HISTORY DUG UP

Waipa Post, Volume 45, Issue 3214, 9 August 1932, Page 2

HISTORY DUG UP

DISCOVERIES IN TOMBS. In the Institute of Archaeology at Liverpool Professor Garstang recently set out some of the trophies of his latest expedition to Jericho. These consisted of pottery from the tombs of the citizens who inhabited the city between 2000 and 1400 B.C. During this time there were four different

cities on this site, and each has left j some trace not only in the foundations and walls of the city, but in the pot- ' tery and sherds—always an invaluable ; guide to the archaeologist.

The thii'd of these cities disappeared ; about 1600 8.C., probably when the ! Egyptians re-established their power i in Palestine. Then a new city was i built, and a period of prosperity en- [ sued, but later, possibly because of I the rapacity or financial embarrassj ment of the Pharaohs, the city grew j poorer, until the Israelite band was able to sack and bum it. FIXING THE DATES. In earlier expeditions Professor Garstang has done a great deal in excavating the various sites of the cities. The object of his latest expedition to examine the contents of the necropolis, lying outside the city, in order to swell our knowledge of the Bronze Age in Palestine, and enable

the daes of the various cities to be fixed. In both of these he has been very successful, for the Palestinians had a convenient habit of burying with their dead vessels of pottery to hold bread, oil, and water, and a lamp to give the dead souls light, while the local chieftains, who were vassals of the Pharaohs, had their official seals buried with them.