{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_66366/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_66366","id":"gutenberg_66366","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66366","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Antiquities","Bible. Old Testament -- Evidences, authority, etc.","Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"[Illustration: Anthropoid Sarcophagus, or Cartonnage]\n\n\n\n\n Dead Men Tell Tales\n\n\n by\n HARRY RIMMER, D. D., Sc. D.\n\n _With 37 Plate Illustrations in the Text_\n\n _Eleventh Edition_\n\n _Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co._\n _Grand Rapids, Michigan_\n\n\n Dead Men Tell Tales\n BY HARRY RIMMER, D.D., SC.D.\n\n _Copyright 1939 by\n Research Science Bureau, Incorporated\n Printed in the United States of America\n All rights in this book are reserved\n No part of the book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without\n written permission.\n For information address the publishers._\n\n ELEVENTH EDITION\n\n\n\n\n FOREWORD\n\n\nIn an older generation, especially among the writers of the more lurid\ntypes of fiction, it was an accepted axiom that \u201cDead men tell no\ntales!\u201d But this was before the great era of modern archeology had\nimpressed its findings on the general public, and indeed before most of\nthose discoveries had been made.\n\nOur generation knows better. Dead men _do_ tell tales, and marvelous and\nwonderful are the stories they bring to us. By means of an archeological\nresurrection, the great men of antiquity are with us again. Once more we\nhear the accounts of their fascinating lives and adventures, and read\nagain the records of their culture. The tongueless tombs of the distant\npast have suddenly become vocal, and this mighty chorus of the dead\ngreat has forced us to revise many of our once cherished opinions.\n\nNowhere is this more strikingly true than in the case of the coincidence\nof these old ages with the page of the Holy Bible. The richest finds of\narcheology come to us from the very periods of history that are dealt\nwith in the pages of Holy Writ, and names that were known only from the\nrecord of the Scripture are now the common possession of the scholarly\nworld. So much is this the case, that we have a new technique of Bible\nstudy in our day. Just as the microscope is the instrument for the study\nof biology, and the spectroscope has become the means of study in\nphysics, so the Bible is best read today in the light that is reflected\nupon its pages from the blade of a spade! This, of course, is intended\nto apply to the historical sections of the Book, and refers to the\nproblem of its authenticity and historicity. It still remains true that\n_spiritual_ understanding of its message can be derived only from study\nthat is supervised and directed by the Holy Spirit.\n\nThis volume, the fourth in the promised series to be known as the\n\n \u201cJOHN LAURENCE FROST\n MEMORIAL LIBRARY\u201d\n\nwill deal with some of those fascinating discoveries that bear\nparticularly on the problem of the Old Testament. The succeeding and\ncompanion volume, which will be entitled \u201cCrying Stones,\u201d will deal in\nlike manner with the records of the New Testament.\n\nThe material contained in this apologetic is derived from various\nsources. Much of it came from records in the famed British Museum, in\nLondon, England. This marvelous storehouse of treasure from the most\nremote antiquity is the greatest collection of evidence bearing upon\nthese questions, that is at present in the possession of man. There is\nscarcely a section of the Bible that does not receive some\nauthentication from the limitless wealth of this noble treasury.\n\nA great deal of the remainder of this information and proof has been\nderived from other museums, such as the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, Egypt,\nand the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Much of the contents\nof this book has come from the excavations now in progress in Egypt, and\nfrom the ruins at Sakkara, Luxor, Karnak, Iraq, and other centers of\npresent activity. The earth seems eager indeed to offer its treasures of\nproof concerning the Word of God.\n\nThe author is especially grateful for the help accorded to him in Egypt\nby Mr. and Mrs. Erian Boutros of Cairo, and by certain officials of the\nEgyptian government, chief of whom in helpfulness was M. Abdul Nabi, and\nthe Egyptian Tourist Bureau, whose gracious efforts on our behalf won us\nmany privileges from the Department of Antiquities.\n\nThe illustrations used in this volume are largely from the author\u2019s own\nphotographs of exhibits and evidences, made by him and presented with\nthe assurance that they are not retouched or altered in any manner. In\nthe course of his studies and travels in search of this material, he\nmade hundreds of negatives, only a few of which appear in this work. The\nexceptions to this are noted where they appear. The zinc etchings are\nmade from original drawings by Miss Elizabeth Elverhoy from our\nphotographs, and are authentic in all details.\n\nWe hand you now Tales of Dead Men, rendered by Men Long Dead, as they\nunconsciously accredit the sacred page of the Word of God. If you have a\ntithe of the pleasure and profit in the reading of these pages that we\nhave experienced in the gathering of their contents, we shall be repaid\nfor the labor involved.\n\n\n\n\n CONTENTS\n\n\n Chapter I The Premise Stated 13\n Chapter II The Tides of Culture 37\n Chapter III Converging Streams of Revelation and History 55\n Chapter IV Modern Science and the Ten Plagues of Egypt 85\n Chapter V Sources 125\n Chapter VI Fragments 163\n Chapter VII The Rebirth of an Empire 195\n Chapter VIII The Resurrection of Edom 225\n Chapter IX The Brazen Shields of Rehoboam 247\n Chapter X Mingled Voices 269\n Chapter XI Vindication of Daniel 317\n Bibliography 349\n\n\n\n\n LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n Anthropoid Sarcophagus, or Cartonnage Frontispiece\n Egyptians at a wine orgy Facing Page 32\n Crude hieroglyphics on an ancient statue 33\n Example of embellished statue 40\n Colossi at Luxor 41\n The Sheltered Wife 41\n Khnum and Thoth in Creation Tradition 56\n Colossi of Karnak 64\n Colossi of Luxor 64\n Colossi of Amen-Hetep III guarding Valley of Kings 65\n At Tomb of Tutanhkamen 65\n Open burial 72\n Mural from an ancient tomb: Butchers at work 73\n The god Hapi drawing the Two Kingdoms into one 73\n Mace-head in British Museum 128\n Cuneiform writing and sculpture on stone weapon 129\n Ancient seals depicting historic events 136\n Section of funerary papyrus, showing progress of the soul 137\n Herds of cattle, such as Hyksos kings possessed 160\n Ancient mural: Slaughter of cattle 161\n Papyrus showing capture of quail 161\n Cartonnage in the anthropoid sarcophagus 168\n Outside and inside writings and decorations on anthropoid\n sarcophagus 169\n Detailed study of outside and inside of anthropoid coffin 176\n Outside of rectangular coffin covered with writings 176\n Murals and frescoes from tomb walls 177\n Commemorative stele 184\n Ancient boundary markers 185\n Stone ouches, or door-sockets 192\n The famed Black Obelisk, which confirmed record of Jehu 193\n Hamath inscription 195\n Small ivory lion from Ahab\u2019s palace 200\n Fragmentary frieze showing ancient chariots 201\n Hittite inscription 208\n Egyptian funerary papyri 209\n Monuments of Petra, showing ruins from one direction 216\n Monuments of Petra, looking in opposite direction 217\n The rough approach to Petra 240\n Approaching Petra by way of the main siq 241\n \u201cEl Kahzne\u201d, the Temple of the Urn 248\n Building carved from living stone 249\n El Deir 256\n Additional view of El Deir 257\n En route to the \u201cHigh Place\u201d 264\n The Altar of Sacrifice 265\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER I\n The Premise Stated\n\n\nIn the romantic vocabulary of the twentieth century few words are more\npotent to arouse the interest of the average man than the fascinating\nword \u201carcheology.\u201d A flood of volumes has come forth from the press of\nour generation covering almost every phase of this now popular science.\nAfter one hundred years of steady plodding and determined digging, this\nschool of research has at last come into its own and today occupies\ndeserved prominence in the world of current literature. This science,\nwhich deals exclusively with dead races and the records of their conduct\nis, to many, the most fascinating field of investigation at present open\nto the inquiring mind of man. Nothing is of such interest to the human\nas is humanity. The study of the life and record of our own kind rightly\nmeans more to us than can most other subjects.\n\nBut the true appreciation of the value of the contribution of archeology\nto our modern learning can be appreciated only by those who grasp an\noutstanding fact that should be self-apparent, but is so often\noverlooked: Namely, these records derived from musty tombs and burial\nmounds constitute the daily events in the lives of _human beings_! The\nfolks who left these records were ordinary people such as make up the\nnations of the earth today. They are not merely names on tablets or\nfaces carved in stone. They were actual flesh-and-blood individuals with\nall that this implies. In hours of merriment they laughed, and they shed\ntears in moments of sorrow. They hungered, and ate for satisfaction;\nthey drank when they were thirsty. They loved and they hated; they lived\nand they died. Pleasure and pain were their alternating companions,\nwhile ambition, aspiration, and hope drove them on the endless round of\ntheir daily tasks.\n\nIn a word, they were _real_. Their life was as important to them as is\nyour life, and they lived it in much the same way. Therefore, the\nrecords written by humans and studied by their kind, who now live these\nthousands of years later, constitute the source of the most human\nscience with which our generation has to deal.\n\nThe contributions of archeology have reached almost every branch of\nstudy, but to no particular group of people have they been more timely\nand valuable than to students of the Bible. The hoary antiquity of the\nBook which has been received in every generation by the intelligent and\nthe discerning as the Word of God, has its roots in the same generations\nthat archeology is investigating today. It is inevitable that much of\nthe material being recovered by modern excavations shall have important\nbearing upon the various questions skepticism may raise concerning the\ntext of the Scripture.\n\nTo the open-minded scholar who approaches this subject without\nprejudice, the science of archeology has a twofold contribution to make.\nSome of the evidences derived from digging are (a) of incalculable value\nin illuminating the text of the Scripture, and are (b) equally priceless\nwhen viewed as a body of indisputable evidence. Under this latter\nheading the proofs would come into four classifications:\n\n 1. The historicity of the text\n 2. The accuracy of the account\n 3. The authenticity of the record\n 4. The inspiration of the whole\n\nBy way of illustrating the manner in which the Scripture may be\nillumined by the findings of archeology, we would introduce a\nsemi-humorous and partially tragic event that occurred in the dim and\ndistant days of our own earlier studies. During a short term spent at a\nwell known California college, we were specializing in the field of\nhistory. The teacher of this course, Professor Rosenberger, was one of\nthe ablest pedagogues who ever wasted her life in the more or less\nimportant task of teaching a rising generation how to think! At the end\nof the first few weeks in a class in English history, she informed the\nstudent group that the following day we would be privileged to have a\ntest in this particular subject. When the class gathered for the happy\nevent, there were twenty questions written on the board which were to\nconstitute our examination.\n\nThe first question was something like this, \u201cWhat new treaty had just\nbeen signed between France and Spain at this particular period?\u201d\n\nThe next question had to do with the political commitments of the Holy\nRoman Empire.\n\nThe third question took us into the Germanic states, and in all of the\ntwenty questions not one word concerning England was mentioned!\n\nAs the class sat with the usual and habitual expression of vacuity which\ngenerally adorns the countenance of a college student facing a quiz, the\nProfessor said, \u201cYou may begin.\u201d\n\nSome hapless wight procured the courage to protest, by saying, \u201cBut you\nsaid this was to be an examination in English history!\u201d\n\nThe Professor replied, \u201cQuite so! This _is_ English history!\u201d\n\nThen leaning forward over the desk she said, in impressive tones, \u201cHow\ncan you expect to know what England is doing, and why, if you do not\nknow the pressure upon her of her enemies and friends at that particular\nperiod?\u201d\n\nA long distance back in our mental vacuum a dim light began to glow, and\nwe never were caught that way again! When the teacher said French\nhistory, we read everything else! When she said German history, we\nspecialized on the surrounding countries. One day as we were thinking\nover this helpful technique of understanding, the idea began to grow\nthat if this was the proper way to study secular history, _it ought to\napply to Bible study as well_!\n\nThere is an illumination that brightens the meaning of the Sacred Text\nwhen read in the light of collateral events that can come no other way.\nAs an instance of this, we will remind the reader of the background of\nIsaiah. When this prophet first began to write, there was trouble\nbetween Israel, the northern confederation, and Judah, the southern\nkingdom. The king of Israel at this time was Pekah, the son of Remaliah,\nand although his people were numerically superior to Judah, he was\nfearful that he might not be strong enough to overcome the southern\nkingdom in the threatened war. Therefore, he made a close alliance with\nRezin, the king of Syria, promising him all the spoils of the battle, if\nhe would aid with his army and strength. The Syrian king hastened to\naccept this offer, and signed the required covenant. When this alliance\nbecame known in Judah, a natural alarm spread throughout the tiny\nkingdom. Realizing that they were incapable of resisting the strong\nforces of Israel and Syria which had combined against them, the princes\nof Judah desired outside help. The only apparent source of such\nassistance was Egypt. So in the court of Ahaz, the king of Judah, a\nstrong party began agitating for a military alliance with Egypt. That\nbeing the only apparent aid within any reasonable distance, it seemed\nnatural to turn to them for a military alliance.\n\nThe prophet Isaiah, who was a strong force and exercised a vital\ninfluence in the policies of Judah, began to object most strenuously. In\nthe light of this background, we can understand such outbursts of Isaiah\nas are found in the thirtieth chapter of his prophecy, verses one to\nthree:\n\n \u201cWoe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel,\n but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit,\n that they may add sin to sin:\n\n \u201cThat walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to\n strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the\n shadow of Egypt!\n\n \u201cTherefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust\n in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.\u201d\n\nHis protest seems to reach a climax in the thirty-first chapter in that\nmagnificently written plea for faith in God which we find in these\ngraphic words:\n\n \u201cWoe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and\n trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because\n they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel,\n neither seek the Lord!\n\n \u201cYet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his\n words: but will arise against the house of the evil doers, and against\n the help of them that work iniquity.\n\n \u201cNow the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and\n not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that\n helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they\n all shall fail together.\u201d\n\nAll through this period of prophecy, Isaiah\u2019s voice is aggressively\nraised against the folly of trusting Egypt. His protest is, \u201cSince God\nredeemed us once from bondage in that land, why put ourselves back again\nunder their yoke?\u201d\n\nThe princes replied in some such terms as this: \u201cThe objection is o. k.\n_in principle_; as a basic thesis we will admit that it is safe to trust\nin God. But right now we need real help and we need it in a hurry.\u201d\n\nThe prophet cried out in response, \u201cGod will send the help that you\nneed!\u201d\n\nThe natural question was \u201cWhence? Syria and Egypt are the only two\npowers near us. One is arrayed against us and the help of the other you\nforbid us to seek. Whence then is the aid that God will send?\u201d\n\nThe prophet\u2019s reply was short and terse, \u201cGod will send aid from very\nfar off.\u201d\n\nThe reluctant court agreed to take a chance on Isaiah\u2019s insistence, and\nso to trust their cause to the God of Israel. Quickly, then, upon the\nheels of this decision, as we learn from the records of archeology,\nthere came one of the earlier battles that were fought at Charchemish.\n\nThe rising power of Assyria first made itself felt in that engagement.\nAs a result, Syria was shattered and Israel made captive. The help that\nGod had promised did come, and now the definite prophecy of Isaiah, in\nchapters seven and eight, may be correlated into this simple summary;\nand against this background we can understand the vehemence of Isaiah in\ncrying out against an alliance with Egypt.\n\nIt is not too much to say, as we shall later show in detail, that in our\npresent possession there is sufficient knowledge derived from the\nmonuments and records of antiquity to authenticate every prophecy that\nIsaiah made concerning Egypt, Israel, Syria, and Assyria. Thus the text\nof the Old Testament is illumined, and a floodlight of understanding\nthrown upon its prophetic utterance by the findings in this field.\n\nEven more striking is the contribution of archeology in the second\nfield, that of evidence in defense of the accepted text. The museums,\nmonuments, and libraries of the world are teeming with such evidences,\nand it shall be the purpose of this volume to condense, epitomize, and\npresent much of that evidence in a simple and readable form, divorced\nfrom technical obscurities. Right here, however, we offer just one\nsimple illustration under each of the subdivisions suggested in the\nparagraph above.\n\nTo demonstrate the evidence of the Bible\u2019s historicity, we shall offer\nthe illustration made famous by the late Dr. Robert Dick Wilson, as to\nthe record of the forty-seven kings of antiquity. It is probably known\nto the reader that the historical sections of the Old Testament contain\nthe names of forty-seven kings, aside from the rulers of Israel and\nJudah. These foreign, or Gentile kings, have been known by name for many\ncenturies to every reader of the Old Testament.\n\nThe odd thing is that until comparatively recent times, these names had\nbeen dropped out of secular history. Mighty as these men had each been\nin his day, they were completely forgotten by posterity and for some\ntwenty-three hundred years their names were unknown to the scholars of\nsecular events. For this reason the learned leaders of \u201chigher\ncriticism\u201d relegated these forty-seven monarchs to the columns of\nmythology. They were grouped among \u201cthe fables and folklore of the Old\nTestament\u201d which this deluded school mistakenly taught was one of the\nbasic weaknesses of the text. Then one after another these disputed\nmonarchs began to rise from the dead in an archeological resurrection.\nIn some cases a burial mound was uncovered; in others, an annalistic\ntablet, a boundary marker, or a great building inscribed with the\nmonarch\u2019s name. Now, all forty-seven of these presumably fabulous\ncharacters have been transferred from the columns of \u201cmythology\u201d to the\naccepted records of established history.\n\nIn forty-seven specific instances, as these kings rose from the dead\npast, they were recognized, as their names were not strange to true\nhistorians. Each was remembered from his appearance in the page of the\nOld Testament which had preserved his memory with accuracy. Thus, in\nthis simple instance there are forty-seven definite and specific\nevidences of the complete historicity of the text.\n\nTo stress this point, the accuracy of the record, we shall cite a\nsemi-humorous illustration. The great Greek historian, Herodotus, who is\nsupposed to be the \u201cFather of History,\u201d wrote some more or less accurate\nobservations concerning the land of Egypt. Among other things, he said\nthat the Egyptians grew no grapes and drank no wine.\n\nThere was another ancient who preceded this historian by many centuries,\nwho also wrote voluminously about Egypt and her customs. This was the\nman Moses, who being reared in the bosom of the royal family as the\ncrown prince and heir apparent, might be presumed to know considerably\nmore about Egyptian customs than any casual visitor. Moses stated that\nthe Egyptians _did_ grow grapes and that they _did_ drink wine. In fact,\nhe recounts that Joseph was in jail with the chief cupbearer of Pharaoh,\nthe butler whose business was the purveying of wine to the royal table.\nIt may be remembered that in the butler\u2019s dream he saw himself _standing\nby the vine, squeezing the grapes into the cup_.\n\nThis brought these two authorities into sharp opposition. Since\nHerodotus was supposed to be the final authority on matters of\nantiquity, the critics fell upon this discrepancy with considerable\nglee. The argument might still be going on, if it were not for the\ndiscovery of an unquestionable bit of evidence among the frescoes that\ndecorate the tombs of Egyptian antiquity. These frescoes showed the\nEgyptians engaged in the art of viticulture. In some of these pictures\nthey were dressing and pruning the vines, cultivating and tending their\ncrop. In others of the pictures they were seen to be gathering the\ngrapes and conveying them to the press. The ingenious method of\nextracting the juice was clearly portrayed in these illuminating\nfrescoes, which showed the juice being stored in stone jugs, clay pots,\nand skin bottles for future use. Since the ancients called any fruit\njuice that was used for drinking purposes by the name of wine, whether\nit was fresh or sweet, it is highly probable that some of this juice was\ndrunk in an unfermented condition.\n\nHowever, one of the murals depicted an Egyptian party gathered around\nthe banquet board, making merry with the juice of the grape (See\nPlate 1). The incidental evidences show very clearly that the juice was\nfermented. Off in the corner, the picture depicts a noble lady who is\nportrayed with her slave holding a silver bowl, while she gave up the\nexcess fluids that had evidently disagreed with the more commendable\nparts of the banquet! Another of these murals showed the morning light\ncoming into such a banqueting hall, as the slaves were all carrying\ntheir masters home; with the exception of one inebriate who had slid\nunder the table and had evidently been overlooked in the excitement!\n\nDid the Egyptians grow grapes and drink wine?\n\nHerodotus said \u201cNo.\u201d\n\nMoses said \u201cYes.\u201d\n\nThe critics, to their later embarrassment, lined up solidly with\nHerodotus.\n\nBut since archeology has accredited the accuracy of Moses, this argument\nis no longer heard in the halls of learning.\n\nWhen we come to the question of authenticity, we shall later give many\nevidences that none of the records of the Bible, either the Old\nTestament or the New, are, in any sense of the word, forgeries. They are\nuniformly authentic in that they were written by the men whose names\nthey bear.\n\nA classical illustration of this is found in the fact that Sir William\nRamsay, one of the greatest archeologists of our generation, began his\nwork in his early days under the bias of the critical position that Luke\nwas not the author of either the Gospel that bears his name or the book\nof the Acts of the Apostles. After forty years of research in Asia\nMinor, Sir William Ramsay himself discovered the evidence that converted\nhim personally to the orthodox and historical view, and demonstrated\nconclusively that Luke unquestionably wrote the two books that are\naccredited to him. As we shall deal with this matter more extensively in\nthe fifth volume of this series, we pass on to the present cause of\nmodern controversy, namely, the inspiration of the text.\n\nThe fact of inspiration is stated so often by the writers of the\nScripture that we must accept their explanation of the origin of these\npages, or else classify them as the most consistent liars that humanity\nhas ever produced. They claim a supernatural guidance by the Holy Ghost\nwhich has kept their records free from error or discrepancy. For one who\nhas examined and analyzed the Scripture in the unprejudiced light of\narcheology, this claim is vindicated at every turn of the spade.\n\nA simple illustration of the manner in which our science does show the\ninspiration of the Scripture, may be found from the prophetic sections\nof the Old Testament. In the days of Isaiah and his fellow prophets, the\ncapital of Egypt was the city of No. It is also called Amon, and\nsometimes, No-Amon. It was a populous city of wealth and culture, being\nthe center of learning, as well as the seat of government. In a day when\nEgypt dominated the world and No-Amon was the mistress of antiquity,\nobscure Hebrew prophets raised their voices in denunciation of No in\nsuch arbitrary and extreme statements as are found in the thirtieth\nchapter of Ezekiel. Denouncing the sin of Egypt and their repeated\nbetrayals of Israel, Ezekiel warns Egypt that her land shall be overrun\nwith fire and sword, and that No-Amon shall be desolate and forsaken.\n\nThere must have been a strong element of humor in all of this outcry to\nthe proud mind of the Egyptian of that day! No-Amon, also called Thebes,\nspreading out on both banks of the Nile, in complacent, serene command\nof the ancient world, apparently had nothing to fear from the bitter\ncries of a prophet of Israel. Yet today the visitor to the site of\nThebes, or No-Amon, to use the more ancient name, is faced with a scene\nof desolation that is utterly devoid of any human habitation.\n\nSince it is impossible for the human mind to pick up the curtain of time\nand peer ahead into future events, prophecy can derive only from the\nHoly Spirit. The work of archeologists in identifying the bleak and\nbarren site of No-Amon portrays the inspiration of the Scripture. The\nproud city is forgotten except for its inscriptions on records of\nantiquity and the denunciations to be found in the Word of God. Thus we\nhave simply illustrated how this dignified and sober science is bringing\nto us illumination of the text, together with the evidences of the\nHISTORICITY, ACCURACY, AUTHENTICITY, and INSPIRATION of the Bible.\n\nThis is eminently fitting, since this peculiar science is most\nintimately concerned with the problem of the credibility of the Bible.\nThe unique and heavenly nature of the Book is in itself a divisive\nfactor. Multitudes of men and women love it and would die for its\npreservation. Indeed, it is no exaggeration of fact to say that\nmultitudes _have_ died in its defense. There are others who hate the\nBook and would go to any length to discredit it, except the extreme\nlength of martyrdom. It is very natural for men to die for what they\nbelieve, but few men will surrender their lives for what they\ndisbelieve!\n\nThis division is decidedly fitting and proper. Men and women who are\nsaved by the grace of God recognize the supernatural nature of the Book\nthat is the means of their redemption. Men and women who are lost,\nresent the honesty of that Book in that it condemns their sin and\niniquity.\n\nIn our day and age, infidelity has, under the guise of an attempted\nscientific refutation, directed its chief argument against the integrity\nof the Scripture. Living in an age of science, when all things are again\nevaluated in the light of man\u2019s technical knowledge, it is inevitable\nthat the Bible should come in for this type of investigation. No\nexponent of Scripture would wish it otherwise. If the Bible is honestly\nexamined without prejudice, under any system of truth, it will maintain\nits integrity and establish its own supernatural character.\n\nThe so-called scientific investigation of the Scripture, however, has\nnot been made on the basis of credible science. Rather, the prejudiced\nenemies have sought to gather from pseudo-scientific claims such help\nand hope for their opinions as would bolster their failing school. We\nfrankly admit that the text of the Bible _does_ refute the fallacies of\nmen of science. There is a great deal of theoretical speculation\nindulged in by men who call themselves scientists, and who march under\nthe banner of technical learning. In every age, when such fallacious\ntheories are current, the Bible is necessarily repudiated by the\nexponents of those false ideas. Few such men, however, know the Bible,\nand their opposition has no lasting effect. This Book does not stand in\n_any_ age by human consent, but has been able to maintain itself in\n_every_ age by the inherent power of its supernatural character.\n\nThe science of archeology has played a great and leading role in\ndemolishing these fallacies of a pseudo-scientific generation.\n\nAs an instance of this, we may note that the theory of organic evolution\nis unquestionably incompatible with the record of the Scripture. In the\n\u201cdark ages\u201d of biology which began to draw to a close at the beginning\nof this present decade, the thoughts of men were so darkened by the\ngeneral acceptance of the baseless and unscientific theory of man\u2019s\nanimal origin, as sadly to handicap capable research and frustrate the\npursuit of real knowledge. We see again, however, that truth, though\ncrushed to the earth, will rise again. For certainly no one who is\nwithin ten years of being up to date in the facts of biology and the\ndiscoveries of archeology, will contend any longer for the animal origin\nof the human species.\n\nThe theory cannot be harmonized with the record of the Scripture.\nTherefore, in the days of blindness, when this particular theory\npossessed the imagination of men, it was used as an argument against the\nintegrity of the text of the Word of God. This whole problem simmers\ndown to a simple illustration. In dealing with the origin of man, there\nare two horses. The problem of every man is to decide which one he shall\nride. One horse is known by the name of \u201cspecific creation,\u201d and the\nother is called \u201corganic evolution.\u201d\n\nIt is impossible to ride them both at once. In riding two horses at one\ntime, it is necessary to keep them close together and both going _in the\nsame direction_. There is no record of anyone who successfully rode two\nhorses simultaneously when they were headed in _opposite_ directions!\n\nThese two premises are irreconcilable. The first is that man was created\nin perfection. In the moment of his fiat origin, he was formed by the\nhand of God, gifted with all the arts and cultures by a process of\ninvolution. The word \u201cinvolution\u201d simply means \u201cto come down into.\u201d That\nis to say, all of the graces and abilities possessed by man _were\nimparted by creation_.\n\nThe second theory is that \u201cman has himself consummated a gradual ascent\nfrom a brutish state to our present high and civilized condition.\u201d (If\nthere were room in such a work as this for sarcasm, we might say that\nthis is another way of noting that we have left the arrow and the club\nfor heavy artillery, poison gas and aerial bomb. If one were to wax\nfacetious, one might be tempted to suggest that if the present condition\nof international hatred, mass murder, violated treaties, forgotten\nhonor, and civilian extermination in the holy name of war, are the best\nthat evolution can accomplish, we should hand the whole mess back to the\nmonkeys and ask them to stir up another batch!)\n\nBut to remain upon the sober grounds of scientific inquiry, it is not\ntoo much to say that the archeologist speaks upon this problem with\nabsolute finality. There is nothing theoretical about archeology. _What\nyou dig up with your own hands, you are inclined to believe._\n\nSome years ago we had a college lad on one of our expeditions who was\nstrongly addicted to the theory of organic evolution. At the beginning\nof the work the lad showed some disposition to argue, and was somewhat\ndisappointed that we refused to enter into debate with him upon our\ndiffering theories. As day followed day, however, and we got into the\nrich contents of burial mounds containing a fabulous amount of ossi,\nthis lad became deeply concerned with the discrepancies between his\ntextbook learning and what he saw in his own personal recoveries of\nancient skeletons.\n\nEvery time he came to us with some bone that did not fit in with his\nclassroom theories, we would laugh and say, \u201cDon\u2019t bother us. _You_ dug\nthat up. This poor bone never read your textbook and it doesn\u2019t know how\nyou want it to be. Now, which are you going to believe? The schematized\ndrawing in a textbook written by some professor who never saw a burial\nmound, or this evidence that you yourself have acquired by your own\nlabor?\u201d\n\nAt the end of that one summer, this student returned to the campus an\nardent and bitter anti-evolutionist, denouncing the false teachings\nwhich had misled him by means of the printed page.\n\nIn a word, other sciences may speculate, theorize and deduce, but\narcheology delves and demonstrates. Some of these demonstrations will be\nseen in the contents of the following pages. We say _some_: for if all\nthe evidence from the realm of archeology were massed into one great\nvolume, no derrick ever built by man could lift its tremendous bulk and\nweight. In such a work as this one we are handicapped and embarrassed,\nnot by the paucity of evidence, but rather by its over-abundance.\n\n\n Plate 1\n\n [Illustration: Egyptians at a wine orgy]\n\n [Illustration: Crude hieroglyphics on an ancient statue. Depicting\n the early development of art and writing]\n\nIt shall be the purpose of the following pages to cull and summarize\nsome of the striking facts of archeology, which demonstrate beyond\nquestion that the Book which men call the Bible is historically\ncredible, scientifically accurate, and has been derived by inspiration\nfrom the Spirit of God.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n The Tides of Culture\n\n\nIn almost every branch of this fascinating science, archeology has been\nthe handmaid of revelation. Even more, it has acted as a beacon to\nilluminate the pathway to God, which men call the Bible. The problem of\nthe antiquity and culture of man was the battleground of infidelity\nwhich the skeptical chose to demonstrate the fallacy of the Bible\u2019s\nclaims to supernatural origin.\n\nIf it can be proved by the aid of science that the human race is older\nthan is implied by the Genesis account of creation, and if it can be\nshown that man has ascended from a dim and brutish ancestry, instead of\nbeing created perfect by the hand of God, the foundation would\nadmittedly be swept from beneath the Scripture, and the entire structure\nof revelation collapses. However, this unwarranted attempt to confuse\nthe issue and refute the Scripture, is manifestly unfair to science. It\nis not too much to say that this is a debasing of the highest labors of\nhuman mentality. Research, in the exact sense of the word, cannot be\nused legitimately to establish a pet theory to which the advocate clings\nwithout regard to evidence in the case. The attempt to demonstrate the\norganic evolution of man belongs in the realm of philosophy and not of\nscience. The work of science is the correlation of facts. The sphere of\nphilosophy is the interpretation of facts. In all of this controversy,\nwe are not debating the facts of humanity, but are at odds concerning\nthe application of those facts. The real issue then is not the\n_antiquity_ of man, but the _origin_ of man!\n\nIn the hope of obscuring the manner of origin, the enemy of our faith\nhas sought to raise the dust storm of antiquity. It is here more than\nanywhere else, that archeology has been such a tremendous aid to the\nestablishment of the truth. This science has demonstrated the premise of\nthe Scripture, namely, the fixity and origin of our species. As far back\nas the spade has been able to thrust the history of humanity, we find\nthe same types and varieties of the human family that exist upon the\nearth today. Since we are covering this problem of antiquity and origin\nin the sixth volume of this series, we will hasten on with this brief\nstatement of the issue involved. We will later show that all of the\nstatements made in the text of the Scripture concerning the degeneration\nand moral collapse of humanity have been abundantly demonstrated in the\nrealm of archeology. Further, the claims that we make as to the\nhistoricity of the Bible can be demonstrated satisfactorily in one\nsingle field; namely, the recording of the story of man and the care\nused by the Scripture writers in the exactness of their statements. In\nthis display of historical accuracy, the writers of the Bible have\nincidentally repudiated the entire philosophy of organic evolution. It\nis not too much to say that no single evidence derived in the entire\nrealm and history of archeology has sustained the theory of organic\nevolution. Remember that we are dealing specifically with evidence. If\nthe evidence is rightly interpreted and honestly implied, item by item\nand in the aggregate mass, it refutes the entire fallacy of this weird\nphilosophy.\n\nSince it deals with the realm of human history, archeology is the final\nvoice as to the antiquity and culture of man. No race of man has ever\nlived upon the face of this earth and failed to leave some relics or\nevidences of its existence and culture.\n\nThe science of anthropology postulates the beginning of the human family\nsomewhere in Mesopotamia. The Bible is a little more specific, in that\nit states that it was in that portion of Mesopotamia which lies between\nthe two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The oldest relics of man,\nhowever, are not found in Mesopotamia. This is due to the climatic\nconditions in certain parts of that ancient land. The rainfall is heavy.\nWe have ourselves suffered great inconvenience, delay, and loss by being\nisolated from our objective in Mesopotamia by floods that filled the\nwadies and gullies and made travel impossible. Also, the outlying\ncountry is underlaid to a great extent by water. When excavators dig but\na short way into the strata of that land, they are handicapped and\nhindered by seepage. Because of this excess moisture, some of the oldest\nrelics of our race have been destroyed by the ravages of time and the\npower of the elements.\n\nThe situation in Egypt, however, is quite the opposite. In most of that\nland there is no rain and in no part of that bleak country do we\nexperience frost. The climate is dry to the utmost extreme, and the soil\nis largely sand. Due to this natural condition, the oldest records of\nthe human race are found in Egypt. The oldest records of man and the\nmost complete records so far recovered of his early existence have been\npreserved for us by this combination of climate and soil. Since the\nEgyptians buried in sand or in stone tombs, the deposits being protected\nfrom the elements, man was the only destroyer. Even though there has\nbeen a sad record of vandalism, as ruthless hands of the ignorant have\ndespoiled magnificent tombs of priceless records and information, there\nis much that remained undisturbed. The people of Egypt built for\nendurance. The mighty pyramids, from Sakkara to the Great Pyramid; the\nColossi at Luxor and the awe-inspiring ruins of Karnak, are present\nevidences of the durability of their labors. (See plates 2, 3 and 4.)\nBecause of the strange beliefs concerning the life after death, these\npeople also buried for eternity. We shall later consider, in the light\nof their customs and religious practices, the tremendous value that\nmodern civilization has derived from this ancient fact. We have\nmentioned this fact now merely to note that the greatest treasure trove\nof preserved antiquity is found in the land of Egypt.\n\n\n Plate 2\n\n [Illustration: Magnificent example of embellished statue, conveying\n the name, hopes, and some of the record of an early ruler]\n\n [Illustration: Colossi at Luxor]\n\n [Illustration: The Sheltered Wife]\n\nStrangely, in view of the consistent demands of the evolutionary school,\nwe find no evidence of human evolution in the land of Egypt. More than\nthis, the doctrine that man began with a brutish intellect and gradually\ndeveloped his high and peculiar culture, is refuted by the evidences\nfrom this country. In fact, the contrary is strikingly the case. Instead\nof proving a process of evolution, the history of man as found in the\narcheology of Egypt is a consistent record of degeneration.\n\nThe eminent Sayce, one of the ablest archeologists in the whole history\nof that great science, expressed his wonder and amazement at the high\nstage of culture met with in the very earliest records of the Egyptian\npeople. Other authorities, such as Baikie, have written voluminously\nupon this subject. It had been hoped that when excavators finally\nreached undisturbed tombs of the first dynasty, they would find\nthemselves in the dawn of Egyptian culture. It was our fortunate\nprivilege to be at Sakkara a year ago when the first complete and\nunmolested tombs of the first dynasty were uncovered. It was our\nprivilege to keep a close check and watch upon all that was done at that\ntime, and the conclusions and postulations of hopeful theorists were\nutterly shattered in such discoveries as were made.\n\nIndeed, we can no longer start Egyptian culture with the beginning of\nthe dynastic ages. Through the first tombs, we peer back into an older\npreceding culture that dazzles and amazes the human understanding.\nInstead of finding the dawn of a developing humanity, we see mankind\nalready in the high noon of cultural accomplishments. Instead of nomadic\ndwellers in shaggy tents, we look upon works of enduring stone. Instead\nof brutish, Egyptian ancestral artifacts, we find a pottery culture that\nis really superb. It almost seems that the farther back we go into\nEgyptian antiquity, the more perfect was their culture and learning. The\nart of writing was the common possession of the Egyptian in the\npre-dynastic period.\n\nIt is true that there was a so-called stone age in Egypt, which preceded\nthe first dynasty. We are showing here, however, a photograph of one of\nthe most ancient open burials ever discovered in Egypt. This is\naccompanied by various heads of mummies, to show the state of\npreservation. (See Plate 5.) Before the art of embalming was invented\nand the dead were mummified, they were buried by intrusion in the dry\nsands. You will note the perfection of the culture of this people as\ndepicted by the pottery undisturbed in this grave. In contrast to this\ntype of burial, the mummies shown in this same plate are no better\npreserved than the earlier burial. Indeed, there is no evidence to show\nthat these cultures were consecutive rather than contemporary. In\nvarious sections of Egypt it is quite probable that different burial\ncustoms prevailed simultaneously, and it is a pure speculation to say\nthat the more primitive type of burial is ages older than the advanced\nstyle.\n\nThere are many anomalies and mysteries in this so-called stone age in\nEgypt. In the museum at Cairo there will be found some of the most\nremarkable specimens of stone flaking to be seen on the face of this\nearth. Others may be seen in the British Museum, in the various exhibits\nof Egyptian culture. One of these knives is equipped with two points,\nand all of them are equally sharpened on both edges. In the author\u2019s own\ngatherings from the various stone cultures of mankind, there are\nsomething over 25,000 artifacts. We have seen every important collection\nof stone implements in the present world, but these specimens from\nancient Egypt are unquestionably the most magnificent types of stone\nculture we have ever been privileged to observe.\n\nThe significant and startling fact is that these stone knives have\nhandles of beaten gold. At once we are impressed with the anomalous fact\nthat the stone age was thus synonymous with an age of metal.\nFurthermore, it was an artistic age. The golden handles on these stone\nweapons are engraved with scenes common to the life of the people. On\none side of the stone dagger with the double points, there is a sailing\nvessel typical of the pleasure craft that were common to all ages of\nEgyptian life. On the raised deck of this boat, dancing maidens were\nentertaining the circle of spectators. This work was not crude and\nbrutish, but showed a high development of the engraver\u2019s art. The\nreverse side of the handle was even more interesting in that it\ncontained, in beautifully incised characters, the cult sign of the\nowner.\n\nHere is, indeed, a weird super-imposition of ages and cultures. The body\nof the weapon is of a stone age; the handle of the weapon is of an age\nof metal; the engravings upon that metal show an age of art and the\npossession of written characters. There is no comfort for the\nevolutionary hypothesis in the antiquity of Egypt. The contrary rather\nis the case. There is a strange tide sweeping through the record,\nportraying an ebb and flow of culture that is fascinating to observe.\n\nThe culture of Egypt starts on a magnificently high level and is later\nreduced to a tremendous degree by a consistent record of degeneration.\nIt might be said that by the end of the fourth dynasty, the people had\nreached the high peak of Egyptian art and learning. But after the sixth\ndynasty had well begun, a definite decline and retrogression had set in.\nWe find ourselves then groping in a dark age wherein were no arts and no\nwritten history. No great monuments come from that period, and no great\nbuildings were begun, repaired, or finished. Writing became extremely\nscarce and in many sections of the land the art seems to have been\ncompletely forgotten. As in the dark ages of medieval Europe, learning\nwas in eclipse and the mental life of man degenerated. Just when the\nrenaissance began, it is impossible to say, but in the eleventh dynasty\nwe are suddenly back into the light again.\n\nEgypt emerges from those dark ages, ruled by powerful feudal lords, with\nthe pharaohs appearing to be mere figure-heads. These great barons left\nvoluminous records, which depict their conquests and their powers, and\ntell of their own individual greatness. They constructed magnificent\ntombs for their eternal rest, and the land blossomed culturally under\ntheir dominion.\n\nThese conditions prevailed until the coming of the Hyksos dynasty. These\nconquering kings were of Semitic origin and they seem to have come from\nthe region of Ur. After this conquest, Egypt suddenly became an\nunlimited monarchy. The great lords became landless, stripped of their\npower and robbed of all authority. The people literally passed into the\npossession of the crown, and Egypt became a nation of slaves who owed\ntheir very existence to the royal head of the government. The reason for\nthis change will be made manifest later in this present work. We are now\ninterested only in presenting these strange cycles of culture as shown\nby archeology.\n\nIt would take many volumes to give a detailed picture of the early\ngolden age in Egypt. As an illustration of the art and development of\nthat culture, we refer the reader to the tomb of a court official at the\ndawn of the sixth dynasty. Buried with this minor official were certain\nsmall wooden effigies depicting customs, trades, and tools of his day.\nThere were porters laden with their heavy burdens. There were scribes\nbearing stylus and plaque. Certain tradesmen were found in these\nbrilliant statuettes, each man\u2019s craft being shown by the tools that he\ncarried in his hand. Priests appeared clad in their pontifical robes.\nPerhaps the most interesting of all were the statuettes of candy\nvendors, each man equipped with his tray of sweets, and a horsehair tail\nwherewith to fan the flies. Some of these statues were so perfect in\ntheir execution that the eminent Phidias might well have envied their\nperfection. When we compare this art and culture with the so-called\npictures of brutish cave-dwellers, we have one more failure in the\ncollapsing chain of evidences that was supposed to show man\u2019s constantly\nadvancing culture.\n\nWe might also give, by way of illustration, the magnificent statue of\nKephren. This memorial was exquisitely carved from stone so hard that it\nwould blunt most modern tools. Kephren constructed one of the pyramids\nat Giza. This latter work was notable in that there were evidences that\nsome of the stones had been cut with what appeared to be tubular drills.\nSince this is possible in our modern culture with the use of\ndiamond-pointed instruments, there is food for considerable thought and\nspeculation as to the culture and learning of Kephren\u2019s age! As a\ngeneral statement, it is not too much to say that the farther back we go\ninto Egyptian antiquity, the more perfect the arts and culture in\ngeneral seem to be.\n\nWhen we compare, for instance, the brilliant workmanship of the\npriceless pectoral of the daughter of Usertesen (or Usertsen) with the\ncrude and amateurish workmanship of the jewelry of the later queen\nAbhotep, it is evident that the centuries brought retrogression. The\nreign of Usertesen may be correlated with the early period of the\npatriarchal age, which fact has an important bearing upon our study. The\nhopeful critics of the Book of Genesis have postulated for the age of\nAbraham a barbaric lack of culture comparable to the nomadic tribes of\nArabia in the Middle Ages. We now see, however, that the entire age of\nthe patriarchs was a period of exquisite culture and high learning. To\nrefer again to Usertsen, he seems to have been a capable strategist, and\nhis system of working out his plan of battle was something like the game\nof chess. His artists had made for him models of the various kinds of\nsoldiers that made up his variegated corps. The bowmen were armed with\nexquisite miniature weapons that had, to our delight and wonder, been\npreserved against all the passing centuries. The black troops that he\nused, of whatever origin, were carved from a wood like our ebony, and\nthe tiny features were negroid in faithful representation of the\ndifference between the races of men employed in his army. These model\nsoldiers could be moved about a board which depicted the terrain of\nbattle, and his strategy thus wrought out. Our present point, however,\nis the artistic perfection of the models of the soldiers that he used.\nThe art of his age was as nearly perfect as one could wish.\n\nThen there came another cycle of retrogression and decay which climaxed\nin a period of cultural darkness that reigned too long over that ancient\npeople. It is highly significant, for instance, that the best glass of\nEgypt is dug from the more ancient sites. There came a time when the art\nof making glass was forgotten by the people of Egypt and had later to be\nrediscovered by other races.\n\nIf there is one voice that can be heard in archeology, and one lesson\nthat can be specifically learned, it is the certainty of the fallacy of\nthe theory of evolution. Egypt, as elsewhere, shows us no dim, brutish\nbeginning, but a startling emergence of this people in a high degree of\nculture. No gradual ascent up the ladder of learning, but cycles of\nretrogression and advancement, followed by decay: then a new dawning of\nart and science. The entire record of archeology is thus a complete\nvindication of the premise and basic contention of the inspired record\nof God\u2019s Word. No greater voice may be heard in our day than this\ndefinite, adamant cry from Egypt, which depicts cycles of culture that\nbegin with a crest of learning. It must not be presumed that this\ncondition is unique in Egypt, or peculiar to any one race or country.\nThe same queer discrepancy between the fallacious theories of the\nphilosophy of organic evolution and the facts of human history is\nobserved wherever archeology has been able to hold the torch of\ndiscovery over a given area.\n\nWe have illustrated, for instance, in Plates Number 6 and 7, one of the\nmost interesting of the exhibits in the British Museum. This is a stone\nweapon from the archaic ages of the Chaldeans. It consists of a mace\nhead, made of limestone. Incidentally, this was a very common type of\nweapon among those people in their warlike culture. The particular one\nthat is illustrated is typical of its time. Note that it is a STONE AGE\nWEAPON.