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PALESTINE
EXPLORATION FUND.

Patron—THE KING.

Quarterly Statement

FOR 1908,

+ f+
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gta ds
LONDON:

PUBLISHED AT THE FUND’s OFFICE,
38, CONDUIT STREET, w.

A ae

INDEX

NAMES OF THE AUTHORS AND OF THE PAPERS
CONTRIBUTED BY THEM.

Baldensperger, Philip J., Esq.— PAGE

The Immovable East af a By y .. 665, 162, 336
Birch, Rev. W. FP MA--

Mizpeh and Gath .. ‘ty be re a i ree

The Levelling of the Akra ., . < be - 353
Conder, Colonel ©. R., LL.D., R.B.—

Burial and Burning. . zs r]- “A t4 fe om 179
Cook, 8. A., M.A.—

Hebrew Inscription at Fik.. Py wt “i od + 185

Hebrew Inscription from Gezer oe wr os +x ae 275
Crace, J. D., Esq.—

Notices of Foreign Publications .. ¥ as an ~ 183

Limestone Effigies from Jerusalem oe 358
Dickson, Miss Gladys—

The Tomb of Nicanor of Alexandria we 326

Ganneau, Professor Clermont-, M.I.—
Archeological and Epigraphic Notes :—
22. The “ Gate of Nicanor” in the Temple of Jerusalem .. 125 .
23. An Inscribed Altar at Kedesh-Naphtali.. .. .. 181
24. Mount Hermon and its God in an inedited Gree

Inscription ve = oe -. 135, 231
Hanauer, Rev. J. E.—
Sculptured F igures from the Muristan, and other Notes os 77
El-Edhemiyeh (Jeremiah’s Grotto) és ea as 86
The Traditional “ Harbour of Solomon” and the Crusading
Castle of Jaffa . vee ~ - sia .. 258, 355
Tombstone of John de Valence os bs aS - zi 274
Hull, Professor—
Notes on Professor Libbey’s Account of the Jordan Valley
and Petra ,. oe os os at wt aid én 92

- at ‘ . ’ A
as

Macalister, Professor A.—
The Bones in the Second Burial Cave wil
Report on the Human Remains found at Gezer.. -

Macalister, R. A. Stewart, M.A., F.8.A.—

Second Quarterly Report on the Excavation of Gezer .. 7
Third Quarterly Report on the Excavation of Gezer .- 107
Reports :—
I. Additional Notes on Tombs in the Wady er-Rababi 170
II. Greek Inscriptions in the Museum at Jerusalem 171
III. The Greek Inscription at Kuryet Sa‘ideh 172
IV. The Illicit Excavations at Beit Jibrin 172
The Pachomios Inscription in Wady er-Rababi.. 173
Fourth Quarterly Report on the Excavation of Gezer .. 195
‘Ain el-Kus‘ah ee ee es ve a os 268
Fifth Quarterly Report on the Excavation of Gezer *- 299
Dajin and Beth-Dagon and the Transference of Biblical
Place-names “* se -* * “* ** * 356
Masterman, Dr. E. W. G.—
Dead Sea Observations ; oe o- a .e re 177
Notes on Some Ruins and a rock-cut Aqueduct in the Wady
Kumrain oe o. ee oe ee o. *. ve 264
Merrill, Dr. Selah, U.S. Consul—
Notes from Jerusalem ve 7 153
Porter, Rev. H., Ph.D.—
‘Another Phenician Inscription from the Temple of Esmun
at Sidon .. “f ou oe 333
Rix, Herbert, B.A.—
Notes taken on a Tour in Palestine in the Spring of 1901... 159
Stafford, Rev. Roland G.—
The Samaritan Passover .. ba rls ae ee os 90
Watson, Colonel C. M., C.B., C.M.G., R.E.—
The Site of the Church of St. Mary at Jerusalem, Built by the
Emperor Justinian ey » a A> S .. 250, 344
Wilson, Major-General Sir C. W., K.C.B., F.R.S., R.E., &c.—
Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre ae 7 -» 61, 140, 242

The “‘ Buckler ” of Hamza..

Notices of Foreign Publications .. on ‘ ss 94, 180, 271

Obituary of James Glaisher, Esq., F.R.S

175

105

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Excavation of Gezer— , PAGK
Plan of the Surface ., oP ere ea iia .» facing 7
Second Burial Cave... ¥ st iy + 165
Interments in the Second wrist Cave a i ow m 18
Receiver made of Broken Jars ws = es es + 2u
Troglodyte Dwellings ., iT ee in os ve . 21
Temple of Gezer before Excavation .. “4 ia a % 26
Temple of Gezer after Excavation .. ¥é wv + s+ 26
Excavation of the Temple Alignment. . aA es : bs 29
Lamp in form of a Duck % ve cs ve é te 40
Figures of Animals i ia ws ¥ oy oa bs 42
Coloured Vase .. : i ra as a's 41

Sculptured Figures from the ‘Srdcistan a +. + 78

Stone Carving from the Church of the Holy Bpaiches “ én 82

“The Return of the Spies ” - o he o4 ee 83

Front of “the Gordon Tomb” + : a oe a rs 4 85

The late James Glaisher, Esq., F. R. 2s if BA .. facing 105
Excavation of Gezer—

Plan of the Surface on os oe ry .. facing 107
Large Vase used as a Grain ithe t3 + Mf: i a 109
Store Chambers (?) ‘ ar vs & F my - hig
Details of the City Walls - re “‘, 4 ‘a -. a
Stone Whistle .. ay ¥ - 23 . ix -.. eee

Quern-Stones iv
Jar with Three Handle- sabaped Laos 2
Vessels Buried with Sacrificed Infants

00 “ ve «s 119
ee ve e ya 120
ve ‘e vs oe 121

Scarabs, Xe. + i ‘s 2 s J, a 123
Inscribed Ossuary : : oi nd a se 1 126
Inseription on Ossuary P ‘ 38 zi i ho 126
Inscribed Altar at Kedesh-Ni aphtali ve ss a da 3, aoe
Greek Inscription from Mount Hermon .. 4 y 7% > 18

Plan of Excavations at Jerusalem .. oe in = . 157
The Pachomios Inscription .. ‘ ¥ 7” s% “a | We
The “ Buckler” of Hamza .. mn . ie ie re es 176
Excavation of Gezer

Plan of the Surface. -. ee ae oe .» facing 195
Axehead with Inscribed Letter pi os wy A: im 196
Alabaster Saucers see a if oe ae % 198

Socketed Double-edged Aeoheud ‘' < ts “fi «» 201

; Excavation of Gezer (continued)—
Gold Ear-rings and Pendant ..

Fragment of Pottery with Hebrew Stamp

Normal Lamp and Bowl Group

Coloured Bowls from a Lamp and Bowl Group

Curved Bone Figure ..
Horn Adze ee

Bone Object of Unkeowsi Use..

Egyptian Objects oe

Statuette of Isis and Nephthys

Ground Plan of High Place

Circular Structure in the Temple ,

Bronze Cobra .. -

Group of Lamps found sencctitd nite the Beonse Statuette ..
Group of Pottery found associated with the Bronze Statuette ..
Group of Pottery, Beads, and Bronze Figure

Terra-cotta Plaque with Figure of Ashtaroth-Karnaim

Jaffa and its Neighbourhood

View on the Road down the side of the Waay Kumran. .
n rock-cut Aqueduct i in Wady Kumrin
Op e Cistern in Lower Scarp (‘Ain el-Kus‘ah) ..

Plan of ‘Ain el-Kus‘ah
Excavation of Gezer—
Plan of the Surface ae
Miscellaneous Objects ..
Stone Fragment.. ee
Silver Amulet .. we
Terra-Cotta Statuette .,

Two Fragments of Painted Ware

Grouped Pottery Deposit
Scarabs and Stamps ..
Inscribed Stone .. ae
Greek Inscriptions .,
Plan of Rock-Surface ..
Tomb of Nicanor of Alexandria

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+» facing
+» facing

PAGS
202
204
205
206
209
209
210
212
214
220
221
222
225
225
226
228
258
265
266
268
269

299
801
302
803
804
805
8038
311
312
318
317

A 328, 329

. Vii

GENERAL INDEX.

E]-Adhemtyeh, 279.

‘Ain el-Héd, 278,

‘Ain el-Kus‘ah, 80, 268.

‘Ain Sdéba, 80,

‘Ain et-Tabigha, 160.

‘Ain Yebrid, 81.

‘Ain Yerdeh, 217.

Altar, at Kedesh-N aphtali,
Taanach, 273.

American Excavations, 3, 153.

Animal Figures in Pottery, 40, 207
306, 312.

Annual Meeting, 187, 284.

Arrow-heads, 199.

Ashérah, 31.

Ashtoreth, Figures of, 36, 42, 207, 227.

“ Asnerie,”’ 84, 358.

Atargatis, Statuette of, 39.

Axe-heads, Mould for Casting, 38.

131;

Beads as Amulets, &c., 202.

Beit Jibrin, Excavations at, 172.

Beit Sha‘ar, 280,

Bethabara, 16].

Bethlehem of Galilee, 159.

Bir et-Tirdsheh, 217.

el-Bireh, 79,

Bones. — See Gezer
Human Remains.

Burning of the Dead, 179.

» Excavation of,

Cholera, 99, 107.

Cooking Utensils in Modern Palestine,
166 sq.

Dajin and Beth-dagon, 356.
ead Sea Observations, 177.
Dogs, Legend of, 82.

el-Edhemtyeh, 86.
Tetan Inscriptions, 9, 36, 192, 210,

Egyptian Objects, 39, 48, 122, 309,
noch, Book of, 233.
0 , 184,

Excavations.—By Americans, 3, 158;
Germans, 3; Russians, 3. See Beit
Jibrin, Gezer, Jerusalem, Sidon,
Taanach.

Fik, Hebrew Inscription at, 185, 274.
Flints, 38, 195 seq.

Geology: of Jordan Valley and Petra,
92 ue Basalt of Moabite Stone,
191.

Gezer, Excavation of.—Summary of
Second Quarter’s Work, 7 ; Stratifi-
cation of the Mound, 8; Second
Burial Cave, 12; Human Remains,
14, 23; Troglodyte Dwellings, 20;
the Temple, 23; Sacred Cave, 24;
Alignment, 25; the Ashérah, 31;
Temple Area, 32; Boundary Wall,
35; Egyptian Stele, 36; Stone
Objects, 38; Bronze Objects, 39;
Pottery, 40; Objects in Iron and
Bone, 46; Foreign Objects, 48 ;
Concluding Summary, 48; Bones
in Second Burial Cave, 50; Survey
of Third Quarter, 107 ; Buildings,
108 ; Cisterns, 111; Oil Presses,
112; City Walls, 113; Stone Objects,
117; Metal Objects, 120; Pottery,
120; Egyptian Objects, 122;
Observations on Previous Reports,
124; Survey of Fourth Quarter’s
Work, 195; Stone Objects, 195;
Bronze and Iron .Objects, 199;
Gold, Silver, and Beads, 201;
Colours and Cloth, 203; Pottery,
204; Lamp and Bowl Groups, 205 ;
Human Remains, 208; Bone Ob-

jects, 208; Foreign Objects, 210;

arin 214; Historical Problem,

216; the Temple, 219; model of

Serpent, 222; Human_ Sacrifices,

223; Figure of Ashtaroth-Karnaim,

227; Retrospect of Year’s Work,

228; Survey of Fifth Quarter’s

viii

Work, 299; Stone and Metal
Objects, 299; Pottery, 304; Lamp
and Bowl Deposits, 306; Egyptian
Objects, 309; Inscribed Stones,
312; Caves and Cisterns, 315 ;
Supposed Rock-cut High Place,
317; Report on Human Remains,
322.

Golgotha, 51; Attitude of Early
Christians, 57, 140; Identification
of Traditional Site in the Time of
Constantine, 242; the Second Wall,
246; Natural Features of the
Ground Covered by the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre, 247.

Hadrian, Re-building of Jerusalem
by, 51.

Hajla, 100.

Hamza, Buckler of, 175.

Hebron, Carving of the “ Return of
the Spies,” 83.

Hermon, Mount, Greek Inscription
from, 135, 231.

Hippopotamus, Figure of, 41.

Houses at Gezer. See Gezer.

Human Figures, 39, 42, 207.

Human Remains, 154, 191, 322. See
Gezer.

Human Sacrifices, 17, 19, 33, 208.

Inscriptions—
Greek, 131, 135, 171, 231, 270, 312;
see Nicanor.
Hebrew, 185, 204, 247; see Nicanor.
Latin, 271.
Pheenician, 181, 333.
See also Egyptian Inscriptions
Tron, Introduction of, 47.

Jaffa, “‘ Harbour of Solomon”’ at, 258,
355.

Jehovah, Name of, on Seals, 96.

Jeremiah, in Legend, 86; Grotto of,
86

Jerusalem. — Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, Carving in, 81; Gordon
Tomb, 84, 280, 358; Grotto of
Jeremiah, 86; Charnel House, 153;
Excavations North of City Wall,
155; Portion of Agrippa’s Wall,
158; Description of Jerusalem by
Elzearius Horn, 183; Church of St.
Mary, 250, 344; Antonia Fortress,
182; Levelling of Akra, 353; Lime-
stone Effigies, 358. See Golgotha.

John de Valence, Tombstone of, 274.

Jordan, Mouth of, 94; Jordan Valley,
Geology of, 92.

Kedesh-Naphtali, Inscribed Altar at,
131.

Kh. Abu Tabak, 264.

Kh. Kefr Shiyan, 80.

Kuryet Sa‘ideh, 172.

Lamp and Bowl Deposits, 10, 205,
288.

Mizpeh and Gath, 276.

Monoliths at Gezer, 25.

Mosaics, at Beit Sha‘ar, 280; at
Medeba, 3, 89, 272.

Muristan, Carved Stones from the, 77.

Neby Datd, 280.

Nicanor, Tomb of, 93, 125, 326.

Nicophorieh, Tomb of, 81.

Niha, Excavation at, 3.

Noah, Legends of, 217, 237.

Notes and News.— Death of the
President, 1; Excavations at Gezer,
&e., 1 sgqg.; New Publications, 3
seg.; Election of President, 97.
Death of the Chairman, 97 ; Special
Fund for the Work at Gezer, 98;
Death of Sergeant Black, 98;
Cholera Epidemic, 99 ; Changes at
Hajla, 100 ; Annual Meeting, 187;
Excavation at Gezer, 188; Earth-
quake at Jerusalem, 190; Small
Finds from Gaza, &c., 190 seqg.;
“The Basalt of the Moabite Stone,”
191; Observations, 191; Proposed
Edition of Jerusalem Talmud, 192;
Egyptian Stele at Gezer, 192;
Excavations at Gezer, 277; St.
Louis Exhibition, 278; Water
Supply at Ain el-Héd, 278 ; Scarabs
from Gezer, 279; Notes from Mr.
Hanauer, 279; Russians at Beit
Sha‘ar, 280; Rainfall at Jaffa, 280.

Notices of Foreign Publications, 94,
180, 271.

Obituary.—Archbishop of Canterbury,
1; James Glaisher, Esq., 97, 105;
Sergeant Black, 98.

arent See Dead Sea; Rain-

all.

Cae worn in Modern Palestine,

Ossuary, Inscribed, 125. See Nicanor.

Ss eee eee

ed age ~

Pachomios, Inscription of, 173.

Palestine, Modern, 65, 162, 336,

Palmyra, Russian work at, 3.

Passover, Samaritan, 90.

Pheenician Antiquities,
tions.

Pottery, Classes of, in Palestine, 43.
See Gezer.

See Inscrip-

Rainfall of Palestine, 95; Jaffa, 191,
280.

Rattle from Gezer, 46.

Russian Excavation, 8, 280.

Sacrifice, Human, Traces of, 17, 19,
33, 223, 288, 307.

Samaritan Passover, 90.

Scarabs, 48, 122, 211, 279, 309.

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Serpent, Model of, 222.

Seven Sleepers, Legend of, 88.
Sidon, Excavations at, 3, 180, 333.
“Solomon, Harbour of,” 258, 358.

Taanach, Excavations at, 34, 273.

Tell Mutsellim, 3.

Temperature, Observations of, 4.

Temple at Gezer, 219,

Trades in Modern Palestine, 68, 162,
336.

Wady Kumrdan, Aqueduct at, 265.
WaAdy er-Rabibi, Tombs, 170; Greek
Inscriptions, 173.

» Weights found at Gezer, 117, 196.

Whistle from Gezer, 117.

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QUARTERLY STATEMENT, JANUARY, 1903.]

THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.

NOTES AND NEWS.

Mied

ON THE 23RD DECEMBER, 1902,

HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
(Dr. TEMPLE),

President of the Society.

THE sad intelligence here recorded has arrived as this number
of the Quarterly Statement passes through the Press. The Com-
mittee can but express their sorrow for the loss of a President
who was loved and honoured by all men.

The Committee, whilst gratefully acknowledging the generous
support that the work of the Fund has received from the sub-
scribers, desire to make a special appeal to them in favour of
the excavations which are now being carried out by Mr. Macalister
on the site of the old Levitical city of Gezer, The remarkable
results that have been obtained show that the importance attached
by students of the Bible to a complete examination of this ancient
city was no idle fancy, and that discoveries of equal, if not of
greater, value may be expected when the remaining portions of the
mound are opened,

It is only necessary here to refer to the unique discovery of an
untouched pre-Israelite tomb, containing the cremated remains of
& primitive race of small stature, and the buried remains, with
associated burial deposits of an early Semitic race, possibly Amorite ;

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0 NOTES AND NEWS.

to the discovery, also unique, of an ancient Canaanite temple, with
the remains of the first-born sacrificed to the god of the “high
place” of Gezer ; to the strong indications that the “ high place,”
though apparently covered up before Josiah “began to purge
Judah,” retained its sacred character for several centuries after
the capture of the city by Joshua ; and te the lurid light that
has been thrown upon those barbarous sacrifices and idolatrous
practices, which the Hebrew prophets denounced with all their

_ vigour and in the strongest language (see Jer. vii, 31 ; xix, 5, &c.).

Amongst the enormous number of small finds may be noted the
foundation deposits, that only occur beneath or beside houses built
between the Conquest and the Captivity, which are believed by
Mr. Macalister to be memorials of the time when the wandering
Israelites pitched their tents amidst the sands and gravels of the
desert ; Egyptian inscriptions ; bronze implements of a finish and
beauty hitherto unknown in Palestine excavations; and a series
of “graven images, and molten images,” in stone, bone, and bronze,
which range from the first rude attempts to represent human
and animal forms to the more artistic works of a comparatively
recent age.

The firman under which the excavations are being conducted
will expire in the spring of 1905, and the complete examination
of Gezer before its expiration will require an expenditure which
the Fund, with its present income, is unable to meet. The
amount now spent upon the excavations is £1,200 a year, and
Mr. Macalister estimates that he will require at least £1,500
a year during the next two and a half years. The Committee
trust that the supporters of the Fund will not allow excavations,
which have already yielded such important results, to stop short of
complete success from want of funds. They would suggest that
every one interested in the work should endeavour to obtain
additional subscribers, and would appeal to those who are in
a position to do so to make special donations, or to increase
their subscriptions for the next two years.

Palestine, once considered so poor in archeological treasures,
has recently become the scene of great archeological activity.
This new departure in Palestine exploration is due, in no slight
measure, to the initiative of the German Emperor who, it is said,
is bearing the cost of the extensive excavations which are being

NOTES AND NEWS. 3

carried out under the supreme direction of Professor Puchstein, at
Ba‘albek, of the excavations at Niha, north of Zahleh, in the .
Lebanon, and of the tentative excavations which have been made
at Palmyra, Jerash, Amman, and other centres of Roman influence
in Eastern Palestine,

Under the auspices of the Emperor, the German Society for
the Exploration of Palestine are excavating at Tell Mutsellim
(Megiddo ?) ; and a large building has been erected, on the Imperial
camping ground north of J erusalem, for the German Archeological
Institute for the Exploration of Palestine, of which Professor Dalman
has been appointed the first president.

Professor Torrey, the first director of the American School of
Oriental Research, has excavated at Sidon. The Austrians are
excavating the site of Taanach, “by the waters of Megiddo,”
where Professor Sellin has made important discoveries. A Russian
expedition has been working at Palmyra, and has secured for the
Imperial Museum at the Hermitage the celebrated customs tariff of
the time of Hadrian in Palmyrene and Greek. And Macridy Bey
has been excavating the temple of Eshmun, erected by a grandson
of Eshmunazar in the Vicinity of Sidon, for the Imperial Ottoman
Museum at Constantinople, which will be greatly enriched by his
discoveries.

Mr. Macalister’s reports show that the work of the Fund is in
safe hands, and that the first Society formed for the systematic
exploration of Palestine only needs financial support to enable it
to hold its own with the friendly rivals that have happily decided

to take an active part in the archeological exploration of the Holy
Land.

The long-expected facsimile of the celebrated mosaic map of
Palestine that was found some years ago at Medeba, has at last been
completed at the cost of the German Society for the Exploration of
Palestine, and is now in the hands of the publishers,

The Rey. A. Forder, who is well known to travellers east of
Jordan, has recently published an account of some of his missionary
Journeys “with the Arabs in Tent and Town,” which contains
interesting information respecting the Arabs of Moab and the
Syrian desert,

A 2

f NOTES AND NEWS.

A small sailing boat now makes weekly voyages, with more or
less regularity, from the salt station at the north end of the Dead
Sea to the Kerak region.

During the summer a small mosque, with a handsome minaret,
which is visible from a long distance, has been built close to the
new Russian buildings at Jericho.

The heat at Jerusalem during the six days—September
16th—21st—appears to have been unusual, the thermometer ranging
from a night temperature of 73° to a day temperature of 100°5°.
The heat-wave was accompanied by a very light air from the 8.E.

The attention of subscribers is called to a work by Sir Charles
Warren, entitled “The Ancient Cubit and our Weights and
Measures.” He brings evidence to show that all weights and
measures (except. those of the metrical system) are derived from
one source—the double-cubit cubed of Babylonia.

—

The Museum and Library of the Palestine Exploration Fund at
Jerusalem have been removed from the room opposite to the Tower
of David to the Bishop’s Buildings, near the Tombs of the Kings,

where the use of a room has been kindly permitted by the Rev. Dr.

Blyth, Bishop in Jerusalem and the East. The Museum is open
daily, except Sundays, and the Honorary Secretary, Dr. D’Erf
Wheeler, will give all information necessary.

The “ Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai,” by the Rey. George
EK. Post, M.D., Beirftt, Syria, containing descriptions of all the
Phaenogams and Acrogens of the region, and illustrated by 441
woodeuts, may be had at the office of the Fund, price 21s.

In order to make up complete sets of the “ Quarterly Statement,” the

Committee will be very glad to receive any of the back numbers.

The income of the Society from September 23rd to December
22nd, 1902, was—from Annual Subscriptions and Donations,
including Local Societies, £632 8s, 4d.; from Lectures, £5; from.

NOTES AND NEWS. 5

sales of publications, &¢., £189 4s. 5d.; total £826 12s. 9d. The
expenditure during the same period was £665 10s. 3d. On
December 22nd the balance in the Bank was £440 6s. 2d.
Subscribers to the Fund are reminded that, whilst the receipt of
every subscription and contribution is promptly acknowledged by
the acting secretary, the list of subscriptions will henceforward
be published annually and not quarterly. A complete list of

subscribers and subscriptions for 1902 will he published in due course
in a separate form.

Subscribers in U.S.A. to the work of the Fund will please note
that they can procure copies of any of the publications from the
Rev. Professor Theo. F. Wright, Honorary General Secretary to the
Fund, 42 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.

The Committee will be glad to communicate with ladies and
gentlemen willing to help the Fund as Honorary Secretaries.

The price of a complete set of the translations published by the Palestine
Pilgrims’ Toxt Society, in 13 volumes, with general index, bound in cloth,
is £10 10s. A catalogue describing the contents of each volume can be had
on application to the Secretary, 38 Conduit Street.

The Museum at the office of the Fund, 38 Conduit Street (a few doors
from Bond Street), is open to visitors every week-day from 10 o’clock till 5,
except Saturdays, when it is closed at 2 p-m.

It may be well to mention that plans and photographs alluded to in the
reports from Jerusalem and elsewhere cannot all be published, but all are
preserved in the office of the Fund, where they may be seen by subscribers.

Photographs of the late Dr. Schick’s models (1) of the Temple of Solomon,
(2) of the Herodian Temple, (3) of the Haram Area during the Christian
occupation of Jerusalem, and (4) of the Haram Area as it is at present, have
been received at the office of the Fund. Sets of these four photographs, with

an explanation by Dr. Schick, can be purchased by applying to the Secretary,
38 Conduit Street, W.

Branch Associations of the Bible Society, aJl Sunday Schools within
the Sunday School Institute, the Sunday School Union, and the Wesleyan
Sunday School Institute, will please observe that by a special Resolution of the
Committee they will henceforth be treated as subscribers and be allowed to pur-

chase he books and maps (by application only to the Secretary) at reduced
price.

NOTES AND NEWS.

The Committee will be glad to receive donations of Books to the Library
of the Fund, which already contains many works of great value relating to
Palestine and other Bible Lands. A catalogue of Books in the Library will
be found in the July Quarterly Statement, 1893.

The Committee acknowledge with thanks the following :—

“Recueil d’Archéologie Orientale.”’ Tome V, Livraisons 12-17. From
the Author, Professor Clermont-Ganneau, M.I.

“Le Lac de Tibériade.” From the Author, Professor Lucien Gautier.

** Al-Mashrik: Revue Catholique Orientale Bimensuelle.”

For list of authorised lecturers and their subjects, write to the Secretary.

Form or Bequest ro tHe Patestine Exproration Funp.

T give to the Palestine Exploration Fund, London, the sum of ’
to be applied towards the General Work of the Fund; and I direct that the
said sum be paid, free of Legacy Duty, and that the Receipt of the Treasurer
of the Palestine Exploration Fund shall be a sufficient discharge to my
Executors.

Signature

Witnesses

Nore.—Three Witnesses are necessary in the United States of America;
Two suffice in Great Britain.

Whilst desiring to give publicity to proposed identifications
and other theories advanced by officers of the Fund and con-
tributors to the pages of the Quarterly Statement, the Committee
wish it to be distinctly understood that by publishing them in the
Quarterly Statement they neither sanction nor adopt them.

770 SAT AMID a
burritos ‘t900} 5

yur sport JO $370.47

=
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Yd 3IvV4AYNS BJHL JO NW Id

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SECOND QUARTERLY REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION
OF GEZER.

(August 14th to November 1st, 1902.)

By R. A. Srewarr MACALISTER, M.A., F.S.A.

§ L—GeENERAL SumMARY or THE RESULTS OF THE QUARTER’S
Work.

In the quarter covered by the present report I have departed
temporarily from the method of work which, in my previous report,
I stated that I intended to follow. After devoting some thought to
the matter, I concluded that, though there seems to be no reason to
anticipate hindrance to the excavation from any cause, it would
be unwise to run the risk of being obliged to leave the mound
without having followed up a certain important surface indication.
This was the two pillar-stones at the foot of the Western Hill, to
which allusion has more than once been made (Quarterly Statement,
1902, p. 363).

Having tested the soil in the neighbourhood of the stones by a
trial shaft, I decided that I was justified in abandoning for a while
the series of trenches by which I had been proceeding step by step
along the mound, and in turning the whole force of labourers on
the task of working out the structure of which these stones form
apart. This work is still in progress : when it is finished I shall
return to the trenches on the Eastern Hill, with the satisfaction of
knowing that much of the Central Valley will have been turned
over.

The principal discoveries of the quarter have been (1) a remark-
ably interesting burial-cave, in some important details supplementing
the information, gleaned from the first cave, on the subject of
pre-Israelite funeral customs ; (2) further light on the stratification
of the mound; (3) two stele, with inscriptions in hieroglyphies ;
(4) a series of very ancient troglodyte dwellings ; (5) a remarkable
Canaanite temple; and (6) a large number of objects in stone,
bronze, pottery, &c., scarabs, and other antiquities.

8 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

§ I.—STRATIFICATION OF THE MOUND.

The remains on the Eastern Hill were described in my first
report as displaying the stratified buildings of four successive

‘occupations—a description the accuracy of which has been con-

firmed by the further excavations on this part of the mound.
It was further stated that nothing that could be associated
definitely with the Solomonic or the Maccabaean period of culture
was to be found on the Eastern Hill, and that the remains of the
occupations known from historical sources to have existed at Gezer
during those periods must be sought for in some other part of the
tell. This has been verified by the excavation in the Central
Valley.

The latter excavation has extended the history of the mound
both forward and backward, one period being found preceding, and
two succeeding, the four represented on the Eastern Hill. There
are thus seven strata of remains at present known. These may
be described as follows, proceeding downwards from surface to
rock :—

Stratum VII.—A city resembling, but on the whole probably
slightly earlier than, the upper stratum at Tell Sandahannah.
The principle of the arch has been learnt, as is shown by a ruined
vaulted cistern (like a similar structure found at Tell Zakariya, of
about the same period). This structure is built of the squared
brick-like blocks of light limestone, such as was found in some parts
of the acropolis of Tell Zakariya, and was the universal building
material at Tell Sandahannah. The pottery is similar to that at
Sandahannah, if anything slightly ruder, and with less extensive
evidence of direct Greek influence. Iron is the regular metal ;
bronze is used for ornaments only, and is uncommon ; flint is rare.

Stratum VI.—Rude house-walls of field-stones set in mud (so
throughout the remaining strata). Jar-handles with “royal stamps”
are found. This stratum is the upper limit of lamp and bowl deposits
under the foundations of buildings, such as have been found in all
the other tells. Iron is used, but bronze and flint are both much
more common in proportion than in stratum VII.

Stratum V.—The pottery is transitional between pre-Israelite
and Jewish types. Lamp and bowl deposits first appear in this
stratum. I assume a connexion between the uppermost stratum
on the Eastern Hill and the third stratum from the surface in the

‘“
,

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 9

Central Valley, because these remarkable deposits appear in each
for the first time in their respective portions of the tell. Iron is
only just beginning to be used ; bronze is the regular metal, but
flints (generally rude flakes) are used in great abundance.

Strata IV-ITL.—Two successive strata which cannot easily be
distinguished except by the superposition of the foundations of
their house-walls. The pottery types are much the same in both—
rather early pre-Israelite. Scarabs of the Egyptian Middle Empire,
and jar-handles stamped with scarab-like seals, are found, especially
in stratum IV. Bronze is the only metal used, but fine flint knives
are the most usual tools.

The great temple in the Central Valley occupies both these
strata.

Stratum II—The remains of this stratum are as yet very scanty.
It is characterised by very rude pottery, and apparently an entire
absence of metal—I say apparently, for it is not always easy to
dissociate strata II and III, and their respective objects, one from
another. With this stratum I associate the cremated remains in the
first burial cave.

Stratum I.—The occupation represented by certain troglodyte
dwellings, artificially cut in the hill-top, underneath the temple.
They will be more fully described later in the present report.
They are characterised by absence of metal, by rude flint and bone
implements, and by very roughly-made porous pottery. Strata I
and II are probably contemporary, or at any rate continuous, the
culture of both being similar.

We are not without indications whereby approximate dates can
be assigned to these strata. Among the objects found in VII was
a small slab of red sandstone, apparently the bottom of a box, of
which the sides have been chipped away; the back half has also
been lost. Its present length is 4} inches, its breadth 38 inches,
its present thickness 14 inches. Round the vertical edge runs an
inscription, the first character of which is in the middle of the
front. Starting from this point the inscription reads both ways,
symmetrically repeated, abruptly stopping at the fracture by which
the back half of the object has been lost. The following is a

transcript :—
front 7 [~ sides

gy dee SE cab

10 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

The inscription, so far as it goes, consists merely of the prenomer

and titles of a king. The name in the ring is B’-n-R*-ntrw-mr, which
is the prenomen of Ni??? wrwd (Niafaaurut) I, the first king of the
twenty-ninth dynasty, who reigned 399-393 B.c. The object is so
portable that we cannot regard it as an absolute indication of date ;
exact chronological deductions from it would be as fallacious as are
similar deductions from scarabs; but it supplies us with what I
may term a landmark for the history of the seventh stratum.

The jar-handles with royal stamps have been assigned by the
most reliable criticism to some time in the sixth or seventh century B.C.
These being found in stratum VI give the required landmark for
the history of that occupation. Neither the Egyptian inscription
nor the stamped jar-handles could of themselves give reliable chrono-
logical information ; they supply neither a terminus ad quem nor &
terminus a quo, for we do not know how long the city may have
existed before they were manufactured, nor how long after they
were manufactured they may have been imported into the eity. But
when we find in two successive strata objects dating respectively
from the sixth-seventh century, and from the beginning of the
fourth, we are justified in deducing that the change of occupation
took place somewhere about the sixth or the fifth—between the two.
In all probability the change of occupation is the result of the
Captivity, and we may therefore date the close of the sixth stratum
in the earlier half of the sixth century B.c. To date its commence-
ment the evidences pertaining to the fifth stratum have to be taken
into account.

Hitherto, however, the fifth stratum has yielded no dateable
object. A chronological deduction may, however, be drawn from
the lamp and bowl deposits, which appear in Palestinian tells at
a stratum corresponding to a well-defined point of time. The
excavation at Tell el-Hesy showed this very clearly. In that
mound the deposits of lamps and bowls under house-walls first
appear in the fourth city. This fourth city was built after the
site had been desolate a sufficient length of time to allow a thick
bed of ashes to accumulate over its surface, and after certain well-
marked changes had taken place in local pottery. There is no
historical event that can account for this sudden disturbance
of continuity, save one—the Israelite immigration; and we are
fairly safe in assuming that this rite is peculiarly Israelite, and
unknown to the Amorites and their contemporaries.

— Ls Ter sn

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER, lL

Nothing is said of this custom in the Hebrew scriptures ; I may,

perhaps, digress from ‘the subject immediately under discussion in
order to hazard a guess as to its origin and meaning. The essence
of the rite is the deposition of sand, or, in its absence, fine dry earth,
in a receptacle, under or close by the foundation of a building. Now,
we know that the Hebrews were in the habit either of instituting
rites and observances, and of erecting monuments, in order to
commemorate important historical events, or else of adapting
previously existing rites and monuments, and investing them with
« Memorial significance. Familiar instances are the Sabbath, the
’assover, and the dolmen or rude stone monument of Gilgal,
which, whatever their ultimate origin may have been, are explained
as being commemorative respectively of the Creation, the Exodus,
and the entry into Canaan. May we not see in these sand deposits
« commemoration of the nomad period of the tribal history, when
dwellings were tents pitched on the sand of the desert? This
explanation is, of course, incomplete, and it does not account for
the invariable presence of a lamp in the pottery group, which may
be due to some unknown special circumstance connected with the
original institution of the custom!

On this account I am inclined to regard the fifth stratum as
the earliest Israelite city on the mound—that is, the city in which
the Israelites and the Canaanites dwelt together, according to-
Joshua xvi, 10. It is, therefore, probably the city destroyed by
Solomon’s Egyptian father-in-law (1 Kings ix, 16); if so, we are
able to arrive at an easy explanation of the shrinkage of the city
immediately afterwards. ‘Till the destruction of the city by. the
king of Egypt the Canaanites and Israelites had dwelt together in
Gezer, and as this fact is especially referred to in the chronicle, it is.
probable that the Canaanites formed a large proportion, if not the
majority, of the population. When Pharaoh destroyed the city he
killed all the Canaanites ; therefore, when Solomon rebuilt the city
he had a smaller population to provide for, and did not need to
build the city so large as it had heen before. Thus I explain the
fact that after the fifth stratum the Eastern Hill is entirely deserted,
and shows no later buildings, except some Maccabean water-works.

The third and fourth occupations are undoubtedly pre-Israelite,
and show the so-called “ Amorite ” civilisation fully developed. The

' At the last moment, before sending off this Report, a curious group has.
been found, in which the saucer under the lamp is of sun-dried clay.

ie eee eee ee ee
,

1g REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

goatubs supply the only chronological landmarks, and these are so

numerous, and their testimony is so uniform, that we are, perhaps,
safe in accepting their evidence, and in consequence may assign &
major date-limit of 2000 + « B.C. to the epoch of these strata. The
limit of variation allowed to the unknown quantity is about 200
years each way.

An indication of the great antiquity of the troglodyte dwellings
is given by the fact that one of them had been utilised for the
purposes of the temple erected above it, but not till its floor had
been covered with a uniform layer of earth, about 3 feet thick,
silted through the entrance and roof-openings. I do not think the
date of these excavations can fall far short of 3000-2500 B.c.; the
second stratum probably occupies a place intermediate between this
date and the major date assigned to the Amorite strata.

To complete the correlation between the literary and archwo-
logical history of the tell we still require the strata corresponding to
the period of Alkios (who carved the boundary stones), and to that of
the Crusaders. These will probably be found on the Western Hill, or
perhaps off the mound altogether, and under the modern village, one
hut in which is alleged to contain fragments of a mosaic pavement.

A provisional table of the above results is given on the opposite

page.
§ I1]—Tue Seconp Buriat Cave.

When first opened, the Second Burial Cave had all the
appearance of being a comparatively uninteresting cistern, and it
was not until the silted earth, with which it had been nearly filled,
was Cleared out that its curious history became apparent.

It is a chamber cylindrical rather than bell-shaped, 20 feet
6 inches deep, and on the average 15 feet 3 inches in diameter
at the bottom. The entrance is a circular hole about 3 feet in
diameter, cut in the roof rather south of its centre. The chamber
was originally formed to serve as a cistern, and evidently was for
some time used for that purpose, since a dipping-hollow, 5 feet
across and 18 inches deep, had been cut in the floor just under the
mouth, clearly to enable water-drawers to fill their pitchers when
the cistern was nearly empty. This dipping-hollow had been silted
up with tough, slimy clay (in which many fragments of pitchers
broken by careless dipping were embedded) before the second stage
of the history of the excavation was reached.

REPORT OF THE EX

13:

‘AVATION OF GEZER.

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14 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

I infer from the chronological indications that the original
formation of the cave and its use as a cistern are to be ascribed to
the inhabitants of the third stratum in the scheme set forth in the
last section—that is, the second city on the Eastern Hill. If so, its
adaptation as a burial cave must belong to the fourth stratum
(third city), because, as we shall presently see, the inhabitants of
the fifth (or topmost) stratum applied it to other purposes. On the
rock floor of the cistern were deposited the remains of 15 persons,
and with them a number of bronze weapons. As some of these
deposits lay on top of the silt filling the dipping-hollow, the cave
must have been used as a cistern before it was adapted as a
cemetery.

The report on the bones by my father (p. 50), who was fortunately
able to be present while the cave was cleared out, makes it unnecessary
for me to say anything about their physical characteristics. I need
only remark that they are the remains of 14 males, of ages from
about 16 to about 50, and of one female, aged about 14.

The bodies were not cast in, or fallen in by accident, but were
deposited in position by people who descended with them into the
cave. This was shown by three indications: (1) no bodies lay
immediately under the entrance, as would have been the case had
they fallen in'; (2) stones were laid under, round, and sometimes
above them; (3) a large quantity of charcoal found among the
bones showed that a funeral feast, sacrifice, or similar rite had taken
place within the chamber.

The survivors who deposited the bodies apparently attached no
importance to their attitude or orientation. In Plate IT each
skeleton is drawn in the attitude in which it was found. The
contracted attitude is apparently the normal (as we found in the
first burial cave), but two were stretched out (8, 15), whilst one
(9) had apparently been placed sitting in a squatting position—
these bones had all fallen down in a heap—and another (14) seemed
to have slipped down from leaning against the wall.

The plan also shows the positions of the objects deposited with
the skeletons, which are drawn out on Plates II, III.2 A spear-

1 Even had they fallen into water and floated before settling down, it would
be a very sirgular circumstance if all the fifteen had gravitated to the sides of

the cistern.
2 Plate III, illustrating the objects deposited, will be published in the

concluding memoir.

Palestine Exploration Fund. PI. ies

Cray ee ee eee 2 ye eee er eat eS See OE ee ee eae 2
‘ . 7
" ?
q

16 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

head (D) and needle were underneath the skeleton, 9 ; otherwise
none were definitely connected with particular individuals. It
must be remembered, however, that the spears must originally
have had wooden shafts, long ago rotted away, An imaginary
restoration of these enables us to associate C with 6, E with 4, and
perhaps B with 5: the latter, however, being a hafted knife, is
more likely to belong to 14. F and G cannot be associated with
any of the bodies. A, ©, D, E (see Plate IT) are spearheads with
hollow sockets; the stump of the wooden shaft still remains in the
socket of A. A ring, hammered and riveted, is found at the end
of C to keep the joint from opening. E is a splendid spearhead,
17 inches long, with an ornamental blade. B is a knife, flanged for
hafting-plates of wood or bone; the bronze rivets that secured
them still remain. F is a common type of axehead. The needle
associated with D is of the mid-shank eye type, alluded to in the
previous report as being characteristic of the Gezer-Lachish group)
of antiquities ; it is the only evidence forthcoming that the bodies |
were deposited with any covering.

These fine weapons have unfortunately been severely attacked
by the cankerous bacillus so well known to curators and collectors,
and it is to be feared that they will before long be completely
corroded away. I have treated them with ink baths in the hope of
staying the corrosion.!

Besides the bronze there was also found a cow’s horn (associated
with the axehead, F) and a three-legged stone fire-dish for cooking.
The latter was broken, and inverted over some sheep bones, no
doubt the remains of a food deposit. It is not quite safe to assume
that the fracturing of the fire-dish is in accordance with the well-
known custom of fracturing objects deposited in graves, that their
spirits may be released and minister to the needs of the spirits of
the departed. We have not yet found testimony that the pre-
Israelite Semites followed this animistic custom, and there is no
evidence that the associated weapons were broken, as they would
undoubtedly have been in such a case. The shafts being entirely
decayed away, we cannot tell if they were snapped across ;.
the heads were all found lying in such a position as to allow an
unbroken shaft of reasonable length to intervene between them and
the chamber walls. A small jug (represented on Plate IIT) was
found in the dipping-hole ; it is the only piece of pottery from the:

a ©

nn NE i Re eee 6

1 A photograph is forwarded, showing their actual state.

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER 17

chamber possessing characteristic features. It belongs to the
cistern, not to the cemetery period of the cave,

Though disposed in an apparently random manner, we have seen
that these bodies had all been carefully deposited, and not cast in.
This leads me to infer that they were all placed in the cave at once,
and were therefore probably the victims of a single catastrophe,
whether an accident, a pestilence, or a battle—more probably one
of the two last-mentioned, for all probable fatal accidents would
certainly have left traces, such as fractures or charring on some of
the bones. The cave is, unlike the first cave, so inconvenient to
enter, that I can hardly imagine its being employed on several
successive occasions. Had it been uséd as a common cemetery, we
have learnt enough of pre-Israelite methods of interment to know
that bodies of both sexes would have been cast in indiscriminately,
and would have been found in a haphazard heap at the bottom.
But the chief problem presented by the cave lies in the extra-
ordinary circumstances attending the single female interment, a
photograph of which will be found on Plate IV (No. 2). The
body had been cut in two just below the ribs, and the upper half
was alone deposited in the cave,

Obviously the explanation of the condition of this skeleton turns
primarily on the question whether the mutilation was ante or post
mortem. If post mortem, we have evidently to deal with a burial
custom in some degree analogous to that illustrated by Dr. Petrie’s
discoveries at Naqada. But this explanation involves serious
difficulties. So far as I can recollect, the Naqada bodies, though
mutilated, were entirely buried—that is to say, the severed members
were deposited with the rest of the remains. In the Gezer example,
however, the lower half of the body was certainly otherwise disposed
of, and was not to be found anywhere in the burial chamber.
Further, it would be impossible to explain why one body only out
of 15 was thus treated. If the mutilation was ante mortem, two
possible explanations are forthcoming: we have to deal with the
victim of a murder, or of a sacrifice. The last seems to me the
more satisfactory. Had the case been simply one of murder, of
a peculiarly savage and clumsy character, most probably both
halves of the body would have been got rid of by depositing them
together. But in a case of sacrifice it is quite conceivable that the
missing half might have been disposed of in some other manner.
It might, for instance, have been burnt, or even—go persistent are

18 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER,

1 Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. lV.

San eee

at -

no. 9
Sitermenfs in the Second Duriat Chen

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 19

the survivals of Savagery in natural religion, even when a com-
paratively civilised condition has been attained—ceremonially
eaten.

As will presently be shown, the evidence at present available
indicates that the normal human sacrifices in Palestine were those
of very young infants. The few examples we find recorded of older
persons being sacrificed have all been special cases, connected with
particular crises. Such are the sacrifices of Jephthah’s daughter,
and the son of Mesha, and, we can hardly doubt, the attempted
sacrifice of Isaac. If the 14 persons buried in this cave perished,
as we have just suggested, by some extraordinary calamity, it is
quite conceivable that the survivors may have thought it necessary
to make propitiation by an extraordinary sacrifice, extraordinary
as well in the age—perhaps also in the sex—of the victim as in the
barbarous method of slaughtering that was adopted.

In describing the first burial cave I laid stress on the fact that
one of the interments consisted of an infant buried in a large jar,
and argued that this individual infant was so treated because it
had been sacrificed. It occurred to me

at the time that possibly
the pre-Israelite Semites considered it necessary to inaugurate a

cemetery by a sacrifice: the evidence afforded by the second burial
cave seems, if not to confirm, at least to strengthen, this theory.
I must admit, however, that in another cave opened near the
temple, where there were two or three interments, I found no trace
of sacrifice ;! and also that there seems no convin
forthcoming in Palestine of the ver
of buildings by human sacrifice.

The question must be allowed to r

cing evidence
y much commoner inauguration

was avoided when

races. But we know so little about the pre-Israelite religions of

1 This, however, was probably not a regular cemetery, or intended as such.

B 2

20 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

Palestine that at present the problem must be left as not fully
soluble.

In the period of the fourth city the cave was again utilised,
apparently as a cesspit. A shaft was built, carrying up the mouth
through the débris that had accumulated since its original excava-
tion, and a drain, constructed of old potsherds, made to lead into
it. The sketch (Fig. 1) shows the curious receiver, made of two
large broken jars, by which waste was poured into the drain. The
stratum of deposit representing this period of the cave's history
yielded nothing of any interest. It was overlaid by a tall cone of
alluvial soil washed gradually through the mouth of the cistern.

Fie. 1.—Receiver made of Broken Jars.

§ IV.—TuHE TroGLopyTe DWELLINGS.

In the rock at the bottom of the great pit dug in the Central
Valley have been found a group of caves, approached by rock-cut
steps, and in many respects resembling the first burial cave illus-
trated in the previous report. Three have so far been uncovered
Of these I have completely cleared out two; the third, which still
awaits examination, has been turned at some later date (probably
in the sixth city period) into a cistern, and a new shaft constructed,
breaking into and interfering with the original steps.

The accompanying plan shows the two chambers that have been
submitted to examination. It will be seen that they are laid out
with no regularity, and it is not improbable that they are partly
natural in origin. The friable limestone has preserved no pick-
marks that give any information. The maximum diameter of the

f
:
4
’

Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. V.

22 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

first is 40 feet 6 inches, and of the second 27 feet 6 inches. The
only points calling for notice on the plans are:—(1) A curious
curved ridge, like a low seat, developed from the bottom step of
the entrance in the larger cave (sce Plate V, Fig. a). (2) A shallow
pit, 2 feet deep, in the north-west corner.of the same cave.
(3) The doorway of the smaller cave, which is well formed, and has
a hole bored through the jamb, probably for receiving some rude
door-fastening (Plate V, Fig. ?).

The results of the clearance of the cave were, on the whole,
disappointing. The most important objects found are represented
on Plate VI.1. The pottery is all of uniform character—coarse,
drab, porous ware, hand-made, very gritty, and in many cases
ornamented with a roughly-applied red wash, or with an equally
rude yellow wash, with red (in a few cases black) streaks painted
upon it. Several pieces were found also with red burnishing, some-
times very highly polished. All the characteristics of ware, form,
and ornament correlate these sherds with the very earliest found in
Palestine, and lead me to associate the original inhabitants of the
cave with the neolithic people of the crematorium already described
as the First Burial Cave. I need hardly say that metal was
completely absent.

Of special objects in pottery I need only mention a saucer with
red lines painted on it; a small globular jug, painted red, found
broken into fragments ; a fragment of a roughly-made flat bow! ;
the top of a vessel with ear-handles, and the stump of a straining
bottle-filler, a bottle-filler which has belonged to a similar but larger
vessel ; two or three vessels with rude spouts; and a very curious
little double cup (as I may call it for want of a better name, it is a
bar of clay 5 cm. long, with an impression at each end about the
size of a rather deep finger-print).

The stone objects found are some flint knives and saws: chipped
flint implements being found, as is to be expected, though flaked
flints are not unknown; a considerable number of stones and
pebbles, small and large, which had been used for polishing or

burnishing or grinding purposes—one or more sides having been in

every case worn smooth by friction (a shoe-shaped object, in
hematite, is one of these); a fragment of a small cylindrical

mortar, and two or three roughly-cut emblems of nature-worship, _

which no doubt held the place of teraphim among the cave-dwellers ;

! To be published in the concluding memoir.

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 23

a semi-circular plate of some dark-coloured stone, with a line traced
round at the base, is possibly a painter’s palette : one side is covered
with red colouring matter; a circular stone ring, with a hole
countersunk on both sides. Similar rings are found at all depths in
the surface débris, and are probably spindle-whorls.

Of other objects we need only mention a bone amulet, identical
with that found on one of the cremated bodies in the Burial Cave,
and a number of the flat bone prickers or styli found at all levels in
the excavations. I call them styli, as this is the generally adopted
name, although in the present case it is, of course, quite out of the
question that they should haye been meant for writing. Finally,
mention may be made of a pointed shank-bone pricker.

No human remains were found that could be associated with
these objects. The skeleton of an infant was found in the larger
cave ; but, as will be shown present] y, this must be associated with
the temple. The decayed remains of a man’s skeleton were also
found in the same cave ; these were so fragmentary that no observa-
tions of any importance could be made upon them.

Besides these caves, another was found to the north of them,
larger in size, but lacking the rock-cut entrance steps which is the
characteristic feature of the dwellings. This cave had been adapted
as a burial-cave, and two fenced graves, like those in the First
Burial Cave, were formed of loose stones. The cave yielded a fair
amount of pottery, all of very early type, though it cannot compare
in importance and wealth with the other caves. The bones had all
decayed to dust, and could teach nothing. They were few in
number, but I could not even determine satisfactorily how many
bodies there had been. Besides the pottery, a number of small
beads were scattered through the soil. There was a small chamber
annexed to this large cave, but it contained nothing.

There are two or three other caves and cisterns in this part of
the hills which have been uncovered, but at the moment of writing
they have not been cleared out.

§ V.—TuHe TEMPLE. :

The discovery of the temple is by far the most important yet
made on the tell. The excavation is still in progress, but enough
has been unearthed to justify my inserting in the present report
a description of the structure, so far as is known.

24 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

The temple consists essentially of the following members :—

(1) The sacred cave.

(2) The alignment of pillar-stones.
(3) The socket for the Ashérah.
(4) The temple area.

(5) The boundary wall.

(1) The sacred cave is the same as that which I have already
described as the first troglodyte dwelling, and it is a testimony
to the antiquity of this excavation that its artificial nature and
original purpose seem to have been forgotten before it was appro-
priated by the priests of the temple. Indeed, over all its area the
rains had washed in earth, covering its floor to a depth of 3 feet.

The evidence that it had been utilised in connection with the
temple worship was two-fold. In the first place an infant’s skeleton,
similar to those buried in jars in the temple area immediately
above the cave, was found deposited on a large stone, lying on the
surface of the earth spread over the deposits of the ancient troglo-
dytes. In the second, a narrow passage was cut connecting the
two caves. That this narrow passage belonged to the later, not
the early period, is to my mind demonstrated by the fact—which
can hardly be an accident—that its sill is level with the floor of
earth.!

What was the purpose of this passage? It can scarcely be meant
merely as a means of getting from one chamber to the other,
which can be much more conveniently accomplished by getting out
of the chamber at the entrance, and walking over the surface of
the earth to the second entrance. It is certainly possible to
wriggle through the passage, but, on account of its narrowness,
very inconvenient. That it was meant as a secret passage for
flight is quite impossible—such a device would be singularly
futile where the passage leads to a chamber from which the
fugitive cannot choose but escape into the open air not a dozen

1 It may be questioned how, in the thousand years, more or less, between
the troglodytes and the temple, so much soil has washed in Ce a in the
three or four thousand years between the temple and the recent opening of the
cave, little or none has entered. I explain this by the fact that till the temple
area was built over, the cave was open, and the year’s rains all washed into it;
after the buildings were erected over its mouth, a rapid accumulation of
débris absorbed and distributed the rains and protected the entrance of the
cave against silting.

=e ———E— << ll

C—O —

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 25

paces from the cave he originally entered. Nor can I feel satisfied
with a theory which would regard this as a method of com-
municating between the chambers when both were blockaded by
enemies. The true solution seems to me to be indicated by the
circumstance that, when first found, the external approaches to the
second chamber were seen to have been carefully closed up—the
stepped entrance by stones built up inside, and. a hole broken in
the north side by a pile of stones outside. This chamber was thus
turned into a secret cell, approachable only by the narrow passage.
The system of caves would thereby become a very simple and
obvious means of delivering oracles. The inquirer would be
admitted into the accessible chamber, a confederate of the priests
having previously been stationed in the inner room. The passage
is crooked, so that it is impossible to see through it; but it is so
short that sacerdotal ingenuity could no doubt devise many methods
of announcing the god’s will and purpose by its aid. This is, of
course, mere theory, but as there seems evidence that the sacred
caves and adyta of Semitic temples were connected with oracle-
giving, it may possibly be allowed to possess some measure of
plausibility. The passage was not cut by tunnelling from one cave
to the other; the simpler process of cutting a small narrow shaft
from the surface of the rock between the chambers, and breaking in
from it to them was followed. Probably at the same time the
small domed cell on the east side of the first cave was cut. It is
also on the level of the earth floor. Its diameter is from 5 feet
6 inches to 6 feet, and there is a circular entrance shaft in its roof.
(2) The Alignment.—This superb megalithic structure consists
of a row of seven monoliths, with an eighth standing apart, and
flanked by stumps of two others at the northern end. They stand
with their feet raised at an average height of 3 feet above the rock.
A platform of stones, about 8 feet wide, at the northern end, but
narrower at the southern, runs under and around them, and helps to
support the stones in an upright position. The seventh stone, when
found, had fallen forward at an angle of about 60 degrees, and the
eighth was prostrate ; I have had them re-erected on their original
positions.! The following is a description of each stone separately.

" Exactly so in the case of the eighth: the foot of the seventh had slipped
backwards about 18 inches, and with the means at my disposal it was not
possible to slide it forward. I had to be contented with swinging it back on

its base, so that it is now slightly out of the almost regular curve in which the
stones are made to stand,

26 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

7 ey >
Fie, 2.—Temple of Gezer before Excavation.

Fie. 3.—Temple of Gezer after Excavation,

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 27
The heights of the feet of the stones are referred to a horizontal
plane running through the foot of the second stone, which is itself
raised 2 feet 9 inches above the rock. The order adopted in the
following list is from south to north :—

I.—Height, 10 feet 2 inches ; breadth, 4 feet 7 inches ; thickness,
2 feet 6 inches ; height of foot, 1 foot 5 inches. A massive monolith,
hewed to a roughly square section.

In the top of this stone there is a groove, as though to receive a
rope or chain, at the western end of which are two sockets, one on
each side, apparently for the block or bar to which the rope was
secured (see Plate VII, where there is a sketch of the top of the
stone). This detail does not appear on either of the other two
large monoliths, a circumstance which militates against its being
explained as a realistic touch in connexion with the apparent
symbolism of the stones, or as a catch for the rope by which the
monolith was hauled into position. A more plausible explanation
was suggested to me by a statement in the De Dea Syra, of Lucian
(§§ 28-29). In front of the entrance of the Hierapolis temple
which he describes were two great stones of a similar character to
these. Once a year a priest ascended to the top of one of these
pillars, and remained sitting there seven days, during which time
he acted as mediator between suppliants and gods. This priest
ascended the pillar in the manner so well known to palm-climbing
Savages—by working upwards a loop of rope encircling his own
body and the stone. Reaching the top he dropped a second rope
down, by which he kept himself provided with everything he
required. The stylite never slept during his week of office—it was
alleged that a scorpion would crawl up the pillar and wake him if
he did so. Lucian adds to this statement the characteristic
sarcasm: “ This scorpion story is a sacred one, and is of a character
suitable to its divine associations; of its exactness I can say
nothing—fear of falling off would, I think, contribute considerably
to wakefulness.” From this comment of Lucian’s we learn that the
perch of the Hierapolis stylites was no more secure than would be
a seat on the top of the column now described, and it seems not
impossible that an oracular or mediative stylite sat at certain
Seasons upon it, and by the aid of a rope secured in the groove
hauled up whatever he might require during his stay at its top.

Il.—Height, 5 feet 5 inches : breadth, 1 foot 2 inches ; thickness,
1 foot 9 inches; distance from I, 7 feet 1 inch; height of foot, 0.

PE ss ee ee SS

M ——— eee Oe? a ee eee ah eee ee

298 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

This is the smallest and most insignificant stone in the series, but it

is possibly the most important. The upper end has been worked
to a sharp point. By polished surfaces it shows plain evidence,
lacking in all the other stones, of having been kissed, anointed,
rubbed, or otherwise handled on the top by worshippers.

When it was first discovered, I assumed that it had been placed
as a surrogate to the two great betylia which flank it, and that
devotion meant for these was bestowed upon it, the tops of the
larger stones being obviously out of reach. A much more probable
explanation, however, was offered me by Dr. J. P. Peters, of New
York (whose name is well known in connexion with his exploration
of Nippur). While on a visit which he fortunately paid to the
camp during the excavation of the temple, he made the happy
suggestion that this comparatively insignificant stone was the
original beth-el of the temple, and that its massive neighbours were
merely honorific additions to it. With this theory I now concur,
and, as will presently be shown, further evidence has since beem
found in support of it.

IlIl.—Height, 9 feet 7 inches ; breadth, 5 feet ; thickness, 2 feet >
distance from I, 11 feet 8 inches; height of foot, 1 foot 9 inches-
An irregular monolith, similar to I, though less shapely and less
massive. There is a cup-mark on the western face.

IV.—Height, 10 feet 9 inches; breadth, 3 feet 7 inches ; thickness,
2 feet 3 inches ; distance from III, 3 feet 2 inches ; height of foot,
9 inches, This stone has been carefully shaped to a rounded form,
and there can be little doubt that it disproves the general conclusion
of Appendix F in Robertson Smith’s Religion of the Semites (second
edition, 1894).

The tops of these stones (Nos. ITI, IV) projected above the
surface of the ground, and formed the indications that led me to
excavate on this part of the site. The top of I was also slightly
uncovered, but so little was visible that there was nothing to show-
that it was not a small surface boulder.

V.—Height, 5 feet 10 inches ; breadth, 1 foot 7 inches ; thick~ |

ness, 2 feet 1 inch; distance from IV, 3 feet 7 inches ; height
of foot, 1 foot 8 inches. A small stone, not unlike IT in shape, but.
longer and thicker.

VI.—Height, 7 feet ; breadth, 2 feet 8 inches ; thickness,
1 foot 6 inches ; distance from V, 4 feet 1 inch; height of foot,
9 inches.

a
=

Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. Vil.

LNGWNDITY JIdW3L JHL JO S1IVL30 ONV NOILWA313

4Y3Z3D 4O NOILVAVIXS

_ foot, 7 inches. A much-weathered slab. On the western face ‘=

cup-marks and grooves (sketched on Plate VII).

30 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

VII.—Height, 7 feet 3 inches ; breadth, 2 feet 10 inches ; thicEe—
ness, 1 foot 3 inches ; distance from VI, 4 feet 7 inches ; height G#&

shallow, curved groove, with the concavity downward, has be@xa_
cut. This will be seen in the sketch of the stone, at the lef
hand end of the illustration of the Ashérah socket, Plate VII. -

VIII.—Height, 7 feet; breadth, 1 foot 7 inches ; thickness, 1 fo@te —
4 inches; distance from VII, 17 feet 11 inches; height of foob, —
9 inches. A well-shaped stone, rounded, and like IV, no doubt ze
simulacrum Priapi. Flanking it on each side are two small stumps
of columns, which are remains of larger stones like the rest: the F
top of each shows fracture. This stone is unique among the group,
in standing in a vat-like socket cut for it out of a single foot-stone —
built into the platform. On the western face are cut a couple 0

That this last stone is a subsequent addition to the series is, L
think, evident: (1) from its distance from them ; (2) from the
special care which has been spent on its formation, a care not t@> —
be traced in any of the other monoliths; (3) from its peculiarity
in standing in a stone socket; and (4) from its disturbing the
number of seven columns, which almost unquestionably was the
perfect number of sacred stones at holy sites.1 But we can, Ithink,
go further than this, and assert that the rest of the alignment is
probably not all the work of one period. %

Immediately south of the first stone another monolith is lying
prostrate. It is 6 feet 2 inches long, and lies under and partly —
concealed by the southern end of the platform and the earth
underlying it. Its length is 6 feet 2 inches, and its base is 1 foot
1 inch below the base of the second stone. This stone is probably-
a surviving relic of an earlier temple on the same spot. Were it
standing, with its base in its present position, its top would be
almost flush with the top of Monolith No. TI. From this it might
be inferred that the prostrate stone, and Monolith II, were the
original sacred stones of the site, and that the greater nti uity of
the second monolith is partly the cause of its especial in ee
The difficulty in accepting this view rests in the necessity of.
assuming that in the time of the supposed earlier temple the
surface of tbe ground must have dipped rather more than a foot

* See Robertson Smith, Religion of the Semites, P- 210 seg

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 31

in the southward direction, between the level at which the second
Stone stands and the level at which the fallen stone now lies
prostrate. This is possible, because just south of the fallen stone
the rock must have been exposed in the early ages of occupation,
for a circular hole has been cut to a small natural cavity in the
rock, apparently with the unfulfilled intention of making a cistern—
but not certain, because the stratification of the uncut earth in the
neighbourhood shows no evidence of such a fall in the ancient
surfaces. It is, however, highly suggestive of a more advanced
antiquity that the stone especially venerated, though the smallest,
and therefore requiring the least depth of foundation, is actually
sunk deeper in the earth than any of its neighbours. It is also
striking that the platform of stones on which all the other monoliths
stand is interrupted about this particular pillar.

The whole alignment is not straight, but stands in a fairly
regular, gentle curve, with the concavity facing westward. The
chord of this curve lies approximately north and south.!

(3) The Ashérah, or wooden pole, seems to have been an
essential part of the equipment of a Canaanitish holy site (fel.
Sem., p. 187, et seq.). After carefully considering all possibilities,
I am inclined to regard a remarkable socketed stone standing on
the platform level (but not on the platform, which is interrupted all
round it) between Monoliths V and VI, and immediately west of
them, as the basis on which the ashérah of the Gezer temple was
erected.* The stone is beautifully squared, 6 feet 1 inch long (north
to south), 5 feet broad, 2 feet 6 inches thick. The socket is also
well squared, 2 feet 10 inches long, 1 foot 11 inches broad, 1 foot
4 inches deep. A curved groove is cut in the rim of the stone
west of the hole. A sketch of the stone will be found on Plate VII.
This stone is not an altar, certainly not for sacrifice by fire, for no
trace of fire can be detected upon it, and it would be very difficult
to keep a fire alight in the hole. Nor does it appear to have been
intended to contain any liquid, as the socket is not plastered, and
evaporation and absorption would rapidly empty the receptacle.
The hole, it is true, seems too large for receiving a wooden pole
of any likely size, but presumably wedges were driven in, in order
to keep the pole in its upright position.

‘ T had intended adding a plan to this account of the alignment, but decided

t it was better to wait until the entire temple area had been examined.
? The suggestion is originally due to my father.

tha

32 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

(4) The Temple Area.—The extent of the temple area is, as ye,
unknown, owing to the incompleteness of the excavation. The
level of the floor seems to have been that of the platform rourmed —
the feet of the columns, and is marked, wherever reached, by a laye=a>
of limestone chips. About 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet of soil und@x— —
lies this stratum, and contains the scanty remains of the earliest —
occupations. a
_ So far as I can make out, the temple area was empty in the
pre-Israelite period. It is true that the whole surface is covered Dy
ruined walls, stratified and re-stratified in as bewildering a coma—
plexity as we find on the Eastern Hill; and I was at first inclineed
to consider the lowest of these as essential parts of the temple, ancl —
to interpret them as vestries, treasuries, lodgings for priests amcl
kédéshoth, &c. But after drawing out the plans, I came to the
conclusion that these buildings could not be associated by any
feasible scheme of design with the alignment or boundary wall
of the temple, and that they were, therefore, mere house walls,
erected when the sanctity of the temple was less respected thare
at first—and probably under the pressure of the necessity of housing>
an increased population (Canaanites plus Israelites) within the limitss
of the city wall. With this agrees the evidence of the pottery, an@
other objects, from the site, which show little between the primitive
art of the pre-temple troglodytes and the transitional form of the
fifth stratum of occupation. The modern inhabitants of Avebury,
who live among the stones of that great pre-historic site, are to some
extent parallel to the Judzo-Canaanites, whose houses almost abut
against the great stones of the temple of Gezer. The parallel,
however, is not exact, for unfortunately the Avebury people have
little respect for the remains of their predecessors, while those who
encroached on the temple still, as we shall show, regarded it as
a sacred enclosure. A better parallel is a Kerry farm that I know,
in the yard of which is an ancient standing stone that, from an
uncomfortable apprehension of uncanny influences, the farmer 3
would not injure under any circumstances.

The stratum of earth underlying the floor of the temple area
proved to be a cemetery of infants deposted in large jars. The
jars were large, two-handled, pointed-bottom vessels, like Plate VII,
No. 124, in Petrie, Yell el-Hesy. The body was usually put in head
first, and generally there were two or three smaller vessels—usually
a bowl and a jug—deposited either inside the jar between the body

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 33

and the mouth of the vessel, or else outside and in the neighbourhood.
None of these smaller vessels contained organic remains or other
deposits, and no ornaments or other objects were deposited with
the bodies. The large jars were all badly cracked, and none of
them could be even partially rescued. All were filled with earth,
covering the bone and pottery deposits, but whether the earth was
put in at the time of burial, or washed in afterwards, I could not
certainly decide from the indications afforded ; there is reason,
however, for believing that it was put in at the time of burial.

Two of the bodies had been burnt ; In the others no sign of
fire could be detected. So far as these excessively delicate bones
could be examined, no evidence was found that the bodies were
mutilated in any way ; and if, as Robertson Smith argues, effusion
of blood was normally avoided in human sacrifice, it is probable
that the victims were suffocated—perhaps smothered in the earth
with which the jars were filled.! For that we have here to deal
with infant sacrifices is, I think, so self-evident that it may be
assumed without argument.

The infants were all newly born-—certainly none were over a
week old. This shows that the sacrifices were not offered under
stress of any special calamity, or at the rites attaching to any
special season of the year, for assuredly some occasion would arise
when a new-born child was not to be found, and an older child
would be sacrificed, whose remains would then be found with the
rest. The special circumstance which led to the selection of these
infants must have something inherent in the victims themselves,
which devoted them to sacrifice from the moment of birth. Among
various races various circumstances are regarded as sufficient reasons
for infanticide—deformity, the birth of twins, &¢.—but among the
Semites the one cause most likely to have been effective was the
sacrosanct character attributed to primogeniture ; and it is, there-
fore, most probable that the infants found buried in jars in the
temple of Gezer were sacrificed first-born children. I need not
remind the reader that the sacrifice of the first-born was so
rooted a principle in the mind of the Hebrew, that the law of
the Pentateuch prescribed that the first-born must be redeemed in

the case of a child, or of an animal (such as the ass), which it was
unlawful to sacrifice.

1 As among the Arabs in the time of heathenism, who often buried alive
their infant daughters.

* aay aarey ayer
SE

34 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

These interments settle the character of the similar burials fo nd
by Professor Sellin at Taanach, described by Dr. Schumacher in the
Quarterly Statement, July, 1902, p. 303, and it is not improbable tha t
an extension of the excavation in the immediate neighbourhood of
that “children’s cemetery ” would reveal a temple or high place com-
parable with this of Gezer. Further, they explain one of the most
perplexing results of the excavation of Tell el-Hesy. At the latter
site Professor Petrie found, outside the town enclosure, a quantity
of bones buried in jars, all filled with sand. He describes the
jars as large (one of them is his Fig. 124, which I have already
referred to as fairly representing the Gezer jars), and as often
containing smaller vessels with usually a bowl inverted over the top
of the jar as a cover (this I have also found, but not usually).
Small pottery was discovered among the large jars. In short,
Professor Petrie’s description of his “cemetery ” (7'//., p. 32) woule
stand as a satisfactory description of mine, with three trifling
differences : his jars are upright, mine prostrate ; his are filled
with fine white sand, mine with fine earth; and he found a “ little
wire circlet that might have been a child’s bracelet,” while I had no’
such good fortune. The extremely minute infant bones might
easily be taken by one not a professed anatomist as the bones of
small animals ; it is not unlikely that had I not been looking out
for jar-burials of children, owing to information I had received about
the discoveries at Taanach, I might myself have missed their
significance. I need hardly point out that the child’s bracelet is
a strong argument in favour of this explanation of the Tell el-Hesy —
cemetery. As for the ass-bone identified from that site, I correlate
it with the numerous cow-bones that I found here and there in the
Gezer stratum of jar-burials, and regard it as an unimportant intru-
sion. Itis probable that further excavation in the “ cemetery ” of Tell
el-Hesy would throw yet more light on pre-Israelite religion. The
sand filling the Tell el-Hesy jars was of different character to the
surrounding soil, which leads me to regard it as probable that the
earth in the Gezer jars was already deposited when the jars were
buried.

The last point to notice about the Gezer cemetery is its violation
of a rule which Robertson Smith (/tel. Sem., p. 373 seq.) showed, |
from the evidence at his disposal, to be at least general; that
Semitic human sacrifices took place outside the city. The Taanach

cemetery, so far as I can make out from the descriptions as yet

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 35

published, also contravene this principle ; it is observed, on the
other hand, in the Tell el-Hesy cemetery.

(5) The Bowndary Wall.—On the boundary wall of the temple I
cannot yet speak with definiteness. A section, 80 feet long, of a
great wall 13 feet across—nearly as thick as the outer city wall,
which runs close by it—has been revealed at the north end of the
alignment. The temple presumably had a wall surrounding its
enclosure, and this wall seems to be in the right place ; moreover,
there is no other wall that can be the required boundary. How-
ever, until I have traced it round I prefer not to assert that this
is actually the temple wall, for some chronological difficulties, to
which I shall probably return in a later report, are presented for
solution before the identification can be considered certain. There
is a tower 41 feet long, 24 feet thick, projecting about equally
inward and outward, and enclosing an oblong chamber within it,
in the exposed section of the wall. This oblong chamber was full
of small loose stones, the removal of which furnished two days’
employment for a couple of gangs of men. The entrance to the
third burial cave, already referred to, was found underneath them.

It would seem that, as a general rule, some special circum-
stance—a spring of water, a remarkably-shaped rock, or some other
natural object which attracted attention—regulated the choice of
a site for a primitive Semitic temple. In the present case the
reason why the site was chosen is far from clear. It is certainly
in the middle of the hill-top, but is not on the highest point of the
hill—which, by the way, is a matter for congratulation, as in that
case its site would be irrevocably sealed from the excavator by the
superposed wely and Arab cemetery. If cup-marks have (as seems
most probable) a primitive religious significance, it would appear
that the sanctity of the Spot was traditional from very remote ages,
for several cup-marks are cut on the rock-surface underlying the
temple floor.

I have now described all of the temple structure so far as the
excavation has been carried. There remain to be said a few words
about the objects found within it having a bearing on the nature of
the temple worship. An enormous quantity of objects emblematic
of nature-worship were found through all the strata superposed to
the temple floor, except in the post-exilic city that formed the
topmost stratum. Most of these were rudely cut out of soft
limestone ; two were made of brick, a few of pottery, bone, and

c 2

/
|
|
|
L
4
|
|
|
|

—— - Fee es aS ee

36 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

horn, and one was made of finely-polished marble. This fact is
evidence that the stones did not lose their sacred character until the
period of the captivity. Before long I shall forward a catalogue of
the types of these objects, with illustrations, which can be deposited
for reference in the office of the Fund. 4

A number of plaques of terra-cotta, representing in low relie
the mother-goddess, were found throughout the strata. With one
exception these were all of one type, different considerably in
attitude, expression, and technique from those found in other parts
of the tell. No perfect example was found, but a sufficient numbe i
of fragments were discovered to make a complete restoration of the
type possible. They were cast from a mould, but evid
one mould only, as there are slight differences of measyy
different specimens. The one exception referred to jg of a type
more common in Palestine, so far as we can gather from the
excavations hitherto made, in which the goddess, adorned with
bracelets and a necklace, is represented as holdj
flowers (examples will be found figured in B.M.).
mould for casting the face of a goddess of Pheenieo-
was found in the sixth stratum, just south of the alignment.

Until a good many more Palestinian mounds have been opensill
and it has been discovered whether the temple at Gezer is or dail
not of exceptional size, the last question which at Present suggests.
itself cannot even be discussed. If it be found, by future investi
tions, that the Gezer temple is of unusual size and importance ee
shall then be in a position to enquire—Was the existence x me }
great shrine the reason for setting Gezer a Of Pec
of the Levites ? © c1tige

ently not
ements in

ng two lotcs-
A terra-cotta
Egyptian type

part as one

§ VI.—Tuer Eeyrrian Srepx.

I now proceed to describe the more important of th
antiquities found during the past quarter. The Principal © smaller
has been a fragment of a funerary statue, inscri}, ice oe
hieroglyphics. The contents of the inscription $86.00 e foot in
unimportant, but it holds out hopes of better things germ:

where there is one inscription there are surely More come, for
has been of the familiar mummy form, standing on al ~2e statue
The feet, swathed together, and the portion of the block « leal block. ;
in contact with them, are all that remain. The inserint: ediately

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 37

the remaining two on the vertical front face at the ends of the
toes.

The lines of the original inscription as usual read from right to
left. Some characters have been lost at the left-hand end of the
three middle lines, and the two lower lines are battered and difficult
to decipher. As I understand the legend it was as follows :—

tte hdc Fest op
YF eating me = «— 004
ork ee

<a oe a ee

wwn BL NAIM SOS ERG
: a Mite
oe ee we oe ARK

es a Ox er, Oe
0 j | in line 2 is more usually written lof, and in lines 3, 5,

fe a oo is for (ere. The whole reads Stn hip

di Wsir nb ‘nit ; af prhrw, mnht, ntr-sntr, mrht.... ‘nti [for hnti]
‘Imntiw msn... Mtinf nf mrtf ¥ [ob ?|.... dif prorw, htp, dfn k? n
‘nhti [for hnti] ‘lmntim« A royal offering gift to Osiris, the living
lord. He gives sepulchral feasts, clothing, divine incense, oil . ...

to the chief of those in the Happy Otherworld, son of
Maatinef, whom he loves, the soul

Ney ek! he gives sepulchral

feasts, an offering, divine food, to the double of the chief of the
Happy Otherworld.” !

This fragment was found lying loose in fifth stratum débris, a
short distance south-east of the first stone of the alignment.

‘ [Professor Macalister writes :— Probably the third line is a proper name,
‘nVimn‘aw. This name occurs on a XIIth dynasty stele in Vienna. The
fourth line may be not a proper name, but a series of qualifying terms before
the name of the parent. The first word of the clause being lost at the end
of the third line, it seems to read ‘ from (or in) his eyes, he praises his beloved
Bab’b’——..’' Baba is a common name in the epigraphy of the Old and Middle
Empire. Mrht, end of line 2, is ‘ wax.’ ’?]

= |]. ss

a 8

res. = 2

diet Ti i ite wee | oe

in i

“> Ky

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

38
§ VII.—STONE OBJECTS.’
Flints.—These continue to be found in large numbers daily
of course, the great preponderance. Chipp od

rough flakes forming,
flints are found from time to time, but rarely. One in particular,

so far as I have seen, is unique among Palestinian flints in having @
tang for insertion in a hafta curious example of the reaction 0 +
bronze objects in the class of implements surviving from the earliaa
archeological stratum. ° j

Polishing Stones.—A large number of stones, of about a con-
venient size to grasp in the hand, have been found at various depths :
throughout the excavation. They seem to have been smoothed by
the action of the sea. Usually they are flat and oval, or

kness from about a third of an

lozenge-shaped, and vary in thic
inch to about an inch and a half. I understand that similar stones
are employed in the Lebanon at present for smoothing, polishing, §

and tracing out patterns in the earth floors of dwellings, and this
seems to be as likely a use as any for the similar stones found in the —

excavations.
The rough edges of broken potsherds are also found used as |
polishing or scraping tools, and I have found a small fragment of
d also a piece of a Rhodian jar-handle, with the fractured

a jar, an
edges worn perfectly smooth by friction. 4

Small slabs of slag, OF light, slag-like porous stone, are also
found, chiefly, so far as I have observed, in the upper strata. |
These are flat and rectangular, about 5 inches by 49 inches thick. —
Occasionally examples are found with a vertical ridge, for grasping, .
projecting from one face. Similar stones are used in baths as —
strigils, for scraping the skin after bathing ; and it is not improbable —
that this is the purpose for which they were provided. .

Miscellanea.— he most interesting objects in stone is

One of t
a fine elunch mou e axe-heads, found (in frag-_

ld for casting bronz
ments) in one of the upper strata.
The only other stone objects that need be alluded to at present
curious dumb-bell shaped pounder, and an oddly-shaped —

are @

VIII and IX, illustrating the stone and bronze objects, will be )

the concluding memoir.
above was written, two OF three other specimens hive oonie 44

e They are confined to the fifth

however, 8° fine as the above.

1 Plates
published in

2 gince th
light—none-
stratum.

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 39

spindle-wheel or button, both of which come from the upper
stratum. I may also mention a fragment of a curious, small,
rectangular mortar, with rude animals’ heads (one of them broken)
projecting from the end.

§ VIII.—Bronze Opsects.

The remarks to be found under the corresponding section in the
previous report apply equally to the discoveries in this department
made during the last quarter. Large numbers of pins, needles,
arrow-heads, javelin-heads, and, in smaller quantities, spatulas,
fibula, tweezers, spear-heads, rings, and amulets form the great
bulk of the objects discovered. It is worth noticing that, with one
exception, all the arrow, javelin, and spear heads from the surface
are tanged, while all in the fine collection in the second burial cave,
already described, are sockcted.

An oz-goad, consisting of a blunt bronze spike with a bronze
plate wrapped round it, for making a socket to receive the end of
the staff, is the only new form of implement found during the
present quarter that need be specially referred to. It was dug up
from stratum IV on the Eastern Hill.

From a deeper stratum came fragments of a curious pottery
tray or dish, covered on its wpper surface with a lining of bronze.
Unfortunately the fragments were so indefinite and corroded that
it was impossible to discover any detail of design that it may have
shown, and this is all that can be told of the vessel.

In the acropolis at Zakariya was found a very rude figure,
which was identified by M. Levy, of Paris, as a statuette of
Atargatis. This identification seems satisfactory. It is fortunate
the Zakariya figure was found first, for it was, comparatively
speaking, human-like, and it helps us to identify a number of
singularly rude objects, which at first sight would be cast aside as
shapeless lumps of bronze, as attempting to represent the same
goddess. Several have been found at varying depths, all being
much ruder than the Tell Zakariya example. More satisfactory is
the very fine statuette of Osiris in bronze, with a gold-leaf band
round the loins, and the remains of gilding of the face: a minute.
trace also appears on one of the arms. This statuette was found
rather deep in city VI, and may belong to the fifth occupation.
A figure of Ptah, of similar style, was found at Tell el-Hesy in the
fourth city (B. MMC., p. 67).

40 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

§ [X.— POTTERY.

(1) The most interesting “find” in pottery, and one of the
most remarkable pottery objects yet found in Palestine, has been)
a lamp, in the form of a duck, which was found very deep in one of |
the trenches of the Eastern Hill, and is probably to be connected
with the earliest years of the Semitic occupation (Fig. 4). ,

The ware is a dark drab colour, rather porous, and full of small
pebbles. The object stands on a trumpet-shaped stand, with an

Fie. 4.—Lamp in form of a Duck.

elliptical mouth, ranging in diameter from 8°6 cm. to 10 em.; the
long axis of the mouth of the stand is neither parallel nor at right
angles with that of the bird figure, but set obliquely. The height
of the stand is 8°5 inches. The body of the bird figure is 12-7 em.
in length. The back has been modelled separately in two pieces,
Which meet in a crack running down the middle. The tail is
missing ; the stump is hollow, and no doubt the tail contained some

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 41

kind of tube device for conveying oil to the interior of the body.
The neck and head are well modelled, the beak being developed
into a hollow cylindrical spout, through which, no doubt, the wick
protruded. Small circles grooved in the sides of the head repre-
sent the eyes. The wings are indicated by two little ridges,
moulded, and applied to the sides of the body after the latter was
modelled—this was evident, as one of them was found lying loose,
and the smooth surface of the body was not interrupted by a
fracture. The potter has ingeniously surmounted the difficulty of
representing feathers in clay by providing holes in the rim of the
wing, into which real feathers could be inserted (as in the Figure).
Possibly there was also a plume, now lost, of similar character, on
the top of the head, as there seems to be evidence of some small
projection having been applied to this portion of the object. The
whole stands to a height of 23-2 em.

Other animal figures are frequently found—as noted in the
last report—though none of any importance can claim an equal
antiquity. As a general rule they are small heads of cows or
horses. That these objects are not merely ornamental, or play-
things, but have a religious meaning, seems indicated by the absence
or rarity of representations of the camel and ass, which must have
been at least as common as the horse in Palestine in early times.
The sacred character of the cow we know from many sources ; that
the horse was also sacred is shown by the dedication of these
animals to the sun by the kings of Judah (2 Kings xxiii, 11). To
the nations of Palestine the camel and the ass had
sacrosanct character, and they are therefore less ¢
sented in pottery. It is true rude
Shéphélah tells—just sufficient to ¢
be made on the
in Gezer.

apparently no
ommonly repre-
camel-heads were found in the
how that no invariable rule can
subject—but none have yet made their appearance

From the point of view of the zoologist, as well as of the
antiquary, these animal figures have a certain interest, as they seem
to indicate a familiarity with certain breeds and species which
would no longer come under the notice of a Palestinian potter. A
figure found at Tell es-Safi, and another at Gezer, seem to show
that a breed of zebu-like humped cattle at one time was to be
found in the country (Fig. 5, a). The figures are rude, but they
certainly do not represent camels. Of equal interest is the unmis-
takeable head of a hippopotamus in red pottery, found in the fourth

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

stratum on the Eastern .Hill (Fig. 5, 4). There is no reason t
consider this as other than local workmanship, and it is, perhap 3
evidence that the hippopotamus was once to be seen in rivers (such

q as the ‘Auje) accessible from Gezer. It will be remembered that
a tooth of this animal, now never found below the second catara ob
: of the Nile, was unearthed at Tell el-Hesy.

Fie. 5.—Figures of Animals.

A sherd with a serpent’s figure embossed upon it completes the

~ series of animal figures in pottery so far found.
, (2) The ‘Ashtéréth or mother-divinity plaques in terra-cotta,
. have already been referred to. With them should be classed the —
base of a statuette, found within the temple area. Evidently it —
represented a seated figure, the toes of whose (shod) feet still
remain; but the chair and the rest of the statuette are broken —
away. Perhaps the missing figure was similar to the Cyprian
goddess of fertility, several of whose statuettes were found in the —

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 45

rubbish heap at Tell es-SAfi.
feet, one in each corner.

(3) Turning now to the branches of the study of pottery, I may
say a few words on the painted ware, which is still occupying my
attention. Every characteristic fragment is being at least tem-
porarily retained for closer examination, A good many sherds
have thus been collected and classified ; but the great need is whole
vessels, or, at least, vessels which, like the bird-jar from Tell es-Safi,
can be put together and studied in their entirety. The nearest
approach to the fulfilment of this desideratum, excepting some
discoidal lentoid flasks! with simple spirals painted on the faces, has
been the set of fragments of the fine vase, Plate X. About half of
the upper part has been recovered ; the lower part is a con-
jectural restoration, corroborated by a perfect but less ornate
specimen of the same type, discovered after the plate was drawn.
The development shows the fragments available: those marked A,
though clearly belonging to the vessel, do not attach to any of
the remaining portions. The colours used are black and dark
Indian red. The latter has kept its colour very fairly, but the
black has faded, and in places is almost impossible to make out.
The painting is applied on a coarse yellow slip. The design
consists of frets, like those on Dipylon vases, with small birds
wnd large bird heads—the latter a curious anticipation of the
“erased” heads of medieval heralds. This vessel, which belongs
to stratum V, negatives the generalisation that bird-figures in
Palestinian coloured ware are painted black and animal figures red.

So far as I can see at present, there are four great classes into
which the painted pottery of Palestine can be divided. There is
(1) the type belonging to the Gezer-Lachish technique, which I
described in the last report, and which seems to be found at Tell
el-Hesy below the stratum of ashes ; (2) the type very fully
illustrated in the Shéphélah tells, found at Tell el-Hesy above
that critical date level ; (3) the type of fine, white bowls having
wish-bone handles with ladder-patterns upon them, called (rather
perilously) Pheenician ; and (4) the foreign importations from the
area of Mykenwan culture. The chronological inter-relations of
these types of painted ware is very difficult to make out. The
Gezer-Lachish type does not appear at all in the Shéphélah tells,

The pedestal was supported on four

" This kind of vessel has been termed a “ pilgrim-bottle ”’—an objectionable
term, on account of the involved anachronism.

3 6 9 wo

NOLLO3POUd NOIlvuOLsay®

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Palestine Exploration Fund. Pt. X

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3S¥A Q3YNDIDD

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——

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 45

but is almost exclusively found at Gezer and at Lachish, in the
pre-Israelite strata—that is, below the bed of ashes at Lachish,
and below the fifth stratum at Gezer. Contemporary with these
strata, however, the Shéphélah type appears in the Shéphélah
tells. It would seem that after the Israelite immigration the
Shéphélah type spread to the Gezer-Lachish tells, for it there
appears, to the exclusion of the other, in the Israelite strata
—i.e., in Lachish, apparently, in the fourth and fifth strata, in
Gezer in the fifth and (comparatively uncommonly) in the sixth.
That seems to date the close of the art at somewhere about the
sixth century B.c., for in the sixth city at Lachish (which does
not show this art) was found a sherd with some rough Old Hebrew
letters scratched upon it, whose outlandish forms have made them
a bone of contention to Semitic scholars. To me, at least, they
seem to be merely an illiterate potter’s attempt to imitate the
tomb stamped, for some as yet unknown reason, on certain sixth

or seventh century jar-handles. In the same city, it should be
remembered, was found a Greek inscription, which ought to be
published in facsimile, as it was, for epigraphic and chronological
purposes, perhaps the most important piece of writing found in
the tell.

The Mykenzan and so-called “Phoenician” styles are for the
most part found at Gezer, in the fourth and fifth strata, and thus
extend from a little before the Israelite immigration to some time
after it.

(4) A considerable number of vessels, found at all depths, with
filtering strainers for pouring in or out, seem to show that the
ancient inhabitants of Palestine were not so careless as their modern
fellah successors about drinking dirty water. There are also a
number of vessels of the same class, but for a different purpose.
These have a circular hole in the base, of a convenient size to be
stopped with the finger. If we may once more argue from modern
to ancient customs, these vessels may be termed oil purifiers. At
present, when it is desired to Separate a mixture of oil and water, the

fluid is poured into a vessel with a hole in the base, the hole being |
stopped up,

and is left until the water has Separated by its superior
weight from the oil. When the oil is seen to float on the water,

the stopper is gently withdrawn, and the water allowed to trickle

' See Bliss, MMC, pp. 102 seg., 183.

46 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

away; as soon as oil begins to exude from the hole, the stopper is
replaced, and the oil poured into a second vessel.

(5) The Seleucid or Maccabean city shows the pottery which
we know trom the fine collection brought together from Tell —
Sandahannah to have been characteristic of its period, although —
the small portion so far excavated does not hold out promise of so”
rich a harvest as rewarded the excavations at the former tell. The
characteristic forms recovered have been (1) the flat saucers on a
disc base, with edges generally recurved, and often with a red
wash covering the surface, inside and out, wholly or partially ; —
(2) the long narrow-necked and narrow-footed ointment bottles, |
which, from being frequently found in tombs have received the»
stupid popular name, “ tear-bottles”; (3) the closed lamps with —
embossed ornaments radiating round the oil-hole, and with a }
thumb-handle on the right hand side of the reservoir ; and (4) the
imported Greek bowls with stamped ornament upon them. Of the —
latter very few fragments have been found, and none of the fine —
jugs, such as were found at Tell Sandahannah, have come to light. —
The ware of the Seleucid period is absolutely unmistakeable, and —
even the smallest sherd can be recognised, as a general rule, from
its emitting a musical ring when struck.

(6) The last piece of pottery that need be alluded to in the
present report is a fragment of a barrel-shaped rattle, such as were —
found in considerable numbers at Tell Zakariya and Tell es-Safi.
These objects have usually been reckoned among children’s toys,
but I am inclined to think that this judgment requires reconsidera~
tion. One of the Tell es-Safi rattles was too large and heavy to be
comfortably manipulated by any child young enough to be amused
by such a toy—even in the childhood of the world—and the
discovery of the Gezer fragment inside the temple enclosure
raises the question whether these instruments did not rather
take the place of the «prada or castanets by which, according
to Lucian, the Hierapolis orgies were accompanied.

§ X.—MISCELLANEOUS OBJxcTs.

Jron.—In the last report I recorded the discovery of a few iron
objects, and showed that they could all be accounted for as
accidental importations. This explanation, however, is unnecessary,
for the discovery of a large iron knife, much corroded and broken,

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 47

just above the level of the temple floor, shows that the fifth
stratum—that is, the topmost stratum on the Eastern Hill—is well
within the iron age. Bronze is, however, the principal metal, and
most arrowheads and similar objects continue to be made of the
older material.

