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Show I if 1 1 mSQlafaonJa IH I 1 1 il IS'" K$'1 I h . I 1 o tho Lord, all yo mook of tlio H irtn, which hnvo wrought his Judft- i mont; seek righteousness, seek mookness: , "ny to yo shall bo hid In tho dny of H ho Lord'n linger. H, ,. '"or Gazn Blinll bo forsaken, and Ash- M I cln ii desolation: they shall drive out H ' Ashdud nt tho noonday, and Ukron shall m vo rooted up. i I Won unto th & Inhabitants of tho sea H . coast, tho natron of tho Chorothltesl tho H ' for of tho Lord In against you; O H (.annnn, tlio laud of tho Philistines. I will M even destroy theo, that thero shall bo no m tnliabltunt. Zcplinnlnh 2:3-G. H By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN. B A . srAL0N (Ashkolnn) la a H fr'AWi "lesolatlmi Uiu worths of B AkI ll' I)rI),llt W('rc fulfilled H C' v ('"K nK0' Itllt mit )f "l0 J gz33&-S desolation arc now mining H rfSfic ri'll('s t,l,lt Hlui11 "1(1 iimcli iH JJBr! l tlio knowledge tif the isH jisbMsr2 present concerning the tiny In which tho prophet wrote. At Christmas time everyone Iiuh a thought of Jerusalem nil Palestine. And Ascalon Is cIoho to JcniMilem and tho birthplace or H Herod the Great, who ordered the H "Mnsutcre of the Innocents." H During the World war the activities H of Hie rale.stlno Kxploratlon fund wew H necessarily suspended. Now they hnvt D llecn resumed with extraordinary mic- B cess. ArchncoloKlflts aro uncovering B many splendid onlldlnKH of ancient B clays, Home of them of Krent Informa- ttonnl value. Tlio greatest llnds have J been uncovered In Ascnlon. L. Tho raluHtlno Hxitloratlon fund Is HT "clt'ty founded In London In 1805 Hr, or Hip nccurnto and Hystcmntlc In- H' vcsttgallon of tho archaeology, topoR B niphy, Kcology and physical kooki-ii- H P'y natural history, manners and l fiistoms of tho Holy Land for IUMIcal H tllnstratlou. A preliminary expedition ( wa-t made by Captain Wilson In tho H winter of lS0r.-0. Since then no less Hij tlinii eight expeditions for vnryltiK R purposes have been Bent out. Slnco 1 iStS) tlio Boclety has Issued a quarterly H statement and hns published several J works and maps. It maintains a j museum nt Its London olllcc. 1 Ascalon Is a desolation In tho literal Hl mcaufni; of tho word and has been Hg a desolation for ninny a year. Veetu. Hl tlon 1b scanty. The once splendid L j Harbor lias been tilled up. Tho great T walls nnd towers Hint surmounted B (ho ridge that surrounds tho city lie H In. crumbled ruins. Tho confusion Is B extraordinary; the walls nnd towers H appear to have been blown asunder by H powder. Yet onco the city must hnvo H been n vision of beauty. Hero and H tfherc broken columns of marble nnd H Rrnnltc tell of tho glories of tho past. H Probnbly Ascnlon onco looked some Bfl tiling like JnlTn. making nllnwanco H for tho modernizing of that ancient BJ H Ascnlon lies on tho shore of the Bj Ucdltcrrancan, In Juden, .10 miles H southwest of Jerusalem. It wns a B fortified city In nnclent times. How H ld It Is, nobody knows. It passed BJ from tho Kgyptlans to tho Canaaultes BJ nbout ir.(X) I). C; tn those days the Bj Egj-ptlnns woro tho overlords of Tales B line, which was then called Canaan. Bj, Betwetui 11100 and 1100 11. C. I'hllls- H Unrs nnd Hebrews struggled for pos- B! m-ssion of Caunaii. The Hebrews BSj Bimlly gained control and tho Ca- B Banulleswero submerged. InlU.'UU. ('. B- Ibc divided Hebrew tribes were united Bfl Into a kingdom under Knul, David, BK Ms Buccesxor, completed tho establish- B meat of Israelite hiipremaey In I'nJes Bfl tine. Under David ami Solomon, for B the tlrst ami only time In history, Bj Palestine wns the borne of a united H people under one central government. Bfl Then followed Its division Into Bl' Israel nnd Judah. Then followed B conquest by tho Assyrians and by tiro BX lUibylonlans ami by tho Persians and Bj li.r tho Kgyptlans and by tho Itomnns. H. In TO A. I), tho struggle against Koine BJ wan ended by tho rapture anil ruin BJ sf Jerusalem. In liiiMiiO A. D. was the ,t'y Steil isS- ?-l - " ' , ; - --&3 cf&Sfflm -iM)Wm . 