\n\nA note of wonder is caused in our inquiring minds by the odd and utterly\nincompatible fact that it is engraved clearly in high relief, thus\ntestifying to the fact that in the archaic stone age of Babylon, men who\nwrought in a time when the evolutionary advocates demand a dim and\nbrutish stage of development were already gifted in the art of\nsculpture!\n\nTo complicate the case still further, they were possessed as well with a\nhighly developed written language! Their stone implements are in some\ninstances crude, as they did not spend time polishing and decorating\nrude tools that were used for a base purpose. Others of their artifacts,\nlike this stone mace head, are not only covered with finely sculptured\nfigures but are also inscribed with written characters that are clear\nand well executed. A \u201cstone age\u201d with a written culture, scholars, and\nbooks, is an anomaly, indeed!\n\nWhere, then, in the light of these archeological facts, is the evidence\nof the slow development of the human mentality and the emergence of\nprimitive man from his \u201cbrutish\u201d state? Unfortunately for the\nhigh-priests of the dying sect of organic evolution, the science which\ndelineates the true condition of ancient races offers them no help or\nproof whatever. The opposite is the case in archeology, as _all_ the\nevidence that has come to us from the honest attempt to see man as he\nwas, and not as he was reported to have been, has proved conclusively\nthat organic evolution is a false religion. It is inevitable that this\nfact should some day come to light; for although it may be that science\nmoves with leaden feet, when it does finally overtake error, it smites\nwith an iron fist!\n\nThus the false theory that man has struggled upward from a valley of\nbrutish darkness is refuted by archeology, and the premise of specific\ncreation, as set forth in the Bible, is established by the discoveries\nin the realm of this science. In every land that man has occupied for a\nlong period of time, the tide of culture has ebbed and flowed from that\nhour to this present moment of writing. Just as the night follows the\nday, and the next day dawns only to be succeeded by the darkness in\nturn, so the learning and progress of man has been a cycle, rather than\na steady climb up a ladder of learning, from level to level, until the\nheights of present civilization were reached. The old error must now be\nabandoned, or else we must close our eyes to the entire record of\narcheological discovery, and frankly confess that we are not interested\nin facts which refute erroneous, but accepted theories.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER III\n Converging Streams\n\n\nIn a systematic presentation of the evidences in the field of Christian\napologetics, it is necessary to review the Egyptian and Chaldean records\nas they bear upon the text of the Scripture, and illumine its meaning.\nFor it is here that the streams of History and Revelation converge, to\ncontinue their flow in mingled harmony throughout all the centuries\nwhich follow this original conjunction.\n\nIn the very nature of the case we would not expect direct archeological\nconfirmation of a great deal of the earlier portions of the Old\nTestament. The record of creation which was handed down from Adam to\neach generation delineated an event which was not witnessed by any human\nbeing. As has been very clearly shown in the illuminating book, \u201cNew\nDiscoveries in Babylonia about Genesis,\u201d by P. J. Wiseman, this record\nwas undoubtedly preserved in a written form from the very time of Adam\nhimself.\n\n [Illustration: Khnum and Thoth in Creation Tradition.]\n\nThe events of the Garden of Eden and the subsequent history are not such\nas would leave archeological material for the exact enlightenment of\nlater generations. There is, however, a manner in which the study of\nantiquity can bring a tremendous light to shine upon the dark problem of\nthe credibility of these records. It is generally conceded by\nethnologists that when races of people hold a strongly developed idea or\nbelief, in common, there must have been an historical incident as the\nbasis of that universal tradition. Thus, among the very earliest\ntraditions of ancient Egypt, there is a record of the creation of man\nthat bears a valuable relationship to the account in Genesis.\n\nThe Mosaic record states that God stooped and created the body of man\nout of the dust of the earth. Life was imparted to that body by the very\nbreath of God.\n\nThe earliest Egyptian record recounts how the god Khnum took a slab of\nmud, and placing it upon his potter\u2019s wheel, moulded it into the\nphysical form of the first man. The illustration facing this page shows\nthe entire process, with Thoth standing behind Khnum, and marking the\nspan of man\u2019s years upon a notched branch. Here then is a coincidence of\ntraditional belief in the manner of creation of man that is of\ntremendous significance.\n\nWe also note that the earliest records of Sumeria have this same\nincidental bearing upon certain portions of the Old Testament text.\n\n_All_ of the records of antiquity begin the history of man in a garden.\nThis is of considerable significance in view of the account of Eden that\nis so prominently given in the record of Genesis.\n\nAmong the seals to which we shall occasionally refer and which are shown\nin Plate 8, there is one from an early period in Sumeria from which we\nhave derived considerable understanding of Sumerian beliefs. This seal\nshows Adam and Eve on opposite sides of the tree of the knowledge of\ngood and evil, and can be nothing less than a direct reference to the\nevent that is recorded in the Book of Genesis.\n\nOne of the most constantly cited documents of antiquity, is the\nso-called Gilgamesh epic. The high antiquity of the original form in\nwhich this occurs may be seen from the fact that many of the seals that\ngo as far back as the year 3,000 B. C. are made of illustrations of the\nvarious episodes that are contained in this valuable document. The\noriginal home of Gilgamesh seems to have been at Erech. The city was\nevidently besieged by an army led by Gilgamesh, who, after a three-year\nwar, became the king of the city. So harsh was the despotic rule of the\nconquering monarch that the people petitioned the goddess Aruru to\ncreate a being strong enough to overthrow Gilgamesh and release them\nfrom his sway.\n\nSome of the gods joined in with this prayer and as a result a mythical\nbeing, partly divine, partly human, and partly animal, was created and\ndispatched to Erech for the destruction of Gilgamesh. This composite\nhero bears a great many different names, but the earliest accepted form\nin the Babylonian account was Enkedu. Gilgamesh, learning that an enemy\nhad been created for his destruction, exercised craft and lured Enkedu\nto the city of Erech. The two became fast friends and set out finally to\ndo battle with a mighty giant named Khumbaba. When they arrived at his\ncastle, they besieged and captured the stronghold of the giant, whom\nthey slew. They carried off his head as a trophy and returned to Erech\nto celebrate their victory.\n\nThe plan of the gods being thus frustrated, the goddess Ishtar besought\nher father Anu to create a mighty bull to destroy Gilgamesh. The bull\nbeing formed and dispatched upon its duty, also failed of its purpose\nwhen Enkedu and Gilgamesh vanquished the animal after a tremendous\nbattle. And so on, the story goes with episode after episode,\nculminating with a crisis in the account of the deluge.\n\nIn this climax, in a notable and fascinating manner, we see again the\ncoincidence of tradition with a record of the Scripture. In the\nBabylonian account of the deluge, every major premise of the Mosaic\nrecord is sustained in its entirety. The Gilgamesh account tells of the\nheavenly warning, it depicts the gathering of material and the building\nof an ark. In the ark was safely carried the hero, his wife and his\nfamily with certain beasts of the earth for seed. The ark of the\nGilgamesh episode was made water tight with bitumen exactly as was the\nark of Noah in the record in the Book of Genesis. Entering this ark, the\nBabylonian account tells how the boat came under the direct supervision\nof the gods. On the same night a mighty torrent fell out of the skies.\nThe cloudburst continued for six days and nights, until the tops of the\nmountains were covered. The sea arose out of its banks and helped to\noverflow the land. After the seventh day, the storm abated and the sea\ndecreased. By that time, however, the whole human race had been\ndestroyed with the exception of the little company who had been within\nthe Babylonian ark.\n\nThe ark of Babylon grounded in that portion of the ancient world known\nas Armenia, the Hebrew name of which is Ararat. Seven days after the\nlanding of the ark, the imprisoned remnant sent forth a dove. When she\nfound no place to light and rest, the dove returned to the ship. They\nwaited a short while and then sent forth a swallow. The swallow also\nreturned, wearied from a long flight, and several more days were allowed\nto elapse. The next attempt to discover the condition of the earth by\nthe imprisoned remnant resulted in the sending forth of a raven. The\nbird returned and approached the ark, but refused to re-enter the ship.\nThe remnant knew then that the flood was ended. They accordingly went\nforth with all the redeemed life, and celebrated their preservation by\noffering up sacrifices to the gods upon the mountains.\n\nThe goddess Ishtar was so pleased with the sacrifice of the godly\nremnant that she hung in the heavens a great bow, which Anu, the father\nof the gods, had made for the occasion. She swore by the sacred\nornaments that hung about her neck that mankind should not again be\ndestroyed by a flood, and this heavenly bow was the sign of that\ncovenant.\n\nThe incidental details which are found in this hoary manuscript coincide\ntoo closely with the record of Genesis to admit of coincidence.\nArcheology has brought no stronger testimony to the historicity of the\nMosaic record of the deluge than this great account in the Gilgamesh\nepic, although interspersed with mythological characters and deviating\nfrom the simplicity of the Genesis account.\n\nOne of the most valuable publications of the British Museum is their\nmonograph on the Gilgamesh legend, which contains a fine and scholarly\ntranslation of the deluge tablet in an unabridged form. Our own copy of\nthis publication has been of great value to many students who have\nsought its aid in their detailed studies of the Old Testament.\n\nAnother one of the disputed portions of the Old Testament text which\nbrought great comfort to the habitually hopeful among the destructive\ncritics, is that section of Genesis which deals with the record of\nNimrod and the tower of Babel.\n\nModern archeology not only has failed to bring any aid to the critics in\nthis particular incident, but has robbed them of all their carefully\nerected structure of argument which was predicated upon the assumption\nthat the tower of Babel was entirely mythological. Among the recent\nexcavations in Mesopotamia was the work in the region which bore the\noriental name of Birs-nimroud. When the excavators had finished their\nenormous task, they had laid bare a magnificent ziggurat of tremendous\nantiquity which was the largest so far discovered. At the time these\nruins were first seen, this enormous tower covered an area of 1,444,000\nsquare feet. It towered to the height of a bit more than 700 feet. Time\nhas, of course, ravished this monument to some extent, but enough of its\ngrandeur and glory remains to show it forth as the most ancient as well\nas the most magnificent of the Babylonian ziggurats.\n\nAccording to the description given by Herodotus, in the middle of the\nfifth century, B. C., the structure then consisted of a series of eight\nascending towers, each one recessed in the modern fashion of\ncutting-back that is used in certain types of sky-scraper architecture.\nThe famous Step Pyramid at Sakkara is another ancient example of this\ntype of structure, each successive and higher tower being smaller than\nthe one upon which it rests. A spiral roadway, according to Herodotus,\nwent around the entire ziggurat, mounting rapidly from level to level.\nHe states that at each level a resting place was provided in this spiral\nroadway. At the top of the structure was a magnificent temple in which\nthe religious exercises of the day were observed.\n\nThat this was the tower of Nimrod is generally accepted by the\nauthorities of our present day. The name of Nimrod which in the Sumerian\nideographs is read \u201cNi-mir-rud\u201d is found on a number of artifacts and\nrecords of high antiquity, and reference is made as well to the great\nmonument that he built.\n\nSo as we _read_ our way through the episodes which constitute the\nearlier records of Genesis, we also _dig_ our way into the older strata\nof humanity and find ourselves walking hand in hand with the twins of\nrevelation and scientific vindication! They coincide in all their\nutterances, teaching us that all that the Word of God has to say to men\nmay be accepted without question or doubt.\n\nThe late Melvin Grove Kyle has written extensively of his own researches\nat Sodom and Gomorrah, so that it is unnecessary to recapitulate the\nresults of his lifetime of labor. The sulphurous overburden and the\nstartling confirmation of the Book of Genesis derived from the work of\nDr. Kyle and his associates would vindicate the Scriptural claims to\nhistorical accuracy even if they stood by themselves.\n\nIn the general argument and discussion that long has clustered about the\nrecord of Abraham, the starting point of critical refutation has\ngenerally been the fourteenth chapter of Genesis. It is stated that the\nbattle of the kings that occurred in this disputed portion of Holy Writ,\nwas in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar. Since a contemporary is\nnamed as Ched-or-la-o-mer, a storm of argument has swept over and about\nthat one opening verse of this important chapter. The allies of\nChed-or-la-o-mer are well known from his own records, and Amraphel was\nnot to be found among them. It was a tremendous blow to criticism when\nthe discovery was made that Amraphel is the Hebrew name of the Sumerian\nform, Khammurabi.\n\n\n Plate 3\n\n [Illustration: Colossi of Karnak]\n\n [Illustration: Colossi of Luxor]\n\n\n Plate 4\n\n [Illustration: Colossi of Amen-Hetep III guarding Valley of the\n Kings]\n\n [Illustration: At tomb of Tutanhkamen, in the Valley of Kings]\n\nThe brilliant ability of this mighty ruler is one of the high points of\nfar antiquity. The king-lists of antiquity, derived from many sources,\nwere compiled by order of several of the kings of Assyria and constitute\nanother of the many valuable records to be found in the British Museum.\nA recent publication of the Museum entitled \u201cThe Annals of the Kings of\nAssyria\u201d is well worth many times the price of one pound sterling which\nis demanded for the volume. This scholarly and brilliant piece of work\ncontains the original Assyrian text transliterated and translated with\nhistorical data that the careful scholar cannot be without. It settles\nthe question of Khammurabi. This Khammurabi, whom we shall now call by\nhis Hebrew name Amraphel, has left us a long series of tablets,\nmonuments, letters, and a code of laws which stands engraved upon a\ngreat monument preserved also in the British Museum.\n\nIt is a long way back to that twentieth century before Christ, but\nneither time nor distance prevents our hearing the clamoring voices of\nmen long dead, who shout to us their vindication of the nature,\ncharacter, and integrity of these testimonies which are the Word of God!\n\nIt is a matter of common knowledge in our day that the word, or name,\npharaoh, may be applied either to a person or to an office. Exactly as\nour modern word \u201cpresident\u201d may be applied to the function of the\noffice, or to the possessor of it in person, so the ruler of Egypt could\nbe known simply as The Pharaoh, or shorter still, as Pharaoh. As every\npresident, emperor or king, however, has his own proper name, so each\npharaoh also is designated by his personal name. Fortunately for our\npurpose, many pharaohs are mentioned in the pages of Holy Writ under the\nclear identification of their proper names. Many of them, however, are\nnot identified by their personal name but are referred to only by the\ntitle of their kingly office. Thus, for instance, the pharaoh of the\nExodus is not named personally in the text. Such attempts at\nidentification of this pharaoh as are made, must be made from external\nsources. However, there can be no question of the identity of the rulers\nof Egypt, who are specifically named in the Word of God. Such men as the\nPharaoh Shishak, the Pharaoh Zera and the Pharaoh So, are identified\nbeyond any possibility of question.\n\nIt is a happy circumstance for the student of apologetics that each of\nthe pharaohs who is so named in person by the writers of the Bible, has\nbeen discovered and identified in the records of archeology. No more\nemphatic voice as to the credibility and the infallible nature of the\nhistorical sections of the Scripture can be heard than that which is\nformed by the chorus of these pharaohs.\n\nTo note the background of this record, may we remind the reader that in\nearly times, Egypt was a divided kingdom. It was known as Upper Egypt\nand Lower Egypt, and a separate monarch reigned over each section. It\nhappens that in the period of the divided kingdom, there were fourteen\ndynasties in each section of the land. The Egyptian, like all Eastern\npeople, highly prized ancestral antiquity. The farther back into\nantiquity a man\u2019s family could be traced in his genealogy, the more the\nhonour that accrued to him. We are not without modern counterparts, even\nin our present democracy.\n\nTherefore, when the two kingdoms were united, the first kings of the\nunited kingdom added together the fourteen dynasties of Upper and Lower\nEgypt, making them consecutive instead of contiguous. Thus they built a\nspurious antiquity of twenty-eight dynasties to enhance their greatness.\n\nThe earlier archeologists fell into this trap, and consequently erected\nan antiquity phantom which obscured the problem of chronology for some\nconsiderable time. When it was discovered that these dynasties were\nconcurrent, a great deal of the fallacious antiquity of Egypt was\nabandoned. This fictional antiquity, which doubled the factor of time\nfor that period, had been used to discredit the text of the Bible by the\ncritical scholars, so-called. Now, in the light of our present learning,\nwe find no discrepancy between the antiquity of Egypt, properly\nunderstood, and the chronology of the Scripture, when it is divorced\nfrom the errors of Ussher. Incidentally, the chronology and antiquity\ndemands of both archeology and revelation coincide beautifully with the\ndemands of sane anthropology.\n\nTo delineate this background so necessary to the proper understanding of\nthe record of the pharaohs, it is necessary to introduce the first\noccasion of the coincidence of the text of the Scripture with the land\nand the people of Egypt, as it is here that the streams of revelation\nand history begin to converge. This beginning is made, of course, in the\nflight of Abraham into Egypt at the time of a disastrous famine.\nOverlooking for the moment the reprehensible conduct of Abraham\nconcerning the denial of his wife Sarah, and the consequent\nembarrassment of the pharaoh, we digress to make a brief survey of the\nincidents that lead up to the kindness of Pharaoh to Abraham.\n\nThere had been previous Semitic invasions of Egypt. The first reason for\nthese forays, of course, was famine. Due to the unfailing inundation by\nthe river Nile, the fertile land of Egypt was a natural storehouse. The\nland of Egypt is fertile, the sun is benevolent, and wherever water\nreaches the land, amazingly prodigious crops are the inevitable result.\nSo in the ancient days, whenever there was drought in the desert\ncountries surrounding Egypt, the hungry hordes looked on the food\nsupplies of their neighboring country, and, naturally, moved in that\ndirection. Thus the pressure of want was the primary reason for these\nearly Semitic invasions.\n\nThe secondary cause was conquest. These people of antiquity were brutal\npragmatists, as are certain nations in our present Twentieth Century.\nThe theme song of antiquity undoubtedly was, \u201cI came, I saw, I\nconquered.\u201d The motive for living in those stern days seems to have\nbeen, \u201cHe takes who can, and keeps who may.\u201d\n\nThe activating motive of much past history is simply _spoils_. Here now\nis a case in point. A family of kings ruled in Syria, who counted their\nwealth by flocks and herds. Driven by a combination of circumstances,\nthey descended upon Egypt. They were pressed by the lack of forage in\ntheir own land, due to the drought, and they also lusted after the\ntreasure and wealth of the neighboring country. So, without need for any\nother excuse, they descended with their armed hordes and conquered\nEgypt. There they ruled, established a dynasty and possessed the land\nfor themselves. Since their principal possessions were their flocks and\nherds, they were known as the Shepherd Kings. They have come down in\nhistory as the Hyksos Dynasty. They unified Syria and Egypt, and it is\nintriguing to study the development of this unification as that process\nis seen in the pottery of that period. The work of Egyptian artisans\nbegan to take on certain characteristics of Syrian culture until,\nfinally, the characteristic Egyptian line and decoration disappeared and\nthe pottery became purely Syrian. The Shepherd Kings established\ncommerce between the two halves of their empire and prosperity followed\ntheir conquest. These kings imported artists from their native Syria,\ntogether with musicians and dancers innumerable.\n\nThis intrusion of a foreign culture so changed the standards of Egypt\nthat for generations the ideal of beauty was a Syrian ideal. Later, when\nthe Syrian kings were expelled by Tahutmas the 2nd, the situation was\nreversed and Egypt, now governed by an Egyptian, kept Syria as her share\nof the spoils.\n\nFour hundred years later another Semitic invasion swept over the land\nfrom Ur. It is quite probable that these conquerors were Sumerians. They\nestablished the sixteenth dynasty and brought with them also their\ntreasure in the form of livestock. Thus, when Abraham entered Egypt, he\nfound that it was ruled by his relatives! Thus we have an explanation of\nthe cordial welcome that a Sumerian from Ur received from a pharaoh in\nEgypt. This contact is well established through the arts of that day, by\npottery, by frescoes, and by means of the records of ancient customs. We\nknow these things to be facts.\n\nSo when we read of the record of Abraham, we have at our disposal a vast\nand overwhelming source of evidence as to the credibility of this\nsection of the record. The statements that are made in Genesis could\nhave been written only by one who was intimately familiar with the Egypt\nof that day and time.\n\nThe second contact of Egypt and the Genesis record is found in the\nexperience of Joseph. Although harsh and unkind, the action of the\nbrothers in selling the youngest into slavery was perfectly legal under\nthe code of that day. The younger brethren were all subject to the\nelders, and the law of primogeniture gave to the elder almost unlimited\npower over the life of the younger. The brutality and envy of this act\nare far from unparalleled in the secular records of that day. Nor was\nJoseph\u2019s phenomenal rise to power unusual in the strange culture of that\nday and time. We must remember that Joseph was a Semite at a Semitic\ncourt. There is an unconscious introduction of a collateral fact in the\nsimple statement of Genesis, chapter thirty-nine, verse one. After being\ntold that Joseph was sold to a man named Potiphar, the statement is made\nthat Potiphar was an Egyptian.\n\nAt first thought it would seem to be expected that a trusted officer in\nthe court of a pharaoh would naturally be an Egyptian. The contrary is\nthe case here, however. The pharaoh himself being an invader, he had\nsurrounded himself with trusted men of his own race and family. As far\nas may now be ascertained, Potiphar was the only Egyptian who had\npreserved his life and kept his place at the court. He seems to have\nbeen the chief officer of the bodyguard of Pharaoh, and as such was\nentrusted with the dubious honor of executing the Pharaoh\u2019s personal\nenemies. This, then, is a simple and passing statement that gives us an\nunexpected means of checking the scrupulous accuracy of the Genesis\nrecord.\n\nJoseph was comely, attractive, and faithful. With an optimistic\nacceptance of his unfortunate circumstances, which seem much harder to\nus in our enlightened generation than would actually be the case to one\naccustomed to such vicissitudes of fortune, he set himself to serve with\nfidelity and industry. But above all this, the blessing of God rested\nupon him and upon all that he did. Since he was in the line of the\npromised Seed, and was under the direct blessing of that promise, it was\ninevitable that he should prosper.\n\nThere is a flood of illumination that shines upon this period from the\nfrescoed tombs, the ancient papyri, and the records crudely inscribed\nupon walls and pillars. Particularly is this true of the entire section\nof Genesis that begins with the fortieth chapter and continues to the\nend of that Book.\n\n\n Plate 5\n\n [Illustration: {open burial}]\n\n [Illustration: {open burial}]\n\n [Illustration: {open burial}]\n\n [Illustration: Open burial lower left]\n\n [Illustration: Another mural from an ancient tomb: butchers at work]\n\n [Illustration: The god Hapi drawing the Two Kingdoms into one]\n\nAmong the quaint frescoes of antiquity, there is one that has no word of\nexplanation. There are many such murals in Egyptian tombs, and the\ncattle also figure often in the pictures on the papyri. (See Plate 9.)\nThis fresco, however, was quite unique. Across the scene there parade\nfourteen cattle. The first seven are round, fat and in fine condition.\nThey are followed by seven of the skinniest cows that ever ambled on\nfour legs! No word of explanation is needed to clarify this scene for\nthose who are familiar with the history of that time.\n\nThere is another mural showing the chief baker of Pharaoh, followed by\nhis servants and porters. In his hand he holds a receipt for the one\nhundred thousand loaves that were daily delivered to the palace of\nPharaoh. These \u201cloaves\u201d were in the nature of large buns.\n\nThe multiplicity of these paintings would require a volume to delineate\ncarefully, but there is information here that cannot be passed over in\nsilence. They bring to us the solution of one of those mysteries of\nEgyptian history, which is found in the collapse of the feudal system\nand the consequent complete possession of the land by the crown. We can\nnow read from the secular evidences thus derived, that in a time of\nplenty a trusted lieutenant of the king built granaries to store the\nsurplus left over from the time of plenty. Of course, to our enlightened\ntimes or in the culture of this generation, that is the height of\nignorance. The proper thing to do in a time plenty is to _destroy_ the\nsurplus and plow under the excess. We sometimes wonder what would have\nhappened in Egypt if our modern culture had prevailed in the seven years\nof plenty, in the light of the famine that followed!\n\nWe now find that when the whole land hungered, the lords ceded their\nreal estate to the crown for grain to keep themselves and their families\nalive. The people sold themselves to Pharaoh and became slaves, on\ncondition that he feed them as he would his cattle. When this time of\nfamine was ended, Egypt was so absolute a monarchy that Pharaoh owned\neven the bodies of those who had been his subjects.\n\nAs an illuminating collateral incident, we now learn that a Sumerian\nname was given to Joseph, the trusted lieutenant. To him was accorded\nthe title \u201cZaph-nath-pa-a-ne-ah.\u201d The Sumerian meaning is \u201cMaster of\nhidden learning,\u201d and was a title of honour and distinction which was\nconferred because of his wisdom and forethought in providing for the\nfuture. To him also was accorded the royal honour. He was to be preceded\nby a herald who called upon the people to bow down as Joseph passed by.\nHerein there comes the explanation of a slight philological difficulty\nin the text of Genesis. They have tried to make this title of honour to\nmean \u201cLittle Father.\u201d This difficulty, however, disappears when we\nunderstand that it is not a Hebrew word that is found in the text, but\nan ancient Egyptian phrase. The common form of the word is \u201cAh-brak\u201d and\nliterally it means \u201cbending the knee.\u201d The Babylonian form of the word\nis \u201cAbarakhu.\u201d In some parts of the ancient world the term \u201cAh-brak\u201d is\nstill used by cameliers to make their beasts of burden kneel to receive\ntheir load. Thus when Joseph, the master of the hidden learning, went\nabroad throughout the land the herald preceded him crying, \u201cBend the\nknee,\u201d and all the populace bowed in homage to him in acknowledgment of\nhis distinguished accomplishments.\n\nAgainst this background of understanding, we now turn our thoughts to\none of the most stirring dramas in all human history. Again there was a\nfamine in the entire land of Sumeria, and the people turned, as was\ncustomary, to the land of Egypt for succor and relief. Had this epic\nbeen invented by some literary genius of antiquity, the arrival of the\nbrothers of Joseph to buy grain for their starving clan would be deemed\none of the most melodramatic episodes ever conceived by the human mind.\nTherein we see again how God overruled the evil deed of the brethren,\nand by that very deed saved the guilty. In a time of world oppression\nand bitter famine, the family of Abraham was reunited in the shelter of\nEgypt.\n\nAs the story unfolds, we see the significance of Joseph\u2019s instructions\nto his brethren. These Semitic kings were shepherds who highly prized\ntheir flocks and herds. The Egyptians, however, despised husbandry, and\nthus the monarchs were in great distress because of the want of capable\nherdsmen. The brethren of Joseph were distantly related to the reigning\npharaoh. They were of the same race of people, and their father Abraham\nhad been a prince in that land of Sumeria. So when the pharaoh asked\nthem what their occupation was, recognizing them as distant relatives,\nthey were canny enough to reply, \u201cWe be shepherds; to sojourn in the\nland are we come.\u201d With great delight, the pharaoh employed them to be\nthe personal overseers of his treasured animals.\n\nGoshen, which consisted of two hundred square miles of fertility, and\nwas the finest province and the juiciest plum in Egypt, was turned over\nto them for a pasture! They entered into a life of comparative ease, of\nabsolute security, and of importance in the court of their day.\n\nSo there came into Egypt that group which was to constitute the spring\nthat gave rise to the historic stream of the Hebrew people. The tribes\nwere there in the persons of their founders, and the long contact of\nIsrael and Egypt began through the pressure and want occasioned by a\ntime of famine.\n\nOne further interesting and collateral evidence of the accuracy of these\nrecords is found in the various texts and sections of the Books of the\nDead, and in the records of the customs and practices of the ancient art\nof embalming. In Egypt the general rule was to allow seventy days for\nthe embalming of a dead body, the burial, and the mourning for the dead.\nBut the fiftieth chapter of Genesis dealing with the death and burial of\nJoseph tells us, in the third verse, \u201cAnd _forty_ days were fulfilled\nfor him; for so are fulfilled the days of those _which are embalmed_:\nand the Egyptians _mourned_ for him _threescore and ten days_.\u201d\n\nThese statements could be true only in the days of a Hyksos or Sumerian\ndynasty. The manner of embalming introduced by these Syrian conquerors,\nrequired forty days for the complete process and the burial. Seventy\ndays was their custom for mourning, thus making a total of one hundred\nten days. Only in these exact periods of Egyptian history could this\nrecord of Genesis be thus established and accredited.\n\nIt is a fascinating experience for the student of archeology to wend his\nway through the mass of evidence derived from these generations and now\nin the possession of the great museums of our earth. A pilgrimage begun\nin the British Museum, at London, continuing through the Egyptian Museum\nat Cairo, passing by way of Sakkara to culminate at Karnak, will enable\nthe fascinated student to read this entire book of Genesis from the\nsources of antiquity. Thus in the very beginning of the convergence of\nthe two streams, Revelation and History, we see that dead men _indeed_\ntell tales; and their stories vindicate the record of the Word of God!\n\nMuch of this evidence is, in the very nature of the case, inductive, and\nis valuable largely because of the light it sheds on dark places in the\ntext of the Scripture. The customs of the people of antiquity were in\nmany ways so different from those of our day, we have lost the\ncomprehension of their conduct that is dependent upon mutual experience.\nThere are thus certain obscurities in the pages of the Bible that have\nbaffled modern man for a long time, but which are now clearly understood\nin the light of fresh understanding of the beliefs and practices of the\ntimes that are dealt with in the Scriptures. This is by no means the\nleast of the benefits of archeological investigation.\n\nOne such field will be found in the record of the exodus of the Hebrews\nfrom Egypt, and the manner in which God shook the power of the\nconquering pharaoh and devastated Egypt for the relief of the oppressed.\nThe entire record has been repudiated point by point by the various\ncritics and the varying schools of criticism, until their limited\nopinions leave no grounds for belief in the very fact of the event\nitself. These objections, when analyzed carefully, are all predicated\nupon the personal ignorance of the individual critic concerning some\nphase of the proceedings that climaxed with the departure of Israel from\nservitude.\n\nOne of the commonest objections to the credibility of the Old Testament\nhistory was the oft-repeated assertion that though the children of\nIsrael were in bondage for a long period in Egypt and left that land in\nthe most dramatic exodus antiquity had known, there is no record from\nEgyptian sources of the people or history of Israel. Such is not now the\ncase, but had it been so this would not necessarily have diminished the\nvalue of the historical statements to be found in the record of the book\nof Exodus.\n\nVery few of the races of antiquity recorded in detail their defeats!\nCertainly no nation that prided itself upon its greatness and power ever\nsuffered a more complete overthrow than did Egypt in the redemption of\nIsrael. It is only natural to presume that they would make very little\nreference to the crushing blow that they suffered at that time. There is\neven today a strong tendency on the part of the Egyptians to hush up all\nevidence of this event as far as it is possible to do so. In the great\nEgyptian Museum at Cairo, for instance, we find a record of one of these\ntexts that does refer to the Israelites.\n\nExhibit 599 in this aforesaid Museum is a large stele in dark gray\ngranite, which is beautifully engraved on both sides. On one side there\nis an extensive inscription in which Amenophis the Third gives a\ncategorical list of his gifts and offerings for the temple of Amon. The\nother side of the stele has been appropriated by Amenpthah. He gives a\nhighly dramatic account of his battles and victories over the Libyans,\nand then alludes to the assault of Ascalon, of Gezer, and of Yanoem in\nPalestine. In the course of this later record, the inscription reads,\n\u201cIsrael is crushed. It has no more seed.\u201d\n\nIn the Egyptian Museum this exhibit is accompanied by the following\ningenious statement: \u201cThis is the sole mention of the Israelites in the\nEgyptian texts known up to the present day.\u201d\n\nThis is not exactly the truth. The Egyptian Museum itself at Cairo has a\nnumber of the tablets containing the correspondence between the Egyptian\ncourt and the kings and governors who were vassals to Egypt in Palestine\nand Syria. These communications make urgent demands upon the crown of\nEgypt for military help against the invasion of an armed horde who are\ncalled in the text, Hebiru. The word \u201cHebiru\u201d is commonly identified\nwith the modern term Hebrew.\n\nAgain, the late Director General of the Department of Antiquity of Egypt\nand the great founder of the Cairo Museum, Maspero, has left us an\ninteresting note of this monument of Menepthah. Maspero points to the\nfact that in comparison to Egypt, Chaldea and Assyria, Israel was a very\ninsignificant race. If this was true when the nation was ruled by her\ngreatest and most glorious dynasty, that of David and Solomon, it would\nbe more so when the nation consisted of a slave company lodged in a\ncorner of the delta.\n\nThe later ravages undergone by the temples of Egypt, when they suffered\nincalculable harm through the vandalism of the darker ages, makes it\nindeed extraordinary that _any_ record of those earlier times has\nremained.\n\nIn the very nature of the case, these details could not have been\ncomprehended by the scholars of the past generation, as they dealt with\ncustoms and ideas that were lost to our age. The insatiable curiosity of\nthe archeologist, combined with the care with which the Egyptians\npreserved their records, can be credited with the recovery of this lost\ninformation, the possession of which so wonderfully establishes our\nfaith in this more enlightened age.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IV\n The Ten Plagues\n\n\nThe prosecutors of the old charge of \u201cfolklore and mythology\u201d so\nconstantly directed against the faith of those who hold to the\ncredibility of our present Scripture text, found some of their keenest\nshafts in the Biblical account of the exodus from Egypt. Scrutinizing\nthe record of that notable event under the microscope of prejudice, the\ncritics claimed to have found many outstanding weaknesses in the text.\nParticularly was this so in that section of the story which dealt with\nthe plagues with which Almighty God smote the land and broke down the\nresistance of Pharaoh.\n\nThere is, therefore, a manifestation of a sardonic humor in the present\nsituation. After denying for generations that these plagues ever\noccurred, the critics now seek to rob the account of any value by their\nnew technique of acquiescence. The really modern method of discrediting\nthe Scripture is to admit that there is some truth in the record and\nthen subtly twist the meaning of the text out of all harmony with the\ngeneral plan of revelation. As a noteworthy example of this modern\ntechnique of criticism, we submit a leading article which appeared in\nthe _London Express_ of Sunday, September 6, 1936.\n\nProfessing to accept the historical record of the ten plagues, the\nwriter of this article then craftily proceeds to offer a peculiarly\nhuman and mechanistic theory to account for the disaster. In reading\nthis news item, we are at once struck by the fact that every element of\na supernatural nature is deleted from the strange series of events, and\nthe credit for the entire victory of Israel is ascribed to the human\ngenius of the man Moses. This news item appeared in the following form:\n\n THE PLAGUES OF EGYPT\n SHOW THAT MOSES ANTICIPATED BY 3,000 YEARS THE GREATEST FEAR OF MODERN\n SCIENCE\n\n Science has been inquiring into one of the greatest catastrophes that\n befell a nation\u2014the ten plagues of Egypt.\n\n They have found that modern theories are in accord with the Bible\n story.\n\n The plagues were brought upon the Egyptians by Moses in the days of\n Israel\u2019s captivity. Dr. Charles J. Brim, a New York authority on\n public health, says that Moses must have anticipated by 3,000 years\n modern science\u2019s greatest fear\u2014the use of disease germs, water\n pollution and other attacks on sanitation as war weapons\u2014in short,\n bacteriological warfare.\n\n Moses, states Dr. Brim, in addition to being the founder of the\n science of hygiene, showed that germ warfare could annihilate man and\n beast more effectively than arms and man power. With it he bent the\n mighty Egyptians to his will and thus brought about the Exodus, the\n release of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. With it he so\n undermined their man power and morale that it became impossible for\n them to face the hardships of war.\n\n The ten plagues, in their order, were:\n\n Changing the water into blood;\n The frogs;\n The lice;\n The flies;\n The murrain of cattle;\n The boils on the Egyptians;\n Hail;\n The locusts;\n The darkness;\n The death of the first-born.\n\n \u201cThe first step in this carefully planned attack,\u201d says Dr. Brim in a\n newly published book, \u201cMedicine in the Bible,\u201d \u201cwas the pollution of\n Egypt\u2019s water supply.\u201d\n\n This had two results: First, it attacked the god of Egypt\u2014the Nile;\n secondly, it sapped the very fountain of the country.\n\n Egyptian legend said that the Nile sprang from the blood of the god\n Osiris. Hence, \u201cthe waters of the Nile were turned into blood.\u201d\n\n Egypt depended on the Nile for its drinking water, on its yearly\n inundations for the irrigation of the fields.\n\n A polluted Nile was a smashing blow at the water supply and at the\n crops and cattle. Nobody could wash or drink.\n\n The fish\u2014one of the staple foods\u2014died. Frogs were forced to leave\n their natural haunts in the river banks and invaded the streets,\n fields and houses in their millions.\n\n Swarms of frogs, with no water or food, died and rotted over the\n countryside. Cartloads were burned, but not before the germs of\n pollution had time to multiply.\n\n The air became filled with the disease germs bred in this ideal\n forcing-ground. People and animals became infected.\n\n Flies descended in swarms greater than people had ever seen, bringing\n more germs with them. Cattle died in their thousands.\n\n Dust, in a naturally dusty country, became infected, spreading more\n disease and death. Nature took a turn. A terrific hailstorm shrieked\n over Egypt. The few crops that were left standing were flattened and\n destroyed. Animals were killed by the force of the hailstones. Next\n came the locusts, dropping in their millions on the fields, eating\n everything the hail had left.\n\n When they passed, a dust storm, caused probably by the hot, electrical\n wind known as the hamsin, blew up and darkened the sky for days on\n end, as sandstorms still do in that part of the world. The tenth and\n last plague, the death of the first-born, was a natural consequence of\n all that had happened since the day the water became polluted.\n\n The Bible does not say explicitly that only the first-born died in\n this plague.\n\n What it does say is:\n\n And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born\n in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his\n throne to the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon.\n\nThe epidemic killed many others, but in the death of the first-born lay\nthe greatest calamity, for the first-born son was chief in every\nEgyptian household.\n\nDr. Brim does not explain how the first plague was brought about, but if\nMoses did pollute the Nile it must have been done when the water was\nlow.\n\nIt is certain that Moses was a medical genius, as his laws of health\nprove, and knew the certain effects of water pollution.\n\nNeither does the doctor explain how Moses foresaw the hail, but it is\npossible he could judge atmospheric conditions with precision.\u2014V. B.\n\nIt is perhaps an inaccuracy to talk about \u201cmodern\u201d attempts to thwart\nand deny the Word of God! There is nothing modern about this entire\npropaganda, popular as it may be in our own day. The error is ancient,\nas is the attitude of mind that would set aside the element of the\nsupernatural in Holy Writ, and oppose the time-honored revelation of\nGod\u2019s will by the modern self-satisfaction with human learning. Indeed,\nthis common and basic sin of our generation is so far from being modern,\nthat the very first recorded case of denial of God\u2019s Word comes from the\nGarden of Eden, man\u2019s first and original home.\n\nEven before sin had reared its ugly head, to shatter the sweet communion\nand spoil the fair harmony that was the basis of man\u2019s fellowship with\nhis Creator, this error appeared. It was Satan who, encroaching upon the\nbeauty of Eden\u2019s fair content, first said, \u201cHath God said?\u201d The denial\nof the truth of God\u2019s spoken word originated with the enemy of man: and\nit would behoove us all to remember that any man who has questioned His\nwritten word from that hour to this, is also an enemy, and an emissary\nof the original foe of mankind! Do we owe Satan so great a debt of\ngratitude for the deep and dark pit of woe into which he has lured our\nrace, that we must lend slavish attention to the same old error when he\nsponsors it today?\n\nFor this \u201cmodern\u201d attempt to discredit the Scripture is but a\nrecrudescence of his ancient and simple strategy for the hurt of\nmankind. Well does he know that if he can but shake the faith of our\ngeneration in the integrity of the Bible, faith in God must soon be lost\nas well. Once more pedantic scoffers, professors of this and of that,\narise solemnly to refute the truth of the only \u201cmap\u201d that can ever guide\nmen back to the Paradise we lost when the first man rejected God\u2019s\nrevelation.\n\nIt is interesting to see that this old error is in no new guise, in the\narticle referred to above. This is nothing new, it is just an original\napproach to the same old mess of Satanic whispering. Indeed, Paul warned\nus of the possibility of this very article and method in II Timothy 3:8,\nwhen he said:\n\n Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the\n truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.\n\nHe introduces the very age of Egyptian history, and the events connected\nwith the Exodus in speaking thus of the false teachers of the apostate\ndays that should precede the time of our Lord\u2019s return. And lo! the\nevent transpires in this year of grace, as the press of the twentieth\ncentury casts doubt upon the Ten Plagues in this subtle manner.\n\nIt _is_ subtle. Also dishonest to the nth degree. Professing to accept\nthe historicity of the events, the article then proceeds to demolish the\ncredibility of the record, by ascribing all the plagues to natural\nforces, directed by the genius of a human being, namely, Moses. God is\nruled out, the supernatural denied, and common sense prostituted to\ninfidelity in a manner that the shallowest thinker could not\ncountenance. For a man of medicine, or a scholar in any realm of\nscience, to foster such a contemptible evasion of plain fact, passes\nunderstanding.\n\nA few years ago it was customary for criticism to deny that these\nplagues ever happened. Classifying them among the reputed folklore of\nthe Hebrews, and relegating them to the realm of the purely\nmythological, the critic calmly and boldly denied that they ever\noccurred at all. But these past years of research and study have so\nestablished the historicity of the record, that this procedure is no\nlonger possible; so the new attack is made, on the basis of naturalism.\n\nIt is plainly stated that Moses himself brought about these plagues upon\nthe Egyptians, and that he did so by the use of his own superior\nknowledge. In a word, he was a bacteriologist, three and a half thousand\nyears before Pasteur! That in itself is a greater miracle than the\nplagues could ever have been! No microscope, no instruments of research,\nyet he not only anticipated the discoveries of Lister and Pasteur, but\nhe also applied _germ warfare_ to the redemption of Israel, and \u201cbent\nthe Egyptians to _his_ will.\u201d\n\nMore marvelous than all this, he did it by simply polluting the Nile\nRiver, the source of the life of Egypt. This of course was a simple\ntask! The Nile is a mighty river. If we follow its course just from the\nFirst Cataract at Assuan to the mouth, it is over five hundred miles as\nthe river twists and bends round and about.\n\nNow all Moses had to do was to impregnate those five hundred miles of\nwinding river with some deadly form of disease germs, that would affect\nthe Egyptians _but not the Israelites_! Any nice germ would do! Of\ncourse, he had also to _keep_ those five hundred miles of flowing stream\npolluted, in spite of the rushing current that swept fresh water down\nday by day! Let us not forget, _that he did all this while Pharaoh was\nlooking on_: and that for seven days the condition continued, then to\nend as suddenly as it had begun. We should like to know something of his\ntechnique!\n\nThen, after the river had cleared its waters, Moses boldly announced\nthat the Lord would overrun the land with frogs! This was done, not as a\nresult of a polluted river, but rather after the river was clear.\nPollution with disease germs might have driven the frogs out of the\nriver: but how did Moses get them to go _back_, as Pharaoh entreated him\nto do?\n\nMost conveniently, the author of the above cited article does not\nmention how the lice were spread over the land by Moses! Did he\npersonally catch them and spread them all around, or had he been\nbreeding and storing them for years in advance? The flies may have\nincreased in the rotting piles of frogs, but what kept this pest of\nflies out of the small section of Egypt called the Land of Goshen, where\nthe children of Israel were? Given the conditions that caused the flies\nto breed, why did they refrain from the particular portion of the land\nwhere Moses and his people were camping?\n\nSo also for the murrain on the cattle, and the boils on the Egyptians.\nNone of Israel were affected by these disasters. Did Moses have some\nkind of salve or prophylactic serum that he used, he being the great\nmedical genius that this article makes him to be? Even that will not\naccount for the fact that when the hail came, it, also, avoided the camp\nof Moses and his three and a half million compatriots!\n\nBut even a great medical genius and an accomplished meteorologist could\nnot have foreseen the coming of the locusts that darkened the sky and\nthe land as well. Nor could this great medical genius, even had he also\nbeen an able entomologist, have seen to it that the locusts ate only\nEgyptian vegetation, as Goshen greenery would have been just as\nacceptable to _hungry_ locusts! And who ever saw any other kind?\n\nPassing over the supernatural darkness with the simple observation that\nit was _not_ an ordinary phenomenon such as a sandstorm (which left the\nhouses of the Israelites unaffected), we will hasten to the conclusion\nof the matter, the death of the first-born. The article we are quoting\nmakes a terribly strained attempt to prove that others died as well as\nthe first-born, but the text of the Scripture does not so state or\nimply. Indeed, the text very clearly sets forth the fact that it was\nonly the first-born who died. They died dramatically; all at the same\nhour.\n\nAt midnight, simultaneously, death smote a certain restricted class.\n\nThe prince in the palace, and the felon in the dungeon; the cattle as\nwell.\n\n _But the first-born of Israel did not die!\n They were all under the blood!_\n\nQuaint epidemic, was it not? It came as a result of disease germs in the\nriver Nile, it killed all its victims out of just one class, the\nfirst-born, and it passed over any home that had lamb\u2019s blood on the\ndoor posts!\n\nIs it necessary for a man to believe such arrant nonsense, and accept\nsuch utterances of folly before he can qualify as an educated man, or a\nscientist?\n\nMost fortunately, it is not!\n\nTo show the truth of this matter, we can indeed study these ten plagues\nin the light of modern science. Not by the flickering rays of the lamp\nof human speculation can understanding be achieved. Only in the full\nillumination of the sunshine of historical fact can the truth be\ndiscerned. So, we will turn to the great and truly modern science of\narcheology to study the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and see what the truth of\nthe matter really is.\n\nIn the first place, thanks to the vast amount of research in the\narcheology of Egypt, we now know that these ten plagues were a contest\nbetween the Lord God of the Israelites, and the pantheon of Egypt.