof, and I built the palace, and I made the prisons for the\ncriminals within the walls. And there was no cistern in the wall at\nKorcha, and I said to all the people, Make for yourselves, every man,\na cistern in his house. And I dug the ditch for Korcha by means of the\n(captive) men of Israel. I built Aroer, and I made the road across the\nArnon. I built Beth-Bamoth, for it was destroyed; I built Bezer, for\nit was cut (down) by the armed men of Dibon, for all Dibon was now\nloyal; and I reigned from Bikran, which I added to my land, and I built\n(Beth-Gamul) and Beth Diblathaim and Beth-Baal-Meon, and I placed there\nthe poor (people) of the land. And as to Horonaim, (the men of Edom)\ndwelt therein (from of old). And Chemosh said to me, Go down, make war\nagainst Horonaim, and take (it. And I assaulted it, and I took it, and)\nChemosh (restored it) in my days. Wherefore I made ... year ... and\nI ...\u201d\n\nIn 1881 Major Conder, aided by Lieutenant Mantell, was sent out to\nbegin the systematic survey of Eastern Palestine. The country at that\ntime was very much disturbed; but the party crossed the Jordan into\nMoab, and for two anxious months laboured at very high pressure. After\nmeasuring a base-line and connecting their triangulation with that west\nof the river, they worked over 500 square miles in detail. And even\nafter attention was drawn to their presence they were able to extend\ntheir work over a considerable area, and they came back from the desert\nwith their hands full of valuable results.\n\nOne of the most remarkable discoveries was the abundance of menhirs,\ndolmens, and stone-circles. They are numbered by hundreds, whereas in\nJudea and Samaria there are none, and in Galilee only half a dozen. Dr\nMerrill and Herr Schumacher found them abundant also in the Jaulan and\nthe rest of the Hauran. According to Herr Schumacher, an examination of\nmany specimens in Eastern Jaulan makes it apparent (1) that the dolmens\nare always built on circular terraces, which elevate them about 3 feet\nabove the ground; (2) that in most cases they are formed by six upright\nand two covering slabs; (3) that the major axes of the dolmens all\nrun east and west; (4) that the western end of the dolmens is broader\nthan the eastern; (5) that the western end is often distinguished by\nheadings, one on each corner of the top slab; and (6) that they vary in\nsize from 7 to 13 feet in length. He finds it difficult to avoid the\nconclusion that these dolmens were built originally as burial places.\nThe covered chamber, elevated above the ground, and shut in by slabs,\nwas the first beginning of a sarcophagus; and the body was laid facing\nthe rising sun, with its head in the west. On the other hand Major\nConder, who finds in Moab many rude stone monuments of a different\nkind, bids us remember that stones may be placed on end for more than\none purpose. After examining seven hundred examples in Moab and Gilead,\nhe has come to the conclusion that the sepulchral theory is often quite\nuntenable, though we cannot deny that bodies were buried in such stone\nchambers sometimes. In many cases in Moab it was certain that no mound\nof earth had ever covered the stones; there was nothing but hard rock\nto be found, and sometimes the structure was not large enough to cover\neven the body of a child. We must turn to local superstitions in order\nfully to understand the use of trilithons and dolmens. Wild as are the\nlegends, they preserve, in Conder\u2019s opinion, what was once the religion\nof the dolmen-building tribes. After making measured drawings of about\na hundred and fifty dolmens in Moab, it seemed to him that the purpose\nof the builders was to produce a flat table-like surface, which they\nperhaps used as an altar. True that the dolmens are often more numerous\nin a confined area than we should expect altars to be, but we must\nnot forget the story of Balaam and Balak, in which seven altars are\nbuilt on the same mountain top, and again seven more on a neighbouring\nmountain top. Then, as to the absence of such monuments in Judea and\nSamaria, Conder suggests that they may very probably have once existed,\nand may have been purposely destroyed. Israel was commanded to \u201csmash\u201d\nthe _menhirs_ of the Canaanites, to \u201cupset\u201d their altars, and to\ndestroy their images. These commands Josiah, the zealous king of Judah,\nis recorded to have carried into practice.\n\nWho built these structures? They are very likely the surviving work of\nCanaanite tribes. Herr Schumacher assigns those of the Hauran to the\nsame period as the subterranean cities.\n\nThere is a curious arch\u00e6ological note in Deuteronomy, which speaks of\nthe bedstead of Og, the king of Bashan, a bedstead 9 cubits long by\n4 cubits wide. The passage had very much exercised the ingenuity of\ncommentators, and some of them supposed it to refer to a sarcophagus of\nbasalt. The Bible indeed speaks of a bedstead of iron; but basalt is\na material which resembles iron in appearance, and which is actually\nknown by the name of iron among the Arabs, while a stone coffin might\nallowably be spoken of as a bed or bedstead. But Conder says there is\nno basalt at Rabbath, and thinks it doubtful if Og was likely to be\nburied in a sarcophagus at all. He is disposed to render the words as\nOg\u2019s _strong throne_, instead of \u201ciron bedstead.\u201d A memory of Irish\ndolmens suggested to him a possible connection between Og\u2019s throne\nand some rude stone monument which tradition might have indicated as\na giant\u2019s seat, just as in Ireland dolmens are the \u201cbeds of Grain and\nDiarmed,\u201d and connected with legends of giants. It was, therefore,\nvery striking to find a single enormous dolmen standing alone in a\nconspicuous position near Rabbath Ammon, and yet more striking that the\ntop stone measured 13 feet (or very nearly 9 cubits of 16 inches) by 11\nfeet in extreme breadth.\n\nIf we look for a coffin or a bedstead rather than a dolmen, it is very\nstriking to find that parallels exist both for bedsteads and coffins of\nthe same gigantic dimensions. Dr Erasmus Wilson, describing the coffins\nand mummies found at _Deir-el-Bahari_, says that, \u201cthe coffin of Queen\nNefertari is gigantic in stature, measuring with its feathered crest\n13 feet long. It is made of cloth-board and modelled into the shape\nof a statue, resembling, with arms crossed upon the chest, one of\nthose architectural columns which are denominated Caryatides.\u201d Still\nmore remarkable is the bedstead of the Babylonian god Bel, described\nby Mr George Smith in his account of the \u201cTemple of Bel.\u201d After some\ndescription of the principal buildings, he says, \u201cIn these western\nchambers stood the couch of the god, and the throne of gold mentioned\nby Herodotus, besides other furniture of great value. The couch is\nstated to have been 9 cubits long and 4 cubits broad (15 feet by 6 feet\n8 inches).\u201d These are exactly the dimensions assigned to Og\u2019s bedstead.\n\nBefore leaving Moab it was Major Conder\u2019s privilege to stand where\nMoses stood, and view the landscape on all sides. There can be no\ndoubt about the identification of Mount Nebo. It was ascertained by\nCanon Tristram; it has been confirmed by Conder, who finds the field\nof Zophim close by; and Sir Charles Warren discovered the ruins of the\nancient city of Nebo at its foot. Moreover, it retains the name _Neba_,\nand from the summit you obtain the celebrated \u201cPisgah view\u201d (Deut.\nxxxiv. 1-3). Naphtali, Gilead, Ephraim, and Manasseh, Judah, and the\nNegeb, or \u201cdry land\u201d south of Hebron, are all in sight, with the plains\nof Jericho \u201cunto Zoar.\u201d But, according to Conder, the Mediterranean\nSea is not visible from Nebo, being hidden throughout by the western\nwatershed of Judea and Samaria. Dr Tristram says, in his \u201cLand of\nMoab,\u201d \u201cCarmel could be recognised, but we never were able to make out\nthe sea to the north of it; and though it is certainly possible that\nit might be seen from this elevation, I could not satisfy myself that\nI saw more than the haze over the plain of Esdraelon.\u201d But even if the\nwaters of the \u201cgreat sea\u201d in the Bay of Haifa could be seen distinctly\nfrom Mount Nebo, the fact would hardly be relevant, for Deut. xxxiv.\npoints rather to the sea south of Joppa. It is sufficient, however,\nthat from no other summit can you get so extensive a prospect as from\nMount Nebo.\n\nConder\u2019s work was abruptly stopped. Even when the party went out in\n1881 there was great excitement in the East. A Moslem Messiah was\nexpected to appear in the year 1300 of the Hegira, and the war in\nEgypt was brewing. The British Government had served Conder with a\nnotice that any expedition he might take out would be at his own risk,\nand they could not be responsible for the consequences. After fifteen\nmonths, during which the work was carried on at great risks, the\nSultan heard that English captains were surveying the land, and sent\norders for them to cease. In the same year Mr Rassam\u2019s researches in\nMesopotamia were stopped. Finally, Conder and his party left Syria on a\nsteamer crowded with refugees from the Alexandria massacres.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cEast of the Jordan.\u201d By Selah\n Merrill. London: Bentley & Son, 1881. \u201cAcross the Jordan.\u201d By\n Gottlieb Schumacher. Bentley & Son, 1886. \u201cThe Jaulan.\u201d By G.\n Schumacher, Bentley, 1888. \u201cAbila,\u201d \u201cPella,\u201d and \u201cNorthern\n Ajlun.\u201d By G. Schumacher. London: Palestine Exploration\n Society, 1888, 1889. \u201cPalestine.\u201d By Major Conder. London:\n George Philip & Son, 1889. \u201cHeth and Moab.\u201d By Major Conder.\n Bentley & Son, 1883. \u201cThe Land of Moab.\u201d By Rev. Canon\n Tristram. London: John Murray, 1873. \u201cUnexplored Syria.\u201d By\n Burton and Drake. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n JERUSALEM.\n\n\nEver since the days of David Jerusalem has been the chief city\nof Palestine, and although so small a city now that it would go\nconveniently into Hyde Park--and perhaps never much larger than at\npresent--it has been the theatre of great events, and it claims an\nattentive study. Small as it was, it stood upon several hills, which\nwere more or less easy to defend by fortifications, and offered\nsome choice to the monarch desirous of building a palace, a tower,\nor a temple. The variety of local features, of hill and ravine\nand water-course, finds frequent mention in the history, and is\nsometimes so much intertwined with the events related, that it becomes\nnecessary to look at the topography before we can hope to understand\nthe narrative. For instance, when David wrested the city from the\nJebusites:--\n\n\u201cDavid took the strong hold of Zion.... And David dwelt in the strong\nhold, and called it the City of David. And David built round about from\nMillo inward\u201d (2 Sam. V. 7-9).\n\n\u201cSo he took the Lower City by force, but the Citadel[20] held out\nstill.... When David had cast the Jebusites out of the Citadel, he\nalso rebuilt Jerusalem, and named it the City of David\u201d--Josephus,\nAntiquities, vii. 3, 1-2 (Whiston\u2019s Translation).\n\nHere we should like to know at least which part of Jerusalem was\ncalled the City of David; because David built a house there, and most\nof the kings of Judah were buried there.\n\nAgain, in 1 Kings i., \u201cAdonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the\nStone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-Rogel,\u201d and sought to get himself\nproclaimed king. But when Nathan the prophet, and Bathsheba the mother\nof Solomon, had acquainted David with the proceeding, David gave orders\nto place Solomon upon the king\u2019s mule, and \u201cbring him down to Gihon,\u201d\nand proclaim him as king. There the trumpet was blown, the people piped\nwith pipes, and Adonijah and his guests heard the noise. Before we can\nfully realise these scenes we must know all the localities, and how\nthey stood related to one another, and to the position of David\u2019s house.\n\nThe Old Testament history is full of such local references, and so are\nthe Books of the Maccabees; and perhaps most of all, the chapters of\nJosephus which describe the siege of Jerusalem by Titus. Let us then\ntry and make ourselves acquainted with the features of the ground, and\nlearn to apply the names to the proper localities.\n\n\n 1. _The City as it is._\n\n_Its position._--Jerusalem is well described in Smith\u2019s Dict. of the\nBible. It lies near the summit of the broad mountain ridge, or high,\nuneven table-land which extends from the Plain of Esdraelon to the\ndesert of the south. This tract is everywhere not less than from\n20 to 25 miles in breadth, and has a surface rocky and uneven. Its\nheight at Jerusalem is 2500 feet above the Mediterranean Sea; but it\ncontinues to rise towards the south, until, in the vicinity of Hebron,\nthe elevation is nearly 3000 feet. The city occupies the southern\ntermination of a table-land which is cut off from the country round it\non the west, south, and east sides, by ravines more than usually deep\nand precipitous. These ravines leave the level of the table-land, the\none on the west and the other on the north-east of the city, and fall\nrapidly until they form a junction below its south-east corner. The\neastern one--the Valley of the Kedron, commonly called the Valley of\nJehoshaphat--runs nearly straight from north to south. But the western\none--the Valley of Hinnom--runs south for a time, and then takes a\nsudden bend to the east until it meets the Valley of Jehoshaphat, after\nwhich the two rush off as one to the Dead Sea. How sudden is their\ndescent may be gathered from the fact that the level at the point\nof junction--about a mile and a quarter from the starting-point of\neach--is more than 600 feet below that of the upper plateau from which\nthey commenced their descent. Thus while on the north there is no\nmaterial difference between the general level of the country outside\nthe walls and that of the highest parts of the city, on the other\nthree sides, so steep is the fall of the ravines, so trench-like their\ncharacter, and so close do they keep to the promontory, at whose foot\nthey run, as to leave on the beholder the impression of the ditch at\nthe foot of a fortress, rather than of valleys formed by nature.\n\n [Illustration: PLAN OF JERUSALEM\n\n _By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._]\n\nThe promontory thus encircled is itself divided by a longitudinal\nravine--called the Tyrop\u0153on Valley, running up it from south to north,\nrising gradually from the south like the external ones, till at last it\narrives at the level of the upper plateau, dividing the central mass\ninto two unequal portions. Of these two, that on the west--the Upper\nCity of the Jews, the Mount Zion of modern tradition--is the higher and\nmore massive; that on the east--Mount Moriah--is at once considerably\nlower and smaller, so that, to a spectator from the south, the city\nappears to slope sharply towards the east. The central valley, at about\nhalf-way up its length, threw out a companion valley on its left or\nwest side, which made its way up to the general level of the ground at\nthe present Jaffa Gate.\n\nOne more valley must be noted. It was on the north of Moriah, and\nseparated it from a hill on which, in the time of Josephus, stood a\nsuburb or part of the city called Bezetha, or the New-town. Part of\nthis depression is still preserved in the large reservoir with two\narches, usually called the Pool of Bethesda, near the St Stephen\u2019s Gate.\n\nAll round the city are higher hills: on the east the Mount of Olives;\non the south the Hill of Evil Counsel, rising directly from the Vale\nof Hinnom; on the west the ground rises gently to the borders of the\ngreat wady; while on the north, a bend of the ridge connected with the\nMount of Olives bounds the prospect at the distance of more than a\nmile. Towards the south-west the view is somewhat more open; for here\nlies the Plain of Rephaim, commencing just at the southern brink of the\nValley of Hinnom, and stretching off south-west, where it runs to the\nwestern sea.\n\nThis rough sketch of the _terrain_ of Jerusalem, which I take mainly\nfrom Sir George Grove, will enable the reader to appreciate the two\ngreat advantages of its position. On the one hand the ravines which\nentrench it on the west, south, and east--out of which the rock slopes\nof the city rose almost like the walls of a fortress out of its\nditches, must have rendered it impregnable on those quarters to the\nwarfare of the old world. On the other hand its junction with the more\nlevel ground on its north and north-east sides afforded an opportunity\nof expansion, of which we know advantage was taken, and which gave it a\nremarkable superiority over other cities of Palestine, and especially\nof Judah, which, though secure on their hill-tops, were unable to\nexpand beyond them.\n\nThe western side of the city is more than 100 feet higher than the\neastern; but the Mount of Olives overtops even the highest part of the\ncity by more than 150 feet.\n\n_The Walls and Streets of the City._--Jerusalem is surrounded by\nwalls some 40 to 50 feet high, imposing in appearance but far from\nstrong. For the most part they were erected as they now stand by\nSultan Suleiman, in the year 1542, and they appear to occupy the site\nof the walls of the middle ages, from the ruins of which they are\nmostly constructed. On the eastern side, along the brow of the Valley\nof Jehoshaphat, the section of the wall south of St Stephen\u2019s Gate is\nof far earlier date, and is constructed in part of massive bevelled\nstones. A great stone at the south-eastern corner is estimated to\nweigh more than one hundred tons; and this block is one of a course of\nstones, 6 feet in thickness, which extends along the south wall for\n600 feet, though not without gaps. The walls nearly resemble York and\nother ancient cities in England, having steps at intervals leading up\nto the battlemented breastwork; and the circuit of them, according\nto Robinson and others, is something less than 2\u00bd English miles. The\nform of the city is irregular, the walls having many projections and\nindentations; but it is easy to make out four sides; and these nearly\nface the cardinal points.\n\nThere are at present five open gates in the walls of Jerusalem--two\non the south and one near the centre of each of the other sides. They\nall seem to occupy ancient sites, and are by name (1) the Jaffa Gate,\nor Hebron Gate, on the west, to which all the roads from the south and\nwest converge. (2) The Damascus Gate, or Gate of the Column, on the\nnorth, from which runs the great north road, past the Tombs of the\nKings, and over the ridge of Scopus, to Samaria and Damascus. (3) St\nStephen\u2019s Gate, or Gate of my Lady Mary, or Gate of the Tribes, on the\neast, whence a road leads down to the bottom of the Kedron, and thence\nover Olivet to Bethany and Jericho. (4) The Dung Gate, or Gate of the\nWestern Africans, on the south, and near the centre of the Tyrop\u0153an\nValley. A path from it leads down to the village of Siloam. (5) Zion\nGate, or the Gate of the Prophet David, on the summit of the ridge of\nthe hill now called Zion. Besides these, there are two gates now walled\nup, one being the Gate of Herod, on the north side, about half-way\nbetween the Damascus Gate and the north-east angle of the city; the\nother the Golden Gate, in the eastern wall of the Haram. The Arabs\ncall this the Eternal Gate, and it is sometimes called the Gate of\nRepentance.\n\nAbout one-sixth of the area of the city is occupied by the Haram or\nSanctuary, on Mount Moriah, within which stands the great mosque,\ncalled the Dome of the Rock, and where also there is ample breathing\nspace.\n\nJerusalem is not a fine city according to western ideas. It is badly\nbuilt, of mean stone houses: and its streets and lanes are narrow,\ndirty, and ill-paved. There are, however, some beautiful bits of\narchitecture; there are the grand walls of the temple area; and there\nis, above all, the intense interest of its Scriptural associations.\n\nEntering the city by the Jaffa Gate we find on our right the citadel,\nwith the so-called Tower of David. The street right before us is now\ncalled the Street of David, and descends eastward to the principal\nentrance to the Haram. Another main street commences at the Damascus\nGate and traverses the city from north to south, passing near the\neastern end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and through the\nprincipal bazaar, and terminating a little eastward of the Zion Gate.\nThese two streets divide the city into four quarters. The north-east\nis the Moslem quarter, the north-west the Christian quarter, the\nsouth-west the Armenian, and the south-east the Jewish. The Church of\nthe Holy Sepulchre is, of course, in the Christian quarter, where also\nwe have the Latin Convent, very conspicuous from its lofty position\nnear the north-west angle of the city. In the Moslem quarter is the\nSerai or palace, and most of the Consulates, and the beautiful little\nChurch of St Anne. The Armenian Convent, the largest building in the\ncity, occupies a noble site on the south-western hill. Near it, on\nthe north, is the English church. But by far the most remarkable and\nstriking building in this quarter of the city is the Citadel, whose\nmassive towers loom heavily over all around them. The Jewish quarter\nhas no structure of note with the exception of the new synagogues.\n\nJerusalem is not like Damascus, where the Moslem religion and oriental\ncustoms are almost unmixed with any foreign element, but is a city in\nwhich every form of religion and every nationality of east and west are\nrepresented at one time. \u201cSo motley a crowd\u201d (says Major Conder) \u201cas\nthat which is presented daily in David Street and in the market-place\nunder David\u2019s Tower, is perhaps to be found nowhere else. The chatter\nof the market people, the shouting of the camel drivers, the tinkling\nof bells, mingle with the long cry of the naked Santon, as he wanders,\nholding his tin pan for alms, and praising unceasingly \u201cthe Eternal\nGod.\u201d The scene is most remarkable in the morning, before the glare of\nthe sun, beating down on the stone city, has driven its inhabitants\ninto the shadow. The foreground is composed of a tawny group of camels,\nlying down, donkeys bringing in vegetables or carrying out rubbish,\nand women in blue and red dresses slashed with yellow, their dark\nfaces and long eyes (tinged with blue) shrouded in white veils, which\nare fringed perhaps with black or red. Soldiers in black and Softas\nin spotless robes are haggling about their change, or praying in\npublic undisturbed by the din. Horsemen ride by in red boots with red\nsaddles, and spears 15 feet long. The Greek Patriarch walks past on a\nvisit, preceded by his mace-bearers and attended by his secretary. Up\nthe narrow street comes the hearse of a famous Moslem, followed by a\nlong procession of women, in white \u201cizars,\u201d which envelop the whole\nfigure, swelling out like balloons, and leaving only the black mask\nof the face-veil visible; their voices are raised in the high-pitched\ntremulous ululation which is alike their cry for the dead and their\nnote of joy for the living. Next, perhaps, follows a regiment of sturdy\ninfantry marching back to the Castle, with a colonel on a prancing\ngrey--men who have shown their mettle since then, and fat, unwieldy\nofficers, who have perhaps broken down under the strain of campaigning.\nTheir bugles blow a monotonous tune, to which the drums keep time, and\nthe men tread, not in step, but in good cadence to the music. If it\nbe Easter the native crowd is mingled with the hosts of Armenian and\nRussian pilgrims, the first ruddy and stalwart, their women handsome\nand dark-eyed, the men fierce and dark; the Russians, yet stronger\nin build and more barbarian in air, distinguished from every other\nnationality by their unkempt beards, their long locks, their huge\nfur caps and boots. Not less distinct are the Spanish, Mughrabee,\nRussian, and German Jews, each marked by a peculiar and characteristic\nphysiognomy.\u201d\n\nTen sects or religions are established in Jerusalem, and if their\nvarious sub-divisions are counted they amount to a total of\ntwenty-four, more than half of which are Christian. The late Mr C. T.\nTyrwhitt Drake gives the different races and creeds as follows:--\n\n 1. Abyssinians.\n 2. Armenians: (_a_) Orthodox, (_b_) Catholic.\n 3. Copts.\n 4. Greeks: (_a_) Orthodox, (_b_) Catholic.\n 5. Jews: (_a_) Ashkenazim, (_b_) Sephardim, (_c_) Karaite.\n 6. Latin or Roman Catholics.\n 7. Maronites.\n 8. Moslems: _Sunni_,--(_a_) Shafii, (_b_) Hanefi, (_c_) Hambeli,\n (_d_) Maleki. _Shia\u00ef_,--Metawili, &c.\n 9. Protestants: (_a_) Church of England, (_b_) Lutheran.\n 10. Syrians: (_a_) Jacobite, (_b_) Catholic.\n\nAll these sects have their churches, synagogues, monasteries, hospices,\nwhich take up no inconsiderable portion of the square half mile of\nspace within the city walls. Yet the population of Jerusalem was\nestimated at 20,000 in 1878, and there has been further influx since.\nBut many of the new comers build dwellings outside the walls, and there\nis now quite a large suburb on the north-west.\n\n_The Haram esh Sherif_, or Noble Sanctuary, on Mount Moriah, is a\nlarge, open space, of peculiar sanctity in the eyes of all true\nMoslems. Its surface is studded with cypress and olive, and its sides\nare surrounded in part by the finest mural masonry in the world. At the\nsouthern end is the Mosque El Aksa, and a pile of buildings formerly\nused by the Knights Templars; nearly in the centre is a raised platform\npaved with marble, and rising from this is the well-known Mosque,\nKubbet es-Sakhrah, with its beautifully proportioned dome. Within this\nsacred enclosure stood the temple of the Jews; but all traces of it\nhave long since disappeared, and its exact position was a fiercely\ncontested question before the time of the recent explorations.\n\nThe Haram is a quadrangle of about 35 acres in area. The angles at the\nsouth-west and north-east corners are right angles, and the south-east\nangle is 92\u00b0 30\u00b4. The true bearing of the east wall is 352\u00b0 30\u00b4\n(general direction). The length of the south wall is 922 feet on the\nlevel of the interior. The west wall is 1601 feet long; the east wall,\n1530 feet. The northern boundary for 350 feet is formed by a scarp of\nrock 30 feet high, projecting at the north-west of the Haram.\n\nThe modern gateways giving entrance into the interior are eleven in\nnumber: three on the north and eight on the west. Of the ancient\ngateways there were two on the south, now called the Double and Triple\nGates; while east of the latter is the medi\u00e6val entrance, known as the\nSingle Gate, beneath which Colonel Warren discovered a passage. On the\neast wall is the Golden Gate, now closed; and two small posterns in the\nmodern masonry are found south of this portal. On the west wall the\nProphet\u2019s Gateway (sometimes called Barclay\u2019s Gate) is recognised as\nthe southern of the two Parbar (or Suburban) Gates, mentioned in the\nTalmud; while the Northern Suburban Gate appears to have been converted\ninto a tank, and lies immediately west of the Dome of the Rock. (This\nis Tank No. 30, Ordnance Survey.)\n\n [Illustration: PLAN OF THE NOBLE SANCTUARY\n\n SHEWING THE RESULTS OF THE RESEARCHES OF\n\n Col. =C. W. Wilson R.E.= &c. Col. =C. Warren R.E.=\n\n _By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._]\n\nThe raised platform in the middle of the Haram enclosure has an area of\nabout 5 acres, and is an irregular quadrangle. The Kubbet es-Sakhrah,\nor Dome of the Rock, on this platform, covers the sacred rock, which\nrises 5 feet above the floor of the building, the crest being at the\nlevel 2440 feet above the Mediterranean. The Dome of the Chain is\nimmediately to the east of the Kubbet es-Sakhrah.\n\nThe Jami\u2019a el-Aksa, or \u201cdistant mosque\u201d (that is, distant from Mecca),\nis on the south, reaching to the outer wall. The whole enclosure of the\nHaram is called by Moslem writers Masjid el Aksa, \u201cpraying-place of the\nAksa.\u201d\n\nEntering by the gate of the Cotton Bazaar we stand within the temple\ncourts. Before us are the steps which lead up to the platform where\nshoes must be removed; for while the outer court, like the old court\nof the Gentiles, is a promenade, the paved marble platform is a sacred\nenclosure, not to be trodden except barefoot.\n\nOver the outer arcade of the Dome of the Rock runs the great Cufic\ninscription, giving the date of the erection of the building in 688\nA.D. \u201cThe Dome of the Rock\u201d (says Conder) \u201cbelongs to that\nobscure period of Saracenic art when the Arabs had not as yet created\nan architectural style of their own, and when they were in the habit of\nemploying Byzantine architects to build their mosques.\u201d\n\nFrom the bright sunlight we pass suddenly into the deep gloom of the\ninterior, lit with the \u201cdim religious light\u201d of the glorious purple\nwindows. The gorgeous colouring, the painted wood-work, the fine\nmarble, the costly mosaics, the great dome, flourished all over with\narabesques and inscriptions, and gilded to the very top--all this\nsplendour gleams out here and there from the darkness.\n\nAnd in honour of what is this beautiful chapel built? A low canopy of\nrich silk covers the dusty limestone ledge round which the \u201cDome of\nthe Rock\u201d has risen. According to Arab tradition this Rock of Paradise\nis the source of the rivers of Paradise and the Foundation-stone of\nthe world. From this rock Mohammed ascended to heaven (here is the\nimpression made by the hand of the angel Gabriel, who held the rock\ndown to prevent it from following the prophet), and this Rock is the\nPlace of Prayer of all the Prophets.\n\nEven more mysterious than the Sacred Rock is the Sacred Well below it.\nDescending a flight of steps at the south-east corner of the rock we\nenter a cave, in the rocky floor of which is a circular slab of marble,\nwhich returns a hollow sound when struck, but which is never uplifted.\nThe Arabs appear to regard it as the mouth of Hell, for they call it\nthe Well of Souls, and have a dread of the consequences if any evil\nspirit should escape. It is a tradition that in the Temple the ark of\nthe covenant used to stand over this cave, and that it was afterwards\nconcealed in the cave, or below it, by Jeremiah, and still lies hidden\nbeneath the sacred rock.\n\nThe ground of the Haram enclosure is honeycombed with tanks, into some\nof which the water finds its way by unknown channels. One of the tanks\nis called the Great Sea, and would hold 2,000,000 gallons of water;\nanother would hold 1,400,000, and all the tanks together 10,000,000 of\ngallons at the least. This would be more than a year\u2019s supply for the\ncity in its best days, a valuable resource in times of siege.\n\n_Solomon\u2019s Stables._--Under the Haram area, at the south-eastern part,\nare the vaults known as Solomon\u2019s Stables--thirteen rows of vaults of\na variety of spans. They were used as stables by the Crusaders, and\nthe holes in the piers by which the horses were fastened may still be\nseen. The name of Solomon\u2019s Stables is supposed to have been given\nby the Crusaders, who may, however, have been guided by some earlier\ntradition. The vaults are in part ancient and in part a reconstruction,\nprobably about the time of Justinian (sixth century A.D.).\n\n_The Jews\u2019 Wailing Place._--Outside the Haram, on the west, and not\nvery far from the south-west corner, is the Wailing Place of the Jews.\nFrom the Jaffa Gate we may reach it by going down David Street and\nthrough the fruit bazaar, and then turning through a by-lane. The\nWailing Place is a narrow court, in which the temple rampart happens\nto be free and exposed in the Jews\u2019 quarter. Every Friday the court is\ncrowded with Jews who come to read and pray, and bemoan the condition\nof their temple, their holy city, and their scattered people. The scene\nis striking from the great size and strength of the mighty stones,\nwhich rise without door or window up to the domes and cypresses above,\nsuggesting how utterly the original worshippers are cast out by men\nof alien race and faith. Here we may see venerable men reading the\nBook of the Law, women in their long white robes kissing the ancient\nmasonry, and praying through the crevices of the stones, Russian Jews,\nSpanish Jews, German Jews, men, women, and children, with gray locks,\nor blue-black hair, or russet beard, and dressed variously, according\nto their country--strange and unique is the spectacle! \u201cIt reminds one\nforcibly\u201d (says Conder) \u201cof the unchanged character of the Jews. After\nnineteen centuries of wandering and exile they are still the same as\never, still bound by the iron chain of Talmudic law, a people whose\nslavery to custom outruns even that of the Chinese to etiquette, and\nwhose veneration for the past appears to preclude the possibility of\nprogress or improvement in the present.\u201d\n\n_Pools and Fountains of Jerusalem._--Jerusalem is at present chiefly\nsupplied with water by its cisterns. Every house of any size has one\nor more of them, into which the winter rains are conducted by little\npipes and ducts from the roofs and courtyards. These private cisterns\nare generally vaulted chambers with only a small opening at the top,\nsurrounded by stonework, and furnished with a curb and wheel. Many of\nthem are ancient.\n\nBut besides these covered cisterns in the houses and courts, there are\nmany large open reservoirs in and around the city. In the upper part\nof the Valley of Hinnom, west of the city, is the _Birket el Mamilla_,\noften called the Upper Pool of Gihon. Lower down in the same valley,\nand not far from the south-western angle of the city wall, is the\n_Birket es Sultan_, frequently called the Lower Pool. Because these\npools are clearly related to one another as upper and lower, it has\nbeen usual to assume that they are upper and lower pools of Gihon,\nwhich seem to be referred to in 2 Chron. xxxii. 30, and elsewhere. But\nalthough the Sultan\u2019s Pool has been called Gihon from the fourteenth\ncentury downwards, it is known to have been constructed by the Germans\nonly two centuries before, and the word Gihon means a spring-head. From\nthe Sultan\u2019s Pool we may ride down the deep valley, on the south bank\nof which are the traditional Aceldama and the tombs of many Christian\npilgrims, till we come to _Bir Eyub_ (Joab\u2019s Well), where the Valley\nof Hinnom unites with the Valley of Kedron. The Crusaders, who were\nnever too well informed, identified Joab\u2019s Well with the Biblical En\nRogel. From this place we ride northward to the junction of the Kedron\nwith the Tyrop\u0153on, and there, in a verdant spot, we find the Pool of\nSiloam, with dry stone walls and a little muddy water. With the village\nof Siloam on our right, we ride up the Kedron Valley some 300 yards,\nand arrive at the Fountain of the Mother of Stairs, also called the\nVirgin\u2019s Fountain. Descending by a flight of sixteen steps we reach a\nchamber, its sides built of old stones and its roof formed of a pointed\narch. Then going down fourteen steps more into a roughly hewn grotto,\nwe reach the water. _Mejr ed Deir_ states that the water of this\nfountain was a great test for women accused of adultery; the innocent\ndrank harmlessly, but the guilty no sooner tasted than they died! When\nthe Virgin Mary was accused, she submitted to the ordeal, and thus\nestablished her innocence. Hence the spring was long known as the\nFountain of Accused Women. Dr Robinson imagined that this was the true\nBethesda, because the water is considered to possess healing virtue,\nand every day crowds of men and women, afflicted with rheumatism and\nother maladies, descend the steps and wait for the moving of the\nwaters. The flow is intermittent--due, it is supposed, to a natural\nsyphon--and the waters rise suddenly, immersing the folks, fully\nclothed, nearly up to the neck.\n\nThe water wells up in the cave, and when it has attained a height of 4\nfeet 7 inches runs away through a passage near the back, into a small\ntunnel, and goes to supply the Pool of Siloam.\n\nAbout 100 yards north-east of St Stephen\u2019s Gate is the Pool of My Lady\nMary, outside the walls.\n\nWithin the city, on your left as you enter by St Stephen\u2019s Gate, is the\n_Birket Israil_, Pool of Israel, the traditional Pool of Bethesda (but\nonly so since the twelfth century). It is now a receptacle for ashes\nand rubbish of all kinds; but it has at some time been used for water,\nfor Warren found the bottom lined with concrete 16 inches thick.\n\nSometimes the Virgin\u2019s Fountain is spoken of as the only spring of\nliving water at Jerusalem, but it is possible, as suggested by Warren,\nthat another existed at the _Hammam esh-Shefa_, or Bath of Healing, in\nthe Tyrop\u0153on. The entrance to the fountain is by a narrow opening in\nthe roof of a house behind the bath.\n\nWe need only mention further the Pool of Hezekiah, a large reservoir\nwhich lies in the centre of a group of buildings, in the angle made by\nthe north side of David Street and the west side of Christian Street.\nIt is stated that a subterranean conduit from the _Birket el Mamilla_\npasses underneath the city wall near the Jaffa Gate, and supplies both\nthe Pool of Hezekiah and the cisterns of the citadel.\n\nIn ancient times water was brought into the city by two aqueducts, the\n\u201clow level\u201d and the \u201chigh level,\u201d but the course of the former can\nalone be traced within the walls of the city. It crosses the valley of\nHinnom a little above the _Birket es Sultan_, and winding round the\nsouthern slope of the modern Zion, enters the city near the Jewish\nalmshouses; it then passes along the eastern side of the same hill, and\nruns over the causeway and Wilson\u2019s Arch to the Sanctuary. The numerous\nSaracenic fountains in the lower part of the city appear to have been\nsupplied by pipes branching off from the main, but the pipes are now\ndestroyed, and the fountains themselves are used as receptacles for the\nrefuse of the town. This aqueduct derived its supply from the Pools of\nSolomon (near Bethlehem), from _Ain Etan_, and a reservoir in _Wady\nAr\u00fbb_, and still carries water as far as Bethlehem; its total length\nis over 14 miles, not far short of the length of the aqueduct which\nJosephus tells us was made by Pontius Pilate.\n\nThe Pools of Solomon near the head of _Wady Urtas_ are three in number;\nthey receive the surface drainage of the ground above them and the\nwater of a fine spring known as the Sealed Fountain. The pools have\nbeen made by building solid dams of masonry across the valley, and are\nso arranged that the water from each of the upper ones can be run off\ninto the one immediately below it. The lower pool is constructed in a\npeculiar manner, which appears to indicate that it was sometimes used\nas an amphitheatre for naval displays; there are several tiers of seats\nwith steps leading down to them, and the lower portion of the pool,\nwhich is much deeper than the upper, could be filled with water by a\nconduit from one of the other reservoirs.\n\nThe \u201chigh level aqueduct,\u201d called by the Arabs that of the Unbelievers,\nis one of the most remarkable works in Palestine. The water was\ncollected in a rock-hewn tunnel 4 miles long, beneath the bed of _Wady\nByar_, a valley on the road to Hebron, and thence carried by an\naqueduct above the head of the upper Pool of Solomon, where it tapped\nthe waters of the Sealed Fountain. From this point it wound along the\nhills above the valley of Urtas to the vicinity of Bethlehem, where\nit crossed the watershed, and then passed over the valley at Rachel\u2019s\nTomb by an inverted stone syphon, which was first brought to notice\nby Mr Macneill, who made an examination of the water supply for the\nSyria Improvement Committee. The tubular portion is formed by large\nperforated blocks of stone set in a mass of rubble masonry; the tube\nis 15 inches in diameter, and the joints, which appear to have been\nground, are put together with an extremely hard cement. The last trace\nof this aqueduct is seen on the Plain of Rephaim, at which point its\nelevation is sufficient to deliver water at the Jaffa Gate, and so\nsupply the upper portion of the city; but the point at which it entered\nhas never been discovered, unless it is connected in some way with an\naqueduct which was found between the Russian convent and the north-west\ncorner of the city wall.\n\nThe present supply of water is almost entirely dependent on the\ncollection of the winter rainfall, which is much less than has\ngenerally been supposed, as, by a strange mistake, the rain-gauge was\nformerly read four times higher than it should have been. According\nto Dr Chaplin\u2019s observations, the average rainfall during the years\n1860-64 was 19\u00b786 inches, the maximum being 22\u00b7975 inches, and minimum\n15\u00b70 inches.