Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1907-10-11
APcHBOLOGDTO Nv EnHTNE
CONFPr1 BIBLE NARRATIVE
Mbpelr IN LehlsaH CIu @
Gezer AgUNpT ITO Eazaoe 1
eNv07 IaccdbeAs. mnNyU9
neU MiaT an lie A77oyWe
L11azAtlV q 5oa0 yeA.r
opo


stone and again by the finding of the
Sloan inscription. Both these achieve
ments threw a strong light upon some
obscure points in the ancient topogra-
ply of the Land of Israel. Now we have
a discovery, equally important and per-
hans more so. in that it identifies the
city of Gezer, of which Horam was king
whom Joshua smote, him and his
people. until he had left him none re
naming"
The agents of the Palestine ENplora-
ton Fund have uncovered the site or
Gezer and have found there indlsput-
able signs of its existence, its greatness
and the thrilling nature of its history.
Its inhabitants and its king, when
Joshua smote them, were Canaanites.
Joshua gave the city ard land apper-
tanning to it to the children of Israel,
''fOr a possession according to their oil
visions" but did not kill or eXpel all
of the Canaanftes. The expression IN
the text, until he left him none re-
naming" doubtless refers to King Ho-
rams army only, for it is distinctly
stated in Judges, i, %, that "Ephralm
(the tribe) drove not out the Cananltes
that dwelt in Gezer, but the Cananltes
dwelt in Gezer among them"
Burned by Pharaoh.
The city proper was allotted after the
conquest by Joshua to the kohathlte
Levites, but they appear never to have
dominated the Canaanites within It's
walls Even to the time Of Solomon the
Canaanites were still dwelling there. 1t
is supposed tht the city had become
practically independent OF Israel al
though possibly it was still nominally
under the latter's rule One Of the
Pharaohs burned the city and slew the
Canaanites This statement in /.
Kings would seem to imply that the
CananiteS had absorbed or asslmllated
the Hebrews who had dwelt with them.
Pharaoh then gave the city to his
daughter, one of Solomon's wives Solo
mon Immediately rebuilt and fortified
it,
The search for Gezer has proceeded
for several generations. Though many
tines referred to in the Old Testament,
it is always with such extreme vague
ness that the situation of the city could
not be determined thereby. 1t is known
now that its site was on the line of the
great highway between Egypt and Sy-
ria, commanding the approach from the
To T0rrISo lnpo re Crrn1T rpl-
atfve Importance is therefore apparent.
There is no doubt that eager efforts
will be made by archaeologiStS to OBJ
tain further significant relies from its
site. Those that have already been
brought to light by the agents of the
Palestine Exploration Fund may justly
be regarded as invaluable. There is
abundant ground for the belief that
Gezer was the chief city of the Canaan
ties. 1t seems to have been the CEN
trail town Of the Philistines when Da-
vid made war upon them. In l Chron-
icles it is recorded that David did as
God commanded him; and they smote
the host of the Philistines from Gideon
even to Gezer."
A few years ago it was pretty we'll
agreed that Tell Jezer, near the village
of Abu Shursheh, four miles from Am
was, the ancient Nicopolis mentioned
by Eusebius, lying to the right of the
road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, about 20
miles from the latter city, was a prob
able site Of ancient Gezer. Blocks of
Nd all OF
terry marked the spot. Here were found
nv NJ. Clermont- Glanneau two inscrip-
lions on rock; one containing the
name Alkius in Greek letters, the other
the words THE Boundary of Gezer" in
the Hebrew character of the Maccabean
period.
Here was enough on which to base
the belief already mentioned, but not
to Justify a feeling Of certainty. The
agents of the Exploration Fund recent
" excavated the ground in question.
The results have been very remarkable
Gezqr was a High Place." a center
of heather worship, such as the Jews
were frequently commanded to destroy.
The Ordinary 1ul ll1tuiS VI tAt Sduddu-
tie High Place" or shrine, consisted
of an altar, near which stood a stone
DilIar. the Mazzebah, and a sacred tree,
the Asherah-probably connected with
the primitive practice Of tree worship
and stone worship. "Asherah' is rem
dered groves" i'll the English Bible
Architectural Remains
Among other things was found a cir
cular pit close TO shrine which has
nrovoked wide speculation. Within the
Dit was brought to light small brazen
serpent like a cobra. This mas led to
the conjecture that the pit contained
sacred snakes and that the shrine of
Gezer was a parallel to the famous sa-
cred resort Of Cos
The discovery of the Moabite stone
was made amidst the ruins of Dhiban,
one of the vanished cities whose re-
mains strew the lofty plains Of Moab
beyond the Jordan, now the camping
ground of the Bedouin Arab. This mon
ument is a slab or block Of basalt about
three and a half feet long by two feet
in breadth and thickness, bearing on
one side an inscription In Phoenician
characters. The language closely re-