Sources
One of the many questions that are frequently asked of the archeologist,
and one that is most difficult to answer in a few brief words, concerns
the source of his material. There is a sort of mystery that hovers over
this modern calling which intrigues the fancy of the average layman.
When an archeologist begins to dig in some barren waste of sand and
comes upon a buried city that has been missing from the history of men
for multiplied centuries, it impresses the casual observer as magic of
the blackest kind. There is, however, nothing supernatural or uncommon
about these discoveries, although the element of chance does enter in to
a minor extent. Some of the greatest and most prolific fields we
personally have investigated were brought to our attention when the plow
of a farmer cast up a human skull and focussed attention upon that
particular field. Generally, however, the sources of archeology are
uncovered by hard, patient, painstaking labor.
When an able prospector starts out in his search for gold, he is guided
by certain known factors that have been derived from the experience of
generations. Panning his way up a stream-bed, the keen-eyed hunter of
fortune tests every spot that previous experience had taught him might
be profitable. He may labor at one thousand barren sites before he
strikes gold. If he is in a mountainous country and the placer deposits
are not rich enough to pay him to tarry on the spot where the first
discovery was made, he will work his way on up the stream, testing site
after site for increasing values. If the show of color in his pan
suddenly ceases, he knows that he has passed the sources of these
wandering fragments. He then goes back to the last point where he found
traces of gold and then begins to search the side canyons and branch
streams that lead into the main channel. In this way he traces his path
step by step to the ledge from which the gold originally came. After
laboring weary months, or even years, with heart-breaking disappointment
and grim, hard work, if he is fortunate he announces a discovery. The
thoughtless immediately credit his good fortune to the goddess of luck
and wonder why they also could not be blessed that way.
This illustration is an exact picture of the manner in which
archeologists go about their business. There are certain sites that
experience has taught us should be profitable to investigate. The region
is carefully combed for surface indications. These may be such things as
shards of pottery, arrowheads, fragmentary bones, or any of the ordinary
debris that indicates a site of human habitation or burial. When the
surface indications suggest the probability of a real find, then the
digging commences. Most of our great discoveries are made only after
months, and even years, of painstaking survey. These surveys must be
made by men who are expert in the interpretation of surface indications
and fragmentary evidences. Thus it is at once apparent that there is
really nothing supernatural or magical about this sober craft; it is
scientific in its procedure. There is no “doodle-bug” for archeology
such as is sometimes used by those who are found around the fringe of
geology.
It must be remembered that the orientals differed greatly in their
building methods from the occidentals. It is customary among us to
excavate to bed rock before we lay the foundation for a building. The
orientals, however, began to build right on the surface of any site that
suited their fancy. For instance, a wandering tribe of nomads desiring
to settle either temporarily or permanently, would pick out a hill that
was more easily defended than a level site would be. Upon its crest,
they built their houses and generally fenced the scene for the purposes
of defense. Within these fortifying walls they dwelt in more or less
security until they became rich enough to be robbed. It would not be
long, however, under the brutal law of might that prevailed in those
ancient days, before some marauding band would overrun that site with
fire and sword. The walls would be breached or cast down and the
inhabitants put to sword or carried away into slavery. Usually fire
would sweep the homes of this once contented people and their memory
would soon be forgotten.
To one who has seen the sand storms of the East, the rest of the story
is self-evident. Even in our own times and in our own land, we have seen
what can happen when drought and wind begin to move the surface of a
country and make the efforts of man fruitless and unavailing. When men
lived in these sites of antiquity and kept the encroaching sands swept
and shoveled out, they were able to maintain their position of security.
As soon, however, as the site was deserted, the sand would begin to
drift over the deserted ruins. In a very few years the remains of the
ruined city would be lost from the sight of men. Perhaps a century or
two would pass by, during which this abandoned region would be devoid of
habitation.
Plate 6
[Illustration: Mace-head in British Museum]
Plate 7
[Illustration: Note cuneiform writing and sculpture on stone weapon]
Then another company of people looking for a permanent dwelling place
would chance upon this hill. Finding it suited to their requirements
they would immediately start building upon the surface. With no
knowledge whatever that a previous group of people had made this hill
their habitation, the new dwellings and walls would rise high upon the
covered ruins of the earlier period. Within a comparatively short time
they also would be the victims of some wandering conqueror, and once
again the wrecked habitations of men would be repossessed by the
drifting sands of the desert. It is not uncommon that in the course of a
thousand years such an experience would be repeated from three or four
to a dozen times upon the same site.
When the archeologist finds such a mound or hill, he has a treasure
indeed. By excavating this deposit one stratum at a time, he builds up a
stratographical record which is highly important in reconstructing a
consecutive history of this region. The date factors of the various
strata are generally established by the contents of each horizon of
dwelling, in turn. If the archeologist depends upon facts instead of his
imagination, a credible chronology for the entire region can thus be
constructed.
