Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-11-22

EXPLORATIONS IN PALESTINE

The quarterly statement Of the Pales-
tine exploration fund according to a
report In the London Standard, con-
tains an account of some very interest
ing and important discoveries recently
made in the Holy Land. The scene Of
these is place to the right OF the road
between Jaffa and Jerusalem generally
pointed out as Gezer, one of the cities
taken by Joshua on the invasion OF
Palestine by the Hebrews.
Mr. X. A. S. Macaister, who con-
Quoted the work OF excavation. discov-
cred three well marked series of an
Client walls, besides one less perfectly
defined of earlier date, They consist of
rough stones, with not more than
simple hammer dressing. They vary
greatly in Size ranging from small peb-
bles to large boulders. Sun-dried brick
also Is sometimes found, especially In
the third series OF walls, besides floors
OF beaten mud and limestone, and pit
ovens. The outer wall has a thickness
OF IA feet.
OF no less Importance Is the discov-
cry OF two caves-one being a burial
place of great antiquity, and the other
probably cistern which, however, at
some time or another had been used
for burial purposes. Several bones
found have been examined by the pro-
fessor His conclusion is that the race
Of which they are a remnant were short
IN stature, none exceeding five feet
seven inches, and most of them at least
three inches below this The skull bones
were thick and heavy the form a rather
long oval (dolichocephalic). They resein-
BILE in many respects the earliest occu-
pants Of Europe In the newer Stone
(NeolithIc) Age and were certainly
pre-Semitic race. The uncremated re.
mains belonging to the inhabitants OF
the third, and perhaps the fourth, city.
represented taller race, the average
height being about five feet six inches,
and the maximum five inches more.
They were more strongly built, their
faces longer, their noses more promi-
nent, and their skulls slightly more cir
oular. These are supposed to have be-
longed to the earliest Semitic invaders,
that is to the people known as the
Amorites.
The explorations have only Just
commenced on this site, but the finds
made are considered Of the greatest i'm
portance Prof, Macalister. in the re-
mains found. reads the ancient history
Of this hill covered with the debris OF
ages He finds that way back in the
stone age 1t was a fortress inhabited
by people who practiced the cremation
of their dead, Then came a primitive
Semitic race Of the early bronze age.
These encircled the original fortress
with the outer and stronger wall Evil
dences Of human sacrifices are found
from this time indicating the moral
status Of the early Canaanltes. Two
later Semitic occupations followed. the
former Of which Is supposed to have
occurred not less than two thousand
years b. c. The invaders occupied in
turn the ancient hill fortress, which
they did not reconstruct. but remains
OF their dwellings and possessions oc-
cur in the higher strata Of debris.
other relics prove some communlca.
ton with Egypt, and one clay cylln-
der indicates direct or indirect trade
| with Babylon.
Such are some of the conclusions ar
rived at. II Is, on the whole, very re.
markable how the past history OF the
race is being brought to light in this
age. In every part Of the globe the veil
Is being lifted and We are permitted TO
look at the past, no longer through
the dim glass Of myth and tradition
alone There is evidently a purpose in
all this The past has Its important
lessons applicable to the present. And
one OF them Is, to enable us to avoid
the pitfalls and snares into which an
Gent nations fell, and which caused
their destruction, with all their
l n IL -.