RELICS FREED BY THE WAR.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4627, 7 May 1915, Page 1 (Supplement)

RELICS FREED BY THE WAR.

FUTURE OF THE LAND OF PALESTINE. “ Turkey fortifies Nazareth.” This headline, published recently in a London newspaper, may have startled not a few people who did not realize that the Ottoman Empire includes in her possessions practically all the sites and treasures of Biblical history. When Mr. Asquith said recently that “ this war means the end of Turkey,’’ he prophesied a great future for the students of Christianity. For it means that with the downfall of the Turkish Empire we shall gain right of free access to such places as Jerusalem, with the Sepulchre of the Saviour, the Temple of Solomon, and many other sacred sites which have been shut off from visitors who did not care to comply with the rigorous rules of the Turkish governors.

For while Christian civilization has gained some rights in Jerusalem, many of the most interesting parts of that famous city have not been opened to the ordinary visitor. Chief among these is the site of the Temple of Solomon, which cannot be touched by a Christian, or a Hebrew, because it 's utilized as a Alohammedan mosque. The Temple and Palace of Solomon, where he received the Queen of Sheba, is_ a building concerning which world-wide interest is naturally felt, and excavations in the Temple area may still reveal the altar of sacrifice, the brazen altar, tho molten sea, and other various sacred objects mentioned in the Bible.

NO ADMITTANCE. Investigators of this Temple and Palace, however, have been rigorously barred by the Turks, a remark which also applies to the Tomb of Abraham, the forefather of all the Israelites, and tlie Hebrew patriarchs at Hebron, in Palestine. Before lie died Abraham bought the Cave of Machpolah as a burial-place for himself and his family. This cave is situated within an enclosure called the Haram, and above the cave stands a church built by the Crusaders in 1187, but since converted into a mosque, for many centuries in the possession of the Turks. Ordinarily Christians and Hebrews arc not even allowed to enter the Haram surrounding the mosque, although occasionally Royalty have been permitted to enter. Another remarkably interesting relic which may be freed by the war is the monastery on Mount Sinai. This occupies the traditional spot where the Lord delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses, while in the library was recently found the oldest known manuscript of the Bible.

EXORBITANT FEES. These and many other spots which after the war will he opened to civilisation have been jealously guarded by the Turks, who have only allowed people to visit them and make investigations after paying them an exorbitant fee. According to the present Turkish law of antiquities, the consent of the local authorities for any such purpose must first be secured before a permit would he issued in Constantinople. To obtain this a lavish expenditure of money is necessary. With the downfall of the Turkish Empire, however, these ancient spots, which hold so much interest for Christian people, will he free for authorized investigation. Not only the sacred places of the Holy Land, however, hut the most famous sites of the ancient and classical world, including Constantinople, Troy, Babylon, Nineveh, Damascus, and Tyre, lie in the clutch of the Turk.

Considerable excavation has, of course, been done in such places as Babylon and Nineveh, hut it could only he done at vast expense and great risk of many kinds. This condition will he removed when the Turk is swept away, and the world will enter upon a new era of religious enlightenment and progress.