In such a recovery the common life of the people of antiquity is
revealed in amazing detail. We learn their customs of living, something
of their arts and crafts and their manner of labor. Their knowledge of
architecture is clearly portrayed through such ruins as remain, and the
general picture of the incidental events that made up their living is
clearly developed as the work proceeds.
Since the destruction of such a city was usually catastrophic, the
record suddenly breaks off at the point of the tragedy. The abruptness
wherewith the life and activity ceased, leaves all of the valuable
material undisturbed _in situ_. This circumstance, though unfortunate
for the ancients, is a happy one for the archeologist who thus is
enabled to rebuild their times and lives.
These sites yield many types of material. In establishing chronology,
the most important of all of these is probably the pottery. There is no
age of men so ancient that it does not yield proof of human ability in
the ceramic art. Without aluminum cooking utensils or iron skillets, the
folk of antiquity depended upon clay for the vessels of their
habitation. Dishes, pots, jars, and utensils of a thousand usages were
all made of this common substance. Before the invention of paper, clay
was also the common material for preserving written records. As each
race of people had its own peculiarities in the use of clay, the pottery
that is found on a given site is one of the finest indications of a date
factor that the site can contain.
Even after the invention of papyrus or parchment, these types of writing
material were too costly for the average person to use. Requiring some
cheap, common, readily accessible material upon which to write, the poor
of antiquity laid hold upon the one source of supply that was never
wanting. This consisted of shards of pottery. By the side of every
dwelling in ancient times might be found a small heap of broken utensils
of clay. The ingenuity of man suggested a method of writing on these
fragments. In every home there was a pen made of a reed and a pot of
homemade ink. With these crude tools, the common people corresponded and
made notes on pieces of clay vessels. When a fragment of pottery was
thus inscribed, it was called an ostracon.
These ostraca are among the most priceless discoveries of antiquity.
They were written in the vernacular and dealt with the common daily
affairs that made up the lives of the humble. They shed a flood of light
upon the customs and beliefs of the mass of the people. Some of the wall
inscriptions of great conquerors, if taken by themselves, would give an
impression of grandeur and splendor to their entire era, if we believed
such record implicitly. But for every king or conqueror there were
multiplied thousands of poor. These were the folks who made up the mass
of humanity and whose customs and lives paint the true picture of
ancient times. Therefore, these ostraca, being derived from the common
people, are the greatest aid in the reconstruction of the life and times
wherewith the Bible deals.
Another source of evidence is found in tools and artifacts which show
the culture of any given time and region. Knowing how the people worked
and what they wrought, has been of priceless value to the Biblical
archeologist. Since the critics made so great a case out of the alleged
culture of the people in every age, it is eminently fitting that the
refutation of their error should come from the people themselves.
Still another source of archeological material is to be found in the art
of antiquity. It seems that from the time of Adam to the present hour
the desire to express our feelings and emotions in the permanent form of
illustration has been common to man. The sites of antiquity testify to
this fact in unmistakable terms.
In the art of the days of long ago many subjects were covered. Much of
the painting and sculpture had to do with the religion of the time. Thus
we can reconstruct the Pantheon of Egypt very largely from the
illustrations that come to us from monuments and papyri.
Another large section of ancient art dealt with the history of the time
in which the artists lived and wrought. Since the work of such artists
was generally intended to flatter and please the reigning monarch, most
of this illustrated history is military in nature. Thus we are able to
confirm much of the Old Testament history through the recovery of
ancient art.
Other artists, in turn, dealt with the human anatomy, the style of dress
and the industries of old. When we gather together all of this
illuminating material, it is safe to say that ancient artists have
brought to us a source of material which is not the least of the
treasures of antiquity.
A final source of material is found upon the walls that made up the
actual dwellings of old. This business of scribbling names and dates
upon public buildings or objects of interest is not unique to modern
men. Deplorable as the custom may be, this ancient vulgarity has,
nevertheless, proved a great boon to the archeologist of our day. For
instance, many of the scribes and officials of antiquity, traveling
about the country upon the business of their lords, would visit one of
the tombs of a former age. Prompted by curiosity and interest in the
grandeur of antiquity, they came to stare and to learn. Their emotions
being aroused they desired some expression. This desire they sometimes
satisfied by inscribing upon the wall of a certain tomb or temple their
names and the fact that at such a date they visited and saw this wonder.
Since they generally dated their visit by the reign of the king under
whom they lived and served, a chronology may be builded for antiquity
from this source of material alone.