\n\nIn addition to Bir Ey\u00fbb, which has been described above, the\ninhabitants draw water from the Fountain of the Virgin and the Hammam\nesh-Shefa.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the\n Bible.\u201d \u201cSurvey Memoirs,\u201d Jerusalem volume. \u201cThe Recovery of\n Jerusalem.\u201d Sir Charles Warren. \u201cPalestine.\u201d Major Conder.\n \u201cModern Jerusalem.\u201d C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake. \u201cWalks about\n Jerusalem.\u201d W. H. Bartlett. \u201cQuarterly Statements of P. E.\n Fund.\u201d]\n\n\n 2. _The Sieges of Jerusalem, and the Fortunes of its Walls._\n\n\u201cIn considering the annals of the city of Jerusalem,\u201d says Mr W. Aldis\nWright, \u201cnothing strikes one so forcibly as the number and severity\nof the sieges which it underwent. We catch our earliest glimpse of it\nin the brief notice of the first chapter of Judges, which describes\nhow \u2018the children of Judah smote it with the edge of the sword, and\nset the city on fire;\u2019 and almost the latest mention of it in the New\nTestament is contained in the solemn warnings in which Christ foretold\nhow Jerusalem should be compassed with armies, and the abomination of\ndesolation be seen standing in the Holy Place. In the fifteen centuries\nwhich elapsed between these two points, the city was besieged no fewer\nthan seventeen times; twice it was razed to the ground, and on two\nother occasions its walls were levelled. In this respect it stands\nwithout a parallel in any city ancient or modern.\u201d\n\nThe first siege appears to have taken place soon after the death of\nJoshua. The men of Judah and Simeon \u201cfought against it and took it, and\nsmote it with the edge of the sword, and set the city on fire\u201d (Judges\ni. 8). Josephus adds that the siege lasted some time, and that the part\nof the city captured at last was \u201cthe lower,\u201d but that the part above\nthem[21] was so difficult, by reason of its walls and from the nature\nof the place, that they relinquished their attempt upon it. As long as\nthe strongest part of the city remained in the hands of the Jebusites\nthey practically had possession of the whole. The Benjamites followed\nthe men of Judah to Jerusalem, but they could not drive out the\nJebusites (Judges i. 21). A Jebusite city it remained until the days of\nDavid.\n\nJerusalem was taken by David, _circa_ 1044 B.C. He took the\ncastle of Zion, which is the City of David, and dwelt in the castle (2\nSam. v. 6; 1 Chron. xi. 4). Then David built round about, from Millo\nand inward, and Joab repaired the rest of the city.\n\nAs long as Solomon lived the visits of foreign powers to Jerusalem\nwere those of courtesy and amity; but with his death this was changed.\nRehoboam had only been on the throne four years when Shishak, king of\nEgypt, invaded Judah, and advanced against the capital. Rehoboam opened\nthe gates to him, and Shishak did not depart without plundering the\ntemple and the palace. B.C. 886.\n\nIn the reign of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, the Philistines and\nArabians attacked Jerusalem, broke into the palace, spoiled it of all\nits treasures, sacked the royal harem, and killed or carried off the\nking\u2019s wives and all his sons but one. This was the fourth siege.\nB.C. 881.\n\nAmaziah, king of Judah, victorious over the Edomites, was foolish\nenough to challenge Jehoash, king of Israel. The battle took place\nat Bethshemesh of Judah, 12 miles west of Jerusalem. Amaziah was\nrouted, and the victorious Jehoash, after the gates of Jerusalem had\nbeen thrown open to him, broke down 400 cubits length of wall, from\nthe Corner Gate to the Gate of Ephraim. (This must have been at the\nnorth-west part of the city walls, the favourite point of attack in\nafter times.) B.C. 857.\n\nKing Uzziah, after some campaigns against foreign princes, devoted\nhimself to the care of Jerusalem. He rebuilt the wall broken down by\nJehoash, and fortified it with towers. In Uzziah\u2019s reign the city\nsuffered from an earthquake; a serious breach was made in the Temple,\nand below the city a large fragment was detached from one of the hills\nand rolled down the slope, overwhelming the king\u2019s paradise or park.\nB.C. 770.\n\nThe hill above En Rogel was called Ophel, and might be otherwise\ndescribed as the slope south of the Temple. The royal palaces were\nthere, and it was protected by a strong wall. We have no record of\nthe first erection of this wall; but Jotham, the son of Uzziah, built\nmuch upon it, and also built the upper gateway to the Temple (2 Chron.\nxxvii. 3). According to Josephus, he also repaired the city walls\nwherever they were dilapidated, and strengthened them by very large and\nstrong towers. B.C. 740.\n\nBefore the death of Jotham the clouds of the Syrian invasion began to\ngather, and they broke on the head of Ahaz, his successor. Rezin, king\nof Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, joined their armies and invested\nJerusalem (2 Kings xvi. 5). In a battle which took place outside the\nwalls Ahaz was defeated. This induced him to send to Assyria and\nobtain help from Tiglath Pileser, whose vassal he became, and whose\nsun-worship he adopted. B.C. 730.\n\nAnd now approached the greatest crisis that had yet occurred in the\nhistory of the city. Hezekiah reformed the worship and declined to be\na dependent on Assyria. Sennacherib had succeeded Tiglath Pileser, and\nthe dreaded Assyrian army approached. Hezekiah stopped the springs\nround Jerusalem, repaired the walls of the city, breaking down houses\nto get the material--even raised the wall in some places up to the\ntowers; and built a second wall at some exposed part, and strengthened\nMillo (2 Kings xx. 20; 2 Chron. xxxii. 3-5, 30; Isaiah xxii. 10). On\nthis occasion it would appear that the city escaped, but at the cost of\nthe treasures of the palace and the temple. B.C. 700.\n\nIn the middle of the long reign of Manasseh Jerusalem was taken by\nAssur-bani-pal, the grandson of Sennacherib, B.C. 650.\n\nBut Manasseh, in the latter part of his reign, sought to repair and\nstrengthen the city. He built a fresh wall, extending \u201cfrom the west\nside of Gihon-in-the-valley to the Fish Gate;\u201d and he also continued\nthe works which had been begun at Ophel, and raised the structure to a\nvery great height. B.C. 640.\n\nDuring the reign of Jehoiakim Jerusalem was visited by Nebuchadnezzar,\nwith the Babylonian army lately victorious over the Egyptians at\nCarchemish, and it is thought that there must have been a siege, but we\nhave no account of it. Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin,\nand hardly had his short reign begun before the terrible army of\nBabylon reappeared before the city, again commanded by Nebuchadnezzar\n(2 Kings xxiv). Jehoiachin surrendered, and the city was pillaged.\nJehoiachin being carried off to Babylon, his uncle Zedekiah was made\nking; but he was imprudent enough to seek the help of Pharaoh Hophra\nof Egypt, and upon this Nebuchadnezzar marched to Jerusalem again and\nbegan a regular siege. The walls and houses were battered by rams, and\nmissiles were discharged into the town. After some delays a breach\nwas made in the north wall, and the city suffered all the horrors of\nassault and sack. Zedekiah had stolen out of the city on the south\nside, but was pursued and overtaken. The Babylonians burnt the Temple,\nthe palace, and other public buildings, and threw down the city walls.\nB.C. 577.\n\nWhen Nehemiah obtained leave to return and rebuild the city of his\nfathers he found heaps of disordered rubbish everywhere on the ground.\nBy his amazing zeal and energy he stirred up the people to work; and in\ndue time all the gates and walls were set up, on the old foundations.\nB.C. 457.\n\n * * * * *\n\nThere is no need for us to pursue the history in detail.\nFurther stormy periods succeed.\n\n B.C.\n Ptolemy, son of Lagus takes Jerusalem, 305.\n Antiochus the Great takes the city, 219.\n Antiochus Epiphanes takes the city without siege, 170.\n Antiochus Eupator takes the city, 163.\n Jonathan builds a new wall, 143.\n Simon takes the Akra citadel, 139.\n Antiochus Sidetes besieges Jerusalem, 134.\n Aretas, the Arab, besieges the city, 65.\n Pompey takes the city, 63.\n Antipater rebuilds the walls, 58.\n Herod and Sosius take Jerusalem, 37.\n\n A.D.\n Agrippa builds the third wall, 43.\n Cestius Gallus attacks Jerusalem, 66.\n Titus takes Jerusalem (fifteenth siege) and utterly\n destroys it, 70.\n Bar Cocheba revolts, 132.\n Bar Cocheba is expelled, 135.\n Rufus ploughs the temple site, 135.\n Hadrian founds \u00c6lia Capitolina, 136.\n The Jews revolt and are excluded from the city, 339.\n Eudoxia rebuilds the walls, 450.\n Chosroes II. takes Jerusalem, 614.\n Omar the Caliph takes the city, 637.\n Caliph Moez takes possession of the city, 969.\n Turkomans expel Egyptians from the city, 1094.\n The Egyptians retake Jerusalem, 1098.\n Crusaders take Jerusalem (nineteenth siege), 1099.\n Walls of Jerusalem repaired, 1178.\n Saladin takes Jerusalem (twentieth siege), 1187.\n Saladin repairs the walls of the city, 1192.\n Melek el Muazzam dismantles the walls, 1192.\n Frederic II. rebuilds the walls, 1229.\n Daud, Emir of Kerak, destroys the walls, 1239.\n Christians obtain Jerusalem by treaty, 1243.\n Soliman the Magnificent builds walls, 1542.\n Muhammed Aly takes Jerusalem (no siege), 1832.\n The Fellahin seize Jerusalem, 1834.\n Syria and Jerusalem restored to Turkey, 1840.\n\nIn reflecting upon such a history as this, two things become very\nclear; the first is that the details of the events would be much better\nunderstood if we had an accurate map before us; the second is that the\nevents themselves--the successive destructions and rebuildings--must\nhave changed the city considerably from what it was. Even in the city\nof London the floors of Roman dwellings are found 15 or 18 feet below\nthe present surface of the streets. In Jerusalem, we need not be\nsurprised to learn, the depth of _debris_ is much greater, and since\nit has accumulated chiefly in the valleys, and very nearly obliterated\nsome of them, it has, of course, obscured the topography. An accurate\nmap of modern Jerusalem is in our hands, but it does not show us what\nthe ancient city was like. Therefore it is not sufficient to have this\nmodern map before us when we read the ancient history. We read in the\nhistory that Zedekiah fled (from his palace) through the gate between\ntwo walls and by the way of the king\u2019s gardens; but in modern Jerusalem\nthere is no king\u2019s palace or garden and no gate between two walls. The\nhistory describes how Nehemiah rebuilt the wall, from the Sheep Gate to\nthe Tower of Meah, and thence to the Fish Gate, and the Old Gate, &c.,\nbut in modern Jerusalem we find no such places and names. We are still\nworse off when we read in Josephus about Titus encamping within the\nthird wall, and then making a breach in the middle wall and encamping\nin the middle city, and still having a wall between him and the Jews in\nthe Upper City: for the Jerusalem of to-day shows only one wall besides\nthe rampart of the temple. Naturally there has been much conjecture\nconcerning the ancient city, and the best authorities have differed\nfrom one another in their ideas. It was with the hope of settling\nthe disputed questions as well as with the object of uncovering\nantiquities, that the Palestine Exploration Society began the work of\nexcavation.\n\nIt has often been said that there is not a single topographical\nquestion connected with ancient Jerusalem which is not the subject of\ncontroversy. This is, however, rather overstating the case, for there\nare points concerning which all authorities are in accord. First, as\nregards the natural features of the site, it is agreed that the Mount\nof Olives is the chain of hills east of the Temple Hill, and that the\nvalley beneath it on the west is the Brook Kedron. It is agreed that\nthe Temple stood on the spur immediately west of the Kedron, and that\nthe southern tongue of this spur was called Ophel. It is also agreed\nthat the flat valley west of this spur is that to which Josephus\napplies the name Tyrop\u0153on, although there was a diversity of opinion as\nto the exact course of the valley, which has now been set at rest by\nthe collection of the rock-levels within the city. It is also agreed\nby all authorities that the high south-western hill (to which the name\nZion has been applied since the fourth century) is that which Josephus\ncalls the hill of the Upper City, or Upper Market Place.\n\nThe site of the Pool of Siloam is also undisputed, and the rock\nZoheleth was discovered by M. Clermont Ganneau at the present village\nof _Silwan_. As regards the walls of the ancient city, all authorities,\nexcept Fergusson, agree in placing the Royal Towers (of Herod) in the\nvicinity of the present citadel, and all suppose the scarp in the\nProtestant cemetery to be the old south-west angle of the city. The\nTyrop\u0153on Bridge--or stairway and arch--is accepted by all writers since\nRobinson as leading to the royal cloisters of Herod\u2019s temple, and all\nplans of Herod\u2019s temple start with the assumption that the south-west\nangle of its courts coincided with the present south-west angle of the\nHaram. All plans also agree in accepting the east wall of the Haram as\nan ancient rampart of the city. We have thus various data to begin with\nwhich must be considered as certain, because writers who differ on all\nother points agree on these.[22]\n\nThe \u201cother points\u201d upon which writers have differed may be stated as\nfollows:--\n\n1. What was the extent of the city on the north before the destruction\nof A.D. 70?\n\n2. What was the line of the second wall, which bounded the city on the\nnorth, in those early times before there was any third wall, or any\nneed of one?\n\n3. What was the line of the south wall in Nehemiah\u2019s time, and again in\nthe time of the siege by Titus?\n\n4. Which is the true Mount Zion or City of David?\n\n5. On what spot did the Temple itself stand within the Haram enclosure;\nand what were the limits of its courts, first in Solomon\u2019s day, and\nsecondly, after they were enlarged by Herod?\n\n6. Does the Church of the Holy Sepulchre stand upon the true site of\nCalvary?\n\n7. What is the probable site of the royal sepulchres where David and so\nmany other kings lie buried?\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the\n Bible.\u201d \u201cSurvey Memoirs,\u201d Jerusalem volume.]\n\n\n 3. _Excavations at Jerusalem._\n\nIn the beginning of 1867 Lieutenant Warren, R.E. (now Colonel Sir\nCharles Warren), began his work of excavation in Jerusalem, assisted by\nseveral corporals of sappers, and employing native Arabs as labourers.\nScores of shafts were sunk through the accumulated rubbish, and were\nalways carried down to the natural rock. In cases where the miners came\nupon artificial structures--arches, aqueducts, cisterns, or other works\nof man--they were carefully explored and measured, and plans of them\nmade to scale. It was considered important to examine the underground\nmasonry of the Temple rampart; but as the walls are regarded as\nsacred, and it was desirable not to offend the susceptibilities of the\ninhabitants, this was accomplished by sinking shafts at a distance\nfrom the wall and driving lateral galleries. Sometimes when an\nunsympathising Turkish official came to inspect the works, a twist was\ngiven to the rope as he descended, and so, having lost his bearings,\nhe could not be sure that he gazed upon the foundations of the Temple\nwhen they were really shown to him. The work was continued until the\nyear 1870, and the results are recorded in the Jerusalem volume of the\nMemoirs. Let us now glance at some of the more striking discoveries on\nall the four sides of the Haram.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n SPRING STONE OF ROBINSON\u2019S ARCH.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\n_In the Tyrop\u0153on Valley._--On the west side of the Haram, about 39\nfeet from the south-western angle, a great stone is seen projecting\nfrom the wall. Dr Robinson, the American traveller, believed it to be\nthe spring-stone of an arch--perhaps the first arch of a bridge going\nto the Upper City--but others took a different view, and the question\ncould only be settled by excavation. The span of the arch, as deduced\nfrom the curve of the spring-stone, should be about 42 feet. At that\ndistance from the wall Warren discovered the pier of the arch, resting\non the rock at a depth of 42 feet. It is 12 feet 2 inches in thickness,\n52 feet 6 inches in length (the spring-stone above ground is 50 feet)\nand is constructed of long drafted stones, similar to those in the\nwall, one of them being over 13 feet in length and weighing ten tons.\nThree courses of stones were in place on the eastern side and two on\nthe western.\n\nTo the west of the pier is a rock-hewn channel, close to the pier, with\na perpendicular scarp below the pier of 4 feet; and on the east side of\nthe pier the rock is scarped down nearly perpendicularly for a depth of\nabout 18 feet.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n ROBINSON\u2019S ARCH (SECTION.)\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nBut nearly on a level with the base of the pier, on the east side, a\npavement extends from the pier to the Haram wall; and on this pavement\nrest the fallen voussoirs of the arch. Below the pavement is a mass of\n_debris_, and in the bottom of the space is an aqueduct cut in the rock\nnearly 12 feet deep, arched over, but with the roof crushed in at one\nplace by the voussoirs of a more ancient arch.\n\nFollowing the aqueduct to the south we presently come to a pool or\ncistern, 16 feet in diameter; and beyond this the channel turns the\ncorner of the Haram and ends to-day in a drain. Following the aqueduct\nto the north it brings us to another pool, and presently to a third,\nthis third one being partly underneath the wall of the Haram. The\nchannel was evidently intended to supply the city with pure water, for\nafter the _debris_ had accumulated, shafts were made from the pavement\nbefore spoken of, to allow of buckets being let down.\n\nThe chief explorers, Warren and Conder, whose matured opinion is given\nin the Jerusalem volume of the Memoirs, find \u201cno grounds for supposing\nthat the roadway over Robinson\u2019s Arch led up to the Upper City, either\nby steps or by a bridge; it was probably one of the suburban entrances\nspoken of by Josephus. There may have been other arches in continuation\nof Robinson\u2019s Arch, but there is no indication of this existing on the\nground.\u201d\n\n [Illustration:\n\n WILSON\u2019S ARCH.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nProceeding from Robinson\u2019s Arch up the valley, we come to the Gate of\nthe Chain, a chief entrance to the Haram. The street running westward\nfrom it is the Street of the Chain, and would bring us, with one little\nelbow, into David Street, whence we go straight to the Jaffa Gate. But\nin front of the Gate of the Chain it is found that the Street of the\nChain passes over a fine arch (now called Wilson\u2019s Arch) 42 feet in\nspan, like Robinson\u2019s Arch lower down. From an old book, called \u201cLa\nCitez de Jherusalem,\u201d we learn that the street coming south from the\nDamascus Gate to the Dung Gate used to pass under this arch in the\nMiddle Ages. The road passing over the arch is about 80 feet above the\nrock. But the rock under the western pier is 10 feet higher than under\nthe Noble Sanctuary, and the lowest point in the valley is about 16\nfeet west of the Sanctuary wall. Westward of the pier the Street of the\nChain rests upon a Causeway, made up of a complication of structures\ndifficult to describe. There is a long passage or tunnel running along\nunder the street, which for convenience is called the \u201cSecret Passage.\u201d\nNorth of this run two parallel rows of vaults, which are broken up by\nmore recent work, apparently Saracenic. But when the vaults were made\nthey interfered at one place with a very ancient chamber of drafted\nstones, the \u201cAncient Hall,\u201d which has all the appearance of being one\nof the oldest buildings in Jerusalem. A shaft was sunk in the floor of\nthe chamber to a depth of 11 feet 6 inches, through rough masonry as\nhard as a wall, but without finding rock. With regard to the Secret\nPassage, an Arabic writer, Mejr ed Din, says that the Street of David\nis \u201cso named from a subterranean gallery which David caused to be made\nfrom the Gate of the Chain to the Citadel called the Mihrab of David.\nIt still exists, and parts of it are occasionally discovered. It is\nsolidly vaulted.\u201d It would, however, be unsafe to accept the Arab\nwriter\u2019s opinion as to the date and use of the passage.\n\nAs touching the original contours of the ground, it appears from the\nexcavations in the Tyrop\u0153on that two valleys descend, one from the\nDamascus Gate, the other from near the Jaffa Gate, and that they were\noriginally very deep, giving the lower part of the north-western hill a\nrounded and gibbous form. The accumulation of rubbish at Wilson\u2019s Arch\nis 80 feet, at Robinson\u2019s Arch it is still more, and the true bed of\nthe valley passes under the Haram and comes out on the south side at a\ndistance of 90 feet from the south-west angle. There is a steep scarp\nfrom the Upper City down to the present Tyrop\u0153on, and thence the rock\nshelves down to the ancient valley bed.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n SOUTH WALL OF NOBLE SANCTUARY.\n\n (_By permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\n_On the Ophel Hill._--Ophel is the southern slope of Mount Moriah;\nand as we stand on the slope, looking northward, we face the south\nwall of the Noble Sanctuary. Right in the middle of it is the Triple\nGate, from which the surface of the ground shelves down 22 feet to the\nsouth-east angle, while westward it maintains its level. Yet really,\nin that western part (hidden from us just now by the wall of the city)\nthe true bed of the Tyrop\u0153on runs out, and the depth of soil or rubbish\nis 85 feet. At the Triple Gate itself the rock is found about 2 feet\nbelow the sill; but at the south-east angle again we should have to\nsink a shaft 80 feet deep to find it. Thus the original surface of\nOphel is all covered up, and its true contour disguised. Buried in the\nrubbish Warren has found the Wall of Ophel, abutting on the wall of the\nSanctuary at the south-east angle. It is about 12 feet wide at the\ntop and 15 feet at the bottom; it runs southward for 76 feet, and then\nmakes a bend to the west, in which direction it extends for 700 feet,\nand there ends abruptly. At the bend it is strengthened by a projecting\ntower, and below the bend there are several towers, one standing out\nvery prominently. (_See_ Plan of Haram Area, p. 212.)\n\n [Illustration: DEEP SHAFT AT SOUTH-EAST ANGLE OF HARAM.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nThe whole space of ground within this wall, wherever the spade was put\nin, proved to be rich in antiquities of various dates. One of the most\ninteresting discoveries was that of a cavern with fullers\u2019 vats, close\nto the traditional spot where St James was thrown over the Temple wall\nand despatched by a fuller\u2019s baton.\n\n [Illustration: JAR HANDLES FROM SOUTH-EAST ANGLE.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\n\n [Illustration: VASE FOUND AT S.-E. ANGLE.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\n_At the South-Eastern Angle._--At this corner the wall stands about\n70 feet high above the ground. At a height of 22 feet we observe the\ngreat stone which is estimated to weigh more than one hundred tons;\nand the courses below that have the appearance of being ancient work.\nBut we still have to go 78 or 80 feet beneath the surface to find the\nfoundations of the wall. It appears that the lowest or foundation\ncourse is partially sunk in the rock at the angle. When the builders of\nthe Temple came to work here, they found upon the rock an accumulation\nof 8 or 10 feet of fat mould, abounding in potsherds. This they cut\nthrough in order to lay their foundation stones on the solid rock. In\nthe red earth were found fragments of pottery and fat-lamps, which\nprobably are of the earliest type of lamp used in Jerusalem. Resting\non the red earth was a layer of broken pottery, and in this was found\na rusty nail, some charred wood, and several jar handles. Some of\nthese last had well-defined figures impressed on them, resembling in\nsome degree a bird, but believed to represent a winged sun or disc,\npossibly the emblem of the Sun god. On each handle, above and below the\nwings, are some Ph\u0153nician letters, corresponding in one case to LMLK\nZPH, and in the other to LK SHT. At 3 feet east of the angle a hole\nwas discovered scooped out of the rock, and in it was found a little\nearthen jar, standing upright as though it had been purposely placed\nthere.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n MASONS\u2019 MARKS, S.-E. ANGLE.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nMore interesting still, Warren discovered on some of the lower stones\nnear the south-east angle a number of marks in red paint, with two\nor three characters also inscribed with the chisel. The late Emanuel\nDeutsch declared them to be partly letters, partly numerals, and partly\nspecial masons\u2019 marks, exactly corresponding to some which he found\non the substructures of the harbour of Sidon, and the very oldest\nruins in the city of Tyre. As we know from the Bible that Solomon\nemployed Ph\u0153nician masons to build the Temple, this discovery was\nthought at first to prove the Solomonic age of this part of the wall.\nBut further reflection warns us that it is not of itself sufficient;\nthe old alphabet might be but little changed in the days when Herod\nrebuilt the Temple, and the forms of masons\u2019 marks might be the same\nwith Ph\u0153nicians and with Romans. As, however, they appear to be quarry\nsigns, they seem to imply that the stones were shaped at the quarry,\nand not upon the ground, and thus support the Scripture statement that\nthe Temple was erected without sound of axe or hammer. The same may\nbe said of the marginal drafts or bevels, which on some stones are\ncarried all round, on some round three sides, or only two, and exhibit\nno pattern or design when we look at the wall as a whole. The quarry\nwhence the stones appear to have been brought is called the Cotton\nCavern; its entrance is outside the walls, east of Damascus Gate, and\nit extends under the north-eastern part of the city for more than\na quarter of a mile. The cavern was not unknown in the time of the\nSultans, but it was afterwards lost sight of, until in the year 1852,\na dog scratching away the earth and stones, again uncovered the mouth\nof it. In this quarry we go over ground covered with chips, we see some\nblocks of stone in the rough, and others cut, and some only partially\nsevered from the rock. We see also the places where lamps rested to\ngive light to the workers. But in the fat mould at the angle of the\nwall we do not find any stone chippings.\n\n_In the Kedron Valley_ there is an accumulation of nearly 100 feet of\nloose stone chippings and other _debris_, lying against the wall of the\nSanctuary, covering all the western side of the valley, and resting at\nits eastern part upon the slope of Olivet. The true bed of the Kedron\nis 40 feet west of its present surface bed. On the west side of the\ntrue bed was found a masonry wall, 3 feet thick; and at intervals,\nas the rock rises other walls are encountered, built apparently for\nsupporting terraces.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n EAST WALL OF NOBLE SANCTUARY.\n\n (_By permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nFrom the south-east angle the foundation of the wall rises, to about\nthe middle of the eastern side, and then falls again, down to the\nGolden Gate and beyond. The construction of the Golden Gate is still a\nvexed question; it is possibly a reconstruction of comparatively late\ndate, but it stands on the ancient foundations of a gateway, which\nin some measure correspond with those of the Triple Gate. North of\nthe Golden Gate the rock still falls, and the depth of rubbish in the\ndepression is in the deepest part 125 feet. Yet the wall is built up\nfrom the bottom, and is carried across the depression to the higher\nrock surface north of it. It extends beyond the north-east angle of the\nHaram without showing any break at that point; and this seems to favour\nthe idea that a break may be found more to the south, where the Haram\nterminated before Herod enlarged its area. In fact the masonry north\nof the Golden Gate is of a rougher sort than that south of it. But it\nis impossible to examine the buried portion of the east wall at all\npoints, because a Mohammedan cemetery covers the ground, and excavation\namong the graves is forbidden. It was only by sinking shafts at a\ndistance from the wall, and employing a method of laborious tunnelling,\nthat the depth of the foundations could be ascertained. Warren\u2019s work\nhereabout has been pronounced by Sir Charles Wilson to be without a\nparallel in the history of excavation. \u201cIn one shaft alone no less than\n600 feet run of shaft and gallery was excavated.\u201d\n\nIf we might only explore freely within this cemetery Warren is\nconfident that we should come upon those huge stones--20 cubits long\nand 6 cubits thick--which Solomon laid down on this side when he\nbuilt the temple (Josephus, Ant. xx. 9,7). One would suppose that the\npresent north-east angle, added by Herod, was of much later date than\nthe south-eastern; yet here again \u201cPh\u0153nician\u201d masons\u2019 marks are found.\nMasons\u2019 marks, however, may have a tendency to remain the same through\nmany ages. It is a curious fact that the red paint with which they were\nput on has \u201crun\u201d in one instance, while still wet, and the trickling is\n_upwards_ as the stone stands in the wall. This shows that the marking\nwas done before the stone was placed, and very likely at the quarry.\n\n_North of the Haram enclosure._--The excavations just referred to were\nsufficient to show that a deep valley once existed to the north of the\nTemple, as described by Josephus, in \u201cAntiquities\u201d xiv. 4, 2 and \u201cWars\u201d\ni. 7, 3, where he states that Pompey found it a difficult business to\nfill it up. This valley commences to the north of the city wall, passes\ndown west of the Church of St Anne, and runs into the Kedron, past\nthe Sanctuary wall, at a distance of 145 feet south of the north-east\nangle. The great reservoir, called the _Birket Israil_, which extends\nalong the northern side of the Sanctuary for 360 feet, lies across this\nvalley. It is 126 feet wide and 80 feet deep. The west wall of the\nreservoir is rock, and the east wall is partly rock and partly masonry;\nwhile the south wall of the pool is at the same time the north wall of\nthe Sanctuary.\n\nThe excavations on all sides of the Sanctuary, and the examination\nof the cisterns within the enclosure, show that Mount Moriah was\noriginally somewhat pear-shaped in contour, the rock shelving off on\nall sides from the summit, which is now under the Dome of the Rock. At\nthe north-western corner, however, the rock was high, and there was a\nnarrow neck which joined this hill to Bezetha and made it a sort of\npeninsula in form. This neck has been artificially cut through.\n\n_The Tunnels from the Virgin\u2019s Fountain._--From the Virgin\u2019s Fountain,\nabout 320 yards south of the Triple Gate, and on the eastern side of\nOphel, a tunnel has been excavated through the hill to the Pool of\nSiloam. The distance between these two places is not much more than 300\nyards, but the tunnel winds about and its length is 1708 feet (or 569\nyards). Robinson and others had been through it, and found it difficult\nto traverse, for it is necessary to go part of the way crawling on\nhands and feet. Colonel Warren, accompanied by Serjeant Birtles and\na fellah, patiently explored it, taking compass bearings at every\nturn, and giving us at last an accurate plan of it. It was no easy\nwork crawling in three or four inches of water, recording observations\nwith pencil and paper, and carrying candles at the same time. Nor\nwas the business unattended with danger, for the flow of water being\nintermittent, and an unexpected flow occurring while they were in the\ntunnel, it proved very difficult to keep their mouths above water.\n\nAn inscription within this tunnel escaped the notice of all explorers\nuntil lately, and was not detected even by Warren.\n\n [Illustration: PLAN OF THE SILOAM TUNNEL.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nThe present Pool of Siloam measures about 55 feet, north and south by\n18 feet east and west, and is about 20 feet deep. At the north end an\narchway, 5 feet wide, appears, leading to a small vault, 12 feet long,\nin which is a descent from the level of the top of the pool to the\nlevel of the channel supplying it. In the year 1880 one of the pupils\nof Herr Conrad Schick, the architect of the Church Missionary Society,\nwhile climbing down fell into the water, and on rising to the surface\nnoticed the appearance of letters on the wall of the rock. The rock\nhad been smoothed so as to form a tablet about 27 inches square, which\ncontains six lines of writing on its lower portion. The inscription\nis about 5 yards from the mouth of the channel, and is on the right\nhand of an explorer entering from the Siloam end. It could hardly be\nread at first, because a deposit of lime had formed over it. Dr Guthe\nremoved this by washing the tablet with a weak solution of hydrochloric\nacid. Major Conder, with the aid of Lieutenant Mantell, expended\nmuch labour and patience in taking a \u201csqueeze,\u201d sitting for three\nor four hours cramped up in the water in order to obtain a perfect\ncopy, and repeating the experience in order to verify every letter.\nConder\u2019s squeezes were the basis of the earliest correct representation\npublished in Europe. Professor Sayce, who had already visited the\ntunnel and made a provisional translation of the text, was now enabled\nto improve it; and the following is the translation:--\n\n\u201c1. (Behold the) excavation! Now this is the history of the excavation.\nWhile the excavators were still lifting up\n\n\u201c2. The pick, each towards his neighbour, and while there were yet\nthree cubits to (excavate, there was heard) the voice of one man\n\n\u201c3. Calling to his neighbour, for there was an _excess_ (?) in the rock\non the right hand (and on the left?). And after that on the day\n\n\u201c4. Of excavating the excavators had struck pick against pick, one\nagainst another,\n\n\u201c5. The waters flowed from the spring to the pool for a distance of\n1200 cubits. And (part)\n\n\u201c6. Of a cubit was the height of the rock over the head of the\nexcavators.\u201d[23]\n\nThe meeting of the two parties of excavators near the middle of the\ntunnel accords with Warren\u2019s discovery of two false cuttings, one on\neither side, at a distance of 900 feet from the Siloam end.\n\nThe inscription is in ancient characters, very much resembling those on\nthe Moabite Stone, but possessing certain peculiarities. It is probably\nthe oldest bit of Hebrew writing on stone that we possess, and opens\nout a new chapter in the history of the alphabet. It gives the first\nmonumental evidence of the condition of civilisation among the Hebrews\nin the days of their kings; and altogether it is the most important\ndiscovery of the kind since the finding of the Moabite Stone.\n\nMajor Conder says that the general impression resulting from an\nexamination of the conduit is that it was the work of a people whose\nknowledge of engineering was rudimentary. It is well known that in\nmining it is very difficult to induce the excavator to keep in a truly\nstraight line, the tendency being to diverge very rapidly to one side.\nIt is possible that this is the real reason of the crooked run of the\ncanal; but another reason may have been the comparative hardness of\nthe strata met in mining at a uniform level through a hill, with beds\nhaving a considerable dip. It will, however, be observed, that, after\npassing the shaft, the direction of the tunnel changes to a line more\ntruly directed on the Virgin\u2019s Fountain. The excavators from the Siloam\nend became aware, probably by the impossibility of seeing a light at\nthe head of the mine, when standing at the mouth of the tunnel, that\nthey were not going straight, and the only means they had of correcting\nthe error consisted in making a shaft up to the surface to see where\nthey had got to. After ascertaining this they went straight for about\n140 feet, and then diverged gradually to the left; but their general\ndirection, nevertheless, agrees roughly with that of the rock contour,\nwhich may be due to following a particular seam of rock.\n\n [Illustration:\n\n SHAFTS DISCOVERED AT THE VIRGIN\u2019S FOUNTAIN.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nIt is recognised by Colonel Warren that the tunnel running southward\nto the Pool of Siloam was not the first tunnel excavated in connection\nwith the Virgin\u2019s Fountain. A channel had previously been made from the\nVirgin\u2019s Fountain due west, for a distance of 67 feet, into the heart\nof the hill, and there communicated by a shaft and corridors with the\nsurface. When the longer tunnel came to be made the engineers wisely\navailed themselves of the channel already existing, and began their\nnew excavation at a distance of 50 feet from the Virgin\u2019s Fount. The\npriority of the channel running due west to the shaft appears to be\nundoubted; and it is clear that whatever mistakes of direction might be\nmade by unscientific engineers when they had got some distance into the\nhill, they never would _begin_ by working due west from the Virgin\u2019s\nFount when their object was to make a channel south-south-west to\nSiloam Pool.\n\nAt the bottom of the shaft, which is 67 feet due west, Warren found the\nrock scooped out into a basin 3 feet deep, for the water to lie in, and\nat the top of the shaft an iron ring to which the rope of the bucket\ncould be tied. The shaft was 40 feet in height, and then the space\nbegan to open out westward into a great cavern, there being a sloping\nascent at an angle of 45\u00b0, covered with loose stones of about a foot\ncube. Warren says it was ticklish work ascending, for the stones all\nseemed longing to be off, and one starting would have sent the mass\nrolling, himself with it, on top of the serjeant, all to form a mash\nat the bottom of the shaft. After ascending about 30 feet they got on\nto a landing. The cave now opened out to south-west and north-west.\nFollowing it in the latter direction they arrived at a passage 40\nfeet long, at the far end of which was a rough wall. Creeping through\na hole in this they ascended a steep staircase for 50 feet, passed\nanother wall, and found themselves in a vaulted chamber. The exit at\nlast was on the Hill of Ophel, a few feet from the ridge, and almost\ncertainly, some writers maintain, within the ancient walls. The object\nof the cuttings was to get a supply of water from within; and perhaps\nthe piles of loose stones which were found in the long passage were\nintended to be thrown down the shaft if an enemy should attempt to\nascend it. In the passage were found three glass lamps of curious\nconstruction, placed at intervals as if to light the way; and in the\nvaulted chamber a little pile of charcoal as if for cooking, one of\nthese lamps, a cooking dish glazed inside, for heating food, and a jar\nfor water. Evidently the place had been used as a refuge.\n\nA similar arrangement for closing the entrance to a spring, and using\na secret passage from the hill above, has lately been discovered at\n_El Jib_ (ancient Gibeon),[24] and only a few years ago at \u2019_Amman_\n(Rabbath Ammon). In connection with the latter, Conder quotes Polybius\nto the effect that when Antiochus the Great besieged the forces of\nPtolemy Philopater, at _Amman_, in 218 B.C., the garrison\nheld out until a prisoner revealed a secret communication with a water\nsupply outside the walls.\n\n_Difficulties of the Work._--It is impossible to read the detailed\naccounts of Warren\u2019s work at Jerusalem without feeling an admiration\nfor the courage and patience of the explorers, and without being\nsometimes amused at the ludicrous predicaments into which they\noccasionally got. They have been jammed in aqueducts, wedged in chasms,\nand walled up behind falling heaps of _debris_. They have had to go\ndown ladders too short for reascending, to squeeze down apertures that\nhave taken the skin off the shoulders, and have been half drowned in\ncisterns at the bottom. In the Tyrop\u0153on the soil is so soaked with\nsewage that it poisons the flesh wherever it touches a scratch. In the\nKedron Valley the soil is so loose that it rushes into the galleries,\nalmost flowing like a fluid, and drives the men out. In the Siloam\ntunnel they more than once ran the risk of being drowned. In the Ophel\nshaft a loose stone, weighing eight cwt., threatened momentarily to\nfall upon their heads. Once when the Arab labourers had gone down a\nshaft, where the ancient bed of the Tyrop\u0153on runs out, 90 feet from\nthe south-west angle, they had descended 79 feet when they came upon\na stone slab. They began breaking it up with a hammer, when presently\nthe pieces fell in, the hammer disappeared, and the men, in terror lest\nthey should fall into unknown depths, rushed to the surface, sought out\nthe serjeant, and assured him that they had found the bottomless pit!