Modern Science in Bible Lands ... With maps and illustrations

Front matter

MODERN SCIENCE IN BIBLE LANDS. UV J! AS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. The Origin of the World, According to Revelation and Science, I isth Edition. Crown Svo, cloth, is. tit. The Story of the Earth and Man. Tenth Edition, with Twenty Illustrations. Crown Svo, cloth, 7*. 6rf. Fossil Men and Their Modern Representatives. An attempt to illustrate the Characters .and Condition of Pie-hit toric Men in Europe, by those of the American Races. With numerous Illustrations. Third Edition. Crown Svo, cloth ys. 6d. London: HODDER AND STOUGHTON. K.tA.K.JolmrtsTuBdinhurgl, J- Z. n&- MODERN SCIENCE IN BIBLE LANDS. BY SIR J. WILLIAM DAWSON, C.M.G., LL.D., F.R.S., F.G.S., ETC, A uthorof" The Story ofthe Earth and Man," " The Origin ofthe IVorld," ete. Mit_ Paps anb Illustrations. POPULAR EDITION REVISED. 5Conbon : HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW.

MDCCCXCII. Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. To MY DEAR WIFE, THE COMPANION OF MY JOURNEYING, AND MY WISE ADVISER AND FAITHFUL HELPER IN EVERY GOOD WORK, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY £Ubicaftb.

Preface

TO THE SECOND EDITION. ' I "'HE motive of this work is the desire of the author to -*- share with others the pleasure and profit of a tour in Italy, Egypt, and Syria, in which it was his special aim to study such points in the geology and physical features of those countries as might throw light on their ancient history, and especially on the history of the sacred Scriptures, As a geological observer of somewhat wide and varied experience, he hopes that it may be possible for him to eluci date some difficult geological and historical questions, and to present to the reader, whether scientific or not, some intel ligible and it may be novel ideas as to the structure and history of the countries referred to. It was originally intended that the materials collected should assume the form of notes of travel ; but unforeseen delays have made this less desirable, and the several subjects discussed have therefore been arranged under the districts exam ined, beginning with Italy and ending with Palestine, while under each head matters relating to geology and to prehistoric and historic human periods have been grouped together as vu

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION. VIII seemed most likely to render them interesting and intelligible, without any personal narrative, except where notes of this kind appeared to be incidentally valuable. It may however be proper to add, that the collections and observations referred to in Egypt and Palestine were made in the winter of 1883-84. The substance of those on Egypt was first published, in 1884, in the Leisure Hour and in the London Geological Magazine, and more fully in the first edition of this work in 1888. The point of view of the author is that of a geological observer, and his conclusions on matters of that kind may be received as those of an expert. Other departments, whether of science, history, or biblical interpretation and criticism, must occupy a subordinate position, as not being specialities of the writer, and as consequently demanding in many cases dependence on the labours of others, verified however by his own reading and study of monuments and objects of art.

It has been a source of much gratification to the author that, in the interval between 1888 and 1S92, some of his anticipations have been fulfilled, and many new evidences of his conclusions have been unearthed by explorers. These new facts are introduced in their proper places in the present edition. The geological appendix to the first edition has been omitted in the present, to make room for other matter, but may be issued in a separate form. I have also omitted, in order to make space for new facts, some of the more general discus sions in the introductory chapter ; but the substance of these

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION. IX will be found in my work the " Origin of the World," and in an article in the Contemporary Review for June, 1889, while additional information on primitive man, from an American point of view, will be found in another work — " Fossil Men." The author has to acknowledge much kindness and valuable information received from many friends. He would especially mention with gratitude in this connection, Sir Evelyn Baring, Col. Ardagh, Sir Colin Scott Moncreiff, Dr. Schweinfurth Emil Brugsch Bey, Mr. A. H. Hooker, of Cairo, Rev. Dr. Merrill, of Jerusalem, Rev. Dr. Bliss, Dr. Post and other Professors of the American College, Beyrout. The Geological Map is to be understood as giving the broadest possible outline of the structure of the regions to which it relates. It has been kept free from unnecessary detail in order to make the general arrangement of the formations as clear as possible, and to show the geological relations of Palestine and Egypt to each other. It will be found especially useful in illustration of Chapters V. to VIII. inclusive. J. W. D. McGill University, 1892, CONTENTS PAGE

Appendix

I. Prehistoric Greeks in Egypt ..... 392 2. Jerusalem in the Tel-el-Amarna Tablets . . 392 3. Note on Geological Appendix ...... 394 4. Miscellaneous New Facts ..... . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XIII LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. GEOLOGICAL MAP (to face title).

