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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. irrata to pelure, n d □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 It ?|P"5^^»^i^^^5^^^5"TJfT5»^f»'"5^V*^^^5»'^5!"^5^!»'^^ The 'Bible Vindicated BY Marvellous Discoveries IN SCRIPTURE LANDS, OI8CL08IN0 <A World of c4ndent Juried Treasure Bearing ^red Testimony to the Truthfulness of Sacred History; Recdhering forgotten Langua.yes, Restoring Lost Empires to a. place in the cAnnats of SM^nkind, And making clear and easily understood many obscure passages of the 'Divine Word. The "whole designed to confirm the fact that the 'Bible is a *ReveUtion from God to Man, that no Sceptic or Cainller can gainsay, OBTAINED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES By the author of •• The Harvest Home in Palestine^ or IsraeVs National Thanksgiving Festival and its Signification " etc. ST. JOHN, N. B. ; R. A. H. MORROW, 59 Garden Street. 1899. p 212 Entered according to the Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year l8y(^, By Rohkrt a. II. Morrow, in the Oflice of the Minister of Agriculture at Ottawa. ^niNrco *v jAMC* SeATciN, an aciiMAiN %t. PREFACE. m I This little book is an authentic record of the most im- portant discoveries of modern research in liible lands, many of which are strange, startling, undreamt of, and bear direct testimony to the truthfulness of Sacred history, beyond all controversy. It has been prepared with great care as to accuracy of statement. In its composition no place is given to anything that has not been fully sustained by undoubted authority. It has been written under the conviction that such a work is needed, and is sent forth with the earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit may use it to strengthen the faith of the Christian in the genuineness of God's Word, remove the doubt of the Sceptic, and encourage all classes of readers to a more diligent study of the Holy Scriptures. " The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the ou/y rule to direct us" in the path that leads to eternal life ; and, if this Word is made void by the traditions, misconceptions or scepticism of those who profess to teach its doctrines, there is no siad/i ground on which to rest the hope of our salvation. Although the light of nature in man, and the works of God as they are manifest in nature, declare plainly that there is a God ; yet, it is only His Word and Spirit that can /ru/y reveal Him unto us. It is therefore the duty of every man to investi- gate for himself, as to the truthfulness of the Revelation given by God to man " for the rule of his obedience," This duty is enjoined on us by the Apostolic admonition : ^m 4 Preface, " Prove all things, hold fast that which is good" — Let God be found true, though every man should be a liar. It is evident that Infidelity, having become more rampant to-day than ever before, and seeking to extinguish the light of Divine Truth, God, in His Providential care of His own Word, is calling forth from secret chambers of the earth, where they have been long concealed, " the stones," and other monumental records of ancient times, to " cry out" in bearing witness to the veracity of His Word which alone is Truth, in a manner that cannot be gainsaid. From the writer's standpoint, none but those given over to a reprobate mind can read the clear and convincing tes- timonies of these witnesses, as they are recorded in the fol- following pages, and doubt the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures. Many of the memorials of discovery referred to bear such unanswerable testimony to the truthfulness of the Sacred narrative that no candid person can do otherwise than accept the evidence. To the many authors whose works have been consulted or freely drawn upon in the composition of this book, the writer would hereby acknowledge his indebtedness, and state that due r redit is given to each by the use of quotation marks or otherwise. Assured that God's Word shall, in due time, be accepted by all peoples and nations, this record of ancient testimony to its truth is sent forth with the prayer that it may aid in the bringing abojt of so desirable an issue. A. L. O. N. B. St. John, N. B., SefytemfHr 1899. T Ivist of llluatratione. I'AdE, Baked Terra-coUa Tablet, giving an account of the Flood, 19 The Celebrated Rosetta Stone 23 First lines of the Epic of Peniaur, 34 Full length view of the Mummy of King Pharaoh, Rameses II., 44 Front view of King Pharaoh, taken after the Mummy was unwound, 46 Profile of King Pharaoh as it now appears in the Boulac Museum, 49 Photograph of Queen Nofretair, 51 Side view of King Pinetom II., 53 The Famous Moabite Stone, 69 Sennacherib's anticipated Victory at I,achish, 81 Plate 1. of the Tel el-Amarna Tablets 93 Ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's Great City — Babylon 1 13 luniiiiary of Contents. PAGE. Preface, 3 List of Illiislralions, 5 Records of the Dim and [distant Past 9 A Wuild of Ihiried Trcasinv — Insciilicil Papyrus Rolls — An Epitome of the Ancient World's History— lext of Tablets Kecording the Successive Acts of Creation — The C'ialdean i'ablet Legends of the Mood— Assyrian Taldets Wonderful. A rcha'ol')(.',ical Kinds — ('uneiform lnvcii|jti<)ns— The Kositta Stone Discovery, Chaldean Dynasty of the Antedihivian I'eriod, 25 Extent of its Empire — The Mij^hty Men of Renown in those days. First Despotic Kmpire after the Deluge, '. 27 Its Vouiider and his (!liaiacter. Establishment of the Rlann'te r)ynasty, 27 Its Extent- A Powerful ( onfeleracy— The I'irst Military Cam])aign of Authentic History. The Empire of the Hittites, 29 Discovery of Historical lnscri})tions at Hamath, Cajipado- cia, Evconia, vSr'c — The Epic of Pentaur- Hero of the Poem— Hitlite War Chariots— Great liattle at Kedash, ^ etween Pharaoh and the Kheta -Millions of Archers — The Ulood of the Slain — Pharaoh's Complete Victory. The Great Tablet of Abii-Shnbal, 35 The Egypliiin Iliad. Origin of the Canaanitish Flittites, • 37 Their Great Progenitor — First name by which tiioy were distinguished — Their Territory. Snmmary of Content s. 7 i'.v(;k. Ancient Tablets Discovery at'i'ei-elAmarna 39 The Real Analogy of McK bc/edek 40 tiled 'lob, Vassal Kiny of Jeriisalein--lA:ltfr3 from ihc Governor of Jerustileni ti> the l"".},'ypti.in Kin^;. Finding of the Body of Kaineses the Great second Pharaoh'of the (ireat Oppression, 43 Description f)f llie Hotly— 'I he Keiynof tliis Giciit Monarch— C!harart<.*r of the Man as porliayeil by the Muniniy's Fea- tures — leading Causes of the OJ)prL•!.^■i<m of Israel in Kyypt — Its Inauguration — Queen Nofretatr — King i'iw- tom — Incidents connected with the Discovtry of Paraoh's Mummy — A Story of Intense Interest — A Strange Kuneral IVocession. The Old Land of (ioshen i;S Discovery of Tharaoh's Store houses built by the Israelites at Pithoiu— Aile Mud— The Fithom H;icks— A Celebrati. ^' 'iind — First Haitinj;- Place of tlu' Israelite* on iheir Departure from K;;y])l--A Kemarkable Fhen;inienon — The (ireat Deliverance of Israel from IJoniia^e. The Famous Moabite Stone, 69 History of its Discovery — Correct translation of its Inscrip- tion — The National God of Moab. Wonderful Revelations in Palesti ne, 76 Discovery of the long lost sife of the Royal City of Lachish, 77 Its Situation — Its Siege by Sennacherib and Destruction of his great Host at this City- -The I'rimitive Founders of Lachish — Its Egyptian Governor — A Remarkable Arch- ajolofical Romance -One of the Chief Layers of the Ruini-- Period of the Judges ascertained — A Great filank in the History of Palestine- -The F-gyptian Supremacy of Canaan. The Philistine God Dagon 92 A Ploughman instead f)fa Fish man deity — Solution of why the (iolden Mice were sent with the Atk on its return by • the Philistines to Beth-shemesh. I 8 Summary of Contents. PAGE. The Famous Siloam Inscription Discovery, 94 The Pool of Siloam Tunnel made by Hezekiah, 97 Its Purposes and Dimensions. Another Tunnel of smaller Construction, 100 The Ancient Water Supply of Jerusalem 101 Solomon's Pools near Hebron, 102 Tlieir Dimensions an<l Connections. The Underground Royal Quarries at Jerusalem, 103 Preparation of Stones for Solomon's Temple. Import of the Wailing Place of the Jews, 109 Heart-rending Scenes — Litany of the Mourners. The Ruin of Ancient Babylon 112 Reign of its king Nebuchadnezzar — Extent and Magnificence of the City — Its Hanging Gardens — Its immense Walls, Gates, and Towers — The Temple of Belus — The Tower of Habel — Belshazzar's Impious Feast — Capture of the City by the Medes and Persians — Its total Destruction in fulfilment of Prophetic Predictions-- Description of its present Ruins. The Great Assyrian Capital, Nineveh, ....126 Discovery of its long lost site. Complete Overthrow of Tyre, Capernaum, Jericho, Samaria, and other cities of Palestine, 128 wm^:! W T IVIARVELbOUS DISCOVERIES IN BIBLE I^ANDS. RECORDS of the dim and distant past, numerous and varied, have been recently discovered in Bible lands. Many of these discoveries are truly remark- able, and bear direct testimony to the truth of Sacred story. Some of them throw a flood of ligi.t upon hitherto dark and obscure passages in the early history of the human race, and others remove much of the mystery that has shrouded many persons and j^laces. It is cheering to fii d, in the providence of God, such witnesses coming forth from their hiding places to support the Bible narrative, when it is assailed, as never before, by secular scientists under the guise of Higher Criticism, Modern Science, New Theology, Liberalism, aed other popular phrases, and characterized as '« cunningly devised fables," and unworthy of rational belief The clear and convincing evidence furnished by these ancient memorials, should strengthen the faith of the Christian in the genuineness and Divine authority of the Scrii)tures, and anew assure him that "holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." In reference to this matter, a noted archaeologist who is practically acquainted with the decipherment of the recently \ lO Marvellous Discaveries in Bible Lands, discovered monumental records of the olden times, assures us that many of these silent witnesses support the Scripture record beyond all question. His assertion is, that '• The discoveries of ancient archaeology are ever growing more numerous, more startling and more unexpected, and Oriental archaiology declares with ever-increasing distinctness that the history which the higher criticism has demolished is history after all. To the assertion that the sacred books of Israel are the fabrication of an age long subsequent to the events they profess to record, and that the events themselves are legendary and mythical, the Oriental archaeology returns an emphatic NO." Although Christian scholarship has never doubted the authenticity of the Bible story, yet it has ardently longed to catch some historical echoes, however faint, of ancient sacred voices reverberating adown the ages, to add to the realistic effect of Scripture narrative, and thus quicken apprehension of the^striking events from which so many centuries separate us. This desire is now, in a great measure, gratified, owing to the fact that of late years scientific research has miearthed A WORLD OF BURIED TREASURE which brings us face to face with a hoary antiquuy, and enables us to distinctly hear, as it were, a veritable chorus of ancient echoes from the land of Ham, from the shores of Phcenicia, from Canaan, from the valley of the Euphrates, from the home of the Hittites, " from Melchi/edek, king of Salem, and from the rock-cliffs of Desert-Sinai." Owing chiefly to the operations of exploration and excava- tion societies properly organized, rocks, tombs, monuments, bricks, temple columns, palace walls, clay tablets, pottery, coins, .seals, beads, necklaces, obelisks, buried cities, pave- i Afariellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. II iiient slabs, an(] other relics of olden limes in Eastern lands, recently discovered, have all been made to contribute to the vast fund of antiquarian information jjrcvioiisly ao fjuircd by the traveller, explorer, j^hilologist, arclia;ologist, and historian. * From some of these sources materials have been collected by which the language, belief, forms of worship, social observances, and [)olitical records of Babylon, Nineveh, and other vanished empires of ancient times may be a.scertained, and their respective histories fairly reconstructed. INSCRIBED PAPYRUS ROLLS, taken from the nuimmies of long entombed kings, (pieens, priests, princesses, and other monuinental inscrijitions in the land of the Pharaohs, have furnished valuable informa- tion as to the various dynasties, and the religion, ceremonies and condition of life among the people of that remarkable country — a country which is crowded with relics of remote anti([uity, and whose temples, pyramids, tombs, and mounds of ruined cities, speak of an untold grandeur that has long since passed away, but which will always e.Kcite the curiosity and command the admiration of the world. Moving amid such splendour as must have been witnessed in that renowned land by Joseph during the time of his regime therein, it is not surprising that he advised his brethren, when sending them up to Canaan to bring his father down thither, to tell him of all his glory in Kgypt and all that they had seen of those wonderful surroundings, which have long since, in fuifilment of Scripture prediction, become " a desolation." E.tamining these discovered records of the far (listc.t past as found in the Boulac Museum at Cairo, the Museum I 12 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. of Antiquity in iJerlin, the British Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in }k)ston, Museum of the l^ouvre at Paris, and the other places where they are now stored, we can decipher an epitome of the HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD from the remotest j)eriod, and find many of the records in I)erfect harmony with those of Divine Revelation. And even where the Scripture narrative is silent as to the leading events of the period, or merely mentions them by way of inference, we have in these annals full records of untold value to the Christian I istorian. Commencing with the opening chapters of the Bible history which has long stood as the only record of Creation, the Sabbath, Paradise, the Fall, and the Flood, we tind that some of the Chaldean and Assyrian clay tablets discovered by Smith, Pinches, Boscawen, and others, give a similar account of these events. Until quite recently it was doubt- ful whether there was anything in ancient inscriptions corroborative of the Scripture narrative of the Fall, but one of the late discoveries in Babylonia, by Mr. St. Chad Bosca- wen, has removed the doubt and confirms the Bible record of that event beyond all controversy. Mr. Boscawen's translation of the fragment of the tablet A^hich he found is as follows; *' The great gods, all of them determiners of fate. They entered, and, death-like, the god Sar filled. In sin one with the other in compact joins. The command was established in the garden of the God. The Asnan (fruit) they ate, they broke in two. Its stalk they destroyed ; The sweet juice which injures the body. Marvellous Disccn'cj'ies in Bible Lands Great is their sin. Themselves they exalted To Merodach their Tvedeemor he (the god Sar) appointed their fate." The complete group of these "Creation Tablets" seem to be seven in number, and record THE SUCCESSIVE ACTS OP CREATION, composed in the form of an Assyrian epic, the design of which was, according to acknowledged authority, " an attempt to throw together in jwetic form the of cosmological doctrines of the chief Assyrian or Babylonian schools and combine them into a connected story." Although only fragments of some of these tablets have, so far, been discovered, yet enough has been found to show the import of the whole. An authority in the decipher- ment and translation of these tablet inscriptions states, that *' A translation of the fragments we possess will be the best commentary on their contents." The following lines are given by this author, as a correct translation of the open- ing portion of the first tablet which was discovered by the late Mr. (George Smith ; — *' When on high the heavens proclaimed not, (and) earth beneath recorded not a name, then the abyss of waters was in the beginning their generator, the chaos of the deep (Tiamal) was she who bore them all. Their waters were embosomed together, and the plant was ungathered, the herb (of the field) ungrown. When the gods had not ai)peared, any one (of them), by no name were they recorded ; no destiny [had they fixed]. Then were the [greatl gods created, Lakhmu and Lakharau issued forth [the first.] until they grew up [and waxed old,] (when)the gods Sar and Kisar (the upper and lower firmament were created. 14 Marvellous Discoveries iu Bihk Laiiets', Long were the days [until] the gods Anil [Bel and Ka were created;] Sar [and Kisar created them]." At ' this line the tal)lel is broken, and the available in- scription in order seems to commence on the seventeenth line from the top of the third tablet in the series, and has evidently a reference to our first parents under the tempta- tion of Satan, who is called " the great Serpent." It reads thus : '* The gods have surrounded her (i, e. Tiarnat), all of them ; Together with those whom ye have created, I (Merodach) marched beside her. When they had armed themselves (?) beside her, they ap- proached Tiamat. (Merodach), the strong one, the glorious, who desists not night or day, the exciter to battle, was disturbed in heart. Then they marshalled (their) forces ; they create darkness (?). The mother of Khubur, the creatress of them all, Multiplied weapons not (known) before ; she produced (?) huge snakes whose teeth were pointed, unsj)aring was (their) edge. She filled their bodies with poison like blood. She clothed with terror the raging vampires. She uplifted the lightning-Hash, on high she launched (it). She fills them with venom (?), so that with their bodies abounded though their breasts bent not. She stationed the dragon, the great serpent and the god Lakha [ma], the great reptile, the deadly beast and the scorpion-man, the devouring reptiles, the fish-man, and the zodiacal ram, lifting up the weapons that spare net, fearless of battle. Strong is her law, not previously repeated. Thereupon the eleven monster.-) like him (i. e. Kingu) she sent forth. Among the gods her forces she (launched). I^HM Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, 15 She exalted Kingu (her husband) in the midst; (beside) her (he was) king. They marched in front before the army [of Tianiat]." Further translation of this fragment of the third tablet is impossible owing to its mutilated condition. A fragment which forms another portion of the same tablet is that lately discovered by Mr. Boscawen, the contents of which have been referred to. Another .section of the same tablet giving the beginnings of the last fourteen lines has also been re- covered by Mr. Pinches, the inscription of which seems to be in harmony with the other portions. The fourth tablet is in good condition, and contains a lengthy inscription of the same epic, the opening lines of which refer to the " mercy-seat of the mighty " being estab- lished, and Merodach, (the Creator) being "glorious among the gods." The closing lines of this tablet read thus : ** The sky is bright (?), the lower earth rejoices (?), and he sets the dwelling of Ea (the Sea-god) opposite the deep. Then Bel measured the circumference (?) of the deep ; he established a great building like unto it (called) E-Sarra (the firmament): the great building E-Sarra which he ouilt in the heaven he caused Ann, Bel and Ea to inhabit as their stronghold." As to the fifth tablet, which describes the Creatipn of the heavenly bodies and their appointment for signs and seasons, only a portion of the beginning of it has as yet been discovered. The opening lines of the sixth tablet, much of which has been destroyed, state : ♦* At that time the gods in their asscml'.y created [the beasts]. They made perfect the mighty [monsters]. ^^memmmm m^ 1 6 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. They caused Ihe living creatures [of the field] to come forth, the cattle of the field, [the wild beasts] of the field, and the creeping things [of the field]. [Thev fixed their habitations] for the living cre<itures of the field. The) distributed [in their dwelling-places] the cattle and the creeping things of the city, [They made strong] the multitude of creeping things, all the offspring [of the ground]." The translator of this tablet says, that " the following lines are too mutilated for continuous translation, but we learn from them that ' the seed of Lakhama,' the brood of chaos, was destroyed, and its ]>lace taken by the living creatures of the present creation. Among these we may expect man to be finally named ; whether or not, however, this was the case we cannot say until the concluding lines of the old Assyi-an epic of the creation have been disinterred from the du5t-heaj)s of the past." It is also believed that this sixth tablet also contained an account of the institution of the Sabbath. By consulting the whole of the available portions of the epic, the most casual reader will be struck with the resem- blance to the ofjcning verses of Genesis, leaving no room to doubt that both have reference to the same events. IN THE CHALDEAN TABLET LEQEND OF THE FLOOD the resemblances to the Bible narrative of that event are also very remarkable. "The deluge, the ship for saving life, the gathering of the wild beasts of the field, the shutting of the door, the mountain of Nizar, the sending forth a dove and a raven, and finally the rainbow," which are all referred Marvellous Discoveries in Hiblc Lands. 17 to, may be easily recognized as bring in accord with the story of the flt)od recorded in (ienesis. The following is the translation of the inscription on one of the baked terracotta tablets found at Nineveh, in the library of Assur-bani-pal, king of Assyria, who reigned some seven hundred years B. C, and which is now in the British Museum : "The gods Anu, Bel, Ea, and Ad.ir, assembled together in the city Surippak on the Euphrates, decreed a Hood, and they bade Khasisadra to build a ship or ark large enough to hold himself, his family, and his servants and cattle. When the ship was ready Khasisadra entered with his possessions, and closed the door, and the lloods came and destroyed mankind. The flood lasted six davs and seven nights, when the goddess Ishtar having entreated the gods on behalf of mankind, the rain ceased. 'I'he shijj sailed over the sea towards the land of Nizir, where it remained until the waters abated. After seven days Khasisadra sent forth a dove, bat it returned. Ke next sent forth a swallow, and that also returned ; and lastly he sent forth a raven, which did not come back again. When Khasisadra saw this he sent forth his family and servants from the ark, and upon an altar, set up upon a mountain peak, he offered sacrifices to the gods. The gods accepted the sacrifices, and rejoiced in their sweet-smelling savor ; they clustered about them like flies." The " bow of Anu " (the sky-god) is also mentioned. -Fhis Assyrian account of the Flood is told to the mythical hero, Gilgamish by Khas- isadra the sage." Other similar incriptions to this tablet refer to the Tower of Babel, and the confusion of tongues ; and when the Chaldean traditions records are all discovered it will doubt- less be ascertained that their corroboration of the Bible story is one of the utmost importance. According to the opinion of the best authority, they were written and de- 1 8 Marvellous fHscovefiis in lUhii- Lands. posileil in Archive ClKimbers of Chaklea long before Moses wrote the Pcntateiith, and could therefore have had no connection with each other. As it was also clearly proved by scholars of the highest standing in Great I'ritain and elsewhere, when assembled in Con- vention at the annual meeting of the Victoria Institute in London, July 1894, that "from readings in recently deciphered Assyrian tablets. Monotheism (the belief in one God only), and the name of Aa, Jehovah, was known in Assyria generations before the time of Abraham," the mention of a numlier of gods in tlie tablet inscriptions re- ferred to had no df>ut)t reference to the idea of a plurality of persons in the Godhead, such as wc have revealed in the Scriptures, as the " Father, Son, and IIt)ly Ghost." The illustration of one of these ASSYRIAN TABLETS on the op[)osjte i)age will give tlie reader an idea of what they really are. As a result of the decipherment of these and other similar inscriptions which have lately been discovered. " the gen- eral course of events and the internal develoj^ment of Babylon and Assyria have become clear. We have quite complete histories of a number of the Assyrian kings who up to a short time ago were known only by name. The lists of the occupants of the Babyk)nian and Assyrian thrones are now virtually complete, onward from the fifteenth century before our era. We know far more of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon than we do of their contemporaries, Hezekiah and Manasseh of Judea ; of earlier times we have at least as copious records as of the early days of Greece and Rome ; and if I'le hopes of the present are fulfilled, in another I i Marvellous Discoveries in lUhle I. an Is. 19 \ •t i ri'iK Bakep TKRR.\-C(vrrA Takikt, inscribed in ciiiicirDriii clia.actuis vvitli the Assyrian Accoiml of tlic Deluge, from llie Library t)f Assviibani pal, king of Assyria (H.*.'. 