26 



THE RUIXED 



CITIES OF 



PALESTINE, ETC. 



confounded with Gergesa on the Sea of Galilee (wrongly rendered 

 Gadara) where the miracle of the swine took place which proved so 

 disastrous to Prof. Huxley in his controversy with Mr. Gladstone. 

 It will be remembered that he claimed to have proved this miracle 

 false, and that therefore no other miracle was credible, including 

 the Resurrection. Gerasa or Jerash is thirty or forty miles away 

 from Gergesa, which in Eoman times was one of the most famous 

 cities of Palestine. It lies twenty-five miles north of Rabbath- 

 Animon. It is not mentioned in Old or Xew Testament. The 

 magnificent ruins that now exist are those of the days of its greatest 

 splendour (a.d. 138-180). 



It became later the seat of a Christian bishopric. The ruins 

 are by far the most beautiful and extensive east of the Jordan. 

 The stream on which they are situated falls into the Jabbok about 

 five miles below the city. This is now a little ri\^et, thickly fringed 

 with oleander, which winds through the valley, giving life and beauty 

 to the deserted ruins. 



The city was nearly a mile square, with a wall round, a large 

 portion of which, with its bastions, is still standing. Three gateways 

 are nearly perfect, and 230 columns still remain on their pedestals. 

 (See Plates II and III.) 



The fourth picture shows Prof. Stewart Macalister's explorations 

 at Gezer. He has shown that this town has actually been occupied 

 by men from the Neolithic Age down to the times of the Maccabees. 

 There are seven distinct periods of occupation. The earhest dwellers 

 were about 5 feet 5 inches and lived in caves and cremated their 

 dead. In the third period they rose to 5 feet 11 inches and buried 

 their dead. The fifth and sixth state are the Israelitish occupation. 

 The city was rebuilt by Solomon. At first the IsraeHtes buried an 

 infant beneath the foundation of a house, probably ahve. Later 

 on they abhorred these rites. Then a dead infant's body was placed 

 in a jar, and later still, bowls (with blood or grape-juice), and lambs 

 were placed, and have been foimd by Prof. Macalister in great 

 numbers. 



The top stratum is Gezer after the Caption ty, and here all idolatry 

 has come to an end, and some of the great religious monoliths 

 have been destroyed, Prof. Macalister thinks by Simon Maccabaeus. 



