BURIED TOWNS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 129, 17 June 1937, Page 7

BURIED TOWNS

British Excavations in North Sinai THREE YEARS' WORK Th« tblfd leason of exoaivatiQi? in the ffuHful iite of Nqrth Sinai has been iiaFtj!4 by Sh FU.aders Petrle, "Oranj 014 Man" ef Paieitisia® xreh--aeology. Sir FHnderf, xeeempisled by Lxdy Petrie, hMf ee--Worker on *H hi« expeditiopi, ipd SflVfral etudejitl, l«ft Jerusalem, i fr«9R pninlbm Jn whicU) they |iy|d W*R4®F«r| for jtwo month| yvhlle eagaged on fesearoheB in Syri§. I The paFly preoeeded to Gera, the anoient town iq oiosely aasbeiated ■vrtth Sipiios, whau they eontinued aorow the land dwnei te Sheik-ep-Zoweid. Gn ihe iltf y?here ilr ders it eontinuing hlp exQaTatiQBf thip winter hp ppevlimly dUepyered the remaipg pf i» anoient towna, one helow the other. A Frontlar Fortraa* The vateren arohaeologist e»xablished thege ag ranging from tbe Ghristian ara tfggh te l?00 8.0. These towne, aeoording te Sir Plip«j ders, reprepented the frontier lortress beiween Paleetine and Egypt. which aeemi Iq have been rebuiit and fortifled enee in eaeh eentury. The eite iiee nine miiei west of the, present firentier. |t has produced an interettingi ee^uenoe of emftU Qbjeetp rangiq| uireiigh i2 centnrlea, and haa aerved to dlibenatrato how poieeaaions and eominoditlee of a town are oontroUed by outward oiroumstanoee of poiiiiei and ehangint aoonomio conditiOna. Thare ara atiu four or mere towne beiow these aiready diaeevered, and.it wiii be the tasfc ef the preieRt e*pe-i dition te eiamine them, ; Fart of Neoropoila, j Anether Mdif" new beinf werked' is at Sheifch AvpeJh, neir Nahalal. in the^nerthern part of Palestlne. This expeditlen Is beini oonduated by Or. Benjamio MaJsier, on hahei! ef the Jewlsh Exploratjon Society, which began work §n the site in October, Dt. MaJsien ie expiorJng a dewish catacomb nnoovered there, and suppoeed te be part of the neorepQiia of Besara, whifih wat at one tJme the residtaee ef the Jewlsh ganhedrin, | T.he eatioeinhei eonslsts of a ooffJdor cyt Inte the rock, frem which the tomb hFsbehei off in three ieveia, The excavatera fewnd th? entrances to the tembi eieaed by stone doens which swung en thcjr axea. The doors wero vaFlonsiy decerated and Hebrew and Greek inicFiptions wero founa en moft e! them,

Twelve Qhembera Found. The exeavation of the eorridor Is now belng completed. So far, 12 large chambera have been found, eachi of thena bFanching off into threfe, four or flve smailer Feome, One of the chambera reeently epened is ef exceiient archJteotonlo constru.ction, has pome flne waii deooratlons and has yieided many Hebrew and Greek in^ scriptlens, Another chamber haa some exoel? lent dfleeratiens and Greek, Hebrew and paimypian Inserjptione en the • waiis. 0o§ reiief piaqne shews a man riding a horea and beiding a sword, Another depiets a man ' hoidJns * weapon in one hand and leading a horse by the reins with the other. Two candejabra in red plgment are painted on the wall with the word "peacg"in Hebrew at the side of each, A marble tabiet eompieteiy eovered ihe opening end had a Greek insorip* tion stating that lfc was placed there by the sons of a certaln respected LeontOs, otber decorations in some of the remajnins chambera are seven branehed candI.Cstloksf rosettes, portraits, drayvinge of animals and goometrieai designe, Pottery of the Roman period has also been found.