It has been more or less customary in our era for the itinerant gentry
to leave valuable information for fellows of their fraternity who come
along after them. This custom also is a survival of an ancient day. A
man journeying from one region to another would stop by the side of a
blank wall and inscribe road directions for any who might follow after
him. Sometimes he would add his name and the year of the reign of a
given monarch. It was not unusual also for such an amateur historian to
make some caustic and pertinent comments upon the country, the
officials, or the people. These spontaneous records are priceless. They
are the free expression of an honest opinion and are not constructed
with the idea of deluding posterity with a false standard of the
grandeur of some conquering king.
It is rather amusing now to look back to the long battle that was fought
between criticism and orthodoxy in this very field. With a dogmatic
certainty which was characteristic of the assumptions of the school of
higher criticism, these mistaken authorities assured us that the age of
Moses was an age of illiteracy. In fact, the extreme scholars of this
school asserted that writing was not invented until five hundred years
after the age of Moses. We have ourselves debated that question with
living men.
One such occasion occurred recently, when we were delivering a series of
lectures at Grand Rapids, Michigan. The subject had to deal with
archeology and the Bible, and the men in attendance seemed to appreciate
the opening lecture extremely. Therefore, we were the more surprised
when a gentleman, clad in clerical garb, came forward and in the most
abrupt and disagreeable manner demanded,
“By what authority do you state that Moses wrote the Pentateuch? Your
dogmatic assertion is utterly baseless!”
In some surprise we replied, “I am sorry to sound dogmatic, as I try
never to dogmatize. All that I mean to imply is that I am absolutely
certain that he _did_ write it!”
Our humor, which was intended as oil on troubled waters, turned out to
be more like gasoline on raging fires! The exasperated gentleman
exclaimed with considerable more heat than he had previously manifested,
“You can’t _prove_ that Moses wrote the Pentateuch!”
“I don’t have to,” I replied, “as the boot is on the other foot! May I
quote to you a section from Greenleaf on Evidence? Here is the citation:
‘When documents purporting to come from antiquity, and bearing upon
their face no evident marks of forgery, are found in the proper
repository, the law presumes such documents to be authentic and genuine,
and _the burden of proof to the contrary devolves upon the objector_.’
Now, my dear brother, these documents _do_ come from antiquity. They
bear no evidence of forgery, and have thus been accepted and accredited
in all of the ages that make up three millenniums of time. You face a
problem if you are going to repudiate all the evidence and tradition of
their credibility. Just how are you going to prove that Moses _did not_
write these books ascribed to him?”
“That is easy,” the scholarly brother retorted. “Moses could not have
written the first five books of the Bible, because writing was not
invented until five hundred years after Moses died!”
In great amazement I asked him, “Is it possible that you never heard of
the Tel el Armana tablets?”
He never had!
So we took time to tell him of the amazing discovery of this great
deposit of written records from the library of Amenhetep the Third, and
their bearing upon the great controversy. Then we told him also of the
older records of Ur, that go all the way back to the days of the queen
Shub Ab, and manifest a vast acquaintance with the art of writing as far
back of Abraham as this patriarch in turn preceded the Lord Jesus
Christ! He frankly confessed his total ignorance of this entire body of
accumulated knowledge, and then closed the debate by stating,
Plate 8
[Illustration: Ancient seals, depicting historic events.]
[Illustration: Seal]
[Illustration: Seal]
[Illustration: Seal]
[Illustration: Section of a funerary papyrus, showing the progress
of the soul on its journey in the Other World]
“Well, it may be that every one else in antiquity could write, _but
Moses couldn’t...!_”
And such an one would accuse another of dogmatism! Because we stand upon
the certainty of the approved and orthodox conception of the credibility
of the Scriptures, and maintain our case with the most exact evidence,
we are not “scholarly.” Yet here is a reputedly religious leader,
utterly ignorant of an enormous body of knowledge derived from a
generation of research, who misleads those who are unfortunate enough to
be under his ministry, and offers them the fallacious, repudiated, and
utterly baseless conclusions of higher criticism, in the place of the
living bread which God has provided for His children! This is but to be
expected when we think the matter through. The bread of life is to be
found only in the pages of God’s Book. Therefore, if the source of this
bread is rejected and derided, the bread cannot be available!
The great pity of the matter is seen in the fact that this attitude is
entirely untenable, in the light of our present knowledge. Although our
science has demonstrated a remarkable culture for the very age of the
patriarchs, we are faced with religious leaders who are so far behind
the advanced learning of our day that they still teach the outmoded
nonsense of criticism, and claim that Moses could not write!
It is rather amusing in the light of this dogmatic assurance of critical
authorities to journey back through the hallways of time and find that
writing was a common custom a thousand years before Moses, or even a
thousand years before that! Throughout Egypt especially, the art of
writing was a universal possession among all classes of the populace.
