Recent exploration has brought to light a number of these high places, and the revelations made by these discoveries greatly illuminate the Old Testament narrative. The first of these was discovered by Bliss and Macalister at Tell es-Safi.[199] The high place was enclosed by walls, but, as the upper courses of these had been destroyed, the original height of the walls could not be determined. Within the largest enclosure stood three monoliths or “pillars.” These rested on bases of stone. The pillars themselves were, respectively, 5 feet 10 inches, 6 feet 5 inches, and 7 feet 1 inch high. One of them was pointed, and one of them almost flat on the top. No tool-mark was discernible on any of them. All showed signs of having been rubbed. The fat and the blood of sacrifices were smeared over such stones, and the rubbing was probably produced by this. The walls enclosing these pillars formed an approximate square 30 feet from east to west and 32 feet from north to south. On the north a fairly large room was walled in, as shown in Fig. 212, and on the south three smaller rooms. In the wall to the north of the three pillars was a semicircular apse. Facing this apse was a low semicircle of stones 3 feet 7 inches in diameter, which is situated much nearer the “pillars.” The purpose of this semicircle is unknown. In the east wall of the court of the high place there was a “skewed” opening, or an opening which ran diagonally through the wall. The purpose of this is obscure. It has been suggested by Prof. Macalister that it was made to permit the rising sun to shine on a certain spot of the interior on a certain day of the year, but of this there is no proof.