\n\nThe genesis of the contest is given in Exodus 3:18. Here Moses is\ninstructed by God to ask Pharaoh for a three-day furlough for the entire\ncompany of the Twelve Tribes, that they might go three days\u2019 journey\ninto the wilderness, and sacrifice to Jehovah. This initial request was\nto be the first step in a campaign that would result in the redemption\nof Israel from their long bondage, and the apparently reasonable request\nwas made with the certainty that it would be refused. Indeed, the\nrequest was such that Pharaoh _could not grant it_!\n\nAs we shall later see, the Egyptians were the most polytheistic nation\nthat ever lived. In their pantheon of deities there were more than\ntwenty-two hundred gods and goddesses, and each of them had a particular\ntheophany. That is to say, these gods and goddesses had certain animals\nthat were sacred to them, and in which animal form the particular god or\ngoddess occasionally manifested a personal presence. So very often the\ndeities of Egypt are depicted in stone and painting as having a human\nbody, but an animal head. Thus Thoth might be seen with the head of an\nibis, while Hathor sometimes has a human head, but more often she is\nportrayed with the head of a cow.\n\nSo there was no animal that the Hebrews could sacrifice to their God,\nJehovah, that would not be sacred to some Egyptian deity. This sacrifice\nwould constitute blasphemy in the eyes of the Egyptian masters, and\ntrouble would eventuate immediately! Indeed, when Pharaoh, worn out by\nthe troubles brought upon him by the plagues, suggested to Moses that\nthe people sacrifice to Jehovah without going to the wilderness, Moses\nsimply replied in the language that is recorded in Exodus 8:26:\n\n \u201cWhat shall we sacrifice, that will not be an abomination in the eyes\n of the Egyptians? Will they not stone the people if they sacrifice in\n the land?\u201d\n\nThe justice of the reply was so self-apparent that the ruler did not\npress his suggestion, as the text shows. Thus God forced the issue and\nprovoked the conflict that not only freed His people from slavery and\neventually established them in the land that He had promised them\nthrough Abraham, but also showed His supremacy over the gods of Egypt.\nEven more than that, in the resultant series of events, the Lord God\nbrought such glory to His own Name, and showed such omnipotence that the\nworld has never forgotten this drama, even to our own day and time.\nWitness the very article that is the subject of this present comment!\n\nThe clear statement of God\u2019s attitude toward the conflict is seen in\nExodus 4:23, 24. The figure of speech used there is a divine choice,\ntherefore we use it just as God Himself expressed His own mind to Moses.\nThe \u201cfirst-born\u201d was the chief object of interest in every Egyptian\nhousehold, for two reasons. The law of primogeniture ruled in that day\nand land, even as it does in England and other countries today. Also,\nthe first-born of every species, animal or human, was dedicated to the\ngods, and was a sacred object, in a very strong sense of that word. So\nlater, we hear the law of Israel as set forth by God, that the\nfirst-born of man or beast in the land is to be sacred to Jehovah: _not_\nto the gods of Egypt.\n\nNow then, as Moses was sent to Pharaoh, to carry the demands of God for\nthe release of the people, he was instructed to tell the ruler that\nIsrael was, in God\u2019s sight, as prized and beloved a group as the\n\u201cfirst-born\u201d was in an Egyptian household. In a figure of speech that\nEgypt as a whole could most clearly grasp, God said: \u201cIsrael is _My_\nson, _My first-born_: And I have said unto thee, Let my son go that he\nmay serve me; and thou hast refused to let him go; behold, I will slay\n_thy_ son, _thy_ first-born.\u201d\n\nWith this introduction, we can see clearly the genesis of the conflict.\nIt is most clearly stated in Exodus 5:1-3. When Moses said to Pharaoh,\n\u201cThus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may\nhold a feast unto Me in the _wilderness_:\u201d the ruler of the land said,\nin just so many words, \u201cWho is Jehovah? I never heard of him!\u201d Not only\ndid the mighty king reject the word and the commands of God, but he also\ndenied Him in no uncertain terms. This upstart Jehovah, who was _He_ to\ngive orders to Pharaoh the mighty? He was the god of an humbled and\ncaptive people, therefore the king reasoned that his own gods must be\nfar mightier! So the proud and haughty monarch said, \u201cI\u2019ll stick by the\ngods of Egypt; I know not this Jehovah, and I will not obey His words.\u201d\n\nMoses left with the clearly expressed warning that the king might not\nthen know Jehovah, but that he was certainly destined to find out about\nHim! The call to arms, the challenge to combat, and the prophecy of\nGod\u2019s victory are all expressed in the single verse in Exodus the\nseventh chapter, where God tells Moses that \u201cthe Egyptians shall know\nthat I am Jehovah, when I stretch out my hand upon Egypt....\u201d This,\nthen, was the primary reason for the ten plagues. God would teach the\nEgyptians a lesson through _judgments_ that the land would never forget!\nWhen he finished with them, none were ever again able to say, \u201cAnd who\nis this Jehovah? The gods of Egypt are stronger.\u201d\n\nThus we see that the contest was primarily between the monotheism of\nIsrael and polytheism of Egypt. We would emphasize the fact that the\nEgyptians were perhaps the most polytheistic race the world has so far\nknown. It is impossible to say just how many deities existed to the\nEgyptian mind, but \u201ctheir name was legion\u201d! Two hundred separate deities\nare named in the Pyramid Text, and four hundred and eighty more are\nnamed in the Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead. Altogether,\narcheologists have recovered the names of over two thousand two hundred\ndifferent gods and goddesses that were worshipped by the Egyptians! Is\nit any wonder that Jehovah must start His laws to His people with the\ncommandment: \u201cThou shalt have no other _gods_ before me!\u201d?\n\nA word about these objects of Egyptian worship will be necessary to\nclear up the necessary later references to the practices and the beliefs\nof the Egyptians. While these ancient folks never had the idea of an\nimmanent, pervasive God, in the monotheistic sense, they still had a dim\nconception of a super-god principle, behind and over the various\nindividual gods and goddesses. There was first of all the grouping of\ngods into triads, which was a widely accepted custom. Since each triad\nconsisted of a god, a wife, and a son, this grouping is less a\ndegeneration of the principle of the Trinity than might seem to be\nsuggested at first thought. Rather, it was a glorification of the\n_family_ principle.\n\nThus we see that at Thebes, the principal triad of deities consists of\nAmon-Ra, the king of all the gods, Mut, his Wife, and Khons, their son.\n\nBa-neb-Ded, with his wife Het-mehit, and their son Harpakhrad (whom the\nGreeks later called Harpokrates) constituted the triad at Mendes. In\nlike manner, the Memphis triad was composed of Ptah, Sekhmet, and\nImhotep. Sometimes the greater gods were grouped into a company of nine,\ncalled the Ennead. There was also the grouping of the major deities into\nthe \u201cThree Companies,\u201d being the gods of the heaven, the earth, and the\nOther or Under World.\n\nAll the gods had human bodies, but some of them had animal heads.\nSometimes a god who customarily had a human head would appear wearing\nthe animal head of his theophany, as in the case of Hathor, cited above.\nThus when Hathor appears with a cow\u2019s head upon a human body, she\nappears with the solar disk between her horns; and when she appears with\nthe human head, she wears as a headdress the bonnet of the goddess Mut,\nthe wife of Amon-Ra, the horns of the cow, the solar disk which shows\nher relationship to Horus, and the feather of the goddess Maat.\n\nWe have previously asserted that each plague was a direct blow at one of\nthese celestial beings, and it might be profitable to demonstrate this\nfact with a few concrete illustrations.\n\n [Illustration: Hapi]\n\nThe First Plague was a direct and definite blow at a numerous company of\nthese objects of worship. In the first place, the River Nile was itself\nan object of worship. It was reputed to flow from the celestial stream\ncalled Nu, and was heavenly in its origin. It brought life to the entire\nland of Egypt, and was worshipped with appropriate and very exact\nritual. There were hymns to the Nile, prayers and offerings to and for\nthe Nile, and the river possessed in itself a very real personality. The\nRiver is pictured in the form of a man wearing a cluster of water plants\nupon his head, and the idea of fertility is conveyed by giving him the\nheavy pendant breasts of a nursing mother! In the British Museum may be\nseen a remarkable papyrus, containing the Hymn to the Nile. To show the\nreverence felt for the power of the great River, we quote just a\nsentence or two from this Hymn:\n\n ... Thou art the Lord of the poor and needy. If thou wert overthrown\n in the heavens, the gods would fall upon their faces, and men would\n perish....\n\nThis deified river, then, the source of life and blessing in Egypt, was\nsmitten by God, and its waters turned to blood. Frantically the\nEgyptians sought to dig shallow wells by the banks of the stream, as\ntheir water supply failed them for the first time in the memory of man!\nTruly, Jehovah was greater than the Nile! And not only greater than the\nRiver itself, there was more than this involved. There were many issues\ninvolved, and many deities suffered \u201closs of face\u201d that day!\n\n [Illustration: Osiris]\n\nThere was the mighty Osiris, who was himself the cause and source of the\nresurrection and of everlasting life. Greatest of all the gods of the\nunderworld, he has an important part in the text of the Book of the\nDead. The Nile was supposed to be his bloodstream! When God smote the\nNile, he laid the mighty Osiris low in the dust! With him fell Hapi\u2014who\nwas the Nile-god, and also Satet, the wife of Khnemu, the goddess of the\nannual inundation. Her divine sister, Anqet, bit the dust that day, as\nshe was the personification of the Nile waters, which turned into an\noffense and a stench when Moses stretched out his staff. Time will not\npermit the presentation of the characters of Isis-Sothis, Isis-Hathor,\nAment, Menat, Renpit and at least two score more, all of whom met defeat\nin the First Plague. None of them could sustain their prestige and power\nin the face of the action of Jehovah, and He emerged victorious in the\nfirst trial of strength.\n\n [Illustration: Khnum]\n\nThe Second Plague was likewise a contest between the Lord of the heavens\nand the earth, and certain specific ideas of the Egyptian system of\nworship. The plague of frogs that covered the land, making life a burden\nto the people, was a blow struck at Heqt, the wife of the great Khnum,\nwhose theophany was a frog. Indeed, she was called the \u201cfrog-goddess,\u201d\nand this lowly creature was sacred to her. The frog was the symbol of\nthe resurrection, and the emblem of fertility. It was reverenced by the\npeople, and to have one around the dwelling place was a sign of good\nfortune and was supposed to ensure a fertile year for farm and family\nalike.\n\nThey got enough of this quaint object of reverence when God flooded\ntheir land with myriads of the beastly things! They were in the\nbread-trough, and got tangled up in the dough, thus adding a rather\nquaint flavor to the bread! The bread could not be baked, however, as\nthe baking ovens crawled with frogs, and the fires could not be lighted.\nThey hopped all over the master of the house, and when he sought his bed\nin disgust they were there before him.\n\nLike a blanket of filth the slimy, wet monstrosities covered the land,\nuntil men sickened at the continued squashing crunch of the ghastly\npavement they were forced to walk upon. If a man\u2019s feet slipped on the\ngreasy mass of their crushed bodies, he fell into an indescribably\noffensive mass of putrid uncleanness, and when he sought water to\ncleanse himself, the water was so solid with frogs, he got no cleansing\nthere. In sheer desperation the mighty king was forced to beg, \u201cCall off\nyour frogs, and I will let the people go!\u201d Read Exodus 8:1-15.\n\nAnd with that cry, the prestige of Heqt and Khnum was gone forever,\ndrowned out in the tidal wave of disgust that rolled up in protest at\n_too much_ of her theophany!\n\nIt is a bit difficult to imagine that generation of Egyptians ever\nworshipping the Frog again.\n\nPlagues Three and Four are a bit more difficult to deal with at the\npresent writing, because of the personal ignorance of the writer. By\nthat he means to say that more light is required here as he does not\nknow definitely the exact god that was meant to suffer in the estimation\nof the people, with the plague of lice. There can be no question,\nhowever, that the people themselves were hard hit, as any veteran of the\nA. E. F. will be only too glad to testify! This unclean parasite must\nhave been a source of misery that was well-nigh insuperable, when it\nbecame as numerous as the very dust of the ground! It must have made the\nEgyptians somewhat envious to see the Israelites basking in peace and\nbodily comfort, while they, the lords of the land, itched and scratched\nand suffered the misery of this vicious pest! How much better to trust\nthe God Jehovah who demonstrated His ability to keep His followers free\nfrom even such a plague as this.\n\nAs for the flies, there is this suggestion, at least: one of them was\nsacred to the name of Uatchit. What variety of fly is intended in the\ntext we cannot definitely say, as there are numerous species of flies.\nBut the _ichneumon_ fly is a symbol of this god, and their figures in\ntiny statues and on papyri are well known to the modern archeologist.\nThey are a brilliant and beautiful insect, somewhat prized by the\nentomologists of our day as specimens, but they can be a pest when they\ncome in too numerous companies!\n\nSome years ago we were encamped in Mexico, with a company who were\ndigging for archeological treasure. The site was pleasant, the camp was\nnear a clear, meandering stream, and the shade trees were enjoyable.\nThere was just \u201cone fly in the ointment\u201d and that fly was the ichneumon.\nEvery time food was placed upon the camp table, this gorgeous insect\nresponded with enthusiasm and delight. They came in regiments and\ncompanies, bringing all their relatives and friends with them! So we\ncould say from experience, that anyone who had to fight with a swarm of\nichneumon flies for his own share of the lunch, would soon come to\nrevile the god to whom this symbol was sacred! Not only Jehovah, but\n_any_ god would seem preferable to Uatchit after an invasion of his\nparticular pets. Or should we turn this last word around and make it\npest, instead?\n\n [Illustration: Hathor]\n\nWhen we come to the Fifth Plague, we are again on solid and assured\nterritory. Once more firm archeological ground supports the theme of\nthis chapter. When God smote the cattle of Egypt, He dealt most\ndefinitely and drastically with Egyptian polytheism. There were many of\nthe supreme objects of Egyptian worship that met their Waterloo in the\nmurrain on the cattle.\n\nChief of these is the mighty and venerated Hathor. She was the\n\u201ccow-goddess\u201d that was universally worshipped in all the land, and was\nto the human race of that day the \u201cmother\u201d principle of deity. Her most\ncommon name in the Egyptian language is Het-Hert, which literally means\n\u201cthe House of Horus.\u201d The House of Horus is that portion of the sky\nwhere Horus lives and is daily born, namely, the east. Hathor is\ndepicted in antiquity in many forms. Always she appears with a human\nbody, and may sometimes have a human head as well. But more often she\nhas a cow\u2019s head on a human body, as the cow was her symbol. She often\nwalked the land in the theophany of a cow, and one could tell when a\ncalf was born, whether Hathor had come to earth, or not.\n\nWhen this great goddess is pictured with a human head, she wears an\nimpressive headdress. This is composed of the spreading horns of a cow,\nbetween which are seen the bonnet of Mut, the divine wife of Amon-Ra,\nthe king of the gods. Above this is seen the solar disk, as Hathor was\nof \u201cThe Great Company\u201d and was associated with all the beneficence of\nthe glorious and life-giving sun. The Book of the Dead teaches that\nHathor provides nourishment for the soul in the other-world, and as such\na provider she excels all the minor gods. So in all the forms in which\nshe is carved or drawn, she wears the sacred uraeus, to show her exalted\npower.\n\nWhen God smote the cattle, her especial symbol, He struck a mighty blow\nat the tottering system for which Pharaoh had confidently expressed his\npreference. The other forays were but skirmishes: this was a real and\ndecisive battle! This shrewd and telling victory was the beginning of\nthe end of the conflict. If the divine Hathor could not protect her\nfaithful following from the power of Jehovah, who could?\n\nFor not only Hathor was thus challenged and defeated, but other\nimportant members of the Heavenly Company met defeat and disgrace in the\nplague that smote the cattle. A common object in the Egypt of that day\nwas the sacred bull, Apis, whose power was vast indeed. His temples\ndotted the land, and the priests of his cult were many and their power\nwas impressive in the extreme. On the forehead of Apis appears the\nsacred triangle of eternity, and on his back is always seen the sacred\nscarab, with spread wings.\n\nApis was the theophany of the god whose name was Ptah-Seker-Asar, and he\nalso was one of the triune resurrection gods. The living worshipped him\nthat they might live again in the world to come, and the dead, of\ncourse, all worshipped him because he had made them to live again. Now,\nalas, for those who trusted in him against Jehovah! He could not even\ndefend his own earth-form from the blight that his new enemy, Jehovah,\nhad sent on all that represented the great and powerful Ptah-Seker-Asar.\nThus God humbled the sacred Apis in the same stroke that crushed the\ncult of Hathor.\n\nTo this record must also be added the name of Nut, the goddess of the\nsky, and the wife of Geb. She it was who produced the egg out of which\nthe sun hatched, so in reality she preceded Horus and even Amon-Ra, even\nthough they ascended to a higher power and authority later. She is\ndepicted with a female human body, and the head of a cow. However, she\ndoes not wear the solar disk, nor the headdress of Hathor, as she was a\nlittle lower in the social company of the weird organization of nonsense\nand mysticism that was the religion of Egypt.\n\nThe simple summary of the whole record is just this: all the gods of\nEgypt were not able to defend the cattle, when the Lord God Jehovah\nstretched out His hand to smite them! This the people of Egypt were\nforced to concede, as their cattle died by the thousand before their\nbewildered eyes, while not one of the herds of Israel lost so much as\none head of cattle by the murrain.\n\n [Illustration: Reshpu]\n\nThe Sixth and Seventh Plagues are simple to deal with, as the record of\nEgypt gives valuable aid to the unprejudiced student here. Imhotep was\nthe god of medicine, and the guardian of all the healing sciences.\nPrayers were made to him for protection as well as for cures, and he was\ngreatly revered. In like manner, Reshpu and Qetesh were the gods of\nstorm and of battle, and they controlled all the natural elements except\nthe light. So the noisome and painful boils struck the devotees of\nImhotep and left him powerless to aid his praying following, and their\nplight was pitiful indeed. How little it helped to see that the\nfollowers of the god Jehovah, at whom Pharaoh had sneered with ridicule,\nwere comfortable, and with unblemished skins! No suppurating sores\nadvertised the pain of the Hebrews; the good hand of their God was upon\nthem, to protect them from the very disaster that came upon all the\nEgyptians for Israel\u2019s sake!\n\nThe medical man of the twentieth century, whose article we are now\nconsidering, attributes all this painful consequence to the\nbacteriological pollution of the Nile, which was accomplished by the\nskill and wisdom of Moses. The present writer of this refutation is not\nutterly ignorant of the science of bacteriology, but he humbly confesses\nthat he does not know of any pathogenic micro-organism that would bite\neverybody except a Hebrew! We would like to know the name and the nature\nof such a bacterium or bacillus! The Hebrews were exposed to the same\nflies, the same germs, the same stench of the dead frogs, the same\nepidemic that was consequent upon this chain of events, unless Moses\nvaccinated or inoculated them all, some three and a half millions in\nnumber. Truly the natural explanations of the supernatural cause reason\nto totter on her throne!\n\n [Illustration: Sebek]\n\nBut if God was at war with Imhotep, Reshpu and the gods of healing, and\ndesired to scatter their following and to open their eyes to the folly\nof idol worship, we can see how He might protect His own, while smiting\nthe followers of the false religion. In that case also, Moses would not\nneed to be the only man in antiquity who could call up a devastating\nhail storm at the dictate of his own will. Moses could leave it to God\nto shame Reshpu and the other gods of the elements in the eyes of their\ndevotees.\n\nThe Eighth Plague, that of the locusts, is the easiest of all to\ncomprehend. This was a direct blow at the Egyptian conception of\nProvidence, and a sweeping victory over all that was holy in the eyes of\nthis idolatrous people. These ancient people ascribed the fertility of\ntheir fields and the abundance of the harvests to certain specific\ndeities. The modern scholar establishes this fact by studying the hymns\nof praise and the votive records of the Egyptians. But after the hail\nhad hammered their lovely ripening crops flat on the ground, and even\nwhile they mourned their loss, swarms of locusts descended like a cloud,\nand swept the land as clean of vegetation as a forest fire could have\ndone.\n\nTo see God\u2019s purpose in this act, we need only consider the prophecy of\nJoel. With a fidelity to detail that arouses the admiration of the\nmodern entomologist, this prophet of Israel portrays the devastation of\nthe land by a swarm of locusts, as a judgment from God upon His own\npeople. When famine and want stare men in the face, and they are beyond\nthe hope of other aid, then they turn back to God in sorrow and in\nrepentance. For where can men turn except to God, when the land lies\nbarren and devastated, and famine stalks the earth?\n\nThus in Egypt, when God would teach an unforgettable lesson to the proud\nand haughty king whose impertinent comment had been, \u201cWho is this\nJehovah?\u201d, He punctuated His answer to Pharaoh\u2019s question with a swarm\nof locusts. It is reasonable to conclude that long after the starving\nEgyptians had forgotten the pangs of hunger that came inevitably on the\nheels of that visitation of consuming insects, the lesson of that\nvisitation remained.\n\nAll these disasters, following one after the other, had struck telling\nblows at the very foundation of Egypt\u2019s religion. But a worse was to\nfollow.\n\nThe Ninth Plague struck at the very apex and head of all the Great\nCompany of the pantheon. The most essential thing in all the physical\nrealm is light, and the Egyptians seemed to realize this fact. The\ndarkness of the ninth plague was a supernatural darkness. This much is\nevident from the record, which says that it covered the land so grossly,\nthe people sought refuge in bed! Evidently artificial light would not\npenetrate that fearful gloom; _but the children of Israel had light in\ntheir dwellings!_\n\nOf course they had it!\n\nThey are the people who later sang: \u201cJehovah is my light and my\nsalvation.\u201d\n\nBut the songs of the Egyptians were directed to different gods entirely.\nHere, then, was a golden opportunity to test the might of these\nconflicting ideas of deity. Is Jehovah able to maintain His superiority\nover the hosts of the Egyptian gods? They were indeed mighty in the\nhearts of the people, and the contest was long and grim.\n\nFirst of all to consider, there was the incomparable Thoth who had\nworked out the system of placing all the stars, the sun and the moon in\nthe heavens. He had arranged also the seasons, as they had been decreed\nby Ra. Although inferior to Ra and to Horus, nevertheless Thoth gave\nlight by night, and on those days that the sun was not visible. He also\ngave Isis the power needed to raise the dead, and to offend him was to\nsuffer eternal loss. Remembering that the Hebrews had lived under this\nculture and psychology for generations, and considering that they all\nmust have been tinctured somewhat with these beliefs, many of them must\nhave trembled indeed when Jehovah calmly engaged in battle with Thoth!\nSo the Lord God not only smote the god of Egypt in this part of the\nconflict, but He also established His personal superiority in the minds\nof His own despairing people. Certainly, when this plague ended, the\nHebrews hastened to follow His next commands without hesitancy, even\nthough those commands laid them in danger of the death penalty under\nEgyptian law.\n\n [Illustration: Sekhmet]\n\nA lesser deity, but also a powerful one who suffered grievously in loss\nof prestige while the darkness reigned, was the fire-goddess Sekhmet.\nShe was the divinity of fire, and thus also of artificial light. This\ndarkness that covered the land during this plague was called \u201cthick\u201d\ndarkness, and it was so impenetrable that for three days and nights, the\nEgyptians stayed in bed! They saw the face of no man in those dark days\nand dense nights, and it is evident that artificial light was useless.\nOnly in the houses of Israel did any light shine, but in each dwelling\nin Goshen the light was undimmed. So it was demonstrated in the case of\nSekhmet, the lioness-headed goddess of artificial light, that she was\npowerless when Jehovah invaded her realm.\n\nWith what delight did Moses remember all this, when later he wrote the\nwords of the First Chapter of Genesis. How his heart must have thrilled\nas he spoke of God commanding the light to shine on the first day of\ncreation, and recorded the obedience of the light to the spoken word of\nIsrael\u2019s God. He had seen that when God commanded darkness all the gods\nof Egypt were powerless before Jehovah, and that it was therefore simple\nfor God to reverse the process, and bring light to alleviate the\ndarkness of the chaos.\n\nThe section of the pantheon that crumbled in the regard of the devoted\nEgyptians that hour was a broad and numerous company. No divinity of all\nthe polytheistic company was very much more reverenced than Horus, the\nhawk-headed. He was called \u201cthe eye of Ra,\u201d and was the god of the\nnoontime sun. When the flaming heat of Ra was just overhead at the hour\nof midday, and when its light and heat were the most intense, Horus was\nin the ascendancy. When the deep darkness of the ninth plague hit the\nland, the hearts of the people were sick with fright. Believing that the\nsun was born anew every morning, and having an intense and\nwell-thought-out system of deities connected with this rite, they must\nhave thought that there had been wholesale slaughter and failure among\nthe heavenly beings. But there still would smoulder in their deepest\nthinking, the dim hope that at noon the incomparable Horus would glow,\nas Ra was the omnipotent, and his _eye_ could not be dimmed. But not\nonly did the noon pass in the same awful darkness, but two more noons\nfollowed each other in slow succession, and the feebleness of the\nonce-revered Horus could no longer be doubted. So when they said, \u201cWho\nis mightier than Horus?\u201d the children of Israel could reply with\ngrateful hearts, \u201cJehovah is; see, we have light in _our_ dwellings!\u201d\n\nBut like many other heathen and idolatrous people, the chief object of\nEgyptian worship was the sun itself. The natural mind can comprehend\nthis, and there is a little of the Parsee in most modern men. So to the\nancients the sun was a personification of beneficence and providence.\nThe worship of the sun took many forms in Egypt, but the oldest and most\ngeneral form of that worship was in the person of the god Ra, who\nappears in ancient records in many guises, and under many names. Perhaps\nthe most common of these names is Amon-Ra. He was unquestionably the\nchief form of deity to the Egypt of Moses\u2019 generation.\n\n [Illustration: Taueret]\n\nAs far as it can be said that the Egyptians conceived of a\ngod-principle, this was expressed in the person of Ra. He was the\ncreator of earth and of heaven, and of all things therein. All other\ngods were parts of his person, and members of his body and substance.\nThe pantheon was headed by Ra, and after him came the gods and goddesses\nwho were parts of his body. One was his eye, another his ear, while\nstill another was his foot. This quaint conception was carried out for\nevery known section of the anatomy, which the Egyptians seemed to have\nknown fairly well.\n\nSeeing, then, that Ra was immanent, pervasive, and the principle back of\nall deities, he was the chief object of Jehovah\u2019s enmity, and the real\nsubject of the contest and conflict. In all the other plagues the\n_parts_ of Ra were defeated, and now at last the two ideas are locked in\nthe final struggle. It was preposterous to the Egyptians that any god or\npower could be superior to Ra, as the sun is the source and seat of all\npower. But the plague of darkness left him shorn of power and greatness,\nand prostrated him before the feet of _Jehovah_ forever. Three\ntheophanies had Ra, and God desecrated every one of them!\n\nRa appeared in the form of the sun: so that was blotted out of the sky\nfor three days. Sometimes he walked the earth in the form of the\nfirst-born of a cow, if that first-born was a bull. So the first-born of\nall the cattle died, and Ra was covered with shame. Occasionally he was\nsupposed to visit men in the form of a ram. The first-born were all\nsacred to him and dedicated to him from birth: yet when all the\nfirst-born of Egypt died, the babes of Israel, with their cattle and\nflocks were all safe, because they were under the shed blood of what was\nRa\u2019s chief theophany, next to the sun! The application of the blood to\nthe lintel and the doorpost was an act of blasphemy against Ra, yet in\nthat very defiance the Hebrews were acknowledging at last that _Jehovah_\nshould be their God forever, in that He had proved His power.\n\n [Illustration: Amon-Ra]\n\nThe Tenth Plague intrudes into the sphere of the ninth. The death of the\nfirst-born was the proverbial straw that broke the camel\u2019s back, as far\nas the Egyptian resistance to Jehovah was concerned. This is still aimed\nprimarily at Ra, although there were notable deities other than he that\nsuffered defeat in this last and awful skirmish. When the Children of\nIsrael left Egypt, bribed to depart by a people who were prostrated with\ngrief, the mourning Egyptians pressed upon them the cattle and the\nflocks, the gold and the jewels requested. Anything to get rid of the\ndevotees of the awful Being who left every home in Egypt bowed in\nsorrow, and who had slain, as well, every particle of faith the people\nhad in the once-powerful gods of the land of captivity!\n\nTo name many of these gods would be to weary the reader. But we cannot\nrefrain from naming Meskhemit, who was the goddess of birth. She was\nalso the companion of Hathor, and overshadowed the first-born of the\nland. To what avail, when _all_ died who were under her divine\nprotection! And even stronger than she, was the mighty Min, the god of\nvirility and generation. Closely related to Amon-Ra, being the means of\nextending the power of Ra to those who worshipped him, he too, fell with\na resounding crash, when the hand of The-Only-God-That-There-Is swept\nall the idols of Egypt off their pedestals, in what might be called the\ngreatest \u201cten rounds\u201d ever fought! Not only did _Jehovah_ win the battle\nand the crown, He also won every round! The victory was complete and\ncrushing.\n\n [Illustration: Set]\n\nMany centuries later, Paul the Apostle recalled all that is implied and\nstated here, when he wrote the ninth chapter of Romans and the\nseventeenth verse. Here it is stated that God dealt so with Pharaoh,\nthat the name of God should be advertised throughout all the earth.\n\nIs it so advertised?\n\nWitness this article, cited above! Thirty-five hundred years have come\nand gone since these things transpired, but the mind of man has not been\nable to escape from the demonstration of God\u2019s power that He gave in\nthat far-off day. And all we can say about this latest attempt to\nexplain the victory of God in the land of Egypt by attributing it all to\nthe smartness and genius of a learned man, is, it just will not stand\nup! For the God who smashed the pantheon of Egypt evidently knew that\nthis attempt was due, and He raised from the dead, in an archeological\nresurrection, the witnesses to the facts at issue. And we have done\nnothing in this simple reply but review _their_ evidence! But in so\ndoing, we note again that modern science, whenever her voice may be\nheard, establishes the Scripture and vindicates its claim, that \u201choly\nmen of old spake as they were moved by the spirit of God.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER V\n Sources\n\n\nOne of the many questions that are frequently asked of the archeologist,\nand one that is most difficult to answer in a few brief words, concerns\nthe source of his material. There is a sort of mystery that hovers over\nthis modern calling which intrigues the fancy of the average layman.\nWhen an archeologist begins to dig in some barren waste of sand and\ncomes upon a buried city that has been missing from the history of men\nfor multiplied centuries, it impresses the casual observer as magic of\nthe blackest kind. There is, however, nothing supernatural or uncommon\nabout these discoveries, although the element of chance does enter in to\na minor extent. Some of the greatest and most prolific fields we\npersonally have investigated were brought to our attention when the plow\nof a farmer cast up a human skull and focussed attention upon that\nparticular field. Generally, however, the sources of archeology are\nuncovered by hard, patient, painstaking labor.\n\nWhen an able prospector starts out in his search for gold, he is guided\nby certain known factors that have been derived from the experience of\ngenerations. Panning his way up a stream-bed, the keen-eyed hunter of\nfortune tests every spot that previous experience had taught him might\nbe profitable. He may labor at one thousand barren sites before he\nstrikes gold. If he is in a mountainous country and the placer deposits\nare not rich enough to pay him to tarry on the spot where the first\ndiscovery was made, he will work his way on up the stream, testing site\nafter site for increasing values. If the show of color in his pan\nsuddenly ceases, he knows that he has passed the sources of these\nwandering fragments. He then goes back to the last point where he found\ntraces of gold and then begins to search the side canyons and branch\nstreams that lead into the main channel. In this way he traces his path\nstep by step to the ledge from which the gold originally came. After\nlaboring weary months, or even years, with heart-breaking disappointment\nand grim, hard work, if he is fortunate he announces a discovery. The\nthoughtless immediately credit his good fortune to the goddess of luck\nand wonder why they also could not be blessed that way.\n\nThis illustration is an exact picture of the manner in which\narcheologists go about their business. There are certain sites that\nexperience has taught us should be profitable to investigate. The region\nis carefully combed for surface indications. These may be such things as\nshards of pottery, arrowheads, fragmentary bones, or any of the ordinary\ndebris that indicates a site of human habitation or burial. When the\nsurface indications suggest the probability of a real find, then the\ndigging commences. Most of our great discoveries are made only after\nmonths, and even years, of painstaking survey. These surveys must be\nmade by men who are expert in the interpretation of surface indications\nand fragmentary evidences. Thus it is at once apparent that there is\nreally nothing supernatural or magical about this sober craft; it is\nscientific in its procedure. There is no \u201cdoodle-bug\u201d for archeology\nsuch as is sometimes used by those who are found around the fringe of\ngeology.\n\nIt must be remembered that the orientals differed greatly in their\nbuilding methods from the occidentals. It is customary among us to\nexcavate to bed rock before we lay the foundation for a building. The\norientals, however, began to build right on the surface of any site that\nsuited their fancy. For instance, a wandering tribe of nomads desiring\nto settle either temporarily or permanently, would pick out a hill that\nwas more easily defended than a level site would be. Upon its crest,\nthey built their houses and generally fenced the scene for the purposes\nof defense. Within these fortifying walls they dwelt in more or less\nsecurity until they became rich enough to be robbed. It would not be\nlong, however, under the brutal law of might that prevailed in those\nancient days, before some marauding band would overrun that site with\nfire and sword. The walls would be breached or cast down and the\ninhabitants put to sword or carried away into slavery. Usually fire\nwould sweep the homes of this once contented people and their memory\nwould soon be forgotten.\n\nTo one who has seen the sand storms of the East, the rest of the story\nis self-evident. Even in our own times and in our own land, we have seen\nwhat can happen when drought and wind begin to move the surface of a\ncountry and make the efforts of man fruitless and unavailing. When men\nlived in these sites of antiquity and kept the encroaching sands swept\nand shoveled out, they were able to maintain their position of security.\nAs soon, however, as the site was deserted, the sand would begin to\ndrift over the deserted ruins. In a very few years the remains of the\nruined city would be lost from the sight of men. Perhaps a century or\ntwo would pass by, during which this abandoned region would be devoid of\nhabitation.\n\n\n Plate 6\n\n [Illustration: Mace-head in British Museum]\n\n\n Plate 7\n\n [Illustration: Note cuneiform writing and sculpture on stone weapon]\n\nThen another company of people looking for a permanent dwelling place\nwould chance upon this hill. Finding it suited to their requirements\nthey would immediately start building upon the surface. With no\nknowledge whatever that a previous group of people had made this hill\ntheir habitation, the new dwellings and walls would rise high upon the\ncovered ruins of the earlier period. Within a comparatively short time\nthey also would be the victims of some wandering conqueror, and once\nagain the wrecked habitations of men would be repossessed by the\ndrifting sands of the desert. It is not uncommon that in the course of a\nthousand years such an experience would be repeated from three or four\nto a dozen times upon the same site.\n\nWhen the archeologist finds such a mound or hill, he has a treasure\nindeed. By excavating this deposit one stratum at a time, he builds up a\nstratographical record which is highly important in reconstructing a\nconsecutive history of this region. The date factors of the various\nstrata are generally established by the contents of each horizon of\ndwelling, in turn. If the archeologist depends upon facts instead of his\nimagination, a credible chronology for the entire region can thus be\nconstructed.\n\nIn such a recovery the common life of the people of antiquity is\nrevealed in amazing detail. We learn their customs of living, something\nof their arts and crafts and their manner of labor. Their knowledge of\narchitecture is clearly portrayed through such ruins as remain, and the\ngeneral picture of the incidental events that made up their living is\nclearly developed as the work proceeds.\n\nSince the destruction of such a city was usually catastrophic, the\nrecord suddenly breaks off at the point of the tragedy. The abruptness\nwherewith the life and activity ceased, leaves all of the valuable\nmaterial undisturbed _in situ_. This circumstance, though unfortunate\nfor the ancients, is a happy one for the archeologist who thus is\nenabled to rebuild their times and lives.\n\nThese sites yield many types of material. In establishing chronology,\nthe most important of all of these is probably the pottery. There is no\nage of men so ancient that it does not yield proof of human ability in\nthe ceramic art. Without aluminum cooking utensils or iron skillets, the\nfolk of antiquity depended upon clay for the vessels of their\nhabitation. Dishes, pots, jars, and utensils of a thousand usages were\nall made of this common substance. Before the invention of paper, clay\nwas also the common material for preserving written records. As each\nrace of people had its own peculiarities in the use of clay, the pottery\nthat is found on a given site is one of the finest indications of a date\nfactor that the site can contain.\n\nEven after the invention of papyrus or parchment, these types of writing\nmaterial were too costly for the average person to use. Requiring some\ncheap, common, readily accessible material upon which to write, the poor\nof antiquity laid hold upon the one source of supply that was never\nwanting. This consisted of shards of pottery. By the side of every\ndwelling in ancient times might be found a small heap of broken utensils\nof clay. The ingenuity of man suggested a method of writing on these\nfragments. In every home there was a pen made of a reed and a pot of\nhomemade ink. With these crude tools, the common people corresponded and\nmade notes on pieces of clay vessels. When a fragment of pottery was\nthus inscribed, it was called an ostracon.\n\nThese ostraca are among the most priceless discoveries of antiquity.\nThey were written in the vernacular and dealt with the common daily\naffairs that made up the lives of the humble. They shed a flood of light\nupon the customs and beliefs of the mass of the people. Some of the wall\ninscriptions of great conquerors, if taken by themselves, would give an\nimpression of grandeur and splendor to their entire era, if we believed\nsuch record implicitly. But for every king or conqueror there were\nmultiplied thousands of poor. These were the folks who made up the mass\nof humanity and whose customs and lives paint the true picture of\nancient times. Therefore, these ostraca, being derived from the common\npeople, are the greatest aid in the reconstruction of the life and times\nwherewith the Bible deals.\n\nAnother source of evidence is found in tools and artifacts which show\nthe culture of any given time and region. Knowing how the people worked\nand what they wrought, has been of priceless value to the Biblical\narcheologist. Since the critics made so great a case out of the alleged\nculture of the people in every age, it is eminently fitting that the\nrefutation of their error should come from the people themselves.\n\nStill another source of archeological material is to be found in the art\nof antiquity. It seems that from the time of Adam to the present hour\nthe desire to express our feelings and emotions in the permanent form of\nillustration has been common to man. The sites of antiquity testify to\nthis fact in unmistakable terms.\n\nIn the art of the days of long ago many subjects were covered. Much of\nthe painting and sculpture had to do with the religion of the time. Thus\nwe can reconstruct the Pantheon of Egypt very largely from the\nillustrations that come to us from monuments and papyri.\n\nAnother large section of ancient art dealt with the history of the time\nin which the artists lived and wrought. Since the work of such artists\nwas generally intended to flatter and please the reigning monarch, most\nof this illustrated history is military in nature. Thus we are able to\nconfirm much of the Old Testament history through the recovery of\nancient art.\n\nOther artists, in turn, dealt with the human anatomy, the style of dress\nand the industries of old. When we gather together all of this\nilluminating material, it is safe to say that ancient artists have\nbrought to us a source of material which is not the least of the\ntreasures of antiquity.\n\nA final source of material is found upon the walls that made up the\nactual dwellings of old. This business of scribbling names and dates\nupon public buildings or objects of interest is not unique to modern\nmen. Deplorable as the custom may be, this ancient vulgarity has,\nnevertheless, proved a great boon to the archeologist of our day. For\ninstance, many of the scribes and officials of antiquity, traveling\nabout the country upon the business of their lords, would visit one of\nthe tombs of a former age. Prompted by curiosity and interest in the\ngrandeur of antiquity, they came to stare and to learn. Their emotions\nbeing aroused they desired some expression. This desire they sometimes\nsatisfied by inscribing upon the wall of a certain tomb or temple their\nnames and the fact that at such a date they visited and saw this wonder.\nSince they generally dated their visit by the reign of the king under\nwhom they lived and served, a chronology may be builded for antiquity\nfrom this source of material alone.\n\nIt has been more or less customary in our era for the itinerant gentry\nto leave valuable information for fellows of their fraternity who come\nalong after them. This custom also is a survival of an ancient day. A\nman journeying from one region to another would stop by the side of a\nblank wall and inscribe road directions for any who might follow after\nhim. Sometimes he would add his name and the year of the reign of a\ngiven monarch. It was not unusual also for such an amateur historian to\nmake some caustic and pertinent comments upon the country, the\nofficials, or the people. These spontaneous records are priceless. They\nare the free expression of an honest opinion and are not constructed\nwith the idea of deluding posterity with a false standard of the\ngrandeur of some conquering king.\n\nIt is rather amusing now to look back to the long battle that was fought\nbetween criticism and orthodoxy in this very field. With a dogmatic\ncertainty which was characteristic of the assumptions of the school of\nhigher criticism, these mistaken authorities assured us that the age of\nMoses was an age of illiteracy. In fact, the extreme scholars of this\nschool asserted that writing was not invented until five hundred years\nafter the age of Moses. We have ourselves debated that question with\nliving men.\n\nOne such occasion occurred recently, when we were delivering a series of\nlectures at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The subject had to deal with\narcheology and the Bible, and the men in attendance seemed to appreciate\nthe opening lecture extremely. Therefore, we were the more surprised\nwhen a gentleman, clad in clerical garb, came forward and in the most\nabrupt and disagreeable manner demanded,\n\n\u201cBy what authority do you state that Moses wrote the Pentateuch? Your\ndogmatic assertion is utterly baseless!\u201d\n\nIn some surprise we replied, \u201cI am sorry to sound dogmatic, as I try\nnever to dogmatize. All that I mean to imply is that I am absolutely\ncertain that he _did_ write it!\u201d\n\nOur humor, which was intended as oil on troubled waters, turned out to\nbe more like gasoline on raging fires! The exasperated gentleman\nexclaimed with considerable more heat than he had previously manifested,\n\u201cYou can\u2019t _prove_ that Moses wrote the Pentateuch!\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t have to,\u201d I replied, \u201cas the boot is on the other foot! May I\nquote to you a section from Greenleaf on Evidence? Here is the citation:\n\u2018When documents purporting to come from antiquity, and bearing upon\ntheir face no evident marks of forgery, are found in the proper\nrepository, the law presumes such documents to be authentic and genuine,\nand _the burden of proof to the contrary devolves upon the objector_.\u2019\nNow, my dear brother, these documents _do_ come from antiquity. They\nbear no evidence of forgery, and have thus been accepted and accredited\nin all of the ages that make up three millenniums of time. You face a\nproblem if you are going to repudiate all the evidence and tradition of\ntheir credibility. Just how are you going to prove that Moses _did not_\nwrite these books ascribed to him?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is easy,\u201d the scholarly brother retorted. \u201cMoses could not have\nwritten the first five books of the Bible, because writing was not\ninvented until five hundred years after Moses died!\u201d\n\nIn great amazement I asked him, \u201cIs it possible that you never heard of\nthe Tel el Armana tablets?\u201d\n\nHe never had!\n\nSo we took time to tell him of the amazing discovery of this great\ndeposit of written records from the library of Amenhetep the Third, and\ntheir bearing upon the great controversy. Then we told him also of the\nolder records of Ur, that go all the way back to the days of the queen\nShub Ab, and manifest a vast acquaintance with the art of writing as far\nback of Abraham as this patriarch in turn preceded the Lord Jesus\nChrist! He frankly confessed his total ignorance of this entire body of\naccumulated knowledge, and then closed the debate by stating,\n\n\n Plate 8\n\n [Illustration: Ancient seals, depicting historic events.]\n\n [Illustration: Seal]\n\n [Illustration: Seal]\n\n [Illustration: Seal]\n\n [Illustration: Section of a funerary papyrus, showing the progress\n of the soul on its journey in the Other World]\n\n\u201cWell, it may be that every one else in antiquity could write, _but\nMoses couldn\u2019t...!_\u201d\n\nAnd such an one would accuse another of dogmatism! Because we stand upon\nthe certainty of the approved and orthodox conception of the credibility\nof the Scriptures, and maintain our case with the most exact evidence,\nwe are not \u201cscholarly.\u201d Yet here is a reputedly religious leader,\nutterly ignorant of an enormous body of knowledge derived from a\ngeneration of research, who misleads those who are unfortunate enough to\nbe under his ministry, and offers them the fallacious, repudiated, and\nutterly baseless conclusions of higher criticism, in the place of the\nliving bread which God has provided for His children! This is but to be\nexpected when we think the matter through. The bread of life is to be\nfound only in the pages of God\u2019s Book. Therefore, if the source of this\nbread is rejected and derided, the bread cannot be available!\n\nThe great pity of the matter is seen in the fact that this attitude is\nentirely untenable, in the light of our present knowledge. Although our\nscience has demonstrated a remarkable culture for the very age of the\npatriarchs, we are faced with religious leaders who are so far behind\nthe advanced learning of our day that they still teach the outmoded\nnonsense of criticism, and claim that Moses could not write!\n\nIt is rather amusing in the light of this dogmatic assurance of critical\nauthorities to journey back through the hallways of time and find that\nwriting was a common custom a thousand years before Moses, or even a\nthousand years before that! Throughout Egypt especially, the art of\nwriting was a universal possession among all classes of the populace.\nThe toilet articles used by the beauties of Ancient Egypt were highly\nengraved with charms, and with prayers to the goddess of beauty. As an\nEgyptian damsel prepared herself for the evening\u2019s engagement, she would\nread these prayers and charms which were supposed to give her divine aid\nin impressing the ladies with her outstanding beauty! Poems of love and\nlyrics of passion were engraved upon her toilet articles and were\nincised upon the walls of her apartment as well.\n\nIn addition to this, most of the ancients wore amulets to guard them\nagainst the evil eye and every sort of disaster.\n\nSome wore engraved pectorals that showed the high development of the art\nof writing to a great antiquity.\n\nBusinessmen of various kinds, minor officials and even the common people\ncarried upon their persons seals wherewith to sign the documents and\ncontracts of their casual business affairs.\n\nFrom this common source there is a kaleidoscopic view of ancient life\nthat thrills the observer with its ever-changing magnitude. It is almost\nimpossible to limit the value of such discoveries as to the integrity of\nthe Scriptures. In all this enormous mass of authoritative data not one\nsingle fact has ever been derived which argued against the credibility\nof any statement in the Bible.