The Dolores star., 1905-10-20

by eerles OF OOl0 ana Dr1il1ul Qis-
coveries. the reward OF arduous and
sustained labor. Dr. Flinders Petrie
has remolded the history OF the east
ern Mediterranean during the last ten
years. Spelling out the records Of
broken stone and shattered pottery.
he has given a new meaning to the
word ancient" Greeks and Romans
are now seen to have been mere mod
erns. almost treading on our own
heels. while far back we look down
long vista Of culture and civilization,
lasting through many thousand years
and stretching round the whole basin
of the inland sea. He and his friends
for l take him simply as the most
prominent man Of a group-have CIV
en- US a new conception Of history-a
new reading OF the modern world-a
new idea OF human growth. They
have literally dug out from the bow
els OF the earth. In the heat and soli-
tude of exile, new history of man.
Now they are extending their work
further. Hitherto DR.. Petrie's work
has been mainly-I think entirely-in
Egypt. But, like Moses, he had not
always been on the best terms with
Pharaoh, and this year a small differ
ence as to state rights has led to an
exodus. Shaking the dust Of EgyB;-
from of his feet-happily without IN
sisting on any plagues-Mr. Petrie
has gone several days camel journey
with their tents and his workmen OFF
into the wilderness to dig there. Fol-
lou stnrx >v~ IL Ill
cursor In exile. Mr.. Petrie has gone to
Sinai and the results of a seasons
work there are shown in small.
crowded room within the building OF
the London university in Cover street,
London. These little broken bits OF
stone are well worth a visit, for II you
look at them well you will dimly see
some light thrown on what is still one
of the most mysterious episodes In
the worlds history.
Semitic Delphi.
Briefly. these stones seem to ex-
plain why Moses and his people want
ed to go into the wilderness. That
speech which gave above wse More
than a mere ruse; for here. close to
Sinai, Prof. Petrie and his workers
have found what is little less than q
sort of Semitic Delphi-a great cen
ter of worship. prayer and sacrifice
for the whole Semitic world. 1t was
Niebuhr who first discovered that
there was temple near Sinai. But 1t
might have been just an ordinary
Egyptian temple to Osiris, Isis or any
Of that motley crowd who dog the days
and haunt the nights of the modern
Egyptian tourist. 1t has now been
thoroughly dug up, and has been dis
covered to be a Semitic temple-a
temple for the Jews and their kindred
races. 1t contains vast number Of
cubicles for pilgrims who went tc
dream after the manner of Jacob and
Joseph, and hundreds of little Beth
ol" stones which they erected. even as
Jacob did, to celebrate really for.
tunate dream. OF course, DR.. Petrie
is much too cautious a student to sug-
gest any connection between this tenn.
pie and the Jewish exodus. But may
not the suggestion, at any rate. be
thrown out that 1t was to this spot
that Moses first wished to lead the
Jewish exiles? Pharaoh. acting after
his kind, refused to compromise; but
are we quite sure that II he had the
Jews might not have gone to Sinai.
sacrificed there and returned to
Egypt? ev~r-.
Remains Of eemItes.
We cannot tell. When all is said
and done the excavators in Egypt
have come across very few traces OF
the Jewish captivity. That episode Of