Chapter II

Eruption of Vesuvius in 1872 (faeing chapter). TAGE I. Sketch Map of Mediterranean in the Post Glacial Age . 15 2. Volcanoes near Rome . 19 3. Geological Sketch of Site of Rome ...... 20 4. Outline of Vesuvius and Somma from Bay of Naples . 27 5- Crater of Vesuvius, as seen in December, 18S3. ... 28 6. Map of Eruption of 1S72 29 7. Cast of the Body of a Roman Gentleman, Pompeii . . 41

Chapter III

Skulls of Primitive Men (facing chapter). S. Flint Knife and Saw from Sidon -49 9. Cavern at Nahr-el-Kelb ........ 53 loandn. Flint Implements, Nahr-el-Kelb ..... 57 12. Stone Knife, California ; Flint Chips, handled, Tasmania . 60 13. Recession of Niagara Falls -99 14. Map of Niagara ......... 100

Chapter IV

Map of Site of Eden (faeing chapter). 15. Guanche Skulls and Wampum 145 16. Pictograph on Piece of Reindeer Horn 153

Chapter V

Hatasu's Obelisk at Karnak {facing chapter). 17. Statue of Kephren in Boulak Museum 180 18. Drill Core . . V 184 19. Alabaster Sarcophagus of Seti I. in the Soane Museum . . 191 I9A. Sickle, with flint edge 19S LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XIV

Chapter VI

View of Kom Ombos (facing chapter). PAGE 20. Section at Jebel Ahmar 213 21. Plan of Pleistocene Egypt and Syria . . . . 217 22. Head of Hyksos 243 23. Red Pheasant (Indian chief) 244 24. Head of Mummy of Rameses II. . ... . 246 25. Head of modern Coptic scribe ....... 247 26. Mummy, with floral decorations . . .... 249

Chapter VII

View of Jebel Sufsafeh (facing chapter). 27. Map of Exodus ......... 263 28. Sketch Map of Crossing-place of Israelites .... 276 29. Section of Isthmus of Suez 2S0

Chapter VIII

Section of Judea and Section of Lebanon (faeing chapter). 30. Fossils, from Judea ......... 323 31. Map of Northern Syria ........ 325 325 32. Ancient Dead Sea Deposits ....... 339 33. Section from Jerusalem to Moab across Dead Sea . . . 340 34. Bituminous Limestone of Neby Musa 345 35. Section of Site of Jerusalem . . . . . . . 354 36. Plan of Jerusalem ......... 358 37. Sacred Rock of Moriah ........ 361 38. The Skull Hill, from General Gordon's Model .... 373

Chapter IX

Wafer Girls, from Photograph by Count Lynar (facing chapter) ,yS PHYSICAL AND BIBLICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH. ■ I 6 Ms '- £ <■£ £ B a a n.s r- C y agog V3 *" 5 S 5 4: < * « -a * S? — er1 = j at H ,o £ til c 1 o < J3 Q - H « < CO _ 4J — >■ •r c m rt \n O 5T 5 P a -A < a H £ B rt us < Q H iC . H c > B «S •Sa 1.1 rt 3 s^ Is i sfs "■ 9, m £ to " c 'a w J £ „, £ v- ~ £ H t ri« let a & O g. < a. - y i £ S O 'Ea c a a b -S2-S x to > rt O N o p _J_ S a rt w rt £ < u'csg g rt C 4J o (§■3 rt ■a «"gS .2 SguO &> | § « f « "S I -S -5 G « j b £ .s ->. ' V " -rc « 5 rt u "2 rt Ms £ § rt — ' rt 3 •- P .5 "3 fi -- E '- £ rt c rt ■a °'S SJ'S r^ j: ,'~t rt i v v S S S H w S S (In c^ £ .8 I- '9!80[099-B, y 'OjOZOJ 'spoapd ■ojozosajj "oiozonjEj