\n\nAn even more important source of historical evidence is found among the\npapyri of old. This valuable material was invented in Egypt at a very\nearly age. In Upper Egypt the Nile was bordered, and in some places\novergrown, with a prolific reed which is scientifically called \u201ccyperus\npapyrus.\u201d It is from this name that the paper manufactured from this\nsubstance derives its identification. The manufacture of papyrus was a\nsimple procedure which nevertheless required time. Briefly stated,\nstrips of the papyrus reed, cut to a uniform length and saturated with\nwater, were laid down side by side. Another layer of strips was laid\nacross them transversely, and usually a third layer was superimposed\nupon the second layer. These layers of reed, being laid in alternate\ndirections, were then pounded with a flat paddle and smashed into a\npulp. When the mass dried, it was a sheet of rough paper, somewhat\ncomparable to the paper towels that are used in our generation. The\nedges were trimmed smoothly and the surface of the paper was smoothed\noff with a shell or rubbed with sand. This finished side of the paper\nwas called the obverse and was the side upon which writing was\ncustomarily inscribed. So expensive was this substance, however, that\nfrequently both sides would be covered with writing. In that case the\nrough side was always known as the reverse. Many of these papyri not\nonly were inscribed with a written text but were highly illustrated with\nscenes depicting the life and customs of the people. These illumined\npapyri, some of which go back to a very remote age, are of tremendous\nvalue to the student of the Scriptures.\n\nWe have, for instance, papyri from Egypt at the time of Moses, showing\nthe fowlers engaged in capturing quail. (See Plate 10.) These birds\nbeing tired by their long flight in their annual African migration, fell\neasy victims to the men who smote them to the earth or captured them in\nhand nets. Incidentally, the author has frequently been offered such\nquail upon the streets of Cairo by vendors who earned a precarious\nliving by peddling such game. Many Scriptural events are attested in\nthis manner by these illustrated manuscripts.\n\nSince there was a high content of starch in the finished papyrus, it was\npossible to make them any length desired. By moistening the edges of two\nsheets and pressing or pounding them together, the result would be a\nsingle sheet when the joint had dried. This process could be continued\nindefinitely. As a method of comparison let us note that the entire\nGospel of John could be written on a papyrus of the usual width, if it\nwas eighteen feet in length. Such a long sheet would be rolled to form a\ncomplete volume. The longest papyrus we have ever seen is in the British\nMuseum and is exhibit No. 9999. This single sheet is 135 feet long.\n\nAnother papyrus of unusual length is that which shows the funery\nexperiences of the scribe Ani. This is a highly illumined specimen and\ncontains many illustrations of the soul of Ani, as he goes through the\nintricate process of achieving eternal life in the realm of Osiris. This\npapyrus is 78 feet long and is one foot, three inches wide. The average\nsheet of papyrus, however, is about six by nine inches.\n\nThese papyrus records are divided into many kinds and types. Some of\nthem are funery, and deal with the events of the decease and\nresurrection of the individual. Most noteworthy among the papyri of this\ntype are the various texts of the \u201cBook of the Dead.\u201d These are\nilluminated with scenes of religious beliefs. They depict the experience\nof the soul on its pilgrimage into the hereafter. They tell of the\nconditions of life in the other world and the manner of entering into a\nblessed state after death.\n\nThere are also papyri that deal with pure literature. Almost every\nsubject common to modern literature is found in the ancient records of\nthis type. For instance, fiction was a common field for the scribe of\nantiquity. The British Museum contains many of these prized papyri, as\ndoes the Egyptian Museum at Cairo.\n\nIt might surprise the modern reader to know that the Egyptian people of\nold highly prized stories of mystery and imagination. Some of their\ngreater manuscripts bear a strong resemblance to portions of the Arabian\nNights, and they may indeed have been the original basis of that later\nproduction.\n\nIn the British Museum a papyrus, No. 10183, is a fine example of this\ncommon theme. This is entitled, \u201cThe Tale of the Two Brothers.\u201d In the\nintroductory section, the life of a humble farmer in ancient Egypt is\ngiven in detail. The familiar triangle develops between the elder\nbrother, his wife and the younger brother. The plot develops when the\nwicked wife made herself sick by rancid grease, and, bruising herself\nwith a stick, lay moaning on the floor when her husband returned.\nAccusing the younger brother of attempted assault, she aroused her\nhusband\u2019s anger to the point where he grabbed an edged weapon and set\nout to kill the suspected villain. The oxen, however, told the younger\nbrother of the ambush that was set for him and he fled the home.\nMarvelous miracles occurred during this flight, which opened the eyes of\nthe elder brother to the injustice that he had been about to perpetrate.\nWhereupon he returned home, and satisfied the demands of the stern\njustice of his day by slaying his wife and feeding her body to his pet\ndogs. The rest of the story is taken up with the wanderings and\nadventures of the younger brother. This record goes back to the\nthirteenth century B. C., and is a perfect specimen of the fiction of\nthat time.\n\nLimited space will not permit the introduction of other notable classics\nof fiction such as the story of the shipwrecked sailor; the story of the\ndoomed prince; the story of the possessed princess; the story of the\neloquent peasant, and any number of other records, nor is their\npresentation essential to the development of our thesis. Their value,\nhowever, is seen in the fact that not only do they depict the literary\ntastes of antiquity, but they delineate many of the common details and\nincidents of the daily life of those ages.\n\nThere are also any number of poems which have a high historical value.\nWe shall refer later to the famed poem of Pentauer, which immortalizes\nthe victories of Ramses the Second, which this great conqueror achieved\nover Egypt\u2019s ancient enemies the Hittites. The discovery of this record\nwas the first appearance of the Hittites in archeology and caused a\nsensation in the ranks of Biblical criticism.\n\nAmong the more sober types of literature will be found narratives of\npure history. Such would be the lists of the kings, giving the\nchronology of the dynasty of each. Records of conquest, lists of\ntribute, and the names of captive races form the bulk of this type of\nmaterial.\n\nThere are also books of maxims teaching the higher morality of the age\nin which the papyrus was written. In a word, the literature preserved in\nthe papyri of Egypt deals with religious aims, books of magic, records\nof travel, and the science of that day. From the latter we learn their\nbeliefs and technique in the realm of astronomy. Their system of\nmathematics is preserved for us in such prize records as the Rhind\nPapyrus which deals with the geometry of that age. This papyrus is in\nthe British Museum and is numbered 10,057. In the Museum at Cairo is a\npapyrus illustrating the geography and cartography of antiquity. This\nfamous map shows the religious divisions of that province, which is now\ncalled the Fayyum. Others of these papyri deal with medicine as it was\npracticed in that ancient day. There are, of course, biographical papyri\nthat are almost innumerable, all of which reconstruct for us the lives\nand times of these people who are so long dead, but far from forgotten.\n\nAmong the most important of all the varieties of papyri are those which\npreserve for us the embalming technique practiced at various stages in\nthe development of this art in Egypt. Since the Egyptians believed that\nthe resurrection of the body and its eternal life depended upon the\npreservation of the physical form, they took great pains in their\npreparations for the burial of their dead. The most graphic description\nof the method used is given by Herodotus and is thus familiar to all\nstudents of history. This noted writer states that three general methods\nwere used by the Egyptians and the cost of each was graduated to the\nthoroughness of the method.\n\nThe most expensive means of embalming was an elaborate process indeed.\nThe abdominal cavity was opened and the viscera were removed from the\nbody. These were carefully washed in palm wine, thoroughly dried and\nsprinkled with certain aromatic spices. The brains were withdrawn from\nthe head and treated in this same fashion. These cavities were then\ndried and filled with a combination of bitumen, myrrh, cassia and\nvarious other expensive and astringent spices. The openings were then\nsewed up. A tank was prepared which was filled with a solution of soda,\nand the body was steeped in it for seventy days. After removal from this\npickling solution the body was thoroughly dried in the hot sun and\nanointed with spicy compounds which had the two-fold purpose of\nimparting a fragrant odor to the mummy and of further preserving its\nstructure. The process was completed when the body was wound with the\nstrips of linen with which all students of Egyptology are so familiar.\n\nThe cost of this type of embalming varied, of course, in each dynasty,\nbut as a general average it would be in the neighborhood of $1500 in our\nmodern currency. When we consider the disparity between our standard of\nmoney value and that of ancient Egypt, it can be seen that such a\npreparation was enormously expensive.\n\nA cheaper method of embalming consisted of dissolving the viscera by\nmeans of oil of cedar. The flesh also was dissolved with a caustic soda\nsolution, and the skin shrunk tightly to the bones. This dessicated form\nwas then wrapped in the traditional linen bandages. The cost of this\nprocess was in the neighborhood of $300 in the currency of our day.\n\nFor the very poor, however, a cheaper form of preparation was used. The\nbody was dumped into the tank of soda, where it was alternately\nsaturated and dried for a period of seventy days. The pickled body was\nthen handed over to the relatives, who wrapped it according to their own\nability and means and arranged for burial at any convenient site. This\nprocess would cost in the neighborhood of $1.50 in our present standard\nof currency.\n\nIt will be noted that the customary period of embalming was seventy\ndays. A discrepancy has been fancied here between this ordinary custom\nand the embalming of Israel, as it is recorded in the fiftieth chapter\nof Genesis. The third verse of that chapter states, \u201cAnd forty days were\nfulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those which are\nembalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him three score and ten days.\u201d\nThe discrepancy, however, has been cleared up by the discovery of the\nfact that under the Hyksos Dynasties the period of the embalming was\nforty days instead of seventy, and the mourning of the dead was more\nimportant than the time used in preserving the body.\n\nIn the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, exhibit No. 1270, is a magnificent\nanthropoid sarcophagus from the time of Psammetichus the Second. The\ninscription on this sarcophagus confirms the statement that the\nembalming process lasted seventy days and is a testimony of the honesty\nof the undertaker in that he did not shorten the time for the extra\nprofit involved.\n\nIt is to the reverence for their dead that was manifested by all in\nEgypt that we owe our present wealth of archeological material. The most\nvoluminous evidences for the accuracy of the Bible come to us from\nburial sources. Very often the coverings of the corpse were inscribed\nwith verbose descriptions of the life, morals, and piety of the dead\nindividual.\n\nA further source of material is found on the cartonnage. When the body\nhad been encased in bandages a type of coffin was made that is called\nmummiform or, more commonly, anthropoid. (See Frontispiece.) This first\ncovering was made of some plastic material, which was moulded to the\nform of the individual to be buried. In the earlier days this cartonnage\nwas made of strips of linen cloth pasted together and covered with a\ntype of shellac. While still plastic, this material was moulded to the\ncontour of the head and shoulders of the occupant until it took on a\nrough resemblance to the individual. This may have been the origin of\nthe death-mask custom which continues in some regions even to the\npresent time. In later times this first covering was gilded, and, in the\ncase of the very rich, might be decorated also with eyes of obsidian or\nlapis lazuli.\n\nIn later periods, the cartonnage was made of outmoded papyri. These were\ndampened and moulded into a mulch like the method of using papier-mache\nin our generation. In so doing, however, the writing was not demolished.\nSome of the greatest discoveries of antiquity have come to us when a\ncartonnage made of papyrus has been carefully separated into its\noriginal sheets and the writing thereof recovered.\n\nWhen the mummy was enclosed in its cartonnage, a wooden coffin was then\nprepared, which quite frequently was also anthropoid in shape. (See\nPlate 11.) Not only did it maintain the form of the human body, but very\noften it had also a painted portrait of the dead person to identify the\ndeceased. This wooden coffin was painted and inscribed on the inside and\nthe outside with a record and history of the individual, to which were\nadded scenes and texts from the Book of the Dead. (See Plate 12.) This\nsecond coffin was not always made of wood, however. In the case of\nTut-ankh-amen, the coffin was of solid gold, and constituted a\ntremendous treasure in itself. This was possible only to a monarch or a\nnoble of enormous wealth.\n\nThe final covering was the sarcophagus, a great rectangular box\nsometimes made of wood, but often formed of stone. In this box the\nanthropoid coffin was carefully placed and the lid was tightly sealed.\nIn preparing the sarcophagus, every inch of the inside would be engraved\nwith a record of the history of the individual as well as of the times\nin which he lived. On the inside of this box, the bottom, both ends, and\nthe two sides would be covered with writing as closely as the characters\ncould be engraved. Not content with this, the industrious scribe of\nantiquity also covered the outside of the sarcophagus, both ends, both\nsides, and the top with further writings. We have illustrated this\ncustom clearly in Plate 13.\n\nTo make the case complete, the noble, the wealthy, and the great of\nantiquity were buried in tombs, the walls of which were illuminated with\nfrescoes, murals, and texts in written script that covered every square\ninch of space on the ceiling, as well as on the four walls. All of the\nvisitors to the Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt have wondered over\nthese remarkable and complete records. They are, however, more than just\na curious sight to satisfy the interest of the tourists. They are one of\nthe priceless sources of valuable information concerning the coincidence\nof ancient history with the text of the Scripture! (See Plate 14.)\n\nStill another source of material and information is found in the\ninnumerable stelae which covered the ancient world. The word \u201cstele\u201d is\na Greek word meaning \u201can upright stone.\u201d\n\nArcheologically it applies to slabs of stone which were erected over a\nburial site in the fashion of a headstone in our modern custom. Some\nwere square, some rectangular, and some were artistically rounded at the\ntop. In the case of a burial stele, the name of the man so honored,\ntogether with a record of his life and conduct, was carved in high\nrelief upon the stone. Thereon were named the king and the dynasty under\nwhich the dead man had lived, and sometimes the important historical\nevents of that reign. Always such a stele contained the episodes of\nhistory to which the given individual had personally contributed. They\nare a large source of historical information. These stelae were\nsometimes erected in public places as memorials of great events. (See\nPlate 15.)\n\nWhen Ramses the Second won his great campaign against the Hittites, he\nended a five hundred year period of warfare in which the Egyptians had\nbeen consistently defeated. To celebrate his victory, a voluminous\naccount of his valor and skill was carved upon a large number of stelae\nand erected in prominent centers throughout his kingdom. So also\nAmenhetep the Third set up a stele to record his conquest of the country\nof Abhat. This beautifully preserved record may be seen in the British\nMuseum. It is exhibit No. 657 in Bay 6.\n\nIn the Egyptian Museum at Cairo there is a stele originally erected by\nAmenhetep the Third. We shall refer to this one again because his\nsuccessor Menepthah appropriated this stele, and because it contains his\nrecord of the Israelites, who are thus acknowledged by the monarchs of\nEgypt to have been a people of importance in the annals of their empire.\n\nThe most stupendous source of material is found in monuments. The larger\nand most important type of monument is of course the buildings of\nantiquity. To the Egyptologist the most entrancing and magnificent\nspectacle on the face of the earth is the ruined temple at Karnak. The\ngeneral public is so familiar with the magnitude and extent of these\nstupendous ruins, it is not necessary to make more than a brief\nreference to them in this paragraph. Any standard encyclopedia, such as\nthe current Britannica, carries a more or less lengthy article on this\nsubject, and the number of interested observers who have studied these\nruins is almost beyond estimating.\n\nThe present city of Luxor, in Upper Egypt, was once known as Thebes, and\nwas the center of government in times long past. Three very important\nsources of study are found in that vicinity. There is the great Valley\nof the Kings, where so many of the dead great of Egypt were buried. Then\nalso there is the great temple at Luxor, which is still in the process\nof recovery. It is to be regretted that excavations there have been\nhalted for some time, due to the fanaticism of the Moslems, who refuse\nto permit a mosque to be moved from the top of the remaining mound,\nunder which the balance of this great temple still lies buried.\n\nLast, but far from least, there is the great temple, called Karnak. The\nevidences that have been recovered from this site carry us as far back\nas the early stages of the Old Kingdom, and may indeed be pre-dynastic.\nThere are a number of temples that have been erected upon this site,\nwhich contribute to the glory of its past history. The earliest relics\nfound are flint instruments, and there are a number of recoveries from\nthe Middle Kingdom also. While the famed archeologist Legrain was in\ncharge of the work of recovery here, he opened one great pit from which\nan unbelievable amount of material was recovered. In this one find,\nseven hundred and fifty large statues were dug up, and more than twenty\nthousand smaller objects were recovered from this same pit. This was\nlargely a Middle Kingdom deposit. It may be said that the entire history\nof the land is seen here, from the archaic age to the end of the\nPtolemaic period.\n\nThere are three major ruins that make up the vast monument of Karnak,\nwhich, with the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, is almost a mile in\nlength. Each of these three enclosures has its own story to tell. The\nsmallest one is the most northerly, and was built by Amenhetep the\nThird. Ramses the Second added to its structure, and the imposing gate\nwas built by Ptolemy Euergetes the First. This magnificent gate is\npractically all of the original structure that remains today. The\noutline of the foundation of the original temple may be traced, but its\nmaterial, with the exception of the gate, has long since disappeared.\n\nThe south enclosure contained the temple built to the glory of the\ngoddess Mut by Amenhetep the Third, of which also very little of the\noriginal structure remains. Behind this temple, however, is a sacred\nlake, shaped like a horseshoe, upon which tradition says the barge of\nthe sacred lady used to appear. Indeed, there are fellahin in Egypt\ntoday who maintain that at certain times when the moon is just right,\nthis notable barge may still be seen if one is fortunate enough to be on\nthe spot at the right time. (We regret to say that the times that we\nwere there were never the right ones!)\n\nThere were small temples and shrines inside both of these enclosures\nwhere various kings honoured other deities in the lengthy pantheon. Some\ntraces of these may still be seen here and there, and much more may yet\nbe brought to light by the excavations now being conducted there by the\nDepartment of Antiquities.\n\nIt is the third enclosure which is the great one, and the really\nthrilling monument. It is about 1,500 feet square, so that it is at once\napparent that it is immense. Undoubtedly it is the largest temple ever\nconstructed by man. Two million, two hundred and fifty thousand feet of\nfloor space make quite a place of worship in any day and age!\n\nThe original sanctuary was probably begun by Usertesen the First, who\ndedicated it to Amon-Ra. Having done so, the king then used the walls,\npillars, beams, and all other available space to carve a record of his\nown reign and greatness; not forgetting, of course, to give Amon-Ra due\ncredit here and there for such divine aid as the Pharaoh may have needed\nfrom time to time! The drawings, paintings, and carvings of this monarch\nare a fine source of information concerning his times and peoples.\n\nThis seems to have established a precedent at Karnak, for the original\ntemple was added to by Thothmes the First, who faithfully followed the\nexample of his predecessor, and told what a mighty man he also turned\nout to be! Then Seti the First followed him, to be in turn replaced by\nThothmes the Third, and neither neglected to carve the tale of his power\nand successes on the additions to the original temple that Usertesen had\nstarted.\n\nThe next builder was Amenhetep the Third, and after him the three\nsuccessive Ramses all built extensive votive shrines and temples. The\namount of carving, painting, and hieroglyphics that covers all this\nmighty pile of stone work is almost unbelievable, and leaves the\nbeholder amazed and somewhat awed.\n\nThe most noteworthy section of the standing ruins is the great\nhypo-style hall, which is one of the architectural wonders of the world.\nThis hall is 171 feet deep and 338 feet in breadth. The roof was\nsupported by 134 mighty columns, set in 16 rows, of which the two\ncentral rows were by far the highest. The roof of this great hall was 78\nfeet above the floor, and the entire structure was covered with reliefs\nand painted scenes from the conquests and lives of the builders.\n\nHere are to be found the most gratifying evidences of the integrity and\naccuracy of the Scripture that the most ardent devotee of the Bible\ncould desire. The Pharaohs who appear in the text of Holy Writ are there\non Karnak\u2019s walls as well, and this testimony of ancient heathen\nmonarchs is conclusive and final.\n\nAs the kings of antiquity consistently carved upon the walls, the\npillars, and the beams of Karnak the proud record of their conquests, it\nis inevitable that this source of material should be drawn upon heavily\nby the exponent of the Scripture. In a later chapter we shall return to\nKarnak again and again to read these treasured accounts.\n\nThere are many other temples of antiquity that are of almost equal\nvalue, such as the great temple at Luxor. Students have long been\nfamiliar with the nature of the great pyramids which have also a great\ncontribution to make to our sources of evidence. It is to be noted,\nhowever, that only an honest and honorable evaluation of these evidences\nis of any aid to the faithful student of the Scripture.\n\nOne of the greatest but most nonsensical heresies of our generation is\nthe false teaching that parades under the name of \u201cBritish-Israelism.\u201d\nThis ridiculous fantasy is predicated upon the false premise that the\nGreat Pyramid is a prophecy erected under divine leading. By a weird\ninterpretation of its mathematical proportions, it is presumed to\nportray a prophetic record of coming events. It is the source of more\nfantasy than has ever been derived from any other misapplication of\ncoincidence!\n\nThe advocates of British-Israel heresy claim that the pyramids were\nnever used as burial sites. This is, of course, arrant nonsense. They\nwere nothing but stupendous graves.\n\nWe have ourselves been in the burial chambers of the Great Pyramid and\nhave seen the sarcophagi.\n\nWe have had the pleasure of examining the great stone casket that was\ntaken out of the pyramid, containing the mummy of the buried king, as\nwell as the replica thereof which was put back into this burial chamber\nto satisfy the interest of visiting tourists.\n\nWe have been in the burial chamber of the queen and the royal children\nas well.\n\nWe have seen these mummies that came out of the Great Pyramid, have\npoked our way into the treasure room and have seen some of these\nrecoveries which were made when the pyramid was entered.\n\nTo show something of the interest the kings of antiquity had in their\nresting places, it is recorded on credible ancient authority that the\nbuilding of this Great Pyramid occupied twenty years, and that three\nhundred thousand men were employed in the building. Ten years were\noccupied in the one task of quarrying the stone. Another decade passed\nby in the erection of the monument. Herodotus states that the men worked\nin groups of ten thousand, laboring three months at a shift. The records\nof Herodotus contain a description of the construction of earthen ramps\nup which the stones were skidded by means of wooden machines.\n\nThe Cairo Museum contains a number of very valuable exhibits from this\ngreatest of all burial mounds. So also has the second pyramid of Gheza,\nin turn, yielded its mummies, as have the others which have since been\nbreached.\n\nWe cannot ignore the great evidence given by the type of monument\ncomposed of the obelisks, the erection of which delighted the ancient\nconquerors. These consisted of enormous stone shafts that towered into\nthe air sometimes to a distance of seventy feet. These great spires were\nengraved with the name of the monarch, a description of his greatness,\nand some of the more important records of his reign.\n\nIn closing, we must not neglect to mention also the boundary markers\nthat were so common in the Assyrian culture. These engraved stones,\noften illustrated with sculptured figures in high relief, are of unique\nimportance not only because of their written records but also because of\ntheir ubiquity. Throughout all of the ancient world of Mesopotamia they\nseem to have been in general use. Since they were an important factor in\ndeciding the title of a section of land, they were carefully made and\npreserved. The date factor is generally a certain year of the reign of a\ngiven king, and the historical information derived from monuments of\nthis type is practically unlimited. (See Plate 16.)\n\nAlso, since the ancients had no hinges, it was customary in constructing\na door to have it turn upon a pivot. Beneath the door sill was a\nhollowed stone customarily called an ouch. This acted as a bearing which\nsupported the weight of the door and enabled one man easily to swing a\nvery heavy structure. These ouches were generally engraved with the name\nof the building, the purpose of the building and, perhaps, the cost and\nrecord of the construction. (See Plate 17.)\n\nFrom all these scattered sources, then, we gather together the unified\ntestimony of multiplied thousands of men once dead who speak from the\nlong silence of their forgotten era. Their united testimony is an\nunbroken chorus of assurance for those who are concerned over the\nintegrity of the text of the Scripture.\n\nIn the bewildering mass of all this evidence which together would weigh\nso many tons that the figure, if computed, would appear fabulous, there\nis not one word, one testimony, or one fact that has contradicted or\ndisproved a single line of the Holy Bible.\n\n\n Plate 9\n\n [Illustration: Herds of cattle, such as the Hyksos kings possessed]\n\n\n Plate 10\n\n [Illustration: Ancient mural of the slaughter of cattle]\n\n [Illustration: Papyrus showing the capture of quail]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VI\n Fragments\n\n\n\u201cRome was not built in a day,\u201d is a self-evident truth: but it is\nequally true that it was not _excavated_ in a day, either! In fact, as\nall visitors to Italy can testify, the Department of Antiquities is\nstill working on some of the more ancient sites, and certain of the most\nextensive ruins are just beginning to emerge for the delight of our\ngeneration. Archeology is a very fine exposition of the truth inherent\nin the old proverb of science: \u201cResearch is the examination of the tenth\ndecimal place.\u201d\n\nThere are many stupendous monuments that have been uncovered with\nsurprising speed, but the majority of our most valuable evidence has\nbeen derived from long and patient digging, and is often composed of\ninnumerable fragments from here and there. Standing alone, any one of\nthe many items that appear to be inconsequential would arouse no\ninterest in the average observer, and would be passed over without\ncomment. Such evidence is similar in its accumulative force to the\naction of water. A drop, or any number of single drops of water,\nattracts very little attention, but when enough of them combine to form\na flood, great cities and whole nations sit up in alarm and pay strict\nattention to the course of the flow.\n\nSo it is today with the flood of facts that make up the great stream of\ndiscovery, and constitute so forceful a demonstration of the value and\naccuracy of the Bible. A few facts from Egypt suddenly fit into the\npattern of certain other events that occurred in Assyria, and these in\nturn naturally correlate themselves with a record inscribed upon a stone\nby some king of Moab. Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, these isolated\nand apparently unrelated facts make a complete picture when they are\nintelligently assembled, but careless or ignorant handling can never\nshow the marvelous pattern in its complete beauty.\n\nIn this chapter we will offer a group of these fragments from here and\nthere, and show their value to the student who seeks evidence on the\nquestion of the authority of the Holy Word. Their accumulated force is\nirresistible, and their final authority cannot be refuted. Just as\ngrains of sand make up a mighty mound when they are assembled into one\ngreat heap or deposit, these fragmentary facts have an imposing\nauthority when they are taken together. In support of this statement, we\nshall cite the problem of chronology.\n\nOne of the greatest difficulties that has always faced the students of\nantiquity was the construction of an accurate and detailed chronology.\nThe early Egyptians paid no attention whatever to chronological\nsequence, but dated the episodes and events which they recorded by the\nyear of the contemporary monarch. Among the Chaldeans and the Sumerians,\nhowever, lists of eponyms were carefully kept. In the Assyrian meaning\nof this word an eponym was an official whose name was used in a\nchronological system to designate a certain year of office. From these\nconsecutive records of the eponyms, king-lists of unusual and detailed\naccuracy were compiled. A great deal of the difficulty in harmonizing\nthe chronological factors in the study of antiquity has recently been\nsolved by a close study of these canons, which studies were first begun\nby Sir Henry Rawlinson. As an instance, we note that one such\nconsecutive list gives all of the eponyms from B. C. 893 to 666.\n\nAnother magnificent aid to the Biblical chronologist is found in the\nastronomical data which were so carefully kept at the same historical\nperiod. Through these credible records we have the material to check the\naccuracy of the king-lists that adds to their tremendous value. For\ninstance, a tablet has come to us stating that in the eponym of one\nPur-sagali, there was an eclipse of the sun which took place in the\nmonth Sivan. Since Sivan would be composed, according to our calendar,\nof the last two weeks of May and the first two weeks of June, it is easy\nto make an astronomical calculation to fix this date. We are delighted\nto find that there was an eclipse of the sun which would have been\nvisible at Nineveh on June 15, 763 B. C. With this factor fixed, we can\nnow date all of the events of that period of antiquity from these\nking-lists to the time of the beginning of the reign of Assur-bani-pal.\n\nAnother such tablet, which came from Babylon, gives us an opportunity to\ncheck back the other way. This tablet merely states, \u201cIn the seventh\nyear of the reign of Cambyses, between the 16th and 17th of the month\nPhemenoth, at one hour before midnight, the moon was obscured in the\nvicinity of Babylon by one-half of her diameter on the north.\u201d We then\nturn to our modern astronomical sources and learn from them that there\n_was_ just such an eclipse of the moon which would have been visible in\nBabylon in the year 522 B. C. Since this was the seventh year of\nCambyses, it follows that he must have ascended in the year 529.\n\nThis is exactly what is demanded by the Biblical chronology accepted at\nour present time. Incidentally, by correlating the prophecies and\nhistory of the Old Testament to the proved chronological points in these\nrecords, archeology has vindicated the historical and traditional\nacceptance of those dates which criticism unsuccessfully disputed. The\nkings of Israel and Judah, with the writing prophets of each monarch\u2019s\nreign, may now be correlated into this accredited system of chronology.\nWhen this is done, the traditional and accepted dates for the prophecies\nof the Old Testament which orthodox scholarship has always maintained,\nare established beyond reasonable doubt.\n\nIn the confused condition of the Egyptian chronology it is difficult to\ndogmatize concerning the exact identification of certain pharaohs whose\nrecords are contained in the Sacred Text, but who are not identified by\ntheir prenomen in Holy Writ.\n\nA good deal of this confusion, however, is being dissipated with\nsurprising rapidity due to the recovery of some hitherto unknown\nsources. The tendency of our present day is to concede that the Pharaoh\nThotmes, whose name is more commonly given as Tuthmosis, was the pharaoh\nof the Oppression. There is a great deal of reliable authority for\nadopting this view. This mighty sovereign, whose history we have partly\ncovered in connection with his sister, wife and domineering queen,\nHatshepsut, in the portion dealing with the times of Moses, according to\nthe best chronologist, reigned fifty-one years. He died in 1447 B. C.,\nand was succeeded by Amenhetep the Second. This fact would make it\npractically certain that the latter monarch was the pharaoh of the\nExodus.\n\nThere is a great deal of gratifying demonstration in the new chronology\nwhich, being purged from the gross errors that naturally resulted from\nchronological differences inevitable to pioneers in Egyptology, has\nbrought great comfort and aid to the orthodox believer in the Old\nTestament. There were almost as many different dates given by the\ncritics for the Exodus from Egypt as there were critics. It may be noted\nin passing that one of the major difficulties of criticism and one of\nits foundational weaknesses is to be seen in the fact that each\nindividual critic is his own highest authority. The only finality that\ncriticism recognizes is the dogmatic decision of a particular individual\nto believe one way or the other.\n\nSo it is rather hard to say that criticism in general held to any\ncertain thing. The consensus of opinion, as far as such can be gathered\nfrom criticism, however, would make the date of the Exodus not any\nearlier than 1220 B. C.\n\n\n Plate 11\n\n [Illustration: Cartonnage in the anthropoid sarcophagus]\n\n\n Plate 12\n\n [Illustration: Showing both outside and inside writings and\n decorations on anthropoid sarcophagus]\n\nThe _new_ chronology, derived from archeological research, has utterly\nand finally upset these critical conclusions. The Exodus can be credibly\ndated now to within a span of ten years. The earlier probability is 1447\nB. C. and the latest possible time would be 1437. It may be said that if\nwe consider the archeological sources alone, there is a possible spread\nof thirty years, but no more. Even if we make the most liberal\nconcessions, the Exodus must be fitted into the record between 1447 and\n1417 B. C. Allowing then for the years of wandering in the wilderness,\nthe fall of Jericho occurred with a possible spread of ten years,\nbetween 1407 and 1397. The earlier date is now accepted as by far the\nmost credible. We may state almost with finality that Jericho was\ndestroyed in 1407 B. C., and remain secure in that conclusion.\n\nTherefore, if Tuthmosis died in 1447, the reign of Amenhetep the Second\nwould have ended in 1421. These perplexing seals of Amenhetep, if they\nhave not been derived by intrusion, would thus have had a sufficient\ntime to reach Jericho in connection with some official business of the\nkingdom in the forty years elapsing between the Exodus and the assault\non the Canaanite city.\n\nIt will be remembered that Josephus makes a passing reference to the\nstatement of the Egyptian historian, Manetho, that the pharaoh of the\nExodus was Amenophis. Amenophis is another form of the name Amenhetep,\nwhich would add a great deal of authority to our present conclusions.\nJosephus is not willing to acknowledge the dependability of Manetho, due\nto the fact that Manetho came so long after the event. But since the\nEgyptian historian preceded Josephus by some three hundred years, the\nolder authority would seem to be at least as dependable as Josephus!\nIncidentally, this fact, if accepted, would be a confirmation of the\naccepted date for the Tel-el-amarna tablets with the reign of Amenhetep.\n\nThe final word as to the date, based upon authoritative evidence derived\nfrom the pottery culture as given by Dr. Garstang, makes the destruction\nof Jericho to have been not later than 1400 B. C. Thus the pendulum of\nopinion and discussion has now swung back to the point where we can\nauthoritatively stand upon the earlier conclusions of the Book of Joshua\nand accept its credibility without the slightest question.\n\nMost of us can remember how recently it was the fashion for the\nopponents of the Bible to laugh at those who believed in the historicity\nof Joshua\u2019s strange conquest of the Canaanite city of Jericho. The\ncollapse of the walls of that ancient city has long been a source of\nmystery to the scientific student, and of hilarity to the unbeliever.\nThe faith of the intelligent is vindicated, however, and the laughter of\nthe unbeliever is stilled, by the exhaustive work that archeology has\ndone in the vicinity of Jericho.\n\nThe site has been explored a number of times, but the most comprehensive\nand conclusive work was done by the 1933 expedition that was headed by\nDr. Garstang. The walls of Jericho were mighty, and as long as they\nstood the city was impregnable to the armed forces of antiquity. The\nunusual structure of Jericho\u2019s walls was manifested when they were\nuncovered from the dirt and debris of centuries. The word \u201cwalls\u201d is\nproperly given in its plural form as there were outer and inner walls\nthat entirely encircled the city. There was, first of all, surrounding\nthe city completely, an outer wall, which seemed to have been held up as\nmuch by faith as by gravity!\n\nEver since we had the first opportunity of personally examining the\ngeology of Jericho and noting the insecure structure upon which those\nwalls were builded, our own private wonder has not been that the walls\nfell down; rather we have been bewildered by speculating as to what in\nthe name of physics ever held them up! Perhaps it was the binding of the\nbuildings that anchored the outer wall to the inner wall, and made a\nsort of tripod structure of the whole, which accounted for this\nphenomenon. Some fourteen feet back from the outer wall and roughly\nparalleling the convolutions of the former, there was an inner wall of\nthe same height as the outer one. Across these two walls great beams had\nbeen laid, and dwellings constructed upon this unique foundation. The\nouter wall was pierced by the one gate, in exact accordance with the\ndescription in the Book of Joshua.\n\nThere is no natural explanation to account for the unique evidence of\nthe collapse of these walls. They were not undermined by military\nengineers, for they all seem to have collapsed around the entire\ncircumference of the city at one and the same time. They were not shaken\ndown by an earthquake. This would have resulted in a haphazard piling of\nthe wall material in a number of different directions. It seems as\nthough a mighty blast had been set off in the center of the city,\nthrusting the walls outward, in what might roughly be described as a\ncircle. This collapse of the walls naturally resulted in the wrecking of\nthe houses builded thereon. When the preliminary clearance had been made\nand the excavators came down to these great ruins, every demand of the\nBook of Joshua was satisfactorily met by the conditions there uncovered.\n\nIn the remnants of the houses found in Jericho there was overwhelming\nevidence of a systematic destruction by fires that were set to sweep the\nentire ruin. Among the most interesting and significant of the charred\nevidences were the great stores of burned grain which showed that even\nthe food of Jericho had been dedicated to the fire, as Joshua had\ncommanded.\n\nWhen the discoveries of Jericho were first publicized, Dr. Garstang\ncould find only one apparent contradiction between the record of Joshua\nand the evidences in the city. That was in the time factor, or\nchronology, that was involved. In the cemetery of Jericho upon its\nexcavation, there were found two seals of the Pharaoh Amenhetep the\nThird. Since this monarch reigned probably at least a hundred years\nafter the time of Joshua, it was difficult to reconcile the apparent\ndiscrepancy. The apparent difficulty, however, dissolves when we\nconsider the possibility of later intrusion.\n\nBefore the excavations at Jericho could begin, it was necessary for the\nworkers to clear away the remains of a fortress of Ramses, the monarch\nwho headed the nineteenth dynasty, which in turn followed that of the\ndynasty of Amenhetep the Third. Since this site had been temporarily\nused by the Egyptians two hundred years after its destruction, it is\nhighly probable that it might also have been temporarily visited by them\nthe century immediately following its destruction. If the presence of\ntwo seals of Amenhetep are to be taken as a date factor in view of the\nfact that burials at that site were by intrusion, then a great case\ncould be made for a later date by the ruined fortress of Ramses.\n\nThe pharaoh who ruled in the day when Joshua led the conquest of Canaan\nwas most probably Tuthmosis the Third, who reigned contemporarily with\nthe Queen Hatshepsut until he was sufficiently entrenched to overthrow\nher dominion. This queen, as all the evidence most clearly suggests, was\nmost probably the one who drew Moses out of the Nile. The contemporary\nand collateral evidence is fairly conclusive, so that this fact is\ngenerally accepted. Relegating the one anomalous discovery, then, to the\nprobability of intrusion, we find that Jericho, perhaps more than any\nother site in antiquity, has vindicated the record of the Old Testament\ntext.\n\nIn this very connection, it is interesting to note how the queen\nHatshepsut came into the record, and first interested the student of\napologetics. The eminent archeologist, Flinders Petrie, found a tablet\non the slope of Mt. Sinai which was written in an archaic script that\nbaffled every attempt to decipher its mystery for nearly thirty years.\nBut at long last Professor Hubert Grimme, who held the chair of Semitic\nlanguages at the University of Munster, made out two words. One of these\nwas the ancient Hebrew name for God, which in this form of writing\nappeared as \u201cJAHUA.\u201d The other word that Dr. Grimme succeeded in reading\nwas \u201cHATSHEPSUT,\u201d who was known from her monuments and obelisk.\n\nWith this key, the table was quickly deciphered, and was ascribed to\nMoses. The text as it appeared follows:\n\n \u201cI am the son of Hatshepsut\n overseer of the mine workers of sin\n chief of the temple of Mana Jahua of Sinai\n thou oh Hatshepsut\n wast kind to me and drew me out\n of the waters of the Nile\n hast placed me in the temple (or palace).\u201d\n\nOn the reverse were directions for locating the place where the writer\nreported he had buried certain tablets of stone, which he had broken in\nhis anger. Since all the landmarks the writer used to identify the place\nof burial have disappeared, nothing has so far come from the search that\nresulted when this tablet was at last read.\n\nIncidentally, this queen Hatshepsut left her mark upon the age in which\nshe lived, as she was one of the most persistently determined women who\never appeared upon the pages of ancient history. There is a remarkably\ncomplete record of her history and her imperial reign which may be read\ntoday in the relics of her times and in the ruins of the great works\nwhich she caused to be constructed.\n\nHer important place illustrates one of the difficulties of chronology,\nwhich we have previously mentioned. Her background is clear and\nundisputed. When Tuthmosis the First died, his son and heir Tuthmosis\nthe Second succeeded to the throne. He was a physical and mental\nweakling, and very little is known of him from the monuments of old. But\nhe married his half-sister Hatshepsut, and started a train of events\nthat had surprising consequences. Incidentally, it was the custom for\nEgyptians to marry in the closest family ties, and brother and sister\nmore often wed than not. In view of this famous lady\u2019s character and\nlater conduct, it is highly probable that the king had no choice in\nmarrying his sister, but was led to the slaughter whether he would or\nnot! At any rate, he died very soon after the wedding, and the widow\nHatshepsut declared herself queen. To make her position secure, she\nmarried her young stepson and half-brother, Tuthmosis the Third, who was\nthe legal and rightful heir to the throne. During his boyhood the queen\nreigned in undisputed power, and developed the country in a surprising\nmanner.\n\nShe was a feminist with a vengeance, and called herself KING Hatshepsut,\nand stated that she was a god and as such was entitled to worship and\nobedience. What is more, she made it stick! Since she could not lead her\narmies in person, she pursued the ways of peace, and the troubled land\nhad rest and prospered. Some of the greatest building operations of the\nancient world were begun and finished under her direction and patronage.\n\n\n Plate 13\n\n [Illustration: Detailed study of outside and inside of anthropoid\n coffin. Note voluminous record]\n\n [Illustration: inside]\n\n [Illustration: Outside, or rectangular coffin also covered with\n writing and records]\n\n [Illustration: records]\n\n\n Plate 14\n\n [Illustration: Murals and frescoes from tomb walls]\n\n [Illustration: murals and frescoes]\n\n [Illustration: murals and frescoes]\n\n [Illustration: murals and frescoes]\n\nWhen her husband-brother-consort became of age, he naturally rebelled\nagainst her usurpation. He gathered a company of adventurous nobles\nabout him and forced the queen to abdicate, after which she disappeared\nunder circumstances which would have interested Scotland Yard, if that\nnoted institution had been in existence in that day and place! The\nambitious young king took the name of Tuthmosis the Third, and left a\nbrilliant record as a conqueror and builder. Counting the twenty-one\nyears he lived as co-regent with Hatshepsut, he ruled the land\nfifty-three years, which was an enviable span for those warlike days.\n\nIf the present accepted chronology is right, he came to the throne in\n1501 B. C. and died in the year 1447. This would have made him the\nPharaoh of the Oppression! In which case, the queen Hatshepsut would\nhave unconsciously offended him in elevating Moses to a place of\nprominence and power, which might explain why Moses felt it necessary to\nflee from Egypt when he was in trouble. At any rate, out of this tangled\nskein of human conduct and ambition, some present help is offered to the\nlearning of our day by the known facts that have been clearly\nestablished from the relics of this embattled couple. The name of the\nqueen Hatshepsut was abhorrent to her brother-husband-regent-successor;\nand he tried to obliterate it wherever it appeared. But she had built so\nmany great works and had left such ample records that his actions in\nthis matter came to nought, and she lives today to shed the assurance of\nprobability upon the record of Moses.\n\nWe have seen her obelisks, her records and some of the ruins of her\ngreat works, and the entire pattern is of a piece with the demands, both\nchronological and ethnological, of the text of the Scripture. It is\napparent that not only dead _men_, but also dead _women_, may tell\ntales, if their voices are heeded and the ears of the listener are not\nstopped with the wax of infidelity and disbelief.\n\nThe amazing and scrupulous accuracy which is maintained by the Old\nTestament in its historical statements is once again demonstrated by the\nrecord of Ahaz as it is given in the Old Testament and found on the\nmonuments in Assyria. We read in II Kings and the sixteenth chapter,\nthese words:\n\n In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of\n Jotham king of Judah began to reign.\n\n Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen\n years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of\n the Lord his God, like David his father.\n\n But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son\n to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the\n heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.\n\n And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the\n hills, and under every green tree.\n\n Then Rezin king of Syria, and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel,\n came up to Jerusalem to war: and they besieged Ahaz, but could not\n overcome him.\n\n At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and dwelt\n there unto this day.\n\n So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria saying, I\n am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of\n the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which\n rise up against me.\n\n And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the\n Lord, and in the treasures of the king\u2019s house, and sent it for a\n present to the king of Assyria.\n\n And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria\n went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it\n captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.\n\nThe visit of Ahaz which closes this record was made in 732 B. C.\nTiglath-pileser has left his own story of these stirring events and has\ncalled Ahaz by name upon his monument. The unfortunate action of Ahaz in\ncalling for Assyrian aid against his enemies Pekah king of Israel and\nRezin king of Syria, resulted, according to Tiglath-pileser\u2019s account,\nin his invasion of both Syria and Palestine. From thence he carried away\ninto captivity the two tribes of Reuben and Gath, and the half tribe of\nManasseh. The distress of Israel was not ended until Hoshea, shortly\nafterward, became the new king of Israel. As a matter of policy he\nformally accepted the yoke of Assyria and became the vassal of\nTiglath-pileser.\n\nIn the Assyrian Room of the British Museum, Wall Cases 14 to 18 contain\na valuable collection of inscribed bowls, ostraca, and fragments of\nrecords which extend from the days of Assur-resh-shi, down to the end of\nthe Assyrian dynasty. Among them are fragmentary inscriptions from the\nreign of Tiglath-pileser the Third. He is known in the Scriptures also\nby his Babylonian name of Pul. In I Chronicles 5:26 both names are found\nin the one verse, as though the scribe were anxious that the\nidentification should be complete:\n\n And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria,\n and the spirit of Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he carried them\n away, even the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of\n Manasseh, and brought them unto Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the\n river Gozan, unto this day.