Verify mg the Bible

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20510, 28 May 1938, Page 17 (Supplement)

Verify mg the Bible

EXCAVATORS BEAR TESTIMONY TO ITS TRUTH

(Harold J. Shepstone, F.R.G.S.)

IT WAS IN APRIL, 1838, that Dr. Edward Robinson, son of an American clergyman, walked into Jerusalem. Keenly interested in the Bible and in archaeology, he began a series of journeys in his desire to locate certain Bible sites. He located over a score of important Bible cities and has been called “the father of exploration work in Palestine.” This work, started 100 years ago by Dr. Robinson, has been going on ever since. At first the work was chiefly surface topography rather than actual excavation, but important none the less in testifying the identification of ancient sites. It was the Palestine Exploration Fund, a non-sectarian institution which came into existence 70 years ago, that gave an impetus to the scientific investigation of the contents of the tells, or artificial mounds, with which the country is dotted. To-day there are other learned and scientific societies —American, French, German, Italian, etc.—carpring on similar work. Jerusalem has become the recognised Centre For Archaeological Study in the Middle East. There are now several schools of archaeology in the Holy City, and through the generosity of Mr John D. Rockefeller, jun., Jerusalem possesses in her recently completed Museum of Antiquities one of the finest institutions of its kind in the world, involving an expenditure of £400,000. In this century of research work carried out by eminent scientists, representing many different nations and schools of thought, there has not been a single discovery which has disproved the accuracy of the Bible. This is a startling fact and is of the highest importance to all concerned in the truth of the Bible. Nothing has been found to disturb one’s faith in the Holy Book. Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details and brought increased recognition of the value of the Bible as a source of history. Obscurities have become clear and theology as a whole has gained immeasurably. Modern exaavation has been brought to a science. By an examination of potsherds, broken pieces of pottery, the excavator can tell the approximate date of the site he is uncovering, a fact which was impossible 15 years ago. So to-day the tells are being tackled in a thoroughly scientific manner. Upon the more important sites as much as £SOOO to £7OOO is sometimes expended in a single season, and the services of an army of natives are requisitioned, numbering anywhere from 250 to as many as 400. On Mount Ophel, a gentle slope running from the Pool of Siloam to the present walls of Jerusalem, interesting discoveries have been made during recent years by distinguished explorers working on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund. As a result we have learned a great deal about the stronghold which David captured from the Jebusites and which he rebuilt and called the City of David. Gates and streets of the time of Christ have been found. A collection of Hebrew weights and measures found on the site of the house of Caiaphas, the High Priest, reveals the fact that the Jews had different sets of measures before and after the Captivity. This discovery has been the means of

Elucidating Several Historical Statements. For instance, written in cuneiform on a stele in the British Museum there is an interesting account of King Sennacherib’s campaigns, during which it states that Hezekiah, King of Judah, gave him as a peace offering SO talents of gold and 800 talents of silver, etc., whereas the Bible passage reads “300 talents of silver.” This contradiction has been looked upon as a way of boasting on the part of Sennacherib, who used 800 for 300, but now we know that the Assyrian talent was proportionately smaller than the Jewish, which reconciles the two conflicting statements. A score or more of such instances could be given where the pick and spade of the excavator have shown that the Bible statement was correct. As a result of Professor Garstang’s extensive activities at Jericho, where he and his wife toiled for five seasons, we have not only solved the mystery of its tumbling walls, but gleaned important facts concerning its history, strength, size and population. The walls of Jericho fell down flat as the sacred narrative records, but they were brought low as the result of earthquate tremors. More important still to the historian is the discovery of the date of their fall. This has enabled scholars, working backward, to fix more accurately the date of the Exodus. The site of Sodom, one of the cities of the plain, so closely associated with the story of Lot, has been located and uncovered. At old Gazi, Sir Flinders Petrie has found palaces with tiled bathrooms and running water, as well as quantities of chased jewellery, dating long before the days of Abraham. Bethshemesh, the place to which the Philistines sent back the captured Ark to the Israelites, and Mizpah, where Samuel judged Israel for 20 years, have disclosed their secrets. At Kirjath Sepher, which means “town of books,” or “library,” to-day marked by a bleak, dreary mound in Southern Palestine, Dr. Albright, the distinguished American archaeologist, has unearthed the ancient city walls, which were 12ft. thick, its streets and remains of palaces and temples. In the latter he found many Canaanite art treasures. It is rare to find such treasures in Palestine, as the Israelites had an almost fanatical hatred of the idols and altars of other nations, and it was their custom when they captured an alien city to destroy them. That excavation work can be exciting at times is evident from the following incident. “While engaged in clearing the outside of the wall near one of the gates a cave was found,” records Dr. Albright. “When the entrance hole was large enough my assistant and I entered with a number of greatly excited Arabs. As we crawled on and on, through apparently labyrinthine passages dimly lighted by tallow candles, the Arabs became more and more intoxicated with The Hope of Finding Buried Treasure. “ Finally, one of them began, in his madness, to tell the others in our hearing, what they must do when they had discovered the gold—cut the throats of the foreigners

