Show AN interesting RELIC A battered tablet from the ancient temple ot herod in the interesting museum of antiquities ties at constantinople the object that struck me most was a hoary bartered tablet ai long greek inscription cut on it in seven lines it was discovered in jerusalem about the end of may by the french archaeologist chermont gaineau at a considerable depth below the ground in the foundations of an arab house not far from the mosque of omar on what might have been the site of the temple of herod this is one of the very few relics oi that magnificent structure which have survived to our day the inscription is in capital monumental letters and may be translated thus no stranger caa enter within the balustrade round the sanctuary and in closures whoever Is caught will be responsible to himself for his death josephus gives a graphic description of hernds temple and mentions the court of the gentiles was separated from the part that was restricted to the jews by two parallel walls about 15 feet apart the outer wall was about 4 feet high it was an elaborate carved stone balustrade with 13 doors in it each of which had a pillar in front of it bearing an inscription in greek and latin forbidding any to enter the inclosure on pain of death josephus mentions that respected this law anal no gentile ever ventured to intrude beyond this point the prohibition in question however was long regarded as apocryphal even although philo spoke of the inscription and corroborated the statement of the jewish historian but the discovery of clermont gagneau has placed the matter beyond dispute the which he found was part of one of the columns the inner sa actuary from the approach of unhallowed feet aad the connection between the inscription carved on it and the passage in josephus is most striking the expressions and forms are almost identical there is indeed a curious variation in the greek word for balustrade or partition wall in the in josephus it is tos whereas in alic inscription it i but this variation may be accounted for by the fact that josephus used the correct classical term while dihe inscription spelled the word according to th e jewish method of pronouncing it changing a d into a t Josf ephus twice refers to the inscription once in his and the parallel passages are differently worded showing that he did not intend to give the exact phraseology of the stone monument but only the sense and therefore that ahse tablet should give the sense of josephus words without his exact expression is just what might have been expected in such a discovery acco tp clermont gagneau tho tablet is the most ancient as well as the most interesting greek inscription which archaeological investigation in jerusalem has produced its bearings are most important it supplies a standard of comparison by chic to distinguish the sculpture and palaeographic works from those of previous ap pp later days sunday at home |