With this testimony agrees the results from Lachish. “ Objects
in iron occurred from the top of the mound down to the upper part
of city IV” (B. MMC. 105). The archeological evidence thus
tends to show that the introduction of iron into Palestine, or at any
rate into the Gezer-Lachish group of Palestinian occupations, was
contemporary with the Israelite immigration. Whether the know-
ledge of the metal was brought by the Israelites from Egypt, or
imported to the Philistines by sea-trade, and what commentators
will make of the Canaanites’ “ chariots of iron” which put difficulties
in the way of a complete Israelite conquest, are questions on which
I cannot enter. I can only state the archeological evidence so far
as it has been revealed by excavation.

Bone.—The discoveries in bone, though considerable in quantity,
have been of minor importance. A curious rude carved head from
the sixth stratum, and a fragment of a human figure wearing a
himation from the seventh, are the only objects of any particular
interest. To the list of animals whose bones have been found in |
the débris are to be added the buffalo, badger, and jerboa; to the i”
list of shells perforated for ornament, the cowrie and trochus. <A |
number of sea-shells (principally buccinuwm ; there are, however,
others, which I cannot identify) appear sporadically through the .
débris ; they show no sign of having been adapted for wear or
ornament, and may have been simply playthings ; my workmen
have occasionally asked my permission to take away some of these
unworked shells as playthings for their own children.

In the temple area, close to the foot of one of the stones, was
found a large handful of Anodonta shells. The foreman of the
works gave me an interesting piece of information as to the modern
use of friable shells of this kind. It seems that a fragment,
powdered between the fingers, is sometimes rubbed on a wound to

serve as a styptic. Possibly this may be a survival of ancient
folk-medicine.

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

§ XI.—ForEIGN OBJECTS.

Scarabs.—The harvest of scarabs and of scarab stamps on jar-
handles still continues fruitful, though the soil is not so rich in th
neighbourhood of the temple as it proved to be on the Eastern Hill.
They will all, with one exception, be seen to be of the same early
type as those illustrated in the last report. There is still the
disappointing absence of scarabs with royal names to record. They
are confined, as before, to the fourth and fifth strata. The one
exceptional scarab was found in the upper part of the sixth stratum.
It is a grotesquely rude production, with a ,dome-shaped back,
having no indication of the beetle upon it ; two rough horse-figures-
and some stars occupy the base. The whole is probably not
Egyptian, but a Phoenician or Syrian imitation.

Other Egyptian Objects—I have to record two green-enamelled —
paste figures of the wdt or Horus-eye, from the sixth stratum; a
pendant amulet with a figure of Isis, also from the sixth stratum;
and a carved stone figure of Hapi, from the fourth. The bronze
statuette of Osiris has already been mentioned, ,

Cylinder.—A second seal-cylinder, bearing on it figures of two
man-headed winged bulls, was found outside the city wall, north
of the temple. No archeological level can be assigned to it, as the

objects found round it were evidently thrown out at different
periods.

Rhodian Handles.—A considerable number of these have been
found, but the list is reserved, and will be printed all at once,
when the work is finished. No doubt many additions may still be
expected.

§ XI.—Cone.upine Summary.

I hold over descriptions of the city wall and of several minor
buildings inside the city, partly because I have no room left in the
present report to treat them with sufficient fulness, and partly
because there still remain questions connected with them to be
settled by excavation. I content myself, therefore, with mention-
ing a large stepped and plastered cistern or bath, associated with
fifth-stratum débris on the Eastern Hill, which I now incline to
regard as a Maccabean intrusion; a magnificent well or cistern,
with a shaft 9 feet across, which I have already cleared out toa
depth of 40 feet, and which seems to be descending indefinitely ;

REPORT OF THE EXCAVAT

ION OF GEZER. 49

two vaulted cisterns belonging to the Seleucid city near the temple ;
and a curious building divided into & number of small irregular

chambers, apparently a complicated grain store, part of which has
been uncovered,

I may mention here that I have
discovered and published about three
of Jerusalem. I grieve to have to report that in the interval some-
one has hammered away all of the Hebrew inscription, so that to
one not knowing the reading, and the exact place of each letter, it
would be completely illegible. The Greek part of the inscription is
intact. It has not, I think, been noticed that a fragment of a fence
of stones passes through the site of this inscription, as though the
“boundary of Gezer” had been marked, not only by these inserip-
tions, but by a row of small boulders encircling the mound and its
surrounding lands. I have tried to follow this row of boulders in
both directions, but the indication soon fails, owing to interruptions.
I still hope, however, to pick it up again at some other point, and
may be led, by its aid, to another of the boundary stones. The
fragment that remains is important as showing that the Dominicans’
inscription is not at a corner of the enclosure,

Apart from the discovery and partial excavation of the temple,
with the information it has given us on early Semitic religion,
probably the most important result of the last three months’
excavation has been the establishment of a definite system of
chronology, which agrees remarkably with the Biblical history of
Gezer in all save one respect, the inconsistency already mentioned
respecting the use of iron. Excepting this, a curious series of
correspondences has already been indicated in the foregoing report,
which may here be collected together in conclusion. A large
temple is found in a city, which, at the Israelite immigration, was
assigned to the Levites: as the Israelites were not 40 years’
distance from their orgiastic Worship of the golden calf, and as the
period during which the Jephthahs of Israel offered human sacrifices
to the God of Israel had yet many decades to run, probably the
temple, with its attendant rites and ceremonies, could pass from
Canaanite to Israelite with little or no modification. Further, the
temple area, till then empty, is suddenly encroached on, while still
retaining its sacred character, at a time corresponding with a
sudden change of occupation in the strikingly parallel mound of
Tell el-Hesy. This. can only mean that the population at that

visited the boundary stone,
years ago by the Dominicans

ti mn a

ee eee ee ———

—————E——— Sl

50 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

moment of time received a large increase, and accords well with the
fact recorded in Joshua, that the old population of Gezer was not
driven out, but reduced to servitude by conquerors who crowded
themselves into the city—already, probably, like all Oriental towns
and villages, overstocked with inhabitants. At a time seemingly
contemporary with the beginning of the monarchy the town is
as suddenly reduced by the depopulation of at least. one-third of
its area. It is practically impossible to avoid explaining this —
phenomenon by the massacre of the ancient Canaanite population —
under the Pharaoh whose daughter Solomon married. I should
have said before that there have been large fires in the fifth city,
but there is no definite burnt layer such as I expected to find when
I commenced to open the mound. This burnt layer is, however, no
longer necessary, for if these historical correlations stand, we shall
be provided with two neat date-levels which cannot fail to be of the
greatest value in unlocking whatever further secrets the mound
may have in store.

THE BODIES IN THE SECOND BURIAL CAVE.
By Professor ALEX. MACALISTER.

Or the 14 males two were immature, aged about 18 and 19 respee-
tively ; the others were full-grown adults, all but one under 40 years
of age. Of these the average stature was five feet five and a half
inches (166 em.), the extremes being five feet eight inches and —
five feet. Their bones showed that they were strongly built, as
the muscular markings were prominent. More than half had
flattened (platycnemic) tibie, and all but three showed the small
articular facets on the front of the ankle-end of the tibia which is
supposed to be associated with the habitual assumption of the
squatting posture.

The skulls are large, “well filled,” and capacious, mostly ellip-
soid ; but one resembles in every particular the pentagonoid skull
from the first burial cave described in the last report. ‘Two had
premature synostosis of the parietal bones. With two exceptions
they are moderately long, with an average index of 75, and fairly
uniform in appearance. Of the two exceptions which are broad-
headed, one is immature, the other does not differ in its other

—— ———
——— << COU

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 51
characters from its fellows. They are orthognathous, but the wide
jaw-arches are set with large, regular teeth. The noses are well
arched, and must have been fairly long and prominent ; they vary
somewhat in width, but are for the most part leptorhine. The
orbits are mostly low browed. The lower jaws are long, but only
two have pointed chins. On the whole they seem to be good
representative specimens of a race not unlike the present-day Arab,
The body of the girl had been cut through at the eighth
thoracic vertebra, and as the front ends of the ribs had been
divided at this level it is plain that the section had been made
while as yet the bones were supported by the soft parts. The
most careful search of the whole cave failed to discover a fragment
of the body below this level. She was about 16 years of age, and
probably about five feet two inches in height, with a fairly broad
skull (the frontal suture being still open) and megaseme orbits.
There was not any characteristic sufficiently distinctive whereby
it could be ascertained whether she belonged to the same race as
the men or no. My general impression, however, is that she did.

SSS

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.
By Major-General Sir C. W. Witson, K.C.B., F.R.S., R.E., &e.

(Continued from p. 384, October, 1902.)}

4. HADRIAN, on the suppression of the rebellion, was able to
carry out his project of rebuilding

Jerusalem ; and in A.p. 136, the
year in which he celebrated his vicennalia,’ the new city was
dedicated to Jupiter Capitolinus, and made a Roman colony under
the title Colonia Alia Capitolina?

The size of the city is unknown,
but it was probably surrounded by

a wall® which excluded the
southern portion of the Western spur,

and included the traditional
sites of Golgotha and the Tomb. Hadrian ado

* The twentieth year of his reign. On these festivals,
only been celebrated by Augustus and Trajan,
dedicate new cities, or to rename old ones.

* lia, from lius Hadrianus, and Capitolina, in honour of the god to
whom the city was dedicated.

* The present city wall is generally supposed to follow, approximately, the
line of that of Hadrian,

rned the new colony

which previously had
it was customary to build or

a — ——— a Pe

:) ie oe = = “I _ 7
' op ‘ : Ma, ale “ad ih tat fsa, ;

. a ig ; c: , : ;

59
“he GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

> nae! magnificent buildings, for which much of the material was ~
obtained from the ruins of the Temple, palaces, &c.' a

On the site once occupied by the Temple of Jehovah the Emperor —
epee Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus (Dio. Cass. LXIX, 12), —_ .
within it placed statues of himself? and of Jupiter, who was
beilds . *% the guardian deity of the city. Amongst other 7
buildings attributed to Hadrian are two public baths, a theatre,
two market Places, a Trikameron, and others called Tetranymphon, 7
hogy au Dodekapylon (Chron. Pasch.).2 On the gate which led
ae Bethlehem Was sculptured a boar, the fifth in rank of the sigh
” of the Roman army, and probably connected with the
Tenth Legion,4

The constitution of Allia was that of a Roman colony ; and —
the city was divided into seven quarters, each having its head-man, —
Jews were excluded by stringent laws. They were forbidden to
enter under pain of death. Guards were stationed to prevent their
entrance, and they were not allowed even to gaze upon the city
from a distant height.5 Pagans and Christians alone were allowed —
to reside in the city, and the magnificence of the colony was of
an essentially pagan character. The chief religious worship was
shat of Jupiter Capitolinus, but on the coins,® Bacchus, Serapis,
Venus or Astarte, and the Dioscuri, are represented as deities of
the city. When or by whom the later temples were erected it is
Impossible to say. On the ground now occupied by the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre stood a temple with regard to which
there appear to have been two distinct traditions—one Greek, the
other Latin. The first is that unknown persons erected a temple
of Aphrodite above the Tomb of Christ ; the second that Hadrian

' Eusebius, Dem. Ev., viii, 3 (see Appendix 1).

* The Bordeaux P ilgrim (Ztin. Hierosol.) mentions two statues of
Hadrian ; Jerome, in Es., ii, 8, a statue of Jupiter and one of Hadrian; and
in Mat. xxiv, 15, an equestrian statue of the Emperor. Possibly there was a
statue in the temple, and an equestrian statue in the precincts. An inscription
in the south wall of the Harim esh-Sherif probably belonged to one of them.

% See Appendix 2. t

4 See Clermont-Ganneau, Trois Inscriptions de la Xeme Légion Fretensis ;
Horus et St. Georges ; Etudes d’ Arch. Or., i, 90, for the boar of the 10th
Legion. teins a
5 Sulp. Sev., H.S. ii, 31 (see Appendix 3). The prohibition was still in
force early in the third century, and does not appear to have been relaxed

until the reign of Constantine, oe ;
6 The coins range from A.D, 136 to the reign of Hostilian, A.p, 251-252. ;

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

> J
vo

set up (whether in a temple or not is not directly stated) a statue
of Venus on the spot where Christ suffered, and a statue of Jupiter
above the Tomb.

The Greek tradition is in general agreement with the statement
of Eusebius (A.D. 260-339)—the only writer on the subject who
could have seen the temple before it was demolished to make room

for Constantine’s churches. In his Life of Constantine (iii, 26),
Eusebius says! that certain ungodly and impious persons covered up
the Tomb and built, on

a paved floor above it, “a gloomy shrine ”
to Aphrodite, thinking that they would thereby conceal the truth.
Sozomen (375-450) states (H.E. ii, 1) that the Tomb and Golgotha
were covered up by pagans who had formerly persecuted the Church,
and that the whole place was enclosed by a wall and paved. The
pagans erected a “temple” to Aphrodite, and set up “a little
image,” so that those who went to worship Christ would appear to
bow the knee to Aphrodite. Socrates (0. 379) relates (HL. i, 17)
that those who hated Christianity covered the Tomb with earth on
which they built a temple of Aphrodite with her image. In the

later tradition of Alexander Monachus (De Invent. Sanct. Crucis),
who wrote in the sixth century, the holy places are covered up by
the Jews, and the

temple and statue of Aphrodite are the work of
idolaters of later date.

The Latin tradition rests upon the authority of writers who,
although some of them may have conversed with old men who
had seen the temple when young, had no personal knowledge of
the “holy places” before their isolation from the surrounding
rock by Constantine’s architect. So far, then, as they contradict
Eusebius one cannot give them the preference. Rufinus (345-410),
who does not mention a temple, says (H.E. x, 7) that an image
of Venus had been set up by the ancient persecutors on the
spot where Christ had hung upon the cross, so that if any
Christian came to worship Christ, he might appear to be
worshipping Venus. Jerome (346-420) writes, circ. 395 (Ep. ad

Paulinum), that from the time of Hadrian

to the reign of
_ Constantine, there stood

a statue of Jupiter in the place of the
Resurrection, and one of Venus, in marble, on the rock of the Cross,
which was worshipped by the people. “The instigators of the
persecution thought that they would take away our faith in the
Tesurrection and the cross if they defiled the holy places with idols.”

' See Appendix 4; the references in other authors will be given later.

Pp f°

(

54 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

Paulinus of Nola (353-431), writing to Severus, says (Ep. XXxt)
that Hadrian, “ imagining that he could kill the Christian faith by
defacing the place, consecrated an image of Jupiter on the site of
the Passion.” Sulpitius Severus (363-420) states that images of
demons were set up both “in the temple and in the place where the
Lord suffered.” Ambrose (b. ci7c. 340) says, in a doubtful passage
(in Ps, xlvii), that Christ suffered in the Venerarium (7.¢., the
place where the statue of Venus was set up).

The conflicting statements of the Greek and Latin writers may,
perhaps, be reconciled by supposing that during the early part of
Constantine’s reign the traditional sites of Golgotha and the Tomb
were covered and hidden from view by an artificial platform, upon
which, immediately above the Tomb, stood a temple of Venus
(Aphrodite)! containing statues of the goddess and of Jupiter (Zeus).
That in the latter part of the reign, Constantine’s architect, who
cut away the rock to obtain a level platform for the two great
churches, left the two “holy places” standing up from the floor
as separate masses of limestone. And that in after years, when
the size and internal arrangement of the temple were forgotten, this
isolation gave rise to the idea that each holy place had been inten-
tionally defiled by the erection upon it of a statue of a heathen
deity.* It may perhaps be inferred, from the discrepancy between
Jerome and Paulinus with regard to the statue on the rock of
the Cross, that there was no very definite tradition when they
wrote.

The statements respecting the origin of the temple cannot be
reconciled, The expressions “ gloomy shrine”*® and “ impious
persons,” used by Eusebius, convey the impression that he intended
to describe a small temple, and not a building erected by Imperial
command, When Eusebius wrote no one would have presumed
to call one of the emperors an impious person. On the other

1 T see no reason to doubt the accuracy of the Greek and Latin writers with
regard to the deity. Ina Roman colony a temple of Venus would be more
natural than one dedicated to Astarte, and Eusebius would probably have
mentioned the Syrian goddess if the building had been erected in her honour,
The coins bearing a supposed representation of a temple of Astarte are no
proof that that particular temple stood above the Tomb.

2 The original form of the ground, and the distance apart of Golgotha and
the Tomb, seem to exclude the theory that they were included in one temple,

‘and that each had its special statue.

% exdérios uvxés ; Socrates and Sozomen use the usual word rads.

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRRE. 55

hand, the statement that the material for the substructures was
obtained from some place outside the city (¢fwodv), and that the
shrine stood on a paved platform, scarcely supports the view that
the building was insignificant. Hadrian, whose name is mentioned
in connection with the “holy places” by no Greek writer, is first
introduced by Jerome and Paulinus, who wrote 60-70 years after
the temple had been demolished. There is no proof that he built
the temple of Venus; that he erected any temple at a place
known in his time as Golgotha; or that he intended to build
one above the tomb of Christ. It is very unlikely that Hadrian,
who had confirmed and extended Trajan’s policy of leniency
towards the Christians, and who muct have known how they had
been persecuted by the Jews for not taking part in the revolt,
would have intentionally insulted them by building a temple above
the Tomb, or by setting up statues above the Tomb and the site
of the Passion. On the other hand, it would be not unlike the
ironical spirit of the Emperor to extend contemptuous toleration
to those he considered wretched fanatics, and at the same time
to cover up their holy places as a sort of sarcastic jest. It must
also be remembered that Hadrian zealously patronised the Greeco-
Roman religious rites ; and that, in erecting temples in the Oriental
provinces of the empire his purpose was that they should act as
constant reminders of the cult of Rome, and of the connexion
between the provinces‘and the metropolis. The Emperor built the
great temple of Venus and Rome at the capital, and temples of

Venus at other places ; and it is not unre

asonable to suppose that
he built one at Jerus

built alem in addition to the temple of Jupiter
Capitolinus (see p.52). If he did build a temple of Venus, the

probability seems to be that the selection of the Tomb as its site
was not intentional. The argument that because a temple of
Jupiter was built on the site of the Temple, and a temple of Venus
stood above the Tomb, the latter site was regarded by the Christians
as a sacred place is unsound.

All authorities concur in the opinion that the defilement of the
“holy places” was intentional ; and admitting, for the sake of
argument, that the positions of Golgotha and the Tomb were
known ! to Christians, Jews, and Pagans, it is quite conceivable that
an attempt was made to cover them up and defile them during some
period of persecution. If this was the case, the defilement was

! For the discussion of this question, see p. 57, ef seq.

aye ea) eee 5 en | ee

56 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. “a

probably a spontaneous act on the part of the local authorities at a 4
later period than the reign of Hadrian, and not due to an Imperial —
rescript. 4

5. Little is known of the history of lia! during the period —
A.D. 136-326. With the foundation of the new city the Jerusalem —
Church lost its distinctive Judeo-Christian character. Henceforward,
under a succession of Gentile bishops, it was to fall more and more ~

under the influence of Greek thought and sentiment. Not only —
did the Christians become more sharply separated from the Jews, 4
but the Church eventually branded as heretics those Judzo- —
Christians, such as the Nazarenes or Ebionites, who held to the —
law, and rejected Paul as an exponent of Christianity. Even the —
place upon which the Temple of Jehovah had stood was, in course 4
of time, regarded as profane. .

The Christians no doubt suffered during the several persecu- _
tions, but they do not appear to have been specially molested. The
long tenure of the Jerusalem bishopric by Narcissus (A.p. 190-222 ) 3; =
the foundation by his successor, Alexander (A.D. 213-251), of a ©
library which was extant in the time of Eusebius (4.Z., vi, 20)? am
the collection of books and manuscripts formed by Origen at —
Cesarea (A.D, 231-253); and the pilgrimage of a lady mentioned _
by Cyprian,’ indicate that the Church grew and prospered in spite —
of persecution. Nothing occurred that would have led Christians,
who knew the positions of Golgotha and the Tomb, to forget
them. |
In Jewish tradition, however, there may have been a break. |
Except, possibly, during the later years of the reign of Septimius —
Severus (A.D. 193-211), the order forbidding Jews to approach the —
city was strictly enforced, and there was no relaxation until the ~
reign of Constantine. During this long period of 190 years the
Jews may well have forgotten the exact positions of places that
were of no special interest to them, although, possibly, a general
idea of the direction in which they lay may have survived.

' The neme lia so completely supplanted Jerusalem, that a Governor of
Palestine, in the reign of Diocletian, is said to have asked what city the latter
was (Eusebius, De Mart. Pal., xi). Eusebius in his History calls the city
Aélia, and in his Life of Constantine Jerusalem. For some years after
Constantine’s reign the two names were used together. aS

? Migne, Pat. Gr. xx, col. 572, Alexander was bishop coadjutor until
the death of Narcissus.

* Ep.75. Migne, Pat. Lat,, iii. col. 1,164,

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. D7

6. The brief epitome of the history of Jerusalem, which has
been given above, strongly suggests the conclusion that if Golgotha
and the Tomb were regarded by the early Christians as “holy
places,” or as of any special importance, the Church would have
experienced no difficulty in preserving « knowledge of their positions
until they were officially recovered by order of Constantine.
Whether the attitude of the early Christians towards those places
was such as to encourage the belief that the knowledge was
preserved is another question. It is also apparent that, until the
foundation of Allia in A.p. 136, nothing occurred to break the
continuity of any Jewish tradition connected with Golgotha.

Lhe Attitude of the Hurly Christians towards Golgotha and the Tomb.
point is beset with difficulties. There
y writer prior to the age of Constantine,
the faintest shadow of a hint that the early
Christians held the places of the Crucifixion and Burial in any
special honour, that they offered prayers to God at them, or that
they even knew where they were situated. This silence, which
has thrown open a wild field for speculation, is suggestive, but
not conclusive. At one extreme is the view of Chateaubriand,!

that the Holy Sepulchre was honoured, under the name Martyrion,

from the very birth of Christianity

The discussion of this
is not in the works of an
so far as I am aware,

ns the risen Lord was every-

eén the two extremes lies the
suggestion * that, although there was no special cult of the Holy

Sepulchre in the first centuries of Christianity, it may well have
happened that the small Christian community of Jerusalem, which
was at enmity with and hated by the whole world, preserved the
memory of places round which al] their hopes of the fulfilment of
prophecy were gathered. In which direction does probability lie? .
The first Christians were J ews, and this question must be considered

" Itin. de Paris a Jérusalem,

> Unger,
‘Jerusalem, p

* Introduction.”

Die Bauten Constantin’s des Grossen am heiligen Grabe zu
Pp. 20,21. See also Guthe, Art. “Grab, das heilige,” in Hauck’s
Real. Encyk, Jiir Prot. Theol., 3rd edition. Even if the first Christians, as
spiritual followers of Christ, attached no importance to the scene of the

Resurrection, it would have. been contrary to human nature and custom to have
forgotten it.

FS ae ee Se ee ae” > s

58 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

from the Judeo-Christian rather than from the Hellenic or Latin |
point of view.

Little is known of the rites and customs of the Jews connected
with the burial of the dead ; but it is at least certain that every Jew
attached great importance to burial in the family tomb ;! and this
suggests the belief that the disciples and friends of Jesus did not
intend the sepulchre of Joseph to be His permanent resting-place,
The body was placed in it* because they were pressed for time,—the ~
Sabbath was nigh, and the tomb was close at hand. According to
John (xix, 39, 40) the body when taken down from the Cross was
bound “in linen clothes with the spices, as the custom of the Jews
is to bury”; and the preparation for burial, though hurried, was
apparently complete.? Matthew, Mark, and Luke state that the
body was wrapped by Joseph in a linen sheet, but mention no
spices. All four Evangelists describe the visit of the women to the
Sepulchre on the first Sunday morning: Mark says that “ when the j
Sabbath was past ” the women “ bought spices that they might come
and anoint him”; Luke states that, after the entombment they
“returned and prepared spices and ointments,” and that on the
first day “they came unto the tomb, bringing the spices which they
had prepared.” Matthew and John do not allude to the spices.*
The body was apparently laid on the rock-hewn bench which
surrounded the ante-chamber ;° it was certainly not placed in a
loculus.

1 There was a common belief that if a Jew wished to be reunited with his
family in Sheol, he must be buried in the family sepulchre. Even the bones
of an executed criminal were removed from the common tomb to the family
vault when the decomposition of the body was complete (Quarterly Statement,
1902, p. 142, note 1).

2 Possibly Joseph, in begging the body from Pilate and placing it in his
own grave, intended to save it from the indignity of burial in the common
tomb, and to mark his profound feeling of respect for Jesus (cf. Gen. xxiii, 6;
2 Ch. xxiv, 16).

% For what is known of Jewish burial customs, and their application to the
question of Christ’s burial, see articles by Bender in Jewish Quarterly Review, —
vols. 6 and 7; articles on Anointment, Burial, Tombs, Dead, Mourning
Customs, &c., in Smith’s D.B.; Hastings’ D.B.; and Hncyc. Bib. ; and Revue r
Biblique, 1902, pp. 567, 568. .

4 Matt. xxvii, 59; xxviii, 1; Mark xv, 46; xvi,1; Luke xxiii, 53; xxiv, 1s
John xix, 39, 40; xx, 1.

5 Such ante-chambers are common in the rock-hewn tombs of Palestine, and
according to Cyril (Cat. xiv., 9; Migne, Pat. Gr. xxiii, col, 833), the
traditional Holy Sepulchre had one, which was cut away when the church was —

built.

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 59

The usual explanations of the visit of the women are, that they
intended to complete the burial by anointing the body and clothing
it in the usual grave-clothes, or that they simply desired to spread
spices over the. body to counteract the effect of decomposition
before the body was placed in a loculus. The anointment of a
lacerated body which had lain in the tomb 36 hours—a_ period
sufficient for incipient decomposition (cf. John xi, 39), is most
unlikely, and is opposed to the little that is known of Jewish
sentiment and custom. The other explanation is less open to
objection ; but it seems at least as probable that the motive of the
women was the preparation of the body for removal in a bier
(copes, Luke vii, 14) to a family tomb, either at Bethany,
Bethlehem, or on the slopes of the Mount of Olives.

The first Christians “had all things in common,”
«us were possessors of lands or houses sold them,
prices of the things that were sold, and laid the
feet” (Acts ii, 44, 45; iv, 34, 35 a a
was a secret disciple of Christ (Joh
tradition, he was one of those who went out as a missionary to the
Gentiles. There is no reason to suppose that he acted differently
to other Christians, and it is probable, if not certain, that, like
Joseph, surnamed Barnabas,! he sold his property, including the
garden and tomb, for the benefit of the common purse.

Visits to family tombs were not uncommon amongst the Jews.
They were a tribute to the memory of those members of the family
buried in the sepulchre, and were not unconnected with current
beliefs respecting the dead. But a visit by a Jew, or by a Judeo-
Christian, to an empty tomb for the purpose of prayer, is almost
inconceivable in the early days of Christianity. Apart from this, it
was the general belief amongst the first Christians that Jesus was

alive, that He had been raised by God, and had become a heavy
being (“ He is risen,”

and “as many
and brought the
m at the Apostles’
1-11). Joseph of Arimathea
n xix, 38), and, according to

enly
“He is ascended into heaven ”); and many
eagerly expected His immediate return to reign on earth, and so
complete the death and resurrection. The early Christians needed
no prayers at an empty tomb to remind them of their risen Lord,
and it is not probable that they paid visits to places which, to those

who had known Jesus in human form, must have been full of
painful memories,

' The special mention of Barnabas is, perhaps, due to the fact that he was
afterwards a companion of Paul,

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE,

Any cult of the Tomb during the early years of Christianity
4 seems impossible,! but a change may perhaps have occurred after the —
4 return from Pella. The Jewish believers at Jerusalem maintained —
i that a strict observance of the Mosaic law in its literal sense was —
essential to Christianity ; ; their chief place of worship was the ©
Temple (Acts ii, 46, xxi, 20-26); and, in greater or less measure, :
they adhered to the national and political forms of Judaism. After
the destruction of the Temple, the law and tradition became every-_
thing to the Jew. What was the effect of the national disaster
upon the Jewish believers? ‘The Jerusalem Church lost its ~
supremacy, but its members continued to regard compliance with
the ceremonial law as essential, and efforts to impose the yoke of
the law upon Gentile Christians did not cease until the third
century.” The cessation of the Temple services probably led to a
q development of meetings for prayer in private houses (Acts i, 14;
4 xii, 12), and in the synagogues or churches. No one can suppose
that the rulers of the reconstructed church at- Jerusalem sanctioned —
prayers at the Tomb, or anything in the form of a cult of “holy —
places.” At that early period the spirituality of Christianity had —
not so completely expended its force as to render such an act
probable or even possible. A

It cannot be denied, however, that the return from Pella was—
an occasion which might reasonably give rise to visits to those
places which were connected with the last days of Christ’s life at—
Jerusalem. Such visits, due at first, perhaps, to curiosity, to a
desire to see whether the operations of the great siege had altered
the appearance of the localities, may in later years have been —
supplemented by prayers, and these simple acts may have gradually
i _ developed into a cult of Golgotha and the Tomb. There is, how-—
ever, no evidence that any development, such as that suggested, —
took place ; and there is nothing in the scanty records of pilgrimages —
before the Council of Nicxea (A.D. 325) to suggest its probability.2

1 Especially if, as has been suggested above, Joseph’s tomb was never —
/ intended to be the permanent resting place of Christ’s Body, and had, shortly —
after the Ascension, passed into other (non-Christian) hands. ‘a
° 2 For the Judwo-Christians and “Jewish Christianity,” sce Harnachl {
History of Dogma, Eng. ed., i, 289-801; Ersch and Gruber, Ali. Zacyk. der — a
Wissenschaften u. Kiinste, Art. ‘‘Juden-Christen”; Williams’ Holy City, i, 3

217-224. :

As those who had known Christ in human form died, and His divinity

more and more filled the thoughts of men, a cult of the Tomb seems less and —

less possible. .

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, 61

A more reasonable supposition is th

to the Mount of Olives, where Christ taught his disciples, and
whence He ascended into heayen ; and there are some grounds for
believing that this was the case. Eusebius, in a passage of great
interest, written before A.p. 325, says that people came from all
parts of the earth to the Holy City, “to hear the story of
Jerusalem,” and to « worship on the Mount of Olives, over against
Jerusalem, whither the glory of the Lord removed itself, leaving
the earlier city.” It is true that the historian describes what
occurred in his own time ; but worship on Olivet was evidently of
earlier origin,? and may have grown out of the visits which were
almost certainly paid to the mount by the Christians who returned
from Pella. There is no feature near Jerusalem to which a resident
would more naturally resort to note the changes that had taken
place during his temporary absence, or to point out to a friend the
sites connected with the historic Jesus. The city, exposed to view
in all its details, lies at the feet of the spectator. Is it not also a
fair inference, from the absence of any allusion to the Tomb by
Eusebius, that the place of Christ’s burial was not known when he
wrote; or, at any rate, that it was not a “ holy place ” ?

It is most improbable that visits to, or any cult of, the Tomb
originated with the early Gentile Christians. The whole spirit of
Paul’s teaching is opposed to the view that they attached any
importance to material objects connected with the life of Christ, It
is of the Risen Lord that Paul speaks, rather than of the historic
Jesus. The Christ of the Epistles is “not an earthly but a heavenly
figure.” To the early Christians it was not of pressing importance
“to be acquainted with the life of Jesus on the earth.” Their
thoughts “were fixed on the heavenly Christ, in whose career the
earthly appearance of Christ was a mere transitory, though an
important, episode.”® Their minds were set “‘on things that are
«bove, not on the things that are upon the earth.”* Even the

at the Christians resorted

1 Dem. Ev., vi, 18, see Appendix (5).

* According to Eusebius, see Appendix (5), “ God established it, in the place
of the earthly Jerusalem and of the services which used to be held there, after
the destruction of J erusalem.”

* Menzies, The Earliest Gospel, pp. 6-9, where the attitude of the early
Christians is well] put. See also Harnack, /.c., pp. 82-87,

* Bovet takes a different view :—‘‘ It is true that such was the point of view
of St. Paul, and- doubtless of the other Apostles. But one would deceive
oneself if one attributed the same spirituality to the masses which, from

——

62 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

earthly Jerusalem had given place to that of which it is written,
« Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.”
No record of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, during the first three
centuries, by any Christian from the West has survived ; but
Eusebius states! that Alexander, a Cappadocian bishop, who suc-
ceeded Narcissus as Bishop of Jerusalem, visited the Holy City,
cive. AD. 212, “in consequence of a vow, and for the sake of
information in regard to its places” (7@v torwv istopéas). Origen
went to Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and Sidon (A.D. 226-253),
partly, at least, to investigate the footsteps of Jesus and of his
disciples and of the prophets ;? and in the time of Eusebius pilgrims
visited Jerusalem to hear the story of the city, and to worship on the
Mount of Olives (see p. 61). The Cave of the Nativity at Bethlehem
is referred to by Origen,® and Eusebius alludes* to the cave on
Olivet near which Christ taught his disciples. The site of the house —
at which the Apostles met after the Ascension appears also to have”
been known, and to have been occupied by a church which, according”
to a fourth-century tradition, existed in the reign of Hadrian.2 No
other sacred localities are mentioned. The absence of any allusion
to Golgotha or the Tomb, in passages such as the above, which
might naturally be expected to contain some reference to them,
is most marked, and suggests that their exact positions were —
' unknown to the writers, or that they attached no importance to
/ them.
The attitude of Christians during the first three centuries to —
Golgotha and the Tomb is, in truth, a matter upon which no one

can speak with any certainty. I can only express my personal —

belief that sacred localities, as we deem them, had little attraction —

to the early Christians; that the Jerusalem Church attached no ~

Pentecost onwards, composed the Christian Church.... One might with
much more reason suppose that the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem already
attached a particular interest, perhaps even an exaggerated importance, to
the sacred places in their midst” (Voyage en Terre Sainte, 3rd edition,
pp- 193, 194).

1 H.E., vi, 11, § 2.

* Origen, in Joan vi, 24; Migne, Pat. Gr. xiv, col. 269; Hom. iu
Josh, xvi, 2.

3 Contra Celsum i, 51; Migne, Pat. Gr. xi, col. 756.

4 Dem. Ev. vi, 18, see Appendix (5).

° Epiphanius, De Mens. et Pond, xv, Migne; Pat. Gr. xliii, col. 261. This
may well have been the case if the house was on the western spur outside
the limits of the Roman Camp (Quarterly Statement, 1902, p. 380).

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 63

importance to them; that no steps were taken to preserve a know-
ledge of the position of those connected with the Crucifixion and
Resurrection ; that the Church would have discouraged anything in
the nature of reverence to the Tomb ; and that, even amongst the
less spiritual-minded members of the community, the survival of a
tradition relating to Golgotha and the Tomb is improbable, although
not, perhaps, impossible. The Christians of the first century, at least,
could hardly fail to remember the great principle of their Master’s
teaching: “The hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor
in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. . God is a Spirit :

and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth ”
(John iv, 21-24),

APPENDIX.

(1) Evsesius (Dem. Ev. viii, 3).—-“ Therefore shall Zion for your sake
be plowed as a field, and J erusalem shall become heaps ” (Micah iii, 12),
which prophecy was neyer truly fulfilled at any time except after they
dared to do violence to our Saviour. From that time to this present day
these places have lain utterly desolate, and the Mount Sion, which once
was the most famous of them all—instead of the ancient meditations
and practice of the prophetic and divine oracles which aforetime were
set forth in that place with great zeal by Hebrews, men who walked with
God, prophets, priests, and rulers of the whole nation—now differs in
nothing from the country round about it, and is ploughed and tilled by
Romans, and we ourselves have see

n the Jabour of the oxen and the
For Jerusalem, being inhabited by strangers, even at this

who gather them, seeing that all those who
n collect stones from her ruins, both from
uildings, and we may see with our eyes the
es being taken from the Temple itself, and
Holy of Holies itself (rods e€€ adrod rod tepoo
dyiav XiGous), to build shrines for idols and
where all the people may assemble. These things
ll men, clearly prove that the New Law and the New

ted by our Saviour Jesus Christ has departed from
ut. Gr, xxii, col. 636).

private and from public b
saddest of all sights—ston
from what cnce was the
Kal airav tTév adirey Kai
places for shows,
being beheld by a
Testament institu
thence (Migne, P<

(2) Chronicon Paschale, a.p. 119,
Jews revolted, and Adrian went
captive, went to the
(maviyyupts), H
Those who we
sold them, TT

—In the time of these consuls the
to Jerusalem. He took the Jews

place called the Terebinth, and held an assembly
e sold them for slaves at the

re left he took to Gaza,
hat assembly is to this d

price of a horse per man.
and there held an assembly and
ay called Adrian’s assembly. He

ices ts, ra Sek Ce ae . - "
zh rasa 7 ool: ae pe eee
be 2 4 at. rd o

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

two
the Kodra, and he divided the city into seven quarters, and appointed a

head-man for each quarter, and each quarter is called by the name of its —

head-man to this day. He also gave his own name to the city, and called
(Migne, Pat. Gr.

(3) Sunprrrus Severus (Hist. Sac. ii, 31).—At this time Adrian, —

it ADlia, seeing that he was named lius Adrianus.
xcii, cols. 613, 616.)

thinking that he would destroy the Christian faith by inflicting an_
injury upon the place, set up the images of daemons, both in the temple

pulled down the temple (vaés) of the Jews at Jerusalem and built the —
public halls (or market places), the theatre, the Trikameron, the | :

Tetranymphon, and the Dodekapylon, formerly called the “Steps,” and —

and in the place where the Lord suffered. And because the Christians _
were thought principally to consist of Jews (for the Church at Jerusalem
did not then have a priest except of the circumcision), he ordered a cohort _

of soldiers to keep constant guard, in order to prevent all Jews from —
.. Mark from among the Gentiles was

approaching to Jerusalem. . .

then, first of all, bishop at Jerusalem. (From Wace and Schaff, Vicene

and post-Nicene Fathers, vol. xi; Migne, Pat. Lat. xx, cols. 146, 147.

See also Just. Mart., Apol. i, 47; Tertullian, Adv. Jud. xv; Eusebius,

Theophania, p. 249.)

(4) Eosrsius (Vit, Const. iii, 26).—For impious men (or, rather, the
whole race of evil spirits by their means) set themselves to consign —

to hide from the eyes of men, foolishly imagining that they would in
some such way as this conceal the truth. Having expended much labour
in bringing in earth from outside (¢£@@¢v), they cover up the whole place 3

to darkness and oblivion that Divine monument of immortality ....
This cave of salvation did certain ungodly and impious persons determine

and then, having raised this to a moderate height, and having paved it —
with stone, they entirely conceal the Divine cave beneath a massive —

mound. Next.... they prepare above-ground a dreadful thing, a
veritable sepulchre of souls, building to the impure demon, called —

Aphrodite, a gloomy shrine of lifeless idols, and offering their foul
oblations on profane and accursed altars. For in this way only... .
did they suppose that they would accomplish their purpose, even by
concealing the cave of salvation by means of those detestable abomina-

tions.
Society series ; Migne, Pat. Gr. xx, col. 1085.) a

(5) Evsestus (Dem. Ev. vi, 18).—This Mount of Olives is said to stand

over against Jerusalem, that is, answering to it, because God established _

it in the place of the earthly Jerusalem and of the services which used to
be held there, after the destruction of Jerusalem. .... This we may
see, from another point of view, fulfilled to the letter evén to this day,
when all believers in Christ flock together from all quarters of the earth,
not as of old to behold the beauty of Jerusalem, or that they may

worship in the former temple which stood in Jerusalem, but that they

i
os
*

(From Churches of Constantine in Jerusalem, Pal. Pilgrims’ Text —

: wie
ee
. = =

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 65

may abide there, and both hear the story of Jerusalem and also worship
in the Mount of Olives over against Jerusalem, whither the glory of
the Lord'removed itself, leaving the earlier city. There also, according
to the published record, the feet of our Lord and Saviour, who was Himself
the Word, and through it took upon Himself human form, stood upon the
Mount of Olives; near the cave which is now pointed out there. There
He prayed, and on the top of the Mount of Olives communicated the
mysteries of the Christian covenant, and from thence also He ascended
into heaven, as we are taught by Luke in the Acts of the Apostles.
(Migne, Pat. Gr. xxii, col. 457, 458).

THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

By Puiuip G. BALDENSPERGER, Esq.

INTRODUCTION.

Witi but few exceptions, Palestine has remained what it was since
the days when first we hear of its existence: ‘“ The land that I will
shew thee” (Gen. xii, 1). In the following description great pains
have been taken to describe the manners, customs, everyday
objects, clothes, and so forth of the people of the Holy Land,
“ Makadsy,” as they are styled by Arabic-speaking people out of
the country, and to compare them with those of the former
inhabitants—the Jews (Jehtid), not excluding the earlier dwellers
in the land.

The most striking feature in the East, especially to the traveller,
is the difference in the clothing of the various classes, which almost
make them seem like separate nations, from the serene Effandi,! in
his fur overcoat and spotless white turban, to the spare and almost
naked Bedawy, in his short shirt and almost colourless and dirty
Keffiyeh. or headcloth. The Franjy appears here and there in the
towns, and is at once recognised, not merely by his European
clothing, which has been generally adopted, but more especially by
his hat, the hated burneitah. Franjy, a corruption of Frank, was
the official name of Roman Catholics or Western Christians.
Protestants were unknown to the masses up to the time of the

‘(Or rather, Effendi, as the word is more commonly known. It is the
Greek a}@iyrns in Turkish garb. |

es ee oe ee eS eS ae

THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

66
Crimean War, and still in some degree up to as late as 1870. The

Russians or Moskéb are known as the ancient enemies of the Empire.

The Armenians are Turkish subjects.
nations of the West became known, first in the towns, and then in
a few villages around important centres ; but to the mass of the

people, and especially in out-of-the-way villages, the Christians are —

known only as Nassira, or Nazarenes, a nation opposed to Islam.

The Crimean War showed the French and English as separate —
nations, although the English had already become known in —

Jerusalem by the establishment of the Anglican bishopric, and
Protestants were all termed Ingliz. The Austrians are designated
by the name of Namsa, which was formerly also the generic name
for the Germans. The Spaniards and Italians made known their

existence, the former by the Spanish pillar dollar (oss 4! SL >

so current some thirty or forty years ago, and the latter by the —

Franciscan schools. The ‘ Mallakan,” or Americans, became
known through the settlers, who were forerunners of the Germans, —

at Jaffa, and the latter, together with the fame of the Franco- |
German War, changed the name Namsa into Brussian. The latest —

comers were the Jewish settlers, who began to arrive about 1880,
owing to their persecution in Russia. In the country districts —

the Jehid were before known only as pilgrims, with their long —

flowing garments, their curls on their temples, and their dirty

woebegone appearance. They now appear in a new style, which —
has brought them up to the level of Christian settlers, and ~

through all these movements the people of the country have

become aware that many nations exist beyond the seas, each speak-

ing a different language from their own, and belonging to different
ereeds. But all these are “outlanders,”’ and have, in reality,
nothing to do with the older inhabitants of the country—the
Makadsy, Jews, and Canaanites. Meanwhile the Christian in-

digenous population also have emancipated themselves to some —

extent, by wearing the tarbish without the turban, and by taking
to the European mode of clothing, the hat alone excepted. This
national feature, the farbish, marks the great line of distinction, the
watershed, as it were, between Orientals and Occidentals.

As the country is gradually being improved, it is necessary to
ck for a moment to the sixties of last century, and banish

go ba ‘
our thoughts such innovations as carriage roads, the first of

from

By degrees the several

ee!

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 67

which was made in 1869, to receive the Austrian Emperor and
other princes, who were present at the opening of the Suez
Canal.

Strictly speaking, the population is divided into three great and

quite distinct classes :—The townsmen, Madaniyeh (4; re),
the fellfhin ext), and the Bedi (4), or ‘Arab (9,0)
for the plural form. These last-mentioned are always called

Bedawin in European books, but in the country they are known
only as Bedawy in the singular and ‘Arab in the plural, the latter
hame, as remarked by Colonel Conder, being used by the Bedawin

and the former by the settled population (Quarterly Statement,
July, 1901, p, 259).

According to a legend current
of the division of classes goes bac
Islam. A man had four sons, who
according to his own inclination,
said to them: « My sons, you ar
yourselves ; choose whatever ple
The eldest, Abu Ahmad, chose a

amongst the natives, the origin
k to the time of the founder of
m he wished to start in life, each
So he called them together and
€ now old enough to look after
ases you, and leave your home.”

cow and a plough, and became the
father of the tillers or Fellahin. Abu Razek, the second, asked for

@ shop, and became father of the possessors, as his name indicates,
and of the traders in towns. Abu ‘Othman, the third, took a horse,
and became father of the intrepid horsemen, the Ottoman Turks.
Abu Swélem ( ae Qa ra ), the last, rode off on @ camel, and became

father of the camel-possessing Bedawin, In common conversation

d to by the above nick-
in appearance, costume,
separately. We propose,
man :—

CHAPTER I.—Apy RAZEK, THE BUSINESS MAN,

The townspeople call themselves Madaniyeh or Hadar.' In
Palestine Proper the chief towns are J erusalem, Jaffa, Ramleh,
Lydd, Hebron, Gaza, and Nablus, though some large villages claim
the name of Hadar, such as Kiuryet el ‘Enab, Bir Ma‘in, and others.
The Madany is of a commercial turn of mind, but artisans are

' It is explained from a root meaning to be ready, or present, always in one
place, ready for the women to hide their faces, or

68 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

numerous in towns. Persons of the same calling usually have
their shops in the same street, but in Jerusalem and Jaffa there is
a tendency to spread about in every direction.

Every Oriental town has its Apothecaries’ or Perfumers’ Street,
its Butchers’ Street, Shoemakers’ Street, and so forth. The
grouping of the people of the same calling in one street renders
advertisements unnecessary, as everyone knows where to find the
shops he wants. Newspapers in the Arabic language are not
printed in Palestine. All the Arabic papers are published in Syria
or in Egypt, and even these are not much read by the inhabitants
of Palestine towns—at least not by the trading and working classes,
who are mostly illiterate. The upper ten, or Effendiyeh, generally
read, write, and speak as correctly as possible, omitting all slang
expressions, speaking slowly and clearly, and giving every letter its
right pronunciation. They are still to a great extent the rich
landowners, and, together with the Turkish officials,! form the
most influential class in municipal and Government matters. They
address each other, or Arabic-speaking Europeans, with the compli-
mentary title, ‘thy highness” or “thy excellency ” ( eras
hadertak), whilst in general the second person singular, ‘“ thou,”
is used.

Turning to the traders and artisans we find that the most
indispensable is :—

(a) The grocer, called Swinmén in Palestine, and Bakhal in Egypt.
The former term is derived from sam, butter prepared for culinary
purposes. He sells all kinds of dry fruits, and olive and sesame oil.
The sham (shémen) of the Hebrews included every fatty substance,
and when olive oil was expressly meant the word zayith (the Arabic
zait) was employed in addition.? Almost all the buying and selling
are done in the street, as the shops are usually too small to admit
more than one person, viz., the owner, who thus overlooks his goods,
which are in huge baskets before him, so that his customers are
served outside without his stepping out of the shop. As already
remarked, the towns of more importance, as Jerusalem, Jaffa, and
Haifa, are being rapidly transformed, and broader streets and larger

| 'Phis is the class alluded to by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah xxix, 10-14).
2 Jo when Moses commands pure olive oil to be taken, he calls it Mt je"

(Exod. xxvii, 20, and Lev. xxiv, 2); and the Holy Land is called My
vin) yu}, “<a land of olive-oil and honey ” (Deut. viii, 8).

ss” rSrCtCSC mlm TU - =. -s * — — Fy
— e ¥ a:
? |

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 69

shops are, under European influence, making their way. The
Mohammedan quarters of these towns, and of all minor towns,
have remained very much as they were in ancient times.

(6) The perfumers’ street, Hiret il-‘atdrin Coy Maal co le ),
as the name indicates, smells of Oriental spices a good way off. All
kinds of spices are sold in it, and the shops are even more tiny than
those of the grocers ; often the shopkeeper can barely turn around
in them. The perfumer can reach almost any of his articles, kept

_as they are in the oval wooden boxes piled up on the shelves,
without getting up from his seat, and many of the goods are stowed
under the seat. Thus he sits in the midst of his merchandise, |
whilst in front of him is the mortar and pestle, ever ready to pound |
cinnamon, pepper, &e. The oval boxes on the shelves bear a label
indicating, in Arabic handwriting, their contents, as the perfumer

» generally belongs to the more educated class. As the streets are
very narrow, two persons can hardly walk abreast, and progress,
owing to the crowd, is very slow, a circumstance which the shop-
keeper takes advantage of to praise his goods, and to intimate that
he can sell them cheaper than his next neighbour, and that they are
more genuine. All equestrian outfits, as Arab saddles, bridles,
Bedawin boots, and tassels of Damascus manufacture, adorn and
almost close up the entrance of the shops, and, as they project into
the street, these often reach the goods of a similar merchant opposite.
A ride through those streets is, therefore, exceedingly disagreeable
both to horseman and perfumer, to say nothing of the passers-by.
Ask a perfumer whether he has any article, he always answers in the
affirmative, even though he has to get it from a neighbour, and hence
the proverb, “ Everything is to be had at the perfumer’s, except
love me by force ee mali Ck Be laa eid i Js).

If business taking any length of time is on hand, a low stool is
placed in the street, and, in less time than it takes to write this, the
coffee-house keeper round the corner receives a hint, hurries along
with a coffee-pot and some tiny cups in his hands, and offers the
introductory cup, without which no serious business is undertaken.
When this has been partaken of, mostly on the shopkeeper’s
account, business is proceeded with. Gunpowder and all hunting
materials are to be had, as well as seeds of all kinds for the agricul-
turist, and medicines, for the perfumer is often also a bit of a quack.
The shopkeepers pull down a network curtain over the entrance

70 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

of their shops when on an errand or at prayers; nobody ever
approaches them then, and thefts are practically unknown.

(c) The coffee-shop (kahwy) is generally at the corner of some
important street, and is the meeting-place of all strangers, Fellah
or Bedawy, when they have finished their business. Here every-
body, whether friend or foe, is expected to be found, and as a
consequence of the usefulness of these establishments, they are not
all confined to one place, but are spread over the whole town, and
are to be found especially near the gates. With those at the gates
a khan ( wis) is usually combined, where the animals can be left
in the vast stables for a few coppers, whilst the owners go about
their business in the town. In the coffee-house business transactions
are easily carried on, and secrets confided, as the voices are drowned
by the loud talking on all sides, the sipping of the hot coffee-cup,
and the bubbling of the water in the argileh (this is the Palestine
pronunciation, without an initial 7), especially as the two persons
are seated on low chairs close to each other.

The gate is the most natural place to meet anyone coming to
town or going back to the country, and therefore Boaz met his
kinsman there (Ruth iv, 1). The street gatherings were the most
solemn ones ; discourses and speeches were of course public, as they
still are, everyone can thus attend them, and large halls are
dispensed with. King Hezekiah brought the Levites into the
street to consult with them (2 Chron. xxix, 4). Ezra assembled
the people into the street before the temple (Ezra x, 9), and before
the Water Gate (Neh. viii, 1). Job in his affliction longs for the
days when he could go down and sit in the street (Job xxix, 7), as
every citizen now does, to “smell the air.”

(7) The establishment of the barber, Haldk ( le ), is some-
times combined with the coffee shop, as most people meet there,
and not only often desire to be shaved, but find in the barber a
medicine man, who has leeches, or who bleeds them by cutting the
ears with his sharp razors. The Moslems, both of the town and
country, have the hair of the head, as well as the sides of the beard
—that is, below the chin and on the cheeks—shaved. The Madany
calls the shaving halek, The Levites were ordered not to make any
‘baldness on their heads, neither shave the corner (or side) of the
beard” (Lev. xxi, 5), as the modern barber does. The Fellahin
do not use the term halek, but say tazyin ( WAL ), that is,

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 71

“beautifying ” or “ adorning,” and we may conclude that this beauti-
fying is an innovation among the country people, ‘though perhaps as
old as Islam. It is clear, however, that it has not always existed.
Trimming the hair was practised with the scissors, Mekass ( atic )s
and frequently a Fellah may yet say for “cut my hair,” Kuss rdsi (lit.,
“cut my head”), meaning “ shave my head.” Job, when he received
the bad news of the destruction of his family and animals, follows
the same usage (Job i, 20, TWAT 127). Absalom had his hair

(lit., his head) cut once a year (2 Sam. xiv, 26), and the shaving

of the hair on special occasions—e¢.g., in times of mourning—is well

known to all. Modern razors are termed Mis mehlak ( slave Uso )
in the towns, and Mis Mizyan (oy +e Uwe) in the country.
The Israelites had also used two different terms for razor : (1) the
Tu‘ar (AY), which was really nothing more than a knife ;
(2) the Méréh (F719), mentioned as early as in the days of the
Judges (Judges xiii, 5, xvi, 17; 1 Sam. i, 11). The Fellahin use
their common knives to shave each other, for every Fellah is a
barber, and does not need a « hired razor,” as was threatened to
the Jews (Isaiah vii, 20).

(e) The greengrocer and the butcher are the noisiest of trades-
men in the towns. This is evidently in consequence of their inter-
course with the fellahin, who bring in the vegetables and who
quarrel about the prices, with the dogs of the slaughter-house with
which the butcher has to contend, as well as with the animals he

slavs.
The greengrocer, Khudari is syacs.), Or, with a Turkish ter-
mination,

Khudarjy ns ~~as), has to rise very early in the morning
and waylay the vegetable-growing farmers on their way to the
market, often miles before they reach the town, Especially is this
the case at Jerusalem. Jaffa grows its vegetables close to the town,
and the other towns are more agricultural, and have no need of the
great supply which Jerusalem requires. In fact, Jerusalem receives
vegetables from Jaffa, Ramleh, Gaza, and other places. The fellah
defends his fruits and vegetables against the greengrocer, and with
the more energy if the latter seems anxious to buy them. Quarrel-
ling and Screaming, they arrive in town, and the price agreed upon
may often be refuse » even when the fruit is already in the shop,
when fresh shouting, cursing, and swearing take place; it is no

THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

wonder, therefore, that the greengrocer is such a noisy fellow. The
vegetables are arranged in heaps, and the fruit ig not nicely put
before the public as in Western cities ; but this does not affect the
who have never seen anything better. Many greengrocers

buyers,
te on the fellahin, and a special class.

have no time or energy to was
of middlemen, or brokers, viz. :—

(f) The Matrabassy, or Samasry (us yeaa ), make a living out
of this calling. In former times, when the gates of Jerusalem were
not opened before sunrise, the Samasry were exclusively from Neby
Datd, outside the Zion Gate. Charcoal, wood, lime, and the like,
are now commonly bought and sold by them. As the country
became safer, they went further and further away, and may now
often be seen in distant villages seeing what may possibly be sent to
town, and paying the “ earnest-money,” or ‘Arrabin (jy ©), which.
of course is lost, if the buyer afterwards changes his mind. In
the Bible ‘érdbén, IDV, is only mentioned in Genesis xxxviii, 17,
when Tamar took a “pledge” from Judah. This word was
probably transported by the Phoenicians to Greece (dppaBuv),
and from the Greeks to Marseilles, whence it becomes the French
“arrhes.” The difference between an ‘arrabén, or pledge (which
is lost in case of the bargain not being fulfilled, or which is
counted in the sum to be paid after- deliverance of the

article), and a rahen ( ey) which is generally an article to be

held till payment of a debt, is great. The word san is used for
it in the law of Moses. (Ex. xxii, [25] 26, cf. Job xxii, 6.)
The pledge alluded to in Deuteronomy xxiv, 10-13, and
Ezekiel xviii, 12, seems to have been a garment, for it is com-
manded “Thou shalt surely restore to him the pledge (WIy
‘abit) when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own
garment and bless thee.” .

The Samasry have much to do with the Jewish quarter, as Jews
do not, as a rule, learn Arabic easily, although it is a kindre
language of the Hebrew, and they certainly cannot pronounce it
correctly. These brokers, therefore, learn the “SiknAji,” or
« Jiddish-Daitsch,” spoken by most East-European Jews. The
Sephardim, on the other hand, have become very much Orientalised,
and speak Arabic tolerably well, together with Jewish-Spanish and
a little “ Jiddish-Daitsch.” The middleman may be’ called a

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 73

necessary evil, well known to every family residing in Jerusalem,
whether European or not.

(7) The butcher (/ahhdm) wears a blue overcoat of cotton cloth,
and has his mutton and goats’ flesh hanging in front of his shop,
which is besieged by dogs, ever ready to snatch away odd
hits. The Moslem butcher never sells veal or beef ; camel’s flesh
is sold by some, and is known by its large size and dirty
yellow colour. The shop is tolerably clean. The meat is cut up
on huge wooden blocks standing in front, and it is required for

Méhshi (_ qtsre)s the favourite dish of all townspeople ; it is

chopped small on a board with great dexterity in a very few
minutes.

In Jerusalem the animals were formerly killed in the town near
where the German “ Erléserkirche ” now stands, but some years ago

the slaughtering place, or Meslakh (\uc), lit. “skinning place,”

was transferred beyond the walls of the city, as the population
grew more dense and the outside became more safe. The older
name midhbah (erd<): which also means an altar, is rarely used
now.

The Meslakh was at first in the open air outside the dung-gate,
but has been recently removed to the north-east of the city, where
« proper building has been erected for it. It is surrounded by
filth, and attracts dogs and vultures by day, jackals, and even

hyeenas, by night. The dogs lying about the slau

ghtering-place are
the laziest of their kind, and do not bark at the approach of

strangers. Soiled with blood and filth, and gorged with food, they
claim a sort of proprietorship of the Meslakh. The proverb is
quite right which says: Zey kldb el-Meslakh bitmant el-jia’ war-réhat
(A>, epee peewee . jean | Ns osj) “As the dogs of the
slaughtering place, they long for hunger and rest.” The prophet
Isaiah (Ivi, 10), in speaking of lazy watchmen, alludes to these dogs
which do not watch. « They are all dumb dogs, they cannot
bark ; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” The dogs
lying about are a very useful feature of Eastern towns, veritable
hygienic police, as they lick up all blood, and eat bits of food
which fall (1 Kings xxi, 19, 23). These dogs are found every-
where in the town, and have quite a regular organisation of their
own ; every dog knows his quarter, and lives and dies there. One

4 ge Pe OP eee ee ee ee
ae 7 in| ¥ _ -

74 ; THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

is leader of the gang, composed of a dozen or more, who tolerate
no others in their district. Any strange dog is at once detected
and chased by the whole band. This state of affairs is certainly
very old. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke xvi, 21)
the familiar street dogs knew the mendicant and licked his sores.
When the leader grows old a second mate takes the leadership, and
becomes absolute master when the old one dies. The bitches have

their young ones in some out-of-the-way corner of the street, and

those of the new generation who manage to escape the many
dangers which lurk in their way as they grow up—in shape of
boys ill-using them, or animals of greater size stamping on them,
and breaking their limbs as they push past in the narrow streets—
fill up the missing street contingent. The dogs may know more
particularly one or other of the shopkeepers or passers-by, but
their affection is chiefly set on their street or quarter. A man
also may have a liking for one of the dogs, usually the leader,
and will speak kind words to him occasionally, but never caress
him by putting his hand on him. The dog is essentially unclean
to Moslems, and the native Christians partake of the same disgust.
In the beginning of the seventies of last century, a dog, known
by the name of Tubbal, was leader of a gang inside the Jaffa
Gate. His sway extended down to the greengrocers’ street at
the end of Christian Street, and around the Tower of Hippicus,
the military barracks, and the little street north of the English
Church. Everybody in the quarter knew Tubbal, who was as
proud as he was ugly, with his crooked leg and one eye, both of
which injuries he had received in a terrible “frontier skirmish ”
from the dogs of the Latin-Patriarchate quarter. His rough, unkempt
hair, and large head with short ears, gave him some resemblance
to a hyena, but his uncertain colour—a dirty yellow mixed
with greyish-white—showed him to be the real typical dog of the
Jerusalem streets. These dogs not only pick up all edible rubbish
which they can digest, but also keep sharp watch at night, and bark
at any suspicious shadow or unaccustomed noise, and, in short,
behave as if they were absolute masters of the streets. The Psalmist
felt how disagreeable they were at night, for of his enemies he says:
“They return at evening ; they make a noise like a dog, and go
round about the city” (Psalm lix, 6). The food they pick up is
scanty to those who are not favourites, or who are in bad streets.
The dogs in the butchers’ street always find bones or odd bits of

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 75

meat more plentiful than those in the shoemakers’ street, They
receive some food from the shopkeepers, but the better a town is
kept the less they find to eat, and the time is fast disappearing
when careases were thrown into some ruined house and the dogs
feasted on it. Hunger is their lot, and “they shall wander up
and down for meat, and tarry all night if they be not satisfied ”
(Psalm lix, 15), :

(h) The bakers (khabbar, sing.) are not all confined to one
street as in the days of the kings of Judah, when Jeremiah in
prison received daily a loaf of bread from the bakers’ street
(Jerem. xxxvii, 21). They have their ovens in some out-of-the-way
place, partly so as not to annoy the neighbours with the smoke, and

partly because they require space for the thorns

and bushes with
which they heat their ovens.

These ovens, called furn, are not the
old ovens, and are perhaps the cause why the bakers are no longer
in one street. The fwrn is an innovation of Crusading days, from
the French “fourneau” (Lat., Jurnus). The Jewish ovens were smaller,
and were called tannir, such as are now used in the country places
under the name of tabiin, or tanntr. The inhabitants of the towns
never bake their bread at home, but send the dough to the ovens,.
and have it baked for 10 paras, 7.¢., about a halfpenny, the whole
being eaten by the family in the same day. ‘Send the bread to the
baker, even if he eat the half,” is a saying meaning, “ Better to have
bread thoroughly baked, even though the weight be less.”

In Ramleh and Lydda the women prepare the dough and watch
for the first passer-by who is not a stranger to carry it to the oven,
wait till it is ready, and bring it back to the house. Of course he
does not receive more than “ Thank you,” even if he gets so much.

Ss by men carrying it about on
warm bread ; cakes,” and so forth.
at, hardly enough for a meal. The
prinkled with roasted sesame seeds ‘
d—that is, 5 and 10 paras a piece.
€ not the same as the kak ()sS)
who call the unleavened loaves prepared
These answer to the ‘uggdh, or cake, which the angel
prepared for Elijah sleeping under the juniper tree (1 Kings xix, 6).
The town cakes are bought by all classes and eaten in the streets.
(‘) The confectioner, Halawainy, is known in all towns, selling
pies and sweets as mutababak, made of a thin paste, almonds, and

he street
boards, and calling out “ Bread :

The loaf of bread is small and
cakes are of whiter flour, and gs
they are sold as cheap as brea
The cakes of the townsman ar
of the country people,
in haste ka‘/:.

76 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

nuts, sweetened with honey or sugar, and folded together several
times, as the name indicates, and forming a thick, luscious cake.
The fellahin also make such sweets, but of coarser kind. The
bakléwy is a Turkish cake of almond and sugar cut in small lozenges.
It is sold by weight, and eaten mostly in the shop dripping with
sugar and fat. The famriyeh is, as the name shows, made of dates,
and is also sold in. small square cakes. It is a little drier and
cheaper than the above, and sells for 10 paras a piece, whilst the
others are two or three times as dear; the sellers go about with it
and call it out in the streets. The kndfyeh is a very fat and sweet
paste, with nuts; it is sold by weight. The ma‘mdl is a dry,
conical cake, made of semolina, stuffed with pistachios, and sprinkled
with dry sugar. This is also made at home, and figures at the meal
of the principal feasts, especially at Easter. The halléwy is made
of honey and sesame flour in large masses, and cut with large
knives for sale by weight. There are different kinds of this halldwy,
made with sesame seeds, and called halldwy simsomiyeh, or with nuts
and called. nut halléwy, &c. The kardbeej halab (, are als)

as the name indicates, are an Aleppo invention: oval cakes, about
the size of an egg, made of semolina stuffed with nuts and
pistachios, and drowned in a thick semi-liquid white sugar cream.
It is sold at about 20 paras a piece, and is amongst the dearest of

these sweets. The well-known rahat el-halkém ( apace! Exit DE of

Damascus manufacture, renowned as “Turkish delight,” is sold in

round wooden boxes, or retailed at 5 paras a piece. Though most —

of those sweets are sold in the shops, all in one street, they are also
retailed in the streets by men carrying them on copper trays,
especially during the long Ramadan evenings, when night is almost
turned to day, and when the savings of the whole year are so
readily spent. People who all the year do not taste sweets now
indulge in them. The Israelites also made various kinds of sweet-
meats, such as the simmukim (or cakes of raisins) of Abigail, and the

rékikim (the rakdik of the Bedouins), also the lzbibah, which Tamar

prepared for Amnon, and others.

(k) The miller (tahhén) is only known in or about towns, as in
the country every house has its own mill. The horse-mills are
generally in obscure streets and underground—perhaps a survival
of the times when they were driven by prisoners of war. Samson was

made to grind in the prison-house (Judges xvi, 21), and the prophet —

‘>

SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC, 77

Jeremiah laments for the young men who have to grind (Lam. v, 13)
as prisoners of war. In towns the wheat is carried to the mill, and
is ground for 10 or 15 paras the rofl (about 6 Ibs.). In the Plain
of Sharon, along the River ‘Aujeh, there are water-mills belonging
to the Government; the fellahin of the plain carry their wheat
there, as the hand-mill process is getting too slow in these busy
days, when even the fellah is beginning to grasp the idea of “Time
is money.” The large mills, as well as the hand-mills, are called
fahunet, the root of which, meaning “to grind,” is found in the
Hebrew of the passages above mentioned. But the Hebrew hand-
mill was called réhayim (Num. xi. 8). The name it still bears in
many places in Egypt is raha (4)

(To be continued.)

SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE M
AND OTHER NOTES.

By the Rev. J. E. Hanaver.
1.—ON p. 145 of the Quarterly Statement for Ap
mentions the finding in the Muristan ! of «
stones,” and promises, “if God permits,”
his next, and illustrate with drawings.

In the July number, under the heading
p. 195, these stones are again referred to.
of an arch have figures in relief upon them, one being that of a
kneeling man, with bow and arrow, and behind him an animal like
a lion.” I am now sending photographs which I have taken of this
group. One shows plainly that the animal is not a lion, but a
wolf. It is further stated that Dr. Schick and I believe “the signs
of the Zodiac to have been represented, as on the arch at the

URISTAN,

ril, 1900, Dr. Schick
several interesting carved
to report more fully in

“Notes and News,”
We read, “the stones

‘ (Dr. Schick described the

se stones as found in the Muristan, at a depth
of from 25 to 28 feet below t

he surface, in a small piece of ground “ south
of the Gethsemane Convent” (south of the courtyard of the Church of the

Holy Sepulchre). They were not ix situ, but lying about in the débris; with
other squared stones and some large capitals. He believed them to have been
parts of the arch over the entrance to the Church which stood over the
cisterns found by Sir Charles Warren (see Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 270).]

iTC.

78 SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN,

northern entrance to the Church of St. Mary, which is now In

possession of the Germans.”

ig. 1.—Sculptured Figure from the Muristan.

~
*

I now venture to suggest that the group described represents
the constellations of Sagittarius and Lupus. The Wolf is indeed

SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC. 79

not one of the star-groups in the Zodiac, but the sculptor has
put the animal into his composition from artistic license, and
with great effect, as the picture shows. I have indeed heard it
suggested that the sculpture does not represent the Zodiacal
Archer, but Acteon and one of his hounds, as well as the tree
(either laurel or pine) of Artemis. This, however, is an opinion
which I cannot endorse, because, in the first place, I think it most
unlikely that Actzeon would ever be represented as looking upwards ;
and secondly, the fierce, gaunt form of the wild beast and the thick
tail (unfortunately not visible in the photograph) characterise and

identify it as a specimen of Canis Lupus.

Besides the group above described, there have been found the
headless and legless remains of Leo, with his characteristic tail, and
the bust of Virgo, her face and head mutilated.

Another group may possibly represent Gemini. If this is the
case, it is remarkable that the dress of the twins is not the same.
One wears a great cloak (out of sight in the photo), and the other
a large helmet, and a garb somewhat resembling that of a Roman
soldier. In his hand he holds something like a bag. The two
figures seem to be kissing. Is it a representation of Jacob meeting
Esau, or perhaps even of J udas, the traitor, saluting Christ ?

These stones and some other carvings and capitals are at
present piled up in the hall through which one enters the Convent of
St. Abraham, near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
very dark, and the photos I send were taken under
The sculptured “ Twins ” evidently formed part of an outer corner

of the building. The hair of the Bowman, and the conventionalised
foliage are medieval drill-work.

The place is
great difficulty.

II.—I spent a couple of days lately in the company of Dr. Peters,
under the kind guidance of Mr. Grant, in roaming about in the
vicinity of Ramallah. The great Khan at El-Bireh seems well
worthy of closer examination than we had time to give it. I do
not know where to find a plan of it. It seems to belong to
two different dates. Several of the piers bearing the vaults are of
the Crusading period, showing distinctly the diagonal dressing,
and, as a characteristic mason-mark, the double triangle. The most
northerly bay or aisle, on the other hand, seems to be Saracenic,
and has mason-marks of its own, a different mark for each respective
course. Thus all the stones in one course, for instance, would each

a a oe a
ae
Wg

oa. oe

oe ee —_ =
eee So eee a ee ee " i . - —" x ee ee | ee ee eee ”
“ i - | (ae
ag
A)

80 SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC.

be marked, we would say, with —], the next course having another
mark, say LU, on each single stone, and soon. This peculiar usage
seems rare enough to deserve special mention.

The whole of one forenoon was spent in visiting the ruins at
Khirbet Kefr Shiydn, or Shiyal, west of Ramallah, and of Khirbet

‘Ain Soba or Sibya (a PA whe OF sane wr) The whole plan
of the former town can be clearly traced, the massive buildings (of
the Byzantine period apparently) beig arranged on either side of the
clearly-defined street running up the hillsides. Besides the remains

noticed in the Memoirs, we remarked a small pool at the eastern
end of the town. Some peasants whom we met showed us where
El-Fréreiyeh (4. 8)!)' had excavated and laid bare a mosaic pave-
ment. It had been covered up again, so that we did not see it.
Dr. Peters, however, made further enquiries of the Dominican
Fathers on our return to Jerusalem, and elicited the information
that it was Christian in character. The ruins of ‘Ain Séba seem to
be of the same age. They are situated on a hill-top, just opposite
Kefr Shiy4n, and on the southern side of the valley. They do not
seem to be noticed in the Memoirs or marked on the map. There
is indeed a site of exactly the same name, but it seemed to us to
be that of the Séba, south-east of Abu Ghdésh. I am tempted to
ask whether, in this ‘Ain Séba, west of Ramallah, we may recognise
the site of Ziph? Can Er-Rim, Ramallah, and ‘Ain Séba together
be taken for the district of Ramathaim Zophim ? .

The carriage-road from Jerusalem to Nablus is open to traffic as
far as El-Bireh only. It has, however, been almost completed as
far as ‘Ain Sinia, and follows the ancient route past Jifna. We
visited Beitin and ‘Ain Yebrid one day. The fountain on the road-
side in the valley south of Beitin is wrongly named “ ‘Ain el-
Kussis” on the map. This name seems now altogether unknown to
the peasantry of the district. The name it is known by is ‘Ain

el-Kus‘a (Sect ihc) “the Spring of the Pan ”—an appellation
doubtless derived from the circular, filled-up pool, 11 feet 8 inches
in diameter, immediately in front of the well-known cave with two

rough columns, into which the water flows from the aqueduct deeply
hewn in the ledge of rock above and behind it. On the top of

1 The French Brotherhoods are responsible for the introduction of a new
word into modern Arabic.

SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC. 81

this ledge are other shallow artificial pans, hewn in the rock, and
connected by shallow channels. Guerin, in his work on Palestine
(Judée, ITI, 14), calls this spring “ ‘Ain el-Ghazul.” The name of
the fountain under the cliff, on the right-hand side (east) of the
road on the declivity further north, is well known to the local
peasantry as ‘Ain el-‘Akabeh.

In the valley-bed south of ‘Ain Yebrfid there is also an ‘Ain,
from which the flocks were being watered when we passed. It does
not seem to be marked on the map, probably because it looks like
a common cistern. It is situated at the mouth of the valley leading
up to Umm ul-Massayat. Just before reaching this cistern-like
‘Ain we passed a whole series of rock-tombs, said to have been
opened last winter by the people of ‘Ain Yebrid, who are credited
with having destroyed a good many lamps, jars, &c., found therein.

II.—The Nicophorieh tomb was also revisited by me in
Dr. Peters’ company. The onl
first remarked by the doctor

to ascertain whether there
this end, or whether the

asonry like the chambers.
IV.—I enclose, as the result of m

; : y first attempts with the new
camera, some prints which will, I try

Sepulchre. This picture g
the building along the e
church—in other words,
the court. The photo was taken for the sake of the lowest and
bracket-like stone (corbel). It has carved on it two animals,!
mutilated, but yet reminding one of the two monkeys from Jaffa,

1 See Note A.
F

a ee ee

eS
TE a I a

82 SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC.

shown in Professor Ganneau’s Archeological Researches. There is @
legend connected with this sculpture. I was one day looking at

this stone and mentally comparing it with Professor Ganneau’s,

when an Armenian priest came up and informed me that the figures
were those of two dogs which, when entire, possessed magic powers,
and always used to bark whenever a Jew ventured to come near
the church or cross the quadrangle. At the time Jerusalem passed
out of the hands of the Christians, the Jews seized the opportunity
to mutilate the stone, and the dogs have since then been

Fie. 2.—Stone Carving from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

pantie bark. I find that amongst the more ignorant native
Jews there is a somewhat simil: > ;
feet : ° ewhat similar legend, to the effect that in the
“td ere were two brazen figures or statues of dogs that used
to bark at 1 intr :” ane ; .
Sie ecae intruders, and that, on the occasion of
anyone entering ; dj :
any ae oe and reading the proper vowels for the right
pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, tried to retain the same in

his memory, the noise the statues made caused him to forget it. Our

Lord, say they, performed his miracles by help of this Divine
\F =) » NOW 5 2 Ln. . . .
Name, the knowledge of the right pronunciation of which he

ee eS ee :
————————— ee lL

SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC, 83

surreptitiously obtained by entering into the Temple, and retained,
in spite of the barking of the dogs, by cutting or scratching the
vowel-points into the flesh or skin of his legs. I am sorry that

it is impossible, unless one erects a scaffold, to get near enough
to take a larger picture of this stone.

[Nore A.—The carving on the corbel appears to be “Crusaders’” w
of late twelfth or early thirteenth century, and has represented a man
seated between two lions. Both animals are much mutilated, but are
recognisable. The subject may be “ Daniel,” or possibly a martyrdom,
There seems to be a similar corbel, with a different subject, above the
right shoulder of the right-hand arch of the great door.

The cornice which is shown resting on this corbel is of a much earlier
period, and is evidently material used from an older building, probably
one ruined by the Persians. It looks like work of Justinian’s time.

Its richness of detail doubtless attracted the attention of the Crusading
builders. —J. D. C.]

ork

V.—A block of white marble (62” x 4"

” ” x 3”), having on one
side a panel (4” x 24") containing a

small carving of “The Return

Fic. 3.—“ The Return of: the Spies.”

of the Spies.” The owner, Baron von Ustinow, kindly brought it for

me to see, and left it with me, so that I could photograph it at my

leisure. He believes it to be a genuine piece of medizval carving.
F 2

84 SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURISTAN, ETC.

[The block was obtained at Hebron by Baroness Ustinow, and
was found in the vicinity of the town. The bend in the pole, and
the attitude of the bearers, suggest that the famous bunch of grapes
from Eshcol (Num. xiii, 23) was of great weight as well as of
exceptional size. Father Vincent conjectures that the work is
Roman or Byzantine (Revue Biblique xi, p. 600).]

VI.—I enclose a photograph of the front of “ the Gordon tomb,”
with the mangers of the old Asnerie running along it. Mention is
made of this “trough” in Quarterly Statement, 1902, pp. 244-245.
Although I cordially agree with the writer in his conclusion that
‘the Gordon tomb” cannot possibly have been the sepulchre of
Christ, I have arrived at that conclusion from observations which
are diametrically opposed to his, and are clearly illustrated by the
photograph :—

(1) In the first place, the photograph shows that the “ trough”
or “mangers” belong to an altogether different period from that of
the tomb. The way in which the rock was cut was quite different.
On the facade of the tomb itself and round the door there are
distinct and characteristic criss-cross pick-strokes, which continue
downwards (below the threshold of the original, but now walled-up
entrance) to the top of the trough, but no further. The tooling of
the trough and of the continuation of the scarp both right and left,
ie., east and west, is altogether different, but I am ignorant of the
proper technical term for it.

(2) In the second place, a close examination of the trough itself
will, I think, show that it never could have been, and was never
intended to be, the bed of a rolling-stone disc. Its bottom is not
level. It begins at the point where are the feet of the boy carrying
an umbrella, and rises steadily to the spot marked by a slab resting
against the scarp; it then slopes down again to the very end of
the trough. I believe the trough was specially cut for a manger,
because all along its southern wall, rim, or lip, you can see, at
intervals of about 3 feet, the holes in which were fixed the staples
to tether animals. The photograph shows them distinctly. I had
the honour of pointing out all these indications of difference of date
to Dr. Peters, and furnished him with a copy of the illustration.
The picture shows also where the rock was cut away to receive the
abutments of the vaults once constructed alongside of and also at
right angles to the scarp. One or two stones at the end of the

ace dns 4
SCULPTURED FIGURES FROM THE MURIS'1 AN, ETC. 85

ledge under the dark arch on the left of the picture are all the
remains now visible of this structure, but I am sure that thorough
excavations would reveal more. I do not think that the owners of

Fie. 4.—Front of “the Gordon Tomb.”

the property would ob

ject to such investigations being made. In
a tunnel along the se

arp, Just beyond the space covered by the

ee al le le — =" a at 2 18

86 EL-EDHEMiYEH (JEREMIAH’S GROTTO).

picture, and to the right of it, is the walled-up entrance to another
cave. This ought to be opened, but, strange to say, no attempt
seems to have been made to do so. I should not forget to remark
that the partitions seen in the trough are masonry, not rock.

EL-EDHEMIYEH (JEREMIAH’S GROTTO).
By the Rev. J. E. HANAUER.

In his notes accompanying a plan of Jeremiah’s Grotto, the late
Dr. Schick says, in the last three lines on p. 41 (Quarterly Statement,
January, 1902) :—* A flight of steps leads to the roof of the last
room, and to a recess in the rock which is said to be the resting-place
of some saint”; and in a footnote he continues: ‘I understood him
to be Assar or Lazarus.” This identification is objected to by
Mr. Macalister, who in the Quarterly Statement for April, 1902, p. 131,
remarks “the saint’s name seems to be Jeremiah, not Lazarus.”
Struck by this apparent contradiction, I called on Mr. Macalister
some weeks ago, and, in the conversation we had on this point,
remarked that I suspected that the name Dr. Schick heard was that
of El-Ozair, a personage who figures very conspicuously in the
hagiology of the Moslems, and who, as has often been remarked by
writers on the Koran! and others, is none other than Ezra= Esdras=
Jeremiah, or, according to the ignorant fellahin of Siloam (as I have
ascertained since my conversation with Mr. Macalister), El-Ezer or
El-Azar,? i.e, Lazarus of Bethany, and who also, as Professor

' For instance, Maracci, D’Herbelot, Sale (see Professor Rendel Harris’s
Rest of the Words of Baruch. London, 1889, pp. 39-42), and Kasimirski.

? [ have noticed that the fellahin sometimes pronounce the name of Lazarus
“‘Azar,” or ““Ezer,” without the preceding syllable El; it is written , jbl.

One should therefore be careful to distinguish the name “ ‘Azar,” written with
an initial ‘ain, from “ Azar,” written with an initial alif. The latter was the
name, according to the Moslems, of Abraham’s father Terah, who died an
infidel, and is referred to in the Koran, in Sura vi, 74; ix, 115; and Ix, 4.

According to a Moslem legend (Von Hammer, Gemdldesaal I, 74, quoted
by Kasimirski, Le Koran, p. 497, note), Ibrahim had promised his father that
he would intercede with Allah on his behalf that he should be saved from
perdition, but that, at the moment when the Patriarch opened his mouth to
pray for ‘Azar’s salvation, a hideous lizard approached him, and Abraham
affrighted and disgusted, and not knowing that the reptile was his father
metamorphosed, kicked it into the bottomless pit. By this act he unconsciously
fulfilled the Divine counsels without failing in his filial duty.

EL-EDHEMIYEH (JEREMIAH’S GROTTO). 87

Clermont-Ganneau shows in his Archeological Researches (vol. ii,
pp. 62 and 63), may be identified with Eleazer the son of Abinadab
(1 Sam. vii, 1), whose makdm is at Karyet el-‘Anab or Abu Ghosh :
as well as with Eleazar the high priest, whose makém is at ‘Awarteh,
near Nablus.

In order, however, to be quite sure of my position, some days
ago I went to El-Edhemiyeh, which I had not visited for at least a
dozen years past. The Sheikh who has charge of the place was
absent, but a Moslem fellah woman who opened the door showed
me what was to be seen, and my conjecture was fully verified.
Built into a low wall on the left hand side, just within the door,
I noticed a stone, the surface of which was deeply indented with
grooves, as if tools or something else had been ground upon it. It
was sO very conspicuous that I instantly conceived the idea that
some legend might be connected with it, and I inquired what it
was. “Oh,” was the instantaneous reply, “those are the finger-
marks of Sayedna El-Ozair.” In due time I was led to the foot
of the flight of steps above mentioned, and informed that they led
to the place where El-‘Ozair had slept for 40 years (the number

is worth noticing!) with his cheek pillowed on his hand. When

I reached the top of the flight of steps at the foot of the great scarp,

and marked “C” on Dr. Schick’s plan, I noticed on the flags with
which the landing is paved smooth hollows and grooves, of the same
kind as those noticed on the rock surface in the north-west part of the
Haram area (Quarterly Statement, 1891, p- 206, seq.), and inquired
what they might have been. “Oh,” replied my guide, “ they are
the marks made by Jarmiyaéh when he slipped.” His name was
El-‘Ozair at first, but he had a habit of dragging the water out of that
cistern instead of drawing it, and so he got the name “jar miyih ”

(slre =), te, “he dragged waters.” I have no doubt that this

is an entirely modern legend, and it is curious as illustrating the
way in which many of these folklore tales were doubtless started.
The Arabic way of pronouncing the name Jeremiah is “ Ermia.”
As regards El-‘Ozair himself, Maracci, as quoted by Professor
Rendel Harris, remarks that “some persons say that it is not Ezra,
nor Nehemiah, but a certain Alchedrum.” He evidently means
El-Khudr, whose name is revered throughout the East, and whose

‘Compare Professor Rendel

Harris’s remarks on D’Herbelot’s legends
Rest of Words of Baruch, p. 41.

as, rn Se ee ee Sn ee ree See ee ee ee ee ST ae ee ee ee ee
a

88 EL-EDHEMIYEH (JEREMIAH’S GROTTO).

legends may be represented by another hagiological equation :
El-Khudr = St. George = Elijah the Tishbite = Phinehas, the son
of Eleazar (Judges xx, 28). Who El-‘Ozair was is evidently a
doubtful question amongst commentators. The following is the
story as told by Mujir ed-Din (Térikh el-Uns el-Jalil, vol. i, p. 138,
Cairo edition) :—‘ Ermia (Jeremiah) the Prophet, on whom be peace,
lived in the days of Zedekiah, the last king of the Beni Israel.
Ermia commanded them to repent, and threatened them with
Bukhtunussur (Nebuchadnezzar), but they gave no heed to him.
But when he saw that they would not turn from their evil ways,
he left them and hid himself till Nebuchadnezzar subdued them
and destroyed El-kuds, as we have related. After this Allah
revealed to Ermia His determination to restore the city Beit el-
Makdas, and commanded him to go thither. So Ermia approached
El-kuds, and lo, it was in ruins. Then he said, ‘ Praised be Allah,
He ordered me to descend to this city, and told me that He
would rebuild her. Now when will He rebuild her, and when
will Allah raise her from the dead after her death?’ So he
laid down his head and slept. And he had with him an ass and
a basket of food—namely, figs—and also a vessel in which was
grape-juice. Now, his story is that to which Allah alludes in
His precious book when He says!: ‘Like him, who passed by
a city which had been destroyed to its foundations, and Allah
said “I shall revive this one after her death.” So Allah caused him
to die for a hundred years, and then Allah woke him and said,
‘How long hast thou slept”? He said, “ A day, or part of a day.”
Allah said, “ Nay, thou hast slept a hundred years. Now look at thy
food and drink which are not corrupted, and look at thine ass, for
we shall make thee a sign unto men; and look at these bones, how
we shall raise them and clothe them with flesh.” Now, when this
had been shown unto him, he said: “ I know that Allah is almighty.”
Now, it has been said by some that the owner (hero) of this story is
El-‘Ozair, but the soundest explanation is that it is Ermia.’”

The story, whether it refers to Ermia or El-‘Ozair, is doubtless a
curious mixture of several legends. It reminds one of that of the
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and one would be inclined to think of
that as its germ, were it not that a special chapter of the Koran—
viz., the XVIII, entitled “the Cavern,” deals with that myth. One is

1 The Koran, Sura II, entitled “the Cow,” verse 261, Comp. Sale, p. 28,
note 2 (Warne and Co., 1890).

EL-EDHEMIYEH (JEREMIAH’S GROTTO). 89

also reminded of Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones (Ezekiel XX XVII).
It seems, however, clear that the bones in ‘Ozair’s story were those
of the ass which had died during the saint’s century-long nap.

The source of the story is indicated by Professor Rendel Harris,
in the work to which I have already several times referred. It
comes from an apocryphal book attributed to the Ebionites or Jewish
Christian heretics of the second century. In that story Jeremiah
is represented as wishing to send Abimelech (Ebedmelech), the
Ethiopian, away from Jerusalem, in order that he should not see its
destruction, and the Lord directs him to send him to the gardens of
Agrippa, where he shall be hidden in the mountain side until the
return of the people from exile. Accordingly, Jeremiah directs
Abimelech to take a basket and go to the place indicated and bring
back figs. Abimelech obeys, but falls asleep under a tree. He
wakes after a nap of sixty-six years’ duration, and returning to
the ruined city, fails to recognise it. The other prominent element
in the ‘Ozair legend is the story of Esdras and his ass, of which
tale Professor Clermont-Ganneau found traditions still preserved
amongst the Abu Ghosh peasantry.

I do not know at present whether there
Eastern churches hereabouts frescoes or the like of the Esdras-
Baruch myths, but I have reason, however, to believe that such
pictures, either on plaster or in mosaic, once existed, and that
some of the latter may yet be discovered. As a matter of fact,
when I was living at Jaffa a few years ago, and when everybody
was talking of the recently-found and now famous mosaic map at
Medeba, I was told by Mr. Dickie, who had specially visited
Medeba in order to examine it, that he had been informed by the
people of that place that amongst other portions of the mosaic

destroyed before his visit was a picture of a man asleep near an
ass and a basket.

are in any of the old

(Mr. Dickie writes that the mosaic fragment was evidently one of a

the church. Some of these were
visit, and measured approximately
5 to 9 feet square. The panel in question was described by a native of
the village as follows :—“Here a part of a donkey, there the legs of a
man, sleeping, and near him was something like a basket.” The question

of the contents of the basket was discussed, but his recollections of such
details were too much subj

ect to the influence of suggestion to be of much
value. In fact, this particular portion was too fragmentary to make any
definite statement. The character of the mosaic surrounding the church

90 THE SAMARITAN PASSOVER.

was such as is constantly being discovered throughout the country, and
which can be dated with a fair amount of certainty somewhere about the
seventh or eighth centuries. To this Mr. Hanauer observes that there
happen to be at present in Jerusalem several reproductions of the Medeba
mosaics. They are not all of the same size, and are evidently by different
hands. Two of them are at the Anglican College (St. George’s), and one
of these shows some of the panels referred to by Mr. Dickie. Amongst
them is a picture of a man leading a horse or donkey. Mr. Hanauer
hopes to be able to obtain and forward a photograph of this panel. ]

THE SAMARITAN PASSOVER.
By the Rev. Rotanp G. STarrorp.

Tue following account of the Samaritan Passover! and the diagram were
obtained from the present High Priest, Yakfb, in the course of a journey
through Palestine during the winter of 1900. It was written at his
dictation by his son, and having no knowledge of Arabic, 1 was
dependent upon my dragoman for the translation, and cannot therefore
answer for it :—

“On the eve of New Year’s Day the whole sect assemble and appoint
an elder (‘a man who knows’). They collect a sum of 3,800 piastres to
give to him to spend on the offering (‘Corban’) in order that he may
prepare all things necessary 20 days before mounting Gerizim, when all
things needful must be quite ready.

“ After 20 days the ascent of Gerizim is made seven days before the
‘Corban Festival, though this early (beforehand) ascent is optional.
There are some who mount 10 days before the appointed time, and some
who mount seven days beforehand, and some who mount one day before-
hand ; but those who mount one day beforehand will be those who are
in mourning (owing to death). No one of this sect is allowed to be late
in mounting at the appointed time of the ‘Corban,’ not even if he had
the greatest of hindrances—e.g., even if he is very ill—he is obliged to
perform his duty and ascend the mountain: such a one they put on
a mule and take him up to eat the Passover Corban. One day before
this Passover they make thin unleavened bread like that of the Jews,
which they call Massah, and they eat up this during the seven days of
this Unleavened-bread Feast.

“ The day which is the 3rd of Nisan (April 15th), or the 29th of Adar
(April 10th), or the 7th of Nisan (April 19th), or the 24th of Nisan
(May 6th)—these are the appointed dates in their reckoning. They
bring with them seven sheep which are unblemished, that is to say,

1 Of. Quarterly Statement, 1901, pp. 82-92. [Another interesting description
of the Samaritan Passover from an eye-witness is given by Professor Curtiss
in his recently published Primitive Semitic Religion To-day (Appendix F).]

ee se Ue
ee os ‘ fs il =
: - ~ Hh ‘
eae

THE SAMARITAN PASSOVER. 91

which are not one-eyed, nor broken limbed, nor having one ear jagged,
nor bald-headed, nor one horn broken. They stand on a spot well
known to them, Jebel et-Tér (Mount of Light), a point on Mount
Gerizim, which is one of their many possessions according to their title-
deeds drawn out in their names for many centuries. Seven men slay
the ‘Corban’ together. Each of these men who know the method of
slaying stand to slay, and they all slay at once and at the same
moment. Whilst this is going on the High Priest will be reading an
appropriate passage, which is a thanksgiving to God for His Covenant
with them.

