Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-03-20
! STONE FROM THE TEMPLE.
A GREAT CURIOSITY IN THE UNI
VERSlTY OF PENNSYLVANIA.

A GREAT CURIOSITY IN THE UNI
VER6lTY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
The History of Block of Marble That
Formed Part of the Temple Enclosure
at Jerusalem at the Time of Christ's
Birth-Copies for Colleges.
Among the most valuable and interest
ing of recent additions to the University
museum is the cast OF Greek inscrip-
ton, discovered at Jerusalem some years
ago. The University OF Pennsylvania OBJ
tained possession of this cast, in connec-
ton with its BabylDnian expedition,
through the efforts of the Hon. o. S.
Strauss, formerly Uni:ed States minister
at Constantinople. The University of
Rochester made an attempt to secure a
cast of this inscription, and, by interest
ing ex-Secretary Bayard, permission was
obtained from the Imperial museum at
Constantinople to have a cast of the
original Inscription made and forwarded.
The cast, however. arrived in such a
broken condition that it was practically
| worthless.
Since then Professor Millington, Of
Roberts college, at Constantinople, and
ex-Minister Strauss have secured two ad-
ditional casts for this country, one hav-
ing gone to the University of Rochester
and the other to the University of Penn
sylvania. The copy belonging to the
University of Pennsylvania was badly
broken in the transportation, but has
been sufficiently mended to have new
casts made. Harvard and Yale, as well
as the Lutheran Theological Seminary
at Mt Airy, and the Protestant Episco-
pal Divinity school, have applied for fac
SMILES of this cast for their libraries.
HISTORY OF THE INSCRIPTION.
An interesting story is connected with
the discovery of this inscription. On the
26th of May, 1871, the French explorer,
Clermont-G -Ganneau, who spent many
years in Jerusalem, and to whom the
Louvre in Paris owes number of its
best specimens, was examining the par
TALLY ruinous walls of the old Moham-
medan school in Jerusalem, near the Via
Dolorosa, about $50 feet north of the
Haram wall. The Frenchman, with the
searching curiosity of an archRologist,
was scrutinizing every stone that showed
evidence of having been cut or chiseled
by human hands. While he was thus en-
gagged he noticed on large block Of
stone, projecting few inches above the
ground, several Greek letters. Early
Greek inscriptions in Jerusalem are ex-
ceedingly rare, and, accordingly, he as
sured himself that no Mohammedan was
watching him, and then proceeded to lay
bare part of the stone.
To excite no suspicion he did not re-
main very long, and before leaving filled
in the earth about the stone as it had
been before. The next day he returned
with the proper implements, uncovered
the stone and found that it was block
of marble, with an area of by 2 feet,
carefully chiseled and showing seven
lines of well preserved Greek inscrip-
ton. The Interpretation presented no
difficulty, as the characters were large
and legible. The inscription read as fol-
lows: mo Gentle is to enter within the
inclosure of the temple. Whosoever dis
obeys this rule will incur the penalty of
death"
Ganneau Immediately concluded that
this stone must formerly have belonged
to the Temple of Herod, and few years
before the birth of Christ was part of a
wall that formed an inclosure about the
sacred fame of the Jews. Josephus re-
lates that on the southern and eastern
sides of the Temple, parallel to the por-
ticoes erected by Solomon and by Herod,
there was a wall several feet high, in
which, at certain intervals, there were
Greek and Latin inscriptions, forbidding
Gentiles to enter the court of the Tenn
pie. The workmanship and the size of
the stone discovered by Ganneau corre-
spond precisely with the description
given by Josephus, and the peremptory
style of the inscription leaves little room
to doubt that the stone actually formed
part of the wall surrounding the Temple.
AN INTERESTING ILLUSTRATION.
The prohibition inscribed on this piece
of marble thousands of years ago forms
an interesting commentary to the story
related in the twenty-first chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles, where it is SAID that
the Jews of Asia stirred up all the people
against Paul because he brought Greeks
also into the temple and hath polluted
this holy place. (For they had seen be-
fore with him in the city Trophimus, an
Ephesian, whom they supposed that
Paul had brought into the temple) And
all the city was moved, and the people
ran together: and they took Paul and
drew him out of the temple: and forth
with the doors were shut"
The wrath of the Jews is much more
clearly understood and seems quite natu-
raj when we see by this inscription how
jealously they guarded the entrance into
their temple. and what severe penalty
they inflicted upon Gentiles for entering
even the outer court or inclosure.
Reference is made to the same feature
in the second chapter OF the Epistle to the
Ephesians, where Paul says that Christ
is our peace, ''who hath made both
Gentiles and jews one, and hath bro
ken down the middle wall of partition"
1t was natural that the discovery of
this interesting stone could not be kept |
secret, and accordingly Ganneau made it
known in letter to The Athenaum, and |
wrote monograph on the meaning and
historical value of the inscription. But
when an attempt was made to secure the
stone for the Louvre, at Paris, the pos
sessor of the school house where it was |
found, under the impression, which is |
very prevalent in the east, that every
archaeological object is worth an i'm
mense sum of money, demanded $4,000. |
When the Turkish governor of Jerusalem
heard of the discovery of the stone he
had it dug up and brought to his palace,
when he himself offered it for sale at |
$4,000.
But there was no buyer. Suddenly
the stone disappeared, and no trace of it
could be found anywhere. When, thIr-
teen years after this, DIR. Mordtmann, of
Constantinople, well known Semitic
scholar, was one day examining the
traa cI,rac in tho Turkish museI1u1 TShi-