and escape with the booty. My companion did not speak Arabic so was innocent of the threat. But I was not at all disturbed since it had already become evident that the place had been used for nothing more romantic than storage bins for grain and straw, oil, etc.” At Samaria, the ancient capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, the “ivory house” of Ahab, so vividly described in the Book of Kings, has been discovered. In the palace were found not only many ivory articles, but thousands of pieces of broken ivory evidently used for adorning the walls of the palace. While the excavator in thus confirming the truth, of the Bible historically, he is also incidentally correcting translators’ errors which have crept into the narrative. In the private apartment of Jezebel’s palace were found toilet boxes and smashed and corroded jewellery, evidently used as tiaras. We read in “ Kings” how Jezebel “painted her face and tired her head.” What she really did was “tiaraed” her head. At Bethel, where Jacob had his prophetic vision of a ladder reaching to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it, excavators have found the remains of the base of some great monument, which they believe to be a ziggurat, like that discovered at Ur of the Chaldees. The ziggurat was a great monument on the top of which stood the temple, the home of the god, and worshippers ascended at one corner and descended from it at another. The ladder in Jacob’s dream was no doubt a ziggurat with which he as an Easterner was familiar. At Beisan, in the Valley of Jezreel, h#ve been found the remains of some of the earliest Canaanitish temples yet discovered, including the one on which the Philistines hung the armour of Saul. On the site of Megiddo wellbuilt stables for horses, together with space for chariots and grooms, have been found. The Bible tells us how Solomon built chariot cities for his horses, and Megiddo was one of them. At the northern end of the Sea of Galilee two interesting sites have been uncovered recently. Pilgrims who visited the Holy Land in the early part of the fourth century mention the existence of two churches, one marking the spot where Christ stood when He performed the miracle of feeding the 5000, and the other place where He appeared to the disciples after the resurrection. These churches were destroyed and their very sites forgotten. They have now been located and uncovered. Particularly interesting are the excavations now being carried out on the site of Lachish by Mr J. L. Starkey and his staff on behalf of the Wellcome-Marston Archaeological Research Expedition to the Near East. Mr Starkey began his sixth season’s work on this site in November last, the excavating season in Palestine lasting from November to March. Lachish, which Joshua captured and which became the great fortress city of the new Israelite nation, is to-day

Marked By a Large Artificial Mound lying half-way between Hebron and the coast. The Bible has a great deal to say about Lachish, while it is also mentioned several times in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets. Space does not permit of a description of the numerous treasures which have been dug up on this site—pottery, vases, glassware, jewellery, toilet articles, scarabs and seals—which throw an interesting light upon the manners and customs of the people of these far-off days. The beautifully chased toilet articles, perfume flasks, kohlsticks and mirrors are proof that the ladies of Lachish resorted to cosmetics as do their sisters of to-day. There were also a number of children’s toys, fashioned in clay and wood, as well as sets of draughtsmen in faience. An interesting find was a long three-pronged iron fork forged from one piece of metal, found in a priest’s tomb. This implement recalls the story of the sons of Eli told in the first Book of Samuel, where the priests are accused of abusing the privilege of their office. It was the custom when any man offered sacrifice for the priest’s servant to thrust such a fork into the cauldron or pot, and whatever flesh adhered to the fork was appropriated by the priest. The priestly portion of the sacrifice if such a fork as that found at Lachish was used would be no small quantity. The excavations at Lachish will ever be popular for the inscriptions and letters which have been found, the latter bearing Bible names. Early in the work the excavators stumbled upon an inscribed ewer and bowl. The inscriptions on these articles, which date back to about 1260 8.C., bear a remarkable resemblance to similar writings found by Sir Flinders Petrie in Sinai. The use of alphabetical writing has been shown by archaeological research during recent years to have been much older than was generally supposed. Sir Flinders Petrie has declared that the Israelites “were familiar with the art of writing as early as 1500 8.C., if not before.” Thus the belief, held by many scholars, that the Books of Moses could not possibly have been written until many centuries—some say eight—after his death, is certainly Not Compatible With Recent Findings. In addition to the inscriptions referred to above there were found 17 letters, or fragments of letters, written in ink, on potshards, in early Hebrew characters. They were found in the burnt debris on the floor of the guardroom immediately inside the outer city gate. They appear to be incoming letters from signal stations or outposts subservient to Lachish, and to cover only a very short period of time—perhaps three or four weeks. They relate to the period immediately preceding the destruction of the city by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar in 587 B.C. The letters contain no fewer than 20 personal names mentioned in the Bible. Towards the end of one of the letters, for instance, we are told by the writer that he has heard that the commander of the army, Ashbor, the son of Elnatan, has passed down to Egypt, taking with him certain men. This, you will find, offers a striking parallel with Jeremiah XXVI., 20-23.

The letters have been translated by Professor Torgzyner, of the Hebrew University at Jerusalem, and they are regarded as being of the greatest historical and Biblical interest.