(Jewish Daily Bulletin)
Mizpah, the city where Saul was proclaimed the first king of Israel, may be revealed as the result of excavations soon to be made at a mount on the historic road to Damascitis, eight miles out of Jerusalem.
This is the expectation of Dr. Elihu Grant, professor of Biblical literature at Haverford College, who sailed yesterday to participate in the undertaking.
The surface of the mound, which is believed to be rich in Biblical and pre-Biblical material, was excavated last spring, with results that have lead archeologists to believe they are on the right trail of the site of the ancient Hebrew city of Mizpah, or of the equally old town of Beeroth.
It was at Mizpah that the Prophet Samuel “called the people together unto the Lord”, and after berating them for being dissatisfied with their political lot and wanting a King, caused Saul, the son of Kish, to be proclaimed the sovereign of the twelve tribes.
The Old Testament also records Mizpah as the scene of another important. if tragic event. Jeremiah tells how Gedaliah. appointed Governor over the remnant of Hebrews left after the fall of Jerusalem and the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, was murdered at Mizpah by Ishmael and others of the royal blood who had taken refuge with the King of Ammonites. Not only the Governor, but all those who acknowledged the Chaldeans as their overlords, were slain by Ishmael and his band and their bodies were flung into a deep pit nearby.
Dr. Grant, before leaving this city. said that even if the mound should prove to hide the site of neither Mizpah nor Beeroth, it will disclose much of value from an archeological point of view. The site was continually occupied from the days of the later cave men, to a period some years after the dawn of the Christian era.
The mound, known as Tell-en-Nusbeh, “the hill of Nusbeh”, evidently was a fortress of importance for many years in the land of Canaan. It was held by the triumphant Hebrews under Joshua and by succeeding conquerors, who made it an important stronghold for the purpose of guarding the northern approach to Jerusalem.
Dr. Grant first noticed the mound some twenty years ago, while living at Ram-allah, about two miles from it. Two years ago he again visited Palestine, and made a preliminary survey which showed traces of city walls and gates, towers, a citadel, tombs and other evidences that the site at one time was a city of importance.
The mound is approximately eight acres in extent. The excavation is being conducted under the direction of Dean William F. Bade, of the Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California. Dr. Grant said that for many years he had hoped to have the opportunity of digging there, and when Dr. Bade invited him to take part, he accepted eagerly. He will be engaged for March, April and May.
Vanity cases and make-up apparatus of 3,000 B. C. are among the discoveries reported by the museum of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, which has an expedition digging in the mounds of what was once the world metroplis of Ur, of the Chaldees, the birthplace of Abraham.
The diggers at work under the direction of Major C. Leonard Woolley, representing the university museum at Philadelphia and the British Museum, have in the past season, according to the report made public, worked on the remains of public buildings, and have excavated an ancient cemetery, digging up 180 different graves. some of them more than 5,000 years old.
Archaeological discoveries of importance include the finding of vaulted and arched construction in use before 2,000 B. C., something that was thought impossible at such an early date: a Phoenician inscription of about 1,100 B. C. the earliest known in Mesopotamia. illustrating again the extensiveness of the sea-borne commerce of that great trading nation, the England of its day; an engraving of earlier date than 4,000 B. C., showing a worshipper performing a religious rite, the engraving being one of the oldest yet found. In addition were found quantities of jewelry of very early date.
Jews. Catholies, Negroes and 700 robed and hooded Klansmen attended a “Fraternal Day” religious service Sunday night in the Bergen Lyceum. Jersey City. N. J. held under the anspices of the Protestant Laymen’s Association of Hudson County. The various racial and religious groups were there by special invitation.
Eighteen members of the Knights of Columbus and twenty-one representatives of Jewish organizations, who attended in a body, declined to sit on the platform, where four Negroes and a number of robed Klansmen were seated. Captain Harry Walsh said that 2,000 persons were turned away. The hall held 1,200 persons and an additional 500 heard the services through an amplifier in the basement.
Paul W. Rothenberg, prominent Chicago political leader has been appointed first deputy coroner of Cook county by Coroner Oscar Wolfi.
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