\nThe awful depth proved to be just 6 feet more to the solid rock!\n\nWarren had often to dig in people\u2019s gardens, or to mine under their\nhouses, or sink shafts near to their sacred places, and it required\nmuch tact to deal with the prejudices of the Mohammedans, and to\nsatisfy all claims for compensation. In the neighbourhood of Jerusalem\na piece of garden ground may belong to one man, be rented by another,\nwhile a dozen people claim an interest in the crops that grow upon\nit. Sometimes Warren\u2019s labourers have been dragged before the judges\nand threatened with imprisonment, or told that they shall be sent to\ndo forced labour on the Jaffa Road. When Warren was working at the\nVirgin\u2019s Fountain there was much commotion among the people of Siloam.\nWork was to be resumed in the morning; but one cantankerous sheikh,\ntaking it into his head that Englishmen had no business out of their\nown country, effectually stayed proceedings by sending a bevy of\ndamsels to the Fount to wash. On one occasion a Turkish officer of\nEngineers, dressed in full uniform, approached, in no friendly spirit,\nto examine one of the shafts. If he had chosen to give an adverse\nreport the work would have been stopped. He knew that Warren was in\ncommand, but he marched magnificently past him without deigning to\nnotice him, and was going straight for the head of the shaft. But\nWarren passed on rapidly before him, threw over the ladder which some\nlady visitors had been using, blew out the light, and descended by a\nrope. The Turk, hearing a crash, and seeing Warren disappear in the\ndarkness, was afraid that something terrible had occurred, which he did\nnot wish to be responsible for, and lost no time in turning his steps\naway. But, after all, when we consider that the Sanctuary at Jerusalem\nis as sacred to the Mohammedans as the precincts of Westminster Abbey\nto ourselves, it is marvellous how much Sir Charles Warren succeeded in\neffecting, and with how little friction he did it.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cQuarterly Statements of P. E.\n Fund.\u201d \u201cRecovery of Jerusalem.\u201d Sir C. Warren. \u201cTent Work in\n Palestine.\u201d Major Conder.]\n\n\n 4. _Jerusalem as it was._\n\n_The Hills and Valleys._--Sir Charles Warren was the first to point\nout the necessity of ascertaining the depth of the rock below the\npresent surface, in as many places as possible, and of referring all\nthe measurements to one fixed datum, the level of the sea. In the study\nof the ancient topography the original appearance of the ground is the\nfirst consideration, for although a certain amount of soil may always\nhave existed, still the ancient surface must have conformed far more\nclosely to that of the rock than does the present.\n\nTo this work very great attention has been given, first by Warren\nhimself, in his exploration of numerous tanks and sinking of scores\nof shafts; next by Herr Schick, who, in his professional capacity of\narchitect, has measured the position when sinking foundations for\nhouses in every quarter of Jerusalem. Contours had also been given\nin the Ordnance Survey conducted by Sir C. Wilson in 1864. At length\nConder was able to take all the data and send home a plan of rock\nlevels for the entire city. From this he also prepared a reduced\nshaded sketch of the original rock site of the town. The sketch\nis here reproduced, and by the help of it the reader will find it\ncomparatively easy to understand Josephus\u2019s description, as well as\nthe reconstruction of the ancient city which will be attempted in this\nsection.\n\nJosephus says--\u201cThe city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls,\non such parts as were not encompassed with unpassable valleys, for in\nsuch places it had but one wall. The city was built upon two hills,\nwhich are opposite to one another, and have a valley to divide them\nasunder, at which valley the corresponding rows of houses on both\nhills end. Of these hills that which contains the Upper City is much\nhigher and in length more direct. Accordingly it was called the Citadel\n(\u03c6\u03c1\u03bf\u03cd\u03c1\u03b9\u03bf\u03bd) by King David, but it is by us called the Upper\nMarket Place. But the other hill, which was called Akra, and sustains\nthe Lower City, is curved on both sides (\u1f00\u03bc\u03c6\u03af\u03ba\u03c5\u03c1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2).[25]\nOver against this was a third hill, but naturally lower than Akra, and\nparted formerly from the other by a broad valley. However, in those\ntimes when the Maccabees reigned, they filled up that valley with\nearth, and had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then took\noff part of the height of Akra, and reduced it to be of less elevation\nthan it was before, that the temple might be superior to it. Now the\nTyrop\u0153on Valley, as it was called, and was that which we told you\nbefore distinguished the hill of the Upper City from that of the Lower,\nextended as far as Siloam.\u201d (Wars, v. 4, 1.)\n\n [Illustration:\n\n ROCK SITE OF JERUSALEM.\n\n (_By favour of the Palestine Exploration Fund._)]\n\nIn the next section Josephus tells us that as the city grew more\npopulous it crept beyond its old limits, \u201cand those parts of it that\nstood northward of the temple and joined that hill to the city, made it\nconsiderably larger, and occasioned that hill, which is in number the\nfourth, and is called _Bezetha_ (or New City), to be inhabited also.\nIt lies over against the Tower of Antonia, but is divided from it by a\ndeep valley, which was dug on purpose, and that in order to hinder the\nfoundations of the Tower of Antonia from joining to this hill.\u201d\n\nWhen we read these descriptions in the light of our plan, things become\ntolerably plain. The south-western hill was the Upper City--a large\nflat-topped hill surrounded with deep valleys, and having a level of\nabout 2550 to 2500 feet above the sea. The eastern hill is known to\nbe the Temple Hill, which is number three in Josephus\u2019s description.\nBezetha (number four) is distinctly described as the hill north of the\nTemple Hill, and only divided from it at one point by an artificial\ncutting. The explorers have found this cutting, carried through a\nnarrow neck of high ground, at the north-western corner of the Haram.\nThus there is no room to question that \u201cthe second hill, which was\ncalled Akra and sustained the Lower City\u201d is the hill projecting down\nfrom the north-west like a promontory, gibbous in its form. The Upper\nCity was divided from Akra \u201cby a broad valley,\u201d now partly filled up,\nwhich was called the Tyrop\u0153on Valley, and beginning near the Jaffa\nGate, \u201cextended as far as Siloam Fountain.\u201d The summit of Akra is not\nmore than 2480 feet above sea level--considerably lower than the Upper\nCity--and looks lower than it is, because the whole site of Jerusalem\nis tilted up from the west like an inclined plane, and because the\nvalleys about the Upper City are deeper. Josephus says the Akra hill\nused to be higher, and sustained the Macedonian fortress called the\nAkra, which dominated the Temple. Being so near and so high, it\nenabled the garrison to look down into the Temple courts. They used\nalso to run out and molest the Jews who were passing from the Upper\nCity into the Temple by the western gate (Joseph. Ant. xii. 9, 3; 1\nMacc. i. 36; and Warren in \u201cTransactions of the Society of Biblical\nArch\u00e6ology,\u201d vii. 314).\n\nThe Macedonian fortress was a thorn in the side of Jerusalem until\nSimon Maccab\u00e6us captured it and demolished it. At the same time he cut\ndown the top of the hill itself; and perhaps it was with the material\nso obtained that he filled up the valley between Akra and the Temple.\nBy the filling up of this valley, which it is convenient to call the\nAsmonean Valley, the two hills were joined together; and it would not\nbe surprising if the terms \u201cAkra\u201d and \u201cLower City\u201d soon after began to\nhave an extended meaning, and to embrace all the buildings on both the\nhills which were now united into one.\n\nHaving now a definite conception of the original lie of the ground,\nand knowing the four hills of Jerusalem by name and location, we can\nproceed to plant a few of the ancient buildings in their proper places.\n\n_The Temple of Solomon._--We have already seen reason for placing the\nTemple over the very summit of Moriah; but we must now make our reasons\nquite conclusive, and also show the limits of the Temple courts.\n\nIn the first place the summit of the mountain is the natural position\nfor the Temple, rather than any position on the slope. The rock called\nthe Sakhrah and the Foundation-stone of the World has been sacred\nfrom time immemorial. It seems to be referred to in Isaiah xxviii.\n16--\u201cBehold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone,\na precious corner (stone), of sure foundation.\u201d Ezekiel also, with\nJosephus and the Talmud, all agree in placing the temple on the summit\nof the mountain (Ezek. xliii. 12).\n\nAs remarked by Dr Chaplin,[26] the question whether the \u201cstone of\nfoundation\u201d was a portion of the solid rock or a movable stone is one\nof considerable interest in connection with the topography of the\nTemple. If the former, it will be easy to fix with all but absolute\ncertainty its position, and from it as a starting-point, to lay down\nthe sites of the temple, altar, and courts with no more uncertainty\nthan the uncertain value of the cubit renders inevitable. The use\nof the word _Eben_ would imply that it was a movable stone, but its\n(supposed) history, as given by the Rabbis, quite removes it from the\ncategory of ordinary stones, and represents it as the centre or nucleus\nfrom which the world was founded. The _Toldoth Yesu_ represents it as a\nmovable stone, and states that King David, when digging the foundation\nof the temple, found it \u201cover the mouth of the abyss\u201d with THE\nNAME engraved upon it, and that he brought it up and placed it in\nthe Holy of Holies. \u201cOn the whole\u201d (says Dr Chaplin) \u201cit is difficult\nto come to any other conclusion than that the stone which the Rabbis\nwrite about was a portion of rock projecting three finger-breadths\nupwards from the floor of the Holy of Holies, covering a cavity which\nwas regarded as the mouth of the abyss, reverenced as the centre and\nfoundation of the world, and having the ineffable name of God inscribed\nupon it.\u201d\n\nThe statements made in the Talmud and repeated over and over again\nwith great accuracy by Rabbinic writers, supply us with the following\nprecise information: (1) The stone of foundation (in other words, the\nsolid rock) was the highest point within the Holy of Holies, projecting\nslightly above the floor, and from it the rock sloped downwards on\nall sides. (2) A \u201csolid and closed foundation,\u201d 6 cubits high, was\nmade all round the house in order to raise the floor to (within\nthree finger-breadths of) its summit. On the eastern side this solid\nfoundation was covered by steps leading down to the court, 22 cubits\nbelow the summit on that side. We must agree with Dr Chaplin that the\nsummit of the Sakhrah under the great Dome of the Rock is the only spot\nin the whole enclosure which answers to these data.\n\nThe Holy House, with its courts, was not in the centre of the\nenclosure, but had a position north-west of the centre. The altar\ncourt was at a lower level than the Holy House; and lower still, by\nsuccessive descents, were the court of Israel, the court of the women,\nand the court of the Gentiles. The courts being in terraces one above\nanother, and the Holy House at the summit, the temple was a far more\nconspicuous object than is the Dome of the Rock at the present day.\n\nThe Talmud describes the Temple area as 500 cubits square. The prophet\nEzekiel says \u201cit had a wall round about, the length five hundred and\nthe breadth five hundred, to make a separation between that which\nwas holy and that which was common\u201d (xlii. 20). Then we are told by\nMaimonides, the learned Jewish writer, that \u201cthe men who built the\nsecond temple, when they built it in the days of Ezra, they built it\nlike Solomon\u2019s, and in some things according to the explanation in\nEzekiel.\u201d\n\nTaking then the centre of the Sakhrah as the centre of the Holy of\nHolies, and allowing ourselves to be guided by the Talmud measurements,\nwhich are given with great exactitude, we shall not be far wrong if we\ndraw the boundaries as follows:--On the north, the northern limit of\nthe present platform, the line of which if continued eastward would\ncut the east wall of the Haram a little north of the Golden Gate.\nThe platform is raised 12 feet above the present general surface of\nthe Haram enclosure. One day when the rain had loosened a stone near\nthe north-eastern corner of the platform and revealed the existence\nof vaults, Warren went down and took measurements; and it appears\nthat the northern end of the platform consists of rock which has been\nscarped away perpendicularly. On the south the boundary would come to\nwithin a few feet of the entrance of El Aksa mosque, and would fall\nshort of the south wall of the Haram by 300 feet. On the east and west\nthe boundaries would fall a little way within the present walls of the\nHaram. We may reasonably conclude that the present east and west walls\nof the Haram either represent walls of the Temple enclosure, or else\nwere built a little without them, as retaining walls for gradually\naccumulating _debris_.\n\nWhen the Temple of Solomon was destroyed, with all the buildings that\nsurrounded it, the _debris_ would be piled up in the courts. Probably\nit would never be thought worth while to remove it all from the lower\ncourts, but rather to cover it over and lay a neat pavement on the\nsurface. Spaces and corners where the rubbish was less gathered would\nbe filled in or built up to complete the levelling; and as the rubbish\nincreased, both within and without the walls, after successive sieges,\nthe walls themselves were further built up, to keep them of sufficient\nheight. It never was intended in the first instance, to build walls\nup from the foundation and make them 150 feet high. By successive\nchanges, the result of calamities as much as the fruit of improvement,\nthe terraced mountain grew to be an elevated plateau, such as the\nHaram enclosure is at the present day. Josephus says that when Herod\nrebuilt the Temple he extended the area of the courts and made it twice\nas large as it was before. With that, however, we need not concern\nourselves while we are seeking to restore the city of Old Testament\ntimes.\n\n_Solomon\u2019s Palace_ we find reasons for placing south of Solomon\u2019s\nTemple, on the slope of the terraced mountain, with its south-eastern\nangle coinciding with the present south-eastern corner of the Haram.\nThose deep-buried stones with the Ph\u0153nician masons\u2019 marks upon them\nmay be the very foundation stones of the palace. The palace was a\ngreat work, and occupied thirteen years in building. It was necessary\nto build up at this corner, but as soon as a level was reached that\npermitted the work to be carried through from east to west, the\nsix-feet course was laid as the true base for the more splendid\nsuperstructure. This six-feet course extends for 600 feet westward\nfrom the south-east angle, and gives us the limit in that direction.\nNorthward we are limited by the courts of the temple to 300 feet. This,\nthen, is where Sir Charles Warren places Solomon\u2019s palace, and these\nare the dimensions he assigns to it. Mr James Fergusson had already\nbeen led, from architectural reasons, to consider it an oblong of 550\nfeet by 300. The level of the six-feet course is 60 feet below the\nsummit of the mountain. A patient examination of the wall led Warren\nto the conclusion that all below this great course is old work, and\nthat the walls of the Haram generally correspond to the description of\nJosephus, in whose day the great wall of Solomon still existed.\n\nThe Temple and the palace being thus located, there is left, beyond\nthe west end of the palace, a plot of ground, 300 feet square, not\nenclosed at the time we are speaking of, although at the present day\nit forms the south-western corner of the Sanctuary and has the mosque\nEl Aksa covering it. But the great depression of the Tyrop\u0153on Valley\nfalls just there, and it would not be raised and enclosed until a late\nday. Warren says, in the \u201cRecovery of Jerusalem\u201d: \u201cOur researches show\nthat the portion of the wall to the west of the Double Gate is of a\ndifferent construction to, and more recent than that to the east. This\nis a matter of very great importance, and, combined with other results,\nappears to show the impossibility of the Temple having existed at the\nsouth-west angle, as restored by Mr Fergusson and others. The only\nsolution of the question I can see, is by supposing the portion to the\neast of the Double Gate to have formed the south wall of Solomon\u2019s\npalace, and that to the west to have been added by Herod when he\nenlarged the courts of the Temple.\u201d\n\nBefore this addition was made the south wall was but 600 feet in\nlength. The Triple Gate stood in the middle of it, and as we have seen,\nit is exactly on the ridge of the hill. The sill is 38 feet below the\npresent level of the Sanctuary, and from the gate three avenues ascend\ngently to the Sanctuary floor. May they not represent \u201cthe way by which\nSolomon went up to the House of the Lord\u201d?\n\n_The Wall of Ophel_, as already described, has been discovered by\nWarren, and abuts against the south-eastern angle of what we are now\nprepared to regard as Solomon\u2019s palace.\n\n_The Tower of Antonia._--Josephus tells us that the tower which\nHerod built and named in honour of Antony stood on a rock 50 cubits\nhigh, at the north-west corner of the Temple. The rock was separated\nfrom Bezetha by a cutting made on purpose, yet the tower was so near\nto Bezetha that it adjoined the New City. At the same time it was\nso near to the Temple that the south-eastern turret overlooked the\nTemple courts, while passages from the tower led to the west and north\ncloisters. This description is precise enough. As Conder says, there is\njust such a rock fortress in the north-west part of the Haram. It is a\ngreat scarp, with vertical faces on the south and north, standing up\n40 feet above the interior court, and separated from the north-eastern\nhill of Jerusalem by a ditch 50 yards broad, in which are now the Twin\nPools--the Bethesda of St. Jerome. This block of rock is \u201cthe top of\nthe hill\u201d spoken of by Josephus, and occupies a length of 100 yards\nalong the course of the north wall of the Haram. No other such scarp\nexists in or near the enclosure of the High Sanctuary. Can we then\nhesitate to place Antonia here?\n\nHerod, after all, only repaired and strengthened this tower, for it had\nbeen built by Hyrcanus and passed under the name of Baris before being\nrenamed Antonia, and even Hyrcanus was not the first at this work (page\n265).\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cQuarterly Statements of P. E.\n Fund.\u201d \u201cThe Recovery of Jerusalem.\u201d Sir C. Warren. \u201cThe Works\n of Josephus.\u201d]\n\n\n 5. _The Walls and Gates of the City._\n\n\u201cEven stone walls,\u201d says Mr Lewin, \u201ccannot fail to awaken some degree\nof interest, when it is remembered that upon the result of the inquiry\ndepends the question, Where was Calvary? and where the Holy Sepulchre?\u201d\nIf we desire to understand Old Testament events as well as those of the\nGospels we shall take some interest in the question of the correct line\nof the walls. The walls were perambulated by Nehemiah\u2019s two companies\non the Thanksgiving Day; certain of the gates are mentioned by name\nin connection with events of the history; and our reading of the\nnarrative will gain in vividness if we can follow the events like those\nacquainted with the ground.\n\n_The First Wall, or Wall of the Upper City._--Josephus says there were\nthree walls; but as the third or most northerly was not built until\nA.D. 43, we will leave it out of account for the present. We\nshall endeavour to fix the lines of the walls and the positions of the\ngates as they were in Nehemiah\u2019s time, and then we shall have those of\nstill earlier date, for Nehemiah only repaired walls and gates which\nhad been thrown down, and did not build afresh.\n\nBeginning at the remarkable neck of land near the present Jaffa Gate a\nwall ran eastward along the northern brow of the hill, and in the line\nof the Causeway, and ended at the west cloister of the Temple. This\nwas the north wall of the Upper City. That city had a wall all round\nit; and on the west, south, and east the wall simply followed the brow\nof the hill. From the Jaffa Gate it ran southward (facing westward)\nalong the brink of the Valley of Hinnom, by Bethso (the Hebrew term\nfor Dung place) to the Gate of the Essenes. At the south-west corner\nof the hill an escarpment of the rock was noticed by Robinson; was\nfurther traced by Mr Maudslay, who in 1872 found there a tower, reached\nby rock-cut steps; and is clearly marked in Conder\u2019s plan. From this\ncorner the wall faced the south for a while, and then, according to\nJosephus, made a bend above Siloam; and this must have been, as Mr\nLewin points out, a bend up the Tyrop\u0153on Valley, along the edge of the\nHigh Town (to the Causeway), and then back again along the edge of the\nLow Town on Ophel (until it joined the Wall of Ophel discovered by\nWarren). The wall from Siloam, we learn from Josephus, bending there,\nfaced to the east at Solomon\u2019s Pool, and holding on as far as the\nplace called Ophla, joined the eastern cloister of the Temple.[27] The\neastern cloister of the Temple--_i.e._, the south-eastern angle of the\nenclosure--was, in Josephus\u2019s day, coincident with the south-east angle\nof Solomon\u2019s palace of earlier time; and the city wall which joined it\nwas the Wall of Ophel itself.\n\nAccording to this description Solomon\u2019s Pool was in the Tyrop\u0153on\nValley, between the two walls of the High Town and the Low Town.\nProbably at a very early period many houses were built in this valley,\nand it became an intramural suburb. In view of war it would be deemed\nnecessary to protect it; and for its defence the most obvious plan\nwould be to build a dam or a wall athwart the valley. Such a work would\ngreatly strengthen the city itself, by preventing all access up the\nvalley, especially if the mound or wall was aided by a castle at the\nOphel end of it. We shall see reason to believe that the dam and the\ncastle were built and were called Millo and the House of Millo. The\nsuburb thus became immured in the city, but continued to be called the\nSuburb; and we read that the west wall of the Temple enclosure had\ntwo gates leading to the Suburb (Josephus, \u201cAntiquities\u201d xv. 11, 5; 1\nChron. xxvi. 16, the gate Shallecheth).\n\nThe course of the first wall as thus described by Josephus does not\nappear to differ much from its course in Nehemiah\u2019s time; and in all\nessentials it seems to be the wall of David\u2019s day, preserved upon\nthe old foundations. Josephus indeed states as much in the following\npassage:--\u201cNow of these three walls, the old one was hard to be taken,\nboth by reason of the valleys and of that hill on which it was built,\nand which was above them. But besides that great advantage as to the\nplace where they were situated, it was also built very strong; because\nDavid and Solomon and the following kings were very zealous about this\nwork.\u201d\n\n [Illustration: SCHICK\u2019S LINE OF SECOND WALL.]\n\n_The Second Wall._--The description of the second wall, given by\nJosephus, is short, and may be quoted entire: \u201cIt took its beginning\nfrom that gate which they called Gennath, which belonged to the first\nwall; it only encompassed the northern quarter of the city, and reached\nas far as the tower Antonia.\u201d\n\nThe necessity for this wall arose as follows. Through the increase of\nthe population a suburb had sprung up, not only in the upper reach of\nthe Tyrop\u0153on Valley, but on the hill beyond it. On the spur of this\nhill, which projected toward the Temple, stood the Akra fortress,\nbut north-west of the fortress the ground was high and open, and\nunprotected by any deep valley. To protect this suburb it was necessary\nto carry a wall across the saddleback, sweeping round from the corner\nof the High Town to the north-west corner of the eastern hill; and\nthis was probably done as early as David\u2019s day.\n\nThere is not now much difficulty in finding approximately the position\nof the gate Gennath, the starting point of this wall. We observe on\nConder\u2019s plan of the rock site that a narrow ridge runs north and\nsouth, immediately east of the Tower of David, and separates as a\nshed the broad head of the Tyrop\u0153on from the western valley. The\nTyrop\u0153on deepens very suddenly, and any wall carried across it would\nof necessity be commanded by the ridge to the west of it. The only\nsensible course for the builders was to carry the wall along the ridge\nitself, on ground commanding all without it. Exactly along this ridge,\nat its western side, a wall was discovered in the year 1885, during the\nrebuilding of the Greek Bazaar. At a depth 15 feet below the present\nstreet Dr Merrill found two layers of stone, and at some points three,\nstill in position; and the stones were of the same size and character\nas the largest of the stones in the Tower of David opposite. Broken\nRoman pottery was found in these excavations, and a stone ball, such\nas the Romans used in warfare. The discovery of these foundations\nenables us to lay down the second wall for a distance of 40 or 50\nyards, with accuracy.[28] Thus we know where the wall began, and where\nit ended. Its intermediate course can only be ascertained by arguments\nof probability, and by mapping every bit of ancient wall uncovered in\nconnection with building operations and the making of drains. Upon the\ntrue course of this wall depends the answer to the question whether\nthe site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was without the city or\nwithin. We are contented here to adopt the line of wall arrived at by\nHerr Conrad Schick, who has studied the question on the ground, who\nis acquainted with every bit of ancient wall that has come to light,\nand has a reason for every twist and turn and every gate and tower\nhere represented. It will be seen by his plan that he does not stop at\nthe Tower of Antonia, but continues his line of wall so as to defend\nthe northern and eastern sides of the Temple. This is required by\nNehemiah\u2019s descriptions. But when Herod enlarged the Temple courts, if\nnot before, these portions of the wall would be interfered with--the\nnorthern portion would be removed, the eastern portion had perhaps\nbecome buried--and so Josephus is silent about them.\n\nWith the course of the walls thus definitely marked out, it becomes\npossible to follow the descriptions in the Book of Nehemiah, and to\nidentify the towers and gates and places there mentioned.\n\n_Nehemiah\u2019s Night Ride to Survey the Ruins._--Jerusalem had been\ndestroyed by Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s general, and although the Chaldeans\nentered by a breach on the north side, they afterwards burnt the palace\nand every great house, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem round\nabout (2 Kings xxv. 4). Nehemiah returned from the captivity to rebuild\nthe city of his fathers, and prudently decided to make first a quiet\nsurvey of the extent of the destruction.\n\nIn chapter ii. 13, we read, \u201cI went out by night by the Valley Gate,\neven towards the dragon\u2019s well, and to the Dung Gate.\u201d This Valley\nGate was at or near the Gennath Gate, at the head of the Tyrop\u0153on\nValley, and at the same time close to the Valley of Hinnom. It could\nnot be far from the present Jaffa Gate. The Dung Gate--Josephus\u2019s\n\u201cBethso\u201d--comes between the Jaffa Gate and the south-west corner of the\ncity; a position also required by chap. iii. 13. \u201cThen I went on to\nthe Fountain Gate and to the King\u2019s Pool.\u201d The Fountain Gate would be\na convenient exit from the city to a path leading down to Siloam Pool;\nThe King\u2019s Pool (_el-Berekath_) was probably Solomon\u2019s Pool, mentioned\nby Josephus as being by the east face of the old wall. In after\ntimes it would be called in Scripture the King\u2019s Pool, because it was\nappropriated and used by Solomon\u2019s successors, just as Solomon\u2019s Palace\nis called the king\u2019s house in Neh. iii. 25. This pool would be within\nthe protected suburb. Nehemiah continues, \u201cBut there was no place for\nthe beast that was under me to pass.\u201d Why? Because here we have two\nwalls in a narrow space, and the destruction of both of them had filled\nthe valley with _debris_. \u201cThen I went up by the brook (_nachal_, the\nKedron) and viewed the wall: and I turned back and entered by the\nValley Gate, and so returned.\u201d\n\n_The Rebuilding of the Walls and Gates._--Nehemiah decides that the\nwalls can be and shall be rebuilt; and he parcels out the work among\nforty-six of the principal people, who each have their retainers.\nThe work is sacred, and is appropriately begun by the high priest,\nwho naturally selects a spot near the Temple--the Sheep Gate of the\ncity wall, which would seem to have been about midway between the\nnorth-eastern and north-western corners of the temple area of that\ntime. The description of the repairs takes us westward, or to the\nleft, and carries us all round the city to the same point again. \u201cThen\nEliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and\nthey builded the Sheep Gate; they sanctified it, and set up the doors\nof it; even unto the tower of Hammeah[29] they sanctified it, unto the\ntower of Hananel.\u201d These two towers, we may suppose, with Mr Lewin and\nHerr Schick, already occupied the site of the future Antonia. In fact\nthey were parts of the Baris or Castle where Nehemiah himself intends\nto reside (Neh. ii. 8, where the Hebrew word is the _Birah_).\n\nAfter these towers of the Baris the various gates and places come\nbefore us in the following order:--\n\nThe Fish Gate, placed in Herr Schick\u2019s plan where the first main line\nof street ran out into the country.\n\nThe Old Gate, where the next main line of street ran out. It is where\nthese two roads cross one another that we get, at a later period, the\nDamascus Gate set up. Streets running direct towards a city wall seem\nto demand a gate in that wall to complete their usefulness.\n\nNext we have the Throne of the Governor-beyond-the-River. This, like\nthe preceding, is some structure occurring in the course of the wall.\nIn chap. ii. 7, 9, the phrase \u201cbeyond the river\u201d seems to mean westward\nof the Jordan, where the district was governed by a viceroy of the\nking of Assyria. The viceroy lived or had lived in Jerusalem,[30] and\nhis castle appears to have come into the line of the second wall, in\nthe part which is south-east of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and\nperhaps exactly at the re-entering angle.\n\nThe Broad Wall, which is named next, was not necessarily broad in\nitself. Open spaces, such as we should name Squares, were in Jerusalem\ncalled Broads. There was one such broad space south of the Temple water\ngate, on Ophel, in which the people sometimes assembled (Neh. viii.\n1; Ezra x. 9). There seems to have been another near one of the city\ngates, where Hezekiah addressed the people, alarmed at the approach of\nSennacherib (2 Chron. xxxii. 6). Sennacherib would approach the city\non the north-west, and the people were very likely gathered by the\nValley Gate discussing the matter, in an open space afterwards utilised\nby the construction of the \u201cPool of Hezekiah.\u201d The \u201cBroad\u201d wall might\nbe so called from running along one side of this broad space. It\nperhaps started from the second wall at the point which Nehemiah\u2019s\ndescription has now reached, and extended southward to the wall of the\nhigh town, and so constituted an inner line of defence. Nothing is said\nof repairing it: perhaps it had not been thrown down; or, as an inner\nwall, Nehemiah neglects it for the present, as he does also the north\nwall of the Upper City. At any rate the description carries us beyond\nit. At the north-west angle of the second wall there was a Corner Gate\n(2 Kings xiv. 13; 2 Chron. xxv. 23), which is called also the Gate that\nLooketh. A gate here would command a view of the city walls as far as\nthe Fish Gate on the one hand and the Valley Gate on the other. But\nthis gate also is passed over in the present description.\n\nWe have next the Tower of the Furnaces, probably west of the \u201cPool of\nHezekiah.\u201d The word may mean hearths furnaces, ovens, or altars; but we\ncannot say to what it related.\n\nAnd then we come to the Valley Gate, which we have already seen must\nhave been near the present Jaffa Gate, and probably was exactly where\nthe present David Street passes the end of the wall discovered, by the\nGreek Bazaar, in 1885. Unless a gate existed there, the street would\nlose half its use. Yet there is Herr Schick\u2019s alternative, that the\nname was given to a gate south-west of the Citadel, and opening on to\nthe Valley of Hinnom.\n\nIn verse 13, from the Valley Gate it is \u201c1000 cubits on the wall to the\nDung Gate.\u201d This forbids any identification with the present dung gate,\nin the Tyrop\u0153on, and fixes within a little the position of _Bethso_.\n\nIn verse 15, Shallun, who repairs the Fountain Gate, repairs also \u201cthe\nwall of the Pool of Shelah by the king\u2019s garden.\u201d Allow that Shelah is\nSiloam, yet this need not be a wall running down to Siloam--if we were\nto take that line we should go wrong all the rest of the way--it is\nthe transverse wall in the same valley above. Through a gate in this\nwall the Pool of Siloam would be conveniently reached from the Suburb;\nand this would be the \u201cGate between two walls,\u201d through which Zedekiah\nfled away (2 Kings, xxv. 4; Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7). The wall was by\nthe king\u2019s garden (_le_ = by or near). Shallun pursues his work along\nthe transverse wall eastward \u201cunto (_ad_) the Stairs (_maaloth_) that\ngo down from the City of David.\u201d So the City of David includes Ophel,\nand the Stairs descend the Ophel slope westward into the bed of the\nTyrop\u0153on.\n\n [Illustration: NEHEMIAH\u2019S SOUTH WALL, ACCORDING TO GEORGE ST CLAIR.\n\n \u2042 The contour lines represent successive steps of ten feet. The\n height at the Triple Gate is 2379 feet.\n\n REFERENCE.\n\n Suggested line of wall -- -- --\n 1 Valley gate.\n 2 Dung gate.\n 3 Fountain gate.\n 4 King\u2019s pool.\n 5 Wall of Pool of Shelah.\n 6 King\u2019s Gardens.\n 7 Stairs of the City of David.\n 8 Sepulchres of David.\n 9 The Pool that was made.\n 10 House of the mighty.\n 11 Turning of the wall.\n 12 The Armoury.\n 13 Turning of the wall.\n 14 House of Eliashib.\n 15 Turning of the wall.\n 16 The Corner.\n 17 Turning of the wall.\n 18 Tower at King\u2019s house. (Tower that standeth out.)\n 19 Water gate.\n 20 Tower that lieth out.\n 21 Great Tower that lieth out.\n 22 Wall of Ophel.\n 23 Horse gate.\n 24 Houses of priests.\n 25 Gate Miphkad.\n 26 Ascent of the corner.\n 27 Going up of the wall.\n 28 House of David.\n 29 Gate between two walls.\n 30 Gate of the Guard (2 Kings, xi. 19).\n 31 Gate of the Guard (Neh. xii. 39).]\n\nVerse 16, \u201cAfter him repaired Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, unto the\nplace over against (_neged_ = in front of) the sepulchres of David.\u201d\nThe wall of the Pool of Shelah was an offshoot from the wall of the\nHigh Town, so the writer returns and continues his description of\nthe wall of the High Town. Nehemiah, the son of Azbuk, takes up the\nrepairs at the Fountain Gate and works northward. He comes over against\nthe royal sepulchres, which are therefore on the Ophel side of the\nTyrop\u0153on, a little north of the Stairs. The entrance would have to be\nlow down in the valley bed to be outside the wall which protects Ophel\non the west; but there is no reason why it should not be low down. The\nonly doubt we need have is whether the spot marked in the plan is quite\nfar enough north. In either case the excavations for royal tombs were\nso extensive as at length to approach the south wall of the Temple,\nperhaps even to touch the wall (at a point now under the mosque El\nAksa). This is complained of by the prophet Ezekiel as a desecration.\n\u201cThe house of Israel shall no more defile my holy name, neither they,\nnor their kings, by their whoredom, and by the carcases of their kings\nin their death; in their setting of their threshold by my threshold,\nand their door-post beside my door-post, and there was but the wall\nbetween me and them\u201d (Ezek. xliii. 7, 8).\n\nNehemiah, the son of Azbuk, continues working northward \u201cunto the\npool that was made\u201d (_berekah_, probably the \u201cking\u2019s pool\u201d of ii. 14,\nand the \u201creservoir between two walls\u201d of Isaiah xxii.). He goes on\n\u201cunto the house of the mighty men.\u201d If this is the house of the king\u2019s\nbodyguard, the men of war mentioned in 2 Kings xxv. 4, we shall find\nthat they are conveniently placed about midway between the armoury and\nthe king\u2019s house.\n\nIn the remaining short space on the west side of the Tyrop\u0153on we have\nno less than four bands of workers, indicating that the destruction\nhad been very great, as indeed Nehemiah found it to be when there was\nno possibility of his beast getting along; and the next indication of\nlocality is in\n\nVerse 19, \u201cthe turning\u201d of the wall, \u201cover against the ascent to the\narmoury.\u201d The armoury, therefore, was in or near the north-eastern\nangle of the suburb.\n\nVerse 20. We are now carried from \u201cthe turning\u201d of the wall by the\narmoury, southward, \u201cunto the door of the house of Eliashib, the high\npriest;\u201d and we are not surprised to find his house here, for we are\nclose alongside the Temple courts. The workers come _unto_ the door of\nEliashib\u2019s house, which thus seems to project westward, so as to be\nquite near to the line of wall; but they only come _over against_ the\nless important houses which follow.\n\nVerse 24. The sixth worker down this side comes to \u201cthe turning\u201d of\nthe wall and \u201cunto the corner.\u201d The turning is not the same as the\ncorner; the Hebrew language uses different words for a re-entering and\na salient angle. Each of the two turnings at the causeway (vv. 19, 20)\nis called a _miqtzoa_ (= a re-entering angle); but now, in v. 24, they\ncome to a _miqtzoa_ and to a _pinneh_ (= a projecting angle). It is to\nbe observed that we should not have such angles at this part but for\nthe vacant square which Warren\u2019s examination of the masonry compelled\nhim to leave--the wall for 300 feet each way from the south-west\ncorner of the Haram being more recent than the rest.\n\nThe first salient angle is passed over because the worker who begins\nnorth of it continues his labours till he comes south of it, and so its\nmention is not necessary in defining the work done. (In like manner, in\nvv. 6-8, the Gate of Ephraim is passed by without mention, although,\naccording to xii. 38, 39, it existed between the Broad Wall and the Old\nGate; and the Corner Gate, which we know existed, is passed over by\nNehemiah.)\n\nVerse 25. The mention now of another re-entering angle might perplex\nus, only that the same verse speaks of a \u201ctower standing out from the\nking\u2019s upper house,\u201d and this may easily afford the angle.\n\nVerse 26. We are now fairly on the Hill of Ophel, and accordingly the\nworkers who have been set to labour here are \u201cthe Nethinim dwelling\nin Ophel.\u201d There is also mention in v. 31 of a house of the Nethinim\nnear the northern end of the east wall--still outside the Temple\nprecincts.[31]\n\nAs soon as the Nethinim of Ophel get far enough south to look beyond\nthe projecting tower and see the Triple Gate, they are stated to be\nover against the Water Gate. Lewin says that \u201cthe Water Gate proper was\nthat of the inner Temple, to the south of the altar, and led down to\nthe great southern gate of the outer Temple, which was probably also\ncalled the Water Gate.