El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-10

JERICHO. Nov. 26.-Have you heard
of the excavations which the Aus
TRANS are making away out here
on the edge of the Jordan? They have
discovered the site of old Jericho, and
are digging UP the walls which Ieli
down at the blast of Joshua's trumpet.
The place is just about IA miles from
Jerusalem as the crow flies. It lies on
a little plateau, right under the noun
tains upon which ii is said our Lord
was tempted by the devil and prom
fsed the world. 1t is about three miles
from the present town of jericho,
where I am stopping, and within easy
easy access of it by foot, horse or
carriage. I have spent day with the
excavators There are 800 peasant men
and women digging up the ruins, and
the Austrians have laid down a rail-
way to carry the dirt outside the walls.
They are using steel cars, pushed by
hand They are finding all sorts OF
relics and are unearthing new histor-
zeal facts.
The work began about three years
ago under the Austrian ministry min
istry of education, and the uncovering
of the mounds showed the remains OF
q great fortress city, which was un-
doubtedly the Jericho Of Canaan This
lies on a plateau, surrounded by great
walls, some of which are Of stone. II
had inner walls and citadel and was
thanked with strong towers The heart
of the city was about 1900 feet long
and 525 feet wide.
The Houses of Old Jericho.
Many of the houses have been un-
earthed. / have walked through streets
which were in use when Moses and the
the Israelites were wandering In the
Wilderness and have tramped up and
down staircases of clay which were
built hundreds of years before Christ.
In one of the buildings, which is sup
posed to have been made 270O years
ago, there was found an uncovered
courtyard The house seems to have
been abandoned during a fire, and for
some reason or other it was left In
better condition than most of the 9TH
ers. 1t contained a red sandstone mill
for meat grinding and water vessels OF
various shapes. 1t had plates and jugs
and also lamps and iron vessels with
handles of deer horn
In going through the ruins I tramp
ed over bushels of pottery broken in
pieces. / saw water jars Clipped and
cracked. They had clay corks as big as
tomato with a hole through the cen
ter There are hundreds of these corks
lying on the ground There are also
stone mortarT which were used for
grain grinding and the remains OF
amphorae, or huge jars with necks and
side handles, which were buried IN the
earth and kept TO hold wine or grain.
The most of the pottery is covered with
8 white glaze, and some of it has YER
ucaI stripes of yellow painted upon IL.
As to the buildings, the stone walls
are built without angles, the cracks
being filled in with smaller stones.
The work was done with tools Of
bronze. and some of it dates back
beyond history. The heart of the city
is on an egg-shaped plateau just above
the plain Of the Jordan. So far about
$4,000 has been expended on the work.
A Magnificent City.
It is difficult in wandering through
these ruins of mud, brick and rough
stone 70 realize that Jericho was
was not so in. our sense of the word.
although il covered a large area and
was thickly populated There are no
remnants of great marble columns, and
1T is said that that Jericho had disap-
peared long before Christ came and
that another had taken it's place sit
uated in this same Jordan valley. The
Jericho of Christ had theater, a cir
Gus and university. It ranked with
Jerusalem as one of the important
places in Palestine. 1t was surround
ed by irrigated gardens, and was
known as the city of palms. 1t had
grown up in Roman times, and Mark
Antony thought so much of it that he
gave it as a present to Cleopatra who
collected quite a revenue from the bal
sam groves. near there which furnished
the gum Of commerce. Cotton was rails
ed here at that time, and this region was
then z winter resort for Jerusalem.
Herod the Great had palaces in Jeri-
cho, and ii is said that he died here,
although he was buried somewhere
near Hebron.
We know that our Savior came to
Jericho, and here He healed the blind
He did not stay in the city, but dwelt
outside in the house of Zaccheus, who
was a collector of taxes for the Roman
government, and therefore not popular
with the Jews 1 refer to Zaccheus
the dwarf He was so short he feared
he would not be able to see the Christ
over the heads of the crowd, and, as
you remember from the verse in the
old primer;
Zaccheus he
Did climb a tree,
His Lord to see"
City of Joshua and Rahab.
These old ruins represent not the city