“Even to this day do they still perform this ‘Corban.’

“This ‘Corban’ dates from the time they left Egypt against the will
of their enemies ; they were happy at their safe and successful departure,
whilst the natives of Egypt were in great distress at the cries of their
first-born. And God instituted this ‘Corban’ as a memorial of the

exodus from Egypt.
This Altar is according to bi od fe.
saying of God in A we Se pra

‘Hn

taken from the
time of Abraham,
which God told us
ahout in Genesis
xv, 17. There the
sun did set...
(and it was dark)
... Here was to be
set the fire-lamp
as He said... In
that day God
made a Covenant
with Abraham.

Here those
who hold the
feet and slay

stand.

pray stand
whatever they
find unfit in

Chap. xx, verse 24: “An earthen
N Altar shall you make to me, and on
it shall you slay your offerings.”

“This is the diagram of the‘ Tannfr’ (place of Sacrifice, dit. ‘ furnace,’)
on which they roast their unblemished sheep, out of which they take
nothing except the entrails, otherwise they are intact. :

“This is the fashion of the altar on which t
where they burn all that remains after they |
must be burnt.

“They never allow any stranger to eat of this
give him a chance of touching it.

“And this ‘Corban’ they slay on the night of the 24th of Nisan (&e.)
at sunset, and whilst they are doing this they continue praying to the
One God. And the ‘Corban’ is ready at six o’clock of that night.

“They eat in happiness and joy.

“Every man stands with his staff in his hand and his loins girded,
and eats and then retires. Now this is an account of the ‘Corban.’

“And when the ‘Corban’ is finished they remain on this mountain
for seven days and no longer, so as not to run the risk of touching,
Seeing, and eating any leavened bread as we have said before.

“This is the diagram of the caldron in which they boil the water to

hey burn the entrails, and
1ave finished eating. All

‘Corban,’ nor do they

92 NOTES ON PROF. LIBBEY’S ACCOUNT OF JORDAN VALLEY, ETC.

scald the ‘ Corban,’ and the form of the altar, and the ‘Tannfr’ on whiclr
they roast it after this fashion.

“ And on this altar, under which are placed logs of wood, they burm
the fat, as we have said before.

“Tn the centre are the two pans of boiling water for skinning and
fleecing the ‘Corban.’ From under the altar (as in the diagram) they
remove the ashes on which they have burnt the entrails.

“Half an hour before the ‘Corban’ is removed from the Tannar
a crier cries, and the sect appears to you so happy, as if they had won
a great sum of money or a victory, to which there is nothing in
comparison.

“This is the full and complete end.”

NOTES ON PROFESSOR LIBBEY’S ACCOUNT OF THE
JORDAN VALLEY AND PETRA.

By Professor Hutt.

{x the last number of the Quarterly Statement (October, 1902) there
appears an abstract of a paper by Professor William Libbey, read at the
Belfast meeting of the British Association, on “The Jordan Valley and
Petra,” which is chiefly remarkable for its assumptions based on little or
no evidence, and its ignorance of the geological structure of the region it
professes to describe, notwithstanding all that has been written by
previous explorers, of whose work, it may be presumed, the author
appears to be entirely ignorant. It might have been supposed that an
American professor (as may be inferred from several words and phrases),
before undertaking an exploration of a region of such peculiar geological
interest, would have mastered, at least, the main features of the succes-
sion of formations with which many published volumes, from those of
Fraas, Lartet, and Lynch, to those of Tristram and the Expedition of
1883-4, sent out by the Palestine Exploration Committee, would have
provided him ; but this, it is clear, he has omitted to do.

We will notice some of the statements of Professor Libbey as they
occur in succession, pointing out their inaccuracies :—

1. He states (p. 411) that the subsidence of the Jordan-Arabah fault
is on its “eastern side”; the fact being that the subsidence, or down
throw, is on the western side, as the relative position of the formations at
each side of the valley show.

2. He supposes that the Jordan-Arabah Valley has been “widened
and deepened by ice action.” This is a purely imaginary hypothesis,
unsupported by any evidence either on the part of the author or of
anyone else, as far as we are aware. It is true that the moraines of
ancient glaciers are found in the valleys of the Lebanon and Hermon,
reaching down to a level of about 4,000 feet above the sea, as was shown

NOTES ON PROF. LIBBEY’S ACCOUNT OF JORDAN VALLEY, ETC. 93

as far back as 1862 by Sir J. D. Hooker, and afterwards corroborated by
Canon Tristram and M. Lartet ; but there is no foundation for the sup-
position that the glaciers of the Lebanon descended into the Jordan
Valley “at least as far south as the Sea of Galilee, if not throughout the
whole length of the valley.” This is a flight of the imagination which
none of the distinguished observers above named has ventured to put
forth.

3. But perhaps the most surprising of all the statements in Professor
Libbey’s communication, as far, at least, as they are contained in the
abstract, is that which places the Nubian sandstone in geological sequence
above the Cretaceous limestones, and as having been deposited after the
formation of the Jordan-Arabah Valley. There can be no mistake as to
the author’s statement, however surprising and contrary to fact, as he
speaks of the “immense deposits of sandstone,” including that of the city
of Petra, as having been laid down in the Jordan-Arabah Valley, and
subsequently to the production of the great rift or fault of that valley
(p. 412). The real succession of geological events are, as is well known :
first, the deposition of the sandstone ; then of the Cretaceous and
Eocene limestones ; afterwards the production of the great rift, or fault
of the Jordan-Arabah Valley. Consequently the sandstone underlies the
limestones, and partook of all the terrestrial vicissitudes to which the
latter formation was subjected.

4. The author has apparently mistaken the remarkable old lake
terraces which line the shores of the Dead Sea as being formed of sand-
stone—part of his “immense deposits of sandstone” referred to above,
Amongst these he includes the Lisan Peninsula, which is known to be
formed of calcareous marls with gypsum ; and he proceeds to favour his
readers with speculations regarding the former prolongation of the Gulf
of Akabah into the Dead Sea, and the changes by which it was forced back
to its present position, But an observer who has failed to grasp the more
obvious geological phenomena of the region he has traversed can scarcely
be looked to as a guide in subjects more recondite—such as the great
changes of level which the Arabah Valley has undergone.

5. Lastly, Professor Libbey is not more happy in his historical
reference to Petra, which he classes with “the other strong places of
Moab.” He has a great deal to learn regarding the country of which he
treats.

Aw inscription has been found by Miss Gladys Dickson on an ossuary
(and by her forwarded to the Fund), which promises to prove of singular
interest. It commemorates some of the family “of Nicanor the
Alexandrian who made the gates.” Professor Ganneau suggests that the
bronze doors in the Temple “ Gate of Nicanor” are probably here referred
to. The Greek inscription is followed by a repetition of the name in
Hebrew. A photograph, accompanied by full notes, will be given in the
next issue of the Quarterly Statement.

——— = Se a in ——- 7 ——

NOTICES OF FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.

Recueil ad’ Archéologie Orientale, vol. v, parts 12-17.—M. Clermont-
Gianneau, in § 39, identifies the lac de Cartorie mentioned in a deed of
Balian d’Ybelin, Lord of Arsur, Arsif, dated 1261, with Bahret Kattrieh—
a small lake near Ars(if, formed by the silting up of the rock-hewn
channels which formerly drained that portion of the Maritime Plain.
§ 40 contains notes on Greek inscriptions, collected by the late M. Renan
at Sidon. § 41 deals with the Phenician inscriptions of the temple of
Eshmun at Sidon.

In a suggestive discussion, § 42, of the question “ Where was the
mouth of the Jordan in the time of Joshua?” M. Clermont-Ganneau
points out that the expressions, “ north bay of the Salt Sea at the end of
Jordan” (Josh. xviii, 19), “the bay of the sea at the end of Jordan ”
(xv, 5), and “from the uttermost part of the Salt Sea, from the bay
that looked southward ” (Josh. xv, 2), which occur in the descriptions of
the boundaries of Judah and Benjamin necessarily imply the existence of
a bay (Heb. “ tongue,” /dshén) or lagoon at the north and south ends of
the Dead Sea when the book of Joshua was written. The author main-
tains that the southern bay is now represented by the marshy plain
es-Sebkha, and that the northern bay, now partly filled up by the silt
of the Jordan, is defined by the edge of the Zor, or lower bed of the
river. He assumes that the level of the Dead Sea in the time of Joshua
was 328 feet (100 m.) higher than it is at present, and that the northern
bay was a shallow lagoon extending northwards to the vicinity of Kasr
el-Yahfid. At this point, some 4% miles (7 km.) from its present mouth,
the Jordan ended, and from it the common boundary of Judah and
Benjamin started, The level of the Dead Sea is assumed to have fallen
328 feet since the time of Joshua, either by a natural process of con-
traction, or by the escape of water through fissures in the bed of the
lake at times of earthquake. And stages in the fall of level are
supposed to be indicated by the marshes mentioned in 1 Mace. ix, 32 ff,
and by Josephus (Anz. xiii, 1, §§ 2-5), and by the statement of the
Russian Abbot Daniel in the twelfth century that in ancient times the
sea of Sodom extended to the place of Baptism, but was then 4 versts
from it. .

Whilst agreeing with M. Clermont-Ganneau that, when the book of
Joshua was written, there was a bay, or tongue, at the north end of the
_Dead Sea, it is hardly possible to accept his theory that the level of the
lake was then 328 feet higher than it is now. Under existing conditions
of climate such a fall is impossible, and there is no reason to believe that
any material change has taken place in the climate since the Israelites
passed over Jordan. Nor is there any evidence that the waters of the
lake have been sensibly lowered by seismic disturbances during historic
times. The mouth of the Jordan has never been examined with
reference to the question raised by M. Clermont-Ganneau, but a bay of

NOTICES OF FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 95

some depth would be formed by a comparatively small rise in the level
of the Dead Sea, and the boundary between Judah and Benjamin may
have been laid out at a period of high level.

Notes sur les Croisades, by Max van Berchem. No. I, “ Le royaume
de Jérusalem et le livre de M. Rohricht.” (Printed in pamphlet form
from the Journal Asiatique, 1902.)—In a short introduction to his
historical, geographical, and philological notes on Réhricht’s fascinating
history of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, the author points out that
much additional information, from Arab sources, has become available
since its publication. He also remarks upon the desirability of checking
the statements in the manuscripts by contemporary Arab inscriptions,
which give precise facts with regard to fights, dates, proper names, and
political titles. The object of the “notes” is to bring together all
information from Arab sources that can be utilised in the correction
of errors and the supply of deticiencies in Réhricht’s great work, and
the name of their author is alone sufficient to indicate their great value.

Zeitschrift des deutschen Palestina-vereins, vol. xxv, parts 1-2.—The
two parts are occupied by an exhaustive article by Dr. H. Hilderscheid
on the rainfall of Palestine in ancient and modern times. § 1 is a
critical examination of rainfall observations in recent years, illustrated
by 40 tables, conveniently arranged so as to give the rainfall from J uly
to July—a month in which there is jo rain, and not as usual for the
calendar year. The observing stations are thus grouped :—In the
coast district: Gaza, Jaffa, Sarona, Haifa, and the Carmel Hotel ; in the
hill country : Bethlehem, Jerusalem (three stations), and Nazareth ; and
in the Jordan depression, Tiberias, At only one of these stations,
Jerusalem I, have the observations extended over a fairly long period
(39 years), so that some of the conclusions are liable to modification.

ment, has been made of the material
published by the Fund, and especially of the articles contributed to the

wet and dry periods, but th
certainly defined.

of all references in the Bible and
Talmud to rain, snow, hail, mist, frost, and dew. In § 3 the question

of change of climate is discussed, and the author comes to the con-

clusion that there has been no material change in the climate or in
amount of rainfall during historic times.

Mit. und Nach. des D.P. V., 1901.—No. 1 contains an appreciative
obituary notice of the late Dr. Schick, and a short account by Professor
Dr. Sellin of his excavations on the site of Taanach (Quarterly Statement,
1902, p. 301). No. 2 opens with remarks by Dr. Schumacher on inserip-
tions found east of Jordan by Mr. C. Rohrer, and this is followed by a
well-illustrated article on the altar place at Petra, by Professor G. L.

96 NOTES AND QUERIES.

Robinson, of Chicago, who visited it in May, 1900, and was the first to
realise and make known the importance of this “high place” of the
Edomite capital. C. W. W.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

The Name of Jehovah on Seals——The occurrences of the name of
Jehovah on Hebrew seals, from Jerusalem and elsewhere, written in
the ancient character, are becoming numerous. As a rule they have
nothing in the form of an image or animal object on them ; but three
cases at least are known where the law appears not to be observed.

Perrot (Hist. de 1’ Art, vol. iv, p. 439) gives eight early seals
from Jerusalem. Of these the seals of ‘Obadiah, the King’s
servant,” “ Hananiah, son of Achbor,” and “ Hananiah, son of
Azariah” (compare Hananiah, son of Azur, Jer. xxviii, 1), have the
names only engraved. Those of “Belnathan” (with a winged
figure) and of “Chemoshyakhi” (with a winged sun) need not
detain us, as they do not contain the name Jehovah.

The large seai of “‘Shebaniah bar ‘Azziu” has on one side
a human figure, and on the other two winged suns. It is remark-
able that the Zain has the Pheenician not the Hebrew form; and
the word bar for “son” was used in Phoenicia by 800 B.c., instead
of the Hebrew Ben. If, then, the name Yehu for Jehovah really
occurs, which does not seem quite clear from the drawing, there is
yet reason to think that this seal is Phoenician and not Hebrew.

Two others remain. That of “Shem‘ayahu, son of Azari-
yahu,” with the figure of a bull, probably older than 700 B.c.; and
that of “ Nathanyahu, son of Obedyahu,” with two rampant goats,
similar to those on some Pheenician seals. This latter may date
about 700 B.c.

The first is a clear case in which it is possible that a Hebrew
may have transgressed the law. The word Ben is used for “son.”

The second may be another case, as the word Ben occurs
(see Nathaniah, 1 Chron. xxv, 2); but it is remarkable that the
word is divided—#&eth in the upper, Vun in the lower line—which
is, I believe, unusual. In neither of these cases is there any
religious emblem—i.e., winged sun or winged figure—to show
idolatrous worship, as in the other cases mentioned above.

Colonel C. R. Conprer, LL.D., R.E.

QUARTERLY STATEMENT, APRIL, 1903. ]

THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.

NOTES AND NEWS.

THe Committee are pleased to announce that the Archbishop of
‘Canterbury has consented to act as President of the Fund. His
Grace has written (through Canon Dalton) :—“ Most gladly do I
“accept the honourable position offered me of the Presidency of the

“* Palestine Exploration Fund. I know its work, and I value it
“* exceedingly.”

Mr. James Glaisher, for some 20 years Chairman of the
Executive Committee, died on the morning of February 7th, in
his 94th year. He was buried at Shirley, about three miles from
Croydon, on the 11th, and the funeral was attended by the present
chairman, Major-General Sir Charles Wilson, and by the Honorary
Secretary and the Acting Secretary. The Executive Committee
sent a wreath of flowers, which was placed on the grave. A brief
memoir will be found on another page.

~—-_-_——____

The Committee are glad to be able to state that Mr. Macalister
has resumed the work at Gezer, which was interrupted by the
outbreak of cholera. Mr. Macalister is how engaged in clearing

out the vicinity of the “ high place,” or temple,

The following letter has been addressed by Mr.

Crace to the
Editor of the Times -—

Sir,—In June last year you courteously allowed me to inform
your readers that this Society was beginning the excavation of the
site of the ancient Gezer, the “ portion” given by Pharaoh to his
daughter, Solomon’s wife. The work was energetically carried on

#3 *
oa a ~ a - a1 j j ‘ a
* S Rat f ~ 7
7 ,, s 5 i; © i: J ?

7 -

NOTES AND NEWS. ying

by Mr. Stewart Macalister, until stopped, late in the year, by the
serious outbreak of cholera, which carried off many of the workers.
But by that time the discoveries had amply justified the selection
of the site. A pre-Israelite megalithic temple, evidences of infant
sacrifice, and varied forms of sepulture of at least two early races
of inhabitants were brought to light, besides large numbers of
objects illustrating the several periods of occupation.

The work is now being taken up again on the removal of
quarantine restrictions; and what I desire to impress on those
interested is that, inasmuch as the Imperial iradé authorising the
excavation is for two years only, the work must be pushed on
very vigorously if it is to be completed in the time. The site
covers a large area, and needs an extra large force of workpeople. _

The Committee estimate that, to accomplish what is begun
(within the given time), they will require about £2,000 more than
is provided for by their regular subscribers. They therefore appeal
to the public to assist them to that extent. Contributions should
be sent to Mr. George Armstrong, at the offices of the Palestine
Exploration Fund, 38, Conduit Street, W.

J. D. Crace, Hon. Secretary.

The Committee have received the following special donations
towards the sum of £2,000 which they are desirous of raising :—

ee coe i
Dr. Aldis Wright ... .. =... 100 0 0
The Lord Iveagh ... = me’ BS Y *G
Professor Macalister ae i EE) “9
Professor Bevan... a. ni Ee 20.. oR
James Hilton, Esq. ... dion goitt ROS -@
Mrs. Lewis ... dos. wi en VIB 8
G. B. Lloyd, Esq. ... 33 bas, tO
Mr. Crace ... es sd a 5 6 0

The death of Sergeant Black, R.E., will be regretted by all who
know what an important part he took in the survey of Palestine.
Colonel Conder writes :—‘‘He was selected from the Ordnance

Survey to accompany Captain Stewart in 1872; and, that officer 4

falling sick almost at once, while Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake went away
on a visit to North Syria, Sergeant Black was left with only

i oe

NOTES AND NEWS. 99

Mr. Armstrong to carry on the work until my arrival. During
these months excellent work was done, and I found the experience
and high character of Sergeant Black of the greatest value. He
was invalided home in 1875, after a most trying time in the south
of Judea. He again volunteered to accompany me in 1881, and
was in Moab during the anxious months spent on the East Palestine
Survey. He was eminently fitted, by his patience and prudence, to
deal with Orientals, and his thoroughly conscientious pride in his
work ensured the accuracy of the survey. He was also a highly
educated man, and made many valuable suggestions in connection
with Bible geography and antiquities. I had the pleasure, a few
years ago, of writing to tell him of an unexpected test applied to
the survey work, in connection with a very detailed Crusading
account of the district round Bablin (Castellum Bubalorum), at the
foot of Carmel, which was entirely unknown when the region was
surveyed, and which proved the completeness and accuracy of the
map in this district, for which he was personally responsible. The
letter which I received in reply showed the satisfaction with which
he was able to look back on his work. Without such men the

survey of Palestine’ would not have been what the public had
a right to expect.”

The following notes on the epidemic of cholera in 1902 are from
a contribution by Dr. Masterman to Home Words for Jerusalem :—

“The Gaza district and all Southern Palestine received cholera
through the overland route from Egypt vid El Arish. Here,
now well known, the ‘cordon’ was not strictl
disastrous results. Then either eid Egypt, or, as seems probable,
directly from Northern Arabia, the east of the Jordan was infected
at the same time as, or perhaps earlier than, Gaza, and thence the
disease spread northwards and north-west to the Jordan Valley.
Amman, where the Damascus-Mecca railhead now is, was the
immediate centre whence the cholera attacked Tiberias and its
district. Es-Salt and Jericho, and, lastly, in a manifest way by
means of railway workmen from the railway, Damascus,

as is
y enforced, with

“The disease has, as is usual, been far more severe in the low
lands than among the mountains. Thus, such places as Gaza, Jaffa,
Lydda, and a great proportion of villages in the Plain of Sharon,

G 2

ia) ee ee ee ee ee 2 oe Ain : & ———_ = 6 8

100 NOTES AND NEWS.

villages near the Plain of Esdraelon, and places in the Jordan
Valley, like Tiberias and Jericho, have suffered terribly, whereas
Damascus, Nazareth, Safed, Nablus, Jerusalem, and Hebron have
| suffered scarcely at all; in the case of most the only fatal cases

being those of fugitives from other places.

«The mortality appears to have been of the kind typical in such
epidemics. Beginning almost unnoticed, the numbers of deaths
inerease rapidly from week to week, reaching a maximum in four
or five weeks, and then rapidly decline. This is characteristic of
each place attacked. Thus the deaths at Gaza were, as far as is
known, as follows :—September 20th, 60; 27th, 96; October 4th,
123; 11th, 226; 18th, 292; 27th, 830; November Ist, 513; 8th,
67; 15th, 45; 22nd, 22—total 2,274.

“The height of the epidemic in Gaza was the week in October ;
in Lydda a week later, and at Jaffa the middle of November.
What the death-rate in the villages in the plains may have been it
is impossible to guess. Two or three places: where I haye infor-
mation may give some idea. In Abu Shusheh there are 30 new
graves since the end of October; at Beit Jebrin 60 deaths are
reported ; at Jericho it is said 80 funerals have occurred, but many
of these were from cases coming from east of the Jordan.

“ Although the epidemic has fallen heavily on some towns and
villages, others in close proximity have wonderfully escaped.
Ramleh, for example, has been fortunate. With respect to the
villages, 1 am informed that the inhabitants of Tell Zakariyeh were
quite free from cholera, although many villages round were severely
smitten.”

Mr. Hanauer, who has recently visited Hajla (Beth-hoglah),
writes that the convent has been rebuilt, vineyards and gardens
surround the ‘din, but little is left of the frescoes in the chapels.
‘Several changes also have taken place at Karantel, particularly in
front of the “Cave of the Temptation” (Matt. iv, 1). The inside
of the cave has been redecorated. Mr. Hanauer utters a warning
against too readily accepting newly-discovered “ mosaics,” as there
is good reason to believe that forgers are turning their attention to
them.

NOTES AND NEWS. 10f

The Museum and Library of the Palestine Exploration Fund at
Jerusalem have been removed from the room opposite to the Tower
of David to the Bishop’s Buildings, near the Tombs of the Kings,
where the use of a room has been kindly permitted by the Rev. Dr.
Blyth, Bishop in Jerusalem and the East. The Museum is open

daily, except Sundays, and the Honorary Secretary, Dr. D’Erf
Wheeler, will give all information necessary.

Mr. Macalister’s two reports on the excavations at Gezer have
been reprinted from the Quarterly Statement in pamphlet form, and

can be obtained on application to the Acting Secretary, price 1s. 2d.
post free.

The “ Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai,” by the Rey. George
E. Post, M.D., Beirat, Syria, containing descriptions of all the
Phaenogams and Acrogens of the region, and illustrated by 441
woodcuts, may be had at the office of the Fund, price 21s.

In order to make wp complete sets of the Quarterly Statement,” the
Committee will be very glad to receive any of the back numbers.

The income of the Society from December 23rd, 1902, to March
20th, 1903, was—from Annual Subscriptions and Donations,
including Local Societies, £759 17s, 4u/. ; from Lectures, £35 19s. 6d. ;
from sales of publications, &¢., £169 Ls. ld. ; total, £964 17s. 11d.
The expenditure during the same period was £980 16s. 11d. On
March 21st the balance in the Bank was £424 7s. 10d,

Subscribers to the Fund are reminded that, whilst the receipt of
every subscription and contribution is promptly acknowledged by
the Acting Secretary, they will henceforth be published annually,
and not quarterly. A complete List of Subscribers and Subscriptions
for 1902 will be published in due course in a separate form.

Subscribers in U.S.A. to the work of the Fund will please note
that they can procure copies of any of the publications from the

t j
3
*
7
i
ai
~
“

ei + *

ee eee ee Wee
me

102 — NOTES AND NEWS.

Rev. Professor Theo. F. Wright, Honorary General Secretary to the
Fund, 42 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.

The Committee will be glad to communicate with ladies and
gentlemen willing to help the Fund as Honorary Secretaries.

— ae ee a

Subseribers will please note that they can still obtain a set of the ‘‘ Survey
of Palestine,” in four volumes, for £7 7s., but the price has been increased to
the public to £9 9s. The price of single volumes to the public has also been
increased. Applications should be made to the Acting Secretary.

The price of a complete set of the translations published by the Palestine
Pilgrims’ Text Society, in 13 volumes, with general index, bound in cloth,
is £1010s. A catalogue describing the contents of each volume can be had
on application to the Secretary, 38 Conduit Street.

The Museum at the office. of the Fund, 38 Conduit Street (a few doors
from Bond Street), is open to visitors every week-day from 10 o’clock till 5,
except Saturdays, when it is closed at 2 p.m.

_ Branch Associations of the Bible Society, aJl Sunday Schools within
the Sunday School Institute, the Sunday School Union, and the Wesleyan
Sunday School Institute, will please observe that by a special Resolution of the
Committee they will henceforth be treated as subscribers and be allowed to pur-
chase the books and maps (by application only to the Secretary) at reduced
price.

The Committee will be glad to receive donations of Books to the Library

of the Fund, which already contains many works of great value relating to

~ Palestine and other Bible Lands. A catalogue of Books in the Library will
be found in the July Quarterly Statement, 1893.

_ <<

NOTES AND NEWS. 103

Authorised Lecturers for the Society.
AMERICA.

Professor THEopoRE F. Wriagut, Ph.D., 42, Quincy Street, Cambridge,
Mass., Honorary General Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund
for the United States. His subjects are as follows :—

(1) The Buried City of Jerusalem.
(2) Discoveries in Palestine.

ENGLAND.

The Rev. Tuomas Harrison, F.R.G.S., St. John’s Vicarage, Dewsbury
Moor, Yorks. His subjects are as follows :—
(1) Research and Discovery in the Holy Land.
(2) Bible Scenes in the Light of Modern Science.
(3) The Survey of Eastern Palestine.
(4) In the Track of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan.
(5) The Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Cities of the Plain.
(6) The Recovery of Jerusalem—(Excavations in 1894).
(7) The Recovery of Lachish and the Hebrew Conquest of Palestine.

(8) Archeological Illustrations of the Bible. (Specially adapted for
Sunday School Teachers.)

The Rev. CHarLes Harris, M.A., F.R.G.S., The Elms, Windleshaw Road,
St. Helen’s, Lancs. (All Lectures illustrated by lantern slides.) His
subjects are as follows :—

(1) Modern Discoveries in Palestine.
(2) Stories in Stone; or, New Light on the Old Testament.
(3) Underground Jerusalem ; or, With the Explorer in 1895.
Bible Stories from the Monuments, or Old Testament History
in the Light of Modern Research :—
(4) A. The Story of Joseph; or, Life in Ancient Egypt.
(5) B. aie Story of Moses; or, Through the Desert to the Promised
and, |
(6) c. The Story of Joshua; or, The Buried City of Lachish.

(7) D. The Story of Sennacherib ; or, Scenes of Assyrian Warfare.
(8) B. The Story of the Hittites; or, 4 Lost Nation Found.

ScoTLaNnD.

The Rev. James Situ, B.D., F.S.A., F.R.GS., St. George’s-in-the-West
Parish, Aberdeen. (All Lectures are illustrated with lantern slides, ;
many of which are coloured.) His subjects are as follows :—

(1) Lhe Palestine Exploration Fund.
(2) A Pilgrimage to Palestine.

(3) Jerusalem—Ancient and Modern.
(4) The Temple Area, as it now is.

(5) The Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
(6) A Visit to Bethlehem and Hebron.
(7) Jericho, Jordan, and the Dead Sea.

104 NOTES AND NEWS.

WALEs,
The Rev. J. Lirwetyy Tuomas, M.A., Aberpergwm, Glynneath, South
Wales. His subjects are as follows :—
(1) Haplorations in Judea.
(2) Research and Discovery in Samaria and Galilee. ‘
(3) In Bible Lands ; a Narrative of Personal Experiences.
(4) The Reconstruction of Jerusalem,
(5) Problems of Palestine.
N.B.—All Lectures are illustrated by specially prepared lantern slides.

Application for Lectures may be either addressed to the Secretary,
38 Conduit Street, W., or sent to the address of the Lecturers.

The Committee acknowledge with thanks the following :—

“The First Bible.” From the Author, Colonel C. R. Conder, LL.D.,
M.R.ASS., R.E.

“Recueil d’Archéologie Orientale.” Tome V, Livraison 18. From the -

Author, Professor Clermont-Ganneau, M.T.
“ Al-Mashrik: Revue Catholique Orientale Bimensuelle.”’

Form or Bequest to THE Pavestine Expnoration Founp.

I give to the Palestine Exploration Fund, London, the sumof
to be applied towards the General Work of the Fund ; and I direct that the
said sum be paid, free of Legacy Duty, and that the Receipt of the Treasurer
of the Palestine Exploration Fund shall be a sufficient discharge to my
Executors. :

Signature __

en eee

Witnesses
ee ee

NoTE.—Three Witnesses are necessary in the United States of America;
Two suffice in Great Britain,

To face pom 105.]

From a photograph ]

JAMES GLAISHER, F.R.S.

[hy

J. Melhwish.

OBITUARY OF JAMES GLAISHER, ESQ., F-.R.S.

Mr. JAMES GLAISHER, F.R.S., who was Chairman of the Executive
Committee of the Fund for 20 eventful years, was born in London
on April 7th, 1809—the year that gave to the world Bismarck,
Gladstone, and other illustrious men—and died at Croydon on
February 7th last, in his 94th year. Before he was twenty he was
appointed a Civil Assistant of the Ordnance Survey Department,
which was then engaged in carrying out the Principal Triangulation
of Ireland—a work which attracted men of such calibre as Professor
Tyndal, Rev. T. A. Southwood, to whom the Modern Department

of Cheltenham College owed so much, and Mr. Tovey, one of the

masters of the same school. Mr. Glaisher always retained his

interest in the national survey, and I well remember the pleasure
it gave him, some 25 years ago, to renew his acquaintance with
the office in the Pheenix Park in which he had worked in early
youth,

It was during his work on the storm-swept, cloud-capped
mountains of Ireland that his interest in meteorology was first
awakened. The long hours of waiting and watching until a break
in mist or cloud enabled a clear view to be obtained of the
trigonometrical station on some distant peak were characteristically
occupied in noting the formation and colours of the clouds, and all
those changes in the weather which had such an important influence
on the progress of the work upon which he was engaged. In 1835
he became an assistant in Cambridge Observatory, and in 1836
an assistant in the astronomical department of the Greenwich
Observatory. In 1840 he was appointed Superintendent of the
Magnetic and Meteorological Department at Greenwich, a post
which he held until his retirement from the public service in 1874.

Mr. Glaisher initiated the publication of the quarterly and
annual reports on meteorology issued by the Registrar-General, but
it was in 1862 that his name became generally. known in connection
with the experiments conducted by the British Association for the
purpose of meteorological investigations in the higher regions of the
air. He made more than 30 balloon ascents, and of these the most
daring, and that which attracted the greatest attention, was made
on September 5th, 1862. On this occasion he and Mr. Coxwell

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106 OBITUARY OF JAMES GLAISHER, ESQ., F.R.S.

reached the great height of 37,000 feet, or seven miles. He was
the founder of the Royal Meteorological Society ; occupied the
presidential chair of the Royal Microscopic Society and of the
Photographic Society, and wrote more than a hundred books
and papers relating to astronomy, meteorology, and the theory of
numbers.

The subscribers to the Fund are well aware of Mr. Glaisher’s
long connexion with its work, but they are probably not so well
acquainted with the many services which he rendered to it during
the last 35 years. A member of the General Committee almost
from the foundation of the Fund, he joined the Executive Com-
mittee as far back as 1867, and from the first took the greatest
interest in the successive expeditions that were sent out to the
Holy Land. As might have been expected, he at once took special
charge of everything connected with the climate and meteorology of
Palestine, and the subscribers are greatly indebted to him for the
many valuable papers on the subject which he contributed to
the Quarterly Statement. Last year he prepared a paper on the
meteorology of Jerusalem, in which he discussed the barometer
and thermometer readings of the last 20 years, and the rainfall
of the last 40 years. This last contribution to the work of the
Fund has now been published in a pamphlet, which he was able
to correct in proof before his final illness.

During his long term of office as Chairman, Mr. Glaisher
watched with unremitting care the conduct of the surveys and
excavations in Palestine, and the publication of the reports by
which their results were made known to the subscribers. He very
rarely missed a meeting of the Committee, and was ever ready to
further any scheme which he thought would be to the interest of
ih Fund. His genial manner, and unusual energy and vitality
will long be remembered by his colleagues. He seemed so strong
and sound that when the Committee presented him with an address
upon his entering his ninetieth year there was every reason to hope
ying ae : ee another ten years, and complete his century.
Even when increasing deafness obliged him to resign his position as
Chairman, no one expected that the end would come so soon. After
a long strenuous life he now rests in peace beneath the shadow of
Shirley Church.

C. W: W.

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THIRD QUARTERLY REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION
OF GEZER.

(1 November—28 February, 1902.)
By R. A. Stewart MACALISTER, M.A., F.S.A.

§ .— PRELIMINARY.

WHILE the last report was being written the northward spread of
the cholera epidemic from the Gaza district, where it had first
appeared in Palestine, was causing considerable uneasiness.
Already the communications, both by road and by rail, between
Jerusalem and Jaffa had been interrupted by quarantine restric- q
tions, and for over a fortnight I had been unable to send to either )
town for money or for other necessaries. Indeed, had it not been :
for the kindness of one of: the local military authorities, whose |
favour was obtained by the good offices of Sourraya Effendi, the

Imperial Commissioner, I should have been shut out from Ramleh 4
also, and the provision market and post office would have been
inaccessible ; as it was, special permission was accorded to one of
the camp servants to pass through the cordon surrounding the

i town so long as the immediate neighbourhood of the camp remained
| free from the disease. Within a week after the last report was |
4, forwarded, however, the epidemic reached Abu Shusheh and Kubab,

the two villages from which the majority of the workmen are
drawn, almost simultaneously, and it became obvious that the
work must be suspended.

« The camp was accordingly moved, in the middle of November,
to the quarantine station at Bab el-WAd, and 10 days later was
transferred to Jerusalem. It was not possible to return to Abu
Shusheh till the end of January. The disease attacked Kubab with
especial violence, so that the Government officials thought it
advisable to isolate it by a special military guard from the
surrounding villages, otherwise it would have become a centre of
infection for the whole -district. The mortality in Abu Shusheh, a
small village, has been 31; that in Kubab has been variously

aa wT aes = PP a arr |

108 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

estimated—I have heard the number put as high as 700, whiclr
must be an exaggeration ; it cannot, however, have been less tham
250. The deaths in Abu Shusheh have had an unfortunate result
for the excavation, a number of new graves having been added to:
the cemetery which already cumbered an important part of the
mound ; a space some 40 feet square has thus been withdrawn from
the surface previously available for excavation.

I am glad to report that I have lost only a few of my workmen.
Their names are as follows :—Ahmed ‘Ali, surnamed Shalbak, ‘Ali
Mohammed, surnamed Ka‘akirim, Amin ‘Ali, Hasan ‘Abd-Allah,
Hasan Salem, surnamed Sawwan, Hosein Ghandtr, Rashid Mustafa
—all from Kubab. Two of the women—namely, Subha ed-Dibwani,.
of Abu Shusheh, and Subha Ahmed, of Kubab—have also died. The
village of Zakariya, from which, thanks to their experience with
Dr. Bliss, the most reliable workmen come, was passed over by the:
epidemic without a single case.

The present report will necessarily be brief, and I fear less.

‘interesting than its predecessors. I have no important discovery to

chronicle this quarter. This was to be expected, for the actual
period of digging reported on covers merely a single week in
November and the short month of February—a month interrupted
by frequent heavy rainstorms, which make excavation impossible
while they last, and difficult when they are over, owing to the:
sodden condition in which they leave the ground.

§ I.—Bvitpinas.

Houses.—Information is gradually being accumulated on the
normal arrangement of the Gezerite dwelling-houses. The subject
is full of difficulty: for, though the material is ample, it is also
fragmentary. Thus, the walls are nearly all so much dilapidated
that, even when the complete outline of a room can be made out,
in comparatively few cases does the threshold of the door remain.
Hence it is often impossible to ascertain whether two adjacent
chambers communicated, or whether they did not even belong to
two different buildings,

It is, however, becoming clear that through all periods the
houses consisted of two or three living rooms, say about 15 feet
square, more or less—rarely much more—and a series of store
chambers. The latter are always small—many of them mere

| REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 109
«<upboards—three or four in number and separated by thin walls
one from another. Their purpose is indicated by the presence of
burnt grain which is often found, especially wheat, barley, and
also peas or other vetches; I have not yet found olives here,

Fie. 1.—Large Vase used as a Grain Store.

though a mass of them was discovered on the rock at Tell Sanda-

hannah, Grain was also stored in large earthenware jars, similar

to those containing the bones of sacrificed infants in the temple.

These jars, when filled, were buried in the ground in an upright
vee te

position (Fig. 1),

110 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

The rooms were probably, as they are in modern houses in the
country, roofed with flat coverings of wattle and mud. Many of
the enclosures, which I am obliged to call “ rooms,” were probably,
when complete, open unroofed courts. As to floors, these were
almost always of beaten mud : indeed, in the majority of cases the
floor-level is cut through in excavating without any special indica-
tion of its presence being noticed. Less commonly a floor of mortar
or limestone paste is to be found.

In the ruins of individual houses details are occasionally found
which are not very easy to comprehend. I send photographs ot

Fie. 2.—Store Chambers (?).

three structures, all found at the south end of the temple trench.!
The first, belonging to the fifth stratum, is a circle about 5 feet
6 inches in diameter: nothing was found in or about it to explain
its purpose. Such circles not infrequently turn out to be the tops
of the shafts of cisterns, but this was not so in the. present
case. Smaller circles than this—say, about 2 feet 6 inches in
are not uncommon. Some of these seem to bear marks

diameter

1 These and certain other photographs will be published in the concluding

memoir.

“ee “6 es _
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i
id
4
¥

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 111

of fire, and are perhaps hearths. The second, which belongs to the
sixth occupation, is a curious ¢-shaped structure (Fig. 2). I can
but guess that this is a pair of D-shaped store-chambers. What to
make of the third structure I have no idea. It is a solid circle of
stones about 1 foot 3 inches in diameter. It is ancient, having been
built within a foot of the rock. Could it have been a domestic
altar ?

Cisterns.—Probably in the modern villages round Gezer cisterns
are few or little used: the copious spring of ‘Ain Yerdeh, and the
lesser Bir et-Tirfsheh and Bér el-Lusiyeh are freely accessible, and
are inexhaustible throughout the year. But when the city was
subject to sieges water from these natural sources could not always
be obtained, and it was important to supply a sufficiency of
reservoirs within the walls of the city.

Accordingly the rock was honeycombed with cisterns, one
appropriated to each house or group of houses: it cannot yet be
ascertained on what principle they were distributed through the
town. Since the discovery of the second burial-cave, reported
upon in January last, I have attached great importance to clearing
out these cisterns whenever found: the chance of an equally
remarkable discovery is worth the necessary expenditure of time.
A considerable number of these excavations have now been
examined, and curious finds have been made in them. There is
always a large accumulation of potsherds, no doubt the fragments
of vessels broken by careless dipping; a good many sound jugs
have also been found, the cords by which they were dropped
probably having broken. I have also found a small gold disc,
which probably fell off a girl’s head when she was drawing water ;
an Astarte-plaque of the usual type; several small jugs, such as
would not naturally have been lowered for water; the bones of
some unfortunate person who fell or was thrown into the water—a
record sufficient to justify the slow and laborious process of emptying
out the earth with which all are nearly filled. One of the jugs
recently recovered is of a type of which no sound specimen has
previously been found.

The cisterns themselves are fairly uniform in character. A
circular shaft, about 3 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep, cut through
the rock, expands downwards into a chamber roughly square or
circular on plan, about 13 to 25 feet in diameter, and generally

about 20 feet deep. In the centre of the floor, under the entrance,

112 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

is a hollow, from 6 to 18 inches deep. This is not, as I had at first
supposed, for dipping in when the water is low; modern analogies
show that it is for accumulating silt and impurities held in suspen-
sion in the water. The wall is generally covered with coarse
plaster.

One cistern, the clearance of which has just been finished, was
evidently enlarged from one of the more ancient troglodyte caves,
the original steps of which appear at its entrance.

Oil Presses—The extraction of oil and wine from olives and
grapes was, as might be expected, an important branch of Gezer
industry. Several specimens of the durable portions of the
mechanism for this purpose have from time to time been found.
I have on several occasions, in the Quarterly Statement, described or
referred to rock-cut presses, such as are to be found every where
in Palestine. When a rock-surface was unavailable—as would
obviously be the case in the upper occupations on the tell—its
place was supplied by a large flat stone, usually circular, about
5 feet in diameter. The top surface of this stone was slightly
hollowed, and the olives were crushed within it ; a series of channels
radiating over the surface conducted the juice to a little cup
deepened at one side of the hollow. In this cup the oil was
collected.

Owing to the loss of the wooden appurtenances that completed
the apparatus, it is not quite clear how the oil was pressed out. In
but a small proportion of the presses I have examined is there any
indication of the way in which the fruit was manipulated. No
doubt in many cases the presses are for grapes, which would be
trodden by the feet. In some examples, however—there is a
notable series in the vineyards round Malhah—the fruit was
crushed by a heavy lever, the butt end of which fitted into a
socket cut in the vertical wall at the back of the vat. Whether the
curious screw apparatus, of which I send a photograph from a
specimen at ‘Ain Karim, had any existence in ancient times there
is no evidence to show.

The large stone vats found in considerable numbers in all tells
are, perhaps, for refining the oil or wine pressed out on these stone
presses, the oil being allowed to stand in them till impurities had
sunk to the bottom. A fine single example of such a vat, from
Tell es-Safi, is figured in BM., p. 24. I send illustrations of a group
recently found at Gezer, which must be for some such special

—

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 113

purpose. An identical group was found within the Acropolis at
Tell Zakariya.

Architectural Ornament.—Since Professor Petrie found certain
slabs at Lachish, showing carved volutes and mouldings, no orna-
mental building-stone, certainly anterior to the Seleucidan period,
has been found in Palestinian excavations. A certain interest,
therefore, attaches to the base of a column, crude though it be,
which was found at the extreme south of the trench containing
the temple alignment (so far as it has been excavated). It belongs
to Stratum Va, or possibly IV. In an upper stratum (VI) a stone
curiously marked was found built into a wall.
graph, but am unable to explain the marks.

Baths.—As yet Gezer has little to show of buildings for special
purposes other than dwellings—of course, with the signal exception
of the great Temple. Perhaps the most remarkable are a pair of
large tanks, associated with the Maccabean stratum, but sunk
through the lower cities. These have been found south of the
Temple.

The City Walls.—Some particulars may here conveniently be
given respecting the city walls, so far as excavation has thrown
light on their rather complex history.

I. The earliest defence adopted by the inhabitants of Gezer
was an earth bank of no great height, lined inside and outside with
stones. A section of this rampart, with the dimensions (which are
not, however, uniform throughout its length) figured, will be seen
on Plate TV. This wall has been found in the trenches both in the
Eastern Hill and in the Central Valley on the north side: I have
not yet carried the excavations far enough southward to pick it
up at the other end of the trenches. It may, however, be fairly
deduced that it surrounds the whole tell.
found in it.

This rampart is founded on the rock, and might be taken as the
work of the most primitive inhabitants, save for one circumstance.
It is built up against the standing stone already illustrated (Quarterly
Statement, October, 1902, p. 323), which presumably existed pre-
viously in the line the builders intended to take. This suggests to
me that the standing stone is a monument of the primitive pre-
Amorite inhabitants, and the earth wall the work of the earliest

Semitic settlers, whose occupation commences with the third
stratum.

I send a photo-

No gate has yet been

eC) - a

114 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZRR.

II. The second defence in point of time runs outside the line
of this rampart. It has been traced for a length of 206 feet,
running from the large tower at the north end of the trench already
opened on the Eastern Hill (sce Plate I) to the north-east corner of
the enclosure, and just inside the line of the great wall indicated on
the plate. Its line seems coincident with that of the great wall,
which evidently superseded it along the eastern end of the town.
I think I have found it again at the south side, but am not yet
sure. It is much ruined, and has apparently been used as a quarry
along its inner face in different places, for though the line of the
outer face remains constant the thickness of the wall ranges from
2 feet 6 inches to 11 feet. The only detail yet found in this wall
is a solid square tower, just inside and partly concealed by the
tower on the outer wall to which reference has just been made.
West of this tower the wall stops abruptly, and no trace of it is
to be found. I suspect that in this tower I have the eastern jamb
of a gate, the western jamb of which will be revealed when the
‘next trench is opened on the Eastern Hill.

This second wall has not been found in the central valley, and
must therefore be confined to the Eastern Hill. It is too early yet
to speculate on this point, so I merely content myself with indicating
its importance in passing. It will throw the Temple and its human
sacrifices to their proper place outside the city wall, and thus get
rid of a difficulty to which I referred in my previous report.

Ill. The third wall is the splendid structure I have already
briefly described (Quarterly Statement, October, 1902, p. 320). There
is as yet little to add to this description. The course of the wall,
as each section is laid bare, is added to the plan accompanying
the quarterly reports on the excavation (see Plate I).

The chronology of this wall and that just described can con-
veniently be considered together. The fact just mentioned, that
the inner face of a tower of the third wall overlaps the outer face
of a tower of the second, is an indication that the two are not
contemporary. The assigning of the earth rampart to the third
stratum gives us a major limit of date. A minor limit is indicated
by the fact that the third wall cireumscribes the whole tell, and
therefore must have been built when the whole tell was inhabited—
for we can hardly consider it probable that the townsmen would
incur the expense of enclosing a large unoccupied area within their
town wall, thereby lengthening unnecessarily the course of the wall

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 115

that had to be built and defended. The latest date for the great
wall is consequently that of the fifth stratum. We may therefore
with probability assign the second wall to the fourth stratum.

The great wall, however, shows evident signs of having been
added to and strengthened. This is most clear at the north-east
and south-east corners. (A plan and isometric sketch of the former
will be found on Plate II, p. 116.)

At the corner is a solid four-sided tower, not quite rectangular,
about 24 feet by 31 feet. Against this tower the ends of the great
wall butt without bonding. The tower is well built, with drafted
corner stones, and (one would think) was intended to be exposed :
but it is concealed by a battering face of stones built against it.
This also is not bonded with any masonry with which it comes
in contact.

The only reasonable explanation of this complex structure seems
to me to be as follows :—The wall originally met at a simple angle
without a tower. This was not considered safe or strong enough
and the angle was cut out and the square tower built in. The
want of bond was felt to be a weakness, and the battering outer
face was built up to conceal the joints.

The great tower with battering face at the north end of the
trench on the Eastern Hill is also applied to the wall, or rather
to a small projection about 1 foot in thickness, without bond ; and
it is probable that this tower was added at the same time as the
reconstruction of the corner. The only historical event known
which would account for these elaborate fortifications is the repair
of the city by Solomon ; and it is not improbable that in these
towers we have his work.

The south-east corner is identical with that at the north-east,
save that the inner (second) wall is not found at this point.

IV. In my last report I referred to a large wall that might
be the boundary of the temple enclosure (Quarterly Statement,
January, 1903, p. 35). I am now convinced that this is impossible,
and that we have here another city wall. It is nearly as massive
as the great wall, but seems to have been built with haste, for it
is not founded on the rock—indeed, in places its foundations are
not as deep as the level of the temple, which is quite sufficient
to disprove any. connection between them. It is not found on
the Eastern Hill, therefore must be later than the settlements there,
for it is too massive to be a mere acropolis wall inside the outer

H 2

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Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. I.

EXCAVATION OF CEZER

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do.

1. Section of the Earth Rampart
2 NE. Corner, (urd ial): Plan

DETAILS OF THE CITY WALLS
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2 Se ee ee ee ee

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 117

city wall, such as was found at Zakartya.! It must therefore
be post-Solomonic and probably post-Exilic. I am inclined to
connect it with 1 Maccabees ix, 52, which names Gezer (Gazara)
among places fortified by Bacchides. The sign of haste just men-
tioned well fits with this identification: if it be objected that the
wall, even as it stands, is too great a work for Bacchides to carry
through in the time at his disposal, it may be answered that the third

wall runs within a few feet and affords an almost inexhaustible
quarry.

§ IiI.—Stronr Ossects.

Flint.—N othing new has been found. But a splendid core, from
which knives had been flaked off, is well worth mentioning. It is
6 inches in height.

Weights—A large number of stone weights in dolerite, or some
similar dark rough stone, have been accumulated. They have flat

bases, and are cylindrical or dome-shaped. At first
I was inclined to take them for pounders or pestles ;
but the discovery of some examples too small to
be grasped in the hand, and too light to serve the
suggested purpose, made me cognisant of their real
nature. Some are reduced to the required weight
by cutting a hollow depression in the base.

A small dome-shaped weight when examined
in Jerusalem was found to have faint traces of
letters upon it. These were distinct enough to
make the reading -)¥2 certain. It is the lightest
perfect weight yet found so inscribed, being
9-28 grammes, as against three from Tell Zakariya
weighing respectively 9°45, 10, and 10°21 grammes.

Whistle-—One of the most curious objects

! yet found is a whistle of steatite from the
(\ fifth stratum. It is represented in the
Y accompanying cut (Fig. 3). It is conical
re in shape, 4 inches long, 1} inches in maxi-
‘tre: 6—Btone Whistle, ™mum diameter at the end, slightly under
} inch at the mouthpiece. A reed, of the

kind employed in that abomination, the Palestine shepherd’s pipe:

1 In a recent visit to Tell Zakariya I found a few stones rather low down on

the north side of the tell, evidently a fragment of the wall surrounding the
whole hill. These had, I think, previously escaped notice.

118 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

must have been used to sound it. The following are the notes it
is capable of producing by leaving the two finger-holes and the end
open, or stopping them singly or in groups :—

From this it is quite clear that it is impossible to play upon it any-
thing that can be called a tune: not even one of the artless melodies
which the fellahin have inherited from their remote ancestors.

Corn-grinders.—In. Quarterly Statement, October, 1902, p. 326, I
have already noticed that three distinct methods of grinding corn
can be deduced from the apparatus discovered. These are—mortar
and pestles, rubbing-stones, querns. These three types are used
contemporaneously, and no trace of evolution of one to the other
can be detected.

Mortars and pestles need not delay us long. The former are
simply heavy stones, perhaps a foot or two across, in whose upper
surface a hemispherical hollow is cut. The pestles are cylindrical,
with concave bases, which not unfrequently display marks of rough
treatment.

Rubbing stones consist of the nether and the upper stone. The
nether is a flag of rough hard stone, generally granite or some
similar kind, about 2 feet 6 inches or so long, and about 1 foot
wide. The surface on which the upper stone plays is not quite flat,
but curved upwards at the ends, so as to be rather C-shaped. The
upper stone is about 1 foot to 1 foot 6 inches long. There are two
varieties. Both have a convex side and a plane side, the plane side
being pointed at both ends ; in one variety the plane side is straight
throughout, in the other it rises into horns at the points, so that on
the whole this side also is rather C-shaped.

In a photograph reproduced in B.M., p. 143, the rubbing-stones
are shown in use, but further study has convinced me that there is
a serious error in this photograph. The upper stone should be
reversed, so that the convex side, not the plane side, comes in
contact with the nether stone ; and the woman should sit so as to
grasp the two ends of the upper stone with her hands. This is
borne out by the obvious adaptability of every example that has
been discovered for grasping in the manner indicated.

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 119

The quern-stones differ from the modern type now found all
over the world, in Palestine as in the Hebrides. They are always
small, rarely being as much as a foot across. The second hole, for
a stick by which the upper stone is rotated, is never found.

The lower stone is always more massive than the upper, it is
generally slightly hollowed on its upper surface so as to have a
raised collar all round (but not invariably), and shows a hole in the
middle partially penetrating through the stone. The upper stone

is distinguished by the central hole, which is wide, countersunk, and
pierces through the stone.

Fie. 4.—Quern-stones.

It is not quite obvious how these stones were manipulated.
My own idea is that a rather narrow spindle was run through the
holes, and that the upper stone was grasped with both hands (the
fingers clasping the edge, the thumbs being between the spindle and
the stone) and worked through about one-third of a rotation, back-
ward and forward. From time to time the machine would be fed,
probably by a second person, with fresh grain poured through the
spindle-hole.

There are occasional varieties of this type found, one of which
is shown in the accompanying cut (Fig. 4). The upper stone,
instead of having a hole, has a projecting conical horn which fits

120 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

into the hole in the lower stone. The upper stone is broken, and
only a small portion was found. In the second there is no hole or
projection in the upper stone, which is simply kept in position by
the raised collar of the nether stone. A hole in the centre of the
nether stone suggests that the present upper stone may have been a
makeshift substitute for a stone that had got lost or broken.

§ I1V.—MerTaAt OBJECTS.

The harvest of metal objects has been very scanty this quarter,
and of discoveries the number worth special notice is extremely
small. These are :—

In bronze, a fine anklet fastened by a couple of wires twisted

round the ends of the ring and plaited on each other by a complex
spiral knot, and an equally fine chisel.

In iron, a spike with a socket, probably an ox-goad, or perhaps
a chape, for the end of a spear, and a key.

In gold, the small pendant ornament already referred to as

having been found in a cistern. It is ornamented with rows of
dots in repoussé.

§ V.—Portery.
We may for the present pass over the majority of the objects
in pottery, none of which are of any special importance, with the

™~

og ae
Fia. 5.—Jar with Theee Handle-shaped Legs.

REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 121

exception of a jar, recovered from one of the cisterns. This is
peculiar in having had three handle-shaped legs supporting it: one
of these remains intact. Fragments of pots of this type have
previously been found at Gezer and elsewhere; but no nearly
complete specimen has till now been discovered. It is represented
in Fig. 5.

An interesting painted jug of the Jewish period, with the neck
ornamented with curious anchor-like devices in red and black, was
also brought to light.

Kie. 6.—Vessels Buried with Sacrificed Infants.

Fig. 6 illustrates a set of three vessels, found previous to the
forwarding of the last report, but not photographed till afterwards.
They are interesting as having been deposited in a large jar with
one of the sacrificed infants in the Temple. It is not easy to guess
the reason for these deposits. Were they food-vessels ?

Compared with other tells—notably Tell ej-Judeideh—the
Jewish stratum at Gezer has proved very poor in jar-handles with
Hebrew stamps. Till the present quarter no example of handles
with the seals of private potters had been found at all. I have
now to record the discovery of two: the decipherment of both have,

a eee eee es ae eae or pe eee

122 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

however, so far beaten me.! One of these, found on the eve of °

forwarding this report, is the only one I have yet seen with the
stamp repeated. twice on the handle. I hope to return to these
handles in a subsequent report.

§ VI.—EGyptiAN OBJECTS.

The last quarter has been fairly productive in objects of
Egyptian provenance, a selection of which are represented on
Plate III. The principal hoard was found in a chamber in the
fifth stratum, south of one of the two great baths above described.
These objects were as follows :—

A large collection of coloured paste beads, mostly spherical, but
some cylindrical. Also one or two of carnelian.

Two scarabs, one (figured) of large size, each of them bearin
the legend M’t-R*nb | Maat-ra-nub]. |

Fragment of a jade scaraboid with the hinder half of an animal’s
figure upon it.

Head of Sebek in paste, enamelled yellow and blue.

Two cylinders, figured with the above, were found in the same
place.

A selection of these objects is shown on Figs. 1-5 of the plate.
Besides these there have been found a small pendant Sekhet head
in green enamel paste (lower ‘part, sixth stratum) ; a scaraboid with
M’* (Maa) feathers on one side, and ‘Jmn (Amen) on the other
(Fig. 6, a, rather deeper than the last) ; fragments of a Horus-eye,
and two fragments of Bes figures (the eye and one Bes from
stratum V; the other Bes from a cistern) ; a scarab with two ‘nh
(ankh) and nb below (Fig. 6 ; under part, fifth stratum); a minute
figure of a lion (?) in green paste (fourth stratum); a scarab,
probably late, with a plain device on the base, from immediately
under the surface outside the wall of Bacchides (Fig. 7) ; and four
jar-handles with scarab stamps upon them (Figs. 8-11). The
decipherments of the latter I offer with considerable hesitation:
they are excessively difficult to make out. The portions shown
are drawn, as indeed are all the figures on this plate, with the
camera lucida.

1 Of one of these, the bottom half of the seal is not impressed on the
handle. The top half has four letters, which may be jen, but there is
considerable doubt as to the first two letters. No such name is known.

«%

Palestine Haploration Fund. Pl, ITT.

EXCAVATION OF CEZER

SCARABS, &e

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3
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124 REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

§ VII.—CoRRECTIONS AND OBSERVATIONS ON PREVIOUS
REPORTS.

October, 1902, p. 321. The stone circle here described was
destroyed by some mischievous boys herding sheep on the tell. I
took this as a not altogether unmixed evil, for it left the site of
the circle free for examination. I should have myself been unwilling
to destroy the structure. The opportunity was taken, but nothing
was found.

Page 328. It has been suggested to me that Fig. 4, ¢, may be a
fish-hook. This occurred to me, but I felt that the object was too
like an ordinary pin, bent, to be assigned to so specific a use.
Besides, there are no known fish-ponds or streams anywhere near
Gezer. Professor Petrie kindly informs me that two specimens
resembling Fig. 4, d, were found at Gurob, Fayoum.

Page 329, line 6 from end. For tong-like read tongs-like.

Page 335, line 19. For stands read sherds.

Page 336. Professor Petrie calls my attention to the fact that
some of the potter’s marks illustrated on this page are found in
the “ Egypto-Mediterranean Signary.”

Page 337, line 5. For B. MMC., Plate LXII, read B. MMC.,
p- 62.

Page 338, line 30. For spindle-wheel read spindle-whorl ; also
at p. 39, line 1, January, 1903.

Page 338, foot-note. For cross-patching read cross-hatching.

Rage 352. The removal of the walls round about the Burial
Cave entrance some days after I had sent the report to England,
and the cleaning of the rock surface, revealed a larger number of

cup-marks in connection with the cave and the massébah than I had
previously suspected, ;

Page 363. On a second visit to the stone circle here mentioned,
I came to the conclusion that it was probably not an artificial
structure at all.

January, 1903, p. 9, line 29. For sandstone read syenite. Add
7 after TH inside the ring in the line of hieroglyphic writing.

Page 16. The knife and two spearheads figured on Plate If
fell hopelessly to pieces shortly after they were found.
Page 28, line 27. For Appendix F read Appendix D.

ARCH ZOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 125

Page 37, line 5, of hieroglyphic writing. For % read 2 , and

‘ ——
after ) insert Lf .
—— ns

Page 38, line 25. For 4} inches thick read 43 inches by 1 inch
thick.

Page 39, line 10. For amulets read annulets.

Page 42, line 1 under the figure. For embossed upon read
attached to.

Page 43, line 3. For the branches read other branches.

Also in Plate VIII, October, 1902, read I foot for 2 inches ,,
2 feet 2 inches

the left-hand end of the upper scale.

ARCH AOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHICG NOTES ON
PALESTINE.

By Professor CLERMONT-GANNEAU, M.I.

22. The “ Gate of Nicanor” in the Temple of Jerusalem.—The Com-
mittee of the Palestine Exploration Fund has been kind enough
to submit to me the squeeze of a bilingual Greek and Hebrew
inscription, which was noticed by Miss Gladys Dickson! on an
ossuary from a sepulchral cave in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem.’
The text is lengthier than the inscriptions usually found upon the
small funerary vessels which belong to Jewish archeology, and is
easily read. Its historical interest, if I am not mistaken, is of the
first rank.

' 1 [According to Miss Dickson’s letter, “this ossuary is 2 feet 8 inches long
by 11 inches by 1 foot, and is ornamented on both sides, on one end, and on
the lid. On the remaining end is the inscription lightly engraved. The
ornamentation on the one side, the end, and the lid consists of roughly painted
red lines, forming zigzags and frets. The other side is ornamented by four
small circles containing sexfoils, and set in square panels, divided by borders
(all painted).’’} }

? For reasons which will readily be understood, I refrain from indicating
more precisely the place where it was found. I merely limit myself to the
remark that the ossuary, which was found along with many others, is adorned
with sculpture.

Fic. 2.—Inscription on Ossuary.

Py ~ ~ “ . ' . - ° , ‘
Oata Twv Tov Netkavopos AnrcEavépéws TOLGaVTOS TAS Ovpas.

sptbes 7392

“The bones of the (sons or descendants?) of Nicanor, the Alexandrian,
who made the doors. —NICANOR ALEKSA.”!

' The inscription is accompanied with a big mark in the shape of a X

Se ee

ARCH AHOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 127

The Greek letters, though of the cursive type, are carefully
written, and may easily go back to the commencement of the
Christian era.'_ The Hebrew letters belong to the “ square character ”
of similar ossuaries.2. The style of the inscription—the article in
the plural followed by a proper name in the genitive—is frequent
enough in the Greek epigraphy of the Hauran,® where it serves to
designate the family or the tribe to which an individual belongs.
In this inscription it can scarcely refer to any other than the
family or descendants of Nicanor, and in view of the nature of
the vessel, the collective use is at first sight somewhat surprising,
since these little stone chests generally have a purely individual
character. Intended, as they are, to receive the bones of the
skeletons removed from the loculi in the sepulchre as fresh bodies
were inhumed, each usually received the remains of a single person, .
as is shown by the short inscriptions which have been found
graven upon them. I should add, however, that I have some-
times found in sifu, in certain ancient sepulchres of the Jewish
cemeteries of Jerusalem, ossuaries containing the bones of two
persons, the evidence being the presence of two skulls and the
tenour of the inscriptions. Sometimes, even, I have remarked the
existence of an accumulation of bones that could only belong to
several skeletons. Such may be the case here, although one is a
little embarrassed by the fact that the Hebrew inscription simply
preserves the name Nicanor, which leads to the belief that the
ossuary contained the bones of this individual only, and not those
of other persons belonging to his family. A difficulty still remains,

boldly traced. 1 have already had occasion to call attention to analogous signs,
whether on ossuary inscriptions of the same kind or not (cf., for example, my
Archeological Researches in Palestine, vol. i, pp. 395, 403, 409).

? [Canon Hicks observes that the Greek lettering is in the beautiful regular
cursive hand which was common in Egypt in papyrus-writing throughout the
last two centuries B.c. Such cursive forms did not come into common use in
public inscriptions until the Christian era. But in ex voto and similar private
or semi-private inscriptions the cursive character was not uncommon (or at
least not forbidden). It is hardly safe, therefore, to build an argument as to
date upon the Greek writing in this case. It is so good and scholarly that
Canon Hicks concludes that he is inclined to put it at as early a date as is
consistent with the evidence of the Hebrew.—ED.]

2 Numerous specimens will be found in my Archeological Researches
in Palestine, vol. i, pp. 381-454. One will not fail to notice the peculiar form
of the kaph—not curved at the lower extremity and resembling the final
kaph.

* Cf. Waddington, Inser. gr. et lat. de Syrie, Nos. 2251, 2258, 2339, 2348.

:
;
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EE: ae eT ae” Cae ees A fe ee FS a

128 | ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

which, however, I do not venture to remove by the assumption
that the Greek expression is equivalent to oora trav (daTev) tot
Necxavopos, ‘the bones belonging to those of Nicanor.” This would
allow us to reconcile the Greek and Hebrew inscriptions, but is
against all analogy and Greek usage.

It will be noticed that the Hebrew has faithfully reproduced
the name Neccarvwp: 3/23,' but without any matres lectionis, a sign
of comparative antiquity. In the Rabbinical writings, where it
appears as a well-known Hellenic name, to which I shall presently
return, it is always written fully 313/93. The word scabs,
which follows in our inscription, often recurs in Talmudic literature

as a masculine proper name ;? we even hear of a Rabbi Alaksa or
Aleksi: undoubtedly the transcription of a Greek name which,

like so many others, has passed into the Jewish onomasticon.®

Nevertheless, it seems to me rather difficult to treat sozbs here
as the name of a person: Nicanor’s second name, for example, or
the name of his father—in the latter case it would surely have
been preceded by Ja (or 53), “son.” I would prefer to see in the
name an ethnic, equivalent to “ArcEavépéws, “ Alexandrian” in the
Greek. It is true that the ordinary form in post-biblical Hebrew

is sT2025x, but one may suppose that spp bsg was a popular
abbreviation. I am not indisposed to think, even, that this abbrevia-
tion took birth upon Greek soil, and that the name "AXcEas is
properly a contraction of "AXe€avdpeds, and originally meant “ the
Alexandrian.” It is well known that in certain familiar Greek
names the ending ds is often the sign of a strong contraction—
wiiecueien Ezapoderros, KNedras = KXeoratpos, &c. It had already
heen conjectured that ’ANe€as might be contracted from "ANeEavépos *
—it could very well also be from "“AXeEavépeds. Numerous proper
' The third character is perfect, and identical with the first. It is there-
fore impossible to read “3p3 “‘ (Aleksa) has been buried.”

z Borne by Jews as well as by heathen, see Levy, Neuhebr. Wérterb., s.v. 3
cf. ek Beitr, z. nordsem. Onomatol., p. 9, who wrongly connects the Nab.
inscription, C.Z.8., ii, No. 197, where the name is really sp2$x¢ and not NDDON,
and appears to correspond to the form "AAéEwos or “AAezis.

* Not of “AXe&is, as Frankel conjectures (apud Chajes, J.c.), nor of "AAeEw
(a female name), as Krauss supposes (tb.), but rather of ’AAefas. For Jewish
bearers of this name, cf, among others, the brother-in-law of Herod the Great,
Alexas Helkias, son of Alexas (Jos. Ant. xvii, 1,1; xviii, 8, 4), and one of the
heroes of the siege of Titus (id. B.J., vi, 1, 8; 2, 6).

4 Pape-Benseler, op. cit., i, p. xviii.

ye; sae ee , a <- “, =

ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 129

names were originally real ethnics, evidence of which I have often
had occasion to bring forward. Especially favourable to the above
7 view is the fact that the regular ethnic TD by actually appears
BS in Talmudic literature as a proper name.!
ia I now reach the most curious part of our text: what could these
“doors” have been which Nicanor is said to have made? We need
‘3 not stop to consider seriously whether it refers to the doors of the
f sepulchre itself, so trivial a performance would scarcely have been
noticed. The reference is evidently to some memorable deed which
___ one loved to recall in honour of the family. I believe that by “the
Aa doors” we are to understand the famous door of the Temple of
4 Herod, known as the “Gate of Nicanor,” after the rich individual
who had presented it to the sanctuary. Everything goes to prove
it: the details preserved in the Talmud, as well as those furnished
by Josephus. They may be summed up as follows :—The Gate of
Nicanor led from the Women’s Court to the Court of the Israelites,
hard by the Priests’ Court to the east of the naos. It was
Ev approached by a flight of 15 steps. In dimensions and magnificence
+ it surpassed all the other gates of the sanctuary. Fifty cubits high
and 40 wide, the gates were of Corinthian bronze, covered with
thick plates of gold and silver, beautifully worked. At least 20 men
+ were required to turn these massive gates upon their hinges.
by They had been brought from Alexandria by a certain Nicanor who
“aid probably belonged to the wealthy Jewish colony of this city, and
J had executed this magnificent work at his own expense.® According
Is to the Talmud, miracles (G03) were performed on account of these
gates. It relates at length that Nicanor had made at his own
+ expense at Alexandria two leaves of the gate for the Temple. As they
$ were being brought by sea a storm arose and the sailors cast one
L of them overboard. In spite of this the ship continued to be in

4 1 Thus we know of a Rabbi Alexandri, Levy, op. cit., s.v.; of. the curious

; Talmudic passage there cited, whence it seems to follow that the name Benjamim

¢ could correspond to Alexandri as does Yehudah to Rufus, &c. For variants of
= this passage, cf. my Archeol. Researches, i, p. 136.

* For details and references, see Munk, Palestine, p. 552; Mishna, Yoma,

iii, 10; and the commentary of Maimonides; Talm. Bab. Yoma, fol. 38@;

} ef. Jos. B.J., v, 5, 3; vi, 5, 3, who describes the same gate, but without
naming it. _

é * Gifts of this kind were not rare, Similarly, Tiberius, father of Alexander,

ie probably an Alexandrian, had also furnished the gold and silver for the

\ ornamentation of the nine gates of the temple (Jos. B.J., v, 5, 3)-

——

lad Te he Et

130 ARCH AOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

danger, and the sailors prepared to throw away the other. Nicanor,
in despair at the loss of his precious work, besought them to cast
him over also. The storm having abated, Nicanor disembarked at
Acre, and a huge fish vomited out the leaf (which it had swallowed),
with the result that Nicanor had the happiness of being able to
bring his offering to the Temple complete.

The Talmud, as we have seen, speaks of “miracles” in the
plural. Perhaps there is an allusion to another wonder, which is
related by Josephus apropos of this gate (B.J. vi. 5, 3), along with
other prodigies which, according to popular belief, gave warning of
the imminence of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Temple
by Titus. This gate, which was usually so difficult to move, and was
closed nightly by the united efforts of 20 men, impelled by some
supernatural force, opened of its own accord towards midnight to
the general stupefaction of everyone.

These legends, the first of which presents details apparently
inspired by the story of Jonah, bears witness at least to the
popularity which the Gate of Nicanor possessed. I do not think I
am mistaken in concluding that the Nicanor of our inscription is no
other than this historical personage ; the correspondence is complete
in all essentials ; he is called Nicanor, he is of Alexandria, and he is
said to have made the gates (tas Obpas=F\) nb>7) 2__no Jew of the
period, in the presence of a text so worded, could misunderstand the
meaning and fail to recognise the donor whose name was upon
every lip. *

There is no need for me to insist upon the results that follow
this identification. This can only be done fully when more is
known of the sepulchre where our ossuary and the other ossuaries
associated with it were found. But we may feel satisfied, in the
meantime, that we now possess an invaluable datum for the
chronological classification, not only of such ossuaries, but also of
the Greek and Hebrew inscriptions which they so often bear.

[Mr. Macalister, who has had an opportunity of examining
the ossuary itself, observes that the engraver of the inscription
“evidently became weary of his work at an early stage. The

1 The appearance of a comet; a sudden illumination by night of the altar
and the Temple ; a cow giving birth to a lamb in the middle of the Temple as it
was going to be sacrificed.

2 These are properly the folding-doors or leaves; for a gate in the
architectural sense, that is to say, the gate or doorway, the word riAn = TY

or MMB would have been employed.

eas |) oa

ARCHEOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 131

opening letters are cut with a boldness and distinctness rare in
ossuary inscriptions (which are generally feeble and almost illegible
scrawls). But as the inscription advances, signs of carelessness and
haste make their appearance, till at the end of the Hebrew words
the letters are faintly scratched—indeed, nearly invisible.” The
difficulty constituted hy the opening words, dora rv rod N., would
be removed if we accept Mr. Macalister’s ingenious suggestion
that deratwy is one word—a draft Neyouevov—with the obvious and
suitable meaning “ receptacle for bones.” As analogies for this form
such words as dured\wy, “place for vines, vineyard,” zap0evisv,
“chamber for young women,” zepiorepewy, & columbarium,” are cited
by Mr. Macalister and others. But the explanation of the 7 would
seem to form a serious objection (note oa700yxn), though, to be sure,
Mr. Macalister himself inclines to the view that it is euphonic, and
that the whole word was provincial or local. M. Clermont-Ganneau
also points out how closely éerazé» would resemble the word
MINNOLN], ostédanah, “sepulchre,” an Aramaic word of Iranian

origin on an inscription of the fifth or fourth century B.C. Has
the word been Graecised ?—Ep.]

23. An Inscribed Altar at Kedesh-Naphtali.In 1865 Sir Charles
Wilson discovered at Kades, the ancient Kedesh of Naphtali in
Galilee, to the north-east of Lake Hfleh, a stone altar with a Greek
inscription. In a letter, reproduced in the Memoirs of the Palestine
Exploration Fund (vol. i, p. 229), he confines himself to briefly
mentioning this monument, which appears to have been unnoticed
by explorers of the remarkable ruins of Kadesh, whether before or
after, and to have been unfortunately regarded as lost for ever.!
This is the more regrettable since in all probability the altar
belonged to the temple near which it was found, and the inscription
might have afforded valuable information regarding the deity in
whose honour this magnificent sanctuary was consecrated.

Sir Charles Wilson, in his letter, dated January, 1866, remarks
that he was not able to decipher the inscription, but had taken
a squeeze and copy of it. My attention having been attracted
recently by this note, I requested permission to examine the
documents referred to. But in spite of search in the archives of

* The only remaining hope is that the altar has been removed by some

Syrian dealer, and thence sold, without any indication of its origin as usual,

In this case the information here published may possibly lead to its
identification.

)

132 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

the Palestine Exploration Fund, it was impossible to discover the
squeeze, which seems to have disappeared in the course of some
removal at the Fund’s offices.

An outline sketch is all that is preserved. It was executed at
the spot with that conscientious care that characterises Sir Charles.
Wilson’s surveying, and allows one not only to form an accurate:
idea of the monument as a whole, but also, as I shall presently
point out, to read an important part of the inscription.

One of the two faces of the altar shows, sculptured in bas-relief,
the head of a man, full-face, bearded, covered with a sort of veik

LCLOov. AE

Fia. 3.—An Inscribed Altar at Kedesh-Naphtali.

falling over in two points on the right and left, and surmounted by
a small dise upon which is an aigrette with six rays. Below this
head, which is hammered in parts, at the height of the chest are
figured four chevrons. It is probable that we have here a repre-
sentation of the god to whom the altar was dedicated. But what
god? A Zeus, Serapis, Chronos, Helios, Asclepios, &c., corre-
sponding of course to some Semitic god or other? The image is
not sufficient for us to decide the question. The answer should be
found in the dedication which is engraved upon the other face, to a
study of which I now proceed. Upon the border which runs above
the head of the god are carved five Greek characters of a rather low
period—CWMOC—which do not afford any satisfactory sense.

ARCH-EOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 133

I am rather inclined to correct to (B)WMOC= waxes, “altar.” If
this is indeed the true reading, one may suppose that the word was
accompanied by the name of some god in the genitive, and that
this name was engraved below the head, upon the base of the altar.
Some accident, if it has not led to its disappearance, at least bas
rendered it invisible.

The other face* bears an inscription of 12 lines engraved
hetween two lofty palms—or, perhaps, two trees or shrubs with
boughs pointing upwards. The last two lines are on the base, an
arrangement which tends to justify the conjecture that a word
to complete (B)wucs possibly stood in a corresponding position
upon the other face of the stone. After a few paleographical
corrections—some obvious, others perhaps doubtful—have been
made, the following is the reading which I believe may be obtained
from this copy, which, though certainly faithful, has unfortunately
been made from an original which has suffered somewhat :—

(O )ew ayiw vec eee LOTTIMLOS Zyvelv) Zwotwov (a)véOn(e)v, IVE’ >
py(vos) *A(p)temcatou yt".

“To the holy god . . . . Septimius Zenon, son of Zdsimos, dedicated,
in the year... . the 8th of the month Artemisios.”

In the first place, some paleographical peculiarities may be
noticed (due allowance being made of course for the exactness of
the reproduction) ; the form of the final y in Zyvwy, Which has a
singular resemblance to the Phcenician nim; that of the p in
*Aptepiatov 5 the first v of dvéOnKer, which is reversed. The names
Zosimos, and more especially Zenon, are very common in the Syro-
Greek inscriptions, and there are good grounds for believing that
the latter corresponds to theophorous Phoenician names compounded
with Baal 2—this may very well be the case here.

The date is very doubtful. The year is evidently expressed
in the group IVE. But how is it to be interpreted? Is it even
complete? One is tempted to read (L)YE = \.ve’, with L
to indicate the year, in accordance with Egyptian usage, examples
of which are also to be found in Syrian inscriptions. This, then,
will be “the year 405.” But since, lower down, 18 is written q',

1 I may note, in passing, the symbolical object of uncertain character
(a cippus?) which is carved upon one of the sides. :

2 See, on this question, my memoir, Steles peintes de Sidon (in the Gazette
Archéol., 1877, p. 102 et seq.), of. the Rec. d’ Arch. Orient. I, pp. 5, 187.

134 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

and not 7’, one would rather have expected the two letters, ve’,
to have been transposed—viz., «v'. Perhaps, consequently, we
must read LY’ = 410, and regard the € as belonging to the word
ézous, “ years,” written either in full or more or less abbreviated ?
Finally, whether the year be 405, 410, or any other number, to
what era does it belong? As regards this last question, it seems
to me to be difficult at all events to treat it as any other than the
era of Tyre (126-125 B.c.).1 Kadesh in Galilee, owing to its
geographical position, actually belonged to the district of Tyre, and
in this respect history is in agreement with geography. It is
sufficient to recall what Josephus says of the city :—Kééacay tv
Tupiwy, and elsewhere Kvévacois ... weaoyeios bé ear Tuplwy Kup
xapzepd.” The year 405 or 410 of the Tyrian era would correspond
to the year 284-285, or 279-280 of the Christian era, a period that
would agree very well with the paleographical evidence of the
inscription. The month and the day of the month being specified,
we can date it with greater precision. We are accurately acquainted
with the Tyrian calendar which would naturally be employed here
along with the Tyrian era, and since Artemisios, the eighth month

of this calendar, corresponds to May 19-June 18, we have in
consequence the following equations :—

18 Artemisios ers of Tyre = 5 June 1 oes A.D.3

It remains now to raise the most interesting question of all, that
of the name of the god to which this altar was dedicated. This
name is perhaps concealed in the group of letters following ay, an
epithet which, as I have had frequent occasion to show, is usual
where Semitic divinities are referred to,* or, at least, it is necessary
to find in this group a second epithet complementary to the divine
name, such as peyéorw, or the like. In this contingency, however,
one would have expected the conjunction «ai between the first and

' Not the same as the more ancient Tyrian era (275 B.C.), which it replaced.
I have recently brought forward some weighty arguments tending to establish
the fact that, in certain cases at least, the era must be calculated from 125, and
not from 126, B.c. (Ree. d’ Arch. Or., tome V, § 45).

* B.J., ii, 18, §1; iv, 2,§3. Note the variation in the transcription. The
second form (Kvdvecd), in accordance with general usage, is treated as a neuter
plural. Cf. Onom., Kedeca, and Cydissus, 20 miles from Tyre.

% For the reasons indicated above, I have worked upon the base + 125, and
not 126, which is wrongly given in the handbooks.

* We shall find a new and remarkable example of this in No. 24, below.

ee ee Lae ee ll

le £2 tiene. i

ARCH AOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 135

second epithets. But there are no traces of these letters in the
group, which appears to read MCO Y OIN.! The difficulty is
singularly increased by the fact that the division and space between
the letters are generally irregular in this inscription, and it is
impossible to decide whether the spaces which precede or separate
the characters in the group are genuine or whether they may not
have contained other characters which have accidentally disappeared.
Moreover, it is possible that one, two, or even three of the last
letters ought to be removed from this group, on the theory that
they contain the prenomen of Septimius Zenon, who dedicates the
inscription, not to speak of the various possible restorations which
might be made of them. It is here, especially, that a lively regret
for the loss of the squeeze is felt. In the absence of such help any
attempt at a reading would be too rash. No doubt several conjec-
tures might be hazarded, but they would be too questionable for me
to risk proposing them. All that I can say is that I am inclined
to believe that in this group of letters is to be found not so much
a second epithet of the god, as either his specific name, or at least
his local surname.

24, Mount Hermon and its God in an inedited Greek Inscription. —
I. In 1884, whilst studying the collection of antiquities of the
Palestine Exploration Fund then deposited in the South Kensington
Museum, a descriptive catalogue of which I was making for my
own use, I noticed a large, rectangular slab of limestone, coarsely
cut, broken in half, and bearing a Greek inscription of eight lines
in cursive and irregular characters, somewhat difficult to decipher.
I took a copy and a photograph,” which have since remained hidden
away in my boxes. I had always promised myself to return to it,
but had been prevented hitherto by certain doubts of the reading,
and, above all, by my entire ignorance of the exact provenience of
the stone.

The label bore only the words, “ From the Lebanon ”—a vague
enough description, since the Lebanon comprises a not insignificant
part of Syria. In spite of investigations which were made at the
time, at my request, in the archives of the Palestine Exploration
Fund, it could not be ascertained where the stone had been found,

1 I do not know whether account should be taken of the small isolated “ @”
which is to be seen on the extreme right, between lines 1 and 2.
2 From the same photograph has been prepared the block.

136 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE,

by whom it had been transported from Syria to England, nor even
when and how it had been added to the collection of the Fund. lt
is only quite recently, and by pure chance, that I have been able to
make out with certainty that the mysterious stone came really from
the summit of Hermon, or rather, from the very sanctuary that
formerly crowned the sacred mount whose snow-clad head marks
the northern boundary of the land of Israel, and at whose foot the
Jordan takes its rise. This fact, which gives our inscription an
exceptional value and interest, depends upon the following proof :—

I had quite lost sight of this stone until lately, having
oceasion to search through the old numbers of the Quarterly
Statement for a totally different object, my eye fell upon a series of
copies of inscriptions by Sir Charles Warren, published in fac-simile
in Quarterly Statement, 1870, pp. 324-327. I noticed, on p. 328, a
copy of a Greek inscription of eight lines, a mere outline, and
indecipherable in itseli—on which account it has hitherto escaped
attention—a comparison of which with my photograph at once
proved that this copy was no other than that of our inscription.
Now, the cut was accompanied by the brief but explicit legend,
“Stone on summit of Hermon. Scale vs.” Turning to Sir Charles
Warren’s account, published previously (pp. 210-215)! under the
heading “Summit of Hermon,” I found our inscription duly men-
tioned. In fact, after describing very minutely the remarkable
sanctuary,” whose ruins are still to be seen upon the summit of

Hermon, and the great oval enceinte that surrounds the cone,
Sir Charles Warren remarks ((.c., p- 213) :—

dk 2 north-west of the oval we found a stone, 4’ x 18” x 12",
wit toes inscription on the face, very roughly cut ; a squeeze *
was taken of this, and a fac-simile from it has been attempted ; it

is enclosed. This inscription does not a } ‘adh
by travellers before.” ppear to have been notice

Doubtless the inscription in question is that which is repro-
duced later on, p. 328; consequently it is the same as the one
the original of which is possessed by the Fund, and has awaited

' Reproduced later with the same engraving in : :
O
pp. 245-250 (1873). Greving ur Work in Palestine,
: Kasr esh-Shebib, often called, but wrongly, by the name Kasr ‘Antar,
which belongs properly to another site (ef. Quarterly Statement, 1874, p. 52).

3 [There appears to be no trace of the squeeze in the offices of the
Fund.—Eb. | y

ARCHEOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

f,
‘,
| Fie. 4.—Greek Inscription from Mount Hermon.

138 ARCHEOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

an interpreter for over two and thirty years. Apart from the
general resemblance of the text, the identity of the inscription is
ensured by the agreement of the measurements. The slab at the
Fund measures 42 inches in length, 19-20 in breadth, and nearly
44 in thickness.

The length and breadth agree essentially with Sir Charles
Warren’s measurements, but the actual thickness is much less,
44 inches instead of 12 inches. This may be attributed to the fact
that it was necessary to reduce the thickness in order to reduce
the weight of the stone, and to facilitate transport.

We are now able to trace the stone from the summit of Mount
Hermon to the last stage that has brought it to the banks of the
Thames. In a later report! Sir Charles Warren states that he
obtained the necessary authority from Rashid Pasha, Governor-
General of Damascus, to remove the stone discovered by him.
It was no easy task to convey a block weighing 18 cwt. from a
height of 2,800 metres along trackless slopes. It was placed upon
a sledge, and all went well up to a certain point. An insurmount-
able crest. prevented further progress. It was necessary to slice
the stone in order to lighten it as much as possible, and in the
course of this operation the stone was broken in half. 2

The two fragments, carefully covered over with stones, were
abandoned, and it was not till later that it was possible to carry
them to Beirfit on the back of mules. Thence they were brought
to London, and, through some oversight, information respecting
their origin having been overlooked, the stone remained a secret
for many years. Its history, if I do not err, is now at length
reconstructed with certainty.

Il. We may now take it for a fact that the inscription which
I propose to explain really came from the ancient sanctuary which
stands on the summit of Hermon. This fact, it will presently be
seen, 1s of essential importance for the correct interpretation of

the text, which accordingly appears in a new light. I read the
inscription thus :—

‘ , he ’ ‘ -
cava Kehevaw Beod pmeyiarov Kai) ayiov, U(?) ouvdovtes, EvtedOer.

By the order of the god most great and holy, those who take the
oath—hence !

' Our Summer in the Lebanon, Quarterly Statement, pp. 239, 241 seq.
2 This ensures the identity of the ¢wo fragments in the collection of the
Fund, and, at the same time, explains the difference in thickness.

|
|
|

—— ee

ARCHAZOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 139

The inscription, brief and elliptical though it is, is to be regarded
as complete. The eight lines run on uninterruptedly ; there is no
lacuna, and, besides, nothing is wanted at the head or at the foot.
The extent of the space following the last three letters (l. 8) is
sufficient proof that the text comes to an end there. The only
difficulty is the Y with which the sixth line appears to commence.
This letter is a little behind the vertical of the remaining lines, and
one is consequently led to ask whether it was not preceded by a
letter now destroyed. For a moment it seems possible to make out
here the broken traces of such a letter. But whatever that might
he [o]®, [o]é, or even [e]%,! one arrives at no one word that suits the
context. What one expects, and what should precede the present
participle éuvdovres, is the article of; arid I incline, on these
grounds, to the belief that the * actually represents the article
oi, a vulgar orthography,” examples of which are supplied in the
Greek epigraphy of Syria. As for the relative position of this
letter, it may have been caused by the presence of some fault in
the stone which caused the engraver to carve the letter a little
to the right of the commencement of line 6. At my request
Colonel Watson and Mr. 8. A. Cook have been good enough to
examine the stone closely, the result of which has been negative
as regards the possible existence of a letter before the Y. The
latter writes: “ We can find only weather marks; there is no
sign of a letter, and I doubt whether there is actually room for it.”

Ill. Who can this unnamed god be who is thus designated
“very great” and “holy”? Without hesitation, one is in a
position to reply, I think, that it is the god of Hermon himself,
whose sanctuary raises itself upon the highest point (El-Mutab-
khiy4t) of the sacred mountain with which, according to ancient
Semitic belief, the personality of the god would be identified.
If we lift the veil from the Hellenic terms, the second of which
(dys), as I have shown elsewhere,’ is used of deities of Semitic
origin, we see standing before us the grand figure of Baal Hermon,
who is mentioned in the Bible on two occasions,‘ the mythological
brother of Mount Lebanon and of Mount Carmel, which, too,

‘ It would be extremely rash to conjecture the existence of a compound
e’déuvuut, formed on the same principle as evopka.

2 ot and wv are each pronounced i in consequence of the iotacism.

3 Etudes d’Arch. Orient., I, p- 100 et seq.; cf. Rec. d’ Arch. Orient., IIT,

p. 330.
+ Judges iii, 3; 1 Chron. v, 23.

140 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

were veritable gods.!_ The veneration of Hermon persisted down
to a very late date—even in the time of Eusebius 2 it had not lost
its hold upon the inhabitants of the district—and it is possible that
one of the modern names of the mountain, Jebel esh-Sheikh, has
preserved a last trace of the ancient Canaanite or Amorite Baal
incarnated therein.

(To be continued.)

eee

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.
By Major-General Sir C. W. Wirson, K.C.B., F.R.S., R.E., &c.
(Continued from p. 65.)

The Identification of the Traditional Sites, with Golgotha and the Tomb
in the Reign of Constantine.

THE only contemporary account of the discovery of Golgotha and
the Tomb, and of the erection of churches in their honour, is that
given by Eusebius in his Life of Constantine (iii, 25-40). The
“Life” has, somewhat unjustly, been called a travesty of history.
Its literary style, so different from the simple prose of the Zeccle-
siastical History, its exaggerated praise of the Emperor, and its
frequent attribution of Divine inspiration to his actions, create a
not unnatural prejudice in the mind of the reader. But its author
was no deliberate falsifier. His object seems to have been to write
& panegyric rather than a sober history. After years of suffering
he had seen his religion triumphant, and he wrote with poetic

' For Lebanon, ¢f. Baal Lebanon on the ancient Phcnician inscription
(C.I.8., I, No. 5), the existence of which I was the first to recognise. For
Carmel, cf. the famous passage in Tacitus (II, 78): “Ita vocant montem
deumque.” Cf. also the passage in Sanchoniathon (ed. Orelli, p. 16), where
the Anti-libanus figures among the mountain gods of the race of giants, by the
side of Casius, Lebanon, and the mysterious Brathu, Perhaps our Baal-
Hermon himself is to be recognised in the Zeds péiyioros of a dedication
copied by M. Fossey (Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, t. XXI, p. 63,
No. 72) at Kal‘at Jendel on the eastern declivity of Hermon. Zeus is the
usual equivalent of Baal. On line 3 I propose to restore Md-yvov for the
corrupt patronymic YAYNOY. The restoration of “Ianod, which M. Fossey
suggests, is quite inadmissible.

2 Onomast., 8.v., "Aepuwy.... ws tepdy TimaocOa bird Teéy Mydy. Jerome:

“In vertice ejus insigne templum quod ab ethnicis cultui habetur e regione
Paneadis et Libani.”

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 141

enthusiasm of the sovereign who had wrought such a marvellous
change. Can anyone regard his exuberant language as a crime?
Is he the only court prelate who has written fulsome praise of a
monarch whose conduct was not above reproach? Constantine was
not a perfect Christian, but neither was he a Caligula, a Nero, or a
Commodus, and he was infinitely superior to many of his successors
who reigned centuries after Christianity had become the religion of
the State.

