265
JUNE, 1946
EARTH'S TREASl /RE HEAPS Paul R. Bauman , Th.B., D.D.
LANTERN SLIDES ¿3« Glass slides, 2"x2* *nd 3,/j,"x4/' from your films and snapshots. The exclusive service for missionaries and Christian workers. 1946 busiest of last thirteen years at this ad dress due to repeat orders and friendly rec ommendation. The old low price of 60c a slide, colored. Either size. (Any quantity.) No lists. Phone CLeveland 66129. C. WHITFIELD SIMS 6176 Myosotls St. I,os Angeles 42, Calif.
How Did Ancient Cities Become Buried?
cially in flood seasons, and so fill up their beds, that in the course of time the bed of the river is actually raised above the level of the cities built along its banks. Today Memphis (the Old Testament Noph) is largely below the water of the Nile river. The New Testament Antioch has long been flooded by the Orantes river. The changing of the course of a river more than once has been re sponsible for turning whole stretches of land into barren desert. This has been true especially in ancient Baby lonia where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers changed course and left whole sections of the country without water. As a result, desert dust storms have completely covered many of the an cient cities there. Erech (Gen. 10:10) and Babylon are cases in point. Hie burial of cities in Palestine, however, presents in most cases an entirely different story. Palestinian cities were usually located on hillocks or on the isolated lower spurs of a mountain. Such cities were in reality fortresses, seldom more than ten to fifteen acres in extent. Many of the people actually lived outside these fortresses, entering them only for pur poses of business or fleeing to them for protection in times of danger. Old Testament Jericho was just such a center. The average Palestinian town was surrounded by a massive stone wall, twenty to thirty feet in height, and from eight to ten feet in thickness. Great banks of earth were laid against the lower portions of these walls so that in reality, together, they consti tuted a massive retaining wall which held intact within it the remains of a ruined city. Through the centuries, the rains have made little impression upon these ruins. Now let your mind wander back to a time when there was no street cleaning department, and every day in the year for several hundred years the ashes and other refuse were not carried outside the city wall, but mere ly emptied into the very narrow streets and beside the house walls. In a comparatively short time, the street would be several feet higher than the floors of the dwellings so that one would have to step up to enter the street. Should a house be (Continued, on Page 28 H
"TTOW DID the cities of antiquity •El become buried so deeply beneath the surface of the earth?” This is probably the most common question the archaeologist is asked. It arises because of continual reference to "mounds,” "buried cities,” and "exca vation.” The answer is not as simple as one would think, for the method by which cities become covered varies with different t i m e s and different places- A few examples will'serve to illustrate this: Sodom and Gomorrah undoubtedly were buried by volcanic action or some similar disturbance of nature. The cities of the plain now are believed to lie beneath the waters of the Dead Sea. Dr. Melvin Grove Kyle carried on an investigation in that region, and declared that “Every item of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has been certified by scientific evidence.” Occasionally in Bible times a city was located upon a geological fault, and a tragic earthquake would bury it under its own debris. An example is Jerash in Transjordania. It is al together possible that God used an earthquake to cause the destruction of the walls of Jericho. Garstang un-' covered evidence of such a disturb ance which he traced to the very days of Joshua. The city itself, of course, was destroyed by fire. Sometimes cities lying at the foot of a mountain would become covered by silt which worked down upon them during the passing of the centuries. The Biblical Shechem furnished such an example. The excavations in 1926, which included the palace as well as the tower and gate of the city, shed a flood of light upon the history of Jacob and the shameful conduct of his sons and daughter, Dinah. Be neath this layer of silt, the archaeol ogists found mute proof of the story that the house of Hamor had been pillaged and robbed. Inundation is a third cause of burial. Alexandria in Egypt is an example of an ancient city, portions of which are now covered by the sea. In this case, the burial of certain areas was caused by a sinking of the land level on which the city was built. A condition similar to this in its effect is the ele vation of a river bed. Some rivers carry great quantities of mud, espe
Tune in E very Saturday M orning
T h e C l u b G o s p e l S i n g e r s w ith G e o r g e B e v e r l y S h e a ON “ C l u b T i m e . . . FOR TUT GOOD CHEER » THE AMERICAN (“ BLUE” ) NETWORK Sponsored by Club Aluminum Products C o., Chicago
. . . the LAST WORD in substantial, convenient folding organa. Marvelous volume, resonance and purity of tone. Tropically treated. Famous over the world for 35 years. Write for free catalog. A. L WHITE MFG. CO.
1904 W. Grand Ave., Chicago 22 ED EE to any Evangelical Christian ■ ■%!■■■ Minister, Sunday School or Missionary superintendent, one copy of “ Spiritual Light Switch" for each family in his congregation, providing he will agree to give a talk on Tithing before distribu tion. Write stating denomination and num ber of leaflets desired to: TITHER, 7I0-K Title Insurance Bldg. Lei Angeles 13, California jfm cn ic& e- 0?a v o fU te TRACTS BOOKLETS Famous for ^heir typographical excellence and strik ing messages. Good News tracts and booklets are ac ceptable everywhere. Samples, prices on request. G o o d H e w i P u b l i s h e r s » 322 West Washington • Chicago e, Illinois A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to the World wide Distribution of Christian Literature. Spread God’s Work! Thousands being reached In these end days with our appealing Gospel messages. The harvest Is white— investigate these aids for personal evangeliz ing. Send 25c for big sample packet of cards and tracts . . . appealing, convicting. Easily distributed; eagerly sought. Also postcards and tract-casting supplies. Write today. _ _ _ i Dept. KB F aith . P rayer & T ract L eague , muskcconhvs .. mich . Send for FREE copy of A STUDY INPROPHECY
A 12-page Scriptural study Christian Witness to Israel 1 Rm. 205, 69 Fifth Ave., N. Y. 3, N. Y.
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker