BIBLE SEARCH “CURSED”

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19987, 12 July 1939, Page 16

BIBLE SEARCH “CURSED”

OPINION OF SCIENTIST FAMOUS MEN DIE LONDON, June 1. Sir Charles Marston, famous archaeologist. who has spent, a fortune try ing to prove the historical accuracy of the Bible, said last night that there seemed to be a curse on efforts to find evidence about the Scriptures. The “very powers of evil,” he toR. the Victoria Institute, at Westminster, seemed to be endeavouring to thwarfurther discoveries. He was referring to the ill-luck attending the Lachish expedition in Palestine, which made important discoveries confirming the Old Testament. Its main discovery was a series ox personal letters actually written in the days of Jeremiah the prophet. Sir Charles said: “The leader of the Lachish expedition—James Leslie Starkey— although in entire sympathy with the Arab cause in Palestine, was murdered on January 10, 1938. “Sheer Violence” “The expedition’s camp at Lachish has since been raided three times and, it is to be feared, has been destroyed. Again, Sir Henry Wellcome, whose munificent support alone originally made this expedition possible, died several years ago. Lastly, Biblical archaeology has also to mourn the loss of Professor Langdon, whose premature death has been another severe blow to Old Testament work.” Sir Charles Marston said afterwards: "It does seem as though there was a sort of curse. Starkey’s death was tiie worst tiling of all. He was heart and soul with the Arabs. It was just violence —sheer senseless violence.”

James Starkey, 46-year-old leader of Lachish expedition, was stopped in his car on a lonely hillside south of Jerusalem. He was forced to alight and ordered to march ahead. Two bullets were fired ‘into his back. The Lachish Letters —found four years ago—are contemporary correspondence between orthodox Jews written in. the last years of the Kingdom of Judah. i;Ml)’ FARMERS CRITICISED MOSCOW, June 1. Residents of co-operative farms are spending too much time in their own vegetable gardens and too little in the collective fields, said an article in Pravda, tiie Communist party newspaper, to-day. Some farmers have privately-owned gardens exceeding the regulation size and two cows when only one is authorised, Pravda said; as a result they shirk the co-operative work to attend to private tasks.