We have received a copy of the above title by Mr. Norman Bentwich and have read it with great interest. Mr. Bentwich has lived almost continuously for fifteen years in Palestine, during which time he has wandered not only in the promised land but in Syria, Sinai, and Trans-Jordania. The result is neither a travel book, nor a history, nor a geography, but something of all three with a strong dash of archaeology. Although Mr. Bentwich modestly states, “My sketches make no pretense to scholarly accuracy in matters of archaeology.I am only an amateur in those matters, and I expect that many errors and obsolete statements will be found”, it is quite evident that he is a keen and up-to-date student of Palestinian archaeology. His references to actual visits to archaeological remains and excavations are full of interest and information.
A special feature of this book is the constant reference to Jewish medieval travellers, which helps the reader to understand the continuity of the history of Palestine.M. Bentwich is very fond of etymology and often illumines a paragraph with the meaning and derivation of some ancient name.
Jerusalem
Two long chapters are devoted to Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall. Although we can ignore the claims of many of the so-called holy sites to be genuine yet “One Biblical monument in Jerusalem, however, which is the work of man’s hand, is not only indisputably genuine, but is absolutely un’Published by the Soncino Press Ltd., London. Cloth, 7/6 net changed from the Bible days. It is the tunnel built by King Hezekiah during the invasion of the Assyrian hordes, to carry the waters from the spring which lay outside the walls of his fortress-capital to the enclosure of the city, so that those within might have to drink, and the invaders might not cut off the very life of the defenders”. Mr. Bentwich himself has traversed the whole length of this tunnel which is 1,700 feet long. The well known Siloam inscrition, one of the oldest Hebrew inscriptions extant, records that the length is 1,200 cubits. This fixes the cubit at 1 ft. 5 in. But as both numbers are evidently in round figures the length of the cubit thus determined is only roughly correct. A better result is 17-56 ins.
The oldest part of Jerusalem is Ophel (meaning hump or swelling) a name which was used to describe the Jebusite fortress of Zion. For ages a controversy has raged concerning the true site of Zion. Was it S.E. or S.W of the city of Jerusalem? Josephus and medieval tradition have both been found inaccurate and misleading in placing it to the S.W. One good thing has resulted, the site of the ancient Jebusite city was left relatively free for the spade of the archaeologist. Part of the Jebusite ramp sheer above the Kidron valley has been laid bare and it is the most impressive monument of Canaanite fortification which has survived. Two things alone might have settled the position of Zion, undoubted Biblical references and the position of the perennial spring of pure water called Gihon, En Rogel, and to-day, the Virgin’s Fountain.
But these were ignored in order to follow the voice of tradition.
There is little doubt that Jerusalem is referred to in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets (c. B.C. 1400) in the letter which Abd-Khiba, the governor of Urusalim, wrote frantically to his overlord in Egypt.
“Definite traces of Egyptian occupation have been found in the excavation of Ophel, principally in the form of pottery marks on jar-handles.” Professor Sayce considers that Urusalim was a Babylonian name, and that a pre-Jebusite city may have existed in the days when Babylon bore sway in Canaan.
The holy places ( !) of Palestine have been the scene of most unholy strife, not only between the various Christian sects but also between Jew and Moslem. Jerusalem has the unfortunate distinction of being a holy city for Christian, Moslem and Jew.’One other site in Jerusalem besides Mount Ophel is incontestably genuine. It is Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount, or as the Hebrew name describes it, the Mount of the House.” When Herod’s temple, the glory of the Jews, was destroyed by the Roman army under Titus, only one section of the containing wall of the outermost enclosures survived.”It is part of the western section, which must have looked down of old upon the deep ravine of the Tyropeon, but now lies actually below the level of the surrounding quarter of the City.” This is the celebrated Jews’ Wailing Place where “through generations they have uttered the lament : We sit in solitude and mourn for the palace that is destroyed, for the walls that are overthrown, for our majesty that is departed, for the great men who are dead”. The history of the Wailing Place is traced and the custom of the Jews established. The trouble which began in September 1928, dragged on till June 1931, when the report of a tribunal of three, appointed by the Council of the League of Nations, was published.It confirmed that the Wall was Moslem property and sacred to Jew and Moslem. The Jews were to have the privilege of prayer and access to the wall but were not to take any furniture thither. The use of the Shofar (or Ram’s Horn trumpet) was forbidden.The Moslems were forbidden to perform the Zikr the loud invocation of God which is accompanied by drums close to the pavement alongside the Wall at times of Jewish prayer. “The award assures to either party the thing on which it laid most stress ; to the Moslems the right of property, to the Jews the right of prayer undisturbed.”
The Dead Sea
“The Dead Sea is one of the most uncanny spots in the world”, but today it belies its name for it shows every sign of revival. “It is, in fact, a reservoir of inexhaustible chemical wealth, and its depths contain almost infinite quantities of potash, and bromide which may be extracted by evaporation. The concession granted by the Palestine government will prove a source of revenue to the State and may make Palestine the centre of the greatest chemical industry in the world. A busy village has already sprung up on the northern shore. Mr. Bentwich spent three days in touring the lake in a small motor-boat and his itinerary is interspersed with references to Biblical history and modern industry. In the south-western corner of the Sea rises a mass of crystal salt called Jebel Usdom, or the Mountain of Sodom. It has weathered the storms of thousands of years but is now a salt quarry.The miners cut the salt down from the top of the face of the cliff and hurl it down to the beach below. It is then carried by motor boat to the northern end of the Sea to be taken to the markets of Jerusalem and Hebron.
An exceedingly interesting chapter is, Egypt in Palestine. Mr. Bentwich in the Palestine campaign of the Great War, 1916-18, had the opportunity of following in its stages the Egyptian penetration of the Palestine marches. That experience and the knowledge gleaned from visits to the sites since excavated, enable him to speak with authority and precision on the connection between Egypt and Palestine. He says, “While the majority of scholars till the latest years allotted the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the thirteenth or twelfth century B.C., the latest digging in Palestine is inducing an acceptance of an earlier date which accords better with the Bible chronology”. He refers with approval to Professor Garstang’s discoveries.
We have not space to refer to Mr. Bentwich’s wanderings in Petra and Sinai. They are told in the same informative and instructive vein.
We commend this book to our readers unreservedly. It is enriched with a quaint map of Palestine, a select bibliography, a chronological table, and a useful index of names and places. These enhance the usefulness of the book to the student.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)