22 



NA TURE 



[November 4, 18^7 



Egyptians and Assyrians, as well as the art of the Jews and 

 Gnostics about the Christian era, and the later pagan structures 

 down to the fourth century A.I). 



The monuments actually found in Palestine are few though 

 important. The discovery at Tell el Amarna of about 150 

 letters written by Phoenicians, Philistines and Amorites — and in 

 one case by a Hittite prince — to the kings of Egypt, proves, 

 however, the use of cuneiform on clay tablets by the Syrians as 

 early as 1500 B.C., and one such letter has been recovered in 

 the ruins of Lachish. The oldest monuments referring to Syria 

 and Palestine are found at Tell Loh, on the Lower Euphrates, 

 and date from 2700 B.C. Next to these are the Karnak lists of 

 Thothmes III. about 1600 B.C., recording the names of 119 

 towns in Palestine conquered after the defeat of the Hittites at 

 Megiddo These lists show that the town names which occur 

 in the Bible are mainly Canaanite and were not of Hebrew 

 origin. The Canaanite language of this period was practically 

 the same as the Assyrian, excepting that of the Hittites, which 

 was akin to the Akkadian. In the next century tlie Tell el 

 Amarna tablets show that the Canaanites had walled cities, 

 temples, chariots, and a fully developed native art. They record 

 the defeat of the Egyptians in the north by Hittites and 

 Amorites, and the invasion of the south by the Abiri, in whom 

 Drs. Zimmern and Winckler recognise the Hebrews, the period 

 coinciding with the Old Testament date for Joshua's conquest. 



An inscription of Mineptah, discovered in 1896, speaks of the 

 Israelites as already inhabiting Palestine about 1300 B.C. , and 

 agrees with the preceding. Other Egyptian records refer to 

 the conquests of Rameses II. in Galilee and in Syria, when the 

 Hittites retained their independence ; and in the time of 

 Rehoboam, Shishak has left a list of his conquests of 133 towns 

 in Palestine, including the names of many towns noticed in the 

 Bible. 



The Hittite texts found at Hamath, Carchemish and Merash, 

 as well as in Asia Minor, belonged to temples, and accompany 

 sculptures of religious origin. They are still imperfectly under- 

 stood, but the character of the languages, the Mongol origin of 

 the people, and the equality of their civilisation to that of their 

 neighbours, have been established, while their history is re- 

 covered from Egyptian and Assyrian notices. The Amorites 

 were a Semitic people akin to the Assyrians, and their language 

 and civilisation are known from their own records, while they 

 are represented at Karnak with Semitic features. 



The oldest alphabetic text is that of the Moabite stone about 

 900 B.C. found at Dibon, east of the Dead Sea, on a pillar of 

 basalt, and recording the victories of King Mesha over the 

 Hebrews, as mentioned in the Bible. Several Bible towns are 

 noticed, with the name of King Omri, and the language, though 

 approaching Hebrew very closely, gives us a Moabite dialect akin 

 CO the Syrian, which is preserved in texts at Samalla,in the extreme 

 north of Syria, dating from 800 B.C. The Phoenician inscriptions 

 found at Jaffa, Acre, Tyre, Sidon, Gebal and in Cyprus do not 

 date earlier than 600 B.C., and show us a distinct dialect less like 

 Hebrew than the Moabite. The most important of these early 

 texts is the Siloam inscription in the rock-cut aqueduct above 

 the pool, found by a Jewish boy in 1880. It refers only to the 

 cutting of the aqueduct (in the time of Hezekiah), but it gives 

 us the alphabet of the Hebrews and a language the same as that 

 of Isaiah's contemporary writings. It is the only true Hebrew 

 record yet found on monuments, and confirms the Old Testa- 

 ment account of Hezekiah's work. 



The Assyrian records refer to the capture of Damascus by 

 Tiglath Pileser III. in 732 B.C., and of Samaria in 722 B.C., as 

 well as to Sennacherib's attack on Jerusalem in 702 B.C. The 

 latter record witnesses also the civilisation of the Hebrews 

 under Hezekiah, whose name occurs as well as those of Jehu, 

 Azariah, Menahem, Ahaz, Pekah, and Hosea, who, with 

 Manasseh, gave tribute to Assyrian kings. 



About the Christian era Greek texts occur in Palestine, the 

 most important being that of Herod's Temple at Jerusalem, 

 forbidding strangers to enter, and those of Siah in Bashan, 

 where also Herod erected a temple to a pagan deity. Such texts 

 are very numerous in Decapolis, where a Greek population 

 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 



NO. 1462, VOL. 57] 



most interesting Old Testament sites may be mentioned Lachish, 

 Debir, Megiddo, Mahanaim, Gezer, and Adullam as newly 

 identified ; and of New Testament sites, Bethabara, ^non, 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, aqueducts, 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 Cassarea 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 the Hebrews. 



This slight sketch may suffice to show the advance in know» 

 ledge 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 know- 

 ledge of the past. It is no longer possible to regard the liebrews 

 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. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The Walsingham Medal, given by the Lord 

 High Steward, for original research in botany, geology, zoology, 

 or physiology, is open to all graduates of the University under 

 the standing of M. A. Monographs for the ensuing year are to 

 be sent to Prof. Newton, Magdalene College, by October 10, 

 1898. 



An examination for the Sheepshanks Astronomical Exhibition 

 will be held in Trinity College on November 19 and 20. In 

 addition to papers on astronomy, there will be an oral and 

 practical examination at the Observatory. Candidates must be 

 undergraduates, and, if successful, must become members of 

 Trinity College. 



Mr. G. H. A. Wilson, fifth wrangler 1895, has been elected 

 to a fellowship at Clare College. 



Prof. James M. Crafts, professor of organic chemistry in 

 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will succeed the late 

 General Francis A. Walker as the president of the Institute. 



The London Technical Education Gazette announces that a 

 course on practical chemistry, dealing with the "manipulation 

 of gases," will be conducted by Mr. M. W. Travers, at Uni- 

 versity College, on Fridays, at 5.30 p.m., commencing on 

 Friday, November 12. This course will be of great value to 

 those engaged iji gas testing, and will deal with methods not 

 hitherto published. A research course for teachers on "The 

 effect of repeated heating on the magnetic permeability and 

 electrical conductivity of iron and steel," is being conducted by 

 Principal Tomlinson, F. R.S., at the South-west London Poly- 

 technic, Manresa Road, Chelsea, on Saturday mornings from 10 

 to I, with facilities for continuing experiments, if desired, from 

 2 to 5. Teachers are admitted free ; there are still a few vacant 

 places in the class. Any teachers who wish to join should 

 apply at once to Principal Tomlinson. 



The first volume of the Report of the United States Com- 

 missioner of Education, for the year 1895-96, has been received. 

 Though largely concerned with elementary schools, the report 

 contains several noteworthy articles on the higher branches of 

 education. A detailed account is given of the Education Bill 

 of 1896, and the discussions which led to its withdrawal. Cur- 

 rent statistics of education in Great Britain form the subject of 

 a special chapter. Some of the features of the educational 

 systems of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are reported 

 upon, the statistics which the report gives as to higher educa- 

 tion in the German-speaking part of Europe being very valu- 

 able. It appears from the extensive tables contained in the . 