\n\nTiglath-pileser again appears under the name of Pul in II Kings 15:19:\n\n And Pul the king of Assyria came against the land: and Menahem gave\n Pul a thousand talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to\n confirm the kingdom in his hand.\n\nIn the twenty-ninth verse of this chapter, however, his Assyrian name is\ngiven alone, as is done in the sixteenth chapter.\n\nIn the above cited wall cases, exhibit K 2751, is an inscription of\nTiglath-pileser\u2019s setting forth some of his conquests, and an account of\ncertain of his building operations. Among the tributary kings who\naccepted his yoke, he _specifically mentions Ahaz king of Judah_.\n\nModern man is so used to the phenomena that make up the miracle of our\nmodern living that such fascinating possessions as this are not\ngenerally appreciated and properly valued. Here, however, we hear again\nthe voice of a man who died in the year 727 B. C. The phenomenon is seen\nin the fact that in spite of the indescribable vandalism and wreckage\nwrought by those intervening ages, a fragment of clay persisted, and\nremained in existence until it could be uncovered from the dust heaps of\nantiquity by _the one generation that desperately needed its testimony\nand was able to interpret and prize its record_!\n\nHere indeed is a dead man who tells tales, and who tells them with such\nauthority and accuracy that the mouth of criticism is stopped and the\nWord of God completely vindicated. Incidentally, Tiglath-pileser\u2019s\nrecord corroborates the prophecy of Isaiah, concerning the destruction\nof both Israel and Syria, because they had joined their forces to make\nwar upon Judah.\n\nThis prophecy is given at length in the seventh chapter of Isaiah and\nwas the instance of introducing the greater prophecy of the final\nredemption of the people with the coming of Messiah. He was to be\nidentified, according to Isaiah, by means of the miracle of the virgin\nbirth.\n\nWhen Omri, the general of the armies of Israel, was elevated by popular\nacclaim to the throne of dominion, he climaxed an astonishing career\nthat left a deep impression upon antiquity. At the beginning of his\nreign the nation was divided in its allegiance and this division\nresulted in a civil war that was bitter, though brief. The power and\nmight of Omri quickly pacified and subdued the land, which accepted his\ndominion, and for twelve years his hand guided the helm of the ship of\nstate. One of his earlier acts was to buy the hill of Samaria for a sum\nthat is given as two talents of silver, which would be in the\nneighborhood of $4,000 in our reckoning. So impressive was his\npersonality that from his day on to the end of the kingdom, the land of\nIsrael was generally known among the Assyrian peoples as the Land of\nOmri.\n\nOn the black monolith for instance, which was set up by Shalmaneser the\nking of Assyria, there are many sculptured pictures which illustrate the\ntext of this priceless historical record. One of the scenes shows that\namong the conquered rulers, one is entitled \u201cJehu the son of Omri.\u201d A\nrecord is made of the silver, gold, lead, vessels of gold, and of other\nmaterials that Jehu brought in tribute to Shalmaneser. (See Plate 18.)\nThis black obelisk may be seen in the Nimrud Central Saloon of the\nBritish Museum in London. That this was a general is seen from the fact\nthat on the nine-sided prism which gives the record of Sargon concerning\nhis conquests in Palestine, the great Assyrian lists the people of\nIsrael whom he calls \u201cBit-Khu-um-ri-a\u201d (Omri-land), among other subdued\nraces. Omri was succeeded on the throne by Ahab, who was a young man\nwhen he came to the throne. He left an unenviable record of apostasy and\nidolatry, but was none-the-less a courageous and able administrator\nwhose work strengthened the realm greatly. In the twenty-two years of\nhis reign the Word of God was ignored and unbelief swept over the land.\nIn his day the first persecution of God\u2019s people, which was directed\nagainst their ministry, began when his wife Jezebel caused the slaughter\nof the prophets.\n\nThe entire career of Ahab occupies considerable space in the records of\nthe Old Testament and is almost as prominent in the monuments of\nantiquity. One of the most outstanding and notable of his early acts was\nthe famous overthrow of Benhadad, the king of Syria. The invasions of\nIsrael by Benhadad are fully covered in the historical texts of the Old\nTestament, so they need no recapitulation here. When the Syrian king\nsuffered an overwhelming and crushing defeat at the hands of Ahab, he\nsubmitted himself to the king of Israel with a humble plea for mercy. In\nspite of the denunciation of the prophet, who warned that Benhadad would\nbring disaster upon the realm, Ahab restored him to his Syrian dominion\nand made a covenant of brotherhood with him. Later on, Ahab and Benhadad\nunited in a rebellion against their Assyrian overlord in one of the most\ndisastrous acts of his career. The battle that decided the campaign was\nfought at Karkar.\n\nIn the British Museum, the Nimrud Central Saloon exhibits a stele of\nShalmaneser the Third which bears the identifying number of 88. The\ninscription sets forth the names, titles, and ancestry of the king and\ngives a complete account of several of his military adventures. He\nstates that in the sixth year of his reign, he battled against certain\nallies who had rebelled against his authority. Among them he lists \u201cAhab\nof the land of Israel.\u201d Shalmaneser tells how he defeated this coalition\nand slew fourteen thousand of the Syrian warriors in one great battle.\n\n\n Plate 15\n\n [Illustration: Commemorative stele]\n\n\n Plate 16\n\n [Illustration: Ancient boundary markers]\n\n [Illustration: boundary marker]\n\n [Illustration: boundary marker]\n\n [Illustration: boundary marker]\n\nOn the monolith of Shalmaneser the record begun on this stele is further\ncontinued. This battle, according to Shalmaneser\u2019s chronology, would be\nabout 854 B. C. This Benhadad is known on the Assyrian monuments\nvariously by the names of Hadad-ezer and Hadad-idri. He is authenticated\nby the finest type of historical proof that the most carping critic\ncould demand. Incidentally, Benhadad is one of the forty-seven kings\nmentioned in our preliminary remarks, who were supposed to be legendary\ncharacters, until archeology called them forth from the dead to testify\nin their own behalf.\n\nAhab was one of the most industrious builders who ever occupied the\nthrone of Israel. Although he lacked the resources of Solomon, there are\na number of records in the Scripture that shed light upon his\narchitectural interests. In I Kings 22:39 all of this activity is\nsummarized in their brief epitome:\n\n Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory\n house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not\n written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.\n\nThe hill of Samaria, which Omri had purchased, passed by inheritance to\nAhab. The ivory palace that is mentioned in I Kings 22:39 was built on\nthis site. Solomon may have had his throne of ivory, but Ahab improved\nupon that idea, as this text seems to imply. This summer palace which he\nbuilt for himself and Jezebel on the crest of the hill of Samaria has\nbeen the scene of recent expeditions. A great deal of archeological\nindustry has been expended in reconstructing the beauty and marvel of\nthis palace of Ahab. It has been discovered that the walls were\ndecorated with ivory carvings, and that much of the furniture was inlaid\nwith ivory. This valuable substance was used with a profligate hand to\nconstruct one of the most splendid edifices of all antiquity.\n\nSome of the most skilled craftsmen of human history were employed by\nthis enterprise. To show something of the ability of these ancient\nartists, we present a photograph of the figure of an ivory lion which\ncame from the site of Ahab\u2019s palace. The illustration is magnified four\ntimes, but tiny as this priceless relic is, the lines and perfection of\nthe carving cannot be excelled by any craftsman today.\n\nThe Harvard expedition under Dr. Reisner, and the joint expedition of\n1931, both made delighted comment on the unprecedented perfection of the\nstructure of this great palace. It covered an area between seven and\neight acres in extent; the masonry of the building was no less than\nmarvelous in the perfection of its structure and joining. Concerning\nthese ivory miniatures, inlays, and friezes, the leader of the\nexpedition said, \u201cThese ivories are the most charming example of\nminiature art ever found on an Israelite site.\u201d By referring to the\nivory lion in Plate 19 the reader can see that this is indeed the fact.\n\nThe excavations at Samaria have been going on since the Harvard\nexpedition began in 1908. Among the valuable finds from the ivory palace\nof Ahab must be listed a group of seventy-five ostraca. These ancient\nfragments of pottery, inscribed and engraved with the homely affairs of\nthe daily life of Ahab\u2019s time, contain the same script as is found on\nthe Moabite stone.\n\nThis great relic of antiquity has had a fascinating but unfortunate\nhistory in itself. It will always be a matter of sincere regret that the\nfirst discoverer of the Moabite stone did not make a copy of its\ncomplete text. The Moabite stone states that Ahab reigned forty years.\nThe Scripture record, however, makes his reign to be twenty-two years.\nAccording to the credible chronology of II Kings, upon the death of\nAhab, his son, Jehoram, ascended to the throne and reigned twelve years.\nMesha, who had accepted the lordship of the able Ahab, rebelled against\nthe weaker son.\n\nAt some time during this reign, Mesha, a minor king of Moab, tired of\npaying to Israel the annual tribute of one hundred thousand lambs, plus\none hundred thousand rams, with the wool thereof. He rebelled against\nthe overlord of Israel and successfully threw off the yoke. On an\nenormous stele which was erected at Dhiban by the successful king we\nfind these words:\n\n \u201cI Mesha, son of Chemosh-melech, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father\n reigned over Moab 30 years and I reigned after my father. I have made\n this monument for Chemosh at Qorhah, a monument of salvation for he\n saved me from all invaders and let me see my desire upon all my\n enemies. Omri was king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab many days, for\n Chemosh was angry with his land. His son, Ahab followed him and he\n also said: I will oppress Moab. In my days Chemosh said: I will see my\n desire on him and his house and Israel surely shall perish forever.\n Omri took the land of Medeba and dwelt in it during his days and half\n the days of his son, altogether 40 years. But Chemosh gave it back in\n my days. I built Baal-Meon and made therein the ditches; I built\n Kirjathaim. The men of God dwelt in the land of Ataroth from of old,\n and the king of Israel built there the city of Ataroth; but I made war\n against the city and took it. And I slew all the people of the city,\n for the pleasure of Chemosh and of Moab and I brought back from the\n Arel of Dodah and bore him before Chemosh in Qerioth. And I placed\n therein the men of Sharon and the men of Mehereth. And Chemosh said\n unto me: Go, seize Nebo of Israel and I went in the night and fought\n against it from the break of dawn till noon; and I took it, slew all\n of them, 7,000 men and boys, women and girls and female slaves, for to\n Ashtar-Chemosh I devoted them. And I took from thence the Arels of\n Yahwah and bore them before Chemosh. Now the king of Israel had built\n Jahaz and he dwelt in it while he waged war against me, but Chemosh\n drove him out from before me....\u201d\n\nWhen this great monument was first discovered in 1868, its value was of\ncourse not appreciated and no copy of the text was made. The Museum of\nBerlin heard of it and moved for its purchase. An employe of the French\nConsulate heard of the negotiations, and offered a large bribe for the\npossession of the stone. The Turkish officials then interfered. The\nsuperstitious Arabs, believing that the monument must have some magical\nvalue, broke it into a number of fragments and distributed the pieces as\namulets, or charms. A French agent, however, industriously pursued these\nfragments and with the help of a squeeze which he had made,\nreconstructed the major portion of the writings. The ancient name of\nJehovah occurring on this text was an additional delight to these\nstudents of antiquity.\n\nCertain small cities that Israel had wrested from Moab were returned to\nMesha at the time of this rebellion. Jehoram, and Jehoshaphat, the kings\nof Judah, later battled against the increasing power of Moab and\nadministered a crushing defeat to the Moabites sometime after the\nsuccessful uprising that is recorded here in this text.\n\nAmong the ostraca excavated at Samaria, were some that mentioned many of\nthe historical personages of the Old Testament, which also enhanced\ntheir value in the eyes of archeologists.\n\nThe later expedition to Samaria which was working in 1931, apparently\nreached the foundations of the first buildings of Omri. They have left a\nrecord stating, \u201cNo remains earlier than the building of Omri are to be\nfound upon this site.\u201d This being so, we cannot question the statement\nof the text that Omri was the original builder on the crest of the hill\nof Samaria, which fact is in itself of considerable importance to the\nsubject of our present study. The question has been raised as to what\nthe effect would have been on the problem of the integrity of the text\nof the Scripture if this site had proved to have been like the other\nregions excavated, and was occupied by many older and underlying ruins!\nThe simple answer is that such a discovery was _not_ made; and the\nevidence that has been derived is of such nature that this portion of\nthe sacred Book _must_ be accepted by the intelligent and informed\nscholar.\n\nThese fragmentary events and references are of as much value as are the\nindividual bricks that make up the mass of a wall or a building. One or\ntwo standing alone would be relatively unimportant, but when scores of\nsuch evidences are gathered into a composite unit, they offer a\nformidable and impressive structure of evidence that is extremely\ndifficult to refute. Although it has been the custom to construct the\ncritical argument against the integrity of God\u2019s Word from imagined\n_minor_ errors in the text, so intrenched is critical dogmatism that\nnothing but a _major_ rebuttal will be heeded. Happily, a major\nstructure may be erected from minor materials: and thus these\n_fragments_ serve their destined purpose.\n\n\n Plate 17\n\n [Illustration: Stone ouches, or door-sockets]\n\n [Illustration: door-sockets]\n\n\n Plate 18\n\n [Illustration: The famed Black Obelisk, which confirmed the record\n of Jehu]\n\n [Illustration: Hamath Inscription]\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VII\n The Rebirth of an Empire\n\n\nAmong the ancient races that are catalogued in the lists which appear in\nthe pages of the Old Testament, the most important one in the\npresentation of this thesis is the Hittite race. In the heyday of their\nbrief popularity the higher critics indulged in an orgy of refutation\nconcerning these sections of the Scripture. Since the Hittites are\nmentioned forty-eight times in the pages of the Bible, if it could be\nproved that these people were fictitious in character, the critical case\nagainst the Old Testament would be demonstrated beyond question. It\nwould almost seem as though the writers of the ancient word had invited\nthis contest with deliberate intention. It is impossible to justify the\nmanifold appearances of the Hittites in the Sacred Word, if they were\nnot an actual people.\n\nIn addition to the many other references, in the various lists of races\ngiven as occupying different portions of the ancient world, the Bible\nmentions the Hittite peoples twenty-one separate and distinct times. The\neminent dean of higher criticism, the late Canon Driver, ascribes these\nhistorical catalogs of peoples to imagination and fiction, and refers to\nthem in such words as these, \u201cThe Hittites are also regularly mentioned\nin the rhetorical lists.\u201d Canon Driver is careful to note that these\nlists of peoples are found in that section of the Scripture which he\ncalls the \u201cElohistic Manuscript.\u201d It is not hard to understand that one\nwho starts with the assumption of incredibility, would have trouble\nbelieving in the reality of the statements in a document so treated.\n\nThe writers of the Scripture, in their dealings with the subject of this\nforgotten people, sketch an amazing picture indeed. They portray a\nwarlike, powerful, well organized race whose genius at colonization and\nmilitary ability combined to win for them a veritable world empire. The\ncenter of their dominion was Syria, but from thence they reached out to\nlay their yoke upon Egypt, to overrun Palestine, and to force the early\nAssyrians to pay tribute to their might and power.\n\nIt seems almost inconceivable that in the voluminous records of\nantiquity there should have been no single word concerning this mighty\nrace. For until the closing decades of the nineteenth century, the\nHittites had no place in secular history. They were preserved to the\nmemory of man, simply and only because of the forty-eight Old Testament\nreferences which we have previously mentioned. The scholarly critics\nargued that it would be impossible for a world empire to disappear from\nhistory without leaving a single trace. They insisted that if a race of\nmen had ever lived who dominated the world of their day, common sense\nwould incline us to the conclusion that they could not suddenly fade\naway from the memory of man and leave no evidence of their existence.\n\nBut they did! From the very beginning of this argument, it should have\nbeen apparent that there were two ways to approach the problem. One way\nwas the method which was adopted by the higher critics, namely, to\nassume that the Old Testament is fallible. Adopting as the grounds of\ninvestigation the pre-conceived conclusion that the records of the Old\nTestament are fallacious and incredible, the critics then proceeded to\nsearch for proof of this basic assumption. By dogmatically asserting\nthat the Old Testament was not historical, but that much of its contents\nconsisted of folklore and myth, inductive conclusions were offered as\nproof of this presumption.\n\nIt did not seem to occur to the higher critical scholars that a better\nway to study the Word would have been to concede the historicity of the\ntext until it was disproved by evidence. This, of course, has ever been\nthe method used by the orthodox student of the Word. We might say in\npassing that this is not only the intelligent technique but is also the\nsafer process. To say the very least, it saves the embarrassment that\ninevitably comes to him who arrays himself against the integrity of the\nWord of God!\n\nThe first appearance of the Hittites in the Bible is in the fifteenth\nchapter of the Book of Genesis, verse twenty:\n\n \u201cAnd the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims.\u201d\n\nThis is perhaps the very earliest coincidence of archeology with the\nrecords of the Scripture. In the various lists of races who were to be\ndisplaced by Israel, according to the covenant God made with Abraham,\nthe Hittites are frequently named. Without any reservation or\nqualification whatever, this text which we have just cited states that\nthe Hittites were Canaanites. According to Genesis 10:15, the\nCanaanitish people came through the line of Sidon and Heth. It is\napparent also from Genesis 10:6, where Canaan the son of Ham first comes\ninto the record, that these Hittites, if they had existed, would have\nbeen akin to the early population of Chaldea and Babylon. It is an\ninteresting fact to note that the monuments of antiquity which have\nrestored these Hittites to their proper place in secular history, show\nthem to have had a mixture of Semitic and Mongolian characteristics.\n\nIn the various appearances of these people in the Old Testament records,\nit is to be noted that several characters married Hittite wives.\nBathsheba, who was the mother of Solomon, and thus infused a Gentile\nstrain into the genealogy of Mary, who was the mother of our Lord, was a\nHittite woman. In I Kings 11:1, it is also stated that Solomon, among\nhis many political marriages, had taken to himself wives from among the\nHittites.\n\nThese people, although unknown in the orderly annals of human history,\nmight have been recognized had the scholarly ability of earlier\ngenerations been able correctly to interpret obsolete systems of\nwritings. The Assyrians called them the \u201cKhatti.\u201d In the Egyptian\ninscriptions they are known as the \u201cKheta.\u201d The fact that these names\nreferred to the Hittites was not known until the Hittite inscriptions\nthemselves were read and interpreted and the fact of their reality\nestablished. It is to be regretted that in a work as short as this one\nwe have not room to recapitulate their long and fascinating history. The\nromance of their recovery of their rightful place in the annals of human\nconduct is all that we can present in this chapter. They were thrust by\nhuman ignorance into the outer darkness of forgotten things, but we can\ntrace the hand of God in bringing them back into the light of\nremembrance and establishing them in their proper place of glory and\nprominence among the empires of antiquity.\n\nWithout hesitation we would offer this as the perfect demonstration of\nthe manner in which Almighty God cares for His Word. When His Book is\nassailed and discredited, He will, if need be, raise the dead to\nestablish the integrity of the Inspired Record. It might be noted in\npassing that secular history is now often corrected by archeology. The\nmisunderstandings and errors which were alleged to appear in the Bible,\nand which are common to the production of a purely human document, are\nbeing done away with as we read them again in the light of the\nmonuments. Wherever such correction has been made, it has had the effect\nof bringing secular history into complete harmony with the Bible. So in\nrestoring the empire of the Hittites to the staid columns of accredited\nhistory, the Divine Record is again confirmed.\n\nIt is inevitable that these Hittites should appear in the Ancient Word,\nas they largely parallel the history of the Hebrew kingdom in point of\ntime. From the days of Abraham to the end of the kingdom of Israel, the\nHittites and the Hebrews walked side by side and hand in hand. During\nthat time Hittites and Israelites alike are the enemies of Egypt. Alike\nthey battled against Babylon and Assyria, they intermarried, had\ntreaties and covenants each with the other, and had a well developed\nsystem of commerce between the nations.\n\n\n Plate 19\n\n [Illustration: Small ivory lion from Ahab\u2019s palace\n Author\u2019s collection (Photo by Dworshak)]\n\n\n Plate 20\n\n [Illustration: Fragmentary frieze showing ancient chariots (Museum\n of the University of Pennsylvania)]\n\nKing Solomon, the merchant prince, had developed business relations with\nall of the many chieftains and kings of the Hittite peoples, and had a\nwell developed trade in the horses and chariots for which the Hittites\nwere famous in their day. (See Plate 20.) This coincidence of affairs\nbegan when Abraham consummated the first commercial transaction that is\nmentioned in human history. Before Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees to\nbegin his strange pilgrimage, the Hittites were already established in\nCanaan. It must not be thought that Abraham at that time was the ancient\nprototype of our modern hobo, wandering from point to point with no\nestate! The pastoral pursuits of Abraham had built up for him flocks and\nherds that made him enormously wealthy. He was an able strategist, and\nhis military skill, combined with his personal valor, had elevated him\nto a high position of power and influence.\n\nIn the land of Canaan he was treated with honor and admiration as\nbefitted his station and position. His armed retainers constituted a\nformidable army for that day, and this trained manpower compelled\nrespect for Abraham, the wandering prince. When Sarah died, the Hittites\nwere in possession of the land and Abraham recognized the validity of\ntheir title when he opened the negotiations for a burial plot for Sarah,\nby defining himself as a stranger and a sojourner in their land. With\ntypical oriental courtesy in bargaining, the Hittites replied to his\nrequest for a burying place for his dead wife by saying, \u201cHear us, my\nlord, thou art a mighty prince among us,\u201d and they offered him freely\nand without price the choice of a plot for a sepulchre. Abraham\ndesignated the cave of Machpelah as his choice and offered to pay the\nfull value of the site. This courtesy, of course, was expected of him.\nThough it had been offered as a free gift, it would have been a breach\nof manners of the worst type, according to the customs of that day, for\nhim to have accepted the gift.\n\nIt will be noted in this account in Genesis that when Abraham weighed\nout the requested price of four hundred shekels of silver, the statement\nwas made that it was the shekel which was the current money with the\nmerchants. The sum was equivalent to about $300 in our present system of\nvalues. This is the first reference made to coinage, and it fits in\nbeautifully with the archeological indications that the Hittites were\nthe inventors of the principle of coining both gold and silver as a\nmedium of exchange.\n\nFrom this first moment of their contact with Abraham there is no period\nof Hebrew history, up to the time of the fall of Samaria, where the\npeople of Israel lost contact with the nation of the Hittites. Their\nmercenary soldiers became captains in the army of David and Solomon, and\nthey were occasionally allied in important battles in which the people\nof Israel fought side by side with them. It is amazing that the critics,\nin the face of the tremendous emphasis laid upon the Hittite empire by\nthe writers of the Scripture, did not exercise some discretion in their\nrepudiation of the historicity of this people. Even while the tongues of\nthe unbelieving were clamoring with loud denunciations of the text of\nthe Word of God, Libya, Syria, and Asia Minor in general exhibited\nmagnificent sculpture, incised stones, and monuments written in a\nstrange system of hieroglyphics that none had been able to read. These\nproved later to be the records of the Hittite peoples as they themselves\nhad cut them with their own hands.\n\nWe shall later refer to the great work of Dr. A. H. Sayce in deciphering\nthese hieroglyphics. His achievement in that instance was, in the annals\nof human history, one of the greatest triumphs of pure reason. Before\nthis was done, however, the Hittites had begun to stretch themselves and\nstir in the tomb of oblivion. Their long sleep was ended and they began\nto rise from the dead, when experts in Egyptology read the record of\nRamses the Second. It is not too much to say that these early\ndiscoveries threw the camp of higher criticism into utter confusion.\n\nRamses the Second successfully ended a period of warfare with the\nHittites which had vexed and distressed Egypt for more than five hundred\nyears. So great was the power of the Hittite empire that no previous\nconqueror or king in Egypt had been able to shake off their yoke\ncompletely. Indeed, Ramses the Second succeeded in so doing only by\ncontracting an important political marriage with a Hittite princess.\n\nThe center of the Hittite empire was Charchemish. On the site of\nMegiddo, which was so often the scene of battles in successive years,\nthe forces of Ramses fought with the armed forces of the Hittites. There\nthe Egyptian monarch successfully defeated the Hittites in one of the\nmost stirring battles preserved to us in ancient records. The Hittites\nat this time were governed by a number of kings who had a close\nconfederation in all affairs pertaining to the empire. In the day of\nRamses the confederation was headed by the king of Kadesh. According to\nRamses\u2019 record, which is preserved for us on the walls of Karnak, all\n\u201cthe kings and peoples from the water of Egypt to the river-land of\nMesopotamia obeyed this chief.\u201d\n\nThis army of the confederation massed itself on the bloody field of\nMegiddo in a battle which lasted six hours. Ramses tells in detail how\nhe marched and maneuvered his forces to gain strategic advantages.\n\nIt was a coincidence that the battle began on the morning of the\ntwenty-fifth anniversary of the ascension of Ramses the Second. He\ncelebrated the anniversary of his crowning by throwing off the yoke of\nthe Hittites. A complete victory was denied Ramses, due to the fact that\nwhen the Hittite force broke and fled before him, his army failed to\ntake advantage of the rout. Falling upon the rich plunder, they fought\namong themselves over the spoils so long that the Hittites were able to\nenter their fortified city and barricade it against the Egyptians. An\nelement of humor enters into the final statement. Ramses recounts that\nhe besieged the city for a number of days, but since \u201cMegiddo had the\nmight of a thousand cities, the king graciously pardoned the foreign\nprinces.\u201d In the list of the spoil that the Egyptians gathered from this\nbattle, there occurred the names of one hundred nineteen towns and\ncities which henceforth paid tribute to Egypt. The next important item\nwas the capture of nine hundred twenty-four chariots, including the\npersonal chariot of the Hittite king which was plated and armored with\ngold. (See Plate 20.)\n\nAlthough Ramses boasted that he had \u201ccompletely overthrown the might and\npower of the Hittites,\u201d the future history of this Pharaoh depicts\ncampaign after campaign lasting until the end of his life. At least nine\ncampaigns are recorded on the walls of Karnak, in each of which the\nHittites were singularly exterminated, completely overthrown, and\ndefeated for all time hereafter. The only trouble seems to have been\nthat the Hittites didn\u2019t realize how completely they were defeated, so\nthat they came back again and again! The nearest to peace that Ramses\never achieved, in his dealings with this race, was when upon his\nmarriage with a Hittite princess, a great treaty was signed. In the\nrecords of his battles, Ramses refers to the Hittite king as \u201cthe\nmiserable lord of the despised Hittites.\u201d When he records the treaty\nthat he made at the time of his marriage, he refers to the same man as\n\u201chis noble and magnificent brother, a fellow to sit with the god of the\nsun by the side of Ramses himself.\u201d It is evident, then, that some of\nRamses\u2019 records must be taken with a grain of salt. We noticed recently,\nas we were studying and photographing the battle scene of Megiddo which\nis portrayed on the north side of the great temple at Karnak, that\nRamses is shown as having thrown to the ground all the Hittites and as\nhaving slain their king. Seven years later, however, the king is still\nalive to give his daughter in marriage to Ramses!\n\nSince the Hittites were at this time the central power of the ancient\nworld, peace with them meant peace with all the other enemies of Egypt.\nPerhaps, for this reason, Ramses\u2019 boasting of his great victory might be\npardoned.\n\nThis great battle is also immortalized by a contemporary poet. The\npapyrus copy of this poem is now in the possession of the British\nMuseum. Many stanzas from this notable work, however, are to be seen in\nconnection with the magnificent battle pictures at Karnak. Some of these\nare also repeated in the temple at Luxor, as well as on the great\nmonument at Abydos.\n\nProfessor Wright refers to this poem as \u201cthe earliest specimen of\nspecial war correspondence.\u201d This work is known as the poem of Pentauer.\nPentauer is the name of a Theban poet who wrote his dramatic ode two\nyears after the battle between Ramses the Second and the Hittite horde.\nThe boastful extravagance of his language becomes a bit wearisome as he\nsings the praises of Ramses and chants of the impossible feats of the\nmonarch. An example of hyperbole is offered in this verse:\n\n \u201cKing Pharaoh was young and bold. His arms were strong, his heart\n courageous. He seized his weapons, and a hundred thousand sunk before\n his glance. He armed his people and his chariots. As he marched\n towards the land of the Hittites, the whole earth trembled. His\n warriors passed by the path of the desert, and went along the roads of\n the north.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cmiserable and deceitful king of the Hittites,\u201d however, had\nprepared an ambush. When the Hittites sprang their trap with their king\nin their midst, Pharaoh called on his mighty men to follow him. Leaping\ninto his chariot, he assaulted the numberless horsemen and the armored\nfootmen of the horde of the Hittites, and plunged into the midst of\ntheir ablest and bravest warriors. As he fought his way into the press\nof these noble horses, Ramses looked around to see how his force was\ngetting along. To his surprise he found that they had not followed him;\nand he was hemmed in by two thousand five hundred chariots which were\nmanned by the mightiest of the Hittite champions. Deserted by his entire\narmy, Pharaoh saw that he had to rely upon his own ability, so \u201cshouting\nfor joy, with the aid of the god Amon, he hurled darts with his right\nhand and thrust with the sword in his left hand!\u201d He \u201cslew two thousand\nfive hundred horses which were dashed to pieces!\u201d He \u201claid dead the\nnoble Hittite knights until their limbs dissolved with fear and they had\nno courage to thrust!\u201d He swept them into the river Orontes and slew as\nlong as it was his pleasure.\n\nIt is quite evident that Pentauer relied largely upon his imagination\nfor the details of this great battle. However exaggerated this poem may\nbe, nevertheless it has some historical value. Especially is this so\nsince the poem of Pentauer and the Karnak record of Ramses the Second\nare in virtual agreement as to the essential details of this battle.\n\n\n Plate 21\n\n [Illustration: {hieroglyphs}]\n\n divinity\n king\n country\n plurality\n supremacy\n e, i.\n u, o.\n dimes, di\n tu, to\n kus\n ku\n khat, khattu\n si\n es\n tar\n sis\n sar\n tarku, tarkus\n kue, mesi\n seal, inscription\n \u201cto speak\u201d\n sun-god: \u201cbehold\u201d\n\n [Illustration: From such funerary papyri much valuable information\n regarding Egyptian beliefs and customs is derived]\n\nIncidentally, the walls of Karnak yielded from the records of other\nkings the historic evidence of an actual Hittite empire. Tuthmosis the\nThird immortalized the Hittites on the walls of Karnak when he gave a\nlist of towns in the land of the Hittites over which he was victorious.\nUnquestionably this list contains the first and oldest authentic account\nof ancient cities, which are frequently afterwards mentioned in the\nAssyrian records as well. This record is found in the splendid temple\nwhich is called the \u201cHall of Pillars\u201d and which was erected by this\nnotable pharaoh. It has been said that in this work the art of Egypt\nreached its highest point. Certainly the walls and pillars are literally\ncovered with the beautifully engraved pictures and names of the races\nand cities which the pharaoh had conquered.\n\nWhen the Department of Antiquities was working upon the wall of a lower\nsection, a catalog of one hundred nineteen conquered places came to\nlight. This record showed that, more than three hundred years before the\nIsraelites entered the land of Canaan, the Hittites were established in\na powerful dominion over that lovely land. There are seven separate\nrecords of the contacts of this pharaoh with the people who were the\nHittites.\n\nRamses the First has also left a record of the treaty of peace that he\nmade with the Hittite king Seplal at the end of the war that he\nunsuccessfully fought to throw off the yoke of this people. On the north\nwall of the temple at Karnak, he gives the route of his march and tells\nof the victories that he won. He did not, however, delineate his final\ncapitulation. This conflict resulted in a treaty of peace which is\nrecorded in this account.\n\nThe successor of Ramses the First was Seti the First, and in his day the\ntreaty was broken. According to Seti, it was the Hittites who offended\nagainst the covenant, and he also engraved on the walls at Karnak an\naccount of the consequent battle with its result. To bring just a short\nline from his voluminous record, he acknowledges his own greatness in\nsuch an inscription as the following:\n\n \u201cSeti has struck down the Asiatics; he has thrown to the ground the\n Kheta. He has slain their princes.\u201d\n\nTelling them how he concluded a treaty with the Hittites, to the\nenhancement of his own glory, Seti\u2019s record concludes with these words:\n\n \u201cHe returns home in triumph. He has annihilated the people. He has\n struck to the ground the Kheta. He has made an end of his adversaries.\n The enmity of all people is turned into friendship.\u201d\n\nWith just this brief reference to the voluminous records to be found in\nEgyptian archeology, we would be able to establish the triumph of the\nBible in the realm of historical accuracy, had we no other sources. The\nfact of the matter, however, is that the Assyrian and Babylonian\naccounts of the Hittites are at least as numerous as are the Egyptian.\n\nIt may be noted in passing that, although filled with consternation at\nthese marvelous discoveries in Egyptology, the critics were by no means\nsilenced. It would have been better for their later reputation had they\ngraciously accepted their defeat and acknowledged that they were in\nerror. Instead, they rushed into vociferous refutation of the newly\ndiscovered Egyptian records. Unfortunately, their denunciations and\nrenewed claims were given wide publicity by being included in the then\ncurrent edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. It is to be regretted\nthat this great encyclopedia has often been a tremendous aid to\ncriticism in spreading its errors and fallacies. This in large measure\nis due to the fact that there is a common reverence for this great work\nin the mind of the average human. There is a certain class of readers\nwho hold this notable reference work in such great reverence that its\nauthority to them is greater than that of the Word of God. It must be\nremembered, however, that the encyclopedia of each generation represents\nonly the current thought of that brief period of human experience.\nAnything that is written by man is subject to later revision or\nrepudiation, as human knowledge increases. So in this great compendium\nof human wisdom it is unfortunate that much space was given to the famed\ncritic, the Rev. T. K. Cheyne.\n\nThis eminent authority was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. In the\nabove cited article, he treated the statements of the Bible as\nunhistorical and classified them as pure folklore. Concerning the\nBiblical references to the Hittites, he used these exact words, \u201cThey\ncannot be taken as of equal authority with the Egyptian and Assyrian\ninscriptions!\u201d In dealing with Abraham\u2019s purchase of the burial plot for\nSarah, he had a great deal to say in refutation of the possibility of\nany accuracy in the record. At the conclusion of his criticism he\nstated, \u201cHow meager the tradition respecting the Hittites was in the\ntime of the great Elohistic narrator, is shown by the picture of Hittite\nlife in this reference.\u201d\n\nDr. Cheyne fell into the great error of claiming that the Hittites were\nonly warriors. Because they are thus shown on the walls of Karnak, he\nconcluded that they were mercenary troops who never entered into\nbusiness transactions. In his article on the Canaanites in this above\ncited encyclopedia, he goes so far as to say, \u201cThe Hittites seem to have\nbeen included among the Canaanites by mistake. Historical evidence\nproves convincingly that they dwelt beyond the borders of Canaan.\u201d These\nconclusions were also advocated by his great colleague and collaborator,\nProf. W. H. Newman.\n\nDr. Newman was also a Fellow of Balliol College at Oxford and is the\nauthor of the once famous \u201cHistory of the Hebrew Monarchy.\u201d In all of\nthis work he maintained that the Hittite references in the Old Testament\nwere unqualifiedly unhistorical. They prove beyond question, according\nto the author, that the writers of the Old Testament were totally\nunacquainted with the times of which they wrote. His conclusion was that\nthe Old Testament was written many centuries after the events which it\npurports to depict. He stated with finality, along with Dr. Cheyne, that\nthe Hittite people were limited to Syria and had no place in Palestine.\nThus the story of Abraham buying territory from them at Hebron is\nunquestionably mythological.\n\nThese ardent advocates of a collapsing theory should have waited! It was\nnot long after these utterances were printed that Prof. Sayce deciphered\ncertain of the Assyrian records of Tiglath-pileser. These showed that in\nthe reign of this monarch, as late as 1130 B. C., _the Hittites were\nstill in command of all the territory from the Euphrates to Lebanon_!\n\nAgain the Word of God was vindicated, when the monuments, as they were\ndeciphered, yielded the interesting information that the Hittites were\nnotable colonizers. They also covered all the ancient world as\nmerchants, and their caravans and trade-routes were the earliest to be\nestablished. They are in Assyrian annals depicted as artisans and\nartists. Although all of them could fight when war was inevitable, they\nhad a standing army for the casual and necessary protection of the\nrealm. Dr. Newman was unfortunate also in choosing the time in which he\ncharged the Bible with error. At a most unfortunate period for criticism\nin the history of archeology he questioned the details of Hittite\nprowess in the incidental references of the Scripture. As though the\nscientists of that day were in league with the Lord, they laid bare in\nsite after site a refutation of all the critics maintained!\n\nIt will be remembered that in connection with the siege of Samaria, as\nthe story is given in II Kings, the seventh chapter, there is a peculiar\nbut important reference to the Hittites and their known power. The\npeople of Israel who were commanded by Jehoram were distressed by the\nsiege of their capital when Benhadad of Damascus had pressed them to the\nlimit of their resistance. Famine and disease had swept Samaria, so that\nthe remnant faced the choice of surrendering or perishing. Elisha had\nprophesied a deliverance, and in verses six and seven in the seventh\nchapter of II Kings, the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise is given in this\nway:\n\n \u201cFor the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of\n chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and\n they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us\n the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come\n upon us.\n\n \u201cWherefore, they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents,\n and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled\n for their life.\u201d\n\nProfessor Newman found a great deal of grounds for hilarity in what he\ncalled this \u201cchildish narrative.\u201d He says, \u201cThe unhistorical tone is too\nmanifest to allow of our easy belief in it.\u201d He admits that there may\nhave been some unusual deliverance of Samaria, because of collateral\nrecords of dangerous night panics among various hordes of antiquity. He\nadds, however, in reference to the Bible account, \u201cThe particular ground\nof alarm attributed to them does not exhibit the writer\u2019s acquaintance\nwith the times in a very favorable light. No Hittite kings can have\ncompared in power with the king of Judah, the real and near ally, who is\nnot named at all. Nor is there a single mark of acquaintance with the\nfacts of contemporaneous history.\u201d\n\nTwo sources of information, however, have since been derived that flatly\nrefute the learned Professor and vindicate the accuracy of the record of\nGod\u2019s Word. The Assyrian sources show conclusively, upon the examination\nof their records, that the Hittites at that time were the greatest power\nwith which the monarchs of Chaldea had to deal. In the records of\nAssur-Nasir-pal a long and powerful tribute is paid to the military\nmight of the Hittites. So in that day they were still a strong and\nwarlike people. They were especially dreaded by the armies of antiquity\nbecause of the unique distinction of their chariots. It is to this fact\nthat the writer of II Kings refers when he speaks of \u201cthe noise of\nchariots.\u201d\n\nThe walls of Karnak give us a clear and illuminating description of\nthese ancient weapons of battle. Each chariot was drawn by two horses,\narmored and shod with spikes. Three warriors rode in each chariot. One\nof these handled the reins, while the other two plied arrow, javelin,\nsword, and dart, working untold havoc in the closely packed ranks of\nancient infantry. (See Plate 20.)\n\n\n Plate 22\n\n [Illustration: Monuments of Petra, showing extent of the ruins in\n one direction]\n\n\n Plate 23\n\n [Illustration: Looking the opposite way from Plate 22]\n\nIt is also noted that Assur-Nasir-pal has given a detailed account of\nthe treasures that he derived from the defeated Hittites. Among them he\nlists with great delight \u201cswift chariots with horses therefor.\u201d Whenever\nthis monarch won a victory over the Hittites, he refers again and again\nto their chariots. One such reference is seen in this statement: \u201cThe\nchariots and warlike engines of the general of Charchemis I laid up in\nmy magazines.\u201d\n\nWe have already noted that Solomon was engaged in trade with the people\ncalled Hittites, taking chariots and horses in exchange for his\nmerchandise.\n\nRamses the Second states that the Hittite chiefs were distinguished\namong the nations \u201cfor their swift chariots and horses and their engines\nof war.\u201d\n\nIt would seem indeed that the writer of II Kings was better acquainted\nwith the times of which he wrote than was the later critic who disdains\nthe authority of the ancient scribe!\n\nShalmaneser made five references to the Hittites, in every one of which\nhe refers to their chariots. In the monument of Shalmaneser, which is\nnow found in the British Museum, the inscription represents the Hittites\nat Charchemish with various of their allies fighting against\nShalmaneser. He concludes this record by saying, \u201cWith them I fought;\ntheir corpses like chaff through the country I scattered. Multitudes of\nchariots and horses trained to the yoke I seized.\u201d\n\nSargon also tells of his overthrow of the Hittite kingdom, and mentions\nthe chariots that were so formidable an aid to their military campaigns.\n\nIt may be noted in passing that Dr. Cheyne, like the eminent Dr. Sayce,\nwas later converted to faith in the integrity of the Word of God. This\nmight be called one of the later victories of the Hittite empire. Its\npeople have risen from the dead to fight for the faith and for the Book\nwhich alike were delivered unto the saints by the Spirit of God. Some of\nthe later writings of Dr. Cheyne constitute a frank repudiation of his\nearlier position. His lectures and sermons, after his discovery of the\nintegrity of the Bible, still linger in the memory of those who were\nprivileged to hear them.\n\nThe summary of the matter presents a complete victory for the orthodox\nschool. First, as to the extent of their empire, the Egyptian and\nIsraelite inscriptions give three hundred geographical names in\nconnection with the domain and rule of the Hittites. These cover almost\nevery section of the ancient civilized world. These same inscriptions\nalso present a long list of the allies and the dependencies which paid\ntribute to the Hittite kings. Lists of the satraps who reigned as\nvassals to the Hittites have also been recovered.\n\nSecondly, the Hittite inscriptions themselves have now yielded their\nsecrets to the earnest student. The earliest note of Hittite writings\ncomes from a traveler, who in 1812 discovered some incised stones and\nengraved mounds which were covered with unknown hieroglyphics. These\nfinds were made at Hamath, a small city in Syria. In the light of the\narcheological interest of our generation it seems incredible that these\ninscriptions were then ignored completely for threescore years. Then Dr.\nWilliam Wright, a Protestant missionary in Damascus, was enabled, by the\nauthority he wielded through his friendship with high government\nofficials, to procure these stones and to remove them. Some of these\nrelics had been built into the houses of Hamath and were part of the\nwalls of occupied domiciles. One at least was so heavy that it took\neight hours for four oxen to move it one mile. The romance and adventure\nof his indomitable pursuit of these stones is covered in Dr. Wright\u2019s\nown memoirs and writings.\n\nAt this time, Dr. A. H. Sayce, one of the greatest archeologists of the\nnineteenth and twentieth centuries, began the tedious task of\ndeciphering these hieroglyphics. With no aid, such as the Egyptologists\nreceived from the Rosetta Stone, Dr. Sayce started out on a cold trail.\nHis ultimate victory constitutes one of the greatest triumphs of pure\nreason in the long record of human endeavor. To show something of the\ndifficulty that Dr. Sayce faced, we have portrayed on page 194 one of\nthese Hittite inscriptions written in the hieroglyphics of their time.\nWe have also shown in plate 21 the key that was worked out by Dr. Sayce.\nDr. William Wright, working independently, arrived at practically the\nsame conclusions.\n\nWhen these records were publicized as Hittite inscriptions a storm of\nprotest came from the critics of the Scripture, who utterly rejected the\nfindings of both Sayce and Wright. They attempted to minimize any\nhistorical value that might be derived from the translation of these\ninscriptions. Having built their case against the integrity of the Bible\nso strongly upon the error presumed to be found in the Hittite\nreferences, they could not give up their demonstration without a\nstruggle.\n\nAt this time there came to light a reference to a silver disk that had\npreviously been offered to the British Museum. This consisted of a\nconvex silver plate. It had every resemblance to the ordinary boss which\nis found on the top of the handle of a dagger when such instruments are\ndecorated. This boss, or plate, had in its center a picture of a warrior\nstanding upright. He was dressed in the typical garb of a Hittite\nsoldier. Around this warrior were two rows of hieroglyphics, one on\neither side. These hieroglyphics were enclosed in a circle. Outside the\ncircle was an inscription in the cuneiform script. When this boss was\noffered to the British Museum, they kept it a while for study and\nrejected it on the grounds that it was probably spurious. Fortunately,\nhowever, they had made an electrotype copy of this article.\n\nWhen the conclusions of Sayce and Wright were rejected by the critics,\nDr. Sayce heard of this exhibit. Thinking that it might be a way to the\nHittite inscriptions, he prosecuted his search for the original. It had\ndisappeared, but he fortunately recovered the copy that was in the\nBritish Museum. This copy then became paramount evidence. At a glance,\nDr. Sayce identified the hieroglyphics as being Hittite in origin. Using\nthe key that he had worked out for the translation of the hieroglyphics,\nhe translated the boss to be the possession of one Tarkondemos. Having\nread this in the Hittite hieroglyphics, he then translated the cuneiform\ntext and found the two to be identical.\n\nThis vindication of the accuracy of this earlier work won the confidence\nof the scholarly world in the Hittite inscriptions. This was the\ndeciding voice. The Hittites became _historical_ to the modern scholar\nfrom the records of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. They become _real_ to\nus from their own inscriptions.\n\nNowhere in all the records of human research and endeavour is it\npossible to find a greater and more complete assembling of the\nvindication of the integrity of the Word of God. Even though the hand of\nthe Almighty must shake the very foundations of ancient history, He has\nsworn that His Word shall be maintained. Thus He has called from the\nlimbo of forgotten races an entire nation in an archeological\nresurrection, that they, though dead, may tell their tale of the\ncredibility of the Word of God.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n The Resurrection of Edom\n\n\nFrom the staggering mass of archeological material and evidence which is\nat the disposal of the twentieth century scholar, it is very difficult\nto choose the most perfect illustrations of our theme. If the case of\nthe Hittites offers a complete refutation of the critical theories\nconcerning the origin and veracity of the Old Testament, the\nresurrection of Edom is no less dramatic and valuable.