668-626), at Ninevi-li. (British Miiseuin, No. K, 3375.) fifty years our knowledge of Assyria and Babylonia bids fair to rival in completeness what we know of the Middle Ages." It is becoming more evident every day that the resurrection of the past is going hand in hand with the revelation of the present. Among the most WONDERFUL AROHJEOLOOIOAL FINDS in recent years " are the Assyrian Sculptures from ancient Nineveh, which have now been removed to the British Mus- eum. The preservation of these valuable art-relics may be said to be cheifly due to the circumstance of their being g • - r 20 Marvellous Disioveriis iti IH'olc Lands. carvings upon thin slabs of stone. Had large blocks been eniployt'd it is doubtful if they would ever have been brought to Jiluropean Museums where only their historical value can be justly appreciated. It is doubtful too, in that case, wiicther they would have escaped destruction by violence or the ravages of time. Hut it fortunately happened that wlien the ancient buildings were destroyed, these precious relics were safely buried among the derbis, and some of them are to this day almost as fresh and perfect as when they were finished by the sculptors of ancient Nineveh." The best j^eriod of Assyrian Sculpture is that of Assur- bani-pal, or Sardanapolus as he has sometimes been called He was the eldest son of Esar-haddon, and last of the Assyrian kings but one, empire of Assyria having fallen during the reign of his son Saracus, through the treachery of his chief general Nabopolassar, father of the renowned Nebuchadnezzar. '* He was in every sense a great king. He built the most magnificent of all the Assyrian palaces, and collected within their walls the finest sculpture which could be produced by native artists. He had a mind in advance of the time. While other kings had been content to leave behind them records of their exploits inscribed on stone tablets and cylanders, he it was who founded the vast collection of clay tablets whereon were inscribed copious vocabularies and other information of the most valuable kind, including the legends which relate to the Creation and the Deluge." "Through the remarkable excavations that have been carried on during the past decades in the seats of ancient culture, and dirough the laborious researches of modern scholars, entire civilizations, of which only a short time ago it was barely known that they had existed at all, have been T" Marvellous Discoveries in lUhlc Lands. 21 revealed to the astonished ga/e of this generation. Kroni laboriously si)elling out each word, like a child learning the alphabet, the decipherment gradually advanced, until to-day scholars read an ordinary CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTION with almost the same ease as a i)age of Hebrew in the Old Testament. In some cases, however, the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions was attended to with even greater difficulty than the reading of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, of the celebratj ' Rosetta Stone ; but the two achievements are to be reckoi. d among the most notable triumphs of the human mind." As to THE ROSETTA STONE DISCOVERY it was by far the most important arch?eological discovery that has yet been made in the Orient. The inscription contained on this stone formed a key to the decii)herment of the F.gyptian language and the interpretation of the Egyptain records "which the Egyi)tians of old with great lavishness carved on their buildings and monuments, espec- ially their obelisks, painted on the frescoed interiors of their tombs, and indeed placed on almost every object of use or art. These writings were in characters called hieroglyphics^ which is a Greek term meaning sacred carvings, or priestly writing," The knowledge of the reading of these inscriptions having died out with the decline of Egypt, the term " hiero- glyphics " became a synonym for every inscribed character that is of a mysterious nature. The discovery of the Rosetta Stone was made in 1799 by Bossard, a French officer, during the expedition of the French to Egypt under Napoleon. It was found among the ruins 22 Alarvelluus Disccicrics in Bible Lands. at Fort St. Julien, a short distance from the Rosetta mouth of the Nile, and four miles north of the town ot Rosetta, and came into the possession of the British Museum in i8oi) after the ciuitulation of Alexaudrea bv the British. This stone is a slab of black basalt about three feet long, bearing an inscrijition in three different characters, as will be seen by illustration on page 23, the lower of which was in Greek, and of course'was readily translated. The in- termediate text was in characters since called Demotic, that is the writing of the common people ; that at the head was in mystic hieroglyphic character. " This inscription was copied and circulated among scholars, and after long and ingenious efforts the alphabet of the hieroglyphics was made out," being mainly effected by the French savant, Champollion, " so that now the^>e carvings are read with ease and certainty, and a new flood of light has been thrown on the history of ancient Egypt." The Greek inscription, when translated, revealed that it was an ordinance of the priests of Memphis, decreeing certain honors to Ptolemy Epijihanes, one of the Greek sovereigns who ruled over Egypt from the time of its conquest by Alexander to the first century B. C. "It con- tains a command that the decree should be inscribed in the sacred letters (hieroglyphics), the letters of the country (de- motic), and the Greek letters, — and this for the convenience of the mixed poi)ulation of Egypt under its Greek rulers. It was also ordered that a copy of the decree should be set up in every temple of the first, second and third grade in Egypt." In the decipherment of the various inscriptions on the tablet, " 'x was natural to conclude that the three texts were the same in substance," such as that inscribed on the cross of our Saviour by Pilate, " and 'accordingly earnest efforts ■nn IP" i I Marvellous Discoveries in lUble Lands, 2}^ »•'';' 'V:;<»H»lir!it^:.S»»t...ittIlllCtll8'!t*f»»».-'^<;i>1X ,<)< X'' /l1.l*3-'-iMr«il<3t,?ilJ"T«<'.l !!!>(tlllll .'.t?''*"*, (r/ii M('SI-H-■^/^."l.-.I'5^^^■^?!•=•+'f'l»'3»-■•.^^^•JttI ri-i(iSL2E;\ .^:i;>^ i #>- wiitttii** •*."*" i"* >r*w"-*£MM*n3^**T '^ ■ The " RosETTA Stone." were made to decipher tiie hieroglyphics hy aid of the Greek. The first clew was obtained by noticing that cer- tain groups of hieroglyphic characters were inclosed in oval rings," or cortouches, " and that these groups corresponded in relative position with certain proper names, such as Ptolemy, etc., in the Greek text." The ui)per portion of the above illustration, were it large enough, would show these oval rings inclosing the hieroglyphic characters. The characters arc read from right to left. In reference to the late Assyrian discoveries. Prof A. H. Sayce, D. D., LL. D., Professor of Oriental Languages, 24 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lauds. Oxford University, England, who is one of the leading scholars in the decii)herment and translation of these ancient records, states, that " the revelations made to the archaiol- ogist by Egypt have been exceeded by those made to him by Babylonia and Assyria. The antiquity of Babylonia vies with that of Egypt. The earliest Babylonia monuments brought to Europe, and now in the Mu.seum of Louvre, tes- tify to the existence of an ancient literary culture as well as to an extensive commerce by sea and land. The Dorite, out of which the monuments are carved, was imported from the distant land of Magan, the name under which Median and the Sinaiatic peninsula were denoted." He also asserts in reference to Egyptian tablet discoveries, that it is proved beyond all (juestion that "the age of Exodus was an age of extreme literary activity, and that the Israelites and their leaders lived in the midst of educated and literary popula- tions. Egy])t, wherein they had sojourned so long, was preeminently a land of scribes and of writing. Everything was written upon : the walls of tombs and temples and houses, as well as the small objects of everyday use. Go where they might, letters and inscriptions stared them in the face. Canaan, the goal at which they aimed, was likewise a country of schools and libraries. It had also absorbed the literary culture of Babylonia, and Kirjath-sepher, or * Booktown,' was not the only ciiy in it which contained a library or an archive-chamber. Even in the desert the Israelites were surrounded by literary influences. The archcTEological evidences for the highly literary character of the age of Moses are sufficiently numerous and certain. To imagine that the Israelites alone were buried in a slum- ber of ignorance, while the populations around them were busily engaged in reading and writing, is contrary to pro- Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lauds, 25 bability and common-sense. To prove anything so incredi- ble requires arguments and not assumptions, and the argu- ments have not yet been j>roduced. That they will ever he forthcoming we may be ^xirmitted to doubt." This statement of Pxofessor Sayce is certainly very strong, and overthrows the idea held by many, that the Israelites, when leaving their bondage in Egypt, were as ignorant and uncouth as the American negroes on their emancipation .from slavery. Those who have carefully studied the skill and ingenuity manifested by Israel in the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, will have no difficulty in accepting the views of Professor Sayce, From some of the late discovered ret:ords it may also be learned that away back m THE ANTEDILUVIAN PERIOD, over one thousand years before the flood, a renowned king, known as " Sargon of Accad," flourished in Chaldea, found- ing an empire which extended to the westward as far as Cyprus. It is recorded of this monarch that he marched his armies four times to the shores of the Mediterranean sea, and eventually succeeded in welding all Western Asia into a single kingdom, and that his son and successor, Naram- Sin, continued the victorious career of his father, pushing his conquests southward to the border of Egypt, overthrow- ing the king of Midian, and becoming master of the coi)per mines in the vicinity of .Sinai. Sargon is also accredited as being the founder of a great library, long famous in the an- nals of Babylonian literature. An authority, referring to this ancien*. monarch, says : *'One of the most beautiful specimens of Babylonian art is a seal which was engraved during, his .reign." 3 » ; 26 Alarvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. Although this monumental record is startling in its nature, giving us a glimpse of the achievements gained by conquer- ors during the antediluvian age of our world : yet it is remarkable Low closely it coincides with the Scripture nar- rative, which assures us that " there were giants" and "MIGHTY MEN OP RENOWN" in the earth in those days, leading us to infer that the ante- diluvians manifested all the characteristics of Noah's prog- eny, so far as war, rapine, and wickedness was concerned. Of this people our Saviour says : " They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away." Boston, in his " Forfefold State," makes the astounding assertion, drawn from these words of our Saviour regarding this people, that, owing to their wickedness and intemperate habits, " they were drowned in wine and then in water." However this latter remark may be, or however we miy feel inclined to discredit the testi- mony of the silent witness'es referred to, can we honestly doubt that during the sixteen hundred years extending from the creation of man to the deluge, according to Ussher's chronology, that dynasties and kingdoms were established in various parts of the Eastern world similar to those after- wards founded by the descendants of Shem, Ham and Jap- heth ? If we take it for granted that the pe'^pb increased more rapidly during the antediluvian period, owing to their longevity, than they afterwards did, it is not surprising that an empire was established in Chaldea five hundred years after the expulsion of our first parents from the Garden of Eden. According to the Scripture narrative, it is evident that four hundred years after the deluge, when Abraham I ■m IIIIIIUH Marvellous Discovcr'ws in Bible Lands. 27 entered Canaan, the F.gyptian monarchy had been founde(^ and kingdoms established in various other places. It is recorded that, soon after the murder of Abel, Cain builded a city in the land of Nod, which the Jewish historian, Josephus, says, he fortitied with walls and compelled his family to come together to it. This city was called after the name of its founder's eldest son, Enoch, and was doubtless the beginning of THE FIRST DESPOTIC EMPIRE ON EARTH, the ruler of which may justly be termed the " Original Nimrod" of Sacred story. Josephus also records that Cain became a great leader of men into wicked courses, and that his posterity were very numerous, and became intolerable in war, and vehement in robberies. By a careful investiga- tion of the Bible record it will be found that those who are called "mighty men of rencvvn" were persons who had sig- nalized themselves by some great military achievement, such as David, and his heroic bodyguard referred to in the twenty-third chapter of second Samuel. Frou) other records of discovery it may be gathered that THE ELAMITB DYNASTY, of which Chedorlaomer was the chief ruler in the days of " Arioch. king of Ella.sar," was a [>owerful confederacy, which must have been establisiied at least one hundred years before the migration of Abraham from Mesopotamia. An incidental notice of the ravages of this monarch and his three allies, given in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis gives us a ghmpse of the vastness of that kingdom of West Central Asia, over which he bore the sway it seems evi- dent that his reign extended over the Tryo-Kuphrates basin, 28 Marycllotis Discoveries in Dible- Lands. and westward over Syria and Canaan to ilie border of Egypt, a territory which is estimated as being over looo miles from East to West, and 500 miles from North to South. Following the footsteps o! this potentate's march, which is called THE FIRST MILITARY OAMPAION OP AUTHENTIC HISTORY, we can see him traversing with ra])id marches the great highway leading from Chaldea to the Mediterranean, along the eastern banks of the Euphrates to Ilaran, crossing the fords, and passing Carchemish of the Hittites, on to Dam- ascus : thence down the east of the Jordan, smiting '• the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in the plain of Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their Mount Seiv, unto El-paran, which is by the wilder- ness ; all the country of the Amalekites, and the Amorites that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar." Not only that, but finally fighting a pitched battle in the vale of Siddim, with the five kings of the Cities of the Plain, whom he conquered, carrying off Lo' with the spoils of Sodom, until the booty was rescued by Abraham and his heroiC' bund of trained servants, who, by fait h^ turned to flight tiie armies of these aliens, at the V'ountain of Dan, where they were holding a jubilee over their late victory. Such is the substance of the Scripture narrative concerning this great warrior, whose name is given on the Babj'Ionia monuments as Kudur-Mabug, lord of ' ' ■ -. '* minister of the god l.agamar," who was one of the vr . ■: nes in the FJamite pantheon. Thus then, by the * c( iry 'nd study of the ancient monuments of Babylonia. i'. ■■:■:■ !t;al character of Chedorlaomer's campaign has \ \ ^mmmMMMM Mnrvclluns Discoveries in Bible Lands. 29 been vindicated beyond all doubt. It has also been veri- fied by Oriental tiesearch that Nimrod is a real historical personage, who wafs doubtless the founder of the Elamite monarchy, thus overthrowing the baseless assertion of secular critics who would have us believe that he was one of the characters of Babylonia mythology. Another ancient kingdom of great influence and jjower, which flashes across: our patli like a meteor, in the Bible narrative, is that of THE EMPIRE OF THE HITTITBS, referred to in Judges i. 26 ; i Kings x. 29 ; 2 Kings vii. 6, By comjiaring these passages with other portions of Scripture history where reference to the Hittites is made, we are led to infer that a strong nation of this people must have existed in some region ajarc from those of the same name who resided in the land of Canaan. It is explicitly stated that Solomon supplied horses and chariots for " all the kings of the Hittites," and also that the Syri^uis on hearing the sup- posed " noise of a great host" rushing to battle, during the night seige of Samaria, imagined that the king of Israel had hired agaimt them, "the kings of the Hittites," implying that the H'ttites were an important }3eople, otherwise the powerful host of Benhadad would not have fled for their lives as they did, leaving their valuable property behind. Although the proof from the Bible record that a strong nation of the Plittites was established in some country adjac- ent to Palestine is strongly presumptive, yet it is only within the last few years that we have been led to know anything re- liable about the greatness of that peopli- wiio are incidentally mentioned in the Scripture narrative. Historical inscriptions discovered at Hamath. Cappadocia, I.ycaonia, in theTaurtus •'•- ••""" tr- 30 Morvil/ons Discoveries tJi Bible Lauds. range of mcjimlains and in Kgypt and Assyria, U.-ave no room to doubt that the Hittites once formed an important kingdom north ofCariaan, their dominion extending through- out the greater part of Asia Minor, and were able to engage in warfare with Eg>'pt in the days of her greatest power, and also to hold their ground even in the face of the greal Assy- rian monarch, Tiglath-Pileser. A few extracts from THE BPIO OF PBNTAUR i mi engraved on a huge tableau discovered in the main hall of the great rock-cut Ten^plo of Nubia, will give some idea ol what the Mittite nation really was. The hero of this poem is i*haraoh, Rameses II., and the campaign which it cele- brates was undertaken in the ftfth year of his reign, against the Khita, or Hittites, and their allied forces in Syria and Asia Minor, who had revolted from paying tribute to the monarch of Iilgypt. Against this great host " Rameses took the field in person with the flower of the Egyptian army, traversing the Land of Canaan which still remained loyal, and established his Syrian headquarters at Shubtin, a fortified town in a small 'valley a short distance to the south-west of Kadesh," one of the chief cities of the Hittites ou the Orontes river north of Mount Lebanon. " Here he remained stationary for a few days, reconnoitring the surrounding country, and endeavor- ing, but wiihont success, to earn the wherea?)Outs f)f the tsnemy. The latter, meanwhile, had their spies out in all directions, and knew every movement of the Egxptian host." At a cTitical moment the enemy enx;rged from his ambush, and surrounded Kame->es with right, royal and desperate v.ilor, and charged the 1 mm i ^■1 MatvflUms Discoveries iit l^iblc Lands, 33 ( the hoofs uf my horses. I foughl alone I Alont- I over- threw millions ! It was only my good horses who obeyed my hand, when I found myself alone in the midst of the foe. Verily they shall henceforth eat their corn before me c.aily in my royal palace, for they alone were with me in the lovu' of danger." It is also recorded that '• six times he rushed upon the foe. Six times lie tranipled Uiem like siraw beneath liis horses' hoofs. Six times he dispersed them single-handed, like a god. Those that he slew not with his hand, he pur- sued unto the water's edge, causing them to leap to destruc- tion as leaps the crocodile." The author of the poem foes on to .state that after this great slaughter of the Hittites by IMiaraoh and his body- guard, the Egyptian brigades cante up towards evening to the field of conllict, ''and are rilled with wonder as they wade through THE BLOOD OB' THE SLAIN, and behold the field strewn with dead and dying. 'J'hey exalt the powers of the king, who overwhelms them with reproaches." It is also stated that '' the next day at sunrise Rameses assembles his forces, and achieves a signal victory, followed by the submission of the Prince of Kheta, and the conclusion of a treaty of peace," and that " this treaty was shortly confirmed by the marriage of Rameses with a Khetan Princess ; and the friendship thus cemented continued un- broken throughout the rest of his long reign." This remarkable poem is profusel illustrated by hiero- glyphics on II 34 Marvellous Discoveries in Hiblc Lands. THE GREAT TABLET OP ABU-SIMBEL, showing every phase ol" the renowned brittle of Kadesh, between the Egyptians and Hittites. Below will be seen a fac-siinile of the opening lines of the poem, which has been co|)ied from the original Hierctic pajtyriis in the British Mtiseum. The British Museum docimient con- tains one hundred and twelve lines of very fine hieretic writui.;, and the last page ends with a formal statement that it was '♦written in the year VII., the month Payni, in the reign of king Rameses Mer-Amen, Giver of Life eternal like unto Ra, his father, for the chief librarian of the royal archives ... by the Royal Scribe Pentaur "' TUK FIRST t.INES OF THE El'IC OF PeNTAUK. * It is obvious that Rameses had this poem published in " a most costly manner, with magnificent illustrations. And he did so upon a scale which puts our modern publishing houses to shame. His imperial edition was issued on sculpiureJ stone, and illustrated with bas-relief subjects gor- geously colored by hand. Four more or less perfect copies I < ' I I AIar7>elloiis Discoveries in IVihlc Lands, 3' HITTITE WAR CHARIOTS. The record of this engagement reads thus . " Then llie vile Prince of Kheta sent forth his bowmen and his horse- men and his chariots, and they were as many as the grains of sand on the sea-shore. Three men were they on each chariot, and with tJiem were the bravest of the fighting men of the KhtHa, well armed with all weapons for the combat. They marched out on tlie side of the south of Kadesh, and they charged the l)rigade of K.a ; and foot and horse of king Rameses gave way before them. Then came messengers to his majesty with tidings of defeat. .And the king arose, and grasped his weapons and donned his armour, hke unto Baal the war-god, in his horn- of wrath. And the great horses of his Majesty came forth from their stables, and he [tut them to their s|)eed, and he rushed tipon the ranks of the Kheta. Alone he went — none other beside him. yVnd lo 1 he was surrounded by two thousand five hundred chariots ; his retreat cut off by the fighting men of Aradus, of Mysia, of Aleppo, of Caria, of Kadesh, and of Lycea. They were three on each chariot, and massed in one solid pbalanK." Here the fonn of the poera changes, and Pharaoh, in his frenzy, breaks forth in an impassioned ajjpeal to his god Amen ; " None of my princes are with me," he cries, "not one of my generals — not one of my captains of bowmen or chariots. My soldiers have abandoned me — my horsemen have tied — there are none to combat beside me ! Where art thou, Oh Amen, my father? Hath the f.ither forgotten the son? Behold ! have I done aught without thee? Mavc I not walked in thy ways, and waited on thy words ? Have I not built thee temples of enduring stone? Have I not dedicated to thee sacrifices of tens of thousands of oxen, and of every rare and sweet-.scented wood ? Have I not given I i t .^. 5:? Marvel forts Discoveries in Dihlc Lernds: ihcT ihe wliolt.- world in tribute? I call ii|H)n iIut, Oh Amerr, my father ! I invoke Ihee ' Hehold, \ am alone, imd all tht' nations of the tarih are leagued against rne ' My foot- soldiers and my cnariolinen have abandoned me! I cull, and nont hear my voice' But Ai»en is more than MILLIONS OP ARCHERS, more than hundreds of thousands of r;jvalry ! The rnighl of men is as nothing. Amen is greater than all !" On the conclusion of this |)t'tiiion to the ffod in whom he trusted for aid, Rximeses becomes assured thai Amen ha.'» heard the cry of his distress, and will lead him to victory, goes or to exclaim : " l,o my voice hath resounded as far as Hermonthis ' Amcin comes to my call. Me gives me his hand. 1 shout aloud for joy, hearing his voice behind me!" At this juncture, Arnen is caused to reply: "Oh, Rameses, 1 am here f [t is F, thy father f My hand i^ with thee, and I aro more to thee than hundreds of thous- ands. I am the Lord of Might, who loves valor, I know thy dauntless heart, and I am content with thee. Now, lie my vvill accomjilished" Inspired by this lanciful assurance of his god. wt ^re told that Romese.s bends his terrible bow and rushes with his body guard upon the enemy. His appeal ti.' Ji'i deity for aid is changed to a triumphal shout, in which he is repre- sented as saying : •' Like Mentha, I let fly ray arrows to right and left, and mine enemies go down ! f am as Baat in his wrath ! The two hiu)dred thousand live hundred chariots which encompass me are dashed to pieces under ^i ! Marvellous /discoveries in Hi'^lc Lauds. 35 I of this edition have survived the wreck of ages, and sve know not how many have perished. These four are carved on the pylon walls of the it. it Temple of Luxor and the Ramesseum at Thebes, on a wall of the Great renii)le of Abydos, and in the main hall of the great rock-cut Temple of Abi-Simbel in Nubia. One of the tableaux in this hall is fifty feet in length by forty feet in height, and it contains many thousands of figures. A fifth copy is also graven with- out illustrations on the side-wall of the Great Temple of Karnak ; and some remains of a great battle-scene, with de- faced inset iptions, appear to belong to another copy, on one of the walls of the Tem[)]e of Derr, in Nubia, in these temple-copies the poem is sculptured in hieroglyphics." Besides these sculptured editions of this imuiortal poem which is called "THE EGYPTIAN ILIAD," there were evidently popular editions of it issued which were written on Papyrus rolls by professional scribes. The coi)y which has been referred *:o as being in the Britis'j Musiiem is one of these editions. *' A fragment of the same copy may also be seen in the Museum of Louvre." Although this epic, which is without doubt the most cele- brated masterpiece of Egyptian literature, may have been composed inerely to gratify the vanity of Rameses, yet it is now o^ great historic value, revealing to us, as it does, the resurrection of a people so powerful, and with dominion so widely extended as that of the Hittites, whose existence is '.