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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
February, 1933
A N EXPERIENCE
CJn cJ 2 o sl ( ë i iy Ç J tu n iin g
B y J. A. HUFFMAN* Marion, Ind.
/
T:
HE ANCIENT town o f B e e ro th has been lost for fifteen hundred or m ore yea rs. But how do we know that there ever was
From these references to Beeroth and its associations with places already known, something o f a general idea o f its one-time location is'obtained. Following this clue, our search took us to the border of the tribe of Benjamin, six or seven miles northeast o f Jerusalem. How to C hoose a S ite There are several other things which must certainly be reckoned with in searching for a lost city. One is the prob ability that it may continue as a village, and be known by a different name. But as the Arabic language, from which most Palestinian cities have their names, belongs to the Semitic family of languages, it is not so likely that the name, if the city or village still exists, will be so much dif ferent that it cannot be recognized. It is almost certain that an early Palestinian city is marked by a hill or an elevation. An elevation was indis pensable for protection against the attack o f enemies, and if no natural elevation was available, an artificial citadel was built. The debris resulting from the occupation and destruction of a city can scarcely fail to mark the spot as a city site. It is absolutely certain that ancient city locations had accessible to them a water supply— in hilly countries, in the form o f springs. It is also certain that the occupation of any site for any considerable length o f time will leave behind a certain amount of potsherds (broken pieces o f pottery) from which, if they can be found, definite infor mation can be obtained concerning the periods o f occupa tion. So important is pottery in such a study, and so well have the various types become known to archaeologists, that pottery is considered one o f the “ telltales” o f the science. I nvestigations in P rocess By the process o f elimination, we chose two sites to in vestigate, not far apart. On approaching the one, we began the search for potsherds on the hillsides. This was to be our first evidence o f the former occupation o f the site by a city. A careful examination o f the locality furnished no evidence that a city had once occupied the place, so we abandoned this as a probable site o f Beeroth. Proceeding to our second location, we began a similar investigation. The first favorable indication was a sherd, which the writer found, and which Dr. Albright, who was our authority on pottery, identified as belonging to the Early Iron Age II, a period from 900 to 600 B.C. “ This,” said^Dr. Albright, “ proves that Israelites lived in this local ity.” The period represented by the sherd was that o f the divided monarchy. A further examination of the site resulted in the finding o f a small amount o f pottery reaching back to the Middle Bronze Age, 2000 to 1600 B .C .; a small amount o f the [Continued on page 58]
HILLS OF PALESTINE
a Beeroth ? And if there was, what difference does it make whether if is ever found or not ? These are questions which immediately and legitimately arise. The party preparing to go in search for this lost city was composed o f three persons: Dr. W . F. Albright, of Johns Hopkins University, field director o f our archaeolog ical researches in Palestine; Dr. Saarisalo, an archaeologist from Finland; and the writer. Our headquarters were at the American School o f Oriental Research in Jerusalem, and it was from there that we started. S ources of I nformation Almost our only source of information concerning the city o f Beeroth is the Old Testament, which refers to it and its inhabitants ten times. Half a century ago, there would have been a number o f critical scholars who would have been ready to discredit the Old Testament reference to Beeroth, declaring, as they did of some other cities and peoples mentioned in the Bible, that it never existed, and characterizing the biblical mention o f it as a “ tale o f orien tal fiction.” Fortunately, no member o f our party ever belonged to the group which is ready to discredit the historical and geo graphical references of the Bible. It is interesting to note that this group is now almost extinct, for too. often have those who decreed against the trustworthiness o f the Bible been put to shame by the confirmation of biblical refer ences by archaeology. The best cure for a destructive crit ical attitude toward the Bible is a change o f heart by regen eration, but a good course in biblical archaeology goes a long way toward correcting the head o f saint and sinner, and certainly warms the heart o f the believer. Besides the references to Beeroth in the Bible, both Josephus and Eusebius make mention o f the place, but they add practically nothing to our knowledge concerning the city. From Joshua 9:17, we learn that Beeroth was a city belonging to the Gibeonites, and it is listed with their other cities, Chephirah and Kirjath-jearim. In the eighteenth chapter and the twenty-fifth verse o f the same book, it is recorded that, in the allotment o f the land o f Palestine, Beeroth and the other Gibeonite cities were awarded to the tribe o f Benjamin. The reference made to Beeroth in 2 Samuel 4 :2 seems to indicate that the city was upon the border o f Benjamin, for it says that Beeroth was “ reckoned to Benjamin.” *Dean o f Divinity School, Marion College, Marion, Ind., and Dean o f Divinity School o f Winona Lake (summer sessions), Winona Lake, Ind.
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