\u201d The Nethinim find themselves at the same time\nlooking eastward, or their wall facing toward the sun-rising. They are\nalso over against the tower that standeth out. This is not the tower\nmentioned in the previous verse as projecting from the king\u2019s house,\nbut may perhaps be the one at the bend of the Ophel wall, discovered by\nWarren.\n\nVerse 27. Where the Nethinim cease their work it is taken up by the\nTekoites, who presently come \u201cover against the great tower that\nstandeth out,\u201d namely, the large tower which Warren found. This\nidentification struck Warren himself, and he mentions it in the\n\u201cRecovery of Jerusalem,\u201d p. 295. It now wanted but a little extension\nof the work to complete the junction with the Wall of Ophel, at the\npoint where Warren found that wall to end abruptly, and the narrative\ntells us that the Tekoites effected the junction.\n\nVerse 28. The Ophel Wall being in good repair, is no more referred\nto; but the next thing mentioned is the Horse Gate. As Warren could\nnot find any gate in the Ophel Wall, the Horse Gate must have been\nnorth of it; and here it would be at a point convenient for entrance\nto Solomon\u2019s Stables, which would be under the palace, and perhaps\nunder the present vaults known as Solomon\u2019s Stables. There is a depth\nof about 100 feet of unexplored rubbish between the floor of Solomon\u2019s\nStables and the rock at the south-eastern angle. The true stables may\nlie buried in this rubbish.\n\n\u201cAbove the Horse Gate repaired the priests, every one over against\nhis own house.\u201d These houses of priests are in a position exactly\ncorresponding with the house of Eliashib and others on the west side.\nThe expression \u201cover against,\u201d implies that the city wall which is\nbeing repaired stands removed from the priests\u2019 houses, which border\nthe Temple courts, and it would be eastward of the present Haram wall.\nHerr Schick draws it so.\n\nVerse 29. An East Gate is referred to (_Mizrach_), not to be confounded\nwith the Gate Harsith, the so-called East Gate of Jeremiah xix. 2 in\nthe Authorised Version. It may be the Shushan Gate, which, according to\nthe Talmud, stood over against the east front of the Temple.\n\nWhen we come over against the Golden Gate--which Nehemiah calls the\nGate Miphkad--we are just where Warren\u2019s tunnelling work was arrested\nby a massive masonry barrier--probably a part of the ancient city\nwall--50 feet east of the Haram wall. The wall was built of large\nquarry-dressed stones, and was so thick that a hole made into it for\n5 feet 6 inches did not go right through. A few feet north of the\nGolden Gate the wall began bending north-west, as though following\nthe contour of the hill; and Warren was also led to suspect that the\nwall is a high one, extending upward through the _debris_ to near the\nsurface, since immediately above it, in the road, there are some large\nroughly-bevelled stones lying in the same line.[32]\n\nIn Nehemiah\u2019s description we are now immediately at \u201cthe ascent of the\ncorner\u201d (_pinneh_, a projecting angle). There is no corner now visible\nat the surface immediately north of the Golden Gate, and no ascent from\na depth. But we have seen already that the northern cloister of the\nTemple would strike the east wall of the Haram a little north of the\nGolden Gate, and consequently here would be the _corner_ of the Temple\ncourts. We have also seen that the rock now shelves down to the north,\nfor the valley from Herod\u2019s Gate came out here, and at 300 feet north\nof Golden Gate the rubbish is 125 feet in depth, so that from this low\nground there would be an _ascent_ in turning west. The wall itself\nwould go up, ascending toward the ridge of the hill. There is no more\nlikely spot for the elbow of the wall than that marked by the little\nbuilding called the Throne of Solomon. The great depth of the valley\nhere gave fearful height to the corner tower; and eastern imagination\nwould be not unlikely to suggest that only Solomon or the demons could\nhave built it.\n\nHaving reached \u201cthe ascent of the corner,\u201d one more band of workers\nbrings us to the Sheep Gate, where the description began.\n\n_The Route of the Processionists._--Chapter xii. affords striking\nconfirmation of the foregoing positions. At the dedication of the\nwalls two companies start from the Valley Gate and go opposite ways to\nmeet in the Temple. Presumably the Valley Gate was chosen to afford\njourneys of about equal length; and this is another indication that the\nwall did not go down to Siloam. The party going south pass the Dung\nGate, and reach the Fountain Gate. And now which way will they go? The\nwall has been repaired right ahead of them, and also the wall turning\nnorth, and they will have to choose between two routes. The Revised\nVersion says they went \u201cby (_ad_) the Fountain Gate and straight\nbefore them,\u201d and ascended _by_ the Stairs of the City of David at\nthe going up of the wall (not _by_ this time, nor really \u201cat,\u201d but\n\u201c_in_\u201d--_ba-maaleth le-chomah_, _i.e._, _in_ the stairway of the wall\n_by_ the Stairs of David--a different stairway from the Stairs of the\nCity of David, which descended into the valley bed).\n\nTheir way up these stairs and beyond carried them \u201cabove the house of\nDavid, even unto the Water Gate.\u201d The house of David here is close by\nthe king\u2019s garden of iii. 15; and its position on the slope of the hill\nsuggests a reason for calling Solomon\u2019s palace the king\u2019s upper house\n(or high house, iii. 25). Some say \u201cthe house of David\u201d means David\u2019s\ntomb; but if that be so, it only confirms the position which I am led\nto assign to the tomb. Observe also that the position required for the\nWater Gate here is again that of the present Triple Gate, the same as\nin iii. 26.\n\nIt deserves particular attention that the processionists pass quickly\nfrom the Stairs of David to the Water Gate, whereas in the rebuilding,\nthese two places are very wide apart, because the bend of the wall\nis followed. In iii. 15, we have the Sepulchres, the Pool, the House\nof the Mighty, four more bands of workers, the turning of the wall,\nthe armoury, the house of Eliashib, the turning, the corner, and the\noutstanding tower--all between the point over against the Stairs of\nDavid and the Water Gate; but none of these things come in the route\nof the processionists. This is easy to understand if the wall makes a\nbay up the Tyrop\u0153on, for then the short cut in the text corresponds\nwith the short cut in the plan; but it can hardly be made intelligible\non any plan which omits this bay and carries the wall down to Siloam.\n\nA superficial objection may be raised that the detour up the valley and\n_vi\u00e2_ the causeway, avoided by the processionists, would be avoided\nby Nehemiah in repairing the walls, for why should he do more than\nrepair the short transverse wall, when his object was speed? My reply\nwould be that his object was strength and safety as well as speed. The\ntransverse wall was no sufficient protection by itself, there being\nan easy approach up the valley, but it was valuable as an addition to\nthe inner walls. Besides, Nehemiah had workers enough to be engaged at\nall these parts at once, so that the completion of the work was not\nat all delayed by repairing the two north-and-south walls of the bend\nsimultaneously with the cross wall, and indeed with the walls all round\nthe city.\n\nThe second company, with whom was Nehemiah, started from the Gate of\nthe Valley simultaneously with the first; and the earliest note of\ntheir progress is that they pass the Tower of the Furnaces and reach\nthe Broad Wall. We now, of course, meet with the places in the reverse\norder to that in which we made their acquaintance, in following the\nbuilders from east to west. The order then was--\n\n Sheep-Gate.\n Tower of the Meah.\n Tower of Hananel.\n Fish Gate.\n Old Gate.\n Broad Wall.\n Tower of the Furnaces.\n\nPassing these now, in reverse order, we find the Gate of Ephraim\nnoticed, between the Broad Wall and the Old Gate. I incline to place\nthe Gate of Ephraim at the junction of several streets near the\nnorth-east corner of the Muristan, and I will give two reasons. (1)\nTaking the wall as drawn by Schick, a principal street of the city\ngoing west abuts upon the wall at that point and requires a gate.\n(2) A Corner Gate existed, apparently at the north-western angle of\nthe second wall, west of the Broad Wall; the distance between the\nCorner Gate and the Gate of Ephraim was 400 cubits (2 Kings xiv. 13;\n2 Chron. xxv. 23); and the place now proposed for the Gate of Ephraim\ncorresponds to that distance. It may be that the tower of this gate was\nthe throne of the governor, the viceroy of the Assyrian king.\n\nNehemiah\u2019s company having at length reached the Sheep Gate entered the\nTemple courts and stood still in the Gate of the Guard.\n\nThus the two companies stood on the north and south sides of the altar,\nand rendered thanksgiving to God, for that an unbroken wall once more\nprotected Jerusalem.\n\nThe line of wall being established, with the positions of David\u2019s\nhouse, the gate between two walls, &c., we are confirmed in our\nconclusion that the City of David was the eastern hill and included\nOphel. We see whereabouts the royal sepulchres are likely to be found\nby future excavation. We gain something immediately by being able to\nfollow step by step the work of Nehemiah. And this is not all, for we\nobtain fresh light upon the history of the house of David at various\npoints.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--The author himself is responsible\n for the views of Jerusalem topography set forth in this\n volume. The reader who wishes to consult other writers may\n find the following references useful:--\u201cJerusalem, a\n Sketch.\u201d By Thomas Lewin. \u201cSiege of Jerusalem.\u201d Thomas Lewin.\n \u201cAntient Jerusalem.\u201d Joseph Francis Thrupp. \u201cThe Recovery of\n Jerusalem.\u201d Sir Charles Warren. Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch\u00e6ol.,\n vol. vii. (\u201cSite of the Temple.\u201d By Sir C. Warren). \u201cThe Holy\n City.\u201d Rev. George Williams. \u201cThe Holy Sepulchre and the\n Temple.\u201d James Fergusson, F.R.S. \u201cMurray\u2019s Handbook of Syria\n and Palestine.\u201d (Dr Porter). \u201cQuarterly Statements of the\n P.E. Fund\u201d (numerous papers).]\n\n\n 6. _Incidents of the History better realised._\n\n_The Taking of Jerusalem by David_:--The king and his men went to\nJerusalem against the Jebusites, who felt so secure in their stronghold\nthat they mocked David by putting the lame and the blind upon the\nwalls as defenders. Nevertheless, \u201cDavid took the stronghold of Zion;\nthe same is the City of David ... and David dwelt in the stronghold\nand called it the City of David\u201d (2 Sam. v.). The stronghold here\nspoken of is not that which is now called the tower of David, near the\nJaffa Gate, nor is the Zion here spoken of the south-western hill.\nThe parallel statement in Josephus is that David \u201ctook the Lower City\nby force, but the Akra held out still.\u201d Joab, however, scaled the\nfortress, the Jebusites were cast out of the Akra, and then David\nrebuilt Jerusalem, renamed it the City of David, and dwelt there\n(Antiq. vii. 3. 1 & 2). It is not the High Town which is here spoken\nof but the Akra; and in the place where Josephus gives a general\ndescription of the city he tells us that Akra was the hill of the Lower\nCity, while the Upper City was called by King David the _Phrourion_,\nthat is, the _hill-fort_ or _watch-post_.\n\nIt would seem that in those early days the south-western hill was not\nyet inhabited, or at any rate was not yet enclosed by a wall, although\na garrisoned watch-tower stood upon it. The highest hills are not\nalways deemed the best positions for a citadel or castle. It was not\nso at Athens, and it is not so in Edinburgh. The Jebusite population\nof Jerusalem was mostly clustered on the eastern hill. In 1879 Sir\nCharles Warren said: \u201cThe strongest point, to my mind, in favour of\nOphel having been the ancient site of the Jebusite city is the fact\nof the one spring of water being found there. I have carefully noted\nthe manner in which the Kaffirs have located themselves close to water\nin their various strongholds, and I think that unless there were very\nurgent reasons, the Jebusites would have located themselves near what\nis now called the Virgin\u2019s Fountain.\u201d\n\nBut while the eastern hill was Zion,[33] the Akra was the stronghold\nof its owners and defenders, their castle occupying an advantageous\npromontory defended by valleys and ditches. A castle or fort so\nsituated, could not, however, stand a siege, unless it possessed a\nsecret supply of water; and Warren has spoken of the Virgin\u2019s Fountain\nas the only spring. But there is some mystery about the _Hammam esh\nShefa_, and many, including Warren himself, are inclined to believe\nit may be connected with a spring. The water is stated to be clear\nand free from the impurities of rain water, and the supply is never\nexhausted. The position of this \u201cwell\u201d is in the Tyrop\u0153on Valley, in\na line between Akra and the Dome of the Rock. The entrance to the\nfountain is by a narrow opening, but the shaft soon expands to about\n12 feet square. At the bottom is an excavated chamber on one side, and\na passage on the other. The passage expands into a vault, beyond which\nthe channel becomes crooked and irregular. It appears that an ancient\nconduit enters the vault at the extremity of the horizontal passage,\nbut its direction and source are unknown. May not some conduit have\nenabled the besieged garrison of the Akra fort to draw water from this\nsource?\n\nA few years ago the Rev. F. W. Birch, arguing on the supposition that\nit was the city on Ophel which Joab captured for David, suggested that\nhe found his way into it by the secret tunnels and shafts from the\nVirgin\u2019s Fountain. That Ophel might be captured by surprise in that\nway seems likely; only it was not Ophel that Joab had to capture, but\nAkra. The Lower City had all been taken, except that the Akra held out\nstill. If its garrison obtained water from the _Hammam esh Shefa_, may\nnot Joab have effected an entrance from _that_ spring? He did not have\nto _get up to_ a \u201c_gutter_,\u201d nor yet to a \u201cwater course,\u201d but to \u201creach\nthem by the aqueduct\u201d (_B\u2019Tzinnor_).\n\n_David\u2019s flight and exile; the Spies._--David at first dwelt in the\nstronghold (the Akra fort), but we afterwards find references to a\nhouse which he had and which was on the Ophel slope. We have had\nevidence of this in the Book of Nehemiah, and we find confirmation in\nsuch passages as 1 Kings viii. 1-6, where the ark is _brought up_ out\nof the City of David into the temple (and 2 Sam. xxiv. 18; 1 Kings ix.\n24). When David decided to flee from Jerusalem because of the rebellion\nof Absalom, he would go down the stairs of the City of David, pass out\nby the Gate between two walls, and go through his own garden grounds;\nand then, as we are told, he passed over the Kedron, ascended Olivet,\nand went down to Jericho and over the Jordan.\n\nBut he left friends behind him at his house, and it was arranged that\ntwo sons of the priests should act as spies and bring him news (2 Sam.\nxvii.). They waited outside the city, at En Rogel, and a wench went and\ntold them. En Rogel is now identified with the Virgin\u2019s Fountain; and\nit would not be a bad place for the spies to hide in, seeing that its\npassages were dark, and communicated both with the hill and the valley.\nThe maid servant, descending the staircases from above, might take a\npitcher or a bucket to draw water, and so escape suspicion; the spies\nbelow on receiving the message, could hie away over the mountain to the\nJericho road and Jordan.\n\nThe evidence that the Virgin\u2019s Fountain is En Rogel will increase\nupon us as we proceed; but one reason may be stated here. En Rogel is\netymologically the Spring of the Fuller, and was so called, no doubt,\nbecause fullers washed clothes at the place; but it may also be made\nto mean the Spring of the Steps, because fullers trode the clothes\nwith their feet, and hence got their name (from _Regel_, the _foot_,\nand metaphorically a _step_). The Virgin\u2019s Fountain is now called by\nthe Arabs, _Ain Umm ed Deraj_, \u201cFountain of the Mother of Steps,\u201d a\ndesignation commonly supposed to refer to the two flights of steps\nwhich lead down to it, but which may be derived by tradition from \u201cEn\nRogel.\u201d The steps were not always there. The explorers of Jerusalem\nsay, \u201cThe pool seems originally to have been visible in the face of a\ncliff, and the vault and steps are modern. Possibly the original exit\nof the water was down the Kedron Valley.\u201d\n\n_Adonijah\u2019s Banquet at the Stone of Zoheleth._--After Absalom\u2019s death\nDavid returned to Jerusalem. But by-and-bye he grew old and infirm,\nand then there were speculations and plots about the succession to the\nthrone. Adonijah thought to gain favour by assuming royal state and\nshowing princely generosity. He set up chariots and horsemen, and fifty\nmen to run before him; and he slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the\nstone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel. Abiathar the priest was\nat the banquet, and Joab the veteran general; all was going merrily,\nand the guests shouted, \u201cGod save King Adonijah!\u201d (1 Kings i.) But\nnews of these proceedings was carried to David at his house on Ophel.\nBathsheba came in and told him what was occurring, and reminded him of\nhis oath that Solomon her son should sit upon the throne. While the\nqueen was yet speaking, Nathan the prophet was announced, who confirmed\nthe story, and inquired anxiously who was to reign. Then David called\nfor Zadok and Nathan, the priests, and Benaiah, the soldier, chief of\nthe king\u2019s bodyguard, to go with them as the representative of force,\nand indeed to take his men, and said, \u201cCause Solomon my son to ride\nupon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon (_i.e._, Siloam Pool),\nanoint him there, and blow the trumpet, and say, God save King Solomon.\nThen ye shall come up after him, and he shall come and sit upon my\nthrone; for he shall be king in my stead.\u201d This was done, and all the\npeople said, \u201cGod save King Solomon!\u201d\n\nWe shall realize these events better when we look at the position of\nZoheleth, the discovery of which was one of the happy results of M.\nClermont Ganneau\u2019s investigations in 1870. Nearly in the centre of\nthe line along which stretches the village of Siloam there exists a\nrocky plateau surrounded by Arab buildings, which mask its true form\nand extent: the western face, cut perpendicularly, slightly overhangs\nthe valley. Steps rudely cut in the rock enable one to climb it, not\nwithout difficulty, and so to penetrate directly from the valley to the\nmidst of the village. By this road, troublesome, and even dangerous,\npass habitually the women of Siloam, who come to fill their vessels\nat the so-called Virgin\u2019s Fountain. Now this passage and this ledge\nof rock in which it is cut are called by the fellahin, \u201cEz Zehweile,\u201d\nwhich means \u201ca slippery place,\u201d or perhaps \u201cthe serpent stone.\u201d This\nwas M. Ganneau\u2019s discovery, and he knew at once the bearings of it, in\nhelping to fix En Rogel at the Virgin\u2019s Fountain, and the king\u2019s garden\nsomewhere in its neighbourhood. Perhaps the discovery would have been\nmade earlier, only that the village of Siloam, owing to the turbulence\nof its inhabitants, is almost unvisited by Europeans.\n\nAdonijah\u2019s feast, then, was being held at the foot of this cliff, about\n70 yards across the valley from En Rogel. Solomon\u2019s party could not\nbe seen because the rising ground of Ophel came between. But when the\nanointing had taken place at the Pool of Siloam, and the party were\ngoing back up the Tyrop\u0153on toward David\u2019s house, the people piped their\nmusic and shouted their joy till the earth rang again. The attention\nof Joab was attracted by the sound of the trumpet, and he enquired,\n\u201cWherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar?\u201d The truth was\nlearned, and then Adonijah\u2019s guests were afraid, and rose up and went\nevery man his way.\n\n_Solomon\u2019s Change of Residence._--Solomon would at first live in the\nhouse of his father David, which was near the stairs which went down to\nthe valley bed. \u201cAnd Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt,\nand took Pharaoh\u2019s daughter and brought her into the City of David,\nuntil he had made an end of building his own house,\u201d &c. (1 Kings iii.\n1). \u201cAnd Solomon was building his own house thirteen years.\u201d \u201cHe made\nalso a house for Pharaoh\u2019s daughter\u201d (close to his own house) (1 Kings\nvii. 1. 8). \u201cAnd Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the\nCity of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said,\nMy wife shall not dwell in the house of David, king of Israel, because\nthe places are holy, whereunto the ark of the Lord hath come\u201d (2 Chron.\nviii. 11). This incidental mention that he brought her up accords well\nwith the relative positions of the two palaces--David\u2019s lower down\nthe slope of Ophel, the new one higher up. The same remark applies to\nbringing up the ark from David\u2019s house to the Temple.\n\n_The Building of Millo._--David having taken the stronghold of Zion\nimproved his new capital by building \u201cround about, from Millo and\ninward\u201d (2 Sam. v. 9). What Millo was, or where it was located, has\nbeen one of the great puzzles of Jerusalem topography. It seems,\nhowever, to have been the great dam athwart the Tyrop\u0153on Valley. It\nis possible that even the Jebusites had hit upon the device and had\nconstructed a dam in some rude fashion, and named it by a word of\ntheir own language, which afterwards clung to it. Sir G. Grove, in\nthe \u201cDictionary of the Bible,\u201d conjectures that it was the Jebusites\nwho first built Millo, because it is difficult to assign a meaning to\nthe word in Hebrew, while the Canaanites of Shechem also had a Millo\n(Judges ix. 6, 20), and because David seems to find it existing and not\nto build it. The statement that David built from Millo and _inward_\nsuits very well the identification of Millo with the great dam which\nwas the outer defence of the Tyrop\u0153on, and to a great extent of Zion\nitself. It is not unlikely either that the House of Millo was a castle\non the Ophel Hill, close to the eastern end of the dam, and that this\nwas adopted by David as a residence. He may also have strengthened both\nthe castle and the dam. This view of mine has now been adopted by Herr\nSchick. (See _Quarterly Statement_, January 1892, p. 22.)\n\nBut it was Solomon who so strengthened this work as to deserve the\ncredit of having constructed it. It was one of the great works for the\naccomplishment of which he made a levy upon all parts of the kingdom\n(1 Kings ix. 15). The nature of the work is indicated in 1 Kings xi.\n27--\u201cSolomon built Millo (and so) closed up the fissure (or cleft)\nof the city of David his father:\u201d either the two expressions relate\nto the same work, or the two works are closely associated together.\nAccordingly, before the work can be begun, Pharaoh\u2019s daughter must\nvacate the house of Millo. She came up \u201cout of the City of David unto\nher house which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Millo\u201d (1\nKings ix. 24). The Israelites employed upon the work were the children\nof Joseph, and their superintendent was Jeroboam, an Ephraimite,\nprobably already acquainted with the similar work at Shechem (1 Kings\nxi. 28). It is stated in the Septuagint that Jeroboam completed the\nfortifications at Millo, and was long afterwards known as the man\nwho had \u201cenclosed the City of David.\u201d The work was so well done that\nJerusalem was never again attacked from this side, although previously\nthis side was found the most vulnerable, both by David and by the\nchildren of Simeon and Judah in earlier time.\n\nIf we are to find a Hebrew etymology for the name Millo, it seems to be\na noun formed in the usual way by prefixing the letter M to the Aram\u00e6an\nverb _l\u2019va_, equivalent to the Hebrew _lavah_,[34] having the meaning\nto wind or twist, and used to describe stairways as well as serpents\nand garlands. A dam across the Tyrop\u0153on would require the construction\nof two stairways at least, one from the bed of the Tyrop\u0153on to the top\nof the dam on the Ophel side, and one from the High Town down to the\ndam on the west.\n\n_The Death of Athaliah._--This incident affords indications of locality\nin beautiful agreement with Nehemiah. When this queen-mother heard\nthat her son, the king, had been killed by Jehu, she snatched at the\nsovereignty for herself, and her policy was to slay all the seed\nroyal. But one little child escaped, carried off by its nurse, and\nthey were secreted in the Temple by Jehoiada, the high priest. In the\nseventh year Jehoiada assembled the chiefs of the people in the Temple,\nproduced the little child Joash, stood him upon the platform (or by\nthe pillar) appropriated to the kings, and said, This is the rightful\nheir! The chiefs shouted their joy, when Athaliah heard the noise and\nrushed into the Temple to learn the cause. That she should hear so\nreadily and find such easy access to the Temple, accords well with the\nsupposition that she was living in Solomon\u2019s palace, close adjoining\nthe Temple, as Warren places it. When Athaliah saw the state of things,\nshe cried--\u201cTreason, treason!\u201d But she found no friends there. The\npriest said, \u201cHave her forth--slay her not in the house of the Lord! So\nthey made way for her; and she went to the entry of the Horse Gate to\nthe king\u2019s house; and they slew her there\u201d (2 Chron. xviii. 15; 2 Kings\nxii. 16). It is implied in this narrative that the Horse Gate was not\nonly by the king\u2019s house, but that it was also the nearest point which\ncould be considered fairly beyond the sacred precincts; and this is in\nfull agreement with the position which we have assigned it.\n\nIn the context of the passages just quoted we find that Joash is\ncarried \u201cby the way of the Gate of the Guard into the king\u2019s house.\u201d\nThis gate must, of course, have been on that side of the palace\nadjoining the Temple courts; it was probably due north of the Water\nGate (_i.e._, the Triple Gate), and it thus again accords with Neh.\niii. 25, where the tower standing out from Solomon\u2019s house is said to\nbe \u201cby the court of the guard.\u201d The court of the guard may very well\nhave extended from the Water Gate without to the Gate of the Guard on\nthe Temple side of the palace. From Neh. xii. 39, it appears that there\nwas a corresponding Gate of the Guard at the corresponding point on the\nnorth side of the altar.\n\n_The Assassination of Joash._ When Joash grew to man\u2019s estate he made\nchanges which displeased his people; and the short statement is that\nhis slaves slew him on his bed, \u201cat the House of Millo, that goeth down\nto Silla\u201d (2 Kings xii. 20, combined with 2 Chron. xxiv. 25). This has\nbeen generally regarded as obscure, and some have supposed Silla to\nbe the same as M\u2019sillah, a stairway at the west gate of the Temple,\nnorth of Wilson\u2019s Arch (1 Chron. xxvi. 16). But it is more naturally\nthe stairway at Millo itself. Joash was living at Beth Millo, David\u2019s\nhouse, and when he heard of the conspiracy he designed to flee down the\nstairs and through the Gate between two walls; but being a sick man he\nwas being carried on a litter, as Lewin remarks, and while going down\nSilla,--not while going down _to_ Silla, for there is no preposition\nhere in the Hebrew text--the assassins killed him.\n\n_The Wall destroyed by Jehoash_, king of Israel, when he came against\nAmaziah of Judah, extended from the Gate of Ephraim unto the Corner\nGate, 400 cubits (2 Kings xiv. 13; 2 Chron. xxv. 23). We can now, by\naid of Herr Schick\u2019s plan of the second wall, and our previous study of\nNehemiah, see exactly this piece of wall, south of the Church of the\nHoly Sepulchre, and running east and west.\n\n_The Towers built by Uzziah_ were intended to strengthen the city just\nin this part where it had been found to be vulnerable. He \u201cbuilt towers\nin Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the turning\nof the wall, and fortified them\u201d (2 Chron. xxvi. 9). The \u201cturning\u201d\nhere spoken of is a re-entering angle, and not improbably that one\nsouth-east of the Church of the Sepulchre, where we find the \u201cThrone of\nthe Governor\u201d in later time.\n\nIn the days of Ahaz, the grandson of Uzziah, Jerusalem was threatened\nby the allied forces of Rezin, king of Syria and Pekah, king of Israel.\nAhaz and his people were greatly perturbed, and needed a message of\nadvice and encouragement The word of the Lord came to Isaiah, in the\nTemple, saying, \u201cGo forth now and meet Ahaz, at the end of the conduit\nof the upper pool, in the highway of the Fuller\u2019s Field\u201d (Isaiah vii.\n3). The upper pool here spoken of is believed to be the Virgin\u2019s\nFountain, where we find one end of a conduit which connects it with the\nlower pool at Siloam. But if this is what is meant, why is the spot\nnot described shortly and plainly as En-Rogel, by which name it was\nalready known? (1 Kings i. 9). Surely it is not the pool itself which\nis meant but the end of a conduit, or channel, or passage belonging to\nit--the end of a passage, yet not a termination in any pool. That is\nto say, it refers to the top of the shaft and stairway on the Ophel\nHill, which had been lost so long until re-discovered by Warren. This\nentrance was of course known to Isaiah, and known to the king, being\nclose by the king\u2019s gardens. Ahaz would reach it by going out through\nthe Gate between two walls, and was probably accustomed to walk there\nfrequently. The place spoken of is not really stated to be \u201c_in_ the\nhighway of the Fuller\u2019s Field:\u201d in the Hebrew text the word _in_ is not\nfound, and the passage might be rendered--\u201cThe end of the channel of\nthe upper pool, the staircase of the Fuller\u2019s Field.\u201d This is an exact\ndescription of the top of the shaft on the Ophel Hill.\n\nHere, then, we have another interesting note of locality: it appears\nthat the Fuller\u2019s Field was on Ophel, and Warren\u2019s shaft was in it. We\ncannot but recall the statement of Josephus that St James was martyred\nby being thrown over the outer wall of the Temple enclosure, and that\n\u201ca fuller took the club with which he pressed the clothes, and brought\nit down on the head of the Just one.\u201d It is reasonable to infer that\nfullers were at work not far from the spot where St James fell. On the\nslope of the Ophel Hill Sir Charles Warren discovered a cavern which\nwas apparently used by the fullers, for it contained vats or troughs\ncut in the rock. In the earth above the cave is a drain, which is of\ncourse more modern; and yet here were found glass and pottery, supposed\nto be early Christian.\n\nIn the days of Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, the stairway shaft in the\nFuller\u2019s Field is spoken of again, and in a way that quite confirms\nour previous conclusions. Sennacherib, while besieging Lachish, sent\nhis Tartan and his Rabshakeh with a strong force against Jerusalem,\nas an easy prey. The Assyrian officers pitched their camp at the\nnorth-west of the city, on the high ground, which was ever after known\nas the \u201cCamp of the Assyrians.\u201d But, seeing the strength of the city,\nthey made no assault upon it; they sought a conference with Hezekiah\nto induce him to surrender. Learning where his palace was, that is,\nDavid\u2019s house, on the slope of Ophel, they came and \u201cstood at the\npassage of the upper pool, which is at the staircase of the Fuller\u2019s\nField\u201d (2 Kings xviii. 17). There they called to the king, and when\nHezekiah, consulting his dignity, deputed his Prime Minister, his\nSecretary, and his Recorder to represent him, these officers spoke\nfrom the top of the wall. The circumstances may seem to require that\nthe wall should extend a little more southward than the wall found\nby Warren, but they seem to be good evidence that the Ophel shaft\nwas outside the wall, and that the king\u2019s house was within shouting\ndistance of the shaft, or at any rate that the Assyrian generals\nthought so.\n\nJerusalem was not taken at this time; but in expectation of a siege,\nHezekiah had made great defensive preparations. For one thing he\ngathered many labourers and choked up all the fountains outside the\ncity and stopped the flow of the brook (2 Chron. xxxii. 3). He stopped\nthe upper spring of the waters of Gihon and brought them straight down\non the west side of the City of David (2 Chron. xxxii. 30). He gathered\ntogether the waters of the lower pool; he made a reservoir between the\ntwo walls for the water of the old pool; he made a pool and a conduit\nand brought water into the city (Isaiah xxii. 9, 11; 2 Kings xx. 20).\nIt is probable that most of these statements relate to the same piece\nof work, and that work the making of Siloam Pool and the tunnel to\nbring water to it from the Virgin\u2019s Fountain. There had been an \u201cold\npool\u201d of Siloam, which is clearly traceable south-east of the present\none, and this was the \u201clower pool of Gihon;\u201d while the Virgin\u2019s Fount\nwas the \u201cupper pool\u201d or the \u201cupper spring of the waters of Gihon.\u201d\nThe water had previously flowed from the one to the other, by an open\nchannel down the Tyrop\u0153on Valley--a channel which has been struck at\nsome points--and this was \u201cthe brook that flowed through the midst of\nthe land.\u201d The lower pool and the waters of Siloah were referred to\nby Isaiah in the previous reign (that is, he speaks of the waters of\nSiloah that go softly, viii. 6, and he implies a lower pool by speaking\nof the upper pool). It is reasonably argued by Dr Chaplin[35] that\nSiloah and Gihon were identical, and that the terms applied not only to\nthe spring or pool but to the canal that joined them. We may assent to\nthis if we keep in mind that the open canal existed before the rock-cut\ntunnel. The only difficulty we have is in thinking of the new Siloam\nas a reservoir between the two walls, and in understanding the use of\nmaking the tunnel if Siloam was to be outside the city. Some writers,\ntherefore, suppose that the first wall of the city actually bent round\nSiloam on the southward side.\n\nHezekiah, besides these hydraulic works, built up all the wall that was\nbroken down, and raised it up to the towers; and the other wall without\n(which it is just possible was south of Siloam Pool, only, even in that\ncase, there is a great dam across the fissure to the north of it);\nand being so solicitous about this part of the city, he \u201cstrengthened\nMillo, the city of David\u201d (2 Chron. xxxii. 5).\n\nIn the days of King Josiah we have mention of the prophetess Huldah,\nand it is stated that she lived in Jerusalem, in the _Mishneh_ (or\nSecond Quarter). The word means second in order or in dignity, and in\nthe case of brothers the younger. It appears to designate that part of\nthe city which lay in the Asmonean Valley, a part inferior to Zion in\ndignity, and younger as an inhabited district, because originally a\nsuburb outside the walls which encircled the hills.\n\n_The Capture of Jerusalem and Flight of Zedekiah._--Not to multiply\nincidents, let us come now to the last king of Judah--Zedekiah. In his\nday Nebuchadnezzar came up against the city, and pitched his camp,\nas all had done before him, against the northern quarter. The event\nto be expected in such a case is described in Zeph. i. 10. There is\nfirst a noise from the Fish Gate at the head of the Asmonean Valley.\nOf consequence there is next a howling from the Second Quarter of\nJerusalem, for the forcing of the Fish Gate has brought the invaders\ninto the northern \u201csuburb.\u201d Next, the alarm having spread, there is\na crashing from the hills on either side. Howl ye inhabitants of\nMacktesh--the \u201cHollow,\u201d the southern Suburb, where dwelt the men of\nTyre which brought in fish and all manner of ware (Neh. xiii. 15), and\nafter whom the Valley was probably named--howl ye, for all the merchant\npeople are undone, all they that were laden with silver are cut off.\n\nNebuchadnezzar\u2019s generals effected an entrance at the middle gate of\nthe north wall; and Zedekiah, as soon as he knew of it, fled away by\nnight with his bodyguard. Whether living in Solomon\u2019s house or David\u2019s,\nhis way would be down the Stairs of the City of David into the bed of\nthe Tyrop\u0153on; and then we are distinctly told that he fled by the way\nof the Gate between the two walls, which was by the king\u2019s garden (2\nKings xxv. 4; Jer. xxxix. 4; lii. 7). His plan was to take the route\nwhich David had taken when he fled from Absalom. Josephus says \u201cthat he\nfled out of the city through the fortified ditch\u201d (Antiq. x. 8, 2)--a\nstatement which quite supports our idea that the deep hollow \u201cSuburb\u201d\nwas defended by a transverse wall or dam.\n\n_Jeremiah\u2019s Prophecy._--In order to encourage the people during the\ncaptivity, Jeremiah predicts that Jerusalem shall be again inhabited\nand its borders extended. The measuring line is to go forth over\nagainst it upon the hill Gareb (probably the later Bezetha, north-west\nof the Temple) and shall compass about to Goath (this seems to be a\nsweep round the north-western, western, and south-western parts of\nthe city); and the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes\n(_i.e._, Topheth, the broad junction of the present Hinnom and Tyrop\u0153on\nValleys), and all the fields (eastward) unto the Brook Kedron (and then\nnorthward), unto the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east shall be\nholy unto the Lord (Jer. xxxi. 28). This reference again confirms the\nposition we have assigned to the Horse Gate.\n\nZechariah also describes Jerusalem in its length and breadth. It is\nto be lifted up and inhabited from Benjamin\u2019s Gate (the east gate of\nthe temple in Ezekiel\u2019s plan, Ezek. xlviii. 32), unto the place of the\nfirst gate (the first gate of the city, a gate near the north-east\ncorner--as the Hebrew language reads from right to left, so goes the\nnumbering here), unto the Corner Gate. This is from east to west; the\nnorth and south extremes named by Zechariah are the Tower of Hananel\n(same position as Antonia) and the king\u2019s wine-presses (which we may\nguess to be southward of the king\u2019s garden).\n\n_The Locality of the King\u2019s Garden_ is an important point in Jerusalem\ntopography. M. Clermont Ganneau inclines to place it on the eastern\nside of Ophel; but his reason seems to be insufficient. The great\neastern valley of Jerusalem, so commonly called the Kedron, is\ndivided by the fellahin of Siloam into three parts, and the middle\npart--extending from the south-east angle of the Haram to the junction\nof valleys a little north of Joab\u2019s well--they call _Wady Fer\u2019aun_,\nor \u201cPharaoh\u2019s Valley.\u201d M. Ganneau believes that this signifies, in\ntheir minds, simply the _Valley of the King_, and is equivalent\nto the King\u2019s Garden.[36] M. Ganneau might claim in his favour the\nstatement of Josephus that Adonijah\u2019s feast, \u201cby En Rogel,\u201d took place\nnear the fountain that was in the king\u2019s paradise (or park).[37] But\nthe paradise or park was something different from the garden, and\nJosephus does not use the word paradise to describe the king\u2019s gardens\nin which Uzziah was buried, but the word _kepois_.[38] It is worth\nnotice also that if the Virgin\u2019s Fountain was in the king\u2019s park, it\nwas almost certainly outside the city. Again, the fact that the royal\npark included within it the spring of water makes it probable that the\nshaft in connection with it was on the royal property also, for the\nkings would hardly allow the free use of a spring which they deemed\ntheir own. And then, if the shaft was on the royal grounds (although\nthat part was still traditionally called the Fuller\u2019s Field) it would\nbe natural that Isaiah should find king Ahaz walking there.\n\nAmos prophesied in the days of Uzziah, \u201ctwo years before the\nearthquake\u201d (Amos i. 1). This earthquake, although not noticed in the\nhistory, was of a terrible character, and the people fled before it\n(Zech. xiv. 5). As Josephus tells the story, it was just as Uzziah was\nentering the Temple that the building suddenly started asunder; the\nlight flashed through, and at the same moment the leprosy rushed into\nthe king\u2019s face. The hills around felt the shock, and a memorial of\nthe crash was long preserved in a large fragment, or landslip, which,\nrolling down from the western hill, was brought to rest at the base\nof the eastern hill, and there obstructed not only the roads but the\nparadises of the kings. Josephus says that this occurred at the place\ncalled Eroge, and Dean Stanley is confident that he means En Rogel;[39]\nbut here again it is necessary to notice that it is the king\u2019s\nparadises which are spoken of and not the king\u2019s gardens.