ON MOUNT NEBO

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 676, 31 October 1933, Page 7

ON MOUNT NEBO

WHERE MOSES STOOD REMNANTS OF EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH DISCOYERED. EYACUATION WORK. lOn the summit of Mount Nebo, the Pisgah' of the Bible, from which Moses viewed the Promised Land, the Franciscan Fathers have discovered the remains of an early Christian-church and the ruins of other buildings. For some time the Bibilical Institute of the Franciscan Convent in Jerusalem, the largest and most progressive of these instutions in Palestine, have caSt longing eyes upon Mount Nebo. The great pile of stones that marked the summit of Nebo was evidence of the existence at one time of important buildings, which have excited the curiosity of archaelogists, says a Times correspondent a,t Jerusalem. It is the belief of some that it was on Mount Nebo that the Ark and ■other Temple treasures were hidden at the time of the capitivity. The Franciscan Fathers purchased the site and built a road from Medaba, some six miles away, to the summit, for the transport of necessary excavating implements, stores and materials for the erection of temporary shelters for the Fathers and overseers who were to superintend the work. This initial work was completed about the middle of July, when digging was ibegun under th'e supervision of Father Sylvester Salter, a Bibilical scholar and an exper.t archaelogist. The remains of an early Christian church were quickly found. It is un- ; doubtedly the sacred building referred to by the nun St. Sylvia of Aquinj taine, who visited Palestine in 3-86- ! 388. Its existence is corroborated by other early pilgrims, including Peter j Euburees in the fifth century. Early records give the measurement of this church' as six arai lengths, and from the end of the building to the altar this measurement was found to apply. j Ancient Sacred Building. ; There is w.ell-preserved mosaic : work by the altar, with a Greek inscription in which the name of Moses appears. This altar is thought to be either the spot from which Moses viewed the Promised Land, standing some 2645 feet above sea level, or the place of his burial. The mosaic here is a pictorial representation of various animals relievej by floral decorations. In the centre is a quaint design which may represent the Ark or altar with a lion on one side and a bull on the other, and a gazelle with a bell at either end. Below the altar is another long inscription in Greek not yet deciphered, as a few of the letters are missing, but evidently making reference to the bishops of the Church. The fioor of the building is covered with mosaics and is in excellent state of preservation. The present walls of the church rise some 3 • feet to 5 feet above the fioor level and are fashioned of large stones ,evenly arranged. The interior is covered with plaster. Evidence. of Eearthquake. The adjoining chamber, reached through a single doorway, is littered with fallen columns, the direetion in which they lie indicating that th'ey were brought down as the result of an earthquake. This chamber leads again into other smaller chapels, and here also inscriptions and mosaics have been found. The summit is crowded with ruins, and the coufse of the wall of a convent can be distinctly traced, as well as ancient cistcrns. Crosses were found everywhere, on capitals and pillars, and in the outer ' chamber of the principal church there are distinct traces of burning*. On an adjoining spur, in a building used until recently as a stable, were found a mosaic fioor and a Greek inscription in which the name of Lot is mentioned. The mosaics include pictures of animals, agricultural scenes, and the two daughters of Lot. This is thought to mark the site, of the village of Nebo referred to by early pilgrims. It is evident already that the summit of Mount Nebo must have been a scene of great activity in the early centuries.