224 DR. E. W. G. MASTEKMAN, ON RECENT DISCOVERIES 



locality of a battle between Asa and the Ethiopians (2 Chron. 

 xiv, 9-10) and probably the home of the prophet Micah 

 (Mieah i). The remains of the ancient period still lie beneath 

 those of the Greek city, waiting excavation. Advantage was 

 taken of the opportunity to thoroughly explore the extraordinary 

 labyrinths of caves lying in and around this tell. They are the 

 most wonderful relics of the troglodyte "Horites" in the land, but 

 have been used as refuges in several succeeding ages. With a 

 new "firman" Mr. E. A. S. Macalister was engaged during 

 1903-4-5 in excavating, on behalf of the " Palestine Explora- 

 tion Fund," Tell el Jezcr (or Jezcrcli), the site of the important 

 city of Gezer. The work of this period has proved so rich in 

 results that this Society has just obtained another " firman " or 

 Government permission to work tw*o years more at this place. 

 It is the ambition of the explorer and his supporters that the 

 whole tell should be overhauled dow^n to the primitive rock and 

 that every foot of debris should be examined. As nothing like 

 this has ever yet been attempted with any other tell in the land, 

 it is highly desirable that it should be done now. The peculiar 

 position of the tell, within easy reach of both high road and 

 railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem, the fact that almost the 

 whole of it is availaljle for excavation — the modern village 

 being on the south slope outside the lines of tlie ancient walls — 

 and the circumstance tliat the tell is owned by Europeans, all 

 combine to give this site advantages to the archaeological 

 explorer which cannot be found elsewhere in Palestine. 



While the Englisli Society have been investigating these 

 southern "tells" the German I^alestine Society have carried on 

 extensive excavations on the enormous Tell Mutmellim (lit. 

 " Hill of the Governor ") close to El Lcjjnn and at the entrance 

 to the important and historic pass through the Nortliern 

 Samaritan Hills from the Plain of Esdraelon to that of Sharon. 

 Although El Lejjun (? = the legion) was long accepted by many 

 authorities as the site of Megiddo, few who have seen the ruined 

 foundations of the successive cities which for many centuries 

 stood on Tell Mutasellun, and the position of the tell itself as 

 viewed from any spot on the boundaries of the Great Plain of 

 Esdraelon, will for a moment doubt that this, and not El Lejjiln, 

 is the actual site of the great fortress-city of Megiddo. The 

 excavations at the spot were initiated in the spring of 1903 by 

 Dr. Schumacher of Haifa, and were further cariied on by 

 Dr. Penzinger, the expenses of the later excavations being 

 largely defrayed by a liberal donation from H.M. the German 

 Emperor. 



