Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-14
BETHEL Is NEGLECTED
RUINS MARK ONE OF THE INTER-
ESTING PALESTINE SITES.
Scene Of Jacobs Vision - The Place
Now Known as Betin-Hovels
Of Bedouins.

William z. Curtis In the Chicago Record Herald
1t Is very strange that some Of the relig-
ious organizations which are fighting among
each other over the possession of bogus or
doubtful places associated with scriptural
events do not take possession Of Bethel, one
OF the oldest, hottest and most interesting
of all the sites referred to In Christian his
tory. 1t is now called Betin, and is an
abandoned and desolate heap of ruins. with
Il few miserable novels occupied bv
wretched families Of BedouIns. who herd
the sheep and goats upon the neighboring
hills. Although both the Greek and the Ro-
man Catholic monks are SO keen in seeking
and so tenacious in holding sacred places
OF less interest elsewhere, with the Arme-
mans, the MaroniteS and several other re-
ligious organizations standing by and ex-
hlolting their Jealousy in various WAYS
Bethel and Shiloh both have been over
looked. ana their locations are not even
disputed.
Truth Of Scriptures.
The historical books of the Old Tesla
ment, although supposed to have been writ
ten several centuries after the events of
which they treat, are wonderfully accurate
so far as their geography and descriptions
OF topography are concerned, and 1t is easy
to FOLLOW the early invaSions and migra-
tons throughout all Syria By reading them
This fact is one Of the strongest evidences
IN support Of the historical truth Of the
scriptures. Wherever a place Is described
in the Bible 1t can be easily identified and
the writer's of the graphic stories we read
In that most remarkable of all books were
certainly familiar with the scenes depicted
Many objects. however. are to be found at
places mentioned in the Bible which are
not referred to in the text and therefore
we know that they are comparativ mod
ern. For example, at Bethel there is an
feet wide. which at some remote period
but more recent than Jeremiah's time was
evidently built for irrigation purposes hut
when and by whom nobody knows 1t was
supplled with water from springs in the
bottom but most Of them are dry or have
been choked up by rubbish, so that there is
no water except in a few spots. where the
Arab girls come to fill their pitchers lust
as we can ina gine that the handmaidens of
Sarah. Rachel and Deborah used to de in
Bible times; and 1t is entirely probable. YES
almost certain. that Abraham ind Jacob
Watered their focks at this very place be-
fore the reservoir was built.
A Moslem Tradition.
The hill called Bethel is a conspicuous
place. rising several hundred feet from the
plain. and visible for q considerable dis
lance. There are several ancient tombs
marble columns and other pieces of dressed
stone, some Of them bearing inscriptions
carving scattered about the fields in the
vicinity and near the summit of the hill
is remarkable circle OF large blocks of
stone, which the Moslems say is the place
where King Jeroboam set up the golden
calves for the Israelites to. Worship. and
brought down upon himself the wrath of
Jehovah.
There is also the foundation of a large
square tower. called Bruj Betin by the ma
tives, and. like the reservoir, its origin is
lost in the mist Of ages. 1t was probably
built by the Crusaders. The Moslems saw
that 1t marks the spot where Jacob silent
that night when he saw the angels on the
ladder and when God made with him the
greatest covenant ever made with man.
and said: II am the Lord God of Abra ham
thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land
whereon thou Hest. to thee will give II a nd
to thy seed, and thy seed shall be as the
dust Of the earth. and shall spread abroad
to the west and to the east and to the
north and to the south: and in thee and in
thy seed shall all the families Of the earth
be blessed. And Jacob rose up early in
the morning and took the stone that he
had used for his pillow, and set it up for a
pillar; and poured oil upon the top of 1t
and he called the name of that place
Bethel" And yet the place where this oc-
CURED is not only neglected. but absolutely
abandoned, and no one has thought it worth
while to erect a monument here since the
DAYS of the Crusaders