THE GAZA JUPITER
The great statue from Gaza was discovered on September 6, 1879, by the
natives at Tell 'Ajjûl, about four miles and a half south of Gaza.
Captain Conder, in 1882, reported that we owe its preservation to
the exertions of the Rev. A. W. Schapira, the C.M.S. missionary at
Gaza. The Arabs had at once commenced to break up the statue, and had
succeeded in greatly damaging the face. Mr. Schapira persuaded the
Turkish Governor to set a guard over the spot. The antiquarians of
Palestine owe him a debt of gratitude for having prevented the entire
destruction of this unique monument.
Dr. Meyer, in his _History of the City of Gaza_, Note, on page 153,
states that this statue was rescued by the missionary Schapira, and
adds in a note on page 156, "that Schapira's connection with the
finding of the statue tended at first to discredit the authenticity
of the find, because of his previous share in the famous Moabite
forgeries. But nothing has ever been advanced to show that this statue
shares the character of his other discoveries."
Dr. Meyer is mistaken in attributing the Moabite forgeries to the
Rev. Alexander Wilhelm Schapira, who was formerly a Church Missionary
Society clergyman at Gaza. It was Mr. M. W. Schapira whose name became
connected with the celebrated Schapira collection of forgeries in 1873.
The following appeared in the _Pall Mall Gazette_, November 11, 1879--
"An interesting archæological discovery is reported from Palestine.
An Arab who was quarrying stone the other day at a place about four
miles and a half from Gaza unearthed a marble figure supposed to be a
colossal god of the Philistines. The dimensions of the figure are as
follows: Three feet from the top of its head to the end of its beard,
twenty-seven inches from ear to ear, thirteen and a half inches from
top of forehead to mouth, fifty-four inches from shoulder to shoulder,
eighty-one inches from crown of head to waist, and fifty-four inches
the circumference of the neck. The total height of the figure is
fifteen feet. The hair hangs in long ringlets down upon the shoulders,
and the beard is long, indicating a man of venerable age. The right arm
is broken in half, while the left arm is crossed over the breast to
the right shoulder, where the hand is hidden by the drapery of a cloth
covering the shoulders. There is no inscription on the figure, or the
pedestal, which is a huge block carved in one piece with the figure.
The statue was found in a recumbent position, buried in the sand, on
the top of a hill near the sea. It had evidently been removed from
its original site, which is unknown. Its estimated weight is 12,000
lbs. The Pasha of Jerusalem has ordered a guard to watch this relic of
ancient art, and to prevent any injury to it by the fanatics of Gaza."
Captain Conder, in his notes from Constantinople, July 1882, sent a
copy of the sketch which he had made from the original of the Gaza
Jupiter in the porch of the Stamboul Museum, which is reproduced in the
_Quarterly Statement_ P. E. F., July 1882, p. 148.
Conder supposed that the terrible mutilations of this Jupiter may have
been effected before the statue was discovered, and it is possible
that the pious pagans may have buried their Jupiter to save him from
the Christians, and have been obliged to divide it for facility of
transport.