\n\nIt is quite clear that the king\u2019s gardens were near the Gate between\ntwo walls, as mentioned in the account of Zedekiah\u2019s flight; and it\nseems certain that the Gate between two walls was in the Tyrop\u0153on.\n\n_7. Sieges of Jerusalem understood by the topography._--The capture\nof Jerusalem by David, the investment of it by Sennacherib, and\nthe overthrow of it by Nebuchadnezzar have already been described.\nTime would fail me to go into detail concerning all the sieges that\nfollowed; and probably a brief treatment of two or three will be\nsufficient for the reader. We desire to show how much clearer the\nhistory becomes in the light of modern survey and investigation; and\nfor this purpose a few examples are enough.\n\nJerusalem on three sides was protected by deep ravines, and an enemy,\nlooking up, saw the brow of every hill surmounted by high walls. At\nfirst he might imagine the Tyrop\u0153on Valley was accessible from the\nsouth, since the dam or transverse wall was lower in position than\nthe walls which it joined together; but no doubt the dam or wall was\nstrongly built. Even if he could get within it, there was the Causeway\nin front and walls on either side, and he would only be in what\nJosephus calls a fortified ditch. The assailants of Jerusalem--who\ndoubtless knew their business--always chose to assault it from the high\nground north and north-west. The king\u2019s palace, therefore, on Ophel was\nabout the last place which an enemy could reach, and not until he had\nbroken through two or three walls.\n\nWhen Pompey advanced against Jerusalem (B.C. 64), the population was\ndivided. The party of Hyrcanus opened the gates to him; but the party\nof Aristobulus retired to the Temple, breaking down the bridge which\ncommunicated with the city. This may have been an arch on the site\nof the present Wilson\u2019s Arch. Pompey, having sent a garrison into the\ncity itself, laid siege to the Temple, purposing to assault it from the\nnorth. He \u201cfilled up the ditch on the north side of the Temple.\u201d That\nwould be the artificial cutting at the north-west corner. He filled\nup the valley also, Josephus tells us (Wars, i. 7, 3), \u201cand indeed\nit was a hard thing to fill up that valley, by reason of its immense\ndepth, especially as the Jews used all the means possible to repel them\nfrom their superior station.\u201d This is the valley which Warren found,\ncrossing the present Haram area, falling away from the north side of\nthe platform to a depth of 200 feet, and passing out into the Kedron\nnorth of the Golden Gate. Probably it was only partially filled up at\nthis time. Pompey then erected towers upon the bank which he had made,\nand brought engines to bear; but it was not until the third month of\nthe siege that he made himself master of the Temple.\n\nIn B.C. 37, Herod, like all preceding generals, pitched his\ncamp on the north side (Josephus, Wars, i. 17, 9). The Jews in this\nwarfare made mines--perhaps in the ground banked up by Pompey--and\nsurprised the Romans by sudden sorties from below. But the first wall\nwas captured in forty days--(Antiq. xiv. 16, 2. This was of course\nthe wall which we know as the second)--and the Lower City being thus\ntaken, the Jews retired into the Upper City and into the Temple. The\nUpper City was taken by storm after fifteen days more. But here the\ndestruction ceased. Herod was going to reign in Jerusalem, and did not\nwish to do more damage than was inevitable in the capture of the city.\nHe sought to save the Temple, and only some of the cloisters about it\ngot burnt down.\n\nAfterwards, to ingratiate himself with the Jews, Herod rebuilt the\nTemple, and enlarged the precincts of it. It would seem that Solomon\u2019s\npalace had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s generals and never\nrebuilt. Herod\u2019s own palace was in the High Town. The area formerly\noccupied by Solomon\u2019s palace was now taken into the Temple precincts,\nthe south-west corner was raised up from its low level and added also;\nand along this southern front was built a royal cloister, 100 feet\nhigh. To make an approach to this cloister from the west, Robinson\u2019s\nArch was erected, and if there was no viaduct from the western hill\nthere must have been a staircase to ascend from the valley. On the\nnorth side also the Temple precincts were enlarged, by taking in the\nground which Pompey had raised to a higher level. The Baris or castle\nin which Nehemiah had lived was reconstructed and strengthened, renamed\nAntonia, and connected with the Temple.\n\nIn another quarter Herod strengthened the city very much. The reader\nwill have noticed that while it was a usual thing with assailants to\nattack the north wall, and take the Lower City as a preliminary to\nassaulting the Upper City, yet there was one spot where the Upper\nCity might be approached at once from the outside. This was by the\nValley Gate, and was owing to the fact that the second wall started\nfrom the Gennath Gate to go northward, whereas the wall of the Upper\nCity was prolonged westward. Herod determined to strengthen this part\nof the city all the more because his own palace was in this part; so\nhe built three strong towers, which he named Hippicus, Phasaelus, and\nMariamne. Hippicus was at the outer angle; the base of it remains, and\nis the foundation of the north-west tower of the present citadel, which\nmeasures 45 feet square. Phasaelus remains, and is the one conspicuous\nobject on the right hand as the traveller enters the Jaffa Gate. It is\n70 feet by 56 feet, and is solid to the height of 60 feet; the stones\nare bevelled, like those round the Haram, and do not appear ever to\nhave been disturbed. The site of Mariamne is less certain, but it\nprobably corresponded with the third tower which we see marked in\nalmost every plan of the so-called Castle of David.\n\nThe Jerusalem of Herod\u2019s day was the Jerusalem which Jesus Christ would\nbe familiar with.\n\nIn the year 43 A.D., Agrippa built a third wall, to enclose\nthe suburban dwellings which had sprung up on the north. This third\nwall began at the tower Hippicus, went northward, and had a tower\ncalled Psephinus at its north-west angle, then passed eastward \u201cover\nagainst\u201d the monuments of Helena, queen of Adiabene (the so-called\n\u201cTombs of the Kings,\u201d half a mile out, on the great north road), then\npassed by the caverns of the kings, bent southward at the tower of the\nnorth-eastern corner, and finally joined the old wall at the valley\n\u201ccalled the Valley of Kedron\u201d (Josephus, Wars, v. 4, 2). \u201cThe city\ncould no way have been taken if that wall had been finished in the\nmanner it was begun.\u201d But Agrippa \u201cleft off building it when he had\nonly laid the foundation, out of the fear he was in of Claudius C\u00e6sar.\u201d\nThe wall was 10 cubits wide, and was afterwards raised as high as 20\ncubits, above which it had battlements and turrets. In the course of\nthe third wall, according to Josephus, there were ninety towers, as\ncompared with sixty in the first; and the whole compass of the city\nwas 33 furlongs. He also says that the ninety towers were 200 cubits\napart; but this would make the third wall alone more than 5 miles in\nlength, and so we judge that some mistake has crept into the text.\nTherefore we shall venture to take the present north wall of the\ncity as representing Agrippa\u2019s wall, notwithstanding that the entire\ncircumference would then be less than 33 furlongs. There seems to be\nno sufficient evidence for going beyond the present wall. It is a wall\nwhich begins at the tower Hippicus, by the Jaffa Gate. The position of\nthe great corner tower Psephinus seems to be indicated by the ruined\ncastle called _Kalat Jalud_ (Giant\u2019s Castle), just within the present\nnorth-west angle. The Damascus Gate is \u201cover against\u201d the so-called\nTombs of the Kings, for a spectator standing at the Tombs would look\ndown directly upon that gate. The \u201croyal caverns\u201d we may identify with\nthe Cotton Cavern, the quarry whence the kings of Judah obtained the\nstone for the great buildings of the city. The entrance to them is in\nthe face of the scarped rock, about 300 feet east of the Damascus Gate,\nand the city wall runs right across the entrance. At the north-east\ncorner of the present wall we find the tower which Josephus assigns\nto that point--\u201cthe most colossal ruins after those at the north-west\ncorner.\u201d A trench cut in the rock at the foot of the eastern wall is\ndeflected here, passes round the corner, and goes west; it does not go\nany further north as we might expect it to do if the wall ever extended\nfurther north. And then the wall from the north-east corner is brought\nsouthward and joins the Haram wall, the junction not being at the\nnorth-east angle of the Haram, but much nearer to the Golden Gate, at\nthe deep valley which Pompey began to fill up. We have to bear in mind\nthat this third wall had been built before the siege of Jerusalem by\nTitus, in A.D. 70.\n\nTitus began by investing the city on the north and the west. The place\nhe selected for his attempt on the outer wall was just west of the Pool\nof Hezekiah, because there the wall of the High Town was not covered by\nthe second wall, and he thought to capture the third wall and then at\nonce assault the first.\n\nWhen Titus had taken the outer wall he encamped in the north-west\npart of the city between the second and third walls; and at the same\ntime extended his line from the \u201cCamp of the Assyrians\u201d to the Kedron\nValley. His attempt to storm the High Town at the uncovered portion of\nthe wall failed because of the strength of Herod\u2019s towers. He then made\nan attempt on the Temple platform from the north, but failed because\nthe valley there was deep and the Temple was strongly fortified. He\nhad hoped, when he took the Wall of Agrippa, to be able to assault\nAntonia from the north, without taking the second wall; but it now\nappeared to him that that castle might best be assaulted on the west.\nThese considerations induced him to attack the second wall. After\nsome effort, a breach was made, and the Romans entered the middle\ncity. They were once driven out by the Jews, and kept out for a time;\nbut by-and-bye they gained entrance again, and then, made wise by\nexperience, they demolished the second wall, or the northern part of\nit, and so were able to keep their ground.\n\nAntonia was now assaulted on its western side; but the business was\ndifficult, and the struggle was long. The mounds which the Romans cast\nup were undermined by the Jews and destroyed. The mines, however,\nweakened the outer wall of the castle, and that fell also. The Romans\nwere filled with hope; but the Jews had foreseen the event, and had\nrun up another wall behind. The courage of the Romans was damped by\nthe sight of this second wall. But a few days after, they scaled\nit by a night surprise, and at the same time forced their way into\nAntonia through the mine under the wall. The Jews, in a panic, rushed\naway into the Temple, where they were able to defend themselves as in\na fortress. But fighting now took place daily, until at length the\nnorthern cloisters of the Temple were burnt down, the inner Temple was\nassaulted, and eventually the whole fabric was reduced to ashes.\n\nThe Jews were now crowded in the Upper City, and confined to that.\nTitus held a parley with them across the bridge above the Xystus--that\nis, at Wilson\u2019s Arch--offering them terms. But they declined his\nconditions, and so the siege had to go on. The Ophel quarter was now\nplundered and burnt; and then a grand effort was made against the\nUpper City. Mounds were thrown up, and the assault was delivered\nsimultaneously from several points--on the west, by Herod\u2019s palace, on\nthe north-west part of the town a little east of the tower Phasaelus,\nand on the north-east at the Xystus, which extended from Wilson\u2019s Arch\nsouthward. The strong city at last fell, and its walls and buildings\nwere razed to the ground.\n\nWe know that it rose again from its ashes, and has had an eventful\nhistory since; but it is not our purpose to follow its fortunes farther.\n\nIn seeking to understand the descriptions given by Josephus, writers\nhave been much puzzled by his mention of a ravine \u201ccalled the Kedron\nravine.\u201d It could not well be the Kedron Valley itself, or it would\nhardly be spoken of in this way; besides which, we are told that the\neastern portion of Agrippa\u2019s wall joined the old wall at the ravine\ncalled Kedron. This would be too indefinite a note of place if the wall\nand the ravine ran parallel with one another. Moreover, the north-east\nangle of the Temple cloisters was built over the said ravine, and\nthe depth was frightful (Wars, vi. 3, 2). The depth was frightful at\nthe angle, rather than at the eastern side. There could be no right\nunderstanding of the references, until Sir Charles Warren\u2019s labours\nshowed that a deep valley crosses the Haram north of the Golden Gate,\nand contains within it the Birket Israil. It was only a \u201cso-called\nravine\u201d to Josephus, because the western portion had been filled up by\nPompey, and the eastern mouth was cut across by the Wall of Agrippa.\nWarren\u2019s discovery of this ravine, and demonstration of its depth, is\na glorious instance of the value of excavation work in questions of\nJerusalem topography.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--The Works of Josephus. \u201cSiege of\n Jerusalem.\u201d Thomas Lewin. \u201cJerusalem, a Sketch.\u201d Thomas Lewin.]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n GOSPEL HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF PALESTINE EXPLORATION.\n\n\n 1. _Christ in the Provinces._\n\nIn New Testament times Palestine was a Roman province, and its\ndivisions were no longer tribal. East of Jordan were the districts of\nPerea Batan\u00e6a, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Paneas, and Gaulonitis. In this\nchapter, however, we have to do chiefly with Western Palestine. On this\nside the central position was held by Samaria, with Galilee north of\nit, Judea south, and in the extreme south Idumea.\n\nThe Samaritans were not pure Hebrews in blood, and not purely Jewish\nin their worship. When the ten tribes of Israel had been crushed,\nand their principal families carried into captivity, the Assyrian\nconquerors brought men from Cuthah, Sepharvaim, and other places in\nthe far east, and set them down in Samaria. Of various nationalities\nthemselves, these people intermarried with the poorer Jews who had been\nleft behind, and so their descendants were of mixed blood. Naturally\nalso, there was at first some admixture of religious beliefs and\npractices, and some confusion of dialects (2 Kings, xvii.).\n\nBut eventually the various elements of the population coalesced, and\nthe Samaritans settled down as a people, speaking a language allied to\nthat of the Jews, and accepting the Books of Moses as their guide. But\nthey rejected all the later books excepting Joshua, and claimed that\nMount Gerizim was the place where it had always been intended that the\nTemple of Jehovah should be built. In the days of Ezra and Nehemiah the\nco-operation of the Samaritans in rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple\nhad been refused, and at no later period would the Jews consent to have\nfriendly dealings with the Samaritans.\n\nNehemiah had seen the evils resulting from mixed marriages, and the\ncontaminating influence of foreign merchants in Jerusalem. In later\ndays, when Greek literature and Greek manners were spreading over\nSyria, the more zealous of the Jews contended earnestly against the\ncorrupting innovations. The day when the Seventy Elders translated the\nLaw into Greek for king Ptolemy was pronounced accursed--a day of evil,\nas when Israel made for itself a golden calf. The patriotic struggle\nof the Maccabees was all intended to get rid of foreign influence, and\nkeep God\u2019s chosen people separate. The Pharisees were a party who by\ntheir very name claimed to be \u201cseparated,\u201d and made it their object\nto resist the slightest departure from the requirements of the Jewish\nLaw. Their ideas and tenets came to be generally accepted by the Jews\nof Judea; and hence in the days of Christ Jerusalem was a centre of\nexclusiveness, bigotry, and ceremonialism.\n\nThe Jews of Galilee, cut off from their brethren of the south by the\ninterposition of Samaria, could seldom visit the Temple at Jerusalem;\nthey saw little of the sacrifice of bulls and goats, and learned to\nworship in synagogues in a plainer way. They were in contact with the\nnorthern nations, made alliance with Ph\u0153nicia, and did business with\nmen of many nationalities in the fishing towns of the Lake of Tiberias.\nIt is possible that through their intercourse with foreigners, a part\nof their district was called \u201cGalilee of the Gentiles;\u201d and they seem\nto have become so different in their dialect or pronunciation that\nwhen a man from Galilee opened his mouth in Jerusalem, his speech\nbetrayed him. The Galileans derived at least one advantage from their\nintercourse with foreigners; it made them less exclusive, and prepared\nthem in a degree for a religion which should be addressed to Jew and\nGentile alike. Jesus Christ, when he began his ministry, did not\naddress crowds in Jerusalem, nor seek disciples from among the Scribes\nand Pharisees, but came into the towns of Galilee, and called fishermen\nfrom their humble occupation.\n\nThe prophecy in Micah led the Jews to look to Bethlehem Ephrathah as\nthe destined birth-place of the Messiah; and it was made an objection\nto the claims of Jesus of Nazareth that his home was in Galilee.\n\nBethlehem is a long white town on a ridge, with terraced olive groves,\nat a distance of 6 miles from Jerusalem. Here, enclosed within the\nwalls of the Greek convent, is the venerable Church of the Nativity,\nnow parcelled out among the Greek, Latin, and Armenian monks, who\nhouse together from necessity in different quarters of the convent.\nThe church, built by Helena, the mother of Constantine, is one of the\noldest in the world; and the cave beneath it under the choir is the\ntraditional Cave of the Nativity. It is mentioned by Justin Martyr\nin the second century; and Origen, in the fourth, says that \u201cthere\nis shown at Bethlehem the cave where He was born, and the manger\nin the cave.\u201d It is the only sacred place, as far as I know (says\nConder), which is mentioned before the establishment of Christianity\nby Constantine; yet it is remarkable that Jerome found it no longer\nin possession of the Christians. \u201cBethlehem,\u201d he says, \u201cis now\novershadowed by the grove of Tammuz, who is Adonis; and in the cave\nwhere Christ wailed as a babe the paramour of Venus now is mourned.\u201d\n\nMr Bartlett, in his \u201cWalks about Jerusalem,\u201d deems the identification\nof the spot at variance with probability, since, although it may\noccasionally happen that caverns are used as stables in Palestine, this\none is deeper underground than would be convenient for such a purpose.\nWhen we consider, in addition, the tendency of the monks to fix the\nscene of remarkable Scriptural events in grottoes, perhaps from the\nimpressiveness of such spots, the presumption against the site appears\nalmost conclusive.\n\nPalestine exploration was hardly likely to throw any light on this\nquestion, which is to be elucidated rather by a study of the causes\nwhich led to a confusion between the traditions relating to Christ and\nthe legends told of Tammuz.\n\nThe people of Bethlehem are better fed, better dressed, better off in\nmost respects than the people of other small towns in Palestine. The\nwomen are remarkable for their beauty, and they wear a peculiar kind\nof head-dress, adorned with rows of silver coins. It is believed that\nat the time of the Crusades a good deal of intermarriage took place\nbetween Europeans and the women of Bethlehem. The population now is\nchiefly Christian.\n\nIf we attempt to follow Joseph and Mary, returning from Egypt and\ntaking at first the road for Bethlehem, but changing their course when\nthey hear that Archelaus reigns, and withdrawing into the parts of\nGalilee (Matt. ii. 23), we may suppose that they make their way to the\nriver Jordan, cross by the ford near Jericho, journey on the eastern\nside and so avoid Samaria, and then, re-crossing by the ford near\nBethshan, make their way to Nazareth.\n\nNazareth, the town in which Jesus was brought up, is also without any\nJewish inhabitants at the present day; the population is about six\nthousand, of whom one-third are Moslem, while two-thirds are Christians\nof the Latin, Greek, and other churches. Unfortunately they bear an\nevil character for their turbulence.\n\nIn Nazareth we are shown what purports to be the workshop of Joseph\nthe carpenter, but we know that this is a modern appropriation, a\nLatin chapel, built only in 1859. We are asked to look at the _Mensa\nChristi_, a block of rock, rudely oval, 10 feet across and 3 feet high,\nin a church built in 1861, but we have no confidence that Jesus and\nhis disciples used it as a table. Making a stronger claim is the house\nin which the Holy Family lived, or what remains of it, for the legend\nsays that the upper storey or the outer room was carried away by angels\nthrough the air, and after lengthy travels was set down on the wooded\nhill-top of Loretto in Italy. It is a rock-cut grotto under the high\naltar of the Latin church. A wall of separation makes two chambers\nof it, the outer being called the Grotto of the Annunciation, and\nthe inner the Grotto of St Joseph. The shaft of a red granite pillar\nhanging through the roof is believed to be miraculously suspended over\nthe very place where the angel Gabriel stood to deliver his message.\nFrom the inner chamber--that of St Joseph--a narrow passage, with\nseventeen steps, leads up obliquely to the inmost part of the cave, a\nchamber of irregular shape, traditionally supposed to be the Virgin\u2019s\nkitchen.\n\nEscaping from these places we inquire for that synagogue in which\nJesus received instruction when a youth, and \u201cstood up to read\u201d on a\nmemorable occasion after he had become a public teacher. But there are\nno Jews in Nazareth, and so there is no need of a synagogue now. The\nGreek Catholics, indeed, tell us that their chapel, in the main street,\noccupies the very site of the synagogue; but we find no remains of\nsynagogue architecture. It occurs to us that there is one site, at all\nevents, the features of which could hardly be destroyed or altered,\nnamely, the \u201cbrow of the hill on which the city stood,\u201d and from which\nthe Nazarenes intended to precipitate the great Teacher after that\nscene in the Synagogue. But when we have been guided to the \u201cbrow,\u201d\nalthough we see before us a fearful descent of about 1000 feet--which\nold Maundeville calls \u201cthe Leap of the Lord\u201d--we observe that it is 2\nmiles from the town; and we cannot understand how it can be the brow of\nthe hill on which the city stood.\n\nIn this general uncertainty of things are our explorers able to do\nanything for us? Yes, some little, for they are men who use their eyes,\nand they point out that high up above the present town are numerous old\ncisterns and tombs. The cisterns would certainly be in close proximity\nto the dwellings of the people, the ancient Nazareth must therefore\nhave stood higher on the slope; and so the \u201cbrow of the hill\u201d was\nprobably one of the cliffs now above the town.\n\nConder also points out that the Virgin\u2019s Fountain of Nazareth--also\ncalled the Fountain of the Annunciation--should be one of the most\nsurely identified places. There is but one spring in the town, and\nMary must necessarily have drawn water from it like other women. The\nGreeks have built their church at the place, and declare it to be the\nscene of the Annunciation. Their church is dedicated to St Gabriel, and\neven the Latins admit that it stands on the site where the angel first\nbecame visible. \u201cAs in the eighth century, so now, the spring is under\nthe floor of the church, which is itself half subterranean. The water\nis led to the left of the high altar, past a well-mouth, by which it\nis drawn up for pilgrims, and so by a channel to the masonry fountain,\nwhere it comes out through metal spouts under an arched recess broad\nenough for fifteen women to stand side by side. A pool is formed below\nat the trough, and here the constant succession of the Nazareth women\nmay be seen all day filling their great earthenware jars, standing\nankle-deep in water, their pink or green-striped baggy trousers tucked\nbetween their knees; their heads are covered, if Moslems with the\nmoon-shaped tire, if Christians with a gay handkerchief or the hair\nplaited in long tails. A negress in blue here and there mingles with\nthe crowd, which is chattering, screaming, gossiping, and sometimes\nfighting.\n\n\u201cThe people of the town are remarkable for the gay colouring of their\ndresses, and the Christian women for their beauty. Many a charming bit\nof colour, many a shapely figure set off by picturesque costume, many a\ndark eye and ruddy cheek have I seen in the streets or by the spring.\nThis beauty is peculiar to the Christians of Bethlehem and Nazareth.\u201d\n\nJesus lived at Nazareth until the time arrived for entering upon his\npublic work. The immediate occasion which called him forth from the\ncarpenter\u2019s shop was the news that John the Baptist had begun preaching\nin the wilderness of Judea. The work of the Palestine explorers has\nthrown important light on the movements and mission stations of John\nthe Baptist.\n\nJohn appears to have begun his public work at the great ford of the\nJordan near Jericho; and there went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea\nto be baptized. The Jordan at this part is a brown, rapid swirling\nstream, about 20 yards across, fringed with a jungle of tamarisk and\ncane and willow, in which the leopard and the wolf find a hiding place.\nThe tradition which says that Jesus was baptized here is at least as\nold as the fourth century; the Greek and the Latin churches agree in\nregard to it, and at the present day pilgrims from all churches resort\nto this spot to bathe in the sacred waters.\n\nOur explorers see no reason to doubt this tradition, and a difficulty\nwhich did exist they have been enabled to remove. It is stated in the\nfourth Gospel (John i. 28), that John was baptizing in Bethabara beyond\nJordan, when Jesus came to him; that the Baptist bare testimony to\nChrist during two days, and on the third day Jesus was minded to go\ninto Galilee and was present at Cana at the marriage feast. Hostile\ncritics of the fourth Gospel, taking the traditional scene of John\u2019s\nbaptizing near Jericho--where Bethabara has usually been placed on\nthe maps--asserted that Jesus would have a journey of 80 miles to\naccomplish in a single day to reach Cana of Galilee, and that the feat\nis of course impossible. But there is really no assertion that it\nwas done or attempted. It is only a tradition of the fourth century\nwhich fixes Bethabara so far south, or says that Jesus was baptized\nat Bethabara. A position near Upper Galilee would suit the narrative\nbetter as the site of Bethabara. Now the surveyors in the course of\ntheir work marked all the fords of the Jordan, and collected all the\nnames. The following winter, when Major Conder was looking through the\nlist in order to prepare an index, he was struck with the presence of\nthe word _Abara_. He saw at once that the house or station at this\nplace would be Beth-Abara, which had thus been discovered unwittingly.\nHe looked it out upon the map, and found it to be one of the principal\nfords of the Jordan, just above the place where the Jalud river,\nflowing down the Valley of Jezreel and by Beisan, debouches into\nJordan. The distance thence to Cana would only be 22 miles. The fourth\nGospel does not say that Jesus was baptized at Bethabara, and so this\nnew discovery does not disturb that part of the tradition which fixes\nthe baptism near Jericho. Jesus, after being baptized, retired into the\nwilderness, and when he returned to the world he found that John had\nremoved to the more northerly station, and thither he followed him. As\nJesus began to make disciples at Bethabara, the events of John i. must\nhave occurred after the Temptation, and so indeed they are placed in\nthe Gospel Harmonies (see Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of Bible,\u201d p. 721).\n\nThe Revised Version reads \u201cBethany beyond Jordan,\u201d instead of\nBethabara, and this is the reading of the oldest manuscripts. It is\ngratuitous to suppose any confusion with Bethany near Jerusalem.\n\u201cBathania\u201d was a well-known form (used in the time of Christ) of the\nold name Bashan, a district in Per\u00e6a or the country beyond Jordan;\nand perhaps, as Conder suggests, the original reading was \u201cBethabara\nin Bethany beyond Jordan.\u201d We must agree with him, too, that this\nidentification of Bethabara is one of the most valuable discoveries\nresulting from the survey.\n\nThat John the Baptist did move from one station to another in pursuance\nof his mission is shown again by the statement that after these things\nJohn was baptizing in \u00c6non near to Salim, because there was much water\nthere (John iii. 23). Where was \u00c6non? It used to be assumed that it\nwas of course near the desert of Judea where John first preached. But\nsurely it would be unnecessary to tell us that there was enough water\nto baptize with in the Jordan, whereas if abundance of water could be\nfound anywhere else in Palestine it would be somewhat remarkable. Now\nsuch abundance is found almost in the heart of Samaria. The traveller\nwho rides across from the town of Samaria, passing behind Ebal, or\nwho follows the stony road in the magnificent gorge east of the same\nmountain, finds himself gradually descending to the springs which lie\nat the head of the great _Far\u2019ah_ valley, the open highway from Shechem\nto the _Damieh_ ford of the Jordan. It was up this valley that Jacob\ndrove his flocks and herds from Succoth to Shalem near Shechem. It\nwas along the banks of the stream that the \u201cgarments and vessels\u201d of\nthe hosts of Benhadad were strewn as far as Jordan. It was here also\nthat Israel, returning from captivity (according to the Samaritans),\npurified themselves before going up to Gerizim to build the temple.\nBut the place possesses a yet higher interest as the probable site\nof \u201c\u00c6non near Salem\u201d where John was baptizing, and where a question\narose between John\u2019s disciples and a Jew about purifying (John ii.\n25). The phrase \u201cmuch water\u201d might fairly be translated many waters\nor many springs, and in an open valley here the springs are found.\nThe waters gush out over a stony bed and flow down rapidly in a fine\nstream. The supply is perennial, and a continual succession of little\nsprings occurs along the bed of the valley, so that the current becomes\nthe principal western affluent of Jordan south of the Vale of Jezreel.\nAbout 4 miles north of the head springs is a village called \u2019_Ainun_,\nand about 3 miles south another village called _Salem_. So here we\nhave \u201c\u00c6non near Salem,\u201d and in between the two villages the two great\nrequisites for the baptism of a multitude, namely, an open space in\nwhich the crowd could stand, and abundance of water. There are indeed\nother places called Salem scattered up and down the country, but none\nof them has an \u00c6non near to it; and there is one other place called\n\u00c6non, but it has no Salem near to it, besides which, it is away near\nHebron, in a district quite out of the question.\n\nIt would appear, then, that John began baptizing, in the first\ninstance, near Jericho, and made his appeal to Jerusalem and all Judea;\nthat next, remembering the other great section of the Jews in Galilee,\nhe removed to Bethabara in the north; and further, because the reformed\nreligion was not to be for the Jews alone, he entered Samaria itself\nand baptized at \u00c6non.\n\nAt the head-springs of \u00c6non we are only about 5 miles from Jacob\u2019s\nWell. Conder and others consider the identity of Jacob\u2019s Well beyond\nquestion, because Jewish and Samaritan tradition, Christian and\nMohammedan tradition all agree about it. The identity is further\nsupported by the proximity of Joseph\u2019s Tomb, about 600 yards north of\nit, a tomb venerated by the members of every religious community in\nPalestine. A Christian church was built round Jacob\u2019s Well before the\nyear 383 A.D., and destroyed before Crusading times, only the vault\nor crypt remaining. The ruins covered up the well and hid it altogether\nsome few years ago; but Captain Anderson, of the Palestine Exploration\nFund, removed them and descended by a rope. The Arabs allowed the rope\nto twirl and slip, so that Anderson went into a swoon, from which he\nwas awakened by the shock of striking the bottom. He measured the well\nand found it 7\u00bd feet in diameter and 75 feet deep. Anciently it must\nhave been deeper, for some of the ruins have fallen into it, and every\npassing traveller throws in a stone to hear it fall. The question\narises, why there should be any well at this spot at all, seeing that\nthe valley (between Ebal and Gerizim) abounds in streams of water, and\nthere is one stream only 100 yards from the well itself? The answer\ngiven is that the man who dug the well had no right to use the streams;\nhe was a stranger in the land, and felt the need of a supply of water\nupon his own property.\n\nJacob\u2019s Well is one of the few spots undoubtedly rendered sacred by the\nfeet of Christ. When the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was baptizing\nmore disciples than John, Jesus left Judea for Galilee, \u201cand he must\nneeds pass through Samaria. So he cometh to a city of Samaria called\nSychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph,\nand Jacob\u2019s Well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his\njourney, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There\ncometh a woman of Samaria to draw water,\u201d &c. (John iv. 1-7). This\nwoman, we suppose, came from Sychar; but an unaccountable confusion\nhas grown up between Sychar and Shechem. If the woman had come from\nShechem she would have to carry her pitcher a mile and a half to the\nwell, passing abundant streams on the way--an apparently needless\ntrouble. But the early Christians used to place Sychar a mile east of\nShechem, and our explorers agree with Canon Williams and others in\nidentifying it with the village of \u2019Askar, which stands within sight\nof the well, about half a mile distant, on the slope of Ebal. Yet the\nCrusaders confounded Sychar with Shechem, misleading everybody who\ncame after; the error lasting to our own time, and reappearing even in\ncarefully-written books.\n\nThe question arises, why Jesus on this occasion must needs go through\nSamaria? It has been customary to reply that it was because Samaria\nlay right across his path in going from Judea to Galilee. But this\ndoes not satisfy us when we know that it was a frequent thing to cross\nthe Jordan and travel by the eastern route, because the Jews had no\ndealings with the Samaritans. I was one day reading the Gospel of St\nJohn very carefully in order to compare notes with a friend, and I was\nstruck with the meaning implied in Christ\u2019s expression, \u201cOne soweth\nand another reapeth.\u201d Jesus says to his disciples, \u201cSay not ye, there\nare yet four months and then cometh the harvest.\u201d We judge that he\nis pointing to the rich cornfield, where the valley opens out into\nthe Plain of _Mukhnah_; he remarks that the corn is not ripe yet, and\nthe harvest is not due. Yet he says, \u201cBehold! Lift up your eyes and\nlook on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest. He that\nreapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.\u201d He is\nnow referring to the spiritual harvest: the people are flocking out\nof the town to listen to his teaching, they are favourably disposed\nand ready to be converted. Now, why should they be so ready to listen,\nseeing that the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans? Christ\nhimself supplies the answer when he says, \u201cHerein is the saying true,\n\u2018One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye\nhave not laboured; others have laboured, and ye are entered into their\nlabour.\u2019\u201d He cannot mean that he is sowing seed now, by his preaching,\nfor his disciples to reap a harvest of conversions by-and-bye, for he\nsays, \u201cThe fields are white already unto harvest. Lift up your eyes and\nlook!\u201d He recognises the truth that sowing and reaping are separated by\nan interval of time, though at the Harvest-home sower and reaper may\nrejoice together, as those who have laboured at different seasons for\nthe same result. Some Teacher, therefore, has been sowing seed among\nthese Samaritans before Christ came to Jacob\u2019s Well; and who is that\nlikely to have been but John the Forerunner, when he preached at \u00c6non,\nand the people of Sychar went to be baptized at the \u201cmany waters\u201d? In\nthe light of this reading we may understand how the woman of Samaria\nso soon grasps the fact that the Jewish stranger at the well is the\nChrist that John had said was to come after him. If we read the chapter\nagain we shall see how it was through John\u2019s baptizing at \u00c6non that\ncircumstances arose which made Jesus decide to go through Samaria.\n\nIt was while John was yet at Bethabara that Jesus went to Cana of\nGalilee to the wedding feast. There are two rival sites for Cana: one\nis the ruin of _Kanah_, about 8 miles north of Nazareth, the supposed\nsite in Crusading times; the other is the village of _Kenna_, about 4\nmiles north-east, which was the accredited site before the Crusaders\narrived. The traveller is shown the water-pots at either place. It\nis difficult in the present instance to decide between rival claims,\nbut the opinion of most writers is in favour of _Kefr Kenna_, and our\nexplorers lean to that, partly for the reason that it is on the high\nroad between Nazareth and Tiberias.\n\nTravelling eastward to Tiberias we see a little way off the road on our\nleft hand a hill of rather peculiar form; it looks as though it might\nbe the crater of a volcano, with two stunted horns, one at either end.\nThis is called the _Horns of Hattin_, and is noted in history as being\nthe place where the Crusaders received their last crushing defeat at\nthe hands of Sal-a-din, the great Saracen general, in the year 1187.\nBut it is still more interesting to us as being the place where Christ\npreached the Sermon on the Mount. The tradition which makes _Kurn\nHattin_ the Mount of Beatitudes is of Latin origin, and not older than\nthe twelfth or thirteenth century; but the place is so well adapted for\nthe delivery of a discourse to a large multitude, that in this case we\nmay well believe it was correctly chosen by those who first selected\nit. When we are at the spot we have no difficulty in reconciling the\nseemingly inconsistent statements of St Matthew, who says that the\nsermon was preached on the mount, and St Mark, who says that Christ\ncame down from the mount, and preached in the plain. Sitting on one of\nthe peaks or \u201chorns\u201d aforesaid, Jesus might begin his discourse to his\ndisciples, and when a larger crowd began to gather, might descend to\nthe base of the peak, while still remaining on the mountain of Hattin.\n\nFrom Hattin we are soon at Tiberias, a town once beautiful and famous,\nbut now notorious for the filth of its streets and the activity of\nits vermin. The Arabs say that the king of the fleas holds his court\nthere. Josephus tells us that the city was built by Herod Antipas,\nand named in honour of the Emperor Tiberius. It was therefore a new\ncity in Christ\u2019s day, and probably at first inhabited only by Romans,\nAntipas himself having a palace there, adorned with figures of animals,\n\u201ccontrary to the Jewish law.\u201d Moreover, as it was built on the site\nof an ancient burial ground, it would be regarded by the Jews as a\npolluted and forbidden locality. These circumstances, taken together,\nmay account for the fact that Jesus Christ does not appear ever to have\nentered the city.\n\nThe former greatness of Tiberias is indicated by the extent of the\nwalls, 12 feet in thickness, which have been traced by Dr Selah\nMerrill and by Herr Schumacher for a distance of 3 miles, on the south\nside. In the course of the wall is an old castle on the summit of a\nhill, 1000 feet above the town. An aqueduct, 9 miles long, brought pure\nwater from a distance, whereas the present inhabitants are content\nto drink of the waters of the lake. Looking about in the town we\nnotice some traces of its former grandeur; here a magnificent block of\npolished granite from Upper Egypt, there a hunting scene carved on the\nsurface of a hard black lintel of basalt, besides old buildings, and\nbroken shafts and columns half buried in rubbish.