Papers of the American School for Oriental Study and Research in Palestine

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903. Excerpt: ... TWENTY-SECOND YEAR-1903-PART lI. The Wall of Jerusalem according to the Book of Nehemiah. PROF. HINCKLEY G. MITCHELL, D.D. BOSTON, MASS. Director of the American School in Palestine, H)0l-iqO2. 1. THE TEXT OF THE BOOK.1 ONE of the first questions to force itself upon the student of sacred history and topography on his arrival in Jerusalem is that concerning the limits of the ancient city and the identification of the gates and towers in its walls. The question has been discussed, with more or less insight and profit, incidentally by the commentators 2 and more independently by various travellers and explorers.3 Unfortunately the commentators have too often lacked the light they might have gotten from topographical researches, while the explorers, being unskilled in exegesis, have as often missed the meaning of their own discoveries. The result is a variety of irreconcilable opinions by which the unlearned are confused rather than instructed. The proper method is clearly one that combines a thorough study of the biblical source or sources of information with an impartial examination of the ground under the guidance of the best archaeological authorities; and this is the method by which it is proposed to deter 1 Works cited in the following pages are designated by initials. For the full titles see the bibliography at the end of the article. 2 The most thorough modern discussion of the subject from the exegetical standpoint is found in Ryssel's edition of Bertheau's commentary on Nehemiah. See also Siegfried in the Handkommcntar, Bertholet in the Kurzer Hand-Commentar, and Ryle in the Cambridge Bible. 3 The most valuable sources of information with reference to the remains of the early defences of Jerusalem are the publications of the Palestine Exploration F...