Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-08
special Correspondence Of The Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Star
NEW YORK. March Z. 1905.
a NY SECRETS of the Egyptian rub
~ bish heaps that may pertain to
the Bible are always reported
quickly to the American Bible Society.
its scholars being ever on the watch for
anything that may throw new light on
the Sculptures. Discoveries are becom-
ing few and far between, as explorations
have been carried to the point where there
seems to be little territory left in which
to delve for manuscripts.
The most recent reports are those from
the Egyptian exploration fund workers.
who for ten years have been digging on
the plains of Lower Egypt, 120 miles
south of Cairo, where 100 years at
Least there have been many curious
mounds Of sand, some of them of consid
cradle proportions. These are the re-
mains of the once important Graeco-
Roman city Of Oxyrhynchus and it was
evident that the piles were nothing but
refuse heaps where despoilers Of the city
had thrown what they did not want of
the loot Of the great houses.
DR.. A. s. Hunt and DIR. B. P. Grenfell
were convinced that the mounds were
full Of literary fragments of value to
students of early Christianity and in this
their most sanguine expectations were
operations had hardly concluded before
the Oxyrhynchus site was the center of
interest for the classical world, and the
search had been less than half completed
when the whole of christendom was sur
prised by the discovery of new epistles of
st. Paul, fragments of uncanonical Cos
pels and Sayings of Jesus other than
those recorded In the New Testament.
eryS-- - .fcI, hanv
occupied ten winters. for the mounds were
found to contain not mere literary frag-
ments but whole libraries Of papyrus
scrolls. The work of translating is still
and every day is adding to the existing
wealth Of classical and archaeological
knowledge.
The work Of removing the papyri was
intrusted to 200 native men and boys,
who showed themselves particularly fitted
for the strain caused by the constant
bending over the task. These were care
fully supervised to safeguard against the
sale Of papyri to Arab merchants, and
were further encouraged to honesty by
commissions upon their finds
In opening up mound the men would
be divided into groups of four or six, to
whom about six square meters would be
allotted Trenches were then driven
through the mounds. and the earth re-
moved and carefully examined. Most of
the work in the trenches was done by
hand. with the occasional assistance of a
poker. The greatest care was exhibited
near the surface. for the most valuable
papyri were generally discovered within
ten feet of the top. Beneath that depth
they were more fragmentary and at
ground level non-existent, owing to the
action OF the damp. Oftentimes the
papyri were found In strata composed of
mixture of earth, straw and bits of
wood, and the striking of such vein
was the signal for general re joicing.
Such an instance occurred late one aft
ernoon at a depth of about six feet. A
series Of remarkably fine papyri 'of the
second and third centuries were dis
covered. A guard of trustworthy assist
ants was placed over the mound for the