\n\nFrom Tiberias we go north, and after a ride of 3 miles reach Medjel,\nwhich represents the Magdala of Christ\u2019s time, and is known wherever\nthe New Testament is read as the home of Mary Magdalene. The village\nis insignificant, being only a collection of huts and hovels; the\npeople are poor and degraded, and their children half naked. Travellers\napproaching the place are greeted by the howling of dogs, which rush\nout as though they would devour them.\n\nTiberias and Medjel are the only places now inhabited about the lake,\nand the visitor is impressed with a sense of deadness and desolation.\nYet the lake is beautiful, and upon its shores there were in Christ\u2019s\ntime no less than nine cities, while numerous villages dotted the\nplains and hills around. All the surrounding region was highly\ncultivated, and the lake itself was covered with fishing boats. There\nare no more than half a dozen boats now--made at Beyrout, or some other\nseaport town, and brought hither on the backs of camels--but the lake\nstill swarms with fish. When a revolver was fired into the water at\nrandom several fishes were killed and floated on the surface.\n\nThe lake is surrounded by hills, except at the south end, where it\ntouches the Jordan Valley. These hills are at such a distance from\nthe water as to leave a belt of land, generally level, all round it,\nwhich at some points broadens out into large plains, such as those of\nGennesaret and Bathia. Medjel, already mentioned, is at the southern\nend of the charming Plain of Gennesaret, about which Josephus goes into\necstasies on account of its exceeding great fertility. He speaks of\nthe palms and figs, olives and grapes that flourished there, and the\nfish for which its streams were far-famed. The plain is but 3 miles\nlong by 1 mile wide, and it now looks neglected; but it might be made\na little paradise again, for the soil is as fertile as ever. \u201cAs we\njourney towards the northern end\u201d (says Dr Merrill) \u201cwe observe on our\nleft a strange sight. The mountain appears to have parted asunder and\nleft a great chasm, the walls of which are perpendicular, and full of\ncaves, which, not long before the birth of Christ, were occupied by\nrobbers, whom Herod the Great had much difficulty in subduing. Along\nthe bottom of that chasm, ran, in Christ\u2019s time, the main road from\nCana of Galilee, Nazareth, Tabor, and the region of the south-west, to\nthe north end of the lake, and thence to Damascus. Christ would pass\nalong this road in going down from Nazareth to Capernaum.\u201d\n\nIt was probably in the Plain of Gennesaret that the multitude stood on\nthe land while Jesus put off in a boat to be free from the pressure of\nthe crowd while he addressed them (Mark iv. 1). In this neighbourhood,\nalso, no doubt, was spoken the parable of the net cast into the sea.\n\nOf all the nine cities then about the lake we should like to recover\nespecially the sites of Capernaum and Bethsaida. Before the Exploration\nwe had to be content with the vague statement that Capernaum was\nsomewhere north of Tiberias. We are now able to point to two sites,\nand say that Capernaum was one or other of these, while these two\nplaces are but 2\u00bd miles apart. One of these places is _Tell Hum_, at\nthe head of the lake, about 2 miles west of the point where the Jordan\nenters the lake. Here we have ruins indicating the former existence of\na town hardly smaller than Tiberias; we find a regular cemetery, and\nwithin an enclosure we have the remains of a synagogue. Besides the\nsynagogue ruins the argument in favour of this site is found in its\nname: _Tell_ means a heap, such as the place has become, and _Hum_ is\nthe abraded form of the name Nahum. Tradition said that the prophet\nNahum lived and died here, and indeed his grave was pointed out as\nlate as the fourteenth century. The village of Nahum would be _Kefr\nNahum_ in Hebrew; Khafarnaum, as Josephus has it; Capernaum as we are\nfamiliar with it. Sir Charles Wilson is in favour of this site. On\nthe other hand, Major Conder is in favour of _Khan Minyeh_, 2\u00bd miles\nfrom _Tell Hum_, along the shore southward, and right in the corner\nof the Plain of Gennesaret. Here, again, we have evidences of the\nformer existence of a town, although we have no synagogue ruins. The\nname of the place, in this case also, supplies a strong argument. It\nappears that the Jews, who looked upon Capernaum as the home of Christ\nand the headquarters of his followers, called the disciples \u201cSons of\nCapernaum;\u201d they also nicknamed them Diviners or Sorcerers--in their\nlanguage, _Minai_, a name often appearing in the Talmud. Khan Minyeh,\nthen, would seem to be the town of the Minai or Sorcerers, the early\nJewish converts to Christianity; and their mother town was Capernaum.\nAn objection might seem to lie against Khan Minyeh because of its\nsituation in the plain, while it is said of Capernaum, \u201cAnd thou,\nCapernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto\nHades\u201d (Matt. xi. 23). Such an expression might be interpreted morally;\nbut if it is to be understood literally, then there is the suggestion\nthat the town was not entirely in the plain, but spread over the rocky\npromontory to the north-east. Rev. Henry Brass explored this promontory\nin the spring of 1890, and on the highest part, about 242 feet above\nthe lake, found \u201cthe remains of a fortification--possibly the station\nof the Roman Centurion (Matt. viii. 5)--and here and there traces\nof buildings, but everywhere broken pottery, showing that there was\nformerly a large population. The ruins of the Khan at the junction of\nthe roads from C\u00e6sarea, Jerusalem, and Perea with the great Roman road\nleading north to Damascus, probably mark the very spot where Matthew\nsat at the receipt of custom; and the outlying rocks at the foot of\nthe cliff, to this day the favourite resort of fish, indicate the spot\nwhere Peter would naturally go to cast his hook (Matt. xvii. 27).\u201d[40]\n\nBefore quite dismissing Capernaum from our minds, let us inquire about\nthe site of Bethsaida. The name signifies House of Fisheries, and it is\nrecorded that Bethsaida was on the lake and had the Jordan running past\nit. Before we go further let us recall what occurred after the feeding\nof the five thousand.\n\nJesus constrained his disciples to enter into the boat, and to go\nbefore him unto the other side to Bethsaida. This is St Mark\u2019s account\n(Mark vi. 45). St John, speaking of the same event, says that the\ndisciples entered into a boat, and were going over the sea unto\nCapernaum (John vi. 17). It would appear, therefore, that Bethsaida\nand Capernaum were in the same direction, looking across the lake\nfrom the place where the disciples embarked. On the morrow, when the\nmultitude which had been fed found that Jesus and his disciples had\ngone away, they engaged some small boats which had come from Tiberias,\nand crossed over to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. They must have had some\nground for believing he had gone away in that direction: at any rate,\nat Capernaum, \u201con the other side of the sea,\u201d they found him, and so\nwe cannot doubt that the boat had landed him at Capernaum, or near it.\nWhen, therefore, two Evangelists tell us that they came to the shore\nat Gennesaret, and moored the boat there (Matt. xiv. 34; Mark vi. 53),\nit seems plain that Capernaum itself was in the land of Gennesaret,\nas it would be if situated at Khan Minyeh. And yet, considering that\nthe disciples had been instructed to go \u201cunto the other side, to\nBethsaida,\u201d and perhaps only deviated a little through the stress of\nthe storm, and landed at Capernaum, we can hardly doubt that Bethsaida\nwas close by. In fact the ruins at _Tell Hum_ may very well mark\nthe site of Bethsaida, especially as their position agrees with the\ndescriptions of early travellers who place Bethsaida north-east of\nCapernaum. For example, Willibald (A.D. 722) says, \u201cAnd thence\n(from Tiberias) they went round the sea, and by the village of Magdalum\nto the village of Capernaum, where our Lord raised the prince\u2019s\ndaughter. Here was a house and a great wall, which the people of the\nplace told them was the residence of Zebed\u00e6us and his sons John and\nJames. And thence they went to Bethsaida, the residence of Peter and\nAndrew, where there is now a church on the site of their house. They\nremained there that night, and next morning went to Chorazin, where our\nLord healed the demoniac, and sent the devil into a herd of swine. Here\nwas a church of the Christians.\u201d They afterwards went on to the sources\nof the Jordan at Banias.[41]\n\nChorazin, 2 miles north-west of _Tell Hum_, is called _Kerazeh_, a name\neasily confounded with _Khersa_, in the Gadarene country east of the\nlake; and this mistake Willibald appears to make.\n\nThe question is much discussed whether there were not two Bethsaidas;\nand those who believe there were, call the second one \u201cBethsaida\nJulias,\u201d and place it on the eastern side of the Jordan, not far from\nthe north end of the lake. Josephus says that Bethsaida was a village\nraised to the dignity of a town by Philip the Tetrarch, who rebuilt\nit and changed its name to Julias in honour of the daughter of the\nEmperor. Philip built himself a tomb there, and was buried there.\n\nThe question between _Tell Hum_ and _Khan Minyeh_ as the site of\nCapernaum has been made to turn partly on the presence of synagogue\nruins at the former place and their absence from the latter. But this\ncan have little or nothing to do with the decision, for the best\njudges believe that the synagogues date only from the second century\nA.D.\n\nNevertheless, the existence of synagogue ruins in Galilee is a very\ninteresting fact; and it is probable that those erected in the second\ncentury would be modelled after the pattern of those which preceded\nthem and in which Christ, in so many instances, read and taught. The\nsynagogue ruins at _Tell Hum_ are a shapeless heap, but the stones\nhave been carefully examined and measured, and it becomes possible\ntheoretically to reconstruct the building. Similar ruins are found at\nseven or eight other places in Galilee, and some of them--especially\nthose at _Kefr Birim_--are in a better state of preservation. (_See_\nFrontispiece.) Examination shows that the Jewish synagogues were not\nthe plain barn-like structures some people had imagined. The building\nfaced the south, looking towards Jerusalem, the holy city. Four rows\nof columns ran from one end to the other, dividing the building into\nfive aisles. At Kefr Birim one synagogue was furnished with a porch.\nA smaller building, at a little distance from the village, has two\nlambs sculptured on the lintel of the door, and beneath them is an\ninscription in Hebrew. The inscription has been thus read by Renan,\n\u201cPeace be to this place, and upon all the places of God. Joseph\nthe Levite, the son of Levi, put up this lintel. A blessing rest\nupon his work.\u201d At the synagogue ruins of _Nebartein_, north-east of\n_Safed_, on the lintel of the main entrance, is a representation of\nthe seven-branched candlestick, similar to those in the catacombs at\nRome and on the rocks in the wilderness of Sinai. Here, again, is an\ninscription in Hebrew. During the excavations at _Tell Hum_ synagogue\na lintel of one of the side entrances was found, and on its face a\nvase--perhaps the pot of manna--and on either side a rod or reed. Along\nthe head is a scroll of vine leaves and grapes. The dimensions of this\nsynagogue were 74 feet 9 inches by 56 feet 9 inches. The material was\nwhite limestone, brought from a distance, while the stone used at\nKerazeh was the hard black basalt of the neighbourhood.\n\nAs already remarked, _Kerazeh_ (Chorazin), north-west of _Tell Hum_,\nhas sometimes been confounded with _Khersa_, which was on the eastern\nside of the lake. Khersa is Gergesa, where Christ was met by the two\ndemoniacs coming out of the tombs (Matt. ix. 1). It is situated on the\nleft bank of _Wady Semakh_, and at the point where the hills end and\nthe plain stretches out towards the lake. Sir C. Wilson is of opinion\nthat there is only one spot where the herd of swine could have run\ndown a steep place into the lake. It is a place about a mile south of\nKhersa, where the hills, which everywhere else on the eastern side are\nrecessed from a half to three-quarters of a mile from the water\u2019s edge,\napproach within 40 feet of it, and _there_ do not end abruptly but\ndescend in a steep, even slope. Some time after Sir C. Wilson\u2019s survey,\nthe eastern coast was carefully examined by Mr Macgregor in his canoe,\nand he came to exactly the same conclusion.\n\nA difficulty has arisen with regard to this locality in consequence\nof the different readings in the three Gospels. In Matthew Christ is\nsaid to have come into the country of the Gergesenes; in Luke and John\ninto that of the Gadarenes. The old MSS. do not give any assistance\nhere, but the similarity of the name Khersa to that of Gergesa is, as\nDr Thomson points out, in \u201cthe Land and the Book,\u201d a strong reason for\nbelieving that the reading of Matthew is correct; and we have also\nthe testimony of Eusebius and Origen that a village called Gergesa\nonce existed on the borders of the lake. Perhaps the discrepancy may\nbe explained by supposing that Gergesa was under the jurisdiction of\nGadara. Gadara itself, now _Umm Keis_, is a good two hours\u2019 distance\nfrom the lake, else here we find rock-hewn tombs which are actually\noccupied by fellahin, while there do not appear to be any such at\nKhersa. To meet the difficulty which might be felt from the absence\nof tombs at Khersa, Sir C. Wilson has suggested that the demoniacs\nmay have lived in a tomb built above ground, like one still existing\nat _Tell Hum_, a rectangular building, capable of holding a large\nnumber of bodies, and which appears to have been whitewashed within\nand without. It is possibly this description of tomb to which our Lord\nrefers in Matt. xxiii. 27, where he compares the Scribes and Pharisees\nto \u201cwhited sepulchres,\u201d beautiful in outward appearance, but within\n\u201cfull of dead men\u2019s bones.\u201d\n\nDr Merrill, speaking of Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, and other\nplaces now desolate by the Lake of Galilee, remarks that the contrast\nbetween the present and the former condition of this region is painful\nto one who knows its history. Nevertheless, he says, \u201cthis region is to\nme one of the most sacred and delightful on earth. No place that men\nhave consecrated brings me so near to Christ as a day spent in walking\nand meditating on these lonely shores.\u201d\n\n\u201cChrist also visited Perea, the country east of the Jordan. Doubtless\nhe followed the main road to the hot springs on the Yarmuk, and\nthence to the beautiful city of Gadara, on the mountain above them.\nHe may have gone a little farther east, past _Capitolias_ and\n_Dium_, cities belonging to the Decapolis, and turned south through a\ndensely populated region to Geraza, whence, by one of the two routes\nbefore indicated, he would return to the valley after his mission\nhad been accomplished. It was in Perea that the \u2018seventy disciples\u2019\nwere commissioned to labour, and their welcome and success must have\nbeen unusual, for it is reported of them that they \u2018returned again\nwith joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject to us through\nthy name\u2019 (Luke x.). The connection of our Saviour with this region\nopens up an interesting field of inquiry. He may have foreseen that\nin its rich cities, and among its throngs of human beings, his Gospel\nwas soon to triumph in a remarkable manner, for it is true that in\nBashan, a country which we are now accustomed to speak of as a desert,\nChristianity, in the early centuries of our era, had one of its most\nimportant strongholds.\u201d\n\nJesus Christ at one time, either for quietness or for safety, went away\ninto the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and there entered into a house and\nwould have no man know it (Mark vii. 24). A similar reason may have led\nhim to visit C\u00e6sarea Philippi (ancient Paneas and Dan) at the extreme\nnorth-east corner of the Holy Land, where the Jordan springs forth a\nfull-grown stream, under the slopes of Hermon. It is generally accepted\nnow that Hermon, and not Tabor, was the Mount of the Transfiguration\n(Luke ix. 29). Hermon was once _Shenir_, the \u201cShining,\u201d a name made\nappropriate by its cap of snow; and some writers imagine a connection\nbetween this and the raiment that became white and dazzling.\n\nThere is one remarkable natural peculiarity of Hermon still to be\nnoticed (says Conder) namely, the extreme rapidity of the formation of\ncloud on the summit. In a few minutes a thick cap forms over the top\nof the mountain, and as quickly disperses and entirely disappears. In\nthe accounts of our Lord\u2019s transfiguration, we read that whilst staying\nat C\u00e6sarea Philippi, he retired with his disciples to \u201ca high mountain\napart,\u201d and there can be but little doubt that some part of Hermon, and\nvery probably the summit, is intended. From the earliest period the\nmountain has been a sacred place; in later times it was covered with\ntemples; to the present day it is a place of retreat for the Druzes.\nThis lofty solitary peak seems wonderfully appropriate for the scene of\nso important an event; and in this connection the cloud formation is\nmost interesting, if we remember the cloud which suddenly cleared away,\nwhen they found \u201cno man any more, save Jesus only, with themselves\u201d\n(Mark ix. 8).\n\nAfter these things it occurred, as Christ and his disciples \u201cwere on\nthe way to Jerusalem, that he was passing through the midst of Samaria\nand Galilee\u201d (Luke xvii. 11). Some critics have cited this text as a\nproof that St Luke was ignorant of the country about which he wrote.\nSeeing that Galilee is north of Samaria, they think that a journey from\nnorth to south should rather be described as a passing through the\nmidst of Galilee and Samaria. Moreover, they point out that, according\nto Matt. xix. 1 and Mark x. 1, Jesus did not pass through Samaria\nat all, but crossed the Jordan, and travelled by the eastern route.\nNotwithstanding the neatness of this indictment, it is easy to show\nthat St Luke\u2019s statement may be perfectly correct. Jesus intended to\ngo up to Jerusalem to the feast, and as he did not share the Jewish\nprejudice against the Samaritans, he contemplated going through\nSamaria. He sent some of the disciples before him to prepare his way,\nand they entered into a Samaritan village; but they could not succeed\nin obtaining accommodation, because the object of the Master was to\ngo through to Jerusalem (Luke ix. 52). The chronic feeling of enmity\nbetween Samaritans and Jews was naturally stirred into greater heat by\nthe sight of pilgrims going up to the festival; for then the question\nwas revived whether men ought to worship at Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim.\nBeing refused a passage through Samaria, and yet still intent upon\ngoing up to Jerusalem, Jesus Christ would turn eastward, and journey\nalong the border, which led straight to the Bethabara ford of the\nJordan. Travelling thus, with Samaria on his right hand and Galilee on\nhis left, it is surely not incorrect to say that he was passing through\nthe midst of Samaria and Galilee; or, as we have it in the margin of\nthe Revised Version, he passed _between_. It seems to have been at one\nof the border villages that he was met by ten lepers, one of whom was\na Samaritan (Luke xvii. 12); and where would he be more likely to find\nJewish and Samaritan lepers in one group than on the border line of the\ntwo provinces? He is following this line eastward, and accordingly,\nwhen Matthew and Mark say that he crossed the Jordan and came into the\nborders of Judea, by the eastern route, it is in perfect accordance\nwith the statement in Luke. In further confirmation, we read in Luke\nxviii. 35, as well as in the other Evangelists, that the route taken\nbrought Jesus through Jericho. To approach Jerusalem from Jericho was\na matter of course with the pilgrims from Galilee who had travelled by\nthe eastern route.\n\nThe Jericho road was the scene of the parable of the Good Samaritan. \u201cA\ncertain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.\u201d The actual descent\nwould be about 3000 feet; and every expression of that kind in the\nScriptures, as of \u201cgoing down\u201d or \u201cgoing up,\u201d is always true to the\nfeatures of the ground. The man \u201cfell among thieves.\u201d So likely a\ndistrict is it, that in the days of the Crusaders nine knights banded\nthemselves together to defend pilgrims going down this dangerous pass:\nand hence arose the Order of Knights Templars. \u201cThere came by a priest\nand a Levite.\u201d Jericho was a sacerdotal city, and priests and Levites\nwere continually passing and repassing between Jericho and Jerusalem.\nIn going down the Jericho road the traveller has often a wide prospect\non either side; but it is, for all that, a mountain pass, with no way\nof escape if one were attacked; and the Bedawin, whose black tents may\nbe seen in the distance, are the very fellows to attack the traveller\nnow, if they dared.\n\nThe road up from Jericho brings us past Bethany--a village now of about\nforty small dwellings--and over the Mount of Olives, to Jerusalem.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cTent Work in Palestine.\u201d\n Major Conder. \u201cThe Sea of Galilee.\u201d Sir Charles Wilson. (In\n vol., \u201cRecovery of Jerusalem.\u201d) \u201cEast of Jordan.\u201d Dr Selah\n Merrill. \u201cSurvey Memoirs.\u201d Vol. of Special Papers. \u201cQuarterly\n Statements of P. E. Fund.\u201d \u201cGalilee in the time of Christ.\u201d Dr\n Selah Merrill. \u201cTwenty-One Years\u2019 Work in the Holy Land.\u201d P.\n E. Fund.]\n\n\n 2. _Christ in the Capital._\n\nThe Jerusalem of Christ\u2019s day was the city as it existed in the days\nof Herod the Great. East and west it was no wider than at present;\nsouthward it covered the high south-western hill and a good part of the\nslope of Ophel; northward the third wall was not yet built, but there\nwere suburban buildings outside the second. The Temple area had been so\nenlarged by Herod as to include all, or nearly all, the present Noble\nSanctuary; and there were approaches from the west, one of which led\nover Robinson\u2019s Arch. A main street from the Valley Gate led eastward\nto the Temple, passing over Wilson\u2019s Arch. Another main street, running\nnorth and south, passed under Wilson\u2019s Arch and Robinson\u2019s Arch, and\nled to a gate in the south wall. In the north-western part of the High\nTown was Herod\u2019s palace, with the three strong towers near the Valley\nGate which defended it. The Tower of Antonia occupied the site of the\npresent Turkish barracks, north-west of the Temple; and when Pontius\nPilate was governor he occupied it. Westward of the city the _Birket\nMamilla_ existed as a reservoir of water, and supplied the palace and\ntowers: but the _Birket es Sultan_, or so-called Lower Pool of Gihon,\nhad not been made. The Pool of Siloam was well known, and of course the\nspring-head which supplied it. The traditional Pool of Bethesda did not\nexist, but the true Bethesda--now buried under ruins--exhibited its\nfive porches, and was in favour as a healing fountain. For the rest we\nmay say that although all the valleys were deeper than they are now,\nthe streets and bazaars probably followed in most instances the lines\nwhich they still preserve, and were just as narrow as they are at\npresent.\n\nIn the High Town, called in Josephus\u2019 day the Upper Market Place, there\nwould be an open space somewhere, actually used for a market; and here,\nwe may conjecture, Jesus would sometimes teach. The very circumstances\nof the spot would suggest the parable of the Labourers, some of whom\nstood idle till the eleventh hour. Christ also taught in the ample\nspaces of the Temple courts (John vii. 14); and in the last days of his\nministry, at any rate, used to retire from the city before the gates\nwere closed at sunset (Luke xxi. 37). Whether he ever lodged within the\ncity we cannot tell, but that he had no home there and no friend in\nwhose house he was sure of a welcome, may perhaps be inferred from the\nfact that a guest-chamber had to be engaged when he desired to eat the\nPassover (Mark xiv. 12).\n\n_The Pool of Bethesda._--It is not doubted that when Christ told the\nblind man to \u201cGo, wash in the Pool of Siloam,\u201d he was sending him to\nthe very pool which still bears that name. About the Pool of Bethesda,\n\u201cby the sheep _gate_\u201d (John v.), there has not been the same assurance\nand unanimity. The traditional pool occupies what was once a valley\nnorth of the Temple; but as the valley itself was there when Titus\nsought to attack the Temple from the north, we judge the pool to be a\nlater construction. The two arches at the western end of it, with their\nstaircases now buried in rubbish, are not the same as \u201cfive porches.\u201d\nAgain, several writers have supposed that the so-called Virgin\u2019s\nFountain might be the true Bethesda, because it is an intermittent\nspring, and because the modern Jews believe the water of this pool to\nbe a sure cure for rheumatic complaints. They often go in numbers, men\nand women together, and stand in their clothes in the pool, waiting for\nthe water to rise. But the Virgin\u2019s Fountain is too far away from the\nSheep-gate to be the pool which the Evangelist refers to.\n\nIt was pointed out some years ago by M. Clermont Ganneau that the Pool\nof Bethesda should be sought near the Church of St Anne, where an\nold tradition has placed the house of the mother of Mary, calling it\n_Beit hanna_, \u201cHouse of Anne.\u201d This expression is exactly identical\nwith _Bethesda_, both expressions signifying _House of Mercy_, or\n_Compassion_.[42] This anticipation has been verified; for in the\nyear 1888 the ancient pool of Bethesda was found a short distance\nnorth-west of the present Church of St Anne. Certain works carried on\nby the Algerian monks laid bare a large tank or cistern cut in the\nrock, to a depth of 30 feet, and Herr Schick recognised this as the\nPool of Bethesda. It is 55 feet long from east to west, and measures\n12\u00bd feet in breadth. A flight of twenty-four steps leads down into the\npool from the eastern scarp of rock. Herr Schick, who at once saw the\ngreat interest of this discovery, soon found a sister-pool, lying end\nto end, 60 feet long, and of the same breadth as the first. The first\npool was arched in by five arches, while five corresponding porches ran\nalong the side of the pool. At a later period a church was built over\nthe pool by the Crusaders, and they seem to have been so far impressed\nby the fact of five arches below, that they shaped their crypt into\nfive arches in imitation. They left an opening for getting down to\nthe water; and further, as the crowning proof that they regarded the\npool as Bethesda, they painted on the wall of the crypt a fresco\nrepresenting the angel troubling the water of the pool.\n\nAll this appears to agree very well with what Eusebius says in his\n\u201cOnomasticon,\u201d concerning a pool which he calls Bezatha--\u201ca pool at\nJerusalem, which is the _Piscina Probatica_, and had formerly five\nporches, and now is pointed out at the twin pools there, of which one\nis filled by the rains of the year, but the other exhibits its water\ntinged in an extraordinary manner with red, retaining a trace, they\nsay, of the victims that were formerly cleansed in it.\u201d Here we have\na sheep pool, in which the sacrificial victims used to be washed, and\nclose by it (so that they constituted twin pools) a second, which must\nhave been intermittent, the very character attributed to those waters\nwhich, at a certain season, were troubled.[43] Eusebius gives no clue\nto the situation of the twin pools, but the Bordeaux pilgrim, who\nvisited Jerusalem in A.D. 333, after speaking of two great\npools at the side of the Temple, one on either hand as he entered\nJerusalem from the east side (apparently at St Stephen\u2019s Gate), refers\nto the twin pools as being more within the city. They \u201chave five\nporches\u201d (he says), \u201cand are called Bethsaida. Here the sick of many\nyears were wont to be healed. But these pools have water which, when\nagitated, is of a kind of red colour.\u201d\n\nThere had been a disposition in recent years to identify these twin\npools with two souterrains or tunnels existing under the Convent of\nthe Sisters of Sion at the north-west corner of the Haram area, but\nthat fancy is now dissipated. The manner in which most of the previous\nspeculations have been set aside by the actual discovery of the Pool of\nBethesda is an instructive testimony to the value of excavation work in\nJerusalem.\n\n_A Tablet from Herod\u2019s Temple._--Josephus, in his \u201cAntiquities of the\nJews,\u201d[44] after describing the cloisters of the Temple and the Court\nof the Gentiles, goes on to describe the inner court, and the middle\nwall of partition which divided Jews from Gentiles. He says, \u201cThus was\nthe first enclosure; in the midst of which, and not far from it, was\nthe second, to be gone up to by a few steps. This was encompassed by\na stone wall for a partition, with an inscription which forbade any\nforeigner to go in under pain of death.\u201d Again, in his work on the\n\u201cWars of the Jews,\u201d[45]--\u201cWhen you go through these first cloisters,\nunto the second court of the Temple, there was a partition made of\nstone all round, whose height was three cubits. Its construction was\nvery elegant; upon it stood pillars, at equal distances from one\nanother, declaring the law of purity, some in Greek, and some in Roman\nletters, that no foreigner should go within the sanctuary,--for that\nsecond court of the Temple was called the Sanctuary, and was ascended\nto by fourteen steps from the first court.\u201d\n\nIn the year 1871, M. Clermont Ganneau had the good fortune to discover\none of these pillars or tablets, partly buried in the foundations\nof a building not far from the Haram area. It bears the following\ninscription in Greek, in seven lines:--\n\n \u039c\u0397\u0398\u0395\u039d\u0391\u0391\u039b\u039b\u039f\u0393\u0395\u039d\u0397\u0395\u0399\u03a3\u03a0\u039f\n \u03a1\u0395\u03a5\u0395\u03a3\u0398\u0391\u0399\u0395\u039d\u03a4\u039f\u03a3\u03a4\u039f\u03a5\u03a0\u0395\n \u03a1\u0399\u03a4\u039f\u0399\u0395\u03a1\u039f\u039d\u03a4\u03a1\u03a5\u03a6\u0391\u039a\u03a4\u039f\u03a5\u039a\u0391\u0399\n \u03a0\u0395\u03a1\u0399\u0392\u039f\u039b\u039f\u03a5\u039f\u03a3\u0394\u0391\u039d\u039b\u0397\n \u03a6\u0398\u0397\u0395\u0391\u03a5\u03a4\u03a9\u0399\u0391\u0399\u03a4\u0399\u039f\u03a3\u0395\u03a3\n \u03a4\u0391\u0399\u0394\u0399\u0391\u03a4\u039f\u0395\u039e\u0391\u039a\u039f\u039b\u039f\u03a5\n \u0398\u0395\u0399\u039d\u0398\u0391\u039dA\u03a4\u039f\u039d\n\nThe translation is:--\u201cNo stranger is to enter within the balustrade\nround the Temple and enclosure. Whoever is caught will be responsible\nto himself for his death, which will ensue.\u201d\n\nM. Clermont Ganneau remarks that the episode in the Acts of the\nApostles (xxi. 26, _et seq._) throws great light on this precious\ninscription and receives light from it. Paul, after purification,\npresents himself in the Temple; the people immediately rise against\nhim, because certain Jews of Asia believed that Paul had introduced a\nGentile--Trophimus of Ephesus--and had thus polluted the sacred place.\nThey are about to put him to death when the Tribune commanding at Fort\nAntonia intervenes and rescues him. The people demand of the Tribune\nthe execution of the culprit, _i.e._, the application of the law.\n\nThis inscription, and probably this very stone, was almost certainly\nseen and read by Christ; and it would be likely to impress him\npainfully with the exclusive spirit of the Jews. It certainly could not\nmeet with the approval of the Teacher who preached to Samaritans at\nJacob\u2019s Well, and laboured more in the half-Gentile town of Capernaum\nthan in Nazareth, defending his course by quoting the example of Elijah\nwho went to Sarepta a city of Zidon. Christ declared himself the Light\nof all the World, and the Shepherd who had other sheep not of the\nJewish fold. It was the work of Christ, before it became the work\nof Paul, to break down the middle wall of partition between Jew and\nGentile. There can hardly be a question, then, that the sight of this\ninscription would intensify his desire to see this Temple destroyed\nand the Jewish ritual abolished, that he might rear upon its ruins a\nspiritual temple for all nations.\n\nAt the beginning of the week of his passion, Jesus Christ came up the\nsteep ascent from Jericho, the road bringing him at last to Bethany.\nOne night he halted in the village, as of old; the village and the\ndesert were then all alive, as they still are once every year at the\nGreek Easter, with the crowd of Paschal pilgrims moving to and fro\nbetween Bethany and Jerusalem. In the morning he set forth on his\njourney. Three pathways lead, and probably always led, from Bethany\nto Jerusalem; one, a long circuit over the northern shoulder of Mount\nOlivet, down the valley which parts it from Scopus; another, a steep\nfoot-path over the summit; the third, the natural continuation of the\nroad by which mounted travellers always approach the city from Jericho,\nover the southern shoulder, between the summit which contains the Tombs\nof the Prophets and that called the Mount of Offence. \u201cThere can be no\ndoubt\u201d (says Dean Stanley) \u201cthat this last is the road of the entry of\nChrist, not only because, as just stated, it is, and must always have\nbeen, the usual approach for horsemen and for large caravans, such as\nthen were concerned, but also because this is the only one of the three\napproaches which meets the requirements of the narrative which follows.\n\n\u201cTwo vast streams of people met on that day. The one poured out from\nthe city, and as they came through the gardens whose clusters of palm\nrose on the south-eastern corner of Olivet, they cut down the long\nbranches, as was their wont at the Feast of Tabernacles, and moved\nupwards towards Bethany, with shouts of welcome. From Bethany streamed\nforth the crowds who had assembled there on the previous night, and\nwho came testifying to the great event at the sepulchre of Lazarus.\nThe road soon loses sight of Bethany.... Gradually the long procession\nswept up and over the ridge, where first begins \u2018the descent of the\nMount of Olives towards Jerusalem.\u2019 At this point the first view is\ncaught of the south-eastern corner of the city.... It was at this\nprecise point that the shout of triumph burst forth from the multitude,\nHosanna to the Son of David!... Again the procession advanced. The\nroad descends a slight declivity, and the glimpse of the city is again\nwithdrawn behind the intervening ridge of Olivet. A few moments,\nand the path mounts again, it climbs a rugged ascent, it reaches a\nledge of smooth rock, and in an instant the whole city bursts into\nview.... Immediately below is the valley of the Kedron, here seen in\nits greatest depth as it joins the valley of Hinnom, and thus giving\nfull effect to the great peculiarity of Jerusalem, seen only on its\neastern side--its situation as of a city rising out of a deep abyss. It\nis hardly possible to doubt that this rise and turn of the road, this\nrocky ledge, was the exact point where the multitude paused again, and\n\u2018He, when he beheld the city, wept over it.\u2019 Nowhere else on the Mount\nof Olives is there a view like this.\u201d[46]\n\nOn one of those last days the Great Teacher, leaving the city a little\nbefore sunset, sat on one of the rocky banks of Olivet, over against\nthe Temple. The mountain rises 150 feet above the level of the city;\nthe city has the appearance of being tilted up on its western side, so\nthat from the mountain you can look down into its streets. The Temple\ncourts would be in the foreground, with Solomon\u2019s Porch on the eastern\nside. Perhaps the 80 feet of rubbish which now rests against the wall\nhad not yet half accumulated; and in that case the stones which Solomon\nlaid down would be still visible--blocks 20 cubits long by 6 cubits\nthick, and extending a length of 400 cubits. The disciples had been\ncalling their Master\u2019s attention to the goodly stones and buildings of\nthe Temple, as they came along, and he had declared that they would one\nday be thrown down; and now, sitting on Olivet he prophesies the end of\nthe age.\n\nFrom the Mount of Olives it was but a short way to Bethany, to spend\nthe night. A wild mountain-hamlet, perched on its broken plateau of\nrocks, Bethany is screened by a ridge from the view of the top of\nOlivet. The modern name of the village--El-Azarieh--connects it with\nLazarus, whose traditional house and grave are still exhibited, as well\nas the traditional house of Simon the leper. The welcome which awaited\nChrist in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus must have been very\ngrateful after the day\u2019s teaching and turmoil in the noisy city.\n\nIt is hopeless to try and identify in Jerusalem the house or the street\nin which the disciples made ready the Passover for their Master. The\nGarden of Gethsemane, which was visited afterwards, may probably have\nbeen at or near the place which is now pointed out on the slope of\nOlivet.\n\nWhen Christ was brought before Pilate it would be at the Tower of\nAntonia, north-west of the Temple, on the site now occupied by the\nTurkish barracks.\n\nOutside the barracks, on the north side, is the street now called the\n_Via Dolorosa_, because tradition says that Christ passed along it in\ngoing from the Judgment Hall to the place of crucifixion, marked now by\nthe Church of the Holy Sepulchre.\n\n [Illustration: OUTLINE PLAN OF JERUSALEM.\n\n 1 North wall of Upper City, probable course.\n 2 Second wall, so drawn as to exclude the Church of the Holy\n Sepulchre.\n 3 Second wall, including the Church.\n 4 Church of the Holy Sepulchre.\n 5 Pool of Hezekiah.\n 6 Citadel.\n 7 Dome of the Rock (Site of the Temple).\n 8 Haram-area or Noble Sanctuary.\n 9 Tower of Antonia, now Turkish Barracks.\n 10 Birket-Israel (Traditional Bethesda.).\n 11 Jaffa Gate.\n 12 Via Dolorosa.]\n\n_The True Site of Calvary._--The question has been much debated whether\nthe Church of the Holy Sepulchre occupies the true site of Calvary or\nnot. We know that Jesus suffered and was buried at some spot outside\nthe city, for it was \u201cas they came out\u201d that they found Simon of\nCyrene, and compelled him to go with them to bear the cross. The Church\nof the Holy Sepulchre is almost in the heart of the present city; but\nwe have to remember that at the date of the crucifixion the third wall\nwas not yet built. The first question to be settled is the course of\nthe second wall, and the point whether it included the site of the\nchurch or not. In this connection the discovery of a portion of the\nsecond wall, running north-west, along by the Greek Bazaar, was very\nimportant: only it was not followed far enough to remove all doubt.\nIf we adopt Herr Schick\u2019s line for the second wall, the Church of the\nSepulchre would be outside: but this is not enough. If the site were\nwithin the second wall it could not be Calvary; if it was outside the\nwall it may be Calvary or may not. The Church is closer to the wall\nthan we should expect the place of execution to be; and unless Calvary\nwere further away there would hardly seem to be reason enough for\npressing Simon of Cyrene into service to carry the cross.\n\nBut another discovery must be mentioned which has some bearing on\nthe question. A little way east of the church, on a piece of ground\nbelonging to the Russians, the excavators passed through the remains\nof some bazaars which were known to have existed there in the middle\nages, and below these they came upon a Byzantine pavement, which\nappears to be the one laid down by Constantine around the buildings\nwhich he erected. Thus it becomes morally certain that the Church of\nthe Holy Sepulchre stands on the spot where Constantine built his\nchurch, believing it to be Calvary. But between the days of Christ and\nthe days of Constantine there was time and room for mistake to arise.\nJerusalem was destroyed in the year 70, the Christians did not return\nto it until eighty years after, and by that time it might be difficult\nto identify the sacred sites. When Constantine came to build his\nchurch he found the site occupied by a temple of Venus, a circumstance\nwhich may argue the traditional sacredness of the site, but scarcely\nthe tradition that it had been the Jewish place of execution. Major\nConder says he could devoutly wish that the site may turn out not to be\ngenuine, because it is disgraced by the scenes that occur there.