Life Has Not Changed In 2000 Years

Northern Advocate, 1 October 1938, Page 10

Life Has Not Changed In 2000 Years

Defining archaeology as the discovery of "the common things of life rather than a purely, scientific prying into tombs and ruins, Mr ,E. M. Blaiklock, lecturer in classics at Auckland University College,, concluded the series of University, Extension lectures in the Town Hcbl with a most interesting address on the archaeology of the New Testament.

In the absence of the mayor, the chair was occupied by the Rev. Cannell Hoskin. Despite counter attractions in the town there was a large crowd present at the address.

.Mr Blaiklock showed in many ways how the common life jof 2000 years ago was very similar to that - of to-day. This discovery had been made possible, he said, mainly by investigation into “waste-paper baskets.” (Future historians having access to the modern wastepaper 'basket of school or office would soon be able to locate aspects of life •to-day from a perusal of the documents and letters they would find. So had it been possible by this means to gain a valuable insight into the life of New Testament times. The Same Human Element Quoting from various letters that had been found in this way, Mr Blaiklock showed how very much alike, for example. were the family life of those days and that of our own. This was borne out in the parable of the prodigal son- We were often inclined not to appreciate the really human Interest 'in such stories, he said, owing to their familiarity. Amongst papyri recovered from the sands of Egypt had come a particularly interesting letter bearing his truth out. Corruption among officials was another feature of the Old Days revealed by letters and documents preserved through the years. Private correspondence of one Menches, town clerk of Kerksosiris, in 1198. C. showed how he had written a letter to the council a week or so beforehand, offering payment for his being appointed to the socalled honorary position. With this position went, apparently, opportunities to become wealthier by means of the advance inside knowledge regardmarketing, etc. Bureaucracy Rampant Bureaucracy held sway in those times. As early as 114 8.C., there was a record of men paying sales tax of, 10 per cent. There was an official docu-

merit fdvising a merchant that, if he sold eggs retail he must not sell them wholesale. - There was a note in the form* of an application for a license to dig ditches in the irrigation works. Another letter contained an application for permission to leave Alexandria, on the hack of the rough draft of which was a domestic shopping list. Few modern schemes could be more thoroughly planned than was that of early Alexandrianism, where an official sought to control the oil industry, said Mr Blaiklock. By Government monop-, oly the officer in charge was to determine the acreage to be grown, while government factories, or those under government inspection, produced the finished article. Prices were fixed and the market protected by prohibiting imports.

Body-mark Identification Identification of native Egyptians was a peculiar feature of many legal documents discovered, explained Mr Blaiklock. Time and again people are referred to for identification purposes by the location of scars on face or body. It was possible that to the Greeks, and Romans all Egyptians looked alike,much as to a Britisher most Chinese looked alike. All the red tape of bureaucratic control was illustrated by a study of the documents and letters of the time, and were the result mainly of recent research work among the dry, preserving sands of Egypti The Nazareth Decree “It is strange how the significance of an archaeological discovery can sometimes remain long years unnoticed,” went on the speaker. “In 1878 a decree of the Emperor Claudius was found at Nazareth, but it was as late as 1930 before the extraordinary significance of this was realised. “In the decree it is declared that the penalty for tomb-breaking and bodysnatching should be death. When it is considered that no other record in Roman Law of such a drastic decree has been found it makes one wonder why Claudius should issue such a stern edict. Claudius had considerable ability in handling the religious problems of the empire; why, then, should he set up this edict in Greek in such a place as Nazareth? Anti-Semitic Act “Examination of the circumstances reveals-that the inscription falls between years 44 and 50 A.D. Although the autonomy of the province was a legal fiction, while it lasted, the Romans would not have set up a decree there,

go that we must relate this incident to a specific moment in Claudius’ reign. We in the book of Acts of the emperor’s expulsion of the Jews from Rome. This act of anti-Semitism is stated by Orosius as ‘being s the result of riot and trouble among the Jews, at the instigation of ‘Chrestos.’ “The reference here is obviously to Christ. It appears that, in the early forties'of the century, the early Christian propaganda was already active in the distant capital of the empire, and that the Jews were raging against it. Claudius at last drove them out of Rome. J Threats Against Rome “How, then, are we to relate this to the Nazareth decree? Claudius apparently, would hear of the trouble caused by one named Christ, who, his followers had said, rose from the dead. Claudius clearly wanted no new religious movements in the east and was ready to repress sternly any signs of such arising to threaten the totalitarianism of Rome. “The Nazareth edict proves interesting facts. Imperial repression of Christianity began with Claudius and not with Nero, apparently. Then, within a decade of Christ’s death, the Christian faith was alive in Rome. Again, the fact of the empty tomb was accepted in Rome even by the foes of Christ. The Rome Catacombs “In Italy, as in Judaea, the Jews were finally driven to the weak suberfuge involving their accusation of tomb robbing. No doubt this was the factor that led the Emperor Claudius to decree that tomb-robbing and bodysnatching would be punishable oy death.” Reference was made by Mr Blablock to the catacombs of Rome, which, he said, were startling revelation of the growth of Christian faith in the first century following Christ’s death. Even to-day, he said, absolutely complete investigation had not been carried out, and it was possible that further inquiry might lead to further important discoveries. At the conclusion of his address Mr' Blaiklock was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.