Eusebius, from his relations with the Imperial Court, and as
Metropolitan of the Jerusalem See, was in a position to obtain
accurate information, and, making allowance for his extravagant
language, what he says with regard to the orders of the Emperor,
and to the steps taken to carry them out, is deserving of the closest
attention. His meaning is sometimes obscure, but his honesty and
sincerity are apparent, whilst the skill with which he avoids all
direct reference to the Cross and its discovery, and the general
freedom of his writings from the fables and prodigies that disfigure
later church histories are remarkable. The statements which he
makes with regard to the “holy places,” and to the churches erected
in their honour, are not always clear, but some of the difficulties
disappear when it is remembered that the Life of Constantine
was written after the Cross had been found,! and that the Emperor
built two distinct churches—the Anastasis and the Martyrion, or
Basilica. There is no account of the finding of the Cross by an
eye-witness, but its discovery when, or soon after, Golgotha and
the Tomb were laid bare by excavation is attested by the letter
of Cyril of Jerusalem, written in May, 351, to the Emperor
Constantius,? and by the allusions which Eusebius apparently
makes to the Cross.* The two churches are referred to by Eusebius,

1 The Theophania and the De Laude Constantini were also written after
the discovery. |

2 “Tn the reign of your father Constantine, the beloved of Heaven, of happy va
memory, the salutary wood of the Cross was discovered at J erusalem, the ;
Divine One having permitted him, who duly sought after righteousness, to “
discover the Holy Places, which had heretofore been hidden away” (Ad Const.
§ 3; Migne, Pat. Gr. xxxiii, cols. 1168, 1169). .

3 The expressions “the token of the most holy Passion,” the “ assurance of ’
the Saviour’s Passion” (F.C. iii, 30) ; the “ trophy of the Saviour’s victory Over .
death” (V.C. iii, 38, De Laud. Const. ix, xi; ¢f. Cyril, Ad Const. iit; Cat.
xiii, 40); and the “Church sacred to the salutary sign” (De Laud. Const. ix)
are opposed to the view that the finding of the Cross is a “ legend which grew cf
up after the church was built (Guthe, Grab, das heilige, in Hauck’s a
** Realencyclopiidie,” third edition). See Appendix 1.

142 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

and are distinctly mentioned by St. Silvia and others.1 They
stood not far from each other on a paved platform: one, the
Anastasis, or Church of the Resurrection, contained within its
walls the reputed Tomb of Christ; the other the Basilica, or
Church of the Cross, stood above the spot where the crosses were
found. In the open air, between the two churches, but a little
to the south of their common axis, the rock upon which it was
believed that the Cross had stood, rose some 15 feet above the
level of the platform.

It must also be remembered that the history of the “holy
places,” as told by Eusebius, although it is happily free from the
fabulous legends which disfigured the accounts of later years, is
incomplete. There is no indication of the motive, other than Divine
inspiration, which led Constantine to institute a search for Golgotha
and the Tomb; the discovery of the Cross is not mentioned ; the
letter of Constantine to Macarius is apparently a reply to a com-
munication which has not been preserved ; and one expression in it,
“the present wonder,” séems to imply a previous “wonder,” the
nature of which is left to the imagination. Whether information on
these points was given by Eusebius in his “ Oration on the Sepulchre
of the Saviour,” or in his treatise on “The Structure of the Church
of our Saviour, and the Form of His Sacred Cave,”? is unknown, for
the two works are unfortunately lost. If it was given he may have
considered the repetition of the details unnecessary in his Life of
Constantine. On the other hand, the omission of all reference to
the discovery of the Cross may have been intentional.2 The author
could make no adverse comments on an incident in which the

* Eusebius, De Laud. Const. ix, Com. in Ps. 87, Appendix 2, 3. In her

Aone ae mer "ett Places (Pal. Pilgrims’ Text Society series), St. Silvia
8 the basilica “‘the great church built by Constanti degree
behind the Cross,” and y Constantine which is in Golgotha

“the holy church which is in Gol i
seth gotha, which they
call the Martyrium ” (see also Eucherius, De Loc. Sanct. 3 Brev. de Hierosol. ;
Theodosius, De Sit. T.8.).

St. Silvia also alludes (J.c. pp. 61-64) to open-air
services that were held before and behind the Cross hick stood a the * rock
of Golgotha (Quarterly Statement, 1902, p- 148). The rock-hewn bases of

the columns of the Anastasis, which were visible before the fire of 1808
(Mariti, Istoria del,stato pres. del citta di Gerusalemme), indicate the extent

to which the rock was cut away to obtain a level platform '
tomb and the rock of Golgotha. P , and isolate the

2 Referred to in V.C, iv, 33, 46.

* It may be remarked that Jerome, although he mentions the Cross, makes
no allusion to its discovery,

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 143

Emperor and his mother were so deeply interested, and he may
have decided to remain silent. Or he may have desired to say
nothing that would divert attention from the fact that the
Resurrection, to which the empty Tomb bare witness, and not the
material Cross, was the basis of Christian belief.

Eusebius relates! that, after the Council of Nicea, Constantine,
being inspired thereto by the Saviour, decided to make the place of
the Resurrection ‘conspicuous and an object of veneration to all,”
and that he forthwith gave orders for the erection of a house of
prayer. The Emperor, “inspired by the Divine spirit,” directed
that the spot should be purified, for impious men, hoping to conceal
the truth, had covered up “the sacred cave,” and built above it a
shrine dedicated to Aphrodite. When the shrine and its sub-
structures were cleared away, and the natural surface of the ground
was exposed, “immediately, and contrary to all expectation, the
venerable and hallowed monument of our Saviour’s Resurrection
became visible.” The Emperor then ordered a house of prayer to be
erected round “the sacred cave,” on a scale of Imperial magnificence.

After describing the discovery of the Tomb, Eusebius gives a
letter from Constantine to Macarius, which was apparently written
with full knowledge that the Cross had been found. The Emperor
writes that ‘‘ No power of language seems adequate to describe the
present wonder. For that the token of that most holy Passion,’
long ago buried underground, should have remained unknown for
so many years .. . . truly transcends all marvel... . I desire
then that you should especially be convinced . . . . that of all
things it is most. my care how we may adorn with splendour of
buildings that sacred spot which, under Divine direction, I relieved,
as it were, of the heavy weight of foul idol worship—a place holy
indeed from the beginning, but which has been made to appear still
more holy since it brought to light the assurance of the Saviour’s
Passion.”* Instructions are then given for the construction of a

1 Life of Constantine, iii, 25-40; English translation in Churches of
Constantine at Jerusalem (Pal. Pilgrims Text Society series).

2 The token of the Passion is the Cross, not the Tomb, and the “ present
wonder” may be its discovery after it had lain buried for nearly 300 years,—
the implied previous “wonder” being the finding of the Tomb in perfect
preservation.

% The meaning seems to be that, in his opinion, the Tomb, holy as it was in
itself, had been made still more holy by the discovery in its immediate vicinity
of the Cross—the token, or assurance, of the Saviour’s Passion.

ee eee ee eee ee ee ee ee ee

144 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

basilica, “For it is just that the place which is more wonderful
than the whole world should be worthily decorated.” !

After stating that the instructions of Constantine were carried
out, Eusebius writes: “So on the monument of salvation itself
was the New Jerusalem built, over against the one so famous of
old .... Opposite this the Emperor reared, with rich and lavish
expenditure, the trophy of the Saviour’s victory over death® .. . -
and first of all he adorned the sacred cave, which was, as it were,
the chief part of the whole work.” Eastward of the cave “the
basilica was erected, an extraordinary work” of great height and
extent. In the last chapter (40) the two churches, with their
adjuncts, are, apparently, called a “temple,” raised as a “ con-
spicuous monument of the Saviour’s Resurrection.”

Eusebius, it will be observed, writes as if it were well known to
everyone that the Tomb lay beneath the temple of Aphrodite. He
expresses no doubt as to its authenticity, and makes no allusion to
an enquiry by Macarius, or by any government official, with regard
to the scene of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. Constantine,
according to him, is inspired by Christ to make the Tomb a “ holy
place,” and at once issues orders for the removal of the temple
and its substructures. The historian certainly says that, when the
clearance was made, the Tomb was exposed to view “contrary to
all expectation”; but this may.only mean that there was a tradi-
tion that the “sacred cave” had been destroyed, or injured, when
the temple was built, and that those who superintended the
excavation were astonished to find it perfectly preserved.

Is this an accurate account of what occurred, or is it a com-
promise between the necessary avoidance of anything likely to

* It seems clear from the previous order to build a church round the Tomb,
and from the similarity of the decorative details of this church to those of the
basilica that was actually built (ef. V.C. iii, 31, 32, 36), that the Emperor
intended to build, in addition to the church round the Tomb, a large church
above the spot where the Cross was found, a place “more wonderful than the
whole world.” If, however, the letter refers to one church only, the explana-
tion may be that the Emperor originally intended to include all the “holy
places ” in one great church, and that he afterwards approved of a plan for
erecting two churches submitted to him by his architect after a study of the
ground.

® This expression is apparently applied by Eusebius (De Laud. Const. ix, xi)
and Cyril (Ad Const. iii) to the Cross (see Appendix 1). “New Jerusalem”
may be compared with “New Rome,” the name of the new capital on the
Bosporus, afterwards known as Constantinople.

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, 145

‘ give offence to the Imperial family, and a strong desire on the
part of the historian to dissociate himself from the steps that were
taken to find and identify the Cross? There is some reason for
thinking that the latter may have been the case.

Constantine was a man of imperious temper, who brooked no
resistance to his will. He was successful in all his undertakings,
and believed that his success was due to intercourse with the
Deity,’ through the medium of dreams and visions, which were to
him what “the voices” were to the Maid of Orleans. His belief
in a Divine vocation seems to have been very real, and it was
encouraged rather than discouraged by his Christian advisers. He
had seen the sign of the Cross in the sky,” had placed it upon the
standards of his army and upon the shields of his soldiers, and
through it had gotten a great victory and the empire of the world.
His training, his methods of thought were those of the West, and
until he came to the East he was under the guidance of Western
bishops, and was acquainted with Western Christianity alone? He
had all the materialistic tendency of the Latin, and more especially
of the Roman mind; and this tendency would, almost naturally,
lead him to order a search to be made for the Cross. The view,
suggested by Eusebius, that the prime motive of the Divine inspira-
tion was the discovery and decoration of the Tomb, must be accepted
with reserve. It was the Cross and not the Tomb which influenced

‘. : the decision of the Emperor at critical moments, and in the salutary
.. _ power of which he firmly believed. Can it be supposed that in
consequence of a Divine inspiration, immediately after the Council

etl aa

3 * The inscription on the triumphal arch, erected by Constantine to com-
7 memorate his victory of the Milvian bridge, dedicated 315 A.D., has the words
; 4Instinctu Divinitatis. Writers allude to him as being divino monitus instinetu ;

‘ and he himself, in his letter to Macarius, writes that his action was due to

* “ Divine direction ” (see p. 143),
>. * The importance attached to this vision is indicated by the legend rotrw
. z vixa, so frequently found on ancient crosses,
; 5 It was only after he became sole Emperor, 323 a.p., that he was brought
into close contact with the Christianity of the East, j
* The search may have been partly due to political motives. The Emperor
may have thought that as the sign of the Cross had given him victory in the
field, so the Cross itself, if found, would be a rallying point for Christians, and
heal the dissensions in the Church,
® On a statue of himself, holding a spear which terminated in a cross, erected
by the Emperor at Rome, an inscription proclaimed to al] that by the salutary
sign he had saved the city, and restored the senate and the Roman people to
their ancient dignity and splendour (H.Z. ix, 9; 7.0. i, 40).

146 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

of Nicwa, the Tomb took the first place in his thoughts and the
Cross the second ?! ae

The view that Constantine wished to find the Cross is indirectly
supported by the rapid development of the cult of the Cross. Less:
than 25 years after the Emperor’s death Cyril could write that
the wood of the Cross had been “distributed piecemeal to all the
world” (Cat. xiii, 4); Julian was able to taunt the Christians with
reverencing the Cross as a divinity ; and the heathen had come.
to regard it as a Christian idol no less materialistic than their own.

The later Greek traditions are far more concerned with the
discovery of the three crosses, and the identification of the true
Cross than they are with the recovery of the Tomb, and in these
traditions the principal figure is not the Emperor but his mother,
the Empress Helena. Thus in the fourth and fifth centuries Socrates
(H.E. i, 17) attributes the recovery of the Tomb and the Cross
to Helena, assisted by Macarius. Sozomen says (1.H. ii, 1) that
her zeal for Christianity made her anxious when at Jerusalem to
find the wood of the Cross; and Theodoretus states (H.E. i, 17)
that she was the bearer of Constantine’s letter to Macarius, and
that she discovered the Cross. In the sixth century Alexander
Monachus writes (De Invent. Crucis?) that Constantine ordered
Macarius to find the Cross, the Tomb, and sacred relics, and that
he sent his mother, at her own request, to Jerusalem that she and
the bishop might search together for the Cross.

The Latin tradition of the fourth and fifth centuries is, that
Helena on her arrival at Jerusalem made inquiry with regard to
the place of the Crucifixion, and that when its situation was pointed
out to her she had the superincumbent buildings and earth removed
and found the three crosses, The Cross of Christ was then
identified with the aid of Macarius? (Rufinus, HH. x, 7; Sulp.
Severus, H.S. ii, 34).

' For the Cross and Constantine, see Clos, Kreuz und Grab Jesu ; Wace and
Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,

vol. i; Dicty. sti r phy,.
art. “ Constantinus.” eve ne ee

* Migne, Pat. Gr, lxxxvii, para. 3, col. 4062.
* The account of the identification of the tr

ue Cross given by Severus is
possibly that authorised by Macarius.

It states that the body of a dead man,
on its way to the graye, was carried to the spot where the crosses were found,

and that when removed from the bier and placed in contact with the Cross of
Christ, it stood upright. The story that the three crosses were carried to the-
room of a sick lady seems to be an exaggeration of the official account.

;
i
«
.
{
i]

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 147

Assuming that the object of Constantine was to find the Cross,
and that the Bishop of Jerusalem was instructed to search for it,
the first step would obviously be to recover Golgotha and the
Tomb. In no other locality could there have been any chance
of success.1 Was the situation of the two places known to
Macarius? A consideration of the history of Jerusalem and of
the early Church has suggested (p. 63) that the survival of any
tradition with regard to them to the time of Constantine is
improbable, but not impossible. Eusebius does not mention a
tradition, but he says nothing that is inconsistent with a previous
knowledge of the place, and his narrative, taken by itself, may
perhaps be held to support the view that the position of the Tomb
was known. On the other hand, the impression produced by the
works of later writers is that, although there may have been some
recollection of Golgotha amongst the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
there was no certain knowledge of its exact situation. It is true
that these later writers were not eye-witnesses, and that they only
related what had become known to them through tradition, but
they had access to the archives of the Church, and their state-
ments, especially those which are common to all, must have had
some foundation in fact.

Amongst Greek writers, Socrates says (H.E. i, 17 *) that Helena
recovered the Tomb “after much difficulty.” Sozomen states that
“it was no easy matter” to discover the Cross and the Tomb, and
that according to some their situation was pointed out to the
Empress by an Oriental Jew, who derived his knowledge from
family documents, but that the more probable view was that God
revealed it ‘by means of signs and dreams.” Alexander Monachus
writes (De Invent. S. Crucis) that Helena, upon her arrival at
Jerusalem, charged Macarius and his suffragans to search for the
Cross, and that being at a loss what to do, they offered prayers to
God, and were answered by a miraculous revelation of the place to
the bishop. In the letter of the Emperor Leo to Omar,’ the site is
said to have been disclosed by Jews under torture. According to
Rufinus (7.2. x, 7) the place of the Crucifixion was pointed out

' The custom of the Jews was to bury the cross upon which anyone was
hanged with the body (Lightfoot, Hor. Heb. et Tal., in Acts viii, 1).
*? These extracts will be published in fuli when the papers appear in a

separate volume.

3 Migne, Pat. Gr. evii.
K 2

148 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

‘ to Helena “by signs from heaven”; and according to Severus
af (H.S. ii, 34) the Empress, having first obtained the requisite infor-
| mation, had the spot cleared. Gregory of Tours says (J/ist.
Franc. i, 34) that the Cross was pointed out to Helena by a Jew
; named Juda.

It will be convenient at this point to sum up the evidence for
and against the existence of a definite tradition. In support of the
view that the “holy places” were well known to the Christian
community at Jerusalem, it may be urged that during the three
centuries which followed their recovery the authenticity of the sites
was never questioned by Jews or heathen, and that the Christians
would not have acquiesced in identifications which they knew to be
false. Even Julian, and those who taunted the Christians with
worshipping the Cross as an idol, so far as is known, accepted their
recovery as genuine; and no accusation was brought against
Macarius of perpetrating a “pious fraud”! during the period
when a deliberate fraud, if there were one, would hardly have
escaped detection. Eusebius writes as if the position of the Tomb
were well known, or, at any rate, as if there were no difficulty in
finding it. The Greek and Latin writers of the fourth, fifth, and
sixth centuries mention no miracle in connection with its recovery,
such as that which attended the identification of the true Cross. If
the site of the Tomb had been lost, or if there had been any doubt
on the subject, Constantine, it has been argued, would have ordered
a preliminary inquiry and search, but of this there is no trace in
the writings of Eusebius, the only eye-witness. The selection of an
inconvenient site on the slope of a rocky hill, where extensive
quarrying would be necessary for the erection of a large church,
must have been due to the existence of a tradition If Macarius
and his suffragans had acted upon mere caprice, if they had
believed that Golgotha was a rounded hill-top, or if the Emperor

* Taylor (Ancient Christianity ii, 277) imputes deliberate fraud to Macarius,
but it is impossible to believe that the bishop could have had a cave hewn out

of the rock beneath a pagan shrine, and that the heathen would have assented
to the fraud.

* Finlay’s argument (Hist. of Greece i, Ap. iii) that the minute registration
of landed property in the Roman Empire and the provinces, and the maps con-
nected with it, would have enabled Macarius to identify the garden of Joseph,
must not be pressed too far. The condition of Jerusalem before the siege by
Titus was not such as to facilitate the execution of a cadastral survey by the
Romans, and all the city archives were destroyed during the war. A later
survey would be of little value for purposes of identification.

ae ws”
a = e r

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 149

had instructed them simply to erect churches in remembrance of the
Passion and the Resurrection, they would have chosen a conspicuous
spot, such as a knoll with a conveniently situated Jewish sepulchre,
and not a tomb in an ancient cemetery within the walls of Hadrian’s
city. In all probability, also, they would have preserved the tomb
intact, and made an effort to preserve the appearance of reality
instead of cutting away the rock so as to have that portion of the
tomb only upon which the body of the Lord had rested.

The supporters of the opposite view maintain that there is no
positive proof of a definite tradition, and that the story of the
recovery of the “holy places” has not sufficient guarantees to
justify its acceptance. For three centuries after the time of

. Constantine no writers refer to a tradition, or advance any argument
in favour of the sites, and most of them consider it necessary to
ascribe their recovery to an inspiration or to Divine guidance. Nor,
excepting the allusion by Eusebius, in his Theophania,! to “one
cavern,” is mention made of any mark or sign by which the tomb
that was uncovered was known to be that of Christ. The silence
of Eusebius with regard to a tradition is no more a proof that there
was one than his omission to mention the discovery of the Cross,
and the part played by Helena in the transactions at Jerusalem is
evidence that the Cross was not found when the “holy places ” were
recovered, and that the Empress was not present during the opera-
tions which led to their recovery. It may plausibly be suggested
that the historian disapproved of the proceedings, and that his
silence with regard to many details is due to his honesty, and to a
feeling that, in view of the official recognition of Christianity as the
religion of the State, he was obliged to accept the broad outlines of
the situation created by the Imperial order to find the Cross. The
writers later than Constantine convey the impression that nothing
was certainly known with regard to the position of Golgotha, and
that an inquiry of some kind preceded its recovery. The fact that
Macarius sought for and found a caye beneath the temple of
Aphrodite is no proof that the cave? was the Sepulchre of Christ,

r or that there was a tradition with regard to it. The existence of
4 a Jewish cemetery at the spot must have been a matter of common

knowledge, and it would have been a very natural inference from

= Sa

io:

—Serer as

| 1 Appendix 4.
* It is remarkable that Eusebius generally uses the word &yrpov, cave, for the

sepulchre, and not the usual rdpos (see App. 1).

150 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

the well-known characteristics of such cemeteries (Quarterly Statement,
1902, 284, 292) that there was a tomb beneath the temple.’
Macarius very possibly formed a theory with regard to the site of
Golgotha after more careful consideration than has been given to
the subject by some modern theorists, and it is most unlikely that
anyone in the fourth century would question an identification
accepted by a bishop and his suffragans. There is every reason to
believe that Macarius acted in good faith, and an attempt will be
made later to discover the reasons which led him to fix upon the
traditional sites ; but the fact that the scene of the Transfiguration,”
and the sites of the battle in which David slew Goliath,® and of
Rephidim,* were wrongly identified in the early part of the fourth
century, suggests the possibility that the bishop may have been
mistaken.? It may be added that the cutting away of the rock
round the traditional tomb, if it did not arise from the architect’s
wish to produce a certain effect, may have been due to a desire to
obliterate all traces of the original features of the ground,

The only possible conclusion, from a discussion of the literary
evidence, seems to be that there is no decisive reason for placing
Golgotha and the Tomb at the places which were accepted as
genuine in the fourth century, and that there is no distinct proof
that they were not so situated. Fortunately the question is purely
archeological, and its solution, one way or the other, does not
affect any Christian dogma or article of faith. My own view is
that the tradition is so precarious, and the evidence of its credibility
is 80 unsatisfactory, as to raise grave doubts respecting its accuracy.

(To be continued.)

* The statement of Eusebius that impious men “ set themselves to consign
[the Tomb] to darkness and oblivion ” (¥.C. sii, 26; Quarterly Statement, p. 64,

App. 4) hardly means, as Robinson contends (B.R. i, 414) that the site was
forgotten,

2 Itin. Hierosol.
3 Toid,
+ 6b, Silvia Za.

* Robinson lays much stress (B.R. i, 415, 416) upon the identification by
Eusebius of the summit of the Mount Olives as the scene of the Ascension
which he places at Bethany. But Eusebius connects the Ascension with the
spot where Christ taught his disciples (Quarterly Statement, p- 64, App. 5),
and the words “he led them out until the

y were over against Bethany”
(Luke xxiv, 50), compared with Acts i, 12, “ then returned they . . . from the
mount called Olivet,” are not opposed to the view that Christ ascended from
some spot on the Mount of Olives.

— SS _— eS ee ee ee ae

= aT ee
GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 151

APPENDIX.

(1) The question whether Eusebius alludes to the Cross in his
writings cannot certainly be answered. It has been argued that his
words are quite as applicable to the Holy Sepulchre as, or even more so
than, to the Cross. If, however, the statement of Cyril that the Cross
was found in the reign of Constantine be correct, the absence of any

allusion to it by Eusebius is almost inexplicable. Eusebius certainly

mentions a church at Jerusalem “sacred to the salutary sign,” ze., the

‘Cross ; and it may not unreasonably be inferred that when Cyril calls

the Cross “the trophy of the victory over death,” and “the salutary
trophy of Jesus,” he uses expressions which had the same meaning and
application in the time of Eusebius. An attempt is made below to make
a distinction between the expressions which refer to the Cross and those

which are applied to the Tomb.
References to the Cross by Eusesius and Cyrin :-—

M.E. ix, 9.—rov owrtnpiov trpdnaov mdbous, a trophy of the Saviour’s
Passion.

V.C. i, 40.—péya tpéraoyr rovti, this great trophy.

De Laud. Const. ix.—rov peyddouv Swrijpos ra kata rod Oavdrov rpémaa,
the trophies of the Saviour’s victory over the power of death.

De Laud. Const. xi.—rtpéraa te rijs kata rod Oavdrou vixns, the trophies
of the victory over death.

Cyril, Ad Const. iii.—1o tis Kata rod Oavdrov vixens rpdmaor, the trophy
of the victory over death.

Cyril, Cat. xiii, 40.—rd tpdmaov “Incod rb cwripiov, 5 oravpds, the
salutary trophy of Jesus—the Cross.

V.C. iii, 30.—ré yropiopa Tod aywrdrov éxeivou maOous, the token of that
most holy Passion.
V.C. iii, 33.—rjv xara tov Oavatov swrnpioy vixnyv, the trophy of the

Saviour’s victory over death.
V.C. iii, 30.—rijv rod owrnpiov mdbous rior, the assurance of the Lord’s

Passion.
HE. ix, 9.—r6 owrhpioy trod aravpod onpriov, the salutary sign of the

Cross.
H.E. ix, 9.—r6 cwripiov onpeior, the salutary sign (also in V.C. i, 40).
De Laud. Const. ix.—veov re &yov te cornpig onpeio, a church sacred
to the salutary sign.

References to the Tomb :—

VC. iii, 26.—rijs dOavacias priya, a monument of immortality.

V.C. iii, 33.—prijpa éxetvo Oeonéowv, that divine monument, ef. that
everlasting monument in De Laud. Const. ix.

V.C. iv, 33.—dpgi rod owrnpiov prjparos Adyos, ovation on the monument
of the Saviour. :

152 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

V.C. iii, 26.—1d cwrnprov ayrpor, the salutary cave ; also in iii, 29, iv, 46—
ro Oeiov avrpov, the divine cave. .

V.C. iii, 28.—r16 tre Gytov ray ayiwy dytpoy, the most holy cave.

V.C. iii, 33.—r6 iepdv avrpov, the sacred cave.

V.C. iii, 36.—ro dvrpov, the cave, also in De Laud. Const., ix.

(or monument) of the Saviour’s resurrection ; tiv rod Swrjpos
dvdoraci paptupotvpevoy, a testimony to the resurrection of the
Saviour.

V.C. iii, 33.—1d owrjpiov papripiov, the salutary testimony, also in
De Laud. Const. ix.

V.C. iii, 25.—rov tis cernpiov dvacracews Paxaptorérarov rémov, the
most blessed place of the Saviour’s resurrection.

V.C. iii, 30.—rodv iepdy éxetvoy rémov, that sacred place (or spot).

Cyril uses the words 16 priya, ro papripror, 6 témos, and 6 rados.

(2) Evsesius (De Laud. Const. ix).—Again, in the province of Palestine,,
in that city which was once the seat of Hebrew sovereignty, on the very
site of the Lord’s Sepulchre (7d carnprov Haptipwov), he (Constantine) has
raised a church of noble dimensions, and adorned a temple sacred to the
salutary cross (ved re dyov ro gernpig onpeiw) with rich and lavish
magnificence, honouring that everlasting monument (uvqpa), and the

splendour which no language can describe. In the same country he
discovered three places venerable as the localities of three sacred caves ;
and these also he adorned with costly structures, paying a fitting tribute
of reverence to the scene of the first manifestation of the Saviour’s
presence, while at the second cavern he hallowed the remembrance of His
final ascension from the mountain top, and celebrated His mighty
conflict and the victory which crowned it at the third. All these places
our Emperor thus adorned in the hope of proclaiming the symbol of

redemption to all mankind—that Cross which has indeed repaid his.
pious zeal. (From Wace and Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,
1, 594; Migne, Pat. Gr. xx, col. 1369.)

(3) Evsesius (Com. in Ps.
wondrous things have been don
place of the Martyrdom
will understand how thes
Pat. Gr. xxiii, col, 1064.)

Ixxxvii).— Anyone who considers what
e in our own time at the Sepulchre and the
(dui rd pvija Kai rd Hapripiov) of the Saviour
e prophecies have indeed been fulfilled. (Migne,

(4) Evsesius (Theophania).—The grave itself was a cave which had
recently been hewn out; a grave that had now been cut out in a rock,
and which had experienced the reception of no other body. For it was
necessary that it, which was itself a wonder, should have the care of
that corpse only. For it is astonishing to see even this rock standing

— = a ee

| V.C. iii, 28.—rd...... Tijs TwTnpiov avaoTdcews papripiov, the testimony

trophies of the Saviour’s victory over the power of death, with a_

eer,

——————S

NOTES FROM JERUSALEM. 158

out erect and alone in a level land, and having only one cavern within
it, lest, had there been many, the miracle of Him who overcame Death
should have been obscured. The Corpse was therefore laid there, the
Vessel of the living WORD; and a great stone held (the entrance of) the
cave. (Lee’s translation, p. 199.)

N.B.—The Theophania is only extant in the Syriac version, and the
meaning would be much clearer if the original Greek were in existence.
The work was written after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was
built, or whilst it was in building, and the passage apparently alludes to
the excavations by which the tomb was isolated, and to its appearance
after isolation. Whether the meaning is that there was only one
chamber or only one loculus or grave is uncertain—the former is most

probable.

NOTES FROM JERUSALEM.
By Dr. SELAH Merritt, U.S. Consul.

1. An Immense Charnel House.—In the autumn of 1898, during the
visit of the German Emperor to Jerusalem, a considerable piece of
land adjoining the west side of Neby Datd, on Mount Zion, passed
into the hands of the German Catholics. The entire plot of ground,
of which this is a part, forms an imperfect square, bounded by a
field on the south, a lane on the west, a narrow street on the north,
and Neby Dafid, with the short lane leading to it, on the east. In
the north-west corner a rectangular bit became, 70 years ago, the
property of the American Board of Foreign Missions ; the south-
east corner of the square is pushed in, so that the outline of the
German Catholic ground is very irregular. Beyond the lane, on
the west, is the Greek cemetery, and beyond the narrow street, on
the north, is the cemetery of the Armenians, and the north-east
portion of this ground is very near what is known as the House of
Caiaphas. These details are mentioned in order to define precisely
the location of the ground in question.

In digging graves in the ground of the American Mission, we
came, in three or more instances, upon what appeared to be a large
flat stone, so that the holes had to be refilled and the graves dug
elsewhere. At one time men were employed to dig at this point
to ascertain what the obstruction below the surface was. There
was uncovered a finely-constructed basement of a pier. It was
6 feet square and 2 feet high. About it, so far as the digging

154 NOTES FROM JERUSALEM.

extended, a plastered floor was found, on which were many human
bones. Beyond the fact that some large building once stood there
nothing was determined.

All the graves at the south-east corner of this ground, if they
were dug sufficiently deep, reached the same plastered floor, and
many bones were thrown up by the gravedigger. In every such
instance I went alone to the cemetery, picked up with my own
hands the bones that had been thrown out, a handful, or two or
three handfuls,in two cases a skull also, put them by themselves
and carefully covered them with earth, in order that the feelings of
the friends of the deceased person about to be buried might not
be disturbed by them. When the coffin had been lowered into the
grave the bones were laid back and the earth replaced.

The period covered by the events I have mentioned was about
20 years, and nothing further was known about these remains or
these bones until the ground adjoining passed into the possession
of the German Catholics in 1898, and they began to excavate it the
following year.

Broad, deep trenches were first cut from north to south, and
later a considerable section, perhaps 300 square yards, was removed.
Extensive foundations, columns, squared stones with smooth faces,
and other remains, were found. The basement of a pier, corre-
sponding to that. already described, and 50 feet east of it, was
uncovered, and the plastered floor extended to the east and south
for a considerable distance. The most surprising thing that was
found was a mass of human bones. They formed a great bed or
layer of pretty uniform depth 12 inches thick. The number of
asi Ae appalling. They were interspersed all through the
di Periees in = hollow place 50 were counted, and in a
ae a ip tenet y Ri To the west this layer continued
Mission, at its Pik dant wis ei iat ¢ oe
of MERE in ene,» er, as has been described. The area

one bed will never be known ; but from the

portions exposed it may be asserted that it extended 30 feet in
one direction and 50 feet in another,

as the extreme limits were not reached.

It was perfectly evident that the bodies had not been laid in
any order—simply thrown or dumped here indiscriminately two
or three deep and covered with earth. These bones could easily
represent 300 to 500 human beings. Could they have been thrown

This is an under-estimate,

q
z
;
:
)
3
:

NOTES FROM JERUSALEM. 155

here after some plague? This is exceedingly doubtful. Could
they have been placed here after some battle? The great confusion
in which they lay makes this supposition very improbable. May
they not rather be the ghastly relics of some awful massacre 2

In case of the burials referred to, the returning to the graves,

after the coffins had been lowered, of the bones that had been

thrown out would result, after the coffins had decayed, in a strange
commingling of bones. This, of course, was unavoidable.
During the past year (1902) the entire place has been excavated

and cleared ; extensive remains of buildings have been found fallen

upon each and scattered about in the greatest confusion. Canals
for water, well built and commodious cisterns, capitals, columns,
squared stones, carved work, sections of flooring and foundation
walls ; these were all noted and described by Mr. Sandel, the
architect of the German Catholic Society, on a large map as the
work went on. They will be published in due time.

All I need to add is that the earth in this plot of ground was
from 5 to 16 feet deep. The rock seems to rise slightly towards
the south-west. The plastered floor was generally about 6 feet
below the surface. It appeared to have been laid on the native
earth, and in some places the ground was filled and levelled to
receive it. The soil or débris was deepest at the north-east quarter,
which, I have said, was near the Armenian grounds.

All the remains appear to me to be Christian, and it is not
improbable that more than one church existed here at different
periods. It is thought, I believe, that one of the earliest churches
in Jerusalem stood upon Mount Zion.

The beautiful church now being erected here has behind it a
venerable ancestry.

2. An Excavation North of the City WV all.—Extending from the
north-west corner of Jerusalem to the Damascus Gate there is a
narrow piece of land between the carriage road and the wall of the
city, which is destined before long to be covered with houses. A
Jong section running east from the New Gate is owned by the
Latins ; the next section is the property of the Syrian Catholics ;
the-third, extending to the Damascus Gate, is owned by a private
gentleman, who also is a Catholic.

The Syrian Catholics required a place for the pilgrims belonging
to their order who visit Jerusalem, and on this ground they have,
during the past summer, erected a hospice. The house is not a

156 NOTES FROM JERUSALEM.

large one, and indeed few Syrian Catholics come here; but this
hospice when completed will be a very comfortable home for them.

Between the Damascus Gate and the New Gate the distance is-
not far from 1,500 feet, and the east end of this hospice is 460 feet
west of the Damascus Gate. Referring to Warren’s levels, the
hospice stands between levels 2,479 and 2,489, its western end
being very near level 2,489. Between 100 and 200 feet east of
this hospice is the lowest part, 20 feet lower, level 2,469, of what’
Josephus calls a “ broad valley,” coming down from the north-west,
and running on in a southerly direction through the city.

From the city wall to the hospice is 90 feet; from the city wall
to the road is 130 feet. Under nearly the entire building there is
an immense cistern, 66 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 40 feet deep.
Excavating for the cistern afforded a good opportunity to ascertain
the depth of the rock below the surface of the ground, and the-
character of the material which had accumulated here to such a.
great depth. While the work was going on I visited the place a
great many times.

At the depth of 32 feet the rock was found. This refers to the:
depth below the general surface of the ground, not below the level!
of the road, which is 10 or more feet higher.

we should expect, from north-west to south-east
in its level between the front
7 feet.

The débris accumulated here showed great variety, and indicated:
many different

periods. Nothing was found in position. At the
bottom of the excavation a number of large stones of Jewish work-
manship had fallen on each other, and it was found easier to build
Over these than it was to break them up and remove them. The
longest of these blocks was 10 feet, bevelled with rough face.

Higher up in this mass of débris, scattered here and there, were:
smaller stones, Squared with smooth faces, bits of columns, carved
stones for door jambs, others that were sections of arched windows,.
and a variety of materials belonging to the Christian, Crusading,.
and Arabie periods, Very little pottery was found, and very few
objects of any kind. About 24 feet below the surface there was a

thick layer of black material, composed mostly of ash and charcoal.

This appeared to extend entirely across the excavation, at an angle,

of course, for all the layers of débris followed the slope of the bed
rock as mentioned above.

The rock slopes, as:
, and the difference:
and rear walls of the house was about

NOTES FROM JERUSALEM. 157

At 40 feet north of the city wall the line of an ancient wail
appears, large stones running continuously both east and west.
These appear to be in position. All large stones north of this line
{notice what I have said about those at the bottom of the excavation)
appear as if they had fallen.

3. A Bit of the Ancient Upper Gihon Aqueduct.—The point where
these remains were found is about 575 feet west of the Jaffa Gate,
and can be located more definitely as follows :—

About 390 feet west of the Jaffa Gate the road di vides, and the
upper or northern section we call the main Jaffa road; the lower

‘wr

_—— ae) 5 -
j Arab f gies? sar Church
eo

Bab al Aptis
RUSSIAN : DAMASCUS ATE

Bab al Khalil
: (JAFFA GATE)

Scale.

wepe.rary A. a g gc fides

Plan of Excavations at Jerusalem.

the road to the Turkish cemetery, or the road to the Convent of the
Cross. The land between these two roads terminates towards the
east in a point (390 feet west of the Jaffa Gate), and widens towards
the west. The land abutting on each road is now covered with
houses. The building covering the ruins in question is at present
(January, 1903) in process of erection. While excavating for its
foundations these remains were uncovered,

158 NOTES FROM JERUSALEM.

This tongue of land is at this point about 50, possibly 60, feet
wide. From the remains north to the city wall is about 150 feet.
From the point where the conduit running eastward ends, as
marked on the English map, to the remains is 160 feet. The °
distance thence to the Jaffa Gate is, as I have said, 575 feet.

The section of wall uncovered was about 20 feet long, 8 feet:
high, and consisted of three layers of stones with rough faces.
Some of the stones were 4, others 6, feet long. The stones were
entirely unlike anything existing in the present aqueduct. Inside
this wall—that is, to the north of it—a shoulder of native rock,
6 feet high, seems to have projected southward across the line of the
aqueduct. This was an obstacle, and had to be overcome. We
may suppose that the aqueduct followed in general a sort of rock
terrace, and when it reached this point the workmen found it.
cheaper to carry it around the point by means of solid masonry
than to excavate a channel through the rock itself. This is offered
as a suggestion.

It is a matter of considerable inter
piece of genuine Jewish work should be
to light,” like so many other interesti
to be immediately hidden again for g
ever.

Perhaps I ought to say that this solid wall was not the canal
itself, but simply for supporting or carrying the canal. Also the
matter of level should be thought of. By the English map the
present conduit touches level 2,519, while these remains are between
levels 2,529 and 2,539.

4. A Section of Agrippa’s Wall.—Two hundred feet north of the
Arabic (St. Paul’s) Church two roads—one running east and west,
and the other north and south—intersect. In the south-west angle
thus formed these remains were found. The point is 150 feet south
of the road running east and west, the same distance from the one

running north and south, and not far from 200 or 250 feet from
the Arabic Church, at a point a little no

rth of west.
The wall is about 20 feet long, and composed of two layers, the
bottom layer longer than the upper layer. The stones are 34, 44,
and 5 feet long, and have a bevel of 3 inches. The wall is 6 feet
high. In levelling a piece of ground and making a cistern this
wall was uncovered; but some of the stones were broken up, and

others were covered—at all events, the wall was ruined.

est that such an important
brought to light ; “ brought
ng finds in Jerusalem, only
enerations, and perhaps for

NOTES TAKEN ON A TOUR IN PALESTINE. 159

These remains correspond to the line of Agrippa’s Wall, as laid
down by Dr. Robinson from extensive sections of it then in
existence. When I first visited Jerusalem one of the first things to
do was to visit Agrippa’s Wall, of which 40 or 50 yards were visible.
This was in 1869. Much of the wall had previously been broken
up to supply stones for the new Austrian hospice. Many people
now living in Jerusalem remember this wall perfectly well. It is
not more than 20 years since the last massive blocks of it that
remained above ground, to the north-west of the city, were broken
up. In this connection I will mention a fact with which I have
become acquainted during the past few years—namely, that certain
persons ignore this wall, and declare that it never existed. This is
dishonest, and in those who have the means in their hands of
knowing better, is extremely reprehensible,

NOTES TAKEN ON A TOUR IN PALESTINE IN THE
SPRING OF 1901.

By Hersert Rix, B.A.

1. Bethlehem of Galilee—Among the places I visited was Beit Lahm,
seven miles north-west of Nazareth, the Bethlehem of Josh. xix, 15.
Some attention has been directed to it of late years by the sugges-
tion, hazarded by certain writers, that this was in reality the
Bethlehem at which our Lord was born ;' but it is so seldom
visited by travellers that my dragoman, although he was an old
hand at his work, declared that he had never heard of it. The
description of it, often quoted—“a miserable village among oak-
woods ”—is quite inadequate. It is approached through a beautiful
countryside consisting of rich arable land, and we passed on our
way some of the largest herds of cattle and flocks of sheep which I
saw in Palestine. Crossing a stream, we found ourselves surrounded
by wide stretches of luxuriant oak-woods, and soon afterwards came
to the spring which supplies the villagers with water, and which
is nearly half a mile from the village. Some of the women were

1 By Professor Stapfer in La Palestine au temps de Jésus Christ (4° Fdit.),
p. 44, footnote ; and by Canon Cheyne in the Encyci, Biblica, art. ‘ Nazareth.”

160 NOTES TAKEN ON A TOUR IN PALESTINE.

washing clothes there as we passed. Beit Lahm itself is a wretched
collection of hovels, only one or two being built of stone, the rest
of mud.

The view from the place is charming. The land slopes gently
to the south. On the W.S.W. is Carmel, with the ‘“ Place of
Sacrifice” standing up prominently. From south-west to south-
east, beyond the Plain of Esdraelon, extend the blue hills of
Samaria. Between the village and the great plain is a strip of
slightly-undulating ground, clothed with extensive woods. From
E.S.E. to E.N.E. are the hills of Galilee, but Nazareth is not. in
sight.

Robinson, who discovered Beit Lahm, speaks of it as being
“without a trace of antiquity except the name.” This, however,
is a mistake. Guérin (Galilée, t. I, p. 393) mentions the remains
of two ancient buildings. One, “almost entirely destroyed,” he
believed to be a synagogue, the other a Christian church. The
scanty remains of what I suppose to be the former lie on the east
of the present village, and consist merely of the bases of five round
pillars set in a row, the section of each col
and the pillars being 7 feet apart.

Between this remnant and the villa
lined with large,

umn measuring 2 feet,

ge is a square pit, the sides
squared stones, and at the bottom of it is seen the
opening of a passage, which the Sheikh said extended underground
for a long distance. Nearer still to the village is a vaulted structure
built of stones, many of which measured 2’ x 1’ 3" x 1’. Numbers

of squared stones and prostrate columns lay around the village,
covering a considerable area,

2. A Spring near ‘Ain et-Tabigha.—A man who was fishing in the
lake with a casting-net told us of a fresh-water spring called ‘Ain
el-Hasel, which I could not find marked upon the survey map, and
we went to see it. It issues from the base of a round-topped knoll
less than a quarter of a mile north of ‘Ain et-Tabigha. I tasted the
water and found it quite sweet, while ‘Ain et-Tabigha is brackish.
The fisherman told a not very intelligible story about it, to the effect
that it was formerly covered by a round stone with a hole in it,
through which the water forced itself up in a fountain, and that at
one time it was carried by an aqueduct to Khan Minyeh, where it
turned a mill, the ruins of which remain. He said that the Bedawin
have broken the stone, but the pieces of it still exist,

_
a

NOTES TAKEN ON A TOUR IN PALESTINE. 161

3. Bethabara.—We camped at Tubaket Fahil (the ancient Pella),
travelled thence up the Ghér to the ford identified by Colonel

‘Conder with Bethabara, and crossed by it to Beisan. The Sheikh

of Fahil, who acted as our guide, declared that he had never heard
the ford called Abarah; the Fellahin simply called it Makhada,
and none of them ever used the name Abarah. I also questioned
the Bedawin on both sides of the ford, but they all denied that the
term Abarah was ever used by them; they called it Hammud.

Negative evidence of this kind does not, of course, carry very
much weight ; but I afterwards found some reason for inclining to
the view that another ford much lower down the Jordan might be
the Bethabara of Scripture. This was during an excursion which I
made from Jericho to Tell Nimrin. The theory of Sir George
Grove, that Beth Nimrah (Tell Nimrin) was the true Bethabara, is
well known.! It rests mainly upon etymological grounds, and I
wished to see for myself whether it appeared to be borne out
topographically. I found the Nahr Nimrin near the Tell a mere
driblet of water, slowly filtering its way through a mass of sub-
tropical vegetation, which completely choked the channel, and was
not easy to penetrate. It was difficult on the face of it to imagine
a public baptising taking place at such a spot.

However, it has to be allowed that when Beth-Nimrah was an
inhabited town the vegetation would be kept within bounds ; also
that the spring of 1901 was exceptionally dry, and that nearly all
the water had been taken off for purposes of irrigation. Moreover,
much might be done here with a small stream (and small it must
have been at best) by means of damming. So that no one can say
that it is impossible for the baptising to have taken place in this
Nahr.

The point, however, which I wish to note is that the name
Nimrin is applied not only to the Tell, but to the whole district
along the Wady Nimrin. After we had crossed the Jordan and
travelled for some distance towards the Tell, which lies over five
miles to the east of the river, I asked the Bedawi who guided me
when we should get to Nimrin, and he immediately replied, “ We
are in Nimrin now.” Upon being closely questioned he emphatically
maintained that the whole country from the Tell down to the very
bank of the Jordan is called Nimrin. May not the philological

* See Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, art. “Beth-Nimrah ”; and Bneycl.

Bibl, arts. “ Bethabara” and “ Bethany (2).”
L

| 162 ‘THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

view, therefore, that Bethabara was Beth Nimrin, be harmonised
with the traditional view that the Baptism took place in Jordan, by
| supposing it to have taken place at the ford which crosses the
Jordan near the junction of the Wady Nimrin with that river.
This ford, which is near the old wooden bridge, would be, then as
now, the one used by all who passed to and fro between Jericho
and Beth-Nimrah, and the town would probably give the ford its
name—the Ford of Beth-Nimrah or Bethanabra.

THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

By Puitie G. BALDENSPERGER, Esq.
(Continued from p. 77.)

(1) THe ‘tailor, or “sewer” (Khayyit), as he is called, is seen
in every town squatting on his elevated bench, and _ stitching
garments together, or embroidering in black, silver, or gold upon
the jackets and waistcoats, or about the pockets of the broad, native
trousers (libds). The last-mentioned articles of clothing are also
called sirwal, which is taken by some to answer to the sarbelin of
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. iii, 21) when they were
thrown into the fiery furnace with all their clothes. The Authorised
Version has “coats ” or “mantles,” but the Revised Version “ hosen.”
The waistcoat (sideriyet) is not mentioned in the Bible, nor is the
short jacket (jubbat), on which is sewed the greater part of the
embroidery, called kasab in the vulgar speech. Clothes are generally

made to order, not prepared beforehand for sale, as they are very
costly, and the tailor cannot aff

ord to invest money in goods that
may never be asked for.
(m) The shoemaker, skéfi ( <3 \Ks);
black boots and shoe nl
tanned sheep-skins,
and, in days now go
shoes are called

does not make the European
8, but only the soft red and yellow shoes of
dyed red for the men and yellow for the women,
ne by, black for the Christians and Jews. These
Surmdyet, and are to be kept distinct from the
coarser shoes worn by the Kellaats (lb, watta or wide madés).
The surmdyet are generally made with the traditional point in front
turning up, whilst the fellahin shoes are without this ornament, and

THE IMMOVABLE KAST. 163

are roughly tanned, the hair of the animal often covering the upper
part of the shoe. The skins (of cows and oxen for the upper part,
and of camels for the soles) are imperfectly tanned and thrown down
in the street before the shops, where the passers-by complete the
tanning by walking on them. The red shoes of the men are low,
and do not reach above the ankles; but the yellow shoes of the
women are more like boots, and cover all the bare part of the feet.
The shoes of the fellahin are made very high, and are buttoned in
front by a leather button, to prevent the thorns and thistles hurting
the feet whilst harvesting; they are only worn for hard work.
Shoes are not made to measure, but the shoemaker has quantities
on hand, and the customer is fitted as well as possible. The fellah
woman has a somewhat lighter and, to some extent, a more elegant
shoe, sometimes made of yellow leather—a rough imitation of that
worn by her sister in the town.

The Bedawy sandal na‘l, is the na‘al of the Scriptures, and, as
a rule, is not made by the ordinary tradesman, but by a wandering
shoemaker, generally an Algerian Jew, who puts up his temporary
shop at the corner of a street, and thus can afford to make cheap
sandals and do repairs for a few coppers.

Several other names for shoes are used in Egypt, as markab,
hedhi, and khef, or easy shoes, but none of them are philologically
connected with any Hebrew term. In general, the Hebrews, from
the time of Abraham to the days of St. John the Baptist
(Gen. xiv, 23 ; Luke iii, 16), wore the na‘l of the Bedawin. But
in towns, especially in Jerusalem, a more valuable shoe, made of
tahash, a particular kind of leather (Ezek. xvi, 10), was worn by
the higher classes only. The kabkdb is a high wooden clog, often
inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and with satin straps embroidered
with silver or gold. The huge red Bedawin boots (jizmet) with
blue tassels and iron heels are of Damascus: manufacture, and were
probably worn by the inhabitants of Asher, who imported them
from their commercial neighbours the Phoenicians, since in
Deut. xxxiii, 25, we read: “Of Asher he (Moses) said... .
thy shoes shall be iron and brass.” Town shoemakers now establish
themselves also in the larger villages and small towns such as
Bethlehem, Beth Jala, and Ramallah, where even the European
kindarjy is also found. The shoe and boot are types of humiliation :
speaking of a shoemaker, it is polite to say Batid minak skdafi
{31 Chie dau )—* Far (be it) from you, a shoemaker.” The

L 2

—S OO eee ee ee

164 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

shoe is a vile object in the East, and it must never be mentioned
together with anything clean—+.g., a part of the head, food, &c.—and
it is therefore a great insult to call anyone “a shoe.” The Prophet
Amos deplores the selling of the poor for a pair of shoes (Amos ii, 6 ;
viii, 6), a humiliation which was not to remain unpunished. To kill
aman with a shoe is contemptible, and, if anything, increases the
sorrow of the death. King David, having conquered Edom and
put garrisons there, says, “Over Edom will I cast my shoe”
(Ps. lx, 8), as though the victory were not sufficient without this
humiliation.

(n) The tanner (dabbigh) is of course required where skins are
turned into shoes and other articles. Besides the odour of the
badly-tanned skins or putrid particles adhering to them, a number
of foul-smelling ingredients are employed, and consequently the
tannery is as far away as possible from the towns. The proverb
says: “God curse the tannery, which needs dog’s dirt.” At
Jerusalem the tanneries are near the spring of Siloam, at Jaffa and
Haifa on the seashore, and at Ramleh outside in the gardens beside
the water-wheels.

The tanner is mentioned in the New Testament (Acts ix, 43),
and the traditional house of Simon the tanner is still shown at Jaffa,
but in the Old Testament there is no allusion to tanning. Yet
we must suppose that the Israelites had tanned skins and leather.
Adam and Eve had coats of skin or leather. Moses also made
a covering for the tabernacle of ramskins dyed red, like the red
ramskins of modern days (Exod. xxxix, 34).
of the fine shoes in Cant. vii, 1, presuppose some knowledge of
tanning. The prophet Elijah, besides the over-mantle of the fellahin,
See wore a leather girdle (2 Kings i, 8) which was tanned on one
side.

The mention also

(0) The dyers (sabbagh) are mostly dyers in blue, though black,
red, and green also are sometimes required by country women for
their veils, and for wool to be woven into the carpets. The better
class wear cloth, but the workmen and traders have a b
which they wear over their other clothes. The sheeting is bought
and given to the dyer. The indigo, or nilat ( dL ), from the Nile
is employed. The dyers are mostly confined to one street, and the
long dyed stripes of sheeting are to be seen suspended along the
houses, the ends being secured to the flat roofs by stones. The
country women, with the exception of the inhabitants of some

lue blouse,

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 165
i villages in the north, wear blue-dyed shirting, and all Bedawin
: -~ women are clad in dark blue. The modern dyers are now mostly

Mohammedans, and have probably learnt the trade from the Jews,
who, in the Middle Ages, were the dyers in the country. In
Jerusalem, and probably in many other places also, they paid an
annual sum to the King for the exclusive right of dyeing.
Benjamin of Tudela, enumerating the Jews in his journey to the
East, finds the majority of them settled in Philistia, where they met
with more sympathy from the Mohammedans than in the Christian
(Crusading) districts. Wherever he met Jews there were dyers
among them. ‘The Jews, who in his day were comparatively
numerous in Philistia and in the country of the tribe of Dan,
disappeared in the course of the centuries following until 1880,
when they again settled there, and founded many flourishing
colonies. Very little is known about the dyers of Canaan. The
Phoenicians, we know, were acquainted with the art of dyeing in
purple, and certainly possessed their own secret methods. Whether
the many-coloured clothes, curtains, &e., were dyed in Palestine we
do not know, and even the names of the various colours are
i uncertain. Different interpreters render the names differently—so
téhéleth cndan) is translated “blue” in English, but “ yellow silk ”
in the German. Generally speaking, the names of colours in
Arabic are derived from some object which usually has that
colour, and so it may have been to some extent, at least, in
Hebrew. So, for example, “white” from eggs (in Arabic) or
milk (in Hebrew), “red” from blood (Hebrew), and so forth, and
different names may sometimes have been used in different districts.
The scarlet colour with which the dyer dyes the spinned wool
which is to be woven into grey or black carpets is still made from
the cochineal insect, called “worm” both in Arabic and Hebrew.
This insect was formerly bred on the cactuses of Mount Ebal, and
the crimson, often called téla‘ath, “a worm,” receives the name
kormil in 2 Chron. ii, 7 [6], perhaps from an insect bred by the
Pheenicians on Mount Carmel.

A dyer is well known by his blue hands, for blue, as above
remarked, is the colour mostly handled. Though blue and green
are well-known colours, a grey ass will always be called green by
the fellahin and Bedawin. Grey is very little used in clothes, and
the name of the colour is rarely pronounced. White, green, and
red are sacred colours in Islam, though white, being a natural colour,

as! ee ee
ne ;

meklat or mekléya

als Bi ih

166 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

was worn by non-believers also. But as it is difficult to keep the
clothes clean, some other colour had to be taken, and the dark blue
or almost black shade was allowed the Christians and J ews, whilst
green, the colour of the Prophet, and adapted by the Fatimids, was
strictly. forbidden (until a few years ago) to anyone who was not a
Moslem.

(p) Workers in Metal. 1.—The blacksmith (haddéd), or worker
in iron (hadid), is the Biblical hardsh barzel (O44 wan), “ artificer
in iron” (Isa. xliv, 12, ¢f. Gen. iv, 22). He makes agricultural
implements and all kinds of ironwork for windows and doors.

I.—The coppersmith (nabhish), the worker in brass and copper,
has always been one of the most useful workers, and there is allusion
to his art in the pre-Israelitish period in the person of Tubal Cain
(Gen. iv, 22). Not only have the richer Arabs their copper kitchen
utensils, but even the poorer classes have at least the kettle of
copper, and consequently a whole street in every town is filled with
their shops.

The various kitchen utensils are lined wi
verdigris, especially where sour foods
called kasdir or matdan, which v.
the prophet Ezekiel (xxvii, 12).
the metal was imported by the Ph

The usual set of copper vesse
prises :—(1) The dist, the largest
at the bottom than at the top,

th zine to prevent
are prepared. The zine is
ery likely answers to the Jédil of
The word is translated tin, and
cenicians, perhaps from England.

Is to be found in a house com-
kettle, generally a little broader

and with two iron handles by which
to lift it off the fire. In the towns they are more often used to

boil water for washing purposes, whilst in the country they are
generally used for cooking large quantities of food, rice, or even a
whole sheep, as fellahin rarely cook small quantities of meat, This
is, perhaps, the dad used by those who offered sacrifices at the
religious feasts (1 Sam. ii, 14). It has no cover, and is put on an
'ron tripod, whence the proverb, “The kettle can stand only on
= (feet )” (333 ck SS kk Galt). (2) The tanjarat
is the common everyday kettle, much smaller than the above
cauldron, and with a copper cover, perhaps the Biblical kiyydr
(1 Sam. ii, 14). In this all the family meals are prepared. (3) The

tis the frying-pan, used for such small dishes as
are prepared in a few minutes. It is not always of copper, except
in the case of the richer classes. The smith also makes them
of iron, and these are more commonly used by the poorer folk.

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 167

They are called mehmiis by the fellahin, and probably correspond to
the iron pan used by the prophet Ezekiel (iv, 3, mahdbath), and a
similar utensil was also used by the Levites (Lev. vi, 21). (4) The
various kinds of trays exposed in the confectioner’s shop are called
tabak or siniyet. Of such a kind was the tray with the offerin
of manna which Aaron placed before the Lord (Exod. xvi, 33,
sinséneth). (5) Bowls of different sizes for washing the hands and
feet are also a necessary outfit for town houses, and are sometimes
accompanied with a copper jug. The sahen, which is made of
pottery, is much in use in poorer homes.

IlI.—The gold- and silver-smiths are usually found all in one
street, and the si#igh (as the smith is called) is well known, as
ornaments are worn now by all classes, like the gold plates, earrings,
collars, bracelets, and so forth, of the luxurious daughters of Sion
(Isaiah iii).

Ornaments in general are called sighat. The better classes wear
a large golden conical plate on the top of the head; it is called hurs
(properly “‘disc”), and is sometimes fixed to the neck by fine
chains. The hair of the women falls back in numerous plaits, and
every plait terminates with a small ornament in gold—a coin, the
figure of a star, or the moon (crescent), &¢. ; the whole arrangement
is called saffet. Each plait is bound with a cotton or silken thread
(sharit).

The kurs is held by a chain (the zendék), which is often orna-
mented with small coins, and with a larger one at the extremity ;
the number of chains is not necessarily limited to one. The neck
is covered by a golden necklace, consisting of small pieces of gold
hanging close together. It is called shaciryet ( re) nme ), “ barley
ornament,” on account of their resemblance to grains of barley.
There is also a second and simpler chain called k:ladet, which, also,
is often a string of beads. We may compare the golden chain worn
by Joseph in Egypt (Gen. xli, 42, rébid), and the strings of jewels
on Solomon’s bride (Cant. i, 10).1_ The earrings (halak ed-danain)
are also of fine gold work of different shapes, either mere rings
(of. the Hebrew ‘dgil, Ezek. ‘xvi, 12), or ornamented earrings—the
nézem of the Israelites. If we may connect nézem with the Arabic
nexem, may it not have been a necklace with images, and if so, may
this not have been the reason why Jacob when leaving Padan-

' Rabada in Arabic means “ to tie.”

168 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

Aram buried the nézems of his people along with the strange gods
(Gen. xxxv, 4)? The nose-ring (Gen. xxiv, 47 ; Isaiah iii, 21, nézem
ha-aph) may still be seen among Bedawy and fellah women, and is
known as khezdm.

Ankle rings (Khalakhel) are fast disappearing from the towns.
The bracelets, called asiwir, are generally made of gold for the
richer classes, of silver, or even copper, for the poor. Some are
simple circles, others have hinges to fit on the wrists only.

The sdmid of the Israelites (Num. xxxi, 52 ; Ezek. xvi, 11) may
be compared with the Arab samada, “to adorn.” Rings are often
worn, on more fingers than one, as they are very cheap, and everyone
can afford to have a few.

The tiny tweezers, muntdf (s\iic), are used to pluck out
offending hairs. These may have been known to the daughters of
Zion, who were so anxious about their looks (Isaiah iii, 16).

These are the principal ornaments made by the goldsmiths,
though of late, articles of European make have made their way into
towns, and many an article which has stood for perhaps forty
centuries will fall out of use before th
goods.

. The Hebrew goldsmith, séréph (Isaiah xl, 19), was at the same
time the money-changer, the modern sarradf—that is, if we may
infer from his changing the money into an image (Isaiah xlvi, 6),
that he also acted as banker. The goldsmith of Mount Ephraim
(Judges xvii, 4) made the graven image with 200 shekels of silver.
This does not mean that the silver or money was molten. There is
« clearer case, I believe, in the gathering of the money by King
Jehoash for the repair of the Temple (2 Kings xii).

IV.—The gunsmith (_ dine), who, in fact, is only a repairer
of firearms, is often combined with the cutler (sakikiny) ; Palestine
cutlery is not of importance, for swords and daggers are mostly of
Damascus or Egyptian manufacture. It would seem as though the
Philistines, Babylonians, Romans, and others had hindered this
branch of industry, so that it could never develop in the country,
and by these means revolutions might be avoided. Firearms are
mostly imported from the surrounding countries. The Bedawy
Daher, Governor of Acre, introduced a good many about 150 years
ago, when his compatriots were as yet unacquainted with them,
and had only bows and arrows (Volney, Voyage en Syrie, I,
chap. xxv), and it is by no means unlikely that some of these very

e advance of European

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 169

fully the arms would be handed down from father to son as a relic.
The cutler makes swords, daggers, and knives.

The ordinary word for sword is saif, that in the Hebrew Old
Testament is /éreb, which name survives in the modern harbet, a
short spear generally carried about by Dervishes. The swords are
curved with the sharp edge inside the curve, and the back is very
thick. The weapon is usually in a wooden sheath which is covered
with skin.

Spears are of different lengths ; the shorter ones are called
harbet, and the longer, rumh or mezrtik. The Bedawin also call their
spears, shalfe[t] (alt). There are also several names for the
Israelitish spears : King Saul carried the short hinith (1 Sam. xxvi,
7, 16), as also did Abner (2 fms ii, 23), whilst the 7émah was
carried by warriors (Judges v, 8; 2 Chron. xi, 12); probably the
Israelites had only the shorter kind, the longer ones being more
adapted for horsemen.

Daggers are designated by the foreign word khanjar or by
sikkin. 'The latter is a straight knife, 20 to 25 centimetres long,
used to stab or slay an animal; it is the sakkin of Prov. xxiii, 2.
The fellahin and Bedawin carry a small curved two-edged dagger,
called shibriyet, because it is about a span (shibr) long ; it is generally
stuck in the girdle, the sheath being fastened to the strap so that
only the knife can be taken out. Of such a kind may have been
the knife (ma'akdleth) with which Abraham was about to slay Isaac
(Gen. xxii, 6). Smaller knives, such as almost every fellih carries
dangling at his girdle, are not of Palestine manufacture. The small
folding knife (ms) is Egyptian, and as already remarked (see above
p. 71) isalsoused asarazor. The knife used for household purposes,
cutting up meat, or preparing the vermicelli, is called shussat
( hao gc ), and may answer to the mahdliphim which Ezra brought
from Babylon to Jerusalem (Ezra i, 9).

V.—The tinsmith (fanakjy or sankary, both with a Turkish
termination) is due to the Spanish Jews, who are almost exclusively
the tinsmiths of the country. The metal, though said to have been
an article of Phoenician commerce, does not seem to have found
favour in Palestine till of late years (perhaps a century or so), and
was not utilised very much until cheap petroleum came into use
and small tin lamps and tin cases began to spread even into the
fellah districts, seriously damaging the trade in pottery.

arms may yet be in use, especially when we remember how care-

170 REPORTS BY R. A. STEWART MACALISTER.

VI.—The farrier (baytér) is also the veterinary surgeon, and his
shop is always near the gates in the neighbourhood of the khan
and coffee shops where travellers mostly put up their animals, and
are likely to require his services (¢f. above, p. 70). The horse-
shoes are made to cover the pad of the foot. A small opening is
left in the middle to prevent the foot from rotting, but pebbles
are often thus wedged in, causing lameness. The early Israelites
had no horses until they were introduced by the kings; whether
they shoed them or not is uncertain, although the remark in
Isaiah v, 28, “ their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint,” perhaps
proves that other nations knew how to render the hoofs more
resisting than did the Jews. The prophet Micah, too, speaks of
brass hoofs (iv, 13).

(To be continued.)

REPORTS BY R. A. STEWART MACALISTER, M.A., F.S.A.

I.—ApDDITIONAL Nores ON TOMBS IN THE Wipy ER-RABABIL.!

THE tombs beside that of Thecla, daughter of Marulf, have recently
been cleared out, and are now inhabited by a fellah family. I
examined one of these (No. 10) after it had been cleared out, but
before the family moved in, and was confirmed in my hypothesis
that it is a rock-cut dwelling, not a tomb. There is an irregular
bench running round the wall, but no graves, and of the three
Openings one is a doorway and two are certainly windows.

The tomb of the Abbess Thecla is also now turned into a
residence, and is in a very dirty condition.’
f Rin a Monastery has been enlarging its borders, and some
ureher tombs have been discovered. One, north of the great tomb
(No. 56) with the pillared portico, consists of four chambers : the
first with four kokim and one arcosolium ; the second, approached
by descending steps from the first, two kékim and one arcosolium :
the third, a simple passage, with a sunk bench-grave along each
side ; the fourth, a chamber 5 feet 5 inches square, with three

' See Quarterly Statement, 1900, pp- 225, sey.; 1901, pp. 145, seg.
215, seq.

_ eee

REPORTS BY R. A. STEWART MACALISTER. 171

arcosolia. In the back wall of one of these arcosolia are three
niches, whose presence is not easy to explain.

A second tomb, just west of the monastery, presents some
eurious details. It has two chambers: the second I found so full
of water that I was unable to measure it—it is smaller than the
first. The outer chamber has seven kékim, one of which is open
to the air and, by means of a window, gives light to the inner
chamber. An ossuary cupboard, sunk in the bench that surrounds
the wall, is also noticeable. There are two crosses, with trifid ends
to the arms, cut on the east wall.

South of these are two tombs which, owing to an accumulation
of dirt and rubbish about the entrances, I was previously unable to
enter. The first of these, No. 47 (over the door of which’are the
THC APIAC CIN inscriptions), is still troublesome to examine,
as the vestibule is filled with powdered lime. There are three
chambers: the first with 10 kékim (one, four, three, and three on
the different walls); the second with five kékim ; the third full of
earth, and apparently showing no detail worth notice. The second
tomb has two chambers behind an extraordinarily deep and narrow
vestibule. There is one k6k in the first chamber, two arcosolia in
the second.

IJ.—GREEK INSCRIPTIONS IN THE MUSEUM AT JERUSALEM.

I forward squeezes of four Greek inscriptions now preserved in
the Government Museum at Jerusalem. Two of them are the
inscriptions which I found in the Government House at Biar
es-Seba‘ last year, and which have already been published in the
Quarterly Statement (1902, pp. 232, et seq.). Of the other two the
provenance is unknown to me.

The first of these has been in the Museum for some years. It
is a small fragment, broken in two pieces. The inscription is—

+ EN@AAE KEINTE
ANACTACIAS IWANN ...

@EOAWPOY M NMePInE...
INA..B TOYAE..YTOY...

re fa
0 ee ? i TU “

172 REPORTS BY R. A. STEWART MACALISTER.

The second has been recently acquired by the Museum. It isa
finely-cut inscription on a long, rectangular slab of limestone. The
lettering is quite perfect :—

+EN@AAE KEITE O MAKAPIO|C KAIOYMOC
AIAHCIOC ANENA|e M AECIOY iS

INASS ETOYC KAT|A EAEYEEPWNOAITAC
AMT +

Both are Christian tombstones, giving the names of the deceased
and the date of their deaths : the first commemorating Anastasia and
John [children ?] of Theodéros, the second “the blessed Kaioumos

of Jerusalem.” The date of the latter is 344 of the era of
Eleutheropolis.

IlIl.—Tue Greex INscripTION AT Kuryet SA‘iDEH.

While in Jerusalem I visited the interesting ruins of Kuryet
Sa‘ideh, near ‘Ain Karim, in company with Dr. Masterman. The
inscription lying among the ruins is not correctly given in the
Memoirs: the true reading is—

MAPINOYAIAK
KT8STOKTHEMA ...

about three or four letters being lost from the second fragment.

I hope, when opportunity offers, to revisit the site and prepare
& Squeeze of the inscription.

IV.—Tue Ituicir EXCAVATIONS AT Bert Jrsrin.

There does not seem to have been so much illicit excavation in
this unfortunate neighbourhood within the past year as during the
year before. No great discovery has been made, or at any rate
heard of, since the painted tombs first described by Dr. Peters were
brought to light. The principal tomb of this series has heen secured
by a strong wooden door, the key of which is kept in the Govern-
ment House at Hebron. The door shows evident traces of having

' Survey of Western Palestine, vol. iii, p. 134.

THE PACHOMIOS INSCRIPTION IN WADY-ER-RABABI. 173

been assaulted by people trying to break in, but so far it has resisted
their efforts. The painted tombs are still-intact. The third tomb
among those specially noticed by Dr. Peters (that with the owls) is,
however, no longer accessible ; it has been filled with earth thrown
in to its mouth from small tombs opened in its immediate neigh-
bourhood. A fellah from Beit Jibrin recently offered for sale to an
English lady in Jerusalem a piece of plaster with an animal figure
painted upon it. This does not belong to the great tomb with the
frieze of animals, all of which are intact; it may possibly belong to
another which is being concealed, but on this I could get no
information. The most curious recent discovery is a cave of the
Sandahannah type, consisting of three large bell-shaped chambers
clustered round a central entrance shaft, with a staircase running
down round its sides. In the floor of the central chamber of the
three is sunk a square well shaft 41 feet deep; at the bottom is a
spring, and about a foot of water.

THE PACHOMIOS INSCRIPTION IN WADY ER-RABABIL.
By R. A. Stewart MAcAtister, M.A., F.S.A.

Tus inscription was first published in the Quarterly Statement for 1890
(p. 70) by Dr. Schick, in the course of a report on some newly-opened
tombs near the Aceldama. A reading by M. Papadoculos (? Papa-
dopoulos), with comments by Dr. A. 8. Murray, was appended. The

Revue Biblique, Quarterly Statement (1900, p. 234 seq.), and, more
recently, the Recueil d’Archeologie Orientale (t. v., p. 166), have since
contained attempts at rendering by Pére Germer-Durand, myself, and
Professor Clermont-Ganneau respectively.

The difficulty of the inscription certainly does not lie in any obscurity
of the writing or injury to the rock-surface in which it is cut. Every

abe er ye eee eee
6 ee i See rea eee eee a oe ee ee A all 7 7
ia ae | 4 nm ‘ _ . . ‘ ’

174 THE PACHOMIOS INSCRIPTION AT WADY-ER-RABABI.

letter is perfect, and it is quite certain there never were any more
characters than those given-in the following transcript :—

ETAGHTINEKOCTi
NAXOMIOCAIWH +

The loop of the @ is at the top of the upright, the little | strokes
rather under the right-hand ends of the horizontal bars of the T’s in the
middle and at the end of the first line: the Y is cut thus—¥Y, but with
the horizontal har rather oblique. In the second line the is sloping,
but cannot possibly be anything but ; the H-+ are in ligature, the
horizontal bar of the H_ being oblique.

In my own attempt at interpretation I was reduced to the desperate
expedient of treating Ty as a word-separator, and regarding the
resultant vexos as a humiliative epithet. The most that I could ever
claim for this reading is that it is not impossible ; if I am not wrong,
such names as Foedus, Ima, Stercus, &¢., are not unknown to Christian
epigraphy.

The other readings, excepting Pdre Germer-Durand’s, fail in the
interpretation of the letters following ETAOH. It is quite impossible to
combine the |4{ into H, or to read rw TH as by any system of spelling
the equivalent of 77. This is the flaw in the brilliantly ingenious reading
of Professor Clermont-Ganneau. The reading of M. Papadopoulos makes
no complete sense, for “ Pachomios of Lychisdos [?] was buried on the
twentieth” means nothing ; that of Dr. Murray assumes a lost beginning
| to the inscription, which is out of the question.

F Pere Germer-Durand’s eragn tr. Uf ekoore Tlaxopios A. on (“ P. was
( buried on the 20th day of —— month, in the year 758”) takes the (4
as a symbol for a month, and 2d as an initial for “year.” As a general
rule, however, | is the abbreviation for “year,” not A. This reading is

the simplest and most straightforward, and the
the actual letters as they are found
insertion of the personal name between

the reader as being strange and improbable, I¢ is, of course, possible
(but unlikely) that the first two words to be cut were— |

most in accordance with
on the rock-surface. But the
the month and the year strikes

ETAOH
NAXOMIOC

and that the date was afterwa
than below, where the rock
| of course, be read,

Here, then, we have a short inscription in Greek
and uninjured, and yet five persons who have turne

rds filled in at the ends of the lines rather
-surface is rougher, For X Wn, A ey should,

, absolutely legible
d their attention to

’
{

THE “BUCKLER” OF HAMZA. 175

it—three of them epigraphists of the standing of Murray, Germer-
Durand, and Clermont-Ganneau—have been unable to produce a reading
that cannot be criticised. This is surely a remarkable circumstance ; but
it is, I think, capable of an easy explanation.

I have examined the inscription many times before and since I
published my previous remarks upon it, and every time I see it the
conviction grows on me that the whole thing is a forgery. The letters
have, most certainly, been touched up at some time, for they are perfectly
fresh, and show not the slightest sign of water-wear: a remarkable
circumstance, as the tomb is always very damp, especially in winter.
I am aware that the tomb has not been open more than 12 or 13 years,
and that the inscription, being inside the chamber, has not been exposed
to the weather for a longer time. But even allowing for this, I cannot
help feeling that the inscription is so fresh and so remarkable in itself
that it must be looked on with at least grave suspicion.

I forward with this paper a squeeze in justification of the comments
I have ventured to make on readings by those who in Greek-Christian
epigraphy are my masters.

(The inscription of the Abbess Thecla (Quarterly Statement, 1900.
p. 238) has been cleaned since I examined it, and I had another look
at it the other day—a disagreeable task, by the way, as a most unpre-
possessing family of fellahin have taken up their abode in the tomb.
The little word under the Abbess’s name I now make out to be CECA.
What it means I have no idea; but I am quite convinced that my

former reading, @ECA, is as impossible as the old CEBA.)

THE “BUCKLER” OF HAMZA.

Dr. D’Err WHEE tER, the Honorary Secretary of the Fund in Jerusalem,
writes that the photograph of the “buckler” of Hamza, the uncle of
Muhammad, was taken by the Rev. J. E. Hanauer from a replica in
metal which now hangs in the large hall of the Armenian Patriarchate.
Mr. Hanauer stated that he remembered the original, which appeared to
be of bronze. “It disappeared about 17 years ago, and was said to have
been sent to Constantinople. The copy in the Armenian Convent was
made about 30 years ago by the Armenian Patriarch himself, who was a
very clever man.”

According to Dr. Schick (Bett el-Makdas, 1st edition, 1887, p. 12), the
“‘buckler” formerly stood on an antique marble altar at the south-west
pier of the “ Dome of the Rock,” and was “a round metal plate about
80 centimétres in diameter,' with very beautiful bird and animal forms in
circles round it..... In the middle, on the reverse side, is a round,

' The actual diameter of the replica is 67 cm., or 2 feet 24 inches.

176 THE “BUCKLER” OF HAMZA.

movable ring. It never was a shield. Some suppose it to have been the
lid of a font. I hold it to be a bell, or that at least it served as a bell.”
Dr. Wheeler also enclosed the following statement by Osman Effendi
el-Khaldi, the Notary of Jerusalem, corroborated by the Danafs,
custodians of the Haram es-Sherif :—“The so-called shield of Hamza
was of marble stone, the shape of a shield, placed in the Sakhrah at
Jerusalem, on the back of which there were in relief engravings of
various animals. This stone or shield was removed from the Sakhrah by
Raouf Pasha 15 years ago, and sent to the museum at Constantinople.

Buckler of Humza.

Most probably this stone or shield was placed by one of the Crusader
princes, as Moslems use no pictures or engravings to this day.”

The “buckler,” Turs sayidna Hamza, was pointed out to me in 1864.
It was then enclosed in a wooden frame, which rested upon the altar
mentioned by Dr. Schick, and was firmly attached to the pier. As the
frame was strengthened by crossbars it was only possible to see portions
of a polished surface which resembled the back of a bronze shield. In
1866 the frame had become partly detached from the pier, and I was able
to obtain a glance at the other side, which proved to be ornamented with
figures of birds and animals in low relief ; and I came to the conclusion

ide DEAD SEA OBSERVATIONS. 177

that the “buckler” was an old bronze shield of Persian manufacture.!
In 1881, when I next visited Jerusalem, the “buckler ” had disappeared,
On receiving the photograph from Dr. Wheeler I took it to the British :
Museum, and was at once informed by Mr. Read, F.S.A., Keeper of a
Medizval Antiquities, that the supposed “buckler” was in reality a
Chinese mirror of, probably, the early part of the sixteenth century.

The presence of a highly ornamented Chinese mirror in a Muham-
madan mosque is difficult to explain. In the early part of the sixteenth
century there was considerable commercial intercourse between the
Arabs and Chinese, and it is possible that the mirror was brought to
Jerusalem and given to the Sheikh of the Haram by some Arab trader
on a pilgrimage to the Holy City. It was almost certainly placed in the
“Dome of the Rock” before the occupation of Jerusalem by the Osmanli
Turks (a.p. 1517).

M. Clermont-Ganneau describes the “buckler” as “a great metal
mirror of exceptional size,” like the ancient metal mirrors of the Arabs.
He refers to an allusion to it by Ibn Batata, 1355 a.p., and considers it
to be of Persian origin, and that it descends, perhaps, from a Sassanid
prototype, possibly of Byzantine origin (Archeological Researches in
-Palestine, i, 219).

Or WW. DY:

DEAD SEA OBSERVATIONS.
By Dr. E. W. G. Masterman.
Pe 2 in ; (Continued from p. 407, 1902.)

September 19th, 1902.—Fali of Dead Sea level since May 30th,
164 inches,
October 24th, 1902.—Fall of Dead Sea level since September 19th,
8 inches.
December 31st, 1902.—Rise of Dead Sea level since October 24th,
64 inches.
February Cth, 1903.—Rise of Dead Sea level since December 31st,
8 inches.

A Rain Storm.—On October 22nd we had our first rainfall, beginning
with a thunder-storm, and a total fall of ‘32 inch in the 24 hours in
«Jerusalem.

a On the 23rd, when on my road to Jericho, I saw rain falling all around
-—s me, but scarcely a drop in my actual path. The fall on the previous day
__- must, however, have been exceedingly violent in the region traversed by

<*%

_. 1! The position of the “shield” in 1864 is shown on the O.S. plan of the
_ “Dome of the Rock.” See also Notes to the O.S. of Jerusalem, note, p. 35.

*.
m

178 DEAD SEA OBSERVATIONS.

the Jericho road, for ia the Wddy es-Sidr I found on all sides signs of
violent flooding. Although at this time there was no running water in
the torrent bed, it was quite clear that but a few hours previously there
had been from 5 to 6 feet of water over a great part of its course,
overflowing the usual banks into the surrounding fields in many places ;
deposits of sediment, weeds, and dried grass lay high up along the banks.
Where the road crosses the torrent-bed on bridges the water had been
unable to get through fast enough, and accumulations of water to the
depth of 15 to 20 feet, and of considerable surface area had formed,
leading to the partial destruction of one of the bridges. In one place
the water, after making a great pool, which must have been 30 feet across,
had flowed across the road carrying numbers of large stones in its course.
These I found scattered across the road, and down an adjoining field
mixed with sandy deposit. All this must have occurred immediately
after the “cloud burst,” and probably the flood disappeared with equal
rapidity. This fully explains what I know has occurred several times—
the sweeping away of cattle, and even whole encampments situated in a
torrent-bed, suddenly flooded by a thunder storm in the hills.

While I was at the “Samaritan’s Inn” a few drops of rain fell,
accompanied by heavy thunder; on proceeding on my journey I soon
found that a violent downpour had occurred between the inn and
Jericho. I passed numbers of donkeys and camels and men soaked
through. At the point where the path turns off the carriage road to the
little monastery in Wady Kelt I sawa magnificent and most unusual
sight. On the opposite side of the widy the water was descending at
one point im an unbroken column for perhaps 250 feet into a pool, and
thence flowing across the path which here traverses the wady, and
descending in a series of cascades to the bottom. The volume of water
was enormous. My mukarri, who has spent much of his life on this road,
says he has never seen such a sight. On my return on Saturday not a
drop of water was to be seen there. Those who have seen these wAdies,
as is the rule, quite dry, often wonder at the evident signs of torrential
force (great rocks thrown about, banks cut away or undermined, deep
channels cut in the solid rock), and are tempted to think it the work of a
past age, when the rainfall was much greater, but such violent action as
— after these sudden storms does more in a few hours than many
years of the quiet even action of a steady, flowing stream.

I i i a

BURIAL AND BURNING.
By Colonel C. R. Conner, LL.D., R.E.

Tue discovery of the burnt bodies in the cistern at Gezer has
raised questions as to the disposal of the dead, which may be
illustrated by Babylonian discoveries. Not only were all the
Semitic peoples apparently always accustomed to bury the body,

r but the non-Semitic Akkadian race were so also. It is, in fact, only

i : . . ° ° .

, among Aryans, whether in Europe or in Asia, that burning as a
ue regular custom seems to have prevailed, and even many Aryan
a tribes were exclusively burying peoples. Even to-day the Moslem
i: reproaches the Hindu as the “son of a burnt father.” Babylonia
*- is full of tombs of both its races, and the bas-relief at Tell Loh
3 represents the building of a mound over the dead, and is accom-

panied by Akkadian texts. It would seem that to burn the bodies
of enemies was considered a revenge by Semitic peoples. Mr.
Macalister has kindly undertaken to study the question I have
asked him, as to whether the burnt people at Gezer may not have
=. been Egyptians. If so, they may have been murdered and burnt
re when the natives revolted against Egyptian rule. Enemies and
captives were also (like children) burnt as human sacrifices by the
ancients generally.

In illustration of the fact that the non-Semitic races of West
Asia buried the dead, attention may be drawn to two Akkadian
tablets, translated into Assyrian, which have lately been published.
The Akkadians, like the ancients generally, were much afraid of
ghosts, and propitiated the manes with offerings and _ libations.
Like the Egyptians, they believed the “ water of life” to be given
to the pious dead, in the underworld, by the gods ; and they even
spoke (or at least the Babylonians did so) of Nebo as “ giving life
P to the dead.” Food offerings, and objects supposed to be useful
*~ to the dead, are as common in their tombs as in those of early
Semitic and Aryan peoples in other countries. These facts explain
the meaning of the texts in question.

(1) An extract from one of the Akkadian litanies (given by
M. A. Boissier in the Proceedings of the Biblical Archeological
Society, January, 1903, p. 24) refers to “the ghost of a man
drowned in the sea from a ship, or of a man not buried, or of a

180 FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.

man having no one to visit him (i.¢., his tomb), or of one with no
place consecrated by charms, or of one without a libation, or of one
whose name is not had in remembrance.” !

(2) Another difficult text (discussed by Dr. T. G. Pinches in
the same Proceedings, May, 1901, p. 205) appears to read as follows,
the first part being rendered difficult by being broken away :—

“Spell for the spirit of a man whois slain... . to earth. . _
the spirit of the ghost . . . . the one that issent back. The place is
void: the pit is void: the (underworld 2) is void. It is void for the
ghost that is sent back. Like a tree cut down, it bends its neck to
earth. Ea saw this man. One put food at his head. Food for
the body was placed. The prayer for life was prayed for him.
O ghost, thou art a child of thy God. May the food placed at thy
head—food for the body—expiate. May thy evil pass away.
Live thou. Let thy foot go forth in the land of life. O ghost,
thou art a child of thy God. The eye for evil watches thee. The
eye for sin watches thee... . may the God of the tomb smite
with the rod . . . . may the God Gunura (perhaps ‘of the narrow
abode’) bind with the great cord . . . . as the rain that falls from
heaven on earth may Ea, king of the abyss, take away from thy

body . ... End of charm. Incantation to protect men from the
spirit of a ghost.”

The ghost is laid by offerings at the tomb, and prayed for, that
it may be happy in the underworld to which it is to return.

eee + a

FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS,

Revue Biblique, vol. xi, part 4.—Macridy Bey commences a report, with
numerous illustrations, on the excavations which he has been carrying
out, for the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople, in the temple
of Eshmun, built near Sidon by Bodashtart, the grandson of Eshmunazar,
and king of Sidon. The temple stood on rapidly falling ground, at a
place now known as Bostén esh-Sheikh, “garden of the Sheikh,” which
lies south-east of the bridge by which the Sidon-Beirt road crosses the
Nahr ‘Auwali. Thus far the excavations have brought to light the walls
of an exactly oriented rectangular enclosure, measuring about 197 feet
east and west, and about 1443 feet north and south—the usual plan of the
Semitic hieron or hardm within which the xaos or temple is built.
During the excavations Macridy Bey turned up many fragments of

Cs — Bae

FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 181

statuary and some small Pheenician inscriptions, but his most important
find thus far has been several inscriptions of Bodashtart, which were
obtained from the wall, and, with the exception of small variations, are
identical, These inscriptions are not cut on the faces of the stones, but
on the sides, so that when the wall was built they were completely
concealed in the joints of the masonry. This arrangement, which
preserved the inscriptions from mutilation by a successor or usurper, has
been compared by M. Berger with the Assyro-Chaldzan custom of

: burying bricks bearing the name of the royal builder in the body of a

pate, structure. The inscriptions are sharply cut, and coloured bright red.

. Father Lagrange, in a notice accompanied by photographie reproduc-
tions of the inscriptions, comments upon the form and probable age of
the Pheenician letters in the text, and offers tentative translations.
There are two views as to the date of the text. Father Lagrange and
M. Berger place the Eshmunazar dynasty in the Persian period, before
Alexander ; whilst M. Clermont-Ganneau maintains (22.4.0., vol. v, § 41)
that it flourished under the Ptolemies, and that the builder of the temple,
Bodashtart, was the grandson of Eshmunazar I, whom he identifies with
the prince replaced by Alexander on the throne of his fathers. The
exact interpretation of the inscriptions is doubtful. M. Qlermont-

-Ganneau considers the words which follow “The King Bodashtart, King
ef the Sidonians, grandson of the King Eshmunazar, King of the
Sidonians,” to be chiefly place-names, and in this view he is supported by
Professor Torrey, late director of the American School at Jerusalem.
M. Berger and Father Lagrange, on the other hand, believe them to be
principally mythological titles connected with Sidon, M. Clermont-
Ganneau holds that the temple with the inscriptions is not the same as
that erected to Eshmun at Shammim Addirim (?) by Eshmunazar IT and

_ hismother. He also suggests that the Nahr ‘Auwallt is the river Asclepios,

and not, as usually supposed, the Bostrenus ; and that the temple was
dedicated to “Eshmun, Lord of Kadesh,” whose worship had been
introduced into Sidon, and whose original sanctuary was Kadesh of ‘Ain
Yidlal—a place situated in the neighbouring mountains.

Fathers Jaussen and Savignac publish several new Nabatean
inscriptions from Petra and other places, and Father Vincent supplies
notes on the German excavations at Ba‘albek, with a drawing of the altar
discovered beneath the floor of the church erected between 377-380 .p. ;
on the tombs with frescoes at Marisa (Maresha) ; on a second inscription
in mosaic, found in the “ holy place,” now ascertained to be the Church of
the Apostles, at Medeba (see Quarterly Statement, 1902, p. 415); on the
slab representing the spies with the grapes of Eshcol (see Quarterly
Statement, 1903, p: 83); and on a small silver handle of delicate work-
manship for a mirror or fan which bears the legend Kipw gy" Ces pe,
«Aenra | “I have an owner ; leave me alone, thief ! ”

ant) o. Beye Bibilique, vol. xii, part 1.—Macridy Bey continues his report
nthe temple of Bodashtart, giving illustrations of several of the smaller

‘ A

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|
q

et =. ea ee - ee ee ee ee ree a ee

182 FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.

finds, and discussing the influence of Egyptian art on the pottery, which
has striking analogies with that of Cyprus. M. Clermont-Ganneau
writes on Palmyrene monuments ; and Frére Jaussen, in a continuation
of his paper on Arab customs, gives an interesting account of a fight
between the Haweitét and the Sardrft. F. Jaussen also describes in
detail the rarely-travelled route from ‘Akabah to Ma‘an, which was that
followed, probably, by the Israelites when they turned the flank of
Edom. The journey occupied 263 hours, and the ascent of Nakb Eshtér
to the desert plateau proved to be fairly easy for loaded camels.
Amongst the points deserving notice are the remains of an old masonry
dam and two groups of Roman milestones with illegible inscriptions in
W. Ithm ; the fine spring, ‘Ain Kuheireh, half way to Ma‘in, with
reservoirs once guarded by a castle ; and a spring, ‘Ain Abal-leisan, on
the plateau 6} hours from Ma‘an, which runs off ina small stream.

Near Petra the travellers discovered the ruins of the medieval
fortress el-Wa*‘irah still bearing its old name. The remains are insigni-
ficant, but the masonry of the towers and of the apse of a small church
leaves no doubt with regard to its Frank origin. It was probably built
hy the Crusaders after the foundation of Shobek in 1115 a.p.

Recueil & Archéologie Orientale, vol. v, part 18,—M. Clermont-Ganneau
concludes his paper on the mouth of the Jordan (Quarterly Statement,

1903, p- 94), and writes on Palmyrene monuments and a Greek inserip-
tion from Dor, and commences a note on the era of Tyre.

Zeitschrift d. deut. Pal.-vereins, vol. xxv, parts 3 and 4.—Contains
an unportant paper by Dr. Schumacher on Jerash (Gerasa), which is
accompanied by an excellent plan of the whole site, with sections,
panoramic views, a plan of the great Temple of the Sun, numerous
illustrations from photographs, and small plans and architectural details.
Dr. Schumacher describes the site, now partly occupied by a Circassian
village with 1,500 to 1,600 inhabitants, and the various monuments,
temples, theatres, streets, baths, churches, naumachia, tombs, &c., within
and without the city walls. There are also a discussion by G. Gatt on
the position of the hills mentioned by Josephus in his description of
Jerusalem ; and an article by Dr. Benzinger on the ruins at ‘Amwias,
described by Father Barnabé in his interesting book on the site (see
Quarterly Statement, 1902, p. 414).

te Prétoire de Pilate et la Forteresse Antonia, by P. Barnabé, O.F.M.—
This is an argument in favour of the view that the Antonia, which was
situated at the north-west corner of the Haram esh-Sherif, was the
Preetorium of Pilate, and that the Via Dolorosa, and the sites shown
in connection with it, have been rightly identified. Father Barnabé has
brought together a large amount of literary and other information bearing
upon the much-disputed question of the position of the Preetorium, and
makes skilful use of it. He cannot be held to have proved his case,
but what he says is of interest, and his book contains much that is

i te ell) ala = = a ee eo

i i FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 185

highly suggestive. His last chapter gives a description of certain details
brought to light by the Franciscans during their clearance of the ground
near the Church of the Flagellation. Father Barnabé considers that the
Antonia was constructed on the model of a Roman preetorian camp
with permanent barracks ; that the Ecce Homo Arch was its principal
entrance ; and that the palace of the Procurator stood upon the rock
now occupied by the Turkish barracks. He draws the line of the second
wall of the city to the north of the street leading to St. Stephen’s Gate,
so as to include St. Anne’s Church, part of Bezetha, and the Antonia at
which Josephus distinctly states the wall ended.