Chapter I. Introductory

TO a student of nature who is also a student of the Bible, many questions arise which can only have their full solu tion from a consideration of the structure and features of the land of the Hebrew writers. To some of these questions it is impossible to find adequate answers in the current literature on the subject, ample and varied though this is. Conjectural explanations, citations of authorities more or less conflicting, and references to old myths and fanciful stories, are too often made to do duty for more certain data, while actual facts de termining the references to nature in the old book are com paratively rare and hard to find. Nor do the greater part of writers on such subjects seem to have availed themselves of the information which is scattered through the memoirs and papers of geologists and naturalists who have visited the Bible lands.

When, therefore, in 1883, the long-desired opportunity presented itself to extend my geological observations into parts of Egypt and Palestine, I found myself in possession of a large mass of notes and queries relating to these countries, and de termined to devote my attention to critical questions bearing on Bible history. Being fortunately free from any official en gagements or control, I was at liberty to do this as far as time and means might permit. I The plan of my Eastern campaign included first a careful study of the remarkable collections illustrative of prehistoric man in Western Europe ; and to familiarize myself with these, I visited the museums in Paris, St. Germains, Brussels, Lyons, Turin, Florence, Rome, and Naples, and embraced any oppor tunities to acquaint myself with the sites of such remains, and with geological phenomena connected with them.

Thus prepared, I crossed over from Naples to Alexandria, and studied the Nile valley as far as the first cataract, making an excursion to Suez and Jebel Attaka. Passing on to Palestine, I ex amined two cross sections of that country, one from Jaffa to the Jordan valley and Dead Sea; the other from Beyrout across Lebanon, with side excursions to important points ; and on my return I visited Smyrna, portions of the Greek Islands, and Athens. Of course such a tour covered only a few important lines of travel in a great region, but it was sufficient, with the aid of what had been previously done by others, to furnish a large number of essential geological and topographical facts ; and by avoiding waste of time on mere sights of no significance, and on points sufficiently studied, and by availing myself of the aid of many kind friends, who will be found referred to in the work, it was possible to effect a great deal in a limited time.

In presenting the results in this volume, it is my desire to lay before the reader a clear statement of the local facts which have furnished to me the solution of doubtful and disputed questions, and to throw on the Hebrew and apostolic literature such light as may be afforded by the structural features and geological history of the countries of the Bible. Other matters of interest may be referred to, but this is the main object of the book. It will fortunately not be necessary for us to devote much time to disputed questions of Biblical literature or criticism, INTRODUCTORY. 3 however important in some respects these may be. It need not concern us very much when or by whom the Biblical books were written, or what may be the precise character of their claims to inspiration, or the nature of their spiritual teaching.

We shall merely take them as we find them, and ask to what extent their statements, as to matters of natural fact, correspond with what the prying eyes of scientific travellers discover in our time. We cannot, however, altogether escape from the consideration that the antiquity and genuineness of these books, if established, add to their interest, and give importance to their study, and shall find much evidence on these points meeting us as we proceed. We shall also find many incidental corroborations of Biblical statements, many explanations of difficulties, many reasons to respect not merely the integ rity but also the accuracy, intelligence, and culture of the writers of the books of the Old and New Testament. These will, however, be incidental to our work, and will afford such corroborations as may proceed from undesigned coincidences, rather than from attempts at reconciliation.

In connection with this, we may note that one of the cha racteristic excellences of the books of the Bible, which renders their treatment in the manner proposed here very agreeable and interesting, is the eminent truthfulness of the writers in their references to nature, as it existed around them. That this is the case is, I think, the conclusion of all competent students. In this point of view, indeed, the Bible unquestionably stands pre-eminent, even in its poetical portions, over all other literature, ancient and modern. It has no theories to support, except the general doctrine of an almighty Creator. Its notions are not warped by any superstitions born of myth or idolatry. Nature is to it neither a goddess nor a sport of chance, nor a mere field for the excursions of unbridled fancy, but an ordered cosmos working out the designs of its Maker, Hence a reverence for natural truth, a love of nature, a trust in it and its laws, which one fails to find in other literatures.

