Show AN interesting RELIC A battered cred tablet f rom tho the ancient temple of derod I 1 in the interesting museum of ani equities qu ties at constantinople the object that struck me must most was v as a hoary batth tablet with a long ion greek inscription cut on it in seven alnes 1 nes it was vas discovered in jerusalem about the end of may 1871 by the french archaeologist garmeau at a consider alde al de lc depth below the ground in the foundations of an arab house honse not cot far aiom the tac mosque of omar on oll what wight n ighac havo been the site of the temple of herod TJ his is oneff the very few re relics acs of that structure which have hae survived to our day the inscription clipton in is is in cali capia ital monumental enal letters and may bs be t arr isu ed thus alius no stranger can enter warl W ta n e balustrade round the arct and ad ii Lr closures Io whoever c s caught ht will be ba responsible to invy hi ii c i 1 for his hi death josephus ge g gives e a gr graphic thc jhc description of herod s tun rae and d ment meEt mentions ions that the court of the gent les 1 acs was separated from the part that was restricted to the jews by t two w 0 parallel barall 1 wills walls about IS 15 feet apart the outer oil wall was about 4 41 feet agh it was an elaborate carved carved stone balustrade with 13 doors in it each of which had a pillar piliar in front of it bearing an ir inscription in grce k and latin fo forbid r bid arg 1 ing any foreigner ner to enter the inclosure on en pain of death josephus mentions that tho romans r respected spec ted tins this law ill ard aad no gantle ever ventured to intrude beyond taus point the abon rb on in queston however c cven er was locq loni regarded bcd a as apocryphal even although philo of the in ri and corroborated the state man irant t of the jewish historian but the of clermont gagneau has flaccid ala una th matter beyond dispute the abl tablet mt w vach h ha fourd found f was part of ont one 1 of the columns guarding the inner sanctuary from the approach of unhallowed I 1 feet fec end and the con connection necton between the inscription carved on it and the passage in Jose josephus plaus is most ir air the expressions express ons and forms are a almost most identical there is indeed a eurious curious variation in the greek word for balustrade or partition wall in the passage c in josephus it is tr s u her e as in the inscription it is but this variation may be accounted for by the tact fact that jo FX used the corr correct ct classical term w iphil hile le ulm the on spell spelled ed the word according to the jewish method of pronouncing it chang changing zig a n d intha into a t icephus Jc ephus twice refers to the inscription once in hs his antiquities and the passages g are differently worded showing that he did not intend to ave c c the act phraseology of the stone monument but only the sense and therefore that the tablet should give the sense of josephus words without lis his exact express on is just what might lave have been in such a discovery Accord according ng to clermont gatineau tho tablet is ia the anos most ancient as well ns as the most inter sting greek inscription wych fth ch archaeological 1 ical t con oi in jerusalem jerus em has hp s produced its bearings Ina Lea rings are most important it sup TI pl es cs a standard of comparison by ri 1 lh h to dau diat the IIer Hero odian dinan sculpture and works from those of previous or later days davs sunday at home il lorac |