Deux Hypogées Macédo-Sidoniens a Beit-Djebrin, by R. P. Lagrange. —
This paper, communicated by Father Lagrange to the French Academy,
describes the tombs found near Beit Jibrin, and their frescoes, and
comments on the inscriptions, which include one that gives the name
of the place Marisa (Mareshah), and indicates the presence of a colony
of Sidonians in the town. A monograph on these important tombs is
being prepared for the Fund by the Rey. Dr. Peters and Professor Dr.
Thiersch, and will, it is hoped, be ready for publication in the autumn.

Die Orangengirten von Jaffa, by A. Aaronsohn and Dr. S. Soskin ;
printed in pamphlet form from the Tropenpflanzer, the organ of the German
Colonial Industria] Committee.—The pamphlet deals very fully with the
cultivation of the orange, lemon, and citron at J affa, and with the export
trade in oranges, &c. The writers are of opinion that European capital
can be profitably invested in making new orange gardens in the vicinity

of Jaffa. C. W. W.

Ichnographie Locorum et Monumentorum Veterum Terre Sancte -
accurate delineate et descripte, & P. Elzeario Horn, Ordinis Minorum,
Provincive Thurinigiw (1725-44). FH Codice Vaticano Latino, No. 9,233 :
excerpsit, adnotavit et edidit P. Hieronymus Golubovich, Ordinis Minorum
Missionarius Apostolicus Terrz Sanctz (Rome : Typis Sallustianis,

1902).
The Committee have gratefully to acknowledge the gift of a work of
considerable value presented to the Palestine Exploration Fund by its
learned editor, P. Hieronymus Golubovich. This is a very carefully
edited transcript of excerpts from a MS. now in the Vatican Library
(Codex No. 9,233), which gives a most minutely careful and exact
description of the holy places of Jerusalem, and particularly of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, during the period 1725-44—“.e., before its
destruction by fire in 1808—and practically as it had stood from the
time of its rebuilding by the Crusaders, with the subsequent restoration
of the “Tomb” itself in 1555 by Boniface of Ragusa. The MS. in
question was also the work of a Minorite, P. Elzearius Horn, of the
Province of Thuringia, who seems to have been born about 1690 ; to have
been approved as “preacher and confessor” in 1716, and to have arrived
in Jerusalem in 1724. He remained in the Holy Land until his death at

184 FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.
Acre in 1744; and during a great part of that 20 years seems to have
had this record in progress. He must have possessed very considerable
proticiency as a draughtsman, and his illustrations are executed with a
scrupulous exactitude of detail which gives them unusual value, for every
detail is “ referenced” to the description—75 of these drawings are given
in facsimile in the work before us. In the valuable preface of 60 pages,
our “editor” summarises first the works of other brothers of his Order
illustrating the Holy Land, from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century,
and gives a sketch of the little that is known of the life of Fr. Elzearius
Horn, and the history of his book. He then gives a detailed description
of the MS. and of its condition (stating that many of the drawings and
maps have vanished), and quotes contemporary descriptions of the
conflagration of 1808 and the subsequent restorations. He also adds
notes of the actual condition of the rock tomb.

In this edition of the work itself (Horn’s) the value is much enhanced
by the facsimile reproduction of the original drawings, and by the fact
that such full reference is made to them by numbers. Taking, e.g., the
two representations (pp. 22, 23) of the Holy Sepulchre itself (from North
and South), every column, every panel, every lamp is numbered and
described ; and it is evident that in the drawings themselves the very
joints of the marble have been faithfully drawn. The plan of the church
(p. 37) is a careful bit of architectural surveying; and in the two
elevations of the interior of the rotunda (pp. 44-45) care has been taken
to give references to the chief details. The view of the exterior (p. 66)
is also in most respects exact ; but the arches of the great double door-
way are shown round, instead of pointed—a form of inaccuracy extraordi-
narily common in the eighteenth century, when the ideals of architecture
were entirely “ classic.”

Besides the minute account of this church, there are descriptions of
the Dome of the Rock, the Via Crucis, the Tomb of the Kings, and other
places about the Holy City. A full descri ption and several illustrations
are given of the church at Nazareth. The appendix also contains an
interesting plan of the Franciscan Convent in J erusalem, of which our
author, Horn, was a brother, with descriptions of its various departments,
as the library, the pharmacy, &e.

Following this there are some curious details concerning the bubonic
plague—its symptoms, various remedies, and antidotes. Among the
latter one is surprised to find still recommended, in the eighteenth
century, the dust of a pounded toad wrapped in silk, to be worn about
the neck—by no means the nastiest of the suggested preservatives.
ae The whole book, both editors’ preface, and the original work of Horn,
is in Latin, but of a very simple and direct composition. It has in its
present form been evidently a work of love to the editor ; and not only
members of the Palestine Exploration Fund, but all those who share
their interest in the Holy Land, will be grateful to him for the scrupulous
pains and care with which he has prepared it for publication.

J. D.C.

185

a
“
ae oe

NOTES AND QUERIES. |

Hebrew Inscription at Fik.—The small Hebrew inscription at Fik,
referred to in the Quarterly Statement, 1902, January, p. 26, is here
reproduced through the courtesy of Professor George Adam Smith
from his article in the “ Critical Review,” 1892, pp. 55 seg. It is
figured upon a small basalt column, underneath the conventional
seven-branched candlestick. |

TWAT TITUID NX

As Professor Clermont-Ganneau has pointed out to the present

writer (in a private communication), the last three characters, like

_ the first three, are doubtless to be read 4x. The inscription
~ would accordingly run :—

TN ©: FANT TE
“Tam Jehudah, the (?) (am) I.”

It is very difficult to make anything of the doubtful letter. On
the assumption that it is imperfect, it is conceivable that the
character should be read 7 (12, FINN, “the fig tree *1). or
better, j2 or X. In the latter eventuality it might be conjectured
oh that Yi7 or [7 are abbreviations respectively of pI, “ the
a righteous,” or W777, “the holy,” But all this is pure conjecture.
* As regards the palswography, we need only note that the turn
ez given to the lower part of the }2 approximates to the ligature
_ found in the inscription of the Bené Hezir (Mount of Olives).
( = The slightly diverging forms of the > do not altogether form an
Raa insurmountable difficulty in the reading proposed.
‘Finally, as regards the translation, the objection has been raised
_ that in a Hebrew inscription %33g would have been expected for the
pronoun “I” in place of the Jewish-Aramaic form MIN. This
> ‘ criticism would, of course, hold good if it were certain that pure
_ Hebrew was spoken in the Jaulan in, let us say, the second
_¢entury of the Christian era. But when we find Aramaisms in
the Mishnic Hebrew of the same period, and later in the Samaritan

a 1 See below, note 7, p. 186.
_-- ? * The xin in the first word resembles that in the last more closely than

app ears in the above reproduction.
ve

~ S N

186 NOTES AND QUERIES.

dialect,! the translation adopted above will, I think, appear per-
fectly defensible. Besides, it is of course not unlikely that the
inscription is really Jewish-Aramaic. At all events, it is not
easy to see what other plausible rendering could be ascribed to
the word 7N. A derivation from the Hebrew 773s, “to lament,”
has, indeed, been suggested, but this, like the Palmyrene ban,
“alas!” is to be expected only upon a funereal inscription.

The seven-branched candlestick which is figured above this little
inscription is too familiar a motive in Jewish art to need comment.
We may, however, note that the branches are not necessarily
curved, and that the artist will often allow himself considerable
latitude in his representations.? Occasionally, too, the candlestick
has nine branches, though this seems to be quite exceptional.*
This motive can scarcely be severed from that of the palm tree,
which is found varying from the plainest outline (e.g., Quarterly
Statement, 1893, p. 217, cf. p. 216) to the more artistic designs, such
as that found by Schumacher at er-Rumsaniyeh.t In fact, it may
perhaps be laid down as a rule that the candlestick and sacred tree
inevitably tend to merge into one another, and the present writer
has elsewhere suggested that the idea of the famous temple candle-
stick was derived in the first instance from the sacred seven-
branched tree of Assyria and Babylonia.6 In addition to the
evidence there adduced, we may point to the parallel between the
eas with its lights, and the custom of hanging lamps upon
ek se tree, and it is worth noting that the arms of the

estick instead of ending in a straight line, as is usually the

case, are occasionally represented as tapering off, thus presenting
to some extent a faithful outline of a tree.”

S. A. Cook, M.A,

1 . e
ie et ba give an example bearing upon the question at issue, the pronoun
erson 8 i
vide. vei ale, in Samaritan has the four forms %33N; ‘28 (Heb.),
2
i Pei e.g., Schumacher, “ The Jaulin,” p. 115, Fig. 23.
f PR: op. cit., p. 71, Fig. 7; p. 116, Fig. 27.
Wer Pp. cit. p. 234, Fig. 123; p. 235, Fig. 125 (both nine-branched) ; Madden
yap 71, ¢f. also Quarterly Statement, 1900, p. 113,
; peri se Robertson Smith, ‘“ Religion of the Semites,” 2nd ed., p. 488,
; Encyclopedia Biblica,” Art, ‘* Candlestick.”
9 * tree, as well as the date palm, was a sacred tree. It is not
proposed, however, to associate this circumstance with the conjectured readi
MINNA, “the fig tree,” in the inscription trom Fik. ’ is

aes ae ee Ul lee

— Quarterty SrateMENT, JuLY, 1903.]

THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.

NOTES AND NEWS.

THe Annual General Meeting of the Palestine Exploration Fund
was held in the Hall of the Royal Institution on June 22nd, the
Lord Bishop of Salisbury in the chair. Between 300 and 400 were
present, including Sir Charles Wilson, Walter Morrison, Rey. Arthur
Carr, J. D. Crace, Canon Dalton, Joseph Pollard, Professor Hull,
Viscount Sidmouth, Major-General Sir F. J. Goldsmid, Colonel
A. E. W. Goldsmid, and others. The Report, having been moved
by our American Hon. Secretary, Professor Theodore Wright, and
seconded by Professor Hull, was carried unanimously. The following
gentlemen were added to the General Committee :—The Very Rey.
the Dean of Westminster, Sir John Leng, M.P., Rey. J. Hastings,
D.D., G. L. Clark, Esq., Kenneth Cochrane, Esq., and William
Lamplough, Esq. The Executive Committee was re-elected, with
the addition of the Rev. R. F. Horton, D.D., Chairman of the
Congregational Union of England and Wales. Sir Charles Wilson
followed with an account of the results of the excavation now being
carried on at Gezer. He opened with an answer to the question
which is frequently put, How is it known that any particular object
belongs to the Aboriginal, the Canaanite, the Jewish, the Greek, or
the Roman period? After explaining the laws of stratification, he
proceeded to illustrate them by the seven strata of Gezer. The
two lowest were occupied by an aboriginal non-Semitic race, small
in size, unacquainted with metals. The neo-lithic people give place
to a Semitic race, of stronger build and of more advanced civilisation.
Here, in the third strata, was found the now famous “ high place,”
which was apparently altered and enlarged in the period represented
by Stratum IV ; under its floor were the jars containing the remains
of newly-born infants. The fifth and sixth strata represent the

occupation of Gezer by the Israelites. The use of iron and the
Oo

— ee re er ey ee ee er.

188 NOTES AND NEWS.

frequent lamp-and-bow] deposits under the foundations now begin
to appear. Sir Charles Wilson suggested that the latter were a
modification of the older pre-Israelite foundation sacrifices. At all
events, these deposits completely disappear at the time of the Exile.
The sixth stratum, with its royal stamps, is certainly of the age of
the Monarchy ; whilst in the seventh and last we have the Syro-
Egyptian period, the age of the Ptolemies and Maccabees.

In proposing a vote of thanks, the Chairman dwelt on the
assistance which the excavations afford to the better understanding
of the Bible, and most heartily commended the report to his
listeners. The Treasurer then moved a vote of thanks to
Mr. R. A. S. Macalister, and to the resident contributors in
Palestine, whose observations derived from first-hand sources are 2
prominent feature in the Quarterly Statement, and to the local
Hon. Secretaries. Dr. Theodore Wright responded. Mr. Crace
proposed a vote of thanks to the managers of the Royal Institution
for kindly granting the use of the Lecture Theatre, and the
proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the Chairman,
proposed by Sir Charles Wilson and seconded by Col. Watson.

Owing to want of space a fuller account of the General Meeting
must be held over until the next number of the Quarterly Statement,
when we hope to resume Mr. Baidensperger’s interesting series of
studies of life in the East, which has been unavoidably crowded out
from the present issue. Attention was duly called at the meeting
to the fact that the Palestine Exploration Fund is entirely supported
by voluntary contributions, and the Committee are extremely
‘nxious to do all that can be done within the length of time at their _
disposal to finish the excavation of the site which they have chosen,
and which, as time has proved, has yielded the most remarkable
results, To the sum of £205 5s. recorded in the list of special -
donations in the last number, there are to be added: Herbert
Dalton, Esq., £15; G. J. Clarke, Esq., Peter Mackinnon, Esq., £10
each ; Messrs, A. and C. Black, £5 5s. ; Kenneth Cochrane, Esq.,
S. Melville-Bergheim, Esq., James Melrose, Esq., Lieut.-Colonel
Granville Bik: Smith, and Rev. F. L.: Adams, £5 each; smaller
donations under £5 (details will be recorded in the Annual Report),

£4 3s. The total, £274 13s., is still a long way from the £2,000
so urgently required.

NOTES AND NEWS. 1&9

In the present number of the Quarterly Statement we print the
fourth of Mr. Macalister’s reports of the excavation of Gezer. The
results continue to be of exceptional interest. Numerous weights
have been unearthed which are of great value for the investigation
of Semitic weights and measures. The pottery deposits are
extremely rich, and a saucer bearing a group of legible, but almost
unintelligible characters, will provide food for students of Hebrew
epigraphy. Curious figures of the goddess Ashtoreth have come to
light, and the Egyptian objects are still numerous. Our knowledge
of the Temple of Gezer has been increased in the most welcome
manner, and the traces of infant sacrifice apparently connected with
the widespread custom of foundation-rites will not escape the notice
of those who are interested in the study of folk-lore. Mr. Macalister
concludes with a brief retrospect of the year’s work, which, as he
points out, only represents about one-eighth of the amount of
information which is to be gleaned from this ancient site by trench-
ing alone. With the invaluable results which the year has brought,
the increased light that has been thrown with such vividness upon
the Old Testament, the rapidly-growing store of knowledge which
the Fund’s excavations in Gezer are collecting and bringing to bear

upon the archeology of the East, we have every reason to be

satisfied, and the need becomes ever more urgent to pursue the
excavations on a larger scale in order that the ruins of Gezer may
be forced to give up all their secrets before the expiration of the
firman. It would be a thousand pities for the work to be incomplete,

and unless the Fund is in a position to increase the number of

-labourers—which means a proportionate increase of the expense—

it will be impossible to carry on the excavations with the necessary
thoroughness and expedition within the allotted time.

No one can foresee all the surprises that may be in store. Since
going to press Mr. Macalister has written to announce that he has
discovered another cave of bones which promises to be richer even
than the last. Fresh discoveries of the lamp and bowl deposits have
been made. Under the foundation of a house-wall a jar was found
on its side, containing ‘wo infants—the first time that two have
been found—and above it were two saucers, one of which contained
two others. Behind stood two upright jars each with one handle,
and two lamps, one inside the other. These pottery groups are the

_ most perplexing features of the excavations, and Mr. Macalister

0 2

_—. ss... Te ne a a

190 NOTES AND NEWS.

feels that he has not yet arrived at their true meaning. Another
eave has been opened up with a series of 15 magnificent jars and
dishes ranged round the wall for no apparent purpose.

Further, a block of limestone was turned up, inscribed with:
Greek, which appears to have belonged to a votive offering dedi-
cated to Heracles by Eunélos, son of Idn, in acknowledgment of
some victory. The writing is of the same style as the recently-
discovered ossuary of Nicanor of Alexandria, and with this it
agrees that the stone in question, to judge from the buildings
where it was found, belongs to the last three centuries before the
Christian era, A full account of the “find,” with reproductions of
the inscription will, it is hoped, reach us shortly, and will be published
in the October number of the Quarterly Statement. But the present
information is a sufficient illustration of the archeological wealth
which lies hidden under the fe//s of Gezer, and only strengthens the
conviction that more prolonged and thorough labours will render
the complete excavation of Gezer one of the most important of all
recent contributions to our knowledge of ancient Palestine.

Dr. Masterman writes that there was a sharp earthquake shock
at Jerusalem at 12.45 a.m., on March 30th, and that there were
less severe shocks at Beirfit and Gaza. The centre of the disturb-
ance was in the Jordan Valley, or further east. Very little
damage was done at J erusalem, but in villages near the city some
mud and stone houses were thrown down. A native story was
current that the level of the Dead Sea had been greatly lowered by —
the earthquake, This story, which found its way into some of the
English papers, proved to be untrue. The latest observation,
taken for the Fund by Mr. C. Hornstein, shows that the level of
the water rose 63 inches between March 23rd and May 13th.

Mr. Hanauer,

. whose interesting article in the present number
on the ancient h

arbour of Jaffa should not pass unnoticed, writes
to record some curious “finds.” From the Gaza district a bronze
oscillum of Bacchus crowned with ivy, grapes, and vine-leaves, and
horned : “insignis cornu.” From the excavations for the erection
of the Anglican Church and College of St. George-the-Martyr, a
portion of white mosaic and a leaden funerary jar or urn, full of
human ashes, calcined bones, and pieces of charcoal. The jar,

- aie ee ee Se Se a ae

NOTES AND NEWS. 191 ;

Mr. Hanauer learns, was apparently made by hand, and was placed
in a cubical cavity in the rock and was covered with a stone slab.
Further, a three-handled metal vessel with traces of silvering and
gilding, possibly originally a censer or a hanging lamp. In the
course of the work carried on by Dr. Merrill at Neby Dad a great
i; charnel-house was discovered ; with every skeleton there were three
«(J roughly made nails of iron. It is supposed that these were to
indicate that the deceased were Christians. A deep cistern was also
laid bare in which were skeletons seated round the walls. Whether
they were intentionally placed in that position, or, having taken
refuge there for some reason, died of starvation, is quite uncertain.
A number of earthenware lamps of the common almond-shaped kind
were also found, also some fragments of sculptured stone, chiefly

with the egg and dart pattern.

The (Geological Magazine for November, 1902, contains an
interesting paper by the Rev. Professor T. G. Bonney, F.R.S., &e.,
on “The Basalt of the Moabite Stone,” a small fragment of which
was brought home by the late Professor Palmer in 1870. “ ‘The
rock apparently is in good preservation ; minutely granular, nearly
‘black in colour, but proving on a closer examination to be speckled
with more than one dark mineral, and with less definite greyish
spots, all very small.” Its specific gravity is 2°89, A slice, “ when
‘examined under the microscope, exhibits a porphyritic structure,
though on a small scale.” The minerals are :—Augite, not
abundant ; olivine, rather abundant; iron-oxide (hematite, or
perhaps ilmenite) ; plagioclastic felspar ; and calcite, apparently an
original constituent.

The prospects of an exceptionally good harvest in Palestine this
year are increasing every day. The only danger seems to be the
possible appearance of locusts. Wheat, barley, durra, grass,
vegetables, fruit trees—oranges, figs, apricots—and vines are in a
condition which justifies the highest expectations.

The observations kindly made for the Fund, at Jafia, by the
Rev. J. Jamal, show that the rainfall at that place during the
last rainy season (October, 1902, to April, 1903) amounted to
28:05 inches. Rain fell on 54 days, and the largest monthly
rainfall, 6-7 inches, was in January, 1903.

192 NOTES AND NEWS.

Mr. A. M. Luncez, of Jerusalem, well known as an ardent student
of Palestinian lore, is planning a new and critical edition of the
Jerusalem Talmud, which, as all Hebraists are aware, is sadly
needed. For this purpose all available MSS. will be thoroughly
collated, and the text will be accompanied by all necessary notes.
It is proposed to add indexes of (a) personal, (6) place, and (ce)
botanical and zoological names—a list of Old Testament references,
and a general subject index, in our opinion are extremely desirable.
Fuller information may be obtained from Dr. Friedliinder, of Jews’
College, Guilford Street, W.C., or from Mr. Lunez himself,
Tuchband’s Hotel, Houndsditch, E.C. All who are interested in
Palestine must wish success both to this new scheme, which will
help to make that great store-house of early Jewish learning more
easily accessible, and to the indefatigable editor, whose labours are
carried on under the greatest of sufferings—hblindness.

With reference to the Egyptian stele found by Mr. Macalister at
Gezer (see Quarterly Statement, J anuary, p. 37), Professor Petrie

_ writes to point out that it is the usual type of formula of the

twelfth and thirteenth dynasty, for a citizen (ankh-en-nut), Amen-
dudu. The style of the figure would agree well with this date.

Mr, Macalister’s two reports on the excavations at Gezer have
been reprinted from the Quarterly Statement in pamphlet form, and

can be obtained on application to the Acting Secretary, price 1s. 2d.
post free.

The Museum and Library of the Palestine Exploration Fund at
J erusalem have been removed from the room opposite to the Tower
of David to the Bishop’s Buildings, near the Tombs of the Kings,
where the use of a room has been kindly permitted by the Rey. Dr.
Blyth, Bishop in Jerusalem and the East. The Museum is open
i except Sundays, and the Honorary Secretary, Dr. D’Erf
Wheeler, wil] give all information necessary.

The “ Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai.” b
spur ice al, the Rev. George
I. Post, M.D.,. Beirht, 9 L te, and Sinai,” by the Rev. Georg

yria, containing descriptions of all the
Phaenogams and Acrogens of the region, and illustrated by 441
woodcuts, may be had at the office of the Fund, price 21s.

——- NOTES AND NEWS. 193

The income of the Society from March 23rd, 1903, to June 23rd,

1903, was—from Annual Subscriptions and Donations, including

- Local Societies, £263 19s. 2d.; from Lectures, £32 10s. 6d. ; from
sales of publications, &c., £156 16s. 8d.; total, £453 6s. 4d. The
expenditure during the same period was £520 7s. 4d. On June 23rd
the balance in the Bank was £357 6s. 10d.

Subscribers in U.S.A. to the work of the Fund will please note —

that they can procure copies of any of the publications from the
Rev. Professor Theo. F. Wright, Honorary General Secretary to the
Fund, 42 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.

The Committee will be glad to communicate with ladies and
gentlemen willing to help the Fund as Honorary Secretaries, The
following gentlemen have kindly consented to act :—Rev. J. R.
Craigie, 173, Macdonnell Avenue, Toronto; H. W. Price, Esq.,
Cambridge, Waikato, New Zealand ; and Rey. R. M. Linton Smith,

St. Nicholas Rectory, Colchester.

Subseribers will please note that they can still obtain a set of the “ Survey
of Palestine,” in four volumes, for £7 7s., but the price has been increased to
the public to £9 9s. The price of single volumes to the public has also been
inereased. Applications should be made to the Acting Secretary,

The Museum at the office of the Fund, 38 Conduit Street (a few doors
from Bond Street), is open to visitors every week-day from 10 o’clock till 5,
except Saturdays, when it is closed at 2 p.m.

It may be well to mention that plans and photographs alluded to in the
reports from Jerusalem and elsewhere cannot all be published, but all are
_ preserved in the office of the Fund, where they may be seen by subscribers.

sa.

194 NOTES AND NEWS.

Photographs of the late Dr. Schick’s models (1) of the Temple of Solomon,

(2) of the Herodian Temple, (3) of the Haram Area during the Christian

occupation of Jerusalem, and (4) of the Haram Area as it is at present, have

been received at the office of the Fund. Sets of these four photographs, with

| an explanation by Dr. Schick, can be purchased by applying to the Secretary,
38 Conduit Street, W.

chase the books and maps (by application only to the Secretary) at reduced
price.

——— ss =

The Committee acknowledge with thanks the following :—

“The Life and Letters of Sir George Grove, 0.B.” From the Author,
Charles L. Graves.

“The Service for the Consecration of a Church and Altar according to
the Coptic Rite”? From the Bishop of Salisbury, edited by the
Rey. G. Horner,

“Al-Mashrik: Revue Catholique Orientale Bimensuelle.”

“ Recueil d’Archéologie Orientule.’ Tome V, Livraisons 16-19. From
the Author, Professor Clermont-Ganneau, M.I. § 39. Fiches et
Notules (suite) : Chartimas, patrie de Didon; Bené Marzeha; Con-
fréries religieuses carthaginoises ; La Céne; La féte phénicienne du
Marzeah ; Barad ou Deber. § 40. Inscriptions grecques de Sidon et
environs. § 41, Les inscriptions phéniciennes du Temple d’Echmoun
& Sidon. § 42. Od était VPembouchure du Jourdain a l’époque de
Josué (pl. VI), § 43. Monuments palmyréniens. § 44. Inscription
Brecque de Dora. § 46. Fiches et Notules: L’ére de Tyr; La date
de la mosaique de Nebi Younés; Inscription de Deir Sem‘in; Sahouet
(El-Khidhr) ; @eds "ApewOnvds «t ‘Aramta. § 47. Inscriptions grecques
du Pont, § 48. Fiches et Notules: La “ Terre de Reseph” ; Chamim .
Roumim et Chamim Addirim ; Sofsaf et Ménagadem. § 49. Inscrip-
tion gréco-palmyrénienne d’ Egypte.

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FOURTH QUARTERLY REPORT OF THE EXCAVATION
OF GEZER.

(1 March—15 May, 1903.)
By R. A. Srewart MACALISTER, M.A., F.S.A.

§ L—GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE QUARTER’S WORK.

THE excavation has advanced steadily since the last report was
forwarded. No whole day, and only two or three half days, have
been lost to the work owing to weather ; and owing to other causes
the number of days lost has been just four—one at the Muslim
feast of Bairam, two at Easter, and one spent in transferring the
camp from winter quarters at the foot of the mound to summer
quarters at the top. Attention has been concentrated on the
80-foot trench west of the Temple alignment, which had been
commenced shortly before the third report was despatched.

The results have been of a fair average character, and some of
them will, I trust, prove of considerable importance. Comparatively
few additions—fewer than I had hoped—have been made to the
scheme of the Temple buildings. The developments have been of
quite an unexpected character. The tell has proved as fruitful as
ever in objects, many of them of great interest.

Inscriptions, however, save pottery stamps, still fail to appear.

A great area, 160 feet wide and nearly 300 feet long, with the
alignment of monoliths in its centre, has now been uncovered. It
is probable that this is the whole extent of the High Place. I
intend cutting one more trench, 40 feet wide, along the eastern side
of this area, after which I propose continuing the investigation of
the Eastern Hill, interrupted last September for the purpose of
examining the Temple.

§ LI.—STONE Onsxcts.

Flint—A magnificent flint axehead, oval in shape, 7 inches
long, and 4% inches broad, was found in the lowest stratum. One
side is smooth and is covered with a thin calcareous deposit—a
common feature of axeheads of this type. The flake has been
struck from the parent core by a single blow; afterwards the bulb

196 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEEZER.

of percussion has been trimmed down—probably for convenience of
hafting—by knocking two small flakes off it, and a slight chipping
round the edge has brought the weapon to its final shape.

Another weapon of the same class, but incomparably inferior, is
interesting for having an aleph of the old Hebrew alphabet scratched
on the calcareous surface (Fig. 1). This probably was a maker’s or
owner’s initial,

The same letter has been found, marked with the finger-nail, or
with a small stick, upon two or three jar-handles, and a nun in the
same alphabet has been found on a piece of polished bone. These
letters show that some of the Gezerites were acquainted with the

Fig. 1.—Axehead with Inscribed Letter.

wrt of writing, and makes the continued absence of inscriptions the
more disappointing. This marked flint came from the later Jewish
stratum.

Several long narrow flint flaked knives have been found, but

only one really fine specimen, and even this is broken at the ends.

Its present length is 81 inches.

Celts—A few celts of polished basalt and similar stones have
heen found, Principally in the lower strata. One of these had a
conical depression on each face, probably in some way connected
with the hafting of the implement.

cights.—A great harvest of weights of rough black and grey
stone have heen recovered from all strata of the mound. A record

Puree - ne og”
REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 197

is being kept of the weights of these, and it will be tabulated in
the final report. The stones are almost always pounder-shaped,
conical or cylindrical, with a flat base. None bear any dis-
criminating mark of quantity. Some of the larger specimens
might be pestles or pounders, for which purpose they are equally
well adapted. However, when their weights are written out in
numerical order they are found to fall into groups which seem to
indicate some system of metrology, though the range of variation
_ within the groups shows that the weights are very inexact.

In the present report it is unnecessary to give further details
about these rough weights. But the amounts of a very interesting
series of small weights in basalt, found in a group, may be recorded.
They were discovered in the earliest Jewish stratum, associated
with a jar containing a dish and some burnt grain, and with a few
small nondescript fragments of bronze and five or six water-worn
pebbles of agate and chalcedony. They are eight in number—the
half of a ninth, which had been broken, was also found—all but
one torpedo-shaped, beautifully turned and finished, with a flat

hase and ends cut square. The one exception is dome-shaped, like —

those inscribed neseph, but is less regularly formed than they. The
weights (in grammes) are :—

(a) 92°65. (c) 19°16. (e) 13-05. (g) 5°25.
(b) 44:92. — (d) 13°43. (f) 5°78. (h) 3°80.

The dome-shaped weight being (/). In connection with this series
may be mentioned a similar weight of 8-68 grammes, and another
of 12°36, found elsewhere in the trench.
I must leave to the specialists in Oriental weights and measures
_ the task of completely fitting these weights in their proper places
in Semitic metrology. I need only record the guess that the 8-68,
though rather light, is to be equated to the weights marked neseph,
and is thus half a shekel; it is, however, more like the Babylonian
gold shekel of 8°41 grammes. On the former hypothesis (/) and
(yg) would both be meant for quarter-shekels, (/) and (¢) for three-
_ quarter shekels—the 12°36 is probably meant to be a similar
amount, and judging from the size and shape of the remaining
fragment, the broken weight found in the board was also similar—
(¢) would be the shekel, () two and a half shekels, (a) five shekels.

a ia a 4 - * * e ha *
A fair margin, not, I think, excessive, is left in the above scheme

if. a I
for Semitic inaccuracy.

198 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

It is curious that such carefully finished weights should have
no intelligible marks of quantity upon them. One, (g), has an
oblique stroke crossing the flat base, and another, (h), a stroke
running part of the way along the major axis of the base, which
is of course elliptical. The base of the 8°68 has a cross marked
upon it dividing it into four equal portions. The symbols for the
quarters used in modern Arabic accounts may be compared: / for
} (it will be noticed that the weight with this mark I have already
suggested to be a quarter shekel), ¢ for 4, § for Z.
Koller.—In the Seleucid stratum was found a cylindrical, or
| rather slightly barrel-shaped, roller, of limestone. Its length is
1 foot 8 inches, its diameter at the ends 9 inches, the central
) diameter being a little more. At each end is a shallow depression
| for the pivots. Such rollers are still used for flattening the mud
| roots of houses, and probably this example had a similar purpose ;
| house-roofs of Gezer were
0 the coverings of modern

from which we may infer that the
“probably constructed in like manner t

. Palestinian dwellings.
Alabaster.—Several fragments of

alabaster vessels have been
. found in the excavations.

The only new form worth mentioning

Fic. 2.—Alabaster Saucers.

has been the fragment of a Biigelkanne (a flask with a stirrup-
shaped handle at the top, and orifice at the side), One or two

If my memory be not deceiving me, only one specimen was found
in the Shephélah excavations, and that from the Seleucid city

— ‘REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER, 199

' perfect examples, and several portions of the curious saucers with
narrow, hemispherical depressions and broad rims, presenting an
interesting variety of linear ornament, have also been found
(Fig. 2).

(raffito.—The only other object calling for special notice in this
section is a small tablet of limestone, 34 inches long, 1} to 2 inches
broad, and ? inch thick. It comes from the latest Jewish stratum.
Upon it is engraved a puerile representation—injured by the loss
of a chip in the lower right-hand corner—of a man and two goats.
On the other face are two short parallel horizontal strokes. The
whole is evidently a plaything, and its chief importance is as a
demonstration of the low state of Gezerite art.

§$ II].—Bronze And IRON OBJECTS.

For later sections, connected with the Temple and its worship,
are reserved the descriptions of two bronze objects of especial
interest.

A general principle has been noticed which probably will be
found to be universal in Palestine: that from the commencement
of the Iron age, the dominant metal is used for agricultural instru-
ments, whilst bronze is retained for weapons and for personal adorn-
ments. Thus we find sickles and hoes of iron, arrowheads, knives,
daggers, bracelets, brooches, pins, and needles’ of bronze. The

_ principal exception to this rule is the use of iron for arrowheads,
characteristic of the Maccabean stratum—though by no means to
the exclusion of bronze—and the occasional discovery of small
finger and other rings of iron at all depths above the stratum in
which iron first makes its appearance. Nails are also made, almost
exclusively, of iron.

Arrowheads.—Some modifications must now be introduced into
the description of arrowheads contained in my first report.
Cylindrical tangs are no longer unknown, though they are rare.
Besides the normal type in which a large number of varieties (not
necessary to specify here) oceur, four other species have been

found, namely :—

(1) Barbed arrowheads: one specimen only, from the Seleucid
stratum. It is unique in Gezer, and the type is rare in Palestine.

200 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

at Tell Sandahannah (B.M., Plate LX XIX, Fig. 2). The type
was probably quite unknown before the captivity in Palestine.

(2) Three-winged arrowheads : occasionally found in the Seleucid
stratum.

(3) Pyramidal arrowheads: one example, in iron, from the
Seleucid stratum.

(4) Thick arrowheads: these are also found—not infrequently—
in the Seleucidan stratum. The majority of arrowheads are. thin
dises of the required dimensions and shape: in this type the
thickness is practically equal to the breadth. The pyramidal
arrowhead, just mentioned, is a specialisation of this type, the
tang being adapted for insertion in a slender stem.

A brick mould for casting arrowheads of the ordinary flat leaf-
shaped type was found in the lowest stratum.

Knife-blades and spearheads are found in fair numbers——the
latter always in bronze, the former principally so, though a few
are found in iron. The iron examples are all broken and corroded,
the tips only being preserved. The majority of the bronze
specimens have a short tang. One well-made specimen, flanged for
hafting, was found in a cistern. Unfortunately it fell to pieces
from corrosion soon after it was unearthed.

Pins and Needles.—1 have nothing at present to add to the
classification already given (Quarterly Statement, 1902, pp: 327-329).
An interesting little needle-case was found in one of the lower
Strata. It was made of the cylindrical shank-bone of some animal.
One end of the tube was stopped with a clay button, the other was
broken. A slender bronze needle still remaining inside the tube
showed what its use had been.

Chisels or Punches.—Several examples, consisting of square bars
of bronze brought at one end to a chisel point, and one with the
edge expanding slightly beyond the shaft, may be worth a passing
reference. A minute example of the former type, about 2 inches
long, is probably an awl,

Tweezers.—A very good example of this species of domestic
instrument, with the back bent into a spring, was brought to light.

Suction Tube (%).—A long straight bronze tube, 1 foot 10 inches
long and 4 inch diameter, was found in the chamber of a house of
the sixth stratum, associated with a large collection of heavy wine
jars. The chief objection to regarding this as a tube for drinking

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 201

the wine by suction is that, the ends are stopped by the bronze
being folded over the end of the bore. This, however, might have
been from an accident that spoilt the tube. Iam otherwise at a
loss to explain this object.

Hafts and Sockets—An example already recorded (Quarterly
Statement, 1902, p. 330) shows that bronze awls were set in a bone
handle. Several other examples of this, as well as of horn hafts, for
the same class of instruments have been found.

It has already been remarked in previous reports that socketed
bronze implements of all kinds are rare in Palestine: the normal
method of fastening a bronze head to a wooden handle is by means
of a tang on the metal let into a hole bored in the wood. The only
socketed objects that have been found during the quarter have been
two ox-goads, and a fine double-edged azehead (Fig. 3). The axehead

a eae eee ee

Fie. 3.—Socketed Double-edged Axehead.

and one of the ox-goads still retained a fragment of the wooden
haft.

§$1V.—GoLD, SILVER, AND BEADs.

Gold.—-1 have to chronicle three ear-rings of elementary design,
a small and shapeless piece of gold wire, and fragments of a curious
string of gold beads (with some of carnelian) strung on a silver
wire. ‘The latter were found in the lowest stratum, as was also a
small gold pendant crescent. The ear-rings and the pendant are
shown in Fig. 4; the weights of the former are noted with their
representations.

Silver.—In this metal the principal “find” was four bracelets,
rusted together, but easily separated. Three are heavy bars of
silver, ornamented at the ends with lines, bent into a loop: the
fourth is of finer wire looped and closed by interlacing the ends.

A
es ve

=" rs
j

202 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

A lozenge-shaped bead of silver is strung on the wire. Associated
with these bracelets was a buckle, probably some kind of dress-
fastener: it was so distorted that I failed to make out how it was
constructed. Apparently it consisted essentially of two plates each
with looped tails which were meant to be interlaced and secured by
a rivet running through them—exactly as in an ordinary hinge.

Fie. 4.—Gold Ear-rings and Pendant.

Beads.—V ery large numbers of beads, singly and in groups, have
heen found. An interesting variety of types, materials, and colours
is presented : it is, however, impossible to describe them adequately
without the aid of tinted plates, which I am preparing, and hope
to have ready for the final memoir. I shall content myself with

indicating, by bald lists, the number of different kinds of beads
that might be catalogued :—

(a) Shapes.—Flat disc, circular, and oval ; Spherical ; spheroidal,
oblate, and prolate ; barrel-shaped ; cylindrical ; bottle-shaped
pendants, with or without flat backs ; double conical ; multiple of
various types—e.g., two or three or more cylindrical tubes side by
side, representing a number of cylindrical beads, or a single
cylindrical tube divided by incised rings to represent a chain of
smaller beads, or double or triple spheres, &c.

(+) Materials,—Gold, jasper, agate, chalcedony, carnelian, opal,
amethyst, diorite, basalt, glass, mother-of-pearl, flint, paste covered
with enamel coloured white, green, red, yellow, or blue, &c.

That these beads, or some of them, were not always merely
ornamental, but had some kind of prophylactic or curative value, is
not only intrinsically probable, but is also indicated by the estima-
tion in which such objects are held by the fellahin, Red beads of
carnelian or jasper are considered by them to have important
medical properties, spherical beads of the colour named being
Valuable for ophthalmic troubles, and pendants, like the bottle-

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 203

shaped types of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, being sovereign
remedies for certain kidney disorders. Indeed, a carnelian pendant
about an ineh in length, club-shaped, with a hole drilled through
the narrower end, which was picked up by the foreman of the
works last year, before the excavation commenced, and by him
shown to a fellah, was by the latter valued at no less a sum than
two napoleons solely on account of its healing virtues. Blue beads,
as is well known, are worn by almost every man, woman, child,
and domestic animal in the country to ward off the evil eye.
Stones of blue, with red veins shot through them, are worn in
rings on the finger ; they are of use as styptics in case of excessive
and unstaunchable nose-bleeding. The stone is smelt and then
pressed in the middle of the forehead, whereupon the flow of blood
ceases.

I have ventured on this digression not only because the facts
it contains are interesting in themselves, but because it is necessary
to refer from time to time to modern beliefs among people of
similar race and on much the same general level of culture to
understand fully the discoveries made on an ancient site.

§ V.—CoLourS AND CLOTH.

A small but interesting collection of cakes of colouring materials
and enamels has been made. When occasion offers I hope to have
samples of these chemically analysed, after which I shall be in a
position to say more about them. ‘They were probably used for
painting on pottery or for similar purposes. Perhaps the most
remarkable is a large flat rectangular cake of cobalt or some
similar blue, showing on one side evident traces of having been
rubbed with a brush.

A quantity of a light green powder is especially interesting on
account of the receptacle in which it is preserved. It is a small
cloth bag—so far as I know the only fragment of cloth that has
come down to us from the late Amorite or early Jewish epoch.
Some specimens of Egyptian mummy-wrappings were analysed
by my father in a paper read before the Anthropological Insti-
tute about eight or ten years ago: not having a copy of the
paper by me I am unable at present to refer to it more par-
ticularly, or to say how the Palestinian compares with the average
Egyptian cloth in point of fineness. The Palestinian specimen
P

204 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

has 14 threads to the warp and 26 to the woof in each square
centimetre.

§ VI.—PorTrerRy.

Stamped and Marked Jar-handles.—The archeological wealth of
Gezer as compared with such a site as Tell ej-Judeideh is very
great: this being so, its relative poverty in stamped jar-handles is
difficult to explain. I may be permitted to assure my readers that
every jar-handle found is sorted out and cleaned, so the absence
of stamps is not to be accounted for by their being overlooked in
excavation.

It is true, handles stamped with impressions from scarabs
appear to be a specialty of the lower strata of Gezer. I do not
think that more than half a dozen examples in all have been

Fig. 5,—Fragment of Pottery with Hebrew Stamp.

recovered from the five other mounds opened by the Fund. At
Gezer at least 50 have been found during the year. Unfortunately
none of these bear intelligible writing, and the designs of a large
proportion are not traceable owing to bad stamping, wear, fracture,
or similar causes.

No further handles with the stamps of private potters have
come to light. Such a stamp, however, was found impressed on
a small fragment of a saucer (Fig. 5). So far as I can make out
the inscription, which is worn and imperfect, reads realty ?] Sal ie! 21,
but no such names occur in the Hebrew scriptures.!

A small number of specimens of the Royal stamps have been
found—all imperfect, and adding nothing to our knowledge of
that perplexing subject. The stamp of Ziph was found (for the
first time at Gezer) during the last quarter. The enigmatical

' [See below, p. 275. ]

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 205

Memshath has not yet put in an appearance, nor has any new
town yet been found.

Jar-handles with Greek stamps, principally Rhodian, are still
found from time to time within the uppermost stratum. None
have been found on the surface for several months ; apparently
all that were lying exposed have now been collected. The final
report will contain the readings of the inscriptions.

Lamp and Bowl Groups.—These mysterious deposits are found
from time to time within the limits of date laid down in a previous

Fie. 6.—Normal Lamp and Bowl Group.

report. ‘The variety of their arrangement is almost as perplexing
as their fundamental purpose—for I need hardly say that the
explanation suggested in my second report (ante, p. 11) was merely
a guess thrown out by the way. Some of these varieties can most
concisely be represented by typographical diagrams. Thus, the
normal arrangement (Fig. 6) is—

[40q

lamp

bow]

206 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

but we also get such arrangements as—

[Mog
Pat |
paoq [ALoq [oq 4 lamp % [Log
— = © +)
& lamp 3 pMoq lamp Ty lamp 5 lamp
bowl lamp bowl bowl footed lamp-stand
1 2 3 ao 5

The fifth only in the very latest examples. There are other
arrangements which might be cited, but the above will suftice to

Fie. 7.—Coloured Bowls from a Lamp and Bowl Group.

show that the exact order of the vessels was a matter of small
importance.

Nothing has been found in any of the groups except fine earth,
save in one case, where there was an admixture of wood ashes.

Though in the majority of instances the pottery is crushed and
broken—probably by the weight of the stones built above it—the
impression I have received from its examination is that the pieces
deposited were as a general rule new, and specially provided for
the occasion. I forward a photograph (Fig. 7) of two bowls found
in a group of the normal type, which will illustrate the fine

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 207

character of the pottery often used in the rite. The painting is
dark Indian red on a yellowish wash. The diameter of the larger
bowl is 10} inches.

Painted Ware.—Further study of the sherds of painted ware
unearthed from time to time convinces me that the type called
“late pre-Israelite” in BM., and figured in Plates 36-42 of that
work, are rather to be referred to the period of the Jewish
monarchy ; and that the peculiar and very diverse technique, which
in a previous report I temporarily named the ‘“ Gezer-Lachish
style ”—from the places where it is found most abundantly—is in
reality the style to be associated with the pre-Israelite races.

Primitive Types.—Another cistern yielded interesting results. It
had evidently been closed during or soon after the earliest period
of occupation on the tell. Without exception all of the many
potsherds that came from it were of the rude type associated with
the troglodyte dwellings and with the cremated remains in the
burial cave. Two especially remarkable vessels were found in this
cistern, one a bowl which has had two loop handles in the middle
of the concave surface. Small broken fragments of this surely very
inconvenient type of utensil had previously come to light, but no
_ specimen from which a complete restoration could be deduced.
Another, a double cup, roughly hand-moulded, is coarse red ware.
There is a hole between the two cups just under the rim.

Animal Figures.—Nearly every day small animal figures of
c<ommon-place type, or fragments of such figures, are unearthed.
Some of these I have already illustrated in previous reports.
Among them are others of less frequently found type, whose
interest is greater, such as the two curious vases found (like so
many of the more interesting objects) in a cistern. They are jugs,
with the ordinary spouted mouths, adapted to an animal form.
Each has, or had, a loop handle on the back; in one of the
specimens there is a hole in the back for filling the vessel.

Human Figures.—Specimens of the terra-cotta plaques with
figures of Ashtoreth in low relief continue to be found. They are
invariably broken—a suggestive fact when it is remembered that
they are fairly thick and tough. It can hardly be an accident
that no perfect specimens are found. Nor can we consider their
universal destruction as a monument of some outburst of Puritanic
zeal, for certainly many specimens of these small and easily-hidden
objects would have escaped such an inquisition. Rather must we

;

ee ee ee. ee

tees - E a r 2 7 a P - 47 oe
hes ar Sy : - ~*~; Pa 7

208 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

infer, I think, that some rite in the worship of Ashtaroth involved
the fracture of these images. The subject is difficult, but some
such explanation seems necessary to account for the condition in
which all, even the smallest, of these plaques are found.

I may also mention a statuette with pointed chin, round dise
eyes, and sharp, slightly raised shoulders, which, though very rude,
seems not to be older than the Maccabzean period ; a specimen of
the Cypriote bird-like head, and a sherd with a grotesque female
figure embossed upon it.

Miscellaneous Objects—A few interesting fragments may be
referred to. Such are (1) a sherd with a kind of draught-board
pattern scratched upon it; (2) a curious dise with an ornament,
to me inexplicable, scratched on it; and (3) two filters, one a
cylindrical vase, the other a flat thick tray with conical holes. Of
these fragments only were found.

§ VII.—Human RemaAtrns.

Several skulls and collections of bones have been found at various
levels ; I hope later to be in a position to give further particulars
about them. Probably the most interesting was a skull found in
the cistern already mentioned as having been closed in the earliest
period. The rest of the bones were all broken, and part of the
skull itself was shattered by an unlucky stroke of the workman’s
pick, but it is the most perfect skull of the primitive inhabitants
yet found. Its cephalic index is about 73:2, which agrees with the
general estimate of the _average cephalic index of the bones in the

burial cave. The bone of the skull is less thick than the average of
skulls of the period.

§ VIII.—Bonr Opsects.

The most interesting object in bone has been a portion of a
large shank-bone of a cow (Fig. 8) bearing upon it a winged figure
carved in relief. Only the lower part of the figure survives ;
enough remains to indicate the obvious Assyrian character of the
whole. It is from the upper Jewish stratum.

An adze head of horn is also remarkable (Fig. 9); it is difficult
to imagine for what purpose it was made. The horn is sharpened
to a blunt edge, and a hexagonal hole for hafting is cut through it.
The instrument is probably of Jewish date, having been found in
the cistern which yielded so many fragments of painted Jewish

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 209

ware, already mentioned. Possibly it was intended for quarrying
the soft clunch limestone of the district ; we know that horn picks

¥
f

Fie. 9.—Horn Adze.

were used for such purposes, even in the remote period of the
neolithic flint works at Grime’s Graves, near Brandon, in Suffolk.

ee LS ee

210 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

The circular object (Fig. 10) found in fragments in a cistern is
quite inexplicable. The central portion—that shaded in the figure
—was alone recovered : fragments, it is true, of the outer part were
found but could not be fitted together. The central portion is
sunk, and contains nine holes, arranged in a cross: it is bounded

Fie. 10.—Bone Object of Unknown Use.

by four raised semi-circular discs, which are prolonged downward as
curved feet, on which the object stands. I am not sure that the
original shape was circular, nor how the end was finished off.

§ IX.—FOoREIGN OBJECTS.

Objects of Egyptian provenance have been very plentiful during
the quarter. Scarabs have been found in profusion, and there have
been a considerable number of small amulets of various types.

teh REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 211

The scarabs, of which there are 24, can be most conveniently

described in tabular form (below).
found illustrated on Plate II.

No. : ie Stratum. | Material.
1 1 III _ Steatite.. es
2 2 Above III | Steatite .. 2s
8 3 Above III Jade... ov
4 4, TV Steatite .. a
5 6 IV | Agate .. os
6 fad IV | Amethyst ’
7 hace IV Jade... Pe
8 ‘i IV White enamelled
paste.
9 5 Above IV Green enamelled
; paste.
10 8 Above IV | White enamelled
paste.
11 9 Vv: : Steatite.. a5
12 10 Vv Jasper .. se
13 11 Above V | Bone .. os
14 lee Above V |Slate.. Aa
15 13 Above V | Green enamelled
paste,
16 12 VI Steatite .. we
17 — We Amethyst ve

14 VI Basalt .. ee
15 VI . | Basalt .. ee

16 VI oe:
17 vi White enamelled
paste.

Above VI | Green enamel ..

Limestone

19 Cistern | Steatite .. =

20 Cistern | Dnaorite .. i

The most important will be

Device, &e.

Nfr (‘good’’) surrounded by a
chain of spirals.

Maat-feathers and lotos-flower.

No device.

. | Imitation lettering inside spirals.

Two figures, male and female.

. | No device.

No device.
Name of Amen.

Broken and unintelligible.
Geometrical device.

Winged figure, lioness, and ‘nk
(‘‘ life ”).

Scaraboid with deer and two
letters on it.

Flat dome-shaped scaraboid with
geometrical pattern.

Faint, scratched letters, appa-

rently Sh * Lord of the

underworld.”

Scarab, with Mn dpr R‘ [stp 7)
upon it; probably a aPy of a
scarab of Tahutimes III. The
inscription might also be the
first four characters of the ring
of Piankhi IT, and his date (594
B.C.) might fairly well fit the
stratum.

Figure with nfr (“ good”).

No device.

Rude scaraboid with three figures.

Scaraboid ; a man between two
ostriches.

Geometrical pattern.

Scaraboid ; two figures bearing
hk (?) and ureeus.

Crocodile and other figure. The
scarab has been distorted by fire.

Imitation lettering .in three
columns. ,

No device. Gold mounting sur-
rounding the stone.

Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. 11.

EXCAVATION OF CEZER

(COE Teas IV WDvea. kawir,
| C07 Ne. lear annie ine
WAS GS

Yass WS, Do Des
MMT MM a

on eeUUNTON CLAN
OT TRU
NNR +
Ve p>
Zilia oun ull alt 44 of
mean NU KONN SL UT TGNTTTRON 2

=.
=

‘ ¥ '
ait

a - “~y )
re er - ‘REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 213

On the other hand, jar-handles with scarab-seals have been less
frequent this quarter than previously. Only three have been found
with the stamps at all decipherable ; they are represented on Plate
Tl, Figs. 21-23. The first was found in a cistern, the other two in
the fourth stratum. The first two bear imitation lettering and
geometrical patterns, the third the figure of an archer.

Only one cylinder was unearthed during the quarter. The
development of its device will be found on Plate II, Fig. 24 ; it has
a simple geometrical pattern. The material is paste, covered with
green enamel.

The two small objects, Plate Il, Figs. 25, 26, in green enamelled
paste, are draughtmen. The first was found close to the rock, the
second near the surface. Other draughtmen of pottery, probably
local manufacture, are frequent ; they resemble in shape the men
used in playing the modern game of “halma,” but are larger. It
is strange that nota single fragment of a draughtboard, such as
were so common on the Shephélah tells, has yet come to light.

Of amulets the commonest, as usual, is the wd’t or divine eye,
found at all depths. The ordinary type, of which some five or six
examples have been found during the period covered by the present
report, does not call for illustration: one example in blue glass,
found above the fourth stratum, is figured (Plate II, Fig. 27)
because it is of unusual type, at least in Palestine. Both sides of
this object are similarly marked. Plate II, Fig. 28, represents a
figure of the dd (Dad) amulet, from the sixth stratum. I may also
notice a small green enamelled figure of a seated jackal, with a
loop at the back for suspension, from the fifth stratum, as well as a
specimen of the type of grotesque glass head shown in BM.., p. 42,
Fig. 19. The Gezer example had unfortunately been melted in
fire, and so distorted; it was, however, recognisable by its colour
and general outline.

In Fig. 11 is represented three aspects of a double female
statuette—no doubt Isis and Nepthys—the two figures being back
to back. ‘This is from the fifth stratum. The headless, footless
torsos of several other small human figures were found from time
to time, as well as (in a cistern) a beautiful little female head,
pierced for suspension through the ears. All of these objects were

i of paste, covered with the usual bluish-green enamel. A ushabti

of olive-green was found. It is small, uninscribed, and has a flat
back. The feet are broken off.

214 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER,

A few statuettes and heads of the god Bes, as well as a clay
mould for casting the faces of this grotesque divinity—demonstrating
that not all such representations were imported from Egypt—
complete the present record of Egyptian objects.

igean.—Several, but not many, small sherds of pottery with
the characteristic Augean glaze have been found during the past
three months.

Fig. 11.—Statuette of Isis and Nephthys.

§ X.—MAsonry.

For the suggestion that led to the inclusion of this and the
following section I am indebted to Sir Charles Wilson. I may
remark that Iam always glad to receive suggestions and queries
regarding the work, and to notice them, if of general interest, in
these reports.

A full discussion of the types of masonry presented by the
various buildings of the tell must be reserved for the final memoir ;
it will there be possible to illustrate the various patterns by means
of a set of specially-taken photographs of representative walls. At
present I shall content myself with describing the character of the
building in a few of the structures that have been uncovered.

Primitive Amorite City Wall.—An earth bank, faced with small
stones—the dimensions nowhere more than 10 inches or 1 foot, not
dressed except by spalling with a hammer, and set in hard, compact
mud. The joints are not filled with smaller stones.

Second Vall.—Large, irregular hammer-trimmed stones, ranging
from 1 foot 7 inches to 2 feet in length and height, roughly chipped

: i Lae REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 215

to shape. Joints very wide and nearly all packed with smaller
stones.

Third Wall.—Masonry similar to the last, but the stones less
roughly brought to shape. Joints wide (narrower than in second
wall), and where necessary packed with limestone chippings.
1 foot 6 inches is a frequent dimension. Vertical joints running
through two or three courses frequent. ‘The coursing is not quite
regular. A few stones perhaps show marks of a pocking-tool, but
the majority have been subjected to no dressing but that of the
hammer. ‘There are some corner-stones in a tower, however, which
show marks of a 2-inch chisel. These stones are of large size ; one
of them measures 4 feet 10 inches in length, 1 foot 4 inches in
breadth, 1 foot 7 inches in height.

Solomonic Additions to Third Wall.—The coursing is less random
than in the original wall; the stones used are longer and shallower
(2 feet long by 1 foot high, or approximately so, is a common
dimension). The mud with which the joints are filled is more
homogeneous, and shows fewer limestone chippings. There are
some stones which possibly display marks of a chisel, but I am
inclined to doubt this. In the square tower at the north-east
corner (see the previous report) the corner-stones are well-cut,
squared blocks, with drafted faces, having a projecting boss in the
centre. This square tower is, on the whole, the best example of
building yet found in the early part of the tell. The dimensions
of the stones may be illustrated by the measurements of one of
these—3 feet 6 inches by 2 feet by 1 foot 9 inches. They are
dressed with a }-inch chisel. The rest of the tower is rather
rough rubble.

Wall of Bacchides.—The towers of this wall show the peculiarity
of having every large stone carefully packed round with smaller
chips—like the “ galleting” of English masons. This characteristic
has not been found elsewhere on the tell.

House Walls.—One description will suffice for all periods. They
consist of common field stones, among which dressed stones—even
at corners and doorposts—are of the rarest possible occurrence.
The joints are wide and irregular, and filled with mud packed in
the widest places with smaller stones. If anything, the older walls |
are possibly built of smaller stones than those belonging to later
strata, but no definite rule can be laid down. A common dimension
is about 1 foot 6 inches.

vere

ee eee ee ee ee eee ee ee ee Me aT

216 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

Late Surface Building on Eastern Hill containing a Bath.—A
rubble construction of large irregular stones—one measures 3 feet
by 2 feet, and this is not exceptional—not squared in any way
except by spalling with a hammer. The southern wall is better
built than the northern, the stones being long and comparatively
flat (one measures 4 feet 2 inches by 1 foot 6 inches). The bath
itself is naturally better built, the stones being well squared with a
}inch chisel held obliquely, making “saw-tooth ” cuts, and neatly
fitted together. These stones are covered with thick cement.

Large Well on Eastern Hill—The stones of the well-shaft are
dressed and squared; at the moment of writing they are inac-
cessible, but when work recommences on the Eastern Hill I shall be
able to descend and obtain particulars about their dimensions and
the method of dressing employed. There was a building over this
well which had fallen into ruin; its stones were found in clearing
out the well-shaft. They were squared and drafted with projecting
bosses, the final dressing being given with a gouge-shaped chisel
# inch across. On the draft of one of these occurred the only
mason’s mark noticed on the tell; it is t}- (The horizontal
stroke measures 24 inches, the vertical strokes 3 inches and
4} inches respectively.)

Brick.—Brick is rare ; occasional house-walls are built of it, but
these are exceptional. There are two long parallel walls of brick
south-west of the Temple. An example of brickwork at the south
end of the trench on the Eastern Hill is remarkable for being built
in alternate courses of red and white bricks—the red courses being
4 inches in height, the white 5 inches. The length of the bricks is
Irregular, ranging from about 1 foot to 1 foot 6 inches.

§ XIL—A Histroricat Propiem.

The problem to be considered in this section may be stated
thus os In the valley that runs round the foot of the hill, at the
east, 18 the copious spring called ‘Ain Yerdeh, which yields a full
supply of water in the driest summer. Why, therefore, should the
inhabitants of Gezer at an early date have abandoned the eastern
part of their hill, and moved away from this important source of
water, as the excavations show to have been the case?”

This question had occurred to me some time ago; as soon,
indeed, as I realised what were the inferences to be drawn from the

— ‘

i REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 217

results of the excavations relative to the history of the occupation.
When stated to me independently by Sir C. Wilson, I gave it a
careful reconsideration, with the results here set forth.

In the first place, ‘Ain Yerdeh is not the only well in the valleys
surrounding the tell. It must be remembered that intra-mural
cisterns were probably the principal source of water-supply in
ancient times (as in modern Jerusalem), and were certainly the
only source in times of siege. But there are two other spring-wells—
less copious, it is true, and inferior to ‘Ain Yerdeh in the quality of
the water. One of these is Bir et-TirAsheh, at the south-west corner
of the mound—just beyond the modern village ; and the other is
Bir el-Lusiyeh, due west of the mound. Bir et-Tirdsheh is the
ordinary water-supply of Abu Shusheh ; the water in Bir el-Lusiyeh
is bad (it would be better were the well cleaned out), but it is used
for watering flocks.

Both these wells, especially Bir et-Tirfsheh, are more easily
accessible from the top of the mound than is ‘Ain Yerdeh. The
eastern slope of the hill is steep and rugged, the western slope much
more gentle, and a projecting col of rock to the south-west makes
the passage to Bir et-Tiradsheh very easy. The latter would there-
fore be the well naturally selected by persons going outside the
town for water. I have no doubt that it was the attraction of Bir
et-Tirasheh that led the inhabitants to desert the hill-top for the
modern site of Abu Shusheh, when it was no longer necessary to
live inside a fortification. These speculations will receive confirma-
tion or otherwise when the complete line of wall has been traced,
and the water gate found. At present I can only say that there
is no gate facing ‘Ain Yerdeh.

In the second place it is open to doubt whether, in the time of
ancient Gezer, ‘Ain Yerdeh existed at all. The well-shaft does not
look very ancient; but apart from this there are one or two
considerations which seem to point to ‘Ain Yerdeh being a spring
that has opened in comparatively recent times. Close by it is a
ruined site, apparently Byzantine, called Khurbet Yerdeh, so that
it must have existed in the time of the village which that ruin
represents : but it is possibly not much older.

A wild perversion of the story of Noah’s flood was recovered by
- Professor Clermont-Ganneau from the villagers here, and is printed
in his Archeological Researches in Palestine: 1 have heard parts
of the same story from my workmen. Omitting details irrelevant

3
a)

218 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

to the present argument, the story is to the effect that the waters of
the flood burst forth from ‘Ain et-Tannfr, another water source,
now dry, situated at the south-east corner of the tell and a short
distance south of ‘Ain Yerdeh. It is quite possible that this legend
has a historical basis: that some burst of waters actually took
place, and that as recollection grew dim it was connected in the
popular mind with Noah’s flood.'. Thence grew the otherwise
inexplicable story that Gezer was the city of “our lord Noah ”—
which all my workmen firmly believe. Finally the water burst was
transferred from its real scene, ‘Ain Yerdeh, to the neighbouring
‘Ain et-Tannfr, under the influence of the universal Muslim
belief that the waters of the flood rose out of a ¢anndr or baking
oven.

That the fellahin believe in some sort of connection between
‘Ain Yerdeh and ‘Ain et-Tannfir is shown by their having recently
protested against an attempt made by the administrator of the
estate to repair and reopen the latter spring; they said that it
would take all the water from ‘Ain Yerdeh.

The source of the water which, on this hypothesis, burst forth
at some time shortly before the Byzantine period is indicated by
the great well-shaft on the top of the eastern hill, to which I have
already alluded more than once in these reports. I shall be in
a better position to describe it when its clearance is complete ; the
shaft is cylindrical, about 9 feet in diameter, and it has been opened
to a depth of 40 feet; how much farther it descends cannot of
course yet be stated. But it is evidently the shaft of a spring-well
which has become dry. Is it too bold a hypothesis that this well
once tapped some source of supply contained in the porous lime-
stone of which the hill is formed, and that through an earthquake
the strata were opened and the water ran down and burst out at
the present ‘Ain Yerdeh ?

To sum up, the most important extra-mural source of water
supply to the Gezerites was probably the easily-accessible Btr
et-Tirdsheh in the west, and not the (now superior) ‘Ain Yerdeh in
the east, which perhaps had no existence at the time. The west-
ward movement of the population was therefore natural.

' [The name Yerdeh is suggestive (¢f. Heb. yarad, to descend). Else-
where, in this number, Professor Clermont-Ganneau alludes to the Syrian
ritual yérid, which appears to have been associated in a vague and general way
with diluvian myths (see below, p. 241).—Ep.}

— oe) = oo . —a¥ kt S a — -

)

§ XII.—Tuer Tempter,

The excavation is now, I think, sufficiently far advanced for me
to offer a plan of the High Place (Plate III). The alignment has
already been fully described in the second report, published last
January, and I have nothing new to add to that account, save one
suggestion, which had not occurred to me at the time of writing,
and which I now give for what it may be worth. In 1 Mace. xiii,
47, 48, is to be found a vivid description of the purification of the
city’ after its capture by Simon Maccabeus—how he “cleansed
Ee the houses wherein the idols were” and “ put all uncleanness out

of it.” Fortunately for us the greater part of the alignment was
concealed by an accumulation of from 16 to 20 feet of débris in
Simon’s time, so that he did not lay his hands on this part of the
house of idols ; but at the northern end the accumulation is much
less, and here traces of his work are perhaps to be detected. It
will be remembered that I found the shapely column with which
the alignment at present ends to the north prostrate and
covered with débris. On each side of it are stumps of other
columns which have been broken. These would have stood
nearly entirely above ground in the time of the Maccabees, and
it seems not impossible that the stone which I found prostrate
had already fallen, but that its two neighbours still stood and
so fell a victim to Simon’s puritan zeal. As though to make this
suggestion more plausible, there is a very fine stone, broken at
each end, and resembling the standing stones in everything but
in being squared, which was found lying on the surface among

_ the débris of the Maccabean city. When allowance is made for the
loss involved in the process of dressing, this stone would fit the
more northern of the two stumps. IE it really formed part of this

monolith, the stone must have been comparable in size with the
great pillar at the southern end of the alignment.

A circular structure will be seen indicated on the plan west
of the northern end of the alignment. This unquestionably belongs.

to the scheme of the Temple buildings, being exactly on a level
with the feet of the columns, and close by them. It is 13 feet.
fs i¢ 8 inches in diameter at the floor level, and is surrounded by a rude

_ -—s«**.:“ Following the reading of the R.V. The A.V. repeats the mistake of all
_ ‘the ancient authorities in placing the scene of this incident at Gaza instead
Vets of at Gazara or Gezer.

a Tr ‘ n
Sec Q

7
_

a
: " iw

a &kg Be Cll nn eee eS UL he CULT ee

Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. I11.

EXCAVATION OF CEZER

GROUND PLAN OF HIGH PLACE

C= Cup-mart in the Rock D-= Troglodyte Dueling
Jo jJar-buriea Infant Re Reservoir for Water

-_—

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 221

wall now standing to a maximum height of 6 feet. The wall
narrows from a thickness of from 1 foot 6 inches to 2 feet at the
bottom to 1 foot at the top, and is built with an outward batter ;
the diameter at the present top of the structure is accordingly
larger than at the bottom—16 feet 6 inches. The floor of the
enclosure was paved with a smooth layer of stones, resembling the
pavement or platform on which the monoliths are erected. I cut
through this pavement to the rock in the hope of finding some
deposits underneath, but without result ; the rock-surface was found

Fie. 12.—Circular Structure in the Temple.

to be irregular, not cut or worked in any way, and lying at a depth
of from 1 foot to 1 foot 9 inches below the pavement. The wall
is of the usual rough construction—field stones, hammer-dressed,
being set in mud, without any scientific attempt at coursing. It is
especially to be noticed that the wall is continuous, without door,
window, or other opening. A photographic view will be found in
Fig. 12.

Inside the structure, among a number of potsherds of no special

importance, were found many fragments of the jugs and bowls in
Q 2

a & < awn yon |
Bai i ol
; ; .

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

222

fine ware which Professor Petrie ascribes to a Phoenician origin.
the jugs characterised by crookedly set necks (see P. TH., Plate VII,
No. 115; BM., Plate 31, No. 8; CCM., Plate II, several examples),
and by painting in white lines on the dark background of the
pottery ; the bowls by the ‘‘ wishbone” handle (P. TH., Plate VIII,
No. 157; BM., Plate 31, No. 19). The number of sherds of this
type of ware found was quite remarkable ; it is not very common, ~
as a general rule, on the tell. Unfortunately, all the vessels were
broken into small fragments, and no exact restoration could be
attempted of any single specimen; it was evident, however, that
all had been good and probably, to the original owners, valuable
examples of their types. With the pottery was found a small bronze
model of a cobra (Fig. 13), rudely but unmistakably portrayed.
This object is not only interesting in itself, but even more so on
account of its possible history and analogues.

Fie. 13.—Bronze Cobra.

The discovery of a model of a serpent in connection with a
place of worship is naturally suggestive of the practice of ophiolatry.
For ophiolatry at Canaanite shrines I am not aware of direct
evidence, but the well-known passage, 2 Kings xviii, 4, is to the
point in the discussion of this object. Among the reforms of
Hezekiah there described is mentioned the destruction of the brazen
(1.6., bronze or copper) serpent made by Moses, on account of its
having become an object of worship. The question whether this
worship was due to the serpent form of the object, or to its being
a relic of the great lawgiver, or else to the healing virtues once
inherent in it, is one into which I need not enter, the important
point for my present argument being the fact that a large fetish
in the form of a serpent of bronze was preserved and worshipped
in the central shrine at Jerusalem, and was connected at least
by popular tradition with Moses and the plague of “fiery flying
serpents” (probably cobras) in the wilderness. Nothing would be

= of ais =
r

_»

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 223

more natural than to prepare models of this venerated object for
the worshippers at minor shrines throughout the country, and it
it at least an admissible hypothesis that the serpent now under
discussion is actually such a model.

The structure in which the serpent was found completely
puzzled me, but an ingenious suggestion was made by Mr. J.
Stogdon, of Harrow, when on a visit to the excavations—namely,
that it was possibly a pit for keeping live serpents. The building
is as suitable for such a purpose as the pits in which bears and other
animals are kept in a modern zoological garden. In such a case. the
fine broken pottery and the bronze model might be in the nature of
votive offerings. We are reminded of the practice of keeping live
snakes at certain Greek shrines, notably at the temple of Aisculapius
at Epidauras, where they were in some way instrumental in effecting
the miracles of healing there wrought (see Rouse, Greek Votive
Offerings, pp. 193-205 ; see also p. 209). It is not inconceivable
that among the orgies or rites which were celebrated in the high
places of Palestine some form of snake-charming was included, and
that the snakes required for the purpose were kept in this enclosure
—perhaps specially prepared poisonous serpents with the fangs
extracted. ‘The tricks of modern holy men with serpents, which,
if I be not mistaken, were described by Mr. Baldensperger in the
Quarterly Statement some years ago, may be a survival of such rites.

The foundations of another circular structure were found south
of this building. Of this I can say nothing, as only the pavement
remained, and no part of the walls were standing.

I have marked on the plan the places where the jar-buried
bodies of infants were found. It is noteworthy that the majority
of these are at the eastern side of the pillars, as also is the sacred
cave. This suggests that the eastern was the more sacred side,
which was not approached by the ordinary worshipper. It may
be an accident, but it is at least remarkable that the stones in
the alignment have all more or less fair faces to the west, the sides
where the worshippers would see them, and are rough on the
east side, which on this hypothesis would not be under general
observation.

The uniformity with which the child-sacrifices have been found
to be infants of less than a week old has been broken by two. cases
of children aged about six. The bones of these skeletons are much
injured, and show distinct traces of fire. .

224 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

While on the subject of child-sacrifice I may refer to an
important series of discoveries made at the south end of the trench
which has been occupying my attention during the quarter. This
consists in infants’ bones built under or into ordinary house-walls :
some six or eight examples have been found. This phenomenon is
confined to the Jewish strata, and has not as yet been found in any
other part of the tell. Here we have for the first time in Palestine
clear evidence of sacrifice at the foundation of a building—a practice
that has been found in India, New Zealand, Borneo, Siam, Japan,
Fiji, Mexico, Bosnia, Germany, Denmark, and the British Islands :
witness the legend of Vortigern, who could not finish his castle till
he had bathed the foundation stone in blood ; and that of St. Colum
Cille, who buried alive his companion Oran under the foundation of
his church at Iona. Hitherto, the only Palestinian example known
has been the somewhat doubtful and indefinite instance of Hiel’s
rebuilding of Jericho; as narrated in 1 Kings xvi, 34, the language
of the story seems capable of bearing other constructions than a .
reference to foundation-sacrifice.!

It is noteworthy that none of the infant bones found in the
Gezer foundations show the slightest trace of fire, and in this con-
nection it must not be forgotten that a very common practice was
to immure the victim alive—as in the Iona instance, and in the
case of the Castle of Liebenstein, where a child was said to have
been walled in. It is possible that this was done at Gezer, at any
rate in one case. Inside the building in whose wall this particular
skeleton was found were two skeletons of infants, contained in jars
—the latest examples of this form of sepulture yet found. The
structure dates from the latter half of the Jewish monarchy.

Inside the Temple area, in the stratum containing the majority
of the infant sacrifices, was found the calvaria of a man’s skull. It
's too much injured to be measured with exactitude, but in any case
1ts cephalic index is much lower than that of any other skull found
on the tell—I estimated it at somewhere about 70 or 71. The

; [Professor Sellin, however, has recently found traces of foundation
sacrifices at Taanach (see below, p. 273), and analogous to these rites is the
well-known Arabian custom of sprinkling blood (see Doughty, Arabia Deserta,
vol. 1, pp. 136, 452; vol. ii, p. 100). Mention may also be made of the modern
practice of sacrificing sheep or oxen at the completion of a house, also at the
Opening of the Beirdt-Damascus railway (Molk-Lore, vol. ix, p 16, 1898).
The custom was also Babylonian, and in the Temple of Bel at Nippur many
skulls were found built in with the bricks. —Eb.]

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 225

skull being found alone shows that the head only was deposited
where it was found; and as the tendency to dolichocephaly suggests
that it belonged to a member of a different race, it is possible that
its original owner was a notable enemy whose head was deposited
in the temple of the town divinity, as the Philistines deposited the
armour of Saul in the Temple of the Ashtaroth, and David placed the
trophy of Goliath in the house of Yahweh.

§ XIII.—TuHeE ‘ASHTAROTH KARNAIM.

In a small chamber in the sixth stratum, within the Temple
area, but belonging to a period when the area had been built over,

Fie. 15.—Group of Pottery found associated with the Bronze Statuette.

a discovery of unusual interest was made. A large quantity of
pottery had been deposited—in fact the chamber was quite full of
it. Nearly all was broken, but I was able to piece together most
of the vessels, at least in part, and they are represented in the two
annexed photographic views (Figs. 14, 15). The first represents
23 lamps of the common Amorite or Jewish type ; the comparatively
perfect specimens only are shown in this view; if broken fragments

ee a a Se ea = Oe ee mC mC emmCmCStC<C —EEE——

Palestine Exploration Fund.

OF POTTERY, BEADS ,ANO BRONZE FICURE
cf rd ¢ £ 3 4 S 6 7

LUT

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. ~ Sar

of others had been included the number would have been at least
30. The rest of the restorable pottery is shown in the second
photograph: three dishes or plates, one of them ornamented with
a. red painted concentric circles (Plate IV, Fig. 1); eight small
--—s Saucers or cups, and three small one-handled jugs. The types and
outlines of the most important of these vessels are shown in |
diagram on Plate IV, where a scale is given from which their
sizes can be determined. To the plate are added drawings of two
fragments of painted ware bearing figures of a bird and other
__ objects, in black and red; and a few beads in white paste (except
_ e and e, which are blue), also found in the chamber.
But the chief interest of the hoard centres round a small bronze
statuette, 45 inches in length, Plate IV, Fig. 12. It represents an
~ undraped female, without the necklets, bracelets, or anklets usually
worn by Ashtaroth figures, standing on a short mor tice, such as are
ai found under the feet of Egyptian bronze statuettes (compare the
figure of Osiris already found at Gezer, and the bronze figurine
_ from Tell el-Hesy, B. MMC., p. 67). The figure is badly propor-
_ tioned, the arms being too long and the head too large. The ears,
citig _ especially that on the left side of the figure, are very prominent.
On the head is a cylindrical head-dress. The eyes are represented
Bes by hollow sockets in which probably stones were once inserted.
_ There is no trace of gilding on any part of the surface. On the
back a deep groove is cut down the line of the spine.
z From the head, just above the ears, spring two slender horns,
es coiled like those of a ram and trending downwards. It is these
appendages which give the figure its unique interest: they are not
“like the up-turned horns sometimes found on the head-dress of
figures of Isis or of Hathor: they are of a quite different shape and
are attached to the head of the statuette itself. Unless all the
Me _ scholars to whom I have shown this figure agree with me in an
error, we must regard this as a representation of the Ashtaroth
_ Karnaim or ‘two-horned Astarte.” Hitherto, so far as I am
# aware, the only other known representation of this goddess has
a been that carved on the stone altar at Kanamat (see Burton,
_ Unexplored Syria, vol. i, frontispiece, and Merrill, Hast of the Jordan,
Pe 40). This example is of a totally different type: it is much
, and may perhaps represent merely a bust between the
ms of the crescent moon. Not the least interest of the present
ure lies in its enabling us to identify a certain type of Astarte

228 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

plaque of which one example has here been found (Fig. 16) as in
reality the horned Ashtaroth. Without its aid we would naturally
take the horns for locks of hair.

The present report is not the place to venture far on so thorny
a subject as the origin and meaning of the epithet Karnaim and the
peculiarity which it denotes. The view which is at present, I
believe, the most generally favoured—that it was derived from two
horn-like mountains—does not seem to be supported by the Gezer
statuette, which rather appears to indicate an origin in the worship
of a cow divinity, of which traces, in the shape of small heads of

Fig. 16.—Terra-cotta Plaque with Figure of Ashtaroth-Karnaim.

cattle modelled in pottery, come to light almost every day in the

excavations, and of which notable examples are recorded in the Old
Testament,

§ XIV.— RETROSPECT OF THE YEAR’S WorK.

The present report closes the first year’s work at Gezer.
Roughly computing in round numbers, some 60,000 square feet
of the rock-surface have been exposed by the clearance of the
superincumbent débris. This area is distributed over an 80-foot
trench on the eastern hill and two contiguous trenches of the same
width in the Central Valley. For various reasons not one of these
three trenches has as yet been carried completely across the hill.

In attempting a brief résumé of the year’s work, I may be
allowed to commence by quoting the following passage from a
paper on the “History and Site of Gezer,” written before the

TP. a ’ re ei tees £9 yrs ae 5
7 ‘ i ee
4 -

—k ‘ F
“by ile e
+

ih ie REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 229

excavation began, and published in the Quarterly Statement for July,
1902 :—
« While it is unprofitable to indulge in vague speculations upon
what may or may not await the explorer of this mound,
it is hardly possible to avoid reflecting that, as three letters
of the Palestine side of the Tell el-Amarna correspondence
come from Gezer, it is only reasonable to expect one or two
letters of the Egyptian side of the correspondence within
the site ; and that traces of the early Levitical occupation ;
of the Philistines ; of the destruction and restoration of the
city under Solomon ; of its fortification by Bacchides ; and
of its tenure by the Crusaders, should not be sought in
vain. Besides these landmarks of local history, upon which
light ought to be thrown, we have wider problems before
us, to the solution of which the projected excavations should
help us. In a brief paper, read at the General Meeting
of the Fund (16th July, 1901), I have already indicated
some of these: the disposal of the dead by the pre-Israelite
tribes ; the nature and extent of Mycenzan and Egyptian
influence on Palestinian culture ; the period of the intro-
duction of iron; and the ethnological affinities of the
Philistines and other coast-dwellers.”

It is satisfactory to reflect that a large proportion of the work
- laid out in the above extract has been accomplished. Traces of the
—- Levitical occupation have been found in the evidence of Jewish
ee worship at the Great Central Shrine of the town. Zhe destruction
and restoration of the city under Solomon and its fortification by
_ Bacchides have both been illustrated by towers and walls assigned
a. with reasonable probability to these builders. The method of the
raed _ disposal of the dead by the pre-Israelite tribes has been determined
_ with a completeness that we could not have ventured to hope for ;
; the nature and extent of Mycenean and Egyptian influences on Pales-
_ tinian culture has received illustration in objects found almost daily ;
while the period of the introduction of iron has been indicated, though
haps the deductions cannot as yet claim finality. The mound
‘still remains silent on the subject of the Philistines and of their
nner val antitypes the Crusaders; nor has it yet yielded the

wished-for answers to Yapahi’s agonised petitions to the King of
+} gy ot.

re
ies

230 - REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

In addition to the above results the following have been
obtained :—

1. A remarkable series of correspondences, both in general and
in detail, have been established between the Biblical history of the
site and the history as deduced from the buildings and objects
unearthed.

2. The bones, pottery, implements, and dwellings of a Neolithic
race hitherto unknown in Palestine have been recovered, and
undoubted bones of the Amorite and early Israelite races have
for the first time been found.

3. A high place or temple of the Canaanites has been laid bare,
and the tangible remains of infant sacrifices, orgies, oracle-giving,
perhaps also ophiolatry, Stylitism, and other concomitants of
Semitic worship, have been unearthed.

4. Important corrections have been made in the history of the
development of pottery and of other arts in Palestine.

The excavator had no divining-rod, enabling him to select the
three profitable trenches from among the rest. The only surface-
indication followed in selecting the places for excavation were the
tops of the standing pillar stones, which, though sufficiently striking,
did not certainly promise important secrets at their feet. It may
be said, with almost complete accuracy, that the selection of the
sites of the trenches which yielded the above long series of
important results was made at random.

There is room on the mound for about 16 more such trenches
within the ascertained limits of the city. Two of these cannot be
excavated on account of the modern local shrine and cemetery
which cover them. One at the eastern end may be neglected as
the rock-surface is almost, or completely, uncovered in its course.
Leaving out these three, we are left with 13 trenches that must still
be pened before the excavation within the walls of the city can be
said to be complete. There is no reason to suppose that any one of
these 13 is legs prolific than any other. Neglecting some factors
that need not at present be taken into account, and estimating the
three Incomplete trenches already excavated as equivalent to two
complete trenches, the calculus of probabilities tells us that the
lessons already learnt from the mound are only one-eighth of the

_ total amount of information to be gleaned from it by trenching
alone.

, +
ce A * . = Ye -

: : 7 ar ~~ ail tala
Toe rs ‘e ipl a he eis _—"
wv. ‘ =

tilt,
in pa Ad

hy,

=
—

=e ARCH MOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 231 ;

asrcc, trenching is not the whole work of the tell. There
is a very large amount of extra-mural débris which must be searched |
for ancient rubbish heaps, and the cemetery which exists somewhere
in the adjacent hills must be located and exhausted before our
knowledge of ancient Gezer can be said to be complete.

The work has advanced continuously throughout the year, save
for two and a half months lost during the cholera epidemic in
“the winter, with an average of 75 labourers. Obviously, unless
the labourers can be added to in large numbers, the completion
se of the work before the expiry of the firman will be a sheer

impossibility.

ARCH AZOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON
PALESTINE.

By Professor CLERMONT-GANNEAU, M.I.

24. Mount Hermon and its God in an inedited Greek Inscription (con-
tinued).—IV. Naturally, at the date to which the paleography of
our inscription brings us down—perhaps the third century of our
era—we are far from the remote times when the god in his high
place! received the homage of the primitive population of that part
of Syria. But neither the place nor the god have changed, and no
less the ceremonies which constitute his cult. It is to be supposed
that it is to some one or other of these rites that our inscription:
refers. It has the character of an imperative liturgical order. It
is a command issued in the name of the god himself, and it seems
to me that ¢v7ed0ev should be taken in its natural sense of starting
from a place—‘“ from here, hence ”—a verb being understood. The
stone, shaped like a rude stele, should mark the very point

‘ 1 There can be no doubt that it is exactly upon this central summit of
‘Hermon that the cult of which it was the object should be placed, and the
new document now introduced into the question only corroborates this view.
is It is useful here to correct an erroneous idea formerly expressed by Robinson,

and still current to-day, namely, that the various temples, whose ruins appear
= = in the region around Mount Hermon, were orientated towards the great
culminating and central sanctuary as a sort of sacred Kibla. Sir Charles
Wa (op. cit., p. 184, et passim) has shown that this is not so, and that
all the temples were, as is usually the case, orientated towards the East.

+ ‘

232 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. ~

indicated by the order where the opnvdovzes, “ those who take the
oath,” had to perform a certain movement. If reference is made
to the sanctuary in its actual state, with its oval enceinte, encircling
the sacred ground in the midst of which stands the truncated cone,
hollowed out, and marking the site of the Holy of Holies, with
its little sacellum,! flanking the enceinfe on the south, with the
mysterious cavern on the north-east side, one can imagine a kind
of solemn procession (zo71),? which performed around the sacred
place the ritual cireumambulations which always appear to have
played a considerable part in the various Semitic cults. The order
and steps of these evolutions would be minutely regulated, as also
their number, direction, and stations: our inscription, perhaps,
marking the point of departure or of a halt followed by a
resumption of the evolutions. I do not think one can attribute
to the god’s order a prohibitive sense, and regard évred@ev as an
interdiction : “ Away from here !”—an elliptical expression—
forbidding to the éuvvovzes access to the sanctuary.

It is difficult to determine what these durtovtes (“sworn” or
“vowed ”) might have been. Were they the faithful, initiated ones
who joined themselves by solemn yows to the divinity under
circumstances of which we are ignorant? On the other hand, were
they persons to whom was tendered the judicial oath in the
Sanctuary of the supreme god? In the latter case one is reminded
of certain Biblical passages (1 Kings viii, 31; 2 Chron. vi, 22)
' where reference is made to an oath pronounced in the temple before
the altar of Jehovah. These are, indeed, only conjectures, and
others might be hazarded, but in view of our ignorance of the
particular kind of oath of which the inscription speaks, it is more
prudent to refrain. One cannot help asking, however, whether
there may not be some connection, more or less intimate, between
the oath, whatever it may have been, and the name of Hermon
itself, which popular tradition, rightly or wrongly, associates with
the root Om, « devote, consecrate.” * From this point of view the

* The construction of this little edifice, to judge from the mouldings, does
not appear to date back beyond the Roman period. It may, therefore, be
almost contemporaneous with our inscription.

* The very arrangement of the places naturally suggests this idea (ef.
Warren, op. cit., p. 214; Guérin, Galilée, IT, p. 293, &e.).

* It corresponds thus to the Arabic harama. Some moderns, however, have
preferred to connect the name with the root harama, comparing farm, hurm,
“ mountain summit.”

. = anges oe [ee a oe a ee ae at ais

a ; : ’ : =

‘ - } ;

en me wT fy | 4
| te ia

eee. ARCHASOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 233

Baal of Hermon should partake somewhat of the character of a
Zevs dpxios or Jupiter Jurarius.

V. Now, whether justified or not, this popular tradition existed |
jn ancient times: Mount Hermon was the “mountain of oath.” |
So we are told, with some extremely curious details, in the famous
apocryphal “ Book of Enoch.” !

As will presently be seen, this document and our inscription shed
brilliant and unexpected light upon each other: the former refers
to the celebrated episodes of the fallen angels whom the Bible calls
«‘«the sons of God ”—the béné Eléhim.?

«“ And it came to pass when the sons of men were multiplied, that in
these days there were born beautiful and fair damsels. And the
angels, sons of heaven, saw them and desired them, and they said
one to another, ‘Come ! let us choose women among the men and
beget children.’ And Semiazas, who was their chief, said unto
them : ‘I fear lest you be unwilling to carry the thing through
(to the end), and then I alone shall remain blameworthy of a great
fault.’ They answered him together: ‘ Let us all take an oath and
adjure one another by mutual anathemas* not to desist from our
resolve until we have accomplished it and brought the undertaking
to a successful finish.’ Then they all sware together and bound
themselves by reciprocal anathemas+ . ... [Now® these
(angels) were 200 in number which descended in the days of
Jared upon the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called
this mountain Hermon, because it was there they had sworn

1 My citations are from the recent edition of the Greek and Ethiopic text
by Flemming and Radermacher, Das Buch Henoch (Leipzig, 1901). The
Greek text is naturally followed for choice; its lacune are supplemented by
Syncellus, and the divergences of the Ethiopic version are noted where the
oceasion arises. [English readers may prefer the translation of the Book of
Enoch by Professor R. H. Charles. ]

2 1 do not stop to take up the question, so frequently discussed, of the close
relation between Gen. vi, 1-4, and the narrative in Enoch. It is well known
that the latter is referred to in the Epistle of Jude, verses 6, 14 seq.

3 *Oudowper bpxy mdytes Kai dvabeuatiowuey mdvTes GAATAOUS.

4 Tére wpooay mdyres dot Kai dvebeudricay GAAHAous ty arp .... (lacuna).

5 Here the Greek text of the Akhmin MS. presents a lacuna which is
exactly completed by the literal text of Syncellus (joay 88 otro: Siaxdov ot

waraBdytes év tais ruipas “lapid eis rijv Kopupiy Tod "Epuoneiu dpous* Kai
éxdrecay To bpos *Epydy, Kabdr: Guooay kai avabeudrioay dAAhAous ev arg). The
* Ethiopic version has the passage also complete, but has disfigured it by a
serious contradiction, taking the name of the patriarch Jared to be that
of the summit of Mount Hermon: “And they descended upon Ardis,

can *

+ which is the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon,
because, &e.”
7 ‘ .

- ie?

234 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

and bound themselves by reciprocal anathemas.] And these are
the names of their chiefs, &c.”

(Then follows the enumeration of the names of the ten chiefs com-
manding the 200 sinful angels, Semiazas at the head; their
fornication with the women ; the birth of the giants, the issue of

these unions, veritable ogres devouring everything upon the earth
—beast and man ; instruction in different sciences and industries

given to men by the fallen angels, each according to his speciality;
the cry of humanity rising towards God, entreating Him to put
an end to all these monstrosities ; finally, the chastisement of the
wicked angels and the announcement of the Deluge.)

This passage from the Book of Enoch was well known to
St. Hilary and to St. Jerome! (or at least the author of the com-
mentary attributed to this Father of the Church), who refer to it
in their commentaries on Psalm cxxxii (Eng. ¢xxxili), v. 3, where
mention is made of the dew of Hermon descending upon Mount
Zion.

VI. The characteristic trait of the narrative is the preliminary
“ conjuration ” of the rebel angels on the summit of Hermon, which
hints at the meaning of the name of the mountain itself. The most
solemn form of oath was always strengthened by fearful invocations
and anathemas, which fell upon the head of him who violated it.
Such is probably the case here. It will be noticed that the Greek
text uses the verb éuvype several times. This is precisely the word
in our inscription, and at first one is even tempted to ask whether
the mysterious éuvdovres, who are mentioned absolutely, may not
designate the angels in question, and whether the inscription was
hot intended to commemorate an ancient tradition connected with
the sanctuary, whilst, at the same time, marking the very place
where the divine conjurators placed foot on earth, and whence
(évre00ev) they separated. But I do not think that such a view is
night. The terms employed at the beginning of the inscription
(“ by the order of the God ”) clearly show that it deals with a
liturgical order regulating a certain movement of the devotees who

1 St. Hilaire : Hermon autem est mons in Pheenice, cujus interpretatio
anathema est; quod enim nobiscum anathema nuncupatur, id hebraice Hermon
dicitur. Fertur autem id, de quo etiam nescio cujus liber extat, quod angeli
concupiscentes filias hominum, cum de celo descenderunt, in hunc montem
maxime excelsum convenerint. St. Jerome: Legimus in quodam libro
npocrypho, eo tempore quo descendebant filii dei ad filias hominum, descendisse
illos in montem Hermon et ibi inisse pactum quo modo venirent ad filias
hominum et sibi eas sociarent.

%
*.

