AHAB'S WINE JARS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIV, Issue 14452, 26 May 1911, Page 5

AHAB'S WINE JARS.

AECJIA.KOJAJdIOA I; DISOOVJSBY. Atcnisj tiont excavation work ta liiblo lands ha/i boon row<ut3<al by AlriJtiiiK uuuiy imfioruint disooTarie*. ll it> *umpa>u>d tilufc tko temaiaa now unoa rilied uiiiy bo iltuso of > AliaWt "ivory Jiotitits" (I xxii, 09.) Labels with I/cbi'cu' writing, wjiitui Mini to have been in actual uuo during the lilntijiuj, awl porlmps iii tho Ijouuobo!<bj, ol' Omri and Aliub Uuvo itUo bocii found. Many Jiiblical names; upI'kmu iii Hit-so writings, suuii us ttiMia, As;), Nathan, Uzza, bliobu, find Abio-

Thow> discoveries have boon mado ft* Samaria, tho ancient capital of Ittrjud, tiitGoo . tho JiurvM;! XJjiUiorhlty Ixaa boon carrying on oxcavation* At Joruaulmn ujider tho pjytrojmgo of tlbQ Hon. Jacob 11. Scluff, of Now York, tho cltof object being tiio soaroh i<Jt flebrow rontains. 'llio work of q&oq tteoAou hn.s boi-u mainly at tho cumiriit, Ilore, in 3008, was excavated aji <m» posing btjunvay, with a largo aJtiir at »ta foot/ and u imitilatod etatuo of \niito mnrblo and exooilcnt wor)<mo-u* snip, probably roprosonUiuj Aogufitu*. lying near tho' altnr. Noar tho alto?* olso woro two Rteluo, with Latin vativo inncriptions dedicated to Jnpitor Opt'imufl Mnximtm, Both dx»to from wj« middlo of tho second oonlury or ft Vitftlo 'nl<or. Tiio altar sue mod iln bo of earlier date, probably Jlorodfan. South of tho stairway woro tho mas-' sivo foundations of ono or inoro lora» buildings. HERODIAN ARCTOTJ2CTUHE. -

The campaign of 19(J3 d'ng cut tha towers of tiio Xierodiau gatoway and part of tho hill, ujkl a jxirt oii of tiio Xlorodian bafiuicu adjoining tiio forufli : ' noar tuo vilJago on th<3 ousteni hide boutU of tiio faumiiut was u ncuv'uiou u jpazo of wall*, Roman, Crook, ami ; Hebrew, juid others of lc«i cortaui designation. Near,tho iiaso «.f a wall V in lli-o Babylonian stylo, was found a, froKnic ll ! of n cunniforra iiiuerli.tlou, ibo conditions ut the bi ijt.ij; t wro - Bo coniplicalcd t'hut tho csc.vtttiuii* Jjoro culled for tho j/.ost u.into obBeivation . Tho Croat wall ioujid in 1008, running xnuth freni tho btair- ' way, prove<l to bo the (jin fouiuiilm! J " H ft " " ' ar K° '' >u><m building. lius wna duf< out in |i« c-itirety, and there seems •to be no 'o ibfc tnat it ' 18 tho Augustan temple 1 n:!l bv Hcrcid. In 1008 a coin of i';rod hr d been found on ono of tho fi.'' r ;idatiou Willi of this building. 'ibero a; o othor walls, not aoiiicidiiijj with those of < Horca, whicji indxiato n rt'l'iiildins; of the teuipW in inferior s'ylv, arid tJtia may bo dated wif|i mhcJi prcbubllilj; .1(0 tlie tim« of Suptimua Sorrorus, about A.D. 200. -

Hosting on tho rock v.rc found ycry ' heavy walls, so flolid that lator buildcrs. Greek and Jtonrnn, ufed iIiCFO walls in places as a ha bo ■ cn which to lay their own t'onuJations, 3 Ji© masonry -was of a.'vyJo a*v<»ady known • - as Israelite, consisting of broad wall# of large blocks, /\Mj3ily k;d. , In certain places'the wolf is •i 1 ir^ly' £onc # but its direction can bit pf-en from that of tbe portions iiil .tmnling, and from trenches out, in tlnj t "k. ]''nl> lowin/} up theso .'nllß mid (rmolias tho general plan of » i igo bi.ildirg, consisting of chnmbnrs gxrtpo'i arouna ' oourta in tbe stylo, of tn ■, pat ace, becamo clour." Hero and there i niid pi rtiona of the (inishod wall to tho heightf of : eeveral coursos of -itono, Moicorcr, two grades of ronstruction a|r' tred, a coarser and a inier. Tho ejplor» ers suggest that this is ' o p. laoe of Oinri, enlarged ;'n a 'perior stylo by his son Ahab. This ry Lc, tj cn, tho "ivory house ■" huilt y Ahab. At all events, this luilding i c Hebrew palace, tho first •nd tr.iy '..-ilaro of a Hebrew. King ever -'olurid, aid liloly to remain unique, . T'tl of tho deepest interest to dblioal atud«mtfl. Tho palace lias now boon <" oavi.tod (a , an extent amounting t-o about 270 ft square, and the limits have not yob beep reached. Moreover, two atkTitions to tho p.'ilaco have 1 oon noted, tentatively assigned to Jnhu ."rd Jero* boain 11.

AilAB'S STOKEIIOOAI LAhthH, Last August the explorers wort ro» warded by tlio discovery' tf a pots* herd with writing in the imcicnt Hclk • row script. Subsequently rboub 75 ; others were found, trodden into thd floor of several chambers in ft building adjacent to the paiaco of Ahab. in another room not far from them vol * found nn alabaster /vuso inscribed wittf the uamo of .Ahnb's contemporary* Osorkon 11,, of K^ypt, The words are divided by spots, and tho reading-of many of llnr Yccorda is perfectly clear. Tho script i,5 tho same as that of Siloam tunnel ii scrip-. ■ tion, about. 700 8.C., a.ud the so-bail-ed "Moabito Stono" inscription, about 950 J3.C. 'lo tho eighth or ninth century, therefore, we should npAign tho ostraea. even if they Ji:ul rot boeu found in the Ahab building. A few of tJiotu road ns follows: — 1. in Iho t<'»tli year. For (or Ixv longing Rhermnryn. From tb* Tell. A jar of lino oil. 2. In tho ninth year. From Shaph* tan. From Ha'uJzamar. A jar of oid wine. 3. In, tho 11 tli year. From Shornidn. For Floles, Aphsoli, DaaJo (araj) Zokcr. A. In tho tonfh year. WinG of tho vineyard of tho Tell. With ft j\%r of Uno oil. These were probably labels attached to jars, or group® of jnre, in a storerootn ndjoiniug the pnlaoe, Of spoclftl interest are the proper names. Tho name SlfM would fteoin to bo Shoehorn or Samaria. The vineyard of tho Toli may have bemi Rovnl proporty 4 find iA reminiscent of Nnboth's *in©Vflfd* whioh was "hard by tho nalaoo, 1 Dr. fleisner mid Mr Fisher, who have been superintending tho ftioavft* ttonn, are now nt work preparing tho , rnsttM.p of tho thro'e yonrs* campaign for early pnldeation, and it ifi to IhoA6 gentlemen that we are fndebted fof the above ranirao of thoir trandorfufl discoveries.