The toilet articles used by the beauties of Ancient Egypt were highly
engraved with charms, and with prayers to the goddess of beauty. As an
Egyptian damsel prepared herself for the evening’s engagement, she would
read these prayers and charms which were supposed to give her divine aid
in impressing the ladies with her outstanding beauty! Poems of love and
lyrics of passion were engraved upon her toilet articles and were
incised upon the walls of her apartment as well.
In addition to this, most of the ancients wore amulets to guard them
against the evil eye and every sort of disaster.
Some wore engraved pectorals that showed the high development of the art
of writing to a great antiquity.
Businessmen of various kinds, minor officials and even the common people
carried upon their persons seals wherewith to sign the documents and
contracts of their casual business affairs.
From this common source there is a kaleidoscopic view of ancient life
that thrills the observer with its ever-changing magnitude. It is almost
impossible to limit the value of such discoveries as to the integrity of
the Scriptures. In all this enormous mass of authoritative data not one
single fact has ever been derived which argued against the credibility
of any statement in the Bible.
An even more important source of historical evidence is found among the
papyri of old. This valuable material was invented in Egypt at a very
early age. In Upper Egypt the Nile was bordered, and in some places
overgrown, with a prolific reed which is scientifically called “cyperus
papyrus.” It is from this name that the paper manufactured from this
substance derives its identification. The manufacture of papyrus was a
simple procedure which nevertheless required time. Briefly stated,
strips of the papyrus reed, cut to a uniform length and saturated with
water, were laid down side by side. Another layer of strips was laid
across them transversely, and usually a third layer was superimposed
upon the second layer. These layers of reed, being laid in alternate
directions, were then pounded with a flat paddle and smashed into a
pulp. When the mass dried, it was a sheet of rough paper, somewhat
comparable to the paper towels that are used in our generation. The
edges were trimmed smoothly and the surface of the paper was smoothed
off with a shell or rubbed with sand. This finished side of the paper
was called the obverse and was the side upon which writing was
customarily inscribed. So expensive was this substance, however, that
frequently both sides would be covered with writing. In that case the
rough side was always known as the reverse. Many of these papyri not
only were inscribed with a written text but were highly illustrated with
scenes depicting the life and customs of the people. These illumined
papyri, some of which go back to a very remote age, are of tremendous
value to the student of the Scriptures.
We have, for instance, papyri from Egypt at the time of Moses, showing
the fowlers engaged in capturing quail. (See Plate 10.) These birds
being tired by their long flight in their annual African migration, fell
easy victims to the men who smote them to the earth or captured them in
hand nets. Incidentally, the author has frequently been offered such
quail upon the streets of Cairo by vendors who earned a precarious
living by peddling such game. Many Scriptural events are attested in
this manner by these illustrated manuscripts.
Since there was a high content of starch in the finished papyrus, it was
possible to make them any length desired. By moistening the edges of two
sheets and pressing or pounding them together, the result would be a
single sheet when the joint had dried. This process could be continued
indefinitely. As a method of comparison let us note that the entire
Gospel of John could be written on a papyrus of the usual width, if it
was eighteen feet in length. Such a long sheet would be rolled to form a
complete volume. The longest papyrus we have ever seen is in the British
Museum and is exhibit No. 9999. This single sheet is 135 feet long.
Another papyrus of unusual length is that which shows the funery
experiences of the scribe Ani. This is a highly illumined specimen and
contains many illustrations of the soul of Ani, as he goes through the
intricate process of achieving eternal life in the realm of Osiris. This
papyrus is 78 feet long and is one foot, three inches wide. The average
sheet of papyrus, however, is about six by nine inches.
These papyrus records are divided into many kinds and types. Some of
them are funery, and deal with the events of the decease and
resurrection of the individual. Most noteworthy among the papyri of this
type are the various texts of the “Book of the Dead.” These are
illuminated with scenes of religious beliefs. They depict the experience
of the soul on its pilgrimage into the hereafter. They tell of the
conditions of life in the other world and the manner of entering into a
blessed state after death.
There are also papyri that deal with pure literature. Almost every
subject common to modern literature is found in the ancient records of
this type. For instance, fiction was a common field for the scribe of
antiquity. The British Museum contains many of these prized papyri, as
does the Egyptian Museum at Cairo.
It might surprise the modern reader to know that the Egyptian people of
old highly prized stories of mystery and imagination. Some of their
greater manuscripts bear a strong resemblance to portions of the Arabian
Nights, and they may indeed have been the original basis of that later
production.
In the British Museum a papyrus, No. 10183, is a fine example of this
common theme. This is entitled, “The Tale of the Two Brothers.” In the
introductory section, the life of a humble farmer in ancient Egypt is
given in detail. The familiar triangle develops between the elder
brother, his wife and the younger brother. The plot develops when the
wicked wife made herself sick by rancid grease, and, bruising herself
with a stick, lay moaning on the floor when her husband returned.