—

ss ARCHAZOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 235

participated in some ceremony, the fundamental feature in which
was the taking of an oath. I incline rather to the idea that the
author of the Book of Enoch, or, at least, with that part of the
book with which we are dealing, being very familiar, as we shall see,
with the Hermon district, and, in particular, with the local traditions
there current, has chosen to place there the scene of the conjuration
of the angels, on account of the sanctuary of Hermon being cele-
brated for the performance of this ritual oath. It is even possible
that the author, whether a Jew or, if the term be preferred (the
question is controverted), a Judeo-Christian, found this pagan
practice so abominable that it first suggested to him the idea of
this detail of the “ conjuration ” of the wicked angels. We cannot
find in the narrative, which is certainly very brief, the germ of the
growth which has supplied him with the mythical development of
the theme. Besides, instead of being the actual inventor of this
detail, he may, perhaps, have merely followed a legend which was
already held in honour in the particular circle to which he belonged,
and was formed under the influence and conditions which I have
indicated above. In fact, we shall shortly notice curious variations
of the narrative in other sources. We shall meet with the same
elements: the sons of God, Hermon, and a certain oath closely
associated with it. But these elements are combined from another
point of view, and the question is whether these variations are
deviations, intentional or not, from the narrative in the Book of
Enoch, or whether they may not represent another account of an
ancient popular tradition from which the author of this book and
the other writers have borrowed more or less independently.
Whatever it be, it is manifest that the Book of Enoch attaches
special importance to this oath of the fallen angels. It is proved
by the fact that the author frequently returns to it with marked
relish. Indeed, immediately before starting the episode which
interests us, he prepares for it, in a way, by expressing his horror
for certain sacrilegious oaths (cf. Matt. v, 33-37 ; and James yv, 12).

“ And it is by you that utter imprecations, all those who utter them:
and all the sinners and impious swear by you” (ev ipiv . . . duodvra ;
Ve 6, lL. 11-13).

In another passage, preserved only by Syncellus,! the author
speaks again (without naming it) of the mountain where the

1 Cited in Das Buch Henoch, p. 44, note.

= Bl ten - — = a (7 ae eS. . os ae + oe: Y
a = fe + z A Pra eee tl ae Gat =h
; . > -

Pe
-

236 ARCHASOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE,

angels concluded their pact, binding themselves by oaths and
anathemas. He seems to regard it as an accursed mountain, on
account of the crime of which it was the scene. Cold, snow, and
frost envelope it eternally! ; the dew never falls there,? only the
curse descends there, until the Day of the Last Judgment when
it will be burnt and melt like wax.

Finally, in another part of the book, which is preserved only
by the Ethiopic version (ch. lxix, pp. 88-90), unfortunately with
some lacunze and doubtful or obscure passages, the author speaks
in detail of another mysterious oath which he appears to set in
opposition to that of the wicked angels. After having enumerated
anew —under different forms — their names, he shows us the
archangel Michael entreated® to disclose to the saints, in order
that they may pronounce it in their oath, the secret name of God—
the famous Shém Mephirdsh—the name and oath before which
tremble “those who have shown to the sons of men everything
that was hidden.”4

Alongside the account of the Book of Enoch must be placed
the narratives of the Syriac,® which, though agreeing with it both
essentially and in a number of smaller details, diverge in one
important particular: the “sons of God” are not angels, but the
descendants of the patriarch Seth, the father of the giants—himself

' It is well known that on some parts of Hermon the snow remains until
the middle of summer, whence one of its names, Jebel et-Telj, “the mountain
of snow.”

* The dew of Hermon was celebrated ; ef. Ps. exxxiii, cited above, and the
commentaries of St. Hilarius and St. Jerome.

* The reason of this is not very clear, owing to the obscurity of the
Ethiopic version, '

* An allusion to the various arts and trades revealed to men by the fallen
angels. The piece also contains a long elaboration of the quasi-magical power
of this oath, by virtue of which everything has been created and regulated. T
Suspect that here the Ethiopic translator has not entirely seized the general
sense of the passage, and has attributed to the oath the power which in reality
belongs to the ineffable name. ;

ei! Eutychius, Annals, pp. 16 et seg.; Michael the Syrian, Chron. (ed.
Chabot) 4 pp- 4-13; Barhebreus, Chron., p. 4, Hist., p. 7, &e.; cf. Cureton,
Spice. Syr., notes, p- 78 seq.; and the Storehouse of Treasures (Ausdr Rédzé).
For the various Fathers of the Church who have adopted the Syriac tradition
from a dogmatic point of view, cf. Robert, Revue Biblique, 1895, pp. 340
et seq., 525 et seq. On the Rabbinical points of contact, see, among others,
Griinbaum, Z.D.M.G., xxxi, pp. 225 seq., 225 seq., 245. Allusion may be made,
In passing, to the various details, more or less accurate, which Moslem tradition
has borrowed.

.
eh
ka
.

eile
ho

4S!

+.
owe -
nity “>

eacr - ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE, 237

a-giant. This group of narratives, which is full of variants, into
which it would take too long to enter here, may be thus summed
up :—At the death of Adam, Seth (born in place of Abel) and his
family separate themselves from the family of Cain the accursed,
and whilst the latter remains in the valley, the scene of the murder
of Abel, the Sethites set out to establish themselves upon the
summit of Hermon, the holy mountain where Adam had been
buried in the Cave of Treasures. They pass a life of purity and
holiness, under conditions of simplicity reminding one of the Golden
Age; whilst, below, the Cainites invent musical instruments, work
in metals, and construct buildings. The Sethites pass their time
praising God, mixing their chants with those of the angels neigh-
bouring whose voices they hear. It is on this account that they
are called “sons of God.” They have an oath consisting of the
words, “ No, by the blood of Abel!” Seth, at his death, adjured
his children, “by the blood of Abel,” never to descend from the
holy mountain to rejoin the Cainites, and at each generation this
solemn oath was renewed until the time of the patriarch Jared,
father of Enoch. The Cainites, however, continued to abandon
themselves to every excess and debauchery, and the noise of their
instruments of music rose to the summit of Hermon. Then 500
Sethites, drawn by this music, united to descend to the Cainites,
despite the efforts of Jared, who, in the name of the blood of Abel,
adjured them to refrain. Other bands followed them. Inflamed
by the charms of the shameless daughters of the Cainites, they
joined themselves to them, and as they were of gigantic stature
they begat giants. Time passed; iniquity increased on the earth

_ to such an extent that Noah, the last patriarch of the Sethites,

remained alone upon the mountain with his wife! and three sons.

ae At the command of God, who had decided to bring about the
Deluge, he left it to build the ark, but not before he had taken

with him the body of Adam.? .
We find there, in short, the same elements as in the account of
the Book of Enoch, but combined and presented in a different

‘manner. The oath there, too, plays an important part, but it is a

4 wr,

. :

=a
a i
iy al
a |e

_ * According to Eutychius, Noah’s wife bore the suggestive name Hékal
(“ Sazictuary *), and was daughter of Mémisd (cf. nidmis, “cavern,” in the

Arab dialect of Syria).
* He carried away at the same time (says Eutychius) the offerings deposited

we a — Shem took charge of the gold, Ham the myrrh, and Japhet the
+

eense (cf. the three Magi).

ge R2

al 7 co ;
238 ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE,

violated oath instead of a conjuration preliminary to an act of sin.
The guilty “‘sons of God” are no longer angels, but descendants
of Seth. The mountain has a more marked character of sanctity,
without the evil reputation which the Book of Enoch ascribes to it.
It is a true place of cult ; it contains a sacred cavern, the sepulchre
of Adam and the patriarchs.! It is difficult to say whether this
is a case of mere disfigurement of the narrative in the Book of
Enoch, or of true variants which have preserved other traits of
& primitive local and purely Syrian legend. I must confess
that I incline to the second hypothesis. I am struck by the
persistence with which certain significant Biblical incidents are
remembered, and are attached to various places in the district,
whether in written or oral tradition: the tomb of Seth at
Yafifeh, that of Noah at Kerak Nth, the name of Abel at
Abila, the creation of Adam at the ager Damascenus, the site
of Eden itself in these quarters, &c. It would seem, at least,
as if at some time there had been a general localising of the
principal episodes of the first chapters of Genesis in this particular
region. Nothing proves that this localisation was after the Moham-
medan conquest ; certain indications, on the other hand, point to
the contrary. In this case there would be in the formation of these
indigenous legends a mixture of pagan,? Biblical, and Christian
elements, which may, to some extent, explain the relationship of
the cult of Hermon, such as it is revealed to us by our inscription,
with the various fables associated with the sacred mountain.
VU. In any case, it seems to me to lead to a rather interesting
indication as to the origin of the author (or one of the authors) of
the Book of Enoch. I incline to believe that, wherever he may have
been born, at least he must have lived in the district of Hermon.
18 Mountain which interests him so much, and which he knows
! Cf. the cavern mentioned above (p. 232), at the north-east of the enceinfe
of the Sanctuary of Hermon.
tent tad elements, account should be taken of a detail in
tradition of tik eeas rae perigee beren pers ae rer the Biblical
long ‘been edibanias a sons of God, vn o a irt a the giants, has
iants identified oc; is the passage (e . Orelli, p. 16) ealing with the
cH eh eeu with the mountains Kasius, Lebanon, Anti-libanus, and
REE is ie ose mothers. ; In this family of Syrian mountain gods,
nme cluded; it is either represented by the Anti-libanus or
ib Is to be recognised in the enigmatical Brathu. The connection is confirmed

by the fact that the pseudo-Sanchuniathon attributes to these giants and their
posterity the invention of the chief industrial and other arts.

a ts
4
4 ee

ARCH AZZOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE. 239

so well, must have been in his immediate geographical horizon.
He is familiar with the surrounding places. Whilst he speaks of
Sinai or Jerusalem in only a vague way, he describes the topography
of the Hermon district with the greatest precision :—

“ And, having gone, I seated myself near the waters of Dan, in the
land of Dan, which is due east of Hermon (‘Eppoveeiz). [There Enoch
falls asleep and has a vision; a heavenly voice orders him to go
and speak to the ‘sons of heaven’ to convince them.] And being
awakened I went to find them. And they were all assembled mourning
at Ebelsata (nevOodvres év "EBeXoard), which is between Lebanon and

Senesel (Seveona).” !

As has long been recognised,? by the “waters of Dan” the
author means one of the sources of the Jordan, probably that of
the little Jordan of Josephus, the modern Leddan,? near Tell
el-KAdi, at the foot of Hermon, on the south-east side. One may
note the expression ¢« écfidv “Eppwvecin éicews, which, if this
‘somewhat unexpected plural is not the result of an error,‘ is to be
understood literally: “At the east of the right-hand Hermons,”

s = “right (hand side),” and “ south.”

The place where the angels assemble to mourn is defined with a
minuteness that shows that it refers to an actual locality, and one
well known to the writer. Unfortunately the form of the two
names in the passage are somewhat uncertain. For the first, the
Ethiopic transcription Ublesidél seems to imply EBEACAIA or
OBEACIAHA, instead of EREACATA—that is, if it is not a
wrong reading on the part of the translator. As for the second,

! Das Buch Henoch, p. 36 (xiii, 7-9).

2 See, among others, Lods, Le Livre d@’ Henoch, pp. 182-135.

3 A survival of the name Dan has rightly been sought in the Arabic Ledddn,
but no satisfactory explanation of the first syllable, Zed, has been offered. I
am tempted to believe that the syllable conceals the primitive name, Laish-
Dan, &>. corresponding normaliy to layth, layt; the dental th, ¢, is assimi-
lated to d on account of the d following. The successive stages would be

> visa = ylo ew = glo CW =p.

4 So various arsine, but their conclusions are scarcely satisfactory :
‘Epuoy [nai x] dicews (Dillmann) ; ‘Eppoy [7 oiua| Sicews (Diels). Another
‘eorrection may be suggested which, if not quite philological, is at least paleo-
graphically easy: é« defy ‘Epuwy [els ra] ddoews (ElEIM=EICTA).
Nevertheless, it must not be forgotten that Syncellus himself uses the plural
form (rot ‘Epywrveiu), not to speak of the (in other respects doubted) D3797Nn

of Ps. xiii, 7.

=—g., ' <. _# ‘ re ?
a sete ‘ abe ic =
¢

240 ARCH.ZOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE.

CENECH A, the Ethiopic variant Seneser is, perhaps, phonetic
rather than paleographic (r = 1). In any case, it is probable that,
as already admitted,' in the first element of EBeXoata we have the

widely-spread Hebrew bars, abél, “ meadow,” with an allusion in
the zevOotvr7es to bon, ébel, “mourning” ; ¢f. the “mourning of
the Egyptians” 4bél or Ebel Misraim, perhaps under the influence of

pDwwn bay, Abel hash-Shittim. 1 do not know whether the pro-
posed connections with Abel Beth-Maacah, Abila of Lebanon, &e.,
are justified, or the arbitrary and risky explanations by Abel-Jael,
Abel-Zion, Abel-Sheol, Abel-Satan,? &e. Perhaps the truth is to
be found near at hand: the names Jbl and 4dil are numerous
enough in the immediate neighbourhood of Hermon itself, and offer
plenty of choice. Sin Ibl, to the north-east, quite near the source
of Leddan ; Tol (el-Haua), rather more to the north, in the valley
of Hasbiny ; 4bl or Abil (el-Kamh), to the east of and not far from
Tell el-Kadi.® The second of these perhaps corresponds best to
the requirements of the narrative, especially if Yeveoy\ may be
corrected to Yevefyd and identified with Sin Lbl, Ibl el-Haua bein
between the massif of Lebanon (to the north-east) and Sin Ib] (to
the south-east). In any case, it can scarcely be doubted that the
author has in his mind actual localities situated in the western
district of Hermon.

IX. It is very tempting to suppose further that in the picture
he shows us of the angels in mourning at Ebelsata, he is referring
to some pagan ceremony of the kind that was celebrated on the
summit of Hermon, and which has already furnished him with the
most striking features of his history of the « conjuration ” of the
wicked angels. Here there may have been another idolatrous
abomination to inspire our rigid votary of Jehovah: the celebra-
tion of the Aégwéra, so popular in Syria, in which was mourned the
god Tammuz-Adonis.

Finally, this narrative of the fall of the angels appears to me
to contain another feature which, like the oath taken upon the
holy mountain, might also be borrowed from old Syrian cults and
myths. This is the detail of the “descent” of the angels upon

' Cf. Lods, op. cett., p. 133.
* Lods, op. cit., p. 134,

* The last mentioned is generally taken to represent Abel Beth-Maacah.

iis hid = Py
a dag 3 : : = 7 ? — : :
, > 7 ci Sea bith,
: ® Ratet es a

f ;
cpeue li
‘

; 7
4 2

ARCHAOLOGICAL AND EPIGRAPHIC NOTES ON PALESTINE, 241

the summit of Hermon “in the days of Jared” (cazaBavtes év tats
yucpacs “lapce). There would seem to be some close connection
between the name of the patriarch Jared, Wy» (“to descend ”») and
this “descent” of the angels. Origen! insists upon explaining
this name by xataBacvwv, “descending,” and in speaking of the
“descent” (xataBdcews) of the “sons of God” to the daughters of
men which took place in Jared’s time.

It is, perhaps, owing to the apparent significance of his name
that the patriarch owes his inclusion in this history. Now we
know, on the other hand, that in old Syrian rites there was a very
important and very popular ceremony which actually bore the name
of asap, y@rid and KxardBaors, “the descent.” As M. Isid. Lévy? has
shown, following Hoffmann, it was practised in various places in
Syria: at Heliopolis, Hierapolis, Aphaca, Tyre, at the Terebinth of
Mamre, &c., perhaps, even, at Jerusalem itself. It consisted chiefly
in drawing water, which was borne in procession and thrown into a
sacred tank, whence the full name, as given by the pseudo-Lucian
(De Dea Syria, 47): xavaBaows és rhv Xéuvyv. Ishould not be surprised
if the sanctuary of Hermon was formerly the scene of such a
ceremony of this nature. Perhaps it was into the deep and
remarkable cavity noticed by the explorers in the central cone that
the consecrated water was thrown.* Under these circumstances, if
- the sanctuary of Hermon really had its yérid, or katabasis, it would

not be too rash, perhaps, to suppose that it was from this that the
author of the Book of Enoch may have drawn his idea of the
_ “descent of the angels in the days of Jared,” even as he has drawn
_ his idea of the “conjuration” of this rite of the “oath,” the
__ existence of which is expressly attested by our valuable inscription.
Viewing it with abhorrence from the Jewish point of view, he
will only have interpreted after his own fashion two characteristic
features of an abominable pagan cult which was practised under

1 Comm. on St. John, ap. Lods, op. cit., p. 106; ib., the same explanation
in the Book of Jubilees.
2 Rev. des Etudes Juives, 1901 (extract, pp. 10,13-19). To the Talmudic and
«Greek texts cited by M. Lévy, one may add the passage in the pseudo-Melito
(Cureton, Spic. Syr., p. 44), which agrees in a very remarkable manner with
that of pseudo-Lucian. [C/. above, p. 218.—Eb. }
i :- __-«# Although this ritual act appears to have been associated in a general way
Py _ with diluvian myths, it is not impossible that here it reflects some superstition
‘relating to the origin of the Jordan, which is, to some extent, the son of the
_ Hermon, and whose naine G3, immediately recalls that of Jared (')-

242 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

his very eyes on the summit of the mountain, at the foot of which
he may have lived, and with the legendary history of which he was
intimately acquainted.

GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.
By Major-General Sir C. W. Witson, K.C.B., F.R.S., R.E., &c.
(Continued from p. 153.)

ON the supposition that there was no definite tradition with regard
to the position of Golgotha, can any reason be suggested for the
selection of the present site by Macarius ?

The possibility of some connection between Golgotha and the
name A‘lia Capitolina has already been mentioned.) According to
a fanciful etymology the word Capitolium is derived from the head
or skull of a certain Olus, or Tolus, caput Oli regis, which was
discovered when the rock on the summit of the Capitoline Hill at
Rome? was excavated for the foundations of the temple of J upiter ;
and there is an ancient legend that Golgotha was so called from the
skull of Adam, which was found in a tomb beneath the “rock of
the Cross.”* The two words Capitolium and Golgotha have the same
meaning, and the Capitolium was regarded at Rome, as Golgotha
was at Jerusalem, as the chief place or centre of the world.4

On the Capitoline Hill at Rome, near the temple of Mars, stood
a temple of Venus Capitolina; and above the assumed rock of
Golgotha rose a temple of Venus, or Aphrodite, the Syrian Astarte.
At Rome the goddess was known as Venus Victrix, the giver of
victory to lovers and Roman armies, and she was called Calva, “ the
bald,” a word from which Calvaria, “ Calvary,” is derived. One of
the chief seats of the worship of the Oriental Aphrodite, or Astarte,
was Golgi'—the same word as Golgotha—in Cyprus. In building

k Quarterly Statement, 1902, p- 151.

The connection of a head, or skull, with a city is not uncommon, C95
that of the head of St. John Baptist with Samaria, Damascus, and Emesa.
See also the legends connected with the heads of Bel, Dionysos, Orpheus, and
Osiris, and the oracle-giving head at Harrin.

* Quarterly Statement, 1902, p. G7. 4 Tbid., 1902, pp. 67-70.

* Todyol, TéAyos, from P'éryos (Golgos), the son of Aphrodite and Adonis,
and the reputed founder of the town ; or, according to Sepp (Das heilige Land,
i, 419), from the rock-cones (Heb., Galgal, Golgol) which played an important

-———S«GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 243

A “ the great temple of Venus and Rome at the capital, Hadrian
identified the goddess with the well-being of the State. The
a Ei -erowned goddess on the imperial coins of Alia Capitolina! has
, been called Astarte by De Sauley, Madden, and others, but this
identification is by no means certain. The type occurs at cities
u where Astarte is impossible, and the figure is apparently the local
Tyche, or city-goddess, holding in her hand the head or bust of the
reigning Emperor,’ and resting on a sceptre.
It may be inferred from the expressions “a gloomy shrine of
- lifeless idols” and “ profane and accursed altars,” used by Eusebius,?
that the temple of Aphrodite at Jerusalem contained several statues,
‘and it has been suggested* that one of them may have been a
oe representation of Jupiter.’ Is it possible that we have here the
Capitolium of ‘lia Capitolina containing, like the Capitolia of
: other large towns of the Empire, ¢.g., Carthage, a temple of Jupiter
and Venus ; and, if so, could the legend of the skull of Adam, and
even the name Golgotha, have had their origin in the Jerusalem

Capitol ?

*
a x
aa
5

part in the rites connected with the worship of the goddess who was called
yoryev dvacoa, The ruins of the large temple of Aphrodite, or Astarte, in
Cyprus, were excavated in 1871.

1 On the coins of Antoninus Pius and his successors. The goddess is
represented standing, sometimes alone, sometimes in a temple, with a sceptre
or spear in her left hand, a human head in her outstretched right hand, and
_ with her right foot on a human figure. The head is supposed by some writers
—s‘ to: be that of Adonis, and the human figure to be a river-god or a vanquished
ie OW.
a 2 I am- -indebted for this suggestion to Dr. Barclay V. Head, Keeper of
it - Coins, &e., at the British Museum, who has referred me to “a coin of Cremna
in Pisidia (B.M. Cat., p. 218 and cii): reverse, FORTUN. COL. CREMN.,
swith this type of Fortuna crowned, with sceptre in left and human head in
outstretched right hand, and with right foot on upper part of human figure.
f 3 Also a coin of Adraa (Kdrei), in (the Province) Arabia (De Sauley, Num. de la
~~ -«* Terre Sainte, p. 374), where a coin of the same type bears the inscription,
- AQPAHNWN TYXH.

r 3 V-.C., iii, 26; see Quarterly Statement, 1903, p. 64 (App. 4).

$ Saurterly Statement, 1903, p. 55.

5 Sepp suggests (H.L., i, 421) that the statue of Jupiter mentioned by
Jerome and. Paulinus of Nola was really one of the Egyptian Serapis, whose
head appears on coins of Antoninus and his successors. It would appear from
a dedicatory inscription at the Sion Gate that Serapis was worshipped at
| Jerusalem i in the reign of Trajan, whilst the city was still only a Roman camp.
; - The temple of Serapis was probably in the southern quarter of the camp, not
far from the Sion Gate. (@.S. 1895, pp. 25, 130; 1896, pp. 133-152).

2 % ps - \ ¥ 7 * 5 ——
pee tl ’ 7 Ui

244 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

The manner in which Jerome connects Jupiter and Venus with
the Tomb and Golgotha! suggests the idea that the Capitolium of
Elia was at Golgotha. But the statement of Dion Cassius 2 that
Hadrian built a temple of Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the
Temple of God, supported as it is by the reference of Jerome * to a
statue of Jupiter in the Temple precincts, is strong, but not con-
clusive evidence that the Capitolium was on Mount Moriah. The
view that the Capitolium gave rise to the name Golgotha and to
the Adam legend involves the theory that the spot where Christ
suffered was situated in the Capitolium of A®lia; that the place
was first called Golgotha in the second century ; and, as a conse-
quence, that the references in the Gospels to the “ place of a skull,”
and “the skull,” were inserted in the text at a later date than
the reign of Hadrian. But the general tendency of recent criticism
has been to strengthen the opinion that the Gospels assumed their
present form long before Hadrian came to the throne, and, apart
from this, it is not easy to believe that the place of the Crucifixion
only received its distinctive Aramaic name a century after the death
of Christ, and that Golgotha was then, for the first time, mentioned
in the Gospels. The Adam legend is, in all probability, of much
earlier date than the second century. There would thus appear
to be no direct etymological relation between Golgotha and the
Capitolium of ‘Elia, and no reason to believe that the name,
Golgotha, was derived from, or caused by, the Capitolium.

The view that Golgotha was well known in the time of Hadrian,
and that, apart from any hostile feeling towards the Christians, the
hame itself would have led to the selection of the spot for the
erection of a temple of Venus, has been advanced by Sepp. But
the evidence of a continuous tradition is so uncertain’ that the
alternative theory, that the presence of the temple influenced, to
a certain degree, the identification of Golgotha with the present
site, seems preferable.

The Church historians, later than Eusebius, evidently believed
that some inquiry preceded the identification.s There may, perhaps,

* Quarterly Statement, 1903, p- 53.

* Ibid., 1903, p. 52. 3 Tbid., 1903, p. 52, and note 2.

* The slight variations of wording in Matt. xxvii, 33; Mark xv, 22;
and John xix,17, and the omission of the word Golgotha in Luke xxiii, 33,
seem opposed to the theory of an authorised interpolation at such a late period.

® Quarterly Statement, 1902, p- 70. § H.L., i, 420.
7 Quarterly Statement, 1903, p. 63. % Tbid., 1903, p. 147.

) poe dee <a he ey Gen tet dal : A a Fe
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ss GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, 245

have been some vague idea amongst the Jews of Palestine! that
Golgotha lay to the north of the citadel, and, the castle of Antonia,
which protected the Temple, having been destroyed, Macarius may
have taken it for granted that the citadel referred to was on the
western hill. On this hill the three towers left standing by Titus
marked the position of Herod’s fortified palace; and to the north
of the towers lay an ancient Jewish cemetery, which possibly
-_ jneluded amongst its rock-hewn tombs the sepulchre of John the
_ High Priest. In the midst of the cemetery, and partly covering
it, stood a temple of Venus. May not Macarius, in his selection
of the present site, have been influenced, in the absence of any
definite tradition, partly by an uncertain legend of Jewish
__ erigin,? partly by the existence of an ancient cemetery north
of the three towers, and partly by a fancied connection between
- Golgotha and Golgi suggested by the temple? The _ solution
ie _ proposed above is put forward with some hesitation as an
2 _ alternative to the improbable view that the Bishop simply made a
cence at the site, and that his identification was accepted at once,
and without question, by Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syrian
tieiatians.

_ The history of the official identification of Golgotha and the
- Tomb is not fully known, and an attempt to reconstruct it is
2 piel hazardous. But the importance attached by the Church
a! historians of the latter part of the fourth and beginning of the
fifth century to the action of the Empress Helena, and to the
discovery of the Cross, seems to need some explanation. The
_ statements in the early ecclesiastical histories must have had some
_ foundation in fact, and the theory which seems best to meet the
- difficulties of the case may be stated as follows :—

“ar
=

;

Um ge
LA

ra
“on ;

“
a
Lietell
ee
}

i. After the Council of Nicwa Constantine, for motives to

2. The first step was to find the place of the Gronaan. near
ae _ which, under ordinary circumstances, the Cross would have been
ry buried or cast aside. Macarius, after consultation with his
_—-suffragans, and after making inquiry amongst the native Christians

_-—«§: See the statements by Sozomen, and Fvegory of Tours (Quarterly
Statement, 1903, pp. 147, 148), and the quaint Syrian legend given by
_ Abu el-Faraj in his ecclesiastical history.

hy 2 Quarterly Statement, 1903, p. 56. * Ibid., 1903, p. 145.

se
f.
a,
?

-
*

246 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

and Jews, came to the conclusion that Golgotha lay beneath the
temple of Aphrodite.

3. Constantine, having been informed by Macarius of the result
of this investigation, sent his mother, the Empress Helena, to
Jerusalem with full power to demolish buildings and make the
necessary search.

4. The Empress, on her arrival at Jerusalem, employed labourers
and soldiers to clear away the temple of Aphrodite and its sub-
structures. By this means a portion of the ancient Jewish cemetery,
hitherto concealed from view, was uncovered, and a rock-hewn tomb,!
prepared for the reception of a single body, was identified as that
in which the body of Christ had rested. A spot on the terrace
above? was at the same time assumed to be Golgotha.

5. Constantine, on being informed of the discovery, ordered the
erection of a church which should enclose the Tomb. Meantime
the excavations were continued with unabated vigour, and at last
the three crosses, the nails, and the title, which had become
separated from Christ’s Cross, were found. The true Cross was
then identified by its “ life-giving” properties.

6. The Emperor, on hearing of the recovery of the Cross, wrote
the letter preserved by Eusebius,’ in which Macarius was directed
to build two churches with lavish magnificence.

7. The rock was cut away so as to isolate the Tomb and
Golgotha, and the Anastasis, or Church of the Resurrection, and
the Basilica, or Great Church, were built.®

The Second Wall.—The question whether the site of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre was inside or outside the second wall of
Josephus is one which cannot, from want of space, be adequately
discussed in the Quarterly Statement. Tt will be sufficient to state
here that the course of the wall has not yet been certainly ascer-
tained, and that, so far as the topographical features are concerned,
the wall may have run go as to exclude or include the ground upon

‘It has been Suggested that the tomb was really a cave sacred to Adonis,
but there seems ro reason for the selection of an Adonisiac cave by Macarius
when there were so many tombs close at hand. Nor is it lhkely that the

builders of the temple of Aphrodite would have turned a Jewish tomb into a
cave of Adonis,

2 See below.
* Quarterly Statement, 1908, pp. 143, 144. 4 TLbid., 1903, p. 142, note 1.

* The theory stated above is that of Clos, Kreuz und Grab Jesu, p. 7,
slightly modified.

the ancient walls, or in the outer walls which were built afterwards? He says

Li
#

os GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, 247

which the church stands.'’ From an archeological point of view
the question is equally uncertain, for there is no sufficient proof
that the masses of masonry which are supposed to have formed

rt of the wall ever belonged to it. In some instances they almost
certainly did not.

A strong argument in favour of the opinion that the site of the
church was outside the wall is its selection by Macarius. The
search for Golgotha and the Cross was ordered by the Emperor,
and it may be regarded as a public work carried out by the State.
Supposing that the remains of the wall were then visible,? is it at
all likely that the Bishop and his advisers would have deliberately
placed Golgotha inside the wall when every educated Christian
knew that Christ had suffered “without the gate”? Would the
_ higher clergy throughout the empire, who were at variance upon
_ many points, have accepted without protest a site that was obviously

impossible 1°

On the other hand, it may fairly be urged that Josephus, who,
in his description of the jirst and third walls, refers to places which
they passed, would almost certainly have mentioned Golgotha in
connection with the second wall if it had been a well-known spot,
and so near a marked change of direction in that wall as it is

usually assumed to have been.

| Natural Features of the Ground covered by the Church of the Holy
re.—Is there anything in the nature of the ground upon

which the church stands which renders it an impossible site for

Golgotha and the Tomb? The rock was so cut away for the con-

1 The view that a wall excluding the church would have a faulty trace
is hardly to the point. There are several Greek towns in Asia Minor where
the city walls or parts of them are quite as badly traced according to modern
ideas. In ancient towns the Acropolis was the principal defence; the city
wall was often weak.

2 The curious and rather obscure reference of Cyril to the Tomb seems to

“e it between the ‘outer wall,” apparently that of Hudrian, and the
“ ancient walls.” ‘‘ But where is the rock which has in it this cleft (or cave) ?
Lies it in the midst of the city, or near the walis and the outskirts ; and is it in

then in the Canticles (ii, 14), In the cleft of the rock near the outer wall”
(Cat. xiv, 9; Migne, Pat. Gr. xxxiii, col. 833, translation in Pusey’s Liby. of
the Fathers).
3 The argument that the existence of a Jewish cemetery shows that the site
was outside the second wall is notsound. Intra-mural burial was not uncommon
in the time of the Jewish monarchy, and there is no trace of any aversion to it
in the historical books of the Bible.

Py Z As

248 GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.

struction of Constantine’s churches, and is so covered with rubbish

and buildings in the vicinity of the present church, that its original
form cannot be accurately ascertained. Originally the hillside
must have risen up in a series of terraces of greater or less height
according to the thickness of the strata'; and there appear to be
traces of two such terraces in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
and its immediate vicinity. The level of the upper terrace is
marked by the top of the rock of Golgotha, and its vertical face,
now cut away, evidently contained the entrances to several tombs.
Amongst these tombs that known as the “'Tomb of Nicodemus,” #
and that in the Coptic Convent,‘ north of the “Prison of Christ,”
are genuine Jewish tombs of not later date than the time of Christ.
The first was entered on the level of the lower terrace, and a few
steps led down to the second. Other tombs of which the form can
no longer be traced were the present Holy Sepulchre, and possibly
the “Tomb of Adam” and the “ Prison of Christ.”®> In the same
terrace or in the one above it was probably the tomb.of John the
High Priest, which is mentioned by Josephus in connection with
the siege by Titus. In front of these tombs was the level surface of
the lower terrace, utilised as a garden,® and probably planted with
shrubs or trees. The vertical face of this terrace can be seen in the
houses built against it on the west side of the street Khan ez-Zeit.

So far then as the nature of the ground is concerned, there is nothing
impossible in the view that Christ may have been crucified on the

surface of the upper terrace (Golgotha) and buried in a tomb in its

vertical face. A tomb in this position would be in the “ place ”
Golgotha, and its entrance in “ the garden ” of the lower terrace.*

' Quarterly Statement, 1902, p. 284.

* Terraces with tombs in their vertical faces may be seen in the Valley of
Hinnom, and elsewhere near J erusalem.

* For a description of this tomb and its tomb chambers see P.F. Mem.,
Jerusalem Vol., pp. 319-329, and Quarterly Statement, 1877, pp. 76-84,
128-132 ; Clermont-Ganneau, L’ Authenticité du St. Sépulere, 1877.

* Quarterly Statement, 1877, pp. 154, 155.

® ‘These places and the two tombs mentioned are all on the same level. _

° The existence of the garden is attested by Cyril. “For though it be now
adorned, and that most excellently, with royal gifts, yet it was before a garden,
and the tokens and traces thereof remain” (Cat., xiv, 5; Migne, Pat. Gr.,
xxxiii, col. 829, translation in Pusey’s Liby. of the Fathers).

7 The suggested relationship between the place of crucifixion and the tomb
is seen in the photograph of tombs with terrace-garden (Quarterly Statement,

1902, p. 292). A man crucified on the upper terrace could easily be buried in
one of the tombs beneath,

o = i ity
Pes de J
aa x

-—C« GOLGOTHA AND THE HOLY SEPULCHRE. 244

‘The form of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea is unknown,
and various attempts have been made to reconstruct it. <A
discussion of the whole subject would occupy more space than
is available. My own view has always been that Joseph’s tomb
was an ordinary rock-hewn sepulchre in the vertical face of a rock
terrace, with an entrance @’pa of the usual form and size. The
sepulchre probably consisted of an ante-chamber,! round which ran
a low bench of the usual type, and of a tomb-chamber in which
_ there was at the time one grave.? The ante-chamber was entered
on the level from the terrace or garden outside, and an opening
in one of its sides led to the tomb-chamber. There is nothing in
the Bible to show whether the entrance to the Tomb had a

vestibule, or whether the grave was a “bench” grave, an
- “oven” grave (kok), or a “ trough” grave. The present “ Holy

Sepulchre” may have been either.* The Body of Christ was
_ probably laid on the bench of the ante-chamber until the Sabbath
‘ was over. ‘There is no evidence that the entrance to the Tomb was
_ elosed by any mechanical contrivance such as a concealed rolling
stone‘? like that at the “Tombs of the Kings” near Jerusalem.
It was probably closed, like most of the rock-hewn tombs, by a
‘ large stone, either carefully dressed and fitting into a reveal, or
roughly hewn arid rolled or pushed against the aperture.

—(N.B.—These papers will end next number with a short summary of the
views of those who do not accept the traditional sites of Golgotha

+o and the Tomb as genuine.)
i 1 Tt is not quite clear whether Cyril refers (Cat. xiv, 9) to an ante-chamber
or to a vestibule when he writes that “the outer cave” had been cut away to
allow of the decoration of the Holy Sepulchre.

2 It may perhaps be inferred from the description of the Holy Sepulchre
by Eusebius in the Theophania (see Quarterly Statement, 1903, p. 152) that
there was only one grave in the traditional tomb.

3 See note on the Tomb of Nicodemus (Quarterly Statement, 1877,
pp- 128-132).

cat According to Keim, the great stone of the Gospels was simply the Jewish
- Golal, which is often mentioned by the Talmudists, antiguam claudatur golal
s eo (Buxt., p. 437). The words mpoo-cvAlw, amo-nu\iw, ava-Kcvdlw,
used by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, do not necessarily imply that the stone was
-* eat like a large cheese, and was rolled backwards and forwards in a "phnbed
*s reference (Cat. xiii, 39) to the “stone which was laid on the door”
ie | dmireOcis Ti} Oipa Al00s) would hardly apply to a circular stone, and
"St. John’ s expression, “ and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb” (xx, 1),
is quite applicable to a roughly hewn stone.

ry a
>

PP
my
k-

250

THE SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT
JERUSALEM, BUILT BY THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

By Colonel C. M. Watson, C.B., C.M.G., R.E.

IT appears to be generally assumed that the great basilica of St.
Mary, which was built by Justinian in the sixth century, was
situated somewhere in the Haram area near the site of the Temple
of the Jews. Some writers place it at the spot now occupied by
the Mosque of Aksa, while the late Mr. Fergusson was positive
that it stood at the south-eastern corner of the Haram, overlooking
the Valley of Cedron.

The study of another question in connection with ancient sites
in Jerusalem directed my attention to the subject, and led me
to examine into the reasons for assuming that the church was
built in or near the Haram. The result of my investigation has
brought me to the conclusion that it is improbable that the church
was within the Haram, and that it is more likely that it was
erected on Mount Sion in the southern part of the upper city,
where the building called the Coenaculum and Tomb of David now
stands. As the question is of considerable importance with
reference to the study of the holy sites in Jerusalem, it may be of
interest to give the evidence upon which my conclusion is based.
In order that others may be able to check without difficulty the
quotations on the subject that will be given, I shall only refer to
the ancient authors, translations of whose works are given in the
publications of the Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society, as this collection,
which is sold by the Palestine Exploration Fund, is in the hands of
many readers of the Quarterly Statement.

The author who has given the most detailed account of the
basilica of St, Mary is Procopius, Prefect of Constantinople, who,
about the year a.p, 560, wrote a description of the various
buildings erected by the Emperor Justinian throughout his
dominions. In the fifth book of this work he gives the following
account of the construction of the Church of St. Mary ?:—

“At Jerusalem he built a church in honour of the Virgin, to
which no other can be compared. The inhabitants call it the ‘New

* Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. ii.“ Procopius,” p. 138.

—“ oe 7-7 =n eet

ss SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 251
Church.’ I shall describe what it is like, prefacing my account by
the remark that the city stands for the most part on hilly ground,
which hills are not formed of earth, but are rough and precipitous,
so as to make the paths up and down them as steep as ladders.
All the rest of the buildings in the city stand in one place, being
either built upon the hills or upon flat and open ground; but this
church alone stands in a different position, for the Emperor
Justinian ordered it to be built upon the highest of the hills,
explaining of what size he wished it to be, both in width and
in length. The hill was not of sufficient size to enable the
work to be carried out according to the Emperor’s orders, but
a fourth part of the church, that towards the south wind and
the rising sun, in which the priests perform the sacred mysteries,
‘was left with no ground upon which to rest. Accordingly
those in charge of the work devised the following expedient :
they laid foundations at the extremity of the flat ground and
constructed a building rising to the same height as the hill. When
it reached the summit, they placed vaults upon the walls and joined
the building to the other foundations of the church ; so that this
___ ehurch in one place is built upon a firm rock, and in another place
__ is suspended in the air—for the power of the Emperor has added
another portion to the (original) hill. The stones of this substruction
are not of the size which we are accustomed to see ; for the builders
rn = of this work, having to contend with the nature of the ground,
Sem and being forced to raise a building equal in size to a mountain,
scorned the ordinary practices of building and betook themselves
| to new and altogether unknown methods: they cut blocks of stone
__ of enormous size out of the mountains which rise to vast heights in
ane the neighbourhood of the city, cunningly squared them, and brought
them thither in the following manner: they built wagons of the

en
i
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4
F

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ef el ie

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_—

game size as these stones, and placed one stone upon each wagon.
é _ These wagons were dragged by picked oxen, chosen by the
Emperor, 40 of them dragging each wagon with its stone. Since it

was impossible for the roads leading into the city to take these

__ wagons upon them, they made a passage for them by cutting deeply
into the mountains, and thus formed the church of the great length

which it was the Emperor’s pleasure that it should have. After they
had built it of a proportional width they were not able to put a roof
ae upon it. While they were inspecting every grove and place which
ins they heard was planted with tall trees, they discovered a thick
“Ae fas Ss

252 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

wood, producing cedars of enormous height, with which they made
the roof of the church, of a height proportional to its length and
width. These were the works which the Emperor Justinian con-
structed by human power and art, though assisted by his pious
confidence, which in its turn reflected honour upon himself and
helped him to carry out his design. This church required to be
surrounded on every side with columns, such as in beauty would
be worthy of the main building, and of a size capable of supporting
the weight which would be laid upon them. However, the place,
from its inland situation at a distance from the sea, and from its
being entirely surrounded by the precipitous mountains which I
have mentioned, rendered it impossible for the builders of the
foundation to bring columns thither from elsewhere. While,
however, the Emperor was grieving at this difficulty, God pointed
out in the nearest mountains a bed of stone of a kind suitable for
this purpose, which either had existed there in former times and
been concealed, or was then created. Either story is credible to
those who regard God as the cause of it ; for we, measuring every-
thing by our human strength, think that many things belong to the
region of the impossible, while for God nothing whatever is difficult
or impossible. The church, thus, is supported by a great number
of columns brought from this place, of very great size, and of a
colour, which resembles flame, some below, and some round the
porticos which encircle the whole church, except on the side turned
towards the east. Of these columns, the two which stand before
the door of the church are of very unusual size, and probably second
to no columns in the whole world. Beyond them is another portico,
named the Narthex (reed), I suppose because it is narrow ; after
this is a court of square shape supported by columns of equal size :
from this lead doors of such grandeur as to show those passing them
what a spectacle they are about to meet with. Beyond this is a
wonderful porch, and an arch supported on two columns of great
height. Proceeding further, there stand two semi-circles, opposite
to one another, on each side of the way to the church; while on
either side of the road are two hospices—the work of the Emperor
Justinian—one of which is destined for the reception of strangers,
while the other is an infirmary for the sick poor. The Emperor
Justinian also endowed this Church of the Virgin with large

revenues. Such were the works of the Emperor Justinian in
Jerusalem.” - ;

-“——S

SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 253

In this interesting description of the Basilica of St. Mary
it is evident that Procopius wrote as a courtier, and did not
altogether adhere to the truth. Anyone reading it would suppose
that the idea of building the church was Justinian’s, that he
selected the site, and proposed the construction of the hospices ;
whereas, in truth, as I shall show later, he only completed a church
that was already commenced, and the idea of building the hospices
was suggested by another. The statement that Jerusalem is
surrounded by mountains of vast height, and that the Emperor
selected all the transport oxen can hardly be regarded as rigidly
accurate. ‘These, however, are small matters, and, viewed as a
whole, the account is probably fairly correct.

It will be observed that the building is spoken of as the “ New
Church.” This may mean that it was an entirely new building on
a hitherto vacant site, or that it was a new church to take the place
of an old one on the same site. This, in ordinary language, would

‘be the meaning, and it appears to me from the history to be the
more probable acceptation of the expression.

In utilising the description in order to fix the site of the
building, the following points seem specially worthy of attention :—

(a) The church was built on the highest of the hills in
Jerusalem.

(b) It was within the city, and, as it was impossible to bring
the materials by the ordinary streets, it was necessary to
cut a special road to the site to facilitate transport.

(c) There was a quarry in the hill near the site, and apparently
conveniently situated for bringing the stone by the
excavated road.

_ (d) The greater part of the church was on the level, but it was
necessary to build up under the south-eastern part to bring
it to the level of the rest of the building.

Assuming that the church was built, as generally supposed, in
the southern part of the Haram area, let us see how these con-
ditions would apply. The greater part of the area within the
walls of Jerusalem consists of two hills—the western, on which, in
old days, stood the upper city, and now known as Sion; and the
eastern, on which was the Temple of the Jews, and which sloped
down towards the south to the Pool of Siloam. There is also a third
hill to the north, but as this was the site of the Holy Sepulchre

S 2

=! * —__ a
. r +). os ay oen ee. eo a
a. ¢ 2 4 : a z i ene Data al
*\ al pare re 4 Tr, ee We tf else ge at

: ih

254 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM,

and its surrounding buildings at the time of Justinian as it now |

is, it is outside the present question. The height of the western a

hill varies from about 2,520 feet at the south to 2,540 feet above

sea level at the north, whereas the height of the western hill at the

summit is 2,440 feet, and at the Mosque of Aksa 2,418 feet above
the sea. Speaking generally, therefore, the western hill is 100 feet
higher than the eastern, and why Procopius should have stated so
positively that the Church of St. Mary was built on the higher
hill if he meant that it was built on the lower is a little hard to
understand.

Secondly, if the church had been built near the south wall of |
the Haram, it is impossible to think why it should have been
necessary to make a rock-cut road to the site so as to avoid bringing
the stones through the city, as the material would naturally have
been conveyed by the Valley of Cedron and would not have come
through the city.

Then, as regards (c), we know of no quarry near the south
wall of the Haram, but I would not lay too much stress on this,

as of course there might be a quarry which is now concealed by Be

rubbish.

Lastly, as regards (d), if the church had been on the site of the
present Mosque of Aksa, no great raising of the ground would have
been necessary. But this would have been necessary if the church
had been at the south-east corner of the Haram enclosure, as
suggested by Mr. Fergusson. For his arguments upon the subject
I would refer the reader to his work, The Temples of the Jews,

If, on the other hand, it is assumed that the Basilica of
St. Mary was on the southern part of Mount Sion on the site
of the existing buildings known as the Coenaculum or Tomb of
David, the conditions already enumerated apply much better. In
the first place, the church would have been on the higher hill, as
stated by Procopius. Secondly, it would be within the city, and
there is a rock-cut road from the outside of the city leading towards
its south-eastern end. Full details of this road are given in Dr.
Bliss’s Excavations at Jerusalem, and its position and sections are
illustrated by drawings.!_ The object of making this rock cutting
has not hitherto been explained, but if it is the road spoken of
by Procopius, the reason becomes quite clear. Thirdly, as regards
(c), there is a quarry in the hill close to the outer end of the road

* Excavations at Jerusalem, p. 8.

oe s ee et ee

° te bp
r _ yy?

— =,
7 ee
=

—s—s« SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 255

ba = es

which was thoroughly examined by Dr. Bliss, and is described in
the Excavations at Jerusalem.)

Lastly, as regards (7), as the ground to the east of the
_ Geenaculum has not been explored, it is impossible to speak
ay definitely, but there is no reason why the foundation should not
have been laid as described by Procopius.
2 After carefully considering the argument on both sides as based
ry, 2 on Procopius’s account of the church, I think it is more probable
that it was situated on Mount Sion than in the Haram.
I will now proceed to discuss the question as to the information
onthe subject to be derived from other authors. The earliest account
of a visit to Jerusalem is that of the Bordeaux Pilgrim, who went
to Palestine in the year 333 A.p. At that time the buildings at
and near the Holy Sepulchre, which were constructed by Con-
___-stantine, were just completed, and are shortly described by the
eet Pilgrim. He also speaks of the site of the Temple of Solomon,
‘but makes no mention of any church or Christian site in its
q " vicinity. As regards Sion, he writes as follows? :—
ek «On this side one goes up Sion and sees where the house of
Te ‘Caiaphas the priest was, and there still stands a column against
which Christ was beaten with rods.” The Pilgrim does not state
> te ad whether there was or was not a church on Sion at that time.
eX Fifty years later, about A.D. 385, St. Sylvia made a pilgrimage

thy to the Holy Land, and wrote a very full account of what she saw.
%. a ‘Unfortunately, the earlier part of the work, in which she probably
ant Pe e an account of Jerusalem, is lost ; but we have her description
a - of the religious services performed during the year, which gives
3 ‘ much useful information. She mentions the Basilica of the
i ~ Anastasis, or Holy Sepulchre; the great Basilica of Constantine,
_ _known as the Martyrium ; and also frequently refers to a church on
Sion. For example, she says* :—“ On the Lord’s Day—z.e., Easter

_ _Day—after vespers at the Anastasis, all the people escort the

hl sear Mie

7a we =

1 Excavations at Jerusalem, p. 12.
2 Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. i. “ Bordeaux Pilgrim,” p. 23.
% Tbid., vol.i. “ St. Sylvia,” p. 67.

o ce yi “ pets a id ie! Torte a ah :
256 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

of Pentecost’ :—“ As soon as the mass is over in the Martyrium,
all the people together escort the bishop to Sion with hymns, and
they get to Sion when it is now the third hour. And when they
have come there, that place from the Acts of the Apostles is read,
where the Spirit descends so that all nations might understand the
things that were spoken, and after that mass is celebrated in due_
order. For the priests read the passage from the Acts of the
Apostles because the place is in Sion (there is another church there
now) where once after the Lord’s Passion a multitude was collected
with the Apostles, when this happened of which we spoke above.”
It is evident, therefore, that in the time of St. Sylvia there was
a church on Sion, and that it was regarded as a holy place. On the
other hand, though she frequently speaks of processions passing
between the Holy Sepulchre and the Mount of Olives, the route of
which lay close to the site of the Temple, she never alludes to any
church or holy place in the vicinity of the latter.

The account given by St. Sylvia is confirmed by the Holy Paula,
who visited Jerusalem about the Same time. She also makes no
allusion to any church or holy place near the site of the Temple,

but says that there was a church at Sion, of which she speaks as
follows 2 ;—

“Leaving that place (i.¢., the Holy Sepulchre), she ascended
Sion, which signifies ‘citadel’ or ‘watch-tower.’ . .. . There was
shown a column Supporting the portico of a church, stained with
the blood of the Lord, to which He is said to have been bound and
scourged. The place was shown where the Holy Spirit descended

upon the souls of over 120 believers, that the prophecy of Joel
might be fulfilled.”

* It will be observed that neither Sylvia nor Paula gives a
name to the church, but both speak of it simply as the church at
Sion.

The next document we have to examine is the letter of Bishop
Eucheritis to the priest Faustinus, giving a short account of
Jerusalem and the neighbourhood. The date is uncertain, but it
is believed to have been written about the middle of the fifth
century. Eucherius describes Sion first, the holy places round the
Holy Sepulchre second, and then the Temple area.

' Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. i. “St. Sylvia,” p. 69.
2 Ibid., vol. i, « Holy Paula,” p. 6.

st al 4

SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 257

34 a Bes i
OF Sion he says!:—“ Mount Sion on one side, that which faces
north is set apart for the dwelling of priests and monks ; the level
ground on its summit is covered by the cells of monks surrounding
a church, which, it is said, was built there by the apostles out of
reverence for the place of our Lord’s resurrection; because, as
' promised before by the Lord, they were filled with the Holy
Ghost.” Of the Temple he writes:—‘ The Temple, which was
situated in the lower part of the city near the city wall on the
east side, and was splendidly built, was once a world’s wonder, but
out of its ruins there stands only the pinnacle of one wall, the rest
being destroyed to their very foundations.” There is not a word
here of a church or place revered by Christians near the Temple.

is Some time early in the sixth century and prior to Justinian,
a Theodosius wrote his short tract on the Holy Land. After speak-
ing of the Sepulchre and Golgotha he goes on to say? :—‘ From
We Golgotha it is 200 paces to Holy Sion, the mother of all churches ;
which Sion our Lord Christ founded with his apostles. It was the
iS house of St. Mark the Evangelist. From holy Sion to the house
of Caiaphas, now the Church of St. Peter, it is 50 paces more or less.
From the house of Caiaphas to the Hall of Pilate it is 100 paces
more or less. There is the Church of St. Sophia. Hard by holy
Jeremiah was cast into the pit. The pillar formerly in the house of
- Gaiaphas, at which the Lord was scourged, is now in holy Sion.
‘This pillar at the bidding of the Lord followed Him ; and, as He
elung to it, while He was being scourged, His arms, hands, and
fingers sank into it, as if it were wax, and the marks appear to this
ms day.” It would appear, therefore, that from the time of the Bordeaux
Pilgrim early in the fourth century up to the time of Justinian a

- group of churches and holy places had been growing up on Mount
i Me, Sion, and that whereas the Pilgrim only mentions the house of
_ Caiaphas and the pillar of the scourging as being there, there were
at the beginning of the sixth century three churches, i.¢., the Mother
7 . ‘Church of Sion, the Church of St. Peter, and the Church of St. Sophia.
4 Up to the time of Justinian there appears to be no satisfactory

evidence of the existence of any church within the Temple area.

(Lo be continued.)

2 Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. ii. “St. Eucherius,” p. 8.
2 Tbid., vol. ii, ‘‘ Theodosius,” p. 10.

THE TRADITIONAL “ HARBOUR OF SOLOMON” AND
THE CRUSADING CASTLE AT JAFFA.

By the Rey. J. E. HANAvER, Jerusalem.

HAPPENING to be in Jaffa in 1889 for a few days for change of air,
Thad my attention drawn by my old friend and schoolmate Mr.
Philip Baldensperger to a remarkable depression and clearing
among the orange groves lying east of the town. The said
clearing is situated about half-way between the city and the long

low ridge upon which lie Saknet Abu Kebir, the Russian church
and buildings, Saknet et-Turk, aud the ancient necropolis, and
which runs southwards to Tell er Reesh. The clearing (marked
“swamp” on the map) was, so my friend told me, covered by a
shallow lake or swamp after heavy rains, and local tradition asserts
that it marks the site of the ancient harbour of the time of Solomon.
Interesting though this information was, I thought of the tradition
as being merely an absurd legend, nor was it till several years later,

A atts 5 ei : she oe adr ee % 2 “aeerrs

nian = tT ae eo J pk 4 ih oe A ua, ~- 2 et oe
é Zz ai) = ’ .
a co =".
rs

Ss PRADITIONAL “ HARBOUR OF SOLOMON,” ETC. 259

when circumstances led to my making a prolonged residence at
Jaffa (from 1893-1900), that my notice was again drawn to the
subject, and it dawned upon me that the tradition after all might
not be altogether as worthless as I had supposed; and when on
the occasion of Sir Charles Wilson’s last visit to Palestine he did
me the honour of calling upon me, I mentioned this to him. He
suggested that it might be useful if I gathered all the information
I could obtain on the subject and communicated the same to the
Quarterly Statement. I now venture, therefore, to submit the
following notes pending the time when more expert investigators
‘f and the results of excavation throw more certain light on the
i - matter.
wy. The very heavy rains of 1892-3 again caused the formation
of a lake on the spot described. During the ensuing summer
there was a great epidemic of malignant fever which carried off
many people at Jaffa, and was attributed to the malaria caused
by the evaporation from this large sheet of stagnant water. A
ditch was dug to drain it off. I have marked this ditch on the
map. Starting from the junction of the two roads coming from
Selami, it runs for about 100 metres alongside the road to Jaffa
and then turns northwards and westwards, reaching the sea by
a following the apparently natural hollow or groove that exists
between the Moslem cemetery and the Saknet Rashid. I may
-_ yemark in passing that during the last decade a large suburb has
re = sprung up just north and in continuation of this ‘“Saknet,” and
that when the foundations for the new houses were being prepared
many remains of oil-mills were uncovered, corroborating the
information given to Professor Clermont-Ganneau and noted in
es eee Archeological Researches.
The rains of the following season (1893-4) were again very
_ heavy. The lake once more appeared, and the ditch above
described proved for some time inadequate for drainage and
therefore had to be dug deeper and wider later on in the year.
The water stood for a couple of days fully 2 feet deep for a good
way all along and on either side of both of the roads leading
to Selami, and one day I was obliged to wade through the flood
43 in order to ascertain whether a fellow-worker whose dwelling

‘Tog

" -
-

~_
wt :

Spe surrounded needed provisions, &c. In doing so I was up to
4 if pe r a : d
Pate OY, knees in water on the road itself. In order to obtain a goo

_—s view and gain an idea of the extent of the inundation (which I

“4
‘ -

260 ‘TRADITIONAL “ HARBOUR OF SOLOMON,” ETC.

have marked with the dotted line upon the map) I went a few

days later, after the water had somewhat subsided, to the top of
the Russian church, and was immediately struck by the configura-
tion of the land. Below me, in a great, long, broad, and shallow
hollow, lay the swamp with reaches of its waters gleaming through
Open spaces amongst the orange groves, whilst to the west the
buildings of Jaffa’ stood out boldly on a low hill and at the end
of a ridge that ran, well sustained, with marked elevations or
small heights, from the city southwards. Only to the north-west and
horth-north-west was the view seawards clear and unobstructed by
higher ground. The lake lay in a sort of valley-basin or thal-kessel,
which sloped northwards and slightly westwards to the sea. The
(American) German colony lay on higher ground just beyond the
northern edge of the submerged tract.

This survey of the general situation placed the question before
me in a new and interesting light, and inquiries amongst natives
and old residents elicited the information that a great many years
ago old people had related that they had heard of boat anchors
having been dug up in the “Bassah,” as the lowest part of the
hollow is called, and further, that some years ago when the owners
of the land wanted to sink a well, they had at various points struck
"pon portions of what was supposed to have been a massive sea wall
built with somewhat of a curve as if intended to surround or limit
a large pool or sheet of water. In sinking shafts in different places
through the rich water-deposited soil which forms the bed of the
“wamp, they went down to a great depth (11 metres, say 35 feet

9 inches) without reaching sand, which in other places near Jaffa is

always at a short distance below the surface, and finally they were
compelled to give up the search because the sides of the shafts,
which were not cased with mining frames and were very narrow,
Seemed dangerous and liable to fall. The present surface of the
tract on which the lake formed is, as I was told by the German
colony Surveyor, Herr Frank, and also by Mr. Serapion Murad, to
whose family the property belongs, only 2 metres 60 centimetres
(about 8 feet 6 inches) above sea level. It follows, therefore, that
the original bed was considerably below the level of the sea, and it
seems, therefore, not impossible that there may have been here, at
Some period or other, perhaps in prehistoric times, an inland lagoon
or Swamp, perhaps connected with the sea by a narrow channel, up
which small vessels may have passed to find shelter in stormy

eg en ee ue —a ro —
§ A =, no . . t . c. yey i

ss PRADITIONAL “ HARBOUR OF SOLOMON, ETC. 261

___ weather, just as at the present day fishing-boats seek for shelter in
‘the Aujeh, about three miles to the northward.

i The mention of the Aujeh leads me to the remark that an
examination of the general features of the seaboard of Palestine

shows us a configuration repeated frequently, sometimes on a very
large and bold scale, at others on a smaller one. Thus the Aujeh
jtself drains a large depression like that I have described, and that
this depression was at one time covered with swamps or a lake is
proved by the fact that Dr. Chaplin discovered the remains of a
great rock-hewn tunnel that was in ancient times constructed in
order to draw off the water. Then a short distance north of Arstf
we have the same thing, as also at Hadherah, south-east of Caesarea,
and so on further north. The salient features are ridges or pro-
- _montories more or less emphasised, with a plain or valley running
behind them and sloping seaward. Examples are: Beirft, with the

ef
~ < —
a a
i
7’ _ Ps

Be plain behind and a river draining the latter; and, on a gigantic
scale, the Carmel range, with the plain of Esdraelon and the Kishon.
Sometimes the promontory or ridge is continued seaward by one
aay er more islands, or, where these have disappeared, by a line of rocks
‘ Pe more or less submerged. As examples I may cite Tripolis and
-‘ Tyre, and, as I hope to be able to show, also Jaffa.
rn I can now goa step further. In the foregoing remarks I have
ss used the term prehistoric with reference to the traditional harbour

at Jaffa, my reason being that I know of no old record in which its
existence is mentioned. We have very early descriptions of Jaffa
Sch and its surrounding sand-dunes and gardens. Surely if there had
‘been an inland harbour we should have expected to find it men-
tioned. On the other hand the descriptions that have come down
to us seem in most respects to tally with present conditions, though
- jndeed we may infer from allusions here and there that during the
eke lapse of centuries certain changes must have taken place in the
state of the shore line. One of the best of these descriptions is
that of Josephus (Wars, UI, ch. ix, § 3), who gives a striking
: account of the taking of the pirates’ nest by Vespasian, and
the destruction of their vessels by a storm. The narrative is
so graphic that it would serve for the report of shipwrecks at
‘Jaffa at the present day, except in one detail, a very significant
Dig and important one, which will not fit into the present state of
things. Josephus states that the vessels were destroyed by the

north wind, which was so dreaded and dangerous that it was called

if
ae :

z 4 Ym]
4 ’ r ? Lh

262 TRADITIONAL “HARBOUR OF SOLOMON,” ETC.

“the black north wind.” This is not the case nowadays. The
north wind is indeed feared at Jaffa, not because it endangers ©
shipping, but because of its poisonous qualities, it having been often
noticed that a general outbreak of fever is sure to follow whenever
it blows, the supposed reason being that it sweeps the malaria and
exhalations from the northerly marshes down to Jaffa. At the
present day it is not the north, but the west, and more particularly
the south-west wind which is so dangerous to ships that they prefer
to go past or to cruise in the open sea rather than approach the
shore. This observation, which I have frequently made, led me to
suspect that since the time of Josephus some change must have
taken place in the direction of the shore line, and I was led to
examine it more closely than I should otherwise have done. The
following are notes I made on this point :—

Being an inland sea open only to the west, there is no tide to
speak of, if, indeed, any at all in the Mediterranean, but, neverthe-
less, there is often a very marked difference in sea-level both within
and outside the present harbour. It occurs always, as others beside
myself have noticed (see Z.D.P. V., vol. iii, p. 44), after the east
wind has blown for several days, and then there is a difference of
from 4 to 6 feet in the level of the water-surface, and the whole top
of the reef enclosing the harbour is laid bare and dry, so that
stepping on to it from the spot where it touches the shore at the
southern end of the bathing place south of the town, it is possible
to walk dry-shod, and even, by now and then jumping over narrow
water channels, to reach and examine its outer edge for a great
part of its extent. I have done this several times, and was
surprised to find that there were several artificial rock-cuttings on
its surface, which leads one to think that at one time there must
either have been a quarry there, or that it had been purposely hewn —
in order to have huge stones fitted firmly into it. Further up the
coast, when riding from Cesarea to Jaffa, I noticed something of
the same kind in one or two other places, where the rocks, now
generally covered by the waves, look, when exposed, as if at one
time or other tombs had been cut in them. If so, they must, at
some period or other, have been considerably higher above sea-level
than they are’at present.

On the other hand, at a very little distance south of Jaffa, at
a spot between the bathing place and Bir el-Helweh, it appears

Mair *
= i ol ee

a ~ fs - A api éP ‘ : eS = 4) F eT ’ ws - + ibe
: i as i}. — i ee, 2 ei . r a) ees
ae v0 i * . ; oe) 7

ss TRADITIONAL “HARBOUR OF SOLOMON,” ETC. 263

2 Ss pe
that where part of the shore is now several feet higher than
the sea it, must at one time have been submerged beneath it, as
there are distinct remains, not only of the common sandy tufa rock
mixed with shells, but of a stratum of solid shell-bed (muschelbank).
It seems justifiable, therefore, to suppose that changes must have
taken place at one time or another in the conditions of the shore
owing to volcanic or other agencies. Earthquakes are not infrequent
in the East. During the eleventh century of our era many
devastated Egypt and Syria, and about 1068, as we are informed
by the Arab historians (see Besant and Palmer, History of Jerusalem,
p- 119), “the sea suddenly receded for the distance of a day’s
journey, but on the inhabitants of the neighbourhood taking
session of the reclaimed land, it suddenly returned and over-
whelmed them, so that an immense destruction of life ensued.”
Besides the above we have at least one other historical allusion
which we can quote as proving that a change must, even during so
recent a period as the last 700 years, have taken place in the
appearance of the coast at Jaffa.

* In reading the accounts by contemporary writers of different
sieges and occupations of the place during the Crusading period,
first by the forces of Godfrey in 1099 A.D., then by Richard and
Saladin in 1192, and lastly by the army of St. Louis of France in
1253, we cannot overlook the important fact that the chroniclers
clearly distinguish between “ the town ” and “the citadel” (compare
William of Tyre, viii, 9, as quoted in Smith’s Bible Dictionary [1863],
vol. i, p. 1125; Vinisauf, in Bohn’s Chronicles of the Crusades,
pp. 312, 313; and Bohaeddin, Life of Saladin, Pal. Pilgrims Teat
Society, chapters 164 and 165, pp. 365-370. Now the importance
of this distinction, which the casual reader is apt to overlook, lies in
the eircumstance that the citadel was not a part of the town itself,
and did not occupy, as one might suppose, the site of the former
kul‘, on the top of the hill where the Franciscan church now stands
commanding the present harbour, but in a different and isolated
position. It is thus described by one who saw it: “It resembled a
well-defended town, and was situated on an island”—the italics are
Tig) my own—‘ near the sea-shore. . - - - Adjacent to the castle was
a village which the king (St. Louis) began to fortify and enclose
wherever the shore would permit it. He did this at great cost,
enclosing the town from one side of the sea to the other,” &c. Of
this island, which must have been of a fair size, there is now not

es . r = rh
I 3 ees eee ee ee ae eee OP.

as’
264 NOTES ON SOME RUINS, ETC., IN THE WADY KUMRAN.

a trace left, unless the isolated rock on the northern side of the
well-known narrow passage through the reef into the present
harbour be a vestige of it. I have marked the place where I
suppose the island to have stood on the map.

NOTES ON SOME RUINS AND A ROCK-CUT AQUEDUCT
IN THE WADY KUMRAN.

By Dr. E. W. G. Masrerman.

In traversing the Wady Kumran on my road to ‘Ain Feshkhah in March
last I passed two points of interest—

1. Khurbet Abu Tabak.—In the plain called Zl Bukeia near to the
important and well-worn road that traverses the plain from north to

Here there are (1) a small cemetery evidently of antiquity, the
appearance of the graves being very similar to those at Khurbet Kumrén,
(2) a cave, and (3) some ruins. The cave, known as Mugharet Abu (or
Umm) Tabak, lies on the north side of a low hill ; it runs north to south,
and is largely, if not entirely, artificial. It is 116 feet long, 174 feet wide
at its widest, that is about half-way in, and probably is about 20 feet high
throughout. The floor is piled up with goats’ dung to the height of
Several feet, so it is difficult to say how far the floor has been levelled
throughout, but the general shape is regular. At the extreme inner end
there is a hole at the top of the accumulated dirt which may lead into an
inner part. My man put his gun in as far as he could without touching
rock, The right side of the cave shows tool-marka where the walls have
been smoothed, and at two places there are recesses for lamps. Close to
the entrance on this side of the cave there is a place where my Bedawin

likely place for the long preservation of any cutting.

On the top of the isolated hill in which the cave lies, there are the
foundations of a wall 4 feet thick, made of large stones, and standing in
places to the height of three courses above the ground. They completely

|} Apparertly the Kurm Abu Tubk of The Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 213.

NOTES ON SOME RUINS, ETC., IN THE WADY KUMRAN. 265

enclose an area, practically the whole top of the hill—about 170 feet by
80 feet. Ata slightly lower level to the east, and joining on to the first
enclosure, there is a smaller euclosed area about 40 feet square. On the
highest point of the hill are some ill-defined ruins. My guide pointed

out some lines of ruined walls on the hill slopes around which he said

belonged to vineyards that once existed there.
The whole remains, the ruins, the cave, and the graves, suggest that

there was once a guard station here for the protection of the important

road which traverses the Bukeia from Jericho and the Jordan to Mar
Saba, ‘Ain Jidy, Masada, &c. This plain is now every summer such a

Fra. 1.—View on the road down the side of the Wady Kumran.

haunt of robbers that the road can only be traversed by well-armed
parties ; in the winter the Abideyeh Arabs encamp all over it.

2. Rock-cut Aqueduct in the Wady Kumrdn.-—-The descent from the
Bukeia to the remains known as Khurbet Kumran is by an exceedingly
rough path down which a horse can ouly be led with difficulty, but there
are evidences that at one time much labour has been expended on making
a mountain road suitable for horses and mules. On reaching the plateau
ef marl on which, at a quarter of a mile to the east, lies the Khurbet
Kumran, an aqueduct! may be seen running from the hills almost
direct towards the ruins for a distance of upwards of 400 yards.

Referred to in my paper on this district, Quarterly Statement, 1902, p. 161.

—

Tage Ee

266 NOTES ON SOME RUINS, ETC., IN THE WADY KUMRAN.,

What appears on the surface is but a parallel row of stones, the water
channel having silted up to the level of the surrounding ground. [
made further investigation and found, what I believe has not been
previously reported, that this built-up channel is but the continuation of
a rock-cut aqueduct which begins in the kind of amphitheatre! formed

Fie. 2.~Open rock-cut Aqueduct in Wady Kumran, near the beginning.
Gun is placed in the channel.

when the Wady Kumran abruptly empties itself from the high ground
to the level of the ‘Ain Feshkhah oasis. Down this series of precipices al]

' Described by M. de Sauley as ‘‘a circular cavity, resembling a crater.’
The Dead Sea (Eng. ed.), vol. ii, p. 42.

ge ey

: > be atall o . ae Pt tei a dal thr a's et
=. ak es Sas on a rieeb Saas os
Son Sah

° eas $ ON SOME RUINS, ETC., IN THE WADY KUMRAN. 267

7 eae The Siadiior commences at the foot of one of these eran ft
_—- _not the central great one but asmaller one to the north. From the
ie TN capaho somewhat funnel-shaped beginning the aqueduct runs for 60 feet
as an open rock-cut channel, it then traverses for about 40 feet a rock-cut
- tunnel now blocked up at both ends ; thence it runs about 30 feet along
_ the side of the rock by what must have been a half built-up channel, one
side being of natural rock, the other built up; this latter, the south ats,
- has been almost entirely brete! away, but the course is quite evident by
the plaster along the rocks. On reaching this point the aqueduct passes
r - es the rock once more. This tunnel, which can be traversed
_ throughout, is 3 feet high, 2 feet wide, and 43 feet long. Like the rest
of this aqueduct it is very winding. It is broken at the bottom, 11 feet
- from the entrance, at a point where the floor has been partially built up
; of stone, and another 12 feet along there is a small window, made
{probably accidentally, above the level reached by the water, looking to
_ the south. This part of the aqueduct is in good repair, and much of His
be r is in position. Leaving the tunnel the aqueduct can be easily
‘traced for some 50 feet, but from there till it reappears on the plateau,
a distance of about 340 feet, it has heen almost entirely destroyed, and
Saee can only be traced by means of fragments of the cement adherent to the
_ cliffs. The total length from the source to the birket among the ruins
ast be about half a mile.
sigs ft is improbable there was ever a spring in this part of the Wdady
, and I think we are safe in assuming that this little aqueduct
sake to fill with the winter rains the cistern or cisterns connected
| with the buildings now known as the ruin Kumrdn. The surface-water
on the marly plateau would not be good for this purpose, nor would the
; water in the neighbouring springs of ‘Ain Feshkhah, though
rinkat le, be grateful to permanent dwellers in the neighbourhood.
*, The 700 graves and the extensive ruins of Khurbet Kumran offer a
for speculation as to their origin ; it is evident that this carefully-
structed aqueduct and, I think we may add, the built-up road down
. north side of the Wady and the ruins of Khurbet Abu Tabak are all
sely connected with the unknown period, when this now entirely
erted corner of the Dead Sea was in no inconsiderable degree

soe

aia ste eae ie eee

‘AIN EL-KUS‘AH.
By R. A. STEWART MACALISTER, M.A., F.S.A.

THIs curious rock-cutting is situated on the north side of the road from
el-Bireh to Beitin, It is one of the most remarkable of the rock-cut
waterworks in the Jerusalem district.

At the ‘Ain the road runs at the foot of a perpendicular cliff, 15 feet
in height. Above this is a smooth rock platform, about 11 feet 6 inches
in average breadth, behind which the rock again rises up the hillside

Fic. 1.—-Large Cistern in Lower Scarp, from the North-West.

though not so steeply as below. The various members of the system
may therefore be described according as they are in the upper scarp, the
platform, the lower scarp, or the pathway at the foot. The total length
of the system is 150 feet.

In the upper scarp the only detail is the channel from which some of
the water issues. It is artificial, about 5 feet in height and 2 feet 6 inches
in breadth ; the length is 16 feet 4 inches. At the inner end it turns
round at right angles into a small, low, roughly circular chamber about
5 feet in diameter. The direction of this passage is almost north and
south (compass reading 170 degrees, facing the entrance),

|
}

y :

‘AIN EL-KUS‘AH. 269

On the platform are cut a series of shallow vats, round and square,
some of them connected by channels. These are usually found about
important sources of water supply, and no doubt were made for watering
cattle, washing clothes, and similar purposes. The vats in the present
example, however, are less deep than usual. Besides the vats, there is
eut a long, deep channel, continuing the watercourse from the rock-cut
tunnel already described. This runs straight across the platform, and
then turns abruptly westward. It carried water down to the cistern
in the lower part of the system.

The various members of the lower scarp and the pathway may be
taken together. They are (proceeding from west to east)—

(1) A small niche in the rock.

- (2) A large cistern, 24 feet 9 inches broad, 37 feet 3 inches long, and
‘between 6 and 7 feet high. The roof is supported by two square
ah pillars. The walls show remains of plastering. The cistern was once

S £2
A A
tpn, G
Gf FF7, “nf,
Ae ¥
=

| sepa Caen ircular struchure
$

° ” pring,
= % SPREE eee

OS Tro ug hs

Sketch-plan of “Ain el Kugioh.

. ty closed up to the top, and contained deep water, as water lines remain
on some fragments of the plaster, but now a large irregular doorway
thas been broken in the south-west corner, and a small channel cut
through the rock underneath it, so that the cistern cannot contain more
‘than about 1 foot 6 inches depth of water. The floor is covered to a
depth of about 1 foot with soft mud. The walls and pillars are covered
with a luxuriant growth of maiden-hair fern.

In the north wall of this cistern there is a cruciform recess, about
4 feet wide and 2 feet deep, extending the whole height of the excavation.
-- Water drips slowly from the roof in this recess, and possibly also rises

i from the floor. There is apparently a spring in connexion with the
_ eistern, but, owing to its gentleness and to the mud deposit on the floor,
it is impossible to determine where it is with exactness. There is also a
hole broken through to the channel running from the tunnel in the
upper scarp, but it is almost choked, and water merely trickles
b a F
‘through it.

(8) In the middle of the path is a curious circular structure, built (not
__ vock-cut), 11 feet 9 inches in diameter. One row of stones only remains,

ee ee see a a < fs aoe = hel ‘
pay ee ay ts aes « re a ee ny: eps Ree Sees
Tame te F ve : f+ f ;

GREEK AND LATIN INSCRIPTIONS.

fair-faced on the inside surface. It is impossible without excavation to
tell what this may be : it is possibly the mouth of a large cistern at a
yet lower level, which had been filled up before the path took its present —
direction. The channel from the tunnel in the upper scarp appears
intended to direct water to this supposed cistern.

(4) In the face of the cliff is cut a small tunnel into which it is just
possible to enter ; out of this flows a stream of water that takes its rise
at the end of the tunnel (about 4 feet from the face of the scarp) ina
small fissure in the rock. The water falls into a trough, and is conveyed
thence into a second : the first trough is oval, the second rectangular.
They are beside the pathway, and are used for watering cattle. From
the second trough the water flows away over the surface of the ground.

(5) The last detail of the system is a small, square cave cut in the face
of the rock, at the eastern end of the scarp.

There is no indication whatever of the date of the rock-cuttings.

My attention was first directed to this spring by Dr. Peters, of New
York, who visited it with Mr. Hanauer. It does not seem to have ever
been fully described, though Mr. Hanauer (who has referred to it in the
Quarterly Statement of last January, p- 80) tells me it has been mentioned
by different writers under different names—‘Ain el-Ghazal, ‘Ain el-
Haramiyeh, and ‘Ain el-Kassis. The last is the name under which it is
denoted in the Ordnance Map: there is no reference to it in the accom-
panying memoir. The true name, as Mr. Hanauer informed me, and as

I verified by several inquiries on the spot, is deo)! rc ‘Ain el-Kus‘ah,

”

the “spring of the pot ”—possibly referring to the circular foundation in
the middle of the pathway.

GREEK AND LATIN INSCRIPTIONS.

Tur Rev. J. E. Hanauer sends squeezes of three small Greek and Latin
inscriptions, for the readings of which we are indebted to Canon Hicks :—

1. A Greek inscription on a small marble slab, rather prettily carved,
broken in several pieces, but now forming part of the floor of a room in
the “ Friends’ Boys’ School” at Ramallah. It is of unequal length,
one side being 1°65 cm. long, and the other 1:20 cm. only. The
breadth is 54 cm., the diameter of circular panels 27 cm. Mr. Hanauer
remarks that the stone, which was shown to him by Mr. Grant, the
Principal, is said to have been brought from Deir Diwan. It reads :—

+ “Ynép dvaraicews BndAdpovos mpeaB(urepov).
“For the repose of Selamon, a Presbyter.”

Canon Hicks adds that the monument looks like part of a sarcophagus,
and that the writing is probably of the third century A.D.

FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. rx

2. Two Latin Epitaphs.—Mr. Macalister, who also sends drawings
and readings, states that the Latin inscriptions were found in the grounds
of St. George’s College, at Jerusalem, in the course of digging to make a
cistern. They were associated with small tomb-chambers belonging to
the same necropolis as that containing the painted tomb described some
years ago by Mr. Dickie (Quarterly Statement, 1896, pp. 305-310). The
tombs were of no special interest. The slabs are now preserved in the
reading room of St. George’s College, and the drawings and descriptions
we owe to the kindness of the Right Rev. Bishop Blyth :—

(2) D. M. D(is) M(anibus).
TARQVITIAE Tarquitiae
SEVANILLAE Silvanillae.
VIXIT MENS. IX... Vixit mens(es) ix...
PATER EIVS'- C Pater ejus f(aciendum) c(reavit), or
f(e)c(it).

“To the sacred shades of Tarquitia Silvanilla. She lived ix...
months. Her father had (the tomb) made.”

(6) p. [m.] D(is) M(anibus).
M!/ LORI Manius Lori...
vix1Ta[n] Vixit a(n).

To the sacred shades. Manius Lori....lived... years.”

a) is a limestone slab, 124 inches long, 9} inches broad, 2} inches
thick ; (0) is a fragment of a slab of limestone more compact than the

material of (a).

NOTICES OF FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS.

Revue de UOrient latin, tome ix, Nos. 1, 2, 1902.—A. Carriére, “ La
Rese d’Or du Roi d’Arménie, Léon V.” E. Blochet, “ L’histoire d’ Egypte,
de Makrizi, version frangaise,” a French translation from the Arabic text
with historical and geographical notes ; the instalment covers the period
from the thirteenth year of Saladin to the nineteenth year of el-Melek
el-‘Adil. Gaston Paris, “Les Mémoires de Philippe de Novare.”
c. A. Garufi, “ Le Dovazione del Conte Enrico di Paternd al Monastero
di S. Maria di valle Giosafat.” J. van den Gheyn, 8.J., “ Lettre de
Grégoire IX concernant Empire latin de Constantinople.” The important
bibliography of works and periodicals is continued.

Recueil @ Archéologie Orientale, vol. V, parts 19-21.--In § 48, “ Fiches

et Notules,” M. Clermont-Ganneau deals with the identification of place-

names in the inscription of Bodashtart at Sidon (see Quarterly Statement,

1903, p- 181). § 49, “Inscription gréco-palmyrénienne Egypte,” is a

272 FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. oS

proposed restoration of an inscription found by Professor Petrie at
Denderah. § 50, “Inscriptions grecques de Djerach,” remarks on two
inscriptions from Jerash, copied by Dr. Schumacher and the late
Dr. Kiepert. § 51, “Sur deux Epitaphes puniques.” § 52, “La Notion
de la Sainteté chez les Sémites,” notes on Baudissin’s work on the same
subject, which deal with ear-rings and the slaves of the divinity, sacred
rivers, trees, mountains, and caves. M. Clermont-Ganneau proposes
to read [Na]har hab-ba‘alah, the “river of Baalah,” for har hab-ba‘alah,
“Mount Baalah,” in Josh. xv, 11, as there is no mountain on the coast of
Judea. He also holds that the Shicron of the same passage is not
a town but a river, the Nahr Sfikereir. With reference to the tree
planted by Abraham at Beersheba (Gen. xxi, 33), attention is drawn to
the modern custom amongst the fellahin of planting a tamarisk to mark
a disputed boundary. § 53, “La ‘Porte de Nicanor’ du Temple de
Jerusalem.” A translation has been published in Quarterly Statement,
1903, pp. 125-130.

Revue Biblique, vol. xii, No. 2.—P. A. Jaussen, “ Coutumes Arabes,
III,” a continuation of papers on Arab customs from experience amongst
the Bedawin of Moab. Amongst herbs used medicinally the Lartheh is said
to be more efficacious in fever cases than quinine. Remarks on sacrifice
m cases of serious epidemic or severe drought ; on the curious boat-
shaped saddle (merkab) in which the daughter of the sheikh of a Bedawi
tribe rides to battle, on a camel ; the preparation of food for the genius
of a new camping ground; the sanctity of an oath unongst the
Bedawin ; and ancestor worship. J. Manfredi, “ Callirhoé et Baarou.”
The geographical mosaic of Medeba shows that the hot springs in the
Wady Zerka MA‘in, which are usually identified with Callirhée, are
really the springs of Baarou (the Baaras of Josephus), and that ‘Agr
Sara, which pours its waters directly into the Dead Sea, is Callirhée.
The road from the spring to Herod’s fortress of Machaerus can still be
traced. The evidence of the Mosaic map is confirmed by the statements
of Josephus, Eusebius, and Peter the Tberian, who lived towards the end
of the fifth century. R. P. Vincent, “ Notes d’Epigraphie Palestinienne.”
A fragment of an Arab milestone, the seventh from ‘Elia, erected by
‘Abd el-Melik, found in a medieval building near the church at Abu
Ghosh by the Benedictines. An inscribed tombstone from Beersheba
bearing the name of a certain Katovpos AtAnows, who died in the year
344 of Eleutheropolis = a.p. 543. Several new inscriptions have been
found at Beersheba by Fathers Jaussen and Abel, one apparently forming
part of the imperial rescript found by Mr. Macalister (Quarterly Statement,
1902, pp. 236, 270 sgq.). R. P. Savignac, “Le haut-lieu de Pétra,” an
excellent description of the “high place” of Petra (see Quarterly Statement,
1900, pp. 350 sgq.), with plans, sections, and photographs. The * high
place” was sacred from an early period, and assumed its present form
in the reign of Aretas IV (n.c. 9-a.p. 40). The deity worshipped was
Dushara (Dusares) ; the two obelisks were probably of the type of the

FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS. 273

obelisks, pillars, or columns placed at the entrances to sacred buildings,
of which there are many examples in Egypt, Pheenicia, and Syria, e.y.,
Jachin and Boaz at the gate of the Temple ; one of the altars was for the
slaughter of the victims, the other for libations or burnt offerings.

Das heilige Land, vol. xlvii, part 1.—Professor Sellin, ‘“ Ausgrab-
ungen in Paliistina,” a short account of his excavations at Taanach.
Work was commenced on the 10th March, 1902, and 150 workpeople
were employed. Three towers—one Canaanite, one early and one late
Tsraelite—and an Arab castle were brought to light ; amongst the small
objects found were lamps, vessels of earthenware, weapons, and a few
searabs. Near one tower the remains of about 30 children were found,
buried in jars as at Gezer, and not far from them a Canaanite rock-altar,
There were also uncovered two libation columns, and a whole street of
sacred columns. In the houses were found large numbers of images of
the Canaanite naked Astarte ; and under the houses were discovered the
remains of infants and of adults who had been buried when the houses
were built. An altar of burned clay was found in 41 fragments, which
were put together. On two sides were cherubim and lions, on another
the tree of life with two stags, and on a fourth a man strangling a snake,
The altar is said to be of Israelite times, but this and other conclusions
of Professor Sellin must be accepted with caution until a full account of
his work is published, with plans and notices of the depths at which the

various objects were found.

Pataestina, vol. i, parts 3 and 4,—There are articles on the present
position of the Jewish colonies in Palestine ; on the need of a theoretical
preparation for the colonisation of Palestine; on gum arabic from
Palestine ; and on the future of the silk industry in Palestine, a valuable
contribution, with statistics of the cocoons raised, exported, and used
locally, and the prices obtained. There is also a record of the progress of

silk cultivation in Palestine.

Mittheilungen und Nachrichten des Deutsche Pal. Vereins, 1901,
Nos. 3-6.—H. Lucas, “ Griechische Inschriften aus Gerasa”; and
“ Repertorium der griechischen Inschriften aus Gerasa.” 1902, Nos. 1, 2,
Professor Kautzsch ; an appreciative obituary notice of the late
Dr. Conrad Schick. Professor Dr. Sellin, “ Kurzer Bericht iiber die
Ausgrabung von Ta‘annek” (Nos. 1 and 2); copies of the reports of
Dr. Sellin to the Vienna Academy on his excavations at Taanach (see
above). Dr. Schumacher, “ Unsere Arbeiten in Ostjordanlande, V,” a

tinuation of Dr. Schumacher’s letter from ‘AjlQn, with illustrations.

C. W. W.

——————————

274 =

NOTES AND QUERIES.

1. Hebrew Inscription at Fik (see p. 185).—Professor A. Biichler, of. _

Vienna, in a letter dated April 30th, proposes to read NIT |
for TIN +7. The inscription will then run :-—

FINI TTT TN -

“Tam Jehudah the hazzan.”

The pn, here written with $§ to indicate the long d, and in
the emphatic state with > as in TT3N, was a well-known official from
the time of the second temple onwards (Levy, N.A.WB., 2, p. 296;
Kohut, 3, pp. 357) sqq. ; Weinberg, Monatsschrift f. Gesch. Wissens.
Jud., 1897, p. 659; Schiirer, Gesch Volk. Isy., third ed., 2, p. 441),
Such officials held important posts in the synagogues of Palestine,
and even of Alexandria ; they were learned men, and were some-
times teachers of children. The hazxin also acted in a judicial
capacity. Dr. Biichler points out further that the hazzin corre-
sponds to the “attendant” (irypérys)! of Luke iv, 20, to whom
Jesus handed the roll after He had read the selection from the
prophet Isaiah in the Synagogue of Nazareth. The name is
identical with the a€avizys of Cilicia in the fourth century.

Judah of Fik, Professor Biichler concludes, was consequently
either a Synagogue attendant or some judicial authority.

2. Tombstone of John de Valence.—In former issues of the
Quarterly Statement—tor instance, that for April, 1887, p. 73—there
are references to the Crusading tombstone with the epitaph of
John of Valence (Johs de Valencinis). Whilst reading the Crusading
Chronicles in order to put together the enclosed notes on Jaffa, I
have come across two suggestive names :—

(1) Sir John de Vallance, highly commended by Joinville

(Memoirs, Bohn’s edition, pp. 474, 475, 476), A.D. 1250, and
(2) Sir John de Valenciennes, mentioned by Joinville in his
‘ account of the battle at Banias, a.p. 1253.

Is it likely that these names are identical and belong to the
same person, and, if so, is it possible that the tombstone in question, —
which is now to be seen amongst the antiquities at St. Anne’s
Church, Jerusalem, was his ? J. E. HANAUER.

' The irnpirns recurs in later inscriptions (Schiirer, op. cit., 2, p. 441; ‘|
Gemeindeverfassung, 28 s9q.). a

i
i,
hg oa. >

NOTES AND QUERIES. 275
ys?
a 3. Hebrew Inscription from Gezer.—The short Hebrew inscription
daeigtathed by Mr. Macalister ranks among the most interesting of
his discoveries made during the last quarter. At the same time it
constitutes a puzzle which, if the fragmentary state of the saucer
does not enable us to solve, at least deserves a few provisional
remarks by way of introduction. Unfortunately the figure (p. 204
ioe is not enough to enable one to read the characters with
certainty, and we cannot therefore be sure whether the 4 in the
‘S second line should not be J and whether the last character in the
_ first line is a 4 or 7. That the 4 should have an open head is,
_ however, not unprecedented in Hebrew (cf. 77D, Levy, No. 5).
_ Mr. Macalister’s 3 in the first line is probably correct ; the alterna-
- tive is 5, which has this characteristic form only in the Aramean
bets. The form of the / is also Aramaic, but it is found upon
the coins of Simon the Maccabee. The inscription may be read,

(4) (9)
+325..

Loe

Broken letters are surmounted by a dot, and alternative readings
oes Fe superimposed upon those which are more probable. The double
>in . the middle is characteristic of Israelite seals, but the letters
elves do not easily suggest Israelite names. Two or three
Ane s are wanting at the commencement of each line, and conse-
ently u may be the end of a name followed by pao,“ son.”
hough the inscription is not particularly ancient, it is extremely
ionable whether one may seek to discover the well-known
-hides in either the first or the second line (JD2, Pyaa)- But
it is difficult to make a satisfactory suggestion. The analogy of
yr similar inscriptions leads one to expect :

. a (a) To (b)
me,.t0) Lo
oth “to” and “son of ” are occasionally omitted. yy in the
‘ line might be taken to mean “judge,” but we miss the
pee. On the other hand, if })7\2[?2] is restored it might
be sible to think of a denominative of ]}j2, “horn,” as
ti igh at «the trumpeter.” Or again, the second line may contain
? i U

son of
son of

, the (seribe, priest, &c.).

ale | oa bi i‘ =) nae’ J

276 NOTES AND QUERIES.

a geographical designation, in which case one thinks of the Judean
Kerioth (Josh. xv, 25). At all events, it is greatly to be hoped
that Mr. Macalister may have the good fortune to discover other
Hebrew remains of a similar character which may throw more light
upon this puzzling find. S. A. C,

4. Mizpeh and Gath—The superb view from Nebi Samwil befits
the only possible site (Quarterly Statement, 1882, p. 260) for Mizpeh
(lit. “the watchtower”) of Benjamin. In Quarterly Statement,
1898, pp. 169, 251, Tell Nasbeh (its letters resemble Mizpeh) is
suggested. As, however, Ishmael departed to go east (Jer. xli, 1 0)
we are not entitled to send him three miles south-west in order that
he may approach “the great waters which are near Gibeon.”

As Benjamin’s Mizpeh had a panorama worthy of its name, so
probably the watchtower of Judah (Josh. xv, 38) occupied a command-
ing height. I, therefore, accept Van de Velde’s site at Tell
eg-SAfiyeh, a conspicuous hill with a glittering white cliff, rising like
an isolated block above the adjacent country.

At this tell Porter located Gath, but in Quarterly Statement,
1880, p. 171, I favoured Libnah, because it means whiteness. The
wide view and present name, Tell es-Safiyeh (clear or bright), Heb.
Mizpeh (LXX, Macondd), the Crusaders’ Alba Specula, or Blanche
Garde—all connected—seem to form a chain which no argument
can snap. The area which includes Lachish and Makkedah
(Josh. xv, 37-41) easily embraces Mizpeh at Tell es-Safiyeh.

