400 ROD NOT EMPLOYED— REASONS 



of Hosts (Isaiah xix. i8) as the oath in these papyri is by 

 Yahu." 1 



After the destruction of Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes, 

 the petition by Onias to Ptolemy Philometor for permission to 

 erect a central temple for the benefit of the many thousands 

 of his compatriots resident in Egypt concludes the historical 

 evidence that I call as to the continuance of the Egyptian- 

 Israelitish connection. Its survival for centuries after the 

 birth of our Lord is a matter of common knowledge. 



The existence of this connection rests not merely on historical 

 evidence. Recent excavations in Southern Palestine tell the 

 same tale, or even carry it still farther back, to pre-Israelite 

 Canaan. Thus, after referring to the tale of Sinuh6 (c. 1970 

 B.C.), Professor G. Barton writes, " There was apparently 

 considerable trade with Egypt at this time. Men from 

 Palestine often went there for this purpose. Such traders are 

 pictured in an Egyptian tomb of this period. Trade with 

 Egypt is also shown to have existed by the discovery of 

 Egyptian scarabs of the time of the Middle Kingdom in the 

 excavations at Gaza, Jericho, and Megiddo. As Egypt was 

 nearer, and commerce with it easier, its art affects the arts 

 of Palestine more than the art of Babylon." 2 



R. A. MacaUster 3 writes : " Meanwhile the oldest foreign 

 civiUsation of whose influence definite relics have come to 

 light within the land of Palestine is that of Egypt under the 

 Xllth Dynasty." The assertion that " almost every spadeful 

 of earth which is turned over in Southern Palestine brings to 

 light more evidence of Egyptian influence " seems hardly an 

 exaggeration.* 



But, it may be asked, what has all this got to do with 

 fishing ? Of itself and in itself apparently nothing. 



^ See p. 94, Flinders Petrie, Israel and Egypt, of which in this section I 

 frequently avail myself. Inscriptions of c. XXVIth Dynasty, or c. 600 b.c. 

 disclose that there was an actual priesthood dedicated to the god YHW, 

 which word is clearly spelt out. 



- ArchcBology and the Bible, p. 109 (London, 1916). 



' The Civilisation of Palestine, p. 33. 



* The Biblical World, Feb., 1910, p. 105. Inscriptions of Sinai 

 (pubUshed in 1913 by the Egypt Exploration Fund) furnish much evidence 

 as regards the intercourse between Egypt and Israel. For the trade between 

 Solomon and Egypt, see i Kings x. 28, etc. 