Accusing the younger brother of attempted assault, she aroused her
husband’s anger to the point where he grabbed an edged weapon and set
out to kill the suspected villain. The oxen, however, told the younger
brother of the ambush that was set for him and he fled the home.
Marvelous miracles occurred during this flight, which opened the eyes of
the elder brother to the injustice that he had been about to perpetrate.
Whereupon he returned home, and satisfied the demands of the stern
justice of his day by slaying his wife and feeding her body to his pet
dogs. The rest of the story is taken up with the wanderings and
adventures of the younger brother. This record goes back to the
thirteenth century B. C., and is a perfect specimen of the fiction of
that time.
Limited space will not permit the introduction of other notable classics
of fiction such as the story of the shipwrecked sailor; the story of the
doomed prince; the story of the possessed princess; the story of the
eloquent peasant, and any number of other records, nor is their
presentation essential to the development of our thesis. Their value,
however, is seen in the fact that not only do they depict the literary
tastes of antiquity, but they delineate many of the common details and
incidents of the daily life of those ages.
There are also any number of poems which have a high historical value.
We shall refer later to the famed poem of Pentauer, which immortalizes
the victories of Ramses the Second, which this great conqueror achieved
over Egypt’s ancient enemies the Hittites. The discovery of this record
was the first appearance of the Hittites in archeology and caused a
sensation in the ranks of Biblical criticism.
Among the more sober types of literature will be found narratives of
pure history. Such would be the lists of the kings, giving the
chronology of the dynasty of each. Records of conquest, lists of
tribute, and the names of captive races form the bulk of this type of
material.
There are also books of maxims teaching the higher morality of the age
in which the papyrus was written. In a word, the literature preserved in
the papyri of Egypt deals with religious aims, books of magic, records
of travel, and the science of that day. From the latter we learn their
beliefs and technique in the realm of astronomy. Their system of
mathematics is preserved for us in such prize records as the Rhind
Papyrus which deals with the geometry of that age. This papyrus is in
the British Museum and is numbered 10,057. In the Museum at Cairo is a
papyrus illustrating the geography and cartography of antiquity. This
famous map shows the religious divisions of that province, which is now
called the Fayyum. Others of these papyri deal with medicine as it was
practiced in that ancient day. There are, of course, biographical papyri
that are almost innumerable, all of which reconstruct for us the lives
and times of these people who are so long dead, but far from forgotten.
Among the most important of all the varieties of papyri are those which
preserve for us the embalming technique practiced at various stages in
the development of this art in Egypt. Since the Egyptians believed that
the resurrection of the body and its eternal life depended upon the
preservation of the physical form, they took great pains in their
preparations for the burial of their dead. The most graphic description
of the method used is given by Herodotus and is thus familiar to all
students of history. This noted writer states that three general methods
were used by the Egyptians and the cost of each was graduated to the
thoroughness of the method.
The most expensive means of embalming was an elaborate process indeed.
The abdominal cavity was opened and the viscera were removed from the
body. These were carefully washed in palm wine, thoroughly dried and
sprinkled with certain aromatic spices. The brains were withdrawn from
the head and treated in this same fashion. These cavities were then
dried and filled with a combination of bitumen, myrrh, cassia and
various other expensive and astringent spices. The openings were then
sewed up. A tank was prepared which was filled with a solution of soda,
and the body was steeped in it for seventy days. After removal from this
pickling solution the body was thoroughly dried in the hot sun and
anointed with spicy compounds which had the two-fold purpose of
imparting a fragrant odor to the mummy and of further preserving its
structure. The process was completed when the body was wound with the
strips of linen with which all students of Egyptology are so familiar.
The cost of this type of embalming varied, of course, in each dynasty,
but as a general average it would be in the neighborhood of $1500 in our
modern currency. When we consider the disparity between our standard of
money value and that of ancient Egypt, it can be seen that such a
preparation was enormously expensive.
A cheaper method of embalming consisted of dissolving the viscera by
means of oil of cedar. The flesh also was dissolved with a caustic soda
solution, and the skin shrunk tightly to the bones. This dessicated form
was then wrapped in the traditional linen bandages. The cost of this
process was in the neighborhood of $300 in the currency of our day.
For the very poor, however, a cheaper form of preparation was used. The
body was dumped into the tank of soda, where it was alternately
saturated and dried for a period of seventy days. The pickled body was
then handed over to the relatives, who wrapped it according to their own
ability and means and arranged for burial at any convenient site. This
process would cost in the neighborhood of $1.50 in our present standard
of currency.