■nerely mentioned in Scripture story ; and «''^o had no pop- ular history to transmit to the world, save that of meagre records engraved on monumental tablets which have defied the corroding tooth of time, and which have lately been r flBR-' 36 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. discovered in various districts where their power doubtless once extended. When the inscriptions now obtained re- garding this peoi)lc have all been deciphered, we may expect valuable 1 •,\ REVELATIONS OP THE FAR DISTANT PAST, in which the Hittites played their part. " The ramifications of their influence in religion and art had its influence upon ancient Greek art, as seen in the pottery of Cyprus and the Trojan plain." It is also pretty certain that this people formed a different nation from that of the Hittites whose dominion was limited to a portion of Canaan. Some writers state that the Hittites who dwelt in Canaan were an offshoot of a larger race known by the same name ) but in face of the information now before us, this idea is untenable. It is evident from the Bible record, that the Hittites and Amorites, who dwelt in Canaan, were of the same family, and consequently resembled each other in ap- pearance; whilst the Egyjjtian monuments leach us that the Hittites of the North were of very different origin and char- acter from the Amorites represented on the Egyptian tablets, the Northern Hittites are painted as being thick set and short of limb, " w people with dark black hair, yellow skins and Mongoli?n features, receding foreheads, oblique eyes and protruding upper jaws." C)n their own monuments, discovered in Asia Minor and elsewhere, the description given by themselves harmonize to the letter with that of Egyi^t. On the contrary, the Amorites are represented as being a tall and handsome people, with white skins, blue eyes and reddish hair, and having all the characteristics of the white race. The ii' s. Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. I'j ORIGIN OF THE CANAANITISH HITTITES dates back to a short period after the deluge, their progeni- tor being Heth, one of the sons of Canaan, of the flimily of Ham. At first they were called " the children of Heth," and afterwards known as the " Hittites." The first men- tion we have of them in Scri[)ture is in connection with God's promise to Abraham at Mamre, in which case they are enumerated as one of the nations inhabiting the land which the Lord gave in covenant to the seed of that Patriarch. We are again told that at the time of Sarah's death Abraham purchased the field of Machpebdi, with its cave, as a family sepulchre in which to bury his dead, from one of the Hittites who had pdfesession of the place. At that time these Hittites, with whom Abraham came in contact, evidently occupied the southern part of Canaan. It is rec- orded that Esau married Hittite wives at Beersheba, and Isaac and Rebekah fe?red that Jacob might follow his ex- ample and sent him to Padan Arm to procure a wife of his own kindred, thus leading us to infer that they were their near neighbors. From reference by Ezekiel (xvi. 3, 45) as to the nativity of Jerusalem, it is not too much to hazard the opinion that that city was founded by the Hittite and Amorite branches of the Canaaniti?h family — " Thy father was an Amorite and thy mother an. Hittite." Six centuries after Abraham's day, when the spies visited Canaan, the Hittites were dwelling in the mountains with the Jebusites and Amorites, the Amalekites having then possession of the South ; and forty years later, when Israel entered the Promised 'Land, they were found occupying the ,1 38 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. ! 1 t, same position, and resisted Joshua with the other inhabi- tants of the country. After the death of Joshua it is beyond doubt that a rem- nant of the same Hittite race still remained ia the land of Palestine, for in subsequent times we find two of David's warriors, Flittites, Uriah and Ahimelech ; and it is also rec- orded that Solomon levied a tribute of bond-service upon all the posterity of the Amorites, Hittites, Perezzites, Hivites and Jebusites that were left m the land, whom the children of Israel were not able to destroy (i King ix. 20, 21). A careful tracing of the various generations of the Hittites who dwelt in Canaan will make it clear that this people formed one of the doomed nations of that land under Israel, and could not have been the powerful nation with whom Pharaoh came into contact. If we take it for granted that they were one and the same people, we must believe that Solomon allowed Hittite kings to reign among the people whom he subjected to " bond-service," and also supplied their kings with horses and chariots of Egyptian importa- tion, and married some of their daughters as wives, (i Kings X. 28, 29; xi. I ). Such an idea is absurd ; neither is it reason- able to suppose that the Hittites, who dwelt in the mountains of the Hill Country of Judea, or Southern Canaan, at the time of the Exodus, were the people who engaged in deadly con- flict with Rameses the Great at the famous battle of Kadesh. As Moses was educated at the court of the Egyptian king, woo was father of the Pharaoh of the great oppression, the battle referred to must have been fought a short time pre- vious to the Israelites' departure from Goshen. These things considered it may fairly be ass'mied that the Hiltitish nation of the North was one of the great empires of antiquity. As to the final overthrow of this nation, it can be gathered i ^fjSgjMg^E^ Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 39 from Assyrian annals that "the Hittite merchants of Car- chemish were famous, but when Carchomish fell before the army of Sargon, father of Sennacherib, in the year 717 B. C, their power was broken forever," Secular history informs U5 that about one hundred years previous to that t!me Shalmaneser II., conducted three cam[)aigns against Damascus, which kingdom was aided by the forces of Israel, Hamaih, the Hittires, and the Phcenic- ians, all of whom were alarmed at the growing power of Assyria, another proof of the existence of such a nation. A glance at the circumstances connected with the over- throw of the Hiitites will give us s' me idea of their greatness. At that time Carchemish, their Capital, was one of the most important cities of the East, commanding the passage of the Euphrates from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean, thg possession of which was therefore of great moment to the neighbouring powers, and held by the Hitlites, who were only expelled by one of the mightiest hosts that Assyria was ever able to muster. * "^ ANCIENT TABLETS DISCOVERED IN 1888 by the Arabs at Tel el-Amarna, in Upper Egypt, one hun-_ dred miles south of Cairo, tell of a people })ressing from the North, southwards, and making it hard for the Egyptian officials to hold their own in Canaan, and that peo[)Ie was doubtless the Hittites. In these tablets the governors of garrisons in the north, hard pressed by an enemy who is too powerful for them, write to their liege lord in Egypt for immediate assistance. These Tel el-Amarna Tablets number over 300. and are preserved in the British Museum, in the Museum of Antiq- fflnlS^'' 40 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. % :ii i I 1 uities in Berlin, and in the Boulac Museum at Cairo, "^rhey are of great value to the Bible student as well as to the historian, as they fill u[j a blank in the Scripture history of Palestine from the time of Jacob's family going down into Egypt — to the conquest of Canaan by their returning de- cendants under Joshua — a period estimated by some authorities of nearly 500 years. During all that time we learn nothing from Scripture of the nations who inhaliited the land, further than a statement that when Abraham dwelt in the land of piomise the Amorite, Hittite, Jebusite, and other tribes of the family of Canaan, were in possession ; and on the return of Israel from Egy|)t the same tribes were still acknowledged as possessors of the same. But " the Tel el-Amarna Tablets give information as to the political condition of Canaan in the Fifteenth century, and they also furnish remarkable corroboration in important particulars of Scripture history." They inform us that *' Palestine was then subject to Egypt, and garrisoned by Egyptian troops," similar to that of India under British rule at the present time. In these tablets THE ANALOGY OP MELCHIZEDBK is maintained by what is recorded of the meaning and an- tiquity of the word " Jerusalem." It is evident, from these tablet inscriptions, " that Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of theimost : High God, who is taken as a type of Christ in his united kingly and priestly offices, was not the solitary occupant of that dignity, but one in a succession of priest-kings which continued to the times before the con- quest. And that Abraham should have received Melchize- dek's blessing was only the due acki'Owlcdgment of the God of peace to One who i\ad delivered Palestine from the in- ^! Alarz'vlhms Discm^crics in Bible Lands. 41 vader aivl given peace to the land." In reference to this great Personage Professor Sayce says ; '* Two or three years ago it would have seemed a dream of the wildest en- thusiasm to suggest that light would !)e thrown by modern discovery on the histor)' of Mekhi/.edek. Whatever linger jng scruples the critic might have felt about rejecting the historical character of the first half of the fourteenth chapter of (ienesis, hi' felt none at all as to the second half of it. Melchizedek, ' king of Salem' and ' priest of the most high God,' appeared to be altogether a creation of mythology. And yet among the surprises which the tablets 01 Tel el- Amarna had in store for us was the discovery th;;t after all Melchizedek might well have been a historical personage. Among the correspondents of the Egyptian Pharaoh is a certain Ebed-tob, THE VASSAL-KING OF JERUSALEM. Jerusalem was already an im; >rtant city, with a territory which extended to Carmel in the South, and to (rath and Keilah in the West, it was threatened at the lime by the Khabiri, or 'CK^n federates,' coafederalcd tribes, it may be, who had their centre at Hebron, and the letters of Ebed-tob are largely occupied with appeals for help against them, *' Ebed-tob held a position which, as he tells us, was unlike tiiat of any other Kgy|)tian Crovernor in Canaan. He had been appointed, or confirmed in his post, not by the Pharaoh, hut by the oracle and i)ower of ' the great King,' the god, that i.. 10 say, whose sanctuary stood on the summit of Moriah. It was not from his 'father or from his mother' that he had inherited his dignity ; he was King of Jerusalem because he was tlie priest of its god. '' In ;!ll thi.s we have an explanation of the language used m 42 Marvellous D r scorer ics in Bible Lands. ■ ■ in reference to Melchizcdek. Melchizedek, loo, was • with- out father, without irwiher/ and, like F.bed-tol), he wiis at once priest and king. It was in viitue of hl.s priesthood that Abram the Hebrew f)3rd tfthcs to biin after the defeat of the foreign invader. Up to the »:lof?>ing days of the Eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, if not later, Jerusalem was governed by a royal priest, "There is a reason, loo. why Melchi/X'dek should be termed ' King of Satem' r.ither thun King of Jerusalem. In the Cuneiforn> inscri|'tioP' the -ame of Jerusalem \% written Uru-'Salfm, and a lex.cai tao-jet explains Uru as the eriuiv- alent of the Assyrian Alu^ 'city,' 'Siilim wa» the god Df ' peace,' and we may accv)' ''ng.> itt in Jerusalem ' the city of the god of peace.' The fact is plainly stated in one of the letters of Kbed-tob, now preserved at BtTlin, if ihe read- ing of a fHjnnewhat obliterated Cuneiform character by Dr, Wiixkler and myself is correct." The same authority also states tJ>at '^some of these tablets contain letters from the Governor of Jerusalem, to the Egyp- tian king, who signs himnelf Abid-thuba, and are of special interest. Both the Arnoriles ai^d Hittites, wlio dwelt in Canaan, are mentioned in these letters as mingling together as one racre in tl>e land." A large number of these Tel el-Aiirarna tablets are as yet nndeciphered, and will, no doubt, in due time yield up their secrets. Meanwhile som»e of the tablets which have been deciphered show the vastness of the l^^yptian Ejnpire ; they also " .show the wide-spread ]^revalence of the Assyrian lan- guage in the WesV and the antif[ui«y ot the art of writing :, they give interesting indications of the character of the pre- llebraic, the Canaianitish language of Palestine, from which it seems clear that the language f>f Canaan w.>s essentially Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, 43 identical with tlic Hebrew ; and they offer materials whicii, when sifted and classified, will determine more clearly the religi(»n of the Canaanites at that time." Many of the tab- lets consist " of letters and desjiatches addressed by kings and governors of Babylonia and Assyria, Mesopotamia and Cappadocia, Syria and Palestine, to the Pharaohs Amenophis III., and Amenophis IV., towards the close of the Eighteenth dynasty, at a time when Palestine was a province of the F, gy p I i an \\ m p i re . " Previous to the discovery of the Tel el-Amarna tablets, the finding of the body of Rame.ses II.. THE SECOND PHARAOH OF THE GREAT OPPRESSION, whose cruel tr^'atment of the Israelites is so graphicjUy re- lated in the book of Exodus, is one of the most important discoveries made in corroboration of Bible truth. After lying in state over three thousand years, incased in a huge sarco[)hagus, deposited in a rock -cut cavern of the earth, far beneath its surface, near Thebes, the spi.de of the antiquarian broke into the dark resting place, and on the fifth of July, 1881, the body of this renowned monarch was discovered, with thirty-five other mummies of Egyptian kings, queens, ]jrinces, and high priests, thus bringing the mortal remains of "the old tyrant" to light, that his ])hysiog- nomy might confirm the Sacred record of his awfiii cruelty to God's aicient peoj.ile so many centuries ago. As to the identification of this mummified body of king Pharaoh, who was known as '• Rameses the (ireai,'' the Scsostrii'ji of Cireek history, whose son Menej)tah 1. was the Pharaoh of the l*",xodus, there is no doubt, as papri inscrip- tions written in black ink, jireserved with the body, and 44 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible L ait Is. \ ,' M S4i ^4 M \ "m uiiirkings on tlu; nuiuiiuy case, Hignt^d by the high pviest and king Pinelum. bear witness to the gcmiiiK*ness of the content* of the royal casket. lUil -kpai i frony thefie inscTii)tiun records, the fea- tures ot the jiuininiy reveal, in tliar- acters overwhelmingly convincin,c,% that the living man was well qualit'ied to eause the ffebrews to groan under their Iwndage, which was doubtless increased by his sou and successor, imlil (Vod heard their cry and delivered theni by executing fearful destruction upon their tnemies, '• that nian, who liad but sprung of earth, might them oj)press u-i niore," The following descrijition of the nnnnmy will give the reader some idea of what the character of the living per- son might have been. It will be seen by the portrait of the miutimy on this |iage that ihe body is one of extreme length in proportion to its thicknes. measuring 6 feet 3 inches in height. The i)rofile and front view of the face which were taken when the l>ody was unswathed are pediaps the best index to the character of the living king. These will be seen on pages 46 and 49. ft will be seen that he forehead i.s lo'.\' and narrow, the eyes small aiJtd close together, the temples sunken,, cheek-bones prominent, jaw* fl m Full length view of mummy of King Phiraoh, known as- Kanieses II. di IIIIIMIW I Marvillous Discoverivs in Uihle Lands. 45 bone massive and stronj^, month small and teeth exposed ; the nose long, thin, arched and slightly bent at the tip ; the expression is un intellectual, resolute and arrogant ; the top of the head is bald, with a profusion of hair at the pole, and on the eyebrows, which appear like dandelion down. A few sparse hairs remain on the rcuii>les. At the time of death the hair was evidently white, but the spices used in embalming the body have dyed it a light yellow. The beard was also white and thin, and appears as if it had been shaven during life, but allowed to grow tbr a short tiine before death ; or, it might have been possible that it sprouted for a period after the body had been committed to die tomb; ihe ears are lound, standing far out fromlhe headland have Ixen pierced as if for the wearing of rings. The corpse is apparently that of a robust old man who died in the enjoyment of life and vigor. Although shrunken and withered as it stands incased in ITS ROYAL GILDED CASKET, yet every indication of the features of this mummy " toll of the warrior and the tyrant." Lying' thus as it were in state in the Boulac Museum, with visage grin-i and determined even in death, exposed to the gaze of every curiosity-.seeker visiting the place, he is hated and despised by Jew and Gendle, Pagan and Christian alike as -'a dishonored and vile persecutor and oppressor.'' His long, hooked, Roman nose, retreating forehead, deep-sunk«n eyeballs, heavy square jaw, long scrawny neck, and ear by brown complexion, variegated with black speckles, are now indignantly criticised with impunity by the progeny of those whose ancestors once revered the despot as a god of surpassing might and ma- jesty. Such, alas I, is the end of human greatness when left ■«■■■■■■ 46 uMarvt'llous Discoveries i/i Bible Lands. I" : 1' Front view of Ramest.s II. from a photograph taken immediatePy after unwinding tlic mummy. to its own misguidance. How appropriate in this case is the language of inspiration : " Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is hice the beasts that perish." Well may it Ixi said ■' What wondrous faith in the doctrine of immortality this great king evinced, not only by securing, as he thought, the careful preservation of his body, but by a lavish supply of sculpture on a colossal scale ! So far as known, no other king ever made such ostentatious * ) •■ ; mmmm Marveilous Disanyries in Bible Lands, 47 sliow of his ambition. Of no king so much remains of craftsman's skill, of artist's labor, and of ])oet's lore, to per- petuate his name and fame." And now the tomb has given up its dead Pharaoh, and his mummy stands surrounded by some of the very works whose lustrous polish and exact en- graving he caused to be done with so much care. lUit these shall pass away in time, like a tale that is told, and the place that nc -v knows them shall know them no more forever. THE RBIQN OF THIS QREAT MONARCH extended over sixty-six years, and marked a very important epoch in the annals of Egyptian history. According to ac- cepted authority, through internal troubles in the nation, the Eighteenth dynasty came to an end in the year 1324 B. C. ; and in the same year the Nineteenth dynasty was formed by Rameses I., whose reign of otfice was less than two years, when he was succeeded by his son Sethi I., who was the real founder of the Nineteenth dynasty, and, according to the opinion of many, the Pharaoh who ''arose up a new ki.ig over Egypt, which knew not Joseph," and inaugurated the oppression against the Israelites. This king was known as *' a great and warlike monarch, who conquered Syria, which had revolted after the death of Amunoph III., and carried his victorious arms to the borders of Cilicia and the Euph- rates. He built the great hall of Karnak, and constructed for himself the most beautiful of the royal tombs. For .; number of years his son Rameses II. called the Great, vvuj associated with him in the government, and after the death of Sethi he became sole king and ruler of P^gypt, continuing the great oppression to which his father had subjected Israel. After the death of Kameses the Great, 1281 years mIiii \% >> \l^ 48 Marvellous Disan'cries in Bible Lands. 1 ' ,■ 1 i ' \ m B. C'., ))is son and successor. Mcneptah I., who war, the fourteenth of his sixty sons, conliniied the cruel l)oiu]age and bitter toil by which the children of Israel were made to groan under the lash of their relentless taskmasters, until "God heard their groanings, and reu^cmbered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacol)," and led tiiem forth out of their house of bondage. This MeneiMali was the " Pharaoh of the Exodus," and his father Rameses and grandfather vSethi I., were known as the " Pharaohs of the Oppression." liy turning to the early chapters of Plxodus we learn " the tragic history that followed, the groanings, the oppression, the plague, the deliverence, the passage of the Red Sea, the overwhelming of Pharaoh and his chariots in the waves." As to the leading cause of the great oppression of the Israelites by Sethi and Rameses, it may be said that the times were critical. The new dynasty had come in upon a revolu- tion, and it had to secure itself in permanence. There were enemies on the north-eastern frontier, and, as far as Egyi)t, held possession, pressing hard upon her representatives ; the Khita, or Hittites, were gathering and growing bold enough to threaten invasion, Sethi discovered in the Israel- ites within his borders a source of real danger should these Canaanitish nations invade the land, and so he said, "Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land." (Exod. i. ']^\6). It was in this condition of thiiigs that Sethi I. died, and Rameses II. became sole ruler^ continuing the oppressive scheme in relation to Israel which his father had introduced^ Sq far as can be gathered fron'i historical' records Moses Marvilluus Discoveries in IribU Lands, 49 was born, anrl grew ui> as ♦' the son of Pharaoh's daujihter," Thonnuthis-Neferari, by whom his life was savetl in infancy, as recorded in the Scn'i tares, ft is also recorded that Moses received his education at the '^'oiirt of Rame.ses 11,, I Profile of Kiny Pharaoh, Rainews II. as it no\s' ap{)ears .in the BouKt^ Museum. and being <' mighty in words and in deeds,'' as Steplien as- serts (Acts vii, 22), was appointed General of the Egyptian host to fight against the Ethiopians, v.'hom he conquered, aiul before returning with his men to Egypt, married PrincesF Tharbis, daughter of the king ot* Ethopia, who fell in love with him because of the bravery he manifested in leading the Egyptian army against the royal city of Seba or Sheba, where she resided. Whether \st accept or reject this record in «a«ian 50 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, reference to the marriage of Moses, it is evidently clear from Bible narrative that Moses " had married an Ethiopian woman " at some period, besides Zipporah, the daughter of Jelhro, priest of Midlan, at which Miriam and Aaron pub- licly expressed their indignation (Ninibers xii. 1). It is a remarkable attestation to the record of Sacred Story in reference to - i, THE BONDAG-E OF ISRAEL IN EGYPT, that the mummies of Sethi !., and his son Rameses II., two of the Pharaohs of the opj)ression, have been discovered, and now stand side by side in the Museum at Cairo, and that no ingenuity of man has been able to find my trace of the Pharaoh (Meneptha II.,) the fourth king of the nineteenth dynasty, whom the Scripture emphatically declares, was *< overthrown with his host in the Red Sea. (Ps. cxxxvi. 15). As this Pharaoh was doubtless one of those who " sank as lead in the mighty waters." and his body having, probably, been devoured by sharks, it is vain to hope that his mortal remains shall ever be discovered to be exposed as a curiosity among the royal mummies of Egypt. Those who attempt proving that the Pharaoh of the Exodus was not submerged in the common deluge of the Egyptian host m the Red Sea will find it a difficult matter, in face of the evidence adduced by Scripture aid modern reseach. The Bible narrative recorded in the fourteenth chapter of Exodus, and r^jference to the fact in the huiidred and thirty-sixth Psaun, to the writer's mind, leave no room to doubt that the king of Egypt found a watery grave. With the exception of the bod) of this Pharaoh, the mummies of the greater mmiber f the Egyptian rulers during the Eigiiteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth, and Twonty- <M . i Marvellous Discoveries in liihlc Lands, first dynasties have been discovcFed, including those of Sethi I., Rameses II.. Ranieses III., King Pinelom, the i.igh priest Nobseni, and Queen Ahmes Nofretair, whose life portrait, as it appears on the gold-faced inner mummy-case, which contains the body now in the Boulac Musenj, is given on this page. On page 53 will be seen the })rofile of Pinetoni II., as it was when photographed from the mummy. Q Lf EE N N 1' RET A I R . We would also gladly give the portrait, which we have in our possession, of the mummified body of Sethi I., but, as it is too gruesome to look upon without a shud- der, \vc must draw the veil of obscurity over it, lest the deformity of death might distress the reader. The visage of this portrait conveys the idea that the living man was not of amiable disposition, and, like Herod who slaughtered the innocents at Bethlehem, might have died "in the horrors" of a guilty conscience. The contour of 5: Marvcllans Discoveries in Bible Lands. % I- the head uninistak^tbly shows that he was a Pharac'h born to rule. The incidents connected with the discovery of the body of Raine?es II., form A STORY OV INTENSE INTEREST, the facis o\' wjijch are these: "In a Hne of tomb-pits at Dcr-el-Bahari, about four miles from the Nile to the east of Thebes, lived four brother Arabs named Abd-er-Rasoul, who supplied guides and donkeys to tourists desiring to visit the ruins '"n that neighborhood. For a number of years the officials of the National Museum at Boulachad seen funeral offerings and other anticjuities brought from Thebes by re- turning tourists, which they believed belonged to the dynasty of Kameses II.. of his father Sethi, and of his grandfather Rameses ]. Even scirabees bearing the cartouche of Rameses II. had been dis})layed by innocent purchasers. It was obvious lo the experienced ofticials at Boulac that the mummied of those royal ])ersonages, which had been missing from the previously discovered tomb where they had been laid at death, had at least been found. M. Maspero, the Director-Genera! of the Museum, at once set agencies to work for the discovery of the parties in possession of the secret. In a short time arrest after arrest was made, and early in 1881 circumstantial evidence pointed to Ahmed Abd-er-Rasoul as the ojie who could give the information desired. Professor Maspero caused liis arrest, and he lay in prison for some months. He also suffered bastinado and die browbeating of the women repeatedly, he resisted bribes, and showed no melting mood when threatened with execu- tion. His lips told no more than the unfound tomb — and not as much. Finally his l^rotiier Mohammed regarded the li ■ J vfnm . li i Marif€ll(ms Discoveries in Bihlc Lands. 