\n\nThe word \u201cEdom,\u201d together with its various derivates such as \u201cEdomite,\u201d\noccurs more than fourscore times in the text of the Old Testament. As\nthe history of this region and its various inhabitants unfolds in the\nOld Testament story, there is a complete, remarkable and stirring record\nof this land and its people that covers many centuries of time. The word\nEdom first occurs in the twenty-fifth chapter of Genesis, thirtieth\nverse:\n\n \u201cAnd Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red\n pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.\u201d\n\nIn this first instance the word appears in connection with the eldest\nson of Isaac, whose name was changed from Esau to Edom because of the\nstrange incident of the sale of his birthright. The pottage that his\nyounger brother, Jacob, had cooked was made from a lentil which gave a\nred hue that was characteristic of any food in which this particular\nlentil was used. So, because Esau exchanged his priceless rights of\ninheritance for a pot of red mush, his name was thereafter called Edom.\n\nIn the thirty-sixth chapter of Genesis, verses one, eight, and nineteen,\nthis same definite statement is carried out:\n\n \u201cNow these are the generations of _Esau, who is Edom_.\u201d\n \u201cThus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: _Esau is Edom_.\u201d\n \u201cThese are the sons of _Esau, who is Edom_, and these are their\n dukes.\u201d\n\nHere we read that the dwelling place of Esau and his people was in mount\nSeir, and that Esau is Edom. Hence the name of Edom was also applied to\nthe people who descended from Esau, as well as to the country wherein\nthey dwelt.\n\nThis region of the ancient world was also known as mount Seir. It was so\nnamed because of the progenitor of the Horites who originally dwelt in\nthat section. We are told that this people derived their name from Hori,\nwho was the son of Seir. This ancient people habitually dwelt in caves.\nTherefore, by transition, their name came to mean cave dwellers, as it\nwas descriptive of their type of habitation.\n\nIf one should journey from Jerusalem to the center of Edom today, the\nmost convenient route would lie through the modern city of Amman, which\nis at the present writing the seat of government of Iraq. On the\noutskirts of this city, and all through this region, the limestone caves\nare today occupied by families of people. They, with their folks, their\nhorses and cattle, and all of their possessions, dwell in these\nancestral caves in contentment as their fathers have always done before\nthem. These caves are furnished as our modern homes are equipped, with\nrugs, tapestries, and all the treasures that go to make a human\nhabitation into a home!\n\nTo summarize the Old Testament record of Edom and Edomites, we must\nbegin by noting that although Esau _sold_ his birthright, his brother\nJacob actually _stole_ the blessing. We are all familiar with this\nfascinating drama of the deception wrought by Jacob at his mother\u2019s\ninsistence, when he impersonated his brother to deceive his dying\nfather. This account constitutes one of the implacably honest records\ncharacteristic of the Bible. No other book known to man is so frank in\nthe delineation of the weaknesses of its leading characters, as God can\ndeal honestly with sin and failure, since He knows how to overrule such,\nand effect a cure! When Esau learned that the blessing of his father had\nbeen stolen by his younger brother, he took a solemn oath that as soon\nas the days of mourning for his father were ended, he would slay Jacob,\nthe deceiver. His vengeance was frustrated, however, as Isaac and\nRebekah sent Jacob to Padan-aram. Here Jacob met a shrewd bargainer more\nruthless than himself; and dwelt in Padan-aram for twenty years, during\nwhich he prospered enormously.\n\nOn his way home from his long sojourn, the account tells how he met\nEsau. Two chapters of Genesis, namely, the thirty-second and the\nthirty-third, are occupied with this dramatic and human document. Still\nburdened by the guilt of his dishonest conduct in the matter of the\nblessing, and perhaps feeling also that he had been less than honorable\nin buying the birthright, Jacob prepared an enticing bribe to soften the\nwrath of Esau. Word had been brought to him that Esau was coming to meet\nhim with four hundred retainers, and Jacob believed that the hour of\nreckoning had come. The score of years, however, had softened the wrath\nof Esau, and he greeted his younger brother with love and affection.\nRefusing to accept any bribe or present at his hand, he made him welcome\nto his possession. The record distinctly states that at that time Esau\nwas dwelling in Seir.\n\nIt is evident that he must have prospered there, as the genealogical\ntables in the thirty-sixth chapter of Genesis list his progeny. All of\nhis grandsons appear in the record as dukes. Verses one, eight and nine\nof this chapter identify the Edomites as descendants of Esau. They\nfurther identify the land of their dwelling with the ancient site of\nSeir. To clarify this point, we here reproduce these three verses:\n\n \u201cNow these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom.\u201d\n \u201cThus dwelt Esau in mount Seir: Esau is Edom.\u201d\n \u201cAnd these are the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in\n mount Seir.\u201d\n\nVerse twenty begins the list of the previous inhabitants of Seir, who\nare called the Horites. These people are listed in Genesis 14:6 as among\nthe races that were smitten by Chedorlaomer in the days of Abraham in\nthe notable Battle of the Kings. It seems evident, then, that Esau was\npowerful enough to overcome the Horites and to impose his dominion upon\nthem. The two companies intermarried and became the Edomites of the\nlater record.\n\nThe next important point in their development is introduced in the\ntwentieth chapter of Numbers. As the children of Israel were making\ntheir notable journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan, Moses sent a\ncourteous request to the king of Edom asking permission to make a\npeaceful passage across that land. The salutation of Moses was brotherly\nand affectionate. He reminded the king of Edom that Israel and the\nEdomites were brethren. He asserted his peaceful purpose, and gave a\npledge not to harm the fields or the crops with the passage of his\nflocks.\n\nThe king of Edom summarily refused this courteous request in the most\ngraceless manner. He threatened the company of Israel and forbade them\nto pass over his domain. The answer of Moses was a renewal of the\nrequest for peaceful passage. This time, Moses stated that they would\nstay to the high and rocky way where no harm could come to the land from\ntheir herds. He even covenanted to pay for such water as the flocks\nmight drink. The result was a renewal of the threat to oppose the\npassage with the edge of the sword. Consequently the people of Israel\nwere forced to make a circuit of Edom, and they passed around its border\nby way of mount Hor.\n\nFrom this time on, there was implacable enmity between the two great\nbranches of these Semitic people. The subsequent history is a constant\nrecord of battle and hatred on both sides.\n\nSaul fought against them in the days of his might, and records with\ndelight his various successes against them.\n\nWhen David occupied the throne warfare was renewed. So great a nuisance\ndid the Edomites prove to the people of Israel in David\u2019s day, that this\ngreat warrior king finally directed a complete campaign against them. In\nthe notable battle that was fought in the salt valley, he slew eighteen\nthousand of the Edomite army and pressed on to capture their cities. In\ntheir conquered strongholds, he placed capable garrisons. Under Joab\nthese garrisons patrolled the land for more than six months. At this\ntime Benhadad, to whom we shall again refer, escaped to Egypt to become\na later source of distress to Israel.\n\nIn all of their history, the Edomites were consistently allied against\nIsrael. They never missed a chance to vex their kinsmen. No matter who\nthe enemy of Israel might be, the Edomites hastened to form an alliance\nwith that foe and gladly accepted the occasion to battle against Israel.\nThis bad blood that existed between these races, who should have been\nallied by the ties of consanguinity, resulted in the prophecies that\nforetold the final overthrow of Edom and the destruction of the people.\nSuch a prophecy is written in Jeremiah 49, verses seventeen and twenty:\n\n \u201cAlso Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be\n astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof.\u201d\n\n \u201cTherefore hear the counsel of the Lord, that he hath taken against\n Edom; and his purposes that he hath taken against Edom; and his\n purposes that he hath purposed against the inhabitants of Teman:\n Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; surely he shall\n make their habitations desolate with them.\u201d\n\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar finally took the people of Israel away into their\ngreat captivity, the Edomites rejoiced without restraint. Their\nhappiness was utterly unbounded and they celebrated with every means at\ntheir disposal. They overran the southern regions of Judah and took much\nof that land for themselves during the days of the captivity.\n\nJeremiah, in the Book of Lamentations, reproves their unnatural\njubilation and warns Edom that the same fate that overtook Israel will\ncome upon them.\n\nSo also the prophet Ezekiel speaks from his refuge and warns Edom. In\nthe twenty-fifth chapter of Ezekiel, we read in verses twelve to\nfourteen, this following warning:\n\n \u201cThus saith the Lord God; Because that Edom hath dealt against the\n house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and\n revenged himself upon them;\n\n \u201cTherefore thus saith the Lord God; I will also stretch out mine hand\n upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it\n desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.\n\n \u201cAnd I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people\n Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and\n according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord\n God.\u201d\n\nJoel adds his voice in a characteristic reference such as we find in the\nthird chapter and nineteenth verse of his prophecy:\n\n \u201cEgypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness,\n for the violence against the children of Judah, because they have shed\n innocent blood in their land.\u201d\n\nSo also Amos, in chapter one and verse eleven utters this fateful\nsentence:\n\n \u201cThus saith the Lord: For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,\n I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his\n brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did\n tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever.\u201d\n\nThus the prophet is moved of God to list the continued transgressions of\nEdom, and the consequent and subsequent judgment.\n\nSo literally were these words of the prophets fulfilled that Edom was\nnot only overthrown and its people vanquished, but for a great deal more\nthan a thousand years the very name of their city and people dropped out\nof the memory of men. Here is one more case where a great people\ncatastrophically disappeared from the stage of history, leaving no\nsecular record of the part that they had played in the drama of human\nlife.\n\nNeedless to say, this was the critics\u2019 _great_ occasion! With a\nvociferous unanimity they argued and wrote that there had been no city\ncalled Edom, and no people called Edomites. Since the word \u201cEdom\u201d\nliterally means \u201cred,\u201d the critics erected a fanciful demonstration\npurporting to show that the Edomites would be any people with a red\ncomplexion. According to their fanciful theory, any race or group of\npeople whose skin or hair was red would be poetically called Edomites.\n\nWhen the defenders of the text pointed to the denunciations in the\nprophets, the critics laughed them out of the picture. These utterances\nwere listed as pure, poetic fancy and figurative diatribes. The critics\npointed out that all such outbursts were found _in the prophecies_! As a\nstated principle of higher criticism, all prophecies are repudiated.\nThey are held to be purely fanciful, and any fulfillment is entirely\ncoincidental. This attitude is the proper one for criticism to assume.\nThe supernatural fulfillment of prophecy is one of the strongest\nevidences of the Divine origin of the Scriptures. Such demonstrations\ncannot be reconciled with the critical basis of humanism. Therefore, it\nis only logical that it be ignored or denied in a critical approach to\nthe text.\n\nThe enemies of orthodoxy had one strong argument that in the early day\nseemed to be unanswerable. Their constant cry was \u201cWhere is Edom?\u201d\nAdmittedly, this was a question that the orthodox believer could not\nanswer. The city had disappeared, the people were forgotten, and no\nrelic nor remnant of this race remained. It was not until the nineteenth\ncentury of the Christian era that the resurrection of Edom began.\n\nThe first and earliest archeological reference to Edom which was\ndiscovered, was a statement from the record of Ramses the Third, who\nproudly boasted that in his great campaign he smote the people of Seir.\nThe next discovery came when the record of Tiglath-pileser was read. In\nhis story he told of the campaign against Rezin, king of Syria. He\nrecounted that among other vassals who yielded to his yoke, he received\nhomage from Quaus-Malaka of Edom. This Rezin, with whom we shall later\ndeal in Tiglath-pileser\u2019s voluminous records, is the king of Syria who\nis warned in the seventh chapter of Isaiah as allied with Israel against\nJudah.\n\nFollowing this, we have the monument of Esar-haddon. He also tells how\namong his Assyrian conquests he overthrew the Edomites and forced their\nking to render homage and allegiance to his power. Again, the records of\nNebuchadnezzar tell us that in his final battle with Judah, the Edomites\nwere among his allied forces.\n\nGradually, as this people began to rise from the silence and obscurity\nof forgotten antiquity, something of their customs and beliefs began to\nbe recovered. At least three of their deities are known today. These are\nHadad, Quaus and Koz\u00e9. About 300 B. C., Edom fell into the hands of a\npeople who were called the Nabataeans. Their inscription claims that\nthey captured Edom, exterminated its then numerous population and\noccupied its capital, _which was Petra_.\n\nHere, then, is the final vindication of the text of Scripture. This\ncity, Petra, is variously mentioned in the Old Testament text as the\ncenter of Edomite dominion. It is sometimes called \u201cSela\u201d in the\nhistorical and prophetical references, and twice is referred to by the\nname of \u201cRock.\u201d Obadiah calls the city \u201cthe rock,\u201d the Greek form of\nwhich would be \u201c_he Petra_.\u201d It is thus evident that it was known\npeculiarly for its structure. This fact appeared to be of no\nsignificance until archeology had brought it to the prominence of our\npresent comprehension. The issue of the National Geographic Magazine for\nMay, 1907, made Petra so well known to the English speaking world that\nthere remains little to be said of an historical nature to establish the\nactuality and certainty of this great discovery.\n\nWith the collapse of the Roman empire, Petra disappeared from the\nknowledge of mankind and became shrouded in mystery and darkness. It\nbegan to emerge into the light again when a young Swiss traveler first\nvisited its site in 1812. The record of his discovery was not published,\nhowever, until ten years later.\n\nThe next notice of the site of Petra was taken when two British naval\nofficers visited the splendid remains in 1818, and published their\nobservations seven years later. After this it became the custom for\nadventurous travelers to take a brief look at the stupendous beauty of\nthis forgotten city and make some passing mention. The real exploration\nof Petra, however, began some thirty years ago when certain German\nscholars made a scientific investigation of the site. The results of\ntheir labors were printed only in German, and filled a surprising number\nof lengthy volumes. A large literature on Petra is now in the possession\nof the English speaking world, but surprisingly little of a definite\nnature is known about its earlier inhabitants.\n\nThe monuments of Petra, which we here illustrate in plates numbered\nPlate 22 and Plate 23, were not built by the later inhabitants, who were\ncalled Nabataeans. These monumental structures were carved out of the\nliving rock. Some of them were temples, and others were tombs. To\nillustrate the extent of these works, we may note that the great\nopen-air theatre at Petra would comfortably seat a crowd of three\nthousand spectators.\n\nJust a word of explanation is necessary before we proceed to the\napplication of this discovery. Petra, the capital of Edom and the\nprincipal city of the Edomites, is found in the most rugged region of\nthat part of the earth. The land is thrown up into abrupt ranges, which\nare deeply incised with canyons and gorges until they form one of the\nwildest and most entrancing geographical spectacles to be seen in the\nEastern world. In some regions the underlying structure is limestone.\nThe walls of the canyon, however, are largely porphyry and sandstone.\nThe sandstone is brilliantly colored with hues which run from brown\nthrough red, to a definite purple. Some of the strata, grotesquely\ntwisted and torn and laid bare by erosion, are among the loveliest and\nmost entrancing geological studies in that region.\n\nIn approaching the site of Petra, it is necessary to journey up a narrow\ncanyon called in the Arabic, a siq. This approach is so narrow that\nalmost all of the way it is scarcely possible for two horsemen to ride\nabreast. This might have been an important factor in deciding the site\nof the city in antiquity. A dozen men could have successfully defended\nthe approaches to Petra against an entire army of invaders.\n\nPlate 24 will give some conception of the ruggedness of the country and\nthe difficulty of approach. In place of a truck, such as would have been\nused in flat country, we have the familiar donkey carrying the camera\nand supplies. This resting place is in one of the wider sections of the\ncanyon. Plate 25 is the first glimpse of one of the amazing monuments of\nPetra. This great structure bears the Arabic name of El Khazne. A full\nview of this temple is given in plate 26.\n\nPetra was not built after the fashion in which cities are constructed\ntoday. Every structure was hewn out of the living sandstone. The city\nhas been called \u201cThe Rose Red City, half as old as time,\u201d and this\ndescription is perfect. When the sunlight strikes the ruins of Petra, it\nis as red as blood. Edom, indeed, and Edomites, might well be applied by\nthe ancients to the color and beauty of this old site, as well as to its\ninhabitants! In plate 27 we have illustrated this manner of carving a\ndwelling from the living stone in the great structure which the Arabians\ncall El Deir. (See Plate 28.) Observing this photograph, you will note\nthat the rock wall has been hewn away into the shape of columns,\npillars, and decorated facade in the similitude of a building that has\nbeen put together by the orthodox style of masonry. Such, however, is\nnot the case. Plate 29 shows some of the detail of one of these notable\nmonuments. It will be observed that the workers began from the top and\ncarved their way down. In the upper left corner of the picture a series\nof holes will be seen. These were chiseled for the foothold of the\nworkers who started the process.\n\nTheir manner of labor was unique. The architect laid out the size,\nshape, and site of the building, and the workmen began to cut away the\nstone about the top of their designated area until they had a recessed\ntrough some ten feet deep into the face of the cliff, on the top and\nboth sides. Then, beginning with the top of the structure, they carved\nthat slab in the similitude of a building. As they worked their way\ndown, they shaped the pillars, carved these brilliant decorations and\nrecessed the cliff on both sides to make their monuments stand forth.\nPlate 28 shows the result of this type of labor, looking from the bottom\nupward. Reaching the bottom of their carved columns, these artisans\nwould then chisel away between and behind the posts that they had formed\nof the face of the cliff until they had a great square entry way. The\nface of this entry way would be further beautified by carving the\nsemblance of a doorway. A short tunnel would then be run back into the\ncliff to serve as a hall, and rooms hollowed out on the inside into a\nseries of apartments or caves. \u201cCave-dwellers,\u201d indeed, is the proper\nname for these people!\n\n\n Plate 24\n\n [Illustration: The rough approach to Petra (Photo by Matson)]\n\n\n Plate 25\n\n [Illustration: Approaching Petra by way of the main siq the first\n sight of the ruins]\n\nThe extent of their operations may be dimly understood from plates\nnumbered plate 22 and plate 23. Some of these tombs that are here\ndepicted, were never finished. A few of them have suffered from the\nravages of time, but the general state of preservation of these\npriceless monuments of Petra is fascinating. In plate 30 we have\ndepicted the approach to the garden tomb. By the side of this tomb there\nis the ascent to the \u201chigh place\u201d for the sacrifices of their idolatrous\nreligion. In plate 31 we have shown the altar and the \u201chigh place.\u201d\n\nThese high places of antiquity should be the subject for a volume in\nthemselves. They are mentioned one hundred two times in the Old\nTestament. Being the altars of heathen sacrifices, they were the subject\nof constant denunciation on the part of the Lord God and were a source\nof trouble and distress to Israel during all her periods of apostasy.\nThe _groves_ to which the prophets refer and which the godly kings cut\ndown, were the places where Ashtoreth was worshipped. Very few systems\nof degenerate religion in antiquity were more lecherous and vile than\nthe cult of this unclean goddess. The high places, however, were the\naltars where sacrifice was made to the gods of the heathen nations. As\nthese sacrifices were very often human, and as it was not uncommon for\nthe ancients to dedicate their children to the fierce and abominable\nworship of their false religion, the people of Israel were sternly\nforbidden to have any contact with such idolatrous practices. So when\ngodly kings occupied the throne, they destroyed the \u201chigh places.\u201d In a\ntime of apostasy the high places were builded and dedicated again. Some\nof the most stirring denunciations of the prophetic sections of the Old\nTestament are in the words that God directs against the high places of\nIsrael and in the announcing of His final and complete victory over\nthem.\n\nThis high place shown in plate 31 is characteristic, then, of the\nancient custom. It shows that the Hittites had forsaken whatever\nknowledge they may have derived from their earlier Hebrew origin and\nwere wholly dedicated to the practices of idolatry. Incidentally, the\nworship of God is still practiced by Israel, but the \u201chigh places\u201d of\nEdom and all other heathen centers are merely curiosities today!\n\nAs far as artistry and ability are concerned, antiquity knew no greater\nor more capable people. The monument that they have left to mark their\nmysterious disappearance is a lasting testimony to their culture and\npower.\n\nBut more than that, it is a living, resurrected testimony to the truth\nand credibility of the Word of God!\n\nThere is no scene of desolation and ruin that amazes the spirit of man\nas much as the desolation of Edom. Forsaken of human occupants, the\nwonderful Rose Red City is today a curiosity to be viewed by the hardy\nadventurer who would study the antiquities of the Eastern world.\n\nJust what hands constructed these noble temples and tombs it is not at\nthis time possible to say. The Nabataeans were incapable of producing\nthis kind of work, nor would they have invested the time. The bodies of\nthe departed were spread upon the field as fertilizer or buried in the\nmost indescribably filthy pits of their day and time. The Semitic\npeoples who preceded them, however, have left this record in stone as a\ntestimony to their reverence for the dead. What the future will yield in\nthe hoped-for excavations of Petra, no one is able to say. If, however,\na spade is never sunk into soil and no more appears to the gaze of man\nthan is seen by the casual traveler today, we have sufficient to call\nforth a doxology from the hearts of those who love and reverence the\nWord of God. We cannot refrain from commenting again and again upon the\nmarvelous manner in which the Author of this Great Book has cared for\nHis own case.\n\nThe consternation and defeat of the critics have been complete in this\ninstance. What a quaint conceit it is in our generation to note that God\nis so firm in His promised defense of His Book, that He will move to\ncrush the enemies of the Word even if it is necessary to smite their\nfallacious fancy with a carved mountain of stone!\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER IX\n The Brazen Shields of Rehoboam\n\n\nIn the logical presentation of this subject, we now come to that period\nof history in which the pharaohs, who are named by name in the\nScriptures and are thus identified beyond question, make their\ncontribution to the evidence which sustains the record of the Bible.\n\nLaying aside controversial discussions as to the identity of the various\npharaohs who preceded, we note that the first of Egypt\u2019s many monarchs\nto appear under his personal name in the Word of God is Shishak the 1st.\nHis name appears on the monuments of Egypt as Shashanq the 1st, but his\nown records identify him as the \u201cShishak\u201d of I Kings 14, and II\nChronicles 12. The outstanding accomplishments of his entire reign seem\nto have been the invasion of Palestine and the capture of Jerusalem. In\nthe account which this monarch left in the priceless writings at Karnak,\nthe most noteworthy is the story told on the second pylon of the main\ntemple, where the conqueror has given a list of all the towns and\nvillages which he overthrew in Palestine. To this he added a record of\nthe gold and silver ornaments that he carried away from Jerusalem. He\nspecifically noted the bucklers and shields of Solomon and also the\ngolden quivers which Solomon\u2019s father had captured from the king of\nZobah.\n\nOnce again we listen to some collateral gossip from far antiquity to see\nthe background of this strange invasion of Jerusalem. Weaving together\nrecords of forgotten campaigns, homely events of family affairs, the\nconduct of pragmatic generations, the history preserved in the books of\nthe Old Testament, together with the voices of monuments and ruins, we\ngradually achieve a basis of understanding. The Pharaoh Siamen, whose\ncapital was at Zoan, appears to have been an ally of Edom. In the days\nwhen secular historical records begin to coincide with the record of the\ntext, Edom was ruled by a regent. King Hadad was a lad of tender years,\nand though he nominally was vested with the crown, his able and powerful\nmother ruled in his name. The queen regent, incidentally, was an aunt of\nSolomon. Holding that thought in temporary abeyance, we will continue to\ninvestigate this quaint family alliance. David and Jonathan made a\nsuccessful assault upon Edom, which resulted in the capture of the city.\nSuch rights and powers as a conquering monarch has always abrogated to\nhimself, then devolved upon David in respect to Edom. When it became\napparent that the city would fall, the queen regent took her young son\nand fled to Egypt for safety. In view of the fact that Edom and Egypt\nwere at that time allies, the royal party was well received and, with\nthe prodigal hospitality of that day, became guests at the court for the\nbalance of their lives.\n\n\n Plate 26\n\n [Illustration: \u201cEl Kahzne\u201d (The Temple of the Urn)]\n\n\n Plate 27\n\n [Illustration: Showing the manner in which these buildings are\n carved from the living stone]\n\nIn the course of the passing years, Siamen was gathered to his fathers,\nand Psabekhanu the 2nd reigned in his stead. The wise mother of Hadad,\nknowing that alliances do not always outlast the persons who made them\nand, desiring to protect Hadad\u2019s interests in the country that they had\nlost by force of arms, entered into a typical and common intrigue. She\nbrought about the marriage of her son, Hadad, with a sister of\nPsabekhanu. Thus, Hadad became the brother-in-law of the reigning\nmonarch of Egypt and, presumably, strengthened the ties that bound the\nEgyptian power to the interests of his small country.\n\nIn the meantime, Solomon, who had succeeded his father, moved to protect\nhis inherited claim on Edom. This he did by marrying the daughter of\nPsabekhanu. It is presumed that the relationship of a son-in-law might\nbe a stronger claim for alliance than that of a brother-in-law. Some\nshort while later the second daughter of Psabekhanu married the Prince\nShishak. Thus Solomon and the heir-apparent of the throne of Egypt,\nShishak, became brothers-in-law. By marriage, however, the queen of Edom\nwas their aunt. At a glance the student can see that affairs were a bit\nmessy, to say the very least. Hadad maintained his rights to Edom and\nconducted at the Egyptian court an intrigue for his restoration. The\ndesires of Pharaoh were divided between his natural wish to keep the\npeace and his interest in the importunities of his brother-in-law, as\nweighed against the desires of his son-in-law. Through this tangled\nscheme of alliances it came about that Solomon\u2019s son would have some\nlegal rights of succession in Egypt. But Shishak\u2019s son would have the\nsame claim to succession in Palestine. Solomon, being much older than\nShishak, died first. The story which now follows is recorded in the Word\nof God, and on the pillars of antiquity, for, shortly after the death of\nSolomon, Shishak invaded Judah.\n\nThe \u201cwhy\u201d of the matter is easily understood. The first reason was loot.\nThe brief account that is given in I Kings 14:25-28 is here appended to\nintroduce our consideration of this event:\n\n \u201cAnd it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak\n king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: And he took away the\n treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king\u2019s\n house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold\n which Solomon had made.\n\n \u201cAnd King Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed\n them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of\n the king\u2019s house.\n\n \u201cAnd it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that\n the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.\u201d\n\nIn that record it is noted that among the treasures of the house of the\nLord which Shishak carried away, were the shields of gold which Solomon\nhad made. For a description of these shields and some conception of\ntheir value, we turn to the tenth chapter of I Kings, verses fourteen to\nseventeen:\n\n \u201cNow the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six\n hundred threescore and six talents of gold,\n\n \u201cBesides that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the\n spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors\n of the country.\n\n \u201cAnd king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred\n shekels of gold went to one target.\n\n \u201cAnd he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pounds of\n gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the\n forest of Lebanon.\u201d\n\nThe wealth of Solomon has never been adequately computed. It is stated\nthat from the tomb of Tutanhkamen, in the most famous excavation of our\ngeneration, treasure to the value of $14,000,000 was recovered. The\nsplendor and wealth of that pharaoh were insignificant compared to that\nof Solomon, the Magnificent. We see, for instance, in this fourteenth\nverse that Solomon\u2019s income in gold bullion alone was almost the exact\nequivalent of $20,000,000 in our day and time. We must understand,\nhowever, that there was a vast difference between the values of the\nmoney standards of that time and of our own. The ratio would be about 15\nto 1. For instance, a silver shekel would buy a cow; a half-shekel would\nbuy an ass. If we evaluate their currency by purchasing power, it would\ntake fifteen of our dollars to equal one of theirs. So the sum of gold,\nwhich is the equivalent of $20,000,000 by our former gold standard\nmeasurement, gives a conception of the annual income of Solomon, only if\nit is transmuted to our present ratio of purchasing power. This figure\ndoes not include all the tariff and income from taxes, the profit on his\nmerchandising and the tribute in gifts of vassal nations. He was in the\nfortunate circumstance of paying income tax to himself so that his\nincome remained undiminished! The gold of Solomon was hoarded for a\nunique and peculiar purpose.\n\nWhen David desired to build a house for the worship of God, his offer\nwas rejected on the ground that he was a man of blood. However, the Lord\nsaid that his son should build the house of prayer, and David began the\nhoarding of gold for the erection and beautification of that temple. The\nestimates of the amount of gold that went into that temple go as high as\ntwo and one-half billions of dollars. It is not too much to say that no\nbuilding ever erected by the hands of man could excel the beauty, the\nartistic perfection, the splendor, and the intrinsic value of the temple\nthat Solomon built.\n\nIn the Scriptural citation in I Kings, we have just read of the two\nhundred targets or bucklers of beaten gold. Also, there are catalogued\nthe three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pounds of gold went into\nthe construction of each shield. At the present rate of gold values,\nthat would mean that each of these shields was worth $1680.00. There was\nconsiderably over a half million dollars of pure gold hammered into\nthose shields. This glittering and entrancing treasure intrigued the\ngreed of every conqueror of antiquity, but no man was able to take it\nfrom the House of God while His protection and care were upon it. It is\nnot to be wondered that Shishak considered the capture of that treasure\nas the highest achievement of his reign.\n\nThe second reason for Shishak\u2019s invasion, however, was mainly political.\nAfter the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided. Rehoboam,\npossessing the Southern kingdom, was a weakling who was, moreover, under\nthe influence of vicious, untrustworthy counselors. Perhaps his tendency\ntowards idolatry may be traced to his mother who was an Ammonite and\nwhose influence, undoubtedly, turned him away from monotheism. At any\nrate, Bel, Ashtoreth, Moloch and Baal were worshipped throughout the\nland on every high hill and under many green trees. The most unclean\npractices were indulged in by the people until the judgment of God\nnecessarily descended upon them. Shishak\u2019s chief concern was not over\nthe idolatry of the people, however, but over the effect of their\ndereliction upon the development of the kingdom. In order to protect his\npossible rights of succession in Palestine, he moved to make Rehoboam a\nvassal, and brought him under the yoke of bondage, making him a governor\nfor Egypt.\n\nA more comprehensive account of this invasion is given in the twelfth\nchapter of II Chronicles. A great many people have raised the question\nas to why we have the duplication of the record in the books of Kings\nand Chronicles in the Scripture. It has been argued that the same\nstories told again in Chronicles are a senseless and useless repetition\nof the record already written in Kings. This specific instance is\nperhaps as fine an answer to that objection as can be found. It might be\nsaid that the Books of Kings recount the _deeds_ of men and the Books of\nChronicles deal largely with their _motives_. The Books of the Kings\nrecord history as enacted by man, while the records of Chronicles give\nGod\u2019s side of the story and tell the \u201cwhy\u201d of things that would\notherwise be mysterious.\n\nFor instance, the twelfth chapter of II Chronicles begins, \u201cAnd it came\nto pass when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened\nhimself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.\u201d Here\nis a bleak, unvarnished record of apostasy. The price of a man in his\nown position and standing has led him to debauch a nation spiritually\nand morally. Therefore, the second verse follows as a natural\nconsequence: \u201cAnd it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king\nRehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, _because they\nhad transgressed against the Lord_.\u201d Here is an illuminating comment\nupon the motives and principles that underlie this record. It is a\nforeshadowing of the first chapter of Romans. When men give up God and\ndeny Him a place in their culture and practices, it is inevitable that\nGod will give them up to the consequences of their vile conduct. In this\ncase it was Shishak who brought judgment upon Jerusalem. His twelve\nhundred chariots and sixty thousand cavalrymen were supported by so many\ninfantry that the number was never totaled. They are called\n\u201cinnumerable,\u201d which is a simple way of saying that the number was too\nvast to take time counting them.\n\nWe are then told that when Shishak had captured all the outlying cities\nof Judah and was on his way to Jerusalem, the prophet Shemaiah frankly\ntold King Rehoboam that his trouble had come upon him because of his\napostasy. In blunt words he delivered this graphic warning: \u201cThus saith\nthe Lord, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the\nhand of Shishak.\u201d When this message was so courageously delivered, the\nprinces of Israel and the godless counselors of the apostate king\ntogether prostrated themselves before the Lord and acknowledged that His\njudgment was just and His decision was righteous. The record continues\nwith the fact that when the Lord saw that they had repented, He promised\nto save the humbled court and the threatened city. But with the promise\nof deliverance from destruction there came also the grim edict that in\norder that they might learn the difference between serving God and being\nunder the bondage of a heathen culture, they should be subject to\nShishak and serve him.\n\nThus in Chronicles we do have the account repeated that was given to us\nin the record of the Kings, but with additional details that illumine\nand clarify the record. Shishak swept the land bare of precious metals\nand took away the treasures of the temple as well. Not only did he leave\nthe king and the court destitute of their priceless ornaments, but he\ncarried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.\n\n\n Plate 28\n\n [Illustration: Note how top of building seems to erupt from the\n hill]\n\n\n Plate 29\n\n [Illustration: Compare size of men in the doorway of \u201cEl Deir\u201d]\n\nWe now enter into a consideration of one of the most tragic and\nhumiliating spectacles in all antiquity. When the penitent and restored\nking saw the effects of his apostasy, he called the people back to the\npractice of their earlier faith and himself came daily to the house of\nthe Lord for the exercise of prayer. But as the humbled monarch knelt in\nprayer, he could not keep his eyes off the vacant walls. Where the five\nhundred golden objects had once hung, testifying to the wealth of that\nhouse and the greatness of his father, there was nothing but the bare\nwall. It must be remembered that those golden ornaments had not belonged\nto him. They had been hung in their places to praise and glorify God by\nhis greater ancestor. Therefore, when an enemy came and stole them away,\nit was a constant and mute reproach to him because of his own failure to\nlive up to the standards and greatness of a preceding generation.\n\nThe troubled king gave orders that the targets and shields should be\nreplaced with copies of what had been lost. There was, however, neither\ngold nor silver in the land, for Shishak had made a clean sweep of all\nthat was valuable. Thus, having lost the reality of their treasure, the\nbest they could do was to make a cheap similitude in brass.\n\nNeedless to say, brass is a pitiful substitute for the precious metal\nwhich we call gold. If it is kept in a shining condition, at first\nglance brass may have some resemblance to the nobler metal, but it\nquickly tarnishes and its glitter fades. For this reason, the targets\nand shields of brass were stored in the house of the guard. At the hour\nwhen the king came to the temple to pray, the guard polished these\nridiculous substitutes and hung them in their places so that the king\nmight delude himself by the glitter and shine, and thus have some balm\nfor his troubled spirit. There is, of course, an element of humour in\nthis tragic record!\n\nThe moral lessons are almost innumerable and would provide a minister\nwith sermon material for days on end. We are faced with a somewhat\nsimilar situation in Christendom today. Upon the walls of the House of\nFaith, our believing fathers hung the golden shields that constitute the\ndoctrines of Christianity. The brilliant glory of those foundational\ntreasures was never threatened as long as the church was true to God.\nBut we in our generation, alas, have allowed an enemy to come in and rob\nus of many of those golden shields.\n\nWe cannot over-emphasize the fact that it is always an enemy who seeks\nthus to despoil the House of our Faith. Though he may come in the guise\nof a friend, or even of a relative, as in the case of Shishak, the man\nwho robs us of our golden shields is an enemy at heart and in purpose.\n\nMay we illustrate this suggestion by saying, for instance, that our\nfathers believed in the golden fact of the deity of Jesus Christ. They\nheld as a basic fact of Christianity that in the person of our Saviour,\nAlmighty God was incarnated to be the Redeemer of mankind. Satan, in the\nperson of many of his charming and well-mannered cohorts, has stolen\nthat shield from many a temple of prayer. Men speak now of the\n\u201cdivinity\u201d of Jesus instead of the \u201cdeity.\u201d Having established this\npremise, they then continue with the statement that we are _all_ divine\nand have this same spark of divinity within our spirits, to a greater or\nlesser extent. When the golden shield of the deity of Christ disappeared\nfrom the walls of many churches that had once been Christian, the\nworshippers made a beautiful substitute with the brazen replica of\nUnitarianism. The tarnished brass of that un-Christian doctrine is a\nmiserable substitute indeed for the blessed assurance that is resident\nin the fact of the deity of the Saviour.\n\nOur fathers believed also in the virgin birth of the Son of God. They\naccepted literally the record that Almighty God himself had given of the\nincarnation of His Son. Our fathers believed that the body of Jesus was\nformed in the womb of a virgin woman because of the direct visitation of\nthe Holy Ghost. Thus, the birth of Jesus Christ was a biological\nmiracle, and He owed even His earth origin to His _heavenly_ Father\nalone! This foundational fact of the Christian revelation has\ndisappeared from the walls and the worship of many a once-Christian\ngathering. In the place of that golden fact there is the ghastly and\nbrazen substitute of an illegitimate child, who was probably the fruit\nof a woman\u2019s sin! And then men wonder that the old-time power and\ngreatness of the Christian faith seem lacking in much of our land today!\n\nIn like manner, the golden shield of redemption through the shed blood\nof Calvary has been exchanged for the brazen substitute of a \u201cPerfect\nExample.\u201d The physical resurrection of Jesus Christ has been bartered\nfor a misty idea of some sort of a spiritual resurrection that has no\nbearing upon the facts of the record that God has given to man. Shield\nby shield, and buckler by buckler, the things that were given to us for\nour defense, gleaming with the intrinsic value of a supernatural\nrevelation, have been stolen away by the enemy. The humanistic\nsubstitutes that have replaced them have left us at the mercy of the\nenemy who would destroy our souls.\n\nBut great as are the moral lessons involved in this record, its\napologetical value is incalculably greater. It has been the custom in\nour day to question the historical accuracy of much of the record of the\nScripture. So it is with considerable interest that we turn back to\nancient Egypt to see what can be learned from the external sources of\npure archeology concerning these sections of the Old Testament.\n\nThe visitor to the British Museum may come away well acquainted with\nthis man Shishak. In the fourth Egyptian Room, in Table Case \u201cO\u201d, there\nis a pair of gold bracelets, the exhibits being numbered 134 and 135.\nThese beautiful ornaments are overlaid with lapis lazuli, and a blue\nsubstance which is similar to faience. The inside of each is inscribed\nwith a text written in hieroglyphics stating that the bracelets were\n\u201cMade for the Princess,\u201d the daughter of the chief of all the bowmen,\nNemareth, whose mother was the daughter of the Prince of the land of\nReshnes. This Nemareth was the descendant in the fifth generation of\nBuiu-auau, a Libyan prince who was the father of Shishak the First.\n\nIn this same case, exhibit number 217 is a heavy gold ring set with a\nscarab carved from soapstone, which is inscribed with a clearly cut\ncartouche containing both the prenomen and nomen of Shishak the First.\n\nLooking further in this case, exhibit number 392 is a silver ring\ninscribed with the titles of an official who held many important\npositions under two monarchs. He was president of the granaries, also a\nprophet of the fourth order, served as a scribe and at one time was\nlibationer in the reigns of Psammetichus and Shishak.\n\nThe most important of all the records of Shishak, of course, is the\nvoluminous account that he caused to be engraved at the Temple of\nKarnak. A detail is added in Shishak\u2019s record that is not contained in\nthe Scriptures. According to the conqueror, to strengthen the ties of\nvassalage, he gave Jeroboam one of his daughters in marriage. This\ncomplete record of Shishak\u2019s we photographed, studied carefully, and\nfound eminently satisfactory, with the single exception that the king of\nJudah is not named by name in Shishak\u2019s account of this conquest. But he\ndoes tell of the capture of Judah, the rape of Jerusalem, and gives a\ncategorical list of cities and villages overthrown. He specifically\nmentions the bucklers and shields of gold that he took from the temple.\n\nIn a word, this science of archeology, upon the authority of men long\ndead, but who have since been raised to testify, stamps an emphatic O.\nK. upon this section of the Sacred Record.[1]\n\nThe next king who parades these pages under the designation of his\nproper name is the Pharaoh Zera, who has also been identified with\nOsarkon. Shishak\u2019s first-born son, named both Usarkon and Osarkon the\nFirst, succeeded his father to the throne as the last of the Tanite\nkings of the twenty-first dynasty. This son, in turn, was called Shishak\nand became the high priest of Amon. Osarkon the First was succeeded by\nTakeloth the First, who, in turn, was followed by Osarkon the Second.\nSince both of these Osarkons figure in the Scriptural account, we\nbriefly cover their record as it occurs in antiquity.\n\nBeing emperor of Ethiopia, as well as of Egypt, the first Osarkon, or\nZera, had a vast horde of Ethiopian allies who fought with him in his\nimportant conquests. This entire line was of Libyan extraction. A\nportion of Africa that is now temporarily possessed by the crown of\nItaly seems to have given rise to this family of conquering rulers.\nUndoubtedly the designation \u201cEthiopian\u201d was suggested by this African\nancestry.\n\nThe Scriptural account of this man\u2019s ill-starred military expedition is\ngiven in the fourteenth chapter of II Chronicles. When King Abijah died,\nhis son Asa succeeded to the throne. The ascension of Asa was followed\nby ten years of such peace and prosperity as was almost unprecedented in\nthose troublous times. The reason given is that Asa was a godly man and\nfound favour in the sight of the Lord. He shattered the images erected\nto unclean idols, cut down the groves where Ashtoreth was worshipped,\ndemolished the altars and the high places, and purged the land of its\napostasy. He compelled the people of Judah to return to the true faith\nand to obey the Lord and His commandments. He strengthened the fortified\ncenters and in a masterly fashion built up his reserves.\n\nThe ten years of prosperity and industry found the land of Judah in an\nenviable condition that left it well worth robbing! Since the\nopportunity to steal and loot was the only incentive required by the\ngrim pragmatists of antiquity, Zera, or Osarkon, gathered together an\narmy of a million foot soldiers, reinforced with three hundred chariots,\nand journeyed toward Palestine to loot the land. The vicinity of\nMareshah was chosen as the site of the battle and Asa came out with his\npitiful little company to defend his possessions. The drama of this\nrecord begins in the eleventh verse of the fourteenth chapter of II\nChronicles in the great prayer of Asa:\n\n\n Plate 30\n\n [Illustration: Enroute to the \u201cHigh Place\u201d]\n\n\n Plate 31\n\n [Illustration: The Altar of Sacrifice]\n\n \u201cAnd Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing\n with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power:\n help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go\n against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail\n against thee.\u201d\n\nThe high-hearted courage and simple faith of Asa is sufficient\nintroduction to the very natural result, which follows in simple words:\n\n \u201cSo the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and\n the Ethiopians fled.\u201d\n\nWe then read a condensed account of the pursuit that Asa and his people\nindulged in, chasing the horde of Egyptians all the way across their own\nborder. They were in such confusion that they could not recover and make\na stand, so that not even a rear-guard action was fought. The children\nof Israel recaptured all of the cities that Rehoboam had lost, and with\na typical Hebraism the account concludes with the statement that \u201cthey\ncarried away exceeding much spoil.\u201d Although they never recovered the\ngolden shields, it is to be hoped they got their equivalent in the value\nof this recounted spoil.\n\nIt was the universal custom of conquerors to record their victories and\nsay nothing of their defeats. Therefore, it is a bit startling to find\nthis record of II Chronicles borne out by the account the Egyptian\nmonarch has left of his own campaigns. This simple paragraph is\nilluminating:\n\n \u201cSeventeen campaigns I waged. In sixteen of them I was victorious. In\n the seventeenth campaign I was defeated. Not by man, Heaven fought\n against me.\u201d\n\nSo even in the record of a defeat this man can brag that his strength\nand greatness were so phenomenal that only the Lord could overthrow him.\nOnce again, a dead man tells a tale. He also, in the illuminating\naccount that he has left, rises from the dead to write \u201co. k.\u201d across\nthe pages of Holy Writ, attesting its historical fidelity and the\naccuracy of its records.\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER X\n Mingled Voices\n\n\nThe next definite contact between Israel and Egypt is found in the\ngraphic and terse statement of II Kings 17:4,\n\n \u201cAnd the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent\n messengers to So king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of\n Assyria, as he had done year by year: therefore the king of Assyria\n shut him up, and bound him in prison.\u201d\n\nFrom this point on, the records of Egypt and Palestine are so enmeshed\nand tangled with the records of Babylon and Assyria that we cannot\nseparate them in their presentation. This king So is identified as the\nEgyptian monarch Shabaka, who is also known by the names Sebichos,\nSabakon, Sabacoa, and Seve. He seems to have been a man of implacable\ncruelty, if we may judge from the Greek record of his manner of\nsuccession. He was preceded on the throne by Bakenrenef, who was one of\nthe wise and kindly lawgivers of Egypt. This noble ruler was one of the\nfirst of all the Egyptian kings to come in direct contact with the\nclassical Greeks. The Dorian invasion had now come to an end and the\nGreeks were free to trade and colonize in the Mediterranean, and in the\nvigour of their advance they had pressed on to the mouth of the Nile.