It will be noted that the customary period of embalming was seventy
days. A discrepancy has been fancied here between this ordinary custom
and the embalming of Israel, as it is recorded in the fiftieth chapter
of Genesis. The third verse of that chapter states, “And forty days were
fulfilled for him, for so are fulfilled the days of those which are
embalmed: and the Egyptians mourned for him three score and ten days.”
The discrepancy, however, has been cleared up by the discovery of the
fact that under the Hyksos Dynasties the period of the embalming was
forty days instead of seventy, and the mourning of the dead was more
important than the time used in preserving the body.
In the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, exhibit No. 1270, is a magnificent
anthropoid sarcophagus from the time of Psammetichus the Second. The
inscription on this sarcophagus confirms the statement that the
embalming process lasted seventy days and is a testimony of the honesty
of the undertaker in that he did not shorten the time for the extra
profit involved.
It is to the reverence for their dead that was manifested by all in
Egypt that we owe our present wealth of archeological material. The most
voluminous evidences for the accuracy of the Bible come to us from
burial sources. Very often the coverings of the corpse were inscribed
with verbose descriptions of the life, morals, and piety of the dead
individual.
A further source of material is found on the cartonnage. When the body
had been encased in bandages a type of coffin was made that is called
mummiform or, more commonly, anthropoid. (See Frontispiece.) This first
covering was made of some plastic material, which was moulded to the
form of the individual to be buried. In the earlier days this cartonnage
was made of strips of linen cloth pasted together and covered with a
type of shellac. While still plastic, this material was moulded to the
contour of the head and shoulders of the occupant until it took on a
rough resemblance to the individual. This may have been the origin of
the death-mask custom which continues in some regions even to the
present time. In later times this first covering was gilded, and, in the
case of the very rich, might be decorated also with eyes of obsidian or
lapis lazuli.
In later periods, the cartonnage was made of outmoded papyri. These were
dampened and moulded into a mulch like the method of using papier-mache
in our generation. In so doing, however, the writing was not demolished.
Some of the greatest discoveries of antiquity have come to us when a
cartonnage made of papyrus has been carefully separated into its
original sheets and the writing thereof recovered.
When the mummy was enclosed in its cartonnage, a wooden coffin was then
prepared, which quite frequently was also anthropoid in shape. (See
Plate 11.) Not only did it maintain the form of the human body, but very
often it had also a painted portrait of the dead person to identify the
deceased. This wooden coffin was painted and inscribed on the inside and
the outside with a record and history of the individual, to which were
added scenes and texts from the Book of the Dead. (See Plate 12.) This
second coffin was not always made of wood, however. In the case of
Tut-ankh-amen, the coffin was of solid gold, and constituted a
tremendous treasure in itself. This was possible only to a monarch or a
noble of enormous wealth.
The final covering was the sarcophagus, a great rectangular box
sometimes made of wood, but often formed of stone. In this box the
anthropoid coffin was carefully placed and the lid was tightly sealed.
In preparing the sarcophagus, every inch of the inside would be engraved
with a record of the history of the individual as well as of the times
in which he lived. On the inside of this box, the bottom, both ends, and
the two sides would be covered with writing as closely as the characters
could be engraved. Not content with this, the industrious scribe of
antiquity also covered the outside of the sarcophagus, both ends, both
sides, and the top with further writings. We have illustrated this
custom clearly in Plate 13.
To make the case complete, the noble, the wealthy, and the great of
antiquity were buried in tombs, the walls of which were illuminated with
frescoes, murals, and texts in written script that covered every square
inch of space on the ceiling, as well as on the four walls. All of the
visitors to the Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt have wondered over
these remarkable and complete records. They are, however, more than just
a curious sight to satisfy the interest of the tourists. They are one of
the priceless sources of valuable information concerning the coincidence
of ancient history with the text of the Scripture! (See Plate 14.)
Still another source of material and information is found in the
innumerable stelae which covered the ancient world. The word “stele” is
a Greek word meaning “an upright stone.”
Archeologically it applies to slabs of stone which were erected over a
burial site in the fashion of a headstone in our modern custom. Some
were square, some rectangular, and some were artistically rounded at the
top. In the case of a burial stele, the name of the man so honored,
together with a record of his life and conduct, was carved in high
relief upon the stone. Thereon were named the king and the dynasty under
which the dead man had lived, and sometimes the important historical
events of that reign. Always such a stele contained the episodes of
history to which the given individual had personally contributed. They
are a large source of historical information. These stelae were
sometimes erected in public places as memorials of great events. (See
Plate 15.)
When Ramses the Second won his great campaign against the Hittites, he
ended a five hundred year period of warfare in which the Egyptians had
been consistently defeated. To celebrate his victory, a voluminous
account of his valor and skill was carved upon a large number of stelae
and erected in prominent centers throughout his kingdom. So also
Amenhetep the Third set up a stele to record his conquest of the country
of Abhat. This beautifully preserved record may be seen in the British
Museum. It is exhibit No. 657 in Bay 6.
