The Meeker herald., 1897-06-19
AN INTERESTING RELIC.
A nasssssd Tablet froa ths AAsasat fso-
pas Of HseoA.

AN INTERESTING RELIC.
A nasssssd fssast frea tie AAsssat rso-
pas Of HsesA.
In the interesting museum Of an
tiquities at Constantinople tho object
that struck me most was hoary. bat
tered tablet, with . long Greek tnscrip-
tion cut on it In seven lines. 1t was
discovered in Jerusalem about the end
Of May, 1871, by the French archacolo-
gist, Clermont-Gan at q consider
able depth below the ground, in the
foundations of an Arab house, not far
from the mosque of Omar, on what
might have been the site of the temple
OF uerod.
This is one Of the very few relics of
that magnificent structure which have
survived to our day. The Inscription
is in capital monumental letters and
mny be translated thus: mo stranger
can enter within the balustradc round
the sanctuary and Enclosures. Who
ever IS caught will be responsible t.
himself for his death" Joscphus gives
a graphic description of Tcrcd's tenn
pie and mentions that the court of the
Gentiles WINS separated from the Iart
thnt was restricted to the Jews by two
parallel walls, about Is feet npa,t. The
outer wall was about ~. feet high.
1t was an elaborate carved stone baius-
trndc with - doors in it, each of which
had a pillar in front of it. bearing an
inscription in Greek and Latin, forbid
ding any foreigner to enter the inclo-
sure on pain Of death. Joscphus men
tions that the Romans respected this
law and no Gentle ever venturcd to
intrude beyond this point.
The prohibition in quest on, how
ever, was long regarded Us apocryphai.
even although Philo spoke OF the in
scription and corroborated the state
Dent of the Jewish historian. But the
discovery of Clermont-Ganncau has
placed the matter beyond dispute. The
tablet which he found was part of one
of the columns guarding the inner
sanctuary from the aparoa h OF un-
hnllowed feet, and the connection be-
tween the inscription carved on it and
the passage in Joscphus is most strik.
ing. The expressions and forms nre
almost identical. There is indeed 4
curious variation in the Greek word
for 'balustrade," or partition wall. In
the passage in Josephus it IS d:uphnk-
tos, whereas in the inscription it is
truphal:tos; but this var.at on may
he accounted for by the fact that Jo-
scphus used the correct classical term,
while the inscription spelled the word
according to the Jewish method of
pronouncirg it, changing d into t..
Josephus twice refers to tic inscrip-
ton, once in his Antiquities" and the
parallel passages are differently word!
ed, showing that he did nct intend tc
give the exact phrnscology of tic stone
monument, but only the sense; and.
therefore. that the table. should give
the sense of Josephus' words, without
his exact expression. is just what might
have been expected in such discov-
cry. According to Clcrmr- t Ganneau,
the tablet is the most ancient, rs we'll
| ~ th-, ..-o-. .tA.a-t;.,e, GraeL insnrir-
tion which archaeological investiga-
tion in Jerusalem has produced. Its
bearings are most important. 1t sup
plies standard of comparison by
which to distinguish the Hcrodinn
sculpture and photographic works
from those of previous or later days
Sunday at Home.