ARCHEOLOGY. (PALESTINE AND SYRIA.) 



29 



her, 1901, describes the establishment of the in- 

 stitution, and the beginning of excavations at 

 Sidon, under the first director, Prof. C. C. Torrey, 

 of Yale. A Greek necropolis was explored, and 

 yielded results of importance. At Jerusalem 

 students of the school will have free access to 

 several valuable libraries, including the Greek 

 Patriarchal Library, with a great store of manu- 

 scripts, the Dominican Library, and the Francis- 

 can, Augustinian, and Latin Patriarchate li- 

 braries. The Roman Catholics were doing much 

 in Jerusalem to encourage archeological and lin- 

 guistic studies. Three museums had lately been 

 opened, one of them by the Turkish Govern- 

 ment, containing the finds of Dr. Bliss in his ex- 

 cavations for the Palestine Exploration Fund. 



Excavation was actively pursued in Palestine 

 and the East in 1902, under English and German 

 auspices. The operations included work begun 

 by the English Palestine Exploration Fund, 

 under Mr. McAllister, at Abu Shusheh, which has 

 been identified by M. Clermont-Ganheau as the 

 site of the Biblical Gezer, near Rambleh, on the 

 edge of the plain of Sharon; explorations by 

 Austrians at Ta'anuk, the Biblical Taanach, on 

 the southwestern edge of the plain of Esdraelon; 

 excavations to be begun by Germans at the an- 

 cient Megiddo; the exploration and restoration 

 by Germans of the great temple of Jupiter Helio- 

 politanus at Baalbek, and the neighboring 

 smaller temples, which has been going on for 

 two years and will require a year longer; ex- 

 cavation by the same expedition of some smaller 

 but interesting ruins in the Lebanon, on the 

 edge of the Beka, in the same general region. 

 The same expedition was also exploring the 

 ruins of Palmyra, Gerash, Amman, and other 

 comparatively little known sites east of the Jor- 

 dan, for the purpose of a more thorough study 

 and comparison of Syrian and Roman architec- 

 ture and antiquities. The Germans have also 

 been excavating at Miletus, at Pergamos, and at 

 Babylon, and contemplate the excavation of a 

 little know Babylonian, ruin mound, apparently 

 of great antiquity, south of Nippur, between the 

 Tigris and the Euphrates. 



At the annual general meeting of the Pales- 

 tine Exploration Fund, June 17, Major-Gen. Sir 

 Charles Wilson delivered an address on The 

 Recent and Proposed Excavations of the Fund. 

 The work of the past year, he said, had been 

 mainly the excavation of grounds in the Valley 

 of Judah, and had thrown light on many ancient 

 sites. The excavations revealed remains of pre- 

 Israelitish times from 1700 B. c., and the suc- 

 cessive periods down to Byzantine times. Paint- 

 ed ware and Mycenaean pottery were found in 

 this region, and specimens of early Greek ware 

 as well as Assyrian and Babylonian objects. 

 The chief site was probably to be identified with 

 Oath. Remains were also found of a town which 

 had been abandoned in prehistoric times; and 

 relics of subsequent periods were discovered 

 there. Statues were found of Demeter and Bere- 

 nice, and pottery and other fragments of the 

 third and fourth centuries B. c., which had 

 been imported into Palestine. Two inscriptions 

 in Greek characters were discovered, one of them 

 divided into 7 columns, and a translation from 

 Hebrew into Greek, the Greek characters of 

 which were read from right to left. Many tab- 

 lets were commemorative of important events, as 

 of birtli or marriage; and these were symbolical 

 references. Few of the caves examined by Mr. 

 McAllister seemed to be earlier than the Seleu- 

 cid period. Some of them contained remains of 

 a population distinct from that of the towns. 



The pottery began with the pre-Israelite or 

 Amorite period, and furnished specimens similar 

 to those discovered by Prof. Petrie in Egypt. 

 The painted pottery or sherds presented Myce- 

 naean features, though they were not supposed to 

 be Mycenaean work. In the Jewish period the 

 Phoenician and Mycenaean influences seemed to 

 have disappeared. The names of the potters all 

 of a tribal character were found on many of the 

 pieces of Jewish pottery. After the Jewish 

 period a distinct growth of beauty in form and 

 design is shown. Few completed statues of later 

 times were found; but some of these were of 

 fine workmanship and form. One of the great 

 caves had been used as a columbarium after its 

 original purpose had been abandoned. 



Under the auspices of the Vienna Academy of 

 Sciences, Dr. Sellin, professor in the Evangelical 

 Theological Seminary in Vienna, began excava- 

 tions in March, 1902, in a mound near the vil- 

 lage of Tanaak, one day's journey from Jaffa, 

 and three days from Jerusalem. His report re- 

 lates the discovery of four castles or fortesses. 

 In the middle were the ruins of an Arabian cas- 

 tle. On the east was a castle of the period of 

 King Solomon, on the northwest a castle of a 

 late Israelite period, while on the west was 

 found a castle of pre-Israelite or Canaanite date. 

 All the castles had been plundered before they 

 were destroyed, so that no valuables were found, 

 but objects of stone and clay and weapons were" 

 recovered by the aid of which the dates of the 

 various buildings were approximately fixed. The 



A HITTITE INSCRIPTION HITHERTO UNKNOWN TO SCHOLARS. 



Canaanite castle, the oldest of the number, was 

 built of unhewn blocks of stone, which showed 

 no marks of the chisel. Inside of it lay frag- 

 ments of images, such as are mentioned in the 

 Bible, and also, a number of small ornaments 

 made of stone and earthenware, mostly" repre- 

 senting beetles, scarabs, and other insects, and 

 bearing inscriptions. There were, too. some rude 

 weapons. The second building in date had suf- 

 fered considerably, but enough remained to show 

 that it belongs to the class called Solomon cas- 

 tles. In both buildings, idols, vessels, and other 

 objects appertaining to religious rites were 

 found, such as a sacrificial pillar of stqne, with 

 an opening for libations, a stone altar, and an 

 earthenware altar in the form of a throne, 

 adorned with cherubim and lions. The cherubim, 

 of which these are the only existing representa- 

 tions of that date, appear a> human heads with 

 the bodies of lions, and winizs. The late Israel- 

 it ish castle appears to have boon a fortress only. 

 The Arabian i-asilo displays more architectural 

 skill than the other. Vessels and lamps were 



