The Russellville Democrat. [volume] (Russellville, Ark.) 1875-1898, 1888-10-25
PALEsTlNE's WHITE MEN.
A Fine People who Were ForcibIy Driver
Out by tho jews.

Fine People who Were Forcibly Driven
Out by the jews.
On the occasion of my first visit to
Palestine / was struck by the number
of blue-eyed, fair-haired children whom
/ met with in the towns and villages,
moro especially in the mountainous
parts OF the country. AT the time !
supposed them to be the descendants
of the Crusaders or of the other ma
tives Of Northern Europe who found
their way to the Holy Land during The
Middle Ages.
But new light has recently been
thrown on the matter by the ethno-
logical observations made by Mr..
Flinders Petrie in Egypt. The winter
before last Mr. Petrie was commits
stoned by the British Association to
take casts and photographs of the
chronological types represented on the
Egyptian monuments, and to note,
wherever it was possible, the color of
the skin, eyes and hair. 1t was not
the first time, however, that notes Of
the kind had been taken.
Some years ago Osborn, a careful
observer, had noticed that in the seulpt-
ures Of Ramses II. at Abu-Simbel 'the
Shasu of Ksnana" were depicted with
blue eyes, and red hair, eyebrows and
beard, and the Amaur with 1.-THE eyes
blue, the eyebrows and beard red. y
AS 1.-The Shasu Of Kananan lived a little
to the south of Hebron, while the
Amaur are the Amorites OF the Old
Testament it was clear that popula-
ton existed in Palestine in the four
teenth century before our. era which
had all the characteristics OF the white
race. Mr.. Petrie's observations have
abundautly verified his conclusion.
He finds that, on the walls OF a
Theban tomb, the Chief of Kadesh on
the Orontes is painted with a white
skin, and light red brown hair. Kadesh
was the southern capital Of the Hit
tites, after their invasion of Syria, but
the Egyptian Inscriptions describe it
as being ''in the land of Amaur;" and
that its chief must have been an
Amorite is shown by the fact that the
Hittites are depicted with yellow or
orange skins, their hair being black
and their eyes dark. The physiognomy
of the Hittites and Amorites, more
over differed widely.
The Egyptian artists agree with the
native Hittite monuments in represent
ing the former with ugly protrusive
profile, and Mongoloid features, the
hair being arranged at the back of the
head in sort of ''pig-tail.n The Amaur
or Amorites, on the other hand, are d
handsome people, tall and dolicho-
cephalic, with large sub-aquiline noses,
and a short-pointed beard at the end of
the chin. The defenders of 1.-The fort
been burnt light pink-red by the ac-
ton of the sun. Otherwise the skin is
white or "sallown We learn, then,
from the ancient monuments of Egypt
that a portion of Palestine was occu-
pied by a white race before its con-
quest by the Israelites. And they fur
Their inform us that this white race con-
tinued to exist in the country after the
conquest. The physical characters
ties of the captives taken by Shishak in
the time of Rehoboam from the cities
of Judah have Amorite and not Jewish
features.
There is nothing in common between
them and the tribute-bearers of Jehu,
who are depicted on the black obelisk
from Nimroud, now in the British
Jewish cast. In the tenth century
before our era, consequently, the bulk
of the population in the Southern part
of Judea must have been of Amorite
origin. 1t is not wonderful, therefore,
as we find traces of the same popula-
ton still surviving in Palestine. There
is no need of explaining their existence
by theory of their descent from the
Crusaders The survival of the an
cient white race OF Palestine is par
allel to the survival Of the ancient
white raas of Northern Africa, now
generally known among French writer's
under the name of Kabyles.
The Kabyles were at one time inn
agined to be the descendants of the
Vandals, but we now know that they
have inhabited the southern coast Of the
Mediterranean since the later Neolithic
age. They are the Libyans of antiq-
uity, represented on the Egyptian
monuments, like the Amorites, with
white skins, blue eyes, and dolicho-
cephalic skulls, and similarly de-
scribed by classical writer's They ex-
tended into Teneliffe and the Canary
Islands, and their long-headed skulls
have been disinterred from the dol
mems of Northern Africa. To the
traveller who sees them for the first time
the Kabyles offer q striking appear
ance. Their clear white skins, COW
cred with freckles, and their light blue
eyes differ from all around them. -
Mstfgy~a