One can scarcely read a page of any ordinary poem or literary work, ancient or modern, without finding incorrect statements as to natural facts or false hypothetical views, or quaint, imagi native superstitions. The Bible is notably* free from such peculiarities; and independently of its claims to inspiration, this property should give to it a high degree of estimation in the eyes of a naturalist who is able to follow accurately its statements as to the world in which its writers moved. This environment of the, writers presents local differences in particular books of the Bible. The book of Genesis, up to the migration of Abraham into Canaan, is cosmopolitan rather than Palestinian. So far as it has local colouring, this belongs. to the Euphratean valley and its surroundings, rather than to any other country ; and the Chaldean literature which has survived furnishes the best terms of comparison with it.

In the time of Abraham and the early patriarchs it becomes primitive Palestinian, referring to Canaan and its people at a time regarding which we have little other information, except that furnished by the remarkable documents preserved in the palaces and temples of Egypt,1 and by incidental notices in Assyrian and Chaldean Annals.3 With Jacob and Joseph it goes down into Egypt, and the later books of the Pentateuch have a decided flavour of that wonderful country. Exodus is, in its opening, especially an Egyptian book, but it soon takes us out into the Arabian desert and becomes a journal of wilderness wanderings in which the aspects of desert life prevail, mixed with Egyptian ideas, till the settlement in Canaan. Hence forth the Old Testament is conversant with the geological 1 Notably the clay tablets of Tcl-Amarna, containing despatches from Palestine before the Exodus, and which were discovered after the first edition of this work was published. - For example, the remarkable confirmations and illustrations of the nroads of Elamites and others in the time of Abraham.

INTRODUCTORY. 5 structure, the climate, the animals and plants of Palestine. The New Testament opens with a later phase of Palestinian life, and then launches forth into the wider area of the eastern Mediterranean, from which much of its local colouring is taken. In treating, then, of the Bible lands, we have to attend to these special characteristics of different books, belonging to different times and places ; and we shall find a great variety of questions arising from these, which relate to various regions, from the original home of man and the conditions of ante diluvian times and of the deluge, down to the local relations of the early Christians, and the symbols derived from natural facts by means of which the apocalyptic seer of the first Chris tian century pictures the final destinies of the world.

It will not be possible, however, for us to consider these in any very definite chronological or topographical order ; but rather in the arrangement deduced from their general natural connection with one another, adhering, however, as closely as possible to a geographical sequence. The necessity throughout all this of careful attention to facts, sometimes apparently unimportant, will strike us everywhere, and we shall find the observation of every relevant local circumstance of the utmost value. Examples of the necessity oi this from modern literature might be given in profusion, and will occur to us as we proceed. The earlier parts of Genesis are undoubtedly intensely archaic in their style and manner, even in comparison with most of the other Hebrew books. They have no references to subsequent facts or events, except a few notes probably added at later dates, to render intelligible records which were ancient even in early Hebrew times.

They are not especially Palestinian and local, but have features in common with the earliest fragments of Chaldean and Egyptian literature. They have no special reference to the institutions of the Hebrew commonwealth, and have a simplicity in their subjects, and the mode of treating them, which speaks of the dawn of civilization. There is nothing in their texture to prevent them from being portions of documents even more ancient than the time of Moses, and belonging to a period before the Hebrew race had separated from the main Turanian and Semitic stocks. The probability of this is strengthened by their connection as to the matter of their statements, with the primitive Chaldean documents recently discovered, and even with the remnants of the creation myths of American races. To a scientific mind these axe prima facie evidences of their antiquity and genuine ness, and of themselves more then sufficient to counterbalance the critical objections of modern German scholars.

