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excavation confirmed this identifica tion, since the facts o f its archeolog ical h istory agree in every particu lar with the B ib lical evidence fo r the h is to ry o f K irja th -seph er.” The most important discoveries were the city w a ll and two well-pre served gates, besides the clearance of about 3000 square meters from the in terior of the Jew ish city o f the 7th century B. C. The gates are p ractically the first of the ea rly Israe lite period y et found in Palestine. F rom the Canaanite pe riod of about 17 0 0 B. C. came massive w alls nearly five metres thick, and sloping revetment o rig in ally t e n meters high in some places, and re sembling the contemporary revetment of. Je rich o ve ry strik ingly. In a ll there were five periods o f oc cupation, each followed by the burn ing of the city. The th ird , fourth , and fifth destructions, were probably the work o f Caleb’s nephew, Sh ishak , K in g o f E gyp t in the time o f Solomon and Rehoboam , and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Dr. Melvin Grove Kyle wrote, “ A s soon a s we dug below the foundation o f the w alls and the gatew ay, and through a layer of ashes and other evi dences of burning, we came upon pot tery o f the Middle Bronze A ge, 17 0 0 - 13 0 0 B. C., and below this stratum, pottery o f the ea rly Bronze Age back to 2000 B . C., or e a rlie r . . . . Thus the h istory o f the city as it now ap pears, subject to correction by any evi dence which m ay y e t come to ligh t, stretches from e a rly patriarch al times down to the whole o f the National Period of Isra e l’s history” (S.S. Times, May 29 ). The apparen tly total destruction of this city so many times would appear to preclude much hope of finding tab lets or other inscribed documents that would ju stify the name o f “ Booktown” having been given to th is fortified city o f Judah, but the progress of further excavation w ill he watched w ith inter est, and as it is often the unexpected that happens, let us hope it w ill be so in th is case. — Mrs. Ghosn-el-Howie. Nablus, Palestine. M BETHLEHEM E astern sages a t H is cradle Make oblations rich an/i ra re ; See them give, in deep devotion, Gold and frankincen se and myrrh. Sacred gifts o f mystic meaning: Incense, doth their God disclose, God, the K in g o f k ings proclaimeth Myrrh, H is sepulchre foreshows. Jesus, whom the Gentiles worshipped, A t T h y glad epiphany, Unto Thee, w ith God the Father, And the Spirit, glory be. —A Fifth Century Hymn. E arth has many a noble c ity ; Bethlehem , thou dost a ll e x c e l!: Out o f thee the Lo rd from Heaven, .Came to ru le H is Israel.
EXCAVATIONS AT “BOOKTOWN" (Another exceedingly interesting “side light” on prophecy, front Mrs. Ghosn-el- Howie, w h o s e residence in Palestine eminently qualifies her for comment on this matter.) ^ j^ g r a T U D E N T S of the Old Testa- ment, especially in its his- w L l torical a n d geographical aspects, have alw ays sought to find any th ing that would throw ligh t on the h istory of that ro mantic fron tier town between the h ill country “ The N ejib ,” in the neighbor hood o f Hebron, which was occupied by the Canaanites a t the time o f the Israelite invasion in 14 4 4 B . C., and was so strongly fortified that Caleb, in desperation of tak ing it, said : “ He that smiteth K irjath -sepher, and tak- eth it, to him w ill I give Achsah my daughter to w ife ” (Jo sh . 1 5 : 1 6 ) . The name “ K irja th -seph er” (Book- town) was fu ll, o f m ystery. Was it possible th at the Canaanites were a lite ra ry people, and their tow» had such a reputation fo r learn ing as the names K irjath -seph er (book) and K irja th S a m a h ( “Learning,” “ know ledge,” “ profession ,” . Jo sh . 15:49) w o u l d seem to imp ly? A t the time the Is raelites conquered it, it was known as Debir. 'Possibly it had reached that stage in civilization when it could “debir” or provide sk illed “ s a n a a ” (labo r) or professional men on appli cation to it, as to a university. Whatever the names imply, a solu tion o f the m ystery is being attempted by the archeological researches and excavations recen tly commenced under the jo in t auspices of the American School o f Oriental Research (or, School of A rch aeo log y), o f which Dr. W. F . A lbright, is the D irector, and the Theological Sem inary of St. L o u i s, whose president, Dr. Melvin Grove K y le , ‘ archeological editor o f the Sun day School Times, Philadelphia, has contributed a series o f articles to that paper on the subject; Dr. W. F. A lb righ t’, who has returned to Je ru sa lem from T e ll-B eit Mission (the Bite identified as K irja th -seph e r), has made the follow ing statement to the Palestine B u lletin : "T h e s i t e was
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