Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1890-06-26
STONE FROM THE TEMPLE.
4 GREAT CURIOSITY IN THE UNI
VsRSlrY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
The History OF = Block OF Marble Thai
Formed Part OF the Temple Iuclosurs
at Jerusalem at the Time OF Christ.
birth Copies for Colleges.

ago The University of Pennsylvania oh
tanned possession of this cast. in connec.
ton with its Babylonian expedition,
through the efforts of the Hon. o. S.
Strauss. formerly United 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 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
Minister Strauss have secured two ad.
ditional casts for this country, one hav
ing gone to the University of Rochester
and the other 10 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-
1 pal Divinity school, have applied for fac
sinsles 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- Ganneau, who spent many
years in Jerusalem, and to whom the
1 Louvre in Paris owes a number of its
hest specimens. was examining the par
! TALLY ruinous walls If the old Moham
Z medan school in Jerusalem. near the Via
/ Dolorosa. about $50 feet north of the
! Haram wall. The Frenchman. with the
searching curiosity Of an archeologist.
was scruiinizing every stone that showed
evidence of having been cUt OF chiseled
l by human hands. While he was thus en-.
gagged he noticed on a 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
I been before The next day he returned
with the proper implements. uncovered
4 the stone and found that it was block
/ OF marble. with an area of 3 by feet,
/ carefully chiseled and showing seven
l lines of a 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
Enclosure Of the temple. Whosoever dis
obeys this rule will incur the penalty of
f, death.
Ganneau Immediately concluded that
this stone must formerly have belonged
to the Temple of llerod. and few years
Oefore 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 aud 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
ireek and Latin inscriptions. forbidding
Gentiles 10 enter the court of the Tenn
pie. The workmanship and the size of
the stone discovered 10y Ganneau CORE
-pond 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 prohibitiun Inscribed on this piece
Of marble thousands of years ago forms
AN interesting commentary TO the story
related in the twenty-iirst chapter of the
Acts Of the Apostles where it is sand that
the Jews Of Asia stirred up all the people
against Paul because he drought Greeks
also into the temple and hath polluted
this holy place. dor they had seen be-
tore with him in the city Trophinus. 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
Icalously they guarded the entrance into
their temple, and what a severe penalty
they inflicted upon Genliles for entering
even the outer court or Enclosure.
Reference j. made to the same feature
IN the second chapter Of the Epistle to the
Ephesians. where Paul says that Christ
il our peace. WHO hath made both
CGentiles and jews one. and hath bro
ken down the middle wall Of partition"
I. was natural that the discovery Of
this interesting stone could not be- kept
secret. and accordingly Ganneau made il
known in a letter to The Athenuum, 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
SCISSOR 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 $780,
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 ne bsyer. Suddenly
the stone disappeared and no trace of it
could he found anywhere. When. tnr.
teen years after this. DR. Mordtmann. O.
FNs.Wne fas.f ia. IL Iii