In the Egyptian Museum at Cairo there is a stele originally erected by
Amenhetep the Third. We shall refer to this one again because his
successor Menepthah appropriated this stele, and because it contains his
record of the Israelites, who are thus acknowledged by the monarchs of
Egypt to have been a people of importance in the annals of their empire.
The most stupendous source of material is found in monuments. The larger
and most important type of monument is of course the buildings of
antiquity. To the Egyptologist the most entrancing and magnificent
spectacle on the face of the earth is the ruined temple at Karnak. The
general public is so familiar with the magnitude and extent of these
stupendous ruins, it is not necessary to make more than a brief
reference to them in this paragraph. Any standard encyclopedia, such as
the current Britannica, carries a more or less lengthy article on this
subject, and the number of interested observers who have studied these
ruins is almost beyond estimating.
The present city of Luxor, in Upper Egypt, was once known as Thebes, and
was the center of government in times long past. Three very important
sources of study are found in that vicinity. There is the great Valley
of the Kings, where so many of the dead great of Egypt were buried. Then
also there is the great temple at Luxor, which is still in the process
of recovery. It is to be regretted that excavations there have been
halted for some time, due to the fanaticism of the Moslems, who refuse
to permit a mosque to be moved from the top of the remaining mound,
under which the balance of this great temple still lies buried.
Last, but far from least, there is the great temple, called Karnak. The
evidences that have been recovered from this site carry us as far back
as the early stages of the Old Kingdom, and may indeed be pre-dynastic.
There are a number of temples that have been erected upon this site,
which contribute to the glory of its past history. The earliest relics
found are flint instruments, and there are a number of recoveries from
the Middle Kingdom also. While the famed archeologist Legrain was in
charge of the work of recovery here, he opened one great pit from which
an unbelievable amount of material was recovered. In this one find,
seven hundred and fifty large statues were dug up, and more than twenty
thousand smaller objects were recovered from this same pit. This was
largely a Middle Kingdom deposit. It may be said that the entire history
of the land is seen here, from the archaic age to the end of the
Ptolemaic period.
There are three major ruins that make up the vast monument of Karnak,
which, with the avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, is almost a mile in
length. Each of these three enclosures has its own story to tell. The
smallest one is the most northerly, and was built by Amenhetep the
Third. Ramses the Second added to its structure, and the imposing gate
was built by Ptolemy Euergetes the First. This magnificent gate is
practically all of the original structure that remains today. The
outline of the foundation of the original temple may be traced, but its
material, with the exception of the gate, has long since disappeared.
The south enclosure contained the temple built to the glory of the
goddess Mut by Amenhetep the Third, of which also very little of the
original structure remains. Behind this temple, however, is a sacred
lake, shaped like a horseshoe, upon which tradition says the barge of
the sacred lady used to appear. Indeed, there are fellahin in Egypt
today who maintain that at certain times when the moon is just right,
this notable barge may still be seen if one is fortunate enough to be on
the spot at the right time. (We regret to say that the times that we
were there were never the right ones!)
There were small temples and shrines inside both of these enclosures
where various kings honoured other deities in the lengthy pantheon. Some
traces of these may still be seen here and there, and much more may yet
be brought to light by the excavations now being conducted there by the
Department of Antiquities.
It is the third enclosure which is the great one, and the really
thrilling monument. It is about 1,500 feet square, so that it is at once
apparent that it is immense. Undoubtedly it is the largest temple ever
constructed by man. Two million, two hundred and fifty thousand feet of
floor space make quite a place of worship in any day and age!
The original sanctuary was probably begun by Usertesen the First, who
dedicated it to Amon-Ra. Having done so, the king then used the walls,
pillars, beams, and all other available space to carve a record of his
own reign and greatness; not forgetting, of course, to give Amon-Ra due
credit here and there for such divine aid as the Pharaoh may have needed
from time to time! The drawings, paintings, and carvings of this monarch
are a fine source of information concerning his times and peoples.
This seems to have established a precedent at Karnak, for the original
temple was added to by Thothmes the First, who faithfully followed the
example of his predecessor, and told what a mighty man he also turned
out to be! Then Seti the First followed him, to be in turn replaced by
Thothmes the Third, and neither neglected to carve the tale of his power
and successes on the additions to the original temple that Usertesen had
started.
The next builder was Amenhetep the Third, and after him the three
successive Ramses all built extensive votive shrines and temples. The
amount of carving, painting, and hieroglyphics that covers all this
mighty pile of stone work is almost unbelievable, and leaves the
beholder amazed and somewhat awed.
The most noteworthy section of the standing ruins is the great
hypo-style hall, which is one of the architectural wonders of the world.