\nThey had established a close connection with Sais, and by 700 B. C. had\nentrenched themselves strongly in the culture of that section of Egypt.\n\nThe Pharaoh of our present interest, So, invaded that section of Egypt\nand captured Bakenrenef in a swift and short campaign. The Greek records\nrelate that after treating his defeated enemy with brutality, So then\nburned him alive. He then established himself as king and ruled not only\nall of Egypt but Ethiopia as well. He was thus a contemporary of\nShalmaneser, Sargon, and Sennacherib, all of whom have a direct bearing\nupon the records of the Old Testament. One of the interesting\ndiscoveries made at the royal library at Nineveh was a seal bearing the\nname of Shabaka, or So. The visitor to the British Museum, upon entering\nthe Assyrian Room, may pause before Table Case \u201cE\u201d and see this\nfascinating exhibit of the actualities of these events.\n\nIn about the year 700 B. C., according to the record of Holy Writ, when\nShalmaneser had dealt kindly with Hoshea, who had accepted his yoke and\nagreed to pay tribute, the faithless king of Judah entered into\nconspiracy with Sebakah. Since the common name, So, is the one that is\nused in the Scripture, we shall refer to this pharaoh by that name from\nthis point on. The tribute that Hoshea should have paid to the king of\nAssyria he diverted, and paid it into the hand of So for the help that\nwas promised him in throwing off the yoke of Assyria. There is abundant\nreason to believe, from all the collateral records, that this conspiracy\nwas promoted by So and Hoshea.\n\nThis action on the part of the Hebrew king was entirely unwarranted and\nconsisted of a breach of faith on his part. Indeed, the prophet Hosea\nutters a stern and unmistakable reproof against this action in the\nstrong words of the first verse of his twelfth chapter:\n\n \u201cEphraim feedeth on wind and followeth after the east wind: he daily\n increaseth lies and desolation; and they do make a covenant with the\n Assyrians, and oil is carried into Egypt. The Lord hath also a\n controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways;\n according to his doings will he recompense him.\u201d\n\nAs a result of this conspiracy, Hoshea was captured by the king of\nAssyria and carried away into an imprisonment. The plan did not work out\nas the faithless allies had intended. Shalmaneser invaded Palestine to\npunish this rebellion. This wise and able general divided his forces, so\nthat a major portion of his military strength lay between Egypt and\nPalestine at a part of the border that was easily defended. When So\nfound that the cost of reaching Hoshea with aid was to be a major battle\nwhich would endanger his entire dominion, he simply defaulted and left\nHoshea to bear alone the brunt of the battle. The prophecy of Hosea was\nthus literally fulfilled. With the faithlessness that Hoshea had\nmanifested toward Shalmaneser, he had been rewarded by the defection of\nSo from his covenant.\n\nIt is interesting to note that So seemed to have been a little ashamed\nof his conduct, for he offers a rather flimsy excuse for his failure to\nstand by his contract. His statement is that Hoshea had paid only half\nof the price agreed upon and for that reason he came not to his aid.\n\nIn this invasion of Shalmaneser\u2019s, many of the Hebrew people were taken\ncaptive. Hoshea, after being for some time incarcerated in disgrace and\npunishment, was forgiven by Shalmaneser and restored to his throne and\ndominion. Shalmaneser seems to have reasoned that having once failed and\nhaving tasted of punishment, Hoshea was now to be trusted. Thus, the\nfirst conspiracy ended with the common people of Samaria paying the\nprice. Two years later the faithless and foolish Hoshea again listened\nto the siren song of rebellion as it was sung by the deceitful So and\nagain rebelled against his over-lord and benefactor. Shalmaneser, in\ngreat wrath, again moved against Samaria, which resisted in a bitter\nstruggle that lasted three years.\n\nAlthough the following details are not all mentioned in the text of II\nKings, seventeenth chapter, they are emphasized by the change of person\nin the record. In this bitter conflict of three years, no help came from\nEgypt. The seventh verse of the text says that the children of Israel\nhad sinned against the Lord, their God. They had gone again into\nidolatry and had put themselves back under the yoke of Egypt, from which\nGod had repeatedly redeemed them. The miserable and faithless So turned\nout to be a bruised reed indeed! But while this campaign was being\nfought, Shalmaneser disappeared. A revolution took place in the homeland\nand the common oriental disease which may be described as six inches of\nsteel between the ribs, quietly removed Shalmaneser from the scene. A\nusurper named Sargon, who writes his own genealogy and calls himself\n\u201cthe son of Nobody,\u201d succeeded to the throne.\n\nThus in the seventeenth chapter of II Kings we have many royal persons,\nand in order to keep the records straight, we set them forth this way:\n\n Hoshea was the king of Samaria; and he reigned over Israel nine years.\n\n Shalmaneser the Fifth was the king of Assyria, who is mentioned in the\n third verse by name.\n\n The fourth verse continues a record of Shalmaneser, in carrying away\n Hoshea and punishing him.\n\n So is the pharaoh with whom we have been dealing.\n\n The king of Assyria who is not named in the sixth verse, is Sargon,\n who succeeded to the throne after the probable murder of Shalmaneser.\n\nThis Sargon is the second man of that name to have reigned in Assyria.\nThe time of his reign may be given as from 722-705 B. C. The first\nSargon reigned sometime in the twentieth century, B. C.\n\nSargon the Second thus reigned for almost eighteen years. He was a\nwar-loving monarch, and that eighteen year reign was one continuous,\nunbroken series of foreign campaigns. Combining his forces with the\nsmall host of the Philistines, he joined battle with the Egyptians at\nRaphia. Going directly to this campaign, after the termination of his\ncampaign against Samaria, he administered a crushing defeat to the\nforces of So and had no further difficulty with this pharaoh during the\nbalance of his reign.\n\nIn the British Museum, Table Case \u201cB,\u201d which occupies a section of the\nsecond Northern gallery of the Assyrian Room, contains some magnificent\nbaked clay cylinders which are the original annals of Sargon. These\npriceless records came from the ruins of a tremendous building excavated\nby M. Botta at the ancient site of Khorsabad, which was later proved to\nhave been the palace of Sargon. Most of the sculptured objects from this\ndiscovery are in the Museum at Paris. These written records, however,\nwhich are of infinitely more value to the student, are fortunately on\ndeposit in the British Museum.\n\nIn the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum the interested student will\nalso behold an inscription bearing the identification number 12,\nwhereupon are recorded the names and titles of Sargon the Second,\ntogether with a brief and epitomized account of his conquests in various\nsections along the coast lands of the Mediterranean, including his\nfamous victory in Judah.\n\nA more complete record is found in the Assyrian Room. In Table Case \u201cE,\u201d\nexhibits 11 and 12, are two nine-sided prisms containing a graphic\naccount of the expeditions of Sargon. All of his campaigns in Palestine\nare covered and include his conquest of Israel, which he calls \u201cOmri\nland.\u201d (These exhibits are identified by the Museum numbers 22,505 and\n108,775.)\n\nA further record of Sargon\u2019s bearing upon the text of the Old Testament\nwill be found in the Assyrian Room in wall case No. 9. Exhibits 1-11 are\nfragments of an eight-sided cylinder containing part of the records of\nSargon, particularly recording the campaign against Ashdod, which is\nalso preserved for us by Isaiah in the twentieth chapter, verse one. The\npeople of Ashdod had made a league with Judah and this outburst of\nIsaiah\u2019s was a stern reproof against this procedure. The prophet\nobjected chiefly because the league depended upon the strength of Egypt.\nTo the end of his life, Isaiah never gave up his justified distrust of\nthat country. This, in a brief summary, presents the records of\nShalmaneser and Sargon as they authenticate the Biblical account of the\nconduct of the wretched So. Sargon recounts that Azuri, who was king of\nAshdod, had refused to pay the tribute that was due to the Assyrians.\nConsequently he was deposed by Sargon, who elevated his brother Akhimiti\nto the place of dominion. Whereupon the people of Ashdod rebelled and\nraised Yamini to the throne. They then entered into a conspiracy with\nPhilistea, Edom, Moab, Egypt, and Judah. Sargon recounts their defeat\nand the bringing back under the sway of his yoke the cities and peoples\nwho joined the conspiracy.\n\nA graphic and significant story is contained in the brief and short\nwords of Sargon\u2019s own record\u2014\u201cSamaria, I looked at. I captured. 27,280\nfamilies who remained therein I carried away.\u201d The tragic end of Hoshea\nand all of his noble counselors and advisers is thus summed up in a\nbrief and terrible sentence.\n\nSargon the Second was followed in turn by Sennacherib, of whom a great\ndeal is known from his monuments. Their testimony coincides with the\nstory of the Southern Kingdom during the reign of Hezekiah. Three years\nafter the ascension of Hoshea to the throne of Israel, Hezekiah began to\nreign over Judah at Jerusalem. He had a long and interesting reign,\noccupying the throne for twenty-five years. In the course of his reign,\nSargon the Second died, and Sennacherib inherited the throne.\n\nEncouraged by the success of his predecessor Sargon in foreign\ncampaigns, Sennacherib invaded Judah to round out his empire. Hezekiah\naccepted his yoke without offering resistance, and paid him a vast\ntribute.\n\nWe are now in the eighteenth chapter of II Kings which repeats part of\nthe events of the tragedy in Israel as they were observed by the scribe\nin Judah. The invasions of Shalmaneser and Sargon are recapitulated and\nthe carrying away of the people of Samaria by Sargon is again\nauthenticated. But the scribe is more interested in recording the events\nthat make so stirring a chapter in the closing days of the kingdom of\nJudah. In verses thirteen to seventeen, the story of this first invasion\nand the surrender of Sennacherib, is told in these words:\n\n \u201cNow in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of\n Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.\n\n \u201cAnd Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish,\n saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me\n will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of\n Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.\n\n \u201cAnd Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of\n the Lord, and in the treasures of the king\u2019s house.\n\n \u201cAt that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the\n temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah\n had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.\u201d\n\nBetween the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of the eighteenth chapter\nof II Kings, ten silent years roll by. They are voiceless as far as our\ntext is concerned, but they are vocal when we listen to the monuments.\n\nIt may have been about 705 B. C. when Hezekiah accepted the yoke of\nSennacherib. In the meantime Sennacherib had strengthened his alliances\nand was prepared to essay a conflict with Egypt. The nephew of So, who\nis called Tirhakah in the Bible, murdered the successor of So, which was\nhis son, Shabataka. Having gained an empire by this ruthless spilling of\nthe blood of the rightful heir, Tirhakah began an ill-fated reign. He\nrashly matched strength with Sennacherib, who was more than willing to\nadd Egypt to the nations who bore his yoke. The armies of Assyria and\nEgypt joined battle at the border at the site of Libnah and a mighty\nconflict resulted. Realizing the strategic importance of an enemy who\nwould threaten the rear of the Assyrian host, Tirhakah made overtures to\nHezekiah and invited him to join in a rebellion to throw off the yoke of\nAssyria. Hezekiah being willing to save the enormous tribute that\nbeggared his country annually, listened to the voice of Isaiah who\nadvised him to join the rebellion. So Hezekiah pronounced defiance\nagainst Sennacherib and all of the Assyrian hordes and announced the\nindependence of Judah. The battle of Libnah was then fought, and\nTirhakah was disgracefully defeated. The pitiful remnant of his army\nfled and left Sennacherib the unchallenged conqueror of his day.\n\nThe position of Hezekiah can well be imagined. The strength and might of\nEgypt had been brushed aside by the armed power of Assyria, and tiny\nJudah was put in the position of defying the greatest military power of\nthat era. While Sennacherib was busy in a mopping-up campaign at Libnah,\nhe sent three trusted generals to lay siege to Jerusalem and to demand\nthe surrender of Hezekiah. The blasphemous oration of one of these\ngenerals, Rab-shakeh, is given voluminously in the eighteenth chapter of\nII Kings. There was a good deal of truth in some of Rab-shakeh\u2019s\narguments. He described Pharaoh as \u201ca bruised reed upon which if a man\nleaned, it would pierce his hand and wound him to the death.\u201d He rightly\nsaid that no other countries had been delivered from Sennacherib by the\npower of their gods. His error was in assuming that therefore the God of\nIsrael would also be defeated by the power of Sennacherib. He gave the\nking some short while to think over the policy of surrender, and sat\ndown to invest the city. Hezekiah, in his bitter dilemma, sought out\nIsaiah, whose advice he had followed with such disastrous results.\n\nThe thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah contains the answer that Isaiah\nmade, and the exact words of his prophecy are also found in the\nnineteenth chapter of II Kings, verses six and seven. To comfort\nHezekiah, Isaiah said to the king\u2019s messenger: \u201cThus shall ye say to\nyour master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou\nhast heard wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed\nme. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour,\nand return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in\nhis own land.\u201d\n\nIt is well to keep this prophecy of Isaiah\u2019s in mind until we see how\nperfectly it was fulfilled in complete detail. In the thirty-fifth verse\nof II Kings, the nineteenth chapter, the \u201cblast\u201d occurred. The statement\nis made that the angel of the Lord went out and slew 185,000 of the\nflower of the Assyrian army.\n\nThe next verse says in graphic words, \u201cSo Sennacherib king of Assyria\ndeparted.\u201d\n\nThe literal translation in English of that graphic word would be, \u201cSo\nSennacherib king of Assyria \u2018beat it\u2019.\u201d We cannot blame him for the\nhaste of his departure. Arising after a night of slumber to find 185,000\nof his best warriors mysteriously slain, terror must have smitten his\nheart. At that exact moment word reached him of a rebellion in his own\nland. This was the \u201crumour\u201d of which Isaiah had prophesied. He returned\nto put down this rebellion and never again invaded Judah.\n\nTwenty years later he was murdered. Between verses thirty-six and\nthirty-seven of the nineteenth chapter of II Kings, a full score of\nyears passed by. After his murder, his son, Esar-haddon, came to the\nthrone and continued the story of conquest and intrigue.\n\nIn the meantime, the defeated Tirhakah was unquestionably chagrined to\nlearn that little Judah had been delivered from the power that had\ndefeated him. To apologize for his own failure to support Judah,\nTirhakah claimed credit for the defeat of the Assyrian horde by claiming\nthat his god, Amon, had caused the camp of the Assyrians to be invaded\nby millions of field mice. He claimed that these tiny rodents in one\nnight ate up all the bowstrings of the army and thus they were unable to\nfight. His interpretation of the event is a bit sketchy, to say the\nleast!\n\nIn the Assyrian Room at the British Museum, a very important exhibit\nwill be seen in Table Case \u201cE\u201d. This is a six-sided clay prism\ncontaining an unabridged record of Sennacherib\u2019s own account of these\nstirring events. Here he has given us his story of the invasion of\nPalestine and the siege of Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah. So\nimportant is this record that we produce here, in its entirety, the\nfifth oblique (or plane) of this great prism:\n\n \u201cIn my third campaign I went to the land of the Hittites. I marched\n against the City of Ekron and put to death the priests and chief men\n who had committed the sin of rebellion and I hung up their bodies on\n stakes all around the City ... but as for Hezekiah of Judah, who had\n not submitted to my yoke 46 of his strong cities, together with\n innumerable fortresses and small towns that depended upon them by\n overthrowing the walls and open attack, by battle, engines and\n battering rams I besieged I captured; I brought out of the midst of\n them and counted as a spoil 200,000 persons great and small, male and\n female, besides mules, camels, sheep, asses and oxen without number:\n\n \u201cHezekiah himself I shut up like a bird in a cage in Jerusalem his\n strong city. I built a line of forts against him and kept back himself\n from going forth out of the great gate of his city. I cut off his\n cities which I had spoiled out of the midst of his land and I gave\n them to Metinti, king of Ashdod, and Padi King of Ekron and Til-Baal,\n King of Gaza and made his country small. In addition to their former\n yearly tribute and gifts I added other tribute and homage due to my\n majesty, and I laid it upon them. The fear of the greatness of my\n majesty overwhelmed him, even Hezekiah, and he sent after me to\n Nineveh my royal city, the Arabs and his bodyguards, whom he had\n brought for the defense of his royal city Jerusalem, and had furnished\n with pay along with thirty talents.... Eight hundred talents of pure\n silver, carbuncles and other precious stones, a couch of ivory,\n thrones of ivory, and elephants hide and elephant tusks, rare woods of\n all kinds a vast treasure, as well as Unachs from his palace, and\n dancing men and dancing women. And he sent his Ambassador to offer\n homage.\u201d\n\nThis fascinating document is one of the greatest treasures that\narcheology has produced for the careful student of Christian\napologetics. It is notable not only for what it tells but also for much\nthat is left unsaid. In the grim, brutal days of these ancient\nconquerors, a defeated enemy could expect little mercy at the hands of\nthe victorious. The kings of Assyria ruled by fear and by the\nimplacable, swift certainty of punishment for rebellion. Sennacherib\nhere refers to a common practice of his day, that of impaling rebellious\nenemies as a lesson to other vassals. In this particular document he\nrecounts how they hung the bodies of the rebel leaders on stakes around\ntheir captured cities.\n\nThe technique of this execution was simple. A heavy post was driven into\nthe ground until it was about as high as a tall man\u2019s shoulder. The top\nof the post was sharpened to as fine a point as the tools of that day\nwould permit. In some cases, the rebel was picked up by a pair of burly\nexecutioners who swung him through the air and jammed him down with\ngreat force upon the pointed stake. There they whirled him as a sort of\na human pinwheel until life quickly fled his shattered form. This was a\ncomparatively merciful way of impaling. In other cases the victim was\nset upon the sharpened stick until gravity bore down his suffering body\nto the point where death relieved him after hours, and even days of\nmisery and torment.\n\nBut while Sennacherib recounted the successful punishment of the rebels\nof the many cities who had joined in this uprising, it is to be\ncarefully noted that he changed the tone of the record in the case of\nHezekiah. He could not say that he impaled him or otherwise punished him\nfor the rebellion! All he could say was, \u201cAs for Hezekiah himself, I\nshut him up like a bird in Jerusalem, his capital city.\u201d Sennacherib can\ntell of the fenced cities and small villages in the outskirts of Judah\nwhich he despoiled from the hand of Hezekiah, but he never laid hand on\nthe person of the king himself, nor did he enter the sacred city. The\n\u201cblast\u201d of Isaiah\u2019s prophecy can alone account for the failure of\nSennacherib to crucify Hezekiah along with his other rebellious enemies.\n\nAlso it is to be noted that by a violation of chronological accuracy,\nSennacherib \u201csaves face,\u201d after the ancient custom of the Eastern lands.\nA conqueror of his standing and authority cannot admit that he was\ndefeated before the walls of Jerusalem. Therefore, at the end of this\nrecord he gives a list of the treasure _that Hezekiah had paid before in\nhis original subjection_! This listing of tribute is falsely made to\nappear as though it were _after_ the siege of Jerusalem. By the simple\nexpedient of introducing at the end of a defeat the record of a previous\npayment, Sennacherib seeks to delude posterity and wipe out the memory\nof his one outstanding defeat. This great prism of this Assyrian\nconqueror is unquestionably one of the strongest bricks in the wall of\ndefense that archeology is erecting around the Sacred Word of God.\n\nThere are many other records left by Sennacherib that are also of\ntremendous importance. The British Museum has a magnificent section\nwhich is devoted very largely to those Babylonian and Assyrian\nchronicles, many of which coincide with this period of history. The\nmurder of Sennacherib that was prophesied by Isaiah and recorded in the\nnineteenth chapter of II Kings, is accredited and substantiated by\narcheological sources.\n\nWe learn from the records of Babylon that the years between the debacle\nat Jerusalem and the death of Sennacherib were occupied with wars much\nnearer home. We read in those chronicles that the Elamites of Suziana,\ntogether with certain allied peoples, again rose in rebellion. It took a\nnumber of campaigns, which ultimately ravished the whole of Suziana, to\nput down this uprising. In fact, the campaigns of subjection were not\nentirely successful until Babylon was destroyed in 689 B. C. In the\ninterim, when not busy subduing his Elamite subjects, Sennacherib\ncampaigned in Cilicia, where he overcame the armed force of the Greeks,\npenetrating as far as Tarsus in his victorious marches. The Babylonian\nrecords conclude by saying that he was assassinated by his sons in the\nyear which by our reckoning would be known as B. C. 681.\n\nIn the Babylonian Room of the British Museum, Table Case \u201cE\u201d contains an\nexhibit which bears the Museum number 92,502. This consists of a clay\ntablet which is an extensive chronicle written in the Babylonian\ncharacters. It delineates a list of the principal events which occurred\nin both Babylon and Assyria over an extensive period of time.\n\nThe history begins with the third year of the reign of Nabu-Nasir, who\nascended his throne in Babylon in 744. The record continues to the first\nyear of Shamash-shum-ukim, with whom we shall deal in a future\nreference. In the third column of this chronicle, lines thirty-four and\nthirty-five state that Sennacherib was killed by his son on the\ntwentieth day of the month Tebet in the twenty-third year of his reign.\nThis murder is rather graphically described in terse, but satisfactory\nterms in the record of the nineteenth chapter of II Kings.\n\nThere is no more definite and positive example of the coincidence of\narcheological discovery with the text of the Scripture than is provided\nby the records of Sennacherib. Though dead for more than two and\none-half millenniums, he indeed has a tale to tell! We can condense his\nrecord into one graphic, simple sentence which we can sign with the name\nof this great king, \u201cThe historicity of the Sacred Page is\nunquestionable in the light of archeology!\u201d\n\nThe next pharaoh of antiquity who challenges our interest with his\nconfirmation of the Scripture, is variously known by the name of Necho,\nwhich is his prenomen as used in the Scripture text, and by the Egyptian\nforms of Nekau and Uohemibra. He was, perhaps, the greatest of the later\nconquerors who sought to extend the power of Egypt, and he was certainly\nthe last of that remarkable group. He expended a good deal of the\nrevenues of the crown in rebuilding the canal of Seti the First, which\nhad formed a waterway between the Nile and the Red Sea. It is difficult\nat times to place absolute credence upon the numerical estimates of the\nancient chronicles of Egypt, but it is highly probable that Necho\nemployed more than a hundred thousand men in this work. Herodotus gives\ngreat honour to Necho, telling us that he sent out certain ships of\nPhoenicia which circumnavigated Africa. He maintained a mercenary army\nof Greeks, and had one fleet in the Mediterranean, and the other in the\nRed Sea. His record in the Scripture is tangled inextricably with that\nof Assyria and Babylonia, and for that reason we must sketch-in the\nbackground of this coincidence and appearance.\n\nShalmaneser the Fifth began the phenomenal rise to ascendency of the\ngreat power of Assyria. Babylon was the chief adversary and the\nstrongest foe that Assyria faced in the development of her world empire,\nwhich ultimately climaxed in Sennacherib. Finding it impossible to\npreserve the loyalty of the Babylonians, who were a proud and haughty\npeople, Sennacherib finally destroyed Babylon and carried away its\npeople into captivity. When Sennacherib died, according to the record of\nthe nineteenth chapter of II Kings, his son, Esar-haddon came to the\nthrone. Esar-haddon, more of a statesman than a conqueror, rebuilt\nBabylon. He united Assyria and Babylon into one great domain, naming the\ncombined kingdom Babylonia. For the sake of administration and as a\ngesture of amity, he made Babylon his capital. Thus the rebuilt city\nbecame the seat of government and the center of the culture of\nBabylonia.\n\nThe name Esar-haddon means \u201cvictorious,\u201d or \u201cconqueror.\u201d One of the\ngreatest of all the mighty kings of Assyria, he was a worthy successor\nof Sargon, Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib. His name occurs but three times\nin Holy Writ. The first occurrence is II Kings 19:37, where it speaks of\nhis ascent to the throne. The next occurrence is in Isaiah 37:28 where\nthis record of II Kings 19:37 is confirmed by the hand of the prophet,\nwho was an active participant in those stirring events. Later, Ezra\nrefers to him in the second verse of his fourth chapter. In this latter\nreference, the remnant who returned from the Babylonian captivity name\nhim as the cause of their captivity and acknowledged that he gave them\nthe freedom to worship their own God in their own way.\n\nIn the reign of Menasseh, Esar-haddon died and was succeeded by two\nsons. The elder of these was the famous Assur-bani-pal, who was made\nover-lord of the entire kingdom, with the section that was once called\nAssyria as his particular domain. His younger brother, Shamis-shum-ukim\nwas given dominion over Babylon, where he reigned as vassal to his\nwealthy brother. The British Museum is replete with the records and\nmaterials from the reign of Assur-bani-pal and from the brief and tragic\nrule of Shamis-shum-ukim as well.\n\nThe fine hand of Egyptian intrigue enters into the record at this point,\nagain tangling up the Assyrian records in a triangular bout between\nJudah, Egypt, and Babylonia. The Pharaoh Necho, alarmed by the growing\npower of Babylonia, gathered together a mighty host and invaded the\nterritory of the great Assyrian king. As a preliminary to this invasion,\nthe Pharaoh Necho persuaded Shamis-shum-ukim to rebel against his older\nbrother and to declare his independence. Into this conspiracy Necho\nsucceeded in drawing Syria and Judah. The blow was struck at the\ndominion of Assur-bani-pal while he was battling certain tribes near his\nEastern border. When the couriers brought him word of the revolt of his\nbrother, and of the coalition formed against him at the instigation of\nNecho, Assur-bani-pal made a swift and remarkable march, returning to\nhis threatened territory. Necho hastily assembled his army, and the\nmajor battles were fought on the terrain of Syria. Syria was quickly\nreduced, Babylon pacified, and Assur-bani-pal emerged completely\nvictorious.\n\nNecho, not having had time to prepare his defenses, was overthrown,\ndefeated, and forced to bow in subjection to Assur-bani-pal. From the\nrecord of the victorious king, we offer the following paragraph as a\ncondensed but detailed account of these tremendous events:\n\n \u201cAfter removing the corpses of the rebels from the midst of Babylon,\n Cuthra, and Sippara, and piling them in heaps, in accordance with the\n prophecies I cleaned the mercy seats of their temples. I purified\n their chief places of prayer I appeased their angry gods and goddesses\n with supplications and penitential psalms. Their daily sacrifices\n which they had discontinued, I restored and established as they had\n been of old. As for the rest of them who had flown at the stroke of\n slaughter, I had mercy on them. I proclaimed an amnesty upon them. I\n brought them to live in Babylon. The men of the nations whom Sam ...\n had led away and united in one conspiracy, I trod down to the\n uttermost parts of their borders. By the command of Assur, Beltis, and\n the great gods my helpers, the yoke of Assur which they had shaken off\n I laid upon them. I appointed over them governors and satraps, the\n work of my own hands.\u201d\n\nFrom this account it will be seen that Assur-bani-pal slew his\nrebellious brother and destroyed the principal leaders of the revolt,\nwith the exception of those who had pleaded for mercy. As a result of\nthis defeat at Charchemish, Necho was dethroned and led in chains to\nBabylon. This Chaldean conqueror had a policy that was unique for his\nday. It was his consistent practice to deal mercifully with the\nrepentant. When the Pharaoh Necho professed sorrow for his conduct,\nAssur-bani-pal, following his established custom, restored him to Sais\nwhere he was to rule Egypt as a province of Babylonia.\n\nAt this time, Josiah of Judah also accepted the yoke of Assyria and\nbecame a vassal of Assur-bani-pal. From what we learn of the character\nof King Josiah, we would expect that he would be faithful to his pledges\nand promises and, indeed, this very faithfulness was the cause of his\ndeath. The Pharaoh Necho, smarting under his defeat and wounded deeply\nin his pride, quietly gathered together a tremendous army and rebelled\nagainst Assur-bani-pal the second time.\n\nIn this second conflict, Charchemish was the chosen battle ground.\nAlthough many strategic battles had been waged back and forth about this\nimportant center, this is generally referred to as the First Battle of\nCharchemish. This reference is undoubtedly predicated upon the fact that\nthe ultimate struggle between Assyria and Egypt, which gave the latter\npower a world dominion, centered about this field.\n\nIn order to reach the battle ground, the Pharaoh Necho marched his horde\nacross the terrain of Palestine. The story of what followed is familiar\nto every student of the Old Testament. In the thirty-fifth chapter of II\nChronicles, beginning with the twentieth verse and ending with the\ntwenty-seventh, this incidental tragedy is told. Josiah, who had taken\nthe pledge of fidelity to Assur-bani-pal, gathered together his small\narmy and sought to prevent this passage of the Egyptian army across his\ndomain. It is recorded that Pharaoh sent his heralds to Josiah offering\nto leave the land of Palestine unmolested on condition that they gave\nhim no opposition in his plans for battle. The pharaoh went so far as to\nclaim that he was on the business of God. Although King Josiah had\ndisguised himself in the common dress of a humble man-at-arms, he seems\nto have been recognized. The sharpshooters among the archers picked him\nas their target and he fell sorely wounded. He died after being taken to\nJerusalem, and all of the people of Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him.\n\nJeremiah the prophet deeply loved the godly king because of his fidelity\nto the law, and the fourth chapter of the Book of Lamentations contains\npart of the dirge of Jeremiah concerning the death of the king.\n\nIn the meantime, hindered by the abortive attempt of the faithful Josiah\nto delay his passage, Necho swept on to the banks of the Euphrates where\na notable battle was fought. The assault of Necho found the Assyrian\nmonarch unprepared. The force that he had gathered at Charchemish was\ninadequate to defend his borders, and Assur-bani-pal was defeated. In\nthe meantime, Jehoahaz had succeeded his father Josiah and was reigning\nat Jerusalem. The sway of the young king was short and ended tragically\nafter ninety days. On his way home from his victory at Charchemish, the\nPharaoh Necho deposed Jehoahaz because of his father\u2019s conduct and put\nEliakim on the throne. Thus the younger brother of Jehoahaz became king\nover Judah in his place.\n\nThe Pharaoh changed the name of Eliakim to Jehoiakim and once more Judah\nbecame a vassal to the might and power of Egypt. The unfortunate\nJehoahaz, laden with chains, was carried away to Sais. There he dragged\nout a miserable existence until death brought him a happy release from\ncaptivity and degradation. The Pharaoh Necho imposed upon Palestine a\nfine for their opposition which would be about the equivalent in our\nmodern currency of $200,000. In considering the difference in purchasing\npower, however, that would be about $3,000,000 in our money.\n\nThese incidents are either expressly stated or are referred to in many\nportions of Holy Writ. We first find them in the twenty-third chapter of\nII Kings.\n\nThe twenty-sixth chapter of Jeremiah, verses twenty-one to twenty-three,\ncontains a bleak record of the hardship and oppression that resulted\nwhen men of God were slain for speaking God\u2019s Word concerning the events\nof this grim and dismal affair.\n\nIn the nineteenth chapter of Ezekiel, the third and fourth verses of\nthis record, the prophet sings a lamentation over the \u201clion\u2019s whelp\u201d and\nsorrows that \u201che shall be bound in chains in the land of Egypt.\u201d Then\nfrom the fifth verse on, the prophet caustically berates the land\nbecause that another of the lion\u2019s whelps, suddenly raised to maturity,\ndevoured the men who had raised him and laid waste their land and\ncities.\n\nOur present interest, however, is to be found in the records that deal\nwith these events in the sources of archeology. It would be\ninconceivable that the mighty Necho should fail to boast of his power\nand victory when he had won so notable an ascendancy over all of his\nenemies. In the voluminous records of the Pharaoh Necho, the\nvainglorious boasting of this long-dead monarch comes to us today as a\nwelcome, added voice to the rapidly swelling chorus that testifies to\nthe historical accuracy of the Old Testament.\n\nLeaving the record of Necho, however, for the present moment (as he\nenters the story again in the reign of the succeeding Babylonian\nmonarch), we turn to the sources of Babylonian and Assyrian antiquity\nfor the authentication of these affairs by the mighty Assur-bani-pal.\nNow, indeed, it becomes difficult to choose the most effective and\npointed evidences, as we are embarrassed with so vast a wealth of\nmaterial. It would take many days indeed for a careful student to\nexhaust the possibilities in that collection of the material of\nAssur-bani-pal that is found in the British Museum alone. In this\nnotable and incomparable deposit of priceless fact and information,\nthere is no more striking section than that which is derived from the\nworks and records of this stormy ruler.\n\nIn about the year 666 B. C. this conqueror finished the third of his\ncampaigns against Egypt, and with the sack of the City of Thebes, again\nestablished the dominion of Assyria over Egypt. The mighty king then\nturned his military attentions to the northern regions of his empire and\nthrust his borders out to an unprecedented extent. At the same time,\nwith a part of his forces he waged a long war with the Elamites on his\nsoutheastern border and subjected that country to the yoke of Assyria.\nPutting down the Elamite uprising with a stern and bloody hand, he left\na lesson in implacable cruelty that the Elamites never forgot.\n\nIn the Nineveh Gallery of the Assyrian section of the British Museum may\nbe seen great sculptured slabs from the walls of Assur-bani-pal\u2019s\npalace, which are numbered 45 to 50. At our last visit they were to be\nseen on the Eastern side of the gallery. These relics completely\nillustrate his conquest of Elam. Exhibits 45 to 47 further show the\ncrushing of the Elamite forces, and the action is so dramatically\ndepicted that the careful student may sense the excitement which seems\nto prevail. A voluminous text accompanies the pictured action so that\nthere is no possibility of mistaking the meaning of the illustrations.\n\nAt this time Shamis-shum-ukim joined in the great revolt to which we\nhave referred in a foregoing paragraph of this chapter. There are two\naccounts in the archeological records as to the end of Shamis-shum-ukim.\nAlthough a twin brother of Assur-bani-pal, he was some hours the\nyounger, and thus was nominally subject to him under Assyrian law. One\naccount says that he was taken prisoner and that Assur-bani-pal had him\nburned at the stake. The other account says that Shamis-shum-ukim,\nseeing he was about to be defeated, locked himself in a small section of\nthe palace, which he set afire and burned himself rather than surrender.\nThere was at this time a revolt in the Egyptian section of the empire\nwhich resulted in some long conflicts, which are also given in these\nrecords. It was also at this period that Assur-bani-pal left the record\nabove cited, of the pacification of Babylon and the submission of\nJosiah.\n\nThe British Museum has a very large collection of letters from the\nlibrary of Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh, many of which are of high\nsignificance in the study of these historical episodes. These letters\ncover a broad scope as they include the reports, requisitions, and\ncommunications of dignitaries. Some of these came from the crown prince,\nothers from local governors and still more from various military\ncaptains. They deal in specific detail with military operations,\nuprisings, rebellions, and their suppression. They tell of the dispatch\nof troops to the provinces, with lists of expenses and expenditures.\nSuch intimate details of Assyrian science as the reports of astronomers\nfor regulating the calendar of the year are found there, and\nilluminating comments upon the political trend of the days. There are\nmany references to these episodes, as would naturally be expected.\n\nOne of the great monuments to be found in the Babylonian Room of the\nBritish Museum, and numbered 90,864, is a stone stele with a rounded\ntop, that is a treasure indeed. The upright full-length figure of\nAssur-bani-pal is shown in his capacity of high priest. This stele\ncontains a lengthy chronicle recording the names, honors, and genealogy\nof the monarch and tells of his godly conduct and fidelity to his\nreligion. There is a note of sadness and an index to the character of\nthis great Assyrian in the line where Assur-bani-pal declares that he\nhimself had appointed his twin brother Shamis-shum-ukim \u201cto the\nsovereignty over Babylon so that the strong may not oppress the weak.\u201d\n\nPassing over a great many of these sources, we come now to the Assyrian\nRoom where, in Table Case \u201cE,\u201d we find two ten-sided prisms of\nAssur-bani-pal which bear the Museum numbers 91,026, and 91,086. These\nlengthy records are inscribed with the outstanding incidents in the\nearlier years of his busy life. Beginning with an epitomized statement\nconcerning his birth and education, as all good biographies should\nbegin, he took occasion to recognize the great prosperity of Assyria\nthat immediately followed his elevation to the throne. Then quickly the\nwarrior king launched into some graphic descriptions of his principal\nmilitary expeditions. Here he tells of the two expeditions against\nTirhakah in Egypt, to which we have referred above. Among the allies who\naccompanied him to fight under his banner, who were already subject to\nhim, he mentions levies from Cypress, Asia Minor, Syria, and\n_Palestine_. After citing the events and victories of five campaigns,\nthe record then introduces the sad tragedy of Shamis-shum-ukim, a\nportion of which we have cited in a preceding paragraph. In all, there\nare nine campaigns covered in these prisms, and the student of\nhistorical accuracy may find great substantiation for his confidence in\nthe truth and fidelity of the Word of God from these fascinating\nrecords.\n\nIn the same case is an eight-sided clay prism of Assur-bani-pal,\nnumbered 93,008. This also contains a shorter reference to these same\nevents. To convey an adequate and detailed account of the materials\navailable from the time of Assur-bani-pal and his unfortunate brother\nwould require a large volume by itself. We have come to that point,\nhowever, where Assur-bani-pal\u2019s record concludes as it touches the\nScripture. So we satisfy ourselves temporarily with this brief\nintroduction of an epitomized section of those evidences.\n\nThree years after the battle of Charchemish, where Assur-bani-pal was\ntemporarily defeated, a new and forceful conqueror appeared in the\nperson of Nebuchadnezzar the Second. Assur-bani-pal was succeeded by\nNabopolassar, who will be ignored in this record because of the fact\nthat he is not named by name in the text of the Bible. Nabopolassar,\nhowever, had a gifted son who succeeded him as Nebuchadnezzar the\nSecond, and who began his training for the crown by assuming command of\nthe army as the chief general under his father and with his parent\u2019s\nconsent.\n\nThe first great campaign that Nebuchadnezzar fought, brought Egypt back\nunder the dominion of Babylon. To see the background of this event, it\nmust be noted that after the death of Assur-bani-pal, the Medes invaded\nNineveh and captured that stronghold. Whereupon Nabopolassar reasserted\nthe independence of Babylon and conducted a number of brilliant\ncampaigns to secure the ascendency of his kingdom and to establish his\nsupremacy over the entire ancient world.\n\nWhen Nineveh fell, the Pharaoh Necho, with whom we are now dealing,\nentered the story again. Necho invaded Syria and Palestine and\nsuccessfully campaigned up to the banks of the Euphrates. At Charchemish\nhe met the host of Nebuchadnezzar for what is known as the Second Battle\nof Charchemish. Necho entered this conflict with considerable\nconfidence, due to his previous victory on this same field. This time,\nhowever, a different experience awaited him. Nebuchadnezzar crushed the\nEgyptians with an overwhelming defeat and drove them back to their own\nborder. As a result of this battle, all Palestine, with the exception of\nJudah, acknowledged the authority of Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylonian\ngeneral took Jehoiakim captive and slew the Pharaoh Necho.\n\nAll of these events are recorded by the Pharaoh Necho, by\nAssur-bani-pal, and by certain humbler captains and leaders. The\nPharaoh\u2019s record is complete up to the time of the second battle. But as\nNecho did not survive this campaign, there is a dramatic break in his\nrecord. However, what is wanting from the Egyptian sources, is happily\nsupplied from those of Babylon.\n\nIt is not to be expected that the young conqueror would remain silent\nconcerning his early victories. His father, Nabopolassar, also recounts\nwith some satisfaction the military ability of his son. Through all of\nhis reign, however, Nebuchadnezzar was more of a builder and architect\nthan conqueror, although he frequently took the field in notable\nmilitary action. Most of the relics from his reign have to do with the\nbuilding of great temples and edifices. There are, however, a number of\nfragmentary chronicles such as that which, in the Babylonian Room of the\nBritish Museum in Table Case \u201cE,\u201d bears the number of 33,041. This\nrecounts a later expedition undertaken by Nebuchadnezzar in the\nthirty-seventh year of his reign. This was to put down an uprising in\nEgypt.\n\nThere are innumerable tablets and records in the British Museum that\nattest the order and genius of the government in the forty-two years of\nNebuchadnezzar\u2019s reign. We will refer to this later when we come to the\nclosing period of his great career. We have introduced the historicity\nof Nebuchadnezzar now, and the coincidence of his account which climaxes\nthe reign of Necho, to establish at one more point the historical\naccuracy of the Old Testament text.\n\nThe last Pharaoh who comes into the account of the Sacred Book is\npositively identified as Hophra. He is called Apris by the Greeks, and\nis frequently found in the hieroglyphics under the name of Psammetichus,\nthe Second. His name, Hophra, occurs in the Scripture only once, which\nis the forty-fourth chapter of Jeremiah and the thirtieth verse. Here\nthe three great characters of this last drama are found conjoined in\nthese simple words:\n\n \u201cThus saith the Lord; Behold I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt\n into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his\n life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar\n king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.\u201d\n\nHophra was a rash, inexperienced, over-confident ruler who wasted what\nsmall strength and wealth his kingdom possessed in useless warfare\nagainst mighty powers which were manifestly beyond his ability to cope\nwith. The background of his contact with the Sacred Record begins with\nhis conspiracy that enmeshed Zedekiah. This entire rebellion was a\nfaithless and degraded example of lack of honour and responsibility to a\nplighted and pledged word. This is primarily so because after the defeat\nof Necho and his subsequent death, Nebuchadnezzar raised Hophra, the son\nof Necho, to the throne of Egypt where he governed as a satrap. He was\nto reign for Babylon, and had taken the oath of fidelity to his\nover-lord and master.\n\nTo make matters worse the conduct of Zedekiah added insult _to_ injury!\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar dethroned Jehoiakim and carried him bound in chains\nto his subsequent death in Babylon, he was followed on the throne by\nJehoiakin who reigned for a very brief period. Then Nebuchadnezzar\nraised Zedekiah to a position of power and on his twenty-first birthday\nelevated him to the governorship of Jerusalem. For the better part of\neleven years, he reigned more or less successfully. He seems to have\nbeen a graceless scoundrel and utterly without honour. Completely\nviolating their treaties and their oaths of fidelity, Pharaoh and\nZedekiah joined in a conspiracy and rebelled against the power of\nNebuchadnezzar. It is a matter of wonder to the modern student that\nthese kings of Judah never learned their lesson.\n\nThe Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem to put down this revolt, and Hophra\nmarched to its aid. Because the company of Chaldeans was small, as\nNebuchadnezzar had not anticipated a strong resistance, the wise\ncaptains of this advance-guard did not join battle with Hophra, but\nretired in good order rather than fight a hopeless conflict when they\nwere so strongly outnumbered.\n\nThe city of Jerusalem went wild with delight and rejoicing over its\ndeliverance. The gloomy Jeremiah warned the leaders in vain that the\nChaldeans would return, and in overwhelming force. Refusing to listen to\nthe prophecies of Jeremiah, the people treated him harshly and cast him\nout. While the city was rejoicing at this early victory, Jeremiah\nhimself gave a manifestation of confidence in the ultimate fulfillment\nof his own prophecies, when he fled from the city and delivered himself\nvoluntarily into the hands of the Chaldeans. In the meantime, Hophra,\novercome with pride at his easy victory, boasted with blasphemy that not\neven could God defeat him! The sycophantic Zedekiah acquiesced in this\nboasting and blasphemy and showered the foolish Hophra with unlimited\ncompliments.\n\nWith Jeremiah gone and all of Judah turning to the ways of idolatry, God\ndid not lack champions. Messengers and prophets were sent rapidly to\nZedekiah and to the princes of the kingdom, but they mocked the\nmessengers of God and despised His words. They misused His prophets,\nuntil the wrath of the Lord rose against His people beyond remedy.\nTherefore, says the thirty-sixth chapter of II Chronicles,\n\n \u201cHe brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young\n men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no\n compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for\n age; he gave them all into his hand.\u201d\n\nThe strongest voice that was raised for God in this dark hour was that\nof Ezekiel. At this time, the prophet was in Babylon and from there he\nspoke the words that are found in the first sixteen verses of his\ntwenty-ninth chapter. This is undoubtedly one of the most comprehensive\nand remarkable prophecies concerning any nation that the student of this\nfascinating subject may deal with. For the sake of refreshing the mind\nof the reader, we publish here this prophecy in full:\n\n \u201cIn the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the\n month, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy\n face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and\n against all Egypt: Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I\n am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in\n the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I\n have made it for myself.\n\n \u201cBut I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy\n rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the\n midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto\n thy scales.\n\n \u201cAnd I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the\n fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt\n not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to\n the beast of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.\n\n \u201cAnd all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord,\n because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.\n\n \u201cWhen they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend\n all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and\n madest all their loins to be at a stand. Therefore thus said the Lord\n God; Behold I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast\n out of thee.\n\n \u201cAnd the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall\n know that I am the Lord: because he hath said, The river is mine, and\n I have made it.\n\n \u201cBehold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I\n will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower\n of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.\n\n \u201cNo foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass\n through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.\n\n \u201cAnd I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the\n countries that are desolate, and her cities among the cities that are\n laid waste shall be desolate forty years: and I will scatter the\n Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the\n countries.\n\n \u201cYet thus saith the Lord God; At the end of forty years will I gather\n the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered;\n\n \u201cAnd I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to\n return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation;\n and they shall be there a base kingdom.\n\n \u201cIt shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself\n any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall\n no more rule over the nations.\n\n \u201cAnd it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which\n bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after\n them: but they shall know that I am the Lord God.\u201d\n\nAnalyzing this prophecy, we note the personal element that is introduced\nwhen God arrayed himself against Hophra and all of the land of Egypt.\nThis people who, as we have seen, worshipped the Nile and counted it a\ndeified object, had also acquiesced in the claims of Hophra who went so\nfar as to state that he was the one who had made the river and caused it\nto continue to flow. Adopting this figure, the prophet speaking for God,\nsays that Hophra shall be caught like the fish and cast into the fields\nby the side of the banks.