THE COFFIN OG JACOB.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1799, 26 March 1888, Page 3

THE COFFIN OG JACOB.

A REW AbKABLS<] DISCOVERY. THE GIVE OF MAOEPSLAH , ENTERED. ' Tho following oxatM'di; gly interesting story is published by tho . " Auckland B li " and is abridged from a full flccoiin 1 . whicn appeared in thn "Egyptian Times " on Daonmbor 17fch, ISS7 : -The Gave of \Taohpeldh, (ho but-ylug-place of the Hebrew pa'riarohs, Abraham, Sarah, fsiac, Robeccp, Jacob, and Leah, hae always been considered by the learned to be the moat anthentio of the hfly plnccel of Palestine ; but hitherto co outsider 1 ai boon able to gain admission to the cave itself, which has always been jealously guarded and highly reverenced by the varfoua rulers of the land—Jewish, Christian aud Mahommendan, Readore cf Dean Stanley's •' Sermons in tha East" will remrmbor his deecrlptlon of the Sanctuary (A. HarA.ro) which onsloßea with Its groat wall, almost if not quite as ancient aa the time of Solomon, the site of tha cave The Daan was one of tho companions of the Prince of Wales when in 1862, tha unwilling Santoaa nhowed our future King the eooalled Tomba of the Patriarchs, draped with green oarpsta, and each having its own chapel. "The prineea of any other nation should have passed over my doad body sooner than enter," exclaimed the chio f S»n!on, aa he reluctantly opened the Shrine of Abraham, "but to the eldest aon of the Qaeen of England we »ro willing to aooord even this privilege " Bat not even to the heir of England would be reveal the awful and snored secrets of the cjve below. Tfc was reßervd for the learned Rabbi Bsojamin Bin McAiah of Baghdad to penetrate the mystery of this wonderful cavern. H-W THE GAVE WAS ENTERED.

This learned man, bo euperior to many of the prejudices of hid race, well versed in roont (Semitic tongaea, both ancient and modern, and in the heiroglypbJcs tf E^ypt ond Assyria, who has been for many months engaged In aroh»olog!cal investigations in the East, has just published at Cairo the startling Btnry of hie ndventure. It appeara that in Nuvember, 1887, he w»8 travelling In the neighborhood of Hebron, and was one day passing by the Hai&m with his Arab aorvanr, Abu-al-Himi, when they came suddenly upon a great cistern excavated In the groand, like th;na that are ao oominou around Bait Jibrin, the site of anoient G»th. The top of this oißtern had evidently jaat fallen in, and Bin McAr&h determined tc inspect it, though it was very deep — about sixty feet, Returning therefore on the motrow with servants and rnpeß from his camp, he had himself let down Into the great cavity, taking with him the necessary materials for recording any inecriptiono which might exist upon its sides, a* is the case with eorae of the caverns of the Phlliatinian littoral. A close Burvoy revealed nothing but a small holo in the side nearest th6 Haraoa, and about thirty foet from the mouth of the clßtern — a hole big enough to admit a m&n'B body. The thooght Btruok Bin MOAI A'! that thia might be the entranoe co some gallery in* the rock. Accordingly he ascended, supplied himself with a lantern, and was again letdown. Leaving the rope dangling by the hole, ho with difficulty mado his way through the narrow entrance, and almo3t immediately found himself in a narrow cave about six or eight feet high, and varying in width from three to eight feet. For some time he kept on his laborious way along this difficult paßSdgo, until at last he caught Bight of a light in tho dUtance, and, eagerly hurrying on, soon found himaelf at tho end of the passage (through the last throo or four yavds of which he had to crawl on hands and knees), and JTAINTSD AWAY with aarpriue ond joyful emotion. lioforo him wns « l«r^e o.avp, nbont ono huaclreu feet long by fifty broad, lighted by twelve little lamps, Bix of gold r<hd alx of nilvor. Tho cave was from twelve to twenty feet high, and from one end of the roof there hung by litile golden chalnß a thirteenth lamp of gold. Beneath this lamp lay a large mummy-shaped stone sarcophagus, preolsely like those of Egypt, the outside of which was

COVERED WITH INSCRIPTIONS. Bin MoAtfth at once called to mind the description of the Cave of Machpelah given by Benjamin, of Tudela, in tho twelfth century, and rccognlaod that he was now In tho very tomb ot the Patriarch*, and when he had recovered from his first emotion, he atll! remained for some time rooted to rhe spot with awe and reverential fear. At laat he managed to descorjd Into the cavern, although he knew that he ran groat risks In bo doing should any of the Santona dlaoover him, and now he saw that the account of Benjamin of Tudela was very inacourate, for, besides the sarcophagao, the only signs of burial consisted of two deep nlohes cut In the walls of the cavern, one on each side, at a height of five feet above tha floor, closely resembling thoße found in the Tombs of the Kln^a at Jerusalem. Of the "air sepulchres " spoken of by the Spanlnh rabbi, theae weretheonlytwo repreaonatlvea, There was no " Iron door," but on tha farther Bide of the cavern there was a atone door, which poßalbly led Into another cave, containing, porhapß, other nichoa, In which oaso some other parts of the narrative of Benjamin of Tndala would be confirmed, as would also tha aocouat of FJnati. However, after ho had ascertained that thoro was nothing In the two nlohoa n.r any inaoriptii n around them, Bin McAiA'i directed his attention to