4&$itmJ3m Mr grent rising under linr-Cochbn. Tho relielllon was wtnmped out with much bloodshed. Kmperor Hadrian, in rebuilding re-building Jerusalem, changed Its natno to Aelia Capltolinn and decreed that no Jew should dwell In It. Never since that day has Jerusalem been n Jewish city or Palestine u Jewish land. Asealon's history wns naturally troublous In times like these. In 11S0 U. O., sny tho Tol-ol-Ainnrnn tablets, tho unlive chiefs nnd Dagon-worshlp-ers who ruled the city were paying tribute to tho Pharaoh of Egypt. Tho placo was captured successively by tho great Itameses II., and by King As-surbnnlpal As-surbnnlpal of Assyrln. It later became ono of tho five towns of tho Philistine confederacy. "Tell It not In Oath, publish It not In tho streets of Asbkelon; lest the dnughters of tho Philistines rejolco" Is written In II Samuel 1:20. It camo Into the bands of tho tribe of Jmlah, but It remained an enemy of tho Hebrews to tho last. Ascalon long belonged to the Romans. In tho Seventh century It camo Into possession of the Saracens. In 101)0 was fought tho great battlo on the plnlns of Ascnlon In which tho Crusaders under Godfrey do Iloull-Inn Iloull-Inn were victorious. Tho city wns taken nnd retaken during tho wnrs of tho Crusaders. Tlio end of Ascnlon enme In 1270, when It was destroyed by tlio Sultan lllhnrs. It was then Hint Its hnrbor wns filled In. It wns then that It be-camo be-camo a desolation, Herod tho Grent was tho ruler who benutlfled Abcnlon. Herod Is the fnmlly natno of n group of rulers of Palestine. The family bad Its origin In Antlpnter, an Idumean (Kdomlte), who In the last century before Christ wus made by tho Romans governor of Edoui, Juden, Samaria and Galilee. Ills son was Herod the Great, who was mado king of Juden nnd reigned from .'10 to -1 M. C. It wns Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Grent, tetrnrch of Galilee, who beheaded John tho Rnp-tlst Rnp-tlst and to whom Jesus wns hent by Pilate. The Herods vero Jews only In the seiiho that the Kdomltes were conquered nnd compelled to embrace Judaism about 1!10 H. C. Herod the Great ruled tho Jews with nn Iron hand, ruthlessly niur16r-lug niur16r-lug nil whom ho considered enemies, Including even tho brother of his wife Mnrlamnc. When ho left his court on u dangerous mission to Rome ho left word that In the event of his death, Marlamno should he killed also. This Jealous decree started a quarrel with his wife, which ended only when ho had her put to dentil. llnvinfl stnrted his reign In tills fashion ho continued In his career of crime nnd lust, not hesitating even to strangle his own sons. Religious enemies be generally preferred to hnvo burnei' alive. Ho finished ills days In tho mosl frightful physical nnd mental torments, Just nfter ordering the massacre ol tlio Innocents In tho year of Christ's birth. Emperor Augustus, his friend snld of him: "It is better to be Herod's pig thnn his son." Ho hnd ten wives In nil, nnd several of these nt ono time. Herod tho Grent hnd n pnsslon foi building. Durlngr'tlio first decade of his reign ho wns too busy establish ing himself to indulge his passion Then ho rehabilitated many cities. Al JeruRiilem, Jericho nnd Cnesarea, lie erected theaters, nmphltiientcrs nnd hippodromes. Ho rebuilt tho temple In Jerusalem. Ho even restored nnd benutlfled cities In Syria, Asln Mlnoi nnd Greece. Herod, having been bom nt Ascnlon, devoted much tlmo npd money to Its Improvement. Ho benutlfled the cltj with "baths nnd costly fountains, as also cloisters around n court, that were ndmlrnblo both for their workmanship work-manship and lurgeness," according tc Joscphus. Ono of tho finds nt Ascnlon is o glguntic stntuo of Herod tho Grent. Another Is tlio Court of Herod nnd Its surrounding cloisters, mentioned by Josepbus. A third Is n temple with mnsslvc mnrblo columns, which mny date back to the days when Ascnlon, according to Herodotus, wns famous for the worship wor-ship of Astarto (Astorcth), the god (less of fertility nnd frultfulness mentioned In I Snmuel 81:10 "nnd they put his armor In tho house of Astoreth. . . ." Tills wns the armor of Saul, first king of Israel. In this connection thero hns been discovered n bas-relief rcpresentlnp tlio goddess with two nttendantf Also n statue of Venus hns been un covered. Ascalon wns the sent of worship r Astarto, moro or less Identified wit. the Assyrian Ishtnr, tho Phnenlclnr Astoreth, the' Greek Aphrodite and the Roman Venus. Sho Is often rep resented ns half woman nnd hnlf fish n sort of divine mermnld. A deej ' layer of broken pottery has been dnp up here, which probnbly marks tlu remains of vessels broken ns part ol the religious rites In her honor. Hut so fur no truco has been found of tlu lake Into which sho plunged, ncconl Ing to one story, being nslmmed of bet misdeeds, nnd wns completely trans formed Into a fish. The most famous legend concerning her tells of her descent Into tho underworld, under-world, In search of tho healing witter which are to restore to life her bridegroom bride-groom Tammuz, the young and bean-tiful bean-tiful sun god, slain by tho cruel hand of Winter. |