\n\nThe sixth verse states that all the population of Egypt is to be taught\na bitter lesson. They shall know forever that God is Lord, in the\npunishment they shall reap for their defections against Israel.\n\nVerse eight contains the information that this punishment is to take the\nform of an invasion that shall leave the land desolate and waste. This\npunishment was to come upon the land and the people because of their\nidolatry and their sins against Israel.\n\nFrom verses ten to twelve, a bleak picture is drawn of utter desolation\nwhich shall prevail in their land for forty years. The prophecy then\nturns upon the pivot of the thirteenth verse to a time of a partial\nrestoration. This restoration, however, is limited in the Divine Word to\nthe effect that Egypt shall be the basest of the kingdoms of the earth.\nIt shall never be permitted to exalt itself again in the council of the\nnations. It is to be eternally diminished and debased.\n\nThe consequent history of Egypt has been a complete vindication and\nfulfillment of this prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and carried\naway the last remnant of that graceless people into captivity in\nBabylon. All those who had joined in the defection of Zedekiah, great\nand small, old and young, they slew with the sword. Then the angry\nNebuchadnezzar swept on into Egypt and devastated that land, until, it\nis recorded, \u201cnot a living thing, man or beast,\u201d was left in that once\npopulous country.\n\nFor forty years it lay, wasted and idle. Then the counselors of\nNebuchadnezzar advised that the land be colonized in order that it might\nproduce revenue for the crown. The first attempt failed because of the\nclimate and the unique conditions of agriculture in a country that\nrequired constant irrigation and whose crops depended upon the sole\nsource of moisture the river Nile. Therefore, the counselors gathered\ntogether such remnant of the Egyptians as remained from the captivity\nand sent them back to repopulate the land.\n\nEvery student of history will recall that Egypt _has been_ the basest of\nkingdoms from that hour to this. It has been dominated in turn by the\nPersians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Turks, the French, and\nthe British.\n\nOne notable effort was made in historic time to raise Egypt to its\nformer grandeur and power. The reader will recall the great campaign of\nNapoleon by which he thought to revive this Mistress of Antiquity and\nmake Egypt an adjunct of his own imperial greatness. If Napoleon had\nread and believed the twenty-ninth chapter of Ezekiel, he could have\nspared himself this useless and expensive campaign. We all recall that\nwhen victory seemed to be in sight, Napoleon\u2019s power and greatness\nshattered itself upon an immovable rock. This was composed of the small\nremnant of indomitable British who refused to recognize the fact of\ntheir defeat when it stared them in the face. And that courageous and\nnoble refusal to give up, when they were quite evidently hopelessly\noverthrown, was again vindicated in the final result. The army of\nNapoleon was broken, discomfited, decimated, and defeated. Finally, it\nwas deserted by its discouraged leader, who probably never knew why he\nhad failed. He was not fighting against the allies only, nor was he\ndefeated entirely by British valour. Napoleon was fighting against the\nWord of God and the will of Him whose hand is able to raise to power and\nto cast down again. From that hour to this, and even in our present\nmoment of historic time, Egypt remains the basest of the kingdoms of the\nearth.\n\nTo come back to the miserable Hophra, his final end came when he was\nassassinated by his own general, whose name is given by the Greeks as\nAmasis and who appears on the monuments under the name of Iahmose.\nAmasis occupied the throne until the final conquest by Nebuchadnezzar.\n\nWe note again the coincidence of ancient records with the accounts that\nportray these events in the books of II Chronicles, Jeremiah, and\nEzekiel. Voluminous sections of the Word of God are extended a strong\nand friendly hand of historical authentication by the secular records\nwhich have survived from that time.\n\nIn the British Museum will be found tablets, stelae, portraits, and\nsculptured remnants from Egypt which have been derived from those\nunsettled times. In the Egyptian collection of the British Museum, the\nexhibit numbered 1358 contains a portrait of Hophra. There are also a\nnumber of scarabs in Table Case \u201cB\u201d in the Fourth Egyptian Room, and a\nfragmentary sistrum in the Fifth Egyptian Room, all of which bear the\nname of Hophra and authenticate his record.\n\nThus we have seen in a brief but accurate recapitulation of generations\nand centuries of history that dead men do tell tales! We have Hophra\u2019s\nrecord together with the annalistic tablet of Amasis to aid us in our\nunderstanding of these stirring days. Added to that, the record of\nNebuchadnezzar brings additional confirmation of the thesis that is\nmaintained in this brief work.\n\n_The evidence of archeology as it bears upon the text of God\u2019s Word is\nfinal and complete wherever men have delved into the records of those\ndays._\n\nIt may not be exactly what was in the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ when\nHe uttered the words, but we can certainly apply to the generation in\nwhich we live, His striking statement:\n\n\u201cIf men should hold their tongues, the very stones would cry out!\u201d\n\nAnd if _living_ men will not speak the truth concerning the finality of\nthe Bible\u2014_dead men must!_\n\n\n\n\n CHAPTER XI\n Vindication of Daniel\n\n\nNowhere in all this long and profitable study has archeology more\nperfectly and thoroughly vindicated the accuracy of the Scripture than\nin those portions of the disputed record that are found in the Book of\nDaniel.\n\nA great deal remains to be discovered at Nineveh and Babylon, and it is\nhighly probable that the excavations to the present hour have but\nscraped the surface of the marvelous treasure that remains to be\nuncovered. It is a happy circumstance, however, that in our present\nincomplete but numerous sources, a great deal of information has been\nbrought to light in vindication of the prophet Daniel.\n\nIn the heyday of its brief popularity, the school of higher criticism\npounced with great glee on the alleged inaccuracies and historical\nerrors in the Book of Daniel. The general argument against the integrity\nof this writing may be summed up in a simple resum\u00e9. In the Book of\nDaniel, there are supposed to be a number of outstanding philological\nanachronisms. The school of higher criticism, in its weird procedure,\nmade great capital of the presumed cultural development of the people\nwith whom the record dealt.\n\nDaniel is pictured in the Bible as having lived and written in the last\ndays of the Babylonian dynasties. He was carried away from his native\nland as a lad when the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar was poured out on\nJerusalem in the days of Zedekiah. He lived throughout the reign of each\nof the last Babylonian kings, and was alive when Cyrus signed the decree\nthat enabled the remnant to return to Jerusalem. No leader of Hebrew\nlife and thought lived in a more stirring span of history than did\nDaniel.\n\nThe bright minds of the higher critics, which were never limited in\ntheir flights of fancy by historical fact, concluded that the Greek\nlanguage could not have reached the courts of Babylon until after the\nconquest of Alexander. In examining the Hebrew text of this book, the\nself-styled scholars claimed to have found eleven Greek words in\nDaniel\u2019s manuscript. The occurrence of these words was sufficient\nevidence that the Book of Daniel was not written in the days of the\nBabylonian dynasty, but must have originated after the exile and in the\ndays of Alexander. This was the first great argument directed against\nthe credibility and authenticity of this prophecy.\n\nThe second alleged fallacy in the Book of Daniel is to be found in the\npredication of the entire book. The sweep and movement of Daniel\u2019s\naccount begins with the adventure of certain young lads of the royal\nseed who were carried away as hostages to Babylon. Daniel\u2019s own records\nstate that by orders of Nebuchadnezzar these young Hebrew boys were put\nin the schools of learning where they might be instructed in the wisdom\nof Babylon, and taught patriotism, and affection for the conquering\npower of Chaldea. To this basis of the entire narrative criticism\nobjected vociferously and strenuously. The argument advanced by this now\ndiscredited school was that the brutal conquerors of that day did not\ntreat their hostages with such kindness and courtesy, and so the entire\nrecord was declared to be incompatible with the known facts of history.\n\nThe third and more serious objection of the critics was directed against\nthe appearance in Daniel\u2019s manuscript of certain stories which were\nalleged to consist of pure myths. Among these is the story of the three\nHebrew children in the fiery furnace. The demands of intelligence were\nsupposed to find this utterly unreasonable and the doubters declared\nthat such a miracle could not have occurred.\n\nAnother weakness in the structure of the narrative was presumed to be\nfound in the preservation of Daniel in the den of lions. In fact, this\nwhole record was relegated to the realm of improbability, as this method\nof execution was never practiced by the Babylonians. These objections\nconstituted the case in the dogmatic assertions of the advocates of\nhigher criticism.\n\nThe strange experience of Nebuchadnezzar for the year of his madness,\nwhen he supposed himself a beast of the field and lived without the\nbenefits of his civilization, added strength to this objection against\nthe historicity of a book that incorporates in its structure such\npalpable fables.\n\nThe final and most crushing argument, however, was the discovery of\ncertain alleged historical inaccuracies that permeate the text of\nDaniel.\n\nWhen Nebuchadnezzar died, the kingdom seems to have fallen into a\ncondition that was little short of anarchy. Nebuchadnezzar the Second\nreigned from 604 B. C. to 561 B. C. Upon his death, he was succeeded by\nEvil-merodach who reigned for two years. This unhappy monarch passed off\nthe scene by violence, and his murderer, Neriglissar, succeeded him to\nthe throne.\n\nAfter a short reign he, in turn, was removed by Labshi-marduk who\nreigned but the portion of a year. He also met a sudden and unfortunate\nend and the succession was in a condition of anarchy.\n\nBeing backed by the army, Nabonidus, who according to most accounts was\nthe son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar, saved the throne and established\nhimself in power. Having the complete confidence and trust of the\nmilitary, he established his dominion and reigned from 555 B. C. to 538.\n\nBut in the year 538, Cyrus the Great captured Babylon and overran the\nentire kingdom. Cyrus reigned until 529 and was followed by Cambyses. In\n521, Cambyses was succeeded by Darius who, in turn, gave place to\nXerxes.\n\nThus we have a complete and fairly accurate record of those stirring\ndays that followed Nebuchadnezzar. But in all profane history there was\nno record of a king by the name of Belshazzar. Yet a surprising portion\nof the Book of Daniel is given over to the events and incidents in the\nlife and reign of this \u201cmythical\u201d king. According to the critics, such\nhistorical inaccuracy was sufficient to condemn the manuscript. Upon\nthese and lesser grounds, therefore, criticism tore Daniel out of the\nOld Testament and denied him any place in the records of credible\nhistorians.\n\nHad the hopeful enemies of faith waited but a few short years, they\nmight have saved themselves all this work and trouble. So thoroughly has\nthe voice of archeology accredited the accuracy of Daniel\u2019s writings,\nthat those who foolishly surrendered their faith in the historicity of\nthis Book, have been forced to replace the disputed record, and Daniel\nhas been vindicated as has no other questioned writer of antiquity.\n\nTo bring a brief and simple refutation of this critical argument\nconcerning alleged discrepancies, we shall go back to the primary\nargument.\n\nThe reign of Nebuchadnezzar was characterized by a recrudescence of\narchitecture and busy years of building. The great king spent his\nenormous revenues in the construction of public buildings, and the land\nblossomed under his influence and sway. It was inevitable that the\ndelvings at the site of Babylon should have brought to light some of the\npalaces and works of this great kingdom. It was the custom among the\nBabylonian builders to mark their public buildings, even as we do in our\npresent culture. Upon the cornerstone of our city hall or court house,\nwe engrave the name and purpose of the building, with the date of its\nerection. Over the doorways of our libraries and public buildings we\nchisel deeply into the building stones the name of the building and a\nbrief dedication. It seemed to be almost providential that one of the\nfirst great marble palaces discovered in the ruins of Babylon was\ndesignated by the builders themselves as \u201cThe Place of Learning.\u201d There\ncaptive princes were taught the learning of Chaldea.\n\nThis one discovery reopened the whole case of the credibility of Daniel.\nHis historicity was questioned primarily upon the grounds that _such\nschools did not exist_, and captives were not so treated. The\nfoundational vindication of Daniel that emerged from the dust of\ncountless centuries, caused a re-examination of the entire structure\nthat criticism had reared against his integrity. The result was a\ncomplete vindication of Daniel and his record.\n\nThe argument of philology also turned against its producers and showed\nthat their case against Daniel was baseless. It has been shown that\neight of the eleven alleged Greek words in Daniel\u2019s manuscript are\nSumerian and not Hellenistic. At one time the Sumerian language was the\nuniversal language of ancient diplomacy. As French was the language of\ninternational correspondence until recent times, when it has been\nlargely displaced by English, so most of the courts of antiquity\nconducted much of their business in the Sumerian tongue. This custom,\nhowever, was discontinued by the time of the Persian conquest. If there\nis any value in the argument of philology for the dating of a\nmanuscript, the evidence is conclusive that Daniel could not have\nwritten after the time of Nebuchadnezzar, for the Sumerian language was\nno longer in use from that time on.\n\nThe three bona fide Greek words that do occur in Daniel\u2019s writings are\nan evidence for his accuracy and historical fidelity, rather than a\nsource of criticism, as has been implied. These three words are the\nnames of musical instruments that were Greek in origin. The language of\nmusic was and is universal and it did not take generations for such\nwords to penetrate to the courts of other nations. As an instance, the\nreader may remember that the seven-stringed harp was invented by the\nGreek poet Terpander. Assur-bani-pal died twenty-five years after the\ninvention of this harp. He shows it, however, upon his monuments, and\nthe statement is made that one was buried with the king. The Babylonian\nrecords depict this harp under its Greek name. Thus we see that instead\nof taking centuries for a Greek word to reach Babylon, this word had\nbecome a household word in a few short years. So the argument of\nphilology turns out to be a boomerang which returns to smite the critic\nwho hurled it.\n\nThe tales that are told by dead men who have no purpose in deceiving the\nliving, not only enhance our understanding of this disputed text, but\nbring to us irrefutable evidence of its scrupulous accuracy. The case\nfor Daniel\u2019s vindication is even more graphically presented when we come\nto the realm of these sections of alleged folklore and fable.\n\nIt is of course necessary that the careful scholar walk warily so as not\nto over-emphasize the facts at his disposal. There is a tendency among\nthose who have a justified confidence in the Book of God to allow their\nnatural elation over the illuminating vindication wrought for the\nScripture by archeology to result in an unfortunate over-emphasis. Here\nis where we face an illustration of such a tendency.\n\nIn one of the earlier excavations at Babylon a peculiar building was\nuncovered which at first sight appeared to be a firing kiln in which\nbricks or pottery might be baked. It was rounded in the typical shape\ncommon to the ancient beehive, which is preserved even among some of our\nkilns of the present generation. When the inscription was deciphered\nthat designated the purpose of the building, however, it was startling\nto read, \u201cThis is the place of burning where men who blasphemed the gods\nof Chaldea died by fire.\u201d The tremendous significance of this discovery\nbecomes at once apparent. The tendency would be to explain with delight,\n\u201cWe have discovered the fiery furnace where Shadrach, Meshach, and\nAbed-nego walked with the Son of God.\u201d Such an application of this fact,\nhowever, would not quite be warranted. This may or may not have been the\nScriptural site of that great miracle. We can say, however, that the\nthree Hebrew children in the fiery furnace can no longer be consigned to\nthe columns of mythology and dismissed as simple folklore. This\ndiscovery has showed us without doubt that there _was_ such a furnace as\nDaniel depicts. It was customary to punish blasphemy in this fashion,\nand the Chaldean monuments and annals are replete with instances of men\nbeing burned alive, who had angered the king or rebelled against his\nsovereignty.\n\nSo, then, the implacable, unrelenting voice of archeology penetrates the\ninnermost retreats of higher criticism to destroy, in this instance,\ntheir familiar and favorite argument of folklore and mythology.\n\nNo less dramatic and interesting was the accidental experience of the\nfamed excavator Dieulafoy, who fell into what at first sight would have\nbeen called an ancient well. Being rescued by his companions from his\nuncomfortable, but in nowise dangerous, situation, they proceeded with\ntheir work to the point of identification. The well turned out to be a\npit which was used as an open cage for wild animals, and upon the curb\nwas found the inscription, \u201cThe place of execution where men who angered\nthe king died torn by wild animals.\u201d\n\nOnce again we must tread cautiously, for we cannot say with dogmatic\nfinality, \u201cThis is the place of Daniel\u2019s experience.\u201d We _can_ say,\nhowever, with positive assurance that _there was such a pit of\nexecution_, and the only unusual feature in Daniel\u2019s experience was that\nhe came out alive under the defense and protection of the God whom he\nserved.\n\nIn the excavation of the palace at Shushan, an ancient record was\nuncovered giving a list of four hundred eighty-four men of high degree\nwho thus died in a den of lions. The name of Daniel was not found among\nthem. This might be accepted as collateral evidence that Daniel escaped\nalive from that place of execution.\n\nEven the strange experience of Nebuchadnezzar, who dreamed that he would\nbe turned into a wild beast and roam the fields like an ox, has also\nbeen accredited. It will be remembered that the mighty monarch dreamed\nof a tree that stood in the center of the earth and grew to an\nunprecedented height. Its towering branches swept the heavens and from\nall the ends of the earth its foliage was visible. Fruit hung upon this\ntree that satisfied the needs of men, and the very beasts of the field\nshadowed themselves under its spreading branches. Even the fowls of the\nair dwelt safely therein, and all living things drew strength and\nprotection from this mighty growth.\n\nThe dream continued to the point where a Holy One came down from heaven\nand ordered the destruction of the tree. The trunk, the branches, the\nleaves, and the fruit were all to be swept away, but the stump and roots\nwere to be undisturbed. The heart was to be changed from a man\u2019s heart,\nand the heart of an animal was to be given it until seven times should\npass over that stump. This drastic action was explained by the Holy One\nas being intended to teach the high and lordly king that only the Most\nHigh rules in the kingdom of man, and that He gives dominion to\nwhomsoever He will. He has the right and authority to make the basest of\nmen to sit in the places of highest power and to humble the most lordly.\n\nUpon coming to Daniel with his troubled spirit, the king sought an\ninterpretation of the dream. Daniel recounts that for the passing of an\nhour he was so astonished and troubled in heart he could not find the\nstrength to speak. The king, whose kindly affection for Daniel is one of\nthe wonders of that day, besought him to speak frankly and not to allow\nhis affection and regard for Nebuchadnezzar to hinder him from telling\nthe complete truth to the troubled king. Daniel\u2019s interpretation was\ngiven in simple but graphic words: The tree which grew and reached the\nheavens, whose leaves, branches, and fruits sheltered and nurtured all\nflesh, was a symbol of the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. (It is true that in\nthe day of Nebuchadnezzar he builded a world empire, as far as the\ncultured races of mankind extended.) But because of the high pride which\nwas natural to the human heart over such great accomplishments, the Most\nHigh God had decreed that the king should be humbled. He should forsake\nthe councils and fellowship of men and sleep in the open fields, wet\nwith the dew of heaven; imagining himself to be one with the beasts of\nthe earth, Nebuchadnezzar was to learn humility.\n\nDaniel then pleaded with the king that by repentance and restitution he\nshould forsake his sins and dedicate himself to the pursuit of\nrighteousness. Thus by showing mercy, he might receive grace and his\niniquities be blotted out.\n\nTwelve months later the prophetic dream was fulfilled. As the king\nstrolled on the roof of his great palace, he surveyed the might of\nBabylon and boasted in his heart saying, \u201cThis great Babylon have I not\nmyself built it; have I not erected this kingdom and this house by the\nmight of my own power and for the honour of my majesty.\u201d While this\nexalted boast was still echoing upon the king\u2019s lips, there fell a voice\nfrom heaven which said that the hour of the fulfillment of the prophecy\nhad come.\n\nMadness fell upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he fled from the presence of men.\nSleeping in the open fields and dwelling with the beasts of the earth,\nhis hair grew as long as an eagle\u2019s feathers and his nails became like\nthe claws of a bird. During those seven years of the madness of\nNebuchadnezzar, his faithful counselors administered his kingdom,\napparently in the earnest hope that the reason of the king would be\nrestored. Their confidence was justified, for at the end of seven years\nthe king recounts that he lifted up his eyes to heaven and understanding\nreturned to him. Thereupon he blessed the Most High God and swore that\nhe would bless and honour Him that liveth forever. He confessed that the\ndominion of God is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom is eternal.\nHis psalm of praise exalted Almighty God above the reach of men.\n\nWhen his reason had thus been restored, the king again occupied the\nthrone of Babylon and profited by this experience. The glory and honour\nof his kingdom he henceforth attributed unto the majesty and kindness of\nGod. The king testified personally that the words of God are true and\nHis judgments righteous. He turned to monotheism, and became the\ngreatest convert, perhaps, that Daniel had made in all of his ministry.\n\nThis brief account of those amazing seven years is given by Daniel in\nthe fourth chapter of his great prophecy. The literal words of the king\nare preserved for us in that historical record. This is perhaps the most\noutstanding instance of critical repudiation of the text that we have in\nthe Old Testament. The whole record was uncompromisingly declared to be\na fabrication of a vivid imagination.\n\n_It fell to the lot of the great Sir Henry Rawlinson to find the\noriginal document wherein Nebuchadnezzar tells this episode exactly as\nDaniel had given it._\n\nThe most dramatic and astonishing vindication of the integrity of the\ntext that the Book of Daniel has sustained, providentially occurred in\nthat field of criticism which was supposed to be the strongest evidence\nthat criticism possessed. This was in the realm of the historical\naccuracy of the Book of Daniel. The basis of the critical contention was\nright to a certain extent. Profane history possessed no record of a king\nin Babylon by the name of Belshazzar. When the period of anarchy in\nBabylon ended by means of the military coup that placed Nabonidus upon\nthe throne, it took a short while to quiet the realm and re\u00ebstablish the\nauthority of the crown. Nabonidus then gave himself to a period of\nconstruction and rehabilitation. In the course of his work on the\nfortifications of his capital city, Nabonidus was strengthening the\nwalls at certain neglected points. Delving deeply, to buttress the\nfoundations, he came upon the ruins of an ancient palace which had been\nbuilt centuries before by Narum-sin.\n\nThe discovery so delighted king Nabonidus that he became a confirmed\narcheologist. He reconstructed this palace of Narum-sin and turned it\ninto a museum of antiquity. The delight of discovery drove the energetic\nNabonidus into expeditions far and wide. The administration of the\nkingdom became of secondary importance to him. He had a son whose name\nappears in the ancient records as \u201cBelt-sar-utzar,\u201d which is given in\nthe record of Daniel as Bel-shazzar. Upon the thirtieth birthday of his\nson, Nabonidus made him regent, and the throne of Babylon was\nthenceforth occupied jointly by Nabonidus and Bel-shazzar. Because the\nmore common form is familiar to our readers, we will from this point on\ndesignate him by the Biblical name of Belshazzar.\n\nThe decrees and laws were signed, of course, by the seal of Nabonidus,\nthe senior monarch, but the practical administration was left in the\nhands of the regent. This will explain why Belshazzar, wishing to honour\nDaniel for the interpretation of the writing upon the wall, with which\nwe shall deal later, offered to make him the _third_ ruler of the\nkingdom. This, of course, is eminently unorthodox! It was always the\ncustom in antiquity, if records can be trusted, to honour a man by\ngiving him the hand of the king\u2019s daughter in marriage and making him\nruler over _half_ the kingdom. Belshazzar could not go so far as this.\nNabonidus, his father, was the number one ruler as long as he lived.\nBelshazzar, the regent, was the second ruler of the realm. Therefore, if\nDaniel became prime minister and had an office second in authority to\nBelshazzar, _he would be the third ruler in the kingdom_.\n\nHow amazing indeed is the historical accuracy of this ancient Book!\nThese writers were faultless in their efforts to keep the Scripture in\nline with the historical facts. In this case they have been inspired\neven in their choice of numerical descriptions in the honours conferred\nupon their heroic characters.\n\nSo now we peer into ancient Babylon through the telescope of archeology\nand we see a quaint situation. Nabonidus, the kind and able monarch,\nfascinated with the study of antiquities, has left the active control of\nthe kingdom to his son and heir, Belshazzar. The prince regent, however,\nwas not able to stand prosperity. He seems to have degenerated into a\ndrunken profligate who spent all of his time in the dubious pleasures of\nsin. The administration of the kingdom fell on evil days during the\nbrief span of time that Belshazzar was in authority. As nearly as we can\nbuild an accurate and credible chronology from the now available records\nof Babylon, Belshazzar became regent in 541 B. C., and in the year 538\nB. C. the Babylonian dynasty disappeared.\n\nIn those three years great and marvelous events were being shaped in the\nwomb of time. Cyrus, thereafter called the Great, had previously begun\nhis phenomenal rise to power. Apparently he had been born a minor prince\nin an obscure tribe of the Medes, but was endowed with genius and\nbrilliancy from his early youth. The picture that is now painted of\nCyrus, as we see him in the treasured records, depicts this fascinating\npersonality engaged first of all in welding the scattered families of\nthe Medes into a close, binding organization that made them a power. So\nrapid was his climb to dominion, there is no other explanation to\naccount for the phenomenon than that of Isaiah, who in his forty-fifth\nchapter, states that the Lord God Almighty Himself had raised Cyrus to\nthe position of world dominion. This prophecy we shall refer to later;\nbut our present purpose is to show the conjunction of Cyrus with\nBelshazzar.\n\nWe come to a period of time when the records are fragmentary, but it is\nevident now that Cyrus the Mede became naturalized as a Persian that he\nmight occupy that throne and combine it with his own kingdom. When the\nyouthful Cyrus had combined Media and Persia into one great dominion, a\nnew world empire was born, although it was not immediately apparent.\nAfter a number of successful forays and campaigns that enlarged his\npossessions and strengthened his position until he felt himself to be\nwell nigh invincible, the ambitious Cyrus turned his eyes toward\nBabylon. He realized that if he possessed Babylon, he would indeed be\nthe master of the earth.\n\nCyrus is reported to have sent an ambassador to Nabonidus saying, \u201cCome\nthou under my yoke and I will be thy protection and defense.\u201d The modern\nsystem of \u2018muscling in\u2019 is supposed to be a development of the\nracketeers of our generation. These modern pragmatists, however, are\nmerely amateur performers at an old game, at which the ancients were\nmasters. This invitation of Cyrus, of course, could be interpreted only\none way. In the vernacular of the modern day, it was a case of\nsurrender, \u201cor else.\u201d When the Persian ambassador arrived at the court\nof Babylon, Nabonidus was absent on one of his many expeditions.\nBelshazzar, as usual, was in the midst of a drunken orgy and was more\nconcerned with the hilarity of the hour than with the future safety of\nthe kingdom. With that ill-guided and perverse humour which is\ncharacteristic of the insanity of drunkenness, the Regent conceived a\nbrilliant jest. He caused the ambassador to be hewed into pieces and\npacked into a basket which was returned to Cyrus with a note saying,\n\u201cThis we will do to you and your army if you invade our empire.\u201d\n\nWhen this insult was delivered to Cyrus, the outraged king was so wild\nwith indignation that he could not contain himself long enough to\nassemble his army. He ordered Darius the chief of his bodyguard, who was\none of his Median counselors and companions, to assemble an advance\nforce and lay siege to the city. While Darius invested the city, Cyrus\nwas to follow with the balance of his cohort. Thus the scene was set for\nthe most singular episode of those stirring days.\n\nIt occurred on the birthday of Belshazzar, which marked the beginning of\nthe third year of his regency. The ignoble king had gathered to himself\nall the lords and ladies of his court, the thousand dissolute companions\nwho were the fellows-in-drunkenness of this king. Belshazzar again\nconceived a drunken jest, which struck him as highly humourous. In the\nmidst of their debauch, he ordered that the sacred vessels, which his\ngrandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple of God in\nJerusalem, should be brought to the table to be used as flagons for\ntheir drinking bout. This was done, and as this godless and idolatrous\ncrew drank from the holy implements dedicated to the God of Israel, they\ntoasted the idols of Babylon and sang their praise.\n\nEven while they were thus engaged, according to the fifth chapter of\nDaniel, a hand appeared which wrote on the wall and pronounced the doom\nof the kingdom. Almost at this exact hour, Darius, the counselor, friend\nand commander of the vanguard of Cyrus\u2019 army, appeared before the walls\nof Babylon!\n\nTo the surprise of the great Median general, the gates of the city were\nopen. This is according to his own record. It being the birthday of\nBelshazzar, the entire city was celebrating in a fashion made popular\nand characteristic by the debauched ruler. Wine had been provided for\nthe guards that they also might share in the happy celebration of the\nking\u2019s natal day. The drunken soldiers had failed to close the city\ngates with the coming of nightfall, and by the time Darius appeared\nbefore the city, they were in a stupor of drunkenness. The able Mede,\nskilled in all the arts of ancient warfare, moved swiftly, well knowing\nthe value of a surprise attack. His company, although few in number when\ncompared to the complete might of the armed forces of Cyrus, was\nsufficient to hold the city, if it could be gained.\n\nDaring men fell upon the drunken guards and slew them. Leaving a small\ncompany to guard the gate and keep it open, Darius\u2019 troops swept through\nthe city to the very palace of Belshazzar. Slaying all whom they met\nupon the way, they fell upon the royal company with a shock of complete\nsurprise. Scarcely had the voice of Daniel finished interpreting the\nwords that the hand of God had written upon the wall, when the sword of\nDarius fulfilled the prophecy by slaying Belshazzar. Darius caused the\nhead of Belshazzar to be sent to Cyrus with a grim and brief note,\nsaying \u201cThe kingdom is thine. Do thou enter.\u201d When Cyrus, therefore,\ncame with his mighty company, the city already had been captured by\nDarius and Cyrus had only to make a triumphal entry.\n\nIn the meantime, Nabonidus heard that his kingdom was invaded, so he\ngathered a force and marched to the relief of Babylon. When he arrived,\nhowever, he found that the city was already in the possession of Cyrus.\nActing with characteristic wisdom, he laid down his arms, surrendered to\nCyrus and cast himself upon the mercy of the great king. He was well\nreceived, and lived as an honoured guest in the court of Cyrus until he\ndied a natural death several years later.\n\nCyrus ruled Babylon through Darius, his counselor and friend, whose\ncourage and strategy were rewarded when the king made him satrap of\nBabylon. Herein is found a reconciliation of the apparent contradiction\nbetween the two statements made by Darius and Cyrus concerning the fate\nof the king of Babylon. Although the critics never bothered to notice\nsuch, archeology has its difficulties as well as has Scripture.\n\nDarius tersely recounts, \u201cIn the night that I captured Babylon, I slew\nthe king.\u201d\n\nThe annalistic tablet of Cyrus, however, contains this note, \u201cIn the day\nthat I entered Babylon, I made the king my captive.\u201d\n\nThe contradiction is more fancied than real. The two generals are\nspeaking about two different kings! Darius killed King Belshazzar; Cyrus\nmade King Nabonidus his captive and friend.\n\nBecause of the insult that Belshazzar had offered to his majesty, Cyrus\ncaused the Regent\u2019s name to be stricken from all the available records\nand thus Belshazzar\u2019s name passed out of history and faded from the\nmemory of men. _For twenty-five hundred years the only record of the\nname of Belshazzar that was preserved for posterity was found in the\nwritings of Daniel. This very historic accuracy of Daniel was the source\nof a great deal of the critical rejection of his notable writing!_\n\nThe first discovery in archeology that shed light upon these events was\nthe prayer cylinder of Nabonidus. Upon the ascension of Belshazzar to\nthe regency of the kingdom, Nabonidus caused to be engraved in all the\ntemples of Bel a prayer for the protection, praise, and prosperity of\nhis son, Belt-sar-utsar. In the excavations at Mukkayyar, one of the\ngreat buildings uncovered was the temple of the moon god. In each of the\nfour corners of the building, Nabonidus, who had rebuilt the temple, had\ncaused a clay cylinder to be buried containing the record of the work.\nOn this cylinder, which dedicated the rebuilding of an ancient temple\nwhich was originally constructed about seventeen centuries before the\nday of Nabonidus, the kindly king engraved the prayer for his son and\nheir, to which we have previously referred.\n\nThe name of the moon god was Sin, and he was one of the chief deities of\nthe land of Babylon. The wording on the cylinder that particularly\ninterests the student of historical accuracy is found in these words:\n\u201cOh, Sin, thou lord of the gods, thou king of the gods of heaven and of\nearth, and of the gods of the gods, who dwellest in heaven, when thou\nenterest with joy into this temple, may the good fortune of the temples\nE-sagil, E-zida and E-gish-shirgal, the temples of thine exalted godhead\nbe established at thy word. And set thou the fear of thine exalted\ngodhead in the hearts of my people, that they sin not against thine\nexalted godhead, and let them stand fast like the heavens. _And as for\nme, Nabonidus, the king of Babylon, protect thou me from sinning against\nthine exalted godhead and grant thou me graciously a long life and in\nthe heart of Belshazzar, my first born son, the offspring of my loins,\nset the fear of thine exalted godhead so he may commit no sin and that\nhe may be satisfied with the fullness of life._\u201d\n\nIn the British Museum, Table Case \u201cG\u201d in the magnificent Babylonian Room\ncontains these cylinders, which are numbered 91,125 to 91,128; the\ncylinders of Nabonidus are many. Some of them recount his building\noperations, while others give the record of his discoveries of some of\nthe great monuments of antiquity in the search for which he spent so\nmuch of his time and treasure. Perhaps no single event in the long\nrecords of archeology so startled and delighted the careful students\nwhose interest was in the authority of the Word of God, as did this\ndiscovery of the name of Belshazzar. In one magnificent demonstration\narcheology thus accredited the _history_ included in the prophecies of\nDaniel, and shattered the conclusions of criticism beyond the\npossibility of recovery.\n\nAlso in this same section and case of the British Museum, there is a\nportion of a baked clay cylinder inscribed by Cyrus. This bears the\nMuseum number of 90,920 and is a priceless record. We are tempted to\nbelieve in the providential preservation of this fragment, since the\nbalance of the tablet has been destroyed and is missing. In this\nparticular record, Cyrus describes his conquest of Babylon, following a\nrecital of some of the chief preliminary events in the early part of his\nreign. He ascribes his good success to the god Marduk. He tells how he\nhad forced all nations to accept his standard until finally, under\ndivine command, Marduk caused him to go to Babylon. Because of the\nsignificance of this statement and its bearing upon our foregoing\nparagraphs, we reproduce this much of the words of Cyrus, \u201cMarduk the\ngreat lord, the protector of his people beheld his good deeds and his\nrighteous heart with joy. He commanded him to go to Babylon and he\ncaused him to set out on the road to the city and like a friend and\nally, he marched by his side; and his troops with our weapons girt about\nthem, marched with him in countless numbers like the waters of a flood.\nWithout battle and without fighting, Marduk made him enter into his city\nof Babylon; he spared Babylon tribulation and Nabonidus the king who\nfeared him not, he delivered into his hands.\u201d\n\nThe Babylonian sources of the British Museum also contain an amazing\nnumber of highly important documents which cover every year of the reign\nof Cyrus in Babylon, namely, B. C. 538 to 529. These records are\nconcerned with commercial transactions, legal business and documents\nthat deal with the personal and public life of the people. Such homely\naffairs as a deed recording a loan of three thousand bundles of onions\nfrom one man to another is legally dated by the year of the ascendency\nof Cyrus. The apprenticeship of slaves to various masters in the arts\nand sciences, the worship of the people, the blossoming of prosperity\nunder the firm but kind rule of Cyrus, all make up a wonderful picture\nof those days and times. Therein are included apparently unconscious\nreferences to the historic events that are of such tremendous interest\nto those who today read the Word of God in the light of this historical\nillumination.\n\nThere are, of course, also many private and public letters preserved\nfrom this period which are found in Table Case \u201cH\u201d of the Babylonian\nRoom, where they are available to the student who cares to delve into\nthe minute evidences of those days and times.\n\nWe shall have to condense a great deal of this material, however, into\nthe one simple statement that _the Book of Daniel is historically\naccredited by these voluminous records_! Thus there is only one possible\nbasis whereupon criticism of Daniel may be continued today. In all\nkindness, but in absolute assurance, we must say that the rejection of\nthe historicity of Daniel by our generation can be predicated only upon\ncomplete ignorance of an amazing body of historical knowledge that is\navailable to the student. Either that, or there is a sad desire in the\nheart of the critic to frustrate the purpose of the Word of God even at\nthe expense of the surrender of personal integrity. The original\nconstruction of the case against Daniel did appear formidable at first.\nIt has turned out, however, to be a tissue of falsehood, and Daniel has\nemerged from the den of liars unharmed and under the continuing\nprotection of God, even as he came forth in safety from the den of\nlions.\n\nWith the coming of Cyrus, the Assyrian and Babylonian dynasties ended\nand Persian history began. Much of this period of the Persian sway was\ncontemporaneous with the times of the Maccabees, and is of tremendous\nimportance and interest to the student of the history of Israel. But\nsince that same period parallels the four hundred silent years, during\nwhich the voice of God was not heard through the prophets, and sacred\nrevelation is awaiting the appearance of Jesus Christ, there is very\nlittle of archeological value from those years that can be useful to the\nestablishment of our present thesis.\n\nThe exception to this would be seen in the case of the return of the\npeople to rebuild Jerusalem, and to establish a Jewish culture, so that\nJesus could be born in the land of Israel, and minister to the people of\nIsrael, as the prophecies had foretold. The events of this return are\ntold in the prophecies of Ezra and Nehemiah, which are abundantly\nsubstantiated by secular evidence, and have thus not been questioned or\ndisputed by criticism to any major extent. Cyrus has left an account of\nthis return, and the great king seemed to be vastly elated over the\nopportunity thus to show kindness to the people of Israel.\n\nAccording to the record that is generally received, Cyrus the Great\nsigned the decree authorizing the return of the children of Israel to\nrebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the temple of God, primarily because\nof one of those fascinating anticipations of coming events which is the\npeculiar field of prophecy.\n\nIt is recorded that the scribe Zerubbabel entered the presence of Cyrus\nand with the grandiloquent salutation of that day bowed himself and\nsaid, \u201cOh king live forever! Be it known unto my lord the king that our\nGod hath named him by name in the prophecy of His sacred writings\ngenerations before the king was born.\u201d When Cyrus expressed a desire to\ninquire into this wonder, there was brought into his presence the scroll\nof the prophet Isaiah and to him was read the forty-fifth chapter. The\nopening verses of this chapter contained this statement:\n\n \u201cThus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I\n have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins\n of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall\n not be shut.\n\n \u201cI will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will\n break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of\n iron:\n\n \u201cAnd I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of\n secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee\n by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant\u2019s sake, and\n Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have\n surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.\u201d\n\nThis is a significant prophecy indeed! Isaiah wrote these words about\nthe year 712 B. C. Cyrus took over the dominion of Babylon 538 B. C. So\nin this ancient prophecy the conqueror is named by name some century and\na half before he was born. His conquest of all nations was clearly\ndelineated and the explanation was given that God had pre-named him for\nthe sake of the thing that he should later do for Israel. Astounded and\ndeeply moved by this evidence of divine favour, Cyrus wrote a notable\ndecree which is preserved for us in these exact words:\n\n \u201cThus saith Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of Heaven hath given me\n all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an\n house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all\n His people? his God be with him and let him go up to Jerusalem, which\n is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the\n God,) which is in Jerusalem, and whosoever remaineth in any place\n where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver,\n and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, besides the free-will\n offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.\u201d\n\nWith this authority, the remnant returned to start that magnificent epic\nof the history of Israel that climaxed with the coming of the Redeemer\nof whom also Isaiah had written.\n\nThere is a sense of frustration that is inevitable to any writer who\nattempts to cover so vast a subject as this present work in the limits\nof one small volume. The difficulty has not been in finding evidence to\nsupport the thesis that \u201cdead men tell tales\u201d which vindicate the\nhistorical infallibility of the Bible. We have been embarrassed by too\nmuch evidence! So we have sought to present only the most striking\ncases, such as can be confirmed by any reader, without the background of\nyears of archeological education. Unlimited tons of material have been\npassed over with scarcely a mention, due to the limitation of time and\nspace.\n\nThe author has hoped to achieve one purpose in this volume, namely, the\narousing of a definite interest in the average reader which will cause\nthat person to study the sacred page with understanding and appreciation\nof its force and authority. \u201cThese Scriptures,\u201d said the Apostle Paul,\n\u201care able to make thee wise unto salvation.\u201d It is imperative in the\nlight of this purpose, that they be able to sustain their claim to\ndivine origin as well. With the prayer that God will bless His Word to\nthe salvation of the many in these closing days, we have thus offered\nyou the testimony of men long dead, whose words nevertheless live on in\nthe records of tablets and tombs. And with those evidences, we have also\nan increased assurance in the infallible character of the Bible, and are\nhistorically justified in receiving it \u201cas it is in truth, the Word of\nGod.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n BIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n\n Baikie, James The Amarna Age\n Baikie, James Lands and People of the Bible\n Baikie, James A History of Egypt (Two Volumes)\n Bennett, Charles W. Christian Archeology\n Blackman, A. M. Luxor and Its Temple\n Boscawen, W. St. Chad The Bible and the Monuments\n Boulton, W. H. Egypt\n Budge, E. A. Wallis From Fetish to God in Ancient Egypt\n Budge, E. A. Wallis Books on Egypt and Chaldaea\n Budge, E. A. Wallis The Literature of the Egyptian\n Chiera They Wrote on Clay\n Clay, Albert T. A Hebrew Deluge Story in Cuneiform\n Clay, Albert T. Amurru, the Home of the Northern Semites\n Cobern, Camden M. The New Archeological Discoveries\n Deissman, Dr. Adolf Light from the Ancient East\n Delitzsch, Friedrich Babel and Bible\n Gadd, C. J. A Sumerian Reading Book\n Gadd, C. J. History and Monuments of Ur\n Gardiner, Alan H. Egyptian Grammar\n Garstang, J. Burial Customs of the Ancient Egyptians\n Garstang, J. The Land of the Hittites\n Goodspeed, George Stephen A History of the Babylonians and\n Assyrians\n Grenfell, B. P. Tebtunis Papyri\n A. S. Hunt\n J. G. Smyly\n Grenfell, B. P. Greek Papyri\n Habershon, Ada R. The Bible and the British Museum\n Hilprecht, Herman V. Recent Research in Bible Lands\n Hilprecht, Herman V. Explorations in Bible Lands During the\n 19th Century\n Hogarth, D. G. Authority and Archeology, Sacred and\n Profane\n Huffman, Prof. J. A. Voices from Rocks and Dust Heaps of\n Bible Lands\n Kennedy, Sir Alexander B. W. Petra, Its History and Monuments\n Kenyon, Frederic G. Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts\n King, L. W. Assyrian Language (Vol. 5)\n Koldewey, Robert The Excavations at Babylon\n Kyle, Melvin Grove The Deciding Voice of the Monuments in\n Biblical Criticism\n Kyle, Melvin Grove Excavating Kirjathsepher\u2019s Ten Cities\n Laurie, Rev. Thomas Assyrian Echoes of the Word\n Layard, Austen Henry Layard\u2019s Discoveries at Nineveh\n Lynch, W. F. Expedition to the Dead Sea and The Jordan\n Marston, Sir Charles The Bible is True\n Marston, Sir Charles New Bible Evidence\n Martin, Percy F. Egypt\u2014Old and New\n Maspero, Gaston New Light on Ancient Egypt\n Maspero, Gaston Egypt\u2014Ancient Sites and Modern Scenes\n Milligan, George Greek Papyri\n Miller, H. S. General Biblical Introduction\n Moulton, James Hope From Egyptian Rubbish Heaps\n Murray, Margaret A. Egyptian Temples\n Nelson, Byron C. The Deluge Story in Stone\n Orr, James The Bible of the Old Testament\n Orr, James The Bible Under Trial\n Petrie, Flinders Measures and Weights\n Petrie, Flinders Royal Tombs\n Petrie, Flinders Researches in Sinai\n Pilter, W. T. The Pentateuch. A Historical Record.\n Politeyan, J. Discoveries from the Nile to the Tiber\n Ramsay, Sir William St. Paul, the Traveller and the Roman\n Citizen\n Luke the Historian\n The Trustworthiness of the New Testament\n in the Light of Recent Discovery\n Rawlinson, Canon Egypt and Babylonia\n St. Clair, George Creation Records\n Smith, George The Chaldean Account of Genesis\n Smith, G. Elliott and Egyptian Mummies\n Warren R. Dawson\n Stadelmann, H. Cleopatra\n Tischendorf, Dr. C. Codex Sinaiticus\n Todd, J. A. The Banks of the Nile\n Weigall, Arthur The Life and Times of Akhnaton\n Weigall, Arthur E. P. A Guide to the Antiquities of Upper Egypt\n Wiseman, P. J. New Discoveries in Babylonia About\n Genesis\n Woolley, Sir Leonard Abraham. (Recent Discoveries and Hebrew\n Origins)\n Woolley, Sir Leonard Ur of the Chaldees\n Woolley, Sir Leonard The Sumerians\n Worrell, William H. A Study of Races in the Ancient Near East\n Wright, G. F. Scientific Confirmations of Old\n Testament History\n Wright, William The Empire of the Hittites\n\n\n_Publications of the British Museum_:\n\n A Guide to the Babylonian and Assyrian Antiquities\n The Babylonian Story of the Deluge and the Epic of Gilgamesh\n The Babylonian Legends of the Creation and the Fight Between Bel and\n the Dragon\n The Book of the Dead\n The Mount Sinai Manuscript of the Bible\n The New Gospel Fragments\n The Rosetta Stone\n\n\n_Pamphlets_:\n\n The Bearing of Archeological and Historical Research Upon the New\n Testament. By the Rev. Parke P. Flournoy.\n The Witness of Archeology to the Bible. By A. M. Hodgkin.\n Biblical History in the Light of Archeological Discovery Since A. D.\n 1900. By the Rev. D. E. Hart-Davies.\n The Value of the Spade. By the Rev. M. G. Kyle.\n The Syriac Forms of New Testament Proper Names. By F. C. Burkitt.\n\n\n\n\n FOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1]As this book goes to press, the grave of this Shishak has just been\n discovered in the famous Valley of the Kings. The first word is that\n the grave is intact, unspoiled by robbers. If this proves to be so,\n much material of value to the Biblical student will probably be\n recovered.\n\n\n\n\n Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\n\n\u2014Silently corrected a few typos.\n\n\u2014Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook\n is public-domain in the country of publication.\n\n\u2014Canonically replaced \u201cplate number\u201d with \u201cplate\u201d in plate references.\n\n\u2014In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by\n _underscores_.","title":"Dead Men Tell Tales","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":72349}