Smyrna times., 1926-12-29
RUINS GIVE PROOF
OF BIBLICAL TRUTH
Facts Established by E.'
pIorations in Palestine.

Undeniable proof of the Biblical his
terry Of the ancient city of Shechem,
the falling of the walls of Jericho,
.Ee existence of the well of Jacob
and other Biblical facts is .estab
ltshed by, explorations in Palestine in
which Bishop II. NJ. Dubose, president
OF the three Tennessee annual confer
ences of the Methodist Episcopal
church, South, participated, said
Bishop Dubose at Nashville upon his
return from the Holy land.
Bishop Dubose and a party of Ger
man college professors led an archie
illogical trip in recent excavations in
Palestine and Egypt which were be-
gun about the time of the outbreak of
the World war and soon will be COM
pleted
The ancient city of Shechem, said
Bishop Dubose, was definitely located
with not a contradiction of the account
of the forgotten city as it appears
in the Bible. The archeologists, he de-
clared, identified the well of Jacob,
less than a half mile outside the gates
said. that the well was on the same
geological level as the gates of the
tower of Shechem.
This indicates, said Bishop Dubose.
that the gates of the city were built
and the we'll dug within the space of
two or three hundred years of each
other.
Proof was established, the bishop
claimed, of the historic city of Jacob.
1t was discovered. he declared. that
the foundations of Shechem were
1000 years old.
The rounded curb of the well where
Christ is recorded in the Bible as hav-
ing sat and talked with the woman of
Samaria, is still intact. The bishop
sat upon it and drank the water,
which he described as of sweetish
taste.
The excavations were made to a
depth of SO feet, with the aid of two
hundred Indifferent natives Traces
of four ancient civilizations were un-
earthed-those of the Canaanites, the
Israelites, the Greeks and the Samari-
tans.
Archaeology furnishes the best and
truest history Of the world re
marked Bishop Dubose 1T is the ge-
ology Of ancient civilizations. These
discoveries are absolute confirmation
of Biblical history"
The walls Of the city of Shechem
measured something like three miles
in line, he said
The bishop displayed photographs
Of the unearthed ruins Of the founda-
tions Of a colonnade palace within the
walls of the city.
This bears out the Bible" he as
serted Not a relic of any sort was
discovered in the palace by the ex-
cavators. The Bible says that the
sons Of Jacob destroyed Shechem in
the Seventeenth century B. C.-that
the palace was stripped bare-and
| the ruins were found as such. Jacob,
| Biblical history says, soon evacuated
out OF fear and the people returned
and rebuilt"
The ancient walls OF Jericho. which
the Bible records fell upon the sound
/
| the time of Joshua. in the Fourteenth
century B. c.. actually fell, Bishop
Dubose declared. This he claimed was
determined by the examination Of pot
terry which fixed the age. and the
examination of fragments. Tablets
| fruitful of wonderful results" were
unearthed in Shechem.
The walls Of the city of Shechem
which the Psychologists uncovered
contain larger stones than those in
the pyramids of Egypt, he said. by
actual measurements All the streets
of the ancient city were paved. There
was a system OF drainage. pictures Of
which he exhibited which the bishop
declared were perfect and reflected q
civilization equal to modern ideas.