\n\nPassing through the doorway we enter the vestibule, in which is\nthe Stone of Unction, a slab of marble which is devoutly kissed by\npilgrims. Passing round it to the left, the rotunda of the church is\nreached; to the right a narrow passage with small chapels runs behind\nthe apses of the Greek church, and here a flight of steps leads down\nto the subterranean Chapel of Helena with its picturesque lighting and\nheavy eighth century basketwork capitals. Beneath this, again, is the\ndark cave so suggestively named the Chapel of the Invention of the\nCross. The rotunda is well lighted with a dome light blue in colour,\nand covered with golden lilies and arabesques. In the centre rises the\nold Chapel of the Sepulchre, dark and gloomy, of marble discoloured by\nage, surmounted by a queer cupola of Italian taste, and ornamented all\nalong the top with gilt nosegays and modern-framed pictures. Stooping\nto enter, we pass into the vestibule or Chapel of the Angel, walled\nwith marble slabs, and thence into the inner Chapel of the Sepulchre\nitself, where the darkness is only relieved by the glowing lamps over\nthe altar on the tomb. The most impressive portion of the church is,\nhowever, the nave east of the rotunda, belonging to the Greeks, with\nits great screen in front of the three eastern apses. The floor is\nunoccupied, save by the short column marking the \u201ccentre of the world.\u201d\nThe dome above is poor, rudely whitewashed, and painted in fresco; but\nthe glory of the place consists in the large screen and the panelling\nof the side walls.[47]\n\nOn Sundays the Christians of various churches--Greek, Latin, Armenian,\nCoptic--hold their services simultaneously, under the dome and in the\nside chapels which open off it. On one occasion when I was present\nthe Greek patriarch was preaching under the dome of the rotunda, at\nthe east end of the Chapel of the Sepulchre, when suddenly the Latins\nstruck up their instrumental music and singing, drowning the preacher\u2019s\nvoice. I was prepared to sympathise with the Greeks, when presently\nthey formed a procession and marched round the rotunda, passing right\nthrough a little band of Copts who were engaged in their own way of\nworship at the west end of the Chapel of the Sepulchre. This want of\nconsideration for the members of other churches seemed so calculated\nto lead to quarrels that I was not surprised to find a hundred Turkish\nsoldiers drawn up in front of the church to keep the peace. This was\na fortnight before Easter. At Easter time itself, when the so-called\nmiracle of the \u201choly fire\u201d is enacted, and Christians of all churches\nstruggle with one another to be the first to light their tapers at\nthe sacred flame, quarrels do actually arise, and the place is a\npandemonium. Woe to the owner of the taper first lit; it is snatched\nfrom him, and extinguished by having a dozen others thrust into it.\nStrong men struggle with one another, and even delicate women and old\nmen fight like furies. We may well join with Conder in wishing that the\nevidence may finally prove Calvary to have been somewhere else.\n\nFor some years past a site has been coming into favour, outside the\npresent north wall, not far from the Damascus Gate. Here is a rounded\nknoll with a precipice on the south side of it, containing a cave\nknown to Christians as Jeremiah\u2019s Grotto, from the tradition that\nJeremiah lived in it and composed his Lamentations there. When this\nknoll is looked at from the south-east, especially from the southern\nshoulder of the Mount of Olives, it appears to many observers to bear\na striking resemblance to a huge skull. As long ago as 1871, Mr Fisher\nHowe of Brooklyn proposed the identification, in a little book called\n\u201cThe True Site of Calvary,\u201d published in New York.[48] Dr Chaplin and\nMajor Conder have given additional probability to it by bringing into\nprominence the Jewish tradition which regards this knoll as the place\nof public execution. When the death was by stoning, the condemned\nperson was hurled from the top of the cliff, which is about 50 feet\nhigh, and if he was not killed by the fall, stones were cast at him\ntill he died. The place was called the House of Stoning, and Christian\ntradition has regarded it as the place of the martyrdom of Stephen.\nThe circumstance that Jesus Christ was put to death in the Roman\nmanner, being crucified and not stoned, makes little difference to the\nargument for the site of Calvary, since there is no reason to suppose\nthat Jerusalem possessed two places of execution. It may be added that\nthe surface of the knoll is now used as a Mohammedan burial ground;\nand this may also have been its character in Jewish times. About 200\nyards west of the Grotto, Conder made the interesting discovery of an\nindisputably Jewish tomb judged to belong to the centuries immediately\npreceding the Christian era. It would be bold to hazard the suggestion\nthat this is the very tomb in which the body of Christ was laid--the\nnew tomb in the garden belonging to Joseph of Arimathea--yet its\nposition so near the old place of execution is certainly remarkable.\n\u201cThus,\u201d says Conder, \u201cto \u2018a green hill far away, beside a city wall,\u2019\nwe turn from the artificial rocks and marble slabs of the monkish\nchapel of Calvary.\u201d\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cTent Work.\u201d Major Conder. \u201cThe\n Recovery of Jerusalem.\u201d Colonels Warren and Wilson. \u201cSinai\n and Palestine.\u201d Dean Stanley. \u201cWalks about Jerusalem.\u201d W.\n H. Bartlett. \u201cQuarterly Statements of Palestine Exploration\n Fund.\u201d]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n MESOPOTAMIA AND THE BIBLE.\n\n\n 1. _Assyria._\n\nMESOPOTAMIA--\u201cthe Land between the Rivers\u201d--is a tract of\ncountry nearly 700 miles long, and from 20 to 250 miles broad, enclosed\nbetween the Euphrates and the Tigris, and extending from the mountains\nof Armenia to near the Persian Gulf. It is for the most part a vast\nplain, but is crossed near its centre by a range of hills running\nalmost east and west-from Hit on the Euphrates, famous for its bitumen\npits, to Samarah on the Tigris. North of this line the country, though\ndry and bare, is undulating, and rises occasionally into mountains,\nwhile south of it the region is flat and consists of rich, moist,\nalluvial land, formed by the rivers themselves. This land of alluvium\nwas Babylonia, and its capital Babylon; the country north of it was\nAssyria, with its capital Nineveh. But the extent of both countries\nvaried from time to time, according to the power of various monarchs\nand their successes in war.\n\nThe beginnings of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires are lost in\nobscurity, and no records exist among the people themselves accounting\nfor their origin. Yet the account given in the Bible agrees so well\nwith what is known from the records that there can be no reasonable\ndoubt that in it there is a true history of the rise of these two\nnations, which were in after time to wield the power of the then known\nworld. This Biblical account, borne out and amplified as it is by the\nlate discoveries, forms one of the most interesting and instructive\nlinks in the history of the human race and its progress in civilisation.\n\n\u201cTaking, then, the account as it stands in the Bible,\u201d[49] says Mr\nBudge, \u201cit appears that the descendants of Ham, the third son of Noah,\nwere Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. The lands of Cush and Mizraim\nhave hitherto been identified with Ethiopia and Egypt respectively;\nPhut was regarded as doubtful, and Canaan was the country with which\nwe are so well acquainted from the frequent occurrence of the name in\nthe Bible. The identification of the first-named and most important\nof these districts, the land of Cush, has been regarded by many as\nunsatisfactory: for Nimrod, judging from the names of towns said to\nhave been founded by him, could hardly have been an Ethiopian, though,\naccording to the Bible story, he was a descendant of Cush.\u201d\n\nAmongst the treasures of the Assyrian excavations there has luckily\nbeen found a tablet, giving, in a list of the nations, &c., along the\nTaurus range of mountains, a country bearing the name of Kusu, the same\nword as is used in the inscriptions to denote the country of Ethiopia;\nand from this and from other sources it is clear that two countries\nof this name were known to the people of the ancient world, the one\nbeing Ethiopia and the other Cappadocia or its immediate neighbourhood.\nIt seems therefore likely that Nimrod and his followers, for some\nreason unrecorded, left his home in the land of Cush or Cappadocia,\nand journeying in a south-easterly direction, came to the land of\nSumer or Shinar. There meeting perhaps with the Semitic population of\nthe country, he did not go any farther, but settled there with his\nfollowers, and built Babylon, and Birs Nimroud, the supposed Tower of\nBabel.\n\nIn course of time the new comers began to mingle with the original\n(Semitic) inhabitants of the country, and both races were obliged,\nfor the purpose of trade and intercourse, to learn each other\u2019s\nlanguage, so that there must have been for several hundreds of years\ntwo tongues in use at the same time in Mesopotamia, and it was not\nuntil the twelfth or even perhaps the tenth century before Christ, that\nthe Akkadian was entirely supplanted by the language of the Semitic\nBabylonians. The Norman invasion in England is a case parallel to the\nabove, but with this difference, that whilst the invasion of England\nby the Normans was a conquest, the entry of these people (afterwards\nknown as Akkadians and Sumerians) into Babylonia seems to have been\notherwise; and the Babylonian language, therefore, while admitting very\nmany Akkadian and Sumerian words, has not suffered, with regard to the\ngrammatical forms, to the same extent as the English language.\n\nThe entry of the Akkadians into Babylonia was the beginning of\ncivilisation in that country, for they brought with them, along with\ntheir religion, their legends and traditions, their laws, their art,\nbuilding knowledge, agricultural skill, and that great civiliser of\nnations, the art of writing. From this union of the intellectual\nAkkadian race and the warlike Babylonians arose the two nations of whom\nboth tradition and history have preserved the record, as having been\nthe mightiest of the nations of the ancient world, namely, Babylonia\nand Assyria, of whom so many tales are told, and whose power and high\ncivilisation amongst the barbarism of the early ages of the world made\nso great an impression during the time of their supremacy.\n\nAfter the mingling of these two races, but long before the Akkadian\nlanguage had died out, the Babylonians, as they will be henceforth\ncalled, sent out colonies northwards and founded the great cities of\nAssyria--Ninua (Nineveh), Resin, Kalhu (Calah), Assur, &c.\n\nThe religion of the Assyrians was derived from Babylonia, and remained\nvery similar to that of the latter country. Both countries worshipped\nthe same deities, but the Assyrians made some changes in the system,\nespecially in introducing the worship of Assur. Assur was worshipped\nas \u201cking of the gods,\u201d \u201cfather of the gods,\u201d \u201cthe deity who created\nhimself.\u201d Among the other principal gods of the Assyrians were Nebo,\nthe god of writing; Merodach, or Bel, a companion deity to Nebo;\nShamas, the Sun-god, and Sin, the Moon-god; Ishtar, corresponding to\nVenus; Nergal and Ninip, gods of hunting; Vul, the storm god, Anu, king\nof heaven, and Hea, the lord of the under world.\n\nThe government of Assyria was monarchical, and the power of the king\nwas absolute, though in practice his rule was tempered by the advice of\ncounsellors. The commander-in-chief of the army was called the Tartan,\nand here was also a high officer called the Rabshakeh (2 Kings xviii.\n17). Judges decided cases in the gate of the temple or the palace, and\nthere was an appeal from them to the governor or king. The priests were\na privileged class; they lived on the revenues of the temples and the\nofferings of worshippers. The Assyrian months were lunar, and the 7th,\n14th, 21st, and 28th days were Sabbaths of rest: extra work and even\nmissions of mercy were forbidden, certain foods were not to be eaten,\nand the king was not to ride in his chariot. The laws of the country\nresembled in many respects those of Israel: a father was supreme in his\nhousehold, and a husband had the power of divorcing his wife. Slavery\nwas in vogue, and whole families were sometimes sold together. Various\ntrades were practised, including weaving, dyeing, manufacture of iron\ngoods, copper, and bronze goods, sculpture, and building, &c. But the\nmost remarkable feature of Assyrian civilisation was their literature\nand libraries of clay tablets, and it is to these that we owe most of\nour present knowledge of this great people.\n\nBefore the days of Moses there was friendly intercourse, as we have\nseen, between Mesopotamia and Egypt. In later ages Assyria and Egypt\nwere frequently at war with one another. The hostile armies were\nobliged to march through Palestine; and it became very difficult for\nthe kings of Israel and Judah to look on with equanimity and preserve a\nstrictly neutral attitude. Yet if they favoured one of the great powers\nthey of course gave umbrage to the other; besides which, Assyria, in\nthe days of its power, could hardly brook to leave any small kingdom\nindependent. At length Samaria was conquered, and its inhabitants\ndeported, by Shalmaneser or by Sargon; and afterwards Judea also, by\nNebuchadnezzar.\n\nSpeaking of the captivity of Israel in Babylonia as a providential\nevent, a great German writer, Lessing, says,--\u201cWhen the child, by dint\nof blows and caresses had come to years of understanding, the father\nsent it at once into foreign countries, and here it recognised at once\nthe good which in its father\u2019s house it had possessed but not been\nconscious of.\u201d[50] Again he says,--\u201cThe child, sent abroad, saw other\nchildren, who knew more, who lived more becomingly, and asked itself in\nconfusion, why do I not know that too? why do I not live so too? ought\nI not to have been taught and admonished of all this in my father\u2019s\nhouse?\u201d\n\nIt is because of this sojourn abroad of the Jews, and the influence\nof other nations upon them, that the exploration of these eastern\ncountries is a matter of such importance to Bible students. In Assyria,\nBabylonia, and Egypt we get into by-paths of Bible history, and the old\nrecords when unearthed, read sometimes like new chapters of the Bible.\n\nThe land of Mesopotamia, not inaptly called a graveyard of empires and\nnations, is now neglected and desolate, under Turkish misrule. \u201cThe\nmonotony of the landscape would be unbroken\u201d (says Z\u00e9na\u00efde A. Ragozin)\n\u201cbut for certain elevations and hillocks of strange and varied shapes,\nwhich dot the plain in every direction; some are high and conical\nor pyramidal in form, others are quite extensive and rather flat on\nthe summit, others again long and low, and all curiously unconnected\nwith each other or with any ridge of hills. This is doubly striking\nin Lower Mesopotamia or Babylonia, proverbial for its excessive\nflatness. The few permanent villages, composed of mud-huts or plaited\nreed-cabins, are generally built on these eminences; but others are\nused as burying-grounds, and a mosque, the Mohammedan house of prayer,\nsometimes rises on one or the other. The substance of these mounds\nbeing rather soft and yielding, their sides are still furrowed in many\nplaces with ravines, worn by the rushing streams of rain-water. The\nrubbish washed away lies scattered on the plain, and is seen to contain\nfragments of bricks and pottery, sometimes inscribed with arrow-headed\ncharacters; in the ravines themselves are laid bare whole sides of\nwalls of brickwork and pieces of sculptured stone.\u201d\n\nThe Arabs never thought of exploring these curious heaps. Their\nlaw forbids them to represent the human form either in painting or\nsculpture, lest it should lead the ignorant into idolatry. They are\nsuperstitious, and look on relics of ancient statuary with suspicion\namounting to fear, and connect them with magic and witchcraft. It is\ntherefore with awe not devoid of horror that they tell travellers of\nunderground passages in the mounds, haunted not only by wild beasts,\nbut by evil spirits, strange figures having been dimly perceived in\nthe crevices. Better instructed foreigners have long ago assumed that\nwithin these mounds must be entombed whatever ruins and relics may be\npreserved of the great cities of yore.\n\nThe first European whose love of learning was strong enough to make\nhim disregard difficulty and expense, and use the pick-axe upon these\nmounds, was an Englishman named Rich. This was in 1820: but Mr Rich was\nnot very successful, and it was literally true that up to 1842, \u201ca\ncase 3 feet square enclosed all that remained, not only of the great\ncity Nineveh, but of Babylon itself.\u201d In 1842 M. Botta, a French Consul\nstationed at Mosul on the Tigris, began to dig, and after fruitless\nlabour at the mound of Kouyunjik, opposite Mosul, was directed by a\nnative to Khorsabad, and there, on cutting a trench, entered a hall\nlined all round with sculptured slabs, representing battles, sieges,\nand similar events. A new and wonderful world was suddenly opened, and\nhe walked as in a dream. The discovery created an immense sensation\nin Europe, and the spirit of research and enterprise was effectually\naroused.\n\n [Illustration: MAP of the ASSYRIAN EMPIRE AND SURROUNDING COUNTRIES\n\n _London; Kegan Paul, Trench, Tr\u00fcbner & Co._\n\n _F.S. Weller, F.S.G.S._]\n\nThe investigation was soon taken up by Mr Austen Henry Layard, our own\ncountryman, and the objects found were brought to the British Museum,\nwhich now boasts a splendid collection. After getting over preliminary\ndifficulties--the interesting story of which may be found in his\nvolumes on \u201cNineveh and its Remains\u201d--Mr Layard obtained a grant of\nmoney from the Museum, with full licence from the Turkish Government,\nand then succeeded in organizing a band of Arabs to work willingly and\nwell, and from that moment made new discoveries every day.\n\nOne morning, as he was going to the scene of operations--they were\ndigging in the mound of Nimroud--two Arabs galloped up to him, and\nsaid, \u201cHasten, O Bey, hasten to the diggers, for they have found Nimrod\nhimself! Wallah, it is wonderful, but it is true; we have seen him with\nour eyes! There is no God but God!\u201d What they had seen was a sculptured\nhuman head, which, upon removing more earth, was seen to belong to a\nwinged quadruped--one of those colossal \u201cbulls\u201d since deposited at the\nBritish Museum. A \u201cbull\u201d we say, but really a monster with the body of\na bull (sometimes the body of a lion), the head of a man, and the wings\nof an eagle--the Assyrian idea of the cherubim. Many of these objects\nwere surrounded by writing in the curious cuneiform or arrow-headed\ncharacter.\n\n [Illustration: WINGED HUMAN-HEADED BULL. (N.-W. Palace,\n Nimrod.)]\n\nBesides these so-called bulls, Mr Layard found obelisks of black\nbasalt, with figures in low relief representing tribute being\nbrought to the Assyrian kings. On the black obelisk in the British\nMuseum--found in the central mound of Nimroud, amid the ruins of\nShalmaneser\u2019s palace--occurs the name and figure of Jehu, king of\nIsrael, as bringing tribute to Shalmaneser II. (about B.C.\n842). \u201cI have received the tribute of Jehu, the son of Omri; silver,\ngold, bowls of gold, chalices of gold, cups of gold, pails of gold,\nlead, sceptres for the hand of the king, (and) spear-shafts.\u201d The\nmistake indeed is made of calling him \u201cJehu, son of Omri;\u201d Jehu sat\nupon the throne of Omri, but he was a usurper and not of Omri\u2019s\nhouse. The tribute bearers on this obelisk carry golden cups and\ngoblets, bars of the precious metals, and other valuable things.\nRev. H. G. Tomkins, speaking of these Assyrian sculptured portraits\nof Jehu and his princes, says they have \u201cstrong aquiline features,\nand that peculiar shrug or quirk of the nostril which gives a shrewd\nand sinister look to many a Jew of London streets. In drawing one of\nthese familiar faces from the monument, I was ready to believe that it\nbelonged to a lineal ancestor of the London \u2018Clo\u2019 men.\u2019 The bag falling\ndown the stooping back deepened this impression.\u201d[51]\n\n [Illustration: BLACK OBELISK.]\n\nIn addition to these things Mr Layard brought home a large number of\nalabaster slabs sculptured with battle scenes, lion hunts, and the\nrepresentation of sacred trees to which winged figures are making\nmysterious offerings. It was the custom of these Assyrian kings to have\nthe halls and chambers of their palaces lined with plain alabaster\nslabs, and after each new victory to have the story engraved in a\nseparate room, so that in one chamber we get an account of a battle\nin Babylonia, in another the story of the siege of Lachish near the\nPhilistine country, and so on.\n\nBut the reader--who has no doubt visited the British Museum and looked\nat all these things--may perhaps ask why we repeat the familiar story.\nIt is in order to give completeness to the picture, and also to induce\nyoung visitors to the Museum to look _into_ things as well as look at\nthem. Where did the antiquities come from? How have the inscriptions\nbeen deciphered? What do they say? Although many of them were brought\nto the Museum years ago, the writing was not immediately read; the\nprocess of decipherment is still going on, and hardly a year passes\nwithout startling discoveries being made in the Museum itself. In the\nyear 1872 Mr George Smith there, taking up a clay tablet that had been\nneglected, deciphered the inscription, and found it to be the Chaldean\nstory of the Flood. In 1873, going out to Assyria for the purpose,\nhe actually discovered the missing portion of the tablet. Such facts\nare intensely interesting to the student of the Scriptures, and they\nattract us to give a portion of our attention to the legends and the\nliterature of the Assyrians and the Chaldeans.\n\nNineveh, we read, was a city of three days\u2019 journey. It actually\nextended 20 miles in length by 10 miles in breadth, and was surrounded\nby a great wall upon which three chariots could be driven abreast.[52]\nWithin this circumference great mounds exist, as those referred to\nat Nimroud, Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik. Within these mounds have been\ndiscovered six palaces and three temples; although only one of these\nbuildings--the palace of Sennacherib, at Kouyunjik--is in a decent\nstate of preservation. The restoration of this structure by Mr J.\nFerguson, the architect, prefixed as an illustration to Layard\u2019s\n\u201cNineveh,\u201d shows it to have been a very magnificent pile. A second\npalace found at Kouyunjik belonged to Assurbanipal, the grandson of\nSennacherib.\n\n [Illustration: SENNACHERIB BEFORE LACHISH.]\n\nSennacherib himself we are familiar with through the Bible. He was that\nmonarch who so terrified the good king Hezekiah, when he sent him a\nblasphemous message and threatened to come and destroy Jerusalem. What\nthe Jews of Jerusalem had to fear if he should come they knew too well;\nand we know now, for Sennacherib had been besieging Lachish (2 Kings\nxviii.; Isaiah xxxvi.) in Palestine, and we have recovered the record\nof that siege. It is inscribed on one of the bulls discovered at the\nlargest of the royal buildings, and shows the monarch seated on his\nthrone, while the writing around him says, \u201cI, Sennacherib, the great\nking, the king of Assyria, seated on the throne of judgment before\nLachish, I give permission for the slaughter.\u201d Before him are the\nmiserable captives, having rings fixed into their noses or lips, with\nbridles attached, so that their heads may be held facing forward while\nthe king puts out their eyes with a pointed instrument. Captives are\nthere having their tongues torn out, others being stripped naked and\nflayed alive, while human heads are piled up into pyramids.\n\nAll these tortures the Jews themselves had to fear if Sennacherib\nshould take Jerusalem. It was doubtless a day of terrible suspense in\nthe Holy City, and a night in which few dared go to sleep. But the\nearly morning brought the tidings that the army of Sennacherib was\ndestroyed, that the angel of the Lord had gone forth and slain in the\ncamp of the Assyrians a hundred four score and five thousand men. We\nknew the Scripture story of the deliverance, but we can realise it\nbetter now when we have the record of the siege of Lachish, and know\nwhat fate threatened the Jews of Jerusalem.\n\nMoreover, we have recovered Sennacherib\u2019s own account of this very\ncampaign, in which he tells us that he had taken forty-six fenced\ncities in Judea, and that he shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem \u201clike a bird\nin a cage.\u201d He forbears to tell us why he failed to capture the bird;\nhe glosses over the disaster which befell his army; and he seems even\nto misrepresent the facts by declaring that, after this, Hezekiah sent\nhim splendid presents to Babylon, for the presents of Hezekiah were\nsent before this, when Sennacherib was down by Lachish, and sent with\nthe hope of buying him off, which there was no need to do after his\nretreat.\n\nA great difficulty in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is also\nsatisfactorily cleared up by these inscriptions. Sennacherib, coming\nfrom the Philistine country to Jerusalem, would have to travel from the\nsouth-west, whereas, in an earlier chapter, Isaiah had told us that the\nAssyrian invader came down from the north, that he captured Carchemish\nin his way, and conquered Damascus, and took Samaria, and then, after\ncrossing the gorge at Michmash, encamped at Nob, outside Jerusalem on\nthe north. Moreover, the prophet intimates, he is likely to take the\ncity; whereas, in the later chapter, he says, \u201cHe shall not take it,\nnor so much as shoot an arrow against it.\u201d It was a great difficulty,\nand it appeared to be a contradiction; but it is now satisfactorily\nexplained, for we find from the Assyrian inscriptions that there\nhad been an earlier campaign, conducted by Sargon, the father of\nSennacherib, ten years before, and that he it was who actually came by\nthe northerly route, and did capture Carchemish, &c., on his way. There\ncan be no doubt that if we read the 10th chapter of Isaiah with Sargon\nin our minds, and not Sennacherib, all difficulty disappears.\n\nIn the 20th chapter of Isaiah there is an incidental mention of this\nSargon, \u201cIn the year that the Tartan (_i.e._, the commander-in-chief)\ncame unto Ashdod, when Sargon, the king of Assyria, sent him,\u201d &c.;\nand for twenty-five centuries this had been the only evidence that\nany such monarch had lived. Not unnaturally the evidence was thought\ninsufficient--this isolated reference standing like a doubtful fossil\nin old-world rocks--and many historians and critics wished to identify\nSargon with Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, or Esarhaddon. Some said that\nIsaiah had made a mistake. But Nineveh is disinterred, and it turns\nout that Sargon was a very great king, and not even the first of that\nname, for there had been two Sargons, heroes of antiquity, before him.\nM. Botta finds at Khorsabad the palace of Sargon; and it appears that\nhe was the successor of Shalmaneser, he was the father of Sennacherib,\nand he reigned for seventeen years. Among the treasures which Mr George\nSmith recovered from the ruins of Nineveh is the royal seal of Sargon,\nwith his name and date.\n\nAs soon as Sargon ascended the throne he prosecuted the Syrian war with\nvigour, keeping up the siege of Tyre, storming the city of Samaria,\nand subduing the whole country of Israel. The kingdom of Samaria was\nput an end to, the people being carried into captivity and spread over\nthe northern provinces of the Assyrian empire and in the cities of the\nMedes. It appears to be Sargon who is referred to in 2 Kings xvii. 6,\nand xviii. 11 (although the passages had hitherto been understood of\nShalmaneser), where \u201cthe king of Assyria\u201d took Samaria and carried\nIsrael away, placing in their cities men from Babylon, from Cuthah,\nfrom Avva and Hamath and Sepharvaim.\n\nIn the eleventh year of Sargon the people of Ashdod in Philistia\ndeposed the ruler whom Sargon had placed over them, and set up a man\nnamed Yavan, whose chief recommendation was his hostility to Assyria.\nYavan made league with Hezekiah, king of Judah, with Moab, and with\nEdom, and led the Philistines to revolt. The leaguers sent an embassy\nto Egypt, asking aid, and Pharaoh held out encouragements, but did not\ngive any assistance when the hour of danger came. Sargon, learning of\nthe revolt, came to Palestine; Yavan fled into Egypt, the rebellion\ncollapsed, and the cities of Ashdod and Gimtu were taken by the\nAssyrians. Yavan ultimately delivered himself up to the king of Meroe,\nor Ethiopia, who bound him and sent him in chains to Sargon.\n\nThe expedition against Ashdod took place in B.C. 711, during\nthe reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and is the one referred to in the\ntwentieth chapter of Isaiah, where the prophet denounces the conduct\nof Egypt. The way in which Isaiah speaks of the Egyptians and the\nEthiopians, in this and other chapters, is remarkably justified by the\naccount given in the Assyrian inscriptions. Egypt is described in the\nannals of Sargon as a weak power, always stirring up revolts against\nAssyria, and unable to help or shield the revolters. \u201cIn those days\u201d\n(remarks Mr George Smith, from whose larger work we are here quoting)\n\u201cEgypt was truly a broken reed. The account which Sargon gives of the\nturning of the fountains and water-courses to protect the city of\nAshdod strikingly parallels the similar preparations of Hezekiah (2\nChron. xxxii.); and it is a curious fact that Hezekiah\u2019s preparations\nhad been made only two years before, according to the ordinary\nchronology.\u201d\n\nAs remarked by Mr St Chad Boscawen, the political significance of the\nembassy of Berodach Baladan (2 Kings xx. 12) is at once apparent when\nviewed in the light of the monumental inscriptions; and the atmosphere\nof intrigue, rebellion, and stern vengeance is very clearly apparent in\nthe writings both of the Hebrew and the Assyrian scribe. It was this\nembassy, in B.C. 712, which brought about the invasion of\nJudea and the siege of Jerusalem in B.C. 711, by Sargon. The\nprophecies of Isaiah (chapters x. and xi.), so long unsolved mysteries,\nare now found to be clear and detailed records of this lost incident in\nOriental history.\n\n\u201cSargon\u201d claimed descent from an ancient hero named Bel-bani; and he\nassumed the name of an old Babylonian monarch--Sargon of Agad\u00e9, who was\nworshipped as a demi-god--but his own name was not really Sargon. When\nhe stormed the city of Samaria, he carried away, he tells us, 27,000 of\nthe Israelites into captivity. The kingdom of Samaria was suppressed,\nand those Israelites who were not deported were placed under an\nAssyrian governor. Thus the Bible account of the captivity of the ten\ntribes is confirmed. And as to Judah, when we come to the Babylonian\nannals of the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, we find confirmation of the\nstatement that he destroyed Jerusalem, and carried the inhabitants of\nthat city into captivity.\n\nThese, then, are some instances of the light that is being thrown upon\nthe Scriptures by these Assyrian writings--of the manner in which\nthe Bible narrative is being filled out and illustrated with new and\ncopious details, and on the whole, as all critics are bound to say, is\nbeing confirmed in its statements.\n\nBesides Ahab and Omri, Jehu and Hezekiah, the cuneiform tablets mention\nMenahem, Pekah, and Hoshea, kings of Israel; and Azariah, Ahaz, and\nManasseh, kings of Judah. Ahaz is called Jehoahaz, his name, like so\nmany more, being compounded with the name of Jehovah; and it would\nseem that on account of his perversion to foreign worship the Bible\nwriters would not use the Lord\u2019s name in such association. Further,\nthe kings of Assyria and Babylon spoken of in the Bible come before us\nagain in the cuneiform texts, with many particulars of their warlike\nexpeditions,--Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser,\nNebuchadnezzar, &c. Tiglath-Pileser, we find, was not the first of\nthat name, for there had been a monarch so designated as early as\n1300 B.C. In fact the real name of the later king was Pul or\nPulu, and it is doubtful whether he was the rightful heir; but when\nhe ascended the throne (in B.C. 745) he took the name of the\nearlier conqueror, a circumstance which led the Bible writer to suppose\nthere were two kings. [S. A. Strong, in \u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d New\nSeries. Vol. v.]\n\nThe other palace found at Kouyunjik belonged, as stated before, to\nAssurbanipal. He was the Sardanapalus of Greek writers and was a\ngreat conqueror. His date is about 640 B.C. Mr Rassam, the\nnative co-worker with Mr Layard, was fortunate enough to discover\nAssurbanipal\u2019s library--the library of the Assyrian kings. The \u201cbooks\u201d\nof the Assyrians differed very much from our own. They used to take\na tablet of clay, to write upon it with an iron stylus, bake it into\nterra cotta, and then place the record on the library shelf. These clay\ntablets were more durable than leaves of paper or rolls of parchment,\nand the Assyrian records, covered up more than two thousand years ago,\nare in many cases so well preserved that scholars can read them.\n\nAs progress was made in deciphering the inscriptions, it was found\nthat new and remarkable light was being obtained regarding the history\nand civilisation of half-forgotten empires. Collections of inscribed\ntablets had been made by Tiglath-Pileser II. (B.C. 745), who\nhad copied some historical inscriptions of his predecessors. Sargon,\nthe father of Sennacherib (B.C. 722), had increased this\nlibrary by adding a collection of astrological and similar texts; and\nSennacherib himself (B.C. 705) had composed copies of the\nAssyrian canon, short histories, and miscellaneous inscriptions to\nadd to the collection. Sennacherib also moved the library from Calah,\nits original seat, to Nineveh, the capital; and Esarhaddon, the son\nof Sennacherib, added numerous historical and mythological texts. All\nthe inscriptions of the former kings, however, were nothing compared\nto those written during the reign of Assurbanipal, the grandson of\nSennacherib, who not only recorded the events of his own reign, but\ncollected literature from other countries, and caused translations to\nbe made of Babylonian records which were then ancient. Thousands of\ninscribed tablets were collected and copied, and stored in the royal\nlibrary at Nineveh; and it is this royal library which has been found.\n\nThe amount of Assyrian literature now in our possession is more\nthan equal to the entire contents of the Old Testament. It includes\nreligion, astronomy, mythology, history, geography, natural history,\nroyal decrees and private letters, legal decisions and deeds of sale,\nlists of tributes and taxes, precepts for private life, &c. Among\nthe sacred legends are stories of the Creation and the Deluge. These\nnarratives did not originate with the Assyrians, for they received\ntheir religious system by inheritance from the Babylonians. But neither\ndid they originate with the Babylonians; for we learn from their own\nrecords that this learning and these traditions were brought into their\ncountry by the Akkadians.\n\nAssurbanipal, when he made raids into Babylonia and captured a city,\nwould carry off the sacred writings to enrich the royal library at\nNineveh. When they were brought to Nineveh they were copied by the\npriests, and they were sometimes translated into the Assyrian tongue,\nalthough Assyrians who professed to be well educated used to learn the\nAkkadian language, much as English boys learn Latin, or theological\nstudents study Hebrew and read the writings in the original. It is\nvery interesting to find that these old Assyrians and these ancient\nChaldeans had their own version of the Creation, the Deluge, the\nBuilding of Babel, &c., which they venerated as being ancient even\nthen, and regarded as most sacred.\n\nThe Chaldean narratives differed in minor particulars from those in\nthe Bible. The Chaldean Deluge, for instance, lasted only seven days,\ninstead of the greater part of a year; the vessel was not an ark, but a\nship, of proper ship shape, with a pilot on board to navigate it, and\nother people on board besides the family of Noah. The Chaldean Noah,\nwhen the waters were subsiding, sent out not only a raven and a dove,\nbut a swallow as well; and in the end of the event he was translated\nthat he should not see death; and this in the Bible does not occur to\nNoah, but to Enoch. Nevertheless, with these and other differences, we\nhave the grand fact that the cycle of narratives preserved in the early\nchapters of Genesis are not mere ingenious inventions on the part of\nHebrew writers, but had their parallel in early Chaldea. The key to\ntheir exact meaning is for the present lost; but we may hope that it\nwill be recovered, and then there will be an end to the controversy\nbetween Geology and Genesis.\n\n\n 2. _Babylonia._\n\nBabylonia comprehended the country from near the Lower Zab to the\nPersian Gulf, about 400 miles long; and from Elam, east of the Tigris,\nto the Arabian Desert, west of the Euphrates, an average breadth of 150\nmiles.\n\nIts history begins very early, for one of its kings--Sargon of\nAccad--is believed to have reigned in 3800 B.C. The circumstance to\nwhich we owe the discovery of this remarkable fact is thus related\nin Dr Sayce\u2019s \u201cHibbert Lectures\u201d: \u201cThe last king of Babylonia,\nNabonidos, had antiquarian tastes, and busied himself not only with\nthe restoration of the old temples of his country, but also with\nthe disinterment of the memorial cylinders which their builders and\nrestorers had buried beneath their foundations. It was known that the\ngreat temple of the Sun-god at Sippara, where the mounds of Abu-Hubba\nnow mark its remains, had been originally erected by Naram-Sin,\nthe son of Sargon, and attempts had been already made to find the\nrecords which, it was assumed, he had entombed under its angles. With\ntrue antiquarian zeal Nabonidos continued the search, and did not\ndesist until, like the dean and chapter of some modern cathedral,\nhe had lighted upon \u2018the foundation stone\u2019 of Naram-Sin himself.\nThis foundation-stone, he tells us, had been seen by none of his\npredecessors for 3200 years. In the opinion, accordingly, of Nabonidos,\na king who was curious about the past history of his country, and whose\nroyal position gave him the best possible opportunities for learning\nall that could be known about it, Naram-Sin and his father, Sargon I.,\nlived 3200 years before his own time, or 3750 B.C.\u201d\n\nThe date is so remote and so contrary to all our preconceived ideas\nregarding the antiquity of the Babylonian monarchy, that it was not\nreceived without hesitation; but it appears to be supported by other\nevidence, and is now generally accepted. It is believed, indeed, that\nthe monuments found at _Tell-lo_, including statues of diorite, a\nmaterial foreign to Babylonia, are earlier still, and must be regarded\nas pre-Semitic.\n\nIt may be asked, what interest can we have in people and things so\nremote? the Babylonians and their religion have long since perished,\nand have no influence upon the world of to-day. To this it is replied\nthat through the providential circumstances of the Captivity the Jews\nwere brought into contact with the Babylonians; the Jewish religion\nin its turn influenced Christianity, and all Christians should be\nconcerned to know what the Jews learned in their exile. In the view of\nHebrew prophets the Jews were \u201csent into foreign countries\u201d to receive\neducation and discipline; the Assyrian conqueror was the rod of God\u2019s\nanger (Isaiah x. 5), and the Babylonish exile was the punishment meted\nout to Judah for its sins. The captives who returned again to their\nown land came back with changed hearts and purified minds, intent upon\nre-establishing Jerusalem as the home of a righteous people. And they\nhad done something more than learn to abominate idolatry, they had been\nled to weigh the value of the religious beliefs and practices of the\nnations they had lived with during seventy years.