THE SAKOOPJHGUS. And very intereatiug was what ho found tlioro. Although genuine Jowish sepulchres havo always hitherto boon found to bo without inscrip'ions, thin mummy cfißo was found tn bo covered with them— one in the Egyptian hieroglyphics, nnd tho oth|-r in a rhconicinn character not very unlike that upon tho famous Motibitic Btono of Di'jhon, but moro nnciont in appearance. Knowing tlmt time was precious, a8 he might at any moment bo interrup'ed by eomo San ton, Bin McArali hastened to take a copy of each inscription, and has now published a translation of them. That in i< gyptian character tuub as follows : —

"I, Osirtoflon, Koynl Son of the Sun, tho Sun (or King Phamoh) of tho land of Khem (Egypt), eubdncy of Kinh and Neleei (tlio Negroes), I that dwell in An (Heliopolif?) by tho Rivor, and hold Men-nufr (M-mpluß) and Amon-ha (Thoboa)— whoso lurid is a landof fattier— oven I liuvn given to my councillor tho Amu (Sliemile) whoso name in Paontmff noh (flob., Znphnath Pn'nneah— Joseph) that ho should cauao his father, whose yo^ire are many, to bo embalmed even ns th» Sona of i ho Sun are embalmed nnd according to the royal embalming, and to be placed in a coffin of Pine (tho King or Sun). And I have given to my councillor Psontmfeneh to bury hisfathor, who3e yoarft are many, in the land of the Kheta (flittites), according to tho custom of the Amu and not in tho Bopulchroa of GCiui (Gfophen), the lnnd which I gavo to my councillor and to his people tho Amu, when ho saved Khem from destruction Also I cjfivo then to my councillor Psontmfenoh the princeaa Asnoith, daughter of Petophro (l.Teb, Potipecra) the Ohiof Servant of Ra (the Sun) in An. And, behold I, Usirto3en, have bidden my councillor write on Hub coflin, after tho custom of tho people of Khem, in tho tongue of tho Amu, concerning hia fathor. And 1 in tho namo of Tho Hi have sealed too cofljn with my soul, tho seal of Ri" This incriplion shows conclusively that BunHcn w;ib right and Kusublus wrong Jn their rpapoctivo opinions as to which Pharaoh wub Uie Pharuoh of Joseph, and it also atrikingly corroborates the Hobrew narrative aa givea in Genesis,

THE OTHER INSCRIPTION, , namely, that in Phoenician oharaobera, rane ihui : - " I, Yb e'ph (Joaeph), the son cf Israel, the eon of Is'liag (li?ac), the son of Abbraham, (Abraham), whom E'6 ica (God) brought out < f iho land o 5 'he Bi 67 Eo'h (children of Heth) and made rnlej over all the land of Mfzayfm (Euypt) and over ail the honao of P*r'bh (Pharaoh), even I brought forth my father and my father's houae from tha Bug" 7 He' h ; and Pur'dh, because he had respect unto me hla aervant, even he gave nnto them for a dwelling-pleco the land of Gb hon whioh lieth ovor against 'On (Heliopolle) which I ia Pd/th Shemiah (Bath She mesh— House of tne (3un) ; for he aaid, ' Became rf their much oaule* And, behold, Iu&&\ my father died fall of years, and he sain, ' Bury me In the tomb of my fathers In the Of>ae of the field of Maofy 6 Ah .' And, beoacse of the desire of Pa 'dh, I baried him after the manner of M zrayim with gHiat anointing, anp I and my father'a house and they of the houae of P&-'6h, mourned for lur&§! according to the mourning of Mfzraylm, many dayß ; ho that 8r .67 F6 ;h aaid, « Surely the mourn ing of Mizrayim is heavy.' And I left la> Ael my father In tha cave of Maoh[ 6 Ah, aooordlng to hia word, and according to the covenant of AbhiA Am our fa! her wi»h theßnSyHeth. And I built an alter and aacrib'oed un'co E 6 loa my God, that did give unto me the lordship of Mfzrayim. and did show mercy unto me. And I returned, I and my people, to " On." Comment on theße two inscriptions Ib needUsi ; they are wonderfally valuable addttloDß to our knowledge of the past. When Bin MoA, Ah hid finished copying theae two iDßorlptlous he was about to try whether the uaroophagua oould be opeDed, when he heard Bounds of voloea from the other aldo cf .the BtoDe door before mentioned. Foaring to lose not merely hw life bat also the valuable results of his work should he be discovered, be hastily olambored back Into the passage thronj^h which he had come, but as he did ao a Saaton entered through the door and oaught sight of the rabbla retreatinc figure. Either he was PARALYSED WITH HORROR at the Bsorilege committed or was perhaps under the belief that only a Ji-mi oould ' have thus penetrated to the cave; but, i from whatever cauao, no immediate attempt was made to pursue Bin Me A) Ah, whoatlaat arrived a!; the cistern agaiu. So lonft had ho been that the bud waa now letting and his patient Arab attendants, though still quietly waiting round the cistern, declared that some awful encounter with a Jlnul oould alone have bo delayed him. Bin MoAiAh forthwith broke up his camp, not daring to remain In the neighborhood lest susplolon should fall on him. Ho haatenod to Cairo, where the publication of his Btoty has made a tremendous sensation.