The new volume of “Excavations in Palestine” records old
remains at this site, but offers no evidence of its being Goliath’s
Gath, which doubtless was in or near the plain marked “ Nahiet
el-Mejdel,” controlling it, as Ekron would the plain south of it.
The likeliest site for Gath seems to me to be Kh. J elediyeh (Galatia
of the Crusaders), preserving the name of Goliath, who in the Koran
is called Galat or Jaliit, while the Arabs called “the dynasty of the
Philistines, &¢.,” Galatiah or Jaldtiah. If Ashdod (140 feet) with-
stood Psammetichus 29 years, J elediyeh (248 feet) surely was
elevated enough to defy Israel before David's time.

Rev. W. F. Brrou, M.A.

ARTERLY STATEMENT, OcToBer, 1903.]

THE

_ PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.

oe
i NOTES AND NEWS.
THE present number contains a report of the Annual General
Meeting held on June 22nd, a short notice of which appeared in
the July Quarterly Statement. The account of the results of the
excavation at Gezer excited the greatest interest, and everywhere
epee was expressed that the report for the ensuing year would
2 as satisfactory as the last. Already this seems in a fair measure
Ags be justified. Mr. Macalister’s quarterly report shows that his
7 unremitting labours continue to reward him with interesting
™ overies, probably the most important of which is a rock-surface
: with cuttings and caves which appears to have been a sacred place
of the aboriginal inhabitants. Some remarkable inscribed stones
ave been found, but nothing of considerable length, comparable to
6 Lachish tablet, or to the tablets which Dr. Sellin is reported to
e unearthed at Taanach, has as yet come to light.

hobs the other hand, some valuable additions have been made to
the lamp and bow! deposits, and Mr. Macalister’s provisional theory
- f their origin (p. 307, sce also Sir Charles Wilson’s remarks, p. 288)
be carefully noticed. It is interesting to recall a Greek
iption from the Haurfin, where mention is made of one whose
: me : . ab oe was Beeliabos, father of Neteiros rod dvoQewOévtos év Tur
XA Byte Ot ob ai [é]opzai dywvta. Professor Clermont-Ganneau, in
the course of an illuminating discussion of these words (ecueil
dr {rchéologie Orientale, vol. ii., pp. 61-78), argues that the
¢ “apotheosis” of Neteiros was evidently some exceptional occurrence
thy of being recorded by a later member of the family, and
ests that Neteiros was doubtless a sacrificial victim. Whether
‘be well founded or not the evidence is certainly interesting
ioe to be taken into account in discussing the phenomena of the
ag lamp and bow! deposits.

278 NOTES AND NEWS. 7

The special donations for the excavation of Gezer (see Quarterly
Statement, pp. 97 sq., 188) since the amount recorded in the last
number comprise: Walter Morrison, Esq., J.P., £105; James
Hilton, Esq., £20 ; Williamson Lamplough, Esq., £5 5s. ; Professor
George Adam Smith, £5 5s.—total, £410 3s. It will be remembered
that about £2,000 is urgently required if the work of excavation is
to be carried out to the finish, and with that thoroughness which
the importance of the site and the success that has already attended
the Fund’s labours warrant.

The Palestine Exploration Fund will be represented in the
Geographical and Exploration Section of the St. Louis Exhibition
by the Great Survey of Western Palestine, the Old and New
Testament Maps, and the large and small Raised Maps, and by the
various publications of the Fund. There will also be exhibited
casts of some of the more important inscriptions; and a separate
feature will be made of the excavations at Gezer now in progress, of
which a large plan has been prepared, and which will be further
illustrated by enlarged photographs of the parts excavated, and by
casts of some of the objects found during the excavations. Colonel
Watson, R.E., a member of our Executive Committee, is appointed
the British Commissioner,

Dr. Merrill writes that an effort is being made by the local
government to increase the water supply at Ain el-Héd, better
known as the Apostles’ Fountain, below Bethany, on the road to
Jericho. The valley from the west drops down rapidly, and goes
past the fountain eastward. The road comes down a steep grade
round the foot of the hill, crosses the valley by a large culvert, and
goes on between the fountain and the coffee shop. Starting from
the fountain, and going up the valley on the right hand side as one
faces west, 10 pits have been sunk, and at a distance of 300 feet
from the fountain the covered pit or cistern was found. The
shafts dug vary in depth from a few inches to 40 feet. That below
and nearest the road is 22 feet. The aqueduct leading from the
cistern is 17 inches wide and 14 inches deep at the start. These
dimensions grow smaller as the fountain is approached. The walls
of the aqueduct are coated with cement worn very smooth. In the
bottom of the aqueduct there is a bed for a terra-cotta pipe. This |
aqueduct might be called a tunnel, but its smooth sides show that

NOTES AND NEWS. 279

it was designed. to convey water, and so was the terra-cotta pipe
which is nicely buried in the bottom. The concealed cistern or
source in the hillside is 10 feet by 8 at the bottom, 30 feet deep to
_ the spring of its arched roof, and the roof is 8 feet high, with

several feet of earth above the top. The stones of the arched roof
a ue are small, and those at the bottom of the cistern are large. It is
” _ proposed to tap the cistern at the side by means of an iron pipe,
lead the water horizontally to the side of the valley, which at that
Letidint resembles a V, and thence on the top of the ground along
Neh bank of the wiédy to the fountain. There is some water in the
4 cistern, which appears to come from the mountain above. How
fess much the supply of water will be increased it is impossible to tell
_ Brought in an iron pipe on the top of the ground it certainly
& will not be cooler than it is at present. The work is not yet

“s _ completed.

at 2 In reference to the scarabs found at Gezer, Professor Sayce
% : writes that the first Egyptian scarab published in Plate II
(Quarter! 'y Statement, July, p. 212), and found in the third stratum
a Gezer, bears the name of a king [Ra-] Kanefer. The name was
that of several kings of the Vith- Xth Egyptian dynasties, but
the spiral ornamentation of the scarab belongs rather to the period
of the XIIth—-XVIIth dynasties, and the eighty-fifth king of the
on dynasty, according to the Turin papyrus, was another
1-Kanefer or Nefer-Ka-Ra.

ee The nineteenth scarab figured on the same plate and found in
the cistern is a Hyksos one of well-known type. The inscription
in the centre plays upon the name of the Hyksos Pharaoh Khd-n-Ra,
ai the common a Ran Ra, “ the Sun of the Sun,” for which,
qn Semitic fashion, Ren-n-Ren, “the Name (Shem) of the Name,”
| or Ren-n-Ra, “the Name of the Sun,” is often substituted.

4 ¢

ic We learn from Mr. Hanauer (upon whom has recently been
: Se coe the distinction of “ Associate of St. George’s Collegiate
bs Church, Jerusalem”) that the Moslem cemetery on the hillock of
El-Adhemiyeh is now walled in and inaccessible. There has been
; gs od deal of quarrying of stone, especially on the western

ide, in order to obtain materials for the enclosure-wall. This
\ ryiz 1g has quite altered the contours on the west, and the
: P ofile of the skull, as shown in former plans, is now altered.
be aS : i ee

NOTES AND NEWS. a

Mr. Hanauer has kindly forwarded photographs of some objects — =F
that were dug up during the excavations carried on some years ee
ago in front of the old rock-hewn tomb now popularly known s
as “Gordon’s Garden Tomb.” It will be remembered that the ¥
excavations were made upon a portion of the site of the old a
Asnerie or Donkey-house of medieval times. The objects include "s
limestone effigies of horses and horsemen, fuller particulars of

which will be found below in “ Notes and Queries” (p. 358).

Mr. Hanauer also contributes a supplementary note (p. 355 below»
to his interesting article in the last number on the traditional
“harbour of Solomon” at Jaffa. It is gratifying to learn from it-
that his suggestion regarding its position appears to be borne 4
out by the actual results of excavation. With reference to the wk
cistern at Neby Datd (p. 191 above), he writes to confirm the
discovery. Three of the skeletons were seated, leaning against
the wall, and had evidently died in that attitude. He observes,
however, that in the charnel-house (ib.) not every skeleton had

three iron nails as at first described. Phi.

It is understood that the Russians are negotiating for the
purchase of the place at Beit Sha‘ar, where a mosaic inscription is
suid to have been recently discovered containing the names of John
and Zacharias. Being about half-way to Hebron, it will be & con-
venient hospice for the Russian Palestine Society, and as a “ holy
place” may even supplant ‘Ain Karim.

The observations made at Jaffa by the Rev. J. Jamal show that.
the rainfall at that place from 3rd October, 1902, to 28th April,
1903, amounted to a little more than 28 inches. In 54 days there
fell as follows :—

2 days in October, 1902 watt vase 229 inane
14 4, November, 1902... Temes ee
10. ,, December, 1902... eo: ee

10. 5, January, 1903... te OFO
9 5» February, 1903... rp FORO = ag
7 5 March, 1903 El 5% RAB
2 ” April, 1903 ayer oie at all
54 28°05, s

NOTES AND NEWS. 281

. The conclusion of Sir Charles Wilson’s articles on ‘‘ Golgotha
and the Holy Sepulchre,” and the “ Notices of Foreign Publications,”
are unavoidably held over until the next number of the Quarterly
Statement.

The attention of subscribers is called to a work by Sir Charles
Warren, entitled “The Ancient Cubit and our Weights and
Measures.” He brings evidence to show that all weights and
measures (except those of the metrical system) are derived from
one source—the double-cubit cubed of Babylonia.

| The “ Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai,” by the Rev. George
_E. Post, M.D., Beirfit, Syria, containing descriptions of all the
Phaenogams and Acrogens of the region, and illustrated by 441
woodcuts, may be had at the office of the Fund, price 21s.

The income of the Society from June 23rd, 1903, to Septem-
> ber 22nd, 1903, was—from Annual Subscriptions and Donations,
-_— jneluding Local Societies, £327 2s. 4d. ; from sales of publica-
; tions, &c., £112 2s. 1ld.; total, £439 5s. 3d. The expenditure
during the same period was £552 0s. 11d. On September 22nd
— the balance in the Bank was £244 11s. 2d.

Subscribers who have not yet paid their contributions for this
year will much facilitate the Committee’s efforts by sending their
_ subscriptions, the outgoings on the excavations at Gezer being just
_ mow a heavy drain on their funds.

Subscribers to the Fund are reminded that, whilst the receipt of
every subscription and contribution is promptly acknowledged by
, at the Acting Secretary, they will henceforth be published annually,

and not quarterly. A complete List of Subscribers and Subscriptions
r 1903 will be published in due course in a separate form.

a a oe
282 NOTES AND NEWS. ae

a, ae

Subscribers in U.S.A. to the work of the Fund will please note “s
that they can procure copies of any of the publications from the
Rev. Professor Theo. F. Wright, Honorary General Secretary to the
Fund, 42 Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.

The Committee will be glad to communicate with ladies and
gentlemen willing to help the Fund as Honorary Secretaries. The
following gentlemen have kindly consented to act :—D. H. Ayers,
Esq., Troy, New York ; Hon. William Niles, Esq., La Porte,
Indiana ; and Professor Robert L. Stewart, Esq., Lincoln University,
Chester Co., Pennsylvania.

The Acting Secretary has been engaged upon the preparation of a small
photo-relief map of Palestine, on a scale of 10 miles to the inch. Tt has:
been made from the large raised map published in 1893, and contains all the
principal biblical sites and their altitudes. All the chief topographical
features are faithfully reproduced; and students of the Bible will find it an

indispensable guide. Fuller particulars may be had on application to the
office, where advance proofs may be seen.

Subseribers and others may be reminded that the new Raised Map of
Palestine, constructed from the Surveys of the Palestine Exploration Fund,
and other sources, by the Acting Secretary, is ready. It is on the seale of ~
64 miles to the inch, and measures 3’ 6” x 2/6”. Tt has already been used
with great success by Professors of Old Testament history, and by teachers.
m Sunday Schools, and may be especially recommended for large classes of
students. Further particulars may be had on application.

Subscribers will please note that they can still obtain a set of the “ Survey
of Palestine,” in four volumes, for £7 7s., but the price has been increased to-
the public to £9 9s. The price of single volumes to the public has also been
increased. Applications should be made to the Acting Secretary.

The price of a complete set of the translations published by the Palestine
Pilgrims’ Text Society, in 13 volumes, with general index, bound in cloth,
is £10 10s. A catalogue describing the contents of each volitime can be ha
on application to the Secretary, 38 Conduit Street. ;

The Museum at the office of the Fund, 38 Conduit Street (a few doors
from Bond Street), is open to visitors every week-day from 10 o’clock till 5,
except Saturdays, when it is closed at 2 p-m.

NOTES AND NEWS. 283

“4
“4

otographs of the late Dr. Schick’s models (1) of the Temple of Solomon,
the Herodian Temple, (3) of the Haram Area during the Christian
cupation of Jerusalem, and (4) of the Haram Area as it is at present, have
en received at the office of the Fund. Sets of these four photographs, with
nation by Dr. Schick, can be purchased by applying to the Secretary,
it Street, W.
ak. Branch Associations of the Bible Society, all Sunday Schools within
‘the Sunda. School Institute, the Sunday School Union, and the Wesleyan
unday School Institute, will please observe that by a special Resolution of the
ittee they will henceforth be treated as subscribers and be allowed to pur-

e books and maps (by application only to the Secretary) at reduced

-~ ion

See

h ‘Commi tee will be glad to receive donations of Books to the Library
; Fund, which already contains many works of great value relating to
ne and other Bible Lands. A catalogue of Books in the Library will
in the July Quarterly Statement, 1893.

‘The Committee acknowledge with thanks the following :—

a a § d Sites of the Gospels,” with illustrations, maps, and plans by
Professor Sanday, D.D., LL.D., Litt. D., with the assistance of Paul
et, | Waterhouse, M.A., F.R.1.B.A. From the Author.
ot | Notes de Mythologie Syrienne.” From the Author, M. René Dussaud.
. ott sion dans les Régions Désertiques de la Syrie moyenne.” From the
_——— Author, M. René Dussaud.
« Al-Mashrik : Revue Catholique Orientale Bimensuelle.”
Recueil d’Archéologie Orientule.” Tome V, Livraisons 20-23. From the
__—s Author, Professor Clermont-Ganneau, M.I. Sommaire :—§ 50. Inserip-
» tions grecques de Djerach. § 51. Sur deux épitaphes puniques. § 52. La
notion de la sainteté chez les Sémites. § 53. La “Porte de Nicanor Pr

nt Hermon et son dieu, d’aprés une inscription inédite (pl. VII).
. Fiches et Notules: Nouvelle inscription phénicienne de Sidon ;
eription nabatéenne d’Oumm el-Qotain; Inscriptions greeques du
Bs rin; Kaioumas; Inscriptions grecques de Bersabée ; La prise de
Jérusalem par les Perses; Inscriptions grecques d’Antinoé ; eds
Invdés et ‘Aramta.

of authorised lecturers and their subjects, write to the Secretary.

a
(te =
won ae

(J ————

Wh i st desiring to give publicity to proposed identifications

d ot ner theories advanced by officers of the Fund and con-
tors to the pages of the Quarterly Statement, the Committee

*
“a

voah ee

‘it to be distinctly understood that by publishing them in the
ly Statement they neither sanction nor adopt them.

ANNUAL MEETING.

THe Annual General Meeting of the above Fund was held on
Monday, June 22nd, 1903, at the Royal Institution, Albemarle
Street, London, W., when the Bishop of Salisbury presided.

The Cuairman.—I will ask Dr. Wright, our American Honorary
Secretary, to be good enough to propose the adoption of the Report.

Professor THEODORE Wricut.—My Lord Bishop, Ladies, and
Gentlemen,—I have great pleasure in moving “ That the Report
and Accounts already printed, and in the hands of subscribers, be
taken as read, and be received and adopted.” Americans are
exceedingly interested in the work of the Palestine Exploration
Fund, and although, Sir, of course, we have a certain pride in
ourselves to accomplish what we can under our own name, I think
it is to our great credit so far that we have attempted nothing but
to give every assistance possible to this Fund. We are deeply
interested also in the work carried on in the way of excavation
in other lands. We see the magnificent results in Egypt and
Babylonia compared with the more modest results achieved in
Palestine. We believe in this work, and especially we see that
it not only recovers the life of the far past, but it gives a support
to the sacred Scriptures which we so dearly love. We do not
approve, Sir, of those who under the name of archeology go out
of their proper field to dogmatise either for the Scriptures or
against them; we honour the Fund that it has so strictly con-
fined itself within its proper field. I must not take up your time,
but it seems to me that one is reminded, when he thinks of that
little country, so significant yet so small, one is reminded of the
Spartan with the nightingale who thought that if he could eat it
he might obtain its voice, but when he had stripped it of its
feathers, he said: “It is a voice, and nothing else.” Palestine
is only a little country, but what a voice—the voice of the ages,
the voice of God! Sir, I beg to move the resolution.

Professor Epwarp Huii.—My Lord, I have great pleasure in
seconding the adoption of the Report, which, though I have not
read, I am quite sure is adequate to the occasion and full of interest
as we shall find when we read it.

The resolution was put to the meeting and carried unanimously.

yi at a

ANNUAL MEETING. 285

non DALTON.—The names that have been put into my hands
wsk you to agree to add to the General Committee of the Fund
the Very Rev. the Dean of Westminster, the Rev. Dr. James
Rev. ArtHour Carr.—l have much pleasure in seconding the
I solution.

i The resolution was put to the meeting and carried unanimously.
oth Admiral Sir Joun Hay.—My Lord, I have been asked to move
the following resolution :—‘ That the Executive Committee be
e-elected, and the Rev. Robert Forman Horton, D.D., Chairman
of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, be elected
th er eto.” I have great pleasure in proposing that resolution.

Sir WatrAM Cuartey, K.C.—I have much pleasure in seconding
the motion.
_ The resolution was carried unanimously.

: a . . .
The CHArrMAN.—I have great pleasure now in asking Sir Charles
on to address you, and describe the work of the excavation of

Sir CHARLES WILSON. Before drawing your attention to

-Macalister’s work at Gezer, I should like to reply to a
question which is frequently asked. It is this: How is it
known that any particular object belongs to the Aboriginal,
he Canaanite, the Jewish, the Greek, or the Roman period?
To answer this it is necessary to explain the law of stratification
which the whole groundwork of scientific exploration
depen The occupation of a site by a town, or village, is always
marked by a bed, or stratum, of rubbish which contains the
foundations of walls, and specimens of the weapons, the tools, and
th _ objects connected with the domestic and religious life of the
oO iers. The bed of rubbish varies in thickness according to the
tion of the occupation, or the period that has elapsed since the
was abandoned. When a site has been occupied continuously
overal centuries, and by different races, the accumulated
sh forms a series of beds, or strata, of varying thickness, which
ie one above the other like the strata of sedimentary rocks. As
each geological formation has its characteristic fossils, so, in the
remains of an ancient city, each bed of rubbish contains something
vhich differentiates it from the two beds between which it
Lie _ Sometimes certain forms, or objects, survive through many

286 ANNUAL MEETING.

centuries, and are found in several successive strata ; sometimes
the action of sun and rain carries a small object down to a stratum
to which it does not belong ; and sometimes, in sinking for founda-
tions, the contents of lower strata have been brought to the surface,
and again covered up in their false position by later accumulations.
These disturbances, as a rule, can be readily detected, and the
skilled explorer is able to refer nearly everything he finds to its
proper stratum, and, consequently, to the period during which the
rubbish of that bed was accumulating. The determination of the
date and duration of the period which each bed, or stratum, repre-
sents is rendered exceptionally difficult in Palestine by the small
number of objects found which can be dated with certainty. But,
within certain limits, a trained archeologist is able to read the
history of an ancient city which he is excavating with very
considerable accuracy.

The excavations at Gezer have disclosed the stratified débris of
seven periods of occupation. During the first and second periods,
which are represented by the two lowest strata, the site was
occupied by an aboriginal, non-Semitic race, of slight build and small
stature—none exceeded 5 feet 7 inches, and most of them were
under 5 feet 4 inches. These people, who in some respects resemble
the oecupants of Kurope during the Neolithic Age, lived in caves,
or in rude huts of mud and stone, and cremated their dead in a
cave specially prepared for the purpose. ‘

Between the second and third strata there is a distinct break,
indicating the advent of a new race. The Neolithic cave-dwellers.
gave place to a Semitic people of stronger build and more advanced
civilisation. These Semites were from 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet.
11 inches in height, and had well-developed skulls; their racial
type was not unlike that of the modern Arab. They lived in
houses of mud and stone, crowded together like those of a
Palestine village, and ‘surrounded them with walls. The Gezerites.
of this period buried their dead within the walls, making use
of the crematorium, and other rock excavations of their pre-
decessors. Sometimes their food vessels and sometimes their
exceptionally fine bronze weapons were buried with them. Scarabs
and impressions of scarab-seals of the Egyptian Middle Empire.
occur in abundance, and a fragment of an inscribed statue of the
same period was uncovered. Amongst other finds are broken
statuettes of a cow divinity ; a little bone needle-case containing a.

ne,

ANNUAL MEETING. 287

bronze needle; moulds for casting arrow-heads; cylinders of
Babylonian and Syrian origin ; and a great number of terra-cotta
plaques with figures of Ashtaroth in low relief—all broken as if
some rite connected with the goddess involved the fracture of her
image. Some of the pottery types, in both strata, are common to
Gezer and Lachish, indicating a connection between the two places,
probably tribal or racial, that may be inferred from the Bible
i narrative and the Tell Amarna letters. In the upper stratum the
influence of Augean art is very clear in much of the pottery.
The most interesting discovery in connection with the pre-
Israelite strata is that of the biamah, or “high place” of Gezer,
which dates from the early Semitic period, and was apparently
‘ altered and enlarged in the period represented by Stratum BY.
The “high place” consists of a megalithic structure, standing in a
court, or Haram, which has a well-defined floor of limestone chips.
The megalithic structure consists of a group of monoliths from
5 feet 5 inches to 10 feet 9 inches high, aligned in a gentle curve
of which the chord is nearly north and south. West of the north
end of the alignment, and evidently belonging to the scheme of the
high place, is a circular structure, 13 feet 8 inches in diameter,
consisting of a rude wall, now about 6 feet high, in which there is
no opening. Within the precincts of the high place was found the
skull of a man, of different race from that of the occupiers, whose
4 head must have been intentionally deposited in the temple of the
town divinity. With this may be compared the head of Goliath,
if which David buried at Jerusalem.
The bamah or “high place,” which is synonymous with “holy
y place,” was par excellence the sanctuary of the Semites. It was most
frequently on a hill, near a spring or in a grove of trees, but at
Gezer it was on the saddle between the knolls. Perhaps, remem-
bering the large part which the worship of caves played in popular
Semitic belief, the selection of the site may be attributed to some
nnected with a cave of the Neolithic race which was
by the Semites in connection with their

= “i

legend co
altered and utilised

religious rites.
There is evidence that the high place retained its san

late period of the Jewish monarchy, when it appears to
into disuse.

The fifth and sixth strata represent the occupation of Gezer by
the Israelites. In the fifth stratum—that is the town which was

ctity until a
have fallen

288 ANNUAL MEETING.

destroyed by the father-in-law of Solomon—private houses are
found, for the first time, to have encroached upon the precincts
of the high place. The stratum is characterised by the appear-
ance of iron, by lamp and bowl deposits under the foundations
of houses, and by the transitional character of the pottery from
pre-Israelite to Jewish. Bronze is the common metal, but flints are
still used.

In the same fifth stratum several instances occur in which the
bones of infants have been built under or into ordinary house walls.
It seems clear that we have in this discovery evidence of infant
sacrifice in connection with the widespread custom of foundation
rites, and it is interesting to note that Dr. Sellin has found the
bones of both infants and adults in or under the foundations of
houses at Taanach.

The lamp and bowl deposits disappear completely at the time of
the Captivity, and this circumstance led Mr. Macalister to conclude
that they were connected with some rite peculiar to the Israelites.
Recently, however, he has uncovered a remarkable deposit beneath
the foundations of an undoubted pre-Israelite house, which may
lead him to modify his opinion. It consists in a jar on its side,
containing the remains of two infants. Above the jar are two
saucers, one containing two others, and behind it are two jars
standing upright, and two lamps, one inside the other. This dis-
covery suggests to me the idea that the Israelites may have adopted
the foundation rites of the Canaanites only so far as the deposit
of lamps and bowls was concerned, and that the infant remains
were the result of sacrifice either by Canaanites living amongst
the Israelites, or by Gezrites of the period just before the capture
of the city by the Pharaoh of Egypt when Gezer does not appear to
have been in the possession of the Jews. The questions connected
with the practice of infant sacrifice at Gezer cannot be adequately
discussed until the completion of excavations. It may, however,
be remarked that the custom was not common amongst the Jews
until the latter half of the period of the monarchy. The sin is
denounced by the prophets of the seventh and sixth centuries B.c.,
but, the case of Ahaz excepted, is not mentioned by those of the
eighth century. —

The sixth stratum may be assigned, with certainty, to the period
of the Jewish monarchy, for it contains the jar-handles with “royal
stamps” bearing the legend “ To the king,” in old Hebrew characters.

ANNUAL MEETING. 289

The lamp and bow] deposits continue; there is a further encroachment
by private houses on the precincts of the high place ; Jewish types
of pottery prevail ; iron is in general use; but bronze weapons are
common, and flint implements have not disappeared. The flint
Objects are inferior, as if the art of making them had been lost.
One flint axe-head has an aleph of the old Hebrew alphabet
scratched on its calcareous surface.

Amongst the finds in this stratum were a fine bronze statuette
of Osiris with remains of gilding ; a bronze statuette of Ashtoreth
Karnaim or horned Astarte, the only perfect image of the goddess,
£ believe, that has yet been found (the horns seem intended to
represent rams’ horns rather than the crescent moon) ; and a saucer
bearing a legible but almost unintelligible group of old Hebrew
characters.

The city represented by the sixth stratum was confined to the
western half of the mound, and this seems to indicate that Solomon,

‘in rebuilding Gezer, restricted the area, and made the place a

fortified post. Before the close of the sixth period the “high
place ” appears to have lost most, if not all, of its sanctity—a result
possibly due to the reforming zeal of Josiah.

The seventh stratum represents the occupation of the site
during what might be ealled the Syro4gyptian period ; that is the
period during which the country was alternately occupied by the
i) ers of Alexander the Great, and saw the temporary consolida-
tion of Jewish power under the Maccabzans. The stratum marks
a complete break in the history of Gezer. Flint implements and
the lamp and bow! deposits disappear ; iron is in common use ;
bronze is only employed for ornamental purposes ; there is no trace
‘of worship in connection with the “high place ”; and the masonry

of the houses and the types of pottery are similar to those found in

the Ptolemaic town of Marisa (Tell Sandahannah). Amongst the
objects found in this stratum are an Egyptian inscription of the
fourth century B.C.; 4 Greek inscription which appears to have
belonged to a votive offering dedicated to Hercules ; Rhodian jar-
handles, saucers, ointment bottles, and imported Greek bowls. In
the destruction of some of the stones at the north end of the mega-
ith: ‘monument at the high place, Mr. Macalister finds the work
of Simon Maccabeeus, who purified the places polluted by the idols,
east out all the pollutions (of Gezer), and placed such men there as.

would keep the law.
a

290 ANNUAL MEETING.

The CHAIRMAN.—I believe it is now my very pleasant duty to
thank Sir Charles Wilson for his excellent lecture, and the not less
excellent exhibition of the very remarkable slides which you have
seen. I think that he has answered very well the question which
was so naturally put to him, as to whether we can have confidence
in these investigations. The best answer to such a question as that
is to show the way in which one thing follows on after another, and
to make it clear by actual instances of the superposition of one
stratum and one series of objects upon another that they do
correspond not only to what we know externally from history, but
that they follow in a natural series, As, for instance, we see flint
and bone being superseded by bronze and iron in the ordinary way.
And I think that what he has said not only is illustrated by, but
does very much illustrate, the record of the Bible on the subject
generally. I think that we have to thank these excavations for
helping us, I won't say to have a more decided faith in the accuracy
of the Scripture record, but helping us to understand it better.
I fully believe that is what we mostly want to do—understand it
better. We can believe it without understanding it, but we cannot
believe it in a fruitful manner unless we understand, and the under-
standing of the Scripture record is to mea very great blessing which
this Society has brought to our own generation. We need all the
possible confirmation that we can have, and we find that. con-
firmation in the excavations and in the very learned and remarkable
works which are written in explanation of those excavations, not
merely this excellent report of Mr. Macalister’s, but in the many
other publications of our Society which we find advertised along
with it, and the excellent work by M. Clermont-Ganneau, which
you so often find in the pages of the Quarterly Statement. T have
travelled myself twice to Jerusalem, and was very thankful to see,
not merely with my own eyes, but with the eyes of those who had
been working on the spot as agents of our Society, what I could
certainly not have seen with my own eyes. There is no doubt that
our Society has done a very great work in developing a class of
man, going back a long time to General Gordon and General
Kitchener as they came in after time, and Colonel Conder and the
rest of the early workers up to the present day. We have had
a succession of very able men serving the Society who have raised
the whole standard, I think, of such investigations, not only in
England, but in very many other parts of the world. I won't say

ANNUAL MEETING. 291

wand
~ that our English excavators are always the best; we owe a great
deal to German, we owe a great deal to French excavators, and we
owe something, no doubt, to the Americans who have worked so
Bye loyally with us. It is a very great thing to have a Society which,
having no party principle of any sort, is able to go to work at the
ha problems suggested by the Scriptures and by the country, and to
ive us the information with trained eyes and trained minds. As
_ we get older, we are all, I think, more ready to defer to authority
than we were when we were young, and we see that ev erybody must
_ be trusted in his own art, and a scientific excavator, such as those
= we have had and are having still, really becomes to us an authority
_ of the very highest rank. We know that it is quite impossible
for us individually to test everything that is said and done; but
we know that by creating a society, as we have done, for the purposes
ve of scientific excavation, we have created a perpetual instrument of
_ inquiry and a perpetual instrument of criticism which makes the
work that is done very solid and real, and I am extremely thankful
“ for this ‘‘ Report on the Excavation of Gezer” in many different
_ ways. I have read it twice with the greatest possible interest, and
= - commend it to you most heartily. There is a certain amount to
be added from the last Quarterly Statement, but the main interest
ke lies in this larger Report, which we hold in our hands to-day. We
_ see that God chose the land for the purpose of being the nursery of
‘His people for very many reasons which we can understand, and
_ others which we cannot understand, but I suppose in order that it
a might be close to the great ancient civilisations of Egypt and
De bylonia, might draw from that which it was well it should draw,
. Ss the same time that it should be independent, and that it should
ave to supersede a race which could be—if one may venture to
ae so of any of God’s nations—superseded without much loss to
imanity, it was necessary that the Canaanite civilisation, such as
_ it was, should come to an end. Nothing, I think, that has been
di scovered makes us feel any regret at the supersession of Canaanite
i? civilisation by Israelite civilisation. We cannot see that there was
an fthing in their culture or their religion which was worth pre-
eae for any length of time, and I think that these infant burials
1 other elements of religion at Gezer make us feel that the Bible
1as not misrepresented at all the abomination of the Canaanite
culture which was superseded by the Israelite culture. We are
thankful for that, sad as it is that humanity should have been so

“tnd

- ~ - 7" i ah ie SS EE a

292 ANNUAL MEETING.

depraved as it was. Then that is one lesson, I think, from chese
excavations, besides the main lesson that we may depend upon —
those who teach us about these things. Another lesson, of course, —
is to feel the continuity of history, and to feel that what is here
brought to light illustrates so many things all over the world. —
am, perhaps, a little disappointed to find that there is nothing 1
illustrate Stonehenge, which is so near my home in Wiltshire, ar oa
so far as I can understand—although I dare say I am wrong—there
does not seem to have been any orientation about the stones s c 7
as there certainly is at Stonehenge. There we have, as you kno N Px
a stone over which the sun rises on the longest day, as it did ~
yesterday, with great precision, and I am thankful to know there
was a large number of people seeing that sun rise yesterday, and —
that they were able to do so after waiting six or seven years.
I have not heard there is anything of the kind in Palestine, but ‘
perhaps we may yet find it. But we do see in all the different —
alternations of burial and the pottery and the cup marks, and many _
other details which were brought before our eyes so rapidly ji ast
now—we see that there is a general continuity and likeness, not :
absolute identity, between the work of man in a great n
different parts of the world, one may almost say in all parts of 1
world. That, I think, is a very valuable lesson that these exeay 4-
tions bring out to us—that humanity even in its earliest stages is —
humanity, and is humanity of the same kind as that which we know
living now. These very few remarks I have made rather from the —
wish to show my thanks to Sir Charles Wilson than to say anything
which might be specially worthy of your notice. I have had the
pleasure of knowing him for a number of years. His brother was _
a very loving and affectionate and helpful fellow-worker of mine at —
Salisbury, and it was always a pleasure to meet him and be with k im
in any good work. I do not know whether I may go on to add
to what I have said a vote of thanks to the workers and local
Secretaries. I dare say there will be others to speak to them, br 5
I must confess that, living as I do a busy, fully-occupied life, x nable
to go into these things at first hand, I am exceedingly obliged + Oo
all those who give so much of their time and thought to these v sae)
difficult works which are done both at home and abroad; and |
should like to be allowed, as Chairman, especially to thank the
Secretary and others who have given us this great pleasure this
afternoon by arranging this meeting, (Applause.) fo

Mr. Water Morrison (Treasurer).—My Lord, Ladies, and
Gentlemen,—I have been asked to propose this resolution, which
I am sure will meet with your cordial support :—

“That this meeting desires to express its thanks to
Mr. R. A. Stewart Macalister for his zealous and diligent
conduct of the excavations, and his care in noting and reporting
the results; also to Mr. Hanauer, Dr. Masterman, and others

resident in Palestine, or visitors, who have contributed the
results of their local observations for publication by the Fund.

“The meeting also desires to thank the several local Hon.
Secretaries for their assistance in making known the work of the
Fund, and particularly Professor Theodore Wright, our able and
zealous Hon. General Secretary for the United States, who has
for so many years been an enthusiastic worker for the interests
of the Palestine Exploration Fund.”

I am sure you will all agree with me that in Mr. Macalister we
have the right man in the right place. He was trained under
Dr. Bliss, an American citizen, by-the-bye, who worked for some
years for us, who in his turn had been trained by Professor Petrie,
~ who was one of the most remarkable excavators who ever lived in
the world, and who seemed to have a sort of instinct, as it were, to
scent ancient remains under surfaces which were sometimes very
unpromising. When this Fund was first started, we at a very early
period of our work undertook excavations at Jerusalem, and that
work will always remain on record, and I do not suppose there is
very much left to be found in Jerusalem itself. It is a very lucky
thing that 35 years ago we began to excavate at Jerusalem. It
would be a far more expensive and difficult task now, because
during those 35 years Jerusalem has grown almost as rapidly as
a city in the Western States of America. When we had pretty
well finished our systematic excavations, we had to rely upon such
an accident as someone building a new house, when some of our
‘es friends at Jerusalem would go and examine the foundations, and
would find perhaps the vestige of a wall or something. Then we
went further afield to excavate the mounds which are scattered
Bm largely over the country. Of course, it has been rather a lottery—
you may find very interesting remains, and you may find very
little indeed ; and it certainly was a very fortunate decision on the
_ part of our advisers and of the Committee that we should go and
ea:

ANNUAL MEETING. 293

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————

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294 ANNUAL MEETING. eres i:

excavate the site of Gezer. Perhaps I should mention that there is
no doubt whatever about this being Gezer, because M. Clermont-
Ganneau, when he was in our service, found some marks on a stone
which meant ‘The limits of Gezer,” which was one of the Cities of
Refuge. We appeal to our fellow-countrymen to furnish us with
the necessary means to carry on these excavations rapidly. Our
firman expires in the middle of next year, but perhaps we can get
it extended ; and I can tell you, as the Treasurer of the Fund, that
at this present moment we have only just money enough in hand
to a little more than pay a certain bank overdraft, and it is
eminently desirable that we should be able to go on with these
exceedingly interesting discoveries. They are the most remarkable
in many ways we have ever made in the Holy Land, and certainly
they throw a lurid light upon the nature of the Canaanites and
their religion, who were superseded by the irruption of the
Israelites ; and so we can read the denunciations of the Prophets
with greater interest, and we are able to realise the reason of th aii
indignation against these practices. Well, now I would point out
that we are very much obliged to accidental visitors to Palestine if
they will give us any information they may pick up. It is just as
well to write to our office about what they see. It may, perhaps,
have been discovered before, and may be recorded in our office, but
it is just as well to let us know anything they see which appears _
to be of any value. It is a case of eyes and no eyes, Many *
Europeans had climbed to Mount Pisgah and saw no monum ,
but Lieutenant Conder went and saw some 300 or 400 of these _
rude stone monuments somewhat analogous to Stonehenge. Peo ple ,
travelling in Palestine come across not only rude stone monuments,
but other things, and should direct the attention of our Society or:
some other scientific society to any place or discovery which may a
be of value. I have very great pleasure in asking you to give
a very cordial vote of thanks to Professor Theodore Wright, who _
has been our indefatigable Secretary in the United States ; and aa
are very grateful indeed for the sympathy which has come to us
across the Herring Pond in the form of very substantial dollars.
and all the more so because, though the Americans are our kinsmen.
it is not an American society. America is the land of the Bible as ;
England is the land of the Bible, and so there is a real, genuine 2
interest felt in our work ; but, at the same time, you could conceive
that there might be a certain amount of jealousy shown to a society

ANNUAL MEETING. 295

belonging to another country. I think it would be very unlikely
that we should find the Germans, for instance, sending us any
subscriptions, or that we should send any money to Germany for
carrying on excavations in the Holy Land. Professor Wright has
for many a long year been our Hon. Secretary, and to him we owe
everything we have received from the United States of America.
_ I would venture to appeal also to the people of this country to give
a -.us the necessary funds to carry on this work vigorously, and I

, would fain hope at an early date, because when the hot weather is
- over we shall be able to work with greater energy than we can do
_ jn the extreme heat of the Maritime Plain. England may not be
as wealthy now as the United States, and you cannot expect very
much, I am afraid, from the agricultural interest ; but our towns
are very wealthy, and it is to be hoped that we shall get better
_ support from them. I only wish that all our local Secretaries were
as energetic and devoted to our cause as Professor Wright is in the
_ United States of America. The days are gone by when we used to
receive cheques for £100 from noblemen and gentlemen who gave

£100, or it may be more, to help the Society, and then they think
oy have done their duty, and do not send yearly subscriptions.
We now have to depend, as you will see from the Report, much
more upon the guinea and half-guinea subscriptions than we did in
the early days of this movement. As you have already heard, we
Se only excavated as yet one-eighth of this mound, and there are
thhundreds of these mounds scattered about the country, any one of
which when opened might turn out to be as fruitful in surprises as
“the. excavations of Mr. Macalister.

-*—Pr. GinspuRG.—My Lord, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—I have very
: h pleasure in seconding the resolution.
A SvupscrrBEeR.—In rising to support the resolution, I should
like to ask my lord a question. I have heard within the last ten
days that the Mohammedans have begun to enclose the hill above
_ Jeremiah’s Grotto, and also they have begun blasting the face of
2 the rock. I should like to ask if there is any news from Jerusalem
_ confirming that or not?
' q at The CHAIRMAN.—Perhaps Sir Charles Wilson will answer that.
o Sir Cartes Witson.—There has been a report that the
M [ohammedan cemetery has been enclosed by a high wall. I may
perhaps be allowed to mention that we have only just heard that

i: pte some excavations at Jerusalem they have found jar burials
Y2

. is

Eee te bale ee eee

. b Ke
Cer hs eee ee eT eee

296 ANNUAL MEETING. ae

iw."

like those et Gezer, and a cave in which a number of, men had
been buried. ie

Sir Witt1am Cuartery, K.C.—I am very glad that Sir Charles _
Wilson in his able Papers in the Quarterly Statement has left the —
question open as to the identity of the Holy Sepulchre. (Hear, —
: hear.) .
Bo: The resolution was then put to the meeting and carried
unanimously.

Dr. Wricgut.—My Lord Bishop, Ladies, and Gentlemen,— — |
Americans are modest (laughter), and they are feeling humble 7
= just now, because they have lately been buying ships over here and
yt. they are sorry they did. Therefore, Sir, we are eating our bread in — A
silence. But, speaking more seriously, I may say that it has given .
me the very greatest pleasure to be of any service in this work, and Je
that I have always met with the most kindly reception wherever IT
have gone in our country. Unfortunately, it is so large that it is : a
impossible to reach many places, but I know very well that there is
a rising appreciation of this work, and I consider it most fortunate — -
that the Fund has not only always employed in the field men of the ~.
highest character, but that its utterances through the medium of y=
the Quarterly Statement have always been of a cautious and wise
character. That is why, perhaps, it has not excited the greatest ie
enthusiasm, but while, of course, under the circumstances it could —
never make large promises to museums or to rich men in America,
who are endowing museums as means of gaining private reputation,
as well as doing public good, it has done its own work carefully and
well. The question was raised about the hill above Jeremiah’s Grotto. _
T met an Englishman who had just come from there, and he said it: *
was being enclosed, and he had some difficulty in getting upon the ei:
hill. I mention this because he said they were doing it in order to
prevent Americans from holding Christian services amongst those
graves as they had been doing. If Americans had been lessforward _
ed in the matter, probably the wall would not have been put up. AsI 2 b
; said before, Sir, our work is of exceeding importance, and it is a
great privilege as I deem it to have any part in carrying it on. Ba:

Mr. CrACE.—I have a very short and pleasant duty to perform.
It is to propose “That the thanks of this meeting be conveyed _
rH to the Board of Managers of the Royal Institution for kindly
. granting the use of their Lecture Theatre for this occasion.”

ANNUAL MEETING. 297

S & This is not the first occasion we have had the pleasure of meeting
in this theatre, a theatre devoted to science, and science in so many
“oo many forms, and our requests, whenever it has been possible to
that I feel a vote of thanks of a very warm kind is due to the
Committee of Management.

ga Major-General Sir FREDERICK GOLDSMITH.—Mr. Chairman,—I
have been asked to second this resolution, and it is with great
pleasure that I rise to do so, for it is one not only which I have
great pleasure in with regard to the occasion and being asked to do
so, but it is one that from old association I am aware is well
__- merited.

; The resolution was unanimously adopted.

Sir CHARLES WILSoN.—It is now my pleasant duty to ask you
___ to pass the following resolution unanimously :—“ That this meeting
tenders its hearty thanks to the Lord Bishop of Salisbury for pre-
Ef: siding.” I think we are all greatly indebted to the Bishop for having
given up so much of his valuable time to the presidency of this

_
‘*

meeting, and I am sure his presence in the chair to-day will be a
gt t encouragement to our future work. The Bishop, as I know,
visited Jerusalem, and whilst there took the greatest interest in
the antiquities to be seen in the city, and I think he has also
communicated a paper to our Quarterly Statement on the d’Aubigny
ombstone.! I do not know whether his lordship is aware of it,
‘but that stone was unfortunately broken during a quarrel some
months ago between the Greek and the Latin monks as to whose
‘right it was to clean the steps leading up to a little chapel from
‘the courtyard of the Sepulchre. Some monks who had got on
to the roof of the Church threw down stones on those who were
hting below, and, unfortunately, one of these stones fell on the
‘tombstone of Philip d’Aubigny and broke it. I have not heard
‘what became of the remains of the stone, but I hope good care was
taken that they should not be lost. It is very kind of his lordship
to come here and give his approval of the manner in which our
work is being carried on. We have in Mr. Macalister a skilled
explorer, and we desire to encourage and support him in every
possible way, and, without agreeing fully with his tentative conclu-
sions as to the results of his discoyeries, I think we may absolutely

1 Quarterly Statement, 1900, p. 192.

——— ns 1 SS eS ee ee eee ee

298 ANNUAL MEETING.

depend upon his judgment whenever he says that a particular —
object belongs to a Jewish or a Canaanite period. His drawings
are exceedingly good, and I look forward with the greatest interest
to his discoveries in the future. What we hope to find, and-I
_ think we may find, is a series of tablets completing the correspon-
dence with the Pharaoh of Egypt. We have letters in the Tell
Amarna series from the Governor of Gezer, and we hope to find
replies from Egypt in some part of the mound. One tablet was
found at Lachish, but at Gezer there is a wetter climate, and
these clay tablets have an unfortunate habit of disintegrating in
a rainy country. We hope, however, to make some finds, and that
by this time next year we shall be able to give you as satisfactory
-an account of the excavations as we have been able to do for the
past 12 months.

Colonel Watson, R.E.—I have much pleasure, Sir, in rising to
second the vote of thanks, and I am sure we are all very much
indebted to his lordship for being so good as to come and preside
over us on this occasion. I believe there is no one on the episcopal
bench who takes more interest in our excavations than the Bishop
of Salisbury.

The resolution was carried with acclamation.

7 F

The CuarrmMaNn.—I am much obliged to you, Ladies and Gentle-
men, for your kindness, and particularly to Sir Charles Wilson for
the way in which he has spoken, It is a great happiness to me to
know that the Society is closely connected with that college at
Jerusalem which is the centre of Bishop Blyth’s work where I had
the honour to go and consecrate the church in the year 1898. I
hope that that is evidence that the work of my dear brother, Bishop
Blyth, is of a national character. This is a national Society, and it
is very naturally and wisely connected with the work of the Anglican
Bishop in Jerusalem. We do not wish in the least to claim
anything Specially of a Church character for the work of the
z Society, but we are very thankful that it accepts our hospitality,

as I believe many visitors to Jerusalem are inclined to do. I do
hope that the college may be a real national centre utterly removed
from anything to do with party where any Englishman or English-
woman travelling in that part of the world may find a hearty
welcome. (Applause.)

eal

,
4

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299

FIFTH QUARTERLY REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION
OF GEZER.

(16 May—15 August, 1903.)
By R. A. Stewart MACALIsTER, M.A., F.S.A.

§ I.—SuMMARY OF THE QUARTER’S WoRK.

THE discoveries made during the past quarter have been of con-
siderable interest, though as none call for very lengthy description
the present report will be shorter than usual. The work has
advanced without serious interruption, five days only being lost,
owing to a severe fever contracted by the foremen of the labourers.
The tell continues as prolific as ever in small objects of stone,
metal, and pottery. Further material for the study of “lamp and
bowl” deposits has been found, and evidence is now forthcoming
_ eonnecting them with human sacrifice. The harvest of scarabs and
other evidences of Egyptian influence is undiminished. Inscribed
stones, including one of considerable interest, have come to light,
holding out hopes that the tell may still contain written documents
i of importance. Several fresh caves have been opened and cleared
fai with interesting results, the foundations of important buildings of
___ yarious periods have been unearthed, and a cistern has been opened
_ eontaining human bones furnishing further material for osteological
study. ;
ae Probably the most important discovery, however, is a rock
surface with cuttings and caves which there seems good reason
to regard as a place of worship belonging to the aboriginal
inhabitants, antedating the “ High Place ” of the Amorite cities.

§ II.—Sronr AnD METAL OBJECTS.

_ Alabaster.—Jugs and saucers (the latter of the type illustrated in
Fig. 2 of the previous report) in this material are still frequent.
_ The most remarkable alabaster vessel found during this quarter
is a small squat jug, with extravagantly wide rim (Plate H, Fig. 1)
% _ discovered in fragments in the Seleucid stratum. ‘This vessel is
zs? distinguished from the other alabaster jugs found on the tell by the
o%

- - a
q
+

300 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

shape of the hollow of its interior, which is not merely a cylindrical
hole bored through the middle of the vessel, but follows the eurves
of the exterior outline.

Several examples of a circular reel-like object in alabaster, with
a convex top, flat bottom, and concave sides, perforated along the
axis, have been discovered. They are about 24 inches in diameter
and 1 inch high. These may be mace-heads of a different pattern
from the normal form, or else may be intended for winding thread
upon. ‘They seem to be too heavy for spindlewheels (Plate II,
Fig. 10).

Draught-boards and Men.—I have noticed in previous reports that
draught-boards were unaccountably missing from the antiquities on
the tell. Some examples have at last been found, nearly all
fragmentary, but enough to show that they were provided for
playing a variety of games. One example, for instance, has but
three rows of squares, while a perfect specimen from Tell Zakariya
had no less than 12 x 12 = 144 squares. On this Gezer example
certain squares are marked by a X laid over them ; with this is to
be contrasted a small fragment from Tell es-SAfi having the X on
the intersections of the lines marking out the squares. It is unfortu-
nate that most of the chequer-boards that have come to light in
Palestine have been fragmentary, but enough remain to show
that there were a large number of possible arrangéments of the
squares.

A collection of 13 small water-worn pebbles, each about the size
of an ordinary ivory card-counter and three times as thick, was
found in the lower Jewish stratum. These had evidently been
collected on the sea shore, and carried thence to the city, perhaps
to serve as draughtmen, or as counters to assist calculation (like the
pellets of an abacus).

Miscellaneous.—It is difficult, if not impossible, to tell of what
the fragment figured on p. 302 formed a part. It is of heavy,
close-grained brown slate, 63 inches long. The sides converge
upwards, the top being 13 inches broad, the bottom 24 inches,
The fragment is 12 inches deep. The top bears a longitudinal
groove, semicircular in section, and another crossing it transversely
and stopping it $ inch from the end. The sides display a number
of holes and triangular and square depressions, from which it would
appear that the fragment was broken from the object to which it
belonged in ancient times, and that an attempt was made to secure —

Palestine Exploration Fund. Pt. I.

EXCAVATION OF CEZER
MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS

din re) 1 2

wee nwnes

;

—

302 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

it in position by fish-plates and dove-tail rivets. There are, however,
one or two holes that cannot easily be thus accounted for, and I

Fia. 1.—Stone Fragment.

do not think that enough remains to enable us to determine exactly
to what the fragment belonged.

Bronze.—In the second report (p. 39 ante) I described frag-
ments of a pottery tray or dish, covered on its upper surface with
a lining of bronze. This description I must now correct. Exami-
nation of similar fragments subsequently found lead me to’ the
conclusion that in these objects we are to see the remains of vessels
in which bronze was melted for casting, the apparent bronze lining
being the waste material remaining after the metal had been poured
into the moulds. The vessels show marks of fire, and are (as might
be expected) of thick coarse pottery.

The melted bronze was poured into stone moulds, several
specimens of which have already been found and described.
Arrowheads were sometimes cast in pairs, joined end to end,
and afterwards cut separate. This is shown by a curious example
found in fragments, in which the separation had not been effected
(Plate II, Fig. 5),

A solid rod of bronze, 1 foot 8} inches long, broken into three
pieces, was found in a cistern. This was possibly a sceptre. Two
examples (one fragmentary) have been found of a curious tube with
perforations. This I cannot explain unless it be a chape or cap for
the end of a lance (Plate IT, Fig. 3). Equally difficult to assign to
its purpose is a knife with a projecting spur at the back, found
in fragments on the rock (Plate II, Fig. 2).

The other bronze objects enumerated in this quarter’s catalogue
are of the species usually found—fibule, arrow- and spearheads,

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 303

axes, rings, pins, needles, &c. These need not be individually
mentioned. The only other bronze object calling for reference is a
fine sword-handle, with part of the blade remaining, from the lower
Jewish stratum. The sides of the hilt were hollow and inlaid with
bone plates, fragments of which still remained when the object was
discovered, though they rapidly disintegrated (Plate II, Fig. 4).

TIron.—A spearhead, 7} inches long, and a large fibula are the
only objects in iron that need be mentioned. The latter type of
object is rare in this metal.

Lead.—In the Seleucid stratum was found a square weight of
lead (Plate II, Fig. 12), resembling one already found in the upper
town at Tell Sandahannah. The latter bore an inscription, in place
of which the Gezer example is stamped with two cornucopias and
the letter A, no doubt a numerical sign. The Sandahannah weight
has two knobs at the side, apparently indicating that it was meant
to(weigh double the standard ; the similar Gezer weight should
weigh four times the standard, or double the Sandahannah weight.
The actual weights are respectively 145 grammes and 263°60
grammes, which is a sufficiently close approximation to the required
proportion. Vessels made of lead are rare, so that a small jug
13 inches high, made in two halves welded together, is worth
mentioning (Plate II, Fig. 13), as is also a circular dise 44 inches
in diameter, with the edges turned back and a round hole in the

centre (Plate II, Fig. 11). ;
k was found a curious pendant

Silver.—Within 3 feet of the roc |
8 inch in diameter. The object

or locket (Fig. 2). It is circular, 4

Fie. 2.—Silver Amulet,

loop attached for suspension to the

ring is enamelled—deep blue with a
a ring of

Tesembles a pillbox with a

Sides. The centre of the
white spot in the middle—and round the enamel runs

304 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

small knobs. The box when found was full of white earth, quite
different from that in which the object was embedded.

Gold._Several torn and crushed fragments of gold leaf were
found in a hoard belonging to the late Canaanite or early Jewish
period. These had probably been torn off a statue or some such
object ; several of them show delicate repoussé linear and spiral
ornament (Plate II, Figs. 6-9).

§ I11.—Porrery.

Miscellaneous.—Three different objects, all from the Seleucid
Stratum, must here be referred to. The first is the neck of a

Fie. 3.—Terra-cotta Statuette.

vessel surmounted by a strainer, resembling a modern pepper-
castor. The second is a fragment of a fine multiple lamp. The
third is a charming figurine in terra-cotta, representing a mother
suckling her infant son. The upper half of the statuette alone
remains ; it is 3 inches in height. The mother’s figure is attired in
chlamys and himation, the latter drawn back, revealing the hair
confined by a band; the child’s figure is undraped.

ay: REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 305

sy
.

oe Painted W are.—Two fragments are deserving of mention. The
_ first is a sherd with a curious animal figure painted upon it in red

-
~

SS Tg 5S & e
Yipisicce
: LK, ROO
LAPS JD iabilabeted

Fic. 4.—Two Fragments of Painted Ware.

hy ‘and black. The second is part of a vase of brick-red ware, bearing
figures of peacocks and frets in dark Indian-red lines upon it.

306 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

Animal Figwres——These continue to be common, mostly in
fragments. A goat’s head with long horns is the most novel and
striking specimen.

Stamped Jar-handles—One more handle with a Hebrew stamp
has been found, but, like the others, it is hopelessly illegible ; I do
not think it was ever stamped with sufficient clearness to be read.
A considerable number of jar-handles with Rhodian stamps were
found in the upper strata ; the inscriptions of these will be tabulated
in the concluding memoir. The following, however, may be given
here, as they are of especial importance, being a pair of handles :
from one amphora; they show the name of the magistrate and of |
the merchant together, and afford one more datum for the deter-
mination of the chronological order of the governors of Rhodes.

Each stamp is oval, with a rose in the centre.
are :—

:
a
"

The inscriptions

EN! APIETOAAMOY BAT[POM}ION (sic)
INNOKPATEYS

§ IV.—Lamp anp Bow. Deposits.

A few further observations have been made on the subject of
this puzzling foundation rite.

In the first place, it is to be noticed that the deposits are
generally found under the ends of walls—that is, at the corners of
houses or chambers, or just under door-jambs. There are occasional
exceptions to this rule, in which the deposit is found under the
middle of a wall; in all probability these exceptions are apparent
rather than real, a doorway having formerly existed over the site

of the deposit, but having disappeared owing to the wall being
ruined below its threshold.

Secondly, it would a
were made involy
vessels,

ppear that the rite at which these deposits
ed the pouring of some liquid into the deposited
This is to be inferred from the frequency with which the
vessels are made watertight by a kind of lime cement smeared over
or pressed into any cracks that may exist in the pottery. This is
seldom if ever to be seen in vessels found elsewhere on the tell, but
is a peculiarity of the members of lamp and bowl groups.

This liquid most probably was either blood or grape-juice, which
latter in toned-down sacrificial rites often takes the place of blood ;
for evidence is gradually accumulating that these foundation

F , =D * ie i. .
. b, pins, *
: 7
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a
"

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 307

deposits are primarily sacrificial, and that a human victim was
immolated in the original form of the rite. In my last report
I have referred to the discovery of infant bones buried under the
corners of house walls. In the accompanying plate (III)' a very
striking connecting link is illustrated, bridging the gap between
the deposited infants’ bones and the lamp and bowl groups.

The wall in which this deposit was found belonged to an early
_ Canaanite stratum. The deposit consisted of the following nine
members :—

(1) A pointed-bottomed jar, about 2 feet in length, lying on its
side, exactly under and flush with the western face of the wall, and
found, when opened, to contain the bodies of two infants (probably
twins). This is the first time that two infants have been found in
one jar. The mouth of the jar had been broken in order to permit
of the insertion of the bodies.

(2, 3) Two shallow bowls with moulded rims, deposited above
the jar, No. 1.

(4, 5) Two plain hemispherical saucers, one inside the other, and

_ both inside the bowl, No. 2.

(6) A jug with a round mouth and one handle, standing upright
behind the jar, No. 1, and consequently under the middle of the
wall.

(7, 8) Two lamps, one inside the other, placed between No. 1
_ and No. 9.
(9) A small jug with one handle, placed beside No. 6.

On the plate are diagrams of the various members of the
deposit, and of the method of their arrangement.
| This elaborate deposit, which is quite the most important yet
- found, seems to indicate an evolution in the foundation-rite that
_ may be outlined as follows :—

y (a) A sacrifice in which an infant was built into the wall,

F probably (if analogy with the customs of other countries and races
be reliable) alive. .:

>. (8) The previous slaughter of the victim and the deposition of

‘ the body in a jar, as in the temple sacrifices. Bs

X (y) Addition of other vessels of pottery to the jar contaiming

the body, possibly containing food for the victim.

(Photographic views of this pottery group will be reproduced in the

Cncluding Memoir. ]

*
<=9
a

ee ee ee

Bi ees ats ar a ans ee

EXCAVATION OF CEZER
CROUPED POTTERY DEPOSIT

‘’

Fund. Pl.

1Z Lilerveton Jactne és

gs) Ns ‘ - ‘ e fo
‘ ety fi __ 2 cow = “ - ‘ ' Li
bs pe Ee hee a se AG lars pi . _ iar rh ; sper .
Pe : ' i. od - ‘= * eae a es kw raya
“ Pr 5 eee Ls, ee wees paleo

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 309

(é) Addition of a permanent symbolisation of the act of sacrifice,
consisting of a lamp, typical of fire, and a bowl or bowls containing
blood or some substitute for it.

That the lamp and bowl deposits have a certain parallelism with
the infant sacrifices is perhaps indicated by the fact that at Tell
el-Hesy, where the infant jars were filled with fine sand, the lamp
and bowl groups were also filled with sand or fine earth. At Gezer,
- on the other hand, where the infant jars are not so filled, the lamp
and bowl groups with fine earth in them, differifig from the earth
with which they are surrounded, are distinctly exceptional, although
within two hours’ walk from the site of Gezer, on the ground where
Ramleh stands now, an inexhaustible supply of sand could be
obtained if it were considered indispensable for either purpose.

§ V.—EGYPTIAN OBJECTS.

The Egyptian objects found during the past quarter are of the
same classes as those described in previous reports—fragments of
saucers made of paste covered with green enamel and ornamented
with brown lines, beads, figures of Bes and other divinities, Horus-
eyes and other amulets, and scarabs.

Hardly a day passes in which some evidence of Egyptian occu-
pation or influence is not forthcoming, whether the work happens
to be in progress in the earlier or in the later strata. Until the
discovery of historical inscriptions no very certain conelusions can
be drawn from this, but judging from the distribution of objects
from Egypt it seems certain that that country was dominant over
Gezer throughout its history as no other foreign nation seems to
have been. Of the hypothetical “Land of Musri” (which ought in
be revealing some evidence of its existence through Solomon's
marriage with its supposed princess) no trace has yet been found.

Scarabs apparently were imported to serve as seals, a possession
for which there probably was as great a craze in the east in ancient
as in modern times. This is possibly the reason why hardly any
have been found with royal names. Their use as potters’ stamps
for jar-handles has already been described and illustrated ; during
this quarter I have found examples of weaver’s weights bearing

- impressions of scarabs, which is a novelty, as well as a fragment of

times.

a jar-stopper with such an impression stamped upon it three
: . Z

310 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. . <

A considerable number of uninscribed specimens have, however,
also been found, showing that scarabs were not only used for seals ;
they had probably the same value as amulets in Gezer as in Egypt.
As in the previous report I can best display the scarabs
discovered during the quarter in tabular form :— ;

Fig. on |

Fig. 17 on the plate, found
the top of a weaver’s weight.

The scarab-seals on jar-handles are,

kind—principally symmetrical interlac
of middle empire scarabs,

ial. Device, &e.
No.| py ry. Stratum. Material
as ~ ate ier ——_— an r—Oxeoe
1 1 ‘TET White steatite ..| K’hpr-r’ in an oval
(? Usertesen I),
2 2 Tit Green enamelled | ma,
paste. A
3 3 iit Green enamelled | An between two urei, nb
P paste. below ; above indistin-
guishable (probably a
flying scarabeeus),

4 = III Green enamelled | No device. f

paste.

5 4 iit Steatite .. -+| Symmetrical ornament.

6 — lV Blue enamelled | No device.

paste.
7 -- IV Blue enamelled | ima (Amen).
paste. :
8 5 IV Green enamelled | A scorpion (half broken
: paste. away). ;
9 6 IV Green enamelled | A bird.
paste.

10 ¥ Vv Diorite .. ++| A fish.

ll 10 VI Limestone -»| A lioness.

12 — From a cistern | Amethyst --| No device.

13 8 From a cistern | Ivory | .. --| Divinity with worshipper.

14 — From a cistern | Hematite «- | No device.

: —- ema a cistern | Hematite --| No device.

19 — | Depth not noted Amethyst --| No device.

20 — | Depth not noted Amethyst ++| No device (a gold mount
remaining on this
scarab).

21 9 | Depth not noted | Stone .. -+| Ornamental pattern.

22 ll Depth not noted | Steatite .. --| Ornamental pattern.

23 12 Depth not noted | Steatite .. ‘

-| 2b and other characters.

as will be seen, of the usual
ing ornaments characteristic

The most remarkable of the series is
impressed, not on a jar-handle, but on
Fig. 16a represents a similar weight

Palestine Exploration Fund. Pl. IV.

EXCAVATION OF CEZER

SCARABS (-12) & STAMPS (13°24)

EX,

LI |
(ES
SEE 9

COE

312 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

(drawn to half the scale of the plate) with the seal on its crest.
Fig. 24a is the fragment of a hottle-stopper (also drawn to half
scale) which has already been mentioned ; F ig. 24 is the seal itself.
A small green enamel paste figure of Isis and Nephthys and a
curious little statuette in the same material of two cats are the only
other Egyptian objects found this quarter requiring illustration,

§ VI.—INScRIBED STONES.

Several fragments of clunch bearing devices, and two with
writing, have been found in the Seleucid stratum this quarter.
Of the former the most curious is a fragment with three palm trees.
Another seems to represent a portion of a seated figure on a chair. -

1 inch.

Fie. 5.—Inscribed Stone,

The two stones with writing are more interesting. The first
(Fig. 5) bears two rudely scratched figures of animals and the opening
letters of the Greek alphabet, ABTAE. The first four letters are -
repeated, with the capital A substituted for the uncial &. Under-
neath the first of these letter-rows were evidently written the
opening letters of the Hebrew alphabet, 773, but unfortunately a

fracture of the stone has carried away all but the first and last of
these.

|
|
8
4
q
|
;

= PS

_—-.) =-

—

Fic. 6.—First Face.

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 313

This is all probably merely a schoolboy’s or idle person’s
scribbling. Much more curious is the second of the inscribed
stones. It is a block of clunch, 32 inches high, 2} inches broad,
and 2% inches thick. These are the mean measurements, for the
object is irregularly formed and not one of its sides or ends is
truly rectangular. It has all the appearance of being a small
votive object in the form of an altar, and such I take it to be.
All four faces are inscribed in Greek.

The first face (Fig. 6) is recessed within a much broken frame ;
a tongue projects upwards over the face of the panel from the lower
border, # inch long, 2 inch across. The inscription is easily legible :

HPAKAEOYC
N€IKH
€YNHAOY
NOH[C]IC

But the interpretation is not so easy. Necky, “a quarrel, judicial
dispute, battle,” does not seem to make any intelligible sense: so
far as I can see the second word must be meant for vey, “ victory,”
and the whole must imply that the object is “the workmanship of
Eunélos” in acknowledgment of a “victory” of some kind which
he has gained and ascribes to the favour of Héracles. The fourth
letter of zéyow (for wrodyors) is the only damaged or doubtful
character on this face ; it has been lost by a fracture of the stone.
The second face is similar to the first, but broader; it also has
‘a frame surrounding it with a projecting tongue below, in this case
_J-shaped. The writing on this and the two remaining faces reads
vertically from bottom to top; that on the first face is in four
horizontal lines. At the top is a device of random lines which I am
totally unable to explain or describe ; the drawing, which has been
prepared with the aid of a camera lucida, shows its nature. The
lower right-hand corner of this face is broken off, and some letters
lost of the inscription, which runs as follows :—

EYNHAOYIW

NOC
IAW

INAXCIOY
E€OPTH
me IOY

314 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

In the first two lines we have again the name of Eunélos, with
that of, probably, his father I6n. The fourth and fifth lines mean
“the feast of Inasios,” which is not very illuminating. In the
middle is |AW), the Greek form of the Hebrew Divine name >\>9
which is surely unexpected on an altar dedicated to Héracles 3 it
can only be explained as an illustration of the overlap of creeds,
and of the influence of the religion of the Yahweh-worshippers on
the Greek settlers in the town. The last line might be restored in
many ways. It is tempting to think of ’AX«‘ov, the name upon the
boundary stones ; but no restoration can be more than a doubtful
guess.

The third face bears four lines of writing within a simple °
ornamental border. The writing is much worn, and no grammatical
or, indeed, intelligible sequence of words seems to emerge from such
of the letters as are still decipherable (asterisks denote letters which
are broken from the stone) :—

ATAO[HX ? jE

TO *NIKA *

ON[OIX ?] * XE[P W ?)
XO[PT ?] * NAC

The above unpromising result is the fruit of several hours
Spent over this part of the inscription under different conditions
of illumination.

On the fourth face (Fig. 7) is a rude representation of a gazelle,
and an inscription in two lines. The inscription gives the name :—

AOPKACNAIC
TATAI

“ Doreas, child of Tatai,” the latter name being so rudely scratched
that its decipherment is doubtful. The gazelle is obviously a canting
allusion to the name Dorcas. This side is apparently palimpsest,
a faint A between the horns of the gazelle being a surviving letter
of a previous inscription, of which there are not wanting other
traces, though the face has been carefully smoothed to prepare
it for the reception of the existing writing. Similar traces, but
less definite, appear in the third face.

The stone would thus seem to have been a votive model of an
altar, dedicated to Héracles by Eunélos, son of lon, which subse-

7 a | wares. es AP nia Fa > -
i = i Sas” ‘ ae” Pm ‘
a: "* oe ee ey

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

quently fell into profane hands, by whom the various incoherent
scribbles about “ the feast of Inasios” and “ Dorcas, child of Tatai,”
were added. The inscription on the third face may possibly be

magical.
§ VII.—Caves AND CISTERNS.

The caves and cisterns continue to be found in undiminished
numbers, and are usually so prolific in objects of one class or
another that the discovery of an entrance to such an excavation
is generally hailed with delight by the gang of workmen in whose
section the cave happens to be. No new light has been thrown on
the troglodyte inhabitants ; two or three examples of troglodyte
dwellings, with the characteristic staircase at the entrance, have
been found, but in each case the cave had been subsequently
deepened and turned into a cistern. The most remarkable cave-
deposit found was one already alluded to in “Notes and News” of
the lust number of the Quarterly Statement. The cave was an
excavation of the usual irregular, low-roofed type which we have
now learned to associate with the troglodyte dwellers in Gezer,
approached by a narrow staircase cut in the rock. The main
chamber had in later times been cleared out, and contained nothing
characteristic, potsherds only being found in the débris; but in
a small chamber at the side was found a series of 15 vessels, nearly
all perfect, some small jugs a few inches long, some fine jars 2 feet
or more high, and one or two dishes. They were empty, and did
not seem to have been deposited with any other purpose beyond
mere storage. One of the dishes, a magnificent flat tray, in red
ware, 1 foot 5 inches in diameter, had been broken before being
deposited—a wedge-shaped fragment being knocked out of the
rim—and repaired by riveting, the holes for the rivets being bored
through the pottery on each side of the lines of fracture. This
method of repairing the more valuable pieces of pottery was well
known in Palestine, and several examples have been found—the
most remarkable being a jug that had been broken into at least
a dozen pieces, some of which were found heaped together, all
displaying several rivet-holes round the edges. The rivets were
probably bronze, but no example has yet been found in situ. I am
inclined to suspect (if I do not misunderstand the published descrip-
tion) that the “ hole-mouths ” which have been enumerated as one of
the characteristics of Amorite pottery are in reality rivet-holes.

7 ?
4 ei, , : > :
he es a a Mere jak
= t oe) ™ Mee ae nes
ed

316°

St oe Nhe ee ee ee ee
ee oe ae ay 7 ma oe «
€ “se

rv i rr ee Pe, Se Te iS
i tes OP! tC le Le .

316 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

The most remarkable and important excavation—setting aside
the caves found in connection with the new high place, to be
described in a following section—has been a cistern, which, like the
cistern already illustrated and named the “Second Burial Cave,”
was used as a depository for human remains. In a separate paper
(printed in this issue of the Quarterly Statement) is an osteological
account of the remains themselves: here I need only describe the
excavation. It is of the usual bell-shaped or rather cylindrical form
with slightly domed roof, and a single circular shaft in the centre
of the ceiling. The depth is 20 feet, the diameter 16 feet 6 inches.
In the centre of the floor is the usual hollow for
dregs and impurities. Silt had accumulated to
before the bodies were thrown in, and very li
potsherds, rather early, some nondescript fragme
a scarab (Plate IV, Fig. 8) was found in this lowe
the silt was a stratum of bones, mingled with
depth of 1 foot 11 inches. The bones w
the common domestic animals, and also
represented. The state of the bones, wh
showed that the bodies had not been bur
were, notwithstanding their haphazard arrangement in the Second
Burial Cave), but thrown into water, where they had floated about
and macerated before finally settling down. Above the bone
stratum was another course of alluvial silt, 3 feet 4 inches deep.
The most curious feature of the cistern is the Series of cup-marks
cut in the rock all round its mouth, which are too small to be of
any use for watering cattle or any similar purpose. One other
instance of a cistern-mouth surrounded by a group of small cup-
marks has been found on the tell (in this case nothing extraordinary
was found in clearing the cistern), and a third exists on an adjoining
hillside. With one exception—the leg-bones of a small goat—none
of the bones bear any mark of fire, otherwise J should have been
tempted to consider this cistern as having been adopted by the
temple authorities as a receptacle for refuse and the remains of
human and other victims. More probably it was used as a plague-
pit; among the many stories and rumours that gossip circulated
during the cholera epidemic last year were tales of the disposal of
the bodies of victims of the disease by casting them into cisterns.

While on the subject of deposits of human remains I may here
refer to a curious discovery at the south end of the Temple trench

the collection of
a depth of 2 feet
ttle except a few
nts of bronze, and
' stratum. Above
large stones, to a
ere nearly all human, but
the deer and gazelle, were
ich were all disarticulated,
led (as they unquestionably

oe r ae nat

EXCAVATION OF GEZER
ROCK-SURFACE WITH CUPS & CAVES

‘

’ Rees

| ="

} N
- ‘

! >
‘a al ac | em

Limit of Excavation
\

XN “ete.
. SA,
Seen
~
“se
+
‘ -

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 317

in the early Canaanite stratum. This was a bank of solid, compact
about 7 feet long and 1 foot wide, containing within it a
n amber of bones. These consisted of 11 human skulls, several
‘long bones, and a quantity of cows’ teeth; there were no other
bones, and the heads had certainly been severed before being piled —
_ up. They were interspersed with stones and potsherds. Unfor-
_ tunately the long bones were all splintered, and the earth in which
_ the skulls were embedded was so hard that it was found a practical
impossibility to recover them except in small fragments,
> __‘ §: VIII.—Txe Surrosep Rock-cur Hien Prace.
a On Plate VI will be found a plan of the rock surface about
120 feet south of the alignment of pillar stones. It will be seen
‘that over an area of about 90 feet north to south, 80 feet east to
; we t, maximum dimensions, the whole surface is covered with cup-
marks and hollows ranging from a few inches to 5 or 6 feet in
‘ameter ; and that underneath it is a series of three remarkable

cee

pa
ih.

ae The plan, with the explanations here given, will make a detailed
de scription unnecessary.! The outlines of the caves are indicated
, yatched lines ; walls immediately overlying the rock-surface are
sross-hatched. These walls are with one possible exception all later
than the period of the cup-marks; not only will several examples
be noticed of cups being partly concealed by them, but in nearly all
he 2 has been time for an accumulation of earth of at least 1 foot
deep, to cover the rock-surface before the walls were built. This
arth contained sherds of the oldest types of pottery — that
sociated with the troglodyte dwellings, and a layer of burning
covered its top in some places, as though vegetation had been burnt
ff its surface before the building commenced. Three strata of
uilding overlay the walls shown in this plan; a good idea of the
high antiquity of the rock surface will be obtained from these data.
__‘The one exception which has been referred to in the preceding
_ paragraph is a curved wall of very rude masonry, built with small
é ste nes set in mud, enclosing an {_-shaped space around a rock-cut
"staircase leading to the largest of the three caves presently to be

described. This wall appears contemporary with the staircase with
whi ch jit is associated, and with the exception of one or- two
: 1 [Photographs of the supposed High Place are held over until the
oncluding Memoir. }

‘on Fund. Plate VI

Explor

TLL

4
+t @
4,8,

rat. t.o #-

OO
2

oO
BO
Oe

C209
VOOOU CE

CAVES

Lil

Li.

O «
£e

O=z

. =

{ wo

> <

Wl &°

UOMO AION 7) F2tL? Y

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 317

s a bank of solid, compact
containing within it a
human skulls, several

i
eve Canaanite stratum. This wa
Sic out 7 feet long and 1 foot wide,
ong bo of bones. These consisted of 11
Mies nes, and a quantity of cows’ teeth; there were no other
up, aac the heads had certainly been severed before being piled
tunate] ey were interspersed with stones and potsherds. Unfor-
the si y the long bones were all splintered, and the earth in which
; ulls were embedded was so hard that it was found a practical

ae
Possibility to recover them except in small fragments.

_cut Hieu PLACE.

§ VIIL—TxHE SUPPOSED Rock
f the rock surface about

ics Plate VI will be found a plan o
” “nee south of the alignment of pillar stones. It will be seen
Wee ver an area of about 90 feet north to south, 80 feet east to
ites dimensions, the whole surface 18 covered with cup-
Ps. and hollows ranging from @ few inches to 5 or 6 feet in
ig ; and that underneath it is a series of three remarkable

des The plan, with the explanations h
cription unnecessary-! The outlin
wf hatched lines ; walls immediately overlyin
8s-hatched. These walls are with one possible exception all later

a the period of the cup-marks ; not only will several examples
hoticed of cups being partly concealed by them, but in nearly all

- of earth of at least 1 foot

“i has been time for an accumu
dive to cover the rock-surface before the walls were built. This
Bids: contained sherds of the oldest types of pottery — that
coy ciated with the troglodyte dwellings, and a layer of burning
off ered its top in some places, as though vegetation had been burnt
its surface before the building commenced. Three strata of
ood idea of the

Dduila:
ote overlay the walls shown in this plan; 4 8
gh antiquity of the rock surface will be obtained from these data.

he one exception which has been referred to in the preceding

Paragraph is a curved wall of very rude masonry, built with small

a set in mud, enclosing an [_-shaped space around a rock-cut
sh leading to the largest: of the three caves presently to
bas. tibed. This wall appears contemporary with the staircase wit
ich it is associated, and with the exception of one oF two
1
[Photographs of the supposed Hig

Con, h Place are held over until t
eluding Memoir.

e a detailed

es of the caves are indicated

g the rock-surface are

ere given, will mak

318 REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

insignificant fragments whose purpose can no longer be discovered,
is the only wall of the group founded on the rock itself.

The cup-marks exposed are in all 83 in number. One of these,
partly concealed by a large wall, is 8 feet in diameter and 9 inches
deep. Two more, one of them at the north end of the system and
one in the middle, are 6 feet in diameter. Two others are 3 feet
in diameter ; these are at the western side of the system, and have
the peculiarity of being partly surrounded by small standing stones
set on end and cemented together with mud—exactly resembling
the circle described and illustrated in the first of this series of
reports. Beside them is a third structure of a similar nature partiy
surrounding a natural hollow in the rock which seems to have been
adapted for the same purpose as the artificial hollows, whatever
that may have been. The remaining cups are all small, on an

average 6 or 8 inches across and 5 inche

s deep. A few are of the
familiar circular saucer-shape ; the majority, however, are of a form

that I have not seen elsewhere, except in another small group on
this tell — rectangular in outline, and Shaped like the segment
of a cylinder, the two long sides of the hollow being vertical, the
short sides curving regularly downwards to the middle. In two
cases there is a deeper hollow at one end of a cup,
four cups are cut so close together that they form a composite
group. One cup, circular in form and rather larger than the
average, has a channel leading to it.

With regard to the distribution of the cups, it is to be
noted that with one remarkable exception they are all cut on
projecting tables of the rock surface, which is here remarkably
irregular in outline and split up by deep hollows, perhaps partly
artificial, though in any case very slightly so. The one exception
is a large circular cup situated in the middle of one of the deepest
hollows at the western side of the system.

The most Suggestive detail in connection with the group is to

be seen close to the series of cups surrounded by standing stones.
This is an orifice,

too narrow to admit a full-grown man, leading
into the roof of one of the three caves underneath the rock-surface.
This orifice is 1 foot wide, cut at the bottom of a cup-mark
2 feet 8 inches wide, 3 feet 6 inches deep; a rectangular drain
4 feet 6 inches long, 2 feet 2 inches wide, leads into it from the
north-west. It is obvious that this cave was used as the receptacle
for some material poured into it through the orifice.

and in two cases

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 319

The caves are excavated under the steep eastern face of the
principal rock-table of the system, on which the largest number of
cup-marks are congregated. Commencing with that to the south,
the first is 32 feet long, 20 feet broad, and 8 feet in maximum
height. The plan is irregular ; the greatest length from north-west
to south-east. No certain indications of chisel-marks are to be
detected in the friable limestone in which it is cut. There are
three entrances, including the narrow orifice described in the
preceding paragraph. One is a tall, narrow doorway on the east
side, approached by a narrow passage sloping downwards ; the left
hand (southern) side of this doorway is built up with rough rubble
masonry set in mud. The second is a narrow creep-passage under
a projecting shelf of the rock-table, which, if necessary, could easily
be concealed. The floor steps upward about 2 feet in the apsidal
projection, into which the narrow orifice opens.

The second cave is a small hollow sunk in the rock, only about
half-covered by the rock-table, and lined on the northern and
eastern sides with crude masonry. There are two broad, shallow,
circular cup-marks in the floor of the cave. It is 14 feet 2 inches

long (the eastern 7 feet of which is open and uncovered), and

9 feet broad.
The third cave is a very extraordinary excavation. It is,

roughly speaking, a large rectangular chamber, its northern half
divided by a projecting partition into two bays; from the western
of these bays another projects westward. The present maximum
dimensions of the excavation (exclusive of the small westward bay)
are 36 feet by 38 feet, height of roof 11 feet 6 inches. Apparently
it was originally longer towards the south ; but a subsidence seems
to have at some time taken place whereby the rock roof was
cracked and partly fell in, after which a wall of rude masonry was
built along the whole south side supporting the remainder of the
roof. This cuts the small second cave off from the cave under
discussion ; originally they seem to have formed one excavation.
A flight of steps leading downward through the fractured entrance
to the cave has been made in this wall, but a narrow staircase,
bent at right angles at the top and enclosed in a rude wall, on the
eastern side, is evidently the original approach to the cave. In
front of the end of the partition is an excavation in the floor (not
yet fully cleared out) apparently a pool or cistern ; this is not
indicated on the plan. The floor of the cave was originally care-

ei lt A les 5 _ y ec | ey * i 4 Sao iis suk 2 hs Efet om va ae os ;
Becht oil! os MPLA ty aes saat ee a ie, See
he F &. - wT bl © * ~ od | Asal ‘2.

320 _ REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER.

fully worked smooth, but except round the walls it has been broken a iam
up and deepened to a depth of about 9 inches, possibly by treasure-
seekers of a later generation.

Unfortunately nothing was found in this cave to give any hint
as to its purpose or age. The potsherds were not very distinctive, __
and all the antiquities had evidently been washed in with later silt ;
two iron arrowheads, for instance, were undoubtedly of a period
i long subsequent to the original excavation. The small figure of
ae two cats referred to above was also found here. The walls showed
| ee no marks of metal tools; the indications sharply preserved on some

i parts of the soft rock-surface rather seemed to point to wooden,
Ee: flint, or horn implements, as the marks indicated the existence of

. serrated edges in the tools such as no metal chisel would have had.
; 4 On the inner wall of the western bay occurs a X clearly cut, and
~ above it a mark like \V; these are the only other traces of the
ea ancient occupants of the cave.

Bs The principal observation remaining with regard to this cave
an is its remarkable similarity in plan to the important cave at Tell
a Sandahannah, No. 34 of the detailed list in Excavations in Palestine,
2 pp. 248-250, Plate 102. The Gezer cave is simpler, but the
- essential details—a rectangular chamber partly divided by a
<i projecting partition, and with subsidiary chambers opening off
the bays—are identical in both. e
a It may be assumed that this system of rock cuttings had some Sry
Ba use to those who originally made it. If so, it must have served
__ 80me simple economic purpose or else one more esoteric. It is
i impossible, so far as I can see, to assign any economic purpose that
will suit all the indications ; there are important elements in the —
system that would be equally useless if we are to regard it as a
place for fulling, for watering cattle, for pounding corn, or for
pressing olives. On the other hand, little or nothing is known
about the religious rites of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country;
and if the second hypothesis be entertained the exact purpose of —
the various members of the system cannot as yet be assigned _
with any approach to certainty. If, however, we may call in the ™
aid of Semitic analogies—and how far Semitic religion may not _
P be modelled on pre-Semitic beliefs we cannot ay —S. VOR
ts consistent series of suggestions may be brought forward. That 1
cup-marks have some sacrificial significance may be admitted ae a
at least probable, though how they were exactly used may be for ©

—

REPORT ON THE EXCAVATION OF GEZER. 521

the present dismissed as an indeterminate question. In the
southern cave I would see an adytum, with a secret entrance that
could easily be concealed from the profanus vulgus (the large eastern
entrance is perhaps a later work, though of this there is no direct
evidence), and with a “shoot” whereby sacrificial blood and other
offerings could be committed to the gods of the underworld. In
this connection it is remarkable that a considerable number of pig-
bones—an animal whose remains very seldom occur elsewhere on
the tell—were found inside the cave. The large double cave was
possibly a residence for the priests, but this can only be regarded
as a guess.

A word may be added about some of the later structures and
excavations to be seen indicated on the plan. The large wall,
4 feet 2 inches thick, partly enclosing a square space, is evidently
the foundation of a building of great importance: it is one of the
finest pieces of masonry yet uncovered on the mound. It is
certainly much later than the rock-surface; in one place a plaster
floor has been laid down previous to its erection on the surface of
the rock, and fragments of it remain on each side of the wall.
There are five round stones, four inside the enclosure and one
outside, apparently connected with this building. Possibly they
are the foot-stones of wooden posts or columns.

The mouth of a cistern will also be seen in the plan. This has
not yet been completely cleared. It is evidently an old troglodyte
dwelling adapted as a cistern, for the steps still remain at its
mouth.

One of the most remarkable discoveries yet made on the tell is
the enormous pool at the south of the rock-surface. It is 46 feet
wide and 57 feet long, and at the moment of writing has been
cleared to a depth of 22 feet; there is nothing to show how much
deeper it may not be. The date of this pool is very difficult to
assign ; that it remained open till the latest period of ‘occupation is
evident from the total absence of walls and of antiquities in the
earth with which it was covered. But whether it was excavated in the
Seleucid period or was an older reservoir handed on from generation
to generation of the city’s inhabitants—like the so-called Pool of
Hezekiah in Jerusalem—is a question on which decisive data are
not yet forthcoming. The latter seems the more probable, as the

‘successive strata of building superposed to the walls indicated on

the plan all dip towards the pool as though they had grown up

gem
oe

: i-n ? eo, hi ; i l ' A
_ x f 7 * 7 i ie ad
9 G- aS -

322 REPORT ON THE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT GEZER.

round it. It was found to be filled with large stones, many of them

drafted and moulded—the cast-away materials of some building
which had apparently been pulled down. Probably they came fr n
the large square building already mentioned, or from one of the
buildings in an upper stratum. ;

ADDENDA.

April, 1903.—Page 118, line 13 below the stave of music, for “ concave ”
read “ convex.”

Page 124, line 4 from end, the Egyptian sign R is misprinted t ; also
| An
on page 125, line 2, after |} add (Jor io A:
Ves anew
July, 1903.—Pages 209, 210. The objects shown in Figs. 8 and 10 are

not bone, but ivory.

Pages 216-218. I find that I was misinformed as to the names of
some of the water-sources referred to in this section, though the argument
_ is not affected thereby. The well called Bir et-Tirisheh should really be

named Bir’el-Balad; the name in the text, which ought to be spelt

Bir et-Tayfsheh (without r), properly belongs to a more distant well, —

north of Bir el-Lusiyeh, and not entering into the discussion.

REPORT ON THE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT GEZER,
1902-3.

By Professor A.- MACALISTER, M.D., F.R.S.

Portions of human skeletons have been obtained from four
localities :—

(1) From the deepest stratum, lying immediately upon the rock.
(2) From the second stratum.

(3) From the area of the great standing stones on the horizon of |

their bases.
(4) From a cistern on the east side of the “ High Place.”

(1) Unfortunately the bones found in the deepest stratum were

fragmentary. They were parts of two skulls, both unusually thick ; _

with them were fragments of limb bones too small to indicate the —
exact stature, but enough to show that the individuals were under

am.

REPORT ON THE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT GEZER. 323

the middle height. The skulls seemed to have been moderately
broad, but were too incomplete for measurement. —

(2) From the second stratum came an anomalously-shaped
female skull, spheno-cephalic, with a length-breadth index of 78,
flattened at the lambdoid region and somewhat flat-topped. It
belonged to a woman probably over 45 years of age. There were
no whole limb bones with it, only some broken fragments.

(3) From the temple area the skull was a fairly capacious well-
formed male skull, which in all characters was comparable with
those of the next group.

(4) The remains of 18 individuals were found in the cistern ; of
these 14 were men, two were women, one a child of about 12 years,
and one‘an infant. In this cistern the bodies were not disposed in
any order. They were found, not on the rock floor, as in the cistern
described last year, but upon a thick layer of clay silt about 14 feet
deep. They mostly lay directly under the mouth of the cistern,
and many large stones had fallen in with and over them. Above
the stony layer about 3 feet of earth had been washed in at a

_ together, but there was no sign of artificial dismemberment. It
seemed rather as if they had lain in the water of the cistern and
had become separated in the ordinary course of decomposition,
becoming washed asunder in the course of the periodic inflow of
water during the rains. In character the skulls closely resembled
those in the last burial cistern. The male skulls were ellipsoidal,
¢apacious, some a short broad ellipse in norma verticalis, others a
little narrower. The indexes of the three widest were 76°5, and
_ those of the others ranged from 73 to 75. The female skulls are
somewhat ovoidal with indexes of 76. In all, the foreheads are
rounded, most prominent medially at the metopion, the brow
ridges are moderate, the occipital regions are generally slightly
_ flattened and the sides steep. ,
In all those in which the facial bones have remained the facial
_ region was elongated and narrow, though wide at the cheekbones,
the palate rounded, the teeth large, and in those of advanced age
much worn, the lower jaw oblique, with somewhat receding
_ chin. The orbits were wide and the nasal region long and narrow,
_ the nasal bones being fairly high-pitched.
. The long bones, though in bad condition, were sufficiently sound
_ to be measured when exposed in situ before being lifted. From

4
“|

subsequent period. The bones of the skeletons were not found |

ha —_— Ts ya eS
— 1) a we ~7 « “4 ;

324 REPORT ON THE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND aT GEZER.

these we obtained definite data as to stature. One male skeleton
must have been a few mm. over 6 feet in height, but the others
were much shorter and ranged from 5 feet 4 inches to 5 feet
9 inches. The females were about 5 feet 2 inches and 5 feet 3 inches.
respectively. None of the femora were pilastered, but two were
platymeric. The neck angle of the femur was very variable in both
sexes. The tibis of six of the skeletons showed the small flexion
facets due to extreme bending of the ankle, and extensions of the
flexion surfaces were well marked in the knee and hip joints.
None of the tibie were platycnemic.

The race to which these bones belonged must have been in
almost all physical characters identical with th
the fellahin who are the present inhabitants of
land. I have been able to make a considerable
tions on the physical characters of the fellahin
have been very much struck with the singular
between them and their ancient Semitic predec
workpeople on the tell and the inhabitants
villages both facial and other characters cl
those of the Amorites. The average male sta
5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 7} inches, but I have seen three men
over 6 feet in height. The female stature ranges from 4 feet
11 inches to 5 feet 6 inches. The heads of the men are almost all
dolichellipsoid, with rounded foreheads only moderately prominent
at the frontal eminences, but bulging medially. The brows are
fairly heavy, often rising at their lateral end, and scarcely ever
synophryous; the noses for the most part prominent and fairly
straight, with large cartilages and ale, but with narrow nostrils.
In a few the nose ig slightly aquiline, very rarely concave. The
inter-orbital width is considerable, and the columna nasi wide.
The malar regions are moderately prominent, giving a width to the
lower orbital region of the face. The chin is weak, tending to
recede owing to the obliquity of the jaws; the lips fairly thick
and often prominent ; the eyes usually fairly large and prominent,
with irides ranging in colour from yellow-brown to dark blackish
brown. Facial hair is not very abundant or general, in colour
ranging from dark brown to black ; where there is a beard, it is
short and curly.

