Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-02
EXPLORATIONS IN PALESTINE.
Consul Merrill Writes Interestingly of the
Excavations and Their Results.

Consul Merrill Writes interestingly of thu
| Excavations and Their Results.
/ SOME OF THE MOST REMARKABLE pIscoyERrE:
HAVE BEEN MADE BIZ AccIpEyT-THE TONI
OF HERoD BELIEVED TO BE LocArxD-rHI
HOLY sEPULcHER.
United States Consul Merrill ct Jerusalem
has written Interestingly to the State De-
partment about archaeology in Palestine and
around Jerusalem. He says:
1.-THE only systematic exploration that has
been carried on the past year, or, in fact, that
has been allowed by the Turkish government,
has been done by an American, acting for the
English society known as the Palestine Ex-
. ploration Fund, at Tell ell Hesy. generally sup
/ posed to be the Hachish Of the Old Testament
which was besieged by Sennacherib, and was OF
sufficient importance to be sculptured on slabs
! in the national galleries OF Nineveh. This
Tell is. as the word means. q mound Of earth
and ruins, and an effort has been made to re-
move it entirely bit by bit, in order to ascer-
tain its structure and archaeological contents.
As rs usual in such cases, successive LAYERS of
civilization or of building have been unearthed,
and variety of bronze implements, stone
weights and other relics have been found; but
the most iIt-resting find that of an
Assyrian irscS! lion, thought TO be of as early
dressed to the governor OF the place. who was
afterward murdered BY his own subjects.
DISCOVERIES MADE BY ACCIDENT.
"Many Of the discoveries that have been
made about Jerusalem within twenty years past
have been made by accident. The ground sinks
down, a hole appears, and that leads to an ex-
animation, which results in a valuable addition
to our archaeological knowledge of the city,
This was the way the magnificent ground plan
and beautiful mosaics, covering 400 or 500
square feet of st. Stephens Church, near the
Damascus gate. we're first brought to light. This
was built by the Empress Eudocia, wife Of
Theodosius the younger, AID. 400; and the
spacious tomb chambers which she cut out Of
the solid rock near the church. and in which
she was buried likewise, became known by acci-
dent.
THE TOMB OF HsRoD.
"During the past year a hole was discovered
in a piece Of land southwest of the city. A man
went down in it to see what he could find, and
large tombs and beautiful sarcophaguses were
soon made known to the world. In connection
with other archaologists have for many years
tried to locate what Josephus describes when
he is marking out the line of the wall OF cir
cumvallation which Titus. during the siege Of
Jerusalem. A. D. 66-70. threw around the city
as the monuments. meaning the tomb of
Herod' Wars V. IL. D. He gives but few gen.
eral indications, points or objects well known at
should be just about where this wonderful find
has been made. l suppose Josephus had in
mind Herod Agrippa ii, and not Herod the
Great, who was not buried in Jerusalem. The
rolling stone al the door of the sepulcher. six
feet in diameter and twelve inches think. the
ornaInentation on the sarcophaguses. the char
acter OF the masonry and some other bits of
evidence lead me to believe that this is the very
monument to which Josephus referred.
THE HOLY sEPULcHER.
"Many modern scholars IN the department of
Palestinean archaeology, having abandoned as
untenable the traditional site of the holy sep
ulcher as the place of the crucifxion and burial
of our Lord, having fixed upon the hill above
Jeremiah's grottO. 800 Yards north OF the Da-
mascus gate. as the site of the crucifixion
Adjoining this hill which is covered with Mo-
hammedsn graves. is large garden controlling
the face of the hill. which is rock for $50 yards
Excavations at different times in this garden
have shown that six or more feet below the sur
face of the ground there exist interesting ruins,
and In the rock itself there is a remarkable
tomb, which has recently attracted much atten-
ton. An effort has been made the past year
to purchase this garden, with It's appurtenances.
place 1t in the hands of a general committee, go
that it should not be in the control of any par
ticuler religious sect, have excavations made
and everything that might be found preserved
and exposed Tor the benefit of all who take an
interest in such matters. The negotiations were,
it was thought, successful and the money ready
to be paid. but very recently there has come a
hitch of some kind, SO that after all the pro-
ject may fail.
REMAINS OF CHURCH.
I'm one American cemetery on Mount Zion
vas overseeing the digging Of certain grave,
| and at a depth OF four feet We came upon large
blocks of stone. l tried to dig in two places
near the first. but with similar results. At last
we dug the grave elsewhere. and subsequently
/ employed men to remove tine earth from the
stones referred to. and at that point and at two
Others where l made examinations found the
remains of a large building which, I Judge
was church. These foundations of pillars
were on a pavement six seven feet below the
surface of the ground. and it is a curious fact
that wherever we attempt to dig grave i'll that
ward We come at the depth mentioned upon
human bones and skulls. 1t seems shocking.
but as the ground is full OF such remains there
is nothiug to be done. This filing in must have
been done long ago, for this ground has been
American property since about 1880. / hoped
to have walled in these finds. so that they might
always be exposed. but this was too expensive
for my private means. and have partially COW
cred them and marked the places. SO that they
can be avoided whenever it is necessary here
after to dig graves"