NEW LIGHT FROM SAMARIA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1076, 15 March 1911, Page 7

NEW LIGHT FROM SAMARIA.

ARCHIVES OF OMRI AND AHAB

The American expedition which has been engaged upon the excavation of Samaria, under tho direction of Dr. Reissner and Mr. Clarence Fisher, has justified itself during the past season by a find of singular interest and.fascination (writes E. G. Harmer in the "Christian World"). .

The city of Samaria is commonly held to- have been established upon virgin soil by Omri, King of Israel, at the outset of the ninth century B.C. The explorers have identified certain foundations as pertaining to a royal palace, which there is no reason to doubt may have been erected, either by the city founder or by his son Ahab, whose "ivory house" is casually mentioned in tho literary history. At tho end of Jho following century the city was captured by the Assyrians, and any monuments of kingly Israel that may be found upon the site-will accordingly lie within tho 'ambit of "the period from 900 to 700 B.C.'

In the course of his researches among the rubbish heap 3 that lay outside tho walls of the Samaritan palaco, Dr. Reissner was rewarded by the discovery of a mass of potsherds. They aro 120 in number, and arc covered with inscriptions in the old Hebrew character in ink. That they are of local origin is amply shown by the nature of tho lettering employed, and, in fact, it was a matter of pride with tho Samaritan people to preserve tho ancient character, when their Judaean neighbours had developed the. new alphabet which is used to this day. In view of the circumstance that the fragments .of pottery were lodged in the oldest stratum, it is permissible to attribute them to the earlier period of Omri and Ahab, rather than to the following century. Moreover, a precious confirmation of this was afforded by the presence among them of a cuneiform, tablet, mentioning the name of. Ahab himself, as well as of his Assyrian contemporary It is thus quite possible that these' homely records may prove to be anterior in date to the Moabito stone itself.

More than one-half of the fragments p'ield clear and intelligible results, and the full translation of them will bo eagerly awaited by all Old Testament students. They seem to represent the documentary vouchers of the Board of Green Cloth in -ho household of tho Israelite King. They are drawn up with the care for detail which is characteristic of the Semitic temperament, and arp for the most part receipts for wiuo and oil. These palace supplies were doubtless of home production, as in tho ago in question there would be lib. need for an import trade, except in time of siege. Some of tho receipts deal with the hire of messengers, and attest the presence of an organised system of trade and communication, already deducible from the vivid story enshrined in the Books of the Kings. It would appear that the actual names of tho parties concerned are in many instances preserved, and these will furnish material for study, in relation to the nomenclature of tho Hebrew people during tho kingly period which preceded tho exile. In any event, they will serve to carry to a remoter date the ovolution of Hebrew writings, hitherto bounded by tho date of the Siloam inscription. The explorers have also thrown some light upon the later history of the city or Samaria, including as* it does a strenuous chapter in the grim annals of tho Hcrodeah dynasty. Many personages famous in history livod and died upon the blood-stained hill which Isaiah called, "the Crown of Pride." There Ahab and Ahaziah were slain; there Elisha lived and Hosea prophesied; it was under its shadow that Herod strangled his offspring and put his wifo Mariamno to death. That relics of any of these will over be identified can hdrdly be imagined. But the work of the past season encourages tho hone .that much still remains to bo unearthed, such as will enable us once more to visualise the daily life of this ill-fated race. Its home amid the Samaritan uplands was then, and still continues to be, one of tho fairest scenes in Palestine.