El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-06-17

ever. Notwithstanding Maj. Gender.
convincing arguments against its gen
uineness, that well-known antiquary
DR.. Schick, stoutly maintains the ira
dftional view. In view Of the pilgrim
age to the holy sepulcher of the Ger
man emperor DR.. Schick was requested
by German residents Of Jerusalem tc
write treatise on the subject fol
presentation to his imperial majesty
He wrote It and set out fully the pros
and cons as they had come to his
knowledge during the fifty years that
he has been acquainted with the spot
The last utterance Of that veteran ar
| chaeologist on a question upon which
he feels strongly and upon which he
is one of the greatest living authori-
ties, may f1ttingly close our notice of
the subject: "One thing has often
struck me-" he writes, namely, people
saying that the Christians of the time
of Constantine were ignorant, supersti-
tious and so on. Maj. Gender even
says they hardly know the difference
between Christ and Scraps People
who were prosecuted for their faith in
Christ and gave their lives as martyrs
ence between the risen and living Lord
and pagan idols. Certainly also they
knew the scriptures and were acquaint-
ed with the configuration of the ground
in and about Jerusalem much better
than we. They lived only 800 years
after the crucifiXion, we 1900 years.
Common sense suggests the question,
Can we know it better than those OF
old?'"
AS for the excavations which have
recently been begun under the new fir
man, authorities anticipate with some
confidence that one result, at least, will
be the recovery of the ancient Gath of
the Philistines, which has never yet
been identified, and which disappeared
from history about $50 B. c. Included |
in the area of ten square kilometers |
permitted by the Turkish law on exca- |
vations are four important sites-Tell- |
IS Safi, Tell-el-Judeideh, Tell Zakari- |
va and Khurbet Dhikerin The first |
site is supposed by some to be the
ancient Mizpeh (watch tower) of the
ribe Of Judah. 1t was the Blanca
or Blanche Garde, of the Cru
aders, so called from the conspicuous
The summit is now occupied by an
Arab village, with rich and extensive
obacco fields, which will prevent the
Mound being extensively excavated.
he first mound to be attacked is Tell
which Maj Gender had mark
out as an important site, and &C
ording to the last report received from
he explorers, DR.. Bliss and Mr.. Stew
rt MacAlister, the excavations are al
eady being prosecuted with the great
st energy. The hill rises almost 35t
let above the Vale Of Elah. 1t com. ,
lands views Of almost the whole of | c
hilistia, embracing the positions of :
kron, Ashdod and Ascalon. TelI-Za- I
arlya is free of modern houses and t
'aves (Which crown the summit of so e
any tells), and is, therefore, easy to d
icavate. The explorer, thus having
free hand, will make a thorough ex-
nination of the mound and will leave
)ne OF its ancient debris untouched
ne number Of objects of ANTIQUITY .
ready unearthed is considerable and
such as to encourage those interest
in Palestine research to anticipate s
scoveries of real Importance. The -
II must have been regarded in an y
INT times as strategically important :,
d the specimens OF wares already
ought to light cover the period of the =,
ll-el-Amarna and Tell-el-Hesy tab q,