There are, of course, a number of exceptions. One man from
Zakariyeh has peculiarly Mongolian features—a wide flat face, and

at represented by
this portion of the
number of observa-
of this district, and
ly close conformity
essors. Among the
of the neighbouring
osely correspond to
ture here is between

rey

ee . oe if a
‘ oy me iin oF UF uns

REPORT ON THE HUMAN REMAINS FOUND AT GEZER. 3325

oblique eyes with epicanthal folds. Two others have low-bridged
noses, somewhat concave in outline. One especially has a deep
fronto-nasal notch and a short nose very prominent at the tip.

The female faces are proportionally wider and shorter than the
males. The head outlines are more ovate and more rounded in the
occipital region. The foreheads are generally flatter, the noses
seldom quite straight or high-bridged, usually flatter at the upper
bony portion, and widening to the alar region. The nostrils are, in
consequence, often more oblique than in the males. The chin is
small and rounded, its apparent recession exaggerated by the
habit of keeping the mouth open. The eyes have irides varying
from very dark brown to black, but in two girls they are of a very
light yellowish brown colour. I have not seen any blue eyes even
in those with the fairest hair. The blackest eyes here are in some
small women who may be of gipsy origin. The hair is usually dark
brown or black, with a slight inclination to curl on each side of the
forehead. In one, however, the hair is distinctly fair, and in another
it is of a light chestnut brown colour. Well-formed, slender, aquiline
noses and symmetrical features are the exception, the standard of
good looks being distinctly lower among the females than among
the males. The photographs! taken represent very well the
extreme ranges of characters met with, as well as the most
prevailing types of face.

As the men often sit on the ground with knees and ankles
acutely flexed, it is probable that they, like their Amorite proto-
types, possess the flexion facets above mentioned in these joints,
which are of the same nature as those described in the Panjabi by
Professor Havelock Charles.

In the foot I note that in the majority the great toe is set
straight on the metatarsal, not bent outwards in the way described
as normal by Dr. Joseph Griffiths; in the males the second toe
appears generally to be a little longer than the first, but this is not
the case in the females. The general physique of the Palestinian
fellahin seems in all respects superior to that of the. Egyptian.
This is especially marked in the muscular development of the
shoulders and of the calves of the legs.

[P.S.—Just as this report was finished a number of skeletons
have been found in another cemetery near the temenos described

‘[A number of the most characteristic are held over until the final
Memoir.—Ep.]

2.A

326 THE TOMB OF NICANOR OF ALEXANDRIA.

in an earlier report. The bones are in bad condition, but as faras “J

I have been able to examine and measure them, they are quite
comparable with those above described, and seem to belong to the
same Semitic race. | .

THE TOMB OF NICANOR OF ALEXANDRIA.!

By Miss GLapys Dickson.

At the north end of the Mount of Olives, beside the carriage road
on the east side of the road in the field belonging to Mr. Gray
Hill and adjoining his house on the north, an interesting tomb has
recently been opened.

The tomb consists of four independent, groups of chambers (in,

this description numbered in order I to IV from north to south),
ranged round an entrance vestibule.

The vestibule is open, and possibly had pillars in front (like

Mughiret el-Anab and the “Tombs of the Kings”), but this is.
uncertain, and requires excavation to determine. The roof, which
is now broken down, was 9 feet 9 inches above the floor. The
Chamber-groups I and III open off the vestibule by small doors on
a level with the floor ; II and IV by doors sunk below that level,
at the ends of deep rectangular depressions.

Chamber-group I consists of a single main chamber with four

subsidiary chambers opening off it, the doorways to which are ;

arched, surrounded by square reveals.
Chamber-group II is very elaborate. The central chamber is
roofed with a barrel vault. This is the only chamber in the

system with a raised bench running round the walls. This bench —

is 44 inches high. The group is unfinished; on the south side
of the sinking leading to the entrance from the vestibule, a doorway
is blocked out ; and in the north-east corner of the main chamber is
a square sinking in the floor, with another blocked-out doorway
at its east end. Round the main chamber are nine small doors,
alternately round-headed in square reveals, and square-headed
without reveals. These are lettered « to i on the plan, beginning
at the right hand ; @ is round-headed.

* See Quarterly Statement, January, p. 93, April, pp. 125-131.

THE TOMB OF NICANOR OF ALEXANDRIA. 327

Of these a, c, 7d, g lead to small single chambers. Apparently 7
also did so originally ; the symmetry of the design as well as the
indications traceable in the chamber itself seem to show this.

The chambers to which 4, e, h give access lead by inner door-
ways to further members of the system. These inner doorways
were ingeniously concealed. They are at a level lower than that
of the doorways from the central chamber, the intervening passage-
way being an inclined plane. Broad reveals were left on each side
of the inclined plane, no doubt to bear cover slabs, which hid the
inner doorways by forming a false floor above them. This whole
second group was thus made to resemble the first, by appearing to
consist of a central chamber with a series of small single chambers
around it.

~- A similar slope has been cut through the single chamber to
which 7 gives access, in order to lead to the sarcophagus chamber.
This latter seems to be an afterthought : it is rougher in workman-
ship than any of the other chambers, and is the only one finished off
with a wooden comb on the walls.

Inside ), ¢, the inclined plane leads to a room from which in each
case two further chambers open off. In the > group one of these is
at a yet lower level, having a slope entrance of its own.

Inside ¢, the doorway at the end of the inclined plane apparently
broke out of the knoll of rock in which the tombs are cut, so that
further work in this direction was impossible. To make up for this
an extra chamber was cut beyond f, which by symmetry should have
led to a single chamber.

Chamber-group ITI has a large central chamber with barrel-vaulted
roof. It has five subsidiary chambers, rather irregular, round it.
These have square-headed entrances without reveals. Just inside
the door is a rectangular sinking in the floor, 2 feet 8 inches deep,
with a small chamber at each end; one of these extends under the
vestibule.

Chamber-group IV contains two chambers. The outer shows no
details, except a sunk depression in the middle of the floor. The
inner has three /ékim, each for a single body, and one arcosolium.

_ There are no other examples of these common forms of graves in the
entire excavation.

a The tombs were disturbed before they could be properly

examined, and unfortunately a complete description of the grave

Bo deposits cannot be recovered. The objects seen by me consist
Br 2A 2

Toms of Nicanor of ALEXANDRIA ,

( rr
UE zal, Tye 2
YUM YW
y Mf, Dyer we gs

hy n/n “ ] ms y

‘il
a n/a, Ti YP
~ ‘)

, jas
BY: he =

AD fai

ee)

) // y Wf ~~ Yj
Y “Wy, qq /f y

j YY Lp lh c
WY eet /'/, y A at Wf
Yu YY Wom thi] y; Wd MMU 63 : /
eS ae ae? EY
Hf pea Rein” Ee TESS y | / | ‘ / Y
we) | y /, J MMI] JO NH
) y ong angisy, Jo yo007

Ys WW |
a UY y a !

Y a i
_ _ : TIMMY a
//

] PE Ti ~jme7

330 THE TOMB OF NICANOR OF ALEXANDRIA.

of a sarcophagus, seven ossuaries, some pottery, and a few
lamps.

The sarcophagus is in soft white limestone, without any device
or inscription upon it. It measures 6 feet 44 inches long, 1 foot
10 inches broad, and 2 feet high. It has at some time been
violated, the whole of the side against the wall being broken. To
carry the sarcophagus into the chamber designed for it must have
been a work of considerable difficulty, and entailed some alteration
in the internal arrangements of the cave. A doorway was cut
between the chambers approached by h andi; and besides the
formation of the inclined plane, the chamber inside i was roughly
enlarged and its walls hacked in places in order to make the
manipulation of the sarcophagus possible.

The following is a description of the ossuaries, All but one are,
in shape, of the ordinary type rectangular boxes, slightly tapering
downwards, with small feet, and hog-backed lids,

The dimensions
given are length and breadth of upper surface and height (exclusive
of lid) :—

L—2 feet 4 inches by 104 inches by 1 foot 3 inches. Plain.

II.—2 feet 3 inches by 11} inches by 1 foot 14 inches. Plain.

III.—This is not of ordinary shape; it is a large rectangular
box of limestone (not of soft clunch like the others) with straight
sides, 2 feet 93 inches by 1 foot 3} inches by 1 foot 4 inches. The
hollow is 11 inches deep and the sides 2} inches thick. The lid is
ridged like a roof, not hog-backed, and is 10 inches high.

IV.—A small ossuary, probably for a child’s bones, 1 foot
3 inches by 8} inches by 10} inches. One side is ornamented with

the common device of two circles containing sexfoils inside panels
formed by zigzag lines.

V.—2 feet 4} inches by 1 foot by 1 foot 2 inches. One side is

ornamented with an unusually beautiful design.
an acanthus

flower.

In the centre is
with on each side a circle containing an eight-leaved
Round the panel is a simple but very decorative pattern.
VI.—2 feet 24 inches by 11 inches by 1 foot 2 inches. The
surface of this ossuary is painted yellow. One side is ornamented
with two circles containing twelve-leaved flowers, in a panel defined
by zigzag lines. |
VII—This ossuary (2 feet 5
1 foot) is ornamented on both sid
other end is an inscription.

$ inches long by 11 inches by
es, one end, and the lid. On the
The ornamentation on one side, the

SS ee SS ee ee ee ee ee ai ee ee ae ee oe ee 4

S
: THE TOMB OF NICANOR OF ALEXANDRIA. 331 ; .

end, and the lid consists of roughly painted red lines, forming
zigzags and frets. The ornament of the remaining side consists of
four small circles containing sexfoils within panels, all painted.

The inscription at the other end of the ossuary, which was
referred to on p. 93 of the Quarterly Statement of January, is as
follows :—

OCTATWNTOYNEIKA
—NOPOCAAEZANAPEWC
NOIHCANTOCTACEY PAC

spade 722

which has been interpreted as meaning, “The bones of the family
of Nicanor of Alexandria,” with ‘“Nicanor Aleksa” in Hebrew
letters underneath.! This gives the name of the man to whose
family the tomb belonged. ;

The cross in the facsimile (p. 126, Fig. 2) has no connection with
the inscription ; it corresponds to a similar mark on the lid of the
ossuary, showing the proper way to turn it in placing it in position.
At the opposite ends of both ossuary and lid is a small hole like a
finger-print, for the same purpose.

That the tomb was designed locally is shown by its general
correspondence with the main features of tombs of the same period
elsewhere in Jerusalem. It is possible, however, that some of the
workmen employed were not natives of the country ; the pick-marks
in places show that in cutting the lower parts of some of the
chambers the workmen stood and stooped, and did not squat as an
Oriental labourer naturally would do.

There are two plain crosses, one cut over the inside of the

- entrance to Chamber-group IJ, and the other over the doorway, b,
in the same group. These possibly indicate that the tomb continued
in use by the family after its conversion to Christianity. An alter-
native explanation—the reappropriation of the tomb by Christians—
seems less probable on account of the ossuaries of the original
proprietors remaining in the tomb until its recent discovery.

The following list of measurements of the various chambers may
be useful :-—

1 See above, p. 126 sqq.

md =

*
332 THE TOMB OF NICANOR OF ALEXANDRIA.

_ er _ -
— | Length. Breadth. Height.
tT Chamber-G-ro ‘oup an : ft. ins, ft. ins. ft. ins.
Central chamber - . 9 11 ; 8k 6 9
1st side chamber (left of thiatibecs iT) yO oe. 2 10
2nd o 3) * os ee 9 0 5 24 3 2
3rd 39 33 e. - * 9 10 5 a 3 4
4th ,, - Se ve «| 9 11h 4 11 3.5
Chamber-Group IT.
Central chamber af “ < se + 2's 7 a
4 4}—
Chambera ., & re es li | 2 { ee } 3 :
Passageb .. | 9° 6 5 0 { ;
Inner chambers } (right hand) OU By a 6 0 5 0
‘ os (middle) .. te S41 8 5 ee
rr Fe (left ay ery td 0 S28 S:.'6
Chambere ., we th oO 8 3 3 a.
” d ee ae se ee 9 104 7 9 5 8h
2 11—
Passage e we Ks us es 38 10 { 6 6
Chamberd ,., . we 1. 3 { ; ae 5. & 7
Inner chamber “i és pa 9 4 oo Ss 6 0O
Chamberg ., a : 9 ll oe oa a
Passageh P| Saree ee Te 5 0 { : th ae
Inner chambers / (lett hand) a 7 °3 a 3. 6 7
” = (central) .. ee { ; ot ie 6 3
” (righthand) ../ 6 9 8 Tk 3.69
Chamber i, ‘original Bisienyer wit ert 2 as 3 ;
» asaltered ., ..| g 9 0:28 oes
Sarcophagus chamber, . ae es 6 114 oe
Chamber-Group IIT. |
Central chamber mA | 10 6 10 4 8 8
ist side chamber (left of entrance) «. 8 9 4 0% 29.9
2nd » 3? se 7 10 4 gt 2 7
” ” se * 8 4& 3 fi 1 3 13
4th ” ”? * ae * 8 2 { : a 2 9k
5th ” “* 7 10 2 84 2 9k
Sunk chamber under ‘Vestibule ¥ wii 2 4 2 8
»» Under chamber ., 12 a 7 114 + eee + §&
Chamber- Group IV.
1st chamber * ee. . o* 7 A G? it 5 di
2nd ESE TORN Ra Se 6 11 5 6
lst kék’ (lett from entrance), . ay! 5 8 auf 2 1
2nd kék SP ies aes | PES ae 1 63 Meds
3rd kdk.. ee e* ra) ee 5 64 re 5 3 3
Vestibule ee ee ees es 36 5 9 11 9 9

' These measurements vary owing to irregularity in the chamber.

330

ANOTHER PHCENICIAN INSCRIPTION FROM THE
TEMPLE OF ESMUN AT SIDON.

By Rev. H. Porrer, Ph.D., Syrian Protestant College, Beirit.

Tue following inscription is one of a series discovered during
1900-01 among the ruins of a temple in the environs of Sidon,
which is determined by the inscriptions themselves to be the
temple of Esmun. A description of these ruins was published by
Macridy Bey, who excavated them, in the Levue Biblique for
October, 1902.1. He published also in the same number of the
Revue two inscriptions, which were edited and explained by
M. Lagrange. Four other inscriptions from the same place, and
of practically the same contents, were published by M. Ph. Berger
in a Mémoire to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres in 1902
(tom. xxxvii). A seventh of similar import was published in the
Jour. of the Am. Oriental Soc., by Dr. C. C. Torrey (vol. xxiii, first
half, 1902).

All these inscriptions differ only in minor particulars, as will be
seen by referring to the publications mentioned. The inscription
which is here presented is shorter than the others but differs from
them in some important points. I obtained the inscription in Sidon,
in July, 1902. Whether it was discovered later than the others I am
not able to state, as I had no communication with the discoverer, but
there is no doubt of its origin from the temple or of its genuineness.
I examined it thoroughly before I purchased it, and it has since
been examined by Dr. Schroeder and by Dr. Rouvier, and both
these gentlemen, who are well qualified to judge, regard it as
genuine. The face of the stone and the letters exhibit unmistak-
able marks of antiquity, and the letters still show traces of the red
ochre with which they were originally coloured. The stone is very
friable, and was broken evidently in detaching it from the block
of which it formed a part. The broken edges and the back of the
stone show a freshness in marked contrast to the face. The block
is 0°77 by 0°41 m., and the lines of the inscription are from 72 to
74 cm. in length. The beginning of the first line is broken and so

1 [Some account of the present inscription appears in the July number of
the Revue Biblique, pp. 417-419. Mr. Porter's article, it may be mentioned,
was received at the beginning of May.—Ep. ]

= Z a ee ee
Tt. = aoe “ = —s : 7 “7

334 PHCENICIAN INSCRIPTION FROM THE TEMPLE OF ESMUN.

damaged as to be indecipherable. The break is an old one, as the
appearance of the surface there is similar to the rest of the face of
stone. The height of the long letters is from 5 to 7 cm. The three
lines taken together occupy about 25 cm. There are 16 letters
remaining in the first line and space for six more, reckoning from
the beginning of the second line, which contains 21 letters, and the
third 19, ;

There can be no doubt about the reading of the letters which
remain. The break at the end of the first line has probably carried
away one letter, which may, however, be easily supplied. The
reading in square letters is as follows :—

falnbe qSn ppt yan...
Dats J ayzawe To ya 2
wap ww paws blbxd oy nan

os) ae “son of Sadukyaton king of kings
son of the son of king ES8munazar king of the Sidonians
built this temple to [his] god, to Egmun holy prince.”

In the other copies of this inscription the first line has “ King
Bodastart king of the Sidonians son of the son,” &c., and the lacuna
of the first line of the above would just contain this name, but the
(1) which follows presents a difficulty. If we read “ BodaStart and
the son of Sadukyaton,” it will not correspond to the rest of the
inscription, which requires a singular subject. It is difficult to
construe the (}) on any supposition, and I am inclined to regard it
as an error of the engraver. The first line of the inscription is
quite different from all the others as far as known to me, and it
is altogether remarkable. We have here a new name in the list
of kings of Sidon, presumably the father of Bodastart, whose name
is unmentioned in all the other copies. It has been inferred from
this that Bodastart’s father did not reign, but if we have here the
name of his father he not only reigned but assumed the title of
“king of kings,” not known to have been assumed by any other

one of his dynasty. It must refer to a period when Sidon held the |

hegemony of some of the Phoenician towns, and it is difficult to
reconcile this with the condition of things under the rule of the
Persian kings or during the period of the Ptolemies, in one of which
periods it has generally been supposed that the dynasty of ESmunazar
should be placed. If the title is not a mere vainglorious boast it

PHCENICIAN INSCRIPTION FROM THE TEMPLE OF ESMUN. 339d

must refer to a revolt against the authority of Persia when a king
of Sidon assumed the suzerainty of the Phcenician towns, or it may
have been in the period previous to the Persian conquest, when
Babylon was very weak, subsequent to the reign of Nebuchadrezzar.
Sidon was then the leading state, as Tyre had sunk into the back-
ground after the siege it underwent in B.C. 598-585 by Nebuchad
rezzar. This would, however, place the dynasty of ESmunazar much
earlier than has been supposed possible. The name of this king,
Sadukyaton, or Sadikyaton, conforms in its composition to other names
we have in Pheenician inscriptions (¢f. Pumiyaton and Melekyaton,
C.I.S., i, 11), and if we have in him the father of Bodastart we can
fill out a gap in the dynasty of Esmunazar. The succession as
arranged by M. Berger in his AJémoire is as follows :—

;

Esmunazar I

| |
2. yer ; pesky Umastoret

|
Bodastart Esmunazar IT

If our Sadukyaton was the father of Bodastart we have the place
of X filled. But it is conceivable that the ESmunazar mentioned in
the inscription is the second of that name, and in that case we should

have the succession as follows :—

Esmunazar I
Tabnit
Esmunazar IL
Sadukyaton

|
Bodastart

But it is difficult to find space for such a dynasty any time
subsequent to the days of Nebuchadrezzar so as to accord with the
known facts in the history of Phcnicia. We must await further
light before definitely assigning the chronological position of these
kings.

336 oe

THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

By Puitie G. BALDENSPERGER, Esq.
(Continued from p. 170.)

(q) Tue carpenter or joiner (najjdr) in a country which, like
Palestine, has not enough wood for big constructions, is called upon
to make small articles only—doors, windows, cradles, low tables,
small chairs, chests for the women, and the like. The short Cara-
manian boards of Katréni wood used to be imported from Asia
Minor by Mersina. Now long, broad boards are imported from
Trieste, Marseilles, and Sweden; they are usually a softer wood
than the Caramanian. Wood in general is called khasab; ‘asah
(lac) “the stick,” is the only trace of the Hebrew ‘és, which is
used for wood in general. Wood in small twigs or small branches
is called hatab ; from the same root is derived the “ hewers of wood ”
(hétebé sim) of Jeremiah (xlvi, 22). A board is called léh, with
which we may compare the Hebrew liah—e.g., Cant. viii, 9 (“a
board of cedar ”),

To the Arabian joiner the most indispensable tool is the adze,
which is called kaddim in Palestine, but in Egypt mukshut. This
instrument was used before the introduction of the European
plane, which is called Sarat... The soft European wood cannot be so
easily smoothed with the plane as with the adze. The saw is called
munshar, the Hebrew term being massdr (Isaiah x, 15). The awl is
au very different instrument to the European one; it is called
variously mekdah and barimet in Palestine, and mithkdb or kharbar in
Egypt. The handle resembles a whip, the leather, strap of which is
twisted once round the movable wooden handle of the iron borer,
and the fiddling, so to speak, drives the borer into the wood. The
hammer is called shdkash, mutrakat, or medkat. The kaddim,
however, is mostly used for this purpose.®

The Hebrew term is maksi‘oth (in the plural) which occurs only in
Isaiah xliv, 13 (E.V. “ planes ay.

* The Hebrew verb for ‘‘to bore” is ndkab—e.g., of a hole in a chest
(2 Kings xii, 9 [10]).

* The chief Hebrew terms are makkdbah (Jer. x, 4), used also by joiners,
stone-masons, and smiths (1 Kings vi, 7; Isaiah xliv, 12); and pattish
(Isaiah xli, 7; Jer. xxiii, 29). [From the former of these words the name
*Maccabee”’ has been frequently, though not perhaps correctly, derived.—Ep.}

‘

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 337

The pincers are called kammdshat or kalbatain. They are not
mentioned in the Bible, though some translate méi‘asid (T22">
Isaiah xliv, 12) by “tongs”; the word, perhaps, means rather a
vice. The vice is called mekbas or melzamet, and is employed by
both the joiner and the smith.! The file (mebradd) is naturally a very
necessary instrument. It was, doubtless, known to the Israelites,
but it is very uncertain whether it is to be found in 1 Sam. xiii, 21.
The whole passage is very obscure and difficult. The square is
ealled zdwict. The nails now in use are of two kinds: those of
home manufacture, masdmir balady, and the European nails, masdmir
ibret.?
The joiner makes wooden locks and keys, suharat (from a root
“to shut”), and meftéh (from a root “to open ”). The turner and
engraver, called kharréz, is sometimes a joiner also, as both work in
wood.
(r) The weaver (/i’ik) is well known, not only in towns but also
in the villages, where especially the mantles (‘aba, pl. ‘uby) are made
and sold to the fellahin, yet by far the greater number of them are
imported, many from Syria ; the dark blue ones, called shdélet, on
the other hand, come from Egypt. In the Jewish colony of
Jahtdiyeh, in the plains of Sharon, I saw a Russian-Polish Jew
who was a weaver of the ‘aba. Cotton was also woven in times
past, and the strong home-made ‘fim was much appreciated, until
at length the English calico superseded them in the market of
Palestine. The Indian muslin (baft lindy or shdsh) is generally used
for the turbans of the literati and Imams.
The weaver was indispensable to the Israelites, who wove
their own clothes, as strange clothes were forbidden. The weaver
Aholiab, of the tribe of Dan (Ex. xxxv, 34, 35), who furnished fine
curtains (Ex. xxvi, 1-14) for the tabernacle, must have learned his
trade in Egypt. There are several references to weaving in the
Bible (Ex. xxxvi, 8; Job vii, 6, &c.).

The merchant, in a general sense, is called ¢djir, but the cloth
merchant or draper, who sells mantles, all kinds of calico,
muslin, cloth, velvet, &c., exclusively, is called khawdja—the word
commonly employed before a name, and now equivalent to ‘ Mr.”

i The Hebrew in Isaiah xliv, 12 (see above) might mean, therefore, the
iron in the vice; and in Jer. x, 3, the preposition could equally well be
rendered by “in” and not “ with.”

2 Of. the Hebrew term masméreth (1 Chron. xxii, 3).

—EE——<—e—

338 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

This has not always been so, the real honorary title being Sayid
(Said) in cases where there is no other already in existence.
Khawija was applied to any one who was well clothed and of
independent means, and as the cloth merchant has little to do but
to sit on his elevated seat and handle stuff, the name passed over to
Europeans and to the Arab Christians, and is now in use every-
where ; Effendi being more commonly reserved for Moslems and
government employés,

(s) The oil and soap manufacturers (sabbin and sawdbini) always |
carry on their trade in one huge building, which is to be found
in all Palestinian towns. Inside the buildin

g are immense cisterns
to receive the oil, and stables to hold many animals are behind the

oil presses. There is but one exit, the great gate, behind which the
master of the establishment squats before an iron safe, controlling
the movements and the going in and coming out of his establish-

ment. Oil is brought from the surrounding Villages, and as the
distance may be too far to go home again the same day, the men
and animals have free lodgings in the

establishment. Everyone
who has visited or lived at Jerusalem knows the immense ash-hills
north of the city, ne

ar the tombs of Queen Helene (“tombs of

the Kings”), the refuse of the ancient Soap factories. At the
present day the industry flourishes more particularly in such olive-
grown centres as Gaza, Lydda, Ramleh, and especially Nablus.
The owners are very rich, some even are reputed millionaires.
Second-class oil—that is, oil which has been lying in the olive mills
for months on.the floor in the olives waiting to be pressed, or
simply the badly-pressed refuse of olives—is used in the manufacture
of soap. The owners are not always to be recognised, as they often
appear in workmen’s dress, and sleep at night by the gate guarding
the safe in which is stored their wealth. All kinds of gold and
silver coins are hoarded: English, French, Russian, and Turkish
pounds, “each after its kind,” as well as the Medjidies and other
Turkish silver money.
It is in the olive regions that the wealthiest people are generally

to be found; they are not so much farmers as manufacturers.
They have a bad name for their avarice, perhaps wrongly, for
it is hard to tell the difference between a miser and one who
economises earnestly. It is related that a rich Nablus oil merchant:

found a dead mouse in his oil cistern one day ;

unfortunately it
was seen by others,

and the oil accordingly declared unclean a

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. B09.

the case was being brought before the judge, the owner quickly
swallowed the mouse, and no proof being forthcoming, he denied
having seen a mouse, and thus saved hundreds of measures of oil,
which, according to Mohammedan law, would have been unclean.

An equally miserly Christian soap manufacturer and money-
lender of Ramleh—so the story goes—was out in a village collecting
money some time back in the seventies of the eighteenth century.
To get rid of him the wily fellahin accused him of having “ cursed
the religion.” In those days this crime was considered as deserving
capital punishment. He was arrested and brought to Jerusalem,
tried, and found guilty—thanks to the slyness of an official who
had received a present—of having cursed the religion of the fellahin
only. He was therefore condemned to three years’ banishment at
Aleppo. ‘Cursing the religion” led to many judicial errors and
abuses—for how could a Christian accused by a Mohammedan
prove his innocence ? a believer never lies—accordingly the penalty
has had to be revised, and it is no longer considered a capital crime.

Oil and soap are exported into Egypt, where olives do not
grow to any extent. The oil traffic between Egypt and Tyre has
existed since the days of Ezekiel (Ezek. xxvii, 17). In early
Israelitish days water—or, in winter, snow—alone was used for
washing purposes. In later days, however, nitre and bérith were
employed (Jer. ii, 22 ; Mal. iii, 2). What was this bérith ? “Soap”
(so it is translated) was not known. Either a plant of grey-white
appearance, growing on the banks of the Jordan, used by the
Bedawin, may be meant, or it is some cleansing mixture. The
radical b)-7 means clean or white, and can thus refer to some white
plant or any clean thing.

(t) The mukdari, also called baghghdl, is both owner and driver of
horses and mules, and is a useful personage who in time past was
quite indispensable to travellers in the East before the carriage
roads were made. The inhabitants of Neby Datid, just outside
the Gate of Zion, were formerly the mukdris of Jerusalem, but they
have long ago ceased to be exclusively muleteers. In a caravan the
mukéri is responsible for the food and lodging of the animals which are
under his charge. Jaffa has also a considerable number of muhéiris,
and Ramleh and Lydd are essentially mukéri towns, though not for
the conveyance of travellers, but of luggage and vegetables, which
the Jerusalem mukdris never carry. Nowadays these mukiris are
less frequently employed, except for long journeys, beyond Jordan,

340 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

south of Hebron, or north of Jerusalem. The German settlers run
their carriages along the sea front from Gaza to Haifa on tracks
in the sand, whilst inland the roads through the rocky and
mountainous country are more difficult, and in spite of the great
danger of the journey, are becoming more and more popular. The
roads are very bad and the carriages high, so that they abound
with broken carriages and unfortunate travellers, yet no modern
traveller now hesitates to travel by this unsafe way. Fatalism
finds its way everywhere.

The Armenian and North Syrian pilgrims, who formerly came
to Jerusalem mounted on huge mules through the land from north
to south, now all embark at the ports of Alexandretta and
Ladikiyeh (Laodicea), and the picturesque caravans with the
suggestive tinkling of bells have disappeared. The pilgrimage of
15-20 days has now been reduced to a mere nothing—a day
or two to the nearest harbour, a night or so in the steamer to
Jaffa, and a few hours by rail to Jerusalem are sufficient to obtain
the title of Haj (27), which the Christians of the north,
receive after a Jerusalem pilgrimage.

The vegetable mukéri barely earns enough for himself and his
mule or donkey—for he rarely has more than one. About half a
mejidi (= two shillings) for a load from Ramleh to Jerusalem is
all he receives, and this entails a journey of 90 miles there and
back, which he generally accomplishes in 24 hours. He rarely finds
a load to take back with him, as Jerusalem exports are few and far
between, and are generally sent by camel direct to Jaffa.

The mukdris of Ramleh and Lydd merit the palm of ignorance
and stubbornness of all the inhabitants of Palestine—they can
hardly calculate beyond their own immediate wants and those of
their donkey, in whose company they pass almost all their lives.
Ophthalmia has its seat in those towns, and at least 90 per cent. of
the mukéris have defective eyesight. They are far removed from
the bright, picturesque mukaris of bygone days, which are so fast
disappearing now. These wore a short embroidered jacket, with
long sleeves dangling over the arms, which were slit open on the
lower side, and only covered the arms when hanging along the
body. Their broad breeches and gaiters reached to the knees,
and were all of the same thick coarse woollen cloth with black
embroidery. Red shoes, a small woollen cap of the same pale
yellow colour as the rest of his garb, and a tight turban completed

also,

‘
‘
a
‘
j
|
‘
4
>

a ;
je,

THE IMMOVABLE EAST. 341

the sum and total of his dress. They resembled, but for the bright
colours, the “ kawasses” of the Consulates in the East.

(wu) The public crier receives different names according to the
nature of his business. Thus, he may be simply munddi or munabih

(sre), when he advertises anything or announces the loss of an
object or an animal; or dallél or 2@’id (3\;), when acting as

auctioneer. The munddi is employed by anyone who wishes to
make known some announcement, but a beshlik or so must be paid
to the police before proceeding further. A man may have lost his
grey donkey and will tell the crier to call it out. The announce-
ment is as follows: “ O good people, who pray to Mohammed, who
has seen a green (grey) donkey?” (Ya nds el-halal. Ya mé tasallt
‘alla Mohammed. Min shif ehmir akhdér ?) 'Then follow particulars,
cut ears, pack-saddle, &c., ending up with: “The reward is a
quarter of a mejidi and a piece of soap.” (Walhalawin rubé’ mejidt
wa falakat sabény.) This is repeated in different quarters of the town,
especially where public gatherings are numerous, until the missing
object is found, or an address is given where it is to be returned.
The public crier was known in Israel, when news had to be
made known. The ‘éré (7) was called upon to announce
it either by the voice alone (Jer. ii, 2; Isaiah xl, 6, 9), or with
a trumpet to gather the people before making known the tidings
(Jer. iv, 5). Soin the South of France the public crier summons

__ people with the trumpet before he reads.

The dalldl (auctioneer) carries the object high in his hands so
that everyone may see it, and walks up and down the street, calling
out the offer anyone may have made. This practice may have
been introduced by the Spanish Jews, for instead of using the
Arabic words for the first, second, and third bid, he says una, ‘ala

wna (one), ‘ala due (two), and ‘ala tre (three). Animals for sale by

auction are also led up and down the street, and their qualities
praised, and so forth. Mohammedans or Christians are sometimes
employed, though the auctioneer is more often one of the Sephardim
Jews. sre

(v) The cotton-carder (hal/dj) is generally an Algerian Jew, who
carries about with him his .big bow and wooden mallet to card the
cotton and to make old covers, in which art he is a past master.
The covers are very thick, stuffed with cotton between two pieces of

white calico for the lower part, and print of very bright colours for

342 THE IMMOVABLE EAST.

the upper part. This is called /eh#f, and is to be kept distinct from
the thin and simple grey wool blanket (herim). The thick lehéf is
perhaps similar to that used by Jael,.Heber’s wife, to cover the
fugitive Sisera when he came to her tent (Judges iv, 18, sémiélkih),
The grey blankets take their name from their being taken to Mecca
and used in the religious rites (ihrdm). If the Hebrew marbad
(Prov. vii, 16; xxx, 22) may be derived from its grey colour
(Ar. X 5), it is possible that the Israelite women wore such garments
in their homes. The carders have also shops where the cotton,
white as snow, may be seen piled up in huge baskets, ready for
sale. The carder also goes calling round at the houses, cards the
cotton in the courtyard, and makes the fresh covers in a very short
time.

(w) The tarbiish-ironer (kai) has a small shop and several irons
(kdleb), always ready on the fire to iron the red caps of Turkish
introduction. The more conservative shopkeepers and workmen
have not as yet adopted the elegant Turkish cap, but hold fast to
the old round form which is known as Tunisian and never needs
ironing. The Turkish tarbfsh is worn by all civil and military
officials as well as by native Christians. With this cap there is a
graceful black silk tassel with woven separate threads, which it is
fashionable to lengthen or shorten, according to the wearer’s fancy,
so that it may either be seen dangling wildly, or hanging quietly
down the side of the cap. Most turban wearers, however, have
kept the old style of North African tarbfish with its fleecy blue
silken tassel, but some have substituted the Turkish cap, and
elegantly wind a snowy white muslin turban of reduced dimensions
round the head. The Armenians, who till lately had not the right
to wear the red tarbish (on account of its being a sacred colour)
but had a black one without tassel, have now also adopted “ every-
body’s” style, so a man’s nationality is no longer so easily dis-
tinguished by his outward appearance, Strange clothing (cf.
Zeph. i, 8) was never in favour, and, with the exception of Beirfit,
Jerusalem and Jaffa are the most progressive towns of Syria. The
ironer is generally a seller of tobacco also, though since it has
become a monopoly only tobacconists are now allowed to sell it.
Formerly the tobacco, tutun (the Turkish name) was hung up in
strings, and cut fine or coarse, according to the taste of the buyer,
on the cutting machine ; but now that it is put up in packets these
machines are forbidden—at least openly.

7”
a
Ad

THE IMMOVABLE EAST, 343

Tobacco is more generally known amongst the people as dukhdn;
i.e.,smoke. There are different kinds of native tobacco: the balady,
the hussanbaki, introduced by Hassan Bek ; the 4a Riha, odoriferous,
“father of smell,” and so forth. Tobacco is grown in the Philistine
towns and villages, and controlled by special employés. The leaves
are hung together in long strings and exposed upon the flat house-
roofs to dry before they are despatched. All Arabs smoke pipes,
and in the towns cigarettes. A considerable trade by smuggling
was carried on, therefore, as all Jerusalem gates, except the Jaffa
Gate, were shut up by night ; the whole space from Tancred’s heights

to the Zion’s Gate, by the Damascus and St. Stephen’s Gates, was

virtually deserted by night. Fierce contests between Custom House
officials and smugglers were carried on in and about the north-east
corner of the town, and many curious, sometimes tragic, scenes
happened. A renowned smuggler called on an official known for
his zeal, and offered to show him a party of smugglers at work,
provided he agreed to come alone, and then seize them at leisure.
The bargain was accepted, a spot on the eastern wall indicated, and
official and smuggler proceeded thither. The smuggler hailed his
comrade in the dark night, and invited the official, who had kept
silent, to descend by a rope. The latter agreed. Accordingly he
let him down, but when he was halfway he said, “ Now you are
safe, you can see how we draw up the sacks of tobacco,” thus faith-
fully keeping his promise to show him how they worked. When
the operation was ended, the smugglers quietly trotted off with
their wares, leaving the unfortunate official to meditate on the trust-
worthiness of smugglers. The official was rescued next day by the
soldiers of St. Stephen’s, who were informed by passers-by of what
had happened. Pursuit of the smugglers was without avail. “I have
neither seen nor heard” was the impudent answer to all inquiries.
Tobacco thieves in the plains have conceived an ingenious plan
of stealing the long strings of leaves from the house-tops. The
hardin, the well-known Palestine stellio-lizard, has very long claws
and a hard scaly tail, and the thieves accordingly take several
hardins and bind a long thread to their tails and throw this strange
fishing-tackle near the tobacco. The frightened lizard clutches
wildly at the plants and the thief pulls all to him, thus noiselessly
possessing himself of the desired weed, and goes off without awaking
the owner. In this manner does the lizard unconsciously become

the thief’s helpmate.
2B 2

oe ee Se SS ee ee ee ee

344 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

Snuff (sa‘wd) (L,x.:) is also sold and indulged in by all classes,
especially elderly men and women, who also smoke the arghileh.
The tonbak, or Persian tobacco, for the arghileh is sold in large
yellow-brown leaves, and is crushed and rubbed in an iron sieve
in the presence of the buyer. The tonbak is carried about by
arghileh smokers, and for five or ten paras the pipes in the coffee-
houses are filled and loaned. Cigars of Kuropean make, though
also sold by tobacconists, have not found much favour with the
Arabs, who prefer the small cigarette, stkéra (5 ,&i). Everyone
knows how rich the Arabic language is in the most polite expres-
sions. A smoker may offer his tobacco pouch with the word deffadal
(nck): “Do me the favour.” After making the cigarette, the
receiver will say ‘dmer ( cls), “may it flourish” (i.¢., have always
tobacco to offer), whereupon the giver will say min khérak
(Os we)s “from your property, or liberality.” The other
will again answer, khér allah (4\\\ Jp), “God’s goods,” and so
forth. Then he will offer him a light and say yekhfik sharha
(las Oric-), “may you be concealed from its (the fire’s) evil,”
and the other replies wald takassi harha (\y Dm oe alas Y,), “ neither
may you tell (know) about its heat.”

(To be continued.)

THE SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT
JERUSALEM, BUILT BY THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

By Colonel C. M. Watson, C.B., O.M.G., R.E.
(Continued from p. 257.)

WE now come to the period when the great Basilica of St. Mary
was erected at Jerusalem by the Emperor Justinian in the first
half of the sixth century. As I have already remarked, the idea of
building this church was not due to the Emperor. It was suggested
to him by St. Saba, one of the most renowned ecclesiastics of
Palestine, whose name has been preserved in the title of the well-
known monastery of Mar Saba, which stands on the road from

‘ See Quarterly Statement, p. 70.

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‘on

1
“ria

Hy
hy

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i

+ og
abe

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ve
4

been written about the time of the Emperor Justinian.

SITE OF THE CHURCH,OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 345

Bethlehem to the Dead Sea. In the life of St. Saba, written by

Cyril of Scythopolis, we are informed? that in an interview which he
had with the Emperor Justinian he begged the latter to establish a
hospital in the Holy City for the nursing of sick strangers, and to
build and adorn the new [Church of St. Mary, which had already
been commenced by |the {Archbishop Elias. The result of this
petition to the Emperor is given by Cyril in the following words :—
“ Moreover, in accordance withthe holy old man’s third request he
(i.c., Justinian) founded a hospital in the midst of Jerusalem. It
contained at first 100 beds, and he set apart for it a clear annual
revenue of 1,850 pieces of gold. Afterwards he ordered that the
hospital should contain 200 beds, and added as much more clear
and inalienable revenue thereto. He also most zealously fulfilled
the old man’s fourth request, and sent to J erusalem one Theodorus,

an engineer, to the end-that he might build the new church of the

Holy Motherjof God, the ever-Virgin Mary ; and he gave orders to
the farmers of the revenue in Palestine to provide money for the
building. He gave supreme authority over the matter to the
Archbishop Peter, but ordered Barachus, the Bishop of Bacatha, to
overlook ,the work fof building. Thus, through much zeal and
many hands the new church of the Holy Virgin was in 12 years
built and fitted with all due ornament. It is needless to dilate
upon the size of this holy temple, its radiant glory, and its costly
ornament, seeing that it is present before our eyes, and excels all
the ancient spectacles and wonders: which man used to admire of
old, and of which the Greeks have told us in their histories.”

This interesting account of the building of St. Mary’s Church
does not help much as regards fixing its site. The only hint
that is given is that-the hospital was in the midst of Jerusalem,
which would certainly seem to imply that it was inside the city walls.

The next and fullest account of the Church of St. Mary is that
given by Procopius, which I have already quoted (see p. 250 $qq-)«
I have also shown that although the site cannot be definitely
fixed from his description, yet it applies better to Mount Sion
than to the Temple area. é

Ina tract, entitled the “Breviary of Jerusalem,” there is a descrip-
tion of the holy places. The date is not certain, but it must have

In this
work the account of the buildings on Mount Sion is as follows ? :—

1 Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. xi. “St. Saba,” p. 18.
2 [bid., vol. ii. The “ Breviary,” p. 16.

346 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

“Thence you go to a very great basilica on the holy Sion, wherein
is the column at which the Lord Jesus was scourged. One may see =>
there the print of His hands as He held it, marked as deep as
though the stone were wax. Thence you come to the place of
sacrifice, where is the stone with which St. Stephen was stoned. In
the midst of this church is the crown of thorns which Jesus received.
And there is the lamp (by the light of which) He taught His disciples
after He had supped. There is the rod (with which He was scourged)
enclosed within a column of silver. Thence you go to the house of
Caiaphas, where St. Peter denied ; where there is a large church
dedicated to St. Peter. Thence you go to the house of Pilate,

where he delivered over the Lord to the Jews after He had been
scourged ; where there is a large basilica, and in it there is a
chamber which is where they stripped Him and He was scourged ;
it is called St. Sophia.”

If there had been a great basilica built or

building in the Temple
area at the time the “ Breviary ”

was written, it is difficult to under-
stand why it was not mentioned. Whereas, on the other hand, if the

basilica of Justinian was on Mount Sion, the explanation is simple. .

The next author from whom I shall quote is Antoninus Martyr,
who visited Jerusalem about A.D. 570, His story was evidently
written from memory and is not quite clear, but it gives much
useful information. It is interesting to note how the number of

relics shown on Mount Sion was steadily increasing. He wrote as
follows ! ;—

“Thence we come to the Basilica of the H
many wonders,

Scripture,

oly Sion, where are
amongst which is the corner-stone mentioned in

which was rejected by the builders. When the Lord
Jesus Christ entered that church, which was th

St. James, He found that shapeless stone lying i
lifted it up and placed ‘it upon the corner.
and lift it in your hands, and place your ear upon the corner ~
itself, and there will be a sound in your ears like the voices of
many men. In that very church is the pillar upon which our Lord
was scourged, upon which pillar is the following mark: when He
embraced it His breath imprinted itself upon the very stone; and
His two hands, with both their palms and fingers, are to be seen
upon, the stone, so that a measure is taken from thence for various

en the house of
n the midst; He
You take this stone

* Palestine Pilgrims’ Tezts, vol. ii. “ Antoninus Martyr,” p. 18.

SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 347

weaknesses, and those who wear it round their neck are healed.
Upon the pillar itself is the horn with which the kings and
David were anointed. There is likewise the crown of thorns with
which our Lord was crowned, and the spear which was thrust into
His side, and many stones with which Stephen was stoned. There —
is also a pillar upon which the cross of the blessed Peter, upon
which he was crucified at Rome, was placed. There, too, is the
chalice of the apostles, with which, after our Lord’s resurrection,
they used to celebrate mass, and many other relics which I have
forgotten. There is a convent of maidens, and there I saw a
human skull enclosed in a golden case, adorned with precious
stones, which they say is that of the martyr Theodota, from which
many drink water for a blessing, and I drank.

“From Sion we came to the Basilica of the Blessed Mary, where
there is a large congregation of monks, and where are also hospices
(for strangers, both) for men and women. There I was received as
a pilgrim; there were countless tables, and more than 3,000 beds
for sick persons. We prayed in the Pretorium, where the Lord
was tried, which is now the Basilica of St. Sophia. In front of
the ruins of the Temple of Solomon, under the street, water runs
down to the fountain of Siloam. Near the porch of Solomon, in
the church itself, is the seat upon which Pilate sat when he tried
our Lord. There, also, is a square stone, which used to stand in
the midst of the Pretorium, upon which the accused was placed
during his trial, that he might be heard and seen by all the
people. Upon it our Lord was placed when He was tried by Pilate,
and there the marks of his feet still remain.”

There can, I think, be little doubt that the Church of
St. Mary, here described, with the hospice and hospital, was the
basilica built by Justinian. It will be observed that the church
is mentioned in connection with the Pratorium and Church of
St. Sophia, which, as I have already pointed out, were most probably
on Mount Sion. The remark as to the water flowing down to
Siloam reads as if it were made by an observer, looking from Mount
Sion across the valley to the site of the old Temple. If, on the
contrary, Antoninus had been describing a church close to the
Temple, he would have worded the description differently.

Not long after Antoninus Martyr visited the holy places a bad
time came for Jerusalem. In A.D. 614 Chosroes, the King of
Persia, invaded Syria and captured Jerusalem, massacring a great

348 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

number of the inhabitants. In the Annals of Kutychius the event
is described as follows 1 Sime

“Now when he (i.¢., Chosroes) came to Jerusalem, first of all
he destroyed the Church of Gethsemane and also the Church of
Helena, both of which remain in ruins to this day. He also
destroyed the Churches of Constantine, that of Golgotha and of
the Holy Sepulchre ; he set Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre on
fire, and destroyed the greater part of the city as well, while the
Persians and Jews together slew innumerable Christians. These
are the corpses which lie in the place at Jerusalem called Mamela.
After the Persians had burned, wasted, and sla

in, they went away,
leading captive Zacharias, the Patriarch of J erusalem, together
with many others.”

In this account there is no mention made of the Churches of
St. Mary and of Sion, so that it is not possible to gs
were destroyed by Chosroes.

The churches round the Holy Sepulchre were restored by the
Abbot Modestus, who was made Patriarch by the Emperor Heraclius
when he visited Jerusalem after defeating the Persians. In A.p. 636

Heraclius in his turn was overcome by the Mohamedan
quered Syria.

ay how far they

8, who con-
In A.D. 637 Jerusalem capitulated to the Caliph
Omar, who treated the Christians with leniency and left them their
churches, while taking for the Mohamedans the site of the Temple
and surrounding area. In the account of the taking of Jerusalem
by Eutychius? there is no trace of there being a church in the
Vicinity of the Temple, and it is difficult to unde
mention should have been made of the Church of St, Mary if it had
been, as generally supposed, on the south side of the Haram area.
The first account by a Christian pilgrim after the taking of
Jerusalem by the Mohamedans is that of Bishop Arculfus, who
visited the Holy Land about A.D. 670; and after his return dictated
an account of his recollections. At that time the Dome of the
Rock had not yet been built on the site of the Temple, and the
information he gives as to the Temple area is as follows 3 —

rstand why no

‘But in that’ renowned place, where once the Temple had been
magnificently constructed, placed in the neighbourhood of the wall
' Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. xi.“ Eutychius,” p. 36.

? Thid., vol. xi. “ Eutychius,” p. 66.
¥ Ibid., vol. iii. “ Arculfus,” p. 4.

SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 349

from the east, the Saracens now frequent a four-sided house of
prayer, which they have built rudely, constructing it by raising
boards and great beams on some remains of ruins ; this. house can,
it is said, hold 3,000 men at once.”

Now, if the Church of St. Mary had been in the vicinity, it
seems likely that the Saracens would have used it, and not built a
temporary wooden mosque, as it is most improbable that the church
so magnificently built by Justinian could have been reduced to
some remains of ruins” during the very short stay of the Persians

in Jerusalem. The ruins are more likely to have been some remains.

of the royal cloister of Herod’s Temple. Arculfus gives a short
account of Mount Sion in the following words * :—

«Mention was made of Mount Sion a little above, and here
a short and succinct notice must be inserted of a great basilica
constructed here, a drawing of which is given below.

Guireb dee
Gorn wag bound whch Steaphan

wher Hewas seourged

HareS* Mary digd

“Here is shown the rock upon which Stephen, being stoned
without the city, fell asleep. Beyond the great church described
above, which embraces within its walls such holy places, there
stands another memorable rock, on the west side of that on which,
as is said, St. Stephen was stoned. This apostolical church was
built of stone on a level surface on the higher ground of Mount
Sion.”

In another MS. of Arculfus this paragraph reads as follows :—

“ After this the sainted Arculfus writes of that place where the
Lord supped with His disciples, and where the Holy Ghost descended
upon the apostles on the holy day of Pentecost, where he says
that a great church has been constructed on the top of Mount
Sion, which is called the Apostles’ Church. There is also seen

: Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. iii. “ Arculfus,” p. 20.

350 SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

the column where the Lord was scourged, and there is also shown
there the rock on which St. Stephen was stoned ; to the west there

is another church where the Lord was tried in the Pretorium of
Pilate.”

This is a very important account, as it confirms the idea that
the traditional site of the Preetorium was on Sion, and thus adds to
the probability that Antoninus Martyr meant to describe the great
Church of St. Mary as being on Sion; and it also gives the reason
for a church in honour of St. Mary being built on Sion, as being
the traditional place of her death. This is confirmed by Bishop
Willibald, who made the pilgrimage about a.p. 7 54, as he says! :—

“Holy Mary departed out of the world in that place in the

midst of Jerusalem which is called holy Sion.” The same statement
is repeated by other pilgrims.?

This is not the place to recapitulate the history of Jerusalem ;

suffice it to say that after suffering various tribulations it was
captured by the Crusaders in a.p. 1099, and remained in the power

of the Christians until A.p. 1187. The accounts of pilgrims giving
descriptions of the holy places n

aturally become very numerous,
and it would be impossible to quote all of them.

During the
Christian occupation the whole of the Temple area was occupied
by the Knights Templars, the Dome of the Rock being called the
“Temple. of the Lord,” and the Mosque of Aksa the “Temple
of Solomon.” The latter building was occupied as the residence
of the Templars. In the accounts of the pilgrims are full deserip-
tions of those buildings, but I have not been able to trace in any of
them a tradition that formerly « great church, such as that of
St. Mary, stood within the Temple area.? If it had ever been
there, it is hard to understand how the fact of its existence should
have been so completely lost. On the other hand some of the
pilgrims state that there was a Church of St. Mary on Mount Sion.

Take, for example, Theoderich, who wrote about A.p. 1172. In
Writing of Sion his words are as follow 4:—

“The Mount Sion, which stands to the southwards, being for the
most part without the city walls, contains the church dedicated to

) Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. iii. “St. Willibald,.”
* Ibid., vol. iii. “ Bernard the Wise,” p. 8.
3

Zbid., vol. xi.“ Anonymous Pilgrim No. 1,” p. 4.
* Tbid., vol.v. “ Theoderich,”’ p. 36.

ia
E
{
:
{

SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM. 351

our Lady, St. Mary, which is well fortified with walls, towers, and
battlements against the assaults of the infidels, wherein regular
monks serve God under an abbot. When you enter it you will
find in the middle apse, on the left hand, the holy place whereat
our Lord Jesus Christ received the soul of His beloved Mother, our
blessed Lady, Mary, and raised it to heaven. This work is square
below, and above round, supporting a dome. By about thirty steps
on the right hand one mounts into an upper chamber, which is
situated in the extremity of the apse. Here may be seen the
table at which our Lord supped with His disciples, and, after the
departure of the traitor, gave to those disciples His mystical body
and blood.- In this same upper chamber, at a distance of more
than 30 feet to the southward of that place, there stands an altar
on the place where the Holy Ghost descended upon the apostles.
From hence one descends by as many steps as one ascended, and
sees in the chapel beneath the upper chamber the stone basin, built
‘nto the wall, wherein the Saviour washed the feet of the apostles

‘in that place; where close by, on the right hand, there stands an

altar in the place where Thomas felt the Lord’s side after His

~ yesurrection, which for this cause is called the Altar of the Finger.”

Theoderich then follows the steps of the Lord to the Brook
Cedron, to Gethsemane, and back to Sion, when he proceeds with
the description of the latter place :—

“ After they had mocked Him all night, they brought Him in
the morning before Pilate, His judge. After he had asked Him

many questions, Pilate caused Him to be brought.to the judgment ~

hall in the place which is called the way of a judgment seat, in the
place which is called the Pavement, which place is situated in front
of the Church of St. Mary, on Mount Sion, in a high place near the
city wall. Here is a holy chapel dedicated to our Lord Jesus
Christ, wherein stands a great part of the column round which the
Lord was bound by Pilate, and ordered to be scourged, after He

“had been condemned by him to be crucified.”

If we compare this description of the Church of St. Mary in the
year A.D. 1172 with the accounts given by Arculfus in A.D. 670,
and by Antoninus Martyr in A.D. 570, it can hardly be doubted
that it is the same, or, at all events, a restoration of the same,
church, which can thus be traced back to the time of the Emperor
Justinian.

Phe
-

bi ie ee RSS ees:

the following holy places.” See:

352 = SITE OF THE CHURCH OF ST. MARY AT JERUSALEM.

After the expulsion of the Christians from Jerusalem, the Church
of St. Mary on Mount Sion appears to have fallen into decay.
Ludolph von Suchem, who wrote about A.D. 1350, says} :—

“Upon this Mount Sion, or in this city of David, there once
was built an exceeding fair monastery called the Convent of St.
Mary on Mount Sion. Within this monastery were enclosed all

He then enumerates the various holy places which have
already been described as in and near the Church of St. Mary. or
In the following century Felix Fabri visited the Holy Land in eR:
A.D. 1480-1483, and has left a very full and interesting account of ag
his travels. He lived for a considerable time with the monks on
Mount Sion and gives a clear account of the ruined condition of
the church.? He says :—

“The church is not large, because it is only a part of the
Church of Sion. In the old time, when the Christians bore rule
in the land, there was a great church on that spot, which the
Saracens have destroyed as far as the apse or chapel which joined
the choir of the church on the right hand side. This part is now
the choir and church of the brethren. The ruins of the old
choir and church are still plainly to be seen.”

And in another place he says :—

“In this place we stood for a good while, and mourned over
the ruins, and looked round us with sorrow at the scattered stones
of the sanctuary. Here once stood an exceeding great church
whereof there is nothing left save the part which once joined that
great church on the right-hand side, which part at the present day
is the choir and church of the brethren as I said before ; the head
of the choir also remains, with its east window, and with its half-
broken vault which threatens to fall in. On the inside of the
church there is a way up some stairs from the place where the
Holy Spirit was sent down to the top of that piece of broken vault. Bet
I went up these stairs and found above the broken vault a
pavement of polished marble of divers colours, wherefore I suppose
that there was once another church up above, on the top of the
church and choir. Thus the Church of Sion must have had three
consecrated stories, that is to say, the crypt beneath the earth, the

' Palestine Pilgrims’ Texts, vol. xii. Ludolph ven Suchem,” p. 101.
* Ibid., vol. vii. Felix Fabri,” p- 287.

THE LEVELLING OF THE AKRA. 353

church built wpon the earth, and another decorated chamber above
the church. In the old choir, the high altar still stands, but it is

a ruin.”

In A.D. 1517 Jerusalem fell into the hands of the Turks, and
in A.D. 1547 the Mohamedans took possession of the Christian
buildings on Mount Sion, and since that time access to them has
been difficult. It would be interesting to make a thorough
examination of the place in order to see what remains of the great
church still exist, and it would also be desirable to excavate the
ground to the east and search for the ancient foundations. I do
not know, however, if this would be possible, as the buildings are
surrounded by cemeteries.

To sum up, the conclusions at which I have arrived are as
follow :—

(1) It seems improbable that the Basilica of St. Mary, built by
Justinian, was in the vicinity of the Temple, or that there
was any Christian church in the Haram area prior to the
occupation of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in A.D. 1099.

(2) It is probable that the basilica of Justinian was constructed —
on Mount Sion on or near the site of the existing buildings,
usually known as the Coenaculum and Tomb of David.

—_——

THE LEVELLING OF THE AKRA.

By Rev. W. F. Bircu.
m the Akra (1 Mace. xiii, 50)

Sron’s expulsion of the enemy fro
hus into the herculean labour

developed in the fertile brain of Josep
of a three years’ demolition of fort, hill, and all.

Jahn long ago observed that the expressions
entirely at variance with the story of Josephus,
probably originated in a mistake.

This “cock and bull” has brought a cycle of mischief upon
Jerusalem research, but it is only fair, by putting a finger on the
initial error, to show that the mistake of the Jewish historian
was more his misfortune than fault.

Josephus in his day (Quarterly
found that the term Akra was assigne
called ed-Dhahr, i.c., back) south of the temple,

in Maccabees are
adding that it

Statement, 1886, p. 26) certainly
d to the sloping ridge (now
with no visible

354 : THE LEVELLING OF THE AKRA.

ditch or valley between the two; and becoming devoted to
precipices, he was doubtless: amazed that the city of David ever
stood on such a paltry hill. Yet 1 Mace. i, 33, left no room for
doubt, as it stated distinctly that the city of David became the Akra.

Later, he faithfully (according to Whiston) performed the
difficult and painful task of abridging 1 Mace. down to xiii, 50,
Here the copy used abruptly ended, leaving him to make the best
he could of the situation. This verse says that Simon “cast them
(the garrison) thence (i.¢., from the Akra) and purified (cxaOaptoev)
the Akra from its pollutions” (s:acnatwyv), Josephus, however,
tells quite a different tale: first, in Wars I, li, 2, briefly stating
that Simon overcame the garrison and rased_ to the ground
{xatesxayre) the Akra; and afterwards, in Ant. XIII, vi, 7, more
copiously adding that he took the Akra, and levelled to the ground
both it and the hill on which it stood, with other details. In this
account he thrice uses the same verb for levelling (xaerce, eaOeXewv,
caOnpovv), but omits all mention of pollutions or purification.

Now, if the imperfect manuscript preserved of exaQapicev merely
the four letters ca... p and ended with Akra (axpav), what would
follow? The hero of precipices, with no (maona7a) miasmas to guide
him, could not be expected out of «ad.. p to scent exa@apiocy or
exaQaipe (purified), in preference to caOyper (levelled). He had to
restore the text as best he could. Here he would divine the
solution of his difficulty. Did Simon level the Akra ? If so, there
is a reason for no peak now. Then he would picture to himself
the table-rock of Akra, as once crowned by a peak, and so justly
entitled to its name. He would be as glad as I was, when its true
site became clear to me. Could he, in Ant., use levelled less
than thrice? As a lover of strong positions, Josephus seems, in
Wars V, iv, 1, to intend to locate the Jebusite stronghold of Zion
on the lofty (S.W.) hill, when he writes: “David called that hill
the @povpiov” (= Heb. Metsudah 2) ; but subsequently, in the account
of David's capturing it, he used the LXX, and accepted the Akra (the
hill south of the future temple) as the site of that stronghold. Soon
he was face to face with the following appalling difficulty ; First, he
found that the Bible stated more than 20 times that king after king
(from David to Ahaz) was buried in the city of David; next he
knew from 1 Mace. i, 33, that the city of David became the Akra ;
thirdly, from personal observation he was sure that Herod’s white
monument, erected at (or over) the entrance to David’s tomb, was

TRADITIONAL “ HARBOUR OF SOLOMON,” ETC. 355

at the siege situate towards the southern end of ed-Dhahr, near
Siloam (Neh. iii, 16); while, finally, he had long assimilated the
fiction that the Akra fort and hill had been wholly removed.

It was obvious that the royal sepulchres could not be in
existence in a hill that had long before ceased to exist. There-
fore all of these four articles of belief could not then be true.
Accordingly, although the Bible said that David “called it (the
fort) the city of David” (2 Sam. v, 9), Josephus twice in one passage
(Ant. VII, iii, 2) wrote: “David named Jerusalem the city of
David.” By this perversion or prevarication he sacrificed the
valuable precision of the sacred record, and brought vexation on

posterity to save his own credit.

—
os

THE TRADITIONAL “HARBOUR OF SOLOMON” AT
JAFFA.

By the Rev. J. E. HANAUER, Jerusalem,

To supplement my remarks on the traditional harbour of Solomon
at Jaffa (see Quarterly Statement, July, 1903, pp. 258-264), I may
observe that I inadvertently omitted to give chapter and verse for
my quotation on p. 263 describing the fortified island existing at
Jaffa in 1253, The reference is to Bohn’s edition of Joinville’s
mémoirs in Chronicles of the Crusaders, pp. 486; 495 87.

When I submitted my notes I emphatically remarked that I did
so “pending the time when more expert inv
results of excavation throw more certain light on the matter.”
As a matter of fact, during the spring such excavations and investi-
gations were carried on under the auspices of the American School
of Archeology, and in return for references and information
furnished by myself, I have just received from Dr. Barton, late
Director of the School, a kind note, written from the British
Museum, and dated July 18th, containing the interesting informa-
tion that at a depth of half a métre below the present level of soil,
and ata height of 44 métres (nearly 15 feet) above sea-level, the
excavators had re-discovered the wall to which I referred on p. 260.

We must, of course, await the publication of Professor Barton’s
report for fuller information of details, but I am happy to be able
to send the following extract from his letter :-—“T am convinced

estigators and the

356 DAJUN AND BETH-DAGON AND THE

that the inner harbour was used in the time of Solomon, in the time
of Simon the Maccabee, and in the time of Saladin, and that
seismic disturbances have changed the level at various times, I
believe that Joinville’s island was temporarily produced by such a
change.”

——————

DAJUN AND BETH-DAGON AND THE TRANSFERENCE
OF BIBLICAL PLACE-NAMES,

By Rk. A. Stewart MAcaLisTErR, M.A., F.S.A,

THE report of the discovery of a find of gold coins in the neighbourhood
of the modern village of Beit Dejin led Surraya Effendi and myself to
pay a visit to the place. With great difficulty we persuaded an inhabitant
of the village to guide us to the site of the discovery —the commendable
promptness of the Government in dealing with those who attempted to
sell the coins had made the inhabitants of the village cautious in their
dealing with strangers.

The site is the ruin known as Dajtin, about 1? miles south-west of
the village. This ruin has for some time been treated by the fellahin of
Beit Dejan as a quarry, and they have been actively engaged in taking
stones from it either for their own purposes or for sale in Jaffa. It was
whilst these operations were being carried on that the find of coins was
made.

Holes have been pitted all over the surface of the site, from which it
is possible to get a fair idea of its period. There is not more than 6 feet
of débris, and the pottery shows that this is to be assigned to the Roman
and early Arab periods. No earlier occupation has left any traces on the
site. It follows that Dajan cannot be the Beth-Dagon of Joshua xv, 41,
as has been suggested. On the other hand there is little cause for doubt
that it is the connecting link between the biblical Beth-Dagon and the
modern viliage of Beit Dajdn.

It is becoming more and more clear, as our knowledge increases, that
the transference of names and sites is an element that must be taken
into account in attempting to identify biblical places with their modern
representatives. It would, perhaps, be tvo paradoxical to say that
(contrary to the general opinion) the persistence of a biblical name is
presumptive evidence against the fixity of the site ; but it is certain that
no identification based on a similarity of name can be accepted unless
corroborated by other indications.

No doubt many reasons could be assigned for the transference of a
village, with its uname, to a new site. For example, if an earthquake
ruined the village, stopped its well, and transferred its subterranean
Sonrce of water supply to an inconvenient distance—not an impossible
accident—the villagers would naturally rebuild near the new spring.

TRANSFERENCE OF BIBLICAL PLACE-NAMES. 357

Equally naturally the old name would persist, the previous site being
distinguished by some adjective meaning “ruined,” “ancient,” or the
like. If (as by theory was the case of Beth-Dagon) at some subsequent
time a second transference should take place, there would be every
chance that all recollection of the first of the series of sites would be lost.
The fellahin are not historians, and they would have little reason to refer
to the old site of their village, and none at all to bear in mind the oldest
site : ruins have no interest for them except as potential repositories of
buried treasure.

Thus we have three epochs in the history of Beth-Dagon—the first on
an as yet unknown site, from the Amorite to the Roman periods; the
second at Dajfm, extending over the Roman and early Arab periods 3
the third at the modern Beit Dejan, lasting to the present day. It is
probable that the present population could, had they the necessary
documents, show a continuous chain of ancestry extending from the first
city to the last.

Nearly similar is the case of Mareshah: but in this instance the
name survives at one site only. Joshua xv, 44 attests its existence at
the end of the Amorite period. The tomb inscriptions recently discovered
connect it with Tell Sandahannah ; but the result of excavations there
forbids us to carry the history of that site back further than the Jewish
monarchy or later than the Seleucid epoch. The name survives at
Kburbet Mer‘ash, which is a purely Roman site, and probably the

modern descendants of the inhabitants live at Beit Jibrin, Here, there- _

fore, we have four transferences. The unfortunate influence of the
Crusaders, by fitting a new name on the tell, has spoiled the links of
names : I have little doubt that were it not for the Crusaders’ occupation
the tell would be called by some such name as Tell Mer‘ash.

Ekron is another notable example. Its identity with ‘Akir is assumed
by all without question: but it is a common-place with writers on
Palestine that at ‘Akir there is no tell or other sign of ancient occupation,
It follows that it is simply impossiblé that ‘Akir can stand on the site of
so important a town, though it probably perpetuates its name.

To return to Dajiin, I may remark that the only object calling for
notice on the spot is the drum of a column, 2 feet 9 inches in diameter,
with mortices cut on each side. Without excavation it is impossible
to tell with what this may be connected. A fragment of stone with a bit
of acanthus ornament, and a large bead with inlaid coloured dots, were
picked up by us.

The usual routine was gone through by the discoverers of the coins.
The man who first noticed them endeavoured to distract his companions’
attention so that he might be able to return alone and appropriate the
whole booty to himself. Apparently he was at first successful in this,,
but in his anxiety he mistook a chance motion of one of the others for a
sign of discovery, and gave himself away by a wild grab at the coins,
which he bestowed in the folds of his cloak, and by running at the top of

his speed off the ground. The others, finding some pieces which in his
2C

te die ie te ee i ee de a hee ee eee eS

f ie
7 eS

358 | NOTES AND QUERIES.

haste he had dropped, divined at once the cause of his flight, and gave .
chase and captured the fugitive, whom they compelled to distribute his p
plunder ; the division, however, was not sufficiently equal to please one .
of the party, who gratified his spite by turning “king’s evidence,” with >
the result that the government authorities promptly compelled as many ‘
of those concerned as could be found to disgorge their shares. It is
probable that the majority of the pieces have been recovered, and it is '
gratifying that Dajan is now probably safe from further illicit excavation, 7
as the villagers are afraid to be seen near it.

The coins are now stored in the Government Museum at Jerusalem.
I have not yet had an opportunity of seeing them, so can only state the
fact of which 1 have been assured—that they are gold Kufic coins.
I have been told that they are ascribed to Harfin er-Rashid. Sixty have
been recovered from the hoard.

NOTES AND QUERIES.

Some Interesting Limestone Effigies from Jerusalem.—In Mr. Hanauer’s
letter of June 27th he mentions that there have been found
lately, near ‘“Gordon’s Garden Tomb,” some small, roughly-carved
figures of men on horses, of very elementary form. A photograph
which he forwarded, showing these, at once reminded me of some
of the old ridge-tile figures of which a few still exist in Cornwall,
and possibly elsewhere. In one little town there existed till
20 years ago, at least four: but in the same place I could only find
one lately. Some have, I believe, gone to Museums,

A rudely-worked effigy of a man on a horse bestrides one ridge-
tile which occupied a prominent position on the roof of an inn, or
place where man and horse could be accommodated. Mr. Hanauer
thinks that it is quite possible that the figures he describes had a
similar use, as they were found on the site of the Crusaders’
“ Asnerie,” in which similar accommodation was provided.

J. D. C.
[Mr. Hanauer’s letter describes three limestone effigies: one,
the body of a powerful charger, minus head and legs, but with a
Norman saddle, and the legs and distinctive foot-gear of a Norman
equestrian, identical with illustrations of the Bayeux tapestry, &e.
Another is a more mutilated body of a horse; and the third
represents a horseman clothed with a cloak or mantle. In the case
of the latter, the Maltese cross on the back, between the shoulders,

seems to indicate that the effigy was that of a knight hospitaller. }

a
—— = =

LIST OF HONORARY SECRETARIES AND
LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS.

AUSTRALIA.

F.R.GS., and Dr. G. S. Torr, Quorn.

Sourn AvsrraLia: Rev. J. Rooney,
M.R.A.S., Moore Theological College,

Sypyry: W. P. F. Dorph, Esgq.,

Newtown,
Vicrorta: Rev. Robt. Kelly, Graham Street, Port Melbourne.

CANADA.

» Rev. G. Abbott-Smith, M.A., B.A., 201, University Street.

MONTREAL
Rev. J. R. Craigie, 173, Macdonnell Avenue.

ToRONTO :

ENGLAND.

AurrEton: Jos. Geo. Wilson, Esq-, The Firs.

Asupurton: J. Sparke Amery, Esq.

Batu: General Warren Walker, R.E., Tilehurst, Sion Hill.

Beprorp : E. Ransom, Esq., 24, Ashburnham Road.

Burniry: Alfred Strange, Esq., J.P., Greenfield House. ‘
Burton (Westmorland) : Rev..F. W. Carpenter, Burton Vicarage.
CampripGEe: Mrs. Burkitt, Elterholm, Madingley Road, Cambridge.
CHELMSFORD: Rev. H. K. Harris, Runwell Rectory, Wickford.
OnerrenHAM: Dr. K. Wilson, Westal.

Ourstenvurst: Rev. H. Lloyd Russell, The Vicarage.

Oxrrron and Bristou: Rev. Canon Wallace, M.A., 3, Harley Place.
Dagtineton : J. P. Pritchett, Esq., 24, High Row.

Dover: Sir EB. Wollaston Knocker, O.B., Castle Hill House.
DuruaM: W. H. Bramwell, Esq., Bow.
Fatmovrs, for the County of Cornwall :
Frome: Henry Thomson, Esq.
Hrrourn : J. Pollard, Esq., High Down.
Hornsga (near Hull): Rev. George G@. 8. Thomas. ;
Lepsury: Rev. F. Salter Stooke- Vaughan, Wellington Heath Vicarage.

Lronrietp: Herbert M. Morgan, Esq.

Wilson L. Fox, Esq., Carmino.

LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS

LiverProo.: Hon. Sec.—Alex. B. Thorburn, Esq., 13, Rumford Street.

MancHEsTER: Hon, Treas.—C. J. Heywood, Esq., Manchester and Salford
Bank. Hon. Sec.—Rev. W. F. Birch, Rector of St. Saviour’s.

Morprtu: Rev. A. H. Drysdale.

NEWOASTLE-ON-TyNE : Hon. Treas.—Thomas Hodgkin, Esq., Barmoor Castle,

Beal. Hon. Sec.—A. Brooke Lloyd, Esq., 32, Grainger Street West,
Norwion: Rey. Francis Knowles, Gimingham Rectory, North Walsham.
Norrineuam: Rev. V. J. Higgins, Awsworth Vivarage.

Oxrorp: Rey. G. W. Thatcher, M.A., B.D., Mansfield College.
Puymovuru: J. Shelly, Esq., and H. B.S, Woodhouse, Esq.
Sv. Hetens: Rev. Charles Harris, M.A., 7, Pelham Grove, Sefton Park

Liverpool.

Satissury: J. Lardner Green, Esq., M.R.C.S., F.R.M.S8., Tintinhull, Fowler’s

Road Hill.

Scarsorovaen: H. Turnbull, Esq., 13, Grosvenor Road.

SHREWsBURY: Rey. C. H. Drinkwater, St. George’s Vicarage.
Sours Surenps: Rey. Arthur McCullagh, M.A., The Rectory, St. Stephen’s,
Strventon: Rev. H. Hamilton Jackson, Milton Rectory, Berks.
StockTon-on-Texs: Henry Clark, Esq., Cowper House, Norton.
SuNDERLAND: Rev. W. M. Teape, M.A., South Hylton Vicarage.

Taunton: Rev. W. T. Reeder, Bradford Vicarage.
Tzwkessury: Rey. Canon Gell, Ripple Rectory,
Tunsripar Weis: Rev. J. H. Townsend, D.D., St. Mark’s House.
Tynemouru, Nortu Surexps: Rev. W. Earl, Wesley Manse.
Uxprivgs: Rey. A. A. Harland, M.A., F.S.A., Harefield Vicarage.
WESTON-supER-Mare: Rey, R. Tapson, Milton House.

WILLESDEN: The Ven. Archdeacon Atlay.

Wonrorstxr: Ven. Archdeacon Walters, Alvechurch.

IRELAND.

ARMAGH: Rev. W. Moore Morgan, LL.D., The Library.
Brirasr: Sir W. Q. Ewart, Bart., 9, Bedford Street.
Cork: H.§. Noblett, Esq., Ashton Place,

Dustin: Rey. B. H. Lewis-Crosby, B.D., 36, Rutland Square.

ITALY.
Miss Bropriox, Villa Josephine, Bordighera.

NEW ZEALAND.
AvoKLAND: H. G. Seth-Smith, Esq., Northern Club.
Campringr, Warkaro: H. w. Price, Esq.
CuRistonvrcn : B. R. Webb, Ksq., Tewepu, Merivale.

Duyepin : Rey. Wm. Ronaldson, 390, Castle Street.
Newson: Robert T. Kingsley, Esq.

WELLINGTON: W. S. Furby, Esq., Telegraph Office.

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LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS.

PALESTINE.

Jexvsatem: Percy D’Erf Wheeler, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.S.
Syria: E. G. Freyer, Esq., Hon. Sec. and Hon. Local Treasurer, Beirut.

SCOTLAND.

ABERDEEN: Ladies’ Association, Miss Mary Forbes, Freshfield, Cults.
Rey. James Smith, B.D., 3, Skene Place.

Donper: Rev. John Reid, 11, Clarendon Terrace.

Eprinsvren : Geo. Harvey Johnston, Esq., 20, South St. Andrew Street.

Gatasurers : Kenneth Cochrane, Esq., Newfaan.

Guascow: Very Rev. Donald Macleod, D.D., 1, Woodlands Terrace; and
Rey. Professor George Adam Smith, D.D., 21, Sardinia Terrace. James
Glen, Esq., 194, St. Vincent Street, Hon. Local Treasurer.

Hamittron: Rev. Thomas M. B. Paterson, Ardenclutha.

Mrtiport: Rev. Alex. Walker, Millburn.

Prertu: Rev. P. A. Gordon Clark, West Free Church.

Strruina: Rev. W. Ewing, 3, Victoria Square.

STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.
Srncapore: A. Knight, Esq., Grassdale, River Valley Road.

SWITZERLAND.

GENEVA: Professor Lucian Gautier, Grande Boissiére.

U.S. AMERICA.

Rev. Professor Theo. F. Wright, Ph.D., 42, Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.,
Honorary General Secretary and Lecturer for the Fund.

CatirorniA: Rev. J. ©. Nevin, Ph.D., Los Angeles.
Connecticut: Prof. Chas. F. Kent, Ph.D., New Haven.
Rey. John Binney, D.D., Middletown.
District oF ConumsBra: Prof. J. L. Ewell, D.D., Washington.
Inurnors: Prof. Clyde W. Votaw, Ph.D., Chicago.
Inprana: Hon. William Niles, La Porte.
Mare: Prof. George T. Little, Brunswick.
Maryann: Rey. J. J. Tierney, D.D., Mount St. Mary.
Massacuuserts: Prof. Irving ¥. Wood, Northampton.
Miss Lilian Freeman Clarke, Boston.
Mroniaan : Hon. Henry Gillman, Detroit.
Minnesota: Rev. J. R. Jewett, Ph.D , St. Paul.
Missovrr: Rabbi H. H. Mayer, Kansas City.
New Hamresuire: Rev. S. P. Leeds, Hanover.
New Jersey: Rey. J. H. Dulles, Princeton.
New York: Rev. A. F. Schaufller, D.D., New York.
President G. E. Merrill, D.D., H amilton.
Rev. J. Zimmermann, D.D., LL.D., Syracuse.
Rey. Dana W. Bigelow, Utica.
Daniel H. Ayers, Troy.

LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Onto: Rev. E. Herbruck, Ph.D., Dayton.
Prof. Wallace N. Stearns, Ph.D., Berea.

OrEGon : George F. Billings, Esq., Ashland.

PENNSYLVANIA: Rey. James Morrow, D.D., Philadelphia.
Prof. T. C. Billheimer, D.D., Gettysburg.
Prof. R. L. Stewart, D.D., Lincoln University.

Ruove Istanp: Wm. Gammell, Esq., Providence.

TrwnessxE: Prof. Collins Denny, D.D., Nashville.

West Vireinia: Mrs. Arthur Lee, Elkins.

WALES.

ABERGAVENNY : Rey. Fred W. G. Whitfield, Vicar of.

BaneGor: Professor T. Witton Davies, B.A., Ph.D., “ Bryn Haul.”
CarpirF: Mrs. Melville, School for the Deaf and Dumb.

Giynnezatu, 8.W.: Rev. J. L. Thomas, M.A., Aberpergwm.,
Lamrrrer: The Rev. L. J. M. Bebb, Principal of St. David’s College,
Luanpupno: Rev. C. T. Astley, Bryn Celyn.

Mountain Asu, S.W.: Rev. Owen Jones, Maes-Caradoc.

Swanska: Joseph Hall, Esq., Grosvenor House.

OCIETY.

AUTHORISED cet FOR THE

AMERICA.

Professor TuzoporE F. Wrient, Ph.D., 42, Quincy Street, Cambridge,
Mass., Honorary General Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund
for the United States. His subjects are as follows :—

(1) The Buried City of Jerusalem,
(2) Discoveries in Palestine.

ENGLAND.
The Rev. Tuomas Harrisoy, F.R.G:S., St. John’s Vicarage, Dewsbury
Moor, Yorks. His subjects are as follows :—
(1) Research and Discovery in the Holy Land.
(2) Bible Scenes in the Light of Modern Science.
(3) The Survey of Eastern Palestine.
(4) In the Track of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan.
(5) The Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Cities of the Plain.
(6) The Recovery of Jerusalem—(Excavations in 1894).
(7) The Recovery of Lachish and the Hebrew Conquest of Palestine.
(8) Archeological Illustrations of the Bible. (Specially adapted for
Sunday School Teachers.)
The Rev. Caarues Harris, M.A., F.R.GS., 7, Pelham Grove, Sefton Park,
Liverpool. (All Lectures illustrated by lantern slides.) His subjects

are as follows :—

(1) Modern Discoveries in Palestine. 3
(2) Stories in Stone; or, New Light on the Old Testament.

(3) Underground Jerusalem ; or, With the Bxplorer in 1895.
Bible Stories from the Monuments, or Old Testament History

in the Light of Modern Research :—

(4) a. The Story of Joseph ; or, Life in Ancient Egypt.

(5) B. The Story of Moses; or, Through the Desert to the Promised
Land.

(6) c. The Story of Joshua; or, The Buried City of Lachish.

(7) pv. The Story of Sennacherib ; or, Scenes of Assyrian Warfare.

(8) e. The Story of the Hittites ; or, A Lost Nation Found.

The Rev. W. O. E. Oxstrrtey, M.A., B.D., Glenroy, Royston Park Road,
Hatch End. His subjeets are as follows :—
(1) Palestinian Scenery.
(2) Trades, Callings, and Customs of Palestine.
(3) The Gezer Excavations.
(4) Semitic Inscriptions.
(5) Greek Inscriptions.
(All illustrated by lantern slides.)

ru fa 4

LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Oxrorp: Rev. G. W. Thatcher, M.A., B.D., Mansfield College.
Puiymovurtu: J. Shelly, Esq., and H. B. 8. Woodhouse, Esq.
Repoar, Yorks: Rey. W. Earl, Wesley Manse.

Sr. Hetens: Rev. Charles Harris,
Sauissury: J. Lardner Green,

Road Hill.

Scarporover : H. Turnbull, Esq., 13, Grosvenor Road,
SHREWSBURY: Rey. O..H. Drinkwater, St. George’s Vicarage.
Sournrort: H. J, Bailey, Esq., M.D., 37, Church Street.

South Suretps: Rey. Arthur McCullag
STevEnton : Rey. H,.

Hamilton Jackson, Milton Rectory, Berks.

STocKToN-on-Txxs : Henry Clark, Esq., Cowper House, N orton,

SUNDERLAND: Rev. W. M. Teape, M.A., South Hy

lIton Vicarage.

Taunton: Rev. R. C. W. Raban, Bishop’s Hall Vicarage,
TEWxKEsBuRY: Rey. Canon Gell, Ripple Rectory,

Tunsripex Weis: Rev. J. H. Townsend, D.D., St. Mark’
Uxsrings: Rey. A. A. Harland, M.A., F.S.A,,

WESTON-sUPER-Manre: Rey. R. Tapson, Milton House.
WItLEspEN: The Ven. Archdeacon Atlay.
Worcester: Ven. Archdeacon Walters, Alvechurch.

Paris: M. and Madame H

Pare de Neuilly.

Mapras Presipenoy: Mrs. Elwes, Shad
Srnearore: A, Knight, Esgq., Grassdale,

FRANCE,

INDIA.

River Valley Road.
IRELAND.

Armacu: Rey. W. Moore Morgan, LL.D., The Library.
Betrast: Sir W. Q. Ewart, Bart., 9, Bedford Street.
Corx: H. S. Noblett, Esq., Ashton Place.

Dustin: Rev. E. H. Lewis Crosby, B.D., 36, Rutland Busse.

JAPAN.

Kor: Rey. J.C. Calhoun Newton.

Szout: Alex. Kenmure, Esq.

KOREA.

NEW ZEALAND.

Avoxtanp: H. G. Seth-Smith, Esq., Northern Club,

Campriver, Warkato: H. W. Price,

Esq.

Curisronurcn : BE. BR. Webb, Ksq., Tewepu, Merivale,

Dunepin : Rey. Wm.

Ronaldson, 390, Castle Street.

Neuson: Robert T, Kingsley, Esq.
Wriiieron: W. 8. Furby, Esq., Telegraph Office.

PALESTINE.

JERUSALEM : Percy D’Erf Wheeler, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.S,

Syria: E. G. Freyer,

Esq., Hon. Sec. and Hon. Local Treasurer,

yacinthe Loyson, 29, Boulevard >

M.A., F.R.G.S., The Elms, Windleshaw Road.
Esq., M.R.C.8., F.R.M.S., Tintinhull, Fowler’s

h, M.A., The Rectory, St. Stephen’s.

8 House.
Harefield Vicarage.

Inkermann,

owbush, N ungumbankum, Madras.

Beirut.

whims

LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS.

SCOTLAND.

ABERDEEN: Ladies’ Association, Miss Mary Forbes, Freshfield, Cults.

Dinewatt, N.B.: Rev. J. R. Macpherson, B.D., The Manse.

Dunprxr: Hon. Treas.—Alex. Scott, Esq., Ashbank, East Newport.

Epinsureu: Geo. Harvey Johnston, Esq., 20, South St. Andrew Street.

Gatasurers : Kenneth Cochrane, Esq., Newfaan.

Giasaow: Rt. Rev. Donald Macleod, D.D., 1, Woodlands Terrace; and
Rev. Professor George Adam Smith, D.D., 21, Sardinia Terrace. James
Glen, Esq., 194, St. Vincent Street, Hon. Local Treasurer.

Hamitton: Rev. Thomas M. B. Paterson, Ardenclutha.

KirKcanpy: Henry Morton Barnett, Esq., 17, Townsend Place.

Mitirort: Rey. Alex. Walker, Millburn.

PrertH: Rey. P. A. Gordon Clark, West Free Church.

Srrrtine: Rev. W. Ewing, 3, Victoria Square.

SWITZERLAND.
Geneva: Professor Lucian Gautier, Grande Boissiére.

U.S. AMERICA,
Rev. Professor Theo. F. Wright, Ph.D., 42, Quincy Street, Cambridge, Mass.,
Honorary General Secretary and Lecturer for the Fund.
AtaBaMa: Rey. J. M. P. Otts, D.D., LL.D., Greensboro’.
Oatrrornia: Rev. J. C. Nevin, Ph.D., 1,319, Santee Street, Los Angeles.

Connecricut: Prof. E. K. Mitchell, D.D., Theological Seminary, Hartford.
Prof. Frank K. Sanders, Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven.

Disrrict or CotumBIA: Prof. John L. Ewell, D.D., Howard University,
Washington.

Inurors: Prof. Shailer Matthews, Ph.D., University of Chicago, Chicago.

Inprana: Hon. William Niles, La Porte.

Marne: Prof. George T. Little, College Librarian, Brunswick.

Massacuusetrs: Prof. Irving F. Wood, Smith College, Northampton.

New York: D. H. Ayers, Esq., Box 457, Troy.
Rev. A. f’. Schauffler, D.D., United Charities Building.
Prof. Richard Gottheil, Ph.D., Columbia University.
Prof. James 8, Riggs, D.D., Theological Seminary, Auburn.
Rev. Jeremiah Zimmerman, D.D., 109, South Avenue, Syracuse.
Rey. Dana W. Bigelow, 98, State Street, Utica.
President G. E. Merrill, D.D., Colgate University, Hamilton.
Ouxto: Rev. E. Herbruck, Ph.D., 1,606, E. Third Street, Dayton.
PENNSYLVANIA: Rey. James Morrow, D.D., 701, Walnut Street, Philadelphia.
Prof. T. C. Billheimer, D.D., Gettysburg.
Prof. R. L. Stewart, Lincoln University, Chester Co.

Ruope Istanp: Prof. Charles F. Kent, Ph.D., Brown University, Providence.
TrennesskxE: Prof. Collins Denny, D.D., Vanderbilt University, Nashville.

WALES.
ABERGAVENNY : Rey. Fred W. G. Whitfield, Vicar of.
Bangor: Professor T, Witton Davies, B.A., Ph.D., “ Bryn Haul.”
CarpiFF: Mrs. Melville, School for the Deaf and Dumb.
Guynneatu, 8.W.: Rev. J. L. Thomas, M.A., Aberpergwm.
Lamprter: The Rev. L. J. M. Bebb, Principal of St. David's College.
Luanpupno: Rey. ©. T. Astley, Bryn Celyn.
Movnrarn Asx, $.W.: Rev. Owen Jones, Maes-Caradoc.
Swanska: Joseph Hall, Esq., Grosvenor House.

nell

PUBLICATIONS

OF THE

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND.

Books.

1—THE QUARTERLY STATEMENT. A Journal of Palestine Research
and Discovery. Issued free to Subscribers of half a guinea and upwards. Non-
Subscribers, single numbers, 2s. 6d. For back numbers apply to the Secretary,
38, Conduit Street, W. Cases for binding, in Green and Chocolate, 1s. each to
Subscribers.

2._INDEX TO THE QUARTERLY STATEMENTS, 1869-1892
inclusive. Subscribers, 2s, 6d. ; Non-Subscribers, 3s. Postage, 3d. extra.

3.—THE SURVEY OF WESTERN PALESTINE. (Seven Volumes.)
Out of print. A few odd Volumes left.

4.—THE JERUSALEM VOLUME. A complete account of the Excavations
in Jerusalem, 1868-1870. Price, without the Portfolio of Plates, 30s,

5.—_THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF PALESTINE. Richly illustrated.
By Canon Tristram. Price £2 2s. to Subscribers ; Non-Subscribers, £3 3s.

6.—_THE SURVEY OF EASTERN PALESTINE. (One Volume.) By
Colonel ConpEr. Subscribers, £2 2s.; Non-Subscribers, £3 3s.

7.—-ARCH OLOGICAL RESEARCHES. (Iwo Volumes, profusely Illus-
trated.) By Prof. Crurrmont-Ganngav. Vol. I, Jerusalem and its Vicinity ;
Vol. II, Investigations in Southern Palestine. Subscribers, £4 4s.; Non-
Subscribers, £7 7s.

8.—THE FAUNA AND FLORA OF SINAI, PETRA, AND THE
WADY ‘ARABAH. (One Volume, richly Illustrated.) By H. Cu1curster
Harv. Subscribers, £1 1s. ; Non-Subscribers, £2 2s.

N.B.—The edition of Nos. 6, 7, and 8 is limited to 500. The set of four volumes
can be obtained by Subscribers for £7 7s.; Non-Subscribers, £9 9s.
9.—THE GEOLOGY OF PALESTINE AND ARABIA PETRZEA. By
Prof. E. Hutt. Uniform with Nos. 3 to 8. Subscribers, 12s. 6d.; Non-
Subscribers, 21s.
10.—ACROSS THE JORDAN. By G. ScHuMAcHER. With Map, Sections,
and Ulustrations. Subscribers, 4s. 6d.; Non-Subscribers, 6s. Out of print.
11.—THE JAULAN. By G. Scnumacuer. With M ap, Plans, and Illustrations.
Subscribers, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Subscribers, 6s.

12.—ABILA, PELLA, and NORTHERN *AJLUN. By G. Scuumacuzr.
Subscribers, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Subscribers, 6s.

18.—LACHISH (one of the five strongholds of the Amorites). By Professor
FLINDERs Prrriz. Subscribers, 6s. 6d. ; Non-Subscribers, 10s. 6d. Out of print.

i4.—A MOUND OF MANY CITIES (Lachish). By F. J. Buss. With
numerous I]lustrations. Subscribers, 3s. 6d.; Non-Subscribers, 6s. Postage,
3d. extra.

15.—EXCAVATIONS AT JERUSALEM, 1894-1897. With Plans and
Illustrations, By F. J. Buiss, and A. C, DicxkrE. Subscribers, 8s. 6d.; Non-
Subscribers, 12s. 6d,

16.—EXCAVATIONS IN PALESTINE, 1898-1900. (Profusely Ulus-
trated.) By F. J. Briss, R. A. S. Macatretm, and Prof. Winson. Sub-
scribers, £1 10s.; N on-Subscribers, £2 10s.

17.—_THIRTY YEARS’ WORK: a Memoir of the work of the Society. By

Sir Wattzr Busanr. Subscribers, 2s.; Non-Subscribers, 85. 6d. Postage, 3d.
extra.

18.—JERUSALEM, THE CITY OF HEROD AND SALADIN. By Sir
WALTER Besawr and Prof, EB. H. Patmer. Subscribers, 5s. 6d.

19.—PALESTINE UNDER THE MOSLEMS. By Guy tx Straner. With
Map and Illustrations, Subscribers, 10s.; Non-Subscribers, 16s.

20.—TENT WORK IN PALESTINE. By Colonel Conprer. Subscribers,
4s. 6d.; Non-Subscribers, 6s. New Edition.

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