1897.] on Palestine Exploration. 349 



erected a temple to a pagan deity. Such texts are very numerous in 

 Decapolis, where a Greek j)opulation appears to have settled in the 

 time of Christ. 



The geographical results of exploration are also important for 

 critical purposes. Out of about 500 towns in Palestine noticed in the 

 Old Testament, 400 retain their ancient names, and about 150 of these 

 were unknown before the survey of the country in 1872-82. The 

 result of these discoveries has been to show that the topography of 

 the Bible is accurate, and that the writers must have had an intimate 

 knowledge of the land. Among the most interesting Old Testament 

 sites may be mentioned Lachish, Debir, Megiddo, Mahanaim, Gezer 

 and Adullam as newly identified ; and of New Testament sites, 

 Bethabara, ^Enon and Sychar, all noticed in the fourth Gospel. 



The existing Hebrew remains are few as compared with Roman, 

 Arab and Norman ruins of later ages. They include tombs, aque- 

 ducts and fortress walls, with seals, weights and coins. The most 

 important are the walls of the outer court of Herod's great temple at 

 Jerusalem, with his palace at Herodium, and buildings at Ceesarea and 

 Samaria. The curious semi-Greek palace of Hyrcanus at Tyrus in 

 Gilead dates from 176 B.C. In Upper Galilee and east of Jordan 

 there are many rude stone monuments — dolmens and standing stones 

 — probably of Canaanite origin, as are the small bronze and pottery 

 idols found in the ruins of Lachish. Sculptured bas-reliefs are, how- 

 ever, not found in Palestine proper, having been probably destroyed 

 by tbe Hebrews. 



This slight sketch may suffice to show the advance in knowledge 

 due to exploration during the last thirty years. The result has been 

 a great change in educated opinion as to the antiquity of civilisation 

 among the Hebrews and Jews, and as to the historic reliability of the 

 Bible records. Further exploration, especially by excavation, may 

 be expected to produce yet more interesting results, and deserves 

 general support, as all classes of thinkers agree in the desirability of 

 increasing actual knowledge of the past. It is no longer possible to 

 regard the Hebrews as an ignorant and savage people, or to consider 

 their sacred writings as belonging necessarily to the later times of 

 subjection under the Persians. Internal criticism is checked and 

 controlled by the results of exploration, and by the recovery of 

 independent historical notices. 



[C. K. C] 