At one time it was objected to the antiquity of the Mosaic books, that they could not have been committed to writing at so early a date. Now this difficulty can no longer be urged . Egyptian papyri of much greater age than the time of Moses are abundant. Petrie infers from the marks on pottery found at Gurob, in Lower Egypt, that the Phœnician letters were used as early as the age of the Exodus. The tablets of Tel Amarna inform us that before the Exodus there were scribes in all the Canaanite towns who could write in the Babylonian characters ; and if the recently found inscriptions of South Arabia are as old as supposed, the Midianites, among whom Moses dwelt in his exile, must have been acquainted with the Phœnician alphabet. The following judicious remarks of Professor Sayce, apropos of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, deserve quotation here : — J " How highly educated this old world was we are but just beginning to learn.

But we have already learnt enough to discover how important a bearing it has on the criticism of the Old Testament. It has long been tacitly assumed by the critical school that writing was not only a rare art in Palestine before the age of David, but was practically unknown. Little 1 Trans. Viet. Institute, 1SS9. INTRODUCTORY. 7 historical credence can be placed, it has been urged, on the earlier records of the Hebrew people, because they could not have been committed to writing until a period when the his tory of the past had become traditional and mythical. But this assumption can no longer be maintained. Long before the Exodus, Canaan had its libraries and its scribes, its schools and literary men.1 The annals of the country, it is true, were not inscribed in the letters of the Phœnician alphabet on perish able papyrus ; the writing material was the imperishable clays, the characters those of the cuneiform syllabary."

We have also good reason to believe that the form of the four last books of the Pentateuch is that of a contemporary journal, or record kept by scribes in the camp of Israel, a theory which will best account for their peculiarities of style and arrangement, and which accords with that remarkable topographical accuracy in their details which has been so clearly established by the labours of the Ordnance Survey of Sinai. - The above remarks would not have been necessary but for the fact that much of the matter of the following pages relates to those earlier parts of human history which form the subject of the Pentateuch, and that so much has recently been written to discredit these books as genuine and true historical docu ments, and this by a treatment of them which I cannot but regard as most unfair and unscientific.

The remarkable discoveries in Southern Arabia recently announced by Dr. Glaser, and referred to above, are among the latest developments in this direction, and are known to me as yet only through a summary by Professor Sayce.:i They 1 The Hebrews were not behind in this, since Deborah could refer to scribes of Zebulon who could "handle the pen of the writer," and thus enrol the army, or record its achievements. (Judges v. 14.) 2 Cave, Contemporary Review, 1890. Also first edition of this work. 3 Contemporary Rez'ie-tO, December, 1S90. indicate the existence of a civilized and powerful Semitic kingdom in that region long before the time of Moses, and we may well suppose that its culture had extended itself to the Midianite peoples of the Gulf of Akaba, with whom the Hebrew lawgiver sojourned so long.

The inscriptions of these Minæan people, as they are called, are in an alphabetical character, which seems to be the prototype of that of Phœnicia. Moses must have been acquainted with this literature, and there may have been scribes in his camp able to write in Minæan characters, not essentially distinct from those which the Hebrews and Phœnicians afterwards used in Palestine. We knew before from the Tel-Amarna tablets that the Chaldean script was used throughout Canaan before the time of Moses, and also that Egyptian writings on papyrus were produced ages before his time ; but it is something more to be now informed that he may have written with the aid of an alphabet not essentially different from that of the Hebrew. These new facts illustrate the alliance of the Israelites with Jethro and his people, and the important part which this priest of Midian seems to have taken in organizing the Hebrew institutions, as stated in the book of Exodus.

They also throw a side-light on the mystery which has enshrouded the origin of the book of Job. This book, essentially patriarchal, archaic, and pre-Mosaic in its matter and references, and exhibiting at the same time a marvellous comprehension of nature and wide range of geographical knowledge, has been attributed to various dates and authors, on account not merely of its contents, but its language.1 May it not have been a portion of the Minæan literature adopted by the Hebrew lawgiver, and may not the affinity of religion shown by the alliance with Jethro and the long subsequent visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon have had some connection with this ancient book ? 1 Similar peculiarities of language are, however, now found in some or the Tel-el-Amarna tablets. INTRODUCTORY. 9 On these discoveries in Southern Arabia Sayce well remarks that " they cannot fail to influence the views that have been current in regard to the earlier history of the Old Testament," more especially in regard to the antiquity of writing and literature among the Hebrews.

