Archæology and the BibleBarton, George A. (George Aaron)
Religion
Archæology and the Bible
Barton, George A. (George Aaron)
Bible -- Antiquities; Egypt -- Antiquities; Middle East -- Antiquities
(3) _Another Chapel._--What seems to have been still another place of
worship equipped with the necessary “pillars” was found in the Hebrew
stratum between the governor’s palace and the southern gate of the
city.[211] It would appear from the connecting walls that this sacred
place may also have been intended for the special use of the occupants of
the palace. This room was not quite 30 feet long and a little less than 20
feet wide. It contained six stones which Dr. Schumacher took to be
“pillars.” Like those at Petra and Taanach, they had evidently been shaped
with tools. They did not stand in a row or in any regular relation to one
another. This might throw some doubt upon the religious significance of
the stones. Could they not have been columns used in supporting the roof
of the building? Since a small stone object that had religious
significance in the high places was found in this room, together with a
most remarkable incense burner, it is probable that these were religious
“pillars” and that the room was a little chapel. The object was of
limestone and about 7 inches long. It was lying at the foot of one of the
“pillars.” The incense burner was made of a greyish soft limestone. It was
a little over 9 inches in height. The diameter of the bowl was 6⅜ inches.
The stone was cut so that the bowl rested on a pedestal, which was divided
by rings into two portions, each of which was cut so as to represent a
circle of overhanging leaves; (see Fig. 225). The whole was decorated with
reddish-brown and cobalt-blue paints. The decoration of the rim of the
bowl is a geometrical design, that on the bowl itself represents a sort of
conventionalized lily blossom, while the leaves suggest those of the palm.
These discoveries make it plain that the Canaanite temples of Palestine,
which the Hebrews took over, were simply high places in miniature,
enclosed in walls and probably roofed over, though the roofs have
disappeared. The feeling that led to the change from the open air high
place was the same as that underlying the saying of David: “I dwell in a
house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains” (2 Sam. 7:2).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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