Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-01-05
A FAMOUS DISCOVER Y.



From the pbIladelphla Times1
Every Palestine oxplorer ofnote ba.
occupied himself more or less with M.
tennis NJ flxinc tbe site of solomon.
Temple and of the moro celebrated
travellers DIR. Robinson. Porter vii.
liams, Warren. Levin. and Forgusson
have each reduced the results Of their
investigation TO map form. None OF
them. however. although. their plans
have obtained A certain amount OF
credonce with Biblical students. have
been able To fully satisfy all tho
conditions of seriptural and historical
measurements. fbev ALI we believe
agree in locating the temple on
| Mount Moriah. and within the Haram
ash Sbarif az the Moslems now call
the most beautiful hilton of ,Ierusalcm,
wooded with the oypress and the olive
tree and adorned with marble fountains,
domes. cupolas. arches and craven pul.
pits but here their unanimitv ceases.
The Sahkra. or sacred rock. which
crowns the mountain of the tomple.
has been for them all an insurmounta-
bic obstacle in tho way ofevery theory.
This pinnacle rises TO a.heiglt of l63
feet above the lowest Level of the Ua.
ram level. and around il there is no.
where place to locate an edifce of the
magnificent dimensions of the tcmple.
without encroachinr upon the noiSb
boring stones. Whereyer. therefore.
explorers placed the site of the main
structure. this mysterious rock deGed
their figures and eontradioted their
theories. 1t has been reserved for.an
American. Mr.. S. Boswicl,. n civil en-.
rineer of New York. TO identify the
Sahkra in its relation to the temnle
and from that starting-point to accu.
rately fix the lines of the temple itself.
and verify all its divisions and localities.
Mr.. Beswicls method of arriving at
this discovery is explained at length
in the current number of ,Scribner's
Magasiae, but it was, in brief this !:
Assuming the western wall of the en-
closure Of the Haram as base line
and the Sahllra as a central station. he
made n survey of the various distances
and found that his results coincided
exactly theBiblical measurements,
and saw that the Sahkra, or old Rock
of Moriab. must have occupied the no
sition of a central conc 10 the area,
CARRYING upon its shoulders the temple
pavements and courts. and upon its
crown supporting the temple structure
itself, in strict accordance with the
law of the House, as laid down in
Eek. xiii. 12. and the description of
Josephus in his aJewish Antiquities "
xv.. 1I.3. The distance oftbe Sabkra
from the outer wall he found to be 25O
cubits which doubled gave the total
length OF the area as figured by Ezekiel.
and he was then able to identify acou-
rately the divisions of this space into
the Court of Israel and the Court of
Priests. with the height and number
of the steps leading np TO each. and
the area converted into the Court of
Gentiles in Herods Temple He veri-
fed these discoveries bv numerous
tests the leading one of which was, of
course. the distance from the gate to
the porch of Solomons Temple, which
was $50 cubits (3G9. .26 feet) or exactly
the distance of the Sahkra from the
outer wall. proving that the temple
area in Solomon's dav was n ouad-
ranrle. whose four sides were each 500
cubits in length. with the ton of the
mountain oceupving the same central
position as the modern Sabkra. All
his measures indeed so perfectly ac-
cord with tbe historical levels the
scarnings of the rock where il was
.hopedsio fit The location Of tho oen.
erai contonr of Tho Uaram that If tbe
temple as il originally existed could be
rcnrodnced n wonld N mon tbe rocky
snrfaco Elo n monlJ Mr. Beswiok
wos SIMILARLY able also IN verify the
nosition ~ ihe aUolv place - IN The
middle Of which stood tbe .Mercv
Scat - idontifv tho Sahl,ra where 4
was emf down 10 a. tho norch of the
temple substantiate the assertion of
Jogenbus tbat tbe Court Of Gentiles as
ARRANGED Inv Uerod could have had no
western side owing to The nrovimitv
of the wall tbore 10 the temple area
determine the site of the second and
third walls. fix The nrecise location of
The Fortress Antonia, which he places
Mt tbe southwest corner of the site
where the rock shows unmistalSablo
evidences of having been cut TO the
shape of a corner for A structure of this
work of Nehemiah's bnilders from he