Abraham migrated from Chaldea, the birthplace of letters. In Canaan he consorted with people who were carrying on correspondence in the Chaldean script. His descendants were educated in the learning of Egypt, and in Arabia were brought into contact with the Semitic literature of the Minæans. If, after passing through these different schools, they were still illiterate at the date of the Exodus they must have been vastly less capable than the modern Jews, who so easily assimilate the languages and literature of the peoples with whom they are brought into contact, while retaining their own. Mr. Petrie's excavations on the site of ancient Lachish1 have awakened great hopes of important discoveries awaiting ex ploration of the mounds of Southern Judea. His conclusion that the strong Canaanite city overthrown in the time of Joshua was succeeded by a village of mean huts does not, however, militate against the civilization of the Hebrews at the time of the conquest.

In their early settlement in Canaan they do not at first seem to have adopted a city life, but to have remained in their tribal encampments, or to have settled as landed proprietors in groups over the country. In these circumstances the ruins of Lachish may have been occupied by a remnant of the Canaanites, or by camp followers or shep herds, the city being walled again, and rebuilt at a later date, when the inroads of the Philistines and other enemies rendered this necessary. We may hope, however, to know much more on this and allied subjects from the results of future excavations. The writers of the Bible lived in a limited district of Wes 1 Petrie's " Lachish," Pal. Exploration Fund. tern Asia, and in an ancient and primitive period. But they were destined, perhaps without knowing or intending this, to write for all time, and for all the world ; and the miraculous manner in which they have succeeded in this great cosmopolitan mission is at once the evidence of their prophetic gifts) and the reason why the incredulous world distrusts and dis believes them.

There is no book which so much at this day influences the minds of men, none around which centre so many vital and controverted questions, none which has been translated into so many languages, or has constituted the beginning of learning to so many peoples. Its influence, direct and indirect, is daily widening, and it is fast becoming the book of the whole world. These great facts throw entirely into the shade the efforts of certain coteries, critical and philo sophical, to undermine its influence, and they give special importance to such investigations as those recorded in the following pages, which, however imperfect, I hope will be regarded as a well-intentioned contribution of scientific inquiry toward the comprehension of the greatest of books, that which is accepted so generally as the revelation to man of the highest good offered to him by his heavenly Father, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Eruption of Mount Vesuvius, April, 1872. (From a photograph.)

Chapter II. The Fire-belt Of Southern Europe, And Its Relation To The

BIBLE. THE basin of the Mediterranean, though so familiar historically, and the cradle of the oldest European nations, is in a physical point of view one of the most singular and exceptional features of the surface of the earth. Running nearly east and west, it constitutes a depression with corresponding elevations transverse to the dominant structures of our continents. To the north it is bounded by the intensely crumpled and folded tracts of hard crystalline rocks constituting the Alps and other mountain ranges of Southern Europe. In connection with these there are transverse folds, but really in the normal lines of the continents, forming the nuclei of Greece, Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, and Spain, while the great transverse ridge of Syria, reaching from north to south, closes the end of the basin on the east.

Along the southern frontage of the whole runs one of those fractures of the earth's crust which give vent to its hidden fires ; and while the mountains on the north descend abruptly into this great fracture, the southern side of the sea slopes gently downward from the flat plains and table-lands of Northern Africa. These arrangements are geologically of recent date, at least in their final com pletion. While the central Alpine ridges consist of very old rocks, that must have been folded and upheaved at an early period ; and while there is evidence of a Mediterranean of different orm from the present, far back in geological time, '3 beds which must in Eocene and Miocene times have been in the bottom of the sea, now rise to great heights in the moun tains. On the other hand, there is evidence that even so late as the appearance of man in these regions, the Mediterranean was smaller than at present, and divided into two seas, and that it has since undergone important movements of submer gence ; while all through the later geological ages eruptions of molten matter and seismic disturbance have been going on everywhere along the great line of Mediterranean uplift and depression, and have extended themselves as far as the Hima layas on the one side and across the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico on the other.