This hall is 171 feet deep and 338 feet in breadth. The roof was
supported by 134 mighty columns, set in 16 rows, of which the two
central rows were by far the highest. The roof of this great hall was 78
feet above the floor, and the entire structure was covered with reliefs
and painted scenes from the conquests and lives of the builders.
Here are to be found the most gratifying evidences of the integrity and
accuracy of the Scripture that the most ardent devotee of the Bible
could desire. The Pharaohs who appear in the text of Holy Writ are there
on Karnak’s walls as well, and this testimony of ancient heathen
monarchs is conclusive and final.
As the kings of antiquity consistently carved upon the walls, the
pillars, and the beams of Karnak the proud record of their conquests, it
is inevitable that this source of material should be drawn upon heavily
by the exponent of the Scripture. In a later chapter we shall return to
Karnak again and again to read these treasured accounts.
There are many other temples of antiquity that are of almost equal
value, such as the great temple at Luxor. Students have long been
familiar with the nature of the great pyramids which have also a great
contribution to make to our sources of evidence. It is to be noted,
however, that only an honest and honorable evaluation of these evidences
is of any aid to the faithful student of the Scripture.
One of the greatest but most nonsensical heresies of our generation is
the false teaching that parades under the name of “British-Israelism.”
This ridiculous fantasy is predicated upon the false premise that the
Great Pyramid is a prophecy erected under divine leading. By a weird
interpretation of its mathematical proportions, it is presumed to
portray a prophetic record of coming events. It is the source of more
fantasy than has ever been derived from any other misapplication of
coincidence!
The advocates of British-Israel heresy claim that the pyramids were
never used as burial sites. This is, of course, arrant nonsense. They
were nothing but stupendous graves.
We have ourselves been in the burial chambers of the Great Pyramid and
have seen the sarcophagi.
We have had the pleasure of examining the great stone casket that was
taken out of the pyramid, containing the mummy of the buried king, as
well as the replica thereof which was put back into this burial chamber
to satisfy the interest of visiting tourists.
We have been in the burial chamber of the queen and the royal children
as well.
We have seen these mummies that came out of the Great Pyramid, have
poked our way into the treasure room and have seen some of these
recoveries which were made when the pyramid was entered.
To show something of the interest the kings of antiquity had in their
resting places, it is recorded on credible ancient authority that the
building of this Great Pyramid occupied twenty years, and that three
hundred thousand men were employed in the building. Ten years were
occupied in the one task of quarrying the stone. Another decade passed
by in the erection of the monument. Herodotus states that the men worked
in groups of ten thousand, laboring three months at a shift. The records
of Herodotus contain a description of the construction of earthen ramps
up which the stones were skidded by means of wooden machines.
The Cairo Museum contains a number of very valuable exhibits from this
greatest of all burial mounds. So also has the second pyramid of Gheza,
in turn, yielded its mummies, as have the others which have since been
breached.
We cannot ignore the great evidence given by the type of monument
composed of the obelisks, the erection of which delighted the ancient
conquerors. These consisted of enormous stone shafts that towered into
the air sometimes to a distance of seventy feet. These great spires were
engraved with the name of the monarch, a description of his greatness,
and some of the more important records of his reign.
In closing, we must not neglect to mention also the boundary markers
that were so common in the Assyrian culture. These engraved stones,
often illustrated with sculptured figures in high relief, are of unique
importance not only because of their written records but also because of
their ubiquity. Throughout all of the ancient world of Mesopotamia they
seem to have been in general use. Since they were an important factor in
deciding the title of a section of land, they were carefully made and
preserved. The date factor is generally a certain year of the reign of a
given king, and the historical information derived from monuments of
this type is practically unlimited. (See Plate 16.)
Also, since the ancients had no hinges, it was customary in constructing
a door to have it turn upon a pivot. Beneath the door sill was a
hollowed stone customarily called an ouch. This acted as a bearing which
supported the weight of the door and enabled one man easily to swing a
very heavy structure. These ouches were generally engraved with the name
of the building, the purpose of the building and, perhaps, the cost and
record of the construction. (See Plate 17.)
From all these scattered sources, then, we gather together the unified
testimony of multiplied thousands of men once dead who speak from the
long silence of their forgotten era. Their united testimony is an
unbroken chorus of assurance for those who are concerned over the
integrity of the text of the Scripture.
In the bewildering mass of all this evidence which together would weigh
so many tons that the figure, if computed, would appear fabulous, there
is not one word, one testimony, or one fact that has contradicted or
disproved a single line of the Holy Bible.
Plate 9
[Illustration: Herds of cattle, such as the Hyksos kings possessed]
Plate 10
[Illustration: Ancient mural of the slaughter of cattle]
[Illustration: Papyrus showing the capture of quail]