53 -■\rW^ 'J;V^';..; ;,|!^;-3qiSW;55^ KiNi; l'iNi:u).M II. If offer of ' l)akhshish,' which I'lofessor M:is|)cro deemed it wise to make, as worth more to hiin than any sum lie might hope to reahze from future pillaging, and made a clean breast of the whole affair. How the four brothers ever discovered the hidden tomb has remained a family secret. On July 5th, iS8i,thewily Arab conducted Herr Eniil Brugsch Bey, curator of the Boulac Museum, to I)eir-el-]{ahari and pointed out the ]iiding-i)]ace so long looked for. A long climb it was up the slope of the western mountain, till, after scaling a great limestone chft', a huge isolated rock was Annid. Behind this a spot was reached where the stones appeared to an expert oliserver and tomb searcher to have been ar- wmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 54 Marvellous Discoveries hi Bible Lands. ranged by hand, ratiier than scattered by some upheaval of nature. 'There,' said the sullen guide; and there the en- terprising Emil Brugsch Bey, with more than Egyptian alacrity, soon had a staff of Arabs at work hoisting the loose stones from a well into which they had been thrown. The shaft had been sunk into the solid limestone to the depth of about forty feet, and was about six feet square. Before going very far a huge palm log was thrown across the well, and a block and tackle fastened to it, to help bring up the debris. When the bottom of the shaft was reached a subterranean passage was found which ran westward some 24 feet and then turned directly northward, continuing into the heart of the mountain straight, except where broken for about 200 feet by an abrupt stairway. The passage termin- ated in a mortuary chamber about 13 by 23 feet in extent and barely feet in height. There was found the mummy of King Pharaoh of the Ojjpression, with nearly 40 others of kings, queens, princes and priests. These precious relics were removed from their hiding- place at once, by three hundred Arabs who had been em- ployed to do the work, under the direction of Emil Brugsch Bey. The operation was a work of intense excitement. Curator Bey was armed to the teeth, and had only one faithful assistant, named Amed Effendi Kemal. while each one of the Arabs was a thief, and would have killed his em- ployer willingly had he only had the cc>' gc to do so, under the conviction that they were being deprived of a great source of future revenue. One by one the coftins containing the mummies were hoisted to the surface of the shaft, and after being sewed up in sail-cloth and ma 'ting, were carried across the plain of Thebes to the s .^mers awaiting them at Luxor. Two J Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 55 squads of Arabs accompanied each sarcophagus — one to carry it and a second to watch the wily carriers. When the Nile overHovv, lying midway of the plain, was reached, as many more boatmen entered the service and bore the burden to the other side. Then a third set took up the ancient freight and carried it to the steamers. The work was slow and laborious, and took six days of hard labor, under the July sun, to complete the task of freighting the vessels." The commander of this great undertaking reports thus : " I shall never forget the scenes I witnessed when, standing at the mouth of the shaft, I watched the strange line of helpers while they carried across the historical plain the bodies of the very kings who had constructed the temples still standing, and of the very priests who had officiated in them ; then beyond all, some more of the plain, the line of the Nile, and the Arabian hills far to the east, and above all, and with all, slowly moving down the cliffs and across the plain, or in the boats crossing the stream, were the sullen laborers carrying their antique burdens. As the Red Sea opened and allowed Israel to pass across dry-shod, so opened the silence of the Thebean plain, to allow THE STRANGE FUNERAL PROCESSION to pass — and then all was hushed again." '* When all was ready the fleet departed from Luxor, leaving the Arab helpers squatted in groups upon the The- bean side, silently watching the floating cortege gliding down the Nile. News of the ' grand find ' having spread like wild-fire among the natives, the people assembled in crowds at every available point of observation along the river's brink, making most frantic demonstrations. The fantasia EBSBSBBjnera ,JtlJii;i_U,',[J,J-J L'jy. JXi:.lu.'i._.,l.uu«uu>uj-JJuamiti M nrvclloHs Discovcrus in J ihle Lands. n in 'I f dancers were holding their wildest orgies here and there ; a strange wail went up from the men ; the women were scream* ing and tearing their hair, and the children were so fright- ened as to become objects of i)ity. Some of the most fan- atical dervishes plunged into the flood in their attempt to reach the boats, but a sight ,f the rifle drove them back, cursing as they swam away. When nighi set in fires were kindled and guns were fired in many directions. '^ long Nile voyage having been completed, the mummies were transferred from the steamers to the Boulac Museum, where they were released from their swathings, Jime 1886, in the presence of the Khedive and an assemblage of aug- usl personages. The coverings being all removed by the careful hands of Professor Maspero, the identity of Ramcses II., his father Sethi I., his grandson Rameses III., the sup- posed Pharaoh's daughter who adopted Moses as her own .son, and a number ofother ' poor, shrivelling lumps of nior- tality,' once animated by ' the breath of life,' and looked upon as the human embodiment of the sun, or some other fanciful deiiy, vvas established beyond all question. And now labelled and numbered as the curiosities of antiquities, these embalmed remains of kings, priests, princes and op- pressors (^f Egypt, await the Archangel's trumpist on the morn of the ' Cirand Assize,' when the Judgment shall be set, and the books shall be opened, and every man shall be rewarded according to his works." The vicinity where these royal mummies were discovered is dismal :\.v\d gloomy in the extreme. " The scorching sun seems to have levied upon the hills for the last drop of moisiurt- heaven gave them. Underneath are miles and miles of tombs now rifled, but once the resting-places of kings and peojile who shaped the destinies of the world for Marvellous Discoveries in J^ihlc Lands. 57 ages." The entrances to the subterranean tombs — the en- trances to the cities ot the dead — which are seen in the faces of the rugged hmcstone cliffs, appear as if they were port-lioles in the sides of a ship of war. Not a thing of h'fe IS seen in the whole region, and everv object on which you ,^aze echoes the astounding fact, tluit. in fuUihnent of Divine prediction, " Egypt has become a desolation." (Joeliii. 19). In no country, ancient or modern, were there at one time f so many r.ities, temples or tonil)S. lint the cities have be- come rubbish-mounds. The tombs have been plundered for ages, and are being plundered every day. The tt.'m|)les ,; have been ravaged by the Persian, the Assyrian, and the Mohammedan invader, defaced by the Christian iconoclast, ;, iind smashed u]) for the limekiln by the modern Arab. Amid ■ such surroundings the traveller must stand amazed as he gazes upon the mammoth ruins looming u|) on every hand, • to tell of the glory and dignity of tluU once mighty emoire, i;efore whose frown many of the kings of earth did (juake, : " In Upper Egypt those wrecks ai noble ruins are open to the cloudless sky, and touched with the gold of dawn and the crimson of sunset ; but in Lower Egypt, and especially in the Delta where there is no desert, but only one vast plain cf rich alluvial soil, they are buried under the rubbish of ar^es, thus forming those gigantic mounds which are so striking a fealun- of the scenery between Alexandria and Cairo. Nothing in Kgyi>t so excites the curiosity of the jiewly landed traveller vus these gigantic graves, some of •which are identified with cities famous in the histor}- of the ancient world, while others are problems only to be solved il)V the use of the spade. He sees mounds everywhere ; not only in the Delta, but in Middle Egypt, in Upi)cr Kgy; t, and even in Nubia. And wherever he sties a mound, there, ^ !' I'i? 1 i - ?■• iM :l :i' i- I' ;.;!^ ;• : ,^^f ; •* ; h !• ■•' \f}i i' i" ■ ji;';' '5 :' .y. !.' h: 'a'j i^ h ';U 11 58 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. but too surely^ he sees the native husbandiu.m digging it away piecemeal lor brick-dust manure. Jt was in order to rescue at least a part of the historical treasures entombed in these neglected mounds, and esj)ecially in the mounds of the Delta and the district of THE OLD LAND OP O-OSHEN, /■ that the organization, known as the Kgypt Exploration Society, was founded in 1883, under the presidency of the late Sir P>asmus Wilson. An influential committee was formed in l^ondon, a subscription list was opened in Eng- land and America, and the work of scientific explcntion was immediately begun. From that time to this, the Egypt Exploration Society has sent out explorers every season, having sometimes two, and even three, simultaneously at work in different parts of the Delta. Each year has been fruitful in discoveries. Ancient geographical boundaries have been traced ; the sites of ♦amous ('ties have been identified; sculptures, in • scriptions, arms, papyri, jewellery, painted pottery, beautiful objects in glass, porcelain, bronze, gold, silver, and even textile fabrics, have been found ; a Hood of light has been cast ipon the Biblical history of the Hebrews ; the early stages of the route of the Exodus have been defined ; an important chapter in the history of Greek art and Greek epigraphy has been recovered from oblivion ; and an archte- ological survey of the Delta has been made, nearly all the larger mo'mds having been measured and mapi>ed. This survey is now about to be carried out on a much more ex- tended scale, covering the whole of Egypt, and including copies of inscriptions, photographs of monuments, triangula- tions, careful descriptions of the condition of the ruins, etc. nm T Alati'ellous Disan'tnes in Bible Lands, 59 For this imjwrtant work two specially trained nrchitologists will be desimtchcd every season by the Society." THE DISCOVERY OF PITHOM, capital of Goshen, one of the twin " treasure-cities" built for Pharaoh, (he Great Rameses, by the forced labour of the oppressed Israelites, was the tirst find of the F.gyptian Ex- ploration So<iety, and is another attestation to the truth of Sacred history. In the ruins of this city we have a practical historical commentary of the highest importance and interest. *' Here we have the whole pathetic liible narrative (recorded in the first c;.iid fifth chapters of Exodus) surviving in solid eviuence to the present time " , Beneath the ruins of this city are subterraneous chambers covering an area of 650 feet square, surrounded by a wall 22 feet in thickness. This whole space is a honey-comb of spacious cellars, separated by brick walls of from 8 to to ieet thick. These chambers are now filled with sand, roof- less, and without any doors, windows, or gates of any kind; but on the top of the walls are niches raarkint^ the places where beams have rested, and showing that above them were buildings from which the only acess to these cham bers must have been by trap-doors. Mere, then, we have one of the store cities built for Pharaoh, for these chambers could have been nothing else but granaries. This peculi- arity of reservoirs, only accessible from the roof, exactly tallies with the ancient representations of Egyptian granaries. They are imique ; nothing else resembling them has been found in Egypt. Specimens of the brick used in these chambers can be found in the British Museum, and in the Metropolitan Museum of New V'ork, and are usually from mmnsm Hi 'i Ji l:^' ! I : f i 'I . .1:' 1 - SJI' 1 -i 6o MarviUous Discoveries in IHbte Lands: four to eight inches square, and oneanti a half to two Inche;* thick. 'I'hey are made of NILE MUD, pressed in n wooden mould, and dried in the si7r». Also, tiiey are bedded in with iTK>rt;\r which i^> not cominon, tlie ordinary inclhod being to bed them with mud, which dries immediately, and holds almost as well and tenaciously as mortar. This harmonizes with the Scripture narrative, vvhicl>i states that '' the Egyptians made the chikken of Israel io» serve with rigor, and they n-Ktde their lives bitter with hard bondage, in iT)ortar and in bricks," Further details of this pitiful S'tory tell lis how the poor creatures were compelled to gather straw where they could find it, after their supply had become exhausted, and after- wards how they "^ were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw" to mix with their clay, without diminishing the tale of bricks- formerly required. In harmony with this reeord , ' . ' . ,(• THE PITHOM BRICKS : are of "• three qualities. In the lower courses of these mas- sive cellar walls they are raised with chopped straw :. higher up, when the straw may be supposed to have run short, the clay is found to t>e mixed with veeds — the same kind of reeds which grow to th'^ day in the bed of the old Vharonic eanal, and which are translated as *■ stubble' in the Bible- Finally, when the reeds were used up, the bricks of the upper courses consist of Nile mud, with no binding substance whatever." By going down into one of these cellars, a,t the bottom of the wall, we can see the good bricks for which I 1 -" Marvellous l^isccnrries in ly'ibh- Lands. 6i straw was provided, a few foci higher u|) we find those for which the oi)])resscd Israelites had to seek reeds, or "stubble." In the last courses we sec the bricks which they had to make, and did make, without straw or stubble of any kind, while iheir hands were bleeding and their liearts were breaking. Tlie important discovery of this place was made by the eminent MgyiJtologist, M. Kdoiiard Naville, of (leneva, first agent of the Egyptian Exploring' Society, which began its labours in the Delta in 1883. Mr. Naville selected, as the scene of his first excavations. A CELEBRATED MOUND in the Wady I'umilat, between Zagazig and Ismalia, a town about midway of the .Suez Canal, near Tel el-K.ebir. This Wady 'i'umilat is in the Gosiien of the liible, and forms a Nvater course which was made to convey a portion of the Nile water to the hosts who made the Suez Canal. Near this were some granite statues representing Kamescs IE seated in an arm-chair between the two solar gods, Ra and Ttun, and some large mounds. 'I'hese mounds were exca- vated in 1883 and 1884, and were found to be the ruins of the city of Pithom, which was built during the time of the Great Ojjpression, the ruins of which still remain as a monu- ment of Israelitish toil under Pharaoh's cruel taskmasters. The iiistory and geography of this place are settled be- yond all doubt by the discovery among the ruins of a num- ber of monumental inscriptions. These in.scriptions reveal the fact that the town which once existed here wa built by Pharaoh, Rameses II., and dedicated to Turn, the setting sun, in consequence of which it received the sacred name of Pi -Turn, or Pithom, which means the house of Turn. It 62 Marvellous Discoveries in Rihle Lands. was the Phakusa of clabsical geography. 'Ihe civil nanre ot the city was Thuket, or Succoth, Uerivctl from the name of the district in which it was situated. As the place was not only a store-fort, hut a sanctuary, it was thus designated by a twofold name of Pithoni and Succoili. This treasure- city of the Kgyptians is one of the most valuable discoveries made in that land, as it was the FIRST HALTING PLACE OP EMANCIPATED ISRAEL ': W i n 1« . \ on their departure fronn Egypt, and remains as the first milestone to point out their way to Ethani and Pihahiroth, from Raraeses, their starting point. (Mxod. xii. 37). Tluis the discovery of Pithom has given us "a fixed point from which to start. From Rameses up to this point the route of the Israelites is pretty clear. It followed the canal exca- vated by Rameses II., which united the Red Sea with the Nile, and watered the 'I'umilat. The canal is represented by the French water canal of to-day. On their march from Egypt, "when Succoth was left, the Israelites still found themselves within the line of fortifications which guarded Egypt on the East, and was known as the Shur, or '■ Wall,' to the Scmatic peoples. Two main roads led through it to Palestine. One passing by Zar, in the neighbourhood, pro- bably of the modern Kantarah, and after proceeding north- ward to Pelusium ran along the coast of the Mediterranean to Gaza and the other cities of the Philistines. It is this road which is called ' the way of the land of the Philistines,' (Exod. xiii. 17); but it was not the road by which the Israel- ites were led," although that was near. The reason assigned for not taking this route was owing to the command of the Marvellous l^iscoveries in Bible Lauds. 63 l,orcl, who said : " Lest |)eradventuic the peojjle rcpcnl when they see war. and return to Egypt." relusium was tlie Cireek name of Sin, " a fortified city on the north-eastern frontier of K^^ypt, on the eastern bank of the eastern 'itream of the Nile, two or three rniles from the sea." It was situated amid marshes, md known as " THE STRENGTH OI-' EGYPT," (Ezek. XXX. 15). In conseipience of its position and strong fortifications it was regarded as the key of ICgypt ; and every invader first attemjjled toaipiure this place, By reading the IJihle narrative we are led to believe that the people of Israel had made their way from Succoth to Kiham, in the edge of the wilderness, or Arabian desert, bordering on Kgypt, known as " the desert j)lain." On reaching the fortress of Zar, wkich protected the road lead- ing from l'>gypt to the land of the Philistines, they were cominande<l by Ciod to change the route, by turning back and moving toward Sue^, for reasons already assigned. And, in doing so, \\ ■ find tiiem encamiMng '• before Pi- hahiroth," between Migdol and the sea. over against Baal- Zephon," which was evidently a j'ort on the Arabian side of the northern arm of the Red iiea, now known as the Gulf of Suez, where the Phcenician sailors and merchants had a sanctuary for the worship of their god Baal. At this place, in a large plain some ten miles square, the fugitives encamjjed for the night, when Pharaoh and all his liost came ui)on ihcm in hot j^ursuit, Unal)le to cope with tlie adversary, in terror they cry unto the Lord their (Jod to save them from the hand of the cruel foe. Although provoked by their lack of faith in Hi;- ]n-omises, and by murmurings against Moses their leader, the Lord ■mp WW mmmmmimamism 64 Marvcllo7i:s Discoveries in Bible lAiiids. < I 1 \ ■ \ i \ ■ ' iM 1 God of their fathers came tc their rescue, by directing the forces of nature to interfere in their behalf, and saved them from the wrath of the proud enemy, whose boastful desire was : " I will pursue, J will overtake, I will divide the Spoil ; ray lust shall be satisfied upon ilu-nj ; I will draw my sword, my hand siiall destroy them" (Kxod. xv. 9). He gave thern command to •' go forward," and " craised the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the seh 'ijion dry ground ; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right liand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, and his chariots, and his horsemen." When ihe Israelites had all passed over in safety, the sea returned to its former channel, and overwhelmed their enemies, who "sank like lead in the mighty waters." Thus their hasty crossing of the Red Sea by a path which the I,ord ojiened lor their deliverance, and the destruction of their enemies by the overwhelming billosvs of the great deep, completes the drama of the deliverance of Israel from the " House of Bondage." And, as we follow the resctied host, we tlnd Miriam leading the choir and giving back the response of the triumphal procession, as it mnrches along the Arabian banks of the Red Se;i, to celebrate with tim- brels the o\ eithrow of I'haraoh. In contemplation of this remarkable e\ent how appro])ri- ate to the occasion is the following poetic langtiage : «' Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea f » Jehovah has lriumi)hed — His people arc free ! Sing ! — for the pride of the tyrant is ?)roken : His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave — Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 65 "*.; ! Mow vain wns .lioir boastintr ; — tiie Lord hath hut spoken, And chariots and horsemen are sunk in the wave ! Sound the loud tinilirel o'er F-gypt's dark sea I v Jehovah has triumphed — His people arc free ! • Praise to the conqueror I praise to tlie l-ord I His word was oin- arrow, His breati-i was our sword I \V']io shall return to tell l\yyi)t the story Of those she sent forth in the hour of her pride? P'or the Lord hath looked ou: from his pillar of pf'ory, ^.^ And all her brave thousands aie dashed in tlie tide. Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea ! Jehovah has triumphed- -His people are free I" As the Biblical record of Israel's escape *' out of the house of bondage," by a dry land passage through the Red Sea, has often been scouted by sceptics as " a physical im])ossi- bility," A NATURAL PHENOMENON has -ecently been witnessed in the same vicinit)', by reliable eye 'vitnesses, which sustains the Saci.'d narrative, and jjroves it to have been quite possible, 'i'he fiicts of the case are these : A few years ago Major-Gercral TuUoch was making governmental surveys for (Jreat i.kitian in that part of Egypt through which the children of Israel passed in their departure from ("roshen, and wi':^es«ed a natural occinrence of the most remarkable natu,\. His othcial statement re- cently ]iublished states, chat in the spring ol 1S95 he was engaged in surveying the border;; of Lake Men. iJileh, now a part of the Suez Canal. While thus engaged, on one occa- sion, he says, a sudden and violent storm arose, the force of v^fhich was so great as to carry every movable (^]ij(;ct in its path before it, including the water of tl;e lake, which was ■ti, II 1 1 1 I 66 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. entirely abducted in a few hours, leaving the vessels moored in the lake stranded on dry land, until the receding water had returned to its former position. This incident is truly remarkable, and harmonizes with the Sacred story of • THE GREAT DELIVERANCE OF THE HEBREWS, By it the sceptic is entirely disaimed of any argument he may attem])t in future u.) advance in supi)ort of his idea of the case, because it asserts, through living eye-witnesses of the day, that it is within nature's proven pov/er that such a salvation and catastrophy should occur, and gives a new interest to the Bible history of the great event, wherein is set forth the triumphal passage of the capti\es dry 5 hod through the way of the waters, whose returning flood des- troyed their oppressors. By considering the trying circumstances in which the Israelites were placed, we are enabled to see the wisdom, goodness and justice of God. in directing the laws of nature, which are always under His absolute control and guidance, so that the groaning captives might be released from bon- dage, and their cruel taskmasters made to realize that " the way of the transgressor is hard." Having long endured untold cruelties and insults by the p]gyptians, which had imbittered their lives beyond endur- ance, they fled at the command of the Lord to Moses, and by the permission of their masters. After two days of hasty travelling they encamj^ed by the borders of the Red Sea. Here they are terror stricken, as they lift up their eyes and behold the hosts of the Egyptians with their war chariots marching after tiiem. As they see the rays of the sun glimmer in haios from the whirling wheels of the royal I VI Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 6"/ chariots, iind hear the thunder tread of that mighty army, their plaintive wail ascends the skies, and He whose ear is ever open to hear the cry of distress, and who is, as the Psalmist puts it, " a very present help in trouble," comes to their relief. " He did fly upon the wings of the wiiid ; He made the clouds his chariot; At the blast of the breath of his nostrils, the channels of the waters were seen ; the sea saw it and fled." (Ps. xviii. lo. i 5 ; cxiv. 3). Whilst thus dismayed and terror-stricken, Moses, in obedi- ence to the Divine command, j^roclaims an advance, and stretches his hand with " the rod of God" therein out toward the waters. <' In an instant, from the north-east a bree/e is blowing, a wind is rushing, a gale is howling, a tempest's awful power is smiting the vvaters of the sea. Slowly the waters yield to the air's beating fury. Soon a great mass, a driven flood, is seen hurling from the shore. It returns not. The storm's gigantic strength carries the huge bulk farther and farther, until the awestruck watchers reali/.e that the way of safety is free before them. As before, the moun- tains shut them in on one side ; the enemy who would destroy are close at hand, but the impassable barrier of the waters has rolled from their path. Now, they hasten to the bed of the sea, and speed the distu.M.e to the further shore. They have passed through the sea, but its waves have not touched them. Yet, what of the enemy ? Will they pursue ? Yes; already the lustful foes are stirring, the horses are spanned to the chariots ; the captains mount to their places ; the great army hurries to follow the freedmen's flight. The children of Isrr.el sh.ndder .ind grow pale. Their h'!arts throb in an ecstacy of new alarms. But what is this ? The wind is dead. No. Stay ! It is blowing again ; blowing harder and harder yet, bui not from the north east now. It :^3 M 14 68 Marvellous Disiovcrics iu Bible Lands. is sweeiiing from the oi)posite \\'ay--sw.'eeping witii tremen- dous spee>i again, irrcsistil)le as before. Ncnv oi) the lK)ri- zon the Hebrews see tiie wreathing wall of advancing waters. From the safe shore the Aigitivcs watcii it with hearts swayed by sntklen hope. The Egyptians see it. loo. and their pulses leap in sudden horror. 