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Show Vr-I- 9 Srailn?r jPyf -- Jdt:1 orMag wml Ii' The road pro- '4 the shorn of lake Ti- hcro tho Jordan enters .!. From here it follows the :m bank of tho Jordan to Alb's Bridge, where it i rosses the rer to tlie east bank, and thence northward by Lakellooleli to Ban-ins, Ban-ins, thence along the old iloman road to Damascus, the inland terminus term-inus of the road. The length ot the main line from Acca to Damascus will be about 120 miles. There will be branches to important points along the way. The work is in the bands of English Eng-lish capitalists, who will expend ?0,-000,000 ?0,-000,000 on It. In Damascus a system of street cars will be established. estab-lished. Owing to the narrownessui the streets tho wcrk will be difficult, but that it is practicable and will be profitable has been demonstrated. An extension from Banias to Beyroot is also protected. Beyroot, the Syrian seaport town, is now a prosperous city of S2,000 leoplcjWith gas and water works, though fifty years ago it had but 5,090 people. The road from Jaffa to Jerusalem will soon be finished. Tho locomotives loco-motives for this road were male in Philadelphia, and are now in Jaffa. The changes that are coming upon thej "Holy Land" are evidences that the Almighty will use the developments de-velopments of modern times in tlie restoration of "tliocovenaut jieople" to the laud of their fathers. Indeed, the improvements of the age are nil prompted by His Spirit "the light of truth," which reveals to man that which will benefit and exalt- ThU Is a wonderful icrlod iu the history of the world. Not only are agencies and appliances new to science and art coming forth as fast as tho mind can grasp and man cau utilize them, but the works and relics of the pastare being uncovered and the mystery shrouding Ilia liven of the ancients is dispersing. This is the "dispensation of the fulness of times," when all things arc to be gathered in one, the Qst and the present bu aggregated, and all knowledge, know-ledge, truth and wisdom be culminated culmi-nated to prepare for tlie glorious Immediate Im-mediate future the millennial glory, the gulden age. In regard to the uncovering of remote re-mote antiquities connected with tlie "land of promise," tlie Washington Star has an article which w a iiere apicnd. It is ono of the latest discoveries dis-coveries aud speaks of events that hapieued 111 the days of the Pliaraolis,aud throus light upon tlie form of government tlut then existed ill Palestine, hlch is soon to bo traversed by the modern Iron horst: "Tho Smithsonian Institution has just received Information, not yet printed or made public in this country, coun-try, of tho recent diVotcry at Tcll-ci-Amarla, In Upper Kgj-pt, of a numlier of tablets rckuing to tbd history of Jerusalem and dating lack GOJ years earlier than any rcconl hitherto known. When it is understood that these tablet of sionearc letters pasl between tho King of Jerusalem and tho Pharaoh of Egypt 48) years before be-fore tho birth of David, who was tbe father of Solomon, somo notion will 15 formed of their extreme interest. iiiferaUyr'KinBbtairiy? Aovtrlne-loss, Aovtrlne-loss, these tow ns pa'd a tribute to tho Pharaoh, and it was In relation to this trlbuto that several of tho letters foilnd were addresod to the ruler of Egypt by the King of Jerusalem, Abdi-Tala.In them ho tries to explain, ex-plain, with duo respect, that he occupies oc-cupies a mora independent position than tho other prefects, and ought to bo treated accordingly. For example, in ono missh e he says: "liehold, this city ot Jerusalem neither my father nor my mother has given unto me, but the call of a mighty migh-ty King." This refers to tho ancient custom in Palestine by which rulers were sometimes some-times iliosen in consequence ot a su-iioscd su-iioscd divino call and without any hercdltary law. Hating been summoned sum-moned to his throne by the Deity, Abdi-Taba argued that ho should bo treated moro leniently with reganl to tribute. In another of tho Utters he says: "Ilchold, neither my father nor my mother lias appointed me to tbisplace, but tho mighty King has mado mo enter into tho house of my fathers." "Dial the 'mighty King" spoken of was the Deity is proved by tho tict that to Him as authority is referred an oracle inscribed upon another tablet, which says tlia' 'As long as a ship sails upon tho sea, so long will Mesopotamia Meso-potamia and Biby Ionia conquer.' " The chief aim of the three othsr letters let-ters written by Abdi-Taba Is to ask the Pliaraoh for military aid against foreign conquerors invading Palestine, Pales-tine, and especially tha district of Jerusalem. These warliko strangers stran-gers ho calls people of Habiri in other words, they were Hebrews. It womi hardly prolablo that the Hebrews as a nation should have Invaded In-vaded Palestine at so early a date, and so it it likely that these were somo advanced ad-vanced trilies of Israel which settle-l down wet of the Jordan and mado Incursions from time totiiiic. In ono of tho Icttcrsop this subject Alsll-Tada say: "The llabiri pooplo are conquering tho cities of the King' i. o., the cities tributary to the Pliaraoh qhereforo tho King may turn his bee to hlssuli-jectsand hlssuli-jectsand end troop. If thotroois arrive this year tho countries of tho King, my lord, may be saved, but if no troops arrivo the countries of tho King, my lorJ, will cxit no longer.' "This tremendous find at Tell-el-Amaria includes 200 tablets, largely of Babylonian cuneiform script, which is thusdiscotered for tho first time to hatohecninusoatsuearly a period in Ejypt and Palestine. Many of the other tablets are dispatches of about tho same date from prefects of other cities of Palestine to lbs Pharaoh. Somo of tho Inscriptions aro in an un-know un-know n language, which no one has so Ctr been able to translate. It is funny to think that Solomon himself would havo looked upon these tablets as remote re-mote antiquities." |