\n\nBut it was not only through the Babylonian exile that the religious\nideas of the Babylonian and the Jew came into contact with each\nother. \u201cIt was then, indeed\u201d (says Dr Sayce), \u201cthat the ideas of the\nconquering race were likely to make their deepest and most enduring\nimpression; it was then, too, that the Jew for the first time found the\nlibraries and ancient literature of Chaldea open to his study and use.\u201d\nBut old tradition had already pointed to the valley of the Euphrates\nas the primeval cradle of his race. We all remember how Abraham, it is\nsaid, was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and how the earlier chapters of\nGenesis make the Euphrates and Tigris two of the rivers of Paradise,\nand describe the building of the tower of Babylon as the cause of the\ndispersion of mankind. Now the Hebrew language was the language not\nonly of the Israelites, but also of those earlier inhabitants of the\ncountry whom the Jews called Canaanites and the Greeks Ph\u0153nicians. Like\nthe Israelites, the Ph\u0153nicians held that their ancestors had come from\nthe Persian Gulf and the alluvial Plain of Babylonia. The tradition is\nconfirmed by the researches of comparative philology. Their first home\nappears to have been in the low-lying desert which stretches eastward\nto Chaldea--in the very region, in fact, in which stood the great city\nof Ur, the modern Mugheir.\n\nThe earliest known kings of Shumir resided in Ur, and besides that,\nit was the principal commercial mart of the country. For, strange as\nit may appear, when we look on a modern map, and observe the ruins\n150 miles from the sea, Ur was then a maritime city, with harbour and\ndocks. Through the accumulation of alluvium brought down by the two\ngreat rivers, the Babylonian territory has steadily increased from age\nto age, and the waters of the Gulf have been pushed back. There was, in\nearly times, a distance of many miles between the mouths of the Tigris\nand Euphrates, and Ur lay very near the mouth of the latter river. The\nplatform of the principal mound which marks the site is faced with a\nwall 10 feet thick, of red kiln-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen.\nThe mound has something of the shape of a pear, and measures about 2\nmiles in circumference. This mound representing the town, the suburban\ndistrict is full of graves of all ages, showing the long period through\nwhich the city flourished.\n\nIt appears from the inscriptions found at Ur that the city was devoted\nto the worship of the Moon-god Sin, frequently called \u201cthe god Thirty,\u201d\nin allusion to his function as the measurer of time by months. Here\nstood the great temple of the god, which was partially explored by Mr\nK. Loftus--a temple built in stages, of which two remain. The bricks of\nthe temple are inscribed with the name of Ur-Bagas, its founder, the\nfirst monarch of united Babylonia of whom we know. Some of the hymns\nused in the ritual service of the temple, or at any rate composed in\nhonour of the god, were obtained by Assurbanipal, and translated by\nhis scribes out of the Akkadian language into the Assyrian. One of them\nbegins thus:--\n\n\u201cLord and prince of the gods who in heaven and earth alone is supreme!\n\n\u201cFather Nannar, Lord of the firmament, prince of the gods!\n\n\u201cFather Nannar, Lord of heaven, mighty one, prince of the gods!\n\n\u201cFather Nannar, Lord of the moon, prince of the gods!\u201d\n\nIt was from a city where such hymns were repeated in praise of the\nMoon-god that Abraham was called to rise up and go forth. With Terah,\nhis father, and a tribe of servants and adherents, he started for new\nlands.\n\nThe distance from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran in northern Mesopotamia\nwas considerable, but it lay along the line of the river and by the\ncommon route of travel. It is remarkable that Haran, like Ur, was a\ncity of the Moon-god, who appears at one time to have taken primary\nrank among the Babylonians. Nabonidos restored the temple at Haran,\nand it is thus that he celebrates the event:--\u201cMay the gods who\ndwell in heaven and earth approach the house of Sin, the father who\ncreated them. As for me, Nabonidos, king of Babylon, the completer\nof this temple, may Sin, the king of the gods of heaven and earth,\nin the lifting up of his kindly eyes, with joy look upon me month by\nmonth at noon and sunset: may he grant me favourable tokens, may he\nlengthen my days, may he extend my years, may he establish my reign,\nmay he overcome my foes, may he slay my enemies, may he sweep away my\nopponents. May Nin-gal, the mother of the mighty gods, in the presence\nof Sin, her loved one, speak like a mother. May Samas and Istar, the\nbright offspring of his heart, to Sin, the father who begat them, speak\nof blessing. May Nuzku, the messenger supreme, hearken to my prayer and\nplead for me.\u201d\n\nThere would seem to be as much reason for Abraham to leave Haran as\nthere was for his leaving Ur; and the Bible actually represents the\nstay in Haran as only a stage in the migration. Canaan was the land\nwhich God had \u201ctold him of;\u201d and there, building altars successively\nat Shechem and Bethel and in the oak-grove of Mamre, he realized that\nthe Lord could be approached in every place by those who worshipped in\nspirit and in truth.\n\nTerah and Abraham had come out of Chaldea with a large family and\nnumerous following. \u201cFor years,\u201d says Ragozin, \u201cthe tribe travelled\nwithout dividing, from pasture to pasture, over the land of Canaan,\ninto Egypt and out of it again, until the quarrel occurred between\nAbraham\u2019s herdsmen and Lot\u2019s, when Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan\nand Abraham remained in the centre of the country. After the battle\nof four kings against five, in the Vale of Siddim, when Lot was taken\nprisoner, Abraham pursued the victorious army, now carelessly marching\nhomewards, with its long train of captives and booty, and produced a\npanic among them by a sudden and vigorous onslaught. Not only was Lot\nrescued, with his women folk and his goods, but all the captured goods\nand people were brought back too. Chedorlaomer, of whom the spirited\nBible narrative gives us so life-like a sketch, lived, according to the\nmost probable calculations, about 2200 B.C. In the cuneiform\ninscriptions he is called Khudur-Lagamar; and among the few vague forms\nwhose blurred outlines loom out of the twilight of those dim ages, he\nis the second with any flesh and blood reality about him, probably the\nfirst, conqueror of whom the world has any authentic record.\u201d\n\nIt is supposed that the \u201cAmraphel, king of Shinar,\u201d who marched with\nKhudur-Lagamar as his ally, was no other than a king of Babylon, one\nof whose names has been read Amarpal, while \u201cAriokh of Ellassar\u201d was\nan Elamite, Eriaku, brother or cousin of Khudur-Lagamar and king of\nLarsam. At Larsam the Elamite conquerors had established a powerful\ndynasty, closely allied by blood to the principal one, which had made\nthe venerable Ur its headquarters.\n\nBabylon was a very ancient city of Babylonia, and is first mentioned\nin the inscriptions of Izdhubar,[53] a mythical hero, whose name is\nconnected with the Chaldean story of the Flood. It remained for some\ncenturies of secondary importance, but became at length the capital\nof the country. The native name, Bab-ilu, signifies the Gate-of-God,\ncorresponding to Beth-el, the House of God, in the land of Palestine.\nAccording to Herodotus, the city stood in a broad plain, and was an\nexact square, measuring 15 miles each way. It was surrounded, he says,\nby a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rose a wall 50\nroyal cubits in breadth and 200 in height. In digging the moat the\nalluvial clay was at once made into bricks and baked in kilns; and with\nthese the walls were built, the cement being hot bitumen. \u201cOn the top,\nalong the edges of the wall, they constructed buildings of a single\nchamber, facing one another, leaving between them room for a four-horse\nchariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates of\nbrass, with brazen lintels and side-posts.\u201d\n\nThe broad stream of the Euphrates passed through the city, dividing\nit into two parts, and the centre of each division was occupied by a\nfortress. In the one stood the palace of the kings, surrounded by a\nwall of great strength and size; in the other was the sacred precinct\nof Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure, 2 furlongs each way, with gates\nof solid brass. \u201cIn the middle of the precinct,\u201d says Herodotus, \u201cthere\nwas a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon\nwhich was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to\neight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds\nround all the towers.... On the topmost tower there is a spacious\ntemple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly\nadorned, with a golden table by its side. Below, in the same precinct,\nthere is a second temple, in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all\nof gold.\u201d Other historians make the circuit of the city from 45 to 48\nmiles, instead of 60; and it is hardly necessary to say that modern\nwriters question both its extent and the height of its walls.\n\nThe god whom Herodotus calls Jupiter-Belus was Bel-Merodach. Babylon\nwas called \u201cthe dwelling-place of Bel\u201d and the \u201ctown of Marduk.\u201d The\ntemple of Bel is represented by the ruin of Babil, a mound on the\neastern side of the stream. Some writers believe this to be the site\nof the Tower of Babel. Others, including Sir Henry Rawlinson, have\nidentified the Babel tower with the ruin of Birs Nimroud, the ancient\nBorsippa, on the western side of the river. Birs Nimroud is one of the\nmost imposing ruins in the country, standing in the midst of a vast\nplain, with nothing to break the view. Sir H. Rawlinson excavated at\nthe site, and discovered that the tower was built in seven stages, the\nmaterial being brickwork on an earthen platform. The first stage was an\nexact square, 272 feet each way, and 26 feet high, the bricks blackened\nwith bitumen. The higher stages were of course successively smaller,\nbut they were not placed in the centre of those on which they rested,\nbut considerably nearer to the south-western end which constituted the\nback of the building. The bricks of the lowest stage being blackened,\nthose of the second stage were orange-coloured, of the third red, the\nfourth it is supposed were plated with gold. Seven colours were used,\nemblematic of the planets, and the building was called the Temple of\nthe Seven Spheres. On the seventh stage there was probably placed the\nark or tabernacle, which seems to have been again 15 feet high, and\nmust have nearly covered the top of the seventh story. This temple was\nsacred to Nebo, the Babylonian Mercury, the inventor of the alphabet,\n\u201cthe writer,\u201d \u201cthe prophet,\u201d \u201cthe author of the oracle.\u201d Assurbanipal\nis never weary of telling us, at the end of the documents which his\nscribes had copied from Babylonian originals, that Nebo and Tasmit had\ngiven him broad ears, and endowed him with seeing eyes, so that he had\nwritten and bound together and published the store of tablets, a work\nwhich none of the kings who had gone before him had undertaken, even\nthe secrets of Nebo!\n\nFrom receptacles at the corners of the stages above described, Sir H.\nRawlinson obtained inscribed cylinders, stating that the building was\nthe Temple of the Seven Planets, which had been partially built by a\nformer king of Babylon, and having fallen into decay, was restored and\ncompleted by Nebuchadnezzar. It was at Birs Nimroud that Mr Hormuzd\nRassam found a leaf of metal with some writing on it, which proved to\nbe a dedication by Nebuchadnezzar to the god Nebo for his restoration\nto health. If this relates to Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s recovery from his\nmadness, it is an interesting confirmation of the story in the Book of\nDaniel.\n\n\u201cThe secrets of Nebo\u201d referred to by Assurbanipal, were astronomical\nrecords and other writings stored up in Nebo\u2019s temple. The religion\nof the Babylonians was based on a study of the heavenly bodies, and\nwas so intimately connected with astronomy that it was necessary\nfor the priests to be astronomers. There were observatories at the\nprincipal temples; observations of the heavens were regularly made,\nand naturally the records were preserved in the temple chambers, and\nbecame the nucleus of large libraries. It was the good fortune of Mr\nRassam to discover one of the most important of these libraries, at\nAbu Hubba--about 30 miles south-east from Bagdad--on one of the canals\nbranching eastward from the Euphrates. Abu Hubba proves to be the\nancient Sippara, the Biblical Sepharvaim, whence some of the people\nwere taken, to re-people Samaria after the ten tribes of Israel were\ncarried away. The Hebrew name being in the dual form, and signifying\nthe two Sippars, we look for duality in the ruins, and we find them\nactually on the two sides of the stream. Sippara, we knew from Berosus,\nwas a great seat of sun-worship; the temple of the god Shamas was here,\nand it was here that Xisuthrus, the Chaldean Noah, was said to have\nburied the records of the antediluvian world. The explorations of Mr\nRassam have restored to us the remains of the Sun-god\u2019s temple.\n\nThe citadel occupies the southern portion of the _enceinte_, and its\nhighest point on the south-west face was once on the banks of a stream,\neither the Euphrates itself or a broad canal communicating with the\nriver. The trenches excavated in the mound soon struck the walls of a\nbuilding, and by following the line of this wall the outer face of a\nlarge square edifice was uncovered. Trenches and shafts sunk in the\ninterior showed that within the outer rampart there were more than\none hundred chambers ranged round a central court. In the central\nportion of the mound an important pair of chambers were found, and in\nthe centre of one of them a large brick altar platform, about 30 feet\nsquare, upon which it was evident that the altar of burnt-offering\nhad stood, for there were charred fragments about. The axis of this\nchamber was north-east and south-west, and at the north-east end a\ndoorway was found, leading into a smaller chamber, the floor of which\nwas paved with a material resembling asphalt. Under this floor Mr\nRassam discovered a terra cotta box containing three inscribed records,\nnamely, a stone tablet with a sculptured panel, representing the\nworship of the Sun-god, and two cylinders. The cylinders were found\nto bear inscriptions of Nabonidos, king of Babylon, B.C. 555,\nrecording the restoration of this temple in the year B.C.\n550; and the stone tablet bore a long and important record of the\nrestoration of the temple by Nabu-abla-iddina, king of Babylon, whose\ndate may be given as about B.C. 852. Above the figure of the\nSun-god on this tablet were the words--\u201cThe statue of the Sun-god--the\ngreat lord--dwelling in the House of Light, which is within the city of\nSippara.\u201d But the statue and other objects of value had been removed.\nFrom the cylinder of Nabonidos, as previously stated, we learn that the\ntemple had been restored by Naram-Sin, the son of Sargon I., in the\nyear 3750 B.C. It was of very great interest to find in the\nlower strata of the temple area a small ovoid of pink and white marble,\nbearing an inscription of Sargon I., of such archaic character as to\nappear to confirm this date.\n\nThe temple was called by many titles--as, \u201cPalace of the God,\u201d \u201cHigh\nPlace,\u201d \u201cDwelling of the God,\u201d \u201cResting-Place of the God,\u201d--and,\namong others, the \u201cHouse of God,\u201d in Akkadian, E-Din-gira, in Semitic\nBabylonian, Bit-ilu, in Hebrew, Bethel.\n\nThe city of Akkad or Agad\u00e9, built by Sargon I., seems to have been a\npart of the double Sippara, and here Sargon founded the celebrated\nlibrary which contained among its treasures a great work on astronomy\nand astrology, in seventy books. Around this nucleus other writings\naggregated, and the temple of Shamas became the great record office\nof the state. Mr Rassam found at Abu Hubba some thousands of tablets\nrelating to fiscal, legal, and commercial transactions; and it would\nthus appear that all documents of this character were preserved by\nthe priests. A remarkable example of the careful preservation of the\nwritings committed to their charge was furnished in the course of the\nexcavations. On the south-east side of the large quadrangle was a\nsmaller square, in which were a series of chambers, evidently offices\nof the temple. In one of these over 30,000 tablets were found stored.\nThey were packed by Mr Rassam as he found them, and removed to England\nwithout any disturbance of their order; and when the cases came to be\nexamined it was found that the majority of the tablets were arranged\nchronologically. Ranging as these tablets did from B.C. 625\nto B.C. 200, they must have lain for nearly 2000 years quite\nundisturbed in the ruins.\n\nA Babylonian temple was also the court of justice, and as the Jewish\nSanhedrim met in the temple at Jerusalem, so did the council of the\ngrey-haired ones meet in the courts of Chaldean temples to answer\njudgment. Dr Oppert has translated some contracts and legal decisions\nrelating indubitably to captive Jews who had been carried to Babylon\nafter the destruction of Jerusalem. One of the most interesting of them\nis a law-suit commenced by a Jewish slave named Barachiel in order to\nrecover his freedom. The case was as follows:--Barachiel--who bears the\nsame name as the father of Elihu in the Book of Job (xxxii. 2-6),--had\nbeen the property of a wealthy person named Akhi-nuri, who had sold him\nto a widow of the name of Gaga, about 570 B.C. He remained\nin the house of this lady as a slave, with the power of liberating\nhimself by paying a sum equal to his _peculium_ or private property,\nwhich he had been allowed to acquire, like a slave in ancient Rome; but\nit seems that he was never fortunate enough to be able to afford the\nsum of money required. He remained with Gaga twenty-one years, and was\nconsidered the _res_ or property of the house, and as such was handed\nover in pledge, was restored, and finally became the dowry of Nubti,\nthe daughter of Gaga. Nubti gave him to her son and husband in exchange\nfor a house and some slaves. After the death of the two ladies he was\nsold to the wealthy publican, Itti-Marduk-baladh, from whose house\nhe escaped twice. Taken the second time, he instituted an action in\norder that he might be recognised as a free-born citizen, of the family\nof Belrimanni; and to prove that he was of noble origin he pretended\nthat he had performed the matrimonial solemnities at the marriage of\nhis master\u2019s daughter, Qudasa, with a certain Samas-mudammiq. Such a\nperformance, doubtless, implied that the officiating priest was of free\nbirth, and no slave or freed-man was qualified to take part in it.\n\nThe name Barachiel, says Dr Oppert, is evidently that of a Jew.\nHe is called \u201ca slave of ransom;\u201d that is to say, not a slave who\nhas already purchased his freedom, but a slave who was allowed by\nspecial laws to employ his private fortune in the work of liberating\nhimself. He professes to have been the \u201cjoiner\u201d of the hands of bride\nand bridegroom at a wedding which must have taken place before the\nthirty-fifth year of Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s reign, when he still belonged to\nthe house of Akhi-nuri, \u201cthe seller of the slave,\u201d as he is called at\nthe end of the text.\n\nThe judges, after perusing all the evidence, do not find any proofs\nthat Barachiel was a man of free birth, and accordingly say to\nhim:--\u201cProve to us that you are the descendant of a noble ancestor.\u201d\nThereupon Barachiel confesses that he is not free-born, but has twice\nrun away from the house of his master; as, however, the act was seen\nby many people, he was afraid, and said he was the son of a noble\nancestor. \u201cBut I am not free-born,\u201d he confesses, and then gives an\naccount of the events of his life. The judges decided that Barachiel\nshould be restored to his condition as a slave of ransom.[54]\n\nSuch a story as this serves to show what the life of many an Israelite\nmay have been during the Captivity.\n\n\n 3. _How the Writings were Read._\n\nTo the ordinary visitor to the British Museum, looking at the cuneiform\ninscriptions--nothing but arrowhead characters variously grouped--it\nseems wonderful that they should constitute a language, and incredible\nthat they should be read. The question is often asked, \u201cHow can we\ntrust the translations put before us? How do we know that they are any\nmore than guesses?\u201d It may be well, therefore, to relate how the key\nto the lost character was obtained, and how the decipherment proceeded\nuntil now the translation of narrative texts can be made with as much\ncertainty as translations from the Hebrew of the Old Testament.\n\n [Illustration: BEHISTUN SCULPTURE.]\n\nThe clue was obtained from the Behistun inscriptions, through the\nenergy of Sir Henry Rawlinson; and the records of the successive steps\nof the discovery will be found in the _Journal of the Asiatic Society_,\nin the _Quarterly Review_ for March 1847, and in such popular works\nas Mr Vaux\u2019s \u201cNineveh and Persepolis.\u201d Edwin Norris and others had\nlaboured, and the process of deciphering cuneiform texts was already\nwell advanced when Sir Henry Layard and Mr Rassam discovered such\nabundant treasures in the mounds on the Tigris. The inscriptions\nwhich are now known to record the personal history of Darius, the\nson of Hystaspes, are almost always in three forms of the cuneiform\ncharacter, which may be described as Persian, Median, and Assyrian, and\nwere addressed to different races of his subjects. The most extensive\nmonument of the kind is found on a rock escarpment at Behistun, on the\nfrontiers of Persia, a place on the high road from Babylonia to the\nfurther east. The rock is almost perpendicular, and rises abruptly\nfrom the plain to the height of 1700 feet, an imposing object which\nmust always have attracted the attention of travellers. It was known\nto the Greeks, who erected on the top of it a temple to Zeus; and it\nhad probably been sacred to Ormazd, the supreme deity of the Persians.\nHigh up on the face of this rock, 300 feet above the plain, there are\ntwo tablets, one of them containing sculptured figures and nearly a\nthousand lines of cuneiform character. The sculptured portion of the\nrock represents a line of nine persons united by a cord tied round\ntheir necks, and having their hands bound behind their backs, who are\napproaching another of more majestic stature, who, holding up his right\nhand in token of authority, treads on a prostrate body. His countenance\nexpresses the idea of a great king or conqueror, and behind the king\nstand two guards with long spears in their hands.\n\nThe reign of Darius was disturbed by many revolts, and the\ninsurrectionary attempts of many impostors and pretenders. It is these\nimpostors who are represented as prisoners in the sculpture, and over\nthe head of each figure we find his name and description. The first\none, the prostrate figure, is \u201cGomates, the Magian, an impostor,\u201d who\nsaid, \u201cI am Bartius, the son of Cyrus; I am the King,\u201d and so on. The\ninscription is by far the largest and most important record which has\nbeen preserved of the greatness of Darius, and of the Persian state and\nsystem. The lines over the monarch himself would read in English as\nfollows:--\n\n\u201cI am Darius the king, the great king, the king of kings, the king of\nPersia, the king of the (dependent) provinces, the son of Hystaspes,\nthe grandson of Arsames, the Ach\u00e6menian,\u201d &c.\n\nIt will be noticed here how the word king is repeated; as the\ninscription proceeds the name Darius is repeated also. A German\nscholar, Professor Grotefend, had observed that such inscriptions\ngenerally begin with three or four words, one of which varies while\nthe others do not. He suspected that the word which changes would be\nthe king\u2019s name--as different inscriptions would relate to different\nkings--and that the other words gave the king\u2019s titles. He felt\nconvinced that a word which was constantly repeated signified \u201cking,\u201d\nand conjectured that when two kings were mentioned they were probably\nfather and son. Finding that the names of Cyrus and Cambyses would\nnot suit, because no two names in the inscription he was dealing with\ncommenced with the same letter, he tried others. Cyrus and Artaxerxes\nseemed equally inapplicable, because of their unequal length, the\ntwo names he was dealing with being of six letters each. The only\nnames remaining were those of Darius and Xerxes; and these on further\ncomparison appeared to agree so exactly with the characters that he\ndid not hesitate at once to adopt them. Having thus found out more\nthan twelve letters, among which were precisely those composing the\nroyal title, the next business was to give these names their original\nPersian form, in order that by ascertaining the correct value of each\ncharacter, the royal title might be deciphered. From the \u201cZendavesta\u201d\nof Anquetil du Perron, M. Grotefend found that the Greek form Hystaspes\nwas originally represented in Persian by Gustasp, Kishtasp, or\nWistasp. The first seven letters of this name were at once discovered,\nwhile a comparison of all the royal titles led him to the conclusion\nthat the three last formed the inflection of the genitive singular,\ncorresponding to the Latin Hystaspis. Thus did Grotefend proceed step\nby step, his ingenuity and perseverance being beyond all praise.\nMeantime Sir Henry Rawlinson, although stationed in Persia and cut\noff in a great degree from the results of European scholarship, was\ndevoting himself with ardour to the study of the Behistun inscription,\nand making independent progress.\n\nIt turned out that of the three forms of arrow-headed character in\nthis class of inscriptions the Persian was the easiest to decipher,\nbeing an alphabetic language, and that the other two were not purely\nalphabetic. Still, a sure clue was obtained, and the key being\napplied by an increasing number of investigators, the Median and the\nAssyrian in the course of time yielded up their secrets. At length,\nin 1857, to put the method of decipherment to a test, the inscription\nof Tiglath-Pileser I. was submitted to four eminent Assyriologists,\nnamely, Sir H. Rawlinson, Dr Oppert, Mr Fox Talbot, and Dr Hincks, who\nmade translations of it independently, and sent them, under seal, to\nthe secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society. When they were opened and\ncompared it was found that they exhibited a remarkable resemblance\nto one another, much greater, in fact, than could have been the case\nif the method of decipherment had not been sound. Since 1857 immense\nadvances have been made, until now, as Dr Sayce confidently declares,\nit is possible to translate an ordinary Assyrian text with as much ease\nand certainty as a page of the Old Testament.\n\n [_Authorities and Sources_:--\u201cAssyrian Discoveries.\u201d By\n George Smith. \u201cThe Chaldean Genesis.\u201d By George Smith.\n \u201cAncient History from the Monuments: Assyria.\u201d By George\n Smith. \u201cAncient History from the Monuments: Babylonia.\u201d By\n Rev. Dr A. H. Sayce. \u201cNineveh and its Remains.\u201d H. A. Layard.\n \u201cNineveh and Persepolis.\u201d W. S. W. Vaux. \u201cGuide to the\n Kouyunjik Gallery.\u201d British Museum. \u201cThe Story of the Nations:\n Assyria.\u201d By Z\u00e9na\u00efde A. Ragozin. \u201cThe Story of the Nations:\n Babylonia.\u201d Z\u00e9na\u00efde A. Ragozin. \u201cHibbert Lectures.\u201d Dr A. H.\n Sayce. \u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d \u201cTransactions of the Society of\n Biblical Arch\u00e6ology.\u201d Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the Bible.\u201d \u201cFrom\n Under the Dust of Ages.\u201d St Chad Boscawen.]\n\n\n\n\n THE VANDALISM OF THE ORIENTALS.\n\n\nIt seems to be quite providential that the calamities of cities and\nthe burial of treasures of art and knowledge should result in their\npreservation, and contribute to the education of the world. It is\nremarkable also that the explorers of the buried cities of the East\nshould be the Christian nations of the West, and that such a wealth\nof discovery should enrich this nineteenth century. Through the\ncatastrophe which overwhelmed Pompeii, and preserved it under volcanic\nashes for 1700 years, we have become better acquainted with the private\nlife of the Romans than would have been possible by any other means.\nThe fugitive from Pompeii, in the hurry of escape, abandoned articles\nof intrinsic value, and could not pause or stoop to pick them up;\nyet they were saved from the hand of the robber that they might give\ninstruction to the world many centuries afterwards. The golden diadems,\near-rings, and bracelets which Dr Schliemann found in a great silver\nvase on the supposed site of Troy had been packed in the greatest\nhaste, and the fair owner, unable to return to them, no doubt gave them\nup for lost; but she was an instrument in the hand of Providence, and\nknew not what she did. By the recovery of the Assyrian royal library,\nwe are being informed concerning the religion and mythology, as well as\nthe history, of early nations, about whom we knew too little through\nthe ordinary channels of history. Think of Assurbanipal\u2019s librarian at\nNineveh speculating on the ultimate destiny of the records under his\ncare! How could he guess that when the empire was passed away, its\nkings forgotten, its gods put aside as mythical inventions, there would\ncome scholars from beyond the pillars of Hercules and learn to decipher\nits records?\n\nHow disappointing is it, then, to all lovers of knowledge, as well\nas to all students of Bible antiquities, to know that, now, when the\nexistence of these treasures is known, there is too little enterprise\nin our people to go and reap the harvest of them; and while we wait\nthey are being carelessly or wantonly destroyed! One explorer tells\nof an Arab who found an entire black statue, and because it was too\nheavy to carry away bodily, broke off its head and carried that away\nfirst. Palaces and temples, when unearthed, are used as quarries for\nthe building stone. Limestone slabs, covered with precious sculptures\nand inscriptions, are burnt for the sake of the lime. Decaying mounds\nof bricks, because they contain nitre, are carted off as manure for the\nfields! The following are a few instances of the vandalism which seems\nto be defeating the apparent intention of Providence.\n\nThe beautiful sanctuaries \u201cerected by Amenhotep III. in the island of\nElephantine, which were figured by the members of the French expedition\nat the end of the last century, were destroyed by the Turkish governor\nof Assouan in 1822.\u201d--_Professor Maspero._\n\nThe great Sphinx at Gizeh.--\u201cThe nose and beard have been broken off by\nfanatics.\u201d--_Professor Maspero._\n\nSebakh diggers ply their occupation in the midst of the mounds of the\nancient city of Thebes. \u201c_Sebakh_, signifying \u2018salt,\u2019 or \u2018saltpetre,\u2019\nis the general term for that saline dust which accumulates wherever\nthere are mounds of brick or limestone ruins. This dust is much valued\nas a manure or \u2018top-dressing,\u2019 and is so constantly dug out and carried\naway by the natives, that the mounds of ancient towns and villages are\nrapidly undergoing destruction in all parts of Egypt.\u201d--_Miss Amelia B.\nEdwards._\n\n\u201cPrisse d\u2019Avennes relates that when he visited, in 1836, Behbeit el\nHagar, the site of the old Heb, in the Sebennyte nome, near the present\ncity of Mansoorah, he went away disgusted, seeing the regular trade\nthat was carried on in the most beautiful sculptures of the ruined\ntemple, which was besides used as a quarry by the inhabitants of the\nspot.\u201d--_M. Naville._\n\n\u201cWhen the sheikh on whose land I was excavating became reassured as to\nthe object of my researches, he told me that some twenty years ago a\ngreat number of inscribed stones were unearthed on that spot [site of\nGoshen]; but since that time they had disappeared, most of them having\nbeen used for building purposes. The great number of broken pieces\nwhich are built into the walls of the houses prove that the sheikh\nspoke the truth.\u201d--_M. Naville._\n\n\u201cAt Babel there are four wells scientifically built. When Mr Rassam\ncleared one of them of _debris_ he came to water at the bottom. Each\nstone is 3 feet in thickness, is bored, and made to fit the one below\nit so exactly that you would imagine the whole well was hewn out of the\nsolid rock. Yet the Arabs break up these stones for the sake of making\nlime.\u201d--_Transactions of the Society of Biblical Arch\u00e6ology_, viii. 185.\n\n\u201cIn 1815 Lady Hester Stanhope conducted excavations at Ascalon, and\nfound a colossal statue of a Roman emperor, thought possibly to have\nbeen that of Augustus, erected by Herod. It was unfortunately broken\nup by the workmen in search of treasure supposed to be concealed\nwithin.\u201d--Conder\u2019s \u201c_Syrian Stone-lore_.\u201d\n\n\u201cAt C\u00e6sarea a broad street has been laid out (by the recent immigrants\nfrom Bosnia) which passes directly over the remains of the Roman temple\nbuilt by Herod in honour of C\u00e6sar and of Rome (the finely dressed white\nstone being turned to good account by the colonists), and over the\nCrusaders\u2019 Cathedral, the foundations and walls of which also furnish\nsplendid building material.\u201d--\u201c_Quarterly Statement_ of Palestine\nExploration Fund,\u201d July 1884.\n\n\u201cI pointed out that while the objects underground would keep a few\nyears longer, the march of civilisation was rapidly erasing all records\nof the past above ground. The ancient ruins were being burnt into lime,\nthe old names were giving way to modern appellations, and the records\nof the past were disappearing.\u201d--_Colonel Sir Charles Warren._\n\n\u201cOf Memphis there is at present hardly a trace left; and other great\ncities known to ancient travellers have disappeared with their\nmonuments. Mummy cases and coffins with most interesting inscriptions\nhave for centuries been used as fuel. And innumerable manuscripts\nhave suffered the same fate.... The tombs are convenient abodes for\nArab families, who destroy the paintings and inscriptions either by\nthe dense smoke of their fires or by actually pulling down walls. I\nwas taken to see the \u2018Lay of the Harper,\u2019 one of the most interesting\nremains of Egyptian poetry, which was published a few years ago by Dr\nDumichen, but we found the walls on which the poem was written a mere\nheap of ruins. But the vandalism of European and American travellers\nis most fatal to the monuments. There is, or rather was, a famous\npicture at Beni-hassan, which was formerly thought to represent Joseph\npresenting his brethren to Pharaoh. An English lady has been heard to\nrequest her guide to cut out for her the face of Joseph!\u201d--_P. Le Page\nRenouf._\n\n\n TURNBULL AND SPEARS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] From \u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d New Series, vol. ii.\n\n[2] See Bishop Butler\u2019s \u201cSermon on the Character of Balaam.\u201d\n\n[3] Rev. H. G. Tomkins argues that he was a Semite, though in close\ncontact with the Hittites.--\u201cJournal of the Anthropological Institute,\u201d\nNovember 1889.\n\n[4] Major Conder, in the \u201cJournal of the Anthropological Institute,\u201d\nAugust 1889.\n\n[5] See the authorities given in \u201cRawlinson\u2019s Historical Illustrations\nof the Old Testament.\u201d\n\n[6] Dyer\u2019s \u201cPompeii.\u201d\n\n[7] Exod. xxix. 22; Levit. vii. 32, viii. 25, ix. 21; Num. xviii. 18.\n\n[8] See Sayce\u2019s \u201cFresh Light from the Monuments,\u201d p. 139.\n\n[9] \u201cRecords of the Past,\u201d New Series, vol. ii.\n\n[10] Brugsch, \u201cHistory of Egypt,\u201d vol. ii.\n\n[11] May it not perhaps have been a new name given to Bubastis, after\nrebuilding?\n\n[12] M. Naville, whose excavations at Tell Basta have shown that\nBubastis was a very large city, and a favourite resort of the king and\nhis family, thinks it quite possible that, at the time we are speaking\nof, the king was at Bubastis and not at Zoan.\n\n[13] Gesenius gives the meaning, \u201crush, reed, seaweed;\u201d and in Exod.\nii. 3, Moses is said to have been laid in an ark of _souph_ or reeds.\n\n[14] In this paraphrase I render one of the _vavs_ by \u201cthen\u201d instead\nof \u201cand.\u201d This will be allowed me. What will be objected to is the\nassumption that Lasha is Laish, especially as Lasha contains a\ndifferent radical, the _ayin_ (\u05dc\u05b8\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05e2). But the passage in Genesis\nmay give an archaic spelling; and as Lasha signifies \u201cthe breaking\nthrough of waters,\u201d it is eminently descriptive of the source of the\nJordan at Dan. To place Lasha in the south-east of Palestine, as is\ndone in Smith\u2019s \u201cDictionary of the Bible,\u201d is to charge the description\nin Genesis with being defective, for how are the limits of a people\ndefined by tracing two sides of an irregular quadrangle?\n\n[15] Josephus: \u201cWars,\u201d iii. 10. \u00a7 8.\n\n[16] \u201cTwenty-one years\u2019 Work in the Holy Land.\u201d\n\n[17] For an account of the \u201cBook of Jasher,\u201d see the \u201cLiterary Remains\nof Emanuel Deutsch.\u201d\n\n[18] Little Hermon is really a misnomer for the conical hill of Duhy\njust north of the Valley of Jezreel. The mention of Tabor and Hermon\ntogether in Psalm lxxxix. 12, has misled those who did not realize that\nTabor would be in the same line of vision with Mount Hermon, for many\nobservers in the south.\n\n[19] See the chapter on Jerusalem.\n\n[20] _Greek_ \u201cAkra.\u201d\n\n[21] \u1f21 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b8\u03cd\u03c0\u03b5\u03c1\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd \u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03b1\u1fd6\u03c2\n\n[22] \u201cSurvey Memoirs.\u201d\n\n[23] This is Dr Sayce\u2019s improved translation, in \u201cRecords of the Past,\u201d\nSecond Series, vol. ii. The inscription has since been cut out and\nstolen.\n\n[24] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d Jan. 1890.\n\n[25] Might mean arched, or gibbous, or humped. Conder understands it\n\u201crising to a peak.\u201d Q. S. Oct. 1873.\n\n[26] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d January 1876.\n\n[27] \u201cWars,\u201d v. 4. 2.\n\n[28] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d Jan. 1886.\n\n[29] In the Authorised Version it is Meah, in the Revised Version\nHammeah. It might be translated Tower of the Hundred.\n\n[30] Ezra iv. 16, 20; v. 3, 6; vi. 6, 8, 13; viii. 36.\n\n[31] The Nethinim were but servants of the Levites.\n\n[32] \u201cRecovery of Jerusalem,\u201d pp. 155-9.\n\n[33] Zion is only called Moriah as the hill of vision (2 Chron. iii. 1).\n\n[34] The resemblances are better seen in the Hebrew.\n\n[35] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d April, 1890.\n\n[36] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d Jan.-March 1870.\n\n[37] Antiq., vii. 14, 4.\n\n[38] Antiq., ix. 10. 4.\n\n[39] \u201cSinai and Palestine,\u201d chap. iii.\n\n[40] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d July, 1890.\n\n[41] \u201cThe Recovery of Jerusalem,\u201d p. 284.\n\n[42] \u201cQuarterly Statement,\u201d 1872, p. 116.\n\n[43] It would be legitimate to read \u201cby the sheep-pool\u201d instead of \u201cby\nthe sheep-gate.\u201d\n\n[44] xv. 11. 5.\n\n[45] v. 5. 2.\n\n[46] \u201cSinai and Palestine.\u201d\n\n[47] Conder\u2019s \u201cTent Work.\u201d\n\n[48] See a paper by Rev. Charles S. Robinson, in the _Century\nMagazine_, November, 1888.\n\n[49] Genesis x. 6.\n\n[50] Lessing: \u201cEducation of the Human Race.\u201d\n\n[51] \u201cJournal of the Anthropological Institute,\u201d February, 1889.\n\n[52] It is right to say that some writers are not convinced that\nNineveh was 60 miles round. They regard Nimroud, Kouyunjik, &c., as so\nmany separate cities.\n\n[53] Or Gilgames. (See _Academy_, Nov. 8th, 1890.)\n\n[54] \u201cRecords of the Past.\u201d New Series, Vol. i.\n\n\n\n\n * * * * * *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s note:\n\n1. Obvious spelling, printers\u2019 and punctuation errors have been\nsilently corrected.\n\n2. Where appropriate, both hyphenated and non-hyphenated words have\nbeen retained as in the original.\n\n3. Where appropriate, original spelling has been retained.\n\n4. Superscripts are represented using the caret character, e.g. D^r.\n\n5. In chapter 3, for the numbered subsections, the number 4 was\nincorrectly stated as 5. This has been corrected.","title":"Buried Cities and Bible Countries","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":116823}