'J1iey wheel and llee. Too late I 1'lie Sacred record is : " And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host o' Pharaoh that came into the sea after them ; there remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in tiic midst of the sea ; and the waters were a wall unto th'-ni on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord .saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians : and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon he sea shore." (Exod. xiv. 28-30). ' ' Another marvellous discovery of great import was that of • THE B"'AMOUS MOABITE STONE, an illustration of which is given on the following jiage. This remarkable sione is a monument which yields in im- portance to none yet found. It was erected by Mesha king of Moab about nine hundred years before oin- era, in record of a tempotary victory over Israel, before the death of Ahab, and is a remarkable evidence of the truthfulness of the Sac- red narrative. It was dedicated to Chcmosh, the national god of Moab, to whom the victorious revolt is ascribed. The incidents connected with the discovery of this stone are of rpecial interest, and of greater importance than those in connection with the hnding of the body of Rameses. The following is a record of. the whole ])roceedings : On the ifith of August, t868, Kev, F, A. Klein, a CJerman missionary in the service of the Church Missionary Society Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. ()■ M The Moabite Stout', now in tlie Misfuni of the I^ouvre, J'ari.s, The text was secured from tlie paper " squeezes" taken before llje ori};inal wnst broken by the Aratis, as referred to on pay;e 71. 'J'he rejjuired places are the srnoothei portion of the surh;ce. ' ^1 at Jerusalem, was on a visit to Moab ; and, when 111 iln- vic- inity of one of " the high phices" of that land called l)ir)on — • now known as Dhiblan— -was informed by an Arab sheikli, that close to where he then was, there was a stone wiiich was inscribed with ancient characters. ?vlr. Klein, on ex- amining the stone found that it was a substantial slab of black basalt rounded at the top, and presenting {he apfjear- ^ 70 MurrelloHs Discoveyics in Bible Lands. I I :MI V J ance of a gravestone. Its dimensions were, three feet ten inches in height, by two feet in width and fourteen inches in thickness. It was covered with thirty-four lines of inscrip- tion in Phtenician letters, and was evidently one of the oldest memorials of al|)habetical writing. Mr. Klein having no idea of the value and importance of the discovery he had made, instead ol copying the whole of the inscri|)tion, noted down a few words only, and com- piled an alphabet out of the rest. On his return to Jerusalem he informed the Prussian Consulate as to the discovery he had made, and it was decided at one- that an effort be made to secure the stone. A .short time afterwards Sir Charles Warren, then agent of the Palestine Exploring Society, was informed of the existence of the monument, but learning that the Prussian Consul was negotiating for its purchase he took no action about it. In the spring of the fallowing year. M. Clermont- Ganneau, dragoman of tl)e French Consulate, on hearing that the stone was still at Dibon with the inscribed face exposed to tlie weather, determined to get possession of it for France. And witliout delay, natives were sent to offer a large sum of money for the monument, and procure "s(juee/ces" of its inscription. Unfortunately the messengers sent for this purpose quarrelled in presence of tlie Arabs, and it wns with difficultv that Selim-el-Oari, M. Clermont- Ganncau's agent, was able to obtain a half-dried squeeze for the French Consulate. Were it not for this squeeze, which is now preserved in the IvOuvre, we would have an imiterfect knowledge of the contents of the text. The sum offered for the stone by M. Clermont-Ganneau was three hundred and seventy-tive pounds sterling, whereas eighty pounds had previously been promised by the Prussian .\ Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 1 ■: authorities, and agreed to by tlie Arabs alter long and tedi- ous bargaining. The largeness of the French sum, and the rival bidding of the two European Consulates to obtain the stone, naturally aroused in the minds of the Moabite Arabs and Turkish officials an exaggerated idea of its mercantile value, (/rasping "^his idea, ihe Governor of Nablus de- manded to retain the splendid prize for himself. The Arabs indignant at being compelled to thus give up the stone for nothing, lighted a fire under it, and, when heated, they poured cold water over it, shivering it into fragments. "The pieces were distributed among different families, and placed in their granaries, in order to act as charnvj in protecting the corn against blight." A considerable num!>er of the fragments have since been recovered, and purchased by the French government for thirty-two thousand francs, and placed in the Louvre Museum at Paris, and a reconstruction of the stone has been the result. l>ut without the "stiueeze" which was taken before the destruction of the stone it would have been impossible to fit many of the fragments together, so that it is our only authority in the absence of the missing portions of the monument. *' The work of restoration and interpretation was ably performed by M. Clermont-Ganneau, by way of amends for the over-hasty zeal which brought about the destruction of the monument. The latest and best edition of the te:<t, however, is that which was published in 1886 by the two German Professors, Smend and Socin, after weeks of study of the * squeeze' preserveu in the Louvre." ■ft A. ■ ■■^ -^■). The following is the translation of this text given by Dr. Neubauer : mliMi 1^ Marvellous Discoveries in Riblc Lands, " I Mesha. son of Clieniosh-Melocli king of Moah, the Di- bonitc. My father reigned over Moab thirty years and I reig- ne<l afier niv father. I made this monument to Chemosh at Korkhah. A monument of sal- vation, for he saved me from all invaders, and let me see my desire upon all my enemies. (.)mri [was"] kin;.; of Israel, and he o|)|)ressed Moab many days, for C'hemosli was an;.^ry with his land, flif son followed him, and he also said; I will oppress Moab. !n my days Che[mosh] said : I will see my desire on him and his house. And Israel surely perished for ever. ( )mri took the innd of Medeba and [Israel] dwelt in it during his days and half the days of his son, altogether forty years. But there dwelt in it Chemosh in my days. I built Baal-Meon and made therein the ditches ; I built Kirjathaim. The men of Gad dwelt in the land of Ataroth from of old, and the King of Israel built there Ataroth ; and I made war against the town and seized it. And I slew all the [i)eoijle of] tlie town, for the j^leasure of Chemosh and Moab ; I captured from thence the Arel of Dodah and tore him before Chemosh in Kerioth. And 1 placed therein the men of Sh{a)r(o)n, and the men of M{e)kh(e)rth. And Chermosh said tome: Go, seize Nebo ujion Israel ; I went in the night and fought against it from the break of dawn till noon ; and I took it, nnd slew all, 7000 men, [boys?], women, [girls?], and female slaves, for to Ashtar-Chemosh I devoted them. And I t'.)ok from it the Arels of Zahveh and tore them before ('hcmosh. And the Rmg of Israel built jahaz, and dwelt in it, while he waged war against me ; Chermosh drove him out before me. And I took from Moab 200 men, all chiefs, and transported them to Jahaz, which I took to add to it Dibon. I built Korkhah, the w.all of the forests and the wall Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 73 of the citadel ; T built its gates and I built its towers. And I built the house of Moloch, and I made sluices of the water- ditches in tlie. middle town. And there was no cistern in the initMleofthe town o* Korkhah, and i said to all the peoi)le : Make for yourselves every man a ci.stern in his house. And I dug the canals for Korkhah by means of the prisoners of Israel. I built Aroer, and I made the road in [ the province of] the Arnon. [And] 1 built Beth-Bamoth, for it was destroyed. I built Bezer, for in ruins [it was. And all the chiefs] of Dibon were 50, for all Dibon is subject ; and \ ])UTced one hundred ! chiefs] in the towns "diich T added to the land. I built Beth-Medebi and B^didiblathaii and Beth-baal-meon and transpofied thereto the [sheplierds } , . . and the pastors] of the flocks of the land. And at Horonaim dwelt there . . . . . . AndChemosh said to me ; Go down, make war ui)on Floronaim. I went down [ ind made war] . . . And Chemosh dwelt in it during my days, i went up from thence ..." Tlie tablet contained a few more lines which could not be deciphered owing to the imperfection af the lattcv i>or" tion of the " squeeze" or paper im]*ressioa taken while the stone was intact. The reader will be able to learn from this inscription that the Moabite Stone was evidently a monument erected to Ohemosh. the NATIONAL GOD OF THE MOABITES, by King Mesha, in order to preserve the record of some victory gained over the kingdom of Israel by the children of 74 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, Moab, during the latter days of Ahab's reign, previous \o their final revolt after his death, in which case the Moabites were completely routed by the allied forces of Israel, Judah and Edom. In the Scripture record, given in the third chapter of second Kinirs, we karn that these armies marched against Moab by a circuitous path through the Edoniiie deseit, wliere they almost perished for lack of water, but were saved by the prophet Kliaha, who caused ditches to be dug, which became tilled with water during the night. We are also told that this water was the means ot the defeat of the Moabites at that time, who mistook the water for the blood of their enemies, owing to the crimson rays of the morning sun beaming upon it, and fancied that the three allies had killed each other during the night, and hurried tumultuously to the camp of the invaders with the trium- phant shout of ** Moab to the spoil ! " Instead of obtaining " the spoil," however, they were here received by a united and powerful army, who smote them " hip and thigh" with a great slaughter, pursuing them into their own country, destroying their cities, stopping their wells, felling their trees, and covering their best land with stones. In his straits the King of Moab was forced to take refuge behind the fortress, where he was beseiged ; and, in his frenzy, '• he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall," to his idoi. god, doubtless in hope of obtaining its assistance. But assistance from such a source was impossi- ble, as Cheinosh — "the abomination of Moab" — was a fanci- ful deity, which neither could hear nor speak nor walk. The decipherment of the inscription of this sla j undoubt- edly casts a ray of light on tlie Bible story, prompting the Scripture student to a careful inquiry and investigation of 1 I Ma}-^i>tllous Dtscovi'ties in Bible Lands. 75 the whole matter. It will be seen that while there is a gen- eral agreement I>etween the Sacred record and the stone inscription, there are also disagreements, which, by careful study, become more apparent than re*l. On reading the inscription we naturally suppose that " Omri" must be a mistake in the name, as, according to Scripture narrative, with which we are familiar, it was David and not Omri who conquered the people of Moab, and Solomon, his son, doubtless held them under tribute, as he did the other nations which his father had subdued. There is no evi- dence, however, to show that the Moabitos were "oppressed" under the reign of cither David or Solomon ; and, although the Bible is silent on the subject, it is evident that after the death of Solomon Moab revolted from the yoke of Reho- boam, and was again subdued by an Israelitish kmg, and became TRIBUTARY TO THE iCINGDOM OF ISRAEL. Had this not been so, King Mesha would not have ren- dered unto the king of Israel, as a yearly tribute, " an hun- dred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams with the wool," neither could Moab have •' rebelled against the king of Israel after the death of Ahab," as. recorded in the third chapter of the second Book of Kings. As to the statement of the Moabite Stone inscription, that Omri " oppress;-d Moab many days," his son continuing the same line of oppressive policy, and that " Omri took the land of Medeba and Israel dwelt in it forty years," the mat- ter is made clear when we consider that the reign o< Omri and his son Ahab extended over a period of 34 years, and that Ahab's son Ahaziah had reigned two ye ,rs, and was succeeded by his brother Jehoram, before the kt-,gof Moab's I 76 Marie I Urns Discoveries in Bible [.a mis. ! '; I'll final rcbfllion. By considering these facts, aiui also that Omri was tlie tliiel" captain of the host of Israel |jr(;l)ably for many years, under the dynasty of Baasha, previous to the establishment of his own dynasty, we will be able to see the harmony that exists between the Bible narrative and the record of the Moabite Stone. If there is any di/ruuliy in solving the apparent problen) referred to, the matter will become clear when we consider that the Moabitcs were pro- bably subdued by king Baasha, under the generalship (if Omri, in which case the latter would naturally be accredited with the victory, in the same sense as that of Waterloo is credited to Wellington. But, besides all this, King Mcshn, when inscribing the Moabite Stone, was unduubtedl;, speak- ing of something which had actually happened in his own day, and not an oppression of nearly 200 years ])revious, which must have been the case, if we admit that the state- ment means the subjection of Moab by David, whose death occurred 163 years before that of Ahab. As the record stands there is no real contradiction between the statement of King Mesha and that of Bible history. On the contrary there is imdoubted harmony. And further, the Moabite Stone inscription evidently records an important event in the history of Israel, on which the Scripture record is silent. Whilst Moab has thus contributed to the .su])port of Bible narrative the land of Palestine has lately developed WONDERFUL REVELATIONS in attestation to the same Divine record. It is now reported upon good authority that out of 622 places west of the Jordan, mentioned in Scripture. 434 have been located beyond doubt, and that new discoveries are almost daily l:>eing made. One who is deeply interested in these remarkable discoveries of Marvilious Discvverics in JHhtc Lmuis, n the Holy Land records: " Who can say what revelations arc in store lor us in tiu^ next few years? As Tel after Tel is explored, and library after library comes to view, we may expect to recover not only the history of ancient I^destinc in the centuries immediately preceding its conquest by the Israelites, but the earlier legends and traditions of the country as well. To dig ui) the sources (jf the book of Genesis is a wcrthicr and niore profitable occupation than to spin theories about its origin and coniiiilation." The ^arne authority also says ; " It is to excavations in Palestine thvit the archjcology of the Book of Judges must look for light and illustration, atitl these excavations have as yet but scarcely begun. Apart from the shafts sunk in the teeth of I'urkish opposition and mechanical ditticuhies at the foot of the temple walls of Jerusalem, the excavations conducted by Professor Petrie, for I-*alesiine Exploration Society in 1890, and aherw^ards continued by Mr. Bliss, was the first system- atic attempt that has been made to wrest from the soil of Palestine the secrets which it has guarded so long. Their explorations at Tel ellfesy, in Suutliern Palestine, have re- sulted not only ni the DISCOVERY OP THE LONG-LOST SITE OP IjACHISH, .!3 ■V but also in the discovery that the remains of the Amorito cities, overthrown by the invading Israelites, still exist in the Holy Land." We have also " in Mr, Petrie's excava- tions an viloquent picture in the condition of Southern Palestine in the ages of the Judges," His researches a. Lachish have founded the science of Palestinian archeology, and fixed the ('hronological sequence of the various, kinds of pottery whose fragments h;:'ve been found in the successive I ■ jS Marvellons Disco7/cnes in Bible Lands. strata of the Tel forming the ruins of Lachish, as well as the respective ages of the ' toolings ' observed upon the hewn stones of the ruined buildingf^ Tlie broken shreds which cover the site of a city of ancient Canaan now tell us the period to which they belong as certainly as they do \n Egypt or C»reece. and from a glance at the inode in wliich a stone has Imh^u worked, we can learn whether it was brought from the quarry in the tiines of the kings of Jvdah, or in the latter epoch of Greek and Roma', dominion." As the old Anmorite city of Lachish^so celebrated in Bible story and prophecy, ts said to have been next in importance to that of Jerusalem, the finding of its site and ruins, by Dr. Flindf rs Petrie and Mr. F, J. Bliss, may juijtly be con- sidered one of the niost valuable archaeological discove»"ies made as yet in Bible I^nds. The nan>e of this old city means '^* impregnable," and the place was doubtless one of th,>se stronghold cities in Canaan which the discouraged s](ies declared "were great and walled up to heaven," It v,as evidently of greater strength when Israel enter'id Canaan than any of the other walled cities of the South, as it re- quned Joshua longe." time to capture it thai^ any of the others i^ thf>t region (Joshua x. 31, 32). After having been strength med by Rehoboam it was undoubtedly of superior fortificatiovi, as it is presumalUy endent that Sennacherib, king of Assyria, "and all his power with him," were unable to conquer it. The vast army of this monarch we are told came up against " the fenced cities of Judah " and '* en- camped against I^chish," but no authentic record hao as yet reveakii to us ihat they were ever able to captu": it. Indeed it is rather ir?plied in the eighth verse of the nine- teenth chapter of second Kings, that Sennache.ib had abandoned the siege cf Lachish, and gone against Libnah, '("/! ;; MarvcUoits Discm^eries in Bible L audi 79 *' a neighbouring city, when " the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the aimp of the Assyrians an hundred four-score and five thou- i-nd," This is one of the most astonishing events recorded in hi.story, and is immortalized by Byron in the foUowing poem , "The Assyrian came down like a ^ olf on the fold, And his cohorts w^rt gleaming wi,h j.nirple and gold, And the sheen of their spears wa . like stars on the sea, >Vhen the blue waves roil raightly on deep GaHlee, Like the leaves of the fores', when summer is green, I'hat host with their banners at sunset were seen; ^ Like the leaves ot the foiesi when autumn hath blown, That host on the norrow lay witi\ered atid strown. For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast, And breathed in tfie face of the foe as he passed : And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, And '.heir hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still. And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide, But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride ; And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. And there lay the rider, distorted and pale, With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail ; And the tents were all -lilent, the banners alone, The lances unhfted, the trumjiCts unblown. And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail, And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal ; And the might of the Gentile unsinote by the sword, Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord." But what makes this remarkable event still more wonder- ful Is the fact that a base relief vvhich adorned the walls of Sennacherib's palace at , neveh, discovered by Luyard, and now in the British Museum, represents , ■ ^o Marvclions Discoveries hi Bibie Lamis\ THE SIEGE OF I^AOHISH, with the Assyrian monarch seated upon an arm chair before Ihe capturtd city, anif a long line r>!' suppliant prisoner- passing betbre hini. A slab inscTiptioo connected with this^ sculptured representation of the seige states : '• Sennacherib r the mighty king, ki)"ig of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne ot judgntent. before the city of Lachish ;. I give permi'ssion for its slaughter." A fac-simile of thi'S picture is given on tiie opposite [age. . As it is doubtfp' 'hether tlie [froud A>syri;in mona.rch wnis abk- to Ccqrture cbe royal city ol Ixichi^rii,. it is- probable that the sculptured scene of its ca[)ture v\as executed by Sennacherib before leaving home, Jo celebrate an*ant!cii)aie(.l victory which he v\^is not allowed to win. 'llie humiliation connected with the destru,ction of his; jr.n Tcn>i: army leaves no roonii to doul?t that his well laid plans for the jverlhrowofjudah were never executed. The Scriptare rrarralive assures us that after ihc ioss of his liost 'Mie returned wtil- shame of face to his own land, and when he was come into the hotise of hi'-/ god" his sohis " s-lew him there wth the swo'-d" ' ■ ; This destruction of the Assyrf.in host w.->i^ one of the grandest and mnnt stirring events in Hebrew history, audi was worthy to stand side by side with the memorable over- throw of Pliaraoh eight hundred years before. It was nobly fitted to give support to faith and courage in futine trials- that might arise against the peo]>lo of Judah, if they slujuld only place leliance on the artn of Cipod. By looking at the circumstances connected v\tih ihe in- vasion of Judah by Sennacherib at this time, the justice of the Almighty in the miraculous destruction o' ins liost wili be seen. MIV^fiH Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 8i : Repiesenlation of Sennaciieiih's anticipated victory at Laohish, tlif king btins; seated upon a lofty liinnie, and receiving the submis- sion of the inliabitanis aiul spoil of the ciiy. 82 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, Before attacking Jerusalem, as he had intended, Sennach- erib deemed it better to capture the fenced cities of Judah ; and having taken many of these, so disheartened Hezekiah that he agreed to pay him tribute. After making a treaty of peace with the king of Judan, it appears that he went to Egypt, leaving one of his generals to besiege Ashdod or Azotus, a stronghold of the Philistines, Returning to Palestine, Sennacherib broke his agreement, and attacked the stronghold fenced cities of Judah that he had previously failed to capture. lie was encamped against Lachish when he sent his general, Rab-shakeh, with a threatening and blasphemous message to Jerusalem, summoning Hezekiah to SL. render the city. Under such trying circumstances we find Hezekiah's faith and courage sustained by prayer to God, that He would interpose on behalf of his people, who were unable of themselves to go against the [)owcrf"l host of Assyria. In answer to this prayer of Hezekiah the host of Sennacherib was undoubtedly destroyed, as already stated. When or by whom this renowned city of Lachish was fmally destroyed remains among the mysteries of the past. The excavations of the place, however, are of the most promising nature, and in due time the entire history of the ancient city shall, no doubt, be brought to light. THE LOCATION OF LACHISH is sixteen miles to the east of Gaza, and is called by the Arabs ' Um Irakis." The place has apparenUy long been deserted and is utterly desolate. It is situated in a plain which stretches away northward to the horizon. The foun- dation of the city is a natural eminence rismg about forty feet above the plain, on the summit of which a mound of nmopBia Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 83 ruins about two hundred feet each way rises sixty feet higher. This hill of ruinfe undoubtedly marks the citadel of the strong city, and forms a consj>icuous landmark in the landscape. These ruins are the renuuns of successive buildmgs which were constr-ucted at various times, one upon the ruins of the other. This fort of nn'ns stands on the north-east corner of an enclosure about a quarter of a nule in width. The site of the city was well chosen in ancient times. Close to it rises the only good spring of water in the whole district, which, when swollen by the rains of winter, becomes a ragmg torrent, known by the natives of the country as " the Hesy." The stream flows past the eastern side of the mound, which it has eaten away, and so exposed a large section of it to view. The admirable site of this city, and the spring of water which flowed beside it, made it, next to Jerusalem, the most important fortress of judah. Professor Sayce in speaking of this place says ; " Here we can trace the citifs which have risen in siucessive ages 07ie upon the ruins of the other. The earliest of these cities wa« the primitive Lachish, and when in after times a lower city ex- tended itself around the foot of the hill, it was still upon the old site that the citadel was planted, and that the inhabitants thronged together in tinie of danger. To the last the iovver city remained litUe more than a .suburb; the public buildings of the town and the residences of its chief inhabitants were erected on the fortitied mound." '. . ? Accordmg to Mr. iVtiie's report, the clo.se of the history of the place was m the tifth century B. C. The evidence of this stateiTient is based on the discover}' of portions of black and red Greek poUery among the ruins " in the top foot or TWO of the mound on the east side and the north-west ; the most dateable of these is a part of a small vase, made about ,m^' 84 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 450 B. C; and none of the other fragments indic.ile a later age than this." Prof. Petrie goes on to say : <♦ If then the top of the mound is of 450 B. C, liow far before that are we to date the bottom of the sixty feet of ruins beneath us ? unfortunately no Kgyptian objects were found which would give us a hxed point ; and the only help we can get in estimating what must have been a long period is in the Phoenician pottery. Not much of this occurs in the mound; but as many vases were found associated together in burials outside of the town, we know all thec.ontem|)orary varieties, and can help our dating by each of them. The date of this Pha-nician pottery may lie roughly said to range from 800 10 1400 B. C." Under the o].)erations of Mr. Bliss the foundations of the original town have been discovered, and consists of huge walls, " built of crude brick, and are as much as twenty eight feet eight inches in thickness. The bricks which are about twenty-two inches by twelve, are laid in alternate courses of headers and stretchers. There are indications that at one time the wall was partly broken down and had subsequently to be repaired." After removing the various layers of the ancient ruin, Mr. liliss reached the stratum which marks the age of the PRIMITIVE FOUNDEFtS OP THE CITY. In the spring of 1892 he discovered the ruins of the gov- ernor's {^alace of thiU ancient period. He also found the Babylonian seal-cylinders, as well as the imitations of them, the manufacture of which are known to belong to the period wlich extends from 3000 to i 500 years B. C. An authority referring to these cylinders states : '< Their western imita- tions arc idetitical in style with similar cylinders which liave iHlllipilH Mar%>eUoiis Discoveries in Bible Lands. 