The San Francisco call., 1908-03-29
Az Aa GENT BURLAL y
rRO1d TIE FToUNP :
OF JERICHO

monument 5000 years old. Conder was
tho born archaeoIogist. Picture the
man on caInelback IN the awful burn
ing desert about the Dead sea, or in
rags groveling in wells and holes. with
his notebook in one hand and the book
of Joshua in the other-ttat book
which is the central focus OF biblical
topography.
Conder never laid down a newly
found name or a ruin on his map
without inquiring wnat connection it
had with the sacred narrative. His
marvellous intuition and wide knowl-
edge told him that some old ruin, made
up of nothing but a few scattered and
mournful broken cisterns. faint shad-
ows Of foundations and scraps of
broken pottery, was IN reality the site
Of biblical city, long wanted to fs
into its Place for the determination
Of tribe boundary. 1T was such men
as Conder that encouraged civilization
to spend nearly d million dollars IN
this fascinating way.
The very first expedition, that under
Colonel Sir Charles Wilson, R. E. was
a whole year at work Observations
were made at 49 different points be-
tween Beirut and Hebron. and series
of detailed maps resulted. one mile to
the inch, covering the whole backbone
of the country from north TO south in
Guiding the lake of Genesereth. Inscrip-
tions were copied. plans of churches
tombs, temples and syna gogues drawn
''squeezes taken of the tablets Of SEN
nacherib and Assyrian and all Hebrew
and Samaritan inscriptions. Syste-
matfcally the bible episodes were fast
ened upon and verified with amazing
realism Thus the ruins of Khersa on
the lake of Tiberias were fixed upon
as the scene of the destruction of the
herd of swine possessed by devils. Just
here was the necessary steep place.
and no other point of the lake was
suitable.
Warren did great work in and around
Jerusalem. BefAne he came the ques-
tions disputed were the site of the
temple and the walls Of the present
Enclosure, known as the Haram es
Sheriff, and the site OF Constantine's
church, which in turn involved the site,
both true and traditional, of the holy
sepulcher
For generations scholars had warred
over Jerusalem's sites; no less than 16
different reconstructions of the ancient
city were proposed. One school con-
tended that the Moslem tomb of the
rock within the temple Enclosure is in
reality Constantine's Basilica and that
the cave beneath 1t is in truth the
holy sepulcher; so that the present tra-
lently assumed to keep up the flow Of
pilgrims from all parts of the Christian
world.
Wilson's excavations showed that
modern Jerusalem stands on at least
so feet Of rubbish. Indeed, in more
than one place the rock is only visible
at l20 feet below the second wall.
In the temple area he sank deep
shafts through to the foundations and
took rock levels. in this way showing
ethe contour of the entire city. AS the
city appears above ground today the
proud words OF Josephus, the passion
ate love OF the ancient Hebrews for
their city and their praise OF it's an
cient glories seemed to the ordinary
Observer not little absurd in the
presence Of crumblipg gray walls, mar
row limits and mean streets.
But Warren restored the ancient city
TO the world He stripped the rubbish
from the rocks, showed the glorious
temple standing within its walls, 1000
feet long and 200 feet high. built in
blocks Of mighty masonry. He 1t was,
too. who laid open the valleys, till then
covered UP and hidden; opened up se-
cret passages, ancient aqueducts and
famous toubs.
And while he was at work Professor
Palmer and c. Il. Tyrwhftt Drake had
gone out into the desert OF tf1e exodus