Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-08-12
SCENES OF BIBLE STORY.
What Tireless Explorers are Discov-
ering,
From he Mem YORK Sun,

From the Neto York Sun.
, Over thirty years ago, when two or three
Englishmen began the work Of collecting in a
volume the knowledge then existing about
| the scenes of Bible history, they became very
much impressed with the scantlpess of the
information they sought and the haphazard
manner in which it was gathered. Out or
| their report on this subject grew the Pales-
tlue exploration fund, which for tWenty-one
years past has kept its explorers ransacklng
the ruins of ancien civilizations. The world
owes TO The work of this society," supple
mented by the fruitful labOrs OF its colleagues
! In Egypt and AssyrIa, the identification with
more or less certainty Of most of the impor-
tant places mentioned IN the Bible.
These tireless explorers, with their spades
and geological hammers, digging into ancient
tombs ana crumbled synagogues, mapping
every ruin, exploring all the caverns ana
water courses, are bringing the stage upon
which the drama Of sacred history was en-
acted clearly before the eyes of modern stu
dents. 1t is a preciousbo to this generation
that these new lights have been supplied to
lllumlne its researches into the greatest OF
BOOKS History cannot be studied lutelll-
gently without maps. The student OF Europe
In TINS century requires IA series OF maps TO
enable him to understand the momeptous and
numerous changes in political boundaries
from the rise Of Napoleon to the treaty Of Ber-
lin. SO these recent researches in Bible lands
are restoring TO the maps most important in
formation.
We can now trace with large degree OF
certainty the route of the Exodus. We can
correctly place on the map of Egypt in the
eastern half of the delta the fertile land of
Goshen, where Joseph bade mis- brethren
dwell. We know where the children of Israel
reared the treasure city of Pithom at Pha-
roah's command. We know, 1t is believed, the
exact spot where jeremiah stood when the
people listened to the fiery eloquence of one of
MS prophecies. Not the least interesting of
these researches is the discovery just made by
snat very fortunate explorer, MIR, Flinders
Petrle, who last year unearthed Naukratls.
In an ard waste, once rich, pastoral dis
trict of the Nile delta, he has discovered the
ruins OF that very palace, built, as the records
in it's foundations show, by King Psammeti-
chus l., to which "the remnant of JUDAH
brought the daaghters of King Zedekiah af-
ter that unfortunate monarch had been led
mutilated captive to Babylon. These re-
mains of royal palace, which have hitherto
escaped the notice OF Psychologists, are still
known to the wandering Arabs as 1.-THE
Castle OF the jews daughter" The proofs
found by Mr.. Petrie seem conclusively. to
identify this place as the Tahpanhes of
Scripture and the refuge of the Jewish prn-
cesses. One of the interesting features of
this discovery is the probable Identification Of
the very pavement Of brickwOrk mentioned
in the forty third chapter Of Jeremiah. The
prophet says:
"Then came the word Of tho Lord unto Jere-
miah in Iahpanhes, saying. Take great stones
In thine hand and hide them in mortar in the
brick work which is at the entry Of Pharoah's
house in Tahparhes in the sight of the men Of
Judah; and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, /
will send and take Nebuchadnezzar, the King
of Babylon, my servant. and will set his
throne upon these stones that have hid; and
he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
And he shall come ana smite the land Of
Egypt"
The revised version gives as an alternative
reading for "the brickwork which is at the
entry OF Pharaoh's house" the words pave
ment or square," Mr.. Petrie found in the
course of his excavations. facing the entrance
to the building, IAN area of continuous brick
work resting on sand about leo by 60 feet"
The brickwOrk is two or three feet thick, aud
was apparently designed as an open air
platform for meetings or the transaction
OF public business. The palace was de-
stroyed by fire, and it is reasonable to be-
eve that the torch was applied by the
soldiers of the BabyloRian King when, as is
well known, Nebuchadnezzar verified the
words Of the Prophet by his invasion of
Egypt.
All these fruitful researches are not only
serving to elucIdate the text of the sacred
volume, but they are also affording new and
striking proofs OF the great fact that the Bible
is the most logical and. reasonable OF books
We know now more fully than we ever I'M
derstood before the discoveries Of recent
yecrs that there is no book In the world more
worthy of investigation.