85 been found in the prehistoric tombs of Cyprus and Phcenicia, and so fix tiie date of the latter." Mr. BhsH has also here discovered Egyptian beads and scarabs of the Eiglueenth dynasty, among which is a bead inscribed with the name and title of Teie, who was the royal wife of Anienophis IJI., and mother of Amenophis IV., or Khu-R-Aten. Besides this bead, when closing the excavations for the season of 1892, at this place, he discovered a Cunei- form tablet of similar shape and character to those recovered at Tel-el-Amarna. The handwriting of this tablet "resembles that of the letters which were sent to the Egyptian kings from Southern Palestine, and the text turns out to be a des- patch addressed to an Egtptian officer, and mentioning the very person who, as we are informed by the contemi>orary king of Jerusalem, as well as by a letter from him, was THE EQYPTIAN GOVERNOR OF LAOHISH. Zimrida, or Zimridi, was the representative of the Pharaoh Khu-n-Aten in that city, and the name of Zimrida twice oc- curs in the despatch," The following is Professor Sayce's translation of this tablet despatch from the governor of Lachisii to Pharaoh's officer in Egypt : " [To] the officer Bal . . .\ I . . abi prostrate inyself at thy feet. Verily thou knowest that Baya and Zimrida have brought the spoil (?) of the city, and Dan-Hadad says to Zimrida my father : The city of Varami (perhaps Jar- muth) has sent to me [and has] given me 3 pieces of . , . wood, and 3 slings, and 3 falchions since I am perfect (?) over the country of the king, and it has acted against me ; but unto my death do I remain. As regards thy . . . which 86 Marvellous Discoviries hi Bible Lands. I have brought (?) from the enemy I . . . , and I have sent Bel (?) — banilu, and . . . rabi-ihi-yuma , . . has despatched his brother to this country to [strengthen it]." Commenting on this tablet epistle. Professor Sayce says: " the discovery of this document is one of the most remark- able ever made in archaeological research. Cuniform tablets are found in the mounds of an ancient city in Upper Egypt which prove to he letters from the governors of Palestine in the fifthteenth century before our era, and among them is a letter from the governor of Lachish. Harlly have these letters been published and examined before the excavation of a distant mound in Palestine, which the archuiological insight of Dr. Petrie had identified with the site of Lachish, brings to light a cuniform tablet of the same age and nature, on which the name of the same governor is mentioned more than once. It is A VERITABLE AROH^OLOGHOAL ROMANCE. The discovery leads to consequences of the highest interest and importance. Not only does, it verify Prof. Petrie's identification of Tell el-Hesy with Lachish as well as his chronological arrangement of the pottery and strata of the mound ; it proves also that both Lachish and elsewhere, where the ruins of the old Amorite cities still cover the soil, we may expect to find libraries of archive-chambers still stored with inscribed tablets of unperishable clay." The letter in tablet inscriptions addressed by Zimridi or Zimrida of Lachish which has been disinterred at Tel el- Amarn a runs thus : * ' To the king my lord, my gods, my sun- god, the sun-god who is from heaven, thus (writes) Zimridi, the governor of the city of Lachish. Thy servant, the dust I 1 Marvellous Discoveries in lUhle Lands. 8/ of ihy feet, at the feet of the king my lord, ihe .sun-god fronj hea en. bows hirnseh seven times seven. I have very cliH- gently listened to the words of the messenger whom the king my lord has sent to me, and now I have despatched a (mission) according to his mes.sage " This letter is of great value, giving, .as it does, .an idea of the absolute power of the Pharaohs over their subjects, and their absurd claim lo supreme adoration, as Deity Him- self. As to the various strata of ruins which compose the mound at Lachish, we are informed thai " the most prom- inent stage in the history of the town is pointed out by the WMdespread beds of ashes and the underlying stratum of stream-bed stones nhich lie above t.lie ruins of the first and earliest city." The excavators have no doubt that these ashes were spread by the wind. ' Above these ash deposits •' alternate layers of black char- coal dust and white lune ash streak the face of the mound for a depth of about five feet, and the lines are always un- broken and continuous, often a streak not over half an inch thick being traceable for ten or twenty feet, and gradually thinning out at the ends." As no deposit l)y hands could effect this, it is believed that the .stuff must have been wind- borne and dropped by the breeze without intv.'rference. It is also believed that tire sources of these ashes were doubt- less the burning of plants for alkali, as is now done by the Bedouin, and that at the time when the alkali burners re- sorted here, and when their a.shes blew about and settled undisturbed over a great part of the hill, the city must have been deserted by its former inhabitants. -nw rnmmn 88 Marirllaus Discoveries in Bible Lafids, ONE LAYER OF THE RUINS i i is cliictly made up of rounded stones from the adjacent stream, .showing a time when no regular brickwork was used, but when huts were roughly piled up of the nearest material ; a barbaric period followed by a desolation. So far as can be ascertained from the evidence adduced, this ]ieriod of barbarism and desolation corresponds with the time of the Judges, a period, according to some authorities, of over 400 years, extending from the death of Joshua to the accession of Saul. It is impossible to give an exact chronology of this period, because the story of the Judges is not written in the chrono- logical method. But we have some general outlines by which a fair estimate can be made. " During the time of the Judges the government was largely that of a lepublic, of which God himself was the real head. The high priest was God's prime minister, the priests and the Levites were to decide ordinary cases and to instruct the nation ; and the judges were raised up to l)e military commanders in times of special need." By careful reading of the book of Judges we are led to infer that THE PERIOD OP THE JUD(3I-ES !;. ' ■; was a terribly barbaric age ; its fragmentary records speak of savage retaliation, and the fierce struggles of disorganized tribes. It is recorded that "in those times there was no place to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the coun- tries. And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city (2 Chrou. xv. 5, 6 ). We are also informed that •' the n Marvellous Discoveries in BibU Lamh. 89 liighways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked tlirougli by-ways. The inhabitants of the villages ceased," and that as there was no king in Israel, "every man did that which was right in his own eyes " (Judges v. 6, 7 ; xvii. 6). And it can easily be gathered from the sequel that few among the people did "that which was right." Consequently, as ptinishmcnt for their evil doings, the .Sujireme Ruler of nations, who cannot do otherwise, and be (rod, than punish the transgressor of His Divine i,aw, raised up enemies in every quarter as executioners ot His justice, who invaded the land and le(t many of their choice <nties in ruins. How- ever, amid all the turmoil and battle-array of those days, it is also recorded that there were intervals of peace and prosperity, whiih. on the whole, were much longer th;i,n the times of war and oppression. Although the general im- pression given by the Sacred narrative is, that there was no peace to him tliat wont out or came in during all those years ; yet, it would \x. a mistake to suppose that there was nothing during all the centures covered by the Book of Judges but an unbroken series of apostasies and judgments. In the darkest hours of that period, we have reason to be- lieve there were some of the people that fe;<red (Jod, and for their sakes His execution of justice was mixed with mercy ; hence the intervals of peace and security related in His Word. ^ Notwithstanding those seasons of peacefulness, however, there is no record to intimate that any of the cities of Canaan destroyed by Joshua, or invading enemies after his death, were repaired until after the monarchy under the kings was established. Ju Uie Scri|)ture record we have m. A^ ^V. <>- .> .0.^'^'i^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // {•/ y. f/. 1.0 I.I 1.25 -'^i IIM IIIIM ■ II1I3J 1^ 136 12.2 2.0 1.8 U IIIIII.6 V] <^ /a J^: V ■^ ^ /a W / o 7 Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY MS80 (716) 872-4503 ) 4. <.J„ ^4b. w., ^^ 90 Marvellous Discoveries in Hihlc Lands. A &REAT BREAK IN THE HISTORY OP PALESTINE, betwt'en the desiniction of the Aiuoritc ♦•ivilization and the establishment of th > Jewish civili/ation under the kings ; and the stratum c>\ rude material in the ruins of Lachish, cor- res[)onds to that period. In fact it is considered by wise men, who have carefully investigated the matter, that there was no other peiiod in the national h)slory of Israel when the large mound of ruins, forming the remains of Lachish, could have accunuiiated. immediately above the stratum of the ruins of the old Amorite city " the excavator has found the remains of a n^w Lachish with strong fortifications and public buildings of stone. Among the stones are slabs on which pilasters of curious form have 1 en cut in relief. In j)lace of a <a|)i- tal each pilaster is finished with a rolule which has the form of a ram's horn," Among the remains of this new city it is apparent on every hand that the fortifications and buildings were from time to time ruined by an enemy, or fcH into de- cay of their own accord, and that ui)on their foundations fresh walls and buildings were " constructed out of the old stones. In one place tiiere is a ' glacis-slope:' some thirty feet in breadth, formed of blocks of stone, bedded in the earth, and faced with white plaster. The slabs on which tlie i>ilastcrs are carved, and which Mr. Petrie would refer to the reign of Solomon, have Ikjcii smoothed wiili Hint scrapers." Thus the Jewish lachish had its " ups and downs" until after the final cajjlivity of Judah, when it evi- dently sank into decay and ruins, and remained s^» until now resurrected after its long night of oblivion to conlirni the record of Bible story. 1 i Manelhms DiMo^'eries in IHhle Lands, 91 " While Mr. Peirie and Mr. Bli^s have ihus been working at Lachish, the natives have been working in the neighljor- liood of ('»a/:a, at a spot the exact situation of which is un- known. J3ut wherever it is, it is a site which goes back to the (lays of THE EGYPTIAN SUPREMACY IN CANAAN, Some of tlie objects whicii liave been found there have been purchased by Mr. bliss, and prove to belong to the age of the Kighteenth Egyptian dynasty. Among them are alabaster vases bearing the name of Ainenophis III. and his wife Teie. Another object bears an inscription which s'aows that it beloni;e<l to a temple of the g0(]dess Mul, and that this temple had been erected by Anienophis U., the grand- father of Amenoi>his 1(1. As objects of Egyptian manufac- ture have thus been lying undisturbed on the site since an earlier period than that of the reign of K.hu-n-Aten, we may anticipate that here also a library of cuneiform tablets similar to those at Tel ei-Amarna will he found." As to these tablets the illustration on page 9.^ will show the reader what ihey are. We know that in Babylonia and in Kgyjit the in- terior of a temple was the favourite place in which to store the contents of a library, and it is therefore by no means iniprobabki that the modern fellahin lave lighted on the site of the ancient library of (iaza, and that astounding revela- tions will be made in due time. The exploration of West- ern Palestine is, doubtless, almost exhausted on the surfa4;e, but there is evidently a great future for it underground." A noted authority referring to this subject says : " We have run most of the (piestions to earth ; it only remains to dig thciu u])." As to . Hyy. wmrtim f! 92 JMarvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, THB PHILISTINE GOD DAaON, it has been discovereri that instead of l)eing representee* as " the fish god," composed nf half iDan and h;ilf fish, as shown in picrtnre books, he should Ix; set forth as a " ploughman" in re})re?ientation of *• an agricultural <k'ity who w^atched over the growth .\nd ripening of the crops." That Dagon was " the god of corn is shown by a Phce- nician cylindvical seal of crystal now in the Ar.hmolear» Museum at Oxford," on which i'* inscribed in Phoenician letters the name of " Baal-Dagon," while an ear of corn is engraved near it. This discovery explains vrhy the " tive golden mice" were sent as a tres-i^ass ofTering to the God of Israel, by the Phil- istines, on their return of the ark to Beth -she nu;!sh, as recorded in the sixth chapter of first Samuel. The plain of Philistia was one of the most productive sections of the Holy Land, and the Philistines were an agricultural people. Jehovah, the God of Israel, was looked ui)on by them as essentially •' the Ix)rd of hosts," " a man of war," '' and as such he was the antagonist of the agricultural god of the Philistine cities. fie had proved his su[)eric,r power by overthrowing the image of their god, )ust as in external nature the corn which was under that god's protection was destroyed by the mice. It was accordingly natural to conclude thivt the mice were the instruments and symbols ol the (lod of Israel, and that the surest way of appeasing his wrath was to present him with them in a costly form." By reading the Scripture narrative it is diflkull to grasp the idea that Dagon was a god who protected their fish, as there is no intimation given that they were exer engaged in any kind oi marine occupation. But, when the iuviges of I Mai'^i'cllous Disiovcrics in Bible l.attds. 93 Plate I. 01 thk Tkl-el-Amarna Tahlkts, discovered in i888, as referred to '\n page 39. the "mice that mar the land" are mentioned, we infer at once that Dagoii must have been a god who guarded the corn which the mice destroyed, and hence the meaning of the passage becomes dear. Any person who has had ex- perience of the destruction caused by a profusion of mice among unthrashed grain will have no trouble to understand why the rhilistines were so anxious to return the ark with the tresspass offering of the golden mice, in hopes that the 94 Marvellous Discm'crics in Bible Lands. ravages of ihe little crcatuics which infested their corn stacks might cease their ravages. THE FAMOUS SILO AM INSCRIPTION, accidently discovered a few years ago, is also another re- markable revelation in supjjort of the accuracy of Bible his- tory, and has led to a series of other similar discoveries of the greatest interest and value. In 2rid Kings xx. 20, it is stated that He/ekiah " made a pool and a conduit, and brought water into the city" of Jerusalem ; and in 2 Chronicles xxxii. 30, we read that " This same He/ekinh also stopped lh( uj)j)er water course of Gihon, and brouj^ht it 'Straight down to the west side of the City of David." lioth of these statements are now fully established, apart from the Scrip- ture narrative. The Pool of Siloam, which lies in a recess at the south- eastern termination of Zion, is fed bv a subterraneous chan- nel, which was evidently hewn at some period of lime through the solid rock which forms the lower .spur of the ridge of Ophel, to the Fountain ^^f Gihon. whose waters <* rose outside the walls on the sloping clitTwhich overlooks the valley of the Kidron. The distance between these two points, in a straight Ime, is about i 200 feet, but the length of the tunnel through which the water Hows from the Fountain to the Pool, owing to it:; many windmgs, is T708 feet by actual measurement. Although this undergroimd water course was known to exist, yet its real existence and connections were ma-k' ab- soluttl) certain through the indefatigable exertions of Dr. Edward Robinson, of New York, the great pioneer of Pales- tine FAploration Society, accompanied by Dr. Smith, an American Missionary at Beirout, who had the hardihood ■F Hi Hm Man'elloHs Discoveries in Bible Lands. 95 • to creep through the whole length of the tunnel, and that of of Captain Warren, of the same Society, who accom- plished the same feat when excavating at Jerusalem. Having thus discovered the tunnel and its connections, the real date and circumstances of its construction have been determined beyond all doubt by the discovery of an inscrip- tion engraved on the rocky wall of one of the sides, about sixteen feet from its mouth at Siloam. The discovery of the inscription was made accidently in this way in 1 880 : " In the summer of that year some native pupils of Mr. Schick, a German architect long settled in Jerusalem, were wading in the Pool of Siloam, and the part of the tunnel which opens into it, when one of them slipped and fell in the water ; on rising to the surface he noticed what appeared to be letters cut in the reck, and accordingly informed Mr. Schick of what he had observed, Mr. Schick visited the spot, and at once saw that an ancient inscription had been found, and had a copy of the engraving made and sent to Europe for decipherment at the earliest date possible. But owing to the fact that the inscription on the rock had been carved below the ordinary level of the water which flowed through the subterranean passage, the characters had thus become filled with a deposit of lime, so that it was impossible to cor- rectly distinguish the letters." The first mtelligible copy of this inscription was made, howevci, by Professor Sayce in Feb. 1881, who tells the story thereof as follows : " In the winter after the di.scovery I arrived at Jerusalem, and one of ray first visits was to the newly found inscription. To make a copy of it, however, proved to be a more troublesome task than I had antici- pated. Not only was it difficult to determine the forms of the letters, owing to the lime depo.sits, which had equally 96 Marvellous Discoi'eries in Bible Lands. filled every crack and crevice in the rock, it was necessary to sit for hours in the mud and water of the channel deciph- ering them as best one could by the dim light of a candle. It was not until three afternoons had been spent in this fashion that I had the satisfaction of obtaining a text, the greater part of which could be read, and which proved to be a record of the construction of the conduit written in pure Biblical Hebrew." The inscription consists of six lines, all of which are per- fect with the exception of a few letters which have been destroyed by the wearing away of the stone. 7'he following is a correct translation as taken by Professor Sayce : " [Behold] the excavation ! Now this is the history of the excavation. While the excavators were lifting up the pick, each towards his neighbour, and while there were yet three cubits to [excavate, there was heard] the voice of one man calling to his neighbour, for there was an excess in the rock on the right hand [and on the left]. And after that on the day of excavating the excavators had struck pick against pick, one against the other, the waters flowed from the Sjjring to the Pool for a distance of 1 200 cubits. And a hundred cubits was the height of the rock over the head of the excavators." The translator of this inscription also states that there is no date or name engraved on the rock bearing this inscrip- tion, but unmistakable indications in the style go back to the eighth century before our era, which would bring us to the reign of Hezekiah, and this tunnel was, no doubt, the work of that king. He also adds : "As the word Gihon means ' a spring,' it can refer only to the single spring of water possessed by Jerusalem. It would seem, therefore* that what He/ekiah did was to ' stop ' the spring, and in- Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, 97 troduce water into the city by means of a tunnel whi' h ed to a pool in the western side ot the ' City of David.' And now at the end of two thousand seven hundred years after its construction this tunnel remains as a silent witness to the Scripture record that Hezekiah, king of Judah ' made a i)()ol and a conduit, and brought water into the city.' " t As it is evident by the inscription that the work of ex- cavating this tunnel was begun at both ends at the same time " the engineering skill exhibited in its construction was of no mean order. When we consider the length of the tunnel, its winding course, and the depth below the surface of the ground at which it had been cut through the solid rock, it becomes pretty clear that the engineers who super- intend the work must have had scientific instruments of some kind to guide them." Although the tunnel winds considerably, doubdess for the sake of following the softer lines of the rock, the workmen so nearly met in the middle that the sound of their tools must have been heard by each party as they were about to jjass one another at the centre of the aqueduct where the "rib" was evidently broken through by a distance of about two feet only, in order to make the connection. The following report of Captain Warren's dilticult tour through this POOL OF SILOAM TUNNEL will give the reader an idea of what it really is. Captain Warren and his assistants enter.d the rock-cut passage leading from the V^irgin's Fountain to the Pool of Siloam from the Siloam end, where the height is sixteen feet, sloping down to four feet, and the width two feet. He reports thus : ■ i 98 Marvelions Discoveries in Bible Lands. " The bottom is a soft silt, with a calcarous crust at ih ". top, strong enough to bear the human weight, excejit in a few places, where it lets one in with a tlojj. r*ur measure- ments of height were taken from the top of this crust, as it now forms the bottom of the atjueduct, the mud-silt is from fifteen inches to eighteen inches deep. We were now crawling on all-fours, and thought we were getting on very pleasently, the water being only four inches deep, and we were not wet higher than our hips. Presently bits of cab- bage-stalks came floating by, and we suddenly awoke to the fact that the waters were rising. The Virgin's Foun is a sort of scullery to the Silwan village, the refuse thrown ihere being carried off down the passage each lime the water rises. The rising of the waters had not been anticipated, as they had risen only two hours previous to our entrance. At eight-hundred and fifty ieet the height of the channel was reduced to one foot ten inches, and here our troubles began. The water was running with great violence, one foot in height, and we, crawling full length, were up to our necks in it. 1 was particularly embarrased': One hand necessarily wet and dirty ; the other holding a pencil, com- pass, and field-book ; the candle for the most part in my mouth. Another nfty feet brought us to a place where we had regularly to run the gauntlet of the waters. The pass- age being only one foot four inches high, we had just four inches breathing-space, and had .some difficulty in twisting our necks round properly. When observing, my mouth was under water. At nine hundred feet we came upon two false cuttings, one on each side of the aqueduct. They go in for about two feet each. I could not discover any appearance of their being passages ; if they are, and are stopped up for any distance, it will be next to impossible to clear them out Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. )9 in such a place. Just here I involuntarily swallowed a \^ox- tion of my lead-pencil, nearly choking for a minute or two. We were