The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1897-07-17
AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY
Explorations at Jerusalem Result ma
Great Find for Archaeologlsts'

Explorations Al 0crushe' HesuA "
Great Find for Archaeologlsts'
The Palestine exploration fund has
been for some time past carrying on
explorations on the south side OF
Jerusalem, the principal object beng
to determine the exact line of the old
wall on that part of the town, It
often chances that in seeking for
some particular thing something else
is found, and such is frequently the
case in archaeological explorations,
This is what has taken place at Je-
rusalem. Nehemiah, in describing
the rebuilding of the walls Of Jerusa-
lem, says "But the gate of the foun-
tain repaired Shallun, the son of Col
hozen, the ruler Of part of llizaph;
he built it, and covered it, and set up
the doors thereof, the locks thereof,
and the bars thereof, and the wall of
the pool of Sloan by the kings
garden, and unto the stairs that 90
down from the city of David" DR..
Bliss, who is carrying on the explora'
tions, in report lately received, an
nounces a discovery which scarcely
leaves a doubt but he has found tho
old stairs mentioned by the Prophet
Nehemiah
In a former report DR., Bliss de-
scribed an ancient gate he had come
upon near the pool of Sloan, and
which was supposed to date from the
time of Empress Eudocia, but it, no
doubt, was a later construction at or
near to, the same gate which has been
repaired by Shallun. The stair which
has been come upon consists ofno less
than 81 large, broad steps, and they
descend down exactly to the pool;
they indicate line Of communication
with the Ophel ridge, which isacon-
tinuation of the Temple hill, and IA
accepted by most authorities as the
site on which the royal palace Of the
kings stood, and, Of course the
'king's garden" would be on the same
ridge, There may be more steps still
to find, as The explorations 60 on, As
these steps also lead mp to the temple,
they may have formed the ascent
Il Kings, <, 81 that so astonished the
r>-,ecn OF Sheba when she came to see
u It is certainly very strlk-
ing thing to fnd =, hat tbs gFeSaii 5 ,ial5
should have been so long :'0 :
under ground, and we have no notice
of it from the time of Nehemiah till
the pick and shovel of the modern ar
chaeologist have laid it bare,
But this is not all. In the account
of the pilgrimage of Antoninus
Martyr, which dates from the sixth
century, this author describes the
descent by "many steps" to the foun-
tain of Sloan, and adds that there
was church there. This church has
also been found, along with the stair.
The steps came down at the west end
of the church, and they seem from
their height above the level of the
church floor to have made it difficult
to have door in that direction. SO
there are stairs on the north leading
down, where there were arches by
which the church was entered, and
it is also supposed that there were
arches on the south side, leading out
to the pool. This church, according
to the report, possesses what is al
most, if not wholly, unique feature.
That is that the water coming
through the rock-cut conduit to the
pool passes under the altar This,
it may be assumed, was done to carry
out the idea of "a pure river of water
of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out
of the throne" (Revelation, xxi, ~
London Daily News