now going in a zig zai: direction towards the north-west, and the height increased to four feet six inches, which gave us a little breathing-space, but at ten hundred and fifty feet we were reduced to two feet six inches, and at eleven tiundred feet we were again crawling with a height of only one foot ten inches. VVe should probably have suffered more from cold than we did, had not our risable faculties been excited by the sight of our fellah in front l)lunging and puffing through the water like a young grampus. At eleven hundred and fifty feet the passage again averaged in height two feet to two feet six inches, at fourteen hundred we heard the sound of water dripping as described by Cap- tain Wilson, the Rev. Dr. Barclay, and others. I carefully looked backwards and forwards, and at last found a fault in the rock, where the water was gurgling, but whether rushing in or out I could not ascertain. At fourteen hundred and fifty feet we commenced turning to the east, and the passage attained a height of six feet ; at sixteen hundred and fifty- eight feet we came upon our old friend, the pas.sage leading to the Ophal shaft, and, after a further fifty feet, to the Virgin's Fount. Our candles were just becoming exhausted, and the last three angles I could not take very exactly. There were fifty-seven stations of the compass. When we came out it was dark, and we had to stand shivering for some minutes before our clothes were brought to us. We were nearly four hours in the water. I find a difference of forty-two feet between my measurements and those of Dr. Robinson ; but if he took the length of the Virgin's Fount into account we shall very nearly agree. '• The discovery of a shaft down to the water of the Vir- ^i ICX) Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. gin's Fount threw considerable light upon the object of the rock-cut canuls about Jerusalem, as proving them, as had been conjectured by some, to have been for conducting away the refuse of blood from the 'rcmi)le." Such is the graphic description of this remarkable sub- terranean water-course given by Captain Warren, and " is a fair example of the manner in which he and his associates carried on their explorations in under and around Jerusa- lem — always with great fatigue, and often not unaccompanied by danger." ANOTHER TUNNEL OP SMALLER DIMENSIONS and straight course, some distiince beneath this one of Hezekiah's, has also been discovered, and corresjionds to that referred to by Isaiah (viii. 6) in which " the waters of Shiloah go softly." As the prophecy of Isaiah was delivered while Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, was still reigning, thislower tunnel must have been formed at an earlier date than the other, and that the water was already flowing softly through it when the other was built. In the Scripture narrative it is dis- tinctly stated tha:: it was '• the upper water-course" or spring of Gihon, known also as the Virgin's Spring, which was " stopped" by Hezekiah, so that the upper source infers that there must have been a lower one then in existence. *' It is a remarkable proof of the historical accuracy of Scrip- ture that explorers within the last few years have found what they believed to be the very plug — a plug of stone — with which Hezekiah shut ofT the waters so that they might be of no advantrge to Sennacherib during the siege of the city." The object with which this upper tunnel of Siloam was MaYiillous Discoveries in Bible L,inds. lOi luade is obvious. The Virgin's Spring is the only spring ol fresh water in the ininicdiato ncighbourhoDd of Jerusalem, and in time of siege it was important that while the enemy sljould be deprived of access to it, its waters should be made available for those who were within the city," But, as this spring rose outside the walls, on the sloping clifF which overlooks that part of the Kidron, known as the valley of Gihon, to the west of the city, in ordei .it its overflowing water should be brought into Jeri.salem. v was necessary that a long [..issage be excavated in ihr rock «uch as has already been referred to. The spring it .^If was evi- dently cov . ! with masonry so that it could be '• sealed up" in cise of war ; and, ihat it was actually so sealed ut the time of Sennacherib's invasion of Judah we are assure^, by the record in 2 Chronicles xxxii. 3, ^. Here it is stated that at that lime He/.ekiah " took coui sel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city, and tl^-y did help him. S*"* there was gathered much peoj)le together, who shopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the king of Assyria come and find much water." As to THE WATER SUPPLY OP JERUSALEM, it is evident that the spring •' Gihon" su])plied water to the residents of that portion of Jerusalem known as Zion,orthe City of David, at least ; but that the water required for the Temple service, and the people in times of emergency, wt.s brought by an underground channel from the highlands to the south of Bethlehem, in the hill country of Judea. The late Dr. Thomp.son, author of " The Land and the Book," in describing the " Pools of Solomon" in that region I -m.. l: !02 Jifar^'ellous DiscoViries in lUblc Lands, states, that the aqueduct leading from these pools to the Holy City •' passes along the eastern end of the hill of Bethlehem, and thence by numerous windings, to get round the heads of the ravines, it is conducted to Jerusalem. Near that city it is carried along the wes' side of the valley of Gihon to the north-western end of the lower pool of Gihon, where it crosses to the east side, and, winding round the southern declivity of Zion, tinally entered the south-eastern corner of the Temple area, where the water was employed in the various services of the sanctuary."' This statement is sujjported by the actual facts of the case as they are known to exist to-day. *' The temple site at Jerusalem was an enormous plateau of rock neai ly a quarter of a miie sciuare, and originally rising about one hundred and fifty feet above the valley on the east. This rock is discovered to be honey-combed with vast cisterns, the largest holding three million gallons, and thirty-five thus far exam- ined having a coml)ined capacity of ten million gallons, sufficient to supply two hundred thousand people with drinking water for a year," THE POOLS OF SOLOMON, from which this water sujjply for the 'i'emple war, ol)tained, are located in a narrow valley between Bethlehem and Hebron, about eight miles north of the latter place. Their dimensions given by Dr. Robinson arc — for the first, that most to the east, 582 feet by 207 and 50 deep, the .second 423 by 250 and 39 deep, the third 380 by 236 and 25 deep. Jiut they are all narrower at the upper end \ the fust being 148, the second 160. the third 229 feet broad there. These pools are formed in the native rock. The sides are walls Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 103 built up with large regularly-S([uared stones, and the style of the masonary bespeaks great anticjuity. The bottom and sides have been carefully coated with cement. They are su])pled with water from the surrounding ravines and moun- tains, tlieir chief source of supply being a copious spring about forty rods to the north-west, from whence the water is conveyed by an artifical channel many feet below the surface. This spring is said to be Solomon's Sealed Foun- tain referred to in Song iv. 12. It is also, doubtless, one of those fountains which were without the city, and the aqueduct, from the pools to Jerusalem, was no doubt "the brook that ran through the midst of the land," which Heze- kiali stopped in order to cut off the water from Sennacherib. Assuming this to be so, the Sacr?d record of that event becomes clear as noon-day, and support.s the Scripture nar- rative to the letter. Another remarkable incident which casts light on an obscure portion of Bible history was the discovers of THE ROYAL QUARRIES AT JERUSALEM by Cnptain Warren in 1852. In that year an entrance was discovered a short distance to the east of the Damast;us gate on the north side of the city. Opening by a passage leading to vast subterranncan ciuarries. At first there is presented to the visitor the appearance of a natural cave only, but ere long the steej* descent leads to huge corridors which must have been excavated by the hand of man. In exploring these underground excavations, by the aid of a lighted taper, you are confounded at the depth and extent of the numerous vaults, which run in all directions, forming a labyrinth of extensive chambers, cut in the solid rock, and extending under one side of the city from Kezetha ■'f • -■i:m 104 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. M to iMotint Moriah. As you travel through cavern after cavern of these subterranean vaults, to the old city wall in the south-east v,orner vchi feel inspired with a deep sense of awe and solemnity. The sombre walls, jagged roof, quaint archways, rubbish mounds, prost: wte blocks, sharp precipices, rock-cut steps leading to dismal amphi- theatres, and above all, the weird ap])earancc of fantastic shadows cast by the brigh> rays of the taper you hold in your hand, form a spectacle never to be forgotten. The whole surroundings of the place indicate that it was once a hive of activity. On every hand you see chisellings and other mason's marks on the surface stones which pro- fusely strew the floor. The work of quarrymg stone in this place was a])parently effected by the use ol a jiick-axe with a broad chisel-shaped end. The marks of the cutting instruments are as plain and well defined as if the workmen had just ceased from tl\eir labour. On the walls of the chambers are also visible the stains of the smoke of the lamps which were evidently placed in niches cut in the rock to give light to the workers. The stone seems to be of a soft nature that should be easily worked in its crude state, but which might become hardened by exposure, like that of Malta and Paris. Its colour is nearly white. The roof of these excavations is supported by massive rock pillars and side ribs which were left standing in the various sections. In the extreme end of the last chamber are blocks of stone but half quarried, and still attached by one side to the solid rock. In one place there is a huge stone partly cut down, but left unfinished. The heaps of chippings which lie about show that the stones were dressed and pre- )tared in the vaults for some special woxk, and the idea that AIan>cllous Disccn^eries in Bible Lands. 105 they were used in the Temple building, is supported by the Scripture record, which states : " And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in build- ing (i Kings vi. 7). In the PREPARATION OF THE STONE FOR THE TEMPLE at Jerusalem, being thus hiddenly quarried and dressed in the places far below the erea on which the temple stood* there is a signal illustration of the fact, that believers who are " lively stones " in the " spiritual house " beyond the skies, of which the building of Solomon was a type, must be prepared by the operation of the Divine Spirit in the quarry of this world, for taking their place in that eternal abode. Although it is generally believed, and the evidence from the Bible is strongly presumptive, that the stones used in the building of " Solomon's I'emple " were brought from Mount Lebanon, yet the sacred historian fails to say so ; and the probabilities are that many of them were cut from the quarries beneath the Holy City, which have already been described. One thing in favour of this likelihood is the fact that the mouth of the passage leading to the quarry is but a little below the level of the platform on which the Temple stood, making the transportation of the immense blocks of stone a comparatively easy task. The stone here is also said to be of the same nature as much of that of the Lebanon range, which is a further support of the probability that many of the stones used in the Temple building came from these underground quarries. Be this as it may, however, as the Bible says nothing to the contrary, it is ditiicult to ""•^^ io6 Marvcllons Discoi'erzes in Bible Lands. believe that the " great stones " such as have been discov- ered in the lower walls of the old Temple, soine of whieh are said to exceed one hundred tons in weight, were transported from Mount Lebanon. That the cedar and fir-trees tinT^>er used in the Temple building came fronnt I^banon, there is no ground for doubt, as we are told that Hiram sent it do\vn from Tyre to Joppa in floats, from whence it was taken up to Jerusalem by some means not revealed to us. Taking the whole matter into consideration, the writer's conviction is that many portions of the Temple walls were constructed of substantial wrought stones obtained in the vicinity of Jerusalem. It is not to be denied, however, that the outer walls of the Temple, erected by Solomon, were of marble blocks. A received authority referring to this mat- ter, states : " Alone and isolated in its grandeur stood the Temple Mount. Terrace upon terrace its courts rose, till, high above the city, within the enclosure of marble cloisters, cedar-roofed and richly ornamented, the Temple itself stood out a mass of snowy marble and of gold, glittering in the sunlight against the half-encircling green background of Olivet." This statement is not out of harmony with the Bible record which states, that David, before his death, had prepared marble, gold, timber, precious stones and much other valuable material for the construction of the Temple, which he left in charge pf Solomon with the advice that he might add thereto. It is also stated, in the same connection with this, that David had " set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of god." This latter statement of the Sacred record leaves no iDom to doubt that there were many other wrought stones used in the Temple besides those of marble j and it is more than probable, that in the near Mavvclloiis Discm'crics in Bible Lands. 107 future, some inscription will be unearthed, similar to that of the Siioam Tunnel, Ijearing testimony that the stones which king David set masons to carve for the Tcmi)le were cut from the great quarries !)eneath the Holy City. Meantime, we must await the issue of further research before definite conclusions can be drawn. Among all the discoveries hitherto made in Bible lands, the ruins of Tyre, Nineveh and Babylon excepted, none are more calculated to bear witness to the truthfulness of God's Word than the saddening desolation manifest in the vicinity of tlie Holy City, and many other portions of the " Promised Land ' The Sacred record assures us that " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the (lentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," also, that " a fruitful land shall be turned into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein." These predictions of " Ciod, that cannot lie," are <;vidently being fulfilled. Jerusalem has indeed been long trodden down by the Mohammedan powei, and the site of its <' holy and beautiful house," which once graced the sum- mit of Moriah, has long since been desecrated l)y the erection of the Mosque of Omar, which is one of the chief centres of the Mohametan impostor. The tombs of David, Solomon and other renowned kings of Israel and Judah, have been rified and desecrated. Mount Zion, beautiful lor situation» the joy of the whole eanh, with the city of the <;reat king on its north ;jide, is now plowed as a field, in fulfilment o* the prediction uttered by Micah, the Morasthite, in the days of HeKckiah: "Thus saith the Lord of hoses, Zion shall be plowed hke a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest" (Jer. xxvi, 18). ■idii I08 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. THE WAILING PLACE OF THE JEWS, near the ruins oi their National Temple, is an undying' tes- timony to the assurance given in the Sacred volume, that (lod shall yet have mercy upon Zion, and that there is a set time appointed to favour her, which shall assuredly come as promised. '• When the Lord shall l»uild up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the des- titute, who takes pleasure in her stones and favours the dust thereof." Mthough these promises are undoubtedly of spiritual meaning to the Christian, yet their literal meaning in the ex' ericnce of God's ancient people cannot he doubted. As this place of wailing is a sorrowful spot, of special in- terest to the Christian traveller on his visit to the Holy City, we will, for a few moments, visit it. It is Friday afternoon, and after winding our way through narrow streets and lanes we reach an ancient wall of 56 feet in height and 150 feet in length, and constructed of 24 layers of stones, each of which range from 12 to i6 feet in length. On entering the narrow court-yard surrounded by this wall, we find the place filled with men, women and children of the Hebrew family, mourning with all the intensity of their nature, for the desolation that has come upon Zion and the city of their fathers' sepulchres. As this scene is beheld, the " I^amentations of Jeremiah" become a positive reality before our eyes, and we can understand the meaning of the prophet as never before. Here old men and women, whose grief is beyond control, spread out their withered hands on the rough stones of the wall, and, with tears streaming down their cheeks, passionately embrace the stones Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 109 worn smooth by the pressure of the lips of countless pil- grima, and cry out in bitterness of spirit as they think of the glories which have long since departed, and the shame and dishonour which has befallen their once honoured and peace- ful nation. The scene is a weird and heartrending one, never to be forgotten, as the leading patriarcli or rabbi chants the service, with the great book, ol the bw open be- fore him, waiMng out his agony, and the people, with tears streaming down their (aces, uttering the responses behind the stern gray walls that overlook the scene, and seem to bar the happiness and progress of the Jewish nation forever. The following is the litany that has been used every week for many generations on such an o<:casion as this : Leader, Response. *' For the place that lies desolate," *^ We sit in solitude and mourn." *« For the place that is destroyed," " PVf sit in solitude and mour-n." *• For the walls that are overthrown," " IVe sit in solitude and mourn." *' For our great men who lie dead,'' ^^ We sit in solitude and mourn." "For the priests who have stumbled," " IVe sit in solitude and mourn," •• For our kings who have despised him , * ' " IVe sit in solitude and mourn. " When this last response is repeated, the mourning and beating of the wall ceases, the tears are dried, and the ser- vice of wailing is changed to that of hope breaking upon the vision, and the service assumes the form of prayer, thus ; Leader. Response. ** Haste, haste. Redeemer of Zion." "Speak to the heart of Jerusa- lem." " May beauty and majesty surround "Ah, turn thyself, merciful to Ziom." Jerusalem." *' May the kingdom soon return to "Comfortthose that mouru over Zion." Jerusalem." ■ V 1 10 Marvelhhs Discoveries in Bible Lands. *• May peace ami joy abide with " And the branch >f 7'^s5tf Zion." spring up at Jertisalem.'* This exercise being one of the jnost saddening, callous must the soul be that could view it without inspiring a sigh or dropping a tear of sympathy for the outcasts of Israel, who meet here from week to week to lament the desolation of Zion, and implore its restoration, which must come through that Saviour whom their fathers crucified on Calvary,praying that his blood might be on them and on' their children. Hav- ing thus said in their hearts to God, " Depart from us," (rod said to them, " Depart from me." 'J'he divorce being com- pletCj till a reconciliation shall take place, its sad fruits must remain. That a restoratiotr shall be the case is certain. When " the fullness of the Gentiles shall l»e come in," their restoration, tliiough an acceptance of the Re- deemer, shall be as " life from thedead." (Rom.xi. 15, 25). That a bright future is in store Tor the natural seed of Abraham thore is no doubt. Thf promises of God are sure and steadfast as the Paternal Throne, and must be fully verified. If the threatenings of the Almighty; as to the punishment of this people for their rebellion against Him in the breach of the covenant entered, into with God at Horeb, by their ancestors, have beein executed, have we not good reason to believe that the promises of God as to their restoration to His favour shall also be fulfilled? As this covenant was moral in its nature and of national extent, it was^ therefore, absahdely binding upon the future posterity of Israel. Of the perpetuity of this covenant we have an assurance in the address of Moses to the- people over forty years after their fathers had entered into it. He states : *' The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb, The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, but with Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 1 1 1 us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day." (Deut. v. 3, 3). The conditions of this covenant on Israel's part are recorded thus; "And Moses came and called for the elders of the [x-ople, and laid before their faces all these words .vhich the Lord commanded hun. And iill the peo- ple ans\wred together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord," (Exod, xix, 7, <S). Hence, the ratilicaiion of this national contract between God and Israel, the obligations of which became at once perpetually binding upon posterity, and could not possibly be abrogated by any act of legislation, or otherwise, that the people of Israel might adopt. It bound the Jewish nation to the faithful observance of the Divine law delivered at Sinai, And, as surely as " The National Covenant of Scotland, and the Solemn League and Covenant of the three kingdoms" entered into by the people of those lands over two hundred years ago, and placed on the Statute Book of the realm, as British law, until the objects contemplated in them should be accomplished, are still binding upon the nation of Great Britain, notwithstanding the Act Recissory of Charles 11. , so surely are the Jewish people yet bound by their covenant with God at Sinai. And, who can doubt that this people who. although • scattered and peeled," have still retained so many of their national characteristics, and resisted the encroachment of everv enemy that could be marshalled against them, have a strength and tenacity of purpose, which will be used by Providence in working out in the future, through them. His great designs. Mean and squalid as is their wailing- place at Jerusalem, no one can return from a visit there without being saddened by their consecrated grief, itnd impressed with tlie possibilities of " 1 12 Marvellous Discoveries ifi Bible Lands. such a people when regenerated and redeemed by the Sav iour whom ihey have long rejected. By the prophesies of Jeremiah we arc informed that an acknowledgment of their backsliding and a public renovation of their covenant with God, shall take place at the time of their acceptance by God; "In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping : they shall go, and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying. Come, and let us join our- selves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall nor be forgotten." (Jer. 1. 4, 5). THE RUIN OP ANCIENT BABYLON, an illustration of which is given on the following page, is another faithful witness to the authenticity of Sacred his- tory. Around few places mentioned in the Bible does there gather such an awsome and weird interest as around the remains of this renowned city, which was founded by Nim- rod, the son of Cusii, grandson of Ham, and great grandson of Noah, and which Nebuchadnezzar enlarged and beauti- fied beyond conception, as the great capital of tne Chaldean monarchy. : • As a knowledge of the cfreer of this empire is necessary to the Bible reader, in order to a correct understanding of much of the Old Testament narrative, before viewing the ruins of its capital, we will briefly review its remarkable history: AlK)ut one hundred years after the Flood, when men had begun to multiply, and perceive that the natural rosult of the mcrease of mankind wouM be the dispersion and alien- ation of those who had hitherto formed but onecommunitv. I Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 1 13 v'W% . 1, 1 ■ I '1 Hi-, :■:!: :;■'!.' ,|i|l"r'v ■ ■ ■■-.▼ I,,.. .1 ■)* z 2 >- m < CO t- < cc o CO q: < N N UJ Z o < I o CQ UJ Z u. o Z CC l« ^. 1r 114 Marvi'lious Discoveries in Bilk Lands. they determined to erect a lofty tower and city, which should serve as a rallying point iind centre of union for their families, and also form the metropolis of an imiversal moiiarchy, that would perpetuate their name and fame to all time. As to the leader of this cunningly rxmceived enterprise, which would doubtless have been a success for a time, had the Lord not interferrcd with their plans, by confounding their language, so that they could not understand one another's speech, we may justly infer, from the connectmg narrative, that Nimrod was the person. IJe that as it may, however, we are informed that the beginning of this great personage's kingdom was at this place, which, on account of the confusion of tongues, was called "Label." After- wards we learn that it took the name Babylon, and became the capital of Babylonia, and in course of time it became the renowned metropolis of the Eastern World, the grand centre of commerce, art, and wisdom. On the fall of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, we are in- formed that Babylon, which had for centuries declined before the rising jjower of Assyria, became the Asiatic power, and head of the countries over which Assyria had control. It gained its highest pinnacle of splendour and amb 'on during THE REIGN OF NEBUOHADNEZZAB, the dread monarch in whose hands were the issues of life and death, and who, according to his own declaration, ruled over "all peoples, nations and languages that dwelt in all the earth" at that time ; and whose boastful reverie, while pacing upon the roof of his royal palace, the outlook irom which, doubtless, commanded a view of the whole city, was : '• Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the \ Marvellous Diacovtrics in Bible Lauds. 1 15 r !: r — — ■*' house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ? " For this expression of haughti- nesss God, who had given him jiower and dominion for the l)ur[iose of punishing the people Judah, for their idolatry and wickedness, took away his reason, so that he became insane, and was one of fhe most detestable creatures on •earth. His heart was changed from man's to that of a beast. He was driven from n^en, and his dwelling was with the wild asse- nnd he did eat grass as oxen, till his hairs had grown 1. i eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws. After being thus humbled, God restored him his reason and enabled him to realize that he wn only a weak mortal like other men, and that the raost high God rules in the kingdom of men, and a|)points over it whomsoever he will. On restoration to his reason and his kingdom his recorded declaration is thi.i : " Now F, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour the king of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." In the life of this great monarch, what a lesson is taught to rulers to '• Be wise now therefore, O ye kings ; be instructed, ye judges of the earth; serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with treml)ling ; kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little.' (Psa. ii 10-12). VVe here learn that kings and governments are moral persons, and must rule in accordance with the requirements of the Law of God, which he hath revealed to us in his Word, or bear the punishment threatened for disobedience. After the death of this Nebuchadnezzar his son, (or grand- son) Belshazzar, made an im[)ious feast to a thousand of his lords, and while he, and his princes, his wives and his con- •cubines, were drinking wine from the golden vessels which 1 i6 Marvillous Discoveries in Bible Lands, I Nebuchadnezziir had taken out of the Temple at Jerusalem, "and jiraising the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone," there came the fingers of a mysterious hand and wrote on the wall of the banquet chamber Belshazzar's inevitable doom, which was imme- diately executed. " In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain, and Darius the Median, look the kingdom." (Dan. v. 1-5, 50, 31). According to accepted authority, thi> Darius was the Cyaxares of profane history, and uncle to the Persian i»rince known us Cyrus the Great, who had subdued Media and established the great Medo-Pcrsian empire. As Cyrus is accredited as being the real conqueror of Babylon it is evident that Darius, being a near relative. — his supposed uncle and father-in-law — acting as general of the Medo- Persian arm) on that occasion, and after die taking of Babylon, reigned under Cyrus for a time. More light on this matter will doubtless be found when the ruins of Baby- lon have been fully explored. Meantime we may rest assured that the Sacred record we I'ave of this king shall be fully sus- tained bv the future archa^.ological research. At the time of Belshazzar's death the Babylonian empire had risen in granduer, power, and extent of dominion, sur- passing anything in the then known world. Nebucl ladnezzar had converted his capital, Babylon, into 1 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY OP ANTIQUITY. It was so magnificent that no description could do justice to it. Herdotus, who visited it about 450 B.C., within a century after the departure of the Hebrew captives, while its walls and buildings were, still perfect describes it as forming a s<|uare of fourteen miles on each side. The entire city was : Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. r 17 surrounded by a deep moat or trench. On the Inside of this ditch were double walls, the outer of which — accord- ing to the measurement of Herodotus — was ^y, V^ feet high and 85 feet thick. On each side of the city these walls were pierced by 25 gates of brass, with their great posts, sills and lintels of bron/e, and their bars of iron. These giganti<: gates, numbering 100 in all, permitted entrances to the city from north, south, east, and west. In order to strengthen the walls 250 towers were erected at sections sup)poscd to be the weakest paits. The city was divided by spacious streets crossing eacli other at right aiigles, those which led to the Euphrates river, which flowed throvigh the city, being closed with brazen gates, through which access to the wharves was gained. The wharves lined the river along its whole course inside the cit}'. The stream was crossed by a bridge, at each extreme end of which was a royal palace ; that at the eastern side of the river binng larger and more magnificent than the other. This palace was nearly seven miles in circuit, in- closed by three lofty walls with prodigious towers. The second wall was 300 feet high, the inside one was still higher, and of coloured brick, representing figures and hunting- scenes. The smaller palace on the western side of the river was also surrounded by a lofty '.vail ^Vj miles m circimv fereuce, and was similarly embellished. These palaces were united by a tunnel i)assing across under the river, besides their connection by the l)ridges. In various sections of the city there were THE RENOWNED HANGING GARDENS. rising in terraces, far above every surrounding object until their top seemed to touch the clouds. These gardens were ■MHHl L Il8 Marvellous D is cov fries in Bible Lands. i. t. constructed at ilie base of huge mounds of masonary on which the soil was placed. At an elevation of 300 feet above the level of the streets, fuH grown trees were trans- planted thereon. On the summit of each of these attractive structures was a reservoir, with engine power to draw water from tlie river, by which the garden was watered in time of drought. Along the terraces shrubs ,ind fiowers of the most fragrant odours bloomed profusely. From the trees that crowned the summit came the music of singing birds. The whole was delightful to look upon, and could not fail to till the beholder with wonder and <ielight. Among the renowned structures of Babylon was THE TEMPLE OF BELITS, .. which rose from a base of 600 feet each way, and extended ujiward about 1000 feet. This temple was of pyramidial form, eight square compartments, or stages, being placed one upon another. A winding ascent, passing round all the stories, led to the platform on the top, on which was a shrine where the god Belus was believed to dwell. From this brief summary of the extent and splendour of this mighty city, it is clear that Babylon, vast and powerful, defended by the strongest bulwarks, and garrisoned by a jiumerous population, located in one of the most fertile plains in the world, and standing in the very liighway of the world's commerce, might fairly have been expected to last out through all ages, or, if it lost its enipire, at least to have re- tained its existence. Is it not reasonable to inquire, " Why should not Babylon, as well as Damascus, Hebron, Joppa, Jerusalem,, be still the abode of men? " In reply to this inquiry it may well be said that "from the beginning a dark cloud lowered over Babylon ; and in ■i Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 1 19 her history a striking lesson is read to the world. She be- came very great, the full-blown development of confident vanity, the exami>le of what arrogant ambition might grow to, the embodiment of scornful strength, the image of care- less security ; the worldly spirit being paramount in her ac- knowledging even in the heavens no superior. But the judgment of God was travelling on. In her hour of pride inspired prophets foretold her ruin. And the present utter desolation of this mistress of kingdoms continues to deliver the impressive warning that God will bringdown the haughti- ness of man, and that those that exalt themselves against him shall be abased." He may u.se them, as he did Nebu- chadnezzar, in the punishment of the Jews, as his instru- ments for a time ; but their day f)f retribution shall come. We should read the story of Babylon in vain if we did not carry along with us this principle, and see how it knits to- gether the narrative, and vindicates itself in the ultimate catastrophe — " Babylon the great is fivllen, is fallen, and shall rise no more at all for ever ! " As to the founding of the great city of Babylon, it is evi- dent, from the Sacred record, that its foundation walls were laid with all the blandishments of selfishness and arrogancy, THE TOWER OP BABEL was not designed to protect its promoters against another deluge, such as that w hich swept away the world of the un- godly a century before, nor was it to be the va.st temple of some idol. Their whole desire was to glorify themselves by the construction of a gigantic monurient and city that would last through all the ages and make for themselves "a name." This, and the grasping of earthly dominion, was their sole aml.ition. God, who had saved their fathers by I20 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. his Providential care, from the great flood, was not in all their thoughts. 1-ct us look for a moment at the circum- stances of the case : They had journeyed from that Armenian region near Ararat which has justly been con- sidered the cradle of the human race, and were in the plain of Shinar. This plain of Shinar was formed by the alluvial deposits of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and extended some four hundred miles in width, and was considered one of the richest and most fertile plains in the world. No more suitable place could be found so favourable to their plan. Bricks they could make of the pure clay they found there : and asphalt or bitumen was abundant for cementing their materials together. Being all of one speech and intonation, they could plan and work harmoniously together. With this object in view they be- gan to build their tower, and city that was to cluster around it, to perpetuale their ramc adown the centuries of time. Doubtless their structure had assumed large dimensions, when '' the T^ord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded," and upset their whole designs, by confounding their language and scattering them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth. Owing to this they left off to complete the city. (Gen. xi. 1-9. Thus, then, the pride of those builders was chastised, and ihe name settled upon their unfmished work was " Babel." Tt is evident, hovvever, that Nimrod, being "a mighty one in the earth" in those days, determined that the beginning of his kingdom should be Babel. And, after adding " Erech, and Accad, and Calneh" to it, as suburbs or neighbouring cities in the land of Shinar, in order to grasp more territory he passed over to Assyria and founded Nineveh as the capi- tal of that kingdom, which in time became the rival of the Mar^'c'llons Discoveries in Bihlc Lands. \2\ T:$a^ylonian inotroix)lis, both in extensiot) and magnificence. 'The people of tl>cs« cities were crinel, Iwii^hty, sensual and overbe^ui^igs, l^Ah cities huiviiig l)eeTi fouixletl V)y tii-e san>c despotic niorvj.iKjh, cradled, as it were, in the same •*' man- ger," and the inhat>itants of each pla'ce (nanife.>4iiig the same nefarious characteristics, when their cuji of ini<]uUy was full, they were swept fro«i the e«arth by the execution of the in- alnitc justice of God, after rcjK'Ated warnings hj.d lailed te effect a refora?. The great city of llaliykin, at the "time of BELSHAZZAR'S INFAMOUS PEAST, Nvas in its glory. Bnt its day of grace being past, its doom sealed, and fhe Xkcac having dawned for tJic wnancipatifMi of Judah's Ga:j;uv-es — wlx) banged their haq:)s upon the wil- Jows by lh<^ streams of Babel, and sat down and wept as they thought u^kxi Zion, which heir cruel c<i|Jtors l>ad laid in ruins — its tdestruction was in-'vi^ablc. The utter <.icvastaition <A Jiabylcn couhi iK>t be otherwise than effected and God's Word l)e true. Its fate in all the details had l>een declared iii the most public and emphatic manner by the Hebrew pro{)Jiets, while the city was in the enjoyment of life and prosix:rity, as wilJ be seen hy a com- iJarison of these declarations with the actual facts of historv, Isaiaii, who lived " in the days of Uj'ziah, Jorham, Ahaz, and Hezekiaii, kings of Judah," (Isa. i. i.), a huridred years at least befot>e tJie ?vIedo- Persian invasion of JUhylon, \)\o phesied thus cx^ncernii^^^ it ; " Tlic burden of BiUivloK, whfch Isaiah the sou of Amos did see. Behold, the day of the Lord comeilh, both with wrath and ficnce anger, to lay the Land desolate ; and he ■ma L 122 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands, rhall dcftUoy the sinners thereof out of it. Behold, I will stir up thf Medes against them, which shall not regard ;iil • ver ; and as for gold, they shsril no! delight in iit. Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces > and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb ; their eyen shall not spare ebildren, And I'abylon, the glory of kingdoms., the beauty of the Chaidee's excellency, shall \>ii as when God overthrew Sodom and (iomorrah. It ^hall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation tc» generation ;. neithei" &h»ll the. Arabian pitch his tent there ; neither shall the shepherds n'uke their folds there \ but the wild beasts of the desert shall lie there and their houses shall be fall of doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell there^ and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild l>easts of the islands shall cry in their desolate hooses, and dragons irv their pleasant places; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolojig.ed. Thus saith the Lord tc» his anointed, to Cyrus, whose r> ^>t hand I have Iwlden to subdue nations before him ;. and I will Vm%t the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates, and the gates shall n(f^t be shut." ^Isa. Tiiii. i. 9, 17-22 ;, xlv. 1)^ This last reference is to the " two-leaved gates" of Babylon^ which ^'eve left open by some means not revealed to us^ during the night of Bslshaz/.ar's great revelry, when I)ariu& entered the city. JEREMIAH'S PBEDIOTIONS REGARDING BABYLON^ . y-.\ -z also written in the days of Ntbuchadnez/a'-, be- .: • • '^ ".':■' ivuetion of the doomed city, read thus • -'It shall cuinc i-> j^mSs, when .seventy years are accomplished, that \ will punish the king ©f Baljylon. and that natio >, saith the MarvcHojis Discoveries in Bible Lands. 123 Lord, for ilicir iniquity, and the land of t!ie Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations. Prepare against her the nations \»*ih the kings of the Medes, the Captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. And the iand shall tremble and sorrow ; for every purpose of the Lord sha!" be performed against Babylon to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant. (.)ne post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of r.nbylon that his city is taken :it one end. vVnd Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment and an hissing, without an inhabitant. Yea the wall of Babylon shall fall. Baby- lon hath caused tiie slain of all the country. I will do judg- ment upon the graven iinages. Though Ikibylon should mount up to heaven, and tho\igh she should fortify the height of h;r strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord ; for the Lord God of re<:ompenses shall surely requite. And I will make drunken her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men ; and they shall .sleep a perpetual sleep, and not awake, saith the King, who.se name is the Lord of hosts. Lhus saith the Lord of hosts : The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gales shall be burnt witii fire, and the people shall labcmr in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary." (Jer. \\v. iz;]\. 28,31, .37. 44, 49. 5^' 55> 54, 5<'^ 57> S^)- All this ruin u:ll upon liabylon, as it had l>een foretold by Isaiah and j'^remiah. After its capture by the Medo- Persians it steadily declined. Cttising to be the seat of government it took rank among the tributary towns. In order that its strength might be weakened in view of possible in- surrection its walls were lowered. According to historical 124 Marveilims Discoveries in Btbk Lands. record the object of its rulers, with the exception of Cyrns and Alexander, seem to have been to render it incapable of successful resistance. Ader the eomjuest by Greece, Alex- ander's ambitious purpose was to restore il to its ancienK grandeur, and to make it THE CAPITAL OP A UNIVERSAL EMPIRE, after he had toncjiiered the world. But alas, for human ambition when left to its own misguidance I 'I'he mighty *' lie-goat,'' or "king of Grecia," seen two hundred year* before in Daniel's vision, who was to trample in the dust " the ram" of the Medo-Persian PLmpiie, with its " hun- dred and twenty-seven provinces, extending from India to Ethiopa," was under control of Jehovali, who is Supreme Governor anwng the natioins > and having subjugated Persia his work was done, and he died at Babylon, in the horrors of intemperance, at the age of thirty-three, and his great empire was shattered to pieces, so that his plans for the gaining of universal dominion were all defeated. .\fter the death of Alexander a variety of causes, too numerous to mention here, contributed to the downfall of Babylon, '* Ravaged and spoiled for ages, and oppressed in turn by the Persians, the Greek, the Parthian, the Roman, the Saracen and the Turk, the golden city has long since ceased to exist, and nothing remains of it to-day but vast and imsightly heaps of ruins," the outlines cf which will be seen by glancing at the picture of its site on page 113. So completely was its magnificence swept oft l>y the besom of destruction that the very site of it was for long a perplexing mystery. But modern investigations have now solved the mystery by the undoubted d; ':overy of what once was Baby- lon, and satisfactorily show us how the threatened doom was executed. Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 125 % Viewing these ruins as they appear to-day, and consider- ing what the place once was, well might the (juestion be asked, '* Is there any spot on earth which has undergone a more complete transformation ?" " 'I'he records of the hu- man race do not present a contrast more striking than that between the primeval magnificence of Babylon and its long desolation. Its luins have been carefully and scrupulously examined by men of unimpeached veracity, and the result of every research is a more striking demonstration of the literal accom|>lishment of every prediction of God's prophets. Could any prophecies respecting a single place have been more precise, or wonderful, or numerous, or true, or more grandly accomplisiied throughout many generations? And when we look at what Babylon was, and what it is, ans] per- ceive the minute reali/aiion of them all, may not nations learn, rnay not tyrants tremble, and may not sceptics think ?" The site of Babylon is now indeed a desolate scene. I'he whole region is a wild, arid and dismal desert, untrodden by the foot of man. " It is spurned alike by the heel of the Ottoman, the Israelite, and the son of Lshmael." No in- ducement could persuade the roaming Arab to ])itch his tent amid its ruins for a night, believing them to be the abodes of evil spirits : The king of the forest ranges over it at his pleasure. Hyenas, jackalls and other ferocious beasts and noxious creatures find it a resort adapted to their nature. And, above all, the screech-owl's nightly moan amid its shattered ruins proclaims, in language not to be mistaken, that " The Lord is the true God, he is the living (iod, and an everlasting King ; at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation." (Jer. X. 10). In addition to this, how appropriate are the words of Isaiah (xl. 8) ; "The grass withereth, the flower I /% 126 Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lauds. fadcth, but the Word of our God shall stand for ever !" The deserved judgments of God, which have been poured out upon Babylon, have also been inflicted upon HER GREAT OOMPEBR. NINEVEH, the grand Metropolis of the Assyrian Empire, which said in her heart, " I am and there is none besides me," has long since sunk "unto the nether parts of the earth," as recorded amonf, the visions of f'/ekiel (xxxi. lo 17), (which the reader can refer to at jjleasure), save a few of its strong- hold " funeral j)iles," which remain in various sections of a wide pasturage, as silent witnesses to the Bible record that '< Nineveh was an exceeding great city," in which there was " much cattle," besides its vast hum.in population. As to the site of this city, it stood upon the easiern side of the river Tigris, some 400 miles north of Babylon, and is given by some authorities us equal in extent to that of Baby- lon. Its form was of a rectangular parallelogram. It was en compassed by walls of 100 feet high, and so broad that three chariots could drive abreast upon their top. These walls were strengthened by 150c towers, each of 200 feet in height. Of the early history of Nine"eh coniparatively little is known by secular historical records ; but it is evident that its rise to greatness was steadily increasing from the time of its founding by Ninirod until it had reached the zenith of its power under A.ssur-bani-pal, After the rival kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been established, its sovereigns are set forth in Sacred history as the leaders of mighty armies, and controlling widely extended erntories. Among its chief rulers were Shalmeneser, Taglath-Pileser, Asshur-bil- kela, Sargon, Sennacherib and Assur-bani-pal. This great power was evidently permitted to increase • ' i i ■: • / Marvellous Discoveries in Bible Lands. 127 wiglitily by the overruling Providcncf of God for the pur- post of uprooting the kingdom of Israel for the idolatry of its people. Soon after the removal of Israel by this power, the work for which it was intended to execute having been accomplished, an overwhelming and irreparable ruin over- took this wicked, treacherous, cruel, idolatrous and arrogant city. The work of ruin was begun by the capture of tho city by tlie Babylonians and the Medes, who sacked it and gave it up to pillage, sword and fire. The destruction was comj)lete. the walls were razed to the foundations, and car- ried away to build cities elsewhere. After this a cloud of da.kness closed over the fortunes of Nineveh, and the site of the renowned city became a matter of doubt as to where the location was, until an accidentfil discovery made by Dr, Layard, and M. Eotta, French Consul at Mosul, in 1845, by the unearthing of an enormous idol figure and some sculptured slabs of gypsum, which led to luriher explorations; and in a short time the discovery of numerous inscribed tablets, similar to that illustrated on page rr;, and many ancient Assyrian sculptures, and other marvellous disinter- ment of the long-lost memorials of the renowned city, came to light, so that ^hi site of the '-great city Nineveh" was no longer a matter of doubt. Dr. Layard stales in reference to the discoveries made by himself and M. Botta at Nineveh ; " It is more than curious ; it is the wise Providence of Him who unc;>vereth secret things that, in our busy, speculative, superficial age, when men are questioning the truths of his revelation, and, wist in their own conceit, denying his moral government of the worlds he has framed, the earth should, as it were, give forth a voice, reveal the buried ]jalaces of ancient days, and proclaim thereby a fre.sh attestation to the truths of Sacred Writ." 128 Marvellous Discin't'ries iti JUble Lauds, THE STRONG CITY OF TYRE, with its impregnable battlements of rtnown, has long since disappeared forever, us foretold it should by the prophet Ezekicl, two hundred years before its destruction: •* Thus saith the Lord God. Ik-hold, 1 am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up aguinst thee, as the sea causeth his vva\es to come up. And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers : ] will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. It sliall be a place tor the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea. I'hey shtill lay thy stones, and thy tim- ber, and thy dust in the midst of the water. 1 will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more : though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found agaiu, Mth the Lord God." Ezek. xxvi. 3, .4, 12, 14, 21). These predictions have all been literally fulfilled. Not a vestige of the "Queen City" is visible but a few huge sea-beaten fragments of the old wall, and jiiles of granite and marble columns scattered along the shores of the peninsula, wnich are now|usedby fishermen as rocks on which to dry their nets. An attempt has been made to erect a modern Tyre in the vicinity of the old one, but it has proved a miserable failure. As Tyre now is, and has long been, she is God's witness that His Word is true, and shall endure forever. Were that which is now called " Modern Tyre" *• powerful and popul- ous she would be the infidel's boast. This, however, she cannot be. 'I\re will never rise from her dust to falsify the voice of prophecy. The very veracity of Jei^^vah stands pledged, or seems to be, to keep it so.'" We might refer to the discovery of the it-mains of Caper- naum, Jericho, vSamaria, and other cities of Palestine, which have come to nought, in accordance with Divine prediction; but what need of further witnesses than those set forth in the foregoing pages, to substantiate the genuineness of Sacred Story ? And, if a perusal of these pages will lead to a more diligent search and study of the Holy Scriptures, and strengthen the faith of the weak believer, and remove the doubt of the sceptic, the writer shall be amply repaid for the many hours he hi^s laboured in their preparation. 1